Associate Level Material Essay

As part of your Research Plan, you must draft a research question for your research paper. A research question, which is more specific and focused then a general topic, is the question that you will answer in your paper. For example, if your general area of interest is Social Security, a potential research question might ask, â€Å"How might low-income families save more money under a reformed Social Security plan that includes personal retirement accounts? As you develop a research question, keep in mind that you will research sources with both supporting and different viewpoints. Do not select a narrow or one-sided issue that will limit your research; instead, develop a research question that lends itself to further exploration and debate. What is you topic or area of interest? My topic area of interest is early media exposure and the subsequent attention problems in children. In what ways is this topic appropriate for a persuasive essay? This topic is appropriate for a persuasive essay because it asks what attention problems can occur from children being exposed to media at an early age. One of the attention issues that this could entail is attention deficit disorder. What is your research question? My research question is does early exposure to television and internet relate to attention, behavior and sleep problems in children. How is your research question significant or relevant to the wider community? My research question is relevant to the wider community because the audience reading the paper would include parents, teachers, and those working with children. What background information provides the preliminary grounds for your research? The background information that provides the preliminary grounds for my research are studies I found conducted by child psychologists, and pediatricians. What are some expert or authoritative sources of information for your topic? I plan to use the graphs, and information from studies conducted from child psychologists and pediatricians within my paper to give a broader scoop of the negative and positive effects media has on children. What types of materials do you expect to review for your research paper? I expect to review books, news articles, and research materials such as graphs and chart when conducting my research on this subject. What procedures will you follow to conduct your research? I will follow the procedures of the SQ3R system, as well as APA format. I will also use webs and graphs to jot ideas and free write. What difficulties do you anticipate in conducting your research and supporting your side of the issue? The only difficulties I anticipate in conducting my research is writers block and the possible lack of valid source options as I hate to use wikipedia and blogs in any paper they simply are not credible nor appropriate for a college level paper. ï » ¿Associate Level Material Essay Statistics UCR and Self-Report Data Complete the matrix below. To complete this matrix, list two pros and two cons of Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data and two pros and two cons of self-report data. Statistical Information Pros Cons Official Information: Uniform Crime Report (UCR) According to â€Å"Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics† (n.d.), † The UCR Program collects statistics on violent crime (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) and property crime (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft)†. â€Å"By congressional mandate, arson was added as the eighth Part I offense in 1979. Arson statistics are not available for access on this site† (â€Å"Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics†, n.d.). Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the various unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction (â€Å"Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics†, n.d.). According to â€Å"Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics† (n.d.), â€Å"Until data users examine all the variables that affect crime in a town, city, county, state, region, or other jurisdiction, they can make no meaningful comparisons.† Unofficial Information: Self-Report Data â€Å"The great advantage of self-report is that it gives you the respondents’ own views directly† (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005). â€Å"The self-report methods can be used to obtain information in situations where observational data are not normally available† (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005). â€Å"People are not always truthful or forth coming with information during studies† (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005). â€Å"The research participants  may not be able to provide the level of detail, or use the concepts, that the researcher is interested in† (Barker, Pistrang, & Elliott, 2005). Web Resources Identify one Web resource of official information and one Web resource of unofficial information about the occurrence of delinquency in the United States. Copy and paste the URL addresses into the spaces provided. Official Information URL of Web site: http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/ranking.cfm Name of Web site: Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics Unofficial Information URL of Web site: http://www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/barker/supp/excerpt.pdf Name of Web site: Self-Report Methods ï » ¿Associate Level Material Essay Plate Tectonics Worksheet Answer the lab questions for this week and summarize the lab experience using this form. Carefully read Ch. 8 of Geoscience Laboratory.   Complete this week’s lab by filling in your responses to the questions from Geoscience Laboratory. Although you are only required to respond to the questions in this worksheet, you are encouraged to answer others from the text on your own. Questions and charts are from Geoscience Laboratory, 5th ed. (p. 133-150), by T. Freeman, 2009, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission. Lab Questions: 8.4 Which has the greater proportion of Iron, Magnetite, or Hematite? Hematite 8.7 When the reverse switch of a drill is thrown the drill rotates in the opposite direction. How does that affect the drill’s circuitry? The flow of electricity produces a magnetic field and a loop of wire within a magnetic field produces a flow of electricity, when the switch is thrown it reverses the magnetic field making drill spin in the direction of the current flow. .9 Name the 2 other spheres. 8.11 As Columbus’s fleet sailed westward the discrepancy between magnetic north and celestial north changed. Did it increase of decrease? Decreased, North magnetic pole deviates approximately 11 percent from the geographic pole. 8.12 Explain the difference in the orientations of the inclined compass needles in figure 8.18. Toward which cardinal direction is the observer facing? The needle of the compass dips downward in the northern hemisphere and upward in the southern hemisphere. 8.16 During which of these 5 geologic periods were Europe and North America most different in their positions with Earth’s magnetic field? Triassic 8.17 Place the 3 kinds of reefs in figure 8.26 in their order of succession from oldest first to youngest last. Fringing reefs are the oldest, the next oldest would be the barrier reefs, and the youngest reefs are the atoll. 8.18 What explains the shrinking of ocean crust as the crust moves away from volcanoes? As the ocean crust moves away from the volcanoes the shrink because there is lower temperatures. Once the volcanoes form them they begin moving away downward. 8.20 Does it appear in figure 8.29 that the reversals in Earth’s magnetic field are separated in equal periods of time, or are they random in their occurrences? They are random in their occurrences because for example, some periods they reversed 3 times, while in other periods they did not reverse at all. 8.21 What were the three observations that Vine and Mathews made about the stripes? 1. Directional trends- stripes tend to change all on the same direction. 2. Order of the color coding on sides of the ridges- the order of the colors on the side of the ridges corresponds to the color on the sea floor. 3. Widths of stripes compared to the duration of stripes-the wider the stripes are the longer the stripes lived. 8.25 Why doesn’t the South American plate descend beneath the Nazca plate? The Nazca plate is denser than the South American plate. 8.26 How many years will it be until Los Angeles and San Francisco are side by side? Approximately in 12.5 million years 8.27 What is the average rate of northward movement of India during the past 71 million years (in centimeters per year)? 15/71= approximately 2.12 cm per year 8.28 In centimeters per year, calculate the rate at which the Pacific plate is moving northwestern to the hotspot (which is marked by present day volcanoes). 50/5= 10 centimeters per year 8.30 Describe the direction of movement of the Pacific plate during the development of the volcanic islands that comprise the Seamounts. How has that direction changed? During the development of volcanic islands, the pacific plates used to move more northward, but due to the bend in the seamounts caused the plates to shift its movement more on the northwest direction. Lab Summary: Address the following in a 200-300 word summary: Summarize the general principles and purpose of the lab. Explain how this lab helped you better understand the topics and concepts addressed this week. Describe what you found challenging about this lab. Describe what you found interesting about this lab. Write your summary here: This lab was very informative about plate tectonics I learn quite a bit of new information during this study. There were a few thing that I can remember studying during high school, such as continental drift and how continents formed from one single land mass called Pangaea. One thing that I found challenging was about the earth’s magnetic fields, I have never know how magnetic field could ever change. And during this lab I saw that it did not change once but multiple times throughout the years, I even had problems answering a few lab questions about the magnetic field. I also found this topic to be a little challenging, but also very interesting to learn about. Another interesting thing I learned about in this lab was about how a compass can have discrepancy between the magnetic north and the celestial north. As the book says, this discrepancy made some members of the Columbus fleet gave up on their journey because they thought it was a sign. The thing I found to be interesting was how to calculate movement of the tectonic plates. Once again I really enjoyed this section of labs and look forward to the next set of lab assignments. ï » ¿Associate Level Material Essay Generate a list of at least 10 of President Jefferson’s decisions and actions. Decide which party’s ideals are most aligned with the decision or action and provide an explanation of why the decision or action aligns with that party. Decisions and Actions Democratic-Republican Party’s Beliefs and Ideals Federalist Party’s Beliefs and Ideals The Size of the government was reduced The decision was supported by Democratic and Republican as they wanted a smaller government Federalist didn’t support his decision as they wanted a larger and more stronger government Louisiana Purchase Allowed them to lighten their grip on the nation so they were not opposed. Strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer lies to Napoleon, and were concerned that the US had paid a large sum of money just to declare war on Spain Lewis and Clark Expedition Through this would establish relationships with the natives. Wanted to learn more about the Natives in the west. Felt that exploring what was to the west of them would ruin what they had established in the east. The Embargo Act 1807 To Force Britain to reconsider on the American trade by prohibiting their goods from being shipped Was to stop all trade during Jefferson’s second term. Abolition of slave trade It opposed to the political power of slavery rather than slavery itself Wanted to continue slave trade. Military academy established Opposed federalist polices if high tariffs, a navy, military spending, national debt and banking Resources to explore and expand Less Formality Form of dress code. They stood for the less wealthy Believed in keeping an elegance in the white house and worn a more formal attire. The Legality of Partisanship Want to reassess the judges. The senate refused to convict federalist judge Repealed many taxes and reduced the number of federal employees Lined up with their beliefs for a small, weak government. Were in favor of taxation. Land Policies Made the Parcels smaller and more affordable, and allowed for payment over time, rather than a large lump sum Were not in favor of the payment plan Expanding the Agrarian Republic Western expansion was favored Did no want to expand the land Alliance with France Was in favor of this Alliance with France Wanted to work with the British Repelled the judiciary Act of 1801 They were all for it Jefferson had dismissed many federalist and judges so they were against it. Part 2: Response Write a 350-word response to the following question: How â€Å"Jeffersonian† was Thomas Jefferson as president? Jefferson doesn’t fit neatly into the label â€Å"Jeffersonian†. Jefferson’s commitment to the separation of church and state, his â€Å"Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom,† adopted in 1786, barred government from taxing to fund churches. As president, he wrote that he respected the First Amendment’s â€Å"wall of separation between church and state.† Yet he allowed and attended religious services in the U.S. Capitol and used federal funds to finance Christian missions to Native American nations. Jefferson hoped that converting Indians would induce them to embrace private property and live like their white neighbors. Jefferson’s embrace of strict construction, or limiting the federal government to powers explicitly granted by the Constitution, also masks contradictions. When in 1803 Jefferson learned that the United States could buy the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, at first he thought that a constitutional amendment would be needed to authorize the treaty. But instead, he directed American diplomats to make the deal without an amendment. Jefferson argued that he held the presidency in trust for the American people. Like any trustee, he could use his powers creatively for their benefit. If they approved of what he did, even if it seemed to violate the Constitution, they could reelect him. Jefferson’s ownership of slaves also collides with the democratic spirit that â€Å"Jeffersonian† implies. The man who wrote in the Declaration of Independence that â€Å"all men are created equal† owned slaves all his life. His 1787 book â€Å"Notes on the State of Virginia† displays the discord over slavery that bedeviled him. In one chapter, he insisted that slavery was a dreadful wrong and that, in a contest between rebelling slaves and their masters, â€Å"the Almighty has no attribute which could take sides with us.† In another, he suggested â€Å"as a suspicion only† that people of African descent were inferior to people of European descent, and that this inferiority might explain and even partly justify slavery. His friend James Madison explained that, like â€Å"others of great genius,† Jefferson had a habit â€Å"of expressing in strong and round terms, impressions of the moment.† The third president’s closest political ally, Madison learned the hard way to take Jefferson’s inconsistencies in stride. Posterity ought to do the same, as expecting perfect consistency from imperfect human beings will always result in disappointment and cynicism. Instead of bowing down before Jefferson, we should have the courage to look him in the eye.

