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Feminist Geographies: Applications and Theories

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Modern feminism began in 1960s in the United States with the Women’s Liberation Movement. This political movement subsequently spread to Europe and initially focussed on equality between men and women. Women saw themselves as ‘subordinate’ and nothing more than “imaginary figures, the objects of another’s desire, made real” (Mackinnon, 1987) and thus tried to raise awareness of the social inequality experienced by women. Social feminist geography (adopting a Marxist ideology) revolved around the question of how best to articulate gender and class analyses, with the theorisation of a ‘sexual division of labour’. Haraway (1991) thus claims “a feminist is one who fights for women as a class and for the disappearance of that class”. From these roots drawing inspiration from women’s movements of the 1960s, feminist geographies have developed considerably and diversely over the last 30 years and now hold, without doubt, a considerable institutional presence. This essay will overview the development and progression of feminism as a ‘critical discourse’ and argue that although scholars such as Bondi, in McDowell and Sharp (eds) (1997), contend “…feminism has never achieved a high profile in geography…” and that the “…potential of feminism is ignored…” this is NOT necessarily the case. I will argue feminist theory has shaped theory and practise in geography through raising the awareness of gender issues, helping remove blatant sexism from academic journals and institutions and contributing hugely to the ‘cultural turn’ within the discipline. A huge volume of literature has amassed on feminist geographies over recent decades meaning that in the current era there are numerous ‘feminist geographies’ spanning across the discipline. This is clearly apparent in the number of books that have been published on the topic, the formation of the journal Gender Place and Culture in 1994 and the volume of articles that can be found in other contemporary human, cultural and social geography journals. Although feminist perspectives and outlooks vary in theory and content, common concerns cut across them all (Johnston et al., 2000). Developing out of the radical separatist ideas and oppositional politics associated with the ‘global sisterhood’ of the 1960s and 70s, came a more theoretical outlook associated with the ‘cultural turn’. Feminism thus developed as a critical discourse. The discipline of geography itself was criticised for its inherent masculine bias and for “excluding half the human from human geography” (Monk and Hansen, 1982). Haraway (1991) argued that women “do not appear where they should in geographical literature”. However, as part of the cultural turn, the shift away from grand theories and a concentration on diverse and interconnecting global micro-geographies, gender was understood to interact with race and class and therefore to understand gender, one “had to constantly go beyond gender” (Connell, in McDowell and Sharp, 1997). The massive literature on contemporary feminism thus reflects criticisms that ‘Western feminism’ has played down sexual, racial and class differences. Western feminism had been strongly criticised for being ethnocentric, as it obscured or subordinated all other “Others” (Haraway, in McDowell and Sharp (eds) 1997). Black women argued they were not constituted as ‘women’ as white women were, but instead constituted simultaneously racially and sexually as marked female (animal, sexualised and without rights), but not a women (human, potential wife, conduit for the name of a father). This critique expanded into development studies where it was argued although ‘cultural barriers’ can impede policy progress, many of these barriers may in fact have been magnified and reinforced by Western interventionist ‘gender blind’ development policies, through an ignorance of local traditions (Crewe and Harrison, 1999). The further development of ‘feminist geographies’ and the attempt to make women visible through ‘geographies of women’ has also resulted in a large literature on feminist methodologies (Moss, 1993; Nast, 1994, Farrow, Moss and Shaw, 1995, Hodge, 1995), including experimental writing and self-reflexivity (Rose, 1997). Work by Rose (1993) criticised geographical fieldwork as being “masculinity in action”, using historical examples such as Tansley’s (1939) ‘Man and Nature’. McDowell (1992) also details sexist biases in research methods, culminating in an absence of statistics about women, for example, detailing their unpaid labour (i.e. housework). In many studies there also seems to be