1) Frederick Harris states that black vote rs put Essays

1) Frederick Harris states that "black vote rs put aside policy demands for the prize of electing one of their own to the White House" (p. 169) and implies that President Obama should be more responsive to the black policy agenda. Discuss whether President Obama should have been more responsive to black substantive concerns. What role do black voters and black leaders play in Harris' analysis of the Obama presidency? President Barack Obama just happens to be Black, that doesn't mean that he was obligated to dedicate his term to catering to the needs and wants of Blacks more than any other race. While he was in office, Obama pretty much sold African Americans a dream and rarely fulfilled his promises. His commitments to bettering the lives of Blacks were carried out at a minimum ad for sure put on the back burner. The concerns that Blacks wanted addressed were the bit least of a worry for the president, and he blatantly disregarded them. It's clear that Blacks were overjoyed yet blinded about Obama becoming president, therefore we believed in him too much. Blacks praised him without even getting to know if he was the best candidate to get things done. I think the biggest mistake that the voters of Obama made was that we saw color above anything else. And for that we paid for it in a huge way , because even after he's out of office, we're not ahead as we'd expected to be. Surely, when Obama was initially elected, he came into a mess of a country that would take a miracle to clean up. He gave it his best shot, but still catering more to patching up the issues of the racial divide opposed to the needs of his own kind. On several occasions the president gave us his experiences of his upbringing and the difficulties he faced being bi-racial. I think he continuously used them to gain sympathy and just like any other candidate running for presidency, used it to his advantage. President Obama's strategy was one that allowed him to lure Blacks into voting for him, but what shadowed him was false hopes. During his candidacy, Obama repetitively mentioned that we should deal with the issues of race and its original sin which is slavery. Going forward, he displayed interest in all else except race, which he sparingly spoke about. He preached that himself had to be twice as good and half as Black which he definitely revealed to be a false promise and double standard of integration. For most of his term in office, Obama declined to talk about the ways in which race complicates present America. Not only now, but the president refused to address race throughout his own presidency. During his time as president, America had extensive acts of hate wars, police brutality, and off the chart numbers of white law enforcers murdering unarmed Blacks. When it came to dealing with these situations, he dealt with them with the same wink and nod approach he used when he was being elected. A s a consequence of Obama's historic presidency, issues of racial inequality and injustice have been pushed further to the margins of national politics. H is approach for ensuring that Blacks mattered were ridiculed during his 2012 campaign, where black voters were most looked as volunteers. He portrayed to be a great leader for us but condoned the attitude of let us make history again above all other things more important. The truth is, us black voters need to be as critical in setting policy agendas as we are when it comes to voting. Obama has pretty much added to normalizing the dysfunction and believes that society is color-blind and race doesn't matter. He couldn't be more wrong. Instead of him taking the race issues by the horn and confronting them head-on, he still deals with them through the back door. I think Obama emphasized too much on what white America thoughts of him were, rather than used his political powers to the much-needed capacity that Bl acks could have greatly benefitted from. President Obama should have listened to candidate Obama, then he would not be following a pattern of becoming

Cannabis Sativa Essays - Medicinal Plants, Herbalism, Free Essays

Cannabis Sativa Essays - Medicinal Plants, Herbalism, Free Essays Cannabis Sativa Hemp is the plant called cannabis sativa which is more commonly called marijuana.Marijuana has been illegal in the U.S.. ever since the Great Depression. The question we must ask ourselves is why?Why is a drug that has so many beneficial uses illegal? Is it because its poisoning the youth of today? Is it because itleads to harder drugs, the health problems, the addictiveness, the short-term memory impairment, the auto accidents,or is it simply because politicians tell us it is for our own good? We have grown up learning that marijuana is aterrible drug, and that using it gives us brain damage, kill all of our brain cells, and makes us lose our memory.The fact is though, that marijuana does not effect us in any of the ways listed above. The idea that marijuanaimpairs short-term memory is true, but misleading. Any signs of short-term memory impairment vanish once the user isno longer intoxicated. Mainly the reason we think marijuana is bad is because that is what the Partnership for aD rug-Free America wants us to believe. They tell us that marijuana will cause brain damage and memory impairment,it will kill brain cells, and lead to more crime. But what they forget to mention is all the benefits we can receive fromlegalizing marijuana. For example, the medicinal uses, and the textile and construction uses. It is very likely thatlegalizing marijuana would decrease the crime rate, and by legalizing marijuana we will save a lot of money becausewe won't have to spend it on fighting marijuana as part of the War on Drugs. There are many habits much worsethan marijuana, one example being cigarette smoking. Tobacco smoking kills more people each year than AIDS,heroin, crack, cocaine, alcohol, car accidents, fire and murder combined. Tobacco smoking is the number onecause of preventable death in the US. Tobacco smokers have 10 times the lung cancer of nonsmokers, twice theheart disease, and are three times more likely to die of heart disease if they develop it. Does it mak e sense thattobacco is legal and marijuana is not, when so many people die