Hyatt Walkway Essay Example for Free

Hyatt Walkway Essay In Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, in 1981, connections supported the ceiling rods holding up the second and the fourth floor walkways has failed and collapsed and fell down on the first floor where was so crowded then and resulted in 114 deaths and over 200 injuries. Beside of the loss of lives, this collapse left millions dollars in cost behind and a number of principals lost their engineering licenses and number of firms went bankruptcy. As for the events triggered this collapse affecting the thousands of people adversely, the most critical and important factor was the change of the design of the hanger rod connections from one-rod to two-rod system to make the assembly task simpler doubling the load on the connector. Improper design utilizing abrupt section changes, resulting in stress concentrations Degradation of materials in a connection. Improper design due to lack of consideration of all forces acting on a connection, especially those associated with volume changes. Lack of consideration of large residual stresses resulting from manufacture or fabrication. These are the most important structural factors caused of the walkway collapse. And it is resulted from the conflictual and controversial communication between the Havens Steel Company and G.C.E International Inc. This can be deemed as the most important factor triggered the walkway collapse because of the fact that these two professional engineering companies obviously were not able to communicate each other in professional bounders and haven’t acted in a responsible way and understood the importance of the job they were doing. G.C.E International Inc., Daniel M. Duncan and Jack D. Gillum is the most blame for walkway collapse because of charging gross negligence, incompetence, misconduct and unprofessional conduct in the practice of engineering in connection with their performance of engineering services in the design and construction of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. G.C.E International Inc. bears the most responsibility because of the fact that they were the responsible one on design changing and they were failed on final check step by approving the design change opinion by the Havens Company and they have failed on it. G.C.E International Inc. and Havens Company were involved in key decisions because of the fact that Havens Company proposed the design change on as mentioned above and G.C.E International Inc. accepted this offer after receiving the shop drawings.

The Development Of Accounting In Malaysia Accounting Essay

The Development Of Accounting In Malaysia Accounting Essay A tendency towards adopting the style of accounting institutions and practices of western developed countries that colonized the developing countries has been dominated in the latter countries (Ali, Lee West, 2008). Apparently, the Malaysian accounting development is strongly influenced by the accounting framework that the United Kingdom (UK) applied. The British colonial presence can be considered as a key phrase that brought about the noteworthy influences and changes on the Malaysias history. Such influences and changes can be traced back to the 1785, the time that the approval of occupying island of Penang and building fort in there is granted to the Francis Light, a former British naval officer and private trader, from the sultan of Kedah. In 1786, Light established the settlement of George Town on the island of Penang. The contribution of turning Penang Island into a state with free-trade policy that Light made helps the Malacca to be the premier trader center in the Malay Peninsula. Presence of British colonial is continuously expanded by the official of British East India Company, Thomas Stanford Raffles, and Tengku Hussein, a contender for the throne of Malacca, on the Malay Peninsula in 1819. An agreement of consenting the British settles and establishes trading port in Singapore is reached between Stanford Raffles and H ussein in exchange for the formal recognition of Hussein as the sultan of Malacca. The advantageous geographic location and free-trade policy that Singapore possesses assist in attaining the astonished financial success. In 1945, British resumed its control for the purpose of establishing themselves as a durable administrative power. Because of the ethnic tensions often influence political arrangements, therefore, British proposed and implemented the Malayan Union plan in 1946. However, the problem of ethnic tensions still exists even though the British has taken action to promote the national unity among different ethnic groups. An Alliance partnership is established and which comprises United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malayan Indian Congress (MIC) from 1952 to 1955. In fact, the Alliance won the municipal, local and the federal elections and thus emerged as an agent for unified Malayan interests. Malaya gained independence from Br itish in 1957 (Library of Congress, 2006). The independence of Malayan State since 1957 has transformed the Malayan economy into a new era of development. History of accounting system in Malaysia marks its opening of the use of accounting standards and practices after the pullout of Britain with subsequent accounting development significantly influenced by the after-effect of British colonization. The Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) has became the first accounting bodies to be established in the Malayan State in 1958 with the aim of advancing accounting professions in all aspects and to educate the appropriate accounting practices and standards to businesses in Malaysia. Subsequent efforts have also been made in line with the British colonial effect as the government has passed the Companies Act 1965 and Accounting Act 1967 that are both based on the laws and regulations developed in the UK during the 1960s. Apart from this, compromise of the non-Malay rights could not be hindered by prejudicial legislation or governmental intervention is reached because of the British colonization. As a member of the Commonwealth, it is almost inevitable that Malaysia is highly influenced by any changes in the legal, economy, culture and politics environment of UK. This is especially true as the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) constantly reviews and updates the Malaysian accounting standards if the accounting standards in UK have made any amendments. The cultural-based theory of the Hofstede-Gray framework is applied for the aim of explaining the differences or deficiencies in accounting practices. In fact, the Hofstede-Gray theory is widely used by a number researcher as the accounting values and the cultural dimension is associated with the theory. Based on the surveys that the researchers conducted, it is noted that the Grays approach is probably the most well-known exponent of the cultural approach to understand the nature of accounting practices, while the Hofstedes approach is just one of a number of ways to study culture. The use of the Hofstede-Gray theory helps the researchers to understand the way the national accounting practices are formed (Parera, 1989) (Gerhardy, 1990) and to determine normatively whether the accounting techniques are appropriate to the particular countries (Baydoun Willet, 1995). According to Figure 1, it can be seen that the Hofstede-Gray theory is a combination of, Grays accounting values which include professionalism, uniformity, conservatism and secrecy with the Hofstedes cultural values which comprise power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and masculinity. Basically, there are two different perspectives to determine the culture and classification, to be precise, one from the Gray perspective and another from Hofstede. From the perspective of Gray, Malaysia is a country with high statutory control and uniformity in terms of authority and enforcement. While from the view of measurement and disclosure, Malaysia is a state with high secrecy and conservatism and which can be evidenced from Figure 2 and Figure 3 respectively. However, Malaysia scored high on the power distance and masculinity, yet scored low on the uncertainty avoidance and individualism on the Hofstedes standpoint. According to the survey conducted by Itim (2012), Malaysia scored 104 on the dimension of power distance. It can be explained that hierarchical order is acceptable for the Malaysian and hence inherent inequalities as well as centralization are possible to be reflected, but leadership and gaps of authority are challenging if there is hierarchy in the organization. Furthermore, with a score of 50, Malaysia can be considered as a masculine society, a highly success-oriented and driven. Generally, equity, competition and performance are the main concern in the masculine society. For instance, attitude of ferocious and no holds barred battles might happen between candidates during the election. Moreover, Malaysia is a low preference for uncertainty avoidance as it scored only 36. In such dimension, there is no any ambiguous or unknown situations exist due to