a lack of women that were interviewed. For example, William Whyte’s Street Corner Society (1955), in which he seemed unaware that he had only interviewed men! There has thus been an application of feminist ideas to research and fieldwork. Feminist enquiry now works for an egalitarian research process between the researcher and her ‘subjects’. A further similarity between ‘feminist geographies’ is that they trace the inter-connections between all aspects of daily life, across sub-disciplinary boundaries of economic, social, political and cultural geography. From Linda McDowell’s extensive research on the feminist geographies of the labour force involving ‘glass ceilings’ and discrimination (McDowell, 1997), to Hoschchild’s (1997) ‘dual role’ women and the ‘second shift’ (women having to be carers and mothers as well as career women). There has also been a huge volume of literature over recent years regarding the rise of women workers in the service industry (for example, call centres) and women as the ‘new proletariat’. Conversely, as part of this new ‘identity politics’, gender is argued by some to be a competitive advantage for women in the current workforce in terms of their roles as ‘emotional managers’ (Hochschild, 1983). McDowell (2001, 2004) has also recently tracked the development of a ‘crisis of masculinity’ associated with the collapse of Fordism, unemployment and a ‘lost generation of males’. Thus, it is argued by some the best ‘man’ for a job is now a woman. This thorough, multi-disciplinary application of ‘feminist geographies’ at a variety of different scales in various sub-fields of the discipline clearly highlight its impact in shaping modern theory and practise within geography. From its beginnings of liberal feminism and oppositional politics (1960s and 70s), feminist geography has developed through feminist Marxism involving a gender/class interface (late 70s/80s) to feminist geographies of difference (late 80s-present) as part of identity politics and the ‘cultural turn’. Feminist geography now concentrates on gendered identities within a post-structural, post-colonial, cultural theoretical framework, studying gender relations across races, ages, ethnicities, religions, sexualities and nationalities. Most recently of all, the discipline has undergone further internal-critique, calling for more intensive study of relations and equality between women themselves. It is for these reasons I believe ‘feminist geographies’ have had a huge ideological impact on geographical theory and practise over recent decades and will continue to do so for years to come. References: Crewe, E. and Harrison, E. (1999) Whose development?: an ethnography of aid, London, St Martin’s Press. Farrow, H., Moss, P. and Shaw, B. (1995) Symposium of feminist participatory research, Antipode, 18:2, 186-211. Haraway, D. (1991) Simians, Cyborgs and Women: the reinvention of nature, London, Free Association Books. Hochschild, A.R. (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling, University of California Press, Berkeley. Hochschild, A.R. (1997) The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work, Henry Holt, New York. Hodge, D. (ed) (1995), Should women count? The role of quantitative methodology in feminist geographic research, The Professional Geographer, 47, 426-66. Johnston, R.J., Gregory, D., Pratt, G., Watts, M. (2000), The Dictionary of Human Geography, Blackwell. Mackinnon, C.A. (1987) Feminism unmodified: discourses on life and law, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press. McDowell, L. (1992) Defining women: social institutions and gender divisions, Cambridge, Polity Press. McDowell, L. and Sharp, J. (eds) Space, gender, knowledge: feminist readings (London: Arnold, 1997). McDowell, L.M. (1997) Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City, Oxford, Blackwell. McDowell, L.M. (2001) Father and Ford Revisited: Gender, Class and Employment Change in the New Millennium, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 26, 448-64. Monk, J. and Hansen, S. (1982) On not excluding the other half from human geography, The Professional Geographer, 32, 11-23. Moss, P. (1993) Feminism as method, The Canadian Geographer, 37, 48-61. Nast, H. (ed) (1994) Women in the field: critical feminist methodologies and theoretical perspectives, The Professional Geographer, 46, 54-102. Rose, G. (1993) Feminism and Geography, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Rose, G. (1997) Situating knowledges: positionality, reflexivities and other tactics, Progress in Human Geography, 21, 305-20. Whyte, W.F. (1955) Street Corner Society: the social structure of an Italian slum, Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