from tobacco smoking each year and there is not onereported case of anyone ever dying from marijuana use in its 10,000 years of consumption? You have probably heardthat one joint is that same as 10 cigarettes, but this statement is misleading. ALthough marijuana contains the sameamount of carcinogens as an equal amount of tobacco and more tar, tobacco is still worse. Every yr 350,000Americans die from tobacco-related disease according to the American Lung Association. A tobacco smokerconsumes much more tobacco than a marijuana smoker consumes marijuana. This is probably because tobaccohas a 90% addiction rate while marijuana is less addictive than caffeine. Also, tobacco contains nicotine that mayharden the arteries and may be responsible for much of the heart diseases caused by cigarette smoking. Marijuana onthe other hand contains the chemical THC which opens up the lungs and aids in the clearance of smoke and dirt. Ithink it is safe to say that tobacco smoking is much more dangerous than marijuana smoking. Another bad habit isalcohol, which in my opinion is the worst of all. 8,000 American teenagers are killed each year and 40,000maimed from driving under the influence. The mortality figures for alcohol use are 100,000 annually, compared to thezero marijuana deaths. The amount of marijuana needed to kill someone is 1 to 40,000, while the ratio for alcoholfluctuates between 1 to 4 and 1 to 10. Not only do many people die each year from alcohol poisoning, but alcoholhas caused thousands of fatal car accidents. Although, marijuana, when used to the point of intoxication, impairsjudgement and reaction time, actual studies suggest that the effect alcohol has on one's driving ability is muchgreater than that of marijuana. In fact, it is found that 85% of marijuana related car accidents also involved alcohol. It issad to think that a legal drug like alcohol, the drug of choice for most teen s, causes so many fatalities on ourhighways each year, yet marijuana is the drug that is illegal. I personally feel that marijuana is an amazing plant, andit should be being utilized today. The problem is that most people don't know the benefits that can come frommarijuana.

Employees Performance Appraisal Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Employees Performance Appraisal - Coursework Example Potential appraisal is the evaluation considering the personal qualities of the employee like his communication skills, leadership qualities, and commitment. It is different from performance appraisal in that performance is something that has happened in the past while potential abilities are those that an employee might possibly possess that can be enhanced to improve his performance in the future. The goal here is to make the employees aware of their potential prospects in future and to enable the organization to plan out management succession strategies. Potential appraisal helps the organization to lay out training and recruitment programs so that employees’ job opportunities can be increased. Question 2 The main goal of potential appraisal is to make the employees aware of their career development so that they have a clear vision about their future prospects. When the employees know which personal qualities they posses and which they need improvement in, they actually get a clear outlook on their personal haves and have-nots and this helps them build their capabilities through training sessions and motivation programs. They come to know how much confidence they possess; how good they are in decision making and problem solving; how they handle workplace stress; how independent they are; and, much more. This aids their career development and thus their future becomes bright with regard to their job. An employee can himself ask for an assessment of his potential qualities if he wants to be promoted or transferred. Otherwise, the company conducts this assessment to know if there is a need for training or motivation, and whether a certain employee should be assigned higher level responsibilities or not. This assessment may be conducted through different methods: self-appraisal, superior-appraisal, peer-appraisal, or role playing, are all methods conducting potential appraisal. Hence, potential appraisal is very future oriented and focuses on the career d evelopment of the employee. Question3 It is the manager’s responsibility to make sure that it is in the organization’s policies to include potential appraisal as a part of performance appraisal program. A line manager is assigned to conduct potential appraisals. A mutual understanding between the manager and the appraisee is important which can also build up during meetings between the two. It is the responsibility of the manager to gain information about how to conduct the appraisal process properly because if he does not have enough experience conducting potential appraisals, then he might end up showing negative cascaded attitude toward the process and telling that appraisals are a waste of time. This negative attitude then goes down among the appraisees as well and then the whole bunch of employees or teams of employees start possessing the same attitude. Thus, a manager’s role is very important because he portrays the attitude of the overall workforce. Also , a manager should maintain a written record of all potential appraisals and must make sure that all the capabilities of employees are judged properly without any bias. Since the manager better knows about the employees’ qualities and much more that is not explicit, his responsibilities increase when it comes to the future prospects and career development