the culture of relaxed attitude permeates. Besides, a mark of 26 is scored and it means that Malaysia is a collectivistic society. T herefore, a low degree of interdependence manifests that there is a close long-term commitment among members and the culture of loyalty is the uppermost concern and overrides most of the societal rules and regulations. Regulatory framework of accounting is established for the purpose of providing high quality and reliable information to satisfy the needs of external users. In fact, it plays a major role to ensure that the financial statements are prepared by the organizations in accordance with the rules and regulations (Collis Hussey, 2007). In Malaysia, existing companies are required to comply with the rules and regulations such as Companies Act 1965, Financial Reporting Act 1997, Accounting Standards, Income Tax Act 1967, the Securities Commission Guidelines 1995, Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) Listing Requirement and Bank Negara Malaysia Guidelines, etc during the process of preparing and presenting financial statements. Thus, it is obvious that regulatory framework is developed in the field of accounting profession, company law, auditing, taxation as well as stock exchange and implementation is taken in order to provide a true and fair view. It is known that there are four professional accounting bodies in Malaysia, namely, Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), The Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) and Financial Reporting Foundation (FRF). Fundamentally, MIA is a statutory accounting profession which is established according to the Accountants Act 1967. The establishment of such accounting body is to regulate and develop the accountancy profession in Malaysia. Hence, MIA is responsible to meet and maintain the education, quality assurance as well as enforcement for the aim of ensuring that credibility of the profession is maintained and the public interest is continuously upheld. In addition, MIA also has the ability of monitoring the international and local accounting trends and developments as well as consulting regularly with the government and regulatory bodies. According to the MIA Official Website, it is noted that MIA not only plays a signi ficant role in the Malaysia, but also international and regional arena. Evidence of the involvement in ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA) and International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to develop and advance the global accounting professional bodies can be proved. Furthermore, such involvement also enables MIA to work for the betterment by bringing home to the latest developments in the overseas. Indeed, there is a requirement provided under the provisions of the Act and stated that the person who is registered as a member of MIA only can be recognized as an accountant. Because of being as a member of International Auditing Practices Committee (IAPC), therefore, MIA is responsible to support the IFRCs work and also determine International Accounting Standards (IAS) as the basis of approved standards in the auditing field of Malaysia (MIA Official Website). On the other hand, MICPA is the accounting profession who is established in 1958 according to the Companies Ordinances and is formally called as The Malayan Association of Certified Public Accountants; while MASB is established as an independent authority according to the Financial Reporting Act 1997. The MASB and the FRF make up the new framework of financial reporting in Malaysia. Basically, FRF has no direct influence on standard setting as such duty is solely rest on MASB. Therefore, FRF is responsible for the oversight of, such as MASBs performance and initial source of view for proposed standards. Moreover, there is also a professional body for company secretary and administration, that is, Malaysian Association of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries Administrators (MAICSA). Besides, the Malaysian Association of Accounting Administrators is the profession who is formed to recognize the two-tiered of professional accountant and is sponsored by MIA. Companies Act 1965 (CA 1965) is published by the Commissioner of Law Revision yet the Company Commission of Malaysia enforces and administers it. Basically, it is the principle legislation developed to govern the formation and procedure of companies existing in Malaysia. The CA 1965 not only provides formal rules on accounting such as presenting financial statements in a true and fair view, but also enacts a provision to protect the rights and interests of shareholders and investors. For example, according to the section 167 of CA 1965, all of the Malaysian existing companies are required to keep and maintain proper accounting records so as to have the ability to explain companies transactions and financial position sufficiently and subsequently enables the true and fair view from all of the accounting information. Apart from this, the requirement of preparing accounts and reports based on the Approved Accounting Standards (AAP) that MASB issued as well as complying with the disclosu re requirements of the Ninth Schedule of CA 1965 are developed for every company for the purpose of delivering the companies affairs with a true and fair view. According to the CA Malaysia, there is a need for the appointment of approved auditors to audit the companies accounts and present true and fair view as well as stress on the auditors independence for companies that are operating in Malaysia and registered under the Companies Commissioner of Malaysia. A standard setting body with the ability of functionally independent is established by MIA and which is operating under the assistance of the latter accounting profession and is called the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB). AASB plays an important role in the development of accounting and auditing field in Malaysia. It can be evidenced from the need of promoting and ensuring high quality professional standards to be adhered and subsequently lead to the international convergence of standards. In addition, AASB also has the responsibility of the consideration for the new or revised International Auditing and Assurance Standards that International Auditing and Assurance Standar ds Board (IAASB) issued for Malaysia to adopt. Furthermore, AASB is required to review and deliberate any issues and developments that are derived from other jurisdictions that is relating to auditing practices in Malaysia. Moreover, the Audit Act 1957 also states that there is a close link between accounting and auditing, for instance, auditors are responsible to audit accounts that are prepared by professional bodies. It is generally known that types of tax in Malaysia include personal and corporate income tax, goods and service tax (GST) real property gains tax (RPGT), etc. In fact, Malaysia is a self-assessment tax regime (SAS) as it is shown in the Year of Assessment 2010 (YA 2010) that different classes of people is subject to different percentage of tax rate. Basically, the establishment of Income Tax Act 1967 (ITA 1967) is to determine the chargeable income and the tax payable and ascertain whether it is reasonable to the tax payers. The imputation system is used by companies to compute the tax. In fact, taxes paid by the companies on its profits are used to frank dividends paid to shareholders. In Malaysia, the RPGT is re-introduced and which is stated in the Real Property Gains Tax (Exemption) (No. 2) Order 2007, only for the disposal of real property held for five years or below is subjected to the RPGT of 5% and it is only applicable to the capital land transaction In terms of the GST, i t is the indirect tax or value added tax (VAT) that imposed on both local and imported goods and services. It is proposed by government for the purpose of replacing sales and service tax, but implementation has not been taken. It is noted that taxation is considered as parts of the business expenditure. Thus, it is important for the companies to comply with the ITA 1967 during the process of preparing and presenting the financial statements as well as the statement of computation of chargeable income. Companies are required to prepare both statements due to the double deduction, non-taxable, non-deductible and deductible issues. KLSE is the stock exchange holding company in Malaysia and is developed in accordance with the section 15 of the Capital Markets and Service Act 2007. In 2004, it is renamed and is currently called as Bursa Malaysia Berhad. The establishment of Bursa Malaysia Berhad is to allow the activity of trading of shares can be provided in the market and subsequently assists in enhancing competitive position as well as responding to global trends. There is no authority and legal power for the Bursa Malaysia Berhad to execute compliance. Hence, penalty of reprimanding, suspending and de-listing in the stock exchange would be imposed to the errant companies. For example, listing companies have to follow the rules and regulations of the clause 335 of the listing manual during the process of preparing