Saturday, January 18, 2020

How It Alters the Teen’s Future

Teen pregnancy is a thing that ultimately alters a teens future forever with negative side effects, In the United States, 2. 800 teenagers become pregnant each day. When I graduated in 201 1; out of al the girls I graduated with 10 of those girls have had babies. one of them Just had her second baby this year. think more needs to be done to make girls realize that it affects their future, their children's, the baby's tamer. and other tamily members. I couldn't Imagine having a baby at this age. My cousin became a teen mom at the age of 19 with her long time boyfriend.But, I see the struggle they have to make money to pay the bills. He works two jobs to support her and their child because child care Is so expensive. They don't regret having their son, but they regret dropping out of college. Teen pregnancy Is the leading reason teen girls drop out of school. More than half of teen mothers never graduate. of them earn a college degree by the time their 30. About d quarter of them have d second child within two years of their first. Teenage girls in relationships with older boys are more likely to become pregnant, han a teenage girl In a relationship with a boy her own age.Poverty Is associated with increased rates of teen pregnancy. 80 % of teen mothers have to go on welfare at some point due to less than one third of teen mothers receive no child support. Girls whose mother or older sister gave birth as d teen are more likely to get pregnant themselves. Teenage parents who can rely on family and community support, social services and child care are more likely to continue with their education and get a higher paying job as they progress with their education. In the united States alone 820. 00 teens become pregnant each year.Birth rate in the United States is the highest in the developed world and teen abortion rate Is also higi-n In 2006, the united States teen rate rose for the first time in fourteen years. Canada also trended towards a steady decline for both 15- 17 and older 18 – 19 teens in the period of 1992 – 2002. Majority of teenage mothers are not married to the tatner ot their children. Babies born to teenagers are at risk for neglect and abuse because their young mothers ere uncertain about their roles and may be frustrated by the constant emand of care taking.Children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely with low birth weight. They're at a higher risk tor intellectual, language, socio – emotional, development disabilities and behavioural issues are increased. Children of teen mothers have a 31 % incidence of depression and a 25% risk of parenthood as a teen. Mothers are less likely to stimulate their infant through affectionate behaviours such as touch, smile, smiling and verbal communication or to be sensltlve and accepting their needs.Teen parents don't have the Intellectual or erformance in children of teenage mother also been noted with many of them being more likely to fail to graduat e high school, be held back a grade level or score low on standardised test. As a son born, to a young woman in her teens is three times more likely to spend time in prison. Only 20% of teen fathers marry the mother of their child, many teen mothers continue to live at home with their parents. Teen fathers may continue a relationship with the babys mother but its common the relationship to end and when it does many fathers don't have much interaction with their children.Teen dads are less likely to earn a high school diploma; the failure to graduate can be due to finical pressure resulting form having a baby to take care of. Despite the stereotype, there is increasing evidence that teen fathers want to be (and are) involved with their children, though this involvement may not always include financial support. Young fathers are more likely to have economic and employment challenges and are more often economically disadvantaged than adult fathers. A large percentage of fathers involve d in teen pregnancies are 20 years or older.Teen pregnancy and motherhood can influence younger siblings. One study found that younger sisters of teen mothers were less likely to emphasise the importance of education and employment. Younger brothers too, were found to be more tolerant of non- martial and early births in addition to being more susceptible to high risk behaviours. Many programs available for teen moms are based on income. If the teen mom's parents earn above the minimum income, the teen may be denied services which leaves the burden of the costs on the parents.Teen pregnancy has a negative affect on their children, the teen mothers, and teen fathers. More needs to be done to prevent teen pregnancy more education and guidance from parents. Also, more needs to be done to help teens who become pregnant and the teen fathers. I don't think theirs enough done for teen dads. With more support groups, financial help, helping with them (teen moms and fathers) graduating and ge tting their diploma. They shouldn't be shamed because they become pregnant at a young age, they should get the opportunity to graduate and have a better life for them and their child.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Debeers Case Study/Pov

C. Lo April 11, 2013 DeBeers Consolidated Mines Ltd. 1st POV Situation: DeBeers Consolidated Mines Limited (DBCM) occupies a major presence in the diamond industry. Discoveries of diamonds in the late 1800s were pioneered in South Africa, in which DeBeers held a heavy monopoly over. Since then, they have cultivated an impressive track record and leadership position. The Central Selling Organization (CSO) controls and regulates the flow and sale of rough diamonds, and was acquired by DeBeers in the 1930s. Due to a stable economy both locally and internationally, DBCM was the world’s largest producer and distributor of diamonds in late 1998.However, just before the turn of the century, globalization and developments in international markets had affected all industries of business. This enlarged economy attracted and enabled emerging and junior companies to increase mining competition. Demand for this area of commerce became subject to volatility due to market expansion, in addit ion to the fact that continued existence of such a market was solely linked to disposable consumer income. Problem: The problem at hand concerns the degree of control over rough diamonds and the industry.With increasing market placeholder and pressures from emerging competitors and the attention brought to regulating environmental impact of diamond mines, DeBeers needed to secure their place in the industry and do it without losing significant margins of profit or resources. By 1999, DeBeers Consolidated had a notorious name and major domination of the rough diamond market, with over half of the world’s rough diamonds mined by DBCM, several joint ventures with non-competitors, unparalleled knowledge and assets, and control of over 70 percent of all diamond sales worldwide.DeBeers needed to differentiate themselves from new entrants as well as establish a secure route of long-term control over their precious commodity. Cause: As previously mentioned, the turn of the century ex perienced increasing globalization of the marketplace for not only diamonds, but also all other commodities. This had both positive and negative effects on business. Centralizing focus on the aspects that raised concern were the unfamiliar position of vulnerability in a market DeBeers had dominated for years, as well as the demolition of barriers to entry that existed prior to the market expansion.Remarkably, the aging diamond industry actually produced increases in the prices and value associated with diamonds. Clever promotional and marketing campaigns were the major source of both domestic (U. S. ) and international success in the sincerity and symbolism of what a diamond represented – love. Though DeBeers essentially pioneered the entire culture and reputation of the diamond, the legwork was already done for emerging and junior companies trying to get in on the train of success and profit that DeBeers had trekked alone on for nearly a century.Uncertainty of demand with su ch an increase in possible demand location made for rising concern over the control DeBeers had been used to. Alternative Solutions: 1. The first solution is to continue with what they are doing presently. Without suffering significant losses and without any real singular threats in the realm of competition, DeBeers could exist and continue to be the dominating presence in the diamond industry with their extensive track record and what one asset that no company or amount of time could take away from them – their name.The brand of DeBeers has been generated over years through being in business as the industry leader, through upholding the position of premier diamond resourcer both in domestic and international markets, and for coining the creation and reputation of what the diamond represents is infallible. Continuing on this road with their secured allies, assets and realm of control is more than enough to keep their company a household name. 2. The second solution is to simp ly repeat history.In the past, when presented with a threat like that of the discovery of mines in Siberia, DBCM dipped into their comfortable cushion of finances and bought up all inventory from Russia. This way, DeBeers kept relatively complete control over the diamonds, and swiftly eliminated any possibility of an environmental industry threat toward their future profits, resources or market share. To be straightforward, DBCM decided to follow a motto of â€Å"rather than compete, make sure to make threats obsolete. † Along the same lines, DeBeers also has a history of making alliances for their monopolistic enefit. In the event of mining resources in Botswana, Africa, government 15 percent share was made in DeBeers in 1969. The government licenses that DBCM had compiled over time gave them necessary access and authority to set mining firms in a country where mining availability was plentiful, but availability of entry and control like that of what DeBeers had generated, w as not. 3. The third solution is to liquidate those assets or areas of the company where industry benefit was incomparable to the kind of revenue that the retail and raw diamond sectors brought in.For example, we will turn to what the present economies of countries where DeBeers has a hand in the market, and what the future of those economies looks to be. Asia, China specifically, has a stable economy with the potential for continuous growth, and a future of prosperity where the DeBeers marketing campaigns could be highly successful. With a consumer-base that is likely to have the disposable income to spend on commodities like diamonds, it may be wiser to concentrate efforts in Asia.On the other