Business Law Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Business Law - Assignment Example In order to protect one’s self from the risk of increased personal liability outside the realms of the business, it is important to avoid situations that lead to the piercing of the corporate veil. These situations are broadly, three in number. First, piercing of the corporate veil is attributed to the establishment of a compliant corporation that fulfills the statutory schemes like social security and compensation for the unemployed. Secondly, fraudulent behavior like having a third party enter a contact believing that the corporate debt is in fact personal liability forces the courts to impose liability on the shareholders to legitimize the action. Lastly, inequitable power and asset transfer at the time of bankruptcy or financial distress to support opportunism also encourages the legal system to disregard the corporate nature of the firm to include personal liability (Macey and Mitts). It is imperative to comply by the legal system if the country of operations whether the business ownership is LLP or LLC. Limited liability partnership is the safest form of partnership that restricts the personal liability of the shareholders to a great extent. The board of directors of every firm is entrusted by the shareholders to work in the best interests of the company. As the property of the corporation is an asset whose sale or exchange can greatly alter a business’s operations and profitability, it is imperative that the board of directors mutually agree on the feasibility of the action before entering any contract (Kansasstatutes.lesterama.org). As in the case if Grocery Corp. even if the president was fulfilling his fiduciary duties to act in the best interest of the business, she overlooked the important procedure of gaining the consent of the complete board before entering a contract for a major sale of the corporation’s assets. Section 3a (11) of the securities act, also known as the intrastate offering exemption allows

Applications in Corporate Finance (Buidalot from a corporate finance Essay

Applications in Corporate Finance (Buidalot from a corporate finance perspective) - Essay Example The company lacks cohesion in terms of pulling the efforts of different subsidiaries together and this is the main reason why it is performing poorly. Therefore, there are certain issues that should be taken into account by Buildalot in order to improve its operations as going to be shown in the recommendations section of the report. 6 Market economy 6 Market competition 6 Equity capital structure of the company 7 PEST analysis 7 Major construction projects 8 Office building construction 9 House building construction 10 Business operational issues 11 Mayo project issues 12 Corporate social responsibilities 13 Financial statement analysis 13 Trend analysis 13 Ratio analysis 14 Recommendations 16 Referencing 18 Bibliography 20 Introduction This report deals with business analysis of Buidalot from a corporate finance perspective. This is an Ireland based Construction Company and it has been experiencing cash flow difficulties due primarily to the slow selling of houses and offices in th e Mayo development project. This study will assess the major issues affecting different sectors of business in this construction company. A detailed SWOT and PEST analyses of the situation of the company will be conducted to evaluate the causes of the problems it is currently facing. This study will also evaluate the financial situation of different projects being undertaken by the company through business strategy techniques and financial strategy techniques like re-forecasting, cost of capital, net present value and business valuation. Then appropriate recommendations will be provided at the end of the report in order to effectively deal with the issues raised. Background of the company Buildalot is a 50 year old construction company and it is based in Ireland. The company was incorporated 30 years back as a group of companies. This consists of different wholly owned subsidiaries that operate in different segments of the construction industry. The three major segments that are the main focus of the company’s business include the following: major construction projects, house building construction and office building construction. The subsidiary that operates in major construction projects is based in different countries but it mainly focuses on Ireland. Office building subsidiaries undertake projects related to office constructions. It operates in Europe and Middle East along with successful penetration in the home country of Ireland. The company House building subsidiaries also operate internationally. The company initially used to engage in residential house building in Ireland and it started construction of these major segments after incorporation about 30 years ago. Situation analysis (SWOT) Basically, SWOT stands for strengths (S), weaknesses (W) while on the other hand the external environmental factors are regarded as either opportunities or threats. The aim of performing a SWOT analysis is to critically analyze all the internal and external fac tors’ that may affect the operations of the organization (Strydom, 2004). The table below summarises the SWOT analysis for Buildalot. Strength Weakness 1. The current ratio of the company’s working capital is high 2. The fixed asset turnover of Buildalot is also high 3. Employees are able to deal with

