Automotive Industry and Nissan free essay sample

At present Nissan has increased its focus on emerging markets like India and Russia. In March 2010, Renault-Nissan Alliance inaugurated its first plant in Chennai, India. The plant will become operational in May and expected to launch car by mid this year only. This is not the first global move of Nissan. It has been making strategic alliance with number of other automobiles companies for example Renault, Volvo etc. as per its business strategy of direct technology transfer. This paper aims to study Nissan ¶s ? Go-Global? strategy. During the study, we will try to understand the various imperatives that company have to operate at multiple locations, how it chooses among various locations and how it goes about implementing the expansion plan. Studying Nissan ¶s global strategy and focussing on its moves specifically in India and Russia, will help us enhance our understanding of Nissan ¶s strategy. Also, it will not only provide us understanding of Nissan, but also help us to understand the concept and its practical usage in real time scenario in general. We will write a custom essay sample on Automotive Industry and Nissan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Keywords: Nissan, global, India, Russia, strategy, alliance INTRODUCTION With the increasing trend of globalization and heightened competition, most of the companies at some point of time think of expanding to new locations because of different imperatives ranging from efficiency, growth, competition, knowledge or mix of few. Each company decides its own parameters while making strategic choices of a market or a country. Every firm has a different strategy to make choices of the countries, understand their market potential, and make risk-return analysis of the country. The irm then determines the entry mode strategy after deciding a country and how and to what extent, they want to transplant their DNA to the new venture. The automobile industry is one such industry where one needs to be globally competitive to survive and as well as to keep growing. Many automobile companies have ventured into different countries for one or more imperatives mentioned earlier. Nissan Motors is one of such companies which have made its presence felt in all the parts of the world. This paper is an effort to study the global strategies of Nissan focussing mainly on its new ventures in India and Russia. It studies the advantages and disadvantages of Nissan ¶s strategy and recommends strategies to be followed in India. AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY Global automobile industry had a smooth ride and the industry rose in leaps and bounds till the recession hit the world. Automobile industry was highly impacted by the global financial downturn and the industry went into a crisis. The period from 2008-10 is considered to be period of automotive industry crisis. Most of the big guns in the industry lost huge deals of profits and sales declined. Many big players reached stage of bankruptcy like GM and Chrysler. The situation is getting better in 2010 with markets recovering and sales increasing slowly. In 2008, more than 70 million vehicles were produced but it was less than that of 2007 due to reduction in demand [13]. The markets in North America and Japan have become stagnant but there has been rise in demand in developing nations mainly Brazil, Russia, India and China. China surpassed Japan to become the largest producer of vehicles. Toyota is the largest automobile company in the world followed by Volkswagen and GM. Automobile Industry in most parts of the world is highly competitive which has led companies to go for global expansion and form strategic alliances to be competitive in the market. The companies are moving towards the fast growing developing nations for their new market and even using them for exporting vehicles to other parts of the world. Automotive industry is also incorporating new technologies. The launch of hybrid engine cars in the recent past is one of the major technological advancement. Many companies are working to produce electric vehicles and looking for another means of fuel for the cars. The automobile industry is constantly changing. Due to the recent global recession, there has been a slowdown in the demand of vehicles and people are moving towards small compact cars which are normally low priced. Many companies which earlier normally catered to luxury segment are also entering this new attractive segment. Global expansion has been the foray of automobile industry since long. Companies started expanding themselves since early 1900 ¶s. Nissan is also one of the major automobile companies which started its global expansion around 50 years back. NISSAN MOTORS Nissan is a multinational automaker headquartered in Yokohama, Japan. It is the 3rd largest auto manufacturer in Japan. The company was founded on 26th December, 1933, with the merger of the automobile components department of Tabata Casting with a small automobile producer and repair shop factory owned by DAT Motors, a new company was formed with the name DATSON, which was later changed to DATSUN (Nayebpour and Saito, 2007). It formerly marketed vehicles under ? Datsun? brand name but later changed it to Nissan. Nissan markets its vehicles mainly under two brand names i. e.  µNissan ¶ and  µInfiniti ¶. Infiniti is the luxury car division of Nissan and works as a separate subsidiary. Nissan is a Fortune 500 company with around $93 billion revenue in 2008 [12]. It has manufacturing centres in 18 countries and RD centres in 5 nations and services in around 160 countries in the world. Nissan made a conscious decision to expand in the global markets in late 1950s. They realized that their small car line would fill an unmet need in markets like Australia and USA. They first showed cars at the 1959 Los Angeles auto show, and sold a few cars that year in USA [12]. The company formed a US subsidiary in 1959. Nissan started improving its cars technologically and exporting them to these countries. By 1970, Nissan was one of the largest exporters of automobiles. After oil crisis in 1973, demand for small cars increased substantially and Nissan opened new setups in Mexico, Australia, South Africa and Taiwan to meet the growing demand [12]. The company decided to give its economy cars a sporting flavour to cater to the new markets. By sixties, US started imposing strict tariffs on imported vehicles. In response to the tariff, Nissan along with other Japanese players began building plants in USA. Nissan entered China in 1972 and is an established player in Chinese market. Recently, Nissan has ventured into India and Russia and opened new plants which will be operational by 2010. Nissan went into deep crisis after the bubble burst of Japanese economy in early 90s. From a profit of 101. 3 billion yen in 1992 Nissan went into a loss of 166 billion yen in 1995 [18]. The problems with Nissan were many. The concept and style of Nissan ¶s cars were not in tune with the current market. Nissan ¶s culture was that of complacency and there was lack of urgency. There was no cross-functional and cross-regional communication. In 1998, the planning department came up with an idea of global alliance to survive. At the same time, Renault proposed an alliance with Nissan. The company realised that there are lot of benefits in alliance with Renault. Both had market strength in different parts of the world and different expertise. Also, Renault had a similar market capitalization and thus the threat of takeover from either side was very less. Daimler wanted to acquire Nissan during the same period but Nissan didn ¶t want to lose its independence. It decided to go for an alliance with Renault in 1999. As per the contract, Renault owned 44. 3% shares of Nissan which allowed voting rights to Renault while Nissan owned only 15% of Renault ¶s shares [6]. The company after the alliance went for a complete restructuring and reduced its cost hugely. The alliance also helped both the companies to develop better global strategies using the strengths of each other. The key highlights of the alliance are: 1. Global Alliance Logistics Committee (GALC). GALCs mission is to decide together on an action plan which involves all the steps needed in order to reduce logistics costs in the world and to standardize all the processes between Renault and Nissan. 2. Identity remains intact for both the companies. 3. A production strategy of synchronous delivery which was already employed at Renault. It helps in planning the production plan six days in advance and notifying the supplier, which were at high distance for Nissan. The Renault-Nissan alliance went on for a strategic alliance with Daimler AG on April 7, 2010 where both the sides announced an equity exchange of 3. 1% of each partner [10]. The highlights of the cooperation are: 1. Next generation 4 seater smart Fortwo and Renault Twingo including electric versions will be engineered on the basis of jointly developed architecture. 2. Sharing of highly fuel efficient, diesel and gasoline engines between Renault-Nissan and Daimler. 3. Collaboration on light commercial vehicles. 4. Additional synergies encompassing selective common purchasing opportunities, exchange of operational benchmarks and best practices to be shared across both groups GLOBAL STRATEGIES OF NISSAN Nissan aims to be the leader in all the markets where it is operating, atleast in its high priority countries. All the global strategies are made keeping the above in the focus. Nissan follows a business strategy of direct technology transfer through formal tie-ups with foreign automakers like British, American, and German automakers or part manufacturers (Takahashi, 2007). This helped in easy and fast transfer of technology and company ¶s cars can directly compete with competitors ¶ high tech vehicles. However, the disadvantage was that few technologies were in early stages. Thus, they were not tried and tested. Hence, bearing their failure was the additional cost. Nissan follows transnational strategy by reducing its costs as well as localizing its products. Initially, know-how was mainly transferred from Japan to other countries. Now a web like structure is followed where knowledge is transferred from each location to all the other location. It uses one market ¶s successful strategy in another if it feels that strategy can work in the new market as well and if the new market is having similarities with the old market. For example when Nissan entered China it used some of its strategies followed in Japan and Taiwan to establish itself in China. Again, when Nissan decided to enter India, it went into an alliance with Ashok Leyland which was a similar sort of strategy followed by the company in China. It went for joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Corporation in China to provide a full range of product lineup of both passenger and commercial vehicles. Similarly, Ashok Leyland was chosen as it has a product lineup of commercial vehicles and Nissan wants to use this alliance to offer a full product lineup focusing on Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) which is their one of the most successful products recently. Nissan ¶s approach has been globally focussed but regionally concentrated. The company uses its best practices wherever it goes but makes products which cater to the needs of local consumers like Livina Geniss for China. The subsidiary of each country is an independent unit and works as a separate SBU but every SBU is integrated with other to avoid any duplication and reduce costs. Nissan strongly believes in alliances to grow in the current global world. It believes that mutual cooperation and learning is extremely valuable in todays and even more tomorrows global auto industry. It helps both the sides to broaden and strengthen their product offerings. They have made several global alliances with firms like Renault, Daimler, Mazda, Volvo, Mitsubishi, etc. More than 73% of its global market is covered by these alliances (Palmer, 2009). In fact, USA is the only market where it is operating without any sort of alliance. Nissan ¶s biggest reason for alliances is gaining knowledge. It forms an alliance with a local company or the company which knows the market whenever it enters a new market. The alliances are also made to share technical and management expertise. Nissan follows a 4G strategy for global coordination [11]. Various components of 4G strategies are: 1. Global Training Centre: Its focus is global standardization of training tools and best practices to be implemented at all sites. Its global training centre is located in Japan. The hierarchy at the training centre is Global master trainer at the highest level followed by master trainer, local trainer, and operators in the same order as decreasing level. . Global Production Engineering Centre: Its focus is quality Evaluation with Data Data Transcription to Mass-production. 3. Global Launching Expert: It diagnoses/ evaluates preparation status give practical support. 