Mergers and Joint Mergers Essay Example for Free

Mergers and Joint Mergers Essay The following paragraphs will discuss week fours readings that covered vertical mergers, horizontal mergers, conglomerates, and joint ventures. Companies use mergers and joint ventures to increase profitability and efficiency. The following paper will go over the three alliances as well as a joint venture and how it differs from the mergers. Each business arrangement is used to attempt an improvement for the company, the important thing to remember is which will be most beneficial and why. A horizontal merger occurs when two competing companies in the same market joins together to become one firm or one identity. The two companies could have an influence on the competitive market if the companies have a large percentage of that market. The result of the two companies combine will be an increased advantage over their competitors. If the two groups are joining together are small businesses, they could have little to no advantage over their competitors in the market. For example, if two unknown mobile cellular companies merge to increase their services and products, the affect on the existing market could be minimal. If two well-known mobile providers such as Apple and Samsung combine in the market of mobile cellular phones and different accessories, it would give them an advantage over their competitors because of their popularity. The companies have a larger impact on the market at this time with the latest IPhone and Samsung Galaxy.  Therefore; a competitor has a large percentage in the market would decrease barriers of entry for new competitors. A vertical merger occurs when two companies that are next to each other on the supply-chain decide to become one entity and use it as a way to gain a competitive advantage within the marketplace. For instance, a manufacturer merging with a supplier of essential components or raw materials or with a distributor or retailer that sells its products. The goal of vertical mergers is to improve efficiency or reduce costs. Vertical mergers can help to secure access to critical supplies and help to reduce overall costs by eliminating the costs of finding suppliers, negotiating deals, and paying full market prices. It can improve efficiency by synchronizing production and supply between the two groups and ensuring that supplies are available when you need them. A vertical merger can help deal with competitors by making it difficult for competitors to obtain vital supplies, therefore, weakening existing competitors and increasing barriers to the entry of new competitors. Lets take a look at the technology advancement implemented for the creation of a new iPhone. Apple will merge with the suppliers and distributors for the benefit of having the production accessible for the company when manufacturing and distributing the product. In the world of business, there are times when companies can merge in order to expand their operations in other markets, and possibly lower the risk of the company by doing so. Combining activities, which in turn, will increase their efficiency, can eliminate redundancy between the two organizations. At times, this merger can involve corporations that offer entirely different services or products. These types of mergers are referred to as conglomerate mergers. A conglomerate is a corporation that is made up of a number of different, seemingly unrelated activities. In a conglomerate, one company owns a controlling stake in a number of smaller companies, which conduct business separately. Each of a conglomerates subsidiary companies runs independently of the other business divisions, but the subsidiaries management reports to senior management at the parent company. (investopedia.com). Some examples of conglomerate mergers viewed between Proctor Gamble and Gillette, Walt Disney and the American Broadcasting  Company, and ITT, Avis Rent-a-Car, Sheraton Hotels and Continental Baking. To the typical consumer, mergers like the ones listed above do not make sense, but it the world of business; there are positive benefits for all parties involved. Unlike a merger, a joint venture does not require dissolution of their original business or change the organizational structure, but rather two business entities join forces to undertake a single project or aspect of business. The only similarity between the two is that they both include two business entities joining together. A joint merger is a short-term partnership in which the persons jointly undertake a transaction for mutual profit as well as each person contributes assets and share risks. Joint ventures can also be used by companies to gain entrance into foreign markets. Microsoft entered into a joint venture with NBC to create MSNBC. The two companies ventured to bring business news to the television and online. While the two are joins as one for MSNBC, Microsoft and NBC have their companies. Microsoft has their business market in online products and technology. NBC has their television broadcasting network. The two businesses do not affect each other. The two companies maintain ownership of the entity. When two or more companies agree to combine into one entity, it will be referred to as a horizontal, vertical, or conglomerate merger. On the other hand, when two or more businesses enter into a joint venture for a specific object will not incorporate the companies as one. The companies will be able to work together for the new entity, but their overall concept of their business will remain the same. Meaning the companies can perform their business separately from the joint venture. References: Joint venture, (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/joint_venture Mergers vs. Joint Ventures: Whats the Difference? (2012). Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/office/entrepreneurs/articles/82448.aspx Kim, E. (2012), CNNMoney: Retrieved by http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/16/technology/microsoft-nbc-split/index.htm Scilly, M. (2014), Houston Chronicle: Difference between Mergers and Joint Ventures, Retrieved from:www.smallbusiness.chron.com

Mathematics and Art Essay -- Logic, Creativity, Philosophy

