What Is A Stock Market Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 935 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? A stock market also known as an equity market is a public entity where shares are issued and traded either through exchanges or over-the-counter markets. It provides companies with a platform to raise capital and investors with a percentage of ownership in the company. The New York Stock Exchange is the largest stock exchange in the USA, in terms of market capitalization. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "What Is A Stock Market Finance Essay" essay for you Create order In Asia, few of the prominent examples include the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange etc. The stock market allows shares of businesses to be publicly traded, or raise additional financial capital for expansion (through additional stock offerings). The liquidity that an exchange provides to the investors gives them the ability to easily buy and sell securities. Some companies actively increase liquidity by trading in their own shares. Share prices and stock market movements are an important part of the dynamics of economic activity, and is often considered a good indicator of economic health of a nation. An economy where the stock market is on the rise is considered to be a healthy economy. In fact, the stock market is often considered the primary indicator of a countrys economic strength, development and progress. Rising share prices, for instance, tend to be associated with increased business investment and vice versa. Share prices also affect the income levels o f households and their spending and consumption patterns. Therefore, central banks tend to keep a watchful eye on the smooth operation and stability of the financial system. The intrinsic value of a company and its stock Intrinsic or fundamental value is the perceived value of an investments future cash flows, expected growth, and risk. A wise investor would want to purchase shares at a rate which is lower than the intrinsic value, which may be quite different from the market price (which is determined by the forces of demand and supply) of the share. Every buyer and seller has his/her own rationale behind purchasing or selling an asset, and they may employ different methods to estimate the value of the asset before making a decision to trade in it. Therefore, an asset may trade at a price which is significantly below or above its perceived intrinsic or fundamental value. The purpose of estimating intrinsic value is to take advantage of mispriced assets. If the market value of an asset is above its intrinsic value then the investor might choose to sell the asset. If the market value of an asset is below intrinsic value then the investor might choose to purchase the asset. In broad terms, t here are 3 commonly used methods to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock:- Discounted Cash Flow or NPV Analysis The most common technique is the discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis for calculating the net present value. In simple terms, the DCF technique tries to compute the value today, based on projections of all of the cash flows that the company aims to generate during a few years in the future. It works on the principle of time value of money (TVM) (i.e. cash to be received in the future is of less than that received today). This is not always easy; it is a difficult task to forecast how a companys future cash flows will grow, the duration for which they will grow, and what rate should be used to discount it and arrive at its present value. The DCF technique can be outlined in 4 steps as follows:- Step 1: Forecast the expected cash flows of the company. Various assumptions regarding the growth rate, working capital requirements etc. will have to be used in order to arrive at a relatively accurate forecast. Step 2: Compute the discount rate to be used for computing the NPV of the cash flows. This rate is also known as the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC). WACC = [E/(E+D)*Re] + [D/(E+D)*Rd][1-Tc] Where, E = Market value of the firms equity D = Market value of the firms debt Re = Cost of equity Rd = Cost of debt Tc = Corporate tax rate. Step 3: Calculate the value of the company by using the WACC to discount the expected cash flows. Step 4: Calculate the intrinsic stock value, by subtracting the companys liabilities (such as debt, preferred stock etc.) to get the Value to Common Equity and then divide this by the number of shares outstanding. The advantage of DCF analysis is that it is based on free cash flows (FCF), which is less subject to manipulation than figures and estimates computed using the financial statements of a company. It is also forward-looking and relies more on the future performance o f the company, rather than past trends. Earnings power value (EPV) Earnings Power Value is a valuation technique which uses the equation: EPV equals Adjusted Earnings divided by the companys Cost of Capital. This technique works under the assumption that there is no growth. Therefore, analysts believe that this is a simpler way to analyze stocks than DCF analysis (which relies on speculative growth assumptions for the future). However, it does rely on an assumption about the cost of capital, as well as the fact that current earnings are sustainable (with several adjustments). Asset-based methods These methods require analysis and computed based on figures available in the financial statements of a company (such as Income Statement, Balance Sheet etc.). One of the techniques (the liquidation value technique) aims to estimate the value at which the various assets of the company (such as land, machinery etc.) can be sold off, after accounting for any liabilities that may be outstanding at that point of time.

