The risks and benefits of social networking services Essay

The risks and benefits of social networking services - Essay Example research, it was found that through social networking sites are hugely favourable among people, especially young adults; they have been ignoring various dangerous attributes of these networking services. Social networking sites can be defined as virtual communities used by individuals for interacting and communicating with friends, families and also meeting new people based on similar or shared interests. Social networking services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram have taken a critical important place in the lives of new age individuals. Apart from that, websites such as Facebook are known to increase the overall technical literacy of young adults. At the same time, these social media services are the cause of various positive and negative trends occurring in the society (Zafirovski, 2001). Therefore, it is important to understand the critical influence of these social media services so that negative consequences can be minimized and positive effects can be maximized. The objective of the present report is to understand the various risks and benefits of social networking sites. Recent research on usage of social networking services has suggested that the overall interest towards these sites is increasing in a substantial manner. At the same time, there contribution towards risks and benefits in an individual’s daily life is also heightened. The most common social networking services are instant messaging services, email and websites where information is shared. According to a recent survey conducted in 2011, it was revealed that almost 73 percent children as well as 47 percent adults are using these social networks (Red Crbit, 2013). Various benefits have been identified related to social media services and their usages (Cohn, 2010). By frequently using video clips, photographs and access to numerous articles, young adults gain a significant knowledge and understanding about the nature, production as well as usage of multiple content forms,

Purposes Of Different Types Of Organisation Economics Essay

Purposes Of Different Types Of Organisation Economics Essay The sole trader is a business owned by one person who is self-employed and why may, in some cases, employ other people on a full or part time basis. Normally using personal funds to start business, the sole trader decides on the type of goods or services to be produced, where the business is to be located, what capital is required, what staff(if any) to employ, what the target market should be. In Britain about eighty per cent of all business is sole traders. The reason for this predominance is the relative ease with which an individual can establish a business this type. Examples include: builders, small shops, independent agents. Partnership is when two or more individuals establish a business which they own. The partners have unlimited personal liability both jointly and severally.   The liability of limited partners is limited to their investment in the partnership. Under the law, partnerships are limited to 20 or less partners. Partnership companies usually have written contracts between partners, but thats not necessary. This states the type of partnership it is, how much capital each party has contributed, and how profits and losses will be shared. The typical examples of partnerships are doctors, dentists and solicitors.  They can benefit from shared expertise, but like the sole trader, have unlimited liability. Limited companies are companies which are registered at Companies House- www.companieshouse.gov.uk. It is a legal entity or legal person with its own legal rights and obligations, separate and distinct from those of its members. All property, which is registered on company, belongs to company and is not treated as belonging to the companys shareholders and directors. The benefit of limited company is that is offers limited liability to its members. The company as a separate legal entity is liable for its debts and the members and directors are not personally liable unless they have acted wrongly in some way. There are two types of limited companies as public limited companies (PLCs) and private limited companies (Limited, LTD). The vast majority of trading companies are private companies limited by shares. Many private companies are very small. There is no minimum capital required for private company and its commonly less than 100 £. A private company may not offer shares to the public. For example it can be any shop, pub, construction company etc. PLC is company which  is appropriate for larger businesses where shares are intended to be available to the general public. A public company must have a minimum share capital of  £50,000, of which at least one-quarter plus any share premium must be paid up before the company can obtain its trading certificate from Companies House and start trading. This is the only type of company which may raise capital by offering shares to the public. For example its some supermarket chain, delivery company or airlines company. Consumer co-operative societies are organisations owned by consumers which aim is fulfilling needs and aspirations of their members. They operate in market system independently from the state as mutual aid, oriented to service rather than make a profit.  