Tuesday, August 25, 2020

As It Is in Heaven (2004)

For what it's worth in Heaven (2004) The film As It Is in Heaven (2004) endless supply of the most significant arranging issues. It depicts the contrast between two societies, urban and provincial. It's implied that these two societies shape people’s conduct and their methods of life.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on As It Is in Heaven (2004) explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the essential contrasts between the two societies is network condition. For example, in urban territories there can scarcely be the idea of neighborhood, since in urban regions individuals are worried about their issues and don't focus on what is happening around them. Despite what might be expected, country regions are portrayed by certain network condition where individuals know one another, and regularly mediate in each other’s lives. Add that popular feeling is the thing that individuals in urban territories overlook in most of cases. Individuals essentially have no an ideal opportunity to watch after another person. Also, there are extremely numerous individuals in urban territories, so everybody is practically imperceptible in such a group. Nonetheless, in country zones individuals attempt to have constructive picture and consider the general assessment, the assessment of individuals living in the area. This idiosyncrasy of country regions is uncovered in the film. For example, numerous individuals (particularly ladies) attempt to make their neighbors lead as per high profound quality. Such individuals as Siv even lack the capacity to deal with their private life since they watch out for the area. It's implied that such characteristics of culture shape people’s conduct. Undoubtedly, individuals appreciate a lot of individual opportunity and that is the reason they are bolder, in a manner of speaking. Concerning country networks individuals don't have quite a bit of individual opportunity. Individuals are hesitant to accomplish something that can bring out negative demeanor of neighbors. Some may state that it is acceptable since individuals in country regions are watched and should lead appropriately. Be that as it may, this isn't the situation. In provincial regions individuals regularly get out of hand, however attempt to disguise their unseemly conduct. Along these lines, Gabriella is beaten by a spouse and network didn't influence her better half to forestall that despicable conduct. Be that as it may, rustic zones furnish individuals with something that can't be belittled. In rustic regions individuals feel the help of their neighbors and at whatever point something awful happens they can depend on others to support them. There is practically nothing of this sort in urban regions where individuals regularly feel desolate and discouraged in light of the absence of help and in any event, communication.Advertising Looking for article on workmanship and structure? We should check whether we can support you! Get your first paper wit h 15% OFF Learn More I have involvement with the two societies so I can bring up positive and negative point in them two. The pessimistic aspects of these societies are as per the following: in urban territories individuals are excessively removed from one another, and in rustic regions it is now and again very difficult to feel free. In any case, I should state that in rustic territory it is simpler to live since individuals feel bolster and can depend on their neighborhood. I was fortunate to live in a country territory where individuals were not all that worried about ethical quality, and there was a considerable amount of individual opportunity. In this manner, each standard has special cases, and in urban zones individuals now and again feel support. On balance, I might want to call attention to that legitimate and viable arranging surmises that all the eccentricities of these two regions are considered. Ideal zone for living should incorporate positive purposes of the two soci eties and ought not have negative aspects of these societies.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Community development and public health

Network improvement and general wellbeing It is generally recorded that Indigenous Australians have more unfortunate wellbeing results than non-Indigenous Australians (Dempsey Zhao 2006; Germov 2002; Zhao, Guthridge, Magnus Vos 2004). As per the Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet site (2009), Indigenous Australians have the most unfortunate wellbeing status of all populaces living in Australia with contributing variables, including however not restricted to, training, business status and financial status. There are additionally various social determinants which add to unexpected weakness results, for example, dispossession, social backings and sex (Germov 2002). Network advancement and general wellbeing assume huge jobs in the advancement of wellbeing and in the decrease in the wellbeing abberations which exist among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Network advancement, has been seen as an effective strategy to improve general wellbeing and wellbeing results in spots of neediness where populaces have outrageous wellbeing dissimilarity (Baum 2008). On the other hand, there have been numerous models where network advancement has been aversive to improving general wellbeing (Ife Tesoriero 2006 p 234). In responding to the inquiry: what is the significance of network improvement and general wellbeing?, this article will clarify the different existing meanings of network advancement and related terms, for example, network building, limit building and social capital; give instances of how network advancement ways to deal with general wellbeing have been actualized in Indigenous people group; and how Government and non-Government Organizations use these strategies by and by. As confirm in this paper, network advancement as a way to deal with improving general wellbeing is a compelling strategy where it is executed precisely. One must question how frequently network improvement ways to deal with general wellbeing are successfully actualized because of the demoralizing future of Indigenous Australians, which is as long as 20 years lower than that of non-Indigenous Australians (Oxfam Australia 2007). We have to stop and tune in to the Traditional Owners of this land; this nation we call Australia. They will control us, show us and show us the best approach to improve their wellbeing and prosperity. Characterizing Community Development and Public Health Network advancement inside general wellbeing tries to enable people and gatherings inside networks to assume responsibility for and improve wellbeing results through working with network individuals from the beginning, alluded to as a grassroots methodology (Ife Tesoriero 2006, p. 121; Ife 1995, p. 96-97). It is a contemporary practice utilized by professionals to advance prosperity and upgrade way of life and has been appeared to assume a significant job in creating general wellbeing across Indigenous populaces of Australia (Campbell, Pyett McCarthy 2007). Network advancement is a procedure which can be utilized in general wellbeing to improve wellbeing results through the execution of projects and activities inside networks. Baum (2008) sees network advancement as the capacity to improve wellbeing among populaces by working straightforwardly with networks to enable them to assume responsibility for conditions that assume a job in affecting wellbeing results. Effective people group improvement includes recognizing needs at that point working with individuals from the network to elevate strengthening to make long haul manageable advancement changes. On the side of this announcement, Campbell, Pyett McCarthy (2007) advance the possibility that creating more beneficial Indigenous people group includes upgrading existing network limit through strengthening. Laverack (2006) fortifies this idea through his utilization of the areas approach, with one space focussing on empowering neighborhood administration through upgrading existing network limit. Ife (2005) bolsters this thought with the use of various standards which must be applied by and by including strengthening, maintainability, proprietorship and cooperation. Network changes must occur from the extremely neighborhood level and can along these lines be a long and multifaceted procedure. In characterizing network advancement, social capital is a term regularly utilized from a positive perspective to upgrade network improvement practice. It is accepted to achieve change by uniting network individuals, making commitment and social help which can advance general wellbeing and upgrade network improvement (Baum 2008). In advancing network advancement it can in this manner be said that the utility of social capital can improve wellbeing status among networks. Carson et al (eds. 2007 p. 110) talks about the capability of social funding to give understanding into improving wellbeing norms of indigenous populaces in spite of changing conflicts encompassing the thought. Making constructive social commitment of network individuals aids the improvement of connections among individuals and the capacity to cooperate to accomplish a shared objective, a significant part of characterizing network advancement. In following from this, Bryson Mowbray (2005) partner social capital with the term network limit constructing, another idea identified with network improvement in general wellbeing. The term is utilized by people as a methodology to improve network advancement and additionally as a comparative option in contrast to network advancement activities and intercessions. The Australian International Health Institute advances network limit as expanding wellbeing by reinforcing the capacity of a network through expanding social attachment and building social capital (Arole, Fuller Deutschman n.d) Community limit building upgrades the limit of network individuals to take control in achieving change. The utilization of these techniques and its methodology can prepare for wellbeing upgrades in Indigenous people group. Network Development and Public Health in Indigenous people group Network building is utilized by people and associations to upgrade the procedure of network improvement. Ife Tesoreiro (2006) clarify that network building is a significant factor in affecting fruitful network improvement which includes uniting network individuals through little activities. The possibility that network individuals are consolidating to move in the direction of a shared objective adds to gather process, comprehensiveness, building trust and building up a presence of mind of purposecritically significant in network building (Ife Tesoreiro 2006, p. 185). Network building is regularly used to advance general wellbeing inside Indigenous people group through uniting people to recognize an issues or needs. Network individuals in this manner share a shared objective and work together to address the issue. Senior Chenall (2007) show the manner in which network building can upgrade network improvement in Stopping Sniffing is Our Responsibility. The Aboriginal people group individuals distinguished petroleum sniffing as a wellbeing and social issue so a shared objective was recognized and the individuals built up a program to help battle the issue, adding to improvement of the network. Despite the fact that accomplishment of the intercession was not seemingly perpetual, due various components, including absence of assets it exhibited to the network individuals that they had the option to cooperate to roll out positive improvements. Network advancement comparable to Indigenous people group requires explicit, mind boggling approaches. Approaches must be led in a socially touchy way which empowers indigenous individuals to have certified command over their own locale and their own fate (Ife Tesoreiro 2006, p. 2350). On the off chance that network advancement approaches in indigenous network s should along these lines consolidate social comprehension. The definitions and approaches clear from multiple points of view Forwards: report of enquiry into limit building and administration conveyance in Indigenous Communities, House of Representatives standing advisory group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, June 2004 The administration report Many Ways Forward, the Report of the Inquiry into Capacity Building and Service Delivery in Indigenous Communities (2004) gives a political perspective on network improvement comparable to Indigenous wellbeing. The report takes a gander at the viability of and approaches to improve and increment in the interest of administrations conveyed to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders inside their networks through structure network limits. All through the report various associations express their own perspectives on the importance of network limit. The Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) characterize network limit as consolidating four components including duty, assets, information and abilities. While Aboriginal Affairs Victoria characterize network limit as procedures/programs/activities which try to enable, spur and empower people, families and communitiesto seek after their own improvement objectives (House of Representatives Standing Committee On Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, 2004 pg 15). This is only a little case of various definitions, which underscores that the act of network advancement can mean various things to people. The usage of network advancement by and by Governments non-Government Organizations (NGOs) The political report Many Ways Forward Report of the Inquiry into Capacity Building and Service Delivery in Indigenous Communities distinguishes various government ways to deal with network advancement and the need to upgrade government limits including the COAG Trial, Indigenous Whole of Government Initiative. The program is planned for improving the conveyance of projects and administrations to Indigenous people group, in view of an idea of shared obligation where condition and prosperity of Indigenous people group is one common by the network, its families and people with Governments (Department of Education, Employment and Work Place Relations site, 2010). The initiation of this preliminary occurred in 2002. An

