The Relationship between Logistics, Operations and the Environment in Research Paper

The Relationship between Logistics, Operations and the Environment in International Manufacturing Organizations from an Environmental Perspective - Research Paper Example The paper tells that the environmental impacts of the activities of the manufacturing companies have been a major concern for the environmental activists. In this respect, the customers and the organizations have also become more conscious about the negative effects of the manufacturing operations on the ecology of the planet. The operations and logistics of international manufacturing organizations may impact the environment through the type of raw materials used, the production and procurement processes, waste management, and pollutant emissions. The authors have stated that the essence of operations strategy lies in the pattern of decisions which affect the ability of the organization to attain the long-term objectives of the business, manufacturing tasks, and the requirements of the market. One of these decisions is the decision related to the compliance of the activities of the organization to the environmental laws and requirements. The customers, suppliers and other stakeholde rs demand that the manufacturing companies try to minimize the negative effects of their production, operations, and other processes on the environment. This has brought about the increasing concern of the manufacturing organizations about the sustainability of their operations and supply chain through the adoption of the â€Å"green factor† in the supply chains and taking effective steps to conduct their operations and manage their logistics in an environmentally sustainable manner. The pressures on the manufacturing organizations from their stakeholders have made it necessary for these organizations to modify and develop their supply chain and other operational aspects to suit the environment and benefit the society as a whole. The manufacturing industry is an important industry in the advanced and developed world. The focus of the revenue generation in different economies has shifted from agricultural industries to manufacturing industries.

International entreprenureship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International entreprenureship - Essay Example The study will give details regarding the background and the gradual development of Hewett Packard as a company and Carly Fiorina as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A background analysis of the company and the CEO would be given to highlight the varied situation managed by the CEO. It is observed that Carly Fiorina might have exhibited certain leadership skills in certain situations but her sole focus on attainment of goals reflects her aggressive behaviour. The organizational climate within a company becomes an essential part of the value system of an individual which helps him / her to achieve corporate goals. The author of the study will highlight the present scenario of Hewett Packard under the managerial control of Carly Fiorina and its impact on the business activities. Finally, the study will conclude with various facets of leadership that have evolved from the observation of the leadership skills exhibited by Craly Fiorina by the author. Background Analysis of Hewett Packa rd & Carly Fiorina Hewlett Packard (HP) is an American multinational company, which is headquartered in California, United States (Hewett Packard, 2013a). The company specializes in manufacturing products, technologies, services, solutions and software to individual and corporate customers in the government, education and health sectors. Hewett Packard is known as the world’s largest IT generation and technological company in the world especially after the launch of EcoPod. The inception of the company was in one car garage by William Hewlett and Dave Packard. It is regarded as one of the largest PC manufacturer of the world since 2007 and it specializes in manufacturing computing, data storage, networking hardware, delivering services. The major product lines include computing devices, enterprise and industry standard internet servers. The main objective of the company is to innovate high quality IT innovative products and create a niche for itself in the market. At present the CEO of the company is Carly Fiorina, who has been serving the tenure of this post since the past few years. Carly Fiorina started her career as a secretary in a small business organization and was one of the first women to lead a Fortune 500 company, Hewett Packard during the tenure 1999 to 2005. She had earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and MBA degree from Maryland University and Masters of Science from Massachusetts University. Her tenure at HP led to reinvention of the company with state of art innovation facilities, achievement of market leadership, transformation of the cost structure and acceleration of growth. In spite of opposition from management, Carly had successfully acquired Compaq computers, which was known as one of the biggest mergers in the company history. During her tenure, the company’s revenue had doubled to $88 billion and had almost generated 11 patents in a single day, which improved the profitability and cash flow of the com pany. Presently, the CEO serves as the chairman of Good360, which is regarded as the world’s largest philanthropy organization. Carly was politically active and has

