Economic science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic science - Essay Example In order to fully comprehend the phenomena of transaction cost and/or evolutionary economics, it is imperative that the concept of management accounting be fully understood as well. Management accounting may be defined in various manners. It is basically related to the use of accounting information by managers of organizations. It helps them in making prudent and timely decisions to run their businesses in an efficient and effective manner. "Transaction Cost Economics concerns itself with markets and hierarchies as alternative governance mechanisms for completing a set of transactions. Market forms of governance tend to rely on prices, competition, and contracts to keep all parties to an exchange informed of their rights and responsibilities it is based on two assumptions about economic actorseconomic transactions are intendedly rational, but only limitedly so and economic actors seek self-interest with guile." (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3933/is_199811/ai_n8812605/print) According to Williamson (1996), this type of economics is basically related to the, "governance of contractual relations" and it consists of three levels which can be easily understood by means of the schematic diagram shown below: The institutional environment helps us to understand and define that "rules of the game". This includes all those factors that may influence or result in a change in the "comparative governance costs leading to a reconfiguration of economic organization". Williamson has basically defined governance to be of three types; market, hybrid and hierarchy. The individual basically is a, "result of the strict assumption of opportunism (i.e., self -interest seeking with guile) and human cognition is subject to bounded rationality (i.e., "intendedly rational, but only limitedly so"). In addition, TCE views governance as the means, "by which to infuse order, thereby to mitigate conflict and realize mutual gains the key purpose of organization on which transaction cost economics focuses is that of adaptation, of which two kinds were distinguished: autonomous adaptation in response to changes in relative prices, and cooperative adaptation accomplished through administration. Not only do transactions have differing "needs" for adaptations of these two kinds, but governance structures have differing capacities to supply autonomous and cooperative adaptation". (Williamson 2000, pp. 12, 19-20) New Institutional Theory Oliver Williamson is popularly known as the founder of the New Institutional Theory (also called the Evolutionary Theories of Economics) and he also coined the term "institutional economics" in 1975. However, its origins can be traced back to the works of Coase (1937), Hayek (1937, 1945), Chandler (1962), Simon (1947), Arrow (1963), Davis and North (1971), Alchian and Demsetz (1972), Macneil (1978), Holmstrm (1979) and others. Various definitions for the new institutional theory can be found in literature. Rosenberg (2000,p. 70) has defined it as, "a mechanism blind variation and natural selection that operates everywhere and always throughout the universe." "The new institution

Report on Human Resources Management Practices of the Burberry Group

Report on Human Resources Management Practices of the Burberry Group Burberry group is a leading luxury manufacturing company in UK. Burberry group established in 1856 and recently it celebrated its 150 years in history. In this year it announced the closure of its Welsh factory. A PESTEL analysis is conducted to evaluate the external environment of China. It assists the firm to run the business in host country. SWOT analysis also plays an important role to find out the company objectives and identifies the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. For the entry in the market of china and recruitment of managerial level employee, company uses the geocentric approach. This approach helps to find the best and experience employee for the company. Table of Contents Executive Summery 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 5 PESTEL Analysis 5 Political: 5 Economic: 5 Social: 5 Technology: 6 Environment: 6 Legal: 6 SWOT Analysis 6 Strengths: 6 Weaknesses: 7 Opportunities: 7 Threats: 7 Key Issues 7 Sourcing Strategy: 7 Equal Opportunity: 7 Trade Union: 8 Supply Chain: 8 Advantages of Factory Move: 8 Disadvantage of Factory Move: 8 IHRM Approach 8 Geocentric Approach: 8 Recommendations 9 Action Plan 10 Clarify Goals: 10 Recruitment: 10 Coaching the Employees: 10 Motivation and Performance Appraisal: 10 Employee Satisfaction and Feedback: 11 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction Burberry is a leading and luxury brand name in UK, deals with the different brands that approach women, men and kids. Burberry was established in 1856 in England and celebrated its 150 years in manufacturing the lifestyle products and its accessories for women, men and for the kids. Burberry has around 260 directly operated stores. Addition, the also sold its products through concession with a wide network of 71 third-party operated retail locations and wholesale customers. All the wholesalers of the firm are leading prestige retailers. At the end of fiscal year 2006, the company generated  £743 million revenue. This revenue generated by the company from Europe, Japan, North America and from Asia (Burberry, 2010). PESTEL Analysis The PESTEL analysis of China and UK are as follows: Political: China is governed by the communist party. The communist party is not support the foreign players in domestic market. Some political decisions, taxes, policies are not support the environment of business. As well as in the UK, government has a major impact on businesses. The political party provides the best supportive infrastructure to the companies (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). Economic: Economic condition is good in China. It shows constant growth rate in GDP with 7 to 8 Percentages every year. GDP per capita income is also shows the