4. Global Package Design Centre: It works towards efficiency improvement in logistics through digitalization. Nissan ¶s future global plans focus on emerging nations mainly BRIC countries. Nissan plans to follow a multi-pronged approach with a network of alliances to manufacture a complex array of future products in all classes upto eight tonnes gross vehicle weight (Palmer, 2009). Nissan wants to develop its range of LCVs and become the largest supplier of Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV). Strategic alliance with Ashok Leyland in India is done keeping LCV in focus. Although USA and Japan are still one of the big markets for Nissan but these markets have matured and the future of Nissan depends on its success in emerging nations. STRATEGIES IN EMERGING NATIONS Most of the companies in today ¶s world are moving to developing countries as they are the fastest growing markets while the developed markets have matured and their growth have come to stage to be counted as standstill. Automobile companies have also followed the suit and started to look towards the emerging nations. Companies like GM, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, BMW, Nissan-Renault have already entered into major developing countries like Brazil, China, India and Russia. BRIC countries line as the top priority markets for Nissan and many of their global strategies revolve around these countries mainly China, India and Russia. a. China: Nissan entered into China in 1972 with the export of Cedric Sedan. But it established its unit only after 30 years in 2002 by forming an alliance with Dongfeng Motor Corporation. Together, they established a 50-50 joint company, Dongfeng Motor Co. Ltd. (DFL) in 2003 [7]. The alliance helped Nissan to establish itself in Chinese market. Dongfeng already had established network of agents and dealers and had expertise in commercial vehicles. As a result, they were able to offer a full product lineup of both passenger and commercial vehicles, the only company to do so in China. Nissan is currently the 5th largest automobile company in China. It saw a tremendous increase in growth of sales of 39% in 2009. Infact, China was the only market where Nissan attained profits during recession. Currently, Nissan is preparing the ground for Renault ¶s entry into China in 2010 so that their alliance can further strengthen their position in China. China is considered the most important market by Nissan due to its profitability and growth and that ¶s why Nissan has a special focus on China. China is the largest automobile market in the world and is booming since last two decades [14]. Most of the big players have already entered into Chinese market and few left are also planning to enter. With the rise in automobile manufacturers, the competition in the market will continue to be fierce. Nissan is planning to continuously introduce new models with advanced technologies to exceed the customer needs and maintain its strong presence in the market. Nissan is planning to expand its operations in China to meet the growing demand and has setup a new plant in Zhengzhou which is expected to start producing vehicles from late 2010 (Palmer, 2009). With the successful launch of LCVs in China, Nissan is planning to launch six more LCVs by 2012 some of them coming from the new plant. The alliance is also increasing its number of dealers mainly in inland areas where vehicle concentration is still low and potential for growth is high. Nissan also works to train its dealers in China to increase customer satisfaction. Apart from fulfilling the needs of Chinese market, Nissan is also planning to export some of its vehicles including LCVs and is working with the government in this area. b. Russia: Russia is another emerging market which is on the priority list of Nissan. It is the most important market for Nissan in Europe. Nissan entered Russia by importing its vehicles from neighbouring countries. Realizing the market potential of Russia and unmet need of LCVs, the company started to import LCVs in 2008. In 2008, the firm decided to establish a plant in St. Petersburg to meet the growing demand of Nissan ¶s cars in Russia and to avoid the high import duties. Nissan followed the same strategy of joint ventures in Russia as well to enter the market. Nissan-Renault made a strategic alliance with AvtoVAZ by taking 25% stake in it [17]. AvtoVAZ is the biggest player in the market with around 28% market share. The JV was done so that Nissan-Renault can use the market expertise of AvtoVAZ and its strong established distribution network. AvtoVAZ would also gain by the advanced technologies used by Nissan-Renault. This alliance was made to reduce risk for Nissan as the market for the firm was new and different and Nissan wanted to learn the market with the help of its local partner. Russia as a market for Nissan was booming until recession hit the world. Sales of Nissan declined by more than 50% in the period [4]. But situation has started improving in 2010 and Nissan is ready to grab the opportunity. Future strategies for Russia Nissan is ready with its big plans in Russia. It is planning to increase its market share from 5. 7% to 7% by the year 2013. It has set up manufacturing plant to build Nissan Teana and XTrail, its most successful cars in Russia. It will also get its products assembled in one of the manufacturing plants of AvtoVAZ. The reason for internal manufacturing is that it is the Nissan ¶s policy to be close to its priority markets. Nissan wants to utilise the benefits of being close to market production. It also allows them to have more flexibility in adapting to the changing market needs. Apart from this, it will also reduce the cost of the cars which are being imported currently. Nissan is working closely with its partner AvtoVAZ to gain 40% combined market share by 2014 and be the most powerful group in the market. To increase its power, Nissan-Renault is also planning to increase its stake in AvtoVAZ [19]. The current capacity of the plant established by Nissan is 50,000 units which it will expand once the demand gets stabilised in Russia after recession [8]. Nissan, which has launched LCVs in 2008, is aiming to be the largest player in the LCV market by 2012. Some of the most ambitious plans Nissan has for its LCV division are currently being put in place in Russia. Company is planning to extend its range from two products to six products by the end of 2011, by which time the local market is expected to be the largest in Europe overtaking Germany (Palmer, 2007). Nissan is also planning to produce a budget car in alliance with AvtoVAZ to cater the mass market. c. India: Another market India holds even more promise for Nissan over the longer term, but it will have to start there from its current minimal presence. Indian automobile industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. It is the ninth largest producer of vehicles and the largest small car producer overtaking Japan [15]. It is also one of the largest exporters of automobiles mainly to Europe and Africa. The industry showed strong market growth even in recent difficult times. One of the most important factors for India ¶s future growth as an automobile market is that its vehicles penetration ratio is very low even lower than most of the emerging nations. The prospects of automobile industry in India can be further analysed with the help of its PESTEL Analysis. Table 1 : PESTEL Analysis of Indian Automobile Industry Political Factors Factor Impact Approval of foreign equity Positive investment upto 100% with no minimum investment criteria Emphasis on RD activities Positive giving a tax reduction for inhouse research and RD Importance a) Attracts multinational companies to invest b) Strategic alliance not forced on companies a) Promotes RD at a cheaper cost than other parts of the world b) Attracts companies to open RD centres Emphasis on making India Positive hub for small cars Economic Factors Factor Increasing per capita income ) Assistance for small car companies Impact Positive Cheaper and easier finance Positive scheme Continuous growth in GDP Positive Importance a) Increases the buying power of people b) Increase in customer and sales a) Allows people to purchase vehicles easily b) Increases the sales a) Tells that overall economic environment is favourable Social Factors Factor Impact Growth in urbanization and Positive upward migrat ion of household income level Rise in education employment and Positive Indian people are very well Positive/Negative informed and emphasize on value for money Importance a) Major car market lies in urban India b) Allows more people to purchase vehicles a) More employment means more money and hence more market a) Difficult to fool customers b) Forces company to keep the price low c) Promotes market for small cars Technological Factors Factor Impact Advanced technologies Positive/Negative getting developed like hybrid engines Importance a) Development of better cars b) Increases competition c) Difficult for smaller players to survive with big global players known for their technology d) Increase in operational efficiency Developing India as a testing Positive hub : NATRIP ) Support of government in the project b) Enhance RD and technological advancements Environmental Factors Factor Impact Less polluting engines being Positive/Negative promoted Importance a) Leads to advanced technology and better cars b) Increases the cost of the companies and hence the price Legal Factors Factor Impact Well established regulatory Positive framework Importa nce a) SIAM is part of the regulatory rules b) Leads to better regulatory rules a) Operational problems b) Neither workers nor management knows completely about the law c) Leads to exploitation of weaker group Existing complex labour laws Negative The PESTEL Analysis shown in Table 1 clearly indicates the strategic importance of Indian automobile industry in the global arena. This is one market which can change fortunes for any automobile company including Nissan. Nissan realised this and decided to enter the market on a large scale. The strategies of the company are currently in the preliminary stage and are being worked upon. Nissan has a very minimal presence in India and is unaware of the market conditions as it is different from most of the markets where the firm is operating. This is the reason why Nissan-Renault has gone for three strategic alliances in India. It has made an alliance with Mahindra Mahindra, Bajaj and Ashok Leyland. Nissan is also planning to make India global hub for small cars which is a good move considering its location and availability of resources and trained people. Nissan started its operations in India in 2005 with the launch of Nissan X-Trail followed by Nissan Teana in 2007. It currently imports fully imported built models. Nissan decided to fully venture into Indian market in 2009 and set up a manufacturing facility in Chennai with Renault which will start production from mid 2010. The company inaugurated the plant in March 2010 which will undergo production from May 2010 [9]. Nissan-Renault alliance has invested $990 million in the plant with a capacity to produce 400,000 cars. The first vehicle to be produced will be the new Nissan Micra, a global sub-compact car. It is destined for the Indian market as well as for export to over 100 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2011, the plant will start production of the Renault Koleos and Fluence, both destined for the Indian market. It has also partnered with Bajaj Auto to manufacture an entry level car priced at around $2500 [20]. It is constructing a new plant in Pune for the manufacturing of same. The third venture of Nissan is with Hinduja Group owned Ashok Leyland. The alliance has started constructing a plant near Chennai which will build light commercial vehicles and their powertrains (Palmer, 2009). The major focus of the alliance is towards producing LCVs. Nissan is still building on its capacities and products in India and they will make strategies and tactics completely after they decide upon the complete product line [16]. RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES FOR NISSAN Potential Market: Nissan has kept its focus on emerging nations mainly China, India and Russia. Apart from these, Nissan should also pay attention towards South American market. South America has a huge market potential for automobile industry. Ignoring such a huge market can prove disastrous for a company. Nissan currently has a manufacturing location in Brazil to cater the South American market. But one location is not enough for such a huge market. They need to setup atleast one more manufacturing location preferably in Argentina as it is the second largest economy there with a good domestic market and favourable conditions to setup a plant. Nissan just needs to give more attention to the South American market before it is fully captured by other players. China: China is the most important market for Nissan and the company has been doing well over there in the recent past. Their strategies have paid off well in China and they should continue with the strategies. Nissan should also try to use its business model of China in other countries. Nissan should try to increase its capacity in China and use it to export its vehicles to other places. Russia: They should keep their strategies on hold for Russia for sometime till the market stabilises. Russia is a volatile market and Nissan should wait for a year or two before it decides to increase the production capacity of its plant and expand its product line. In the mean time Nissan can learn and understand the market of Russia with the help of its partner. Russian market is complex and needs to e understood completely before making a fully fledged entry into the market. India: Because of low awareness about Indian market, Nissan went for alliances. The only problem was that they made just too many alliances which made their operations and business strategy complex in India. It also led to the differences with their old partner Mahindra Mahindra. Nissan should give its attention towards its allianc e with Ashok Leyland with which they can launch full range of product lines. Nissan aims to be the market leader in LCVs and Ashok Leyland alliance can help them in achieving this faster. Nissan also needs to launch its entry level car with Bajaj as soon as possible before Tata Nano completely captures the market. Bajaj doesn ¶t have an experience in car manufacturing nor have enough capacity to support Nissan ¶s ambitions. Their advantage over other partners is that they have the strongest network of dealers and agents in India. They are present even in the rural India due to their strong two wheeler market which can prove to be very useful market for their entry level car. Nissan should use Bajaj to expand its network throughout India.

