Investigating the Impact of Climate Change on Dust Storms over Kuwait

Introduction Dust storms are more frequent in summertime in the Arabian Peninsula, and can be highly influential on the climate and the environment in the region. In this study, the influence of climate change in the Middle East and especially in Kuwait will be investigated by high-resolution (48, 12, and 4 km grid spacing) dynamic downscaling using the WRF (Weather Research & Forecasting) model. The WRF dynamic downscaling will be forced by reanalysis using the National Centers for Environment Prediction (NCEP) model for the years 1997, 2000, and 2008. The downscaling results will be first validated by comparing NCEP model outputs with the observational data. The global climate change dynamic downscaling model will be run using current WRF regional climate model (RCM) simulations (2006–2010) and WRF-RCM climate simulations of the future (2056–2060). They will be used to compare results between the present and the middle of the century. In general, the dominant features from (NCEP) runs are predicted to be consistent with each other, as well as with WRF-RCM results. The influence of climate change in the Middle East and Kuwait can be projected from the differences between the current and model future run. The average temperature showed a positive trend in the future, as in other studies. The temperature was predicted to increase by around 0.5-2.5 Â °C over the next 50 years. No significant change in mean sea level pressure patterns was projected. However, amongst other things, a change in the trend of the surface wind speeds was indicated during summertime..Climate change is perceived as a significant global and regional issue and hasbecome a significant concern in the Middle East, making it all the more important to investigate (Almazroui, et.al. 2012). The short rainy seasons and the long dry hot summer seasons put more stress on water resources. The matter of increasing or decreasing the summer dust season canmodify the radiation budget between earth and t he atmosphere system; the aerosol can affect the incoming radiation by absorbing or scattering, and can change the outgoing terrestrial radiation(Almazroui, et.al. 2012).Therefore, this process may lead into changing the radiative balance, the increase of atmospheric albedo candecrease the percentage of radiation reaching the surface, which leads to cooling the surface (Almazroui,et.al. 2012). Background Since 1985, seawater temperature in Kuwait Bay, northern Persian Gulf, has increased on average 0.6 degrees Celsius per decade(Kulkarni, et.al. 2012).This is about three times faster than the global average rate reported by the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Differences are due to regional and local effects. Increased temperatures are having profound effects on key habitats and on power generation in the Persian Gulf (Kulkarni, et.al. 2012). Dust storms have large impacts across the Arabian Peninsula region. Because of the highest recorded frequency of dust, Kuwait is of great interest in the Arabian Peninsula. Dust has a huge impact on maximum temperatures in Kuwait, where it can decrease the 2 m temperature by as much as 5 Â °C. Dust storms in Kuwait also hasve a huge impacton daily temperatures in summertime. The atmospheric aerosol which mostly consists of dust particles can scatter and absorb radiation, which will affect the radiative impact (Kulkarni,et.al. 2012). The scattering and absorption process can alter the incoming and outgoing radiation. Scattering increases the atmospheric albedo, leading to decreasing in surface radiation, resulting in surface cooling (Kulkarni, et.al. 2012). Usually, during dust storm days, the maximum temperature is reduced by 3 to 5 Â °C in summertime. Global models can illustrate climate change globally, but it is difficult to perform or illustrate regional circulations (Rajendran,et.al. 2013). Therefore, this study will not only attempt to find out the impact of climate change on both the frequency and intensity of dust storms in Kuwait, but it will also analyzethe number and magnitude of dust storms in the future. Problem Statement A common synoptic system in the Arabian Peninsula during the summer is the intense pressure gradient, resulting from the Indian monsoon arising east of the Middle East and the East Mediterranean high pressure west of the region. This causes a strong northwesterly wind across the Arabian Peninsula which is known as the Shaman wind(Rajendran,et.al. 2013). Purpose of the Research The main purpose of this research is to find the impact of climate change on the dust storms in Kuwait. The research aim is to find whether the number and magnitude of dust storms will increase or decrease in the future. Moreover, this research also aims to investigate the changes in the number of dust storm days in future summer seasons. Research Questions Considering the aim of this study, the follwing research questions are designed. These research questions are designed to spefically adress the current issues associated with the climate change in Kuwait. What is the impact of climate change on both the frequency and intensity of dust storms in Kuwait? Whether the number and magnitude of dust storms will increase or decrease in the future? Significance of the Research The increasing importance of understanding dust and its role in the Earth’s climate is driving new research and analysis of past data. Dust storms are becoming more frequent in some parts of the world, transporting prodigious quantities of material over very long distances, affecting human health, coral reefs and climate change (Kulkarni, et.al. 2012). Being able to predict the production of dust in the future is critical to the climate, environment, and human health. It is very important to investigate whether the number and magnitude of dust storms will increase or decrease in the future, as it will provide an idea of how the Earth’s ecosystem will change. Literature reviewMiddle East and the Arabian Peninsula ClimateMuch of the summer season in the Arabian Peninsula consists of a period of high diurnal temperature variation and hazy weather. The strong pressure gradient which is usually developed in June and July in the Arabian Peninsula creates a strong wind that results in dust storms (Marcella,et.al.2012). The strong Shamal wind tends to ease the temperature in the summer by decreasing the maximum temperature by 5 Â °C on average due to dust. In other cases, the Shamal wind can be caused by a dry cold front in the Arabian Peninsula, which further reduces the maximum temperature in the area. By mid-July the strong pressure gradient in the area weakens considerably, leading to periods of light northwesterly winds. When there is a lack of a pressure gradient, the Shamal winds become weak, and its direction shifts to easterly to southeasterly in the afternoon due to the sea breeze effect near the coastal area in Kuwait. The thermal lo w that usually develops over Iraq causes the weak pressure gradient near Kuwait and the eastern region of Saudi Arabia (Rajendran,et.al.2013).Global Climate ModelingGlobal climate models (GCMs) have the ability to simulate large scale global circulation for the atmosphere and the ocean. The GCMsare used worldwide by scientist to study different climate variables in different regions to investigate climate change. Global climate models can simulate possible future climates model, and can compute several simulations with various greenhouse gas emissions (Graff &LaCasce, 2012).Wind SpeedScientists investigated the changes in mean wind speed globally and in different regions in the past, present, and future. Declining wind speeds in middle and lower latitudes are critical to the prediction of future global wind speed changes (Karnauskas,et.al.2009). However, it is significant to understand how climate change can influence wind speed and direction, because they are controlled by atmosphe ric circulation patterns, which have been indicated by many studies to change globally. In most studies that are based on climate change, results showed that wind speed has changed over the past and will continue to change in future, but it varies between regions and seasons. In the future, some regions may experience an increase in wind speed while some other regions may experience a decrease. Investigating increase or decrease of wind speed regionally will provide a future look in terms of dust storms expansion or shrinking in the Arabian Peninsula (Gillett,et.al. 2003).TemperatureChanges in extreme temperatures over a long time period were analysed by Yan,et.al (2002). They determined that not only low temperatures have been decreasing and high temperatures have been increasing during the last decades, but also that there have been earlier changes in these extremes. A high increase in temperature took place between 1910 and 1945 and from 1970 to the present, when the temperature increased by 0.16 Â °C and 0.17 Â °C per decade, respectively, which is about three times more than the increase during the past century(Yan,et.al.2002). This has been a major cause for concerns for public heatlh as fluctuation in the environment temperautre increase global warming. This may increase air pollution, and thus thr risk of air borne diseases.Regional Climate ModelingClimate scientists around the world are investigating climate change by using the downscaling model to ensure higher resolution for more enhanced results (Bichet,et.al.2012). The higher resolution model or the regional climate model that have been downscaled from the global climate model provide a better picture over complex terrain, land-water contrast, regional variations in land use, and regional circulation (Catalano & Moeng, 2010). The regional climate model is becoming the tool of preference in their research. Regional climate model simulations for regions similar to the Arabian Peninsula are few.Foc using on the eastern region where Kuwait is located, the model simulation shows a decrease in surface wind speed in both scenarios. Wind speeds are the main cause for dust storms in the region, so a decrease of wind speed in the future should lead to a decrease in dust storms in Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula (Chu,et.al.2013). MethodologyResearch DesignThe research design in this research shall be based on the secondary data and this is the reason that the following research study is based on qualitative eesearch design and therefore, the proposed study will be exploratory in nature. Data are to be collected and information wwill be gathered by using a number of secondary sources, such as the media, publications and literature. By considering goals of the present study, Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) will be analyzed as a modelin order to find the impact of climate change on both the frequency and intensity of dust storms in Kuwait and whether the number and magnitude of dust storms will increase or decrease in the future.As a sample size, GCM will be used to provide lateral forcing for WRF runs for two five-year time periods in which first five years run will be in 2006-2010 and second five years run will be in 2056-2060.The purpose is to investigate the frequency of dust storms comparing the pres ent simulations with future simulations. Since the WRF does not simulate dust storms directly, the research will focus on identifying regional conditions conducive to dust storms and analyze the change in frequency of these synoptic conditions under a selected climate scenario.Ethical ConsiderationsEthical considerations will be prioritised to first place during this research and all the primary and secondary sources of data will be collected in accordance with the privacy policies. The research analysis and findings will be incorporated at the end and they will be entirely based on the observation of the researcher, and the analyis of data will be made. Conclusion The main of this project is to investigate the effect of climate changes in dust storms in Kuwait. These aims were targeded with the view to creating an awarness in regards to possible detrimental effects that can be induced by such changes. It is predicted that knowing the effectsof such changes will also help to predict whether the number and magnitude of dust storms will increase or decrease in the future. Since dust storms frequently hit Kuwait, it may affect human health and coral reefs, as well as have direct association with climate change in Kuwait. Wind speeds are the main cause for dust storms in the region, so a decrease of wind speed in the future should lead to a decrease in dust storms in Kuwait and the Arabian Peninsula (Chu,et.al.2013). REFERENCES Almazroui, M., M.N. Islam, and H. Athar, 2012: Recent climate change in the Arabian Peninsula: annual rainfall and temperature analysis of Saudi Arabia for 1978-2009, International Journal of Climatology, vol. 32, pp. 953-966. Bichet, A., M. Wild, D. Folini, and C. Schar, 2012: Causes for decadal variations of wind speed over land: Sensitivity. Geophysical Research Letters, vol.39, no. 11, pp.1107-1111. Catalano, F. and C.H. Moeng, 2010: Large-eddy simulation of the daytime boundary layer in an idealized valley using the Weather Research and Forecasting numerical model. Bound.-Layer Meteor, vol. 137, pp. 49–75. Chu, C., X. Yang, X. Ren, and T. Zhou, 2013: Response of Northern Hemispheric storm tracks to Indian-western Pacific Ocean warming in atmospheric general circulation models, ClimDyn, vol. 40, pp.1057-1070. Gillett, N. P., F.W. Zwiers, A.J. Weaver, and P. A. Stott, 2003: Detection of human influence on sea-level pressure. Nature, vol. 422, no. 292-294. Graff, L. S, J. H. LaCasce, 2012: Changes in the extratropical storm tracks in response to changes in SST in an AGCM. J. Climate, vol. 25, pp. 1854–1870. Karnauskas, K.B., R. Seager, A. Kaplan, Y. Kushnir, and M.A. Cane, 2009: Observed strengthening of the zonal sea surface temperature gradient across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. J. Climate, vol. 22, no.16, pp. 4316–4321. Kulkarni, A., 2012: Weakening of Indian summer monsoon rainfall in warming environment, TheorApplClimatol, vol109, pp.447–459. Marcella, Marc P., Elfatih A. B. Eltahir, 2012: Modeling the summertime climate of Southwest Asia: The role of land surface processes in shaping the climate of semiarid regions. J. Climate, vol. 25, pp. 704–719. Rajendran,K., S. Sajani, C. B. Jayasankar and A. Kitoh, 2013: How depended is climate change projection of Indian summer monsoon rainfall and extreme events on model resolution?. Current Science,Vol. 104, no.10, pp. 1409-1418. Zhang, Y., V. Duliere, P. W. Mote, and E. P. Salathe, 2009: Evaluation of WRF and HadRMmesoscale climate simulations over the U.S. Pacific Northwest. J. Climate, vol. 22, no. 5511–5526.