growth at US$ 6,100 in 2008 and US$ 6,600 in 2009. UK is one of the most powerful economies in the world with a gross national per capita income of US $ 41,520 in 2009 (Gross National Income Per Capita, 2009). Social: China is a culture with high power distance, reflecting that there is a large difference between consumers social status. Language barriers are one of the challenges when western companies entered in Chinese market. In UK, social status of consumers is high and uses the luxury products for the social status symbol (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). Technology: China has become one of the powerful countries in innovations and technologies. Chinas 60 percentages of technologies including atomic energy, space, high- energy physics and biology, computer and information technology have reached or are close to the worlds advance level. UK is a develop country in the world. UK firms are at or near the forefront in technology advances, especially in aerospace and military equipment. In UK, internet users are increase with the population of 48.755 million and the internet hosts are 7.03 million in 2010 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). Environment: China faces the environmental problems like water shortages, water pollution from untreated wastes, and loss of one fifth agriculture land since 1949 due to soil erosion and economic development (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). UK trying to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and government also trying to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste (Central Intelligence Agency, 2010). Legal: China governed by one communist party so, the companies in china legally bounded with the law of china and work according to the law. But in recent years in UK, there have been many significance legal changes that affected firm behavior like introduction of age discrimination and disability discrimination legislation, an increase in the minimum wages. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis of Burberry Group plc is as follows: Strengths: According to Pahl Richter (2009) Burberry group is a leading luxury brand in UK. Companys major strength is its brand name, trademarks and other intellectual property. Company growing its licensing channels worldwide, those delivering high incremental return on incremental capital. The company manufactures the heritage products in clothing with the quality, function and modern classic style. Weaknesses: According to Bà ¶hm (2009) company has a vertical integration that reduces the profit margin and the value from manufacturing. Company has an apparel segment in its profile that has increased fashion risk and affects the companys profits. Opportunities: The Company has a good opportunity of expansion of retail network and wholesale distribution in other countries. Company has an opportunity to restructuring of its Spanish operations in order to gain Spain to its global business modal and introduce the Burberry global collection in the market. According to Ferrell Hartline (2008) Company has an opportunity to extension of its apparel offering to the existing and future customers. Threats: According to Henry (2008) the main threat of Burberry group is to control the over licensees and wholesale accounts. The company refines its sourcing strategy that process affects relationship with suppliers. Company is mono brand and trademark that increasing in fashion risk in the market. Company faces the problem of counterfeiting in the market. Key Issues The key issues of Burberry group are as follows: Sourcing Strategy: The sourcing strategy affects relationship with existing and potential suppliers during the transition period because there is evidence in case study that the company refine its sourcing strategy for selection of suppliers to maintain and increase product quality and improving sourcing efficiency ( From Case). Equal Opportunity: Company creates the policy of equal opportunity to recruit the most capable candidate for the job and develop competent employees. In this policy all employees receive fair and equal environment in the company (From case). There is an evidence that company believes, the communication is important between company and the employees for building relationship and motivating employees. Trade Union: Trade union played a powerful role in a company decisions and strategies. Employees make a trade union to protect the rights in organization. There is evidence in case that GMB trade union was successful in delaying the closure date of the Burberry factory and warehouse in Treorchy. Supply Chain: There is evidence in annual report 2005/06 that company come with some initiatives to redesign its supply chain. The corporate social responsibility committee of Burberry Company considers supply chains that include maintain acceptable labour, environmental and social practices. Advantages of Factory Move: Move the factory in other country; gain the market reputation in other country. Company gains the competitive advantages In China raw material and labour is cheap rather than Treorchy. So, company gains the cost efficiency in their production. To moving the factory in other country, company can increase in market share. Disadvantage of Factory Move: To moving factory in other country, employee losses his job. Company faces the cultural differences to move the company in other country. Company faces language differences to move the company. China is communist country, there are some policies, rules and regulation for establish a company. This makes difficulty for Burberry group to move the company in china. IHRM Approach Company can adopt the geocentric approach for the international human resource management in china. The geocentric approach is as follow: Geocentric Approach: According to Briscoe, Schuler Claus (2008) geocentric approach, the firm can hire best people in all executive position according to their ability and knowledge rather than nationality. Burberry group can use its human resource most efficiently by transferring