The Secret of Ella and Micha Chapter 6

Micha The pain in her eyes nearly kills me. If it were possible, I'd go back in time and stop her from climbing down that tree that God awful night. Maybe then, I'd still have my best friend. I decide to make a sporadic stop to try and get Ella out of her own head. I park the car in an open space in front of the small coffeehouse located in the heart of town, between the Stop n' Shop and Bubba's Sports Barn. I shut off the engine and wait patiently for her to scold me. Her face reddens as she takes in where we are. â€Å"Micha, I'm really not in the mood for this right now. I have things to do and so does Lila.† â€Å"Come on, you haven't seen me play in ages,† I coax, using my best seductive voice. â€Å"I'll just do one song. In and out and we're done.† â€Å"Sounds cool to me,† Lila says from the backseat, finally relaxing a little now that we're far away from Grady's trailer. â€Å"I love hearing bands and lead singers are always sexy.† â€Å"Micha plays the guitar and sings by himself,† Ella says with a flicker of possessiveness in her eyes. â€Å"He's not a lead singer. He's a solo singer.† â€Å"It's all the same to me.† Lila pats Ella's head and in a way I think she's making a private joke with her. â€Å"Band or not, a guy who can sing and play is hot.† I grin charismatically and incline over the console. â€Å"Come on, pretty girl.† I wind a strand of her hair around my finger. â€Å"You know you want to come in and watch me be all hot and sexy, singing up on the stage. You know you've missed it.† Her eyes narrow at me as she fights back a smile. â€Å"You know that voice doesn't work on me. I've seen you use it too many times on too many girls.† â€Å"I haven't used it on a girl since you left.† I let the truth fall out. I used to come and go as I please with whoever I wanted, but once things started to change with our friendship, it became clear the void I was trying to fill was in her. â€Å"And I don't want to use it on anyone – â€Å" She conceals her hand over my mouth. â€Å"I'll go in with you, but only if you stop talking about stuff that makes me uncomfortable.† â€Å"Wait. What about my car?† Lila scoots forward and fixes her hair using the rearview mirror. â€Å"It's getting late. Won't the shop be closed soon?† I move Ella's hand away from my lips and entwine her fingers with mine. â€Å"We'll make it back in time. I promise.† Ella hesitates, staring at the coffeehouse like she's a mouse about to walk into a lion's den. I squeeze her hand. â€Å"Come on, let's go in. You'll be okay.† She looks at our hands, and then her gaze lifts, giving a fleeting glance at my lips before resolving on my eyes. â€Å"Is everyone still hanging out here?† â€Å"Kelly and Mike do and Renee and Ethan,† I say. â€Å"Grantford doesn't really come around here anymore, though.† Her plump lips curl to a grin. â€Å"Because you punched him in the face.† â€Å"That might be part of it.† I return her smile and let go of her hand to climb out of the car. It feels like I might be getting somewhere with her. She hops out and stretches, arching her back and sticking out her chest. It makes me want to rip off her shirt, pull her in the backseat, and do things to her I've never done with anyone I've cared about before. â€Å"What are you looking at?† She pulls the bottom of her tank top back over her stomach. She really has no idea how beautiful she is. She never has. Even back in her punk/goth faze, she rocked the look. I shake my head, unable to take my eyes off her. â€Å"Nothing. Just thinkin'.† She slams the door and we head across the packed parking lot. I rest my hand on her lower back, but she wiggles away and sidesteps around Lila, putting her between us. I frown. Maybe I'm not doing as well as I thought. Ella If he keeps looking at me that way, my restraint is going to melt into a puddle of hot, steamy liquid. Micha has the most piercing eyes in the world, aqua blue, like the sea, waved with equal intensity. He's flirty with me, which he used to do jokingly all the time, and I'd play along. But this is different somehow, more intense and real. It's like he's throwing his heart into the open, which isn't how he used to be. At least with me. Except for the day I left. The coffeehouse is cramped with people, even for a Saturday afternoon. Every booth and table is occupied and there's a guy with floppy brown hair playing the keyboard on stage, his voice a little off-key. The baristas are working hard on the long line that extends all the way to the door and in the corner, people are working on their laptops. â€Å"Where are we going to sit?† Lila scans the room. â€Å"There's no empty tables.† Micha spots Ethan and Renee at a corner table and waves at them. â€Å"Seat situation solved,† he says, taking my hand and leading the way to them. Renee is a short girl that wears heavy eyeliner and has dark red hair. Her hazel eyes zone in on Micha's hand tangled with mine. I attempt to pull my hand away, but Micha strengthens his grasp. â€Å"Hey, Ella.† She fakes a smile with her dark red lips. â€Å"What ya been up to?† â€Å"Nothing much,† I keep it simple, because simple is always better with Renee. â€Å"And so we meet again.† Ethan flashes a dimpled grin at Lila and pulls out a chair for her. â€Å"You decided to stick around here for a while.† Lila looks up at him as she takes a seat. â€Å"Thank you. I kind of had to since my car was trashed last night.† Micha drops down in the last empty chair at the table and starts to pull me down to sit on his lap. My eyes sweep the room in search of an extra chair, but it's so packed that people have to stand near the walls. â€Å"I don't bite, Ella May.† There is a challenge in Micha's eyes. â€Å"Unless you ask me to.† Everyone at the table is watching me. Not wanting to make a scene, I sink down on his lap. Ethan targets Micha with a bewildered look, which Micha ignores and steals a scone out of a basket in the middle of the table. He pops it into his mouth. â€Å"So what time's Open Mic?† Ethan's dark eyebrows plunge together. â€Å"Why? Are you thinking about playing again? Cause' all I can say is it's about freakin' time.† â€Å"What do you mean again?† I ask, grabbing a scone myself. â€Å"Why hasn't he been playing?† Ethan shoves up the sleeves of his shirt, crosses his arms on the table, and directs Micha with their secret-code look I have never been able to crack. I revolve my body to look at Micha, but instantly regret it. His eyes are too intense and I'm thrown out of my element for a second. â€Å"You stopped playing?† I ask him. â€Å"Why would you do that? Isn't it your dream still?† He shrugs, snaking his arms around my waist. â€Å"It's not the same without you here watching me.† â€Å"There were times I didn't watch you play.† I put my hands on his shoulders. â€Å"Even when I lived here.† He shakes his head and wisps of his blonde hair fall across his forehead. â€Å"That's not true. You never missed one.† I think back, knowing he's right. â€Å"I don't want you to stop living your life because I'm not here anymore.† â€Å"And I don't want you to be anywhere but here.† He squeezes my hip and I instinctively jump at the tingling heat that spirals down between my legs. â€Å"What can I get you?† The waitress interrupts us. We all read off what we want, and the waitress gets particularly giggly when she writes down Micha's order, even though I'm sitting on his lap. Her name is Kenzie and I've never liked her. She used to help Stacy Harris torment this girl we went to school with, who was in a wheelchair. I casually lean back against Micha's chest, as if I'm doing it by accident. No one seems to notice except for the waitress. And Micha. His heart beat speeds up as if the nearness of my body is driving him mad. She frowns and tucks the order book into her apron. â€Å"I'll be right back with your drinks.† I wait for Micha to call me out, but he stays quiet and keeps his hands on the tops of my bare thighs. I know it's wrong and that he's not mine. I made that clear the day I bailed, but I can't seem to help myself. Ever since we were kids, I always felt the need to keep him away from girls who aren't good enough for him. Old habits die hard. Micha Ethan is looking at me like I'm an idiot. Probably because I'm smiling like an idiot, but I can't help myself. Ella got territorial with the waitress. She's never done that before, not even before she left. â€Å"This band's interesting,† Lila hollers over the banjo band playing up on stage. â€Å"Is this the kind of music you play?† Ethan, Renee, and I burst out laughing. Even Ella covers her mouth, trying really hard not to laugh. â€Å"No sweetie, this isn't what I play.† I gulp my coffee. â€Å"Mines more†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hot and sexy,† Ella says and I stare at her. She ignores my gaze and adds, â€Å"Think more along the lines of Spill Canvas.† Lila brushes some crumbs off the table. â€Å"That band you're always listening to when you're studying?† Ella nods, but shifts awkwardly. â€Å"That's the one.† It makes me feel better that she still listens to the same music. At least that hasn't changed. I keep one hand on her leg, afraid if I release her completely, she'll run off again. I steal another scone from the basket and pop it into my mouth. Lila starts chatting with Ethan and Renee gets on her cellphone. I sweep Ella's hair to the side and put my lips to her ear. â€Å"So you think I'm hot and sexy, huh?† She bites back a smile, pretending to be deeply immersed in the banjo song. â€Å"No, I said your music is hot and sexy.† â€Å"It's all the same.† I dare a kiss against her shoulder, relishing the softness of her skin, wanting her so God damn bad I'm getting a hard on just thinking about it. Ella notices it too and squirms around in my lap, making it worse. â€Å"Down boy,† she jokes with a nervous laugh, then presses her lips together and starts to stand up. I trap her down by the hips and conform her backside onto my lap. We fit together so perfectly it's mind blowing and all those feelings I felt for her before she left come rushing back to me. I need more of her. Now. Oblivious to everyone around us, my hands gradually slide up her thighs. â€Å"Micha.† She protests with a quiver in her voice. â€Å"Don't. There are people†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I silence her as my fingers brush the edges of her skirt. I can't stop – I've been carrying this sexual tension for ages. I started having these feelings for her when we were about sixteen. I ignored them for as long as possible, because I knew she'd freak if she found out. There were a few stolen kisses that I played off, but the night on the bridge, when I finally put it out there, changed everything. She freaked out just like I thought. Right after she left, I slept around, trying to get rid of the hunger inside of me, but after a while, I realized there was no point. Ella had taken something from me and there was no getting it back, unless I had her. So I let my hands sneak up the edge of her skirt and her fingers knead into my thighs. I wonder how far I should take this, since we're sitting in a booth in a crowded room, and I almost pull back, but one of her legs falls to the side, and I view it as an open invitation. â€Å"Alright, it's time for open mic.† The waitress that undressed me with her eyes speaks into the microphone on the stage. â€Å"If you already haven't signed up, you can sign up with Phil over there.† She points her finger at the owner, a middle-aged man sitting in the corner next to the speakers. â€Å"I think that's your cue.† Ella quickly gets up, thinking she's off the hook. Before I head up to the signup sheet, I spread my fingers across her lower back and whisper in her ear, â€Å"Don't think this is over because it's not.† She shivers and I strut off to the table with a satisfied smile on my face. â€Å"Well, son of a bitch,† Phil says from behind the table. He's an ex-band member of an 80's cover band and still looks like he belongs in that decade with his mullet and neon clothes. â€Å"Look what the dog dragged in.† â€Å"Miss me that bad, huh?† I jot down my name on the signup sheet. â€Å"Are you kidding me?† he asks. â€Å"All we've had to listen to for the last few months is banjo music and a couple of hippies playing on the bongos. I swear it's like Woodstock all over again.† I laugh, dropping the pen onto the table. â€Å"Well it's nice to know I've been missed, I guess.† Phil fiddles with the volume of the amps. â€Å"More than missed. Please tell me you're going to start playing here again. I'm in desperate need of some draw-in. This place is going downhill.† I smile politely, backing toward the table. â€Å"Nah, probably not. I don't think I'm going to be sticking around here much longer. I've got places to go, people to see.† On my way back to the table, I cross paths with Naomi. She is Phil's daughter, tall, with long black hair, and she's an awesome singer. I used to play with her back before she went on the road with a band. We were actually pretty close, but I haven't talked to her since she left. â€Å"Oh my God, I'm so glad I ran into you,† she says and there's a little bit of red lipstick on her teeth. â€Å"Isn't everyone?† I tease walking backwards. She laughs and swats my arm. â€Å"I see you still have that whole cocky attitude going.† I drop the act. â€Å"So you're back in town?† â€Å"Yeah, but only for a few weeks. Can we chat up after you play? There's something I really need to talk to you about. Something huge actually.† â€Å"How'd you know I was playing?