Exploration Notes- as Level Drama and Theatre Studies Essay

1) Discuss and compare the exploration of characterisation in Metamorphosis by Steven Berkoff and (A Doll’s House). Draw your own practical understanding of the skills used including use of language and voice to portray character. In our practical sessions of Modelling Gregor in â€Å"Metamorphosis†, we thought about how we would physically see Gregor. To do this, we had to individually create the shape of Gregor with our bodies. We all started off thinking about it really literally- â€Å"How would a beetle look?† rather than thinking about how our body represented Gregor and his feelings towards society. We then expanded on our thoughts about Gregor and then tried to empathise with him and think about how we would look if we were in his situation. My finished individual beetle was crouched/curled up on the floor on my side with my head down, hidden away- this represented Gregor’s vulnerability (a beetle on his back is helpless and cannot move, but a beetle has a hard shell which protects him; I was half and half because with my head down, I didn’t want to be seen by society and I was ashamed of what I had become however with my front/underside slightly showing, I was exposed to society and helpless but because you could see my back/shell, I was half protected by family- I think that throughout the show this would change and I would end up completely on my back because the family does end up abandoning/killing Gregor) , one of my arms was in a jerky/awkward position and the other was outstretched away from my body- the jerky arm represented Gregor changing and being abnormal and different, the outstretched arm however showed that I was reaching for someone to help and save me from what I was turning into; my legs were limp, lifeless and in an awkward shape to show that I was, again, turning into something new and weird but could not move and physically get away from it. After we made our individual beetle, we then worked in partners and modelled them into Gregor. I decided to use props for this (I used a chair). Hana (my model Gregor) ended up being positioned on her side, with her head under the chair and one of her arms reaching out onto it, her legs were crooked and awkward to show that she couldn’t move from her pain. After that, we raced our â€Å"beetles†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Hana lost.. but this showed that Gregor was in a good position because he found it difficult to manoeuvre himself and get away from what was happening to him- his movement was limited and awkward when he did so. Hana then modelled me, she had me stood up with my legs wide open (showing vulnerability) and one of my legs turned in and that knee bent (which looked awkward, abnormal and hard to move), my head was dropped and my stomach was contracted in. She placed my arms out to the sides in awkward positions, which was quite physically demanding as I was holding the position. We then used these positions for a scene of Metamorphosis. The dream scene; we incorporated our ideas of how Gregor felt and moved into this scene. We decided to have a narrator and an actor onstage being Gregor. I tried to capture the essence of Gregor’s franticness yet vulnerability in the way I directed Hana as Gregor. I did this by changing the speed and dynamics of how she was moving; this matched the way I was narrating as I also changed the tempo, dynamics and pitch of my voice to really capture how Gregor’s character felt. To create the family we thought about the physical features of a beetle and applied them to the metaphors of the family. We ended up putting Mr Samsa in the middle, seeing as he is the heart of the family; we then had Gregor again in the middle with his arms over Mr Samsa almost saying that he is protecting him and the family with his income but he is still exposed to society and therefore vulnerable. We had Mrs Samsa knelt in front of Gregor and Mr Samsa looking straight forward with a blank expression almost as if she hasn’t got much to say about the situation and is just disregarding Gregor. Greta was at the very front of the beetle as the antenna, looking out for Gregor and being his sense of feeling. The legs of Gregor were made up of society, but reaching out and away from the beetle and from Gregor. We also (as a practical exercise) held hands as a whole group and twisted ourselves into a character from the play each†¦ this ended up looking abnormal, as the family’s situation is and a lot of it also looked quite painful but we were as one as a unit, as the family is. In order to characterise Nora in a Doll’s House, we used the techniques of Stanislavski because A Doll’s House is a much more naturalistic play compared to Metamorphosis. We started with a focus exercise in which we lay down on the floor and concentrated only on our breathing and our body contact with the floor. We then got thought about some key words to describe Nora’s character and tried to focus on each of them individually, letting each emotion overwhelm our bodies. We then were counted down to stand up and walk around the room as Nora, showing her feelings through non- verbal communication. We also created some tableaux of the family in a dolls house. For this we used visual, aural and spatial techniques. 2) Discuss and compare the Visual, Aural and Spatial elements and the use of non-verbal communication techniques to present issues and ideas in both plays studied. Make reference to your practical work. Visual, aural and spatial elements either have an iconic or symbolic reference. Iconic is always visual, for example a prop; it is iconic because it is what it is and only serves its primary function (e.g. a stool is a stool and is used for sitting on etc.) However a symbolic reference is something that represents something and has a metaphor behind it (e.g. a chair could be symbolic for a particular person). Metamorphosis is an extremely abstract play and the visual, aural and spatial techniques used are very important. The play is commonly set with Gregor at the back on a platform above everyone else, slowly becoming more and more deformed. This is a very visual thing and represents the time’s changing and matters are slowly getting worse and worse for the family. The fact he is higher up than everyone else as well could also symbolise the fact he is hanging over everyone’s head and is a burden on the family. His height could also represent his status and the fact he is the cause for everything happening on stage and when he changes, everything else does as well. Another common way of positioning Gregor is to have scaffolding angling up to the back of the stage like this: This gives perspective; it also makes Gregor look further away but because of the angle, you are drawn in, giving a stronger emotional impact on you as an audience member. The scaffolding itself makes the whole aesthetic of the performance seem more skeletal; which Gregor is also slowly becoming. It is also, obviously, very structured which contradicts how the family’s situation is in the play. In the script it says that every prop is mimed other than 3 black stools places equidistantly of each other for the family to use. I think these proxemics show how the family are as a unit and detached from Gregor. In order to explore and interpret this, we created a series of 10 tableaux. In these 10 tableaux, we used visual, aural and spatial elements to show the subtext of the plot- we mainly focussed on the family and how Gregor’s change affected the family. We used a ladder laid down on its side for scaffolding in which Gregor spent a lot of the time in various awkward ways, becoming more and more deformed and trapped as the tableaux progressed. We thought we should only use the organic sounds from our movement and the ladder for our performance to represent the tension and how awkward the situation/plot/subtext was. In the changeover of each tableau, we decided to move a chair gradually towards the back of the stage to represent Gregor slowly distancing from his family. One element of these tableaux I was quite proud of was the proxemics of each member of the family compared to Gregor and the ladder/scaffolding. This is said ladder; as you can see, there is a divide across it. We used this as a barrier stopping the family from getting to Gregor; apart from in one tableau where we â€Å"broke† this barrier and Greta reached out to Gregor through the partition. Gregor was slowly becoming more and more deformed into the corner during the tableaux. Greta reaching over through the barrier to Gregor. Mrs Samsa reaching over to Greta trying to stop her from â€Å"breaking the barrier†. Mr Samsa: Back turned to Mrs Samsa and Greta (and obviously Gregor, wanting no part of it) Gregor was slowly becoming more and more deformed into this corner during the tableaux. We also used visual, aural and spatial techniques when studying A Doll’s House. Unlike Metamorphosis being abstract, A Doll’s House is much more realistic than Metamorphosis and therefore uses lots of props which are all in one way or another, symbolic of something and metaphorical. As a class we discussed the characters and props and what they may metaphorically represent: * Christmas Tree- The family’s relationships falling apart simultaneously with the pine needles falling off the tree. It could also show that looks can be deceiving because of the fact that while this tree is looking beautiful, the family is deteriorating. * Door- Freedom when Nora leaves. Trouble when she enters from the unknown outside world. * Dr Rank- Society hiding their decay. * Money- Power and all things bad and poisonous. * Nanny- The calm, security and support of Nora and the children. * â€Å"Skylark†- Nora is just a pretty singing bird with no other purpose than looking beautiful. Also the fact that a skylark cannot speak words, this is reflected in Nora; she is not allowed an opinion or it is not heard. * Stove- The characters always go back to it (especially Nora), this could stand for support and forgiveness, the warmth of friendship and loyalty because it is always there. * Macaroons- Nora’s deceit. * Lamp- The light of truth. * The Doll’s House- Nora is a kept woman, everyone’s play thing†¦or so they assume. It is actually Nora who plays with and manipulates the characters around her. Again, looks can be deceiving. Another way we explored visual, aural and special elements in A Doll’s House was when we studied the Tarantella scene. A tarantella is a traditional Italian folk dance. It gets its name from the venomous spider, the tarantula and it is supposed that when one gets bitten by this spider, the victims needed to engage in a frenzied dance in order to prevent death or disease, using very rhythmical music. Now, in context with A Doll’s House, I believe that the reason a Tarantella is danced by Nora is because she is trying to rid herself of the poison from Torvald, Krogstad and maybe even Dr Rank; or she could be trying to rid herself from lies she’s told as this is her poison. We re-enacted the tarantella scene with the proper script. We played with spatial awareness of characters, use of voice and visual effects. Nora’s movement gets gradually more and more frantic and her speech also more frantic and louder and high pitched. Torvald moves with purpose but in a much more organised and authoritative way compared to Nora; he is always keeping his eyes on her and making sure she does it ALL correctly. Mrs Linde comes in from side stage quite discretely, says her line to Nora then moves slowly and almost mysteriously to a chair in the LDF corner. Dr Rank, playing the piano, cannot keep his eyes off Nora but is fairly wary of Torvald’s presence so near him. Nora used a shawl while she was dancing which added to the visual effects and at the end of the dance she threw the shawl on the floor as if her freedom of dance had gone and the poison had come back. We then performed our own interpretive dance for the subtext of the tarantella and the whole play without any script work. We started with Torvald controlling Nora, almost as a puppeteer- for this we used music box doll music. The music then ran into Kashmir by Bond which starts with quite a distorted wave of sound which we used to show Nora slowly changing and fighting back with Torvald. Throughout the dance, Nora got stronger and less poisoned- instead, the poison was transferring into the other characters. After Nora had kicked Torvald to the floor, Mrs Linde came in and started controlling him alongside Torvald; after having liaised with Nora, she became poisoned and slowly deteriorated to the floor. Dr Rank then came into the picture, stepped over Torvald to get to Nora. They danced together until she pushed him away and transferred the poison. Finally, Nora ended up sat down on the floor, looking around almost like a child who had just broken all of her toys. Aurally, there is one very poignant moment in A Doll’s House where the door is slammed at the end by Nora. This gives the play a final point of closure where Nora has gone and has gone for good. Similarly in Metamorphosis, when the apple is thrown into Gregor’s back, this is a definitive sound of the end of the main plot. 3) Evaluate your understanding of the practitioners studied and their influences on Metamorphosis. Use your interpretation notes to aid this question making reference to the practitioners, playwright, and your own practical exploration. Leslie Steven Berkovitch, better known as Steven Berkoff, was born on the 3rd August 1937 to Russian Jews. He came from a poor family and because of their descent; he never fitted in as a child and found it hard to be a part of a group of friends. Growing up in the East End of London is a gritty, tough time for most people let alone someone of the likes of Berkoff. He was a badly behaved child and got kicked out of school a lot. You could argue he was the original â€Å"East Ender† until he then moved to New York- he lived in a 1 bedroom flat, shared with 3 other families (who were also outsiders in New York). Wherever he travelled, he could never fit in and never found anywhere to call home. He grew up to resent his family and moved back to London at age 13. As an outsider, a Russian Jew living in London, he wanted to be a gangster. He was in a stage of identity crisis where didn’t know where to belong and after being so badly influenced and behaved, he ended up in a young offenders prison which obviously made him extremely angry! After this, he changed his name to Berkoff because he didn’t want to be seen as a Jew or associated with his roots. He brought a whole new movement to British playwriting in British society. These plays he wrote commented on equality and people- they were often based in the home. When he came out of prison, he decided to go over to Europe and learn the skill of tailoring like his father had done. During his stay, he was given the book â€Å"Metamorphosis† by Franz Kafka. When he read this, he could instantly make connections between himself and Gregor. After this, he went back to the East End and started writing plays. Unlike his fellow playwrights John Osbourne and Edward Bond, he believed drama should still be abstract. Berkoff was influenced by Greek theatre; he was a â€Å"Megalomaniac of theatre styles† who loved over exaggeration and the use of masks to rid people of their identity. He loved the use of chorus (voices together) and poetic verse because it takes things out of context. I was inspired by Brecht and his political (borderline social) take on drama and the use of gestus and satire. He also like Artaud and his theatre of cruelty and the way he used the senses and sounds to put over metaphorical messages. He then travelled to France and worked under Lecoq who was a mime artiste and physical theatre worker and trained with him until he decided to move back to London. When he got back to London, he built up his manifesto of theatre. TOTAL THEATRE. Total theatre Greek theatre (chorus, unison, exaggeration), theatre of cruelty (loud sounds, harsh, gritty images and metaphors) and epic theatre (Brecht- teaches a message, gestus, stereotypes, alienation). Berkoff moulded all these ideas together and created his characters as comic and caricatures. Using the whole of the body was very important to him as he was an extremely physical director, well demonstrated with the character of Gregor in Metamorphosis. As a practitioner, Berkoff also wrote plays as well as acted and directed. He liked using lots of language and words (almost Shakespearian). He was extremely articulate and using beautiful language he talked about the gritty East End and reality of life. To put Berkoff’s views into practice, we had to pretend to be in love with a chair. We exaggerated our love and feelings and the chair was like a metaphor for our lover. We then had to flip our mood and become angry with the chair; it got us all to think how people would stereotypically act with someone you loved and then hated. We also had to pretend we were at a picnic on our own, slowly becoming more and more exaggerated with our eating and drinking, and gradually more grotesque. It really got us to focus into it and get into it, so when it was time to â€Å"fake wretch†, I actually felt physically sick! We also practiced slow motion. This was very physically demanding, like how Steven Berkoff would have directed. It was very important to control your movements but not forget that when you sped up the movements, they should look exactly the same as the slow ones. 4) Evaluate your understanding of the practitioner studied and his influence on A Doll’s House. Use your interpretation notes to aid this question making reference to the practitioners, playwright, and your own practical exploration. Henrik Ibsen was born in Norway in 1828 and died in 1906. He was from a well to do Merchant family, however his father’s fortunes took a significant turn for the worse and he ended up a moody, nasty man and turned to alcoholism which he then took out on his family. Ibsen subsequently, only wrote about money and marriage as this was influenced from his own life. His plays were seen as scandalous to many of his era because they were always touching on sensitive subjects like human rights. This then influenced many other playwrights and novelists such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller and James Joyce. He is one of the founders of modernism in theatre. During his time, despite failing to achieve success as a playwright, he gained a lot of practical experience at the Norwegian theatre company. His play â€Å"A Doll’s House† is a realistic drama that highlights the cultural conflicts of the 19th century. The play was very controversial when it was first published as it was sharply critical of 19th century marriage norms. Her ended up having to change the ending of the original script because the leading actress didn’t like the idea of having to act out abandoning her children. It also manifests Ibsen’s concerns for women’s rights and human rights in general. This was widely considered as a landmark in the development of what would soon become a highly prevalent genre of theatre- REALISM. Realism was consequently realised. It wasn’t however until the likes of Stanislavski came along that realism became so well known and loved. He wanted a sense of realism in his work and he wanted his actors to really connect with their character. In his eyes, the actors WERE the characters. He believed REAL ACTORS=REAL ACTING. We used Stanislavski’s techniques to get into our roles when studying A Doll’s House. We began with a focus exercise, lying on the floor and zoning out our thoughts. We then thought about our character and let their feelings overwhelm our own like Stanislavski would have got his actors to. We then connected with their emotions, felt how they felt and immediately after, acted out a short scene between Nora and Torvald. This helped us all enormously because got us to lose out inhibitions and focus entirely on the story, situation and emotions of the characters. 5) Discuss the Social, Historical, Cultural and Political content of the texts studied and compare the impact on an audience and on yourself as a student of drama. In Metamorphosis, the social, historical and cultural background is made apparent in a number of ways throughout the play. Franz Kafka (the author of the original novel) took his inspiration for the characters from his own relationship between himself and his father. Unforgettable images of dislocation seem to represent both the madness of the modern world and his own desperate neurosis. Similarly, Berkoff wasn’t very close with his father. Practitioners like Brecht and Artaud influenced his work- this is clearly visible in Metamorphosis as he took Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty and gave it Brecht’s Epic Theatre attributes. Berkoff’s own unique style created this play incorporating his personal passion of mime and the genre of expressionism. Acknowledging what I know about both Berkoff and Kafka, it is blatent that the Social, Cultural, Historic and Political aspects in terms of the two writers were their personal experiences of suppression from society, the culture they were brought up in (Kafka brought up in the a Jewish community and Berkoff brought up in the lower class and status he was born into by Russian Jews). Metamorphosis can be seen as a reaction against society and its demands. Gregor’s physical separation could represent his alienation and understandable desire. He was crushed by authority and routine and had been imprisoned by social and economic demands: â€Å"Just don’t stay in bed being useless . . .† It prevents the forthcoming rebellion of the son against the father. Gregor had become strong as a result of his father’s failure. He destroyed his father’s self-esteem and took over the father’s posts and duties within the family. After the catastrophe, the same sequence takes place in reverse: son becomes weak, and father kills him. Gregor is shown as a symbol of anxiety and alienation who is a lonely character, isolated in his own mind from the community and true friendship (much like Kafka and Berkoff). Looking at where Gregor’s values were anchored: servant to the needs of an oppressive boss in order to meet the needs of a family that continuously exploits him. The metamorphosis was inevitable. Metamorphosis shows the views and attitudes of society. It isn’t necessarily the one we live in today, but looking at it from a historical point of view it could have been representing the society in the nineteen hundreds (1915) when metamorphosis was first published. Kafka was born in Germany and could be referring to the time of the war, and how the Jewish communities were discriminated against. In A Doll’s House, patriarchal ideals were supported and reinforced by a social structure in which women had very little political or economic power. They were economically, socially, and psychologically dependent upon men and especially dependent upon the institutions of marriage and motherhood. Motherhood within marriage was considered a woman’s highest possible achievement. It was a social responsibility, a duty to society, and therefore, a full-time job. Mothering was no longer something that came naturally, but was something that had to be learned. High infant mortality rates, particularly in urban areas, were solely blamed on mothers. Working class mothers were labeled neglectful, when in truth they struggled with both child care and feeding a family. The plot concerns the collapse of a middle class marriage. It sparked debates about women’s rights and divorce. It was considered innovative and daring because of its focus on psychological tension instead of external action. It also created a new acting style that required emotion be conveyed through small, controlled gestures, shifts in action, and pauses and it was groundbreaking in that it caused drama to be viewed as social commentary and not just entertainment. For me, I think that these factors in both plays have different effects on me because in A Doll’s House, the living situation is so much more common these days compared to the monstrosity it was back when it was written. I feel like I can however relate to Nora and how she’s feeling because she is quite feministic like myself. I become quite confused when thinking about how Metamorphosis affects me because it’s obviously a very abstract play but I can empathise with Gregor and moreover Greta because she just wants to help her brother but the higher members of the family won’t let her.

