Erp Implementation At Lupin Information Technology Essay

Erp Implementation At Lupin Information Technology Essay Lupin is a transnational pharmaceutical company producing an extensive range of quality specific generic and branded formulations and APIs in more than 70 countries like India, USA, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Philippines, with its headquarters located in Mumbai. Lupin was found in the year 1968 by Dr. Desh Bandhu Gupta who had the vision to fight life threatening infectious diseases and manufacture drugs which had superior quality. His dream has steered Lupin to be a part of Indias top 5 pharmaceutical companies. Lupins success story begins with the manufacture of tuberculosis drugs followed by a range of intermediaries and APIs and it also strengthened its position by making innumerable formulations. Financial Performance The following statistics about Lupin have been impacted by the recent changes in its business integration processes. In FY 2010, net sales grew by 26% to INR 47,405 million up from INR 37,759 the previous year and net profits grew at 36% to INR 6,816 million compared to INR 5,015 million in FY 2009 Manufacturing facilities Lupin has formulation plants at 5 different locations namely Aurangabad, Jammu, Mandideep, Goa and Indore and API plants at Ankaleshwar, Mandideep, Tarapur and Vadodara. Its ultimate aim is to deliver quality and scale, with successful integration of their capabilities and capacities to deliver a wide product portfolio that caters to the varied needs of diverse markets. Precisely committed to quality, safety and the environment, most of their manufacturing facilities have been inspected and approved by the US FDA and UK MHRA, WHO, Australian TGA and Japans MHLW. RD Research will continue to be the main driver for Lupins success. Lupin has a state of art Research and development centre at Pune, Maharashtra. It is a 19 acre land with more than 320 scientists working there. Lupin has 145 patents filed and 53 patents granted worldwide. BACKGROUND BEFORE ERP IMPLEMENTATION As we see above, with extensive manufacturing facilities and products coming in mainly from research, to sustain its position in the market it was essential for Lupin to integrate its manufacturing units by enhanced connectivity between them. In the year 2002, it had operations spread across 5 plants and more than 30 depots to manage. They were at this time using the FoxPro based systems. This system would not work online and the key issue with it was it used to take almost 10 days to get the month end sales figure compiled together and presented to the authorities. With this key problem in the backdrop, Lupin felt the need to adopt and implement an ERP system for its operations. At this point, Lupin initially went for a localized ERP version which was specific for every location and as per location specific requirements. But the problem here was decentralization. Lack of cohesion hampered the successful implementation of this. Thus a ERP software which would help Lupin set up, implement, monitor and evaluate business processes and then make it possible to integrate that information so that management may take a review of efficiencies was required. TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTATIONS OF VARIOUS ERPs AT LUPIN IMPLEMENTATION OF SAP ERP Impact SAP ERP package has benefitted LUPIN by streamlining business processes increasing accessibility and connectivity. From the time of implementation, Lupin has not required any additional staff in the service areas like accounting, IT, finance and HR. The 4 main modules, namely materials, production and quality management, have been adapted into the system. After implementation the company has doubled in size but this was possible with the same number of people. It also improved ease of access to available information. For instance, now even a sales manager has access to real time data with respect to the inventory levels which was not possible earlier. Online connectivity has improved the online accounting system considerably. It has also enhanced the inventory tracking and helped in materials planning as now the required raw materials can be ordered online, resulting in cost saving to a large extent. Implementation Problems and its overcoming Lupin had to overcome certain hurdles for the successful implementation of this ERP package. Some of these included user training including basics such as the mere operation of a computer; master data supervision, day to day trouble shooting and configuring new business processes coming into the system as per requirements. All these problems were mainly done by several rounds of user training, interaction, discussions which was mainly done by IBM. Also the 1st problem faced for implementation included to get all the disjoined systems connected online. This was done by establishing a complete VSAT network and Lotus workflows. This implementation was done by IBM and the initial investment including up gradation of network, hardware installations and cost of implementation cost Lupin around Cr.15. NEED FOR MORE ADVANCED AND SPECIFIC ERP MODULES Between the years 2003 and 2008, Lupin had successfully got US FDA approvals for plants in 5 places across India. These approvals specified stringent quality levels which needed to be measured and tracked daily. Sales and order management, travel and expense management and environmental and safety compliance management also become more and more important. It had started operations in Japan, South Africa, Australia, Germany and others through acquisitions. Regulatory compliance across these different countries needed to be managed. Accounting