hand, both the present and future state of the euro is volatile. With such a great deal of uncertainty, it may be conducive in the long run to pull out of the European market, or at least in areas of the market where the future of currency is vulnerable to a decline in value. Decision: The b est alternative solution would be the third, to move away from markets where the economic state is either currently or heading towards instability, and to move toward those markets where the state of the economy is growing with promise for future stability.In comparison to the other alternatives, the third is more practical. Because uncertainty and volatility are the very aspects causing concern over the best course of action to be taken, the third solution actually takes action and implements both the opportunity for high risk and high reward. Pulling out of a market is not a move that DeBeers is used to, however, finding themselves in a sinking economy where losses could be more detrimental the longer they try to hold on could cause a major financial upset.Similarly, acquiring inventory or means of control over resources or markets does not necessarily mean the facilitation of revenue. Though giving up market control in one country would mean freeing up space for competitors to ga in control and so forth, profit, DeBeers can focus their energy on generating revenue in growing economies, and making their presence in those financially-stable countries that much stronger.Action Plan: Stakeholders, specifically shareholders who may have been originally attracted to invest in DeBeers due to their massive scope of control over the diamond industry, may not be welcoming to the idea of forfeiting control in some markets, however if they choose to stay on board, a year or two of focused campaigning and profit-generating in countries with growing economies can give them peace of mind. One way of keeping those control-driven shareholders on board with the idea is to share financial forecasts.Breaking the plan down into parts where stakeholders can visually see where costs will be cut, where assets will be allocated, and where revenues will be made could facilitate trust and loyalty to the go with this third alternative solution. Assembling a team to do just this would b e the first step in assuring stakeholders that it would be in their best interest to keep with DeBeers. This team would also be responsible for detailing DBCM’s annual 10K so as to keep financial stakeholders in the know of capital-related progress.Success would be determined by not only profit margins, but visualization of presence in these growing markets. If DeBeers has the ability to build more locations that generate community recognition and acceptance, it will show that planned focus in concentrated areas can be beneficial. References: http://www. businessinsider. com/history-of-de-beers-2011-12? op=1 http://www. bloomberg. com/quote/DBR:SJ http://hbr. org/product/de-beers-and-the-global-diamond-industry/an/905M40-PDF-ENG http://www. studymode. com/subjects/de-beers-consolidated-mines-page1. html http://www. slideshare. net/packetsdontlie/analysis-of-debeers

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Analysing the performance of Vedanta Resources - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 18 Words: 5273 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Case study Did you like this example? Vedanta resources is the first Indian company to be listed in the London stock exchange in December 2003. It is an FTSE 100 metals and mining company with its headquarters located in London, UK and is Indias largest non ferrous company based on their revenues. The company is principally situated in India, although they have possessions and operations in other locations such as Zambia and Australia. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Analysing the performance of Vedanta Resources" essay for you Create order Vedanta Resources is mainly invested in copper, zinc, Aluminium businesses, however the company is now adding to their portfolio by diversifying into a commercial power generation business. The group has experienced a significant growth in recent years on grounds of various expansions in projects owing to a world class resource base containing copper, zinc and Aluminium, the result of this being the acquisition of Sesa Goa in April 2007, which enabled them to penetrate into the iron ore market. Therefore the organization is actively participating in the iron ore, zinc, Aluminium and copper businesses. Vedanta has a precise vision and mission statement, vision being to be clear and committed so that they might become the market leaders in the non- ferrous market segment and their mission is to be a low cost, million-ton per annum producer, the ultimate goal however is to make the company a success, needless to say that such a mission will certainly put India on a global competi tive platform, in the metals and mining segment. The company has continuously demonstrated that they are able to bring in projects that are of high significance thereby contributing unmatched growth at minimum pricing while ensuring high returns to all their shareholders. Also, the organization makes certain that they meet the high conservative standards that are set, so that unjustifiable numbers are not shown in their balance sheets. Vedanta Resources deals with a diverse portfolio of mining and metals business as they make available eminent proceeds to their shareholders even as they make sure that they are socially and environmentally accountable, as the management keeps track of their employees health and safety, community issues and of their surroundings. Several of Vedanta Resources operations are authorized by International Management Systems Standard ISO 14001, proof of it being the many awards won by the company such as Recognition of Commitment Award from the In stitute of Internal Auditors, USA in 2005, Vedanta Resources being the only manufacturing company out of a total of four Indian companies to have ever received this award, not to mention the numerous safety and environment awards. To quote the chairman of Vedanta Resources, Mr.Anil Agrawal India is a fast-emerging and attractive resource destination, and we believe our strategy and business objectives will harness Indias high-quality wealth of mineral resources at low costs of development, positioning it as a leader on the global metals and mining map. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Vedanta is an emerging multinational conglomerate with many overseas operations. Its organizational structure is a complex one with many subsidiaries, governing board and a management committee. The governing board consists of executive and non executive directors. The executive board of directors consists of Mr. Anil Agarwal, Mr. Navin Agarwal and Mr. M S Metha. Mr. Anil Agarwal founded the company and is leading the company as the executive chairman. Mr. Navin Agarwal is the deputy executive chairman of Vedanta and looks after the corporate business strategy and responsible for overall performance and growth. He also heads the executive committee. Mr. M. S. Metha is the chief executive officer of Vedanta. He joined the conglomerate in the year 2000 and previously was working at Lloyds Steel Industries. The non executive board consists of Mr. Naresh Chandra, Mr. Aman Metha and Mr.Euan Macdonald. Mr. Naresh Chandra was a Padma Vibhushan award winner from the Government of India and he is an Indian Administrative Service officer. He joined the group in 2004 after holding many prestigious positions in India. Aman Metha also joined the group in 2004. Before that he was the CEO of HSBC. Euan Macdonald was the chairman of SBC Warburg India and specializes in emerging market finance. The management committee is lead by Mr. Navin Agarwal and consists of: COMMITTEE DESIGNATION TARUN JAIN PRESIDENT GROUP HUMAN RESOURCES DD JALAN WHOLE TIME DIRECTOR CEO ALUMINIUM BUSINESS MS METHA WHOLE TIME DIRECTOR BALCO P K MUKHERJEE DIRECTOR OPERATIONS KCM DILIP GOLANI COO HZL RAJAGOPAL K. KUMAR CEO COPPER ZINC BUSINESS AKHILESH JOSHI HEAD MANGT ASSURANCE FUNCTION J. JANAKARAJ CEO VEDANTA RESOURCES PRAMOD SURI CEO IRON ORE BUSINESS M SIDDIQI CFO VEDANTA RESOURCED A THIRUNAVUKKARASU DOF STERLITE Vedanta Resources plc. is the parent company with many subsidiaries operating in different sectors in differe nt names. Vedanta has interests in five main businesses. Each business is operated by one of its subsidiary. Below is the Vedanta resources plcs group tree. Copper Business: Copper business are run and operated by Sterlite Industries (India) Limited, Konkola Copper Mines Plc and Copper Mines of Tasmania, however, Vedanta holds 53.9%, 79.4% and 100% stakes respectively and management control in the above companies. The total copper business has an annual production of 678,412 tons and generates revenue of $4,012 million. The end products are the Continuous Cast Rods and Copper Cathodes. Copper from the copper mines are smelted using ISA process, one of the worlds leading technology in copper smelting. They have the latest version of CS 3000 Distributed Control System of Yokogawa from Japan to control the entire copper smelter. Aluminium Business: Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) and Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) are responsible for Aluminium business. Aluminium business has a total production capacity of 500,000 tons per annum. Vedanta has the controlling stakes of 70.5% in VAL and Sterlite, the subsidiary of Vedanta owns a stake of 51% and exercises management control. Currently the Aluminium business is under vigorous expansion and by 2012 it would become top five Aluminium producers in the world. The company produces metallurgical grade alumina and Aluminium ingots, billets and bars used for making buses. The Aluminium smelter used the advanced technical specifications of British Standard Institute (BSI). The company has bagged OHSAS 18001 certification for good health and protection standards. VAL unit has obtained ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certificates for quality production and management practices. These Aluminium complexes also have integrated power plants in them. Zinc business: Zinc business is wholly owned and operated by Hindustan Zinc limited (HZL). Vedanta own 64.9% of share capital in HZL. It has an annual production of 9,64,000 tons of zinc that generates revenue of $1,782 million. HZL is the worlds integrated second largest producer of Zinc and Lead. Apart from Zinc and Lead the plant also produces Silver, Cadmium and generates power. Silver and Cadmium are obtained as a byproduct of Lead and Zinc metal respectively. The equity shares of HZL are traded at the Indian stock exchange. The metals are refined and sold according to their quality. Iron ore business: The