Hcc Industries

1. Evaluate the decision to use â€Å"minimum performance standard† (MPS) targets instead of â€Å"stretch† targets. The purpose of setting a budget system is to briefly forecast a company’s performance in the following year, and it can also be a result control system that makes people in the corporation work properly to achieve the objectives and give them incentives by bonus related to performance. From this point of view, the budget system should be reasonable, achievable, and also have some challenge to ensure the hard working. HCC Industries was using â€Å"stretch† performance targets until 1987.The main idea of using â€Å"stretch† targets was to motivate managers to perform at the highest level possible by setting aggressive targets with probability of achievement between 75 % and 80 %. In order to motivate the managers, incentive system was directly related to the budget targets. The bonus potential for division managers was 30% of base sal ary and was equally based on profit before taxes (PBT) and subjective rating of performance depending on the degree of accomplishment of the targets in all seven performance areas.In case that only few of performance areas were not met, but the management considered them important, no subjective bonus would be provided. Objective bonus based on profit before taxes was provided as following: if 60 % of the budget was achieved, 80 % of the bonus potential was paid; if 100 % of the budget was achieved, 100 % of the bonus potential was paid; and if 140% of the budget was achieved, 150 % of the bonus potential was paid. Bonuses were paid quarterly at the level of 80 % of what was earned in order to prevent paying the bonuses that were not earned.However, philosophy of using â€Å"stretch† performance targets in HCC Industries did not work very well, since it encouraged thinking optimistically that pushed employees to perform at a higher level leading to innovation. This philosophy is advantageous for particular companies with a certain size that have an understanding of the markets and have an ability to influence them. HCC Industries was a small publicly held corporation which was just taking orders and not doing marketing. For this reason, there was little probability for the employees to enlarge the market and achieve an aggressive growth in sales every year.Performance targets were set too high and optimistic, they were unrealistic, unachievable, and not suitable for a company which could not make a sustaining growth by influencing the market. One of the main disadvantages of â€Å"stretch† targets was that they were set too high. This led to the situation that for the last four years HCC Industries never achieved its targets. As a result, employees lost their motivation and commitment to achieve the targets; they were discouraged, and exert less effort by giving up trying, as they felt that â€Å"stretch† concept was causing the corporatio n not to achieve its plans.If a division keeps missing the budgets, employees feel like a failure. Taking into account that the employees could not achieve the targets for already four years, they had lost their confidence and became used to missing the budget and the enthusiasm to strive for the objectives was weakened. Although the targets were set at an unreachable level, the control system was not that tight. Even if the managers failed to achieve the targets, they may also be paid the bonus. For example, the managers were still paid 80% of objective bonus potential based on profit before taxes if they had just achieved 60% of the budget.So if a manager was not so ambitious, he did not have to worry about meeting the budget. Moreover, important constraint to motivation of division personnel was that they did not know their bonus potential and the bases on which the bonus awards were made, as division managers did not want to disclose division-level financial information to their personnel. As a result, being unaware of the main objectives of the corporation and its incentive system, employees did not exactly know what they are expected to do and how they would be rewarded for their efforts.As a result of the lack of communication between division managers, middle managers and employees, division personnel became discouraged and demotivated. In addition, if employees are systematically undercompensated, the corporation may suffer from losing key employees. Another disadvantage of â€Å"stretch† performance targets was subjectivity of incentive system. According to the information, provided from the case study, bonuses were paid only to employees included in the bonus plan. It can be concluded that not all employees were included in this plan.Moreover, half of the bonus potential was based on subjective evaluation of top management. However, there is a concern whether top management could judge each division in appropriate way, taking into account all the differences between them. The aforementioned subjective aspect influences performance and motivation of employees. In addition, important demotivating factor was that awards had to be paid quarterly at the level of 80% of what was earned. It took three to four months before they actually were paid because the necessary approvals by several levels were needed before the payments could be made.The remaining 20 % was paid at the end of the year based on annual performance. Taking into account aforementioned challenges of using â€Å"stretch† performance targets, the management of the corporation had taken a decision to change the philosophy to â€Å"minimum performance standard† (MPS) targets from the fiscal year 1988 onwards. The philosophy provided a two-level budget standards. The first level included the minimum performance standard that determined the basic financial target that divisions should reach. The second level included the targets that were set more cha llenging, and had some incentive effect.The main objective of this decision was to submit budgets with realistic targets with an achievement probability of 100% in order that divisions could meet the targets. As a result, division managers and other employees would become motivated by being proud of themselves, having self-esteem and starting feeling like â€Å"winners†. Being motivated, division personnel would be encouraged to work hard, be entrepreneurial and increase the level of aspiration for the future. Moreover, they would be given an opportunity to earn extra rewards.Another advantage of highly achievable budget targets is that they reduce the costs of needed interventions from corporate managers and the costs of optimistic revenue projections. Highly achievable budget targets also reduce the risk of game-playing. However, not all potential advantages of MPS targets were achieved in HCC Industries. Before implementing MPS targets, corporate managers did not analyze c arefully all problems that the company faced on the level of operations, marketing and finance. Corporate managers of HCC industries introduced the following changes in the corporation connected with the switch to MPS budgeting philosophy.First of all, the probability of the achievement of the budgets had been changed. MPS budgets were to be set with the felt probability of achievement 100%. In addition, managers were asked to set targets that exceed normal capability and involve an increase by 25-30 % with the probability of achievement of 50 %. However, although the budgets were planned to be set realistic and achievable, in reality they were too high and some division managers were even more than before concerned whether it would be possible to achieve them.In some divisions, such as Glasseal and Sealtron, corporate managers just increased the planned budgets without any analysis of the actual situation and discussion about business potential and risks with the division managers. As a result, division managers became even more demotivated because of too optimistic budgets. Moreover, by missing the new budgets, employees could be fired. The division manager of Hermetite was not provided by top managers with essential information about the corporation, its strategy, targets and the actual situation, and targets of his division before planning the budget.Being just hired and having the lack of experience and knowledge, he set too optimistic targets that could never be achieved in reality. As a result, the new division manager experienced failure and frustration at the beginning of his working experience in HCC Industry that had led to undermining of his confidence and commitment. Secondly, the incentive system had also been changed. According to new incentive compensation plan, bonus pool consisted of 20 % of the amount by which actual division PBT exceed MPS and 25 % of the amount by which it exceeded the target.Bonuses were paid quarterly at a level of 90 % of that earned and the remaining 10 % at the end of the year depending on the performance. It can be concluded that the rewards became lower than with â€Å"stretch† performance targets. The probability of losing the job in case the MPS targets would not be met, became greater. The disadvantage of subjective judgment concerning the bonuses was not eliminated under the new philosophy, as the division managers were given the discretion to decide which of their subordinates would share in the bonus pool and how the pool would be allocated among themselves and the others included.The key factor to the success of the budget system lied in the accuracy of forecasting the market share, the booking rate, the potential growth of sales, and so on. If a manager had little knowledge about the market information and the competitors, it would be difficult to set the MPS. The effectiveness of the budget system would be weakened, and this was the one of the main problems HCC faced after intr oduction of the MPS system. Evaluating the decision of changing the corporation’s philosophy based on early results, allows concluding that the new concept was not implemented well, even given the fact that it was a good idea.After the first quarter of fiscal year 1988, none of the divisions achieved all of its MPS and some of the divisions missed their minimum performance by large margins. 2. Should HCC managers have expected that the MPS target-setting philosophy would be equally effective in all four operating divisions described? HCC Industries was organized into four operating divisions: Hermetic Seal, Glasseal, Sealtrol that were producing connectors of various types, and Hermetite that was producing custom-designed, micro-electronic packages. Each division was run by a general manager who was responsible for all business functions of a certain division.In order to proper evaluate and monitor divisions’ results on which the bonuses were based, controllers of each division reported to HCC’s CFO. Corporate managers should have taken into account that the divisions differ from each other, and should have considered each division separately while using MPS target-setting philosophy as each division had some specific characteristics that were different from others. Although all the three connector divisions were similar in that they were profitable but growing slowly, there was a significant difference in the degree of standardization of their product lines.For example, division Sealtrol was highly standardized and produced connectors with large economies of scale. On the contrast, Hermetic Seal was the least standardized division and operated primarily as a job shop that designed and produced small batches of custom connectors. Glasseal’s product lines had the medium level of standardization. The forth division Hermetite was completely different from the connector divisions. In comparison with the first three divisions, its market and competitors were well defined and its potential for growth was tremendous.In addition, Hermetite faced huge price competition and significant production technology and control challenges. Moreover, the production processes were complex and its engineering and production organizations were instable. Given the fact that all four divisions were independent from each other, had different targets, accounting and information systems, product standards, served different customers, had different professional background of division managers, a detailed analysis should have been made whether MPS targets would be equally effective in all four divisions.Mike Pelta, the manager of the first division Hermetic Seal was more motivated after the changes, as with â€Å"stretch† performance targets, the probability of the achievement of the targets was 85-90%, whereas with MPS targets it has increased by 95-98%. The reason of such a high probability of achievement the targets was the fact that the division manager had set conservative targets. Mike Pelta was a cofounder of HCC, and was more familiar with the situation of the company. From the first quarter revenue result of 1988, we can find that only Hermetic Seals exceeded target in both bookings and profit before tax.But on the other hand, there were some problems in product qualities such as returns and rework. The manager of the second division Glasseal was even more demotivated after the changes than under the â€Å"stretch† performance targets. After the division manager had prepared the budget based on realistic forecast, the targets were increased by corporate managers. As a result, the probability of the achievement of the targets remained 90%, as it was before changes. However, with the â€Å"stretch† targets the rewards were greater and could be earned even if the budget was missed.It could be concluded that the change for MPS targets had not become better and more motivated for the second d ivision. Historical performance of the third division Sealtron was not so good. Efficiency in sales per employee was 50 % below other connector divisions, and budget was missed so salaries were frozen. The division manager, Lou Palamara, was recruited in 1986. Lou Palamara had a background of an engineering manager, so he was not that familiar with the corporation and had less knowledge about budget and cost saving. The division manager was discouraged by newMPS targets, as the targets he set had significantly been increased by corporate managers and the probability of its achievement according to division manager, was only 60-65%. As a result, if the budget would have increased by 18 % compared to the previous year, there would be still no bonus earned. Moreover, in case MPS standards would not be achieved the manager could be fired. At the same time, CFO of the corporation assessed the probability of the achievement of the targets by 90%. His idea was to stimulate sales as the Sea ltron’s efficiency was below other connector divisions.It can be concluded that the opinion of top managers and division manager on the achievement of targets was significantly different (90 % versus 60-65 %). In this situation, in order to come to common solution, additional analysis should have been done of actual situation and current performance of the division. It should have been carefully analyzed the reason of poor performance of the third division. Before the fourth division Hermetite was acquired in August 1985, it had been operating at a loss for the price competition and the production problems.The former general manager of Hermetite left a serious delinquency problem, which had worsen the reputation of the company, so booking could not be guaranteed. The manager Alan Wong, being new in the corporation and lacking particular experience and knowledge, was not provided with additional training and explanation of the corporation’s and division’s main ob jectives. He thought the corporate managers would not accept a budget that projected a loss. As a result, he had set very aggressive and optimistic targets that were unrealistic and corporate managers decreased the targets.However, the probability of achievement of the performance target at sales was 80 % and PBT target was only 5 %. The performance of the forth division was very risky and uncertain. From the first quarter results of 1988, we can