Quakers Are Known As The Society Of Friends Religion Essay

Quakers Are Known As The Society Of Friends Religion Essay The Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends, are a group of Christians that are tolerant of other religions. They do not believe in sexism, racism, or war. As a society they preach love, truth, and tolerance. They believe in treating every person as a best friend, yet this peaceful group of Christians was viewed as one of the largest threats to Christianity and the Puritan way of life during the mid-17th century. They were persecuted, whipped, and hung by the Puritans in the Early American Colonies. Why would the peaceful Society of Friends be so greatly feared that it would drive the Puritans to persecute them so? Were the Quakers that large of a threat, or was this just another example of antagonism that existed between other Christian bodies in the past? This paper will argue that the Quakers were feared only because they had a different religious view than the Puritans and that throughout history Christians, having a different view points on Christianity has led to persecut ions. First I will cover a short history of how the Quakers and Puritans came to New England. Next I will cover some of the similarities and differences between the Quakers and Puritans. Then I will detail some of the persecutions that the Quakers endured from the Puritans in New England. Finally I will compare the hostility that the Puritans held towards the Quakers, with hostilities that other Christians and groups of Christians faced throughout history. The Puritans started out as a group of Christians who sought to purify the Church of England, during the early 17th century. They felt that the Church should be separate from the rule of the King. The Puritans wanted to be free to worship God how they saw fit, without the King of England telling them how they should worship (Woodman 22). The Puritans also wanted to correct certain practices and ceremonies of the Church of England, which they viewed as Anti-Christian. They wanted to return the Church back to how it was during the apostolic times, before the Church adopted practices that they felt strayed from Gods glory. Unfortunately the Puritans did not have much luck in purifying the Church of England, instead they had stiff opposition to any changes and the Anglican Church ended up passing laws against them (Sweet 18). Since the Puritans were persecuted and unable to change the Church of England, they instead went to the New World in order to create a pure Church that was not controlled by any kind of government (Abbott 232). They viewed New England as a place where they could create their perfect church. They wanted to build a Church that warned against pleasures of the flesh, one that was very plain so as not to detract from the glory of God, and one that promoted a very strict way in which to live. They also wanted to ensure that the government would not be able to control their Church. This would allow them to worship as they saw fit, without government interference. The Puritans thought by doing this that they would be able to live their simple life that was completely devoted to God in every aspect without the fear of persecution (Sweet 21). The Quakers, like the Puritans, also saw the Church of England as being corrupt. They believed that the Anglican Church had strayed from the correct path of God and that it needed changes. They also felt that the church should not be controlled by the King. The Quakers also met stiff resistance, just like the Puritans, and were persecuted for standing up to the King and the Church of England. Laws were quickly passed to try and suppress them, their meeting houses (similar churches) were burned, and the jails were quickly filled with Quakers. Despite this opposition the Quakers were not deterred, instead they continued to preach in England despite the fact that they were constantly persecuted and the Church refused to change (Woodman 22). The Quakers felt the urge to spread their religion around the world, so unlike the Puritans, they did not come to New England to start a new church nor to escape persecution. Instead they traveled to New England in order to spread their religious beliefs. They went to New England as missionaries, but instead of being accepted with open arms by the Puritans, they were immediately thrown in jail. The Puritans then burned the Quaker missionarys books and arranged for their deportation shortly after (Hamm 23). A short time after the first two Quakers were deported, more Quakers began to arrive and the Puritans felt they must stop the Quaker invasion immediately. Soon the Puritans passed laws to fine the ships captains that brought any Quakers to New England. The Quakers soon found it very hard to get a ship to take them to New England. Instead of being deterred, the Quakers simply built their own ship to take them to New England. The Puritans continued to persecute the Quakers as they would arrive. They would whip, brand, and sometimes even mutilate the Quakers who came to Massachusetts. Then the Quakers would be banished and all of their property confiscated by the Puritans. When the Quakers were departing New England, the Puritans would give them a strict warning that