Thoughts on my essay?

[chrisofthedale]

i hope we dont have to present, my voice gets all crackly and i can only look at the paper from fear of peeing myself, lol

[Nanobyte]

Originally posted by chrisofthedale: i hope we dont have to present, my voice gets all crackly and i can only look at the paper from fear of peeing myself, lol

I suffered from the same problems. I can't exactly explain to you how I overcame them, it's just getting to know your peers a little better. [img]graemlins/whome.gif[/img]

[antryg]

The reason people don't like to do public speaking is because they are afraid that they will say or do something foolish. Listen to any speech given by a politician or pro athelete and you will see that all they have is confidence.
They will say the most idiotic and incoherent things and expect people to accept them. They are right. Look and act confident and that will cover for a poor speech or bad idea.

[Aelia Jusa]

Originally posted by Nanobyte: I'm not an English buff, nor am I capable to formulate a detailed compilation of sources into a single essay when I am under such stress and aggravation. Planning is the key.

It is definitely something you get better at with practice, and it is really important to know the material. Planning yes is crucial - that's what perusal's for. You should always spend 5 minutes writing a plan of your paragraphs and what points you want to make before starting or you'll have no hope. If it's an essay of four paragraphs you should be making four main points, one paragraph each. And if you have a really good intro and conclusion, that always impresses [img]smile.gif[/img]

Originally posted by antryg: In the same vein, I would posit that belief is not wishy washy but the driving force in humans. Whether it is the scientists belief that there is an answer or the religious persons belief in a reason for life; belief is what causes us to search and strive.

All true. But belief has no place in an argumentative essay. Teachers don't want to know what you believe, which implies your opinion, like saying 'I reckon that...', they want to know what position you're arguing based on the evidence you've considered. So saying 'I argue' is more appropriate than 'I believe'. Of course most subjects don't encourage using the first person at all, so it doesn't really matter

[ 11-11-2002, 11:46 PM: Message edited by: Aelia Jusa ]

[Sio]

Here is my business studies coursework so far, I aint even a quarter way through yet! DONT STEAL this amazing piece of material (Yeah right!)

HUNTSMAN TIOXIDE

Who they are

Huntsman Corporation, a family owned business.
Jon M. Huntsman and his family have built the company based on successful relationships with those who value the quality of life: their employees, customers, suppliers and neighbours.

What they do

Huntsman Corporation is the world largest privately held chemical company. It’s operating companies manufacture basic products for a variety of global industries including chemicals, plastics, automotive, footwear, construction, paints and coatings, healthcare, detergent, personal care and packaging. The company is split into four distinct businesses: Huntsman Speciality Chemicals, Huntsman Tioxide, Huntsman Petrochemicals and Huntsman Surface Sciences.

Huntsman-Tioxide is one of the world’s largest producers of titanium dioxide pigments. They employ over 3,000 people worldwide, and have factories in seven countries with a total nameplate production capacity of 570,000 tonnes per year.
Titanium dioxide pigments provide whiteness and opacity to a vast range of everyday products from coatings and plastics, to paper, inks and even cosmetics and food.

Where they are

Huntsman-Tioxides world headquarters is in Salt Lake City, Utah in the USA. Their headquarters outside of the US is in London, UK. They have factories and sales departments all over the world in the following countries, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South-Africa, Spain, Sweden, The UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, Armenia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam.

What type of business

There are many types of ownership:
The Private Sector

· Sole Trader – a single person owns the business. They trade under their own name and retain all of the profits for themselves. However if things go wrong then they have unlimited liability in which they are responsible under law for all of the companies debts, and all of the persons belongings could be at risk if things do go wrong.

The advantages of such an ownership are many, they have total freedom and are their own boss, it is a simple procedure to set-up this type of ownership, as a result of the simple set-up they save on legal fees and finally all of the profits are their own at the end of the day.

However there are disadvantages, they have unlimited liability (see above), there is a lack of continuity (you die, so does the business), there could be a lack of expertise and the fact that unless you have the money to begin with, when you get a loan from the bank to start up the business then you have to put down 20% of the loan price of your own property/belongings down as equity.

· Partnership – is a group of individuals, two or more working together in a business with a view to making a profit
The advantages to a partnership are, there is a greater skill resource in that there are more owners, more continuity, better potential to raise capital and the accounts of the business don’t need to be published.
The disadvantages are, they don’t have total freedom in that they can do what they want as they have to consult with each other before a decision is made, there is normally a lot to pay in legal fee’s for solicitors to set-up the partnership agreement, and the profits are split evenly between the owners, and not just one sole persons.

