The Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Evolution of the Eukaryotic Cell - Essay Example Proponents propose that flagella derived from the symbiotic relationship of a host cell with a parasitic spirochete. A parasitic spirochete attached to surface of the host cell to gain food through the cell membrane, and the host cell gained motility from its whip-like motions. The beneficial relationship between the organisms evolved in the same manner as that of mitochondria and chloroplasts. Serial Endosymbiotic Theory (SET) The endosymbiotic theory related to the primitive origins of the organelles: mitochondria and chloroplasts. According to the endosymbiotic theory, these originated as prokaryotic organisms, which were engulfed by a larger prokaryote through phagocytosis. This larger prokaryote was probably a rickettsia bacterium, which is an anaerobic proteobacteria that was a precursor to the mitochondria organelle. Similarly, chloroplasts come from an autotrophic prokaryote called endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. The theory has in origins in 1905. Konstantin Mereschkowsky with chloroplasts and Ivan Wallin in the 20s advanced a similar idea for mitochondria. Later on, Henry Ris found that they contain DNA. The modern attribution goes to Lynn Margulis for her work in 1981, Symbiosis in Cell Evolution. She contended that eukaryotic cells started as communities of networking bodies such as endosymbiotic spirochetes that developed cilia and flagella. The problem with this is that cilia and flagella do not c ontain DNA. Another organelle, the peroxisome, is thought to have emerged this way. They, too, do not contain DNA, however. Christian de Duve's peroxisome idea did not last long. (Cooper, 2005) Modern evidence that suggests the endosymbiotic theory is viable: Mitochondria and chloroplasts contain DNA, which is... The endosymbiotic theory related to the primitive origins of the organelles: mitochondria and chloroplasts.   According to the endosymbiotic theory, these originated as prokaryotic organisms, which were engulfed by a larger prokaryote through phagocytosis.   This larger prokaryote was probably a rickettsia bacterium, which is an anaerobic proteobacteria that was a precursor to the mitochondria organelle.   Similarly, chloroplasts come from an autotrophic prokaryote called endosymbiotic cyanobacteria.   The theory has in origins in 1905.   Konstantin Mereschkowsky with chloroplasts and Ivan Wallin in the 20s advanced a similar idea for mitochondria.   Later on, Henry Ris found that they contain DNA.   The modern attribution goes to Lynn Margulis for her work in 1981, Symbiosis in Cell Evolution.   She contended that eukaryotic cells started as communities of networking bodies such as endosymbiotic spirochetes that developed cilia and flagella.   Another organelle, th e peroxisome, is thought to have emerged this way.   They, too, do not contain DNA, however.   Modern evidence that suggests the endosymbiotic theory is viable:†¢ Mitochondria and chloroplasts contain DNA, which is different from that of the cell nucleus, and that is similar to that of bacteria (in being circular and in its size).  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ They are surrounded by two or more membranes, and the innermost of these shows differences in composition compared to the other membranes in the cell.

Research proposal in the public service (public services for example Essay

Research proposal in the public service (public services for example police, fire service etc...) - Essay Example are some of the important types of public services which a government arranges for the general public. With growing population, widening areas of services, growing public expectations, constant monitoring by the public and the media besides the government appointed regulatory mechanism the public services offices have come under severe pressure to perform well. The police services for example are now under pressure to sniff the terror plots being hatched by terrorists. In addition the crimes like online identity theft, internet banking frauds etc. are further addition to the list of crimes that the local police department is supposed to investigate. The manpower and resources on the other hand has not been match up with the exponential numbers and types of crimes. It is under such circumstances that at some places, question marks are being raised about the effectiveness of the public services. Discussions are also being held to figure out the possible remedial measures that could be taken up by the government/s to make such services more effective and efficient. The main intention of the study is to develop a better understanding of the concepts of public services in general and their effectiveness in these challenging times. During the study an effort would be made to study some of the recent incidents where the role of public services has been quite constructive. In addition, some such incidents will also be analysed where the role of public services has been criticised in the media or amongst the intelligentsia. The study will try to seek answers to the following key objectives. i. To analyze the availability of some pre-identified public services with respect to the numbers of people. This will involve comparison of per capita availability of such services in different regions. ii. What types of expectations do the general populace have from the government of the day iii. Find out the impact of public private cooperation in some fields. As a part of the corporate social responsibility, a number of corporate houses have also come forward in lending a helping hand to the people and the government. An effort would be made to assess how successful such associations proved in the recent past. iv. As responsible citizens we too have a responsibility towards the state and nation, which implies that we must allow the public service offices to function in an effective manner without hampering their cause or without burdening them with our irresponsible behaviour. An effort would therefore be to assess how conscious the citizens are towards their duty as responsible citizens in making the public services more effective. v. Analyse some of the public services like Fire services, police services, health services etc. This will be an effort to point out some areas which require attention in order to make such services more effective. Approach Research approaches and methods radically influence research content and, consequently, the policies designed in response to that content. If carried out in an objective manner, research not only helps the researcher in knowing about many unknown aspects, but it often provides a benchmark for future researches as well. This thesis is more of a qualitative case study which focuses on an