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Meadowbrook Park Urbanas Hidden Gem

Meadowbrook Park Urbanas Hidden Gem For both Champaign-Urbana natives and prospective students visiting campus, I wanted to share about the home of my favorite trail that not many know about: Meadowbrook Park. Photo from Rachel Hernandez Meadowbrook Park, owned and maintained by the Urbana Park District, is made up of multiple walking paths that range in length. Whether you are looking for a 0.4 mile walk or a 2.5 mile run, Meadowbrook has it all! From scenic views to biking to cross country skiing, this park offers activities for every season. Its perfect for picnics, dog walking, or fitness. Aside from the amazing paths, Meadowbrook also has a large playground for children, scenic meadows, and pavilions throughout the paths. Photo from Rachel Hernandez I highly recommend visiting Meadowbrook if you are looking for a relaxing activity that is off the beaten path (no pun intended). Just minutes from campus, many students dont realize that such a hidden gem is so close to them.   And while spending time on campus is great, exploring the community that surrounds and supports the University of Illinois is so fun! Enjoy the beauty, and remember to share it with your friends! Rachel Class of 2020 I am studying Middle Grades Education with concentrations in Social Sciences and Literacy in the College of Education. Although I now reside in Champaign, I am originally from Vernon Hills, a Northwest suburb of Chicago.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Government Aids Business And A Market Economy Essay

There is nothing new in the way that government aids business and a market economy. Conservatives would have us believe that our nation began and prospered under a laissez-faire arrangement, until the twentieth century and the advent of the New Deal and big government as we know it. But in fact, there has never been a complete wall between the public and private sectors. Government has always been involved in the economy. Active government support for business and the encouragement of economic growth can be traced back to the very beginnings of our Republic. Consider, for example, section eight in our Constitution – the one that describes the powers given to the newly created Congress. What is striking about most of the powers listed in this section is how mundane they seem. Here are the first eight of those powers: Clause 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Clause 2: To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; Clause 3: To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; Clause 4: To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; Clause 5: To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fixShow MoreRelatedSwot Analysis : Strategic Management1611 Words   |  7 Pagesworld, it is necessary to be updated about all perspectives to run an organization. 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Sunday, May 10, 2020

Fahrenheit 451 Gattaca Comparative Study - Historical...

Throughout time Science Fiction writers have produced their work, using the concept of dystopia as a method to express their outlook and opinion on the issues within their existing societies, in which they are writing from. The writer delivers a message to the audience, educating them about the current contextual concerns and the possibility of the dystopias that are developed as a result. This is demonstrated in the novel Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury and the film Gattaca, directed by Andrew Niccol. Both of these composers illustrate their fears for the fate of their society through the structural and language features of their texts. Ray Bradbury explores the value of using knowledge and independent thinking rather than blindly†¦show more content†¦Captain Beatty wants to use fire to cleanse the world of knowledge, a thing that he believes is evil. He wants to use fire to erase peoples memories and problems. He believes that fire can destroy anything and make pro blems disappear. When he explains that cremation is important to make people forget the dead, he says that they should Forget them. Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean†. He thinks that the only way to have a peacefully and happy society is to make people forget the past and ignore or forget anything that they do not like. This reflects back to the society after WWII and the motives of the Nazis – removing thoughts and the past will result in peace and happiness. Bradbury also serves to warn us of the danger of ignorance in this futuristic dystopia. This again is reflective of the Nazi book burnings and the idea of people leaving behind knowledge and becoming ‘blissfully’ ignorant of the past. In Fahrenheit 451 the firemans responsibility is to destroy knowledge and promote ignorance in order to ensure equality. Ignorance, however, promotes suicide, poor decisions, and empty lives. When Beatty discovers Montags hidden collection of books, he explains that all firemen become curious of books, and may have time to explore them for a short time before disposing of them. He then tells Montag about the state of the world: people are made

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Situational Analysis Free Essays

