Comparison of XTO Energy and Devon Energy Companies :: Energy Business Companies Workforce Essays

Correlation of XTO Energy and Devon Energy Companies Organization Background XTO Energy Inc. is a head household petroleum gas and oil maker occupied with the procurement, abuse and advancement of value, enduring gas and oil properties. The Company, whose forerunner organizations were set up in 1986, finished its first sale of stock in May 1993. Its properties and exercises are gathered in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado, Alaska and Louisiana. Serious Environment XTO works in the lower-top oil and gas business. They contend straightforwardly with bigger free organizations like Devon Energy, Anadarko, and Apache. XTO’s principle center is getting built up, extensive properties, which are low in chance, and apply the most ideal innovation to amplify creation. Structure In light of meetings with the board, we found that XTO’s the board style supports development. Workers are urged to request pardoning and not authorization. We’ve took in this semester through talk and readings, that this administration procedure engages representatives and gives them the self-sufficiency they like and the opportunity to make. Representatives that work under this sort of the board style are not confronted with the chance of loosing their occupations in the event that they settle on a business choice that ends up having negative outcomes. Representatives are allowed to improve and face down to earth challenges. The organization culture at XTO is depicted as laid back and loose. XTO accepts that significant oil and gas organizations can't execute this sort of culture because of their size. Since XTO is littler, the organization can convey an entirely different arrangement from what the majors utilize. As the organization quickly develops, this casual prac tice has become a worry for XTO’s the executives. The organization has as of late developed so much that they’ve needed to pull back marginally on the casual environment. The board has been working with Human Resources to expand the measure of structure inside the organization. It is not yet clear if this strategy will smother organization advancement. XTO’s primary concentration in overseeing individuals has been to adjust and hold fast to employees’ interests and aptitudes. In the event that a worker gets ineffective or impartial with her present place of employment accountabilities, the board will discover choices for the representative first before end. The executives will move a representative to a specialty unit where she may have the best chance to exceed expectations, and where her range of abilities and interests will be generally used - an arrangement with the â€Å"best practices† idea concentrated in this course.

Business Strategy - multi-national conglomerate Essay

Business Strategy - global combination - Essay Example Because of the organization's tremendous size, it faces issues acclimating to the prerequisites in quickly changing economic situations. 1.2.1.1 Recommended Strategies The organization should focus on advancement of cordless apparatuses and market them utilizing its successful publicizing system. The assembling plant should be migrated to moderately prudent zone with the goal that the expense of creation can be diminished. Separate situating is required for purchaser and expert instruments; henceforth the organization should mark them independently. Littler and reasonable Strategic Business Units (SBUs) can be made which are progressively receptive to the changing business sector request and needs. The organization ought to draw in the merchants utilizing idea of vertical mix. 1.2.2 Makatume Absence of spotlight on power apparatuses for purchaser showcase channel that is required to develop. This may bring about loss of income to the organization. 1.2.2.1 Recommended Strategies The organization needs to address this issue by setting up a division for delivering power apparatuses for buyer showcase including corded and cordless instruments. These devices ought to be created for people and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) sort of clients. 1.3 Opportunities 1.3.1 Smith and White Corporation The remainder of the market comprises of a few local and remote specialty contenders with nobody having more prominent than 5% portion of the absolute market. The cordless apparatuses showcase is developing at a high rate and can be tapped. 1.3.1.1 Recommended Strategies The organization should concentrate on creating cordless devices as the market is developing at an exceptionally high pace of 10% every year. Innovative work spending should be built up and inventive structures and models ought to be created to tap this creating market. Moreover, the organization ought to create procedures to expand boundaries to section for...The fabricating plant should be moved to generally affordable territory with the goal that the expense of creation can be diminished. Separate situating is required for buyer and expert devices; henceforth the organization should mark them independently. Littler and sensible Strategic Business Units (SBUs) can be made which are progressively receptive to the changing business sector request and needs. The organization ought to draw in the merchants utilizing idea of vertical joining. The organization needs to address this issue by setting up a division for delivering power apparatuses for buyer showcase including corded and cordless devices. These devices ought to be created for people and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) kind of clients. The organization should concentrate on creating cordless apparatuses as the market is developing at a high pace of 10% every year. Innovative work spending should be set up and creative structures and models ought to be created to tap this creating market. Likewise, the organization ought to create techniques to expand obstructions to passage for new contenders making it hard for them to enter the market. Notwithstanding raising hindrances to section for potential new contestants in to the market, the organization should concentrate on undiscovered purchaser channel power apparatuses m

