Furniture Manufacturing Company Management Essay

Furniture Manufacturing Company Management - Essay Example Company Act 2006 Sec 177 requires all directors of a company to avoid conflicts of interest by declaring their interest in a proposed arrangement or transaction. Such declaration must be made by a written notice, a general notice or in a meeting of the directors. Company Act 2006 under Sec 182 (1) requires the directors to declare their interest in any transaction or arrangement that has been entered in to by the company whether direct interest or indirect interest in a transaction. In the above case, Tom has contravened Company Law provisions on duty to disclose conflict of interest in awarding Computers4Us the ICT contract. Section 175 (1) which deals with conflict of interest requires all directors to avoid all situations which have either direct or interest which conflicts or may conflict with the interest of the company. The above case is a situational conflict of interest since Tom’s father is the owner of Computers4Us which will lead to transactional conflict since Tom is in a position to benefit from the ICT contract. Tom is criminally liable for breach of Company Act to avoid conflict of interest thus is liable to a fine. While Company Act 2006 does not give a definition of â€Å"interest†, the duty to avoid conflict of interest will apply in situations that can lead to exploitation of information, opportunities and company property. Tom is both an executive director and significant shareholder in Imperial Ltd and his connection with Computers4Us has the potential may be adverse to the Imperial Ltd interests since it will influence the decisions made by the company. Although not expressly included in Company Act 2006, Tom should have declared his interest in Computers4Us since the term â€Å"connected† in the Act is wide enough to include spouses, step-children, director’s parents and civil partners of the directors. Tom and Harry are both executive directors and shareholders of Imperial Ltd. Possibly; Tom’s sharehold ing influenced the decision to award Computers4Us the ICT contract. Tom as an executive director is fully aware that his father owns Computers4Us. In the above case, Tom should have declared his conflict of interest and the fact that his father owns Computers4Us to the board of directors either during the meetings, in writing or by just a general notice. Harry is free to sue for the cancelation of the contract since it contravenes the provisions of Company Act 2006 (Worthington and Sealy 2007). For private companies formed before 1st October 2008, the directors have not automatic powers to approve any conflict of interest unless they amend the articles of association or pass a resolution to grant the directors such powers. For private companies formed on or after October 1st 2008, the board of directors has the powers to authorize a conflict of interest unless it is invalidated by the articles of association of the company (Davies 2010). However, in deciding to authorize the above c onflict of interest, the directors of any private company must comply with Company Act 2006 provisions including the duty to promote and safeguard the welfare of the company. Additionally, the resolution to authorize the conflict of interest should be done

Teenage Internet Dependency Essay Example for Free

Teenage Internet Dependency Essay Teenagers are too Dependent on the Internet As the internet has become very popular among teenagers over the past few years, there have been many social impacts affecting the stakeholders of the issue. Teenagers use the internet for various reasons: to do research for homework or a project, to socialize with friends, and to keep up with the latest movies, music, and video games. The internet allows teens to be receptive to many resources that would not be available to them without the internet. Although some aspects of teens using the internet may be favorable and beneficial, many are causing laziness and under-developed social skills. The other stakeholders of the issue are the parents and teachers of these students. Parents are concerned that their children may be being stalked or predated and feel as if their children are becoming more distant from their family because of the significant amount they are spending on the internet. Teachers also must deal with their students having the resources to cheat by using the internet to give them the answers. The growing teenage dependency on the internet has both a negative and positive impact on the world. Some people may say that teens are not too dependent on the internet. Teenagers use to internet to complete homework, projects, and study for tests because of all the resources available. The internet provides a large collection of online books, newspapers, and magazines, allowing the teenage students to gain more knowledge about their school work and save them time. For example, when a student has an exceptional amount of homework and does not have enough time to complete his reading for that night, the website SparkNotes provides summaries, characterizations, and other important literary devices that allow the student to understand the novel when short of time. Another way that teens are not too dependent on the internet is seen through the social interactions they are able to make via social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. These sites allow teenagers to keep in touch with their fellow classmates and friends in a quick and easy way. They also allow students to share their personal lives with people they otherwise would not interact with, allowing them to make more friends and develop better relationships. For example, a teenager can create a whole new personality through the internet, giving him more confidence and a higher self esteem due to the positive reactions they are receiving through other internet users. The reasons for teens not being too dependent on the internet, allowing them more resources for school and more opportunities to interact socially with friends and peers, are not strong enough to override the reasons as to why teenagers are too dependent on the internet. This is because students have several other facilities that provide them with sufficient information, such as the library, museums, and bookstores. Teens also may be able to more easily communicate with friends through the use of social networking sites and resulting in higher confidence, although, this affects the way teens interact with other people because they can be totally different people via the internet. Teenagers are too dependent on the internet. It allows them to become easily distracted from their work, and lessens their face-to-face social skills. As a student may have the original intention of finishing his homework on the computer, the temptations to log on to MySpace or Facebook are too high, therefore the student visits those sites instead, causing them to deviate from their work. This causes more teens to get behind in school because of their lack of effort due to the internet’s capabilities. For example, a student may tell his parents he is using the computer to work on homework, but rather he is using it to communicate with his friends through a social networking site or online video game; this slows down the student’s work ethic because of the distractions it provides. Another reason that students are too dependent on the internet relates to physical appearance and self-esteem. There are many different sites on the internet that provide teens with information regarding dangerous groups and activities. For example, if a girl has anorexia, she is able to access online forums for anorexics that encourages dangerous behavior that harms the human body. For these two main reasons, teenagers are too dependent on the internet. The stakeholders of the issue, regarding whether or not teenagers are too dependent on the internet, allow one to examine the advantages and disadvantages of increasing internet use. The stakeholders’ reactions are more against teens using the internet so excessively than they are in favor of teens using the internet. Since more teens are becoming more dependent on the internet, they are putting themselves in harm’s way of predators and health/mental issues, they are distancing themselves from their families, and they are becoming more accustomed to communicating with their friends through social networking sites rather than face-to-face contact. The reasons supporting the idea that teens are not too dependent on the internet offer other options to teens using the internet, weakening the argument. Therefore, teenagers are too dependent on the internet.