He has conducted FAA required courses and conducted recurrent flight crew training for DC-10 flight crews. Framing Is a way of labeling different Individual Interpretations of a situation. When Denny heard the explosion when the second engine failed he knew there was something terribly wrong and went to the cockpit to offer any help he could to the crew. We will write a custom essay sample on Situational Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Without him the crew would not have been able to land the plane since they needed someone with flight experience to manually steer the plan. He used active listening skills paying close attention to the captain and co-pilot’s body language to tell him how serious the emergency was. Body language, including facial expressions, hand gestures and degree of eye contact, can provide clues about the other person’s thoughts and feelings. He found the pilot and co-pilot’s knuckles white with tendons bursting from their hands as they tried to steer the plane. Denny did a great Job of effectively analyzing the situation and Jumped In to help. Although 112 people lost their lives that day 184 were saved to pass on their knowledge and expertise to others. Captain Hayes attributes five factors to the success of landing the airplane in Sioux City Iowa hey are luck, communications, preparations, execution and cooperation. Communication within the cockpit intensified as soon as they realized that they were in very serious trouble (Haynes, 1997). Haynes ordered Dudley to get in touch with the San Francisco Rear Maintenance (SAM) to see if they could help the crew regain control of the plane. Through this communication the Chicago flight center was able to prepare an airplane with medical supplies and people available to help the staff of the Sioux City local hospital some of whom were at Haynes hospital room before he ad even arrived. How to cite Situational Analysis, Papers Situational Analysis Free Essays string(103) " the use of e-government services such as applying for jobs, scholarship, paying bills, and many more\." SARAWAK INFORMATION SYSTEMS SDN BHD (SAINS) Contents SARAWAK INFORMATION SYSTEMS SDN BHD (SAINS)1 CHAPTER ONE4 1. INTRODUCTION4 1. 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Situational Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Mission, Vision and Core Values of SAINS4 1. 2. Core Competencies5 2. CHAPTER TWO6 2. 1. SAINS Environmental Analysis6 2. 2. SAINS Key Drivers of Change8 2. 3. SAINS Value Chain8 2. 3: 5 M’s of Marketing11 2. 4. Porters 5 Forces of SAINS12 2. 5. Internal analysis and External analysis13 2. 6. Applying Direct Policy Matrix16 2. 7. Potential Strategic Challenge/Issues17 2. 8. SAINS Marketing Objectives19 3. CHAPTER THREE22 3. 1. ANSOFF MATRIX22 Market Penetration22 Market Development23 3. 2. SAINS Marketing Mix24 Product / service24 Promotion24 Price25 Place26 People26 BUDGET AND FINANCIAL FORECAST FOR NEXT 3 YEARS28 CHAPTER FOUR33 4. RECOMMENDATION33 Value33 Rarity33 Imitable33 Organizational Knowledge33 5. CONCLUSION34 CHAPTER ONE 1. INTRODUCTION Sarawak Information Systems SDN BHD (SAINS) is a leading ICT System Integrator and Solution Provider in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. Relevant materials: Corporate Communications It has effectively enlarged and intensified the utilization of ICT resulting in IT growth among state government agencies in Sarawak since the mid 1980’s. In the mid 1980’s, the use of IT among state government agencies in Sarawak started to grow. Shortly thereafter, in 1991 SAINS was formed and was given the task of leading the development and implementation of IT within Sarawak. Today, SAINS reliability, innovatively and cost effectiveness has made it become one of the most highly regarded integrated information and communication technology service providers in Malaysia. SAINS Integrated Court Solution (ICS) won the United Nations’ World Summit Award in 2009 as one of the World’s Best e-Content Application products in the E-Government and Institutions Category. This achievement was the outcome of evaluations by eminent experts from 34 countries on 545 finalist submissions from 157 countries (SAINS. com. my. , 2011) In fulfilling their commitment to their clients, SAINS operates a 24-hour Call Center and Data Centre, servicing over 18,000 users for over 200 Business Applications, Hardware and Network Support. 2. 1. Mission, Vision and Core Values of SAINS SAINS Mission statement is to be the long term ICT Solution and Service Provider based on mutual value creation and trust. They are set out to make SAINS the preferred IT solutions provider by providing and supporting project management services on IT solutions services to achieve project implementation that is within a defined scope, schedule, budget and achieving customer satisfaction. SAINS Vision statement aims to envision, innovate and advance the quality of ICT software and services in the region. SAINS Core value is the passionate pursuit of excellence in IT services. Fig1-1: SAINS Core Value SAINS Pursuit of Excellence Trust in People Customer Orientation 2. 2. Core Competencies In making out core competencies, a company has to make a contribution to the customer’s benefit of the product which is difficult for the competitors to imitate. This could be more attainable when companies focus on internal development. SAINS core competencies are as follows: 2. 3. 1. Specific services SAINS provides major services across Sarawak. Services include; * Data Conversion and Digitization * Geographic Information System Applicant Software Development Integration * IT project Management * IT Training * Management Services * Call Centre 2. CHAPTER TWO In recognizing a company need there have to be a creative process, an organized thinking, disciplined mind and a looking out for challenging situations. In other to know exactly what is needed, the situation have to be analyzed. 3. 3. SAINS Environmental Analysis This sector focuses on the market environmen t so as to identify the needs and to analyze specific marketing and business problems in SAINS. 3. 4. 2. PEST Analysis of SAINS Political Aspect SAINS is protected by the regulations and policies formulated by Sarawak government * SAINS formulate their own protection strategies against governmental restrictions and limitations * The organization has been able to adapt to the policies given by each government to make sure that the company will be able to conduct business operations successfully and effectively. * The political environment of Malaysia is not really that stable, the government of Malaysia makes the countries plan for the future and also for most business. SAINS is also affected by the every 5 years plan that is made by the government. Government task just like every other company in Malaysia SAINS is also entitled to paying all government task to keep the business running not withstanding that the company is also funded by the government. Economic Aspect * SAINS has a steady and successful economic stability being the leading ICT System Integrator and Solution Provider in the state of Sarawak. * Despite threat that SAINS encounter in different parts of Sarawak, their management sees to it to struggle and strives to have better economic condition. * The rate at which interest rate affects SAINS will be very low since it’s the best in providing Sarawak with all I. T services and being funded by the government it would be less affected by interest rate. Social Aspect * SAINS considers it as a compulsory factor to possess good reputation and relations in the society that they belong. * Kuching is well open to new IT development and changes which SAINS provides. * SAINS tries harder to make sure that each ethnicity in Kuching is given equal chances to take advantage of the resources given by the organization. * SAINS is a company that employs both the Malays and Chinese people with no issues of what religion you serve. This shows the point that SAINS and the Malaysian government proves its point on the SATU MALAYSIA (one Malaysia) showing that the government of Malaysia has a good view on culture and religion required for SAINS effectiveness. * Despite different cultural context, SAINS uses a common language of English and Bahasa Malay which quells communication barriers. * With the convergent aid of growing technology, SAINS have been able to make lots of innovations on its products. * SAINS is currently Providing ICT training secondary school students in Lawas, Limbang, Betong, and Asajaya areas. They are also promoting the use of e-government services such as applying for jobs, scholarship, paying bills, and many more. You read "Situational Analysis" in category "Essay examples" Technological Aspect * The Malaysian government has recognized that ICT would serve as a foundation condition that would transform Malaysia from a P-based economy to K-based economy. * Partnership with companies such as, Hp, cicso symmantec, oracle and Microsoft help the company to drive towards innovation and development in their services. The partnership enabled relatively stronger research and development in their service 3. 4. SAINS Key Drivers of Change Demographic Shift SAINS focus has shifted not only in Kuching but also to other parts in Sarawak. However they can still shift focus on other lower economic countries such as Indonesia where competition is less. Disruptive Innovation SAINS must create a new market and value that surpasses that of any substitute company. With increase of technology, changes develop in the IT world as things become less complex and more dynamic. SAINS will be forced to evaluate new market options that will best exploit and fit into the requirement and uniqueness of their capability. Reshaped Global Power Structure This demands that SAINS have to take the bull by the horn by being selfless in their marketing, not just by providing what customers wants but also putting it in a way that can’t be merely comparable or imitable to that of competitors. Government regulations could become less strict and attracting for foreign ICT firms to enter thus creating intense competition for SAINS. However with the liability of foreignness, SAINS has a competitive edge. 3. 5. SAINS Value Chain Value chain is a chain of activities that required bringing a product from its conception to its final consumers (McCormick Schmitz, 2001). The value chain provides an important construct that facilitates the understanding of the distribution of returns from different activities on the value chain (Kaplinsky Morris, 2001). SAINS using ICT consuming services has put their services into informative, integrative and interactive. However, informative is the basic form in which the ICT is used by the society in Kuching. In this form, SAINS uses the internet as a medium for disseminating information through their website but have failed to increase this information to a broader reach via Media. The interactive serves as a two way communication mode whereby SAINS do not only use the internet to disseminate information, but also to collect information. The medium becomes more transactional in nature. In this context, the internet is used by SAINS to offer better services to their customers at minimized cost taking into account the preferences and desires of every customer. Fig 2. 1: Interactive use of ICT in SAINS Sourcing/collecting Information SAINS Interface to customers Networking with branches Information Dissemination There are several components in the above chain, each of which is likely to be affected by a host of factors: Fig 2. 2: Value Chain in SAINS services flow Design Product development Dissemination / Distribution ICT SAINS use Information and Communication Technology as weapon to react to competitive threats, or to seek new opportunities by offering new services. SAINS uses ICT to * Reduce the costs of information exchange * Collect data to better understand their customers’ behaviour * Offer new products or services * Improve their performance 2. 3: 4 M’s of Marketing In setting SAINS Business problems right, the 5 M’s of marketing will be conducted. These include Mission, Money, Message, Media and Measurement. Mission Since SAINS Mission is to be the long term ICT Solution and Service Provider based on mutual value creation and trust, it has to choose an advertising means that proves them right. The advertising objective has to be persuasive, informative and reminding. SAINS target audience are wide ranging from IT students, IT related businesses down to Government agencies, thus their advertising mission must conform to six buyer readiness stages in the figure below. Fig 2. 4: Buyer Readiness Stages cited by Awareness Purchase Conviction Liking Knowledge Preference Message Message contains appeals and themes designed to produce desired result. SAINS advertising message must transfer generic, pre-emptive, unique selling proposition, hyperbole and comparative meaning to the target audience. At the same time, the advertisement should portray some personal values such as self-fulfilment, comfortable life, happiness, security and in most cases inner peace. Media There are two ways of choosing Media; Personal communication method and Non-personal communication channel. The personal communication method includes face to face, phone, mail, and internet chat. However, Non-personal communications will be more effective for SAINS to use. This includes the use of media, atmosphere and event. Knowing SAINS target audience and media habits, a communication method that can reach out to them frequently with positive impact and proper exposure of SAINS services will be best fitting. The most effective media coverage will be Internet, television and Kuching’s popular newspapers such as Borneo Post. Measurement Exposure and awareness is what advertising does, but it is not how success is evaluated. The purpose of advertising for SAINS is not just to create awareness but also to produce a measurable response that advances a sale over a period. In doing so, SAINS will be able to quickly identify those tactics that aren’t working and make a change to it. 3. 6. Porters 5 Forces of SAINS Threat of new entry There has been a very positive development within the information and communication technology industry in Malaysia. Malaysia, in general has developed a strong and diversified ICT industry. However, SAINS partnerships and alliances with leading technology firms and its connection with government entities have created a strong market thus causing entry barrier to be high. New emerging ICT Company must have such strong advantage or will be squeezed out of the picture. Threat of substitutes With advance rapid technology, the web hosting business might be the biggest threat of substitute for the server products in the world where organizations can make their own website accessible through the World Wide Web. The advantages of web hosting include low cost, tech-support, easy to manage and low switching costs. Also, the advanced personal computer might be another threat which could possess software that makes some of SAINS services accessible to clients. Bargaining power of customers In recent years customers have a strong bargaining power since IT business services have grown rapidly but since there are few substitute in Kuching, SAINS gains an advantage given that customers are in a weak bargaining power. This as a return creates an ideal competitive environment. Bargaining power of suppliers SAINS has no bargaining power over their suppliers since the company has its contract and business to business agreement with their suppliers, this agreement is based on innovation and creating of new opportunity and software programs for their business services and switching suppliers would be very expensive for the company. Intensity of competitive rivalry SAINS being recognized as a leader among government in Kuching for cost effective deployment and efficient utilization, faces low intensity of competitive rivalry. However, its branches outside Sarawak must be conscious of other IT providers such as VADs, IBM, and MSC. 3. 7. Internal analysis and External analysis Fig 2. 5: Internal and External SWOT analysis Situation Analysis Internal Analysis External Analysis Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats 3. 8. 3. SAINS Strength Strength – SAINS 24 hour Call centre SAINS operates a 24 hour Call Centre and Data Centre resulting in a public access anytime and anywhere. This provides room for customers to pass and receive useful information at any urgent time of the day regardless of time differences. Strength –Own major branches in Sarawak SAINS operates its Business Development Corporate Communications Unit, Training Centre and Call centre in two different locations in Kuching. Also they have branches within major parts of Sarawak which are Betong, Bintulu, Kapit, Limbang, Miri, Mukah, Sarikei, Sibu and Sri Aman. Strength –Own market power Having a solid mainstream technology and a recommendable recognition with Sarawak government, SAINS have achieved a maximum market power in addition to few substitutes in Kuching. Strength –Control both Government and public contract SAINS gets contract from both Governments and public as they operate business to business and business to customers with effective deployment of IT services. Strength –Partnership and alliance with leading technology firms SAINS has good partnership and alliances with leading technology firms and hardware manufacturers in the industry which allows them to achieve their goal. These partners include Sun, Hp, Cisco, Symantec, 3com, APC, Mlabs and Damatation SDN BHD, Microsoft, Lotus, Autodesk, Trend Micro, Adobe and ESRI (Sains. com). 3. 8. 4. SAINS Weakness Weakness – Lack of motivation resulting to dissatisfaction of workers It is difficult for employees to carry out their basic duties when they are dissatisfied. This often results to poor productivity not only on the part of the employee but also on the part of the company at large. Weakness – Limited advertising Advertising is an important means for facing competition. A limited advertising therefore limits the chances of SAINS to confine Kuching IT market as competitors position the opportunity of having an upper hand. Weakness – Lack of Transparency SAINS annual report is not accessible to the public thus blocking transparency that causes complexity. Complexity can hide the reality about financial condition. This leads to huge doubt in the minds of investors and can cause absurd behaviour among potential stockholders. 3. 8. 5. SAINS Opportunity Opportunity -Training the illiterate local into the IT field SAINS have a developed ‘right program’ to support and grow the use of ICT among communities in rural Sarawak using the current State ICT organizational infrastructure; and ultimately, better the lives of those living in rural ommunities through the use of ICT. With knowledge and skills well transferred, SAINS has potential IT gurus leading the IT world to the next level Opportunity –Expansion to other states 11 Divisions of SAINS all around Sarawak and still growing into new locations. SAINS recently signed an MOU with Multimedia University (MMU) to pave the way for greater collaboration between the two organ izations in the area of Medical Information Technology or Health Informatics. 3. 8. 6. SAINS Threat Threat – Challenges of external Market Growing outside the state of Sarawak and going global could pose few threats to SAINS as they will find it tough to respond to the challenges of the global market, changes, complexity and competitions. 3. 8. Applying Direct Policy Matrix This matrix measures the health of the market and their strength to pursue it. The results indicate the direction for future investment. The recommendation may be to invest, grow, harvest or divest. Looking at SAINS 5 porters, it is seen that the company having high entry barrier, few substitutes in Kuching, weak bargaining power of customer and low intensity of rivalry has therefore created an ideal attractive market. Also, with its Business strengths showed in the SWOT analyses and less weaknesses shows that SAINS business strength level is on a high side. Consequently, an analysis of SAINS position is on ‘Invest’ in view of the fact that there is high market attractiveness and high business strength. SAINS 5 porters SAINS transparency Product/ Services Quality Customer Loyalty Experience Fig 2. : Self-sketch on SAINS Direct Policy Matrix High GROW INVEST Market Attractiveness HARVEST DIVEST Low High Business Strength Low This conveys that those factors in ‘Invest’ are the ideal quadrant. SAINS strengths are focussed at a highly attractive market. It’s best advisable for SAINS to Invest their best resources in those parts which are in the inves t quadrant. Having established and operating for 20 years, SAINS must put more effort as to maintain and sustain experience which is an attribute that creates a competitive advantage over competitors. SAINS transparency lies in an uncomfortable quadrant of growth in the sense that its financial details are kept confidential with an attractive market potential but fails to exhibit the company’s confidence to the public and potential stockholders to see. SAINS customer loyalty needs an upgrade in order to be sustained since it lies in the harvest quadrant indicating high strength in a market but has lost its attractiveness in terms of future potential. Customers in this position may be loyal due to weak bargaining power and few substitutes. Therefore, it is recommended that SAINS increase customer loyalty not just to provide satisfaction but also benefits. 3. 9. Potential Strategic Challenge/Issues Every company begins with the intent of making revenue and gratifying consumer’s want but however some ignored issues or unchecked practices have placed them in a long run to failure. Despite SAINS leading power, the following are marketing issues it will face in the nearest future. From the above analysis, it’s clear what the future is likely to offer but the question lies on whether SAINS has seen ahead of this already? What have they done so far to prevent these marketing issues in the next 12-36 months? Decline due to less Advertising SAINS has less expression and communication as it does not advertise which is an advantage to its competitor’s. This is an issue because advertising is one of the many marketing tools that are used to attract attention of prospective customers to a business or its products or services. The more effective of an advertising campaign, the more customers it draws, and with greater frequency (Anthony Samuel, 2007). SAINS saves a lot of money by not advertising a cost which its competitors reclaim in the price of their services. It is well known that advertising helps a business to be more known and increases sales, then why haven’t SAINS taken it very severe? The sketch below shows SAINS lack of advertising future using the Product Life Cycle (PLC) Fig 2. 