Thrift Savings Plan

Thrift Savings Plan HRA-360 Total Compensation Dr. James Waters Jacqueline Kelly 2 March 2010 Every successful organization depends on the abilities of a good workforce. The United States Government is no different. One of the major concerns of most employees is receiving fair compensation for the work performed, even after retirement. In 1920 the U S Federal government provided retirement, disability and survivor benefits for most civilian employees. The plan continues to provide benefits to those still covered under the plan. Employees covered under CSRC were not covered by Social Security. However, realizing a need for change, the United States Congress designed a new program, the Thrift Savings Plan, which was enacted 6 June 1986 and became effective 1 January 1987 in the Federal Employees Retirement Act of 1986. The Thrift Savings Plan is meant to operate like a 401(k) retirement savings plan. The plan permits employees to defer paying taxes on the money saved until they retire, at which time they may be in a lower tax bracket because they are no longer earning a full time income. The Thrift Savings Plan is one of the three parts of the Federal Employees Retirement System, and is the largest defined contribution plan in the world with assets worth over $210 billion dollars. The Thrift Savings Plan has the over 3. 7 million participants who contribute to the plan on a voluntary basis. Some these civilian participants included: Individuals on approved leave without pay to serve as full-time officers or employees of certain unions or other employee organizations Individuals assigned from a Federal agency to a state or local government under an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment who choose to retain FERS or CSRS coverage Individuals appointed or otherwise assigned to one of the Cooperative Extension Services, as defined by the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 Federal justice and judges, certain Federal bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges, Claims Court judges, and Court of Veteran Appeals judges Nonappropriated Fund employees of the Defense Department or the U. S. Coast Guard who have chosen to be covered by FERS or CSRS. According to an rticle in the Business Source Complete, participants in the TSP are disproportionately male, higher earners, older, full-time workers, and either white or nonblack minorities compa red with the population at large. I expect this number to continue to grow as people’s concerns increase about Social Security’s existence further down the road. Employees in the Federal Retirement System are limited to contributing 10 percent of their earned income to the program and the federal government will match up to 10 percent. Employees who fall under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) who are not covered by Social Security may invest up to 5 percent of their earnings to the TSP. The federal government contributes 1 percent to TSP accounts for all employees covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Many government employees obviously consider this program an important compensation and they continue to increase their contributions as their earnings increase. Data collected by the Department of Labor, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, and the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board for 1992, 1993, and 1997 noted that the TSP had a participation rate of 79 percent, which is more than the 68 percent eligible workers utilizing 401(k) plans, and 8 percent participating in IRAs. A contributing factor to the differences in the number of employees participating in the different programs may be the fact that government employees have a wealth of knowledge available to them on the TSP. They are able to monitor their accounts daily on the internet. In addition, changes may be made on how much is contributed and they may borrow from the account when necessary with minimal penalties. Although, they are advised that the account are established for long-term investing in their future are retirement. Federal employees under FERS have noted a pivotal reason they participate in the program is because of the matching contributions and those employees under CSRS tout the tax benefit as their main reason for participating in the program. Many people consider landing a government a great feat because of the benefits of getting all federal holidays off with pay, vacation and sick leave, and most time tuition reimbursement. But the TSP may now be very a sought after component of a compensation package. An added benefit to the TSP is workers are fully vested in the 1 percent agency automatic contributions after three years( two years for congressional employees and executive-branch political appointees). In addition, workers who leave the federal government for jobs in other sectors of the economy can leave their money in the TSP and it will continue to accrue interest, dividends, and capital gains according to the performance of the funds in which they have chosen to invest. If they opt not to leave their money in the TSP, they may roll it over into another investment vehicle such as an IRA or a 401(k) plan. Furthermore, there are no huge fees for management of the account. A draw back to the TSP is new hires have a waiting period of 6 to 1 year before they can reap the benefit of employer matching contributions. However, they may rollover distributions into the TSP form other tax-qualified retirement savings plans from private-sector firms. Provided certain criteria are met. The TSP is now available to military personnel. On October 30, 2000, the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Public Law 106-398) was signed. One provision of the law extended participation in the TSP, which was originally only for Federal civilian employees, to members of the uniformed services. The uniformed services include: †¢Department of the Army †¢Department of the Navy †¢Department of the Air Force †¢United States Marine Corps †¢United States Coast Guard †¢Public Health Service †¢National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration All contributions made by civilians and military personnel are made by way of automatic payroll deductions. They also had a limit of which they could contribute, mandated by the IRS of $15,500. Fortunately, employees over the age of 50 have a provision that allows for a little catch up, in that they may contribute an additional $5,000 annually. Employees may also make early withdrawals without penalty from the IRS if they need the money to pay for medical expenses of the plan participant, a spouse, or dependent, but only to the extent that they exceed 7. 5 percent of adjusted gross income. Ironically, funds may be withdrawn through an IRS levy to collect back taxes owed by the plan participant. Another allowable withdrawal may be for an alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). Also, early distribution is permissible if it is part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments (SEPPs) over the life of the participant or the joint lives of the participant and the beneficiary. Both CSRS and the FERS retirement pension plans are determined by multiplying three factors: the salary base, the accrual rate, and the number of years of service. Salary base is the final average pay, usually their highest, before retirement. Nevertheless, while the TSP is an outstanding compensation for federal employees it does have some disadvantages. The Thrift Savings Plan is a defined contribution plan similar to a savings account maintained by the employer on behalf of each participating employee. The combined amounts contributed by the employee and employer are invested in stocks and bonds but the employer has no financial obligation other than making contributions to the employees retirement account. All the investment risks fall on the employee. If they do not invest enough for a comfortable retirement, or if the investments lose value or increase too slowly, the employee bears the burden of not having adequate income for retirement. If an employee withdraws from the fund before age 59 they will pay an additional 10 percent tax penalty. This additional tax does not apply to the beneficiary after the death of the participant of if the participant becomes disabled. I feel the government TSP is an excellent compensation afforded to civilian employees because they receive a specific dollar amount matched by Uncle Sam. They are able to make payroll deductions directly into the account and are able to manage their account directly through the internet. Employees covered by FERS have an amount equal to 1 percent of pay contributed to the Thrift Savings Plan by their employing agencies, even if the employee makes no voluntary contributions to the TSP. This amount is not deducted from employee pay. It is paid by the employing agency from sums appropriated to it by Congress for salaries and related expenses. Assuming a nominal annual investment return of 6. 0 percent, an employee who retires after 30 years of federal employment will be able to replace only about 3 percent of final salary from his or her TSP account if he or she never makes a voluntary contribution to the plan. Although it is minimal, employees can still benefit from the plan without contributing a penny. Without using a financial advisor, they have the ability to make intranet transfers on their accounts. Thrift Plan participants can receive account-balance information and conduct transactions using an automated phone system or on the Thrift Plan’s Website at www. tsp. gov. The plans seem relatively simple to understand. Employees no longer have to wait for an open enrollment period to make changes to their account. Government and military personnel have two choices on the bond side to invest in. If they want to invest in a low risk bond, the choice is the â€Å"G Fund† which invests in government securities, or the â€Å"F Fund,† which is tracks the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index. There’s a target maturity plan which they call â€Å"Life Cycle,† or â€Å"L Funds†. Basically, they way the plan works is participants select the fund whose target date corresponds most with the year they hope to retire. It is a diversified portfolio, investing in the C, F, G, S, and I funds that become more conservative as the participant nears their retirement age. The â€Å"C† fund invests in stocks of all of the corporations that represented in the Standard and Poor’s 500 index. The â€Å"F† fund, or â€Å"Fixed Income Index Investment Fund† invests in securities represented in the Shearson Lehman Brothers Aggregate (SLBA) bond index. They are comprised of government bonds, corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed securities. The â€Å"G† fund consist of U. S. government securities and pays interest equal to the average rate of return on long-term U. S. government bonds. This is a very low risk fund and considered the safest of the TSP funds because the principal is guaranteed not to drop in value. The â€Å"S† fund (Small Capitalization Stock Index Fund) invest in the common stocks that are represented in the Wilshire 4500 index. The â€Å"I† fund (International Stock Index Fund) invests in the stocks of foreign corporations represented in the Morgan Stanley Capital Investment EAFE(Europe, Australia-Asia, Far East) index. The â€Å"Life Cycle† Fund uses a combination of these five funds to optimize returns for employees depending on the time frame they have chosen for their expected retirement. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) plays a fundamental role in helping federal workers achieve adequate financial resources for retirement. Employees covered by FERS who do not make voluntary contributions to the TSP, and thus receive only the 1 percent agency automatic contribution, will be able to replace only 2 percent to 4 percent of final annual salary from the TSP at retirement. Most workers in the lower and middle ranges of the federal salary scale will be able to achieve the 60 percent salary replacement. The TSP makes for an admirable compensation feature for many of the active duty military retirees who seek employment with the federal government after retirement. This would be icing on the cake since the military uses the benefits plan based on salary earned in the years immediately preceding retirement which they start receiving the month after they are completely retired from active duty. I could see how the â€Å"double dippers,† as they are called, may be able to maximize on the TSP using their retirement income. It would allow for employees need for security to be satisfied in knowing that after retirement they may have an adequate income after they leave government service if their funds are invested wisely. They would still be able to meet their physiological, safety and security needs, which is especially important in retirement years. That in turn should help to keep their spirit and self esteem up because they are still able to provide for themselves and others that depend on them which should bring a sense of belonging and love. Ultimately, being able to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan, in the public or private sector, sends a message tol employees that their employer or the U S government thought enough of the people who work for them to implement a compensation plan to reward them for their years of service to the organization. I think if more employees had a compensation package that included a benefit similar to the Thrift Savings Plans less people would be concerned about the solvency of Social Security. Federal employees at all income levels can significantly boost their retirement income by contributing to the TSP, and such contributions are essential in order for those in the upper third of the federal pay scale to achieve a level of income that will allow them to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living. References Purcell, P. (2007). Federal employees' retirement system: The role of the thrift savings plan. Journal of deferred compensation, 13(1), 74-99. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database. Springstead, G. , & Wilson, T. (2000) Participation in voluntary individual savings accounts: An analysis of IRAs, 401 (K)s, and the TSP. Social Security Bulletin, 63(1), 34. Retrieved from Business Premier database. (2007). Thrift Savings Plan participant survey results 2006. Pension Benefits, 16(5), 11. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database (2008). Federal Thrift Plan mirrors 401(k) Plans. 401K Advisor, 15(11), 8-9. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database. Barkume, A. (2004). Using incentive pay and providing pay supplements in US job markets. Industrial Relations, 43 (3), 618-633. Dolmat-Connell, J. , Dolmat-Connell, S. , & Miller, G. (2009). Potential implications of the economic downturn for executive compensation. Compensation & Benefits Review,41, 33-38. Gerhart, B. , & Rynes, S. (2003). Compensation: Theory, evidence, and strategic implications. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. Hansen, F. (2010). Currents in compensation and benefits. Compensation & Benefits Review, 42: 3-15. Henderson, R. (2006). Compensation management in a knowledge-based world (10th edition). Upper Saddle Creek, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson. Milkovich, G. , & M. Newman, J. (2008). Compensation (9th edition). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Publishers.

