Write up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Write up - Essay Example The focus of the company was to provide an end-to-end package of medical device contract manufacturing services. MDCM was renowned for its ability to produce highly customized versions for unique applications of specialized equipment, self designed and fabricated, used in the assembly of medical devices. MDCM is one of the largest companies in the contract manufacturing and packaging services sector of the medical devices industry. The firm’s success can highly be attributed to its close partnership with its customers that had produced tremendous customer satisfaction. MDCM’s record of winning over customers have led to its tremendous growth which allowed the company to expand and grow its geographical reach through acquisition within the country and now the company derived 40% of its revenues from eight of its largest accounts. Today despite the victory the company has achieved over the past decades, the evolving and unpredictability and high level competency in the global market, the company had announced its fifth consecutive quarterly loss with net losses amounting to thirty three million dollars. Despite the acquisition and expansion the company was not able to catch up to the global capabilities of other competitors that called for changes in growth strategy. The expansions and acquisitions could not be realized since the company has let these companies operate on their own believing that by letting these acquired companies operate on the basis of self autonomy to better cater to the local customers. Thus there was no unified system for the global MDCM Corporation that would have let it operated under one system of standard operations and procedures leading to a worst operating and profit margins. There was poor coordination since the all other companies under the corporation operates independently th at led to poorly controlled unified operations. The MDCM Inc. falls under the quadrant, responsive

The Punic Wars Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Punic Wars - Research Paper Example However, the two strong rivals in power engaged in war, specifically in the Punic Wars, which was a series of three wars where Carthage was defeated by Rome three times. Carthage was defeated not only because of poor strategy but also because of corruption in its government. On the other hand, Rome won because of its military and political brilliance and sense of unity among its people and military groups. The First Punic War The first Punic War was fought by Rome and Carthage between 264 and 241 BC. It is interesting to note that by 275 BC, Rome had already conquered all of Italy and its goal was to prevent the neighboring countries from getting -------------- 1William C. Morey, The First Punic War, Forum Romanum, 2013. 2Ibid. 3Ibid. 4Ibid. hold of any Roman territory especially Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. The first Punic War broke out in Messina, Sicily when the Mamertines, or the Roman mercenary soldiers who were employed by the Syracusan tyrant Agathocles, and who were in contr ol of Messana or Messina, were attacked by the Syracusan forces under Hiero II, the Greek Sicilian king. Upon the attach of the forces of Hiero II, the Mamertines called in Rome for help while Hiero II appealed to Carthage and joined the forces of Hanno the Punic, who just landed in Sicily5. Since Rome and Carthage both had interests in Sicily, the war began and continued for the next 24 years. The final victory of Rome was in the sea on March 10, 241 BC, specifically in the naval battle off the western coast of Sicily. During this time, Rome gained mastery of the sea. As a consequence of defeat, Carthage gave up Sicily and the other islands to the Roman Empire. The Second Punic War Between the years 241 and 218 BC, before the second Punic Wars broke out in 218 BC, the Carthaginians experienced what is known as â€Å"aggressive and unjustified†6 actions against Rome, as stated by the Greek historian Polybius. The treaty that Rome signed with Carthage after the defeat of the l atter was actually breached by Rome as the Romans occupied Sardinia. Rome threatened ----------- 5The Punic Wars, Latin Library, 2013. 6Ibid. Carthage with war and even ceded Sardinia and Corsica and forced Carthage to pay an indemnity. The skirmishes between Rome and the Punic forces in Italy weakened the latter, and the latter had no desire of responding to Rome with war7. As a response to this, the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca occupied Spain in 237 with an army for the purpose of opening new markets as well as for creating a new Carthaginian base for its operations. Hamilcar Barca militarized Spain and this militarization was continued by Hasdrubal and Hannibal and Barca’s son-in-law Hasdrubal. When Hannibal conquered Sagunto, Spain, which was a Roman stronghold, Rome declared another war against Carthage8. Hannibal was placed as the head of the army in 221. In 219, Hannibal seized Sagunto or Saguntum. During this time, the Romans in Rome issued an ultimatum demandi ng the Carthaginian council to surrender Hannibal, but Rome was not obeyed and the council supported Hannibal and accepted the offer of war9. The second Punic War broke out in 218 BC and it is considered as â€Å"one of the greatest military conflicts of the ancient world†10. The series of strategies of the Carthaginian general Hannibal until he was defeated are worth mentioning. The first victory of Hannibal was near

