Master in Finance Application Essay Sample

Master in Finance Application Essay SampleAn important part of the application process is writing an essay on your Master in Finance application. Whether you are applying for a graduate or undergraduate program, it is a requirement to pass. The essays are written to answer a specific question and give more information about yourself, the degree, and why you want to be a finance professional. When completing this application, be sure to have a thorough understanding of how your essay will be evaluated.In most programs, finance is a broad subject that covers business, accounting, economics, and management. Master's graduates of an MBA or financial management program may also focus on a specific area, such as banking, commodities, equities, international finance, international trade, and insurance. Additionally, it can vary by school, but the focus is usually on the candidate's knowledge and experience, as well as professional goals. After answering the selection question on what you ho pe to gain from a finance degree, the essay comes next.The essay is considered part of the application and can only be used once. The essay is to be an individual reflection, and should address the major points of the application. There are many factors that may influence how the applicant will be selected for admission, including scores on the SAT and ACT, grades, extracurricular activities, and recommendations. In addition, it must also be typed and pasted correctly, and must be at least 500 words.As the application process goes through the selection process, the essay sample will be analyzed and studied thoroughly. This is where experience and knowledge of finance and other related subjects will help. Even if it seems like common sense, writing a cohesive essay should be simple and straight forward. With practice, the applicant will improve their ability to organize their thoughts, communicate them accurately, and write concisely.It is a given fact that the complete application i s the first thing that is seen by the admissions committee. This means that there is a greater need for writing proficiency than any other part of the application. The applicant's resume and transcript must match the essay format in order to be considered. A well written, structured, and comprehensive application is the perfect combination of preparation and performance.Financial writing is the language of finance. The process includes planning, presentation, editing, research, and rewriting. It can be an overwhelming prospect, but with good direction and practice, the student will enjoy creating a masterpiece.The process starts with the application itself. The student writes his or her profile, beginning with the academic details. It is a good idea to consult an editor before beginning the essay. They can offer suggestions to help make the essay easier to write and to write with a professional voice.If this step is skipped, the student may use a calculator or other exact numbers, b ut most banks and colleges require both precise and approximate information. Some students have trouble thinking outside of the box, but this is a helpful process to work through. The key is to gather information, consolidate it, and understand the flow of information required to write an essay, as well as how the bank and college would handle it.

The Electoral College System Is One Which Is Criticized Often. In Most

The electoral college system is one which is criticized often. In most of the countries in the world their leader is chosen by popular vote. This was true even in communist countries, although many times only one candidate runs sometime. This system of popular vote is not used in the United States, the country that is supposed to be the most democratic. The Electoral College, the constitutional system for the election of the president and vice president of the United States. It is the collective name for a group of electors, nominated by political parties within the states and popularly elected, who meet to vote for those two offices. Each party within a state selects a slate of electors numerically equal to the state's congressional delegation. The electors normally pledge to vote for the nominees of their party, but they are not constitutionally required to do so. When the American people vote for president and vice president, they are actually voting for slates of electors pledged to their candidates. Because the electors usually are chosen at large, the electoral vote of each state is cast as a unit, and the victorious presidential and vice presidential nominees in each state win the state's entire electoral vote. The candidates receiving a majority of the total electoral vote in the United States are elected. The electoral college system was established in ArticleII, section I, of the U. S. Constitution and has been modified mainly by the 12th Amendment. Numerous plans have been proposed for eliminating or altering the electoral college, including direct election of the president and vice president by popular vote. It extremely ironic that the what is supposed to be the most democratic government in the world, does not choose a president according to what the majority of the people want. The electoral college system generally gives all of a state's electoral votes to the winner in that state, no matter how slim the margin. Thus it has happened that candidates have been elected even though they received fewer popular votes than their opponents. Both Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, and Benjamin Harrison, in 1888, were elected in this manner. In the case of Hayes, a special electoral commission was called in 1877 to decide the contested returns. John Quincy Adams also received fewer popular votes than his opponent, Andrew Jackson, in the election of 1824, but his election was decided by the House of Representatives because Jackson failed to win a majority of electoral college votes. On several occasions the popular vote pluralities of the electoral college victors have been razor thin or even questionable. One instance was the election of John F. Kennedy over Richard M. Nixon in 1960. The feature of the electoral college most prone to attack is the requirement that the election go into the House of Representatives to determine the president and into the senate to determine the