General Motors (GM) Case Study: Porters Five

General Motors (GM) Case Study: Porters Five In this given case-study is explained in bits and pieces about how the GM lost its market share owing to a number of factors.GM is an American based company concentrating on a lot of Brands,models and having a large spread of price-bands.So the market focus failure in GM can be related to its portfolio proliferation and replication, which in return has given the company a set of negative effects on cash flow. On the other hand its competitor companies like Toyota and Honda have acquired a huge market share with a limited portfolio and a large acquisition of the market share. So the purpose of this report is to critically analyse the different strategic levels of GM motors with respect to the coroporate, business and operational level. Also to analyse and identify the capabilities that would allow GM to achieve the lost competitive advantage and regain the market focus. CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GM MOTORS CASE-STUDY On critically analysing the given case-study, GM lost $30.9 billion for the year 2008 and around $38.7 billion in the year 2007. So far , GMs market share has fallen to 24 percent from 31 percent last year, while Fords has risen to 18 percent from 15.5 percent. Chryslers Northeast Ohio market share has slipped to 9.8 percent from 10.3 percent a year ago. GMs national market share is about 20 percent, down from 22.5 percent a year ago. Fords national share is about 16 percent so far this year, up from 14.5 percent. A diagrammatic presentation of the financial performance of these automobile companies is as given below: WHERE F-FORD MOTORS DCX- DAIMLER AND CHRYSLER GM- GENERAL MOTORS HMC- HONDA MOTORS COMPANY NSANY- NISSAN TM- TOYOTA MOTORS Business Level Strategy The key elements to be highlighted at the business strategic level are as follows: Integrated BLS [business level strategy] Failed application Trade-off between cost and differentiation Implications of united labour force and legal costs. Corporate Level Strategy They process have a multilayer structure and the key process are all centralised that in turn is having a lot of impact on the company, they do not have any regional head and so there is no one who look are each regain in specify terms they only listen to the manager and then decide what is right and is wrong. From the given data, we can come to a conclusion that the major reason behind the market loss was the lack of entrepreneurial spirit. The important this is that they do not have a specific structure as well, what they need to concentrate is that as different companies such as its competitors concentrate on a specific segment and get there profits, the spirits are low and they are not going in the right direction, they will have to work hard and promote the right segment to the right consumer needs, they are not even sure of what environment they are using the other problem that they are facing is that they are not concentrating on the right consumer product for the right enviro nment and so resulting in dip of the sales and in turn loss for the company. STRENGTHS OF GM TO ACHIEVE COMPETITIVE EDGE The following are the capabilities that are exhibited by GM motors in order to revive back its position and achieve a competitive advantage in the market: 1. Large Market Share Though the General Motors is been struggling to make profits in the past few years and it is running out of cash flow still it hold a very high sales market in japan and United states, the problem is that it is not making profits as it is not allowing a lot of cash flow to occur but still it is one of the largest automobile company in the world and it hold a large amount of market share. 2. Global Experience The company being one of the largest company in the manufacturer of automobiles it has a get a global name for itself as it has a lot of brands, as it has got a lot of brands and thought it all may not be successful it has made a mark in the global market and it has got a global experience and that is again a very big advantage that the company has. 3. Wide range of brands General motors has the highest number of cars it has already got 95 different types of cars and as aware there are around 18 segments in automobile industry and it has got 3 cars for each segments, that is one thing that only General Motors have been able to achieve, thought it has been criticized by lot for not able to concentrate on any specific segment, but if they concentrate each segment properly and put the hard work in right direction they are bound to succeed. PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL The competitive structure of an industry is another important component of identifying factors that are a threat to diminish profitability. One of the most efficient ways to assess competitive issues is to consider Michael Porters five-force analysis. Porter (1980, 1985) has highlighted five such factors: (1) rivalry between existing competitors, (2) threat of entry by new competitors, (3) price pressure from substitute or complementary products, (4) bargaining power of buyers, and (5) bargaining power of suppliers http://www.themarketers.