The Uae Food & Drink

â€Å"How Near-Term Demand Weakness Is Reshaping Company Strategies† A New Report from Business Monitor international (BMi) The UAE Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Report Competition for market share in the UAE continues to intensify as food and drink firms battle against the conflicting interests of limited growth prospects but appealingly-high spending levels and as local players seek to ward off the ever growing threat of multinational competition.Responding to our clients’ requests, BMI’s food and drink analysts have just produced The UAE Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Report, analysing and comparing the strategies adopted by major players as they seek to exploit opportunities and mitigate risks in a rapidly changing environment. Whether you are a food and drink manufacturer, investor or supplier to the industry, you will benefit from the following key features of this report: the UAe food & drink competitive intelligence report pUblished by bUsi ness monitor internAtionAl Company Profiles on the UAE’s 10 leading food and drink companies, containing Company overview, latest Company Developments, Product information, local/regional/Global operations,SWot analysis, Company Strategy and Financial Performance. Each profile provides hard-to-get competitive intelligence with which to benchmark the growth and risk management strategies of your competitors, peers, partners and clients. List of companies profiled: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Al Ain Water Al Ain Dairy Al Rawabi Carrefour Dubai Refreshments †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ EMKE FoodCo Masafi Spinneys Unilever www. usinessmonitor. com 9 BMI’s Investment Risk-Reward Rating ranks the uae’s attractiveness for industry investors compared to its regional peer group (Bahrain, egypt, israel, Kuwait, lebanon, oman, Qatar, saudi arabia). 9 BMI’s Business Development Directory gives you direct access to senior decision-makers and pur chasers at leading food and drink manufacturers and suppliers operating in the uae’s food and drink market – providing a powerful business development and networking tool to source new clients, partners and suppliers.The UAE Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Report is available to industry professionals, strategists, trade bodies, government and regulatory agencies and international investors on preferential terms for a limited period only – Saving you 15% on your report order (see back page special Discount order Form). BMI’s clients, who include over 400 of the Global Fortune 500 companies rely on our competitive intelligence analysis and data to benchmark competitors and peers at leading multinational and local companies operating across Middle East & African food and drink markets.CLIENT LIST †¢ Carlsberg MW Brewery †¢ Coca Cola †¢ Maersk †¢ Mars GCC Fzc †¢ Mitsubishi Corporation †¢ Pepsico International †¢ Price waterhouseCoopers †¢ Red Bull †¢ The Boston Consulting Group †¢ Unilever North Africa & Middle East REpoRT CoNTENTS SECTION 1 – CoMpETITIvE LANDSCApE ANALySIS 1. Company-comparative analysis of the leading food, drink and grocery retail companies, CoMpANy pRoFILES ExTRACTS: DuBaI REfREShmEnTS examining sales, market share and main product areas and facilitating the identification of successful investment strategies and themes. nd our broader macroeconomic growth forecasts. Company strategies are also examined in relation to key operational, macroeconomic and political risks. 2. Company comparisons are made within the framework of our industry growth forecasts â€Å" SECTIoN 2 – CoMpANy pRoFILES Companies Profiled: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Al Ain Water Al Ain Dairy Al Rawabi Carrefour Dubai Refreshments †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ EMKE FoodCo Masafi Spinneys Unilever Key PepsiCo franchise bottler Dubai Refreshments Company (DRC ) is to invest in a AED400mn (US$108. 9mn) plant in the UAE to come on stream in 2012.The plant is expected to boost DRC’s annual capacity nearly threefold to 150mn cases and should, in our opinion, allow the firm to launch a number of new drinks as the wider soft drinks industry speeds up its transition away from traditional low-cost carbonates to higher value segments†¦ † Company Profile Contents 1. Company Overview: Date established, ownership structure, main business units, core maSafI business operations, leading products, market share. 2. Latest Company Developments: M&a, joint ventures, divestment/investments, projects, ontracts, new product launches, regulatory issues, announcements. â€Å" 3. Product Portfolio: leading brands and new product development initiatives. 4. Local, Regional & Global Operations: Domestic sales, main regional/global export markets, foreign purchases, JVs and strategic partnerships. 5. SWOT Analysis: analysis of company strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats allowing for an examination of factors – both internal and external – that will affect future company performance. 6.Company Strategy: Analysis of company responses to fast-changing local market conditions, ranging from distribution network expansion to exploring new markets and from portfolio diversification to widen sales reach to research and development investment to secure future growth prospects. growth y-o-y, set against historic 5-year financial performance; covers revenues, operating profit, net profit, Basic EPS and EBITDA. Masafi aims to strengthen its market position by introducing new products and developing manufacturing and marketing strategies.It has a wide range of products, ranging from a twolitre mineral water bottle to a sizeable juice range. The company also promotes itself as highly socially responsible, entering into partnerships with international humanitarian and medical relief organisations. Masafi has al so been looking abroad for growth, with overseas sales now accounting for nearly 30% of its business†¦ 7. Financial Performance: BMI’s analysis of latest-available company financials and % † EmKE GRouP Financial Performance Table estle 5-year (2005-2009) financial information (chfmn, or % chg y-o-y for growth statistics) 2005 Sales Sales Growth EBIT EBIT Growth Net Profit Net Profit Growth Capital Expenditure CapEx Growth Earnings Per Share EPS Growth Source: Nestle Investor Relations 2. 08 3,375 8,081 11,876 91,115 2006 98,458 8. 1 13,302 12. 0 9,197 13. 8 4,200 24. 4 2. 39 14. 9 2007 107,552 9. 2 15,024 12. 9 10,649 15. 8 4,971 18. 4 2. 78 16. 3 2008 109,908 2. 2 15,676 4. 3 18,039 69. 4 4,869 -2. 1 4. 87 75. 2 2009 107,618 -2. 1 15,699 0. 1 10,428 -42. 2 4,641 -4. 7 2. 92 -40. 0 â€Å"UAE-based conglomerate EMKE Group, owner of the Emirate’s leading Lulu branded supermarkets and hypermarket will invest SAR1bn (US$267mn) in Saudi Arabia over the next eigh teen months – a decision we believes makes sense given our view that Saudi Arabia houses the Gulf region’s most promising mass grocery retail (MGR) industry on a number of counts†¦ † SECTIoN 3 – MARkET ATTRACTIvENESS FoR INvESToRS Market overview analysis of sector maturity, industry expenditure, foreign investment, GDP contribution, key industry players, regulatory environment, imports and exports. SWoT Analysis trengths, Weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis covering government policy and foreign investment environment, local manufacturing standards, growth and demand trends, demographic and macroeconomic trends, distribution infrastructure and supply chain standards and the competitive landscape. â€Å" RISK-REWARD RATINg ExTRACT: BMI’s Investment Risk-Reward Rating BMI’s Investment Riskreward rating allows investors to weigh up the attractiveness of the uae as an industry investment opportunity relative to its regional peer s: Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.Food and Drink industry and Country reward and risk scores (out of a total of 100) are weighted and combined to illustrate potential investor returns, as compared to other markets and to the regional average. middle east food & drink risk/reward ratings rewards Bahrain UAe Qatar Kuwait Egypt Saudi arabia oman Lebanon *Israel 53 51 50 46 49 45 39 38 45 risks 68 69 65 69 57 63 67 48 73 risk/reward rating 57. 3 56. 5 54. 7 52. 6 51. 0 50. 8 47. 7 40. 8 53. 2 The UAE’s reward score is the region’s second highest behind Bahrain.However, its industry reward score is the lowest of the top three ranked markets, emphasising the relative maturity of the UAE market, with high existing per capita consumption levels. Although strong per capita food consumption growth is not forecast, which is the main card Bahrain has in its favour against the UAE, premiumisation opportunities have yet to be exhausted despite ong oing real economy weakness (mostly in Dubai) inflicted by the 2009 economic downturn†¦ † *Israel has been included for comparative purposes only. Had it been ranked, it would have scored fourth.Source: BMI. Scores out of 100, with 100 highest. For full methodology see Appendix at the back of our Food & Drink Quarterly Reports, or visit our online service SECTION 4 – BUSINESS DEvELopMENT DIRECToRy The UAE Food & Drink Business Development Directory Primary research, conducted in Q3 2010, brings together latestavailable, accurate data on top decision-makers at the UAE’s leading supplier companies, including ownership structure, company size and sales volume, expansion strategy, key partners and main products and services.Providing direct access to top industry decision-makers and purchasers, the directory represents a powerful tool to source new clients, partners and suppliers, and benchmark competitors. Sample Directory Listing Nestle Middle East FZE PO Box 1 7327 Jebel Ali Free Zone Dubai UAE Tel: xxxxxxxxxx Fax: xxxxxxxxxx E-mail: xxxxxxxxxx Website: www. nestle. com KEY PERSONNEL Chairman & CEO: xxxxxxxxxx Finance Director: xxxxxxxxxx Communication & Marketing Services Director: xxxxxxxxxx Sales Director: xxxxxxxxxx Head of Human Resources: xxxxxxxxxx LOCAL STATISTICS Annual sales volume: US$ xxxxxxxxxx No. f employees: xxxxxxxxxx BUSINESS ACTIVITY Nestle Middle East has 17 factories and 37 offices in the region and in March 2010, opened a new multi-million dollar facility devoted to manufacturing powdered milk and packaging imported Mackintosh’s Quality Street chocolates. The complex, based at TechnoPark, Dubai, also plans to manufacture chocolates and wafers from the new expanded facility later this year. Nestle Pure Life bottled water will also be produced and distributed from the facility.Nestle Middle East also sells brands such as Nido, Kit Kat, Quality Street, Nescafe and Maggi. INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION Food & Drink NATIO NALITY / TRADE AFFILIATION Switzerland SUBSIDIARY OF Nestle SA, Switzerland NEWLY RESEARCHED IN Q3 2010 Core Company Dataset †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Company name, web and postal address email, telephone and fax numbers Year of local registration employee size and sales volume (estimates) Main business activities, products and services Industry classifications nationality Global and regional HQsSpecial Discount order Form 15% Discount on The UAE Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Report oR up to 50% discount for all 13 Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Reports place your order online at: www. businessmonitor. com/bfr/australia Place your order online at: www. businessmonitor. com/dm/cir/food/uae Please tick the box(es) below, complete your payment details and fax back the form to us within 30 days latest on +44 (0)20 7248 0467 Intelligence Report at the 15% discount rate of â‚ ¬695/ US$975 (down from â‚ ¬820/ US$1,150).This include s 3 FREE quarterly updates, airmail and email delivery. i would also like to purchase the following Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Reports at the special discount rates below: [ ] australia [ ] China [ ] egypt [ ] india [ ] indonesia [ ] Malaysia [ ] russia [ ] All 13 Food & Drink Competitive Intelligence Reports [ ] saudi arabia [ ] singapore [ ] south africa [ ] thailand [ ] Vietnam [ ] yES! i wish to order The UAE Food & Drink CompetitivePrefix / Full Name †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 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Joules law Essay