vice-president if the electoral college fails to reach a majority. There might be a paralyzing delay in determining the victors, and the president-elect and vice president-elect could be members of opposing political parties. The House was called upon to elect a president in the cases of Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, and the Senate chose Richard M. Johnson as vice president after the election of 1836. The possibility of this happening again remains very much alive. Should a third-party candidate carry enough states to prevent an electoral vote majority for any candidate, the House, voting by state delegation, might be prevented from reaching an absolute majority. Pledged electors generally have been regarded as legally free to cast their votes as they choose, and there have been cases of defection from pledged positions. No such deviation has had a clear effect on an election result, but the possibility raises an additional objection to the electoral college. In 1820 a New Hampshire elector voted for John Quincy Adams instead of James Monroe; in 1956 an Alabama elector voted for a circuit judge instead of Adlai E. Stevenson; in 1960 an Oklahoma elector pledged to Richard Nixon voted instead for Harry F. Byrd; in 1968 a North Carolina elector defected from Nixon to George C. Wallace; and in 1988 a West Virginia elector voted for Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. instead of Michael S. Dukakis. Because of this I will shown that the following, although improbable example is possble to happen. If every single voter in the country unanimously chose "candidate A" for president, the electors pledged to him still may rally against

Next Generation Plm an Integrated Approach for the Product Lifecycle Essays

Next Generation Plm an Integrated Approach for the Product Lifecycle Essays Next Generation Plm an Integrated Approach for the Product Lifecycle Essay Next Generation Plm an Integrated Approach for the Product Lifecycle Essay Proceedings of ICCPR2007: International Conference on Comprehensive Product Realization 2007 June 18-20, 2007, Beijing, China Next Generation PLM an integrated approach for the Product Lifecycle Management Julius D. Golovatchev 1 Oliver Budde 2 1) Detecon International GmbH, Managing Consultant for Enterprise Effectiveness PLM, Bonn, Germany 2) Research Institute for Operations Management at RWTH Aachen University, Germany Abstract: Consistent definition, categorization and operation of products (e. g. extended products, bundles, etc) delivered to global markets and customized for ifferent buyer segments is one of the major challenges for the Lifecycle Management. Each lifecycle encompasses the processes, information, support systems and people involved in delivering the related business functions. It can be argued that process supporting technologies/solutions like WFMS, PDM-System etc exist today for the creation of a seamless environment for accessing, ma nipulating and reasoning about product information that is being produced in fragmented and distributed environment. A holistic approach that is suitable for aligning the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) business requirements (like process flexibility, horter time to market etc) to the potentials of new technology driven concepts in the information management like SOA is nevertheless still missing. The authors give reasons why the holistic view on the product lifecycle management as well as the link between an inter-company wide information management is critical for an efficient PLM and present an integrated approach taking these aspects into account. In this paper four building blocks of Next Generation PLM are introduced. The PLM Meta Model makes up the first building block. It defines the constraints and rules for decomposing the roduct functionality into meaningful modules. The PLM IT-Architecture represents the second part and describes the IT-components and their interrelat ion utilized for the purpose of PLM. A PLM-Process methodology as a basis for describing the relevant activities is attached in the third building block. The final building block is constituted by the Lifecycle Value Management concept for steering the PLM- process on a strategic level like, among other things, by considering portfolio effects. The paper closes with the presentation of a short case study validating the proposed concept for a company in the ervice industry. Keywords: PLM, product lifecycle management, extended product, integrative approach, lifecycle value management 1. Motivation As Shark (2004) postulates, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the activity of managing a company’s products across the complete lifecycle, from the early stages of conception to the final disposal or recycling of a product. From this definition, a strong interrelation between the value creation process and the PLM of the company can be deduced. Taking the current globally changin g business environment into account the PLM can be considered as a strategic weapon for enabling he company to provide an additional value to customers and thereby gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Especially in the telecommunication industry, which experienced a significant change in its environment during the last five years, PLM is considered to be essential for facing ever shorter innovation cycles (Wohler-Moorhoff et al. , 2004). In the following two sections, we introduce the main business drivers, which currently have the most impact on a company’s business model and are expected to do so in future. For each business driver specific PLM-relevant challenges can be derived. These challenges will be pointed out in detail in the last section of this chapter and will serve as motivation for our integrated PLM- approach in chapter 2. The validation of this approach is the goal of chapter 3 by introducing a case study. (1) Business Drivers Business Driver One: Management of the Extended Product The dichotomy between tangible goods and immaterial services is subject to change according to Saaksvuori (2004). In the service industry as well as in the traditional industries like manufacturing this development towards a hybrid or extended product can be observed. (Figure 1) Fig 1: Extended Product according to Thoben et al. , 2001 Following the argumentation of Mateika (2005) a