Politics, Policy, and Change in Nigeria Essay

Volumes have been written on the subject of politics, policy, and social change. In this section, I will offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and ‘common sense. I will emphasize the important roles of leadership and group cohesiveness to effect change. Because the direction of change in a society depends on the manner in which resources are mobilized by the leader, and the attitude of the people toward change. The ruler must be concerned with the needs of the ruled, and must strive to gain their support. But with long-standing ethnic prejudice in a multi-ethnic society such as Nigeria, this has not been very easy. The concept of politics is diverse. Aristotle and Plato defined politics as a concern with general issues affecting the whole community. This involves the pursuit of the public interest, the operation of the state, and the formulation and execution of public policy. Contrasting public concern with private matters, they viewed the public concern as morally superior. Thus, political leaders have the responsibility to conform to constructive ideas and actions with â€Å"perfect goodness† (Andrain 1975, pp.12-20). In addition, It is the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government. It involves competition between various interest groups (parties) or individuals for power and leadership in a government or other group. The winning party guides or influences policies, and the distribution of resources in that polity (Dike (forthcoming) August 1999). In other words, politics does involve the struggle for power and wealth – that is, the production, distribution, and use of scarce resources. Historically, some leaders have sought the common good and others a private good. But without the ‘politics of virtue’ (that is, doing what is right), a leader may not bring about the necessary changes that would benefit the general public. How does one differentiate actions that are for common from those that are for private? The effects of a particular policy decision are the determining factors. The process of making and implementing decisions involves cooperation and competition, both of which may lead to social change. As many writers have noted, many factors are involved in social change; no single factor can adequately account for it (Lauer 1982, p. 37). And as a society, our needs can be fulfilled only through the cooperative efforts of everyone. Change or social change is defined as â€Å"significant alteration of social structures.† And social structures here mean the â€Å"patterns of social action and interaction,† which include norms, values, and cultural phenomena (Moore 1967, p.3). Others have defined change as â€Å"variations or modifications in any aspect of social process, pattern, or form;† it is also â€Å"any modification in established patterns of inter-human relationships and standards of conducts† (Fairchild, ed. 1955, p.277, as cited in Lauer 1982, p.4). As we have seen, change can start anywhere. In fact every system is to some extent altered by changes in any of its parts. Given our leaders’ penchant for corruption, Nigerians are cautiously optimistic about the positive changes that are presently taking place in Nigeria. And since what has been on the minds of the world is that Nigeria is bad, we have to get our act together. After that we can say to the world, ‘You held me in contempt, now look at me. Am I so contemptible?’ (Allport 1979). Can the present political leadership maintain the tempo of positive social re-engineering going on in the nation? For any intended change to occur in a society the people must be convinced by the leaders that such a change is both possible and desirable. Hence the need for systematic set of ideology that reflects the feasibility and desirability of particular change. Ideology interprets the past, make meaningful the present, and portray an ideal future. Lack of political ideology is a serious problem in Nigerian politics. Strangely, some politicians are known to have discounted the importance of ideology in politics. And since some of them are not committed to politics or democracy ideologically, they tend to waffle on issues. Consequently, nobody is held responsible for any policy failure in the society. For our politicians to behave, we should device means to hold them responsible for their actions or in-actions. In an educated and politically mature society the vote is the ultimate weapon of the people. But we must positively change our personal attitudes to be able to change the social structure. â€Å"For in part, at least, the structure is the product of the attitudes of many single people† (Allport 1979, p.507). Why is good value and virtue essential for the survival of a polity such as Nigeria? Can a leader successfully govern a vibrant society without an ideological compass? Policies and decisions constitute a crucial part of political leadership. Usually when the majority of a population refuse to accept certain policies as binding, this would move committed leaders to make changes in the various parts of the system: the content of the policies, the ruling personnel, the governing structures, or even the society over which the policies have jurisdiction. This is a democratic process that Nigeria should strive to adopt, if it needs to survive as a democratic nation. In a democracy there is no room for arbitrariness. Policies must be debated, and exhaustively too before implementation. To underscore the feelings of many well-meaning Nigerians, we cannot afford to fail this time around. Policy represents a set of decisions taken in response to specific problem. Some good examples are the recent actions of President Obasanjo: the setting up of a panel to probe the human rights abuses since 1993; to probe abandoned projects since the mid-1970’s; the termination of the contracts and the major appointments made by the Abubakar military regime. Justice Chukwudifu Oputa is the chairman of the human rights panel, while Alhaji Iguda Inuwa is the chairman of the committee on abandoned projects. Let’s not neglect the present favorable and inviting period in Nigeria. Instead of gazing at each other with ‘suspicious or doubtful curiosity,’ let’s unite and expose those who have dragged us to the mud. The civil rights panel will identify the persons involved in the various abuses, the nature of the abuses, and the policy responsible. It will also recommend measures to ameliorate the problems and formulate strategies to forestall incidence of human rights abuses in the society in future. All these policy actions have drawn praises from within and outside Nigeria. However, all these probes will not have the desired effects if their recommendations are not implemented. Legal action, proper reparation, and exposure in the press may be the better ways to curb corruption, and moderate social discontent. Perhaps nothing frightens politicians more than chastisement in the press. President Obasanjo’s boldest policy decision so far has been the retirement of 149 political-senior military and police officers – an apparent purge of those who participated in the autocratic and atrocious regimes of Generals Babangida and Abacha. His spoke person, Doyin Okupe, was quoted as saying that â€Å"In future, all officers of our armed forces must recognize that the ultimate reward for participating or benefiting from coups will be premature or forced retirement from service in the minimum† (Cindy Shiner, June 16, 1999). Nevertheless, I would recommend death sentence as the minimum punishment for benefiting or participating in military coups in future, and for the politicians who should conspire with other government officials to loot the national treasury. There should be no sacred cows here. Any person found guilty after a due process should be given the stated punishment. The consistency and enforceability of this consequence will ensure discipline and professionalism in the Armed Forces. It will also guard against the excesses of our civilian politicians – many of whom are in office to acquire wealth illegally, and not to serve the public. In particular, this will ensure the survival of democracy, and an antidote to corruption in Nigeria. For the actions to be legitimate, the Congress should haste and insert the appropriate provisions in our constitution. Corruption is widely known as the bane of Nigeria. This construct, corruption, has been defined as â€Å"†¦a behavior which deviates from the formal duties of a public role because of private [gains] – regarding (personal, close family, private clique [cohorts], pecuniary or status gains; or violates rules against the exercise of certain types of [duties] for private [gains] – regarding influence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Nye 1967, p.419). In fact, many writers have noted that it is probably the only viable industry in the society (Dike, forthcoming, August 1999). This covers â€Å"grand† corruption, at senior levels, and â€Å"petty† corruption, when junior officials take facilitation payments. The abysmal failure of military rule and our previous civilian administrations is associated with huge corruption in the state and the economy. Like other problems in the society, this essay cannot fully address the problem of corruption because of its limited focus. As Kofo Awosika pointed out in his recent piece â€Å"A President’s responsibilities†: â€Å"People are poor because they are being denied access to opportunities. People steal because they are hungry and destitute. People are hungry and destitute because they cannot earn wages. They have no wages because they have no work. They have no work because they have been retrenched. They have been retrenched because industries cannot cope with their wage bills. Industries can not cope with their wage bills because production costs have increased. Production costs have increased because our infrastructures have died. [The infrastructures have died because the funds meant for their upgrading, repairs, maintenance and installations of others meant for the common good end (up) in private pockets]† (The Guardian, June 17, 1999). President Olusegun Obasanjo must not stop at his first salvo. The people’s enthusiasm and interest in the administration should not be allowed to die down. He should establish a forum for people to voice out dissent on controversial issues in the society, and procedures under which ordinary citizens can sue for any infringement on their civil rights. More importantly, a general public sector reform is apropos. Reform here refers to large-scale and comprehensive change in the role, structure, values, staffing, or size of the public sector. This should also involve privatizing our ill-managed government corporations, and contracting out services in the domain of inefficient and corrupt corporations to the private sector for greater efficiency and accountability. International blueprint in the process could be adopted, but it should be adjusted to meet local conditions. The struggle for survival As psychology has noted, to redouble one’s efforts is a healthy response to an obstacle. For Nigeria to survive as a nation, we have to remain vigilant and intensify our efforts in areas of deficiency. And our ‘value-violators’ should be punished. In addition, our negative frame of references (e.g. the advance fee fraud – â€Å"419†) that are anchored in our social environment should be dismantled. We should be realistic in our struggle for survival, because the world is watching. President Obasanjo should wage war on ethnicity and nepotism, which are inimical to the unity of this great nation. This does not mean that groups would not retain their identity and work for their progress. But this should not be carried out in a manner that would undermine the unity and stability of the nation. And in future politicians who are pandering to ethnic interests should be rejected at the polling boot. It is imperative that Nigeria is re-structured into a mobile society; a nation where one could live in any state of his choice, secure employment at the state and local levels without limitations, and participate meaningfully in the affairs of the community of his abode (see Umez June 11, 1999). And ‘hard work, good skills and intelligence’ should be rewarded strictly on merits, without regard to ethnicity and religion. This will help to tame the dangerous trend of ‘brain-drain’ in the nation. It will also motivate people to give their undivided loyalty to the central government. At last, this will mean unity and the establishment of a common identity for Nigeria. But given Nigeria’s cultural diversity, this may not be an easy undertaking. Instead of setting up programs to encourage national unity, our leaders are dismantling or weakening the few programs that are in place. For instance, the recent reduction of the age group for prospective ‘youth service members’ from 30 years to 25 years by General Abubakar is a step toward scrapping the program. The National Youth Service Corps program was designed by General Yakubu Gowon after the civil war to foster national integration and reconciliation (The Post Express, June 11, 1999). One problem with our leaders is policy instability. We need more programs like the NYSC to facilitate and encourage inter-cultural interaction in the nation. President Obasanjo and his civilian administration should not allow this program to die. However, the program could be redesigned if it has not been achieving its purpose. The problem of secret cults or youth gangs in our tertiary institutions is a serious threat to the survival of Nigeria. Our universities have been turned into killing fields, instead of places of learning. The most recent incident was the killing of the principal assistant registrar at the Delta State University, Abraka (The Guardian of June 13, 1999). The congress should institute appropriate and enforceable laws against cult activities on university campuses. It is recognized that there are laws around to this effect. But these laws have either not been enforced, or they have not been effective. Unenforceable laws are only good on the book. The leader who can only give orders but cannot enforce them is not a leader by the standard of many societies. And to restore quality education in our educational institutions, the Congress and Prof. Tunde Adeniran (the recently appointed education minister), should increase funding for education and institute policies that will improve the low moral and motivation of professors and the support staff. Sound economic policies should also be instituted to diversify the nation’s mono-product economy. The diversification of the economy would help reduce Nigeria’s dependence on the outside world for her basic needs (food, etc), and lend credibility to claims that the country could someday join the ranks of superpowers. In particular, it will create employment for our burgeoning population. Among other measures to stimulate employment in the society is to give aid to state and local governments and accelerate public works. Our social problems (poverty, diseases, illiteracy, prostitution, crime, etc), are in one way or another related to the sour state of the economy. These things can all be done with proper leadership in Abuja. Economic development or growth (increase in an economy’s capacity to generate more goods and services) requires changes in human skills, attitudes, values – and people have to be formally educated; construct an economic infrastructure – basic transportation, communication, irrigation, and other power facilities; maximize agricultural productivity; increase capital accumulation – that is, tangible physical goods that will serve as means of production. These include machinery, technological innovations, buildings and equipment (Andrain 1975, pp.284-288). Therefore to survive, we need a strong ethic – to save and invest, not simply to consume; to develop sophisticated skills, with an educated and a highly motivated work force. As John Stuart Mill has said: â€Å"What a country wants to make it richer is never consumption, but production. Where there is the latter, we may be sure that there is no want of the former†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Mill, as cited in Bartlett 1981, pp.1-2). A democratic political system seems best suited to achieve this. Nigeria has been doing poorly in these areas, despite her enormous oil wealth. For our economic revival efforts to be successful, the civilian administration should axe those corrupt and inefficient managers of our public utilities and facilities – NEPA, NNPC, NIPOST, NITEL, the Refineries, the Ports, and other establishments that are the hub of our economy. How does one justify the payment of monthly salaries to the executives of these corporations that are not performing? No serious society can afford to do that. The salaries of our executives should be tied to their productivity – that is, the effectiveness of their policies. It is imperative to understand that the â€Å"underdevelopment of a country is the result of its deficient value system and economic structure† (Chirot 1977, pp.2-3). It is equally important to understand that the key social forces that have fostered democracy in the United States and other stable democratic nations are not yet in Nigeria. Our deficiencies are many; but we must have to give democracy a chance to survive in the society. For this, the present socioeconomic re-structuring in Nigeria should be pursued with speed and sincerity. Summary Leadership commitment is essential to the survival and progress of Nigeria. The people have an important role to play too. But the people’s commitment would be difficult to secure if the leaders who are calling on them for sacrifice do not themselves make any sacrifices. To stamp out corruption in the country, Nigerians should always elect or appoint people of probity to manage the affairs of the nation. This group must analyze each situation in the society critically, in order to determine appropriate target of change, who should be involve in the effort, and what method will most likely lead to the desired outcome. The majority of Nigerians are pleased with the initial policy actions of the civilian administration. Nevertheless, we should keep an eagle’s eye on the legislature, because some of them are corrupt. Nigeria still lives in the history of the future. The way our history will be written depends upon the extent to which and the manner in which we – leaders and the people – strive to shape our future. There is a lot of unknown in the society. But since we cannot foresee what the remote future has in store for us, we can only hope for a better tomorrow. Nigeria, the world is still watching! References Achebe, Chinua (1983);The Trouble with Nigeria, Enugu, Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1983, p.1. Akintoye, Seth, et al (June 13, 1999); â€Å"Cultists At Work Again In Varsities;† the Guardian, June 13, 1999. Allport, Gordon W. (1979); The Nature of Prejudice; 25th Anniversary Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, p.507 Andrain, Charles F. (1975); Political Life and Social Change: An Introduction to Political Science, 2nd Edition, Duxbury Press, Belmont, California (1975); pp.284-288. Apter, David (1960); â€Å"The Role of Traditionalism in the Political Modernization of Ghana and Uganda,† World Politics, XII. Awosika, Kofo (June 17, 1999); â€Å"A president’s responsibilities;† the Guardian, June 17, 1999. Bienen, Henry (1993) â€Å"Leaders, Violence, and the Absence of Change in Africa† Political Science Quarterly Bartlett, Bruce (1981); Reaganomics: Supply Side Economics in Action. Arlington House Pub., 1981, pp.1-2. Bretton, Henry L. (1967); The Rise and Fall of Kwame Nkrumah. London: Pall Mall Press. Chirot, Daniel (1977); Social Change in the Twentieth Cenry; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., New York, pp.2-3. Dike, Enwere (1990); â€Å"Nigeria: The Political Economy of Buhari Regime,† Nigeria Journal Of International Affairs, Vol. 16, No.2, pp.94-95. Dike, Victor (Forthcoming, August 1999); Leadership, Democracy, and the Nigerian Economy: Lessons from the Past and Directions for the Future.(Forthcoming) August 1999.