Ultimate Guide to Supply Chain Management

Ultimate Guide to Supply Chain Management The supply chain is probably one of the more complex systems that all managers have to be knowledgeable about. Its broad coverage, which includes entire organizations, people, information, various activities and all other resources that play a role in the flow of products or services from producers to suppliers to customers to end users. This complexity, coupled with its dynamic nature, calls for a way to keep that flow going in such a way that facilitates and does not, in any way, hinder the operations of the business. This discipline is called supply chain management. © Shutterstock.com | TrueffelpixIn this article, well show 1) what supply chain management is all about, 2) which elements play an important role in supply chain management, 3) what activity levels SCM entails, 4) the major components of a supply chain management, as well as 5) some challenges in SCM.SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENTThe simplest definition of supply chain management, or SCM, as it is popularly known, is the “management of the flow of goods and services through interconnected or linked networks or channels, operating as if in a chain”. These goods may also refer not only to finished goods or final products, but also raw materials and work-in-process inventory. If we are going to be more technical about it, however, the definition of SCM would be the“design, planning, execution, control and monitoring of supply chain activities, with the objective of creating value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand, an d measuring performance on a global scale.”The application of SCM is also seen to be as complex as the network or chain that it manages, since it does not draw from one or two disciplines alone. It takes on an integrated approach that takes its cues from various areas or disciplines, such as procurement, operations management and logistics. Recent decades have also seen information technology figuring more and more into SCM.Ultimately, managing the supply chain will improve the visibility of inventory, and the velocity of its movement. To break it down, SCM is concerned with the management of:The flow of raw materials (from suppliers) into the organization, to be used in its operations;The process undergone by materials within the organization to turn it into finished goods;The flow of the resulting finished goods from the organization, through distribution channels, to arrive into the hands of the end user, customer or consumer.Businesses can benefit from SCM because, when done r ight, it can make supply chain more cost-effective and efficient. It will:Improve the supply chain networkMinimize delaysReduce costs and inefficienciesIncrease productivityPromote collaboration and enhance relationshipsBoost customer satisfactionAside from the above, SCM has also become an important business tool in the sense that it improves the relationship between the organization and its partners along the supply chain, which may include suppliers, distributors, and logistics operators.ELEMENTS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENTBusiness experts have narrowed down the elements of SCM into four: demand management, effective communication, process integration, and collaboration.Demand managementThese involve activities that are used in predicting or forecasting the future demand for an organization’s products or services, so it could plan the flow of its manufacturing processes better.Just as supply and demand go together, so do supply management and demand management. The focus is not on the supply or even the production process, because the main concern is the customers: their needs and their preferences, as these will dictate the demand. Activities will be carried out in order to find out what the customers want or need and, in the process, make decisions that will put the company in a competitive advantage in the industry.Effective CommunicationBusinesses benefit a lot from effective communication, and the supply chain is no different. An organization has identified sources of demand and operational information, and it should ensure that the same information will be disseminated to all its members, especially those who are directly involved in the supply chain.By keeping the members of the organization apprised with the latest and correct information, they will also be reminded of their duties and responsibilities in the supply chain or network, so they can deliver what is expected of them. It also enables them to make the necessary adjustments, should there b e a need to do so.Business Process IntegrationBefore SCM, businesses were focused on managing the individual functions of workers and departments within the company. SCM changed that approach as it involves the integration of business processes, particularly the processes along the supply chain, in order to facilitate a continuous flow or movement of resources.In other words, SCM entailed collaboration and partnership between and among the players of business processes. It covers the relationship between the suppliers and the buyers, the product developers and end users, the systems in use that are common to the parties, and the information being shared or exchanged among them.Some of the identified processes in the supply chain that may be integrated include the following:Customer management: These processes involve customer relationship management and customer service management. The organization has to pay attention to its relationship with its customers or end users and, at the same time, become a reliable source of customer information, providing real-time information about its products and services, such as availability, logistics and other information that customers may be interested in.Manufacturing flow management: The predictive value of the demand management processes will enable the organization to produce and supply products and services more reliably and in a more flexible manner. Depending on the demand, the organization can make better decisions on matters related to its manufacturing processes, such as scheduling, batches or lot sizes, and work intervals.Procurement: Procurement is more than just the simple act of purchasing. There are a lot of details to pay attention to when obtaining raw materials and products from suppliers outside of the organization. These include actually sourcing for supplies by looking for suppliers, resource planning, assessing the need of supplies of the organization, placement of order, as well as the transport, ha ndling, storage and warehousing of the purchased supplies.Product development: One of the concerns of organizations is to shorten product life cycles, and one way of achieving that is to decrease the time to market these products. Thus, product development should also be integrated with customer service and customer relationship management.Inventory management: Businesses also have to maintain an inventory of their supplies or raw materials. After all, not all businesses adopt the Just-in-Time method of procuring inventory, where they will purchase supplies and receive them just as they are about to be placed in production. In most cases, companies maintain inventory or stock of these materials until such time that they will be needed in the manufacturing process. This is also part of SCM. Of course, inventory management processes also cover keeping track of their inventory of the finished goods that came out of the production process, awaiting delivery to the customers. Inventory m anagement will be conducted in order to keep the amount of wastage low, as well as the cost of storing inventory.Supplier relationship management: This is closely related to the procurement processes, because a huge part of being able to conduct procurement processes smoothly and more efficiently relies on the relationship of the organization with the suppliers or the providers of the materials that are being procured.Order management: There are separate processes for tracking orders from customers, assigning products to these orders, and scheduling the delivery of the orders to the customers.Distribution: This could also be termed as physical distribution, as it involves physically delivering a service or moving a product to the customer, with the use of an appropriate marketing channel.Relationship management through outsourcing: Reducing life cycles can also be accomplished by outsourcing key activities that used to be performed in-house. Examples of partners through outsourcing that an organization will closely be working with in the supply chain include transport and delivery service providers, and warehousing or storage agents.CollaborationThis is another key term in supply chain management, because much of the activities involve relationships: the relationship between top management and its people, between members of the organization particularly those who work in teams, and between the organization and its partners in the supply chain.Maintaining good relationships with suppliers, for instance, will increase the likelihood of reducing costs as well as provide a guarantee that the quality of the materials or products that they supply will be high. You may have seen companies remaining partners with certain suppliers for years â€" decades, even. There is a great probability that this is because they have excellent SCM, with focus on collaboration and partnerships.SCM LEVELS OF ACTIVITIESSCM involves a lot of activities that are all geared towards improvi ng the flow of materials through the supply chain. To make things easier, these activities have been grouped into three:1. StrategicThis involves decisions made by top management, and they encompass the issues that will affect the entire organization, not just a single department or unit. Examples are decisions on what sales market to penetrate, which suppliers or partners to collaborate with, and where to set up a major manufacturing plant or warehouse.Often, these decisions are made by top management.2. TacticalDecisions that are more focused on the financial side of things will fall under this category. The main concern will be in minimizing costs. For example, the company can enter into agreements with its distributors to conduct their activities in a more cost-efficient manner. It can also strike a deal with their warehousing partners to find ways to lower their cost of inventory storage.3. OperationalThese involve decisions that are made on a daily basis within the organizatio n, such as arranging and rearranging production schedules, taking orders from customers, transporting raw materials from storage to the production site, and moving finished goods from the production site to the warehouse.There are three main flows that are tackled in SCM.Product Flow: This was the simple definition of supply chain management, since it involves the movement of products or goods from a supplier to a customer. But it also includes the movement of products or goods from a customer that is returning them.Information Flow: This pertains to the flow of data or information â€" in real-time â€" on orders, availability of products, and the status of orders and the delivery thereof.Finances Flow: This covers all matters related to the financial side of the transactions, such as the pricing, the applicable credit terms, the payment schedules and terms. If there are consignment arrangements entered into, they will also belong to the finances flow.COMPONENTS OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAG EMENTSCM has the following basic components:Planning and ControlAs in every other process, the first stage involves coming up with a plan or strategy on how the company’s product or service will meet the needs of its target customers or end users, while allowing the business to earn a profit. This involves taking into consideration all the resources that will be used in the manufacture and delivery of these products to the customers.It does not end there, either. Once a strategy has been developed, there is a need to monitor the supply chain and see to it that the plan is being followed.DevelopmentWe have reiterated how collaboration and partnerships play very important roles in SCM, and that is especially apparent in this stage. The organization has to build and maintain strong relationships with its raw materials suppliers and service providers.This covers identifying the suppliers that the organization feels most comfortable working with, and coming up with plans and agreements on pricing, shipping, delivery, and payment.ManufacturingThis is where the raw materials are placed into production to come up with the finished product, which will then undergo testing and packaging. The activities involved in this component include scheduling, resources allocation, finished goods inventory management, and quality control measures.DeliveryWe now come to the logistics. At this point, all the finished products that were packaged will now be brought along the distribution channels so they can reach the customers. It covers order receipt and fulfillment, warehousing, shipping and payment collection.Building strong relationships with carriers or transport companies that will handle the shipping and delivery processes will also fall under this component.ReturnPart of supply chain management is how the organization will handle when customers return defective products to the company, and find ways to deal with any potential negative effect of such returns.One of the strat egies in SCM to address returns-related issues is to set up a network that will be dedicated to receiving the defective products and providing assistance to customers who are returning these products, as well as responding to customers’ questions, if any.We can never take out the organization structure as one of the components of SCM, because they will have an effect on how SCM is carried out. We can further break that down into the following.The power and leadership structure. At the end of the day, it is the decision of top management that will prevail. They have the final decision on the conduct of SCM.The management methods or styles used. How the management runs or supervises the company will also affect how SCM is carried out.The overall organizational culture or attitude. Much of the corporate culture or attitude toward SCM will be dictated by those in power. It is a sad reality that, although the concept of the supply chain has been around for a very long time, there are s till many business that do not pay much attention to it.With the advancement of technology, SCM has become automated, thanks in large part to the many software applications or programs developed specifically for the management of supply chains. Of course, before choosing which program will work for your specific business, you still have to do your research.CHALLENGES TO SCMIf we are to name a disadvantage of SCM, it would be the huge amount of investment it requires, both in money, time, manpower, and other resources to plan, implement and monitor it. This is further aggravated by the fluctuating costs in the global market today.Today, businesses also have greater chances of bringing their operations global. The internet has certainly made it possible for companies to have a wider reach in terms of their target market. But this has also posed a challenge to the logistics because, when they used to think about their supply chain only within their state or country, now they have to ex pand it on an international or even global scale, too.Competition has also risen to a global scale, which means companies now have to pour more resources into ensuring that their supply chain or supply network can compete with that of their rivals. Again, this will go back to the issue of whether the company has enough resources to meet the required investment. Clearly, SCM does not come cheap. But with proper implementation, it can bring greater benefits.