Psychology College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Psychology College - Essay Example The basic purpose of this paper was to simulate a situation where one had to deal with finding a solution to a problem without having certain cognitive brain functions at our disposal. Before moving on to the actual crux of the paper, I would like to mention a few salient points which will enable the reader to better understand my sentiments in regards to brain damage and neuropsychological problems. The reason why I have such strong sentiments in this case is due to the fact that one of my cousins's suffered the same fate. At the age of 9, he was involved in a traumatic accident during which he sustained injuries to the head and brain. Although the doctors were able to save his life, he lost sight in his left eye, arm and legs. His brain functions were also permanently impaired. Before the accident, he was a bright boy with much promise of the future but the accident nearly destroyed him completely. It took him years of recovery to get to where he is now. Presently, he has adapted so well to his condition that he has completed high school, went on to complete a degree at his local community college and eventually ended up working as an animator. His dream is design an animated cartoon such as Shrek. The above paragraph will define the main crux of my paper for you. My belief is that no matter how badly impaired one might be the use of proper therapy and sheer will power can hel p you to adapt to your impairment. In order to properly simulate the required situation, I had briefed my friend, Jessica, two days prior to our engagement so that she would be better prepared for the task at hand. Consequently, we locked ourselves in my room and accordingly, I had her write something down on a piece of paper which she then duly placed in her pocket and away from my prying eyes. Now the fact of the matter is that I've known Jessica since we were in pre-school so I was confident that I would be able to guess what she'd written. However, since we could not communicate in anyway posed quite a lot of problems which will be duly mentioned as this paper continues. At first, Jessica made no attempt to help in anyway. Therefore, for the first 20 minutes I just sat there wondering what I had gotten myself into. My decision of providing Jessica with every detail of my project was turning out to be a bad one because she would try her hardest to beat me at it. However, I've always been stubborn and therefore I was not about to give up that easily. I knew without doubt that I would have to adopt a methodical approach towards finding a solution to the problem that lay before me and that was what I did. Before we had begun the exercise, Jessica and I had agreed upon a basic method of using a modified version of charades. Consequently, I started by pointing towards different things in the room and picking them up. On some objects she would nod while on others she would just shake her head. Now it was my task to firstly figure out what sort of system she had conjured up in her mind and then to decode it in order to use it. I started off by writing down all the letters in the name of the object e.g. cushion, chair, pen etc. Now what I needed to figure out was which letters to use and which not to and in which order as well. One other possibility was also whether she had chosen a number

Article # 3 (due 9-28) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article # 3 (due 9-28) - Essay Example The financial position of Steward has enabled it to offer a low-cost health insurance option thereby making the services available to many low income earners. The articles states that Stewards business model has been described as ‘Big Med’ by some doctors. This is so because of the firm large-scale, production-line medicine. Various players in the healthcare industry hold the view that Steward want to create a network of high-quality hospitals. The main objective would be making services appealing even to the cost-conscious citizens. Steward is spending millions of dollars in acquiring Mercy and other facilities in order to ensure centralization and standardization. When this is achieved, it aims at providing higher quality and lower costs to consumers. According to the article steward expansion is triggered by the need to introduce new products and services that are accessible to more customers. The main idea is to compete more, based on quality and cost. Healthcare providers are waiting to see how the transaction is going to impact the market. In my view Steward should go ahead and acquire Mercy. This way, there will be increased access to quality health care especially to the Greater Portland

Fpi Assignment Essay Example for Free

Fpi Assignment Essay Summary The report is regarding to the knowledge of analyzing the accounting data of a listed company, using the various accounting information that provided to identify and examine the competitiveness and efficiency of the listed company. Besides, in order to examine the reliability of the data provided, analysis of the balance sheet and income statement is required. The financial information can be obtained from the annual reports of Harbour-Link Group Berhad. In addition, the report is required to include the top-down approach which consists of Economic analysis, Industry analysis and Fundamental analysis to analyze the listed company in the point of view for investors. Table of Content 1. Introduction 1. Objectives 2. Analysis of the statement of financial position, the statement of financial performance and cash flow statement. 1. Financial Analysis ratio: Asset efficiency ratio Capital Structure ratio Liquidity Ratio Profitability Ratio Share Price 3. Economic Analysis 4. Industry Analysis . Conclusion 6. Findings 7. References Introduction In this report, Harbour-Link Group Berhad is chosen among the listed companies. Harbour-Link Group Berhad is an investment holding company which provides shipping, forwarding and transportation, plant and machinery hiring, and engineering contract services primarily in Malaysia and Singapore. Harbour-Link Group Berhad was founded in the year of 1975 and it is based in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. It was officially listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in the year of 2004. Today, Harbour-Link Group’s success lies in its strong foundation of expertise in the industry and its ability to established the company as a reputable brand-name within the shipping, sea freight forwarding and transportation industries. Objectives 1. To identify the sources of funds, Balance Sheet and profit or loss of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad. 2. To analyze accounting data of Harbour-Link Group Berhad to examine its financial performance using Financial Performance Indicators (ratio analysis) 3. To analyze the economy status, competitors within the same industries and evaluate the operating efficiencies of the listed company. 4. To examine the competitiveness and efficiency of the listed company by using the various accounting information provided. Financial Analysis Financial analysis ratios are used to examine the financial performance of a company in which it will be reflected in the ratios calculated. (Giles et al, 1994, p. 371) Asset efficiency Ratios Asset turnover ratio From the data calculated, the asset turnover ratio for the financial year of 2008, 2009 and 2010 are 109. 9%, 92. 12% and 79. 