How Not To Job Hunt Tips from an Executive Recruiter

How Not To Job Hunt Tips from an Executive Recruiter A longtime recruiting professional, Mark Wayman knows what he looks for in an executive job seeker–and what he avoids. He relies predominantly on personal connections and referrals, so be the kind of executive with whom other top executives want to work. Using â€Å"John,† a past client, as a model of What Not To Do, Wayman advises aspiring executives to have a solid understanding of work-life balance–â€Å"Never confuse what you do with who you are.† Have a positive attitude and don’t let any personal dissatisfaction you feel at work or about your last job manifest in conversations with recruiters or prospective employers. It’s empowering to remember that you’re the one in the driver’s seat, or as Wayman puts it, â€Å"†¦In my 10 years of recruiting, I rarely see an â€Å"A† player unemployed. You are responsible for your choices. You are responsible for your situation.†It’s also important to remember that even if you’re not looking for a new job now, you may need to rely on your personal and professional networks in the future–recruiters included!–so make an effort to maintain those relationships now, before you need them. On that note, your attitude and the way you work with those above and below you may speak volumes louder than your actual job performance. As Wayman says, â€Å"Companies pay executive recruiters to identify the best candidates. Arrogance, hubris and ego are not high on our list of desired traits.† Bitterness about how your last position ended or an excessive fixation on compensation will likewise fail to endear you to hiring managers or recruiters.The bottom line is that companies want to hire enthusiastic, gracious and appreciative candidates–for your best chance at success, be the kind of executive you’d like to be managed by! When you are ready, check out over 569,785 latest job openings here.

Research paper about lululemon Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

About lululemon - Research Paper Example According to this journal, Lulu Lemon has been in a position to sell approximately 95% of its products at a full price. This has been based on the strategy that involves offering fewer products in its outlets to ensure that consumer are instilled with a perception of scarcity (online.wsj.com). The core items are usually not placed on sale in most cases, in this case, when a client finds such products on the shelf, he or she feels that the product is scarce and will take it at the prices offered without considering any form of discount (online.wsj.com). In addition, the company has a strict return policy stating that no goods are supposed to be returned after fourteen days of sale; the policy also states the goods cannot be returned after they are washed worn: Such a policy has ensured its clients of the high quality of the products, thus determining the prices. The company does not rely on large quantities of data to determine their clients’ needs, thus the determination of pricing, but rather focuses on taking direct feedbacks from clients, thus making necessary improvements on their products, which also influences prices. According to Christine Day the new Company’s Chief Executive Officer, the application of large quantities of data retrieved from websites, focus groups as well as client-management relationship software to determine quality and track purchases, may provide invalid information, thus a false sense of security (www.businessinsider.com). The use of direct clientele feedback is crucial in redefining products as well as the determination of associated prices. Taking feedbacks from clients has been achieved through training its employees on eavesdropping as well as taking direct complaints from clients (www.businessinsider.com). The application of a product lifecycle is another strategy that has been applied by the company. The company ensures that when a new product, with a new color is introduced, it is

PESTEL analysis for Bank Barclays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PESTEL analysis for Bank Barclays - Essay Example History of the Barclays Bank The history of the bank can be tracked down to the year 1690 when two persons named John Feame and Thomas Gould commenced trading in Lombard Street of London basically as goldsmith bankers. In the year 1736, James Barclay became a part of the operation and since then the name Barclays has been related with the bank, however, only in the year 1896 the company got its name as Barclays Bank. Barclays expanded it’s tentacles in business by acquiring a number of smaller operations in all these years and expanded its business all over the UK and worldwide (Financial Advice, n.d.). In the year 1925, the international operations of the bank gained acceleration after the mergers with Colonial Bank, National Bank of South Africa and Anglo Egyptian Bank. The year 1961 saw the opening of the bank’s first computer operated branch in London on Drummond Street. In 1966, the UK got its first credit card which was launched by the Barclays Bank. The first ban k to make use of advertising in the television was also the Barclays in 1972. The bank has also tied up with Post Office Ltd. to spread out its services in personal banking, particularly in the sector of unsecured and secured loans. The Barclays Bank is spread over 50 countries and attends to 27 million customers (The Origin of, 2008). PESTEL Analysis of the Banking Industry Political Analysis Banks in the UK are trying to draw on research performed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the study shows that rigid rules in the banking industry will drain a sum of ?1tn from the financial system. As a result of which the businesses and the households would be deprived of any form of credit and loans. The regulatory changes that are being made in 2011 would require the banks to keep larger capital cushions (Treanor, 2010). The â€Å"Big Four† banks in the UK that have resisted radical shake-up calls in their business after the announcement of the bank reform report are Royal Bank of Sco tland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC. The expected subsidiarisation model states that allocation of capital has to be made to different country operations and units by the bank. This would eventually pressurise the top lenders of the UK for new capital requirements (Reuters, 2011). Economic Analysis Banking sectors are the basic providers of financial services. Therefore, the factors such as tax, inflation rate and interest rates have strong influence. According to the latest information it has been discovered that the banks in the UK that deals in loan primarily would be discussing about the prospects of expected investments by the tax payers, with the concerned authorities (Economy Watch, 2011). The UK is within the top 30 rich countries with the UK’s GDP per capita being $37,400. Out of which the contribution of the financial sector remains to be the highest being 76.2% of GDP (Economy Watch, 2011). Social Analysis Demographics influence the banking industry to a great extent. The factors that are having a significant impact in relation to banking sector are mortgage, living standard, total

