Oracle

How is the IKEA operations design different from that of most furniture retail operations? IKEA is known as one of the world’s largest furniture retailer that focuses highly on cost control, operational process and product development. IKEA differentiates itself from most furniture retailers by offering a wide range of well designed array of home furniture at very attractive prices that remain affordable to a large group of diverse customers. There are some unique features of IKEA as compared to most furniture retail stores (IKEA, 2012) Self – Service’ (minimal service or influence from sales person) Details of all products are made ubiquitous in the showroom thus making sales assistance unnecessary which this in return helps to reduce the hiring cost of labor. Layout of Products (product exposure) Ikea stores are designed in a one-way ‘walk-through layout’ that requires customers to be exposed to the entire products which is unlike from most furnitu re retail stores where by customers may choose to go directly to the section they preferred.Hence, the flow allows increased efficiency from entering the showroom, selecting of products to lastly making payments. Furniture Most of Ikea products are self – assembled products, this helps to reduce the costs of shipping as higher volume of bulk packaging can be done. Unlike most furniture retail stores where free delivery and assembly is given, additional charges apply if fixing of product is required by the customers. Lastly, four dimensions of operations (Volume, Variety, Variation and Visibility) will be used to determine the differences between IKEA operations to that of most furniture retail stores.High Volume – IKEA’s operations are of very large scale, major land space and huge car parks are developed to cater to all customers, everything about the design of IKEA’s operations encourages high volume of throughput as compared to most furniture retail st ores (IKEA, 2012). High Variety of product but Low Variety of service – The variety of products showcase in IKEA is much more than most furniture retail stores, from small items such as kitchen appliances to large items such as tables.However, as far as the variety of service is concerned it is relatively narrow. Most products are self – assembled and there is no sales person to provide any service to the customers, leaving themselves to figure out and make their own decision for the purchase. High Variation on demand – Public holidays and weekends usually attracts more crowded as compared to normal week days, hence result in high variation.However, there will not be any difficulty of getting part-time staff into IKEA during the peak period as the operations in IKEA are well designed. Unlike most retail store which require staff with specific expertise that requires time to hire. Low Visibility – Customer contact is high in certain extend, but overall it is lower than most furniture retail stores considering most of the things are done (‘self-service’) solely by the customers from the start till it reaches the point of payment where it is also a standardized process by IKEA.This ultimately reduces the costs of the transaction as far as IKEA is concerned. What do you think might be the major problems in running an operation like IKEA? Having such huge variety and high volume of product being transacted, it may be tough for them to manage the inventory for all items. Shipping of high volume bulk items may take time and IKEA may face stock-out period, hence their operations planning has to be done and calculated accurately.As all sales are done on ‘self-serviced’ manner, it may not create a great shopping experience as compared to most retail stores where sales person are able to cater a more specific and unique first-hand experience to all customers to create loyalty. Lastly, IKEA being the largest furniture retailer require a lot of natural material such as wood, which may harm the global environment (IKEA, 2012). Reference IKEA (2012) Our Vision and Business Idea. Available at: http://www. ikea. com/ms/en_SG/about_ikea/the_ikea_way/our_business_idea/index. html (Accessed 29 January 2013)

Harry Houdini Essay

Harry Houdini (1874-1926), whose real name was Ehrich Weiss, was one of the greatest American magicians, escapologists, illusionists, and stunt performers who has influenced generations of magicians around the world for almost a century. He was also an actor and film producer, although his career in the cinema was not as successful as his magic career (Harry Houdini). However, few people know, for example, that Harry Houdini, being fascinated with aviation and airplanes, was also one of the pioneer pilots in the world and became the first aviator to successfully make a controlled flight in Australia in the presence of nine witnesses, an event that was documented on film (An Aviation Timeline). Houdini’s fascination with airplanes Houdini’s interest in aviation began in 1909, at a time that was a crucial period in the history of world’s aviation. Six years earlier the Wright brothers demonstrated to the world that flights in airplanes with humans aboard were quite possible. Houdini, being a rich person, decided to buy his own aircraft for $5,000. It was a Voisin biplane with a sixty horsepower engine which weighed 1,350 lb (Mulvany). The aircraft resembled a huge version of a box kite with which a famous Australian aviator Lawrence Hargrave had experimented a dozen of years earlier (Early Australian Aviation). The great magician had his name painted on the plane’s tail and side panels (Harry Houdini). While performing escapology shows in Germany, Houdini was reported to be trained to pilot his biplane. During that training he crashed once and then succeeded in making his first flight on November 26, 1909 in Hamburg (Harry Houdini). The Australian Aerial League organizes a contest In 1909, Australia’s Aerial League on the part of the Australian government that planned to start using planes for military purposes was ready to offer ? 5,000 for an aircraft that would be made in Australia, would be able to fly at the speed of at least twenty miles an hour, and would also take off and land safely with two people aboard. The machines presented for the contest were all â€Å"Page # 2† declared as unsuitable by the government which considered importing overseas planes (Early Australian Aviation). As Houdini announced his plans to visit Australia to perform escapology shows there, the Aerial League decided to invite him to ship his plane with him. The Voisin biplane was dismantled and then brought to Australia where Houdini came for his Melbourne Season. An interesting fact: researchers such as Sloman and Kalush believe that Houdini did not bring his biplane to Australia simply for the record books. In fact, they suggest, he had another secret mission, namely, the promotion of the use of airplanes for the country’s defense (Barrell). Houdini also had two serious competitors that came to Australia approximately at the same time as he did. One of them was Ralph Banks from the United States who brought with him a Wilbur Right machine and claimed that he would beat Houdini in the air. Another competitor was Fred Custance with his Bleriot monoplane powered by a twenty-four horsepower rotary engine. It had been purchased by a local businessman who sought publicity for these machines because he planned to sell them in Australia (Early Australian Aviation). Houdini’s competitors fail Fred Custance made his flights in Bolivar, a small town situated nearby Adelaide. As far as we know, Custance had never flown an airplane before that. On March 17, 1910, he taxied his Berliot machine around a local paddock many times. Some witnesses reported that on one occasion Custance managed to successfully take off, made a short flight, and then landed safely. However, after making another attempt his monoplane crashed and seriously damaged the wheels, undercarriage, and propeller. The Berliot machine was brought back to Adelaide to be repaired where it was completely destroyed several months later when the garage where it was stored caught fire (Early Australian Aviation). The historic event in Australian aviation took place in early spring of 1910 nearby the Diggers Rest Railway Station situated just some twenty miles north of Melbourne. Two huge tents â€Å"Page # 3† erected on a paddock owned by Mr. Cook housed Houdini’s Voisin biplane manufactured in France by the Voisin Brothers, and a Wilbur Wright airplane piloted by Mr. Banks (Mulvany). Heavy winds made any attempts to try flights impossible for almost a month. However, Banks unwisely decided not to wait for better weather conditions and on March 1, 1910 he took off in his Wilbur Wright machine. His flight did not last long because shortly after he lifted his aircraft up into the air a strong gust of wind caused his machine to dive downwards and it crashed onto the ground after doing a somersault. Miraculously, Banks survived the crash without being seriously injured, but his Wilbur Wright machine was damaged to such an extent that it could not be used for further flying (Mulvany). Houdini the flying hero Being in love with the Voisin biplane and wishing to prevent its damage or destruction, Monsieur Antonio Brassac, the magician’s engineer, was reported to curse in French all the time because of the winds. He advised Harry Houdini to wait until weather conditions improved. When high winds stopped blowing, Houdini tried taking off several times but all of these attempts turned out unsuccessful as the pilot experienced some mechanical difficulty in controlling the aircraft (Mulvany). It all happened on March 18, 1910, when early in the morning Harry Houdini made three successful flights over Mr. Cook’s paddock (Mulvany). The speed at which Houdini’s Voisin biplane took off in his first flight was tremendous and allowed the machine to rise in around a hundred yards. Shortly after that, the onlookers got shocked when they saw the aircraft rushing straight at a huge gum tree. Disaster seemed imminent. However, the great escapologist perfectly controlled his machine and by moving the elevating lever he flew over the obstacle like a bird. He performed a circle over the paddock at the speed of fifty miles per hour and then descended and landed gracefully and with apparent ease. After that followed another successful and quite confident flight (Mulvany; Wacks). â€Å"Page # 4† In the process of making the third flight which was the longest one, Houdini covered a distance of around two miles. Brassac started the Voisin by twisting the eight foot propeller behind the pilot. Houdini left boldly the paddock and succeeded in achieving an altitude of approximately a hundred feet, and then flew away over the neighboring stone fences and rocky areas. He performed a great circle moving in curves and leaning over from time to time, and then by confidently straightening his plane, Houdini descended faultlessly and landed safely. His machine came to rest not far away from the place where he had taken off. That faultless flight lasted for around three and a half minutes (Mulvany). Houdini made his first three flights in the presence of a small group of witnesses who signed and issued a short statement to the press in which they testified to the magician’s successful flights, their heights and duration (Mulvany). Houdini made a much longer flight on March 20, 1910, during which he covered approximately four miles in the presence of a larger group of witnesses which included around 120 persons. On the next day, a large photograph showing Houdini’s Voisin biplane up in the air and spectators beneath was published in â€Å"The Argus†, a local newspaper, making the aviator more popular in Australia. Among the spectators that witnessed Houdini’s flights at the Diggers Rest Railway Station, was Harry Hawker who rose to prominence just a few years later and was one of the greatest figures in the history of world’s aviation (Mulvany). On March 21, 1910, Houdini added to his records another successful flight in his Voisin biplane at Diggers Rest which lasted seven and a half minutes. During that flight he reached an altitude of about a hundred feet and covered around six miles. Made in the presence of thirty witnesses, this flight excelled the magician’s previous flying performances and constituted the Australia record (Harry Houdini). Houdini the newsmaker In an interview that he gave in Melbourne after his flights, Harry Houdini, not hiding his fascination with airplanes, compared his Voisin with a gracious swan calling it a dandy. He also â€Å"Page # 5† said that as an aviator he was quite confident of his control of the machine and felt relaxed, free, and exhilarated while making the flights. When asked why he had not disclosed his plans about making the flights before his performances, Houdini replied that he did not like to be compared with a parrot which â€Å"talks best and flies worst†, but wanted performances first and fame later (Mulvany). Harry Houdini was aware of the importance of publicity which was integral to his success. Before making his famous flights, he was already known thanks to his fantastic escapology shows. While Custance’s attempts at flying received little publicity, Houdini’s achievements at the Diggers Rest Railway Station were widely reported in local newspapers. Houdini received good training in Germany and, without a doubt, was able to pilot an airplane in controlled flight. Although his Voisin biplane was not as advanced and complex as Custance’s Bleriot machine, it flew a considerable number of hours in Europe and was capable of flying steadily when piloted by an experienced aviator (Early Australian Aviation). Interesting facts In Australia the great magician decided to teach himself how to drive a motor car which he used to go to and from the airfield. After his extended tour there he never flew a plane nor drove a car again (The life and times of America’s greatest magician). Houdini admitted the Bleriot monoplane’s technical superiority over his Voisin biplane and on one occasion he emphasized that in these matters a lot depended on a pilot’s experience and skills. He confessed that it was possible to do much more with the Bleriot machine than with his own aircraft on condition that an aviator had learned enough how to handle it. Did Houdini mean by that remark that Custance might have been able to beat him if he had been better prepared for flights? Perhaps, but we do not know it for sure (Mulvany). Some researchers and aviation experts still debate about whether it is Harry Houdini who should be considered as the first aviator to have successfully flied an aircraft over Australia or Custance who made his first flight in the Bleriot monoplane a day earlier in Adelaide (Mulvany). BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. An Aviation Timeline. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ctie. monash. edu. au/hargrave/timeline5. html 2. Barrell, T. (2006, July 30). And For My Last Trick. The Sunday Times. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. timesonline. co. uk/tol/life_and_style/article690366. ece? token=null&offset=0 3. Early Australian Aviation. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. aarg. com. au/Aviation-EarlyAustralian. htm 4. Harry Houdini. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Harry_Houdini 5. Mulvany, M. Harry Houdini Flies near Melbourne. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://member. melbpc. org. au/~mulvany/mulv2. html 6. The life and times of America’s greatest magician. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. magictricks. com/houdini/bio. htm 7. Wacks, M. Aviation Centennial Coin Series Honors Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh and Houdini. Retrieved March 27, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. pandaamerica. com/NEWS_aviation_centennial_12_16_03. ASP

South Florida Incomes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

South Florida Incomes - Essay Example It is reported that the top 1% of the social strata receives as much as the bottom 57% (Income Inequality 1). Economic reforms have been targeted to mitigate income inequality by the provision of aids to the poor, better job opportunities, and higher salaries. However, amidst the ardent effort of the government to curb income inequality, their efforts remain futile as figures indicate that income inequality has worsened over time. Economists have long struggled to curb income inequality through various measures. In some cases, subsidies are given to the poor that adds up as additional income to them. Governments also pursue projects that aim to improve the livelihood of the poor like the provision of farm to market roads for farmers. Some develop the quality of education that the poor receive in order for them to qualify for higher paying job opportunities. Still others mandate a compulsory rise in salary level. Amidst the effort of economists to promote income equality among citizens, there has been some debate regarding the relationship between income equality and economic progress.