Evaluation of the options available - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 14 Words: 4331 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Introduction There are a few options for S.B. Ltd to consider getting through difficult times. The five main options are firstly, to discontinue the Nottingham division and Leicester and Loughborough divisions could use their spare capacity to produce 60% of Nottinghams 2010 output in addition to their own 2010 output, close the Nottingham division and outsource Nottinghams 2010 output, to launch a major campaign for all 3 products to increase their sales, to introduce a transfer pricing system between the division and the head office to increase motivation among the staff in each division and rightsizing the organisation.. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Evaluation of the options available" essay for you Create order Discontinuation As seen Nottingham is not making growth, in response to market forces, the first option is to discontinue Nottingham division by selling its assets and settling its liabilities and shifting production from Nottingham to Leicester and Loughborough. The discontinuation decision is a decision when the division profitability highlights the potential of unprofitable (Drury, 2010, pp.91-92). In this option, assuming that Leicester and Loughborough have some spare capacity to produce 60% of Nottinghams 2010 output on top of their own 2010 output. According to Drury (2010, p.92), discontinuing the Nottingham division could aid the company in eliminating cost of goods sold, and other variable costs in the division. Leicester Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 280.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 240.00 Sales Raspberry jam (60%) 96.00 Total Sales 616.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 173.00 153.00 326.00 Gross Profit 290.00 Advertising costs 30.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 60.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Profit Other cost such as advertising costs, distribution costs and Head Office costs remain unchanged and is not affected by the discontinuation of the Nottingham division. OHare (2010, Management Accounting Lecture 3) suggested other factors which will affect an organisation to discontinue a division, the division is making a loss, to identify avoidable costs or to discover other saving. Outsourcing Outsourcing option is also known as sub-contracting option has become increasingly common in organisations, which enables organisations to concentrate on their core performance while outsource other specialist their secondary activities (Collier et al, 2007, pp.220-221). In S.B. Ltd case, according to Oxford University Press (2009), outsourcing could help to get through this hard time by going on a process of business process downsizing. Outsourcing allows operations that have seasonal demands to bring in additional resources in time of needs. Other advantages of outsourcing are, outsource activities will allow S.B. Ltd to focus on important functions without sacrificing quality or service, outsource specialist could help improve the quality and standard of the jam. It may also be able to purchase the jam more cheaply or perhaps more quickly. Assuming the outsource price for raspberry jam is 20% more then the cost of goods produced and sold for raspberry jam. Hence, the sales of raspberry jam remains the same and Leicester division and Loughborough division have spare capacity which gives them room for expansion of 30% more sales each. All other expenses remain the same for both Leicester and Loughborough divisions. This gives the Head Office a net profit of 76,000 Leicester Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 364.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 312.00 Sales Raspberry jam (Outsource) 160.00 Total Sales 836.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 182.00 156.00 338.00 Outsource price 132.00 Gross Profit 366.00 Advertising costs 30.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 60.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Loss 76.00 On contrary to the advantages, outsourcing the jam to some specialist could lead to risk of unsatisfactory quality and standard of the jam. Other disadvantages could be leak of procedures and techniques of making the jam, outsourcing usually focuses on short-term cost-saving, and ignores the unchanged overhead burden. Major Campaign Another option is to launch a major advertising campaign for all three products to increase their sales and keep all three divisions. Advertising could boost awareness and generate demand of the sales of jams of S.B. Ltd. and hence acquiring more orders. In the advertising campaign, assuming the advertising cost increase by 20% and it bring the sales of each product to an increase of 20% each. It simply boost up the profit of the company to 96,000. Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 336.00 Sales Raspberry jam 192.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 288.00 Total Sales 816.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 140.00 110.00 120.00 370.00 Gross Profit 446.00 Advertising costs 90.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 30.00 90.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Profit 66.00 Transfer Pricing The other option is when an organisation chooses to decentralise its divisions, transfer pricing helps decide what price to charge for in-company transactions (Collier et al, 2007, p.38-39) and as a form of promoting divisional autonomy (OHare, 2010, Management Accounting Lecture 8). It is useful when goods are transferred between divisions; hence, the performance measurement of each division is not prejudiced by the corporate objectives. The profitability of each business units will be affected and according to Solomon (1965 cited in Collier et al, 2007, pp.38-39), companies might take advantage of the transfer pricing which are suitable for evaluating divisional performance for the corporate interest, instead of the business units. Transfer pricing strategies and can produce substantial tax savings in addition to enhancing operational performance and improving cash flow. In many organisations, in order to avoid de-motivating effects on different business units, negotiated prices ar e adopted. Say, each product is transferred to Derby division and it pays each division 70% of the sales it made from selling all the jams and yet still bare the cost of advertising, distribution and the head office costs. The local administrative expenses shall be bare by the respective divisions. Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry jam 280.00 Sales Raspberry jam 160.00 Sales Orange Marmalade 240.00 Total Sales 680.00 Transfer price revenues 196.00 112.00 168.00 Cost of goods produced and sold 140.00 110.00 120.00 Gross Profit 56.00 2.00 48.00 680.00 Total cost of transfer 476.00 Advertising costs 30.00 Distribution costs 50.00 Local administration expenses 30.00 30.00 30.00 Head Office Costs 150.00 Net Profit 26.00 (28.00) 18.00 (26.00) There are downsides of transfer pricing. The political process in an organisation might affect the transfer pricing between divisions. Incorrect prices adopted can distort reported performance, by making some divisions more profitable at others expense. Opportunities exist to avoid taxes using artificial transfer prices to transfer profits from a high tax division to a low tax division. Rightsizing Rightsizing, or corporate restructuring, with the aim of reducing costs and improving efficiency and effectiveness is also one option in difficult times. Rightsizing is downsizing in the belief that an organisation really should operate with fewer personnel. The primary reason to engage in rightsizing is to make the daily operations of a business more productive. For example, a company may be able to replace assembly line employees with machines which will be quicker and less prone to error. In addition, rightsizing increases profits by reducing the overall overheads of a business. S.B. Ltd operates a full cost (TAC) standard costing system. The standard costs set fot the year 31 March 2010 and information about future costs and selling prices are in Appendix 2. Part 2 (700) Assuming the company decided to go for the option of keeping all divisions open and launching an advertising campaign, you are required to produce a standard cost card for each product and a budget for the company showing clearly the costs attributable to each division for the year to 31 March 2011. State clearly all assumptions made. Appendix 2 Standard cost data Standard cost cards for the year ended 31 March 2010 (per batch of 40 jars each of 500 grams) Strawberry Jam Raspberry Jam Marmalade Selling price 28 32 40 Fruit 16kg 4.8 16kg 5.6 24kg 4.8 Sugar 8kg 1.6 8kg 1.6 12kg 2.4 Labour 1 hour 6 1 hour 6 2 hours 12 Other variable costs 1 2 2 Fixed overheads 1 hour 2 1 hour 2 2 hours 4 15.4 17.2 25.2 Profit 12.6 14.8 14.8 Other information Demand With the right promotion the company believe that they could sell 20% more of each product at the 2010 standard selling price Material wastage It is considered that improvements can be made but input weight will always be at least 10% more than output weight for jam and 50% for marmalade Labour Currently operates at 80% efficiency levels Prices Strawberries are sourced from the UK and prices are expected to rise by 2-5% Raspberries are sourced from the UK and prices could rise by up to 15% due to poor weather Oranges are imported and paid for in euros euro prices are expected to be as 2010 Discounts on all fruit can be negotiated if quantities increase Labour rates per hour have been the same for the last 2 years Variable costs may rise by up to 5 % Fixed overheads may rise by between 5 and 10% Standard Cost Card A standard cost card can be defined as a detailed listing of the standard amounts of materials, labour and overheads that should go into a unit of product, multiplied by the standard price or rate that has been set for each elements (Anon 2, 2010). A standard cost card, for example must include the price, specifications, quantity and quality of material required, as well as such factors as the period of credit allowed from suppliers, cash and quantity discounts, spoilage due to wastage and deterioration. A standard cost card demands an investigation of all contributing factors that can constitute a cost before the cost is adopted. According to Drury (2010, p.278), standard costs are predetermined costs and