The interpretation of images

The interpretation of images Does the person (or people) who produce a work (image, film, artwork etc.) ultimately control its meaning and interpretation? The relationship between a person and/or people controlling a piece of work, and thus its meaning, are closely inter-related. Photographers, for example, hold multiple theories. One photographer may concur with the notion of inter-relation, whilst another may hold an idea contradictory – theories that support a negative interpretation of, in this case, an image. Throughout this essay I will be looking into different photographers views on meanings of a piece of work and authorship. I will be doing this by comparing the photographers’ views, concluding the questions answer s and then explaining my opinion and summarising the essay. I believe most photographers agree that they have full control of the meaning or interpretation of an image, when we look at an image and read then read the concept behind it we are led to believe that, that is the intended meaning of that piece of work. However, sometimes when we are looking into contradicting and deceiving images that is when the public eye notice that the concept may not be what the photographer intended to show through his photographs. It is common practice for photographers to use various methods to analyse the meaning and interpretation of an image. They have a choice as to the method employed, which can give results ranging from the qualitative, to the quantitative. Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize, given for an award-winning image of a malnourished Sudanese child, is one particular example of how the intended meaning of an image can actually be interpreted. The image signified no celebration – a child barely surviving, and a vulture eager for carrion. However, this image which epitomised Sudan’s famine would go on to win Kevin Carter fame, from previous hopes of a career built on hounding the news, free-lancing in war-ravaged countries, and waiting anxiously for assignments amid dire finances; he would stay in the line of fire for that one great image. The photograph was sold to ‘The New York Times’ where it appeared on 26 March 1993, as a ‘metaphor for Africa’s despair’. Overnight, hundreds contacted the newspaper to ask if the child has survived. As a result, the newspaper ran an unusual special editors’ note explaining to the public that the girl did have enough strength to get away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. Journalists within Sudan were requested not to touch victims of famine due to the risk of disease transmission. Despite this, Carter came under aggressive criticism for not helping the girl. The‘St. Petersburg Times’in Florida wrote â€Å"The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene.’’[1] The approach that public opinion doomed on Carter was not only that of taking the image instead of immediately chasing the vulture away, but also the element that he did not help the small girl afterwards who clearly needed help. Then again, as Carter explained later that he left her in such a weak condition to continue the march by herself towards the feeding centre. Kevin Carter committed suicide two years after receiving the Pulitzer Prize. We are led to believe that Kevin Carter’s suicide note is as followed: â€Å"Im really, really sorry. The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist depressed without phone money for rent money for child support money for debts money!!! I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners I have gone to joinKenif I am that lucky.†[6] Joanne Cauciella Bonica, Massapequa, New York expressed her feelings to the world by saying â€Å"It is ironic that Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer for a photograph which to me is a photograph of his own soul and exemplifies his own life. Kevin is that small child huddled up against the world, and the vulture is what we could call ‘the angel of death’. I just wish someone would have chased that evil from his life. Im sure that little child surrendered to death just as Kevin did. Both must have suffered significantly.†[7] This is a prime example of whether the photographer, the producer of the image, has ultimate control over the meaning and interpretation of their work. An analysis into Kevin Carter’s ‘vulture stalking a child’ image reveals that his intentions were only to show a bird spreading its wings. On the contrary, the result was much more haunting – on the most basic level, it is interpreted as an image of a predator and its prey, by the viewers. Following such observations and information requests to The New York Times, the viewers altered the meaning of the image, from one that should have shown a vulture spreading its wings, to one which displays a cruel, heart-breaking, and cultural issues image. â€Å"He heard a soft, high-pitched sobbing and saw a tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding centre. As he crouched to photograph her, a vulture landed in sight. Trying careful not to disturb the bird, he positioned himself for the best possible image. He later then said he waited patiently for about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. However it did not, and after he took his photographs, he claimed to chase the bird away, yet still watched as the little girl continued her struggle to the feeding centre.