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Porter_Five_Forces1.jpg Rivalry between existing competitors: There is always rivalry with other the competitors and that it needs to give a lot of importance, and it is the competitors with a better product that succeed in the todays market, so general motors but give a lot of importance to its competitors and always try and be ahead of them, in the present situation they are lacking being them in a lot of ways, the rivals have got a lot of products which is more competent and that is more of the requirement that the customers are looking for and they are also getting that important as they are quite important that they thing what the rivals are dont and what they are not doing. Threat of entry by new competitors: In the present days market there, in any industry there is a lot of threat of new entrants in the market, s you should always think out of the box and try and be innovative as much as you can so that you have an advantage over your competitors and even if there are any new entrants into the market, The another threat of the entry on a new company or competitors is that they might give you a thought price in the price and so you might need to cut on the prices of your products and this will indeed lead to less profits, Thought an automobile market is not a small market and there are a lot of hurdles for a new entrant into this sort of market that might lead them to trouble and this in turn will not let the new entrant to enter the market as this is require a lot of investment , moreover the new entering will have to capture a large amount of market share to have a good hold of the market. Price pressure from substitute or complementary products For instance the demand will never come directly in play for this section but it will have an impact with a lot of factors that influence it and it will generally be the substitute and the complements. For example in the U.K. when you want to travel to Central London you even though you have a car you will still not consider going with your own car, there are few reasons for not taking your car along with you and firstly you have a substitute that is available as taking a transportation in a form of tube is much easier it will save your time, money and you will not have the hassles of going through all he traffic this a substitute a lot of people use in London, the reason behind this is that firstly the transportation by your own car will be expensive and other thing is that in Central London there are a lot of parking problem and they will charge you congestion, so traveling by the tube will save all this hassles. So that is more beneficial for you, and this days a lot of people fee l that the fuel prices or in other terms the gas prices are rising and so it will be better to find an alternative or substitute to car as so this is reduce the sales of car not directly but indirectly. 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power of the buyer here means that the power of the consumers who are will to buy a car, in this form of bargaining if a consumer who is not aware of the prices and goes for a bargain for a car if the dealer doesnt agree to sell the car on that bargain then the impact will come directly on to the dealer and not to the manufacturer directly, the consumer might go to some other dealer to get his deal done. So it is the consumers who will benefit from that and this will lead the deals to give the customers a good deal and in this form the consumers are not dealing directly with the customers and so the dealers will suffer a less profit and not the manufacturer, so it will not always but might have an impact on the manufacturer. 5. Bargaining power of the suppliers The bargaining power of the suppliers means, the cost of raw material that is being used in the manufacturer, the labour function and the services that is being provided to them, and so in an auto manufacturer the labourer and the raw material, along with the the technology services are being used are playing a very important role, for instance we can go back into the case of General Motors and know that they had serious issues with the powers of the suppliers that is the labour that they had and that a lot of demands and that had to be fulfilled and that they were claiming a lot of pension, medical and seek leave and also wanted their wages to be increase so that was all the troubles of that they were facing in the past and the reason that they lost a lot of business was the reason behind it. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF GM- 2011 Shanghai   Shanghai GMs Drive to Green strategy, which was launched in January 2008, is aimed at introducing products that offer better performance, consume less energy and generate lower emissions than vehicles currently on the road. The success of the green strategy didnt work out they. They are trying to work on the environment issues that a lot of cars this are using a lot of fuel and this generates a lot of smoke in the air leading to air pollution and so the amount of oxygen in the air throughout the word is decreasing with the increase in carbon-monoxide will lead to a lot of environmental problems, they are there for trying to drive people towards the direction of hybrid cars and they have named the project as green strategy and they are really promoting it, those it has not been a hit it has just been a flop they are still working on different strategies and they and conclude on a high node.

