What are the factor causing the record low of 0.3% inflation and what Essay

What are the factor causing the record low of 0.3% inflation and what are the consequnces - Essay Example Lower prices may also be caused by change in structure of capital markets and decrease in currency supply. Thus factors causing the record low of 0.3% mainly emerge from the fall in prices of widely consumed products or services such as motor fuels and food. A fall in price for the two is the main cause of this extremely low inflation level. This has been observed recently in UK. â€Å"The rate of UK consumer prices Index inflation fell to 0.3% in January; its lowest level since records began. Cheaper petrol and lower food prices helped by a supermarket price war-cut the rate from 0.5% in December† (BBC NEWS). Extreme fall in prices, deflation, results into reduced business revenue. Businesses must significantly reduce the prices of their products in order to stay competitive. As they reduce their prices, their revenue starts to drop. Besides, deflation may cause wage cutbacks and layoffs. Drop in revenue of companies forces them to reduce their expenditure to meet their bottom line. One of the possible ways to cut the expenses is by reducing wages and cutting positions. Additionally, extreme fall in inflation level may increase purchasing power (BBC NEWS). Consumers may substantially take advantage of the lower prices by increasing their

United Cereal Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

United Cereal Case study - Essay Example The Launch of Eurobrand would lead to the loss of United Cereals priority; these are the customers (Barlett and Carole 2011). However, this will mean a drop in production and marketing cost by 10-15% in 3 years. As the United Cereals are the first to introduce such an idea, it will guarantee them a substantial market penetration (Barlett and Carole 2011). My concern is that the panel will not represent all the views of the diverse European market. This would be rectified by changing the organizational structure that exists within the United Cereals. It should be more flexible. Lora should authorize the launch of Health Berry Crunch as a Eurobrand as there are far more advantages than disadvantages. The recommendations could be implemented by trying to get the support of the United Cereals’ management. The management should be comfortable with the Eurobrand Team. They should not be in a position that they feel their authority is challenged. Eurobrand Teams will provide a platform for United Cereals to grow. Based on the proposal its formation would reduce the cost of production while increasing