The art history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The art history - Essay Example Arts are revolving but language is also evolving. This means that it exists in different definitions. It depends on the understanding of an individual. At some point, it is seen as a therapeutically process. It could be with corrective or treatment aim that involves painting. The process can be satisfying or frustrating for an individual depending on a person’s interest. The end product is the part that will produce an exhibition of the art. Therefore it can be considered as the process of creating in a secondary manner. It still does nit change that it is a non verbal form of communication that aims at stating the objective or purpose. This type of art is defined to produce certain changes in the personality of an individual. Aesthetics is a form of art that is connected to contemporary arts. Contemporary arts describe painting to posses two definitions which could be rated as inspirational (aesthetic) of craft. This means that it is an inspiration to create something beautif ul. All this should be stated behind the mind of an artistic personality. The real definition of aesthetics reveals that it is a form of philosophy that deals with beauty, taste and art. Appreciation and creation of beauty should also come along in the definition for it to be complete. Scholars in the field define it as critical definition of art and beauty that comprises f nature and culture. Aesthetics can be traced back to pre-historic arts that were done in ancient arts. Since then, it underwent a slow revolution. as it is considered the philosophy of art. Most artists in this field believed that beauty is a factor that should be disclosed as an inner sense hence a subjective fact. William Hogarth believed that it consists of many attributes including fitness of some of its part into the design system. By the beginning of the 18thcentury, art had a totally different meaning. It revolved around pursuing a skill that was directed to the aim of creating taste or a clear production of what is considered beautiful. This is the first time that taste and beauty are mentioned in association with art. Artists like Francoise Bouncher were part of bringing out the taste and elegance in art. By the 19th century, art was aimed at pleasing with beauty as the major object. The relevance in this is that the idea in the art is the center for what is shown in the piece of art. Avant Garde was the brain behind the idea of skills exhibited by an artist. According to him, these skills were for the purpose of providing moral and