The Harmful Effects Of Discrimination And Segregation Essay -- essays

Discrimination and Segregation have both had many harmful effects on society in the past and exist when individuals are treated unfairly because of their particular race, gender, age, ethnic group, physical disability, or religion. Discrimination and segregation both poison the atmosphere of trust that we need in order to live peacefully. In the video 'Separate but Equal';, there are many incidences to prove that racism, segregation, and discrimination all have negative effects. The three most prominent effects of discrimination and segregation combined are Inferiority, fear, and anger.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Inferiority is a major issue when discussing the effects of discrimination and segregation. In the Plessy vs. Ferguson case it was ruled that there may be segregation, but the people must be equal-Separate but Equal';. After this ruling all facilities were separated according to race, but in fact were not even close to being equal to each other. The white mans facilities were almost 100 times better than the blacks. Then in the Brown vs. Board of Education in Topeka case it was brought to attention that segregation and discrimination obviously affect the children's state of mind. In the experiment to prove this hypothesis many black children were given a variety of white dolls and black dolls. They were then told to describe what they thought of each doll. The results were in fact that majority of the young black children related the bad characteristics with th...

male and female relationships Essay -- essays research papers

Female vs. Male Friendships   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Male and female friendships are different and alike in many ways. They differ in how men and women can relate to each other both physically and emotionally. Men and women also differ in the communication aspect. In both friendships, there is a certain level of competitiveness, and the friends obviously will have the same interest in common. Friendships will differ from person to person because of the different personalities, but there will be the same likes and differences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical and emotional closeness definitely is different for men and women friendships. Women can be physically close to each other and be very comfortable, for example sleeping in the same beds, holding hands, hugging and kissing on the cheeks. Whereas male friendships, would never be that comfortable doing the things that women do. The closest males will get, would be patting each other on the butt when there is a good play on the field. Males and females are taught early by their elders that line not to cross with the same sex. Women are taught to be more intimate while men are taught that intimacy is somewhat seen as a weakness. Emotionally women differ from men because they are more open with their feelings. Women can cry and express their feelings with no inhibitions, while once again crying for a man would be seen as a sign of weakness. Female friendships can somewhat be seen as a stronger relationship for the ... male and female relationships Essay -- essays research papers Female vs. Male Friendships   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Male and female friendships are different and alike in many ways. They differ in how men and women can relate to each other both physically and emotionally. Men and women also differ in the communication aspect. In both friendships, there is a certain level of competitiveness, and the friends obviously will have the same interest in common. Friendships will differ from person to person because of the different personalities, but there will be the same likes and differences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical and emotional closeness definitely is different for men and women friendships. Women can be physically close to each other and be very comfortable, for example sleeping in the same beds, holding hands, hugging and kissing on the cheeks. Whereas male friendships, would never be that comfortable doing the things that women do. The closest males will get, would be patting each other on the butt when there is a good play on the field. Males and females are taught early by their elders that line not to cross with the same sex. Women are taught to be more intimate while men are taught that intimacy is somewhat seen as a weakness. Emotionally women differ from men because they are more open with their feelings. Women can cry and express their feelings with no inhibitions, while once again crying for a man would be seen as a sign of weakness. Female friendships can somewhat be seen as a stronger relationship for the ...

