Crisis Management and the Aaron Hernandez Saga Research Paper

Emergency Management and the Aaron Hernandez Saga - Research Paper Example he murder cases encompassing Aaron Hernandez have prompted incredible harms not exclusively to the picture of Aaron Hernandez himself, yet in addition the individuals and associations with which Aaron Hernandez was related. This paper talks about and investigations the Aaron Hernandez adventure and the undertakings made by various partners in the taking care of and the board of the cynicism realized by the Aaron Hernandez emergency. Aaron Hernandez adventure, despite the fact that with a hazy beginning, can be followed directly from the youth that Hernandez needed to hold up under. As is normal with a great many people, the earth to an enormous degree directs the characters of people. Aaron Hernandez was raised in a caring family. Aaron Hernandez adored, trusted and truly had a solid confidence in the standards of the guardians. The trust Aaron Hernandez had on his dad had positive outcomes just as negative results on him (Aaron Hernandez) all in equivalent measure (The University of Liverpool, 2014). Emphatically, Aaron Hernandez’s father assumed an immense job in raising Aaron Hernandez as a truly dependable and a self-persuaded individual (The University of Liverpool, 2014). Being mindful in Aaron Hernandez is prove when he chose to get a vocation in proficient football. Aaron Hernandez is viewed as a fruitful player with appealing records in the NFL, some of which: playing in the super-bowls and in the top-flight tight end. Adversely be that as it may, Dennis Hernandez (Aaron Hernandez’s father) had rebel qualities, for example, as often as possible being sentenced for attack. From this examination, it tends to be contended that Aaron Hernandez acquired the â€Å"genes of crime† from his dad (The Courant, 2014). Being a football player, Aaron Hernandez is inclined to wrongdoing. American football is a game described with hard handles not to mention the physical requests the players need to experience before they qualify as experts (The Courant, 2014). An immense number of players in the NFL are additionally sedate clients, which

Informative Essay Sample on Personality Based on Theories

Enlightening Essay Sample on Personality Based on Theories Character is a hard thing to comprehend and who will comprehend it will control the world. In this examination I need to break down two speculations and show how they are near my own hypothesis of character. The primary hypothesis depends on crafted by Karl Gustav Jung. Like Freud he dedicated himself to the investigation of dynamic undiscovered drawings on a human conduct and experience. Be that as it may, his taking in was somewhat not quite the same as Freud’s. Jung told that that upkeep of oblivious there is not much, than low-lively sexual and forceful intentions. As per Jung’s hypothesis on character, as known as logical brain research, people are inspired by some psychical powers and appearances, the cause of which leaves profound into history advancement. This intrinsic oblivious contains some otherworldly material which has profound roots, which discloses the trying to the inventive self-articulation and physical flawlessness of humankind. Likewise there is another wellspring of contrasts in the Jungs and Freuds hypotheses. The thing that matters is about sexuality as overall power in the structure of character. Freud, for the most part, deciphered drive like sexual vitality however Jung analyzed it as diffuse inventive life-breath, which you can perceive in different ways, as in religion or seeking to control. In Jungs musings drive is amassed in various necessaries †organic or profound †as they emerge up. So Jung dismissed Freud’s proclamation that cerebrum is an index to the sexual organs. Jung declared that character comprises of three distinctive yet intuitive structures: inner self, individual oblivious and aggregate oblivious. Inner self is the focal of circle of awareness. It is part mind, which incorporates those thoughts, detects, flashbacks, and sentiments, because of which we feel our uprightness, steadiness and the sentiment of mankind. Self image fills in as the primary of our cognizance and because of it we can see the aftereffects of the common cognizant action. The individual oblivious contains clashes and flashbacks which were once acknowledged yet now low-lively or overlooked. So it contains discernible impressions, which dont have enough splendor to be set apart in awareness. Lastly he revealed to us the possibility of presence of more profound layer in structure of character, which he named aggregate oblivious. It is a safe of dormant tracks in memory of mankind and even our anthropomorphous progenitors. Thoughts and faculties, general for every single human animal and resulting upon our normal passionate pas, are reflected in it. As Jung told: in aggregate oblivious there is all otherworldly heritage of human advancement, recovering in the structure of mind in each person. The second hypothesis which additionally lays exceptionally somewhere down in every one of us depends on crafted by B. F. Skinner (March 20, 1904 †August 18, 1990) who was an American therapist and creator. He led spearheading chip away at test brain science and pushed behaviorism, which tries to comprehend conduct as a component of natural accounts of encountering results. Character †it is that experience which people bought in stream of life. It is the amassed set of the contemplated models of conduct. In contrast to Freud and numerous others researchers, the scholars of Behavioritical encouraging bearing don't feel that it is important to take a shot at the psychical structures and procedures which is covered up in minds. Inverse to this idea they analyze outer environmental factors as a key factor of human conduct. Precisely encompass of the human, yet not the interior psychical marvels, structures it. Crafted by Skinner show us most demonstrate that impact of condition is dictated by our conduct. Dislike different analysts, Skinner attested that nearly the conduct is clarified of plausibility of fortification from the earth. As indicated by his feeling , to clarify the conduct ( and in such manner comprehend the character) , we need just to break down useful relations between an obvious activity and noticeable outcomes. Work of Skinner served like an establishment for science about conduct which has no analogs in history of brain research. Taking the assessment of others we can say that he is on of the high-respected analysts within recent memory. The most significant that was in him is that he didnt advocate the utilization of discipline. His fundamental center was to target conduct and see that results convey reactions. His extraordinary model about the youngster who would not go to class and he indicated that the emphasis ought to be on what is causing the childs refusal not really the refusal itself. His explores indicated that disciplines wasn’t the method of changing conduct clearly he needed to show that after discipline people don’t quit doing awful things they start to do in such manner so the discipline couldn’t get them. For instance if accept such thing as prison. At that point someone does wrongdoing and gets in prison after that this individual need quit doing violations it just will be attempting to stay away from discipline and become increasingly refined at evading the discipline. What's more, carrying my examination to the end I need to show how this speculations fits me and how a few pieces of them will think about point of view of my character. I can generally feel that I am persuaded by some psychical powers, since I regularly can do thing about which I will figure how might I do it? This powers is shown in Jung’s works. Drive isn't just a sexual power it can rouse us for the solid administration. This you can find in the entirety of your exchange with society †one of thought which showed Jung. About Skinners works I can just say that it that it is my normal life in view of the hypothesis of discipline. Each time when I get my discipline I imagine that this will be the last time when I do such a terrible thing yet when the discipline closes everything remains on its places and I can do such awful thing again yet this time I will be progressively cautious and possibly I would maintain a strategic distance from my next discipline. This maintaining a strategic distance from will show me how to live in future.

Add 2 Column above and below Blogger Post Body

Add 2 Column above and below Blogger Post Body Adding column is a very simple technique for blogger but sometimes it is hard for newbie. As earlier I have shared with you that how to split sidebar into 2 column and today I will share with you the trick that we would able to create 2 column above and bottom of the blog post body. Step 1Log in to yourbloggeraccountand Click onTemplate- Step 2Now click onEdit HTML- Unfold code Step 3Now find]]/b:skinby PressingCtrl+F Step 4And Paste the below code above]]/b:skinand save your template /*Extra Column by www.bloggerspice.com*/ Add 2 Column above Blog Post Body Step 1Now finddiv id='main-wrapper' by PressingCtrl+F Step 2And Paste the below code abovediv id='main-wrapper' and save your template div id='Spicy Column'b:section class='Spiceleft' id='Spiceleft'/b:section class='Spiceright' id='Spiceright'/ Add 2 Column below Blog Post Body Now we will add column below post body. So follow the below steps- Step 1Now find like below codeby Pressing Ctrl+F div id='main-wrapper'b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'//b:section Step 2And now code like below. div id='main-wrapper'b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'//b:sectiondiv id='Spicy Column'b:section class='Spiceleft' id='Spiceleft'/b:section class='Spiceright' id='Spiceright'/ if you face any problem then feel free to contact with me. I will reply you as soon as possible.

Objectivity And The Social Responsibility Theory - 936 Words

Part I: Objectivity in journalism is claimed by many media sources yet is one of the hardest things to find when searching the news. An objective view in journalism associates itself with the social responsibility theory, in which a person must provide a variety of views for a piece of information given to the public (Grossber 383). While many journalists may claim they are objective, this type of communication to the public is difficult to achieve, as a natural bias develops within a person from their socialization. El-Nawawy and Iskandar are cited within The Great American Bubble by Adel Iskandar, â€Å"Objectivity has come to imply both a media practice of information collection, processing, and dissemination, and an overarching attitude† (163). As the article also discusses, Fox News is an openly right winged news source for the public, specifically, their show, The O’Reilly Factor, displays conservative views on current news. Fox does not display complete objectivi ty in their newsfeeds, yet they are open about it, which could be described as social responsibility theory in a different way. I would argue that objectivity is almost impossible to achieve, and in that sense news sources should openly explain their bias, instead of hiding their own agendas in their information, which would give social responsibility theory and objectivity a new light. Part II: Iskandar brings up an important point, saying â€Å"Who judges whether or not a news story is objective? Is it the audienceShow MoreRelatedObjectivity Of Social Research Is The Hunt For An Objective Essay1582 Words   |  7 PagesObjectivity in Social Research is the hunt for an objective i.e. truth. 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Definition and Examples of Inartistic Proof in Rhetoric

The Crusades and The Latin Roman Catholic Abbey - 1797 Words

Introduction: The Crusades were forceful battles acclimated by the Latin Roman Catholic Abbey throughout the Top Middle Ages through to the end of the Backward Middle Ages. In 1095 Pope Urban II announced the native campaign, with the proclaimed aspiration of subsiding Christian confirmation to the celestial places in and side by side Jerusalem. Proliferating students of history and some of those unpredictable at the time, in the same way as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, accord agreeing precedence to included ecclesiastical authorized forceful battles attempted for an exhibit of religious, financial, and political reasons, for example, the Albigensian Crusade, the Aragonese Crusade, the Reconquista, and the Northern Crusades. Taking after the native in light of the fact that there was an exchange 200-year endeavor for command of the Angelic Land, with six included above campaigns and plenteous extra ones. In 1291, the fight finished up in premature birth with the decrease of the continue Christian b astion in the Angelic Land at Acre, thereafter which Roman Catholic Europe armed force no included articular affirmation in the east. The appulse of the Crusades was complex and keenness of the behavior of Crusaders has arranged extensively from abominable scientific to laudatory. Jonathan Riley-Smith recognizes irrefutably the states made, for example, the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Crusader States, as the native modified works in Europe Overseas. These wanders revived theShow MoreRelatedThe Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times Essay1295 Words   |  6 Pages In the Medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church played a great role in the development of England and had much more power than the Church of today does. In Medieval England, the Roman Catholic Church dominated everyday life and controlled everyone whether it is knights, peasants or kings. 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When Arminius returned to northern Germania in about 7-8 AD, the Roman Empire had founded safe rule just east of the Rhine River, and along the Lippe and Main RiversRead MoreQuestion and Correct Answer7042 Words   |  29 PagesChange section that even though Rome conquered Greece in 146 BCE, Greece ruled Rome culturally?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: |   Ã‚   The Romans greatly admired and even copied Greek art | Correct Answer: |   Ã‚   The Romans greatly admired and even copied Greek art | | | | | ï‚ · Question 21 2 out of 2 points | | | Why were the Romans attracted to the philosophy of Stoicism?Answer | | | | | Selected Answer: |   Ã‚   They appreciated its rational detachment and practical principlesRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesa factor of 2.56. A similar gap opened up between the main receivers of immigrants. 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Effect Of Television Essay Example For Students