Costs and Contract Terms Essay

Executive Summary Over the span of 168 simulated days, team Honeybadgers managed the Littlefield Technologies job shop. The team’s objective was to maximize the firm’s cash position relative to the rest of the class. Using 50 days of historical data, the team reviewed re-order points, re-order quantity, capacity, lead times, and therefore contract terms. The team also weighed the cost of new machines against capital for inventory and interest rates, evaluating the return on investment and the impact a new machine had on lead times. Using this consideration set, team Honeybadgers purchased one tuning machine, one stuffing machine, and changed the contract terms on ten occasions. Ultimately, the team placed 5th. Actions & Analysis Changing Contract Terms: A 7 day lead time generated higher revenue than the other contract terms during the first 50 days. However, we observed that there was a stretch of 5-8 days when the lead time was below a 1 day lead time during the first 50 days. Evaluating the first 50 days more closely revealed that approximately every 15-20 days, the lead time dropped substantially. Noticing a pattern, and aware that a different contract time could generate more revenue, we decided to micromanage the contracts to optimize revenue. For the duration of simulation, we adjusted contract according to the trending lead time. In times of high demand, when a lead time was more than 18 hours, we opted not to use contract #3 because of the cost of each order (avg. job cost+ordering cost = $608.33) Micromanaging the contracts according to lead times was a temporary solution. This strategy allowed us to optimize revenue when we did not have the capital to purchase a machine. Purchasing Tuning and Stuffing Machines: We originally wanted to purchase both a tuning and stuffing machine because both stations had long stretches when capacity was maxed out. However, without sufficient capital, we had to ration purchases. The tuning machine was at capacity more often. At one point the machine was at capacity for 18 days in a row. Purchasing the tuning machine eliminated a bottleneck at that station, which allowed us to produce more DSS products. Although the Tuning machine was prioritized, the bottleneck at the Stuffing machine was nearly as problematic as the Tuning station’s. The Stuffing machine was at capacity for 15 days in a row. After purchasing the Stuffing machine, bottleneck shifted again, and we were able to produce more DSS products. We did not purchase a third machine because it was unclear whether the revenue earned would offset the cost of the machine. The lead time was hovering around  ½ a day when we had the capital to make the purchase, and we did not believe the additional machine would improve our lead time enough to justify a purchase. In retrospect both machines should have been purchased earlier. We will evaluate the benefits of this approach in the â€Å"Risks and Evaluations† section. Choosing Not to Borrow: When we became eligible to take out a loan, we decided to forego the option because we did not need to borrow. Our cash standing was relatively high throughout the simulation because micromanaging contract terms proved fairly effective. Another deterrent was the grossly high interest rate. A 20% interest rate mitigated any added benefit gained from taking out a loan. Choosing Not to change re-order point: Re-ordering kits was a sizeable fixed cost, but we did not adjust the re-order point / order quantity because demand variability was fairly high. We were aware there was an opportunity cost associated with holding too much inventory because we could have earned interest revenue from the cash spent on inventory. However, we kept the order amounts Q high because (1)we want to save ordering cost and (2) we were not concerned with having too much inventory on hand when there was no direct cost (such as warehousing) associated with holding inventory. Inventory Strategy Final Hours: During the last 12 simulation days we considered developing a plan to minimize our inventory at the end of the simulation. However, we were not sure how to calculate this, and the costs associated with running of inventory was too high to risk making a mistake. Results The Honeybadgers team finished the Littlefield simulation in fifth place, posting $1,511,424 in cash. The team’s final cash position was $104,192 below the first place team, earning 93.5% of their total revenue. Risks and Evaluations At the beginning of the simulation, we wanted to maintain a high R and Q because we wanted to avoid high ordering costs. While we considered keeping inventory low to save money for a new machine, we were not sure the improved lead time could offset the cost of machines. However, in hindsight we realized that we could have managed R and Q better early in the simulation, so as to minimize the amount of excess raw inventory. We now know that we could have adjusted R according to the variability of demand, holding that the more demand fluctuates; the higher R is and vice versa. We believe that this tactic could have allowed us to accumulate enough cash to purchase machines earlier, possibly as early as day 80 or 90. Purchasing a machine earlier could have improved lead times, allowing us to switch to contract #3 earlier so as to generate more revenue. We should have balanced between ordering costs during the last 100 days and the cost of having excessive or unnecessary inventory after last day. In the last day we still had approximately $80k of inventory, which held no value after demand ceased. Managing inventory better would have given more cash on hand.

