Hobby: Actor and Favorite Pastime Essay

People live a very busy life nowadays, so they have little time to spare. Still they try their best to make use of those rare hours of leisure. A hobby is a favorite pastime of a person. Hobbies differ like tastes. People choose their hobbies according to their taste and character. Someone likes simply to watch TV, lying on a sofa. If you have chosen a hobby to your liking, lucky you are: you have made your life more interesting. But many people have nothing to do during their spare time, though there are many different hobbies: reading, collecting, going in for sports, traveling and others. If a person collects something, he does it according to his financial abilities: someone collects cars or pictures of world-known painters, while another one collects beer cans or stamps. But no matter what they collect, it gives them pleasure. Many collections started in a small way with one or two items. Some private collections are really valuable. No matter what kind of hobby a person has, he always has an opportunity of learning from it. Some young people find it a pleasure to go to the theatre. The theatre is one of the most ancient kinds of art. For centuries people have come to the theatre for the different aims: to relax, to be amazed or entertained, to have a good laugh, to enjoy the acting of their favorite actors and actresses. Modern life is impossible without traveling. Many people travel by rail, by air, by sea or by road for pleasure. Many people are fond of reading. As for me I don’t like to read very much, but I think that it’s the most useful pastime. If a person likes to read, he can take many useful information and life experience from the books. As for me I am fond of dancing. I am doing it since my childhood. While dancing I feel very comfortable, I am flying as if I have wings. Especially I feel so while dancing Arabic dances. Another hobby is to dry flowers and to make different bouquets. There are a lot of such bouquets in my flat. Also I like to present them to my relatives and friends. Also I like singing very much. But I am afraid to sing when there are other people in the same place. But I do like to sing. While doing it I can naked my soul, I can express what I feel in that very moment.

Describe the Social, Economic and Cultral Factors

These days children and young people are involved in many issues in society which can/may affect their lives. Religion is all across the UK now and many children who live here have a different type of religion. Religions have different rules to others and this can affect children because of them (rules). For example if a Muslim child is friends with a child who doesn’t have a religion and that child can go out in the street or can sleep out, the child who is Muslim might not be able to do that and that might make them feel isolated and upset.Or children who have come from another country, their parents have a different cultural background to other people which mean the child will be raised differently and have different views, which can cause conflict among other children who have been brought up in the British culture. Personal choice is another thing that could impact a childs life, if a childs parents make a choice to live in a different way e. e same sex parents or travell ing a lot then this could affect a childs education because they’d have to travel loads as part of the travelling community.Another factor could be social, a child or young person could have only 1 friend and stick to them but that friend might want to go off with other children sometimes which can make a child feel lonely and they might find it hard then to make new friends. Or a child could be with everyone always and this is good because it’s good to develop social skills and how to socialize but this could also be bad because they aren’t as independent as they should be.Also family has a big impact, a child could be a ‘young carer’ because there mum or dad is disabled this could make them feel upset and worried all the time, which would affect school work and could affect health, if no money is coming in to feed or shelter them. Some families may have different styles of parenting, they might expect highly of their child, if there is lack of sup port that can lead to low self esteem. Other things that could affect social factor is disabilities, children who may have a disability might find it hard to fit in or make friends.If children are suffering from problems at home, then if a child attends a setting (nursery, school, youth clubs) then they could get social services involved which could then result in children taken into care. Another part of economic factors can include addictions, parents might have a drug addiction which would mean all the income being spend on drugs and then not being able to afford a house in a decent community, this could affect a childs development if they are living in cramped conditions or poor quality housing.