Consumers cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as  food cooperatives, health care, insurance,  housing,  utilities  and personal finance. Workers co-operatives are organisations in which ownership and control of the assets are in the hands of the people who working in it. They have the objective of creating and maintaining sustainable jobs and generating wealth, to improve the quality of life of the worker-members, dignify human work, allow workers democratic self-management and promote community and local development. The main principles of the organisations are democracy, open membership, social responsibility, mutual co-operation and trust, help to differentiate co-operative from other forms of business organisations. Public corporations are legal entities created by government to undertake commercial activities behalf of an owner government. In the public sector the state owns assets in various forms, which it uses to provide a range of goods and services felt to be of benefit to its citizens. These state corporations an important part of the public sector of the economy and they are very significant to national output, employment and investment. These public corporations are hospitals, municipal water companies, rail services etc. Describe the extent to which an organisation meets the objectives of different. The main organisational objective of for-profit organisation is to make more profit. Aims and objectives establish where the business would like to be in the future, helping to control their plans, motivate staff and give everyone sense of direction. Any decision made within the organisation should be in line with their aims and objectives. The objectives are influence by various stakeholders, as well as the nature of the business. Different stakeholder groups will have different objectives to satisfy their interests. Objectives can be: corporate which affect the whole business, departmental objectives that are for a certain area of business and individual objectives are used in performance appraisal for employees. Employees- wage levels; working conditions; job security; personal development Managers- job security; status; personal power; organisational profitability; growth of the organisation Shareholders- market value of investment; dividends; security of investment; liquidity of investment Creditors- security of loan; interest of loan; liquidity of investment Suppliers- security of contract; regular payment; growth of organisation; market development Society- safe products; environmental sensitivity; equal opportunities; avoidance of discrimination Explain the responsibilities of an organisation and strategies employed to meet them. Every company, business, department has a duty and remit to provide a service. An organisation must operate within the boundaries of the law. Reputation and trust are everything, and a consumer cant have trust or faith in your ability to deliver if you cant prove and guarantee youre legitimacy. An organisation must also have strict financial control. Recruitment is vitally important. Organisations need reliable workers who have enthusiasm, but also intelligence; workers that are able to be creative but also to take advice and critique from management. Also organisations are responsible for health and safety of their employees. They need to provide safe working environment and equipment. Explain how economic systems attempt to allocate resources effectively. There are three kinds of economic system which are basically adopted by the different countries. They are: free market, centrally planned, mixed market. Free market economic system: The intervention of government is kept at a minimum level or neglected in free market system and all the economics resources comes under the private sectors as well market. Price mechanism will determine how much of goods or services will be supplied according to the market demands. Most decisions are based on market mechanism. The supply, demand and ability play the vital role in market decision making. As per looking at the free market system it raises the various unsolved questions like who will produce the goods and services and infrastructures for the country to meet the needs of every public. For example UK. Centrally planned economy system: Centrally planned economic system refers that government allocates the economic resources; government makes all the planning regarding the economical activities. Private sectors are kept far away in involvement of any economical accumulation. These kinds of economics were found in the Asian, central Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin American nations but now these are found in Cuba, Iraq, Iran, North Korea etc. In these systems basically unemployment problems will not be faced since government plan all the economical activities and resources will be allocated based needs of its people and different industries inputs. Mixed economy system: This system is a mixture of all other systems. The system where both capitalism and socialism economic system are included it is known as mixed economic system. Mixed economic system splits the available economic resources available in the country to both private sectors and government. Private sectors are encouraged to get involved and participate in utilizing the resources which helps to