Types of business entities and legal characteristics of Essay

Types of business entities and legal characteristics of proprietorships and partnerships - Essay Example For this reason, it becomes logic and less involving in coming up with other options of sharing profits apart from the dividends. One way used to evade double taxation is by putting all family members on a salary. The salary paid to employees is taxed at the corporation level. However, this is only legal if all shareholders have a well defined job description. If there is any form of over payment or illogical rewarding of salaries, the process may be termed to be illegal (Murphy & Higgins, 2011). In another way, the family members can restrict themselves from taking dividends and borrow money instead. If a shareholder borrows money from a company, the amount is not taxable and in all interest generated from the lease are directed in the company. According to Murphy & Higgins (2011) leasing of assets by the family to the company is also a legal way of evading double taxation. In this scenario, the family members will greatly rely on the compensation rates paid to leased assets. In other cases, the leasing of assets also involves easing of human resources. In the leasing process, the profits stay in the company and the family members have the right to acquire the benefits paid from their leased assets (Murphy & Higgins,

Almarai food company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Almarai food company - Essay Example The entrepreneurs imported plants, cows and knowledge from other countries (The Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce 3). The dairy industry has attracted a number of players but they are limited by widespread water shortage across the country. The major players in the industry include the Almarai Food Company which was established in 1976; Al safi Denone established in 1979; Nada dairy; Nadec and other smaller companies. The four organizations hold approximate market share of about 41.7%, 20.7%, 8% and 14% respectively (Pendleton 2). The companies started by producing plain lifelong milk but due to demand they have also included flavored lifelong milk. The government has over the years capped the growth of the dairy industry (Al-Otaibi and Robinson 2). This has made people to resort to the use of powdered milk made by Irish companies. There are very few players in the dairy industry in the Saudi Arabian market which makes structure of the industry to be oligopolistic (Al-Asfoor 1). This means that a slight change of the price by one player will have a big impact on competitors. Unlike it is elsewhere in the world where the outlets buy daily products from manufactures, outlet operators in Saudi Arabia do not buy but sell products for the manufacturers. The risk of excess stock is borne by the manufacturers. ... The government helps the producers to reach an agreement on shelf space in the outlets and prices both at wholesale and retail levels whenever there is a problem. The competition among the players in the Saudi Arabia dairy industry is mainly price. This is because there is less differentiation of their products (Al-Asfoor 2). Whenever one of the companies lowers the price for its products, customers are likely to abandon other products in its favor. This makes others also to lower their so as to compete favorably. This has made economic advisors to advice the companies in this industry to differentiate their products as a way of avoiding cutthroat price competition. The Saudi Arabian dairy industry has grown to be very competitive in the gulf region (Pendleton 1). Almarai Food Copany, the biggest food manufacturing company in the industry entered into collaboration with Pepsi Company. This has enabled it to conquer markets in the Gulf region, Africa, and the Far East. This has been p ossible due to its high quality goods which compete effectively with those produced by international industries (Pendleton 1). Currently, the dairy industry of Saudi Arabia is the leading in the gulf region. It supplies its products to five countries including Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Table 1 shows the market shares of different milk brands in Saudi Arabia between 2007 and 2011. Table 1: Historic Market Shares Government intervention in this industry has been minimal. The government came in when the prices wars threatened to lead the industry to a state of collapse. It helped the competitors in the industry reach agreements to stabilize prices (Uthman 7). In some cases the

Bishop, V. (1998) suggests that effective clinical supervision needs a Essay

Bishop, V. (1998) suggests that effective clinical supervision needs a managerial commitment to its implementation and ongoing operation. Discuss and describe how you might gain this - Essay Example ever, a majority ÃŽ ¿f school counsellors do not receive adequate supervision; indeed, many are supervised by school administrators who are not trained in counselling (Roberts & Borders, 1994; Sutton & Page, 1994). The American Association ÃŽ ¿f Counselling and Development School Counselling Task Force (1989; now ACA) has declared a need for counselling supervision ÃŽ ¿f practicing school counsellors (hereafter referred to as clinical supervision). However, there are few studies on the effects ÃŽ ¿f clinical supervision on veteran counsellors ÃŽ ¿f any type (Bernard & Goodyear, 1992) and even fewer on school counsellors. Research on the effects ÃŽ ¿f clinical supervision on school counsellors is rare (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997; Roberts & Borders, 1994; Sutton & Page, 1994). Just one ongoing clinical supervision program ÃŽ ¿f school counsellors was found in a literature search, but other than informal comments from the participants, the authors did not report formal evaluation findings (Henderson & Lampe, 1992). Two peer group, clinical supervision programs have been described and tested in the literature: Borders (1991) Systematic Peer Group Supervision and Benshoff and Paisleys (1996) Structured Peer Consultation Model for School Counsellors. When compared with no supervision, the quantitative research findings on both programs were not significant (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997). The counsellor participants in Crutchfield and Borders (1997) study were provided few opportunities for supervision training, and their involvement in clinical supervision was limited to the duration ÃŽ ¿f the study. As a consequence ÃŽ ¿f the lack ÃŽ ¿f clinical supervision programs and research, there was a call for school systems to design and examine methods ÃŽ ¿f school counsellor supervision. Recent Counsellor Educators and Supervisors Network (CESNET) exchanges underscore the necessity and the complexities ÃŽ ¿f establishing clinical supervision ÃŽ ¿f school counsellors. In a December 1998 article in