Understanding The Chemistry Of Nickel

Understanding The Chemistry Of Nickel Nickel is silvery white [1] and lustrous metal. It is the 7th most abundant transition metal and 24th most abundant element in the crust of earth. It has an atomic number of 28, atomic mass of 58.71 gmol-1 and atomic volume of 6.59 cm3mol-1 [2]. It belongs to group 10 (8B) and 4th period of modern periodic table. Nickel has electronic configuration [Ar] 4s2 3d8 [3]. It has property of malleability and ductility. 300 kilometers long wire can be drawn from a single kilogram of nickel. It has high electrical and thermal conductivities of 0.146 x 106 Scm-1 and 90.9 Wm-1K-1. It is hard, odorless and corrosion resistant metal that takes a high polish. Nickel crystallizes with face centered cubic structure. The unit cell has lattice parameter of 0.352 nm with atomic radius of 0.124 nm. Nickel is naturally occuring ferro magnetic and magnetostrictive material [4] at or near room temperature. Its curie temperature is 355  °C [5]. Nickel is mined from two types of ore deposits. These include laterites and sulphides. Laterites are silicate or oxide ores. It occurs most usually in combination with sulfur and iron in pentlandite (NiS.2FeS) which contains 1.5% nickel, with sulfur in millerite (NiS), with arsenic in mineral nickeline (NiAs) as a red nickel ore, containing 43.9% nickel and 56.1% arsenic, and with arsenic and sulfur in nickel glance [6]. 1.2 Chemical Properties of Nickel Nickel is relatively unreactive element. Under ambient conditions, it does not react with water, oxygen or dissolve in most acids. 1.2.1 Standard Reduction Potentials In aqueous solution, the standard reduction potentials for various oxidation states of nickel are shown in Scheme 1.1 [7, 8]. Scheme 1.1 Standard Electrode Potentials of Various Nickel Species 1.2.2 Reaction of Nickel with Halogens Nickel dichloride, NiCl2, nickel dibromide, NiBr2, and nickel diiodide, NiI2, are formed by the reactions of nickel with chlorine, Cl2, bromine, Br2, and iodine, I2. Ni(s) + Cl2(g) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ NiCl2(s) (yellow) Ni(s) + Br2(g) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ NiBr2(s) (yellow) Ni(s) + I2(g) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ NiI2(s) (black) 1.2.3 Reaction of Nickel with Acids Nickel metal dissolves slowly in dilute sulphuric acid to form solution containing the aquated Ni(II) ion together with hydrogen gas, H2. Ni(s) + H2SO4(aq) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Ni2+(aq) + SO42-(aq) + H2(g) Ni(s) + HCl(aq) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Ni2+(aq) + Cl- (aq) + H2(g) It does not dissolve in concentrated nitric acid, HNO3, because it is rendered passive by this reagent [9]. 1.2.4 Reaction of Nickel with Air Nickel in finely divided form reacts readily with air. At higher temperatures, it burns in oxygen to form nickel oxide. 2Ni(s) + O2(g) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 2NiO(s) 1.3 Oxidation States The oxidation states of nickel include -1, 0, +1, +2, +3 or +4. The most prevalent oxidation state is +2, but compounds of Ni0, Ni+1, and Ni3+ are well known. Ni4+ has also been demonstrated [10]. 1.4 Nickel(II) Compounds Nickel is known primarily for its divalent compounds with all common anions, i.e. halides, hydroxide, sulfate, carbonate, carboxylates, sulfide and hydroxide. Green and blue are the characteristic colors of its compounds. Important nickel(II) compounds include: 1.4.1 Oxides Nickel oxide, NiO is a powdery green solid that becomes yellow on heating [11]. It can be prepared easily by heating nickel carbonate, nitrate or hydroxide. 1.4.2 Sulfides Nickel sulfides occur in different forms such as NiS, nickel sulphide, NiS2, nickel persulphide and Ni3S2, trinickel disulphide. 1.4.3 Halides NiCl2 is yellow but NiCl2.6H2O is of green colour. NiCl2 is prepared by NiCl2.6H2O + 6SOCl2 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ NiCl2 + 6SO2 + 12HCl NiF2 is prepared by treatment of anhydrous nickel(II) chlHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel(II)_chlorideoride with fluorine at 350  °C [12]. NiClHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel(II)_chloride2 + FHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorine2 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ NiF2 + ClHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorine2 1.4.4 Nitrates Nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate, Ni(NO3)2.6H2O is highly soluble in water, giving emerald green solutions. 1.4.5 Carbonates Nickel(II) carbonate is a pale green polymeric solid consisting of Ni2+ cations and [COHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate3HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate]HYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonate2- anions. It is readily decomposed by aqueous acids to give solutions containing the ion [Ni(H2O)6]2+, liberating water and carbon dioxide. 1.4.6 Sulfates The anhydrous form has a yellow to green color while NiSO4.7H2O and NiSO4.6H2O appears green and blue to pale green, respectively. 1.4.7 Hydroxides Ni(OH)2 occurs as green crystals that can be precipitated when aqueous alkali is added to a solution of nickel (II) salt. Its decomposition on heating above 230  °C produces toxic gases. 1.5 Nickel (III), Nickel (IV) Nickel (VI) Compounds The +3 oxidation state is found in dinickel trioxide, Ni2O3. NiO4-2 is an example of +6 oxidation state while NiO2 and NiF6-2 correspond to +4 oxidation states. Nickel(IV) also occurs in BaNiO3 and in the periodate salts, MNiIO6 (M = alkali cation, NH4). 1.6 Water Soluble, Poorly Soluble Insoluble Nickel Compounds In contrast to water soluble nickel salts (chloride, nitrate, acetate and sulfate), metallic nickel, nickel sulfides, and nickel oxides are poorly soluble in water [13]. NiCO3 is partly water soluble. 1.7 Nickel(II) Complexes Nickel in its most common +2 oxidation state displays a wider range of geometries in its complexes than any other metal ion with coordination numbers 3 to 6. Nickel(II) forms many complexes with octahedral [14, 15], square planar [16, 17, 18] and tetrahedral [19, 20] geometries and a smaller number of five coordinate compounds [21, 22] with square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal arrangements. Nickel(II) octahedral, trigonal bipyramidal, square pyramidal and tetrahedral complexes are paramagnetic and have in the majority of cases a green or blue colour. The square planar nickel complexes are diamagnetic and mostly have a yellow, red or brown colour. The ligand exchange processes for nickel(II) tend to be associative, while with palladium(II) and platinum(II), dissociative pathways predominate which tends to adopt only square planar complexes. 1.7.1 Six Coordinate Octahedral Nickel(II) Complexes Nickel(II) forms octahedral complexes with neutral ligands such as H2O and NH3. Amines displace some or all of water molecules in the octahedral [Ni(H2O)6]2+ ion to form complexes such as trans [Ni(H2O)2(NH3)4]2+, [Ni(NH3)6]2+ and [Ni(en)3]2+. These complexes are characteristically purple or blue in contrast to the bright green hexaaquanickel(II) ion, [Ni(H2O)6]2+ [23]. These octahedral complexes have two unpaired electrons and are paramagnetic with magnetic moments 2.9 to 3.4 BM. Other examples include dichlorobis(ethylenediamine)nickel(II), a blue solid, soluble in water and polar organic solvents [24] and Ni(acac)2.2H2O [25]. 2+ 2+ [Ni(H2O)6]2+ [Ni(NH3)6]2+ Ni(en)2Cl2 Ni(acac)2.2H2O 1.7.2 Five Coordinate Square Pyramidal Trigonal Bipyramidal Nickel(II) Complexes Several phosphine and arsine ligands form five coordinate trigonal bipyramidal complexes because tetradentate tripod ligands such as N[C2H4N(CH3)2]3 and N[C2H4PPh2]3 cannot span the apices of a regular tetrahedron. One face is left open for 5th ligand, e.g halide ion to form trigonal bipyramidal complex. Though hydride, thiolate, alkyl and other anionic ligands are also known; the complexes are therefore +1 cations. Tris(1,3-diaminopropane) chromium(III) pentacyanonickelate(II), [Cr(tn)3][Ni(CN)5] has square pyramidal [Ni(CN)5]3- anions. In contrast, crystalline tris(ethylenediamine) chromium(III) pentacyanonickelate(II) sesquihydrate, [Cr(en)3][Ni(CN)5].1.5H2O contains both square pyramidal anions and slightly distorted trigonal bipyramidal anions [26]. The trigonal bipyramidal structure is favored on the basis of ligand repulsion alone. For this reason, almost every five coordinate compound having non metallic central element such as PF5 has trigonal bipyramidal structure unless there are lone pairs. 1.7.3 Four Coordinate Nickel(II) Complexes Nickel(II) in its four coordination mode exhibits either tetrahedral or square planar geometry. 1.7.3.1 Tetrahedral Nickel(II) Complexes Nickel(II) tetrahedral complexes of stoichiometric types; NiX42-, NiX3L-, NiL2X2 and Ni(L-L)2 are known where X represents halogen, L is neutral ligand such as phosphine, phosphine oxide or arsine, and L-L is bidentate ligand such as ethylenediamine. Tetrahedral arrangement for Ni2+ will be preferred if the ligands are large and weak field. Ni(PPh3)3Cl NiCl42- [Ni(acac)2] 1.7.3.2 Square Planar Nickel(II) Complexes For the vast majority of four coordinate nickel(II) complexes, planar geometry is preferred for small and strong field ligands. Tetracyanonickelate(II) will probably be orange red colored square planar complex. Almost all planar complexes of nickel(II) with d8 configuration are diamagnetic. Important examples of square planar complexes are red bis(dimethylglyoximato) nickel(II) [27] and dichloro[1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane]nickel, NiCl2(dppp). Ni(dmgH)2 NiCl2(dppp) [Ni(C2O4)2]2- [Ni(CN)4]2- 1.7.4 Three Coordinate Nickel(II) Complexes There are many examples of trigonal complexes for nickel(0), however, they are rare for Ni(II). The examples include dialkylamides [Ni(NR2)3]1- and Ni2(  µ-NR2)2(NR2)2 as well as blue mesityl complex [Ni(mes)3]1- which has approximately T shaped geometry [28, 29]. 1.8 Nickel(III) Complexes [Ni(tdt)2]- is nickel(III) square planar complex anion having coordination number four where tdt = 3,4-toluenedithiole. Other examples include [Ni(tacn)2]3+ with 1,4,7-triazacyclononane [30] and dark green air stable Ni(III) complex having donor NO2S2 chromophore [31]. Ni[(NO2S)2(C6H4)4] [Me(tdt)2]-, Me = Ni [Ni(tacn)2]3+ 1.9 Nickel(IV) Complexes A well established bis chelated complex of nickel(IV) is the diacetylpyridine dioximato complex [32]. Other examples include dicarbollide complex, Ni(closo-1,2-C2B9H11)2 [33] and the polyselenide anion [Ni4Se4(Se3)(Se4)]4- with a cubic Ni4Se4 core [34]. The hexadentate ligand 3,14-dimethyl-4,7,10,13-tetraazahexadeca-3,13-diene 2,15-dione dioxime forms pseudooctahedral NiN6 complex with nickel(IV) [35]. 1.10 Nickel(-I, 0, +I) Complexes The low valent oxides, K3[NiO2] and KNa2[NiO2] contain linear [O-Ni(I)-O]3- units [36]. The majority of nickel(I) complexes contain phosphine ligands and have tetrahedral or trigonal bipyramidal structure. They are paramagnetic as expected for d9 configurations. In Ni(CO)4, nickel is in zero oxidation state [37]. Bis(cyclooctadiene)nickel(0), Ni(C8H12)2 is a diamagnetic featuring tetrahedral nickel(0) [38]. Ni(cod)2 Ni(CO)4 1.11 Biological Role Nickel is a part of urease. [NiFe]-hydrogenases selectively oxidise H2. Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase enzymes consists of Fe-Ni-S cluster [39]. Other nickel containing enzymes include class of superoxide dismutase and glyoxalase [40]. Enzymatic reactions depend on redox activity of nickel atoms in enzymes active site. In fact, proposed mechanisms of NiFe hydrogenase [41], methyl-CoM reductase [42, 43] and NiSOD [44, 45] involves reduced (Nio, Ni+) and or oxidized (Ni3+) forms of nickel. Nickel along with iron plays vital role in transport of oxygen in blood. Nickel also acts as co-factor in absorption of iron from intestine. 1.12 Sources and Potential Exposure of Nickel Nickel is a ubiquitous natural trace element and it occurs in air, water and soil of the biosphere [46]. 1.12.1 Diet Food and drinking water [47, 48] are the major sources of nickel exposure [49]. Fats, chocolates [50], nuts, candies [51], tomatoes, bananas, onions, spinach, legumes, tea [52], white flour and all canned foods [53] are rich in nickel content. 1.12.2 Ambient Air Nickel oxide, nickel chloride, nickel carbonyl and nickel subsulphide are inhaled pollutants. Nickel levels in ambient air are in range 1 10 ng/m3 in urban areas, although much higher levels 110 180 ng/m3 have been recorded in heavily industrialized areas and larger cities [54]. 1.12.3 Tobacco Smoking It is major source of nickel in indoor air. A cigarette contains 1 3  µg of nickel. Nickel in a burning cigarette form nickel tetracarbonyl that is volatile and gaseous compound and badly affects respiratory tract [55]. 1.12.4 Occupational Exposure of Nickel Pulmonary absorption is major route of nickel exposure in industries [56]. The general population is also exposed to nickel in nickel alloys and nickel plated materials such as coins [57], jewellery [58], electric guitar strings [59], stainless steel cutlery, soaps and detergents. 1.13 Exposure Limits of Nickel The American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has assigned threshold limit value time weighted average for exposure to nickel compounds is 1.5 mg/m3 for elemental nickel, 0.1 mg/m3 for soluble inorganic nickel compounds and nickel subsulfide, 0.2 mg/m3 for insoluble inorganic compounds and 0.05 ppm for nickel carbonyl [60]. 1.14 Toxicity of Nickel Nickel is known as haemato, immunoto, neuro, geno, reproductive, pulmonary toxic and carcinogenic agent. 1.14.1 Acute Toxicity (01 day) The accidental inhalation of nickel carbonyl causes acute toxic effects in two stages, immediate and delayed. The immediate symptoms include headache, vertigo, irritability, which usually last a few hours, followed by an asymptomatic interval of 12 h to 5 days. The delayed symptoms are: 1.14.1.1 Nickel Itch Soluble nickel compounds on skin contact may result in nickel itch [61], most frequently when skin is moist. 1.14.1.2 Gastrointestinal Distress Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were reported in workers who drank water, contaminated with nickel sulfate and nickel chloride. 1.14.1.3 Neurological Effects Giddiness and weariness were reported in individuals accidentally exposed to nickel sulphate and nickel chloride (1.63 g Ni/liter) with boric acid in drinking water [62]. 1.14.1.4 Pulmonary Fibrosis In humans and animals, nickel carbonyl causes pulmonary fibrosis. Nickel fumes are respiratory irritants and may also cause pneumonitis. 1.14.1.5 Kidney Damage Kidney damage and frank haematuria were observed [63]. 1.14.2 Subchronic Toxicity (10 100 day) A 6 weeks exposure of nickel fumes (0.07 1.1 mg nickel/m3) in humans caused an increase in air way and eye irritations, headaches and tiredness [64]. 1.14.3 Chronic Toxicity (> 100 days) 1.14.3.1 Dermatitis In sensitized individuals, it is most common effect due to nickel use in jewellery intended for pierced body parts and is often marked by itchy and red skin followed by skin ulceration [65]. 1.14.3.2 Respiratory Disorders Inhalation of nickel dusts and aerosols contributes to respiratory disorders such as asthma [66], pneumoconiosis and can also interfere with kreb ´s cycle. 1.14.3.3 Heart Failure Exposure of nickel tetracarbonyl to levels 50,000 100,000 times greater than levels normally encountered in food or drinking water can cause heart failure and variable degrees of cardiovascular system poisoning [67]. 1.14.3.4 Tumors Nickel powder can induce both epithelial and connective tissue tumors e.g. pelvic, renal cortical and liver tumors when given by subcutaneous, intramuscular or intraperitoneal injection [68]. 1.14.3.5 Kidney Poisoning Nickel in blood is mostly protein bound and accumulates primarily in kidneys resulting in kidney poisoning [69]. 1.14.3.6 Birth Defects Low birth weight infants with sensory abnormalities, such as hearing or sight loss and cardiac malformations are born with nickel exposed mothers [70, 71]. 1.14.3.7 Oxidative Stress Nickel(II) induces oxidative stress in humans [72, 73] by producing either reactive oxygen species, ROS or reactive nitrogen species, RNS. NiCl2 induces lipid peroxidation while ROS generated damage DNA. Nickel binds to DNA repair enzymes and generates oxygen free radicals causing protein degradation [74]. 1.14.3.8 Genotoxicity Ni(CO)4 inhibts DNA dependent RNA synthesis activity by binding to chromatin or DNA and thereby preventing action of RNA polymerase, causing suppresion of messenger RNA dependent induction of enzyme synthesis [75]. 1.14.3.9 Carcinogenicity Nickel subsulphide, nickel oxide, nickel sulphate as well as nickel sulfide fume and dust is believed to be carcinogenic [76, 77]. Independent international scientific bodies have classified mixed sulphidic and oxidic nickel compounds [78] as carcinogens to humans, inclusive of water soluble nickel compounds. There are higher chances of development of lung cancer, nasal cancer, and Prostate cancer in nickel exposed workers [79]. 1.15 Uses of Nickel 1.15.1 Nickel Alloys Nickel in alloyed form has made significant contributions to our present day society. German silver containing 10 30 % nickel is used for ornamental and domestic objects. Monel contains 68% nickel ands is used in apparatus for handling corrosive materials. Invar is important due to very small coefficient of expansion [80]. Nickel is principle alloying element in stainless steel that enhances its heat, corrosion, and stress rupture resistance [81]. Majority of stainless steels contain 8 10 % nickel. Its limitless uses include home and industrial products. 1.15.2 Nickel Electroplating Nickel electroplating is used for both protective and decorative finishes. Nickel chloride, NiCl2, nickel acetate Ni(OCOCH3)2, nickel nitrate, Ni(NO3)2.6H2O and nickel sulphate, NiSO4.7H2O are employed chiefly in nickel electroplating baths [82] while nickel oxide is used as electrolyte. Nickel electroplating changes the chemical, physical and mechanical properties of the workpiece [83]. 1.15.3 Catalytic Hydrogenation Raney nickel is used in a large number of industrial processes because of its stability and high catalytic activity at room temperature. It catalyses hydrogenation of vegetable oils. Soybean oil has been hydrogenated electrocatalytically on raney nickel with 90 100 % efficiencies [84]. Benzene is commonly reduced to cyclohexane using raney nickel for production of nylon. Reduction of Benzene to Cyclohexane Using Raney Nickel Raney nickel is used in reduction of compounds that have multiple bonds. Reduction of Thiophene by Raney Nickel De-Sulfurization of Thioacetals using Raney Nickel 1.15.4 Industrial Applications of Nickel 1.15.4.1 Heavy Industries Nickel based super alloys have high temperature applications in jet engines, gas turbines and rocket engines [85]. Monel can resist corrosion by sea water and is ideal for propeller shaft in boats and desalination plants. 1.15.4.2 Food Chemical processing Industries Monel and stainless steel are used in chemical and food processing industries due to better corrosion resistance at high temperature steam [86]. 1.15.4.3 Ceramics, Paints, Dyes Cosmetic Industries Nickel(II) phthalocyanine, C32H16N8Ni is used as bluish green pigment in the coloring industries [87]. The nickel titanium yellow pigments find great use in polymer and paint applications [88]. Nickel dimethylglyoxime (C8 H14 N4 NiO4) is routinely used as coloring agent in paints, cosmetics and certain kinds of plastics. NiO is used in making glass having ability to absorb visible light but transmits ultraviolet light [89]. In cosmetic products of many brands, the highest level of nickel in eye shadows is about 49 ppm [90]. 1.15.4.4 Textile Rubber Industry Nickel acetate is used as mordant in textile industry. Di-n-butyldithiocarbamate nickel(II) complex, Ni[CS2N(C4H4)2]2 is used as an antioxidant in tires. 1.15.5 Batteries Nickel batteries are dominant in the field of rechargeable electrochemical power sources due to their long cycle life, high power and a reliable performance. Ni(OH)2 is used as positive electrode to significantly boost energy densities in nickel alkaline batteries [91]. Nickel cadmium cells provide 1.2 V and are used in aeroplanes and emergency lighting systems. In industries, these batteries provide high voltage of 250 V with capacities about 5 Ah 100 Ah [92]. Nickel hydrogen (NiH2) battery cells with nickel oxide positive electrode are developed due to high power density and good thermal performance which make them attractive for use in electric vehicles, satellite and space power systems [93]. 1.16 Chemistry of Ligands 1.16.1 Thiourea (Tu) Thiourea, SHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarbonC(NHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HydrogenH2)2 is lustrous white crystalline compound. It is useful sulfur donor thioamide and planar molecule, soluble in water and polar organic solvents but insoluble in non polar solvents. It has two tautomeric forms but in aqueous solution, thione form predominates. 1.16.2 N,N-Dimethylthiourea (Dmtu) N,N-Dimethylthiourea, C3H8N2S has appearance of colorless to white crystals. It shows coordination through sulfur. Fig. 1.10 Structure of N,N-Dimethylthiourea 1.16.3 1,1,3,3-Tetramethyl-2-thiourea (Tmtu) This substituted thiourea is white crystalline solid. It is sulfur donor ligand. 1.16.4 1,3-Diazinane-2-thione (Diaz) This six membered heterocyclic thione is sulfur donor ligand. 1.16.5 Imidazolidine-2-thione (Imt) It is a sulfur donor five membered heterocyclic thione [94] and has brown crystals. The peculiarity of Imidazolidine-2-thione is presence of a thiouredine fragment. It is planar with non-uniform distribution of à Ã¢â€š ¬ electron density and shows presence of maximum negative charge on exocyclic sulfur. Dipolar form B predominates in resonance hybrid. 1.17 Objective The primary objective of this study is to understand basic chemistry of nickel(II) and its complexes and gain an insight into metal ligand interactions in biological systems with following main objectives. To explore coordination chemistry of nickel(II) with various sulfur donor ligands and develop useful model for biologically active nickel complexes by determining structures of synthesized nickel complexes. Synthesis of nickel(II) complexes with thioamide and thione ligands. Crystallization of as many complexes as possible and determination of their structures by X-ray crystallography. Characterization of complexes by IR and UV-VIS spectroscopy. A comparative study of complexes based on spectroscopic and structural data.