† She points a finger at the table. â€Å"I just saw you sign up.† â€Å"Alright, I'll catch up with you later.† I wave good-bye, wondering what she could possibly want. Ella Damn Micha. He's killing me with his touches and longing gazes and now he's going to sing. I've always had a soft spot for his voice. We'd sit on his bed and he'd strum his guitar while I sketched. Those were some of the perfect moments in my life. â€Å"Ella, what's the matter with you?† Lila asks with an accusation. â€Å"You look a little flushed.† I sip my latte and realign the holder in the center of the table, so I can't see my reflection in the stainless steel. â€Å"It's just a little hot in here. That's all.† â€Å"Yeah, sure it is.† She won't stop looking at me, like she's trying to crack open my head. As Micha steps onto the stage not too far from our table, my heart starts to chant unspeakable words. Sitting on a stool with his guitar on his lap he puts his lips up to the microphone, nibbling on his lip ring. â€Å"This one's called ‘What No One Ever Sees'.† He strums a chord with his eyes locked on me, â€Å"I see it in your beautiful eyes, like a spot on the sun. The things you want to hide, buried deep inside you. Blinded by your light. It almost hurts to look at, almost hurts to breathe. Never can you look at the things no one ever sees Shaded by your light. Please take me inside you, please take me in. Never will I whisper, never will I give in. Even when I'm dying, your heart will always win. Shielded to the sightless, isolated from the naive. Breaking you in pieces, that can only ever grieve. Veiled by your light. Passionate for the world, yet overlooked by most. Your soul flickers in you, desperate to shine for the world But blinded by your darkness. Please take me inside you, please take me in. Never will I whisper, never will I give in. Even when I'm dying, your heart will always win.† With one lasting note, he ends the song. The crowd applauds and my eyes dart away from his penetrating gaze, and to the door. I want to run away like the room is on fire. â€Å"Holy crap,† Lila breathes, fanning herself. â€Å"You were right. That was HOT.† â€Å"I can play the drums.† Ethan taps his fingers on the table, and makes drum noises. â€Å"And I'm pretty good.† â€Å"Don't let him fool ya.† Renee sips her coffee and a smirk curls at her lips. â€Å"He can play the drums on Rock Band and that's it.† Ethan shoots Renee a dirty look. â€Å"Would you quit it? It's not funny anymore.† Lila looks at me for an explanation. â€Å"This is how they are,† I explain with a heavy sigh. â€Å"They fight like cats and dogs.† Lila props her elbows onto the table and rests her chin on her hands. â€Å"El, doesn't your brother play drums?† â€Å"Yeah, Dean did,† I say. â€Å"A little bit, anyway.† â€Å"Now Dean's hot,† Renee remarks, aiming to get under my skin. Micha collects his guitar and clears the stage for the next singer, a girl with pink dreads who looks like she has a grudge against the world. A tall girl with long legs meets Micha at the corner of the stage. Her wavy black hair flows down her back, her grey eyes are striking, and her smile is bright. Her name is Naomi and she's the daughter of the owner of the coffeehouse, who Micha played with a few times. She says something to Micha and he laughs. A flicker of envy burns in me, but I suppress it quickly. She leads him off the stage and Micha's hand roams toward her back. He flashes me one last glance, before he ducks behind stage. I can't read him at all and that frightens me more than when I can. Lila drinks her soy latte and peeks at me over the brim of her cup. â€Å"I don't care what you say. That boy is in love with you.† I stay silent, tearing up a napkin until it's shaped like a heart. â€Å"He might be, but not the kind of love you're talking about.† â€Å"So, Ella,† Ethan interrupts and I swear he does it intentionally. If he did, I'm thankful for it. â€Å"How's the city life?† â€Å"Stupendous.† I ruffle up the napkin and toss it into the empty scone basket. â€Å"That doesn't sound very convincing.† Ethan drapes an arm on the back of Lila's chair and places his foot on his knee. â€Å"Don't you like it there?† I force myself to cheer up and sit up straight. â€Å"Actually, it's pretty nice. There's a lot to do and the school is great.† â€Å"You're acting weird.† Ethan eyes me, rubbing his chin. â€Å"Something's got you all wound up.† â€Å"I'm completely okay,† I say in denial. â€Å"Although, the excessive questions are a bit much.† Lila peers over at me as she licks froth from her lips. â€Å"He's right. You look upset or something.† She feels my forehead. â€Å"You're not getting sick, are you?† Micha returns to the table and the coffeehouse has cleared out a bit. He grabs a vacant chair, pulls it up to the table, turning it backwards, and then sits down in it. â€Å"So what are we up to for the rest of the night?† Ethan asks while Micha checks his messages on his phone. â€Å"I got to take this pretty lady over here to get her car fixed by you.† Micha nods his head at Lila. Ethan looks pleased. â€Å"Wow, I'm honored to be the one to fix it.† Micha slides his phone into his pocket. â€Å"We have to swing by Ella's house and pick it up, so meet us at the shop in like a half-an-hour.† â€Å"Absolutely.† Ethan waves the waitress over to give us the check. â€Å"What do you think?† Micha asks me. â€Å"Does it sound like a plan?† I shrug, distracted by where he went with that girl. â€Å"Yeah, sure.† Everyone takes their coffee's to-go and we head for the door. I leave mine behind, along with something else, but I'm not sure what. Perhaps a piece of my new identity. *** Micha and I don't speak the entire drive home. It freaks Lila out a little and I worry that the more time she spends here with me, the less time she's going to want to spend with me on campus. When we pull into the driveway that routes the side of my house, there is a painful reminder of another reason I didn't want to come back waiting for me near the garage. â€Å"Whose car is that?† Lila scoots forward in her seat. â€Å"It's gorgeous.† â€Å"Why is he here?† I grimace, scowling at the shiny red Porsche with Ohio license plates. â€Å"Now be nice,† Micha warns, his voice dripping with sarcasm. â€Å"He's your brother.† â€Å"But it doesn't make him less of an asshole,† I mutter. â€Å"And he swore when he left, he was never coming back here ever again.† â€Å"That's your brother's car?† Lila asks. â€Å"Good God, what does he do for living?† I press the tips of my fingers to the sides of my nose. â€Å"Who knows?† â€Å"Well, how does he afford a car like that?† she requests interestedly. â€Å"It's not his car,† I say. â€Å"It's my mothers.† Micha and I swap an oblique look, recalling the day the car mysteriously showed up in the garage. She never would tell anyone how she got it, and for a while, Dean and I expected the police to show up and arrest her for car thievery. It never happened and as time went on, it became like a game to my mother. Not just with the car, but with life. We never knew if she was telling the truth or not. After she died, Dean took the car. He acted like it was his right and maybe it was. He wasn't the one who'd snuck out of the house that night and left our mother alone. â€Å"And that gorgeous car over there is yours,† I remind Lila, diverting her attention elsewhere. â€Å"You should probably go get it fixed, before Ethan wanders off from the shop.† She slumps back in the chair. â€Å"I'd really like to meet your brother first before I go.† â€Å"I'm sure he'll still be here when you get back.† Actually I'm hoping he'll be gone. â€Å"Come on, Lila, we'll make it quick.† Micha opens the door. â€Å"We can drop it off and walk back. It isn't too far.† When I climb outside, he captures my gaze over the roof of the car. â€Å"Are you coming with us?† â€Å"I think I need to stay.† My eyes travel to the back door. â€Å"Who knows why he's here and what he'll say to dad? And I don't think dad can handle his crap.† Pressing his hands to the roof, he leans over. â€Å"But can you handle his crap?† â€Å"I'll be fine,† I assure him. â€Å"Just get her car fixed. She needs to get out before she gets sucked into this place.† â€Å"This town isn't that bad.† Micha closes the door. â€Å"You used to think the same thing.† â€Å"I also used to believe my mom would get better,† I say. â€Å"And look what a crashing disappointment that was.† From the back of the car, Lila blinks at me, stunned. â€Å"Ella, I didn't know your mom was sick.† Micha's expression is guarded. â€Å"Let's go, Lila. Ella's right, if Ethan gets too bored, he'll bail.† They head for Lila's car and I head up the driveway, wishing I could run back into Micha's arms and alleviate the hole in my chest. Micha I worry about Ella the entire drive to the shop. Dean was never a good brother and at the funeral, he blamed Ella for their mother's death. He basically tore her to shreds. Maybe it was his way of mourning, but it was still a shitty thing to do. â€Å"So what's up with Ella and her brother?† Lila asks, resting her arm on the console. â€Å"I think that's something you should probably talk to her about.† I turn the car into the parking lot of the shop. â€Å"It's not really my story to tell.† Lila unclips her seatbelt. â€Å"But Ella's never really told me much about her life. She has always been so quiet about it and I just thought it was her personality, but the way everyone talks about her around here, I don't think it is.† â€Å"She used to be pretty loud spoken.† I reach for the door, but hesitate, needing to get it off my chest. â€Å"The Ella I knew was not the prim and proper girl you've been hanging out with. She had this fire in her and she didn't put up with anyone's crap. It got her into trouble a lot, but she was also the kind of person who would take the fall, even if it wasn't her fault.† â€Å"I think I saw that part of her when we stopped at a bathroom when we first got to town,† Lila muses. â€Å"There was this guy there who was giving me crap and Ella nearly beat him up.† I try not to smile. â€Å"She did, did she?† â€Å"Is that how she was when you knew her? Like a total badass?† Lila grins and I realize she's not as bad as I originally thought. â€Å"Yeah, she was always kind of a badass.† I shove the door open and my boots scuff the gravel as I climb out. There are a few cars parked in front of the metal building and both the garage doors are open. A truck is parked inside and the owner of the shop – Ethan's dad – is working under the hood. â€Å"So what do you do?† Lila asks as we head to the entrance. â€Å"A little of this,† I joke. â€Å"And a little of that.† â€Å"So it's a secret.† She picks up on my vibe. I swing the chain attached to my jeans. â€Å"For now, it kind of is.† â€Å"Gotcha.† She doesn't press and I like her even more. Ethan is waiting for us in the lobby, slouched back in a chair with his shoes kicked up on the counter and his head slanted back. â€Å"It's about damn time. I was about ready to leave.† Lila starts to giggle as she takes out her phone from her purse. â€Å"You guys weren't lying.† Ethan lowers his feet to the floor and stands up. â€Å"What's so funny?† â€Å"Nothing.† I shrug him off, resting my arms on the counter. â€Å"Ella and I just told her that if we didn't hurry up you'd get bored and leave.† â€Å"So you were talking about me behind my back.† He walks around the counter by Lila. â€Å"You got the keys or did you leave them in?† I toss him the keys and he catches them. â€Å"Where's Ella?† â€Å"Her brother showed up,† I explain. â€Å"She's back at her house.† Ethan's eyebrows shoot upward. â€Å"And you left her there alone with him?† â€Å"Only to drop this off,† I say. â€Å"Lila and I are going to walk back.† Lila glances back and forth between Ethan and me. â€Å"Is something wrong with Ella's brother?† â€Å"She'll be fine.† I lean against the glass door with my arms folded and check my watch. â€Å"But we should get back.† â€Å"I think I should stay here,† Lila says, frowning at her phone. â€Å"Are you sure?† I ask. â€Å"Ethan will take good care of it.† She looks upset as she tosses the phone into her purse. â€Å"Yeah, I need to make sure everything's taken care of properly.† â€Å"Alright, can you find your way back to the house?† I nudge the door open. â€Å"I'll make sure she gets there,† Ethan offers with a shrug. Lila adjusts her purse on her shoulder and gives him a small smile. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"Alright, if it's okay with the both of you, then I guess I'll see you later.† I hike across the parking lot, toward the street. It's getting late, and the odds of Lila's car being fixed by the end of the day are pretty fucking low. I take out my cell phone and text Ella. Me: Just wantin to make sure ur ok? I walk down the sidewalk fenced by houses and dried out lawns. There is a drug exchange going on at the corner between a group of kids that still look young enough to be in high school. This side of town is pretty crappy, which I'm okay with now, but when Ella and I were kids, it was harder to deal with. Ella was always so curious about stuff. There were many times we got chased down for sticking our noses where they didn't belong and I got my ass kicked defending Ella quite a few times. But I'd do it again in a heartbeat because when it all comes down to it, it's just me and her against the world. Always has been. My phone buzzes inside my pocket and I check the message, surprised to see Ella's name on the screen. Ella: No, I don't think I am. Without a second thought, I run as fast as I can toward her house.