whole iron ore business is operated by its subsidiary Sesa Goa limited. Vedanta has a controlling stake of 57.1%. The company makes iron ore, pig iron and metallurgical coke. The company has a production capacity of 21.4 million tons of iron ore fines and lumps which generates revenue of $1221.7 million. Apart from these they also sell the in-house technology for coke making. They found new technology using vibro compaction to stabilize coal before using in the furnace for firing. Sesa Goas mines have ISO status for good management standards and safety. Commercial Power Generation business: This is a new business venture for Vedanta group and is run by its subsidiaries Sterlite Energy Limited (SEL) and Madras Aluminium Company Limited (MALCO). SEL is a 100% subsidiary of Sterlite Industries Ltd. As of now the excess power from its various plants are sold. Specialized commercial power generation plants are being set up in India. By the end of 2011 the power plants would become fully operational. Two plants are being set up with a combined generation of 4380MW per year. OPERATIONS OF VEDANTA RESOURCES PLC: CORPORATE STRATEGY Since its incorporation in 1976, Vedanta has been very successful in its operations. The current turnover of company is $ 7931 million. The success can be owed to the corporate strategy of Vedanta which can be explained as follows: Organic Development: This includes developing organizations own capabilities. It is done by making using of latest technology for manufacturing processes; spreading investments over a time, venturing the scope of entry in new markets, analyzing the ability of the company to enter them and then enter into such markets. Latest Technology for Mining Smelting Operations: Vedanta has been doing it by using highly advanced technology for manufacturing and designing. This helps in reducing the production costs and thereby gaining advantage to compete in the market. For e.g. The Sesa Goas team did a detailed experimentation involving studies on the temperature profile of the oven and redesigning the refractories. Followed by the systematic plant trials, it developed energy recovery coke making, an environment-friendly technology that is characterized low capital and operating cost, high energy recovery and capable of producing high quality metallurgical coke. Implementing cost reduction techniques: Veda nta has signed long-term contracts with suppliers of raw materials. This not only reduces production costs but also accounts for the continuous availability of resources without getting affected by market fluctuations. Launching Brownfield and Greenfield Projects: These form a very important consideration for a mining industry. Brownfield projects are abandoned sites that are available for industrial or commercial reuse. The development or expansions of such land is more difficult owing to contamination by earlier use. Greenfield projects are the ones which lack any constraints imposed by prior work. There is no need to demolish or remodel the structure. Vedanta has been investing in Brownfield and Greenfield projects for expansions. A 1.4 mtpa aluminium refinery project at Lanjigarh and an aluminium smelter of capacity 500,000 tpa both in state of Orissa, India are few of the Greenfield projects launched by the company. Entry in New Market: Also the company has now ventured i nto Commercial Power Generation. It recognised the tremendous scope in the industry for commercial power generation, in India. It has therefore started commercial power generation plants in Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Also these plants are locates at strategic positions, mainly in the coal rich zones of India, thereby facilitating transport and easy availability of coal. Consolidation of Group Structure: As shown above, Vedanta has many subsidiaries like KCM, Sterlite Industries India Ltd, Sesa Goa Ltd etc. Although it has the Holding Stocks and management control over all these, some of the stakes are owned by private investors. Vedanta is constantly trying to buyback it stock and purchase shares of all its subsidiaries. This would help in a consolidated group structure. The main advantage of it is ease in the management decisions. Mergers and Acquisitions: Since 2004, the Vedanta Resources had only one acquisition till date by acquiring the Madras Aluminium Co Ltd. While taking stake into consideration the Vedanta resources taken over 5 companies till finalization of balance sheet for 2010. Acquisitions include Konkola Copper Mines Plc. in 2004 and part in 2009 with a total of 79.4% stake, next Sterlite Gold Ltd and Finsider International Co Ltd both in the year 2007. Moreover, the company acquired approximately 25.8% by the outstanding common shares of Sterlite Gold on a fully-diluted basis. Also the company acquired Finsider International Co Ltd. Fully from a Japanese company called Mitsui Co at around USD 981 million. In the year 2009 the company acquired 51% of Sesa Goa Ltd, Indias largest producer-exporter of Iron-Ore in the private sector at INR 4070 Crore. Now, the Vedanta Resources are planning to acquire 60% stake in Crain India Company. The Cairn India is a leading player in Oil and Gas industry in India. Moreover, Crai n India is one the biggest private exploration and Production Company currently operating in India. Edinburgh based Crain Energy is holding a total of 62.37 percent stake in Crain India. According to the deal the Crain Energy will sell its stake to Vedanta Resources Plc for the deal amount of USD 9.6 billion at 405 INR per share. Successful acquisition of KCM, MALCO, Sterlite Gold Ltd and Sesa Goa has added substantial growth to the Vedanta as a whole. They are continue looking for a new growth and acquisition opportunities in the metal and mining sector and related opportunities in India and elsewhere. They are taking all these steps by keeping government privatization programmed in mind. Year Acquisition Stakes Divestitures 2010 0 0 0 2009 1 1 0 2008 0 1 0 2007 0 2 0 2006 0 0 0 2005 0 0 0 2004 0 1 0 TOTAL 1 5 0 PESTEL ANALYSIS Political Legal: As minerals are a nations wealth, the mining industry operates under the huge cloud of political and legal pressure. Mainly they are state owned or nationalized and involves a large and complicated process for licensing. The industry is very much regulated by governmental law that mainly focuses on labour and environmental factors. In the recent days, the increasing concern for environmental issues has made the government to pressurize the mining policies. Upon this the media focus is still more an added pressure for the mining industry. Even though the governments policies are mainly aimed to protect the resources but they also encourage exports by giving subsidies and encourage new technology developments. Economic: Mining is an industry that requires very high capital investment. Thus, interest rates make a major impact. Not all countries are rich in deposits of minerals; hence mining generally involves import and export of products. The exchange rates fluctuations are a dominant concern. The import taxes and international trade cycle are also important economic factors for the mining industry. Social: Being an industry that impacts the surrounding environment in areas of its operation, the support of the local community is of the most important and underlying factors for mining. Mining, though, a resource based industry, cannot be carried out in areas of high population because of the concerns that it may affect the public health. Mining has also been under the scanner of various activist groups over the recent years. The industry thus has also been attracting continuous media attention. Vedanta has been attracting a lot of media attention recently over ESG issues. Technology: The process involved in the mining industry right from the raw material transportation still export involves risky process. In those conditions the laws prevent the use of human resources that make the mining industry heavily dependent on technology. Recently the mines are using computerized machines that operates according to its program and automated conveyor belts to reach its specified destination i.e. harbor or warehouse. But still the underground mining relies mainly on human resource due to its complicated nature of mining. Environmental: Mining is an industry that affects and makes a negative impact on the environment during and after the process. Thus any mining activity has to go through a number of clearances and regulations concerning the environment. Almost all countries demand an investigation of its impact on the environment before any activity can start. PORTERS 5 FORCES ANALYSIS The following diagram gives the 5 Forces Analysis for Vedanta Resources: Threat of New Entrants: The threat of new entrants to Vedanta is very low. This is mainly because of high capital investments required. The limited resources in mining and the costs of exploration, the various government laws, the equipment required, additional costs incurred in rehabilitation of people living at mining sites etc all make it difficult for new entrants to venture in this industry. Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitutes also is low. This is mainly because metals are required basically for all types of manufacturing industries as an input. Even if substitution is considered, it has limited scope. Also the price/performance ratios of iron, aluminium etc is low, making the threat of substitutes even less. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The suppliers include the suppliers of raw materials required, that of equipment etc. There are very few suppliers and therefore their bargaining power is high. Also the cost of switching suppliers is high making it difficult to do so. Vedanta has entered into long term contracts with their suppliers, thus reducing the costs. It also ensures that Vedanta get supply of goods without being affected by market fluctuations. Bargaining Power of Buyers: This is low as the demand of the metals and metal products is very high. Also switching costs are high as the costumers normally have contracts with the company. Competitive Rivalry: Some of the competitors of Vedanta Group are Rio-Tinto, BHP Billiton Ltd, Grupo-Mexico, Hindalco etc. The competition is intense as every player is trying for their market share as the resources are becoming restricted and limited. SWOT ANALYSIS: A complete SWOT analysis of Vedanta Resources plc would provide a clear and unbiased strategic analysis of the companys strengths and weakness and potential opportunities and threats, this sort of analysis helps the business in understanding its partners, customers and competitors better. STRENGTHS: The strength can be determined by the fact that the company has assets that are global with respect to both scale and size; their low cost of production which makes the group competitive among its peers and the skill and experience that are incorporated in the nature of their assets is of high quality. Their recent growth in volume and the many measures that the group have taken in reducing costs has increased their cash flow considerably; The Company understands the fact that it is important to maintain a low leverage by enabling adequate liquidity and meeting all their financial obligations, possessing a strong vision, making strategic acquisitions and having an ability to think ah ead. They also understand the value of their employees which is a competitive advantage as its not easily reproducible like technology and the fact that they strive for excellence has only increased their strength. WEAKNESSES: Poor brand management, not giving importance to marketing of the company, keeping silent while a swarm of people accusing the company has increased trouble for the company. Therefore, the company must make all efforts in order to correct the problem before they run out of business and need to curtail their operations. OPPORTUNITIES: The opportunities for the group are many, success in the group will allow the company to compete globally. Several efforts are made by the company with respect to expansion of the company and growth and this can be clearly seen in the group on having acquired Sesa Goa, which makes it possible for the company to penetrate through the iron ore market and by making strategic decisions, will guarantee that Vedanta Resources trium phs. THREATS: The potential threats as reported by The Independent news paper is the fact that the human rights protestors that stood outside the companys building in their avatar costumes, outshone the companys accomplishments which is a major threat to the companys image. The backing out of the Church of England; only six months after researching into the company or Aviva who is one of their backers, who voted against them in three resolutions in board meeting which they attended. Vedanta however, denies the rumors concerning the pollution of Lanjugarh, or any breach in human rights, the encroachment of land in Nyamgiri Hills in Orissa and any other accusations that have been made against the company and they continue to contest any allegations made against the group. Although the rumors are overtaking their defensive stand and is causing a serious dent to the Vedanta Groups image. (The Independent, 2010) VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS: Established mines Modern machinery Ware houses in harbors n/a Corporate offices Low cost training Limited labor Management control In house Performance bonus Conveyor belts Integrated system n/a MARGIN n/a Own mines n/a Outsourced Private Low cost Quality Training, Own Raw material Technologically updated machinery, Fully automated, Computer controlled Direct contracts No promotion, supply led Low cost, High productivity COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: In terms of the competitive advantages for Vedanta resources Plc, Firstly, they have a mining site located where the availability of natural resources is high. Their production is done on the basis of the accessibility of the raw material. As the natural resources are highly available, the supply of the raw material and the cost of production can be low, and the cost of capital can be divided to sustain it in the current market. The raw material in the industry is nothing but the resources held by the group and as they located where there is a rich source of natural resources, not to mention the availability of cheap labour at their mining site which results in Vedanta having a low cost of production per unit leading the company to win an award for the low cost of production in year 2007. Culture of the society where there are located, is also well known by them so the adjustment to the market environment would not be an issue placing the company is a very advantageous position The company has also started their operations in power production unit. They had produced the power sufficient enough for their production and the excess production was sold out and this resulted to the investment in a power generation plant. Now they have obtained blocks for 112.2 million tons with the ministry of coal. They have signed a contract with Chhattisgarh government for the interested thermal and coal power generation plant for 1200 MW power capacity. India is fifth largest in the world for the bauxite with the reserve about of 2,600 million tones and for the coal reserves and for iron ore it is sixth. The most of the mining and smelting site for Vedanta resources are in India. This is advantageous for potential growth in the further prospective for the company. The following chart gives a view on where Vedanta stands in their contribution to the world: Name of the company Country % of Total output Vale Brazil 5.6% Anglo American United Ki ngdom 3.9% Newmont Mining United States 1.0% Vedanta Resources United Kingdom 0.7% Goldcorp Canada 0.5% Source: World Bank CORE COMPETENCE For Vedanta the core competence of their business strategy is developing low cost, with inexpensive skilled and educated labour. (Business Standard, 2008) In the mining industry, the high costs are to do with the investment in acquiring a mining site and costs need for production. However, Vedanta has reduced its cost of production owing to their location, which is rich in natural resources. The current production for the Aluminium is 1.4 mtpa which is planned to be increased by 6,00,000 tpa to reach is total production of 2 mtpa. The company aims at investing $ 9.8 Billion by which they will be the fifth mining company for Aluminium metal. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY In the present-day business scenario, Corporate Social responsibility (C.S.R.) and sustainability have become a very high-profile agenda in many countries and industries. Thus, due to the nature of its business, Corporate Social Responsibility is a pretty confound and complicated issue for Vedanta Resources Plc. The company has quite a mixed record on the social responsibility front. Nonetheless, the company has made certain valiant efforts to conduct their business in a socially responsible manner. Vedantas current C.S.R. agenda acknowledges the responsible management of the Environmental, Community, Health and Safety and Employee issues with respect to all of their operations. The companys Health, Safety and Environment (H.S.E) management framework administers the healthy and sound management of its operations. According to its current agenda, the company aims to reduce the impact of its activities on the environment. Efficient consumption of energy and water and use of recycl ed materials is one of its main motives. It has taken initiatives through its subsidiaries to fulfill its motives. Being a mining company, the health and safety of its employees and the community is a core concern for Vedanta. The company has a Health and Safety management framework and policies in place, which aim to ensure a risk-free environment for its employees. Vedanta has also taken efforts to support and enhance the local community in the areas of their operations. Sterlite Foundation is financially supported by the group, which provides free computer training to the young under-privileged people. The company has also made several contributions and donations to the community. For example being the donation of US$1.1 million to the Rajasthan drought relief fund, through its subsidiary H.Z.L. Despite making certain efforts to conduct its business in a socially responsible manner, Vedanta has been engulfed in a web of allegations concerning this issue over the last few year s. The company has been under immense criticism for having a poor human rights and environmental record by various activist groups and authorities. A human rights group called Amnesty International, has criticized and raised the issue of ill treatment of the local tribal people by Vedanta in the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa, India. Various other activist groups have also accused Vedanta and its subsidiaries of threatening the livelihood of the community residing in and around the areas of its mines. This also led to recent public demonstrations and protest against the company worldwide. However, the company has maintained a stance that, it would act in a responsible manner and that the proposed project will only enhance the community as a whole in the particular area. Vedantas Alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa, India, has also been critiqued by the State Pollution Control board in India for air and water pollution. Amnesty International has accused Vedanta of failing to curb t he impact created by its refinery of air pollution on the local community. The company is also facing investigations and charges regarding pollution because of its project in Armenia. This is another issue that has been raised by various activist groups. The company has also failed to maintain a clear health and safety record recently. Separate incidents have darned its reputation concerning safety efforts. An under construction chimney at its smelter in Chhattisgarh, India collapsed causing death of more than 40 workers and employees. The company has also been accused of safety negligence as its unsafe mining operations have led to deaths of more than 25 workers and employees and injuries to hundreds of others in 2007. The controversies, poor human rights and environmental allegations have caused a lot of socially responsible investors to divest from the company. After protests by Survival International a human rights group regarding the Orrisa issue, the Church of England s old its stake worth 3.75 million pounds in Vedanta resources on the basis of ethical grounds. The Church stated that we are not satisfied that Vedanta has shown, or is likely in future to show, the level of respect for human rights and local communities that we expect of companies in whom the Church investing bodies hold shares, The Scottish investment firm Martin Carrie Investments also sold its stake worth more than 2 million pounds following protest from activist groups. Other responsible investors like the Swedish Government, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Dutch investment firm PGGM and a few others have joined the bandwagon of disinvesting from the company following its poor recent social record. The BP Pension fund has also reduced its share following similar concerns. The UK and Norwegian governments have also condemned the company. The disinvestment by shareholders has been a major concern for Vedanta as it certainly threatens to affect its growth. On 24th August 2010, the Indian government blocked the companys proposal for a new mine in India alleging Vedanta of having a poor human rights and