Mathematics and art are two areas of knowledge that demonstrate different degrees of interaction between critical and creative thinking. Whether considering mathematics or art, creative thinking evaluates a new or original idea containing some degree of value. Critical thinking examines assumptions and challenges a current belief or theory that has previously assumed to be true. Although general assumptions and creativity may be considered separately when considering extreme examples of concrete ideas and abstract ideas, the interplay of critical and creative thinking is one method in which new and validated knowledge is attained. Mathematics is an area of knowledge that may seemingly appear to be concrete, utilizing reason as its source of knowledge. On one hand, mathematics represents learned concepts using a repetitive procedure and logic that will rarely deviate. Beginning concepts of mathematics taught in schools are concrete with fixed steps and formulas for solving problems. For example, the properties of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division yield fixed answers. Students only have to use the steps previously taught and accept them to be true to attain the correct response. Therefore, concrete concepts can only be accepted as true by using learned skills to process and generate information and belief. However, without some degree of understanding or context, the use of the skills as a repetitive â€Å"exercise† is not critical thinking because it has no meaning. It is accepted that the area of a right triangle is one half the base times the height. Reasoning can be used through the drawing of a grid and counting the squares to verify this formula. In this way, mathematics uses critical thinking to guid... ...ture, for example, buildings, bridges, and structures are taller, more energy efficient, and able to utilize previously impossible designs because the interplay of critical thinking and creative thinking has yielded new techniques. These three fields each utilize mathematics and art to generate the latest knowledge. Knowledge can be generated through the interaction of critical and creative thinking. Critical and creative thinking are both needed in different ways to create new ideas that are verifiable and credible. Ideas and interpretations that have been generated through advancements in math and the arts demonstrate that both critical thinking and creative thinking are needed to generate new knowledge. As a result, the questioning of established beliefs along with the creation of new ideas will yield beneficial knowledge to the world and its learners.

Safety in the Manufacturing Industry

Safety is the state of being free from harm or danger of any kind. Safety is usually achieved through careful planning and the removal of all vulnerable sources of danger or any other that are prone to arise. The first step in the management of any environment to ensure that safety is achieved involves the identification of the potential sources of danger. An array of all the panic triggers is usually made and each is tackled single-handedly. Failure to identify all the potential sources of danger may cause a lot of unforeseen harm (Stellman, 1998). In any workplace, there lie very many potential causes of harm and injury. The repercussions are likely to be very serious given that many places of work usually have hordes of people going about their business and most of the times many are oblivious of any form of lurking danger. In case of any accident that may occur, the number of casualties in many places of work is likely to be very high. The effects of such accidents can however mitigated by the careful consideration of all factors by the planners and the devising of ways to deal with the accidents prior to their occurrence. Many of the hazards that may occur in most working places and cause loss of lives and damage of property includes fire, floods, chemical explosions, release of poisonous gases and the risk of being shred by machines and being cut by very sharp objects (Moi, 1993). Manufacturing Industries: Manufacturing industries are the type of industries that are involved with the production of goods for the end user markets. Such industries produce these goods in large masses; mass production, and the raw materials are brought to these industries in bulk. A lot of machines and are used in various processes within these industries and a lot of manpower is also incorporated in order to increase the production by these industries. All the processes, right from the offloading of the raw materials to the packing of the finished products involve a lot of manpower and machines and many accidents that jeopardize the workers’ safety are likely to happen in any of these stages. Different manufacturing industries usually have different strategies of ensuring their employees’ safety and reducing the occurrence of accidents. Safety in the manufacturing industries: It is mandatory for all industries to ensure that their employees are safe and are free from any kind of harm in the course of duty at these industries. There exists a set of laws that govern how al industries ensure the safety of their employees while at work in the industries. The employees are also obligated to follow the policies, procedures and the directives that are set out in these laws, to the letter. They are also expected to be on protective gear provided by the industry at all times. They are expected to adhere to all the safety rules that are laid out by their employers. The employers are on the other hand expected to give directives to their employees that would be implemented in case of any tragedy and even put signs at strategic places within these industries. The signs must be brief and clear to the employees in order to avoid any confusion whenever there is an accident of any kind (Poltev, 1986). The Passing of the Safety Act: It is estimated that about six thousand workers in the USA die every year due to workplace injuries, another fifty thousand workers die because of exposure to workplace hazards and millions of others die because of non-fatal injuries sustained at their workplaces. This was estimated to be depriving American businesses about one hundred and twenty five billion dollars per year. The government is in all ways trying to curb the occurrence of such by ensuring the safety of every employee at his or her place of work. Safety at the workplace goes a long way to see the cultivation of a good and better job culture at the place of work. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), was passed by the congress in 1970. This act was passed in order to ensure that each and every worker in the nation of USA was working under conditions that are safe physically and even health wise. Some states, however, have enacted their own laws to protect the workers from any physical or health risks at their places of work though they also do ensure that these laws are as effective as those set in the federal law. The OSHA covers all employees except those who are self-employed and public employees in the state and local government. Responsibilities of the manufacturing industries (employer): According to the OSHA website – www. osha. gov, the Occupational Safety and Health Act stipulates that: The manufacturing industry should provide its employees with well-maintained tools and equipment. This serves to ensure that the probability of the occurrence of an accident due to the ineffectiveness of the equipment. The industry officials should ensure that faulty equipment is replaced or repaired immediately to avoid any casualties of any kind resulting from any accident. The industry should also offer the employees with appropriate protective equipment and clothing in order to protect these workers from bodily harm from the various things that they handle within a day. This facilitates the reduction of the occurrence of accidents and the effects of any hazardous substances that the employee may come in contact with. The manufacturing industries must also take their employees for medical examinations prior to and after any activity that may be involving any hazardous substances (Rabinowitz, 2002). In case of any signs of infection, the treatment and medication should be administered on the patient immediately in order to lower the chances of the employee becoming severely affected. The employees should also be granted access to their medical and exposure records. Such records should always be at their disposal so that they can be always updated about their health status and take any personal measures necessary. The industries must provide training to their employees prior to handling any equipment that may be hazardous. The training should be done as per the standards set by the OSHA. This serves to ensure that the employees are well acquainted with the type of equipment that they use for any particular task that the employer bestows upon them. This kind of training also ensures that there is a reduction in the number of accidents that occur in these industries. The standardized training also ensures that there is uniformity in the way accidents are dealt with and this avoids confusion in case of such accidents occurring abruptly. Accidents should be reported to OSHA within the first eight hours of their occurrence. Those accidents that cause lots of casualties should also be reported within this period. Accidents that leave more than three people hospitalized should also be reported to OSHA within this same period. This facilitates the investigation and evaluation into the cause of the accident and the necessary measures are taken in order to reduce such accidents in future and thus increase safety in the workplace. The employer is also obligated with the duty of posting the OSHA poster (OSHA 3165), which informs the employees of their rights and responsibilities. No discrimination is allowed upon an employee who goes forward to address some grievances to OSHA regarding the workplace. The industries are also obligated to keep records of work-related accidents, injuries, illnesses and their causes. They should also post OSHA citations and abatement verification notices to a worksite. They should also abate cited violations within the set prescribed period. The Responsibilities of the Employee: The employee should review the employer provided OSHA standards, regulations and requirements in order to be well conversant with them and follow them accordingly and report any flaws in order to avoid accidents and other mishaps. The employee should also request for information from the employer regarding emergency procedures so as to avoid confusion at the time of tragedy. The employee should observe each and every directive accordingly (Harms-Ringdahl, 2001). The employee should try and grasp the safety and health training provided by the employer as per OSHA standards. Such training should be administered in cases where some toxic substances are involved. All other procedures set for emergencies should also be carefully studied. If carefully observed and followed to the letter, these rules and regulations can spare many lives and save lots of others in the manufacturing industries (Taylor and Hegney, 2004).

From Minimum Wage to Living Wage - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1382 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2019/04/16 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Minimum Wage Essay Did you like this example? What does the average American citizen need to sustain a suitable lifestyle? Is it a working wage of $7.25 or is a higher wage necessary? Those are the questions the United States Government needs to be asking themselves. The current minimum wage of $7.25 is not enough for a person to live off of comfortably. This is well known throughout the middle and lower class of society. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "From Minimum Wage to Living Wage" essay for you Create order With the rate of inflation on housing raising the minimum wage should to be raised, yet it has stayed the same since 2009. If minimum wage is not enough funds to pay for housing then how could it possibly pay for the necessities beyond that like food and clothing. Many states like California, Alaska, Colorado, and Florida are all raising their state minimum wage, so why wont the federal wage be raised? This is what american citizens all around the country should be pushing for, a living wage not a minimum wage. The minimum wage was introduced in the united states in 1938 within the Fair Labor Standard act (FLSA)(What Is the History of the Minimum Wage? ). The point of FLSA was to supply overtime pay, child labor regulations, requirements of keeping records and the minimum wage. Minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer can pay an employee legally with certain exceptions. The reason the minimum wage was supported by FLSA was because the sole purpose of the minimum wage at this time was to stabilize the post depression economy and provide a stable protection plan for the workforce(Minimum Wage. ). The very first minimum wage was set at $0.25 per