Pierre Frankel in Moscow: Unfreezing Change Essay

The case describes the conundrum of Pierre Frankel, a devoted employee of H-IT which is a global IT company. He was sent to the Russian subsidiary of H-IT in Moscow, to improve the subsidiary’s performance and increase profitability. The environment that greeted Pierre on reaching the Moscow office is not at all welcoming: (i) Lebedev, who is the MD for the Russian subsidiary tried to hire a number two for himself but his move was rejected by the upper management. He knew that Pierre was the replacement and considers him a threat. (ii) The subsidiary’s 450 odd workforce considered Pierre as an outsider who is trying to bring with him a lot of structural changes and break the status quo. (iii) Many guidelines were in place, to ensure efficient functioning of the organization and were followed globally. But they were hardly ever implemented here, in the Russian subsidiary. (iv) The atmosphere that had been a result of Lebedev’s micromanagement discouraged teamwork and expression of new ideas. Not a single file could move from one desk to another without the knowledge of the MD. (v) All this can also be seen as a direct cultural implication of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, as a result of which, the â€Å"Trust, but verify† ideology had been instilled into the Russian way of thinking. Essentially, Frankel had to act as a change catalyst and unfreeze the current state of affairs at the Russian subsidiary. If he is able to change the status quo, he will be able to reveal the drawbacks of the current situation. This is necessary because if the Russians were to improve their ways, it was necessary for them to believe that change is needed. Some constructive steps that he took to learn the Russian ways were: (i) In the first few weeks, he met all the relevent leaders in the organization including the line of business leaders to learn more about the subsidiary’s operations and laying the ground work for change. (ii) He tried to get into the good books of Nadia Abramova, the head of HR and who was rumored to be very close to Lebedev. (iii) He tried to identify people who were open to learn and willing to change. (iv) He tried to hire a native Russian to assist him with his agenda for change. He was opposed by Lebedev in this endeavor but  Frankel managed to get some resumes with the help of Nadia Abramova. Suggested Solution: The priority areas identified by Frankel were: increasing business predictability, improve sales efficiency and focus on strategic internal processes. To bring about a change in the organization, he had to change the way the employees thought and worked. He had to make the work environment full of energy, collaboration and trust for each other. To bring about this, Frankel had to change himself because the Russians were not going to mould their ways at the command of an outsider. It was just how they had become culturally. To do this, Frankel was correct in looking to hire a Russian guy who could help him connect with the other employees better. He should then try and communicate with Lebedev with a clear-cut agenda and get him on board. Lebedev’s change of outlook is key if productivity is to be increased at H-IT’s Russian subsidiary, otherwise, his services can be done away with. However great his connections may be and however good his communication skills may be, if his management style is proving detrimental to the company, he is no good.

Document Analysis of John Brown’s Address to the Virginia Court Essay

The address given by John Brown to the Virginia court was his final words before execution on charges of treason. The charges were given because of a raid that he directed with the intent to take federal weapons which is an act of treason. On October 16th-18th, 1859, the radical abolitionist John Brown led a group of white and black men, including two of his sons, on Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Brown’s goal was to seize the federal arsenal, arm the local slaves, and fight a way into the North as described in this primary source in court. This raid was not surprising because of his abolitionist background and insanity as described by the Robert E. Lee who led the Union Army that suppressed the revolt. The group held up in a fire department and was attacked by Lee’s soldiers. The failed attempt resulted in Brown’s capture, trial, and execution on December 2nd. This episode of slave resistance was the last major rebellion contributing to the secession of the South and, eventually, the Civil War. Purpose: John Brown had a a few purpose for delivering this address. Obviously, it was given in response to charges accumulated from the raid, and the address also makes several points explaining his defense. Brown stated that he did not intend to fire a single gun but wanted simply to take slaves from plantations and lead them to northern states or Canada. Brown also stated that he did not induce the others involved in the raid to join him which lessened his crime in his mind. To the charges he addressed, â€Å"I never did intend murder, or treason, or the destruction of property, or to excite or incite slaves to rebellion, or to make insurrection. Though he denied the charges, one can infer that Brown really did want a slave uprising to occur in the South due to his strong abolitionist morals and beliefs. If the raid were to be successful, Brown would not stop with those slaves, but rather continue his forced manumission of the South. Brown’s impression of the trial was one of satisfaction, but he argued that â€Å"it is unjust that I should suffer such a penalty [of death]. † He made this argument because his intent was not to start this uprising but, instead, to be an act of defiance that he knew would indirectly cause a mass insurrection in the South. Value: John Brown’s address is not a historical landmark and was a less significant historical document that had minimal aftermath; however, it provides a specific example of responses in court giving insight into how acts of slave resistance are dealt with legally. Brown gives this document a unique texture because of his eloquence in court compared with his savagery in the raid. Overall, he is given the status of a martyr with his words: â€Å"I submit [to death]: so let it be done! † Brown reveals a very different side of his personality in which he is a dignified martyr. He predicts that slavery will never end peacefully in the country whose â€Å"rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments†. Historians can use this document today to show people strong in their beliefs who act upon them, and although some failed in their efforts, their cause was strengthened. Limitations: The address made by John Brown contains several limitations that affect its credit as a historical source. A significant limiting factor is that there is only one opinion to explain the raid. Brown had a biased opinion mainly because of his childhood having been greatly influenced with abolitionist morals and beliefs. One would think that Brown’s address would be biased in spite of his numerous accusations, but he speaks as if he had nothing to lose. The aiding and abetting criminals in the raid would not have delivered a speech as dignified and passionate as Brown’s but would obviously be similar in their renditions of the event. To fully understand Brown’s raid, historians would need to consult Robert E. Lee’s notes. After viewing both sides of the story, a historian can either choose a side or make an inference that incorporates both.

Islam Compared to the Orthodox Church Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islam Compared to the Orthodox Church - Essay Example The essay "Islam Compared to the Orthodox Church" talks about the two religions - Islam and Orthodox comparing their beliefs and origin. The history of Islam includes Prophet Muhammad striving for a society in which the Arabs, who were a divided nation who indulged in several vices, to be united into one nation. And that was his mission and he is the role model and founder of Islam, creating unity and the belief in a dole God and the establishment of laws according to this belief. This movement has led to a vast fraternity over the years, to become a Muslim brotherhood. He also believed that morals and values should be simple and everyone should be able to follow them and this made life easier for the Arabs to accept this new religion. The Muslims were to believe in something credible and it was easy to accept his religion. On the other hand, the Orthodox Christians had to believe in a miracle, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ who was the son of God, which was beyond the limitations of the human mind. It is his belief that wine becomes Divine Blood as you consume it even in Church and bread is the ‘Lord’s Risen Body.’ There is no such aspect in Islam to believe in the miraculous aspect of this, even though there have been many miracles in Islam as well. There is no aspect of veneration even though there are saints that are heard of in Islam as well, but not as commonly in Christianity. Holy Prophet simply conveyed God’s message to the Muslims and they had to commit to him and follow him.

Who do they say you are Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Who do they say you are - Essay Example All of us dream of becoming something great in future. We all have our own resolutions, and we all have something to achieve. It is a common misapprehension that dreams are hard to achieve. A lot of people give up on their dreams even before trying. I used to have the same assumption when I was a child. But, now I feel the exact opposite. We should remember that each and every thing is possible as long as we believe. It is important to understand that dreams should always be kept alive. Transforming our dreams into realities is solely dependent on us. We are the ones in control of our dreams, our lives and we are the ones who can turn our dreams into a fabulous reality. What is required is faith and determination. A person can overcome all hurdles in life if he believes in himself, has faith and is determined and dedicated. I believe there is a difference in dreams and goals. A dream is a fantasy; it’s a flight out of imagination. A fantasy, on the other hand, is accompanied by a plan on how you intend to achieve what you dreamt of. A person with a dream would state, â€Å"Someday, I will be a topper in my field of work.† A person with a goal would instead state â€Å"Someday, I will be a topper in my field of work. I will achieve this by perseverance, and by being dedicated and determined in my efforts consistently. â€Å" There are some dreams, or rather goals, which are very close to my heart. Learning English language and being good at expressing me in English is one. I have promised myself to work relentlessly to achieve this. Another goal is to complete my studies thereby gaining wisdom. I want to prove myself in my field of work. A life is spent worthwhile if we spend it trying to reach our hopes. This makes us a better human being. But, the dream which holds the most importance for me is to join medical mission trips to poor countries in the world once I graduate form nursing. Previously, when I