promised the Quakers death if they ever returned again. Despite these strict warnings and punishments, the Quakers still continued to return to New England (Hamm 23). What could have caused the Puritans to act so violently towards the Quakers? After all, there were many similarities between the Puritans and the Quakers. They both had suffered persecutions from the Anglican Church and the King of England. They both believed that the government should not control the church and they both thought that the Church of England was had become corrupt and needed to be fixed. Also both the Puritans and Quakers believed that people should avoid the natural pleasures of the world and the pleasures of the flesh, as well as any fashions or customs that could lead to pride and/or selfishness. They both believed in having a simple church so as not to detract from the glory of god and they both disliked the idea that a priest was needed to communicate with God (Jones xx). Despite these similarities between the Puritans and Quakers, there were also many differences. The Puritans, like many religions, had a minister to lead the church services, whereas the Quakers had no ministers or priests (Abbott 232-233). The Quakers believed that every Christian could be a minister in his or her own way and that the Holy Spirit could move any person, whether man, woman, rich, poor, royalty, or peasant, to speak on Gods behalf. For their church services, instead of a person leading the sermon, the Quakers would gather together and wait in silence until the Holy Spirit would move through a person. That person would then be compelled by God to speak for God and to reveal new revelations. Another difference was that the Puritans believed that only a select few were selected by God, whereas the Quakers believed that every individual had an inner light in themselves. This inner light could show every person the way to salvation. It could illuminate sin and show how to avoid anything that was contrary to what God would want a person to do. This inner light also allowed each person to communicate directly with God, without the need for a minister or priest (Hamm 21). The Puritans also believed that reading the Bible was the best way to understand what God wanted. The Puritans believed that the Bible was the inspired word of God and that it held all of Gods truths (Sweet 98). They stressed that studying the Bible was of the utmost importance. The Quakers on the other hand, believed that following the inner light was of the utmost importance, with the Bible coming in second. The Quakers still believed that the Bible was Gods word, but they also believed that God could reveal new things to each person through their individual inner light that may not have been revealed through the Bible (Jones xxi xxii). The Puritans also viewed the sacraments as outward signs of Gods invisible grace, while the Quakers view of the sacraments is purely spiritual. For example, the Quakers do not have baptisms or take Holy Communion. Instead they believed that true communion was gathering together to worship Christ. Also, they believed that the only true baptism was when a person was baptized with the Holy Spirit moving through them. The Quakers then viewed Gods grace not as a visible sign, but one that you could not see. It was a sign that went directly into a persons heart and only that person could sense that they had Gods grace (Abbott 252 Hamm 21). Another difference was equality. The Puritans had a very strict social order, but the Quakers, believing that all men and women were equal, did not have a social hierarchy. The Puritans believed that women should not have public roles, but the Quakers would often give women public roles and allow women to play important roles within their Church (Hamm 23). Also the Quakers viewed every person as if he was a beloved brother. They believe that all life is a sign of Gods grace and every person should be treated as if they were your best friend. This meant that the Quakers did not view any person as outranking another person, even if that person happened to be a King or a Bishop (Woodman185). Persecution of the Quakers in New England Before the arrival of the first Quakers to New England, the Puritans had received anti-Quaker pamphlets. These pamphlets led the Puritans to believe that the Quakers may be a threat to their way of life. Because the Puritans believed that they had set up a perfect society and church in Gods eyes, they did not want anyone to threaten their way of life. Therefore the Puritans viewed all other religions as a potential threat (Sweet 144). When the Quakers did arrive, they immediately viewed them as a potential threat for civil disorder. Because the Quakers did not believe in authority, but that every person was equal, the Puritans viewed this as contempt and disorder in their society. This in turn allowed the Puritans to use state laws to punish Quakers. When the first Quakers came to New England, the Puritans claimed that the Quakers were creating civil unrest and immediately had them arrested and thrown in jail (Chu 6-7). After the first deportation of the very first two Quakers to arrive in New England, the Puritans thought they may have stopped the problem. However when more and more Quakers began to arrive, the Puritans felt threatened by the change the Quakers were trying to bring. The Puritans