Transferability of outdoor management development (omd) programmes in Dissertation

Transferability of outdoor management development (omd) programmes in organisations - Dissertation Example eview 15 Introduction 15 Definition of Outdoor Management Development 17 The Framework 18 Outdoor Activities 23 Skills Areas 24 Structure of OMD Programmes 26 Critical Evaluation of OMD Philosophy 27 Usefulness of Outdoor Management Development Activities 29 Gap in Research 34 Summary 35 Research Methodology 37 Introduction 37 Research Philosophies 38 Research Approaches 40 Data Collection Methods 41 Data Analysis Strategy 42 Validity and Reliability 44 Research Ethics 44 Research Limitations 45 Summary 47 Discussion and Analysis 48 Outdoor Activities and Participants 48 Data Collection 48 Steps Involved in the Activities 49 Review Process 49 Results 51 Discussion and Analysis of Results 52 Comments on Leadership Theory and Team-Working 53 Intra-Personal Attitudes 55 Orientation towards Team-Working and Teams 58 Effects on Workplace: Skills Transfer from Outdoor Activities to Workplace Environment 60 Conclusion and Recommendations 67 References 72 Appendix 77 Introduction Outdoor Man agement Development (OMD) is comprised of three components: outdoor environment, experiential learning and workplace behaviour changes. The outdoor environment can be a variety of areas in which OMD programmes can be conducted. The outdoor environment can be provided by the woods, mountains, sea water and so on. The fundamental function of outdoor environment is to facilitate outdoor activities in a neutral environment as it meets first condition to carry out OMD programme. There are numerous outdoor activities that are carried out with different objectives such as psychological safety, emotional intensity, skills development and so on. The outdoor activities include personal development, leadership, team development, stress management, communication, uncertainty management and problem... For these objectives, first conceptual frameworks and different dimensions of outdoor management development were discussed in the literature review. The definition of OMD, skills, outdoor activities, the framework and critical evaluation of OMD were conducted in the literature review part. In the discussion and analysis chapter, the practical research highlighted the different steps and outcomes of the outdoor activities. The key findings revealed that in the entire programme, 47 percent of participants reported positive changes in the workplace behaviour. In the micro-dynamic tasks, 23 percent of participants revealed positive change did occur in the workplace behaviour. However, 52 percent of participants in the macro-dynamic tasks reported neutral changes in the workplace behaviours. Outdoor Management Development (OMD) is comprised of three components: outdoor environment, experiential learning and workplace behaviour changes. The outdoor environment can be a variety of areas in which OMD programmes can be conducted. The outdoor environment can be provided by the woods, mountains, sea water and so on. The fundamental function of outdoor environment is to facilitate outdoor activities in a neutral environment as it meets first condition to carry out OMD programme. There are numerous outdoor activities that are carried out with different objectives such as psychological safety, emotional intensity, skills development and so on. The outdoor activities include personal development, leadership, team development, stress management, communication, uncertainty management and problem solving.

The Role of Emotionfocused Theory in Functional Assessment Essay

The Role of Emotionfocused Theory in Functional Assessment - Essay Example Johnson credits Fritz Perls with the experiential gestalt concept that is critical to EFT (Greenberg & Johnson, 2005; Johnson, 2003). In the experiential approaches, the goal of therapy is . . . to increase awareness of emotional experience so that it is available as orienting information in dealing with the environment, and to help clients become aware of and responsive to the action tendencies toward which feelings prompt them (Greenberg, 2006, p. 501). EFT involves the therapist's creative involvement with the clients in a manner in which the therapist moves the clients into a structure of therapy that progresses beyond simple construction. That is, although EFT initially very much outlines conflict struggles in the clients with simple terms and concepts to invite client acceptance of the problems, as therapy moves onward, painting pictures becomes more of the art of therapy (Johnson, 2003). Experiential theory incorporates the complete being of the client in the present here-and-now focus. Johnson observed that it is the exception rather than the rule to delve into deep unconscious experience or repressed memories, as there is plenty of substantial information right in front of the therapist's eyes (Johnson, 2003). The substance of EFT is the client, including what and how the client experienced communication in the client's senses, body, and expressions (Perls, 1969). The verbal communication is secondary to the therapist: Words can lie, but expression does not. EFT and Humanistic Theory After the first movement of psychodynamic psychology and the second movement of behaviorism, the third movement of humanistic psychology (later, Humanistic Existential) emphasizes in the client a potential capability toward "self-directed growth" (Corey, 2001, p. 205). . The therapist's belief that the client has both strength and desire to fulfil potentialities positively affects the client's progress: "Individuals have within themselves vast resources for self-understanding and for altering their self concepts, basic attitudes, and self-directed behavior; these resources can be tapped if a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided" (Rogers, 2001, p. 115). Thus, EFT adopts a therapeutic act of honoring the client as a unique human being (Greenberg & Johnson, 2005; Johnson, 2003). This empathic interaction increases a client's congruence, a term Rogers used to describe the incorporation of self and experiences as they become more similar, unitary, and true. EFT and Existential Theory Existential theory concerns itself with core structures of the self, including meaning, being, crisis, anxiety, freedom, responsibility, guilt, and death. While Johnson summarized the "I-thou" relationship, an existential concept from Martin Buber (Greenberg & Johnson, 2005; Johnson, 2003), she presented presumptuously existential concepts within the EFT theoretical framework. Studying the client from a phenomenological perspective embraces the assumption that the client is the expert in his or her world. The job of the client is to assist the therapist to enter that client's experiential world. As such, this position of the client enhances the qualities necessary for the therapist to be as accepting, nonjudgmental, and genuine as

Movie Review on E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial) essay Lab Report

Movie Review on E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial) essay - Lab Report Example For those who believe aliens did crash land in America, there seems no doubt that they were visiting our planet with a purpose. This film seems to suggest the possibility that these otherworldly visitors are merely curious to learn more about the life-forms on this planet. The film opens with the landing which is more frightening for the aliens than the humans, who seem to have been expecting them. In the chaos, one young alien becomes separated from his brothers and finds himself seeking shelter from a small family on the outskirts of town. A young boy, Elliot, finds the creature, who he begins to call ET (for extra terrestrial) and lures him into his room as a safe spot using Reese’s Pieces candy. Hiding the creature from his mother, Elliot finds it necessary to eventually include his younger sister, Gertie, and his older brother, Michael, in trying to help the lonely alien return to his ‘home’, the spaceship that brought him. This is made difficult by a mother becoming increasingly concerned about what her children are doing, the friction that has developed in the family thanks to a recent separation between the mother and father and the deadly effects of a poisonous atmosphere on ETs delicate body. In addition, as time passes, a symbiotic relationship begins to develop between ET and Elliot (notice the similarities in their names) so when ET gets drunk, so does Elliot. This means when ET begins to die thanks to the atmosphere, so does Elliot. Finally, an invasion from the government, determined to run tests on the creature, brings the situation to a head as ET dies, releasing Elliot and his body is packed up for shipping to a more secure laboratory location. The isolation unit he’s placed in provides ET with the purified air he needs to heal himself, though, and the three kids, now a cohesive unit, work together to break ET out of the

Culture and Psychology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Culture and Psychology - Assignment Example Although the apartments of Japanese prostitutes are clean and well-maintained, yet they have lost much of the sense of dressing because of imitating European prostitutes. However, they may not be very well-educated. Hence, we can say that prostitution in Japan is a well-organized business. German prostitutes, in contrast, may be so educated that, Pitu (2011) writes that, â€Å"In Berlin, you might meet a prostitute with a PhD.† Prostitution became legalized in Germany in 2002. Since then, the business has been growing itself very rapidly. There are thousands of registered brothels in Berlin and other parts of the country. Street prostitution is very common, carried out under supervision of pimps. The factor that influences street prostitution is the economic instability of people, and especially women, who become prostitutes to fulfill their financial requirements. Prostitutes also serve to procure drug business. They also work at bars, where they lure men into buying expensive drinks and avail sexual services. We see that in both the countries, the biggest factor that triggers prostitution is the financial instability of some groups of people, who bring their women into prostitution to meet their financial needs. These countries are also well-known for their sex trade or sex trafficking, in which women are forced into prostitution and are abused sexually. Since prostitution is legal, brothels place ads with government employment agencies to hire prostitutes. When not enough local women are recruited to fill the places in brothels, women from other places are brought via sex trafficking to work in the brothels. Hence, the factors that trigger prostitution in these countries are not cultural, but based on financial needs and business requirements. Japanese have been known to be very flexible in accepting foreign sexual behaviors within their own culture. Japanese do not show public

Buildilng Construction for the Fire Service Research Paper

Buildilng Construction for the Fire Service - Research Paper Example Also, this paper explains that the knowledge of the building collapses greatly impacted the revision of the building codes. Building design is typically the application of the engineering and architectural knowledge in the design of buildings. Building design begins as an idea (Allen & Iano, 2004). Thus, it is the creative architect who creates or manages the over-all building design works. The practical engineer, on the other hand, implements what is on the blueprint. In the modern era, building design has been highly specialized. Due to the multifarious demands (e.g., fire-proof structures) in building quality structures, different and specialized technical professionals are needed to get the job done. By and large, the activities and implementations of the building design greatly involve time, cost, and performance (Groak, 1992). Production time and cost, on the other hand, are to be harnessed without compromising quality result (Chan & Chan, 2002). In the designing a building, few parameters are considered: (1) the shape or structure of the building; (2) the forces inherent in the designed building; (3) processes in the assembly of materials; (4) the materials to be used; and (5) the connections from one material to another (Groak, 1992). First, the shape of the building largely shapes the design. It is primarily concerned with the relation between the whole building and its structural members (Groak, 1992). The principle is basically drawn from mathematics; the geometrical shape of an object determines its strength or weakness. In fact, the structural shape defines the motion of forces. For instance, the geometrical shape of bi-axial symmetry and cellular spaces are advantageous to earthquake phenomenon (Groak, 1992). Furthermore, shapes either expand or shrink space like the block design (Chang & Chang, 2002). And in times of calamity, the building’s space helps or dissipates the movement of fire within the

