The Fundamentals of Dissertation Service Revealed

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Conservation of Marine Biodiversity within the Framework...

Conservation of Marine Biodiversity within the Framework of Impure Public Goods Since the early days when Adam Smith coined the term â€Å"invisible hand of the market† in his magnum opus, The Wealth of Nations, it was typically believed among the general population that all goods can be distributed without any interference from the government. Contrary to the popular belief, however, this applies specifically to private goods, i.e. a type of good that is both rivalrous and excludable. It may seem that marine biodiversity is a type of public good, since they are in the vast ocean and everyone is entitled to their ownership. However, many marine biodiversity have tremendous economic values, and one person using it may constitute as another†¦show more content†¦Impure public goods also create asymmetric externality, which its â€Å"economic agents who generate this externality are distinct from those who experience them.† (Squires, Environmental Externalities and Market Failure, 26) In the case of marine biodiversity such as dolphins, one ca n see that it is affected by technological externalities because people do not buy dolphins, hence dolphins do not have a market price tag to them; however, they are extremely useful in catching tuna, therefore people use them to catch tuna, and in the process, dolphins can get caught in the net and drown. In this example, the external effect is not through market price, but through the number of dolphins caught in the net and drown. There are three types of technology of public good supplies: additive, best-shot and weakest-link. First, ‘additive’ public goods are the ones that â€Å"the socially available amount of a public good is nothing but the ‘simple sum’ of the separate amounts produced by each of the participating countries.† (Arriagada and Perrings, 799) In the case of ‘best-shot’ public goods, â€Å"the benefit to all countries is determined by the most effective provider.† (Arriagada and Perrings, 799) Last but not least, ‘weakest-link’ public goods are ones that that â€Å"benefits to all countries are limited to the benefits offered by the least effective provider.† (Arriagada and Perrings, 799) In the case of marine biodiversity

Principles of Business free essay sample

ROLE OF THE ENTREPRENEUR An entrepreneur is a person who launches, or help launches a new venture or enterprise and accept full responsibility for a company’s output. M. J. S. Boutique has three (3) entrepreneurs. Each entrepreneur has to identify what resources will be needed to establish and run the business. Each entrepreneur has to create an initial outline study to determine whether the concept looks like a practical idea. Each entrepreneur has to acquire the necessary funds for the business. Each entrepreneur has a specific part to play in M. J. S. Boutique though. Two (2) of the entrepreneurs design the clothes and choose colour schemes while the third entrepreneur handles all the finances of the business. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS The entrepreneurs will have to register the company. Registration will take place at Registrar General, Ministry of Legal Affairs. Registration is important in order to gain legal access to operate and transfer any transaction in and out. 11. Establish guidelines for the conduct of good management and staff relations in the workplace; Guidelines for establishing good relations between managers and employees. 12. Evaluate the role of teamwork in the success of an organization; The value of teamwork within an organization: (a) definition; (b) advantages; (c) disadvantages. 13. Outline strategies for effective communication within an organization; The communication process and strategies for effective communication within an organization. 14. Explain the concept of a Management Information System (MIS); The concept of MIS in an organization (to manage information for decision-making for example, manual and automated). 15. Outline the benefits and challenges of a Management Information System in business; (a) Benefits of an MIS system, for example: (i) savings in time, money and labour; (ii) improvement in production; (iii) increased competitiveness. (b) Challenges of an MIS system, for example: (i) cost of setting up and maintaining (establishment, maintenance and security); (ii) cost of training (human resource development) (iii) Human error. 16. Discuss the personal needs that are satisfied through employment. Economic, social, psychological and physiological needs. CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 1: Organizational Principles Section 1: The Nature of Business SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Explain terms and concepts related to business; Definition and explanation of the following terms and concepts: (a) enterprise (b) entrepreneurship (c) barter (d) profit (e) loss (f) trade (g) organization (h) economy (i) producer (j) consumer (k) exchange (l) goods (m) services (n) market (o) commodity (p) capital (q) labour (r) specialization 2. Trace the development of instruments of exchange; Brief history of trading instruments from subsistence economy to money economy, including the use of the following: (a) bills of exchange (b) credit cards (c) electronic transfer (d) tele-banking and e-commerce 3. State reasons why an individual may want to establish a business; Reasons for establishing a business 4. Describe the various forms of business organizations and arrangements; Forms of business organizations and arrangements: definition, formation and management of: (a) sole trader (b) partnerships (c) co-operatives (d) companies (including conglomerates and multi-nationals) (e) franchises (f) state corporations and nationalized industries (g) local and municipal authorities (h)government departments (j) concept of private and public sectors 5. Differentiate among the different economic systems; Types of economic systems: (a) traditional (subsistence) (b) command or planned (socialist) (c) free or capitalist (d) mixed (public and private) 6. Identify the stakeholders involved in business activities; Owners, employees, customers and all other members of society 7. Discuss the role of the stakeholders involved in business activities; Role of employers, employees, consumers and government. 8. Outline the functions of a business; Functions of a business in satisfying needs and wants through the provision of goods and services. 9. Describe the role of business within a community. Economic, financial, social, political and ethical CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 1: Organizational Principles Section 3: Establishing a Business SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Define the term entrepreneur; The concept of entrepreneurship 2. Explain the role of an entrepreneur; The role of the entrepreneur in conceptualizing, planning, accessing funds, organizing, operating and evaluating the performance of a business. Attention should be paid to the bearing of risks and the entitlement to the profits and losses of the business. 3. Identify the characteristics of the the typical entrepreneur; Personal traits and leadership qualities: (a) creative (b) innovative (c) flexible (d) goal-oriented (e) persistent (f) persevering (g) propensity to take calculated risks 4. Outline reasons why persons may want to establish their own business; Reasons for wanting to start a business: (a) desire for financial independence (b) self-fulfillment (c) self-actualization 5. Outline the essential steps that should be taken in establishing a business; Steps for establishing a business: (a) conceptualization (b) research (market probe) (c) identification of resources (d) creation of a business plan (e) acquisition of funds (f) operation of the business 6. Describe the role of key functional areas in the operation of diferent types of business. Role of the production, marketing and finance, legal, Research and Development (R and D) departments in a business. 7. Identify sources of information for conducting research into the establishment of a business; Primary and secondary sources of information for conducting research. 8. Explain the relationship between planning and the operation of a business; The necessity for short-term, medium-term and long-term planning in a business. 9. Identify regulatory practices instituted by governments for the establishment of different types of businesses; Local regional and global rules for conducting business, including local government (municipal, village council, parish council regulations) 10. Outline the advantages and disadvantages of different types of business organizations; Opportunities and challenges encountered by different types of organizations. 11. Identify sources of captial for the setting up of a business; Sources of capital including venture capital. 12. Explain the significance of collateral in accessing capital to establish a business; Collateral: (a) concept; (b) evaluation of different types; (c) the value of collateral. 13. Outline the features of a business plan; Analysis of all the elements of a business plan, including the executive summary and the operational, marketing and financial plans. 14. Explain the purposes of a feasibility study; The purpose of a feasibility study. 15. Identify ethical and legal issues in the establishment and operation of a business; Ethical and legal issues, for example advertising, taxation and environmental issues. 16. Explain the consequences of ethical and illegal practices in business. Consequences of unethical and illegal practices in business: (a) misleading advertisements- unfair and fraudulent practice on the population (b) withholding of tax cheating the government of revenue (c) unethical disposal of waste- pollution (d) money laundering distortions in the national economy CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 1: Organizational Principles Section 4: Legal Aspects of Business SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Explain the concept of contract; Definition and concept of a contract. 2. Describe the characteristics of a simple contract; Offer and acceptance, competence of parties, intention to create legal relations, consideration. 3. Differentiate between a simple contract and a specialty contract; special contracts including mortages, sale of land and insurance 4. Determine the validity of various contracts; Use of case studies to determine the validity of contracts. 5. Distinguish between offer and invitation to treat or bargain; Concepts of offer and invitation to treat. 6. Explain the conditions under which offer and acceptance are communicated; Concepts of offer and acceptance. 7. Outline ways by which contracts may be terminated or discharged; Definitions of discharge, types of discharge methods of discharge. 8. Explain why documentation is necessary in business transactions; The importance of record-keeping in a business, including its value in satisfying requirements for taxation and auditing 9. Prepare business documents for various purposes; preparation of various business documents including pro forma invoices, purchase requisitions, statements of accounts and stock cards. 10. Interpret information on transport documents; Transport documents including import license, bill of lading, and airway bills. 11. Identify instruments of payment; Instruments of payment including cheque, money order, bank draft, debit card, credit card and telegraphic money transfer. 12. Interpret information on various instruments of payment; Interpretation and significance of information on instruments of payment. 13. Explain the use of documentary credit; The concept of documentary credit, 14. Distinguish between insurance and assurance; The concepts of insurance and assurance. . 15. Evaluate the principles upon which insurance is based; The concept of pooling of risks. 16. Explain the various types of insurance policies; Types of insurance policies: life and business insurance. 17. Explain how insurance facilitates trade. The value of insurance coverage in lowering the risks associated with business CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 2: Production, Marketing and Finance Section 5: Production SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Identify factors in the production of goods and services; Factors of production: Land, Labour, Capital, Enterprise. 2. Identify industries developed from the natural resources of Caribbean territories; Caribbean industries developed from agricultural produce and mining. 3. Differentiate between production and productivity; The effects of efficiency in the production of goods and services. 4. Explain the importance of productivity Productivity as it relates to the efficiency of labour, including its value and importance; the factors affecting its supply; human resource development (including education, health, and working conditions). 5. Outline the effects of migration; Migration and its positive and negative effects on the labour force. 6. Describe the role of the entrepreneur in the decison making process; Importance of entrepreneurial organizational skills. 7. Explain the role of capital in production; Fixed working and venture capital. 8. Differentiate among the various production levels; Production levels: subsistence, domestic consumption, surplus and export. 9. Classify the different types of production; Types of production: (a) extractive; (agriculture, mining, fishing) (b) construction; (building) (c) manufacturing; (assembling, refining) (d) service; (transport, communication, tourism) 10. Describe the characteristics of cottage industry; Cottage industries: (a) home-based; (b) mainly manual; (c) small scale; (d) use of local raw materials; (e) use of family members as labour. 11. Outline the opportunities for and the benefits of developing linkage industries; Linkage industries: (a) backward; (b) forward; 12. Outline the factors that determine the location of a business; Factors affecting location: (a) geographical; (b) availability of raw materials and supplies; (c) infrastructure; (d) power; (e) water; (f) transport; (g) health facilities; (h) labour supply; (i) governmental regulation 13. Outline the functions of a small business; Functions of a small firm 14. Explain the effects of growth on a business; Growth of a business and effects on: (a) organizational structure; (b) capital; (c) labour; (d) scale of production. (economies of scale) (e) use of technology. (f) potential for export. 15. Describe the economic and social implications of technological development. Capital intensive versus labour intensive production in developing countries, mechanization and automation, e. g. computer-aided design (CAD) and computer aided instruction (CAI). CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 2: Production, Marketing and Finance Section 6: Marketing SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Distinguish between the terms market and marketing; Definition of market and marketing 2. Identify marketing activities; Marketing activities: (a) market research (b) pricing (c) packaging (d) branding (e) sales promotion (f) advertising (g) distribution 3. Describe the marketing mix; Marketing mix: (a) product (b) price (c) place (d) promotion 4. Explain the concept of market and market research; Market research: (a) concept; (b) definition; (c) types. 5. Outline the reasons for conducting market research; Reasons for conducting market research. Identification of: (a) consuumer taste; (b) competition; (e) consumer behaviour. 6. Describe the factors that influence consumer behaviour; Factors that influence consumer behaviour: (a) price; (b) price of substitutes (c) quality; (d) taste; (e) tradition; (f) income (affordability) (g) spending patterns; (h) brand loyalty 7. Identify main types of market structures; Market structures: (a) perfect competition; (b) monopoly; (c) monopolistic competition; (d) oligopoly. 8. Explain how price is determined; Pricing: determinants of price: (a) demand and supply; (b) concept of equilibrium price or market clearing price. 9. Identify forms of packaging and presentation of goods; Packaging: (a) presentation; (b) use of brand names. 10. Explain the concept of copyright; Concept of copyright: (a) producers or entrepreneurs: tose who maintain ownership and control over the product they have created and registered by obtaining a patent; (b) consumers: those who may purchase the product but cannot reproduce it for commerical purposes without permission of the producer. 11. Explain the term patent; Concept of patent including the concept of franchisee who is given a patent or official permission to reproduce the product. 12. Describe methods of promoting sales; Methods of promoting sales: (a) advertising: (i) functions and forms (ii) promotion including trading stamps and coupons; (iii) loss leaders. (b) public relations including business entertainment and the offering of special awards and sponsorship; (c) sales promotion; (d) personal selling. 13. Identify the techniques of selling; Selling: (a) salesmen and their approaches (b) merchandising and adjusting of pricing policy; (c) methods of maintaing good customer -firm relationships, for example, after sales services. 14. Explain the various terms of sales; Terms of sale: (a) cash; (b) credit; (c) hire purchase; (d) cash and trade discounts. 15. List the functions of consumer organizations; Functions of consumer organizations: (a) The rights and protection of consumers (private organizations and government); (b) The role of the Bureau of Standards; (c) role of the Ombudsman. 16. Identify the links in the chain of distribution; The distribution chain: (a) manufacturer; (b) wholesaler; (c) retailer; (d) consumer. 17. Identify methods of retailing; Methods of retailing: (a) shops; (b) department stores; (c) mail order; (d) e-commerce; (e) tele-marketing; (f) vending machines. 18. List the various forms of transport; Forms of transport: (a) land; (b) air; (c) sea. 19. Explain the importance of transport in marketing; Importance of transport in domestic regional and foreign trade. 20. Distinguish among the methods used for transporting specific goods; Methods of transporting specific goods: (a) oil and gas- pipelines and tankers; (b) timber rivers and barges; 21. Identify the problems likely to be encountered in distribution; (a) Relationship betwen the availability of airport, harbour and docking facilities and the efficient distribution of goods; (b) Problems of distribtion: delayed shipment, spoilage, misdirection of goods, inadequate wharehousing facilities, lack of proper security measures, industrial unrest, ineffective communication. 22. Outline measures to mitigate problems in distribution. Measures to mitigate problems of distribution. CXC CSEC Principles of Accounts Exam Guide Section 5: THE PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE SOLE-TRADER SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Explain the purpose of preparing financial statements; The purpose of preparing Financial Statements to satisfy the needs of user. 2. List methods of inventory (stock) valuation; Methods of inventory (stock) valuation: First in, First out (FIFO), Last in, First out (LIFO), Average Cost (AVCO) 3. Calculate the values of closing inventory (stock); Calculation of closing inventory (stock) using: FIFO, LIFO, AVCO. 4. Assess the effect of different method of inventory (stock) valuation on profit; The effect on profit of different methods of (inventory) stock valuation. 5. Prepare closing journal entries; (a) journal entries to close off accounts in the ledger (b) linkage with Trading and Profit and Loss accounts 6. Identify the components of the Financial Statements; Trading and profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet. 7. Draw up the Trading and the Profit and Loss account to determine gross profit or loss and net profit or loss; Trading and Profit and Loss Account for sole-traders including: adjustments for return inwards and outwards; closing stock. 8. Show the effect of net profit or loss on capital; Treatment of net profit or loss on the Balance Sheet. 9. Use ratios to determine the performance (profitability) of the business; Trading results: simple ratios such as stock turn, average stock, gross profit percentage, net profit percentage. 10. Prepare classified balance sheet in vertical style; Definition of working capital, Calculation of working capital; Preparation of classified Balance Sheet showing working capital. 11. Explain the significance of the working capital for the operation of a business; Working capital as a basic tool for solvency; Working capital formula. 12. Calculate ratios to demonstrate the financial position of a business; Analysis and interpretation of the financial position of a business using ratio: current ratio; acid test ratio; return on investment. 13. Make recommendations about a business based on ratio analysis. Preparation of simple reports evaluating a business based on ratios and making recommendations. CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 3: The Business Environment Section 8: The Role of Government in an Economy SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Outline the responsibilities of government in an economy; Responsibilities of government in an economy: (a) security of the State; (b) protection and general welfare of citizens; (c) job security and severance benefits to workers; (d) protection of the environment (e) maintenance of a safe environment for investors 2. Identify ways by which business could protect the environment; Adherence by business to laws, including laws governing taxation, labour and the environment. 3. Describe measures used by governments to protect consumers; Consumer protection legislation, including regulations on price controls, food and drug standards, hire purchase legislation. 4. Identify ways by which government regulates business activity; For example, by divising laws related to zoning and the disposal of waste. 5. State the purposes of taxation; The role of taxes in raising revenue, income distribution,and control of spending. 6. Distinguish between direct and indirect taxes; Direct taxes and indirect taxes. 7. Distinguish between progressive, regressive and proportional taxation; Concepts of progressive, regressive and proportional taxation. 8. Outline forms of assistance offered by government to business; Forms of government assistance to business, including institutions for lending capital, training and technical assistance, research and information centres, subsidies and grants. 9. Evaluate the impact on the country with respect to social services provided by government. Impact of socal services provided by government: (a) healthcare a healthy population (b) National Insurance Scheme -provision and security for the elderly; (c) education an informed and literate population; (d) roads and transportation access to goods and services CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 3: The Business Environment Section 9: Social Accounting and Global Trade SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Outline the factors that determine a countrys standard of living; Indicators of a countrys standard of living (factors indicating a countrys wealth): (a) level of consumption of goods and services; (b) average disposable income of the population; (c) level of national ownership of capital equipment; (d) access to modern technology; (e) level of investment in research and technology. 2. Distinguish between a countrys standard of living and its quality of life; Indicators of a countrys quality of life (factors indicating the extent to which a population enjoys the benefits of its wealth): (a) extent of security enjoyed (level of crime); (b) availability of health, educational and recreational facilties; (c) diet and nutrition; (d) life expectancy; (e) rate of infant mortality; (f) access to public utilities, such as electricity and potable water. 3. Explain the concept of national income and its variants; The concept of national income and its variants; 4. Explain the approaches used to measure national income; Approaches to measure: (a) Gross Domestic Product (GDP); (b) Gross National Product (GNP); (c) National Income (NI); (d) Per Capita Iincome; (e) Advantages and disadvantages of different approaches used to measure national income. 5. Distinguish between economic growth and development; Concepts of economic growth, negative growth, growth witout development, the quatitative nature of growth and the qualitative nature of development. 6. Describe the role of education in economic growth and development; The role of human resource development in economic growth and development. 7. Outline the reasons for international trade; Reasons for internatonal trade. 8. Differentiate between balance of trade and balance of payments; Concepts of balance of trade and balance of payments. 9. Outline the measures which a country may adopt to address balance of payment problems. Measures to address balance of payment problems: (a) tariffs; (b) licenses; (c) quotas; (d) exchange control; (e) devaluation (f) borrowing from another country; (g) accepting gidts from other countries; (h) importing on credit; (i) drawing on the resources of the International Monetary Fund or other international financial institutions. CXC CSEC Principles of Business Exam Guide Profile 3: The Business Environment Section 10: Regional and Global Business Environment SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES The students should be able to: CONTENT 1. Explain the functions of major economic institutions and systems; Major economic institutions and systems: (a) Caribbean Community (CARICOM); (b) Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME); (c) Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); (d) World Bank; (e) Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); (f) Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); (g) Organizatin of American States (OAS); (h) Economic Commission for Latin American Countries (ECLAC); (i) Association of Caribbean States (ACS); (j) European Union (EU) (k) World Trade Organization (WTO); (l) Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI); (m) Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); (n) Eastern Caribbean Common Market (ECCM); (o) North Amerian Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (p) Caribbean Canadian Agreement (CARIBCAN) (q) Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) 2. Identify major economic problems in the Caribbean; Major economic problems in the Caribbean: unemployment; population density; migration debt burden; sourcing captial and raw materials; economic dualism in the region. 3. Outline possible solutions to economic problems in the Caribbean. Possible solutions to economic problems: (a) Access to foreign direct investment; (b) development of human resources; (c) development of the manufacturing sector