and presenting companies annual audited accounts and making sure that all of the companies accounts are prepared based on the CA 1965 as well as the AAS. The listing requirements are set by the Bursa Malaysia Berhad in order to regulate the public limited companies (PLC) in terms of the submission of reports and additional disclosure. Apart from this, there is also another requirements which established by the Bursa Malaysia Berhad for the purpose of enhancing the disclosure of information on corporate governance via the promotion of greater transparency and accountability. In 19th November 2011, MASB established the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) for the purpose of bringing the Malaysian accounting standards to be fully International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) compliant. Basically, MFRS framework make up of the existing as well as the new and revised accounting standards that are issued by International Accounting Standard Board (IASB). The primary objective of such convergence is to reduce the gap between Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) between the IFRS and subsequently facilitate the transparency and the comparability of the companies financial statements. However, there is several inconsistency exist such as IAS 41 Agriculture and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments and hence are not adopted by the MASN during the process of narrowing the gap between FRS and IFRS. In terms of the presentation of financial statements, MFRS 101 or FRS 101 stated that PLC that operating in Malaysia is required to prepare and disclose the financial statements including, statement of financial position, statement of comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flows and the notes to account. In fact, the MFRS 101 or FRS 101 is the same with the IAS 1, which is the presentation of financial statements. Basically, MFRS 127 or FRS 127 is established for the purpose of enhancing the relevance, reliability and comparability of the information in the parents separate financial statements as well as the groups consolidated financial statements. In Malaysia, a requirement of using uniform accounting policies for reporting is set for the group to follow. Furthermore, there is a need for entity to follow the IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement if it is required to present separate financial statements or investments in subsidiaries by the local regulations. The MFRS 127 or FRS 127 is consistent with the IAS 27, Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements. In 1974, Malaysias top 80 firms in the KLSE have half of it shares owned by foreigners while the other half is mostly controlled the Malaysian Chinese. However, government has gradually transformed these firms into stated owned enterprises which have almost 40% of the Malaysias market shares owned by the government. Major changes came in during the 1990s where most of these state owned companies have went into privatization. Till now, companies have been developed into several forms mainly the sole proprietor that business is solely owned by an individual, partnership where two or more persons jointly owned the business with unlimited liability, private limited company that must at least have 2 and maximum of 50 members, public limited company that is able to be listed in KLSE to offer subscription of shares to public. Foreign currency translation has been one of the uprising factors that companies in Malaysia are needed to take note of because of the increase and extensiveness of globalization in the business context. Foreign currency translation can be defined as the conversion of currency accounting figures from one country to another due to differences financial reporting requirements. This means that different countries would have different functional currency and multinational companies are required to translate its foreign operations or transactions that use functional currency into the required presentation currency for its financial statement. Malaysia needs to pay extra attention to the accounting development in relation to the aspect because Malaysia is one of the largest palm oil and crude oil producer which both are mainly transacted in USD around the world. Most of these companies would use USD as their functional currency which induces translation risk when it is converted into the p resentation currency. Thus, the accounting standard of foreign currency translation which is MFRS 121 will take into account the effect of the currency translation changes or risk that the companies faced with the use of appropriate recognition and measurement method developed by IFRS. It is a known fact that the accounting development in Malaysia over the last 15 years has been based on the accounting principles that MASB adopted while recent accounting practices has seen accounting profession exercising its responsibilities that are comply with MFRS. MFRS is nevertheless the latest accounting principles that Malaysia accounting is accounted for which equivalents with IFRS and apply in any accounting period from or after 1 January 2012. This marks the first time adoption of MFRS for annual periods in Malaysia and is an effort by MASB to implement Malaysias accounting policy to be in line with the convergence project initiated and developed by IASB and FASB. The previous FRS is then replaced by MFRS to place full convergence on Malaysia accounting standard in order to cope with globalisation and to ensure Malaysias business is on the same field at international level. Some major elements of MFRS have been listed below. MFRS 8 is adopted from IFRS 8 that has replaced IAS 14 of Segment Reporting. The main change made is on its requirement of segment identification and the measurement and disclosure of operating segment information. Any company in Malaysia that adopted MFRS 8 will automatically be considered as adopting the international accounting standard of IFRS 8. This particular standard has provide the definition of an operating segment that qualifies in the financial statement and its identification is required to be based on the company internal report that assessed and reviewed the allocation of resources and performance of that segment as according to the latest changes. Besides, the standard also provides the measurement purpose of the amount of operating segment recorded which is for resources allocation and performance measurement purposes of the operating segment. Lastly, the disclosure of operating segment information must be based on the core principles that requires information disclo sed to enable users to make informed decision on the nature and financial effect and its economic environment that the company is operating in order to aid Malaysian companies with operating segments operating in different locations or management. MFRS 118 Revenue is one of the major elements that MASB has included by the adoption of IAS 18 that the IASB has issued and amended but is still under the development of the convergence project. Companies in Malaysia are considered adopting the international accounting standard of IAS 18 if MRS 118 is applied in its financial statement. The MFRS 118 mainly adopted from IAS 18 has included important guidance on accounting practices for revenue by stating the objectives, scope and definition of revenue. These are described in relation to the definition of income in the Framework of Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements that stated revenue as an income that is in the ordinary course of business activities. The measurement and identification of revenue is also included while different type of revenue from sales of goods, rendering a service, royalties, interests and dividends are also provided with guidance and disclosure requirements where Malaysian companies mostly posse ssed of. The MFRS 120 Accounting for Government Grant and Disclosure of Government Assistance is developed to aid business in Malaysia that needs to account for its grant or assistance provided by Government. It is equivalent to IAS 20 with the issuance and amendments made by IASB and Malaysian companies that adopt MFRS 120 will simultaneously comply with IAS 20. Basically, this standard provides guidance on the definition of government grant and government assistance and its disclosure on the presentation of grants that is relating to asset or income as well as its repayment method. The approaches and reasons for accounting of government grant using income approach or capital approach are also given in order for users to clearly identify the government intention on providing grant or assistance to any Malaysian companies. However, this standard does not apply to government grants covered by MFRS 141 Agriculture and other exceptions such as the participation of government in the ownership of business. The MFRS 141 Agriculture apply on its own as evidenced in MFRS 120 that excludes this sector because agriculture is consider an essential sector for the Malaysia economy and accounting must placed its emphasis on it. MFRS 141 is adopted from IAS 41 and