History of The Boston Tea Party

History of The Boston Tea Party A very historical event in U.S history happened on December 16, 1773 it would be known has The Boston Tea Party. Some American patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded ships in the Boston Harbor belonging to the British East India Company and threw 342 chest of tea into the water. Their reasons for doing so were because they were protesting the tax on tea (Taxation without representation). This would also unite the colonist in the colonies more than ever before. It all started with the Townshend Acts that were passed by parliament in 1767 which were composed of four acts that was basically an attempt to assert its historical right to the colonies through strict collection provisions of revenue duties. In 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act that was to financially help the East India Company. The Tea Act that Britain had passed added a monopoly on the tea that they were shipping to the colonies. The tea that Britain was sending over to the colonist was only to be carries by the company known as the East India Company. The company could then sell the tea in the colonies at a less than usual price that then led to colonial merchants to form an alliance with the radicals that were being led by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. In a few cities in the colonies like New York some tea agents even resigned or just flat out canceled their orders of tea. All of the acts expect the Tea Act were repelled after the colonist resisted them with verbal agitation, physical violence and acts of violence towards British enforcement agents. The royal governor who was Thomas Hutcherson determined to maintain the law and that the three ships that would be arriving to the Boston Harbor the Beaver, Eleanor and Dartmouth should then have the right to deposit their crates of tea. Then on December 16, 1773, a group of around 60 men (The Sons of Liberty) boarded the ships wearing their Indian disguises and dumped all 362 chest of tea into the waters of the Boston harbor. The tea they dumped was valued at around $1 million. The Boston Tea Party Played a significant role in U.S. History due to the fact that it was one of the first major events that led to the revolution, since this was the first time the colonist started fighting back. After the Boston tea party, the colonist started to become more independent and confident that they could do just fine being separated from Britain. Which then all of this events of course led to the Revolutionary War then to the signing of the most important document in United States history. Even though the Boston Tea Party didnt really instant results, but it lit a fire in the colonist hearts to give them the courage that they needed to standup to the big old bully Great Britain and fight for their right to have independence and freedom. Without this ever happening who knows maybe the colonist never would have had the courage to standup for their rights? One thing I found while researching and found it quite interesting that not one person ended up dying during all of this cause me personally I just it funny how there was one person that got injured and they thought that he was dead so they hid him under a pile of wood in a close by shop but turns out he wasnt dead. He regained consciousness a few hours after and was the only person said to be injured during the Boston Tea Party. I also seen where there was only one guy who got punished due to the fact that someone gave an anonymous tip and the guy was then stripped, tarred and feathered. After all that happened not one person ever came forward with any information. I just was always under the speculation that no one ever actually would get caught due to the fact they couldnt actually identify them with all the native American disguises on but I guess I was wrong. The Boston Harbor was also shut down for a couple weeks after all the tea was dumped into the harbor it then caused the harbor to smell. The harbor was then shut down until all 340 chest of tea was paid that was dumped during the Boston Tea Party. Another Boston Tea Party happened three months later on March 1774, 60 men disguised themselves and bored a shipped named the Fortune the slung 30 chest of tea overboard but since it was such a smaller protest, but due to it being a smaller protest it didnt end up getting all the attention since it was a much smaller protest unlike the Boston tea party that happened a few months earlier. Even though it was named the British East India Company the tea didnt actually come from India turns out that the tea they dumped came from China. The tea that was destroyed in the Boston tea party was described as Bohea. In the 18th century black tea was referred to as Bohea, it was a variety of black tea that came from the Wuyi Mountains in the Chinese pr ovince of Fujian. A popular belief was that the ships that brought the tea to were British made ships but turns out the ships were built by Americans and owned by them but the tea they were carry from London and Boston was owned by the British East India Company. Researching for this paper I found a lot of things I never even knew about the Boston Tea Party it was pretty cool to find out there was actually a second Boston Tea Party and the tea didnt actually come from India but instead it came from china. The Boston Tea Party was a major event in American History. It played a major role in Revolutionary war as it helped the colonist gain the courage that they needed to help them first began to stand up to the evil bullies over in Britain that thought that they could just control the people over in the colonies like the owned them. Without out it happening who knows maybe the colonist never would have had the courage to stand up to them? I enjoyed finding out all the neat things that I never knew and I am glad I picked the Boston Tea party. Work Cited Page Boston Tea Party Facts | Boston History. Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/boston-tea-party-facts Boston Tea Party. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017. https://www.britannica.com/event/Boston-Tea-Party The Importance of the Boston Tea Party ÂÂ » Independence Day ÂÂ » Surfnetkids. Independence Day ÂÂ » Surfnetkids. N.p., 06 May 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2017. https://www.surfnetkids.com/independenceday/255/the-importance-of-the-boston-tea-party/

