Principles of Maintaining Stationary Stock Essay

1)1.1 – Explain the purpose of making sure stationary stock is maintained and controlled? A good level of stationary stock should always be maintained and controlled because it makes processing easier and saves wasting time. Usually a company will have one person in charge of the stock and that person will have the duties of maintaining any stock. Smaller companies are easier to maintain than larger ones. Large companies can have much more of a hard-hitting task as they will need a lot more stock or stationary. Also within a larger company there will be more departments so it will be made a little harder. The person responsible has to bare in mind any budgets the employer/manager had put in place. There are different ways of which you can control the levels of the stock but these are yet again different with each and every company. A weekly or fortnightly check on stock is usually the most effective way. Checking stock levels will also help to notice what stationary is used more within their company. This will show what is more relevant in buying. If the stock is not checked or maintained then the levels can drop. This can result into the company spending more money to get the equipment/stock they need from a high street shop and this can then frustrate many workers/managers. 1.2 – Describe factors that may affect the future level of demand for stationary stock. Their will be many factors that may affect the future level of stationary stock. One of these is the cost of the stationary itself. All, if not most, companies are making cut in their spending and this is one department that may feel the cut more than others. Employees will be asked to use less stock whilst working and requesting orders for stock. These may become declined if the person in charge thinks that the company will not need the stationary or it is not required. Also another factor is the use of technology. Technology is forever increasing and becoming a bigger part in everyone’s lives. This means more organisations will be using the internet a lot more. Emailing more to cut the cost of paper and it is a quicker way to send messages or to communicate and run their business. Letters are becoming a less frequent way of communicating. This will make each company cut down on the quality of paper, ink, envelopes and stamps that are used. 1.3 – Explain the purpose of making sure value of money is obtained when ordering stock. The purpose of making sure value of money is obtained when ordering stock is essential. Each company needs to ensure that they are not wasting any unnecessary money and that the stock you are ordering is actually needed. The person in charge of ordering needs to think about the delivery costs, quality and quantity costs. They also need to think about applying minimum orders but can still cover everything that will be needed. The value of money is most important because no company wants to be wasting money on products that cant be afforded or on stationary the wont be used. The person who is responsible for all this needs to have a good think about what really needs to be ordered and if it is necessary in the environment. Also to know if it is environmentally friendly before just ordering anything and everything they want to. 2)2.1 – Describe how to order, receive, store and dispose stationary stock items. Ordering; before you even begin to order you need to know who your suppliers are. If you don’t already have a supplier then you need to find one. You will need to find a supplier that is suitable to you and your company. When choosing a company you will need to consider these things; Are there any delivery charges? Do I have to place a minimum order? Do they sell all the stock we need? Are their prices competitive or very expensive? How long does it take for an order to come through? You may find it easier to write a list of the stationary (inventory) you will need so you can pick a supplier that fits your needs. Once you have found the supplier you will be using then you will need to go through the catalogue or online and order what you need. Also the person responsible for this will need to be aware of their budget and that they do not go over. Receive; When you do receive the stock, it is better to check the delivery notes against what has been delivered to ensure that all the stock you need or ordered is their. You will need to check the receipt and check everything they say is there is actually there and is not faulty. You will need to identify straight away if there are any problems or any stationary missing. Lastly you will need to send the receipt up the finance so they can check it against the invoice and make sure all the prices add up and no ones is being over charged or under charged. Store; when storing the stationary you should rotate it so it is the oldest first. Storage should be in a nice neat order and organised so you can see what you have and what you don’t have. Rotating stationary isn’t the most important thing to do but it is still advisable so that pens and Tipex do not dry out and the paper doesn’t get creased or even wet. When storing stationary it is best to keep all things the same together and take count to see how many there is so you know for next time when it comes to ordering how much you should order. Dispose; when disposing stationary you need to first work out what can be recycled, or if it is environmentally friendly and what just needs to be put in a normal bin. Most companies now like a business with an environmentally friendly supplier. They will look at the way they package the products so it makes it easier to dispose of the packaging. How close a company is to their business is important to cut down on the transporting costs.

To what extent are the problems created by rapid recent urban growth in LEDC’s similar to those created by rapid 19th century growth in MEDC’s?

A number of problems in Mexico City have been created by rapid urban growth, some of which are similar to those experienced by the UK in the 19th century, the period of the industrial revolution. Mexico is situated between Belize and the USA; the capital is in the centre of the country and growth is constricted towards the south and west due to high rugged mountains. Mexico City is built on a series of old lakebeds almost 2400m above sea level; the majority of the lakes in the valley were drained by the late 18th century. Although the lakes were drained there is still a store of water underground, this means that the city is sinking by 5-40cm per year. Due to the city being built on relatively unstable grounds, the lake sediments amplify earthquakes experienced in the area. In September 1985 an earthquake caused a death toll of 10,000. With an elevated mountain rimmed basin, Mexico City is prone to temperature inversions where pollutants, particularly from burning fossil fuels are trapped and cannot disperse, this creates a layer of smog over the city. This was a very common occurrence in UK cities of the industrial revolution, for example Manchester. The industrial revolution started in the late 1700's when Richard Arkwright introduced the first mechanical textile machines into factories. Factories were extremely polluting as the machines were run on coal burning fires but at the time this was not seen as a concern as it was a very profitable business making factory owners very wealthy just as landowners were in the rural areas of the UK. Growth of the cities followed the introduction of the factories; mechanisation of farming had caused large unemployment in rural areas. Factories needed a workforce and labourers were paid better in this industry than farming. Later came the introduction of the iron industry creating more work but also more pollution for the cities. Mexico City is in a similar stage as this period of the industrial revolution; over 40,000 factories in the city provide jobs to the population whilst creating this environmental concern in the process. However if Mexico wants to become a stable country, which is sustainable, then it needs to go through this process. Unfortunately now that we no of the problems that pollutants cause it is difficult to watch Mexico do this to the environment. Factors explaining growth of a city can be divided into five main reasons. Firstly economic influence, areas of a city will expand if attractions are in a central location and accessible for services, businesses and shops. The high demand for space in central areas pushes up property and land prices. As businesses increase in size and number the area covered by the CBD will expand, therefore causing residential areas to increase in size, as the workforce of these companies will live nearby. Often people cannot afford to spend a lot of money on travel expenses and therefore will live close to where they work to reduce their costs. This means that you get a high concentration of people living in a specific area. Proximity to certain urban areas can affect where people live. For example, if a polluting factory is opened, it may deter people from living in that area and inadvertently cause an increase in the number of people living somewhere else. Making the problems being experienced here to perhaps become more severe. Secondly, political control, restrictions may be in place to allow growth in some areas but not others, for example a green belt system. The purpose of a green belt is to stop building in that area. Private companies owning land can determine who they sell land to and who they refuse. Redlining areas can be instructed by political bodies to enforce that people do not live in specific areas. Redlining an area can simply be done by not allowing someone to borrow money to buy a house in that area. Thirdly, socio-economic segregation, people often live in areas of similar ethnic groups, life style and family types. For example in Mexico City there are specific areas where the elite live and other areas where the poor live. The elite tend to be found in areas of wealthy suburbanites in the south west of the city where there is the least pollution, furthest from industries with the best commercial services, transport networks and medical and healthcare options. Where as the poorer population live in the northeast close to the industrial areas and CBD where there is the worst pollution and 40-66% live in informal settlements. Fourthly, migration, there are a range of strong push and pull factors to Mexico City from rural areas in Mexico. Approximately 3000 people migrate to Mexico City each day from surrounding states, for example Hidalgo. The push and pull factors can be divided up into economic, political, social and environmental. A political pull factor is that education is more available in the city and older children often can attend whilst younger ones work with parents in the informal sector. Political push factors are that there is a lack of basic services in rural areas, 80% without running water and poor communications and that there has been very little investment in projects benefiting subsistence farmers. An example of an economic pull factor is that relatives already living in the city provide networks of information on employment and accommodation, 44% of migrants rely on help such as this to get them started. Some examples of economic push factors include, unemployment in rural areas, large landowners dominate the land and give few benefits to farmers, and rural farmers have variable yields and cannot afford pesticides. Examples of social pull factors include, lower mortality rates in the city due to more services such as healthcare, glamorised perception of urban life, women are more able to migrate due to greater independence, more opportunities in the city. Social push factors are dominated by the rapid rate of natural increase, which causes stress on the food supplies. There are no environmental pull factors; it is well known that Mexico City has one of the worst pollution records in the world however some rural areas are so dire that it is the only solution. For example 80% of soils are poor and subject to soil erosion and desertification. Finally, natural increase, there is a reduction is the number of people dying and an increase in the number of births, approximately 30/1000 crude birth rate to 10/1000 crude death rate. With the city growing exponentially, being ten times larger than it was in 1940 there are a range of problems that are difficult to avoid in an LEDC. There is no public transport in Mexico City meaning there is 3.5 million privately owned vehicles on the road, this creates congestion throughout the road networks and high levels of carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide are released. With the addition of 40,000 factories producing 12,000 tonnes of gases per day, the mixture of pollutants and cool air from the surrounding mountains causes a temperature inversion creating a thick layer of smog over the city that is extremely bad for your health; there is a high incidence of respiratory problems. Similar problems were seen in Manchester in the early 19th century where factory chimneys and domestic coal fires created a permanent blanket of smoke and acid rain creating numerous diseases including bronchitis, influenza, asthma and pneumonia. It has been said that breathing the air in Mexico City is the equivalent of smoking sixty cigarettes a day. In 1994 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that the quality of the air in Mexico City was only acceptable on twenty days of the year. Due to the city being built on dried lakebeds where huge amounts of waste matter has been dumped over the years on open sites there are new problems of winds uplifting dust and spreading it over the south east and north east adding to the smog situation. As 99% of lakes in Mexico have been drained it means that water has to be pumped from 150km to supply Mexico City with its requirements, 66,000 litres are consumed per second. In the early 19th century Manchester experienced an extremely rapid increase in population size, while London's population doubled, Manchester's trebled. In 1811 Manchester had a population of 89,068 by 1851 the population had risen to 303,382 people. This created an extreme problem with availability of housing and quality of living standards. Population density was extremely high and many people shared poorly constructed houses with very little sanitation and no water supply. This can be seen in Mexico City today, here the population density has risen to 5487 persons per km2 due to the mass numbers migrating to the city on a daily basis and therefore there is not adequate housing available. This means that shanty towns have developed where people live in shacks constructed from corrugated iron and wood. Where people are living in proper houses it often overcrowded, this is 44% of houses in Mexico City. With a large population comes a large waste disposal crisis; in Mexico City approximately 90% of hazardous waste is release into the sewage systems, which are contaminating the water supply. This has further affect on the population when the water is used on the growing crops. A result of the contamination is that fruit and vegetables contain a high level of lead. Many babies born suffer some problem caused by lead poisoning.