they are the target costs that should be incurred under efficient operating conditions. The standard cost card will be subjected to updating caused by revision of standards such as changes in prices, discounts, etc. Standard costing is a control system which sets standards that are ideal, expected and achievable (OHare, 2010, Management Accounting Lecture). Collier (2007, p.36) put forward that standard costing is a control technique which compares standard cost and all of production revenues with actual results. It is to obtain variances of each division and product (OHare, 2010, Management Accounting Lecture 8), which are used to stimulate improved performance and to increase motivation of staff in each division. It is a detective control used to prevent problems from reoccurring as it measures variances as it occur, thus allowing management to take necessary corrective action. The standard cost card for the year ended 31 March 2011 (per batch of 40 jars each 500 grams) for Strawberry Jam, Raspberry Jam and Orange Marmalade are as below: Strawberry Jam Selling price 28.00 Fruit 16/kg 0.31 4.90 Sugar 8/kg 0.20 1.60 Labour 1 hour 6.00 6.00 Other Variable Cost 1.50 Fixed Overheads 1 hour 2.10 2.10 15.65 Profit 12.35 Raspberry Jam Selling price 32.00 Fruit 16/kg 0.40 6.44 Sugar 8/kg 0.20 1.60 Labour 1 hour 6.00 6.00 Other Variable Cost 2.10 Fixed Overheads 1 hour 2.10 2.10 18.24 Profit 13.76 Orange Marmalade Selling price 40.00 Fruit 24/kg 0.20 4.80 Sugar 12/kg 0.20 2.40 Labour 2 hours 6.00 12.00 Other Variable Cost 2.10 Fixed Overheads 1hour 2.10 2.10 23.40 Profit 16.60 Budget The principal tool in planning is called a budget. A budget is a collection of predictions. It is an estimation of the revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time. There are three purposes of budgets as identified by Emmanuel et al (1990 cited in Collier, 2007, pp.39-40), as forecasts of future events, as motivational targets and as standards for performance evaluation. Budget is a financial plan or qualitative statement for implementing the various decisions to be pursued during a specific accounting period, that management has made in the previous period. Collier (2007, pp.39-42) suggest that budgets provide a control mechanism through both the feed forward and feedback loops. The control mechanism in the budget is to provide a performance monitoring function to the appropriate managers who are responsible for implementing the various decisions by producing and presenting the performance reports. According to Drury (2010, pp.8-9), the performance report provide feedback information by comparing planned and actual results. Generally, a functional budget is drawn up for each division of S.B. Ltd. These budgets are, then, merged together into a single combined statement, which is known as the master budget, of S.B. Ltds expectations for the future periods. The master budget consists of budgeted profit, which it is expected to convey to everyone in the organisation the part that they are expected to achieve in implementing managements decisions. The master budget, usually, consists of a budgeted profit and loss, a budgeted balance sheet and a budgeted cash-flow statement. In order to finalised a budgeted profit and loss, other budgets for the individual divisions and produced, such as the sales budget, direct materials usage budget, direct materials purchase budget, direct labour budget, and selling and administration budget. Master Budget Budgeted Profit and Loss Account for the year ending 31 March 2011 Forecast sales (Schedule 1) 816,000 Purchases (Schedule 3) Materials Fruit 130,272 Materials Sugar 46,080 Cost of raw materials consumed 176,352 Direct Labour (Schedule 4) 155,520 Factory Overheads (Schedule 5) 68,040 Cost of Sales 399,912 Gross Profit 416,088 Selling and administration expenses (S6) 350,000 Variable Costs (Schedule 7) 40,320 Budgeted operating profit for the year 25,768 Schedule 1 Sales Budget for year ending 31 March 2011 Product Batches Sold Selling Price Total Revenue Strawberry Jam 12,000 28.00 336,000.00 Raspberry Jam 6,000 32.00 192,000.00 Orange Marmalade 7,200 40.00 288,000.00 816,000.00 Schedule 2 Annual Direct Material Usage Budget Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Total Units Strawberry 192,000 192,000 Raspberry 96,000 96,000 Orange 172,800 172,800 Sugar 96,000 48,000 86,400 230,400 288,000 144,000 259,200 Schedule 3 Direct Materials Purchase Budget Strawberry Raspberry Orange Sugar (units) (units) (units) (units) Quantity necessary to meet production 192,000 96,000 172,800 230,400 requirements as per material usage budget Planned unit purchase price 0.31 0.39 0.20 0.20 Total Purchases 58,752.00 36,960.00 34,560.00 46,080.00 Schedule 4 Annual Direct Labour Budget Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Total Budgeted production (units) 12,000 6,000 7,200 Hours per unit 0.80 0.80 1.60 Total budgeted hours 9,600 4,800 11,520 25,920 Budgeted wage rate per hour () 6.00 6.00 6.00 Total Wages () 57,600 28,800 69,120 155,520 Schedule 5 Annual Fixed Overheads Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Total Fixed Overheads hour 1 1 2 Fixed overheads rate 2.10 2.10 2.10 Fixed Overheads per batch 2.10 2.10 4.20 Total Fixed Overheads () 25,200.00 12,600.00 30,240.00 68,040.00 Schedule 6 Annual Selling and Administration Budget Selling: Advertising Costs 60,000.00 Distribution Costs 50,000.00 110,000.00 Administration: Local Administration Expenses 90,000.00 Head Office Costs 150,000.00 240,000.00 350,000.00 Schedule 7 Annual Variable Cost Budget Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Other variable costs 1.00 2.00 2.00 Variable costs per batch 1.05 2.10 2.10 Total Variable Costs 12,600.00 12,600.00 15,120.00 40,320.00 It is now April 2011. The actual results for the year 31 March 2011 are in Appendix 3. Part 3 You are required to: (a) Produce an operating statement for each division based on your own budgets. (b) Write a report to the board appraising the performance of each division using whichever indicators you feel are appropriate. You should also suggest what other information should be obtained in order to improve your appraisal. (c) Write a report to the company management accountant on whether the company should change their traditional approach to accounting for overheads to one based on Activity Based Costing. Appendix 3 S.B. Ltd Trading results for the year ended 31 March 2011 Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby 000s 000s 000s 000s Sales Strawberry Jam 11000 batch 330 Sales Raspberry Jam 6250 batch 200 Sales Marmalade 6000 batch 250 TOTAL SALES 780 Fruit 170000kg 53 100000kg 36 140000kg 30 Sugar 84000kg 21 48000kg 12 68000kg 17 Labour 10000 hours 70 6000 hours 39 6000 hours 39 Variable costs 12 10 13 Fixed Overheads 10000 hours 22 6000 hours 12 6000 hours 15 Cost of goods produced and sold 178 109 114 401 Gross Profit 379 Advertising costs 60 Distribution costs 60 Local administration expenses 32 32 32 90 Head Office Costs 155 NET PROFIT 14 Note Sales = Production (a) According to Anon 3 (2010) and Anon 4 (2010), an operating statement is a detailed periodic report of the financial reports or a financial statement of a firms operations. In many organisations, management rely on the financial and quantitative statement provided to record performance achieved by that area of the operation, for a selected budget period, for which the management is responsible (Oxford University Press, 2009). S.B. Ltd practices a decentralised control over its responsibility centres where Derby division is delegated as the controlling costs centre. Decentralisation means there is a delegation of authority in decision making in the organisation. According to CIMA Official Terminology (Collier, 2007, pp.13-14), the financial control in divisionalised businesses is the divisional performance control by producing a budget and the monitoring of actual performance towards the budget. Each division management will carry out a significant function in analysing and interpreting financial information and will achieve the target given. Below is the operating statement for the individual division based on the budget prepared in part 2. Operating Statement for S.B. Ltd Description Leicester Nottingham Loughborough Derby Sales Strawberry Jam 336,000 336,000 Sales Raspberry Jam 192,000 192,000 Sales Marmalade 288,000 288,000 Total Sales 816,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Fruits 58,752 36,960 34,560 Purchases Sugar 19,200 9,600 17,280 Labour 57,600 28,800 69,120 Variable Costs 12,600 12,600 15,120 Fixed Overheads 25,200 12,600 30,240 Cost of goods produced and sold 173,352 100,560 166,320 440,232 Gross Profit 162,648 91,440 121,680 375,768 Operating Expenses Advertising costs 60,000 Distribution costs 50,000 Local administration expenses 30,000 30,000 30,000 90,000 Head office costs 150,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 350,000 Net Profit 132,648 61,440 91,680 25,768 Solomon (1965 cited in Collier, 2007, pp.13-14) highlighted three purposes for financial reporting at divisional level; to guide divisional managers and top management in decision making, and to enable top management to appraise the performance of divisional management. (b) TO: The Directors of S.B. Ltd From the earlier budget, the performances of all four divisions are appraised. The overall companys performance as seen on Derby division operating statement seems to have achieved the budgeted gross profit. However, all the other costs, such as the advertising costs, distribution costs, local administration expenses and head office costs, influence the net profit not achieving the budgeted figure. The overall sales, although did not attain the budgeted sales, did make a good number and managed to produce the goods at a much lower price compared to the budgeted figure. Operating Statement for Derby Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales Strawberry Jam 330,000 336,000 Sales Raspberry Jam 200,000 192,000 Sales Orange Marmalade 250,000 288,000 Total Sales 780,000 816,000 Cost of goods produced and sold 401,000 440,232 Gross Profit 379,000 375,768 Operating Expenses Advertising costs 60,000 60,000 Distribution costs 60,000 50,000 Local administration expenses 90,000 90,000 Head office costs 155,000 150,000 365,000 350,000 Net Profit 14,000 25,768 The performance of Leicester division is seen not to be performing to the budgeted figures in the operating statement. The actual sales of the strawberry jam was just 6,000 less than thee budget and managed to pull off a noteworthy