Native american Essay - 601 Words

People had already been living in the Americas for thousands of years before the Europeans â€Å"discovered† the Americas. When the Europeans invaded this land they brought with them diseases such as smallpox, malaria, yellow fever, plague, typhus, and influenza contagions that repeatedly spread through the Native American peoples, killing them in high numbers. At the time the United States was settled by Europeans, it was abundantly populated by dozens of separate nations with diverse civilizations and cultures. Despite their initial confusion to their situation after the arrival of Europeans, the Native Americans did not take their disenfranchisement from their own land lying down. Native Americans have a long history of quot;fighting†¦show more content†¦With such diversity of the Native American people in terms of tribes, location, and differences of mixed ancestry, it is easy to understand why such a diverse people respond to their unique position in a number of ways. Some Native Americans who live on a reservation are so used to being just among their own people it like culture shock when they are sent out into a world they really dont understand or were properly prepared to go out into. They are never given the social skills to interact with other races because they never had to interact with other races; they were always around Native Americans. I think that some Native American’s who leave the reservations after living their entire life there, to go to school quickly run into prejudices that they are not used to. They do not realize that sometimes it may not directed at them personally, that is just the way some people are because they do not understand the culture or its people. A Native American raised on the reserve will probably have a difficult time with different races because they are not immersed in a multi-cultural setting. All that person knows, who came from a reservation is family and the people they were raised around. They had very little contact with other races other than their own A Native American raised in a rural setting is exposed to some of the other races out there in the world. So it is not so hard for them to interact, they willShow MoreRelatedNative American And Native Americans1137 Words   |  5 PagesNative American Displacement Long ago on the great plains, the buffalo roamed and the Native Americans lived amongst each other. They were able to move freely across the lands until the white men came and concentrated them into certain areas. Today there are more than five-hundred different tribes with different beliefs and history. Native Americans still face problems about the horrific history they went through and today s discrimination. The removal of American Indian tribes is one of theRead MoreNative American And Native Americans1221 Words   |  5 Pages1607, the Native Americans have been treated poorly by the Europeans. The settlers came and stripped the Natives of their land by wars that the Natives were not equipped to fight. Native Americans were forced to move towards the west into uncharted territory and many died on the journey. The American government later made many promises to the Native Americans that were unkept, which had a very troubling effect on their communities. The promises the Unite d States government made to the Native AmericansRead MoreNative American And Native Americans871 Words   |  4 Pages Native Americans have been forced out of their culture over time, forced into assimilation, lost their rights, and have lost their land due to policies and laws by the whites that can’t bear the Native American way of life. There used to be many Native American tribes all throughout North America, and now these tribes are spread across the country and are blended into the rest of the population. The native ways have changed drastically in the last two centuries due to relocation programs, IndianRead MoreNative American And Native Americans1187 Words   |  5 Pagesmany Native American had already been there and the government were building railroads and roads. People rushed to settle in the west to mine for gold. Cities and town along with railroad and roads building at a rapid pace changed the habits of the buffalo. Buffalo were an important symbol in the Native Americans live they used buffalo as their main food source and they use the skin to make clothes and teepee covering , bones for silverware and hunting tools like arrow. The Native Americans makeRead MoreNative American And Native Americans1292 Words   |  6 PagesStates, Native Americans are considered to be people whose pre-Columbian ancestors were indigenous to the lands within the nation s modern boundaries. These peoples were composed of numerous distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups, and many of these groups survive intact today as sovereign nations. The terms Native Americans use to refer to themselves vary regionally and generationally, with many older Native Americans self-identifying as Indians or American Indians, while younger Native AmericansRead MoreNative American And Native Americans1156 Words   |  5 Pageswith the Native Americans. The whites had different ideas that they wanted to contribute to the country, and the Native Americans wanted to stay lo yal to their cultural traditions. The early people of the United States gradually gained control of the country. This lead to Native Americans being methodically pushed off their land, deceived multiply through a broken treaty, and most of all, not being completely recognized as citizens by the rest of American society. Some of these Native American groupsRead MoreNative American And Native Americans2248 Words   |  9 PagesThe Native Americans, their origin and similarities with Native Finns Native Americans, the first settlers of the Americas arrived to the continent about 15 000 years ago. Crossing a land bridge between Asia and America during the