Interpreting The History Of Volcanoes And Volcanic Rocks Essay

Drawing from the diagram, the volcanic history is as outlined below and other relevant details are also supplied. 1.0 Sequential summary of volcanic history the area a. Andersite porphyry: this is the oldest. Andersite indicates magma of intermediate composition. Its silica content is midway between felsic rocks (having high silica content) and mafic rocks (having low silica content). Its formation is a two-step process where slow cooling occurs at the initial stage within the crust forming large crystals as a result. However, the remaining magma moves further out and, as a result, cools to form a fine grained texture within which the earlier formed large crystals are embedded. This indicates a slow eruption. b. Turf grading into braccia: these are pyroclastic rocks formed by violent eruption of highly viscous magma. The tuff is finer than breccia but the two are of the same occurrence of formation. The magma forces its way out shattering the surrounding plastic rocks into ashes and block fragments. These consolidate to form tuff and breccia respectively and are likely to be felsic since high viscousity indicates a high silica content c. Dacite porphyry: this is of similar composition and formation style as andersite porphyry though it has higher silica content than andersite. d. Pumice Breccia: pumice is fine textured, filled with porous holes containing gases that were trapped within the forming magma at the onset of eruption. The gases later escapes to form a light, porous glassy rock. The breccia was likely to have resulted from the shattering of the rocks as the magma erupts out. Pumice is light colured which indicates a felsic composition (felsic rocks are lightly coloured than mafic rocks) e. Polymictic breccia: this indicates a mixture of breccia of varying silica content which indicates the onset of the formation of an interrupting basaltic formation which is to follow after. However, the mode of formation is still violent. f. Basalt with rough blacky top: this is a fine grained mafic rock. The rough top indicates that the forming magma was gently erupted and the viscosity low enough to cause the included gas to just escape leaving the bubble spaces at the top. g. Andersite: this has been seen as of intermediate silica composition. The absence of porphyritic material may indicate a less quiet eruption. h. Obsidian with pumice streak: the youngest rock; obsidian resembles pumice but without the bubble holes. The presence of pumice streak indicates violent eruption since some of the gases were trapped as a result of the violence. It is felsic. 2.0 Since the last eruption is about 19 years earlier (the age of the youngest layer), the volcano is still active. The earthquakes and the likes are likely pointers to another volcanic eruption. So evacuation is imminent. 3.0 This is an example of a composite or cinder-cone volcano. The seldom occurrence of pyroclastic materials and rocks of intermediate composition suggests this. These, in addition to the fact that the rocks are from highly viscous magma, also suggests that the volcano is located at a volcanic arc.