The Customer Supply Chain Business Essay

The Customer Supply Chain Business Essay The report consists of a project entitled Pillsbury: Customer Driven Reengineering undertaken as a part of the course curriculum for the subject Business Process Reengineering (BPR). As a part of this project, after reading the case, a discussion took place between all the group members so as to clearly identify the problem definition. As a next step, discussion of the various issues faced by Pillsbury were discusses followed by the evaluation of the efforts undertaken by it. Competitive pressures, technology advances, and demanding consumer preferences were causing all companies in the food industry to reexamine their operations and attempt to eliminate waste and inefficiency throughout the food chain. The Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) effort was a multi-industry project, ECRs goals were to reduce costs and drive inventory levels down throughout the system, while simultaneously enhancing capabilities to meet the needs of diverse consumer market segments. Pillsbury executives were unsure whether their company was prepared for the new ECR environment. So, this report basically includes the entire experience involved in undertaking the planning of BPR at Pillsbury and the various phases it went through during the transition and the challenge faced by it i.e. whether to go for a continuous improvement program having a short term view or a redesign of processes which was more futuristic. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY To understand the practical implementation of BPR classroom concepts To understand the degree of complexity involved in planning BPR implementation To understand the importance of customer driven reengineering approach in order to adopt a pull strategy for the entire supply chain i.e. better matching Pillsburys purchasing, manufacturing, and distribution operations to consumers purchases To understand how to use the available resources in an optimum manner To understand the implications of a continuous improvement program Vs Redesign of processes. To understand the importance and criticality of various performance measures like ABC costing. COMPANY INTRODUCTION Pillsbury  is a brand name used by  Minneapolis-based  General Mills  and  Orrville, Ohio-based  J.M. Smucker Company. Historically, the  Pillsbury Company, also based in Minneapolis, was a rival company to General Mills and was one of the worlds largest producers of  grain  and other foodstuffs until it was bought-out by General Mills in 2001.  Antitrust  law required General Mills to sell off some of the products. General Mills kept the rights to refrigerated and frozen Pillsbury products, while dry  baking  products and frosting are now sold by Smucker under license. Leo Burnett  who created Pillsburys  Doughboy  and  Jolly Green Giant  considers them two of the agencys top five brand icons. ProdPack-Pillsbury-Cakemix-Small.jpg NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Pillsbury once claimed to have the largest grain  mill  in the world at the  Pillsbury A Mill  overlooking  Saint Anthony Falls  on the  Mississippi River  in Minneapolis. The building had two of the most powerful direct-drive  waterwheels  ever built, each putting out 1200  horsepower  (900  kW). There are now plans to convert it into a loft-style apartment building. The Cunningham Group plans to convert six historic buildings to a mixed-use project varying from 6 to 27 floors in height. The project will include 895 units of housing and 175,000 square feet (16,300  m2) of commercial space, including the Pillsbury A Mill. HISTORY The company originated in 1869 when  Charles A. Pillsbury  bought a share in a Minneapolis flour mill. After the purchase of additional mills and the introduction of enhancements to the milling process, his firm was reorganized in 1872 as C.A. Pillsbury and Company. It was sold in 1889 to an English syndicate, which merged Pillsbury with other mills in their holdings to form Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company, Ltd., with Charles Pillsbury as managing director. The Pillsbury family regained ownership of the company in the 1920s, and it was incorporated as Pillsbury Flour Mills Company in 1935. In 1972 Pillsbury began purchasing  Burger King fast-food outlets, and it soon came to own the entire chain. Through the  Green Giant Company, acquired in 1979, it began marketing canned and frozen vegetables and frozen prepared foods. It also acquired Hà ¤agen-Dazs, maker of premium ice cream and frozen yogurt, in 1983. Pillsbury was owned by British company Grand Metropolitan, PLC (renamed Diageo PLC) from 1989 to 2001, when  General Mills  acquired most of Pillsburys assets (Burger King remained as a separate division of Diageo until 2002). The Hà ¤agen-Dazs brand was marketed through a joint licensing agreement with  Nestlà ©Ã‚  and General Mills. PRODUCTS The company manufactures a wide variety of consumer food products under the Pillsbury brand, including frozen biscuits and rolls, breakfast foods, cookie dough, cake mixes, and snack foodhttp://s3.amazonaws.com/gmi-digital-library/8b86b131-cccf-4292-b584-d216cf00fdd7.jpgBiscuitsBreads Grands! ® Cinnamon RollsCinnamon RollsBuffalo Chicken Crescent PuffsReady To Bake! ® Partner BrandsStrawberry Marshmallow Pie Biscuits, pies, flour, pizza crust, cookies, crescents, cinnamon rolls and various partner brands like Green Giant and Cascadian Farm. CASE INTRODUCTION Pillsbury entered Customer Driven reengineering initiative expecting to achieve significant levels of cost reduction and efficiency. To its delight, it also discovered a new way to compete. Competitive pressures, technology advances, and demanding consumer preferences were causing all companies in the food industry to reexamine their operations and attempt to eliminate waste and inefficiency throughout the food chain. The Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) effort was a multi-industry project .ECRs goals were to reduce costs and drive inventory levels down throughout the system, while simultaneously enhancing capabilities to meet the needs of diverse consumer market segments. Pillsbury