and financial reporting compliance was also a requirement. It had started its own research centre in Pune which required extensive information protection and security. Management of investigator sites, proper documentation, site agreements and contracts management were some other problems faced by the company. Increasing end-user productivity, product design cost estimations, shared services for HR, talent retention and attraction, procurement were some other business need faced. SOLUTIONS There were 4 major technology changes that were made to overcome a majority of these problems. Upgradation of existing SAP software to SAP ERP 6.0 Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) from LabWare Quality Management System Enterprise version from Novatek International Language Independent Proof Reader Enterprise version from Novatek International Lupin has been successful in gaining a competitive advantage by using enterprise resource planning systems in combination with its existing systems. The major reason for this success lies in the fact that it decided to choose an ERP vendor which was familiar with the pharmaceutical industry and this gave it the advantage of financial savings and increased efficiencies. ERP IMPLEMENTATION SAP ERP 6.0 BUSINESS CHALLENGE ERP 6.0 ENHANCEMENT IMPACT Support growth plan Service in new therapy areas and business segments Accounting and Financial report Compliance: Enhanced contract accounting and collections Automated allocations and balancing by multiple dimensions Ability to operate a HR shared service center New general ledger for consolidated financial statements Better management of internal controls of 8 manufacturing units across the globe Contract Accounting with almost 10 contractors Advanced financial supply chain management Universal work lists for global operations Time management HR administrator Ensure quality compliance in products Ability to import rules regulations from third party providers Support for OSHA Monitoring dangerous material Increased support to: Occupational health Waste management Industrial hygiene Hazardous material management These factors are of utmost importance for a pharmaceutical company Sustain position of Global market leader in several drugs like cardiovascular anti-tuberculosis Better planning Better forecasting tools Investment tracking Superior product costing module Enables express Planning Business consolidations Product design cost estimate Important from global operations point of view Improve operational efficiencies in core business processes while bringing down interim costs Sales Order Management Better order-entry process Support to internet sales Price configurations Travel Expense management Speedy expense reporting Better travel planning Order quotation management Automated credit card feeds Integrated mileage calculation Mobile travel expense Integration with travel agency The implementation was done by a multi disciplinary core team from Lupin in partnership with Bristlecone, a company which specializes in SAP supply chain ERP implementation. Increasing end user productivity New application interfaces Updated role-based access Greater use of adobe interactive forms Self-serviced employees, managers Employee interaction center Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) from LabWare Need Patent of new drugs is a very integral part of pharmaceutical companies. Also at Lupin, documentation for intellectual property management was not organized and the IP registration rules were becoming more and more stringent. Another problem faced at Lupin was that research labs were treated as a separate part of the business. As the pharmaceutical industry has gradually progressed, it has been seen that research laboratories have become an integral part if the company want sustainable growth. The key problem here was that it was difficult to communicate RD with other business systems like MRP and Process Control System. WHY LabWare LIMS Can be integrated with SAP ERP The core code is separated from the configuration and thus allows LIMS systems to be implemented with ease. Easy Upgradation Scalable architecture for centralized operations at Lupin Multi lingual support which allows application across Lupins operation globally High level of security required by research laboratories in the pharmaceutical sector Compatible with any browser including Mozilla FireFox operated in Lupin LIMS Implementation Support for LUPIN Templates were designed in accordance with the requirements of Lupin as decided by the core team. Some of the important templates designed were stability testing, environment monitoring and QA/QC manufacturing. The following chart gives an indication of the various modules of LIMS used by LUPIN Main Business System(s) Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) Project Management (PM) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Testing/Stability/Shelf-Life Please refer appendix 1 for snapshots of stability and shelf life testing using LIMS Please refer appendix 2 for snapshot of a summary report of sample testing prepared by LIMS Impact: The benefit seen after the implementation of LIMS was that today when Lupin develops a new product, LIMS is used to; Test the new prototype product. Scale up manufacturing of the product Release to the market Testing defective samples after production. Environment monitoring Storage of historical research data Full sample tracking User certification Instrument and calibration management Standards reagents management Full auditing Report and sample scheduling Bar coding Please refer appendix 3 to get detailed understanding of how modules work, and information flow