Work based project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Work based project - Essay Example The teacher who keeps an open mind also gains a lot of learning observing how his students derive answers from their discovery process, sometimes, differently from how he did it. This dynamic is likewise possible for two teachers sharing a mentoring relationship.. A collaborative learning effort usually transpires in a mentoring relationship. A mentor and sound off some ideas and a mentee can take them up and dig deeper to unveil a phenomenon. The mentor, likewise does his research to be able to support the efforts of the student. A healthy teaching-learning environment prevails in such a productive collaboration. This report will chronicle a mentoring relationship between a veteran teacher and an on-the job novice teacher who is taking up further studies in education to equip her with more professional skills in her chosen career. It will follow the progress of the novice teacher’s growth within a span of a semester. Her mentor will ably guide her in the requirements of her studies in graduate school as well as in her teaching practice with toddlers. I have had the opportunity of interviewing both mentor, Anna and mentee, Ruth. Their mentoring relationship has been ongoing for several months now, as Ruth is Anna’s teacher assistant in her toddlers’ class. Ruth also has the privilege of having Anna help her out in her graduate school requirements as she provides the connections between theory and practice, and points out specific examples from their own class. Anna is a veteran educator, with her experience spanning over two decades. She has worked with preschool children and their families from the time she graduated from college. She has established her own preschool that has been running for eighteen years now. Due to heavy enrolment, she has also taken some classes to handle herself. On top of

Monetary Policy in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Monetary Policy in the United States - Essay Example 2. As a central agency the FED can seriously affect the manner in which it can affect the banking system. Firstly, it monitors the sale of different government instruments. In this manner it affects the rate of interest in the market and ensures the growth in credit and money supply. Secondly, it also fixes the manner in which these instruments are purchased from the public and corporations, thereby affecting the interest rate again. Thirdly, the FED can monitor the effectively monitor the amount of lending, thereby influencing the price of the securities and bank stock. 3. Very simply put the reserve requirements are the amount of vault cash and deposits that the banks are stipulated to hold with themselves. Less money in the reserves would imply more money available - the bank will have more loan able funds at its disposal, thereby having favorable implications on the cost of transactions and the bargaining capacity of these institutions with other bodies. The changes in the reserve requirements are made rather infrequently by the government, it may even be the fact that this measure has been employed only once or twice in a decade (Jhonson 2005). The discount rate is the price the central bank, other financial banks pays while engaging themselves in money relat

Media Law Memo #2 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media Law Memo #2 - Case Study Example e petitioner held that Section 312 (a) (7) of the Communications Act of 1934 only allows the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate broadcasts for violations like the one suffered by the petitioner. In my capacity as a court clerk, I would like to appeal to you to keenly consider this case and make a wise ruling. The claims labeled on the FCC are quite complex and requires a critical thought before the final decision is made. So, in my opinion, you should affirm the case and uphold the earlier ruling. Even if the petitioner argues that the law only mandates FCC to regulate media houses for such repeated violations, it fails to acknowledge that the law grants more powers to the commission to do more than just that. I would like you to base your decision on Section 312 (a) (7) which states that any legal candidate in a federal election has an exclusive right to media broadcast while conducting campaigns. In its claim, the petitioner fails to accept that the law mandates FCC to have a direct control over such broadcasts by taking the necessary affirmative action to ensure that there is a reasonable access to the broadcast stations. The claim of violations is therefore not justified. NBC was justified for denying the candidate the required airtime because it would elicit more requests from other candidates who would have a legal right to claim for fair coverage and equality. I kindly request you to consider my opinion and deliver a landmark ruling that will that will help in providing a roadmap for the communications sector in the country. Please, consider affirming the ruling because the petitioner does not prove the necessity of reversing the earlier ruling. 312 (a) (7) clearly stipulates how reasonable access should be granted at any given time. Thanks a lot. God bless

Challenges faced by financial asset pricing models Essay

Challenges faced by financial asset pricing models - Essay Example Even then these models would serve as a better guide to the market than the lessons taught by a financial ruin. That is a strong reason for understanding the challenges faced by the financial asset pricing models, so that these models can be used with discretion to understand the market better. Seen from that angle understanding the correlation between risk and returns, by using a tool, in this case the financial asset pricing models is vital. Any pricing errors would affect the valuation models, jeopardize value judgments and therefore give rise to incorrect risk assessment. The challenges faced by the asset pricing models are on the rise due to the intermingling of economies due to globalization. Along with the increase in challenges the number of critics also increases. These pressures and requirements in turn give rise to new models of financial asset pricing. However the scope of this essay is limited to the empirical challenges faced by financial asset pricing models. To make a base for this study I start with comparing and contrasting different financial disasters that made headlines in the past with the more recent ones. In the past all the noted failures were either due to lack of analytical capacity, absence of systems, error in using models or failure to appreciate risks. The inadequate appreciation of yield curves resulted in S&L bailout. Askin Capital management fiasco was as a result of inadequate analytics and Kidder Peaboy tragedy occurred due to the imperfect management risks. In contrast to this is the more recent failures where even the financial entities known for their efficiencies were dragged to take knee jerk reactions to address huge market dislocations like Russia's default and a collapse in liquidity. The problem solving capacity of an investor has increased manifold through the years. Powerful machines today help investors solve problems, which were considered beyond scope, just a few years ago. The right kind of codes put together (software) by a programmer can have a path breaking consequence on the computational capability of an investor. Side by side with this technological breakthrough, there is also a reduction in cost of computation and emergence of better financial theories. Today's investors are much more aware of the market conditions and have a greater capacity to analyze and take logical decisions about investments due to the availability of different computation methods and real time accessibility to information. But paradoxically usage of these refined method for investment have made the markets more risk prone due to the intermingling of the market in a globalized economy. A direct consequence of this is the rise of common risks. Traditionally investors used to div ersify their portfolio in an attempt to beat an existing market risk and they were successful in this due to the difference in risk associated with different securities. But now with the increase in awareness about the different tools with which they can make decisions there is a commonality of reaction to a crisis resulting in potential catastrophes. At the time of a crisis the investors try and reduce risk by selling their illiquid positions. But since by now the demand for it would go down due o the similar stance all over by the investors, they try to sell their liquid positions no matter which market they are in. Due to this massive movement the market gets

Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Identity - Essay Example In this variegated world the human beings simply could not avoid the unavoidable and intimate process of socialization that gives way to what is called the individual and collective identity. Thereby, the individual identity is not merely the product of one’s specific self concept, but is rather a concept that is shaped and formed by an array of forces that tend to be economic, legal, social and many a times historical in their ramifications, which scratch and etch the human consciousness and continue to shape, control and define the entity that is called identity. Identity is a notion that happens to be multi-faceted, open and perpetually evolving in its content and scope. As far as I could peek into my childhood days, I could distinctly notice the fact that during the nascent stages of the human life, the development of the individual identity is governed a lot by what an individual thinks about oneself. When I was an infant, my parents where the only outside force that to a large extent shaped my identity (Gielen & Roopnarine 213). The very helplessness and dependence of my child hood state saved me from an early exposure to the multifarious social forces that I had to deal with at a more mature stage. My home and family was the cocoon that not only allowed me to shape my identity in a relatively benign and loving environment, but also protected me from more potent and political outside influences. I was totally oblivious of the fact that in the times to come, forces like ethnicity and color will pervade my inner world and shape my identity in varied ways and forms. Hence, the only god that governed the shaping of my identity was I and my parents. Thereby, I am happy to say that I had quite a happy childhood and this allowed me to develop a positive self concept of myself that shaped an identity that was open, gregarious, happy and confident. The positive reinforcements from my family further ossified this sense of invulnerability and mirth. However, this identity related complacence was not to last forever. As I grew up and my sense of self evolved, I realized that my parents and my family were not only a source love and affection, but also happened to be social individuals who belonged to a specific class, race, ethnicity and culture. It is not that my parents predominantly tried to introduce me to these sometimes hard to acknowledge, but valid facts, but I gradually picked up these facts about my family and hence about myself through eavesdropping into their unsuspecting daily interactions. These socio-economic attributes assigned to my family gradually began to become a part of my identity. Hence, I got a very basic idea of the society and my place in it through this primary socialization with my family (Gielen & Roopnarine 63). Thereby, I could certainly say that my family circumstances largely selected my mother tongue, religion, social class and nationality. It will be true to say that I had a very basic idea about my ide ntity as I entered the mature world. Yet, I was curious to not only test the validity of these identity attributes I inherited, but to practically see as to where I stood in the outside world. In that context I could distinctly identify my young adulthood period

Financial Reporting Appraisal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Financial Reporting Appraisal - Essay Example Many authors have dealt with the issue of clarity and understand ability of the annual reports (Lee and Tweedie, 1975; Smith, 1992; Keane, 1977). In fact many authors emphasised the fact that shareholders tend to read the narrative part of the annual report which normally includes good news, rather than reading statutory part and usually investors make their investment decisions depending on those good news (Tauringana and Chong, 2004; Smith and Taffler, 1992). However In order to make an informed investment decision, an investor who is contemplating investment needs to understand both the potential rewards and the associated risks (IOSCO, 1995). The main aim of this report is to summarise what has been proposed so far about improvement in effectiveness of annual reports in shape of 11 models discussed in ICAEW report. A judgement criterion has also been prepared according to which the annual reports of three company Johnson Matthey plc, Smith and Nephew plc and Smiths Group plc will be analysed. An award will be granted to the Company, which has adopted most of these models in order to improve business reporting and serving the needs of the users. Problems addressed: With the changing business methods and environment the values playing important part in business has also changed. The label of assets has transformed from tangible to intangible assets. In this scenario it is become difficult for the users to analyse the future performance of the company. The companies mostly practise the old traditional accounting techniques according to which intangible assets such as knowledge brand etc are not included in the financial statements as assets. Although in today's business scenario it is important for the users to have complete knowledge of these intangible assets in order to undertake their decisions accordingly. Solution provided: The authors of the model proposed that in order to help the investors and users to evaluate the value of the company the information provided needs to be more transparent regarding the intangible assets as compare to the past. The model suggest that all the tangible and intangible assets need to be continuously, means used to their fair values and should be reported in order to provide the clear and transparent information. The model gives three dimensions to the information 1) Assets and their configuration represented by company. 2) Information on assets relating to external environment management process and value. 3) Time. The model suggests the businesses to reveal information about their mission, strategy, and business process and risk management. The model can best serve the purpose of today's users since it provides information in many segments, which can help the user to find out the information, related to him. The model is the best way to respond to the needs of openers and transparency, which will be the most attractive value generating forces in the future. Criterion no. 2: Hermes Principle: (ICAEW, p. 65) Problems