ice age. It was not just one group that spread across the continent, but small groups of migrants for a long time period. The land bridge which the migrants used to cross between the continents does not exist today, but is instead known as the Bering Strait. All of theRead MoreNative American And Native Americans2251 Words   |  10 Pageshistorical evidence, the notion: â€Å"Native –Americans were not the first inhabitant of America is a complete false. For centuries, history kept accurate and vivid account of the first set of people who domiciled the western hemisphere. Judging by that record and evidence, below are the first set of Native-American people who inhabited the western hemisphere, including the new â€Å"America† before the arrival of another human race†¦ The Iroquois: The Iroquois of Nati ve Americans were one of the tribes that livedRead MoreNative American And Native Americans2322 Words   |  10 Pagesago, Native Americans roamed North America. That was until the arrival of the whites lead by Columbus in 1492. The white Americans then began to take as much land as possible, contradict with the native’s customs and tried to take complete control of their lives. Native Americans didn’t believe in owning land- they believed that all of the land was everyone’s to share. So when the white Americans find out none of the land is owned, they take control of the land, and slowly push the Natives out asRead MoreNative American And Native Americans1803 Words   |  8 PagesAmericans have long been fascinated with the imagery and lore of Native Americans. From early historians to Mark Twain to Hollywood, Native Americans have been viewed as savages, aggressors, monotonal in voice, and drunks. Native Americans have had a strong influence on America’s birthplace including environmental issues to the diet and foods we eat. It was not until the arrival of the European settlers that Native Americans faced the deterioration of their civilization and culture. Events of

Latino Engineering Continuous Improvement â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Latino Engineering Continuous Improvement? Answer: Introducation The paper analyses the case study of Latino Engineering, a company that started from scratch under the leadership of Dominic Latino. Perhaps the name Latino Engineering was drawn from its owner Dominic Latino. However, in the case study Dominic Latino, after a long service in the company decided to sell it to Investment Group that maintained the companys name even after the takeover. It is glaringly notable that the company is facing a raft of problems since its takeover even after it retained some of the companys previous employees before even the purchase. As clearly stated in the case study, during the reign of Dominic Latino he singlehandedly made decisions, but the company was still stable and afloat. In his leadership, the management relationship with its employees was cordial and perhaps that made workflow quick and efficient. Ideally, when the working relationship is superb, definitely the employees would work synergistically to deliver excellent results and that is why the c ompany gained customer loyalty. Nonetheless, the paper would have to use some quality tools to examine the root causes of the problems Latino Engineering is experiencing today in the case study. The quality tools to be used in the identification of the root cause of this problem are accordance with the requirements of the total quality management. Besides, after quality tools have been used to identify the causes of the problems in the case study, the paper would also develop an implementation plan that would be used to eliminate or perhaps minimize the root causes of the challenges the company is facing today (Salah, Rahim, Carretero, 2014, P.250). Finally, in accordance with the continuous improvement plan approaches, PDCA methodology would be used to develop an improvement plan Latino Engineering would use to streamline its business operations. Identification of roots causes using quality tools and techniques In total quality management there are seven main quality tools that are used to identify the root causes of problems an organisation can face (Goetsch, Davis, 2014, P.67). They include: histogram, Scanner plot, check sheet, the Pareto diagram, control chart, cause, and effect diagram. All the seven tools can equally be employed to identify the sources of problem in this case study. But, picking one or two quality tools would still give some root cause of the problem. This being a problem that can be analyzed qualitatively as opposed to quantitatively, Pareto Diagram and Cause-effect Diagram are the most appropriate in establishing the root causes of the challenges of Latino Engineering. Cause and effect Diagram This quality tool shows the systematic relationship that exists between the cause and effect or results. However, the relationship can also be between symptoms, effects or outcomes and the causes (Magar, Shinde, 2014, P.365). In essence, this quality tool is easy to apply, business it helps in digging deep into the root cause. It traces the source of the problem and relates its effects and outcome. This tool simply uses the approach of reverse engineering, where the effect or the results at hand are analyzed to understand its causes. This quality tool follows the procedure below: Agreeing on defining the effect, this then is used to understand the causes. The effect must be defined clearly, and analyzed properly so that it leads to the understanding of the cause (Sokovi?, Jovanovi?, Krivokapi?,. Vujovi?, 2009, p.5). On this step, one needs to be meticulous because any misstep in this stage can make it impossible to identify the actual root causes. After defining the effect, and thoroughly analyzing it, the TQM consultant would then have to determine some main groups of the problems (Magar, Shinde, 2014, P.365). The categories can be people, process, management