Health Care Management Essay

Roles and Functions Management is a major component in every organization. Management is â€Å"the process of organizing, planning, controlling the use of resources, and leading to accomplish performance goals† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, & kramer, 2007, p. 5). Most managers follow similar roles and functions that help ensure that the organization flow is steady and business moves along smoothly. In the health care setting management have four major functions in which the managers facilitate so that workers can work toward common goals. All managers, regardless of level are responsible for the following functions: organizing the process of delegating, allowing, and coordinating, planning the process of determining actions, performance objectives, and decision maker. Controlling the process of comparing results, taking corrective actions, and gather and interpret work performance, and last leading the process of building commitments, encouraging activities that supports company goals, and fulfill and accomplish objectives. The four major functions has helped, organizations globally to achieve high performance goals and quotas. For most business, high productivity measures organizational success, and the managers are responsible for ensuring its achievement. In the organization in which I work, I witness all four of the functions used daily. My managers each day organize schedules to accommodate the senses. If the senses are low than the managers will have to cut the labor when mean send workers home earlier. I have witnessed my manager plan in ahead by adding extra people to schedule to ensure productivity. As we any organization there are workers who attempts to defy the organizations rules, but I have seen first had how the managers use function of control to restore order. Leading in the organization in that I work for is one in which I am leery about. Allow me to rephrase the leaders who manage my department are questionable. The leaders in this organization could be success but they do not have worked ethics about themselves, but  that is not the issue here. Applying these functions at the organization, which I am employed, if properly trained can enhance, the unity of the organization, the flow, and the line of communication. Health care management and leaders value a diversified workforce. Workforce diversity â€Å"describes demographic differences among employees, principally differences in age, race, ethnicity, able-bodies, religious affiliation, and sexual orientation† (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, & kramer, 2007, p.5). The organization I work for is overwhelmingly cultural diverse and its enjoyable. Yet there are always barriers, such barriers as prejudice, including absurd notion of other associates who are unlike themselves. Its discrimination, and it can result in the glass ceiling affect it prevents the less likely and minorities from exceling. This is a horrible characteristic to have, but it happens way too often. The most significant aspect related to health care management that I hope to gain from taking this course better time management, and to develop leadership skills. I hope that I can be a manager who can empower associates and have a common goal. Reference Lombardi, D. J., Schermerhorn, J. R., & kramer, B. (2007). health care management: Tools an techniques for managing in a health care environment . Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.

Team Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Team Work - Essay Example The Belbin theory of team building states that in order to build a good team, a workplace should be assessed in great detail to look at the strength and weaknesses of individuals. The information learned at this stage can be used in selecting the right people for the right task. It will help in building good working relationship because people with the right skills will be doing the right tasks and hence will enjoy success and authority over what they do and this will in turn make them more confident and will help them achieve their targets with ease. It will also help the development of high performing teams because right people will be doing the right work. This will create positive synergies and generated output will greater than the sum of inputs by the team. It will also help build mutual trust and understanding because all the team members will know that right people are doing the right job and hence it will be easier for all team members to communicate, report any blunders and take the corrective action as a team if necessary. All of this will build a winning team which will work extremely efficiently in congregation to achieve their tasks, goals and target within the given span of time. Belbin also gave a clear definition of team members. He believed that personality hardly matters in team setting. An individual should be judged by the way he behave, contributes and interrelates with the other team members and sees them as his peer. Team working can help team members in working in the field in which they are strong in and eliminating their weak aspects by assigning some of the tasks to people who are good at one of the team member’s weakness. In other words, team work is a congregation of strengths and elimination of weaknesses. Everyone in a team can focus on the core competencies while letting other team members do the task in which one is weak in. This is an impressive utilization of the congregational strengths that a team has. It leads the t eam to be more efficient, productive and time efficient. As a result, many of the large organizations divide their work in projects to be completed by competent team of individuals having varied skills sets and way of think. This eliminates the problem of being stuck in tasks and all the work flows smoothly which benefits the entire organization. During research done on the topic, it was found that balance is the key in the success of a team and individual’s that are part of a team. Too much of one kind of skills may lead to a team that may not be able to operate as efficiently as a team that has varied skill sets. Hence, all kinds of skills should be given a weightage when composing a ideal team. This weightage should then be compared with the skills required in a job and team composition should not be complete until and unless the two are not in equilibrium or the sum of skills sets required in a job and sum of skill sets of a team are equal. Only then an ideal team will be formed, when both are in equality. Belbin allowed certain types of weaknesses in a team. These include people who are forgetful, people who delegate too much work leaving too little for them, people who are slow, perfectionists, bad-humored and specialist in their old fields. All of these weaknesses are accepted because there is no incompatibility in the team’s targets and all of these weaknesses are personality based and not work based. Hence, Belbin believes that these types of weaknesses in a team setting are allowable and does not make much difference as compared to work related weaknesses. The personal example that I would like to share through this essay is when I was completing a research work in a group. I encountered people of diverse personality

Multiple Sclerosis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multiple Sclerosis - Research Paper Example It is vitally important to underscore the fact that there is no known cure for the disease nor has there ever been a proven case in which the body’s natural defense mechanism has been able to cure the disease on its own. As such, it is the very definition of a chronic disease that almost always is the primary cause of death for the patient who has acquired it. However, this notwithstanding, there exist various treatments that are able to slow the disease and improve the prognosis and general life expectancy that an individual who has the disease might expect to have. As a function of such an understanding, the best types of treatments that are currently available to the individual suffering from MS are concentric upon pharmacological means as well as therapy. The pharmacological means are usually based upon trying to integrate a degree of neuro-rehabilitation within the patient and seek to reduce the rate at which symptoms and their destructive side effects can cause. Moreover , physical rehabilitation is not a means to stop the disease but rather a means to allow the patient the necessary skills and knowledge of how they can seek to continue to engage in a normal life with a disease that is slowly depriving them of key abilities such as walking, using the restroom in a normal fashion, and/or vision. As of 2013, there are several disease modifying and/or alternative treatments that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved for use on individuals with MS. These are almost exclusively predicated on provide different intra muscular and interferon beta-la injections designed to provide intravenous support with regards to the degenerative nature of the disease. The majority of these disease modifying treatments are intended on masking or delaying

Product Design and Development Management [Brand creation and Essay

Product Design and Development Management [Brand creation and development] - Essay Example Karl Speak even argues that marketplace position and intimate relationships are today valued above profitability. The present â€Å"information age† has turned consumer culture development and brand relationships as the new â€Å"best practice† in business (49). What makes branding an important marketing tool, is that â€Å"the brand image is enduring in the minds of the customer† (Montague 17). Branding is a powerful instrument to counteract market negative pressures, because branding makes companies, products and services visible and distinct; it prolongs products life cycles, and allows companies to sustain costs and prices to levels that are less dependent on competition. Developing a strong brand identity that is consistent with corporate strategy is therefore the recipe for long-term success. Brand identity refers to the degree a product has achieved a distinct image in the eyes of consumers and the general public (Schmitt et al 83). â€Å"It’s corporate strategy made visible.† (Peters 11). Brand identity is closely related to customer impressions, meaning the image a product or a company actually has, as opposed to product or corporate expressions, meaning the image that is desired (Schmitt et al 84). Often companies produce positioning statements that describe how the brands should be positioned in the minds of customers. These statements are the backbone for branding strategies that attempt to minimize the gap between desired brand image and actual identity. Brands make promises for unique product experience. Delivery of those promises is therefore crucial for creating lasting impressions and loyal customers. The brand management profession commands a range of tools for successful brand development. These are graphic standards, conformity to corporate identity, marketing communications sending consistent brand