decided they had to put an immediate stop to anymore Quakers coming to New England. This led to the fines on ships captains for bringing Quakers to New England, but the Quakers continued to arrive and spread their religion. This led to the Puritans fining anyone who even possessed any of the Quakers books or pamphlets. In fact the Puritans were so protective of their society that these fines were not limited to only Quaker books, but to any material from a religion other than the Puritan religion (Wills 19). Despite these fines, the Quakers continued to come and spread their religious beliefs, even though it meant building their own ship to get from England to New England. This constant influx of Quakers only helped to convince the Puritans that Quakerism was definitely one of the greatest threats to their society. They were revolted by the Quakers views on the Bible, direct revelation, giving women public roles, the sacraments, their opposition to taking oaths, and the fact that the Quakers seemed compelled to go where they were not wanted. To the Puritans it seemed as if the Quakers must surely be possessed by demons and that they were out to destroy the Puritans way of life (Hamm 23). They could not fathom anyone in their right mind who would keep going where they were not welcome. The Quakers however, were stubborn. They, like the Puritans, believed that their religion was the correct religion and that God was on their side. At first the Puritans felt that the fines, jail time, and banishment would stop the Quakers from coming, but the Quakers continued to return again and again. When these punishments failed, the Puritans then set up stricter laws to try and keep the Quakers out. They declared that if a male Quaker returned after being banished, he would have his ear cropped. Then if he returned again, the other ear would be cropped. After a third return, the Quaker would have his tongue bored through with a hot iron. For women Quakers, they would be whipped for the first two times they returned and then they would have their tongues bored through for the third offense. When these punishments proved to be ineffective, the Puritans felt that they must set up the death penalty to try and deter the Quakers from coming (Sweet 146). Still the Quakers would kept coming back to try and spread their religion. They would claim that visions and dreams urged them to go to New England and to spread the good word of their religion. Because the Quakers were so persistent on going to New England, despite the punishments inflicted upon them, many more people converted to Quakerism. Once people would see how devoted the Quakers were to their religion and that they would willingly die for what they believed in, it end up drawing many more people to the Quaker religion. This led to the Quaker religion spreading fast and far (Fox 34). Other Christian Persecutions These hostilities between the Quakers and Puritans werent just an isolated incident between these two religions. It has been going on for centuries between Christians and non-Christians, as well as between Christian groups that have different beliefs. Christianitys history is littered with persecutions and individuals who have died for their faith and beliefs. When Christianity was first starting, the Roman Empire had persecuted Christians on and off over the first few centuries. Starting with Jesus who was viewed as a threat to the Empire and therefore was persecuted and eventually killed for his beliefs. Then his followers were also persecuted for following him. For example Paul the apostle, who was a big influence in spreading early Christianity, was persecuted, thrown in jail, tortured, and driven out of towns for spreading the Christian faith. Then in 64 C.E. the Roman Emperor, Nero, blamed Christians for burning the city of Rome, to which he ended up persecuting many more Christians. Many Christians were also persecuted for refusing to pay homage to the Roman Emperors genius or divine spirit. These Christians had viewed paying homage to the emperors genius as idol worship and refused to participate in the act. Christians were also persecuted by the Roman Empire for refusing to perform sacrifices. These Christians were often executed by fire, wild animals, or gladiators in public arenas, in order to send a message to other Christians that they should comply with the rules of the empire (Moore 58-59). The early Christians were persecuted because they had different beliefs than many of the Romans and therefore were viewed as a threat even though they may have been peaceful. This however, did not keep them from persecuting others as time went on. Other groups of Christians that also faced opposition and hostilities, during the first couple of centuries that Christianity came into existence, were the Ebionites, Gnostics, and the Marcionites. These three groups were Christians that had different views on Christianity than the proto-orthodox Christians. For this they were persecuted and completely destroyed by the proto-orthodox Christianity. For example, the Ebionites believed that in order to be Christian a person must be Jewish and follow all of the Jewish traditions from eating a kosher diet to circumcisions. They also believed that Jesus was the adopted son of God and did not result from a virgin birth. Because of these beliefs the Ebionites were not popular with