Us Postal Service – Insolvency

The United States Postal Service: At the Brink of Insolvency Business 510 – Managerial Economics Final Project Submission February 25, 2012 Executive Summary this report takes a look at the United States Postal Service financial problems, which brought it to the brink of insolvency, after losing more than $25B in the last 5 years. It analyzes factors and performance and postulates corrective actions to bring USPS back to financial solvency. Both microeconomic and macroeconomic factors affecting the firm were analyzed while identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.USPS products and services demonstrate its strengths with its monopoly of the mailing industry and as a government franchise with an open line of credit with the Federal Financing Bank of up to $15B. Weaknesses include lack or very little diversity in its products and services, very restrictive delivery schedules and mandated large delivery points. Opportunities for USPS include increasing its product diversity taking advantage of the internet and other developing technologies it can use to improve its operating expenses. USPS is also experiencing external and internal threats.One of these threats is the wider acceptance of digital technology especially with the internet and email, smartphones and mobile internet, skyrocketing operating costs and inability to make timely changes and responses to mitigate continued losses without having to go through the Postal Regulatory Commission and Congress. In view of this, USPS is recommended to take a multi-prong approach to improve its revenues by increasing product pricing with its shipping services while staying competitive, using the theory of price elasticity of demand to appropriately price its mailing services and diversifying its products.Reduce operating costs by reducing numbers of employees, improving its fleet of vehicles to more fuel efficient vehicles or using alternate energy and also by reducing managed facilities a nd delivery schedules. And finally USPS needs to request Congress to give it authority to effect price changes resulting from out-of-the-ordinary changes in cost of fuel and other materials and resources used in fulfilling its mandate of providing a fundamental postal service to the nation. Overview Establishment and General Business Description Article 1, Section 8, clause 7 of the United States Constitution establishes the U.S. Postal Service. The current post office organization is operating under the provisions of the Postal Reorganization Act of July 1, 1971 designating the US Postal Service (USPS) as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Public Law 109-435 made further revisions and the governing statute is codified in Title 39 of the United States Code. The same public law created the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) bestowing the PRC with regulatory and oversight obligatio ns in the management and operation of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS Annual 10-K Report, 2011). The mandate of the USPS is to offer a â€Å"fundamental postal service† to the entire nation at fair and reasonable rates approved by Congress. This mandate is fulfilled by offering different level of mailing and shipping services throughout the country. As of September 30, 2011, total employees number to 557,251 career employees, down 4. 6% from the year before of 583,908 and 88,700 non-career employees (Annual Report to Congress, 2011).More than 85% of career employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements through one of the following four management organizations: American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), National Postal Mail Handlers (NPMHU) and National Rural Letter Carriers (NRLCA). Products and Services The United States Postal Service divides their services into two broad categories: Market dominant mailing services and c ompetitive shipping services. Mailing services include First Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals and Package Services.Shipping Services include but not limited to Priority Mail, Express Mail, Bulk, Parcel Post and Bulk International Mail. Mailing services have set floor prices but generally doesn’t have any set ceiling price up to the allowed maximum size and weight limits (usually 70 pounds for each package). The same holds true for shipping services. All these services are offered through a network of more than 32,000 Post Offices, stations and branches, plus thousands of contract post units, Community Post Offices, Village Post Offices, retail establishments selling postage stamps and other services including the internet, www. sps. com. Additional services offered are sale of Postal Money Orders, leasing of Post Office boxes and sale of post cards or greeting cards. International mail and package services are also available to more than 190 countries (Annual Report to Congress, 2011). The current First-Class Mail stamp costs $0. 45 increased 2. 1% starting in January 2012 that was announced in October 18, 2011. Postal Service Mail pricing is set by the Board of Governors and approved by the PRC. Shipping services pricing is set by law covering both the institutional costs allocation and attributable costs.The institutional cost allocation is determined by the PRC and is currently set at 5. 5%. Thus the shipping cost is the sum of 5. 5% institutional costs (comparable to transaction costs) and attributable cost, representing the direct cost of the mailing or shipping services based from the weight and size of the package (USPS Annual 10-K Report, 2011). Current Financial Statement For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, the United States Postal Service reported a net loss of $5. 067B from their operation, an improvement compare to the previous year’s loss of $8. 505B. This is despite a reduction of 4. % in the number of its career em ployees from 583,908 to 557,251 (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). Just like any other private businesses, the USPS was also greatly impacted by the global economy especially the deep and prolonged economic recession of 2008. Additionally, with improvement in technology, wider availability of internet broadband services, lower cost of personal computers, prevalent use of online banking and also surge in offering of online funds transfers, which not only offers convenience and speed but virtually free, has directly compete and won over some of the mailing services of the USPS.Mail volume deliveries have decreased by 5% in the last two years, 2011 and 2010 and the year before, in 2009, the decrease was a staggering 12. 8% (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). The expansion of mobile internet coupled with smart phones will only worsen USPS declining mail volume in the future. Finally, one of the biggest operating expenses of USPS besides transportation costs and plant equipment and facilities i s employee wages and retiree benefits. USPS employment costs makes up approximately 80% of its total operating costs (Kosar, 2012).Employee wages and retiree benefits costs are significantly impacted by wage inflation, health benefit premium increases, retirement and workers’ compensation programs, and cost-of-living allowances. In the last 5 years, the USPS suffered a total net loss of more than $25 billion including $21 billion of expenses for the pre-funding of the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) mandated by Public Law 109-435 (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). USPS current total debt as of September 2011 is at $13B which is only $2B from its statutory limit of $15B set by 39 U.S. C 2005(a) (Kosar, 2012). Financial statements reported to Congress for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011: Years ended Sept. 30, 2011Percent change from preceding year (dollars in millions) 2011 2010 2009 2011 2010 2009 Operating revenue $ 65,711 67,052 $ 68,090 (2. 0%) ( 1. 5%) (9. 1%) Operating expenses * $ 70,634 $ 75,426 $ 71,830 (6. 4%) 5. 0% (7. 6%) Loss from operations $ (4,923) $ (8,374) $ (3,740) Operating margin (7. 5%) (12. 5%) (5. 5%) Net loss $ (5,067) $ (8,505) $ (3,794) Purchases of capital $ 1,190 $ 1,393 $ 1,839 (14. 6%) (24. 3%) (7. %) Property and equipment Debt $ 13,000 $ 12,000 $ 10,200 Interest expense $ 172 $ 156 $ 80 Capital contributions of $ 3,132 $ 3,132 $ 3,087 U. S. Government Deficit since reorganization $ (22,072) $ (17,005) $ (8,500) Total net deficiency $ (18,940) $ (13,873) $ (5,413) Number of career employees 557,251 583,908 623,128 (4. 6%) (6. 3%) (6. 0%) Mail volume (pieces in millions) 167,934 170,860 176,744 (1. 7%) (3. 3%) (12. 8%) New delivery points served 636,530 739,580 923,595 *P. L. 112-33 had a net impact of a $5. 5 billion reduction of expenses in 2011.P. L. 111-68 had a net impact of a $4. 0 billion reduction of expense in 2009. Graphical representation of USPS operating revenues and expenses from FY 2 004 – FY 2011 Market Structure Monopoly Salvatore D. (2012) defined a monopoly market as â€Å"an organization in which a single firm sells a product for which there are no close substitutes† (p. 388). And of the four sources of monopoly cited (Salvatore, p. 390) is one established by a government franchise like the United States Postal Service. Not all of USPS products and services are monopolized.USPS monopoly is only in their mailing service referring to as its â€Å"dominant mailing service†. No other delivery service company in the industry is allowed to deliver mail. And this includes delivery service companies like UPS and FedEx. Mailing services includes First Class Mail, Standard Mail, Periodicals and Package Services. The USPS’s has monopoly over letter delivery, mailbox monopoly and the ability to suspend the delivery in certain areas. It enforces this monopoly with its armed postal inspectors who can conduct searches and seizures if it suspect s breach of its monopoly.The only exceptions to this monopoly are â€Å"letters accompanying cargo† and â€Å"letters of the carrier† (interoffice correspondence) including bicycle messengers and overnight deliveries (Giddens, 2003). Monopolistic Competition Is defined, â€Å"as the form of market organization wherein there are many sellers of a heterogeneous or differentiated product and entry into and exit from the industry are rather easy in the long run† (Salvatore, D. , p. 396). Although the United State Postal Service does have a monopoly on â€Å"mailing services† it however does not have monopoly over â€Å"shipping services† which it shares with FedEx and UPS.However, this non-monopolized â€Å"shipping service† cannot be classified as â€Å"Monopolistic Competitive† market as there are only few sellers offering the products or services. Additionally, the same products and services are basically homogeneous. Instead it is cla ssified as an oligopolistic market. Oligopoly Is defined, â€Å"as the form of market organization in which there are few sellers of a homogeneous or differentiated product† (Salvatore, D. , p. 412). Products and services offered by the U. S.Postal Service in its â€Å"Shipping Services† division is classified as an oligopoly market. It shares this â€Å"shipping services† market with United Parcel Service and FedEx. With very few firms in the shipping industry, all three (USPS, UPS, and FEDEX) seems to operate more like interdependence firms rather than rivalries. This is evidence by the collaborating services of USPS and UPS called â€Å"UPS Basic† while the one between USPS and FEDEX is called â€Å"SmartPost†. This interdependency operation between these three firms mutually benefits all parties.Although it may look like USPS is getting the shorter end of the deal, but by conducting an incremental analysis it will show USPS is just actually syn ergizing its required mandate of providing fundamental postal services. On the other hand, UPS and FEDEX benefit also from the consolidation by sharing their â€Å"not so profitable† area of their shipping services to USPS to ensure continued services to their customers and at the same time customer loyalty. Competition and Alliances There are a number of communications media competing for the same types of transactions and communications in the mailing and delivery services industry.These include newspapers, telecommunications, televisions, e-mail, social networking and online electronic funds transfers. For the shipping services intense competition is offered by United Parcel Service and FedEx Corporations (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011), although at the same time these two competitors are also its alliances as described above. United Parcel Service (UPS) Financial comparison Below is UPS’s financial statement for the last three years 2008 to 2010. Comparing U. S. Pos t Office 2010 and 2009 annual total revenues, UPS’s 2010 is only 73. 2% to that of the U. S. Post Office while its 2009 revenue is only 66. 53% to that of the U. S. Post Office. This is proof positive even though the U. S. Postal Office is generally a local national firm, it has larger revenue than a multinational firm like UPS. However, when comparing operating expenses the U. S. Post Office edges UPS by a very large margin. U. S. Post Office total operating expenses of $75. 426B for 2010 more than doubles UPS’ $31. 989B. And for 2009, U. S. Post Office’s total operating expenses of $71. 83B dwarfs UPS’ $31. 692B!While UPS posted a Net income of $3. 488B and $2. 152B in 2010 and 2009 respectively, the U. S. Post Office posted a Net Loss of $8. 374B and $3. 74B in the same years. Income Statement All numbers in thousands Period EndingDec 31, 2010Dec 31, 2009Dec 31, 2008 Total Revenue 49,545,000 45,297,000 51,486,000 Cost of Revenue11,682,000 9,804,000 11, 878,000 Gross Profit 37,863,000 35,493,000 39,608,000 Operating Expenses Research Development- – – Selling General and 30,197,000 29,945,000 32,412,000 Administrative Non Recurring- – – Others1,792,000 1,747,000 1,814,000Total Operating Expenses- – – Operating Income or Loss 5,874,000 3,801,000 5,382,000 Income from Continuing Operations Total Other Income/3,000 10,000 75,000 Expenses Net Earnings Before 5,877,000 3,811,000 5,457,000 Interest and Taxes Interest Expense354,000 445,000 442,000 Income Before Tax5,523,000 3,366,000 5,015,000 Income Tax Expense2,035,000 1,214,000 2,012,000 Minority Interest- – – Net Income From3,488,000 2,152,000 3,003,000 Continuing Ops Non-recurring Events Discontinued Operations- – – Extraordinary Items- – –Effect Of Accounting Changes- – – Other Items- – – Net Income 3,488,000 2,152,000 3,003,000 Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments- †“ – Net Income Applicable3,488,000 2,152,000 3,003,000 To Common Shares Product and Services comparison UPS products and services are homogenous to U. S. Post Office products and services with the exception of mailing services in the United States. UPS is basically a package delivery company (shipping services) providing transportation, logistics and financial services in the United States and in other 220 countries.It also provides letter and document delivery but only those considered time constraint delivery exempted by the U. S. Post Office from its mailing service monopoly. Unlike the U. S. Post Office â€Å"shipping services†, UPS operates internationally thus providing import and export logistic services throughout the world. It also provides various technology solutions for automated shipping, visibility, billing, distribution centers (to various industries like healthcare), technology, retail/consumer and a portfolio of financial services. FedEx Financial co mparisonBelow is FEDEX’s financial statement for the last three years 2009 to 2011. Comparing U. S. Post Office 2011 and 2010 annual total revenues, FEDEX’s 2011 is only approximately 59. 81% to that of the U. S. Post Office while its 2010 revenue is only approximately 51. 80% to that of the U. S. Post Office. Just like with UPS, FEDEX annual revenue is just barely a little over half of the U. S. Post Office annual revenue. However, U. S. Post Office Operating Expenses more than triples FEDEX annual operating expenses hence resulting in huge annual Net Loss to the U. S. Post Office while FEDEX posted a Net Income of $1. 52B and $1. 