Does the availability of photographs significantly change what we can Essay

Does the availability of photographs significantly change what we can know about the U.S. Civil War - Essay Example The other states that had not seceded were known as the North or the union. The civil war erupted from the slavery issues and the fact that slavery had been extended to the west. This internal conflict that came to be the great civil war led to the loss of 600000 Confederate and the Union soldiers and great destruction of the southern infrastructure. It continued for four years after which the Confederacy was finished, and slavery abolished. Then followed the reconstruction of the United States as one nation, reconstruction of the south and restoring unity. The freed slaves were promised to be given equal rights (civil rights.) Abraham Lincoln, who took the presidency of America in 1860 elections, was opposed by the drivers of slavery, and his name did not appear on the southern ballots (Brown & Shannon, 2011). But a different view is created in the people as they come into contact with the pictures that were taken or developed during that time. The picture vividly portrays many truths and shocking facts about the American civil war either drawn by those who experienced or capture on cameras. The advancement of the American civil war can be viewed through a scientific field that was taking its roots at that age. This is photography. From the national archives, over 6000 digitized photos from the civil war are now available on the internet. Great works were done by Matthew Brady and his associates. They photographed many areas, battlefields and people affected by the civil war. Their pictures significantly depict many aspects of the war excluding the battle itself. These aspects include the events and preparation prior to the battle, camp life, routines and the aftermath of the battle. The battlefield movements were difficult to be taken as the cameras of that time require the object to be still during the movement of the shutter (Brown & Shannon, 2011). Pictures from this time as taken by Matthew Brady

No topic Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

No topic - Coursework Example The theory is, however, silent on the concurrent promotion of one’s self interest as well as those of others; only emphasizing one’s interest as the only variable to fulfilling the basic goal of one’s happiness. It also does not inhibit actions that help others, but endorses actions of giving oneself pleasure, in effect, encouraging selfishness rather total foolishness. According to the theory, helping others does no good, for it is not only a denial of value of individualism, which in effect, degrades physically and/or emotionally wellbeing, but an offensive intrusion into other people’s business, which cannot be fulfilled by any other person other than the self, for true needs are best known only to the individual. Moreover, sustaining other people’s lives is sacrificing the individuals’ interest, which in itself is a zero sum game. The arguments are, however, at loggerheads with rational thinking. First, the argument that helping others only serves to mess them up is counterproductive. The idea of diminished individual value is also based on a false dichotomy, for it does not have to be a zero sum game as opined by the ethical egoists. Notably, the theory divides the world into two categories: the individual and all others, and actually places the former way above the latter, making it a discriminative theory grounded on irrational bases. On the contrary, we should care for others because their interests are comparable to

Chronic Medical Conditions and Health Surveillance Essay

Chronic Medical Conditions and Health Surveillance - Essay Example In order to control her blood pressure, she was started on an antihypertensive. The patient then sustained a fall which was not accompanied by any episodes of altered consciousness. Falls are a commonly encountered issue amongst the elderly and studies have revealed that they amount to almost 60% of the hospital admissions in the UK National Health Service (NHS) amongst the elderly (Oliver, 2007, p. 173). In order to decipher the cause of the fall, a focused history regarding the events preceding and following the fall should be obtained. In the case of this patient, she reports that the fall occurred when she stood up from a chair and was preceded by an episode of feeling ‘giddy’. Since she denies any aura, alteration of consciousness, post-ictal events, persisting weakness or loss of function in any part of the body after the fall, and this is verified by her husband who was present at the time of the incident, most common neurologic causes of the fall such as stroke o r seizures can be ruled out. Similarly, as she denies any chest pain or palpitations, cardiac causes such as arrhythmias and angina/myocardial infarction also become unlikely as the cause of the fall. ... system covers the commonest causes of falls amongst the elderly, whereby D refers to Drugs and alcohol; A refers to age-related physiological changes, such as impaired balance and postural instability, reduced vision and increased reaction time; M refers to medical causes and E refers to environmental causes (Oliver, 2007). Drugs/medications are amongst the top causes of falls amongst elderly especially due to the multiple co-morbidities that are commonly found amongst elderly patients, the problem of poly-pharmacy leading to drug interactions is quite common in this population of individuals. Therefore, obtaining a careful drug history and ruling out any drug over dosage, interactions and adverse effects leading to a fall is important in elderly patients. A critical analysis of the patient’s medication history reveals that the patient was started on Atenolol, at a starting dose of 400mg BID, which amounts to 800mg of Atenolol per day. Atenolol belongs to a class of anti-hyper tensives termed as beta blockers, and is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs from this class (Carlberg, Samuelsson, & Lindholm, 2004, p. 1684). Atenolol is a cardio-selective beta blocker, i.e. it only acts on beta-1 receptors, which are the predominant type of receptors in the heart. Such beta blockers spare the beta-2 receptors, which are the predominant type of receptors located in the lungs and the vascular smooth muscle and are thus free from side effects such as bronchospasm, which were previously commonly encountered with the use of non-selective beta blockers (Medic8, 2010). Previously, beta blockers such Atenolol were considered to be the first-line agent in the management of hypertensive patients, but more recently, the use of these agents as the drug of choice for hypertension

The Jews a History Essay Example for Free

The Jews a History Essay Research Problem 1 1. Discuss the different types of interests and the IRS rule related to the deductibility of each type for tax purposes. Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. There are different types of interests, including investment interest, qualified residence interest, student loan interest, and personal interest, which are either deductible or nondeductible. Personal interests are interests on car loans, credit cards, loans for appliances and furniture and interest on loans made by one person to another. Personal interest is nondeductible. If interest is paid on a qualified student loan, taxpayers may be able to deduct the interest as deduction for AGI. Generally, the allowable amount for student loan is lesser of $2,500 or the amount of interest taxpayer actually paid. Investment interest is interest paid on money borrowed to purchase or hold investment property. It is tax deductible on income tax return up to the amount of the net investment income. However, if the interest is incurred to produce tax exempt income, it cannot be deducted. Investment interest is not any qualified home mortgage interest or any interest taken into account in computing income or loss from a passive activity. The qualified residence interest is interest taxpayer pays on a loan secured by one’s main home or a second home. The loan may be a mortgage to buy primary home, a second mortgage, a home equity loan, or line of credit. The main home is where taxpayer lives most of the time. A second home is other residence taxpayer owns and treats as a second home. If the second home is rented, taxpayer must also use it as a home during the year for more than the greater of 14 days or 10% of the number of days it’s rented, for the interest to qualify as qualified residence interest. Home equity loan interest usually is nondeductible unless the loan is used to buy, construct, or substantially improve the taxpayer’s qualified residence. 2. Discuss the section of the IRS code that the IRS will use to support its position of disallowing the deduction. According to Publication 17 (2010), Your Federal Income Tax for Individuals, part 5-23, personal interest is expense that is considered not deductible. Personal interests are interests on car loans, credit cards, loans for appliances and furniture and interest on loans made by one person to another. Because Donald did not have $600,000 to pay Marla, he agreed to have the whole amount payable over 10 years at 8% interest. IRS considers the amount as a personal loan that Marla lends to Donald. The interest of the loan falls into categories including in personal interests. Therefore, IRS disallows the interest deduction that Donald claimed as investment interest. 3. Discuss the support that Donald will need to defend his position that the interest is investment related and should be deductible for tax purposes. As agreement between Donald and Marla after divorce, they divided their property equally based on the fair market value of property. As a result, Donald had corporate stock, a commercial building, and a personal residence. In return, Marla got other property. However, Donald’s property had the higher value compare to Marla’s. Because they did not sell their property, Donald believed that all the property owned by him or Marla is considered either investment property or qualified residence. In addition, the amount of $600,000 is the fair market value of their property. Hence, its interest is considered one of his investment interests. As a result, Donald deducted the interest on this Federal income tax return. 4. As a tax expert, recommend a strategy for Donald to use in resolving this difference with the IRS Donald needs to prove that the amount of $600,000 is not the loan that Marla lends him. He can show the property settlement between him and Marla. $600,000 is the difference amount between his and her property value. He, in fact, owned the property which had the higher value. Donald used the interest he made from that higher value’s property to pay Marla every year. Therefore, Donald can file and deduct the interest as his investment interest.