discover that the bookings and shipments were both below MPS. After analyzing MPS targets in all four divisions, it could be concluded that only the manager of the first division, that was the original HCC business, was motivated by the changes. The managers of the other three divisions were even more concerned than before the changes.The main reason of such situation was that corporate managers thought that the targets were achievable, whereas division managers had the opinion that they are not achievable and unrealistic. It can be conclud ed that there was a lack of communication between corporate and division managers. Moreover, the evaluation standards were the same for every division without taking into account different situation and various targets of each division. Given the fact that there were only four independent divisions, individual approach and specific evaluation standards for each division should have been used. 3.What, if anything, could have been done to improve the implementation of the new philosophy? From 1988 onwards, the philosophy in HCC Industries had been changed from â€Å"stretch† targets to minimum performance standard (MPS) targets. However, according to the results of the first quarter of 1988, none of the divisions had achieved all of its MPS. It can be concluded that there were some problems in implementing new philosophy. First of all, the targets of every division should be aligned with the long-term strategy of the corporation. Top managers should clearly set the company stra tegy and priorities and communicate them to all divisions.Division managers should in turn have been communicated to the corporate managers opportunities, resource needs, constraints and risks. HCC Industries would achieve success if all divisions would work together towards common targets and objectives instead of being concentrated on personal goals of each division that could diverge from the strategy of corporation. According to the information provided in the case study, corporate managers were confident that the set objectives were achievable and realistic, division managers had the opposite opinion.As a result, division managers were discouraged to perform from the beginning. In order to avoid demotivation and increase the probability of the achievement of the targets, the balance should be found between the desires of the top management and the possibilities of the divisions. In that case, they closely need to communicate with each other and come together to the common solut ion. This would lead to more realistic budgets, would build employees up and increase managers’ commitment to achieve the targets.Secondly, as long as at HCC all divisions were decentralized, the differences and unique characteristics of each division should be taken into account. As a result, different performance evaluation standards should be used for every division. It is impossible to compare Hermetic Seal which is the original HCC business with Glasseal and Sealtron that were acquired even if all of them produce connectors. Moreover, the degree of standardization of product lines within these divisions is completely different. The forth division is completely different from the first three.That is why individual approach should be used for every division. There are only four divisions, that is why it is realistic for corporate managers to evaluate and analyze each division separately. Whereas some divisions could achieve higher targets, for others lower targets are more realistic. When planning the budget, the actual situation and performance of each division should be analyzed instead of comparison with other divisions. Before increasing the targets of the second and third divisions a more detailed analysis was needed.In addition, it would be helpful for corporate managers to discuss with the division managers the possible constrains of poor performance of their divisions and to evaluate whether additional actions are needed in order to improve performance. In order not to demotivate employees, it would be better to agree the targets and to find compromise rather than just to set them. Corporate managers should establish the dialogue with division managers and other personnel in order to gather an objective opinion about the real situation inside the company.Such working atmosphere would encourage employees to be involved in the company more and would give them the feeling that corporate managers listen to them when changing strategic issues. Div ision managers would feel themselves important in the organization and would be more encouraged to perform at the highest level possible and would feel more responsibility for the achievement of the targets. Thirdly, top management before changing the budgeting philosophy should have made a sound analysis of current performance on corporate level as it is a very important decision.Implementing new standards for evaluating involves the research of effectiveness of operation potential growth, the personal characteristics, the financial constraints, resource limitations, opportunities and risks. Fourthly, personal controls could be used by training division managers. For instance, it was very important for the fourth division to provide the manager with some additional information about the corporation before planning the budget.Taking into account the fact that Alan Wong was relatively new in the corporation, it is quite obvious that he lacks some experience and knowledge to plan an e ffective and realistic budget. It is also clear from the information provided in the case study, that he was unfamiliar with the strategy of the corporation and the expectations from the top managers from his division. Planning the budget is very important for the corporation. It requires deep understanding not only the goals and objectives of a particular division but also of the entire corporation.As there was a lack of communication between the top management and the division managers, the new division manager had set unrealistic budget. Fifthly, there was not only a lack of communication between top management and division managers, but also between the division personnel. In order to increase the motivation amongst personnel, the division managers should clearly communicate the main objectives and set the targets to their employees and provide them with the detailed information concerning the incentive system.In this case, employees would understand what they are expected to do and how they would be rewarded for that. Sixthly, as the marketing information collection was an obvious obstacle for the accurate forecast of the future, it is important to set up a marketing team in the four divisions. The target of the team is to collect the market share data of each product in previous years, the reasons for the up-and-downs of the market share, find out what kind of improvement will the target consumers need in the future, the scale of potential customers, and so on.With the detailed information of the market, it will be easier for the division to forecast the future sales and try to expand the existing market. Seventhly, it can be suggested, that for the first year when the changes were applied, the top management could set very realistic conservative targets in order to encourage employees and make them feel that the targets are achievable. Given the fact that the targets were not achieved for the last four years the employees got used to missing targets and became demotivated.In addition, given the fact that some divisions, for example Hermetite, experience current problems, flexible targets could be set, that would depend on certain conditions at a particular time. Finally, before taking a new decision about the changes, it could be helpful to organize the meeting with all division managers in order to announce them personally about the expected changes and gather some ideas from them about how to implement the new philosophy. Such brainstorming could help to pay attention to some important aspects from the bottom that top management was not considering. Hcc Industries 1. Evaluate the decision to use â€Å"minimum performance standard† (MPS) targets instead of â€Å"stretch† targets. The purpose of setting a budget system is to briefly forecast a company’s performance in the following year, and it can also be a result control system that makes people in the corporation work properly to achieve the objectives and give them incentives by bonus related to performance. From this point of view, the budget system should be reasonable, achievable, and also have some challenge to ensure the hard working. HCC Industries was using â€Å"stretch† performance targets until 1987.The main idea of using â€Å"stretch† targets was to motivate managers to perform at the highest level possible by setting aggressive targets with probability of achievement between 75 % and 80 %. In order to motivate the managers, incentive system was directly related to the budget targets. The bonus potential for division managers was 30% of base sal ary and was equally based on profit before taxes (PBT) and subjective rating of performance depending on the degree of accomplishment of the targets in all seven performance areas.In case that only few of performance areas were not met, but the management considered them important, no subjective bonus would be provided. Objective bonus based on profit before taxes was provided as following: if 60 % of the budget was achieved, 80 % of the bonus potential was paid; if 100 % of the budget was achieved, 100 % of the bonus potential was paid; and if 140% of the budget was achieved, 150 % of the bonus potential was paid. Bonuses were paid quarterly at the level of 80 % of what was earned in order to prevent paying the bonuses that were not earned.However, philosophy of using â€Å"stretch† performance targets in HCC Industries did not work very well, since it encouraged thinking optimistically that pushed employees to perform at a higher level leading to innovation. This philosophy is advantageous for particular companies with a certain size that have an understanding of the markets and have an ability to influence them. HCC Industries was a small publicly held corporation which was just taking orders and not doing marketing. For this reason, there was little probability for the employees to enlarge the market and achieve an aggressive growth in sales every year.Performance targets were set too high and optimistic, they were unrealistic, unachievable, and not suitable for a company which could not make a sustaining growth by influencing the market. One of the main disadvantages of â€Å"stretch† targets was that they were set too high. This led to the situation that for the last four years HCC Industries never achieved its targets. As a result, employees lost their motivation and commitment to achieve the targets; they were discouraged, and exert less effort by giving up trying, as they felt that â€Å"stretch† concept was causing the corporatio n not to achieve its plans.If a division keeps missing the budgets, employees feel like a failure. Taking into account that the employees could not achieve the targets for already four years, they had lost their confidence and became used to missing the budget and the enthusiasm to strive for the objectives was weakened. Although the targets were set at an unreachable level, the control system was not that tight. Even if the managers failed to achieve the targets, they may also be paid the bonus. For example, the managers were still paid 80% of objective bonus potential based on profit before taxes if they had just achieved 60% of the budget.So if a manager was not so ambitious, he did not have to worry about meeting the budget. Moreover, important constraint to motivation of division personnel was that they did not know their bonus potential and the bases on which the bonus awards were made, as division managers did not want to disclose division-level financial information to their personnel. As a result, being unaware of the main objectives of the corporation and its incentive system, employees did not exactly know what they are expected to do and how they would be rewarded for their efforts.As a result of the lack of communication between division managers, middle managers and employees, division personnel became discouraged and demotivated. In addition, if employees are systematically undercompensated, the corporation may suffer from losing key employees. Another disadvantage of â€Å"stretch† performance targets was subjectivity of incentive system. According to the information, provided from the case study, bonuses were paid only to employees included in the bonus plan. It can be concluded that not all employees were included in this plan.Moreover, half of the bonus potential was based on subjective evaluation of top management. However, there is a concern whether top management could judge each division in appropriate way, taking into account all the differences between them. The aforementioned subjective aspect influences performance and motivation of employees. In addition, important demotivating factor was that awards had to be paid quarterly at the level of 80% of what was earned. It took three to four months before they actually were paid because the necessary approvals by several levels were needed before the payments could be made.The remaining 20 % was paid at the end of the year based on annual performance. Taking into account aforementioned challenges of using â€Å"stretch† performance targets, the management of the corporation had taken a decision to change the philosophy to â€Å"minimum performance standard† (MPS) targets from the fiscal year 1988 onwards. The philosophy provided a two-level budget standards. The first level included the minimum performance standard that determined the basic financial target that divisions should reach. The second level included the targets that were set more cha llenging, and had some incentive effect.The main objective of this decision was to submit budgets with realistic targets with an achievement probability of 100% in order that divisions could meet the targets. As a result, division managers and other employees would become motivated by being proud of themselves, having self-esteem and starting feeling like â€Å"winners†. Being motivated, division personnel would be encouraged to work hard, be entrepreneurial and increase the level of aspiration for the future. Moreover, they would be given an opportunity to earn extra rewards.Another advantage of highly achievable budget targets is that they reduce the costs of needed interventions from corporate managers and the costs of optimistic revenue projections. Highly achievable budget targets also reduce the risk of game-playing. However, not all potential advantages of MPS targets were achieved in HCC Industries. Before implementing MPS targets, corporate managers did not analyze c arefully all problems that the company faced on the level of operations, marketing and finance. Corporate managers of HCC industries introduced the following changes in the corporation connected with the switch to MPS budgeting philosophy.First of all, the probability of the achievement of the budgets had been changed. MPS budgets were to be set with the felt probability of achievement 100%. In addition, managers were asked to set targets that exceed normal capability and involve an increase by 25-30 % with the probability of achievement of 50 %. However, although the budgets were planned to be set realistic and achievable, in reality they were too high and some division managers were even more than before concerned whether it would be possible to achieve them.In some divisions, such as Glasseal and Sealtron, corporate managers just increased the planned budgets without any analysis of the actual situation and discussion about business potential and risks with the division managers. As a result, division managers became even more demotivated because of too optimistic budgets. Moreover, by missing the new budgets, employees could be fired. The division manager of Hermetite was not provided by top managers with essential information about the corporation, its strategy, targets and the actual situation, and targets of his division before planning the budget.Being just hired and having the lack of experience and knowledge, he set too optimistic targets that could never be achieved in reality. As a result, the new division manager experienced failure and frustration at the beginning of his working experience in HCC Industry that had led to undermining of his confidence and commitment. Secondly, the incentive system had also been changed. According to new incentive compensation plan, bonus pool consisted of 20 % of the amount by which actual division PBT exceed MPS and 25 % of the amount by which it exceeded the target.Bonuses were paid quarterly at a level of 90 % of that earned and the remaining 10 % at the end of the year depending on the performance. It can be concluded that the rewards became lower than with â€Å"stretch† performance targets. The probability of losing the job in case the MPS targets would not be met, became greater. The disadvantage of subjective judgment concerning the bonuses was not eliminated under the new philosophy, as the division managers were given the discretion to decide which of their subordinates would share in the bonus pool and how the pool would be allocated among themselves and the others included.The key factor to the success of the budget system lied in the accuracy of forecasting the market share, the booking rate, the potential growth of sales, and so on. If a manager had little knowledge about the market information and the competitors, it would be difficult to set the MPS. The effectiveness of the budget system would be weakened, and this was the one of the main problems HCC faced after intr oduction of the MPS system. Evaluating the decision of changing the corporation’s philosophy based on early results, allows concluding that the new concept was not implemented well, even given the fact that it was a good idea.After the first quarter of fiscal year 1988, none of the divisions achieved all of its MPS and some of the divisions missed their minimum performance by large margins. 