environmental record. Indias Environment minister stated, There is no emotion, no politics, no prejudice I have taken the decision in a purely legal approach, that these laws are being violated. This has been a major blow for Vedanta as it was planning to invest more than 5 billion pounds in the Niyamgiri project. The company has also been alleged of charges of bribery in Chennai, India for the reopening of a factory that was shut down due to a major accident. Sterlite, a subsidiary of Vedanta was slapped with tax notice of more than 44 million pounds by the India Excise department in 2010 while a few other legal violations have also tarnished the companys image. All the recent allegations and controversies in the recent times resulted in a negative image for the company. Its stock rose tremendously by more than 200% from April 2009 to April 2010 but after the recent allegations and concerns over disinvestment by investors, the stock has been a sharp decline. Thus, the issue of corporate social responsibility has certainly made an impact on its growth recently and could also be a cause of concern if the company does not adopt new strategies to improve its CSR record. Vedanta must revive its CSR agenda to clarify investor concerns. The company has however claimed that it aims resolve all the issues regarding the allegations and aim to enrich and empower the community wherever they operate. Projects Under Scrutiny Lanjigarh Bauxite Mine Lanjigarh Smelter Chhattisgarh Chimney Collapse Chennai Factory Source: CONCLUSION: In conclusion Vedanta Resources is Indias largest non-ferrous metal and mining company based on revenue. This FTSE-100 company has a strong balance sheet with cash and liquid investment of $7.2 billion and has cash in excess of $7.0 billion. Moreover, its the only Indian manufacturing company listed at London Stock Exchange. They are working with workforce of 30,000. The analysis shown above certainly explains the success of Vedanta Resources in mining industry. This success can be hugely owed to its corporate strategy. However there are still some glitches in the strategy. This is evident by the SWOT analysis, so also the effects on its business as an aftermath of its weak corporate social responsibility. Therefore it is evident that their current corporate strategy is not sustainable. Although due consideration has been given in asset optimization, reducing costs and thereby gaining profits; Vedanta has not given due consideration to the threat posed by its competitors. If any of the competitors enter India, for mining then Vedanta would not be able to survive. Moreover their corporate social responsibility has been lacking; this has severely affected their Brand-name, a very important factor in todays market. It has also resulted in decreased market share and withdrawal from many of their investors like Church of England. Therefore certain changes have to be made in their current corporate strategy. First of all, the company should give due consideration to its Social Responsibility, it should provide rehabilitation facilities to people, who have lost their lands due to mining activities. It should provide safety and security measures for their workers. It should also come with policies that are in accordance with the human right and environment. All this would add up with Brand Image of the company. It should try to improve relations with Indian government. It should also try and regain the investors who have backed out and simultaneously try to get new once. As having well established in India, Vedanta should now try to expand its base in Zambia, Australia and rest parts of the world through mergers and acquisitions. (Vedanta Resources, n.d.) Referencing: Improving Vedanta Resources governance of responsible business practices, (2010) Available at: https://www.eiris.org/files/research%20publications/EIRISVedantaReport2010.pdf. (Accessed 12 November 2010). Dawber , A. (2010) Vedanta Resources: the worlds most hated company?, The Independent 29 July[Online]. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/vedanta-resources-the-worlds-most-hated-company-2037977.html (Accessed: 8 January 2011). Flannery, N. (2010) CSR concerns at Vedanta Resources, The Corporate Library Blog, 10 September. Available at: https://blog.thecorporatelibrary.com/blog/2010/09/csr-concerns-at-vedanta-resources.html. (Accessed: 12 January 2010) Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R. (2008) Exploring Corpor ate Strategy, 8th ed, Harlow: Prentice Hall. Vedanta Resources (n.d.) About Us, Available at: https://www.vedantaresources.com/who-we-are.aspx (Accessed: 20 December 2010). Vedanta Resources (n.d.) Investor Relations, Available at: https://www.vedantaresources.com/investor-relations.aspx (Accessed: 22 December 2010). Vedanta Resources (n.d.) Our Operations, Available at: https://www.vedantaresources.com/operations-copper1.aspx (Accessed: 20 December 2010). Vedanta Resources (n.d.) People Employment, Available at: https://www.vedantaresources.com/people-employment.aspx (Accessed: 27 December 2010). Vedanta Resources (n.d.) Sustainable Development, Available at: https://www.vedantaresources.com/sustainability/ (Accessed: 27 December 2010). .

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Charles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution - 984 Words

Charles Robert Darwin was a British man who became one of the greatest contributors to the study of evolution. He was a naturalist who was able to develop a theory of evolution based on biological changes that he witnessed occurring in varieties of samples on his travels all around the world. Charles Darwin is valuable in science history, simply because he was the first geologists who had come the closest for closing the gap on how and why biological changes occurred. The naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin, was born in the 1800’s and raised in a small town of England named Shrewsbury. He lived in that town for most of his young life until he became the age of 16. Young Darwin had an advantage of being a child who never saw struggle ever in his life for he came from a long line of wealthy scientists in his family. Just like any other young child Charles was full of adventures who had loved the outdoors and was fascinated with playing with all kinds of animals and small insects. As young Darwin got older at the age of 16 his father, Dr. R.W. Darwin noticed that his son hadn’t come to him with any interest in a career for himself so he took it upon himself and sent young Darwin off to medical school to become a doctor in hopes to follow in his footsteps. On October 1825 at the age of 16 Darwin was a student enrolled at the University of Edinburgh to study to become a doctor. Unfortunately, Darwin quickly discovered he was terrified of the slightest sight of blood, so heShow MoreRelatedCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution801 Words   |  4 PagesThe theory of Evolution is one of the greatest intellectual revolutions of human history. It can drastically change our perception of the world and our place in it. Charles Darwin created a coherent theory of evolution and amassed a great body of evidence in support of this theory. During this time, most scientists fully believed that each organism and adaptation was the work of the creator. A fellow scientist Carl Linnaeus created a system of classifications that we still use today. Charles RobertRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory On Evolution Essay1074 Words   |  5 Pagesand how did life start, along with the creation of the universe and Earth? Charles Darwin’s theory on evolution, which is called natural selection, is based on the idea of species naturally adapting to their surrounding environment to better the species chances for survival. Creationism, on the other hand, is the belief that the universe and living organisms originate from specific acts of divine creation. Both are theories on life, and how such life came to be thing we all know. It is not the strongestRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution1750 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Darwin is remembered for his theory of evolution. Much controversy surrounds Darwin s theory. Questions abound. Is evolution a four billion year old process, creating life forms primarily at random but each shaped by an ever-changing and complex environment, that has resulted in all of the wondrous life forms that surround us? Or are all of those beautiful elements of our nature, along with the vastness and majesty of the entire universe, a creation of an intellect of vast intelligence andRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution1055 Words   |  5 Pages Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist, he was known greater for his contributions for the evolution theory. Darwin wrote a book in 1859 it was published and became the greatest and well known book. The name of the book was â€Å"On the Origin of Species†. In the book he wrote about his theory of evolution by natural selection, he discovered how the process of how organisms change as time goes on. Changes in traits and the organism’s physical behavior. Darwin believe change happensRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution951 Words   |  4 Pagesmore vigorously than in America’s public school science classrooms. Of particular concern for school administrators and the educators whom they supervise, are the repeated efforts of Christian fundamentalists to replace the teaching of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection with Biblical Creationism. During the past ninety years, many legal cases have further defined the bo undary of that wall of separation. In response, the methods employed by the proponents of Biblical CreationismRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution1737 Words   |  7 PagesThe theory of evolution is one of the great intellectual revolutions of human history, drastically changing our perception of the world and of our place in it. Charles Darwin put forth a coherent theory of evolution and amassed a great body of evidence in support of this theory. In Darwin s time, most scientists fully believed that each organism and each adaptation was the work of the creator. Linneaus established the system of biological classification that we use today, and did so in the spiritRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution1957 Words   |  8 Pagesdiscusses the theory of evolution in detail. Topics this paper will address include defining the theory of evolution and explaining how the theory has evolved over time, as well as highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the theory and e xamining how effective the theory is in today’s world. I. Description of the theory The theory of evolution sets forth an explanation of how all of the