Monday, September 30, 2019

A review of McGregors X and Y

Theory X worker works with a Theory Y worker or a Theory X worker works with a theory Y manager (vise versa) will one of them have an effect on the other, or will things stay the same? Introduction God created everything naturally In this world to work. God asked Adam to mend his garden, asked Noah to build the ark; he created animals to be hunters and gatherers as there Job to survive in this world. Thousands of years later it is still a very natural thing for people to work. Humans still naturally wake with the full intent to apply their life to something.It does not have to be the average monotonous daily, but work o humans Is as natural as flying Is to a bird. However, having the natural ability to work does not mean that there are not lazy or hard working people; there are two distinctive types of workers, an â€Å"X† worker and a worker. An â€Å"X† worker is typically a lazy worker, one who dislikes work and will do anything to avoid any obligations or duties. â €Å"X† workers also must be controlled, and given direction in order for them to achieve a performance goal for the day.A Y worker is typically self-directed, they learn to seek and accept responsibility, and have high potential for the work force; though both are still Intended to work. There are also two different types of productivity is essential and getting the most work or productivity out of the day. Style is the participative style. Employees will do the work they have to do with out being told what to do and when to do it. The two theories test the performance experience of employees.If Theory â€Å"X† is represented by worker â€Å"A† who is a bad worker, always late to work, and does an unacceptable work, one can naturally assume that they hate their Job situation or are lazy. If Theory is represented by worker â€Å"B† who is a better worker, never has to be told what to do, shows up on time ND does an outstanding Job around the office, then o ne can assume that they love their work and would be willing to do anything for their place of business, but if a theory Y manager (vise versa), will one of them have an effect on the other, or will things stay the same?Not everybody is influenced by someone, although people will do what they want considering, human nature is to follow by example almost like a monkey see monkey do. Literature Review In the sass's, Theorist Douglas, McGregor examined theories to study performance of individual's interactions and work style between workers at the work place. He designed it with the idea that a workers performance technique is based on motivation and social behavior. â€Å"McGregor Theory X and Theory Y were the foundation of the â€Å"Human Side of Enterprise† (Cunningham).Theory X is based on three core assumptions. â€Å"One, The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if at all possible, Two, Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of equines objectives versus Just personal objectives, and three, the average person prefers to directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition and wants security above all else (Cunningham).According to Organization Theory: However, in situations where it is possible to obtain commitment to objectives, it is better to explain the matter fully so that employees grasp the purpose of an action. They will then exert self-direction and manage to do better work – quite possibly by better than if they had only been carrying out and order, which they did not fully, understand.Once control becomes persuaded that it is underestimating the potential of its human resources, and accepts the knowledge given by social science researchers and displayed by Theory Y assumptions, then it can invest time, money and effor t in developing improved applications of the theory. McGregor realizes that some of the theories he has put forward are unrealizable in practice, but wants managers to put into operations the basic assumption that staff will contribute more to the organization if they are treated as responsible and valued employees (McGregor).McGregor believed Theory X individuals wanted to learn that work was a very natural thing, despite their lazy perspective they wanted to improve self-discipline and self- growth. McGregor believed Theory X employees saw their work as the freedom to try and do tough and challenging work by themselves. The manager's Job was to try and unite the workers and make them strive for self-development in the business and Theory Y was difficult to enforce in a factory setting or in big warehouse areas. Patricia Travis said, â€Å"Theory Y according to McGregor was conducive to participative problem solving.He believed it was better to describe in full the task or topic a t hand so that employees grasped the purpose†(Travis). Theory Y employees would show self-direction and self-control and honestly wanted to do better work and would do better work if they were to do a Job that they understood completely compared to a Job they did not fully understand. Managers found that the participative approach to problem solving showed much better results over the authoritarian order of controlling their employees and constantly nagging them. According to James Nellie who wrote in the Journal of Social Behavior andPersonality â€Å"Theory X and Theory Y workers did not differ in their perception of the scenarios. However, additional analysis revealed that Theory X and Theory Y workers differed significantly in their perceptions of the effectiveness of the unethical behaviors portrayed in some of the scenarios† (301-311). The workers would understand the idea of the Job that was needed to be done but would not fully follow through one hundred percent on how the Job needed to be done. Sometimes it all just depends on how the manger relays the message to the worker and how the worker perceives it.Theory X and Theory Y style management have been a great practice to develop positive management styles and techniques. In the earlier years especially in the first few decades of the 20th century Theory X was dominating the business world and was the lead style to the mechanistic system of scientific management. Tim Handle wrote in the â€Å"Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus† that, â€Å"Theory X is an authoritarian style where the emphasis is on â€Å"productivity, on the concept of a fair days work, on the evils of feather-bedding and restriction of output, on rewards for performance (2003). Several managers are persuaded by the TheoryX style but usually receives negative effects. McGregor questioned that management style and decision-making depended on which type of theory worked on their team. McGregor calls the managemen t X theory the â€Å"stick and carrot† method of management. Managers would have to â€Å"police† their staff, and the workers would need to be pressured, scared and disciplined. This created a very frustrating and dark work environment for the managers and the workers. Theory Y assumes that people will exercise self-direction and self-control and will do everything on their own and will finish a Job with out being bribed or threatened.According to Business Destination Theory Y states â€Å"employees actually become more productive when more trust and responsibility is delegated to them† (2012). Y workers want to work, they want to be productive, and the act of accomplishing work and doing it well is a motivator. Y managers go with the flow and Just allow the workers to work. The Y theory stance is in a unique position; it has heightened awareness of management responsibilities for employer-employee relationships. McGregor urged many companies to try and use the Theory Y design or adopt it.McGregor believed it could titivated human beings and bring out their highest potential and help them achieve bigger goals. Theory X only satisfied a large number of the lower level needs and was nowhere near as productive. As stated before, Theory X expresses distrust in employees who are only working for money, or who try to get away by doing as little paycheck and you most certainly can not always be looking over the shoulder of the employees to make sure they are doing there Job correctly. Theory Y employees are almost the dream employee for a manager.Theory Y employees want to work towards a common goal, and they are able to organize themselves. As a manager those are the workers that you want, the one's that you do not have to baby sit. These studies have shown that there is not one perfect approach to managing a X or Y worker. But from the research one can decide â€Å"the best method all depends on the nature of the work to be done† (Harva rd Business Review). After significant research and collected data research has revealed that companies with highly expected tasks will perform better with dignified procedures.With uncertain tasks that require much brain use and problem solving, businesses that are not as organized and do to put a great deal of emphasize on self-discipline and self worth struggle to get the job done. But over all, it all depends on the development of the company and the business that fits the nature of the Job that needs to be done. A worker's performance can be dependent on a worker's environment or surroundings. A Theory X worker will apply themselves a fraction more and work a little harder if they are in the right conditions of hard working individuals. (Vise Versa) for the Y worker.If a Y worker is in an atmosphere of sluggish, not really wanting to work people they can potentially follow in those footprints. It is human nature to follow by example. This is why leadership is necessary. Leaders hip needs to take a stand to help fix and figure out problems a team may have. If a manager has three X workers and eight Y workers then the manager knowing that there is an impact on one worker from another should find a way to intermingle the works to keep them on and track hard working. If the X worker, works with the Y worker long enough eventually there should be some improvements.And of course this goes the other way as well, but a company wants the best results not the worst. So a company should not have their best errors, working with the worst workers. Methodology Twenty Graduate Level students enrolled in a Organizational Behavior class at a Liberal Arts University participating in two fifteen question surveys. Most of the students are from a varied educational background but all had at least a Bachelors degree, and all understood the theory being tested. The first of the two surveys was to indicate weather the situation and management style is the â€Å"X† or style and to find out how they would handle the situation.The second survey was to indicate whether the person prefers being managed by the â€Å"X† or style. Once figuring out who is an â€Å"X† and who is a the data will be analyzed and then each candidate will be separated into there respected category they belong to. Once the survey takers are separated into there respected category I will use these two surveys to try and prove if a Theory X worker works with a Theory Y worker or a Theory X worker works with a theory Y manager (or vise versa) will one of them have an effect on the other, or will things stay the same?I will look at all of the results and see if their answers lead towards them being affected by the other work or not. The information will be seed to see if they need a little extra push from the people around them or if they can handle most tasks with out having to be nagged and rode the whole time by a boss or someone one on the management team. In analyzi ng all of the surveys and calculating all of the results several re-occurring themes surfaced and proved many things to be true.In the event of trying to prove if a person was an X or Y worker seventy five percent of the survey takers said that they were Y workers. This is something that was assumed from a graduate level class at a prestigious university; one can figure that most, if not all, would be self-disciplined, ND hard working individuals. Of the 20 survey takers only twenty five percent were considered X workers. Of the twenty people surveyed on whether or not they preferred the X or Y management style not a single individual preferred the X management style, including the X style workers.The results showed a large number of different results as expected, but the results were about what one would expect. But with these results my hypothesis was unanswered. Of the twenty people that were surveyed five of them were X style workers and 1 5 of them were Y style workers. Of the twenty people that were surveyed, all of them preferred the Y style management. After reviewing the surveys and the most prominent themes were established the tasks of understanding the monkey see monkey do attitude between X and Y workers and X and Y managers was unclear.The surveys, although showing who were X and Y worker showed that the X workers preferred the Y style management. This shows that a person who needs a little push or a little more observation on the work floor can potentially learn or adapt better with a Y style manager. But at the same time the survey showed that even a Y style worker if paired with a X style manager or a X style worker can forget their Y style ways. It all Just depends on the individual person and there work style.With a better population of people taking the survey more facts and findings can be found, but with my test subjects and the surveys that they took these are the results found and help support my theory. Discussion McGregor believed tha t, workers wanted to work and that they would act like mature adults, and actually wanted to do what was best for the company. McGregor also believed that if management with a intended instructions explained things intended, the worker would do what was necessary, and likely, employees would collaborate without being intimidated.McGregor knew that many of his suggestions would be really hard to adapt to, maybe even near impossible to apply to the work place, but McGregor believed that when people, or staff, or any type of worker is treated with respect and treated like a worker rather than a trained monkey that the workers would give more and work harder and give as close to one hundred percent as they could.Limitations One limitation to this study could be that only small portions of people surveyed and, with the majority of these people being in their early twenties could these individuals have enough life experience and work experience to know exactly how to answer the questions. If the survey had encompassed a broader range of the American population, the results may have been different. Since Management Theory X is an older style maybe the older generation or the baby boomer generation may prefer that form of management a little more.Also with the older generation most where Generation Y is considered a little more lazy and not as self motivated. Generation Y may prefer the Y style management but is actually an X style worker. Another limitation to this study is the selection of survey participants. The survey participants were not selected randomly but used because they could immediately o the survey. The survey takers may have had previous knowledge of the theory, which could have effect the outcome. If the survey population had been selected randomly, there would have been a number of people surveyed who were not educated on the theory or not aware of the concepts.Knowledge of the concepts may have survey the takers to answer a certain way therefore cr eating different results. Despite these possible limitations, the results still stand and have many applications to practice and research and were still used to find answers Conclusion Though Theory X and Theory Y are basic and easy to understand, they provide a path or the future theorist and other people that want to study the nature of how people work and understand the changing world of human behavior with large amounts of information and research.The Theory was easy to study and understand, and it also allowed data collection to be Just as simple. From the above data, and of the students surveyed they preferred the Y work style but all had a preference towards Theory Y than Theory X management style. Even though the data shows one thing it may not technically have a significant, positive relationship between the overall outcomes or hat there is even a monkey see monkey do attitude. Therefore, the hypothesis of this research paper is not confirmed.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Coopers Creek Wine Management Essay