2. Should HCC managers have expected that the MPS target-setting philosophy would be equally effective in all four operating divisions described? HCC Industries was organized into four operating divisions: Hermetic Seal, Glasseal, Sealtrol that were producing connectors of various types, and Hermetite that was producing custom-designed, micro-electronic packages. Each division was run by a general manager who was responsible for all business functions of a certain division.In order to proper evaluate and monitor divisions’ results on which the bonuses were based, controllers of each division reported to HCC’s CFO. Corporate managers should have taken into account that the divisions differ from each other, and should have considered each division separately while using MPS target-setting philosophy as each division had some specific characteristics that were different from others. Although all the three connector divisions were similar in that they were profitable but growing slowly, there was a significant difference in the degree of standardization of their product lines.For example, division Sealtrol was highly standardized and produced connectors with large economies of scale. On the contrast, Hermetic Seal was the least standardized division and operated primarily as a job shop that designed and produced small batches of custom connectors. Glasseal’s product lines had the medium level of standardization. The forth division Hermetite was completely different from the connector divisions. In comparison with the first three divisions, its market and competitors were well defined and its potential for growth was tremendous.In addition, Hermetite faced huge price competition and significant production technology and control challenges. Moreover, the production processes were complex and its engineering and production organizations were instable. Given the fact that all four divisions were independent from each other, had different targets, accounting and information systems, product standards, served different customers, had different professional background of division managers, a detailed analysis should have been made whether MPS targets would be equally effective in all four divisions.Mike Pelta, the manager of the first division Hermetic Seal was more motivated after the changes, as with â€Å"stretch† performance targets, the probability of the achievement of the targets was 85-90%, whereas with MPS targets it has increased by 95-98%. The reason of such a high probability of achievement the targets was the fact that the division manager had set conservative targets. Mike Pelta was a cofounder of HCC, and was more familiar with the situation of the company. From the first quarter revenue result of 1988, we can find that only Hermetic Seals exceeded target in both bookings and profit before tax.But on the other hand, there were some problems in product qualities such as returns and rework. The manager of the second division Glasseal was even more demotivated after the changes than under the â€Å"stretch† performance targets. After the division manager had prepared the budget based on realistic forecast, the targets were increased by corporate managers. As a result, the probability of the achievement of the targets remained 90%, as it was before changes. However, with the â€Å"stretch† targets the rewards were greater and could be earned even if the budget was missed.It could be concluded that the change for MPS targets had not become better and more motivated for the second d ivision. Historical performance of the third division Sealtron was not so good. Efficiency in sales per employee was 50 % below other connector divisions, and budget was missed so salaries were frozen. The division manager, Lou Palamara, was recruited in 1986. Lou Palamara had a background of an engineering manager, so he was not that familiar with the corporation and had less knowledge about budget and cost saving. The division manager was discouraged by newMPS targets, as the targets he set had significantly been increased by corporate managers and the probability of its achievement according to division manager, was only 60-65%. As a result, if the budget would have increased by 18 % compared to the previous year, there would be still no bonus earned. Moreover, in case MPS standards would not be achieved the manager could be fired. At the same time, CFO of the corporation assessed the probability of the achievement of the targets by 90%. His idea was to stimulate sales as the Sea ltron’s efficiency was below other connector divisions.It can be concluded that the opinion of top managers and division manager on the achievement of targets was significantly different (90 % versus 60-65 %). In this situation, in order to come to common solution, additional analysis should have been done of actual situation and current performance of the division. It should have been carefully analyzed the reason of poor performance of the third division. Before the fourth division Hermetite was acquired in August 1985, it had been operating at a loss for the price competition and the production problems.The former general manager of Hermetite left a serious delinquency problem, which had worsen the reputation of the company, so booking could not be guaranteed. The manager Alan Wong, being new in the corporation and lacking particular experience and knowledge, was not provided with additional training and explanation of the corporation’s and division’s main ob jectives. He thought the corporate managers would not accept a budget that projected a loss. As a result, he had set very aggressive and optimistic targets that were unrealistic and corporate managers decreased the targets.However, the probability of achievement of the performance target at sales was 80 % and PBT target was only 5 %. The performance of the forth division was very risky and uncertain. From the first quarter results of 1988, we can discover that the bookings and shipments were both below MPS. After analyzing MPS targets in all four divisions, it could be concluded that only the manager of the first division, that was the original HCC business, was motivated by the changes. The managers of the other three divisions were even more concerned than before the changes.The main reason of such situation was that corporate managers thought that the targets were achievable, whereas division managers had the opinion that they are not achievable and unrealistic. It can be conclud ed that there was a lack of communication between corporate and division managers. Moreover, the evaluation standards were the same for every division without taking into account different situation and various targets of each division. Given the fact that there were only four independent divisions, individual approach and specific evaluation standards for each division should have been used. 3.What, if anything, could have been done to improve the implementation of the new philosophy? From 1988 onwards, the philosophy in HCC Industries had been changed from â€Å"stretch† targets to minimum performance standard (MPS) targets. However, according to the results of the first quarter of 1988, none of the divisions had achieved all of its MPS. It can be concluded that there were some problems in implementing new philosophy. First of all, the targets of every division should be aligned with the long-term strategy of the corporation. Top managers should clearly set the company stra tegy and priorities and communicate them to all divisions.Division managers should in turn have been communicated to the corporate managers opportunities, resource needs, constraints and risks. HCC Industries would achieve success if all divisions would work together towards common targets and objectives instead of being concentrated on personal goals of each division that could diverge from the strategy of corporation. According to the information provided in the case study, corporate managers were confident that the set objectives were achievable and realistic, division managers had the opposite opinion.As a result, division managers were discouraged to perform from the beginning. In order to avoid demotivation and increase the probability of the achievement of the targets, the balance should be found between the desires of the top management and the possibilities of the divisions. In that case, they closely need to communicate with each other and come together to the common solut ion. This would lead to more realistic budgets, would build employees up and increase managers’ commitment to achieve the targets.Secondly, as long as at HCC all divisions were decentralized, the differences and unique characteristics of each division should be taken into account. As a result, different performance evaluation standards should be used for every division. It is impossible to compare Hermetic Seal which is the original HCC business with Glasseal and Sealtron that were acquired even if all of them produce connectors. Moreover, the degree of standardization of product lines within these divisions is completely different. The forth division is completely different from the first three.That is why individual approach should be used for every division. There are only four divisions, that is why it is realistic for corporate managers to evaluate and analyze each division separately. Whereas some divisions could achieve higher targets, for others lower targets are more realistic. When planning the budget, the actual situation and performance of each division should be analyzed instead of comparison with other divisions. Before increasing the targets of the second and third divisions a more detailed analysis was needed.In addition, it would be helpful for corporate managers to discuss with the division managers the possible constrains of poor performance of their divisions and to evaluate whether additional actions are needed in order to improve performance. In order not to demotivate employees, it would be better to agree the targets and to find compromise rather than just to set them. Corporate managers should establish the dialogue with division managers and other personnel in order to gather an objective opinion about the real situation inside the company.Such working atmosphere would encourage employees to be involved in the company more and would give them the feeling that corporate managers listen to them when changing strategic issues. Div ision managers would feel themselves important in the organization and would be more encouraged to perform at the highest level possible and would feel more responsibility for the achievement of the targets. Thirdly, top management before changing the budgeting philosophy should have made a sound analysis of current performance on corporate level as it is a very important decision.Implementing new standards for evaluating involves the research of effectiveness of operation potential growth, the personal characteristics, the financial constraints, resource limitations, opportunities and risks. Fourthly, personal controls could be used by training division managers. For instance, it was very important for the fourth division to provide the manager with some additional information about the corporation before planning the budget.Taking into account the fact that Alan Wong was relatively new in the corporation, it is quite obvious that he lacks some experience and knowledge to plan an e ffective and realistic budget. It is also clear from the information provided in the case study, that he was unfamiliar with the strategy of the corporation and the expectations from the top managers from his division. Planning the budget is very important for the corporation. It requires deep understanding not only the goals and objectives of a particular division but also of the entire corporation.As there was a lack of communication between the top management and the division managers, the new division manager had set unrealistic budget. Fifthly, there was not only a lack of communication between top management and division managers, but also between the division personnel. In order to increase the motivation amongst personnel, the division managers should clearly communicate the main objectives and set the targets to their employees and provide them with the detailed information concerning the incentive system.In this case, employees would understand what they are expected to do and how they would be rewarded for that. Sixthly, as the marketing information collection was an obvious obstacle for the accurate forecast of the future, it is important to set up a marketing team in the four divisions. The target of the team is to collect the market share data of each product in previous years, the reasons for the up-and-downs of the market share, find out what kind of improvement will the target consumers need in the future, the scale of potential customers, and so on.With the detailed information of the market, it will be easier for the division to forecast the future sales and try to expand the existing market. Seventhly, it can be suggested, that for the first year when the changes were applied, the top management could set very realistic conservative targets in order to encourage employees and make them feel that the targets are achievable. Given the fact that the targets were not achieved for the last four years the employees got used to missing targets and became demotivated.In addition, given the fact that some divisions, for example Hermetite, experience current problems, flexible targets could be set, that would depend on certain conditions at a particular time. Finally, before taking a new decision about the changes, it could be helpful to organize the meeting with all division managers in order to announce them personally about the expected changes and gather some ideas from them about how to implement the new philosophy. Such brainstorming could help to pay attention to some important aspects from the bottom that top management was not considering.