Cyber-Bullying Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cyber-Bullying - Research Paper Example Due to the unfortunate and highly publicized cases of teen suicide due to cyber bullying, parents are becoming increasingly aware of the problem and taking steps to prevent their child from being victimized in this manner. Cyber-bullying can be effectively reduced with the combination of parental involvement and newly developed software that filters content. Cyber-bullying affects people of all ages but teenagers are by far the most vulnerable and most victimized. This relatively new type of bullying does not inflict physical injury therefore may go unnoticed by parents. Too often parents do not realize their child is being libeled, coerced or taunted on Facebook, harassed through an online chat room or cyber-stalked by a number of electronic means. Cyber-bullying has been defined as online social malevolence and electronic bullying. It occurs via instant messaging, on a gaming or other social networking website, through email, by phone texting and in a chat room. Photos sent via the se venues are another way to harass. Cyber-bullying shares common features with traditional, schoolyard bullying but is less observable and allows the perpetrator to be anonymous. Due to the unique qualities of cyber-bullying it presents distinctive challenges. There are three ways to deal with cyber-bullying, parental understanding and involvement, the ability for the person being victimized to take steps to stop the harassment and the means to track the perpetrator. According to statistics provided by the i-SAFE foundation: At least half of teenagers have bullied another person online and about half have been bullied. About one-third of teens have been threatened online. More than one-fourth of teens have received continual online threats. More than half of cyber-bullied teens do not inform their parents. According to surveys conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center: More than eight in ten teens regularly use mobile phones. It is the most common cyber-bullying medium. Unlike the schoolyard, girls are more likely to be the cyber-bully. Boys are more likely to receive threats. Between 10 and 20 percent of teens are regular victims of cyber-bullying. All races are cyber-bullied to about the same extent. The most common form of cyber-bullying involves rumor mongering. Unsurprisingly, victims of cyber-bullying are likely to have a diminished self image and to contemplate suicide. (Zaleski, 2011). Cyber-bullying takes many forms. As an example, a teenager who has no known adversaries at school or in the neighborhood begins being inundated by psychologically hurtful and threatening emails from an anonymous sender or senders. The teen recipient does not know who or how many people are against them therefore becomes frightened and increasingly paranoid both at school and home. Another example could be: a cyber-bully builds a phony Facebook profile but uses a class-mates photo, actual name and contact information. The cyber-bully then posts hateful and/or embarr assing messages and pictures then makes â€Å"friends† with other classmates. The fake profile circulates rapidly around school due to its provocative nature causing continuous humiliation for the victim. A variation of this is spamming a school’s web-based bulletin board with rumors about a student. (Hardcastle, 2012). Actual instances include the infamous Rutgers student who committed suicide by

Innovation and New Ventures Business Plan and Investor Presentation Coursework - 1

Innovation and New Ventures Business Plan and Investor Presentation (Service) - Coursework Example Korea is densely populated which means there will be high demand. The business capital will be raised by its three partners’ equal contributions. Mission statement Best Bet mission is to help English students in South Korea through interactive teaching to achieve value for their money by being efficient in English. Objectives 1. To create a sustainable business relationship with the South Korean English students. 2. To achieve maximum business growth and revenue by the third year in the industry. 3. To penetrate the English Teaching industry in South Korea and its neighborhood. Opportunity & Assessment Business Description Best Bet English Tutors will be offering private teaching of English as a foreign Language in South Korea. The firm is owned by three business partners; Felix Adam and Jared. The partners have done other businesses together and one of the partners has actually taught English in South Korea before. This means that the partnership has some basic details on the requirements of teaching English in South Korea. The partners also have business experience since they have other businesses though not in the teaching or tutoring sector. One of the partners is also well versant with legal matters, currency and intellectual properties regulation issues. The third partner has stayed in South Korea and worked in a local marketing firm. Best Bet English Tutors therefore will benefit from the skills and experiences of its partners. Product Definition The services Best Bet English Tutors will be offering personalized English tuition. Due to the high cost of running a teaching business on a rented space, Best Bet English Tutors intend to operate from individual homes. Others businesses in the industry usually rent out some... According to the study conducted, Best Bet English Tutors will be offering personalized English tuition. Due to the high cost of running a teaching business on a rented space, Best Bet English Tutors intend to operate from individual homes. Others businesses in the industry usually rent out some space and provide transport services to and fro the place. Best Bet, however, will stand out and be different because the tutors will be going to their clients’ home. This will ease the transport complications for the clients and it will be convenient for the business as well. It will also be cheaper for the students because the running costs will be relatively small compared to other tutors in the industry. Teaching methods will emphasize on correct grammar, appropriate pronunciation, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Handouts, textbooks, and other relevant teaching materials will be used. Periodical tests will be administered to evaluate student progress. South Korea is large ly populated which means that demand for English teaching services is high. The Koreans speak one ethnic language Korean. They have strong cultural values which set them apart from others. It is therefore important for any foreigner intending to do business in the country to understand their basic values, cultural practices and beliefs. For instance, the family ties and values are highly regarded through out the country. Each member of a family has some duties and obligation owed to his family and toward others.