Negative Impacts of an Ageing Population

Negative Impacts of an Ageing Population What problems might governments face with an ageing population? Discuss what can be done to alleviate these problems? Nowadays, the issue of ageing population is a subject of much attention in all over the world. Population ageing is a shift in the distribution of a countrys population towards older ages. This is usually reflected in an increase in the populations mean and median ages, a decline in the proportion of the population composed of children, and a rise in the proportion of the population that is elderly. It is predicted that the trend for an older population will continue during the first half of this century at least. What this means is that we now have more elderly people than ever. The ageing of the population presents a major fiscal challenge for the government. Currently, it is a serious problem for governments in terms of what the effects will be on healthcare, care services, pensions and future labor supply. One of the major worries about the growing number of elderly people in our society is how the system can afford to support them all. Ageing populations are likely to put significant pressure on public spending programs, such as health care and pensions. Health care is the area that is particularly affected by the changing age structure of the population in favor of older age groups. The health care system through out the world is already overly stretched and the rise in this sector of population can make the health system go further haywire. Cost of health insurance is on hike and if this is the case many people will not be able to afford the costly insurance after a certain point in their lifetime. The pattern of health-care costs at different stages in the average life-cycle has been established in a number of researches, and it implies that as the numbers of elderly increase, total health-care costs are also likely to rise, although the effect of increased life expectancy on per c apita health-care costs is more difficult to establish because it depends, in part, on the physical dimensions of the ageing process. In order to isolate and examine the effects of demographics on health-care spending, per capita real public health-care spending on people under 65 year-olds and on those 65-years and older is assumed to grow in line with productivity growth. The per capita expenditures were then applied to the population projections for their corresponding age groups. The scenarios of health-care costs indicate that in the United States and Canada, whose populations are growing as well as ageing, public spending on health care as a per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) would rise significantly. In the United States, the effects of ageing are exacerbated by the particularly high share of public health spending which is spent on those over 65 compared with the under 65 year-olds. Moreover, The Government has given a lot consideration to adapting the design of new builds to ensure they are suitable for the ageing population. Its national strategy, called Lifetime Homes; Lifetime Neighborhoods sets out the challenge and the governmental plan of response. The plan sets out sixteen design features that should be incorporated into all new homes, such as level access, wide corridors and doorways, ground floor bathroom facilities, and sockets and light switches at a convenient height.   Besides, ageing population also affect on the demand for these social services, especially for pensions. The underlying reason is that medical advances over the last few decades have greatly prolonged our life span, forcing the pensions industry to support a greater number of pensioners for longer periods. But the problem has been exacerbated in recent years by dwindling stock market returns. Pension funds depend on steady stock market returns to pay policyholders. And when share prices fall as they have been doing for the last two years it becomes harder for funds to meet their obligations. Lower returns have forced most of the big company-run pension funds to suspend generous schemes which guarantee employees a fixed proportion of their final salaries on retirement. A large proportion of firms have now set up defined contribution or money purchase schemes, which do not guarantee the final pension sum and are therefore less risky for companies. An additional gripe, as far as employers are concerned, is the 10% tax on dividends earned by pension schemes, which was imposed by the chancellor shortly after the present government was elected in 1997. Dividends play an important part in the long-term health of pension schemes. Any tax on them increases the possibility that the scheme will not have sufficient assets to meet liabilities. Another problem is that ageing population means fewer youth who is the main labors in almost factories and companies; the decreasing in number of young people may lead to the shortage of labor in near future. In many countries, expected demographic developments will lead to significant declines in the growth of the labor force and aggregate participation rates over the next decades. The overall participation rate could fall by some 4-5 percentages on average between 2000 and 2025. This will be accompanied by an increasing share of older workers in the labor force and a significant increase in old-age dependency ratios. The ageing also will have a serious affect on the industry, as essential skills will be lost when employees retire (given that there are fewer young professionals coming into the industry to replace those retiring). This is exacerbated by the fact that the number of new recruits is declining and there will be nobody available to replace those retiring. This would also mean that the industry is losing a valuable teaching resource, as older workers often use their expertise and experience to help develop new entrants. This issue is closely related to the industrys dilemma of skills shortages and its problems in recruiting enough new employees. While the industrys older members are acknowledged for their significant expertise and experience, it was suggested that a fresher perspective from younger employees is important to drive innovation in the industry. These respondents believe that developing new ideas and innovative ways of working will help to strengthen the industrys future. Cur rently, theres no balance between these different aspects of the industry workforce, causing important skills to be lost and innovation to be constrained. In order to solve these problems above, the governments should have some solutions to prevent the economy getting worse and improve the living standard for all people. Some of main policy options which are governments should do for adjusting pension systems to future challenges are delaying retirement, lowering pension payments (including replacement rates) and undertaking welfare reform. The combined effects of the falling the numbers of working people and the rising numbers of pensioners mean that even quite major increases in contribution rates or reductions in pension payments would be insufficient to balance those projects that face the greatest problems. Increasing contribution rates can be seen as simply a means of raising overall tax revenues and would need to be assessed against other revenue-raising options but it does focus directly on the problem. Increasing the retirement ages (delaying retirement) to the extent that it does actually lead to people working for longer, al so helps to avoid one rather awkward aspect of many of the other changes suggested. Raising retirement ages also provides the decreasing in the number of pensioners. In order to delay retirement, government should ensure all state workplaces are conducive to older workers remaining in employment or encourages retirees to return to the labor force. Besides, government should relax the process for obtaining exemptions under the act for those employers who wish to target specific disadvantaged groups for recruitment. Those countries with the lowest retirement ages, after current reforms are implemented, France and Italy, also face the largest pension pressures and raising retirement ages significantly would seem to offer the most scope for easing the pressure, especially as experience elsewhere indicates that raising retirement ages is a practical and feasible policy option. Another solution which the government should do to balance the ratio between the number of old people and young people are reducing the cost of raising children, even the education cost. On the other hand, these days many parents can not be able to pay for raising children. For example, in UK there are two sets of people paying the costs of raising children: their parents and taxpayers. The costs of raising a family are high for parents, even those who send their children to state schools. According to a December 2007 survey by the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society, parents can expect to spend about  £186,000 (up from  £180,000 from a year before) on bringing up a child from birth to the age of 21. A typical family spends  £50,538 on childcare and  £47,310 on education, even assuming a state education through primary and secondary school. The costs for taxpayers are high too. With state education paid for by the taxpayer, those under 18 incur costs to the public sector as w ell as the older people who receive state pensions and people of all ages who receive other state benefits. Young dependants funded by the taxpayer receive state-supported childcare or nursery education from ages 0-5; primary school education from 5-11; and secondary education from schools from 11-16. Many go on to receive further education from 16-18; with some 43% of those aged 18-21 continuing in full-time higher education at universities and colleges and the government aiming to raise participation to 50%. In 2004-2005 state education cost taxpayers  £63.7 billion, of which  £4.2 billion was spent on under-fives,  £36.5 billion on schools,  £7.4 billion on further education and  £7.8 billion on higher education. With 9.3 million pupils in 34,600 schools, the average school place cost the taxpayer  £3,924 a year. Therefore, there are a lot of people do not want to have children because they can not afford to bring up them. In order to increase the number of young chil dren government should have policies to help young people. Furthermore, immigration should be another cure for failing birth rates and ageing population. Because, immigrant can get employed to simulate economic growth. However, the proportion of low-skilled immigrants in the total number of immigrants should not be higher than the proportion among natives to prevent unemployment from rising. Thus to stimulate investments and economic growth it is of utmost importance that immigration policy as a means to mitigate the ageing problem should not only focus on the number of immigrants, but also on their employability by keeping the skill structure in line with the skill distribution of domestic labor market entrants. Overall, older people are a significant and growing part of local communities. This inexorable trend presents both daunting challenges and real opportunities for local government. Older people offer rich life experience, well honed skills, knowledge and wisdom, qualities that significantly contribute to the social fabric of local communities. But our ageing population will also impact on planning and service delivery due to the slowdown in the growth of workforce and the increase in spending on caring old people.