7: Self-sketch of PLC on SAINS lack of advertising Maturity Advertisement of competitors Unawareness by distant costumers New Kind of Customer Growth present Decline Future: Advertising in 12-36 months Limited advertising decrease demand, reduce markets and limit sales of existing products. Limited advertising in the long run hinders SAINS from generating new customers and entering into new markets. Advertising is helpful in introducing new products by creating awareness and gain their acceptance. With limited advertising, SAINS would be unable to inform consumers about any new development in product and services thus quelling customer’s interest and persuasion. Consequently, limited advertising will gradually reduce the level of awareness and acceptance as it limits the chances of persuading and getting customers interested in their service. Poor productivity due to poor Employee morale A company’s success frequently depends on the performance of the employee, and performance appraisal of employee should be conducted regularly which will lead to improvement of work quality. When employees are not recognized and valued by SAINS, the employee’s morale becomes low resulting in high employee turnover cost thus leading SAINS into low productivity. By implication therefore, if employees are dissatisfied, there would be a drop in their level of productivity as well as that of the organization which is not profitable for the latter. High Employee turnover cost SAINS stands the chance of losing their employees in the next 12-36 months to another company especially for those workers after intrinsic motivation. This in return would incur more expenses on SAINS such as training expenses and hiring of new employees. In addition to this high turnover does not allow for continuity and this can have negative effects on the SAINS performance. 3. 10. SAINS Marketing Objectives SAINS goal is to imagine, innovate and advance the quality of ICT software and services in the region. SAINS objectives to achieve this goal must point out the SMART criteria. In achieving these goals in passionate pursuit of excellence, SAINS has to develop an increase awareness strategy of 40% via advertising in the next 12 months. From fig (2. 2) indicates SAINS potential decline due to limited advertising. This will boost up awareness and recognition from the public at large. Malaysia being a mixed economy, give SAINS more privilege to involve the government and major multimedia corporations to promote their awareness plan through advertising. This could be done by appointing recommended and experienced people with good skills in advertising and designing. This awareness should be conveyed through posters, TV, radio and Press editorial. SAINS has to extend Staffing and Training program to 2% in the next 12 months since they are dealing with servicing clients which are People and considered a crucial aspect. The employees have to get full understanding and agreement on where SAINS is aiming to go. This could be done as on-the-job training which would be supervised by SAINS superiors or managers. SAINS should further their Customer loyalty to 3% so as to meet up with clients expectations thus encouraging customers complaint which serves as a service providers barometer. This is required so they can put at ease and give explanation to client complains and reduce the chances of them complaining to someone else with appropriate corrective action to prevent a recurrence. SAINS aims to achieve a market share of 30% by 2012. This action must be carried out by changing price or offering incentives to customer. This means that every month market share targets can be measured against SAINS goals. Advertisement has to be measured from the very beginning. In measuring and recording advertisement effectiveness, SAINS must ensure that every enquiry is greeted at some stage with question ‘How did you find us? ’ or ‘How did you hear about us? ’ TV or radio advertisement can be measured via the use of unique phone number, special offers or reference to a specific department to call for information. Again, when those calls come, SAINS call centre must be prepared to record the information so results could be tallied for the particular spot. Increase employees Hierarchy of needs to 5%. This builds motivational plans of satisfying and reaching their employees needs while at the same time attaining their desired goals. It will be difficult for SAINS to achieve its goals if employees are less motivated. This could be done by increasing Job security, encouraging employees to have a sense of achievement and recognition. According to Maslow (1943) all employees that have job satisfaction are high performers in their respective. Also, Public relation effort could be measured by the number of article written about SAINS in newspaper and magazines. This can be done in 12 months time with government budget allocated to SAINS, their resources with 11 branches and 3 major subsidiaries in Sarawak. It must be noted that a plan will not happen by itself, thus SAINS manager need to be responsible for monitoring progress and following up on overdue activities. Better R;D and innovation is required to strengthen the effectiveness and capability for SAINS to easily sustain in the market through increased quality control and de-risking. 3. 11. 7. Assumption SAINS has plans of uniqueness and being the preferred IT providers in Kuching. With this in mind, they hope to expand awareness, sending the right accepted message to the potential clients in many ways freely available than before. This will increase their market share from 15% to 30% all over their Sarawak branches if advertisement remains constant. Indonesia having a total population of 238million people will eventually become the sole profitability of SAINS by year 2014 since Indonesia is a country that is blessed with incredible mineral riches, such as copper and gold mines but are not well endowed with advance technology like that which SAINS has to offer. With a good assumption that economic condition remains balanced, SAINS will be able to leverage its business insights and technological capabilities to drive innovation in business models and across customers, markets and channels in order to create growth and sustainable advantage. SAINS strategy evident improvement will attract competitors into imitating new product and services before the end of the first year. 3. CHAPTER THREE 4. 11. ANSOFF MATRIX The Ansoff matrix outlines the options that SAINS has if they are willing to grow, improve profitability and revenue. Fig 3. 1: Ansoff Matrix Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification Existing Product New Product Existing Market New Market Market Penetration Market penetration occurs when a company penetrates a market with its current products. It is important to note that the market penetration strategy begins with the existing customers of the organization (Ansoff, 1957). SAINS can apply this strategy is to increase sales without wandering from the original product market strategy. This is done by gaining competitors customers, improving customer relationship and convincing current customers to use more of the company’s product, with the use of marketing communications tools like advertising. It is necessary that SAINS abide to this strategy because retaining existing customers is cheaper than attracting new ones. The outcomes of the quality of relationship interactions are satisfaction, profitability, and positive evaluations of service provider, intentions to generate referrals, and the ability to compromise or bargain fairly (P. , Sorce. 2002). This is why SAINS ought to engage in relationship marketing activities to retain their high lifetime value customers. Interpersonal customer relationship must be present between SAINS and their clients and personal customers. SAINS tries to maintain relationship with their customers through their 24 hour call centre service. However, they can also improve relationships with customers through the introduction sales force automation, personalizing a web site experience; and lastly, direct mail. Market Development In this section, SAINS has to find new markets for its existing IT product and services. This could be done by identifying users of different market such as IT students in a new geographic market with similar needs of existing customers. Also, SAINS can create a new use of their multi-media production by working alongside with major film producers and sponsoring Malaysia international movies. 4. 12. SAINS Marketing Mix The marketing mix increases the three drivers of market share which are share of preference, share of voice and share of distribution. From these drivers, SAINS market share can be increased by changing the variables of the marketing mix. Product / service Product / service are asset for any organization that can make or break the company’s revenue situation at least in the short run. Therefore success of the product is very important. SAINS offer wide range of IT services to all its clients both the Sarawak government and its publics. SAINS have a great quality of uniqueness in their service packages ranging from all types of IT service. Despite these good attributes, SAINS also can integrate its activities by signed contracts it has with few technology and software producing companies like HP, Cisco, Microsoft and Oracle. With this they will have a competitive edge over its rivalries. Furthermore, with an experienced and resourceful management team, SAINS can build a track record of achievement dedicated towards producing enterprising solutions and services for its clients. The firm can also provide other advanced IT solutions to always stay strong in the industry by improving the performance, quality ; reliability of its clients’ businesses through designing, developing, deploying and integration of other necessary high tech custom-made application systems. With more focus on continuous research and development, SAINS will be able to come up with better products/solutions to meet the ever changing needs of their clients in a fast and advancing information and communication technology industry. Promotion Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has three distinct elements: advertising, public relations and sales promotion. Developing a strong relationship with their customers and understanding their business objectives and IT needs are principles the company carry from day one. SAINS focus on developing and retaining its relationship with their customers by adding value through a comprehensive understanding of our customers’ current business needs and future direction. SAINS initiates ICT camp for students in Limbang. The 3-day ICT camp is a platform to create awareness among the younger generation on the importance of ICT in daily life. With a combination of lectures, demonstrations, group case studies and quizzes, students are exposed to ICT tools and software resources. The organizers hope that the event would also draw interested parties such as government bodies, corporate bodies and local network-groups to join in the campaign to promote and source funding for ICT development and organize more ICT programs in the rural area of Sarawak. Furthermore, In order to maintain its strong imagine as the leading ICT Company in Sarawak Malaysia, SAINS need to promote its services through online presence such as Advertising through Face-book, Yahoo, and Twitter. SAINS can delve into sponsoring Malaysian international Film and Festivals. They can also promote its services through media by using popular celebrities such as â€Å"Lee Chong Wei† as their spokesperson. This will help to boost the image of the company. SAINS needs to implement Discount strategies such as giving 10% discounts to its customers. This will be a great advantage to the company, because such discounts will attract new customers to the company and such strategy will help them gain more edge over its competitors. Price Price is an important component in consumers’ assessment of value. Consumers often seek reasonable cost in relation to quality. Low QUALITY High Low PRICE High Fig 3. 2: Price Strategies Matrix ECONOMY SKIMMING PENETRATION SAINS PREMIUM SAINS charge their price for each service based on the hours spent in developing each client’s software and also networking and data based installations. SAINS can implement a differentiation strategy and focus more on innovation and quality. This brings out the uniqueness of their services which justifies SAINS premium prices. Premium pricing is used where a substantial competitive advantage exists. However, SAINS needs to take advantage of its new technologies and high cash flow by giving Penetration prices for new products. This will help them have a more market dominance over its competitor and a more reliable and constant customer. Place In recent years, SAINS has extended its reach to all part or Malaysia by opening offices within Sarawak to make their offices available to all. In good implementation of creating recognition and aim of becoming a global I. T company, in 2005, SAINS established its presence in Brunei Darussalam partnering with a prominent local IT service provider known as Zimac Silicon Technologies thus expanding more opportunities and giving rise to new valued clients. However, operating in prominent parts of Sarawak and moving into Brunei is not enough to envision, innovate and advance the quality of SAINS IT software and services in the region. SAINS will have to look in to moving in to countries with potentials like Indonesia, Philippine, Vietnam, and India. Moving into these countries will help SAINS attain recognition in Asia and gradually around the world yielding to higher revenue. SAINS could exploit the advantage of cheap labour in Vietnam and India, providing their unique and core services to foreign Multi-National Corporation needing secured assistance with their business operation. Also, SAINS should begin an E-online customer blog, where customer feedbacks and complains along with open inquiries can be seen and accessed. This will also help in measuring market share and business strategies which are of more or less importance to clients. People People are the most important element of SAINS services as they are the customers, investors which are required to make profit. SAINS has to bear in mind that since People deal with sensitive human views, SAINS services, attitude, skills and appearance of staff has to be first class. Since customers love doing business with friendly people, SAINS should get to know their customers closely. One of the best ways of building such close relationship between SAINS and its customers is to impress and show them unconditional attention giving them a phone call even after their sales had been made. Also with good warranty, Customers are more secure on a company’s services. In making improvement on adding value, SAINS has to upgrade their training and development skills of training and customer services. Every new individual working for SAINS must undergo training to be acquainted with policies and approaches to deal with customers. For an achieving company such as SAINS, ‘Off the job’ is most suitable. Attitude is very crucial as the way customer complaint is handled determines whether the customer is retained or loosed or even jeopardizing SAINS image as an IT service company. | Jan| Feb| Mar| Apr| May| Jun| Jul| Aug| Sep| Oct| Nov| Dec| Cash Flows| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| Salaries/Wages| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. 5mil| 2. mil | Payroll Taxes| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| Bonus| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200| 3,200 | Primary Research| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| Advertising| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| 12,500| Websites| 1,500| __| __| __| __| 1,500| __| __| __| __| __| 1,500| Events| __| __| __| 115,000| 111,000| __| 70,000| __| __| __| __| __| Customer loyalty| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| 29,166| Training/Development| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| Telephone| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| Electricity| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| Rent | 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| Internet| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800 | Water| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000 | Govt Revenue. | 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil | Services Revenue| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 1mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| 1. 91mil| Sales Revenue| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| 1. 47 M| BUDGET AND FINANCIAL FORECAST FOR NEXT 3 YEARS TABLE 3. 1: ACTUAL OPERATIONAL BUDGET OF SAINS (RM) FOR THE YEAR 2011 TABLE 3. 2: PROJECTED OPERATIONAL BUDGET SAINS (RM) FOR THE YEAR 2012 | Jan| Feb| Mar| Apr| May| Jun| Jul| Aug| Sep| Oct| Nov| Dec| Cash Flows| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| RM| Salaries/Wages| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. 7mil| 2. mil| Payroll Taxes| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| 1 mil| Bonus| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| 4,000| Primary Research| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| 41,667| Advertising| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| 13,500| Websites| 1,500| __| __| __| __| 1,500| __| __| __| __| __| 1,500| Events| __| __| __| 115,000| 111,000| __| 70,000| __| __| __| __| ___| Customer loyalty| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000| 30,000 | Training/Development| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| 25,000| Telephone| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| 10,000| Electricity| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| 9,000| Rent | 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| 7,000| Internet| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800| 2,800 | Water| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000| 1,000 | Govt Revenue| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil| 10 mil | Services Revenue| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M| 1. 97 M | Sales Revenue| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| 1. 57 M| TABLE 3. 3: TOTAL PROJECTED BUDGET OF SAINS (RM) | 2012| 2013| 2014| Cash Outflows| RM| RM| RM| | | | | Salaries/wages| 30,200,000| 30,400,000| 30,600,000| Payroll Taxes| 3,200,000| 3,400,000| 3,600,000| Bonus | 12,080,000| 12,160,000| 12,240,000| Primary Research | 500,100| 450,000| 300,000| Advertising | 162,000| 152,000| 142,000| Websites | 4,500| 3,500| 2,500| Events | 296,000| 196,000| 96,000| Customer loyalty | 330,000| 270,000| 240,000| Training/ Development| 300,000| 290,000| 280,000| Telephone| 120,000| 120,000| 120,000| Electricity| 108,000| 108,000| 108,000| Rent | 84,000| 84,000| 84,000| Internet| 33,650| 33,652| 33,653| Water| 12,005| 12,010| 12,015| | | | | Total Cash Outflows| RM 47,430,255| RM 47,679,162| RM 47,858,168| | | | | Cash Inflows| 2012| 2013| 2014| | RM| RM| RM| Govt. Revenue| 10,000,000| 10,000,000| 10,000,000| Sales Revenue| 18,955,900| 19,050,500| 19,100,000| Services Revenue| 23,670,550| 24,670,550| 25,670,550| Total Cash Inflows| RM 52,626,450| RM 53,721,050| RM 54,770,550| TABLE 3. 4: INCOME STATEMENT | 2012| 2013| 2014| | RM| RM| RM| Revenue| | | | Govt. Revenue| 10,000,000| 10,000,000| 10,000,000| Sales Revenue| 18,955,900| 19,050,500| 19,000,000| Services Revenue| 23,670,550| 24,670,550| 25,670,550| | | | | Total Revenue| RM 52,626,450| RM 53,721,050| RM 54,670,550| | | | | Expenses| | | | Salaries/wages| 30,200,000| 30,400,000| 30,600,000| Payroll Taxes| 3,200,000| 3,400,000| 3,600,000| Bonus | 12,080,000| 12,160,000| 12,240,000| Primary Research | 500,100| 450,000| 300,000| Advertising | 162,000| 152,000| 142,000| Websites | 4,500| 3,500| 2,500| Events | 296,000| 196,000| 96,000| Customer loyalty | 330,000| 270,000| 240,000| Training/ Development| 300,000| 290,000| 280,000| Telephone| 120,000| 120,000| 120,000| Electricity| 108,000| 108,000| 108,000| Rent | 84,000| 84,000| 84,000| Internet| 33,650| 33,652| 33,653| Water| 12,005| 12,010| 12,015| | | | | Total Expenses| RM 47,430,255 | RM 47,679,162| RM 47,858,168 | | | | | Net Income| RM 5,196,195| RM 6,041,888| RM 6,912,382| Fig 3. 3: SAINS 3 Years Income Forecast CHAPTER FOUR 4. RECOMMENDATION It’s apparent that SAINS has a firm financial resource through the next three years. However, for SAINS to survive and make increased revenue by 2014, its services have to go beyond threshold capabilities and emerge into more uniqueness. SAINS core competences can increase by applying VRIO framework (G. Johnson, et al. 2005) Value SAINS pursuit of happiness, trust in people and customer orientation has succeeded in developing financial and human resources which can be used to utilize its external opportunities having a good connection to Sarawak government. Nevertheless, SAINS must meet up to the demand of Kuching customers. Rarity The support and rapport SAINS share with the government body is a rare advantage. This alone challenges SAINS to be more flexible and savvier in innovations. SAINS must ensure that their services are rare with distinctive codes of superiority. Imitable SAINS should ensure that their services are inimitable or expensive to imitate. SAINS could go further into producing services that meets customer’s dependent needs. They must keep competitors naive on their next moves. SAINS can shift their pricing strategy mix more from ‘Premium’ to ‘Penetration’ thus reducing price and increasing cost of imitation to competitors. Organizational Knowledge With experience over the years, SAINS must be able to sense changes in the environment both internally and externally. They must be updated with their software and technical services. This will make the company more built as creativity spreads and knowledge broadens among workers. 5. CONCLUSION The antidote to complexity is transparency. High uncertainty avoidance may arise for SAINS where customers cannot tell the difference between those organisations which can meet their financial obligations and those which cannot. SAINS must bear in mind that the initial remedy to future crises is greater transparency in the form of stronger reporting requirements to the public. SAINS meeting up the satisfaction of both their customers and employees will increase their level of performance which would help attain their long term goals. How to cite Situational Analysis, Essay examples

