Economic, political and technological factors that have turned China Assignment

Economic, political and technological factors that have turned China into a fast emerging economy - Assignment Example The rapid economic development has been made possible by large foreign direct investments, rise in productivity, political reforms and technological advancements (Lampton, 2008). Owing to these transformations, there has been a sharp rise in China’s economic growth, where national poverty figures moved from being more than 65 % to below 10 % within three decades, wherein nearly 500 million people were removed from below poverty level and the country managed to meet a majority of their Millennium Development Goals (World Bank, 2012, p. 4). While rate of growth varied across the country, the growth was sharp in almost all parts and the 31 provinces that came under mainland China (if considered to be independent economies) were seen as a part of the world’s 32 most rapidly growing economies (World Bank, 2012, p.4). Owing to the sharp economic growth, currently â€Å"2 of the world’s top 10 banks are now Chinese; 261 Chinese companies are on the Global Fortune 500 l ist; and China is home to the world’s second-largest highway network, the world’s 3 longest sea bridges, and 6 of the world’s 10 largest container ports. The country has also made large strides in health, education, science, and technology† (World Bank, 2012, p.4). Various factors lie behind China’s strong socio-economic growth, which includes various economic, political and technological factors. ... Rapid economic growth is evinced by a country’s economic figures, such as trade volumes, foreign reserves, higher gross domestic product (GDP), and GDP per capita. Thus, a fast emerging economic growth translates into increasing financial gains for foreign investors that in turn brings in more foreign investment into a country, which supports rapid economic growth. In order to attract more foreign investors, countries aim at framing effective macroeconomic policies that are open to global trade. Emerging Market Economies tend to be more open to global trade with business models that are export oriented, and these models later serve to variegate the products and services exported by the country. Economic experts contend that diversification and integration of national economy into the global economy help in decreasing after-effects of sharp fluctuations within global prices or economic crises, thus bringing stability for the country that in turn attracts more foreign investors (Williams, 2011). In the context of framing sound macroeconomic policies that influence wider aspects of a country’s economy, it can be suggested that effective policies help in stabilizing cash flows, which keep foreign investments safe. Sound macroeconomic policies include liberalisation of national banks, privatisation of public enterprises, and opening up of stock markets in order to give easy accessed to foreign investors, decrease in external debt and framing sound monetary and fiscal policies. Since the start of economic reforms during late 1970s, China has slowly turned into one of the fastest-emerging economies of the world. A look at China’s economy reveals that starting from

Ericsson Headquarters in Cyberjaya: Architecture Theory

Ericsson Headquarters in Cyberjaya: Architecture Theory 1.0 INTRODUCTION Serina Hijjas is a wellknown Malaysian architect and also the director of the Hijjas Kasturi Associates Sdn. She had 20 over years experience in this architecture design field. Serina took over her dad interest in this architecture field as her dad is also an architect , Hijjas Kasturi, the founder of Hijjas Kasturi Associates Sdn. Serina graduated with a Diploma in Architecture in University of Sydney and Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Barlett School of Architecture in England. She was once an archietctural assistant with the Foster Associates, focuses on masterplan for King Cross for two years after her graduation. Later on, she decided to return to Malaysia and work for Hijjas Kasturi Associates focusing on conceptual design, contract management on retail, office building and commercial. She involved in Masterplan in Putrajaya. Serina Hijjas is the founding member of Malaysia’s Grren Building Index technical Committee, which she is very qualified with her experience and architectural background. The Committee acquires the professional membership of boards of Architects in Malaysia and it corporates with the member of PAM. One of Serina greatest achievement with her company was getting involved with the Putrajaya Masterplan design. Her company also work in many otehr plenty large scale projects such as the Masterplan Core Island Boulevard for Putrajaya and Putrajaya Convention Centre, Ericsson Malaysia at Cyberjaya, Telekom Malaysia Headquarters Building, ASEAN Instisture of Medicine, and much more. She has been very active in the area of Energy Efficiency and suatainability since her formative years of architecture practice in The Fosters, London. Besides getting involved in much of government projects, she has also gave much talk and be a good speaker in giving her speech and talks at various green architectural seminar. There are few awards that she had won during these 20 over years of experience which is the Asean Energy Efficiency Award for Securities Commission Headquarters, Bukit Kiara in 2001, Nominated for the Aga Khan Award for Telekom Malaysia Headquarters in 2004, Exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Show, Tower Category for Telekom Malaysia Headquarters, 2nd Place International, Dubai National Library Competition in 2005, Asean Energy Efficiency Award for Telekom Malaysia Headquarters in 2005 and being nominated for the Aga Khan Award for Putrajaya Convention Centre in year 2006. ii.Project description The aim of this project is to convey and understanding of architect’s architectural theory through a direct observation and analysis of his projects. Each of the