Pnl Explain free essay sample

Why? Because the YTM is defined as the rate which, if used to discount the bond’s cash flows, gives its price. We could picture it like this: Bond Cash Flows on a Time Scale Each fixed coupon of 10% is discounted back to today by the yield to maturity of 12%: 93. 93% = 10 + 10 + 10 + 110 (1. 12)1 (1. 12)2 (1. 12)3 (1. 12)4 All we are doing is observing the yield in the market and solving for the price. Alternatively, we could work out the yield if we have the price from the market. Bond price calculators work by iteratively solving for the yield to maturity. For a bond trading at par, the yield to maturity and coupon will be the same, e. g. a four year bond with a fixed coupon of 10% and a yield of 10% would be trading at 100%. Note that bond prices go down as yields go up and bond prices go up as yields go down. This inverse relationship between bond prices and yields is fairly intuitive. We will write a custom essay sample on Pnl Explain or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For our par bond above, if four year market yields fall to 9% investors will be willing to pay more than par to buy the above market coupons of 10%. This will force its price up until it, too, yields 9%. If yields rise to, say, 11% investors will only be willing to pay less than par for the bond because its coupon is below the market. For a detailed example of the bond pricing process, see Appendix 3. For now, note that the dirty price of a bond is the sum of the present values of the cash flows in the bond. The price quoted in the market, the so-called â€Å"clean† price or market price, is in fact not the present value of anything. It is only an accountants’ convention. The market price, or clean price, is the present value less accrued interest according to the market convention. . Pamp;L sensitivities of a bond As we saw above, the price of a bond can be determined if we know its cash flows and the discount rate (i. e. YTM) at which to present value them. The yield curve from which are derived the discount factors for a bond can itself be considered as the sum of two curves: 1. the â€Å"underlying† yield curve (normally Libor), and 2. the â€Å"credit† curve i. e. the spread over the underlying curve The sensitivity of the bond price to a change in these two curves is called: i. PV01, and ii. CS01 respectively. In terms of the example above, the discount rate of 12% might be broken down into, say, a Libor rate of 7% together with a credit spread of 5%. (Note, in the following, it is important not to confuse the discount rate, which is an annualised yield, and the discount factor, which is the result of compounding the discount rate over the maturity in question. ) In addition to the sensitivities described above, we can also consider the impact on the price of the bond of a one day reduction in maturity. Such a reduction affects the price for two reasons: ) assuming the yield curve isn’t flat, the discount rates will alter because, in general, the discount rate for time â€Å"t† is not the same as that for time â€Å"t-1† b) since one day has elapsed, whatever the discount rate, we will compound it based on a time interval that is shorter by one day The names given to these two sensitivities are, respectively: iii. Theta, and iv. Carry Note that, of these four sensitivi ties, only the first two, i. e. PV01 and CS01, are â€Å"market sensitivities† in the sense that they correspond to sensitivities to changes in market parameters. Theta and Carry are independent of any change in the market and reflect different aspects of the sensitivity to the passage of time. i)PV01 Definition The PV01 of a bond is defined as the present value impact of a 1 basis point (0. 01%) increase (or â€Å"bump†) in the yield curve. In the derivation below, we will refer to a generic â€Å"discount curve†. As noted earlier, this discount curve, from which are derived the discount factors for the bond pricing calculation, can itself be considered as the sum of two curves: the â€Å"underlying† yield curve (normally Libor), and a credit curve (reflecting the risk over and above the interbank risk ncorporated in the Libor curve). The PV01 calculates the impact on the price of bumping the underlying yield curve. Calculation For simplicity, consider the case of a zero coupon bond i. e. where there is only one cash flow, equal to the face value, and occurring at maturity in n years. Note, though, that the principles of the following analysis will equally apply to a coupon paying bond. We start by defining: P = price or present value today R(t) = discount rate, today, for maturity t FV = face value of the bond Then, from the above, we know: P = FV/(1+r(t))^n Now consider the impact a 1bp bump to this curve. The discount rate becomes: R(t) = R(t) + 0. 0001 The new price of the bond, Pb(t), will be: Pb = FV/(1+[r(t)+. 0001])^n Therefore, the sensitivity of this bond to a 1bp increase to the discount curve will be: Pb – P = FV/(1+[r(t)+. 0001])^n FV/(1+r(t))^n Eqn. 1 The first term is always smaller than the second term, therefore: * if we hold the bond (long posn), the PV01 is negative * if we have short sold the bond (short posn), the PV01 is positive We can also see that: the higher the yield (discount rate), the smaller the PV01. This is because a move in the discount rate from, for example, 8. 00% to 8. 01% represents a smaller relative change than from 3. 00% to 3. 01%. In other words, the higher the yield, the less sensitive is the bond price to an absolute change in the yield * the longer the maturity, the bigger the PV01. This is more obvious the longer the maturity, the bigger the compounding factor that is applied to the changed discount rate, therefore the bigger the impact it will have. To extend this method to a coupon paying bond, we simply note that any bond can be considered as a series of individual cash flows. The PV01 of each cash flow is calculated as above, by bumping the underlying yield curve at the corresponding maturity. In practice, where a portfolio contains many bonds, it would not be practical, nor provide useful information, to have a PV01 for every single cash flow. Therefore the cash flows across all the positions are bucketed into different maturities. The PV01 is calculated on a bucketed basis i. e. by calculating the impact of a 1bp bump to the yield curve on each bucket individually. This is an approximation but enables the trader to manage his risk position by having a feel for his overall exposure at each of a series of maturities. Typical bucketing might be: o/n, 1wk, 1m, 2m, 3m, 6m, 9m, 1y, 2y, 3y, 5y, 10y, 15y, 20y, 30y. Worked example: Assume we hold $10m notional of a zero-coupon bond maturing in 7 years and the yield to maturity is 8%. Note that, for a zero coupon bond, the YTM is, by definition, the same as the discount rate to be applied to the (bullet) payment at maturity. We have: Price, P = $10m / (1. 08)^7 = $5. 834m Bumping the curve by 1bp, the â€Å"bumped price† becomes: Pb = $10m / (1. 0801)^7 = $5. 831m Therefore, the PV01 is: Pb – P = $5. 831m $5. 835m = -$0. 004m (or -$4k) Meaning In the example above, we have calculated the PV01 of the bond to be -$4k. This means that, if the underlying yield curve were to increase from its current level of 8% to 8. 01%, the position would reduce in value by $4k. If we assume the rate of change in value of the bond with respect to the yield is constant, then we can calculate the impact of, for example, a 5bp bump to the yield curve to be 5 x -$4k = -$20k. Note, this is only an approximation; if we were to graph the bond price against its yield, we wouldn’t see a straight line but a curve. This non-linear effect is called convexity. In practice, while for small changes in the yield the approximation is valid, for bigger changes, convexity cannot be ignored. For example, if the yield were to increase to 9%, the impact on the price would be -$365k, not -(8%-9%)x$4k = -$400k. Use The concept of PV01 is of vital day to day importance to the trader. In practice, he manages his trading portfolio by monitoring the bucketed yield curve exposure as expressed by PV01. Where he feels the PV01 is too large, he will perform a transaction designed to either flatten or reduce the risk. Similarly, when he has a view as to future yield curve movements, he will position his PV01 exposure to take advantage of them. In this case, he is taking a trading position. ii)CS01 The basis of the CS01 calculation is identical to that of the PV01, only this time we bump the credit spread rather than the underlying yield curve. The above example was based on a generic discount rate. In practice, for any bond other than a risk free one, this rate will be combination of the yield curve together with the credit curve. At first glance therefore, we would expect that, whether we bump the yield curve or the credit spread by 1bp, the impact on the price should be similar, and described by Eqn. 1 above. What we can also say is that, bumping the yield curve, the overall discount rate will increase and therefore, as for PV01: * if we hold the bond (long posn), the CS01 is negative * if we have short sold the bond (short posn), the CS01 is positive From the same considerations as for PV01, we can see that: * the higher the credit spread, the smaller the CS01 * the longer the maturity, the bigger the CS01 In practice, when we look at multiple cash flows, the impact of a 1bp bump in the yield curve is not identical to a 1bp bump in the credit spread. This is because, inter alia: * the curves are not the same shape and therefore interpolations will differ * bumping the credit spread affects default probability assumptions that will, in turn, impact the bond price In general though, PV01 and CS01 for a fixed coupon bond will be similar. The exception is where the bond pays a floating rate coupon. In this case, the sensitivity to yield curve changes is close to zero so, although the PV01 will be very small, the CS01 will be â€Å"normal†. Worked example: A worked example would follow the same steps as for PV01 above, only this time we would bump the credit spread by 1bp rather than the underlying yield curve. Theta and Carry We now look at the two sensitivities arising from the passage of time (â€Å"1 day decay†, to use option pricing terminology). First, let’s calculate what the total impact on the value of a position would be if the only change were that one day had passed. In particular, we assume that the yield and credit curves are unchanged. Again, for simplicity, consider the case of a zero coupon bond i. . where there is only one cash flow, equal to the face value, and occurring at maturity in n years. Again, we note that the principles of the following analysis will equally apply to a coupon paying bond. Following the previous notation, the value (or price) today will be: P(today) = FV/(1+r(t))^n The value tomorrow will be: P(tomorrow) = FV/(1+r(t-1))^(n-1/365)Eqn. 2 There are two differences b etween the formula for the value today and that for tomorrow. Firstly, the discount rate has moved from r(t) to r(t-1). Here, r(t-1) is the discount rate for maturity (t-1) today. We have assumed that the discount curve does not move day on day, therefore the rate at which the cash flow will be discounted tomorrow is the rate corresponding to a one day shorter maturity, today. Secondly, the period over which we discount the cash flows has reduced by one day, from n to n-1/365 (we divide by 365 because n is specified in years). Theta and Carry capture these two factors. P(tomorrow) – P(today) gives the full impact on the price due to the passing of one day. This impact can be approximated by breaking down the above formula into its two component parts i. e. he change in discount rate and the change in maturity, as explained below. iii)Theta As before, we define: P = price or present value today r(t) = discount rate, today, for maturity t FV = face value of the bond In addition, we define: r(t-1) = discount rate, today, for maturity t-1 (e. g. for a bond with 240 days to maturity, if the 240 day discount rate today is 8. 00% and the 239 day discount rate today is 7. 96% then: r(t) = 8. 00% and r(t-1) = 7. 