executives were unsure whether their company was prepared for the new ECR environment. The executives perceived that Pillsbury lacked several critical capabilities to win in this new environment. In 1991, Dan Crowley as Controller of Green Giant, had launched an activity-based cost (ABC) initiative to examine the groups high cost structure. The study revealed startling plant-to-plant variations in costs for essentially the same process, large dispersion of actual costs from the companys standard cost per case. In August 1993, Crowley and Slocumb took a BPR proposal to CEO, Paul Walshs, Strategy and Policy Group, which comprised the division presidents of Pillsburys major business units and the top functional department heads. The proposal identified a process which would complement Pillsburys existing strategic plan to achieve top quartile financial performance amongst its strategic peers. The case describes the various efforts undertaken by Pillsbury during this transition and the various phases of the reengineering problem detailing various activities undertaken in every phase. The major challenge faced has been a choice between redesign of processes or continuous improvement because the target set in the earlier stages seemed a bit too achievable in the later stages NEED FOR REENGINEERING Customers perceived Pillsbury as an average company, not the best, not the worst, and without much innovation. John Mann, Senior Vice President and General Sales Manager, and another newcomer to the Pillsbury senior management team, concurred with McWilliams assessment: We were viewed as a laid-back Midwestern company, one that found it difficult to create a sense of urgency.McWilliams felt that Pillsbury had to become a different company if it was to change the perception of customers. Pillsbury executives were unsure whether their company was prepared for the new ECR environment. The executives perceived that Pillsbury lacked several critical capabilities to win in this new environment. First, the company was still organized according to traditional functional lines: purchasing, operations, distribution, finance, and marketing and sales. This organization led to local excellence and optimization of the individual functions but not necessarily to the optimization of the entire value chain. Second, the companys financial measurements and performance measurement system reinforced local optimization. The food market had become fragmented and the majority decisions taken by the consumer were made in the retail environment diluting the effect of the brand image. Thus Pillsbury had another challenge to transform its arms length relationship with the retailers (transaction based) to relationship oriented. DRIVERS FOR BPR AT PILLSBURY Highly competitive environment. Pillsbury lacking the necessary capabilities to compete in such environment. Lack of optimization of the entire value chain. The need to transform the arms length relationship with the retailers. To have an Information system to enable fact based marketing To develop a customer driven supply chain i.e. transition from push to pull strategy of supply chain Eye opening results of activity based costings. The project team prepared the classic ABC whale curve which showed a few product lines producing all the profits, with the remaining SKUs either breaking-even or losing money. Based on the insights from the ABC analysis, Green Giant management closed about a half dozen plants and consolidated operations more efficiently in the remaining plants. Crowley then took on a broader finance role within Pillsbury as Operations Controller and extended the ABC analysis to many of the dough manufacturing plants. Pillsbury now had good insights about the cost drivers for its cost of goods sold. The weak link was developing comparable information for its warehouse, sales, marketing, and promotion expenses. It had no ability to trace these expenses to its customers so that it could produce individual customer PLs. Skepticism that TQM was delivering its promised benefits to the PL bottom line within a reasonable time frame. For example, an internal study compared companies known to have adopted TQM principles with a control sample of non- TQM companies. The study found no discernible difference in financial performance between the two sets of companies. PROCESS MAPPINGS VISION: Crowley and Slocumbs vision of a potential for 15% cost improvement (about $300 million) in a staid and mature food processing company was met with some understandable skepticism and disbelief. Despite that, Walsh and his management team provided to Crowley and Slocumb a modest budget and 90 days to develop a business case to determine whether a $300 million cost reduction was possible. Crowley was appointed to a new position, Vice President for Customer Driven Reengineering, and Slocumb became Vice President for Business Process Reengineering. The business case was to focus on cost and margin improvements in three major divisions: Pillsbury branded products, the Green Giant products, and the frozen pizza businesses. These businesses had $2.5 billion of sales in Fiscal Year 1994. Reengineering: Phase I The Pillsbury team selected a consulting firm to work with them to help build the business case. Three months of analysis led to identifying three core business processes that offered targets for improvement: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Customer Supply Chain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Brand Management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ New Product Commercialization The Customer Supply Chain (CSC) was decomposed into three sub-processes: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Total Customer Development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Fast Flow Demand Replenishment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Value Based Sourcing and Supply The team then proceeded to identify the opportunities for process improvement within each of the three CSC sub-processes. C:UsersdellDesktop9-c89015168d.jpg C:UsersdellDesktop10-19289f286e.jpg Value Based Sourcing And Supply The third CSC sub-process, Value Based Sourcing and Supply, focused on Pillsburys extremely complex system of vendors and sourcing arrangements for its more than $500 million of raw material