or generally the environment. The categories or classes of the problem are then connected to the backbone to assist in understanding the effect. Ideally, the cause and effect diagram is like this one below here: Application of Cause and Diagram to the Latino Case Study Using this tool, it is apparent that Latino engineering requires engineering equipment to carry out its business activities. However, going by the reports of customers, they have complained that the company is using faulty equipment. Therefore, without any doubt, equipment is one of the root causes as far as this case study is concerned. Businesses are required to use the right equipment to carry out their roles excellently, but in this case in point it is crystal clear that some defective equipment was used. Process Apparently, the wrong equipment impacted the process of servicing vehicles in the right way to the satisfaction of customers. Therefore, the process can also be considered to one of the root causes, because if the process is right, definitely the use of wrong or faulty engineering equipment would not have happened. The process is said to be right, effective or efficient if it uses the material or equipment to perform some task. Thus, if Investment Group followed the right process obviously customers would not have raised complaints indicated in the case study. Employees Also, since employees are the ones that carry out the processes, then they can also be categorized as a root cause of the problem (Sokovi?, Jovanovi?, Krivokapi?,. Vujovi?, 2009, p.5). They allowed the use of faulty equipment or material to carry out their roles and as an employee one must be able to ascertain if the equipment they are using is effective or right before proceeding with the process. Thus, the poor quality the customers are reporting is because the employees at Latino Engineering stopped following the right process, like the former owner of the company Dominic Latino. Management It essential to note that Investment Group is the one managing Latino Engineering, and before them the management of the company was effective and that is why there were no any complaints from customer. In the case study it is reported that Dominic Latino could make here decisions independently and that did not affect the quality of their products or services (Pettersen, 2014, P. 209). However, with the new management at the company, cases of poor quality are being reported and also the service team at the company is not attentive to the customer needs. All the complaints about poor quality, incompetent service team reflect the kind of leadership at the company. In summary, poor quality, poor customer care services and drop in returns at the company can be attributed to the following root causes: equipment, process, employees and management. In the use of this cause and effect, it is evident that one cause leads to another problem. If these causes are represented in a diagram they would then be able to form a diagram like the one shown above. Thus, cause and effect diagram is effective in identifying the root causes that are leading to a certain results or effect. Pareto diagram This quality tool is like a bar chart, and it is equally instrumental in identifying a root causes in any problem as in the case study of Latino Engineering so that a strategy for improvement can be developed (Magar, Shinde, 2014, P.365). Ideally, using this tool categories are also required depending on the data collected. First, what a QTM consultant should do identifying an area with most complaints and establishing the nature of the complaints. Identifying the frequency of complaints would then help in drawing a Pareto diagram like the one below. Using the example of the Pareto diagram below, then one can conclude that documentation is the root cause of a problem An example of Pareto Diagram Product quality- Considering the case study of Latino Engineering there are complaints that the product quality has dropped unlike during the time of Dominic Latino (Sokovi?, Jovanovi?, Krivokapi?,. Vujovi?, 2009, p.5). In the case study, it is indicated that the designs are bad and also the engineering equipment used is faulty. It is notable that during the time of Dominic Latino the customers liked his products due to better designs and quality, hence poor quality is indeed a root cause of the problem in this case study. Packaging- There has been cases of wrong products being shipped to the customers. In all honesty, from the perspective of customers, a company that is unable to deliver the right product to satisfy their needs, is not caring and is not committed to meeting their needs. As a result, customers can shift their loyalty to cares about their needs. Poor service delivery- Since Dominic Latino quit the company and the new management of the Investment Group took over, customers have started raising complaints about service delivery. They are complaining about the service team at the company not keen to listen to their needs. Service team at any organization should observe customer care relations, and the failure of this team at the company indeed is a root cause to the problem Latino Engineering is grappling with. Management- However there is no direct complaint about the current management of Latino Engineering, but from the concept of the buck stops with the top leadership, it is perfectly right to assert that the entire failure witnessed at Latino Engineering is due poor management. The management needs also to be looked into, to understand their leadership and failures to maintain excellent product quality at the company. Being a minor problem, the management root cause can be categorized as others, because if broken down it can be learnt that the top leadership may not be the cause of the companys problems as outlined in the case study (Kerzner, 2013, P.65). In summary, using the Pareto Diagram to identify the root causes, product quality could be the