architectural elements in the chosen building will be broken down and matches with the relevant architectural theories. Besides that, analysis of the relationship between architecture and its social, cultural and intellectual context will be conveyed through diagrams and essay. iii. Building Introduction In this essay, the chosen building to be analyzed is the Ericsson RD Building designed by Serina Hijjas, The client of this project is the Ericsson. This building is the headquarter of Ericsson in the Asia country. The budget of this project was RM110million and it completed in the year 2002. Its the home of the Swedish telecommunications giant, is located in the Multimedia Super Corridor, Cyberjaya. This unique building, with a total air-conditioning area of 300,000 sq ft, houses state-of-the-art facilities for RD inventions.The air-conditioning system utilizes the chilled water from the district cooling (primary circuit) and is circulated into the building (secondary circuit) through heat exchangers. The state-of-the-art air-conditioning system installed in this building incorporates the innovative concept of raised-floor technology and precision air-conditioning system. (Effective Cooling Technologies,2006). 2.0 EXTERNAL FACTOR 1- CLIMATE Ericsson Headquarters in Cyberjaya has large overhanging eaves roof to prevent excessive sunlight to enter the building and affect the comfort level of users. The orientation of the building in the site, where the East west part of the building, is covered with long overhang eaves, act as a shading devices. The large overhanging roof at the sides of the building, having like a perforated type of roof, letting the sunlight to penetrates in the external spaces forming an interesting shadows of spaces. Large overhanging roofs at the entrance with full curtain wall creates a grand entrance. There’s also a tree structure roof at the entrance to gives a feeling of welcoming to the users at the same time as a shading device, protecting the users from sun and rain. The interesting roof at the entrance, having the glass on the rooftop, letting light penetrationg and casting light giving a bright and interesting entrance. The central courtyard of the building emphasizes on the penetrating of natural daylight into the spaces whereby the both sides roof having alittle of overhang for shading purposes. Greens, plants and trees were planted on the surrounding of the building to provide good ventilation and comfortable space. Trees planted along the road before turning into the main entrance of the building. The trees provides shades from the hot climate in Malaysia and also function in being green into the building, provides a comfortable and relaxing feeling to the user and passbyer. For good ventilation, cross ventilation and stack ventilation are being used to attract wind into the building. External Wind goes through from the windows towards the stairs forming a stack ventilation, whereby cross ventilation were form when the opposite sides of the windows are also being open, letting through the wind to goes in and out to ventilate the building spaces. 2.1 EXTERNAL FACTOR 2: ARCHITECTURE THEORY CRITICAL REGIONALISM Being a hybrid of Modernism and Regionalism, it embraces yet distances itself from both, aiming to cultivate a resistant, identity giving culture while at the same time having discreet recourse to universal technique (Frampton, 1983, p.20). Critical Regionalists are â€Å"opposed to mindlessly adopting the narcissistic dogmas in the name of universality, leading to environments that are economically costly and ecologically destructive to the human community† (Tzonis, Lefaivre 2003, p.20). Glenn Murcutt-Magney House (1984) Magney House is an example of critical regionalism. The house was constructed the regrowth of vegetation site where it is relatively wild and undeveloped. It has an external room which supports outdoor living out of wind but relatively integrated with the sun and the view. The effect of this space on the plan is liberating-This space act as a overturns of a conventional model of domestic enclosure and posits a much more redefined and spatially diverse alternative.(Metcalf,2012) An influence architecture of this building is by the critical regionalism. For the Ericsson HQ, it adapts the greenary of the site and added more greens, using light material and a more humanic scale to blend with the site and nature, with the influence of climate in providing shadings and ventilation to the building, the Magney house also uses the material on steel and glass as the light structure for the house, integrating with the tropical location. Ericsson HQ integrates with the site where the orientation of the building at the site, having an easy and obvious access towards the building. This is because the location of the building are having the free access from the main entrance of highway. People can easily have a view access to the building from the highway. Easy access from main highway to the main entrance of the building. The site are surrounded by greenery, having a beautiful scene along the road to the entrance of the building. The approach of nature towards the building focuses on the entrance, having a beautiful and grand entrance, having the water features and beautiful plants and trees to show and let people know the entrance of the building. The approach of greens into the building intergrating with the site to express the tropical location. The site are mainly surrounded by greens, therefore,to match back with the site, trees are being planted at the surrounding where it not only function as aesthetic purpose,but also intergration towards the site, act as shading from the hot climate and heavy rain, and gives a nature and tropical feels to the users. The building height also provides a humanic scale and environment landscape design to the site. The design of height of the building doesnt gives a fear and oppress feeling towards the users but a humanic scale, because of less and average height level of