within the system using LIMS Quality Management System Enterprise version from Novatek International Need: Risk Reduction Integration to Key Systems Reporting: Documentation Flexibility Industry Best Practices Document Management Application Modules: SOPs, policies, work instructions Batch records Certificates of Analysis (COAs) Regulatory submissions Regulatory correspondence CAPA objective evidence Documentation related to change control Validation documentation Manuals, instructions Employee training and qualification records Project documentation Investigation documents, photographs, etc. Contractor batch records, quality records Audit reports and follow-ups Impact: Allows compliance with industry standards like 21 CFR Part 11, 21 CFR Part 210, 211, and ISO Consistent with FDA Compatible with ERP Maintenance of quality across different plants Reduce re-works scrap cost Reduce cycle time and process down time By implementing this software, Lupin has been able to manage audits like GMP/GLP/GCP, Clinical support audits, internal quality audits, site audits, pre-clinical studies etc. Language Independent Proof Reader Enterprise version from Novatek International This software is basically related to Automatic packaging. It has an Analyzer which proof reads insets, cartons and other printed material. It is language indifferent and hence most suitable for Lupin packaging as Lupin is a supplier of drugs across the globe. This software allows to spot and correct not only discrepancies between characters but also changes in color and pictures. This is very important for any drug packaging as it has life threatening outcomes. SOLUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE Lupin plans to implement more applications like the Human resources, to control attrition rates and developing the internal organizational structure. ERP 6.0 has been successful in bringing together core business components. Lupin now plans to upgrade to SAP Netweaver 7.0 and also Business Intelligence for a more extensive and specific approach to pharmaceutical operations. Personally, I believe the company should aim at integrating their system with the customers i.e. contract manufacturers to enhance their supply chain further. Bandwidth and infrastructure are the two biggest setbacks that Lupin is currently facing and needs to improve upon. APPENDIX Appendix 1 LIMS from LabWare Module: Testing Stability of a product (Various graphs for pH testing have been produced) Appendix 2 Snapshot of LIMS showing a summary report of a sample produced Appendix 3 Modules used in LIMS along with their information flow throughout the system

Knights of the Golden Circle Essay -- American History, Bickley, Valla

In 1854, a medical practitioner of ambiguous credentials, George W. L. Bickley, founded the Knights of the Golden Circle. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Golden Circle was complete with passwords, quasi-Masonic rituals, secret signs and symbols. The Knights of the Golden Circle (later called the Order of the American Knights and, by February 1864, the Sons of Liberty) (Bruce Tap, Over Lincoln Shoulder, 73) quickly hatched lodges throughout Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. To identify themselves, members wore the head of Liberty cut out from the old-style copper pennies. (Tap, 74) Affectionately, their enemies called them Copperheads, a reference to the venomous snake. Although there were many, it is arguable that the antiwar Copperheads rallied the most passionate around one leader, Clement Vallandigham. Born on July 29th, 1820 in New Lisbon, Ohio, Vallandigham was a brilliant individual, whose young mind at age two knew the alphabet, at twelve, spoke Greek and Latin, and who entered Jefferson College in Philadelphia at the age of seventeen. At nineteen, Clement Vallandigham became principle at Union Academy in Maryland, and at twenty was editor of an extremist Democratic newspaper. (Tap, 6) Later in life, Vallandigham gained the reputation in Ohio as an unbeatable, eccentric, defense attorney. After a term as governor of Ohio, Vallandigham was elected to congress with the platform of anti-Abolitionist Democrat, advocating Confederate Independence and denouncing emancipation, but was defeated in 1862. (Chandra Manning, What This Cruel War Was Over, 99) In his last speech before Congress, Vallandigham urged his countrymen to stop fighting. (Roger L. Ranson, The Confederate States of America: What Mi... ...nited States. (Ranson, 160) Lincoln’s reputation however won by over 400,000 popular votes and easily confirmed an electoral majority. Several states now allowed their soldier citizens to cast a ballot, a first in United States history. Soldiers in the army gave Lincoln over than 70% of their votes. (Manning, 148) Meanwhile, as the list of dead and wounded hit northern newspapers, Vallandigham returned from Canadian exile to attend a convention condemning this â€Å"unnecessary war† and adopting resolutions in favor of an â€Å"immediate cessation of hostilities† and a negotiated peace. (Manning, 149) Once again up to his old tricks, Vallandigham would later disguise himself by stuffing a pillow under his shirt and donning a false mustache just in time to denounce Lincoln publically in the 1864 presidential election, where at which Lincoln will ignore him. (Dickson, 316) Knights of the Golden Circle Essay -- American History, Bickley, Valla In 1854, a medical practitioner of ambiguous credentials, George W. L. Bickley, founded the Knights of the Golden Circle. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Golden Circle was complete with passwords, quasi-Masonic rituals, secret signs and symbols. The Knights of the Golden Circle (later called the Order of the American Knights and, by February 1864, the Sons of Liberty) (Bruce Tap, Over Lincoln Shoulder, 73) quickly hatched lodges throughout Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. To identify themselves, members wore the head of Liberty cut out from the old-style copper pennies. (Tap, 74) Affectionately, their enemies called them Copperheads, a reference to the venomous snake. Although there were many, it is arguable that the antiwar Copperheads rallied the most passionate around one leader, Clement Vallandigham. Born on July 29th, 1820 in New Lisbon, Ohio, Vallandigham was a brilliant individual, whose young mind at age two knew the alphabet, at twelve, spoke Greek and Latin, and who entered Jefferson College in Philadelphia at the age of seventeen. At nineteen, Clement Vallandigham became principle at Union Academy in Maryland, and at twenty was editor of an extremist Democratic newspaper. (Tap, 6) Later in life, Vallandigham gained the reputation in Ohio as an unbeatable, eccentric, defense attorney. After a term as governor of Ohio, Vallandigham was elected to congress with the platform of anti-Abolitionist Democrat, advocating Confederate Independence and denouncing emancipation, but was defeated in 1862. (Chandra Manning, What This Cruel War Was Over, 99) In his last speech before Congress, Vallandigham urged his countrymen to stop fighting. (Roger L. Ranson, The Confederate States of America: What Mi... ...nited States. (Ranson, 160) Lincoln’s reputation however won by over 400,000 popular votes and easily confirmed an electoral majority. Several states now allowed their soldier citizens to cast a ballot, a first in United States history. Soldiers in the army gave Lincoln over than 70% of their votes. (Manning, 148) Meanwhile, as the list of dead and wounded hit northern newspapers, Vallandigham returned from Canadian exile to attend a convention condemning this â€Å"unnecessary war† and adopting resolutions in favor of an â€Å"immediate cessation of hostilities† and a negotiated peace. (Manning, 149) Once again up to his old tricks, Vallandigham would later disguise himself by stuffing a pillow under his shirt and donning a false mustache just in time to denounce Lincoln publically in the 1864 presidential election, where at which Lincoln will ignore him. (Dickson, 316)

Accounting standards and principles Essay

In 1973, international accounting standards committee issued international accounting standards (IAS) which lasted till 2000 when they were replaced by IFRS. These are standard based principles, accounting practices guidelines, interpretations and framework adopted by the (IASB) (Epstein & Jermakowicz, 2010). In 2001, IASC was replaces by IASB which was mandated in setting international accounting standards. The objective of IFRS is to make companies financial statements to reflect truth and fair view of companies’ affairs as at particular date (Epstein & Jermakowicz, 2010). Generally accepted accounting standards are principles and accounting guidelines recognized by a given territory, jurisdiction or most countries especially the United States to supplement the role and objectives of IFRS. Financial statements should be presented, summarized and recorded based on particular generally convections, rules, ethics and standards in a certain jurisdiction i. e. GAAP. Formulation of GAAP and IFRS For consistency and fairness in financial statements which detail the performance of a company, certain rules and standards must apply. See more: Satirical elements in the adventure of Huckleberry Finn essay These are commonly referred to as â€Å"generally accepted† and all accounting professionals apply them as appropriate and ethical. Failure to apply them in accounting field result to agreed penalty by either body governing the practice or the territory restraining unethical practices to professionals. Various committees and bodies are put in places as setters which formulate and develop these accounting standards. International Financial reporting standards are developed and formulated by International Accounting Standards Board while Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are formulated by local financial reporting standards board. In the United States, the establishment and development are influenced by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) (Miller & Bahnson, 2002). All these bodies and committees have different roles and objectives which are agreed upon on influence to different accounting sectors profession generally accepted principles. International financial reporting standards are based in International Accounting Standards which are accepted globally. ISA changed its operations in 2000 and IFRS were added to cope with the changing dynamics of global accounting profession. Through discussions, contributions and comparison agreements, different bodies through their representatives contribute to the principles developed by IASB. Complete responsibility in all technical matters that include; preparation and issuing of international financial reporting standards, are based on the selected IASB (ISCF& IASB, 2007). Thus, the efforts of IASB involves, setting standards, formulating process of adopting standards ensuring the needs of different countries in the globalizing accounting profession (Mwaura & Nyaboga, n. d). Difference between GAAP and IFRS GAAP and IFRS have difference in their jurisdiction of usage, enforcement and the way these standards are formulated. International financial reporting standards are globally recognized accounting standards, which are set by IASC from 1973 to 2001 and from 2001 by IASB. GAAP are