65%. This indicates that the Harbour-Link Group Berhad is not doing well in the sales of the products or services because the asset turnover ratio is decreasing from year to year. Debtor turnover (in days) Debtor turnover is the debtor collection period of a company. Harbour-Link Group Berhad had a debtor turnover of 73 days in the year of 2008. In the year of 2009, the debtor t urnover is 77 days. However, its debtor turnover is decreased to 71 days. This reflects that the possibility of default risk for the debtors is decreasing. In fact, this is a good thing in a company. Inventory Turnover Inventory turnover measures how many times the company can sell through its inventory for each year. In the year of 2008, Harbour-Link Group has an inventory turnover of 163 times. The turnover increased to 212 times in the financial year of 2009 but the inventory turnover decreased to 127 times in the year of 2010. This reflects that the company can sell better in the year of 2009 but it dropped tremendously in the year of 2010. Capital structure Ratio Debt to equity ratio The debt to equity ratio of Harbour-link Group Berhad is decreasing from the year of 2008 to 2010 by 2%. This is caused by the reducing of total liabilities and the increasing of the total equity. Time interest earned The times-interest-earned ratio allows a lender to evaluate the company’s ability to meet its debt obligation. It is a ratio of the earning before interest and tax over the interest expenses. The time interest earned has a slightly increased from the year of 2008 to year 2009 but it has a greater decrease in ratio amount from the year of 2009 to year 2010. This means that in the year of 2010, Harbour-Link Group Berhad have lesser earnings are available to meet the interest payments and this makes the company to be more vulnerable to the increases in the interest rates. Liquidity Ratios Liquidity ratio is the ratio that is used to examine the liquidity of a company. It includes: Current Ratio Current ratio is the ratio of current assets to current liabilities. Harbour-link Group Berhad has it current ratio decreasing from the year of 2008 to 2010. Its current ratios are 1. 90, 1. 76 and 1. 57 respectively. The ratio is decreased by 14% and 19%. The data is calculated as shown in the findings. Liquid Ratio Liquid ratio is the ratio of (current assets-inventory) to (current liabilities-bank overdraft). Harbour-Link Group Berhad has borrowings so there is bank overdraft existed and that’s why it is classifies as a debt financing organization. The company has a higher liquid ratio of 2. 34 in the year of 2010 compared to the year of 2008 and 2009 which is 1. 88 and 1. 75 respectively. The liquid ratio of the 3 financial years exceeded 1 and this indicates that the current assets are greater than the current liabilities. Higher liquid ratio reflects better performance of the company. Net working Capital Net working capital is the difference between current assets and the current liabilities. In the three financial years, Harbour-Link Group Berhad has the highest net working capital of RM 51. 4 million in the year of 2008. The figure of net working capital for Harbour-link Group Berhad decreased in the year of 2009 and 2010 by 0. 43% and 12. 32% respectively. This shows that there is a drastic drop in the net working capital of year 2010. Profitability Ratios EBIT to total funds ratio EBIT to total funds ratio of Harbour-Link Group Berhad is decreasing in the range of 22% from the financial year of 2008 to 2009 and 21. 4% from the financial year of 2009 to 2010. The total funds consist of shareholders’ funds and borrowings. According to the annual report, Harbour-Link Group Berhad is practicing debt-financing to raise funds because there is borrowing existed. Return on Equity (ROE) Harbour-link Group shows a decrease in net income from year 2008 to 2010. This situation leads to the decrease in the return on equity (ROE) of 5%. In the financial year of 2010, it has the ROE of 0. 08 which indicates that for every RM1 of the capital that the shareholder invested into, they will get 8% of return. Return on Assets The return on assets measures the productivity of assets in terms of the level of profits each dollar of assets generates. (Karen D. H, 2004, p. 131) The return on assets of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad is decreasing from the financial year of 2008 to 2010. It decreased from 8% of year 2008 to 7% in the year of 2009 and then 5% in the year of 2010. This implies that the productivity of the company’s assets is not doing well in terms of profits that the assets generated. Net Profit Margin The net profit margin is the ratio of net profit after tax to the total revenues. In the financial year of 2008 and 2009, Harbour-Link Group Berhad has the net profit margin figure of 8%. It indicates that the company has a net income of RM0. 08 for each RM1 of sales. However, the net profit margin for the year of 2010 decreased by 2% which is only 6% in the financial year. This shows that for every RM1 of sales made by the company in year 2010, the net income is only RM0. 6 which is RM0. 02 lower than the previous year. Share Price Price to Earnings Ratio (P/E) Price to Earning ratio is calculated by using the share price of the year 2010 over the earnings per share. The market price of Harbour-Link Group Berhad was amounted to RM 0. 72 in the year of 2010. From the annual report of the financial year of 2010, the earning per share is R M 0. 11. By using the formulae, the price to earning per share of 2010 is calculated as shown in the table with a figure of RM 6. 825. Current Economic Analysis Roots of Global financial crisis Global financial crisis are usually caused by bad regulation of the banking sectors, failure of fiscal and monetary policy implemented and so forth. In the year of 2008, Financial crisis began with the declared of bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. which is the fourth largest investment bank in United States. It was a severe ongoing world financial problem that began in U. S in the year of 2008. This recession has entirely hitting on the fragile global economy with the tremendous devastation in countries all around the world. The U. S government was trying to point the finger of the financial crisis to the rating agencies, who knew about the great risk that was coming but kept giving high reliability ratings to companies that did not deserve them and thus investors invested in the wrong companies. The cause of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was the accumulation of debt and the increasing of loan defaults. Why it evolved into a world crisis The news on bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Company led to the drastic fall in the share price all over the world. The company had billions of dollars losses incurred in the mortgage market of United States. (BBC NEWS, 16th Sept 2008) In Lehman Brothers’ case and the other investment banks, the problem was provoked by 2 major factors which are the very high level of leverage ratio and the dependence on short-term debt financing. Commercial banks cannot leverage their equity more than 15 to 1 as they are regulated but for Lehman Brothers Company, it had a leverage ratio of more than 30 to 1. According to the table 1, Lehman Brothers had only $3. 30 of equity for every $100 of loans. With this ratio, it makes the company to be insolvent. Conversely, the instability arose from the leverage problem was aggravated by the strong reliance on the short term debt. Based on table 1(Lehman Brothers Liabilities and shareholder’s equity), at the beginning of the crisis, the company financed greater than 50% of the assets. Reliance on short term debt financing is profitable indeed when it comes to a low interest rate market environment. However, when the company faced rumors of the insolvency problem, the short term lenders will start to have doubt on the company’s performance and therefore, they will start to withdraw their funds from the company for self interest protection. This scenario will lead to a shortage of liquidity for the borrower and thus the company tends to default. After the crisis began, Lehman Brothers did try to decrease its leverage and reduce its dependence on the short term borrowing but it was too late for them to amend the situation and therefore, bankruptcy occurred. The bankruptcy of Lehman’s brother forced the reassessment of risk in the market by looking at the price of the credit default trades. Impact on Malaysia and world economies The crisis started in the year of 2008 had a great hit on Malaysia and world economies. It causes the gas price had a drastic drop, decreasing of the value of real estates, the increasing of unemployment rate, Federal debt crisis and inflation. There is a global explosion in commodities price. The price of crude oil was remaining at high levels for few years till the end of 2008, the crude oil price dropped from the peak in July 2008 of US$145 to US$30. 