Management accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Management accounting - Essay Example 20-25, 2003). The type, number, or volume of the products does not directly drive these costs. Several costs even within a factory are questionable for the same reason. Moreover, substantial material vendors and customer also impel quite a few costs. â€Å"In fact there is no single correct (product) cost figure† (Walker, 22, 1999). Costs centers hold records of the financial transactions of the organizations, which they use to calculate their product costs. Several methods for this exist where different organizations may employ unique methods. The simplest of the aforementioned methods for product costing, employs only direct costs. Earlier, labor costs received greater importance. Companies carried out everything manually. The number of employees involved dictated the output volume. Then came the time when machines began to substitute labour in production. This progress posed a problem to the prevailing costing method because most of the machine costs are depreciation costs and are not comparable to direct labor costs (Fritzsch, pp. 83-89, 1997). Organizations and experts highlighted several more weaknesses of the traditional accounting system because it was not compatible with the development of the new business methods. To overcome the weaknesses of the simple product costing method, accounting experts introduced standard costing. Standard costing method uses Bill of Material (BOM) and the capacity demand of the product to calculate the product cost. To calculate direct costs, the accountant considers raw material costs and labor costs, as incurred per unit of production. Whereas, to calculate indirect costs, they use the product of multiplier factors (predetermined rates) and the direct costs (Broadbent et al., pp. 31-37, 2003). Although standard costing is an easy and appropriate way for actual cost follow-up, it may lead to inappropriate decisions when used erroneously in future planning. The basic issue with standard product costing is that it do es not provide sufficient information to facilitate the user to control the overheads and other indirect costs related to the product. For instance, accounting experts express the production overheads multiplier as an additional percentage of the product direct cost. Recursive calculations from past accounting figures drive this value and it usually allows a rising trend for overheads when managers use it as a standard for a new product (Shank & Fisher, 77, 1999). Having seen the drawbacks of simple and standard costing systems, experts in the field have been attempting to formulate generic costing methods since decades. For example, traditional costing methods include only the manufacturing costs in the total unit cost of each product. However, the new concepts in cost management require the accountants to cross the usual limits of product costing methods by applying all organizational costs in a more applicable and informative way and attaching them to cost objects such as a proce ss, product, customer etc (Broadbent et al., pp. 41-48, 2003). The design of such advance cost management system (ACMS) requires companies to integrate the new concepts practically in the business processes and operating systems (Schnoebelen, 52, 1993a).  Ã¢â‚¬ËœActivity-based costing’ is one of such advance cost management systems. Activity based costing technique is a way of assigning

Profit Implications of Malware Annotated Bibliography

Profit Implications of Malware - Annotated Bibliography Example A computer worm refers to a self-replicating computer program. It relies on computer network to send copies of itself to other computers on the network in an automatic manner. Worms are known to exploit a zero-day vulnerability that allows them to execute their copies within the same network (Effects of Malware Infections: Avoid the Dangers of Malware Programs ). There are several types of worms these are: The internet Relay Chat worms that exploit the Internet Relay Chat (IRS) unlike the Instant messenger worm that exploit the IM channel. The web or internet worm spreads via user access to a web page, file transfer protocol or by use of other internet sources. We also have the file-sharing (Peer-to-peer) worm that copies itself into a shared folder, it then use its peer-to-peer mechanism to make its existence known with the hope that a user will download it. As for the flash form these refers to the theoretical worms that spread within seconds upon activation to all vulnerable hosts on the internet. A Trojan horse is a non-self-replicating type of malware that tends to perform normal beneficial functions for the user though it facilitates unauthorized access to the user’s computer system. Recently Trojan horse is released as payloads by computer worms that give the attackers full control of the victims’ personal computer (Effects of Malware Infections: Avoid the Dangers of Malware Programs ). There are several factors that make Trojans dangerous, first of all Trojans are not visible in the traditional process viewer. including windows and task managers, this coupled with the fact that most virus and Trojan scanners find it difficult detecting the Trojan code. Also the Trojan code is very difficult to unload hence making it hard cleaning it. The most common type of Trojan is the proxy Trojan that once it attacks the victims computer it turns it into a proxy server (Zombie) which then operates on behalf of the remote attacker. This makes it even more difficult traci ng the attack to the attacker as the trail often leads to the victim in most cases. A rootkit is a software system that is composed of several of one or more computer programs that are designed to hide the fact that a computer system has been compromised. Usually an attacker

Outline Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Outline - Assignment Example The study goes on to discuss different products that are processed from organic Aloe Vera together with the health benefits associated with these products. There is a detailed review of the different farming associations that aide the farmers with the expertise and financial loans that they require to succeed in organic farming. The report is going to discuss and document the findings from extensive research on the organic farming practices that are used to grow Aloe Vera. This is because farmers around the world are investing heavily in organic farming, shunning the popular practice of using chemicals (Gage, 1996). This is evidenced in regions that have abundance of fertile soil that is rich in nutrients and a forest-free environment with a favourable climate that supports the growth of Aloe Vera all year long (Zan Min Jina, 2007). The Aloe Vera leaves are tested on a daily basis, a process which facilitates monitoring the health of the plant and ensures a bumper harvest at maturity (Coats, 1996). The report will also include a detailed review of the tests used to determine the health of the plants (M. Pol, 2007). The Aloe Vera leaves are harvested by hand, and the research will propose mechanized systems that can harvest these leaves; however, the report will also document the main reasons for the farmers’ choice to harvest the leaves by hand (Chattopadhyay, 1998). The Aloe Vera plant has also found a wide application in the manufacture of different products that include medicines, juices and skin jelly (Douglas Grindlay, 1986). The report will document the main buyers of this raw material, the returns that the farmers obtain by selling their produce and the impacts of these returns on their lives (Ricardo D. Valdez-Cepedab, 2006). The report will cover the challenges that the farmers face in their daily lives and how they overcome these challenges (Y. Saks, 1995). Organic farming has gained popularity globally and it is slowly replacing the use

How to Teach Someone Something Essay Example for Free

How to Teach Someone Something Essay If I had the opportunity to teach someone something is would be how to play Black Ops 2. Black Ops 2 is a challenging game when you start out playing the game at first, but when you get used to it pretty simple and easy to master. What you need is a game system that the game would work on like Play station 3, Xbox 360, or a Wii. The first thing you need to do is turn on the game system you have and insert the Black Ops 2 game and go to the section where the game is showing and select the game. After you select the game you wait for the game to load, and once it loads you press the â€Å"start† button as it says, and it would be located in the center on the controller you are using. Once you have done that you want to play on companion mode because that’s where they teach you all the controls. Second thing you wanna do is watch the story they tell you or you can skip it by pressing the â€Å"X† button if you are playing on playstation and if you are on the xbox it would be the â€Å"A† button. While you are in the game mode and you are going to start taking out your enemy targets to aim you want to press the Left trigger button and its on playstation 3 and on Xbox. The shooting button is the right trigger button. On the triggers it will say â€Å"L1† and â€Å"R1†