Henry David Thoreau Essay Example for Free

Henry David Thoreau Essay Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) was an American writer and philosopher famous for his naturalistic and anarchical ideas as well as his adherence to the movement of transcendentalism. Thoreau was a vegetarian, actively stood against slavery and war, and was one of the first who supported Darwin’s theory of evolution. Among his many works, the best known are his essay, Civil Disobedience, a proclamation against injustice and an urge for individual opposition to civil government, and the book ‘Walden’, where Thoreau’s reflects his personal experience of living simple life in natural environment. Although these works, like many others of Thoreau, are considered ‘transcendental’ and had been published ages ago, the ideas and concepts they contain may still at some point be related to the issues we may face while living in the 21st century. In general, the core of transcendental beliefs is a faith into a perfect spiritual state of mind that transcends both empirical and physical. It can only be realized through the person’s intuition, not through the doctrines of any existing religions. Therefore, it is rather a philosophy then a religion. The transcendentalism was grounded on principles that are ‘transcendental’, i. e.  based not upon sensual experiences but upon inner feelings and empirical, spiritual essence of a human. (En. wikipedia. org) American transcendentalism was mainly dominating in the first half of the 19th century, encouraging to abandon our mundane world, establish close relationship between human and nature, and to concentrate on ideal existence through spiritual abundance and self-reliance. Henry David Thoreau was admitted as a co-founder of this movement not only for his great thoughts on transcendentalism, but also for his empirical ideas and personal practice of his beliefs, which was greatly illustrated in his most famous book, ‘Walden’. The book firstly released as ‘Walden, or Life in the Woods’ (1854) was later widely recognized as one of the best non-fictional works of American authors. Living amidst woodland that belonged to R. W. Emerson, his friend and another founder of transcendentalism, near Concord, Massachusetts, in the small unpretentious self-built cabin, Thoreau mainly aimed to isolation from society for its better, more objective understanding. He stayed there alone for almost two years but kept receiving and returning visits. For example, he often went to Emerson’s hÐ ¾use for meÐ °l and conversÐ °tion. Moreover, as he indicates in the book, the cabin was located ‘at the edge of town’, not in the wilderness, even not far away from his family home. Therefore, he focuses reader’s attention on the importance of human’s closeness to the nature, self-reliance and meditation. The book combines Thoreau’s autobiography with a criticism of society, namely American consumerism, materialism, and nature destruction, the issues still common in our century as well. Such experiment of cut-off living was made by Thoreau for special purposes. First, he tried to escape the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution through keeping agrarian lifestyle. Interesting fact, the experiment was of a temporary character, and in the book Thoreau strongly advises his readers to avoid repeating it. Thus, anyone who studies Thoreau’s works has to keep in mind that at some degree they should be approached philosophically rather than understood literally. Second, the writer wanted to practically experience the main transcendental belief that every individual can transcend from normal to divine by means of nature itself. Like other members of the movement, in the ‘Walden’ Thoreau, for example, speaks about Vedic concepts to illustrate his vision of the nature. â€Å"I lay down the book and go to my well for water, and lo! There I meet the servant of Brahmin, priest of Brahma, and Vishnu, and Indra, who still sits in his temple of the Ganges reading the Vedas, or dwells at the root of a tree with his crust and water-jug. I meet his servant come to draw water for his master, and our buckets as it were grate together in the same well. The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges. (Thoreau 221) At some point, Thoreau’s attempts to promote the ideals of transcendentalism may seem to be impractical and rather inapplicable. In fact, after an in-depth analysis, Thoreau’s ideals may even look infeasible, namely his appeals to ascetic way of living and refusal of common human needs. In the scope of critical thinking, impossibility to follow the idea of living without any blessings of civilization is rather obvious. The average American who lives in the 21st century can hardly imagine him- or herself without Internet connection, using cell-phones, driving cars, or going to supermarkets. Nevertheless, it is possible at certain degree. Moreover, due to global ecology problems, it even may become necessary for each of us to refuse some advantages of our daily welfare for the great purpose of saving the world from environmental catastrophe. For this reason ‘Walden’, as well as many other Thoreau’s works, is frequently quoted by specialists who work in various fields and are concerned with the environmental problems of the Earth in general and in the USA in particular. While the whole issue of bad ecology becomes more and more crucial, Thoreau’s idea of simple life in the forest turns out to be not as unsuitable as it seemed at first glance. It is important to mention that Thoreau’s works on natural history is a great anticipation of findings and methods in the fields of ecology and the history of environment, which later became main sources of nowadays movement of environmentalism. In the book ‘Earth Rising: American Environmentalism in the 21st Century’ we read that â€Å"some 150 years ago, transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, sitting in his tiny cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, was already mourning the loss of the wilderness and the debilitating effect of industrialism on the human spirit†. (Shabecoff 16) Thoreau significant influence onto the entire concept of nature preservation and conservation is unquestionable. â€Å"In the United States†¦ the movement expanded in the 1800s, out of concerns for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such as John Muir and Henry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions. Thoreau was interested in people’s relationship with nature and studied this by living close to nature in a simple life. He published his experiences in the book ‘Walden’, which argues that people should become intimately close with nature. The conservationist principles as well as the belief in an inherent right of nature were to become the bedrock of modern environmentalism†. The conservation movement is a political, social and scientific movement that aims to protect natural resources, including plant and animal species as well as their habitat for the future. Chiefly in the United States, conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism in that it seeks to preserve natural resources expressly for their continued sustainable use by humans. In other parts of the world conservation is used more broadly to include the setting aside of natural areas and the active protection of wildlife for their inherent value. (En. wikipedia. org) Because of Thoreau and his associates humanity became truly concerned about the nature, the world we live in. He can definitely be called a pioneer ecologist. Numerous contemporary movements and organizations prove the actuality of environment problem and therefore significance of all Thoreau’s works related to nature preservation. For example, his vision of the environmental issues in the 19th century became a ground for the book ‘From Walden to Wall Street: Frontiers of Conservation Finance’ written in the current times. â€Å"Why do we invest in conservation? Why do human beings invest their time, energy and financial resources in protection of land, plants, and animals? We invest in conservation because it is an expression of our faith in the future. Conservation investment is an expression of our faith in the future of natural systems that are essential to life on Earth. It is an expression of our faith in the future of deeply loved natural wonders. And it is an expression of faith in the future of our families and communities whose lives will be immeasurably enriched by the living world that we are striving to sustain†. (Levitt 3) Here is one more evidence on how outstanding were the Thoreau’s works and what a great impact they made and still do. In ‘Walden’ he included a famous aphorism that â€Å"in wilderness is the preservation of the world†. Thoreau kindled the Wilderness Religion that found fertile ground in America and provided a spiritual basis for conservation. In ‘The Main Woods’ (1864) Thoreau called for the establishment of national forest preserves, helping to set the stage for the National Park movement. (Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature 6) Despite of the fact that Walden is considered by some critics a failed experiment, the issues raised in the book are still of current importance. As 21st-century people, for instance, we suffer of consumerism and globalization, with their negative ethical aspects. Thoreau’s prophetic awareness of them is amazing, they are as relevant now, as they used to be in his century. He rejects consumerism, its adverse effect on society with its status stratification, and still teaches us lessons vital for our survival and progress. Another kind of ideas Thoreau often promoted in his works are related to anarchism and civil disobedience. Thus, let us shift our attention to this theme of Thoreau’s writings and discuss how those fit in the American viewpoint of the 21st century. In his disobedience to the American low of his times he was as prominent as in his attempts to bring humanity closer to the nature. He certainly was a key figure in the American radicalism. Disobedience was the main point in his endeavors to justifÃ'Æ' morÐ °l anÐ °rchism and to encourage each individual to act on the basis of their personal judgments, their personal opinion about the very justice rather than civil regulations. Unfortunately, Thoreau offers nothing instead and relies of his personal sÐ µnse of justice, which is univÐ µrsal. Here is the historical background of the essay. â€Å"’Civil Disobedience’ is an analysis of the individual’s relationship to the state that focuses on why men obey governmental law even when they believe it to be unjust. But ‘Civil Disobedience’ is not an essay of abstract theory. It is Thoreau’s extremely personal response to being imprisoned for breaking the law. † Because he opposed slavery and because tax revenues contributed to the support of it, Thoreau decided to become a tax rebel. He was arrested and imprisoned. It was short as a one night but has had enduring effect through the writing of ‘Civil Disobedience’ which has exerted its powerful force over time. (McElroy 2) In accordance with Thoreau’s ideals, the government of his days was far from perfection due to Mexican-American war and slavery expanded in the US. Therefore, the essay was written as anti-slavery and anti-war protest soon after the war’s beginning. Thoreau later wrote about governmental justice. â€Å"If it is of such a nature that requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop he machine†¦ Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison†. (Thoreau 259) In the essay the author urges American citizens to show their disagreement to government by passive disobedience without acts of violence. Such form of protest was later used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King who initiated movements for social changes. Thoreau was emphasizing the importance of acting upon the person’s ethical and moral beliefs. According to Thoreau, â€Å"unjust law exists: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? † This urge to disobedience is in tune with the message of ‘Walden’. Those who are not satisfied with the society should not obey its norms, and neither wait until the norms are changed, nor until the majority joins them, but live according to their own believes. Personal values should be compared to the ones of the contemporary society, and unless they comply, stick the voice of conscience. Thoreau also said that â€Å"it costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the state, than it would to obey. I should feel as if I were worth less in that case. † (Thoreau 258) In fact, many of the issues pinpointed by Thoreau 150 years ago have not yet been overcome by the American society, and that strikes the most. He hated its slavish materialism as well as commercialism and believed that â€Å"the state should never rank above the individual conscience or the business of living. But if the state demands a person’s first allegiance by asking him to violate his conscience and participate in an injustice, the person should disobey – not through violence but by removing his cooperation. † (McElroy 3) Thoreau foresaw many issues typical to the modern American society. Over 150 years ago he predicted the crisis, spiritual and moral, that now corrodes it. The writer still begs us to slow down our hectic lives, to review our values, and to live in harmony with our consciences. He repeatedly talks about the possibility to establish a society where the justice is appreciated and the beauty of the nature is preserved.