†[2] Therefore, when we look back at the question, does the person (or people) who produce a work (image, film, artwork etc.) ultimately control its meaning and interpretation? We can look at this question in many different ways when we begin to deconstruct the image bit by bit, so we can observe many different individual parts of this image to interpret. When we look at this image whole, what we are pushed to believe that the image is representing a malnourished Sudanese child that is crying for help, you could say the image is showing awareness of what is happening in different areas of the world. However, if we were to deconstruct this image, the concept of the photograph is completely changed to a wild animal looking for its pray to pounce on. Which then relates to wildlife/documentary photography. Then again, if we were to deconstruct the image the other way around we would see a raising awareness image of the people of Sudan needing help, instead of the journalist photography that Kevin Carter is so highly known for. ‘’The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guidelines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.’’[3] When looking into the rules of thirds we frame the photograph and imagine it divided into 9 individual parts of the image, as a photographer when using the rule of thirds properly we try to position the main parts of the photograph near the lines and intersections of the grid. Therefore, when we look at Kevin Carters image using this method, we see that the vulture and child meet the criteria of the rule of thirds rules, the main aspects of the image line up with the main centre lines of the grid. This could be known as a perfect picture, if you will. However, we are told that Carter’s intentions of this image was to take a picture of the bird ‘spreading its wings’ and flying away. Carter must have been set up in a position where if he did take the image it would be seen as a perfect image, then again because this was the image he produced instead, this one turned out to be ‘The perfect image in photography rules.’ Stephen Bull Discourses are infamously tricky to evaluate. Ever since the 1970’s this idea of disclosure has perfected, absorbed and if you will replaced the theory of ideology. Its use in the analysis of photographs, ideology generally devises from the writings of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. However in summary of Foucault’s work the definition of disclosure is known as ‘a groups statements which structure the way a thing is thought, and the way we act on the basis of that thinking,’[4]. All of the elements around a certain photographs or photographic practice’ are its wide-ranging perspective that is produced and then how it is thought about. Therefore to illustrate this idea, it is useful to scrutinise thoroughly many different theories such as Martin Parr’s conservative ‘Midsummer Madness’ party has been expressed through a number of discourses, the originally meaning has been re-interpreted, sometimes subtly, other times significantly in its process. The cost of Living conservative Midsummer Madness is part of the documentary discourse – where ‘things as they are’ are shown. Many writers such as John Tagg would have been more likely to argue that the arranging of the photographs in this particular imagery is within the disclosure of documentary, which produces the idea that they portray the reality of the middle class consumerism in the 1980’s in Britain. Then again Parr’s work is involved in a development of the discourse documentary where the photographer allows more of a personal, independent viewpoint throughout their image of choice. (Bull, 2010). Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright Many images produce meanings, however meanings of a piece of work do not are not, strictly speaking, fully interpreted in the work itself, this is where the producer of the piece of work has placed its individual elements for the viewer to uncover them. The meanings and interpretations of work are based besides the image itself and the producer of the image. Then again, images have what we call the ‘dominant’ better known as a shared meaning. The image can also be interpreted and seen in many ways that do not adapt to its originally meaning. However, it is important to realise that not all work of arts and media productions do not speak to all viewers the same, rather, a piece of art speaks to specific viewers who are drawn into the image when being viewed. For example, style, content, the world it builds and the issues it raises. When a viewer is interested in a photograph they say the image speaks to them, perhaps because they can relate to it or know of someone who they can relate it to. ‘Just as viewers create meaning from images, images also construct audiences.’