Business Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Information Systems - Essay Example The company has a wide clientele that ranges from large supermarket chains to small health food shops. Organised under four main divisions, – manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, sales and marketing, and finance – FFC caters to ‘advance orders’ booked a week in advance as well as ‘priority orders’ that are immediately delivered. Apart from processing, cooking, and preparing food at its manufacturing site close to headquarters, the company also out sources pre-prepared and partly prepared food products from other vendor firms, and markets them after packaging. The annual turnover of FFC stands at an impressive UKP15 million, with a steady net profit of about 7%. Currently on an ambitious five-year plan to augment the annual growth rate to 10% discounting inflation, and net profit to 9%, FFC will take advantage of the growing demand for fashionable and quality food products. The company has been traditionally operating on a solely paper-based transaction processing, accounting, and reporting mode that is obsolete and incompatible with the information age, besides being cumbersome, time-consuming, and inefficient. As Allen and Gilmore (2004, p.180) rightly observed, the â€Å"factory of the future† that succeeds in the new millennium would be â€Å"organized around the computer.† And that future is right here and now. The power of the ubiquitous computer or laptop and the immense scope of the World Wide Web and Internet technology hold great potential to â€Å"integrate the various processes involved in the manufacture of a product or delivery of a service.† (2004). Towards the closing decades of the 20th century, computer technology was largely used for MIS (management information systems) applications, mostly on a stand-alone mode. The advent of network technology and Internet has now transformed the scope of computer applications as never

International business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

International business - Essay Example For many companies, including middle-size enterprises, international sales provide additional profits and are all that enable some companies to make any profits at all. International expansion is one of the best methods to sustain strong market position and increase sales. All the Disney theme parks are united by a common approach which distinguishes them from conventional amusement parks. The share prospectus for Euro Disneyland provides a good account of their thinking. The expansion of Euro Disney to Eastern Europe proposes great opportunities for Disney Corporation to enter a new market and attract millions of new visitors. The Eastern Europe is one of the potential geographical regions for Disney to expend its activities and gain larger market share. The proposed country for Disney is Slovak Republic. This location was selected because Slogan Republic is an attractive tourist destination for many European tourists, so it would help Disney to attract wider target audiences in summer and in winter. Slovak republic and Eastern Europe do do have any theme park like those proposed by Disney. The liberation and democratization of the political system in many East European countries have proved to be a boon to dynamic retail companies from France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Italy. Most East European countries have yet to create adequate infrastructure support for modern retailing to take root in the new environment (Slovak Republic Home Page 2008). There is little doubt that Western retailers will have unlimited opportunities to expand in this region through joint ventures, licensing, and limited-term management contracts. Eastern Europe, in spite of its initial problems, will offer a great growth opportunity to West European retailers for many years to come. Slovak Republic is one of the main FDI destinations in the region attracting potential investors by