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Tok Presentation Reflection free essay sample

Early this month we finished our final TOK presentation. I did mine with Faizaan, and we chose to take up the subject of philanthropy. The real reason that people give in the first place is a very controversial and relevant topic, and so we thought it would make a good topic for a presentation. It was very important for us to be interested in the topic we were going to be presenting, as we would be spending so many hours doing work on it- we are both interested in business and aspire to become businessmen at some point in our lives and so we truly found this topic something we would find engaging. I suggested that we break each concept down into the most elementary components and our interpretations of them, as when I saw some of the presentation of last years seniors it struck me how they were taking for granted that everyone had the same meaning of the most fundamental words in their presentation. We will write a custom essay sample on Tok Presentation Reflection or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Therefore, I made sure we spent a good amount of time building base for our presentation to build on by examining the concepts and differences in perceptions of the key words in our presentation, for example giving, and need. I really felt that this contributed to the coherence of our presentation and showed that we were not talking out of the air, but really had a firm grip on the concepts in our presentation. Another thing I found very monotonous last year was that everyone was presenting their information in the form of debates between two completely opposing viewpoints. Not only do I find this extremely boring, but I feel that it limits the scope of the presentation and does not allow us to really develop arguments and insights to a deeper level. Instead, we utilized a format wherein each of us presented various viewpoints on the same topic and did not have to stick to a specific perspective. I really liked how this worked out for us in our final presentation. In our feedback, they said that this confused them, but we firmly believed that it was very clearly and explained to them why we chose the style which we did. The examiners also suggested that we should have cut out some information as it was a bit rushed, but the information we included was as little as we could. Unlike some of the other presentations, ours was a bit more based on facts and figures, and we needed to include these to add credibility to what we were saying. In fact, we had researched much more than what we were able to include within the twenty minutes for the presentation, and this clearly showed when they asked us questions after the presentation was over. I did ot understand why they all seemed to have a problem with our knowers perspectives and WOKs being implicitly embedded, as this was clearly done intentionally- we felt that making a slide saying Emotion in Giving, for example, could completely break the flow our presentation had. We did a lot of work on this presentation and we felt we were really successful in following the guidelines of the rubric. I personally learnt a lot about philanthropy myself and explored s ome perspectives that I would not have otherwise thought of- I have become much more critical when walking down the road and giving to beggars after this presentation.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Cómo obtener copia certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU.