Life and Works of Toni Morrison Essay

The Life and Work of Toni Morrison Toni Morrison, a premier contemporary American novelist, chronicles the African-American experience. Morrison has written six novels and a collection of essays and lectures. Her work has won national and international acclaim and has been translated into 14 languages. Her writing has been described as lyrical and she has been applauded for â€Å"writing prose with the luster of poetry. † Morrison won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her novel  Belovedand the coveted Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. In a released statement, the Nobel Prize Committee of the Swedish Academy awarded the prize to Morrison â€Å"who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality. † She is the first African-American writer to win the Nobel Prize, the first American woman to win in 55 years, and the eighth woman to win since the Nobel Prize was initiated in 1901. Morrison’s work, however, is not without controversy. In 1988, 48 African-American writers signed a letter protesting that her novel  Beloved  was overlooked for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics’ Circle Award. Many white authors and even some male African-American authors complained when she was selected for the Nobel Prize. They felt she received these awards due to preferential treatment based on race and sex. However, an overwhelming majority of the literary community agrees that such allegations are without merit. The Nobel Prize in Literature is not awarded for gender or race,† says Nadine Gordimer, the last woman to win the prize in 1991. â€Å"If it were, many thousands of mediocre writers might qualify. The significance of Toni Morrison’s winning the prize is simply that she is recognized internationally as an outstandingly fine writer. † Often the controversy surrounding such prizes are due in part to fierce competition for the money and prestige that are guaranteed to the rec ipients. Morrison has been hailed by experts for her ability to â€Å"re-imagine the lost history of her people. Others have recognized the Faulknerian influences in her work or that her plots have the sorrow of Greek tragedies. Along with the honor of winning the the Nobel Prize comes a cash award of $825,000. Morrison is currently the Robert F. Goheen Professor in the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University. Toni Morrison was born Chole Anthony Wofford in Lorrain, Ohio in 1931 during the Great Depression. (Toni is her nickname; Morrison is the name of her ex-husband. ) Her grandparents were former sharecroppers who migrated north from Alabama in 1910 to find a better life. Her family’s life was not without economic and racial hardships. They lived in a largely all-white town. Unpleasant memories of growing up there include being looked down upon because she was black. The only part-time job she could get at age 13 was cleaning people’s homes. In spite of these humble origins, Morrison received a B. A. from Howard University and a M. A. in English from Cornell University. Her master’s thesis was on writer William Faulkner, another Nobel Prize winner, whose work focused on life in the South. Upon graduation, one of her first round of jobs was teaching at Howard University. One of her students included writer Claude Brown who asked her to look at his 800 page manuscript. His book went on to become the classic urban autobiography  Manchild in the Promised Land. Another one of her students who went on to fame was Stokely Carmichael, a student activist and leader in the Black Power Movement of the sixties. In fact, the idea for her first book,  The Bluest Eye, came from the popular slogan â€Å"Black is Beautiful. Morrison placed a twist on that theme by focusing on a little black girl who did not think she was beautiful. After her teaching stints and the end of her marriage, she raised two sons as a single parent and wrote in her spare time. Morrison was hired by Random House, where she advanced from textbook editor to the position of senior editor. During her 18-year tenure, she helped writers to clean up their manuscripts, edited the  Black Book, a collection of Af rican-American memorabilia, and pushed for the publication of works by deserving, but often overlooked, African-American authors. Some of the authors that came to the limelight under her stewardship were Alice Walker, Gayle Jones, Gloria Naylor, and Toni Cade Bambara. Continuing to use Morrison as a guide, African-American female authors have emerged as a consistent and critical dimension in literature. In a 1994 interview with  Time  magazine, Morrison understands the significance of her work for female authors. â€Å"I felt I represented a whole world of women who either were silenced or who had never received the imprimatur of the established literary world. †¦ Seeing me up there might encourage them to write one of those books I’m desperate to read. † Before Morrison, the most successful African-American writers were males. For example, the work of acclaimed African-American novelist and essayist James Baldwin had tremendous literary impact in the fifties and sixties. Racial themes were explored as they had never been before in his books  Nobody Knows My Name  and  Go Tell It on the Mountain. Eventually, Baldwin felt uncomfortable living as a second-class citizen in the United States and became an ex-patriate who lived and worked from Paris. Richard Wright, Baldwin’s predecessor, was also an ex-patriate. Beginning with his autobiography  Black Boy  in 1945, Wright continued with  Outsiders, Uncle Tom’s Children, and his most important work  Native Son. Ralph Ellison wrote only one book. Yet Ellison’s Invisible Man won a National Book Award in 1952 and this allowed him to join the ranks of male authors successful at depicting the disenfranchisement of the African-Americans in the United States. Morrison is recognized as the most distinguished African-American novelist since Wright, Ellison, and Baldwin. In her work as an author, Morrison wanted to continue to broaden the perspective of American literature by telling the stories she felt were never told, stories about African-American girls and women and the racial and social pressures they faced. She wanted to write about people with the sensibilities of the culture she grew up in. Morrison wanted her work to focus on the joys and sorrows of their lives. She wrote her first novel when she was in her 30s. The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is about a black girl who feels she has no beauty. If only her eyes were blue and her skin was white, then she could be someone who could be loved. The book received respectable attention. The Bluest Eye  became the first of many of Morrison’s explorations into the identity, self-esteem, and impact of racial discrimination on what she believes to be the most vulnerable—women and children. Sula, published in 1973, shows two friends, black and female, and how they fit and don’t fit into their community. With the publication of Song of Solomon in 1977, Morrison won critical and commercial success and the National Book Critics’ Circle Award. By the time her next novel  Tar Babywas due in the bookstores in 1981, she was featured on the cover ofNewsweek. Ever expanding on the theme of telling stories untold, it is said her bookBeloved  was written in memory of the millions of lives lost during slavery. The plot centers around an ex-slave Sethe who would rather kill her own children than risk that they be re-enslaved. The ghost of Sethe’s dead child tries to remain close to her mother and wreaks havoc when she cannot. All of the characters in  Beloved, Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, try to recover from the personal and collective indignities of slavery. I was trying to make it a personal experience,† says Morrison in a question and answer interview with  Time  magazine. â€Å"The book was not about the institution—Slavery with a capital S. It was about these anonymous people called slaves. What they do to keep on, how they make a life, what they’re willing to risk, however long it lasts, in order to relate to one another—that was incredible to me,† she says. In 1992 Morrison published  Playing in the Dark, a collection of her Harvard lectures. In this collection she coins a new term, once again reinventing an already established concept. She teaches a humanities course that changes the term African-American to American Africanisms. This same year she also published  Race-ing Justice, En-Gendering Power, essays on the controversy surrounding the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings. In her novel  Jazz, also published in 1992, Morrison continues her theme of giving a voice to the voiceless. Once again, she does everything she can to stretch the imagination. The novel makes both racial and historical statements about the inequities of life for African-Americans in the post-slavery era. With the writing of  Jazz, Morrison takes on new tasks and new risks. Jazz, for example, doesn’t fit the classic novel format in terms of design, sentence structure, or narration. Just like the music this novel is named after, the work is improvisational. In this work, she is influenced not only by the jazz, blues, and gospel music she was reared on, but also by the folklore, tall tales, and ghost stories that her family told for entertainment. The result is a writing style that has a unique mix of the musical, the magical, and the historical.

Chose the topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chose the topic - Essay Example After getting drunk, they would walk around making noise and talking immoral while others were fighting each other. This is evident when Philomena and Pelajia complaints about this and saying that she wants to go to Toronto. They later overcome this by stopping the name callings, towards themselves, and considering one another for consolation. The social conditions in the hills seemed to be harder when Pelajia complaints about men snatching away their neighbors wives. She also complains of the women snatching their neighbors husbands and sleep with them. Those involved in this have shown disrespect and caused discomfort to others, including the sisters, in the hills. Pelajia says, " †¦..Andrew Starnblanket and his brother Mathew. Drunk. Again. Or sounded like†¦." She continues saying, "†¦. Fighting over some girl. Heard what sounded like a baseball bat landing on somebodys back. My lawn looks like the shit this morning" (Tomson 59). This condition has made the sisters resolve their differences and stay in peace since this is the only way to their resilience. The sisters have been staying in a state of joblessness. None of them is employed, and we even see them relying mostly on charity so that they can get some finances to better their lives. In the play, we see them being idle all the day and having nothing to do so as to improve their living conditions. This is evident when Pelajia says, " †¦ I will tell him there will be more jobs because the people have paved more roads to drive to work on†¦" (Tomson 59). The sisters are living in poor housing conditions. There houses roofs are poor and in bad condition relatively their neighborhoods. Comparing to the other houses they saw in Toronto and Espanol, they live in poor living conditions, and thats why Pelajia is planning to leave the hills and go to Toronto. They are forced to repair the roofs

Drinking under the influence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drinking under the influence - Essay Example I have had to deal with not sleeping at night after becoming aware of who I hurt in the process and be able to live a new life, so that I am conscious of what I do and not to hurt others in the process. This has been a new learning experience for me. Visualizing those bodies at the morgue made me realize the loss of those families, their pain, and their hatred towards people like me (well deserved). I have learned quite a lesson which is (although I would have preferred not to have learned it this way), DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. I have referred to the death victims, but, what about those that suffer physical harm and are incapacitated for life? If I cannot sleep with comfort now, I can not imagine what would have been of me if someone’s life would be hindered in such a way that they could not resume their life according to their prior dreams. I wholeheartedly, recommend to anyone that if they drink and drive, to go see people that are in charge of DUI and MADD and learn of what people’s responsibilities are and what you have to go through. It is not a pretty sight and hopefully you will be dissuaded from drinking and driving. Talking with them will give insights to know: what is expected of you; how you should act responsibly; how to consider the possible consequences of your actions; and, that drinking and driving do not go hand-in-hand. Avoid a disaster in your life. Be well and learn from my experiences. There is no reason why you should have to go through these awful experiences. Just as a dear friend of mine once said, â€Å"You do not have to have cancer to know that it is

Comparison of Republicans and Democrats Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Comparison of Republicans and Democrats - Essay Example Recent Supreme Court rulings have allowed unlimited, undisclosed donations to be made by the super-rich and by multinational corporations to politicians from both parties that are seeking election. This creates a situation where both parties must do the bidding of these powerful donors once they are elected. If they do not, then these donors will support someone else in the next election. Both of these parties are dependant on rich people and special interest money to support their candidates. Another way Democrats and Republicans are similar is they refuse to take any responsibility for anything bad that happens. Both parties blame the other incessantly for the problems in America. Republicans blame the current state of the economy on the Democrats even though a Republican Congress and President sewed the seeds of the financial meltdown. Democrats ignore worthwhile gains Republicans make in everything from social policy to international relations. They ignore the amount of funding Republican administrations have sent to help AIDS victims in Africa while focusing on any comment or policy by a Republican that might be a bit offensive of dim-witted. Both of these parties are similar in the way that they react negatively to the other party. It is true that these two parties do differ in their basic ideology. The Republicans claim that they want to reduce the role of government in the lives of American citizens. They claim that the government is too big and that we need to cut expenditure. They believe in low taxes and self-reliance. The Democrats say that they believe the government can make a positive difference for people, especially the poor. They believe in funding social programs that help people get good educations and good jobs.     

Further discuss the plan identified in the case assignment Essay

Further discuss the plan identified in the case assignment - Essay Example HCPs are crucial participants in the pursuit to address medical errors. HAIs increase healthcare costs, thereby complicating the issue even more (Robinson, 2010). HCP should engage in constant communication to ensure that risk variables in relation to medical errors are adequately addressed. In so doing, it is possible to work through resolving HAIs problems and medical errors at large. Healthcare facilities should design, formulate and implement procedures that should be followed by patients, caregivers and clinicians. Protocols of observation could also be established to ensure that all risk factors are accounted for inside and outside caregiving facilities. Since HAIs emerge from the healthcare facility environment, such procedures and protocols will ensure that the occurrence of nosocomial infections is minimized or alleviated altogether (Coates, 2004). On the same note, imposing standard precautions in relation to HAIs and other medical errors would be fundamental. Healthcare teams can also design measures and policies that are designed to address HAIs and medical errors problems. Clinicians and bacteriologists can team up to design procedures and/or medical products that act as a preventative measure for HAIs. Hospital directors and employers can design internal mechanisms to address the problem, basically integrating patients in that pursuit. All these team participants should act more cautious in relation to the underlying medical

Literacy Narrative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Literacy Narrative - Essay Example Out of the blues, or perhaps I supposed, I said, â€Å"mum banana kitchen.† Dad looked at me for a long time with a smiling face, then, as was our tradition whenever I got anything right, he gave a pat, and sent me to the car. This time, I did not find the usual candy he had for me, but a large toy of a learning kit comprising a book and a doll with prerecorded manes of different names for the various animals, trees, types of food, types of houses, professions, cars, among others. This became the darling of my days that I spent at home, listening and repeating what the doll said. Before I knew, I knew most of the animals, insects, houses, foods, cars and professions. I could differentiate between a car and a lorry, a bicycle from a motorcycle, a train from a train, a mango from a banana, among others. Father one day told me, â€Å"I will take you to a school where you would learn to speak and write too.† That was my biggest joy, knowing that I could speak as fluently and comfortably as the reporters. By the time I was of school age, I could grasp a few sentences said on television, especially by actors of local programs. The idea that school would give me the opportunity to learn reading and writing, in addition to speaking like the people on television overwhelmed me. I was so eager to start school that I started assuming my dad being the real teacher and our living room the classroom. â€Å"It is an interesting place, you will find other children like you, they will be fun and a teacher who will teach you all you want to know,† dad told me, increasing my curiosity. Now I was alert more than ever. Walking into my classroom for the first time, looking tiny but confident was more than jubilation for me. With father and mother by my side, and after taking a photo beside our car, they escorted me to office. Dad went to the senior office, and later emerged with a nicely dressed man, sharp looking and nicely dressed. Although he was in a