Blaxicans and Other Reinvented Americans Essay

In â€Å"Blaxicans† and Other Reinvented Americans,† Richard Rodriguez points out that America has become a place that is fully populated by immigrants from around the world. He asserts that there is no way to assign race names to citizens because everyone can be multiple races. According to Rodriguez, Americans create labels (e. g. Hispanic) in a ridiculous attempt to classify people in the simplest form; a plan doomed to fail. Rodriguez continues by describing his idea of â€Å"ethnicity,† which is ultimately based on the way people act and the things they value. The article describes the way in which all races are intertwined within the country, and within the world. The idea of â€Å"diversity† is also mentioned in the article when discussing the topic of interracial marriages. Rodriguez goes on to describe the false â€Å"Hispanic† category much of this country has fallen into. Ultimately, Rodriguez explains that â€Å"Hispanic† is a term used only in America for colonization purposes. Hispanic is a false idea because upon going to Latin America, one would encounter black Hispanics, white Hispanics, etc. and that is factual. By 2003, Hispanics became the largest minority in the world (whatever that means). Rodriguez goes on to share his views on assimilation: â€Å"ASSIMILATION HAPPENS. † Assimilation is the act of people of different backgrounds viewing themselves as a part of a larger national family. This article acknowledges the vast array of racial possibilities within the world. Rodriguez ends the article by saying he, a man of Mexican descent, is Chinese because he enjoys Chinese culture, and that is how ethnicity should be decided. Vocabulary * incomprehensibly: adv: inarticulately (aimlessly, franticly, confusedly) * mythic: adj: make-believe (storied, imaginary, folkloric) * rind: n: covering (epicarp, hull, husk) * aforementioned: adj: previous; come before (precedent, former, prior) * demythologizing: v: reinterpret a subject or text * mulatto: n: a person of mixed white and black ancestry Rhetorical Strategies * Anecdote: â€Å"On his interview show, Bill Moyers once asked me how I thought of myself. As an American? Or Hispanic? I answered that I am Chinese, and that is because I live in a Chinese city and because I want to be Chinese. † (paragraph 19) * Paradox: â€Å"I come to you as Chinese. Unless you understand that I am Chinese, then you have not understood anything I have said. † (paragraph 25) * Imagery: â€Å"My eye has taken on that palette, has come to prefer lime green and rose reds and all the inventions o this Chinese Mediterranean. † (paragraph 19).

Joseph Rudyard Kipling Essay

The study room was surprisingly empty. The door was crying out for some one to come open it. The papers lying on the table were rustling out loud, almost as if giving a signal to use them. Beside were pens lying and whispering for someone to pick them up. The chair was looming for someone to come and use it for comfort. Slowly the door opens with a crack. There, enters a man: always with a look of confidence and pride showing away to everyone. A man loved by everyone for his work which was presented to the public. This person was none other then Kipling: a poet, novelist and not to forget an â€Å"imperialist†. The time period was around the 18th century when British established their rule over India. Another term for taking over was known as IMPERIALSIM: when a strong nation like British takes over a weaker region like India. Once they take over, they dominate the regions politically, economically and culturally (Imperialism 8). As every country wants to keep their own culture and have their own rule, India was against British rule. The only people who supported them were the Sikhs. When countries took over foreign lands, they expected the natives to practice their culture inferior to their own (Imperialism 9). This was called â€Å"the white man’s burden†. Later on there was a popular poem named the same written by Kipling. Joseph Rudyard Kipling was a blessed child born to be an English writer and a Nobel Prize winner to John Lockwood Kipling: an artist, a scholar and a capable writer, and to Alice Macdonald. Kipling was a man who wrote novels, poems, and short stories, mostly set in India and Burma (now known as Myanmar) during the time of British rule. He was born on December 30, 1865 in Mumbai, India. His first name Joseph which was never used as it was his father’s father name, except for his baptism in the cathedral. His second name Rudyard was named after the place, Rudyard River where his father and mother first met. As a child of a rich family, he never got the tender love and playing time with â€Å"mother† like most middle or low class children would. Instead he was bought up by an ayah. As being raised by native servants meant affection and intimacy, and that intimacy meant, above all, that he learned their language, Hindustani (Rudyard Kipling 19). He was sent to England for better education at the age of six to a foster home. There he received unkind treatment which he later expressed in the short story â€Å"Baa Baa Black Sheep† in the novel The Light That Failed. At the age of 13, Kipling entered Services College: an institution specialized in training for entry into military academies. Unfortunately his poor eyesight and other factors shredded his hopes for a military career. He returned to India at the age of sixteen. In 1882 he started working as a journalist in Lahore for the Civil and Military Gazette: a local newspaper where he wrote and edited short stories. Gazette was an excellent way of building up the knowledge of India that was going to make him as a writer (Rudyard Kipling 42). In 1887 he was promoted to the staff of the Allahabad paper, Pioneer: a sister paper with much higher standard then the Gazette as an assistant editor. India and Kipling had been made for each other. She gave him what no other English writer was ever to experience in comparable fullness and intensity; †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. As her mark was set on him for life: with the exception of some travel pieces, seven or eight stories and a few dozen poems all his best work reflects or remembers India (Rudyard Kipling 52). This statement shows us that he had a passion for India: all the colors and sounds and smells made an impression on him that was distinctive as well as deep (Rudyard Kipling 20). Almost every novel he wrote, short stories or poems were all connected to the life he spent in India. He loved his child hood days he spent in India â€Å"give me the first six years of a child’s life and you can have the rest† (Something of myself). His novels described the setting (India) very well especially, its beauty as a country, the culture and the distinct features it has as a diverse country. Kipling was an imperialist. He believed it was right and proper for Britain to â€Å"own† India and rule the people (www. english-literature. com). He accepted the Empire as it stood and he approved the annexation of Upper Burma (Rudyard Kipling 52). He was one of the few people who approved the right of British to rule India. He wrote books and poem supporting the fact that British has the right to rule. Famous poem was â€Å"the white man’s burden† and a popular novel named â€Å"KIM†. It is a novel that embodies his attitude towards British rule in India which these days are wholly unacceptable and unpalatable (www. english-literature. com). Even though he resided in India and was an Anglo-Indian he still supported British. Though he considerable colonial experience in India as well as sympathy for Asians, his writing clearly reflects the British and imperial attitude (Rudyard Kipling 67). Enough comments were made about the novel KIM such as â€Å"a master work of imperialism †¦.. Rich and absolutely fascinating. But nevertheless profoundly embarrassing novel (Edward, www. english-literature. com). Kipling is the man who is remembered for his celebration of British imperialism and heroism in India and Burma (Rudyard Kipling, 53). He is the man who is still remembered by everyone including kids by reading his wonderful work of writings written for us. Common examples are Jungle book, KIM, famous short stories such as Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the Naulahka are to name a few. His love for India was incomparable to any Anglo-Indian, it shown in almost every novel which had a setting of India. Kipling should be as thankful to India as India should be thankful for him. Kipling introduced a new type of story and brought out the knowledge of India more to other people around the world by having it included in his stories. He made a difference in the world of writing by producing great novels such as Barrack-Room Ballads, etc. Kipling’s life and work are extraordinary unlike those of any other English writer (Rudyard Kipling 1). He was the first Englishman to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. Kipling is man who left marks in the world of today by using his ability to remind about him and his works constantly. BIBLIOGRAPHY Book Amis, Kingsley Rudyard Kipling and his world. Great Britain, 1975 Handout given my Mr. Quan for Imperialism. Websites  http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A5316798