gain economic profit for whole nation. Countries like USA, UK, Russia and China to countries like Cambodia, Peru and Vietnam has adopted this economic system. When one fails to meets the public desire other can get it and helps to maintain the economic balance not only in the particular country but also the whole nation. Assess the impact of fiscal and monetary policy on business organisations and their activities. Fiscal policy decisions have a widespread effect on the everyday decisions and behaviour of individual households and businesses. Basically fiscal policy means how government taxes us and how it spends the money. Increased taxation makes the price of goods and services more expensive, reducing demand for them and reducing employment. Lower taxes mean more disposable income for consumers and more cash for businesses to invest in jobs and equipment. Stimulus-spending programs, which are short term in nature and often involve infrastructure projects, can also help drive business demand by creating short term jobs. Increasing income or consumption taxes usually mean less disposable income, which, over time, can decelerate business activity. Monetary policy impact changes in short term interest rates influence long term interest rates, such as mortgage rates. Low interest rates mean lower interest expense for businesses and higher disposable income for consumers. This combination means higher business profits. Lower mortgage rates may spur more home buying activity, which is usually good for the construction industry. Lower rates also mean more refinancing of existing mortgages, which may also enable consumers to consider other purchases. High interest rates can have the opposite impact for businesses: higher interest expenses, lower sales and lower profits. Interest-rate changes can affect stock prices, which can impact consumer spending. Evaluate the impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of a selected organisation. Apple Inc. Apple Inc was founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in U.S. California. They had produced and selling computers. Company was growing up very quick, because they were kind of pioneers in that industry. Apple Computer was predominantly a manufacturer of personal computers. Apple core product lines are: Macintosh computer line, iPod music player, iPhone and iPad. The company now is also known for its iOS product range that began with iPhone, iPod and iPad. They also have iTunes- online music store. Now Apple is the largest technology company in the world its stock market value is $500 billion. Revenue of 2011 was $127.8 billion in sales. Recently, European Commission accused Apple Inc. of violating European Competition rules in music industry. Apple Inc. uses iTunes to sell particular songs. iTunes services prevent its users in one Member State of the European Union to buy songs from another iTunes webpage, which is located in another Member State. E.g. if consumer lives in the Czech Republic and he wants to buy the particular song from Slovakian iTunes webpage, he is not allowed to do so. That means that the price of the song shall be charged according to the place where the consumer lives (cost of songs varies between the Member States). European Commission sent to the Apple Inc. so called statement of objections which accused the Apple Inc. of unfair agreements with record labels of containing territorial sales restrictions, which violates European Union competition rules. The Apple Inc. tried to defend itself that this policy was as the outcome of the demands of the music record industry. Moreover the music which is bought from iTunes obligate to use only the Apple iPod music player, because other portable music players, does not support songs bought from iTunes. iPod users in the United Kingdom have to pay more cash for the song if they want to buy it from the iTunes online store in the United Kingdom than other users in the Continental Europe. European Commission was investigating this issue and threatened Apple Inc. with the fine of GBP 330.000.000. Explain how market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses. Market structure is number of firms producing identical product homogenous. Monopolistic competition where there is a large number of firms, each having a small proportion of the market share and slightly differentiated products. They take the prices of other competitors as given and ignore the impact of its own prices of other firms. The number of firms and output determines supply and demand. For example: Coke and Pepsi; toothpaste; shaving foams like Gillette and Dove. Oligopoly is when a small number of firms control the market. Then usually prices of products or services are high. Industries which are examples of oligopolies include: Steel industry, aluminium, film, television, cell phone, gas, electricity. Duopoly is a special case of an oligopoly where two companies compete in a market. Monopsony when there is one buyer faces with many sellers. Oligopsony, a market where many sellers can be present but meet only a few buyers. Monopoly, where there is only one provider of a product or service. For example it was Microsoft Company in U.S. Natural monopoly is when firm is a natural monopoly if it is able to serve the entire market demand at a lower cost than any combination of two or more smaller, more specialized