will be simultaneously applied to any Malaysia companies that adopt MFRS 141. This standard mainly prescribe how should the agriculture activities and biological assets should be accounted for, measured, presented, and disclosed by the management of the company. The measurement for biological assets is complicated and required specific guidance provided by the standards such as the initial recognition that requires the use of reliably measured fair value and any changes in fair value less costs to sell is included in profit and loss. Nevertheless, agricultural activities land is not covered under this standard but in IAS 16 while government grant for biological activities is included. MFRS 121 is adopted from IAS 21 has that has made changes to replace SIC-11, SIC-19 and SIC-30 that mainly focuses on the definition and changes of reporting currency, functional currency and presentation currency. The adoption of MFRS 121 by any Malaysian companies would also means it is adopting IAS 21 in accordance to international standards. This is an important standard especially for companies that operates internationally or have dealings in different currency. Mainly, the standard applies its accounting treatment on any transaction and balances of foreign currencies but not derivative transaction and the translation of foreign operation into reporting currency or consolidation purposes. The method of reporting and disclosing the changes of foreign exchange transaction, balances or operations is also included. The MFRS 123 is an equivalent standard to IAS 23 issued by the IASB while any Malaysian company that applies MFRS 123 is also considered as adopting the IAS 23. This standard has its scope limited mainly to borrowing costs that is relating to capital expenditure such as the acquisition, construction and production of an asset to expand business that is considered part of the cost to obtain the relevant assets. The standard has prescribed the definition of a qualifying assets and the eligibility of borrowing costs as capitalisation. The recognition and measurement for borrowing costs is also provided as well as the disclosure requirement relates to the borrowing costs amount and its capitalisation rate. This relevant standard that relates to investment property is of importance to the Malaysia accounting practices due to the booming of property house prices that induces substantial increase in property for investment. MFRS 140 is developed in accordance to IAS 40 and many changes have been made to IAS 40 such as lease related property, the measurement approach of investment property and its disclosure requirement. Nevertheless, MFRS 140 provides guidance on the treatment for accounting of investment property in Malaysia and its disclosure method excluding accounting for lease property. Definition to include property as investment nature has been provided while measurement method of fair value model or cost model for investment property is prescribed clearly with distinction between initial recognition and post recognition. The MFRS 112 is developed by the MASB based on IAS 12 with several revisions made on the recognition and disclosure of income taxes especially deferred tax assets and liabilities. Any Malaysian company that adopts MFRS 112 is equivalent to adopting IAS 12. The income tax in Malaysia is important especially in its treatment for tax consequences as tax evasion is considerably high while tax law is not stringently enforced. The standard provides guidance for accounting treatment of income taxes in Malaysia by prescribing the definition, recognition and measurement for current tax expenses, assets and liabilities with emphasis on future settlement of deferred tax assets and liabilities. Examples of income taxes accounting treatment has been provided in detail to assist users in understanding the complexity of income taxes while presentation and disclosure requirements are also included. MFRS 124 mainly relates to the disclosure requirement of party that is related to the ordinary course of business which is adopted from IAS 24 that is issued and revised by IASB. Revisions has been made in 2009 to simplify the definitions and meanings of related party and allowed certain exceptions of related parties for disclosure especially when it is government-related. Basically, the standard requires the disclosure of transaction between the company and any related parties or any transaction between parents and subsidiaries. Most importantly, this would enable user to pay attention on the financial effect of related party transaction on the companys financial position and profitability. The accounting development in Malaysia has never been lacking of frauds and embezzlements due to related party and this standard would provide enhanced transparency to prevent related party unauthorised transactions. The MFRS 119 is an adoption of IAS 19 that is issued by IASB and Companies in Malaysia that uses MFRS 119 would automatically be considered to adopt the international standard of IAS 19. The purpose of MFRS 119 is to provide guidance for entity to be able to recognise appropriately the liability and expenses in relation to employee benefits provided by the entity. The accounting treatment provided by this standard encompasses recognition and measurement of short term and long term employee benefits, termination benefits and post employment benefits that includes defined contribution plan and defined benefits plan. Example illustrating accounting treatment has been provided clearly and the difference of recognition and measurement for the post employment benefits is also clearly stated. Undeniably, it is important to the Malaysia economy as the culture of Malaysia is considers to be emphasizing on the employee benefits that the company is able to provide recently. It is undeniably that the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 not only introduces the importance of CG but also exposes the weaknesses of Malaysian CG practice to the public attention. Since then, Malaysia has taken initiative to implement schemes such as High Level Finance Committee on CG (HLFC) which have published the Report on Corporate Governance that provides definition of CG in the Malaysia context and laid the basis for the establishment of Code of Corporate Governance in 2000. Although the code itself is not mandatory, it further became a consequence of the listing requirement in Malaysia to include statement of corporate governance to attract more foreign investment due to globalisation and enhance the Malaysia economic growth. Basically, the code has enacted a series of principles and best practices of CG to improve the regulatory framework of the CG in Malaysia. Nevertheless, the reforms of corporate governance in Malaysia still exist to enhance shareholders value and protect the interests of all stakeholders especially the minorities by improving the corporate ethics and accountability. The Security Commission Malaysia has launched a five year CG Blueprint to provide a platform for CG in Malaysia to be enhanced through market and self discipline of company while promoting the standard of CG by instilling the essence of CG into the culture of company rather than a mere compliance requirement. AS a result, the Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance 2012 is developed with further recommendation on duties and responsibilities of board of directors, the management of shareholder expectation

Inserted-Plate Coated of Methanol Steam Reformer

Inserted-Plate Coated of Methanol Steam Reformer High Efficiency Inserted-Plate Coated of Methanol Steam Reformer: PEM Fuel Cell Applications Methanol can be easily stored and transported and converted to H2 using a reforming reactor that makes it an excellent hydrogen and energy source for fuel cell applicationsEasily storage, transporting and converting to H2 by a reforming reactor using makes it an excellent energy source for PEMFC applications [1-3] During the last decades, there has been a growing interest on developing technologies taking advantage of clean energy sources. The reduction of atmospheric pollution and, namely, the emission of greenhouse gases have become imperative and, among the new technologies for mitigating these emissions, fuel cells have the ability to efficiently convert chemical into electrical energy. In particular, PEMFCs are zero-pollutants emission systems because they transform the chemical energy of the electrochemical reaction within hydrogen and oxygen into clean electrical powerTodays, for environmental issues, growing interest on developing technologies including clean energy sources has been focused. Pollution issue and, especially, the emission of greenhouse gases have become crucial and, the new technology for elimination of these emission, can be achieved by PEMFC. [4, 5] Meanwhile, compared to other feedstocks, methanol exploitation shows various advantages as a hydrogen carrier for fuel cell applications and, namely, it can be produced from renewable sources[9], and the reforming reaction occurs at relatively low temperatures, ca. 240–260 1CAmong these, methanol