Rolls Royce in Contemporary Business Environment

Rolls Royce in Contemporary Business Environment This assignment is aimed to critically evaluate a change management towards to the operations at Rolls Royce plc, ascertain a range of reasons for either success or failure to implement a operations management and to propose further improvements for the companys performance. The annual Rolls Royce report was used a primary source of business data. It was found that the firms strategy and operations management conforms to the current trends in the operations, i.e. environmental needs, customised quality of products and flexibility of production, etc.; however, certain risks and global challenges may affect a success of the business, leading to losing a share in the market niche. Introduction Rolls Royce in Contemporary Business Environment Rolls Royce is a global company providing a power product, judging on a basis of customers demand or a niche market position its me, for land, sea and air (Rolls-Royce, 2006). The company has a balanced business portfolio with the leading positions in civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy markets. One of key factors of Rolls-Royces success is continuing expansion of its business globally. In the past five year RR started work on or opened facilities in Europe, the United States and Asia. Company employs over 38,000 employees, 22,700 are in the UK with the balance primarily in the US, Asia, Germany, Scandinavia and Brazil, which represents a global expansion of business operations, human resources for implementation of process and technology, i.e. resources for the status. Rolls Royce is a highly focused power systems business, concentrating on manufacturing and services of power systems, including a gas turbine engine. There are approximately 54,000 Rolls Royce gas turbines in service. With annual sales of around  £4 billion and a forward order book of nearly  £22 billion, its technology is applied over a wide range of products that generate high-value services throughout their operational lives. These operations give a value for the companys business. In response to increased orders from the market due to A380 production will recommence and Boeing787 production begins (Boeing, 2006), the firm implements a strategy towards to the best operations for turbine engine production. Objectives of the Assignment Manufacturing (WCM) is one of the broadest philosophies focusing primarily on production (Lind, 2001). Although Hayes and Wheelwright originally defined the WCM term (B. Flynn, 1997) to describe organizations which achieved a global competitive advantage through use of their manufacturing capabilities as a strategic weapon, there is no consistent definition of WCM (Maskell, 1991). So does Roll_ Royce represents the operations management? In my opinion, the answer is clearly, yes, it does. A world-class organization is an organization that had established itself as the best (RR automotive has been doing it continuously since 1906) becomes the best with new product lines (such as gas turbines) and then sustains itself as the best in its field during a life cycle. It goes beyond TQM (Total Quality Management), which is an adaptive process. It also goes beyond the learning organization by keeping ahead of changes. World-class organizations practice Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) a management philosophy which focuses on improving processes within an organization. Further these principles of the operations will be analysed and discussed. Analysis and Discussion 2.1. Ownership and Finance Roll_ Royce is a Public Limited Company (plc). What are benefits or drawbacks to be a plc for the ? As firm is selling shares on a stock market, the business gets a huge capital injection allowing the company to expand quicker and invest in new products. In RRs case it allows them to use high quality machinery and materials to produce innovative and yet expensive products, entering a niche on the markets. Being on the stock market can have a positive effect on your publicity and suppliers are more willing to offer you a credit as they can see how secure finances are. Plc-type organisation has also drawbacks. Financial information has to be published for shareholders and it also open for competitors. The company on a stock market have to pay its profit out to shareholders (Fig. 1), which reduces a financial security of the business. Also the shareholders may influence a management style, not always in the best way, in running the company. This could lead to a conflict of interests between ownership and management board, leading to decisions taking a long time to be made. In addition such a business may be affected by movements of global markets themselves, i.e. commodity prices, foreign currency exchange rates etc. Fig. 1. Total Shareholders Return over five years [Rolls-Royce, 2006] 2.2. Business Strategy Roll_ Royce sets-up their strategy towards to be the best, i.e. and had a restructuring programme after 11 September 2001, increasing investments in both technology and capabilities to create competitive products. More satisfied customers relations, which can last up to 25 years or more, is also important for the business as it gives more than 50% of revenue from after sales market service. As a result of this strategy RRs mission statement is described as Roll_ Royce offers the best customers business solutions from superior power systems and services (Rolls-Royce, 2006). RRs ambitious and yet timely objective is to help the environment. The company developed a re-engineering program to reduce as much waste as possible. Using the SMART concept Roll_ Royce come up with a consistent strategy: Developing a competitive product portfolio (currently over 50 product programmes and  £350 millions for development and introduction of new products) for four global markets Civil, Defence, Marine and Energy with 40-50% market share in the next 5 years. Reducing operational and unit costs by increasing operations efficacy. Responding to the challenge of climate change.  £100 million annual investment for RD, introducing an Environmental Engine Programme. Capturing aftermarket services opportunity and add value for customers through the provision of product-related services. Environmental issues will dominate in the airline industry as more public issues have been arisen due to climate change, pollutions, noise and air quality (Fig. 2). The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) has set a range of challenging environmental improvement goals to be achieved by 2020. Globally a rapid growth continued in manufacturing load in 2006 and will increase further for the company. It is also inevitable that turnover will increase within the next years due to a world growth of transportation business and energy demand. As a result one of the key objectives at Roll_ Royce is the environmental issue. The pollution produced by companys factories and produced engines has to be designed, monitored and checked regularly. The Environmentally Friendly Engine (EFE) is the latest demonstrator programme to be launched by Roll_ Royce to enable them to meet these targets: reduced fuel consumption, while lowering emissions and engine noise. In addition RR is d eveloping renewable fuel cell systems that have the potential to be clean, quiet, cost effective and highly fuel efficient. Fig. 2. This is an example of an increasing environmental pressure for aerospace industry both manufacturers and carrier companies. Roll_ Royce aims to produce engines to meet the most stringent noise and emission requirements for future civil aircraft. A company is successful if it has stable growing sales and thus financial resources for further business development towards to the level. 2.3. Sales and Operations Management Roll_ Royce press release shows the group ended 2006 with a net cash balance of  £826million. Underlying aftermarket services revenues grew by 13% in 2006 and represented 53% of total sales and is expected to grow up to 63% further. Any threat to security of aftermarket revenues through a failure to provide an operational service which meets customers expectations, would threaten a RRs level of profitability. Therefore Roll_ Royce is focused on providing a high standard of service to all its customers, investing in capabilities such as its recently established Operations Centres, which monitor engine operations in real time, co-ordinating and integrating data to enable Roll_ Royce to provide better predictive information and operational performance. A corporate report shows how well after-sale revenue has increased (Table 1). *Reconciliation of underlying results is provided in notes 2 and 7 of the consolidated financial statements. **Underlying revenues reflect actual US dollar exchange rates on settled derivative contracts. A Roll_ Royce presentation (Rolls-Royce, 2006) contains a statement from each area referring to how well they have done in the previous year: Civil Aerospace = Growing services/improving business mix Defence = Well positioned on new programme Marine = Continuing strong order intake Energy = Introduced new products These four sentences sum up how the business has done in relation to their strategies mentioned previously. But the markets in which company operates are highly competitive that is another challenge faced at Rolls-Royces strategy mix to be the world-class. As Roll_ Royce does not offer products that can be sold over a till but more order based products over long periods, it is risky to have lots of pre-ordered products and therefore important to offer a good stock price to encourage potential investors. Majority of Rolls-Royces programmes are long-term in nature and access to the key platforms is critical to a business success. Although there is clearly a positive feeling to these four statements it is hard to measure these long-term objectives. One mentioned objective is that there is no reference to in their annual report is whether harmful waste has been disposed, protecting the environment, or it has resulted to increased emission tax, reducing a financial outcome. However the Managing Director of Roll_ Royce said that 2006 is developing, overall, in line with our expectations. Particular emphasis is being made on the most profitable engine market for long-haul aircrafts (Fig. 3, table 2). With more orders for new Trent engines to date is exceed 200 aircrafts valued  £6billions with the major clients in Asia and Europe (Table 1, 2 in appendix) shown for coming new A380. This delivery is a real challenge to maintain the status at Roll_ Royce as a series of delays with the aircr aft official launch showed this year. How this does affected the quality management will be discussed next. Sources: Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Airbus Figure 3: Delivered aircraft value and units (2006-2025) Table 2: Long-haul large capacity aircrafts and turbine engine types Aircraft passenger capacity Output (to date) Engine Unit cost Changes and benefits Boeing 747-8 (400-500 passengers) 747 deliveries, 60% civil, 40% cargo. 747-8 to be launched in 2009 4 ц¦ GEnx-2B67 US$ 240 millions Reduced NOx emission, noise dB and better fuel efficiency. Boeing 767-400 (245-375 seats) 767 deliveries, most companies have favoured B 777 instead of B767-400. 2 ц¦ PW40xx or Rolls Royce RB 211 with reduced noise and emission Boeing 777 (300 pass) 791 ordered, 509 delivered. 2x PW 40xx RR Trent 8xx or GE 90-94B US$ 220-240 millions with reduced noise and emission Boeing 787 (220-300 seats) 482 (452 firm, 30*** pending). The sales will continue till 2014. 2 ц¦ GEnx or Trent 1000 US$ 140-188 millions 137 orders for Trent 1000, 170 orders for GNex Airbus 380 (pass 555-853) To date 166 orders from 15 customers. Expected sales of 750 jets A380s over the next 20 years at 420 jets for breakeven. 4 ц¦ GE/PW GP72xx or 4 x RR Trent 9xx US$ 296 316 millions 86 orders for RR Trent, 80 for GE72xx. Fuel consumption of 2.9 litres per passenger km the current industry average is 5 litres per passenger km. Airbus 350 (pass 270-350 seats) Planned from 2013. 