purchases. Historically, Pillsbury had reduced its material costs by exerting price pressure on its suppliers. Further gains from such price pressure were considered limited. The project team believed that more flexible and robust ingredient specification would allow them to select more efficient vendors, and that additional gains could be realized by leveraging vendor resources and knowledge. To gain these benefits, however, vendors would have to become partners with Pillsbury in a total cost reduction process. Cost savings from Value Based Sourcing and Supply were estimated at about $40 million (around 8% of purchases), plus savings in working capital reduction of about $14million. Outputs of phase 1: A business plan that promised margin improvements through cost reductions and revenue enhancements of more than $100 million, plus reductions in working capital of about $25 million. Reengineering: Phase II Phase II was launched in January 1994 to determine whether the business case developed in Phase I was feasible and realistic. About 25 Pillsbury employees, supported by the external consultants, spent four months analyzing customer data bases on more than 100 top accounts, conducted in-depth interviews with key customers and suppliers, and mapping and assessing the state of all existing internal business processes in the customer supply chain. The study of internal processes revealed highly complex, time-consuming processes with dozens of handoffs, and multiple recycling of requests for decisions and resource authorizations. The customer interviews revealed that important food retailers, wholesalers, and brokers were moving aggressively forward with plans for category management. Category management promised to give retailers far more effective management capabilities over their store shelf space allocations, SKU rationalization, and demographic marketing plans. The Phase II studies confirmed the vision established at the end of Phase I (see Exhibit 17) that reengineering the customer supply chain could provide upwards of $100 million in benefits. About half would come from working more closely with customers-adopting a more focused customer segmentation strategy, targeted marketing using local demographic information on consumer purchasing behavior, and exploiting store-specific cost and profitability information to promote the most profitable mix of brands and SKUs for both Pillsbury and the local store. The other half would come from better managing Pillsburys entire supply chain-from growers and other key vendors, through manufacturing, transportation and distribution to warehouses and individual stores. It needed to take activity-based costing (ABC) down to retail store level PLs. The old financial model calculated standard costs per case and produced product line PLs. The new model will measure activity-based costs of entire processes and give Pillsbury customer PLs. Service based pricing: shifting its pricing focus so that it can charge more for special services that some of our customers may desire but that others do not want. It can define a base level of service that everyone receives, with an explicit statement of what that includes. Major change in measurement: performance measurements will need to be driven by customers and consumers expectations THE CHALLENGE In June 1994, the Pillsbury team had completed the customer analysis and was ready to move into redesign. Before the meeting to present the findings and recommendations to the Integration Committee, Slocumb expressed some concern about the current set of recommendations. The business case to achieve $100 million in cost savings and margin enhancements was then credible. But the target may be too reachable. People may obtain the $100 million in cost savings from local process improvements, not from the complete redesign of its high-level business processes that were described in Phase I. the target of $100 million had come to be the objective rather than the fundamental redesign of our Customer Supply Chain. If we get $100 million in benefits, thats certainly a worthy goal, but it will not redefine the organization. We have a choice whether to be a company with a $25 stock price, or take the actions that will take us to a $50 stock price., Tom Debrowski, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chairman of the Integration Committee DECISION Pillsbury should be re-designing the organization around customer and consumer values to create a new and sustainable competitive advantage. It should strive to be the best in providing the freshest product at the lowest cost to retailers along with unique consumer insights from its superior information systems. It can achieve the $100 million without redefining the way they do business. But to achieve the $300 million, it will have to become a very different supply organization. It will have to get the supply chain to a high level of competitive fitness by getting cost savings that will make it more efficient than its competitors, and, then generating growth through its value-added consumer insights, getting the right product to the shelf at the right time at low cost to the retailers. The largest barrier for achieving this level of competitive fitness is introducing and managing change. Multi-skilled, multi-functional teams, including finance, need to be working with our customers. SOLUTION To achieve the $300 million improvements, Pillsbury needed to approach the organization with a completely open mind, to think the unthinkable. It will force it to think completely out of the box if they are going to achieve benefits of that magnitude. They need to stop managing individual functional departments, and begin to manage core operating processes. With the old model, the manufacturer, the distributor, and the retailer each attempts to optimize its own operations. The new way, through reengineering, should enable them to optimally source raw materials, convert to finished goods, distribute to trade customers, and sell to consumers in ways that minimize total system cost. By determining who can do each process in the chain most efficiently, it can let that process get done only once, at the most efficient site. That way it can eliminate waste from the system. REENGINEERING EVALUATION The success needs the following. The Analysis, Design