Using appropriate frameworks, theories and models introduced in the Essay

Using appropriate frameworks, theories and models introduced in the course of the strategic module, identify the strategic challenges faced by the target organi - Essay Example While this move should enhance NTL’s short-term financial outlook and may generate a measure of excitement for customers and investors, the gains may not outweigh the long-term strategic liabilities inherent in both companies pre-merger and likely, post-merger. Fiscally, growth may prove to be a risky strategy for a company that has dealt with financial difficulty in the recent past. Yet, market conditions may have left NTL with little alternative but to seize growth opportunities when they are possible. This study will analyze how NTL’s recent acquisition of TeleWest fits and contrasts with the outline Bob de Wit and Ron Meyer present in their book Strategy Synthesis (2005). The book creates a fundamental framework for scrutinizing the strategic coherence from business, corporate, and network levels, the industry and international contexts, as well as the organizational context and organizational purpose. Because NTL is such a large and diversified organization, the unit of analysis will be mostly limited to NTL’s residential cable, digital television, and pay TV services within the U.K, all under the umbrella unit, NTL Cable PLC. It will begin by providing a general overview of NTL, and its recent acquisitions. The study will then analyze how actual events and strategies from NTL’s brain trust compare with the topical outline from de Wit and Meyer. Finally, this study will discuss the results of this analysis and provide a prognosis for the future of this grow ing company. A brainchild of the new global economy, NTL Incorporated (NTLD) is a U.S. company, founded in Delaware in 1993, as International CableTel, and headquartered in New York. The business opportunity was created in 1991, with British deregulation of cable and telecommunications services, and founder George Blumenthal’s 1993 acquisition of Insight UK’s cable systems and its roughly one million household customersi. Changing its

Every Man Dies but Not Every Man Really Lives Essay Example for Free

Every Man Dies but Not Every Man Really Lives Essay â€Å"Every man dies but not every man really lives† was among the few words written by Sir William Ross Wallace, an American poet during the 1860s. Well, as for me I want to live my life to the fullest before I leave to my eternal home up there. Having a bucket list simply keeps me on track to full fill every minor and major thing I want to do before I kick the bucket. The very first item on my list is to tell my mother that I love her. I believe in love at first sight because since the very first day I opened my eyes until to this very second, I still love my mom. My mom is my best friend and my hero because she has been with me through my laughs, heart breaks, tears and everything that came in between. Since babies are precious angels gifted from heaven, I would not want to miss the next thing on my list which is to make a baby laugh. That moment of being so satisfied upon witnessing the joy on their faces is a feeling of no value. Next, I want to make a difference in a beggar’s life by taking some incredibly small steps which will mean so much to them some day. Back to the olden days blockbuster ‘Dr No’, right up to ‘Casino Royale’ that hit the box office in year 2006 will be one of the thing I want to do which is to watch all of James Bond’s movies. Just like how Alex Thompson wrote a poem entitled ‘My First Time’ to share his experience milking a cow, I want to roam freely and spend one week of my life to learn how to milk a cow. Besides that, I want to go on a holiday with no luggage to add a little more spice to the memories I will take back. The ‘Steel Dragon’ roller coaster in Spaland located in Nagashima, Japan will be one thrilling ride I would not want to miss. To add more excitement, I will pay the risk to swim with a shark and to swing myself in the sky on a trapeze. Besides that, one thing I will definitely do is to push a policeman down the street and run away. To appreciate mother-nature and the greens that provided me sufficient oxygen to respire, I will plant a tree with my name carved on it. Among the crazy things that I do not want to miss to do is to pretend to be invisible just like drawing a picture using a white crayon on a white paper. From laughing at a public phone to confessing my love to a traffic light, I wish to do all kind of things that will make people think I just lost my mind for one simple reason that I wish to relate to the sayings of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘Live every moment of your life as if there is no tomorrow and as if there is no one watching’. Among the few last things I will do is to fall in love. Somewhere between laughing for no reason, stupid arguments, and making fun of each other, I will fall for the ‘him’ who is willing to catch me when I fall. Elvis Presley put it best in his classic love songs and I want to fall in love with no regrets. I want to be in love with a love that is nothing because nothing last forever and therefore my love will last forever. With commitments, trust and care I want to fell so alive to be in love with the right man. Finally, I will prepare letters and leave it to cope up with my loved one once I am gone just like how Gerard Butler did to Hilary Swank in the movie, ‘P.S. I Love You’. ‘As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well used brings happy death’ said by Leonardo da Vinci is the one thing that keeps me going and to stand up to live every day of my live doing things I want to do by simply being just the way I am.