Overview Of Tata Steel Pre Merger

Overview Of Tata Steel Pre Merger TATA Steel, earlier known as TISCO, is the iron and steel production company which is the flagship concern of the TATA group, Indias largest private corporate group. Tata Steel was established by Indian Parsi Businessman Jamsetji Tata in 1907. As of 2005, TATA Steel was Asias largest private sector steel company. The company was also recognized as the worlds best steel producer by World Steel Dynamics in 2005. Tata Steel has set an ambitious target to achieve a capacity of 30 million tonne by 2015. To this end it acquired Singapore based NatSteel in 2004 and acquired a 40% stake in Thailand based Millennium steel. Through these two acquisitions, TATA steel added about 3.2 million tonne to its production capacity. As of 2006, TATA Steel had a production capacity of 5.3 million tonnes. After the Corus acquisition (18.2 million tonne), the net acquired capacity was 21.4 million tonne, and TATA Steel plans to add another 29 million tonne by this route. Thus we see that TATA Steel seems to have a definite strategy of increasing capacity through acquisition and is acting on it rapidly. At this point we will conduct a resource based analysis of this strategy. A resource based view of strategy emphasizes the internal resources of a company in the formulation of strategy in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. The following model makes this process clear:- Resources Resources are the input which an organization uses to carry out its activities. And yet organizations in the same industry might have similar resources but have differing performance, since they may utilize their resources differently. For a resource based view, Assets available to a business may be classified in the following form  [1]  (Resources in management TRIZ, Business level):- TATA Steel Particulars Pre Merger Post Merger Tangible assets (in Rs. Crore) Fixed assets 9865 11040 Current assets 2174 2332 Financial assets (in Rs. Crore) Assets (cash) 288.39 7681.35 Net Worth 9755 14096 Intangible Location Jamshedpur Jamshedpur Size World 56th largest World 5th largest Competition None domestically None domestically Thus we can see that prior to the merger TATA Steel was a very large domestic steel player, in fact the largest in India. The location advantage conferred by the plant being in Jamshedpur was aptly put by Mr. Ratan Tata, who said that the owners of iron ore will be the rulers of the steel industry. Its captive raw material resources and state of the art 5 million tonne plant at Jamshedpur gives at a competitive edge. This capacity is slated to go up to 7 million tonne. In addition, TATA steel has extremely good relations with the government in the region by virtue of its long standing developmental efforts in the region. As a result, TATA Steel has acquired a great deal of goodwill among the local population and consequently, the government. This is apparent in the Greenfield projects which the group is setting up in the region:- 6 million tonne plant in Orissa (India) 12 million tonne in Jharkhand (India) Capabilities However, the best resources in themselves are of no real value to a company in and of themselves. The organization must have the capability to employ these resources properly. It is these distinctive capabilities of an organizations resources which result in a competitive advantage. But this advantage is sustainable only if this capability comes from some characteristic other firms do not possess. TATA Steel is one of the lowest cost steel producers in the world. It is also one of the even fewer steel companies which are EVA positive. It has an operating profit margin of nearly 40%  [2]  (avg. = 16%). As an indication, only two manufacturers in USA (and none in India) have higher margins. At the same time, growth rate for sales was 232% and net income was 590%  [3]  . Adding this information to its captive raw materials resources as explained previously, we can see that TATA Steel had a unique position as an extremely low cost steel producer in an extremely fast developing region of the world. Tata Steel holds a very vital place in Indian business history, because it has introduced some of the unique concepts like 8-hour working days, leave with pay and pension system for the first time in India and the first player to start rapid industrialization process. In the later part, the concepts invented and implemented by the Tatas became law and compulsory practice for the Indian employees. A direct result of these employee friendly practices is the goodwill which TATA Steel enjoys among its workforce. In consequence, the Jamshedpur plant furnaces have never been closed down due to industrial strife. Thus we can see the two major capabilities which enable TATA Steel to employ its resources effectively extreme operating efficiency and employee friendly policy. Another point of note is the extremely cash rich status of the organization even prior to the acquisition with an interest coverage ratio of 32, and a growth rate of 380% for net cash flow from operations. Competitive advantage At this point we can clearly see the sources of competitive advantage for TATA Steel prior to the merger. Therefore let us examine its position in the market prior to the merger, with the Porters five forces model. 1) Threat of entry of new competitors The steel industry is one which has a very high entry barrier. In addition, established players already enjoy customer loyalty, and hence it will be difficult for new players to gain market share. On the other hand, the sector promises high returns in future. 2) Intensity of competitive rivalry In terms of price, quality and innovation TATA Steel had no domestic competition as of 2005-06. However, on a global scale, it was just so small in terms of volume that it could not bring into play the economies of scale of the truly major players. 3) Threat of substitute products This threat is well nigh negligible with respect to steel. 