Instrumental Rationality and the Instrumental Doctrine :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Instrumental Rationality and the Instrumental Doctrine ABSTRACT: In opposition to the instrumental doctrine of rationality, I argue that the rationality of the end served by a strategy is a necessary condition of the rationality of the strategy itself: means to ends cannot be rational unless the ends are rational. First, I explore cases-involving ‘proximate’ ends (that is, ends whose achievement is instrumental to the pursuit of some more fundamental end) — where even instrumentalists must concede that the rationality of a strategy presupposes the rationality of the end it serves. Second, I draw attention to the counter-intuitive consequences — in cases involving ‘non-proximate’ ends — of substituting (allegedly more manageable) questions about de facto ends for questions about the rationality of ends. Third, I argue-against Nozick — that it is a mistake to suppose that the only question dividing instrumentalists from non-instrumentalists is whether the instrumental doctrine needs sup plementation. Finally, I try to show that questions about the rationality of ends need not be viewed as impossibly daunting. According to the instrumental doctrine of rationality in the version relevant to the argument of this paper, an action (decision, policy, strategy, etc.) is rational provided it is an effective and economical means to the achievement of some de facto objective. If we formulate the instrumentalist position in terms of the familiar doctrine of the practical syllogism, the crucial thesis is that the action which forms the conclusion of the syllogism is rational provided (1) the major premise identifies a de facto objective of the agent's, and (2) the minor premise shows the action to be an effective and economical means to the achievement of that objective. The typical noninstrumentalist position, by contrast, would be that for the action in the conclusion to be one it is rational for the agent to perform, it must serve an objective it is rational for the agent to pursue: the major premise must identify a rational objective of some sort, not simply an objective the agent happens to have . I. The Instrumental Doctrine and "Proximate" Ends One way of denting the instrumentalist position is to explore cases where the action said to be rational is an effective and economical means of enabling the agent to achieve an end he or she is pursuing only because its achievement is (held to be) indispensable to effective pursuit of some more fundamental objective. These are cases where the agent is pursuing (what we might call) a "proximate" end, an end which is thought to be worth pursuing only because its achievement is a means to effective pursuit of a more basic end.