Nevada &import fossil fuels Essay Example for Free

Nevada import fossil fuels Essay I do not think that importation of fossil fuels can sustain the way of life of people Nevada for longer period of time. Firstly, the production of fossil fuels, as well as its use, has environmental disadvantages. As Nevada uses this kind of energy source, people will suffer from different ailments caused by the carbon dioxide produced while converting fossil fuel into energy. What is the use of energy if people will suffer from unhealthy environment? Secondly, fossil fuels take millions of years to be produced and it is non-renewable. Sooner or later, the sources will be depleted and the need to look for alternatives is a must. Second, what things do you think the state government can do to reduce dependence on fossil fuels? To reduce dependence on fossil fuels, the state government may try to pass policies that will encourage investors to create infrastructures that will be home to plants of renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, geothermal, nuclear and others. Third, identify 3 conservation techniques that we can do immediately as individuals to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels? To decrement the amount of energy being used, the following are 3 conservation techniques that may be used: 1) Residents of the state should save energy being used at home. Home appliances and equipment should be turned off and unplugged when not in use. Also, if the weather is fine, they may not use their air-conditioning units. 2) Commercial buildings in the state should be designed to favor good natural ventilation and lighting. 3) Instead of using energy-burning vehicles in going to near places, people may try walking or riding bicycles. Finally, admit to whether you actually utilize any of these conservation methods! The aforementioned conservation methods are very practical. I utilize those methods without such a big effort. In simple ways, we can help the state reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power

Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power Do the advantages of using nuclear power outweigh the disadvantages and thus making it a safe and economical method of generating electricity? At this time it is believed that there are far more disadvantages than advantages when it comes to the use of nuclear power. This report will list the advantages and disadvantages and prove that nuclear power is the next stepping stone in technological advancements and a cleaner future. HYPOTHESIS The advantages of utilizing nuclear power will by far demean the disadvantages and therefore prove that it will be beneficial to make use of nuclear power as an energy source. DISCUSSION ADVANTAGES One of the main advantages of nuclear power is that it does not emit a large quantity of green house gases such as CO2 [1] [2] and thus does not contribute to global warming. In turn this allows for a cleaner global environment. As seen in the below diagram, Coal-fired power stations release 5912000 tons of CO2 per year. Nuclear power stations use less than a twenty-fifth of that because they only release 230000 tons of CO2 per year. Therefore in the environmental aspect, nuclear power is safe and beneficial for the world s future. Figure 1: A graph of the CO2 Emission by Each Power Source Another advantage of nuclear power is that it has relatively low costs involved in its production [5]. It yields much more electrical energy for each unit of nuclear fuel (uranium rods) used than the conventional fossil fuel power stations (coal) [1] [2]. Due to this it will also cost less to ascertain the resources needed to produce the same amount of energy as fossil fuels as is made evident in the below graph. This results in nuclear fuel costing much less per kilowatt hour for a consumer than any other method of producing electricity [fig. 2]. Therefore nuclear power will be economically beneficial for the world s electricity consuming population. Figure 2: A graph showing the US Electricity Production Costs for 1995 2008 An organization known as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is in place to ensure that all nuclear power stations and nuclear activity which occur anywhere in the world is done without error which ultimately makes the use of nuclear power a safer option [7]. They implement standards and regulations which must be adhered to by all nuclear facilities [7]. One of their main tasks is to oversee the installation of the nuclear systems and transportation of nuclear materials to insure safety and security [7]. These monitoring protocols allow the usage of nuclear energy to be safe and secure. Over time improved designs have come about for nuclear reactors such as the advanced reactor in Japan which has been operating since 1996 [6]. The major safety feature in this reactor is its passive safety system. In the event of a malfunction, no intervention from an operator is required thus eliminating the chance of a human error [6]. If this type safety feature was to be implemented in all the current and future nuclear reactors, it would significantly enhance the safety of the nuclear plants. There is a variety of safety features for nuclear reactors one of which is the three barriers between the fuel rods and the environment [6]. The fuel rods are in a solid ceramic pellet which forms the first barrier [6]. These pellets are inside a closed zirconium tube, which forms the second barrier [6]. The final barrier is the containment of the fuel rods. They are stored in a steel pressure vessel and this vessel has walls up to 30cm thick therefore preventing all radioactive radiation from escaping. Other than those safety barriers the whole containment structure has one meter thick reinforced concrete walls [6]. Thus in the event of a human error there are provisions in place to minimize the severity of the error. These measures will increase the safety of using nuclear power plants even more. DISADVANTAGES The technology and resources used for producing nuclear power can also be used in malicious activities such as illegal nuclear weapons manufacturing [1]. The IAEA has a security area specifically implemented to eliminate such events. It protects the transport and installations of nuclear substances so that they cannot be used for the above mentioned malicious activities [7]. Therefore this is no longer a major disadvantage of using nuclear power. There is a possibility of a nuclear reactor melting down due to human error or bad maintenance. This will result in environmental destruction and/or human casualties [2]. If a human is exposed to a radioactive substance then it is likely that that person and their future generations could suffer from genetic deformities. In the last 50 years there have only been two serious nuclear catastrophes: The Three Mile Island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986). In the Three Mile Island incident the radiation was contained and there were no subsequent environmental or health problems. There have been ten other meltdowns but they were mostly a part of a military or an experimental reactor and they did not result in any hazards on the reactor s surroundings. The first nuclear power station ever created was at Calder Hall in England [10]. It was created in 1956 and has had no operational problems since [10]. This indicates that nuclear reactors can be very safe and therefore beneficial. One of the requi rements of a nuclear reactor is to ensure that a core meltdown must be restricted to the nuclear plant therefore ensuring the safety of nearby residents and the environment. It can thus be deducted that in the event of a reactor meltdown, our safety will not be compromised therefore human or accidental error are not a devastating issue. Terrorism is a huge concern in relation to nuclear reactors especially since the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York [3]. The concern is that a terrorist will crash an airplane in to a nuclear reactor or radioactive waste plant but such nuclear facilities are some of the most terrorist attack resistant infrastructures built [6]. This is because of their robust design (one meter thick walls). Analysts have conducted experiments that have proved that nuclear facilities are terrorist proof. One of the experiments includes using a Boeing 767 and a penetrating missile when testing the strength of facility. Therefore nuclear reactors and radioactive waste facilities are not prone to terrorist attacks. The earth s supply of nuclear fuel (uranium) is very limited and is only expected to last for another 30 to 60 years [2]. Because of the rate of technological developments, it is likely that a new source of electricity will be discovered within 30 to 60 years. With this in mind there is no reason to not use nuclear power in the meantime. A large disadvantage of nuclear power is that it takes about 20 to 30 years to create a nuclear power station (in western democracies) [2]. The planning and building is very time consuming [2]. This is not necessarily a bad thing because it decreases the chances of an error occurring which could have potentially lead to a meltdown accident or any other accidents occurring. This could also increase the quality of the power station s construction which therefore making the nuclear power station safe to use. CONCLUSION As can be seen from the above mentioned points, the use of nuclear power has numerous benefits, both in terms of economics and safety. One cannot deny the disadvantages to using nuclear power but there are solutions available, as showed above, that either negates the disadvantage or minimizes its severity. Therefore the advantages of using nuclear power outweigh the disadvantages by far, which makes nuclear power a safe, secure and economical option for generating of electricity. GLOSSARY Meltdown: When a nuclear reactor core overheats causing the encasement to melt thus allowing radiation to escape. Greenhouse gases: Gases that are produced by most traditional fuel sources which affect the ozone layer and the containment of heat within the Earth s atmosphere. Kilowatt: Is a unit used to measure power and is equal to 1000 watts. Fuel rods: A specialized container used to store nuclear fuel. Human error: An error which has occurred due to the incorrect intervention of human(s).