2 ц¦ GE/PW GP72xx or CEnx or 2 x Trent XWB US$ 200-240 millions Engines will have a thrust of 75000-95000 lb Sources: Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Airbus. Trent is Roll_ Royce trademark for aeroengines. http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-aircraft-engines Another challenge is to reduce operations and unit costs. Cost of kerosene, which is main aircraft fuel, and other energy resources is continued growing within the industry, although it has achieved almost 50% improvements in fuel use in the last 20 years [1]. Advanced machinery and production tools offer further reduction of energy use to manufacture an aeroengine. If in the short term Roll_ Royce could invest in faster machinery or more productive workforce it could cut down the forward orders and thus optimise the production. In the long run, however, it would mean larger wage bills and higher risk of depreciation on the automated machinery. Cutting staff to reduce the costs by making people redundant is only really necessary if there is a major financial worry, which is the case for many airlines but not yet widely applicable for Rolls-Royce, who is moving production to more labour-effective countries. Therefore companys strategy, to increase quality and reduce waste products, seems to give the results. The production method itself will rely on quality of the product. Roll_ Royce at its current level of business operations has a high quality product, which needs to be maintained and improved continuously. In the long run it would be better but forward orders (Table 2, Appendix) could also decrease due to energy crisis. It would also lead to staff working longer hours and as a result staff morale decreases. Note that many airlines has either cut a number of flights or increased a fuel charge per passenger. This will affect new production orders from Rolls-Royce. One objective that could change for Roll_ Royce is to continue establishing themselves as a leading supplier in the four growing markets. Since the company has positioned itself in the key markets, it has substantial customers to get orders. If one market slows down, e.g. a civil aerospace department after the delay of A380 launch, it can fall back on the other three markets maintaining the business. A disadvantage of this strategy is the significant resources spent for employing experienced workers and management staff to keep the operations in these four markets. It is there Roll_ Royce would need to realign the core objectives to the global challenges to maintain the world-class operations and attract new shareholders. 2.4. Quality Management Within the factories Roll_ Royce manages complex production programmes with demanding technical requirements against stringent customer schedules and a capital intensive form of production, which allows products such as turbine engines to be made fast and all of the same quality. Failure to achieve sustainable quality goal would have significant financial implications for the Group. Car production facilities at Roll_ Royce have labour intensive operations due to handmade cars, causing it to be a far slower and more expensive process. Thus RR cars made by orders have an upper price and a market niche. When producing a product such as a jet engine Roll_ Royce employs a batch production method, which tends to be highly customised. It took several years for the company to change productions to lean system and receive an ISO certification. Quality at Roll_ Royce is intangible because of its world-renowned reputation for many years. The company employs three methods of quality testing. Firstly, Quality Control involves checking of the project at the end of production. But there is a drawback to this form of checking. If errors identified results in a waste being produced, this adds extra costs to operations. Another technique Quality Assurance is also employed at the production; however because there is more time taken on producing a product the cost of originally implementing the product although short term could be significant. As quality needs to be assured it means regular inspections need to be undertaken to ensure quality is achieved. Overall this is a better form of quality testing than quality control as changes can be made to product as it goes through production to increase quality. Final form of quality testing is Total Quality Management (TQM). It involves Building Quality In. All three of these methods of quality testing contribute to the overall quality produced by Rolls-Royce, which manufactures approximately 30 per cent by value of its gas turbine products and some 70 per cent is provided through external supply chains. Any quality failure happened in the supply chain would present a risk to the RRs ability to meet customer requirements and to achieve its financial goals. If quality is not met it could mean lack of sales due to reasons such as loss of reputation. It is not just Roll_ Royce that has to deal with quality. All businesses have to ensure they are producing quality goods otherwise people wont buy their products. A supporting infrastructure for quality management, a key element of world-class manufacturing, is an important element (Flynn, 1999). Roll_ Royce has an impressive investment plan totalling to more than  £3billion for advanced technology, capability and infrastructure, offering improved performance and better energy efficiency of products, environmentally friendly operations and long-term competitiveness.  £30million is spent annually on training and some  £250million is directed annually on capital projects. 2.5. Leadership Style and Management Culture Roll_ Royce has Democratic paternalistic style of management. Although the company has department it also has a management board, making all the decisions and having centralised power over company. An extreme management style is an authoritarian style, which would be noted in a military organisation such as Rolls-Royces military division. Another extreme in management style is a lasses-faire style that gives almost 100% control of a company to workers. Roll_ Royce is though none of the extreme management as it has CEO and a chairman who overlook all decisions. Styles of management are summed up in McGregors Theory Y and X. Another form of measuring management styles is through the Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum (Dawson, 2005). None of these theories has been fully taken at the company but it seems to be more towards the McGregor X theory of management, which has an important role of mangers and therefore it is further to the left (Fig. 4). It is thought that manger sells technique where people at the top make the decision but invite people questions. Degree of Workers Authority Degree of Manager Authority Rolls Royce Manager Manager Tells Delegates Allows people to function independently Makes a decision and announces it Fig. 4. Management style at Roll_ Royce Power culture dominates in the company because of its top-mangers. This type of culture is normally linked with an autocratic or authoritarian style of management. It is not solely a power culture as it has many leaders at the top where a position does play a role. However RR has many departments run by leaders that work under one brand name for one goal. A person-type culture can also be found inside Roll_ Royce as skilled employees are able to make their own decisions; however, it does not change much to the overall culture. This links to a hierarchy organisation that is a tall structure but it has a certain degree of openness between CEO and regular employee. 2.6. Communications Management Roll_ Royce is very process focused firm and it continues to reduce operating costs through standardisation but as ever IT, with investments to be at around 2.5% of sales, has been playing a significant role in Rolls-Royces growth, with strong project management and very aggressive timescales being the norm at the company. Roll_ Royce aims to implement a Global Supply Chain management structure at Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems which will allow them to consolidate commodity management and increase US dollar based proportion of a purchase bill. The ERP convergence programme has 18,000 SAP users and is allowing us to open up our capacity and improve effectiveness. A substantial CAD/CAM product lifecycle project was to cut design and development times on the back of technology and monitor a process change down to the second phase. The next stage of Rolls-Royces IT strategy will be nine major teams looking at pushing forward a global supply chain and engineering level. Increased globalisation of the business and advances in technology has resulted in more data being transmitted across global communication links, posing an increased security risk. This puts higher responsibility and risk for being attacked by competitors (The Times, December 3, 2007). Therefore, the company has a corporate IT department and the latest security technology responsible for data management at the company as well as communication specialists at each department. A global company may have certain language and cultural barriers if using a phone is the only way to contact a client. The company uses IT for e-mails. As aforementioned e-mails can have attachments, which makes sending images or documents far quicker and easier than by post. Other electronic devices such as telephones are used to record voicemail and a factory wide public address system to notify staff. However this form of communication is open, as it is not used for restricted information such as redundancies. Externally RRs business uses e-mail to place orders or inquire about business. However it isnt entirely fool proof if a company urgently needs to contact supplier e-mail, although may take a few days before it is read and replied too. Apart from contacting suppliers or customers Roll_ Royce has the website. It provides an alternative way of selling products and giving information away to the public such as potential buyers and shareholders. Dramatically increased IT and operations costs due to market growth and disruption caused by shortages of raw materials could diminish the RRs aims towards to operating and unit cost reduction at UK factories. 3. Conclusion The Roll_ Royce achievements indicated that WCM practices were related to competitive performance, and that the addition of new manufacturing and management practices has resulted in further improvements in competitive performance such as gas turbines assembly line replicated for four key markets and after-sales services, including training. The WCM implementation was recognized as having been an economic success by the company itself and by partner-businesses. Being a world-class company gives to Roll_ Royce a certain advantage on a stock market, where so-called alpha and beta investors do prefer using rather a traditional approach (quality of management and production) to analyse a financial performance of a company, than quantitative approach to investment analysis. Thus more investors do believe in RR, especially after a series of financial crunches on the world markets. Roll_ Royce aeroengines aims to maintain the no. 1 market position by offering industry leading technology at the best environmental and operational performance, minimising airline costs throughout a total product lifecycle, and innovative technical and business solutions maximising customer value. Combination of the technology and after-sales support has created the growing demand at stable price for the new engines. In my opinion, further improvements towards to the world-class require four components: Vision, Active Leadership Involvement, Hierarchy of Trained People, and Constancy of Improvement Activity. (3468 words excluding references) Bibliography Roll_ Royce and Shell has been attacked by Chinese Spies. The Times, December 3, 2007 Boeing Marketing Outlook, 2006. www.boeing.com Dawson, M. (2005). The Consumer Trap: Big Business Marketing in American Life. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-07264-2. General Electrics. GEnx engine. www.geae.com/engines/ assessed on 10.06.2008 Ohno T., Toyota Production System, Productivity Press, Cambridge, MA, 1988. Roll_ Royce Aerospace Market Outlook, 2006. www.rolls-royce.com B. Flynn, R. S. (1997). World-class manufacturing project: overview and selected results. International Journal of Operations Production Management, 17 (7) , 671-685. Flynn, R. S. (1999). manufacturing: an investigation of Hayes and Wheelwrights foundation. Journal of Operations Management 17 , 249-269. Jonsson, P. (2001). Towards an holistic understanding of disruptions in Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management 18 , 701-718. Lind, J. (2001). Control in manufacturing A longitudinal case study. Management Accounting Research, 12 , 41-74. Maskell, B. (1991). Performance Measurement for Manufacturing-A Model for American Companies. Cambridge: Productivity Press. Testore, R. (1998). manufacturing demands suppiers . European Journal of Purchasing Supply Management 4 , 3-5.

