Saturday, February 29, 2020
Analytic Report - Outsourcing Essay Example for Free
Analytic Report – Outsourcing Essay Offshore outsourcing, the sending of jobs to lower wage countries, has become a very popular practice amongst U. S. companies seeking ways to cut back on their operating costs. The idea of outsourcing has made for a highly emotional situation because of two dramatically different effects: it leads to layoffs and dislocations for workers. Well-educated workers in other countries are willing to work for a fraction of the wages paid to Americans, resulting in massive savings for American companies. The U. S. mports goods that would cost higher to produce domestically, and it creates and sells to other countries goods that would cost more for them to create on their own. The immediate problem resulting from outsourcing jobs is workers in the U. S. can become unemployed. The problem that causes a debate over outsourcing is even though it promises a better life for all involved; it causes hardships on the American workers when they are laid off. Economists argue that outsourcing is a bad choice because of the workers that are being laid off and displaced. In analyzing the Case Study IV-3 – IT Infrastructure Outsourcing at Schaeffer (A): The Outsourcing Decision, both sides of the outsourcing debate are well represented. Once the Schaeffer board assigned the highly ambitious growth goals to Reitzel, the Vice President of Human Resources made the recommendation that they outsource some of its IT processes and resources. During the initial evaluation of the possibility of outsourcing, Schaeffer determined what the benefits would be of having a vendor manage their IT. They determined that they would be able to focus on core activities during growth periods, which would help them to meet the goals set forth by the board. Outsourcing IT will allow them to remain focused on those business activities that are important without sacrificing quality or service to their customers. Next, they would be able to achieve reduced overhead costs and better operational control. An outsourcing company could bring better management skills to a company than what would otherwise be unavailable to them. Another added benefit would be staffing flexibility. Outsourcing will allow operations that have seasonal or cyclical demands to bring in additional resources when needed and release them when they are finished. Outsourcing these functions can provide the additional resources for a fixed period of time at a consistent cost. Continuity and risk management would also be greatly improved because when you have periods of high employee turnover which add uncertainty and inconsistency to the operations, outsourcing would provide a level of continuity while reducing the risk that a substandard level of operation would impact the company and its customers. They also determined that outsourcing could help diversify and develop the staff by bringing in people with skills that are needed within the company and by providing training opportunities that had not previously been available for current staff. Once the idea of outsourcing was presented, a task force was created to analyze their current processes and map them in as great a detail as possible. This would help them to determine exactly what their outsourcing needs were going to be. They brought on an outside consultant who provided them with advice on how to proceed as well as detailed templates to assist them in gathering the necessary information to help them create the Request for Proposal (RFP). They determined that they wanted to outsource the data center, distributed computing (all desktops), voice (telephones), data networks, and the helpdesk. It was also determined that they did not want to outsource their development resources. The task force spent a year gathering data and filling out the templates so that they had a complete picture of their current services to better understand their outsourcing needs. They then spent several months preparing a 200-page RFP that could be provided to possible outsourcing vendors. After receiving two strong proposal responses, it was determined that ABC Corporation would be the best fit for Schaeffer’s outsourcing needs. There was a lot of negotiation to be able to bring the price within the needs of the company, but after several weeks of back and forth an agreement was reached. The next step was to get Schaeffer’s top management’s buy-in to the task force’s recommended solution. However, once the task force report was circulated internally, there were a lot of perceived disadvantages raised by its managers. One of the first concerns that was brought up with the consistency and priority of service that Schaeffer would receive. Most outsourced IT contracts are for a relatively long time-period. This is because of the high cost of transferring assets and employees as well as maintaining technological investment. The long time-period of the contract can cause three particular problems. One, difficulties in getting out of a contract if the supplier turns out to be unsuitable; two, problems in foreseeing what the business will need over the life of the contract hence creating difficulties in