Auditing Theory and Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Auditing Theory and Practice - Essay Example They also provide details of safeguards against them. If only threats to the ethics are explained and solutions to them are not given to auditors, then they will get frustrated in complying with the regulations. Safeguards are auditor friendly in the sense they provide them different course of actions in case of non-compliance. This helps the auditors to protect their commercial interest (Miettinen, 2008). The objective of the international auditing standards is to standardize the audit procedures on a global basis. This is as per the need of the time because multi-nationals are expanding. The concept of trans-national auditing has also increased. The International Auditing and Assurance Board have presented more than 25 Auditing standards. The standards cover the topic from the stage of selection of the audit client to the stage of the issuance of the Audit report. The standards cover risks and procedures to identify them. Now, IAASB has presented more clarified auditing standards. The standards provide their objectives, the requirement to fulfill the objective and application material to enhance the understanding of the users. IAASB calls for feedback from different accounting bodies, which enhance the acceptability and usage of the standards. The Standards setting body have discussed the factors of quality audit. Each factor that contributes to quality is then explained in much depth. For example, if the staff’s quality is of importance to the audit quality then the quality of the competent staff is explained further. Although, the framework does not provide an exhaustive checklist of factors, but it facilitates auditors to a reasonable extent. The professional bodies have enacted a system of audits of the audit firms for the audits they have conducted. The firms are then rated for their quality. High rating makes it more probable for the audit firms to be selected by huge clients. Such audits of

How did the hurricane Katarina impact the reservation price on the Term Paper

How did the hurricane Katarina impact the reservation price on the housing market in New Orleans, before and after the catastrop - Term Paper Example Almost 80% of New Orleans city was covered with floods. About 1800 people lost their lives to the hurricane; property of $80 billion worth belonging to the Orleanais was damaged, and in August 2005, after the floods swept in, millions of civilians were left with no homes. Hurricane Katrina was graded the sixth among the strongest storms that had ever been experienced and was the costliest. The strength of this storm waved to over 30 deep sea miles and when it was at its extreme, the winds from the hurricane covered more that 75 deep sea miles from the central point moving on to the east side. Over 400,000 employees lost their jobs following hurricane Katrina and this led to the financial crisis suffered by the Gulf Coast. This paper will discuss the effects and impacts on the reservation price on the housing market in New Orleans before and after the catastrophe (Bergal, 2007). Katrina engendered storm outpours and deluges, which in turn led to a 75% area flooding in the metropolitan of New Orleans. More than half of the embankment and failures in the floodwalls were brought into being by overlapping in that, as the storm outpours aggravated farther up the acmes of either or both the embankments and their floodwalls, the subsequent erosions fructified than expected and gave rise to breaches/failures. The most articulate and coherent missteps included the failures that took place on the banks adjacent to the 17th street and London avenue estuaries. These three failures could have resulted from the implosion and inadequacy in part of the basal foundation soil concealing the levees, conjointly with sand boils and sinkholes. According to analysts, Hurricane Katrina caused the death of more than 1,100 Louisiana residents. One third of the incidences of death took place in hospitals and shelters in flooded areas. The drowned victims made up to two thirds and the most of the casualties were elderly people because 60% of the reported cases were those of people aged 65 and over. The number of deaths was higher in areas with large water depths. Hurricane Katrina and the Social Contract Game theory Arguably, if the destruction that New Orleans went through resulted from terrorist attacks, it would have been ranked highest historically (Miller, 2006). This is not as a result of the many innocent lives that were lost or the valuable property that went into destruction, but because of the evident social order destruction in the region. A terrorist envision would bring nothing better than planting seed of hatred and watering them with the blood of innocent citizens, and increasing the mistrust among the government and the citizens in fulfilling their respective duties in the â€Å"social contract†. Socrates arguments gives a clear trace of the social contract concept though scholars like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and the likes of Rousseau later modernized the concept (Binmore, 1998). To analyses the concept, late 20th century scholars used game-t heoretic reasoning. In this, they concentrated on thee 2*2 matrix games. The most accurate 2*2 game is the â€Å"Stag Hunt†. Taking after Rousseau, it gives a description of developing cooperative effort ideas among human generations. Player 2 Hunt Stag (Cooperate) Hunt Hare (Defect) Player 1 Hunt Stag (Cooperate) 4,4 1,3 Hunt Hare (Defect) 3,1 2,2 What the above Table on Stag Hunt elaborates is the fact that with cooperation, it is easier to realize excellent results that

Lower Legal Drinking Age Essay Example for Free

Lower Legal Drinking Age Essay The United States has a long history with alcohol consumption. For better and sometimes worse, alcohol has been a popular aid in many social gatherings and events involving Americans. Currently however, only those above the age of 21 years are allowed to enjoy the privilege of drinking alcoholic beverages. This occurred in 1984 with the passing of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act within the Federal Highway Act bill (US Congress, 1984). The bill said that a 10 percent decrease of highway funding would take place in states that failed to raise the drinking age to 21 (US Congress, 1984). All states complied with the bill very shortly after it’s passing because the crucial need for highway funding. Nevertheless, this passage has been controversial since its inception in 1984. Data compiled in favor of increasing the drinking age is just a controversial and strongly contested. Therefore, the drinking age should be lowered back to 18 years old, because too much liability is placed on bars, liquor stores, and social hosts, little evidence points to adverse health affects due to moderate minor alcohol consumption, and finally all rights and privileges of adulthood are given at age 18 in the United States except for alcohol consumption. First, the liability placed on bars, liquor stores, and social hosts has become a great burden in the alcohol industry. Vendors selling alcohol are required to properly identify the age of the buyer. However, this can be very complicated in the technological age that exists today. Fake identification has become a huge black market business as well as using the identification of those with a similar appearance. Minors are using fake identification to buy booze more than ever. Vendors should not be held accountable if these various forms of fake identification truly dupe them. A law review done on fake identification, also argues that placing all the liability on alcohol vendors is a lot to ask (Murray). Computers and the Internet have grown to an exponential use of fake IDs (Murray). Bar owners and liquor stores are turning away huge portions of their business just to comply with the law (Murray). It is not fair for the government to hold these vendors accountable and hurt their busin ess. By lowering the drinking age back to 18, the biggest group of underage drinkers would be targeted. 18 to 20 year olds are the largest population of underage drinkers because they are college-aged students. They are the most likely to attempt to use fake identification. By lowering the drinking age to make these ages legal, the use of fake identification will decrease dramatically. Furthermore, it is not fair to hold vendors liable for the actions of intoxicated minors if fake identification is used to purchase the alcohol. Two cases examine this issue. First, in the case of Berg Vs. Zummo, the plantiff sued the minor defendant for damages caused during his intoxication (Berg Vs. Zummo). The case went all the way to the Supreme Court of Louisiana. The decision reached held that the bar was first and foremost responsible for serving the minor alcohol (Berg Vs. Zummo). It also declared some liability on the minor for his reckless actions. However, by lowering the drinking age to 18 year s of age, the liability would be solely held by the intoxicated person in this case and not the establishment furnishing the alcohol. Thus lowering the drinking age further protects vendors in this regard. In another case, employees at a military base were held liable for serving alcohol to underage servicemen (US v. Dotson). The case of the United States of America v. Dotson Et. Al. upheld that vendors of alcohol are liable for serving to minors (US v. Dotson). Again, if the drinking age were lowered to 18, the liability in this case would have been avoided. All servicemen are age 18 and older. This brings up another important point. Those able to serve in our military and potentially die for their country should be able to consume alcohol. The rights and privileges of adulthood are given to all those aged 18 including servicemen and women. It is unfair to prevent them from drinking alcohol when they put their lives on the line for this country. Although many people find alcohol as a valuable remedy after a long day of work, alcohol can potentially lead to addiction problems as well as other adverse health effects. A major point to note in the matter at hand is that not all individuals binge drink, or drink excessively during frequent times. The consumption of at least five drinks or more in only a two hour sitting is excessive, yet unrealistic to think that those who do drink alcoholic beverages, consume them so frequently. Drinking alcohol with companions is a social activity that can potentially be healthy for those involved. Although there is a lot of negativity on the subject of underage drinking, there are also many benefits from consuming small to moderate amounts of alcohol, even at the age of eighteen. Health benefits that can potentially be attained by indulging in casual drinking include reduced risk of developing heart disease, lowered risk for stroke, reduced risk of heart attack, lowered risk of gallstones, and reduced risk for diabetes (Mayo). It is evident that many years of excessive alcohol abuse can cause serious neurological damage as well as other harmful health affects, yet there is still a lack of evidence that fully verifies how alcohol kills brain cells. Conversely, there has been scientific research and studies to demonstrate how it is somewhat beneficial to one’s own health. Scientific medical research has actually confirmed that the moderate consumption of alcohol is associated with better cognitive skills and memory than is abstaining from alcohol (Hanson). Moderate can also help the brain function better into old age. While alcohol impairs one part of the brain, another part of the brain that is involved in learning is actually aided by alcohol according to new research (Morikawa). Neurobiologist Hitoshi Morikawa of the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at The University of Texas in Austin says that consuming alcohol primes specific areas of the brain to improve learning and enhance memory. People commonly think of dopamine as a happy transmitter, or a pleasure transmitter, but more accurately its a learning transmitter, Morikawa says. It strengthens those synapses that are active when dopamine is released (Morikawa). The key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle while also being able to socialize with the consumption of alcoholic beverages is moderation. â€Å"The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that if you choose to drink alcohol you do so only in moderation – up to one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men† (Mayo). With that in mind, the overall number of people that are actually consuming alcohol is in decline. Here at the University of Evansville, over 91% of surveyed students believe that the average student uses alcohol once a week or more, but only 21% of the surveyed students reported using alcohol that frequently. Teenagers across the United States are drinking less and less as well. In the thirty-six year history of the federal government’s annual Monitoring the Future Survey, consuming alcohol by middle and high school students has reached its lowest level (Hanson). For many young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one, drinking is a staple of their weekend activities and life in general. These constant users and potential abusers of alcohol find access to alcohol in a variety of ways despite the United States’ legal drinking age being twenty-one. Much of society views underage drinking with a meager â€Å"out of sight, out of mind† approach. Unfortunately, the reality is that binge drinking does take place and is more prevalent on college campuses and with young people as a whole. A growing number of college officials are disputing the effectiveness of current drinking laws, arguing they have failed. These college officials feel instead of preventing students from drinking, the current drinking laws are facilitating underground underage drinking in an unsafe environment with dangerous extremes as the consequences. One college official trying to bring forth a change and lower the national drinking age is John M. McCardell, president emeritus of Middlebury College in Vermont. His proposal is for the United States to decrease the drinking age to eighteen but implement â€Å"drinking licenses† after completion of a rigorous alcohol education program. However, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) still opposes the lowering of the drinking age because they feel it would increase the number of young drinkers getting behind the wheels of their vehicles; in turn, increasing the number of harsh crashes and also fatalities. McCardell argues that the drinking age has very little to do with the amount of people who drink and drive and says if it were the case, a smarter option would be to increase the driving age to twenty-one (Giaimo). McCardell founded â€Å"Choose Responsibility† in 1997. It is a nonprofit organization devoted to lowering the national drinking age and researching the effects the current law places on minors. McCardell feels his proposal will minimize the amount of abusive drinking that has become so prevalent in the past twenty years by acknowledging that eighteen year olds are adults in the eyes of the law in almost every other respect. McCardell has seen a reported increase in binge drinking by his students due to alcohol use being pushed into hiding. Two recent studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown young binge drinkers are increasing their consumption of hard liquor as their main source of alcohol since hard liquor is much easier to smuggle and remains much more inconspicuous in comparison to beer. Not to mention hard liquor being much easier to get intoxicated from compared to beer or wine. McCardell is logical enough to recognize the reality of alcohol in the lives of many people under the age of twenty-one. He feels lowering the drinking age would encourage more responsible drinking among this age group (Giaimo). Another instance where the drinking age being lowered is in consideration is the state of Alaska. Currently, Alaska state Republican Representative Bob Lynn is proposing a bill that would allow people in the military under the age of twenty-one to legally drink in the state. While Lynn does not support drinking as a habit, he does feel that if someone is old enough to die for our country then they should be treated as adults in every aspect. However, a federal government mandate passed in 1984 requires all states to adhere to the national drinking age of twenty-one or forfeit ten percent of their highway funding from the federal government. For Alaska, this would mean losing $50 million of their current $495.3 million in 2010. Obviously, this proposal is going to be much debated with the risk of losing that much federal funding as an option. Work Cited Alcohol Use: If You Drink, Keep It Moderate. Mayo Clinic (2011) Web. 19 March 2011. Berg v. Zummo, 763 So. 2d 57, 2000 (La. App. 4 Circ 2001). Chakraburtty, Amal. Teens and Alcohol. WebMD (2010) Web. 18 Feb 2011. Clark, Stephen. Alaska to Consider Lowering Drinking Age for U.S. Fox News (2011) Web. 31 March 2011. Giaimo, Mellisa. Alcohol Laws: Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered? . ABC News (2007) Web. 18 Feb 2011. Hanson, David J. Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells? Alcohol Problems and Solutions Web. 19 March 2011. Morikawa, Hitoshi. Alcohol Aids Learning Part of the Brain. United Press International (2011) Web. 13 April 2011. Murray, Christopher J. Fake IDs: Can Bar Owners Sue If They Get Fooled? Marquette Law Review (2005) Web. 18 Feb 2011. United States of America v. Dotson, 615 F. 3d 1162 (U.S. App 2010) United States of America. National Minimum Drinking Age. Washington DC, 1984. Web. 18 Feb 2011.