Nutrition †Obesity Essay

A large controversy in the field of health and food today is the effects that fast food and industrialized food have on our wellness. The convenience of obtaining food has become the main objective in society, but is it taking a toll on our health? Fast food restaurants such as (but not limited to) McDonald’s and Burger King are a major aspect to how a lot of our generation fills their stomach. Many researchers have been trying to link the increase in obesity to the consumption of industrialized food within the past few decades, but some argue that lack of physical activity has a part in the incline of overweight Americans as well. To get a complete analysis of exactly how our health is being affected by fast food industries, I am researching the following questions: Why is fast food so popular? How does fast food consumption affect adolescent obesity? What health risks are related to fast food consumption? What are other factors that could possibly contribute to the obesity problem? And should fast food be completely omitted from a healthy diet? These questions will be helpful to determine healthy lifestyle choices for families who do not know which way to go when dealing with the issue of industrialized food. Conducting research was a necessity before I could form an opinion about the fast food industry. During a two week period in October 2010, I examined six different sources. These sources include four academic journal articles, one book, and one magazine article. The magazine article by Clare Ulrich hinted on almost all of my questions but did not go into specific detail about each one. One academic journal by Stender, Dyerberg, and Astrup was not very helpful in answering my preliminary questions, but had me posing another question about the ingredients that make fast food so unhealthy. The academic journal article written by Raymond Gozzi Jr. answered some of my questions about why Americans keep going back to their favorite fast food restaurants. An article from the book Food and an academic journal article by Nestle and Young were very helpful in expressing different factors that could be affecting obesity rates. Glassner, Barry. â€Å"Environmental Factors and Genetics Are the Source of Obesity. † Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. 158-165. Print. Barry Glassner, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, discusses his beliefs that obesity is not linked to food consumption in his academic journal article Environmental Factors and Genetics Are the Source of Obesity. Glassner suggests that other factors such as genetics, stress and inactivity are responsible for the obesity epidemic among Americans. The author mentions that there are so many diet fads because no one knows exactly what foods make a person gain weight or if any foods do at all. Glassner includes in his article that genes are the main reason for overweight people. He says that natural selection and natural resistance to obesity are the main factors to weight gain. Then the author links economic stress to the reason Americans are now more overweight. The article says that stress is a major factor to eating habits and since the economy is doing poorly right now, Americans are over eating to aliviate the stress and not staying active due to long work hours. Glassner claims that most fast food bashers try to convince the public that there is a direct link to obesity and fast food consumption, but provide no real evidence to support their thesis. This article helped answer my research questions about other factors that could affect the incline in obesity. Gozzi Jr. , Raymond. â€Å"The Fast Food Franchise as Metaphor. † A Review of General Semantics 53. 3 (1996): 322-325. Print. Raymond, Gozzi Jr. is an Assosiate Professor of the Television-Radio Department at Ithaca College. He wrote the academic journal article, The Fast Food Franchise as Metaphor which states, â€Å"A fast food franchise is an embodied metaphor for the perfect system†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (323). The author believes that people love knowing they will get the same product every time they come back. Gozzi also looks at other business franchises and compares them to human love of predictability. The crash of the fast food era is also mentioned in this article. The author explains that the fast food industry has changed in order to maintain steady business flow by adding salads and breakfast, but he also wonders how long franchises will last in our society. This information was useful to me in answering my question about why fast food is so popular. None of my other information elaborates on Americans wanting fast food because of the familiarity so this article brought a different prospective to my research. Stender, S. , J. Dyerberg, and A. Astrup. â€Å"Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy. † International Journal of Obesity 31. 6 (2007): 887-890. Print. The academic journal article, â€Å"Fast food: unfriendly and healthy,† by Stender, Dyerberg, and Astrup, looks at the more factual aspect of the effects of fast food consumption. Stender and Dyerberg work together at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and at the Gentofte Hospital at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark while Astrup also works at the University of Copenhagen for the Department of Human Nutrition and the Centre for Advanced Food Studies. This article examines actual studies of the difference of an American who eats fast food frequently and one who does not. The authors of the article include the fattening and unhealthy contents of industrialized food from the chains McDonald’s and KFC. To finish the article, the authors include a section about some items that are being done to make the fast food industry more consumer friendly such as nutritional labeling on all food products. This article made me consider and answered another question that would be beneficial to my research: What contents in fast food make nutritionists brand is so unhealthy? Americans need to know what to look out for in certain fast foods so we are able to limit or omit the unhealthy aspects from our diets. Ulrich, Clare. â€Å"The Economics of Obesity: Costs, Causes, and Controls. † Human Ecology 33. 3 (2005): 10-13. Print. Clare Ulrich discusses the effects that the fast food industry has on the American population. She begins her article with a heavy statistic that death from obesity, has increased by 33 percent from 1990. Ulrich obtains some of her information about the cost and reasons why people choose fast food from the presentation, â€Å"Economics of obesity,† by John Cawley. The author also uses information from the Surgeon General about the percentage of Americans who are overweight or obese. She also includes the percent of childhood obesity in the United States and some possible reasons that this number has increased since 1950. This article was helpful to me in answering the questions: Why is fast food so popular? How does fast food consumption affect adolescent obesity? What are the health risks are related to fast food consumption? Although this article did give me useful information about my inquiries, it did not go into extensive detail about what keeps Americans hooked on fast food, how obesity effects children, and how fast food is accurately linked to fast food consumption. Wood, Marcia. â€Å"Kids, Fast Food, and Obesity. † Agricultural Research 57. 9 (2009): 20-21. Print. Marcia Woods writes about the results of a study of kid’s meals at fast food restaurants done by pediatrician Jason A. Mendoza in her article Kids, Fast Food, and Obesity. Wood says that Mendoza and his team of researchers from the Children’s National Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, did an analysis of ten fast food franchises who served kid’s meals. The author says Mendoza found only three percent of the meals met the nutritional set by the National School Lunch Program for children ages five to nine. Wood includes why the meals did not make the grade based on Mendoza’s research. The author says the research is conducted because of the growing numbers of childhood obesity and the increase in meals eaten away from home. Woods concludes her article with potential health consequences from being obese as a child. This article answered my question about the effects of childhood obesity and also my latest question about the content in fast food that makes it deemed unhealthy. Mendoza’s research is very helpful as a credible source that explains why children could be gaining more weight. Young, Lisa R. , and Marion Nestle. â€Å"Portion Sizes and Obesity: Responses of Fast-Food Companies. † Journal of Public Health Policy 28. 2 (2007): 238-248. Print. Portion Sizes and Obesity: Responses of Fast-Food Companies by Lisa R. Young and Marion Nestle discusses the relationship between the rise in portion sizes and weight gain among Americans. The authors believe that food is not specifically the reason for the increased obesity rate, but the much larger portion sizes since 1998. This article examines and compares the sizes of the most popular items sold at fast food restaurants: soft drinks, hamburgers, and French fries. The three fast food franchises chosen for the research were McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King. The data in the article includes a table of portion sizes in the years 1998, 2002 and 2006. The research shows that the portions have increased in almost all areas. Nestle and Young also look at what these fast food franchises have done to reduce portion sizes in response to media pressure. The authors then include data from the original sizes of soda, French fries and hamburgers in 1955 to 2006. Young and Nestle conclude that fast food restaurants have done very little or nothing to reduce portion sizes and promote healthy numbers or caloric intake. The article was useful to answer my questions: What are other factors that could possibly contribute to the obesity problem? And should fast food be completely omitted from a healthy diet? Portion size is a big factor to weight gain with any type of food and the studies showed me that the portions since 1998 and 1955 have drastically changed which could link it to obesity.