Market structures in the Agriculture industry

Market structures in the Agriculture industry There are many types of market structure which are perfect competition, pure monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. The market structure of Agriculture is perfect competition and sometimes referred to as pure competition. Agriculture firm is a perfect competition because it market structure characterized by a large number of firms so each of the firm in perfect competition produces an insignificant percentage of total market output and thus that no single firm can influence or control over the ruling market price. Â   (Geoff Riley, 2006) Besides, the agriculture product is said to be standardized or homogenous. Its means that, agriculture product is a product where buyer cannot differentiate in terms of quality, packaging or labeling. Therefore, in agriculture market customers dont care which specific firm they buy from because it is absolutely identical. Therefore, the firms cannot charge different prices for the same product in the market. (AmosWEB Encyclonomic) Besides that, There are freedom of entry and exist from the market in perfect competition. This type of market is feasible in the long run and no firm will dominate the market and evict other firm. (Geoff Riley, 2006) Furthermore, each firms product supplied to the markets that are prefect substitutes for the product of others firms, so the demand for each firms product is perfectly elastic. Therefore, the firms in the perfect competition have no power to set the price they have to sell the product at the going market price. This type of firm are said to be price takers. (AmosWEB Encyclonomic) As a price taker, individual firms in perfect competition will sell their product at the equilibrium price. This can be shown in both figure 1a and figure 1b. Market Firm Price Price S P* P D Quantity Quantity Figure 1a Figure 1b At the equilibrium price, the quantity demand and quantity supply of the market is balance. The equilibrium price can be shown in figure 1a, where the supply and demand curve intersects with each others. The equilibrium price is at P*. At any price below P*, the market shortage of the product would exist. At this price the quantity demand is higher than quantity supply therefore it will causes excess demand in this product. Due to the product shortage, the buyer would bid among themselves for the limited supply and price would rise to eliminate the shortage. (Grey Parry and Steven Kemp, 2000). Conversely, if the price is above the P*, the market surplus of the product would exist. Therefore, it will cause excess supply in this product. Sellers will want to eliminate the surplus by lowering prices. That is because, when the price falls, the quantity of demand would rise to eliminate the shortage. (Grey Parry and Steven Kemp, 2000). When either supply or demand changes, the equilibrium price will change. As shown in figure 2a below, the increase of food demands from D1 to D2 cause the both price (P1 to P2)and quantity sold(Q1 to Q2) to increase. At the old equilibrium price of P1, quantity demanded will now greater than the quantity supplied. Therefore, the excess demand will result the quantity supply movement along the supply curve to a higher equilibrium price where the quantity of demand and supply is once again in balance. A decrease in demand for food would have the opposite effect, the equilibrium price will decrease and the quantity also will decrease. (Grey Parry and Steven Kemp, 2000) Food Price D2 S P2 D1 P1 Q1 Q2 Quantity Figure 2a A change in demand will result in number of factors which are: Bio-fuel production increase Furthermore, the diversion of food for making bio-fuels has lead to increased demand for bio-fuel raw material, such as wheat, soy, maize and so on. Therefore, the increasing in biofuel production causing less food available for human consumption and the price of food crops were increase dramatically. The most clearly example are the use of corn in the United States for the production of biofuels. In the about 25 to 30% of corn output in the US is used for ethanol biofuels. (CNET News, 2008 )Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75 per cent and these prices are higher than the previously estimated, a study by the recent report of World Bank (Sumanjeet Singh, 2009) As shown in figure 2b below, when the supply of food increase from S1 to S2, the food price will fall from P1 to P2 and the quantity demand will be movement along the demand curve to a new equilibrium price where the supply curve intersects with demand curve. Finally the new equilibrium price and quantity will P2 and Q2 . Food Price D S1 P1 S2 P2 Q1 Q2 Quantity Figure 2b A change in supply will result in number of factors which are: Natural disaster First and foremost, that cannot denied that the natural disaster bring a seriously influence on the food production. The worst drought happened in Russia last year damaged a largely number of wheat crop and cause the Russian government to cease grain export for the year. Seriously flooding in Australia also damages wheat crops and causes some of the crops were downgraded for use only as animal food. Consequently, the wheat crops were faced shortage in the past year and cause the price of grain food has risen sharply. (Dr. Grary Peters, 2011) Negative climate changes Beside that, the word agriculture suppliers were significantly decreased due to the global warming. Therefore, in the global warming period will result in additional price increase for the most important agricultural crops such as rice, wheat, maize, and soya beans. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute showed in December, it states that the global warming will increase the price of corn, wheat and rice by at least two-thirds by 2050. (Bloomberg, 2011) Beside that, according to the Integrated Regional Information Networks, IRIN, it state that within the next four decades maize prices could rise by up to 131 percent due to the global temperature and some of the African farmer might have to give up agriculture if the weather are getting hotter. (IRIN News, 2010)