1. 0 Introduction Coopers Creek, established in 1982, became one of New Zealand’s more successful medium-sized wineries by following a strategy of resource leveraging via networks of co-operative relationships with other New Zealand winemakers in the domestic and export markets. This strategy allowed Andrew Hendry, the managing director, to consciously manage the growth of the company to retain the benefits of small size. However, with increasing globalisation of the wine industry, the changing nature of export markets, the early maturity of the New Zealand industry and the constrained supply facing New Zealand wine makers, Andrew Hendry was faced with the decision of how to position a smaller company for the future. He had to decide whether the network-based strategies that served the company so well continued to be appropriate under conditions of industry concentration, increasing competition and emerging globalisation. (Robbins S, 2006) 1. 1 The NZ wine industry When Andrew Hendry established Coopers Creek, the New Zealand environment was highly regulated. By 1984, the New Zealand government had initiated a programme of deregulation, which included devaluation of the New Zealand currency, exchange rate flotation and general anti-inflationary measures. (Porter M, 2001) The opening of New Zealand’s domestic market meant that businesses had to improve their efficiency substantially over a short period. The agricultural sector sought out new markets, to replace the loss of their traditional dependence on the UK market with its increasing commitment to its European trading partners, and new products, reflecting a growing awareness that much of New Zealand’s exports were of a commodity nature. This period saw growing exports to Australia, the United States, Japan and the rest of Asia and exports of predominantly sheep meat and dairy produce being accompanied by more fresh fruit, venison and wine. A further response to fiercer competition at home and in overseas markets was an increasingly strong focus on quality, a case in point being the New Zealand wine industry. The New Zealand wine industry accepted the consequences of the liberalisation of the domestic economy and recognised the need to understand how on-going changes in the international economic environment affected its prosperity and how to plan accordingly. Building from a low international base in the 1980s ($4. 5 million in exports in 1987), New Zealand wine exports achieved phenomenal growth and accounted for $168 million in 2007, comfortably exceeding the $100 million by 2007 target set in 1999. The UK market was the most important export market for the industry in 2007, and at $84 million it accounted for around 50. 22 per cent of total exports by value and 54. 28 per cent by volume. Europe accounted for 66 per cent of exports with 85 per cent of that going to the UK. Four large firms, namely Corbans, Montana, Nobilo and Villa Maria, dominated the wine industry in New Zealand in 1999. The following year, Montana purchased Corbans and Nobilo was bought by BRL/Hardy of Australia. Between them, these large firms accounted for around 80 per cent of all exports in 2007, with another 17 medium-sized companies, of which Coopers Creek was one, handling 16 per cent in combination. For the most part, industry participants exported between 30 and 35 per cent of their production, but a few producers had much higher export intensity. (Wheelen, 2006) 2. 0 Key Issues The key issues are: (Study Guide, 2008) (1)Despite entering early maturity, coopers creek remained constrained by issues of supply. (2)The cost of new land for grape planting was rising and more previously marginal land became economic to grow on, the problem was still one of access to capital for these resources. (3)A possible over supply of grapes in New Zealand, which could lead to heavy discounting. (4) A contraction in ownership within distribution companies in New Zealand and in USA, which could lead to certain markets being effectively closed to coopers creek. (5)Protection of strategically important grape supplies so the can insure they still get a proportion of the very highest quality grapes. 3. 0 Planning. 3. 1 Life Cycle From a demand perspective, the worldwide wine consumption has stagnated. According to the Wine Institute, there is only a 2. 04% growth in wine consumption from 1997 to 2001. In fact, worldwide consumption dropped from 227,875 hectoliters to 226,646 between 1999 and 2000. Generally there is a drop in consumption from the traditional wine drinking countries like France and East European countries, whilst demand has growth significantly from China. (Grant R, 2005) The production of wine has shifted from the traditional vineyards in France to the rest of the world. There are New-World Wines from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These wines are generally thought to be of moderate to high quality and are essentially challenging the traditional wine producers on the quality front. Furthermore, there are wines coming out from China and India. Because of the lower wages in these countries, wines can now be produced at a fraction of the costs of the French vineyards. Price has now become a big challenge that the traditional wineries have to face. Some author’s even suggest that the Old-World producing countries like France has followed growth & decline and now has entered a second life phase. While the New-world countries are in an emerging or growth phase As the industry moves towards maturity phase of its life cycle, the pace of consolidation will increase. (Times of India,2007) 3. 2 PESTEL Analysis The following is a review of the major environmental factors, which will impact the industry to a large extent. A closer examination of the more important factors amongst them will allow for a tighter integration between the external environmental factors and the corporate strategy chosen for Coopers. Political factors Government regulation has always played a major role in the WI. There are increasing concerns that there will be new barriers and trade impediments to trade in the WI. One such example is the trade disagreement between US and European Union in the level of farm subsidies that the US alleged that the EU farmers receive. The same allegations may also be similarly levied on the European vineyards. In the Wine Institute report on International Trade Barriers to U. S. Wine 2006, European wine producers were noted to have received certain subsidies . Tariffs also have been the most important barrier to the international wine trade. Some governments impose unusually high tariffs on wine imports . Recent announcement in the media like India opening its market and slashing duties on imported wine and spirits bring good news to the industry, as this will allow them to enter this lucrative untapped market. Though due to WTO pressure the tariff has been reducing, which has lead to major wine producing countries imposing various non-tariff trade barriers. One such non-tariff trade barriers are research fundings made available by local governments to improve the overall harvest yields and quality of the country’s grapes . Economical factors. The rising number of middle class worldwide has led to an increasing appreciation of wine and demand for wine. In developing economies of China and India, this class of consumer is expected to increase significantly over the next decade. With the continued increase of economic growth rates for both countries, these consumers can now afford to consume wine is expected to grow significantly as well . The effect of currency fluctuations on the WI will continue to play an integral part in influencing the WI. The proportion of wine being exported outside the wine producing country has increased. Even in a traditionally large wine consuming market, the proportion of wine, which ends up in foreign land, has been increasing. The continuing trend of exporting to new markets such as India and China is going to increase as wine producers cope with the declining wine demand in traditional home markets As a result, the wine producers’ exposure to fluctuations in currency exchange rates will increase further. Socio-cultural factors The increased spending power, sophistication of the middle class in many countries with increased tendency of copying the west has helped to increase the demand for wine consumption. This growing group of earners from various countries is often well traveled & highly educated consumers with needs and wants for the better things in life. The number of middle class across Asia is expected to grow by 1 billion in the next 8 years . With the shift in demographics in the developing countries, there will be more wine drinkers in the future. Increasingly, there are also more scientific evidences that there are health benefits to be derived from moderate drinking of wine especially red wine. As a result, there is an increasing acceptance of the beverage as â€Å"health-product† leading to a healthy heart. Technological factors Innovation and technological factors continue to drive improvement in production yields and better storage of wine. The Australian WI today has transformed itself from a small cottage industry to one of the largest exporter of wines internationally, even to the extent of eclipsing some of the older Old-World countries. The great leap forward for Australia can be attributed to the Australian wine producers clustering to innovate and improve existing processes. (Read C, 2006) The growth of e-commerce infrastructure and the increasing acceptance of buying things online have led to new opportunities for wine connoisseurs and wine producers alike. With this new technology, niche wine growers are able to reach out to the individual wine consumers without being drowned out by the marketing noise generated by the large wine producers. The ability to ship small quantities directly to individual wine drinkers without passing through layers of middlemen may mean that small niche growers may be able to find their position in a market dominated by large brand names . Environmental factors. Within the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry, the WI is markedly different from the other products due to the fact that F&B products are limited by market, while the WI is limited by resource (land and grapes). Reason being wine is grown in moderate climates and on certain types of soil. Sudden climatic changes may adversely affect production yields or may even destroy crops all together. The significant changes expected in the environment from global warming, rising sea levels, rising carbon emissions and increasing acidity in the waters will all add to contribute to the adverse conditions for which growers will find themselves in. These conditions together with a scarcity of good arable land may act to constrain or even reduce the industry’s supply. On the positive side, in one of the rare articles published in Newsweek on the positive effects of global warming, the author highlights that fast melting of Artic glaciers and increase in global temperatures may lead to opening of new vineyards in many parts of the world with weather conditions similar to the France’s Champagne region. Legal factors External environmental legal factors have acted in line with other environmental factors changes. For example, the advent of the Internet e-commerce has resulted in changes in legislation for wine sales, which crosses state lines in the United States . In addition, the origin of the grapes used to make wines also became a contentious issue for many wine-producing countries. The origin of these grapes and the proportion of local grapes used became an issue for branding and labeling of wines; as governed by new local legislation controlling wine labeling. 4. 0 Organising 4. 1 Porter’s 5 forces analysis We have analyzed Coopers internal environmental factors using Porter’s Five Forces analysis. Being in a specialized industry, it is not easy for another player to just come in wanting a portion of the pie. The WI requires specialized skill sets, special knowledge and extensive experience to stay competitive. It also needs very high investment especially for equipments used for processing of wine. This indirectly induces high entry cost which is work as a barrier of for new entrants. There is also the expected retaliation faced by new entrants from existing players. Coopers together with other existing players may collaborate to deter competitors from coming in. For example, Coopers may start dropping its price and the other existing players may follow suit leading to a price war. On the whole, the force of threat of entry is low here. 4. 2 Threat of Substitutes This industry faces stiff competition from not only other wineries but also from other alcoholic drinks such as beer, spirit and pre-blended mixed drinks and carbonated drinks. Product-for-product substitution is also possible should customers of Coopers decide to try out other brands/types of wine. For the health conscious, bottled water, energy drinks and natural fruit juices also provide competition. Possibility of generic substitution is also there where as customers may prefer to spend on purchasing cigarettes rather than drinking wine. Thus, there is a high force of threat of substitutes in this industry. 4. 3 Threat of entry Competitive rivalry among existing firms is evident in this industry. Larger companies are acquiring smaller wine producers to monopolize the market resulting in dynamic competition amongst these companies. As the WI is at its mature stage, companies start to take market share from competitors to survive. As there are too many wine producers, adding on to the high power of buyers, companies may decide to go for price wars due to high fixed costs to gain market share. This industry has high entry and exit barriers due to the extensive capital investment and knowledge & skill set needed. In addition one must have sustainable resource, as it takes several years for wine to mature. This means that industry players do not have many choices. Again this induces competition amongst them and price wars and low margins situations are likely to happen. Based on the information above, the groups came to the conclusion that the industry is â€Å"Medium Attractive†. 5. 0 Directing 5. 1 Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategies Using Porter generic competitive strategies, we find that Coopers has the ability to outperform its competitors by adopting a strategy of â€Å"Focus Differentiation†. Porter proposed that a firm’s competitive advantage in an industry is determined by its competitive scope – i. e. , the breadth of company’s target market coupled with company’s unique resource (product range, distribution channels, target market etc.), For Coopers the scope of the target market is narrow. It is mainly targeting niche markets for premium wines in the wine drinking markets of Europe, US, Australia, Japan and a few emerging Far Eastern Asian markets. When targeting niche markets, the company either can go for â€Å"Cost Focus† or â€Å"Differentiation Focus†. Coopers should not be following the Cost focus strategy as NZWI compete in the high quality premium category wines. Reduction of overall cost is achievable only to a certain extent, as this industry is highly capital intensive with many inherent costs along the supply chain. Instead Coopers should concentrate either on particular market segment, or product line segment or geographic market with high growth potential or all three. By following a differentiation strategy Coopers would be able to better focus its resources & capabilities to the serve the special needs of a narrow strategic target more effectively than its competitors. 5. 