184B in 2011 and 2010 respectively. Income Statement All numbers in thousands Period EndingMay 31, 2011May 31, 2010May 31, 2009 Total Revenue 39,304,000 34,734,000 35,497,000 Cost of Revenue14,266,000 11,908,000 12,672,000 Gross Profit 25,038,000 22,826,000 22,825,000 Operating Expenses Research Development- – – Selling General and20,598,000 18,852,000 18,899,000 Administrative Non Recurring89,000 18,000 1,204,000 Others1,973,000 1,958,000 1,975,000 Total Operating Expenses- – – Operating Income or Loss 2,378,000 1,998,000 747,000Income from Continuing Operations Total Other Income/(27,000)(25,000)15,000 Expenses Net Earnings Before2,351,000 1,973,000 762,000 Interest And Taxes Interest Expense86,000 79,000 85,000 Income Before Tax2,265,000 1,894,000 677,000 Income Tax Expense813,000 710,000 579,000 Minority Interest- – – Net Income From1,452,000 1,184,000 98,000 Continuing Ops Non-recurring Events Discontinued Operations- – – Extraordinary Items- – – Effect Of Accounting Changes- – – Other Items- – – Net Income 1,452,000 1,184,000 98,000 Preferred Stock And Other Adjustments- – –Net Income Applicable To1,452,000 1,184,000 98,000 Common Shares Product and Services comparison FEDEX product and services are als o similar to UPS and with USPS’s shipping services. Its services are divided into four segments: FEDEX Express, FEDEX Ground, FEDEX Freight and FEDEX Services. FEDEX Express, Ground and Freight generally deals with domestic and international shipping services while FEDEX Service provides sales, marketing , administrative, information technology and customer service support services including copying and digital printing services.Economic Factors Macroeconomic Factors Unemployment and recession The greatest recession in U. S. history since World War II was declared to have started as early as December 2007 and officially over by June 2009 per National Bureau of Economic Research (Beatty, A, Sept 2010). During the start of the recession, unemployment was at a 5. 0% (Dec 2007) and reached its peak of 10% in October 2009.However, these unemployment figures are misleading because as per Bureau of Labor and Statistics, â€Å"Unemployment† is defined as people who do not curr ently have a job, have actively looked for work in the past four weeks (from the time when the report is prepared) and are currently available for work (Amadeo, n. d. ). It also includes people who are temporarily laid off and waiting to be called back to work. People who are unemployed and have not looked for job in the last four weeks (from the time the report is prepared) are removed from the labor force and are not counted as unemployed.The Bureau of Labor and Statistics also releases â€Å"Alternative measures of labor underutilization† report divided into 6 sections as follows: * U-1 Persons Unemployed 15 weeks or longer as a percent of the civilian labor force * U-2 Job losers and person who completed temporary jobs as a percent of the civilian labor force * U-3 Total unemployed as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate) * U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers * U-5 To tal unemployed plus discouraged workers, plus all other person marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all person marginally attached to the labor force *U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force Of these six sections, the focus is on the U-3 and U-6 figures. As of December 2008 the official unemployment rate as per BLS Report (U-3 figure) is at 7. 3% while the U-6 figure is at 13. 5%. The difference is 6. 2% meaning while 7. 3% of the work force is being reported as officially unemployed, another 6. 2% are not. And this unreported 6. 2% are mainly those who have stopped looking for jobs or those who hold part time jobs. By June 2009, when the last economic recession was officially declared over, the U-3 and U-6 figures are 9. 5% and 16. 5% respectively. And for the year ending, December 2011, U-3 was reported at 8. % and U-6 at 15. 2% for a difference of 6. 7%. This difference indicates 44. 0% (6. 7% / 15. 2%) of the unemployed is not reported in the official unemployment rate. This is an indication although unemployment rate has been reported to decline from its peak of 10% in October 2009 to 8. 5% in December 2011, there are still far more unemployed people being unreported or have continuously decided not to join the workforce. High unemployment adversely affects the national economy in general including delivery and shipping services firms like USPS. With consumers having less confidence and less money to spend, there is less business for delivery of goods.When unemployment rate is high, there are fewer consumers while still those employed has less spendable money. Hence, retailers’ sales decline so is the order of replacement merchandise directly translating to reducing shipping services both for the retailers and consu mers. In short, there will definitely be a negative impact on USPS revenue. Cyclical changes in the economy, i. e. recession and inflation is nothing new to USPS, however the effect of modern technology like the personal computers and internet is.At the height of the recession, 2009, USPS revenue declined by 9. 1% over the previous year with a total net loss of $3. 74B followed by another $8. 473B net loss in 2010. Unemployment rates peaked from 7. % in January of 2009 to 10% in October 2009 and declined to 9. 4% in December 2010 were in parallel with these revenue losses. The bulk of USPS operating expenses is mostly from its employee wages and retiree benefits and transportation. Of these, employee wages and retiree benefits are the least elastic. With more than 85% of its employees covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA’s), USPS is strictly constrained to react promptly to sudden changes to the economy to reduce its operating expenses, i. e. laying off employees or reducing retiree benefits. Inflation Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services.It is measured as an annual percentage increase. As inflation rises, every dollar you own buys a smaller percentage of a good or service. The value of a dollar is never constant and it is referred to as its purchasing power. With inflation there is a decline in the purchasing power of the dollar (Investopedia. com) For USPS, inflation also results in adverse effects on its revenues but mostly it affects the cost of health benefits it has to cover for its employees and retirees. For its operations, the cost of fuel also greatly affects its operating expenses. Cost of living allowances and workers’ compensation programs also add to increased operating expenses.But the most negative impact is the inability of USPS to readily adjust its product and services pricing based from inflation as it requires legislative actions to do so. Government Le gislations Since USPS is a government owned firm, it operates within the guidelines of public laws. Product and services pricing are approved by Congress. In addition, delivery schedules and delivery routes are also regulated by the Postal Regulatory Commission. With the implementation of Public Law 91-375 commonly known as the Postal Reorganization Act of 1971, the USPS became a self-supporting, wholly governmental entity designed to cover its operating costs with revenues generated through providing fundamental postal services to the entire nation (Kosar, 2012).It does not receive annual appropriation from Congress for its operating budget except for the annual $100M congress pays to compensate USPS for the revenue losses incurred for free mailing privileges to blind persons and overseas voters, as directed by Congress. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) established the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) and required USPS to prefund its future retirees’ health benefits at a cost of approximately $5. 5B per year for 10 years with remaining balance amortized in the subsequent next 40- year period. For FY ending 2011, the unfunded obligation to this fund is at $46. 2B (the accuracy of this amount is still being debated depending on what valuation method is used) (Kosar, 2012). Below is the table for the RHBF payments under the PAEA: Table 1.Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund Payments Under PAEA Fiscal Year Payment Due Per PAEA (billions) Status of Payment 2007 $5. 4 Paid in full. 2008 $5. 6 Paid in full. 2009 $5. 4 $1. 4 billion paid 2010 $5. 5 Paid in full. 2011 $5. 5 No payment 2012 $5. 6 Due September 30, 2012. 2013 $5. 6 Due September 30, 2013. 2014 $5. 7 Due September 30, 2014. 2015 $5. 7 Due September 30, 2015. 2016 $5. 8 Due September 30, 2016. Source: Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (P. L. 109-435,  §803; 120 Stat. 3251-3252; 5 U. S. C  §8909(d)(3)(A). ) Due to solvency problems, Congress reduced the FY 2009 payment amount to $1. 4B (P. L. 111-68) while in FY2011, Congress delayed the payment to August 1, 2012 as per H. R. 112-331.By front loading the RHBF, USPS has switched from funding its RHBF from â€Å"out of pocket† cost to pre-funding. It’s this prefunding causing a tremendous financial strain on the firm. It’s also an indicator on how much leverage and control government legislations have over the firm. And this is just one of the two biggest entities having control over the firm’s operations. The other one is employees’ unions. Collective Bargaining Agreements More than 80% of USPS operating cost is due to its employees’ wage; and more than 85% of its employees belong to one of the four unions or referred to as management organizations, i. e. , APWU, NALC, NPMHU and NRLCA.Unfortunately for USPS even though it enjoys benefits from federal regulations like monopoly of mailing services and having the ability to borrow money from the Federal Financing Banks up to $15B or as set by Congress; the same federal laws also put constrains in its ability to increase revenue by increasing prices without prior approval; or decreasing its operating costs by reducing mail delivery schedule; or closing non-performing post offices; or by having power to control labor costs. Statutory processes for resolving disputes between labor and management frequently results in arbitrators being empowered to make binding decisions heavily favoring employees (USPS Annual 10K Report, 2011). With declining revenues since 2007, USPS has been unable to reduce employee numbers to desired sustainable strength, its main operating cost, without having to rely solely on attrition or buy outs due to collective bargaining agreements that heavily favor employees. Future strategy calls for attrition or reduction in employees’ numbers to an additional 120,000 positions by FY2015.However, USPS is unable to achieve this with out overriding current CBA’s and it doesn’t have the power to do so. Microeconomic Factors Personal Computers and Internet In their 2009 annual report, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, approximately 68. 7% percent (81. 939 million households) of all U. S. households have internet access. Out of this 68. 7%, 63. 5% uses broadband service while 4. 7 % uses dial up service with the remaining 0. 4% using either satellite or dish access (BLS, 2010). And the numbers will only continue to grow as personal computers become more affordable and internet services continue to be made available in the rural areas.With internet comes email and social networking services. Although email is a differentiated product from regular paper mail or commonly referred to as â€Å"snail mail†, its purpose and function is completely the same. In short, email is almost a perfect substitute product for regular paper mail. The decline in first-class mail volume started to tak e center stage when the volume of First-Class mail, where USPS gets the majority of its money from, fell below junk mail volume for the first time in 2005 (Leonard, 2011). Total mail volume declined 20% between 2006 and 2010 resulting in a total net income loss of $25B. 1-From 2011 Report on Form 10-K USPS So is email killing USPS?Although decline in First-Class mail alone cannot postulate this to be accurate, there is however undisputed evidence email has delivered a severe financial blow to USPS. Like this is not serious enough yet, digital communications continue to evolve and quickly becoming mainstream. Mobile phones or smartphones are not only capable of making a phone call but also able to send emails just about anywhere they can find service signals from their providers. The phone can also be used to send text (â€Å"texting†), providing not only faster communication than regular paper mail but even better than regular email as it requires no computer to access it and is in real time.To make matters worse for USPS, most businesses are already moving to â€Å"paperless† bill and payment delivery meaning the 20% decline in first-class mail volume in the previous years, not only will it be probably irreversible but will most likely worsen before it gets better. And then there is yet still another evolving technology that could also adversely affect USPS’s other business model, â€Å"shipping services†, and this is with the digital or electronic books. According to Amazon, the largest retailer on the web, Kindle books are just now starting to outsell printed books (Leonard, 2011). Everyday Low Pricing strategies If you are looking for the cheapest postal rate around the world, look no further than the U. S. Postal Service.For a universal rate of 44 cents (before January 12, 2011, where it rose to 45 cents), for the first ounce, a First Class letter mail can be delivered anywhere in the United States and its territories. In compa rison, for the same letter mailed locally, in Norway it would cost the sender $1. 63; in Japan it would be $1. 06, in France it would be $0. 81, in Germany it would be $0. 77, in UK it would be $0. 74 and in Canada it would be $0. 61 (Annual Report to Congress, USPS, 2011). Like this is not cheap enough yet, the Standard Mail is even cheaper consisting mostly of advertising and periodical mails. So is everyday low pricing causing financially losses USPS?In comparison to other postal services it would seem so. An analysis of this dilemma is presented in the business strategies section of this report. Outsourcing and global competition Although most U. S. companies have adopted globalization and have included outsourcing in their strategy to compete in the global market, the U. S. Postal Service remains a sole government franchise operating only nationally. As such it does not include outsourcing as a part of its business model and do not compete globally. Business Analysis Current Fi nancial Performance USPS current financial performance in the last 5 years and especially in the 2011 is in â€Å"dire straits†.With over $25B in net losses over the past five years including $21B of expenses for the prefunding of retiree health benefits, it ended 2011 with only $1. 2B in total cash and only $2. 0B of remaining borrowing capacity. The projected payments for the PSRHBF for 2012 is a staggering $11. 1B ($5. 5B for the deferred 2011 and $5. 6 for the upcoming 2012 contributions) and then there is the payment for workers’ compensation for approximately $1. 3B by September 30, 2012. Even with all the re-structuring tools available for the USPS put into place including price increases just recently approved, USPS will not be able to meet all its current year financial obligations.Unless, congress makes changes to the current requirements of prefunding USPS’ PSRHBF, the firm is technically insolvent even prior to the end of its 2012 accounting period a nd will remain so at least until 2016. Previous Financial Performance The last time USPS posted net income from its operations was in FY2004 ($3. 1B), FY2005 ($1. 