living species on Earth came to be. The theory as we know it today, written by Charles Darwin, states thatRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution2319 Words   |  10 PagesCharles Darwin is commonly known for writing On the Origin of Species, published in 1859. Based on his findings, Darwin concluded to â€Å"the theory of evolution, [by which] is the process of which organisms change over time as a result of changes in heritable or behavioral traits† (Than, 2015). Certain changes that occurred in the organism s’ environment allowed it to evolve, survive, and produce offspring with those developed traits. He recorded his findings while aboard the second voyage of H.M.SRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution Essay2312 Words   |  10 Pages Darwin and his Followers Charles Darwin is one of the most well known names in the United States for good reason. His theory of evolution through natural selection was not only revolutionary in the scientific world, but were also applied to society by some of his followers in this country. Some of these applications were beneficial to society while others simply allowed people to use his teachings for their own goals. While not apparent at first, Darwin does believe in a meaning in life similarRead MoreCharles Darwin s Theory Of Evolution1714 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Survival of the fittest† is one of the greatest concepts discussed by Charles Darwin (who is known as the father of evolution) and which has also affected many species throughout the world over the years, including us! As presented in his theory of evolution, Charles Darwin explains how those with advantageous traits will be able to better survive than their fellow counterparts. In other words, organisms with traits best suited for their environment will have higher chances of surviving than those

Monday, December 16, 2019

Nineteen Stars A Military Character And Leadership

Nineteen Stars: A Study in Military Character and Leadership Nowadays the military is becoming more complex and challenging then it was in the past. All of the United States military services are beginning to downsize and aiming to create a more diverse, educated, and physically fit military. As a result, this makes it harder for future military officers to earn a commission. The primary ways that young leaders earn a commission are through West Point, Reserves Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and the Officer Candidate School (OCS). These types of Army officer training not only prepare cadets physically but mentally as well to face the many challenges ahead in one’s career. Furthermore, many times there are questions of what type of characteristics makes a good leader and how do one successfully achieve the rank of general. In the book, Nineteen Stars: A Study in Military Character and in Leadership by Edgar F. Puryear, Jr., the author interviews four generals and their perspectives of their styles of leadership. The four men in which the author interviews are General of the Army George C. Marshall, General of the Army Dougals MacArthur, General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower, and General of the Army George S. Patton, Jr. These men give their views from different stages within their careers. It is noted that every officer experiences different phases of setback within their careers. The purpose of this book report is to show how character and leadership evolved within theShow MoreRelatedEnder s Game : A Fiction Genre Essay2092 Words   |  9 Pages the most notable being the space race. The space race made the world shift their focus from being earth bound to thinking much more about the stars in the heavens above. The space race inspired many authors which lead to an explosion of new works in the science fiction genre, eventually leading to Ender’s Game’s publication. Card uses the main character Ender to represent the United States, the dynamics between adults and children to represent the relationship between the United States governmentRead More Is Aeneas a Good Warrior? Essays2896 Words   |  12 PagesAemilius Paullus and Odysseus respectively. I will argue that Aeneas meets the criteria set by neither model and that, ultimately, he is an emotionally unstable, morally dubious and even an incompetent military leader. However, the very fact that he is the protagonist needs to be stressed: his character is necessarily sympathetic, dynamic and intricate. My intention is not to assert that Aeneas is a villain or a coward; he is quite obviously neither of these things and such an interpretation of theRead MoreMasculinity in the Philippines12625 Words   |  51 PagesCult of Masculinity Alfred W. McCoy In the imperial age, the military shaped society to suit its peculiar needs. Modem armies are complex, costly institutions that must ramify widely to mobilize the vast human and material resources their operations require. Since the armed forces demand the absolute obedience and, at times, the lives of ordinary males, the state often forms, or reforms, societys culture and ideology to make military service a moral imperative. In the cultural encounter that wasRead MoreHitler : Genius Or Madman?2021 Words   |  9 Pagesas today. Unlike many others, however, Adolf Hitler fought relentlessly in pursuit of his goals and never gave in to those that could have potentially destroyed him and his work. Because of his undeniable drive and determination, his ascension to leadership was guaranteed. There is a question that rises about Hitler as not just a leader, but as a man. Should the world view him as nothing more than a monster bent on destroying the Jews, gaining control over Europe and quite possibly the world givenRead MoreWalt Disney and Toy Story11680 Words   |  47 Pagesobvious choice. The arrangement had been a boon to the fledgling studio when it was first starting out. Disney had provided most of the funding[2] and had given Pixar’s movies top flight marketing support[3] in exchange for ownership of Pixar’s characters and a substantial percentage of the profits. Pixar had grown, however, and had accumulated enough funds to finance its own films.[4] Forty-five percent of the operating income for Disney’s film operations came from the sale of Pixar’s movies, andRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesthose of the previous three hundred years. This was especially the case in the Atlantic and western Eurasia. Two-thirds of the westward and eastward migrations out of Europe from 1500 to 1820 were coerced in some form (serfs, indentured servants, military conscripts, and convicts).10 Coercion was more complete for the 1–3 million Poles, Ukrainians, and Russians traded in the Crimean Tartar slave traffic during the seventeenth century. The same was true in the largest migrations of any period beforeRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesperspectives for organizational design Social democracy and the democratic organization Democracy, rationality and power A psychodynamic perspective on design – create the boundaries Critical theory and psychoanalysis challenge understandings of leadership and management Conclusions 330 330 332 332 332 339 340 341 342 342 344 345 347 347 349 354 356 357 357 359 360 361 362 367 371 373 374 375 Chapter 9 The evolution of management as reflected through the lens of modernist organization theory Read MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pages11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 Learning objectives Introduction The influence of market position on strategy Strategies for market leaders Marketing strategy and military analogies: lessons for market leaders Strategies for market challengers Strategies for market followers Strategies for market nichers Military analogies and competitive strategy: a brief summary The inevitability of strategic wear-out (or the law of marketing gravity and why dead cats only bounce once) The influenceRead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 PagesPatrick, did it come in? Yeah, he replied while reaching into his pocket. Patrick pulled out a small cardboard box. Your Japanese charm necklace came in. Here. He passed it to Thomas. He opened it and took out his necklace that had a Japanese character that hung from the string. What does that mean? Duncan asked. It means harmony, he replied. Did those katanas come in from Japan, yet Thomas asked Lucas. Both Lucas and Patrick were huge enthusiasts of Japanese culture. They collectedRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 PagesCompetitive strategy Strategic options: directions Corporate-level strategy International strategy Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategic options: methods Strategy evaluation Strategic management process Organising Resourcing Managing change Strategic leadership Strategy in practice Public sector/not-for-proï ¬ t management Small business strategy ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€"  ââ€" 

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Internal Hiring or External Recruitment †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Internal Hiring or External Recruitment. Answer: Introduction Human Resource Management is a crucial aspect of any organization. HRM performs a sundry set of functions within the business and helps businesses in managing the organizations most valued assets. An effective HRM ensures efficient recruitment of employees, timely training and development, transparent communication in the business, fair compensation for employees and expeditious addressing of employee grievances. Human Resource Management has achieved significant importance in the last few years: In practice as well as in literature (Brewster Hegewisch, 2017). This report throws light on two vital roles played by the HRM viz-a-viz recruitment selection as well as employee retention and talent management. Ensuring that the organization is equipped with the right people at the right time is very pivotal for the success of the business. HRM ensures that competent people are hired in the business through a transparent and highly effective process (Board, 2017). Once the employees institute tenure, it becomes the responsibility of the HRM to create a positive working environment for employees to remain associated with the business for a long term. This is where talent management comes into the picture and fortifies that at any given point of time an adequate number of people are associated with the business (Armstrong Taylor, 2014). Effective recruitment and selection are pivotal to the success of any business. These two process combines ultimately determine the quality of the employees in an organization (Costen, 2012). Managing human resources of the organization begins at bringing in the right employees for the right job profile in the