The challenging topic of organizational behavior

Organizational Behavior has become a challenging hot topic among many groups who are interested to study the individual and group behavior of people working as teams in organizations. The term organizational behavior may have many definitions. According to Debra (2008), Organizational Behavior is the study of individuals and their behavior within the context of the organization in a workplace setting. She describe it is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication and management. There are also views that it is not only the study of how organizations behave, but rather the study of individual behavior in an organizational setting. This includes the study of how individuals behave alone, as well as how individuals behave in groups. The purpose of this essay is to gain a greater understanding of those factors that influence individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting so that individuals and the groups and organizations to which they belong may become more efficient and effective. It also includes the analysis of organizational factors that may have an influence upon individual and group behavior. However the literature review help the author of this essay to realize that much of organizational behavior research is ultimately aimed at providing human resource management professionals with the information and tools they need to select, train, and retain employees in a fashion that yields maximum benefit for the individual employee as well as for the organization. Going beyond that this essay will discuss Leadership and change management aspects of organizational behavior. Author V.G.Kondalkar describes “Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and organizational structure have on behavior within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organizational effectiveness”. There for organization behaviors can be discussed in different levels including Individual, group and organization structure. Studying these distinct different levels, may helps to understand the organizational behavior at a broader way so that it could see the different aspects at each level which the managers can use to facilitate their day-to-day job. Individual level of analysis At the individual level of analysis, organizational behavior involves the study of learning, perception, creativity, motivation, personality, turnover, task performance, cooperative behavior, deviant behavior, ethics, and cognition. At this level of analysis, organizational behavior draws heavily upon psychology, engineering, and medicine. Taking Google as an example to this, Google recruit individuals with best academic and analytical capabilities. By this they expect a knowledge organization. The individuals coming from this kind of back ground will naturally bring in a studious learning culture. There will not be an explicit necessity to motivate them towards learning. Their business is that they invent technologies specially related to internet. Business gets the competitive edge over its competitors by their innovations. To align this strategy they also recruit above kind of people. They always encourage an entrepreneur culture where they expect a flatter structure and less power distance between individuals. So that they expect ideas coming from bottom to up to generate always creative ideas. Individuals can be motivated by different means. Motivation towards expected behavior is where organization can most benefit. Herzberg came up with two factor theory where he define both implicit and explicit factors for motivation. Providing examples to the effectively of indirect motivating factors, organizations like Google offer 20% of their employees work time to involve in a project which each individual like. Given more facilities to child care, good food, health and entertainment Google wants to provide as many as intrinsic motivators. This was very successful as they fulfill the individual needs to a greater extent so that employees can involve their work with their Saul morality. It was one Einstein said people who work if it is just to avoid punishment or to gain the rewarding of good work as like in most religious teachings; they will address the morality of individuals. It is just the fear that makes that work done. There for this essay argue if organization’s can really address the morality of individuals like what Google successfully did, they can have the most effective and pleasant work force. It was also highlighted in order to have a moral organization it should recruit people who are capable and self disciplined. On the other hand it will definitely need the support from organization Leadership and culture. However individuals form groups. In other words group behavior is influenced by individual behavior. But obviously group behavior has more power and has more strength. There for to have the best fitting group behavior for the organization it must have the right individuals. This individual behavior paves this essay to the way towards how an organization can best benefit the group behaviors. Group level of analysis At the group level of analysis, organizational behavior involves the study of group dynamics, intra- and intergroup conflict and cohesion, leadership, power, norms, interpersonal communication, networks, and roles. At this level of analysis, organizational behavior draws upon the sociological and socio-psychological sciences. When there are groups it is naturally the first thing come to mind is leadership. Organization’s can have many different groups. Sometimes they can be formal and obvious many times they are informal. These groups plays a vital role in an organization as these groups can be treated as energy cells, which concentrate some pockets of power. These pockets are very important to determine the success of organization. On the other hand this is where organizational politics and leadership comes in. As far as organizations are concerned most critical decisions are coming from director board. For example these decisions can be approved only by majority. To make decisions effective and comes in to play they have to get the support of subordinates. As the research to Prof Robert Reich, he finds that many times the subordinates do not support to the logical accuracy of decisions, but they support to the personal traits or any other leadership traits. There most the time subordinates address issues with gut feelings. This is why group behavior is so important. If organization’s can form groups which doesn’t obey only to the gut feeling but put some effort to overcome mental resistances and come to some rational decisions; such kind of organizations do better in business. Richard trading, one local company once employed only board