Essay --

In the book, Refusing the Favor, Deena J. Gonzalez investigates how the lives of Spanish-Mexican women in Santa Fe were affected when the United States colonized northern Mexico between the early and late 19th century. Her work focuses on the cultural contrast among the Euro-Americans and the Spanish-Mexicans in the area. Gonzalez analyzes the histories of women of the period through the lens of those who would bestow upon them "the favor" of colonialism. Hence, she indicates her position through the title of her book. She illustrates how female inhabitants of the defeated territory resisted and scorned the newly arrived powerful Anglo immigrants. She shows how women's responses to the conquest were extremely diverse and illustrates their efforts to preserve their culture. Much of her work focuses on the economic effects and cultural responses to the process of Americanization that took place in New Mexico after the United States took control of the territory. The author challenges the generally accepted history of the United States that has largely put forth that the U.S. conquest was "painless" and beneficial to Spanish-Mexicans in Santa Fe. New Mexico, long before the United States took over, always had a degree of "Spanish character". Her work focuses on Santa Fe which was one of the largest cities west of the Mississippi and oldest of all the territories of the Provincias Internas that opted to stay with Mexico in 1821. In 1846 the land was invaded and conquered by the United States. Much of her interpretation is on the lives of women in the capital city utilizing a range of sources, from travel literature, newspapers, wills, deeds, court records, Catholic Church Archives, Property Census records, and Spanish written sourc... ...zalez 72). Although about half of the Euro-American men in Santa Fe lived with Spanish-Mexican women by 1850, these unions included only several hundred of some four thousand Spanish-Mexican women and were therefore less significant from the perspective of Spanish-Mexican residents (Gonzalez 74). Gonzalez is an author with a mission: she wants to reverse traditional historiographical interpretations about the West, and specifically New Mexico. She wants to give life to the lifeless voices of women who lived in the era. It appears that Gonzalez's primary motive in writing Spanish-Mexican women into the history of U.S. conquest appears to show how the women of Santa Fe were affected and how they overcame a challenging systems which reshaped their lives. In the end, the author successfully achieves her goal of rescuing the voices of New Mexican Spanish Mexican women.

