Financial management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial management - Assignment Example Days payable out is too high beyond the working days allowed for 90days. The company should aim to reduce the number of days either by increasing the payables or number of purchases. The manager should be able to know where the cash is tied up. PART B Question three a) Price earnings ratio This is a ratio that is used to determine the value of a share or stock taking into consideration the earnings of a share of the company. By analyzing different price earnings ratios of companies, an investor can be able to determine where to purchase shares. A P/E ratio of 21.1 of Spikiri Company depicts that high returns can be expected. This is followed by Papi and Akanani Companies with 14.2 and 13.0 respectively. It is wise to purchase shares from Spikiri Company. The P/E ratio is also used to depict the amount of money investors are willing to pay for each dollar earned in a company. b) Dividend cover prices dividend paid P/E current high low dividend yield current high low Akanani 291 317 18 7 0.021 6.111 6.657 3.927 13 spikiri 187 201 151 0.023 4.301 4.623 3.473 21.1 Earnings per share current high low 22.38462 24.38462 14.38462 8.862559 9.526066 7.156398 dividend cover = earnings per share/ dividend paid per share current high low Akanani 3.663004 3.663004 3.663004 spikiri 2.060581 2.060581 2.060581 Dividend cover shows the ability of a company to pay dividends to ordinary shareholders from the profits that have earned. An investor is able to determine how much dividends are paid out of profits before making any investments in the company. Akanani pays more dividends from its profits as compared to Spikiri. Question three i. Cost of debt of bond A Kd = interest rate *(1-tax) = 9% (note taxes are ignored) ii. Different bonds in the same may have different costs of capital. This is explained towards the time period required to clear the payment. A bond with longer duration to payment will have a lower cost of capital. The yield to maturity also affects the cost of debt. Bonds have different yields to maturity which in turn determine the bond’s interest rates to be paid. The coupon rate may differ with each bond hence the cost of each debt. C i. Cost of equity 4+ (11-4)1.2= 10% ii. Ex-dividend share price = old share price/ (1+ dividend) = 1/(1+0.2) = 0.83 iii. Capital gearing (debt dividend by debt plus equity) = 30/90 = 0.33 iv. Market value weighted average cost of capital Cost of debt 9% + 7.82%= 16.82% WACC = kd * weight of debt + ke * weight of equity = 16.82 *30/90 + 10*60/90 = 12.27% d. change in dividend policy Dividend policy is explained as the long term decision that will show how cashflows will be deployed from the company’

Enforcement action of the commission against EU member states Assignment

Enforcement action of the commission against EU member states - Assignment Example ‘Economists certainly argue that reducing trade barriers will improve economic welfare or, at least, potentially so depending on whether losers can be and are, in fact, compensated by those who gain.’(Bob 2003) The law and legislation of the European Union is actually a whole body that regulates and governs a 28 member body. ‘The European law already has some sort of a constitution’ (Jurgen 2011). The law has its backbone on three main sources; the primary law, which composes different treaties, secondary comprising of regulations and different directives that are in tandem with such treaties The European Union was put in place by treaties from the member. Raisch (2007) posits that treaties form the backbone of the laws of the European Union. February 1992 welcomed the ‘Treaty on European Union.’ Up to date, this is a very important treaty. This is because; it realigns institutional arrangement as well as political systems. According to Raisch, â€Å"It added a new treaty alongside the Treaty Establishing the European Community.† (1992) Another important treaty that institutes the European Union is the â€Å"Treaty of Nice.† 2003 was the year the treaty received its approval. This treaty provided a complete amendment into other treaties. This treaty boosts the role of the parliament as a partner-legislator and establishes fresh legal arrangements. It mandates the council to drop regulations presiding over political parties at the level of the European Union. With an expectation of an increase in members of the European parliament, the treaty restricts membership to 732 and reserves seats for member states as well as countries represented as candidates. This is not all, we have several treaties that have been ratified and accepted at different times in order to improve the functioning and progress of the

NGOs and Domestic Violence against Women in Pakistan Essay Example for Free

NGOs and Domestic Violence against Women in Pakistan Essay To start with, non- governmental organizations assist in the collection and documentation of data regarding violence against women in Pakistan. Due to their passionate and active involvement in the whole issue of violence against women, these groups have been able to collect and document most of the information that is associated with this subject. Aspects such as the regional preference of violence against women are well documented. It is clearly indicated that women in rural areas of Pakistan are the most vulnerable group when it comes to violence against women. Due to reasons such as illiteracy and little exposure of the people in these regions, the males still respect the outdated behavior of male superiority and all that they do when the women are perceived to have made any mistake is to beat them up. Other practices that are still being carried out in the rural parts of Pakistan that are considered oppressive to women include the qasas, the hudood, karokari and early marriages of young girls to adult men (Kumar, 2005). Other crucial details that can be obtained from the records kept by these organizations are the type of violence that is common in Pakistan, the various bodies that are involved in the fight against violence against women, the success levels of the efforts and the effects of violence against women in Pakistan. Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation was registered in 1986 and it stores information on the welfare of women in Pakistan. There is also the Applied Social Research organization that was established and registered in 1983 and Simorgh- Womens Resource and Publication Centre that are rich sources of information on women’s affairs including violence against women in Pakistan. Apart from the above, non- governmental organizations in Pakistan play another vital role of direct provision of skills that assist the women in attaining economic independency. Their philosophy in this is that an economically empowered woman will not run to her male companion now and then for assistance thus reducing chances of being subjected to violence. Hawwa Associates as a non-governmental organization has offered support to women involved in making handicrafts in Pakistan for a very long period (Asian Development Bank, n. d). The Adult Basic Education Society has been in existence since nineteen seventy two and has undertaken the training of girls in non- formal education as a major project. It has also carried out a multi-grade teaching training for Pakistani women in the Rawalpindi Division. This project ran from 1998 to 2001. The Association for Creation of Employment trained women on how to secure training and get employment in the year 1997. They were also given training on how to handle businesses and access micro-credit facilities for their businesses (Association for the Development of Pakistan). Behbud Association is another non-governmental organization that is deeply involved in the tackling of violence against women in Pakistan through female empowerment. Established in nineteen seventy, Behbud Association has carried out major projects such as the skills training of 1971 and the education project of 1971. All these projects were carried out in Karachi, the capital city of Pakistan and the main aim was to empower women with skills that are supposed to give them an economic edge. The Bunyad Literacy Community Council has also carried out major empowerment projects such as the women development project of 1998 and the empowerment for poverty alleviation project of 1999. Caritas was established in 1965 and registered in 1980. It opened handicraft centers for women in 1998 and developed an education program for working girls in the same year. It‘s area of operation is around Punjab in Lahore. Also, there is the De Laas Gul Welfare Program that was established in 1976 but got formal registration in 1988. With vocational training as its thematic area; it has a running tailoring training project for women. This tailoring project commenced in 1997. TheAga Khan Development Network has also participated in women empowerment through micro-finance (Aga Khan Development Network, n. d). The economic empowerment of women in Pakistan has led to the reduction of gender based violence albeit not to the desired levels. The provision of counseling services to victims of domestic violence in Pakistan has always been the concern of non-governmental organizations. Bedari was established in the year nineteen ninety two and deals mainly with the psychological health of women. Those caught up in the confusion of domestic violence always access counseling services from Bedari. It is obvious that victims of violence always end up suffering from trauma as well as other psychological disturbances that can only be dealt with through the provision of psychotherapy. Theater services are offered in villages by this organization with its objective of psychological health as its major theme. Behbud Association also handles women’s health issues and was able to deal with distress management and rehabilitation of the victims of violence back in 1971 (Daiya, 2002). The role of educating the public and making it aware of the concerns of women in Pakistan is also taken up by non governmental organizations. Issues such as domestic violence that leads to grave injuries of women and sometimes even death are always brought out to the public by non governmental organizations working in Pakistan. For reasons such as that of being perceived as being weak and ineffective by its own people and a watching world, the Pakistani government does not come out to inform the general public the state of violence against women in the country. And this is where the non-governmental organizations come in handy. Ways of understanding and combating violence against women are taught to the public and the state of abuse of women is disclosed. The All Pakistan Women’s Association established in nineteen forty nine and registered in nineteen sixty five carries out the crucial role of educating the public on women’s issues. It handles the moral, social and economic concerns of Pakistani women and the one of the ways by which it does this is by educating the public and raising awareness on matters pertaining to violence against women. Violence against women takes many forms such as sexual violence, economic violence, verbal violence that comes in form of verbal abuses as well as the common physical violence that leads to bodily harm of the victim. The All Pakistan Women’s Association avails this information to the public (Persona Blog, 2007, All Pakistan Women’s Association). Besides the above, non-governmental organizations in Pakistani protect the rights of women as a role in the whole issue of violence against women. They ensure that there is no discrimination of women in the country as far as the sharing of resources is concerned. The Mothers’ Trust and the National Research and Development Foundation are at the forefront in pushing forward the rights of women. Vocational training aimed at giving women a leap so as to catch up with their male counterparts is done by the Mothers’ Trust while the National Research and Development Foundation has handled the rights of women through projects such as the Ulema and Women’s Rights project of 1998. These non governmental organizations that are involved in the push for the preservation of the rights of women also go a head to ensure that government and private enterprises that do not recognize the rights of women as human rights are exposed and pressurized to grant women equal rights like their male counterparts. Thus informing women about their rights is not the only way through which these organizations push for the recognition of the rights of women. Through coordination and networking with other organizations and government agencies, they are able to ensure that females are given full protection by the law through enforcement of penalties that are meant for those who overstep the line and subject women and girls to violence of whatever form. Far from the above, non-governmental organizations in Pakistan perform the important role of assisting women in developing action plans for their activities. Most of these organizations are