Porters Five Analysis: Advantages and Disadvantages

Porters Five Analysis: Advantages and Disadvantages Usefulness of the strategic models Why are models commonly used in strategic management what model are, provides, usefulness, strategy making, Strategy Johnson et al. (2005, p. 9): Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term which achieve advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectation. Uvod Strategic decisions are long term decision based on scope of companys activities made in order to obtain advantage over competition. Johnson et al (2005, p. 10) says that such decision have certain characteristics. They are complex in nature, are made in condition of uncertainty. These decisions have impact on operation decisions. They require integrated approach from managers to deal with strategic problems. Strategic decisions which are made without previous analysis but as some kind of individual notions or wishful thinking are consider to be vulnerable issue. Identifying the root of strategic analysis is difficult. It does not provide us with prescription of what strategy to implement. Companys strategic decisions are too complex for programming. Thus, author says that helping to understand issues is the aim of strategic analysis not to give answers. Model is the framework for recognizing, understanding and categorising factors applicable to strategic decisions (Grant, 2008, p. 27). Models were developed in order to solve usual problems and challenges in business. The general advantage of model is that they smooth differences between abstraction and real practise. They pose a new way of seeing a particular situation and resolving this situation. The common use of the model can be explained by their characteristic. They are projected to solve exact problems and increase efficiency. On the other hand no model can secure that by their implication solving the problem will be hundred percents successful. They are just framework which gives understanding and options for making right decision and diminish uncertainties (Assen et al, 2009). Theories, analytical tools were not made in order to replace inventiveness or experience. Their significance lies in managing discussion, processing information and opinions and supporting communication and agreements. Managers are more confident and effective in reacting on new circumstances and issues as they use models (Grant, 2008, p. 27). There are many models in strategic management which were developed on different bases in order to solve different needs. Every model focuses on various factors some are made to look at eternal surrounding of businesses as industry and market. Some models analyse inner capabilities or structure of organisation. Company chooses the models according its specific needs and what problem wants to solve. If the organisation wants to analyse its external environment it can use PESTE analysis. Industry analysis enables managers to understand how external issues influence companys performance and operations. When managers want to look better on companys product range in order to take right step to the future it can use the Boston Matrix for it. This model helps company in situation as decision making about investments to products portfolio. It guides the company what steps to take if the product is in particular stage e.g. if it star company should keep it and invest to its promotion (Keler-Si lver, 1997, p. 40). In the case of core competencies model it is advised that company should switch from portfolio planning and evaluation of individual businesses to exploring the collective capacity the whole company has. The model encourages company to stop doing activities which are not its core competencies. The confirmatory activities can be e.g. outsourced. By using this model an organisation can identify and improve the cross-company competencies. Thus it can bring new opportunities for success in the market (Keler-Silver, 1997, p. 50). Scenario planning is strategy model based on exposing various possibilities which might happen in the future. Thus it represents a context in which managers can make decisions. As they can see a scope of possibilities they are better informed and decision are more likely to be successful. The scenario planning is mostly used for understanding the dynamics of environment, identifying new openings, evaluating strategic alternatives and for taking long-term decisions. Managers can discover and consider the unsure aspects of future (Assen et al, 2009). One of the models which consider the root of competitive advantage in business is the Kays distinctive capabilities model. The model presents resource-based theory and sees a company as set of asses and capabilities. The model helps to identify distinctive capabilities which are the core of companys success. This model provides a useful tool when company make decision about redefining its strategy. It is used to widen awareness of the sources which made company competitive and to sustain these sources (Assen et al, 2009, p. 30). On the other hand Kare-Silver (1997) argues that the competitive environment has changed and the models are insufficient and shortcoming todays management. He says most of them are too theoretical, superficial and confusing and they are not enough helpful in todays environment. Further he gives the seventh criteria according to which models should be developed to meet current needs. The criteria are reflecting the business realities, starting with customers, rooted and immersed in market understanding, practical, specific, encouraging a long-term view and measurable. Author adds that it is crucial for organisation in current changing conditions to rediscover and redefine its strategy. Organisation needs to know direction in which to go and relying on strategy model is not a response. In conclusion we can say that decision making process is very challenging and requires complex view. Model provide useful tool for simplifying and mainly for making it more effective. However they do not ensure the real effect will be same. Description of Porters Five Forces Model of Competitive Strategy Formulating competitive strategy necessarily needs to analyse the company within its environment. The model is based on analysis of companys external environment. However the relevant environment is wide, the model is focus on organisations surrounding as industry in which it operates. Industry structure has powerful impact on competitive direction thus it is inevitable to analyse it. Five basic competitive forces determine the competition in an industry. The strength of the forces is to drive profit in industry in way of long term return on invested capital (Porter, 1980 p.3, 4). Next Porter says: The goal of competitive strategy for a business unit in an industry is to find a position where it can best defend itself against these competitive forces or can influence them in its flavour. Johnson et al. (2005, p. 78) refer to five forces as sources of competition which evaluate the attractiveness of industry. Authors give several points which company should take into account when using this model. When organisation has varied activities the framework needs to be used at the level of strategic business unit as for each of unit can be the impact of forces different. Next, it is inevitable to understand relations between five forces as well as macro-environment factors. As forces are not separate changes within one force influence other forces. It is a dynamic process of shifting source of competition. According to Luffman et al. (1996) the power of Industry competitor is consider to be the most important force of the model. Industry is in permanent change as every firm wants to success and it looks for opportunities to achieve it. Obviously, not all decisions lead to getting advantages some remain failure. There are many issues which influence the competition between companies as size of the company, industry structure and concentration, product differentiation and variety of rivals. Competitive rivalry is also determined by numbers and qualities of competitors. In situation of many companies in the industry which sell nearly equal product, the firm has a low level of power. Conversely if companys product is unique, it is an enormous strength (Kilde, 2005). Buyer power poses the rate of influences of costumer on pushing price down. The size or number and concentration of buyers are the most significant determinants of buyer power. Other factors include the level of information or differentiation of competitors (Karagianno et al, 2005). There are situation in which buyer power tent to grow as a low switching cost for buyer to move to another seller, when the product is not differentiated or product failure to perform its primary function. In case of trading with small number of strong buyers they tend to dictate conditions to sellers (Luffman et al, 1996). The extent to which supplier drive price up, is reflected in Supplier power. The numbers of input suppliers, product specificity or switching cost determine supplier strength. When company has few suppliers or choice of suppliers is narrow, the supplier power is high. Question here is how easy company can change its suppliers. Grant (2005, p. 83) says that suppliers of raw materials or components are mostly small companies so their bargaining power is low while suppliers of commodities enhance their power through cartelization. Same it is with labour union. If there is a high percentage of a unionised employee within an industry their supplier power is high and companys profitability is lowered. Substitutes are alternatives of product so they decrease demand for product. According to the value they give to consumer their power can be higher or lover. Johnson et al. (2005, p. 78) indicate these forms of substitution; product-for-product substitution, substitution of need when new product or service make previous unneeded and generic substitution means that product competes among others for consumer income to be spent on it. It reduces companys power when its product can be easily substituted. An attractive industry tempts other companies to enter. Threat of new entry represents the capability of new companies to enter and be able to compete in industry. The process of entering is easier for new companies and consequently it becomes a greater threat for existing companies when there are no economies of scale, industry is not capital intensive, access to distribution channels is open or there is a little protection of technology. On the other hand when there are strong barriers existing companies can keep their position. Difference between new entrants and substitutes is that new entrants when successfully enter industry will offer nearly same product. Thus, it is a bigger threat to company (Luffman et al, 1996). Thompson et al (2007, p.54) describe the way of using the model for identifying the essence and strength of competitive pressures within an industry. They divided it into three steps. The first step is to recognise particular competitive strengths related to every force from the model. Secondly, evaluation of the pressures takes place. It is essential to find out how strong they are i.e. strong, moderate, and weak. The last step is to decide the contribution of strengths on achieving profits. Evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of the model Porter (2008, p.80) says this importance of the model: Understanding the competitive forces and their underlying causes reveals the roots of an industrys current profitability while providing a framework for anticipating and influencing competition over time. He adds that effective strategic positioning can not be made without knowing industry structures. To avoid a subjective position for evaluation of the model we look at other authors views. The most significant strength of Michael Porter Five Forces model is that it remains best known and commonly used model in strategic management even after twenty years of it introduction. The simplicity is also consider to be a strength of the Five Forces model as it is easy to use and provides understandable way of market forces analysis (Kare-Silver, 1997, p. 46). According to Brandenburger (2002), the Porters Five Forces model