building. The materials used are mostly metals and glass. It brings a light feeling as the construction and material used are light, providing a permeability feeling to the users. High glass curtain wall are being used, allowing the natural daylight to penetrates in the building, protraiting a good energy efficiency. Less artificail lighting is neede to enlight the space in the building thanks to the uses of glass. The design are effective in not just providing natural daylight, but also to prevent excessive daylight into the building, overhanging roofs and also metal cladding in the facade are being widely used. The facade having metal cladding that not only gives shades to the internal spaces but also act as a aesthetic value to the facade design that suits the environment. Metal material are a good material as it is suitable to use in Malaysia, where manufacturer of metal especially aluminium are widely found in Malaysia, and is is more environmental friendly material compared to concrete o r bricks. 2.2 EXTERNAL FACTOR 3: TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIAL The material used in the building are mainly glass and metal. It shows a light and modern architecture style through the design, material and technology used. The buidling are energy effiency through the technology used in the building such as the air condition energy sources. The air-conditioning system utilizes the chilled water from the district cooling (primary circuit) and is circulated into the building (secondary circuit) through heat exchangers. The state-of-the-art air-conditioning system installed in this building incorporates the innovative concept of raised-floor technology and precision air-conditioning system. Besides that, glass material used allows penetration of daylight into the building, providing free natural daylight, reduces the uses of artificial light thus cost reduces not only in lighting cost but also in air condition(ventilation) vice. Therefore, it is a good consideration of design and strategy in designing on efficiency of the building and environmental. Framing the view of internal and external. Metal truss roof are used in the building where the lattice truss can support wide cariety of roof system due to excellent strength to weight ratio. It can weigh till span of 40m without need for intermediate support column.It allows the designers to have a greater flexibility when working to optimise internal space. Metal truss roof provides light construction, durable, long lasting, prevent pesticides, and doesnt need finishes. The structure used in the main entrance as a shading devices are known as the trees structure as the structure of support branches out just like a tree. It is also known as umbrella like structure as it opens up like a umbrella. This structure are light and also mainly use as shading devices in Malaysia along the Jalan Bukit Bintang. The advantages of using metal and glass.Metal has a high strength and weight ratio. Thus steel are very suitable for long span building, having high ductility where it has the energy absorbing capacity and will not incur on sudden failure. Whereas glass allow natural light enter the space although it is enclosed. This very reason is the idea behind applying glass materials in wall construction. The energy usage is reduced. Besides that, air conditioning system does not have to function more in order to fully cool an area because glass is a bad conductor. Choosing this two material in the design, it helps to improve not only in the energy efficiency but also environmental friendly and also gives a modern style design. 3.0 CONCLUSION As nutshell, energy efficeincy and sustainable is being practices into the design where the daylight and climate factors are being considered, whereby the influence theory are the critical architecture that integrates and blends well with the location and teh site, and also the material and technology chosen is important. These 3 external factors is what that influences the design and the end product of the building. Where, this building really integrates and though well on. Ms Serina Hijjas has implied well her knowledge on the idea of how to gain a better energy efficciency to helps and improve to provides a better products, things to the client. The thought of using the the chilled water from the district cooling and incorporates the innovative concept of raised-floor technology and precision air-conditioning system is very well thought of. It leads us the younger generation to realize her efford in bringing her practice of sustainability to her design in reality is what we should learned from her. The critical regionalism is greatly transformed and applied into her design well with the site. From this whole assignment, i felt very grateful to have meet such a great and famous architect and learned many thing from her, thorugh this analysis where different types of approach can leads to many different things in a design, where thought of the site and location is very important to blends with the building. Business Plan for Car Kursaal | Entrepreneurship Assignment Business Plan for Car Kursaal | Entrepreneurship Assignment Entrepreneurship  Assignment-Business plan Xue Dong 1.0 Executive Summary Car Kursaal is a local company that will offer auto car wash services for car owners. It will be established in the Christchurch city which will be located on the Riccarton Road and near by Puriri Street. It will has 1500 square meters large which will include two sides of wash bays and four bays will be set up on each side. High quality services will be available to offer not only for location people, but also for travelers who are visiting around the city. The amount of this investment will up to 1 million dollars including rental for place and establishment of materials. Car Kursaal will offer different types of car wash services such as self-clean services, vacuum services, shampoo services and polish services (Midtdal, K., Jelle, B. P., 2013). Customers are able to choose any type they want even though just use one step of car wash (just use water). Car Kursaal has its special characteristic for service sales that customers can choose different models of services for their car wash according to their needs. Absolutely, different types of services have different cost for diverse income of people. Some studies indicate that no one car wash service offer different models of services for car users in Christchurch. There are 300 thousand residents in Christchurch (Love, T., 2011), in addition, there has many international students, workers and visitors in Christchurch. Almost everyone has a car in their daily life. Therefore, the market of this company has highly perspective profits. 