4) Bargaining power of customers The steel industry is one of periodic swings in demand. However, with an average growth rate of 7% expected in countries like India, China and Brazil in the foreseeable future, we can safely assume that price of steel will continue to rise. In fact, the price of steel has doubled over 2006-2008  [4]  . However, it is also accepted that consolidation in the steel industry will lead to stabilisation of world steel prices and higher bargaining power. This is necessary because the buyers are consolidating e.g. auto makers are consolidating with six to seven global majors. 5) Bargaining power of suppliers The three major iron ore suppliers CVRD, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have a 75% market share and 40% margins. Clearly, small players are at a distinct disadvantage. Strategy In this context, let us examine the strategy of acquisition as proceeded upon by the TATA Steel management. First, TATA Steel had proximity to low cost iron ore, and the capability to take advantage of it. As a result, TATA Steel had acquired leadership status in the Indian market. In terms of the BCG Matrix, it would be considered a star. However, if it does not grow into the international it would, sooner rather than later, become a cash cow. In order to remain a star, it would have to grow its capacity and become a world major. However, before the Corus acquisition, it was only at 56th position in capacity. In terms of the world market, TATA Steel would find market penetration in Europe or America extremely difficult. In addition, as explained via the Porters five forces model, steel producers are on the wrong side of the equation both with respect to the buyers as well as suppliers, who are well consolidated and hence in a position to dictate terms. Hence, it is necessary for global steel players to consolidate as well, and thereby acquire a position of strength. This would decrease price fluctuations and increase earnings multiples. Hence, considering resources (cash, technology) present with the company, the competitive advantage it enjoyed (low cost, high margin) and the market conditions (consolidation), acquisition of some major manufacturer and jump into the big league was the only choice. Strategic Decision Undertaken The strategic decision we will be considering for the purpose of this project is Tata Steels decision to acquire Corus and the how they went about the entire process. The reasons behind the takeover will be viewed in detail along with a resource based view of the resources so collated by the newly formed company now known as Tata Europe. I really believe that the owners of iron ore are going to rule the industry. They will be OPEC of the steel industry. (Ratan Tatas interview to McKinsey Quarterly quoted by Wheatley in Financial Times, January 29, 2007). This statement made by Ratan Tata expresses in clear words the true reason behind the adoption of this strategy. Corus- An overview Corus headquarter in London, Europes second largest producer of steel and the 9th largest in the world was founded in the October 1999 via a merger between two companies British Steel and Koninklijke Hoogovens. This merger was a result of the privatization of Steel producing companies by the U.K government. In the year 2005 its revenues stood at  £9.2 billion. Corus had a divisional structure which comprised the Strip Products division, the Long Products division, Aluminum Division and the Distribution Building division. Corus customer base ranges across countries of the world and its core businesses include the manufacturing, development and allocation of steel aluminum products as well as services. It has a diversified product services portfolio which comprise manufacturing of electrical steel, narrow strip, plates, packaging steel, plated steel strip, semi-finished steel, tube products, wire rod and rail products and services and also design, technology and consultancy servic es. To support this elaborate array of products services, Corus employed about 42,600 employees in sales services centers across 40 countries. The main strength of the company lay in its international expertise with local customer service and its brand which stood for quality and strength Through the period of 200 2006 Corus grew via a number of acquisitions which did add to its large pool of long term debts, but nevertheless it has a wide range of customer segments ranging from commercial and military aerospace ventures, the automotive, construction, engineering, defense and security, as well as the rail and shipbuilding industry. Some of the Financial Information available in respect to Corus in the year 2005 has been put in annexure 1. Acquisition Based Dynamic Capabilities Tata Steel has often used the Acquisition strategy to expand their products and markets or gain other advantages and have in most cases been good at it. Looking at this strategic decision from Acquisition Based Dynamic Capabilities approach we find that over the years the Tatas have well groomed these capabilities into their system. There are three factors to consider here: Acquisition Selection Capability- Tata steel was correct in timing the merger as it was due to emerging trends in the world steel industry with the increasing consolidation in the market. With a eat or be eaten mentality it was essential for this strategy to be adopted in order to become the 5th largest producer of steel and give competition to post merger entities like Arcelor-Mittal etc. Also there would be multiple points of contact with their firms existing resources and those of Corus owing to the long list of synergies as listed in the following pages of the report. Acquisition Identification Capability- The most appropriate target for the Tatas was definitely Crus as there was the horizontal integration with respect to the R D capabilities that the Tatas were keenly interested in adding to their resource base. The Due Diligence was well carried out as though there were certain cultural issues in the way, the top management of the Tatas were fact to act in a manner to resolve the issues. Some of the steps they took involved retention of crucial executives of Corus to help in a smoother integration process and also aid in running the newly formed entity. Also the Tatas did not over pay