Expansion Strategy of Honda

Expansion Strategy of Honda 1.0 Introduction Honda was started by Soichiro Honda in the 40s after receiving his first contract with Toyota in manufacturing piston ring. Since in school, Soichiro Honda started developing piston ring in order to get a contract with Toyota. His determination had bring Honda into todays success, Fail for so many times, Soichiro Honda never give up and continue his dream and successfully get the contract with Toyota. Honda Motor Company produces not only cars as known generally but also produces track, motorbike, watercraft and those gasoline engines. Instead, Honda is the world largest engine manufacturer (Ronnie, 2009) Started in Japan, Honda expand into many other country using different kind of entry mode includes Foreign Direct investment, exporting, alliances and joint ventures. At first, around 1970s Honda enter into USA market by exporting the N600 which say to be the fastest at that time. In 1976, Honda continues expanding in USA by building car plant is Accord plant in Marysville. Today, Honda has total of three plant in Ohio where the other two is located at Alabama and South Carolina. (Ronnie, 2009) Honda is a successful automobile which is manufacturers lawnmowers, power equipment, motorcycles, and generators. Therefore, Honda has opened its doors to the franchising market. After Honda was franchising it market, Honda was continuous successful in automobile industry. With an establishing brand name of Honda, the franchisees can get the recognition from the customers. They can easily to the franchisees to start doing their business. The Honda franchisees are required to pay Honda franchise at least $250,000. As a return, Honda franchisees are able to list everything you need and want from the franchise deal before you sign the agreement. In addition, Honda franchise also has taken good care to the franchisees. They have provides 2 week training course for new franchise owners. This can able the new franchisees to learn how to operate the businesses. Besides that, Honda Franchise also has give the ongoing support for the franchise through internet and online support, regular visits, newsletters and meetings and so on. The Honda Franchisees can apply their owns concept to the business, but they need to discuss with the Honda franchise first before apply it. In 2010, Harley-Davidson and American Honda Motor Company were announced to be merger as one which is known as Honda-Davidson Motor Company. The merger happened when the American Honda Motor Company was completed purchase of 51% of Harley-Davidson stock. With the merger, Honda-Davidson Motor Company was promised to provide the most comprehensive line of Motorcycles to the customers. The combination of both companies will continue to providing the world with the highest quality motorcycles. Besides that, the new company also exploring the opportunities to provide additional models that combines the best of both former companies. Honda -Nowadays, Davidson Motor Company is the only major U.S.- based motorcycle manufacturer, produces heavyweight motorcycles and a complete line of motorcycles parts, accessories and general merchandise in united state. 2.0 Current Expansion Strategy Expansion strategy may here be referred to market entry strategy which is commonly used by companies to venture and expand their businesses to other country. Before penetrating to other countries market, companies must make sure that they have sufficient financial resources and the nature of the products or services must fit into culture group of that particular country. Having ranked for 3rd largest Japanese automobiles, Honda is able to expand it businesses across Asian countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, China, India and Indonesia.(How To Enter China, 2000) Knowing the importance of international trade, different entry mode strategies have been adopted by Honda in respond to different countries. In Malaysia, Honda has a joint venture company named Boon Siew Honda Sdn Bhd which formed 50/50 between Honda Motor Co. Ltd and Oriental Holdings Bhd. (Boon Siew Honda profile,2012) The joint venture agreement was formed in 2008 which means that Honda has expanded its businesses in Malaysia through joint venture. Aside of Boon Siew Honda Sdn Bhd which solely trades on motorcycles, Honda has expanded its automotive business through joint venture strategy. Currently, Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a joint venture company formed by DRB-HICOM Bhd, Honda Motor Co. Ltd and Oriental Holdings Bhd. ( Honda Malaysia profile,2012) The main reason Honda to use joint venture strategy to expand its businesses in Malaysia is to diversify the business risks. Having said that, using joint venture strategy as an expansion strategy can reduce the risk of by forming coalition with other companies in host country. Besides that, Honda has also expanded its realm using foreign direct investment in Taiwan. A plant was built by Honda in Taiwan in 1961 prior to produce cars and has made Taiwan to become major producers of motorcycle for Honda. (How To Enter China, 2000) This allows the company to export most of the motorcycles to other countries such as China, Europe and Middle East. The main reason Honda to build its manufacturing plant in Taiwan is to reduce exports of motorcycles from Japan. Foreign direct investment has also benefited Honda in a sense that the company can have better control over the plant in Taiwan at the same time achieved economies of scale. In Thailand, Honda practiced foreign direct investment which has formed Asia Honda Motor Co. Ltd in 1964. (How To Enter China, 2000) The plant set up in Ayutthaya, Thailand aimed to produce motorcycles and export to Asian countries. In addition, Thailands plant has more production capacity which has contributed to major exports across Asia. Particularly in Thailand, Honda has obtained a market share more than 60%. This is because the Honda brand recognition in host country is high and this has led to local support for Honda. In China, the entry strategy proposed by Honda is somewhat unfamiliar to other countries. Honda has used equity joint venture strategy which has formed 2 joint venture companies named GuangZhou Honda Automobile Co. Ltd and Dongfeng Honda Engine Co. Ltd respectively. (How To Enter China, 2000) In the meantime, Honda has 50% of stake in each of these joint venture companies which has allowed Honda to have partial control over these two companies. In recent years, sales of Honda cars in China were terribly declined by 5 % compared to the time the company first entered China. The declining sale was caused by the high demand of low-cost cars produced in China. Another reason was due to the existing rivalries in China which consists of several big players such as Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes. Generally speaking, Honda is adopting low-risk expansion strategies in the first place to evaluate market respond of a particular country. After building up the brand recognition, the company will decide whether to expand further in that particular country. This can be seen when Honda formed a joint venture company in Malaysia to market its motorcycles to Malaysian. After assessing the profitability of the products, Honda started to sell luxury cars such as Honda City and Honda Civic. This could have helped Honda to reduce the risk of losing everything proposing a joint venture strategy in the first place. Foreign direct investment is used by Honda in Taiwan and Vietnam to increase the production of motorcycles and motorcars to increase exports. At the same time, increased production will help Honda to fulfill the demands of other importing countries. 3.0 Future Expansion Strategy As mention in the previous part of the assignment we can see Honda with extraordinary expansion strategy has allowed the company group to triumph in the highly competitive world market especially against domestic competitor. These expansion strategy though practical and effective are in some way lack of aggressive to compete with other automobile MNC (multinational corporation). Since Honda is originated from Japan we decided to compare Honda with its domestic competitor such as Nissan and Toyota. For decades Honda has been compete with Nissan and Toyota domestically and abroad, however till this day Honda still maintain the position of Number 3 right after Toyota the first and Nissan, second. This comparison allowing us to realize that the successfulness of Honda is still in behind this two multinational automobile giant. As such below we will provide some entry modes strategies for future expansion for Honda based on some global market that we have analyses. 3.1 South Korea: An overview Take Korea into consideration. Honda has already exporting cars to Korea for a decade and however the sales there are always below the profit margin until Honda are no longer expecting high returns on Korea market. In actual fact, not only Honda are doing unwell in S.Korea most Japanese MNC had a hard time penetrating S.Korea market due to war history between Korea and Japan to be the main reason why Korean are less relying on Japanese products. However based on our knowledge Korea is a very potential market, and Honda should use joint venture in Korea to triumph where other Japanese competitor failed. Why South Korea? There are some facts that indulge all investors in the world to invest in South Korea market. South Korea is the worlds largest democracy among the strongest emerging markets in all business field. Furthermore, it has liberalized economy with 300 million in the middle class bracket, with well matured financial and securities market and time-tested judicial systems. Apart from that, Seoul capital of South Korea is growing with enormous speed to compete with world most successful city including New York and London, financially. With the sound potential of the market, let us look at the action of the government of South Korea, firstly it is a WTO member committed to providing opportunity to the global market. The Korean Government is constantly undertaking reforms in every sector with Infrastructure Sector receiving Governments fullest attention, the S.Korea government also permits foreign investment virtually in every sector of the economy. Majority foreign equity, even up to 100 per cent in some sectors, is encouraged and special investment incentives are provided. In short South Korea is a potential Market that Honda should not overlook due to the points below, Large pool of educated land expertise of manpower in South Korea. Disposable income is continuously increasing with the economy growing at more than 8.5% p.a. Cities booming with world class integrated infrastructure. South Korea has potential to attract more than US $ 100 billion over next five years. Potential for creation of near 1 Million direct and indirect jobs each year. As for now that the certainty of South Korea was an expansion market. A suitable partner must be recognized in Korea to allow the joint venture to be successful. Our group varies in suggesting a partner but agreed that Asia motor is among the best to Joint Venture with Honda to create a Asia-Honda venture. We select Asia motor for a numerous reasons, first its engineering capability, Asia motor founded in 1965 is one of South Korea most highly reputable automobile industry focusing in medium and big sizes vehicle is the best partner for both Asia Motor and Honda to penetrate into a new market. Beside that, relevance and salience of Asia Motor brand is also one of the core reasons in selecting Asia Motor, furthermore its company distribution network as of since 1965 have been matured and controlling large traffic in sense of party needed in a successful network. Lastly the company also announces with well function internally such as low turnover rate. These points allowing us to believe that Asia-Honda ventures is going to turn out fine. As such we recommended Joint ventures in South Korea due to its potential and Honda future development. 3.2 Exporting Exporting is not a new term for Honda. In fact Honda had been an expert in exporting worldwide where any place u name it, as long as there is demand, shipment of Honda cars can directly send to your dealer or home in no time. Using exporting as main expansion strategy for Honda is a success for many decades, however they have always overlook what their competitors are doing. Toyota are using this expansion strategy as well an if Honda is an expert in exporting cars, Toyota is a grandmaster. When we suggest export as Honda future expansion strategy we realizes the fact that Honda are doing it now, good, but not good enough. In this case we suggest that Honda uses this expansion strategy, exporting in a whole new market penetration rather than the traditional car/motor vehicle market. We suggest aircraft market penetration worldwide. If we look at Honda current research on car, we will discover that Honda had a very success researched on hybrid and fuel efficient engine currently focusing on cars and motor vehicle, In fact, Honda GX NGV is termed as the cleanest car on earth as far as centralized agitation engines are concerned, apply that to an aircraft and we have a whole new level of airplane. Competition in the aircraft industries are High, dominated mostly by Boeing and follow up by airbus it will never be easy as it suggest in the report, but chances are there to expand worldwide in a whole new categories of market. Suggesting in exporting in aircraft is not bold for Honda there has been a history for Honda in aircraft development since the 80s. According to the data we acquired on the internet and book research, Honda had been study small sized business jets in the since 1980s, using engines from other manufacturers. TheÂÂ  Honda MH02ÂÂ  was fabricated and assembled at Mississippi State Universitys Raspet Flight Research Laboratory in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The MH02 was a prototype using composites with an organic matrix. Since that a prototype of Honda Jet had been on the development. The Honda Jet made its maiden flight in December 2003. It debuted to the public at theÂÂ  EAA Air Venture air showÂÂ  inÂÂ  Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July 2005. On July 25, 2006, Honda returned to Oshkosh to announce it would commercialize the Honda Jet. Honda established theÂÂ  Honda Aircraft CompanyÂÂ  to seek both type and production certification of the Honda Jet. Production is to take place in the United States. The company estimated the sales would be around 70 to 100 per annum. The certification of aircraft (FAA)ÂÂ  is expected to follow around August 2011. Delivery of the first plane is planned for the third quarter of 2012. In recent event, the Viking pioneers had been using Honda aircraft engine as their Viking aircraft engine and it had been a huge success and it is considerable that a Viking aircraft engine is the only modern and reasonably priced aircraft engine available today. Honda has reach a stagnant growth in cars and automobile manufacture worldwide. If Honda start exporting aircraft as their new expansion strategy it might became one of the competitor for Boeing and triumph in a whole new market level. 3.3 Strategic Alliance Honda should apply strategy alliance as its future expansion strategy to enter the new market. Through strategy alliance, all the automobile company can work together to achieve same goal by using the least resources as they share the resources, information, capabilities and risks to achieve it. One of the successful examples by using strategy alliance is Yahoo and Sina. They teamed up together to offer auction service in China. This partnership will leverage both companies respective users bases as Sina has 83million registered users while Yahoos expertise and technology to support the auction platform. Therefore, Honda need apply strategy alliance with others automobile company such as Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and others. Through this, Honda and others automobile company can share their technique knowledge to resolving the specific problem or avoiding the basic mistake, develop a better function of car, design of car which better than before. For examples, Honda recalling over 172,000 vehicles because of door latch issue during July, 2012. Furthermore, Honda also can use the strategy alliance to institute of technology campus or college, so that Honda might not face lack of labor force problem in future. Honda can recruit the potential student as their technician after they graduate directly. It might not let the potential technician employ by others automobile company if Honda has the opportunities to do so such as having contract to the potential students by providing scholarship to them. Besides, institute of technology campus or college can provide the specific program which require by Honda to train the student so that student is more familiar to Honda company job scope after they graduate. One of the examples is HP is partnership with UoPeople (university of the people), which provides UoPeople students the opportunity to apply for internship to work with the HP Catalyst Initiative. 4.0 Conclusion Globalization is a compulsory for every company in order to be able to stay competitive in the market. Those without it can be easily kicked out from the market. Every bank in the world is somehow connected even though they are from different company. Two different companies with different culture can merger in order to gain win-win profit. This is why globalization is important. Honda is also the same. In order to improve the Research and Development for cars in China, Honda has joint venture with GS Yuasa Formalize Li-Ion. Successful expansion had make the success of Honda today. Every country has its own culture and government rules. Different approaches might be useful to one and not to the other. hence, it is important to research on the specific country before using different expansion strategies into the country.To conclude, sometimes different cultures, different norms and different rules and regulation might result in conflict. However, foreign market is much more beneficial to invest in compare to the local market. Is tougher, and more challenger but more profitable.