the best person to the job. In Geocentric approach, company coordinates its subsidiaries and headquarters for decision making activities. It can be helpful to make a stronger relationship network among the entire global management team because of continues interaction and networking help to understand the country culture and work place among the team members (Briscoe, Schuler Claus, 2008). The advantage of geocentric approach is that this approach offers the good opportunity to all executive level employees work in different countries. This approach helps to build a team of executives who understand the international operations. According to Vance, Vance Paik (2006) this approach helps to build a global limited vision and loyalty for the company. In this approach the HR director can follow the standardization policy for recruitment of executives. In this policy, HR director can follow the standard criteria for recruitment of managerial level employees. There is evidence in the case that Burberry group established a corporate social responsibility committee in 2005 for giving the equal environment and opportunity to the employees in the manner of money and facilities. In this environment employees are rewarded according to their contribution in the company. Company has some standard to recruit the candidate to gain the most capable job candidate and develop competent employees. China is a communist country so, most of the large foreign company, especially multi-national companies operate its business with the association of china government partners. In this approach company can face the implication of cross culture conflict and control. In an analysis of high performing companies with the multinational management teams proved that culture difference gives the advantages of business. There is evidence Wei (2001) that this culture difference might even contribute to a competitive advantage by providing a broader range of perspectives for managing the company within such complex economic and cultural system. Recommendations On the analysis of china HRM and the market position of the company, it is recommended that the company should conduct a market analysis in the china. It can be helpful to understand about the competitors in the market. According to Wei (2001) in order to enter in the Chinese market, company should use the joint venture strategy with Chinese luxury product manufactures. It would be helpful in the growth of the firm in Chinese market. There is evidence in case that Burberry group has worldwide network of licensed directly operated stores, concessions, third party operated retail location and a network of wholesale customers. This would be helpful to growth in market share of china. According to Courtis, Ratcliffe Allsop (2006) China is a number one in population in the world so, the labour easily available at less cost for the production. It would be helpful to produce the products at cost efficiency. That will be helpful to increase in market share and competitive advantage. In china, company should enter with the joint venture with other company; this can be helpful to gain managerial advantage in the market because the employees of other company and management know about the culture and language of the country. They have a deep knowledge about the market and situations, it would be helpful to grow in the market and increase in market share. Action Plan The Burberry group PLC makes the action plan to manage the people aspects in both Wales and China are as follows: Clarify Goals: To manage the people aspects of this problem, HR director should define the company goals to all the employees in the organization. It will be helpful to understand about the mission and vision of the company. By the clarify goals, employees will be motivate to do work with effectively and efficiency (Bratton, Gold, 2001). Recruitment: The HR director should recruit the most skilled and motivated employees for the organization. The employees should have the knowledge of their field as well as roles and responsibilities. The entire process of recruitment is monitored by the human resource manager. Coaching the Employees: Training of the employees is another function of the HR director. By the training, an employee can communicate and develop strong relations with the other people. Training provides the knowledge about the organization. It defines the companys long term vision and mission. Motivation and Performance Appraisal: By the motivation an employee can give the best performance in the company. A human resource director should organize a session and lectures that keep the employee update about the competition in the market (Bamberger Meshoulam, 2000). Performance appraisal and compensation is also one of the main responsibilities of the HR director. Employee Satisfaction and Feedback: A HR director should provide the facilities to the employees for motivating. It should be in term of monetary and other criteria. HR director should take the feedback from the different departments about the employees (Courtis, Ratcliffe Allsop, 2006). HR director should understand the feedback of the workers and this lead to a well-organized management of the workers. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Burberry group Plc is a leading company in manufacturing the luxury products for women, men and kids. Its corporate management strategy involves selling high quality products at lower cost to the customers. Company operates its business through licensed retail network and has a good opportunity to expend this network in other countries. Company gives god working environment to employees through corporate social responsibility committee. Burberry group is going to redesign its supply chain network and sourcing strategy for gaining the competitive advantages from the market. It can be concluded that company decides to closure its factory in the other country to gain the global competitive advantages and produce the low cost products. For this, company should merge with other global based company and open new stores in country.