Stress Levels among College Students Essay Example for Free

Stress Levels among College Students Essay Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the differing stress levels of college students while looking at their year in college and whether or not they are a member of an athletics team. This study utilized a consent form, a demographic form, a survey to determine the stress level of the participant, and a debriefing form for each of the participants. The results of this study showed that only the athletic status of the participant had an impact on the stress level of the participant. The students who were athletes had higher stress levels than those students who were non-athletes. However, it turned out that the year in college had no impact on the stress of the participant. Stress Levels among College Students Stress is defined as â€Å"a mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health, usually characterized by increased heart rate, rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability, and depression† (McCleod). Stress and anxiety are the top reported impediments to academic performance in college students, both in the undergraduate and graduate levels. Between 2010 and 2014, the level of students reporting stress as an issue rose from 25 to 31%, while anxiety rose from 17 to 22%. (Miller). While having some stress is a normal occurrence, having too much stress can have negative side effects. Some of these side effects include excessive anxiety, depression, digestive problems, heart disease, sleep problems, weight gain, and impairment with memory and concentration (Chronic stress puts your health at risk). One of the most stressful times in a young adult’s life is the transition into college. But for some students, life after that initial transition only becomes more stressful. Some of those students are the students who are members of their school’s athletics teams. In the past, many researchers had agreed that participating in athletics could serve as an outlet for people to relieve stress from their lives. However, recently some research has indicated that playing sports can actually result in an increase in the amount of stress in a person’s life. For example, a recent study found that nearly 50% of male athletes and a little more than 50% of female athletes indicated that â€Å"stresses associated with sport participation, such as pressure to win, excessive anxiety, frustration conflict, irritation and fear significantly affected their mental and emotional health† (Wilson). One of the biggest obstacles that student athletes report as the cause of their stress is time related factors. In other words, they felt that there was not enough time to fully complete their academic and athletic duties to the best of their abilities. This is natural, since student athletes are balancing higher level education with higher level athletics, and are bound to show some strain when compared to their peers. Another issue that arises from being a student athlete is the issue of burnout. It has been shown that it takes 10 years or 10,000 hours of practice to create a talent in any field, and this pertains in particular to athletics. Given this incredible time commitment to one’s practice, it is common for athletes to suffer from what is referred to as burnout. Burnout can be defined as â€Å"physical, social, and emotional withdrawal from a formerly enjoyable activity as a result of chronic stress and motivation concerns that is typically characterized by feelings of emotional exhaustion, reduced accomplishment, and depersonalization/devaluation† (Gould). So, for athletes, another side effect of excessive stress is burnout. As with the amount of stress in athletes lives, the rate of burnout has also been increasing in the past few years. In a study done in 2007, it was found that nearly 10% of athletes tested had symptoms of high-level burnout. The researchers hypothesized that the number would actually be higher since they did not look at what they called â€Å"senior elite athletes†, meaning professional athletes and high level college athletes. They also suggested that this burnout rate could be lowered if athletes went through stress management programs to lower the amount of stress that they  had to cope with on a daily basis. (Gould). Lastly, one study looked at the relationship between athletic participation and academic performance. Over a four year period, the researchers conducted an observational study of a college basketball program in the mid-south-central part of the United States. At the beginning of their college career, the athletes were excited about the prospect of putting athletics and academics together to create opportunities for themselves in the future. One of the freshmen that was interviewed said, â€Å"If I can use my basketball ability to open the door to get an education, hopefully I can use my degree to open up the door to get a good job† (6). However, as time went on and the stress of being a student athlete increased, the views of the basketball players changed. One of the upperclassmen on the team stated, â€Å"If I was a student like most other students I could do well, but when you play the caliber of ball we do, you just can’t be an above-average student. What I strive for now is to be an average student. My best GPA was 2.75. You just don’t find the time to do all the reading† (Adler). This just reinforces the idea that the student athletes are under the stress that they are mainly due to the huge time commitment that comes with being a higher level athlete. All of these studies and articles on how student athletes are prone to burnout and stress and have increased time commitments led to the hypothesis that the student athletes in college will be more stressed than the non-student athletes in college. Methods Participants There were a total of 40 participants used in this study; 62.5% were female and 37.5% were male. The age range was 18 to 22, with the average age of the participants being 20. Measures For this study, we utilized a consent form, a demographic form, a survey to determine the stress level of the participant, and a debriefing form for each of the participants. Procedure Each participant received a consent form after they confirmed that they are an Iona College student. The participants were then asked to read the  consent form along with the experimenter, allowed to ask any questions that they might have had and then asked to sign the consent form. Once they signed the consent form, the participants were given a survey to determine the level of stress that they had in their life at that time. Next, they filled out a demographic form that asked them for their year in college. Once both the survey and the demographic form were filled out, the participants were thanked for their time and given the debriefing form for the study. Results A 22 analysis of variance was in order to determine the effect of athletic status on stress level. The results indicated that there was a significant main effect of athletic status of the participant on the stress level of the participant, F (1, 36) = 13.99, p=.00. As illustrated in Figure 1, the students who were athletes (M=11.23, SE=0.91) scored higher on the stress test than those students who were non-athletes (M=6.31, SE=0.95). A 22 analysis of variance was also conducted to determine the effect of year in school on stress level. The results indicated that there was not a significant main effect of participant’s year in school on the stress level of the participant, F (1, 36) = 0.43, p= .52. Discussion The purpose of this study was to examine whether the athletic status and the school year of a participant have an impact on their stress level. Our hypothesis was that the upperclassmen who are athletes will have the largest amount of stress, while the underclassmen who are not athletes will have the lowest level of stress. This hypothesis was supported, but only to a certain extent. While the factor of school year did not have an effect on the stress level of the participants, the factor of athletic status did. Just as we predicted, the participants who were athletes reported having more stress than the participants who were non-athletes. When the stress levels were looked at across the different years in school, there was not a significant difference between the underclassmen and the upperclassmen. These results are supported by the findings of the study done by Quinton McCleod, who had 30 athletes and 30 non-athletes complete a questionnaire about the time that they spend studying, their GPA, and whether or not they consider themselves to be stressed and what types of stress they were under. He found that the athletes had a significantly lower GPA, spent less time studying outside of the classroom, and had more stressors in their lives than the non-athletes. The athletes said that they were losing motivation to go to class and that caused them to turn in poor work, and that this was due to the fact that they did not have an adequate amount of time to spend on all of the schoolwork that they had to complete, in addition to the amount of time that they had to designate for their sport (McCleod). If the sample size had been larger and included a wider gender range, the grade level of the participants may have had a more significant impact on the results. Also if the participants had been randomly selected instead of convenience sampled the results may have been more similar to what was originally hypothesized in regard to the year in school playing a part in the stress of the participant. References Adler, P., Adler, P. (1985). From Idealism to Pragmatic Detachment: The Academic Performance of College Athletes. Sociology of Education, 58, 241-250 Chronic stress puts your health at risk. (2013). http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037 Gould, D., Whitley, M. (2009). Sources and Consequences of Athletic Burnout among College Athletes. Journal of Intercollegiate Sports, 2, 16-30 McCleod, Q. (2015) Stress Levels among Student Athletes and Non Student Athletes. Elon University Miller, J. (2014, December 3). Students see rise in stress levels, studies indicate. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.michigandaily.com/news/stress-college-feature Wilson, G., Pritchard, M. (2005). Comparing Sources of Stress in College Student Athletes and Non-Athletes. The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 7

Backgroud of Malaysia Airlines Essay Example for Free

Backgroud of Malaysia Airlines Essay Malaysia Airlines System Berhad is also known as MAS in short. MAS is founded in 1947 as Malayan Airways, but it has change its name as Malaysian Airline System in 1 October 1972 .MAS is the flag carrier which is own by government of Malaysia. MAS headquarters is situated at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor. MAS operates flights at its first base in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and secondary base in Kota Kinabalu. Malaysian Airlines System Berhad is the holding company for Malaysia ¶s national airlines carrier, one of the fastest growing airlines in Asia. Malaysia Airlines has two airline subsidiaries, which is Firefly MASwings. Firefly operates scheduled flights from its two home bases Penang International Airport and Subang International Airport. The airlines focuses on tertiary cities although has recently launched services to Borneo from KualaLumpur International Airport. MASwings focuses or inter-Borneo flights. Malaysia Airlines has a freighter fleet operated by MASKargo, which managers freighter flights and aircraft cargo-hold capacity for all Malaysia Airlines passenger flights. MAS are using this type of craft Airbus A330-200 and A330-300. Boeing 737-400, 800 and400/400. Malaysia Airlines operates a fleet of aircraft with two cabin configurations. Malaysia Airlines B777-200ER fleet has a two configuration which is Golden Club Class and Economy Class. Its B747-400 fleet has a three-cabin configuration, also including First Class. Malaysia Airlines premium cabins and Economy Class have been giving numerous awards for excellence in product and service delivery. From a small air service, Malaysia airlines have grown to become award-winning airline with more than 1000 aircraft, servicing more than 110 destinations across six continents. Malaysia Airlines also practiced the online booking and buying to make their reservation or purchasing way easier for passenger. With this online purchasing, the passengers need to fulfill their details like the destination they want to go and the departure place they want. The payment will settling via the online banking. Internet user can book their air ticket, hotel, and train ticket and rent car via Malaysia Airlines Website.