Development of Buildability and Constructability

Development of Buildability and Constructability What is buildability or constructability? Is design for buildability or constructability is approachable? Can buildability concepts and theories enhance designers awareness of construction knowledge and buildability issues and reduce rework and increase construction productivity? , or can it inadvertently limit designers creativity? At the heart of this review paper are debates about the potential of buildability concept and the usability of construction knowledge in design to sustain and develop buildable designs. Construction is the worlds largest and most challenging industry [R. L. Tucker, 1986]. In 1997, the US construction industry accounted for 10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed over 10 Million, making the industry the largest in the country [E. Allmon, C. T. Hass, J. D. Borcherding and P. M. Goodrum, 2000]. On the other hand, a 10% increase in construction labour productivity would yield annual savings of about  £1 Billion to the British economy [R. M. W. Horner, B. T. Talhouni and H. R. Thomas, (1989).]; a similar conclusion was echoed by Stoekel and Quirke [S. Adams, (1989).]. Several factors affect project productivity but, buildability is among the most important [R. M. W. Horner, B. T. Talhouni and H. R. Thomas, 1989)., S. Adams, (1989)]. In practice, design and construction processes are normally carried out in a sequential manner. Since 1805 the construction industry has benefited from the various advantages this approach (Dunican, 1984). It allows the different parties in the project to compete and provide the best results for the project while defending and upholding their rights and duties within their respective disciplines (Griffith, 1986). Although the separation of design and construction allows the construction processes to be managed systematically between the various stages and disciplines, the industry is still being criticised for poor performance, being under productive, lack of competitiveness, and consuming longer product development time. Various studies have revealed that since 1950, the construction industry has realised the important of analysing design for construction implications, if the production work on site is to be effectively performed (Gray,1986). To overcome this inherent problems from the separation of design and construction, a concept known as buildability in the UK and constructability in USA is established and marketed to the industry (Illingworth, 1984; CIRIA, 1983; NEDO, 1975; Griffith, 1985; Gray, 1983; Moore, 1996). By using the buildability concept as a means to improve the construction industry, many ideas have been put forward by various researchers to remove the disadvantages of separating the design and construction process (Illingworth, 1983; CIRIA, 1983; CII, 1986; Tatum, 1987). The issue of buildability and academic research in the field for that matter has been an evolving one over the last three decades; moulded by reaction to changes in the procurement environment and in the case of academic buildability research, to advancements in the science of methodology. Regarding the latter, developing techniques such as neural networks, fuzzy decision making, buildability scores system and 3d/4d technology technologies have witnessed application among a range of assessing buildabilty problems (ref.). This paper will review and synthesise the existing research efforts in order to establish state of the art collective knowledge in relation to buildability problems causes and effects. It aims to create two separate taxonomies, which are comprehensive collections of all project change causes and change effects identified in previous studies. A simple case study is presented to demonstrate how the taxonomies provide a useful framework for construction professionals to manage project changes. However, they are not management tools that can be used directly in practice. Instead, they provide a basis for developing project management solutions and toolkits. While the industry focus of this study is construction, the developed taxonomies can be modified and adopted for other project-based industrial sectors (change). Aim and objectives of this study This backcloth of evolvement brings matters conveniently to the focus of this study, the aim of which was to critically appraise academic research within the field of construction buildability, published over a time window of circa 30 years prior to 2011. Objectives related to this aim included particular consideration of: (1) the foci of that research; (2) stated research drivers; (3) favoured methodological approaches; (4) research tools employed; and (5) the products of research effort. Buildability assessment method (6) Buildability attributes Based on observation of outcomes resulting from satisfying these objectives, the contribution of published academic research is considered, and future research direction intimated. The literature review: The principal method for this study is literature review and analysis. A preliminary review found that studies on buildability assessment fall into a broad spectrum, covering buildability problems causes and effects, buildability attributes, as well as assessment methods and techniques. Given the large volume of published work, there was a need to set a limit to the scope of the review. The study was chosen to focus on buildability assessment models and the stages of its implementation, because a good understanding of buildability models is a prerequisite for effective. Such a decision excluded papers from the review. The targeted literature sources are limited to refereed academic journals, published in English. They are a good representation of the breadth and depth of research achievements; and they have been scrutinised through peer review. In recent years, most academic journals began to provide online access. The emergence of a number of publication index databases has greatly assisted the literature search task. As for the date of publication, no explicit restriction was set. However, because few pre 1990s publications were covered by the online index databases the number of papers identified for that period is very small. This will be revealed in the following analyses. Development of buildability and constructability concept: The word buildability appears to have first entered the language in the late nineteen seventies [D. W. Cheetham and J. Lewis, (2001).]. Concerns on the disparate phases in building development was raised in the early 1960s when a series of studies, such as Emmerson (1962), Banwell (1964), Tavistock (1965), EDC (1967) and NEDO (1975), were carried out in the UK. The issue of buildability and academic research in the field for that matter has been an evolving one over the last three decades; moulded by reaction to changes in the procurement environment and in the case of academic buildability research, to advancements in the science of methodology. Regarding the latter, developing techniques such as neural networks, fuzzy decision making, buildability scores system and 3d/4d technology technologies have witnessed application among a range of assessing buildabilty problems (ref.). To gain a better understanding of buildability problems, especially their causes and effects, has been a long-standing research challenge. Emmerson Report: An early attempt to address buildability can be credited to Sir Harold Emmerson (1962) when he suggested the development of a new form of relationship between designers and constructors. The point of concern was the lack of cohesion between designers and constructors and the inability of both parties to see the whole construction process through each others eyes. The report was the first that has emphasised that the inefficiencies in the construction industry stemmed from inadequacies of communications and coordination. The quality of the relationship between the professions and subcontractors was seen as affecting the efficiency of building operations. Emmerson criticised the lack of cohesion existing within the industry. Banwell Report: In the UK, since the Emmerson Report (1962), numerous researches had been carried out to identify the causes of buildability problems and search for solutions for improvement. Banwell 1964 highlighted the fragmented characteristics of the industry and inefficient designs produced by designers deficient in construction knowledge without involvement of contractors. Banwell 1964 suggested that: design and construction must be considered together and that in the traditional contracting situation, the contractor is too far removed from the design stage at which his specialised knowledge and techniques could be put to invaluable use The report called for more attention to be given to pre-contract planning and design formulation and criticised professionalism as being narrow sighted, giving rise to unnecessary and inefficient construction practices. It was suggested that: clients define their building requirements clearly at the start of the design stage; the building process should better integrate the stages of design and construction; and that traditional construction practices should be reviewed to seek interdisciplinary approach. A subsequent study (Economic Development Council 1967) reported that the recommendations made in the Banwell Report had not been successfully implemented within the construction industry and that flexible approaches to traditional procedures should be sought and new initiatives developed if meaningful change within the industry was to be achieved. The Wood Report in the mid-1970s (National Economic Development Office 1975) suggested that in the decade following the Emmerson and Banwell reports some improvements had been made in the quest for integrating better the processes of design and construction. In general however, the original problems remained and it was suggested that efforts should be directed towards increasing the level of awareness for the problems and designing measures to bring together the design and construction processes such that the construction stage might directly capitalise on design initiatives. Tavistock: Later, the report of the Tavistock (1965) highlighted that the causes of the communication problems between contracting parties could be attributable to the division of responsibilities and the pattern of relationships. Since then, the need to integrate disparate development phases has triggered a large number of studies in different countries. Griffith: Griffith (1984) suggested inviting construction expertise early at the design stage, using contractual arrangements that facilitate the improvement of buildability. Griffith (1984) further pointed out that the capability of project management embracing suitable procurement approaches would contribute to improved buildability with concomitant benefits for overall project performance. Griffith and Sidwell (1997) also maintained that decisions taken early in a projects life cycle have greater potential to influence the final outcome of the project, based on the Pareto Principle. Griffith and Sidwell (1997) highlighted that buildability must be considered from the first notional idea suggested by the client, and is quite simply a prerequisite throughout what may be considered to be a staged process. Griffith and Sidwell [17] identified several similar problems, which are lack of consideration on interrelationship between different construction elements and skills required; and less flexibility of design and leeway within design details for materials, components, plants and craft tolerances. Constructability includes number of activities during all project life cycle phases. Griffith Sidwell (1995) believe that application of these activities during early stages of total construction projects causes more influences on overall cost and value. Constructability must always remain as the ingenious thinking throughout the project life cycle to overcome project difficulties and barriers. Griffith Sidwell (1997) illustrate some of these difficulties such as low level of awareness; demarcation; lack of incentives; reticence; and competitive stance adopted by construction professionals. So identification, mitigation and review of constructability barriers and barrier-breakers, which affect directly on efficiently implementation of a constructability program, is a must during project life cycle (OConnor Miller, 1994, 1995). Griffith (1987) suggested a compromise between consciously making the design more buildable and accommodating the many factors imparting an influence upon design, including quality, aesthetics, time and cost. It is essential to consider constructability at an early stage in the total construction process, because the ability to influence project cost, and so value for money, from the client s viewpoint, diminish as the project progresses in time. (Griffith Sidwell, 1995). Construction projects can be divided into different stages as conceptual planning and briefing, design, procurement, construction and post construction (start up and use) (Alan Griffith Sidwell, 1995). Generally, there are many all-around benefits of good constructability; these are measurable not only in cost and time, but also in terms of the physiological and psychological gains for the participants in the total construction process (Alan Griffith Sidwell, 1995). Griffith (1987) suggested a compromise between consciously making the design more buildable and accommodating the many factors imparting an influence upon design including quality, aesthetics, time, and cost. Methods should be sought to improve constructability by designing for economical use of labor and widely available and versatile tools, plant and equipment. Griffith (1984 1985) also added that managerial aspects have the greatest potential to increase productivity and achieve good buildability. A subsequent research study (Griffith 1984; Griffith 1985a) was similarly narrow in scope, but recognised in its findings the fundamental weakness in focusing narrowly on the attributes of design to aid construction on site. It was suggested that concentrating on design was important, but that project site and management-based factors must also be considered. The difficulties surrounding the determination of conceptual boundaries for buildability have been discussed in further studies (Bishop 1985; Griffith 1985b).It was the narrow focus, together with the complexities of the traditional contractual processes, that led to the diminishing interest in buildability concepts within the UK construction industry during the late 1980s. Creating a building that is easier to construct cannot be the sole aim of the client (Griffith Sidwell 1995). Further research by Griffith and Sidwell (1995) presents an outline for developing a constructability strategy at each key stage of the construction process. This considers many of the factors suggested by Chen and McGeorge. This approach sought to stimulate creative thought about the nature of each stage such that important questions and considerations about the building process would not be missed and to encourage action to be taken by the respective participants to pursue constructability. In the strategic consideration of constructability it is likely that future research and practice might focus on: the more holistic view of constructability to develop more encompassing strategies to be developed for considering constructability at each stage in the total building process; the concentration on a fewer number of factors which influence constructability such that greater reliability can be built in to the strategies developed; and the formulation of management methods that are readily adaptable to the individual project situation, including non-traditionally procured projects. CIRIA: Thereafter, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) (1983) in the UK introduced the concept of buildability and the Construction Industry Institute (CII) (1986) in the US developed the notion of constructability. The CIRIA (1983) defined buildability as the extent to which the design of a building facilitates ease of construction, subject to the overall requirements for the completed building. It indicates the importance of design considerations geared towards buildability improvement. Subsequently, a similar concept of constructability was introduced by the CII (1986) as the optimum use of construction knowledge and experience in planning, design, and procurement and field operations to achieve overall project objectives. It dealt with the optimal integration of construction expertise and experience at various project stages to achieve the overall project goals. Since then, numerous studies have been conducted in order to strive for better project perf ormance through improving buildability. For examples, Francis et al. (1999) found that better buildability could contribute to early completion of projects; Jergeas and Put (2001) as well as Low and Abeyegoonasekera (2001) showed that buildable designs would lead to saving in project costs and costs of change orders; others such as Trigunarsyah (2004a, 2004b) and Low (2001) pointed out that buildable designs would bring about improved quality and safety performance, as well as higher productivity levels, and mitigate the risks of unforeseen problems. Despite these developments, it has become evident that the progress of resolving buildability problems is still unsatisfactory. Construction industry review reports typically found contractors having little input into the design (Egan, 1998), or consultants putting little emphasis on buildability (CIRC, 2001). The ensuing review by Wolstenholme (2009) of the UK construction industry also points to the need for better integration of the construction supply chain using a whole life cycle approach. More specifically, some good examples of involving the contractors early in the design process have been cited, indicating the need to improve buildability. In view of these findings, a set of principles targeted at designers under the traditional procurement system was drawn up by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA). Following the reports of Emmerson and Banwell, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) supported a major research initiative to investigate what they regarded to be, the principal problems of construction practice. Their attention focused on a concept which they referred to as buildability, suggesting that building designs were not providing value for money in terms of the efficiency and effectiveness in the way in which the building process was then being carried out (change). The report of their investigations, Buildability: An Assessment, (CIRIA 1983) presented seven categories of buildability principles to: carry out thorough investigation and design; plan for essential site production requirements; plan for a practical sequence of operations and early enclosure; plan for simplicity of assembly and logical trade sequences; detail for maximum repetition and standardisation; detail for achievable tolerance; and specify robust and suitable materials. C IRIA stated that their methodological approach provided data that were too limited to be certain that the categories identified were final and universal, although they had sufficient confidence to publish the categories as provisional guidelines. It is from this original study that buildability research and practice evolved (change). The initial CIRIA report was followed by a further study (Adams 1989) in which the original seven categories of buildability principles were further developed to present 16, more definite, principles. This study is most purposeful since, although it still focuses on design, it does begin to widen the perspective of buildability and point the way towards recognising the true complexity and multifaceted nature of the issues involved. The first CIRIA study, while laudibly raising general awareness to the concepts and principles of buildability and therefore achieving its basic objective, was unfortunately restricted in focus. Egan Report: More recently, the Egan Report (1998) awakened attentions that the general buildability performance was far from being satisfactory. Contractors were also found to have little input into the design in the UKs construction scene, thus constituting a comparatively lower productivity figure for the industry (Graham and Bird, 2001). Egan (1998) claims that too much time is spent in construction on site trying to make design work in practice. He adds that contractors have little input into the design and this is indicative of a fundamental malaise in the industry the separation of design from the rest of the project. This is mainly because the traditional procurement method of design-bid-build remains rooted within the industry (Arditi et al. 2002; Song et al. 2009; Kent and Becerik- Gerber 2010). Egan (1998) subsequently encouraged longer term procurement relationships in favour of selective methods, as a mechanism to achieving quality and efficiency improvement; while in a second report (Egan, 2003), arguably rooted the term integrated supply chains into procurement dialogue. More recently, the Egan Report (1998) awakened attentions that the general buildability performance was far from being satisfactory. Contractors were also found to have little input into the design in the UKs construction scene, thus cons tituting a comparatively lower productivity figure for the industry (Graham and Bird, 2001). Over the years since the definition of buildability has been put forward by the CIRIA 1983, lots of studies have highlighted the prospective benefits to be brought about by improved constructability Arditi et al. 2002; McGeorge and Palmer 2002; CIRC 2001; Francis et al. 1999; CIIA 1996; CII 1986; Griffith 1984; Gray 1983. With the potential benefits as incentives, methods and practices have been proposed for more efficient designs minimizing construction wastages on site. However, as time passes by, the progress of resolving constructability problems is still regarded as being unsatisfactory CIRC 2001; Egan 1998. The underlying reasons are multifaceted Ma et al. 2001; Uhlik and Lores 1998; Griffith and Sidwell 1995; OConnor and Miller 1994, which have led to the current sluggish use of pull factors in the pursuit for better design constructability. More recently, push factors have been put in place by the Singaporean Government, which has enforced a legislation to enhance constructab ility by requiring minimum buildable scores to be attained before building plans are approved. The calculation of buildable scores is based on the buildable design appraisal system BDAS, which was modeled from the in-house buildability appraisal system of a major Japanese contractor, Takenaka Corporation Poh and Chen 1998. After the implementation of BDAS, follow-up studies have demonstrated the correlations between higher buildable scores and the improvements of site productivity, construction quality, and manpower consumption Lam 2002; Low 2001; Poh and Chen 1998. Buildability is a major issue across global construction industries and in particular the UK industry.