Enviornmental Catastrophes :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many people throughout the world deal with environmental destruction. Whether it is natural or man created, both end in sudden calamities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An example of a natural catastrophe is the 1997 Red River Flood in Grand Forks, North Dakota. One of the unique aspects of the Red River is that it flows North and empties into the lake Winnepeg in Canada. However, since temperature tends to get colder the farther north you get, ice-jamming is often a concern of the Red River during the spring season. The National Weather Service began putting out warnings as early as February that a flood due to the spring melt was likely to occur. Due to Grand Forks harsh winter that consisted of a cruel blizzard, the amount of snow melts exceeded. In an effort to prevent the flood, the North Dakota National Guard dumped sand on the river in hopes to use the suns’ thermal energy to speed up the thawing and eliminate the ice-jams. Unable to control the excessive water the flood of the century began. On April 18, 1997, the Red River’s water level was at 52.19 ft high and had risen at a rate of an inch each hour follo wing. The flood began to take out areas of the city one by one, and people with what little possessions the could grab had to evacuate immediately. After six days of flooding the river finally began to recede and people were allowed to return. The amount of filth left behind from the flood was incredible. Much of the property had been destroyed and basically everything else had been contaminated by the water. Everything that was washed out by the water turned into trash and many had to start all over again. The post-flood clean up that was taken to the dump totaled 224 million ton, which is usually nine months of garbage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An example of a man-created catastrophe is the Tragedy of the World Trade Centers. September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on America had a big effect on New York City environment, and the political and emotional landscapes of the United States. This will be remembered as one of the most shocking days in American history. Armed terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and used them as weapons against the U.S.. The attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and killed three thousand people. The cleanup was a very emotional and strenuous effort by fire fighters, policeman and many volunteers.

Protection and Freedom: Why We Need Our Right to Bear Arms Essay

Fourteen-year-old Jessica Carpenter was left to babysit her younger siblings while her parents were running errands the morning of August 23, 2000. Armed with only a pitchfork, Jonathon David Bruce, who was high on drugs, entered the home and began chasing and stabbing the children. Jessica’s father had taught her how to use a firearm, but she could not access the gun because it was locked up in accordance with California state law. She was left unprotected and unable to defend herself and her family (Pratt). Situations like these are why it is necessary for our right to bear arms to not be infringed. Guns, when allowed to be carried by citizens, can cause a decrease in crime. â€Å"If a criminal thinks his potential victim may be armed, he may be deterred from committing the crime† (Freakonomics) The right to bear arms is necessary because it is constitutionally protected under the second amendment, leads to safer communities, offers personal protection, and because gun control is essentially impossible and would only lead to a false sense of security. One of the main arguments used by proponents of gun control against the right to bear arms is that guns kill people. There are several circumstances in which guns are used to cause death: accidents, protection, and murder. As humans, we are prone to make mistakes. Sadly, mistakes with a gun can cost a life, and unfortunately, these mistakes cannot always be avoided no matter what safety precautions are taken. Murder, on the other hand, is not a gun’s decision. Whether the act was premeditated or not, it was the actions of the person with the gun, not the weapon. Therefore, an appropriate slogan is â€Å" Guns Don’t Kill People, People Kill People,† which is now the official slogan of the National Riffle Association (NRA). Lastly, guns are needed for protection. A gun is used to protect an individual from another individual, a group or the government. Often we see where a store clerk used a gun to shoot an armed person who was trying to rob him, or where a homeowner has shot a burglar. In addition, there were no means for the Jews to protect themselves from the Nazis during the Holocaust. The German government was corrupt, and the Jews were not allowed to have guns, or any other form of protection, and, therefore, had no means to defend themselves. Because of the lack of any means of self-protection, millions of innocent people died. The Constitution of the United States is based-off of John Locke’s â€Å"Social Contract,† which in essence says that the citizenry has a right to revolt against their government if it is corrupt. It is the government’s duty to fulfill our right to self-preservation. The government’s role is to protect us, and we also have a right to protect ourselves; taking away the right to bear arms restricts the ability to protect oneself. Being able to protect oneself, being armed, decreases the likelihood that a crime will be committed against that person. The Second Amendment was added to the Constitution on December 12, 1792. It stated, â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed†(Constitution). â€Å"Gun control proponents have argued that the use of the word ‘people’ in this Amendment refers not to the civilian population of the United States, but to the State National Guard Units.