Law of Evidence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 4

Law of Evidence - Essay Example As a result, three recognizable problems can be established. First, the impact on the European Convention of Human Rights on the statutory provisions which seem to offer expressly for a burden of proof that is to be placed on a defendant. The second problem is that whether such burden has ever been placed on a defendant in a criminal trial. And, thirdly, if it possible to inform if Parliament has, in a specific statute, impliedly placed such a burden on a defendant3. Where the issue of implied reverse burden of proof arises by way of statute, it needs to be compatible and given effect with any rights protected under the Article 6(2) ECHR4. The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) is where the Convention actually integrated into English laws5. A legal burden of proof is also known as ‘persuasive’ burden of proof. The persuasive burden of proof is the responsibility that is vested on only one party and ought to be satisfied so as to win in any specific issue in question. In that perspective, in some criminal trials, only one party bears the burden of proof on some issue and a different party on others. A discussion that relates to the legal burden of proof in any specific trial usually makes no sense unless that burden is related to a particular issue of fact. It is really very important to establish that the guilt of the accused is for the prosecution to prove and remains there all through the trial as in Woolmington v DPP6. Adrian cited that a legal burden is a burden of proof which a standard of proof can actually be assigned but saved in the case where the defendant needs to establish his insanity upon a balance of probabilities and of defence of insanity. In some instances, a ‘reverse legal burden’ is placed on the defendant7. Donnellan argued that reverse burden procedures usually arises when the statute that creates the criminal offense imposes a legal burden on the

Literature and Social Reality Essay Example for Free

Literature and Social Reality Essay In this paper I will discuss and analyze the social forces of immigration and industrialization that shape literature during the period of 1865 to 1912. I will describe the major literary movements of the period. Additionally I will explain how Realism and Naturalism influenced the literature of the period, how immigration and industrialization contributed to the influences. I will illustrate using examples from some of the greatest authors of the period. Immigration and Industrialization The United States’ population grew quickly in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Baym (2008) et al. write that there were 38. million people in 1870 and had grown to 92 million in 1910. This growth resulted mostly from immigration. People came from countries all over the world but predominantly from European and Asian nations. Immigration was also the major cause for urbanization in the United States according to Baym et al. (2008) with a dramatic proportional shift from a mostly rural population to a larger city population. Simultaneously with this mass immigration industrialization was happening creating an abundance of factory jobs and building immense wealth for some while also creating dramatic divides in society. Baym et al. (2008) describe the situation: â€Å"Long-settled white Americans faced newly arrived white people across divides of power, income, and privilege – worker against owner, farm against city, immigrant against native-born, leading to suspicion and social turbulence on a scale that the nation had not seen† (p. 3). The consequences were labor struggles resulting from terrible working conditions. Immigration brought an abundance of workers resulting in low wages as well as â€Å"inhumane and dangerous working conditions† (Baym et al. 2008, p. ). Conflict also arose from farmers being pushed off their land by the railroads and competition between native-born citizens and immigrants. There was also increased suspicion and resentment between the social classes likely based on fear of losing their â€Å"part of the cake† for the upper and middle classes, whereas the lower class was resentful because of how they were treated. Major Literary Movements The major literary movements during this period were realism and naturalism emerging after a long period of idealism and romanticism. Realism shifted literature to a way of describe life as it actually is instead of trying to present an idealized or romantic image. It was an objective style that offered detached perspectives on the everyday lives of the middle-class, working-class and the poor. This style worked well for describing the struggles of the period. Baym et al. (2008) describe W. D. Howells as the â€Å"chief American advocate† of realism (p. 6). Mark Twain, Henry James, Edith Wharton, and others also joined in this movement as well as some distinguished African American writers such as W. E.  B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett (Baym et al. , 2008). The nature of Naturalism has been debated as being the opposite of realism or as â€Å"extension or intensification of realism† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 7). Naturalism usually describes more extreme settings and circumstances than realism and focuses on harsher conditions and poorer characters. Baym et al. (2008) suggest that while characters in realistic works often overcome difficulties, in naturalistic pieces the characters never stand a chance. It is a much more pessimistic literary style than realism. Crane, Dreiser, London, and Norris are described by Baym et al. (2008) as the leading American naturalistic writers of the period. How Realism and Naturalism Influenced Literature Realism had an immense influence on the literature during this period. Mark Twain was one of the major authors and his â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† is an excellent example of his style, which became regarded as a leading piece for the â€Å"American style† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 6). Twain used colloquial speech and his writing style puts the reader in the position of participant, almost as if in a dialogue with Huck. It is a very intimate and informal way of writing. Huckleberry Finn is uneducated and sees the world through the lens of his own experience as well as the social circumstances and mores of the time. In chapter 23 of â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† Huck ponders about Jim, his African American companion on his adventure: â€Å"He was thinking about his wife and his children, away up yonder, and he was low and homesick; because he hadn’t ever been away from home before in his life; and I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks do for their’n. It don’t seem natural, but I reckon it is so† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 204). This passage realistically illustrates the view of a young boy at the time who only knows the world through the social context of his time and place, which included slavery and a very derogatory view of African Americans. Twain was very critical and pessimistic about humankind and his writing often reflected this. However with Huck Finn he appears to be attempting to show that even an uneducated young boy in the 1840s could be open-minded and open-hearted enough to see that people are equals. Henry James writes about â€Å"Daisy Miller,† a young American woman who is a new kind of modern girl. She does not appear to care about the established rules and mores of the time and is both bold and naive in her demeanor. Baym et al. (2008) write that James shows his nature as â€Å"a true cosmopolitan concerned with exploring American national character as it is tested by cultural displacement† (p. 317). James is painting a picture of the old and established strict rules of social class and position and how they become a hindrance in forming true connection between people. The established upper- and middle-class look down on the lower class and the up-and-comers. The result is miscommunication, suspicion, and conflict. Jack London was one of the leading naturalist writers of his time. In his essay â€Å"What Life Means to me† he describes his own experience as a working class youngster who toiled in a variety of jobs until finally he had enough of heavy labor and became a vagrant for a while (Baym et al. , 2008). He describes how he found himself at the bottom of society and how in that place â€Å"life offered nothing but sordidness and wretchedness, both of the flesh and the spirit; for here flesh and spirit were alike starved and tormented† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 582). He was keenly aware of the inequalities and injustice that industrialization had brought for the working class. He writes that he realizes that a laborer is finished and broken down at 45 or 50 while an intellectual, â€Å"a brain seller† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 584) comes into his prime at that age or later. He decides to ducate himself to make a difference both for himself and for the working class dear to his heart. London eventually encountered and the Socialist movement and describes in joyful terms finding â€Å"warm faith in then human, glowing idealism, sweetness of unselfishness, renunciation, and martyrdom – all the splendid, stinging things of the spirit† (Baym et al. , 2008, p. 584). He was a masterful naturalist writer describing in exquisite detail and with a detached, scientific narrative how the man slowly succumbs to the cold and freezes to death in his short story â€Å"To Build a Fire. Clearly his own experiences in Alaska had provided him with great fodder for this kind of story. Conclusion In this paper I discussed and analyzed the social forces of immigration and industrialization that shaped literature during the period of 1865 to 1912. I described the major literary movements of the period. Additionally I explained how Realism and Naturalism influenced the literature of the period and illustrated with examples from some of the greatest writers of that time.