negotiating new services; and three, almost insurmountable problems in re-creating an internal IT department after the contract period is over or the relationship is terminated. Another major concern that was discussed was the impact to employee morale with the inevitable reduction in Schaeffer IT personnel, where some would be absorbed by the vendor but most would be given a severance package and laid off. And the employees who remain may distrust management after outsourcing because they will become fearful that their position could be targeted next. Administration should treat morale problems seriously and will need to work with staff to rebuild their trust and loyalty. The company is a major employer in the area so the decision to outsource could also have a ripple effect in the community by damaging their reputation. The vice president for finance of the Colbert division brought up the concern that the major benefits of outsourcing would only be beneficial to the Reitzel division whereas the other two divisions would incur additional costs without additional benefits. This concern led to a third alternative being suggested; outsource the IT infrastructure just for the Reitzel division. Based on the information included in the case study for all three alternatives, outsourcing should be the chosen solution. It is the most flexible solution for their growth goals. Outsourcing would allow for them to expand in areas more quickly without all of the time and costs associated with startups. The vendor already has the infrastructure to support the areas that they most want to expand into, allowing for quicker turnaround times in meeting customer needs and wants, especially for new business growth. If they kept the IT in-house, they would need to make a substantial investment of both time and money in expanding their services and support that would be needed for new business and it would need to be done very quickly to be able to meet the goals set by the Board of Directors. If they tried to adopt the third alternative, of only outsourcing the IT for the Reitzel division, it would negate all of the time and cost savings of the consolidation of the divisional IT groups into a shared services solution. It would then cause duplication of work and processes between the in-house IT team and the outsourced group, which would be impactful to the overall costs for all divisions. Each solution had its own pro’s and con’s, and needed to be evaluated against the best interest in achieving Schaeffer’s overall goals in the marketplace. Like it or not, change is an integral part of today’s business climate. In the workplace, changes can occur as a result of new thinking, advances in technology, innovation and progress, knowledge and communication, as well as mergers, takeovers, layoffs, and downsizing. A lot of the concerns and disadvantages were voiced after the task force’s recommendation had been developed, presented, and circulated within the company. Communication is key! This could have been avoided by having better communication throughout the life cycle of the whole process, from the information gathering, to the development of the RFP, and the presenting of the final recommendations. A lot of people probably felt blindsided by the proposed solution to outsource the IT infrastructure because they have been conditioned to fear change. We must not lose sight of the fact that change is normal, and most of us will experience unpredictable changes throughout our professional lives. However, there is no doubt that everyone views change from a different perspective than everyone else. Many employees believe that management doesn’t understand their side of the story, and managers often feel it is the employees who don’t understand why the change is necessary. This is why communication is so vital during any change circumstance. It’s been said that lack of communication is the number one reason why relationships deteriorate between employers and employees. Change will require open communication on both sides. None of us want to acknowledge that we doubt our ability to integrate new ideas, use new technology, or adapt to new organizations. We don’t even want to think about what’s ahead when outsourcing a whole department: new management structure, new processes and procedures, new terminology, new titles and job descriptions, not to mention the loss of longtime co-workers, friends, and family. The more we fight and resist the change, the more painful and frightening the changes will be. Resisting doesn’t keep a new idea from taking hold; it simply makes the process longer and more painful. Change will happen no matter what. We will handle it better when we learn to move with the change – not against it. It’s natural to fear the unknown and lack of control when it comes to embracing a new concept such as outsourcing that goes completely against the traditional workplace structure. There will be a lot of struggle during the transition period. We know we will have to work a lot harder. Are we willing to let go of the present to embrace the future? We may not know what the future will bring, but we are responsible for what we bring to the future. Analytic Report – Outsourcing. (2016, Dec 10).