remains to affect the scope of business strategy both in the education field and also in practise of organisations. He emphasises that the model is certainly the most known and used from competitive strategies. The reason is that it provides an obvious picture of important activities of firms. The model describes all movements from suppliers of resources through company to consumer. The role of company is stressed as it is the unit where value is created. On the other hand, suppliers and customers are consider to be necessary in such chain. The model provides useful information for three issues of companys planning, according to Recklies (2001). Firstly, it enables to determine the attractiveness of an industry. Consequently the model helps to make decision about entering or leaving industry. Further, its usefulness lies in comparison the impact of the competitive forces on the organization with the impact on rivals. Secondly, when company knows about the power and intensity of models forces it is able to come up with possibilities for improving its competitive position e.g. differentiation, strategic partnership. Thirdly, the author says that the model with combination with PESTE analysis which influences changes in the industries, the Five Forces model can indicates the trends within the industry. Hill and Jones (2007, p. 66) also talk about importance of microenvironment. Forces in the model are not constant because they are determined by wider macro-environment as economic, politic, social and technological forces. These have evident impact on the model forces and consecutively on the whole industry. The role of macro environment is important but it is the subject of the PESTE analysis and we will not discuss it closer. According Lynch (2000, p.131) the model presents effective way of analysing the environment and it is recommended to use it as the firs step of company strategy development. He points out its real relevance as results are presented in logical and structured way. Hill and Jones (2001, p.97) see the model as very useful as it can be used to analyse character of competition within industry and for recognising opportunities and threats. Opportunities and treats represent the external part of SWOT analysis so we can see the clear connection of Five Forces model with another model. Another advantage of the model is that it looks on organization and industry through a wide range of aspects which are included in the models five forces. Thus, it is systematic approach for analysing the current situation of business and plan strategy (Oliva, 2002). For better picture of the model and to underline its strengths we look at an example of bank sector and examine the impact of launching the Internet banking in Five Forces model context (Siaw, Yu, 2004). In the terms of threat of entry force, the Internet banking enables small banks to enter the industry. Scale benefits are removed and network of branch is less important as there is direct access to customer in more suitable way. Bargaining power of buyers increases as they have more choices. Switching cost decrease because product has become more undifferentiated and standardised. As far as rivalry is concern, the differences between banks are smoothed as size of a bank is less important. Further providing services through the Internet is cheaper than using traditional distribution channels. Internet banking increased supplier power. Banks acted as supplier before. Now they pose intermediaries which enables access to range of products and delivery channels. Switching costs are high for bank if it is dealing with big customers. Such analysis helps manager to understand how the Internet influences five competitive forces. Existing banks using the analysis periodically can evaluate changes within the industry. Potential entrants can assess if the enter into industry will be profitable for them. Overall the analysis is useful in competitive strategy formulating (Siaw, Yu, 2004). Besides numbers of advantages the model is subject of many critiques. According Grant (2002, p. 89), the theoretical bases of the Porters Five Forces model are the most criticised by economists. Furthermore doubtful theoretical foundation, there are limitations because of static character of the model. Industry structures are considered to be stable and determinate by external forces. Grant (2002, p. 89) says that: Industry structure drives intensity of competition, which in returns determines the level of industry profitability. Therefore industry structures cannot remain unchanged in dynamic process of competition. Another issue which Grant points out is missing empirical evidence of importance of industry environment for company profitability. Faulkner and Campbell (2003, p. 249) also criticise static character of the Five Forces model saying that industry structures are continuously changing because of competition between firms and strategies adoped by companies within the indust ry. Static character of the model is also pointed out by Lynch (2000, p. 131), he says that forces are constantly changing and the moves could be more rapid than the model explain. Next critic which Lynch expresses is about the buyer power. The model assumes that this aspect is as equal as others factors while he argues that buyers should be got greater importance. According to the model, the environment is viewed as a threat to a company however some organisations see co-operation with others, especially with suppliers, very beneficial. Faulkner and Campbell (2003, p. 249) express their view to this question, too. They criticise Porters view on rivalry and competition between companies to be more essential than possible interaction as joint ventures or alliances. Lynch also questions the fact if it is sufficient for company to create its corporate strategy just after applying the Five Forces model. Further critics of model presented by Lynch consider its ignorance of human aspect o f strategy. The model overlooks features as country cultures or management skills. The presumption that companys own interests are primary might not be correct for some charitable and government institutions. Hill and Jones (2001, p. 97) reveal two weaknesses of the five forces model. The first is, as the other authors say, about its static character however they enhance their critique to disregarding the role of innovation. Innovations represent driven force of competition within the industry. As any company comes up with new product, technology or process it can gain great competitive advantage and earn profit. Another function of innovation lies in converting industry competition. As the production costs could be cut down due to e.g. new technologies, the barriers to entering the industry are removed and small companies can also access the competition. They provide example of the steel industry where after introducing technology as electric arc furnaces, the characteristic oligop oly industry became more price competitive and fragmented industry and smaller companies can also compete. Porter (2008, p.86) does not see innovation itself as a strong factor which can make industry profitable. He argues that often industries with low technology, high switching costs or price intensive buyers are more profitably than attractive software or information technologies ones. Because the model is static, all changes, which arise in the industry, cannot be recorded. Hill and Jones (2007, p. 66) conclude: The Five Forces model is of limited value because it represents no more than snapshots of a constantly changing situation. Thus, managers must constantly repeat industry analysis and pay attention to changes in the forces of competition. As far as the second critic is consider, same as Grant (2002, p. 89), Hill and Jones (2001, p. 97) talk about overrating the role of industry. Industry is given too much importance as the determinant of organisation profit while the differences between individual companies are neglected. Companies profit within industry varies and it has been detected that only 10% to 20% of differences is explained by industry structure. Consequently, we can say that companys own capacity and resources are more significant for profitability than industry in which it operates. None of company will be successful just because it is in the at tractive industry. Companys strategic resources as intangible assets, brand name are critical for analysis and strategy making (Crook at all, 2003). Other authors who agree that the Porters model is completely focus on external environment rather than internal resources of a company are Faulkner and Campbell (2003, p. 249). They criticise Porters view on outside environment as a root of firms success. Their another critique consider the application of industry analysis to individual company. This might not be as successful as first thought. In spite of critics authors admit that the Porters model of industry analysis stays as one of the most significant model of strategic management even though it has been introduced twenty years ago. Further shortcoming of the Porters model is that it was meant for industrial companies g.e. Coca-Cola, Ford Motors or Dell, not for knowledge based firms in field of advertising, consulting or legal. Manager of these companies bear some risk by using this tool and it is recommended to alter the model according to needs of such firms (Sheehan, 2005). Recklies in her article Porters 5 Forces (2001) indicates various criticisms. Besides acknowledgement that the model is static and it does not take into account co-operation between companies, the author gives also other critiques. As the model supposes perfect market, it has limited application in more regulated industries. The model fits the best to analyse simple market structures. In the case of complex industries with numbers of interrelations it is very complicated to analyse all five forces. On the other hand the author alerts that too narrow look on one segment in such industry can cause oversight of important factors. She concludes, as well as others authors, that the Five Forces model present a tool for managers to view the current situation of the industry in easy and understandable way and it is a good beginning for additional analysis. Recklies in her another article (2001) says that one of the reason for critics are todays changed economic circumstances. The model is found on the situation in the eighties. Cyclical developments, steady market structures and strong competition are typical for this time. Nowadays, technologies, the Internet and e-business application are seen in all industries and it transforms industry structures. This is the reason why the model cannot be used to explicate today dynamic changes and she adds: It is not advisable, if not to say impossible, to develop strategy solely on basis of Porters model. Downes realised the same trend and in the article Beyond Porter (1997) he introduces three new forces digitalization, globalization and deregulation as current issues which influence businesses. The new forces are seen in business activities as they are moving from physical world to computerised networks. According to Downes new strategic framework and analytical tools are essential to apply. Digitalization enables firms to gain access to greatly more information than before on the other hand it pose the treat of unfamiliar and unpredictable competition. Due to Globalization even local companies are able to become global as logistic and communication improved. Deregulation also opens up new possibility for company e.g. restructuring, more open international market. More others authors argue that the model should be extended about another force. They have various views on what it should be. Hill and Jones (2007, p. 57) see the sixth force as complementors. Complements are considered to be determinant of demand for products thus having a satisfactory supplier affects companys profit. Attractive complementary products create value and opportunity for company within an industry. On the other hand inefficient complementors pose threat and they are cause of slow industry development and low profitability. Also Grant (2005, p. 103) see complementors as significant impact on companies competitiveness and refer