accounting standards recognized as â€Å"generally accepted† by the United States. In summarizing, recording and presenting accounting information within a nation, the process is dictated by rules and convection of GAAP in the United States. International accounting standard board does not directly set or control provisions of rules and convections adopted by GAAP. Standards set by this powerful board are based from agreements and suggestions from various local accounting boards e. g. Kenya accounting board (KAS). Various nations will try to incorporate the set standards within the GAAP in their country. FASB in America has a mandate to set accounting rules, convection and standards that are later adopted by the US GAAP (Mwaura & Nyaboga, n. d). This means that the role of formulating and developing the rules and standards principally lie to the local accounting boards. Various nations have made it compulsory for their accounting practice to adopt IFRS rather than developing jurisdiction GAAP (Mwaura & Nyaboga, n. d). In addition, differences on the implementation and formulation exist in financial presentation between GAAP and IFRS. These differences are commonly in consolidation, statement of income format, inventory valuation and recognition, earning per share calculations and development cost recognition in financial statement. For example, in United States, consolidated financial statements are prepared on risk and reward models while international financial reporting standards prefers control based model where consolidation is done on the percentage of control and influence in subsidiaries and associates (Forgeas, 2008). Risks and rewards is more complicated since risk are subjective valued. Extraordinary items such as depreciation and amortization are included in the income statements under IFRS and in the US GAAP are accounted for after net income. This means extraordinary expenses are not taken to contribute net profits (Forgeas, 2008). Under the US GAAP, companies have option to use either LIFO OR FIFO methods of inventory valuation while in IFRS, LIFO method which is historical valuation method is recommended. When computing for earning per share under IFRS average on interims calculations are not included whereas in the US GAAP, computation requires that individual interim increase in shares be done averagely (Forgeas, 2008). Capitalization on development expenditure is done under IFRS and recognized as fixed asset while in the US GAAP; capitalization is not done on development expenditure but is accounted for in income statement as expenses (Forgeas, 2008). Another difference between GAAP and IFRS is how transactions are interpreted to mean. It is commonly argued that GAAP within a nation is rule based and IFRS is principle based. This means that transactions are interpreted based on the stated rules and standards. Ruled based interpretations lies with the professional judgment on certain transaction treatments in account. For principle based interpretation, the IFRS provide on more judgmental way to interpret transactions. This implies that principles are there to the interpretation of transaction and in rule based is on the professional judgment. The problems arise on whether judgment is accurate professional judgment or guessed professional judgment to transactions treatment (Forgeas, 2008). Benefits of GAAP and IFRS Uses of standardized procedures to financial statements summarizing, recording and presentation to the users bears a number of benefits to both the reporting entity and the user such as shareholder, lenders, creditors or the government taxation organ. Adoption of GAAP in the US and IFRS by other countries gives significant economic and financial benefits to decision making. Both approaches give consistency in managing companies and it is easy to compare companies using the same standards. Both standards put strict measures on deviation from the rules and ethics in a particular standard. In most countries for a company to trade public GAAP and IFRS must be followed and they require all financial statements be subjected to an independent audit and opinion thereby be given on the applicability of standards in the company. These independent accountants (auditors) must certify financial statements and any notes to financial statement have been prepared and to be presented in accordance of either of the standard. These two provide adequate explanations and definitions to transactions, provide needed assumptions to these transaction and methods applied in either computations or accounting for the transaction. By this, companies are able to follow the requirements year by year enhancing comparisons/benchmarks between companies and consistency in business operations. Valuation of various assets and liabilities both at the start and at the end of the year would be different between companies giving hectic time in comparison and auditing. These two standards enhance transparence and uniformity of valuation procedures of assets. For example, valuation of assets like investment and stocks unrealized profits can be ambiguous if such standards are not in place. Conclusion To make financial statement present a true and fairly performance and position of the business at a particular date, financial accounting standards are needed. High quality standards need to be set for reliable information that is adequate and useful to investor or creditor. These high quality standards and enforcement will provide transparency in business operations and promote full discloser to financial information which gives consistent application making statement user perform comparison of year by year and among competing companies.