96%) We now define Theta as: FV/(1+r(t-1))^n – FV/(1+r(t))^n We can see that, compared to the formula for the full price impact above (Eqn. ), this sensitivity reflects the change in the discount rate but ignores the reduction by 1 day of the maturity. In other words, Theta represents the price impact due purely to the change in discount rate resulting from a 1 day shorter maturity but ignores the impact on the compounding factor of the discount rate resulting from the shorter maturity. Note that the sign of Theta, in contrast to PV01 and CS01, can be both positive and negative. This is because r(t-1) can be higher or lower than r(t), depending on the shape of the yield curve. That said, in practice, given that yield curves are normally upward sloping, we would expect r(t) to be higher than r(t-1). Therefore Theta will normally be positive. In the same way, if the yield curve is flat, then Theta will be zero. iv)Carry Using the standard notation, we define Carry as: FV/(1+r(t))^(n-1) – FV/(1+r(t))^n Comparing to the formula for the full price impact above (Eqn. 2), we see that this sensitivity reflects the change in maturity on the compounding factor to be applied to the discount rate but ignores the impact on the discount rate itself of moving one day down the curve. In other words, Carry represents the price impact due purely to the change in discount factor resulting from a 1 day shorter compounding period but ignores the impact on the discount rate resulting from the shorter maturity. Where discount rates are positive (r(t) gt; 0), Carry will always be positive since the first term will be larger than the second. Using the Taylor expansion, we can obtain a simplified approximate value for Carry. Remembering that: 1/(1+x)^n = 1 – n. x + (1/2). n. (n-1). x^2 †¦ we have: Carry = FV. 1-(n-1/365). r(t)) – FV. (1-n. r(t)) = FV. r(t). 1/365 Note that r(t). 1/365 would represent one day’s â€Å"interest† calculated on an accruals basis since, in the case, the yield equals the coupon rate. (Note, where a position is accounted for on an accruals basis, and therefore valued at par, the yield will always equal the coupon. ) In other words, this definition ties in to the intuitive idea of carry that we have from, say, a de posit where the carry would be equal to one day’s interest, based on its coupon. We can also see that Carry is directly proportional to the yield. We have now seen that, between them, Theta and Carry attempt to capture the two components affecting the price move arising from the passing of 1 day, all other factors being kept constant. There will be certain â€Å"cross† effects of the two that will not be captured when performing this decomposition. In other words, Theta + Carry will not exactly equal the full impact (as per Eqn. 2). The difference, however, will not normally be material. In general, for a long bond position, both Theta and Carry will be positive as, with the passing of one day, not only will the annualised discount rate be less (reflecting the lower yield normally required for shorter dated instruments) but the compounding factor will be smaller (reflecting the shorter maturity). Worked example: Assume we hold $10m notional of a zero-coupon bond maturing in 240 days and the yield to maturity today is 8%. Also, the yield today for the 239 day maturity is 7. 96%. Theta = $10m/(1. 0796)^(240/365) $10m/(1. 08)^(240/365) = $23,159 Carry = $10m/(1. 8)^(239/365) $10m/(1. 08)^(240/365) $20,047 Theta + Carry = $43,205 To compare, the full price impact of a 1 day â€Å"decay† is: $10m/(1. 076)^(239/365) $10m/(1. 08)^(240/365) = $43,113 Summary We have now analysed the key sensitivities that explain the 1 day move in a bond’s mark to market value. To summarise some of the main features; for a long bond position: PV01 / CS01: * negative * for a fixed coupon or zero coupon bond, PV01 and CS01 will be similar * the higher the yield/credit spread, the smaller the PV01/CS01 * the longer the maturity, the bigger the PV01/CS01 for a floating rate coupon (with a Libor benchmark), PV01 will be very small but the CS01 will be â€Å"normal† Theta * positive * the flatter the curve, the smaller the Theta Carry * positive * proportional to the yield 3. Extension to interest rate swaps In essence, all the above applies equally to interest rate swaps (IRSs) when calculating/explaining daily Pamp;L. We start by noting that an IRS is simply the exchange of two cash flows, one fixed and one floating. Extending the analysis we made for bonds, we can say: a) The PV01 of the floating rate leg will be close to zero. This is as noted for a floating rate bond. In both cases, as the yield curve changes so do the expected future cash flows but, at the same time, so will the discount rates at which they are PV’d. The two effects will broadly cancel out. (The PV01 will not be exactly zero because, once the Libor fixing occurs, the next cash flow becomes fixed and therefore effectively becomes a zero coupon bond, on which there will be PV01. ) b) The fixed leg is similar to the fixed coupon stream on a bond and can be considered as a series of zero coupon bonds. Therefore the exact same analysis as applied to bonds above will apply to the fixed leg. An IRS that ays floating and receives fixed will have a PV01 sensitivity similar to that of a long bond position. c) IRSs are normally interbank trades where it is assumed that there is no credit risk over and above Libor. Therefore, the CS01 will be zero. d) Theta and Carry may be either positive or negative. Appendix 1 : Date Conventions There are several methods for computing the interest payable in a period and the accrued interest for a period. A particular method applied to a transaction can affect the yield of that transaction and also the payment for a transaction. Counting the Number of Days The conventions used to determine the interest payments depend on two factors: 1) The number of days in a period and 2) The number of days in a year. The conventions are: 0 Actual/360 1 Actual/365 : sometimes referred as Actual/365F (seldom used now) 2 Actual/Actual 3 30/360 European: sometimes referred to as ISMA method (30E/360) 4 30/360 US (30U/360) The first three methods (Actual/360, Actual/365 and Actual/Actual) calculate the number of days in a period by counting the actual number of days. For each method the number of days in a year is different. Actual/365 and Actual/Actual are similar except: 1. Periods which include February 29th (leap year) count the number of days in a year as 365 under Act/365 and 366 under Act/Act; 2. Semi-annual periods are assumed to have 182. 5 days under Act/365 and however many actual days under Act/Act. Eurobond markets use the 30E/360 basis. This calculation assumes every month has 30 days. This means that the 31st of a month is always counted as if it were the 30th of the month. For 30E/360 basis, February is also assumed to have 30 days. If the beginning or end of a period falls on a weekend the coupon is not adjusted to a good business day. This means that there are always exactly 360 days in a year for all coupons. For example a coupon from 08-November-1997 to 08-November-1998 of 5% is a coupon of 5%, even though 08-November-1998 is a Sunday. There is no adjustment to the actual coupon payment. The various European government bond markets are described below: Country| Accrual| Coupon Frequency| Austria| Act/Act| Annual| Belgium| Act/Act| Annual| Denmark| Act/Act| Annual| Finland| Act/Act| Annual| France| Act/Act| Annual| Germany| Act/Act| Annual| Ireland| Act/ActAct/Act (Earlier Issues)| AnnualSemi-Annual| Italy| Act/Act| Semi-Annual| Luxembourg| Act/Act| Annual| Netherlands| Act/Act| Annual| Norway| Act/Act| Annual or Semi-Annual| Portugal| Act/Act| Annual| Spain| Act/Act| Annual| Sweden| Act/Act| Annual| Switzerland| Act/Act| Annual| United Kingdom| Act/Act | Semi-Annual| Appendix 2 : Calculating Accrued Interest Even though Eurobond coupons are not adjusted for weekends and holidays, the accrual of a coupon for any part of the year has to use the correct number of days. The difference between European and US 30/360 method is how the end of the month is treated. For US basis the 31st of a month is treated as the 1st of the next month, unless the period is from 30th or 31st of the previous month. In this case the period is counted as number of months: | 30/360 European| 30/360 US| Beginning DateEnding Date| M1/D1/ Y1M2/D2/Y 2| M1/D1/Y1M2/D2/Y 2| If D1 = 31| D1 = 30| D1 = 30| If D2 = 31| D2 = 30| If D1 = 31 or 30Then: D2 = 30Else: D2 = 31| The difference occurs when the accrual period starts and ends at the end or beginning of a calendar month: European and US 30/360 Examples Start| End| European| US| Actual| 31-Jul-01| 31-Oct-01| 90| 90| 92| 30-Jul-01| 30-Oct-01| 90| 90| 92| 30-Jul-01| 01-Nov-01| 91| 91| 94| 29-Jul-01| 31-Oct-01| 91| 92| 94| 01-Aug-01| 31-Oct-01| 89| 90| 91| Euro money markets: 0 Day count basis: actual/360 1 Settlement basis: spot (two day) standard 2 Fixing period for derivatives contracts: two day rate fixing convention Euro FX markets 3 Settlement timing: spot convention, with interest accrual beginning on the second day after the deal has been struck 4 Quotation: ‘Certain for uncertain’ (ie 1 Euro = x foreign currency units) U. S. Conventions Product| Day Count Convention| USD LIBOR| Act/360| USD Swap Fixed Rate in U. S. | Act/Act s. a. | USD Swap Fixed Rate in London| Act/360 p. a. | T-Bills| Act/360 discount rate| Government Bonds| Act/Act s. a. | Agency and Corporate Bonds| 30/360 s. a. | Appendix 3 : Detailed worked example of bond price calculation We can check the pricing of bonds in a more complicated example by using the following German government bond (or Bund) : German Government Bund (in Euros) Coupon:| 5. 00%| Maturity:| 04-Feb-06| Price (Clean):| 102. 2651%| Yield:| 4. 43%| We are pricing this bond on 27/July 2001. It matures on 4 Feb 2006 and has a coupon of 5%. The table below shows that the bond price (the ‘dirty price’ or invoice price) is simply the sum of the present value of all of the coupons discounted at the yield to maturity. Pricing the German Euro Denominated Bund Dates| AA Days| Periods| Cash Flow| Cashflow PV| 04-Feb-01| | | | | 27-Jul-01| | | | 104. 6350%| 04-Feb-02| 192| 0. 5260| 5. 00%| 4. 8873%| 04-Feb-03| 557| 1. 5260| 5. 00%| 4. 6800%| 04-Feb-04| 922| 2. 5260| 5. 00%| 4. 4814%| 04-Feb-05| 1288| 3. 5260| 5. 00%| 4. 2913%| 04-Feb-06| 1653| 4. 5260| 105. 00%| 86. 2950%| The market convention uses the yield to maturity as the discount rate, and discounts each cash flow back over the number of periods as calculated using the accrued interest day-count convention. In the case of Bunds, the day-count convention is the Act/Act convention. Appendix 1 contains more details of date conventions it is recommended that you read this at the end of the module. The part of a year between the settlement date (27 July 2001) and the next coupon (4 February 2002) is: Day Count 192/365 (ie Actual days/Actual days) = 0. 5260 The price of the first coupon can therefore be calculated in the following way: PV of First Coupon = 4. 8873% All of the other cash flow present values are calculated in the same manner. Adding them up gives us the price of the bond. Accrued interest is calculated from 04 February 2001 to 27 July 2001 (173 days) : Accrued Interest Accrued = 5% x 0. 47397 = 2. 3699% There is more detail on Accrued interest in Appendix 2. It is recommended that you read it at the end of this module. Notice that the quoted price of the bond (the ‘clean price’) is 102. 2651% not 104. 6350% (which is the ‘dirty price’ or invoice price ie the price actually paid for the bond). The dirty price is the sum of the present values of the cash flows in the bond. The price quoted in the market, the so-called â€Å"clean† price or market price, is in fact not the present value of anything. It is only an accountants’ convention. The market price, or clean price, is the present value less accrued interest according to the market convention. Practitioners find it easier to quote the clean price because it abstracts from the changing daily accrued interest (i. e. it avoids a â€Å"saw-toothed† price profile). This publication is for internal use only by Deutsche Bank Global Markets employees. The material (including formulae and spreadsheets) is provided for education purposes only and should under no circumstances be used for client pricing. Examples, case studies, exercises and solutions may use simplifying assumptions that do not apply in practice, and may differ from Deutsche Bank proprietary models actually used. The publication is provided to you solely for information purposes and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument or product. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not necessarily complete and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.