Sin Tax Bills Pros And Cons Economics Essay

Sin Tax Bills Pros And Cons Economics Essay With tobaccos and cigarettes being the major cause of lung cancer death s in the Philippines, advocates are pushing to pass the Sin Tax Bill. Sin tax bill is the tax levied on any products that are notorious to be harmful like cigarettes, alcohol and even activities like gambling. In connection to this, it is said to be effective in reducing behaviour of using such. This thesis paper aims to show the pros and cons of the Sin Tax Bill reforms to the Philippine economy, presented before the Senate and the House. There were three specific sin tax reforms discussed, the Abaya Bill, Recto Bill, and the Santiago Bill. This study accentuates that the approval of the said bill has its great advantages that will help the countrys economy, but its possible disadvantages must not be neglected. Moreover, the ideas written here are not against the bill, but therefore require further analysis and revisions that are deemed helpful to the Philippine Economy. Discussion Introduction According to the World Health Organization in 2009, tobacco is responsible for 12% of male and 6% of female deaths worldwide. The Acting Chief of NCI Tobacco Control Research Brach Chief, Michele Bloch, MD, PhD said that overall around the globe, there are 41% of men that smoke and only 9% for women; also it is estimated that the total number of tobacco-related deaths will rise from 6 million today to 8  million in 2030 (Fromer, 2011). Every day, a person dies from lung cancer in the Philippines. Tobacco or cigarette is the only legal consumer product that kills half of its users when used as directed by the manufacturer. And not only cigarettes, but as well as other socially proscribed goods such as alcoholic beverages, drugs and even soft drinks (in other areas), are considered to be undesirable or harmful, and thus were levied with higher taxes compared to the original by the government in laymans term: The Sin Tax. Sin tax in modern economic terms, are externality taxes, taxes designed to reduce behaviour which is known to be harmful to society' (Gifford, 1997. p.1). It is an excise tax on which its objectives is to make consumers lose interest in buying such by imposing taxes on goods that are known to be harmful and lethal such as cigarettes and liquor or activities like gambling (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2012). Before, a Tiered Specific Tax system based on suggested retail price (srp) was put in place. Until the late Pres. Corazon Aquinos administration in 1986, reforms the tax system by changing the specific or unit-based tax to an Ad valorem Scheme, from where the price is based on the manufacturers, for cigarettes. From then on, sin tax bill was revised many times until the year 2004, where the Congress passed Republic Act No. 9334: an act increasing the tax collection; but this is widely considered to be ineffective and a watered-down law. On its implementation in January 2005, under this law, all brands of cigarettes and alcohol products are mandated to an increase in the excise tax rate every two years, up until the year 2011, where there will be specified varying rates of increases (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2012). The matter on the issuance of the new sin tax bills proposed by different officials, mainly those of Abaya, Recto and Santiago, has caught many people in between two arguments. The Department of Finance wants the sin tax bill to raise P60 billion to fund the governments universal healthcare program, especially for the care of public hospital patients with lung diseases. The bills obvious benefit on its approval is more health-related, but there are still quite a number of critics against the approval of the said bill. Why? Because there are multiple reasons as to why the sin tax bill reform must not be approved and therefore must be a subject for further and more improved revisions. Different types of Sin Tax Bills proposed A data from the American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation says, Despite the existence of laws that limit smoking, male Filipino smokers are among the top smokers in the world occupying the ninth spot following India and China among others (Manongdo,  ¶1). In accordance to this, many government officials started passing reforms of different kinds that are to change the current sin tax bill implemented. Firstly, the approved Abaya Bill: House Bill 5727, or the Act Restructuring the Excise Tax on Alcohol and Tobacco Products states that there will be equal taxes rates to be charged to any cigarette brands. With this, there will be competition between cigarette companies. Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya agreed to amend the sin tax on tobacco products from unitary tax system to two tiers. Under substitute bill, there will be two tiers or groups for cigarettes while distilled and fermented liquor will have 3. Tier 1: Cigarette packs priced lower than 11.50php below are meted with a P12 tax on the first year and P24 on the next year; while on Tier 2: Cigarette packs priced 11.50php above are meted with P28.30 on the first year, and P30 on the second year. Indexation or increase will be 8% for every two years, until the year 2025. It has been over 15 years since a sin tax bill made it out of committee meetings in Congress. A landslide vote happened in June, where 210 lawmakers voted to pa ss the amended House Bill 5727, by Cavite Rep. Abaya. But the bill was watered down, since the bill aims to reduce consumption of tobacco and alcohol, especially among the poor, while raising additional revenues, which will be channeled to the governments health care program (Balea, 2012). According to Finance Assistance Secretary Teresa Habitan, amended version will only translate to P33 billion from the original plan of P60billion revenue. Secondly is the Recto Bill by Sen. Ralph Recto. For cigars, the current 2-tiered NRP-based structure shall be retained, but starting March 1, 2013, there shall be an increase to the ad valorem rates by more than 100 percent. Pursuant to Cathy Yamsuans report in the Philippine Daily Inquirer 2012, there will be an increase of 121 percent to hand-packed cigarettes taxes from P2.72 to P6 per pack beginning March 1, 2013, particularly in low-priced cigarettes. While mid-priced cigarettes, a 32% rise from P7.56 to a P10 tax; and high-priced cigarettes, a 17% increase from P12 to P14 tax per pack. Recto, however, presented a committee report that would raise only between P15 billion and P20 billion in additional sin taxes. Lastly is Sen. Miriam Santiagos proposed reform. Santiago said that under her bill, 85 percent of the P60 billion would be used for the government health program while the remaining 15 percent for safety nets that would ensure that tobacco farmers can shift to more lucrative crops like vegetables that have a bigger market than tobacco (Yamsuan, 2012,  ¶12). No more further discussions needed to Santiagos Bill because Juan Ponce Enrile, the current Philippine Senate President, noted that the Santiago bill is almost similar to the governments original position.  Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiagos version of the Sin Tax Bill or the Senate Bill 3249 espouses a single tier excise tax scheme for cigarettes. The version reported out by Rectos Ways and Means Committee pushes a multi-tier scheme, while the House-approved bill is a two-tier system. Advantages There are a lot to mention when we look in-depth to the possible benefits, the country may be subjected to, that will be a great help to the society. Here, there are three main points that are most likely to be emphasized. First are the sin tax bills health-related purposes and benefits. Since the real reason behind the implementation of this law is to discourage the people, especially the youth to smoke cigarettes and indulge themselves to other vices, Department of Health (DOH) said that sin tax bill is a health bill. If this is approved, many Filipino lives will be saved if this law is effective enough after its implementation. As stated by The National Youth Commission (NYC), the number of young smokers in the country had increased. Two of five Filipinos aged 13 to 15 years old consumed tobacco last year. The increase in cigarette prices may thus limit the number of young smokers (Garcia, 2012,  ¶15). On the other hand when the Laylo Research Strategies made a poll survey on ho w will Filipino smokers react if there is an increase in sin taxes, the survey results confirms what the advocates have been saying higher tobacco taxes would accomplish: discourage consumption and therefore reduce the number of Filipinos who either develop diseases or die from smoking. The Southeast Asia Initiative on Tobacco Tax says higher sin taxes can help save 140,000 to 1.3 million Filipinos. With the pending Sin Tax bill likely to affect cigarette prices, 31% of the regular smokers said they will slowly stop smoking, while 17% will stop immediately (Rappler. 2012  ¶24). In a study on Tobacco and Poverty of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2008, the annual government revenues of P23 Billion from tobacco taxes is not enough compared to the conservatively estimated P149 Billion annual economic losses due to expenses for productivity and health care costs of the top four tobacco related diseases: Cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, and stroke. (Manongdo, 2012). According to reports furnished, the money the government spends on tobacco-related healthcare issues is more than the revenue it gets from the taxes collected from tobacco and alcohol products. This means that the government is spending more to cure diseases chronic pulmonary diseases, heart disease, cancer, liver diseases etc. that are caused by the consumption of tobacco and alcohol (Garcia, 2012  ¶9). Secondly, with higher sin tax rates means higher government revenues. Lets say theres no existence of the sin tax bill, which means, 0% tax increase. With no tax, the government will only garner 25.4B php annually. But in consideration of the Rectos Bill, with 65% tax increase, there will 37.8B php revenue. While in Santiagos Bill, with 265% tax increase, there will be no less than 68.7B php revenue, which is by the way more than enough for the governments goal of 60B php. According to Dr. Antonio Dans, professor at the UP-College of Medicine, with the approval of 265% proposed tax increase by Santiago; chances are, smoking rates will go down to 26% from 31%.. That drop from 31% to 26% represents more than two million people stopping smoking. If you stop smoking, you will avoid death from 49 diseases that can kill you from smoking like lung cancer, coronary diseases, stroke, heart attack, chronic pulmonary diseases (Antonio, 2012,  ¶). Lastly, international smuggling of cigarettes will be lessened. According to Sen. Pia Cayetano, the Philippines has the second cheapest retail price in Asia (in terms of cigarettes). Even among the cheapest in the world, primarily because of relatively low tobacco taxes. Many other countries levied heavy amount of tax on cigarettes as part of their public health policy. Dr. Aida Yurekli, coordinator of the WHOs Tobacco-Free Initiative, says the nations low taxes on tobacco drive the foreign demand for illegal imports of cigarette from the Philippines.  He once thought the China is the main source of smuggled cigarettes, but he found out that there was a big number coming from the Philippines. Since tobacco companies are paying (low) taxes, they tend to overproduce. And an excess of 2 billion packs from the 5.4 billion packs to be produced this year, from which only 3.5 billion packs will be consumed, makes it suspicious (Merueà ±as, 2012). With the effectiveness of tax increase, Philippine cigarettes would not be any cheaper than before, and thus will discourage international smuggling, since tobacco companies will pay more taxes, and no longer will have rooms for overproduction that may end up as smuggled goods to other countries. Disadvantages Though many people, if asked, are pro-sin tax bill, due to its undeniable benefits, lawmakers, still, remain divided over the sin tax bill. Debaters tend to overlook the possible drawback, the sin tax bill, may offer to the countrys economy. Tobacco farmers are the most affected in the approval of the any bills mentioned above. La Union Rep. Victor Francisco Ortega said that many tobacco farmers were able to send their children due to their jobs in the tobacco industry. It has done more good, than evil, he said in an interview hosted by respected broadcast journalist Rappler editor-at-large Cheche Lazaro (Bisyo: A special report on Sin Tax, 2012). In the interview, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said, The government has not provided a comprehensive program for the support services, subsidy and assistance to tobacco farmers. Tobacco farmers will not benefit from the increase of retail prices of cigarettes increase due to sin tax. Therefore, the higher sin taxes will definitely negatively affect the tobacco industry, which will result into unemployment to huge industries like Fortune Tobacco and the likes. (Bisyo: A special report on Sin Tax, 2012)   In one of the three stated bills proposed above, specifically the Abaya Bill, inequity in pricing the goods may occur. If all brands will be taxed similarly, small scale companies are at a big loss and at the worst scenario, may stop production. Abaya suggested that equality in taxes will create competition between large scale companies and local tobacco companies; but the latter will be burdened more since bigger companies are far more able in paying the demand tax levied to their products. With high taxes means less production, which will end up to less profit by the company, and later on bankruptcy. On a debate, Sen. Ralph Recto said that if they tax too much, it may kill industries, and even the cigarette industry may be burdened too much already. Revenues may be lessened due to insufficient companies producing cigarettes, from where taxes are supposedly to be collected from. Too high taxes may result in less revenue. How? One of the debaters in the senate, Mr. Manos Koukourakis said, When you apply so high tax increases, people will find alternative ways to smoke (Bisyo: A special report on Sin Tax, 2012). Consumption did not diminish; on the contrary, it has increased. At first, sin taxes will give increased revenues for the government, but in no time, it will fall drastically. Why? Because of smuggling. Taxing cigarettes and other sin products will not make people quit intousing it. Its already an addiction and this simple means of increasing retail price is not the answer. Recto said in one of his reports, the solution is not to severely tax the sin products but to ban them completely. When the price of any product rises excessively, smugglers bring in cheaper products. So instead of discouraging consumption, the very high prices actually encourage it because the smuggled products are very cheap (Cruz, 2012, 4 ¶). A House leader from the Philippine delegation warned that if ever the government would not take a second look to these proposed sin tax bills, the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) with EU or the European Union, may be put in jeopardy. The EU expressed their continuous objection to the sin tax bill. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told the lawmakers that the approved House version and proposed Senate version will not pass the World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance because of unfair taxation (Luci, 2012). British American Tobacco (BAT) Philippines general manager James Michael Lafferty said, The current tax system has worked against the entry of new brands into the market  (Galang, 2012,  ¶46). Conclusion Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, one of the most vocal sin tax bill advocates said, When cigarettes and liquor are cheap, more people will use them- and so this has been the advocates standing point. The sin tax bill had been a controversial debate to the lawmakers. It made Sen. Ralph Recto, the chairman of the Senate committee, resign after numerous opposition from the Senate; he had Sen. Franklin Drilon take over his place after resignation. They even called his proposed bill a watered-down bill or ineffective. In the approval of the Sin tax bill, relations with the European Union may be affected. If ever the Philippines free trade with EU will be cut-off, our economy will lose a lot. And not only that, since Lucio Tan, a renowned business tycoon, is the owner of the biggest tobacco company in the country, the Fortune Cigarette, increasing of taxes to the sin products might be reflected to other major companies under him as well, like those of Philippine Airlines and the likes. All these factors will not increase the governments revenues, and on the other end might be the opposite. Therefore the sin tax bill has defeated its main purpose of raising revenues. Also, the argument of the pro-sin tax bill that higher taxes would discourage smokers is a mere assumption. They have not presented clear provisions and relied on surveys, which is not at all very reliable. Then again, according to Benjamin Diokno, professor of Economics at the School of Economics, UP Diliman and former secretary of budget and management undersecretary for budget operations in the Aquino 1 administration, talking about the threat of smuggling, it is real, and ignoring it would be a monumental mistake. The country has been facing a lot of smuggling cases in other products like rice, oil products, and other consumer goods continuously. And the possible addition of cigarettes to be smuggled would be a lot of work for the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which he considers weak (Diokno, 2012). But behind the drawbacks mentioned, there are a lot of other alternatives, other than taxing, that may discourage and lessen the use tobaccos and cigarettes. One suggestion is the proposal of former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral to put graphic photographs of smokers with lung or mouth cancer on the packs of cigarettes, and they believe it should scare some of them into stopping smoking. Though most of the tobacco industries are against it, the Philippine Senate and Congress are also in debate about it. Another suggestion is the prohibition of smoking in the public, from which the Senate lose the case against tobacco companies. In the question of what would be the most effective among the proposed bills. The countries Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos currently part of this worlds emerging economies use ad valorem rates in taxing their products like tobacco and alcohol. These countries must have adopted ad valorem taxation, after learning the best practice from their foreign tax consultants. The Philippines is the only country in the region that uses specific rates  (Diokno, 2012,  ¶7). On the contrary, eeconomist and former Economic Planning Secretary Solita Collas-Monsod at a forum on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 said that the tobacco industry players are disseminating about the possible aftermaths of the proposed sin tax measure on the Philippine economy, from which she considered as all lies. She opposed all the issues discussed and declared that these are just false claims (cited from Fonbuena, 2012). But experts urge the Senate to use the proposed bill of Sen. Miriam Santiago. This, Santiago said, would help avoid the 240 deaths daily among Filipino smokers with P200-billion health costs to government. It hews much more to the actual realities and the actual principles that we want. If everybody is in favor of a sin tax bill, lets start with that sin tax bill, economics professor Solita Monsod commented to Santiagos version of the bill, from where tobacco and alcohol products projected tax revenues will be around P60 billion (cited from Chua, 2012,  ¶3). The author is not against the approval of this bill, but thus, is in favor of the amendment and better revisions of the sin tax bill. People must look not only to the possible advantage it may bring, but one should always be aware of the possible drawback it will take along its process. The benefits, the sin tax bill, will bring the Philippines is undeniable. Health-related and even revenues is a given. But the fact it has taken a long course of almost 16 years of amendment, has a reason. There are multiple reasons as to why the sin tax bill reform must not be approved and therefore must be a subject for further and more improved revisions; and this reasons must not be neglected.