other Christians that wanted to get away from the Jewish traditions, which led to them being persecuted and eventually their religion was wiped out (Ehrman 100-102). The Marcionites were also considered heretics and persecuted for having different beliefs than the proto-orthodox Christians. They were seen as a significant threat and even had five volumes of books written against them in order to attack their beliefs. Their beliefs differed because they believed in two Gods, one was the evil Old Testament God and one was the good New Testament God. They also believed that Jesus was not actually human, which greatly contrasted with proto-orthodox Christianity. (Ehrman 103-108). The Gnostics also had different views than the proto-orthodox Christians, which led to them being harassed and persecuted. The Gnostics believed that Jesus wasnt actually human, that the material world was completely evil and the spirit world was good, that there were multiple Gods, and that only certain people had a divine spark in them that would allow them to go to heaven. These ideas caused the Gnostics to be considered heretics and another threat to Christianity. Christians were even warned on how to spot possible Gnostics in order to try and drive them out of the proto-orthodox Christian churches (Ehrman, The New Testament 197-201). Persecutions among different Christian orders continued, but persecutions even occurred within the same Christian order. Whenever there was a split in beliefs, Christians would often argue over who was right and who was wrong. This would often lead to more persecutions. One such example was around the 8th century when there was a huge conflict over icons of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. Christianity split into two groups, each of who thought their views were correct. One group was the iconoclasts, who believed that all icons should be destroyed, and the other group was the iconodules, who believed that icons where just simple glimpses of what heaven may be like. This difference in beliefs led to violent conflicts over who was right and who was wrong. Constantine V, Emperor Leo IIIs son, had some of the greatest and harshest persecutions of this time. He had hundreds of iconodule monks tortured by gouging out their eyes, cutting off their tongues and noses, setting their be ards on fire, and even executing those that stood against his iconoclast view. These hostilities between the iconoclasts and iconodules lasted from 726 until 787 C.E. (Nystrom 134-235). Another example of hostilities between Christian orders was between the Protestants and the Catholic Church. The Protestants were persecuted because they interpreted the Bible differently than the Catholics. The Protestants then used these new interpretations of the Bible to try and change the Catholic Church. Some of the changes they wanted were to eliminate indulgences, reduce the sacraments from the seven to only baptisms and communion, and to use scripture alone as the primary guide for faith. The Catholic Church on the other hand wanted to keep indulgences, all seven sacraments, and to continue using scripture in conjunction with church teachings as the ultimate authority for faith (Moore 182-183). These differences led to an irreparable split between the two Christianities, with the Catholic Church declaring that the Protestants were. Conclusion In conclusion, these hostilities between Christian groups and between Christians and Non-Christians were very similar to the hostilities between the Puritans and Quakers. All of the hostilities had to do with different views on Christianity resulting in persecution of one of the Christian groups. These persecutions ranged from imprisonment, to excommunication, to banishment, or even to death. The Quakers had very different views on Christianity than the Puritans. Because the Puritans felt threatened by these differences, they persecuted the Quakers. This was very similar to many other persecutions throughout the history of Christianity. Christians when they were first forming had different viewpoints than non-Christians. Then as Christianity grew, factions of Christians separated because they had different viewpoints on how Christianity should be. This in turn led to the new groups of Christians, with the new viewpoints, who were often persecuted by the original group of Christians. While it may seem that the Puritans were especially harsh on the Quakers, it is obvious that they were not the only ones to use death and punishment to deter what they viewed as a threat to their way of life. When two groups of Christians have opposing viewpoints, and they both believe very strongly that they are right and the other group is wrong, this inevitably leads to hostilities between the two groups. If the hostilities are strong enough, there were likely to be punishments and maybe even death to deter and stop the spread of the opposing groups beliefs. These hostilities are likely to continue in the future as new revelations come about over what Christianity should be and what practices should be followed. Only time will tell what new Christianities will branch off of the vast array of Christian orders that are already established, but it is almost certain that new branches of Christianity will meet opposition and persecution from one or another of the already established br anches of Christianity.