· Co-Operatives – is groups of people joining together for a specific purpose, e.g. a farmers co-operative set-up for producing and selling grain.

· Franchise Operations - Where a trader can buy a name and set-up a business that is already established and used by other independent operators, e.g. McDonalds

The Public Sector

· Public corporations such as the Post Office and the BBC
· Government departments (the civil service)
· Local authorities such as County, Metropolitan or District Councils
Some local businesses can be public sector, like your local leisure centre.

Huntsman Corporation is a private limited company, LTD, been a LTD it cannot offer its shares for sale to the public at large and so Huntsman’s shareholders are primarily family. The shareholders of this company are the directors also so it can be said that the shareholders control the company directly.
With sole traders and partners can take profit straight out of the business, but with limited companies shareholders receive a share of the profit in the form of dividends.

Advantages of a Private Limited Company

· Limited Liability – as the company enjoys limited liability, each shareholder is only liable o a maximum loss of what he/she has invested in the company. Thus, risk is lower as the shareholders’ private properties will not be involved.

· Legal Entity – as a legal entity, a limited company exists independently of the shareholders. Thus, it is the company, not the shareholders, to be responsible for any legal charges against the company.

· Business Continuity – Since a limited company is a legal entity, businesses will not be discontinued if the shareholders die, go bankrupt or transfer ownership.

· Professional Management – In large companies, professional managers are employed to manage the business. The professional skill of those managers may help raise the management efficiency of the company.

· More Capital is Available – as a limited company consists of many shareholders, capital can be raised much more easily.

Disadvantages of a Private Limited Company

· High Set-Up Cost – The process of establishing a limited company is complicated and time consuming. It is also more costly than establishing a partnership or a sole proprietor

· High Profits Tax Rate – The profits tax rate for a limited company is 16%, while it is only 15% for a partnership and a sole proprietor.

· Lower Incentive – As separation of ownership from management is often practised in limited companies, employed managers may have lower incentive than the owners in maximising profits. However bonus and profit-sharing scheme can help improve the situation.

E1 – Classifying the business objectives.

Mission Statements

Under both UK and EU law a business must state what it is in business to do – this is known as it’s overall aim and it can be embodied in a mission statement. This is often a simple and memorable sentence that explains what the organisation is in business to do and what it wants to achieve, they also set the culture of the business.

Here is Huntsman’s mission statement:

We are dedicated to giving our customers the finest quality products and service available. Our customers are valued partners who permit us to remain in business and we are privileged to serve their needs.
Our mission
We will operate safe, clean, efficient facilities in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
We will provide a work environment that fosters teamwork, innovation, accountability and open communication.
We will place into society assistance for those who suffer, hope for those who may need inspiration and education for those who may feel the challenge but do not have the means.
We have an aggressive growth philosophy that reflects the spirit of free enterprise and maximization of long-term profits, the best motives for creating mutual benefits for customers, employees, suppliers and the communities in which we are located.
Our values
We believe that ethical and moral standards are the foundation of good business policies, and will operate with integrity.
We strive for participative management and employee involvement at all levels because each employee is an associate in our business and a vital part of our family.
We recognize the basic contribution of each individual and will provide opportunities for personal growth and development. Benefits and compensation will reward performance both individually and collectively. We subscribe to these principles and strive every working day to improve their application



Objectives

1. To expand and make a profit.

2. To produce a quality product, emphasise is heavily fringed on quality control, reviews of quality, working with customers to meet their needs.

3. Work with and support the community, education, and the environment. They sponsor local community activities also.

4. Promote and actively pursue the suffering of people around the world. Also John Huntsman himself had a brush with cancer and his main objective of the company is to find a cure for cancer, he donated lots of his money to the cause and has in fact got a research company of his own called ‘Huntsman Cancer Institute’, researching cancer and how to cure it.

5. To have a happy and skilled workforce.

6. Caring for the environment. Dealing with the chemical waste, pollutions etc.

Reaching It’s Objectives

Huntsman has expanded in many way over the last few years, having purchased many of ICI’s businesses they have found themselves with many sub-businesses, these been, Polyurethane’s, Petrochemical’s and of course – Titanium Dioxide. They have a yearly turnover of around 8.5 billion US Dollars, showing that they are indeed successful in both expanding the Huntsman Company and in maximising profits.

The Huntsman Company is heavily focused on delivering a product to their customers that is what the customer wants, needs, works great and more. To ensure that they make a successful and high quality product they have strict quality control standards with regular reviews of the product and ways to improve it, they work with their customers in unison to help make the product better and to please the customer. To help improve quality control in its factories and product development at it’s research facilities, Huntsman Tioxide has developed TIDAS (Tioxide Instrumental Dispersion Assessment System), for which a patent on the technology has been filed worldwide making it unique to Huntsman. This technology is to ensue that the pigment made by Huntsman Tioxide is rated consistently.