My Career Objective

In my first employment, I want to be employed as marketing assistant for a drug Maker Company. Being a fresh graduate with a pharmaceutical degree from the university, I am quite excited to be in the marketing department because the job seemed to fit to my course (a Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmaceutical). The job that I want to have includes the sale of pharmaceutical products, taking orders from the customers, and developing business relations with both new and old customers. Target Market My main target market is the Pharmaceutical Companies in India, which manufacture pharmaceutical products and drugs for export to South East Asia. Most of the drugs are sold over the counter, as these drugs are common medicines for fever, cough, and flu. There are also generic antibiotic medicines such as cefalexin and amoxicillin that are sold cheap. At present, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Malaysia are the emerging pharmaceutical manufacturer and exporter in the region. In order to demonstrate my desire to work in pharmaceutical company in India, I checked for job opportunities in some pharmaceutical companies in India. See appendix A or Job announcements samples from India. This job opportunity requires a minimum of one-year experience but I believe that if the credential is impressive, it may not pose problem. Personal Features To prove my worth to the position, I would like to emphasize five features that describe me as a person, and as a professional. First, I posses a solid communication skills both in person and by phone which I developed during my student days as public information officer in our school organ which   I believe will benefit the marketing department. Second, I am proficient with Macintosh, PC, and spreadsheet applications; I am particularly gifted with technical skills that give me an advantage over other applicants. Third, I can effectively manage important aspect of business operations, including inventory management and account maintenance. I acquired knowledge in this area through my on-the job training at my grand father’s business firm. Fourth, I have a flexible character and I cab easily get along with others. This enables me to have the ability to organize and motivate others. I believe this is important in the work place because working in harmony with others builds teamwork, which is important in creating a productive work environment. Above all these, is that I posses a strong work ethic and enthusiasm to learn. I believe that with all this features I can help the company to boost its sales performance as well as in advancing the company’s competitive advantage. What makes me different from others? I understand that there are many applicants to the position I desired, but I would like to point out my advantage with others, which make the difference. Aside from the five features that I have which I mentioned above, I am a jolly person. I have strong sense of humor and I could easily crack jokes that can uplift the guts of my peers. I am willing to do some technical trouble shooting if necessary, even to the extent of working on twenty-four hours to ensure effective communication facility or to meet the necessary requirements. I am aware that this is not the kind of job I am applying but if I need to do so, I will be willing. My communication skills would be an advantage too. I have communications with a lot of important personality that could provide an important business link. If I will be given the chance to be part of the marketing team, I could work with these important people to advance the companies’ interest and goals. Salary Expectation With regard to the salary, I will not be so particular about how much as long as it is respectable. I mean not really high but not very low also. But this depends on the company situation. If the company is multi-national I would expect salary that will commensurate to my worth in the company. I believe this is justifiable because multi-national company earns enormous profits and it is not a sin to demand a fair share.   I will not demand higher salary, but just the appropriate compensation based on the prevailing salary standard. However if necessary, I am willing to accept lower salary if that meant developing good experience for a better job two to three years from now. I do not think demanding a higher salary at this point is unjustifiable in the sense that I have not proven yet my worth. I need to prove all that I have stated in my resume. The salary that I expect is the current minimum wage for professional. Promotional strategy (why I want This Job) I have learned about the job opportunity in India from the internet at Yahoo job search India. The specific location of the company is in Mumbai. I want this job because I have particular interest in pharmaceutical related work. Besides this is my field of expertise and it would be more comfortable for me if will be in this fieldwork. Perhaps what attracts me to this kind of work is that since childhood, I was fascinated by the pharmacist in their beautiful uniform that I used to see at a nearby drugstore in our neighborhood. I choose to work in India because I want to experience a new culture. India is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and considered to one of the emerging hegemonic economy after the United States. What do I see my self doing in five years I would say that I will still be in this company five years from now but perhaps as the marketing head of the company’s marketing department. I am quite sure that both my technical and communication skills will be even more developed during the course of my employment and I expect that I can acquire new skills, particularly in management, that could provide me the opportunity for career improvement. I am confident that so long as the top management recognized my worth and justly compensate my effort, I can perform my best and remain loyal to the company’s goals and mission. What do I see my self in ten years? As I mentioned earlier, so long as the company recognized my worth and justly compensate my effort, I will remain loyal to the company and perform my best. In this case I see my self-being in the top management team or perhaps a branch manager in either India or in particular Asian country. My loyalty to the company will remain until the time of my retirement. The company’s trust and confidence in me as well as the fare recognition of my initiative, my effort, and my skills and experience with the company will be the motivating factor behind my commitment. Distributional Strategy I will make the employer aware of the benefit that I can provide through my resume with attached application letter. I must prepare an impressive resume that presents my outstanding qualification specified in terms of acquired skills, personal attributes, co—curricular and community involvement, awards, and most importantly my work experience.   By means of these points of competencies, I can generally pinpoint my advantages over other applicants; and in the same way, the employer can easily determine why he has to select me from the many choices he has. Basically, resume and application letter is the best option for all application in making that first point of contact with the employer.   This is the best way to make personal impression because this reflects your sincerity and personality. Appendix A JOB ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE INTERNET Marketing Executive Company Profile: The company is into manufacturing of High Quality Pharmaceutical, Chemicals, Cosmetics, Beverages & Food Industries Machineries & Equipments. Job involves : The job will include sale of pharmaceutical Machinery, follow up with client, Taking orders from clients, overall business development of the old and New clients as well. Experience : 1 – 3 yrs Job Category : Marketing / Sales Medical Marketing Associates Company Profile : A Pharmaceutical Group of Company Job involves : Post Graduates/ Graduates in Medicine/ Pharmacy/ science. Experience : 1 – 2 yrs Job Category : Pharmaceutical/ Biotech Keywords – Medical Marketing Associates More Information Salary : Upto Rs 1.75 lacs p.a Location : Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur Date Posted : Source: http://in.jobs.yahoo.com/jobs.php?jc=Pharmaceutical Work Cited Henry, Merrit. Constructing an Impressive Resume.   The Jamaica Observers.   April 22, 2007. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070421T210000-0500_122057_OBS_CONSTRUCTING_AN_IMPRESSIVE_R_SUM__.asp. Yahoo Job Search in India. http://in.jobs.yahoo.com/jobs.php?jc=Pharmaceutical         