exploitation leads various advantages as a hydrogen carrier and, especially, reforming reaction applying at relatively low temperature (240-260 C) [6] , compared to the methane reforming, normally performed at 800–1000 1C, compared to the methane reforming, normally carry out at 800-1000 C[7] . Methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction has been seen as a very attractive and promising process for hydrogen production and, according to the scientific literature on the argument, it can be described by the following chemical reactions:Attractive and promising of the methanol steam reforming process cause especial insight to this reaction which according to the scientific references, occurs by the following chemical reactions: Where reactions 1, 2 and 3 represent MSR reaction, water gas shift reaction and methanol decomposition reaction, respectively.Reaction (1), represents MSR reaction, reaction (2) represents water gas shift reaction and reaction (3) represents the methanol decomposition reaction The reactor design has direct impact on the reaction conversion, but owing to higher technical complexity and manufacturing costs of other designs, the reformers and MRs are normally tubular. However, recent efforts in the area of micro-processing made possible and easier to manufacture other reactor designs and namely well-structured à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡at micro-reactors. A micro-reactor is defined as a device that contains micro structured features, with a sub-millimeter dimension, in which chemical reactions are performed in a continuous manner They present advantages compared to conventional ones such as higher surface-to-volume ratio, smaller mean distance of the specific à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uid volume to the reactor walls, better heat and matter transfer properties and à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow patterns that fit with the reaction needs. Furthermore, à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡at reformers are suitable for stack integration with fuel cells. Packed-bed micro-reactors require well-define catalyst particles, wi th regular shape and much smaller than the internal dimensions of the micro-channels, which is a problem for most of commercial catalysts.The reactor design, directly impress reaction conversion but owning to higher complexity and fabrication costs should be considered. Common normally MRs are in tubular shape. However, recent researches show easier to manufacture and possibility of other designs and namely well-structured flat micro-reactors. A reactor containing micro structure features and sub-millimeter dimension through performing in a continues manner representing advantages such as higher surface to volume ratio, smaller mean distance of the specific fluid volume to the reactor walls, improving heat and mass transfer make appropriate situation of stack integration with fuel cells. [8]. Many studies have been developed to explore the advantages of micro/mini-reactors to produce hydrogen through MSR The design of a reactor targets the maximization of the conversion and selectivity at the lowest costs and its performance is inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uenced by the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow pattern, velocity profile, pressure drop and heat transfer, so all these aspects must be consideredTo fabricate an effective micro-reactor having maximum conversion and selectivity at a low cost is impressed by the flow pattern, velocity profile, pressure drop and heat transfer, therefore all these approaches should be considered[9]. For conducting MSR reaction, most of the used reactor designs are rectilinear channels, pin-hole, coil-based and radial (Fig. 2).Coil-based reactor designs allow high conversions, but impose a significant pressure drop penalty, which may be a limitation for compact applications Categorization of the design consist rectilinear channels, pin-hole, coil-based and radial (Fi g. 2). Among these, Coil based leads high conversion and pressure drop preventing compact applications[9]. In the other hand, the rectilinear channel designs exhibit a small-pressure drop, but the conversion is low due to uneven mass distribution and is affected by the Reynolds number while, the first exhibit a small pressure drop, uneven mass distribution cause lower conversion which impressed by Reynolds number[9]. Yet, by adjusting the channels width [69] or by imposing a pressure drop at the channels entrance even distributions on rectilinear channel designs can be obtained, improving the methanol conversion[10]. Conventional packed-bed reactor has disadvantages, such as hot spots, delays in start-up, and mass and heat transfer limitations. For micro-scale reactor, the pressure drop is somewhat higher due to space constraints of channels being blocked with catalysts. A micro-pump used in portable applications may not be capable of overcoming a high pressure drop. On the other hand, microchannel reactor offers advantages, such as fast heating and cooling, large surface-area-to volume ratios, and less energy input The packed-bed reactors as a classic system, have disadvantages, such as hot spot, slow start-up, and heat and mass transfer limitations. Micro-structure scale of this group utilizing a micro pump is necessary, due to high pressure and channel blockage [10]. Some research has shown that wall-coated reactor performs better than packed bed reactor for SRM reaction various researches has proofed better performance of the wall-coated than packed bed reactor for SRM reaction[11, 12]. Experimental Catalyst preparation Firstly, 200 ml deionized water was heated to 80ËÅ ¡C and then metal nitrates of Cu, Zn and Fe (to prepare CuZnFe) were dissolved into the water until get the 0.2M solution. This solution was added to the heated water (80ËÅ ¡C) over stirrer under 350 rpm. To control and adjust pH around 7, the precipitation agent of 0.5M Na2CO3 was used. The obtained precipitates were aged at 60 ËÅ ¡C for 2 h under vigorous stirring. Afterward, the solids were filtered and washed with warm deionized water for several times and dried at 110 ËÅ ¡C for 12 h. then, the dried powder was calcined in a furnace at 350 ËÅ ¡C for 4h. Catalyst slurry preparation PVA (87-90% hydrolyzed, average mol wt 30,000-70,000,SIGMA-ALDRICH) was added to deionized water first, and stirred at 70 C until totally dissolved, then cooled at room temperature. As-synthesized, high-performance CuZnFe catalyst (10 wt.% catalyst) was added into the PVA solution (0.5 wt.%, 1 wt.%, 2 wt.% PVA) as-prepared. The catalyst slurry was kept in the ultrasonic bath for 1 h. Catalyst coating by electrophoretic deposition on stainless steel plates To prepare a regular, controlled catalytic layer, a well-stable suspensions of the catalyst powder are necessary which depend on the particle size, solvent characteristics and additional agents. To do this, the powder were milled to get a uniformity of particle size distribution below 40 micron, at least. Isopropanol was selected as solvent due to lower conductivity limiting solvent transportation than of the aqueous ones. Moreover, presence of aqueous base cause water electrolysis following poor coverage of catalyst. Electrophoretic deposition was performed at constant voltage (140 V) using a power supply unit (SPS-900NP-Navasanpardaz). The stainless steel (AISI-304) palates (7.04 cm2) were used as electrodes in the EPD bath. To cover both sides of the plate, a system including three electrodes was selected which, were mounted at a distance of 15 mm in a cell with a total volume of 120 ml. slurry of 72 g/L of catalyst in isopropanol and 1 g/L of PEI as binder was prepared through 15 min strongly stirring and then, 15 min signification in an ultrasonic bath (1200M-Soltec). The time of 4 min as coating time was fixed for all samples. After coating, the plates were dried in room temperature and then calcination at 350 C for 2 h. Method and materials According to the procedure in fig. 1, a series of CuZnFe slurries and samples were prepared. The synthesized powder was milled at 250 rpm for 10 min (due to initial fine powder structure short milling time was chosen) by a milling apparatus. It make a stable behavior of the slurry and homogenous final layer deposited. Results and Discussion After the coating procedure, the changing structure of the CuZnFe catalyst, the operating parameters and micro-channel characterization affect the efficiency of hydrogen in the output. In this study, explored a number of vital parameters characterization, including channeling arrangement and shape, coating methods and the efficiency of hydrogen production. Micro-Channeling Theory Design and micro-channel arrangement optimization cause select an appropriate structure limited by performance efficiency, constant cost like startup, Fabrication, and variable costs (Catalyst stability, coated layer quality, appropriate life time). Regardless of the constant costs, overall state and changing catalytic plates while the plates have been channelized, replacement and