critical success factor in the manufacturing industry is the ability to provide more profitable services in addition to the tangible good. But this combination of tangible and intangible attributes in terms of the extended product increases the complexity in managing the Product Lifecycle. (Saaksvuori, 2004) Another concomitant phenomenon of the so-defined extended product is the focus-shift to a horizontal integration along the value chain (Teresko, 2004), which can be achieved by considering product modularization oncepts. Business Driver Two: Globalization Global markets result in global competition that every company is confronted with. This barely new business driver forces companies to follow either a cost-leadership strategy by standardising their products or a differentiation strategy on a global scale by individualizing their products. In order to perform in the cost-lea dership role, companies have to implement efficient processes regarding the development of complex products and to handle the order management process. Simultaneously companies have to cooperate with numerous business partners, which results in a high effort or coordination. A product differentiation strategy implies processes that ensure short time-to-market on one hand and an effective degree of freedom in the process definition for staying innovative on the other hand. Business Driver Three: Legal Frameworks Increasing regulations such as safety, environmental and product reliability will influence company’s PLM- process. Especially the resulting effort for ensuring traceability will have an impact. Traceability has two dimensions in the PLM-context. First of all it is related to the PLM process itself. Effective measures have to be in lace in order to ensure the flow of transactions to identify where material misstatements due to error or fraud could occur (Sarbanes Oxley Act). Further, traceability in the order-delivery process is about tracking of an individual product units or even components. Legal frameworks like TREAD Act for the automotive industry in the USA or REACH for the chemical industry in EU can be subsumed under this dimension. Companies that need to respond to this kind of regulation must ensure that the implementation and the integration in the existing processes happen to be simple and at the least possible lifecycle costs. 2) Challenges Based on the outlined business drivers, challenges for companies can be derived for the strategy, the processes organization and the IT. An overview of these challenges is given in the following table. Tab. 1 PLM-relevant challenges Strategy Impact Impact on Processes Impact on IT Business Driver 1 Less vertical integration, more horizontal integration of the value chain Focusing on product modularization and utilisation of product platforms to enable the re-use of components Collaborative PLM-pr ocess with defined interfaces Process readiness for the management of complex products Data exchange standards IT-representation of complex products Integration of business applications Business Driver 2 Commitment to either a product individualisation or product standardisation strategy Improvement in the process automatisation Inter-company wide process standards Enterprise Application Integration with external business partner Workflow Management System Business Driver 3 Comply to regulations e. g. (Sarbanes Oxley Act, TREAD Act Support for traceability of products by standardised and well documented processes Support for traceability of processes Safeguarding data consistency Storage concepts for long-time archiving PLM is an essential component to support the value chain process in the company. In Aerospace industry, for instance, taking six month out of the development cycle can increase market share as much as 8% (Teresko, 2004). Due to the complex and multilayered challenges, that companies have to face, an isolated, non-integrative PLM-approach is not promising. Instead we recommend a more integrative approach that addresses the relevant dimensions of the PLM and thereby ensures an effective implementation. 2 Integrated PLM- Approach The integrated PLM- Approach consists of four components, depicted in figure 2. PLM-IT- Lifecycle- Value Management 4 Meta Model PLM Architecture PLM- Process Building Blocks Fig. 2: Four components constituting the integrated PLM-approach In the following paragraphs the different components are described further. (1) PLM Meta-Model Many present quality deficiencies in the product development (esp.. n the service industry) originate from a diffuse definition of products as well as from the inconsistent view on the object â€Å"productâ€Å". The product (or service) should be clearly and precisely defined to be developed, commercialized and to be understood from the customer. There should be a constant product definition ith the overall product lifecycle and for all business processes. The product as the main subject of the process needs to be defined and this definition should be taken from the customers? perspective. A product is an entity the customer perceives in its entirety and is characterized by being offered to a market place. It includes physical products, services and information (compare figure 1). The precise definition of the complete product range and their categorization still remain a problem especially in the service industry (eg. telecommunication, energy, finance industry etc. ). For example, in the elecommunication industry essentially four categories of products can be differentiated: market product (service), standard solution, customized (individual solution) and bundle. All offered products and services can be assigned to one of the mentioned categories. Product definition is not simply a reflection of the engineering design. It also includes the entire set of information that defines how the product is designed, manufactured, operated and managed on the market and finally withdrawed from the market. Product definition should be furthermore detailed by the company-wide specific PLM Meta-Model to decrease complexity costs. Such Meta-Model defines the product on an even more detailed level for the optimization of time to market and decreasing of resembling components PLM Meta-Model is the basis for standardization and modularization of products. Modular product data structure as core element of PLM Meta-Model ensures