Effect Of Television Essay Children lose control of their viewing and their parents have no time to identify whether a particular program makes sense for their son or daughter or can bring harm. The average household with children has a television set on over sixty hours a week and during this sixty hours this window into the real world is trying to change our children. Does television spoil our children who begin viewing their first programs regularly three or four years before entering school?One high school student wrote: When you start hearing Barbara Walters talking about mass murder like it is a batch of oatmeal cookies, it is going to effect you. It is clear to people that those who watch more violence are more aggressive because of the emotional and psychological effect of television. Children start to be more apathetic towards violence in real life and less willing to stop it. Programmers try to keep the kids in front of television by using violent actions in cartoons rather than educational situations in shows. They use the some rule as teachers who know that childrens attention is limited in time. Everything must be exciting! A friend of mine noticed that her kids started to be ruder with their friends after a certain number of hours spent in front of television. Watching and listening all the time about murder children know exactly how to communicate, why, when and under what circumstances they could do it. Beside this from what children see on TV they may understand that when you hurt somebody you get resolution of your problem. Not only does violence on television have a bad impact on children. Television may change childrens activities. How often do we watch our children playing in the fresh air? Do they develop time and interest for reading and communicating with their peers? Television is their best friend, favorite book and all-powerful magician. However, we know that television can not replace a book, and be a substitute of full value for friend because television is able to make us just passive viewers. When reading a book one has to think and analyze. When watching television childrens attention is focused on the action of the program, and not on the question of why characters did something and what is the explanation for this. For example, reading the book ,Alice in Wonderland ,children have questions on how to understand meaning of some poems. They need to think about words that have different meanings. The author makes his readers think and develop their attitude toward everything that is going on. Watching the movie with the same name Alice in Wonderland we lose all those important elements. All different programs are designed for different goals and most of these goals can be helpful for children. Those who think that television viewing is beneficial would say that children can learn from all kinds of programs. Those are instructional and educational television, which are widely available not only on commercial, but also on public television stations. However, we must mention the unintentional learning that takes place. The purpose of some programs (such as Bernie and his friends and different films) is to teach children how to control their behavior. As a result, in most cases, television has a really negative impact on people and only those viewers who are able to choose programs wisely may find television beneficial for their development. In conclusion, let us think about televisions impact on children and not allow our children to be fooled by the most attractive window in our houses.English Essays

Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essays

Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essays Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essay Assessing the Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on the Economy Essay Department of industrial relations and public administration Lagos state university, Ojo, Nigeria.. Abstract The regime of banking sector reforms leading to recapitalization and consolidation in Nigeria and the consequent merger and or acquisition of existing banks into twenty five (25) by 2005, and later eighteen (18) by 2012 brought along their trails attendant labor problems in terms of educational diversity, job security and productivity, decent employment questions.The study review post consolidation performance of the banking sector to assess the extent to which the sector meets consolidation objective using post development approach. It was found that while the alliance and marriage of seemingly compatible partners are settling down, the society is at the receiving end of the severance of labor and the enlargement of the pool of reserved army of the unemployed. The fall-out therefore is double-edge for the economy and the society. Keywords: Labor reforms, recapitalization, con solidation and post development 1. 0Introduction Private and public businesses are continually being challenged by performance. Performance success is very minimal measured on the indices of what Alos (2006) catalogued as: what the customer needs and values, response to environmental changes and impact on the quality of the people. The issue of performance effectiveness or reengineering organisation has preoccupied the minds of organization practitioners, researchers and watchers since 1990s. Therefore, all over the world, many economies had carried out various reforms to ensure effectiveness of the 166 European Scientific JournalMay edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 real sectors. The performance revolution started in the private sector. Its effects spread to the public sector influenced by ideas from public management school. Nigeria as a nation is not left out in this reform revolution to ensure quality of life for its citizenry. Legal and i nstitutional frameworks were put in place to re-engineer the economy and the performance values of the real sectors. The blue print of the current reforms agenda is set out in the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) document.Some of the reforms include (1)power sector reform; (2) ports reforms meant to ensure timely clearing of goods within forty eight hours (3) deregulation of oil and gas sub-sector to forestall perennial fuel scarcity; (4) deregulation in the telecommunication industry to reduce government participation, create employment and commerce (5) the banking sub-sector /recapitalization/consolidation to make it play its rightful role as the dominant sector of the economy in driving growth and development in other sector. The current banking sector reforms captioned as recapitalization policy was issued out on Tuesday July 6, 2004.Capitalization is setting the capital base upon which a player can set up and be licensed to operate banking function s. It is setting a capital base which was given as twenty five billion naira (N25b) as at 2005. The former capital base was two billion Naira (N2b), which many banks could not even afford. In Nigeria, empirical studies had been carried out on the relationship between banking reforms and economic growth (Balogun, 2007, Fadare, 2010); consolidation and macro economic performance (see Somoye, 2008); consolidation and adoption of e-banking (Ayo, Adewoye and Oni 2010; Chimeke, Evwiekpaefe, and Chete, 2006).The implication of banking reforms on labor has scarcely been researched. The main objective of this study is to review the banking sector reforms 2004 – 2011 and the extent to which the objectives set are met and also, the implication of the reforms on labor as regards employment: security, decent employment, employees’ satisfaction and the outcomes of these variables for the society. 2. 0 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework Consolidation simply means to build on or improve to the extent of stability Adeyemi (2007) considers it to represent the idea of investment and the coming together of firms or enterprises as a single entity.In the banking sector of Nigeria the essence of banking consolidation 167 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 is to reposition the nations banking industry for global competitiveness and also to ensure a strong and reliable banking sector that will guarantee the safety of the depositors’ money. Consolidation as a means of reducing over capacity is doubtful (Somoye 2008).The effectiveness of banking sector consolidation as a remedy for financial stability and in correcting the defects in the financial sector for sustainable development had not been corroborated by similar exercise in Europe, America and Asia in the last decade (Somoye, 2008). Rather, crises and failures as depicted by credit crises and transatlantic mortgage financial turmoi l erupted which, in Nigeria, seriously affected invested money values specifically, stock values.Rather than restructuring leading to reduction in over capacity as indicated by consolidation apologists, an improvement strategy that would accommodate the resources available and expand them is advocated by internally induced consolidation apologists. The banking sub-sector in Nigeria witnessed sharp drop in credit rate to the real sector which affected return on shareholders’ fund (Adeyemi, 2007). Credit went more to foreign exchange rather than the real sectors. The capacity of real sector to generate employment weakened.The access of small and medium enterprises (SMES) and the informal sectors to credit also dwindled (Somoye, 2008; NDIC, 2008; CBN, 2008). Structuring to the economists is adapting to the demands of increasingly global markets for greater efficiencies. Sociologist always view the social impact, specifically the social problems engendered by externalities which results in social disruption especially the negative effects on level of job security, commitment, psychological well being and turnover intentions.The effect of these on organization efficiency, contrary to reformist postulation may be negative. Matanmi (2005) saw a yawning gap between the immediate or short term effects of economic reforms and the necessary ideals of job security. He concluded that the ability of reforms to create employment in the last one decade had been very few and far between. Adeyemi (2007) also agreed that banking reforms in Nigeria resulted in job loss, variance level of compensation and remuneration package for different merging groups and board room squabbles among cliques of the merging banks. . 1 Theoretical Framework Post development approach is a reaction to the dilema of development. Instead of abundance, discourse and strategies of development produce its opposite: underdevelopment and 168 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 impoverishment, untold exploitation and repression. (Sidaway 2008). The post development apologist claim that change brought about by modernity or driven by the west would always meet with disillusionment on the part of the people of developing countries. 2. 2Banking Sector Reforms in Nigeria Banking operations began in 1892 owned mainly by expatriates (Somoye, 2008). They remained however unregulated until 1952 (Fadare, 2010). There were expansions with indigenous ownership by 1950s. However, many of the banks failed between 1947 and 1952. The first regulation of banks was put in place by Banking Ordinance of 1952. This was ineffective as there was no Central Bank until 1958 to carry out supervising or control measures. Bank ownership structure shifted by 1970s with indigenization decree. This allows more Nigerian investment in the banking industry.The Nigerian enterprises promotion Decree (NEPD) limits foreign ownership of Nigerian bu sinesses to 60% in 1972 and 40% in 1976. The 1990’s reform allowed for 100% individual ownership which was a shift from existing 10% for individual ownership and 30% for corporate ownership. This led to the proliferation of banks. Banking sub sector recapitalization policy was issued out on Tuesday, July 6, 2004. Capitalization is setting the capital base upon which a player can set up and be licensed to operate banking functions. Recapitalization is setting a new capital base.The essence is to consolidate the sector to enhance competitiveness and capacity to play important role of financing investment (Somoye, 2008). Consolidation which may result in increase in bank size through merger and acquisition has the potential of increasing bank returns through increase revenue and cost efficiency gains. It may also reduce industry risks through the eliminations of weak banks and create better diversification opportunities (Furlong, 1998). Recapitalization policies set twenty five billion Naira (N25b) as the new minimum capital base for banks operating in Nigeria.The former capital base was two billion naira (N2b) and many banks could not even meet this. The objective of recapitalization is captured in the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Charles Soludos words thus the banking reform is to: (1) reposition the nations banking industry for global competitiveness; (2) ensure a strong and reliable banking sector that will guarantee the safety of the depositors money; (3) play active development role in the nations’ economy; 169 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) ISSN 1857- 7431 (4) (5) make the banks less dependent on public sector fund, and be capable of financing the real sector (New Age Apri17, 2005). A time frame of eighteen months terminating in December 25, 2005 was set for prospective player to meet the capitalization line. To facilitate compliance the following carrots were offered by CB N. Banks that met the deadline shall: (1) (2) (3) (4) deal in foreign exchange; take public sector deposit; be recommended to fiscal authorities to collect public sector revenue, and; manage part of Nigeria external revenue. New Age April 12, 2005); Furtherance to this, nine billion Naira (N9b) loan write off was offered for weak banks to make them attractive for acquisition so as to protect the system, the depositors, and employees as a results of liquidation. 2. 2. 1The Need for reform: The Banking sector is one of the dominant sectors of the economy. It serves as the engine of growth for the real sector financing, Its stability and strength and consolidation will to a large extent influence other sectors.Any policies in the banking sector including its activities affect the micro-economic situation and acting as consultant with qualitative advice to the customers will drive the economy as it were. An inventory of Nigerian banks between 1994 and 2001 as revealed by Nigerian Deposi t Insurance Corporation shows that (NDIC, 2004; National Mirror 2005). (1) A total of thirty five (35) licensed banks went into distress and were eventually liquidated. Out of these, thirteen (13) were commercial banks eighteen (18) merchants and one (1) cooperative (2) The loss to depositors was two billion naira (#2. b) (3) Four thousand (4000) workers lost their job. Omeife (2005) calculated that an average of 3 banks per year was liquidated. That is spanning the period of eight years. The liquidation was as a result of in-effectiveness and inefficiency arising from (1) financial fraud, (2) insiders’ credit abuse resulting in huge non-performing credit, (3) low quality manpower, (4) inefficiency of management, (5) inaccurate reporting and non compliance with regulatory requirements(6) low aggregate credit as percentage of the GDP to the domestic 170 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 economy (20%) Idowu, 2006; Adeyemi, 2007; Cowry research, 2009). By 2005 the following were the status of the banks in terms of their standing Table 1 Category Sound Satisfactory Marginal Unsound 2001 10 6. 3 8 9 2002 13 54 13 10 2003 11 53 14 9 2004 10 51 16 10 Source: CBN reports and statement of accounts 2004 The impacts of these on the economy include the following: (1) There is sociological implication for the social nets of the sacked workers and the multiplier effects on other real sectors Social nets is the web of relationship established by an individual.In African setting, they include lots of extended family members that are dependent on such workers and which he/she in turn provides financial supports. (2) The confidence depositors have in banking system waned. (3) The economy became depressed as a result of loss of money. (4) Increased unemployment was witnessed. The loss of deposit definitely stalled other businesses and the spiral effect can only be imagined. At the announcement of the ba nking consolidation, not more than few banks could go it alone. Therefore, merger and or acquisition were necessitated..The existing eighty nine banks went through the process of merger and or acquisition, and twenty five banks eventually emerged by December 25, 2005 deadline. Table 1 shows the merged banks and their capital base. 171 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 Table 2 S/N GROUP MERGING BANKS Access bank, Marina Int’l Capital Bank Afribank, Afribank Merchant Diamond, Lion Bank Eco bank COMBINED ASSETS DEC. 2005, ‘N’ BILLION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Access Afribank Diamond Eco Bank 28. 5 29 33. 25 Over 25 25 30 29 44. 62 28 34 35 51. 7 25 31. 26 Equatorial Trust Equitorial Trust, Devcom FCMB Fidelity First Bank First Inland Guaranty Trust IBTC Chartered Intercontinental FCMB, COOP Dev. NAMB Ltd Fidelity, FSB Int’l, Manny First Bank, FBN Merchant, MBC Int’l Fi rst Atlantic, Inland, IMB Int’l NUB Int’l Guaranty Trust Bank IBTC, Regent Banks Intercontinental, Equity, Global, Gateway Nigeria Int’l Bank Nigeria Int’l Bank (City Group) Oceanic Bank Platinum Skye Oceanic Bank and International Trust Platinum Bank ; Habib Bank (Bank PHB) Prudent Bank, EIB International, Cooperative 37 Bank, Bond Bank ; Reliance Bank 17 Spring Bank CITI, ENS Inter.Bank, Guardian Express Bank, Over 25 ACB Inter Bank, Omega Bank, Fountain Trust Bank ; TRANS, International Bank. 18 19 Stanbic Bank Standard Chartered Bank Stanbic Bank Standard Chartered Bank 25 26 20 United Bank of UBA, and Standard Trust Bank Africa 50 172 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 21 Sterling Bank Magnum Trust Bank, NAL Bank, Indo-Nigeria 25 Bank ; Trust Bank of Africa. 22 Union Bank Union Bank, Union Merchant, Board Bank and 58 Universal Trust Bank 23 24 25 Unity Bank WEMA Bank Zenith Bank W EMA ; National Bank Zenith 0 26. 2 38 Sources: Compiled from CBN Press Release (3/1/06), Financial Standards (16/1/06), and the Comet (3/1/06). 2. 3 Post Consolidation The Nigeria society woke up by August 14, 2009 to find out that the banks were not stable after all. The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervened again purportedly to save the banking industry from imminent collapse. Five Banks were identified for rescue as a result of poor capital adequacy, high risk assets poor corporate governance tending towards CEOs corruption; erosion of share holders fund, high liquidity ratio and credit crises.Whereas the twenty five (25) banks that passed the recapitalization test were declared sound in 2005, by 2006, ten (10) were declared sound, five (5) satisfactory five (5) as marginal and five (5) unsound (CBN, 2006). Corporate governance crises, sharp practices, and corruption were also alleged. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) was set up to manage the toxic debt or non p erforming loan (NPL) of ten (10) unsound banks. About N680b was injected into these banks and then top executive changed. As at 2011, three of the banks were nigerianized and their names changed.This suggests the inability of consolidation to ensure risk control, transparency and accountability among many of the banks. Two other banks intercontinental and oceanic were acquired by Access bank and Ecobank respectively by 2010. 3. 0 The Effects of Banking Sector Consolidation on labor and the Economy Banking sector consolidation through recapitalization, has these attendant economic benefits (1) The process of recapitalization and the consequent merger and or acquisition engendered many of the banks to get registered with the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and therefore get listed (publicly quoted).Ownership of the banks became widened and public. Many Nigerians can now own some stakes in the banking sector rather than private ownership that 173 European Scientific Journal May edition v ol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 were the pictures of many banks pre consolidation era. This demands that the various boards become more responsive and alive to their responsibilities. (2) Banks were able to shore up their shares, boosting both individual and corporate investments. Locally and internationally; about $652million of foreign direct investment (FDI) was attracted (Fadare, 2010). 3) Banking restructuring and strategy that are information and communication technology (ICT) driven; a shift from the manual to automated systems involving the use of various e-banking and e-payment systems. There has been users’ acceptance of this because of their convenience, time savings and they also meet transaction needs (Adesina and Ayo, 2010). It has also led to the flexibility of business on the part of the banks. (4) Enhanced customer relationships through creation of facilities and instruments that enable easy banking.Intending customers can ope rate their accounts through telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and even on public Holidays (GT Bank 2006/2007 Interim Reports) (5) Best practice which have earned some of the banks conferment of the International Standard Organization (ISO) 9001: 2000 certification award by the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) (6) The waned confidence of the public in the banking sector is changing for the positive as shown in the average deposit rise post consolidation from 10,482. 36b Naira in 2004 to 188,478. b Naira in 2006. (See table 3). Table 3 Pre and post consolidation performance of the Nigerian Banks Macroeconomic indications N’m2004a N’m2005b N’m2006b % charge measure/decrease (-) or differences (D) (+) Average deposit (N’m) Average networth (N’m) 10,482. 36 7,708. 73 85,007. 13 19708. 88 445,008. 9 18,478. 55 38,831. 31 525,482. 0 27. 82 +1690. 0500 +403. 73% +68. 87% Credit to the private sector 311,646. 8 to private sector growth rate 26. 6 174 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431Return on equity % Assets utilization % 35. 28 33. 62 30. 8 12. 72 11. 2 11. 04 +0. 18 (D) 24. 16 (D) Source: CBN 2006 Publication Somoye, 2008 (7) Real sector -financing especially the financing of small and medium scales enterprise (SMEs) GTBank for instance sets aside #2. b for this purpose, though this is not adequate. (8) Competitiveness: Narrowing down the numbers of the existing bank evokes creativity, innovativeness service delivery, creating strategy to make the banks stay afloat in the competitive environment. The net-worth of banks grew by +403. 3% between 2004 to 2006 (see table 3 above). (9) Banking performance are also gaining the confidence of the regulatory agency as some of the banks are concluding arrangement to manage Nigeria external reserves (Idowu, 2006). (10) Banking culture is gradually expanding all over the country as the banks are expanding their point of presence. The cashless culture that will become a culture in 2013 will further reinforce this. 4. 0 Banking Consolidation: Challenges The process of recapitalization and post consolidation in Nigeria brought along its trail erger and acquisition. The following become unresolved issues. The issues can be categorized as pre and post consolidation. 4. 1 Pre-Consolidation (1) Unemployment: Rationalization during merger created unemployment. While it was not possible to confirm the number of workers disengaged as a result of the exercise (as at the time of writing this paper), the unconfirmed number has been said to be high. It is not possible though to have two Chairmen or two Managing Directors, etc,, It has not been however proved that banking sector had been adequately staffed.Efforts could be made to retrain workers for other challenges. The disengaged workers are burdens to the society, lowers national productivity, increased poverty, stress, and other psychological problems (Idowu, 2006). (2) Reneging on Collective Agreements: Many banks managements reneged on their collective agreement with the Unions. First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) for instance, sacked 1200 175 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 workers (New Age April 7, 2005).The Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution (ASSBIFI) reacted by accusing the management of being insensitive and confrontational to organized labor in the country through its inconsistencies. It also accused the management of not consulting with it in line with earlier agreement on declaring redundancy. Also, the merger arising from UBA and Standard Trust promised that no members of the two banks would be retrenched. This has not been so. Many Higher National Diploma HND holders and contract staff had not been given full employment. 3) Diversity issues: The gulf between Higher National Diploma (HND) and Bachelors Degree holders rear ed its head. The HND holders were the first to be rationalized at the conclusion of the merger exercise. This has no regard for performance level of the individuals, and all other factors besides educational background that account for individual performance; factors like reward system, organization structure, organization supports (adequate tools, motivation and leadership styles).The society suffers as the pool of unemployment widened. Admission seeking into Polytechnics nosedived. Sectoral allocation to this sub sector also becomes a waste (Idowu, 2006). 4. 2 Post Consolidation (1) Perceptions of uncertainty and insecurity of tenure pervade banking landscape among the workers. This is because rationalization exercise is still on. The consequence of this is less commitment and higher propensity to quit. Many workers have already changed jobs to other sectors due to this factor.The fraud in Nigeria banks had been correlated with high level of job insecurity Omoife (2012) found that disengaged workers vent their anger on the banks using their knowledge of the workings of the banking hall to defraud banks The fraud ran into N189b. This would go a long way in capacity building and loan to real sector which can lead to employment generation and expansion. (2) Unethical/Moral questions at both the pre and post merger era, some banks engaged unqualified and inexperienced young ladies as marketers to woo big clients so as to meet the 25 billion Naira target and to shore up their capital base.Targets were given and management looked the other way not minding how these targets were met The marketers were given near impossible targets to meet Not meeting target led to job loss. The female workers were therefore exposed to sexual harassment, and all other marketers, to other unethical behaviors. This negates International Labor Organisation (ILO) advocacy for decent employment 176 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 3) Disillusionment: arising as a result of differentials in reward package and treatment for similar status and different merging groups, uncertainty of tenure, different career path for seemingly similar educational qualification, prejudices and biases expressed by the management of some of the banks against some groups (merging banks, educational: HND/Bachelors, Federal/ State universities. (4) Decent Employment: A report that has not been officially confirmed is the fact that some banks management asked HND holders to resign and reapply with their National Diploma (ND) qualification.As well, those that attained Bachelors degree or professional certificate are to re apply, serve probationary period in spite of the number of years that had been spent with the banks or the status of such individual. This is also in spite of the glass ceiling on the career path of HND or those possessing lower qualifications. Furthermore, the process of disengaging the workers were at best, immodest. Option of resigning or get retrenched: whichever becomes the lot of the workers, there were complaints of inadequate severance benefits if there was any paid.This is demeaning having no regard for best practice The consequences of all these include: I. II. III. IV. Labor has become cheapened Unions become weakened Career opportunity slowed down and Perhaps the banks gained and labor and society lost. (5). Corporate Governance Crisis Goje (2010) suggested that the weakness experienced by banking sector as regard corporate governance (CA) arrangement may have led to the current state whereby banks cannot safeguard against excessive risk taking. Recapitalization regime exposed the banks to non performing loans (NPL) and margin loan (ML) to the tune of N2. trullion Naira. The non performing loan (NPL) of some of the banks exceeded their Shareholders Funds (SHF). Eight of the banks Capital Adequacy (CA) was less than 10% and their Deposit Ratio (DR) were less than 25% (E topidiok, 2009). The diversion of deposits to foreign exchange trading including the transatlantic mortgage and financial crises led to loss of share holders fund values as many banks had to readjust shareholders stock as depicted in table 4. Table 4 177 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) ISSN 1857- 7431 INSURED BANKS’ ADJUSTED SHAREHOLDERS’ FUNDS AS AT DECEMBER, 2009 AND 2008 S/N BANKS SHAREHOLDERS’ SHAREHOLDERS’ FUND* (N’BILLION) FUND* (N’BILLION) 2008 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Access Bank Nig. Plc Afribank Nigeria Plc Bank PHB Plc Citibank Nigeria Ltd Diamond Bank Plc Ecobank Nigeria Plc Equitorial Trust Bank Ltd Fidelity Bank Plc Finbank Plc First Bank of Nig. Plc First City Monument Bank Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Intercontinental Bank Plc Oceanic Bank International Plc Skye Bank PlcSpring Bank Plc Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc Standard Chartered Bank Ltd Sterling Bank Plc Union Bank Plc United Bank for Africa Plc Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc Total 167. 22 127. 38 243. 24 29. 40 95. 64 43. 45 32. 38 129. 55 112. 86 315. 75 137. 66 130. 03 195. 58 211. 52 96. 55 (48. 68) 67. 22 28. 47 20. 58 115. 93 191. 44 16. 94 26. 68 313. 39 2,802. 18 2009 154. 30 (221. 69) (126. 84) 31. 68 98. 31 26. 02 (46. 95) 129. 99 (123. 70) 293. 89 132. 17 141. 82 (336. 35) (192. 20) 79. 56 (94. 08) 74. 61 29. 66 20. 14 (38. 56) 114. 8 (4. 06) (3. 22) 310. 99 448. 99 178 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 Source: NDIC Adjusted Shareholders’ Fund (Bank returns) The Apex Bank Code of Corporate Governance (CCG) set in 2006 and which was mandatory for all banks in the post consolidation era to comply with could not address insider trading, ineffective risk management and control. This accounted for the NPL crisis and therefore necessitated the establishment of Asset M anagement Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).The CBN also injected N608b and provided technical assistance by replacing the so called incapable Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Executive Director ED of 8 banks with new ones. The corporate governance crises also accounted for percentage decrees in return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) over the post consolidation years compare to pre consolidation as table 5 illustrates. Table 5 Pre and Post 2006 Recapitalization, Performance Evaluation Ratio for Nigeria Banks. Pre-recapitalization 2002 Net Interest Margin 11. 16 2003 14. 88 2004 9. 12 Post-recapitalization 2006 10. 7 2007 7. 71 2008 10. 21 (NM)% Yields (YEA)% Funding Return (ROE)% Return (ROE)% Source: NDIC Annual Report, Various Issues The return on equity (ROE) measuring the rate of return to shareholders that was 99. 45% in 2004 (pre-consolidation) fell to 27. 23% by 2008. Also, return on assets (ROA) that stood at 3. 9% pre consolidation (2004) reduced to 2. 58% by 200 8. This confirms post modernist/post development postulation that modernity like restructuring/reforms does not bring about organisational efficiency or capacity management loss of investment cannot lead to creation of employment.Also the purported over capacity of resources like labor that were eliminated does 179 on Assets 17. 55 4. 64 4. 62 27. 55 20. 32 18. 88 Cost on (FC)% 8. 09 Equity 86. 08 9. 42 00. 59 9. 47 99. 45 13. 05 41. 63 9. 63 29. 11 9. 66 27. 23 on Assets 4. 52 4. 13 3. 96 2. 63 2. 00 2. 58 European Scientific Journal May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 not corroborate the result pre-consolidation. Rather disillusionment, inefficiency still pervade banking sub-sector. 5. 0 Conclusion and Recommendation The banking sector is very crucial to economic growth.The consolidation period however reveal sharp practices against labor and society which would not benefit; the society and the labor but the banks themselves in terms of po sting huge profits: Organizations like banks always pay lip service to placing premium or value on their workers as usually reported in their annual reports. Human resource practices pre and post recapitalization regime does not confirm that their workers are their assets. Banking sector recapitalization carne with double edge: benefits and constraints on the economy, the people and the society.While the banks have achieved some efficiency in terms of its operations, treatment of men at work will further deepen unemployment, lead to disillusionment, uncertainty, job dissatisfaction and quitting. The Nigerian economy is still depressed. The Gross domestic products took a downward turn growing by 2. 5% in 2000 compared to 6. 9% in 2005 and further went down in 2009 and 2010 (GT bank 2006). Alo (2006) quoted wall street journal and Heritage foundation as rating Nigeria economy as worse of in August 2006 than it was the previous year and described it as repressed measured on index of Ec onomic Freedom.The rating for 2011 is no better. Nigeria ranked 106 and scored 56. 8% on index of economic freedom for 2010 and therefore grouped as unfree, unlike in the pre consolidation era. To be free means improvement in the overall quality of life and promotion of social and economic life (index of Economic Freedom, 2011). There is the need to manage people well if the objectives of recapitalization are to be met in concrete terms. Recommendations: A lot needs to be done and the following are recommended 1. Institutional machinery should be put in place to address the issue of undervaluing, under utilization of workers.Training and retraining of existing employees to improve their capacity for new demand rather than retrenchment is advocated. The banks’ net-worth and profit after tax had increased geometrically (see table 3). The capacity to employ, train and retain more workers and therefore expand employment should not be a constraint as 180 European Scientific Journa l May edition vol. 8, No. 9 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 (Print) e ISSN 1857- 7431 expansion of branches to new areas is ongoing and new facilities and instruments are also continually being introduced. 2.The federal government and its banking regulatory agencies should do more to ensure creation of employment. In a situation where institutional framework will lead to rationalization, efforts should be made to follow due process, retrain people to retain them in other capacities rather than worsen the unemployment problem. 3. Diversity management should be a best practice and this should be included by standard organization of Nigeria (ISON) in conferment of ISO award. Diversity management is a process by which the diverse elements in organization are enabled to release their potential in organizational attainment of goals.This involves valuing and rewarding people for what they are: race, sex, educational background personality disposition and ethnicity. While the presidency made proc lamation on HND/Bachelors dichotomy in 2006, legal framework and moral persuasions should be pursued to make organization embrace diversity management as best practices. 4. The best practice principle demands that banking organization in Nigeria should place value on their workers, manage them strategically to release their energy for accomplishment of organizational goals. 5.Regulatory bodies should put in place periodic monitoring to ensure compliance with code of corporate governance by banks. Stress test on banks by the CBN should be more frequent and periodic. 6. Credit to real sectors – Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), manufacturing and agriculture to take the largest share of loan. This can lead to expansion of capacity utilization and ultimately employment generation and expansion