JIT manufacturing and inventory control system Essay example -- GCSE B

JIT Just-in-time production is considered to be on the leading edge of technological advancement. With improvements in the virtually every industry, maintaining an effective production line while minimizing inventory costs is a very feasible option. Just-in-time systems are designed to keep inventory costs at a minimum, unlike the ways of old, with large warehouses loaded with back inventory. With technology allowing instantaneous communication around the world, production lines and stores do not have to wait for days for inventory delivery. It can happen, well, just-in-time. Many companies are on the verge of switching to a just-in-time inventory system, to compliment the millions of companies that have already implemented the system. It is generally recognized that effective implementation of just-in-time will result in a significant reduction of inventories. As a matter of fact, inventory levels are key indicators for measuring just-in-time performance (Harrison). The just-in-time phi losophy on inventory management is simple: - Strive for a level of zero inventories. - Produce items at the rate required by the customer. - Eliminate all unnecessary lead times. - Reduce setup costs to achieve the smallest economical lot size - ideally, a quantity of one. - Optimize material flow from suppliers through the production process to the point of sale of the finished product, so that inventories are minimized. - Ensure high quality and dependable just-in-time delivery from suppliers. - Implement a Total Quality Control (TQC) program, which will minimize scrap, rework and resultant delays in production (Naylor). While the just-in-time inventory management philosophy is simple, execution is not. In a just-in-time environment, the supplier should deliver raw materials and other purchased items when they are needed. A blanket purchase order or other suitable form of basic agreement should cover the terms and conditions for procurement. Delivery of the item should be direct to the point of use in the manufacturing plant. It is time consuming and not cost-effective for the materials to be handled in one part of a production line before it is moved to the correct location. It is up to the supplier to ensure a smooth flow of material to support production, which is obtained through optimum communication and coordination between the manufacturing plant and the supp... .... - Authorize individuals in production to release vendor delivery quantities against blanket purchase orders, purchasing agreement, or contract. - Establish inventory policy code for each item based on the method of inventory control and the method of transaction reporting and recording. - Review and establish minimum economical order quantities and safety stocks required by just-in-time production. - Measure inventory performance to determine effectiveness of just-in-time production and inventory management (Naylor). Just-in-time will change our conventional thinking concerning the management of inventories and streamline our methods for inventory control. Proper selection and implementation of these methods will yield substantial benefits by improving customer service, shortening delivery lead times, and significantly reducing inventory investment. It does not, however, eliminate the need for sound inventory planning. Bibliography: Slack, Chambers, Harland, Harrison and Johnston, Operations Management, New York: Pitman, 1995 Naylor J, Operations Management, New York: Pitman, 1996 Harrison A, Just-in-time Manufacturing in Perspective, New York: Prentice Hall, 1992

Management Under Uncertainly Essay

I had been in Target as a temporary worker and one decision made by the manager left a deep impression on me. As one of the largest retail stores in Australia, Target can be found in the shopping centre of most area. The store I had worked is located in Leichhardt which had the expectancy was achieving a sales budget of $ 50,000 per day, and then the net profit would reach $6000. In order to make the expectation into reality, the manager of Target Leichhardt store from the point of view of cost savings decided to cut the shifts of employees. Originally, one shift had four cashiers, but now reduced to two cashiers. In addition, the manger made a decision to no longer use customer greeters. In Target store, the duty of greeter is not only greet customers into the store, but also check the bags of customers to avoid theft when they leave. The manager decided to reduce shift because he found this is a kind of waste when the store is not busy. On the other hand, he thought the customer greeter looks like a decoration because the phenomenon of pilferage was rarely. Although the manager made the adjustments, the result was still not satisfied and the outcome was the store has not achieved the budget. These decisions caused complaint from a lot of customers about the long queue when they went to the checkout. I had seen some customers drop off the commodities which they had selected because they do not like to wait for a long time. Beyond that, the two operators always feel tired and unfair when the store is very busy. Once they feel bored, they will not have enough energy and passion to serve customers. Furthermore, no longer use greeter also caused some negative effects. For example, tally clerk found that small and precious items had been lost regularly. Obviously, there were customers in the store for stealing and the action of theft reduced the budget seriously. Analysis of the Decision Teale, Dispenza, Flynn, & Currie (2003) pointed out that the bounded rational decision making is refer to there are many options, but the decision maker only consider some of these, or from the long term, that is not a best decision but the most suitable for the current situation. Here is an example, a lady fell down along the road and break her stiletto heel, and then she quickly goes into a cheap shoe store and bought a pair of lip-flops that she had never worn before. If it is in normal circumstances, the lady will buy a pair of shoes that she likes at ordinary times, but now she is in a hurry and can not wear the shoes with broken heels. So, buy a pair of shoes that does not like usually become an appropriate choice. This can be called â€Å"satisfying†. People in most cases do decision like this, because sometimes we do not consider all the possibilities in order to save time (Campling, Poole, Wiesner, Ang, Chan, Tan & Schermerhorn, 2008). Decision-makers always pick up the most useful one. In the Target Leichhardt store, because the manager chose the solution to reduce the costs in a short time, the decision can be defined as Satisfying. The decision of this store manager made just embodies the people’s bounded rationality in decision making process. The managers thought the store can increase budget by cutting costs. However, queuing for a long time can make customers have bad impression on the store. Finally, people thought for long lines when they mention this store, then they refuse to go to the store shopping instinctively. People should consider three processes that bounded rationality usually involve in. hey are simple search, simple stopping and simple decision rules. These three rules are also referred to as â€Å"heuristics†, it is used to describe â€Å"how normal people make decisions without calculating utilities and probabilities† (Gigerenzer & Todd, 2012). In this case, the manager made decision without calculating the chance of various results by using the optimal and maximizing outcome. . In this situation, the manager didn’t use the optimal or maximizing outcome to calculate the probability of outcome occurring, he didn’t use the utility to calculate the expected happiness. There are many factors that can cause bounded rationality, such as emotion, knowledge and culture. According to Teale et al (2003), bounded rationality can also be interpreted as non-rational decisions. This is because people have limited knowledge level and lack of training. The lack of knowledge and training make people with narrow horizons, and then can not take a panoramic view of the situation and do not have a long-term view. In this Target store, the manager did not investigate and understand the situation of the store from all aspects carefully; it also can say he was lack of practical experience in management of decision making. His decision can only satisfy the short-term interest if it goes well. However, it turns out he did not achieve the short-term goals. In terms of the long time interest, invoice for a long time and occasionally steal phenomenon caused bad effect on the company’s image. On the other hand, decision-maker do not communicate smoothly and actively with others can also affect the decision making (McKee, 2010). According to my observation, the manager lack basic understanding of the store and he seldom communicated with employees and customers. Sometimes, he just organized the regular meeting, and the aim of meeting is to decorate task without exchange views with others. When someone makes decision by himself without communicate with others, bounded rationality can get a higher frequency of occurrence. Lacks of communication not only lead to make decision unwise, because the decision maker is likely to be emotional to make a decision, but also make the decision maker overconfidence. In real life, we meet some people who always think they are right (Hanson, Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2011). Beyond that, environment can cause bounded rationality. Today’s general environment is complicated and changefully, people can obtain information from various channels and ways. Not all information is appropriate, sometimes wrong information mislead decision maker to make an irrational decision. In this case, the general environment is the customers and sales performance are different and the manager eager to prove his ability. So he made a non rational decision and this decision does not have any benefit for a long term operation. Reflection Mckee (2010) show us The Eight Stage Decision Making Process Model. If I were the manager in this case, I would use the above mentioned model to help me to make a rational decision. First of all, I would collect all possible information about the sale budget and net profit for five years before. For example, check the financial annual report, the daily turnover and the net profit report. Form these reports, I could analyze and assess which part of work we need to adjust and improve. Our goal is to increase earnings; we can start this goal from attracting more customers rather than reduce shifts and layoff greeters. There are many ways to attract potential customers and make them become returned customers at the same time. One effective way is issue voucher; we can offer a five dollar voucher when the customers purchase more than 50 dollars. By that analogy, we can give ten dollar voucher when the customers purchase more than 100 dollars. In this way, we can ensure customers keep coming. Another way to attract customers is to do some promotions, such as buy three same items for two items price. When I use The Eight Stage Decision Making Process Model to make a decision, I would consider more on one of the elements that is to list alternatives (Mckee, 2010). In this case, arrange employees to the most suitable area according to their own ability and personality is an alternative decision. For instance, a employee with personality of patience and enthusiasm, I would arrange he to be a customer assistance. Put myself in customer’s position, I hope to get a better shopping guide and help. Moreover, Tolbert and Hall (2008) pointed out that the more person involve the decision process, the decision is more rational. Due to the feasibility of this theory, I would be honest to analyze the whole store operating condition and the goals to other managers and employees. Then, I will encourage them to actively participate in discussion and give advices. If I were the manager I would continue to use customer greeters. In order to make them not as decoration, I will arrange them some to do things to attract customers. For example, greeters can pass flyers to passers so that they have a better concept about what product will have a discount in which day. The following step we need to carry out decision, along with this step there may have some obstacles impede our progress. But, these are not serious problems, as long as we step by step; we are able to make sensible decisions (Kramar, Bartram, De Cieri, Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright, 2011). This style of decision making can be described as the rational model. Only managers like a link, fasten all the employees together to make the decision, this decision can be good for long-term development of an organization.