2 Bowman’s strategic clock Using â€Å"Bowman’s competitive strategy clock† too, Coopers falls under category 5, â€Å"Focused Differentiation†. This strategy is similar to the Porter’s generic model, which tries to provide high-perceived product benefits justifying a substantial price premium usually to a selected niche market segment. Coopers can use this strategy in new markets, by targeting sales into the same niches in more countries. While in established markets Coopers could even adopt Category 4 â€Å"Differentiation –with price premium † by offering better wine at the same price or by pricing it slightly higher than competitive brands in the same price bracket, to take advantage of the fact that â€Å"fine quality wine will always demand a premium† and at the same promote it as premium category. (Meredith R, 2007). Cost Leadership may not be sustained for Coopers because of some of the following reason: – Competitors can imitate – differentiation may not be sustainable it can easily replicated by competitors like South African or South American wine producers – Bases of differentiation become less important to buyers – Competing on just quality to demand high price may not be enough. For example in price conscious markets like UK, Holland and Germany, wines from South American and South were seen as better value than NZ wine. – Target segment can become structurally unattractive: – Structure erodes – This could happen for Coopers’ target market in US, restaurants and boutique retailers. They may form a group for centrally sourcing activities to drive down costs, somewhat similar to what happened with Tesco Supermarket Chain (UK). (Aylward, 2006) – Demand disappears – there may be new research findings in future that may lead to lower consumption of wine. Or even they may be new legislation banning consumption of alcohol products in public places similar to that of smoking, which may lead to total disappearance of a target segment. From the evaluation of Coopers core competencies, the followings were recognized. – Coopers is a typical entrepreneurial venture in that the founding entrepreneur, Andrew, had driven its development and growth. A critical factor of success of Coopers is Andrew’s ability to build relationships, within the context of an innovative and flexible approach, in order to leverage critical resources to pursue growth. – Coopers strategy was based on having a carefully controlled but finite quantity of wine to sell every year. With Andrew’s commitment to quality, it has earned itself a relatively good reputation in the industry. From the evaluation of the KSF of the WI, the followings were recognized. – Historically, the NZWI had focused on the production of premium wines, given its constrained supply, small scale, high cost structures and distinctive ‘clean and green’ growing conditions. Availability of consistent high quality products that has strong brand value and recognition are highly sought after and considered KSFs. 6. 0 Monitoring 6. 1 Wineries Both management & employees of wineries play a key role and yield great power in terms of the quantity & type of wine to be produced. Great deal of collaboration exists between the local wineries to share knowledge & costs. 6. 2 Grape growers Being key players, they control the quality and quantity of grapes grown. Many of the wineries are backward integrated by owning lands or having long-term contracts with individual producers. Power of suppliers is low. 6. 3 Industry Associations Wine Organizations in NZ like Wine Institute, former Wine Guild with backing of the NZ government are very powerful. All Wineries have to take up compulsory memberships and contribute towards funding & running of the organizations. These key roles of these organizations are promoting NZ wine in international markets, lobbying with foreign governments to open new markets, lowering of trade restrictions and tariffs etc. They also initiate research programmes and training for the entire industry, funded by the wineries. (Zalan T, 2005) 6. 4 Consumers The final end user, this group needs to be well informed & kept satisfied by providing high quality premium products with consistent quality and availability at affordable prices. Power high. 6. 5 NZ Government NZ government is a key player with considerable power who has played a pivotal role in the development of the NZWI. The government has been implementing new legislations in consultation with NZWI to meet the current market requirements. Some examples would include changes in government policy in the 1980s making it favorable for local manufacturers to export to foreign markets . (Harvard University, 2007) 6. 6 Distributors, Retailers, Buyers Buyers like Supermarkets are powerful players who dictate the price & type of wine stocked on shelves. WI is a buyer driven industry, where buyers hold a lot of power. 6. 7 Domestic and Foreign investors. This group needs the minimal amount of effort. They are satisfied as long as they get a good return on their investments. 7. 0 Critical Analysis 7. 1 Competitor Analysis The world WI is currently experiencing a situation of over-production. In the EU alone, it was reported by Food & Drink. com that there is a surplus o f 1. 5bn litres of wine, enough for every European Union citizen to take roughly four free bottles each. Millions of Euros have been spent to turn these excess wines into industrial alcohol. (All Things, 2006) The WI is a highly fragmented, with over â€Å"a million wine companies† around the globe. None of the firms control more than 1% of the retail sales, with top 10 players controlling 11% of the global market share (based on volume) . These industry competitors come from different wine growing countries and continents. This is especially true for Old-World Countries in Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Germany) accounts for 60% of the world wine production and 80% of world trade . In contrast, the New-World Producers (Australia, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, USA, New Zealand) wines are more consolidated. On average these countries appear to be more structurally attractive compared to Old-World Countries. Moreover, in the last decade the industry structure has been undergoing dramatic change. There is a growing trend of consolidation. Cash flow rich alcoholic beverage companies are investing in the WI as their own markets of beer and spirits are maturing. 7. 2 Stakeholder analysis The WI being a competitive industry has a varied, vibrant and balanced group of stakeholders, with frequent and varied channels of communication. All the forces involved try to build consensus within which the primary decisions in the industry are made. 7. 3 Life-Cycle Analysis We have identified Coopers to be in the phase of â€Å"Mature† stage in the life-cycle model. In view of its competitive conditions, we also identify there may be many competitors which are likely to resort to price-cutting strategy for volume. Therefore one of Coopers directive is to differentiate its product portfolio through leveraging on its enhance brand equity to promote customer’s retention and loyalty within its existing customer-based and new customer groups whilst consistently driving cost efficiency through economies of scales and innovative & efficient ways of bringing cost down. (Pape E, 2007) 7. 4 Positioning analysis Coopers currently enjoy relatively good brand equity amongst its market segment. To infuse the same branding principle across distinctive first label allows them to capitalize on its already successful branding strategy, further maximizing the returns of their marketing investment especially for the second label. 7. 5 Value chain analysis Through new ways of doing things such as possible bottling in import markets to reduce shipping costs, backward integration either through ownership or long term leasing with good quality of vineyards across NZ and beyond, could potentially reduce their overall cost per unit yet enabling them to utilize cost advantage strategy to expand the perceived value for the brand. 7. 6 Business profile analysis This growth strategy do not require a complete reinvention of wheels, it capitalizes on the existing goals and values of the group, its resources and capabilities, its structure and management systems and its industry environment to further produce enhanced features and products thus major increase in expenditures is not expected, instead an increase in financial perform is forecasted due to the additional opportunities from new market penetration. (Heijbroeck, 2003) 8. 0 Recommendations: 1. The expansion of the cooper’s creek network of export markets and the development of second labels. These second label wines could generally be sold at lower prices thus protecting the price status of the Coopers Creek labels but gaining extra sales volume for the company. In most cases the second labels will sell through different distributors. 2. The above strategy will also help with over reliance on a few key distributors. In the case of the rapidly growing US market, coopers creeks have not appointed one exclusive national importer. Instead they will sell to some 20 independent importer/distributors in different states either by direct shipment from the winery or out of a warehouse in California. This will ensure the company doesn’t become a victim of the rationalisation of a large importers or distributors catalogue of wines carried. (Kogut B, 2006) 3. The steady acquisition of control of the vineyards producing their best grapes. That has taken the form of either complete acquisition by purchase, long term leases or the establishment of joint ventures with the vineyards under cooper creek’s management and tied up under long term supply contracts. In the last two years they have purchased three vineyards, leased one and entered one joint venture with an existing contract grape grower. They are currently looking at two further existing vineyards with a view to purchase or lease. 4. Continue to produce consistently high-quality products. 5. Maintain and increase its brand equity and recognition as a premium wine producer. 6. Establish international supply management to facilitate its global market operations. 7. Maintain or improve its already good relationships with stakeholders. 8. Ensure there is cost efficiency in its operations so as to maximise profit with minimum cost. 9. Last but not least, continue innovating in terms of its product and marketing. †¢Current turnover is NZ$5. 5M †¢Current production is at 1100tonnes per year (approx 85,000 cases) and aiming to be 1800tonnes by 2008 †¢They should purchase more of their own vineyards in the Hawkes Bay region in the last few years which would prove beneficial to them. †¢They should increase production of Pinot Noir which is one of their best vineyards by 400% and this will become a feature varietals alongside Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for the future †¢All wine is made on site at their Auckland vineyard. On site facilities include Cellar door tasting room and retail shop, Plant buildings (tanks) and bottling line, warehouse and barrel store, landscaped gardens with picnic areas and children’s playground. (Johnson, 2005) A cellar/courtyard wine bar will open for lunches and private group bookings late 2003. Plans have been drawn up for a cafe/function centre but as yet no time frame as to when maybe initiated, which should be implemented soon. (Nielson A, 2006) 9. 0 Conclusion It can be concluded, the NZWI is still considered to be at an early maturity phase of its lifecycle, as evidenced by a small number of takeovers and increasing concentration. As the industry matures, there is a need for NZ wine producers to retain focus on quality, differentiated products, while holding their premium price position. In addition, they need to play to their strengths in white wines and introduce more red wines into their portfolio. (Ghoshal S, 2007) As a company, Coopers needs to realize the trend toward deteriorating industry profitability is a constant threat in mature industries. As rivalry encourages overinvestment in capacity, international competition increases, and as differentiation is undermined by commoditization, attaining a competitive advantage becomes essential to achieving positive economic profits. Cost is the overwhelmingly important key success factor in most mature industries and three cost drivers tend to be especially important: Economies of scale, low-cost inputs and low overheads. Cost efficiency in mature industries is rarely a basis for sustainable competitive advantage; it is typically a requirement for survival. Deteriorating performance among mature companies typically triggers the adoption of turnaround strategies, of which the company must choose the most suitable one for its profile. Coopers have so far maneuvered its way past the many problems that plague other producers. However, more emphasis might be needed in terms of differentiating itself from the other NZ brands. It would have to build on its brand equity, and continue to leverage on Andrew’s contact network. Most importantly, the establishment of a succession-planning project would also has to be included in future strategic plans so that the company will continue to prosper should Andrew decide to depart or retire. (Robbins S, 2006) 10. 0 BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. (Johnson, 2005) Johnson, Scholes & Whittington , † Exploring Corporate Strategy†, Prentice Hall, 2005 2. (Porter M, 2001) Porter Michael E. , â€Å"The Competitive Advantages of Nations†, The Macmillan Press Ltd. , 2001 3. (Wheelen, 2006). Wheelen, Thomas L. and Hunger, David J. , â€Å"Strategic Management and Business Policy†, Prentice Hall, 2006 4. (Grant R, 2005) Grant, Robert M. , â€Å"Contemporary Strategy Analysis†, Blackwell Publishing, 2005 5. (Read C, 2006) Read, Charlotte, â€Å"Stakeholder Consensus Marketing. An explanatory national competitivess model for the New Zealand Wine Industry†, September 2, 2006 6. (All Things, 2006) All Things Considered. Washington D. C. , Global Warming Endangers California Wine Industry, December 5, 2006 7. (Times of India,2007) â€Å"India plans duty cuts on wine, spirits†, http://timesofindia. indiatimes.com/NEWS/India_Business/India_plans_duty_cuts_on_wine_spirits/articleshow/1897262. cms, April 12 2007 8. (Pape E, 2007) Pape E. , â€Å"Bordeaux Meets Beijing; China’s eager oenophiles are reviving the flagging French Wine Industry†, Newsweek, April 16, 2007 9. (Meredith R, 2007) Meredith, R. and Hoppough, S. , â€Å"Why Globalization Is Good†, Forbes, New York, April 16, 2007 10. (Aylward, 2006) Aylward, D. K. and Glynn, J. , â€Å"SME Innovation within the Australian Wine Industry: A Cluster Analysis†, 2006 11. (Smith J, 2006) Smith, J. M, â€Å"The e-Commerce Pendulum†, Brandweek, September 18, 2006 12. (Pape, 2007). Pape, Eric â€Å"Vineyards on the move† Newsweek, April 2007 13. (Nielson A, 2006) Nielson, A. , Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 29, Iss 2, Spring 2006 14. (Asimov E, 2005) Asimov, E. , New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast). New York, N. Y. , August 31, 2005 15. (Zalan T, 2005) Zalan, T. , â€Å"Global, Local or Semi-Global? The Case of the Wine Industry†, Australian Centre for International Business, Working Paper, No. 6, August 2005 16. (Heijbroeck, 2003) Heijbroeck, Arend M. A. , â€Å"Consequences of the globalization in the wine industry†, Report made by Rabobank International, Symposium International, October 8 2003 17. (Ghoshal S, 2007) Ghoshal, S, â€Å"Global strategy: An organizing framework. Strategic†, Management Journal 8, 2007 18. (Kogut B, 2006) Kogut, B. , â€Å"Designing global strategies: Comparative and competitive value-added Chains†, Sloan Management Review (Summer), 2006 19. (Porter M, 2004) Porter, M. E. ,†Clusters and the new economics of competition†, Harvard Business Review, November-December 2004 20. (Harvard University, 2007) â€Å"How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy†. Harvard Business Review, March-April 2007 22. (Slater S, 2002) Slater S. Malcolm, Michael Porter. â€Å"Notes on Diversification As a Strategy†. Harvard School Publishing, 2002 23. (Slater F, 2002) Slater F. Stanley, Olson. Eric, â€Å"A Fresh Look at Industry and Market Analysis†, Business Horizons. Kelly School of Publishing, January-February 2002. 24. (New Zealand Growers, 2006) New Zealand Wine Growers Research Committee, â€Å"Research & Development Strategic Plan†, December 2006 25. (Robinson J, 2008) Robinson, Jancis, † The Fast-Changing World Of Wine†, http://www. sifst. org. sg/pdf/article-thefastchanging. htm. 26. (Robbins S, 2006) Robbins S. , Bergman, R. , Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. @006, Management, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall, Sydney. 27.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The idea of anti-sexism has hardly scratched the surface of the popular male imagination