The Consequences for Women of the 1867 Reform Act Essay

The Consequences for Women of the 1867 Reform Act - Essay Example According to Paula Bartley, this could be compared to the slave trade, â€Å"Is one half of the human species, like the poor African slaves, to be subject to prejudices that brutalise them...only to sweeten the cup of men† (Bartley, 2007). The consequences for the suffrage movements The Great Reform Act of 1832 in the United Kingdom was started by Jeremy Bentham and William Thompson. During this time, United Kingdom had become so corrupt because the constituencies were represented by rich land owners. Elections were unfair because there were many cases of bribery and corruption. Also, by the year 1812, many women practiced prostitution highly in the United Kingdom. Prostitution was fueled by the social, literacy and cultural behaviors of the people living in England. This is the time when many associations were formed with an objective of bringing change and social purity (Bartley, 2007). A centre for home of friendless girls was introduced to educate the young girls on the ne ed for obedience and self control. This was due to the unhygienic nature of the practice since it led to contagious diseases. The reformers explained the causes of prostitution and came up with a strategy to educate the youth on positive change. Industrial capitalism also changed and minimized prostitution. â€Å"Surely, it will not be denied that woman have, and ought to have opinions of their own on subjects of public interest, and on the events which arise as the world goes its way† (Bartley, 2007).This led to the second reform act in 1867. . In 1819, Charles Woolsey won the elections and went to the House of Commons to initiate change as the legislative representative. Also, the committee of Manchester which consisted of twenty thousand to sixty thousand people appointed a representative attorney. In 1820s, parliament neglected new reforms. This was when John Russell disagreed with the corrupt activities of the parliamentary members. The Great Reform Act was proposed by J ohn Russell in the year 1830 after the death of King George. It was after the dissolution of the parliament, and the general elections were to be held. Birmingham political union started its campaigns under the leadership of Thomas Attwood. The campaigners put emphasis on the issue of reforms as this bill was pending in the previous parliamentary sittings. After the elections three reform bills passed to the parliament and through subsequent debates the bills were then amended to be the Great reform act in the year 1832. After this act, political education began whereby politics and social education were introduced to the local citizens. After the great reform, there was insufficient voter registration exercise and most people did not have the votes. Bribery and corruption remained to be a significant problem in the governance. During the ensuing years, corruption wars started up to the year 1854 when the corruption practices act passed into law by the parliament. Civil wars began w hich aimed at changing the structure of governance in England. There were outstanding family problems in the society. Divorce cases had increased. This act separated sex from reproduction. Same sex had become so prominent in the society. Sexual and social reforms in the society were the campaign strategies by the reform parties. In certain areas like New Jersey, the law allowed only

National Security Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

National Security - Case Study Example But could the security services in the country have done better in preventing these shocking attacks. According to the Guardian (2006), the reports on the cross party intelligence and security committee into the London terrorist's attacks of 7 July 2005 did not find any "evidence of an intelligence failure that could have prevented the bombings." It further says that it only identified "Intelligence gaps." The committee further states that the "comparatively small" capacity of the secret service to conduct conclusive investigations, had also to blame for the attacks. There have been attempts to protect the security forces from any blame or taking of responsibility of a possible failure on their part to prevent the bombings. However, serious questions arise. The first question is could have the security services known about any planned attacks on the British soil. The MI5, which is Britain's domestic spy service, the agency responsible for gathering intelligence on any internal attacks, insists that it did not have any information about the intended bombings. This is supported by the Intelligence and Security Committee Report into the London Terrorist Attacks, which claim that the Secret service had no prior information on possible attacks in London. It however notes that, one of the attackers Siddequine Khan was known to the Security Service before the attacks. These claims have drawn world wide criticism from different individuals, groups and media houses claiming that to the contrary, the security services had prior information about the possibility of an attack from as early as in 2004 but did not only act appropriately. According to WSWS 2007, there was also credible warning by the Saudi Arabian Intelligence about a plot to bomb the Britain. This warning was however dismissed by the security forces as irrelevant. The security forces and the government denied this, even though, The Guardian-2006 reports that there was even credible sources form the White House which confirmed the claim. It further claims that the information from the Saudi intelligence was so specific, that it even noted that the plot involved four Islamic extremists and that the target was London. This has since been confirmed by the Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United Kingdom. (WSWS 2007). (WSWS 2007) further reports that the Israelis Secret Intelligence Service had also warned the British security services about possible terror attack in London just a few days before the attacks. The Morning star (2007) also reports that the Saudi and French governments had warned the MI5 about the attacks. It from all these claims, it is pro bable that the secret service, had information about the possibility of an attack in the United Kingdom (UK) and more specifically on the UK's rail network. It however did not treat these warnings with the proper attention they deserved. According to WSWS(2007) a statement from the then Prime minister, (Tony Blair), which was quoted in the parliamentary report, revealed that the services had been alerted on a possible attack by terrorists who were British Citizens. It also reports that in May 2005, in the same parliamentary report, it is noted that there was security information that attacks similar to the Madrid bombings would be carried out in the United Kingdom. The Secret service has been criticized for having under surveillance two of the bombers and taking no serious actions to prevent the

Ethical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethical Analysis - Essay Example Vallejo California is an interesting case study of one community effort seeking to supply primary care to the poor. It’s proponents say the clinic is saving local emergency rooms thousands by providing non-emergency care to uninsured patients (many illegals) at low cost or free of charge. Many illegals, without proof of income, are receiving the services free of charge. Many residents want the clinic’s county funding cut to reflect its treatment of illegals who they believe should not be receiving health care at the expense of taxpayers. The problem is twofold and highlights two major issues concerning health care today: â€Å"the un-insured and balooning costs† (Jordon, 2009, para. 4).The tip of a controversial iceberg, if health-care reform goes through the way The U.S. House bill is written, no such clinic, in California or otherwise, will receive any federal funding if it continues to treat illegal immigrants. And from opinions so far, local voters may not approve public funds to do the job. It is a health care conundrum that threatens to drive illegals back to expensive emergency rooms, and/or in denying them clinic treatment, running the risk of them not receiving treatment for diseases they may spread to the entire community. The Pew Hispanic Center reports that half of the twelve million illegal immigrants in the U.S. do not have health insurance and go to emergency rooms where they are bound by a 1986 law to be treated. Emergency-room visits, where treatment costs are much higher than in clinics,† jumped 32% nationally between 1996 and 2006, the latest data available† (Jordon, 2009, para. 5). More than an ethical question for Sutter Solano Medical Center Chief Executive Terry Glubka, Gluba, in pushing for the clinic, was trying to reduce costs at the hospital where the poorer population [including many illegals] were coming to get treated for everything from bug bites to severe injuries. By

Marketing Strategy For Entering Chinese Market Essay

Marketing Strategy For Entering Chinese Market - Essay Example lower and middle classes as their target audience, the premium standard product would automatically appeal to the upper segment of the society to have such a fine product that can also make them feel different than the people using the Chinese products that are so common, cheap and also referring to the lower standard. China is entering almost in every market whether it is electricity goods or clothing, so the product that should be introduced must be very much competitive to the Chinese product so that the people who are not being served by the Chinese goods can be served on relatively higher prices but it would make them feel supreme, so the basic idea is to introduce something that is much similar to Chinese good but must be different on numerous basis, it would also disturb the Chinese market which seems to be relatively very stable right now. According to the normal observations the product that should be introduced is a VCD/DVD player, the basic reasons for introducing them is that people are already complaining about the big giants in the market and also the material made by China is just serving the core purpose that is a picture on Television, it does not include any tangible or augmented product in it, which means that there is absolutely no quality and guarantee for it. Target Groups As discussed earlier the target market should be people who are having relatively higher income than the most of the people in the society, this does not only include the people who are top class business executives but also people who are young, who are brand conscious and also who have the habit of having excellence in every part of life, this would be made quite visible to the people through our advertisement which would be clearly showing the excellence in the product. Promotional Mix The product as discussed earlier is catering the upper class of the society or people who are having desire to excel, so according to the plan we would have to go for advertising and sales promotion by eliminating personal selling and public relations from our promotional mix list, the idea of not using personal selling is that the product is very supreme and also the market is wide spread and the nature of product is however sensitive, so to keep the product in the higher position it would be unfair to use personal selling, while there is no need of public relations at this stage. The details of advertising and sales promotion are as follows. Advertising: The best thing in the advertising is to have an emotional appeal, perhaps by showing a superior quality picture and smooth sound effects than can make a person go into dreams, and also as the product is VCD/DVD player we would have to

Study of management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Study of management - Essay Example Health insurers don’t need applicants to undergo a genetic test. The article from Forbes magazine (2008) states that the former president George Bush signed the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act (GINA) into law to prevent discrimination of people who receive genetic test by their employers. Weiss (2008) states that the genetic discrimination has its consequences for example if an employer used genetic test to access the cost of insurance to an employee it would discourage the rest of the employees from seeking the test (P. 224). In reference to the article, management theory that is for or against the article is libertarian theory. This means if an employer or any other equal employee is for the theory they are against genetic discrimination. If they are against the theory, they support genetic discrimination. The article from Forbes magazine has taught me that it is unethical and illegal for an employer to discriminate potential employees based on their genetic characteristics for example, color of skin gender or disability which does not affect the work performance. Employers too are to keep the confidential the medical information of their employees thus they may find themselves on the risk of legal charges. The article teaches about practicing business ethically by not discriminating potential employees just because they are genetically disordered. Every employee should be giving an equal chance to display their professionalism in an organization. The government has clearly stated that it’s illegal to judge the capability of someone using their genetic information. Moreover, the government also has banned the use of genetic testing to deny both health insurance and employment opportunities. Health insurers might not need one to undergo a genetic test, but the customer can volun teer (Analytica, 2008). In conclusion, I aim to apply what I have learnt in my practice, by not judging other employees according to their genetic disorder, rather than

Law of Trusts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law of Trusts - Essay Example her well-disposed persons, some for the relief of aged and poor persons, some for the maintenance of sick and maimed soldiers and mariners, schools of learning, free schools and scholars in universities, some for repair of bridges, ports, causeways, churches, sea-banks and highways, some for education and preferment of orphans, some for or towards relief or maintenance of houses of correction, some for marriages of poor maids, some for aid and help of young tradesmen, which lands, goods (and) money have not been employed according to the charitable intent of the givers and founders thereof, by reason of frauds, breach of trust and negligence in those that should pay (and) deliver same.† "Charity in its legal sense comprises four principal divisions: trusts for the relief of poverty, trust for the advancement of education, trusts for the advancement of religion, and trusts for other purposes beneficial to the community, not falling under any of the preceding heads." In this essay, I would like to establish that the concepts of charities is still very much relevant to our present society as the four heads mentioned in the Pemsel case is still very much relevant to the present times. In some countries that adopted the preamble3, they expand the law to include such other groups and entities, which may need the assistance afforded by the Statutes. However, the Statutes of Charitable Uses is self-limiting and there is need to expand the coverage thereof in response to modern times. Thus, the concept of Charities evolved into the new Charities Bill. In order to understand better this evolution of the application of the law, let us look at the four areas covered by the Elizabethan law and see how this concepts have evolved over time4 and how our case law affected the evolution thereof. Relief of poverty is one of the noblest tasks of mankind to help each other. Under the Elizabethan law, there were two forms of relief, which was set up, one is the outdoor relief5 and