An investigation of neutralization reactions Essay -- GCSE Chemistry C

An investigation of neutralization reactions Aim Question : What is the effect of changing the concentration of an alkali, on the volume of acid needed to neutralise it, when acid is added to it? The plan is to use two acids (Hydrochloric & Sulphuric) and one alkali (Sodium Hydroxide). The reason I need to use two acids is; because the question applies to all acids and alkalis and to just use one of each would not enable me to come to a general conclusion. If there had been more time available, ideally I would have preferred to use two alkalis as well as two acids. Predictions First of all, here are the definitions for an acid and an alkali: An acid is a substance that forms hydrogen (H+) ions when placed in water. It can also be described as a proton donor as it provides H+ ions. An alkali is a soluble base and forms hydroxyl ions (OH-) when placed in water. It can be called a proton acceptor because it will accept hydrogen (H+) ions and form H2O. A Hydrochloric acid molecule (HCl) will release one H+ ion and one Cl- ion when placed in water. A Sodium Hydroxide molecule (NaOH) will release one Na+ ion and one OH- ion when placed in water. This means that one molecule of NaOH and one molecule of HCl will neutralise each other and produce H2O and a neutral salt called Sodium Chloride (NaCl). This means that to neutralise HCl and NaOH when they are at the same concentration, you need equal amounts of each. GRAPH On the other hand, a Sulphuric Acid molecule (H2SO4) will release two H+ ions and one SO4-- ions. This means that you need two molecules of NaOH to neutralise one molecule of H2SO4 and produce the neutral salt Sodium Sulphate (Na2SO4). This means ... ... in the following ways : * Instead of using Universal Indicator, I would use an indicator which only changed colour when the solution was Neutral rather than gradually changing as the pH became lower (e.g. Methyl Orange or Phenolphthalein). * To get the pH more accurate next time, a pH meter could be used. * To get it very accurate, the acids and alkalis supplied should be an exact amount (I am not sure whether the ones I used were exact). * To use very recently distilled water, because the water will become acidic if left for a long time. References Books Dunstan, S. 1968. Principles of Chemistry. Van Nostrand Reinhold  · Pages 187-88  · Pages 215- 253 McDuell, B. 1997. GCSE Chemistry Classbook. Letts  · Pages 171-72  · Pages 28-32  · Page 262 Computer programs Microsoft Excel Version 97 Microsoft Word 97 Paint Shop Pro 4

Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker Essay -- Blessing Imtiaz Dharker Poems Poet

Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker Imtiaz Dharker’s poem can be read in two ways. A straightforward reading might suggest that the poem is simply a description of an incident when a pipe bursts and people run excitedly for the water. A more considered reading, however, would see the poem as being more ominous and disturbing. Under the apparent good fortune and excitement of the scene are darker ideas about the poverty and superstition of the people in the poet’s native country. It is the second reading we will be exploring in this revision programme. Either way, the attitude to water in the poem should make us in the West wonder at how much we all take for granted, and how too often we squander the earth’s resources. Dharker paints for the reader a vivid scene using visual and aural imagery. For instance, after opening with a powerful visual image, the poet goes on to make us hear the smallest noise ‘echo/ in a tin mug’, before upping the sound level with the ‘roar of tongues’ as people descend on the pipe. The title of the poem appears to be ironic. These people are not blessed - they have little water of their own. Only superstition could lead them to count this ‘municipal pipe’ burst as a blessing. In reality, it shows the poor state of the pipes, part of the city’s basic infrastructure, pipes that should be carrying water to the people. The fact that the people live in ‘huts’, that the children are ‘naked’ and that everyone is ‘frantic’ for the water tell us a lot about the living conditions. There is a lot of sensual imagery in this poem. Mainly we hear and see the unfolding scene. These details show us what the people’s lives are like. In the following table are some of the vis... ... darker, and harder hitting. The layers of the poem reflect the way different people will see the same scene/culuture differently. Attitude The poet appears at first to be objective, describing but not commenting on the incident. And to some extent she leaves the reader to decide the feeling and meaning of the poem. Perhaps though there is horror and pity in that opening image of skin cracking ‘like a pod’. To me the poem seems like a lament for the poverty of these people and for the value system that keeps them poor, yet humble and thankful. Style Dharker uses sensual imagery to evoke the scene, and builds the rhythm of the poem into a crescendo at the bursting of the pipe. She uses an extended metaphor, comparing water to a god. She makes lines intentionally ambiguous, uncertain, so that the scene can be interpreted in more than one way.

All About Maps Essay

What are maps? Maps are the world reduced to points, lines, and areas, using a variety of visual resources: size, shape, value, texture or pattern, colour, orientation, and shape. A thin line may mean something different from a thick one, and similarly, red lines from blue ones. How do maps represent reality? A photograph shows all objects in its view; a map is an abstraction of reality. The cartographer selects only the information that is essential to fulfil the purpose of the map, and that is suitable for its scale. Maps use symbols such as points, lines, area patterns and colours to convey information. Why are maps important? A map gives a miniature â€Å"picture† of a very large space. A map is a guide to a space you have not encountered before. Maps have distance, mountains, rivers, and shapes of places or destinations. With a map, one does not have to depend on local directions. For a small price, it is a direction finder and a dependable way to take a journey. What are atlases? An atlas is a collection of maps in book form. Atlases are made for different regions and areas, and are prepared for desk use or travel use. A travel atlas is usually packaged for easy use during a trip, often with spiral bindings so it can be folded flat, and with maps at a large zoom so that they can be easily consulted on the go. A desk atlas features sizes and bindings that are typical for reference books: usually a paperback or hardcover format. Lines of latitude These are imaginary lines that circle the world in an east-west direction. They tell you how far north or south a place is from the Equator. They are drawn parallel to the Equator. There are five main lines of latitude. They are the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle. Lines of longitude Longitude is the angular distance, measured in degrees, east and west of the Prime Meridian, which is at 0o. These are imaginary lines that run across the Earth’s surface in a north-south direction, from the North Pole to the South Pole. Legends and symbols Since a map is a reduced representation of the real world, map symbols are used to represent real objects. Without symbols, we wouldn’t have maps. Both shapes and colours can be used for symbols on maps. A small circle may mean a point of interest, with a brown circle meaning recreation, red circle meaning services, and green circle meaning rest stop. Colours may cover larger areas of a map, such as green representing forested land and blue representing waterways. To ensure that a person can correctly read a map, a Map Le