international and therefore possess lots of skilled manpower. This skilled manpower always comes in handy when the women of Pakistan are supposed to come up with comprehensive ways of dealing with the issues that affect them. Therefore the design and development of work plans, action agenda and execution strategies is done by the trained members of these organizations who go a head to train the local women on how to do these things on their own (Women Empowerment Literacy and Development Organization). The Sustainable Development Policy Institute that was established and registered in 1992 has assisted Pakistani women in coming up with action plans for a long time. The Bunyad Literacy Community Council has also undertaken training programs for women focusing on how to shape their agenda as they fight for their place in society in Pakistan (Sustainable Development Policy institute). Non-governmental organizations also play the role of lobbyists in the area of legislation. The driving motivation or interest is to have laws favoring women passed by the country’s legislative body which is the Pakistani parliament. They also lobby so that laws that condemn women are dropped from the establishment. The reduction in the powers of the country’s backward traditions is as a result of the hard work done by non-governmental organizations through their lobbying. Their lobbying activities are normally done by writing to the legislators, buying spaces and airtime for advertisements in the country’s print and electronic media and holding demonstrations when there are signs of a possible negative legislation. Leaving the above aside, non- governmental organizations in Pakistan play the role a catalyst in the encouragement of local women to participate in social processes that are geared towards the betterment of their lives. There is common understanding that there can be no meaningful change of any kind if the rural women are not involved in the whole activism process. The role of making the grassroots women active in matters pertaining to opposition to violence meted out on women is therefore the work of non-governmental organizations and community based organizations in Pakistan. Through activities such as the theater programs as well as the training activities carried out by organizations such as the Mothers’ Trust, Pakistani women are mobilized and energized and this makes it easy for them to receive the targeted or intended information that is geared towards making them change their behavior so as to reduce chances of being caught up in the mess of gender based violence. This mobilization is also vital when it comes to areas where their numbers are needed to push for a particular agenda. For example if a certain piece of legislation is supposed to be passed and its impact on the lives of women will be devastating, the huge numbers of mobilized women will come out and effectively shut down the legislation by putting pressure on the legislators. If the law is beneficial to women and it is threatened with being shot down, the huge numbers of mobilized women can also come out and pressure the law makers into enacting the law. This mobilization works to the best advantage of the women (Farman). Another equally important role that is performed by non-governmental organizations in Pakistan as far as violence against women is concerned is that they act as safe havens for abused women. It is not surprising that some of the non governmental organizations operating in Pakistan run homes and centers where women and girls who are abused are given temporary hosing or accommodation till conditions that they are running away from are changed. In these homes or centers, the women and girls are provided with food, clothing, shelter as well as education. They are also provided with health facilities. It is not uncommon to find schools and hospitals within these centers or homes meant for the rescued victims (Behbud Association, n. d). Also, the world has come to understand the position of women in Pakistan not through the efforts of the government of Pakistan but through the loud cries of the non governmental organizations that are handling women’s issues in Pakistan (NGO NET portal on women and children’s human rights, 2008). Since the government is always ashamed of the poor state of women’s rights, they shut down any attempt to tell the world what is going on inside Pakistan as far as women’s issues are concerned. The non-governmental organizations, especially the international ones that are based in other countries such as Britain and the United States of America serve as informers to the rest of the world concerning the state of affairs of women in Pakistan. It is possible that without these non-governmental organizations within Pakistan, the world will be unable to know what the Pakistani woman is going through (Shaheen, 2002). In addition to the above, the non-governmental organizations serve as points of direct employment for victims of violence. Most of the women and girls who are rescued from abusive relationships within the Pakistani society undergo a period of treatment so as to clear trauma. After this treatment, they are given some duties within these organizations so that they are able to earn a wage which they use to meet their needs. In addition to teaching them some bit of responsibility and earning them a living, these people assist the organizations in doing some of the duties that they are supposed to do without spending so much (Association of business professional and agricultural women Pakistan). Moving away from the above, the non-governmental organizations in Pakistan also play the role of a vigorous campaigner as far as violence against women is concerned. Apart from the areas of education and creating awareness, the non-governmental organizations campaign with a lot of energy against this form of violence which reduces women to sub humans. They reach out to remote villages with clear messages on why men should treat their women and girls with dignity and respect as opposed to disrespect and abuse. The greater part of the campaign against violence that is directed towards women is carried out by these organizations with the Pakistani government only playing a facilitating role. The messages that are given out through the print and electronic media, the conferences, workshops, and seminars on the protection of the rights of women and girls are sponsored by non governmental organizations working within the boundaries of Pakistan (Khan, 2008). As a result of their duplicated roles and sometimes