Ballad of Birmingham essays

Ballad of Birmingham essays The Ballad of Birmingham wrote by Dudley Randall was about a church that was bombed in 1963. This ballad was wrote by an African American man who was forty-nine years old when the bombing occurred. This ballad features irony, symbolism, and discrimination. It is very ironic that the mother did not want her child to be on the streets of a big city because of the safety factor, so therefore she sent her to church instead which was the death of her daughter. The shoes and clothing that she dressed her daughter in was white and clean when her daughter left to go to church but after the bombing she only found one shoe that was underneath all the rubble. The symbolism is represented throughout the ballad in different ways. The mother replies to the question her daughter asked about going out to a Freedom March by saying the dogs are fierce and wild (6). The dogs are symbolic to the people and officers at the march that could get out of hand. The daughter wants to go to the march for freedom and the mother dresses her nicely and sprays her with cologne to send her to church. The mother was afraid of her daughter getting into violence and sent her to church to worship where she thought she would be safe. The bombing of the black church was done because of someone who was prejudice. The march was held for the rights of the black people so they would be treated equal and not discriminated against. A small innocent child was killed by the grotesque actions done by someone who was against black people. This ballad contains a lot of words that can touch the heart of anyone and any race. It has a regular meter when reading it. It could easily be put to music to make a beautiful song. ...

The Harold Long Form Improv Game Activity

The Harold Long Form Improv Game Activity The Harold is a long form improv activity first developed in the 60s by theater director/teacher Del Close. Long-form improvisational activities allow actors more time to develop believable characters and organic storylines. Whether the performance is a comedy or a drama is entirely up to the cast members. Long form improv can last from 10 to 45 minutes (or beyond)! If done well, it can be absolutely mesmerizing. If done poorly it can elicit snoring sounds from the audience. It begins with a suggestion from the audience. Can someone name an object?Okay, people, choose an emotion.What is an activity you did yesterday?Name your favorite / least favorite word. Once selected, the word, phrase, or idea becomes the centerpiece for the Harold. There are limitless ways to begin the improv. Here are a few possibilities: Each cast member delivers an impromptu monolog.A word association game is played.The cast does an interpretative dance based on the suggestion.Each cast member recaps a personal (or fictional) memory connected with the audiences suggestion. The Basic Structure During the opener, cast members should listen intently and utilize some of the material In later scenes. The opening scene is usually followed by: Three vignettes related to the theme.A group theater game (involving some or all cast members).Several more vignettes.Another group theater game.Two or three final scenes that pull together the various themes, characters, and ideas that have been developing throughout the performance. Heres an example of what might happen: The Opener Cast member: (Speaking cheerfully to the audience.) For our next scene, we need a suggestion from the audience. Please name the first word that comes to mind. Audience Member: Popsicle! The cast members might then gather around, pretending to look at a popsicle. Cast Member #1: You are a popsicle. Cast Member #2: You are cold and sticky. Cast Member #3: You are in a freezer next to the waffles and beneath the empty ice cube tray. Cast Member #4: You come in many flavors. Cast Member #1: Your orange flavor tastes like orange. Cast Member #2: But your grape flavor tastes nothing like a grape. Cast Member #3: Sometimes your stick tells a joke or a riddle. Cast Member #4: A man in an ice cream truck carries you from one neighborhood to the next, while sugar-starved children chase after you. This can go on a lot more, and as stated above there are many different variations of the Harold beginning. Typically, whatever is mentioned in the opening might become a theme or a topic of an upcoming scene. (Thats why having a good memory is a bonus for Harold participants.) Stage One Next, the first set of three brief scenes begins. Ideally, they might all touch upon the theme of popsicles. However, the actors may choose to draw out other ideas mentioned in the moderators monolog (childhood nostalgia, dealing with grown-ups, sticky food, etc). Scene A1: Hyperactive children pester their mother for a popsicle, but first they must do their chores.Scene A2: A popsicle discusses life in the freezer with his friends Mr. and Mrs. Waffle.Scene A3: A trainee experiences her first day at the Popsicle Factory, working as a writer of lame jokes to be placed on the popsicle stick. Noises, music, cast member gestures, and interaction can take place throughout, helping to transition from one scene to him next. Stage Two: Group Game Whereas the previous scenes may have involved several cast members, Stage two typically involves the entire cast. Note: The games used should be organic. They might be something often seen in improv shows, such as freeze or alphabet; however, the game could also be something spontaneously created, some sort of pattern, activity or scene structure that one cast member generates. the fellow cast members should be able to tell what the new game is, then join in. Stage Three The group game is followed by another series of vignettes. The cast members may choose to broaden or narrow the theme. For example, each scene might explore The History of Popsicles. Scene B1: Popsicles during Cavemen TimesScene B2: Popsicles during the Middle Ages.Scene B3: Popsicles during the Old West. Stage Four Another game is in order, preferably involving the entire cast. This one should be very lively to build the energy for the final portions of the Harold. (In my humble opinion, this is the perfect spot for an improvised musical number but it all depends on Stage Five Finally, the Harold concludes with several more vignettes, hopefully calling back to several of the topics, ideas, even characters that have been explored earlier in the piece. Possible examples (although it seems counter-intuitive to give written out examples of improv ideas!) Scene C1: Caveman experiences worlds first case of brain freeze.Scene C2: Mr. and Mrs. Waffle decide to see other people; she visits the fridge.Scene C3: The Ice Cream Man is on his death bed, and his life flashes before his eyes. If the cast members are clever, which I am sure they are, they could tie the ending with material from the beginning. However, the Harold doesnt need to tie everything together to be fun or successful. A Harold might begin with a specific topic (like popsicles) but drift away too many different subjects, themes, and characters. And thats fine too. Remember, any improv game can be changed to suit the needs of the cast and the audience. Have fun with the Harold!