Concerns in Implementing Biometric Technology

Concerns in Implementing Biometric Technology Though this seems to be an advantage, the integration of this system into the existing system is tedious. Some of the major concerns in implementing biometric technology are as follows, The system relies on complex data processing algorithms which consumes considerable amount of time. Lack of manufacturing and integration of special purpose hardware in the existing system. Adoption of biometric technology in the day-to-day life is slow. A new approach that is gaining attention in the field of biometrics is referred as behavioral biometrics, also referred as behaviometrics. The behaviometrics concentrate on analysis the behavior of the user while interacting with the computer and try to authenticate him. The hardware Mouse capable of monitor the movements of the user and analyzing them to extract a signature, which is unique for every individuals [4]–[6]. Generally there two kinds of authentication mode available in the mouse dynamics, Static authentication Dynamic authentication The main strength of mouse dynamics biometric technology is in its ability to continuously monitor the legitimate and illegitimate users based on their session usage of a computer system. This is referred to as continuous authentication. Continuous authentication, or identity confirmation based on mouse dynamics, is very useful for continuous monitoring applications such as intrusion detection [5]–[8]. II. RELATED WORK Extensive research has been made in the field of utilising the oe of the computer input devices, Mouse, towards the development of user interface design structure [10]. Only in the recent times, the mouse dynamics is further improvised as behaviour biometric technology. The previous attempt ware made to study the user’s identity based on the mouse gesture analysis . Initially, the number of participants for this prgramme is around 48[12].The system is focused on both static and dynamic mode of authentication, but later the system exclusively tried to develop the continuous authentication because for static authentication where in the need of special purpose design of GUI and usage of certain predefined form of signature. Gamboa et al conducted similar experiments to learn the user’s movements while playing a memory game. They are 50 participants involved in the experiment. A sequential forward selection technique based on the greedy algorithm was simply used to find the best single feature later add one feature at a time to the feature vector. Gamboa et al[5] proved that increase in the movements (interactions), the more accurate the identification process would be. But, we cant use this approach to the static authentication type becau se Gamboa et al[5] reported that the memory game took 10-15 min in average. The main issues with these studies are the minimum amount of mouse movements required to authenticate an user was improbable. This method holds well for user reauthentication or continuous authentication but failed in static authentication. So, further work has to be done in the field of Mouse gesture dynamics: a behavior biometric [18], [19]. Our work is to identify the user based on their handwriting patterns. There are considerable amount of research work was made in the field of identifying the user based on his handwriting. The entire work process has been divided into two processes: signature verification and user identification. The pilot experiment where the 50 ample users are allowed to sign and their signature is later used to identify them. The participants are requested to draw eight different gesture and each of them twenty times. The same eight gestures are used throughout the entire process and the users are advised to draw the strokes in a single stroke. By studying pilot experiment meticulously, we can perceive following facts which play crucial role in our work and they are as follows. The average gesture size drawn was made up of 64 data points in a single stroke. Some participant tends to sign faster as they time goes and this cause departure from their normal behavior. The raw data contained noises that must be filtered before processing. The users were advised to be as consistent with the variability in shape and size. These variations were clearly a major source of inconsistency. In our paper, we provide security against shoulder surfing by toggling between the visibilities of the signature and also we provide additional security features like anonymous password feature. III. PROPOSED SYSTEM Based on the facts, we obtained from pilot experiment, we divided our entire work into following modules. Input gesture and sample modules Gesture processing Extraction and acquisition of data points Anonymous Password feature A. Input gesture and Sample modules The input gesture creation module and sample module is simple drawing screen that used to ask the participant to freely draw a set of predefined gestures. The main purpose of this module is to make the participant experienced with the system and to draw them in his own way which is to replicate them later on. So, the gestures are not bound to any specified language and they do not necessarily have a meaning. The input gesture creation and sample module helps the user in two different ways. First, it moves the input drawing to the center of the area. Though the shifting of the drawn gesture is done, the data points are collected without saving these changes. Second, the module moves the gesture spacing to achieve a size of 64 data points. These 64 data points were based on the pilot experiment. As mentioned earlier, we were able to determine the average size of drawing the predefined set of gestures in one stroke. B. Gesture Processing Once, the data is collected how these signatures are modified for further use. What are the steps involved in the process of converting the user signature into their corresponding data points are well briefed in this section. The signature collected from the drawing area consists of three main components, the horizontal coordinate (x-axis), vertical coordinate (y-axis), and the elapsed time in milliseconds at each pixel. Each gesture replication for a given gesture can be identified as the sequence of data points and each of them is represented by a triple consisting of the X-coordinate, Y-coordinate, and elapsed time, respectively. For example, the jth replication of a gesture G can be represented as a sequence Gj = {, , }, where n is referred to as the gesture size (GS) and each where (1≠¤ i ≠¤ n) is a data point. C. Extraction and acquisition of datapoints The extraction and acquisition of data points module involves three main components, namely, data acquisition, data preparation, and data storage and authentication. 1) Data Acquisition: This module presents the gestures, which was created initially by the user in the input gesture creation module, and displays them to the user to replicate. The module records the user’s drawing while he interact with the computer. This module essentially records the signature in three components, horizontal coordinates denoted by xij, vertical coordinates denoted by yij, and the elapsed time in milliseconds starting from the origin of the gesture tij, as explained in the input gesture module. For each user, the application creates individual folder containing all the replication of different gestures. Each gesture must be replicated a specific number of times (eg., 20 times). The user has to wait for minimum 3 s between each replication which is to prevent the user from drawing the gesture too fast. We believed that the wait time and mouse release will force the users back to his normal speed and behavior each time they replicate the gesture. 2) Data Preprocessing: This module is to process the collected data points in such a way it reduces to noise in it. The user’s signature may be shakened or jagged during drawing. They may lead to inconsistencies in the process of data point collections. There are two kinds of normalization techniques which should be applid first before reducing the noise patterns. The first is center normalization which shifts the gesture to the center of the drawing area. The idea behind this tranisition is that the user may tend to draw his signature at any corner of the drawing area so we need to process the signature from any any part of the area. So, it is advisable to move all the gestures to the center of drawing area. The second is size normalization which alters the size of the gesture so that the final size is equal to the size of the template gesture in order to compare the two gestures later. If the size of gesture is larger than the template size then k means algorithm is used to reduce its size. The k means algorithm forms 64 clusters of data points initially, take the centroids of each cluster as the datapoints. To remove the outliners and noise in each replication, data smoothing techniques are introduced. The user cant draw same signature without changing its size and shape under multiple occasions. So, the data smoothing removes the variations in the signature. We use the standard weighted least-squares regression (WLSR) method to smooth the data and Peirce’s criterion [21] to eliminate the outliers. 3) Data Storage and authentication: The collected data points are further stored in the database for each use. The database is capable of storing all the replication of gestures of the user which he entered during the input gesture and sample module. When the user entered the signature during the authentication time, all the replication gesture would be compared. is one of the imminent disaster in these modern technical world. Information extortion occurs when an attacker took the password and other authentication information from the user forcibly. Neither the traditional text-based password system nor biometric systems provide easy way-out of this. No matter the password is a text, fingerprint or iris movements it can be taken by force.

The National Health Services Essay -- Health, Insurance

The National health services (NHS) provides a comprehensive healthcare services across the entire nation. It is considered to be UK’s proudest institution, and is envied by many other countries because of its free of cost health delivery to its population. Nevertheless, it is often seen as a ‘political football’ as it affects all of us in some way and hence everyone carry an opinion about it (Cass, 2006). Factors such as government policies, funding, number of service users, taxation etc all make up small parts of this large complex organisation. Therefore, any imbalances within one sector can pose a substantial risk on the overall NHS (Wheeler & Grice, 2000). This essay will discuss whether the NHS aim of reducing the nations need for provision of health was achieved or not, taking into account different health models. The concept of NHS came into power from 5th July 1948. Although, Bevan who had this ideology of ‘welfare state’ was successful in architecting NHS. In fact, the need for such a consolidation of service provision was initially identified in 1919 by the Dawson Committee report (Christopher, 2004). The state in which healthcare system operated before1948 was incomprehensive, full of inequality and even lacked in providing minimum adequate standards to the general public. The people living in poverty and on Low income (working class) were affected the most; whereas, rich families were able to afford the healthcare services adequately. The health insurance was provided under the National Insurance Act 191, but was only available to the workers, whereas, their dependants (wife and children’s) were excluded. Therefore, every time they used the services they were required to pay for it. Thus, because most... ...are immense, as it has only finite resources to use, but needs its services to be clinically effective as well as able to meet the needs of individual’s, their choice of preferences and be value for money. To accomplish this NHS will need to harness more securely its investment in surveillance, analysis and budgets, and therefore establishing a framework that would than serve and provide a better health outcome to the entire nation. Lastly, UK spends about half of what is spent by the US (about 14 % of GDP) on its healthcare, yet in US out of 250 million over 30 million citizens are still without health care provision. Thus, despite such a massive expenditure by US government, failure to provide basic health care to millions of its citizen is not overcome, however, that is certainly not the case in UK (Bilton, et al., 2002; Christopher, 2004; Smith I. , 2007).