Free Essays on Girls Night Out

Have you ever heard anyone say something like, â€Å"My life changed completely,† or maybe, â€Å"I am a completely different person now?† Well these people may have been telling you the truth and their lives may have changed completely, but the ultimate change of anyone’s life would be to become a member of the opposite gender. Yeah that’s right, a complete change in your gender. No matter who you are or what you do on an everyday basis, you would experience a tremendous change in your life if you became the opposite sex all of a sudden. Try to picture this; you are a twenty-year-old guy attending your sophomore year at college. You are brushing your teeth one late evening after studying for a big midterm, and you just happen to look into the mirror to see a young female staring at you. This girl isn‘t behind you looking in your eyes, it is actually you that is the girl. What would your life be like then? Well, I am about to give you a few insights on what you may experience in your new lifetime as a college female. My first feelings of being a woman would be pretty interesting, because every man out there has dreamed of being a woman at some point in their life or at least dreamed about what women think under certain circumstances. These thoughts would soon get old, and I would start to witness the real challenges of my new life and how I was going to cope with being a female. My college years would appear to become easier in some aspects. As a woman, I would practice the â€Å"traditional style† of behavior and make a guy approach me for a date or a conversation. There will be no approaching guys because I think they are hot, or because they are staring at my body. With this thought running through my head, I could sit back and relax and take my pick between the guys that had enough guts to ask me out on a date. This relieves a lot of stress and worries that I had when I was a guy, because guys always have to do ... Free Essays on Girls Night Out Free Essays on Girls Night Out Have you ever heard anyone say something like, â€Å"My life changed completely,† or maybe, â€Å"I am a completely different person now?† Well these people may have been telling you the truth and their lives may have changed completely, but the ultimate change of anyone’s life would be to become a member of the opposite gender. Yeah that’s right, a complete change in your gender. No matter who you are or what you do on an everyday basis, you would experience a tremendous change in your life if you became the opposite sex all of a sudden. Try to picture this; you are a twenty-year-old guy attending your sophomore year at college. You are brushing your teeth one late evening after studying for a big midterm, and you just happen to look into the mirror to see a young female staring at you. This girl isn‘t behind you looking in your eyes, it is actually you that is the girl. What would your life be like then? Well, I am about to give you a few insights on what you may experience in your new lifetime as a college female. My first feelings of being a woman would be pretty interesting, because every man out there has dreamed of being a woman at some point in their life or at least dreamed about what women think under certain circumstances. These thoughts would soon get old, and I would start to witness the real challenges of my new life and how I was going to cope with being a female. My college years would appear to become easier in some aspects. As a woman, I would practice the â€Å"traditional style† of behavior and make a guy approach me for a date or a conversation. There will be no approaching guys because I think they are hot, or because they are staring at my body. With this thought running through my head, I could sit back and relax and take my pick between the guys that had enough guts to ask me out on a date. This relieves a lot of stress and worries that I had when I was a guy, because guys always have to do ...

Lower Divison Capstone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Password and hacking under the privcy issues Research Paper

Password and hacking under the privcy issues - Research Paper Example Hackers view the people’s privacy as an unknown intriguing matter, which has to be conquered. The hacking methods have kept up with the development of the various technologies meant to protect the privacy of the users and they have managed to violate them and gain access to one’s personal information. A proof of their rapid development is that, according to the FBI’s National Computer Crimes Squad, 85 to 97 percent of computer intrusions are not detected. Moreover, only 19 % of the attacks are reported.1 Installing password for online accounts is one of these methods; in fact, it is the most popular one. No matter the nature of the accounts, whether it is an account in a social network, or an email account, installing passwords to it is the best that one can do in order to protect his/her account from uninvited curious â€Å"guests†. The objective of this paper is to analyze how violating one’s account by cracking its password is regarded from the privacy ethical point of view. The paper shall present the legislative acts that tend to legally protect personal information from hackers and their practical application in the real life. The paper is divided into two chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to the history of hacking and its development. It will also describe the most common methods of password violation and the hackers’ point of view on this matter, under the privacy issues. The next chapter will describe the acts that are meant to protect personal information and guarantee one’s privacy and their efficiency in application. Some popular law cases connected to password hacking will be described and analyzed. Most of us associate the activity of â€Å"hacking† with illegal conduct, infringements and law violations. Of course, a hacker for us represents a law disobedient person, some kind of a rebel that instead of living his life normally chooses to spend days and nights in front of a computer and break into

Constructing a solar power plant Essay

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Solar energy is particularly suited to this area. This area is one of the sunniest in Spain, receiving approximately 300 days of sunshine a year. (See Fig 2-1). The type of solar collector used here is the Parabolic Trough Collector along with Molten Salt Heat Storage. Parabolic Trough Collectors are the most common type used in solar thermal plants one of the main reasons being they utilise a lens to focus the sunlight onto a cell, thereby reducing the amount of costly semi-conducting material PV material while collecting as much sunlight as possible.  [i]   Parabolic Trough Collectors work by using mirrored surfaces on a North-South Axis which then track the sun as it moves across the sky. The mirrors reflect the sunlight onto a tube which runs the length of the collector. This tube is known as an absorber tube and is filled with a fluid that absorbs the concentrated solar radiation and can reach temperatures of up to 400 Deg C. The Collector Field consists of hundreds of these collectors joined together in rows known as Loops and the collected heat is then passed to a steam generator or to the heat storage (molten salt).  [ii]  (see fig. 2-2) Using molten salt, the heat collected by the collectors can be used to ensure efficient use of the turbines during the day or indeed be used to continue powering the turbines for up to 7 hours at night. Molten salt is used to store heat for a number of reasons. It is capable of retaining thermal heat energy over a long period of time; it can be used at temperatures of 1000 °F which is inline with efficient steam turbines and it a non-toxic and readily available material.  [iii]   At the Andasol-1 plant, the heat storage system consists of two 14m-high tanks that are 36m in diameter and a have a capacity of 28,500tons of molten salt. The molten salt itself is a mixture of 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate. Both of these substances are currently used as fertilizers and preservatives in food production.  [iv]  (see fig. 2-3) Construction Phase: The construction of Andasol 1 began in July 2006, (see fig. 3-4), the work includes stripping the land to lay the foundations to affix the steel supports, and the parabolic mirrors are carefully mounted on the support structures in a specially constructed assembly hall on site. The complete collector devices are then mounted in the solar field. Steel pylons are then used to anchor the metal support structures. (see fig. 3-5) The 150m-long collector chains are set with hydraulic drives that have a precision close to a tenth of a millimetre. The 312 collector rows are fixed in a north-south axis and follow the suns path along a single axis therefore obtaining as much sun during one day.  [v]   The solar collectors for the plant total approx. 510,120 square metres (0.51 km2), which contains over 200,000 mirrors situated along 312 rows totalling up to an overall length of 24 km, also including 90 kilometres of absorption pipes. The total physical area of the plant including collector spacing, the storage tanks and turbine housing, etc. is 2 km2.  [vi]   The site is broken down into three different sections: solar field, storage and steam cycle/ power block. (see fig. 3-6) Solar field The Andasol power plant has a solar field that covers 510,120 square meters. The parabolic troughs are connected by pipes. The rows are set up on a north-south axis and follow the course of the sun from east to west. The parabolic mirrors are made of 4 millimetre thick, silver-coated, curved white glass. The silver coating has an additional protective coating. The specially designed absorption pipes absorb the solar radiation reflected to transfer the solar energy into a heat transfer medium located in the pipe, which in turn then transmits the heat into the steam circuit. Specialists assemble and check these collectors photogrammetrically to determine their precision in specially-constructed factory buildings before the collectors are brought to the field and anchored.  [vii]   Storage tank The Andasol power plants have a thermal storage tank allowing the power plants to provide scheduled power. In order to fill the tanks while simultaneously operating the turbines, the solar field must be larger than that of a power plant without a tank; therefore annual operating hours of the plant at peak loads can be nearly doubled this way. The liquid salt thermal storage functions under atmospheric pressure and consist of two tanks per power plant, measuring 14m in height and 36m in diameter. Solar Two in Barstow, California served as the reference project for the thermal storage tanks in the Andasol power plants because it had the same salt mixture even though the storage tank was smaller.  [viii]   Steam cycle/ Power block Turbines, generators and plant periphery are conventional power plant components, similar to those used in fossil fuel power plants. At Andasol, the plants turbine has a capacity of 50 megawatts and is specifically designed to ensure reliable operations during the daily start-up and shut down of the plant. Siemens in Sweden constructed the turbines for Andasol 1. A substation has been built near the town of Huà ©neja about seven kilometres southeast of the power plant site for feeding the electricity into the grid. The power supply contract includes general technical standards and conditions for electricity production.  [ix]   The power plant finished construction in December 2008 at a cost in the region of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬300 million. (see fig. 3-7) Operating Characteristics: The plant consists of 7,488 individual collector elements which each have a length of 12m and a width of 5.8m. Four of these elements are joined together in what are called loops and in total there are 156 loops of collector elements over an area of 1.3 X 1.5km. The total reflective surface are is 510.000m ². The turbine capacity of the power plant is 49.9MW. The annual power generation for this plant, given the high rate of solar radiation in this area of Spain (2.1 2.2kWh/m ²/a) is expected to be in the region of 179GWh. That figure approximates to the energy needs of 50,000 homes of 200,000 people.  [x]   The breakdown of the site is as follows: The parabolic troughs are set up in 312 collector rows which are connected by pipes. One row is made up of two collector units. The mirrors follow the course of the sun and reflect solar radiation onto the absorption pipe. The absorption pipes were conceived especially for use in parabolic trough power plants. Every unit has its own solar sensors and drives, in order to track the position of the sun. The units each have 12 collectors, which have 28 mirrors and 3 absorption pipes. The power plant requires 7,488 collectors. The storage tanks at the plants can operate even on overcast days or after sunset. A small portion of the heat that is produced from the solar field is kept as liquid salt. The heat required for this is stored in a molten salt mixture, 40% potassium nitrate and 60% sodium nitrate. Both of these substances are currently used as fertilizers and preservatives in food production. During the pumping process between the two tanks, the molten salt mixture can also absorb extra heat at a temperature of approx. 290 °C, where it is heated to a temperature of 390 °C. A full storage tank can be used to operate the turbine for about 7.5 hours. The thermal storage tank allows the power plants to supply electricity regularly into Spains high-voltage electricity grid. The Spanish energy supplier Endesa purchases electricity from the power plants in accordance with Spanish energy law, which states that the power plants are permitted to feed in a maximum of 50 MW into the grid. The power supply contract includes the implementation of programming and the after-sales service for electricity production Below is a further breakdown of some figures associated with the individual sections of the plant. (See Fig. 4-8) The power plant was officially connected to the grid in December 2008 and became operational in March 2009. The total cost is somewhere in the region of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 300 million. A grant was also given from the European Union, which amounted to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 5 million; this was giving as a funding aid for scientific research.  [xi]   Environmental Impact: The solar power plant will be able to cut carbon emissions in the region of 86,000t per year. The plant uses an unlimited energy source; no additional resources are needed for operation. It is CO2 and emission-free, therefore there is no air pollution (see Fig. 5-9).  [xii]   Environment and sustainable development needed to concentrate on some key areas: Sustainable management and water quality, global climate change, biodiversity, marine ecosystems, and the regions cultural heritage. Socio-economic aspects of environmental change with sustainable development in mind i.e. impact on, the economy and employment.  [xiii]   Another aspect is that when the plant is decommissioned, the salts from the storage tanks can be crystallized and removed in their raw state to be used thereafter in other applications e.g. in agriculture. One of the main reasons for erecting the plant in this location was that it is close to existing road and railway infrastructure, and that it had the disposal of a flat land floor without environmental protections, it was considered wasteland. Another reason was the advantages offered by solar-thermal power plants, the operator of Spains national grid, Red Elà ©ctrica de Espaà ±a (REE), classified Andasol power plants as predictable sources of electricity. This helped eased the permit process for granting access to the high-voltage grid, but it also made it possible to increase the percentage of renewable energy in the states energy mix because of the stabilizing effects of solar-thermal power plants.  [xiv]   Conclusions: Spain is highly dependent on imported energy. Almost all petroleum and natural gas, as well as 70% of its coal, have to be imported. However, it has more than enough of one of the most environmentally friendly and cheapest sources of energy in the world the sun. The Spanish governments support plan Plan de Fomento de Energà ­as Renovables (PER) envisions the expansion of solar thermal power plant capacity to 500 MW by 2010. Spains Ministry for Energy and Industry wants to increase the annual volume of electricity produced in solar-thermal power plants to about 4,000 GWh, which is the equivalent of the capacity of about 25 Andasol power plants.  [xv]   Andasol 2 followed in 2009 and Andasol 3 will follow in 2011. The Andasol location will result in a total of 150 megawatts of solar thermal power station capacity being connected to the grid electricity generated in an environmentally-friendly and sustainable manner.