† (Agresti). James Madison, who was responsible for proposing the Second Amendment, argued, â€Å"that a standing federal army could not be capable of conducting a coup to take over the nation. He estimated that based on the country’s population at the time, a federal standing army could not field more than 25,000 – 30,000 men† (Agresti). This means that if the government were to be attacked, the citizenry would have to have protection from tyranny. The citizenry would have protection against the crime of tyranny because it would be armed. Therefore, revoking a citizen’s right to bear arms is not only a constitutional violation, but also threatens the freedoms of Americans. If we as citizens of the United States allow our Second Amendment right to be restricted, it only sets a precedent for other rights, such as the freedom of speech or freedom of the press, to be restricted as well. The essential purpose of the Constitution of the United States was to set limitations on the powers of government rather than grant them powers. The founders believed that the true obligation was to the citizens, and thus the bill of rights was created in order to protect individual freedoms. By mandating the control of firearms, the government is removing the Second Amendment’s guaranteed right to self-protection, and consequently allowing its citizens to be predisposed to criminals. The right to bear arms helps maintain the safety of society. This security is established through a simple apprehension of not knowing who is armed and who is not. While there are other means of protection, carrying a gun is a basic, Constitutional right, and every person is entitled to receive the most amount of protection possible. It is also evident in other countries how gun control negatively affects society. Countries that have strict gun control measures have a much higher crime rate than countries that allow its citizens to have guns. For instance, â€Å"In 1900, when England had no gun controls, the homicide rate was only 1.0 per 100,000. Moreover, using data through 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice study ‘Crime and Justice’ concluded that in England the robbery rate was 1.4 times higher, the assault rate was 2.3 times higher, and the burglary rate was 1.7 times higher than in the U.S.† (Halbrook). Laws were passed in England in 1953 and 1967 made it illegal for any person to carry a weapon (Waters). This shows that when citizens are legally allowed to posses and carry a gun crime rates are lower.

Principles of Macroeconomics Essay

An increase of government purchases occurs after a rise in aggregate output and employment. This tends to stimulate the economy, people then tend to buy more and save less. Therefore, it results to a higher importation than exportation, known as the trade deficit. The budget deficit increases the external deficits because the exports do not proportionately increase to counterweight increase imports. This explains that a large budget deficit raises domestic interest rates and the exchange rate. With a higher exchange rate the domestic products becomes more expensive and foreign goods cheaper. Hence, the import increases while export decreases. Resulting, the trade deficit to be enlarged. Consequently, to help drive the trade and current account of the balance of payments into deficit there is a combination of a higher interest rate and a stronger currency. However, to defend that the budget deficits mainly results from tax cuts that tend to reduce both public revenues and public saving; many researchers have justified the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis. Nevertheless, these tax cuts are effective on reducing public savings and enlarging the budget deficit, equivalently they increase private saving by amount. However, Ricardo’s neutrality hypothesis recommended that the private sector views budget deficits as public investment and treats public and private investment as perfect substitutes. How do the CPI and the GDP deflator differ? Why do economists believe that the CPI overstates the rate of inflation? Is this an important problem? CPI is an accurate measure of inflation. When the price basket goes up so does the CPI. It is limited to what it measures. It only measure the prices of the goods and services purchased by the urban consumers which is about 60% of the total production of the economy whilst on the contrary the GDP deflator measures the total production in the economy. It also allows to show up in the deflator the as people respond to changing prices. With this approach, the GDP deflator is being rebound up to date expenditure patterns. Despite that CPI only measure about 60% of the total production, it helps people give the idea how it affects them because it measures the type of goods they buy. Moreover, it comes out monthly and available anytime. With the historical comparison, most of the time the CPI and GDP price deflator had the same inflation rate, and when there is a difference, they do not differ much. However, if the CPI differs from the GDP deflator, it is only by a fraction of a percentage point, even so this could be important for some economic policy decision. Many economists believe that CPI overstates the rate inflation because they think that CPI is not a good indicator of a current inflation. According to David Ranson, a U. S. economist, a better indicator of current inflation would be increases in the price of commodities because initially inflation affects commodity prices and it will probably take several years for this commodity inflation to work its way through an economy and be reflected in the CPI. It is not an important problem so long as one is using whichever measure is appropriate for their findings. Reference Quantcrunch Tutor (April 2009 ) Q&A in Macroeconomics http://qainmacroeconomics. blogspot. com/2009_04_01_archive. html