The impact of social on the fashion luxury consumer Dissertation

The impact of social on the fashion luxury consumer - Dissertation Example tant Facts 32 Figure 7: Age 41 Figure 8: Nationality of the respondents 43 Figure 9: Hours spend on internet 44 Figure 10: Profile on social networks 46 Figure 11: Hours spend on social networks 47 Figure 12: media use to follow fashion trends 49 Figure 13: why you use social media network 51 Figure 14: How you feel about advertising on social media 53 Figure 15: have you ever purchased a product or service based on an advertisement on a social network 54 Figure 16: which of the social media technologies you use 55 Figure 17: how many twitter followers you have 58 Figure 18: how many people do you follow on twitter 59 Figure 19: do you use social media in an official business or professional capacity 61 Figure 20: Are you a member or fan of a brand page on facebook 62 CHAPTER #1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Overview of the research study: It is believed that Egyptians were amongst the pioneers of using luxury fashion products, as their people especially elites were very much concerned about th e way they look, moreover prejudices system was very much practiced at that time. Prominent people in order to differentiate themselves with the masses used high quality products which were well crafted, and the materials used for making these products were of supreme quality. However with the passage of time various innovations came in this world. That has resulted in changing the perceptions and shape of this world. Luxury products which were initially confined or related with elites are now being used by masses because of affluence factor. At present luxury products are being used by different people around the world and luxury brands are searching for new ways in order to target consumers. It was industrialisation and later globalisation that has resulted in changing the shape of the... It is believed that Egyptians were amongst the pioneers of using luxury fashion products, as their people especially elites were very much concerned about the way they look, moreover prejudices system was very much practiced at that time. Prominent people in order to differentiate themselves with the masses used high quality products which were well crafted, and the materials used for making these products were of supreme quality. However with the passage of time various innovations came in this world. That has resulted in changing the perceptions and shape of this world. Luxury products which were initially confined or related with elites are now being used by masses because of affluence factor. At present luxury products are being used by different people around the world and luxury brands are searching for new ways in order to target consumers. It was industrialisation and later globalisation that has resulted in changing the shape of the globe. Things that took great amount of time in their makings are now made instantly. Various developments around the world were carried out with rapid speed. In the context of businesses these developments proved to be fruitful, as their products manufacturing showed enhancement and furthermore their reach to the market expanded from small cities or villages to the far flung areas of the world. Therefore businesses in order to expand and introduce their brands globally followed various styles and endorsed their products through advertisements and marketing using print media (newspapers, leaflets etc) electronic media (radio, T.V etc).

Starbucks coffee and dunkin donuts Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Starbucks coffee and dunkin donuts - Case Study Example Opportunities: Due to its global recognition, Starbucks has the opportunity to expand their international market in order to reimburse for any diminish in the US market share. They als have a great opportunity of product diversification The company has a strong branding strategy that makes their presence felt wherever they are located. In addition, to protect them from negative trend cycles, they are in the process of diversifying their specialties into baking and fresh fruit juice. The company is also an American based company, which, since its founding in 1950 has developed to be one of the principal coffee products chain in the world over with a total of 15,000 outlets in 37 different countries. Over time the chain has developed to include and serve over 1,000 items on their menu. The company’s primary competition over coffee sales is Starbucks coffee company. Strengths: The Company has a very strong name that has been established worldwide. This has created a strong brand loyalty among the customers. In addition, the business has a wide assortment of pastry from which the customers can chose from. Further, the quality services provided to customers and their retention strategies are a key strongpoint. Opportunity: The Company has a huge opportunity to increase its revenue and customer base through effective online marketing. There is also great room for expansion into newer economies and regions of the world which they have not tapped into. In addition, there’s an opportunity to diversify by introducing low calorie snacks. The company’s strategy is sort of a different approach from the norm. Instead of putting emphasis on the product and the menu, the firms aim to achieve full customer satisfaction by provision of quality service and the introduction of strategies that facilitate customer