Software Patents and Copyright Laws Destroy Free Competition Essay

Software Patents and Copyright Laws Destroy Free Competition Introduction If Haydn had patented "a symphony, characterized by that sound is produced [ in extended sonata form ]", Mozart would have been in trouble. Patent - a writing securing to an inventor for a term of years the exclusive right to make, use, or sell an invention; or it may be the monopoly or right so granted[i]. The traditional rationale for patents is that protection of inventions will spur innovation and aid in the dissemination of information about technical advances. By prohibiting others from copying an invention, patents allow inventors to recoup their investment in development while at the same time revealing the workings of the new invention to the public. Absolute Monopoly - this is what it means! The people who have come up with the idea of protecting the innovation and so called rewards to the innovators never thought that what it may mean to the corporations and how it will kill the innovation in the software industry. As Stallman said â€Å"Software patents are a danger that affects all programmers and all computer users. I found out about them of course in working on Free Software because they are a danger to my project as well as to every other software project in the world.[ii]† I truly agree with Stallman’s view of the Patent. Now a day the number of patents is growing exponentially and due to open trade (software specially) internationally the patent law of one country is influencing the law in the other. Country like India where the software industry is growing at a tremendous pace and the US companies generate most of the business, people in India may advocate a law similar to US. Right now the state of the law is much stricter th... ... [i] Merriam-Webster online dictionary [ii] Stallman’s speech at Model Engineering College : The Danger of Software Patents [iii] Software Patent in US, Japan and Europe. [iv] Questions on software patentability in US and Europe. [v] NewsFactor Network (04/15/03); Brockmeier, Joe [vi] Sequential Innovation, Patents and Imitation [vii] New York Times, Sunday, December 14, 2003 [viii] NASSCOM, India. [ix] PCT Newsletter [x] Software Patent in India. [xi] MANUAL OF PATENT PRACTICE & PROCEDURE [xii] Salient Features of The Indian Patents [xiii] Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council [xiv] Linux Today – Boycott Amazon! [xv] Forbes [xvi] GNU – About Free Software [xvii] Software Patents [xviii] http://swpat.ffii.org/news/03/intel1211/index.en.html [xix] http://lpf.ai.mit.edu/Patents/knuth-to-pto.txt

Hold the Future in Your Hand

â€Å"Hold the Future in your Hand† In 1962, Sony put an ad out to introduce one of the first micro televisions (TV). This tiny box was a milestone in television viewing at that point in time. Who could believe that in is era that Sony would create a television that could actually be held in the palm of the hand? At only 8lbs. it is not much larger than your telephone. Think of it, it’s the early 60’s and a typical household only had one television, then suddenly an advertisement comes out describing a television that can be held in your hand.Imagine it, a rechargeable TV, one that could be used by normal battery, auto battery or by plugging it into the wall. Now all of a sudden this was not only a small TV to fit in a person’s hand, but one that could be brought anywhere. No longer was a family tied to watching TV just at home, now television was able to be watched anywhere. The 1962 ad â€Å"Hold the Future in your Hands, by Sony† is an effective advertisement that in it’s time was cutting edge technology; Sony shows appeal to men and women, versatility as well ad keeping up with a demanding future.To begin with, Sony’s attempt in bringing portable televisions to the horizon was very effective in the way they advertised. They created a television that was not only designed to appeal to both sexes but to show their leap in technology as well. Sony did not just put out a hand held television they also made one that you could use without having to watch television in the home, but rather one that you could watch on the road or outside.Secondly, over the past 66 years, Sony has continually shown us that they are always on the cutting edge of something big. Even back in the 1960’s when they were well ahead of their competitors; Sony produced a product that was not only new and inventive but versatile as well. Sony jumped ahead in the competition by creating a television that was not only useful at home but on the go as well. At that point in time they were the first on the market to design a television with portability.When Sony created this ad showing a woman holding the television in her hand Sony created an appeal to both sexes with this Micro TV, which made it an easier sell. In the 1960’s men were the primary television watchers when they got home from work, but by Sony using the type of ad they did they were able to appeal to the women. Although, this is not as characteristic today as it was in 1960, back then more woman were stay at home wives and mothers and their job was to ensure that dinner and housework was completed.Having this Micro TV that did not have to be plugged in was a blessing for women to be able to watch television wherever they were in the home. Finally, over the years Sony has continually surprised me with their ability to create electronics that make our life easier, as well as give us items to make our life more enjoyable. I would fully recommend Sony to anyone who was in the market for cutting edge electronics. References Yue, Michelle (2012, November). Retro Ad of the Week Retrieved from: http://mascola. com/insights/? p=5460