lack of transparency as well as political interference, the non-governmental organizations have also created confusion in Pakistan in the field of violence against women. This has led to the divergence from the key message and the failure to achieve the set goal of total freedom for the Pakistani woman. This is an unfortunate role that some of the non-governmental organizations working in Pakistan have found themselves playing (Raza Ghauri, 2005, Chetia, 2007). In conclusion, it is clear the non-governmental organizations in Pakistan play numerous roles as far violence against women is concerned. They act as sources of data on this crucial subject, equip abused women with skills as a way of empowering them, they offer counseling services for the victims of violence, they educate the public, and assist women in coming up with action plans. They also assist in legislation through lobbying; mobilize women at the grassroots, act as safe haven for victims of violence, act as the eyes of the world, offer direct employment to women and act as campaigners against this vice. They also play the negative role of creators of confusion in the fight against violence against women due to political intervention, corruption and role duplication. References: Aga Khan Development Network, (n. d), AKDN in Pakistan. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www. akdn. org/pakistan Asian Development Bank, (n. d): Gender and Development: Training Program for Women Artisans HAWWA Associates. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www. adb. org/gender/working/pak003. asp Association for the Development of Pakistan. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://forums. developpakistan. org/viewtopic. php? p=1370sid=3c1089e69fe80705b96ea4c05cd43ccc Association of business professional and agricultural women Pakistan: Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www. abpaw. cjb. net/ Behbud Association, (n. d); Karachi Family Health Centers. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://xiber. com/behbud/health. htm Chetia, N. , (2007); Pakistani Women in Politics. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www.iknowpolitics. org/node/1900 Daiya, K. , (2002): Honourable Resolutions: Gendered Violence, Ethnicity, and the Nation. Alternatives Journal: Global, Local, Political, Vol. 27, 2002 Khan, A. N. , (2008); Peace, Justice, Democracy: Country Report: Pakistan. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://groups. google. co. ke/group/peace-justice-democracy/browse_thread/thread/a33dc1bedb152c18? hl=enie=UTF-8q=roles+of+NGOs+in+pakistan+on+violence+against+women#e020275ebdbf7d8c Kumar, M. , (2005); The Hidden Conflict: False Optimism and Silent Strategy in Kashmir. Harvard International Review Journal, Vol. 26 NGO NET portal on women and children’s human rights, (2008). Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www. netbaz. org/ Persona Blog, (2007): Role of women rights organizations in Pakistan. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://spot. bz/blogs/fun2shhspotbz/2008/05/07/role-of-women-rights-organization-in-pakistan/ Raza, S. Ghauri, I. , (2005); Feudalism, tribalism engendering bias Musharraf lambastes NGOs for ‘demonizing’ Pakistan. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://forum. atimes. com/topic.asp? TOPIC_ID=3609 Shaheen, (2002); Insufficient Protection of Women: Amnesty Report on Pakistan. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://groups. google. co. ke/group/soc. culture. pakistan/browse_thread/thread/afdb81b2097e893a? hl=enie=UTF-8q=women%27s+NGOs+in+pakistan#df815d5af7e911d1 Sustainable Development Policy institute: Know your rights. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www. sdpi. org/know_your_rights/ngo. htm#allpak Women Empowerment Literacy and Development Organization. Retrieved on the 30th December, 2008 from: http://www. weldo. org/

British Petroleum: PESTEL and SWOT

British Petroleum: PESTEL and SWOT This Report will assess the altering business background of a one of the largest perpendicularly incorporated oil and gas companies British Petroleum, over the last five years. The Micro and Macro business environment of the company have influenced by some main factors and the motive of this report is to focus on them to recognize, analyze and understand. In order to do this, some important tools need to be considered. PESTEL analysis is one of the tools can support the organisations to estimate macro-environmental factors which can have an impact on them. SWOT analysis is another important tool, which assists organisations in additional developing their self consciousness. Introduction Business environment can be defined as a complex of policy, legal, institutional, and regulatory circumstances that administrate industry activities. It is a sub-set of the investment policy and includes the administration and enforcement mechanisms that implement government policy, as well as the institutional activities influence the way key factors operate (e.g., government agencies, regulatory authorities, and business membership organisations including businesswomen associations, civil society organisations, trade unions, etc.). Macro-environment Macro-environment is the uppermost level of the environment, which consists of broad external factors that can influence the business. In this case, PESTEL analysis is a useful tool to identify these factors and this can be based on the analyses of future trends such as political, economic, social, environment and legal etc. Using this tool, managers can categorize the key drivers of modifications and this can be used to build the potential trend to future scenario (Johnson et al, 2009). According to Worthington and Britton (2003), some manners may influence the business; renovate the inputs (resources such as labour force, technology, finance and materials) in outputs such as goods (products that can be touched such as foods, cars, and so on) or services (products that cannot be touched such as insure services). These performances can be used and prejudiced by companies in order to create their policy. Considering that this macro environment is very complex and companies cannot control it, its analysis is very important. Companies need to identify them and understand the negative impacts they can produce, therefore they can be prepared to reduce them (Palmer and Hartley 2009). Political Factors According to Palmer and Hartley (2009), politicians are usually responsible to create and exceed legislation to companies and occasionally