members from two families. At the board they always had this power struggle. But ultimately the board was introduced with professionals and the group started performs than never before. Because their group directors didn’t stop to their gut feeling. This provides how group behaviors can be best effective to organizations. If an organization really focus on these group behaviors they can turn them in to their benefits. Most the time informal group behaviors seen bringing negativities to the organizations. But effectively used these behaviors can be used for organizations advantages. Human resources if managed well hold the key to the success of the organization. According to (Cranny, Smith Stone, 1992 ) human resources output is higher when the employee ‘s function as a team than it is the case when employees do not work as teams . A synergetic effect is what results when organizations embrace team spirit. However creating functional and efficient teams ‘ calls for expertise, tolerance and a lot of motivation on the part of the organization. Teams enable employees to exploit their potential and therefore increase job performance. A team consists of members with diverse experience, skills and qualification. These diverse work group and synergy effects have contributed effectively to the organizations like Microsoft to gain competitive advantage by means of creativity and different thinking. It is accepted around the world that diverse work forces are helping to facilitate new idea generation and creativity. As understood the benefits of group behaviors to the organization enhanced through essence of diversification, companies like Microsoft earned best advantages. Microsoft in their web site acknowledges that they encourage synergy effects to the organization in the ways and means of diversity. Communication is also another area that organizations can vastly advantage of. Group and team theory of communication have also been studied to determine the best ways to form groups . The choice of communication model is driven by the target recipient . It is important for organizations to understand the dynamics of each form of communication which will enable them to send messages effectively .Communication being an integral part of human existence is the medium through which understanding is gained. In an organization , communication is important since it is the means by which people are able to work together to achieve common goals .Schermerhorn , Hunt , and Osborn (2005 ) defines a team as a formal group of people working together with an aim of achieving common goals . Teams are important in that, they improve performance in an organization , they enhance communication and they make an organization more competitive in that they draw from a wide range of talent . This paper looks at conflict resolution process in teams with an aim of analyzing how conflicts affect teams. Provided above this section of the essay argue that today organizations can best advantage if they effectively manage the effects of organization politics, synergy, diversity and communication at organization’s group behaviors. Organization level of analysis At the organization level of analysis, organizational behavior involves the study of topics such as organizational culture, organizational structure, cultural diversity, inter-organizational cooperation and conflict, change, technology, and external environmental forces. At this level of analysis, organizational behavior draws upon anthropology and political science. But the evolution of political nature was described during the group level analysis. Diversity and Cultural level things will be discussed in the latter part. However this section mostly focuses in to the structural impact to the organization behavior. Structure in simple is the degree of complexity, formalization and centralization in the organization. Complexity is the degree of vertical, horizontal and spatial differentiation in an organization Formalization is the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized. Centralization is the degree to which decision making in concentrated at a single point in the organization Provided above elements of structure it is obvious the structure may interact to people in terms of span of control and power distribution. As discussed before power is coming from others, or subordinates. The reason to power can be different. It can be informal like referent, expert, charismatic, or it can be formal – Coming from position. Any way the correct planning of power may help organization to achieve their desired results. Elements of Organizational Behavior The organization’s base rests on management’s philosophy, values, vision and goals. This in turn drives the organizational culture which is composed of the formal organization, informal organization, and the social environment. The culture determines the type of leadership, communication, and group dynamics within the organization. The workers perceive this as the quality of work life which directs their degree of motivation. The final outcome are performance, individual satisfaction, and personal growth and development. All these elements combine to build the model or framework that the organization operates from. Cultural element A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways. Within an organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their relationships to each other and to the outside world. The behavior of one member can have an impact, either directly or indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the social system does not have boundaries… it exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the environment around it. Culture is the conventional behavior of a society that encompasses beliefs, customs, knowledge, and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seldom enters into their conscious thought. People depend on culture as it gives them stability, security, understanding, and the ability to respond to a given situation. This is why people fear change. They fear the system will become unstable, their security will be lost, they will not understand the new process, and they will not know how to respond to the new situations. Individualization is when employees successfully exert influence on the social system by challenging the culture. But when challenging culture it must be careful because normally culture is seen as an iceberg to most management specialists. This nature of culture is very illusive and organization must best understand the culture if they are to do best in business. Cultural dimensions will be different from country to country and also from region to region, may be from organization to organization. This best explains why the same model may be success in one culture but