firms. Perfect competition a theoretical market structure that features no barriers to entry, an unlimited number of producers and consumers, and a perfectly elastic demand curve. Illustrate the way in which market forces shape organisational responses using a range of examples. Supply and demand are the forces that make market economies work. They determine the quantity of each good produced and the price at which it is sold. A market is a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service. The buyers as a group determine the demand for the product, and the sellers as a group determine the supply of the product. For example, if oil prices rises then price of delivery services rise and the price of the goods as well. When summer is end and tourist season is finished then prices of hotel rooms goes down. If grape harvest is bad one year then prices of wine will be higher in next year. Judge how the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of a selected company. Apple Inc. The approach they working with and the secret of success, is based on simple, creative design and ease of using technology on daily bases. The success of Apple is embedded in Steve Jobs strength-based approach to company strategy. The pillars of Steve Jobs strategy are built upon a core of capabilities, the seizing of opportunities, and an organizational culture that enables the attainment of Apples goals. Steve Jobs was one of the companys master minds who had absolutely genial ideas, and he realized those ideas to change people lives. Before iPhone was released and smart phones come to our lives, the mobile phones became more complicated and difficult to use them. When the Apple released iPhone, it changes mobile phone market for ever. It was sensation, because it was absolutely different and completely new technology with touch screen and without many buttons as usually. Now the iPhone is part of many people lives and also fashion. iPhone becoming more popular in the world and the Apple now is 3rd larger mobile phone company in the world. Discuss the significance of international trade to UK business organisations. Some of the key commodities in which the UK trades are manufactured goods, beverages, fuels and chemicals. According to a World Trade Organization (WTO) report published in 2008, the UK has retained its position as the worlds largest commercial services exporter. Moreover, with the UK recording a profit of $263 billion in the commercial services sector, the country continues to be the worlds second largest provider of these services. UK trade consists of the movement of goods and services within the European Union, of which it is a member, and to non-EU countries. International trade in the UK is assisted by UK Trade Investment (UKTI). This government organization focuses on enhancing the competitiveness of UK companies through overseas trade and investments. It also aims at continuing to attract high-quality foreign direct investment (FDI). In order to attract foreign businesses and foreign investment, the British government has adopted a variety of programs. For instance, the Parliament allows local and regional governments to establish enterprise zones. In these zones, companies receive exemptions from property taxes and reimbursement for costs involved in the construction of new factories or business locations. There are also programs that provide incentives for companies to locate in economically depressed urban areas that are known as Assisted Areas. In 1998, the total value of these programs was US$315 million. There are 7 free trade zones in the United Kingdom (Birmingham, Humberside, Liverpool, Prestwick, Sheerness, Southampton, and Tilbury). These zones allow goods to be stored for shipment without tariffs or import duties. Analyse the impact of global factors on UK business organizations. International trade and the UK economy: UK businesses will see international trade growth accelerate from 2014 as the global economy ends a period of growth contraction, according to HSBC. There are fundamental changes taking place in world trade, UK exports to China and to India grew by 21% and 37% respectively in 2011 and HSBC estimates that it processed around one third of these by value. Market opportunities: Evaluating markets and future trends can be a major challenge for any business. New market opportunities spring from a range of possible sources and vary in their size, importance, and risk. New demographic or vertical industry segments New geographic regions Alternate offerings of service models, supplies, and other annuities World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the only international agency overseeing the rules of international trade. It polices free trade agreements, settles trade disputes between governments and organises trade negotiations. 4.3 Evaluate the impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organisations. The United Kingdom is a member of the European Union but isnt part of the single currency, the Euro. Free trade The EU is a trade bloc which means there are no quotas or tariffs for companies exporting goods and services within the EU. European legislation is meant to make it easier for UK businesses to trade across the EUs 27 states. The internal market the single market means UK citizens are free to move, live, study and trade anywhere within the EU.