pauls case Essay example -- essays research papers

Paul’s Case Paul's Case is about a young, Calvinist man who did not feel that he belonged in his life. He lived on Cordelia Street in Pittsburgh, PA. Cordelia Street was littered with cookie cutter houses, suburbanite-like city-dwellers, and a general aura of despair. Paul's room was no different. Paul felt that his abusive father, uncaring teachers, and classmates who misunderstand him aren't worthy of his presence and company. One of the reasons Paul may not have fit in was because there is a chance that he was learning disabled. Paul worked at Carnegie Hall as an usher. It is here that Paul's real love lies. Paul lost himself in the music of the symphonies, the characters of the plays, and in the artful scenery. Paul also enjoyed gallery art, as evidenced by the hours he spends in an art gallery, staring at one painting, before his shift at Carnegie one night. He became lost in seemingly all forms of creative expression, whether it is a floral arrangement in a shop window or an orchestral swell at the beginning of a symphony. It is at Carnegie Hall that Paul became struck by the glitter and the starlight of the stage. He was not star struck in the sense that he wanted to perform in any way, he was simply content to observe others' performances. He is struck in the sense that he wants to live the way the characters in the plays do. He imagines them living to all the extent of their money, glutting on beautiful music, art, and life. Paul, unfortunate for him, was,...