not will be success in another culture. Models of Organizational Behavior There are four major models or frameworks that organizations operate out of, Autocratic, Custodial, Supportive, and Collegial: Autocratic – The basis of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The employees in turn are oriented towards obedience and dependence on the boss. The employee need that is met is subsistence. The performance result is minimal. Custodial – The basis of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of money. The employees in turn are oriented towards security and benefits and dependence on the organization. The employee need that is met is security. The performance result is passive cooperation. Supportive – The basis of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The employees in turn are oriented towards job performance and participation. The employee need that is met is status and recognition. The performance result is awakened drives. Collegial – The basis of this model is partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork. The employees in turn are oriented towards responsible behavior and self-discipline. The employee need that is met is self-actualization. The performance result is moderate enthusiasm. Although there are four separate models, almost no organization operates exclusively in one. There will usually be a predominate one, with one or more areas over-lapping in the other models. The first model, autocratic, has its roots in the industrial revolution. The managers of this type of organization operate mostly out of McGregor’s Theory X. These kind managers does believe that employees are not good, cannot work their own and should be kept under tight controls etc. The next three models begin to build on McGregor’s Theory Y who believe employees are capable, and they must be provided with good environment to work as a result they will work and produce good result. However each models has evolved over a period of time and there is no one best model. In addition, the collegial model should not be thought as the last or best model, but the beginning of a new model or paradigm. Change In its simplest form, discontinuity in the work place is change, (Knoster, Villa, 2000). According to Lord Buddha there is no certainty – everything is subjected change. This will not only explain the uncontrollable and unexpected but eternal law of change, but also its describe change is unavoidable. There for organization also cant deny this truth. When the attitudes, expectation, trends and styles, change with people factor, the other PESTEL variables can also be change as a result. As a result facing change itself is become a big challenge for many organizations. However the researches evident that 70% of change processes are unsuccessful. Thus change is inevitable for organizations. Almost all people are nervous about change. Many will resist it – consciously or subconsciously. Sometimes those fears are well founded – the change really will have a negative impact for them. In many cases, however, the target population for the change will come to realize that the change was for the better. The pace of change is ever increasing – particularly with the advent of the Internet and the rapid deployment of new technologies, new ways of doing business and new ways of conducting one’s life. Organizational Change Management seeks to understand the sentiments of the target population and work with them to promote efficient delivery of the change and enthusiastic support for its results. There are two related aspects of organizational change that are often confused. In Organizational Change Management we are concerned with winning the hearts and minds of the participants and the target population to bring about changed behavior and culture. The key skills required are founded in business psychology and require “people” people. Provided the significance of peoples factor, as discussed throughout this essay it is ultimately people’s behavior which may affect the organization’s behavior at the most severest context. There for it is only the effective leadership which can address these diversities of people behaviors may brings the most success to the organization. Following will discuss how leadership is best effective at today’s organizational behaviours. Leadership and Organizational Behavior One can also argue that Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives. As you can see from the definition above, organizational behavior encompasses a wide range of topics, but ultimately it’s the leadership which can make determine the successful integration of all these variable to produce more optimum results. To begin with, the concept of organizational leadership, as described here, is not entirely new. For almost a century, various observers have glimpsed the self-organizing characteristics of groups, and their natural tendency, more or less of their own accord, to design and direct their own affairs. More than that, there have also been suggestions in the literature that leadership and authority are to be viewed as distinctly separate phenomena. In an intelligently managed organization, that leadership isn’t a randomly operating process; it’s “a propulsive force given motion by purpose, and by a joint effort to accomplish it.” That is its natural tendency, its bias. But it is management’s role to ensure that this organizational leadership has a substantive and meaningful core around which to form itself and to give it traction for advancing the organization toward its stated ends. Using these as a basis, organizational leadership can provide the functions of leadership to an organizationally beneficial degree that cannot be matched by individual charismatic leaders alone. It is also far more reliably focused on the organization’s ability to accomplish its own purposes and ensure its own sustainability (rather than resulting in the perversion of those to the interests of senior executive “leaders”). Conclusion This essay critically analyses the effects of organization behavior in today’s context by different aspects. It very clearly proves people are the key factor of the determination of organization behavior. Individual behavior will influence the group behavior. Formations of groups may crates pockets of power. Power can be formal or even informal. But the powerful personalities can influence more effectively the organization. Leadership is best effective where if organization gather many power groups around the personality which can thrive the business to the most effective direction. However organizations are always to change. People create resistive forces most the time to the change. Leadership is successfully useful to reduce the resistive forces to the organization change objectives.