Comparing of Shakespeares Othello and Volpone :: comparison compare contrast essays

Othello Compared to Jonson's Volpone  Ã‚   Both Othello and Volpone are set in Venice, well known for its wealth, power, and justice. Shakespeare called Venice the Whore of the Adriatic, for many different reasons: it is a port city, with many ships coming and going; it is also a corrupt city , with much pollution--not only of the actual enviornment but the soul as well. In Volpone the corruption that is planned between Volpone and Mosca is evident from the beginning. The two are taking advantage of their kinsmen's weaknesses--gullibility and an all-out lust for money. This is similar to Iago taking advantage of Othe llo's gullibility and jealousy in order to gain Desdemona. In Volpone, Mosca and Volpone are swindling people out of money while making them believe they are to become the sole heir of Volpone's vast riches when he dies. The situation is the same in Oth ello, but Iago longs for leadership capabilities and a title. Iago longs to be in charge of the Mercenaries as he believes he is more qualified for the position than Othello. Much of this is brought on by Othello's race and his love for Desdemona; he i s a Moor who loves a white woman. Both plays, being filled with bribery, deceit, lies and hate, are best set in Venice which shares many of the same traits. Another trait that is shared is the theme of prostituting women. Venice was known for its courtesan class, a group of well-dressed prostitutes. In both plays the virtue of a young woman is compromised by men seeking to increase their own fortunes. I n Volpone, Corvino makes a whore out of his wife Celia by offering her to the men around town, and in the play's climactic scene, to Volpone himself. In either instance, Corvino is thinking of his own financial gain and not of the injustice he brings to his wife.

Performance objectives Essay

Questions: 1. Discuss the significance of all of the five operations performance objectives (quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost) to VBA’s activities and explain which of these you consider to be the most important to build into the design of VBA’s processes 2. Explain how process technology helps this operation to achieve its objectives? 3. Sketch the flow of flowers in the VBA operation. Describe and explain what you think are the critical points in this flow? 1.1Objective Definition (Slack) Significance to VBA’ activities Rank Quality VBA’s service is based on the trust which it has established both with growers and buyers. This involves an implicit guarantee of the quality and freshness of the flowers. For example, VBA invest time and money into the laboratory services which give them the ability to assess flower quality levels. Without this quality guarantee buyers would not be willing to use the service. Speed Obviously the flowers cannot be kept within the total supply chain for too long, otherwise it would reduce their ‘shelf life’ when they†¦ Dependability In this case dependability means that a range and quantity of flowers are available for buyers to purchase if they wish and also that the company are able to guarantee to the growers that flowers will be available for sale at the time promised. Lack of dependability in terms of interruption to the supply of flowers would destroy the trust of both buyers and growers. Cost Cost is an important objective primarily to the company itself. The whole company’s operations are based on high volume. It is, after all, the largest operation of its type in the world. Also, the company have invested in the information technology and materials handling technology which standardizes the service, thus reducing costs further. However, cost is also important to the buyers. If the operation were not efficient, then the buyers may find it cheaper to buy directly from the growers. The transaction costs of VBA must be sufficiently low to prevent this happening. Flexibility United Flower Auctions, Aalsmeer Introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2CK2TatM_U We love getting flowers; they are a symbol of celebration. When you have achieved something, when you are turning 21, when you are in love, when you have graduated†¦ Flowers are big business in Holland. The ‘Verenigde Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer’ translates to the United Flower Auction in Aalsmeer. Most of the flowers purchased in the world are auctioned on a daily basis at the Aalsmeer facilities. This happens by bringing supply and demand together by means of the auction clock, a fascinating process during which large and small batches of flowers are sold within fractions of seconds. In five auction halls, over a thousand wholesalers bid on trainloads of flowers as they cruise slowly by. The flower auction in Aalsmeer is the largest trading center for plants and flowers in the world. Around 21 million flowers are sold daily with a 15% increase around occasions like Valentine’s Day and Mothers’ day. The building of the flower auction is only a stone’s throw from Schiphol airport and one of the largest buildings by floor space in the world, it boasts an area of more than 