Variables and constants   The one variable in this experiment will be the load placed upon the wire, this is the obvious variable because as seen in the formula. By rearranging the formula to; e = F L A E We can see that there are 3 main factors which will effect the outcome of the experiment. The E symbolizes Young’s modulus, which will be effected by changes but is not itself a single factor as it is a measurement of the factors. In order for the experiment to be a success, it has to be a fair test. Thus of course meaning that factors that need to be kept constant must be identified and kept that way. In this scenario I will be isolating Force as my variable. Force is directly related to the load on the wire; only multiplied by the gravitational pull (approx. 9. 81) as the load is measured in Kg as it is a mass. From the equation we can see that a change in Force will indeed affect the extension of the wire, at this stage it is apparent to say that; Theoretically the larger the force the greater the extension according to the equation above, as it is the value that is being divided. Following this it is also imperative that both the Cross sectional area of the wire is indeed accurately measured, as well as remaining constant through out the experiment, as a change in this value would indeed effect the value for Tensile stress, and in turn the extension. The length of the wire must also remain consistent through out the experiment. This is because each unit of wire will stretch or elongate by a proportional amount to the load being applied to it. Thus changing the length of will increase or decrease the amount of units of wire that can be stretched, causing different readings to be measured. The wire will indeed elongate and extend no matter what the length, but for these experimental purposes it is best to be long as explained above to stand a greater chance of measuring it properly. The important thing is to set the length of wire you wish to work with and do not change it. B) Implementing Results, observations and description. Cross sectional diameter of wire Measurement number and degrees of rotation 1/mm 2/mm 3/mm Average 0 Calculation of Average wire diameter= (0. 195 + 0. 185 + 0. 1925) / 3 = 0. 1908mm Thus the average cross sectional area of the wire is Force = mass   9. 81 ms. Table of readings Final length, attempt; Mass/g Mass/Kg Force/N Orig. L/M 1/M 2/M 3/M Mean Extension/ Unfortunately errors can easily occur in this experiment, the first way of minimizing the percentage error in the experiment is to identify the sources that could cause such a problem; these being. When measuring the extension there are 3 main sources of uncertainty. Meter rul Parallax error   Zero error I plan to minimize these by* Careful choice of meter rule, as man are bent and warped   Fixing a head and eye position against something so that the parallax error is minimized as I will be looking at the ruler from exactly the same angle.   Record results from 0. 0 M If there is a zero error, take it away from the results. When measuring the weight of the mass the following sources could effect the results; Zero error on the scales   Not allowing for the weight of the cradle Simply using the weight that is imprinted on the mass instead of weighting it. I will minimize these sources by selecting my masses carefully and weighing each one separately to find its exact weight, as well as double checking a pair of scales against each other by putting the same weight on both scales to see if there is a zero error. The final measurement source of error is the measurement of the diameter of the wire. This is typically a source of inaccuracy because the wire does vary in cross sectional area, because of the way it was made. This can be accommodated for by measuring the wire extremely accurately with the micrometer, and measuring the wire in three different areas of the length and taking two readings at each of the three points along the wire, twisting it 90 degrees at each point to allow for ovals etc. The average can then be taken and used in the calculations to give a better representation of the wire being used Diagram of ideal and misshapen wire. Observations for experiment conducted on the 14th of December 2002   At approximately 0930 the equipment was set up and the working area was in suitable condition to go ahead with the experiment as planned. I had two main concerns whilst conducting the experiments, these were of measuring natures, the first of these being that, when measuring the wire with the micrometer it proved initially extremely hard to turn the wire 90 degrees, I quickly remedied this by sticking a label on the wire so that it was clear what angle the wire had to be turned.   The second was that of concerning minimization of the parallax error, this proved to be quite challenging, so we decided to look at the ruler twice each a couple of seconds apart and in what i8 thought was the same position to see if it was a fair test. This way through up different results so we deemed it necessary to have someone stand over the wire and not move until the experiment was finished to minimize this risk.   Another observation I made was that I didn’t think we were measuring the extension accurately enough I felt that measuring it to 1mm was far to inaccurate as the extension as will be seen by the graphs was minimal, I will mention this point heavily in the Evaluating.   The equipment was packed away and the experiment was completed within the hour.   I observed a changing in mass or load on the wire and no change in any of the identified variables. C Analyzing Evidence and Drawing Conclusions. Force/N Area/M Sress/Nm (Pa) Length/M Extension/M Strain Youngs modulus 1 The stress was simple to calculate as it simply meant dividing the force by the area, as so; The strain is a simple ratio it involves dividing theextension by the length; Thus the young’s modulus can be found for every plotted point separately on the graph; this is done by dividing the stress by the strain. As I predicted earlier the material obeys hookes law and froms a straight line through the origin until the elastic limit is reached. As well as we can calculate the extension from the gradient of the graph because its equal to L / EA. When a material obeys Hooke’s law, then its force, extension graph is a straight line through the origin (see graph). This is only the case up to the proportional limit. The graph being a graph of force against extension, the area is the energy stored in the wire. As the equation of the graph is F=kx, the equation of the area is . From the graph we can say that as the load increases on the wire the extension also increases proportionally, up to a certain point known as the elastic limit, this is because it is obeying kooks law as described above, and for this material whilst under low load the strain is proportional to the stress.. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Chapter 3 techniques Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creative Problem Solving Techniques - Assignment Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that careful evaluation of the performance of the students who were bullies showed that they scored poorly in classwork. We used this information to discourage other potential bullies as it leads to low grades and poor relations with the administration. We used the examples set by the best performers as obedient and disciplined students. The benchmarking was essential in comparing the best practices and behaviors of students with their performance. The students understood that best behaviors and discipline translates into better performance. The use of teachers and invited guest to speak to students about the effects of bullying helped in transforming the students’ perception of the vice. Looking for opportunities starts by reading and asking on new trends and the methods of realizing these opportunities. I believe that benchmarking is an essential approach to problem-solving in schools. Comparing the behavior of b est-performing students helps to send a message that discipline translates into success. The researcher is endeared towards solving the problem of bullying in school and brainstorming has provided me with an opportunity to find ideas. He consulted with fellow students on the means of ending the scourge that has affected performance. More so, many students feel that their safety and psychological being is threatened. The brainstorming session provides an avenue for students to air their views on the best approach to solving bullying. The author has learned through the process that it is critical to listen to the ideas as they provide means of solving the problems, although others are farfetched. One student suggested that the bullies should be expelled from the school. The ideas proposed are extreme and against the school regulations; however, the lesson learned is that we should listen to others so that we can envision opportunities. Identifying the problem of bullying required that the researcher explains the students the side effects such as an emotional breakdown, poor performance, disciplinary action, and disharmony.

Discussion Board on Beverage Reverse Logistics Coursework

Discussion Board on Beverage Reverse Logistics - Coursework Example In an argument by Madaan & Wadhwa (2007) reverse logistics provide an organization with massive inventory that require to be handled before they could be released back to the market or appropriately disposed. In addition, this process significantly increases the expenditure cost of an organization. Handling the massive product and adjusting expenditure costs is a significant implementation challenge. Mollenkopf, Russo & Frankel (2007) assert that developing product handling techniques is a major problem in reverse logistics. In the beverage industry, product may be prone to breakages. Products returned from consumers may be packed ineffectively to withstand the transportation process. In an instance where the organization seeks to refurbish a product, the damages would hinder the process of remanufacturing to its desired market shape (Mollenkopf, Russo & Frankel, 2007). Generally, major problems in the implementation process of reverse logistics are from the cost incurred in product handing and transportation from the source to the company. Massive costs are also incurred in evaluating the changes required on the product to design a market desired final product. This is a major problem considering that products are required to be at a shape that can deliver the reverse logistics objectives of an

Account 4 manager task number4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Account 4 manager task number4 - Research Paper Example Future sustenance of the organization becomes a question mark if this process continues for a long time. To curb this, a series of planned efforts need to be taken up like: As per estimations, the company intended to spend 70% of the fees revenue while the actuals record a 10% jump to that figure. A total of 80% of fees revenue was diverted towards expenditure. This measurement speaks of the inefficiency of the management. It has failed to control its costs effectively. Analysis of costs: Costs usually are fixed and variable in nature. The fixed costs are those which need to be incurred irrespective of fees revenue up to some extent. Salaries and rent come under this category. Their control is a very difficult decision and is dependent on the stakeholder’s agreeability. If they agree so, the salaries could be altered either for a quarter or for a long period by 10%. Subletting the premises may be thought upon to reduce the rent outgo. However, the rental cost is quite minimal and emphasis should be put on reducing the salary payout. Regular monitoring and control of costs: To aid in such achievement, regular monitoring of resources has to be taken up. Management of resources has to be done efficiently. Prepaid and accruals need to be rightly treated. Right expenditure has to be analyzed through the help of mini budgets, graph charts and percentage analysis. It should be ensured that the costs are controlled and fit into the planned budget estimates. What data is used for analysis of the effectiveness of the management: A thorough measurement, analysis and monitoring of costs, can analyze the effectiveness of the management. To be more precise, fixed and variable costs have to be apportioned properly. This data can help us to take rational decisions on cost cutting methodologies. Improvements to existing processes: It is imperative that the organization needs to improve its financial position with immediate effect.

Evaluation Rally championship Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluation Rally championship - Coursework Example Evaluation is important in a rally car championship just as in any other field. To perform an evaluation, it is important to choose an evaluation tool and instrument in order to properly assess the ability of all the participants who took place in the training program (ASTD 24). Evaluation of each participant should be measured against the requirements and objectives of the course. The selection of the evaluation instruments is dependent on the stage or the level of training. Kirkpatrick’s four level training models help in analyzing the effectiveness of a program, and they include reaction, learning, behaviour and results. Level 1: Reaction This level measures the reaction of the trainees towards the car rally championship training. ... The type of question used will depend on the main purpose of evaluation. Select the type of questions which can be closed ended or open ended Design the questionnaires Pre-test the questionnaires to determine if they are ideal to be tested on the participants Finalize the questionnaire Level 3: Behaviour This level enables the evaluator to evaluate the progress of the trainees in terms of their changed behaviour based on what they have learnt. This level looks at how the trainees are able to apply the information learnt. There are four necessary conditions required for a change to take place: The person must work in the right climate The person must have the desire to change The person must be given a reward for the change The person must know what to do and how to do it Impact survey is the appropriate tool for evaluating behaviour change on the learners. An impact survey should be carried out as a follow-up evaluation several months before the training program is completed (ASTD 24 ). This tool measures the final results that occurred in behaviour as a result of the participant’s participation in the training program. The main reason for the use of impact survey is to assess the participant’s behavioural change. Evaluation on this level will measure whether the skills and knowledge learnt by the participants is applied to work. The evaluation tools will be chosen depending on the goals of the training program. The evaluation tools will also be result based which calls for the evaluators to carry out a step by step analysis in order to meet the set objectives. The chosen tools are very important in helping the evaluators or instructors

The challenges of increasing diversity in schools today Essay

The challenges of increasing diversity in schools today - Essay Example In Canada, for instance, schools continue to face significant challenges in accepting diversity. Usual is the recognition of the holidays or foods or costumes of different cultures, however, those are only superficial as compared to understanding difficult issues around accommodating so many diverse beliefs and customs. On top of this, schools struggle to accommodate students whose first language is not English or French, or other similar needs because they lack the specialized capacity to provide for them (Levin, 2008). In the US, upon entering elementary school, large numbers of limited-English-proficient and bilingual students are placed in programs that assume relatively low levels of achievement and focus on remedial education (Independent Commission on Chapter 1, 1992; Stanford Working Group, 1993; U.S. Department of Education, 1993). Such inequities in different children’s expectations for school success may be a grave affront to equal opportunities that Americans highly value and take pride in. Thus, it threatens the future well-being of the society relying on the harmonious coexistence of multiple cultures. Government, as well as non-government organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association for Family Day Care are exerting efforts in promoting multi-cultural education through the publication of curricula and handbooks focusing on an anti-bias setting. Likewise, the National Association of State Boards of Education Task Force on Early Childhood Education encourages the use of children’s home language and culture to foster the development of basic skills. Such efforts seek to ensure that children’s first school experiences are positive in that they feel accepted for who they are regardless of their cultural background. The controversies surrounding the growing diversity in

Moral and Ethical Principles of Self and of Company Literature review

Moral and Ethical Principles of Self and of Company - Literature review Example Three types of right vs. right problems of â€Å"dirty hands† situations were discussed by Badaracco (1997). The first problem is the crises of moral identity on which a person has responsibilities to himself and to others. The second problem is the conflict of moral identity and personal integrity which a person has responsibilities for others. This type of problem is usually faced by middle managers wherein they have responsibilities for their subordinates and their superiors. The third is considered to be the most complex on which the first two problems are present. The person facing this problem has responsibilities to himself, to others and for others. I should say that the situation I am facing is an example of the third type of problem. This is because I have responsibilities and commitment to myself to become a decent and honest manager. I always wanted to be on top of everything but with principles and standards governing myself. I cannot tolerate dishonesty, bribery, and lies. I also swore that I will uphold the vision and mission of the company which includes honesty and integrity as well as to follow company policies to make sales. Besides these responsibilities, I also have accountability for my team and my department. I have a duty to my subordinates to manage our performances and keep the sales up. This means keeping our job at the same time. It is also my job to provide good sales to my superiors, to my department, and to my company. In Barry Schwartz’ s TED talk (2009), he quoted Aristotle saying that practical wisdom â€Å"is the combination of moral will and moral skill.†