main cause the company is failing. Also, poor packaging, poor customer care relations and management are some of the root causes. Nevertheless, using both the cause and effect diagram and Pareto Diagram, it is evident that the root causes are almost similar if they are both analyzed in details. Thus, it is effective to use more than one quality tools in order to ascertain root causes from different perspectives, to establish the right approach to solving a problem as in this case in point (Meredith . Mantel, 2014, p.8). Nevertheless, after identifying the root causes, as a TQM consultant the next step is coming up with an implementation plan that can help eliminate or reduce the root causes. To develop an implementation plan, lean management and six sigma have to be integrated to solve eliminate some of the root causes at Latino Engineering so that the company can go back to its profit-making era. Besides, the origin of lean management is reported to be from Toyota in Japan and later many firms in the USA have implemented it objectively to eliminate things that can prevent them expanding and making profits (Groves, Knopman, Syme, Kalra, Mao,2017, P.9). Implement Organisational culture change Lean management and six sigma are today have advanced in the management system and that is why they are applied to eliminate some problems in an organization (Arnheiter, Maleyeff, 2005, p.9). Both Lean management and six sigma recommend change of organization culture. Investment Group need to change its organisational culture, from that culture where employees are reckless and not customer-centered to one that is customer-centered, keen on details and synergistic (Lam,O'Donnell, Robertson, 2015, P.211). Ideally, lean management recommends eliminating things that are derailing an organization, and through a new organisational culture Latino would be able to solve a problem of non-responsive service team that has completely derailed the companys customer care relations. Organisational culture would inculcate some values that would drive Latino Engineering forward. Respect Responsibility According to TQM, six sigma it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that the quality of goods and services is excellent at an organisation (Goetsch, Davis, 2014.p.8). As an employee, it is important that one needs to understand that they have an obligation to the organization. As mentioned earlier, Latino Engineering needs to change its organisational culture; it is through this culture that every employee would nurture the ownership culture (Fryer, Antony, Douglas, 2015, P.6). When employees feel that they own a company they feel indebted to serve it. Therefore, the management needs to ensure that every employee in their capacity needs to ensure that the Latino Engineering offers its customers high quality product or services. As a result, the company would have to change its leadership at the service team, and some of the employees in the department should be retrained on customer care management (Groves, et, al, 2017, 89). Also, those employees that fail to take their res ponsibilities as required by the company should be sacked. Sacking and hiring According to lean management, a firm should do away with waste and in this case study it is apparent that some mechanical engineers are becoming burden and unprofessional and that is why they could just use faulty engineering equipment (Andersson, Eriksson, Torstensson, 2006, p.283). Also, in the use of cause and effect diagram quality tool, it was observed that customers complained about receiving wrong products from the ones they orders. In such a situation, the company would have to sack the individuals who packaged the wrong products and delivered to the customers (Singh, 2015, p.87). In essence, the company is correcting weaknesses and it is necessary to have some individuals sacked and competent ones hired. Creation of Communication Department Another significant element associated with six sigma is its focus on customers (Salah, S., Rahim, Carretero., 2010, P. 250). In TQM, customers are the primary stakeholders, and Latino Engineering must marketing some radical changes which must be communicated to customers (Pettersen, 2009, P.128). First the company should reassure its customers that they are regretting its past failures and they are determined to satisfy their needs. Also, the company should embrace organization communication by creating a PR department, to help the company management frame its agenda and strategies and communicate to its publics. Also, through the PR department, the company should run adverts on radio, newspaper and other media reassuring customers that the company is committed to meeting their needs, as it has been since its inception. In addition, to the advert the company should apologize to customers that were affected by poor quality, and use of faulty engineering equipment. Monitoring and evaluation As recommended by both lean management and six sigma monitoring and evaluation should be used to achieve perfection at the company (Bendell, 2006, P. 258). The control stage is important in undertaking any project and therefore the companys management would now have to augment its monitoring and performance evaluation. Also, the management would directly have to inspect the engineering equipment, so as to avoid the use defective ones. In a nutshell, if Investment Group implements the above listed recommendations it would be possible to eliminate the root causes as explained using the Pareto diagram and cause and effect diagram (Bernhardt, 2013, P.269). Continuous Improvement (CI) Plan PDCA is a model for CI with four stages and these stages are repetitive in nature. PDCA is also called Deming circle (Morgan, Stewart, 2017, P. 304). In TQM, PDCA stand for plan, do, check and act. Plan- it deals with the analysis of what requires for improvement with absolute consideration of some areas that require some