28 per barrel in December 2008. (Forbes, 2008) According to the findings in table 2, the unemployment rate of Malaysia increased by 3. 13% from the year of 2008 to 2009 and 12. 12% from the year of 2009 to 2010. Malaysian future economic At first, Malaysia was aiming to have 9% of average annual Growth Domestic Product (GDP) until 2020. Suddenly, according to the Economic Planning Unit, the government noted that the number is absurd then they changed and told that Malaysia was capable to achieve 5. 4% of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) annually over the next 10 years to achieve the objective of becoming a high income economy by 2020, which is the vision 2020 (East Asia Forum, 2009). These seem that Malaysia’s economic future is uncertainty. It keeps changing. Besides, Malaysia’s government has a close relationship with its private businesses. Because of the relationship with some business groups have ostensibly led to the emergence of political cronies with unlimited access to public resources. Not only the relationship that mention above but also the experience of neighbouring Indonesia shows that it is a dangerous trend that could negatively affect economic development in the future. In this matter, changes in political leadership led to unstable political environment. Although it does not directly effect on Malaysia, it threatens he influx of refugees caused damage regional stability and social stability. Malaysias maritime economy can be defined as the production and manner of use of the range of goods and services that are linked to the maritime sector (Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, 1997). It covers the activities that are resource based, including fisheries, oil and gas, marine biotechnology and those that are service based such a s shipping ports, shipbuilding and repair and the myriad range of ancillary maritime services (Maritime Institute of Malaysia,2005). Malaysias main concern is the future of marine economy of the future of Malaysian trade, because the countrys foreign and domestic trade, or even almost totally dependent on sea transport facilities. From this we can know that it will have a very bright prospect in maritime economy. If Malaysia is to achieve the goals of industrialization, productivity-driven growth and enhancing competitiveness will depend on how the maritime sector is managed. The maritime sector has a main role to play in enhancing productivity-driven growth. An important element that will affect efforts to sustain international competitiveness is productivity. But, for longer term, Malaysia will need to maintain its international competitiveness, since there is rising competition from other emerging markets for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and for the transfer of modern technologies. Environmental issues are also important for Malaysia in the longer term as deforestation and global climate change may destabilize the countrys agriculture, which still plays an important role in the national economy. What is the most important is the political will effect a change to system-centred thinking in planning the future of the economy. So, a stable political environment is very important to Malaysia. If the political environment of Malaysia is good, it will have a bright future of economy. Solutions to the Global Financial Crisis or crises in general. Banks and financial institutions can cause a downswing of an economy because of their ignorance of the business cycle. Besides, bankers are greedy with the fat bonuses that they will gain if they get the highest market shares results. When the economy is doing well, they expect that there will be no recession problem is going to occur and therefore they will give loans to their customers without considering their customers’ affordability to repay the loans. Once their customers cannot afford to repay the loans, recession will occurs. To overcome these crisis problems, several steps can be used. Government and bankers often intervene to smooth the peaks and valleys of the economic cycle. There are two objectives that the government and bankers can do to prevent serious downswing of an economy. 1) Speedy intervention to prevent a self-perpetuating downward spiral, which means protecting depositors at minimal long term cost to the taxpayer. For example, the Federal reserve may restrict the money supply in good times to slow the expansion phase of the economic cycle, or deficit spend and cut interest rates to ease the recessionary phase of an economic cycle. 2) Ensure so far as possible that future booms are less exaggerated. This has implications for the form of any rescue package, and for the system of financial oversight that is put in place. The growth of consumer credits will increase the consumption of the consumer. The increase in the consumption will increase the aggregate demand of the country whereby AD equals to C + I + G + (X-M). Mc Taggart et al, 2007 p. 766). When the AD is increasing, it means that GDP is also increasing. This shows that the consumer credits provided will also be increased and therefore people will keep on borrowing money from the banks for consumption. This situation actually can amplify the business cycle and extend the upswing of the economy. Industry analysis The domestic and the world economy were in a downturn in the year of 2009. All the industry was affected and they are making an effort to maintain their previous performance and growth momentum. In the year of 2009, Harbour-Link Group Berhad suffered revenue declined by 5. 9% to RM 327. 6 million. The revenue decreased again by 5. 76% to RM 308. 7 million compare to the previous year due to lower selling prices and softer consumer demand. One of the Company competitors, Swee Joo Berhad was also suffered by achieved a turnover of RM 346. 7 million which is 9. 9% lower than the previous financial period. The lower turnover was also impacted by the recovery state for the economy. Swee Joo Berhad has a reduce in current ratio from 0. 648 to 0. 278 which seems to be lower than that of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad and therefore Harbour-link seems to have a better current ratio. Swee Joo Berhad has a negative figure for its Earnings before interest and tax of -11. 32 million and -176. 82 million in the year of 2009 and 2010. This is a huge loss for the company. It shows that Harbour-Link has a better performance than its major competitor, Swee Joo Berhad. Although the economy showed signs of recovery, but most of the economists hold that the sustained global recovery is still vague. This situation greatly influenced the consumers spending behavior. According to the Edge, Harbour-Link Unit obtained the secured contracts of RM75. 