net profit, although not as expected as in the budget. According to ACCA (1988, p.54), preparing a set of costing will be a waste of time unless it has a purpose. Comparing the current period figures with the budgeted figures, in order to establish costs control and efficiency in the division and to prevent unnecessary use of services. Operating Statement for Leicester Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales 330,000 336,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Strawberries 53,000 58,752 Purchases Sugar 21,000 19,200 Labour 70,000 57,600 Variable Costs 12,000 12,600 Fixed Overheads 22,000 25,200 Cost of goods produced and sold 178,000 173,352 Gross Profit 152,000 162,648 Operating Expenses Local administration expenses 32,000 30,000 Net Profit 120,000 132,648 The actual sales of the raspberry show a positive comparison. However, the gross profit figure is slightly lower than the budgeted figure. Unfortunately the increase in local administration expenses razed the actual net profit figure. The cost of purchasing sugar was expected to be lower in the budget as well as the labour costs was projected to be lower. Auspiciously, the current period net profit has achieved a positive figure. Operating Statement for Nottingham Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales 200,000 192,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Raspberries 36,000 36,960 Purchases Sugar 12,000 9,600 Labour 39,000 28,800 Variable Costs 10,000 12,600 Fixed Overheads 12,000 12,600 Cost of good produced and sold 109,000 100,560 Gross Profit 91,000 91,440 Operating Expenses Local administration expenses 32,000 30,000 Net Profit 59,000 61,440 The Loughborough division, on the other hand, is making a good profit from the sales of marmalade. The sales of marmalade were projected to be higher; however, the current period gross profit and net profit are more than the budgeted figure mainly attributed to competitive purchase prices of oranges and sugar, low labour costs, low variable costs and low fixed overheads. Operating Statement for Loughborough Division Description Current Period Budgeted Sales 250,000 288,000 Cost of Sales Purchases Oranges 30,000 34,560 Purchases Sugar 17,000 17,280 Labour 39,000 69,120 Variable Costs 13,000 15,120 Fixed Overheads 15,000 30,240 Cost of good produced and sold 114,000 166,320 Gross Profit 136,000 121,680 Operating Expenses Local administration expenses 32,000 30,000 Net Profit 104,000 91,680 (c) TO: The Management Accountant Traditional Costing System The traditional costing approaches were developed in the early 1900s and they are still widely used by organisations today. They rely broadly on arbitrary cost allocations. These approaches rely on an essentially arbitrary allocation of indirect costs. Such approaches do not give managers accurate product cost information; therefore, accurate production profitability calculation is not possible. The overhead rate in traditional costing approaches would typically by calculated using direct labour hours, machine hours or units. Consequently, this could lead to accurate product costs when direct costs were high and indirect costs were low. According to Collier (2007, p.60), under the traditional costing approaches, organisation production runs to obtain the lowest unit of cost production and support the mass production model that seeks economies of scale. The overhead rates calculation to the traditional costing approaches is relatively straightforward; hence, they are widely understood in the business. Although, they are relatively cheap to operate and were seen as fairly accurate until the rise of activity-based costing in 1987, many other organisations are using them after many decades. Traditional costing approach is a systematic costing approach that prevailed before the rise of the activity-based costing in 1987. Since then, the traditional costing approaches weaknesses were fairly visible. Their reliance on arbitrary rather than cause-and-effect allocation of overheads and their inability to produce accurate product costs in multiproduct companies were very much clearer. Their failure to analyse non-manufacturing costs made it less appropriate for modern costing approach in organisations. Activity-based Costing As proposed by Professor Johnson and Kaplan in their book Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting (1987 cited in Oxford University Press, 2009), they question the widespread misconception exists that using accounting information and the inadequacy of conventional approaches arises from a lag in replacing the modern cost accounting approach. The new approach is designed with modern information and accounting systems for financial reporting and tax purposes, hence it recognises that costs are incurred by each activity that takes place within the organisation and that products should bear costs according to the activities use. In Professor Johnson and Kaplans method, the cost drivers are identified, together with the appropriate activity cost pools, which are used to charge costs to products. The fundamental of this approach is the view that the forces which drive overheads, undeniably most organisational costs arise from specific activities (Miller and Vollmann, 1985, p.144 cited in Ashton, 1991, pp.52-32). As a result, overheads control must focus on the management of these activities. The purpose of the activity-based costing approach are to stabilise unit costs of production per period and the reported gross profit per unit will be comparable from one period to the other by stabilising unit costs. Comparison In this time of rapid technological change, vigorous global and domestic competition, and enormously expanding information processing capabilities, management accounting systems are not providing useful, timely information for the process control, Johnson and Kaplan (1987, pp.144-146) suggested that the activity-based costing approach has catalysed an enthusiasm for motivating every member of the business organisation to meet profit goals. Also according to Johnson and Kaplan (1987, pp.144-146), present-day critics often note that successful Japanese and German manufacturing firms use this approach. Both traditional costing and accounting-based costing vary in their level of sophistication (Drury, 2010, p.165). The traditional systems often tend to be simple and straightforward while activity-based costing tends to be sophisticated and more accurately assigning indirect costs to cost objects. Although the traditional accounting is simpler to prepare while the activity-based costing is highly sophisticated to prepare, the activity-based costing tend to result in lower costs of errors and high level of accuracy. The downside of activity-based costing is that it is expensive to operate and they are sophisticated. However, they minimise the costs of errors which will save the company a lot in profit in the longer run. The activity-based costing extensively use the cause-and-effect cost allocations compared to the traditional costing approached extensively use the arbitrary cost allocations. Recommendation ACCA (1988, p.171) recommended that the choice between the traditional costing approaches and activity-based costing approach in budgetary control depends on the method of accounting used in S.B. Ltds cost accounting system. If the operating expenses were charged to the respective divisions, it would reflect the use actually made by each division. Then, the overhead costs of the divisions will be established more accurately. Traditional cost system often report inaccurate product costs and the company tend to lose out due to over priced products, incur hidden losses due to under priced products. The benefit of activity-based costing is that when it comes to improving productivity, it opens up for a much wider array of measures or methods. By examining the activities systematically, one will not only be able to identify surplus capacity if it occurs, but also lack of capacity and misallocation of capacity. A result of this might be that costs are cut the customary way, but might as well lead to a reallocation of capacity to where it is needed most which will yield better productivity. The rapid pace of todays technological change continues to shorten product life cycles, thus our company do not have the time to make cost adjustment once errors are detected. Today computer technology prices are decreasing and are more affordable, the cost of adopting and operating an activity based costing system has also decreased. Therefore, the company should adopt the activity based costing in order to facilitate cost management and improve financial management. According to Karolefski (2004, p.18) activity based costing works better if it is kept simple. Nevertheless, when implemented properly activity based costing yields benefits to the company, its business partners, and to consumers. Reference OHare, J. 2010. Lecture Notes: Management Accounting Drury, C. 2006. Cost and Management Accounting. Sixth Edition. London: Thomson Learning Anon 1. Topic 9: ACCA F2: Lesson 9 Relevant Costing. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.accountingclassroom.com [25/04/10] Drury, C. 2010. Management Accounting for Business. 4th Edition. Hampshire: Cengage Learning EMEA Collier, P. M. and Agyei-Ampomah, S. 2007. Management Accounting Risk and Control Strategy. Oxford: CIMA Publishing, An imprint of Elsevier Oxford University Press. 2009. Oxford Dictionary of Business and Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press Anon 2. 2010. Standard Cost Card Definition. Accounting for Management. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.accountingformanagement.com/standard_cost_card_definition.htm [02/05/10] Anon 3. 2010. Operating Statement. The Free Dictionary by Farlex. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/operating+statement [02/05/10] Anon 4. 2010. Operating Statement. Business Dictionary.com. Online. Retrieve from: World Wide Web: https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/operating-statement.html [02/05/10] ACCA. 1988. ACCA Study Text: 2.4 Cost and Management Accounting II. First Edition. London: BPP Publishing Limited Johnson, H. T. and Kaplan, R. S. 1987. Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press Ashton, D, Hopper, T. and Scapens, R. W. 1991. Issues in Management Accounting. First Edition. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall Karolefski, John. 2004. Time Is Money: How Much Are Your Customers Costing You?. Food Logistics. Issue 69 p.18-2224