and Prototype yielded the pain areas and laid out the broad road maps. But implementation needs the following to be successful Senior management must drive reengineering initiatives with a well-articulated vision that is appropriate for the situation. IT is an undervalued asset that can be tapped through reengineering to transform a company from a make-and-sell-oriented enterprise to a sense-and-respond-oriented enterprise. Successful implementation of reengineering projects requires the involvement and participation of the companys managers and employees. Consultants and outsourcing are important for various aspects of a reengineering project, but they are insufficient without the buy-in from managers and professionals in the organization. Business process can be streamlined or reengineered, but to change the long-term economic picture, a transformation initiative needs to encompass the reevaluation of communication systems and the sharing of intellectual assets. The organization should have a clear target in mind, whether it is to incorporate a continuous improvement philosophy or a complete redesign of processes. AFTER EFFECTS OF REENGINEERING EFFORTS During the last three years, the entire strategic direction of the company has changed. Selling off the flour mills was an epochal event. It was a major cultural shock to many people inside and outside the organization who thought of Pillsbury as a vertically-integrated flour manufacturing company. They have demonstrated that they can become a consumer-based company that is prepared to get out of operations that do not add value. An integration of the entire value chain was the target driven by the customers leading to a pull based strategy. Information systems were to enhance the communication capabilities to incorporate fact based marketing. Major cultural change was seen with the relationship with the customers transforming from merely an arms length relationship Major improvements in expenses and profitability were expected rendering Pillsbury with the capabilities required in such competitive environment. CONCLUSION The problems initially faced by Pillsbury required a complete redesign of the processes and not merely a continuous improvement effort. Thus the decision taken by the management to extend the target to $300 million was a correct decision if a long term view was to be considered. The major changes that were to incorporated as a result of this BPR effort were necessary for Pills burry to have the necessary capabilities to compete in the highly fragmented and competitive market. The reengineering effort was well planned in various phases describing the various considerations of each phase starting with the development of a business case followed by its feasibility analysis. The areas chosen for improvement were Customer Supply Chain Brand Management New Product Commercialization These areas provided great opportunity for integration of the entire value chain and to transform into a pull based value chain with the customer as the major driver. The efforts undertaken have led to great motivation amongst all the stakeholders and they believe that Pillsbury is not a laid back organization anymore. Their customers are enthusiastic about shifting from changing the way they do business together and are willing to endorse new relationships, such as service-based pricing. LEARNINGS The importance of manufacturer-retailer relationship in this highly fragmented market. The difference in continuous improvement efforts and redesign of processes How to approach a BPR problem in a systematic way demarcating the tasks to be done in a particular order in various phases. The importance of techniques like ABC Costing and the utilization of the revelations such techniques make

The History Of Computers :: essays research papers

THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS In 500 B.C. the abacus was first used by the Babylonians as an aid to simple arithmetic. In 1623 Wihelm Schickard (1592 - 1635) invented a "Calculating Clock". This mechanical machine could add and subtract up to 6 digit numbers, and warned of an overflow by ringing a bell. J. H. Mueller comes up with the idea of the "difference engine", in 1786. This calculator could tabulate values of a polynomial. Muellers attempt to raise funds fails and the project was forgotten. Scheutz and his son Edward produced a 3rd order difference engine with a printer in 1843 and their government agreed to fund their next project. In 1886 Dorr D. Felt (1862 - 1930) invented the "comptometer". This was the first calculator where the operands are entered by just pressing keys. In 1889 in also invents the first printing desk calculator. Herman Hollerith (1860 - 1929) founded IBM ( as the Tabulating Machine Company ) in 1896. The company renames known as IBM in 1924. In 1906 Lee D. Forest in America developed the electronic tube (an electronic value). Before this it would have been impossible to make digital electronic computers. In 1919 W. H. Eccles and F. W. Jordan published the first flip-flop circuit design. George Stibitz constructed a 1-bit binary adder suing relays in 1937. This was one of the first binary computers. In the summer of 1941 Atanasoff and Berry completed a special purpose calculator for solving systems of simultaneous linear equations, later called "ABC" ( Atanasoff Berry Computer). In 1948 Mark I was completed at Manchester University. It was the first to use stored programs. In 1951 whirlwind was the first real-time computer was built for the US Air Defense System. In 1953 it was estimated that there were 100 computers in the world. Computers built between 1959 and 1964 are often regarded as the "second generation" computers, based on transistors and printed circuits - resulting in much smaller computers. 1964 the programming language PL/1 released by IBM. 1964 the launch of IBM 360. These first series of compatible computers. In 1970 Intel introduced the first RAM chip. In 1975 IBM 5100 was released. In 1976 the Apple Computer Inc. was founded, to market Apple I Computer. Designed to Stephen Wozinak and Stephan Jobs. In 1979 the first compact disk was released around 1981 IBM announced PC, the standard model was sold for $2,880.00. In 1994 according to Microsoft MS-DOS was running on some 100 million computers worldwide.