changes. Ideally, plan stage seeks to promote decision making by the management on what is required to change (Kerzner, 2013, P.45). According to TQM, the project management has a role to play in running the processes being carried out Chadha, 2017, P.40). Therefore, the management of Latino Engineering would use the plan phase to make decisions on how to improve its product quality, improve its service team and ensure that faulty engineering equipment is not used. Generally, Latino Engineering would use the plan phase to identify its current and future problems to develop a roadmap for solving them (Hibi et al, 2005. P.7). Do- the Do-phase is about implementing changes that were suggested on the plan phase (Ren. Fan, 2015, 269). Decision making is done on the plan phase, and therefore the DO-phase helps in implementing some solutions as recommended on the plan phase (Magar, Shinde, 2014, P.370). Basically, this phase is critical because it is then that decides what exactly the organization should do as far the decisions made earlier are concerned. Check-on this phase the management and supervisors would have to find out if the solutions implemented on the DO-phase are being adhered to (Magar, Shinde, 2014, P.370). Of essence again in this stage is that the management would have to analyze the processes at Latino and where they identify some weaknesses they can still plan (Charvat, 2003, P.65). Hence, the check phase can still be carried out with the plan stage. Act- this stage is about result evaluation and in this Latino Engineering would have to evaluate the performance of its Service Team, find out if there are any complaints about quality and engineering equipment (Magar, Shinde, 2014, P.370). After the evaluation, the companys management would still go back to the plan stage to make decisions to correct the mistakes identified before they cause more damage to the company. In conclusion, the case study of Latino Engineering is a project that is on the precipice of collapse unless some changes are implemented. Through the use of Pareto diagram and cause and effect diagram, it has been possible to identify some root causes, whose solutions have been provided on the implementation plan. Furthermore, the continuous improvement plan, which uses PDCA-cycle, would help the company improve its activities as soon as possible to avoid the problems outlined in the case study. References Arnheiter, E.D. and Maleyeff, J., 2005. The integration of lean management and Six Sigma.The TQM magazine,17(1), pp.5-18. Andersson, R., Eriksson, H. and Torstensson, H., 2006. Similarities and differences between TQM, six sigma and lean.The TQM magazine,18(3), pp.282-296. Bendell, T., 2006. A review and comparison of six sigma and the lean organisations.The TQM magazine,18(3), pp.255-262. Bernhardt, V., 2013.Data analysis for continuous school improvement. Routledge. Chadha, R., 2017. Value Through Continuous Improvement. FAIMA Business Management Journal, 5(1), p.40. Charvat, J., 2003.Project management methodologies: selecting, implementing, and supporting methodologies and processes for projects. John Wiley Sons. Fryer, K.J., Antony, J. and Douglas, A., 2015. Critical Success Factors of Continuous Improvement in the Public Sector: A review of literature and some key findings. Groves, D., Knopman, D., Syme, J., Kalra, N. and Mao, Z., 2017. Evaluation of the Jinan City Water Ecological Development Implementation Plan and Recommendations for Improvement. Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014.Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Han, M., Ahn, K.H., Ryu, J., Son, J., Park, B.K. and Kim, Y.S., 2014. Evaluation of the Development and Reduction Scheme under Implementation Plan of Total Maximum Daily Loads in the Jinwi Watershed.Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers,36(6), pp.451-459. Hibi, S., Ina, K., Kabeya, M., Inoue, H., Shirokawa, Y., Nagaoka, M., Yokoi, S., Suzuki, A., Niwa, E., Kataoka, T. and Yuasa, S., 2016. SY-2-4Quality management of cancer Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, auditing controlling. John Wiley Sons. Lam, M., O'Donnell, M. and Robertson, D., 2015. Achieving employee commitment for continuous improvement initiatives.International Journal of Operations Production Management,35(2), pp.201-215. Magar, V.M. and Shinde, V.B., 2014. Application of 7 Quality Control (7 QC) Tools for Continuous Improvement of Manufacturing Processes.International Journal of Engineering Research and General Science,2(4), pp.364-371 Meredith, J.R. and Mantel Jr, S.J., 2011.Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley Sons. Morgan, S.D. and Stewart, A.C., 2017. Continuous Improvement of Team Assignments: Using a Web?Based Tool and the Plan?Do?Check?Act Cycle in Design and Redesign.Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education,15(3), pp.303-324. Pettersen, J., 2009. Defining lean production: some conceptual and practical issues.The TQM Journal,21(2), pp.127-142. Ren, M.M., Ling, N., Wei, X. and Fan, S.H., 2015, November. The Application of PDCA Cycle Management in Project Management. InComputer Science and Applications (CSA), 2015 International Conference on(pp. 268-272). IEEE. Sokovi?, M., Jovanovi?, J., Krivokapi?, Z. and Vujovi?, A., 2009. Basic quality tools in continuous improvement process.Journal of Mechanical Engineering,55(5), pp.1-9. Salah, S., Rahim, A. and Carretero, J.A., 2010. The integration of Six Sigma and lean management.International Journal of Lean Six Sigma,1(3), pp.249-274. Singh, J. and Singh, H., 2015. Continuous improvement philosophyliterature review and directions.Benchmarking: An International Journal,22(1), pp.75-119. Zlatunich, N. and Couture, T., 2015. 2015 gap analysis for Uganda Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan 20152020. chemotherapy using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle method by chemotherapy team.Annals of Oncology,27(suppl_7).