International business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International business strategy - Essay Example Being directly related to the health of the customers, the industry possesses certain unique characteristics which in turn influence its market status. For instance, the industry attracts strict legal barriers, intense political considerations, along with effective technical collaborations. However, the industry gains an advantage of lesser economic constraints and social influences (Verbigena, 2004). Since its initiation, the industry has witnessed a rapid growth despite certain major barriers such as, increasing debt and the effect of recent global recession. The turnover of the international pharmaceutical industry as recorded in the last month of 2009 was $ 233 billion. This depicts that the industry was on a growth when compared with the 2006 statistics reporting revenue of $193 billion (Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., 2010). However, the industry also witnessed challenges in terms of mergers and acquisitions. For instance, Pfizer acquired Wyeth for 68 billion; Merck Sha rp & Dohme was acquired by Schering for 41.1 billion and Roche acquired 43% of the total stake in Genentech. Notably, all the companies were recorded to be among the major players in the global industry. Hence, it can be stated that the mergers and acquisitions strongly influenced the structure of the industry which can prove to be a constraint from the marketing perspective (Hornke & Mandewirth, 2009). 1.2. Demand & Supply In the economic perspective the demand and supply in an industry is referred to the interdependent relationship between the total amount of products and/or supply rendered to the industry’s customers and the actual need or requirement to the total population of the customer. To be related with the pharmaceutical industry, one opportunity that the industry gains in this context is that it renders a product which is categorised as a basic requirement of human population. Therefore, the suppliers in the industry enjoy more power in comparison to the buyers. H owever to be precise, the market demand was recorded to fall back during the early 2000s and after the recent economic downturn it is again increasing. Accordingly, the supply chain of the industry comprises of the manufacturers and marketers, who are altogether reflecting a positive outlook to render their products to their ultimate customers (Holland & Batiz-Lazo, 2004). 1.3 Key Countries of the Market The international pharmaceutical industry can be categorised in three main regions, i.e. the American region, the European region and the Asian market region. Notably, the industry structure and performance vary from one economy to another. It is due to the fact that the industry depends highly on the legal, political and technological issues beside the social and economical barriers. The statistics recorded in 2005 revealed the following facts regarding the annual contribution of various economies to the international pharmaceutical industry (Medicines Australia, 2007). Economies N orth America Europe Japan UK Australia Other Economies Shares in Sales (2005) 45% 20% 10% 3% 1% 21% Source: (Medicines Austra

Sources of Communication Inputs and Their Influences in Daily Life Essay

Sources of Communication Inputs and Their Influences in Daily Life - Essay Example The only thing in this world that is constant is change. This is a pretty well known saying which existed as long as I can remember. Looking back 50 years and more from today, I can recall how we used to tackle in class about how people have lived centuries ago. Today, the upsurge of developments in technology has an undeniable effect on how organizations function within and with other institutions. For an organization, its success and failure greatly depends on how the organization was structured to work. The drive to improve peoples living pattern is still the same drive or factor which triggers international firms to globalize their operations and with that, today's latest technology makes the company's and consumers life easier It enable companies to reduce cost by using powerful equipment and machineries while consumers can have easier access to the newest products in the market. One of the first innovations of technology was the mainframe system and it was during the 1960's that computers and such started to impart in organizations and firms. The classic ways of hierarchal management systems started to disintegrate during these times. Through technological change, globalizing the operations of an international company could put up a plantation where they can reduce their labor cost. Not denying the fact that different people from different countries have different tastes, international companies could also personalize their products according to the consumers or markets preferences without eliminating their standards and trademark. Before, information control was basically handled by those in managerial positions in a linear manner according to rank. With these systems of technology, information was handled as such that company transparency is relatively existent for those who can get hold of certain information. The onslaught of developments in technology has triggered organizational structure alterations. These changes can be illustrated by considering two key variables: the location of information and the location of decision rights in the organization (Brynjolfsson E. and H. Mendelsson). With the innovative technological systems today, important information can now possibly be available to all employees or workers in an organization at all level. Before, information handling and privilege was limited to the persons that directly handle them. Now, the responsibility of handling information is left to information technologists or technicians. The technicians then put data or information into databases which are accessible to all components of the organization For example, an organization can have a website, regularly maintained and updated by professional information technologists. Here, employees, managers and customers alike, can log on to the website and access whatever information they needed. Furthermore, having websites is also a great advantage since helpful feedbacks are easier to get from both customers and employees. The growing need for technology innovations paves way to strengthening certain industries in a corporate world; like data management services, computer engineers, information technologists, software designers or engineers and so on and so forth. Although there are still organizations or companies that are hesitant to use information techn

Research project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Research project - Essay Example The projected net income before bonuses for the year is $17.2 million. The preliminary net income before bonuses for the first quarter is $3.7 million. According to (FASB 11) inaccurate recognition of bonuses result into inaccuracies within financial statements and hence it is important to make appropriate recording of bonuses as well as well as taxes associated with the same. Treatment of accounting transactions often requires careful consideration of the implications of the same both technically and at ethical levels. Reliable sources often emphasize the importance of accruing bonuses whenever it is expected that the company’s financial/operational performance will at least be equivalent to the set performance levels to warrant issuance of bonuses (Kimball 12). The accrual decision requires considerable judgment of the performance of the entire period which encompasses many future months during which one thing or another may impede achievement of the bonus plan objectives. A number of alternatives have been proposed for accrual of bonuses. These include: Non-accrual of expense until a reasonable probability of achieving the bonus is present Accrual of a smaller expense early in a given performance period to reflect high performance failure risk and accrue a larger expense in future when success probability is extremely high It is not advisable that one accrues significant bonus expense in an instance where probability of awarding the bonus is extremely low (Stickney 80). Such accruals provide a false expense which might be reversed later when the performance period comes to an end. A sample bonus accrual expense for the case presented could be as follows,    Debit Credit Bonus expense 185,000      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Accrued bonus liability    185,000 Where payment for the accrued bonus is made later, the journal entry eliminates accrued bonus liability whilst recognizing any arising payroll tax liabilities which are associated with the accrued bonus. A entry for this could be as follows,    Debit Credit Accrued bonus liability 185,000   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Cash    xxx Taxes    xxx As a matter of fact, when a percentage bonus is issued at the end of every quarter, it is important to recognize a portion of the bonus at the end of each month’s closing financial statements. For instance, the 5% bonus at each quarter’s end, an accrual of 5% of total salary expense is recorded at the end of every month’s cycle closure (FASB 54). A debit is posted to employee bonuses account for total accrual amount and credit is made to bonus accrual account. In the case discussed in the report, the bonus payment is pegged to the projected net income before bonuses of $17.2 million. However, going by the earnings for the current quarter, there is no high likelihood of attaining the projected income before payment of bonuses and hence its non-accrual is recommended until such time that the probability of attaining the projected i ncome before bonus is achieved. In general, the best way to treat the bonus expense is to handle it as an accrued expense or rather an expense incurred but not yet paid. This is consideration of the fact that whilst the bonus is anticipated, changes in the financial results of the company can prevent the company from incurring this expense at the end of the financial period. Incurrence of this expense is pegged on a condition which must be achieved for it to be affected.