Social media Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Social media - Research Paper Example This paper shall seek to explain the manner in which online listening offers productive ways of analyzing the various forms of online engagement which have been overlooked for a long time (Crawford 525). Crawford asserts that online listening can be considered in several contexts. These contexts can be wikis, mailing lists, MUDs, blogs, RSS feeds, among others. Additionally, she says, â€Å"listening has not been given much attention as opposed to speaking-up† (Crawford 526). In this context, speaking up refers to writing articles or updating of status on the various types of social media. It is a fact that many people write their updates in order to catch up with their friends or inform the public of various issues. Therefore, there is need for the members of the public to read and comprehend what is being updated. This is what ‘listening’ of social media entails. There are three types of social media listeners, namely; politicians, individuals, and corporations. All the three groups face the need to listen to others by creating a social media presence. In this case, they may create twitter accounts which may give them platforms to listen to other people and be listened to as they interact online. In order to facilitate interactions, they can use the three modes of listening namely: â€Å"background listening, delegated listening, as well as reciprocal listening.† Crawford asserts that twitter’s use as a forum for background listening comes about as a result of the flow of conversations and commentary with few moments of concentration. From this, it is evident that Twitter’s conversations circulate in the background, just like radio. On reciprocal listening, social media I used by several politicians to update their activities, seek for support on policy announcements, among others. For instance, Gordon Brown and Barack O bama have Twitter accounts which they use to communicate to their supporters (Crawford 529). This is

Ppt Financial Derivatives Essay Example for Free

Ppt Financial Derivatives Essay GLOBAL EDITION MULTINATIONAL BUSINESS FINANCE 12TH EDITION David K. Arthur I. Michael H. EITEMAN University of California, Los Angeles STONEHILL Oregon State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa MOFFETT Thunderbird School of Global Management Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo Contents PART I G l o b a l Financial E n v i r o n m e n t 1 Chapter 1 Globalization and the MyBtiBnatiomaO Enterprise 2 Globalization and Creating Value in the Multinational Enterprise 3 The Theory of Comparative Advantage 4 What Is Different about Global Financial Management? 7 Market Imperfections: A Rationale for the Existence of the Multinational Firm 8 The Globalization Process 9 Summary Points 13 MINI-CASE: Porsche Changes Tack 13 Questions †¢ Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 19 Chapter 2 Financial Goals and Corporate Governance Who Owns the Business? 22 What Is the Goal of Management? 24 Corporate Governance 28 Summary Points 40 MINI-CASE: Governance Failure at Enron 41 Questions n Problems n Internet Exercises 45 22 Chapter 3 IDie international Monetary System History of the International Monetary System 50 Contemporary Currency Regimes 56 Emerging Markets and Regime Choices 62 The Birth of a European Currency: The Euro 64 Exchange Rate Regimes: What Lies Ahead? 69 Summary Points 70 MINI-CASE: The Revaluation of the Chinese Yuan 71 Questions †¢ Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 74 50 Chapter 4 International Business Transactions: The BaBance of Payments Typical Balance of Payments Transactions: China 79 Fundamentals of Balance of Payments Accounting 80 The Accounts of the Balance of Payments 81 The Capital and Financial Account 83 The Balance of Payments in Total 89 The Balance of Payments Interaction with Key Macroeconomic Variables 91 Trade Balances and Exchange Rates 94 Capital Mobility 97 Summary Points 99 MINI-CASE: Turkeys Kriz (A): Deteriorating Balance of Payments 100 Questions †¢ Problems D Internet Exercises 102 78 Chapter 5 Current Multinational Financial Challenges: The Credit Crisis of 2007-2009 106 The Seeds of Crisis: Subprime Debt 106 The Transmission Mechanism: Securitization and Derivatives of Securitized Debt 109 The Fallout: The Crisis of 2007 and 2008 120 xiv Contents xv The Remedy: Prescriptions for an Infected Global Financial Organism 129 Summary Points 131 MINI-CASE: Letting Go of Lehman Brothers 132 Questions D Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 134 PART II Foreign Exchange Theory and Markets Chapter The Foreign Exchange Market 138 137 Geographical Extent of the Foreign Exchange Market 138 Functions of the Foreign Exchange Market 139 Market Participants 140 Transactions in the Interbank Market 142 Foreign Exchange Rates and Quotations 148 Summary Points 156 MINI-CASE: The Venezuelan Bolivar Black Market 157 Questions D Problems a Internet Exercises 160 Chapter? InternationaB Parity Conditions 164 Prices and Exchange Rates 164 Interest Rates and Exchange Rates 172 Forward Rate as an Unbiased Predictor of the Future Spot Rate 181 Prices, Interest Rates, and Exchange Rates in Equilibrium 183 Summary Points 184 MINI-CASE: Currency Pass-Through at Porsche 185 Questions †¢ Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 186 Appendix: An Algebraic Primer to International Parity Conditions 193 Chapter 8 Foreign Currency ierivatoves Foreign Currency Futures 198 Currency Options 201 Foreign Currency Speculation 203 Option Pricing and Valuation 210 Currency Option Pricing Sensitivity 213 Prudence in Practice 221 197 Summary Points 222 MINI-CASE: Warren Buffetts Love-Hate Relationship with Derivatives 223 Questions †¢ Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 226 Appendix: Currency Option Pricing Theory 230 Chapter 9 Interest Rate and Currency Swaps 234 Defining Interest Rate Risk 234 Management of Interest Rate Risk 237 Trident Corporation: Swapping to Fixed Rates 245 Currency Swaps 246 Trident Corporation: Swapping Floating Dollars into Fixed Rate Swiss Francs 247 Counterparty Risk 249 Summary Points 250 MINI-CASE: McDonalds Corporations British Pound Exposure 251 Questions n Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 252 Chapter 10 Foreign Exchange Rate Determination and Forecasting Exchange Rate Determination: The Theoretical Thread 257 The Asset Market Approach to Forecasting 260 2S6 XVI Contents Disequilibrium: Exchange Rates in Emerging Markets 262 Illustrative Case: The Asian Crisis ^262 Illustrative Case: The Argentine Crisis of 2002 265 Forecasting in Practice 270 Summary Points 274 MINI-CASE: JPMorgan Chases Forecasting Accuracy 274 Questions †¢ Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 276 PART III Foreign Exchange Exposure 281 Chapter 11 Transaction Exposure 282 Types of Foreign Exchange Exposure 282 Why Hedge? 284 Measurement of Transaction Exposure 287 Tridents Transaction Exposure 289 Management of an Account Payable 297 Risk Management in Practice 299 Summary Points 300 MINI-CASE: Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical (China) and the Euro 301 Questions D Problems D Internet Exercises 303 Appendix: Complex Options 312 Chapter 12 Operating Exposure 320 Attributes of Operating Exposure 320 Illustrating Operating Exposure: Trident 322 Strategic Management of Operating Exposure 326 Proactive Management of Operating Exposure 329 Contractual Approaches: Hedging the Unhedgeable 336 Summary Points 337 MINI-CASE: Toyotas European Operating Exposure 338 Questions a Problems a Internet Exercises 340 Chapter 13 Translation Exposure Overview of Translation 344 Translation Methods 347 Translation Example: Trident Europe 350 Comparing Translation Exposure with Operating Exposure 355 Managing Translation Exposure 355 Summary Points 359 MINI-CASE: LaJolla Engineering Services 360 Questions H Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 362 PART IV Financing the Global Firm 365 Chapter 14 The Global Cost and Availability of Capita! 36 ® Weighted Average Cost of Capital 368 The Demand for Foreign Securities: The Role of International Portfolio Investors 373 The Cost of Capital for MNEs Compared to Domestic Firms 379 Solving a Riddle: Is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital for MNEs Really Higher Than for Their Domestic Counterparts? 380 Summary Points 382 MINI-CASE: Novo Industri A/S (Novo) 383 Questions D Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 387 Contents xvii Chapter 15 Sourcang Equity Globally 391 Designing a Strategy to Source Equity Globally 392 Foreign Equity Listing and Issuance 395 Effect of Cross-Listing and Equity Issuance on Share Price 397 Barriers to Cross-Listing and Selling Equity Abroad 399 Alternative Instruments to Source Equity in Global Markets 400 Summary Points 404 MINI-CASE: Petrobras of Brazil and the Cost of Capital 404 Questions †¢ Problems a Internet Exercises 408 Optimal Financial Structure 410 Optimal Financial Structure and the MNE 411 Financial Structure of Foreign Subsidiaries 414 International Debt Markets 418 Summary Points 424 MINI-CASE: Tirstrup BioMechanics (Denmark): Raising Dollar Debt 424 Questions †¢ Problems o Internet Exercises 426 PART V Foreign Investment Decisions Chapter 17 431 International Portfolio Theory and Diversificationi. 432 International Diversification and Risk 432 Internationalizing the Domestic Portfolio 435 National Markets and Asset Performance 441 Summary Points 446 MINI-CASE: Is Modern Portfolio Theory Outdated? 447 Questions a Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 448 Chapter 18 Foreign Direct Investment Theory and Political Risk Sustaining and Transferring Competitive Advantage 452 The OLI Paradigm and Internalization 455 Deciding Where to Invest 457 How to Invest Abroad: Modes of Foreign Involvement 458 Foreign Direct Investment Originating in Developing Countries 462 Foreign Direct Investment and Political Risk 464 Assessing Political Risk 465 Firm-Specific Risks 466 Country-Specific Risks: Transfer Risk 469 Country-Specific Risks: Cultural and Institutional Risks 472 Global-Specific Risks 476 Summary Points 479 MINI-CASE: Mattels Chinese Sourcing Crisis of 2007 480 Questions a Problems a Internet Exercises 483 452 Chapter 19 Multinational Capital Budgeting 487 Complexities of Budgeting for  a Foreign Project 488 Project versus Parent Valuation 489 Illustrative Case: Cemex Enters Indonesia 490 Real Option Analysis 502 Project Financing 503 Summary Points 505 MINI-CASE: Tridents Chinese Market Entry—An Application of Real Option Analysis 505 Questions n Problems †¢ Internet Exercises 507 xviii Contents PART VI Managing Multinational Operations Chapter 20 Multinational Tax Management 513 514 Tax Principles 514 Transfer Pricing 522 Tax Management at Trident 524 Tax Haven Subsidiaries and International Offshore Financial Centers 525 Summary Points 527 MINI-CASE: Stanley Works and Corporate Inversion 527 Questions †¢ Problems n Internet Exercises 531 Chapter 21 Working Capital Management 535 Trident Brazils Operating Cycle 535 Tridents Repositioning Decisions 537 Constraints on Repositioning Funds 539 Conduits for Moving Funds by Unbundling Them 539 International Dividend Remittances 540 Net Working Capital 542 International Cash Management 548 Financing Working Capital 552 Summary Points 556 MINI-CASE: Honeywell and Pakistan International Airways 557 Questions †¢ Problems n Internet Exercises 559 Chapter 22 Global Petroleum Development: Fiscal Regimes and Funding Financing Petroleum Development 566 Fiscal Regimes 566 Development Agreements 566 Concessions 569 Royalty/Tax Systems 570 Production Sharing Agreements 572 Service Agreements 574 Added Contractual Features 576 Top-Line Risks 578 Petroleum Prices 579 A Hypothetical Sub-Saharan PSA 581 PSA Evolution 584 Funding Petroleum Development 587 Summary Points 590 MINI-CASE: Petroleum Development and the Curse of Oil 590 Questions †¢ Problems o Internet Exercises 593 565 Answers to Selected Problems Glossary Index 598 610 595 Credits 627