for the deal as the market value of it exceed the price they paid, and the yearly savings expected from it were substantial. Apart from that they were able to gain access to wider distribution networks and newer markets. Acquisition Reconfiguration Capability- This is one of the most crucial aspects which can determine the success of failure of a merger. It involves the acquirer to be able to merger its resources with the new ones acquired and do so in a productive and efficient manner in order to enhance the functioning of operations etc. Tata Corus Merger Tata steel started the acquisition process in the year 2005 but since Corus had been involved in a number of its own acquisition processes the deal was finally closed with the acquisition of Corus on the 2nd April 2007 as per official records. The price paid or the same was considered to be too high at an overwhelming $12 billion out of which the Tatas financed the deal with only $4 billion. This strategic decision undertaken by Tata Steel raised their rank from the 56th to being the 5th largest steel producing company in the world. In all fairness it is necessary to note that this acquisition did not come to the Tata with ease, as though the bidding started at 455pence per share, by the time the deal came to a close it had resulted in gaining a price of 608pence per share. This 33% hike in bidding rate was caused due to the emergence of another bidder, the Brazilian Steel maker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN). The Counter Bids The deal so made was a 100% acquisition and the newly formed entity now renamed Tata Europe is being run by one of the subsidiaries of Tata Steel. As Corus had been looking to make an exit, Tatas acquisition proved to be a profitable opportunity. The expected synergies deemed the deal to be beneficial for the Tatas as although some said that the Tatas overpaid, it was clearly communicated by the Tatas that they had paid much less than the replacement cost (market value) of all the assets they were able to acquire via this merger. Reasons For This Merger Strategy- The Global Trends The Steel market in the world had been witnessing some very strong trends which called for such a merger. There are a series of mergers which happened in the world steel industry which include some of the following: In 2004, Mittal bought International Steel Group, an American company which included assets of the previous Bethlehem Steel. Mittals merger with Arcelor ($36.1 billion offer) in 2006 created the largest steel company in the world. In October, 2006, Russian steelmaker Evraz Group bought Oregon Steel Mills of the U.S. for $2.3 billion. Nucor, the second largest US steel producer, acquired Harris Steel Group of Canada for $1.07 billion in January 2007. Severstal, the largest Russian steelmaker had invested $800 million in a new plant in Mississippi and $900 million in a plant near Detroit. Essar Group of India has made a $1.6 billion investment in Algoma Steel of Canada (2007) as well as $4.65 billion offer to buy Minnesota Steel Industries. On May 4, 2007, Swedish steelmaker, SSAB, made a $7.7 billion cash offer to acquire Ipsco of Canada. Global Steel Production in 2005 Hence we see that the environment of the steel industry was amenable to consolidation. There was a strong desire among key players to gain efficiencies resulting from steel production. Some of the reasons for such a trend towards acquisitions were: Obtaining access to new and growing markets Enhancing purchasing power with respect to suppliers and buyers Growing economy of China and India during mid-2000s Higher degree of price stability better margins Attractive to Investors Eat or be eaten mentality A desire amongst the key players to gain efficiencies resulting from scale Steel prices have been on an upward trend as can be seen in the following graph. This phenomenon started in the year 2004 and slowed down due to the economic crisis in 2009. But a great deal of volatility has been witnessed in the market and had been another major reason to consolidate so as to have a greater hold on the market dynamics. There was also lot of speculation in the market about China, the worlds largest producer of steel to increase its capacity resulting in a dip in world prices of steel. Growing economies like China and India did make up for a major demand for steel and to meet this requirement China was even importing steel from outside. Following is the graph of 2006-2008: Prior to the beginning of the deal negotiations, both Tata Steel and Corus were interested in entering into an MA deal due to several reasons. The official press release issued by both the company stated that the combined entity will have a pro forma crude steel production of 27 million tons in 2007, with 84,000 employees across four continents and a joint presence in 45 countries, which makes it a serious rival to other steel giants. Post- Acquisition Scenario A Resource Based Perspective Before After EBITDA 13% 25% Capacity 7 MTPA 25 MTPA Position 56 6 Business Resources with sub-categories in Management- TRIZ Concrete Level Business Specific Level Tangible Assets Fixed Assets Assets: 23741.48 cr Cutting edge technology- providing metal solutions Low cost upstream Tata facilities with high end downstream processing facilities of Corus RD facilities of Corus Intangible Assets Human Distribution networks, Research and Development capability of Corus to be leveraged for Tata Steels green field projects in Orissa, Bihar and Jharkand Finances Capital, Obligations and Savings To finance the deal worth $12 billion the following sources were used: Equity by Tata Steel: $ 3.88 billion Bank loans: $ 8.12 billion by Credit Suisse, ABN Amro and Deutsche Bank Long term loans obligation to be paid by Corus cash flows Obligations: Total interest obligation: $ 640 million to the already existing interest obligation of Corus amounting to $ 400 million Pension liabilities of Corus $ 24 billion Cost Synergies: Production cost $ 710/ton which is far less than a green Field project which would cost around $ 1200-1300 per ton Savings of $350 million per year through synergy General