to them as to the sixth force. In the case of close complements of products, products have low value separately as consumer wants the whole. Question is how the value is divided between producers. The most common the supplier with stronger market position who is able to lower the value of other complements, gets much of profits. Karen-Silver (1997, p. 46) argues while current competitive environment calls for new forces to be consider, the original core i.e. five forces stays the most powerful. Porter (2008, p. 86) agrees that there are other important issue within an industry but he refers to them as to factors not forces. He presents factors like industry growth rate, technology and innovation, Government, complementary products and services. In addition he says: It is especially important to avoid the common pitfall of mistaking certain visible attributes of an industry for its underlying structure. In summary, Michael Porters models do not have the influence they used to have any more. New economic laws came up and other drivers stared to transform markets. Nevertheless, that does not mean that Porters theories became invalid. All we have to do is to apply them with the knowledge of their limitations in mind and to use them as a part of a larger framework of management tools, techniques and theories. This approach, however, is advisable for the application of every business model brand-new or old, from Porter or from somebody else, and in every economy Bibliography Assen, M., Berg, G., Pietersma, P., (2009) Key Management Models: The 60+ models every manager needs to know. Essex: Pearson Education, UK 2nd ed. Brandenburger, A., (2002) Crook, T.R., Ketchen, D.J., Snow, C.C., (2003) Competitive Edge: A Strategic Mnagement Model, .pp. 44-53 Downes, L., (1997) Beyond Porter, The Context Magazine. Available at: http://www.contextmag.com/setFrameRedirect.asp?src=/current/archive.asp Faulkner, D., Campbell, A., (2003) The Oxford Handbook of Strategy: Strategy overview and competitive strategy. Oxford (New York): Oxford University Press, USA, pp. 248-250 Grant M, R., (2002) Contemporary Strategy Analysis: concepts, techniques, application. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, UK, pp. 89 Grant (2005) p. 83 Hill, C.W.L, Jones, G.R., (2007) Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. 7th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, USA pp. 46-67 Hill, C.W.L, Jones, G.R., (2001) Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. 5th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, USA pp. 97-98 Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R., (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and cases. 7th ed. Essex: Pearson Education, UK Kare-Silver, M., (1997) Strategy in Crisis: Why business urgently needs a completely new approach. London: Macmillan Press, UK pp.45-47 Karragiannopoulos, Luffman, G., Lea, E., Sanderson, S., Kenny, B., (1996) Strategic Management: An Analytical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers UK, pp. 48-55 Lynch, R., (2000) Corporate Strategy. 2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education, UK, pp. 124-132 Oliva, A.R., (2002) A Framework for Success, Marketing Management jan/feb. pp.39 42 Porter, M., (2008) the Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review. Recklies, D. (2001) Porter 5 forces, Recklies Management Project GmbH, Available at: http://www.techba.com/training/course2/LinkedDocuments/Porters%205f.pdf Recklies, D. (2001) Beyond Porter ACritique of the Critique of Porter, Recklies Management Project GmbH, Available at: http://www.themanager.org/Strategy/BeyondPorter.htm Sheehan, N.T., (2005) Why old tools wont work in the new knowledge economy, .. . 26 (4), pp. 53 60 Available at: Siaw, Yu Thompson The Introduction and History of Dabur Nepal Pvt Ltd: The Introduction and History of Dabur Nepal Pvt Ltd: Dr. S.K. Burman set up Dabur in 1884 to produce and dispense Ayurvedic medicines reaching out to a wide mass of people who had no access to proper treatment. Dr. S.K. Burmans commitment and ceaseless efforts resulted in the company growing from a fledgling medicine manufacturing in a small Calcutta house, to household name that at once evokes trust and reliability. There are many stores in different region and country. As a reflection of its constant efforts at achieving superior quality standards, Dabur became the first Ayurvedic products company to get ISO 9002 certification. Reinforcing its commitment to nature and its conservation, Dabur Nepal, a subsidiary of Dabur India, has set up fully automated greenhouses in Nepal. This scientific landmark helps to produce saplings of rare medicinal plants that are under threat of extinction due to ecological degradation. There are various product manufactured by this company in Nepal. Daburs Health care range brings for you a wide selection of Ayurvedic and natural products that offer complete care for varying individual needs. Our product are derived from the time-tested heritage of Ayurveda and backed by the most modern scientific test and trials that ensure no failing quality and safety in anything you pick. The guiding force behind Daburs growth and success has been the wealth of nature and its limitless capacity to support life. And we have constantly taken care to preserve and protect this natural bounty with this overall vision of and to eco-sustenance, expand Daburs resource and production base, Dabur Nepal Private Limited was set up as an independent Group company in 1992. This new company, set amidst the verdant greens and towering mountains of the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal, has established a unique bond of technology and preservation. 2. Introduction to Financial Ratio: A financial ratio is a relative magnitude of two selected numerical values taken from an enterprises financial statements. Often used in accounting there are many standard ratios used to try to evaluate the overall financial condition of a corporation or other organization. Ratio may be expressed as a decimal value, such as 0.10 or given as an equivalent percent value such as 30%. Some ratio is usually quoted as percentages. Different ratio measures different thing Liquidity ratios measure the availability of cash to pay debt. Active ratios measures how quickly a firm converts non cash assets to cash assets. Debt ratios measure the firms ability to repay long-term debt. Profitability ratios measure the firms use of its assets and control of its expenses to generate an acceptable rate of return. Liquid Ratios: Liquidity reflects the ability of a company to meet its short-term obligations using assets that are most readily converted into cash. Assets that may be converted into cash in a short period of time are referred to as liquid assets; they are listed in financial statement as current assets. Current assets are used to satisfy short-term obligations, or current liabilities. The amount by which current assets exceed current liabilities is referred to as the net working capital. Current Ratio: It is used to calculate that how many short term assets a company has to meet its short term obligations. Current ratio= current assets / current liabilities a) 1.6:1 for year 2005 b) 1.8:1 for year 2004 As we know that higher the ratio better the company has more liquid assets to meet its short term liabilities. There were sufficient amounts of assets available to meet short term liabilities in the year 2005 which was 1.6:1 so there were 1.6 current assets available to meet its short term liabilities and in the year 2004 the ratio was increased to 1.8:1 which was much better than in the year 2005. So the company had good financial status in the year 2004 than in the year 2005. Acid Test Ratio: The acid test ratio is also known as the liquid or quick ratio. The idea behind this ratio is that stocks are sometimes a problem because they can be difficult to sell or use. Acid Test Ratio: Current assets- closing stock/ current liabilities 0.8:1 for year 2005 1.1:1 for year 2004 As we know that higher the acid ratio, is comparatively better. So the acid test ratio in 2005 was not sufficient to meet its current liabilities but the ratio was about 1.1:1 in the year 2004 which was sufficient to meet its liabilities and hence the liquid ratio in year 2004 was much better than 2005. 2.2. Profitability Ratios: profitability ratio compares components of income with sales. They gives us an idea of what makes up a companys income and are usually expressed as a portion of each unit of sales. Primary Ratio Return on Capital Employed: It is used in finance as a measure of the returns that a company is realising from its capital employed. It is commonly used as a reassure for comparing the performance between businesses and for assessing whether a business generates enough returns to pay for its cost of capital. ROCE compares earning with capital invested in the company. ROCE= [PBIT/ Capital Employed]*100% a)14.58% for year 2005 b) 18.79% for year 2004 This shows that ROCE in the year 2004 has more profit gained than in the year 2005. Return on Total Assets (ROTA): A ratio that measures a companys profit before interest and taxes (PBIT) against its total net assets. The ratio is considered an indicator of how effectively a company is using its assets to generate earning before contractual obligations must be paid. Return on Total Assets (ROTA) = PBIT/ Total Assets a)0.097 for year 2005 b) 0.14 for year 2004 The rate of return on total assets was better in the year 2004 in comparison with the ratio 0.097 in the year 2005 because there was more profit before interest and tax with total assets. Secondary Ratio: Gross Profit Margin: this ratio is the percentage of sales left after subtracting the cost of goods sold from net sales. It measures the percentage of sales remaining available to pay the overhead expenses of the company. Gross profit margin=Gross profit/ Net sales a) 22.1% for year 2005 b) 23.9% for year 2004 It was seen form the above data that the gross profit margin in the year 2004 was better than in the year 2005 so the company had better profit margin in the year 2004. Net Profit Margin: This ratio is the percentage of sales dollars left after subtracting the cost if goods sold and all expenses, except income taxes. It provides a good opportunity to compare your companys return on sales with the performance of other companies in your industry. It is calculated before income taxes because tax rates and tax liabilities vary from company to company for a wide variety of reasons. Net profit margin: Net profit Before Tax/ Net sales 4.7% for year 2005 6.5% for year 2004 The ratio measure average profit on sales. The percentage net profit to sales for Dabur Nepal Pvt. Ltd was 6.5% in 2004 and 4.7% in 2005 which mean that each Rs1 sales made an average profit of 6.5 Rs in 2004 and 4.7 Rs in 2005. This shows the Net Profit margin was better in the year 2004. Assets Turnover: It is used to calculate revenue generated per amount of long term capital invested in the business. It is used to see how effectively the long term assets are being utilized to generate the revenue. It is given by Assets Turnover= Turnover/ Capital Employed 3.87 times for 2005 3.68 times for 2004 We see the result of 3.68 times for 2004 this means that turnover is 3.68 times bigger than total assets. For the year 2005, it was even higher at 3.87 times. So the total asset turnover ratio was better in 2005 than in 2004. Activity Ratio Inventory Turnover: Inventory turnover is a measure of the number of times is sold or used in a time period such as a year. The equation for inventory turnover is equals the cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory, inventory turnover is also known as an inventory turns, stock turns, turns. A lower turnover ratio defines overstocking a company and a higher turnover ratio indicates inadequate inventory level or less in business. A lower turnover of inventory is somehow beneficial for a production company like Dabur Nepal Pvt. Ltd. Inventory Turnover=cost of goods sold/ average Inventory a)3.51 for year 2005 b) 7.65 for year 2004 Unit inventory turnover is better for the company, which excludes the over stocking and under stocking/ deficiency. It can be possible when cost of