The usual view of men's anti-sexism is that it centres around men who find it personally important to challenge the pressure to conform to a ‘macho' image plus a handful of politically aware men wanting to assist on what are seen as feminist issues. In fact any man giving it serious thought will come to see domestic violence, rape, care of their children and suchlike as being men's issues. However, the average man will not be drawn into men's groups by these issues, and will tend to see men's anti-sexism as a movement without a cause. But I believe it's a movement which has remained marginal by failing to acknowledge its biggest cause. Men's groups tend to look for a personal response to the contradictions their members face – THEY are the problem, they must change. This seems to be unrelated to the impersonal world of politics and the hard realities of jobs, pay, working hours and conditions, etc. But this is exactly the area where anti-sexism could have its greatest impact. Because, in spite of the effects of massive unemployment, little has changed men's ideas about work. The classic picture of man-as-incomplete-person that men's groups invoke – emotionally retarded, distant from his children, competitive at work and dominant at home – describes a man well moulded to the career world. The stereotypical male values closely match the qualities desirable in competitive work. Despite the ‘personal politics' of a few men, the nature of work itself has not changed and continues to reinforce the same traditional male values. But there are now women working successfully in most professions – so why should male values continue to dominate? It is because of the strict division between full-time and part-time work. It's in full-time work in the majority of occupations that men and traditional values prevail – women in these jobs work on men's terms. Part-time work on the other hand is clearly the province of women – over 90% of part-timers in Britain is female. In fact, much of the recent increase in women's employment has been in the part-time sector. So what are the differences in these two areas of work? Full-time jobs are valued more highly, often paid a ‘family wage', and require the specialisation of skills and continued commitment that would merit the title ‘career' (though the principle is the same from bricklaying to brain surgery). This continuity is very important – women (in Britain) are permitted usually only a token break for maternity and men generally none for paternity. Outside this career world, there is both unpaid domestic work, including childcare, and formal part-time work – with pay, conditons, prospects and job interest generally worse than full-time work. There are two results of this duality of working situations. Firstly, because of women's unavoidable involvement in caring for their babies, career work favours men. Full-time work has changed little to accommodate the increasing number of women in it, who have to accept the limitations imposed by men such as avoiding children or delegating their care to the domestic/part-time sector. Secondly, the domestic and part-time workforce is not only economically inferior to the career sector but actually services its interests and sustains it. This relationship is the framework for exploitation of both capitalist and patriarchal nature. So, women having children must be free from work from late pregnancy until the baby is weaned at the very least. As men are generally not permitted any reasonable paternity leave it is necessarily the mother who continues to look after the child at least until school age (unless the parents are willing and financially able to pay someone else to do so). If these considerations did not keep the woman out of full-time work in the first place, they are likely to do so for some years at this stage, especially since this whole situation increases the likelihood that the father will be earning more than her at this financially critical time. While this rigid division of work exists, therefore, women wanting children will be disadvantaged in full-time work, and many women having children will have to accept the limitations of part-time work. Men, if they are able to get full-time work, will almost always take this in preference to part-time work – and when they become fathers are likely to be under financial pressure to keep their full-time job, at the expense of their involvement with their children. Some European men, notably in Belgium, have come up with ideas that could break down the rigidity of this full-time/part-time division. They have lobbied the European Parliament for the establishment in the EEC Constitution of what they call the Flexible Work Right. This would be the legal right of anyone to choose how many hours a week to work, being paid accordingly. It would be a move against the binding domination of full-time work and the undervaluing of part-time work, which would allow a balance of working and domestic life to suit the priorities of individual men and women. In particular, parents would be free to share childcare and earning according to their own values. A practical shift in the distribution of the tasks between the sexes would open the door to many other changes. If the responsibility for financial support was no longer borne principally by men this could undermine the damaging tendency for manhood to be measured by economic success – which is often won at the price of being a second rate parent. And for women, work on these terms would mean not only an increase in real economic power and independence, but with this a greater participation in public and political life. Also any overall reduction in average hours worked could help to reduce unemployment in the right circumstances. So how might these ideas be realised in practice? Three possibilities for change are better provision for job sharing, more flexibility of working hours (especially total hours worked) and better parental leave allowances. As far as trade unions are concerned, defending the interests (primarily financial) of those in work comes before freeing members to work less. So small reductions in the working week, (which would probably serve mainly to increase overtime payments), take priority over genuine flexibility of hours and job-sharing provisions. Some forward-looking unions ARE seeking better paternity leave – most men take some time off whether it is officially available or not (94% in a recent Equal Opportunities Commission study). Better parental leave entitlement would go some way toward the goals of this anti-sexist men's politics, especially since the right to flexible work will surely only be won in slow stages. And here the EEC is already playing a part. The EEC Commission has issued a directive aiming to set minimum standards for parental leave in all member countries (three months for men and women during the child's first two years, in addition to maternity leave and at no extra cost to employers). Despite agreement of all other members, and within Britain support of the House of Lords and the Equal Opportunities Commission, the British government has so far vetoed the passage of this Directive into Community law. So there's no doubt that some aspects of anti-sexist thinking are as political as they are personal. But the anti-sexist angle on work doesn't end there. Poor working conditions and occupational safety may be sustained by ideas of what is ‘manly'. The notion that men who complain of bad conditions and danger are soft is sexist and encourages mistreatment of workers – not to mention alienating and excluding women. The response to noise, pollution and heavy lifting may be headaches, ulcers, heart disease and backache; human conditions too are important – if work is a hostile or authoritarian place men may take it out in drinking or violence outside work. A humane workplace is essential for a humane world. The goals of this ‘men's politics' in fact complement those of feminism despite their separate and apparently selfish motivation. This motivation is crucial since the issue of work as a major limitation in their lives is one with which many could identify. This idea – men seeing themselves as ‘work objects' – paves the way for a wider view of anti-sexism, encompassing the aspects of personal change and ‘feminist' causes important to men's groups now. It would suggest too, a positive attitude of relating some of the less desirable trappings of maleness to the situations which shaped them, rather than blaming them on maleness itself. If men looked objectively at the unnecessary sacrifices they make on the altar of work, anti-sexism would suddenly seem relevant to many more men than the few involved at present. (C) Five Cram POSTSCRIPT The above article considers one interesting proposal for breaking down the male-dominated character of paid work. For example, as this issue went to press, a Bill introduced by the Labour MP Harry Cohen, which would introduce a statutory right to a period of parental care for parents of young children, was due to receive a second reading in the House of Commons. Under this Bill, employees with children under two years old (five if the child is disabled or adopted) would be entitled to 13 weeks paid leave if both parents are in paid work, 26 weeks if he or she is a single parent and 4 weeks if the other parent is ineligible for parental leave, for example because of unemployment. The entitlement is not transferable between the parents. The scheme would be paid for by employers and the Government. Under this Government – and probably any currently realistic alternative – it is unlikely to become law. I think it is an important step forward, but how can we as men help it to happen? Schemes of this sort, although less generous, already exist in ten of the twelve EEC countries – why not here? Even if employers, unions and the Government could be persuaded that this sort of parental leave provision is in their interests, there is a danger that it would divert attention away from the need to extend workplace nurseries and local authority childcare provision, and further privatise the provision of ‘care' in our society. Another important issue is how, ‘parental' schemes like this should be linked to more general ones like a Flexible Work Right. Which should have higher priority, and what would their effects be on the level of unemployment? Finally, I doubt if such voluntary schemes would be enough to bring about major changes in the distribution of labour between the sexes. Particularly in times of high unemployment and low wage increases, when the perceived priority of maximising the ‘breadwinners' earnings is greatest, many men would not willingly reduce their hours worked. Schemes involving paid leave avoid this problem, but inevitably involve smaller changes in hours worked so as not to be prohibitively expensive. Compulsory schemes, such as legal limits on basic hours of work and overtime (to encourage men to invest more time and effort in the home) would probably also be needed, but care would be needed to avoid reducing low-paid workers' wages oven further. But, to end on a positive note, it is true that there is a long-term trend towards fewer hours spent in paid employment by each male worker – the average has fallen by over one third in the last 100 years. Let's hope it continues and that employed men make good use of the growing part of their lives spent outside paid jobs.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Values and Goals Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Values and Goals Assignment - Essay Example 2. A Comfortable Life-- personal, relative Example: The significance of working towards independent and more convenient lifestyle is still a valuable concept for me and my family. Not exactly deprived of material things and basic necessities, my parents taught me the importance of being prepared prior to establishing my own family. With personal regard, I agreed with them, at the same time, I made personal pledge to always include my family in my subsequent success in career, providing for them financially and ensuring that they are comfortable in life--as I plan to be in my own life. 3. Social Recognition -- extrinsic, relative Example: Like anybody, the need to be recognized has a strong appeal for a young person such as me. I remembered one event wherein I joined a dancing club, more to be accepted as part of a circle of friend that are popular in school rather than to enhance my dancing skills. As such, being socially accepted secures higher self-esteem and confidence in dealing with other people in social settings. If the value of social acceptability conflict with family conditions, the latter relatively hold elevated import compared to the former. B. Instrumental Values: 1. Intellectual -- absolute Example: In the performance of any activities, the value of intellectual process is consistently utilized. Intelligence constitutes objective and practical decision-making and practicality, serving as effective means in arriving at sound decisions and actions, as such when dealing with familial problems. I have to be objective in examining which actions constitute worse consequences and which may be better for all. Intellectual capacities, then, help resolve problems and reinforce actions for betterment of personal and familial status. 2. Hardworking -- intrinsic, professional Example: Hard work constitutes an internal sense of satisfaction. During a low-paying summer job, I did not deter from my hard working practices, as I derived a certain kind of fulfillme nt knowing that I had accomplished more than I expected, at reasonable times. For me, this demonstrated how efficient I am if I put my mind into it. On the professional side, such value can be an asset to the company, enhancing the degree of worth I experienced for my own accomplishments. 3. Affectionate -- relative, personal Example: Aside from my family, I pour my affectionate nature on my friends and some of my neighbors. One concrete example is the grocery store where I frequently visited, where the value of affection is translated to the staff, and most of the time, they save me one of their best goods as proof of the affectionate camaraderie we shared in such commercial setting. Affectionate value, can be reciprocated if expressed sincerely and prudently. Reflection: I used to be quite hard working when it comes to my studies, studying earlier for examinations and passing projects and assignments ahead of deadlines. However, this seemed to minimize with the participation of so cial activities and gatherings, shortening time spent on academic pursuits. My need for social recognition eclipses the desire for intrinsic fulfillment with hard work, as such that I nurture the value of the former rather than the latter. In another aspect, affectionate gestures seemed quite disconnecting in competitive world of academics. If being demonstrative in one’s kind affections may give other students the impression of emotional weakness that can easily be bullied