business. Recruitment includes the process of bringing competent and interested candidates to apply for the jobs available in the organization. On the other hand, Selection refers to the process that these candidates undergo before being finalized for the position. Organizations need to respond to rapidly changing global environment. Continued success is, thus, dependent on attracting and retaining high quality individuals who can respond effectively to this changing environment (Newel, 2015). Recruitment process and decisions Recruitment involves the process of attracting the interest of a pool of capable people who will apply for jobs within the organization (Bratton Gold, 2017). It is a core function of Human Resource Management. Recruitment process ideally begins with identifying a gap between the HR needs of a business and the current workforce employed by the business. Once the gap has been identified, businesses attract candidates through a variety of sources and make those candidates go through a selection procedure. Recruitment plays a vital role as businesses tend to understand its manpower recruitment and competent candidates seek jobs. Effective recruitment processes are not just necessary for the business but for the growth of the economy. Malaysian unemployment rate stands at 3.4% this January (Trading Economics, 2018). On the other hand job vacancies in the country slumped to 401835 in the last quarter of 2017. There is a 2% rise in the labor force in 2017 as compared to 2016, yet there is an increasing need to work upon employee dissatisfaction (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018). This could be due to decreasing job satisfaction and lowering growth opportunities. Average salary increase rate in Malaysia declined to 5% in 2017 (New Straits Times, 2018). These statistics are evident that there is an increasing need for Malaysian organizations to improvise the recruitment process in order to be able to attract new talent in the business. Recruitment process at all the organizations varies slightly on the bases of organizations attrition rate, size of the organization as well as nature of the business. Large organizations like Dell have a large pool of candidates who have shown interest in working for the firm. The goodwill and effective positioning of these organizations automatically attracts candidates to work with these firms. On the other hand, small organizations or Startups like Food Matters need to put additional efforts in attracting potential candidates. Therefore, these organizations resort to various recruitment strategies discussed in the next part of the report. Dell also supports internal recruitment because of the large number of employees working with the business. The organization posts job requirements on the company website as well as ties up with online job portals in order to attract competent candidates (Dell EMC, 2018). While on the other hand, new generation startups resort to social recruiting and extensive employee referrals while initiating the recruitment process. Recruiting strategies Every organization adopts various strategies to recruit talent into the organization. Recruiting strategies can be categorized into two main streams. These are internal and external recruitment. Both these forms of recruitment play a vital role in attracting a pool of competent candidates who are interested in working with the organization (DeVaro, 2016). Recruitment strategies play a vital role in the success of the business to ensure the growth in the Malaysian job market. The increasing attrition rate in organizations has created a need to be creative with recruitment as well as enhance focus on employee satisfaction. According to research, a staggering 74% of employees are unsatisfied with current jobs. Over 61% people validated that low pay was the major reason leading to job dissatisfaction. (Jobstreet, 2015). However, in order to counter the same, companies have been putting efforts in providing other benefits to employees (Monroe Consulting Group, 2015). Internal recruitment involves promotions, job enhancements and geographical transfers. Often organizations have a pool of employees who would be willing to perform different roles within the same organization. Whenever, a vacancy is formed in a business, it is recommended to analyze if the vacancy can be filled by internal sources alone. External recruitment involves recruitment brokers, online recruitment portals, companys website, social media recruitment. The size of the company widely impacts the recruitment strategies adopted by the company. There are certain jobs that are more likely to be filled by internal mobility (promotions and lateral transfers) than by hiring (Bidwell Mollick, 2015). A few recruitment strategies adopted by organizations are as below: The Apple Inc. is a multinational business specializing in technology related services and products. The organization has offices across the globe and is in constant need of employees. In order to attract a pool of talented candidates, Apple Inc. posts the vacancies in the organization on its official website (Apple Inc, 2018). That is the only source of recruitment adopted by Apple. The brand awareness and goodwill of Apple makes it easy for the firm to attract candidates. Social media is also becoming an increasingly prevalent and relevant tool of recruitment by various organizations. This was started by LinkedIn recruiting. Today, the world of recruiting has gone nearly 100% digital (Taylor, 2016). The large reach and wide usage of social media has made it possible for organizations to reach out to a wide number of candidates through social media platforms. There are various online job portals like Jobstreet, Fastjobs and Monster.com. These portals are aimed at bridging the gap between employers and competent candidates. Such portals can be used by organizations to contact candidates. There are various organizations like Country Garden who have listed vacancies in online portals and have been able to recruit employees through such portals (Jobstreet, 2018). Country Garden recruited 250 employees in 2014 via Jobstreet (Cheng, 2014) Employee referrals are one of the most efficient ways of recruiting competent candidate within the organization. The employees get a certain pre-decided referral bonus for recommending candidates which keeps them motivated. The major advantage of recruiting through referrals is an additional amount of trust that can be bestowed upon a new employee if he or she has been referred by an existing employee. Therefore, referred candidates are more likely to be hired (Brown, Setren Topa, 2016). Employee selection is an important organizational process for assessing individuals and their attributes (Bolander, 2016). Once a pool of competent candidates has been gathered, every candidate from that pool goes through a selection process. The aim of the selection process is to test various attributes of the candidates and based on the analysis, select the most appropriate candidates and offer them to work with the business. Every organization has a different selection criteria. The Google LLC is a leading multinational technology company which specializes in internet related services and products. The Selection process at Google is mentioned below: The first step of the Google Selection process is online application that needs to be filled by interested candidates from the Google Website. The application is then shortlisted by expert based on candidates skillset and previous experiences. The second step of the Google Selection process involves hangout or telephonic interviews. The candidates are asked open ended questions. Often candidates are asked to write algorithms in various coding languages to assess the technical skills. The shortlisted candidates are then invited for a face to face interview. Four different strengths will be analyzed which is ability, leadership, role related knowledge and Googleyness (Google, 2018). Googleyness is a terminology given by Google where the organization analyzes the ability of candidates to move outside comfort zone. Negotiation and Selection Once the candidate has been shortlisted after the onsite interview, both the parties negotiate over the offered salary and upon reaching a common ground, the candidate is selected to work with the organization and an official selection letter is rolled out to the employee. Above are the steps for selection process by google which is almost similar the other companies, but SGS differs a little from Googles process because candidates after clearing the face to face interview are then invited to take psychometric and logical reasoning tests to help recruiters understand the candidates motivation, behavior and reasoning skills (SGS, 2018). Employee selection is more complex than hiring a qualified employee to perform a particular job. It is emphasized that employee selection processes and techniques are often keys to effective execution of other HR processes (Farr Tippins, 2017). Retention and Talent management Employee retention and talent management are crucial firms of any organization. Employee retention is important to ensure than organizations retain competent employees in the business leading to improved productivity and efficiency. Talent management is the overall process of managing talent within the organization. Addressing work life balance is one of the key variables in addressing issues of employee retention (Deery Jago, 2015). This covers the entire spectrum of human resource activities in the business including employee recruitment, engagement, satisfaction, retention and motivation. Talent retention is one of the major challenges faced by organizations (Forbes, 2017). Various organizations across the globe put tremendous efforts in retaining employees. Malaysian retention scores have severely declined, 36% of employees confirm that employees are likely to leave current organization within a span of two years (Willis Towers Watson, 2017). There are various advantages associated with retaining employees. These advantages include reduced training costs, improved trust and smooth functioning of the business. Employee attrition is the process of current employees leaving the organization. The reason behind employees leaving the organization might be voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary reasons involve resignation due to health issues, personal problems, and dissatisfaction with the organization, better opportunities or change of industry. Involuntary reasons include retirement or poor performance at work. As mentioned above, there is an increasing gap between unemployment rate and vacancies. Besides that, the attrition rate of the country stands high at 15.1% (Willis Towers Watson, 2018). This could be due to decreasing job satisfaction and lowering growth opportunities. Average salary increase rate in Malaysia declined to 5% in 2017 (New Straits Times, 2018). The increasing attrition rate in organizations has created a need to be creative with recruitment as well as enhance focus on employee satisfaction. Research revealed that over 70% of employees who demonstrated loyalty towards the firm did not receive pay increases. Moreover, out of the 30% of employees that received salary hikes, 52% received increases of below 10%. But to counter the same, companies have been putting efforts in providing other benefits to employees (Monroe Consulting Group, 2015). According to Michael page, Malaysian employees leave the current company for two predominant reasons including lack of career progression (52%) and seeking a fresh challenge (43%). 