What Sparked the Russian Revolution? :: Russian Russia History

What Sparked the Russian Revolution? The Russian Revolution took place during difficult time in Russia. These troubles began before World War I and lasted up until 1930's. Russia's population was made up of mostly poor, starving peasants. A small working and middle class began to rise to help industrialize Russia. But a corrupt government made it difficult for Russia to advance. This added to the turmoil. World War I placed a serious hurt on Russia. Although at first it raised national pride and enthusiasm, it quickly drained resources and poorly trained peasants quickly found themselves fighting with no weapons. This war sent over 2 million Russians to their death in 1915 alone. Turning points for the Russian revolution were the March Revolution, the November Revolution and Stalin coming to power. By March 1917, disasters on the battlefield, combined with food and fuel shortages on the front, brought the monarchy to collapse. In St. Petersburg workers were going on strike. Marchers, mostly women were shouting, "Bread! Bread! Bread!" Troops refused to fire on demonstrators, leaving the government helpless. Duma politicians setup a temporary government/ Middle class liberals prepared a constitution for a new Russian republic. At the same time they continued the war with Germany. That decision proved fatal. Most Russians were fed up with the war and returned home, leaving the front. Peasants wanted land and people wanted food. Cities set up soviets, council of workers and soldiers, which worked dramatically within the government. Before long a radical social group took charge called the Bolsheviks emerged. Their leader was V.I. Lenin. During the November revolution the Bolsheviks decided to further the revolution. They stormed Moscow and took it as their capital. With this newly acquired city they gained land, which was split amongst the peasants. Workers were given control of factories and mines. For a period of time there was bliss in the country. But battles still waged on between the reds and whites, and civil wars grew. Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all broke free but nationalists in Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central Asia were eventually subdued. Allie forces placed a hurt on Russia as well. They joined the white that wanted to continue the war against Germany. Although they didn't succeed the allies left a hurt on Russian nationalist who were roused and continued battles against Russia. In 1920 Joseph Stalin came to power as general secretary of the party.