Cà ³mo obtener copia certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU. El certificado de nacimiento en Estados Unidos es un documento que prueba que la persona es ciudadana de ese paà ­s. Se utiliza como evidencia para sacar el pasaporte americano y otros documentos legales como, por ejemplo, la tarjeta del Seguro Social, la licencia de manejar o para probar identidad para casarse. La necesidad de obtener una copia vlida del certificado de nacimiento puede surgir tanto a los ciudadanos que se encuentran dentro de Estados Unidos como a aquellas personas que nacieron aquà ­ pero viven en otro paà ­s y quieren tramitar su pasaporte americano en una oficina consular u otro trmite. Es posible que se requiera obtener la apostilla de la Haya para utilizar en otro paà ­s el certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU. -excluyendo gestiones en el consulado americano. En este artà ­culo se informa sobre cules son las caracterà ­sticas de una copia vlida del certificado de nacimiento, quà © no puede ser utilizado en su sustitucià ³n, cà ³mo solicitar una copia y quà © problemas pueden surgir. Adems, se explica las diferencias entre un certificado de nacimiento y un reporte consular de nacimiento en el exterior. Caracterà ­sticas del certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU. Desde 2011, el Departamento de Estado pide que los certificados de nacimiento, que se conocen en inglà ©s como birth certificates, contengan los nombres completos del padre y de la madre. Salvo en los casos en los que sà ³lo cuente con un progenitor reconocido, pero tambià ©n deber figurar el nombre completo. Adems, debern constar el nombre completo del recià ©n nacido, su sexo y la fecha de nacimiento y el lugar. Es muy comà ºn que, asimismo, los certificados de nacimiento incluyan la hora de nacimiento, si fue un parto mà ºltiple con gemelos, trillizos, etc, el lugar de residencia de los padres y el lugar y fecha de nacimiento del padre y de la madre. En la mayorà ­a de los estados, los certificados de nacimiento tienen un nà ºmero de registro formado por 11 dà ­gitos. Los 3 primeros corresponden al estado de nacimiento. Asà ­, en el caso de California es el 104, en el de Texas, el 142 y el de Nueva York el 131 excepto en la ciudad de NY, que se utiliza el 156. Finalmente, el documento deber tener un sello levantado, impreso o multicolor de la autoridad que lo emite, que deber ser el estado, el condado o la ciudad, dependiendo de las leyes del estado en las que tuvo lugar el nacimiento. Adems deber estar firmado por el encargado del registro y constar la fecha del certificado. Bajo ninguna circunstancia puede utilizarse para asuntos legales el certificado entregado a los padres por el hospital en el que tuvo lugar el nacimiento y en el que frecuentemente aparecen las huellas del pie o las dactilares del bebà ©. Ese papel es solamente un recuerdo. Cà ³mo se solicita un certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU. El gobierno federal no emite este tipo de documentacià ³n. Hay que solicitarla en el estado o territorio de Estados Unidos, como por ejemplo, Puerto Rico, en el que tuvo lugar el nacimiento. Aquà ­ estn las direcciones para contactar con la que se necesite. En general se permite enviar la peticià ³n a una direccià ³n de correo fà ­sica o incluso se puede solicitar el certificado por internet. Hay que pagar una pequeà ±a cuota y, dependiendo de los estados, se permite realizar el abono con una tarjeta de crà ©dito, dà ©bito, chequera de los Estados Unidos. Algunos estados permiten que se solicite una tramitacià ³n exprà ©s. En todo caso, hay que permitir unos dà ­as porque todos los certificados deben notarizarse. Adems, existen empresas privadas autorizadas para colaborar en los trmites como por ejemplo Vitalcheck y usbirthcertificate. Problemas que pueden surgir con el certificado de nacimiento Un problema que se puede plantear es que certificado de nacimiento contenga algà ºn dato errà ³neo como, por ejemplo, el nombre o el apellido est mal deletreado, se equivocaron en la fecha de nacimiento o incluso en el sexo. En este caso es necesario comunicarse con la Oficina de rà ©cords vitales del estado en la que tuvo lugar el nacimiento y seguir sus instrucciones para corregir el error. Cada estado exige requisitos distintos, por lo que no es posible informar sobre quà © hacer para cada caso particular. Otro problema que puede surgir es que, por la razà ³n que sea, no es posible encontrar el certificado de nacimiento. En estos casos, es posible probar la ciudadanà ­a Americana con documentacià ³n secundaria, como por ejemplo el Certificado retrasado de nacimiento o la Carta de falta de rà ©cord. Subrayar que nunca jams sirve como prueba de la ciudadanà ­a americana la tarjeta del Nà ºmero de la Seguridad Social, la tarjeta de votante o la de haberse licenciado tras prestar servicio en cualquiera de las ramas del Ejà ©rcito americano (Marines, Aire, Tierra, Mar o Guardia Nacional). Otro problema es que, en la actualidad, algunos condados en el sur de Texas niegan el certificado de nacimiento a los nià ±os nacidos allà ­ pero cuyos padres son indocumentados. En este caso se recomienda contactar con un abogado o una organizacià ³n de defensa de los derechos de los migrantes con experiencia en este problema. Finalmente, se estn dando casos en los que personas nacidas en Estados Unidos no pueden obtener el pasaporte estadounidense o renovarlo porque el Departamento de Estado desconfà ­a sobre la autenticidad del certificado de nacimiento. Este tipo de problemas puede darse por distintas razones, por ejemplo, cuando el nacimiento tuvo lugar en la vivienda de la madre y se tardà ³ en registrar oficialmente. En estos casos, es necesario probar la ciudadanà ­a estadounidense recurriendo a un conjunto de documentos como el certificado de bautismo, rà ©cords de escuela y de trabajo, declaraciones juradas, etc. Certificado de nacimiento y Reporte consular de nacimiento El certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU. es un documento diferente al Reporte Consular de Nacimiento en el extranjero, que deben solicitar las personas que son ciudadanas americanas a pesar de haber nacido en el extranjero porque su padre, su madre o ambos son estadounidenses. Estos documentos no los emiten ni las Embajadas ni los Consulados, sino que si se quiere obtener una copia debe contactarse con el Departamento de Estado en Washington. Otros certificados vitales: fallecimiento, matrimonio o divorcio Las oficinas de los estados que emiten los certificados de nacimiento tambià ©n suministran los de fallecimiento, matrimonio o divorcio. Si necesita obtenerlos siempre pueda contactar con ellas por correo o por telà ©fono. Para buscar los datos de la oficina que corresponde ponga en su navegador el internet el nombre del estado donde solicita el rà ©cord y aà ±ada, entre comillas, vital record office. Puntos clave El certificado de nacimiento en EE.UU. prueba la ciudadanà ­a estadounidenseEl certificado del hospital no tiene ningà ºn valor legalSon vlidos los certificados emitidos, firmados y sellados por una autoridadPuede solicitarse a una empresa privada la obtencià ³n de un certificado vital Este artà ­culo es informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso concreto.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Learn About the Careers Available to Chemistry Majors

Learn About the Careers Available to Chemistry Majors The career options in chemistry are practically endless. However, your employment options depend on how far you have taken your education. A 2-year degree in chemistry wont get you very far. You could work in some labs washing glassware or assist at a school with lab preparation, but you wouldnt have much advancement potential and you could expect a high level of supervision. A college bachelors degree in chemistry (B.A., B.S.) opens up more opportunities. A four-year college degree can be used to gain admittance to advanced degree programs (e.g., graduate school, medical school, law school). With the bachelors degree, you can get a bench job, which would allow you to run equipment and prepare chemicals. A bachelors degree in chemistry or education (with a lot of chemistry courses) is necessary to teach at the K-12 level. A masters degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, or related field opens up far more options. A terminal degree, such as a Ph.D. or M.D., leaves the field wide open. In the United States, you need at least 18 graduate credit hours to teach at the college level (preferably a Ph.D.). Most scientists who design and supervise their own research programs have terminal degrees. Chemistry is involved with biology and physics, and there are many career options in pure chemistry as well. Careers in Chemistry Heres a look at some of the career options related to chemistry: AgrochemistryAnalytical ChemistryAstrochemistryAtmospheric ChemistryBiochemistryBiotechnologyCatalysisCeramics IndustryChemical Engineering (chemical engineer profile)Chemical Information SpecialistChemical SalesChemical TechnologyChemist (chemist profile)Colloid ScienceConsultingConsumer ProductsEnvironmental ChemistryEnvironmental LawEthnobotanyFood ChemistryForensic ScienceGeochemistryGovernment PolicyHazardous Waste ManagementInorganic ChemistryMaterials ScienceMedicineMetallurgyMilitary SystemsOceanographyOrganic ChemistPaper IndustryPatent LawPerfume ChemistryPetroleum and Natural Gas IndustryPharmaceuticalsPhysical ChemistryPlastics IndustryPolymer IndustryRD ManagementScience WriterSoftware DesignSpace ExplorationSurface ChemistryTeachingTechnical WritingTextile Industry This list isnt complete. You can work chemistry into any industrial, educational, scientific, or governmental field. Chemistry is a very versatile science. Mastery of chemistry is associated with excellent analytical and mathematical skills. Students of chemistry are able to solve problems and think things through. These skills are useful for any job. Also, see 10 Great Careers in Chemistry.