[5] Normally most images we view have some sort of concept behind them that their producers have tried to show throughout the image this could be a small or large aspect of the image. For example, advertisers look into audience research to ensure that the product they are advertising to sell is directly focused at the right age group or gender for the best selling point. Artists, graphic designers, filmmakers and many other people in this industry use images that the viewer will read interpret to their satisfaction. (Sturken, Cartwright, 2001). To conclude, does the person (or people) who produce a work (image, film, artwork etc.) ultimately control its meaning and interpretation? After looking into different online and library book resources such as ‘Stephen Bull PHOTOGRAPHY’ who expresses how an individual photograph is thought about and portrayed, I have found that all the recourses I have read through have one thing in common, the theory of a viewer creates meaning from images and the image creates the audience. Even though I have mentioned throughout my essay that the producer of the work attempts to show the meaning he intends to give throughout his/her image/images the main aspect in my opinion is the viewer and their opinion of the image and how they are drawn into it, how they interpret the image and relate to it. I believe from the research I have found that the person/people who produce the work do not have full control of the image. The producer attempts to show meaning throughout the image/images, process but how it is seen is the main element of this question. In summary, if the producer had full control there would be no need to have a research team in all advertisement of artist, graphic design and photography industries. The producer would not need to look into his target audience or age category, he/she would just take the picture and broadcast it. However this is something that is vital throughout the photographic industry. We direct our work to a specific audience to what the images concept illustrates. Therefore, â€Å"the audience will change the images interpretation†[8]. Bibliography Kevin Carter. (2011). Manic Street Preachers. Available: http://www.learningfromlyrics.org/KevinCarter.html. Last accessed 09/03/2015. Kevin Carter. (2011). Manic Street Preachers. Everything must go. 7 (4), 34. Pete Williams. (1999). Rule of Thirds. Available: http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds. Last accessed 11/03/2015. Stephen Bull (2010). PHOTOGRAPHY. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 43. Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright. (2001). Viewers Make Meaning. In: Practices of looking. United States, New York: Oxford University Press. 45. Macleod Scott. (12 December 1994). The life and death of Kevin Carter. Available: http://content.time.com/time. Last accessed 20/03/2015. Joanne Cauciella Bonica. (10th august 2005). The ultimate in the unfair. Available: http://flatrock.org.nz/. Last accessed 20/03/2015. Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright. (2001).Practices of looking. New York: Oxford University Press. 45.

Psychology of Homophobia/Sexual Prejudice Essay -- Homophobia Sex Prej

Psychology of Homophobia/Sexual Prejudice Society began to rethink homosexuality in the 1960’s when heterosexual psychologist George Weinberg coined the term â€Å"homophobia.† Weinberg used the term to label heterosexuals’ fear of being in contact of homosexuals as well as the self-loathing of homosexuals, meaning that homosexuals hated themselves for being gay. As of the new millennium, there has been a new special term that has been born to define the fear, hate and disgust that people show towards anyone’s sexual orientation called â€Å"sexual prejudice.† Like other types of prejudice, there are three main principals that surround sexual prejudice: it is an attitude, it is directed at social groups and its members, and it is negative as involving hostility or dislike. As time goes by there has been differing perspectives on sexual prejudice (homophobia).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In an interview with Karen Franklin, a forensic psychologist and former criminal investigator, which was conducted by PBS’s program â€Å"FRONTLINE,† reveals her interest and perspective on anti-gay hate crimes that relate to homophobia. Franklin has interviewed multiple perpetrators of anti-gay hate crimes and with San Francisco Bay Area College students that has lead to the production of important data of the nature and extent to the negative reactions to gays.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Karen Franklin was asked, â€Å"What makes a person become a gay basher?† she answered, â€Å"there is no simple answer to that question.