25% people also stated that the reason for leaving current employer is feeling undervalued. (Michael Page, 2015). While looking for a new job, 32% people felt that improved workplace flexibility is the key reason for being attracted to a new job (Michael Page, 2015) Benefits are additional perks given to employees besides salaries. These include sick leaves, retention bonuses, profit sharing, education loan contributions, retirement benefits or even health insurance. These benefits are an additional gesture by the organization to demonstrate trust in employees. 63% of employers across the country feel that additional benefits provided to employees improve attraction and retention (Willis Towers Watson, 2017). Facebook provides its employees with unlimited sick leaves in a year. No doubt, Facebook enjoys a high employee retention rate. When an organization provides additional benefits to employees, it gives them reasons to stay associated with the firm. Employee engagement has emerged as the main driver for organizational success. And organizations are increasingly recognizing its importance in organizational success (Sharma Rajput, 2017). Employee engagement refers to the ability of the business to keep employees engaged. The top three engagement drivers specifically for Malaysian organization are empowerment, goals and objectives, and workload and work life (Willis Towers Watson, 2015). Enhancing employee engagement would result in increased sense of ownership and hence increased retention. The number of hours that an employee contributes to work largely impacts satisfaction as well as work-life balance of the employee. In order to retain employees, it is imperative that organizations must put efforts in improving employees work-life balance. Banking sector in Malaysia specifically believes that offering flexible working hours to employees is a key strategy for ensuring employee retention (Idris, 2014). Rewarding employees and recognizing hard work is an important strategy to keep employees motivated within the firm (Cherry, 2016). Rewards can be monetary or non-monetary in the form of cash prizes, paid vacations, promotions or improved jobs. Rewarding employees and recognizing hard work will lead to improved retention since employees will feel more valued. Employee learning plays a vital role in ensuring employee retention in the business. If employees can feel themselves growing in a particular organization then employees will tend to remain associated with the organization for a longer time. Talent management Talent management refers to the process of anticipating the need of human resources in the business and building strategies to fulfill the same (Taylor, 2014). Talent management involves ensuring that the right people are at the right job in the business. It covers the entire sector of human resource activities that take place in an organization. The talent management process has evolved a lot over time. From traditional talent management systems, organizations have shifted to role based talent management. The traditional TM system began with designing the components and processes and focused on knowledge and skills of employees. On the other hand, role base TM system begins with specific and targeted business outcomes while keeping focus on pivotal roles and accomplishments expected from and delivered by employees. This role base TM system designs workplace in a manner to reduce barriers and enable successful performances in the organization. The ultimate aim is to achieve the business results unlike traditional system which considered the end goal as an effective quality of the system. However, despite the change, talent management practices in Malaysia are still at an early stage. Most of the organizations do not have a documented HR process. This will pose a severe challenge when competing with global organizations (Kaliannan, Abraham Ponnusamy, 2016). The process and strategies adopted for talent management are different for different organization. Facebooks talent management is unique and includes the following strategies: The first step of talent management is the ability to identify the gap between current manpower and required manpower by an organization. Facebook achieves so my putting a dollar value on all employees. Facebook analyzes the value of employees in monetary terms in order to understand its manpower gaps. For example an engineer at Facebook is valued at 0.5 to 1 million dollars (ERE recruiting intelligence, 2013). Facebook aims at recruiting the most competent employees through a stern process involving a lot of interviews in a loop on a single day (Facebook, 2018). Effective recruitment is an important step in managing talent of the firm that equips organizations with effective human resources. Moreover, Mark Zuckerberg himself visits campuses and recruits talent. Facebook provides various fringe benefits to its employees as strategies to retain them. Work life balance of Facebook employees is commendable. All the employees are entitled to sick leaves for themselves as well as to cater to a sick family member. Employees are also entitles to four months of paid leaves for new parents (Tech Crunch, 2017). Such strategies by Facebook helps the firm in retaining employees. These are few talent management strategies adopted by Facebook to manage talent in an effective manner, keep employees satisfied and in turn enhance organizational efficiency. Talent management plays a crucial role in managing the human resources of any business. The concept is still relatively new in Malaysia and hence efforts must be put to enhance awareness regarding the same. Conclusion Human Resource Management is one of the most important functions of a business. Success of a business largely depends on various HR practices adopted by organizations (Marchington et al, 2016). This report has throws light on HR process like recruitment, selection, retention and talent management. There are various organizations who have set tremendous example of effective Human Resource Management like Google, Apple and Facebook. Employment scenario in Malaysia is yet not entirely effective. The population is experiencing close to full employment with the unemployment rate of 3% but human resource practices in Malaysia must change and accept the fact that the average turnover for any individual in this day and age is two-and-a-half years (The Sun Daily, 2017). This report reflects upon various strategies that leading organizations of the world have adopted in order to manage talent. It has been learnt that effective recruitment, competent HR processes, efficient talent management and efforts by the organization to retain such talents are highly important to ensure the success of any business. References Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Page 264. Bidwell, M. and Mollick, E., 2015. 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Recruitment and selection.The Encyclopedia of Human Resource Management: Short Entries, pp.379-387. Deery, M. and Jago, L., 2015. Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention strategies.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,27(3), pp.453-472. Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2018. Principle statistics of labor force. Available at https://dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCatcat=429bul_id=U243VmM4VHJHMXJKaUVvMjZwaDdhdz09menu_id=U3VPMldoYUxzVzFaYmNkWXZteGduZz09. Retrieved on 5 April, 2018. DeVaro, J., 2016. Internal hiring or external recruitment?IZA World of Labor. Dell EMC, 2018. Internal mobility policy. Available at https://israel.emc.com/corporate/jobs/coe/internal-mobility-policy.htm. Retrieved on 20 March, 2018. ERE recruiting intelligence, 2013. A case study of Facebooks talent management. Available at https://www.ere.net/a-case-study-of-facebooks-simply-amazing-talent-management-practices-part-1-of-2/. 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Retrieved on 24 March, 2018.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Wolfmother †“Wolfmother” free essay sample

The Australian band Wolfmother is making a big splash in the world of music. This band, with all its rocking new songs, has got Australians and the rest of the music world talking. This three-piece group rocks like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath but still manages to create its own sound. Wolfmother became popular in 2004, releasing their first album in 2006. This album has 13 songs, and every one of them is a ride for the listener’s ears. The old-school vocals will remind you of Robert Plant. The guitar plays a central role with driving chords and rocking solos. Wolfmother is primarily a hard-core rock band that will delight the ears of metal heads, classic rockers, and alternative rock listeners. The album has a great selection of songs that vary in intensity and tempo, some hard rocking pieces and some easy-listening. This is a great start for the band. The lyrics will take listeners to places like the carnival, outer space, or maybe a quiet room. We will write a custom essay sample on Wolfmother – â€Å"Wolfmother† or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The variety of subjects in their lyrics adds to the overall feel of the album. One of my favorites is â€Å"Dimension,† a great song with a loud, driving rhythm  ­reinforced by the drums and guitar. My all-time favorite is â€Å"Joker and the Thief,† which they begin creatively with a guitar solo – a somewhat unusual start, but it’s just one of the ways that Wolfmother is creating a unique sound and style. These songs will transport the listener with creative and poetic lyrics, shredding guitar riffs, driving beat, and fast-paced melodies. In my opinion, this is a great band for hard and classic rock lovers alike who may be looking for a new sound. This three-man group with guitar, keyboard, vocals, and drums will not disappoint. I love their retro up-tempo sound with a classic rock flavor. They have the  ­potential to be the modern-day version of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, or Black Sabbath.