DQ 2 & DQ 3 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

DQ 2 & DQ 3 - Research Paper Example 80). As such, this paper will discuss why it is believed that the process of motivation in this unit can help it to function more effectively. The morale of staff members especially nurses in the unit I worked for at Hospice was generally low. This was mainly as a result of the fact that they were not motivated and this is the reason why staff turnover was quite high in this unit. Essentially, the human factor is the most critical element that can contribute to the effectiveness and success of any operation. Through effective leadership, the employees need to be motivated so that they can put optimum effort in their performance. Basically, motivation is described as â€Å"anything done or efforts made to encourage the behaviour of employees towards better performance in the course of accomplishing the goals of the organization,† (Omowumi &Osamede, 2011, p. B584). Motivation includes incentives, inducements and rewards that are often given to employees in the organization in a bid to boost their morale which in turn enhances productivity. This is an effective strategy of enhancing performance in the department rather than maintaining the status quo. The workers in this particular unit need to be motivated so that they can improve their performance. There are various strategies that can be implemented in order to motivate the workers. For instance, it is imperative to improve the working environment so that the employees can enjoy working in this particular unit. This can be done through creating and implementing a work culture that is inclusive and accommodative to different views of the employees working in the unit. This will help to create a sense of belonging to the unit among the workers since they would be treated as valuable assets. The other strategy that can motivate the workers is related to their involvement in the decision making process since this helps them to feel that they are

Summary for case study ( an engineering logistic (software) solution ) Essay

Summary for case study ( an engineering logistic (software) solution ) - Essay Example Customer service being vital ingredient of logistics, the quality, time, speed, punctuality and reliability of delivery become crucial components. The company utilizes ECOSELL using Extended Enterprises for enhanced logistic planning outcome. Firm’s physical distribution and logistics management relies on capillary network of points of sale throughout the country where inventory is mostly brought by fleet of trucks but sometimes also using couriers or collected by point of sale. The kitchens are delivered to point of sale in three ways: 17 dedicated trucks are used for Italy and 13 trucks delivery kitchen abroad, on a once in a week basis; urgent deliveries are made through third party carrier firms; and sometimes, customers collect it directly from the production plant. To ensure smooth flow of logistics, the company uses percentage of cumulative volumes against total deliveries by dividing regions into three groups: group 1 absorbs 60% of total volume of products and 57% of deliveries; group 2 absorbs 30% of products’ volume and 33% of total deliveries; and third group absorbs lowest volume and least number of deliveries. Orders sent by point of sales are segregated by regions and arranged by delivery dates to be delivered by trucks such that trucks are optimally used. Assemble to Order or ATO, using forecasts for parts and sub-assemblies to fill the truck which are later assembled to meet the demands. While ATO has many advantages, disadvantages like higher lead times, non-flexible manufacturing system and limited productive capacity of plants become major drawbacks. Consequently, firm uses its other brands to fill the trucks and save cost. Thus the redesigned system using EE are introduced which become highly effective mechanism to exploit the logistics and supply system in the meta value chain through dynamic assignment of orders. ECOSELL using EE applies superimposition of geographical

The U.S. Labor History in the 20th century Essay - 2

The U.S. Labor History in the 20th century - Essay Example It would seem that high unemployment and a bleak economic outlook would discourage workers from uprising. However, worker solidarity will prevail over fears of economic outcome. During good economic times, the capital is benefiting more than the worker is. This puts the capital in a position of authority and the attendant perks that come with it. There are political considerations, a favorable judiciary, and enforcement techniques that discourage organization. Business has law enforcement and the system to back up their position. When difficult times hit with the economic downturn beginning in 1932, the unions were able to become more solidified. Union members were able to speak for the unemployed and disadvantaged and gained more interest and support. It was the direct connection between the union and the working class that was able to mobilize the unions during the depression. The Cold War decade of the 1950s brought about greater cooperation between workers and management which was more likely due to conciliatory attitudes than worker satisfaction. The unions had made strides through the ability to organize in the 1930s and the war effort of the 1940s. However, the post-war period brought about some dissatisfaction among the public for the head of the AFL-CIO, John Lewis. A successful strike in 1943 at the height of the war had sparked public outrage that he had broken the war efforts no-strike policy. This anger would not be forgotten when Congress overrode Truman's veto of the Labor-Management Relations Act, known as the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. The Labor-Management Relations Act set the stage for union activity during the 1950s. It severely limited the union's ability to organize and strike. Business was pushing for greater productivity at the expense of the workers. Strikes were generally short-lived, local, and quickly suppressed. The closed shop was outlawed and companies would move plants to locations that were less labor-friendly.  

International business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International business environment - Essay Example Since 2010, the company has been making profits that are annually reported. General motors however can reduce tax and pay for it in future dates by carrying forward the past losses and applying it on future dates. It was estimated by wall street journal in the past that the tax break that the company will enjoy in the next 20 years will be close to $45 billion including credits for pension costs (Hill, Gareth, & Jones, 2009). In 2010 alone, general motors reported an earning of 4.7 billion us dollars. In the same year 2010, the company was ranked the second in the list of companies that produce 8.5 million units across the world. In the following year 2011, it was ranked the first with production of 9.025 units that were sold globally (Gall, 2011). These units sold in 2011 command an 11.9% of the market share in the motor vehicle industry across the world (Gall, 2011). General motors performance was boosted by its brand called Chevrolet that recorded a global sale of 4.76 million in 2011. Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC are the four main divisions of gm products (Gall, 2011). The GM always do some restructuring and this have helped the company a lot to retain the quality of vehicles it produces and have also enabled the company to produce safe and fuel efficient cars. General motors products have done very well in Asian countries over the past decade. In china, it manufacture its products through shanghai GM which is a local manufacturer and in Japan it manufacture through GM Chevrolet shop. Its sales in China rose 28.8 percent to a record 2,351,610 units in 2010 (Mueller, 2008). To ensure that it keep up with the research, GM set up a research centre in shanghai to help develop electric vehicles and gasoline-hybrid cars engines and other fresh technologies. Since fuel prices skyrocketed in 2000 and 2010, general motors have shifted its interest to produce small capacity vehicles in the United States (Mueller, 2008). This program will help create thousands of jobs and help the company increase its sales. In 2008, the company made it public that it was considering phasing out some brands that includes Pontiac in an effort to get 25 billion dollar loan through the help of congress (Mueller, 2008). It also made other very serious proposals in 2009 that include the phasing out of Saturn, sale of Saab and either to phase out or sale Hummer. Pontiac was therefore to cut its model and possibly remain with one but had to shift to production of youthful and sporty models. General Motors would cut out another 7,000 to 8,000 factory jobs in the United States under a revised business plan set up by Obama administration (Kerzner, 2010). Fritz Henderson the CEO of the company said that Pontiac brand would be closed by 2010, terming it an â€Å"extremely personal decision.† In addition to speeding up decisions on Saturn, Saab and Hummer, GM will be left with four brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac (Kerzner, 2010). Shanghai Gen eral Motors' sales surpassed those of sister company Shanghai Volkswagen's in 2005 and was in that year China's top selling joint venture. Its sales keep going up in 2006 and 2007 but later in 2008 recorded slight reduction in its sales trailing shanghai VW, but it was later to return to number one slot in 2010 and have kept that position to today (Kerzner, 2010). Shanghai GM introduced Chevrolet brand in the country in 2005 and in that year it also started domestic production of the Cadillac