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Leadership and Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership and Communication - Essay Example Leadership and Communication This belief gets my approval for one reason. Most leaders of today communicate with their employees the way this generation communicates to each other. This is reflected in every organization allowing subordinates to express their ideas whether it is acceptable or not. On the other hand, traditional leaders communicate with their subordinates maintaining the â€Å"I am in charge† status. As a result, openness is not acceptable. Employees who are vocal with their ideas are considered not respectful of the leader. Leaders should be flexible with any generation they lead so that they will fit with the requirement of the changes. Leadership and communication in my generation is characterized by giving too much respect and obedience to leaders to the expense of sacrificing personal time. As a result, long hours of works are given without compensation. For instance, even if the required number of hours in a day for an employee is eight, employees can stay in the office beyond the ti me if ask by the leader to finish or rush work. This is so because leaders have the thinking that you have to â€Å"pay your dues† to the company giving extra hours. Leadership does not consider balancing work and life which is evident in not giving vacation to employees who had work hard for the previous years. Leadership style is serving more the company and the leaders. After answering the question, I started writing the introduction based on the body or the answers of the questions.

Monday, February 3, 2020

Reviewing the Decision Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reviewing the Decision - Essay Example The reason why the manager of "ABC" with whom we work decided that they would manage to promote fully equipped base cabinets in the future was due to the request of one of their key customers for the immediate installation of 25 pcs. of such advanced base cabinets, plus their reasoning that because of the increased convenience of the more expensive base cabinets the same quantity can be rather quickly installed at other locations as well. Considering our general positive experience with "ABC", our history of making similar supplies of equipment which "ABC" quickly exhausted, and their leading position in their market segment, I decided to place the order at the manufacturer for the mentioned amount of equipment. After we brought to our stock 50 pcs. of fully equipped base cabinets, it turned out that by then the key customer of "ABC" bailed out from his liability before them, and the general market response to the prospect of purchase of more expensive cabinets was much less enthusia stic than expected. As the result of the mentioned facts, by this moment we still have on our stock 38 pcs. of fully equipped base cabinets for table-top coffee machines, which translates into 12,500$ of frozen assets.

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Duty of Care and Contractual Agreements in Architecture