linking the sales perspective to the internal (production) perspective in relation to the offered products and services. The main aim of introducing a modular product structure is the optimization of the product development. and market Internal Portfolio branch Modules Components cat I Module cat †¦ in well management systems Realization systems and management Sales view production view Product Modules Module II †¦ †¦ Realization PLM as as stock in production order IT architecture: Product realization: PLM-Process Transfer payments Controlling: cost / revenue, product success accounting Production service: demand assessment, Marketing Portfolio invoicing target and regional resource planning and advance performance mgmt: structure Billing: Processes: input/ output, process quantities Fig. 3: Definition and requirements on product data structure The unique PLM Meta-Model and the corresponding processes should be implemented by considering the xisting processes, company structures, and cultures. Requirements from the affected functional areas flow into the definition of the product data structure. One master product data management fits all needs of the main processes and its interfaces. Using PLM Meta-Model leads to simplification and cost optimisation of â€Å"product engineering† throug h the re-use of the production modules, shorten â€Å"time-to-market†, avoiding overlaps in development and reduce technical variance, availability of the product modules range of all service lines (factories) for all division of the company etc. . (2) PLM IT-Architecture The foundation for moving a product through its complete lifecycle beginning with the product idea and ending with the product removal from the market is a solid PLM IT-Architecture, that is customized for the company-specific PLM- requirements. In our perspective, such a PLM IT- Architecture must support the PLM- process in the dimensions: (1) Decision support, (2) Operational support and (3) integration of supplemental business applications. A standardized off-the-shelf PLM-System is therefore not the tool of choice as Ausura and Deck (2007) point out. Instead we suggest to rely on a PLM IT- Architecture that re-uses, respectively ustomizes existing IT- components as far as possible. In the next paragraphs a description of the essential IT-components is given that build up the PLM IT- Architecture. Decision Support System (DSS): The main purpose of a DSS is to gather and consolidate data from operative systems in order to provide the senior management with aggregated information re garding the product lifecycle. The Computer Aided Selling (CAS) module provides functionality for the product configuration 1 and product pricing. The component Strategic Resource Management focuses on the long-term resource capacity planning on a strategic level. Product ortfolio management aspects are covered with the last Value Management component. Operational Support System (OSS) On the operational level the PLM- process execution is supported by the OSS. The Workflow Management Systems (WFMS) enables a higher degree of process automation. Especially in the context of distributing and releasing unstructured content like a product specification in cross-functional teams, the WFMS plays an essential role through a strong link to the Product Data Management System (PDM). The Product Modelling System and the PDM are closely coupled. The former defines the product structure, in which types of modules he product is decomposed into 2 . In the database context this functionality is sim ilar to the schema definition. The PDM-systems stores all product relevant data according to this definition and provides different views for each stakeholder e. g. marketing and engineering. The Multi-Project Management System as well as the Collaboration Tools are instruments for managing the product in different phases in a collaborative environment. Integration of supplemental business applications: A PLM IT- Architecture is supposed to hold the promise of seamlessly integrating and presenting all information roduced throughout all phases of a product’s life cycle to everyone in an organization, along with external business partners. For ensuring this functionality, an EAI-approach has to be implemented. According to recent research activities a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is most suitable to integrate the business applications from external partner e. g. suppliers as well as integrating the own business applications like ERP, CRM etc. in order to fulfil the promi se of seamless integration for becoming a real-time enterprise (Abramovici, 2002). Product-Marketing Management Exit Management CAS Strategic Resource Management Value Management Applications Supplier) Multi-Project- Tools Workflow- Product System Applications CRM CAD Decision System PLM- Process Business Customer) layer (Development Product Operational Support System Business (Management System Product-Data-Management System Collaboration Management Modeling System Business SCM ERP Support Applications (Integration-SOA) 1 The CAS module is also essential in the operative context for the order management. In our understanding CAS goes beyond the operative support and helps to steer the variant management in order to cope with the increasing product complexity nowadays. .For example hierarchies of assembly groups can be defined. Additionally constraints and rules can be modeled constricting the combination of specific modules. Fig. 4: PLM IT- Architecture building the IT-foundation of the PLM- approach (3) PLM-Process and Structure In this section the PLM-Process description will be introduced. The main design goals of this approach is to facilitate the execution of this collaborative process (efficiency goal) and equally important to align the activities with the strategic goals of the company (effectiveness goal). Our PLM-Process approach is based on three principles: Stage Gate Approach, Multi-Perspective, Metrics based Management. These principles are subject for further explanation in the following paragraphs. Principle One: Stage-Gate Approach The Stage-Gate Approach is both a conceptual and an operational model for the development, marketing and removal of a product during its life cycle. The PLM- Process consists of seven stages. This structure is oriented on the life cycle of the product and