Implications of essays

Implications of essays The Wave is a video about a classroom experiment gone way out. The teacher tried to answer a students question about the likeness of the ignorance of the German public on the Nazis actions during World War II, like the holocaust of the Jewish people. As an experiment he started an organization called the Wave, which focused on three basic statements: Strength through discipline, Strength through community, Strength through action. To his surprise, the students accepted and responded to the organization with great ease and devotion. Out of curiosity he decided to go further and wilder with the limits of the experimentation and soon it became a mess. Students fought physically in the name of the Wave, and started to get aggressive and insensitive, as though they all have been brainwashed. As the show progressed, we see obvious changes in the characters personality. At first, most people seemed enlightened by the movement, and inspired to be something greater, having a sense of a greater purpose than themselves. But as the experiment progressed, some people began to show signs of aggression and abuse, while some people realized that the movement had moved from what they thought it would be in the first place. Unfortunately, the latter seemed to be an extremely minor fraction of the population. Although the reason of change and the results of the changing of personality may be different to each individual (like social outcasts may find a new sense of being in the movement, or bored individuals seeking for a new purpose), they generally become less aware of who they were originally, and indulged into a world where they THINK they are doing things for the good of the whole movement. A good theory to the reason for this may be that social movements like this one may see m sensible and meaningful at first, so individuals feel a sense of a truly working harmony that inspired everyone, but after a wh...

The Deadly Truth- A Research Paper on Euthanasia

The Deadly Truth- A Research Paper on Euthanasia Free Online Research Papers Euthanasia: is it really necessary? Euthanasia, otherwise known as mercy killing or physician assisted suicide, is the intentional killing of a dependent human for his or her alleged benefit. There are many types of Euthanasia. Among these are voluntary, non-voluntary, and involuntary Euthanasia. Voluntary Euthanasia is after the person has requested to be killed; non-voluntary is when the person has given no consent or made no request; and last but not least there is involuntary Euthanasia, which is when the person has expressed a wish to the contrary. Euthanasia is not truly euthanasia unless the person who is killed is in fact killed intentionally (â€Å"Euthanasia†). One would think many and most people would be against this killing of innocent people, however; this is not the case. The numbers have gotten better, though. In a poll given in 1996, seventy- five percent of the United States was in favor for Euthanasia, but in 1997, the numbers changed. In June of 1997, fifty- seven percent supported it and thirty- five percent of people opposed Euthanasia. Religious When one thinks of Euthanasia, usually a strong figure in their mind is Dr. Kevorkian. This was the doctor that was known throughout the world for the physician assisted suicides that he performed. He was sentenced to jail for many reasons, one being the suspicion of pushing his patients to partake in it, rather than letting them making their own decision in the matter of their own life. Euthanasia is wrong and should be illegal for the following reasons: Euthanasia is biblically and morally wrong, it puts a value on a human life, and also Euthanasia is compromising the doctoring practice as a whole because of how people view this medical procedure. The first thing to know is that euthanasia is biblically and morally wrong. In Exodus 21:14 its states, â€Å" But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.† (Barker 118) Also, in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:13, it states, â€Å"Thou shall not murder.† (Barker 117). There are numerous examples such as these listed throughout The Bible. Secondly, Euthanasia has begun to put a value on the human life. Many people see it okay to kill in self- defense, which it is. In a self defense one is saving an innocent life, but when performing euthanasia one is taking an innocent life, no one’s life is being saved here. (â€Å"Euthanasia†) Many doctors now are not taking other people lives into consideration and instead of pushing them against it they are more forcing the patients into assisted suicide. Given, there are people that are in a vegetative state; Euthanasia should not be their way out of life. Every human life has the same value. Just because someone is one way or another, does not on ANY grounds mean that their life means anything less than someone else’s life. These lives should be protected. Physician Last but not least Euthanasia is compromising the doctoring practice. People are losing trust in all doctors because of the few that practice Euthanasia. Many doctors are not like Steven A. Wahls, who stated, â€Å"As a physician who practices ‘in the front lines’ I have had the privilege of caring for many individuals with terminal illness. I am proud to say that for each one has been handled with compassion and care, good pain relief, and emotional as well as spiritual support with out any assistance in shortening their ‘time of dying†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wekesser 107). If you look at doctors now, they are more and more increasing to going to assisted suicide. Seventy-five percent of people who attempt suicide do not actually want to die and it’s all just a cry for attention. National Euthanasia is wrong and should stay illegal. Instead of using a suicide method, why not use the Will-to-Live project? This project states that you have named someone to make a decision for you in case terminally ill or put into a terminally ill state. There will be clear written instructions on the medical treatment that you are to receive, no questions asked. (â€Å"National†) Do the right thing and help save our population! Research Papers on The Deadly Truth- A Research Paper on EuthanasiaArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Capital PunishmentThe Fifth HorsemanThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoGenetic EngineeringThree Concepts of PsychodynamicBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesUnreasonable Searches and Seizures

The importance of implementing a Enterprise Resource Planning System Research Proposal

The importance of implementing a Enterprise Resource Planning System - Research Proposal Example The age of competition and globalization has necessitated the need for organizations to show flexibility in their attitude as the business climate is considered to be highly turbulent which requires constant changes in the business model of an organization. ERP packages help in providing solutions in manufacturing, supply chain, Customer Relationship Management and E-commerce. The popularity of ERP packages could be gauged from the fact that even public sector organizations have started implementing ERP solutions in their business processes (Nah, 2002, p.1). The figure above shows the integration of various business processes using ERP. ERP packages help in integrating the various functions or business processes of an organization. This helps organizations in aligning their business processes which helps in maximizing the efficiency of an organization. The enterprise mode considers an organization as a single system in which all its departments are its sub-systems. This helps every department to keep a track on what is happening in other departments. ERP focuses on three major aspects namely, relevancy, accuracy and timeliness. ERP packages attempt to authenticate that the information served is accurate and relevant for the decision making body of the organization. It also ensures that proper timing is maintained so that decision making is not delayed. Organizations implementing ERP in their business processes have ability to provide accurate and timely information to its customers or employees (Leon, 2007 p.5-8). Organizations like Wal -Mart have implemented ERP packages in supply chain management which has helped it to gain sustainable competitive advantage. ERP has helped Wal-Mart to access real time information of the stock of its products which in turn ensures that the shelves of its stores never run out of stock for a particular item or goods. ERP packages have also been implemented in the field of Human Resource

Financial Statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Financial Statements - Essay Example However, the different groups use the various financial statements for different purposes. This essay focuses on the four types of financial statements identified above and their importance to internal users such as managers and employee as well to the external users such as investors and creditors. All the financial statements are useful since to individual as well as organizations whose decisions are affected by a company. The financial statement act as an indicator of how a company is performing. Moreover, the statements can be used to predict the future of a company. Balance sheet, which is also, referred as the statement of financial position acts as an indicator of the financial status at a given time. Balance sheet assesses the assets (economic possessions possessed by the entity) and the liabilities (sources of financing) as well as ownership equity. The assets possessed by a company are either classified as current or fixed assets. Current assets can be converted into usable cash easily and include cash, marketable securities, inventory, and prepaid assets. Fixed assets are not easily converted into cash and are awarded historical cost. Fixed assets include buildings, machinery, equipment, and land. Liabilities are those assets owed to creditors (Drake, Fabozzi, & CFA, 2012). Liabilities are categorized as current and non-current liabilities. Current liabilities include notes payable, interest payable, accounts payable, wages payable and taxes payable. On the other hand, non-current liabilities include bonds payable and mortgages payable. Equity is the proprietorship, partnership, shareholders, or stakeholder’s equity in a corporation. Equity owners are claimants of the residue equity after creditors have been paid. Therefore, balance sheet acts as a record of resources owned by an entity and acts as a crucial tool used to evaluate the capability of a firm to meet long-term obligations. Comparative balance sheet is an example of balance sheet (D rake, Fabozzi, & CFA, 2012). Creditors are involved in offering credit, which is a risky practice. Therefore, balance sheets are important to creditors since they use them to assess the wealth possessed by individuals or firms and determine their capability of paying for liabilities incurred. Creditors make use of other financial statements when providing loans to companies. In case companies file bankruptcy, the creditors make use of the information obtained from the various items to recover their money by liquidating the company’s assets (Drake, Fabozzi, & CFA, 2012). Income statement is another important form of financial statement that indicates the net income of a firm. The net income is calculated by subtracting the operating expenses from the revenue or fees earned. Therefore, income statement is reflective of the company revenue or income as well as expenditure. Revenue is the inflows that a company obtains from its operations while expenses are the outflows that a co mpany uses to create revenue. Net income of a company is obtained by adding the revenue to the gains less the losses and expenses. Income statement is thus indicative of the performance of a business (Drake, Fabozzi, & CFA, 2012). Statement of cash flows is a record of a company’s cash flow activities such as the investing, operating and financing undertakings. Statement of cas