Evolution or Ignorance of Education

Throughout recent history creationists and evolutionists have argued whether evolution should be a part of America's public education. Whether evolution is science fact, or science fiction. Evolution being a science based on statistics has some faults, although many concepts in science or math do. The process of learning about evolution is a necessary part of a well-rounded student's education due to the fact that it is a statistically proven science and removing it in turn revokes certain student's rights. In a student's academic career that a student is most likely at one time or another going to have to take a science class. Science, being the main topic of discussion in this class, should at one point include evolution, because that is what evolution is, a science. Although to truly understand evolution in its fullest context, one must not look to a dictionary, for dictionary definitions just are too vague. One of the most respected evolutionary biologists has defined biological evolution as follows: â€Å"In the broadest sense, evolution is merely change, and so is all-pervasive; galaxies, languages, and political systems all evolve. Biological evolution †¦ is change in the properties of populations of organisms that transcend the lifetime of a single individual. The ontogeny of an individual is not considered evolution; individual organisms do not evolve. The changes in populations that are considered evolutionary are those that are inheritable via the genetic material from one generation to the next. Biological evolution may be slight or substantial; it embraces everything from slight changes in the proportion of different alleles within a population (such as those determining blood types) to the successive alterations that led from the earliest protoorganism to snails, bees, giraffes, and dandelions. † – Douglas J. Futuyma in Evolutionary Biology, Sinauer Associates 1986 All sciences are based on some form of proof. Whether it being living proof such as in Biology where one can observe cell division, mathematical proof such as in calculating air-resistance in Physics, or statistical proof as in all science experiments when a predicted result occurs again and again. All sciences have at least one of these qualities, including evolution. The proof of evolution's existence has been on this earth ever since life was formed from carbon based atom structures. Humans, however, have not been in existence long enough to observe properly the phenomena of evolution. Although by using the latest technology we can accurately observe the process of evolution as it occurred over time long ago and is still happening today. Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, made the first major step in classifying evolution during his studies in the Galapagos Archipelago in 1831 when he was only 22 years of age. Due to this he is credited with first forming a structured theory of evolution. During his studies in the Galapagos Archipelago he found a multitude of flora and fauna that had complete isolation from the rest of the world. One particular type of animal that he paid close attention to be a small bird called a Finch. This was thought as being simple at first, but as he traveled to the different islands he noticed many different species of finches. These finches probably descended from one type of ancestor and then, due to isolation and through chance, different climates and natural forces such as food availability and type, they evolved into many different types of finches. Some finches had different colorings, wingspan, and even beak style. In total he found thirteen different varieties of finches. Later on in Charles' life he formed many theories on the origins of man. This was directly related to his studies in the Galapagos Archipelago. In his book â€Å"Decent of Man† written in 1871 he declares why man had been so ignorant by denying evolution in the final parts of chapter one. â€Å"Thus we can understand how it has come to pass that man and all other vertebrate animals have been constructed on the same general model, why they pass through the same early stages of development, and why they retain certain rudiments in common. Consequently we ought rankly to admit their community of descent: to take any other view, is to admit that our own structure, and that of all the animals around us, is a mere snare laid to entrap our judgment. This conclusion is greatly strengthened, if we look to the members of the whole animal series, and consider the evidence derived from their affinities or classification, their geographical distribution and geological succession. It is only our natural prejudice, and that arrogance which made our forefathers declare that they were descended from demigods, which leads us to demur to this conclusion. But the time will before ong come, when it will be thought wonderful that naturalists, who were well acquainted with the comparative structure and development of man, and other mammals, should have believed that each was the work of a separate act of creation. † (Darwin) As seen in the above text, Charles Darwin explains how statistically man did evolve from a lower form of life. This is directly related to the finches due to that the same forces that caused them to evolve may have caused humans to evolve as well. Yet still some schools in America have tried banning the teaching of evolution in the classroom. Every student in a United States public school has a constitutional right to hear the whole story when it comes to evolution. It is called the first amendment in the Bill of Rights. According to the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU, the authority on civil rights, states that every student has the right to a non-biased education (ACLU Urges†¦ ). In the Supreme Court decision Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U. S. 578 (1987), the Court ruled that to compromise by omitting evolution and creationism from the science curriculum would â€Å"undermine the provision of a comprehensive scientific education. On this point, the law is very clear, and the Supreme Court put its foot down — the First Amendment forbids a state to alter its curriculum simply in order to defend a religious belief. That's an establishment of religion, and it's unconstitutional. (Edwards) So not only is removing evolution from the classroom unjustified, but it is against the law. Creationism has its place in the classroom as well as Evolutionism, although not the same classroom. Creationism belongs in a class like Theology or History of Religion. This is because creationism is the belief in the biblical account of the creation of the world. Biblical meaning the Bible, restricting it only to a group of religions. So-called â€Å"Creation Science† is not a science at all. Lately it has been more of a political movement than a science. Sure creationists may have facilities like the â€Å"Institute for Creation Research† (a church that does no scientific research at all) and the â€Å"Creation Research Society† (another church that also does no scientific research), but in the end there is not a shred of science in creation. Recently many science teachers in public schools have tried to work their way around teaching evolution by teaching a so called â€Å"intelligent design theory† (Washington State). This is just one of the many guises of creation science, and it does not change the fact that states and school districts may not adopt religious theories as standards in school curricula. Creationists will always exist, since ignorance will always exist, although evolution will always have a place in science curriculum. Creationists believe in creation because their masters have told them to believe in Creationism as a tool to their â€Å"salvation†. They do not care that evolution is an observed fact: they have â€Å"faith† that Creationism is true, and that's all they need. They consider facts and truth to be a hindrance to their ticket to Heaven. The teachings of these people should have no place, and will have no place in our children's science classrooms, only evolution and other proven sciences have the right to be present. Therefore, the process of learning about evolution is a necessary part of a well-rounded student's education due to the fact that it is a statistically proven science and removing it in turn revokes certain student's rights.