Holden Australia Essay Example for Free

Holden Australia Essay 1. Management Decision Problem 1.1 Background Holden is an Australian company which is manufacturing and supply of cars, engines and auto parts. With the vehicle market in good times, the sales of Holden continued to drop even though it received a massive financial supplement of approximately $150 million a year from the Australian government (Coorey, 2013). Moreover, Martin (2013) states that the VF model as a new product cannot alleviate the crisis in the market and influence Holden’s decline 12.5% in 2012 (Appendix 1). In 2013, Holden manufacturing plants suddenly announced that it will cease its production line in Australia in 2017. The main reason is that Holden doesnt have a definite understanding of the consumer preferences and purchase intentions. These problems resulted in the company facing difficulty with their business operation. 1.2 Decision Makers Key Goal Holden should improve their innovation of products to increase their sales volume. 1.3 Management Decision Problem Should Holden is new product be changed? 1.4 Rationale Research Problem The new product of Holden has problems that are different from the real demand of the customer. Successful industrial innovation has three critical factors which are technology push, demand pull, and integrated model (Rothwell, 1992, p. 221).Holdens innovation developments not only dominate product line but also influence on product sale result. When Holden develops new products, it is not based on the customer feedback instead according to the companys product categories and competitors developed product. It leads to setting a vague plan to develop products. As a consequence, some customers may not purchase the innovation vehicle because the products are not needed. 2. Marketing Research Problem 2.1 Marketing Research Problem statement To determine consumer preferences and purchase intentions for the proposed. 2.2 Rationale Research Problem According to Holden Australia, the outlook of vehicles market is positive, but its market share is in decline, some scholars think that Holden is  inability to build quality in innovation may be the main problem that will influence its market share and change consumer purchase behavior. Therefore, Holden should maintain its competitive advantage through decreasing product life cycles, building quality in innovation and investigating perceptions held by Australia customers. Additionally, Holden can identify different variables which may change consumer decision making based on the MRP in order to increase market share and develop new product. 3. Research Objective Problem 3.1 Research objective one To rank how Holden Australia introduces new attractive offers for the customers to increase the sales of the product. (RO1) 3.2 Research objective two To assess Holden Australias new product to satisfy the different customers’ needs. (RO2) 3.3 Research objective three To identify Holden Australia needs to supply target group planning to vehicle market. (RO3) 4. Repertory Test The repertory test is one of the research objectives. It is through the structured qualitative interview (normally one-on-one) that is used to identify the interviewees opinion to the test topic and it is trustworthy. Repertory test also known as Kelly’s Triads or Triad sorts (Wilson, A. M., 2006). In todays society, repertory test analysis is one of the popular techniques for estimating research targets and it is a common method to generate constructs through some targets and participants (Pike, 2005). Furthermore, the repertory test has other benefits which are help researchers to understand the opinion of the respondents more conveniently and effectively and distinguished the detail could be more identify etc.. However, the repertory test also has a couple of disadvantages including taking more time for analysis and lack of standard of test. In this case, Repertory test can be used in research to identify how Holden attracts customers to purchase. There are two key points t o help Holden attract clients. First of all, the repertory test will be used on the Ro1. The company can use this test to understand the clients psychological state. According to appendix 2, car customers ranking shows Holdens score is -3%. In contrast, Japanese cars with a positive score come out top. Holden really  need to understand the Australian consumer buying behavior or psychological motivations, and which marketing method is the most attractive to Australian consumer. Secondly, it can also use this test on the Ro2. The aim of RO2 is to satisfy the customer different needs, so the test can be used to identify what the customers’ real demand about the existing car or new product is. For example, quality and safety are important factors for Australia consumers buying a new car (Appendix 3). Therefore, Holden can analyze the competitive strengths and weaknesses, and then improve their products. This will improve their sale status. 5. Focus Group The focus group is the mostly widely used in qualitative tools. A focus group discussion is to collect data through a group (8 to 10 participants) interaction and a moderator. The main objective of a focus group is to get in depth answers of consumers, and understand consumer attitudes and behavior on its products (Warren, C. A. B., Karner, T. X., 2010). The group participants are selected carefully and discussions based on their experiences and views. In addition, researchers or clients can use one –way mirrors to observe participants’ opinions and behaviors. Moreover, focus groups can be an early stage to reduce problem as a filter. The advantages of focus groups are freedom, comfortable, high involvement, and commonality experience. For example, if participants have similar experiences and attitudes as others, they will have higher willingness to discuss the topic with other group members. Therefore, researchers not only can involve participants efficiently, but als o can stimulate discussion of the topic. However, there still are some disadvantages of focus groups, including misuse, misjudge, moderation, messy and misrepresentation. For example, when participants have difficulties in presenting their opinions it will cause the discussion to fail. In this case, the focus groups can be used for research objective three. Researchers of Holden Australia should make up a target group in order to investigate consumer attitudes and behaviors. The main goal is to increase Holden’s market share through consumer trends. There are three main topics to increase market share and maintain competitive advantages. Firstly, Holden should build quality in its new product in order to satisfy consumer demands. For example, safety is very  important for majority consumer (Appendix 3). The second topic is to focus on price, when consumers who focus on cost will change their purchase behavior (Ahmed, M., Zaman, F. Irfan ,M. S., 2013). For example, Holden can provide promotional program to attract consumers. The last one is that Holden’ sales services are a very important stage to increasing costumer’s willingnes s to purchase again. Reference Colquhoun, S. Blackbur, B. (2010, August 3). Ford, Holden fail satisfaction survey. Drive. Retrieved from http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/ford-holden-fail-satisfaction-survey-20100803-114hk.html Coorey, P. (2013, December 11). Government’s treatment of Holden was bizarre. Financial Review. Retrieved from http://www.afr.com/p/national/government_treatment_of_holden_was_QwElLu2O3lse6cNIradzzI Martin, T. (2013, November 8). Market Insight: Holden hopes rise with VF sales. Market Insight company news. Retrieved from http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mellor.nsf/story2/34C9E821132DC201CA257C1D0005E329#!prettyPhoto Masoom Ahmed, Fazluz Zaman, Munshi Shamsuzzaman Irfan. (2013). Consumers brand choice behavior for car. Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 2(5), 198 Pike, S. (2005). The use of repertory grid analysis and importance-performance analysis to identify determinant attributes of universities. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 14( 2), 1-18. Rothwell, R. (1992). Successful industrial innovation: Critical factors for the 1990s. RD Management, 22(3), 221-240. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9310.1992.tb00812.x Warren, C. A. B., Karner, T. X. (2010). Discovering qualitative methods: Field research, interviews, and analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. Wilson, A. M. (2006). Marketing research: An integrated approach. New York: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.