Mobile Technology Essay Example for Free

Mobile Technology Essay Mobile technology is the technology used for cellular communication. Mobile code division multiple access (CDMA) technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pager to being a mobile phone, GPS navigation device, an embedded web browser and instant messaging client, and a handheld game console. Many experts argue that the future of computer technology rests in mobile computing with wireless networking. Mobile computing by way of tablet computers are becoming more popular. The most popular tablet at the moment is the iPad, by Apple. Tablets are available on the 3G and 4G networks. Contents 1 4G networking 2 Operating systems 3 Channel hogging and file sharing 4 Future of smartphone 5 External links 6 References 4G networking One of the most important features in the [4G] mobile networks is the domination of high-speed packet transmissions or burst traffic in the channels. The same codes used in the 2G-3G networks will be applied to future 4G mobile or wireless networks, the detection of very short bursts will be a serious problem due to their very poor partial correlation properties. Recent study has indicated that traditional multi-layer network architecture based on the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model may not be well suited for 4G mobile network, where transactions of short packets will be the major part of the traffic in the channels. As the packets from different mobiles carry completely different channel characteristics, the receiver should execute all necessary algorithms, such as channel estimation, interactions with all upper layers and so on, within a very short time to make the detections of each packet flawless and even to reduce the clutter of traffic. Operating systems Many types of mobile operating systems (OS) are available for smartphones, including: Android, BlackBerry OS, webOS, iOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile Professional (touch screen), Windows Mobile Standard (non-touch screen), and Bada. Among the most popular are the Apple iPhone, and the newest Android. Android is a mobile operating system (OS) developed by Google. Android is the first completely open source mobile OS, meaning that it is free to any cell phone carrier. The Apple iPhone, which has several OSs like the 3G and 3G S, is the most popular smart phone at this time, because of its customizable OS which you can use to download applications (apps) made by Apple like games, GPS, Utilities, and other tools. Any user can also create their own Apps and publish them to Apples App Store. The Palm Pre using webOS has functionality over the Internet and can support Internet-based programming languages such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), HTML, and JavaScript. The Research In Motion (RIM) BlackBerry is a smartphone with a multimedia player and third-party software installation. The Windows Mobile Professional Smartphones (Pocket PC or Windows Mobile PDA) are like that of a personal digital assistant (PDA) and have touchscreen abilities. The Windows Mobile Standard does not have a touch screen but uses a trackball, touchpad, rockers, etc. The original smartphone OS is Symbian, with a rich history and the largest marketshare until 2011. Although no single Symbian device has sold as many units as the iPhone, Nokia and other manufacturers (currently including Sony Ericsson and Samsung, and previously Motorola) release a wide variety of Symbian models each year which gave Symbian the greatest marketshare. Channel hogging and file sharing There will be a hit to file sharing, the normal web surfer would want to look at a new web page every minute or so at 100 kbs a page loads quickly. Because of the changes to the security of wireless networks users will be unable to do huge file transfers because service providers want to reduce channel use. ATT claimed that they would ban any of their users that they caught using peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing applications on their 3G network. It then became apparent that it would keep any of their users from using their iTunes programs. The users would then be forced to find a Wi-Fi hotspot to be able to download files. The limits of wireless networking will not be cured by 4G, as there are too many fundamental differences between wireless networking and other means of Internet access. If wireless vendors do not realize these differences and bandwidth limits, future wireless customers will find themselves disappointed and the market may suffer setback. Future of smartphone The next generation of smartphones are going to be context-aware, taking advantage of the growing availability of embedded physical sensors and data exchange abilities. One of the main features applying to this is that the phones will start keeping track of your personal data, but adapt to anticipate the information you will need based on your intentions. There will be all-new applications coming out with the new phones, one of which is an X-Ray device that reveals information about any location at which you point your phone. One thing companies are developing software to take advantage of more accurate location-sensing data. How they described it was as wanting to make the phone a virtual mouse able to click the real world. An example of this is where you can point the phones camera while having the live feed open and it will show text with the building and saving the location of the building for use in the future. Along with the future of a smart phone comes the future of another device. Omnitouch is a device in which applications can be viewed and used on your hand, arm, wall, desk, or any other everyday surface. The device uses a sensor touch interface, which enables the user to access all the functions through the use of finger touch. It was developed at Carnegie Mellon University. This device uses a projector and camera that is worn on the persons shoulder, with no controls other than the users fingers. Acknowledgment I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and organizations. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them. I am highly indebted to (Name of your Organization Guide) for their guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project also for their support in completing the project. I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents member of (Organization Name)for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion of this project. I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to industry persons for giving me such attention and time. My thanks and appreciations also go to my colleague in developing the project and people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

Bilingual Education Essay Example for Free

Bilingual Education Essay Now, it seems to be universally accepted that increased education is a good thing. Thousands of colleges and millions of students spend vast amounts of time and money chasing pieces of paper. But what is the value of these qualifications? This essay will discuss whether education has been devalued. Supporters of education (usually teachers or educators, or those who have an interest in stopping people thinking for themselves) say that increased levels of education will open doors for students. Certificates, diplomas, and degrees are held up as a status symbol, a passport to a private club of money and power. However, the truly powerful are not those who have taken degrees, but people who have stood back and looked at what is really important in life. They have seen opportunity and followed dreams. These people are found in every part of society. Like many brilliant people, Einstein was a weak student at math. Like many successful businessmen, Bill Gates never completed college. Like many inventive and creative people, Edison never went to school. The greatest religious teachers do not have letters after their name, but have looked into their hearts for meaning. Similarly, the worlds political leaders do not have masters degrees or doctorates. These are the people who shaped our century, and they are too busy with real life to spend time in the paper chase. Students in college are being sold an illusion. They are made to believe that self-understanding and society approval will come with the acquisition of a piece of paper. Instead of thinking for themselves, and finding their own personality and strengths, they are fitted like square pegs into round holes. The role of education is to prepare masses of people to operate at low levels of ability in a very limited and restricted range of activities. Some of these activities are more challenging than perhaps the assembly lines of the past, but still the ultimate purpose is equally uninteresting. More worryingly, despite the increased level of education, people are still not genuinely expected to think for themselves. In fact, the longer years of schooling make the job of brainwashing even easier. There is still a role for study, research, and education. However, we need to examine our emphasis on education for the sake of a piece of paper, and to learn the real meaning and revolutionary challenge of knowledge. mean by education from the outset. That might make it easier for you to sharpen your arguments against it. You need to better deal with the opposing arguments. It is true of course that some people become millionaires by dropping out of school to become entrepreneurs. But, if one looks at the average income of dropouts compared to the average income of people who graduate high school, and then compare those rates to the average income of people who graduate from university, we see quite clearly that better education leads, on average, to greater career success (you could even do research and cite sources, using empirical evidence to back up your points! ) Also, education, especially liberal arts (or even liberal science) tends to improve people, giving them a capacity for critical thought that makes them more interesting and worth listening to. You even seem to acknowledge, in your conclusion, that people who do well without formal education may yet be considered self-educated. So, perhaps you should define what you mean by education from the outset. That might make it easier for you to sharpen your arguments against it. I am not sure that I am following your argument here. Education is devalued because it is akin to brainwashing and drains people of the ability to think for themselves. Truly powerful people have never been to college. The role of education is to transform people into automatons performing a limited range of activities. As an argumentative essay, youll need to back up those opinions. Your examples can help, but Einstein did attend university and had a doctorate degree from the school of mathematics and natural sciences at Zurich University. I dont think you can make the claim that Einstein had difficulty with math he was studying calculus at the age of twelve but he did have trouble with speech. Edison did not attend university, but at that time a mere 1% of the population attended college so the example loses impact. Bill Gates attended Harvard. He didnt graduate, but he still considers his Harvard experience valuable (it is where he learned that there are people smarter than he is and met business partner Steve Ballmer). Besides, Harvard gave Gates an Honorary Degree in 2007. Gates also blows the theory that brilliant people struggle with math he scored near perfect on the SAT. Steve Jobs quite college after a semester (I know that you didnt use him as an example, but I thought it was interesting Michael Dell is another computer guru who never finished college). Who are the worlds religious teachers and political leaders that you are referring to?. Heres an article that I found interesting: http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/29445201/ It talks about different things than your essay, but I can see where everyone getting a college degree would devalue those degrees . . . forty is the new thirty and a college degree is the new high diploma, blah, blah, blah. With 68% of high school graduates in the US enrolling in collage (2008), do we have a future with an over-educated, under-employed workforce? I could also see the argument that not everyone is suited for college life and we, as a society, need auto mechanics, plumbers, and grocery store clerks.