626B) and FY2006 ($969M), (USPS Annual Report 2007). It was in 2006 P. L. 109-435 became a law relieving USPS of the $27B in pension liabilities for workers with military service (USPS workers with military pension used to be paid by USPS vice the U. S. Treasury) but at the same time USPS agreed to make annual payments of $5. billion for the next 10 years to build up a fund for future retirees. When this bill was signed into law, USPS was ecstatic. So for FY 2006, USPS finished the year with a net income of almost $1B. Little did it know it will be the last time USPS will ever finish the year in â€Å"black†! Future Financial outlook Future financial outlook for USPS is dimmer than ever. With decline in First Class mail volume continuously declining, there is no indication this is not permanent or worse yet decline more in coming years, even if the economy improve. So far USPS seems to be more focus on increasing its revenue by increasing prices in both of each services, i. e. , mailing and shipping services.At the same time, it also wants to reduce its operating expenses by reducing its number of employees and closing or converting some of its branches into â€Å"village post offices†. However, even with all these business strategies, USPS doesn’t seem to focus on how it can re-structure its business model to adapt to digital technologies and the use of Internet. Although, it has adapted its shipping services and selling of stamps into the digital world USPS is yet to make headways into a profitable business model. Business Strategies Product pricing One of the business strategies of USPS and usually most of businesses do is to increase product pricing everytime the end of the accounting period reports â€Å"Net Loss†! This seems to be a knee-jerk reaction since itâ€℠¢s the easiest logic to recoup â€Å"net losses†.And this is because supposedly increase in product pricing directly correlates to increase revenue thus increased profit or having to post â€Å"Net Income† instead of â€Å"Net Loss† at the end of each accounting period. However product pricing is not as plain and easy as it looks. In the case of USPS product pricing, the elasticity of each product pricing should be taken into account. USPS has validated the fact that technology, increased availability of broadband services, growing internet access in homes, declining prices in personal computers, and expanding mobile services has caused a decline in its mailing services. This is directly attributed to e-mails and online banking billing and payments.In short, email and other electronic online banking transactions, although differentiated from regular paper mail are direct substitute products. As such, it can be postulated increasing the price of USPS â€Å"maili ng services† will not necessarily translate to increased revenues. With price elasticity of demand (EP), the more there is a close substitute to a product the higher is the elasticity of demand. This is shown in the below graph: Figure 2: Managerial Economics in Global Economy (Salvatore, D, 2010) With EP greater than one (highly elastic as shown on the upper portion of the blue demand line) the demand line indicates an increase in price (PX) will result in decrease in quantity demanded (QX). With decrease in quantity demanded means reduction in total revenue.Based from the mail volume decline since 2006 (when mailing was cheaper than last year and this year) up to the present it’s almost conclusive further increase in the cost of mailing will only exacerbate the decline in mail volume; making it easier for business managers to make the decision to switch to â€Å"paperless† bill statements and delivery. Although current statutory requirements limit pricing incre ase on â€Å"shipping services† (including mailing services) to rate of inflation, USPS should request Congress to include a direct authority for USPS to increase prices (with approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission, PRC) based from increased cost of transportation, i. e. , fuel, the same strategy used by the airline industry. The airline industry started using surcharges for baggage checked in when the cost of fuel surge to unsustainable levels.USPS should have the same authority to make time sensitive changes to its pricing as it deems necessary for its continued operations with the approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). Even if given this authority, USPS should still consider the competition before it can raise shipping prices and by how much. By having the authority though, USPS can be a flexible firm able to respond in time to stop massive losses while waiting for Congress to give it an approval. Product diversity With technology, USPS has started to adapt the internet for some its product offerings. Customers can go at USPS. com and fill their forms online and even print their mailing or shipping stamps.Additionally, customers can also request home or station pick up by USPS meaning customers need not even to get out of their houses to receive mailing or shipping services. However, these shipping services are also available with USPS competitors like UPS and FEDEX and seem to be doing a better job than USPS. There is however, one product USPS offers that its competitors do not offer and this is Postal Money Order. U. S. Postal Money Orders are very popular and reliable people up to this day prefer them as a form of payment over credit or debit cards or even online fund transfer companies like Western Unions or Paypal. USPS should conduct a study on how to establish a business model allowing it to offer a digital version of its Postal Money Orders.With USPS monopoly on money orders this is almost a sure winner if it can design a digital or online business model for its money orders. In 2010, Paypal posted total revenue of $3. 4B and expects to double this revenue by 2013 (Galante, 2011). On the otherhand, Western Union posted a Net Income of $909. 9M (Yahoo Finance). With potential revenue at this level just from its money order business, USPS is posed to increase its annual business revenue tremendously compare to just increasing its product pricing. Resource utilization USPS resource utilization is obviously not at its optimal level considering the amount of losses it incurred in the last 5 years.Probably the worst resource underutilization is in the excessive number of employees and its huge fleet of gas guzzling trucks and delivery vehicles. USPS was very slow to adapt to new technology and didn’t quite see the effect of the internet with its mailing services and continued rising cost of fuel. This is in spite of the significant decline in First-Class mailing volumes as early as 2005 and the mor e than $100 a barrel of crude oil in 2008. USPS did not initiate to stop Saturday’s mail delivery until 2010 when it was already losing tens of billions in income. USPS tries to optimize its resource utilization by working interdependently with its â€Å"Shipping Services† competitors like UPS’ â€Å"UPS Basic† and FedEx’s â€Å"Smart Post†.However, USPS should strive instead to get as much of this business for itself instead of having to share it with its competitors. This doesn’t mean it has to get rid of this interdependency relationship as it helps in its resource utilization but should try to get as much as it can so as to enjoy the revenue for itself instead of sharing with others. And it can easily accomplish this through pricing, which it has an advantage over the competition. With oil price increases in 2008, USPS should have started switching or equipping its delivery vehicles either to more fuel efficient vehicles or those equipped to use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). According to Consumer Energy Report. om (Rapier, 2009), based from EPA reports, a gallon of gasoline contains approximately 115,000 BTU’s of energy while a Standard Cubic Feet (SCF) of natural gas contains 1,000 BTU’s (hence 115 SCF of CNG equates to 1 gallon of gasoline). In November 2011, the national average price of gasoline was $3. 37 a gallon while for diesel it was $4. 01 a gallon (Consumer Report, 2011). On the same period, the price for natural gas is $8. 60 per thousand SCF for commercial rate and $4. 53 for industrial rate (EIA. gov, 2012). A thousand SCF of natural gas equates to 8. 7 gallons of gasoline or diesel (1,000 divided by 115), meaning had USPS converted some of its vehicles into CNG, it would only be paying approximately 98. 85 cents to equivalent gallon of gasoline or diesel at the commercial rate price, and even less if given the industrial rate price.At present, price of natural gas has declined al though not significantly but it might as well be because on the other end of the spectrum the price of gasoline rose to almost $4 a gallon from $3. 37 in November 2010, an increase of 18. 7% and it is just starting to get worse. USPS has the largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the world numbering to 215,625 burning through more than 399 million of gallons of gasoline/diesel for a total of 1. 25 billion miles driven (Postal Facts, 2011); it could have easily saved tens of millions of dollars with the use of CNG. USPS should continue with its strategy of reducing its number of employees and post office branches or converting some branches into â€Å"Village Post Offices†. Additionally, it should also strive to reduce its delivery service from a 6-day to a 5-day delivery.Although this may sound like an easy feat to accomplish, i. e. , to reduce operating cost due to reduced mail volume, it is not. This is because although there has been a decrease in mail volume there is howev er an increase in delivery points. So the bottom line is although reducing operating cost is a positive step, USPS can only reduce it for so much and for so long before it starts failing in providing fundamental postal services to the nation; its primary mandate and reason for existence. The other strategy for USPS besides operating cost reduction is synergized on what it is currently accomplishing now and for the future. Cost Volume Profit Analysis Cost-Volume-Profit analysis or breakeven analysis is a process of determining the output where a firm breaks even or earns a target profit from the total revenue and total cost functions of the firm† (Salvatore, D. 2012). Unlike manufacturing or production firms, or any private firms, the USPS has a constant mandate to provide â€Å"fundamental postal service† to the nation. As such, it requires a minimum number of employees, material and other resources to accomplish this task, hence an absolute minimum operating cost. In p rivate sector, when a firm CVP analysis indicates a decline in total revenue (TR) compare to total cost (TC), its tendency is to reduce TC until it is low enough to gain profit.Even better for the firm it has the option of totally abandoning some specific operations or productions if it cannot gain profit despite drastic reductions in TC. However, this is not the case for the USPS. With minimum requirements to provide fundamental postal service to the nation, the USPS cannot reduce its TC to the point it will cease some or even a single part of its operation, despite heavy net losses in income. When USPS is operating at a loss and has done just about everything to minimize its TC, its only other option is to increase the volume of its business to at least break even. With decline in mail volume still yet to hit bottom, USPS needs to venture to different products especially those taking advantage of the internet and other evolving technologies.It is only through additional products o r improvement in current existing products USPS can increase volume of its business to at least cover its minimum operating cost. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Being a government own firm, USPS has some inherent strengths in its business model as follows: 1. Monopoly of the mailing service industry 2. Open Credit lines or borrowing up to $15B from the Federal Financing Bank, which can also be increased in due time with the approval of Congress 3. Large operating capacity with more than 33,000 facilities throughout the nation 4. A non-profit organization whose only financial objective is to break even giving it the strength to undermine the competition through low pricing 5.Highly resilient to cyclical changes in the economy brought by recessions and inflations 6. Modern technological network infrastructures and highly computerized distribution systems USPS should utilize its strengths to increase revenue especially with its business goal of only requiring breaking even. It can also flex its strength in pricing to beat the competition when it comes to its shipping services. With its large operating capacities it should plan to expand its business model to achieve â€Å"economies of scale†. USPS weaknesses also come mostly from the same institution that gave some of its strengths: 1. Large operating cost due to large required coverage in mail and shipping deliveries as mandated by Congress 2.Very little diversity in products and services despite large operating capacities and highly technological networked infrastructure 3. Very little to none bargaining power with employees management organizations or unions 4. Very restrictive operating schedules and product pricing flexibilities 5. Slow adaptability in a highly changing business environment brought by newer technology due to restrictions placed upon the firm by Congress through the Post Office Regulatory Commission 6. Large number inefficient fleet of vehicles 7. Very expensive emplo yee pension and retiree health benefit plans Weaknesses in large number of inefficient fleet of vehicles unnecessarily contributing to high operating cost can be easily avoided with the use of alternate energy like CNG.Congress should give temporary authority to USPS to effect price changes as a result of out of the ordinary changes in fuel costs and other materials and resources it uses to fulfill its mandate. The two most readily available opportunities for USPS mostly come only in two forms, i. e. product diversity and more use of the internet as another source of business revenue. This can be as simple as developing a business model to the current postal money orders so it can be transformed to something like e-Money Order that can be used for online fund transfers the same as Paypal’s or Western Unions business model do. As for product diversity, USPS should start looking into expanding its shipping services to aggressively compete directly with UPS and FedEx.The biggest threat facing USPS is the continuing decline of its mailing services. Despite the big proposal of increasing prices supposedly supplementing losses, it’s more likely the more USPS continue to raise prices in its mailing services the sooner it will decline more. The threat of defaulting with its PSRHBF funding for this year and probably for the following years is imminent. The possibility of a government bailout seems to be very more likely starting this year and the years thereafter. USPS needs to face the reality of the internet technology and should start restructuring its business model so as to treat the internet as an ally instead of an adversary. ConclusionAn expeditious and short term solution to the Unites States Postal Service current financial problem is way out of reach of the sole capability of the firm and requires a congressional legislation to make it happen. This specifically with the firms mandated annual $5. 5B prefund contribution to its PSRHBF where $11. 1B is due by September 30, 2012. In addition there is also the $1. 3B Workers’ Compensation Fund required to be paid to the DOL at the end of the fiscal year. To keep USPS financially solvent and operational at least for the time being, Congress should legislate to postpone payments to the PSRHBF and to the Workers’ Compensation for the next three years.This should give enough â€Å"breathing room† for USPS to stay â€Å"afloat† while at the same time implementing its multi-prong strategies of reducing its operating costs, increasing revenues, diversifying its products and improving its processes and methodologies to attract more customers. References: 1. Amadeo, K, (n. d. ) U. S. Economy, How is Unemployment Defined. Retrieved February 18 2012, from http://useconomy. about. com/od/supply/f/unemploy_define. htm. 2. Average gas prices – – November 21, 2011, Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://news. consumerreports. org/cars/2011/11/averag e-gas-prices-november-21-2011. html. 3. Beatty, A, (September 20, 2010) U. S. Exits Longest Recession SinceWorld War II, retrieved 19 February 2012 from http://www. commondreams. org/headline/2010/09/20-5. 4. Bentley, M. (April 2010), Carrier Consolidation Services: An inside guide to OPS basic and FEDEX SmartPost, retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. parcelindustry. com. 5. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, (February 2010), Current Population Survey, October 2009. Retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. census. gov/hhes/computer/publications/2009. html. 6. Galante, J. (Feb 10, 2011). Paypal’s Revenue Will double by 2013, Thompson Says, Bloomberg. Retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www. bloomberg. com/news. 7. Geddes, R. R. , (June 01, 2003).Opportunities for Anti-Competitive Behavior in the Postal Services, AEI Online retrieved February 12, 2012 from http://www. aei. org/article/opportunities-for-anticompetitive-behavior-in-postal-services/. 8. Inflation: Wha t is Inflation? retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. investopedia. com/university/inflation/inflation1. asp#axzz1mtwFSACX. 9. Income Statement, Western Union Company, Yahoo Finance. Retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www. yahoo. com/finance. 10. Kosar, K. R. (January 27, 2012) The U. S. Postal Service’s Financial Condition: Overview and Issued for Congress, retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://www. fas. org/sgp/crs/misc/R41024. pdf. 11.Leonard, D (May 25, 2011) the U. S. Postal Service nears Collapse†, Bloomberg Businessweek, retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://www. businessweek. com/print/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070. htm. 12. Natural Gas Prices Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://www. eia. gov/dnav/ng/ng_pri_sum_dcu_nus_m. htm. 13. Postal Facts 2011 Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://about. usps. com/who-we-are/postal-facts/welcome. htm. 14. Rapier, R. (Jun 19, 2009) How Much Natural Gas to Replace Gasoline? Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://www. consumerenergyreport. com/2009/06/19/how-much-natural-gas-to-replace- gasoline/. 15. Salvatore, D. (2012).Managerial economics in a global economy (5th ed), New York, NY: Oxford University. 16. United States Postal Regulatory Commission, Annual Form 10-K Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 for FY ended September 30, 2011. 17. United States Postal Service 2011 Annual Report to Congress, retrieved February 16, 2012 from, http://about. usps. com/publications/annual-report-comprehensive-statement-2011/annual-report-comprehensive-statement-2011. pdf. 18. United States Postal Service Annual Report 2007 retrieved February 20, 2012 from http://about. usps. com/strategic-planning/cs07/chpt5-002. htm.