Environmental Health Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Environmental Health Assessment - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to outline the concept of risk, the processes of risk assessment and risk management, two issues that may affect the city’s policy in relation to risk management, and the differences between risk assessment and risk management. Nuclear technology provides a means to produce electricity in a safe, less expensive and environmentally sustainable way. It also helps in developing a number of essential industrial and medical products and uses (Knief, 1991). On the other hand, the highly advanced, complex technology involving thousands of crucial mechanisms, lack of adequately trained personnel to operate the facility, and potentially dangerous raw materials and by-products of the processes, are capable of inflicting high levels of fatalities and illnesses among the population. By means of epidemiology or the study of the causes, distribution and control of illnesses in populations, the â€Å"causal relations between environmental exposures and impaired states of health† are determined (Merson et al, 2004: 383). Accordingly governmental policies are regulated, for identifying levels of exposure to environmental health hazards, ensuring reduced risks to health and for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions. Risk perception by the public is greatest in relation to nuclear power, as indicated by research studies (Sjoberg, 2003; O’Riordan, 1982; Thomas et al, 1980). Nuclear power was found to have nearly all the characteristics associated with high perceived risk: that hazards are involuntary, with delayed consequences, â€Å"unknown, uncontrollable, unfamiliar, potentially catastrophic, inequitable and certain to be fatal† (Ricci et al, 1981). Further, conflict situations regarding nuclear power are largely based on values and goals that may overwhelm issues of health and safety. In view of these risks, public opinion is

Operational Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Operational Plan - Essay Example All these come under resource allocation and human resource management respectively. It is the requirement for an organization to have an accurate forecast of revenue that is supposed to be earned based on sales that is being achieved currently. The company has to implement appropriate strategies and plans in order to secure the fact that sales rate increases in the future. To be able to attain all these objectives, it is crucial for an organization to formulate an effective operational and strategic plan. Operational plans bear a significant relevance in almost every organization as those enable managers to have a broad perspective of present scenario of the company, in terms of operations (Navarro, 2005). Following that, the managers are able to formulate and implement effective strategies that are focused towards achieving operational growth and henceforth, success (Thome, et al., 2012). The route to success for a product based organization is paved by appropriately aligned strategic and operational plans and better equilibrium between supply and demand. In that way, the organization is able to gain competitive advantage in this intensely competitive business environment (Singh, 2010). This paper will cater to draft an operational plan for a product based organization (an automobile company), thereby seeking to explain various aspects of an operational plan and understand their importance towards achieving organization objective. Ergon Motors is passionate about crafting, building and delivering superior quality automobiles to its customers based all over the world. The company is mainly engaged in production and distribution of sedans, compacts, SUVs and coupes as well as their parts worldwide. The brand names under which the company markets its vehicles include Turbo, Desire, Blitz, Hammer, Manza, Thunder and Slick. Ergon mainly targets the middle income group of

Austria - second world war Essay Example for Free

Austria second world war Essay Owing their reputation of fine tastes in art and culture, the nation of Austria is proud of their heritage, especially of their fame over the occupation of the Germans in the Second World War. The said country’s status remained to be uncertain after the Allies drove the Nazis away from the country and eventually occupied by the Allies. Austria became really proud of its rich culture and sceneries that were spared by the Nazis. The nation also celebrated its independence 10 years after the Nazis left the country and the cities flourished. Such events that would lead to the development of a country such as war that depicts change, gives a nation a sense of self-importance that is reflected in its culture and the tastes that the inhabitants acquire. The geographical data of Austria may be described as (according to the Encyclopedia Britannica as: â€Å".. largely mountainous country of south-central Europe. Austria extends roughly 340 miles (550 km) from east to west. It is bordered to the west by Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to the northwest by Germany, to the north by the Czech Republic, to the northeast by Slovakia, to the east by Hungary, to the southwest by Italy, and to the south by Slovenia. The capital is Vienna. Austria has an area of 32,378 square miles (83,859 square km). † Austria is one the verge of development these days but still largely dependent on its agricultural side. Most of the raw materials are still sourced from their agricultural fields and lush greeneries. Despite the advent of globalization on its boundaries, Austria remains to be a country of nature. Furthermore, policies of agriculture has been into practice for years in the country so as to protect their source of raw materials. This may be viewed as a strength since the raw materials that the distillery in question may be sourced from the agricultural side of the nation, a cut from the costs that the company may incur. The introduction of the Euro in place of the Austrian Schilling also had a positive effect in the country’s economy. (Anonymous 2006g) This prompted for developments in investors and this can be viewed as a plus factor in considering whether to expand in the nation of Austria or not. Scotch is one of the products in less demand in Austria. Together with the rest of Europe (excluding France, Spain and Germany), Austria constitutes 17% of the total demand for Scotch Whisky in 1995. The small market size of the nation may be viewed as its weakness since the local distilleries would have had the shares that The Olde Distillerie would want to have. For a small company as the company in question, it would a be a negative sign in investing in a country such as that of Austria. Meanwhile, Austria cannot hide such facts that people of their nation demands objects and products of high taste and rich in culture and history such as the scotch whisky. And like other European countries, its rich taste and heritage may be a possible market for the distillery, for as we have stated earlier, the countries are looking at alcohol as a sort of symbol or identity. Not only is the scotch whisky a lucrative product because of its history, but the taste and flavor of the product may be all in all attractive for the market of Austria. 4. Spain Spain’s strategic location enables it to embody a nation rich in culture and experience. Its location can be described as a crossroad in Europe where, many Islamic states are present for the past 800 years of their existence. (Anonymous 2006h) However, despite the Islamic states that pose as an outside force that may influence the country’s belief, Spain remains to be a Catholic country with a strong sense of culture and self-importance.

Essay on Symbolism and Double Meaning in Hawthornes Young Goodman Brow

Young Goodman Brown: Symbolism and Double Meaning Young Goodman Brown is definitely a story with several meanings and images. As I was reading this story I was overwhelmed with the visual and technical images that Hawthorne projected. There was so much symbolism and double meanings in the story that I believe everyone in the class was confused at one point or another. Seemingly to the degree that they re-read the story a second time just to try and "fill" themselves with the actual vision of the reading. One question that always seems to plague classes about this story (both eng372 and other classes that I have attended in which YGB was read) is the actual meaning of Goodman Brown’s wife’s name: Faith. The double meaning really sends the reader into a whirlwind of symbolism in which if analyzed enough could probably fill an entire classroom hour. Most of the class seemed to believe that her name suggests a faith in religion or a faith in one’s self and not a name that is given. My interpretation is that "faith’, in relation to the wife’s name, represents YGB’s ...

Barbie Doll: Society’s Whims Are Not To Be Fulfilled

In the poem â€Å"Barbie Doll,† author Marge Piercy utilizes four well-developed stanzas to depict a scornful view of American society. Applicable to all time periods, â€Å"Barbie Doll† narrates the short-lived life of a young girl despised by society for her appearance. Barbie Doll is like a fairytale, full of plasticity, fakeness, and fantasy. However, unlike a fairytale, â€Å"Barbie Doll† ends with society applauding the funeral of a princess that was torn apart into pieces and then worshiped. Written with varying tones of sadness and depression, vivid imagery, and compact concrete details, â€Å"Barbie Doll† presents a fact that society for centuries has blinded from view. Women, from the development of civilization to present-day modern America, have always endured oppression and humiliation from a patriarchic society. In â€Å"Barbie Doll,† the young girl is repressed by society for her â€Å"great big nose and fat legs. † The society in which this young girl lives views a â€Å"perfect† woman as one who possesses flawless beauty, helps children grow, cooks food, and irons clothes. In fact, society is so intent on morphing young girls into motherly, selfless, and sympathetic individuals that they were only allowed to play with â€Å"dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves. † Despite being â€Å"healthy and intelligent and possessing strong arms, abundant sexual drive, and manual dexterity,† the young girl is seen by society as incomplete, and abnormal. It is because of this continuous repression that the young girl’s â€Å"good nature† runs out. She herself loses faith in her appearance as society mocks and mocks and mocks her looks. Only when the young girl finally killed herself by â€Å"[cutting] off her nose and her legs],† and was laid in a fake casket with a fake dress and a fake nose, did society finally applaud the â€Å"true† beauty that this young girl possessed. Men want women to have â€Å"perfect† bodies and â€Å"perfect† faces; as a result, the young girl in â€Å"Barbie Doll† sacrificed herself to society’s demands. It is this fake perception and these fake ideas, this idea of perfection that gives â€Å"Barbie Doll,† a term applied in our world to display â€Å"plastic perfection,† its title. Tone also plays a crucial role in â€Å"Barbie Doll. † Each stanza begins heartily nd subtly and ends with a blunt phrase that leaves shock in the reader’s mind. For example, the third stanza starts off like a normal fairytale, detailing the setting in which the protagonist lives. However, when this fairytale approaches its final resolutio n, it takes an entirely different turn; abruptly moving from an ideal, perfectionist world into a world of darkness and misery, the fairytale turns into reality. This repeated undulating motion of tone allows the reader to understand the young girl’s dilemma. The young girl, like the tone of the poem, is wading through a wave of emotions. She does not know whether society is telling the truth about her beauty or if she really possesses such unattractiveness. In a way, she is stranded between a tidal wave of repression sent by society and a wall of concrete built by her conflicting emotions. The young girl can neither swim away nor stand back; she can only surrender herself to society. The young girl possessed all characteristics any person in the modern world of today would value. However, society shunned her thoughts into a black hole and essentially transformed her mind to think contradictory to itself, like the idea of doublethink in 1984. Continuous blames upon the blemishes of her appearance and the insurmountable pressure from society were far too much for her to bear and as a result, she snapped. The last stanza of this poem gives the final say to the main idea. Despite the extent to which the young girl went to satisfy her peers, society only viewed the young girl with passion after a â€Å"turned-up putty nose† was placed upon her face. Placed in a â€Å"casket [made of] satin,† the young girl seems to have finally obtained the respect that she had wanted all of her life. Never did society satiate at the sight of a living, perfectly healthy person but instead society itself received satisfaction only when the young girl was created into a flawless toy or a â€Å"Barbie Doll. † Ironic as it may seem, the only option left for the young girl to obtain happiness was to face the saddest event in one’s life, death. It is for this reason that the young girl felt â€Å"consummation† only after her death. In her mind, it was a happy ending, freedom from the tortures that society had presented before her. â€Å"Barbie Doll† emphasizes that we as individuals should not allow others to judge for us but we ourselves should be the judges. Taking the young girl as an example, by letting society judge her beauty, the young girl became tangled into the web of society’s harsh words. These words were so sharp that the young girl’s entire state of mind was altered to think of herself as inferior and imperfect. If we allow others to judge for us, then we may very well end up in such a drastic situation. Society can lead a person to become unstable; that person can lead himself to become a doll, a plastic doll full of lies, without feelings, and without hope, a â€Å"Barbie Doll. †