Applying Marxism to contemporary issues of work and employment The WritePass Journal

Applying Marxism to contemporary issues of work and employment Introduction Applying Marxism to contemporary issues of work and employment IntroductionBibliography:Related Introduction Marx’s extensive writings about society, economics and politics, hold that all society progresses through class struggle. He was particularly critical of capitalism. Marx argued that current society is run by the wealthy middle and upper classes purely for their own benefit and predicted this would produce internal tensions (and eventually self-destruction and the rise of a new form of society, socialism). Marx’s ideas of ownership of production, alienation and power relationships may play a key role in explaining contemporary issues in work and employment such as lack of job security, having a voice within the workplace and discrimination. As stated in â€Å"The workplace and social democracy in the post-crisis age†, the financial crisis and recession have caused a change in attitudes towards employment relationships. More now than ever employees worry about job security. Marx belonged to a period of industrial society, whereby factories had thousands of employees all under one authoritative figure, the Boss or Manager. Job Security in this era was not a massive issue as it is now in contemporary times. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1999 published the results of Job Insecurity and Work Intensification survey and showed that job insecurity had steadily been rising since the second world war. The majority of job insecurity lay in the manufacturing industries and blue-collar workers during the 1970’s and 1980#s but at the beginning of the 1990’s professional and managerial workers had their first great exposure to job insecurity. The information age which we now live in has cost many civil servant s their jobs, due to streamlining of systems through computer technology. White collar workers were much less prepared for the changes affecting their occupation. Because redundancy had never occurred to these workers before, the idea of unemployment caused most to experience anxiety and insecurities. Some argue this is an overreaction when compared to the bigger issue of insecurity experienced by the working classes (Giddens, 2009). Anxieties from job insecurities can lead to â€Å"loss of control† and a link has been made between job insecurity and poor overall health (Burchell et al, 1996). This feeling of helplessness against impending unemployment can be explained by Marx’s theory of alienation. Blauner (1964) argued that the introduction of automation to factories has reduced worker alienation. Automation has helped to â€Å"integrate the workforce and gave workers a sense of control over their work that had been lacking with other forms of technology†.   Evidently having a sense of ownership towards your work and feeling part of a community diminishes alienation and in turn will diminish any sense of job insecurity: as workers will feel their role within the workplace is needed. Richard Sennett (1998) conducted a study of workers in a bakery which had an automated high-tech production line. Ironically none of the workers were actually bakers but workers trained in how to use the machinery, but only how to use the machinery. The â€Å"bakers† had no physical contact with the bread at any point. Computers decided every aspect of the baking process. However, despite the workers being skilled with computers, not one was trained in how to fix the computers when they broke, causing massive disruption amongst the production line. Sennett found that the workers wanted to be useful and fix the computers but did not because the automation had destroyed their autonomy. Computer technology within the workplace has not only led to an in crease in workers’ skills but also a group of clerical, service and production workers who lack autonomy in their jobs, are alienated from their work, and lack job security. Another issue concerning work and employment in the UK currently is the movement of work. In a bid for maximum profit, some companies have moved the work from its country of origin to developing countries, where the work is cheaper.   Now British companies such as Primark and Matalan have been accused of exploiting workers in these other countries because of their extremely low pricing. It is widely known that transnational factories in developing countries use sweatshop conditions, child labour and pay exploitative rates of pay. Any codes of conduct put in place are either sneakily avoided or completely disregarded altogether: â€Å"research consistently revealed an inadequate, if not poor, level of integration of CSR and Code compliance responsibilities in the internal structure of MNEs and suppliers† (ILO, 2003). However, as wrong as we may think this is, it could be argued that there has just been a shift in location of exploitation. Marx argued that the bourgeoisie, or the owners of production, exploited workers during the period of feudalism. Society was divided into peasants who worked on the land and nobles who were paid in terms of both crops and labour in return for protection, during this period wages were practically unheard of. For Marx, owning land and being able to take food from peasants if fundamentally different from being a peasant working on the land. Peasants (according to Marx) were a group with shared interests and attitudes and nobles were another. This still applies to today’s world of transnational corporations (TNCs). TNCs open factories in developing countries where cheaper labour can be found. The motives between TNCs and nobles are not all that dissimilar. Although TNCs have the resources to choose where to place their factories, such as technology, money and power, whereas nobles were born into a position of power and had no desire to move as they were meant to serve a duty to protect the fundamental relationship b etween owner and producer are still the same. Nobles wanted to extract maximum surplus and gain power, peasants wanted to be free or at the very least have more to eat. The introduction of towns and technology created a possibility for â€Å"free† labour it actually only led to new classes such as bankers and guilders and thus created new conflicts. In modern day society Marx’s theory of class conflict and exploitation is still relevant. TNCs take the role of the nobles or the owner of production and sweatshop workers take the role of peasants, exploited for their cheap labour in order for the TNCs to gain maximum profit and inevitable more power. Increasing intensity of international competition, particularly from Far Eastern countries, where wages are lower, weakens unions’ bargaining power (Western, 1997). In the early development of modern industry, workers had little or no political rights and very little influence over the conditions of work in which they were employed. Unions were developed in order to restore this imbalance of power between workers and their employees. Through Unions workers influence within the workplace was considerably increased. Originally, unions were set up as defensive organizations; workers could stop any overwhelming power that employers enforced on workers’ daily lives. Now, workers have negotiating rights with employers (which means they can press for economic benefits and any problems within the workplace can be discussed). Unions have essentially enabled workers to have a voice within the workplace and in turn have helped the working classes battle through their struggle with the bourgeoisie, as Marx highlighted. â€Å"Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the face of modern industry, the proletariat is its special and essential product.