Anglo American Dissatation

Introduction Anglo American Plc is a mining conglomerate and is one of the largest companies within the mining industry. It originally started in 1917 as a gold mining company going by the name of Anglo American Corp; the name was created when the initial starting capital of ? 1million was raised from U. K. and U. S. sources (Forbes 2006). In 1999, following a major strategic review, Anglo American merged with Luxembourg headquartered Minorco to form Anglo American Plc, with its primary stock exchange listing and head office in London and secondary listings in Johannesburg, Switzerland, Botswana and Namibia (Anglo American 2012d).Anglo American â€Å"operates in Africa, Europe, South and North America, Australia and Asia† and is a global leader in the mining of both platinum and diamonds (Anglo American 2012c). They employ approximately 100,000 people (Anglo American 2012c) across the world, both in the mines and in local offices, with the majority of employees being based in South Africa, 79,000 (Anglo American 2011). Anglo American employs 10,000 people in South America, which is the second largest proportion of employees in the company, and employs 11,000 people in other countries across the globe (Anglo American 2011).South Africa produces the highest amount of revenue by origin, $17,855million in 2011, which accounted for 49% of the group’s total revenue for that year (Anglo American 2011). When comparing all the countries’ revenue for the year, South Africa has a very dominant position, as all the other countries have less significant revenues of $5,058million or lower (Anglo American 2011). This suggests that South Africa is the main country for production. They have a highly diversified mining portfolio, comprising of many metals and minerals.In 2011, Anglo American increased their shareholding to 85% in the world’s leading diamond company, De Beers (Anglo American 2012a), which accounted for 6% of the share of Anglo American ’s operating profit in 2011 (Anglo American 2012c). The company employs 16,000 people in the diamond division, in North America and Africa, which is the second largest percentage of employees across the group (Anglo American 2011). Another subsidiary of Anglo American is Anglo American Platinum Ltd. AAP), of which they own 80% and employ 55,000 people, which is the largest proportion of employees across the company, 55% (Anglo American 2011). AAP is the main producer of platinum in the world, accounting for 40% of the global supply (Anglo American 2012c). Iron ore is the most predominant area of Anglo Americans operating activities with the largest share of the group’s profit in 2011 of 41%, $4520Million (Anglo American 2011). This is significant in comparison with the second highest area of operating profit, copper, which attributed to $2461Million, 22%, of the operating profit.Anglo American also produce metallurgical and thermal coal, nickel and other materials, whi ch, although contribute to the company’s profits, are less significant in comparison to the more major operations of diamond, copper, iron ore and platinum. Anglo Americans main corporate aim is to, â€Å"be the leading global mining company becoming the industry’s largest employer, partner and investment of choice† (Anglo American 2012f). They believe a â€Å"sound strategy, sustainable development and good corporate governance are essential to achieve this goal†. (Anglo American 2012f) MethodologyAt the first meeting, the group decided that the company study was to be worked on two days a week and a table was drawn up in order to manage the time efficiently to ensure the deadline was met. The table comprised of a ‘plan’ and ‘achieved’ column for each date during the weeks leading up to the deadline of 14th December, see Appendix A. After the first meeting, the group went away to do some individual brief research on the given co mpany in order to get background knowledge of Anglo American and so the in depth research for each section could be carried out at the next meeting.In order to make the most of the time given, the group was divided so that each of the main sections were researched thoroughly in order to give a more detailed report. The group followed the recommendations, allowing a third of the time to carry out research, a third on writing up the report and a third on editing and producing the final piece. After the research had been carried out on all sections, different members of the group began writing up different sections of the report using the information previously obtained.The group then looked over each other’s sections in order to make sure all relevant information was included, to check for grammar and spelling mistakes and to make sure enough references had been used. This was important to ensure all members had a good understanding of each section. Anglo American’s webs ite and annual reports were the main source of information for the company study. The issues surrounding Anglo American during the past year allowed for many relevant news articles to be widely available for use within the financial management section.After the report had been completed, the group booked weekly sessions in the Techno booths with print outs of the completed report, to ensure all members of the group were familiar with all sections. The presentation was then brainstormed and the main points put on a PowerPoint, which then allowed for the presentation to be practiced over a couple of weeks prior to the deadline. Many rehearsals of the presentation were carried out to ensure it filled the time allocation required and it flowed well.Problems occurred with the methodology closer to the deadline, as members of the group had less spare time to work on the company study, due to other assignments being due in around the same time. Financial Accounting Corporate Governance As a global organisation it is crucial that Anglo American complies with the highest standards of corporate governance, to ensure any agency problems within the company are minimised and the company is well run. Anglo American aims to â€Å"direct and control its company in a transparent and accountable way. † (Anglo American 2012f).From the 2010 board effectiveness review, an action plan was created to improve the relationship between the board and management, which could have helped reduce the conflicts of interests and agency problem. The action plan was to Increase contact between directors and management between board meetings and â€Å"Introduce more ‘free flowing' informal discussions outside board meetings – the pre-board meeting dinners will be more ‘structured' whilst retaining an informal style† (Anglo American 2011). In 2011, this action plan was reviewed and changes within Anglo American were made. The flow of management information to the Board was enhanced and the frequency of dissemination of this was improved. † â€Å"Structured board dinners also took place during the year where matters such as strategy were discussed† (Anglo American 2011). This shows good corporate governance by Anglo American as areas of the business which need work are being identified by the company and being acted upon accordingly to improve the effectiveness and control. The Anglo American board is chaired by Sir John Parker and consists of two executive and eight non-executive directors. 0% of this board it made up by women, this suggests that the Anglo American board could be more diverse. In the current business economy, â€Å"Regulators, politicians and shareholders are each stepping up pressure on companies for greater board  diversity  as part of a drive for better governance† (Robertson 2012). The Lord Davies Women on Boards report set a target of 25% minimum of board members to be female by 2015. Anglo Ameri can stated in their annual report their â€Å"intention to increase the representation of women on the Board from 20% to about 30% by 2013† (Anglo American 2011), which is two years below the national expectation.This is an example of good corporate governance by Anglo American as it is adhering to policies and targets which are not compulsory and also has disclosed in its annual statement, its future intentions to increase diversity in the boardroom. Anglo American also has a nomination committee which â€Å"aim is to build on the existing diversity of the board by identifying and nominating suitably qualified candidates† (Anglo American 2011). This is viewed as being good corporate governance by the company as Anglo American is making sure before directors are appointed that they are right for the job and the best candidate is chosen.To do this, they are considering both men and women for the job roles which is widening the talent pool. The Government passed the UK B ribery Act 2010, under this act the â€Å"defence  for a company against this liability is to prove that it had ‘adequate procedures’ in place to prevent bribery† (Wilkinson 2010). To comply with this act, Anglo American have implemented the necessary procedures to ensure that its business integrity policy operates effectively, so the risk of bribery is minimised as far as possible (Anglo American 2011).During the year, Anglo American developed enhanced guidelines on the acceptance and provisions for gifts and entertainment and provided specific guidance on the procedures to be followed where risks were considered higher. This is a good example of corporate governance as this would reflect positively for shareholders and potential investors, as new laws are being adhered to. In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, Anglo American continue to propose the re-election of all its directors on an annual basis (Anglo American 2011), which ensures good cor porate governance, as directors will always be of the highest quality possible.Within Anglo American â€Å"The Audit Committee plays a pivotal role in ensuring high standards of corporate governance and provides assurance to the Board on its reports to shareholders† (Anglo American 2011). In Anglo American, the audit committee comprises of four independent non-executive directors. The audit committee is also charged with reviewing the results of the key risk management process, â€Å"being involved in the risk management procedures of the company† (Anglo American 2011).However, to improve the governance in this area Anglo American could disclose the main risks to the company and the strategy it has in place to deal with these risks. The Audit committee is also responsible for the whistleblowing programme which the group has had in place for a number of years. It â€Å"is designed to enable employees, customers, suppliers, managers or other stakeholders, on a confident ial basis, to raise concerns in cases where conduct is deemed to be contrary to our values† (Anglo American 2011).This shows good corporate governance as there is a programme which has been set up by the group where stakeholders, can report failures and discrepancies within the company, to independent non-executive directors. However, Anglo American could disclose the procedures which are to be followed when issues are reported. Within Anglo American, the board delegates certain responsibilities to a number of committees; these include the Remuneration committee, Nomination committee and Audit committee.In coherence with the UK combined code of corporate governance there â€Å"should be a formal and transparent procedure for developing policy on executive remuneration and fixing individuals director’s remuneration packages, no director should be involved in deciding their own remuneration† (FRC 2012). Anglo American’s remuneration committee seeks advice fr om external advisers Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, Linklaters LLP, Mercer Limited and Deloitte LLP, to help determine the director’s remuneration packages.Anglo American describes its policy as being â€Å"formulated to attract and retain high-calibre executives and to motivate them to develop and implement the Company’s business strategy in order to optimise long-term shareholder value creation† (Anglo American 2011). The remuneration mix is an important part of good corporate governance as it ensures that the company has an appropriate blend of basic and performance related pay as the remuneration committee will see as suitable.This will ensure that the directors will strive to achieve the main goal of increasing shareholder wealth. At the present time, director’s remuneration is calculated on the industry median for the mining sector and is adjusted by the director’s performance and experience. Anglo American could improve their corporate governa nce by setting director’s remuneration packages at the industry averages only. Within Anglo American, each executive director’s total remuneration consists of basic salary, annual bonus, long-term incentives and benefits.This ensures that an appropriate balance is maintained between fixed and performance-related remuneration (Anglo American 2011). However, the sheer value of some of the bonus packages is likely to affect shareholders wealth and the willingness for potential investors to invest. An article from the Telegraph explains that the chief executive of Anglo American was handed a 38 per cent increase in pay last year, with a total package worth ? 2. 17m, however the cash element of her annual performance bonus was increased by 134 per cent to ? 962,000.Never the less, at this time shares in Anglo American fell by 14 per cent over the course of 2011 (White 2012). This could be viewed as bad corporate governance by the company as despite the share price falling t he chief executives pay has been dramatically increased. To help the directors ensure they have a meaningful stake in the performance of the company, in 2004 the remuneration committee devised a Bonus Share Plan (BSP), â€Å"which requires executive directors to invest a significant proportion of their remuneration in shares† (Anglo American 2011).This demonstrates good corporate governance, as it aligns the directors’ interests with that of the shareholders, reducing the agency problem. The bonus share plan also weakens independence of the directors within the company, as it is giving them greater interest within the company on a personal level. Training is offered to new directors in order to develop a comprehensive view of Anglo American’s company, continuous training is also available to directors throughout their employment.However, the governance could be improved by disclosing in the annual report the nature and the schedule of the training, so the stakeh olders know what is being covered in the induction training. Within the annual report for Anglo American there is a statement of director’s responsibilities, which sets out what is expected of the directors. The board should present a balanced, true and fair view of the company’s position and prospects. Under company law the directors should not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the affairs of Anglo American.This shows good corporate governance from the company as in the annual report it breaks down the directors responsibilities, however this could be improved by giving details to the users of the annual reports about what responsibilities each director has. A breakdown of the separation of roles between the chairman and director could also be disclosed in the annual report, which will ensure that one person is not given too much power which could prove to be very risky for Anglo American.The skills and knowledge of all the board members are summarised in the annual report, to give the shareholders and stakeholders an idea of their previous experience and the wealth of knowledge they bring to Anglo American, which shows good corporate governance by the company. Overall Anglo American shows good corporate governance with compliance to the UK combined code of corporate governance. The company has disclosed majority of information but could improve by disclosing the strategies in place, especially for the risk management prospective and its whistleblowing and training schemes.Stating the responsibilities of the chairman and chief executives would also ensure that corporate governance is being applied at a continuous high level. Stakeholders UK corporate law requires companies to be principally accountable to their shareholders. However, Anglo American believe that their shareholders' best interests are served when the company makes sure all appropriate stakeholders are kept happy, not just the sha reholders (Anglo American 2011).It is in all stakeholders’ best interests that the company not only survives, but flourishes long term, Anglo American therefore seek to be the partner of choice for its stakeholders by operating in a way that is acceptable to them all (The Times 2012a). Anglo American needs their stakeholders to support them in order to meet the organisations objectives’, for example treating staff well and respecting local communities, will make it easier to recruit new people necessary for growth.In the long term, this will create more value for shareholders. Employees are possibly the most important stakeholder for Anglo American, employing approximately 100,000 people around the world (Anglo American 2012c), however working within the mining industry has been voted one of the top ten most dangerous jobs (Korch 2012). To help protect this stakeholder group, Anglo American has adopted strict health and safety regulations which are outlined in the safe ty way, ensure that employee’s working conditions are as safe as they can possibly be. The safety way is a comprehensive framework of roles and responsibilities supported by a set of safety principles and mandatory safety standards† (Anglo American 2012b). The strategy outlines Anglo American's risk-based approach to safety based on ten key factors that support effective safety management; leadership, risk management, culture, competence, assurance, monitoring, planning, standards, communications and learning (Anglo American 2012b). Employees in management positions are also seen as stakeholders within Anglo American, as they are esponsible for making key business decisions within the company and without the relevant information they will not be able to make reliable decisions. Unions are a very important stakeholder for Anglo American as they try to make the employees' time whilst working for Anglo American as safe and as beneficial as possible. Previously, Anglo Ameri can have clashed with unions and issues have been raised, as seen in The Telegraph (2011), resulting in negative media interest and damaging the reputation of the company (White 2011). This, in turn, has a negative impact on all stakeholders within the company.In 2010, Anglo American received an â€Å"Employer incentive award for good performance† due to their â€Å"sound labour relations with trade unions, as well as the implementation and enforcement of sound occupational health and safety practices and initiatives† at the South African trade unions solidarity awards for 2010 (Anglo American 2012k). Examples of some of the trade unions that are recognised within Anglo American are The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, The National Union of Mineworkers, The United Association of South Africa and The Togetherness Amalgamated Workers Union of South Africa.Activist groups can be classed as stakeholders, as mining involves using the world’s natural re sources and in some cases can lead to long term damage to the environment. Such groups are passionate about protecting the environment and if they feel that Anglo American are not protecting the environment enough, they put pressure on the company. On 28 Sep 2012, War on Want released an article discussing the miner’s strikes in South Africa and the poor working conditions of the employees (War on Want 2012).This could create negative publicity and disrupt operations, therefore affecting shareholder wealth. In response to these activist groups, Anglo American has recently developed a Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox (SEAT) as a means of further improving the impact of its activities, e. g. setting up training programmes for local communities (The Times 2012b). The contractors that work on the various sites across the globe are also seen as stakeholders within Anglo American, as they carry out the