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humans are by far the most complex species on this planet. we have knowledge, emotions and the ability to know and choose from right or wrong. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... ...ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Evolutionary Explanations of Food Preference Essay

Evolution is the change in inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. The environment our early ancestors lived in must be understood to understand why they adapted to certain behaviours or characteristics. This environment is known as EEA (environment of evolutionary adaption). Natural history and science have found that our species has spent much of its life as hunter-gatherers so by looking at their role we can investigate food preferences from an evolutionary perspective. Early human diets consisted of what was around them at the time and what pressured them to eat it. Humans had a preference for fatty foods as it would have been adaptive as conditions in the EEA meant that energy resources were vital to survive until the next meal. In addition calories were not as plentiful and therefore fatty foods were vital. Gibson and Wardle conducted a food preference study by observing the food choices made of children. Children naturally preferred more calorific foods, suggesting the food choices to be innate as children have not been exposed much to other influences such as social or cultural factors as other age groups. On the other hand fatty foods have been proven harmful if eaten in excess and therefore counters the claim that they are beneficial, as a diet on fatty foods would not be possible for survival. However, early humans did not live to the age of humans today and it is in the later age where diseases come as a result of excess fatty foods. Human preference for meat is said to have occurred due to the large decline in forestry 2 million years ago as the nutritional source declined. Meat is rich in nutrients and therefore appropriate alternative food consumption. The diet consisted of mainly the brain and liver and kidneys as they were rich in nutrients. Foley and Lee compared primate eating strategies with brain size, and found those eating meat had larger brain size and greater intelligence then primates who didn’t eat meat. This tells us that it was evolutionarily favoured to eat meat as it allowed us to grow in intelligence and become who we are today. In addition, Stanford also found that when observing other primates eat, they would eat the brain or bone marrow. This supports human preference for meat as early humans also ate meat such as the brain due to its high content of nutrients. Never the less both these supporting studies both used other primates than humans to identify early human diets and eating behaviours. This however may not be generalizable as the differences between humans and other primates could be our food preferences, resulting in poor external validity. Although it is particularly impressive if a range of findings in different species are consistent. Taste aversion also known as bait shyness is a form of food preference derived from an adaptive response to food which is bad for you. The development of taste aversion is adaptive as it prevents the organism from eating foods which were harmful, and as taste aversion is still possible 24hrs after eating the food it allows slow releasing toxins or poisons from being detected. In contrast animals can be seen to have a preference for foods which have medicinal or beneficial properties. Garcia found when a specific flavour is presented with a thymine to a thymine deficient rat the rat acquires a taste towards the flavour, supporting the role of taste aversion in supplying food preference. Furthermore Seligman claimed different species evolved different learning abilities, which was called biological preparedness, which allows each species to find associations more easily than others depending on if it helps them survive. This evolutionary theory states that food preference is determined based on our innate characteristics which have helped us survive as a species. It fails to consider the current environmental or social factors such as the effect of cultural factors. For example our innate food choices do not cover our broad range of food likes and dislikes such as in the eastern world they have a large preference for spicy food but in the UK often it is not the case. Furthermore mood has been seen to affect food preference, such as Garg et al found when in a sad mood people eat more sweet snacky foods however in a happy mood more likely to eat healthy foods.

Abu Sayyaf Group Essay