2 to supply gantry cranes for the Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd. The contracts were expected to be done in the year of 2012 and it’s also expected to escalate the future revenue and earnings positively for Harbour-Link Group Berhad. (The Edge, 11 April 2011) There are several ways for the companies to perform better during this hard period. However, the suppliers are also important causes which will affect the company performance. Although Harbour-Link Group Berhad suffered lower revenue during the year, however, it obtained quite a number of big projects with a favorable amount of contracts worth which is believed to boost the revenues for the future of the company itself. This scenario will assist Harbour-Link Group Berhad to create a stronger visibility and allow it to be well positioned for the economic recovery. Findings [pic] Table 1 shows Lehman Brothers Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity Source: Lehman Annual Reports |Year |Unemployment Rate |Percentage Change | |2006 |3. 60 | | |2007 |3. 50 |-2. 78% | |2008 |3. 20 |-8. 7% | |2009 |3. 30 |3. 13% | |2010 |3. 50 |12. 12% | Table 2 shows the unemployment rate in Malaysia Source: CIA World Factbook Conclusion In conclusion, although the Harbour-Link Group Berhad has a downturn in its overall performances in the financial year of 2009 and 2010 as the results shown in the findings, but it has a better performance than its main competitor, Swee Joo Berhad in the shipping industries. The Harbour-Link Group Berhad is overall well organized in its financial statements as shown in the annual reports and it can be categorized as a profitable and successful listed company in Malaysia. On the perspective of investors, Harbour-link is counted as a good investment company and therefore investors are advised to consider Harbour-link Group Berhad as one of their investment company because the company has a good expectation to have a huge increase in its future economic benefits. The future economy of Malaysia is expected to have a good return and therefore this ensure that Harbour-Link Group Berhad is a wise investment for the future benefits. References Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, 1997, The Maritime Economy of Malaysia, Pelanduk Publication BBC News, 16 September 2008, http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/business/7615931. stm Bursa Malaysia 2010- Equities, Bursa Malaysia Berhad, viewed on 26 April 2011 http://www. bursamalaysia. com/website/bm/market_information/prices/ East Asia Forum, Malaysia’s Economic Future, view on 1 May 2011, http://www. eastasiaforum. org/2009/11/24/malaysias-economic-future/ Encyclopedia of the Nations, Malaysia- Future Trends, viewed on 2 May 2011, http://www. nationsencyclopedia. com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Malaysia-FUTURE-TRENDS. html Forbes 2008- Crude Oil Prices 1861 – 2009, Forbes. com 2010, viewed on28 April 2011, http://www. forbes. com/2008/05/13/oil-prices-1861-today-real-vs-nominal_flash2. html Giles, R Capel, J 1994, Finance and accounting, 3rd Edition, MacMillan, London Harbour-Link Group Berhad 2011, harbour. com. my; Total Logistics EPCC Provider N. V 20092010, Harbour-Link Group Berhad, viewed on 22 April 2011, http://www. harbour. om. my/ Karen D. Halpern, 2004, Understanding Finance: Money, Capital and investments, Pearson, New Jersey. Maritime Institute of Malaysia, Malaysia and Port Competitiveness, 2005 Mc Taggart et al, 2007, Macroeconomics, 5th Edition, Pearson, Australia The Edge Financial Daily, 11 April 2011 viewed on 24 April 2011. http://www. theedgemalaysia. com/ The Star Online 2011- Market watch, Star Publica tions (M) Berhad, viewed on 24 April 2011, http://biz. thestar. com. my/marketwatch/charts/l. asp? code=2062~HARBOURp1=0. 99p2=0. 985p3=0. 99p4=0. 985p5=0. 99p6=0p7=0. 00p8=915p9=0. 532

Australian Wine Industry Essay Example for Free

Australian Wine Industry Essay In addition, this trend is enforced by a global economy with increasing free trade, international business collaboration, strategic alliances and a global currency. Geographically Australia is well placed to capitalise on the Asian boom and wine meets the Asian demand for Western style products. As for the domestic market, despite the fact that there has been minimal focus on developing new wine consumers during the last ten years, domestic sales have continued to expand in value rather than volume. Population growth in prime wine consuming age groups, the emerging generation who has grown up with wine consumption, the changing demographic profile of the Australian population, growth in the dining out market, increasing popularity of the Mediterranean diet, tourism growth and the quest for more individualised beverage experiences are significant opportunities exist for increasing domestic wine consumption. 1. 1. 2 Economic conditions Although a decline in the value of the Australian dollar inhibits profitability and the ability of Australian winemakers to hit key price oints, it helps to stimulate the other countries to import Australian wine because of lower price Increase in demand for wine may be attributed to the following economic factors: changing living standard, changes in the relative price of wine to other goods and services, the introduction of fringe benefits tax and the modification of sales tax to wine and other beverages. 1. 1. 3 Social and cultural trends Although nowadays, there is a strong trend away from alcohol beverages and alcohol consumption, quality table wine still be a favourite one for consumers. The image of a man drinking wine, bottles to bottles until get drunk is no longer seen. People do not drink wine in quantity but prefer quality alcohol. Sales in cask wine decline whereas profits in bottled semi-premium or premium wine increase. The reason for this can be explained by: Quality table wine has its own image and status, engenders high consumer involvement, provides variety, and has a range of flavour complexity. It is therefore a stronger alternative to other non-alcoholic beverages (soft drinks, bottled water, fruit drinks and coffee) than is beer or spirits. Quality wine has acknowledged health attributes. Recent research showed its effects in reducing cardio vascular disease. People look for more spiritual meaning in their lives. They favour healthy products, healthy lifestyle and show environmental concerns. Media, advertising, transparency, and openness in marketing. Many of these trends favour the Australian wine industry. Wine will meet the future consumers dem and for individualised, customised products which are natural, environmentally friendly and healthy. 1. 1. 4 Political and legal forces The Australian wine industry has set a target to be the worlds most influential and profitable wine producer in the Year 2025. It is supported by government in terms of providing a positive investment climate and facilitation infrastructure. Taxation Certainty in the retention of the current taxation level and structure for wine and brandy Review the method for valuing trading stock, particularly the maturation of wine stocks geared to premium wine production Maintain the current vineyard depreciation provisions Vary other taxation provisions which inhibit growth or prejudice quality. Facilitation Maintain support for industry research and development Enhance support for wine export promotion Upgrade Government contributions to training and to strategic data collection Continue the commitment to industrys pro market self regulation Adopt appropriate water access and pricing policies. 1. 1. 5 Technology Technology is of vital importance to Australia wine industry. It can help to improve productivity, economic of scale, efficiency and quality of products. In addition, the industry is also strongly committed to environmentally friendly production.