Friedrich Engels and histor Essay Example for Free

Friedrich Engels and histor Essay If one is not historical, then it is unscientific. The historical process that has commenced for millennia in the development of societies is a product of scientific processes and vice versa. Friedrich Engels has greatly contributed to the exposition of historical dynamics, one that is ever changing, in constant contradiction with the forces within and without. As it has been definitely asserted, historical materialism, as a part of a dialectic philosophy is not just narrowly limited to a â€Å"study† but it is a scientific process wherein events were investigated, researched, a hypothesis is derived and tested or compared if that assertion applies to universal condition. History thereof is a result of contradictions, a making of man, not just simply a compilation of events that transpired in the past. Only in such a way can history become a science. Thus, a truly revolutionary of his time, Engels presented history according to the material basis of the existence of societies, discussed the evolution of such societies as subsequent effects of the past, constantly playing interconnected, interwoven stories, which without the other is simply incomplete, unscientific. Here he illustrated the formation of history as a result of humanity’s struggle to attain its aims, therefore its own creation, its own being. Engels’ history does not consider man simply a being with presupposed actions, knowledge or decisions, man is a becoming, moulds the society that he belongs to, inseparably intertwined with the progress of the economy, his propensity to survive, to all other aspects of social existence. Certainly, Engels’ life is no different from the society he intended to explain. What has moulded him to become such a great influence in socio-economic paradigms and in the formulation of Marxism surely has a basis in his past, interconnected with his identity, with everything that has gone through his age, internal and external, positive and negative. His own being a laboratory of man as a â€Å"becoming† and of contradictions where which a new form from the antagonisms of the old is drawn. Hence, his life and works were a result of scientific processes, a fruit of the reactions among the material conditions that he was exposed to, a synthesis of numerous theses and anti-theses. Facts and figures are simply not what history is. Facts and figures say something but not substantially anything. History is a correlation and interrelationships between and among facts and figures without finding those connections are mere ink and paper –insignificant. Hitherto, Engels’ works remains to be of great influence in the struggles of oppressed peoples and of the international proletariat. This came into reality because Engels’ works were connected to the material foundations of human existence, ideas and theories that are not alienated: theories that can be felt, ideas that are tangible and inseparable from the activities of societies. As it was, matter precedes consciousness; Engels’ historical and philosophical analysis did not surface out of mere conception of abstract economic and historical fables, but were a result of the effects of the economic and social conditions existing at that time; societies came into reality first and from those realities a consciousness was obtained enabling Engels to scientifically analyze the future of societies based on the reasons that has caused past societies to progress into what they are at present. Engels biography is a display of such scientific course. His early life has been the origin why he came about with his voluminous works on history, implications brought by the facts how he was raised and intended of him to become, his experiences, and his direct contact with the production process and later in complete absorption to the revolutionary struggle in the industrial West. Friedrich Engels was born in Barmen, Prussia to a family of bourgeois origins in September 28, 1820, time when Europe was at the height of the development of the industrial era and wars of conquest for the accumulation of market, labour and resources for the bourgeois economy. It was a time of rapid changes ensuing on all borders, expansion of industrial interests was grappling Europe and colonies in Asia, Africa and Latin America were continuously ransacked while the European continent was in a constant scrabble of migration from different nations in search of industrial work. Indeed an era of accumulation of wealth and technological advances to improve productivity . His nascent years have been vital for the development of his future philosophical pursuit. In his poem â€Å"To My Grandfather†, written December 20, 1833, Friedrich has shown his early acquaintances in history through stories in the Greek mythology which he described as â€Å"many a beautiful story† that his grandfather told him . Another untitled poem written 3 years after described characters in stories from all over Europe seen by young Friedrich as â€Å"pictures to delight† . He was an observer and the environment drew much attention from him. Once he wrote about the conditions in Wuppertal, one of his first attempts to explain the seemingly complicated miseries of the working class , that even the columns of a building and the style of architecture did not escape his watch. It was the beginning of his acquisition of his most powerful weapon in his revolutionary battle, the excellence in textual conveyance. Not only was it a peek to his future history inclinations but also his superb literary talent that has greatly manifested in his works. His father, a German textile mill owner wanted him to become an industrialist too like himself. Though, the environment in which Friedrich Engels lived was full of stark contradictions, external factors which greatly affected his inner resolve, so that a strained relationship developed between them. A supporter of the Prussian government, Friedrich’s father held conservative views in politics and religion which could be attributed to his Protestant Pietist devotion that he entered Friedrich in local Pietist schools, indoctrinating him of narrow fundamentalist views of society that were never acceptable to his broad interests. He was then sent to Bremen, a German port city, before he finished his high school studies to work as a clerk, and there he exhibited despise to autocracy and religion, enjoyed life at its fullest and studied literature, philosophy, theology and history . The democratic struggles gaining political momentum at that time was under a literary movement drawn Engels to participate under a pen name Friedrich Oswald. His first work, a poem titled â€Å"The Bedouin † was published in the Bremisches Conversationsblatt No. 40. In September 1838 and many other literary works and commentaries proceeded thereafter. When he moved to Berlin to join the Household Artillery of the Prussian Army, he already had attractions to the Young Hegelians . His contact with the radical group proved to be vital in Engels’ future philosophical treatises. Hegelian philosophy maintained an idealist core with the dialectic claims that everything, after they had come into being, will ultimately wither away, a constant reminder of change and development inherent in everything therein. Though Hegelian dialectics maintained that thought precedes matter, it still had some followers who were radicalized and reached the point of concluding that even the Prussian state and religion will pass. The most revolutionary of them, however, deviated from Hegel’s â€Å"consciousness precedes matter† and inclined towards materialism. These revolutionaries, among them the 22 year-old Friedrich Engels, asserted that it is the other way around based on Ludwig Feuerbach’s rejection of Hegelian idealism and turned the tables for materialism. He would later publish a pamphlet hailing Feuerbach’s â€Å"The Essence of Christianity† in 1841. The pamphlet echoed Feuerbach’s materialist basis of societal thought and finally debunked theological monopoly of reflection with a â€Å"pulverizing† blow, but later Feuerbach’s materialism would be wedded with Hegelian dialectics . There he was an active radical, wrote articles for the democratic movement while attending lectures at Berlin University with his military service all at the same time. Before he would be sent to England, Engels, travelled to Cologne to meet Moses Hess, the first Hegelian who called himself a communist and the man behind Rheinische Zeitung –a radical daily newspaper. It was possibly in this acquaintance that Engels was influenced with utopian socialism and his travel to England would be decisive in starting a proletarian revolution in the most advanced industrial nation . His experience in Manchester, England in his father’s factory from 1842 opened his eyes to the realities of the working class which he stated in his Conditions of the Working Class in England in 1844, his first book bourn out of his observations in his father’s firm. In his English travel desertion, Engels have had certain exchanges with other workers’ organizations, radical, utopian socialists and Chartists and wrote for Robert Owens’ Utopian socialist paper, the â€Å"New Moral Order† . Only on his way to Barmen did he meet Karl Marx, his lifelong revolutionary collaborator. They first met in Cologne in 1842 and Karl Marx was an editor in the Rheinische Zeitung but took no time to explore their philosophical similarities. That friendship would last for about four decades. Together, Marx and Engels paved the way for the synthesis of Dialectical Materialism, Historical Materialism and Scientific Socialism among many other works that were to become the foundations of the proletarian movement. Engels could never be considered as Marx’s side kick as others would usually portray him, nor must he be treated as above Mar’s intellect on many philosophical questions. Often they would consult each other on certain points of argumentation and Engels recognized Marx’s excellence and at the same manner, Engels displayed his virtuoso in historical and literary fields. They were, in the truest sense, partners in their lifelong struggle for the liberation of the working class. What Engels had become could be ascribed to the people who had played certain parts in his â€Å"becoming†. His grandfather introduced him to the world of history and literature, his father pounced on him that he would later hate everything that his father believed, Hegel on his dialectics (though Engels had broken away from the idealist sector), Feuerbach presented the materialist view for his and Marx’s philosophical synthesis of the Dialectical Materialism and the millions of the workers’ masses that have borne the weight of the whole capitalist production system were, presumably, the greatest influences on Engels’ philosophy. Thus cementing that Engels was really a man that is a â€Å"becoming†. An accumulation of experiences, observations and contact with nature was the reason for having such philosophical standpoint . Engels’ philosophical background could be that of a German philosophy that could be traced from Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel. Though Engels or Marx did not have any â€Å"original† philosophical theories, it is precisely the justification on what was commented on the Critique on Feuerbach that theirs was a philosophy that aimed direct to the point of changing the existing order in the world not just explain it. On many occasions, Engels has directly found the connection of matter and thought, of historical events that are quite apart in ages but were systematically an integral part of the totality of human history. Friedrich Engels’ first book was the Conditions of the Working Class in England in 1844, written when he was in Manchester England. On its preface, Engels explicitly stated the conditions of the working class at that particular time based on his direct acquaintances with the proletariat or twenty-one months, straight from his observations. These observations were directed for the German proletariat so intense their conditions that Engels wished to know the root causes of their misery . In his dedication to the British proletariat, Engels can be seen as a true revolutionary, never satisfied with documents, it was a close contact, an integration among the masses of British workers that has propelled his understanding of the conditions of the working class. It was on the streets, in the alleys, in the working places that true understanding can be derived. The whole of Manchester turned into a laboratory of revolution . Manchester in 1844 is the centre of the Industrial Revolution which he observed, made the conditions of the workers worse. Huge industrial cities such as Manchester and Liverpool had disease occurrences four times grater than in the countryside. Before mills were introduced in England, more than four thousand out of ten thousand children die of whooping cough, scarlet fever, measles, and smallpox and an addition of another three hundred after. While adult mortality numbered to a thousand out of ten thousand and another two hundred added to the previous respectively. In one of his contributed article to the New Moral World Engels concluded that this condition must soon be ended with a revolution that would rearrange the social order existing at that time in three countries in Europe (England, France and Germany) as there is a fast spread of suffering among the working men in the continent. There were existing socialist and communist movements in many parts of Europe, half a million communists in France alone, with some differences in minor points in principle but again, Engels asserted that the proletarian class has the power to rise and become masters of their own, enjoy the fruits of their own labour only if these communists would be united –that would later be named as â€Å"proletarian internationalism† – costing most of Eastern Europe after the Second World War, a little more than a hundred years, with the USSR’s campaign of socialist annexation . Engels described the state of the capitalist system in England, being the most advanced at that time. In the book’s 1892 preface, 52 years since it was first published, the author noted that the rising industrial nations such as France, Germany and America and