Financing Shipping companies

essay help online There are several advantages for a shipping company to outsource a particular service or department. The main advantages with outsourcing are better cost control, lower risk and the outside supplier’s expertise. Better cost control is achieved because outsourcing leads to less fixed costs and more variable costs. This means that the company in the short term is more flexible, and able to adjust costs faster and in some cases with less hassle. Outsourcing a service or department also lowers the need for an initial investment by removing the capital injection necessary for establishing a department/service. Less fixed costs and less long term fixed assets means lower risk for the company. In economical theory there also is an general opinion that outsourcing in many cases leads to cost reductions, due to a small internal department within the company not having the same degree of expertise as a bigger outside supplier and therefore not being able to deliver the services at a competitive cost. This lack of expertise compared to the outside supplier that specialises in the segment might also lead to a lower quality of service if the work is kept in house. With regards to expertise there also is a big advantage in that the company can keep focus on their core business where they have the necessary know-how and stay clear of outside disturbance. There are however also disadvantages with outsourcing. The main problem is loss of control due to the company not having the same supervision over the work being done. Another problem is that the outside supplier might not be able to adjust the service as well as an inside department after the company’s needs at any given time. The degree of the advantages/disadvantages with outsourcing varies greatly with the complexity of the work that has to be done, the potential savings and the importance of in-house supervision. A certain degree of outsourcing of services will always exist i.e. transportation for a company’s employees, postal services, big IT reforms etc. Solstad has decided to keep outsourcing at a minimum and integrated shipping operations are a part of the company’s philosophy[1]. The company manages the total operation of the vessels[2], and have a large onshore support mechanism which includes freight, crewing, accounting, chartering, technical, and other administrative functions. The company is nevertheless open to outsourcing services and will evaluate whether it is possible to achieve more cost effective operations and an optimal return on capital employed in cooperation with new suppliers with a view to long-term strategic co-operations[3]. Such collaboration is also evaluated with regard to risk and capital injection. How has your company financed its vessels? Explain advantages and disadvantages by such financing. It isn’t possible to find public information on how most of the specific vessels have been financed. However according to a news article in Skipsrevyen[4] about the acquisition of the M/S Normand Seven, the long term financing for that vessel is provided by Eksportfinans in cooperation with Nordea Bank, Fokus Bank and Danmarks Skibskredit AS. The company’s balance sheet doesn’t show in detail to whom the long term liabilities is owed, so to answer the question we will have to assume that the financing of the M/S Normand Seven is representative of how Solstad normally finances its fleet. As of the end of 2008 the company have long term fixed assets in vessels and new buildings of 7.289.858.000 NOK[5]. This equals just over 70% of the company’s total assets of 10.213.357.000. The assets are financed with a total equity of 3.697.624.000 and total liabilities of 6.515.734.000. Out of the total liabilities long term loans to credit institutions/leasing obligations amounts to 4.831.208.000. In economic theory an equity ratio of 30 % is generally considered healthy, and the company also states in the annual report that the aim is to be financed by the owners (equity) with a ratio higher than 30 %. The total equity in percentage of total assets in 2008 was 36%, well above the company’s goal. The company’s equities are important when you need to raise capital from outside sources, as it may provide security for the lenders. Assuming that the financing of M/S Normand Seven is representative for the entire fleet the long term liabilities is provided by commercial banks like Nordea bank, Fokus bank, and Danmarks Skibskredit as well as government backed ship credit schemes like Eksportfinans. According to the annual report some of the fleet is also financed by leasing agreements. The advantages in getting mortgage-backed loans from commercial banks are that capital can be raised quickly and flexibly, while the owner is still left with full ownership of the business. The disadvantages by such financing is that commercial banks are uncomfortable with loans that are longer than 5-6 years[6] and often prefers to receive a balloon payment that might be difficult to handle for the shipping company. A leasing company is often more attractive if the borrower want longer finance than a commercial bank is willing or able to take onto their balance sheets. Eksportfinans also offers longer term finance than is usual for commercial banks, and offer repayment periods for up to 20 years[7]. Commercial banks normally take little risk and require a lot of security to protect their investment. According to the annual report[8] some vessels are placed as security for the mortgages. In addition, accounts receivables and bank deposits (2007) are tied. Solstad’s loan agreements are also subject to the owner’s working capital being positive at all times and that the market value of the vessels amounts to at least 110-125% of the outstanding loans. The company states that they satisfy all conditions of the loan agreements at 31.12.08[9]. Name three of the most important conventions your company must adhere to. Give reasons why those are among the most important ones. Solstad have ships registered in the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS), Isle of Man Ship Registry (IOM), and the Norwegian Ship Register (NOR). Some of the criteria for NIS/IOM/NOR registered vessels are that they adhere to international conventions such as “Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 74)”, “Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78)” and “Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping (STCW 95)” as well as other international regulations ratified by the flag states. “Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS 74)” is the most important international treaty protecting the safety of merchant ships in the world. The first version of the treaty was passed as early as 1914 in response to the sinking of the Titanic.[10] It prescribed numbers of lifeboats and other emergency equipment along with safety procedures, including continuous radio watches. The intention had been to keep the convention up to date by periodic amendments, but a completely new convention was adopted in 1974. The convention regulates among other things use of the global maritime distress safety system, set construction criteria (subdivision and stability, machinery and electrical installations), fire protection/detection/extinction, obligatory life-saving appliances and arrangements, radio communications, safety of navigation etc. and is the centrepiece of maritime safety. Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes[11]. It was designed to minimize pollution of the seas, including dumping, oil and exhaust pollution. Its stated objective is to preserve the marine environment through the complete elimination of pollution by oil and other harmful substances and the minimization of accidental discharge of such substances. MARPOL contains 6 annexes, concerned with preventing different forms of marine pollution and covers pollution by oil, chemicals, harmful substances in packaged form, sewage, garbage and air pollution. The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping (STCW 95) sets qualification standards for masters, officers and watch personnel on seagoing merchant ships[12]. The aim of the convention was to introduce internationally acceptable minimum standards relating to training, certification and watchkeeping for officers and crew members. Today there are amendments concerning quality standards systems, oversight of training, certification procedures and rest period requirements. The amendments require that seafarers are provided with familiarization training and basic safety training which includes basic fire fighting, elementary first aid, personal survival techniques, and personal safety and social responsibility. This training is very important in ensuring that seafarers are aware of the hazards of working on a vessel and can respond appropriately in an emergency. Literature and references: Annual report (2008). Annual report 2008 Solstad Offshore ASA. Skudeneshavn. * Financial report (2009). 3rd quarter 2009 Solstad Offshore ASA. Skudeneshavn. · International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) (1973). http://www.imo.org/Conventions/contents.asp?doc_id=678