Characteristics Location of Operation Main Center India; UK, Netherlands and South East Asia Markets Innovative solutions to: Construction, Packaging, Automotive, Aerospace Energy, Engineering, Defense and Security, Consumer Products, Ship Building, Rail Greater access to market and Significant presence in over 25 countries or regions Products Bar billet, Business services, Construction products services, Electrical steels, Packaging steels, Plates, Plated steel strip, Pre-finished steels, Rail products services, Sections, Semi finished steel, Specialty, Strip products, Support products, Tube Products, Wire Rod Size Post Acquisition Sales Rs 8105.30 cr Production Capacity 26 million MTPA Competition Position 5th largest Steel Maker with a production capacity of about 26 Million Tons Per Annum Strengthened position in construction, automotive and packaging construction sector Management Resources with sub-categories in Management TRIZ: Concrete Level: Management Specific Level: Planning and Coordinating; Strategic Planning- For the growth and globalization the route of acquisitions was taken up and the logic has been explained before. Post acquisition the top management of the acquired company was retained for effective integration of processes Operational Planning-. The Tata Steel and Corus operations were being run as one virtual company with performance improvement tasks being undertaken in each location. The aim was cross-fertilization of research, development of capabilities across functionalities and transfer of best practices from Europe to India. Organization- Company Operational Structure- 15-18 teams were formed with 3-4 members each with joint representation in teams to look at various synergistic avenues Company Organizational Structure- Corus Tata SteelIntegration Team- 7 members Several Task Force Teams were also constituted for integration. Organization and Environment- Government and society- The acquisition had a very positive response from India, Indians felt patriotic towards this investment. In fact the Indian Trade and Commerce minister Kamal Nath commented that the global perception of India is now changing. This way the Indian government and society was quite supportive of the deal, in spite of critics commenting that the deal was over-priced. The historical ties between India and UK were also becoming stronger, Trade and Industry were looking up. Markets- the Tata Steel stock attained a 52 week high of 721 on March 2007, showing positive investor response. SPs credit rating also improved Informal Organization Culture- Both the organizations had similar performance culture with respect to aspirational targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement and openness and transparency. However, there were some cultural issues: Inherent in the mind of the employees. Resentment of being governed and managed by a former British colony Insecurity of production centers shifted out of the UK to low-cost centers. The labor unions in Europe raised their concern regarding this. Other Characteristics Compensation mismatch 18.5 % employee expense (Corus) 7.9 % employee expense (Tata Steel) Recent developments: In 2010 Tata Group has announced that the name and logo of TATA Steel will be used use for Corus. The transition also signifies that Tata Sons, which controls the use of the Tata brand, is satisfied that operations at Corus are now aligned with the characteristics of the Tata brand. The workers understand this is a name change and also realize that the Tata board has been supportive of the employees. It implies that synergies are being attained and that cultural integration is on the right path. Leadership: Common organization values for Tata Steel and Corus: Continues improvement program Integrity, respect for individual and world class governance Post- Acquisition: The company had effectively retained the top management of the acquired company to facilitate effective integration and to take care of the above stated cultural issues of the employees. This move coupled with effective communication has instilled confidence amongst the employees 2010 Current Executive committee which manages day to day operations of Tata Steel Europe (new name for Corus under Tata Steel) Value Chain Perspective There were significant effects that were seen on some parts of the value chain post Tatas acquisition of Corus. As already detailed above, Tata saw Corus as a strategic acquisition and took some immediate and long term steps to make the acquisition a success. Operations: This part of the value chain witnessed a saving of a whopping $103 million in 2008 09 post the integration process. Performance Improvement Teams (PITs) in 15 different areas were identified. These teams engaged in various new cost related projects in the wake of the economic recession and reduced volumes. The most important project that the teams worked on was the use of low cost coal for coke production and recycling of steel plant waste. Marketing and Sales: The acquisition of Corus gave Tata access to European markets in a very time efficient and cost efficient manner. Tata got access to the distribution network of Corus which was instrumental for its expansion in Europe. With the help of new capacity new products were introduced to cater to an expanding market in Europe. Post the acquisition, the company added flat products to Corus portfolio and thus strengthened Tatas position in the Automotive and consumer product segments. Tata globally became the 6th biggest player in the steel industry. Outbound Logistics: This function of the integrated company has undergone significant computerization and has led to more efficient supply chain management. The IT teams of Tata Steel Europe (Erstwhile Corus) are working in coordination with the IT teams of Tata Steel India to strengthen the IT support to this vertical. Both are also working to create online visibility of the operational performance of the organization. Procurement: This support function has seen significant cost savings driven by the increase in scale of the combined entity. Post the acquisition, Tata Steel Europe has appointed Lead Buyers for