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Examine Child Protection with a view to analysing and evaluating it in Essay
Examine Child Protection with a view to analysing and evaluating it in relation to Every Child Matters - Essay Example The program also intends to place the responsibility of child protection across all involved agencies. Finally, to prime the involved institutions to come up with solutions tailored to suit the unique circumstances of each case. Viewing this comprehensive child development program from a historical perspective gives us a better understanding of some of these objectives. For example, weak accountability and poor integration had for long been the bane of the support systems of yesteryears. Poor co-ordination and low standards of accountability had led to public distrust with these institutions. The various component agencies were not properly integrated which resulted in inefficiency and redundancy. For instance, â€Å"some children are assessed many times by different agencies and despite this may get no services. Children may experience a range of professionals involved in their lives but little continuity and consistency of support.†(Youth Justice: The Next Steps) Another area of concern with the older system was the general sense of apathy on part of child health-care professional. Unless health-care professionals approach their work with dedication and compassion, their effectiveness is always going to be sub-standard. Hence, the Every Child Matters program proposes ways in which a career in child-care is seen as attractive by the professionals. The cultural norms of the English society is as much to blame for this situation; as the roles assumed by child-care workers largely goes unappreciated and undervalued. This is reflected in the fact that for long the national vacancy rate in these services had hovered around the 10 percent mark, which is one of the highest in the industrial world. The relation between socio-economic background and child delinquency is an acknowledged fact. Hence, the government had realised that child protection should consider this important aspect of a child’s life as well. The
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Critical Analysison a study-Cancer cachexia- omega 3 benefits Essay
Critical Analysison a study-Cancer cachexia- omega 3 benefits - Essay Example he ability to assimilate nutrients for body-building is being compromised at the same time that the underlying disease is causing diminished appetite leading to poor feeding. Unlike primary protein energy malnutrition (which occurs in anorexia nervosa or kwashiorkor/marasmus), cachexia is induced by disease conditions. With primary protein energy malnutrition, the problem is one of inadequate nutritional intake. But in cachexia, the issue is that patients, regardless of the adequacy of nutritional intake, have abnormally accelerated disposition of nutrients, hence a negative balance of metabolism results (Fearon and Moses, 2002). Inflammatory processes are involved in secondary PEM which are absent in primary PEM, and while primary PEM can be reversed by bolstering nutrient intake, the same benefit cannot be obtained in secondary PEM. In primary PEM there is faster loss of adipose tissue than that of lean body mass, but the loss is equally from both compartments in cachexia. Skeletal muscle loss is a feature that is peculiar to the cachexic state (Tisdale, 2003). Previous laboratory and clinical studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acids, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and EPA-containing supplements demonstrate molecular anti-inflammatory activity which is relevant to the attenuation of cachexia, in both humans and animal models. However, past results from multiple studies have been equivocal in their findings, and this study aims to elicit independent objective evidence in favour of or against the proposition that EPA confers significant benefit in arresting the progress of cachexia in affected patients. Yes. There was inadequate discussion of the basis for their using the type of EPA preparations they used, as opposed to other available types. The authors could also have done a better job of reviewing the literature on the mechanistic aspects of how cachexia develops and what bearing this information will have on the approach they used for their
Friday, January 24, 2020
Gadgets Of JAmes Bond Essay -- essays research papers fc
The Weapons and Gadgets of James Bond Introduction - Throughout the years, the weapons and gadgets that have come from the hands of the Q Branch, has never turned James Bond down, they are the coolest and are the best in spy paraphernalia. I.     Bond’s choice of equipment A.     Walther PPK B.     Aston Martin DB5 C.     Watches II.     Comparison to some spy gadgets of the army A.     Bond’s popular equipment B.     Military’s popular equipment III.     As technology continues to grow A.     Weapons will get better 1.     Equipment from newer movies a.     Goldeneye b.     Tomorrow Never Dies B.     Gadgets of the older movies C.     Other items of Q’s Lab IV.     What do we expect of Bond A.     More high tech weapons and gadgets B.     A new head for the Q Branch C.     A lot more excitement Conclusion - Finally, the weapons and gadgets of James Bond will still continue to astonish the entire world, and it will still do so as many more films are produced in the near future. â€Å"And this I am Especially Proud of†- Q      â€Å"I think we’ve met.