Should the polluter pay Essay Example

Should the polluter pay? Paper On March 16, 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of France, polluting two hundred miles of coastline. Though fifty-nine thousand tons of oil were spilled, only twenty-thousand were removed by refining plants. This led to the death of approximately twenty-thousand birds, nine thousand tons of oysters, and damage to other species. The oil spill damaged the pink granite in nearby areas, and ruined seventy-six tourist beaches. The incident, however, could have been avoided, if the captain of the ship had called a tug boat in time. This tug would have pulled his ship away from the rocks, thus preventing the incident. This example highlights the damage that a negative externality can have. What is an externality? It is the effect on a third party from the use or provision of a good or service. There are two kinds: positive and negative. Most of the externalities that make the headlines today are negative externalities, with examples including numerous oil spills, pollution by electricity companies and others. I believe that companies should be forced to pay for the negative externalities that they cause, either as taxes or being forced to solve the problem that they created. Every business has an obligation to ensure the well being of the community within which it operates. This involves solving or funding the solution of the problems that they make. This is the basis of R. Edward Freeman’s article â€Å"Managing for Stakeholders. † Freeman, a philosopher and professor, believes that companies are expected to be â€Å"good citizens † and should attempt to control any negative effects as efficiently as they can. He says that managing for stakeholders is all about providing â€Å"value † without resorting to the creation of negative â€Å"tradeoffs . We will write a custom essay sample on Should the polluter pay? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Should the polluter pay? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Should the polluter pay? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer † I agree with Freeman on this point. If businesses can provide value without the creation of negative tradeoffs then society and the company would greatly benefit. Consumers today are much more socially conscious than ever before. If they have the opportunity to buy goods that are made in a socially responsible manner, a great number will be willing to pay the extra cost. This could potentially increase sales of the company and as a result profits would also go up. The scope of most laws designed to protect the environment from business activities is rather limited. They give companies the idea that a limited amount of pollution is okay. The same goes for laws created to control negative externalities. Companies should be forced to shoulder the costs of their negative externalities as this will force them to spend money to rectify their mistakes. While encouraging them to not make the same mistakes again, this will allow them to save money and reduce the creation of negative externalities as well. My view is also supported by N. Cristian Brown, a retired law professor and journalist, who wants the ideal company to be a socially responsible one. Brown also states that if businesses were forced to pay the full costs of operating, then they would realize that their businesses are too big to be profitable. Comparing a large company to a dinosaur, naming it â€Å"Econosaurus Rex,† Brown shows us her belief in the destructive nature of large corporations. She strongly feels that only government intervention will be able to solve the problem. Brown’s article is in direct contrast to Gene Callahan’s article â€Å"What is an Externality? † Callahan, an author, believes that the free market will be able to take care of any externalities arising from the operation of a business or an industry. He is a believer in Nobel Laureate Ronald Coase whose analysis states that as long as property rights are clearly defined, and the cost of enforcing these rights is relatively low, the people who are affected by this can agree with the company on how to internalize the externality. The people of the area will know best on how to internalize any externality, as they are the most familiar with their surroundings and will be the most inclined to get them back to what they used to be. This gives them a rather large stake in the enforcement of property rights. But the main problem with property rights is that they are very hard to define, which is why they cannot be implemented easily. For example, if a company pollutes a river by dumping toxic waste, and property rights are defined for a certain stretch of the river along which a town lies, the company will be forced to clean up that stretch. But it is unlikely that it will clean up the rest of the river, as it will incur large costs for them, and it is not required by law. This is why the use of property rights is not feasible. This is the main free market solution to this problem, and since it is not very effective, I