Csr of Mnc

Table of Contents INTRODUCTION1 UNILEVER2 PHILANTHROPY DETAILS2 CSR IN BUSINESS PROCESS3 DEALING WITH SUPPLIERS3 CONTRIBUTING TO THE COMMUNITY4 REDUCTION IN ACCIDENT RATE4 SOURCING OF RAW MATERIAL4 SIGNATORY ISSUES5 AWARDS5 UNILEVER IN INDIA5 PROJECT SHAKTI5 SANJIVINI6 PROCTER & GAMBLE6 PHILANTHROPY DETAILS7 CSR IN BUSINESS PROCESS8 CSR: COMPANY POLICIES9 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS (FMCG)10 CITIGROUP INC. 11 PHILANTHROPY DETAILS11 FINANCIAL LITERACY11 Microfinance12 Community Relations12 ‘Plant-a-Tree’ initiative12 CSR IN BUSINESS PROCESS12 Diversity12 Technology13 Climate Change13 Environment and Social Risk Management Policy (ESRM)14 SIGNATORY INITIATIVES14 HSBC15 CSR AT HSBC15 GLOBAL EDUCATION PROGRAMMES16 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS (BANKING)18 VODAFONE19 CSR IN BUSINESS PROCESS19 COMPLIANCE WITH GRI GUIDELINES22 CONCLUSION23 REFERENCES24 Introduction Within the world of business, the main â€Å"responsibility† for corporations has historically been to make money and increase shareholder value. Although for decades, business has also been engaged in charity, philanthropy, and civic activities including social investments in health. Many times these investments were less than strategic, and were not directed to real social change. Is then Corporate social responsibility planting trees in some vague corner of the world or supporting a certain cause? Today, business understands â€Å"doing well by doing good,† In the last few years, a movement defining broader corporate responsibilities– for the environment, for local communities, for working conditions, and for ethical practices–has gathered momentum and taken hold. The era of new corporate responsibilities have emerged. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about how businesses align their values and behavior with the expectations and needs of stakeholders – not just customers and investors, but also employees, suppliers, communities, regulators, special interest groups and society as a whole. CSR demands that businesses manage the economic, social and environmental impacts of their operations to maximize the benefits and minimize the downsides. CSR is not only about fulfilling a duty to society; it should also bring competitive advantage. Through an effective CSR programme, companies can: †¢improve access to capital sharpen decision-making and reduce risk †¢enhance brand image †¢uncover previously hidden commercial opportunities, including new markets †¢reduce costs †¢attract, retain and motivate employees But in India most of the CSR Activities are philanthropic in nature, but globally it forms only a small percentage of total CSR. What if Indian companies also s tarted looking at CSR as more than money donations and can we push them. this where CSRidentity is positioning itself. CSRIdentity is a resource that can be used to †¢teach managers and to-be-managers about â€Å"the real† CSR provide a tool/resource/database for CSR depts to refer to for CSR activities †¢Highlight â€Å"good† CSR practices from cos. to motivate them †¢use this to motivate Indian cos to match global standards CSRidentity. com Services a. Project identity for the corporate b. Project identity for the brands c. NGO Research d. CSR Research The first purpose of CSRidentity. com is to build capacity of the corporates on CSR. And the second purpose is to help corporates project their identity. The portal takes the mode of information, research, analysis, views and interviews. It invites thought leaders to share a path which can be followed by others, share innovations in business, and share what went wrong. And while doing this, it will ensure that corporates think of the larger purpose than being myopic money makers. CSRidentity. com has rich information on CSR in philanthropy, CSR in business processes, CSR policies, Global trends in CSR †¦ It plan to share CSR case studies of all the global fortune 500 companies, leading 200 Indian companies & SMEs, and leading companies in about 20 countries. Each case study offers great learning and replication potential. Unilever Unilever is a Fortune 500 company and a global leader in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category. As Unilever products touch a huge number of consumers worldwide every day, the company believes it has an opportunity to impact many lives through its CSR program. Globally Unilever lays more emphasis on CSR in the true sense i. e. a reduced emphasis on philanthropy. To ensure this, all brand managers in Unilever constantly work towards initiating CSR Initiatives for their brand to reduce the impact of its brands on the environment. Mission : Unilever’s mission is to add Vitality to life. To meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. To understand the vast program, it has been categorised into sub categories which include initiatives in Philanthropy, Business Processes, Impact on Environment, Company Policies and Signatory Issues. Philanthropy Details Food Donation In 2005, nearly two billion pounds of food and grocery products were provided through the Second Harvest network. Available through food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and other distributions centres, the foods helped over 25 million Americans stave off the risk of hunger. Nine million of these were children. Unilever's product donations made up 7. 6 million pounds of the charity's total food basket – a threefold increase on our previous year's donation. In total, Unilever US gives away products worth around $12. 5 million every year, around 70% of which goes to the Second Harvest's hunger-relief work. Donations during Natural Disasters – Katrina and Rita Unilever donated $1 million to relief efforts following the hurricanes – divided equally between the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Employees also dug deep, contributing over $600,000 as part of a matching-gift programme. Conservation of National Parks In May 2008, Unilever contributed grants of over $240,000 to 12 national parks across the United States in an effort to aid wild life preservation. Orphaned and Abused Child Welfare Unilever donated an industrial washing machine to the Durban’s Children Society which is a care centre for children in the age group of 8-18 years and have been orphaned, abused or neglected. The washing machine helps fulfil the cleaning needs for over 60 children in the society on a daily basis. Child Education Unilever donated $1 million for the Families of Freedom Scholarship fund – a fund initiated to assist the education of children who lost parents to the September 11 attacks. CSR in Business Process Nutrition Value in Food Products Unilever initiated the Nutritional Enhancement Programme to improve the nutritional quality of food and beverage products by assessing the level of four nutrients (based on international guidelines) – Saturated Fats, Trans Fats, Salt and Sugar. The move has resulted in several changes in products like: †¢Reduction of 20% added sugar in brands for children such as twister †¢Reduction in salt levels in soup products from European markets by 10% †¢Breyers Ice cream launched a fat free range in North America with 50% less saturated fats Initiating Hygiene Unilever believes in developing products that would deliver benefits to people and make a difference to their health while promoting best practices for hygiene by partnering with local, government and international bodies. Behaviour change is a high priority on Unilever’s campaign and includes The Global Handwashing Day Campaign by Lifebuoy, Safe Drinking Water – Pureit, Improving Oral Health Care – Pepsodent and Close Up, Enhancing Self Esteem and Better Skin – Dove and Vaseline. Influence on Consumers Includes inculcating best practices among consumers (Hygiene Campaign), Promoting outdoor learning and development in children (Dirt is Good Campaign), breaking stereotypes (Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign) Dealing with Employees The company lays emphasis on certain key areas of employees such as Leadership Development, Health and Safety of Employees, People Vitality, Global Diversity, Continued focus on Gender, Diversity Planning and Listening to employees. Dealing with Suppliers The expectations of Unilever’s suppliers are codified in the Business Partner Code. It specifies guidelines which suppliers must follow in order to continue business with Unilever which include health and safety of workers, labour standards, consumer safety and impact on the environment. Unilever also conducts a Supplier Audit Programme to identify areas of improvement and non compliance. Contributing to the Community Unilever measures its contribution to the community using the London Benchmarking Group model. In 2008 a total of 91 million Euros was contributed to commercial initiatives in the community (27%), social investment (35%) and charitable donations (38%) with the greatest emphasis on health (52%) and Educations (13%). Reduction in accident rate Unilever has continuously strived to reduce the accident rate at its production centres. It has succeeded in reducing the accident rate from 0. 26 to 0. 21 per 100,000 hours worked over one year. CSR in Company Policies Advertising The company policy restricts marketers from using ‘size zero’ models in any of the ad campaigns of Unilever. Sourcing of Raw Material Unilever has decided to purchase all palm oil from certified sustainable sources only, in this regard it has already purchased the first batch in November 2008. It has also decided to procure tea for Lipton bags only from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2015. Choice of Suppliers Unilever has a stringent expectations manual which their suppliers are expected to adhere to, if they wish to continue business with Unilever. The company has identified eleven parameters for the suppliers to adhere under the sustainable agriculture policy. Already a third of the suppliers have registered with the electronic system to adhere to the norms. CO2 Emission control The company has targeted to reduce emission by 25% measured per tonne from production plan by 2012. Water Conservation The company has also committed to reduce water usage in the production process, during the years 1995-08 the company has reduced water consumption by 63%. It has also introduced product variants like Surf in India which equired less water to wash clothes to conserve water. PVC Usage The company has decided to eliminate the use of PVC (where sustainable alternatives are available) in an effort to reduce the impact of PVC on the environment. Waste Reduction Through the continuous efforts of the company, the production process has reduced its waste per tonne of production by 68% in the 1995-2008 period. Signatory Issues Global Compact Uni lever has instituted a senior management position to ensure that labour standards are upheld and the company continues to support the UN Global Compact’s principles on human and labour rights. This aspect has been given high priority by the executive committee. GRI The assessment of Unilever’s Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting has been certified to be B+. The same has been verified by third party – Corporate Citizenship. Awards †¢Awarded Two ‘Good Egg’ awards by Animal Welfare NGO Compassion in World Farming in recognition of their decision to source eggs only from cage free sources †¢Unilever was awarded for the tenth year running, the leader in food sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Secured the Platinum standard award in the UK Business Community Corporate Responsibility Index †¢Included in Global 100 Most Sustainable corporations in the world for the fifth year running, a 2009 list compiled by Corporate Knights and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors †¢Gained joint first place in VBDO (Association for Investors in Sustainable Enterprises) 2008 rating for sustainable supply chain management, ahead of 34 o ther companies listed on the Dutch Stock Exchange Unilever in India Commitment to UN Global Compact HUL has separately reaffirmed its commitment to the UN Global Compact and its ten principles. They support institutionalization of the principles enshrined in the Global compact amongst companies in India and are a founder member of the UN Global Compact Society of India. Project Shakti Hindustan Unilever's Project Shakti is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 2000 individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence even as it benefits business. Lifebuoy Swastya Chetna Lifebuoy Swastya Chetna (LBSC) is a rural health and hygiene initiative which was started in 2002. LBSC was initiated in media dark villages (in UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Orissa) with the objective of spreading awareness about the importance of washing hands with soap. Fair and Lovely Foundation The Fair & Lovely (FAL) Foundation aims at economic empowerment of women across India by providing information, resources and support in the areas of education, career and enterprise. It specifically targets women from low-income groups. Sanjivini HUL started Sanjivani – a free mobile medical service camp in the year 2003 near its Doom Dooma factory in Assam. The aim was to provide free mobile medical facility to the interior villagers in Assam. This was done keeping in mind the lack of quality medical facilities available in the villages in and around Doom Dooma. PROCTER & GAMBLE Procter & Gamble Co. is a Fortune 500, American MNC headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio As of 2008, P is the 8th largest corporation in the world by market capitalization and 14th largest by profit. It manufactures a wide range of consumer goods. It has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands including Pampers, Tide, Ariel, Always, Whisper, Pantene, MACH3, Bounty, Dawn, Gain, Pringles, Folgers, Charmin, Downy, Lenor, Iams, Crest, Oral-B, Actonel, Duracell, Olay, Head & Shoulders, wella, Gillette, Braun, and Fusion Vision: Be, and be recognized as, the best consumer products and services company in the world. Purpose: Company wants to be the innovation leader in every business, product category and country where P competes. P views sustainability as a significant responsibility — and a continual source of opportunity. 2012 SUSTAINABILITY GOALS OF P Strategy 1: Products Develop and market at least $20 billion in cumulative sales of â€Å"sustainable innovation products,† which are products with a significantly reduced (;10%) environmental footprint versus previous or alternative products. Strategy 2: Operations Deliver an additional 10% reduction (per unit production) in CO2 emissions, energy consumption, water consumption and disposed waste from P plants, leading to a total reduction over the decade of at least 40%. Strategy 3: Social Responsibility Enable 250 million children to Live, Learn and Thrive. Prevent 80 million days of disease and save 10,000 lives by delivering 2 billion liters of clean water through Children’s Safe Drinking Water program Strategy 4: Employees Engage and equip all P employees to build sustainability thinking and practices into their everyday work. Strategy 5: Stakeholders Shape the future by working transparently with stakeholders to enable continued freedom to innovate in a responsible way. P follows CSR activities in following categories Philanthropy Details Education Over the past 12 years, P has built over 140 schools across rural China, helping tens of thousands of children access better education facilities and an improved learning environment. Through this program, P builds and maintains facilities, trains teachers, and provides health and hygiene education programs. P Hope Schools engage employees on multiple levels, even encouraging participation from employees’ families. It uses cause-related marketing efforts, more than 320,000 retail outlets and 100 million consumers have also supported P Hope Schools. Shiksha (India) Through Shiksha, which means â€Å"education,† P is providing children in 15 cities and 75 villages across India with access to education. This program commits a portion from the sale of P brands toward the education of children in need in India. P India has also launched the Shiksha Ambassador Program, allowing employees to lead a word-of-mouth campaign to raise awareness of the issue. Infant health Pampers/1 Pack = 1 Vaccine campaign helps babies in underdeveloped regions, especially Africa, get off to a healthy start. Each time a consumer purchases a package of Pampers, a vaccination is provided via UNICEF to a child in need. So far, more than 50 million vaccinations have been funded. P hopes to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus through this effort, saving tens of millions of lives. Safe Drinking Water Children’s Safe Drinking Water initiative provides safe drinking water for children in need around the world, with an emphasis in Africa. It provides emergency relief and establishes safe drinking water technology to children and their families. This program is on the ground in developing nations such as Uganda, Kenya and Malawi. Thus far, technology has provided more than a billion liters of clean drinking water. Goal is to provide up to 2 billion liters of water by 2012. Community Welfare Enfance Mal-Logee (France) Program supports families with children living in sub-standard housing. This Live, Learn and Thrive program helps move families from sub-standard living conditions to safe, accessible housing, allowing children to stay with their families rather than being placed in orphanages. T. O. U. C. H. Together for Our Community Here) program has resulted in thousands of hours of voluntary work to help disabled, sick, and underprivileged children in Geneva. CSR In Business Process Waste Management P Gattatico Plant instituted a â€Å"War on Waste† program in January 2008 to reduce the trend in liquid waste due to increasing change-over sanitizations as production lines â€Å"produced to demand. † Gattatico i s a waste â€Å"lead site† for EMEA. At the end of FY 07/08 the site avoided 3,000 tons of disposed liquid waste. By the end of FY 08/09 they plan to reduce by another 2,200 tons. This plan will have over a 50 percent reduction impact on the waste footprint by FY11/12. The key interventions include: recycling wash water back into the process; improved washout procedures; and adding wastewater treatment to reduce the COD levels prior to sewer discharge. Energy saving and Emission reduction P operations pioneered breakthrough technologies to reduce energy consumption. Among the simple, low-cost steps were the following: oUsing water spray instead of electric power to cool water oRecovering waste heat from washout and sanitization water Using high-efficiency long-life lighting Over the year, these changes helped to reduce mean output energy by 6 –10 percent for each site. They are currently being reapplied across other business units. In addition, energy training and energy audits were conducted at all sites this year, making each self-sufficient in delivering sustainability opportunities. There has been a decrease over the past three years in CO2 (Direct) : 2. 9 million metric tons, 2. 9 million metric tons and 2. 8 million metric tons in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively. Also there has been a decrease over the past three years in water consumption: 91 million m3, 90 million m3 and 87 million m3 in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively. Technology/ Information Technology Managing innovation sustainably begins with the use of comprehensive analysis tools. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) generates a complete environmental footprint, extending beyond carbon impact to measure total energy and water use and waste production. Also included are the impacts of consumer use of P products, as well as all emissions into the air, water and land. This detailed review pinpoint areas where our innovation efforts can be most effective. Recycle At manufacturing site for perfume in Avenel, New Jersey, P developed a new process for blending scrap material for reprocessing as an ingredient for potpourri. As a result, annual generation of scrap waste at the site has dropped from 50,000 kg to zero. Each site monitors total suspended particulates, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx). Overall, the total air emissions decreased from last year to 15. 9 thousand metric tons. P continues to find innovative recycling methods to change the trend to be more efficient. CSR: Company Policies Disclosure policy Disclosure controls are systems and processes that help ensure that important information is made available to the right people at the right time. The Company requires every area of the business to maintain disclosure controls to provide adequate assurance that significant information is reported to the appropriate levels of the Company – so that the appropriate business steps can be taken to address any issues, and so that the Company can consider whether the information should be disclosed externally Antitrust Policy and Compliance Guidelines Antitrust laws are designed to prohibit agreements among companies that fix prices, divide markets, limit production or otherwise impede or destroy market forces. P policy is that all employees strictly comply with antitrust laws and the competition and anti-monopoly laws of all countries, states and localities in which they conduct P business. Supervisors and managers are responsible for ensuring that employees under their responsibility are aware of and comply with this policy. Child Labor and Worker Exploitation Policy P does not use child or forced labor in any of our global operations or acilities. P do not tolerate unacceptable worker treatment, such as exploitation of children, physical punishment or abuse, or involuntary servitude. The Company respects employees’ right to freedom of association, third party consultation and collective bargaining where all P by law. P expect our suppliers and contractors with whom P do business to uphold the same standards. HIV/AIDS Policy All employees, including those who are HIV infected or with AIDS, are treated consistently with the Company's Purpose, Values & Principles (PVP) by the Company, their managers and coworkers. P&G treat employees with HIV/AIDS the same as P&G treat those with other serious illnesses. Specifically, an employee who is HIV-infected or with AIDS: have the same employment rights and responsibilities as other employees, has the same eligibility for employee benefits and programs, including medical care and disability coverage, as non-infected employees, is afforded privacy and confidentiality protection consistent with the Company's handling of confidential, medical or other sensitive information, and is provided management support to remain productive Fair Competition P compete strictly on the merits of our products and services and make no attempts to restrain or limit trade. P do not enter into agreements with competitors concerning prices, production volumes, customers or sales territories. P do not disparage the products or services of a competitor. P collect competitive information through proper public or other lawful channels but do not use information that was obtained illegally or improperly by others, including through misrepresentation, invasion of property or privacy, or coercion. Advertising/Promotion Policies Neither deceptive advertising nor questionable promotional activity can ever be justified. These are vital tenets of P dedication to consumers and essential to gaining and keeping their continuing loyalty to our brands. P observes standards of commercial fairness in devising, using and selecting advertising and promotions, so the products succeed based on their own quality and performance and our reputation as a company, rather than by false or deceptive statements or comparisons. AWARDS 1. In December of 2007, P was honored with the highly prestigious Presidential Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership. . International Health Communication Gold Medallion Award, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health — for building market-based relationships that sustain and deliver safe drinking water. 3. Children’s Environmental Health Excellence Award, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for outstanding leadership in protecting children from environmental risk . 4. Global Leadership Award, United Nations Association of the USA — in part, for providing clean water for millions around the world through the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program. Report is prepared using the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) G3 Guidelines. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS (FMCG) FMCG industry primarily deals with the production, distribution and marketing of consumer packaged goods. Some of the prime activities of FMCG industry are selling, marketing, financing, purchasing, etc. The industry also engaged in operations, supply chain, production and general management. With increased competitiveness in the sector, it is critical for an each organization to leverage its social activities in order to gain a competitive advantage. The increased credibility and goodwill earned from the customers and associates is an invaluable intangible asset for the FMCG organization. CSR has now become a part of the corporate strategy thinking. A CSR activity of FMCG companies generally involves improving their processes and brings out change through policy measures. Most of the companies use communication medium and channels partners to showcase their activities and sensitize the population about the issue. Global FMCG companies have presence in more than 50 countries and CSR activities are designed according to the local issues and problems. Business Process: Innovation is the key for P and through innovation company brings efficiency in overall operations. Use of technology to reduce the inventory, waste management and emission reduction issues are some of the activities undertaken. Unilever mainly concentrates on providing more nutritional value to its product and promoting good practices for hygiene. Unilever is also involved in waste management and emission reduction. Company policies: P strongly advocates CSR through its policies and follows the same across all the offices and manufacturing units. Providing right information to consumers, no discrimination of employees on social status or on health issues like AIDS. Unilever mainly controls its supply chain through strict policy measures and make them also socially responsible. Philanthropy Most of the P activities across the globe concentrate on Child welfare. Through Live, Learn and Thrive Program Company provides education, scholarship, safe drinking water to millions of children. Unilever is providing to relief to disaster affected areas. Also wild life preservation and environment conservation initiatives are undertaken. CITIGROUP INC. About the Company: Citigroup Inc. , a global financial services company, provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. The core citizenship priorities of Citi include microfinance, financial education and asset preservation, and the environment. These are the areas in which Citi holds specific expertise and has an opportunity to make a material difference. We will be discussing the CSR activities undertaken by Citi under two major heads – philanthropy and CSR in business practices. Philanthropy Details Financial literacy The Citi Foundation supports programs that provide individuals with access to knowledge and incentives that help them take control of their financial future by making informed decisions, acquiring and preserving financial assets, and responding to major life events that can affect income and expenses. The specific goals of Citi Foundation program are: †¢Invest over $200 million over ten years in financial education; †¢Support programs to help low income families build and preserve assets. Performance highlights for 2008: Total funding till date has been $149 million. In 2008 alone, Citi invested $28 million in 73 countries. The total number of individuals reached through this program by the year 2008 is 22,344,441. Microfinance The Citi Foundation has been supporting the expansion and evolution of the microfinance industry for decades. Its approach is to: †¢Expand outreach to millions more low-income borrowers †¢Build and preserve borrowers’ assets via savings, housing finance, remittances, insurance, and financial education †¢Build global awareness of microfinance as an effective poverty alleviation tool The highlights of the microfinance initiative of Citi are as follows: Citi Foundation sponsored the Microfinance Banana Skins Survey 2009 that describes the risks facing the microfinance industry. Citi launched an innovative micro-savings product called Citibank Pragati in India. It utilizes a biometric ATM, which can identify customers not only on the basis of a card and a pin, but also by their fingerprints, and it displays and speaks to customers in up to six languages. On May 9, 2007, SKS Microfinance and Citibank announced a $40 Million (Rs. 180 crores) financing program involving Citibank India purchasing loans that are originated by SKS. Community Relations Under its community relations initiative, one of the major programs of Citi has been its Office of Homeownership Preservation (OHP). Through this, Citi is working hard to keep distressed homeowners whose mortgages it owns or services in their homes and out of foreclosure. It established its Office of Homeownership Preservation (OHP) in 2007, as the foreclosure crisis began to emerge. This initiative has helped approximately 440,000 homeowners since 2007 through loss mitigation and proactive loan modification. In the year 2008 OHP: †¢Reached out to 88,000 borrowers †¢Participated in 106 borrower outreach program in 72 cities †¢Trained more than 600 counselors from 304 non-profit organisations †¢Worked with 18,240 borrowers to find foreclosure solutions ‘Plant-a-Tree’ initiative In April 2007, Citi adopted a ‘Plant-a-Tree’ initiative to create environmental awareness by encouraging its credit card holders to switch to paperless statements, planting a tree for each conversion made. CSR in business process Diversity Citi strives to be an ‘Employer of Choice’ by: a. Hiring, training, mentoring and championing individuals from diverse backgrounds. b. Offering training to employees on topics such as â€Å"Championing Diversity,† â€Å"Valuing Diversity and Inclusion at Citi† and â€Å"Leadership Through the Lens of Diversity. † It strives to be a ‘Business Partner of Choice’ by a. Maintaining a diverse supplier base. Its supplier diversity team tries to identify and hire qualified business enterprises owned by minorities, women, and people with disabilities, veterans and disabled veterans. Energy Citi has undertaken various initiatives to conserve energy by following certain practices in its business process. It has developed a ‘Green Energy Community Investment Fund’ which supports the installation of solar electric systems on commercial buildings, especially the ones which are under privileged. Also, between the year 2006 and 2008, it centralized its recycling of e-waste operations in New York. More than 0. 1 million devices were recycled between these two years itself. Citi is also looking at increasing the component of purchases with recycled content in its office supplies. In the year 2008, it increased from 33% to 38%. Employees Citi is particularly focused towards its employees. It provides Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) to help employees manage stresses related to job loss, personal counseling etc. It also offers Flexible Work Strategies program through which the employees can decide when they want, from where they want and how they want to work. Technology In the year 2008, Citi launched ‘log off for Savings’ program. This program involves centrally managing PC sleep settings. This initiative would cut down GHG emissions and save costs too. Another of its initiative, Desktop Standardization Initiative (DSI) deployed ‘Thin Client’ technology which uses anywhere from 6 to 50 watts, versus the 150 to 350 watts used by a standard PC. Citi also plans to reduce number of overall datacenters from 52 to 24. In the year 2008, it has come down to 32 datacenters. Citi has also been adopting ‘virtualization’ to reduce the need for physical resources. It is also trying to conserve energy resources through travel substitution by Using Tele- and video conferencing wherever possible. Climate Change On May 8, 2007, Citi announced that it will direct $50 billion over the next 10 years to address global climate change through investments, financings and related activities to support the commercialization and growth of alternative energy and clean technology among the clients and markets it serves, as well as within its own businesses and operations. In 2008, Citi eliminated six million square feet of office space through the Alternative Workplace Strategies program. Environment and Social Risk Management Policy (ESRM) This policy was developed in 2003 to help address environmental and social issues from both a credit risk perspective and a reputation and franchise risk perspective. The CMB ESRM Policy’s core elements are based on the Equator Principles. The ESRM policy assesses the proceeds from the financial transactions into three categories: ? Category A: Use of proceeds is expected to have a significant adverse impact on society and/or environment. Category B: Use of the proceeds is expected to have limited adverse impact on society and/or environment. ?Category C: Use of proceeds is expected to have minimal adverse impacts. Signatory initiatives Equator Principles In adopting the Equator Principles, Citi agreed to provide loans only to those projects whose borrowers can demonstrate their ability and willingness to co mply with comprehensive processes aimed at ensuring that projects are developed in a socially responsible manner and according to sound environmental management practices. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Citi uses Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Sustainability Guidelines in Citi’s 2008 Citizenship Report. It is a self-declaring a â€Å"B† Application level. The carbon Principles Through its commitment towards the Carbon Principles, Citi has sworn in to †¢Encourage investments in cost effective demand reduction to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions. †¢Encourage clients to invest in cost effective renewable sources of energy and distributed technologies. Assess and reflect the risks in the financing of certain fossil fuel generation in the light of the need to substantially reduce greenhouse gas pollution through its Enhanced Due Diligence process. On September 14, 2009, Citi announced that it has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI) for the ninth consecutive year, affirming Citi's position as a global sustainability leader. Associations Citi has many NGO partners: Friends of the Earth (U. S. ), EcoLogic Finance, Forest Trends, Rainforest Action Network, Wildlife Habitat Council, World Wildlife Fund etc. Awards Citizenship Best Corporate Citizen, Second Place in Foreign Company Category Common Wealth Magazine, Taiwan Best Bank for Corporate Social Responsibility The Bank of the Year Competition, Hungary Honorable Mention for Best CSR Award Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance Diversity 100% Corporate Equality Index Human Rights Campaign (United States) – fifth time on the list Employees Best Flexible Work Practices Hong Kong HR Awards 2008 The City Foundation The Citi Foundation is committed to the economic empowerment of individuals and families, particularly those in need, in the communities where it works so that they can improve their standard of living. Citi is particularly interested in supporting program innovations in the following priority focus areas: Microfinance: Help individuals and families improve their lives through economic self-sufficiency and reduce financial vulnerability Small and Growing Businesses: To create employment opportunities and support broad economic growth Education programs: To help improve quality and access to primary and secondary education in Citi markets internationally, and in the United States programs that increase the number of low-income and first-generation students who enroll in postsecondary education and earn a degree Financial Education and Asset Building: To help individuals and families develop the knowledge they need to achieve financial stability HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a public limited company incorporated in England and Wales in 1990, and headquartered in London since 1993. As of 2009, it is both the world's largest banking group and the world's 6th largest company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine. HSBC has an enormous operational base in Asia and significant lending, investment, and insurance activities around the world. The company has a global reach and financial fundamentals matched by few other banking or financial multinationals CSR at HSBC The focus of HSBC’s work on environmental issues primarily addresses the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and natural resources, including energy, water management, waste and biodiversity. The social initiatives they prioritise include making financial services available more widely and providing access to education. HSBC believe this is the best way to help communities build capacity, financial independence and long-term prosperity. Sustainability at HSBC is overseen by the Corporate Sustainability Committee of the HSBC Holdings Board. The Corporate Sustainability Committee is responsible for advising the HSBC Holdings Board, committees of the Board and executive management on sustainability policies, including environmental, social and ethical issues. Focus Area The main focus of HSBC’s commitments is on two main themes – education and the environment. HSBC believes that we are dependent upon the skills of future generations; if we do not prepare them adequately, we limit our future potential. Access to education can be life changing and helps to equalise opportunity. It is also a prerequisite for economic growth and the development of stable societies. Their educational support focuses on: †¢Disadvantaged children †¢Financial and business literacy †¢Environmental education and understanding They equally believe that the needs of today’s society should not be fulfilled at the expense of future generations. It believes that we are dependent upon the state of the environment, and if we degrade it, we damage our future prospects. Our environmental support focuses on: †¢Climate change †¢Freshwater (e. g. rivers) †¢Biodiversity (plants, forests and animals) Global Education Programmes Opportunities for disadvantaged children – Future First The flagship programme, Future First, has taken on the challenge of helping homeless children, orphans and children in care around the world. For this they are working in partnership with the charity SOS Children’s Villages, among others, with the shared aim to provide access to education and life skills training. This helps the children to grow in confidence and, in time, to make their own contribution to