The Definition of Euthanasia in Different Perspectives

Euthanasia is defined by The American Heritage Dictionary as â€Å"the action of killing an individual for reasons considered to be merciful† (469). Here, killing is described as the physical action where one individual actively kills another. Euthanasia is tolerated in the medical field under certain circumstances when a patient is suffering profoundly and death is inevitable. The word â€Å"euthanasia† comes from the Greek eu, â€Å"good†, and thanatos, â€Å"death,† literally, â€Å"good death†; however, the word â€Å"euthanasia† is much more difficult to define. Each person may define euthanasia differently. Who is to ecide whether a death is good or not? Is any form of death good? All of these questions can be answered differently by each person. It is generally taken today to mean that act which a health care professional carries out to help his/her patient achieve a good death. Suicide, self-deliverance, auto-euthanasia, aid-in-dying, assisted suicide — call it what you like — can be justified by the average supporter of the so-called â€Å"right to die movement† for the following reasons: The first reason is that an advanced terminal illness is causing unbearable suffering to the individual. This uffering is the most common reason to seek an early end. Second, a grave physical handicap exists that is so restricting that the individual cannot, even after due care, counseling, and re-training, tolerate such a limited existence. This handicap is a fairly rare reason for suicide; most impaired people cope remarkably well with their affliction, but there are some who would, at a certain point, rather die. We say that there is a second form of suicide; justifiable suicide, that is a rational and planned self-deliverance from a painful and hopeless disease which will shortly end in death. I do not hink the word â€Å"suicide† sits well in this context but we are stuck with it. Suicide is the taking of one's own life. Why does the term euthanasia even exist? Is euthanasia not suicide? A differentiation must be made between the two. Suicide is condoned by society as being unacceptable but euthanasia is viewed as moral and acceptable in most instances. The term â€Å"self-deliverance† is difficult to understand because the news media is in love with the words â€Å"doctor-assisted suicide†. This is because the news media is dissecting the notion of whether or not doctors, who are supposed to preserve life, should artake in euthanasia. The media is failing to look at the actual issue of euthanasia, but instead, they are looking at the decision of whether or not doctors should assist in euthanasia. Also, we have to face the fact that the law calls all forms of self-destruction There are ethical guidelines for euthanasia. If the following guidelines are met, then euthanasia is considered acceptable. The person must be a mature adult. This is essential. The exact age will depend on the individual but the person should not be a minor who would come under quite different laws. Secondly, the person must have learly made a considered decision. An individual has the ability now to indicate this with a living will (which applies only to disconnection of life supports) and can also, in today's more open and tolerant society, freely discuss the option of euthanasia with health-care professionals, family, lawyers, etc. The euthanasia must not be carried out at the first knowledge of a life-threatening illness, and reasonable medical help must have been sought to cure or at least slow down the terminal disease. I do not believe in giving up life the minute a person is informed that he or she has a terminal illness. Life is precious, you only live once, and it is worth a fight. It is when the fight is clearly hopeless and the agony, physical and mental, is unbearable that a final exit is an option. The treating physician must have been informed, asked to be involved, and his or her response been taken into account. The physician's response will vary depending on the circumstances, of course, but they should advise their patients that a rational suicide is not a crime. It is best to inform the doctor and hear his or her response. For example, the patient might be mistaken. Perhaps the diagnosis has been misheard r misunderstood. Patients raising this subject were met with a discreet silence or meaningless remarks in the past but in today's more accepting climate most physicians will discuss potential end of life actions. The person must have a Will disposing of his or her This shows evidence of a tidy mind, an orderly life, and forethought, all things which are important to an acceptance of rational suicide. The person must have made plans to die that do not involve others in criminal liability or leave them with guilty feelings. Assistance in suicide is a crime in most places, although he laws are gradually changing, and very few cases ever come before the courts. The only well-known instance of a lawsuit concerning this is the doctor-assisted suicide of Dr. Kevorkian. The person must leave a note saying exactly why he or she is taking their life. This statement in writing removes the chance of misunderstandings or blame. It also demonstrates that the departing person is taking full responsibility for the action. These are all guidelines for allowing a euthanasia to take place. By this, I mean the doctor is involved in the patient's decision and actively performs the euthanasia. I believe that passive euthanasia would show a lack of interest on the doctor's part. Simply allowing a patient to die does not require a doctor's Passive euthanasia should not even exist. Euthanasia is defined as â€Å"the action of killing†¦ † James Rachels states in his â€Å"Active and Passive Euthanasia† that â€Å"The important difference between active and passive euthanasia is that in passive euthanasia, the doctor does not do anything to bring about the patient's death. The doctor does nothing and the patient dies of whatever ills already afflict him. In active euthanasia, however, the doctor does something o bring about the patient's death: he [actively] kills him† (1024). Is allowing a patient to die considered to be an action? Rachels states â€Å"†¦ the process of being allowed to die can be relatively slow and painful, whereas being given a lethal injection is relatively quick