Assignment week8 bus

Assignment week8 bus.

Assignment 4: Merger, Acquisition, and International Strategies Due Week 8 and worth 300 pointsChoose
two (2) public corporations in an industry with which you are familiar –
one (1) that has acquired another company and operates internationally
and one (1) that does not have a history of mergers and acquisitions and
operates solely within the U.S. Research each company on its own
Website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission
EDGAR database (http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml),
in the University’s online databases, and any other sources you can
find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help
address some of these questions.Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you: For
the corporation that has acquired another company, merged with another
company, or been acquired by another company, evaluate the strategy that
led to the merger or acquisition to determine whether or not this
merger or acquisition was a wise choice. Justify your opinion.For
the corporation that has not been involved in any mergers or
acquisitions, identify one (1) company that would be a profitable
candidate for the corporation to acquire or merge with and explain why
this company would be a profitable target. For the corporation
that operates internationally, briefly evaluate its international
business-level strategy and international corporate-level strategy and
make recommendations for improvement. For the corporation that
does not operate internationally, propose one business-level strategy
and one corporate-level strategy that you would suggest the corporation
consider. Justify your proposals.Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements: Be
typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with
one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or
school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional
instructions.Include a cover page containing the title of the
assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title,
and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
the required page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Identify various levels and types of strategy in a firm.Use technology and information resources to research issues in business administration.Write clearly and concisely about business administration using proper writing mechanics.
Assignment week8 bus

Intro. To Biology, Strayer, Discussion 4

Intro. To Biology, Strayer, Discussion 4. I’m trying to learn for my Biology class and I’m stuck. Can you help?

Part 1: Post a Response
This week is all about our DNA and gene expression. The complete set of all DNA in a cell is called the genome. The complete set of all the mRNA in a cell is called the transcriptome. Read the following article about the transcriptome found at: https://www.genome.gov/13014330/transcriptome-fact-sheet/, then address the following:

Explain how the transcriptome helps us to better understand the differences between cells from different types of tissues that are specialized for different functions.
What do you think is the most interesting or significant thing about the transcriptome?

Intro. To Biology, Strayer, Discussion 4