has been validated in several projects by Detecon Inc. primarily in the Telco-Industry. Every stage consists of a distinct number of activities (organized in perspectives, refer to the next ection), which have to be accomplished by specific process stakeholders at the given phase. The entrance to each stage is a gate; these gates control the process much like quality control checkpoints. Each gate is characterized by a set of deliverables as input, a set of exit criteria and an output. Gates are manned by senior managers that form the so-called Product Board. The Product Board acts as a gate-keeper that evaluates the results from one stage by a given set of criteria. Based on this evaluation, the product board can either decide whether the product idea proceeds to the next stage, e-starts at the previous stage or is archived. Principle Two: Multi- Perspective Product Lifecycle Management has always to cope with the conflict of objectives between the product marketing and the technical side. Several case studies have documented that this conflict often results in product failure in the market. Either because the product specification is too much technical driven and therefore far from the market demand or the product marketing has defined product specifications without collaborating with the technical department about technical feasibility beforehand. For solving that conflict of objectives three erspectives on the process have to be taken into account in order to ensure an efficient coordination and collaboration of the relevant d epartments or business partners. In the market perspective all activities are assigned to that relate to the product marketing. Referring to the service industry, typical tasks like the definition of product specifications and the management of the product on the market-place belong into this category. By contrast the technical perspective subsumes all technical or production- oriented activities. Additionally the financial implications of moving the product through the life cycle re grouped in the financial perspective. Principle Three: Metrics based Management In addition to the process definition the organisational component must not be neglected. Since products, and consequently the PLM-process, become more complex and involves internal as well as external partners along the value chain, there is a greater need to balance top- management control with the empowerment of self-managed, cross functional teams. As a prerequisite for achieving this balance, the company has to implemen t a metrics-based management approach in which teams are measured on strategic performance indicators such as evelopment cost, time to market and customer satisfaction. The definition and selection of the indicators is critical for the successful implementation of the PLM-concept. By setting the weights properly the teams will self-steer to the greatest short- and long-term profit, which results in less coordination effort and efficiency gains especially in the context of for cross- departmental teams. Evaluation Implementation Marketing Management Perspective Perspective Business Plan Implement Plan Technical Implementation Launch Product Go-Live technically Business Case Monitor Manage KPIs Monitor Ensure Product Process Controll Business Case Delivery Finalize 1 3 4 5 6 7 Gate 1 Gate 4 Idea Paper Description Report by Board Innovation- Management Planning Launch Exit Market Technical Financial Perspective Market Capabilities Analysis Technical Evaluation Financial Rating Market Roll-out Planning Develop technical concept Detailing Business Case Market Adjust Business Case Monitor Innovation-Market Exit Technical Exit Business Case 2 Gate 2 3 Gate Gate 5 6 Gate Detailed Design Product Launch Report Mgnt. Approved the Product Fig. 5: PLM-Process based on three principles (4) Lifecycle Value Management Life cycle oriented product planning is a necessity for companies on the competitive market and requires a robust and systematic process combined with the right organizational environment. Enterprises use Lifecycle Value Management to support the management of the product after launch through the growth, maturity, and decline stages of the product life cycle. In the overall value chain, Lifecycle Value Management ensures that the products and services which are developed and implemented fulfill the market requirements and reflect the market demand. Lifecycle Value Management requires permanent attendance for analysing and planning or ensuring the customer benefits and the alignment to all company functions. There are three different but supplementary building blocks of Lifecycle Value Management. PLM and Lifecycle Management Value Reporting Controlling Customer Needs Management Value Oriented Portfolio Management Fig. 6: Three building blocks of Lifecycle Value Management Value orien ted portfolio management (incl. IT-supported portfolio database) Increasing complexity of the product marketing without an appropriate and efficient data foundation will result in a lack of business transparency and low synergies in the value network. The modular structure of the portfolio promotes the use of common parts in the production processes, increasing the ratio mass production to overall production. Strategic alignment and value based product portfolio management enable an effective product lifecycle management. Focusing on clearly defined products makes a significant contribution to effective portfolio management. The products can be positioned without overlaps and in accordance with market demand. Value oriented portfolio management helps to prioritize product investments. Sales and marketing departments benefit from the increased transparency of the product range and he improved comprehensibility for the customers. Reporting and controlling process regarding the product lifecycle management process The referencing of different divisions (sales, resources and production planning; cost/profit accounting, etc. ) to a standard product definition lays the foundation for the application of important controlling instruments (e. g. product success accounting). The unambiguous correlation of the basic data to business management indicators along the lines of a standard product structure provides staff and management with precise and timely information about all of the critical success factors that elp staff