feel that only government intervention will work. The two main ways in which the government can intervene in order to control negative externalities are Pigouvian taxes and cap-and-trade programs. Pigouvian taxes are the more commonly used form of government control on companies creating negative externalities. They are taxes which focus on activities that cause â€Å"more harm to others. † Taxes can be both producer side and consumer side. An example of a producer side tax is a tax on pollution resulting from production and an example of a consumer side tax is taxtion on highways, which prevent congestion. These taxes are a burden on society, but they are offset by the â€Å"the reductions they cause in costly side effects of everyday activities. † These taxes would also generate high levels of revenue, thus making up for the deficit in public earnings. Since Pigouvian taxes are constant, they would provide a continuing incentive to innovate in methods to reduce pollution resulting from production. The other major alternative is a cap-and-trade program. A cap-and-trade program involves putting a cap on the total amount of pollution, which is deemed â€Å"acceptable,† and issues a number of permits which enforce that level to companies. Firms that pollute less than their permit allows them to, can sell off the excess permits to other companies. This method creates financial incentives for companies to come up with strategies to reduce pollution, as they can gain by selling off excess pollution allowances and lower payments for intial pollution allowances. The market based side of this allows efficient allocation of permits. If a company can reduce pollution at a low cost, then it can sell its excess permits to companies that cannot do so. Thus, it results in an overall reduction of pollution, but at a lower cost. Also, the government obtains revenue from the initial auction of the permits and by taxing the increased profits of the firms that can sell off their excess permits. There is an interesting side effect of the cap-and-trade program in the USA. A number of environmental groups have gone about buying excess permits, thus driving up the demand for permits, and thus, the price for permits. This makes it more costly for firms to pollute, which serves the government’s goal of reducing pollution. However, there are some major disadvantages with both these methods that we need to contend with. The major disadvantage of the cap and trade program is the fact that it gives producers the idea of an â€Å"acceptable† level of pollution. It also may mislead society into believing that there is a reduction in pollution, when it is only a reduction in per unit levels of production. There is also a chance of the bigger corporations buying up a majority of the permits, this perpetuating the pollution that the introduction of permits is trying to reduce. Taxes also have their own set of disadvantages. They can have a regressive effect on societal income, wherein low income groups have to pay the tax eventually, leading to issues of equity. It will lead to an increases in price of goods that are being sold. It also raises the question of exactly how much to tax. However, in spite of these shortcomings, government intervention is still the most effective method of controlling externalities. I feel that it is necessary for governments to intervene in order to control negative externalities. The free market simply does not provide enough feasible options. The ‘polluter pays’ principle, in my opinion, is the way to go, and companies should be taxed or forced to solve the negative externalities that result from normal commercial activity. This will provide an incentive for them to try as hard as possible to reduce those externalities to the best of their ability. We must remember, that at the end of the day, it is necessary to control the externalities, as they are slowly destroying the planet. To quote a Native American proverb â€Å"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children;† and it is for our children that we must ensure that the perpetrators must pay for their transgressions. Word Count: 1510 WORKS CITED 1. Brown, N. Cristian. Scaling Down Corporate Persons. The Daily Kos (2009). Print. 2. Callahan, Gene. What Is an Externality? The Free Market (2001). Print. 3. Frank, Robert. How to Run up a Deficit, Without Fear. New York Times 6 Dec. 2009. Print. 4. IncidentNews: Amoco Cadiz. IncidentNews: Welcome to IncidentNews! Web. 22 Mar. 2010. http://www. incidentnews. gov/incident/6241 5. Lee, Susan. How Much Is the Right to Pollute Worth? Wall Street Journal (2001). Print. 6. Freeman, Edward R. â€Å"Managing for Stakeholders. † Business and its Publics: Inquiry and Discourse. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2008. Print. 7. McGee, Matt. Economics: In Terms of the Good, the Bad and the Economist. Victoria: IBID, 2005. Print. 8. Environment Quotes, Green Sayings, Ecology, Conservation, Pollution, Etc. The Quote Garden Quotes, Sayings, Quotations, Verses. Web. 28 Mar. 2010. http://www. quotegarden. com/environment. html.