† Marx depicted the working classes as in a constant resistance to acquire a voice/power and the introduction of Unions, especially the dramatic influence Unions gained after the second world war, has made this a possibility. However, alongside international competition, there are several other factors that have created a fall in union density within industries. High levels of unemployment due to recession in the world economic activity, particularly during the 1980s has weakened the bargaining power of labour and the introduction of right-wing governments such as Margaret Thatcher in 1979 led to an aggressive assault on unions throughout the 1980s. These attacks on unions can be seen replicated in the recent conservative coalition government as well. But possibly the most prominent of union failings was seen during the National Union of Minors strike in the UK in 1984-5. Marx believed that â€Å"the proletariat is a revolutionary class† and that at some point the working classes would rise against the owners of production. However, this is unlikely to occur any time soon. Union membership has declined considerably in industrialized countries and right-wing governments are not the only source of blame. High unemployment and more flexible production decrease the force of unionism (unionism works well when many people work together in large factories and there is a collective atmosphere). Having considered this though, Unions are highly unlikely to disappear. Workers individually have very little say or power when it comes to their employment and rely heavily on unions to provide this type of support.   The collective strength that unions give to wo rkers enables the proletariat to carry on with their struggle against the bourgeoisie and as long as unions continue to work hard in stabilizing their position within the economic and political sphere then trade unions are likely to be here to stay. However, the chances of their ever being an uprising as Marx has suggested in his writings is dubious. Dwindling memberships to unions suggest people are losing faith in union support and this implies that workers have almost given up in their â€Å"struggle†. One of the aims of unions is to eradicate discrimination within the workforce. Discrimination in the workplace has always been a recurring issue. Gender divisions within the workplace have never been eradicated, nor has ethnicity (not fully anyway). Divisions of labour between genders have been evident in humanity for thousands of years. Inequality in modern day society is seen as wrong. From an economic view point not making use of everyone’s maximum potential regardless of their gender, class or ethnicity is wasteful. From a Marxist perspective, societies that have inequality will suffer. But for women, it can be questionable if women are in the job market at all? Women suffer from a dual burden (Young, 2000). In modern society women are expected to maintain a job whilst dealing with domestic chores and childcare. Because of these responsibilities thrust upon women, women are more likely to be found in certain job sectors which tend to be low in status. Women are more likely to be found in â€Å"poor quality† jobs (part time, temporary, low pay, long hours, unpleasant, few benefits). Again this seems unlikely to be choice (or not â€Å"free† choice) but some have argued that these jobs reflect women’s preference for jobs compatible with home life and child care. Marxist feminists argue that men benefit from family life at the expense of women. Women as mothers are pressured by culture to have children and to take time out of the labour market to bring them up. These children become the workforce of the future at little or no expense to the capitalist class. This also benefits men, because it means that women cannot compete on a level playing field for jobs or promotion opportunities if their first priority is looking after children. But this male dominance is not universal. Some men are even discriminated against in the workforce due to their class or ethnicity. Factors such as language skills intervene causing racial preferences w ithin the workplace. The â€Å"job application culture† we live in requires individuals to give off first impressions that dazzle, however many companies look for image or whether you would â€Å"fit† in to the company. Not having UK qualifications may make applications harder (if an employer does not recognise a level of qualification he is likely to disregard it). Ethnic minority groups come under discrimination, however not all the time and not everywhere. In some companies whereby international relations are crucial to their business, languages skills may come in useful. But still discrimination occurs, whether it is gendered or ethnic. Arguably not making full use of a persons’ skill is wasteful. Economically it should not matter who a person is or what a person looks like for a job to get done. And Marx, in this instance, is correct in stating that not making full potential of every worker will cause society to suffer. Not just at the level of the company, but also at the level of the individual. Bibliography: Blauner, R. (1964) Alienation and Freedom (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press) Burchell, B. Et. al (1996) â€Å"Job Insecurity and Work intensification: Flexibility and the Changing boundaries of work† (York: YPS ILO (2003) â€Å"Business and code of conduct implementation: how firms use management systems for social performance† (Geneva: ILO), mimeo Jameson, H. 22 March 2011, â€Å"The Workplace and social democracy in the post-crisis age†, Policy Network, policy-network.net/articles/3981/The-workplace-and-social-democracy-in-the-post-crisis-age, Accessed 25th March 2011 Marx, K. Communist Manifesto. Sennett, R. (1998) The corrosion of character: The personal consequences of work in the new capitalism (London: Norton) Western, B. (1997) Between classes and market: Postwar Unionization in the Capitalist Democracies (Princeton: Princeton University Press) or put poshly appropriate the fruits of our labour but here is the problem according to marx in the evil capitalist system the capitalist (the factory owner) pay the exchange value of labour for an individuals service which is only enough to keep him alive but the capitalist gets the use value of his labour (the total value of the labour) or put poshly appropriate the fruits of our labour but here is the problem according to marx in the evil capitalist system the capitalist (the factory owner) pay the exchange value of labour for an individuals service which is only enough to keep him alive but the capitalist gets the use value of his labour (the total value of the labour)