and management to make the right decisions at the right time. Customer Needs Management Customer Needs Management incl. Requirement Management builds interface between PLM and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and gives input for the collaborative product design. The effective Customer Need Management ensures that product content matches customer requirements and allows delivering more personalized products by facilitating mass customization Implementation of these three building blocks combined with a modular product data structure ensures the â€Å"state-of-the art† Lifecycle Value Management: Individual product performance information available at real-time. Product Manager retains product accountability throughout life cycle. Strategy for product growth, maturity, and withdrawal stages is defined up front. Product replacement strategy also considered. Systematic (e. g. annual) review and clean-up/optimization of product portfolio. Supplier and customer are involves in the high collaborative integrated PLM 3 Case Study A renowned company in the telecommunications industry carried out an extensive restructuring program which would enable it to maintain its position in a deregulated market environment. The objective was on the one hand to convert the previously technical driven approach for the product design (i. e. , their orientation towards technical performance features) to an approach focusing on the customers’ needs and requirements. On the other hand, the aim was to develop and implement the integrated management approach, Next Generation PLM. In the initial situation the PLM and the platform was not â€Å"state-of-the-art† (e g. no withdrawal phase, missing of decision gates, long â€Å"time-to-market† etc). A portfolio management process was not designed and implemented. The current portfolio structure was oriented on the rganizational or technical structure and not organized from the customer’s point of view. The product portfolio was characterized by a large number of product variants and features. All these products needed to be handled individually from an IT management perspective. This broad variety of products needed to be realized and im plemented within all operative processes, IT-applications and –systems as well as sales information tools. This led to an enormous complexity that impedes the maintenance of IT-landscape and the management and optimisation of the processes. No integrated IT-solutions ere available at company and at its affiliates. During the project the integrated PLM approach valid for the company and its affiliates was developed. Implementation of Next Generation PLM at this company showed the valuable benefits for solid product development, marketing and strategy: PLM Meta-Model: Easier know how exchange and using of the â€Å"same language† during product development as well as fast and efficient communication between international partner Introduction of the harmonized product definition and product portfolio for all national and international affiliate companies The product portfolios across all of the company ere to be reduced by 50% and integrated into a modular structure. Adop tion of the product data platform at all international subsidiaries PLM Process and Structures Acceleration time-to-market up to 25% by several product groups Efficient cost savings along the PLM process by using standard support system and re-using of modules and components (process costs saving up to 170 m USD/year in the product realization phase) Effective and similar procedure of innovation and market management projects execution PLM IT-Architecture An implemented shared platform for document and project management. One physical server is used to support separate product lifecycle management processes in all divisions and subsidiaries Lifecycle Value Management Sound marketing strategy due to the early recognition of market needs and standardized information More detailed input for controlling for exactly allocation of revenue and costs to products Simpler allocation at cost centres and cost unit Introduction of the harmonized product portfolio for all national and international affiliate companies References [1] Abramovici, M. ; Sieg, O. C. (2002): Status and Development Trends of Product Lifecycle Management Systems. In: Proceeding of International Conference on Integrated Product and Process Development, Wroclaw, Poland, p. 2122. [2] Ausura, B; Deck, M (2007): The new product lifecycle management systems: whar are these PLM systems? and how can they help your company do NPD better? Visions Magazine. Online available at pdma. org/ visions/jan03/plm. html, last visit 26. 01. 2007. [3] 5 Mateika, M. (2005): Unterstutzung der lebenszyklusorientierten Produktplanung am Beispiel des Maschinen- und Anlagenbaus. Essen: Vulkan-Verl. [4] Porter, M. E. (1985): Competitive advantage: Free Press New York. [5] Saaksvuori, A. ; Immonen, A. (2004): Product Lifecycle Management: Springer. [6] Teresko, J. (2004): Auto Report: Information Technology The PLM Revolution. In: Industry Week-CLEVELAND OHIO-, Vol. 253, Nr. 2, p. 32–38. [7] Thoben, K. D. ; Jagdev, H. ; Eschenbaecher, J. (2001): Extended Products: Evolving Traditional Product Concepts. In: Proceedings of the 7 th International Conference on Concurrent Enterprising: Engineering the Knowledge Economy through Co-operation, Bremen, Germany, p. 27–29. [8] Wohler-Moorhoff, Falk; Dieter, Stephan; Schwill, Matthias (2004): Telco 2010. Telekommunikation im Wandel: Die Karten werden neu gemischt. Published by Detecon. Bonn