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What is sociology, anyway Why bother to study it - Essay Example The official and the most likely reason for the US war on Iraq is not aligned with the author’s claim that war occurs because a lack of understanding of each other’s behavior. There was also no justification for what Hitler’s and his Nazi party was doing prior to World War II, thus not understanding the Nazi culture was not a justifiable excuse for the US and its allies not to have gone to war with Germany. Sociology can be defined as the scientific study of human society and social behavior (NesSmith, pg. 5). The author of the article had a lot of good ideas about the importance of sociology to our society. An innovation that has helped the global society connect more has been the internet. The internet allows for instant communication from people from different parts of the world and provides its users with a vast database of information that can be used to learn about other people’s culture. The culture of each nation across the world is different, but these differences are what make the planet a unique and interesting place to live

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An argumentative with a thesis statement which argues for or against liberty for the individual - Research Paper Example Liberty is our freedom to self-determine and self-govern our lives, both in thought, expression, and actions. The Pursuit of Happiness is considered to be a substitution for the traditional right of Property, and this is a fundamental difference between the concept of natural rights as posited by the American founders vs. their European counterparts in Enlightenment thinking. Nevertheless, they key to both views of Liberty is the writing of John Locke where he posited a system of â€Å"natural rights† which were endemic to the human existence, and as such inalienable, unable to be abrogated by government institutions. Men could bind together to form governments that protected these rights and led to progress in many areas, but if governments violated these fundamental rights of man, it was nature itself and no other legal or political power that the individual could invoke as the foundation for resistance or revolution. â€Å"The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it, which obliges every one, and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions. The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of Nature for his rule.† (Locke, 1690) Thus, because of the natural rights of man, the individual has an autonomy based in liberty, freedom and self-determination, this is fundamental – in religion, God-given. In this manner, other men cannot violate these rights or take away the liberty of the individual without inspiring a legitimate self-defense reaction from the individual, just as if another sought to steal his property or take his life. The justification of defense of Liberty is natural, based in the natural rights of man, and thus in Ayn Rand’s â€Å"Anthem† we see how the totalitarian society of the