Behavior developes from nurtur essays

Behavior developes from nurtur essays Behavior and emotion is what makes a man, we are all but little playing peices in a big world of mis understood knowlege.We are one of many complex species today because of the history of thoguth and emotion.Although genes influence human behavior,I am going to tell you Ms D, why it is I believe that nurture is a big factor in human behavior. The Fetus sits in it's mothers womb for 9 months. While in the womb, the baby is constantly growing and developing new features. The baby does it's time in its prison like perimiters until the mother gives birth. The baby is alive and well and now into a world wide cycle of being raised, just like many other children around the world. What I mean to say is, our behavior is originated only from the "envoiroment in which we are placed in throughout our upbringing". We do not come out of the womb with certain behaviors that we show today. We simply grow up and expand our range of knowlege and experiance from what is shown around us. I beleive that the humans great ability to learn is one of the best features of a human, if not a close second. "While a gene may increase the likelihood that you'll behave in a particular way, it does not make people do things." which means that we still get to choose who we'll be when we grow up. We all have control over what we choose to do in life and who we will become as people. These choices are triggered by thoughts in the mind. Different minds will chose differently becuase of different experiances and beleifs. This wide range of mind processing creates many differernt behaviors, which can be seen throughout many different people. It is said that "the behavior of an individual often comes from the way that person was raised". Now what does that mean? That means that Someone will act a certain way or respond to somthing from trigering brain cells. ...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Peppermint Oil Essay

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Peppermint Oil - Essay Example Though IBS is rarely associated with any mortality, patients with the irritable bowel syndrome often have poorer quality of life due to its chronic, relapsing nature, increased morbidity and higher health care utilization than persons without the disorder. Although the cause of the disorder is not fully understood, manometric studies have shown that disordered bowel motility may be responsible for causing some of the symptoms. Diagnostic Criteria for IBS as described by Thompson et al (1999) is as follows: conventional therapy, comprising of dietary changes like increasing dietary fibre intake, etc, and drugs such as anticholinergics, antispasmodics, and sedatives is often not significantly effective and may not be tolerated by the patient due to the presence of side effects. Until the precise cause of IBS is understood, treatment would be symptomatic and not curative and would aim at relieving symptoms. In a review of randomized, controlled trials regarding the most optimum therapeutic option for IBS by Jaiwala, Imperiale &, Krroenke (2000), no convincing evidence to support the efficacy of any medication currently being used for IBS was found. In fact the reviewers were unable to reach any significant conclusion as many studies considered in the review suffered from significant flaws in their methodology. Some of the most commonly used therapeutic options in the patients with IBS include, smooth-muscle relaxants, which are beneficial when abdominal pain is the predominant symptom, b ulking agents are used for constipation and anti-motility agents like loperamide for diarrhea. Presently the evidence supports the efficacy of smooth-muscle relaxants in patients whose predominant symp

Catholic Charities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Catholic Charities - Essay Example St. Luke's Addiction Recovery Centre offers rehabilitation services for those with substance abuse. This location is well maintained to ensure that it is able to offer its services in an efficient manner and in a pleasing environment. This is a non-governmental organization, which is non-profit social service organization and is aimed at alleviating human suffering by offering the necessary assistance. It has continued services aimed a restoring dignity to the human race. This has been achieved by operating within the set goals and mission (Addiction Treatment Centers, 2008). The mission of Catholic Charities is to honor God by ensuing that they enhance the quality of life and dignity through offering the necessary support to individuals and families, fighting poverty, building communities and working towards a justice cause. The organization offers different types of services. ... sts immigrants; housing services for the homeless; and behavioral health care which includes counseling, prevention and basic treatment offered in sites like Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. In the organization, I was functioning as an intern in the outpatients department. In this section I offered individual therapy. I also facilitated peer led group services with other people in the organization. Internal structure of the organization The whole organization has about 23 staff working in different programs in the organization. All these people are of diverse origin comparable to that of South Florida. The staff is balanced in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability, age, and professional status. Of all the staff there are 20 females and 16 males which shows close gender equality in distribution. The staff has paid close attention to the ethnicity of the community and has included Cubans, African American people, Puerto Rican, Jamaicans, and there are also white American staff members in the organization. The organization is headed by the president who also acts as the chairperson of the board. Under the chairperson there is the Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer delegates the duty to Chief Operating Officer who delegates to Financial Officer and Data Security Officer. In matters of operation efficiency, the organization is very efficient in it operation given the great division of labor and specialization in the organization. Every staff member is assigned to their duties, which they attend to efficiently. The initial treatment plan is usually completed within three days of admission. The treatment plans are revised with the counselor after every 30 days. It ensures that a month before discharge at least 72% complete treatment with no alcohol and