high value items and thus has streamlined the processes to a large extent. Contracts have been renewed for these suppliers and a resultant savings of over $40 million have been realized. Technology Development: The acquisition has provided Tata access to the latest technology and state of the art Research and Development setup. Tata has always been known for its technological excellence amongst the Indian peers but Corus took it to international standards. Post this deal, the total RD strength of the company has gone up to 1000 people. Process improvement teams have been set up leveraging the expertise of Corus for better process technologies. Through this RD set up TSE (Tata Steel Europe) has been working with various strategic partners one of them being the UK ministry of Defense. Human Resource Management: To increase efficiencies and in the wake of the economic downturn faced by the organization in FY 09, the company decided to cut its manpower costs by 20%. The target departments were IT, Finance and Human Resources. This undercutting was done through leveraging of Tata Steel Groups capabilities. A Performance Improvement Committee was set up during the integration phase and it still is responsible for knowledge transfer across the organization and adapting of best practices, which has to a great extent to Tata Steel Europe. Firm Infrastructure: Substantial steps have been taken in this regard in various departments such as finance, plants etc. This has been the pivotal point of addition in the value chain of the new company. Finance: Substantial expansion in the equity and debt resources was witnessed in order to acquire a big company as Corus. As the acquisition was essentially financed by raising substantial debt ($7.3 billion), the gross debt of the Tata Steel group stood at $10.54 billion in 2008 and increased to $11.78 billion by close of 2009. Restructuring of the debt has been witnessed in the recent past but the debt equity ratio still stood at 1.65 as at the end of FY 2009 from a low of 0.06 in FY 2006. Asset Restructuring, Integration and Divestment: With the acquisition of Corus, Tata Steel was the owner of an asset base that was thrice he size of the original Tata Steel and therefore was the need for integration of assets, divesting the obsolete assets and pairing down of overlapping assets. Immediate steps taken included closure of 4 plants and mothballing of 2 plants out of the 15 plants of Corus group. The expansion of the hot strip mill capacity at Port Talbot to 4mt. is on the table; and a decision to restructure the Corus Engineering Steels has been taken. All of this was done under the Fit for Future initiative undertaken at the merged company. Sources: Tata Steel Annual Report 2007 08 Tata Steel Annual Report 2008 09 Achieving Global Growth through Acquisition: Tatas Takeover of Corus, Journal of Case Research and in Business and Economics Tatas Acquisition of Corus: A Quantum Leap, Rashmi Malapur, The ICFAI University Press (2007) Achieving Global Growth through Acquisition: Tatas Takeover of Corus by Kimberly, Suresh and Jessica http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=articlesectid=5contentid=201007022010070215213931780a91fb3 http://indiaearnings.moneycontrol.com/sub_india/compnews.php?autono=264760 http://www.tatasteeleurope.com/en/company/management/executive_committee/ http://www.financialexpress.com/news/tata-steelcorus-synergy-realises-76-mn-in-fy08/347487/

Wind Power in the United States Essay -- The Physics of Wind Turbines

I personally do not like windy days. However, wind could be helping us more than we realize. We could be using the wind to produce energy. This is what wind turbines do and now I will be researching them to determine the physics involved with them and how they work, their history, along with some statistics from the United States. Then I will go in-depth for the wind turbines of Texas, Washington, and Kansas and compare them. The Physics of Wind Turbines There is physics involved in these wind turbines as they change wind into mechanical energy and then into electricity. The energy produced depends on the volume of the air, the density, and the wind speed. The mass per unit time is the mass times the density times the wind speed or m = mass, p = density, A = area, and v = wind speed; m = pAV. Because the function of the wind turbine is to transform the wind’s kinetic energy into electricity the equation for kinetic energy is needed; KE =  ½ mv2 or kinetic energy equals one half the mass times the velocity squared. Then, using substitution, the power in the wind depends on the density of the air, area swept out by rotors, and the cube of the velocity or  ½ pAV3. Using Betz’ law the theoretical energy model for extracting 59% of the energy is power = 16/27( ½ pAV3) . The power passing through or created by the wind power is  ½ pAv3. All the power cannot be captured though, because that would mean the wind had to be still, absolutely no wind, which is impossible when the wind starts the whole process. Thus, one needs to find the maximum theoretical power output. To find the power, take the kinetic energy in through the wind turbine minus the kinetic energy out. Then using three different areas one can find the constant rate of ... ...issued on 2009 Aug 11, cited 2010 Oct 3]. [about 5 paragraphs]. Available from: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/raising-wind-output-with-longer-blades/ American Wind Energy Association [Internet]. AWEA c 2009. U.S. Wind Energy Projects-Kansas [updated 2006 June 1, cited 2010 Oct 2]. [about 3 lines]. Available from: http://www.awea.org/projects/Projects.aspx?s=Kansas Unrhuh C, Leiker D. [Internet]. cJ.S. S.W. Aber. Kansas wind power. [last update 2009 Nov, cited 2010 Oct 3]. [about 1 paragraph]. Available from: http://www.geospectra.net/kite/ks_wind/ks_wind.htm McDermott M. [Internt]. TreeHugger.com:c 2010. Largest wind farm in Kansas. originally from Science and Technology [posted 2008 Oct 3, cited 2010 Oct 3]. [about 1 paragraph]. Available from: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/largest-wind-farm-kansas-built-by-italian-developer.php