Duty of Care and Contractual Agreements in Architecture Section 1 Clearly explain what particular requirements must be in place for a Contract to exist between two parties? For a contract to exist between two parties there must be evidence of three key principles. An intention between all involved parties to form a legally binding relationship. A consideration (usually monetary) for the agreement. The offer and acceptance of the stated agreement. The intention of a legally binding relationship from each party must be formal; a moral obligation alone is insufficient. As such, articles such The Memorandum of Agreement outline the requirements of parties when intending to enter a contract. For a contract to exist the promise must be enforceable with a consideration. It is the party who provides this bargain who enforces the contract. Once a consideration is provided, all parties are drawn into privity of contract. The consideration is decided by the parties involved and the level of adequacy is irrelevant, it must be offered and accepted for the agreement to mature into a contract. As such, an offer without an acceptance is merely a pre-contractual agreement, not binding in law. In any case, for a contract to exist all terms of the offer must be accepted and a consideration provided. However, there is no requirement for a written document for most types of contract. An oral contract is legally binding providing there has been acceptance of an offer. From a legal stand-point, difficulty can be avoided if documentary evidence is provided of an agreement. The four corners rule allows a contract to be recorded and subsequently is easier to enforce in law. Explain what is meant by the term Duty of Care and what are the implications upon the architect? A duty of care is a legal obligation in tort law imposed on the Architect requiring they exercise a standard of reasonable care and diligence whilst carrying out professional work that could foreseeably harm others. Any failure in an Architects duty of care can result in an action in negligence where they become liable in tort law. Furthermore, a duty of care is also applicable in agency outside of any contractual arrangement. It is not required that a duty of care be defined by law, however, it often develops through the jurisprudence of common law. In this respect, a duty of care can be interpreted as a formalisation of the social contract and implicit responsibilities of the individual towards others in society. It is an ARB requirement that Architects adhere to the established standards of the profession and exercise due skill, care and diligence,whilst carrying out professional work within agreed time-frames and without unnecessary delay. For a duty of care to be breached, the following must be true: Harm must be reasonably foreseeable of the defendants conduct. A relationship of proximity between the defendant and the claimant. It must be fair, just and reasonableto impose liability. Explain the term Joint and Several Liability and how does it impact upon particular forms of architectural Practice? Under Joint and Several Liability, a client may pursue an obligation against any single party as if they were jointly liable. The responsibility then passes to the defendants who must establish their respective percentages of liability and monetary payment. Therefore, if a claimant pursues a single defendant and receives all the damages, that defendant must then pursue the other libelous parties to obtain contributions proportionate to their share of liability. Joint and Several liability is most relevant in tort claims and most often invoked in cases of negligence. Architects seek to establish a clear and properly defined agreement with specific reference to the understanding and expectations of the client. These agreements provide an assured basis on which the commission can be undertaken. Furthermore, the chosen form of appointment will determine the limit of the Architects liability and accountability. Architects also seek to limit their risk and liability through their chosen form of architectural practice. For Example, Limited Liability Partnerships and Companies cannot be jointly or several liable with its members liability determined by their stakehold in the partnership or shareholding in the company. Explain what is meant by the term Lean Construction. Lean construction is a method of designing production systems to minimize the time, effort and material waste of a project to generate the maximum amount of value. The process itself is derived from the lean production system within the manufacturing industry. It is fundamental that the production system is designed through a collaboration of project participants (Client, Architect, Engineer, Contractor, Building Owner) at the earliest stages of the project. It is based on the premise that desired ends affect the means to achieve these ends, and that available means will affect realized ends. The principles of Lean Construction are as follows: Allow value to flow by systematically removing obstacles to value creation and dispensable processes that create no value. Optimisation of the system through collaboration and systematic learning. Priority on delivering the Client/End-user/Building Owners expected value. Creating Pull Production. The pursuit of perfection/continual improvement, involving everyone in the system. Lean construction supplements traditional construction management by considering material and information flow, focusing on the enhancement of the production systems value generation. Therefore, a project using the Lean Construction method should: Deliver maximum functionality. Benefit end-users with the lowest optimum cost of ownership. Eliminate the inefficiency and waste in the use of labour and materials. Involve specialist suppliers in design from the beginning to achieve integration and buildability. Establish performance and improvement achievements by measurement. Use a single point of contact for effective co-ordination and clear responsibility. Explain and define what is meant by a Letter of Intent. What are the circumstances under which it may be issued, what may be its objectives and what are the principal matters that it should contain? A Letter of Intent is a document that outlines an agreement between two or more parties before the agreement is finalised. They resemble written contracts but are not legally binding for the parties involved. However, letters of intent can contain provisions that are legal binding such as a covenant to negotiate in good faith, non-disclosure agreements and stand-still provisions that promise exclusive negotiation rights. It can also be interpreted as binding if it resembles a formal contract too closely. Therefore, the letter of intent is enforceable by the courts both in terms of the remuneration and the act. However, the letter of intent is not a contract; instead it is a unilateral agreement in which one party confirms an intention to enter a contract with another party. Most importantly, it must contain an instruction to act and confirmation of a consideration as payment. Letters of intent are usually issued to: Clarify the nature of complex transactions for the convenience of the parties involved. Provide safeguards in case of collapsed negotiations. Officially declare interest or intent. Allow work to continue quickly based on trust. Architects mainly use letters of intent for the purpose of negotiation. For example, following the first stage of tender, a letter of intent maybe issued to inform a contractor of their approval based on their proposal. The contractor can then contribute to the design before the second stage of tendering by providing detailed pricings and an overall building cost. Once the second stage of tendering is complete, a formal contract can be established between the parties. What are the principal factors that determine the choice of a particular contract form? To determine the most appropriate contract form, the Architect and client must first consider the priorities of the project in terms of time, cost and quality. These three factors are linked through a trade-off paradigm: Time results in increased cost and decreased quality. Cost results in increased time and decreased quality. Quality results in increased cost and increased time. They are all related and inter-dependant. If time is the priority, then the procurement method must allow sufficient time to consider all of the design issues properly at the pre-contract stage. The client is afforded predictability and additional time can be saved by allowing the contractor to resource their own materials, effective management, real-time planning and overlapping detailed design phases with actual construction. If cost is the priority, then a financial limit must be established that a contract sum cannot exceed. Certainty of cost is dependant upon comprehensive design, drawings and specification that accurately assesses cost at the tender stage. If quality is the priority, the issue and degree of quality in the finished building must be clearly defined and established from the outset through a specification. Also, the measure of quality must also be defined. The choice of contract type is also directly related to the chosen type of procurement. Each type of procurement type uses standard contract forms that are known and accepted by the industry. Most architects choose to use these standard forms as they are comprehensive, address common construction situations and take account of current legal decisions. Factors such as the complexity, size and overall value of the project may also inform the procurement route or contract type. In all situations the Architect as the lead consultant has the duty to advise the client of the long-term implications of their decisions. Section 2 The Design and Build process of procurement has been endorsed by the Public Sector as the preferred procurement option, on the basis that it is claimed that it offers certainty of contract sum and brings certain cost benefits. Consider and discuss the merits or otherwise of this approach in comparison with the Traditional method of procurement with particular reference to the role of the architect. (70 marks). Design and Build is a procurement method for project delivery whereby an individual contractor is contractually responsible for both the design and construction of a project. In recent years, the public-sector has moved towards Design and Build as the chosen procurement path as opposed to the traditional, three-party arrangement where design and construction are separately contracted. The public-sectors interest in Design and Build can be attributed to several potential benefits that are not always obtainable through alternative procurement methods. The following points outline the advantages. The Design and Build procurement route provides a single source of responsibility as the contractor is singularly responsible for any defect in both the construction and design of the project. This is of particular benefit to the building owner or client, who does not have to define whether such defects are brought about by a deficiency in design or construction. Instead, the contractor is jointly and severly liable for the complete works. In a traditional contract, it is the client who must first determine the nature and cause of a problem, before deciding whether it is the designer or contractor who is at fault. Design and Build is also a popular route for the public-sector client as the contractor is obliged to bear any additional cost that results from inadequate or defective plans provided by the design team. In a traditional contract, the client warrants the sufficiency of the plans and as such is liable for any increased cost because of inadequate design. In the Design and Build contract, it is the contractor who is responsible for the projects design as well as the construction. They are hired to meet the clients specific performance specifications rather than merely construct the building as in the traditional contract procurement. Hence, if the plans are inadequately drafted or designed, the contractor is unable to seek compensation from the client. It is widely recognised that Design and Build contracts enable a project to be completed within a shorter time-period than the traditional three-party arrangement. The interface between the designer and contractor, often adversarial in the traditional method, can become more open and hence foster a more co-operative arrangement and exchange of ideas that can make the project a faster process. Time savings are also made by fast-tracking construction of known elements before the specifications and drawings of unknown elements are complete. The phased-nature of the design essentially allows work to commence on site whilst the later phases of the project are still being designed. The same time-savings are unable to be made within a traditional contract as the contractor does not usually even submit a tender, let alone start work on-site, before the design and drawings of the Architect are finalised. The responsibility for meeting local controls such as planning, bylaws and legislation is placed with the contractor, which usually results in increased efficiency. The phased nature of the Design and Build method also allows the contractor to have increased control of the project and can result in lower costs for the client. The specific control of detailed design enables the contractor to use familiar construction methods and materials which increase the efficiency of the build process. By staggering the construction process, the contractor is able to order materials for upcoming phases, ahead of time and at a lower cost. The savings made on labour, materials and time are all passed on to the benefit of the client. It is considered that the Design and Build method reduces the requirement for independent professional representation. Public sector clients often prefer to limit the number of points of contact to restrict the amount of time, effort and in-house staff it requires to undertake a project. Often it will use Design and Build in conjunction with privatisation, whereby it contracts an independent party to undertake responsibilities previously held by the Government, such as land acquisition, project finance, design, construction, operation and ownership. This method, in its most complete form is represented by the turnkey and package deal options, whereby the client is uninvolved for the majority of the project and presented with the completed building. However, it is desirable to have an independent third party (usually an Architect) for the purpose of quality control. Without a third party, the contractor, who is hired to complete the project promptly and economically, also has the task of assessing the quality and quantity of its own work. Hence, the contractor has a potential conflict of interest and is likely to reduce quality in order to satisfy the clients other requirements. With the presence of a third-party, the client/owners interests are represented during the design and construction. Clients choose Design and Build contracts as usually a fixed price and contract sum can be negotiated. The client specifies the maximum price it is willing to pay for the project before it solicits a proposal from the Design and Build contractor for its specifications, configuration and materials. However, difficulty can arise when there is an increase in the cost of work and construction. The contractor can sometimes abuse the situation by recouping costs in other areas of the project and without a third party, the client finds it far more difficult to detect and control such situations than in a traditional contact form. Therefore, most Design and Build contracts are lump-sum and fixed price, but payments are completed on a cost-plus basis to facilitate potential increases in cost. Also, payments tend to be dependant on the achievement of project milestones. This allows the contractors progress to be measured and assessed by the client, allowing easier negotiation in terms of compe nsation where costs have significantly increased under a fixed-price contract. However, the Design and Build route is not without potential problems. Many architects, clients, building owners and contractors have varying opinions about the successes of this procurement type. The following points are amongst the potential disadvantages to using Design and Build in the public-sector. If a public-sector client chooses the Design and Build procurement path it is difficult to actively compare preliminary proposals from multiple contractors. The contractor is only responsible for satisfying the clients performance specification; therefore the designs may be wide-ranging in aesthetic and prioritise different issues depending on the contractors individual stand-point. As in the turnkey approach, the client or eventual building owner has little input into the design and final appearance of the building and as such, may be unsatisfied with the result. Also, as the contract is entered into by negotiation rather than competitive tendering, the client may not always achieve the lowest cost for the building. Therefore, unlike the traditional route, if a client wants to attract multiple preliminary proposals, they must provide an individual consideration for each contractor that submits a design package. This is a cost often overlooked in debating the value of Traditional vs. Design and Build procurement, as these fees are separated from the contract sum in the case of Design and Build. Another problem with tendering a Design and Build contract is the potential for the building to become a competition in under-design. Contractors will seek to meet the clients outline requirements whilst sacrificing quality, life-span, ease of maintenance, and value in a bid to offer the minimum price. In placing responsibility for both the design and construction in the contractors hands, the client forfeits control. Therefore the client has little input in assessing sub-standard work, claiming for variations, debating extensions of time or even using a termination clause due to excessive delay. To combat against this, it is again advisable to use a third-party design professional who can check the value and realism of the tendered bid. However, the monetary and time savings inherent to Design and Build contracts then become nominal as the time-period and expertise needed by the third-party to check the work of the contractor is both expensive and time-consuming. Such a third party can be appointed independently by the client, or be appointed through consultant switch or novation if they are the original designer/design team. Also, contractors seek to recoup the outlay of unsuccessful tenders with their successful tenders; therefore, the client will always pay a small premium for the work of their chosen contractor. Another disadvantage to the Design and Build arrangement is the difficulty of obtaining long-term contractual protection in terms of the suitability of the work. Many contractors use contracts where such insurance is prohibitively expensive and resultantly, commercially unviable for the client. Therefore, it is the clients responsibility to be aware of the extent of coverage of the contractors liability insurance. In the event of a defect in the design or construction of the project, the client may be unable to recuperate anything if the contractors insurance coverage or assets are insufficient to pay compensation, regardless of whether liability can be determined. Public sector clients often choose the Design and Build procurement route as the available financial resources of a contractor are normally greater than that of the professional individual or architectural practice, in the event of a post-completion failure. A potential problem with liability can arise when the Design and Build contractor hires an Architect as a sub-consultant. Most contractors professional indemnity insurance does not cover damages caused by defective design or specifications prepared by the Architect. Conversely, the Architects professional indemnity insurance does not cover damages caused by defective labour, materials or operations during the contractors construction process. Therefore, the contractor offers a warranty for an agreed (but usually limited) time-period based on the notion of negligence. However, the commercial and financial pressures of the Design and Build contract compel the contractor to essentially under-design the building as far as possible making failures within the building an increased likelihood. As a result, there is often a need for litigation to define whether the economy of the project surpasses the expected level of professional responsibility at the time of design and construction. Therefore in order to protect their building, the client should seek to obtain a warranty that guarantees the completed building is suitable for its intended purpose, regardless of defects incurred by the contractor. In the public sector, Design and Build contracts are usually awarded on subjective criteria such as value, experience and qualification. The public sector in particular has developed contractor evaluation and selection policies that try to mitigate against the risk of such subjective judgments. In many cases this is achieved by awarding contracts based on a point-scoring system with the highest scorer being appointed. However, this discretional points system implemented by public managers offers little objectivity in determining the adequate point allocation for individual elements of the proposed scheme. For instance, there is hardly any way to decide whether one contractors foundation system warrants 20 points or a different contractors warrants 22, it is completely subjective. Also the criteria used for marking generally do not relate to the specific building type, therefore analysing a contractors qualifications and experience presents a measure of competence but does not guarant ee a successful project outcome. There is also difficulty in reasonably comparing alternative design proposals in an effort to determine which represents the best value. For example, some contractors may offer higher quality plumbing whilst others offer better electrical systems. Therefore it is impossible to draw reasonable conclusions from dissimilar bids in terms of which proposal offers best value. Often, value can only be determined after the building has been completed. In conclusion, public owners look for procurement systems that meet the needs of the public whilst mitigating against legal problems and reducing administrative burden. The public-sector has favoured the Design and Build approach as the client can guarantee a total fixed project cost early in the process and the building can be constructed in a shorter time-period with more efficiency than other procurement systems. The contract type also allows an exploration of new solutions through an open dialogue between architect and contractor, in which the public benefit from the innovation and lower costs. As a result, the public-sectors involvement with Design and Build has increased over recent years. Fundamentally, the public requires its construction projects to be durable, environmental, functional and most importantly, fit for purpose. At the same time, it expects the government funded projects to represent good value and be economic in nature. Therefore, the public itself has little involvement or interest in which procurement system is utilised, however, they expect each project to fulfill its stated requirements within its allocated budget. It is the view of the public-sector, that Design and Build is the system best equipped to meet the publics expectations and provide the most transparent value for projects that are ultimately funded by the tax-payer. Bibliography Lupton S. Architects Job Book. (RIBA Enterprises 7th ed.) Chappell D Wills A. The Architect in Practice. (Blackwell Publishing 10th ed.) ARB. Architects Code: Standards of Conduct and Practice. (November 2002) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_and_Build http://www.lao.ca.gov/2005/design_build/design_build_020305.htm