starting to break Britain’s â€Å"industrial monopoly† and finally reached what has England reached in 1844 and the effects were not different. Same economic laws apply and the fight of English workers five decades ago is happening in the country. It is after all still a bourgeois mode of production, the same tendencies, characteristics and social classes and antagonism still exist. Such was what he had predicted in his first edition and, scientifically, it was indeed the same characteristic of the capitalist economy regardless of nations and cultures. The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 mirrored the condition of the working class not only in certain time frame but through the times as long as capitalism exists in a more or less varied intensity. Further expounding on the roots of the proletariat’s miserable place in the relations of production, Lenin commented that Engels was not the first to say that the working class is suffering from the ills of the capitalist mode of appropriation and expropriation, but it was Engels who said that the working class is being pushed to the very edges so that the proletariat had been left with no choice but to fight back and destroy the bonds of slavery. A power, so much moving this line had exuded that after seven decades Russian proletariat had risen to create the first proletarian state. In 1847, Mikhail Bakunin, a Russian anarchist was banned from Paris because of calling for the over of the Polish and Russian governments. Bakunin was one of the many revolutionaries that appearing in Europe. A revolutionary high tide is sweeping all over the continent and the great masses of workers are looking for the lead in the revolutionary struggle. Such was the condition when Engels wrote â€Å"The Principles of Communism† in 1847, a year before the Communist Manifesto was published. There was, however an earlier composition for the Communist League. In June of that year, the founding event of the Communist League, the Congress of the Just, the Principles of Communism was written to serve as a draft for a statement to be embraced by the proletarian revolutionary movement, the Communist Manifesto . The International Workingmen’s Association formed in 1864 was actively participated by Engels, and later joined Marx in the General Council in 1870, two after the IWA was organized. Historically, the IWA had a huge part in the uprising in Paris in 1871: the Paris Commune. In this event Engels’ writings defeated Bakunin’s Alliance for Social Democracy. IWA was considered to be the first International, and after the Paris Commune was quelled, after the commune died, Engels guided the formations of many socialist parties in Europe, especially in Germany which has been the movement that the whole European communist movement looked upon as bearer of the great socialist revolution. It was here that the term â€Å"manufacture†, denoting production by hand was conceived by Engels, such was to differentiate â€Å"production by hand† from production using a machine. This scheme was decisive in future historical annotations for the transition from guilds to factories of the primitive capitalist model. It is best too clarify that Marxist literature considers, based on historical materialism, that world history has not grown uniformly, some have advanced to capitalism, other nations remain in the feudal stage, and certain communities were even at the stage of primitive communalism. In the year 1884, Engels wrote â€Å"The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. It was this document that really showed Engels’ distinction in history. He wrote this manuscript in just two months to continue what Marx would have wanted him to do – a treatise on the evolution of the State. This book covers the history of many nations, the emergence of private property and classes, and the state and ultimately how this state would perish, mush like Hegelian concept on the dialectical process of societies. Engels’ works were immensely influenced by Hegelian thought, especially evident in his â€Å"Origin of the Family † which was a complete narration of the scientific evolution of the societies, brought about by the contradictions that were constantly the cause of development, of ending an old social order and beginning anew. Aside from that, Engels life as a revolutionary and his works were also influenced by Moses Hess’s utopian socialist ideas, which, together with Karl Marx, they arrived into concluding that the future of capitalism is a scientific socialism and the establishment of the proletarian state. He also viewed the economy as the social foundation that it gives rise to the conception of the state, and that material foundation is the essential ingredient of the thought or way of thinking that would be dominant in the society. It was the very core of the materialist belief that matter precedes consciousness. Which takes us to think that a worker can not have a consciousness of a proletariat if the society has not reached the stage of capitalism, because in the first place, a condition does not exist that would permit a capitalist relation of production (wage labour). Through his life, Engels never believed in marriage pointing out that the natural order of reproduction is not bound by the exclusivity of a woman to a single man. That only came into being when the concept of private property had materialized, so as women. Women held a high place in the primitive societies since they were the only means that tribes and communities would survive was only through continued human reproduction . Engels’ works were referred to by the revolutionary movement especially on the philosophical discourses on dialectics, historical materialism and some of his economic formulations. These influenced leaders of different socialist parties in Europe and around the globe. In autumn of 1985, the leader of the Russian proletarian socialist revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin wrote about Engels saying that he was a great teacher of the world’s working class, and his life must be known to every workingman. Lenin further states that Engels did not let his bourgeois status to stop him from serving the cause of the revolution, study of philosophy and science and politics. The article published in Rabotnik, clarified certain principles in Engels’ philosophy, and asserted that although Engels followed Hegelian dialectics, he was nevertheless not an idealist but one who firmly believes in materialism. Engels, said Lenin, used scientific methods in answering the economic questions of the time. It also gave an insight into Engels political history that being said, Engels was a democrat before he became a socialist. Thus Engels taught that the liberation of the working class is in the hands of the working class. Lenin after 22 years would lead the Russian working class to a socialist victory, fulfilling Engels’ vision of a socialist state won by the proletarian themselves. Later in 1920, three years after the Russian socialist revolution had been won, a document was published showing that Lenin would again comment on Engels through â€Å"The Marx-Engels Correspondence† which he wrote in 1913. The letters contained many of the theoretical foundations of socialism, masterfully fighting through the ins and outs of the political struggle in Europe. It was an exposition of the revisionist renegades attempt to mislead the great masses of the proletariat to capitulate in the bourgeois political system. Through these letters, as Lenin pronounced, the socialist movement was kept in the right track. The tasks of the proletarian revolutionary were outlined to serve as a guide for many socialist parties that were waging underground warfare against their governments. The dialectical course of history was reaffirmed and from that principle, Russian revolution had drawn much of Engels’ guidance in the theoretical as well as in the practical recourse of the revolution. Mao Zedong, leader of the Chinese revolution from the 1920’s until after the Second World War had been a staunch Engels follower through his works with Marx. Chairman Mao had quoted the communist manifesto, stressing on the point that without the theories that Marx and Engels developed, the revolution will have no guide. Revolutionary theory as Mao had said would give the people a direction in waging a war for national liberation, to assure that there would be no resurgence of bourgeois state in liberated nations and ensure that new democratic revolutions will continue to the socialist stage . Again Mao on his article on Women, Engels was often quoted because of his contributions in the study of the status of women in the society, through his book â€Å"the Origin of the Family, Private Property and State†. The study of the women was a big issue in the Chinese revolution. China was then waging a war against traditions that existed for thousands of years that was the feudal relationships between husbands and wives, elderly and the young in Chinese culture. Engels’ views on the question of the equality of the sexes in the primitive communal stage of societies shed light on the history of the struggle of women. Women suffer exploitation twice. A female worker is exploited because she is a worker and she is a woman. She does not only suffer from capitalist exploitation but also from male domination. However, the struggle for women’s liberation is not a struggle against the opposite sex, but a struggle based on the economic class . Friedrich Engels was said to be the builder of socialist thought, the International Review issue no. 83 on the 4th quarter of 1995 stated that Engels had been persistent in his revolutionary career, truly of German tradition. Owing much to his perception of the workers’ movements tendencies and strengths that in the article his first book published was the book used by many revolutionaries through the years of struggle all over the world, from Russia to China. Thus Engels was a man defined by his becoming. Through his life, from the time he was born till the day he died, Europe was in the middle of an economic advancement, it was also a period of political changes. In the middle of those political and economic current, Friedrich Engels stood to face the challenges of his time. The blowing winds of free thought have set his mind to open to new ideas, seemingly the emergence of radical movements were just on the right time. When he became a part of the Young Hegelians, his philosophical inclinations were further developed. If we would look at this through an idealist perspective, it would be possible that Engels life had the right coincidences: Marx was born on the same era; the proletarian movement was on its fiery start. However, dialectically, the course of history would be just the same, it could have not been Engels, it could have not been Marx but still the truth of the development of societies will be there because it is science. History is a making of humanity not just one man, thus independent of anyone’s identity yet it identifies with everyone. It is the reality. Through Engels’ writing Marx was able to find himself a competent partner in his revolutionary theorization. Together they had formulated the socialist philosophy that soon changed the course of the modern society. Engels contributed much to humanity’s understanding of history, complete and thorough interpretation of the events, explained the mysteries that bind each and every event from the beginning of human civilization. History was view on another angle, from the toiling masses, thus, breaking the monopoly of the establishment’s monopoly of truth. Hitherto, societies were seen as dynamic, changing every second, quantitatively and qualitatively –change that was internally caused by those who are within the system, not by something that is detached, alienated, or abstract. Material basis was always at the fore of historical explanations. Engels’ historical insights gave the ruled power over the ruler, the oppressed over the oppressor. In time, the order of things will be changed, asserts Engels, which change will never end. History had become an integral part of the future, not confined to the records of the olden times; it has passed yet continues to take part in molding the future of societies. Without Engels history would still continue and take its path as we have it today. Without Engels to help Marx, the society will still change. Therefore, Engels did have a contribution to humanity’s history. Through his writings, Lenin foresaw the First World War as an imperialist war took advantage of it and made the revolution at home victorious. With the victory of the Russian proletariat, the course of struggles around the world suddenly changed course and had a farther perspective. Not only did these liberation movements aimed to free their nations from foreign domination but had decided to free them from the slavery brought about by the conception of private property. Movements did not only strive to destroy the existing political order perpetuated by tyrants, they had sought to destroy the economic foundation of tyranny. In the country from where he came from, Engels, too, caused much change. He became one of the contributors to the German philosophy, became an inspiration to German revolutionaries and paved the way for the advancement of the German proletariat. As Germany was inseparable from the conditions that what existing in Europe at that time, it too had been reached by the socialist movement that after the Second World War, Germany was divided into two. East Germany had a socialist economy and the, capitalist. Engels had his great deal of share in the development of Marxism and socialism. He was the brain behind the Communist manifesto and Historical Materialism. His studies in the field of history enlightened Marxists and revolutionaries in the course of the inevitable changes in the society. Bibliography (Section 1) Kenwood A. G. and A. L. Lougheed. The Growth of the International Economy 1820-2000: An Introductory Text. London: Routledge, 1999. Carver, Terrell. Engels. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2003. Engels, Friedrich. â€Å"Bedouin. † Young Engels, Marx Engels Internet Archive. Available from www. marxist. org. Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. New York: Pathfinder Press, 2000.