Coca Cola: PEST Analysis and Strategy Plans

Coca Cola: PEST Analysis and Strategy Plans Introduction The battle of the chief soft drink manufacturer has been intense and the coca cola company with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia has had the largest market share globally. The company has withstood the test of domination globally from its greatest competitor Pepsi Company. Coca Cola has had a large share of the market capitalization but at times the rival company has emerged strong beating it in market share in other financial periods. Its brands have however remained renowned throughout the world and for them to continue dominating they must focus on the customer needs and preference that is the reason they are in business (Milliken, 2007). The company boasts of key success factors in its operations which include; capacity to introduce competitive prices, global extensive distribution, effective customer awareness, a wide range of product choices for customers, effective and timely distribution channels and bottlers, and a global system of operation. The Coca Cola Company has been forced to operate under tight competition in the US domestic markets from Pepsi, Cadbury Schweppes, Cott, and AmBev, but in other markets especially in the developing countries it has established zones of duopoly where it remains the dominant company. Its efforts to penetrate the Middle East and China have been risky since the Pepsi Company continues to dominate the markets there (Milliken, 2007). PEST Analysis of Coca Cola Politics and legal environment In many developing countries there has been ease of entry but the countries face a lot of political unrests e.g. coups and violence which may affect the penetration of market or losses for the already established companies. Other companies have legal barriers that must be addressed before the company establishes itself. The legal showdown of Pepsi and coca cola in India gives a clear view of this fact and especially in the Middle East and Asian markets where Coca Cola seeks new markets. Economic The Company sells consumer products which are sensitive to buyer disposable revenue. The consumers have viewed the drinks as inexpensive and hence its unlikely to forego. Also the disposable income continues to raise hence more purchase to such things as soft drinks. The world currently is going through many financial crises such as the global financial crunch and increasing inflation and companies especially Coca Cola has continued to put in measures such as price adjustments to be able to impact the markets. The strategy of adjusting prices helps Coca Cola to counter the effects of raising costs and hence thus generate enough cash flow that ensures the company productive capability is maintained (Fredrix Skidmore, 2009). Social/demographic Soft drink consumption is inversely related to the age of the consumer i.e. most people take more drinks when they are young as opposed to when they mature. In the current generation average age increases and most of the population is made up of the young this gives an advantage of the increase in the market base of the company. This means that the company has a more potential market to sell the products to and thus a strategic plan should be worked to own the markets. Technological The world is turning to a global village and the age of effective communication gives the perfect atmosphere for business. The world today is easy and convenient to travel, secure and different tastes and preference have emerged (Hannagan, 2002). The powerful brand name of the company becomes a selling point in the franchise of other companies that need to be affiliated to the prestigious brand. Effective communication has also ensured that advertisements and promotions by the company are known world over hence better growth. Rivalry The major rival domestically is Pepsi in the United States. The soft drinks industry has continued to be very competitive and major competitors turn to rivals. The promotion of the brands such as Sprite, Coke, and Fanta in many countries has grown at the expense of the many beverages in the markets (Mark, 2000). The company must implement an effective strategy that ensures advertising, sales, innovations, increased efficiency, brands development, promotional program trade mark development are done efficiently to outsmart the rivals. Suppliers The Company will always need supplies of raw materials such as fructose corn syrup, and sucrose. The availability of this major raw material at numerous sources has made the company dominate the suppliers, however aspartame has not been available in numerous sites and this can lead to problems if production ceases (May, 1998). Buyers The main buyers are individuals who consume the product. The company however deals with local franchised bottlers who deal with the local markets. After effective bottling of the products the consumer/buyer must get the products through chain supermarkets, vending, and fountain sales. The buyers must have the knowledge of the product and be enticed to consume so that he/she can make the purchase (Mark, 2000). Threats of substitutes Many products have emerge to substitute soft drinks e.g. fruit juices and beverages. The company must have attractive offers to ensure that the substitutes introduced in the market dont interfere with the market share of the company. Threats of entrants New companies keep on coming up to compete for a share of the market. The soft drink markets have been mainly dominated by Coca Cola and Pepsi and new entrants find it very hard to penetrate the markets. Internal Environment Operations Coca cola has continued to globally dominate the market and the regional operational strategy that is centralized production system ensure reduced costs. Sales and marketing The area of supermarkets and brand loyalty has played an essential part in the growth of Coca Cola this has ensured profitability and large market share. Distribution The efficient distribution channels i.e. bottling companies has ensured that customers get the product at the right time and conveniently. Automated channel of distribution like the Coca Cola Enterprise that has sales agents and merchandisers in major outlets complement other distribution strategies. Procurement For efficient operations the company has a strategy to own the bottlers operations so that they do it more efficiently to be able to distribute the product properly. The procurement of acquiring a franchise chain is done procedurally to ensure qualified people own the process. Human resources Many people have been employed by the company and they have remained loyal. The company has given attractive remunerations and compensations in order to make them perform effectively and efficiently. Core Resources and competence The factors that favor the companys growth and development plans include; markets, costs, governments, and competition. In the markets they are characterized by homogenous customer needs, global channels and global customer needs, transferable and easy to manipulate market approaches. Cost are favored by learning and experience, large scale and scope economies, high resource and development costs, conducive logistics, and efficiencies in sourcing (Mark, 2000). On the side of the government they are responsible for putting in place inductive trade policies, technology standards that are common and manufacture and marketing regulations that are common and do not favor any party but put a level competing ground for all players. In terms of competition globalization has been favored through presence of interdependent countries that allow competition, and the liberalization of trade in many countries. With the markets giving many incentives to the company to grow then good management policies is all needed to grow and became successful and coca cola has done just that (Kottler, Amstrong, 2006). It has endeavored in its mission to refresh a thirsty world and creating value to shareholders. The company brands have continued to be advertised and image enhanced, where the company has also acquired more franchise networks globally. The systems of the company that are based on organizational structure and timely decisions have continued to make the company succeed. The objectives of the company include; customer satisfaction and creation of a loyal system of customers, community development, effective partnership, and valuable shareholding in the company. The long term goals include increasing cash flow through increased sales, optimizing of profit margins, and global investments expansion in hot spots (Kottler, Amstrong, 2006). The guiding principle is to have an established production, distribution, and marketing system that can support long term growth of cash flow and shareowner value of Coca Cola. The Strategic Choices Available for Coca Cola Product Filling Strategy Ohmae (1990) states that the product line of a firm is lengthened by the addition of more products within the current range; The implications behind this line filling includes; the reach for profit incremental, satisfying the complaining dealers on sales due to the absence of some items in the line, utilizing the capacity that is excess, to try to be the full time company that is leading the market and lastly, to try to plug the holes hence keeping out the competitors. Kogut (1985) starts by explaining that, Coca Cola uses this form of strategy of filling the line of production from time to time; during different seasons as it launches its new products. For example to Zerocoke was launched by Coca Cola at the time James Bond released the movie Quantum of Solace forms part of product filling marketing. The product is presented as if it new. Distribution strategy Coca Cola is globally famous for its distribution channels. In India the Coca Cola distribution channel is a bout 6.5lakh outlets by the year 2000 as compared to its competitor Peps Cos which was 6lakh. The firm has a development of different strategies of distribution strategies for the rural and the urban sectors. The channel of distribution in the Urban adopts the model similar to the direct store distribution, warehouse distribution brokers and vending food services programs according to Ohmae (1990). This methods ensures savings of margins and encourages quick availability of the item to the retailer While in the rural, the Hub and Spoke model distribution channel is applied. Where there is a division of different distributors categories depending on the area they are covering. This model is utilized by to reach the rural market as the program allows the bigger loads to travel long distances while the smaller ones shorter distances as a result the costs are cut down, as stated by Bate and Johnston (2003). Khan (2005) explain the point that through there use of modern technology in the present times Coca Cola is able to improve its distribution and management operations logistics reasonably. There are the options of Chilled DSD System that deals relatively with the methods of distributions that are small. Particularly, it deals with juicy fruits products that can easily go bad. The second option is the Hybrid System, where there is collaboration between the firm and the firm of complimentary good so that its channels of distribution can be used for the selling of the product. In this, the example is collaboration Coca Cola and McDonald. This system is actually benefited by the creation of the synergy by the two collaborating firms. The Social corporate strategy This is where the firm provides the volunteer services in the community. This strategy with the social work assists in position the firms brand name in the minds of the users for the longer time as the brand that is both ethical and social, hence providing the opportunity for the period of growth that is long term. The recent example is the case of Coca Cola social work in India where it has been awarded a golden peacock a ward. Coca Cola has concentrated on water conservation, clean drinking water access and water conservation awareness and other related issues as the firms strategy on the stewardship of water. The Coca Cola Corporate strategy The achievements made by Coca Cola in China are a very strong indicator that patience pays. The firms strategy and management planned vigorously for the success. The market leadership that it enjoys is rooted on strong capability of reacting in time and accurately to the changing market dynamics. Heller Bono, (2006) argued that the firm dominates the market not because it came early in the market but because of brilliant short time moves like the concentration on fanta and sprite. Also success comes because of joint ventures. Early on when the investment in beverage industry was restricted it formed partnership with government bodies but no equal share. Latter, it joined with other ventures with equal control hence gained majority equity. The strategic partnership that the Coca Cola firm was being involved was the strategy of positioning itself for the future. The Coca Cola partner serves the number of firm critical goal. They do share the investment risks in the plant of bottling and it can leverage the political effects its partners to acquire government approvals for the new plants of bottling. The most significant of these new partners allows the Coca Cola management control via the major equal ownership of joint ventures. Pricing Strategy This drastically affects sales in a number of ways. The case from Kogut (1985) of Pepsi provides an example of how pricing strategy can affect the market and sales. The firm gained popularity in 1936 by introducing 12-ounce bottle. The earlier price of 10 cents resulted to slow sales. After slashing the price to 5 cents there was a substantial increase in sales. This was due to the Pepsi ability to encourage the price-watching users to switch the Coca Cola 6-ounces standard bottle for the price of 5cents instead of 12-ounces. Pepsi sold at a similar price. The sales in 1939 a lone was 5 million bottles as the profit doubled as the consumption went higher. The Communication Strategy Dana and Oldfield (1999) say that after looking at the environment that is changing, Coca Cola calibrated its communication strategy in a way that is very innovative. The works of imagery for the carbonated soft drinks, while the work of functionality for the rest of the categories. The example that entrenches imagery is the brand for refreshing; the firm introduces the issue of comfort ability. Brand Development Strategy The strategy that I believe Coca Cola Company should peruse is the brand development strategy. According to Dana and Oldfield (1999) this strategy has far reached and managed to remain in the limelight ever since it started to be good with these that do not take alcohol. The loyalty of the brand is a significant factor to maintain the number one position. Collins (1991) states that Coca Cola Company enjoys the status of being of the biggest non alcoholic beverage firm worldwide its distribution system is unique from other non alcoholic companies. Over years the company has passed many brand enhancement tests and a point is made for the products under the banner of Coca Cola as it invades the minds of the users continually. Hamel and Prhalad (1985)explains that the brand development strategy of Coca Cola should involve the redesigning of its brand development policies and the techniques of keeping up with the set minds of its users that is ever changing. In the beginning this brand believed in affordability, being available and being acceptable. However this Coca Colas brand development should be changed to include the value of price, preference and pervasive penetration. Boutzikas (2000) explains that the issue of building brand of the firm is based on the fact that it wants its users accessibility, which is to be within the reach of desire of the arm. In the efforts of building the brand identity of the firm, many brand attributes for example 20 are to be tested in every month which may involve as much as 4000 users. The strategy of brand development of Coca Cola is very effective as it has been having the capability of constructing, managing as well as maintaining its brand image since many years ago. Another reason as to why this strategy should be used is that the brand has unanimously gained the acceptance all round the world because of the fact that it has shown the capability of relating very well with its users. This signifies the brand loyalty. The loyalty of the brand has been very vital in maintaining the brand picture of Coca Cola. It has believed in shelling out the best as a result the users by default are retained as explained by Boutzikas (2000). The enhancement of the frequency of purchase is one of the techniques of building brand. The firm has also made investments in many campaigns of advertisements always involving the services of theses who are the celebrities around the world. On top of the users, there is another category of users, who usually increases the user foundation and they comprises of the brand collectors. They most of the time indulges in the collection of the old and the logos that are upcoming of the Coca Cola bottles and they literary matter. Collins (1991) says regarding to the development of the brand of Coca Cola zero the firm came out with an advertisement that was some what different from the most common ones. In the concern of this the no calorie beverage, it has given raise to three forms of products that include; the Coca Cola Classic, the Diet Coke, and the Coca Cola Zero. Boutzikas (2000) continues that there are a number of experts who have a believe that these times when Coca Cola the tag of line that states, the real thing, it was really meaning that, however, with the invention of different kinds of categories of coke, the statement the real thing got changed to the statement that reads many things, and the flavor that was there originally is at most times lost. As the result, the building of the brand strategy has to be in such a manner that it will not lead to the peoples confusion and have the capability of retaining users despite the fact that many new manufactures of non alcoholic beverage being on the anvil. Theories And Practice Of Leadership: Nissan Theories And Practice Of Leadership: Nissan When making major changes in a business, efficiency, adaption and human relations need to be considered and the trade-offs between these that might be affected. Efficiency was improved by closing 5 of the factories in Japan and eliminating 21,000 jobs to maximize production and reduce wastage. To simplify the production process Ghosn reduced the number of car platforms by 50% and the number of power trains by 33%. Human relations is always a trade-off when job cuts are made, this was counter acted by Ghosn. He used natural attrition whilst selling subsidiaries or offering early retirement or part-time work at other company facilities all of which would help the morale of the employees that left and the ones that remained so they did not feel so guilty and suffer from survivor syndrome (Daniels, 2006). Reducing purchasing costs by 20% was another way that Nissan improved efficiency; this was achieved by reducing the number of suppliers and making bigger orders. A negative trade off from this was the reduced relationship status with suppliers which is a highly