Capitalizing the costs of developing a software program for sale Essay

In order to gain a better understanding of both the software industry and the applicable guidelines for capitalizing software, some outside research into the industry and FASB standards was completed. This research was complied as a part of the risk assessment portion of the audit process (Whittington & Pany, 2012). The issue of capitalizing the costs of developing a software program for sale is a complicated issue. This is due in part to the fact that the nature of technology is constantly changing so clear procedures regulating when to write off a software system vary according to the pace of technological changes within the industry. Therefore, while a company is developing software, they should report the incurred creative costs to a research and development account (Warfield, Weygandt, & Kieso, 2007). Once the software product has reached a point where it is feasibly considered a technological product the costing can be adjusted to begin capitalizing the costs (Warfield, Weygandt, & Kieso). As established in FASB Statement No. 2, any costs incurred in the developing, creating, testing, and so forth of software products will be charged to the research and development expense account; however any adjustments to the software for upgrades and any costs to market the product would not be included in the research and development expense account (Accounting-Financial-Tax.com, 2012). This is because by the point the product is ready to be marketed or needs to be upgraded to meet new technological standards, the feasibility of the product has been established and therefore the product should be capitalized (Account ing-Financial-Tax.com). If however, after meeting the feasibility requirements, there is substantial risk associate... ....com. (2012). Capitalization and amortization of software costs. Retrieved from, http://accounting-financial-tax.com/2009/05/capitalization-and-amortization-of-software-cost/ Accounting For Management. (2011). Return on Shareholder’s investment or net worth ratio. Retrieved from, http://www.accountingformanagement.com/retun_on_share_holders_investment_or_net_worth.htm Kennon, J. (2012). Return on assets (ROA). Retrieved from, http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/incomestatementanalysis/a/return-on-assets-roa-income-statement.htm Tracy, J. A. (2004). How to read a financial report (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Warfield, T. D., Weygandt, J. J., & Kieso, D. E. (2007). Intermediate accounting (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Whittington, R., & Pany, K. (2012). Principles of auditing and other assurances (18th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Michael E. Porters Five Forces In Pepsi :: Business Strategy

  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction The model of the Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors" in 1980. Since that time it has become an important tool for analyzing an organizations industry structure in strategic processes.    Porters model is based on the insight that a corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and threats in the organizations external environment. Especially, competitive strategy should base on and understanding of industry structures and the way they change. Porter has identified five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The objective of corporate strategy should be to modify these competitive forces in a way that improves the position of the organization. Porters model supports analysis of the driving forces in an industry. Based on the information derived from the Five Forces Analysis, management can decide how to influence or to exploit particular characteristics of their industry.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Five Competitive Forces The Five Competitive Forces are typically described as follows: 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bargaining Power of Suppliers The term 'suppliers' comprises all sources for inputs that are needed in order to provide goods or services. Supplier bargaining power is likely to be high when:    ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The market is dominated by a few large suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are no substitutes for the particular input,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The suppliers customers are fragmented, so their bargaining power is low,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The switching costs from one supplier to another are high,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is the possibility of the supplier integrating forwards in order to obtain higher prices and margins. This threat is especially high when  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The buying industry has a higher profitability than the supplying industry,  ·   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Forward integration provides economies of scale for the supplier,  ·   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The buying industry hinders the supplying industry in their development (e.g. reluctance to accept new releases of products),  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The buying industry has low barriers to entry. In such situations, the buying industry often faces a high pressure on margins from their suppliers. The relationship to powerful suppliers can potentially reduce strategic options for the organization.   2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bargaining Power of Customers Similarly, the bargaining power of customers determines how much customers can impose pressure on margins and volumes. Customers bargaining power is likely to be high when  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They buy large volumes, there is a concentration of buyers,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The supplying industry comprises a large number of small operators

Arguments of the death penalty Essay