One of Huntsman’s targets is to ‘support the community’, one of the way they do this is by recruiting for their workforce locally, they place job adverts in local papers and notify Job Centres in the area, for more qualified people needed for jobs such as research scientist they once again try to employ locally by ‘scouting’ the recent University leaders, it is always a rush between the different chemical companies (especially here in the North East, which has many such companies) to get to the ‘milk brand’, they target such people also because of other reasons, they are overly keen to impress and show off their new found expertise and as such are good workers due to this, they are relatively cheap compared to getting experts in the field you want from the generation past as they normally want more money for their services, and they can also, because they are young, be moulded to the ways of the company, whereas if you brought a more experienced person in you would have more trouble adjusting them to the companies ways.
The Huntsman Company is also very passionate about world suffering and the quality of peoples lives and donate to many charities around the world and actively raise awareness to such causes and encourage people to help them, but there is one thing especially that Huntsman are up-mostly active about, and that is cancer. On October the 2nd, 1995, the Huntsman family joined in the scientific quest to prevent diagnose and treat cancer, they set-up the Huntsman Cancer Institute with a cost of $100 million, at the University of Utah. On April the 26th, 2000, a further $125 million was pledged to fund on-going research and to construct a Clinical Research Hospital adjacent to the Institute. These donations, along with subsequent gifts and grants, have helped HCI build a team of world-renowned specialists. In addition to researching genetic functions, these specialists develop strategies to reduce cancer incidence and implement therapies to treat diagnosed cancers.

Huntsman is very concerned with worker safety and there happiness. It’s been said that most of Huntsman’s employee’s stay with the company for the entire duration of their working life, this can be put down to many things. One such thing is the environment that the employee’s are working in, Huntsman are renowned for their ‘open-door policy’ and the democracy, freedom that comes along as a result of this policy. The workers are free to walk into their managers offices to talk with them (unless there is something like a meeting going on!) and air their views, this has been shown to make the workers happy and to feel like the company isn’t a dictatorship but cares for its workers and does indeed treat each worker as a member of the Huntsman family. They are also known for their strenuous safety rules and regulations that have left the company with an amazing record of worker safety figures and many awards to support this. There are constant sirens, light and announcements going on in the Huntsman workplaces letting every one know when to watch out, be careful and let them know when a procedure is going on. Even visitors to the site before been allowed to look around or go on tour have to watch a safety video outlining procedures and protocols that are in place for their safety, goggles, hats and ear muffs are all common attire in the workplace.
There was a notable reduction in the total number of recordable injuries in 2001. Whilst employee performance consolidated the improvements made in previous years, there was a significant improvement in contractor performance. The lost time injury rate for employees increased from 0.16 injuries per 200,000 hours worked in 2000, to 0.20 in 2001, whilst the corresponding rate for contractors improved from 0.45 to 0.18. The overall number of injury cases involving first aid treatment or more for employees and contractors combined fell from 259 in 2000 to 246 in 2001.

Here is Huntsman’s Health and Safety Policy:
· Provide all associates with a safe and healthful workplace.
· Communicate the safety, health and environmental concerns regarding our operations and products to our associates, contractors and the public.
· Provide our distributors and customers with the information necessary to handle and manage our products safely.
· Comply with applicable environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and company standards.
· Strive for continuous improvement through the implementation of the Responsible Care® process.
· Ensure that all managers, associates and contractors are aware of this policy and have been trained in their specific responsibilities for environmental, health and safety protection.
· Maintain open communication with the public regarding our implementation of this policy

And this is how they plan to implement this policy:
· Establish a procedure for identification and periodic review of EHS goals and targets for achieving the objectives of this policy at each facility worldwide.
· Develop and implement corporate standards and guidelines to assure that this policy is followed at all facilities.
· Develop and implement operating procedures at each facility consistent with this policy and applicable corporate standards and guidelines.
· Ensure that adequate resources are dedicated to implement effectively all aspects of this policy.
· Utilize EHS auditing to evaluate compliance with this policy.
· Continuously improve our EHS programs through evaluation, review and implementation of appropriate corrective and preventive actions.
Among the many objectives of Huntsman’s objectives they take a particular interest in the well keeping of the environment, to help have a better understanding of the environment and how to refine the company’s products in a way that will benefit the environment, on May the 23rd 1989, John M. Huntsman announced the creation and funding of the ‘Huntsman Environmental Research Centre’ (HERC). The mission of HERC is to research the key areas of recycling, degradability, improvement of air and water quality and conservation of trees.
Functional Areas
These are the main functional areas that are very much obligatory in any modern day business. Functions must work together as a team and be aware of what each other function is doing.