re-channelizing, coating procedure should be more difficult. Although, chein et. Al. [13] adopt three types reformer including the microchannel, the plain channel and the inserted catalyst layer while utilizing channeling over cover plate is different. All proposed structure of a square microchannel have been shown below†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. In this research, flexibility and replacing of an aged micro-reformer has been emphasized, an appropriate configuration with the minimum of fabrication cost through a recoverable coating procedure, minimum catalyst consuming and high efficiency has been adopted. A treated stainless steel as active layer was coated by the high efficiency CuZnFe catalyst which coated in an electrophoretic bath under a high controlling ability condition. The EPD producer will be discussed elsewhere, in detail. According to the optimum condition of a constant parameters, type of micro-channels, length and stability have been investigated. Reactor design The reactors were designed as flat-plate composed of stainless steel 304 plates. The microstructures were introduced by CNC technology. The both cover plate were machined to cover the active catalytic layer and increasing area to volume concept. The active layers were coated by home-made synthesized high efficiency steam reforming catalyst. Subsequently, the housing sealed by graphite gasket and bolts. The size and number of channels are summarized in table 1. Table 1.  Summary of the dimensions of the reactor: the channel dimensions are only provided for the reformate side of the plates Parallel channel Zig-zag channel Length(mm) Wide(mm) Depth(mm) Length(mm) Wide(mm) Depth(mm) The test plates and reformer design details are shown in fig. 1. On the top side of the cover plate, as shown in fig. 1(a), microchannel were patterned zig-zag path to reduce pressure drop along the path, holding high activity of the catalyst through the contact time increasing.(ref) the feed methanol-water mixture is sent to the vaporizer section including an inert alumina granule packed developing the heat transfer, and then, collected in an triangle manifold in the reformer inlet to obtain a more uniformly distributed flow. The design of the reformer channel (as shown in fig) leads splitting-jointing in an alternatively manner. In order to identify the reactant flow pattern effect on the reforming performance, the reformer channels shown in fig.1 were investigated. Catalyst coating The results of coating procedure, have been shown in fig 2. For all the plates, the same catalyst loading of 25mg was coated. Experimental setup A schematic diagram of the experimental setup is shown in fig. 3. The main components of the system are reactants, micro-reformer and products. To provide the heat of the reaction an electrical furnace was used controlled by a TIC. The feedstock system including methanol-water in liquid phase was sent by a syringe pump (model nnn) in a designed feed composition and determined S/C= 1.3 in all the tests. The reformed gas stream was then sent to a cold trap to eliminate the unreacted liquid phase. In continues, the rest of the gases was conducted to a gas chromatography equipped via two columns of carboxen and hysep Q (model shimadzu GC-8A). Based on the achieved fractions and compositions, the methanol conversion, CO selectivity, hydrogen yield and stability of the active layer cab be achieved. A K-type thermocouple connected at the end of the holes which designed to measure temperature of determined spots along the axis, default of the measurement is based on the central point of the reformer for all the tests. Results and Discussion 50 mm parallel microchannel Fig. 4 and fig. 5 display the performance of the microchannels according to the length. The investigation was performed under different temperature and micro channel types. It can be observed that the methanol conversion rates with various lengths is no different although the magnitude of this depends on the micro channel arrangement and for the direct parallel channels is more obvious. In the experiments, the effect of reaction temperature could overcome length and full conversion of methanol was achieved, finally. For the zig zag type, by variation in length in a range of 20 to 50 mm, no difference was observed. The arrangement cause more efficiency in reduction of surface to volume ratio. Actually the need of a sufficient contact time of the reactants on the catalytic active sites is necessary for a satisfying conversion. In the zag-zag type the contact time will increased and the at least of the sufficient length of full conversion is about 25mm. other lengths below those was not possible due to the limitation of the mass flow controller. On the other hand, being endothermic of MSR, the least requirement heat of reaction can be supplied by increasing of the contact time on the cover plate which is contacted to the heating source, consequently following the micro channel length. About the CO content, however, due to being full conversion in considered lengths, there is no significant different among the cases. Higher conversion can cause producing some more CO in the outlet. On the other hand, sufficient existing catalyst affect the CO production due to being active rWGS in lower loading of the catalyst. (ref). Zig-Zag microchannel Felani et al. [ ] proposed that a novel channel arrangement with a certain sizing could guarantee better flow distribution, higher contact time being accessible of reaction and heating, and lower pressure drop than those of conventional ones. The proposed model can increase the methanol conversion. Fig. 6 shows the illustration of the micro-reactor with such zig-zag microchannel. The performances of parallel microchannels and that of zig-zag microchannels are compared by the present experiment. The micro-reactor in this study is different from that of chein et al. [13]. In chein’s paper, the reactor only has simple inserted plate without channelizing. It is noticed that in this experiment novel catalyst of CuZnFe has been used and the goal of this experiment is not the comparison of the cases. Advantages of easily replacing, lower costs of recoating and flexibility managing of the fuel processor. Fig. 7 shows the variation of the methanol conversion with the temperatures. It c an be found that with the increase of the temperature, the methanol conversion decrease. The conversion in zig-zag microchannels were higher than those in parallel microchannels. When the temperature is high, methanol conversion in zig-zag microchannels could be 20% higher than that in parallel microchannels. As mentioned before, zig-zag microchannels induce potential of providing more contact time to react under the help of catalysts, thereby enhancing the methanol conversion. Conclusions In this paper, the experiment of methanol steam reforming were performed in a micro-reformer coated with novel CuZnFe catalyst. The following conclusion can be achieved. 1. The impacts of reaction temperature, gas hourly space velocity, H2O-to-CH3OH molar ratio and catalyst stability were also investigated in this stainless micro-reformer. Condition selection of optimum operation can be achieved by these useful guidance. 2. Micro-reactor with two types microchannel arrangement, including zig-zag path and parallel microchannels, different lengths of 15, 30 and 60 mm were evaluated. It is found that methanol conversion in microchannels with zig-zag path are much higher than that of parallel path. In addition, since zig-zag path cause more contact time of the reactants on active sites of catalyst, there is no different of methanol conversion with length variation, while in the parallel path, it was obvious that higher length leads to more methanol conversion. References [1] D.R. Palo, R.A. Dagle, J.D. Holladay, Chemical Reviews 107 (2007) 3992-4021. [2] L. F Brown, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 26 (2001) 381-397. [3] C. Liao, P.A. Erickson, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 33 (2008) 1652-1660. [4] J.-H. Wee, Renewable and sustainable energy reviews 11 (2007) 1720-1738. [5] S. Bose, T. Kuila, T.X.H. Nguyen, N.H. Kim, K.-t. Lau, J.H. Lee, Progress in Polymer Science 36 (2011) 813-843. [6] R.Y. Chein, Y.C. Chen, Y.S. Lin, J. Chung, International Journal of Energy Research 36 (2012) 466-476. [7] A. Basile, A. Iulianelli, T. Longo, S. Liguori, M. De Falco, Membrane Reactors for Hydrogen Production Processes, Springer, 2011, pp. 21-55. [8] V. Hessel, S. Hardt, H. Là ¶we, Chemical micro process engineering: fundamentals, modelling and reactions, John Wiley Sons, 2006. [9] H. An, A. Li, A.P. Sasmito, J.C. Kurnia, S.V. Jangam, A.S. Mujumdar, Chemical Engineering Science 75 (2012) 85-95. [10] X. Ouyang, L. Bednarova, R. Besser, P. Ho, AIChE journal 51 (2005) 1758-1772. [11] A. Karim, J. Bravo, D. Gorm, T. Conant, A. Datye, Catalysis today 110 (2005) 86-91. [12] J. Bravo, A. Karim, T. Conant, G.P. Lopez, A. Datye, Chemical Engineering Journal 101 (2004) 113-121. [13] R.-Y. Chein, Y.-C. Chen, Y.-S. Lin, J. Chung, International Journal of Thermal Sciences 50 (2011) 1253-1262.