Off Job and on Job Analysis Essay

Introduction of Topic The subject study is aimed to investigate an issue i. e. â€Å"Comparative Analysis of on-job & off-job training effects on employee performance† for this I have select to method of training off job training and two moderate variables environment and trainers which control on employee performance. On job training and off job training variable are conducted as comparative variable while other variable conducted as moderate variables. In general the organizations are using performance appraisals in order to appraise their employees and to assess their annual performance. Performance Appraisals have become a management craze over the past decade whereby every organization seems to think that by faithfully adhering to this practice, people within the organization will grow and develop in the company image. Nothing could be further from reality. Experience has proved to me that since those who are carrying out the assessment are usually poorly trained, poorly prepared and with an ‘ I am your boss so I must be more effective than you’ attitude. The result is often than not highly subjective and of very little value to either the organization or to assess. Every human resource manager knows that through training they can improve the skills or performance of employees or work force. But I want to clear which training method is most beneficial for work force. So that human resource manger would provide that training method which is most suitable for improve the performance of employees. For this purpose I conduct my research and comparative analysis that which training method is efficient and which factor influence more on performance of an employee. Problem Statement: Comparative Analysis of on-job & off-job training effects on employee performance Objective Statement: From side to side training can get better the skills or achievement of employees. My objective of conduct a comparative research is to find out efficient method of training to enhance or improve the skill of employee. Introduction to Variables: Dependent variable: Performance of Employee Independent Variables: On job training, Off job training Moderate Variables: Environment, Trainers Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE. Training on the job has become a major source of skill buildup for workers in the last two decades due to the rapid pace of technological change. Studies by Bishop (1994) and Bartle and Lichtenburg (1987), among others, establish that a well-trained workforce provides returns to employers in the form of higher productivity and better flexibility to technological change. Hence, there is a strong incentive for employers to sponsor training for their workforce. However, employers also need to think with the possibility that workers may quit before employers can fully realize the benefits of the training that was provided. For nearly three decades since Becker (1964) classified training as general training (training that builds skills transferable to other firms) or specific training (training that builds firm-specific skills), researchers have assumed that employers would be more willing to sponsor specific training as opposite to general training that could be used elsewhere. However, many recent experimental studies have failed to provide any evidence for this idea. Instead, experimental research has consistently found that most employer-sponsored training does, in fact, provide employees with skills that are transferable to other employers (i.e. , that most employer-sponsored training should be classified as general training). Studies by Barron, Berger and Black (1999), Lowenstein and Splatter (1999), Booth and Bryan (2002) find, that most or all the training that is sponsored by employers result in workers acquiring general skills that can be used at other firms. Such recent findings have sparked a changed interest in the following question: do workers who acquire transferable skills from employer-sponsored training continue working in the same job or do they seek better returns for their newly acquired skills from other  employers? While this question has been explored in many recent studies, most of this research (possibly due to the nature of the survey data available) has focused on younger workers or a cross-section of workers. In doing this, workers who are in the middle of their careers – a subset of workers who enjoy a considerable benefit from training – have been overlooked; it is well-understood that the type of training undergone by young workers is considerably different from the re-training of mid-career workers. De Grip and Van Loo (2002) detail the various ways, in which a workers skill may degrade over the course of a career, necessitating corrective on-the-job training is often essential to maintaining worker productivity. In this context, it could be reasonably expected that the nature of training mid-career employees receive would take fundamentally different forms than training for the labor force at large. Also, workers tend to be highly mobile between jobs early in their careers; Topel and Ward (1992), for example, show that a typical worker holds seven different jobs during the first 10 years of his/her career, with the rate of job mobility then declining significantly. Hence, employers may be more willing to sponsor general training for such workers, believing that they would be more likely to experience the rewards of this training due to the decreased job mobility at this stage of the worker’s career. Effective training programmers’ require the dedicated support of top management (Motwani, Frahm et al. 1994). Such organizations provide training mapped to employee and organizational needs (Mann, 1997), and provide this at the proper time. Yet, not all companies place the same emphasis on, or show the same commitment to employee training (Roberts and McDonald, 1995; Hughey and Mussnug, 1997). Some companies work hard to recruit the best people and yet spend relatively little effort to retain them once hired (Cappelli, 2000). There is evidence to show that benefits follow to organizations that are committed to employee training (Wills, 1994). Organizations that place a high value on training give resources to the management of the training process. They devote time to ensuring that employees get the training programmers’ that is most appropriate for them given their existing IT skill sets (Eighteen, 1999). Such firms are most successful at maximizing the effectiveness of their training programs (Huang, 2001). Organizations that commit effort and finances to training programmers’ and employee development do so with the  objective of a pay-off in terms of increased skill-sets, increased motivation, increased knowledge transfer (Pate, Martin et al. , 2000), more positive psychological and organizational dynamics, as well as a measurable aggressive edge. The use of training courses future outstrips what is known of their usefulness (Foxon, 1989; Schonewille, 2001). Mann (1996) maintains that despite heavy investment in training, organizations can frequently fail to evaluate adequately the value or success of their training programmes. Organizations that devote considerable resources to training also understand the value of evaluating the training process (Motswana, Frahm et al. , 1994; Mann, 1996). Such evaluation is a key phase in any proposed training and development process (Al-Khayyat and Elgamal, 1997). While such appraisal is desirable in principle it is difficult in practice (Morris, 1984). Even those companies who do carry out evaluations often use measures later considered ineffective (Schonewille, 2001). The most common metric of evaluation is trainee perceptions . Such assessments are random, informal, and unstructured evaluations of training programmers, which tend to be post training appraisals rather than approaching the evaluation of training programmers from their design stages (James and Rolfe, 2000). Many forms of training exist ( Switzer and Kleiner, 1996; Huang, 2001). The range of training techniques has been expanded by the application of technology in its â€Å"hard† (for example through computing technology) and â€Å"soft† (for example through instructional design) (Sadler-Smith, Down et al. , 2000). In relation to IT training, many methodologies for the approach to and delivery of training can be used: forms of training include instructor console training in a classroom situation, stand-alone terminals with remote instruction, computer based training (CBT) without instructor, hypermedia training (a computer based method of non-sequential reading and writing, a technique with which chunks of information can be arranged and rearranged according to an individual’s needs, previous knowledge, and curiosities (Higginbotham-Wheat, 1992; Murray, 1998)), self-paced training using a variety of delivery methods (Compeau, 1995), distance learning (whether by videoconferencing, email, or other method). Learning networks, simulations, groupware communication, use of mentors or coaches, job rotation, management games, role playing and behavior modeling (Williams, 2001), or Internet based training. While many new training approaches based on new technology  exist, these modern training methods have been subjected to comparatively little empirical or critical study (Sadler-Smith, Down et al. , 2000). The literature suggests that that some of the most effective training techniques are not new, but are merely the application of old-fashioned common sense to the assessment of training needs (Switzer and Kleiner, 1996; Sadler-Smith, Down et al. , 2000; Smith, 2002). Sadler-Smith et al. (2000) believe that flexibility of delivery is a fundamental issue for smaller firms, to which open/distance/technology-based learning may present a workable solution; however, the modernity of some delivery methods may in itself lead to assumption of applicability and efficiency. Bostrom at all (1988) argue that the delivery method can directly influence the effectiveness of, and the benefits accrued from training. Read and Kleiner (1996) present the most commonly used training methods across non-industry specific U. S Companies. They found that the top ten training methods used in business, listed in order from highest to lowest use, were: videotapes, lectures, one-on-one instruction, role plays, games/simulation, case studies, slides, computer-based training, audio tapes, and films. In a survey carried out by 450 respondents, Mathews et al. (2001) studied the incidence of training delivery methods across non-industry specific organizations in the U.K. , Portugal, and Finland within the context of benefits accrued. They found that training methods most commonly used tended to be traditional, with little impact evident of more HITECH