majority of the work on civil engineering projects, such as digging new mines.C ontractors are important stakeholders in Anglo American as they have a lot of responsibilities when undertaking projects and if these are not carried out properly, then problems can arise. If quality standards were compromised, due to disillusioned contractors, then this could have health and safety consequences in the future. Contractor management is also an important consideration when using contractors as external stakeholders, for example local communities may accuse Anglo American of poor social performance associated with these contractors.This is the reason that the social impact of contractors on the local area is managed professionally. Customers are a vital stakeholder within Anglo American, but due to the nature of the industry, the majority of Anglo American's customers are countries, â€Å"China is a key customer of Anglo American's products† (Anglo American 2012m). Anglo American has many different key performance indicators (KPI), divided into investing in worl d class assets in the most attractive commodities, operating safely, sustainably and responsibly, employing the best people and organising efficiently and effectively (Anglo American 2011).One of the main operating KPIs is the work related fatal injury frequency rate (FIFR). FIFR is calculated as â€Å"the number of fatal injuries to employees or contractors per 200,000 hours worked† (Anglo American 2011). This information is most relevant to the employees of Anglo American, and the unions representing them, as they are the ones who are directly affected by the injuries of co-workers. The FIFR for 2011 shows a small increase in fatalities from 15 to 17, however, in 2009 there were over 50 fatalities which shows that Anglo American is implementing the correct strategies in order to minimise these fatalities.Despite the downward trend, Anglo American targets 0 fatalities, showing that Anglo American show a keen interest in their employees' welfare. Another operating KPI is the lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR), which is the amount of lost time from injuries (LTIs) per 200,000 hours worked (Anglo American 2011). An LTI is an injury which leaves the employee unable to perform their regular duties for a the period after the injury was incurred (Anglo American 2011).If Anglo-American have a higher FIFR or LTIFR than the industry average, it may put off possible employees from applying for a position, which could result in the company not being able to employ the most knowledgeable people, which can have a negative impact on shareholder wealth. Another operating KPI is greenhouse gas emissions which is measured in CO2 equivalent emissions (Anglo American 2011). Environmental activist groups, such as Greenpeace, are likely to be interested in this key performance indicator as greenhouse gases are very harmful to the atmosphere and have been linked with global warming.The annual report from 2011 shows a reduction in Greenhouse gas emissions than in 2010, s ignifying that Anglo American are moving in the right direction in terms of reducing their carbon footprint. Total water use is another operating KPI and includes water used for primary activities, which affect the people who live in the area surrounding the mine. Some of the regions that Anglo American work in, have sparse water supplies and therefore any water used by the company may result in less water for the local communities.Reducing this KPI is important to Anglo American, as if this is not managed it may put off potential employees within these communities from applying for a position within the firm, and may give Anglo American a bad reputation. The final key operating KPI is Enterprise Development, which is is defined as the number of companies supported and number of jobs sustained by companies supported by Anglo American enterprise development initiatives (Anglo American 2011). The stakeholder that is most closely linked to this key performance indicator would be the lo cal community in which Anglo American operates.Results from this KPI show that Anglo American is currently supporting 38,681 businesses which is much higher than their target of 3,500 businesses (Anglo American 2011). A key KPI relating to employing the best people is voluntary labour turnover, which is the number of permanent employee resignations as a percentage of total permanent employees (Anglo American 2011). In 2011, the percentage of employees who resigned was 3% which shows a decrease of 2. 3% from the previous year (Anglo American 2011).This shows the company is striving to improve employee morale and employee working conditions. This KPI is important for the employees of the company, as it indicates the number of people who may have been unhappy within their work. An important employment KPI in recent times is gender diversity, which represents the percentage of women and female managers employed by Anglo American (Anglo American 2011). In 2011, the group managed to incre ase the percentage of female employees from 14% to 15% and the total number of female managers from 14% to 21%.This KPI can be linked to both the employees and unions of the company, as both want to make sure Anglo American has equal opportunities for both genders in order to create a harmonious working environment. The first â€Å"organising efficiently and effectively† KPI is asset optimisation, which is defined as the sustainable operating profit benefit from optimised performance of the asset base of the core businesses (Anglo American 2011). An asset optimisation strategy is comprised of asset management and asset monitoring and a well organised strategy can reduce avoidable maintenance and interruption times.Managers of Anglo American will be interested in an effective asset optimisation strategy, as it will allow them to make effective decisions with regards to the best method of maintaining and using the company’s assets. The other organising KPI is the supply chain, which is the â€Å"operating pro? t and capital spend bene? ts to Anglo American resulting from centralised procurement from core businesses† (Anglo American 2011). An effective method of managing the supply chain is by local procurement, as it saves transport costs by supplying across the world.Therefore, managers of Anglo American will be interested in this KPI as it allows the company to build relationships with key contractors/ suppliers that can produce mutually beneficial outcomes. The results for the most recent financial year show an improvement to the supply chain of $472 million from the previous year. In the annual report Anglo American also have a section of investment KPI’s, these include return on capital employed and underlying earnings per share. The results from the annual report show an increase in both KPI’s from 2010 to 2011, 24. 8% to 26. 5% and $4. 13 to $5. 06 respectively.Investment KPI’s are only relevant to shareholders. I t enables shareholders to check how well Anglo American generates profit from the capital invested and provides them with a comparison to the previous year. Despite the fact that Anglo American has a fairly extensive list of key performance indicators, there are other factors that have not been accounted for that would benefit the company’s stakeholders. Antofagasta Plc. , another company within the mining sector, uses operational KPIs that state the volumes of the most important metals that has been mined during year and compared with previous years (Antofagasta 2011).Anglo American could create this form of KPI to ensure they increase the level of production for the most important materials each year, which would be useful to the majority of stakeholders as they would be able to see how much the company has expanded its' production over the year. Contractors would be able to use this information to estimate how the level of production will increase over the following year t o put aside enough resources in order to carry out any projects that Anglo American may have in the future. London Mining Plc. ave a KPI for number of employees trained, which gives the number of people who have undergone professional training within the year (London Mining 2011). Anglo American could use this as one of their KPIs to show whether the management have executed the relevant training schemes for employees. Customers would be the most likely stakeholder to benefit from this KPI, as if there is a high number of people that have been professionally trained, it implies that their staff are trained to the highest standard and will have the correct knowledge needed in order to carry out best practice.Employees would find this information useful to determine whether they might be entitled to be given professional training by the number of employees put on schemes within the year. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Financial Management Figure 1 shows Anglo American Plc. ’s share price performance over the period 1 January to 30 September 2012 and the FTSE All Share performance. After analysing, it can be seen that both share price, and average share price of the FTSE All Share, have considerably similar movements over the given period with Anglo American’s share price being more erratic. [pic]On 6 January, Anglo American shareholders approved the change of holding from 45% to 85% of De Beers at the company’s general meeting. During the meeting the chairman voiced his expectations for an increase in shareholder value due to the expertise and leadership of De Beers (Anglo American 2012a). This shareholder approval was expected to result in an increase in demand for shares, which is represented by the increase in share price between 9 January and 23 January. This movement in share price seems to be autonomous from the FTSE All Share which would aid our analysis of this particular period as the event is internal to Anglo American. On 26 January Anglo American released their production report for the 4th quarter in 2011. Initially, the share price dropped from ? 27. 37 on 26 January to ? 26. 35 on 30 January which could have been due to the decrease in diamond and platinum production. This area of production is what the company is best known for, so a decrease in production of these would initially deter investors and create doubt for shareholders. Between 30 January and 3 February the share price shot up by ? 2. 5 which signified that the shareholders had looked into the report further to see that the production of all other materials had increased, including nickel production increasing by 125% from the previous year (Anglo American 2012). From figure 1, it can be seen that this increase is reflected in the movement of the FTSE 100 which could suggest that there may be external factors also affecting Anglo American at this time. On 23 March, Anglo American sold a â‚ ¬750m 10 year euro bond which could hav e been due to funds being needed more within the company (Euroweek 2012).Investing in the euro bond may have been to help create or strengthen values of the company, especially within Europe at this particular time of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis. As shown on figure 1 between 23 March and 29 March the share price fell dramatically. This could be due to shares being sold by shareholders that primarily invested in Anglo American, as they supported the Eurozone. On 1 June, Anglo American re-entered the euro bond market which â€Å"several bankers speculated that they returned out of prudence† Euroweek 2012). The share price shot back up, which could have been caused from the amount of demand for the deal, this suggested investors were pleased to see Anglo American again. Anglo American was in talks with Peru on 29 June in relation to a potential local sustainable development to accompany a mining project in the region, and had proposed a $118 million investment (Guerra 201 2). $36. 9 million of the investment was budgeted to install a pumping system in to two of the country’s rivers (Guerra 2012).The fact they are supporting and helping Peru is a sign of good corporate social responsibility for shareholders and potential investors which resulted in a ? 0. 66 increase over 4 days. Between 10 August and 30 August, there is a noticeable decrease in the share price which would seem to be an internal factor as the FTSE All Share does not seem to follow suit during this period. An outside article was realised on the 10 August stating that Anglo American were dismissing claims that a shareholder spring was expected to occur which was broadcasted in the Telegraph (2012).The article in the Telegraph (2012) stated that shareholders had contacted Sir John Parker, Chairman of Anglo American expressing their dissatisfaction with the CEO, Cynthia Carroll. Sir John parker sided with the CEO which fuelled the shareholders to take their complaint to one of the company’s directors. This highlighted to the shareholders the lack of support they were receiving, which therefore could be the internal factor forcing the share price down.When comparing Anglo American with other companies within the mining industry, the movements in the FTSE share price are mirrored more closely by Antofagasta than Anglo American, which may suggest that their beta is closer to 1. [pic] Throughout the period analysed, the share price movements for Anglo American is quite volatile in comparison to the FTSE All Share. Between 2 April and 7 June, the movement in share prices between both Anglo American and The FTSE is extremely similar with Anglo American’s movement being more responsive.This could signify that external factors affecting the whole market have affected Anglo American the same way but at a more severe rate, this is shown by their beta of 2. 08, see Appendix C. With the FTSE having a perfect market beta of 1 the beta value of Anglo American is in perfect correlation with the movement of share prices, see Appendix B, as in the majority of places the movement is the same but double as volatile. With the beta value being considerably higher than 1, shareholders or investors are likely to be risk seeking rather than risk averse.The further away from 0 the beta value is, the lower the shareholder value, but the potential for a high return is there. As seen in the London Business School Risk Measurement Services publication the commercial betas for the 3 quarters up to September 2012 are of a similar value, see Appendix C, with the average being 1. 55. This is significantly lower than our calculated beta of 2. 08. However the â€Å"Risk Measurement Service uses estimates based on an analysis of variable factors, and is therefore no way guaranteed† (London Business School 2012), whereas the beta of 2. 8 was calculated based on weekly data taken from Thomson Analytics. Although the beta of 2. 08 is the less favourable one, it is the more accurate out of the 2 so will give a better indication of shareholder value and the risk an investor may take. Both betas are aggressive in relation to the market beta however the commercial calculation is less so. Unless a serious investor were to calculate the beta themselves, using actual data for the company, they would be likely to base an investment decision on estimated inaccurate beta values.A shareholder’s decision to invest can be influenced by another confounding variable, the company’s investment rating. There are 3 main investment ratings that stakeholders use and rely upon these are Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch. Anglo American are rated on Moody’s with a long term investment rating of Baa1 and the equivalent long term rating on S&P of BBB+ which is noted to be a lower medium grade of investment. S&P define their BBB+ rating as the company having â€Å"adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions† (Standard and Poors 2012).Although Anglo American’s ratings could be higher they seem to be in a good stable financial position and therefore an attractive investment for potential shareholders. The short term ratings for Anglo American are of a slightly better position than the long term ratings, with Moody’s being P-2, which implies they â€Å"have a strong ability to repay debt obligations† (Moody’s 2009). This shows the company is fairly liquid giving reassurance to shareholders because if the company was to enter default there would be a higher chance of shareholders getting a return.The S&P credit rating for Anglo American was the same in 2011 as in 2012 with a long term rating of BBB+ and a short term rating of A-2 for both. This gives investors the security of Anglo Americans stable credit rating and in turn ability to pay off debt. Although investment ratings can be used to help determine whe ther to invest or not they should not be relied upon, as companies with the same rating do not have absolutely equal credit quality. It does not take into consideration external factors such as a change in money rates and it ignores the length of maturity. Dividends |2011 |2010 | | |($) |($) | |Interim dividend |28 |25 | |Recommended |46 |40 | |final dividend | | | |Total dividends |74 |65 | Anglo American has a clear dividend policy in which a base dividend will either be increased or maintained from year to year (Anglo American 2011).An interim dividend of 28 US cents per ordinary share was paid on 15 September 2011, and for the 2011 financial year â€Å"The Board proposes a final dividend of 46 cents per share, giving a total dividend for the year of 74 cents, a 14% increase† (Anglo American 2011) see figure 3. During the year the Group paid dividends of $818 million to company shareholders, which is a huge increase on the $302 million paid out in 2010, and $1,404 million in dividends to non-controlling interests.Based on shares eligible for dividends at 31 December 2011, this will result in an estimated distribution of $557 million of shareholders’ funds, of which $350 million will be distributed by the parent Company. The interim dividend for 2012 has increased by 14% to 32 cents per share, which continues their policy of a base dividend being slightly adjusted after discussion to ensure the maintenance of their investment grade rating (Anglo American 2012n). Dividends are proposed to be paid out in cash and not scrip issues therefore the $557 million will be shown on the balance sheet, therefore affecting cash flows.Anglo American have a fairly attractive dividend yield of 3. 32% in 2011, when compared with other mining companies within the FTSE 100, see Appendix D. From the four companies analysed the dividend yield has increased from 2010 to 2011, apart from BHP Billiton. This suggests that either companies are issuing a higher divided or the value of shares has dropped. In Anglo Americans case the share price has fallen over the given period, but the annual dividend has also increased. As a percentage of earnings the dividend for 2011 was 14. 51%, which had increased from 11. 97% in 2010.Considering the high capital investments that Anglo American commit themselves to, this is fairly good proportion of earnings attributable to shareholders. The optimum dividend policy would offer shareholders a constant, steady dividend paid at regular intervals now rather than later; this is exactly what Anglo American has to offer. However due to the Group’s aggressive investment plans for future growth, which includes three major projects; Barro Alto, Los Bronces and Kolomela, the constant regular dividend policy is likely to cease or at least come under discussion at board meetings.Shareholders have questioned the decision to invest money into these projects, CEO Cynthia Carroll has announced that the 3 projects and anot her one expected to commence in 2013 will contribute $6bn to dividend pay-outs. Although the expected change in dividend policy has undoubtedly caused controversy with shareholders, the company has proven that investment into new projects is necessary to maintain a high profit and continue to pay a regular dividend in the future (Vuuren 2011).Over the past few years Anglo American have had a strong, fairly positive balance of debt and equity, which has allowed them to have the flexibility to attain more finance when necessary. Net debt at 30 June 2012, including related hedges, was $3,124 million which was an increase of $1,750 million from the net debt at 31 December 2011. Net debt at 31 December 2011 comprised $12,873 million of debt, partially offset by $11,732 million of cash and cash equivalents (Anglo American 2011).However a dramatic net debt decrease of $6,010 million occurred from 31 December 2010 to 31 December 2011 which reflects strong operating cash flows and proceeds o n the disposal of 24. 