Is death the justification of a murder or are we merely subduing ourselves by performing the same heinous act? This argument had been debated for many decades and although some feel that death is the answer to a murder, there are others that find it completely barbaric. Through a careful analysis between Edward Koch’s â€Å"Death and Justice† and David Bruck’s â€Å"The Death Penalty†, I believe Koch had the better argument in claiming that death is the justification of a murder. I feel that if someone were to kill another person, we have all rights to sentence them to a death penalty to guarantee such a horrific crime would not happen again. If someone had the courage to take the life of another then he/she should have the courage to face the consequences. Although many believed that the death penalty is barbaric, I believe if it is not done, it would hinder America’s goal in working toward a country that possesses the least crime rates. In Koch’s essay he compared cancer with the death penalty. â€Å"Today we are faced with the choice of letting the cancer spread with†¦methods that considered barbaric†¦But to give up†¦would certainly delay the discovery of an eventual cure.† (Koch, paragraph 6) What Koch tried to convey to us is that certain methods of reducing cancer symptoms may be found barbaric but it is because of these methods we will find an eventual cure. This applies to the death penalty as well. Although someone may believe the death penalty is barbaric, they can still support it because if we create a society that does not tolerate the injustice of murder, incidents of murd er will decrease. In Bruck’s argument he attacked back by stating that the death penalty was applied in a discriminatory manner through a man by the name of â€Å"Ernest Knighton†. â€Å"Knighton had killed a gas station owner during a robbery†¦Why was Knighton electrocuted when almost everyone else who committed the same offense was not? Was it because he was black? Was it because his victim and all 12 members of the jury†¦were right?† (Bruck, paragraph 10) He’s stating the jury was racist to Knighton because he was black and the death penalty does not serve justice. I believe that his isn’t so because the appeals for each murderer are long and accurate. Our courts are made so that each case is handled effectively and thoroughly to bring forth justice in the case. Koch stated â€Å"It is not justice to exclude everyone from the penalty of the  law if a few are found to be so favored. Justice requires that the law be applied equally to all.† (Koch, paragraph 11). It is not a racial matter because the appeals process is long and elaborate for every individual and a person will not be given any less attention due to their race. The death penalty served justice to people who had abused it. It will ensure a safer society because potential murderers would be afraid to kill because if they did, they would be executed as well. If we do not continue to practice this then murder rates would steadily increase. It is also not a racial issue because each case is observed with the full extent of the law. I believe the death penalty should continue to be instated because it will provide for a quicker progression to a murder-free America.

Heat Conduction

Experiment 16: Heat conduction Introduction In this laboratory you will study heat flow across a temperature gradient. By comparing the temperature difference across one material to the temperature difference across a second material of known thermal conductivity, when both are conducting heat at a steady rate, you will be able to calculate the thermal conductivity of the first material. You will then compare the experimental value of the calculated thermal conductivity to the known value for that material.Thermal conductivity is an important concept in the earth sciences, with applications including estimating of cooling rates of magma chambers, geothermal explorations, and estimates of the age of the Earth. It is also important in regard to heat transport in air, to understanding the properties of insulating material (including the walls and windows of your house), and in many other areas. The objective of this laboratory experiment is to apply the concepts of heat flow to measure the thermal conductivity of various materials. Theory Temperature is a measure of the kinetic energy of the random motion of molecules with a material.As the temperature of a material increases, the random motion of its molecules increases, and the material absorbs and stores a quantity which we call heat. The material is said to be hotter. Heat, once thought to be a fundamental quantity specifically related to temperature, is now known to be simply another form of energy. The equivalence of heat and energy is one of the foundations of thermodynamics. As the molecules in one region of a material move, they collide with molecules in neighboring portions of the material, thus transferring some of their energy to other regions.The net result is that heat flows from regions with higher temperatures to regions with lower temperatures. An exact calculation of this heat flow can be very difficult for materials with complicated shapes and complicated temperature distributions, but in some s imple cases the heat flow can be calculated. In this experiment, we will consider the heat flow across a plate of material of cross sectional area A and thickness ? x when its faces are held at constant (and different) temperatures, as indicated in Fig. 1. Figure 1 Heat flow across a plate. In this case the rate of heat flow H across the material is given by H = KA !T ! x ( ) (1) where ! T = T2 † T1 is the temperature difference across the plate and K is a quantity called the thermal conductivity. Note that this equation only applies because we keep the top and bottom at fixed temperature. In a more general situation, the flow of heat would alter the temperature of the top and bottom, and a more complicated approach would be required to deal with the situation. Heat is transferred more efficiently through shapes with a large area that are subject to a large temperature difference, but more slowly through thicker materials.If the units of H are J/s, that of A are m2, ? x is in m, and the units of temperature are ? C or K, then the units of K must be W/m-oC. Prove this for yourself, and show it in your laboratory book. Since the Celsius degree is the same size as a degree on the Kelvin scale, the units of thermal conductivity are usually expressed as W/m-K. We will use Eq. (1) to measure the heat flow through a material of known thermal conductivity and then use this result to determine the thermal conductivity of unknown samples forced to conduct heat at the same rate.Thermocouples In order to apply Eq. (1) we will need to measure the temperature difference ? T across our samples. It would be difficult to insert a thermometer into the gap between plates without disrupting the heat flow, so we will instead use a temperature probe that uses a device known as a thermocouple. 