goods sold and turnover inventory are equal. As the year 2005 shows 3.51 times turnover inventories which were better because less amount of stock was there in this year but in the year 2004 the inventory turnover was more which was 7.65. As form definition we know less the turnover ratio better the profit gain by the company. So the companys financial status was better in 2005. Debtors Turnover: It indicates the velocity of debt collection of a firm. In simple words it indicates the number of times average debtors are turned over during a year. Debtors Turnover= [Debtors/ Sales]*365 The two basic components of accounts receivable turnover ratio are net credit annual sales and average trade debtors. The trade debtors for the purpose of this ratio include the amount of Trade debtors Bill Receivables. The average receivables are found by adding the opening receivables and closing balance of receivable and dividing the total by two. a)20.50 days for year 2005 b) 22.17 days for year 2004 Accounts receivable turnover ratio or debtors turnover ratio indicates the number of times the debtors are turned over a year. The higher the value of debtors turnover the more efficient is the management of debtors. In the year The debtors turnover was 22.17 days in the year 2004 in comparison with this there was 20.50 days in the year 2005 so, the company took less days to collect its debt in the year 2005 than in the year 2004. As a result the company had better financial state in 2005. Conclusion: The turnover of the company has increased by 4.69% over the previous year. The net profit after tax has reduced by 2.28% over the previous year due to lower contribution margin. During the year company has invested Rs 24.65 crore on account of fixed assets. Out of which, major amount is spent towards installing a new packing machine in juice plant in flex pack and increasing cold store capacity. It has deposited off its fixed assets amounting Rs 4.51 crore during the year. Hence as a whole Dabur Nepal Pvt. Ltd has well financial status in year 2004 but all the ratios were affected by the political instability of politic in Nepal as well as by other effect of the company. References: http://www.dabur.com/EN/Investors1/Annual_reports/2004-05/Dabur-Nepal-fina-05.pdf http://www.bized.co.uk/compfact/ratios/ Course Work Managing Financial Principles and Techniques Level 7 Advanced Professional Diploma in Management Studies Submitted to: Course Tutor/ Assessor Muhammad Atif Majeed Submitted by: Kabindra Simkhada Id: 201093 London College of Business Information Technology Contents Net present Value 1 Pay Back Period 1 Internal Rate of Return 1 Post completion Audit 1 Methods of finance available for company A 2 Scatter diagram 3 Advantage of Scatter Diagram 4 Disadvantage of Scatter Diagram 4 Appendix 5 Forecasting total cost Net present value: Both incoming and outgoing of a time series of cash flows is defined as the sum of the present values of the initial investment. The NPV is similar to PV of future cash flows minus the purchase price. This is a central tool for discounted cash flow analysis and is a standard method for using the time value of money to appraise long term project. It is used for capital budgeting, economics, finance and accounting. It measures the excess or shortfall of cash flows. The net present value of the company A is $76,990. this means in an initial investment of $260,000 in a project for 5 years of period the profit gain in the project is $76,990. Pay Back Period In capital budgeting refers to the period of time required for the return on an investment to repay the sum of the original investment is payback period. The time value of money is not taken in account. It measures how long something takes to pay for itself. This term is also widely used in other types of investment areas, often with respect to energy efficiency technologies, maintenance, upgrades, or other change. Payback period is a tool of analysis is often used because it is easy to apply and easy to understand for mist individuals. It is useful for comparing similar investment. According to the project A we earn or get back our initial investment in 3 years 6 month of period and after that period all the money gained is profit. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) It is also called discount cash flow rate of return or simply the rate of return. The internal rate of return on an investment or project is the annualized effective compounded return rate of discount rate that makes the net present value of all cash flow form a particular investment equal to zero. It is commonly used to evaluate the desirability of investment or projects. The higher a projects IRR the more desirable it is to undertake the project. Assuming all other factors are equal among the various projects, the project with the higher IRR would probably be considered the best and undertaken first. At the discount rate of 7.10% the NPV of project is equal to 0. Post Completion Audit Post completion audit is a key example of an internal audit. In this process technical details are discussed briefly. The purpose of post-auditing is to examine how well or badly a project has performed after it has been implemented. This process may be taken at any stage after a project has been started and need not wait until after the project has been completed. It is important for the project to perform post completion audit. Following are the benefit of post completion audit. Improved quality of decision making: after feedback and suggesting changes that need to be made to the process of decision making Improved realism of project appraisals: this is to attempt to prevent biasing upward of cash flow in proposals. Identification of key variables: This after the event knowledge can help to identify what the actual key variables were compared with the ones that were thought to be the case before implementation More frequent project termination: although firms are often unwilling to stop unsuccessfully projects, it may be the logical thing to do. Performing post audit actually gives the information to make that decision. Following things are checked in post completion audit. Check whether the required quality has been achieved. The efficiency of the solution during operation compared with the agreed performance and standards. The actual cost of the project compared with the budgeted expenditure and the reasons for over or under expenditure identified The time taken to develop the solution compared with the targeted date for completion and reasons for a variance identified The effectiveness of any problems encountered and the effectiveness of the solutions generated to deal with them. If the project objectives have been stated in terms of learning outcomes, the extent to which these have been achieved would also be investigated. The audit would lead to the production of a report to the management, structured around the above points. Post completion is one of the important part of the project with the help of which we can verify whether the project meet the requirements, whether the project is completed or not. This is the basic requirements of the project now a days. Methods of finance available for company A Public limited Company is the company which gives services to the public. This company is non profitable organisation whose goal is to provide better and efficient services to the customer or public. A plc is a company that is able to offer its shares to the public which means it share its profit and public also take part or public are also the owner of the company. For long term sustain of the company finance are those that are needed over a longer period of time generally over a year. This company should give services to the public for long time. The methods of finance available for this company are as follows Shares: Shares relate to companies set up as plc. If a company want to expand the business then they can sell shares to the general public. This means any one can buy the shares in the business. Venture capital: Venture capital is becoming an increasingly source of finance for growing companies. Venture capitals are on the lookout for companies with potential. They are prepared to offer capital to help the business grow. In return the venture capital gets some say in the running of the company as well as a share in the profit made. Bank loan: as with short term finance, banks are an important source of longer term finance. Banks may lend sums over long period of time possibly up to 25 years or even more in some cases. The loans have a rate of interest attached to them. Using bank loan might be relatively easy but the cost of servicing the loan can be high. If interest rates rise then it can add to a business costs and this has to be taken into account in the planning stage before the loan is taken out. Government grant: some of the company get funds from the government. This could be medical sector, security sector etc which get its most of the funds from the government. Retained profit Owners Capital: some people are in a fortunate position of having some money which they can use to help set up their business. The money may be the result of savings, money left to them by a relative in a will or money received as the result of a redundancy payment. This is not enough sums to finance the business fully but will be one of the contributions to the overall finance of the business. Selling assets: By selling the assets like property, machine, equipment, other companies or even logos. In some cases it may be appropriate for a business to sell off some of these assets to finance other projects. Lottery funding: in UK the National Lottery might be a possible source of funds for some types of business. These businesses will mostly be charities or charitable trusts. The company that are not for profit business so any surplus they make is put back into the business to help develop and improve it. Scatter diagram A scatter diagram or scatter graph is a type of mathematical diagram using Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variable for a set of data. The data is displayed as a collection of points, each having the value of on variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and the value of the other variable determining the vertical axis. This kind of graph is called scatter diagram. This diagram mostly used for the experimental purpose. Different data collected from the experiment is plotted in the graph. If data exist that is systematically incremented or decremented by other, it is called the control parameter or independent variable and is customarily plotted along the horizontal axis. The measured or dependent variable is customarily plotted along the vertical axis. If no dependent variable exists, either type of variable can be plotted on both axis and a scatter plot will illustrate only the degree of correlation between tow variables. A scatter plot can suggest various kinds of correlation between variables with a certain confidence interval. Correlations may be positive, negative, of null. If the pattern of dots slopes form lover left to upper right, it suggests a positive correlation between the variables being studied. If the pattern of dot slopes form lower left to upper right. It suggests a negative correlation. A line of best fit can be drawn in order to study the correlation between the variable. An equation for the correlation between the variable can be determined by established best fit procedures. For a linear correlation, the best fit procedure is known as linear regression and is guaranteed to generate a correct solution for arbitrary relationships. The scatter diagram is one of the basic tools of quality control. Benefits of scatter plot are as follows The diagram shows the relationship between two variables where one variable is drawn at horizontal axis and other is plotted at vertical axis. This scatter plot is best method to illustrate the non linear pattern. This is the best method used for finding results in experiment. Disadvantages of scatter plot It is difficult to find exact value of the variables. To get the exact value we need more experimental values because of which this method is time consuming. It is difficult to get accurate result from more scattered data.