Stanley Kubrick: Artist, Explorer and Pioneer Essay -- Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick: Artist, Explorer and Pioneer Introduction The line between art and entertainment has become malleable in the last century. Critics of fine art define its quality by its message, innovation and complexity. Both are founded on intent to communicate. Art seeks to engage the viewer and generally attempts to tap into more complicated and rarer emotions. (Krush Web Site) Stanley Kubrick uses the medium of film to convey an understanding of the world around him. I see his work as art rather than entertainment and I propose his inclusion in Howard Gardner’s model of Multiple Intelligences. The basis of my argument lies in analysis of his work ethic, complexities, innovations and communication skills. Background Stanley Kubrick was born on July 26th, 1928. The Bronx New York was both his birthplace and childhood home. While there he had a relatively uneventful adolescence. His typical nuclear family was of Jewish faith and consisted of a sister, Barbara, six years his younger, a mother, Gertrude, and a father, Jakob. His father was a doctor and instrumental in building the path Kubrick would later follow. His performance in academics was far from spectacular. Kubrick left high school without graduating at 17. His cumulative average was a 67. While in school, Physics was the only subject in which he excelled (his love of machines and movement are apparent in his later endeavors). But the time he spent in William Howard Taft High School was far from fruitless. On his 13th birthday he received a camera from his father. This led to a love of photography – he was the official photographer for the school and was even exhibited. At an early age Stanley had an eye for composition, subjects and themes. It was o... ... an audience and those luck enough to work with him, is hidden in the complexities of his work. Although he has touched some of the established genres of film, his style is all his own. His movies continually arouse critical analysis and raise questions about the state of humankind. Stanley Kubrick’s gifts to society will be remembered as frighteningly truthful and creative. Works Cited: Ciment, Michel. Kubrick. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. 1980. DeVries, Daniel. Film of Stanley Kubrick. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids. 1973. Gardner, Howard. Creating Minds. Basic Books: A Division of Harber Collins Publishers, New York. 1993. Nelson, Thomas Allen. Kubrick: Inside a Film ArtistUs Maze. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. 1982. Walker, Alexander. Stanley Kubrick Directs. Harcourt Brace Jovanovick, Inc, New York. 1971.

John Adams Essays -- essays research papers

John Adams, who became the second president of the United States, has been accused by some historians of being the closest thing America ever had to a dictator or monarch (Onuf, 1993). Such strong accusations should be examined in the context of the era in which Mr. Adams lived and served. A closer examination of the historical events occurring during his vice presidency and his term as president, strongly suggests that Adams was not, in fact, a dictator. Indeed, except for his lack of charisma and political charm, Adams had a very successful political career before joining the new national government. He was, moreover, highly sought after as a public servant during the early formation of the new federal power (Ferling, 1992). Adams was a well educated, seasoned patriot, and experienced diplomat. He was the runner-up in the election in which George Washington was selected the first United States President. According to the electoral-college system of that time, the second candidate with the most electoral votes became the Vice President (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). As president, Washington appointed, among others, two influential political leaders to his original cabinet; Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson, a veteran politician became the Secretary of State and Hamiliton, a young, outspoken New Yorker lawyer, became the Secretary of the Treasury (Ferling, 1992). Jefferson, like Adams, had also signed the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, however, was the only cabinet member relatively unknown to Adams (Ferling, 1992). It was Hamilton, nonetheless, who excelled during this new administration by initiating numerous, innovative, and often controversial programs, many of which were quite successful. Adams and Hamilton were both Federalists. Unlike Hamiliton, Adams was more moderate (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). During this first administration, Adams and Hamilton quarreled (Washington Retires, 1995), and Adams contemptuously began referring to Hamilton as â€Å"his puppyhood† (DeCarolis, 1995). This created a rift in the administration, for Washington generally favored Hamiliton (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975), and disregarded Adams (Ferling, 1992). Hamilton also went to great lengths to drive Jefferson out of the cabinet (Allison, 1966). Jefferson did finally, indeed, resign from the cabinet. The Federalists â€Å"party,† of which Hamiliton w... ...larity in the latter part of his term. It should also be pointed out that though the Sedition Act was anti-democratic in practice, Thomas Jefferson, who defeated Adams, used it against the Federalists in 1803 (People v. Croswell) and indicted a publisher (DeCarolis, 1995). Jefferson was not accused of being a dictator for such non-democratic actions. Adams was neither dictatorial in his conduct, or imperial in his policies. He appeared to have had the interest of the common people at heart. The conflict with France, the high taxes needed to keep the army and navy operating, and the poor legislative faux pas Congress made during period time, all cast a negative reflection on President Adams. This provided his opponents, like Hamilton, Burr, and even Jefferson, with political leverage to use against him, just as politicians and political parties do in our own modern era. If Adams were a dictator, then one must ask would the citizens elect his son to be the future president, twenty-four years later? Or, how his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, became America’s minister to London. Apparently the citizenry remembered President Adams in a positive, democratic way, and not as a dictator.