Media and Corporate Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media and Corporate Responsibility - Essay Example A corporation is more or less like a monster with several heads, where one head can be saying something that sounds very good and the other head can be doing something else that purely contradicts what was said earlier. Any corporation's main motive is to make profits. The only problem with profit making motive is that there is no such thing as "enough". Every act of the corporation undertaken in pursuit of maximizing profits is termed as "logical" or "rational". For instance, prosperous corporate giants taking advantage of cheap labor of starving people from under developed countries is considered pragmatic. The capitalistic world even manages to justify these acts as legitimate, a kind of boon granted to the down trodden. But how many of these corporations actually consider the legitimacy involved in the severe working conditions provided to those workers or the fairness involved in the proportion of the worker's pay to the profit earned by the corporation from such activities In the name of maximizing profits, corporations have become extremely deceitful without having any concern for the safety of others. For instance, many commercial dairies treat their cows with certain hormone in order to increase milk production. Though this method has been claimed to be harmless, it has neither been safe for the humans consuming this milk nor has it been easy for the cows. The cows, termed as "production units" by such dairies, experience painful effects such as broken limbs due to calcium deficiency and even early death as a result of these artificial methods. There are many corporations that use synthetic chemicals in their products which cause cancer, birth defects and other toxic effects. Most corporations are mendacious to such an extent that they do not even reveal the true test results of these products. The saddest part of this tragic situation is that these untruthful corporations, over the years, have totally lost the capacity to experience any guilt for their insensitive activities. Well-known companies and brands such as McDonald's, Nike, Adidas, Shell, and Barclays top the list of unethical companies. Such companies have no respect for any legal or social norms. They continue to break such norms and consider the compensation paid later on as an act of justification. But no compensation, irrespective of the amount involved, can actually compensate for the disaster caused by most of these unethical acts. There is no doubt about the fact that the corporations, though functioning with a self-centered motive, are producing other social benefits. But the self-centered motive has converted these corporations into Einstein's monster that has become so big that it has overpowered the people who initially created it. A corporation may be considered as a person in the eyes of law, but the fact still holds well that it is a person without a soul. Media Responsibility The media occupies a privileged position in modern society. But more than simply seeking out truth and reporting it to an otherwise ignorant populace, the Media themselves have an active role in influencing and shaping public opinion. That is why it is so very disturbing that any media might

To what extent is there a responsibility on the part of business Essay

To what extent is there a responsibility on the part of business people to act ethically - Essay Example Nevertheless, the idea of ethics in business has gained momentum and until now much effort is being invested in turning business ethical (eg. Maclagan, 2008; Zolsnia, 2006). In lieu with this, the paper intends to address the question, to what extent is there a responsibility on the part of business people to act ethically? In order to answer this question, the electronic databases Academic Research Premier and Business Search Premier were searched using a combination of the following key terms: business ethics, social responsibility, and organization. Articles written only in English and published from the period of 1990 till 2008 were selected. Articles that provided an analysis of ethics and social responsibility in connection with business were included in the selection. Correspondingly, excluded in the selection were editorials, case studies, commentaries, mimeographs, and pamphlets. The reference list of the articles was searched to identify additional relevant publications. Moreover, it should be noted that the question that will be answered in this paper already has certain assumptions embedded within in the question itself. These assumptions are: first, business people are already expected to act ethically and as such, the necessity of clarifying the ‘extent’ of their responsibility becomes a little urgent. Second, the question also assumes that acting ethically falls within the concept of responsibility attributed to business people. This particular assumption has been criticised on the premise that as scholars in business and organizations continue to assume that acting ethically is a responsibility of business people and business, they fail to provide a clear conceptual analysis of the concept of responsibility (Comite, 2008). Thus, a vague appreciation of the connection between responsibility and acting ethically in

Postgraduate Degree Statement of Purpose Essay Example for Free

Postgraduate Degree Statement of Purpose Essay Why I want to pursue Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Swinburne University I decided to pursue a master’s degree to strengthen my path in entrepreneurship and to eventually become a successful social entrepreneur. I started out my career as a graphic designer, despite my achievements in work I always feel an urge to start my own business and serve the community at large. On that account I started a new beginning for myself, first by teaching at a university and volunteering for social works. Second, with a partner I established a small independent coffee shop serving as a creative community hub and promoting homegrown coffee. I discover that I love the new activities that I’m doing. While acknowledging an even bigger aspiration to be a social entrepreneur, I became aware that it takes more than guts, street savvies and accounting books to actually run a business smoothly. My decision to get this degree abroad is because I believe to be a future leader in any field one needs to have a broad mind and to be exposed with various culture and way of thinking. I choose Australia not only because of its close ties with Indonesia, but also the people’s friendliness and multiculturalism. I was delighted to find out the Swinburne has the exact program that is suitable for my needs with, and I was more thrilled to know the Master of Entrepreneurship and Innovation has a social entrepreneurship stream option. I am confident that getting an Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation will not only increase my skills and potential in business, but also give me an edge for me to set up new ventures in social entrepreneurship. I hope you will give me the privilege to continue my studies at your institution.