630,000 square meters – bigger than 120 football fields. The five operations performance objectives Performance objectives are the generic set of performance indicators that can be used to set the objectives or judge the performance of any type of the operation, although there are alternative lists proposed by different authorities, the five performance objectives as used in the book of Slack et al. (2010: 40) are quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. These performance objectives are the specific aspects of performance on which an operation is judged. What does the customer think is important? In the case of VBA, the operations performance objectives that are the most important to build into the design process are speed, quality and dependability (reliability). Speed: According to Slack et al. (2010: 42), ‘speed’ is the†¦ Answers to: â€Å"VBA United Flower Auction, Aarlsmeer, Holland† 1. Which of the five operations performance objectives (quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost) are the most important to build into the design of VBA’s process and why? To some extent, this is a matter of opinion. However, the company itself would place quality very much at the top of the list and flexibility towards the bottom, as follows: Quality: VBA’s service is based on the trust which it has established both with growers and buyers. This involves an implicit guarantee of the quality and freshness of the flowers. For example, VBA invest time and money into the laboratory services which give them the ability to assess flower quality levels. Without this quality guarantee buyers would not be willing to use the service. Cost: Cost is an important objective primarily to the company itself. The whole company’s operations are based on high volume. It is, after all, the largest operation of its type in the world. Also, the company have invested in the information technology and materials handling technology which standardizes the service, thus reducing costs further. However, cost is also important to the buyers. If the operation were not efficient, then the buyers may find it  cheaper to buy directly from the growers. The transaction costs of VBA must be sufficiently low to prevent this happening. Dependability: In this case dependability means that a range and quantity of flowers are available for buyers to purchase if they wish and also that the company are able to guarantee to the growers that flowers will be available for sale at the time promised. Lack of dependability in terms of interruption to the supply of flowers would destroy the trust of both buyers and growers. Speed: Speed is only important up to a point. Obviously the flowers cannot be kept within the total supply chain for too long, otherwise it would reduce their ‘shelf life’ when they†¦ 1) Analysing VBA’s main activity it is possible to clearly define the 5 operations performance objectives and which of these are the most important for the company’s business and to maintain a leadership position in the sector. the company itself would place quality very much at the top of the list and flexibility towards the bottom, as follows: QUALITY: VBA’s service is based on the trust which it has established both with growers and buyers. This involves an implicit guarantee of the quality and freshness of the flowers: ïÆ'   a quality inspection is in fact made by VBA staff to check if the characteristics of the flowers are conformant to the description entered on the delivery forms by the grower, that are attached to each trolley. ïÆ'   to maintain the flowers fresh and in perfect conditions VBA helds the flowers in cooled storage areas to avoid them to perish Without this quality guarantee buyers would not be willing to use the service. Doing things right by providing error free goods and services, which will satisfy the customers, is known as ‘quality’. VBA operations have to export their flowers to be perishable and so they made the quality inspection by VBA staff and kept in cool storage place. COST: Cost is another very important objective to the company itself. VBA manages to operate with very low costs (about 5% of the turnover). LowCost is also  important to the buyers. If the operation were not efficient, then the buyers may find it cheaper to buy directly from the growers. The transaction costs of VBA must be sufficiently low to prevent this happening. To achieve this performance objective, that allows very high profit for the company, VBA has invested in the information technology and materials handling technology. This standardizes the service and is able to deal with the complexity of the operation due to the high volumesïÆ'   every day in fact there are 17 million cut flowers and two million plants to handle. ompanies compete with prices is ‘cost’. Low price is a universal attractive objective to customers, which can be achieved by producing goods at lower costs. In order to ‘do things cheaply’. The high level of computerization and automation of material flow allow VBA to operate with low cost at high speed and dependability. SPEED: Thanks to its developed process technology VBA manages to achieve another important