Abdurajak Janjalani’s religious and political thoughts provided the basis for ASG’s original ideology.23 The initial premise for creating the group was for a Muslim Mujahideen that would be committed to â€Å"a struggle in the cause of Allah† or â€Å"fighting and dying for the cause of Islam.†24 To his ASG followers Janjalani was more than a leader, he provided their ideological path and enlightenment. Janjalani was well educated and knowledgeable of various areas that impacted the Muslim population in the Philippines. These included the historical, religious, economic, political, and social conditions that existed at the time25 and it was his aim to build his idea of an Islamic state in the southern Philippines to improve those conditions.26 Funding to initiate and support the movement in the beginning was supposedly supplied by Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law.27 This was the first reported link to Al Qaeda. Later, in 1992, Janjalani and his group established an official headquarters in Isabela, Basilan naming the Camp Al-Madinah Mujahideen, but the camp was captured by the Philippine Marines in 1993 forcing ASG to relocate and establish a new base in Patikul, Sulu. This fostered greater cooperation and alliance with Ghalib Andang who led the Sulu-based unit of the ASG.28 Working together the combined ASG forces began an aggressive recruiting effort to expand their manpower, acquire arms and munitions, and began the lucrative series of fund-raising activities in kidnappings and demanding high ransoms.29 Before his death in 1998, Janjalani delivered eight radical ideological messages called Khutbahs. These Khutbahs are regarded as primary sources of his radical Islamic thought and depicted the depth of his Abu Sayyaf . . .5 understanding of Wahabi Islam. One of the Khutbahs exposed an intense resentment of Christian missionaries in Mindanao, especially those regarded as criticizing Islam. His interpretation was that â€Å"aggressive preaching of Christian missionaries in Mindanao thus insulted Islam and provoked Muslims to respond violently. As a result, the bombing of the Christian missionary ship M/V Doulos in 1991 was retaliation against Christian missionaries who used derogatory words against Islam and called Allah a false God.†

The Profession of Arms essays

The Profession of Arms essays My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. 1 The Army is a profession of arms that has instilled this famous quote and sacrificed blood, sweat, and their lives to protect the freedoms of the United States of America. Men and woman of this great nation are shaped into professional warriors trained and entrusted to support and defend the Constitution. The white paper describes a professional as one who develops expertise over time through extensive institutional training, knowledge, and expanding practices.2 The US Army is a profession in the sense that its members proficiently protect, serve, and defend the people, our domain, and uphold the traditions and values of the Army well beyond war. The Armys soldiers experience professional development through institutional training, organizational experience, and personal growth but most importantly through leaders with expert knowledge and ethical behaviors. The Army and the individuals in it are what make up the profession of arms. The Army and its interconnected units defend the Constitution and our citizens through skilled lethal use of weaponry and civil and combat operations. Organizational units prosper upon solidarity and esprit de corps; without that the Army may not be as effective, rendering constitutional protection an intricate task. Army leaders and soldiers alike develop their own types of experiences and knowledge in skill sets they embrace. Once combined, experience and knowledge create a professional force that has proven to outlast the strongest enemy. The white paper did stress the effects that a decade of war had on our professional force and leaderships desire to recommit to a culture of service, responsibilities and behaviors of our profession to restore our professional state to 100%. To the highest level, leaders today must comprehend that their efficiency relies on their capability ...

Manvi motors Essay Example

Manvi motors Essay Example Manvi motors Essay Manvi motors Essay The Minivan Motors of Malaysia produces cars under an agreement with Suzuki of Japan and trucks under an agreement with General Motors of the USA. The company was established in 1972 and now employs approximately 1000 people and can generally produce an average of 25 cars and trucks per day. Capital investment constraints have limited the nature of Anvils manufacturing facilities. Consequently, it is not able to manufacture many of the items required for the assembly of cars and trucks. These items are imported from Suzuki or GM. However, both Suzuki and GM must limit the quantities of parts shipped to Minivan cause of constraints on their own capacities. Suzuki and GM have guaranteed to provide parts sufficient for 500 cars and 200 trucks respectively per month. GM has Just announced several price increases, which have raised the direct manufacturing cost (which includes all labor and material costs) of a Minivan truck from $800 to $1000 converted to US dollars. Suzuki has not raised prices on purchased parts, so the direct manufacturing cost of a Minivan car has remained stable at $800. The