Corporate Social Network Essay Example for Free

Corporate Social Network Essay

The Manufacturing Process At Almoiz Sugar Mills Marketing Essay

The Manufacturing Process At Almoiz Sugar Mills Marketing Essay Introduction Al-Moiz Sugar Mills Limited incorporated in 2004 as a limited company and certificate of commencement of business was granted in 2005. The Head Office of the company is located at Gulberg III Lahore whereas the factory unit is located on Chashma Road in the D.I.KHAN District Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The company is recognized in the local and international market as a fine quality producer of white refined Sugar, Molasses and also holds a substantial share in the market. The company is also engaged in the export of white refined sugar to Afghanistan and molasses to Euro countries and is contributing to the national economy in the form of foreign exchange. The company has strong corporate clients including Engro and Pepsi. This is the only Pakistani company with state of the art technology and is one of the very few mills in Pakistan that is providing Wapda with electricity. The sugar mills basic plant machinery was acquired and installed by The Heavy Mechanical Complex Taxila (A State Engineering Company). Other equipment such as turbines and gearboxes etc were imported from Germany and United Kingdom. Currently the plant is working at the crushing capacity of 1oooo MTCD and company is keen to increase it to 12000 MTCD. The sugar mill has a state of the art technology which is the latest technology in Pakistan. The mill produces sugar by using both sugar cane and sugar beet as a raw material.The company is committed to invest in IT with an eventual target of implementing ERP system. AL-MOIZ Sugar Mills Limited is one of the significant units of Almoiz group of industries. The company is principally engaged in the business of manufacture sales of white refined sugar molasses (as a byproduct), Crushing of sugarcane, Sugar beet raw sugar in to white refined sugar. Manufacturing Process The manufacturing process at Almoiz Sugar Mills comprises of the following steps Main Competitors Products White refined sugar: Major business of the company is to produce white refined cane sugar of intermission standard and from the erased cane and three different components are achieved that are fibber, pith and moisture. Molasses: This is a by product and it is sold to molasses contractors. One of the allied concerns, reliance commodities (pvt) limited is the main buyer of the molasses of al-moiz sugar mills limited and also the main buyer of molasses from whole the country. Reliance commodities (pvt) limited is the main exporter of molasses in pakistan. Baggase This is also a bye product of the company. Baggase is used as source of energy fuel for sugar industry for juice heating. And also used for making medium density fiber board (mdfb). Baggase is sold to the baggase contractors. Mud Mud is also the by-product of the company. It is sold to the mud contractors. This is used in making chocolates and other products. Electricity Al-moiz sugar mills also produce electricity on large quantity. The mill does not only fulfil its own energy requirements but is able to product surplus electricity which is supplies to wapda. Departments at the Factory Site Departments at the Head Office The strengths and Weaknesses of the company are as follows Strengths Attractive salary packages for employees on the site Top management. The CEO of the company is a Stanford Graduate and is a man of great vision Friendly and cooperative working environment Financial resources Agricultural assistance to the local farmers State of the art technology Corporate Social Responsibility Weaknesses Lack of skilled persons available in the region where the mill is located Shortage of residence available for employees on the site The site is prone to being affected by the flood and has been affected by the floods that occurred in the past Unavailability of modern facilities on the site Number of accidental reports are increasing Turnover rate is high Weak organizational policies Poor GSM services on the site Literature Review Sugar Industry in Pakistan JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited, (2011) described the sugar industry ranked the fifteenth largest globally and the second largest after textile industry with 86 operational factories across the country with an installed capacity of 7.0 million tons of sugar annually. It directly employed over 30,000 personnel. JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited, (2010) described the industry as the driving engine of the rural economy after agrarian economy in many countries. They also stated the sugar industrys cyclical nature as harvesting of sugar cane was dependent on weather as well as the availability of adequate water. Khushk, Memon Saeed described the Pakistan sugar industry as uncompetitive in nature due to low sugarcane yield per hectare and low content of sucrose ranging between 7-9 percent however they also described the sugar industry from a growers perspective as competitive since the growers were of the opinion that the sugar crisis was artificially created by mill owners with the motive of keeping sugarcane prices below support prices and reaping abnormal profits. (Shaukat) described Pakistan as the fifth largest country in the world in terms of area under sugar cane cultivation, eleventh by production and sixtieth in yield. The author also described the sugar industry in Pakistan as the second largest agro based industry with 81 sugar mills with annual crushing capacity of over 6.1 million tons. The author also mentioned that the Sugar industry is mostly located in the rural areas of Punjab and Sindh. A small percentage of total production is produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Previously, Punjab was partly dependent on supply of sugar from Sindh however after the establishment of some large scale units in Punjab the Province became self-sufficient in the commodity. (Rizvi) described Pakistans sugar industry as mostly owned by politicians. The author also mentions that majority of the sugar mills were setup with the help of Development Financial Institutions normally trapped with the working capital crisis. Consequently, some of the mills were closed and it was feared that some more sick units would close down. The author also mentions the collapse of sugar mill being a loss of national assets, reduction in the sales tax revenue and an increase in unemployment. Awareness of consumers towards branded products Aaker (2000) was of the opinion that brand awareness was a remarkably durable and sustainable asset that provided a sense of familiarity especially in low- involvement products. It also provided with a sense of presence, commitment and substance. It was very vital to recall at the time of purchase. Besides the conventional media there were other effective means to create awareness such as event promotions, publicity and sampling. Chen (2001) stated that though brand awareness was a necessary asset however it was not sufficient for building strong brand equity. In this view a brand could be well known because it had inferior quality. Ramasamy et al. (2005) reported that, the buying behavior was vastly influenced by the awareness and attitude towards the product. Television commercials were said to be the most important source of information, followed by retail outlet displays. Consumers formed an opinion about a brand on the basis of various product features. A large number of respondents laid emphasis on quality and were of the opinion that price is an important factor while other respondents attached importance to image of manufacturer. Purchase Behavior of Consumers Results of the study conducted by Joshi (1993) in Dharwad on food purchasing habits and consumer awareness among rural and urban housewives indicated that majority of the urban respondents purchased sugar (69.00%) on monthly basis. Rural respondents purchased sugar (71.00%) once in week. Both rural and urban respondents purchased groceries (99.00% each) from retail shops. Price, quality and weight of the products were the important factors considered by both rural and urban respondents while purchasing of food items. Nagaraja (2004) opined that, buying behaviour is very much influenced by experience of their own and of neighbour consumers and his family. Above all, the quality of the product and its easy availability were the primary and the vital determinants of his buying behaviour. Consumers were influenced by touch and feel aspect of any promotional activity. Shivkumar (2004) showed that the consumer, irrespective of income groups, was mainly influenced by the opinions of their family members to purchase. Consumers were also influenced by the dealers recommendation, followed by advertisement. Brand Preference Kubendran and Vanniarajan (2005) described the change in consumption pattern a result of change in food habits. If income and urbanization increase among consumers, the percentage of income spent on consumption increased. Branded products were preferred my urban consumers. The major factors influencing buying decisions were accessibility, quality, regular supply, door delivery and the mode of payment. Narang (2006) claimed that, a buyer does not stick to one brand when it comes to purchasing a food item. They should be able recall different brand names when they go for purchase. Repetitive advertising can be used to aid brand recall. The product should appeal to the consumer. Kim-Hyunah et al. (2005) concluded that brand preference and brand image had considerable positive effects on brand loyalty. Thus, the companies should strive to strengthen brand loyalty through building brand preference and brand image. Brand loyalty led to increased customer visits. Low and Lamb Jr. (2000) maintained that known brands tend to exhibit multi-dimensional brand associations, consistent with the idea that consumers have more developed memory structures for more familiar brands. Consumers might be willing to expend more energy in processing information regarding familiar brands compared to unfamiliar brands. Padmanabhan (1999) conducted study on brand loyalty, which revealed that the price of the preferred brand, efficiency of the preferred brand and influence of advertisement significantly influenced the brand loyalty. Factors Influencing Brand Preference In a study conducted by Sarwade (2002) it was observed that the factor which influenced the purchasing decision as against the quality of the product was its price. Another interesting finding was that the company image and brand image were not totally considered by the households. Kubendran and Vanniarajan (2005) described the change in consumption pattern is due to changes in food habits. If income and urbanization increase among consumers, the percentage of income spent on consumption increases. The urban consumers prefer mostly branded products compared to rural consumers. The most significant factors influencing buying decisions were acceptability, quality, regular supply, door delivery and the mode of payment. Vincent (2006) elicited that quality was an important factor that draws consumer towards branded products. Branded products were accepted as good quality products. People do not mind paying extra for branded products, as they get value for money. Media is a key constituent in promoting and influencing brand. External environmental analysis Sugar Industry in Pakistan Sugar is the important sector of Pakistans economy. Sugar industry plays a vital role for development of any countries. In Pakistan this industry play a significant role for economic development. Its share in the large scale industry is 19.25% and in GDP is 1.98%. Sugar industry contribution to the government exchequer in federal excise duty 17.34% History At the time of partition in 1947 only seven sugar mills, existed in the territories of Pakistan, 5 in East Pakistan now known as Bangladesh and only 2 in West Pakistan now known as Pakistan. These two sugar mills namely Rahwali Sugar Mills and Frontier Sugar Mills established in 1936 and 1938 had a capacity of 5000 tonnes each of producing white sugar. During 1954-56 three more sugar mills were established with a capacity of 10000-15000 tonnes. By 1955-56, the sugar production capacity in Pakistan was around 45,000 tonnes. With an abrupt change in the economic activities and urbanization, the demand for white sugar was on the increase. This was attributed to the manufacture of soft drinks, confectioneries and bakery products etc. The number of sugar mills was also on the increase to meet the demand. Major Players in the Sugar Industry The major players in the sugar industry are Current Scenario The sugar industry is the second largest in the country after the textile industry. Currently there are 83 sugar mills operating in Pakistan. In Pakistan normally season starts in November and ends in April. Out of the 83 sugar mills present in the country 76 Sugar Mills are operating having crushing capacity of 361,300 tons of cane per day (TCD). Seven Sugar mills extended capacity but they are unable to utilize. Based on 160 days season these sugar mills have a total crushing capacity of 58 million tons of sugarcane capable to produce 5 million tons of refined sugar and 3 million tons of molasses. Also the weekly sugar production is conveyed to the government via Pakistan Sugar Mills Association. The environmental analysis can be classified into two major types of environments that a firm has to face. They are micro and the macro (mega) environment. These are discussed in detail below. Macro Environment Technological Environment Almoiz sugar mills position as far as the technological environment is concerned is pretty strong as of now. It uses the state of the art technology and can produce sugar using sugar beet as a raw material other than sugar cane. Other than sugar production the firm is also engaged in electricity production and is a supplier of electricity to wapda. Socio-cultural Environment The impact of societal changes, life styles and culture on Almoiz sugar mill is significant. There has been a shift in the life style, for example the type of stores customer prefer to shop from, the type of packaging they prefer sugar