Cost Accounting Past FInal

January 10,800 February 1 5,600 March 12,200 April 10,400 May 9,800 The inventory of finished products at the end of each month is to be equal to 25% of the sales estimate for the next month. On January 1, there were 2,700 units of product on hand. No work is in process at the end of any month. Each unit of product requires two types of materials in the following quantities: Material A-4 units Material B- 5 units Materials equal to one half of the next month's production are to be on hand at the end of each month.This requirement will be met on December 31st, 2012. REQUIRED: a) Prepare a budget showing the quantities of each type of material to be purchased each month for the first quarter of 2013 Question Two (20 marks) KILL Industries use weighted-average process costing to determine the cost of goods manufactured. The firm began the current year with 20,000 units in process, 75% complete. Work was begun on an additional 90,000 units during the period. The period ended with 8,000 u nits in process, 40% complete.Materials are added at the beginning of the process, labor when the units are 50% complete, and overhead is re sold for scrap at $0. 10 each. Normally, 2% of the units inspected are expected to be rejected. Costs attached to beginning work-in-process were $80,000 for materials, $120,000 for labor, and $150,000 for overhead. Current costs for the period were $371,000 for materials, $475,000 for labor and $865,280 for overhead. One hundred thousand good units were completed and transferred out during the period. ) Prepare a cost of production report for this department using weighted average process costing using the vertical format (as taught in class, not in the text) b) Prepare Journal entries to record the activities for the month Question Three (22 marks) Pfizer-Plow Pharmaceuticals is a major seller of cold remedies. Its product line consists of aspirin, cough lozenges, cold capsules and a nasal spray. The firm manufactures only the cold capsules in Puerco Ricoh.The other products are purchased from firms which specialize in the manufacture of those products: For the first quarter of 2012, management of Pfizer-Plow prepared the following master budget: Sales Aspirin 10,000 cases Lozenges 20,000 cases Capsules 20,000 cases Spray 5,000 cases Total Sales Aspirin Lozenges Spray Manufacturing Costs: Caffeine 40,000 grams 400,000 Antihistamine 60,000 grams 300,000 Aspirin concentrate 100,000 grams 350,000 Direct labor 40,000 hours Overhead (all fixed) 500,000 Total Costs Net Income Through excellent SIT inventory control, the firm was able to keep purchases and production exactly equal to unit sales.The firm uses actual process costing for its manufacturing operation. A summary of the actual results for the first quarter of 2012 follow: Cost of purchases 1 ZOO cases 20,000 cases $200. 00 a case Capsules 2000 cases $310. 00 a case ,000 cases $390. 00 a case Actual Manufacturing costs incurred during the period were: Caffeine 45,000 g rams $427,500 Antihistamine 64,000 grams $384,000 Aspirin Concentrate 1 1 5,000 grams 414,000 Direct labor 43,000 hours Overhead 482,000 a) Determine actual cost net income b) Calculate I.Sales quantity variance it. Sales mix variance iii. Sales Price variances ‘v. Material yield variance v. Material mix variance v'. Material price variances c) Reconcile actual net income to the master budget in a single statement, including any other appropriate variances Question Four (12 marks) revived more Buts of heat per cord of wood than any other wood burning fireplace insert or stove. One model, the Heatproof, sells for $1,800, and a new model, the Heat Queen, sells for $1,200.A traditional costing system ‘. The BBC system b) Which system would most likely do a better Job of measuring costs for this product emphasis/keep or drop decision? Explain. C) Franklins controller points out that the BBC information could also be used to identify and eliminate non-value added activities. Explain how BBC and BAM can be used for this purpose. Question Five (18 marks) The steam-generating department of the Sotto Company provides the power necessary to run the machines in two production departments, Pl and UP.Based upon past experience, it has been determined that the total costs of operating the team generating equipment contains a fixed element of $30,000 per year and a variable element of $2. 00 per 1,000 cubic meters of steam. In addition to any allocated overhead costs, Pl has direct fixed overhead of $20,000 per year and UP has direct fixed overhead of $10,000 per year. Direct variable overhead in Pl is $1. 00 per machine hour. Direct variable overhead in UP is $2 per machine hour.Each machine hour in Pl requires the use of 1,000 cubic meters of steam. Each machine hour in UP requires the use of 250 cubic meters of steam. Maximum yearly machine hours in Pl and UP are 20,000 and 30,000, respectively. Under current economic conditions, management expects to utilize 10,000 machine hours in Pl and 30,000 machine hours in UP during 2013. A) Determine the expected 2013 operating costs of the steam-generating department.