Ministry of Economics controls the selling price of Anvils output: cars sell at $4300 and trucks sell at $6000. Anvils vehicles have a reputation as well-made and dependable products, suitable for the Malaysian market. Demand is so great that the company can sell all the cars and trucks it can produce, and the company expects no change in this situation. Minivan presently has unfilled orders (already paid for) for 150 cars and 100 trucks. The manufacturing process for both cars and trucks consists essentially of two departments, which limits the number of vehicles that can be produced during any month. These departments are fabrication and engine assembly. An agreement with the Ministry of Labor has set the minimum labor usage combined in both apartments to be at 14,000 worker-hours. Different parts on 45 machine tools. A recent analysis has shown that this shop can plan on no more than 12,000 worker-hours of capacity in the coming month. Each car manufactured requires 20 worker-hours of fabrication; each truck requires 40 worker-hours. The assembly department is set up as a conventional assembly line. 10,000 worker- hours of capacity will be available in the assembly department in the coming month. Each car requires 25 worker-hours of assembly; each truck requires only 10 worker- hours. The fixed overhead costs are estimated at $10,000 in the fabrication department and 12,000 in the assembly department. At this mornings management meeting, Farad Hormone, the production manager expressed considerable concern over Gems price increases. The next months production schedule was to be announced tomorrow, and she asked Sunnis Ray, the managing director, whether the cost should affect the currently planned production of 200 cars and 200 trucks. Mr Ray replied l have never been sure if our current plan is the best we can have. If it is, I think we will Just have to absorb the price increase until the Ministry of Economics allows us to increase our selling price. In hat case we will go ahead with the previous plan 200 cars and 200 trucks. 1) What is the best product mix for Minivan Motors under the new cost structure? 2) Was the current policy of producing 200 cars and 200 trucks the best for Minivan Motors under the old cost structure? ) If an additional worker-hour in any of the departments will cost the same amount, in which department would you recommend making this additional worker-hour available? 4) If 200 additional worker hours were available in the fabrication department for $3000, should Farad pay this amount and get the additional hours? 5) What are 1000 additional hours in the assembly apartment worth? What about 1100 hours? 6) If the net profit from a truck is decreased by $500 will the best product mix be any different? Will the total profit change? ) An error in record keeping indicates that the number of back-ordered trucks is only 85. Will this change the best product mix? 8) Farad has received word that the Minister of Labor will relax the labor restriction by 2000 worker-hours. Will this change the decision regarding the best product mix? Minivan Motors is considering introducing a new Minivan van. The new model requires 30 hours in the fabrication department and 20 hours in the assembly department. Each Minivan van will give a net profit of $4000. 1) Should any vans be produced? ) How much would it cost in terms of profit if, for some reason, the management insisted that at least one van be made THIS, a handloom cooperative society in Tamil Nadia carries out the marketing, distribution and sales functions for the cooperative societies in the state. THIS collects goods produced by the societies and sells it through outlets all through the Southern states. It has recently opened ware houses to handle the consolidation and distribution of merchandise. The warehouses are located in Cuddlier, Erode, Cameraman, Salem and Velour. The merchandise has to be distributed monthly from these warehouses to the showrooms in the four states. Goods are packaged and delivered by bales. The monthly availability of the goods at the warehouses (in number of bales) is as given below : Warehouses: Availability: Cuddlier Erode 100 110 Cameraman Salem Velour 120 130 The monthly demand (in number of bales) in the four states is as follows: States: Demand: Tamil Nadia Karakas Kraal Andorra Pradesh 200 105 155 The costs of transporting one bale from a given warehouse to any showroom in a given state are as given in Tablet. Assume all costs are stated in hundreds of rupees. Table 1 Cuddlier Erode Cameraman Salem Velour Tamil Nadia 350 150 300 250 Karakas 1 oho 650 700 Kraal 1200 850 950 1100 Andorra Pradesh THIS would like to distribute the merchandise as per the availability and demand at the least total cost. How should it plan its distribution? 