The Mad Hamlet :: essays research papers

The Mad Hamlet William Shakespeare wrote "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" is a tragedy. William Shakespeare was born 1564 and died 1616. William Shakespeare himself, was one of the greatest play writers of all times. Hamlet was an odd character in the play because of the way he acted. Hamlet is intelligent, mad, and selfish. Hamlet is a very intelligent character. Claudius and Polonius planned to send Hamlet to England to be put to death, escorted by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet was supposed to be killed in England by getting beheaded, but he found a way around it. "†¦ My head should be struck off," (V, 2) "†¦Read it at more leisure†¦" (V, 2) and "†¦Devised a new commission, wrote it fair..." (V, 2) shows how Hamlet outsmarted Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Claudius, and Polonius. Hamlet wrote a different letter that said that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were to be executed, and therefore cheated death. Hamlet revenged his father's death by murdering Claudius. After Hamlet found out that the sword he and Laertes were struck with was poisoned he then stabbed Claudius with it; "The point envenom'd too? Then, venom, to thy work." (V, 2) From Hamlet's point of view, what he did to Ophelia was intelligent. When Ophelia went mad she said, "T omorrow is Saint Valentine's Day†¦ Never departed more," (IV, 5) and "Young men will do't, if they come to't†¦ You promised me to wed." (IV, 5) Ophelia was saying that Hamlet told her that they would get married if she had sex with him, and that he never showed any love for her, this was intelligent from Hamlet's or some males point of view. Hamlet was mad throughout the whole play. Hamlet murdered Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, and may have been the reason Ophelia went mad and drowned. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern: "He should the bearers†¦" (V, 2) Claudius: "†¦ Then, venom, to thy work," (V, 2) Laertes: "They bleed on both sides†¦" (V, 2) Polonius: "†¦Dead for a ducat, dead," (III, 4) Ophelia: "What the fair Ophelia!" (V, 2) At one point Hamlet was so mad and depressed he wanted to kill himself. "To be, or not to be, that is the question†¦" (III, 1) The worst possible thoughts that Hamlet could have ever thought, he thought incestuously about his mother and himself. He never said that he wanted to be with his mother, but he was just mad that Claudius took the throne from him at the beginning of the play, not that his father was dead.

Persian Gulf War Essay -- essays research papers

The Persian Gulf is one of the few regions whose importance to the United States is obvious. The flow of Gulf oil will continue to be crucial to the economic well-being of the industrialized world for the foreseeable future; developments in the Gulf will have a critical impact on issues ranging from Arab-Israeli relations and religious extremism to terrorism and nuclear nonproliferation. Every president since Richard Nixon has recognized that ensuring Persian Gulf security and stability is a vital U.S. interest. The Clinton administration's strategy for achieving this goal during the president's first term was its attempted "dual containment" of Iraq and Iran. This is more a slogan than a strategy, however, and the policy may not be sustainable for much longer. In trying to isolate both of the Gulf's regional powers, the policy lacks strategic viability and carries a high financial and diplomatic cost. Saddam Hussein is still in power six years after his defeat at the hands of a multinational coalition, and the international consensus on continuing the containment of Iraq is fraying. The strident U.S. campaign to isolate Iran, in turn, drives Iran and Russia together and the United States and its Group of Seven allies apart. Finally, the imposing U.S. military presence that helps protect the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) from external threats is being exploited by hostile elements to take advantage of internal social, political, and economic problems. The advent of the Clinton administration's second term, together with the imminent inauguration of a new administration in Iran following this May's elections, provides an opportunity to review U.S. policies toward the Gulf and consider whether midcourse corrections could improve the situation. The first step in such a reevaluation is to view the problems in the Gulf clearly and objectively. In Iraq, the United States confronts a police state led by an erratic tyrant who’s limited but potentially serious capacity for regional action is currently subject to constraint. In Iran, the United States confronts a country with potentially considerable military and economic capabilities and an imperial tradition, which occupies a crucial position both for the Gulf and for future relations between the West and Central Asia. If Iraq poses a clear and relatively simple immediate threat, Iran rep... ...bsp; 773 n.a. Imports (goods, US$ billion) 1,030 1,222 n.a. The performance of the US economy is uninspiring in the early part of 2001. While industrial production recorded its fifth consecutive monthly decline in February 2001, retail sales fell again in February after the rebound in the previous two months. The IMF has recently revised its US growth forecast for 2001 from 3.2% to 1.7%. Despite signs of economic weaknesses, the US employment condition remains sound and inflation is well contained. Sources http://debate.uvm.edu/roguestates.html http://www.twq.com/winter01/kemp.pdf http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/reports/normalization.pdf http://www.terrorism.com/terrorism/sloan.html http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ38a.pdf http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/usa.html http://www.embeeuu.gub.uy/cusreg.htm http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/ShalomIranIraq.html http://bookstore.gpo.gov/sb/sb-210.html http://www.middle-east-online.com/English/Business/Feb2001/US%20may%20have%20to%20drop%20sanctions%20against%20Iran,%20Iraq,%20Libya.htm

Perfume †Grenouille Analysis Essay

Throughout the story â€Å"Perfume† by Patrick Suskind, Grenouille is presented as an outsider who is a product of both social and moral decay shown through his birth, description of the setting and description of Grenouille’s characteristics. Grenouille was born in the malodorous fish market of Paris in the â€Å"18th century†, where the 18th century was a period of tragedy and chaos where foul smells were everywhere. Moreover, Grenouille being born in a â€Å"fish market† indicates the evil and unnatural nature of Grenouille as he is born in the worst smelling, filthiest and unnatural place in Paris. Even more, being born in a fish market in a â€Å"pile of fish guts† shows Grenouille as a victim of social decay where society and degraded so far to the point where babies mattered just as much as fish guts. Obviously, Grenouille’s future is seen to be full of sin and filthiness as seen from his birth place. Furthermore, from the moment Grenouille was born, he was endowed with a powerful sense of smell which he â€Å"used as a language† further suggesting his filthy and malicious future as the first smell he smelt was the disgusting stench of the fish market foreshadowing his disgusting future intentions. Using smell â€Å"as a language†, shows the difference between him and all other people in society making him an outsider. Similarly, like an animal, Grenouille uses sense of smell to communicate and judge his surroundings portraying his animalistic characteristics inside as well as the predator within him using scent to track prey as animals do. Clearly, Grenouille’s powerful sense of smell foreshadows his violent, animalistic future intentions. Conversely, through free indirect discourse, Suskind develops sympathy for Grenouille and portrays him as an outsider and a product of social decay. There is described to be a â€Å"stench barely conceivable† showing Grenouilles abundance of a smell setting him aside and different to â€Å"the people, the stairwells, the parlours and the bedrooms.. † making him different to anything normal making him an outsider. However, sympathy is developed for him when he describes everything in society to have a stench showing that he felt everything in society and all the people in it stank thus causing him to become a victim of social decay. Grenouille is further conveyed as a victim of social decay when upper class supposedly high ranked and highly respected people are portrayed as fools and almost idiots. Through Comic Irony Father Terrier is seen as an uneducated fool and childish when using the phrase â€Å"poohpeedooh†. The repetition of this phrase further illustrates the foolish nature of a highly respected person showing social decay. Moreover, presenting the upper class in France as silly and foolish shows the decay of society and how even foolish people such as Father Terrier are respected and looked up to making Grenouille a victim to this social decay as well as an outsider as he does not respect these foolish upper class people and does not follow the demands of society. Similarly, Grenouille is again seen as an outsider when society refuses to accept him. His mother leaves him to die in a pile of fish guts and many others refuse to take him in, leaving him as an unwanted outsider. Again this foreshadows his future actions of violence and murder when society rejects him and many people act on their basic instincts and leave him to die suggesting a sense of evil in him. Grenouille is further shown as an outsider when he is described to have a â€Å"lack of scent†. This lack of scent clearly shows he is unnatural and he is not a normal being as well as further suggests his evil nature as he is able to move around unnoticed by anything allowing him to be able to do things unnoticed. Clearly, Grenouille has an unnatural, evil feel to him as seen through his characteristics and the way he is rejected purely but instincts by society. As seen from his birthplace, the setting and his characteristics Grenouille is clearly an outsider in society and this will ultimately lead to the murder of several women as well as chaos.