The Genetics of Identity and Normalcy (2001-2015)

The Genetics of Identity and Normalcy (2001-2015) This chapter chronicles the fascinating history of discovery in the study of the genetics of identity and normalcy. Key concepts covered: Race assignment of individuals does not carry any general implication about genetic differentiation. Intelligence is heritable. Sex identity is physical; gender identity is psychological. There is strong evidence that sexual orientation and social behavior are hereditary. Epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. Race and Intelligence The desire to categorize humans along racial lines, and the impulse to superpose attributes such as intelligence (or criminality, creatively, or violence) on those lines, illustrate the general theme concerning genetics and categorization. Race Polygenic trees based on the DNA sequencing of people throughout the world have shown that Africans represent the root of the trees. This is interpreted as evidence that humans evolved in Africa, and then migrated across the globe. As humans colonized and settled permanently in various parts of the world, they differentiated themselves into distinct groups called races. Undoubtedly, many of the features that distinguish races, such as skin color or body shape, were adaptive in the local setting. Nevertheless, genomic analysis has revealed that the vast proportion of genetic diversity (85 to 90 percent) occurs within races and only a minor proportion (7 percent) between racial groups. The differences between races are superficial, based on the alleles of a relatively small number of genes that affect external features. So race assignment of individuals does not carry any general implication about genetic differentiation. For race and genetics, the genome is a one-way street. You can use genome to predict where X or Y came from. But, knowing where A or B came from, you can predict little about the persons genome. Intelligence Intelligence has historically been conceptualized as a more or less trait. Is intelligence heritable? Studies of twins do in fact provide strong evidence for the heritability of intelligence. The scores of identical twins reared apart are highly correlated (0.74). In addition, adopted childrens scores are highly correlated with the scores of their birth parents and not with the scores of their adoptive parents. Also significant are findings that heritability can differ between ethnic and racial groups, as well as across time within a single group; that is, the extent to which genes vs environment matter in IQ depends on many factors, including socioeconomic status and education. Sex Identity v. Gender Identity In 1903, Nettie Stevens, a graduate study in Biology under Thomas Morgan, was the first to recognize that females have two large sex chromosomes in the shape of Xs and that males have one of full size X and another that is missing a portion, making it resemble a Y. Later, she corroborated with Edmund Wilson a cell biologist, to discover the XY Sex Determination System. The XY system works like this. During meiosis the male XY sex-chromosome pair separates and passes on an X or a Y to separate sperms; the result is that one-half of the sperm that are formed contains the X chromosome and the other half contains the Y chromosome. The female has two X chromosomes, and all female egg cells normally carry a single X. The eggs fertilized by X-bearing sperm become females (XX), whereas those fertilized by Y-bearing sperm become males (XY). Unlike other pairs of chromosomes in which each member normally carries alleles of the same genes, the paired sex chromosomes do not carry an identical complement of genetic information. The X chromosome, being larger, carries many more genes than does the Y. Sex Identity In the early 1980, a young geneticist in London named Peter Goodfellow (1951- ) began to hunt for the sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome. He intended to use the Botsteins gene mapping technique to narrow down the search to a small region of the Y chromosome. But how could a normal gene be mapped without the existence of a variant phenotype, or an associated disease? But how can you find such a variant? The answer came in 1955 when Gerald Swyer, an English endocrinologist investigating female infertility, discovered a rare syndrome that made humans biologically female but chromosomally male. Women born with Swyer dyndrome were anatomically and physiologically female throughout childhood, but did not achieve female sexual maturity in early adulthood. When their cells were examined, geneticists discovered that they had XY chromosomes in all their cells. The most likely scenario behind Swyer syndrome was that the master-regulatory gene that specifies maleness had been inactivated by mutation, leading to femaleness. In 1989, Goodfellow discovered that a gene called SRY, located in the Y chromosome, was the master-regulatory gene responsible for sex determination. If you turn SRY on, the animal becomes anatomically and physiologically male; turn if off, the animal becomes anatomically and physiologically female. A women with Swyer syndrome is in fact a genetic male, but with the SRY gene (in his Y chromosome) turned off due to mutation. Gender Identity Gender identity is ones innermost concept of self as male, female, a blend of both or neither how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. Ones gender identity can be the same or different from their sex assigned at birth. In the 1970s and 1980s, there were several cases of sexual reassignment the conversion of chromosomal male children into females through physiological and social conditioning each troubled and troubling in its own right. Some of them suffered hanuting pangs of anxiety, anger, dysphoria, and disorientation well into adulthood. Others had trouble reconciling her sense of herself as fundamentally female. They might had been converted into women physiologically, but genetically they were still male and exhibiting male behavior in a female body. So they had never really acquired the female gender identity. But to enable more profound aspects of gender determination and gender identity, SRY must act on dozens of targets turning them on and off, activating some genes and repressing others. These genes, in turn, integrate inputs from the self and environment form hormones, behaviors, exposures, social performance, cultural role-playing, and memory to engender gender. This geno-development cascade specifies gender identity. The existence of a transgender identity provides powerful evidence for this geno-development cascade. In an anatomical and physiological sex, sex identity is quite binary: just one gene governs sex identity, resulting in the striking anatomical and physiological dimorphism that we observe between males and females. But gender and gender identity are far from binary. Image a gene call it TFY that determines how the brain responds to SRY. One child might inherit a TGY gene variant that is highly resistant to the action of SRY on the brain, resulting in a body that is antomically male, but a brain that does not read or interpret that male signal. Such a brain might recognize itself as psychologically female; it might consider itself neither male or female, or image itself belonging to a third gender together. Sexual Orientation Social Behavior Sexual Orientation Sexual Orientation, or sexual identity, is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically or sexually attracted the choice and preference of sexual partners. For a while in the 1950s and 1960s, the dominant theory among psychiatrists was that sexual preference was acquired, not in born. In the 1980s, J. Michael Bailey (1957- ), a professor of psychology, conducted a study of sexual orientation using twins. When he looked for concordance of gayness among twins, the results were striking. Of the fifty-six pairs of identical twins, 52 percent were both gay. Of the fifty-four pairs of nonidentical twins, 22 percent were both gay, lower than the fraction for identical twins, but still significantly higher than the estimate of 10 percent gay in the overall population. This study provided strong evidence that homosexuality is hereditary. In 1991, Dean Hamer (1951- ), a researcher at the National Caner Institute, came across Bailys twin study, and began his search for the gay gene. His studies led to the first molecular evidence for genes that influence human sexual orientation. His research groups first paper, published in Science in 1993, reported that the maternal but not paternal male relatives of gay men had increased rates of same-sex orientation, suggesting the possibility of inheritance from the maternal side of the families. A genetic linkage analysis of DNA samples from these families showed that gay brothers had an increased probability of sharing polymorphic markers on a small stretch of the X chromosome, called Xq28, providing statistically significant evidence for linkage to the sexual orientation phenotype. This finding was replicated in two other studies in the United States whereas a study in Canada found contrary results. After nearly a decade of intensive hunting, what geneticists have found is not a gay gene but a few gay locations. But none of the genes in these locations were experimentally linked to homo- or heterosexuality. The long-sought gay gene on Xq28 remains unknown. Social Behavior In 1979, Thomas Bouchard, a scientist in Minnesota, came across an account of twins who had been separated from birth and were reunited at age 30. For these brothers, genes were identical, but they grew up in different environments. By comparing separated-at-birth twins against twins brought up in the same family, Bouchard could untwist the effects of genes and environment. Bouchard began recruiting such twins for this study in 1979. By the late 1980s, he have assembled the worlds largest cohort of reared-apart and reared-together twins. This work became the Minnesota Study of Identical Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA), better known as the Minnesota Twins Project. In this study, he found out that shyness, political conservatism, dedication to hard work, orderliness, intimacy, extroversion, conformity, and a host of other social traits were largely heritable. In the early 1990s, Richard Ebstein, a geneticist in Israel, read Bouchards paper on the separate-at-birth twins. He wanted to identify the actual genes that determined variant forms of behavior. To find such genes, he would have to begin with a rigorous definition of the subtypes of personality that he wished to link to genes. He split out personality into four dimensions: novelty seeking impulsive vs cautious reward dependent warm vs attached risk avoidant anxious vs calm Persistent loyal vs fickle Ebstein was particularly intrigued by one of the subtypes novelty seeker, or neophiles. He began to collect a cohort of extreme neophiles using surveys, advertisements, and questionnaires. He then used molecular and genetic techniques to determine the genotypes within his cohort with a limited panel of genes. The most extreme novelty seekers, he discovered, had a disproportionate representation of one genetic determinant: a variant of dopamine-receptor gene called D4DR. His study was also corroborated by several other groups. D4DR is a human gene, located on chromosome 11. It is (so far) one of the only genes proven to be directly linked to a human personality trait. When the D4DR gene is mutated or elongated, studies have shown that the individual may be more interested in danger, excitement and thrill seeking. Epigenetics In the 1950s, Conrad Waddington (1905-75), an English embryologist, was fascinated in the early development of the fetus and interested in the mystery of how cells can start so simply and then develop specialized functions. He realized that a cells identity must be recorded in some manner beyond its genome for this to happen. He termed the phenomenon epigenetics. The word epigenetics literally means in addition to genes. Epigenetics is the reason why a skin cell looks different from a brain cell or a muscle cell. All three cells contain the same DNA, but their genes are expressed differently (turned on or off), which creates the different cell types. Today, epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself. It also refers to external modifications to DNA that turn genes on or off. These modifications do not change the DNA sequence, but instead, they affect how cells read genes. In response to cues from the environment, chemical marks are selectively added to certain genes and erased from others, modulating the expression of the genes in that cell alone. These marks are layered above the genes, leaving a permanent imprint on genes. This genetic memory would ensure that gene expression is locked into place in each cell, enabling each cell to acquire and fix an identity. Hongerwinter The Dutch famine of 1944-45, known as the Hongerwinter (Hunger winter) in Dutch, was a famine that took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands during the winter of 1944-45, near the end of World War II. A German blockade cut off food and fuel shipments from farm areas. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children died of malnourishment; millions survived. People who survived suffered from malnourishment and growth retardation. Children who survived the Hongerwinter also suffered chronic health issues: depression, anxiety, heart disease, gum disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes. In the 1980s, when the children born to women who were pregnant during the famine grew up, they too had higher rates of obesity and heart disease. In the 1990s, when the grandchildren of men and women exposed to the famine were studied, they too had higher rates of obesity and heart disease. The acute period of starvation had somehow altered genes not just in those directly exposed to the event; the message had been transmitted to their grandchildren. Some heritable factor, or factors, must have been imprinted into the genomes of the starving men and women and crossed at least two generations. The factor responsible for the memory could not be an alteration of the gene sequence: the people in the Dutch cohort would not have mutated their genes over the span of three generations. Here, an interaction between the gene and the environment had changed a phenotype (ie, the propensity for developing an illness). Something must have been stamped into the genome by virtue of exposure to the famine some permanent, heritable mark that was now being transmitted across generations. Gurdons Frog Cloning Experiment Our lives begin when a fertilized egg divides and forms new cells that, in turn, also divide. These cells are identical in the beginning, but become increasingly varied over time. It was long thought that a mature or specialized cell could not return to an immature state, but this has now been proved incorrect. In 1962, John Gurdon (1933- ) removed the nucleus of a fertilized egg cell from a frog and replaced it with the nucleus of a cell taken from a tadpoles intestine. This modified egg cell grew into a clone of the adult frog. Gurdons experiment had proved that factors present in an egg proteins and RNA could erase the marks of an adult cells genome and thereby reverse the fate of a cell and produce a tadpole from a frog cell. The idea was controversial at the time, but it later led directly to the cloning of Dolly the Sheep by Ian Wilmut in 1996, and to the subsequent discovery by Shinya Yamanaka that adult cells can be reprogrammed into stem cells for use in medicine. Chromosome Silencing In 1961, Mary Lyon (1925-2004), a former student of Waddington, found a viable example of an epigenetic change in an animal cell. In her biological study of chromosomes on mice, she found out that every paired chromosomes stained with chromosomal dyes looked identical except the two X chromosomes in females. One of the two X chromosomes in female mice was inevitably shrunken and condensed. The actual sequence of DNA was identical between both chromosomes, but the genes in the shrunken chromosome did not generate RNA, and therefore the entire chromosome was silent or inactivated. As nearly all female mammals have two X chromosomes, X-inactivation prevents them from having twice as many X chromosome gene products as males, who only possess a single copy of the X chromosome. How can a cell silence an entire chromosome? In the late 1970s, scientists discovered the epigenetic marker a group of methyl molecules attached to the DNA. Methyl tags were not the only epigenetic marker on genes. In 1996, working at Rockefeller University in New York, a biochemist named David Allis found yet another system of markers. Rather than stamping the marks directly on genes, this system placed its marks on proteins, called histones, that act as the packaging material for genes. Yamanakas Cell-fate Reversal Experiment Shinya Yamanaka (1962- ), a Japanese stem-cell biologies, was intrigued by Gurdons frog cloning experiment the idea that chemical marks attached to genes in a cell might function as a record of its cellular identity. What if he could erase these marks? Would the adult cell revert to an original state and turn into the cell of an embryo? In 2006, Yamanaka succeeded in identifying four genes within the genome of mice that proved decisive in this process. The introduction of these four genes into a mature skin cell of a mouse caused a small fraction of the cells to transform into something resembling an embryonic stem cell. This means that cells from someones skin can be made into stem cells which in turn can turn into any type of tissue in the body, meaning they can replace diseased or damaged tissue in patients. The Origin of Genes At Harvard, a biochemist named Jack Szostak (1952- ) has spent over two decades trying to discover the origin of DNA. In his laboratory, starting with chemical from the early Earth, the planet before life began, he was able to synthesize lifes basic building blocks lipids, nucleotides and amino acids, and assembled them into larger structures such as membranes, RNA molecules and peptides. Szostak believes that genes emerged out of this soup through a fortuitous meeting between these partners.