hour, since then the minimum wage has been increased to keep up with the rate of inflation 22 more times. The last raise in minimum wage was in 2009 when it reached $7.25 yet has not changed since in almost ten years to keep up with the ever increasing rate of inflation(What Is the History of the Minimum Wage?). A living wage is a wage that is high enough for someone to be able to afford a normal standard of living. Yet then we must ask, What is a normal standard of living? A normal standard of living includes income, quality of employment, affordable housing and quality, hours of work necessary to purchase basic necessities, access to affordable health care, and safety. The difference between minimum wage and a living wage is that even though the minimum wage is supposed to keep up with inflation and allowing for all of the aspects of life that a living wage can, it does not. A living wage has not been given to the american citizens and the federal government refuses to raise the minimum wage to bring the poverty rate and those who depend of welfare and food stamps to rise from the bottom and make a living and a life for themselves. Minimum wage has zero connection to poverty rates and a slimming connection to inflation rates of living costs. Minimum wage focuses more on federal raises allowed by the government based on economic and the interests of business. Living wage on the other hand is based off of cost of living, food expenses, child care, healthcare, housing, transportation, and other necessities needed to sustain a standard of life. Minimum wage takes into account the wage of one individual while the living wage is taking into account whole households and the needs of that household(Brown, Travis H. Living Wage vs. Minimum Wage: Whats the Difference?). There are many americans who are living proof that the current federal minimum wage is not working for them to afford a sustainable life. Modonna made about $17,500 a year. Her monthly paycheck would equal out to $1,325 after taxes. With this amount of money flow and her being able to get $3,800 back in refundable taxes she still had to rely of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and even then she struggled(Edin, Shaefer. Page 9). Jennifer, mother and wife struggling to get by and provide for her family on minimum wage, states barely making it on $13 an hour is her version of the american dream(Edin, Shaefer. Page 47). This just goes to show how little lose who try to live off of minimum wage struggle and how the smallest amount of money can make a substantial difference. Another family, Susan and Devin, have a similar dream to Jennifer. They imagine that a good life would be making $12 per hour with 30 hour weeks which goes to show how this dream of just making that small amount more per hour could potentially turn life around for those who struggle on minimum wage(Edin, Shaefer. Page 56). Debora worked in a factory making $7.90 per hour. After her paycheck came through she only ended up with $8.00 after taking care of her finances and bills. This left Debora with little to no money every month supporting the claim that minimum wage can not support a sustainable life(Work Doesnt Work.). Taryn Lions, age 25 with two children under the age of 7, works at McDonalds as a crew trainer making $9.85. Since her $0.10 raise she has lost upwards of $100 in food stamps that she needed to provide her two children with food. She had to move 30 miles away from her place of work to be able to afford a place to live yet that still was only possible because she got a room ate that would allow them to split the $1090 cost into $550 each. To get back and forth from her job she had to buy a vehicle that is 17 years old with upwards of 200,000 miles logged. With her vehicle being so old and worn it constantly has a problem that she can not afford to fix. Taryn Lions makes above the federal minimum wage yet still can not afford standard living(PBS). These are all stories of peoples lives that are not supported and can not feed their own family because of the minimum wage resting at $7.25 while inflation of costs increase yearly. The real question is what wage can the average american citizen survive on? The amount of money made in Pennsylvania weekly on the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour after taxes is $290 a week. For the whole month the income would come out to $1,160(Calculator Results.). That may be able to cover the grocery bills, but this income will not put a roof over the head of workers making minimum wage. The average grocery bill is from $125 to $300(Cost of Groceries per Person per Month.). That may not seem like a price that is hard to meet on that income but if you add in housing it is almost impossible. The lowest price average of apartments in Pennsylvania is from $850 to $1,100 a month(Apartments under $1,100 in Pennsylvania.). If you add the lowest end of each price ranges together the total cost is $975. This leaves $185 left over for clothing, healthcare and child care. Though this low combination of housing and grocery costs rarely go hand in hand. The other spectrum is $1400 in costs which is $240 more than they have. This leaves the worker in a state of dismay as there is no money for health care, childcare, or clothing. If the average worker is to make a wage that can support that standard of life they would have to make a wage of around $15 per hour. With this the weekly income after taxes is $600 and the monthly income after taxes is $2,400. Taking away the more costly housing and grocery budget would leave $1,000 left over for healthcare, childcare, and clothing which is a substantially larger amount of money. All of these calculations are not including transportation whether it is public or private transportation. Therefore even then at $15 per hour there would still be some troubles and careful budgeting.This would not allow for everything but the average worker could be pulled out of poverty and can save money for their childrens education and to support them the best they can. This would lower the united states poverty rate of 13.9% substantially(What Is the Current Poverty Rate in the United States?). Minimum wage should be raised to $15 per hour. With cost inflation rising and the minimum wage staying the same the united states is bound to fall far into poverty as inflation is estimated to go up 3% every year(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).