Evaluating Value Congruence in the Work Place

Evaluating Value Congruence in the Work Place Abstract This study re-examined the impact of personal and organizational values congruency on positive work outcomes and investigated the extent to which this relationship is affected by demographic variables. Data collection was used to validate those findings, lending additional credibility to the continuing importance of this phenomenon. Both personal values congruence and organizational values clarity were significantly related to commitment, satisfaction, motivation, anxiety, work stress, and ethics using a cross-sectional sample of managers from across the same organization set up. Gender, educational level, and functional area did not impact these relationships, although years of experience did make a difference to the finding on the final research processes being done. The term value congruence is generally intuitive when there is a match between employee and organization value systems, positive outcomes will result if the work ethics is put into order. This article will explain the benefits of value congruence, and show you how you can put value congruence to work in your organization. Introduction Acording to (Schein 2004 pg 535) Values are a critical elements of the organistional culture and leadership impacting both individual and organisational perfomance; it is tenadertively radicle that an organisation succeed in the global competetive arena without coherency of core values. Subatntiating on performance, brought about by advancement and tecchnolically advancement, professional networking and gglobolizatin mosst organisations require to cordinate to acquire relevant amrket share, customer demand for quick and quality services has imlicated how organistions does busness. With these essence each company creates and potrays it image and gudge by the customer on value received. Watson et al (2004) also argues that value congruence model is predominant research approach to the idead of personal and organisational fit. In the merit of values companys essential should absorb the banding concept and analyse judgement of want customers in the target market view them and impacts to the society. Customers rate sevices depending with the moment of truth when they purchase and consume a product or service. At such a juncture, customer-employee relations become a vital element for longterm benfit for both parties. On the othe hand (Barry Z Posner pg 536) relents that values are so deep seated tha nobody actually see values themselve manifest in opinions, desires fears and ttitudes whileenvisaged as pesonal, professional, organisational or societal. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Reseach questions What effect does value congruence has in an organisation? How do values congrunce impact the cutomer-employee relations What are values congruence positive outcomes Both individuals and organizations have value systems that dictate their attitudes, behaviors, and the ways in which they allocate resources. Value congruence occurs when the value system of an employee coincides with the value system of an organization. Job satisfaction is a positive emotional experience associated with ones job. Satisfied employees are more productive and experience less stress than their employers. Organizational identification (branding) derives from an employees sense of belonging to the organization. Employees who feel like they belong are likely to be more committed to the organization, more productive, and more likely to engage in extra role behaviors helping behaviors that go above and beyond the duties of an employees position. Intent to stay is an employees intent to remain with the organization over some period of time. Intent to stay is contingent upon both job satisfaction and organizational identification. Although the link between value congruence and positive organizational outcomes has been firmly established, until recently it was not clear why this process takes place. Rather than directly causing positive outcomes, value congruence primarily leads to positive outcomes through the enhancement of communication and trust between the organization and the employee. (Impact of value congruence on customer employee-relations)Value Congruence affects Positive Outcomes Globaisation has widened up business transactions around the world, transfrer of skills and mixture on human cultural and socail attivities plays a major role at organisation operational leves.Demand for quality skill by employers and higher renumeration by emloyees inpacts to the product and service development to the customer. Motivtion quality trainings and retreats specifically with clear job descriptons negates perfomance in orgnisation. However, organsaitional politics and environmental policies might cause indifference among employess. Relaibility and cosistency on professionalism critically vandalised the basic approach to achieve organisation goals. Most employees perormance can be based on many years of experience and values e.g communication skills, analytical skills and interpersonal skills which constitute ability to achieve organisational targets and improve shareholder value.,At atermost moments training and skill addition by employees canbe consistently high at the ex pense of the employer, However in a similar study by Berlin Erogam Robert Linden (2004) argues that both private and public organisation exeriences financial dificulties thus find it hard pay employees achieve career in terms of increases in terms of pay or upward movement in the hierachy.this is critica as most of organisation companies are facing challenges e.g inflation rates, global warming and economical challenges When the value congruence between an employee and the organization is high, there tends to be high levels of trust and communication between the two parties. In many cases employees will show positive results when they receive managers boost and motivation which is practically how one manager develops a good rapport with the general employees. Ones values is determined by how one approaches his or her work. A good employee always (what determine perfomance is the level of customer satistfaction and motivation) makes sure that his or her performance at work is excellence. But contrary to normal work some employees need to be pushed in order to do the right thing. This entirely depends in ones attitude towards the job or the administration of that organization.(this document relates to organization outcome/Evaluate) It is paramount (this word means otherwise in relation to the pargraph) for any organization to find value addition to their work and also ways to motivate their employees in order to achieve positive results for their company.(is this a recommendation or suggestion) Values have been associated with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, flexibility to accept changes whenever it is instilled to an organization, job performance which is a replica of the effort being applied. (Crollick, 2004)-refrence and page Vibrantly organisation requires or must comprehensive reseach and embrace organisation culture ie internal gap bridging in basing communication elements, trainings, runmeration and capcity building) It is important to know (who to know) the role of values (what is the role of vlues or wat values) in the growth of the organization so that strategic solution is set to meticate any side factor which arises if such values are not placed in their right place. Values are the core of who really people are, thus if you master their needs at work place and fulfill them without struggle then definitely you will have passed the first hurdle towards work satisfaction. Some of the most critical decisions made by a manager determine the relationship between customers and the employees.