Why Mrp Is Needed For A Organisation Information Technology Essay

Why Mrp Is Needed For A Organisation Information Technology Essay MRP is the acronym for Material Requirements Planning .It means planning or estimating the materials that are required to produce or devlope the end product based on the demand.It involves in production planning and inventory control system. MRP II is defined as Manufacturing Resouces Planning. Man Machinary Material are the three main resources which diminishes with the time and that are to be planned very effectively and efficently for productive outputs by any organisation or enterprise. This MRP II is the extension for MRP. To study in detail what is MRP and MRP II in Manufacturing industries and protrait its scope, advantages and its process in the industries. To identify the differences between MRP and MRP II and advantages of each modules. To identify companies that have implemeted MRP and MRP II sucessfully. How these businesses application had helped them in automating their business what are the issues that occur while implementing the MRP and MRP II To identify what type of companies and how many companies are sucessfully using these business appilcations. To identify the critical factors in the successful implementation of MRP, MRPII and ERP systems in manufacturing industries. Objectives: The objectives of the project are: To carry out a critical review of MRP, MRPII and ERP literature with a particular emphasis on the implementation of these systems. To know what are the ideal methodologies that should be followed to implement these MRP and MRP II at different enterprises. To gain the knowledge of different modules in MRP and MRP II. To study and understand how these submodules interact with each other during the business process. To gain knowledge about the other business appilications which are more in use and advantageous when compared to MRP and MRP II. Choose a suitable methodology for consulting businesses on their implementation of MRP, MRPII or ERP Obtain the views of business / company leaders on the factors influencing the successful implementation of MRP, MRPII or ERP. Consolidate practice based experience with literature based advice to create a lessons learnt list or top tips for the implementation of MRP, MRPII or ERP and the differences between these three systems. Write up dissertation. Research questions : Selecting and sucessfully Implementing a new manufacturing planning system is very important a management task in an enterprise for productive outputs and for for reaching objectives and targets of the entrprise.Some of the check list questionire that needed to be dicussed while going for implementing MRP and MRP II. What kind of Enterprise is it what are its products and Business Process. What are the reasons for selecting MRP and MRP II as a solution for their business. What are its requirements? What they are expecting form MRP and MRP II ? What level of automating they need through MRP and MRP II? What are the problems at their facility? What level of integration they are looking at ? They need lisenced Application or Free ware Application(Based on this the cost and time are estimated.) Had they ever implmented an Business Appliaction before ? What are the problems they are facing with the existing business application? How is the data and orders,information regarding different things to be maintained in the appliaction? What kind of reports and how many reports that are needed to be generated ? List Of Companies Using MRP and MRP II : Software Arts Inc. PEDYN Wrigley TOYOTA ABB IOR Shell St.Jude Medical Pall Fujji filim Wesco distribution Raymedica Global Helicopter Technology Inc. MOTOROLA Simmens HP Compaq ALTA Manufacturing EMS Symyx Material Requirements Planning -(MRP): MRP is the acronym for Material Requirements Planning .It means planning or estimating the materials that are required to produce or devlope the end product based on the demand.It involves in production planning and inventory control system. The main Idea or focus of the MRP system is to integrate all the business information systems of a ogrganization so that it would help in increase in productivity. This plays a very important role in managing manufaturing process.Joseph Orlicky made a detail study about the TOYOTA Manufacturing Program and designed Material Requirements Planning (MRP).It was sucessfully implemented intially in 150 companies, Later this number had raised to about 8,000 by 1988[2].Even very small manufacturing companies can implement this MRP Very sucessfully. MRP can be veiwed as a planning tool designed specifically to assembly operations. The main aim of MRP is to allow each manufacturing unit to forecast its supplier what parts it requires and when it requires them. The material supplier may be within the Organisation or an outside supplier. When combined with MRP II it is probably the most popularly used planning and scheduling tool.MRP was created to handle effeciently the issue dependent demand'[2]; Undersatnding or calculating how many of a particular component is required to produce the products or end goods.Advances in Information Technology and computer hardware made the calculation possible.An MRP system is designed or expected to meet three objectives: To Esitimate correctly the materials needed to produce the finished products and are delivered to the customer at right time. Maintain the lowest possible level of inventory. Plan manufacturing activities according to the demand or orders raised, delivery issues and schedules, procurement activities. The primary function of MRP system is inventory control, bill of material-B.O.M processing and elementary scheduling. MRP is mainly used to maintain low inventory level in an organisation. It is used to schedule and organize manufacturing, procurement and delivering activities.The MRP System is used beacause to maintain order entry in to a organization.Once a Order Entry is made then all other departments which are related to that order and manufacturing departments are activated and are put in to action like Inventory control,Bill of Materials(BOM),purchasing department,Manufacturing department,invoicing and shipping department etc. Functionalities of MRP Include: Demand Forecasting[4] Order Planning ,Controlling[4] BOM-Bill of Materials[4] Inventory Controlling[4] Priority Planning and Control[4] Planning Capacity Requirement and Development of Broad Business Plans[4] Fig1: Various Functions that MRP deals [4] Why MRP is needed for a Organisation: Companies need to utilize their resources and plan their resources very well in very efficnetly sothat they always meet the demand of the customers with out fail because loosing a customer for a company is permanent loss so they have to be well organized to avoid failures in planning the manufacturing of the products according to the demand.and also the organisations have a very big issue in order to produce the finished goods like procuring the suitable raw materilas from correct and reliable vendors.Organisations or Entereprises have to plan which products are to be produced and in what quantities and they should be in a position to forecast that they are able to meet current and future demand of the customerand that too it should manufacture the goods at lowestr possible cost. If any organisation is making any bad decision at any level then they would lose moneyreulting a failure in strategic business planning. Some of the examples are quoted below: If a company procures wrong materials and quantities from a wrong vendor then they would fail to meet the client requirements and eventually fail to deliver the products or goods at the agreed date. If a company fails to predict or plan correctly like quantities required to be purchased like purchasing more or execessive quanties where a less qunatity is required for production then its a waste and remains as stock in warehouses and may never even be used at alland its a waste of money as a unecassary procurement is done. However, some purchased items will be of minimum quantity than the required quantity therefore, procurement of excess quantity is necessary. Starting the production of an order with out proper planning and intergation and coordiantion with other departments in a organisations could end up in not meeting the customers deadlines or demand. So for this reason a organisation or a enterprise requires a well tightly intergated tool that could interact with all departments to carry out the business in a profit making way. MRP is a tool which primarily focuses to provide answers for several questions and also to deal with problems like:[1] What items are required?[1] How many are required?[1] When are they required?[1] Issues with MRP systems : Data Integrity: Data integrity is the major Issue faced by the MRP Systems and MRP Customers. If any mistake or errors done while configuring the master data like inventory data or BOM(Bill of materials) data then the expected output data will also be incorrect.Most number of customers who are implemeting these system are expecting data interigty for more better results. Time Prediction: This Time Prediction is also a major issue faced by the MRP System or the Mrp customers because here the user have to specify the time needed to manufacture a end product or finished good from the procured induvidual parts .But Unfortunatley the sytem everytime assumes this Lead time is same for every product or good that are manufatured in that orgaisation or manufacturing unit irespective of the Quantiy of finished good that is to be manufactured and avilabiltiy of machines and manpower etc. available. InterCommunication Issue: This is also an another issue faced by the faced by the MRP System or the Mrp customers.If the customers organizations or factories or warehouses are located at located at different geographical locations and intercommunication is not posible between them .An Ideal ERP or MRP application should overcome this issue by able to communicate between differnet warehouses factories for distributing goods,products based on the demand of the customer for the goods. Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRP II) : MRP can be expanded as Manufactuing Resource planning which means planning the resources of a manufacturing company in a effective way and efficient way in persepective of time for getting maxium profits.This can overcome the or it can be veiwed as a extension of MRP. This is software application which is developed by many skilled people and integrated with a dedicated data base accuracy. This is an application which is used by the prganisations for productive and well utilization of human resources.MRP II is not a free software system or a open source software system.Thus this MRP II application appears in different formats or structures depending on the clients business requirements .Genrally these MRP II applications are purchased form other MRP devloping companies in the form of licenses or it can be a in-house software devlopment. Every MRP II system is devloped with different modules because as it is known differnet business s have different kinds of requirement and solutions, so the modules in MRP II system will be different. MRP II system have the following basic modules: Master Production Schedule (MPS)[3] Item Master Data (Technical Data) [3] Bill Of Materials (BOM) (Technical Data)[3] Production Resources Data (Manufacturing Technical Data) [3] Inventories and Orders (Inventory Control) [3] Purchasing Management[3] Material Requirements Planning (MRP)[3] Shop Floor Control (SFC) [3] Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP)[3] Standard Costing (Cost Control) [3] Cost Reporting / Management (Cost Control)[3] All the above listed modules and with few other auxilary modules are tightly integarted together so that they can intercommunicate very well and work on same data and exchange information,and that would be a ideal model for any MRP II application and this kind of ideal ,good MRP II application enables the manufacturing enterprise to operate in a objective way. This MRP II application is completely different from Point-of solution approach which is operated through induvidual systems and this MRP II application is fully integrated and fully interfaced application. Which enables the user to interact with application more friendly.Many manufacturing industries have implemented MRP II systems sucessfully. Different Industries have different requirements like few of them need specific functions like lot traceability,Man Power Management etc. Fig: Different modules in MRP II System[4]. Advantages of using MRP II systems : Inventory Control. [3] Scheduling [3] Productive relationships with suppliers[3] Improved design control[3] Quality control [3] Reduced capital for inventory [3] Improved cash flow through quicker deliveries [3] MRP II Issues Ideally MRP II should have overcome the MRP problems or drawbacks. Unfortunately in MRP II most of software implementers or consultants failed to understand master scheduling.So they failed in implementing modules like master scheduling and capacity planning correctly making the new MRP II application also look like old MRP application. Inaccurate data: To Control the business or to run the business in a successful profitable way the data that is entered or the records that are present in the inventory module or BOM-Bill of materilas etc.,should be very accurate. But these MRP II software packages failed to understand the needs and business requirements which became a challenge to MRP II implementors to properly map the packages to the business.so this made the data or records entering in to the modules inaccurate. Time Facctor: MRP II implemetation takes long time to implment on a average a MRP II implementation takes 18-24 months of time for implmentation. Requiremnet for technical man power and machinary: This MRP II needed huge number of technical consultants and business people and machinary for its implementation[4]. Helped only manufactring companies: It confiend its benifts or results only to manufacturing process organisations and failed to extend its benefits to other modules or other sectors.