21th Bled eConference eCollaboration Essay

1 Introduction This is not a research paper. Rather, it is a teaching report in which I describe the use of the so called beer distribution game (or beergame) – a logistics and supply chain simulation game – in teaching business-to-business eCommerce. The aim of the paper is twofold: First, I want to demonstrate how the beergame can be used to provide students with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in contemporary supply chains to exchange information and to facilitate collaboration. Second, I want to share both my experiences and my materials for using the beergame in eCommerce courses with the IS community, i.e. those scholars that teach (business-to-business) eCommerce or supply chain management courses. The beergame is a role-play simulation game in which students enact a four stage supply chain. The task of this supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the beer unit s until it reaches the customer at the downstream end of the chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple: each of the four groups has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer by placing orders with the next upstream party. Since communication and collaboration is not allowed between supply chain stages, the players invaria588 bly create the so called bullwhip effect. With ‘bullwhip’ we refer to the effect that the amount of periodical orders amplifies upstream in the supply chain towards the production end, thus causing a range of operational problems. The bullwhip effect is a well-known phenomenon and a prominent symptom of coordination problems in supply chains. In using the beergame to create the bullwhip effect students experience first hand, not only the problems of lack of information sharing and collaboration in supply chains, but also the main causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Henceforth, in introducing eCommerce measures in the later sessions of the course, students can relate to these topics through their own experiences. The paper ties in with a recent discussion on the ISWorld eMail list on â€Å"how to make relevant IS teaching for students with little or no practical experience†. In teaching information systems (IS) and specifically B2B eCommerce we frequent ly experience problems of making relevant those topics for students. The challenge is to get them to appreciate the relevance of IS and also to provide them, not only with a superficial knowledge of the topics, but with a more profound understanding of the reasons why eCommerce technologies are used in practice. Against this backdrop I want to show how the beergame can help demonstrating the role and need of eCommerce technologies in a topic area in which the students not only lack practical knowledge (i.e. with regards to supply chains), but typically also do not have their own frame of reference to be able to relate to the topics we teach. To this end, I will introduce the beergame, demonstrate its use in a classroom setting, present typical results created by playing the game and show how I embed the game in a typical B2B eCommerce syllabus. I begin with introducing the game and the bullwhip effect (in section 2). In section 3, I then describe the application of the beergame in a classroom setting; I give an overview of a beergame session and present typical results. Section 4 demonstrates how typical supply chain problems (and the causes of the bullwhip effect) can be deduced from the beergame experience in order to motivate the introduction of eCommerce measures for improving supply chain coordination. The section is concluded by a synopsis of typical eCommerce topics that can follow the beergame in a typical B2B syllabus (section 4.3). 2 The Beergame In the following I will first give a brief introduction to the bullwhip effect before I introduce the beergame itself, i.e. its history, structural setup and the rules of the game. 2.1 Bullwhip effect as symptom of typical supply chain problems The bullwhip effect is a well-known symptom of typical coordination problems in (traditional) supply chains. It refers to the effect that the amount of periodical orders amplifies as one moves upstream in the supply chain towards the production end (Lee, Padmanabhan & Whang 1997a). Even in the face of stable customer demand small variations in demand at the retail end tend to dramatically amplify upstream the supply chain with the effect that order amounts are very erratic, and can be very high in one week and almost zero in the next week. This phenomenon was discovered and first described by Forrester (1961) who did research into the relationship between ordering and stock keeping patterns using simulation models (Warburton 2004). The term itself was first coined around 1990 when Procter&Gamble perceived erratic and amplified order patters in its supply chain for 589 baby diapers. The effect is also known by the names whiplash or whipsaw effect (Lee, Padmanabhan & Whang 1997a), which refers metaphorically to the visualisation of order patterns moving upstream the supply chain (see figure 3). As a consequence of the bullwhip effect a range of inefficiencies occur throughout the supply chain, e.g. high (safety) stock levels, poor customer service levels, poor capacity utilisation, aggravated problems with demand forecasting, and ultimately high cost and low levels of inter-firm trust (Chopra & Meindl 2001; Lee, Padmanabhan & Whang 1997a). While the effect is not new and a lot of research has been conducted and supply chain projects have been initiated since its discovery, it is still a timely and pressing problem in contemporary supply chains. Various research studies have quantified the effect and estimate that profitability in most supply chains might improve by up to 30% by eliminating the bullwhip effect (Metters 1997; McCullen & Towill 2002). 2.2 Beergame setup and rules Having introduced the bullwhip effect and its implications for the supply chain and its players I will now introduce the beergame, its setup and rules. I begin by providing a brief history of the game before I present the general structure and the rules of the game. 2.2.1 History of the beergame The beergame (or beer distribution game) was originally invented in the 1960s by Jay Forrester at MIT as a result of his work on system dynamics (see Forrester 1957). While the original goal of the simulation game was to research the effect of systems structures on the behaviour of people (â€Å"structure creates behaviour†), the game can also be used to demonstrate the benefits of information sharing, supply chain management, and eCollaboration in the supply chain (Li & Simchi-Levi 2002). A range of different versions of the beergame have emerged over the years. The original beergame was realised as a board game (Sterman 1989). Meanwhile a table version (Ossimitz, Kreisler & Zoltan 20 02) and also computerised simulations (Hieber & Hartel 2003) have been developed. In this paper I predominantly draw on a table version, which I adapted from the so called Klagenfurt design (cp. Ossimitz, Kreisler & Zoltan 2002); the structural setup of the table version is shown in figures 1 and 2. I will briefly discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different game versions in chapter 3.1 where I discuss the administration of the beergame in a classroom setting. 2.2.2 General structure of the game The beergame simulates a supply chain that consists of four stages (retailer, wholesaler, distributer and factory), each of which is played by one or better two or three players (Goodwin & Franklin Sr. 1994). Hence, a supply chain is typically played by 8 to 12 people, while more than one supply chain can be administered in one class at the same time. The task of each supply chain is to produce and deliver units of beer: the factory produces and the other three stages deliver the be er units until it reaches the external customer at the downstream end of the supply chain. In doing so, the aim of the players is rather simple: each sub group has to fulfil the incoming orders of beer. The retailer receives an externally predetermined customer demand and places orders with the wholesaler; the wholesaler sends orders to the distributor, who orders from the factory; the factory finally 590 produces the beer. Hence, orders flow in the upstream direction, while deliveries flow in the downstream direction of the supply chain. An important structural aspect of the game is delay (i.e. time lag) in order to account for logistics and production time. Each delivery (and production order) requires two rounds until they are finally delivered to the next stage. In the structural setup of the game this is represented by two shipping delay fields located in between the supply chain stages as well as at the production end (figure 1). Order flow Delay Delay Delay Delay Factory Factory Distributor Distributor Wholesaler Wholesaler Retailer Retailer Product flow Figure 1: Supply chain setup in the beergame table version Student Outgoing order Play sheet Incoming order Wholesaler Delay Distributor Distributor Outgoing delivery Delay Factory Incoming delivery Student Student Figure 2: Detailed table layout 2.2.3 Rules of the game The game is played in rounds, which simulates weeks. In each round the following steps have to be carried out by the players: 1) receive incoming orders, 2) receive incoming deliveries, 3) update play sheets (outstanding deliveries and inventory), 4) send out deliveries, and finally 5) decide on the amount to be ordered. In doing so, deciding on each round’s order amount is effectively the only decision that players are able to make throughout the game; everything else follows a set of fixed rules. The first rule is that every order has to be fulfilled, either directly (should the players’ inventory be large enough) or later in subsequent rounds. In the latter case, players have to keep track of their backlog (backorder) (Coakley et al. 1998). Secondly, inventory and backlog incur cost – each item in stock costs EUR 0.50 per week, while each item on backlog costs EUR 1.00. Consequently, the primary aim of ea ch subgroup is to keep their costs low. Hence, the optimal strategy for the players is to run their business with as little stock as possible without being forced to â€Å"move into backorder†. Thirdly, players are not allowed to communicate. The only information they are allowed to exchange is the order amount; there is no transparency as to what stock levels or actual customer demand is; only the retailer knows the external demand (Rafaeli et al. 2003). Moreover, the game is based on the simplification of unlimited capacity (in stock keep591 ing, production and transportation) and unlimited access to raw materials at the production end (Hieber & Hartel 2003). 2.2.4 The external demand In playing the game the external demand is predetermined and usually does not vary greatly. In the beginning, the supply chain is pre-initialised with inventory levels (e.g. 15 units), orders (e.g. 5 units) and beer units in the shipping delay fields (e.g. 5 units). In order to induce the bullwhip effect to the supply chain the external demand remains stable for a few rounds (e.g. 5 units for 5 rounds) before it suddenly shows one steep increase (jumps to 9 units) before it remains stable again at this higher level for the remainder of the game (usually 40 to 50 rounds in total). However, the one increase in external demand is enough to induce variance into the supply chain, which will inevitably lead to the creation of the bullwhip effect and to a destabilisation of ordering patterns throughout the supply chain. 3 Using the beergame in class Having described the idea, the structural setup, and the rules of the beergame, I will now discuss the administration of the game in a classroom setting. This is followed by the presentation of typical results generated by beergame applications in eCommerces courses. These results are very useful for deriving the causes of the bullwhip effect in discussions with students in a so-called debriefing session (see section 4). For a session outline of a B2B course that uses the beergame please refer to appendix 2; the experiences shared in the following sections are more or less based on this session outline. 3.1 Administering the beergame 3.1.1 Choosing a beergame version As mentioned above, different versions of the beergame exist for use in classroom settings. The traditional version is a board game in which tokens are physically moved on the board to represent orders and stock. The upside of the board version is that people relate well to moving actual objects. However, there are two downsides: firstly, the board game is too slow, cumbersome and complex to administer; secondly and more importantly, because physical objects are used to represent inventory on the board, people enjoy an unwanted transparency of inventory levels of other supply chain stages and can thus strategically act upon their knowledge of incoming stock. The table version of the beergame was originally developed by a team at the University of Klagenfurt (Ossimitz, Kreisler & Zoltan 2002). It shows several improvements to the original design such as a leaner and more pragmatic approach to moving orders and stock in the supply chain. Essentially this is done by using paper slips on which numbers are written by the players. However, it still shows some administrative overhead such as a bookkeeping p erson that takes stock of all things happening within the supply chain using a computer. While this functions as a built-in safety net in case something goes wrong, it is still a hurdle to the application in a classroom setting and it also slows down the game, which results in long sessions and the students being bored throughout the game. Henceforth, I have adapted the table version and essentially eliminated the bookkeeper in order to achieve a more straightforward progression of the game. The 592 risk however is that students make mistakes in calculating order amounts or stock levels using the paper play sheet. While it helps to start slowly and to doublecheck the play sheet calculations during the first few rounds, in a few of my first beergame applications some people indeed miscalculated stock levels, which led to problems with interpreting the data later on. For this reason, today I use MS Excel and a laptop computer on each table for people to fill in their play sheets; this effectively eliminates the risk and ensures a quick progression of the game (see appendix 1 for a play sheet example). 