†These were the words of James Bond as he stepped into his talking BMW 750IL during the movie Tomorrow Never Dies. Throughout the years, the weapons and gadgets that have come from the hands of the Q Branch, has never turned James Bond down, they are the coolest and are the best in spy paraphernalia. If someone would try to compare Bond’s gadgets to gadgets of the military, Bond would win ten to one.      Of course, as technology changed and time passed, the Q Branch developed better equipment, but many of the classic gadgets are still obsolete in a technology driven world we live in today. For example, Bond’s old Aston Martin DB5 can out run a Ferrari 355 F1 Spider that was demonstrated in the movie Goldeneye. (Ultimate James Bond Page http:jmsbond.tripod.com) As the James Bond story continues, the better and better the gadg... ...oon be seeing a new Q. The current Q died in a tragic accident in London just a month ago right after the release of â€Å"The World is not enough.†Another thing you will never miss in Bond films is the excitement, and that will always stay true. Finally, the weapons and gadgets of James Bond will still continue to astonish the entire world, and it will still do so as many more films are produced in the near future. Works Cited Blair, Cluade and Tarassuk Leonid. â€Å"The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapon†     Crown Publisher 1929: 379 The Complete James Bond Interactive Dossier â€Å"Gadgets Section†(CD-Rom) 1996 The Complete James Bond Interactive Dossier â€Å"Vehicles Section†(CD-Rom) 1996 The Ultimate James Bond Site. â€Å"Quotes and Gadgets†Online.Internet. 14 March 2000 available Http://www.007.com BMW USA â€Å"Build Your BMW, Z3†Online.Internet. 1 March 2000      Available Http://www.bmwusa.com â€Å"Tomorrow Never Dies.†Movie. MGM Studios and United Artists 1997 â€Å"Goldeneye.†Movie. MGM Studios and United Artists 1994 007-The Ultimate James Bond Page. â€Å"Quotes and Q Branch†Online.Internet. 1 March 2000 Available Http://jmsbond.tripod.com
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Assignment Analysis of Ethical Dilemma Essay
This document contains PSYCH 610 Week 2 Learning Team Assignment Analysis of Ethical Dilemma Psychology – General Psychology Read the following scenario: A well-known researcher at a major university has two graduate student assistants. He conducts three studies in his laboratory, all of which involve very labor-intensive procedures. The graduate research assistants complete all of the data collection. They also assist in writing the Discussion section of the final article, adding their thoughts and suggestions to the various drafts. The article is accepted into a leading journal for publication. The primary researcher lists only himself as author of the article, claiming that he wrote at least 75% of the final paper. Write a 300- to 500-word discussion of the following: Describe the ethical consideration(s) with the scenario. Has the primary researcher committed an ethical violation? Use the appropriate section of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists to justify your response. Format consistent with APA guidelines. To help you be successful in college talk with graduates from the college. This can include friends and family members. They will be able to offer advice such as which courses you should take and which ones are unnecessary. By employing the help of those who have attended the college you are going to, you can rest assured they will steer you in the right direction.
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Critique On Mm Theory - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1112 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/09/22 Category Advertising Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? American economist Franco Modigliani and Merton H. Miller published The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance and the Theory of Investment (Hereafter MM theory); a paper presented the initial MM theory, which states that under a certain market price process, in the absence of taxes, bankruptcy costs, and asymmetric information, and in an efficient market, the value of a firm is unaffected by how that firm is financed. It does not matter if the firms capital is raised by issuing stock or selling debt. It does not matter what the firms dividend policy is (Modigliani and Miller 1958). The basic assumptions of MM theory are: 1. The company only has the long-term bonds and common stocks, both bonds and stock trade in the complete capital market with no transaction cost; 2. The individual investors and corporate investors could gain the same interest rate with no liability risk; 3. The companies with similar operating conditions have the same business risks; 4. Investors hold the same expectations on the average business profit in future; 5. All cash flows are perpetual annuities, including EBIT (Earnings before interest and tax) etc, that is, the growth rate of the enterprise is zero (Modigliani and Miller 1958). The development of MM theory mostly experienced three stages: 1. No-tax model. The first MM model takes no account of corporate taxations; 2. Corporate tax model. Modigliani and Miller (1963) published Corporate Income Taxes and the Cost of Capital: A Correction, which loosened its initial assumptions, introduced corporate tax into MM theory(Modigliani and Miller 1963); 3. Miller model. Merton H. Miller (1976) proposed to consider corporate tax and individual tax in estimating how the debt leverage impacts the value of firm (Miller 1977). During the past 50-year, MM theory has made tremendous academic achievements for western companies in exploring the optimal capital structure