(the lelement of roles and responsibilty in decision making, organisation structure) Good manager(is this a one mans task?) impacts positive virtues to the employees which lead to positive outcome at end. Values are moderate tests that show the general flow of growth and development of an organizational set up and a determinant for a company to measure success and profitability level over a given period of time, usually it is an annual forecast for any organization to carry out their internal assess of their performance. (Should be at introduction) paragraphs shoul be short and pricise This depends on the kind of working conditions given the resources are equitable to the kind of work an organization is doing. Managers acts as the planners and value setters thus the employees are just the final implementers of what is supposed to be done to meet their respective targets. (These require proof so quote at list an author and bring in the agument element of study) Practical Implications In various parts, ethnic orientations play a major rloe and afects employee relationsValue congruence (is about competency within the organisation and creates a strong corporate image, win market share through strardized positioning and quality diffrentiation. It also builds stakeholder value-prctical: profitality via archievd targets, trainings, good pay, education sponsorship, employees retreats, engaging in professional bodies) can be utilized to increase positive outcomes such as job satisfaction,(its not about employees rather customer satisfaction: also require a quote) identification with the organization, and intent to stay with the organization. There are several strategies that managers can use to maximize positive outcomes (VERILY REPEATED) that result from value congruence. Value congruence can be addressed during the hiring process (How? Then should have touch on Job discription). Match applicant value profiles with those of the organization in order to select employees with good value fit to the organization. Socialize new employees toward the cultural values of the organization.   Incorporate organizational values into new employee training and reinforce them throughout the on boarding period the extended process of assimilating new members into the organization. For current employees, focus on strategies(which strategies?) that directly impact trust and communication: Increase trust by being honest with employees about organizational and supervisor decision-making processes, ensuring that processes such as performance appraisal and distribution of resources are perceived as fair(reference pg 6-above first paragraph). Increase the benefits that result from good communication by ensuring frequent and open communication between management and employees, and among employees themselves. (Require quote from the scholars/refrence) Value congruence ACT as a concept for organisation growth in a competetive environment calls for exhobiarnt skills that should be adopted at the job interviews, internships etc) Throughout various stages (like? Be specific?) of employment, value congruence is a useful concept that managers can leverage to improve positive outcomes for both the organization and employees alike. When the values represent different organizational units, value level can be determine the extent to which a successful merger (this means different) can take place between the units Similar effects can demonstrated when comparisons are made between the values of an organization and those of its members. In such cases, value level has been found to indicate overall happiness and satisfaction with the organization. It has also been significantly correlated with employee performance, commitment intention to remain with the organization, and actual turnover increases. When the values being considered are those of potential employees or applicants, evidence suggests that congruence with the values of an organization will influence whether individuals choose to join that particular organization for the better output capacity. Therefore, this issue has relevance for research on the broader issue of an individuals fit with an organization. Additional processes can be examined by comparing values or sets of values across different time periods. Because an organizations culture is reflected in the collective values of its employees cultural change can be assessed when unit or organizational values are compared across two or more points in time.(inter departmental competiveness) Furthermore, when values at each of these points are compared with the values of potential agents of such change e.g., having new management, a different generation of employees, etc. the locus of change can also be investigated. Similar issues can be explored at the individual level. That is by comparing the values of employees across different points in time can indicate their degree of socialization. As with organizational values, sources of socialization can be examined by comparing employee values at these points with the values of potential socializing agents. (Cooper, 2007) (change and change reistance) It is also appropriate to compare values or sets of values between individuals. Research has shown that value congruence between employees and their supervisors is significantly related to employee satisfaction and commitment ratings of employees, and supervisors consideration, success, and competence. Interpersonal value congruence is even thought to be an important factor in determining whether peoples lives will be altered by chance encounters with other Despite its wide applicability, there is a surprising absence of research on how value congruence should be conceptualized and measured. The present study examined a number of such issues not previously addressed in this literature. Some have used unsquared indexes, whereas others have used squared indexes. Each of these approaches makes a different assumption about the dynamics of interaction. An unsquared index assumes that a unit difference in values is equally influential regardless of the overall level of value difference. A squared index gives greater proportional weight to large unit value differences and is consistent with a theory that assumes that individuals dislike large discrepancies between expectation and occurrence, but actually react positively to small discrepancies of this type. A final issue that has not been treated in previous value studies is the potential for spurious association inherent in certain indexes of value congruence. Johns points out that the type of indexes used to measure value congruence can be highly correlated with their component value measures. Thus, an index of value congruence between a supervisor and a subordinate e.g., subordinates value score minus supervisors value score could be highly correlated with the subordinates value score. Given such a high correlation, if the index was related to subordinate satisfaction, it would not be clear whether this relationship was attributable to the effect of value congruence or the direct effect of the subordinates value level. In such cases, the relationship can be clarified by statistically removing the effect of the subordinates value score from the congruence index. This study examined four major issues in the measurement of work value ethics: The effect of different methods of constructing value congruence indexes, the use of general versus specific value measures, the use of actual versus squared indexes, and the effect of correcting indexes for correlation with their component measures. Significance of Co-Worker Value Congruence The lack of research in many cases undermines the proper investigation on the subject of workers relationship with one another. Thus, increasing popularity of team based organizational structures. That is why work ethics is important for the employees to make them work in any environment which is conducive and receptive for them. These reasons in general derive from literature on group and interpersonal behavior and research on value congruence, as it is being expounded further in the work. (Asumption)The senior executives in many cases pay very little attention to the values and beliefs of lower level employees as the former incorrectly believe that peoples culture, organization culture. The findings are helpful to managers as it illustrates that organization members attach values to the organization as a whole, but also to subunits of the organization. Human resource generalists can also gain from the study findings (which studyor by who and does it apply anaway?) as it builds on the common practice of socializing new employees through planned socialization tactics. (Gray, 2005) However, there has not been any focus in the literature on whether congruence could change during individuals tenure with the organization and if certain events could alter congruence.