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Outline - Essay Example The introduction part points out that some of the basic economic factors like price, income and unemployment can largely affect the whole social and political systems within a country. The body part of the paper analyses aggregate demand curve and aggregate supply curve, with emphasis on how price and other determinants like technology, consumer spending and wealth, exchange rate, investment and government spending etc affect aggregate demand and aggregate supply curve. With the help of diagram, the paper emphasizes that the curve of aggregate demand will always be downward sloping because of major three factors that are real-balance effect, interest rate effect and foreign purchase effects (McConnel and Brue, 194- 195). With the help of both short run and long run aggregate supply curves, the paper addressed key factors that can shift the curves. The paper concludes with opinions from author’s point of view and with suggestions for conducting further analysis on the effects of exchange rates and impacts of unused resources on long run aggregate supply

Subsidies are also one form of social services as the Government Essay Example for Free

Subsidies are also one form of social services as the Government Essay With the increasing diversity and complexity in which services are facilitated by the United States Social Welfare system, it needs to be elaborated and reviewed accordingly so as to help benefactors get the best of what they have and necessitate the optimum available alternatives on their part. One important example given in the text is the power over decisions. This initiative enables and evokes the â€Å"right to make decisions that serve self-interests of a particular group with which decision maker is affiliated† (Chambers and Wedel, 2005, p.   94). This example can best serve if for example the healthcare department of one state agrees to place a qualified professional to make decisions on what programs need to be tackled for a particular period. On the other hand, this initiative can be costly to individuals and groups if the decision making process is tainted with a subjective purpose. For instance, a designated man may advocate a particular scheme because his company or service can benefit more in the process while disregarding the needs of other groups. Subsidies are also one form of social services as the Government tries to shoulder various expenses incurred in some aspects mandated by law (Chambers and Wedel, 2005). In here, the positive aspect of such facet can be the government reaching out to starting sectors in the economy and giving them the needed boost to succeed. On the other hand, one negative aspect of this is that not all sectors are given subsidies. Due to this, only selected and limited parties benefit from the process. Lastly, positive discrimination is a form of social service that tries to provide individuals and groups who have been treated harshly or unequally by the government (Chambers and Wedel, 2005). It is a form of setting restorative justice for those individuals discriminated by the old system. This connotes a positive attitude because it the Government tries to reach out and provide the necessary changes in their lives. For example, an African American was not given a good job despite his credentials has the option to apply for this. Contrary to these, it also brings about the question of its legality and notion of the action to create restorative justice. Due to this, limited people receive this kind of service and are primarily determined by court. Reference Chambers, D. E. and Wedel, K. R. (2005) Chapter 5: Who Gets What: Analysis of Types of Benefits and Services in Social Policy and Social Programs: A Method for the Practical Public Policy Analyst. 4th ed. Allyn and Bacon; Pearson Education 90-108.