1.1 Objectives The amount of sale reach 50 thousand dollars per month. Establish one new site after 1 year running of the first car wash shop. Establish to a concatenate car washing company in Canterbury region in 5 years after the first shop open. 1.2 Mission Car Kursaal is dedicated to providing customers the whole car-care experience and focusing on the different types of services to customers to satisfy all requirements from customers. In addition, it also to providing both of owners and employees a beautiful reward. 1.3 Key to success Car Kursaal will be located on the Riccarton Road which is near to the University of Canterbury, Christchurch Boys High School, Bush Inn Centre and Westfield Riccarton Mall. Although this district has more traffic flow than other districts of the city, this car washing site will has a notable denoter in front of the shop that will be convenient to help people to see the sign. In addition, Car Kursaal will use new equipments and systems to support the services such as staple open wash bay (the overhead design with no floor steel) and Smart 360 technology (providing option for flash dry service that takes no additional time for basic dry which is performed by a rinse and dry in one operation). However, some advertisements will be set up both on daily newspaper and road advertising board. The words â€Å"The home of your cars† will be used for advertisements. 2. Company Summary Car Kursaal is a dynamic company in Christchurch and it will provide different types of car wash services which include self-clean and other auto car wash services in Christchurch city. High quality services and new equipments and systems will be provided for customers. It will has eight car-wash bays to offer vacuum services and polishing services. It will also provide some drinks and food for customers. The owner has been a CEO of a car dealer company for around ten years. During those then years, the owner was running some other business such as night club. 3. Product Description Some different types of services will be provided for customers including Self-clean Car Wash, Shampoo Wash, and Polishing Wash. Self-clean Car Wash will be the simplest service among those services but the price will be the lowest that means customers just cost 8 dollars to wash their cars, but it will limit the wash time they use. It will provide 5 minutes to use the water facilities and 10 minutes to use the cleaning facilities. The second type of car washing ways is Shampoo Wash which is much easier than the first one, the cost of this service will be 12 dollars. Another one is Polishing Wash which will include special step to polish cars. It will be the highest level of those services and the cost will be 16 dollars. On the other hand, the last two ways of auto washing services will provide another option for car drying, just need cost one more dollar to save much time for drying step using flash dry smart system which will be convenient to both of customers and shop owners. 4.1 Market Segmentation This car washing shop will be established on Riccarton district which is near to the University of Canterbury, Christchurch Boys High School, Bush Inn Centre and Westfield Riccarton Mall. There are several different kinds of customers that will be involved in, that are, university students, high school students and their parents and visiting and shopping customers. The larger groups of the prospective customers that who will do the washing services will be shopping customers and university students. The smaller one should be high school students and their parents. Another prospective group of customers will be from car rental company and car deal company. There are many companies engaged in the hire of cars, car tental is generally for a period of days, and the customer has to fulfill certain formalities and sign forms (Hirshberg, I., 1994). They must keep those cars clean before they return them. 4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy Due to the location of this shop, three different markets will be considered by us. The first one is shopping and visiting customers who are shopping in the two malls which is described above. This market will be the most important one because they have finance capability to cost some money to wash their cars when they after their shopping. The second market will be the students from Canterbury University. This group has the largest proportion of all customers because the university has more than 20,000 students which include both of domestic students and international students and most of them may have some savings from part-time jobs or other ways which means they will have some finance support to do car maintain services which include car washing services, but they may not have enough finance to support their extra car expenses compare to shopping and visiting customers. The last market should be high school students and their parents. However, not many high school students have t heir own cars but the prospective customers should be their parents because they have more chances to go car washing shop when they meet their children in high school. For the customers of car rental company, because of the rules which is from car rental company that customers must keep the car clean, those customers have more