† Franklin explains that for a person to commit any violent act one must have had something influence them to be violent and the fact that a gay person is being targeted is another motivation. She explains that there are several motivations for these acts. The first motivation is â€Å"peer dynamics,† in which a person tries to prove masculinity, or to prove heterosexuality, or just not to back down and let one’s peers down. The next most common motivation she found was what she called â€Å"anti-gay ideology† in which their reasons for their anti-gay feelings are based on morals or religion. Another common motivation was that a person might be thrill-seeking and trying to have a good time at someone else’s expense. Franklin states that, in general, â€Å"people are trying to endors e a cultural message that gay people are second class citizens and are not worthy of respect. Franklin feels that this sexual prejudice is a c... ...use whether we know it or not, we all contribute in even the smallest ways to this problem. For instance, when we go up to our male youth and ask them if they like any girls in their class or when we ask a female if she has a boyfriend, we are contributing to the problem in a subliminal and subconscious manner. We are sending a subliminal message to society; we are trying to tell them who they are supposed to be. It is quite ironic to find that men hate gay men, although, at the same time they love and desire gay women and it is acceptable. Sexual prejudice is very complex, confusing, wrong, misunderstood, and very harmful to society. References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Internalized Homophobia http://www.lgcsc.org/internalized.html 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychological Perspective – Henry Adams http://www.rtis.com/reg/bcs/pol/touchstone/november96/muehlen.htm 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mind of A Gay Basher – Karen Franklin http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/interviews/franklin.html 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bigots and Buggers – Peter Tatcheell http://www.petertatchell.net/homophobia/bigots%20are%20buggers.htm 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Psychological Association – Henry Adams http://www.apa.org/releases/homophob.html

Starbucks updates on annual meeting of shareholders Essay

Comparing capital expenditure Introduction                   Certain companies are considered as the front runners in their respective industries judging from their spending and the annual profits they get in their operations. For example, in the search engines industry, Google is well thought –out to be the trailblazer having billions of users. However, there are small companies which try to thrive in the same industries. The small companies possess some unique features which help them to survive in those industries. They distinguish themselves by differentiating their products brand and surroundings to meet their target market needs. Capital expenditure has been used to determine a company’s worth. It focusses on the properties, buildings and the equipment that a company considers as assets. The funds needed to buy, maintain and refurbish these assets are the ones referred to as capital expenditure.                   Centred on the profit margins of a company, the capital expenditure is conjectured as a percentage of the gross profit during equivalent distribution. This paper will contrast the capital expenditure of Starbuck Corporation and Dunkin Brands in the coffee industry of the United States. Starbuck being the frontrunner in the industry and Dunkin as its leading competitor. The paper will focus on the capital expenditure of the two companies for the past three years.                   Dunkin’ Brands Corporation has for years thrived as a competing franchise in the coffee industry. It is the sole owner of two restaurants in the United States, that is, Baskin- Robbins and Dunkin’ donuts. Since it acts as the franchise for these two restaurants, the capital requirements has been lower making it easy to open up the restaurants. Dunkin’ Donuts derives its income from the franchises through royalties and fees. A fraction of the total capital expenditure is incurred by Dunkin’ Brands from these franchisees. It owns a global market share of roughly 23 percent while Starbucks owns around 32.6 percent, leading in the list as far as coffee market is concerned.                   In 2011, the capital expenditure for Dunkin’ Brands mounted to $19 million due to the addition of other outlets in the states. In the same year, the company had incurred huge expenses due to some few factors. These factors include, costs from giving out new stock for public sale from a firm which has already made its preliminary public offering. , loss on debt when the creditor accepts a higher security, and written off goodwill charges from a corporation with South Korea. In the year 2012, the company had incurred capital expenditures of $23.4 million which is considered as restrained bearing in mind the number of site launches.                   