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Defining the Capabilities of Each Student Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Defining the Capabilities of Each Student - Essay Example Student achievement in their prospective fields could be materialized only through a proper understanding from the part of the teacher. It is very important to streamline the students on the basis of their respective potential and ability to grasp. This way, the levels of their achievement could be clearly demarcated both by the teacher and the students themselves. The key role of a teacher in the classroom must be that of a comprehending elder who is approachable on any area related to education. Even as the need for specialization is paramount, the overall personality of teachers makes a great difference in their role as facilitators. Students should be allowed the necessary freedom to communicate with teachers on any issue for which they need help. If there are specific needs from the part of the students who call for some research to be done by the teachers, they must be willing to do that effectively and with competence. An efficient teacher always succeeds in motivating students. This is quite often done through casual remarks in the class or gestures through which one could convince every student that they are specially taken care of. Students of all age groups seek attention inside and outside classrooms. The willingness to accept them as individuals capable of achieving certain goals in their life will help teachers guide them through the trials and tribulations of life and prepare them for success in life. It is very important to learn the names of one’s students, and to address them occasionally. This reassures them a lot and fulfils their needs of identity. Teachers have the duty to acknowledge the needs of students outside the classrooms as well.  

Social Welfare, History, Values and Beliefs Essay

Social Welfare, History, Values and Beliefs - Essay Example From the essay it is clear that  the present day American culture began from as early as the past 10,000 years, upon the arrival of the Paleo-Indian from Europe, Oceania and Asia to establish the current United States. America is an ethically and racially diverse society with unique music, cultural, folklore and social practices. The great diversity of the United States is attributable to the massive immigration of people from different parts of the world during the historic period. Europeans including Irish, English, Scotts and Welsh bear great responsibility for influencing the initial shape of the American society. British in particular had greatest impact on American culture due to their close colonial links that fostered widespread use of the English language, use of British legal systems and adoption of general British cultural practices.According to the report findings  American culture is a collection of various elements that include liberal and conservatism ideologies, s cientific and religious competitiveness, materialism and morality as well as free expression. Besides the influences of consistent principles and ideologies, American culture is also awash with evolved indigenous Latin, Asian and African-American cultures. The seeming neutral nature of the American culture is an indication of integration of many cultures whose compatibility mostly depends on political ideologies, social class and various demographic factors.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Music 1920-1980 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Music 1920-1980 - Essay Example e main changes in music and understanding why it altered through each time frame also builds deeper knowledge about the evolution of music and how it changes because of the external environment and philosophies from individual artists. The purpose of this paper is to examine the main ways in which the music of the 1920s – 1980s changed and transformed. Specifically, there will be a relation to the alterations in popular music and how this changed because of the external environment and the internal philosophies of music. The objectives of this paper will enhance this with: The main objectives are defined by creating a deeper understanding and analysis of music between the 1920s and 1980s while discovering how it evolved between time frames. This will enhance the overall understanding of how music has changed between time frames and what the main factors are with this change. Music that began to emerge in the 1920s differed from what was known in the past, specifically because of alterations which were being made in society. The social influences began to change first with the social changes between generations that began in the 1920s. The first change was based on social groups that began to arise, all which identified with music, fashion and popular culture as a way of creating a sense of identity. Jazz, blues and other forms of music were an example of how this arose. Many considered this the music of the African – Americans during this time and created a different sense of preferences with those in the group. The music was able to create a sense of identity because of the struggles which it identified as belonging specifically to those who were a part of the group. This was combined with attitudes, actions and other concepts which followed, all which were based on similar social influences which were a part of the generations and the social st igma of the time (Smith, 43). The concepts that were associated with social groups were furthered as

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

People and Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

People and Organisations - Essay Example Additionally, the paper analyzes the changes that are required to make the 21st century project leadership authentic. The authors argue that the environment for conducting projects in the 21 century have changed from that of 20th century. There has been increased alliancing between companies for project purposes. Therefore, the authors suggest that there is need for development of new leadership style that suits the current as well as future environment. The authors are persuasive and believable. By making use of previous study findings, the authors compare the past and present project environments. The comparison depicts changed environment, which supports the authors’ argument on need for changes in leadership style to enhance authentic leadership. LIoyd-Walker & Walker (2011) provide empirical data to show the different attributes required by project leaders in the 21st century that were unnecessary in the 20th century. Toor and Ofori (2008),Thiry & Deguire (2007), Avolio & Gardener (2005), and Sirias, et al., (2007) agree that the project environment for 21st century is different from that in the 20th century. Additionally, their views are similar to those of LIoyd-Walker and Walker (2011) who argue that there is need for modification of transformational leadership to make it an authentic leadership style for the 21st century. Just as Alvolio and Gardener (2005) had suggested, LIoyd-Walker and Walker (2011) argue that trust and commitment are among the most important feature of authentic leadership and they distinguish authentic leadership required for 21st century from that in the previous years. LIoyd and Walker state that authentic leadership entails enabling or empowering the followers to self-regulate their activities b y supporting their development. As opposed to leadership in business alliances, project alliances require collaboration between the participating teams. This requires that the team members

Monday, September 23, 2019

Management, Innovation and New Technology Essay - 1

Management, Innovation and New Technology - Essay Example According to Sonnack, â€Å"3M was found to be in very good shape with respect to fundamental, technology-driven innovation† (Hippel, 1999). 3M’s policy promotes all the employees to dedicate up to 15% of the work time on any one project of choice of the employees. During this phase of work the developers are busy on new ideas as individuals and as informal groups. They try to fetch the project where it can be considered for formal support as a product or service development project. Technology and knowledge are the two approaches of innovation process through which a company can grow and expand. 3M has been able to utilize the technology and knowledge based strategy for innovation of many products. Especially the Post-it note pad was the innovation of 3M in which the application of technical and knowledge based innovation approaches were witnessed. There were lot of research and innovation processes going on with the product and the market. There were initial failures with the technology of the product and with constant knowledge application towards the product development, the company was successful in launching the standard Post-it note pad in the market and achieved success (Berman & Hagan, 2006). But Rhodes and Wield have discarded machine based or technology based innovation in support of knowledge based formation of technological change. The view provided by them was towards knowledge as frequently tactical and not as explicit. Technology is the body of knowledge and not machinery. Almost all the innovations occurred in an applied setting like shop floor. In 3M, all the employees get engaged in one project of their choice and devotes towards the project in making them reality. The culture of innovation environment has made the 3M develop many innovative products and services. Invention is determined appliance of the individual mind that surrenders an innovative conception with the practical application. According to The