chances to go a car washing shop to clean their rent cars. 4.3 Market needs The advantages of this business that others does not have are we have different types of car wash ways to offer different types of customers that means they can choose different levels of cost to finish car wash. It will be much convenient to the customers that they can spent less money if they are not in good finance conditions but they want to have this service. As we known, almost all auto car washing sites in Christchurch do not have variable choices for customers and the price are not flexible. That is the reason that Car Kursaal will have the most chances to get the prospective customers if we can offer them different prices because Car Kursaal will offer much cheaper prices for different washing ways. 5.0 Strategy and implementation summary Firstly, the investment will be recorded by management group. The money which is invested will be divided by three, the first part will be used for rental places and decoration, the second part will be used for buy some equipments and system installation, the last part will be used for labor spending. Budgets will be built before the shop establishment and we will prepare additional 10% extra budgets of all the cost in case some emergency during the establishment. Management team also will supervise the whole business when it is running (Yusuf, Y., Gunasekaran, A., Abthorpe, M. S., 2004). Three teams will charge different part of business operation. One is about daily operation, one for equipments maintain and one for finance supervision. Each group will has one team leader and several staff to charge different things and the team leader will in charge of their team and play a role to communicate the manger and other team leaders. One week team meeting will be hold by team leader an d one month management meeting will be hold by manger to track the establishment process. 5.1 Competitive Edge Some petrol station are the competitors such as BP, Mobile because they also offer auto car wash services for customers and they have opened for a long time that some customers are used to go there to wash their cars. Therefore, the price and the special services will be our unique characteristic which is distinctive from other car washing places. Another unique competitive edge is we also offer pick up and drop off service. We will use a systems for communicating information for both of customers and the shop. This system can provid a confirmation or temporary receipt for customers and also can memory for reference when the customer come to pick up (Danel, A. R., Lohrey, D. W., 1989). The most problem should be how to make a reputation. 5.2 Sales strategy A strong advertisement will be used at firstly stage of running this business such as TV advertisement, newspaper and other ways to let customers know what kind of services we can offer them and what are the advantages we have and how much money they will save if they choose go to our place. Also, we will make a cooperation with AA company to give some discount for AA members and to promote our reputation. For people who are not AA member, we will give another discount that provide 5% off per liter after they done 5 times of car wash services. Also, we will offer customers some long-term contracts that is more convenient for both of the company and customers. 6.0 Management summary Refer to 5.0, we can see three different team will in charge different kinds of works. Therefore, team leader of the groups will be the important role for the business. Each team leader will be selected by their working experience, education background. They should have at least college certificate and at least 3 years related working experience. Every prospective employee should submit their CV and give a oral representation for their working experience which include customer service skill, communication skill. Team leader will be paid for average salary plus some achievement awards each month that will depends on the amount of sales. 7.1 Projected profit and loss Thousands of cars are running through Riccarton Road. If 10% of those cars choose our car washing shop to do washing services, the profits will be approximate on 40 thousand to 50 thousand dollars per month. Equipments loss will be the most important one. Also, some long-term staff quit will be another loss for the business. 7.2 Projected cash flow 8.0 Conclusion Car Kursaal will be a modern company to provide modern ways of car wash services to people who are living in Christchurch and who are visiting and studying in Christchurch. 1 million New Zealand dollars will be invested in this project. This shop will take up 1500 square meters and will be located on the Riccarton Road of Christchurch City. This location is near by some education places and shopping malls which is convenient to customers who are living there and going there for shopping. New equipments and new technology will be used in this project. Some excellent people will participate in this management team. Some advertising and promotion will be used for boost this company reputation and the advantages of this company should be the cheaper price and diverse types of washing services. This business will have a brilliant profits in the future. References Danel, A. R., Lohrey, D. W. (1989).U.S. Patent No. 4,803,348. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Hirshberg, I. (1994).U.S. Patent No. 5,289,369. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Love, T. (2011). Population movement after natural disasters: a literature review and assessment of Christchurch data.Sapere Research Group. Midtdal, K., Jelle, B. P. (2013). Self-cleaning glazing products: A state-of-the-art review and future research pathways.Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells,109, 126-141. Yusuf, Y., Gunasekaran, A., Abthorpe, M. S. (2004). Enterprise information systems project implementation:: A case study of ERP in Rolls-Royce.International Journal of Production Economics,87(3), 251-266.