regarded aspect of business in Japan. Engineers were also to blame for making overly specific orders which increased costs unnecessarily as they produced cars to solely improve performance, the trade off was that cars began to be made with customer needs in mind, not performance improvement. Weak distribution was also to blame for the downfall of Nissan; Ghosn reduced dealerships by 10%. Brand loyalty is high in Japan and determined by good customer relations which was a trade off for the reduction in dealerships; this was handled by improving the management in the remaining dealerships so that they become more entrepreneurial than social roles in the business. Design was instigated by engineers and not by the designers; this is why only 4 of the 43 cars in production were profitable. Twelve new cars were to be produced by the designers, to meet customer needs. A trade off of this was poor self-esteem for the engineers but equally designers were given freedom to be innovative and feel more valued by the company. Adaption was improved by correctly identifying the major changes, whilst not dictating them to employees. These plans were all released at once with the explanations behind their needs as to stave of criticism and prejudgments. The trade off for this was in the use of cross functional teams to improve human relations via interaction across departments for them to identify the major changes themselves, therefore then not feeling like they are being dictated to by senior executives. Human relations were improved (for the company, not the employee) by not giving lifetime job guarantees and not adhering to the seniority system that was in place for pay and promotions which lead to the replacing of weak middle management with competent replacements. The trade offs for implementing this was for poor employee relations to occur but this was managed by a merit pay plan, for performance related pay increases and promotions, with employees capable of earning up to an additional 33% of their wage based on performance and gaining stock options. To conclude Ghosn tried to weigh up and counter act the trade offs between efficiency, adaption and human relations well with the use of merit plans, extra innovation and better management. However there was not any strong counter action in relation to reducing purchasing costs, this was evident for the engineers in particular, where as it was obvious how the designers benefited from the changes made. Effective change is essential to the success and survival of a business as 62% of new businesses fail within 5 years and only 2% survive over 50 years (Nystrom Starbuck, 1984). With this in mind effective change management is critical to Nissan and Ghosns success. Ghosn used planned change which has both driving forces and restraining forces that affect the organisations state of equilibrium during implementation (Thomas, 2010). Features of planned change include; Assumption of a stable/predictable environment which Nissan do have. Required change must be identifiable, Ghosn meet this by introducing cross functional teams to identify the problems and changes needed. To move from one fixed change to another, this was done with the permanent closing of 5 factories and the loss of 21,000 jobs. Organisational members must be willing to change; Ghosn increased the willingness to change by creating a vision for the company, empowering employees such as the designers and cross functional team to identify the changes needed which meant they would then be more willing to follow the changes through than have them dictated to them. To have the appropriate tools and techniques available, Ghosn had all the tools available, in most instances it was a case o f reducing them in terms of factories, workers and suppliers. Where he did not have the correct tools he brought them in such as designer Shiro Nakamura. Restraining forces of planned change include (Katz Kahn, 1978) structural inertia, work group inertia, politics and previously unsuccessful efforts. Ghosn changed structural inertia by implementing the cross functional teams to identify and suggest changes for the problems and allowing them to be more adaptive and innovative than ever before. Work group inertia was changed from the design being engineer led to being designer led and customer focused and not performance focused. Politics was addressed by giving more power to the employees via cross functional teams and via the merit pay system were people earned their promotions and pay rises/bonuses. Ghosn managed to implement these changes using Lewins (Lewin, 1947) three step model of change (see appendix 1). In the unfreezing stage of the model, Ghosn had to make sure that employees were ready for change and understood the need for it. This was achieved by using cross functional teams, as the employees would identify the issues and solutions of the company which would lead to higher acceptance for change as the changes were realized and not dictated. Ghosn also offered to step down from his post if the targets were not meet which installs confidence, commitment and belief in the employees that the changes are necessary, realistic and achievable. The change stage of the cycle was used to implement the required changes that Ghosn and the cross functional teams had identified such as the reduction in suppliers, better distribution channels and management, customer focused designs and reduction in production costs. The refreezing stage of the cycle is Ghosns weakest part in terms of delivery. Nothing had been outlined specifically to make sure those attitudes, processes and cultures do not return to how they were before or that similar patterns do not appear again. The incorporation of a vision and plan for the firm can be seen as a retention strategy for changes made, however this area is significantly weaker than previous two stages. In my opinion Ghosn was right not refreeze the changes, the opening statement points to the need for constant change and transformation for a company to keep up with the changing environments that they work within. This therefore would count as criticism of the theory; as Lewin talks about the tactics for change but does not recognize that change should be constant and never ending, which is not the impression you get in his theory with the refreezing of culture which would represent an end to the change. Ghosn was very focused on the planned changes that he had in mind for Nissan, which could be seen as reasonable due to the short term nature of the plan. However with every planned change, the external environment can not be predicted with complete assurances. All companies have to deal with strategic drift (Johnson G, Scholes K Whittington R, 2005) which is when strategies fail to address the strategic position of the organisation, relative to the changing environment. Ghosn had not considered this at all in his plans and therefore had failed to acknowledge the potential importance of emergent change. This could have been critical had there been severe and critical changes to the external environment. For example if the banking crisis that has hit us now had happened ten years ago during implementation, did Ghosn have an alternative plan. Ghosn managed to implement effective change management techniques through the use of planned change and used Lewins three step model of change to rectify problems encountered by the restraining forces. Ghosn managed to minimize the resistance to change through the use of cross functional teams, the merit pay system, empowering employees, offering alternatives types of work for some of the people unfortunate enough to lose their jobs and showing his commitment to the challenge by stating he would resign if the goals were not achieved on time. A trait refers (Yukl, 2002) to a variety of individual attributes, including personality, temperament, needs, motives and values. Skills refer to (Yukl, 2002) the ability to do things in an effective manner and are determined by learning and heredity. The use of good traits and skills will have been used by Ghosn to successfully lead Nissan out of its crisis to meet the goals that he set for the company. Strategic leadership requires a managerial ability to (Thomas, 2010), anticipate and envision change whilst maintaining flexibility and empowering others to manage strategic change if necessary. Effective strategic leaders (Thomas, 2010) tend to be able to manage operations effectively, sustain a high performance, make better decisions than their competitors, and make courageous and pragmatic decisions. They must also understand how their decisions affect the internal systems and respect the feedback from peers and employees about their decisions and visions. The three factor taxonomy of skills shows (Yukl, 1994) that it can be broken down into these sections: Technical Skills, Interpersonal Skills and Conceptual skills. Ghosn shows his technical skills in reducing the amount of power train combinations and car platforms due to his knowledge of the processes required. This shows his strategic leadership in managing operations effectively and sustaining higher performance Interpersonal skills were shown when dedicating cross functional teams to identifying and eradicating the problems in the business. Changing to the merit pay system from the seniority system also showed his good interpersonal skills as by taking one away but replacing the lose with something better and more productive. This was a courageous decision as these strategies have never been contemplated before in Japanese businesses prior to Ghosns arrival. His conceptual skills were proved in his ability to reduce the production costs by as much as 20%, by cutting down on factories, employees, suppliers and dealers and managing to keep a positive spin on these cost cutting initiatives. This showed his ability to make better decisions than his Japanese competitors and therefore be a successful strategic leader. Ghosns personality proved to be charismatic as he holds traits of charisma (Conger Kanungo, 1988) such as being self confident and enthusiastic and willing to take personal risks, such as putting his job and reputation on the line. He challenged the status quo with things such as reducing dealerships and suppliers and introducing cross-functional teams. Ghosn was also innovative and unconventional in relation to how the Japanese operate normally, by instructing designers to produce 12 new cars for construction and changing the whole pay and promotion system in the company. Ghosn has shown a range of skills and traits that are needed to be a successful strategic leader, such as the interpersonal skills to convince people of a new vision and get them committed to the goals through his own strong beliefs and dedication to them. Empowering people was used to enable them to become more innovative and creative and to be able to identify and solve problems themselves. Ghosn managed to improve production efficiency with his conceptualization skills whilst showing the charisma to be able to challenge the status quos in a culture that has a naturally high level of uncertainty avoidance. A transformational leader is (Bass, 1985) someone who identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the followers. An empowering leader is (McLagan, Patricia Nel, Christo, 1995) someone who gives a clear vision, strategy and enabling tool kit. A change-orientated leader is (Tichy Devanna, 1990) someone who recognizes the need for change, creates a new vision and then institutionalizes the change. Ghosn was a transformational leader as he incorporated all of the 4 Is (see appendix 2) into his leadership style (Northouse, 2001). Ghosn managed to gain idealized influence through making a huge commitment to the goals that he set by putting his job on the line. This is a charismatic and confident thing to do that would have firmly set the belief that he was superiorly knowledgeable and capable. Inspirational motivation was clearly set out by Ghosn as he made his targets clear and bold as he released them all at once, whilst managing to avoid leakage to minimize criticism without understanding. The merit pay scheme would have also been motivational to employees as they would now know they could get recognition and promotion for other reasons than besides seniority. Ghosn managed to install intellectual stimulation to his employees through the use of cross functional teams that allowed them to be creative and innovative in their approach compared to their previous roles. He equally gave designers the same freedom to become innovative. Ghosn did also challenge organisation processes with the reduction in suppliers, distributors and the use of power trains and car platforms. Individualized consideration was also covered by the use of the merit pay system and each employee now has the potential to earn an additional 33% of their salary through bonuses. They can also now gain promotion when it was maybe not possible before under the old system. However he could have done more for the engineers as they gained criticism for overly detailed specifications on orders and having too much influence on designers, nothing was outlined on how they would be picked up after these knockdowns. A mentoring or coaching scheme could have been incorporated to help employees reach their personal goals more effectively to improve on this point this further. Ghosn was also a change-orientated leader as he did identify and implement changes but it was already obvious that change was needed, which is why Ghosn was brought to Nissan in the first place. Ghosn was equally an empowering leader as he gave his employees responsibility and roles they had not experienced before but he done so much more for Nissan than just empower employees as he made radical changes himself. These two leadership styles in my opinion are present for Ghosn but are only small parts of his repertoire and the overall picture, which is that they are aspects which feed into being a good transformational leader. Ghosn incorporates all three of the leadership styles but uses change and empowering leadership as tools to direct his transformational leadership style more effectively and to help achieve intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. With Ghosn making so many changes to Nissan, it was inevitable that some of these changes would affect the culture of the company and the issues that are aligned with them. One of the big cross cultural issues that had to be addressed by Nissan first was the action of reducing the number of suppliers to the company, which was seen as unprecedented in the past. This was because supplier relationships were deemed sacrosanct. Part of the problem was that Nissan was at the time part of the Keiretsu culture in Japan, this is where a large group of companies work with each other to the perceived benefit of one enough. It was seen as a safety net upon which they all owned shares in each other and kept each other safe. If Nissan were to get out of their current crisis bold moves had to be made in comparison to competitors, so moving away from this culture was essential. An equally important cross cultural issue that was changed at Nissan was the belief of having a job for life and promotion and pay based on seniority. When the merit pay system was brought in, this was to motivate employees to push for their promotions instead of simply waiting for them to happen. With the new procedures of accountability measured against the goals of the company introduced this showed the weak middle/upper management that needed replacing. This would have been a shock to the Japanese as their culture has always been to respect your elders; this was no longer the case with the new system in place. In Japanese culture there is a high level of uncertainty avoidance, this is when (Yukl, 2002) people fear ambiguous situations and seek security and stability. Ghosn challenged this culture by immediately putting people into cross functional teams to identify the problems with Nissan. Employees will have felt uncomfortable with this new style that had not been experienced before but will have quickly learned the benefits of working with other department managers and understanding the problems they face on a daily basis. This can be a attributed reason as to why the engineers were aloud to dominate the decision making on supply specifications and design for so long, as confrontation was not part of their culture and therefore no would have questioned their workings. Another cross cultural issue faced is the performance orientation (Yukl, 2002). Prior to Ghosn and his introduction of performance that could be measured against specific goals, the Japanese were very focused on maintaining relationships as they believed it was brand loyalty that would ensure repeat purchase. This can be linked to the sacrosanct relationships which they had with suppliers and distributors as well as their involvement in the Keiretsu culture that created this behaviour. Ghosn changed this philosophy of relying on brand loyalty and brought in the need to meet customer requirements which has made them incredibly more goal focused. The important cultural issues that needed to be changed at Nissan, was the movement away from the reliance of other companies and the relationships built with them to ensure the maximum working efficiency and productivity for themselves. It was equally as vital that employees realized they would not have an easy ride with a guaranteed job and promotion but that they had to work for these things and prove themselves worthy of such rewards; this will have improved efficiency and motivation for the workforce. It was also important for Nissan to move away for a high level of uncertainty avoidance and towards performance orientation, to allow the team to work more effectively and understand each others needs to make a more successful and dynamic team. References: Daniels, K. (2006) Employee Relations In An Organisational context. London. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectation. New York: Free Press. Conger, J.A., Kanungo, R. (1988), Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive in Organizational Settings, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA Johnson G, Scholes K Whittington R (2005), Exploring Corporate Strategy 8th Edition, Harlow: Prentice Hall. Katz, D., Kahn, R. L. (1978). The social psychology of organisations, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley. LEWIN, K. (1947).Frontiers in group dynamics: concept, method, and reality in social science in Human Relations, Vol. 1(1), pp.5-42. McLagan, P. Nel, C. (1995). The Age of Participation, Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco. Northouse, P. G. (2001). Leadership Theory and Practice, second edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Nystrom, P. C., Starbuck, W. H. (1984). To avoid organisational crises, unlearn. Organisational Dynamics, Spring, 53-65. THOMAS, G. (2010). Week 18: Leadership at the Executive Level. Birmingham. Aston University: Geoff Thomas. THOMAS, G. (2010). Week 19: Leading Change in Organisations. Birmingham. Aston University: Geoff Thomas. Tichy, N.M., Devanna, M.A. (1990), The Transformational Leader, John Wiley, New York Yukl, G., Gordon, A., Taber, T. (2002), A hierarchical taxonomy of leadership behavior: integrating a half century of behavior research, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, Vol. 9 pp.15-32 Yukl, G. (1994). Leadership in Organisations. 