and painless† (1020). Disconnecting respiratory devices is not an acceptable method of euthanasia. It causes the patient to starve for oxygen and gasp for it, but when he/she cannot breathe, the body is starved of oxygen and suffocates. This is not merciful by any means. Rachels also states, â€Å"One reason why so many people think that here is an important moral difference between active and passive euthanasia is that they think killing someone is morally worse than letting someone die† (1022). The idea that a patient utilizes a medical device and has grown dependent on it for life is a grim one indeed; however, relieving a patient who relies on this machine for his/her life by simply cutting it off is not acceptable. Leon Kass states in his â€Å"Why Doctor's Must Not Kill,† â€Å"Ceasing medical intervention, allowing nature to take its course, differs fundamentally from mercy killing. For one thing, death does not ecessarily follow the discontinuance of treatment† (1034). This states my point exactly. Euthanasia is the physical action of putting someone to a painless death who is suffering tremendously. The passive nature of allowing someone to die is not euthanasia. This is not an physical action taken by a doctor to ease a patient's suffering and The doctor should decide whether the ailment is curable and if it is not, he/she should decide whether the patient will live productively for months or even years to come. If the ailment is not immediately fatal, will it cause pain and suffering for the rest of he patient's life? How old is the patient? Will he/she live much longer anyway? All these factors should come into play when deciding whether a patient should be euthanized; however, the doctor's answers to these questions may differ from those of the patient and his/her family. It is up to the patient's doctor to decide whether the patient's ailment is indeed curable. The patient should be presented with the facts. The doctor should tell the patient exactly how it is and not project the false hope that the patient may recover. With this information, the patient can make an informed decision and feel that t is the best one. Sidney Hook states in his â€Å"In Defense of Voluntary Euthanasia† that â€Å"Each one should be permitted to make his own choice- especially when no one else is harmed by it. The responsibility for the decision, whether deemed wise or foolish, must be with the chooser† (1028). This is evidenced quite simply by the mere fact that everyone has civil rights and liberties. No one can decide who should die and who should not. Everyone is in complete control of his/her own life and; therefore, should be free to decide. Having considered the arguments in favor of auto-euthanasia, he person should also contemplate the arguments against it. First, should the person go into a hospice program instead and receive not only first-class pain management but comfort care and personal attention? Put simply, hospices make the best of a bad job, and they do so with great skill and love. The right-to-die movement supports their work, but not everyone wants a lingering death, not everyone wants that form of care. Today many terminally ill people take the marvelous benefits of home hospice programs and still accelerate the end when suffering becomes too much. A few hospice leaders claim that heir care is so perfect that there is absolutely no need for anyone to consider euthanasia. While I have no wish to criticize them, they are wrong to claim perfection. Most, but not all, terminal pain can today be controlled with the sophisticated use of drugs, but the point these leaders miss is that personal quality of one's live is foremost to some people. If one's body has been so destroyed by disease that it is not worth living, that is an intensely individual decision which should not be swayed. In some cases of the final days in hospice care, when the pain is very serious, the patient is drugged nto unconsciousness. If that way is acceptable to the patient, then so be it, but some people do not wish their final hours to be in that fashion. There should be no conflict between hospice and euthanasia, both are valid options in a caring society. Both are appropriate to different people with differing values. The other consideration is related to religion: does suffering glorify a person? Is suffering, as related to Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross, a part of the preparation for meeting God? Are you merely a steward of your life, which is a gift from God, which only He may take away. If your answers to these questions is yes, then you should not be involved in any form of euthanasia. Remember that there are millions of atheists, as well as people of differing religions, and they all have rights, too. Many Christians who believe in euthanasia justify it by reasoning that the God whom they worship is loving and tolerant, and would not wish to see them in agony. They do not see their God as being so vengeful as refusing them the Kingdom of Heaven if they accelerated the end of their life to avoid prolonged, unbearable suffering. A doctor should not be allowed to â€Å"play God† and ecide who should live and who should die. In fact, even the patient should not be allowed to, but it is the patient's life and he/she has to live it. So, it is only logical to allow the patient, and no one Another consideration must be that, by ending one's life before its natural end, is one is depriving oneself of a valuable period of good life? Is that last period of love and companionship with family and friends worth hanging on for? Even the most determined supporters of euthanasia hang on until the last minute; sometimes too long, and lose control. They, too, gather with their families and riends to say goodbyes. There are important reunions and often farewell parties. Euthanasia supporters enjoy life and love living, and their respect for the sanctity of life is as strong as anybody's. Yet they are willing, if their dying is distressing to them, to give up a few weeks or a few days at the very end and leave under their own control. Ultimately, the decision lies with the beholder. It is the right of a person to make his/her own choice, with some limitations. It is the doctor's responsibility to provide the patient with an accurate prognosis so that the patient may make an educated decision.