Inventory Management in a Multinational Company

Inventory Management in a Multinational Company Inventory may be desirable, even necessary, for smooth operation and good customer service in many situations. For instance, inventory can be used to reduce the lead time to respond to customer demand, to smooth out the production rate when there are variations in demand, and to protect the company from underestimates of demand (forecast errors) or shortage of supply. Reasons such as these, plus the fact that inventory is considered an asset on a companys balance sheet, have led many companys to carry excessive amounts of inventory. Some companies for example, the Japanese manufacturer Toyota, have become known for their ability to operate with low inventories and to achieve a high inventory turnover. (Inventory turnover is basically the ratio of sales to the average inventory level, both measured at cost or retail price.) The Japanese approach is to keep in process inventory low and to achieve quick flow of the product through the production cycle. Being able to respond quickly to d emand, companies can work from a shorter range forecast, which is more accurate, so they need less safety stock to protect from uncertainty. [1] 2. Aims and objectives Inventory management is an important concern for managers in all types of businesses. For companies that operate on relatively low profit margins, poor inventory management can seriously undermine the business. The challenge is not to pare inventories to the bone to reduce costs or to have plenty around to satisfy all demands, but to have the right amount to achieve the competitive priorities for the business most efficiently. [2] Aims and objectives of this thesis are as follows: Deciding where to position inventory Determining when to replenish inventory Calculating how much to order Determining the placement of safety stock Refacilitating the use of business resources for profitable business results Ensuring the target level of inventory is available to support demand. 3. INVENTORY Inventory is defined as the stock of any item or resource used in organization [3]. An inventory system is a collection of people, equipment and procedures that function to keep account of the quantity of each item in inventory and to determine which items to buy or produce in what quantities and at what times. Even very simple method that accomplishes these functions cost money to operate. Some inventory system requires transaction reporting to keep track of every instance in which units are added to or taken from the existing inventory. This perpetual inventory records can be expensive, but the additional expense can be justified for products that are relatively expensive to hold in inventory 3. 1. CYCLE INVENTORY The portion of total inventory that varies directly with lot size, is called cycle inventory. Determining how frequently to order, and in what quantity, is called lot sizing, two principles apply. The lot size, Q, varies directly with the elapsed time (or cycle) between orders. If a lot is ordered every five weeks, the average lot size must equal five weeks demand. The longer the time between orders for a given item, the greater the cycle inventory. At the beginning of the interval, the cycle inventory is at its maximum or Q. at the end of the interval, just before a new lot arrives, cycle inventory drops to its minimum, or 0. the average cycle inventory is the average of these two extremes: Average cycle inventory = This formula is exact only when the demand rate is constant and uniform. However, it does provide a reasonably good estimate even when demand rates are not constant. Factors other than the demand rate also may cause estimating errors when this simple formula is used. 3.2. SAFETY STOCK INVENTORY To avoid customer service problems and the hidden costs of unavailable components, company holds safety stocks. Safety stocks inventory protects against uncertainties in demand, lead-time, and supply. Safety stocks are desirable when suppliers fail to deliver the desired quantity on the specified date with acceptable quality or when manufactured items have significant amounts of scrap or rework. Safety stock inventory ensures that operations are not disrupted when such problem occur, allowing subsequent operations to continue. Figure 1: Various types of Inventory To create safety stock, a farm places an order for delivery earlier than when the item is typically needed. The replenishment order therefore arrives ahead of time, giving a cushion against uncertainty. Inventory used to absorb uneven rates of demand or supply, which businesses often face, is referred to as anticipation inventory. Predictable, seasonal demand patterns lead themselves to the use of anticipation inventory. Anticipation inventory also can help when supply, rather than demand, is uneven. A company may stock up on a certain purchased item if its suppliers are threatened with a strike or have severe capacity limitations. 3.3. ANTICIPATION INVENTORY Inventory used to absorb uneven rates of demand or supply, which businesses often face, is referred to as anticipation inventory. Predictable, seasonal demand patterns lead themselves to the use of anticipation inventory. Anticipation inventory also can help when supply, rather than demand, is uneven. A company may stock up on a certain purchased item if its suppliers are threatened with a strike or have severe capacity limitations. 3.4. PIPELINE INVENTORY Inventory moving from point to point in the materials flow systems called pipeline inventory. Materials move from suppliers to a plant, from one operation to the next in the plant, from the plant to a distribution center for customer, and from the distribution center to a retailer. Pipeline inventory consists of orders that have been placed but not yet received. Pipeline inventory between two points, for either transportation or production, ca be measured as the average demand during lead time, , which is the average demand for the item period (d) times the number of periods in the items lead time (L) to move between the two points, or Pipeline Inventory = = dL. [2] 4. BATB Inventory Management There are some standard management theories as we described earlier in chapter two. The operational environment varies firms to firms, companies to companies. Based on the different varying conditions most companies do manage the inventory at their own. They do not follow exactly what the theory implies but analyzing the theories they go for the decisions that suit them most effectively and efficiently. The goal should not be to minimize inventory or to maximize customer service but rather to have the right amount to support the competitive priorities of the company. 4.1. BATB Inventory System BATB inventory system can be compared with a two-bin system in which an items inventory is stored at two different locations. Inventory is first withdrawn from one-bin. The two-bin system implies that if the first bin is empty, the second bin provides backup to cover demand until a reenlistment arrives [2]. BATB has the flexibility to locate their inventory at different points from supplier to warehouse at supplier premises which is very good advantage for a company. The demand manager and the MPS manager reviews the inventory positions on the daily basis and then go for receiving the lot from the pipeline inventory. This indicates that they are maintaining the pipeline inventory. It helps them reduce the lot size to be stocked at warehouse. BATB Inventory includes: Finished goods Bled sets Filter rods Wrapping materials Leaf Tax stamps Bandle rolls The study is mainly focused on the leaf. Because this is the major concern in any cigarette manufacturing company as it holds the maximum cycle time. We will work with the raw materials inventory. Mainly BATB has two types of materials. These are wrapping material and Tobacco. They receive raw materials from both local and foreign suppliers. Foreign suppliers are mainly from Brazil, Argentina, Canada, South Africa and Zimbabwe. For local suppliers average lead-time is 10 to 15 days and for the foreign suppliers lead-time is 90 to 120 days. Leaf is supplied by both the local and foreign supplier. But ignoring the local leaf as it takes less time, we will take the imported leaf in account to analyze. Leaf Strategy Leaf is an agricultural plant, which must be cultivated, and it needs certain period to get matured. Therefore the ordering policy of leaf is very time consuming. They have to place the order very early of the time it is needed to arrive. Suppose they need 1000-ton leaf in the month of April 2008, they inform their supplier right now that is in the month of April 2007, so that they can cultivate the leaf and then deliver. In addition, it is to be mentioned that just after the arrival in the warehouse the leaf is not as ready as to be used for production. It goes under another certain period of time for maturation and then is under for production. But if we talk about the lead-time it will include only the days between order placements to arrival at warehouse. 5. SAFETY STOCK Usually one does not know precisely the number of units that will be demanded each day during the lead-time. The duration of lead-time may have unexplained or unexpected variation. Demand can be thought of a probabilistic variable with some expected amount of demand during a period of time and unexplained variations about the expected value. If inventory could be replenished one a moments notice there would be no reason to be concerned about demand uncertainty. Whenever inventory reached zero, stock would be held again. With some lead time between the placement of an order an its arrival, however there is a chance that demand will be greater than expected and loss will be incurred due to stockout. When stockout costs are high and demand is very unpredictable, the financial risk is sizable. Safety stock is a means of protection against this risk. Safety stock (SS) is established simply by raising the reorder level above the expected lead-time demand. For probabilistic demand during le ad-time, the reorder level is given by the following equation where represents the mean demand per unit of time. [1] RL= ( ÃÆ'- LT) + SS Safety stock is the average amount one hand when replenishment orders arrive. Sometime demand during the lead-time is less than expected extra stock is on hand. Sometimes demand is greater than expected and some of the safety stock is used. 6. Methodology Step 1: Conducting a primary survey. Step 2: Preparing primary questionnaire Step 3: Modification of the questionnaire Open-ended questions: This type of questions found out the view of the decisions makers out for gathering information regarding the subject topic. Close-ended questions: These types of questions were designed to extract information which are related to the preparation of a realistic forecast: Step 4: Performing the case study and conducting the interview Step 5: Data processing and analysis 6.1 Demand Forecasting Strategy Demand manager receives the sales history of the previous 4/5 years. He observes the trend that every month undergoes. There are some seasonal impacts in the cigarette market. But overall the market is a stable one. Following the trend of previous 4/5 years and considering the marketing activities, the demand manager goes for a rolling forecast over the next 18 months. The term rolling here implies that the forecast is updated every month for the next 18 months. Stable Trend-up Trend-down Figure 2: Trends of Demand By this, the demand manager feels flexible enough to consider any new promotional activity or any assumption from the marketing department and any seasonal impact, which has not been included earlier. The main focus of forecasting is based on the trend. If the trend is decreasing the forecasted sales goes down and vice versa. 