3. SCHEDULING DECISIONS AT CALL-ME Call-Me Inc. Has a major call center at Achaean that specializes in answering medical billing queries for a few health insurance companies from around the world. This company has available trained professionals that can answer questions in English, French, German and Japanese, and they operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They estimate the following minimal daily requirements for the trained professionals: Time of Day Period Trained Professionals Required Minimum Number of (24-hour clock) 20 50 6-10 10-14 14-18 18-22 22- 2 2 3 4 5 6 the same for an eight hour stint. What must be the daily schedule so that the requirements above are met? Call-Me is considering the option of scheduling overtime hours using the same pool of professionals that are working for them. The specific option they are considering is that a professional who is not working in a given time period can give overtime and be paid one and a half times the regular rate. For instance, if period 6 is not covered by a professional during his/her regular schedule, then he/she is eligible to work overtime in this period. If so, he/she will be paid 0. Xix, if x is the regular pay for an 8 hour stint. Is it worthwhile scheduling overtime hours? Why or Why not? 4. FINANCIAL PLANNING Tiles R Us is a large manufacturer of all varieties of flooring tiles. The companys cash receivables and payable for the coming 4 periods are as given in the table below. The payable need not be paid at once and may be paid out of future funds. In particular, suppose that a I-period delay in meeting payable meaner that the many must pay RSI. 1. 03 for each Re. 1 owed, and a 2-period delay requires payment of RSI. 1. 07 for each rupee owed. Periods Periods Period 3 Period 4 Cash receipts (in lacks of RSI) 70 Accounts payable (lacks of rupees) Beginning cash on hand is RSI. 0 lacks, and cash receivables feed into cash on hand. Cash carried forward from period to period may be allocated in any desired split between a bank account that pays 1% rate of interest per period and bonds that pay 3% rate of interest every two periods. However, the bonds can only be purchased in Periods 1 and 2, and cannot be cashed in until two periods after purchase. Mr Sheehan, the owner of Tiles R Us would like to maximize cash on hand at the end of the planning horizon (the am ount carried beyond Period 4 after making the payments). ) Define the variables required to help him in his decision. B) Formulate this decision problem be modeled as a linear programming problem? C) Now suppose that the penalty on payments delayed for 2 periods depends on the amount delayed. The company must pay RSI. 1. 07 for each Re. 1 owed up too maximum 10% amount delayed for 2 periods and RSI. 1. 10 thereafter. Define any new variables needed to incorporate this information in your model of part b). Give an appropriate formulation that will help Mr Sheehan in his decision under this new penalty structure. . REVENUE MANAGEMENT AT LEISURE AIR Leisure Air is a regional airline that provides service for Pittsburgh, Newark, Charlotte, Myrtle Beach, and Orlando. It has two Boeing 737-400 airplanes, one based in Pittsburgh and the other in Newark. Both airplanes have a coach section with a 132- seat capacity. Each morning the Pittsburgh-based plane flies to Orlando with a stopover in Charlotte, and the Newark-based plane flies to Myrtle Beach, also with a stopover in Charlotte. At the end of the day, both planes return to their home bases. To keep the size of the problem reasonable, we restrict our attention to the Pittsburgh-Charlotte, Charlotte-Orlando, Newark-Charlotte, and Charlotte-Myrtle Beach flight legs for the morning flights. The figure illustrates the logistics of the Leisure Air uses two fare classes: a discount-fare Q class and a full-fare Y class. Reservations using the discount-fare Q class must be made 14 days in advance and must include a Saturday night stay in the destination city. Reservations using the full-fare Y class may be made anytime, with no penalty for changing the reservation t a later date. To determine the itinerary and fare alternatives that Leisure Air can offer its customers, we must consider not only the origin and the destination of each flight, but also the fare class. For instance, possible products include Pittsburgh to Charlotte using Q class, Newark to Orlando using Q class, Charlotte to Myrtle Beach using Y class, and so on. Each product is referred to as an origin-destination- itinerary fare (DIF). For May 5, Leisure Air has established fares and developed forecasts of customer demand for each of 16 Doffs. These data are shown in Table. Suppose that on April 4 a customer calls the Leisure Air reservation office and requests a Q class seat on the May 5 flight from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach. Should Leisure Air accept the reservation? The difficulty in making this decision is that even though Leisure Air may have seats available, the company may not want to accept this reservation at the Q class fare of $268, especially if it is possible to sell the same reservation later at the Y class fare of $456. Thus, determining how many Q and Y class seats to make available are important decisions that Leisure Air must make in order to operate its reservation system.