methods. Traditional methods included external short courses, internal lectures and seminars, issuing of training manuals and materials to be self-taught, using training videos, short demonstrations, and the delegation of training responsibilities to training consultants. This study found that in-house participative seminars were the preferred training delivery method in the UK, whereas external short courses were the preferred method in Finland and Portugal. Impersonal methods such as training videos, and internet or Computer-based training, were viewed across the UK, Finland, and Portugal as poor methods. In contrast, highly personal methods of training such as participative courses and seminars were viewed as the most effective and highly regarded methods. From a company perspective, training and development of company employees are essential for organizational operation, and organizational development. From an employee perspective, these same factors are both vital and critical for skill development and for career advancement. Retention of employees, and the retention of valued skill sets, is important for continued business achievements (Mak and Sockel, 1999). The successful retention of employees leads to knowledge conservation within the organization (Cappelli, 2000). Employee turnover may lead to a loss of human resources weakening competitive positions. At a company level, mechanisms that allow for and promote knowledge transfer amongst employees can help minimize the effect of the loss of skilled staff to other companies (Cappelli, 2000). Training employees leads to increased employee satisfaction, facilitates the updating of skills, leads to an increased sense of belonging and benefit, increased employee commitment to the organization (Bushardt, Fretwell et al. , 1994), and strengthens the organization’s competitiveness (Hughey and Mussnug, 1997; Burden and Proctor, 2000). Job-related training increases an employee’s ability to perform job-related tasks. Job satisfaction is an important motivator for employee performance and is negatively related to turnover (Mak and Sockel, 1999). Company commitment to the training needs of its employees positively influences employee satisfaction, leading to an increase in employee motivation and an increase in retention (Mak and Sockel, 1999; Ranft and Lord, 2000). Such commitment culminates in employee exposure to quality job-related training, leading to better employee morale, an increased sense of employee achievement and accomplishment (Elizur, 1996), and ultimately to an increase in organizational competitiveness. Whilst company commitment to training for its employees positively affects retention and leads to desirable outputs, there are many different categories and types of training (Switzer and Kleiner, 1996; Huang, 2001; Mathews, Ueno et al. , 2001). To have positive results, organizational commitment to training must tie closely to appropriate effective training methods and training delivery mechanisms. In terms of training methodologies, what may be appropriate for one company (or employee) may not be for another. This paper describes a descriptive study, which assesses the impact of training on employee retention, and examines the relationship between organizational commitment to training and benefits accrued. Results of the study demonstrate that organizational attitudes and provision for training relate positively to employee expectations and requirements. Findings indicate that well-engineered training initiatives lead to increased organizational strength, job-related employee competencies, and job satisfaction. The study finds that training helps in retaining knowledge within the organization, but may not help in retaining employees. The main method of training delivery is by instructor-led formal sessions, followed by self-training and workshops. Findings show that more modern methods such as web-based and computer based training are not pervasive. Almost one third of respondents believe that training received has not helped to reduce job-related stress. More than one quarter of respondents indicate that their organization does not structure training based on employee feedback on requirements. There are many cases where the training needs of employees have not been sufficiently addressed and cases where organizations have not evaluated the quality or effectiveness of training programmers, making return on investment hard to measure. To succeed, an organization must create an environment that not only attracts people to join and give their best every day, but one that also strives to retain existing staff. The retention of talented experienced, productive and knowledgeable employees can be a source of competitive advantage for companies (King, 1997; Cheng and Brown, 1998; Roepke, Agarwal et al. , 2000). The maintenance of employees provides staff stability, which aids organizational knowledge retention (Cappelli, 2000), offers the opportunity to raise quality standards through continuous improvement practices (Motwani, Frahm et al. , 1994) and facilitates the achievement of more reliable customer care (Rowley and Purcell, 2001). It is important for employers to identify and to understand their employees’ viewpoints on what the employees consider to be the most important aspects of their jobs, if employees are to be more content (Ventakesh, 1999; Mulder, 2001). While staff retention in general is important, the retention of IT employees is vital for business success (Mak and Sockel, 1999; MacDonald, Gabriel et al. , 2000). understanding IT leaders recognize that the greatest impediments to success are often related to people rather than to information, technology, and systems (Roepke, Agarwal et al. , 2000). Considering the high costs associated with replacing IT staff and their experience, it makes sense for companies to invest in mechanisms designed to keep IT staff longer (Mak and Sockel, 1999; Moore, 2000). One such staff retention mechanism is the use of employee training programmes for existing members of staff (Mulder, 2001). The use of such programmes in recent times by employers may have more to do with securing employee commitment in uncertain times than about transforming skill levels (Hallier and Butts, 1999). As such, for some organizations the key objective of training is to increase employee commitment to the organization and to create a culture that underlines the value of long-term employment. Mak and Sockel (1999) found that most employees consider career development a priority motivational tool; and once motivated, they are more likely to be devoted to their job and the company’s retention rate should improve. As such, management commitment to the development of the employee can significantly affect retention, even in situations where economic incentives such as incremental salary increases do not (Ranft and Lord, 2000). Specific training initiatives have specific goals. These include the improvement of employee job performance, employee development (Burden and Proctor, 2000), the development of skills, knowledge, and attitudes (Al-Khayyat and Elgamal, 1997), and a means of achieving a competitive edge (Hughey and Mussnug, 1997; Hallier and Butts, 2000). Given the fast obsolescence of IT specific skills there is a repeated need to provide opportunities for employees to update their technical skill sets. The failure to provide such training increase the chance of failure and such companies may pay more in the long run (Auer, 1995). Organizations must respond to demands for change while at the same time realizing that advances in technology and knowledge are rendering many traditional employee skills obsolete, while simultaneously developing needs for new ones (Read and Kleiner, 1996). It is this continuous risk of knowledge obsolescence that makes training and retraining necessary, not only for individual growth but also for organizational growth (Read and Kleiner, 1996). Within the IT sector, training can be considered to encompass organized, structured, formal events and sessions offered to IT employees as a company initiative. This paper does not consider on-the-job daily experiences to be classed as formal training, although such experiences can aid the development of skills related to job functions (Sadler-Smith, Down et al. , 2000; Smallbone, Supri et al. , 2000). The beginning of the modern concern about skills and economic competitiveness in the United States came perhaps with the government report, A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), which documented the poor academic performance of U. S. students compared to those of major competitor nations. Studies such as Baumol, Blackman, and Wolff (1989) focused attention on the long-run and comparative performance of the U. S. economy. Piore and Sabel (1984), Cohen and Zysman (1987), and others drew attention to the importance of production work to an economy and to the fact that work organization and employee skills influenced the competitiveness of manufacturing firms and their ability to adapt to changing markets. Dertouzos, Lester, Solow, and the Industrial Productivity (1989) developed these views into an argument about declining U. S. competitiveness that became almost a standard for future studies. The work organization and management structures of U. S. firms rely too much on outdated scientific management approaches. They are hierarchical, based on narrow job titles and unskilled workers, and, as a result, are not as flexible in adjusting to changing markets as the competitor firms in other countries. The more flexible techniques of Japanese management in particular demand higher skills from the labor force. Other studies soon pounced on the connection between skills, productivity, and economic performance. Both America’s Choice (1990) and the Office of Technology Assessment’s report (1990) argued that higher levels of skills in the workforce were necessary in order to develop the new, more productive systems of work organization and compete successfully with other nations. With these reports as a backdrop, the Secretary of Labor’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) was established in 1990 to identify the skills that the workplace was demanding. In its various reports, the Commission has argued forcefully that new types of organizations and new arrangements for organizing work—employee empowerment, teams, and new work technologies—require new skills and a higher level of existing skills from workers. Furthermore, the skills that are required are at least in part general work skills that translate across employers and industries. Both employers and individual workers are seen as benefiting from those higher skills (SCANS, 1992). Arguments like these have in large measure been responsible for a new thrust in public policy toward raising skill levels, especially through schooling. The National Goals for Education, for example, is an effort to raise educational standards in the country at least in part to improve competitiveness. The list of skills identified by SCANS as reasonably generic to the U. S. economy has been used to drive the curriculum in high schools and in training programs such as the Job Corps and those funded by the Job Training Partnership. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act, passed by Congress to establish school-to-work change programs like youth apprenticeships, is also designed to raise work-related skills. Given the speed with which these arguments have moved forward, it is indeed surprising to find so little experiential research that examines the relationship between skills, worker productivity, and economic performance. It is not obvious, in the absence of empirical evidence; those higher levels of skills will necessarily lead to better economic performance. Unless jobs require or allow workers to make use of higher skills, for example, one should not expect performance to improve when skills increase. Further, jobs that require higher levels of skills now than in the past still may not tax the skills that employees already have. In assembly jobs, for example, the initial skill requirements are so low that they could rise substantially and still be within the set that virtually all workers possess. Loewenstein and Spletzer (1999), Booth and Bryan (2002) find, that most or all the training that is sponsored by employers result in workers acquiring general skills that can be used at other firms. Such recent findings have sparked a renewed interest in the following question: do workers who acquire transferable skills from employer-sponsored training continue working in the same job or do they seek better returns for their newly acquired skills from other employers? While this question has been explored in many recent studies, most of this research (possibly due to the nature of the survey data available) has focused on younger workers or a cross-section of workers. Finally, where skills are in shortage, the relevant skills may be job-specific ones that are typically seen as being the responsibility of the employer to provide. Perhaps the main reason for the lack of research on skills and performance is the difficulty in obtaining direct measures of an employee’s skill. What are typically available are aggregate measures of the amount of education and training workers receive. These are the inputs that should produce skill and that are related to indirect measures of performance. The body of research on the economic returns on education is particularly wide and may have some relevance for these questions. Human capital research clearly finds that employees with more education earn more, suggesting that the skills they have are valued in the market. Whether education is simply a alternate or screen for some other desirable characteristic, such as resolve, is a complicating factor in the argument. The fact that the return on education appears to be rising over the past decade—rising rapidly for college graduates and falling sharply for high school dropouts— suggests that such education is increasingly valuable in the labor market (cf. Levy & Murnane, 1992). The fact that both initial and further education and training earn a higher return suggests that some of the skills associated with education are increasingly valuable (see Tuijnman, 1992, for references to research in Colombia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and the United States). But for which specific skills is the return being earned? Research on the relationship between vocational course work and subsequent job performance may shed some light on this question. Vocational education programs typically provide training for specific occupations, and research on the labor market outcomes for students in these programs can help in understanding the effects of general or vocational skills on the economy. Altonji (1992) found that students who took more vocational courses earned higher wages, other things being equal. Other studies find that enrollment in vocational education programs improves participants’ labor market experience but only for those who find jobs in the field for which they received training (e. g. , Campbell, Eliot, Laughlin, & Suesy, 1987). High school students who participate in vocationally oriented programs like workstudy and co-op substitute on-the-job training for academic classes, andstudies suggest that they do not necessarily do better in the labor market than those who did not participate in such programs (Bishop, Blakemore, & Low, 1985). Hollenbeck (cited in Stern, Stone, Finkelstein, Latting, & Martinez, 1993) found that students enrolled in occupationally based technical training following high school did better in the labor market than did those who pursued a baccalaureate program. It is difficult to draw reliable conclusions from these studies about the skills needed to improve economic performance (Berryman, 1994; Stern & Tuijnman, in press). The fact that vocational skills pay off when graduates find jobs in their field of training but not otherwise may indicate, for example, that the programs help simply by giving access to a well-paying job market. In one of the few studies that attempts to sort out the source of higher wages, Grubb (1991) concludes that the return on a two-year college degree comes mainly from access to better paying occupations than are available to non-degree workers and not from obtaining higher paying jobs within the same occupation. The latter measures the extent to which education produces higher performance for the economy as a whole. The complication noted above about interpreting evidence on returns from education is that education may function as a screen for some other desirable characteristic, such as persistence, that covaries with educational attainment and drives success. One way around this problem is to examine individuals’ skills directly, as opposed to their educational attainment. Bishop’s (1991) comparison of workers’ wages with their scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is one example of this approach. (Al-Khayyat and Elgamal, 1997) He finds that higher competencies were not associated with higher starting wages. Basic academic competencies such as mathematical ability actually received a negative premium from the labor market while vocational skills such as typing speed earned a considerable premium. , (Hughey and Mussnug, 1997; Hallier and Butts, 2000). These competencies were related, however, to performance on the job as measured by the reports of supervisors. SCANS conducted its own, although indirect, test of the relationship between skills and performance by examining the current wages for a sample of jobs and the SCANS competencies associated with them (SCANS, 1992, p. 9). Not surprisingly, it was found that jobs requiring higher skills pay more. As noted above, however, it is not clear what to conclude from this. It does not indicate, for example, that workers with higher skills perform better in the same job or that the economy would be better off if skills levels rose. A second complication about interpreting evidence from the economic returns on skills as measured by wages is that such skills raise wages in two ways. The first is by providing access to higher paying occupations, and the second is by helping improve performance within occupations. The policy interest associated with the arguments above is mainly with the second relationship. While jobs in medicine, for example, require higher skills and pay individuals more, the economy as a whole cannot grow by making more and more people into doctors. Even for individuals, the gains from expanding access to higher wage occupations face the well-known fallacy of composition. If the supply of workers with the skills needed to fill a particular job rose, the wages associated with that job would fall, as would its desirability. Performance and wages can grow, however, if all workers become more productive at their current jobs. An alternative approach, therefore, is to examine the relationship between skills and job performance within one’s current job, using actual job productivity measures for the estimates. Most of these studies come from personnel psychology where they form the basis of attempts to validate selection procedures (see, e. g. , American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education [Joint Committee], 1985). Studies of skills that might generalize across settings concentrate mainly on academic material of the kind associated with classroom instruction. Academic skills as measured by aptitude tests can be reasonably good predictors of job performance (cf. Barrett & Depinet, 1991). The best known of these tests is the General Abilities Test Battery (GATB), which is used extensively by the employment service. The cognitive composite scale from GATB measures traditional academic skills such as verbal and numeric skill. It is related to job performance at roughly the same level as vocational skills, which correlate at levels between . 20 and . 30 (see National Research Council, 1989). Academic performance as measured by grades in school, however, is a substantially worse predictor of job performance (cf. Hunter & Hunter, 1984; Schmitt, Goodling, Noe, & Kirsch, 1984). Other studies use organizational performance measures to examine the relationship with skills. Bartel and Lichtenberg (1987) find, for example, that the rate of innovation is higher in industries that have more educated workers. Cohen and Levinthal (1990) also find that firms that have made a greater investment in learning experience greater innovations. Overall, the results surveyed above suggest that job performance—and ultimately economic performance—might be improved by raising academic skills in the workforce as a whole. 2 With respect to the policy arguments above, however, it is not clear which skills are the important ones for performance or whether new work systems are creating higher demands for skills. SCANS essentially performed a job analysis for the economy as a whole, producing a set of basic skills that are said to generalize across virtually all jobs in the workplace. While all job analyses are somewhat subjective, the SCANS skills are similar to those generated by other widely used job analyses such as the Position Analysis Questionnaire (McCormick & Jeanneret, 1988). SCANS identified two categories of these general skills: foundation skills associated with traditional academic education and interpersonal skills, and workplace competencies, which are more practical and vocational, applying skills to a workplace context.