(a recmendtion/suggestion/you view) The findings from this study suggest that value congruence is not fixed and that events perceived to change an employees sense of congruence can have behavioral implications. For a company in an industry as dynamic as commercial airlines,(is this an examlple?) understanding how events could decrease employees sense of congruence should have paramount importance. There are also implications for human resource generalists predictions for employee attrition. The findings (why arent you quoting authors if this is desk data?) supporting multiple types of value congruence indicate that employees may determine congruence based on very different criteria. In making changes to organizational characteristics, caution must be given to not altering characteristics that may be important to employees values. (Albrecht, 2010) Literature Review The following approach is used to come up with the best information in regard to this shift of events. In this approach, individuals have more positive attitudes simply because they interact with similar others, rather than because the organization or leader provides conditions that allow opportunities for value fulfillment. Although most research to date has examined the sharing of attitudes or personality characteristics, the role of value congruence in interpersonal heterogeneity may in fact be of more importance. Values may be defined as beliefs about the way an individual ought to behave. As such, values represent core beliefs about what should be done, and are related to a broad network of more specific beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes. Because values are linked to modes of behavior, individuals are better able to predict the behavior of others with whom they share values . Likewise, individuals with congruent values should have greater agreement about what behaviors are important in the workplace Ambiguity and tension associated with working together should be reduced, thus increasing satisfaction and potentially enhancing performance on routine tasks of the type under study here. It provides partial support for these proposed relationships with their findings of relationships between co-worker goal congruence and satisfaction and withdrawal behaviors. Individuals with congruent values also have a common system of communication. This tends to facilitate interactions by decreasing communication noise and reducing stimulus overload. Value congruence may also affect how often people choose to communicate with each other. (Malphurs, 2004) found that similarity in age and tenure was positively related to frequency of communication, and this effect may well extend to value congruence. Alternatively, value congruence may reduce the need for communication in the workplace. As noted earlier, it increases the predictability of the behavior of others and fosters agreement about what behaviors are important in the workplace. Increased predictability and agreement may actually decrease the need for communication in the process of task accomplishment. Value congruence may also affect interpersonal relationships through its influence on the perception of environmental cues. In a study of perception, (Williams, 2002), found that individuals work values had a significant impact on their interpretation of environmental stimuli. It is therefore likely that employees with congruent values will place similar interpretations on events in their immediate work environment. Given (relating to) the relevance of environmental cues for understanding individuals attitudes and reactions in the workplace, such shared perceptions could remove important sources of disagreement between employees and further facilitate their interpersonal interactions. Given that research has to date not found entirely consistent effects in the domain of group composition or value congruence, the presence of moderators in the relationships between congruence and work outcomes must be considered. It is essential to note that work outcomes extend beyond quantitative measures of productivity to also include performance dimensions important to the organization, such as supervisor ratings of work habits, job-related attitudes, attendance, and coming to work on time.(basing on org perfomnce) With regard to the outcomes of attitudes and withdrawal behaviors, the literature tends to be somewhat more consistent than for performance, however, much of the similarity-attraction research was performed in the short-term environment of the laboratory. In particular, for these types of outcomes, we might expect that value congruence may not have a uniform effect over time. (Dunn, 2005) Value Congruence, Work Attitudes, and Attendance One reason for this wide scope of operation is that values are relatively enduring constructs that describe good virtues of individuals as well as organizations in their own set up. Thus, depending upon the source of various value measures, their comparisons can apply to a wide variety of individual and organizational level phenomena including intra organizational power, cultural change, organizational restructuring, recruiting, socialization satisfaction, interpersonal relationships, work culture and turnover. When the values or sets of values being compared are obtained for different levels of the same organization, value congruence can indicate which organizational units posses greater amounts of power and which are most able to define the critical uncertainties for the organization on a given issue which needs to be tackled before it becomes a great problem in the future prosperity of the organization. Similar effects can demonstrate when the two collateral organizations are made between the values of an organization and those of its members. In such cases, value congruence has been found to indicate overall happiness and satisfaction with the organization. It has also been significantly correlated with employee performance, commitment intention to remain with the organization, and actual turnover. When the values being considered are those of potential employees or applicants, evidence suggests that congruence with the values of an organization will influence whether individuals choose to join that particular organization. Furthermore, it is paramount when values at each of these points are compared with the values of potential agents of such change that can be investigated. Similar issues can be explored at the individual level when the need arises. That is comparing the values of employees across different points in time can indicate their quantity of work depends on the effort and support of than whole organization. (Albrecht, 2001) As with organizational values fluctuates, it is the indicator that one area is not at par with the rest. Thus the need for mutual operation and total revamp of the organization set up so that the sources of socialization can be examined by comparing employee values at these points with the values of potential socializing agents. It requires proper measures to be undertaken in order to cope with the challenges discussed on these research paper. Conclusion The value congruence in these contents is the great determining factor to measure the level of development of an organization. Thus, unless the whole system functions together nothing good can be achieved in any organization. The future of any organization depends on very well set up plan of work which is a blue print to what each one is required to do in a span of time. For any organization that records positive growth their secret lies on the attitude they impart to their employees which includes motivation, good salary pay, conducive work environment, well set goals, achievable targets and honesty employees. Therefore, whenever there is no discrepancy always work is performed to the expectation of the employers. Value, thus value congruence is a germ which species up the positive results of an organization. The study, therefore affirms that there is a crucial need for a value congruence to determine the performance level of an organization. In that a positive results comes with the effort applied on value addition measures being mastered across the organizational set up. The emphasis is in how the value congruence in the work place is achieved using the available resources both human and financial resources which are the driving force towards the achievements of the goals.(introduction) Methodolgy The information given in these research have put it out well how the value congruence plays a major part in the development of any successful company depends entirely on the management team and all the employees working together for the betterment of their organization without any group dragging another well function body. Thus, it has sent ices on the positive virtues that are required in order to achieve the positive desired results on the organization. The exercise requires a dedicate team of employees who have positive attitude towards their work and the good relationship they have cultivated together with the senior management and the entire organization as a working entity. This is aspiring to produce best results by creating a decent work environment among their workmates. The best thing that any individual employee can over to the organization is nothing less than the expansion of the organization to create more employment to many people to improve the living standards of all people.