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Basic Accounting Assignment Essay Example for Free

Basic Accounting Assignment Essay Generally Accepted   Principles, Balance sheet, Accounts receivable, Income statement, Debt, Liability, Double-entry bookkeeping system, Accounts payable 1- Explain the collecting, recording, classifying, summarizing, analyzing and reporting process of accounting. Collecting:- Data obtained from various sources with the help of appropriate measures is called collection of data. Recording:- Arranging the data into its chronological form is called recording of data. Classifying:- Division of data according to nature of events is called classification of data. Ledger is used for classifying transactions Posting is the process of transferring transactions from journal to ledger. Summarizing:- This involves presenting the classified data in a manner which is understandable and useful to the management and other interested parties. Follow statements are prepared:- Income statement Balance Sheet Cash flow statement Analyzing:- The comparison of data in a business is called analyzing of data. For example, analyzing of present data with past data, or actual data with projected data. Reporting:- Forwarding the results to financial users like chairman, directors, managers etc. is called reporting of data. Discuss in detail the nature of accounts i. e. assets, expenses, liabilities, revenues and capital by giving examples. Assets:- The resources of a business are called assets. They are of two types:- Fixed Assets: Land, Building, Equipment, Vehicle etc. Current Assets: Cash, cash at bank, A/c receivable, debtors, prepaid expenses. Expenses:- The amount spent in a business with a view to gain profit in the future is called expense. Examples are rent expen ses, salaries expenses, advertisement expenses etc. Liabilities:- The financial responsibilities of the business for which it is liable are called liabilities. They are divided into two types:- Fixed Liabilities (Bank Loan, Bonds Payable, Mortgage Payable. ) Current Liabilities (Notes Payable, Unearned Income, Creditors. ) Capital:- The amount of money invested by the owner in the business is called capital. Revenue:- The incomes and the profits earned in the business through selling are called revenues. For example, Sales, Service revenue, Interest, commission earned. Drawings:- The amount of money taken away by the proprietor for personal benefits is called Drawings. 3- Describe the accounting rule of debit and credit for accounts like assets, expenses, liabilities, revenues and capital. Assets Increase in Asset is debit. Decrease in Asset is credit. Liabilities Increase in liabilities is credit. Decrease in liabilities is debit. Revenues Increase in revenues is credit. Decrease in revenues is debit. Expenses Increase in expense is debit. Decrease in expense is credit. Capital Increase in capital is credit. Decrease in capital is debit. Select any twenty categories from the above and identify a transaction that will have the required effect on the business. 1- Purchased Goods on credit 25,000. 2- Gave services for cash 5,000. 3- Brought cash in business 65,000. 4- Adjusting entry of out standing salaries 9000. 5- Wages wrongly debited to Sales 400. 6- Salaries wrongly debited to Drawings 600. 7- Paid to accounts payable in cash 1500. 8- Good s returned by customer worth 650. 9- Withdrew cash for personal use 550

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Variations of Squat Techniques

Variations of Squat Techniques The Ultimate Exercise The smell of sweat, rubber and rust swirl through the air as an athlete prepares to step under a squat bar loaded with the next weight he is about to move. As the athlete steps under the bar, he thinks about his position and form. Then removes the weight and using proper technique, moves the weight for multiple repetitions before returning the weight back to the rack. The squat is a movement that is extremely useful for people of all ages or gender. This is because it is a natural movement that is found in everyday life. It also has other health benefits that can help improve things like joint pain, muscle mass and tone, as well as cardio vascular health. With proper technique and form, the squat can improve multiple aspects of life. There are many different styles of squatting. Although at the core of it they all are the same motion, each squatting style has its own benefits compared to the others. Some different examples of squat styles include the style most people think of when they think of squatting. This is back squat. There is also front squat and overhead squat. Within each of these styles there are also different variations to these motions to create improvements in different aspects of life. The back squat is the most recognizable form of the squat. This style in itself has many benefits, but to unlock these benefits you must make sure that you have the proper form and technique. This is imperative for your health and safety. According to Dariusz Czaprowski, Ryszard Biernat, and Agnieszka Kà ªdra in their article â€Å"SQUAT – RULES OF PERFORMING AND MOST COMMON MISTAKES Squat – methodology of teaching,† they break down learning the squat into three stages Stage one talks about reshaping the body so that the movement starts with a â€Å"hip hinge (Czaprowski 4).† Czaprowski also states that when people begin their attempt at a squat, they usually begin with bending their knees. This causes â€Å"shearing and compression forces† on the knee. This is why the hip hinge should be the first action when completing the squat. (3) The motion of the squat is the next important stage. This motion is best described in â€Å"Back Squat Exercise: A Primer† by John M. Cissik. He breaks done the motion of the squat into three different phases. These phases are broken down into â€Å"Start, Descend, and Ascend† (Cissik 29). Cissik starts talking about the Start position by saying, At the beginning of the back squat, the barbell is positioned on the squat rack. The athlete should step underneath the bar so that it rests on the back of his/her shoulders. The bar should be positioned where it is comfortable or the athlete. The athlete should stand up and step out of the squat rack. The feet should be even and between hip width and shoulder width apart with the weight on the athlete’s heels. The athlete should look straight ahead or slightly up. Before beginning the descent, the athlete should inflate the chest and pull the shoulders back, this action tightens the muscles along the spine helping to protect the lumbar vertebrae. (29) By performing the steps given here by Cissik, the athlete will have a very safe starting position. One the athlete is in the start position, Cissik then explains step by step the safe way of descending with the weight. This is very important because improper form, as stated before, can take away from the benefits of the exercise as well as increase the possibility for injury. The second phase is the descend. This phase is described by Cissik by saying, From the start position, the athlete descends by pushing the hips back and unlocking the knees. As this is done, the weight remains on the heels. The athlete should squat down until the thighs are parallel to the floor, unless there is an injury that would modify this. As the athlete is descending, the chest needs to remain inflated with the shoulders pulled back. (29) At the bottom of the descend phase immediately starts the third and final stage of the squat the Ascend (Cissik 29). At this point in the squat the athlete is at their lowest point. The article then explains how to perform the Ascend phase: Once the athlete has reached the bottom position, the athlete should reverse directions and stand up. As this is done, the hips and shoulders need to rise up at the same speed to prevent the athlete from toppling forward. The athlete needs to remember to keep the chest inflated and the shoulders back throughout the ascent. (Cissik 29) After the completion of the Ascend phase the athlete has then completed the entire squat. With an understanding of the form and motion of the back squat, why would someone want to add this into their workout program? There are multitudes of benefits that are cited in multiple articles and journals including increased mobility, strength, functional strength, as well as many other benefits to be described later in this paper. The main benefits that many people, men and women, should be interested in are that the squat increases functional strength as well as an increase in flexibility and strength. These will benefit not only in moving weight at a weight room, but also in doing daily activities. The squat motion is an extremely primal motion that has been used since human beings have been on the earth. They have used this motion to hunt food, gather food items such as berries and vegetables, and move obstacles. This is why when an athlete does a squat they not only work their lower body, but they also are working the nervous system (Vales). The squat is also found throughout our day. The functionality of this movement allows us to do things like lift heavy objects and jump to reach an object. The squat also aids in creating proper posture (Cohen). Although men are normally viewed as the type of athlete that would perform a squat, there are also many benefits for women. These include (but are not limited to) aiding in conception and the birthing process, weight loss, muscle toning, and improve balance (Daniel). Squatting in the later weeks of pregnancy helps in the birthing process by opening the pelvic area. This creates a shorter delivery time. It also creases a safer environment for a woman and her baby. Squatting increases balance and leg strength. Gains in these areas decrease the risk of falls protecting both the woman and child (Martinez). Some of the main benefits of a squat come for an athlete or someone trying to become fit. The squat not only helps with the functionality of daily live but also helps with muscle growth, increases testosterone production, increases speed as well as vertical jump, and tones abs and muscles (Vale). Other than the well-known back squat there many other variations of squatting you can incorporate into a workout to activate different muscle groups for specified training. The main squat variations other than your typical back squat include the Front Squat, Over-Head Squat, Zercher Squats, Anderson Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, and One-Legged Squats. Each of these squats use the same general motion, but all have different techniques to improve your specific areas of fitness (Smith). The first variation most typically used after the Back Squat is the Front squat. This style of squatting consists of holding a barbell across the shoulders on the front side of the body. Placing the bar here trains the quadriceps, core, and the upper back more by putting a greater emphasis on these areas. This squat is also much easier to perform correctly due to the position of the center of gravity. By including this lift into a workout regimen, athletes will gain greater strength in the core and upper back as well as increase balanced leg strength (Smith). The front squat is also a better alternative for people struggling with some back problems. This is because the Front Squat decreases spinal compression as well as spinal flexion and Torque (Behar). The author, Jeff Behar, explains in his article â€Å"7 Benefits of Front Squats† by explaining â€Å"The difficulty of the exercise [The Front Squat] results in less weight being able to be used. Less weight on the bar, equals less spinal compression.† He also tells readers that â€Å"By carrying the bar in the front, you reduce spinal flexion. This makes the Front Squats a safer leg exercise for your back† (Behar). After the Front squat in popularity is the Over Head Squat. This movement helps increase balance, mobility and muscular control by holding a barbell over the head. Also, this variation of the squat helps perfect the Snatch lift. Smith explains this by saying â€Å"The overhead squat strengthens the midpoint of the barbell snatch and is essential to mastering that particular lift.† This lift also emphasizes hip mobility more than any other variation of the squat (Smith). Another squat style that can help you in other aspects of lifting exercises is the Zercher Squat (Smith). In the article, Smith explains the motion of the squat by saying â€Å"With your elbows bent at your side, place the barbell in the crook of your bent elbows. Squat until your elbows go between your knees or the bar touches your thighs. Thats one advantage of the Zercher: It tells you when you reach depth.† This movement is accepted by many lifters that do deadlift due to the similar base of a deadlift movement (Smith). After performing many of these styles, athletes may notice that they â€Å"Bounce† at the bottom of the movement. The Anderson Squat was designed to take away this bounce and create a more honest lift from the bottom of the squat. This lift also helps with control at the bottom of the squat movement. This will help with your other squat movements (Smith). The motion is explained by the author when he says Simply place the barbell on the safety pins in a rack at a height that would be at or near the bottom position of your squat. Be sure to pause between reps with the bar on the safety pins. This will ensure you dont cave to the temptation to bounce for assistance. (Smith) All of the variations of the squat motion talked about so far have required the use of both legs activating at the same time. The last two are different in the fact that you use one leg at a time. The One-Legged squat and Bulgarian Squat both require balance and strength to be performed, but when mastered they both train balance (Smith). This is because your body is more stable when you stand on two legs. The Bulgarian Split is performed similarly to the back squat with position of the barbell. The difference comes when you place one foot behind you. The squat motion is explained by Smith in his article by saying â€Å"Place one foot a few feet behind you on a bench or raised platform. Keeping an upright torso, begin by pushing your hips back, like in a back squat. Allow your back leg to bend at the knee.† This squat uses unilateral movement to correct imbalances between the right and left side of the body. This style of squat can also be done using a Front Squat bar position (Smith). The final squat variation is the One-Legged Squat. This is described by Smith as â€Å"The ultimate test of unilateral strength like the one-armed push-up or pull-up.† This is because the athlete is squatting their bodyweight on a single leg. This variation is very useful in developing balance. Once this motion is mastered, the athlete can then perform the movement while holding light weights (Smith). Although there are many forms and variations to the squat, they all are the same basic motion at its core. This is why the squat is essential to any fitness program. With so many benefits, the squat is so essential to the holistic health and fitness of any athlete at any fitness level. Works Cited Behar, Jeff. 7 Benefits of Front Squats.MuscleMagFitness.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 July 2014. http://www.musclemagfitness.com/fitness-and-exercises/weight-lifting/7-benefits-of-front-squats.html. Cissik, John M. Back Squat Exercise: A Primer.Modern Athlete and Coach(2011): 29-31.UF OneSearch. Web. 25 July 2014. http://metis.findlay.edu:2113/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=da7d75bd-90ab-4944-a0c0-7d198225b8c0%40sessionmgr110vid=2hid=115. Cohen, Ron. A New Persective on Squats, Lunges, and Living Life.Contemplative Fitness. N.p., 6 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 July 2014. http://contemplativefitness.me/2010/03/06/a-new-persective-on-squats-lunges-and-living-life/. CZAPROWSKI, DARIUSZ, RYSZARD BIERNAT, and AGNIESZKA KÊDRA. SQUAT – RULES OF PERFORMING AND MOST COMMON MISTAKES Squat – methodology of teaching.Polish Journal of Sport Tourism19 (2012): 3-7. Web. 23 July 2014. http://metis.findlay.edu:2113/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=95bf5c29-9499-438b-88cb-6403cb194804%40sessionmgr115vid=2hid=115. Daniel, Harri. Benefits of Squats for Women.BenefitOf.com. N.p., 8 June 2011. Web. 25 July 2014. http://benefitof.net/benefits-of-squats-for-women/. Martinez, Eliza. Squats Exercise for Pregnant Women.The Nest. Demand Media, n.d. Web. 25 July 2014. http://woman.thenest.com/squats-exercise-pregnant-women-1072.html. Smith, Christopher. Meet The Squats: 7 Squat Variations You Should Be Doing.BodyBuilding.com. N.p., 10 July 2013. Web. 25 July 2014. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/meet-the-squats-7-squat-variations-you-should-be-doing.html. Vales, John. The 15 Benefits of Squats.Outlaw Fitness. N.p., 2014. Web. 25 July 2014. http://www.outlawfitnesshq.com/the-15-benefits-of-squats/.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Conversion of Waste to Energy