Language The Singapore English English Language Essay

Language The Singapore English English Language Essay The nations which were once part of the British colony now are referred to as new nations and address the importance of English as a language of communication (Platt, Weber Lian:1984:1). Any language has a dual character: it is both means of communication and a carrier of culture.( Burke, Crowley Girvin:2000:436) Language as communication has three aspects or elements. First is the language of real life. A human community really starts its historical being as a community of co-operation in production. Production is co-operation, is communication, is language, is expression of a relation between human beings and it is specifically human. The second aspect is speech imitates language of real life, communication in production. The third aspect is the written sign; imitates the spoken. Writing is representation of sounds with visual symbols. Communication between human beings is the basis and process of evolving culture (lead to heritage). Language as communication and culture are products of each other. Communication creates culture: culture is a means of communication. Language carries culture, and culture carries, particularly through orature and literature, the entire body of values by which we come to perceive ourselves and our place in the world ( Burke, Crowley Girvin:2000:438). New Englishes are used as an official or second language and is the regular language of communication used by a group of people in at least in some areas of everyday activities. The background of new English development consists of areas where education in English meant education in a language unlike the home language of the pupils or languages they may hear around them in street and markets (Platt, Weber Lian:1984:6). Dividing English according to background three different types emerge: local non-English language for wider communication, local English-based pidgin language for wider communication, English-based creoles (Platt, Weber Lian:1984:9). Singapore is an Island made of 4 million, 76.8% Chinese, 13.9% Malay, 7.9% Indian, 1.4% other races (Lim: 2004:2). Singapore is a name derived from the two Malay words, singa meaning Lion and pura meaning city. The Lion city or Singapore has three major ethnicities: Malay, Chinese and Indian. On the other hand it has two minor ethnicities: Eurasians and Europeans. English language plays an important role in uniting these different ethnicities in Singapore (Lorenz: 2006:4). The country has four official languages: Tamil, Chinese Mandarin, English and Malay. All children in Singapore achieve basic competency and reasonable fluency in two of the four official languages, mainly English and another language. Even though English of Chinese Singaporeans is very distinct from Malay Singaporeans they share similar features. For example, for pronunciation egg rhymes with vague but not with peg. For syntax both Chinese and Malay Singaporeans often use will to refer to a regular event and would to express tentativeness. For lexicon, all races use borrowed words such as kiasu (afraid to lose out from Hokkien) and makan (eat, from Malay) (Deterding: 2007:5). Singapore was established part of the British empire in 1819. At that time there were was a small population of Malay farmers living in the area, the immigrants started increasing in number gradually. First, the Chinese and then followed by the Indians. The Indian immigrants were small in number and many of them were teachers, this made their influence on Singapore English very distinct (Smith Forman:1997:2). British colonization of the Lion City, was not only physical it was mental as well. Important area of domination of colonialism was mental universe of colonized: the control, though culture, of how people perceived themselves and their relationship with the real world(Burke, Crowley Girvin:2000:438-439). The goal of the mental colonization was to take control of the language of the people. The language through which they are defined because it is the carrier of their culture (Burke, Crowley Girvin:2000:436-437). The introduction of English to Singapore was during the colonial period. As part of the British empire, there were changes reinforced especially related to the educational system, so as to ensure the continuity of the English language. In schools the first English teachers were native speakers, but as the colony grew and more schools were established, local English teachers were recruited from whom were educated in the colony schools (Platt, Weber Lian:1984:3). The availability of education through English medium resulted in people speaking a whole range of different speech varieties from creole to a type close to standard English. This situation was called post-creole speech continuum. Speech between people who speak standardized English and those of higher education unlike speech between people of no formal education speaking creole or modified creole. Speech between people using standardized English and highly educated can be considered as new English (Platt, Weber Lian:1984:8). Pidgins are simplified languages excluding the standardized features such as verb tenses, difference between subject and object pronoun. Speakers of an English-based creole were taught English in schools in some parts of the world. A creole is a speech variety that has developed from pidgin (Platt, Weber Lian:1984:7). New Varieties of English refer to the varieties of the language spoken or written by a group of people. Criteria for New English: developed through an education system, developed in area where native variety of English was not spoken language by most of population, used for range of functions among those who speak or write it in the region where it is used, has become localized or nativized (Platt, Weber Lian:984:2-3). Singapore English is considered natvized is due to the fact that is used widely and serves many functions. Part of the grammatical system in Singapore is the passive voice. Colloquial Singapore English contains two specific passive structures, the so-called kena passive and the give passive. The give and kena- constructions are derived from the languages of Chinese and Malay respectively (Lorenz:2006:3). Analyzing Singapore English, it can be divided into Standard Singapore English and Singlish. The Standard Singapore English is similar to the British or American Standard English. While the Singlish is a compound word formed from Singaporean and English, thus it is English-based Creole spoken colloquially in Singapore (Lorenz: 2006:5). In colloquial Singapore English, there are four types of passive constructions. The regular passive with the auxiliary be and get passive. It is a superstrate language with English origin. Furthermore, there are two passive- like constructions, the kena passive of Malay origin and the give passive of Chinese roots. These two passive constructions form the main substrate languages. These two constructions are distinctive of the Colloquial Singapore English, unlike the get passive and the regular passive which can be found in both Standard English and Colloquial Singapore English. The following example to elaborate (Lim 2004:97-98): John (was) scolded by his boss; the passive auxiliary is normally be as demonstrated in this example which is identical in structure to the passive to Standard British or American English except for the copula verbs optionality. John got scolded by his boss; this construction is the so-called get passive. In most cases get has no expressed animate agent, however in this example get with an animate agent (by his boss) is not unknown. Downings (1996:2003) research confirmed the general view that get passives are typically agentless. She argues that the get passive construction carries with it additional meanings of causation and responsibility which are absent from the be-passive. In formal style, the get passive is avoided. Even in colloquial English it is much more uncommon than the passive with auxiliary be. John kena scolded by his boss; an example of kena passive. The kena passive is like the English passive shown in the first example semantically it patterns with the give passive which we can see in the next example. John give his boss scold; give in this example is used as a normal verb( Lorenz: 2006:6). Lexical innovation are visible as linguistic processes which introduce word-stock changes of a language. Common processes include: affixation (feminism, ageism, heightism), compounding (callgirl, downsize, born-again), clipped forms (sitcom, cab), backformations (typewrite, burgle, stinge/stint), blending (smog, motel, cineplex), grammatical shift (to chair, to head), common words from proper names (platonic, Machiavellian) and borrowing (loanwords). Singapore offers an example of a country where spontaneous daily interaction among speakers of several languages over a period of time has led to lexical innovation processes. Loanwords freely enter the lexicon from all the background languages (songkok, cheongsam, sari) as well as compounds unique to the context of Singapore such as orchid dress and orchid shirt. Semantic shifts also occur (e.g. deadline to dateline) and also some semantic extensions (stay and live are used interchangeably to mean the same thing). These lexical items ar e new emergent forms some of which have been recognized and identified but not yet fully analyzed and codified (85-86). To get deeper insight of the language three English newspapers texts published from 1991 to 1994 were analyzed. The Straits Times (ST), The Business Times(BT), and The New Paper (NP). ST is morning daily close to 1 million readers, BT has small and focused readership coming from the finance and industry sectors, NP is an afternoon tabloid that caters to a wide and general readership by deliberately using less specialized terms and including more basic vocabulary items, especially those used by Singaporeans in general (86). Compounds in Singapore English are unique of cultural meanings or Singaporean concerns which it reflects. Many of the lexical innovations are found in reference to food and utensils used in preparation of food. It also refers to dress, buildings or physical landscape, and relationships. fish head curry: But imagine building up an apetite for tandoori chicken and finding fish head curry on your plate (89). birds nest: Genuine birds nest is a delicacy too expensive to be found in most hawker centers. chili crab: There Singapores gold medal heroes out away giant helpings of chili crab. Fishball: Ah Liang ran a popular fishball guo tiau (kway teow) stall at Jahlan Batu. Loveletter: why complain when like the feast of pineapple tarts, kuey bankit and loveletters you get everywhere, you get a galaxy of stars at cinema (90). Utensils: Claypot: this is a traditional Chinatown recipe, of rice and meat cooked in a claypot. tiffin carrier: Sogo has a delightful three-tiered tingkat (tiffin carrier) tray. Kwali: Remove all except a couple of tablespoons of the oil from the kwali. Wok: Gentle kwangs on the wok and gentle soothing cooking motions are especially useful to punctuate twists of plots and also help stimulate tear ducts (92). Dress: orchid dress: The designer of this creation spent two hours sketching orchids at the Bontanie Gardens before she was satisfied enough to start drawing out the dress. It was yet another attempt to redetine the orchid dress. Japanese slippers: He wore a singlet and bermudas and Japanese slippers. baju kurong: Baju kurong is a must-wear for Malay women on Hari Raya, and the show displayed traditional as well as updated versions of the baju kurong. sarong and songkok: A quick change, then dressed in sarong and songkok, members would head for Friday prayers at the nearby Sultan Mosque (93). Buildings: void deck (93): There are Cosy Corners à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ each with a kitchen, toilet and Tv area à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ in the void desks of four blocks for the residents to mingle. terrace apartments (96): The project comprisescondominium units, terrace apartments and a clubhouse in Johor Baru. People and relationships: people bonding: Spirits roused by the Singapore Cheer, the show of Singaporean solidarity was visible proof of the people bonding that Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong had spoken of in his National Day Message. confinement dish/dish: Says Ng Soing Mui in her book The Chinese Pregnany and Confinement Diet.. (96). Some of the terms used in Singapore English may sometimes be misunderstood by speakers from other countries because of the Semantic shifts that occurred. For example, Australians might find the describtion of windy for homes as a negative feature in a for sale advertisement but Singaporeans consider windy as breezy and therefore a positive feature. The term bungalow as used in Singapore is positive, and this particularly unit of dwelling is the most highly sought and priced on the property market. But in the American context, it could refer to shack or a hovel. Examples of semantic shifts: bungalow: Residents of neighborhood say another vacant blue bungalow is also being used as a teen hideway. stay vs. live : Failure to stay within the deficit may endanger plans to get new loans from abroad. Some of them are regular customers and some are those who live nearby who come to dispose of cans and paper (Kawaguchi, Minegishi Durand:2009:96-97). Teachers and language educators should be well informed of the distinctions between lexical terms in standard international English and the innovative forms that they have taken in standard Singapore English. For example, a SSE bath is cold water, while a SBrhE bath is a hot tub. In SBrE bungalows are often located at the seaside and are popular as retirement homes for old people because they have no stairs (Brown 1999:38). In Singapore, the meaning of bungalow has been extended to form its original to detached dwelling not necessarily single single storey to mean a large private house. In SSE people get burned while doing foolish acts such as investing in stock markets during uncertain times, while in SBrE, It is the fingers that get burned doing similar foolhardiness (Kawaguchi, Minegishi Durand:2009:99). Distinct developments and innovations are recognizeable on both fronts, the standard and the non-standard varieties of Singapore English because English is used both as an international lingua franca as well as a national lingua franca by Singaporeans (Kawaguchi, Minegishi Durand:2009:99-100). The most colloquial varieties are used among friends, families, relatives and work mates. Singaporeans are aware that their many local terms and expressions used in day to day spontaneous interactions such as the ubiquitous use of pragmatic particles ( lah, hor, meh, ah, is it etc) as well as lexical items such as goondu (from the Tamil, to mean a fool), gabra (from Malay to mean, easily shaken and panicky) may make them mainly unintelligible to others from outside Singapore. They would most likely not use these lexical items with outsiders. However, they are sometimes unaware that some lexical innovations in their SSE may give rise to some miscommunication in international conversations (Kawaguchi, Minegishi Durand:2009:100). The distinctive cultural identity must show through the new texts, spoken as well as written, and the new writing of cultures. Singapore is multilingual and multiracial has a local educated local variety of English that is internationally intelligible , this variety has not been codified. It had been serving as an intra-nationally lingua franca for the different ethnic groups. It is used in daily social exchange processes. It gained institutional support and has been used as a medium of instruction. It carries Singapore identities and context in Singaporean text in English (Smith Forman:1997:176-177). Multilingual populations have a greater linguistic threshold and are sharper in their linguistic reflexes. Innovations mean keeping abreast not achieving purification. To accept that innovation is an essential characteristic of World Englishes is to recognize its implicitly that borrowings, loan words and new collocations (grammar and phraseology) are inescapable (Smith Forman:1997:178). Depth, Rigidity, and Opacity form one end of the spectrum; Breadth, Flexibility and Transparency form the other end. These features will ensure vital, volatile and vibrant new Englishes with unique expressions such as found in Singapore English: choose, choose, choose. Choose the whole shop and then dont buy or people bonding or incense burning bins and confinement servants (Smith Forman:1997:179).