they may create direct influence some types of businesses, such as: client defence law, workers protection laws, regulates of effluence and so on. In addition, according to Lancaster (2008) others political decisions as the workforce education, health and environment, and even the economy infrastructure can also influence businesses operations. Economic Factors Economic factors are very significant for an organization because it is directly associated to GDP (gross domestic product), economic development, redundancy rate, inflation rate and so on. Any modification in the economy can influence businesses. One good example is the oil spill at Gulf of Mexico has made BP a huge quantity of financial loss. The increase in the crude oil price affected all the chain such as power charge, oil-based raw material, plastic, synthetic fibres and so on (Lancaster 2008). This example indicates the significance of monitoring the economy, either nationally or internationally, in order to recognize possible opportunities and threats. Social and Cultural factors The socio-cultural environment is possibly one of the most difficult factors to evaluate, considering that is based on people manners changes, such as religion, ethics, priorities, attitudes, philosophy and social changes (Lancaster, 2008). On the other hand, Palmer and Hartley (2009) state that a crucial part for businesses is to understand the cultural value of a society; companies should be monitoring this frequently to better match to customers desires and requirements. Technological Factors According to Lancaster (2008), technology is an important macro-environmental feature which is presented in many products that we use on our daily breathes, as television, calculators, video records, computers and so on. Companies play an important responsibility on generating more technologies due to this some of them has their own research and development department or work in partnership with universities or research institutes, seeking to provide new products or with better excellence to clients. Environmental Factors This factor has been constantly increasing, especially for multinationals, due to the challenging of social responsibility activities and projects with focus on the centre of population and the environment. These corporations have an important function on contributing to the social development (Worthington and Britton 2009). BP, in the last five years, has worked proactively to reduce environmental risks and, as a result, it has improved its indices across the years. In its eco efficiency activities, they have focused on: reducing water consumption, energy, generation of effluents, production of residues solids and pastes. Moreover, it is also preoccupied with the society and develops projects in partnerships with the communities to improve factors such as people education, quality of life, social projects and so on (BP plc, 2010). Legal Factors Companies should work according to the law otherwise they can have important collision on their businesses. Some laws are changing to defend clients (municipal licences, anti-monopoly laws); workers (minimum wage, workers safety) and suppliers (copyright and patent laws which favour business investments). Some of them can manipulate market constitution and performance (Worthington and Britton 2009). Microenvironment Microenvironment, on the other hand, is the internal factors which generally business decisions are made. The internal environment is composed of various components such as employees, suppliers, customers and so on. Therefore, microenvironment can be divided in various small parts inside a company and each part is extremely important for the business. Lancaster (2008) argues that one of the main objectives of marketing is to concentrate the requirements of consumers. In order to achieve this, companies can make use of their internal property and capabilities, their microenvironment, over which they have control, and use this as a foundation of information to create the better policy to please costumers requirements. In addition, the microenvironment is easier to realize than the macro environment because it refers to everything that is part of a company such as suppliers, employee and so on. Everything that is direct or indirect interrelated to the company (Palmer and Hartley, 2009). Customers They are one of the most important parts of the microenvironment. Companies need to focus on monitoring possible changes on consumers trends and on creating an efficient relationship with them. In other words, companies need to be one step ahead, trying to calculate consumers requirements and needs and developing products to concentrate these demands. Moreover, companies must not focus just on this simple replica (creating a good products to customers), but think away from it (Palmer and Hartley, 2009). Intermediaries They correspond to associations between companies and customers. Some companies, mainly large ones, have some complications to attend all final costumers therefore they choose to sell their products through mediators to be present even in small supermarkets. Some companies can fail because they do not recognize this as an important policy (Palmer and Hartley, 2009). Shareholders At the end of 2010, there were 345,581 holders of BP ordinary shares and a further 163,397 holders of American depository shares. One American depository share (ADS) represents six ordinary shares. One of the holders of ADSs represents some 824,700 underlying holders. ADSs can be bought and sold on North American stock markets. The total number of actual shareholders in the US and UK is in excess of 1 million. About 80% of the ordinary shares and American depository shares are held by institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies. For more than 20 years, BP has encouraged its employees to purchase shares in the company on favourable terms, giving them an extra stake in the companys success. Competitors Companies need to keep their eyes on their competitors, monitoring them and trying to expect their next steps. Furthermore, there are two different types of competitors: direct competitor, which sells comparable products; and indirect competitor, which is more difficult to identify, because sometimes competitors can appear in different forms. For example, who is the indirect competitor for a cinema? Is it another cinema? A home rent movie? (Palmer and Hartley 2009) The following companies are some competitors of BP Plc: Chevron Corporation Exxon Mobil Corporation TOTAL S.A. Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.) (Datamonitor, 2010) SWOT SWOT is a tactical development tool, used in management and strategy formulation in order to identify strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of a particular company. It mainly focuses on analysis and understanding the organisations internal and external environment. Strengths are considered internal positive factors within an organization which can add value; Weaknesses, on the other hand, are negative aspects, which can disrupt the business from achieving its goals. Opportunities are external factors which help business and can represent one possibility of acquiring competitive advantage if the company has the ability of identifying them quicker than its competitors. Threats are also external factors but which can affect businesses operations negatively (Campbell and Craig, 2005). SWOT analysis is used as an analytical tool to achieve significant information about the company in order to take suitable actions. A company can do better decision makings when it understands the quarter points of a SWOT analysis. Strength factors can be used as a foundation for constructing advantages, enchanting the opportunities; weakness can be seen as a challenge and used to correct errors (NetMBA, 2010). Applying SWOT analysis on BP, we can see their strengths, weakness, threats and opportunities: (S)trengths Dominant market position Vertically integrated operations Wide geographical presence (W)eaknesses Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Explosion in the Texas refinery Violation of tax laws in Turkey (O)pportunities Acquisition of Devon Energys assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan, and the US deepwater Gulf of Mexico Oil and gas exploration projects (T)hreats Saturation of resources in the North Sea Instability in some oil-producing regions Environmental regulations (Datamonitor, 2010) Company Overview BP is one of the biggest perpendicularly incorporated oil and gas companies in the world. The companys operations principally include the searching and production of gas and crude oil, as well as the marketing and trading of natural gas, power, and natural gas liquids. BP is headquartered in London, the UK and employs about 80,300 people. Case Study The Deepwater Horizon oil spill out (also referred as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster or the Macon do blowout) is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed for three months in 2010. The impact of the spill continues since the well was capped. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The spill stemmed from a sea-floor oil gusher that resulted from the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion. The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17Â  others. On July 15, the leak was stopped by capping the gushing wellhead, after it had released about 4.9Â  million barrels (780ÃÆ'-103Â  m3), or 185 million gallons of crude oil. It was predictable that 53,000Â  barrels per day (8,400 m3/d) were evading from the well just before it was capped. It is supposed that the daily flow rate diminished over time, starting at about 62,000Â  barrels per day (9,900 m3/d) and decreasing as the reservoir of hydrocarbons feeding the gusher was gradually exhausted. On September 19, the relief well process was successfully finished and the federal government acknowledged the well successfully departed. Impact on BP and the UK economy BP at the time the United Kingdoms largest corporation and a major business in the UK investment world came under powerful popular, media, and political pressure to terminate its 2010 dividends in their entirety. Media reports state that BP is of such a size and significance in that country, that one pound in every seven of investment and pension fund income in the UK is derived from BP. Local media offered views on what this might mean for citizens. As BP was reported to be offloading billions of dollars in assets in preparation, some estimates suggested the total legal responsibility could amount to as much as US $100 billion (UK Â £67.5 bn) by the conclusion of the tragedy. Financial analysts commented that BP was able of addressing the probable liabilities that might effect, and BP stock rose to some extent on the news that the preliminary US $20 billion compensation fund had been arranged. Political and foreign relations impact The disaster was seen by some as placing stress on US-UK relationships, insofar as BP is a British company. Both US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron were under considerable pressure to comment politically on the matter. Insurance Times reported an open letter from the Chairman of RSA Insurance Group, the head of one of the countrys leading companies, to President Obama (text of letter) that expressed a concern over double standards compared to the sub-prime based banking crisis of 2007-2010 and over prejudicial and personal comments in the media. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, was also reported to have made a similar comment, and similar concerns related to the tenor of media releases were also expressed by Labour MP and ex-Parliamentary Secretary Tom Watson, Vince Cable the Business Secretary, and the UK Foreign Office. The Department of State stated that the issue will not affect US-UK relationships, calling the UK its closest ally. Cameron stated that sensible dialog was needed and BP would require certainty over its liability for compensation. Obama was later reported to have said that his frustration over the mammoth oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not an attack on Britain and that he had no interest in undermining BPs value, as the two leaders tried to soothe trans-Atlantic tensions over the disaster. Impact on BP due to US tourism On May 25 BP gave Florida $25Â  million to promote the beaches where the oil had not reached, and the company planned $15Â  million each for Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. The Bay Area Tourist Development Council bought digital billboards showing recent photos from the gulf coast beaches as far north as Nashville, Tennessee and Atlanta. The U.S. Travel Association estimated that the economic impact of the oil spill on tourism across the Gulf Coast over a three-year period could exceed approximately $23 billion, in a region that supports over 400,000 travel industry jobs generating $34 billion in revenue annually. On November 1 BP announced plans to spend $78 million to help Louisiana tourism and test and