Ancient Greece: A Time Of Great Cities And Lives :: Ancient Greece Essays

Ancient Greece: A Time Of Great Cities And Lives Ancient Greece was an interesting time and place with huge markets in which people could sell items of every kind. Strict laws with even stricter penalties if broken, a place where women were did not have as many rights as they do today, and along with the most outstanding army in their time. A quote that goes along with this time is; "I have killed one I have killed two -- the vampire who said he was youo." - Sylvia Platts. Likewise in the Ancient Greeks so called modern civilization, which has often been compared with the Nazi Germanies ethics of male domination. very cruel and yet enticing time to be alive. "Get your pots and pans..." Compared to today Ancient Greece was a city far ahead of its time and possibly the time in which people now live. Down in the streets of there was always someone willing to buy, trade or sell anything that you had or desired. With Ancient Greeks booming economy it's no wonder that it attracted almost one quarter of the worlds businesses and various smiths. These included bronze smiths, tanners and potters. It is no wonder that Ancient Greece was in its time considered the beginning of the of a new era that would be recognised as the centre of the worlds economy and was to be home to more than twice as many shops and people than the city already held. Although women in the world today are always talking about women and their rights and how they deserve to be equal in everything that they do and receive, it was not a problem to Greeks in their society which has been described as a place where women's freedom was restricted and their lives were restricted to that of a slave in some cases but was really no different than a women's freedom in today's society. In Greece it was a mans world in which a man could do what he pleased to a certain extent of the law. Which is better than today due to women's rights movements and decency laws that have been implemented in the past years. It also would have been interesting to see how the women really were treated instead of from books and and assignments. Along with all of the amazing feats that Greeks accomplished it is of no surprise that they had one of the strongest and most feared armies in all of the world in its time. Of all the battles and wars that the Ancient Greeks army had Ancient Greece: A Time Of Great Cities And Lives :: Ancient Greece Essays Ancient Greece: A Time Of Great Cities And Lives Ancient Greece was an interesting time and place with huge markets in which people could sell items of every kind. Strict laws with even stricter penalties if broken, a place where women were did not have as many rights as they do today, and along with the most outstanding army in their time. A quote that goes along with this time is; "I have killed one I have killed two -- the vampire who said he was youo." - Sylvia Platts. Likewise in the Ancient Greeks so called modern civilization, which has often been compared with the Nazi Germanies ethics of male domination. very cruel and yet enticing time to be alive. "Get your pots and pans..." Compared to today Ancient Greece was a city far ahead of its time and possibly the time in which people now live. Down in the streets of there was always someone willing to buy, trade or sell anything that you had or desired. With Ancient Greeks booming economy it's no wonder that it attracted almost one quarter of the worlds businesses and various smiths. These included bronze smiths, tanners and potters. It is no wonder that Ancient Greece was in its time considered the beginning of the of a new era that would be recognised as the centre of the worlds economy and was to be home to more than twice as many shops and people than the city already held. Although women in the world today are always talking about women and their rights and how they deserve to be equal in everything that they do and receive, it was not a problem to Greeks in their society which has been described as a place where women's freedom was restricted and their lives were restricted to that of a slave in some cases but was really no different than a women's freedom in today's society. In Greece it was a mans world in which a man could do what he pleased to a certain extent of the law. Which is better than today due to women's rights movements and decency laws that have been implemented in the past years. It also would have been interesting to see how the women really were treated instead of from books and and assignments. Along with all of the amazing feats that Greeks accomplished it is of no surprise that they had one of the strongest and most feared armies in all of the world in its time. Of all the battles and wars that the Ancient Greeks army had