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DB5 Part 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

DB5 Part 1 - Essay Example He connected with the canvas in a form of expression that had not previously been seen before. His work was emotional, the paint on the canvas an infliction of his emotional self, much the same as is achieved by the solo artist, opera soprano singer, a classical pianist, and all the other artists whose art bears the infliction of their emotional commitment and intensity. For the art world, Pollock’s work was the introduction of new and innovative ideas into an environment where abstract had become the norm, and expressionism still in many ways resembled abstract. There was not a distinct enough approach between impressionism and abstract to differentiate it until Pollock’s Convergence. Pollock ushered in what social scientists refer to as â€Å"cultural convergence (Jenkins 2006 viii).† That is when the new and old converge, transitioning to the new cultural direction (Jenkins 2006). Convergence is about bridging the gap between the old and the new, transitioning to the new cultural direction, and building upon the old through new creative styles and expressions across the range of media and mediums (Jenkins 2006).

Rationale for choosing the two companies and industries based on your Essay

Rationale for choosing the two companies and industries based on your industry and fundamental analysis - Essay Example During last financial year i.e. in 2010, companies have experienced higher growth and hence, there had been higher dividend yield (Vellacott and Cruise, 2011). UK economy has been experiencing slower economic growth but it steady and expected to grow much higher by 2012. However, due to sluggish economic recovery, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has claimed that â€Å"expected national output to increase by 1.3% in 2011 compared to the 1.7% it had been predicting three months ago† (Elliott, 2011). During 2007-2009, overall GDP growth was negative due to global crisis, but during 2010, these parameters have taken an increasing trend that will make stock market grow in coming years. Industry Analysis Telecommunication UK telecommunication industry is highly developed in terms of industry polices and market exposures like demand. For example, during end 2010, nearly 4.8 million and 33.1 million were the users of mobile broadband and 3G mobile (Ofcom, 2011). Figure 6 portr ay that mobile ownership has been grown from 50% to 91% since last 10 years and figure 7 shows that there also have been growth in broadband connection. The market report also signifies that there has been a slight decline in annual revenue of telecommunication industry as presented in the following figure. However, it is expected that, during 2011, industry revenue is expected to grow by 2% to ?35.6 billion and annual growth rate will grow rate nearly 3%-4% p.a. By the end of 2015, market is projected at ?40.7 billion i.e. â€Å"equivalent to cumulative growth of 17% in real terms compared with 2010† (MBD, 2011). Pharmaceutical Multiple new product development led by technological advancement and government’s initiatives are expected to bring rapid growth in healthcare industry. Comparing to other manufacturing industries, pharmaceutical has shown a better performance. The above figures show UK’s Pharmaceutical trade, there has been significant growth in this i ndustry since last decades. The overall import and export has increased and medical pharmacy products are the highest gainer. Company Analysis Vodafone Plc Vodafone Group is one of leading global telecommunication company, and in UK Vodafone’s performance has been remained better than its rivals. A key comparison of Vodafone with its key rivals British Telecom and Telefonica SA are given below. The overall performance of Vodafone has been better than its rivals in terms of profit margin and its sales and stock returns its performance has remained quite better. Moreover, with lowest debt-equity ratio, it also has lower risk level. The following table depicts the financial highlights. Vodafone’s net profit margin and sales volume are very high that clearly signifies its better financial performance. Its shareholders have also gained a higher return on their investments as earning per share and dividend payout ratio are attractive for making investments. The key ratios of Vodafone indicate that financial condition is very stable than its key rivals. Return on equity is also

Cooking to Become a Chef Essay Example for Free

Cooking to Become a Chef Essay Cooking for me is my way of expressing myself. It gives me a chance as a person to show my friends and family what I’m good at and what I love to do. I haven’t always enjoyed the art of cooking. With cooking, I have learned to prepare different types of meals using different methods, ingredients, a potpourri of equipment and seasonings. Food seasoning is a personal trademark you create and eventually it classifies you to either be prominent as a chef or just a plain Jane Suzy homemaker who cooks for her family only for the fact that we all need to eat. Experimenting is what got me where I am at today. My mother was a diabetic so the meals were prepared with a bland taste, no seasonings, with just a tad bit of pepper, nothing more. When I started cooking I hated it for the simple fact I didn’t know how. I had to follow recipes even for macaroni and cheese. It wasn’t until I met my husband and his family that I started to enjoy cooking because the meals were starting to taste better and I was learning how to make them taste better. He and his family slowly taught me how to cook and when to use seasoning and how much to use. At first, my meals were a work in progress. As the years went on, I have learned to use my eyes and taste buds for measuring cups and spoons. That’s what helps create your own â€Å"cooking signature†. As you learn to cook, you learn to shy away from some or all of the exact measurements in order to create your signature. For some, cooking is just another everyday back breaking chore, a necessity to always haven to follow a recipe, precisely measuring each ingredient, to the point of the great inventor of the microwave ovens. For others it comes natural, a passion they thrive to live on by creating their own â€Å"cooking signature†. Coming to mind are a couple of brilliant and extraordinary chefs that are indulgingly reliable. These two men have countless awards, degrees, own restaurants, shows and cookbooks to show and prove their overwhelming credibility’s. They are Wolfgang puck and Bobby Flay. Neither of the two were born to cook, none of us are. Some talents came naturally while the rest they learned and were taught. Both men attended Le Cordon Bleu and both men are featured on the food network. I may not have earned any degrees or awards such as a Michelin star or chef of the year and did not attend a culinary institute like they have, however, my cooking now exceeds my friends and families expectations. The qualities of an excellent educational resource would have to include tips and the breakdowns of recipes or step by step instructions for them. Pictures or video tutorials are also very helpful to one who’s learning the art of cooking. Tutorials show you step by step from preparing to serving the dish or meal. I have found two out of thousands of resources that have all the educational resources needed as well as countless credibility and qualifications to help you succeed as a prominent chef. These two would be, Le Cordon Bleu, a culinary institute and the Food Network a television show on cable and the food network also has a very useful website, www. foodnetwork. com . The food network website is filled with a massive amount of information that is accurate and full of every resource there is needed for and about cooking. The food network is a unique lifestyle network and Web site that endeavors to be more than just cooking. The network is devoted to exploring new and different ways to tackle food through pop culture, contests, adventure, and travel while also increasing its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is strewed to more than 96 million U. S. households and averages more than seven million Web site users monthly. With its headquarters in New York City and branches in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, Food Network can be seen internationally in Canada, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Monaco, Andorra, Africa, France, and the French-speaking territories in the Caribbean and Polynesia. Le Cordon Bleu, www. LeCordonBleu. com, is an extremely accredited culinary institute. The school is constantly keeping their courses up to date and actively adapting to current and future needs of culinary services. The schools graduates leave the school with a diploma that is acknowledged around the world. That has been proven by both Flay and Puck. The culinary institute is solely dedicated to the appreciation and mastery of culinary arts to the their students who study there from over 70 countries around the world. This is where I would want to further my culinary learning, to gain more knowledge; they are one of the top culinary institutes. Qualifications of the resources should include Awards, culinary degrees, owning of their own restaurants with worldwide recognition. They should be well respected, well known with credibility too. Trademarks and copyrights also makes these resources important and credible. We want to make sure our resources are also current and up to date. However, cooking has been a part of our lives undoubtedly forever. Resources such as cookbooks are for the most part revised after some time, but not always. So see, there are numerous and countless educational and reliable resources out there for everyone, from beginner to expert. With a little bit of research one could capture the success of becoming an artistic cook. Learning new ideas and tricks, or just wanting to better yourself in your own kitchen, whatever the case may be, No one should ever have to struggle with cooking. With a little bit of patients anyone can learn how to cook.