advertise seafood. Other economic consequences On July 5 BP reported that its own expenditures on the oil spill had reached $3.12Â  billion, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs. The United States Oil Pollution Act of 1990 limits BPs liability for non-cleanup costs to $75Â  million unless gross negligence is proven. BP has said it would pay for all cleanup and remediation regardless of the statutory liability cap. Nevertheless, some Democratic lawmakers are seeking to pass legislation that would increase the liability limit to $10Â  billion. Analysts for Swiss Re have estimated that the total insured losses from the accident could reach $3.5Â  billion. According to UBS, final losses could be $12Â  billion. According to Willis Group Holdings, total losses could amount to $30Â  billion, of which estimated total claims to the market from the disaster, including control of well, re-drilling, third-party liability and seepage and po llution costs, could exceed $1.2Â  billion. On June 25 BPs market value reached a 1 year low. The companys total value lost since April 20 was $105Â  billion. Investors saw their holdings in BP shrink to $27.02, a nearly 54% loss of value in 2010. A month later, the companys loss in market value totaled $60 billion, a 35% decline since the explosion. At that time, BP reported a second-quarter loss of $17 billion, its first loss in 18 years. This includes a one-time $32.2 billion charge, including $20 billion for the fund created for reparations and $2.9 billion in actual costs. On October 1, BP pledged as collateral all royalties from the Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Mad Dog, Great White, Mars, Ursa and Na Kika fields in the Gulf of Mexico. At that time, BP also said it had spent $11.2 billion, while the companys London Stock Exchange price reached 439.75 pence, the highest point since May 28. By the end of September, BP reported that it had spent $11.2 billion. Third-quarter profit of $1.79 billion (compared to $5.3 billion in 2009) showed, however, that BP continues to do well and should be able to pay total costs estimated at $40 billion. Recommendations Companies should observe regularly for new challenges, by focusing on developing strategies which can allow them to develop them better than their competitors. On this case, BP should do the same and seek for a strategy to become the first company in the world of petroleum industries, selling products with quality and diversity, achieving customers first choice. If the company wants to be competitive, companies should evaluate its products with the ones from foremost competitors. They can also achieve competitive benefit by investing on its employees; looking for joint ventures with other companies in different countries so that they can achieve information from different markets; in search of operational efficiency and cost regulation; seeking for new partnerships, assessing where there are greater opportunities for export. Conclusion The micro and macro business environment of companies are influenced by various factors. They can change them when necessary (such as production, marketing strategy, etc) by taking immediate actions with respect to internal factors. Conversely, companies cannot take action directly on external factors. But in order to minimize their impact they can identify them with appropriate time. Managers decision making capability can be based on the use of these tools and analysis the company can obtain a general overview about the company and aspects what kinds of impacts can happen such as politics, laws and regulations, economy, environment, technology and so on. Due to high competition, with demanding requirement companies should use these tools such as PESTEL or SWOT to build up a successful policy and competitive with the market. BP has developed a variety of strategies by focus on customers, by producing quality products for domestic and international market and it is always doing a great job for the benefit of the society, employees, and environment.

As We Go Marching, Marching :: Equality Women Feminism Essays

As We Go Marching, Marching On April 25, 2004, over a million people of every gender, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, class, and age participated in the March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. Examining the sea of people, I initially did not understand why such a great number of middle aged and older women were so angry. They were reaching the age where reproductive rights were becoming less of an issue for them personally, but I realized my naà ¯vetà © on two counts: one, they were not just marching for themselves and two, they were fighting to save the laws which they had changed to protect themselves over thirty years ago. They were marching for their daughters and granddaughters and nieces and goddaughters and students whose futures were being threatened just as their futures had been under attack when they were younger. Despite the movement for change of these Second Wave Feminists, legislation has been directed at the cause of gender inequities in the United States but gender equ ality has not been an effect of the legislation. In the late sixties and early seventies, the women of the Second Wave of Feminism created a social campaign for gender equality primarily in terms of economics. As Virginia Woolf points out in Three Guineas, women remain in the power of men so long as they are financially dependent upon them. (Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas, p. 132) Housing and food are required for survival and money is required for the attainment of both. Given their history of working in the home and caring for children, American society divided itself up into breadwinners and homemakers: men won the bread and women made the home. Consequently, women have had far fewer opportunities than men to earn money because girls were not raised with the idea that they would someday receive a paycheck with their name on it. Books such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique challenged society to think that women should have a choice about joining the work force outside the home. It is important to note that low income women had been compelled to garnish wages for centuries before suburban housewives dared to aspire to any role model other than June Cleaver. Friedan's work sparked the notion that all women everywhere might not be happy with housework and childrearing—women are women and are not only mothers and wives just as men are not only husbands and fathers.