In 2013, the capital expenditure for Dunkin’ Brands elevated to $31.1 million. This shows that the value of the expenditure was consistent throughout the three years. The company’s price- earnings ratio had been so low but due to the establishment of new stores the P/E ratio is expected to rise over the next fiscal year. The initial public offering that the company issued, raised funds to settle the long term debt creating a progressive cash flow. In the calculation of capital expenditure of Dunkin’ Brands, the net amount of fixed assets recorded in the financial statements for the previous year is subtracted from the net amount of fixed assets recorded for the year just ended. The amount of depreciation is also done the same and the result is added to the net change of the fixed assets. The final answer is the amount of capital expenditure of the company.                   Starbuck Corporation as the juggernaut in the coffee industry has continued to show growth especially towards the Asian countries ( Byrd,2013). Sales have increased steadily due to their market strategy enabling an equal increase in capital expenditure. The expansion to these Asian countries which include, Chinese/Asian/Pacific division, has been considered as one of the factors that has contributed to the faster growth of the corporation.                   Starbuck Corporation continues to be successful due to the low interest rate that persuade the management to enlarge its capital expenditure. However this may upsurge the total quantity of liabilities on the balance sheet of the corporation. China/ Asian/ Pacific Division has an extraordinary economic growth with interest rates at its lowest making it an enormous and worthwhile investment opportunity caused by the increase in the company’s liabilities.                   The need to increase these liabilities of the company is to capitalize on the returns in that new market environment. Starbuck has incurred some debt which has been getting lower considerably throughout the years. Its financial debt to total debt ratio in 2010 was 11% to 31% in 2013. Initially the decision for Starbuck Corporation to increase its capital expenditure, did not lower the profit margin which was the expectation of many. However, since 2010 to 2013, the profit margins heightened significantly. The company is expected to improve the income GDP per capita worldwide from 2010 which was at $7329 ( Byrd, 2013). This will in turn increase the visits the consumer makes to the stores resulting in growth with foreign revenue by additional 45% in the next 10 years.                   In the company’s annual financial statements, the capital expenditures in the investing activities column shows that in the year 2011 was at $531.9 million. In the year 2012 the amount rose to $856.2 million and $1.15 billion in 2013. The capital expenditure has been consistent over the three years like the Dunkin’ Corporation. This was due to the opening of new stores across the country. Depreciation has grown in the years as a result of increased capital spending and procurements. 2012 has been Starbucks development phase since it increased the new stores to up to 1300. Most of the stores were located in China. The capital expenditure value has been derived from getting the net fixed assets of the preceding year and subtracted it from the net fixed assets of the year just ended. The value is then added to the depreciation amount gotten from the difference between the depreciation value from the year just ended and the preceding year.                   The focus on the company’s capital expenditure has been used to acquire the desired information to determine and predict its future earnings according to financial and accounting models. Managers counter information from the private operation about the future costs and demands over and done with their investment judgements.                   In the quick food service industry, Starbuck Corporation and Dunkin’ Brands are the key participants. They try to counter the rising consumer demands for fast food products. However they are somewhat different since Starbuck Corporation principal concentration is on the expensive coffee, but has trailed on other product lines such as teas and juices. Conversely, Dunkin’ Brands has focussed primarily on marketing their products to everyone by combining coffee and donuts. The rate of growth for Dunkin’ has been considered to be moderately strong by financial analysts, but Starbucks has been a stronger growth with very minimum amount of debt.                   Capital expenditure is the most commonly used determiner for how well a company operates since the funds are used to upgrade an existing business asset or purchasing a new asset for example a new building. The cost or the value of the business assets is always adjusted for tax purposes. Capital expenditure is measured to be deductible for tax determinations, because it signifies an improvement to the industry. The following table represents the capital expenditure comparisons between Starbuck Corporation and Dunkin’ Brands a franchise to the Dunkin’ donuts and Baskin Robbins.(2013). SBUX DNKN Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): 0.11 0.06 Gross Margin (ttm): 0.57 0.79 Operating Margin (ttm): 0.14 0.39 Net Income (ttm): 1.51B 106.11M P/E (ttm): 33.59 44.29 P/S (ttm): 3.47 6.61 Employees: 160,000 1,104 Revenue (ttm): 14.02B 667.67M EBITDA (ttm): 2.59B 313.12M EPS (ttm): 1.97 0.94 PEG (5 yr expected): 1.61 1.72 Market Cap: 49.50B 4.42B References Starbucks updates on annual meeting of shareholders. (2013). Entertainment Close – Up, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/940899804?accountid=32521 Mergent database in the Ashford University Library. Mergent Online Quick Tips [accessed Nov 14th, 2014] Byrd, J., Hickman, K., & McPherson, M. (2013). Managerial Finance. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc. Source document