society. Our presence in over 80 countries and territories presents us with a large network of people and resources capable of making a significant difference to these children’s lives. Rural Children Programme China has seen impressive economic growth over the last two decades but a vast disparity remains between the prosperity of rural and urban regions. To help support the ongoing success of the country, HSBC has identified a need to build up the educational infrastructure in rural areas where 95 per cent of primary schools are located. HSBC’s Rural Children Programme aims to improve facilities and provide training to teachers in curriculum design, computer-aided teaching, nutrition and counselling to help support a modern and rounded education for rural children. Financial Literacy Programme – JA More than Money As household debt rises throughout many developed countries and the world faces economic uncertainty, gaining an early understanding of how to create and manage a sustainable income is ever more important for individuals and for society as a whole. HSBC launched JA More than Moneyâ„ ¢ in 2007 in partnership with Junior Achievement Worldwide ®. HSBC colleagues are involved in classroom activities where they draw on their own skills and experience to teach children about earning, spending, sharing and saving money. Promoting environmental education: Eco – Schools Climate Initiative The HSBC Eco-Schools Climate Initiative is run by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and with HSBC’s support will be able to expand the programme across the world. The programme involves a tried and tested seven step processes to engage the entire population of the school in practical activities to improve their local environment. Through these seven steps, students, parents, teachers and the wider community are encouraged to take a more active role in environmental decision making. Investing in the Environment Protecting the environment is central to HSBC’s sustainability strategy as a carbon neutral organization. They focus on reducing the footprint of their own operations and even encourage their clients and suppliers to do the same. They also partner with leading environmental organizations to achieve shared goals. The Climate Group works with corporate and government leaders in some of the world’s cities to tackle climate change. Participation in the HSBC Climate Partnership has enabled the launch of new offices and recruitment of new members in Beijing, Hong Kong and Delhi plus the launch of the UK Together campaign, helping households save carbon dioxide by providing cheap and easy ways for consumers to reduce their carbon footprint. The HSBC Climate Partnership has helped WWF to support 33 nature reserves in China to tackle increased flooding, reduce pollution and safeguard endangered species in the central and lower Yangtze River. The HSBC Climate Partnership makes up around 80% of HSBC’s overall investment in the environment. It is complemented by a number of local programmes, many of which allow its employees the opportunity to engage in and understand conserving their local environment. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS (BANKING) Banks act as financial intermediaries in our society: they price and value financial assets, they monitor borrowers, they manage financial risks and they organize the payment system. By performing these functions, banks have a huge impact on society. They usually require firms and households to adopt certain behaviour in order to increase the chances that these lenders will pay interest and amortizations. As such, they also may affect sustainable development. Socially responsible banking is becoming a well-established notion in the financial services industry. Financial institutions are coming round to the idea that there is more to invest than just to check the figures. In the US, every one out of eight dollars invested is subject to some social or ethical screen. In most countries, private households have the opportunity to save or invest their money not only on the basis of financial rewards, but also in the face of the nonmonetary value of savings and investments. In many OECD countries, specialized banks offer savings accounts to the public while promising that the savings will be used to finance environmentally sound projects or for operations of entrepreneurs who find it hard to get access to finance from institutions that are more conventional. Women and minorities have been targeted specifically in this respect in the US based on so-called community investments. In more than 40 countries – including several developing countries like Brazil and South-Africa – people can put their savings in socially responsible investment funds that in some way or another check for corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the firms in which they invest. Banks increasingly are involved with financing economic activity that aims at sustainable development and offer microcredit to the poor and deprived. Some of the important CSR initiatives taken by various banks are: Reporting Standards Non-financial reporting is a very popular instrument in the banking sector and this is a partial confirmation of CSR’s maturity of the sector. Banks have developed their own reports and use the ‘Global Reporting Initiative’ (GRI) reporting framework. Financial Literacy With growing business banks and other financial institutions have started realizing of creating awareness about financial planning. To address this issue banks have started with financial literacy programs at various levels. Like HSBC has launched JA More than Moneyâ„ ¢ program to educate children on financial planning while on the other hand Citi has various programs targeting adults for the financial literacy. Climate Change and Environment Protection Banking Industry has shown concerns towards changing climatic conditions. Although banks have less impact on the natural environment than, say, the chemical or mining industry, their relatively low impact on environmental sustainability is more than compensated for by their impact on society as a whole. Most of the initiatives are towards reducing the total CO2 emitted not only by them but also by their stake holders forming part of the value chain. Some of the important steps are like commitment of USD50 billion by Citi towards climate control investments, HSBC’s eco-school climate initiative to provide education on climate conservation awareness. Energy Banks are encouraging investments in green energy. The encouragement is mainly in terms of funds and other financial assistance specifically allocated for installation of green energy sources. Recycling of waste and use of recyclable supplies is been done at the institution level by majority of the banks. Vodafone Vodafone is a British mobile network operator, with its headquarters in Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover, and has a market value of about ? 75 billion (August 2008). Vodafone currently has operations in 31 countries and partner networks in a further 40 countries. Vision : To be world’s mobile communications leader, enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals, businesses and communities be more connected in a mobile world. Vodafone’s latest Corporate Responsibility Report It highlights how the company's expansion in emerging markets is facilitating economic development by increasing access to communications. The rapid expansion of the network means one of Vodafone's biggest issues is how to control greenhouse gas emissions. To address this Vodafone recently announced a target to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020 in its established markets. This year's report outlines how the company aims to achieve this ambitious goal. Vodafone is also exploring how its products and services can help other industries cut their carbon footprint, and is increasing its focus on managing climate impacts in the supply chain. Vodafone's social and environmental performance in 2008/09 is reported in its signature ‘We said, We have, We will' format. CSR in business process Decreased like-for-like carbon emissions by 4. 7% In 2008/09, company’s total CO2 emissions was1. 31 million tonnes, 4. 7% lower than last year despite an increase in energy use. The carbon intensity of the Group’s energy consumption has decreased due to our increased use of green tariff energy – energy generated from renewable sources. This Group reduction target applies to our entire local operating companies that active for a full year in 2006/07; and to their CO2 emissions from all energy ources except business flights and other greenhouse gases. Increased the number of sites powerd by on-site renewable energy by 7. 5% acro ss the Group Vodafone now has 429 base stations powered by on-site renewable energy in eight countries, Diesel is often used to power sites that are not connected to the electricity grid, as well as being used in back-up generators in case of power failure. In 2008/09, diesel use accounted for 6. 3% of our total CO2 emissions from network energy use across the Group. This proportion is higher in our Indian operations. Collected 1. 82 million handsets for reuse and recycling Vodafone has exceeded our target to collect 1. 5 million handsets during 2008/09. Vodafone operating companies continued their efforts to collect handsets for recycling, collecting approximately half a million more handsets than last year – representing a 37% increase. Begun a pilot project to assess capability for recycling e-waste in Mumbai In 2008/09, Vodafone commenced an end-of-life assessment of mobiles in India, particularly in Mumbai, with The Environment Resources Institute. The study aims to assess current practices and devise strategies to improve end-of-life management of mobile phones. Supply chain Vodafone expect all our suppliers to maintain high ethical, environmental and labour standards, and Vodafone work with them to build their CR capability. Our Code of Ethical Purchasing (CEP) sets out our requirements and Vodafone assess new and existing suppliers for compliance with the CEP. Vodafone also engage in industry partnerships to improve CR standards throughout the supply chain for the ICT sector as a whole. Diversity in workforce The strategy, launched in April 2008, aims to ensure that Vodafone’s workforce reflects its diverse customer base and that the company has an inclusive working environment that embraces the benefits diversity brings. Implementation of the strategy is overseen by a global steering committee. The initial focus is on gender and nationality diversity. In 2008/09, 13% of our most senior managers – including three operating company CEOs were female. A total of 23 nationalities were represented in top management bands, an increase on 2007/08. Introduced a new health and safety strategy In February 2009, Vodafone developed a three-year strategic plan to prevent fatalities and ensure effective implementation of our product safety policy. To achieve this, Vodafone will introduce initiatives to promote leadership in health, safety extend our online management and reporting systems, and improve health and safety governance and risk management. Consumer Issues Vodafone's reputation depends on earning the trust of its customers. Their loyalty is vital to the long-term success of our business. This section covers a range of issues that Vodafone believe play an important part in maintaining customer trust. Important consumer issues include the clarity of our pricing, the responsibility of our marketing material, the way Vodafone handle customer privacy and our measures to protect customers from inappropriate content, contact and commercialism. Vodafone also address other consumer issues such as responsible mobile phone use, driving safety and mobile theft. Safety from RF & EMF Developed employee awareness training and awareness initiatives on RF fields Vodafone has made significant investment in e-learning programs, induction briefings and face-to-face training to raise awareness among relevant employees in all our local operating companies to enable them to fulfill their vital role in communicating our approach to RF fields. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has issued guidelines on levels of exposure to RF fields. Vodafone’s policy on Health and Safety of RF Fields requires that all our base stations – and the mobile phones Vodafone sell – comply with ICNIRP guidelines. In fact, RF field exposure from our base stations is typically hundreds, if not thousands, of times below the limits set by the guidelines. Mobile for blind and deaf people Vodafone is currently focusing on making its services easier to use for customers who are: †¢Blind or visually impaired †¢Deaf or hard of hearing †¢Elderly or have special healthcare needs. This text-to-speech software – enabling blind and visually impaired customers to use text messages – is an updated version of Mobile Speak. Health Service vial mobile An mHealth services pre-feasibility study in India. A total of ? 450,598 was provided by the Fund towards these initiatives at 31 March 2009. In 2008/09, Vodafone fostered continued developments in mHealth by partnering with and investing in t+medical, the leading provider of mobile phonebased technology used to transfer patient biometric data. t+Medical’s innovative technology enables patients with chronic diseases to record details about their condition and treatment using their mobile phones. The information is quickly and easily relayed to nurses who can monitor the data and take action if Necessary. Corporate Governance The Board of the Company is committed to high standards of corporate governance, which it considers are critical to business integrity and to maintaining investors’ trust in the Company. The Group expects all its directors and employees to act with honesty, integrity and fairness. The Group will strive to act in accordance with the laws and customs of the countries in which it operates; adopt proper standards of business practice and procedure; operate with integrity; and observe and respect the culture of every country in which it does business. Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2008 65 Awards During the year, Vodafone’s 2007 CR report won the main accolade of the Corporate Register Reporting Awards for the best report and was commended by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (â€Å"ACCA†) for the best isclosure in Tax and Public Policy. Vodafone is included in the FTSE4Good and Dow Jones Sustainability Index and rated fifth in the Global Account Ab ility Rating. The Vodafone Group Foundation The Vodafone Group Foundation is a UK registered Charity established by Vodafone Group Plc in 2002. It has invested over ? 100 million in projects since its creation and currently receives ? 24 million per annum from the Vodafone Group Plc which it distributes between projects globally and its unique global footprint of 23 Vodafone Foundations. Vodafone is committed to making a difference in the communities in which it operates. The Vodafone Group Foundation has invested over ? 00 million in projects since its creation in 2002 concentrating on disaster relief, helping disadvantaged children via sport and music initiatives and specific projects across Vodafone's 23 local Foundations worldwide. Philanthropy Details The Vodafone Group Foundation has donated ? 10m to the United Nations Foundation over five years, part of which has been made available to the Measles Initiative for Immunization programs. As a second phase of their support of the se activities, VGF and the UN Foundation have now begun work with WHO on a new program to use technology to improve disease surveillance, a critical aspect of fighting not only measles but many other diseases. The Vodafone Group Foundation partnership is the largest financial commitment made by any corporation to the UN Foundation. Philanthropy in India Vodafone Group Plc has established the Vodafone India Foundation, with an initial commitment of $10 million. This step signifies a further landmark in the development of Vodafone’s presence in India and confirms the Group's commitment to invest socially in the communities where it operates. This activity will be supported by The Vodafone Group Foundation which has developed a unique network of 23 Foundations around the world during the last five years. Compliance with GRI guidelines Vodafone has benchmarked its CR reporting against the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines. The company assess its application of the GRI reporting framework to be at level B+. Independent assurance report to Vodafone KPMG LLP was engaged by Vodafone Group Services Limited to provide assurance over selected aspects of the Vodafone Group plc 2008/09 Corporate Responsibility Report. Conclusion CSR activities are followed worgwide but their ways of approach are different depending upon company and their nature of business. CSR projects are frequently carried out as a cooperative effort; involving external partners can enhance the success and value of the project, and projects can benefit from the experience of local organizations or stakeholders. Companies are faced with the challenge of expanding their reporting to include the social and ecological effects of their business activities. This involves, in particular, maintaining international standards and norms with respect to CSR topics. More and more, however, even socially relevant CSR projects and their effects are being carefully scrutinized. It is no longer enough simply to assert that a project is doing something positive for society The goal is to develop a CSR strategy that addresses the most urgent social needs on the local agenda, while avoiding risks and identifying new opportunities to achieve corporate objectives. In a country with widespread poverty, for example, adapting a company’s products to the resources of low-income consumers can serve a social purpose and at the same time help the company gain access to new customer groups. Providing basic and further training ensures a well trained labor force and alleviates a shortage of qualified workers. Well planned CSR activities can have the immediate effect of helping a company’s business run more smoothly while also ensuring the long-term availability of the workers and resources that are necessary for corporate success. Rather than following fleeting trends or giving in to pressure from NGOs, companies need to integrate sustainable CSR activities into their everyday routine so that they gradually become second nature. Another option is to outsource CSR projects or transfer them to partners with greater expertise and experience in the relevant area. Particularly when projects are too far removed from a company’s core business, it is wise to assign responsibility for them to competent entities or independent structures. CSR projects can only survive if they are integrated into a company’s core business over the long term. It is not simply a matter of developing a positive reputation, but also of shaping sustainable business processes. It is therefore important to review the effectiveness of projects on a regular basis. Accordingly, (CSR) management is responsible for introducing CSR projects that have been successfully launched to the relevant departments and making them part of the company’s core business as independent products and processes. In purchasing, certain social guidelines should be the norm, and environmental standards should be the norm in the area of development. References www. csridentity. com www. csrwire. com www. unilever. com www. citygroupinc. com www. hsbc. com www. pg-india. com www. vodafone. co †¢Sustainibility report of all five companies