5% of Anglo-American Sur (Anglo American 2011). Anglo American is funded mainly by equity as shown by the debt and equity ratios in Appendix D. At 30 June 2012 for every $1 of capital invested by the shareholders $0. 655 is funded through debt, which is a slight improvement on the debt equity ratio of 0. 677 at 31 December 2011.The ratios indicate that the group should easily be able to generate enough cash to satisfy its debt obligations as the group has enough room to manoeuvre its current levels of finance. It is important that a company’s debt-equity ratio is not too high as this can lead to increased interest payments and an enlarged risk of damaging their credit rating. This is perhaps the reason that the group made efforts to decrease the debt-equity ratio from 31 December 2010 from which it was 0. 755. Anglo American has a sound equilibrium between debt and equity as seen by the gearing calculations in Appendix D.Over the past two years, the figu re has increased gradually from 45. 71% at 30 June 2010 to 50. 30% at 30 June 2012, which could be due to an increase in long term liabilities. The market value of equity has also increased but at a slightly lower rate, causing the gearing ratio to increase steadily. However, the value of equity is based on the market value of the shares at 30 September 2012 for each of the three years to ensure a more accurate comparison, so when considering each year in turn, it would not show the true value of gearing.Figure 3 shows the comparison of the percentage of gearing compared with the percentage of gearing using the market value of equity. Both show a similar pattern with gearing gradually increasing over the two years, but a steeper incline for the gearing based on the share price at that year. This could be a result of the share price dramatically decreasing from 25. 26 at 30 September 2010 to 18. 17 at 30 September 2012, in turn giving a lower value of equity when using the market sha re price.Calculating the gearing using the share price at that time, rather than the market value today, shows the gearing in a way that the company would have wished to portray. Overall, it can be seen that the share price movements of Anglo American Plc. generally follow the market trend, signalling that external factors are the main influence on any change in share price. The erratic behaviour of Anglo American’s share price makes an investment in this company quite risky. For example a variation in the market share price due to a change in regulation is likely to have more of an effect on Anglo American as their beta value is 2. 8. To lower the risk they could strengthen themselves against external factors by introducing or improving their internal control systems, minimising their exposure to the external environment and in turn lowering their beta. The beta of Anglo American demonstrated by how the share price movement is generally the same as the market but exaggerated , which shows that it is an aggressive beta. When comparing with other companies in the mining sector Anglo Americans beta value is higher than most but not an anomaly, see Appendix C.All the companies within the mining sector in the FTSE 100 have a beta value higher than 1, making them all aggressive, risky investments, with Anglo American being one of the more risky options. Anglo American may seem quite risky when using the beta, however when considering this alongside the company’s gearing it could be considered as an attractive less-risky investment. Anglo American’s gearing is fairly average, but it could be improved by minimising the amount of debt that contributes to the company’s finance, also decreasing the debt equity ratio.Although the company may be seen as becoming increasingly highly geared, they are constantly investing in new projects to increase shareholder wealth in the long term, which makes the level of gearing more acceptable. Anglo America n’s investment rating is fairly high on Moody’s credit rating table, which shows there are signs for improvement but also space for fault. The rating is based on many confounding variables, with Corporate Governance having a major influence on the overall rating. Although Anglo American has demonstrated fairly good corporate governance, there is still room for improvement in many areas.Another variable that could affect the rating is the dividend policy on offer to shareholders. Anglo American offer a very attractive policy with a base amount and regular payments, which is the optimum option for shareholders, as they know what to expect and when to expect it. After taking into account all aspects of the financial performance of the company, an investment in Anglo American would be recommended for a risk seeking investor expecting regular dividend payments. Anglo American is a worthy investment, as they have a number of new projects ined up for the future and have prove n to have had huge success with previous projects, leading to satisfied shareholders. However, the value of Anglo American has declined over the period analysed, with the share price falling from 22. 29 to 18. 17, but this is forecast to increase over the near future due to all the projects recently invested in. If the global economy was to enter a double dip recession, Anglo American is not likely to be affected much by this, due to the strong commodity values and derivatives. Strategic ManagementAnglo American is currently one of the world’s top mining companies and has held this position for a number of years. Their main goal is to be the â€Å"leading global mining company, becoming the investment, partner and employer of choice† (Anglo American 2012f). A way in which Anglo American wish to become the global leading mining company is to outperform competition, by their structure of organising efficiently and effectively (Anglo American 2012l). They aim to achieve t his from being more focused and performance orientated, and believes their Asset Optimisation (AO) programme will help to do this (The Times 2012).Anglo American wanted to enhance the health and performance of their operations, so designed an Asset Optimisation programme in order to achieve a holistic approach to this. It has allowed a more open working culture giving employees the encouragement to not only work together but contribute their own ideas to improve the business. A major contributor from the AO programme, that has added value across the group, is the development of the programme, in which it has been introduced into the day-to-day business of Anglo American.This programme has added value and strength to Anglo American as to date they have saved well over their target of $1 billion from their core operations and hope the strategy continues to present positive outcomes in the future (The Times 2012). To improve efficiency, each individual area of production is focused on lowering its costs, such as lowering excessive waste or managing the usage of natural resources. Water is vital to Anglo American in order to carry out their operations and also for the communities around them, especially as some areas are the most ater-stressed regions in the world. To reduce water usage, a 10 year strategy is in place which involves making projects water resilient, investing in new technology and building water infrastructure. By 2030, Anglo American hope to have reached the strategic objective of zero net water consumption. Not only does this strategy improve the efficiency of production, it also engages with stakeholders, which in turn benefits the community (Anglo American 2012l) and will reduce the agency problem between directors and the local population.Investment is a strong part of Anglo American’s strategy, and they feel that the investments they have made into large scale assets, with long life cycles, have given them a clear advantage through the low costs attached to them. The commodities that Anglo American specialises in are those that they believe hold the best returns over a long period of time, and even during the fluctuations that occur over an economic cycle.Anglo American also offers derivatives of their commodities which is a good strategic decision for them to take, in the sense that they are guaranteed a certain level of return for those derivatives. However if the demand and in turn the price dramatically rises for those commodities Anglo American could receive lower than the market value at that time. Therefore the option to offer derivatives not only allows for the opportunity of stability for an agreed amount of income, but also the threat to lose out on an increase of market value of that commodity. Operating safely, sustainably and responsibly is embedded in everything† (Anglo American 2012l) that Anglo American does. Employee safety is a huge part of any decision made by the company and they are per sistent on reaching their goal of zero harm. The 5 years prior to Cynthia Carol becoming Anglo Americans CEO there was a total of nearly 200 fatalities, whereas the 5 years following her position as CEO the number of fatalities dropped to 77.This could be down to the change in strategy and how the importance and safety of employees was considered invaluable to Cynthia; this was demonstrated by her drastic decision in 2007 to close the Rustenburg mine instantly due to the risky nature of it (Carroll 2012). The health and wellbeing of employees was taken a step further when HIV/AIDS and general healthcare services were not only provided to employees but also their dependents, spouses and other stakeholders.This has been recognised as world class and has received a number of rewards for it, ‘The Business Excellence Award for Best Workplace Program’ being one of many (Engineering & Mining Journal 2009). Minimising the effect that their operations have on the environment is something that Anglo American also considers in detail. Over the years Anglo American have received a number of awards that prove their commitment to the environment, in 2011 they received the three out of four awards at the ‘Three Nedbank Capital Green Mining Awards’.They were recognised for their rural research project at Sishen mine where management decisions were aligned with the long term sustainability objectives of the Taolo Gaetsewe District and the surrounding region (Nedbank 2011). Anglo American hope that this project will make a positive difference to community development, and in turn bring them closer together, building respectful associations within the society they work in (Anglo American 2012l).They believe that this strategy along with strong governance and solid risk management will create trust amongst the company and its stakeholders and fundamentally enable the delivery of long term returns to shareholders (Anglo American 2012l). Employing the best people is vital to the success of the company and also to achieving their main goal of becoming the leading global mining company. How effectively Anglo American operates depends on the people they employee which in turn contributes to the reputation they have with investors, partners and potential employees (Anglo American 2012l).To attract the best employees to the company, Anglo American; create a safe work place for all, have a clear strategy for success, offer stimulating work, are organised for effectiveness and efficiency and support employees in their career development (Anglo American 2012l). Not only does this strengthen the company, as employees have the help to progress and be motivated to progress and become the best employees, but it also offers opportunities for Anglo American to be the employer of choice.Although Anglo American has quite strong strategies in place, they should be aware of the external factors which are constantly changing that could affect these str ategies or future strategies. Due to the many countries that Anglo American operates in, they need to constantly monitor each country to ensure they are aware of anything that could affect them, for example, a change in government may have a drastic effect on the way they operate in that country. This could be managed by strong internal controls and contingency plans to react to any change as quickly as possible.The minimum wage rate for each country is something that also needs to be monitored and adhered to as they differ dramatically between the countries Anglo American operate in. The minimum wage for Australia in 2011 was ? 10. 13 compared to Kenya which was ? 0. 61, which is a dramatic difference so is hard to monitor, but it is essential to ensure all the different countries regulations are adhered to (Wage indicator 2012). Governments have also started to impose super profit taxes, where mining royalties increased in Australia, Chile and South Africa.Companies are charged su per profit taxes on revenue but now new legislation has been introduced where mining companies are charged on profits as well as revenue. To offset this, there are also discovery bonuses that Anglo American can be rewarded for, for finding natural resources within a country (Deloitte 2010). Anglo American should carefully consider the environment and the areas affected by their actions. There is a constant concern from the public, as appreciation of the environment grows along with the awareness of the harmful effects that mining can have on their surroundings (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006).Activities at ground level constantly have an impact on the surrounding area, as bore holes, access tracks and sometimes even helipads are required. If the areas affected are left un-rehabilitated, this can have a long term effect on the environment (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006). Anglo American has a strategy in place that is recognised internationally, and assists any mine-closu re planning. It focuses on the provision for finance necessary and rehabilitation â€Å"for long term sustainability through addressing complex socio-economic, physical and bio-physical challenges† (Anglo American 2012e).Stakeholder relations are constantly upheld throughout any project that Anglo American carries out; this ensures they have constant feedback from the community, government bodies and any other stakeholders affected by their actions. Mining is always going to affect the environment and the local communities surrounding each project, but Anglo American has strong strategies in place to deal and cope with these affects to the best of their ability. It is important for Anglo American to value the importance of society.Employees, their communities, and the population of host countries are all part of the society that Anglo American should embrace. â€Å"Every year Anglo American spend a percentage of their pre-tax profit on social investment projects and spend ti me working with communities† (Anglo American 2012j). In 2011, Anglo American increased their Corporate Social Investment by 15. 8% to $128. 6 million. The Anglo American Group Foundation is their own venture that operates globally, offering grants to countries where projects are carried out (Anglo American 2012j).Education is a huge social aspect where grant funding is used; assisting the development of maths, science and literacy as well as higher education and ensuring teachers are of a good quality. Health is also considered an important aspect on which to focus grant distribution, and Anglo American have a holistic approach when it comes to HIV/AIDS as not only do they supply internal counselling and testing but have also donated $4 million to external HIV/AIDS projects (Anglo American 2012j).Anglo American has outstanding generosity and strategies in place when it comes to the society and has strong and thorough planning for any operation carried out to improve their rela tions with stakeholders. However â€Å"community projects require creative marketing strategies and comprehensive business plans, and an external project consultant could be useful here† (Engineering and Mining Journal 2012), to eliminate any bias, and to make society relations a major variable for any decisions made.A large proportion of Anglo Americans workforce and mining is carried out in Africa â€Å"with nearly 1 billion people, Africa accounts for over a sixth of the world’s population, but generates only 4% of global electricity† (Salaam 2007). Anglo American need a lot of electricity to carry out day to day activities and with the strain of electricity available throughout Africa it was essential for Anglo American to find an alternative energy source due their large consumption of 102. 9 million gigajoules in 2011 (Anglo American 2011).In order for this level of energy to be available to them Anglo American have constructed five platinum based fuel cel ls which not only provides them with the necessary power for productivity but also â€Å"provided a significant economic and environmental development opportunity for South Africa by facilitating the provision of clean, reliable and cost effective power† (Anglo American 2012g). Anglo American consider technology and carbon reduction to be linked very closely and aim to have technology capable of running cost efficient, carbon neutral mines in 20 years (Anglo American 2012g).Although Anglo American have the aim in place to achieve this, a strategic report on how they aim to achieve it and a breakdown of steps, costs and research would be useful. It would not only be useful to the company and employees carrying out the strategy, but also for stakeholders, especially the African population and government. It may even be possible for the project to be supported, and maybe even assisted by the local Government to push forward the time scale. Being a multi-national company, Anglo A merican has to comply with many laws from each country they mine in.As well as these, some countries have individual legislation, which varies in different areas of the countries, USA & Canada (Garcia 2008). These can include environmental laws, e. g. water pollution, national laws e. g. minimum wages and safety laws. An example being that Anglo American has developed a safety and sustainable development committee in order to comply with South African safety law. This states that a company in South Africa must provide a committee with ambitions to â€Å"initiate, develop, promote, maintain and review measures to ensure health and safety† (Boshoff 2012).By having a safety committee they can try to minimise the lost time fatality rate and try to achieve their overall goal of zero fatalities within any Anglo American workplace. Anglo American has a sound collection of strategies in place to deal with external factors but it is also important for that they have strategies in plac e for internal factors. Figure 5 shows a value chain of Anglo American and allows for the internal factors that Anglo American could be affected by to be recognised. |Infrastructure: A multinational conglomerate with joint projects and subsidiaries.De Beers being the largest subsidiary of | |many. Extremely high capital investment, with lots of projects. Primary listing on LSE, secondary on JSE. | |Human Resources: Diversity among workforce across all levels of employment. Committed to International Labour Organisation. | |Development of talent remains a key priority. | |Technology: Research and develop their own technology. Link development of new technology with the ability for carbon | |reduction. | |Procurement: have a local procurement policy engaging local businesses in supply chain.Expect all suppliers to operate | |safely, sustainably and responsibly. Prefer suppliers who are engaged in China sourcing. | |Inbound Logistics: |Operations: Diamond, |Outbound Logistics: |Marketi ng and Sales: De Beers|Service: To maintain | |partner with Chinese |nickel, copper, iron |40% of worlds platinum|have their own diamond |the sites. Mines need | |suppliers to operate and |ore, thermal coal and |output. Own 85% of De |auction and shops. 70% of |to be maintained by | |maintain complex products|platinum mining. Beers, the global |platinum consum