Radioheads OK Computer :: Music Musical Essays

Radiohead's OK Computer In the mid-1990s, rock and roll experienced another of its many transitions. During the early ‘90s, the â€Å"grunge† scene, emanating from Seattle and its surrounding area, enthralled the youth of the time with the music of such acts as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana. This surge in high-distortion, high angst rock snapped the genre out of the doldrums of glam-metal, which, for a long time, dominated the â€Å"rock music† racks of record stores across America. By 1997, grunge was dead, its end spurred by the death of Kurt Cobaine, the impending breakup of Soundgarden, and the increasing vapidity of Pearl Jam. At the same time, bubble gum pop made its comeback, thanks to acts like Hanson and the Spice Girls (even today, irritatingly saccharine acts like the Backstreet Boys and their seemingly infinite clones dominate pop charts). Fortunately, in the summer of 1997, the British rock band Radiohead released OK Computer, which received both critical acclaim and commercial success, a rare combination in today’s music scene. The album caught enough attention in both respects that it was later nominated for both best alternative album and album of the year, and received the former award (Hilburn C-6). OK Computer is important because it is one of the few albums released in this decade that has an underlying message; Radiohead, while never coming out and stating it, does an excellent job a blending subtlety with clarity. By both its lyrical and musical complexity, OK Computer covers a broad emotional range, evoking, as David Cheal puts it, â€Å"gloom and alienation; but you also get warmth and yearning† (15). Dimitri Ehrlich adds that, as a whole, the album is â€Å"unglossy, unhandsome, and every bit as complex as modern life† (56). â€Å"Paranoid Android† expresses this complexity at a level in which frustration and alienation come hand in hand. The song, clocking at nearly seven minutes, begins with the elegant plucking of an acoustic guitar and lead singer Thom Yorke’s statement of bitterness: â€Å"When I am king, you will be first against the wall.† After a brief guitar break, the song begins its tremulous diatribe on the loss of identity: â€Å"Why don’t you remember my name? / Off with his head now, off with his head.

Muted Group Theory and the Little Mermaid

Muted Group Theory This topic is to basically analyze the theory of Muted Group and to see how it correlates with Walt Disney’s The Litter Mermaid. What is Muted Group Theory? Muted Group Theory was first proposed by Edwin Ardner and the theory is an attempt to explain why certain groups in society are muted which means they are either silent or just not heard. Edwin Ardener was an anthropologist who discovered that a group becomes mute due to the lack of power that is experienced of a group with a low status. Ardener then realized that this particular theory might form more of a gender perspective. Females are seen as being constructed differently and it is these specific differences that cause females to act in a different way as opposed to males. It is these reasons that women and minorities are to be considered muted groups because they are considered to be of a lower status than the dominant groups. Ardener called the theory the muted group because these muted groups are liken to black holes since they are muffled, overlooked and invisible (Griffin. 003: Prentice. 2005: Rogers 1978). It is not necessarily always seen that women are automatically muted or feel like a muted group but women believe that have no choice in order to â€Å"fit in† other than to change the way they act and talk. Women still live in a world that is dominated by men and women have taken the backseat to a man for centuries and depending on some cultures, the status of women and how they are viewed is not likely to change any time soon. There is quite a bit of power play being executed in environments where a specific group because of gender, race, or cultural background cannot be heard for who they are, but rather only by acting in ways they are reflective of who is â€Å"listening†, the dominant group. It would not be until Cheris Kramarae offered a different perspective to the Muted Group Theory. According to Cheris Kramarae, language is something that was constructed by man. The words and thoughts of women are ignored in our society. Because of this, it is difficult for women to express their experiences as opposed to men. Kramarae further stated that language does not serve all its speakers in an equal manner regardless of the culture because women are not as free as men to say what they want, when they want, and where they want. Men have a dominant control of society and how the members of society should express themselves. As such, different terms are used to describe tasks done by both males and females even when they are doing the exact same thing. It is also because of this that most sexual suggestions that are considered degrading are usually referring to women than to men (Anderson & Haddad 2005; Eckert & McConnel-Ginet, 1992; Epstein, 1986; Griffin, 2003; Prentice. 2005: West. 1983). In Order for women to express themselves to others, they must do so as how males express themselves (Epstein, 1986; Griffin, 2003; Rogers. 1978; Stets & Burke. 1996) One of Kramarae’s first published articles explains why women are perceived differently in the world and how they are not only less powerful but a group that does not speak a similar language as men. Men and women speak a different language. According to popular belief, at least, the speech of women is weaker and less effective than the speech of men. Our culture has many jokes about the quality of women’s speech . . .. Compared to male speech, the female form is supposed to be emotional, vague, euphemistic, sweetly proper, mindless, endless, high-pitches, and silly† (p. 82). The Muted Group Theory does not necessarily explain all the possible ways woman can interact to obtain their desired goals within an organization or something along those lines. Some women use certain techniques and tactics in which they are inherently strong and it is these particular women who can overcome the male power. One prime example of a women overcoming male power is the classic Disney Movie â€Å"the Little Mermaid†. When Walt Disney released its adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s â€Å"The Little Mermaid,† it had become a box-office hit. Yet, the movie captured the attention not just of young girls back in the late 1980’s but sociologists and anthropologists as well since the movie became a perfect example of whey they had termed as the â€Å"muted group theory. References Griffin, E. M. (1991). A first look at communication theory (3rd Ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ISU Communication Studies. (n. d. ). Context of communication. Muted Group Theory Information Page. (1998, April 8). Kramarae, C. (1996). Classified information: Race, class, and (always) gender. In J. Wood (Ed. ), Gendered relationship s (pp. 20-38). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. Kramarae, C. (1981). Women and men speaking: Frameworks for analysis. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.