· Human Resource Management – the management of people in the business. The human resource function fulfils a number of needs. It is responsible for the employment of employees and their training, and development. And also for industrial relations. The HR department helps fulfil the companies objective of good health and safety through its training of staff. New employees are taken through a health and safety course, which teaches them the rules and regulations of the company’s safety procedures, these courses, are taken annually and are constantly updated allowing the employees to stay on top of new procedures, and helping to keep a good Health and Safety record.

· Finance – the control of money and the recording and reporting of money transactions, a central function in any business. This involves keeping records – either in form or in computer for – of money paid out and received. The financial records maintained would be used to produce the financial statements of the business, which in the case of limited companies are required by law. To make a profit – this is the core objective of any business and indeed one of Huntsman’s; this couldn’t be achieved if not for the Finance department. They keep all records of any kind of financial exchange and pass their information of profits and profit margins to the directors of the company, they also advise in courses of action, especially when buying on large scale of millions of dollars.

· Marketing And Sales – finding out what customers need; promoting and selling the products. Marketing is involved with satisfying the customer’s needs, it means researching what they want and investigating how the business can satisfy that need. Selling on the other hand involves persuading the customer to buy the products the business has already produced. The sales function will co-ordinate the selling program using a variety of techniques – travelling sales representatives, telephone sales, and mail shots. Marketing helps the business to find out what the customers perceive as a quality product via market research and analysis. This information is then fed back to Research And Development who then changes the product accordingly.


· Administration – (also know as facilities management) providing all the back up needed by the business, for example catering, office machine maintenance, security, reprographics, (photocopying and printing). This function is essential in keeping the ‘wheels’ of the business turning, they handle all mail and date storage matters as well as in-house printing of flyers and notices. The admin department is one of the most valuable departments and a company would fall apart without it, with its many departments and customers Huntsman relies heavily on Admin to allow these departments to efficiently communicate with each other and also to allow them to speak with their customers and the customers to speak with them, they are described as the ‘oil’ in the wheels of the business.

· Research And Development – (R&D) investigating new products and new ways pf producing existing products. A business that does not develop new products of revamp old ones will soon lose out to competitors. In the pharmaceutical business for instance the success of a business is dependant on its research and development of new drugs. Quality of ones product(s) is an important aspect of a business and its quality and improvement is handled by the R&D Department, their feedback on their products and it’s subsequent highs and lows is derived from the Marketing and Sales department and used to improve the product accordingly. They keep on top of new advances in technology and methods of development in order to keep the company able to compete with other companies and sometimes to save time and money.

Following on from the functional areas we can now describe the different structures of a business that also links into the next section of management styles and cultures.
Businesses can organise themselves internally in a number of ways. The two main structures are:
· Functional
· Matrix
A functional structure:
· Allows the business to be coordinated from the top and to have a sense of overall direction
· Provides clear lines of communication and authority for all employees
· Can be slow to respond to external factors because of long lines of communication
· Provides little coordination and direction to those lower in the organisation

The matrix structure (see Figure 3.7) was first used in the USA and has become more popular within the UK. This type of structure combines the traditional departments seen in Figure 3.6 with project teams. For example, a project or task team established to develop a new product might include engineers and design specialists as well as those with marketing, financial, personnel and production skills. These teams can be temporary or permanent depending on the tasks they are asked to complete. Each team member can end up with two line managers – their normal departmental manager as well as the manager of the project.
Matrix structures have advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
· Can help to break down traditional department barriers, improving communication across the entire organisation.
· Can allow individuals to use particular skills within a variety of contexts.
· Avoid the need for several departments to meet regularly, so reducing costs and improving coordination.
Disadvantages
· Members of project teams may have divided loyalties as they report to two line managers. Equally, this scenario can put project team members under a heavy pressure of work.
· There may not be a clear line of accountability for project teams given the complex nature of matrix structures.

Management Styles And Culture
There are four basic categories of leadership style that are used widely for purposes of analysis.
These are:

· Democratic – Democratic leadership entails running a business on the basis of decisions agreed upon by the majority.
Key Features – Encourages participation and makes use of delegation.
Communication – Extensive, two-way. Encourages contributions for subordinates.
Uses – When complex decisions are made requiring a range of specialist skills.
Advantages – Commitment to business, satisfaction, and quality of work may all improve.
Disadvantages – Slow decision-making and need for consensus may avoid taking ‘best decisions’.