Case Study Nike Essay

1. How does Nike’s decision to retain an in-house arm of ad agency Wieden & Kennedy exemplify the concept of organizational design? The decision to retain an in-house arm of ad agency exemplify the concept of organizational design, makes you look at how both companies interpret organizational design. Organizational design is the process of creating structures that accomplish the company’s missions and objectives. First looking at the text, you interpret the Nike’s mission is to design products that will have an outcome of a positive image and that positive image will encourage consumers to purchase Nike products. This shows you that Nike’s image is one of the most viable and important aspects for their company’s success. Which would leave to the following aspects of customer satisfaction, because without that I could potentially ruin Nike’s positive image that they strive so much for. Another factor that plays into this positive image would be advertising. Advertising is an important factor because helps the company showcase their â€Å"consumer-aimed† designs to the public. â€Å"Nike recently spent nearly $2.5 billion annually on advertising.† This textbook reference perfectly displays Nike’s commitment to their positive brand image. Nike’s current advertising agency, Wieden & Kennedy has portrayed this image successfully in the past and currently. This success was show by Nike providing them with â€Å"in-house arms† at the Nike headquarters. By Nike displaying this affection of placing a core contributor to their mission of having a positive image and taking placing them into their headquarters, embodies the concept of organizational design. Not only does is embody the concept is gives the advertising agency the opportunity to have access to Nike’s executive officers, all other employee’s that fall under the top-down and bottom-up structures of change. Which will stimulate Weiden & Kennedy form to better and personalize  marketing strategies and divisional structure for Nike’s mission and purpose to give them the competitive advantage that they have and strive for. 2. Given the problems Nike has had with sweatshop labor being used by some of its foreign contractors, are there parts of the firm that need to be run with a mechanistic rather than organic design? Give examples to support your answer. In my opinion, Nike should run with a mechanistic design rather than organic. They should do this because when looking at the manufacturing departments that Nike employs it is common knowledge that they companies may not provide nor have the basic necessities that would be implemented by labor laws. Now, seeing that mechanistically control is exceedingly bureaucratic is only proves that this needs to happen within outsourcing departments. Nike should have more restricted limits of control to keep them on task when employing these realities of outsourcing. The association with sweatshops is a big deal alone, and Nike is being accused of allowing then to be employed within their company. Looking back at the question above, this would impact their mission of having a positive image as a while. Referring to the text: Nike refused and refuted to comments made by the critics. Nike will destroy their mission of wanting a positive image, when being associated with allowing sweatshops and unsatisfactory work conditions. When looking at prevention of this negative image, you would have to go to the employees who watch the outsourcing and construct and organize the business dealing with the manufacturing firms. Like stated before they should have personalized and centralized tasks and authority at all times. A way they could implement this in there current situation would be appointing Hannah Jones a Nike executive to watch over the efforts of improvements in the factories working and labor conditions. She could do this by simply appointing a position below hers to watch over a specific issue at a time and report back to her. This would give her department power of what is occurring in these manufacturing companies that Nike as a whole  has decided to outsource to. The manufacturing companies involved with Nike’s brand image and business, as a whole should be required to follow Nike’s standards of ethics. When referring back to organizational design, extreme use of supervision is key. Even if Nike were to implement the idea of taking action of supervising every factory to focus of labor issues alone, it would give them the information needed to know if they should be outsourcing with those manufacturing departments. This could lead to the manufacturing departments actually taking that information and collaborating to have well trained and the proper authority to give them the expectations needed.