3.1.2 Schedule of a beergame session The first step in administering the beergame is the preparations of the tables. As is illustrated in figure 2, four fields have to be marked on each table, which is done by fixing to the table 4 sheets of paper using sticky tape. The same is done with the delay fields. Furthermore, cardboard boxes (or plastic cups) and envelopes have to be filled with small paper slips to pre-initialise the supply chain with orders and deliveries. Then, every table has to be prepared with a stack of order and delivery slips that will be used by the players during the game. Finally, paper slips with the external demand progression (see above) have to be prepared that are handed to the retailer groups during the game. Also, for administering more than one supply chain, (student) assistants are needed to help with moving boxes and envelopes during the game. The second step is briefing the students; in doing so I provide a short introduction to the idea of the game, its history, structure, and rules (see above). When playing in more than one supply chain I stress the fact that groups of each stage are competing with one another (e.g. retailer vs. retailer), in order to get the students to take playing seriously. The third step is to start playing some initial trial rounds with the pre-initialised supply chain and to make sure that everyone gets used to filling in play sheets and order/delivery slips. Then, in the fourth step, the speed of playing the game is increased and the game is played for a number of 40 to 50 rounds. The game is then stopped abruptly so that the students do not have time to react strategically to the coming end of the game. The fifth and final part of the session is a short discussion directly after the game, where I ask students how they felt throughout the game and what they think the average customer demand was. The next session after the beergame session is the debriefing session, for which the data that the groups produced throughout the game has to be consolidated, plotted and analysed. Typical beergame results and their creation are presented in the next section; the debriefing session is described in section 4. 3.2 Typical progression and results of a beergame session Every beergame session follows roughly the same scheme, so that the progression of the game shows a recurring pattern. I usually start playing the game at a slow pace for people to get used to moving objects, taking stock and filling in the play sheets. What typically happens during these first few rounds is that people try to get rid of some of the inventory (e.g. 15 units) in order to manage their costs; hence they often only place small orders in the beginning (for an example see weeks 1-7 in figure 3). Consequently, when the customer demand jumps to the higher level in round 6 the supply chain has adjusted to a low demand scenario. After the steep increase many retailer groups tend to wait one or two rounds in order to see if the increase is permanent (as in figure 3). When they then place the first large order they invariably initiate a bullwhip effect that perpetuates through593 out the chain. Typically, the order amount increases with every stage in the supply chain (as in figure 3). What happens then is that the groups move deeply into backorder (see figure 4), because due to the delivery delays it takes quite some time for the beer to move through the supply chain to the retail end. Getting increasingly desperate players often try to send signals and place more large orders; in the end they typically lose track of what they have ordered and order way too much. The consequence is that the supply chain is flooded with beer and the inventories overflow (see weeks 2035 in figure 4). The effect is that people cease ordering entirely; e.g. a lot of very small orders are placed. This is especially true for the higher stages of the supply chain (see table 1). In the end, while the retailer groups often manage to stabilise their business, the higher stages have no idea of the actual customer demand and are left frustrated. Bullwhip Effect 70 60 50 Customer Orders 40 30 20 10 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 Week Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory Figure 3: Plot of order distribution, visualising the bullwhip effect Figure 3 shows the order distribution over 40 weeks and a typical bullwhip effect. Figure 4 shows the inventory fluctuation, with negative inventory representing back order. Table 1 finally shows the decrease in customer demand information upstream visualised by the average order amount by the four stages of the supply chain in this example. More importantly, the increase in order fluctuation upstream the supply chain is illustrated by the largest amount having been ordered in each stage and the number of small orders that were placed. This translates into an increase in inventory fluctuation as well. All this information is being used in the following debriefing session to discuss the bullwhip effect, its implications and the reasons for its existence. 594 Out of stock = Serious lack of service level! 200 150 100 Inventory 50 0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 -50 -100 -150 Week Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory Figure 4: Example of inventory fluctuation (negative inventory = backorder) Key figures Retailer Wholesaler Distributor Factory ∅ order amount (units of beer) 8.33 8.68 8.75 9.95 Largest order amount 25 40 50 60 No of small orders (0-2 units) 4 11 14 18 Inventory fluctuation range 84 81 170 165 Table 1: Example of key figures derived from the beergame 4 Learning from the beergame results Having presented the way in which the beergame is administered and a typical progression of the game and its results, I will now first show how a debriefing session can be used to illustrate supply chain coordination problems and to derive typical causes for the creation of the bullwhip effect. Based on these causes one can then quite easily motivate eCommerce measures and ICT-based supply chain reform initiatives that aim at reducing the bullwhip effect and improving supply chain coordination. 4.1 The debriefing session The debriefing session follows the beergame session (see appendix 2). I usually begin the session with a brief discussion of students’ experiences throughout the game. Typically, the following questions are being discussed: Did you feel yourself controlled by forces in the system from time to time? Or did you feel in control? Did you find yourself â€Å"blaming† the groups next to you for your problems? Did you feel desperation at any time? This discussion typically shows that people indeed were blaming their neighbouring supply chain partners for not doing their jobs right (either not ordering in a 595 sensible way or not being able to deliver); desperation and frustration are common feelings during the last rounds of the game. A first learning from this discussion is that it is the structure of the game (i.e. the supply chain) that causes the behaviour. This is precisely what its inventor (Forrester) intended to achieve and what is referred to as the effects of systems dynamics. A second set of questions can then be discussed in order to reflect upon the beergame itself and its degree of simulating real world conditions: What, if anything, is unrealistic about this game? Why are there order delays? Why are there production delays? Shipping delays? Why have both distributor and wholesalers; why not ship beer directly from the factory to the retailer? Must the brewer be concerned with the management of the raw materials suppliers? Using these questions and by stressing the fact that real-life supply chains are much more complex (a huge variety of products and supply chain partners e xist, as well as complex criss-crossing networks of relationships) the students can quickly be convinced that real-life conditions favour the emergence of the bullwhip to a much greater extent and that the beergame is indeed a good vehicle to simulate the creation of the effect. Having established this necessary bit of legitimisation, the session can then proceed with presenting the beergame results and with identifying the underlying causes. Hence, the next step essentially is to present, for all supply chain groups, the data (table 1) and figures (3 and 4) presented above. In doing so, I typically have a very interactive and lively discussion. I ask what people thought while playing the game and what led them to, for example, place a huge order at a particular point in the game. In discussing the extreme examples, the class usually shares a laugh, which, as a nice by-product, leads to a more casual atmosphere and contributes to setting an open tone for the remainder of the course. I also honour the winning supply chain teams at this point in time. This is also the time where I introduce the concept of ‘cumulated supply chain cost’, e.g. by pointing ou t that the product at the customer end has to earn all (cumulated) costs of all supply chain parties; this insight serves as a first step in establishing the idea of global thinking and chainwide optimization, which essentially requires eCollaboration technologies. At this point in the session one can then either go straight to identifying the causes and effects of the bullwhip effect (see below), or take a little (useful) detour in discussing a teaching case to corroborate the results and to give the results of the beergame some more credibility. In doing so, I use the case of Italian pasta manufacturer Barilla, one of the first documented cases in which a company launched a project to identify the causes of the bullwhip effect and to introduce some countermeasures (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi 2003, p. 91). 4.2 Identifying the causes of the bullwhip effect The bullwhip effect, as simulated in the beergame, is mainly caused by three underlying problems: 1) a lack of information, 2) the structure of the supply chain and 3) a lack of collaboration and global optimisation. These three causes can be identified in an interactive session with the students by discussing the beergame experiences and then be corroborated with insights from practice and the literature. 596 4.2.1 Lack of information In the beergame no information except for the order amount is perpetuated up the supply chain. Henceforth, most information about customer demand is quickly lost upstream in the supply chain. Moreover, no other information is being shared. With these characteristics the beergame simulates supply chains with low levels of trust, where only little information is being shared between the parties. Without actual customer demand data, all forecasting has to rely solely on the incoming orders at each supply chain stage. In reality, in such a situation traditional forecasting methods and stock keeping strategies contribute to creating the bullwhip effect (Lee, Padmanabhan & Whang 1997a; Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & SimchiLevi 2003). Unexpected increases in orders from downstream partners translate into even higher order increases upstream, because when players regard the increase to be permanent and want to avoid running out of stock, they need to update their safety stock levels; hence they place an even larger order. Later, when it turns out that an increase was only temporary, safety stock levels are lowered and players might order nothing for a while, hence contributing to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.2 Supply chain structure The supply chain structure, with its design as separate stages and the long lead times, contributes to the bullwhip effect. The longer the lead time, i.e. the longer it takes for an order to travel upstream and the subsequent delivery to travel downstream, the more aggravated the bullwhip effect is likely to be. With traditional ordering, the point in time where an order is typically placed (the order point) is usually calculated by multiplying the forecasted demand with the lead time plus the safety stock amount, so that an order is placed so far in advance as to ensure service level during the time until the delivery is expected to arrive (Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi 2003). Hence, the longer the lead time is, the more pronounced an order will be as an reaction to an increase in forecast ed demand (especially in conjunction with updating the safety stock levels, see above), which again contributes to the bullwhip effect. 4.2.3 Local optimisation Local optimisation, in terms of local forecasting and individual cost optimisation, and a lack of cooperation are at the heart of the bullwhip problem. A good example for local optimisation is the batch order phenomenon. In practice, ordering entails fix cost, e.g. ordering in full truck loads is cheaper then ordering smaller amounts. Furthermore, many suppliers offer volume discounts when ordering larger amounts. Hence, there is a certain incentive for individual players to hold back orders and only place aggregate orders. This behaviour however aggravates the problem of demand forecasting, because very little information about actual demand is transported in such batch orders. And batch ordering, of course, contributes directly to the bullwhip effect by unnecessarily inflating the orders. This might lead to lower local cost in the short term, but translates into higher overall cost at the chain level. 4.3 eCommerce measures to tackle the bullwhip effect Having identified and discussed the three problem areas with regard to both the beergame and their real-world counterparts, I then present three areas of improvement that directly correspond to the three problem areas: 1) information sharing in terms of electronic data interchange, 2) ICT-enabled supply chain re597 design, and 3) supply chain collaboration for global optimisation (see figure 5). In terms of teaching, these three bundles of eCommerce measures and initiatives can then be briefly introduced in one session (see appendix 3) or in more (technical and organisational) detail in three separate sessions (see appendix 2). In the following sections I give a brief overview of what can be part of those sessions. 