Economic And Environmental Factors Influencing The Beer Industry

Economic And Environmental Factors Influencing The Beer Industry According to Canadeans latest Global Beer Trends report, global beer consumption will increase 2 billion hectolitres by 2013. However Canadean predicting an average growth rate of 2.8% between 2009 and 2015. According to Huanshu W., (12-02- 2009), the global high-end beer market will reach 65.5 million kiloliters by 2013, an increase of 74.7 percent over 2006. In Asia-Pacific, beer production will reach 13.5 kiloliters, an increase of 125 percent. Furthermore Huanshu W., (12-02- 2009), notes that the China will be one of the main market for beer industry. According to Heineken International (2011), Annual Report (2009), Heineken has market leadership position in Western Europe. Heineken imported various group brands into several Western Europe markets, affects to increase of the consolidated beer volume in Western Europe. Also Heineken is the largest brewing group in Central and Eastern Europe. Acquisition of Amstel helps to expand brand name of Heineken to success in Central and Eastern Europe. Although Heineken expand distribution in Africa and Middle East by brewing varieties of local brands and export the Heineken and Amstel premier brands across the region. According to Heineken International (2011), Annual Report (2009), Heineken has also built a strong market position in Americas by acquisition of FEMSA in year 2010.This made Heineken the national importer, marketer and seller of FEMSAs brands and expand distribution of Heineken brands in Americas. Also Heineken expand distribution in Asia pacific by made joint venture with Fra ser Neave, Asia pacific Breweries. Heineken is brewed at several of Asia pacific breweries throughout the region. Also Heineken beer has a dominant market position, especially in Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan Heineken International (2011), Annual Report (2009). Number of rivals in beer industry and their world market share Based on 2007/2008 Beer volumes estimates Source: Beer Institute (2011), Research, 2008 Annual Industry Update According to Beer Institute (2011), Research, 2008 Annual Industry Update, The top 3 brewers are Anheuser-Busch InBevs (ABI), Miller and Heineken.These brewers now produce over 50% of worlds beer consumption. Although 70% 80% average beer market share hold in other developed countries. Beer Industry Growth in China According to Heineken International (2011), Currently China is the largest beer market with a sales volume of 291 million hectolitres of beer in 2004 and an annual growth rate of about 15% with a population of 85 million people. China beer market competition is growing at outstanding rate because all the major beer companies try to increase their share of the market. According to AP-Foodtechnology.com, (06-Aug-2004), In China since 1997 total consumption of beer grew by 16.79 % up to 2003 and reach 24.87 billion litres, also total expenses on beer has risen by 85.99 % in current value since 1996. China government economic reform policies affect to growth of China beer market. Heineken Asia Pacific Breweries combine operations in China According to Heineken International (2011), Heineken and Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) was combining in year 2004.This combine leads Heineken to do production and marketing of beer and other strategic activities such as investments for plants, mergers and acquisition in China. Heineken beer will be locally produced to better fulfil the growing demand for Heineken beer in China. Heineken acquired Guangdong Brewery in China Heineken International (2011) noted that the total acquisition of Guangdong Brewery by Heineken is valued at EUR 57 million. Furthermore Mr Thony Ruys, Chairman of Heineken NV said, The Guangdong province is one of the most important beer markets in China. The strong position of Guangdong Breweries in this region offers an excellent platform for further growth of the Heineken brand in china. Guangdong is the largest and prosperous provincial beer markets in China with an estimated volume of 18 million hectolitres per year. Also the partnership with Guangdong Brewery will strengthen the position of Heineken and Asia Pacific Breweries APB considerably in china. Social Issues According to Nugent A.,(25-02-2005), in USA most of beer lovers change their choice to strong beers to light beers (low-alcohol) because they believe that is healthier than regular beers. Light beers calorie percentage is lower than regular beers. However some people argue that light beers are nothing but marketing strategy. Heineken was Introduce to the market in 2005 Heineken Premium Light Larger to compete with other light beer rivals in the market, allbusiness.com (01-10-2006).Furthermore Consumers have reduced their beer consumption because diet and health issues. These consumers think beer effect to body fat because of the percentage of calorie, therefore consumers switch to wine, malt-flavoured alcoholic drinks, BBC News (08-03-2005). Political The beer industry mainly suffers from increase of excise tax by governments and regulations at both federal and state level. Federal and state level regulations affect to beer industry when production, distribution, advertising and labelling. Also percentage of alcohol include in beer, Brewers Association.org. Heineken is a worldwide brewing company therefore governments regulations where it operates heavily affect for Heineken product sales and profit. One example is that government excise tax affect to Heineken sales in Russia. According to Andrew Cleary (21-04-2010), in 2010 first quarter Heineken sales decreased in Russia because excise tax increase by Russian government. Technological Technology helps to brewing industry companies to develop more efficient distribution channels and upgrade facilities with technology that increase the brewing process and improve the quality of the cultivate ingredients and harvesting process. This helps to increase consistency and reduce costs. Heineken is very rich in using information Technology for their production process because its worldwide operations are highly dependent on the availability of information systems, Heineken International (2011). Legal Legal issues affect for beer industry when packaging, advertising and labeling. When advertising beer products target consumer age must be over 21 years. Also some of the countries such as Middle East and other Islamic countries advertising for beer products are banned. Therefore Heineken has to obey rules and regulations according to countries where it operates. Heineken Enjoying Heineken Responsibly is the new marketing strategy that follows obeying the rules, EnjoyHeinekenResponsibly.com. Environmental Factors that affect to beer industry Recycling Waste According to Beer Serves America (2009), Beer industry brewers and brewer suppliers improvement of the beer packaging lead to increase of the recycle rate of waste plastic, paper, glass, aluminium and cardboard that are used to package manufactured Beer bottles, beer cans and packs. Recycled glass accounts for more than 30% of the materials used to produce new bottles. Overcome from this problem every major brewer companies are successfully recycling waste packages on their own recycle production units. In addition to their own corporate recycling programs, brewers and brewer suppliers encourage the communities they serve to recycle as well. Heineken International (2011), points out that glass is use 76% as a packaging material for beer in Heineken and they distributed beers usually in returnable packaging for reduce waste material environment pollution. Water Conservation and Treatment According to Beer Serves America (2009), Water is the primary ingredient for brewing process. Regular maintenance of faucets and piping allows brewers to quickly identify and repair water leaks; also water meters helps to monitor overall water usage. Some of the brewers in the industry have built on-site water treatment plants for reprocess and purify water for the brewing process. Some brewing industries use Bio-Energy Recovery Systems (BERS) to treat wastewater, reducing its strength and volume while creating a renewable biogas that helps fuel their breweries, Beer Serves America (2009). Heineken International (2011), points out that Specific water consumption at Heineken breweries in 2003 were 5.4 hectolitres per hectolitre of beer and it decrease of 3% compared to 2002. This improvement is because of investment in new water treatment systems. Wastewater from 68% of Heineken production units is treated in on-site plants or in urban plants. Other remaining waste water in production units is discharge after the treatment of on-site wastewater treatment plants. Energy Management Most of brewing industries use alternative sources of energy, such as wind, sunlight and Biogas to power their operations. Furthermore through constant monitoring and maintenance of facilities and adopting technology innovations and techniques use by brewers helps to produce beer with energy efficiency, Beer Serves America (2009). According to Heineken International (2011), Heineken use Renewable energy sources to generate some of the heat required in brewing process. These biogases take from the anaerobic treatment of wastewater. Heineken has 19 anaerobic treatment plants and its the 7th largest user, that use biogas as an energy source. The causes that are affected to change competitive structure and business environment in Brewing industry Acquisition in Beer Industry According to Brown A.,(10-06-2002),Acquisitions accelerate global expansion giving beer companies competent market share in target markets, as well as produce and distribute their own brands through the acquired facilities. Adolph Coors acquisition of the Carling in year 2002 basically gives it position for leading UK lager brand and also offers it platform to extend its own Coors brand throughout the UK. Brown A., (10-06-2002) points out some of the major acquisitions are in beer industry, in 1999 Antarctica and Brahma merged to form AmBev in 2000, Scottish Newcastle Plc Acquired Kronenbourg in 2001, Carlsberg A/S and Orlka ASA completed merger of brewing operations to form Carlsberg Breweries A/S in 2002. Heineken Acquisitions and partnerships According to Heineken International (2011), Annual Report (2009), Heineken has wide international presence through a global network of distributors and breweries. Heineken owns and manages one of the worlds leading portfolios of beer brands and is one of the worlds leading brewers in terms of sales volume and profitability. These following Tables Exhibits some of the major acquisition and partnerships with other brewery companies made by Heineken past years (2004 2010) around the world. These acquisitions are key economic factors that help to drive Heineken to build the long-term future of Heineken brands and business. Also acquisition of other breweries and made partnerships with other brewery companies ensure to improve financial performance and distribution strategies that create values for the company. Heineken acquisitions and partnerships (2004 2010) Global economy crisis Beer industry research: Beer sales depression in recession According to Canadeans news (17/11/10), economic downturn has resulted in reduced sales of beer in Europe and North America. Furthermore Canadeans news (17/11/10), noted that worlds top 4 brewers sale rate is less than in 2008. However, expansions into emerging economies have ensured profitable for large brewers such