Elwyn Company Essay

In the Elwyn Company, the relationship between output (Q) and the number of hours of skilled labor (S) and unskilled labor (U) is Q 300S 200U – 0.2S2 – 0.3U2 The hourly wage of skilled labor is 10, and the hourly wage of unskilled labor is 5. The firm can hire as much labor as it wants at these wage rates. Elwyns chief engineer recommends that the firm hire 400 hours of skilled labor and 100 hours of unskilled labor. Evaluate this recommendation. If the Elwyn Company decides to spend a total of 5,000 on skilled and unskilled labor, how many hours of each type of labor should it hire If the price of a unit of output is 10 (and does not vary with output), how many hours of unskilled labor should the company hire (Chapter 5 problem 1. see answer on webct assignment 2) The Smith Company made and sold 10,000 metal tables last year. When output was between 5,000 and 10,000 tables, its average variable cost was 24. In this output range, each table contributed 60 percent of its revenue to fixed costs and profits. What was the price per table If the Smith Company increases its price by 10 percent, how many tables will it have to sell next year to obtain the same profit as last year If the Smith Company increases its price by 10 percent, and if its average variable cost increases by 8 percent as a result of wage increases, how many tables will it have to sell next year to obtain the same profit as last year Chapter 6 problem 12. see answer on webct assignment 2) Raleigh Company is a monopolist, producing and selling the product with the demand curve P 30 – 6Q where P is price (in thousands of dollars) and Q is the firms output (in thousands of units). The firms total cost function is TC 14 3Q 3Q2 where TC is total cost (in millions of dollars) What is the firms marginal revenue (MR) and marginal cost (MC) At what level of output does the firm maximize its profit What is the profit maximizing price (P) of the firm Is the price higher than marginal cost (MC) What is the profit of the firm (Chapter 8 problem page 267) 4. James Pizzo is president of a firm that is the price leader in the industry that is, it sets the price and the other firms sell all they wa nt at that price. In other words, the other firms act as perfect competitors. The demand curve for the industrys product is P 300 – Q, where P is the price of the product, and Q is the total quantity demanded. The total amount supplied by the other firms is equal to Qr, where Qr 49P.

Hunger and Death essays

Hunger and Death essays Malnutrition, disease and starvation are stalking more than 16 million people in the 'breadbasket of Africa.' If the world doesn't respond, 300,000 people could die before March. Star-Telegram Nov 24th 2002. Malnutrition is a problem that southern Africa face for many year and they dont seem to find the solution. The causes of this Huge crises can be found in some of the social issues below. AIDS. This is the first food crisis in history in which AIDS is a major factor. The virus has decimated work forces, strained already overburdened health systems and left a new generation of orphans. Cuts in socialized health programs in the 1990s. The cuts were often made at the insistence of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Global and regional economic volatility. Thousands of Swazi and Lesotho miners have stopped sending money home to their families because of huge layoffs in neighboring South Africa's gold and diamond mines. Debt. Large national debts eat up money needed to combat hunger. The spread of market capitalism. In the 1990s, market capitalism slashed or privatized southern Africa's socialized agricultural programs and left many poor farmers vulnerable to the vagaries of the free market. Land seizures. The government of Zimbabwe has seized hundreds of white-owned farms, the backbone of the economy. Food is being used as a political weapon, and price controls and foreign-exchange restrictions have worsened the crisis. Mistrust of the West. Doubts about the West's biotechnology have prompted Zambia to reject U.S. aid shipments of genetically modified corn. Civil wars. In Angola, a brutal, 27-year civil war that destroyed large areas of crops is sputtering to an end, spurring a mass return of refugees to their shattered homes and causing food shortages. The help is coming, but its too slow to combat the speed the hunger spread through out the nation. Corruption is a fa ...