1 Information loss upstream the supply chain Without direct communication, forecasting is based on aggregated, inaccurate information. This causes large stock, high cost, poor service levels. Improvement Efficient communication and information sharing 2 Supply chain structure Long lead times lead to increasing variability upstream making planning nearly impossible: large safety stock is required, variability increased. Slow downstream product flow causes poor service levels. Improvement Supply chain redesign: processes, tasks & roles 3 Local optimization Independent planning and local optimization lead to inefficiencies, such as local forecasting, batch ordering, inflated orders, etc. Improvement Cooperation to achieve global optimization Figure 5: Summary of bullwhip causes and areas of improvement 4.3.1 Efficient communication One of the most basic learnings from the beergame is to improve information sharing along the supply chain (e.g. of point-of-sale customer demand data); information sharing is the first step towards more advanced supply chain coordination (Muckstadt et al. 2001). Henceforth, the first step in teaching eCommerce measures is to present the principles and technologies of electronic data interchange. In doing so, I first of all discuss with the students the â€Å"principles of digitally mediated replenishment of goods† by Johnston (1999), essentially a collection of principles for effective inter-organisational electronic data interchange, such as the â€Å"once-only data entry principle† or the â€Å"synchronicity principle†. Based on these fundamental principles I discuss the ways in which traditional document-based ordering can be reformed using electronic data interchange. While these topics might seem to be outdated from a modern information systems perspective, it lays the foundation for a step-by-step increase of complexity that aims at providing the students with a more substantial knowledge of the problems and ideas behind ICT-enabled supply chain reform than can be achieved by a simple presentation of the latest communication technologies. The next step in this endeavour is to introduce technologies that are needed to enable effective inter-firm data interchange and electronic ordering, such as product numbering schemes and automatic product identification technologies. In most supply chains physical products have to be handled; hence ways are needed to attach information to these objects. Consequently, I introduce the following technologies: †¢ Standardised product numbering schemes: Here, the history, proliferation, functioning and impact of numbering schemes such as the Universal Product Code (UPC), the European Article Numbering (EAN) code and more special598 ised codes like for example container codes (SSCC) are introduced. Most of these codes today are administered by the standardisation organisation GS1 (2005). †¢ Automated product identification technologies: The technology with the greatest diffusion in the market is the barcode; while specialised barcodes exist in some industries, the most common one is the UCC/EAN-128 (Coyle, Bardi & Langley 1996). The second, much newer technology to be discussed here is Radio Frequency based Identification (RFID). †¢ Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): EDI is the basis for electronic ordering. Here, traditional EDI standards, such as the UN/EDIFACT, which was jointly developed by ISO and the UN (Coyle, Bardi & Langley 1996), can be discussed, as well as newer techniques such as Internet-based WebEDI and XML-enabled order exchange. In discussions with the students these enabling communication and data exchange technologies can then be related back to the beergame experience in that they 1 ) speed up the order process, thus reducing lead time and 2) enable more sophisticated information sharing of POS data. Moreover, they are the basis for the next step, the ICT-enabled redesign of supply chain structures. 4.3.2 ICT-enabled supply chain reform initiatives The second building block in dealing with the bullwhip effect comprises a range of different supply chain reform initiatives that can be subsumed under the concept of efficient replenishment. As such, two distinct types of measures can be distinguished: 1) inventory management concepts that aim at changing the ways in which actors in the supply chain carry out their roles of stock keeping and ordering and 2) logistics concepts that aim at improving actual material and information flow. Efficient inventory management is based on the idea that suppliers have timely access to POS data and can thus eliminate traditional forecasting and change the way ordering and inventory management is carried out (Lee, Padmanabhan & Wh ang 1997b). Three concepts with increasing degrees of complexity can be distinguished: †¢ Quick Response: The idea behind this concept is for the supplier to become more responsive to changes in customer demand through the sharing of POS data. Retailers still prepare individual orders, but suppliers are better prepared. †¢ Continuous Replenishment: Suppliers continually receive POS data from retailers to prepare shipments at agreed-upon levels. †¢ Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI): Under this initiative the suppliers manage all inventory aspects for their own products at the retailer end. Suppliers decide on shipment levels without any orders from the retail end to be placed. In fact, the retailer has very little to do with the operational aspects in VMI (Waller, Johnson & Davis 1999). The second type of efficient replenishment measures is efficient logistics (see Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky & Simchi-Levi 2003). Here, two main building blocks can be discussed: †¢ Warehousing and delivery concepts: Depending on the kinds of goods that are moved along the supply chain, different kinds of warehousing and delivery can be applied in order to achieve an optimal flow of goods. Cross docking is a concept in which warehouses function as inventory coordination points rather than actual inventory storage points; hence, goods are only re-shuffled 599 between trucks coming in from suppliers and trucks leaving for stores. This instrument can be used for fast selling products. For bulk products central warehousing can be used; while fresh products benefit from direct delivery. †¢ Full-blown just-in-time delivery (JIT): Most commonly found in the automotive industry, ‘just-in-time’ describes a concept, whereby supplier and manufacturer align their logistics and production processes to a degree that no (or very little) inventory is needed. Goods can be directly delivered from the production at the supplier to arrive just in time to be used in production at the manufacturer end (e.g. Johnson & Wood 1996). Changing the way in which inventory is managed means to effectively change the supply chain structure. For example, by implementing VMI the supply chain partners eliminate one stage of ordering, thus eradicating one step in the typical bullwhip chain of events. Moreover, by speeding up product flows using the logisti cs concepts lead time is being reduced, which in turn softens the bullwhip effect. Consequently, all measures discussed in this section can be directly motivated by the beergame. In presenting this block to the students I also point out, for every singly concept, the role of information systems and eBusiness technologies. 4.3.3 eCollaboration: joint planning and global optimisation The third block of eBusiness measures for tackling the bullwhip effect is the most sophisticated one and builds on the first two blocks. Global optimisation of supply chain processes can only be achieved through the collaboration of supply chain partners under a joint initiative. I present the Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) initiative as an example from the Grocery industry (VICS 2001) and also discuss (sometimes only briefly) joint product development initiatives in the automotive industry. CPFR as a concept builds on and extends concepts such as VMI by aiming at establishing a long-term planning of joint promotion activities. CPFR is based on the observation that a combination of inventory management and logistics concepts (see section 4.3.2 above) can reduce the bullwhip effect for day-to-day deliveries, but that these concepts still can not cope with demand variations induced by promotion activities. Hence, CPFR aims a t jointly planning promotions and to create transparency as to the expected demand increases induced by these promotions. The concept is based on the use of shared eMarketplace infrastructures, which I also discuss in some detail in this section. Again, the application of eCommerce technologies can be nicely illustrated using the beergame. 4.3.4 Summary The discussion of the three building blocks of eCommerce measures culminates in the development and presentation of an integrated model of eCommerce-based supply chain management informed by the key learnings from the beergame. The model is presented in figure 6. Following the line of argument in the last sections, it becomes obvious that the beergame can be used to motivate and substantiate large parts of a typical eCommerce masters course (as in appendix 2). In the next section I draw some final conclusions and briefly reflect upon the use of the beergame in a classroom setting. 600 Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Supply Chain Reform Initiatives Tactics Operations Infrastructure Improvements Improvements Suppy Chain Suppy Chain problems & problems & trade-offs trade-offs Information loss Joint Planning CPFR (promotions, product introduction), Category Mgmt, Production scheduling Collaboration Strategic alliances for global optimization Efficient Replenishment Inventory Management: Quick Response, CRP, VMI, SBT Redesign ICT-enabled supply Chain re-structuring S.C. structure Materials & information flow: Direct delivery, Warehousing, X-docking Local optimization Communication Information sharing, Electronic ordering Efficient Communications Infrastructure, EDI, AutoID, Product numbering, Process simplifications Figure 6: A comprehensive eCommerce and supply chain model 5 Conclusion and outlook I have introduced the beergame and demonstrated its usefulness in teaching B2B eCommerce and supply chain management. To the present day, I have used the beergame mainly in eCommerce masters courses at different Universities in different national contexts. The experiences and also the teaching evaluations have always been positive and very encouraging. While I believe that the beergame, and the way it is embedded in my B2B eCommerce syllabus, works well in providing students with both a profound understanding of the underlying wisdoms of eCommerce, as well as with a good overview of eCommerce measures, there is more to it than that. Playing the beergame is great fun, for the teacher and for the students, and it is always a good experience in itself. As such, the beergame is also very helpful for the general course atmosphere and the creation of positive team dynamics in the group. For the future, we are working on a software version of the beergame, which can be used in a classroom setting in the same interactive role-play style, but avoid some of the still remaining problems of the table version. While software versions today only provide a simulation (instead of role-play) mode and are not built for classroom use, a client-server software version of the game might replace the cumbersome logistics aspects (the moving of boxes) and help in gathering data that can be used for debriefing straight away. Moreover, it would be great to be able to play the beergame with different setups, e.g. with implementing effective sharing of (customer demand and inventory) data in order to demonstrate, in a second round of play, the usefulness of information sharing in reducing the bullwhip effect. To this end, our software will be flexible enough to incorporate such exploration of different supply chain modalities.1 1 For further information please see: http://www.beergame.org. 601 Appendix 1: Beergame play sheet The following table shows the play sheet of a retailer group that was filled in during a beergame session. The ‘incoming order’ column shows the external customer demand with its increase in round 6. During the game the students only have to fill in the white columns – the ‘incoming delivery’ and the ‘incoming order’ are taken from the incoming paper slips, while in the ‘your order’ column the students have to fill in their order decision for the respective weeks. Having done that, the play sheet shows exactly what has to be written on the outgoing order and delivery slips (in the dark columns). All orange columns are calculated automatically, so that students can easily keep track of their inventory and cost progression. After the beergame this data is then put together and consolidated with the data that was collected in the play sheets of the other groups of the same supply chain. It is then plotted to create figures 3 and 4 and table 1 (see above). Week Incoming Delivery Available Incoming Order Your Delivery Backorder Inventory Cost 7,5 15 22,5 30 35 37 40 45 49 52 64 78 86 100 118 137 159 180 201 223 244 265 283 295 303 316 317,5 321 324,5 328 331,5 335 338,5 342 345,5 348,5 351 353 355 357 Your Order Please fill out play slips: Delivery Order 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 5 5 5 5 0 3 2 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 13 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 20 20 20 20 15 13 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 25 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 13 13 13 5 5 5 5 5 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 4 3 12 14 8 14 18 19 22 21 21 22 21 21 18 12 8 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 15 15 15 15 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 5 4 4 4 0 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 5 5 5 5 5 9 6 7 10 10 0 7 15 3 5 8 6 10 9 8 10 9 12 15 13 4 22 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 0 3 2 7 7 12 5 10 10 6 5 7 15 25 15 5 5 6 11 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 602 Appendix 2: Syllabus for a beergame-based B2B course The following table gives an overview of how the beergame can be incorporated in a typical (B2B) eCommerce (masters) course (e.g. 12 weeks with 3 hour sessions). The beergame and the subsequent modules can cover up to 6 sessions. After presenting the three blocks with eCommerce improvements, an additional session can be used to discuss management challenges of inter-firm collaboration, covering issues such as trust, managing interfaces, ICT standards etc. Throughout the course, cases from the grocery and the automotive industries might be used for illustration purposes and to facilitate discussions. Depending on the setting, background readings might also be handed out to the students. Sessions (3 hours) Topics / session contents 1. Beergame session a. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40-50 rounds) d. Brief discussion afterwards 2. Debriefing a. Discussion of experiences and game setup b. Presentation and discussion of beergame data (results) c. Teaching case Barilla: bullwhip causes [optional] d. Identification of the three main causes of the bullwhip effect e. Short presentation of three areas of improvement and the schedule for the next three sessions 3. Information sharing a. Short discussion: why is information sharing important? b. Principles of electronic data sharing c. Attaching information to physical goods: standardised product numbering, Automated product identification technologies: barcodes, RFID d. Electronic Data Interchange: EDI, WebEDI, XML-based ordering 4. Supply chain reform a. Overview: efficient replenishment initiatives b. Efficient inventory management: Quick Response, Continuous Replenishment, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) c. Efficient Logistics: Warehousing, Direct Delivery, CrossDocking d. Just-in-Time Delivery in the automotive industry [Kanban] 5. eCollaboration a. eCollaboration in the supply chain: idea and philosophy b. Collaborative Planning Forecasting & Replenishment (CPFR) c. Joint product development in the automotive industry 6. Management of inter-firm collaboration a. Complexities of supply chain reform initiatives b. The role of trust and social capital in inter-firm relationships c. Interoperability of ICT d. Managing inter-firm interfaces 603 Appendix 3: Session outline for a beergame-based workshop The following table shows a short workshop format based on the beergame. Such a workshop can be incorporated in other (general IS) courses or be a stand-alone event, for example as an executive teaching offering. The workshop is essentially made up of two sessions – the actual beergame session and a combined debriefing and learnings session. As an example industry the Grocery industry can be used to illustrate the application of the eCommerce initiatives and technologies. Sessions (~3 hours) Topics / session contents 1. Beergame session a. Introduction to supply chains (why have supply chains?) b. Beergame introduction (setup, structure, rules of the game) c. Playing the game (40 rounds) d. 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