and reducing capital costs etc. Firstly, it provides a research frame of reference and theoretical basis. Since that, most of the capital theories are base on MM theory, such as Pecking-order Theory, Trade-off Theory, and Agency Theory etc. Secondly, MM theory makes the capital structure theories systematic and builds a framework for the development of capital structure theories. Secondly, MM theory makes the capital structure theory systematically, as there was not a system of traditional capital structure theory. Last, but not least, it is only a general description of the traditional capital structure theory. While MM theory uses modern analytical methods, such as partial equilibrium, mathematical analysis etc, therefore, it makes MM theory become reliable. Despite tremendous achievements, there are still limitations in MM theory. First, the assumptions are too harsh, and most of them cannot be achieved in reality. To illustrate, MM theory assumes that individuals and corporations could borrow at the same interest rate, and can be subst itutive, but, in fact, the individual borrowers pay more than what corporations do, as well as bear a higher risk. Furthermore, MM theory also assumes there is no transaction cost, which extremely differs from the real transaction process. Second, the assumptions are beyond the reality, although the logic derivation is correct, the conclusions still differs. Both corporate tax model and Miller model suppose that corporation should raise the liability as much as possible in order to maximise the value of the firm, in extremity, up to 100% liability. However, none of enterprises adopt this point. Third, MM theory stands at a static perspective, and does not consider the external economic environment and the impact on capital structure by changing enterprise’s production and operating conditions. In fact, many factors, which affect the capital structures, are variable. For example, companies should cut down their liabilities appropriately in order to reduce business risks, when the socio-economic experiences a recession. According to MM theory, the value of tax saving is associated with the corporate income tax rate. That is, the higher corporate income tax rate, the more tax deductible the corporation could achieve from financing by liability. In other words, corporations are inclined to finance by liabilities rather than equity financing in relative higher corporate income tax rate countries, and vice versa. Under the actual situation in China, the corporate income tax is much higher than other countries in the world; corporations should prefer financing from debt theoretically (Huang and Zhang 2007). However, actually, the capital structure of Chinese enterprises runs counter to the MM theory and other capital structure theories. The proportion of liability financing in China is far less than the proportion of equity financing (Huang and Song 2006). First of all, there is merely no mechanism in applying MM theory. In accordance with the MM t heory, both individual and institutional investors can process arbitrage actions freely in the capital markets. In western well-developed capital markets, there is a wide range of fund-raising channels and other financing options, the arbitrage mechanisms usually affect the markets. However, at present, the market mechanism is not fully developed in China, as well as capital market is under-developed. Thus, these limit the financing options and forms; make it difficult to carry out arbitrage activities. Generally, MM theory cannot be applied. Secondly, the tax-saving of MM theory affects gently in China. As the taxations are mainly coming from turnover tax in China, and 80% of the tax is from value-added tax, consumption tax etc, while the income tax only accounts for 20% of the tax revenue. Compared with western countries, the income tax is accounted for 80% of the tax revenue. As consequence, the benefits from tax-saving produce little effect. Finally, MM theory is based on the western complete financial markets, as companies are free to choose a variety of funding sources from the capital market, and all the investors are free to choose their own investments. However, the capital market is not yet perfect in China, bond financing is subject to strictly control and, therefore, the theoretical framework of MM theory cannot be applied perfectly in China. To sum up, MM theory does make great academic achievements to modern capital structure research, and it provides a systematic framework for later development. However, the assumptions of MM theory are over-theoretical, which cannot be obtainable in actual world. Thus, it needs to consider other variables in factual analysis. ? References Huang, G. and F. M. Song (2006). The Determinants of Capitral Structure: Evidence from China. China Economic Review 17(1): 23. Huang, S. and G. Zhang (2007). The Analysis of Financing Preference on Chinas Listed Companies. Economic Research Journal 42(472): 12. Miller, M. H. (1977). Debt and Taxes presidential address delivered at the annual meeting of the American Finance Association, September 17, 1976. Journal of Finance. Modigliani, F. and M. H. Miller (1958). The Cost of Capital, Corporation Finance and the Theory of Investment The American Economic Review 48(3): 38. Modigliani, F. and M. H. Miller (1963). Corporate Income Taxes and the Cost of Capital: A Correction. The American Economic Review 53(3): 11. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Critique On Mm Theory" essay for you Create order
Monday, December 30, 2019
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