Betrayal and Revenge in Medea Essay

In his quest for the Golden Fleece, Jason elicits Medea, a women known for her supernatural powers. Shortly after, they marry. Yet, after all Medea does for Jason-including killing her own brother-he decides to leave her and marry the Corinthian Princess to increase his own wealth and status. Thus, to avenge her husband for his betrayal, Medea kills the princess and the children she herself had with Jason, thus ensuring his complete downfall. Upon hearing of the sacrifice of the children and the murder of his bride-to-be, Jason expresses the extent of his devastation and hatred towards Medea. In this passage from Euripides’s Medea, Euripides reveals both Medea’s cruelty and ruthlessness and the effect of her revenge on Jason-his complete destruction. In addition, Jason’s reference to Medea’s earlier transgressions reveals that he doesn’t fully grasp what Medea gave up for him. Although Medea’s actions will never be justified, Jason’s reaction throughout the play, and specifically in this passage, allows the reader to feel some small measure of sympathy towards Medea. Throughout the play, Jason characterizes Medea as cruel and merciless. This is ironic because these are the same traits that made life and success possible for Jason when he first met Medea. Yet, throughout the passage, Jason characterizes Medea as less than human. For example, he refers to her as a â€Å"hateful thing† and â€Å"an evil thing†(43). He even goes as far to call her â€Å"a monster not a woman, having the nature wilder than that of the Scylla in the Tuscan sea†(43). By referring to Medea as the Scylla-a vicious monster in the Odyssey -Jason reveals the extent to which he sees Medea as cruel and even inhuman. Jason also reveals the degree of Medea’s cruelty by describing her as â€Å"loathed by the gods† and â€Å"all of mankind†(43). In addition to revealing Medea’s cruelty, these phrases suggest that Medea’s actions are horrible enough to become infamous among all humankind. Jason also comments that â€Å"there is no Greek woman who would have dared such deeds†(43). Such characterization sets Medea apart and magnifies the cruelty of her actions. However, Jason’s comment also shows how he views women in Greek society as frail and gentle. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he have said â€Å"there is no Greek that would have dared such deeds?† Cleary, Euripides uses Jason to reveal Medea’s callousness in her quest for revenge. In the passage, Euripides also reveals Jason’s detachment and inability to grasp the significance of what Medea gave up for him. For example, Jason comments â€Å"you who have had the heart to raise a sword against your children, you, their mother, and left me childless-you have done this, and do you still look at the sun and at the earth, after these most fearful doings†(43). In these lines, Euripides points out Jason’s detachment and disgust. Jason continually repeats the word â€Å"you,† suggesting that he believes that everything was Medea’s fault, that her actions were unprovoked. As seen in the line â€Å"you have done this,† Jason lays all blame on Medea for the murder of his children and his prospective bride. Clearly, Jason doesn’t fully grasp what Medea gave up for him. Although there are no justifications for her actions, Jason is partly to blame for instigating the conflict. Furthermore, Jason describes Medea as â€Å"a traitress to [her] father and [her] native land† and describes how she â€Å"slew† her own brother. These lines reveal Jason’s disconnect. When she killed her brother, Medea saw her actions as necessary to help Jason, her true love. Thus, she sacrificed the acceptance and love of family for the love and acceptance she received from Jason. Not only does Jason’s inability to recognize Medea’s sacrifices in this passage reveal his disconnect, but it also reveals his selfishness. Regardless of whether Jason is deserving of Medea’s revenge, he is left completely devastated and without hope for the future. For him, there is little to live for. In fact, he tells Medea â€Å"for me remains to cry aloud upon my fate, who will get no pleasure from my newly wedded love. And the boys whom I begot and brought up, never shall I speak to them alive†(44). Finally, he comments â€Å"oh, my life is over.† Thus, Medea fulfills her ultimate goal-ruthlessly punishing Jason for the pain he inflicted upon her.

Speech of Advocacy Rhetorical Situation Proposal

The problem I want to address in the speech is that whether colleges put too much stock in standardized test scores. It’s an actual exgience because colleges are currently relying a lot on standardized test scores as a base for their applications. 2. The teenage community is the most directly affected by the exigence. 3. Most people do seem to generally agree that the exigence exists because the people all have been attempting to get into colleges and have gone through the pressure placed on standardized test scores. 4.The values threatened by the existence of the exigence is the actual performance of students in general, not just under pressure and relying on one test score. Role of the Speaker 5. This exigence interests me because from young, I’ve always had to study and prepare for standardized tests. In China, tests represent whether we get into a good middle school, a good high school, and a good college. We can be the best in our class, but without scoring high on the placement tests, we’ll never get into a good school. The same was here, in high school, junior year was all about testing and studying for the ACTs or the SATs.There was too much pressure placed on just the standardized tests. 6. My relationship to the community was not affected because I am a teen and I have gone through all these placement tests. Role of the Audience 7. I believe all my audience has had exposure to exigence, they’ve all experienced the pressures of tests during their high school years because we’re all here today because of in part to standardized test scores. 8. Their relationship to the community is still not affected because we’re all teens who have taken these tests. 9.I believe they’ll agree with my perception because they’ve all been through the pressures of the standardized tests, and whether they scored good or bad, I believe they’ll all agree that standardized test scores are being placed too high in a pplication standards. 10. There is really nothing we can to minimized the exigence except to protest to the government and ask colleges to change the way the application process is. Speech 11. I’ll use a causal order for my speech, because then I can hit the cause and effect of each of my points as I talk about them. 12.The main points in my speech will be to talk about the pressures of the tests on the students, the high placement the colleges place on the tests, and how students who are straight A students may have just done bad on the tests, and how the tests also places pressure on the students own academic work. 13. It’ll be most effective for my audience to just agree with my position because there’s really not much that can be done in terms of actions for the topic. 14. I will ask them to agree that this exigence exists and that we’ve all be affected by it. 15. My goal is not to advocate action but to advocate agreement.