as AB InBev prominent producer South America and SABMiller prominent producer in Africa. Asia overtakes Europe as worlds biggest beer producer McCurry J. (12 August 2010), noted that economic crisis affected beer sales in Europe, but 5.5% rise in Asias beer production followed .Furthermore he noted according to a study research by the Japanese brewing giant Kirin Holdings, Asia has overtaken Europe as the worlds biggest beer producer for the first time in 35 years. British economic crisis, the lowest level of beer consumption in the UK since 1948 -Star City News According to StarCityNews (03-09- 2010), noted that consumption level of alcoholic beverages in UK has been decrease. Furthermore StarCityNews (03-09- 2010), points out using APBI report, that beer drinkers consume only 13% lower than the year 2004. This percentage is below the average number of beer drinkers in Europe Union countries. Also StarCityNews (03-09- 2010), noted using APBI report data that decrease of the alcoholic beverage consumption affect due to the economic recession in UK and success of the message responsible drinkers which campaigned for the British society for reduce British people drinking habits.Furthermore StarCityNews (03-09- 2010), points out that according to Alcoholic Beverage Industry (APBI) report the tax on beer in the UK also affected to reduce the consumption of beer in UK. UK beer sales fall According to Canadean(27/10/08),news, noted that using British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) report results that overall sales of the beverage in UK decreased by over seven per cent between July and September in 2008, which is thought to be equal to a 1.8 million pint fall. Innovations to Beer Industry (Heineken Draughtkeg) According to TalkingRetail.com (04-05-2007), Innovation of the Heineken unique stand alone Draughtkeg beer system revolutionized the beer industry. Furthermore invention of the DraughtKeg system helps to increment the growth value of the beer category. Competitive Position of the Heineken by reviewing five competitive forces Threat of Substitute products (high) Heineken threat of substitute products is high because customers have many other substitute beverages, such as Liquor, wine, cider, flavoured alcoholic drinks, and non alcoholic beers. The mostly competition come to the industry from the Wine, Liquor and other malt flavoured alcoholic drinks, because they also target the same demographic group. Present market popular substitute product against beer is Smirnoff Ice which is an alternative beer that brewed using a malt base, www.smirnoff.com. Threat of new Entrants (low) Heineken is a large beer company therefore new entrants is low. Also there are many microbreweries throughout Heineken brand distribution countries. But it is difficult to microbreweries to compete with larger companies such as Heineken because advantage of economies of scale, Advertising expenditures and start up capital in beer industry is high. This makes the industry is not attractive for new entrants. Bargaining power of suppliers (low) Bargaining power of suppliers is low. Heineken operates some of own local sourcing projects and Agriculture projects to get raw materials such as Sierra Leone Sorghum Project which is local sourcing project in Sierra Leone is part of the companys Africa-wide strategy to procure at least 60% of its raw materials locally, Heineken International (2011). Due to the size of Heineken, suppliers would not want to lose business with Heineken. In addition Heineken manage supply chain code, both in terms of ethics and the environment therefore Heineken has control possibilities over many of its product inputs, Heineken International (2011). Bargaining power of customers (medium) The bargaining power of customers is a medium threat for the beer industry. Such as taste of the beer, calories, price, and alcohol percentage are concerned by customers when they are going to buy beer product. There is also price comparison and sensitivity in the beer market. According to (comparesupermarketprices.co.uk), Major companies are price their products to the market demand price because among competitors there is huge competitive for price, package and discounts that are given to customers. If one company give a discount other competitors also do. Therefore Customers also have low switching cost because of competitive price. Jockeying for position with rivals (high) Competive forces within beer industry are high. Heineken main competitors are Anheuser-Busch, SABMiller and Carlsberg. Anheuser-Busch has 26% global market share and SABMiller has 17% global market share, Beer Institute (2011), Research, 2008 Annual Industry Update. There is low variation in products and advertising within the beer industry, if one firm launches a new advertising campaign, others will follow. Similarly if one firm launches a new beverage, others will try to copy that beverage. One of the example is Light Beers, according to Miller Brewing Company they produce first Light beer to the USA market in 1977 after that Anheuser-Busch introduce their light beer Bud Light in 1982 and heavily advertised their brand to become first in the market. Furthermore in the beer industry there is competition from both local products and other major brands import products, therefore Heineken has to compete with many type of competitors. Also other threats that affected for competitive po sition are mergers and acquisitions in the beer industry. But Heineken is a large company and recent acquisition of Scottish and Newcastle in 2008 and FMSA in 2010 increased the Heineken global market share, Beer Institute (2011), Research, 2008 Annual Industry Update. Competitor Analysis Heineken Major Competitors are Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller and Carlsberg. Within these 3 competitors Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller are the main competitors to Heineken because of their global market share strength, beer brand and portfolio strength, company revenue and sale of beer volume. Anheuser-Busch InBev According to AB-InBev.com annual report (2009) Anheuser-Busch is the worlds largest beer company and it is the dominant market leader in USA. Furthermore it is the largest global brewer with 25% global market share and one of the worlds top 5 consumer products companies, based in Leuven, Belgium. Anheuser-Busch InBev generated revenues of US$36,758million for 2009 and it portfolio contains more than 200 brands. Anheuser-Busch InBev target consumers are from the lower class of society to the upper class. They have a wide range of precious beer brands and beverages to offer each social class.Anheuser-Busch InBev holds the 1st or 2nd position in 19 key markets. The company employment strength is approximately 116,000 people based in operations in 23 countries around the world, and manages a portfolio of over 200 beer brands including globally recognised brand Budweiser. (www.ab-inbev.com). Furthermore Anheuser-Busch InBev operates in six operational zones, Latin Am erica, North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe. The company strives to be the Best Beer Company in a Better world. SABMiller SABMiller is the worlds second -largest brewing and bottling company measured by revenue and it is only second to Anheuser-Busch. SABMiller based in South Africa, operates in 75 countries across Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, China and India and sells nearly 213 million hectolitres per year and account for 13% global market share. According to SABMiller.com, its owned more than 200 brands and 139 brewers with total number of 69,116 employees. SABMiller revenue for 2009 was US$18,703million SABMiller.com, Annual Report (2009), [Online]. The SABMiller premium beer brand is Pilsner Urquell and also SABMiller is the worlds largest bottlers of Coca-cola products, SABMiller.com. According to SABMiller.com, their mission is to own and nurture local and international brands that are the choice of the consumer. Their strategic priorities are Develop strong relevant brand portfolios that win in the local market, Create balanced and attractive global spread of business, an d increase the profitability of local business, leverage skills and global scale, SABMiller.com. SABMillers significant presence in Africa is the major threat that Heineken to success in Africa. Moreover SABMillers strengthened than Heineken by revenue for year, market share, brewers owned worldwide where it operates. Carlsberg According to Carlsberg.com, Carlsberg is the worlds 4th largest brewery group based in Denmark and employing around 45000 people and account for 7% global market share. The Carlsberg portfolio includes more than 500 brands and well known international premium brand is Carlsberg. In 2009 Carlsberg Group sold more than 135 million hectolitres of beer and sold more than 150 countries, revenue for 2009 was DKK 59,382 million, carlsberggroup.com. Under Export and Licensing agreements Carlsberg sells its products to countries where it has no breweries. Furthermore Carlsbergs products vary particularly in volume, price, target consumers and geographic locations. Carlsberg.com notes that The Carlsbergs ambition is to be thefastest growing global beer company. Carlsberg does not have large footprint according to Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller. But its premium brand name Carlsberg has a significant position in Asia. Competitors Global Products Price and Market Share Comparison (Based on 2009 data) Company Name and Global Rank Global Market Share (2009) Revenue (2009) Globally available Brand Name Description about product Price in UK (02-03-2011) 01.Anheuser-Busch InBevs 25% global market share US $ 36, 758 million Stella Artois Number one Belgian beer in the world and is distributed in over 80 countries.  £1.50 (660ml) Becks The Beck brand is the number one export brand in Germany, and present in more than 100 countries worldwide.  £1.50 (660ml) Budweiser The leading brand of Anheuser-Busch InBev brewed to be universally popular brand and first national beer brand in USA introduce in 1876. Its called the Great American Larger.  £1.94 (660ml) 02.SABMiller 13% global market share US$18,703 million Grolsch Available in over 60 countries worldwide and origin in Netherland. Unique Package style makes it stand out from others.  £1.87 (450ml) Miller Genuine Draft Origin in United States, Available in over 68 countries.  £1.16 (330ml) Peroni Nastro Azzurro Origin in Italy, Also Available in austrailia, Africancountries,France,india, peru,Poland,Romania, Russia,Japan,UK and USA.  £2.13 (660ml) 03.Heineken 9% global market share à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬16.13 million Heineken The Heineken the world drinks today is still brewed using the original, unrivalled recipe invented three generations ago by the Heineken family. Available in more than 170 countries.  £1.99 (650ml) Amstel Amstel is the market leader or one of the top-ranked brands in Greece ,Netherlands, France,Hungary,Spain,Italy,USA and South Africa. Available in more than 120 countries.  £1.46 (330ml) 04.Carlsberg 7% global market share DKK 59,382 million Carlsberg Carlsberg pilsner was launced in 1904, and its the flagship brand in the Carlsberg family. Available in where Carlsberg operate countries.  £0.85 (440ml) Turborg Turborg origin was Denmark but now available in more than 70 different countries. Turbog is the youth brand in the Carlsberg international portfolio.  £0.89 (275ml) Source: Above table Price Comparison according to http://www.comparesupermarketprices.co.uk,