Monopoly of Petroleum: OPEC Essay -- Business Case Studies Oil Essays

Monopoly of Petroleum: OPEC Images Not Included A monopoly is evident where a firm is the sole seller of its product and if its product does not have close substitutes, as discussed in (Gans J., King S. Mankiw A. 2003). This essay will discuss the monopoly of petroleum by The Organization Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), particularly how it controls the price of petrol, threats to its monopoly and the social costs involved. OPEC was established in the 1960's and ever since, Saudi Arabia gained a reputation of being the major power of the organization. Saudi Arabia has the biggest oil reserves in the world and production costs lower than any country. (economist.com 2003)This means that it is a natural monopoly and economies of scale arises; when the long run average total cost falls as the quantity of output increases as illustrated in figure 1. (Gans, J. King, S., Mankiw, N., 2003) Saudi Arabia is the undisputed leader of OPEC. Figure 1 Economies of Scale as a factor of Monopoly Cost Average Total Costs Quantity of output Saudi arabia's petroleum monopoly is very much its' government's major interest. The kingdom earned over $80 billion in revenue from oil in 2000.(economist.com 2003) OPEC's ability to influence the market price is the key of its power. Compared to a competitive firm, the demand curve for a monopoly is a horizontal one as it can set any quantity it wants for a given price. The demand curve slopes downwards... ... production costs is amongst the lowest in the world. Iraq has the potential of overthrowing OPEC's regime if OPEC countries like Russia and France are ready to develop Iraq's oilfields so that it can be used to full efficiency. Does this mean that, to stop a monopoly, another monopoly must be used to overcome it? Time will tell, especially when UN sanctions are lifted and the new Iraqi government is formally established. In conclusion, OPEC's monopoly of the petroleum industry has been a strong one since the 1960's since its members enjoy economies of scale. Its decisions concerning the output of petrol have always been strong affecting the rest of the world. This monopoly is socially inefficient due to the output and the deadweight loss that results. Interestingly enough, to break this monopoly, the new Iraq has the potential to turn the market power around.

A Discussion of the Final Chapter of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay

In the final stages of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, there are many ways in which the author, Robert Louis Stevenson, both explores human nature, and also creates a sense of sympathy on the part of the reader for Dr Henry Jekyll, which could be said to extend to Mr Edward Hyde as well. In reference to the author’s exploration of the nature of humanity, the settings of the story itself are very important. Previous to the writing of this story, there had been a firm tradition of horror stories being set exclusively in rural areas, perhaps due to the fact that only a minority of people lived in these areas, and so to those elsewhere it would have seemed far more remote and exotic. Stevenson’s thriller was ground-breaking in that it focussed its plot in an urban setting, by name London, but also with extraordinary resemblance to Stevenson’s home city of Edinburgh. This setting reflects the idea of urban expansion into the countryside, but more importantly the more modern appearance of this particular horror story. Because a large majority of the readers of this book would have been living in the city, it brings the story closer to them, and allows them to become more involved in the events of the plot. Stevenson’s use of the city as the setting for his story also is also representative of early manifestations of writers of this era moving towards using the city as a representation of fear and darkness, rather than its previous role as a deeply romanticized place. In terms of Stevenson’s investigation of human nature, the proximity of Jekyll’s laboratory and his fine house is very significant. The laboratory represents, in my opinion, the hidden, secretive side of his life, involving his work, as well his life as Mr Edward Hyde. The fact that this laboratory is so close to Jekyll’s expensive and upper-class house, representing his professional and social life as a doctor and a well-respected member of society, signifies the proximity of the two parts of his character, in fact their intricate relationship, intertwined and connected in so many different aspects. This idea is also mentioned by Jekyll himself in the final chapter, in his account of events, emphatically saying; â€Å"It was the curse of mankind that these two incongruous faggots were thus bound together-that in the agonized womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling.† I have decided to quote this sentence because I believe it is very revealing about the â€Å"thorough and primitive duality of man† explored in the text. Jekyll talks of â€Å"incongruous faggots† being bound together, meaning that the two elements do not combine, but that they are still as one. The phrase â€Å"polar twins,† is almost a contradiction in terms, and shows that the two elements of Dr Jekyll’s psyche are both united in their existence, but also that they are totally opposite. The phrase â€Å"duality of man,† used earlier in this chapter, also expresses the idea of two parts to every mind or conscience, an ego and a superego. Mr Edward Hyde is the ego, an utterly self-absorbed being, merely concerned with and conscious of themselves. Dr Jekyll, however, is the superego, the element of the character which socialises the entirety, enabling it to interact with others. No man is complete without both of these parts, and neither can truly exist without the other. However, Jekyll’s apparent desire to appear arid and utterly professional externally, and his recognition of his chief fault as â€Å"a certain impatient gaiety of disposition† seems to have forced him into a desire to separate the two parts of his character, the superego and the ego. This, in his mind, would allow him to live as two men, but his failure to predict the nature of these two individual characters leads to his suffering and isolation. In the final chapter, his retrospective account, he concedes, â€Å"all human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil.† Stevenson himself shares some parallels with the character of Jekyll. Born into a strictly religious, part of the Calvinist movement, Stevenson grew up with the belief, although possibly inescapable, that there was an underlying and constant presence of sin in everything; every action and every person. This is shown in the character of Henry Jekyll, and the underlying evil that is personified by Edward Hyde. In Jekyll’s earlier life, he was forced to conceal his pleasures from his family, becoming rebellious against his father, just as Jekyll himself feels urged to do in the story, and from which the beginnings of his familiarity with a double-life or, as he says â€Å"a profound duplicity of life†, can be traced. The context of the story is also important in terms of the sympathy created by the author for Hyde. The period in which the book is set was one of enormous scientific progress and discovery, and in my opinion, this adds a further element to the reasons for a feeling of sympathy for Henry Jekyll. Jekyll himself cites a burning ambition inside himself as being a key reason for his unquenchable thirst to discover the true nature of humanity, and thus his desire to become Hyde. The intensity of the scientific world of the period, and the temptation which face Jekyll after his first experience of the transformation both appear to contribute towards his inability to stop himself becoming Hyde. Jekyll himself seems to realise the responsibility of these factors towards the end of the book, in his account of events. One particular example of this is; â€Å"Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are as old and commonplace as man: much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting the strength to keep it† This clearly shows Jekyll’s impotence to stop himself from leaning towards the temptation of his new life, and also that this was not a vice exclusive to him as an individual, but that it was something unavoidably and unquestionably natural for mankind. This creates a sense of sympathy on behalf of the reader, because it emphasises Jekyll’s lack of power and control over his actions, as well as explaining to the reader that the evil which is brought out of Henry Jekyll is not something that he is to blame for, instead that he is a victim of his own ambition and daring, as well as the ambition and aspirations of the society in which he lived. Another remark which shows this idea is, â€Å"It was thus the exacting nature of my aspirations, than any particular degradation in my faults, that made me what I was†, expressing the feeling of blamelessness in Jekyll, and thus the sympathy in the reader for him. Another way in which the reader is led to sympathise with Jekyll is the way in which Jekyll is tempted to become Hyde by his feelings of restriction and his desire to find pleasure, whilst keeping his life as Dr Henry Jekyll separate from this. In his account, Jekyll explains that, in becoming Hyde, he is free â€Å"from the bonds of obligation† and is able to, â€Å"like a schoolboy, strip off these lendings and spring headlong into the sea of liberty.† These quotations clearly show the immense need for freedom that Dr Jekyll faces, and the extent to which he is prepared to act in order to obtain this freedom. There seems, to me, to be a certain resemblance to the idea of sin and temptation in this element of the story. Jekyll clearly feels restricted by, and in, the world in which he lives, and the fact that he is aware of a way out of this world causes his inability to resist the temptation of taking the path to freedom. When he has experienced the freedom for the fi rst time, he is unable to stop himself from using the potion in order to free himself from the burdens of society. The sympathy induced by Stevenson is not, however, limited to the character of Dr Jekyll. To a certain extent, Mr Hyde is worthy of some pity himself. The main way in which this applies is in relation to Hyde’s death and disappearance. Hyde commits suicide because he is afraid of being caught, and subsequently punished for his violent actions. If we are to believe that Hyde is evil incarnate, and that he possesses no element of good in his character, then the fact that he is unable to forgive himself his wrongdoings, and that he makes excuses for his actions, would seem to suggest that he cannot be seen as utterly ruthless, and thus in a sense he is weak. This inability to ignore his conscience, means, in my opinion, that he is not in fact entirely evil, and that the relationship between good and evil, and between Dr Henry Jekyll and Mr Edward Hyde, is not as defined as one might think, that there are â€Å"shades of grey† to be considered. I believe that this creates sympathy for Hyde, making him appear wretched and pitiful. Indeed, Dr Jekyll himself creates and expresses a certain degree of pity for Hyde, admitting that he cannot wholly condemn his actions, because he himself envies the way in which Hyde embraces his freedom. He says, â€Å"But his love of life is wonderful†¦I find it in my heart to pity him† The fact that even Jekyll feels pity for his wretched inner self merely serves to encourage similar feelings in the reader. In conclusion, I believe that Dr Henry Jekyll bravely sacrifices his own life in order to prevent the evil Edward Hyde from being free. In this sense, I feel that he shows another side of human nature which is almost entirely exclusive to Jekyll’s superego, the conscience. Jekyll shows an ability to consider the situation of others above himself, and importantly, an ability to recognise between good and evil.