2 Figure 2. A Thermocouple A thermocouple is simply two connected wires made of dissimilar metals. Whenever two different metals contact each other, a small voltage difference is generat ed. This voltage difference is dependent on the temperature of the junction.If we measure this voltage difference with an accurate voltmeter, we can look up the temperature of the junction relative to the temperature of the connection to the voltmeter in a thermocouple table. The instrument used in this lab does the conversion for you, so can read the temperature directly. The thermocouple probe is now a very common device for measuring temperature, particularly in small places. For, example many medical thermometers are now based on thermocouples rather than the more traditional liquid in a glass tube. Experiment: Apparatus:The apparatus for this experiment are shown in the following figure, which also demonstrates how you will use the equipment. Figure 3. The apparatus for measuring thermal conductivity. 3 The apparatus for this experiment consists of a hot plate to supply heat, an ice bath to absorb heat, and plates of various materials through which heat will follow. Temperature s of the plates will be measured with a glass thermometer. In addition, the diameter and thickness of each plate will be measured with vernier calipers. Method Measure the diameter and thickness of each plate provided.Calculate the areas of the plates. Create the following table in your report and fill it in. Table 1. Dimensions of various plates Material Masonite Aluminum Plexiglass Plywood Teflon Using the glass thermometer, measure the temperature of the room and ice bath. Record your values. I. Thermal Conductivity of Plexiglass Construct a â€Å"sandwich† consisting of aluminum, masonite and plexiglass with the slots arranged so that thermocouples can be inserted on either side of the masonite plate. Place the sandwich on the hot plate with the aluminum side down. Place the ice bath on top of the sandwich.Switch the hotplate controller on and set the Variac to approximately 40% power. The exact value is not important, but if the power is set much higher some of the mater ials may get too hot. WARNING: Use extreme caution around the hot plate and when handling any of the materials that come into contact with it for the remainder of the experiment. The surfaces will become HOT! It will take up to 30 minutes for the heat flow to achieve a steady state. Monitor the progress by plotting the temperature readings T1 of the thermocouple 1 and T2 of thermocouple 2 as a function of time. Expect a maximum time of 45 minutes.Take readings every 1 to 2 minutes. If you miss a reading, skip it and record the next reading at the appropriate time on your plot. 4 Diameter (cm) Diameter (m) Area (m2) Thickness (cm) Thickness (m) You should find that the temperature readings eventually approach constant values. Even if they are still drifting after 30 minutes, the small changes to the heat flow will have only a small effect on your results. Record final values of the temperatures for the aluminum/masonite/plexiglass sandwich. You now have all the data needed to calcula te the thermal conductivity of plexiglass.See the â€Å"analysis† section later in these notes for details about how to do this. Calculate its value. II. Thermal conductivity of Plywood Carefully remove the Plexiglas plate and replace it with the plywood sheet (with slot down). Reinsert thermocouple 2 and place the ice bath back on top of the sandwich. Since a steady state heat flow has already been established in the aluminum and masonite, this new configuration should take only about 20 minutes to achieve a steady state. While you are waiting for the temperature readings to stabilize, you may wish to use the time to calculate the thermal conductivity of Plexiglas.If you do this, keep an eye on the temperature readings so that you know when a steady state has been achieved. Record the steady state values of the temperature for the sandwich of aluminum/masonite/plywood. III. Thermal Conductivity of Teflon Carefully remove the plywood plate and replace it with the Teflon plate (with slot down). Reinsert thermocouple 2 and place the ice bath back on top of the sandwich. Again, a steady state will probably be achieved in about 20 minutes. Record the steady state values of the temperatures for the sandwich of aluminum/masonite/Teflon. Analysis If e neglect the heat that escapes from the edges of the plates (due to convection and radiation), all of the heat provided by the hot plate must flow through each of the plates and into the ice bath, once a steady state has been achieved. Thus the heat flow through each plate must be the same throughout the sandwich. In particular, this means that the heat flow through the masonite is equal to the heat flow through the top material. Therefore we can write Hm = Htop . Using Eq. (1) we find that K m Am ! Tm ! xm = K top Atop ! Ttop ! xtop ( ) ( ) (2) The thermal conductivity of masonite is known to be 0. 0476 W/mK.You can derive an expression from Eq. (1) for the thermal conductivity of the top plate. 5 Use your measur ed values and the known value for the Km to calculate the thermal conductivities of each of the top plates used. Prepare a table like that shown below and fill in the values in your report. Table 2. Thermal conductivities of materials used in this laboratory. Material Calculated thermal Published value of K conductivity (W/mK) (W/mK) Aluminum Masonite Plexiglass Plywood Teflon The least accurate measurements in this experiment are the thermocouple voltages, which are only measured to 0. 1 mV accuracy.Based on this accuracy, estimate the uncertainty in the temperature difference across the masonite plate. Considering the uncertainty in this temperature difference only, what is the approximate percentage error in your calculated thermal conductivity values? Questions: 1. Use Eq. (1) to calculate the total rate of heat flow H through each of the plates in Part 1. (Note: The same value of H must hold for each plate, so you only need to use Eq. (1) once). 2. Do your results agree with th e expected values? If not, what measurements, processes, and/or assumptions do you suspect to have been significant sources of error? 6