· Paternalistic – The paternalistic approach is dictatorial, but decisions are intended to be in the best interests of the employees.
Key Features – Leader explains decisions and ensures social and leisure needs are met.
Communication – Generally downwards, though feedback will take place.
Uses – Can appear democratic but is really ‘soft’ autocracy.
Advantages – Can engender loyalty, and frequently enjoys low labour turnover due to emphasis on social needs.
Disadvantages – Really autocratic and can result in groups becoming highly dependant. They may become dissatisfied with leader.

· Authoritarian – An authoritarian leadership style keeps information and decision making amongst the senior managers.
Key Features – Sets objectives and allocates tasks. Leader remains in control throughout.
Communication – One-way communication, downward, from leader to subordinate.
Uses – Useful when quick decisions are needed.
Advantages – Decisions and direction of business will be consistent. May project image of confident well-managed business.
Disadvantages – Lack of information so subordinates are highly dependent upon leaders; supervision needed.

· Laissez Faire – Laissez-Faire leadership means the leader has a peripheral role, leaving staff to manage the business.
Key Features – Leader evades duties of management and uncoordinated delegation occurs.
Communication – Mainly horizontal communication though little communication occurs.
Uses – Can encourage production of highly creative work by subordinates.
Advantages – May bring best out of highly professional or creative groups.
Disadvantages – May not be deliberate but bad management staff lack focus and sense of direction. Much dissatisfaction
Delegation

Delegation can be defined as the passing of authority to a subordinate within the organisation. Although a task may be passed down from a superior to a subordinate, the manager still has the responsibility for making sure that the job is completed. On the other hand, authority is the ability to carry out the task. It is possible to delegate authority, but responsibility remains with the delegator.

Centralisation and Decentralisation
Centralisation occurs when the majority of decisions are the responsibility of just a few people at the top of the organisation. In many senses centralisation is the opposite of delegation.
Decentralisation occurs when control has shifted sideways or horizontally, whilst delegation implies a downward shift in control. Decentralisation is not the same as delegation but is often accompanied by it.
Huntsman is such a large company that having a centralized structure is very much impossible, each country has its own managing centre that controls the factories and sites of the relevant country, such is the Huntsman company is Decentralised.

[Prometheus]

[quote]Originally posted by Nanobyte:

Originally posted by Jeffi0: AND (is there an echo in here?), essays should be written in 3rd person, so "I" would become "the reader."

Actually the third person of "I" is "The author" or"The writer"

Jsut thought I would say... and Ihavent read far enough to see if anyone else had commented on this.. sorry if they had

-Prometheus

[9_1_6]

You need proper structure:

Introduction - Stating your topic and 4 reasonable points.
Paragraph One - First Point with a linking sentence to Paragraph 2.(at the end)
Paragraph Two - Second Point with a linking sentence to Paragraph 3. "
Paragraph Three - Third Point with a linking sentence to Paragraph 4. "
Paragraph Four - Fourth Point with a linking sentence to Conclusion. "
Conclusion - Solution or Overall effect or Whatever

[Timber Loftis]

Before you make up your mind on the cloning issue, go to the National Bioethics paper and check it out:
http://65.205.1.226/cloning/cloning_report.html
It's 1997, and a bit dated, but the technology/ethics debate is still the same. For a persuasion piece, if you support cloning, check this out:
http://www.humancloning.org/allthe.htm

I know a doctor who is currently cloning pets and attempting to clone humans off-shore in the Carribean. I took a law/science course that included cloning at Dartmouth, which was taught by the Doctor/Professor there that runs their fertility program. I have tons more material if you're interested.

Your essay, technically: Read other comments, including those about general grammar and punctuation. Here is a bit about topic sentences, which you really need help with:
http://www.english.ttu.edu/uwc/topicsen.html
Here is another article that can help you with paragraph structure, again something you could well use:
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/.../paragrph.html

I might seem condescending, and if you are young I apologize. But, no matter what your age, these are good things to look into.

Best of luck.

[Nanobyte]

Originally posted by Prometheus: quote: Originally posted by Nanobyte: Originally posted by Jeffi0: AND (is there an echo in here?), essays should be written in 3rd person, so "I" would become "the reader." Actually the third person of "I" is "The author" or"The writer" Jsut thought I would say... and Ihavent read far enough to see if anyone else had commented on this.. sorry if they had -Prometheus

Sorry, I mixed it in with writing an essay based on a novel. In that case "I" would be "the reader."