The Boom Of Online Dating - 955 Words

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Choosing a Course Free Essays

Choosing a college major for some is easy; some people know exactly what they want to be when they grow up. For others, choosing a college major is probably one of the hardest decisions they will make in their life. It doesn’t help that there are now a lot of college courses and college programs among which you have to choose. We will write a custom essay sample on Choosing a Course or any similar topic only for you Order Now There was once a time when choices were simple: good or evil, ketchup or mayonnaise, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts. Nowadays, you have to choose between shades of gray, one gazillion condiments and a plethora of majors. The trick in making a college major choice, they say, is to narrow things down as you go along. This article will help you do that. The following are some of the things you must consider when choosing a college course. Choosing your college major consideration # 1: Your Interest The most basic consideration in the choice of a college major or college course is, of course, what you want. Is there something that you’ve always wanted to get into, something that resonates within the very fiber of your being? If so, that may be where you’re meant to go. In the event that you don’t know or don’t feel that siren song, fret not. You can always go for career assessment care of your local guidance office. That would certainly make choosing a college course more systematic and easier. Choosing your college major consideration #2: Your Aptitude Choosing a college major also entails an assessment of your skills and talents. You may know what you want, but do you know what you’re good at? Interest and aptitude are two different things. Ideally, you should pursue a college course or choose a college major that allows you to explore both. 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How much money does the course require you to invest? How much money do you actually have on hand to invest? How much money will you (approximately) make if you take up a career in line with that college major? How much money would you like to earn after college? Choosing your college major consideration #5: Time and Practical Considerations You should also be aware of what you’re getting into when choosing a college major. What will your college course require you to do? Are you willing to do it? As a case in point, if you’re squeamish about the sight of blood, why should you decide to go for a Nursing Degree? How much time are you willing to invest in your college course and major? If you want school to be over and done with as soon as possible, then you should probably not choose a college course that won’t be useful without further study. Choosing your college major consideration #6: Your Commitment Choosing a college course requires you to look inwards and assess your commitment to your chosen path. Assuming that you have the issue of money and other practical considerations settled, do you actually possess the skills and the patience to go the distance? Moreover, do you actually want to do so? There’s also a chance that your parents may be expecting you to tread a certain academic path; will you have the strength and the will to stick it out against all odds? Choosing your college major consideration #7: The Times Nope, you don’t have to read the Times to know what college course to pick (Yup, that’s a lousy joke). Kidding aside, don’t ever forget to consider the times in your decision-making process. Case in point: the global economy was in a bit of a slump at the time I wrote this article. There are instances when certain courses may appear to be more profitable or more popular than others due to current circumstances. Choosing your college major consideration #8: Other People’s Feedback Besides guidance counselors, family and friends, you may also want to ask other people for their opinions regarding the matter. College alumni and alumnae always make for interesting interviews-been there, done that. Professors and classmates will also have a lot of significant input to offer. Choosing your college major consideration #9: Your Choices Also, do remember that there are some benefits to doing things by the book-or more specifically, the college’s catalogue of courses. Take a peek and note the unit and credit requirements for each course, along with whatever minors and electives you can take as part of the package deal. Choosing your college major consideration #10: Spiritual Considerations Finally, know this: you’ll most likely change courses-even careers! -as you go along, so don’t be overly fixated on any one course. No one course is the end all and be all. There are numerous examples of people out there who majored in one thing and built a career or three out of another. If you’re a believer, though, I strongly recommend that you pray about it ask God what He wants you to take. After all, only He knows what path you will ultimately tread. How to cite Choosing a Course, Papers