Effective Change Leader and Facilitator Essay

To prepare myself now for being an effective change leader and facilitator I can educate myself on the process of change initiatives and how other companies have successfully implemented radical change initiatives. It is important to have an understanding of change in business and one way of obtaining that understanding may be through higher education such and college or training. I would also try to read books and articles about strategic management. Radical change is typically when a business or organization is changing a lot like a merger with another company or changing the way they do business. Jackson (2009) said that â€Å"radical change is relatively infrequent and generally takes a long time to complete. It touches everyone and everything in the organization†. (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008) I think that I would more often be expected to lead and facilitate Incremental change which is â€Å"an ongoing process of evolution over time, during which many small changes occur routinely. The cumulative effect of many small changes may be to transform the organization totally†. (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2008) It is important to be well informed about the organization and the environment in which the organization does business. Once the objectives and reasons for change are addressed, then a plan for change should be made. Before fully implementing change it is important to have an understanding of how the change will affect the organization. Employees should also be informed of the importance of the change, how it will affect them, and how it will occur. Through learning about other organizations that have implemented similar changes lessons can be learned to not make similar mistakes. Working with consultants that have gone through the change process with other companies could also be very beneficial because they have experience. There are many authors that have written about strategic change and how to effectively implement radical change. Reading about change before the process starts could make me more prepared for leading others through change. I have also taken a few classes about strategic management and organizational development and how changes can be facilitated. I think that the more educated about change and the more experience gained through participating in change the more comfortable I would be with leading and facilitating change. References Jackson , S., Schuler, R., & Werner, S. (2008).Managing human resources. (10 ed., pp. 27-31). Australia: Cengage Learning.