[4] It Could not effect other modules like quality management and other management issues[4] Comparission between MRP and MRPII Systems: Both MRP and MRPII systems are business applications which is used to integrate the different functionalites in a business process and provide business information when required from a central and dedicatd database. MRP is deals with manufacturing materials while MRPII deals with the coordination of the entire manufacturing production and it also includes materials, finance, and human relations[3]. The goal of MRPII is to provide accurate data [3]. MRP takes the input from sales and marketing and then it forecast and determine the raw materials demand and required for manufactuirng. Both MRP and MRPII systems depends on a Master Production Schedule. MRP deals with the coordination of raw materials procurement while MRPII involoves in the development of a detailed production schedule taking in to account machine and labor capacity, scheduling the production or manufacturing according to the arrival of materials in the inventory. An MRPII provide Data about the cost of production, including machine time, labor time and materials used, as well as final production numbers[3]. Allocating resources is the major advantage or devlopement of MRP II system from MRP system. Enterprise Resources Planning :(ERP) Enterprise Resource Planning can be defined as or it can be understood as well planning of all the tangible resources or preishable assests of a company in a effective and efficient way with respect to time .Here the the resources are mainly 1.Man 2.Machinary 3.Money 4.Material These are well planned and well utilized in a enterprise .An ERPs true ambition is to integrate all the modules across the compnay on to a single unit that can serve all the those deparment needs. It is a business appliction which should facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders[5]. This ERP application has a centralized database with a platfrom independence or sometimes platfrom dependent and some programming language. ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise wide system environment[5].These ERP systems used to come on sigle server environment which used to be a limitation but now a days all ERP sytems are opting for client-server architechture.There are 2-tier architechtures, 3-tier architechtures among these 3 tier architechture is the best suitable for ERP Systems. Every Compnay or organisation look for ERP because it increases profits,reduces human work and provides secured and accurate data helps in expanding their business in different countires as these ERP applications deals with multi currency also and helps so work becomes simple and easy and business will improve and can make profits if they are sucessful in implementing ERP application to their business process. Every company grows in to big organisation or enterprise and departments, functionalities also increses or grows depending on their requirment so ultimatley data and paper work in each department increases considerably.So the organisations started looking for a software application that could automate all the business process and tightly integrate all the functionalites in that particular organisationand have a smooth flow of data, so thus came the need of ERP. Ideally an ERP application should have the charecteristics like : 1.All the data and application should reside on a single database. 2.Entire application when accesed by different users at at different geographical locations should same look and feel. 3.It should work like a real time application. 4.A user should be capable of accessing anyh information or data at any time from any location. 5.It should be accurate and capable of generating reports for a business application. Enterprise resource planning came as a extension of MRP and MRP II .The MRP II drawbacks were completely fullfilled by ERP applications .ERP was dominently sucessful in capacity planning The term Enterprise resource planning originally derived from manufacturing resource planning and breeching its effect in to other modules like quality control,inventory control , warehouse management ,logistics,finance and control,sales,distribution,human resource and payroll management.Thus ERP is very sucessful in processing or automating a business applicatoins.ERP sytems became more demanding when they became capable of dealing with customers directly through a functionality called CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and by entering in to e-business.now a days these ERP applicatins are both desktop application and web based application.Every ERP application is cutomized based on the cutomer requirements so that the ERP application look as though it is the software devloped only for that business requiremnet. fig:Different funtionalites of a MRP application [5] the above shown are the different funtionalites and module that are ideally coverd in a ERP application. Generally when organisations think of implemeting the ERP application for their business application they can either go for a in house production or buy from other vendors who implement ERP application for their business process or they even can opt for third party vendors who study their businees process and implement the customized ERP application for their organization.There are many ERP vendors in the market and to name a few these are the dominant ERP Implementing players SAP Oracle Peoplesoft IBM JDEdwards Ramco Bann CA Wings SSA GEAC JBA Among the above listed ERP companies SAP AGs ERP called SAP is the well known ERP. Many third party vendors are there in the market who are implemeting SAP to the enterprises or organisations who need a ERP applicaton.SAP is so famous because it is easy to implement and all the modules are tightly integrated and their success rate is also considerably good when compared to other ERPs.Recent studies show that markert share of each ERP application ,SAP at 51%, People soft 12%, J.D. Edwards 8% and BAAN 5%. So by these statistics we can confirm that SAPERP is well used and opted ERP in the current business world.SAP ERP is so famous when compared to ther Companies ERP because all other ERP applications provide only single functionality but SAP Provides all functionalites like sales and distibution ,Customer relationship management,Supply chain mangment,Business inteligence,Fianace and control ,Material management,human Capital management etc.ERP application main intention is to increase profits ,improve business ,expand business, to easily access the information of one department by other department ,help to reduce operating cost,make day to day managmet more easy,easy decision making,increase in productivity . So every organisation should have its own ERP application implemented in its organisation to compete in the current business world.it make them to easily with other MNCs present at different geographical locations. fig:Market shares of each ERP application[8] Advantages of ERP application: Integrate all the functional areas together[5] The capability to streamline different organizational processes and workflows[5] The ease of communication of information across various departments[5] Improved efficiency, performance and productivity levels[5] Enhanced tracking and forecasting [5] Improved customer service and satisfaction[5] some ERPs are open source so reduce cost. Disadvantage of ERP Application: Level of customization is limited. Highly expensive systems to implement Limited technical support long time taking process to implment. Effective Methods Of Implmetation Learnt through case studies: These ERP applications should be implemented by following some ideal methodologies for implementation other wise the implementation could fail there are many cases for ERP Implentation failure.All the companies who are implemnting the ERP applicatin to automate their business process were sucessful there are many failures.As implementing a ERP application for a company is a very complex process and it involved huge budget and long time as the specifications and requirements used to change. ERP implementation gets failed due to the follwing reasons: Failing to analyze the business process correctly. Improper collection of clients or customer requiremnts. Lack of technical consultants. Failure in the data migration Wrong configuration of master data. Lack of knowledge of the newly implemented system in the organisation among employees. Failure in gerating required reports. Failure in analyzing time and money required. Successful If a ERP implementation is sucessfully implmented in a company mot only helps theorganisation by reducing waste costs but also it helps its customers as they can purchase the products of the company at a low price eventually rising sales and making good profits.They also because they share the data of the production line in real time[10]. So for a sucessful implementation the following methodologies should be followed.These are ideal methodologies one should follow when they are implmenting ERP orMRP or MPR II application for any kind of compnay. An Effective Implementation have the follwing modules: Project preparation[11] Solution definition[11] Devlopment Business Process Analysis Realization Testing QA Production Final preparation[11] Project preparation: Project goals and objectives[11]: Undestanding goals and objectives of the project and getting a clear picture about the project. Roles and key focus[11] : Identifying the roles and reponsibilites for the project and assainging the tasks according to the roles.Identifying core team members,repoerting authority and documentation team it also includes identifying Steering Committee, Project Management team, Consultants team, Technical and Security management teams. Determining the implementation strategy[11] : Plannig the implemneting strategy like how to implement the project and how to run the project according to the dead lines and defining the deliverables for each team,preparing road maps for the project and preparing blue print for the implemetation.Determinig how many locations are present for the compnay and what level of the automation required for which departments and what software and hardware required. Developing a project budget[11]: This is the main and very important stage for any ERP or MRP or MRPII implmentation because any mistake or worng assement could utterly result in failure of implmentation.so planning for the project and determing the correct budget required to implement the application sucessfully budgeting involves like cost required to procure resources that are useful for the accomplihmnet of the project and cost of the human resources getting involved in the project. Planning the budget required for implementation includes the cost of Labor , Training, Facilities ,Project support costs Determining the technical requirements[11]: Making a study on technical requirements required for implmeting the application sucessfully.Performaning the GAP Analysis and matching it with the application to checek how far the customization required and how well the application suits the business process.Identify and prepare infrastructure facilites selecting a pool of technically dominant consultants as a team and making them to study the pros and cons of the project. 4.3 Solution development and realization[11] Project team training[11]: This involves the training for all employess and for getting good knowledge about the on going implmetation and it helps the team members and any new members in the project which helps to implement the project at right time with out any dealy. This is very important because it helps to implement the application as according to the blue print defined. Conversion and interfaces[11] : Conversion and interfaces are very important for every project. But generally these Conversion and interfaces are not given importance and attention from the project management, because of lack of necessary IT knowledge.conversion and interface of a project is necessary and it should it be in line with the main project and it should be controlled by the project manager[11]. Final configuration[11]: This is very important phase the final configuration represent a repetetive process that coordinates the configuration with your business processes and business requirements[11]. Testing QA Unit Test[11] : This testing is done by the programmer or devloper itself to evaluate the programs or transaction for errors. This test is done intially at configuration level it is mainly tested for program and module functionality.Whether the business requirements are fulfilled or not whether they are working in the expected way. Final integration test[11] This test is done when all the modules are integarted and tests are done whether these are working in the expected manner fullfilling the business requirments.This test is done by the expert testing team while integration and even after integration like verifying workflows , business logics and other functinlities. Prototyping and Production[11]: In this phase a test system with fully intergated and devloped appliaction is made ready for working .Ideally at this stage all the funtionlaites and modules should work correctly as per the business requirments and it should be demonstrated to the users with data flows across each module.Once the protype of the business application is sucessful and if the customer is satisfied then the final phase of the implmentation takes place in which cutover plans take place and go-live date is planned and fixed. Final preparation[11] User manual and support[11] Preparing user mannuals powerpoint presentations about each modules and funtionalites for the customers or users to get good knowledge of the implmented ERP or MRP or MRPII application. End user training[11] Providing training for the user in the organisation or company for effective using of the application because if the end user fail to gain knowledge about how to use and how to work with the application it results in failure of the implmnetataion. System management and system test[11] In this the application is tested for smmoth running of the appliaction with extra loading of data and extra stress on the database and application like simultainous logging of many user at a time etc. it also includes failure scenarios test,application admistration tests,backup and restore procedure test [11] etc. Cut-over plan[11] In this the all final approval and validations should be comleted and all the manual work and transcations of the company have to stopped as after the apporval of cutover plan they start configuring the appliation to automate the business process. Going live check[11] In this the manual data entries should be completed before cutover. and going live date is decided based on the following factors : proper end user traning is done and completed. R/3 system administration is ready[11]. Stress test on application and database and desaster recovery tests are sucessfully completed . Conversions and business processed in the production system have been checked [11]. quality check and testing is completed. Data transfer[11] Data transfer is a very important phase in the total implmetation because man times there arise a issue of wrong configration that is configuring one module data to the other module. This is a time consuming process so a due consideration is given and a good amount of time is t