Wind Turbines Manufacturers Overview

Name of company: Vestas Wind Systens The company headquarters is in Denmark, and as a result of enormous growth of the company since its founding in 1945, it has set up manufacturing plants in several countries including Germany, United kingdom, India and US. When the company initially started, it used to manufacture household electrical devices but drastically changed their manufacturing through years making agricultural appliances, intercoolers, hydraulic machines and turned their focus to wind turbines since 1989.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Wind Turbines Manufacturers Overview specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Fairly writes that, â€Å"For the last eight years, the company merged with NEG Micon, another Danish company specializing in making wind turbines.† The two companies put their efforts together to establish the worlds biggest manufacturing plant of turbines using the brand, Vestas Win d Systems. The company recovered in the year 2006 after a drop in sales the previous year making it be ranked the number one top green company in 2006. Towards the end of 2008, the company embarked on expansion plans in their plants in Colorado and Oregon. While the company is aggressively looking for new markets, it has been closing some of the plants in regions that their demand is low. Fairly (43), states that, â€Å"Some of the closed manufacturing plants include the one in Scandinavia and Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom.† Todate, over forty thousand wind turbines have been installed by vestas worldwide with its workforce which is estimated at around twenty three thousand people globally. The new expansion targets include countries like China and US where its products are on high demand. The company is gradually shifting production to China and US because of reduced demands in Europe. The companies goal when making their turbines is to provide customers with turbines of high quality, they don’t look at market share and prices when designing them. One of the products manufactured by Vesta is V112-3.0MW. It is designed in a manner that it can adapt to areas with low and medium wind. The company projects that such areas will be shift to wind power in future. This device has the ability to produce more electric power than other turbines in that category of 3MW. This turbine is reliable, easy to service and offers greater efficiency than other turbines in the same class. According to the company website, â€Å"Another product designed for areas with light winds is Vestas V90-2MW.† This one is mainly designed for European countries because of its light weather conditions. Another product from Vestas is Vestas V90-3MWwhich is used all over the world to generate electricity. The distinctive feature of this product is that is uses pitch control.Advertising Looking for research paper on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Ge t your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More V90-3MW V47-660kW Vestas company spends a substantial amount of its revenue in research and development. Recent statistics indicate that it spend in excess of one hundred and thirty million in the year 2009 in research. Some of its recent research findings is unveiling a stealth wind turbine in collaboration with QinetiQ which can offer solutions of radar reflection to the aviation industry. According to financial statements of 2010, the company is doing well as it collected profits in excess of 156 million Euros (Reddal, 77). Name: Sinovel Wind Group Company The company is the largest manufacturer of turbines in China, and its headquarters is in China. Globally, it is ranked number three in production of wind turbines. The company targets to be the leader of turbine production by the year 2015 with major target market being foreign countries. Sinovel employs approximately 200 employees and has a capacity to produce eight hundred units per year presently. Its manufacturing plant is in Dahlia, China though it intends to open other plants in China and other countries. Sinovel aims at making wind turbines that are adaptable to all types of weather and environmental conditions around the world. The company has been growing steadily since its inception and has managed to make big milestones in production of electricity using wind turbines. In the year 2008, the turbine installations of Sinovel produced almost 1500MW of electricity making it the leader of Chinese green energy production and seventh in the world. By the year 2010, it had more installations done in China and other parts of the world with total estimation of power generation being put at around 4400MW, thereby leading the Chinese market and becoming the world’s number two. Sinovel has a mission that is based on its historical formation which is to localize production of important electrical equipments and the focus to provide green energy to the whole population of China and the world. Its long term strategy is to provide innovative products, in large scale to meet international demands.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Wind Turbines Manufacturers Overview specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Sinovel has been a leader of the Chinese market in producing innovative turbine equipments in the sense that; it is the first to introduce an advanced wind turbine in the world, it was the first to make and supply the turbine equipments locally, it was the leader in developing 1.5Megawatt turbines that can suit all conditions of weather in the world and many other achievements. The company is majorly involved in manufacturing products for commercial and industrial use. On the list of several products manufactured by Sinovel is SL600 turbine. According to the company website, â€Å"This turbine was developed independently by Sinovel group with its own intel lectual rights.† It designed in a manner that it uses modern technological generators with Sinovel’s expertise. Acher writes that, â€Å"SL5000 is a type of wind turbines that they make which utilizes variable pitch and double power generation technology.† SL300 is another product that they have developed using their own expertise. Its average power rating is 3000kW with a rotor diameter that ranges from 90 to 113 meters. The advantage with this product is that it is adaptable to all weather conditions. SL3000 Since the company was started, it has given priority to provision of quality customer service and technical support. It continuously strives to provide services with an aim of meeting customer’s satisfaction. As a technique of enhancing scientific skills in order to sustain itself with the competitiveness of the market, the company has employed experts from China and other parts of the world with specialization in wind power to form part of resear ch and development team that consists of almost 700 personnel. The operation of the company has also been boosted by cooperation with China Development Bank to a tune of six and half billion dollars.Advertising Looking for research paper on other technology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Name: Xinjiang Goldwind Science and technology Company Lou (22) describes Goldwind Company as â€Å"One of the largest companies manufacturing wind turbines in world and one of the leaders in China.† Its manufacturing plants are in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. Lou further states that, â€Å"The Company was established in 1986, which marked the start of wind power energy in Xinjiang, China.† The companies aim is to research and develop large sized wind turbines for commercial and industrial use. Some of the products that the company produces are 600kW to 1.5 MW permanent magnet wind turbine products. Apart from these products, it is also involved in developing and selling wind power plants. In the year 2009, the company installed close to three thousand seven hundred wind turbines of 750kW and sixteen hundred 1.5 MW turbines. The main market of the company is China though it installed some turbines in Minnesota, United States. For the last eight years, the companiesâ€℠¢ market share in China has been growing steadily and is said to supply its products to over twenty five percent of the market. By the end of the year 2008, the company had sold more than three thousand wind turbines that have the capacity to produce two thousand eight hundred and ninety five mega watts of electricity. In the following years, the market demand in China grew making them receive enough orders. The company receives a good number if orders for all the products that are made including 750kw and 1.5MW turbines. The company also made a breakthrough to the International market when it received orders from United States and Cuban company, Energoimport. The company employs more than one thousand five hundred people and its profits have continuously grown over the years. For instance, in the financial year of 2010, it made profits worth RMB 4.02. More than ninety five percent of the revenue of the company is collected from sale of wind turbine generators. According to the comp any sources, Goldwind intends to benefit greatly when local companies offering green energy and expand their markets to foreign countries. They believe they would have good chances of growing. According to its mission of growth, it intends to acquire technology companies that can design highly efficient generators that can be transported easily. It also intends to buy other renewable electric devices. Name: Siemens Wind Power According to Wessel (10), â€Å"Siemens Wind Power is a manufacturing company of wind turbines with main offices and manufacturing plants situated in Brande, Denmark.† It specializes in designing products for commercial and residential use. The company was fully acquired by Siemens groups of companies from Germany through its division of renewable energy from the year two thousand and four. By the year 2009, Siemens Wind Power had a market of six percent worldwide with a large market in the shores of Europe. Wessel (9), further worote, â€Å"The Company was first established in 1980 by Danregn.† The name of the company was changed later to Bonus energy in nineteen eighty three but was later sold to Siemens in 2004. According to Wilkes (26), â€Å"The main manufacturing plant is in Brande, Denmark with other subsidiaries in several countries.† As part expansion plans, the company opened other offices for research and development in Colorado. One of the products of the company that is unique is the Hywind. It is a wind turbine that is designed in a manner that it can float in the sea while it functions. It is designed to utilize the winds of the sea to generate electric power. The main products of the company are SWT 2.3MW and 3.6MWwind turbines. Hywind Siemens Turbines in a farm By the end of the year 2009, the company had employee capacity of about six thousand. Since the company started, its focus was to develop wind turbines that would remain competitive in the market and it has evolved from making 22kW wind turbi nes to the current Megawatt ranges. In order to realize its vision, the company has employed experts in the field of wind turbines technology and using conventional technological devices. The output of their efforts is development of high power wind turbines that match the demand of the market. Siemens Wind Power is proud for the effort of its more than five thousand employees who have contributed to realization mission of the company. Siemens Wind power provides customers with their products by giving them guarantees of the investments they have undertaken. They offer guarantees so that customers can be sure of the services during that period. The recent order from United States wind firms is to boost by a big margin profits of Siemen Wind Power. Wilkes describes that, â€Å"This is a confirmation that that the company is the leading provider of wind power in off shores.† One of the most recent projects of Siemens wind power is the construction of DanTysk wind farm in German y that covers seventy square kilometers with a capacity to supply electricity to over five thousand households. Name: Enercon The company, Enercon, is a leading provider of green energy in Germany and the 4th largest globally. The company specializes in manufacture of wind turbines and the main plant is situated in Aurich, Emden and Magdeburg in Germany. Other countries they have manufacturing plants include Portugal, Turkey and Canada. Enercon mainly produces its wind turbines for commercial purposes and domestic use. By mid this year, it is estimated that Enercon had installed over seventeen thousand wind turbines that has an excess of 24 Gigawatts of power. Their most common product is the E-40 wind turbine Model which is a modification of the 1993 design. As of mid this year, its market share was estimated to be slightly above seven percent globally, while in the German market, it controls sixty percent of the market share. One of its main foreign users is Ecotricity, from Brita in. A distinct feature of its wind turbines is the technology that uses gearless drivers, with an annular generator. According to Enercon at a Glance (55), â€Å"This is different from other wind turbines because the other wind turbines use gears to increase the speed of rotation of the gearbox. The other difference with this generators is the housing which is drop shaped in addition to their towers that are painted green to march the surrounding.† Some of its popular products include E-126 model that is widely used in Europe. Initial power rating of this model was six Megawatts but has been modified to generate 7.5 Megawatts. Another product is the E-112 model that was invented in the year 2002, and became the largest in the world for two years because of its ability to generate 4.5 Megawatts. It was later modified to generate 6Megawatts. To date, the company has not embarked on setting up projects on off shores but has instead been critical of the offshore wind parks. E-112 E-170 E-166 E-32 Enercon had been burnt from selling its products to the US market due to an infringement dispute with Kenetech (Hermann, 120). The company employs over thirteen thousand employees. Just like the other companies, Enercon lays emphasis on quality of its products and employs experts of wind turbines so as to meet the expectations of their customers. One of their core values is to consult with authorities and customers so that they can find practical solutions of green energy. The financial performance of the company has been incremental over the years despite the limitation of US market. Name: Gamesa Corporation Tecnologica This company is involved in manufacture and making materials for wind turbines. It makes products for commercial and industrial use. The company is Spanish based and its main plant is located in Biscay, North of Spain. It does business by management of wind farms as well as selling wind turbines. Before the competition by Chinese manufacturers , Gamesa was the worlds’ second producer wind turbines; currently it enjoys the sixth spot, though, the company has not lost its grip in the Spanish market. According to Barriviera (111), â€Å"It is estimated that the company has installed an equivalent of twenty thousand Megawatts of power in 4 continents.† The company began manufacturing activities in the 1976 with a focus of developing of developing technological devices that meet emerging needs of the society. Among the products that it started making were robots and composite materials. A division of the company was established in 1994 to manufacture wind turbines for commercial purposes. The company has financial stability and has been listed in the stock exchange since the year 2000. It has assets worth 4.9 billion Euros and made profit worth 50 million Euros in the year 2010, while it employs more than six thousand seven hundred people. Since 2006, the company changed its strategies and is now focused to manuf acture devices associated with green energy, which is wind power. The company is interested in setting up turbines in offshore areas and has begun constructing a manufacturing plant in Britain to oversee this part of production. The construction of this new factory is estimated to cost around one hundred and thirty four million pounds. The company has received global recognition for its efforts to provide sustainable energy and is listed in the sustainability index. An example of a wind farm project that Gamesa is involved is the Allegheny Ridge Wind farm (Acher, 11). International sales of its products have helped sustain growth momentum. Among the leading international markets that they benefited from were India and Latin America. Of all the sales in 2011, all orders of MW category were sold to the international market. G10X-4.5MW GX9-2.0 MW G5X-850kW Gamesa has employed experts in wind technologists and has been shown by manufacturing of several products that meet customer sat isfaction. Among the list of its products is G10X-4.5 wind turbine which is one of the most competitive in the market. It is designed in a manner that it can suit the most complicated Grid connections. Among the advantages of this product is the inbuilt design that enables it reduce noise and ability to be transported with ease. The G9X-2.0 is another wind turbine in the Megawatt category. It is made in a manner that can suit all wind conditions. Its advantages are reduced noise and ability to predict maintenance. G5X-850kW model is designed to generate electricity in areas with low wind levels. Works Cited Acher, John. China became top wind power market in 2009 Reuters, 29 March 2010. Acher, John. A Wind Power Market in 2009 Reuters, 29 March 2010. Barriviera, Guadalupe; Tobin, Paul. â€Å"Gamesa Aims to Control a Fifth of Wind-Turbine Market†. Bloomberg. (30 May 2008). â€Å"Enercon at a Glance†. 2011. Fairly, Peter. Stealth-Mode Wind Turbines Technology Review, 2 No vember 2009. Hermann, Simon. Hidden Champions of the 21st Century  : Success Strategies of unknown World Market Leaders. London: Springer, 2009.- ISBN 978-0-387-98147-5 Lou, Ying. â€Å"Goldwind Plans IPO as China Combats Climate Change†. Bloomberg. Reddall, Braden. Vestas will not chase market share at any price Reuters/BTM Consult, 1 September 2010. Wessel, Lene. Siemens overtakes Vestas (in Danish) Ing.dk, 12 November 2010. Wilkes, Justin. Operational offshore wind farms in Europe, end 2009 EWEA. This research paper on Wind Turbines Manufacturers Overview was written and submitted by user Crystal Odonnell to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