Conversion of Waste to Energy This section of the report focuses on waste to energy which is one of the most popular methods used to manage municipal solid waste around the world. Through waste to energy, trash has become a useful material because we are able to convert it to heat. The combustion of trash at a waste to energy facility produce ash, heat and flue gas. From the ash, metals are recovered and recycled. The flue gas is cleaned then it is released into the atmosphere through the chimney. The heat produced is used to generate electricity that powers the plant and nearby buildings. A waste to energy plant in the community helps to increase recycling rate which is beneficial for the city. There are more advantages to waste to energy than disadvantages, therefore it is essential that the city utilizes waste to energy has a way of managing municipal solid waste. 4.1.1. Introduction The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) in New York City has changed over the past decade from ocean and street dumping, to unregulated incineration, to current and export landfilling practices (Sylvan, 2011). The NYC Department of Sanitation, which is in charge of managing NYC waste collaborates with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Sims Multi Recycling Recovery Facility, and GreeNYC to manage the citys waste through recycling, waste reduction, and composting and organic waste diversion (Cohen et al., 2015). In 2006, to efficiently manage the citys waste, the city Council approved the Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP) which was created under the administrator of former Mayor Bloomberg (Cohen et al., 2015). The purpose of this plan was to establish a dependable, economical, and sustainable system for managing the citys waste (Cohen et al., 2015). This plan was eventually integrated into the sustainability planning under the PlaNYC, New York Citys compr ehensive sustainability plan in 2011 (Cohen et al., 2015). Under the new plan, in 2012, Former Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city would solicit plans to build a waste to energy facility near or within New York City (Rizzo et al., 2012). Waste to energy (WTE) technology is a process where trash is converted to heat/electricity. The most common waste to energy technology use around the world is mass burn, where trash is combusted to produce energy (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). However, the plan to build a WTE facility was eventually archived due to misconceptions surrounding WTE (Rizzo et al., 2012). 4.1.1.1 Background on the Problem Incinerators are not new to New York City. In the 20th century, there were thirty-two municipal and 17,000 apartment house refuse incinerator in the city (Walsh et al., 2001). In 1935, New York City was forced to stop ocean dumping, which was the waste disposal method for the city at that time, after a federal lawsuit was filed by New Jersey coastal cities (Cohen et al., 2015). This led the city to rely on incinerators and landfill to dispose of its waste (Cohen et al., 2015). However, in 1952, citys officials reported that apartment house refuse incinerators were responsible for 30% of the citys air pollution (Walsh, 2002). The report on air pollution caused by incinerators in the 1950s led to the limits on incinerator usage based on environmental grounds (Walsh, 2002). In 1970, after the Federal Clean Air act was enacted, the city was forced to shut down incinerators plant that did not meet the emissions guidelines (WastedNYC, 2015). The emission guidelines led to the closure of th e citys four oldest municipal incinerators by 1971, and by mid- 1970s thousands of residential incinerators were closed down (Walsh, 2002). In 1989, City Council committee passes a bill to ban incinerators in the city in the next four years (WastedNYC, 2015; Dunlap, 1989). This bill led to the decline of both residential and municipal incinerators, and by 1994 there were no more incinerator plants in New York City (Walsh, 2002; Rizzo et al., 2012). 4.1.1.2. Purpose of the Paper The burning of garbage and WTE are related because they both involve the combustion of trash. However, WTE is not just about burning trash but it is used to produce energy. The purpose of this paper is to outline how WTE plants work as well as the benefit the city stands to gain if it builds its own WTE facility. The city currently sends approximately 10% of its MSW to WTE plants in Hempstead, Long Island and Essex County, New Jersey (Cohen 2015, Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). If the city were to build its owns plant, it would save money from not spending on the transportation of waste and the use of other states landfills or WTE facilities. WTE has the ability to improve New York Citys current waste disposal practices (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). 4.1.2. Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator Process 4.1.2.1. How Incineration Works Figure 4.1.1: Schematic Diagram of the MSW incineration process (Lam et al., 2010). The incineration process of MSW is separated into three main parts: combustion, energy recovery and air pollution control (Lam et al., 2010). The crane in the machine (upper left, Fig.4.1.1) is used to feed solid waste into the furnace of the machine continually for combustion (Lam et al., 2010). The combustion of the waste in the furnace is enhanced by following the three Ts guideline, which are temperature, turbulence and time (Lam et al., 2010). High temperature increases burnout of the waste, while increasing turbulence reveals more waste surface and also increases burnout. (Lam et al., 2010). A longer resident time for the flue gas and waste also increases burnout (Lam et al., 2010). The temperature for incineration should be at least 850 oC with a residence time of 2 minutes (Lam et al., 2010). Air supply must be sufficient during the process to ensure complete combustion of waste and to inhibit the formation of carbon monoxide and dioxins (Lam et al., 2010). For the energy recovery process of the system, heat is generated from the waste and it is used to produce steam in the boiler (Lam et al., 2010). The steam is then used to drives the turbine to generate electricity (Lam et al., 2010). Air pollution was a major problem for old incinerators in the 20th century. However, modern incinerators are equipped with advanced pollution control systems which are designed to reduce pollution and ensure that the system is in compliance with environmental standards (Lam et al., 2010). To neutralize acidic gases such as hydrogen chloride and sulfur oxides, fine atomized slurry or lime powder is spray into the hot exhaust gas using a dry/wet scrubber (Lam et al., 2010). Also in the system, an activated carbon column is used to adsorb the heavy metals and organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the exhaust gas (Lam et al., 2010). The bag filter install in the system acts to filter and remove dust particles and fine particulates from the combustion (Lam et al., 2016). 4.1.2.2. The Product of Incineration of Waste After the combustion of the waste three products are produced, the products are flue gas, heat and ash (Lam et al., 2016). 4.1.2.2.1. Flue gas The flue gas produced from the combustion contains air pollutant (Zaman, 2010) (See table 4.1.3). Therefore, before the flue gas is release through the chimney, the filtering system makes sure the gas is clean to be released into the atmosphere (Zaman, 2010). 4.1.2.2.2. Heat The heat produced is used to generate electricity. The facilities use the electricity generated to operate the plant and sell the excess energy (Chambers, 2016; Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). At most facilities, for every ton of waste combusted, 550 to 650 Kilowatt/hour (KWh) of electricity is generated for sale (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). This is the way that WTE facilities are able to earn more income for the plant (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). 4.1.2.2.3. Ash There are two types of ash produced from the combustion, bottom ash (BA) and fly ash (FA) (Lam et al., 2016). The ash is 90 percent smaller than the original volume of the waste combusted (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). From the ash, WTE facilities are able to extract recyclable ferrous and non-ferrous metals (Chambers, 2016; Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Then the ashes are landfilled (Chambers, 2016). Before the ashes are landfilled, the facilities test the ashes to make sure that the ashes are not hazardous to the environment (Chambers, 2016). However, in some Asian and European countries that uses WTE, the ashes are not landfilled but rather utilized for other purposes such as cement and concrete production, road pavement, glass ceramics and ceramic production, adsorbent for dyes and agriculture (Lam et al., 2010; Pà ©rez-Villarejo et al., 2012). Application of MSW ashes Type Application Composition % Country BA Aggregate in concrete up to 50% France BA Aggregate in concrete replace up to 15% of cement Slovenia BA Road base Spain BA Adsorbent for dyes India BA Concrete Italy Mixed Ash Cement clinker up to 50% Portugal Mixed Ash Cement clinker 44% Japan Mixed Ash Cement clinker 15% Taiwan Mixed Ash Aggregate in concrete Spain FA Concrete 50% France FA Eco cement 50% Japan FA Ceramic tile China FA Glass ceramic Korea FA Blended cement up to 45% UK Table 4.1.1: The uses of MSW Ash in different countries. The BA represents Bottom Ash, the FA represents Fly Ash and the Mixed Ash represents the mixture of both BA and FA (Modified after Lam et al., 2010). Table 4.1.2: Research projects on MSW ash as road construction materials in the U.S. BA represents Bottom Ash and combined ash represents both Bottom Ash and Fly Ash (Modified after An et al., 2014). WTE facilities in the United States(U.S.) such as Covanta have been lobbying to recycle the ash instead of landfilling it, but these attempts have been unsuccessful so far (Chambers, 2016). The facilities have been lobbying for both federal and state regulation that would allow the usage of ash in the country (Chambers, 2016). Several studies conducted in the U.S. has proved that ash can be used in the U.S. as part of road construction (An et al., 2014) (see table 4.1.2). Despite the research showing that ash is usable in the U.S. no regulation has been passed to allow the usage of ash (An et al., 2014). Recycling of ash would be beneficiary because it would help eliminate landfills. Therefore, it is essential that these facilities continue to lobby for the recycling of ash. 4.1.3. Misconception about Waste to Energy Opposition to waste to energy plant in the city is rooted in two misconceptions (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). One of the misconceptions is that a waste to energy plant would displace recycling programs in the city (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). This has been proven to be false based on places that use waste to energy as part of their waste management program (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). High reliance on WTE is in fact correlated with high recycling rate (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). For example, in Austria where WTE facilities are used, 70 percent of its MSW is either recycled or composed while the remaining 30 percent is sent to WTE plants (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Meanwhile, in the U.S., studies have shown that states that do not rely heavily on WTE to manage their waste have a recycling rate below 20 percent while states that rely heavily on WTE has recycling rates above 20 percent. (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). For