Adding Value In Supply Chain Management Commerce Essay

Adding Value In Supply Chain Management Commerce Essay This chapter reviews the relevant literature and starts with discussion on Adding Value in supply chain management with special focus on pharmaceutical industry and to understanding firms supply chain management and competitive advantages. With involved four major points those are Challenges, Collaboration and Planning High performance delivery, Integration Implementation. Following there is a discussion on theoretical framework on supply chain management, role of top management and overview of latest supply chain management systems. In the last this chapter conclude with summary. 2.1 Adding Value in supply chain management: First question arise that what is Value adding in supply chain? Base on literature review value adding is the difference between input cost and output value (Hines, 2004, p.224). Value added along supply chain takes the form of tangible goods added and intangible services supplied (Hines, 2004). Value added notify to any additional value created at a particular stage of service by key service factors including; tangible value added through material transformation, labour and captical goods and intangible value added through capital and building of collaborative relationships. Firms can add value in many ways, like improve supply method from current level to higher level which is also part of add value in supply chain. Value adding resources within a supply chain are the tangible (processes). Intangible capabilities of a firm (firm attributes, firm controlled information, knowledge and collaborative relationships) enhance efficiency and effectiveness (Cunningham, 1995). By reviewing literature, the value chain concept was developed and popularized in 1985 by Michael Porter in Competitive Advantage. Porter defined value as the amount buyers or customers are willing to pay for what a firm provides, and he visualized the value chain as the arrangement of nine basic values to customers. Porter linked up the value chains between firms to form what he mentioned a value system; now in present era of globalisation and collaboration the link between two firms creating value process called the value chain. As value chain name involves the interpedently processes that generate value of products and the resulting demand and funds flows that are created. According to the Martin Christopher value chain activities can be categorized into two types primary activities (Inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and services) and support activities (Infrastructure, human resource management, technology development and procurement) (Christo pher, 2005). From the literature review, author suggests that first, we need to understand the physical resources that are required within a supply chain to create and deliver a finished service to a customer. Second, we must understand the exchange relationship between particular supply chain resources and the flow of revenue in the value chain. Third, we must also understand what it is about the ownership and control of particular supply chain resources that allows certain resources to command more of the flow of value than others. In understanding this, the process of analytically mapping the properties of power within supply and value chains can commence. To deliver a value, product category and availability is also play important role in supply chain management. By reviewing literature, author understand that alternative perspective of viewing supply chains as value chains identifies economic value as being added through coordinated management of the flow of physical goods and information at each stage of the chain (Davis Stewart, 2004). The theoretical basis for supply chains, Handfield and Nichol (2002, p8), define them as including all organisation and activities associated with the flow and transformation of goods from the materials stage, through to the end user, as well as the associated information flows Information sharing is identified as a key driver for improving supply chain performance and enhancing competitive advantage (Zhang, 2006). Additionally supply chains can be characterised as value system and are defined as a connected series of organisations, resources and knowledge streams involved in the creation and delivery of value to the end customer(Handfield Nichols, 2002, P11). 2.1.2 Companys supply chain management and competitive advantage: Definition of supply chain is the network of organizations that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services delivered to the ultimate consumer (Christopher 1992). In other words, a supply chain consists of multiple firms, both upstream (i.e., supply) and downstream (i.e., distribution), and the ultimate consumer (John T. Mentzer, 2001). The philosophy behind supply-chain management has changed. Previously the central concept was to manage an inventory that acted as a buffer between a limited production capacity and variable customer demands. The scope of the task was interpreted as managing warehouses and transport operations. The current priority is to engineer the supply chain as a seamless whole, breaking down the barriers that have existed between purchasing, production, distribution and sales. These issues are particularly relevant to the pharmaceutical industry. Functions have traditionally operated independently and there has been a consequent sub optimization of the supply chain by fragmenting it along functional lines. In its new form, supply-chain management is a corporate-level task on which several strategic objectives depend, not least ensuring a satisfactory return on capital employed while ensuring the supply of goods and services to designated markets at the service levels demanded. To achieve this, even at a national level, using local facilities to supply local markets is a challenge, requiring close integration of the supply chain and subjugation of functional/ departmental objectives to the needs of the supply chain as a whole. To achieve it globally is much more difficult (Booth, 1996). 2.1.3 Contemporary approaches to achieve competitive advantage: One of the first ideas about theoretical framework for understanding firms performance is Porter (1980). He introduces a strategic and analytical approach to understanding competitive strategy, and said that Every firm competing in an industry has a competitive strategy, whether open or hidden (Porter, 1980). He proposes a framework for analysis industries and competitors and describes three generic strategies, cost leadership, differentiation and focus. He postulates that if a firm is able to do well in any of these strategic fields, It will gain competitive advantage. Porters concept is portraying in below figure. Competitive Advantage of a Firm Generic Competitive strategies Overall cost leadership Differentiation Focus Figure: 2-1: Strategies to achieve competitive advantage: source Porter (1980). -Cost Leadership is most important in competitive pharmaceutical distribution chain, efficient-scale facilities, pursuit of cost reductions, and cost minimization in all areas of the firm. This action can increase companys profit. -Differentiation of product like, different one medicine in different brand (Ports and Blister pack) or service differentiation including design and brand image, customer service, and distribution or dealer network. This action can help increase customer loyalty and ensure often purchase. -Focus on markets, buyers or product line (new line of medicine with its generics version) can help to achieve competitive advantage. The framework of Porter, in fig 2-1 shows, that the proficient strategies can provide competitive advantage. Porter (1980) also argues that competitive advantage comes from the many separate activities a firm achieve in designing, storage, marketing, delivering and creating owns products. Each of this processing contributes to a firms relative cost to position and creates a basis for differentiation. This is the Pharmaceutical logistic value chain, and a firm has to recollection its strategically relevant activities in order to understand the behaviour of costs and the existing and potential sources of differentiation. A company gains competitive advantage by performing these strategically important activities better than its competitors (Porter, 1985). The general value chain concept, and Sigmas existing concept is illustrated in figure 2-2. Supply chain advance Marketing Leadership Advance Primary Activities Profit Margin Support Activities Inbound Sigma House Picking and Customer Marketing Logistics (Warehouse) Assembling Service Tele-sales Procurement Human Resource Management Technology service Development Firm (Sigmas) Infrastructure and Platform Services Figure 2-2: The value chain and Theoretical Framework to achieve competitive Advantage (Adapted from Porter 1985). The definition of supply chain including all basic activities, therefore sales, marketing and customer service activities can be construed as part of the supply chain approach show in the above figure. In company, Tele-sales and marketing processes, such as demand management, order processing and customer relationship building management are included in the internal processes shown in the figure and in the supply chain literature review. However, sales and marketing activity, such as sales calls, advertising and some post delivery support processes are excluded from supply chain activity. This is consistent with the approach taken by the supply chain model it uses to measure supply chain activity (Supply chain council, 2007). There is various types of approaches to achieve competitive advantage, strategic approach, 2.1.4 The strategic Planning approach: In important of porter (1980) approaches, a strategic planning approach that is companys competitive advantage can be planned for this. This includes planning for differentiation in the delivering a value in supply chain, low cost leadership and focus. Strategy is always the product of a complex and unexpected interplay between basic information, personalities and aspiration according to Hamel (1998). What this implies is that one does not gain for obvious solution and strategies but should look at alternatives, challenge assumptions, and look at new ways of delivering superior customer value and firm performance. 2.1.5 Marketing strategy approach: The marketing capabilities approach introduces the concept of capabilities of a market driven organization and explores the links between capabilities and a firms performance and market success (Day, 1999). A firms competitive advantage comes from two sources: Assets or resources, which are acquired over time and distinct capabilities, which are the glue that holds these assets together. Examples are DHLs secure delivery across the globe and Walmarts logistic systems. Such capabilities provide competitive advantage and help organization to deliver a value to its every customer. Other Proponents of the marketing capability approach are cool and Derrick (1989), Aaker (1989), caves and Gale (1987). The concept of capabilities is not new and was proposed much earlier by penrose in 1959. However, this has been popularized as the concept of core competencies of the corporation that can lead to a firms success by Hamel and Prahalad in 1990. They actually propose some tests to measure the st rength and success of core competencies. An example of Federal expresses its packaging and delivery process. The product differentiation approach by Trout (2000), states that what matters is differentiation of product or service, that are too many choice in todays world, and only differentiation provides competitive advantage. In Pharmaceutical business there many manufacture produce a medicine under different choice, keeping all different sort of product and supplying on time will be better advantage over the competitive. 2.1.6 The Introduction of the supply chain approach: In the competitive market of the early decade, there has been a change in management action, resulting for searching strategies that provide superior value to customers. As a result in the supply chain approach to gaining competitive advantage has moved into the frontline of business strategies, especially in developed countries. This approach has its introduced from historical military campaigns (Britannica, 1999) and recently from porter of value chain, with its importance on inbound and outbound logistics, and production operation. In a discussion on marketing logistics thinking argue that logistics has major impact on customer satisfaction, success and costs. They recommend that a firm manage its entire supply chain and that such an approach will add value in existing supply chain within the organization and will help to gain competitive advantage over rival. 2.2 Supply chain Management and factors: 2.2.1 Definition of supply chain and management: It will be helpful to go through some basic definitions of supply chain and management: Supply chain is all inter linked resources and activities needed to create and deliver products and service to customers (Hakanson, 1999). Supply chain management goes advance and including managing supply and demand, resourcing, assembling and packing, distribution across the globe and delivery to the every customer (Supply chain council, 2009). A more on supply chain management is a network of relationships, with the goal to deliver superior value, the management of upper level and lower level relationships with suppliers and customers to deliver best value in services at effective cost to the supply chain as a whole (Christopher, 1998). This definition is a key part of this dissertation in terms of gaining competitive advantage or delivering best value to sigma pharmaceutical customers. 2.2.2 Key areas of Supply chain management system: References Literature Review 1. Christopher, M. (2005). Logistic and supply chain managment. London: FT prentice Hall. 2. Handfield, R. B. Nichols, E. L. (2002) Supply Chain Redesign: Transforming Supply Chains into Integrated Value systems, U.S.A: Prentice Hall. 3. Zhang, C. (2006). Secure Information sharing in Internet-based supply chain management systerms. Coumputer Information Systems , 18-24. 4.