G.I. Jane essays

G.I. Jane essays The movie is about a female soldier that is going to Special Forces training. This training is only supposed to be for men, and she will be the first woman at this training. She went to the training because the Senator from Texas wanted to prove that women can do the same job that a man can. However, the Senator just wanted publicity to get votes. The Senator ended up trying to take her out of the training because she made a deal to keep some military bases open which she thought would get herself elected. The Senator finally changed her mind, and the Navy Lieutenant got to finish her training, and she became a SEAL (SEa Air Land). She went on a real mission at the end, and was able to rescue her trainer, a Master Chief. The main point of the movie that I will focus on is the discrimination of women inside the workplace. I found that in the American Military, women are discriminated against. They are not allowed to do the same jobs as the men are, like going on submarines, or serving in the special forces. The men feel that the women are either too weak, or that they simply cant do the same amount of work that a man can. In the movie, Lieutenant ONeil was able to keep up with all the men. She complained any time she was treated any different than the other people in her company. She did not want any special treatment for her being a girl. After a while, she proved that with a strong character, and a strong will, everyone has an equal chance of meeting their goals. In her case, she was able to overcome all the obstacles that were put in her way, and successfully completed the training. In my opinion, the United States people feel that a womans life is more valuable than a mans. It has always been that way, and still the same. For a long time, the people of the United States wont change their mind, and that is a point of view that the whole world shares. ...

Write To Be Scanned

Write To Be Scanned Write To Be Scanned Write To Be Scanned By Michael Writing for the computer screen is different than writing for the printed page. There is actually a physiological difference between the two reading materials. Paper, as youve noticed, doesnt flicker (unless its on fire). If you need more light to read by, you can always turn on another light or move closer to the window. But a computer screen does flicker. How fast it flickers is called the refresh rate, and the refresh rate of most monitors is set too low by detault. And if you aim another light at your computer screen, youll only get more glare. All this means that the eyes of your readers will tire out faster when they read from their computer monitor. So people will be anxious to read faster. In the old days, you could pore over the latest letter from your grandmother over a cup of tea. Dont expect your customers to sip tea while they read your sales letter, unless youre a very captivating writer. What is the best way to write for the screen? Write short. Get to the point. Say it quickly. Use the inverted pyramid style of writing, like a reporter does. Write in lists. Use bullets those little marks that begin each line in this list. Or if youre writing instructions (a form of technical writing), discuss each step in order and use numbered lists instead of bulleted lists. Write to be scanned. Most people who read computer screens are looking for information. Help them to find the information as soon as possible. You may think you should hide the juicy bits within a flowing, glowing sales pitch (such as your price and how to order) in hopes your potential customer will read all of it. But if you dont provide the information your reader wants before they get impatient, they will go somewhere else. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before WordsTop 11 Writing Apps for iOS (iPhone and iPad)How Do You Pronounce "Mozart"?

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Management - Essay Example It can be even stated that, in general, both companies have rather similar marketing strategies and that the major sales tool of both is physical indoor sales. However, the reason for which Barnes & Noble has a leading position is its e-reader called the Nook. Surely, Borders Books, just like its rival, has some online presence. However, this online presence was present via Amazon.com only. In addition, the Nook, together with Kindle of Amazon, has opened a qualitatively different era in the development of the book and e-book market. Having created and market these electronic devices, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have, actually, created a totally different from traditional one niche of the book market. Selling electronic books involves working with a different market segment and target audience. This, in its turn, calls for much time and resources of the company. While spending on developing new technologies and broadening the range of prospects was a new concept for Amazon, Barnes & No ble, being a representative of traditional – paper – publishing, had to invest much into developing and implementing the change. However, this change, finally, became a competitive advantage of the company. This change can even be called a breakthrough innovation on the basis of using and improving existing technology, plus â€Å"departure from the existing market segment† (Benner and Tushman 2003, 239). Thus, having adopted or redesigned the newest technologies available in the industry, Barnes & Noble have created new benefits for their clients and, in such a way, might have even attracted new clients (Zhou, Yim, and Tse 2005, 43). This, according to Zhou, Yim, and Tse (2005, 42) shows that Barnes & Noble has managed to remain competitive because it is more market oriented: market orientation, according to the scientists’ research â€Å"facilitates innovations that use advanced technology and offer greater benefits to mainstream customers† (Zhou, Yim and Tse 2005, 42). Therefore, since the market is changing and is becoming more technologically advanced, the companies working in the industry must adapt to the changes and change themselves. This statement is also supported by Goksel Yalcinkaya, Roger J. Calantone, and David A. Griffith (2007), who outline that â€Å"firm capabilities related to product innovation are central to continued corporate survival† (Yalcinkaya, Calantone and Griffith 2007, 63). The major problem of Borders Books, therefore, is that it didn’t pay enough attention to the changes that took place in the market and, as a result, did not respond in a timely and effective manner. It should also be remembered that, in addition to Barnes & Noble and Borders Books, there is another huge player in the market – Amazon.com. This company can be said to be the most technologically advanced and, as a result, the most successful in the e-book market. Borders Books, according to Neary (2011, 4) w as for many years relying heavily on Amazon to handle their e-commerce function. This shows that, while Borders Books were working on expanding its physical world presence, not enough effort had been given to building online presence. This can be named one of the major mistakes of the company because, considering the recent growth of virtual marketplace, the niche should not have been overlooked by a company willing to grow and develop. A good lesson from history on this matter is presented by Utterback (1994, 8), who