Global Wine War Case 2009 Essay

How were the French able to dominate the worldwide wine trade for centuries ? What sources of competitive advantage did they develop to support their exports ? France and the Mediterranean region is closely tied to the Wine History. It has started since the Roman Empire, and has been fully integrated to the European culture with the Christian era : Monasteries planted vines and built wineries. The nobility started also planting vineyards as a mark of prestige. In this early market, France has been dominant thanks to key advantages : 1. Factors Conditions : First, their geographic and climatic features played significant role. As France is in the middle of Europe culture with suitable climate and soil condition for harvesting grape, had accrued first-mover advantage and established its place as the dominant competitor in the global wine industry. 2. Demand Conditions : The Distribution and Marketing made the fame of French wine. The nà ©gociants traded wine between France and other countries and this worked as word-of-mouth effect, increasing the reputation and dominance of French wine. 3. Innovation. In the late 18th century, French producers had experienced a massive innovation in the market. Mass production of glass bottles, the use of cork stoppers and the development of pasteurization revolutionized the industry. Those innovation got the distribution and Marketing easier. These innovations increased the stability and longevity of wine which allowed the transportation of wine to distant places, and birth of global wine market. 4. Government : Protection from the government. As the industry developed, the French government controlled the wine production and quality, regulations like AOC and VDQS, set detailed and quite rigid standards for vineyards and wine makers. Doing so, the local producers were protected with labels. This classification contributed to make the fame of many wine producers (Bordeaux,†¦) Given the longstanding dominance of Old World wine producers, how were the New World producers, such as the Australians, able to expand their market share so rapidly in the 1990’s ? The wine production has turned global. Nowadays, the wine production is no longer the preserved domain of France and other Old World countries. Some countries such as Australia have seen many strong producers challenging the French dominance. The expansion of their market share has been made possible thanks to key advantages : 1 – Factors Conditions : Geographical and climate factors : suitable lands was widely available and less expensive than in France. This fact, matched with a cheaper labor force, contributed to get the price per bottle lower. Innovation have permitted to get the production cost lower. Controlled drip irrigation allowed expansion into marginal land and reduced vintage variability. The harvesting has been mechanized 2 – Demand conditions : The intern demand has kept growing since the post war period. In Australia, the annual consumption per capita grew from 2 liters in 1960 to 24 liters in 2006. This demand enable producers to built their marketing expertise in their home market during the 1970’s, then they export it. 3 – Firm strategy, structure and rivalries Reinventing the Marketing Model : innovative in packaging and marketing. The Australian developed : the â€Å"wine in a box† package which is more suitable for the current market. screw caps Australia took advantages of a differentiation strategy. They made their bottle more appealing for unaccustomed wine consumers. In addition, new-world producers learned the value of product differentiation and consumer focused attitudes to create mass appeal. The New World companies controlled the full value chain, extracting margins at every level. new-world producers moved away from multilevel value chains that caused operating inefficiencies. Instead, the new-world producers typically controlled the full-value chain, extracting margins at each level and retaining bargaining power. On a contrary, The main vulnerable aspects of French wine industry were highly fragmented vineyard and wine production, increasing vineyard prices per acre, complex distribution and sales system, long multilevel value chain, risk of bad weather and disease; and poor roads and complex toll and tax system. Those aspects contributed to the decline of French wine on the market. What advice would you offer today to the head of the French wine industry association ? The extent of differentiation was a governmental classification system of quality based on rules and controls. => The wine market was complex and highly fragmented. The classifications helped customers understand purchase Focus was on large volume production, not quality => Wine became culturally and economically significant. In 1750’s, France was the 2nd largest exporter after Italy. As the Global Wine Wars article mentions, marketing style, freedom and willingness to innovate, wine style, and business models of the New World are good starting points for the Old World to copy. In order to compete effectively with the â€Å"New World† markets, the â€Å"old world† wine producers need to cooperate on various levels. Deregulation of many of the existing laws that appear to be competitive barriers would be a starting point. Getting the European Union to review the AOC, DOC, and WDQS classifications to create a vastly simpler system would make it easier for them to p enetrate the mass market. Allying with some of the â€Å"new world† markets such as Argentina and Chile would help offset some of the advantages the U.S. and Australia have with regards to land, mechanization of labor, and low cost labor. Taking these markets under their umbrella would lend credence and value to Chilean and Argentinean wines and also open doors to penetrate the growing South American wine market which is not nearly as saturated as other markets. Trading industry know how for access to cheap land and labor is becoming more and more of a necessity with the growth of globalization. Taking advantage of established new world innovations would also be seen as an easy way to increase productivity of small lots. The relatively small lot size which divides the old world into many distinct regions is a crippling handicap. If the smaller wine lots were able to coalesce into cooperatives, they would be able to market more efficiently due to increased resources. Also, despite the originality of the Old World wines, perhaps a break with traditional methods could increase the marketability with the fresh generation Y market. Focusing these revamped marketing efforts in the Asian market with a keen eye towards ensuring the â€Å"distance† problems are resolved as they arise would also give an edge to the old world. By attempting to pull out of the â€Å"red ocean strategy† and moving more towards the â€Å"blue ocean strategy† the old world could feasibly remove many of the aspects of competition that are harming it currently. Besides the Far Eastern market, there are possibilities in Canada (who shares many old world ties), the Middle East, Africa, and perhaps Latin America. Reanalyzing the â€Å"government solution† for flaws that hurt the old world wine countries would also be a viable means of making the old world more competitive. If all else fails, old world growers could band together to fund and support the CAV on an international level and see if positive results could be had from the CAV’s worldwide efforts.