example, Connecticut, which is one of the leading states in reliance on WTE, sends 63 percent of its waste to WTE plants and recycle d 26 percent of its waste (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). As of 2015, the recycling rate for the city was 16%, which is lower than the recycling rate for Connecticut (Szendro, 2015). This demonstrates that having a WTE plant in the city would not displace recycling but rather help us recycle better. The other misconception about WTE is that it causes air pollution which would affect the health of the resident that would who live around the plant (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). In the 20th century there was a problem with incineration due to the fact that it causes air pollution. However, modern incinerators are equipped with systems that reduce the amount of pollutants released from the plant (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Also tight rule and regulations have led to the reduction of pollutant from WTE plants (Chambers, 2016). Under the federal Clean Air Act, WTE facilities must abide by the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rules, which apply to eight different air pollutants (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Every five years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updates the MACT, which result in the update of pollution control in WTE facilities to meet the new EPA limits (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). In 2012, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) examined eight air pollutants at the states municipal waste combustion plants and found that most pollutant had declined by 30 to 60 percent from 1996 to 2010 (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). *Toxic equivalent (sum of substance amounts multiplied by toxicity equivalency). Table 4.1.3. Emission from US WTE facilities Pre- versus Post MACT (Modified after EPA, 2016). Table 4.1.4. Average emission of 87 US WTE facilities (Lumber et al., 2006 as citied in Psomopoulos et al., 2009). WTE facilities in the US emit pollutants that are below that of the EPA Standard (Chambers, 2016, Psomopoulos et al., 2009) (see table 4.1.4). Numerous studies have shown that modern combustion plants pose no significant health risks (Citizen Budget commission., 2012). For example, a study in Germany, found near new WTE facilities the dioxin levels are only 1 to 2 percent of the level considered harmful to human health (Citizen Budget Commission., 2012). Another example, in Montgomery County WTE facility a health risk assessment found that even in the worst case scenario a nearby farmer has a one in three million chance of increase health risk from exposure to the facility(Budget Citizen Commission., 2012). This shows that WTE plants have no effect on human health and the idea that WTE plants in the city would affect the health of New Yorkers is false. 4.1.4. Benefit of Waste to Energy 4.1.4.1. Energy production and reduction in Greenhouse gases At WTE plants, combustion of 1 metric ton of MSW generates approximately 600 kWh of electricity thus preventing the mining of 0.25 ton of U.S. coal or importing one barrel of oil for electricity (Psomopolous et al., 2009). This lead to the displacement of energy produced at local facilities (Citizen Budget Commission., 2013). For example, the EPA calculated that for a ton of wasted combusted in the Middle Atlantic region prevent about 0.56 metric tons of emission from local utilities (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). The EPA also estimated that for every ton of waste combusted, 0.04 tons of carbon dioxide from metal recovery is saved (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). WTE is the only alternative to landfilling of non-recyclable wastes, where the decomposing waste releases methane into the atmosphere (Psomopoulos et al., 2009). Which means that the city practice of hauling waste to other states landfill is increasing the citys carbon footprint. Disposing of the citys garbage to local WTE would decrease the citys carbon foot print (Citizen Budget Commission., 2012). 4.1.4.2. Source of Renewable Energy Figure 4.1.2. Sources of U.S. electricity generation in 2015 (Modified after EIA, 2016). The combustible materials in MSW consist of 82% biomass (paper, food, yard wastes etc.), and 18% petroleum chemical wastes (Psomopolous et al., 2009). Therefore, MSW is considered a renewable source of energy and it is included by the U.S. Department of Energy in the biomass fuel category of renewable energy source (Psomopolous et al., 2009). In 2015, renewable energy generated 13% of the energy produced in the U.S. (EIA, 2016). The electricity produced by WTE facilities in the U.S. is 3% of the renewable energy generated in 2015, which is less than the amount of electricity generated by other renewable energy sources such as wind (35% of renewable energy generated), and solar (5% of renewable energy generated) (EIA, 2016) (see Figure 4.1.2). However, compare to wind and solar energy, the electricity generated by waste is consistent because the availability of these resources is stable, while the amount of electricity generated by the wind and solar energy depend on daily and seasona l weather, and this make the sources unreliable. (EIA, 2016). This shows that even though waste is not generating a lot of energy, it is a stable energy resource. 4.1.4.3. Recycling Having a WTE plant in the city would increase the citys recycling rate. WTE plant in the city would burn only non-recyclable material, which means that New Yorkers have the responsibility of sorting out their garbage before it is taken to the WTE plant (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). 4.1.4.4. Free Amenities The people who live near the WTE plant might be entitled to free amenities. For example, the Toshima Incinerator plant in Tokyo has a swimming pool and an affordable fitness center located within the plant (Harden, 2008). These amenities are accessible to the people who live in community where the plant is located (Harden, 2008). Another example, is the Hiroshima Naka Citys Incinerator plant in Japan, which is also known as the museum of garbage (Harden, 2008). The end of one of Hiroshimas main boulevards, overlooks the citys harbor, but the building has entirely blocked residents access to the water(Bernstein,2004). Therefore, the architect of the building decided to continue the boulevard, in form of a raised, glass-enclosed walkway (Bernstein, 2004). Beginning where the pavement ends, a 400-foot walkway slips was put through the building, ending in a new waterfront park. Residents can walk through the slip to get access to the waterfront park (Bernstein, 2004). The beautiful archi tecture of the plant has made it a tourist attraction center in Hiroshima (Bernstein, 2004). This proves that WTE plants can be multifunctional. If the city decides to build its own WTE plants it can make it attractive to the community by including free amenities. 4.1.5. Economic Analysis In 2012, the average price of sending our waste to distant landfill was $95 per ton and it was estimated that the price would increase to $140 per ton in 2016 (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Meanwhile sending our waste to WTE facilities in Newark, New Jersey, and Hempstead, Long Island cost the city $66 and $77 per ton, respectively (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). The prices for sending our waste to distant landfill and WTE facilities is expected to increase in the coming years (Citizen Budget Commission, 2016). In comparison, the projected tipping fees of new plants are much lower than sending our waste out of the city (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). The New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) estimated that the tipping fee at a new WTE plant that process 900,000 tons of waste per year would cost about $108 per ton in 2019, which is cheaper than the $140 per ton in 2016 for landfill (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Therefore, it would be beneficiary for the city to build its own plants. A full detail on economic analysis regarding WTE can be found in section 4.4 of this report. 4.1.6. Recommendation The use of a WTE plant located in the city or near the city offers both economic and environmental benefits compared to sending our waste out of the City (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Different factors are involved in estimating the economic benefits from the use of citys own WTE facility (citizen Budget Commission, 2012). The Key factors for the estimation are the future price of transporting waste to landfills, and the time it would take to plan, design and construct a plant (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Therefore, the cost of WTE would be compared to the amount the City would be paying to export its waste in 2022 (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). It is estimated that in 2022 the City would be paying $170 per ton to export to landfill (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). It would cost the City $750 million to finance a 3,000-ton per day WTE plant and capital funding, cost of operations and net of electricity sales for the plant would be approximate $109 million in 2022 (Citizen Budget Commission, 2016). It is assumed that the plant would be able to process 985, 500 tons of waste annually at a cost of $111 per ton if it operates all year round with 90 percent availability, (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). This would save the City $59 for every ton sent to the new plant instead of being transported to landfill (Citizen Budget Commission,2016). Using this estimate, taxpayers would save approximately $119 million if the city diverts two million tons from landfill to WTE plant in 2022 (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). This would lead to a reduction in the cost for disposing MSW in the City from $526 million to $408 million, a 23 percent drop in 2022 (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). The diversion of two million tons of waste from landfills to WTE woul d not only save the city money but also reduce greenhouse gas emission (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). Greenhouse gas emission due to this diversion is expected to decrease by 35 percent, which is equivalent to the reduction of carbon dioxide from 679,000 to 439,000 metric tons (Citizen Budget Commission, 2012). A Full detail on recommendations for the city regarding WTE can be found in section 4.4. of this report 4.1.7. Conclusion The use of WTE facilities has proven to be one of the best ways of managing MSW. WTE helps lower greenhouse gases and provides energy and material recovery. WTE also help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for electricity, which leads to the reduction of greenhouse gas. WTE would also help increase the recycling rate of the city. Building WTE plant within NYC might be a problem due to the misconceptions surrounding WTE facilities. When people hear WTE, they think back to the old incinerators that were used in the 20th century in NYC. Therefore, it is essential for New York City to develop programs that would educate New Yorkers about the benefit of having WTE in the city and the differences between modern incinerators and the incinerators from 20th century. WTE has more benefits for the city than any effect it might have on the environment. References An, J., Kim, J., Golestani, B., Tasneem, K. M., Al Muhit, B. A., Nam, B. H., Behzadan, A. H. (2014). Evaluating the use of waste-to-energy bottom ash as road construction materials. 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