performance objective: speed. Obviously the flowers cannot be kept within the total supply chain for too long, otherwise it would reduce their ‘shelf life’. For this reason it is important to do things quickly in response to customer demand. This objective is fundamental together with quality and cost because it allows VBA to handle about 1000 transactions per hour with 13 clocks, making it very convenient for the grower aswell. erformance objective speed means doing fast, it means to minimize the time between the order and the availability of the product or service that gives the customer speed advantage.VBA are focused operations to reduce difficulty by having ten thousand people to work at the center to handle seventeen million flowers and two million plants by their information processing technology. DEPENDABILITY : The ability to deliver products and services in accordance with promises made to customers is another important performance objective for VBA. In this case dependability means that: a range and quantity of flowers are available for buyers to purchase if and  when they wish that VBA is able to guarantee to the growers that flowers will be available for sale at the time promisedïÆ'   that the flowers will be in the shops in Holland, London, Paris, Berlin and New York as soon as possible, for the customers to buy them. Lack of dependability in terms of interruption to the supply of flowers would destroy the trust of both buyers and growers. To do the things in time for customers to receive their goods or services when they are promised this performance objective known as dependability. In VBA everything tiered to the auction computer so that each buyer can have uninterrupted view of the flower and price. FLEXIBILITY: regarding this performance objective, the flexibility can be measured in the capability of responding to a dynamic environment, changing their products and services and changing the way they do business. The whole bidding process by VBA including processing time takes only a few seconds and the lots are distributed on the trolleys to the appropriate packing and loading Ares.

Global Warming Speech Essay

Global warming is a major concern to anybody who understands the threat it poses to our society. Recently many ideas have been discussed about ways to stop or slow down the process. One of the biggest issues is considering nuclear power stations, which some optimistics believe will cure or completely resolve the issue of slowing global warming to the absolute minimal. But we ask ourselves are nuclear power plants the best option? Have we spent enough time studying alternatives to eliminate them completely? Alternatives such as wind turbines, wave power and combined heat and power systems would by far be a better and safer approach to slowing down global warming. Some of our erudite friends may argue that other countries like Germany have devastated their countryside with wind farms. That may very well be so, but do looks really matter so much that we would willingly reduce the time man lives on earth for a little extra greenery? We know for a fact that a program of energy efficiency could save twice as much as nuclear power at just a fraction of the cost, and what’s more we can start energy efficiency immediately. As per previous experiences we have witnessed that nuclear power stations are expensive, dangerous and dirty. That in comparison to combined heat and power systems which are cheaper, cleaner and safer. Which would you prefer? There are of course other risks. If a plane was to crash in a nuclear power plant the outcome would be unthinkable. The supporters of such plants may argue that apart from those on the plane and the plant workers, no one else would be injured. Suppose the plane hits a venerable part of the power plant, the chance that dangerous gases could be exposed into the air that we breathe is rather high, and the outcome would be unimaginable. Previously we have seen men die from illnesses at a much later date than the actual disasters and also we have witnessed families suffer for many yrs afterwards. The effects become in a sense hereditary, through generations. Time is also a major issue. Building nuclear power plants could take up to 10 yrs with all the planning and authority approvals needed. Even though the French seem to have done so in 4-5 yrs we must remember that the procedures are different in every country. Where the French do not find it necessary to include the people in their decisions the British believe in involving us into every decision made. This will make it harder to keep the timing a minimal as every aspect of the procedure will be considered thoroughly from both, the political side and the public view. As we know from previous experience the public are not hugely in favour of global warming. Why after all that has been said would any sane individual even consider Nuclear power is beyond me? I plead with you to make global warming a thing of the past using healthy methods and hope that I have made the dangers of global warming convincing enough to make you reconsider whose side you’re on. Nuclear Power or Energy Efficiency, THE CHOICE IS YOURS!