in. Consumers are becoming more health conscious they prefer to go for low calorie versions and are very concerned about hygienic conditions of the sugar and the shop that sugar is purchased from. Economic Environment The economic environment of Pakistan is not very stable and it continues to fluctuate every now and then. With the rise in interest rates and double digit inflation in the country, it has practically become impossible for the consumers to buy the same number of products as they used to buy a few years ago, thus the purchasing power of the consumers has sharply gone down. Political Environment The political scenario of Pakistan is the biggest threat to a business. Changing tax rates, rebates, labor strikes and the instability in general makes it difficult for Almoiz sugar mill to cope up with these changes and thus it can hamper future operations and thus profitability of the entire business. Legal Environment The legal system of Pakistan is generally not very strong and in case of a problem, a company can involve itself into years long legal implications and trials. Micro Environment Suppliers Almoiz has divided its suppliers into two zones Factory Zone: 73 % of sugar cane during the cane season is obtained from the factory zone i.e. 640,000 M .Tons Outer Zone: 27% of sugar cane during the cane season is obtained from the outer zone i.e. 240,000 M. Tons. The outer zone comprises of areas including Indus road, Bypass, Bhakkar and Mianwali. Market Demand There is a great deal of demand for sugar in households. Sugar is used in very house it may be directly consumed or may be indirectly consumed in other products such as beverages and Confectionery items such as sweets, lollipops, candy bars, chocolate, cotton candy and other sweet snack items. Competition Almoiz sugar mill has many competitors with Chashma sugar mill and Layyah sugar mill being the its two immediate competitors. The competitors also offer the same range of products with white refined sugar being the core product and several other by product including molasses however there isnt any sugar mill that generates its own electricity as Almoiz sugar mill. Skill Level of Workforce Workforce and the people in the company is the biggest asset of an organization. In the case of Almoiz sugar mill the workforce plays a very important role in the organizations productivity. The location of the factory is in Dera Ismail Khan and due to the instability in the region finding skilled workforce in that area is very hard. Hence attractive salary packages are given to attract skilled workforce from other regions of the country to come and work for Almoiz sugar mill. Marketing Intermediaries Marketing intermediaries are involved especially when it comes to sugar distribution to retailers and wholesalers. A high level of intermediary involvement makes communication difficult and increases the dependence. Porters Five Forces Model http://www.12manage.com/images/porterfiveforces.gif Porters five forces model basically gauges the intensity of competition within its industry. The collective strength of all these forces combined determines the ultimate profit potential of the industry where profit potential is measured in terms of the long-run return on investment of capital. Threat of New Entrants If someone from a political or influential background wants to set up a sugar mill they have the financial resources to obtain the machinery and contacts needed to obtain a license to start up a sugar mill. So entry into the sugar industry is not hard. There are 83 sugar mills in Pakistan out of which 76 Sugar Mills are operating. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Almoiz has a diverse range of suppliers as mentioned earlier. It has separate categories of suppliers based on distance from the factory site. Thus giving the suppliers a low bargaining power. Bargaining Power of Customers Customers have the option of switching to other sugar producers since barely one or two sugar mills have done something to distinguish themselves from other competitors in terms if having a brand name or packaging. People dont even take into consideration the brand or sugar mill name while purchasing sugar they just purchase whatever is easily available. Threat of Substitute Products Almoiz has many direct competitors. Currently there are 83 sugar mills in the country out of which 76 sugar mills are operating. The competitors also offer the exact same range of products with white refined sugar being the core product thus making the threat of substitute products high. Also other substitute products such as canderal are available for consumers who want to go for a sweetener with less sugar content Porters Generic Strategies According to this strategy, in order to cope up with competition, firms adopt three generic strategic approaches to gain competitive advantage. Overall cost leadership entails the firm to make all or possible attempts to achieve the lowest costs in production and marketing. Differentiation approach lays emphasis on achieving class leadership by providing unique characteristics to the product/service. Focus strategy attempts to serve a narrow strategic target effectively and efficiently. Thus, on the basis of these three strategies, Almoiz sugar mill follows the Overall Cost Leadership Strategy. By being the low cost leader, it increases its efficiency at all levels thus gaining a significant market share. An illustration is shown below: External Factor Analysis Summary Opportunities Entering International Markets Expanding corporate clients Technology Government and industrial projects. Minimization of cost by properly utilizing the by-products. Organic sugar Threats Seasonal Variation in sugar cane Political Instability Natural Calamities The region in which the mill is located is very risky in terms of stability Competitors in the same region can attract the skilled resource of the company by offering them a better package External Factor Weight Rating Weighted Score Opportunities Entering International Markets 0.05 3 0.15 Expanding corporate clients 0.15 4 0.6 Technology 0.03 4 0.12 Government and industrial projects 0.13 4 0.52 utilizing by-products 0.07 3 0.21 Organic Sugar 0.14 3 0.42 Threats Seasonal Variation in sugar cane 0.14 4 0.56 Political Instability 0.09 3 0.27 Natural Calamities 0.07 3 0.21 location of factory 0.13 2 0.26 Total 1 3.32 Competitor Analysis The following are the main competitors of Almoiz Sugar mills Layyah Sugar Mills Layyah Chashma sugar Mills D. I. Khan Chashma Sugar Mill (D.I.Khan) The mill was set up by the sponsors of the Premier Group in 1991. Technical and other assistance is provided to the sugarcane growers, in addition to the development of 150,000 acres of land for the cane supply. The mill production stands at 18,000 tons per day, the largest in Pakistan.   In the financial year 2010, the Company was declared a subsidiary of The Premier Sugar Mills Distillery Company Limited, under the directions of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.  . The factory is located in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The company has the following strategic goals Providing Customer Satisfaction by serving with superior quality production of white sugar at lowest cost Ensuring Security and Accountability by creating an environment of security and accountability for employees, production facilities and products Expanding Customer Base by exploring new national and international markets and undertaking product research and development in sugar industry Ensuring Efficient Resource Management by managing human, financial, technical and infrastructural resources so as to support all our strategic goals and to ensure highest possible value addition to stakeholders. Products White Crystaline Sugar White Crystalline Sugar Molasses Molasses Bagasse Bagasse Layyah Sugar Mills (Layyah) Layyah Sugar Mills is a project of The Thal Industries Corporation Limited having its registered office at 23 Pir Khurshid Colony, Multan. The company was incorporated on September 07, 1953 under the companies Act 1913 (Now Companies Ordinance 1984) as Public Limited company limited by shares. Its shares are quoted on Karachi and Lahore stock exchanges in Pakistan. The company is engaged in production and sale of white refined sugar. Layyah Sugar Mills was set up by the Thal Development Authority (Defunct) with a capacity of 1200 TCD in 1954, which was enhanced, to 2000 TCD in 1979-80 and further to 2700 TCD in 1990-91. It was the first sugar mills installed and commissioned in Punjab after existence of Pakistan. After privatization the new management, by taking some drastic measures, enhanced the crushing capacity of sugar mills from 2700 TCD to 3500 TCD in year 2001. In 2002; Company undertook BMR Expansion to add new mills tandem of 4000 Tons Crushing/Day . In 2002-2003; Undertook second phase of  BMR Expansion to increase in crushing capacity and synchronize the process house with the mills house to 6700 Tons Crushed/Day (TCD),  successfully  completed during the crushing season 2002-2003. Due to which  capacity of sugar mills has been increased from 6,700 TCD to 9,300 TCD.   Financial Analysis Liquidity Ratios Year 2011 2010 2009 Almoiz Chashma Layyah Almoiz Chashma Layyah Almoiz Chashma Current Ratio 0.96 0.96 1.12 0.76 0.87 1.08 1.00 0.72 Quick Ratio 0.35 0.22 0.79 0.36 0.52 0.58 0.55 0.22 Inventory to Net working Capital -13.50 -19.63 2.81 -1.62 -2.69 6.08 213.06 -1.80 The  current ratio  is a  financial ratio  that measures whether or not a firm has enough resources to pay its debts over the next 12 months. It compares a firms  current assets  to its current liabilities. The current ratio is an indication of a firms  market liquidity  and ability to meet creditors demands. Acceptable current ratios vary from industry to industry and are generally between 1.5 and 3 for healthy businesses. If a companys current ratio is in this range, then it generally indicates good short-term financial strength. Almoiz has a current ratio of less than 1 for the year 2011 as well as the year 2010 where as in 2009 the current assets of Almoiz are slightly more than its current liabilities therefore the ratio is above 1 in 2009. Out of the three sugar mills the value of current ratio for Layyah sugar mill indicates good financial strength as compared to Chashma and Almoiz sugar mills. Quick Ratio is an indicator of a companys short-term liquidity.  The quick ratio  measures  a companys  ability to meet  its short-term obligations with  its most liquid assets. A higher quick ratio  indicates a  better position of the  company. In the years 2010 and 2011 Layyah sugar mills has a higher quick ratio where as in 2009 Almoiz has a higher quick ratio. Inventory to Net Working Capital measures  a firms  capability  to finance its  inventories  from its available cash. Layyah sugar mill has a better capability to finance its inventories from available cash as compared to Almoiz and Chashma sugar mills. Leverage Ratios 2011 2010 2009 Leverage Almoiz Chashma Layyah Almoiz Chashma Layyah Almoiz Chashma Debt to assets 0.70 0.71 0.81 0.65 0.68 0.80 0.65 0.82 Debt to equity 2.28 2.43 4.22 1.89 2.12 3.94 1.86 4.48 Long Term Debt to equity 1.34 0.83 1.47 1.38 1.35 1.96 1.45 2.30 TIE 1.08 1.37 1.65 0.12 2.16 1.82 0.02 0.68 Debt to Assets is A metric used to measure a companys financial risk by determining how much of the companys assets have been financed by debt. Layyah and Chashma sugar mill have a higher debt to assets ratio as compared to Almoiz sugar mill. Debt to Equity is a measure of a companys financial leverage calculated by dividing  its total liabilities  by  stockholders equity. It indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. Almoiz sugar mill has a lesser debt to equity ratio as compared to Layyah and Chashma sugar mill. Long term debt to equity is a way to determine a companys  leverage. The ratio is calculated by taking the companys  long-term debt and dividing it by stockholders equity. The greater a companys leverage, the higher the ratio. Generally, companies with higher ratios are thought to be more risky  because they have more liabilities and less  equity. Overall for all the three years Layyah sugar mill has a higher debt to equity ratio as compared to Almoiz and Chasma sugar mill. Times Interest Earned (TIE) is a metric used to measure a companys ability to meet its debt obligations. It is calculated by taking a companys earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and dividing it by the total interest payable on bonds and other contractual debt. It is usually quoted as a ratio and indicates how many times a company can cover its interest charges on a pretax basis. Failing to meet these obligations could force a company into bankruptcy. In 2009 Almoiz has a very less TIE ratio Chashma and Layyah have higher TIE ratio than Almoiz sugar mill. Profitability Ratios Profitability 2011 2010 2009 Almoiz Chashma Layyah Almoiz Chashma Layyah Almoiz Chashma GPM 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.03 0.12 0.11 0.05 0.09 NPM 0.008 0.02 0.025 -0.022 0.05 0.018 -0.217 -0.05 OPM 0.106 0.10 0.11 0.013 0.10 0.08 0.005 0.08 ROA 0.006 0.025 0.046 -0.015 0.104 0.040 -0.072 -0.062 EPS 0.16 4.9 12.23 -0.35 10.78 7.9 -7.59 Gross Profit Margin is a financial metric used to assess  a firms financial health by revealing the  proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold.  Gross profit margin serves as the  source for paying additional expenses and future savings. The GPM for Almoiz sugar mill has increased from 2009 to 2011 and in 2011 it is almost the same as Layyah and Chashma sugar mill however in between it dropped down to 0.03 in 2010. Net Profit Margin is very useful when comparing  companies in similar industries. A higher profit margin indicates a more profitable company that  has better control over  its costs compared to  its competitors. Almoiz sugar mill has a negative NPM in 2010 and 2009 since it faced a net loss and in 2011 though it didnt face a loss but the NPM is still less than that of its competitors. Operating Profit Margin is a measurement of what proportion of a companys revenue is left over after paying for variable costs of production such as wages, raw materials, etc. A healthy operating margin is required for a company to be able to pay for its

Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems Construction Essay

Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems Construction Essay Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) have been defined by Gallagher as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a combination of the planning and review, the management organisational arrangements, the consultative arrangements, and the specific program elements that work together in an integrated way to improve health and safety performance A management system is a set of interrelated elements used to establish the policy and objectives, and to reach these objectives, it includes an organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources. The implementation process of a management system adds value to organizational culture since it develops competences related to the planning and execution of activities, prioritizes the capacity of team work and promotes the improved reliability of production systems.According to OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (2007), occupational health and safety are conditions and factors that affect, or could affect, the health and safety of employees or other workers (including temporaries and outsourced workers), visitors or any other person at the workplace. An occupational health and safety management system can be defined as part of the organizations management system used to develop and implement its policy and manage its occupational health and safety risks (OHSAS 18001, 2007). The implementation of occupational health and safety management systems has been the main strategy to combat the serious social and economic problem of work-related accidents and illnesses and it can also be used by companies as a factor to increase competitiveness (TRIVELATO, 2002). When an employee is hired by a company, the perception he has regarding the physical and social environment he finds will influence his daily behavior. That is why aspects such as order, cleanliness and personal hygiene are of utmost importance, as is the organization and utilization of space by means of an appropriate layout (BARBOSA FILHO, 2001). OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System The British Standard BS 8800 (Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Systems), created in 1996, was the first successful attempt at establishing a standard reference for implementing a health and safety management system. It aims at improving the organizations performance in terms of health and safety, providing guidance with regards to how its management should be integrated with the administration of other aspects of company performance. This standard was broadly disseminated throughout the world and adopted in the most diverse industries. It is comprised of a series of elements (requirements); however, it does not establish performance criteria or even specifications on how to design the system. In 1999, OHSAS 18001 was published by the British Standards Institution (BSI). It was elaborated by a group of international entities (BVQI, DNV, LLOYDS, SGS and others), which used BS 8800 as its basis. It was developed in response to the needs of companies to manage their occupational health and safety obligations more efficiently. In July 2007, OHSAS 18001:1999 was replaced by OHSAS 18001:2007, and some alterations were introduced, thus reflecting the experience of 16,000 certified organizations in more than 80 countries (QSP, 2007). OHSAS 18001 aims at providing organizations with elements of an effective occupational health and safety management system that can be integrated with other management requirements and help them achieve their OHS and economic objectives (OHSAS 18001, 2007). It is applicable to every type and size of organization and can be integrated with other management systems (quality, environment and social responsibility) in order to help them achieve their occupational health and safety objectives. As per Figure 1, OHSAS is based on PDCA methodology (OHSAS 18001, 2007). This OHSAS Standard is based on the methodology known as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). PDCA can be briefly described as follows. Plan: establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organizations OHS policy. Do: implement the processes. Check: monitor and measure processes against OHS policy, objectives, legal and other requirements, and report the results. Act: take actions to continually improve OHS performance Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 provides the mechanism for occupational health and safety management, helps companies in the systematic inspection and measurement of the degree of their suitability, as well as trains employee to understand their role in the health safety system and its improvement. Companies hoping to implement an effective occupational health and safety management system should have a clear understanding of the changes in health and safety laws, as well as potential hazards existing inside the factory. A good understanding could reduce accidents, accident and calamity risks, as well as upgrade the general health and safety risk control efficiency of the company. The study explains the implementation performance and execution procedure of the occupational health safety management system based on actual implementation experience of the occupational health safety management system. Occupational health safety management system establis hment experiences showed that one undergoes eight stages when setting up an OHSAS 18001 compliant health and safety management system execution procedure; namely, preparation, initial review, planning, documentation, implementation operation, checking corrective action, management review, and continuous improvement. 1.0 Preparation Stage Preparatory work and psychological construction are fairly important in the establishment of the occupational health safety management system. Generally, during the initial period of introducing occupational health safety management system into a factory, factory workers already possessed a health and safety precognition, as well as understand that the establishment of the company occupational health safety management system would require their full coordination and support. The primary function of this stage is to foster top executive support and authorization, implementing body organization, and stimulation of personnel recognition. Top executive support and authorization Top executive is the highest authority of the occupational health safety management system, as well as the highest decision making manager of the factory However, prior to setting up system, a factory should obtain the approval and support of its top executive. The occupational health safety management system establishment responsibility and authority should be assigned to the appropriate personnel to integrate internal existing resources and dissolve possible resistance that may surface during the execution process. A specific measure would be to employ a paper or hierarchic order relay method starting from the top factory executive, e.g. chairman, CEO, president, or factory manager, openly making official explanation of the system to the management executives and operators. For instance, holding a Kick-off Meeting or employing other official announcement or publication to notify managers and staff about the establishment of the occupational health safety management system. It is imperative that each individual should understand the companys determination in promoting the occupational health safety management system. Organizing an implementing body Clear-cut scope of individual responsibilities is an imperative essential of a good management system. OHSAS 18001 requires the assignment of corresponding responsibilities to employees, clearing defining their responsibilities, authority, and mutual relationship. The management should provide the resources needed for execution, as well as appoint the suitable management representative. Hence, the organization should have a written document clearly defining the role of each individual in the system to allow each person to understand his/her importance, responsibilities, and authority in the scheme of operations, position in the organization, and the vertical relationship of the management level. The organization might explain to the persons in charge, positions and management level possessing the relevant management responsibilities in the handbook or procedure manual. The regular training and internal communication channels may be used to make each person understand the nature of hi s/her responsibility. As for management responsibilities, aside from total authority delegation, it is also necessary to provide the appropriate resources; e.g. money, manpower, materials, technology, information source. The management representative is the soul of the occupational health safety management system. Pursuant to higher management instructions, he/she is responsible for leading the system to the right path, as well as verifying the right operating responsibilities of the occupational health safety management system and report system execution performance to higher management. Stimulating health and safety recognition of employees Education and training are important tools organizations use to maintain the professional knowledge and skills of employees; especially during the early stage of occupational health safety management system establishment. Education and training are the best means for upgrading personnel skills, stimulating employee understanding of his/her work as well as health and safety effects. A training premise is that the organization should first identify the individuals expose to potential serious health and safety risks to provide a suitable training. Likewise, employees assigned to special jobs should possess adequate educational background, training and experience for the job. Generally, the business sector does not have a clear perception of health and safety, therefore under such deficient information supply, employees could hardly understand their role in the health and safety problems, needless to say take measures to further ensure his/her or another partys safety. The OHSAS 18001 training requirement goes beyond work technology, it also emphasizes recognition upgrade. Factories introducing the occupational health safety management system concept may use education and training as a foundation; when requiring employees to maintain or upgrade their skills, factories should first allow employees to understand correlation between and importance of their work and health safety. Organizations may relay health safety management system requirements to employees through means most suitable to the factory culture. If everyone understands ones role and responsibility in the system, then working under the health and safety effects, one would be able to upgrade ones health and safety performance, as well as gladly coordinate with the health safety management system of the company. 2 Initial review period During the establishment of the occupational health safety management system, initial review of the condition understanding and data compilation work provided the formulation of subsequent or amendment of occupational health safety policies; formulation of objectives and management programs; definition of references for standard procedure documents. Initial review is not part of the OHSAS 18001 certification requirement, however those who have not established their occupational health safety management system in the OHSAS 18002 may use this measure as foundation of subsequent operations. Initial review allowed factories to understand fully the relationship between their internal operations and the safety problems, as well as the safety problems and responsibilities of the factories. The purpose of initial review is to provide a thorough understanding of the health and safety advantages and disadvantages of the organization per se, well as provide a clear-cut direction for the futu re occupational health safety management system. The endeavor is like a medical examination; it is used to understand the health and safety weaknesses and probable improvements inside the factory. The matter of weakness improvement will form the future execution content of future occupational health safety management system execution. Initial review findings are finally compiled into the initial review report by the organization or an appointed person in charge. The report should be able to summarily explain matters under investigation, present a conclusion and suggestions for future to management review and future reference purposes. 3 Framework and planning period Following the completion of initial review and factories development of a general health and safety consensus comes future health and safety policymaking. Framework and planning execution covers the following: defining health and safety policies, setting objectives, organizing health and safety management programs, and formulation of document outline. Defining health and safety policies Health and safety policies manifest the commitment of the top executive, it is also the highest guiding principle of the health safety management system, the force behind the implementation and improvement of the health safety management system, as well as the manifestation of the organizations intentions in terms of health and safety responsibility and performance requirements. Likewise it serves as the standard for future occupational health safety management system establishment and improvement. Prior to the establishment of occupational health safety policies, the top executive should have a full understanding of organizational conditions as well as the hazards and health safety risks resulting from factory operations. The top executive should also have a thorough understanding to determine and manifest adequately intentions and direct future organization direction. Health and safety affairs often existed under a high subjective consciousness; hence the suitability of the he alth and safety policies could determine the success or failure of the occupational health safety management system. During the execution of the continuous improvement process, subjective and objective factors would change with progress; hence for the effective system operation, health and safety policies should be properly adjusted and amended in response to time and space changes. Defining health and safety objectives For effective risk control and reduction, as well as health and safety policy realization purposes, the organization should define health and safety objectives. The health and safety objectives should be able to manifest health and safety policies and be consistent with their objectives. Objectives should be expressed in writing and extend to every relevant management mechanism. Generally, health and safety objectives should be specific and as much as possible be measurable. Regardless which manner objectives are defined, they should focus on the significant hazards as well as health and safety risks of the factory. When formulating the health and safety objectives, in addition to the factory resource, skill and feasibility considerations, it is also imperative to consider the extent of the influence of the health and safety risks. The health and safety policy realization function of the health and safety objectives should also allow the upgrade of the general health and safety perfo rmance, moreover health and safety objectives should be quantifiable as much as possible. Defining the health and safety management program The health and safety management program is defined for the achievement of objectives; hence it should be able to layout the method, time, person(s) in charge, and goals of each department. Primary considerations include: derivation of specific action plans from objectives, clear-cut and flexible responsibility definition of management program executors, timely revisions. Generally, a program is often creates for a single objective and the achievement time of each objective may vary. A factory could consolidate the other programs or plans under implementation for the simultaneous achievement of multiple projected objectives. Since a management program is the bridge between planning and execution, the various execution requirements (e.g. framework and responsibility, operations and document control, communication, inspection, etc.) should be clearly defined to ensure smooth execution. Formulating document outline The primary objective of document outline formulation is to integrate the occupational health safety management system into the existing management system of the company for the realization of occupational health safety management operations. To ensure the proper execution of occupational health safety management system policies, objectives and management programs, integration with the existing system is imperative. Moreover, for the purpose of reducing excessive overlapping management documents, one should prepare the document outline beforehand. The more popular method is to prepare a checklist of existing management documents, may them be ISO 9000, ISO 14001, or other management system documents; then a comparative study with health and safety policies, objectives, and management programs should be conducted. Documents for addition or amendment should be identified then submitted to the departments concerned for preparatory work. The existing document management system of the c ompany may be used as the opener for the internal management system integration to facilitate quality, environment, occupational health safety management system integration. The endeavor would not only boost system operation efficiency, but also reduce the resistance due to the implementation of a new system. 4 Documentation stage What the OHSAS 18001 requires is a complete system managing health and safety affairs, not a bunch of scattered management techniques. Hence, every management method and document regulation of the system should be systematically and documentarily expressed for the creation of a future management system that is written into uniformity. Therefore, document amendment, utilization, maintenance, preservation, and control should be regulated through written rules for utilization and management convenience. Documents should be properly updated, valid, clearly identified, and easily traced for the effective management execution. Every document should be able to reflect work conditions, and duly evaluated by the approving authority. Document compilation, preservation, revision, and retraction should be suit time and place. Generally, one should still refer to the ISO 14001 document control and best options available during the implementation of OHSAS 18001; since the two came from the same or igin and are highly compatible. OHSAS 18001 does not have many documentation procedures; but whatever circumstances are, aside from the procedure, the factory should define the criteria for support based on its requirements. Let us take hazard detection for instance some companies would separately define procedures for the acquisition of relevant documents or methods that would ameliorate management information. In the case of objective definition, the provisions only required organizations to establish documentation objectives, but some companies separately formulated procedures for objective definition, or use a complete procedure to define the steps and precautions necessary for the planning portion. 5 Implementation and operation stage It does not matter what planning objectives were, how perfect planning was, or if planning was effective, what matters is the implementation execution. If policies, objectives, and programs are but matters of propaganda or are regarded as slogans, then their effects could not be optimized and the final planning objectives could never be achieved. In terms of the first health and safety management system established, since initial review was not included in the regular scope of execution of the system, one need not use a specific operating procedure to implement it. Once the health and safety policies have been set, proper utilization of initial review experience could simultaneously establish the document and execution plan procedures. Having completed planning operations, it is imperative to execute plan according to the management program. The relevant procedures, provisions, and operating standards should be established before program execution to avoid implementation difficulties . The more special requirements in the execution of the occupational health safety management system are communication and consultation. Since health and safety affairs are often interlinked and closely related to other parties, it is not just a matter of doing the job well, but one should also exchange opinions with the related groups or individuals whenever necessary. When dealing with internal operations, it is imperative to have two-way communication and consultation channels; when dealing with external matters, a good management is not dependent on ones singular determination. It should be recognized by the external community; moreover, while handling health and safety affairs, the organization should acquire the consensus of interested parties to reduce conflicts and doubts. The organization should be willing to coordinate related safety regulations and control. 6 Checking and corrective action stage It is imperative to continually check system execution trend to keep the health safety management system operating properly; the examination and corrective measures serve this function. The OHSAS 18001 requires system to have at least inspection and measurement procedure, corrective and preventive measures for inconsistent conditions, recording, health and safety management system audit. These features are correlated and could keep system operation within the prescribed parameters of the law and standards.à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ Inspection and measurement should be realized in daily operations and conducted in line with record management procedures. Records allow the tracing of execution results, so at the event of inconsistent conditions (including false alarm incidents), the authorized personnel should investigate matters as per prescribed procedure to reduce health and safety risks and prevent the recurrence of the same problem. In terms of health safety management system audit, the organization should institute procedure and program control to ensure that system would not deviate from the plan and be efficiently maintained and executed. The audit also provides the management a basis for evaluation. The progress of a health safety management system is due to continuous follow-up and improvement. Techniques employed are health safety management system audit and top executive management review. The purpose of health safety management system audit is to make sure the organization accomplished the job. It is regular conducted by the internal auditor of the factory, who examines whether operations meet the prescribed procedure and standards; whether departments complied with health and safety policies and objectives. The management review aims to ensure that job is done properly and done by the authorized top executive. The audit reports, past records, and inspection results determine whether the next stage of the entire organization and management system will be in the right direction. 7 Management review The completion of the management review marks the end of a PDCA cycle; it means one could prepare official verification. Prior to the official evaluation of the verification personnel, the factory should verify the completion of the following important matters: at least one PDCA management cycle was completed; the appropriate records were retained; all required documents were executed; version has been updated; execution operation records were written and approved as regulated; related supporting documents are attached; related parties have a full understanding of the health safety policies, health safety risks, and objective execution conditions; subcontractors and vendors were included in the health safety management system management; health safety management system audit has been improved (including internal audit or external evaluation); resolution of the deficiencies found during the previous audit, conclusion of management review, or other matters under related procedure e xecution. 8 Continuous improvement stage Introducing a new management system would give rise to problems during implementation. As long as problems are not serious enough to cause system breakdown or failure, improvements could be instituted. Continuous improvement of the system could be effected through management system audit and management review; as such is a basic requirement of OHSAS 18001. Prior knowledge of factors that may lead to possible problems could save manpower and material costs, as well as post-mortem efforts. The factory should maintain such a healthy state of mind when executing the OHSAS 18001, instead of going on a blind pursuit of a piece of certificate, this way, the factory not only alleviates personnel injury and environmental damages, reduce risk, reduce cost, improve factory image, upgrade factory performance through the health safety management system. In the continuous improvement process, the two major mechanisms fostering continuous improvement are health safety management system audit and management review. A planned and full-scale health safety management system audit could locate the common factors and special factors causing the health and safety performance problems resulting from system deficiency. The top executive determines the right direction for the systematic consideration of health and safety problem solutions, as well as the continuous execution of the PDCA logic continuous improvement mechanisms.