7th Ed. New Jersey. Pearsons. Are Security Threats Real or Imagined? Are Security Threats Real or Imagined? Giulia Valeri Introduction As far as the discipline of International Relations is concerned, security and threat are highly-contested concepts (Baldwin 1997: 10). Far more often than not, their inner nature has been deeply influenced by the historical context in which the two notions were first moulded. Security threats, whether they be real and objective or imagined and subjective, is still a matter to be put into trial by the academics. In turn, if the issue was to be analysed from a non-scholastic point of view, people would refer to those feelings of insecurity that perturb them and influence their daily action. The spread of the belief that todays world is a dangerous universe, where it is best to play safe and to take all the precautions necessary to avoid the risk of being exposed to threatening situations, is rising consistently. But are there any real threats that can eventually put individuals in a position of danger or is this feeling of self-doubt a mere product of policy-makers cunning moves to ac hieve goals, such as gaining wealth and accumulating their power, while letting the individuals sink in growing uncertainties? In other words, are security threats real and objectively calculated, or are they socially constructed and subjectively perceived? The latter interrogative leads us in another direction. One could, in fact, argue that an answer to this controversial issue can only be formulated in the light of the analytical fragmentation and the subsequent interpretation of two dominant approaches in the field of IR, Realism and Social Constructivism. Being aware of such opposing approaches is not only plausible and reasonable from a logical point of view, but it is fundamental in order to solidly ground our understanding of the issue. In this essay, I will first attempt to give a clear explanation of what is meant by security according to the so-called traditional and critical views. Secondly, I will make a distinction between what counts as a referent object for realist a nd constructivists security policies. Thirdly, I will examine the process that an issue has to undergo in order to be prioritized over the others and to become an existential threat worthy of security measures. I will conclude by using a significant case study to analyse and explain why, in the international system, threats to security cannot be tied to a single approach, traditional or modern, but instead need to be reconsidered as a compromise made up of multiple layers. The ontological conceptualisation of security and the shift in the focus of inquiry. Throughout the centuries, the attempt to define security has been a task of major importance for several IR scholars. However clashing theoretical approaches might be, they all shared a common need, i.e. the conceptualisation of security as an ontological basis for any further argumentation. Notwithstanding this premise, not much attention has been devoted to clarifying this notion, therefore there is a persisting disagreement on what security means exactly and on whether it is desirable to give a definition in the first place. The reason why such disagreement has arisen has proved to be related to the various historical periods in which different approaches have developed. More specifically the Cold War, besides being materialised in terms of an Iron Curtain that demarcated the European boundaries between Capitalism and Communism, also acted as an ideological turning point between Realism and Constructivism. Realists point out that security is about safeguarding acquired values. Arnold Wolfers rephrased Walter Lippmans definition, arguing that security is the absence of threats to acquired values (Wolfers 1952: 485). David Baldwin later portrayed security as the low probability of damage to acquired values (Baldwin 1997: 13), arguing that there is way too much optimism in Wolfers absence of threat (Wolfers 1952: 485). These acquired values are nothing more than national independence and territorial integrity (Wolfers 1952: 489), and thus they objectively correspond to the nation-states selfish interests. In turn, constructivists emphasize that the notion of security is a social construct and, as such, should not be bound to a specific referent object. In his People, States Fear Barry Buzan asserts that the search for a referent object of security has to proceed hand-in-hand with that for its necessary conditions (Buzan 1991: 26). As the reader might have noticed, Security is usually discussed in terms of enumeration of new threats and the identification of capabilities needed to counter them, but there is little examination of the meaning of security as such (Wibben, Human Security: Toward an Opening: ) The clashing tension between the realist theorization and the constructivist approach comes to blows when trying to establish what the referent object of security studies should be. Should it always be the state or should it rather be relative to the questioned sector? This problematic derives from the significant shift in focus that has taken place, alongside a massive change in the balance of history as a result of the end of the Cold War. A realistic perspective: security threats are real and objectively analysed. A traditional approach to security threats has to be considered in the light of an objective assessment of the world out there or as it is. Realists act as an elite of scientists with very fixed conceptions of the surrounding environment. As such, they feel the need to adopt a scientific approach to knowledge (Browning, 2013: 13), meaning that they look at reality in an objective way and they hold a static state-centric vision. Instead of bolstering substantial changes, they pessimistically dictate how to best cope with the world as it is (Browning, 2013: 13). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the referent object of security studies is the state, and threats to security are all those directly posed to the state, all those menacing the survival of its core values. The nation-state is presented as the guarantor of security and, as such, it has the duty to act in a way that assures the safety of its boundaries. This entails every action to be inextricably tied to the states assump tions. Realists are convinced that the term security is the equivalent of national security interest (Wolfers, 1952: 481). As the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger put it, how realistically we perceive our national interests is a core security concern (Kissinger, 1976: 182). Exempli gratia, in the international system -which is anarchic- where egoistic and self-interested individuals proliferate, absolute security is irredeemable, and thus states believe that the only way to secure themselves from external military threats is to increase their military forces. Yet by doing so, other states might be led to think that policies of armament are objective synonyms of imminent attacks and, consequently, of real and tangible menaces. In the field of International Relations, this ironic cycle of unintended provocations (Kanji, 2003: 2) is often referred to as the security dilemma, i.e. the belief that increasing ones security means rising insecurity for others as each interprets its own measures as defensive and measures of others as potentially threatening (Herz, 1951: 7). At this point, one could legitimately ask: If everybody claims to perceive real threats, how is one supposed to identify real menaces, if present, with objectivity? Put in another way: Are all military affairs to be considered as real threats or are they real threats only in conditions of international anarchy? As the constructivist Wendt argued anarchy is what states make of it (Wendt 1992: 395), claiming that what is presented as a real threat in international anarchy is not necessarily a real threat in this world. Therefore, can one assume that threats are objectively the same regardless of their political allocation? The constructivist approach: security threats are socially constructed. How the community moulds the concept of securitization. In Wendtianian terms, a security threat is what actors make of it and, thus, by no means can they be objectively assessed. Unlike realists, constructivists act as analysts in charge of presenting how the general public and their leaders mutually construct dangers (Dannreuther 2007: 42), thereby framing our experience of the world. In their Security: a new framework of analysis Buzan, Weaver and De Wilde -prominent members of the Copenhagen School[1] argue that Security is when an issue is presented as posing an existential threat to a designed referent object. The special nature of security threats justifies the use of extraordinary measures to handle them. (Buzan, Waever, De Wilde 1998: 21) Before discussing how an issue, being prioritized over other issues, is presented as an existential threat, it is of essential importance to define what we mean by existential threat in the first place. An existential threat is whatever threatens the safety of somebody or something. As opposed to realists, who unceasingly commit themselves to a scientific state-centric vision, constructivists point out the need for each and every threat to be analysed in relation to the referent object of the sector in question, while sectors have been categorised as military, political, economic, societal and environmental. As for the military sector, the state is the entity that can possibly be in danger. For this reason, however much traditional security studies would try to pass off peacekeeping and humanitarian interventions as menacing in their nature, both might not be regarded as an existential threat to the nation-state. In the political sector, it is sovereignty that is the principle that c an be existentially threatened, so that Brexit, for instance, is the most prominent deterrent to the European Union. In the economic sector, the referent objects are firms, and the threat of bankruptcy may act as an ultimatum for their existence, while collective identities and individual species are respectively referent objects of the societal and environmental sector. One might rightly wonder: What, who and how is an issue transformed into a matter of security or shown to be existentially threatened? Buzan et al. asserts that the answer lies in a key-term, i.e. securitization. Securitization is the process by which a general issue is recognised as an existential threat. Yet this process is built up through consequential steps in which two actors play a key-role, the securitizing actor and the audience. The securitizing actor, alias a political leader, is someone who performs the securitizing move, rhetorically identified as the speech act[2]. The task consists in declaring a state of emergency by recurring to apocalyptic statements, such as If we do not tackle this problem, everything else will be irrelevant (because we will not be here or will not be free to deal with it in our own way). (Buzan, Waever, De Wilde 1998: 21) If and only if the securitizing move raises consensus and it is generally accepted by the audience, the issue is successfully securitized and it becomes an existential threat. Donald Trumps securitizing move, i.e. the Muslim ban, cannot be considered as being successfully securitized because the general public hasnt legitimated the speech act. Contrariwise, war is an empirical example of a successful securitization that, being so recurrent, ends up being institutionalized. Once an issue is securitized, it moves out of the realm of normal politics into the realm of emergency politics, where it can be dealt with swiftly and without the normal (democratic) rules and regulations of policy-making (Taureck 2006: 54; Buzan et al. 1998: 24). The securitizing actor and the audience democratically negotiate and establish what existential threats are under which circumstances. As Buzan et al. underline, security is a self-referential practice, because it is in this practice that the issue becom es a security issue -not because a real threat exists (Buzan et al. 1998: 24). From a constructivist point of view, the realists presumption of assessing threats objectively goes beyond humans means. Threats are in fact inter-subjectively constructed rather than being natural or inevitable (Newmann 2001: 247) since what constitutes a threat for one is not necessarily the referent object for the other (Buzan et al. 1998: 30). How social constructivism has challenged the traditional realistic view. Case study: nuclear weapons are real or imagined threats? almost anything can be a threat CATASTROPHIC, TOO pessimistic and deterministic (timeless and irrevocable)nature of the threats, analysis of the world in itself! assumption: It is out of humans domain to establish which threats are really threatening survival, they are inevitable and there is nothing to do except for facing the crude reality. It is not possible to consider a nuclear weapon in every case a threat. What if the missil tank is a peacekeeping force? At the same time, it is illogical to affirm that a nuvlear bomb of a powerful state is threating whereas a bomb of allies doesnt pose any threat. SELFISH construction of threats: with the excuse of needing to shiftthe focus of enwuiry of the individuals, impact of ideas and values (newmnn, 247). eventually defyning the concept of human security, they ended up prioritizing issues according to the selfish interests of the securitizing actor. For constructivists try to push the notion of human security forward, they somehow end up shadowing the selfish construction of security threats. Both bigo and wibben when experts push for particular forms in which security of humans ought to be prioritized. Bigo showed how the securitizing actor together with the general public has securitized immigration. Issues are prioritized according to selfish interest.   Wibben makes an important point that our conceptions of security come from specific political visions, underpinned by certain ontological and epistemological assumptions. For instance, when experts call for elevating human security as a security concern, they are pushing for particular forms in which the security of humans ought to be prioritised. I Politicians have used the policy of securitization to satisfy their own interests, being legitimated to do whatever through the speech act. Murray Edelman has explained how the social construct of the politicalspectacle works.He has demonstrated how the construction of situations as problems is useful for politicians: the politicians can manage them in order to justify their own authority. It enablesthem, for example, to negate other problems or to transform struc-tural difficulties into easy targets. (Bigo 2002: 68-69) the presupposition that it is possible to control the flow of individuals at the borders of thestate (bigo 1992:69) Murray Edelman, Pià ¨ces et rà ¨gles du jeu politique (Paris: Seuil, 1991),a translation of his Constructing the Political Spectacle (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), with a specific and important foreword7 Chandler (Security Dialogue, 2008): human security has reinforced rather than challenged existing policy frameworks and is too easily co-opted by political elites. Security is a social construct with the meaning ofsoceurity depending of what is done with it. taureck THESIS Threats are real in the sense that there is sth threating the survival of the individuals, yet this cannot be objectively assessed and it is not deterministically given They are imagined in the minds of the politicians andthen presented as threatening, yet it would be irrational to claim that the speech act has no correspondence to the external reality. . they are mediated by the meaning we ourselves give to nuclear weapons rather than to reality e.g. Constructivist assumption: a nuclear weapon doesnt pose a threat by itself (ARGUABLY YES) Why the US view North Koreas nuclear weapons as a threat and not Britains? UK Prime Minister Tony Blairs securitisation of Saddam Husseins WMD programme for the British public in the lead up to the 2003 invasion is a useful case study here. Depending on our reading of the Copenhagen School, the securitisation of Saddam and his WMD programme may have occurred exclusively through public representations depicting the regime and its WMD programme as imminently threatening, through the vote in Parliament legitimising http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1232/1/WRAP_McDonald_0671572-pais-270709-mcdonald_securitisation_and_construction_of_security_ejir_forthcoming_2008.pdf 23 Blairs deployment of troops, or even at the point of invasion itself. While the latter might seem the least likely reading, The system is not deterministically given Brhaviors are socially constructed and can therefore change. (newmann, 247). Threats are socially constructed rather than being natural or inevitable: identity and interest derive from the social processes of interaction leading to expectations of costs and benefits attached with different types of behaviour within a system (newmann, 248) Constructivists: Finally, three important constituents of a speech act are: its internal features (the security form, grammar of security, enunciation of an existential threat and so on); social conditions regarding the position of authority of the securitizing actor (how easily would the audience accept the claims of the securitizing actor); and features of the alleged threat (a tank is more threat-like than a comb, for instance; or to use our example above, a North Korea bomb is more threat-like than a British bomb for America because of the institutionalisation of the North Korean threat). Realists: whoever the nuclear weapon belongs to, it is a threat. A foreign tank crossing the border. Conclusion? Threats to security are real and tangible. One cannot deny that whoever is the owner of a nuclear weapon the presence of a nuclear weapon is menacing the international security commission. However, saying that threats are real is misleading and too generic. what each state perceives as a threat is a variable. allocation Rather, it is a blurred misrepresentation of the world out there. This is to highlight the fact that what is regarded as a real threat in anarchy, being what states make of it, is not an objective reflection of the real threats. It is simply a reflection of the dangers out there. , provided that actions are unavoidably bounded to mere states assumptions Is not insecurity of any kind an evil from which any rational policy maker would want to rescue his country? (Wolfers, National Security: 494) The world is not a universe of all against all From a real basis, security threats are developed and constructed according to the will and mis)perceptions of policy-makers. 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[1] The Copenhagen School is a school of security studies, which was established in 1983 by Barry Buzan with his first publication of People, States Fear. [2] The term speech act is rooted in the linguistic philosophy of J. L. Austin and John Saerle and it emblematically represents the rhetorical structure of securitization.