Post Implementation Review of Concur

Post Implementation Review of Concur 1. PURPOSE OF PROJECT CHARTER The purpose of the project charter is to setup the guidelines on which the entire project will go on. Project charter is basically to set the scope, budget, time and technology that will be used in the project after the discussion between client and team members. so, the post implementation review of concur will be done to assess whether extended destinations will meet, to decide how adequately the project will run and to learn lessons for the future, and to ensure that it will be beneficial for concur customers and users to get the conceivable advantage from the project.. Concur was developed by sniff and was further purchased by federation university and they use it for their staff which provides an estimate price for the travel expenses by getting feedbacks from the current users. when it regards to business travel and cost coordination it means everything. So with Concur our business travel and costs are coordinated by giving us a superior client encounter more precise information and wealthier answering to help us to settle on better choices and increment strategy control while sparing time and cash. There travel booking tools gives them arrangement worldwide travel content that is effortlessly open and constantly accessible from any place on the planet. Travelers have an expansive choice of travel decisions in light of corporate arrangement and individual traveler inclinations. Travelers can rapidly book local and global flights and reserve a spot for rental autos, hotels and trains. Once the trip is reserved travelers can oversee trip subtle ele ments like flight delay, cancellationÂÂ   and baggage claims.. Individual can do all these things in a single place. Concur also offer an web application to manage the trips. Concur make the record of all the bills like cab fare, air fare, hotel booking and food bills. There are several apps that are partnered with concur like Uber, Starbucks and they send their bill receipts directly to the Concur app which helps the user to take control of their expenses. 1. BUSINESS NEED IMPACT Concur system helps the people in making their travel easier by giving them the fair idea of the expenses before making a travel. Concur also helps in booking hotels, cabs, air tickets so that the traveler can travel without any worry and can make the arrangements on the spot. This helps business companies to grow while collaborating with Concur by increasing their customers. 2. STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT Project goals: Goal 1: Document the system impact and how it meets the objectives of the relevant stakeholder groups Goal 2: the major problem faced by concur team to deal with software .Its very complicated for the workers to work on this software. Goal 3: Identify the Concur glitches like after the completion of trip, some of the customers are getting e-mails to clear their dues which are already paid by customer. Goal 4: Update Concur with customer requirements like some customers recommend to stay in 3 star hotel rather than 5 star to save their money and some ask to use new technology updates. Goal 5: Address stakeholder and end-user needs 1. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the post implementation review of Concur are as follows: Better customer satisfaction in customer requirements, booking services, real time solution , real time updation in increased air fare and more options to select. Make required update in Concur solutions of problems that are faced by customers Data Analysation to get more correct expense estimate for the trip to be travelled in future. 2. HIGH-LEVEL REQUIREMENTS Req. # I Requirement Description 1 The project should match stakeholders requirements 2 The project should make Concur in control and reduce future risk 3 Identify the impact of Concur implemented 4 Based on the objective facts, judge the system shortfalls 5 Conduct user review and feedback of Concur system 6 Conduct further training and coaching of Concur system 1. TIMELINE Time Activity 08/03/2017 Project begins and weekly activity report start 15/03/2017 Meet with client 25/03/2017 Project charter approved 05/04/2017 Meet with client 07/05/2017 Project progress report approved 18/05/2017 Meet with client 27/05/2017 Team presentation 30/05/2017 Final project report approved 06/06/2017 Individual report 2. KEY MILESTONES Key Milestones Estimated Completion Timeframe Project team formed 28/02/2017-07/03/2017 End-user interview 08/03/2017-30/05/2017 Concur system research 08/03/2017-30/05/2017 Project charter approved 12/03/2017-26/03/2017 Project progress report 02/04/2017-07/05/2017 Team presentation 08/05/2017-27/05/2017 Final project report 08/05/2017-30/05/2017 Project released 30/05/2017-04/06/2017 1. ASSUMPTIONS Projects are actually judged against two parameters: How it is well defined? How well defined are methods to achieve it? Project should be divided in three structures Product breakdown structure Organization breakdown structure Work break down structure For good objectives it should meet following criteria. Outcome Oriented: Speaks to important changes in basic threat and opportunity figures that influence project goals. Measurable: Characterized in connection to some standard scale (numbers, rate, parts, or all/nothing states. Time Limited: Should be achievable within aÂÂ   given period. Specific: Clearly defined so that all people involved in the project have the same knowledge of what the terms in the objective mean . Practical: Appropriate or achievable within the context of the project and in light of the social and financial context. 2. CONSTRAINTS Sometime the roles of team member changes if they cant handle the problem Less training or knowledge of team to understand the project. The analysis report given to client not accepted in case demand changes. Policies selected for accomplishing the goal not liked by the client. Project managers having difficulty to handle team and client because of less experience. 3. RISKS Unreal expenses documents submission by the current users. Change in government policies. Hike in airfares and other traveling aspects. A delay in one task deteriorates the quality of project. Time and budget management risk. Risk Category: Requirement Risk Requirement not fully known at project start Not deliver the expected results to the client Risk Category: Project Management Risk Priorities changes while working on project Sometime same resources required at same time Success criteria not well defined Risk Category: Product/Technology Risk Market competition with the similar softwares. Update in technology may result in budget risk. Technology selected to achieve project goal is poor. Including extra analysis method that are not required. Risk Category: Customer Risk Customer demand new requirements under the given time. Customer not accept the proposal Customer force to work different technology rather than previously used. Client not supportive. 1. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES This section describes the key roles supporting the project. Person Role Responsibility Fiona Bryant (client) Client Provide information about concur to the team and share problem faced while working with concur. Surjeet singh (team member) Project manager Deliver the project to client expectations, Monitor and report to client on project progress, Advise client if project appears to be in danger of non delivery, control project scope and time, keep contact with team members for their working progress and difficulties, contact coordinator if client is unavailable; Work on plan and write project report of every part of the project with other team members, provide the report to client and supervisor. Taiwo Oseni (Supervisor) Coordinate project Give advice if client is unavailable, help the team to finish the project, help team members contact client if the team loose contact with client, balance the project requirement between team members and client, get project working process and project report from project manager and give advice. Harman (team member) Risk manager, researcher Control the project risk, support/provide responsive action for every times risk if happen; Work on plan and write project report of every part of the project with other team members, , discuss the project report detail with other team members; Amrit (team member) Documenter, Interviewer Work on plan and write project report of every part of the project with other team members, discuss the project report detail with other team members; discuss the client requirement with other team members and how to achieve the requirement; Interview end-user to get system feedback, check the coaching process and training materials Xinwen Hu (team member) Main documenter Execute issue management process when issues happen, Work on plan and write project report of every part of the project with other team members, discuss the project report detail with other team members, integrate all members report and provide it to project manager; Researching and help team members to get useful resources. 2. STAKEHOLDERS (INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL) Stakeholder Interest / stake Importance Fiona Bryant (Client) Make Concur able to use High Project manager Manage project , satisfy client ,fix meetings. Medium Team members Work on project, satisfy client Low Taiwo Oseni (Supervisor) Help team member finish the project Medium FedUni End-user Skilled to use Concur easily High The undersigned acknowledge they have reviewed the project charter and authorize and fund the post implementation review of Concur project. Changes to this project charter will be coordinated with and approved by the undersigned or their designated representatives. Signature: Date: Print Name: Title: Role: Signature: Date: Print Name: Title: Role: Signature: Date: Print Name: Title: Role:

Affirmative Action Essay -- essays research papers

The roots of Affirmative Action can be traced back to the passage of the Civil Rights Act where legislation redefined public and private behavior. The act states that to discriminate in private is legal, but anything regarding business or public discrimination is illegal. There are two instances when opposing affirmative action might seem the wrong thing to do. The nobility of the cause that help others. Affirmative Action was a great starter for equality in the work place. The most promanite variable in deciding Affirmative Action as right or wrong, is whether or not society is going to treat people as groups or individuals. Affirmative Action is a question of morals. The simplicity to form two morals that are both correct but conflicting is the reason for the division of our nation on Affirmative Action. Affirmative Action is very noble when looking at who benefits from the outcome. Let us take a closer look at Affirmative Action. The people that are involved and the damage it takes on our society arouses many doubts. Taking a closer look also stirs up a question of nobility that needs to be answered before making a decision on Affirmative Action. Does Affirmative Action simply change who is discriminated against and makes it legal for the new discriminators? Coming from my point of view, the view of a white male, this is a serious question. The job reviews of supervisors and others involved in hiring should address race and sex. Each review should have a hiring goal of at least half of our new employees being women and at least half non-white. Lets put this strategy to work. We have ten positions to fill, these positions can be filled following the above guidelines by hiring five black women. It can also be met by hiring five white women and five non-white men. Obviously to successfully meet this goal would mean to not hire a white male. People strongly disagree with their white forefathers and society today which address race and sex when hiring. Using a persons skin color in hiring is discrimination no matter how society looks at it. The whole idea behind Affirmative Action is to right the wrongs of the past. Well, what about the individuals that were not even born when this atrocity of discrimination was going on? Society should not punish the youth for the crimes of their white male fore... ... not force them into the work force or Universities. Some Universities here in the United States have based enrollment on College Board's and SAT's or ACT's, none of which show intelligence levels. Rather these test's show the standards of education that the individual has encountered. These test scores sometimes become a form of discrimination against minorities. Because they are not fluent in how the test are held and are supposed to know the same amount. Another form of evaluating students is where the Universities and government need to focus, to establish a standard in education that spans across all levels of income. Affirmative Action is definitely not the answer for equality today. Now it is time to apply new moral threats, not towards the employers and colleges but towards the government. For it is the government that needs to change its polices. The government needs to take action towards the real problems of equality: poverty, not the bad white man from the past. Affirmative action is simply the same old discrimination in reverse. It seems that the minorities are the ones with the advantage when there should be no advantage to anyone.