6.2. Findings Imported leaf stock: Year end 2008 imported leaf stock was 317 million Taka Average 2008 leaf stock was 334 million Taka (~ 4 months duration) Currently, they are following an inventory policy of maintaining a 90 day safety stock which varies in quantity and value terms over the year with fluctuation in demand. 7. ANALYSIS The assumptions presented in the chapter two have been considered applicable to develop the EOQ for the imported leaf. Considerations: Grade: AN30/104S Demand in Kg/Month: Annual Demand = 152000 Kg Holding Cost = 32 TK/ Kg Ordering Cost = 700 TK (Assumed) EOQ =à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ (2DS/H) = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ ((2*152000*700)/32) =. 75Kgs Kgs 7.1 HOW MUCH TO ORDER The analysis shows that the company should order 2579 kg for the particular grade each time, a quality that should be result in 58.93 cycles per year. Actually, the equation derived doesnt result in actual lot size that must be ordered. This will help to manage lot size and inventory control. The current moves towards the inventory cost and quantities, stress the importance in reducing lot size. That means to reducing lot sizes is to reduce setup time and cost. When smaller lots are run, holding cost is reduced. The point is to understand the logic and where to apply it. The effect on order size resulting from reducing setup cost is shows in the following figure. When the setup cost is reduced, the total cost curve shifts from TC1 to TC2. Correspondingly, the EOQ is reduced from EOQ1 to EOQ2 and the maximum total cost is reduced from TC1min to TC2min.[3] Figure 6: Effect of reduced set up cost on order size and total cost 7.2. Reorder level The order quantity and reorder level are interrelated. A large order quantity causes fewer replenishment cycles with fewer exposures to stockout, so the reorder level can be reduced, and vice versa. Theoretically, we would have to find simultaneous solutions to equations for Q and RL to find their normal values. The value of D, S and H are only estimates, and the value of the EOQ will be approximate whether or not an adjustment is made for the expected stockout cost. Consequently, as often as done, we disregard the interrelationship between Q and RL. We solve for the EOQ, ignoring its effect on stockout cost, and then we find the best reorder level for this value of Q. Assumptions: Highest Service Level Factor corresponding to 99.99% satisfaction level used though recommended maximum level is usually 98%; this results in a more than 50% higher safety stock ii) Safety Stock calculated using standard deviation of actual demand rather than variance between forecast and actual giving higher levels of safety buffer. iii) Lead time taken to be 4 months for all grades whereas actual lead time is considerably less providing greater safety stock to cover variation in demand during lead time. Calculation: RL = L + z Where, RL =Reorder Point in Units, =Average Demand Per Time Period, L = Lead Time,Z = No. of Standard Deviation for a Specified Service Level,= Standard Deviation of Usages during Lead Time Annual Demand =152000 kgs Average Demand/Per Month =12666.66 L= 4 Months Z = 99.99% = à Ã†â€™d = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (di-dà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢) 2/12), in a range from i-1 to 12 =à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ (31066666.66/12) =1609.00 Therefore, = =1609* =3218 From the above calculation RL can be determined as follows: RL = 12666.66 * 4 + 4*3218 =50666.64 + 12872 =63538.64 This says that when the stock on hand gets down to 60610.26 kgs order should be placed. 7.3. Level of Safety Stock Safety stock= =4*3218 =12872 It results to a safety stock of 31 days, as the daily demand is 416.43 kgs. But theoretically it is applicable for the particular grade. Though the other grades do not involve so much variation in their demand, considering some logistic capabilities for the overall improved leaf the proposed safety stock is 50 days. This will allow for flexibility during roll out of new safety stock polling while guarding against unanticipated changes in sales and supply scenarios. The reason for proposing this amount of safety stock is to protect much against the uncertainty of demand. Because there may be a situation that for a sudden change in demands the system may not be flexible enough to meet the change from the calculated safety stock. This is due to demand forecasting that takes place over a long period and the order is placed for a particular month very early of the situation it experiences the change in its demand. So immediately it is not possible for the system to respond the sudden change in demand. For this, proper level of safety stock should be placed in a company for its smooth operation. Another fact is that the lead time from order placement to arrival at warehouse involves some events over which the proper control is not possible. The following section represents the impact of reduction of safety stock and then the analysis of lead time is shown. It is to be mentioned that the more the lead times the more the level of safety stock. Therefor e the lead time calculation is an important factor for the placement of safety stock. 7.4. BENEFITS CALCULATION GRADE: AN30/104S Annual consumption = 152000kgs 90 days safety stock = 38000kgs 50 days safety stock = 21111.11 Therefore, WC Reduction = (38000-21111.11)*165 =2.78 million Taka 7.5. OFFSHORE STOCK COST CALCULATION Reduction in safety stock = 16888.89 kgs This amount of excess stock will be held at supplier premises for a maximum additional period of 12 months. Holding cost at BATB @ 12% = 16888.89ÃÆ'-135.11ÃÆ'-12% =273823 Taka Holding cost at supplier @ 7.2% + Excess Duty =16888.89 ÃÆ'- 135.11 ÃÆ'- 7.2% ÃÆ'- 1.22 =200439 Taka Therefore, Savings =73384 Taka 8. IMPACT OF REDUCED LEVEL OF SAFETY STOCK ON WC Proposed Safety Stock based on lead-time, variability in demand during 2006 and desired service level indicates a substantially lower requirement of safety stock even with very conservative assumptions Using 2007 volumes this would translate to reducing imported leaf stock from an average of 322.60 Million TK. to about 179.18 Million TK. Jan 08 Feb08 Mar 08 Apr 08 May 08 Jun 08 Aug08 9. LEAD TIME ANALYSIS It has been already mentioned that the more the lead time the more the safety stock. Lead time involves the total time from the order placement to arrival at warehouse Figure 7: Supply Lead Time We can develop a pie chart highlighting the time taken on a percentage basis by different events that take place from order placement to arrival at warehouse. Symbols Events Average % A TIME TAKEN BW ORD PLACE PRO INVOICE REC 14.75 7 B TIME TAKEN BW LC REQUIEST 10.93 5 C NO. OF DAYS SPENT B/W LC SHIPMENT DATE 38.90 19 D ARRIVAL IN CTG (ACTUAL SHIPMENT ETA CTG) 35.10 17 E DAYS REQD CTG TO ICD 6.05 3 F DAYS REQD ICD TO WAREHOUSE 8.58 4 Table 1: Lead Time Analysis The pie chart shows that a major part of the time from order placement to arrival at warehouse involves the events C and D over which the control cannot be held so easily. They involve some complex as well as time taking procedures. But in case of the rest of the events different action can be issued very effectively. Figure 8: Events placed on Warehouse (Percentage basis) In addition there are some recommendations for reducing the lead-time in the next chapter. 10. RECOMMENDATION As the analysis shows that the company can reduce the level of safety stock, the first phase of recommendation represents how it can be carried out and the later phase defines the steps, which should be proper monitored and controlled with a view to, maintain an optimized inventory management system. This will enable to obtain an effective safety stock level. Allowing Inventory Policy Exceptions for certain grades to satisfy requirements for blend changes and brain launches. Reviewing and improving the order tracking process as necessary. Monitoring orders, delivery performance and safety stock policy adhere continually. Gradually moving to safety stock of 2.5 months and then to 50 days, with 6 months duration difference. Holding the excess stock at the supplier premises. Locating the inventory at different points in the pipeline rather to hold much in the warehouses. The following steps should be performed in order to implement the recommend actions: Developing operational excellence in demand forecasting so that there will be fewer surprises. Cutting the lead-time to reduce the demand uncertainty during lead time. Reducing the supplier uncertainty. Supplier reliability can be increased by sharing the production plans with them, permitting them to make more realistic forecast. Improving the logistics capability by planning the infrastructure to meet demand, then implementing and controlling the physical flows of material and final goods from points of origin to points of use. 11. CONCLUSION It has been revealed that the traditional inventory management system needs some modification depending on the situation or the operating environment, while inventory is management by a company. The different inventory models provide a different set of capabilities and opportunities to exploit different competitive priorities. Some members of different industries and consulting firms have already started to criticize classical inventory models seem fashionable. But prior to the operating conditions different classical inventory models can be considered as the decision making tools that will enable a company to take its step under conflicting pressure. All the system needs is proper integration of operation and business. This will smooth the flow of information and thereby implementation of such models would be openhanded.