Activity-Based Costing: a Case Study on a Taiwanese Essay

The aim of this paper is to analyze the operational costs of a hot spring inn in the Yang-Ming-Shan area of Taiwan. The activity-based costing method was used to compute lodging, hot spring use and meal serving costs per customer. This paper overcomes all the obstacles to implementing full-scale ABC-based accounting to this hot spring country inn. In this case, products, defined as hot spring use, lodging and meal serving are used as the cost objects. We define five activity centers: the cleaning activity center, the customer service center, the cooking and foodservice center, the reception service center and the management center. Finally, we use the ABC method to calculate the costs of hot spring use, lodging and meal serving as NT$ 31.64, NT$ 306.21 and NT$ 67.28 per customer respectively in the busy winter seasons. The paper also compares the ABC method with the traditional costing method and concludes that the ABC method is practical and appropriate for such a hot spring country inn and yields more accurate information for cost management and pricing decisions. Key Words: Activity-Based costing, Country Inn, Hot Spring, Cost Analysis 1. Introduction Researchers in management accounting have traditionally been, above all, interested in the accounting systems of large manufacturing companies. Most accounting researchers interested in service production have conducted their research in non-profit seeking, public-sector organizations (Pellinen 2003, p. 217). Outside the non-profit sector, the number of studies on the management accounting practices of service organizations (profit seeking) have remained very limited (Brignall et al., 1991; Sharma, 2002). More unfortunately, non-traditional lodging, (i.e. the B&B industry), is totally lacking in management accounting research, in contrast with the traditional lodging industry, which is quite well-researched. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how activity-based costing (ABC) can be applied to a hot spring country inn in order to obtain information on activities and products for decision making purposes. ABC is a cost-accounting method that allocates resource costs to products using a two stage procedure on the basis of activity consumption by drivers. It’s a method which can overcome many of the limitations of traditional cost systems which can distort product cost because they allocate the overhead costs to products mainly by direct labor hours (or volume-related measures). This is particularly prone to result in distortions in cases where there is a large overhead ratio or a high degree of product diversity. The country inn style of non-traditional lodging, especially suitable for ABC application, has various products such as lodging, hot spring use and dining which belong to different market segments. The indirect costs of this inn constitute an important proportion of the total costs (53.46%). In such a typical situation, the valuing of products of this inn may be distorted by a traditional accounting system. This article portrays an attempt to apply the ABC model to a hot spring country inn where the managers normally use a traditional accounting method to acquire product cost information. Our case study is presented in the hope of contributing to management accounting research in the non-traditional accommodations area. In addition to the introduction, there are four main sections in this paper. The subsequent section reviews previous research in management accounting for the lodging industry. The third section presents the ABC model. The fourth section illustrates the implementation of ABC in a specific case. The fifth section compares results of the ABC method and the traditional method. Some conclusions are presented in section six. 2. Literature review Poorani and Smith (1995, p. 58, 63) observe: â€Å"The hotel and the B&B industry have very different financial aspects arising from contrasting ownership motives. In the hotel industry the emphasis is on maximizing profitability whereas the B&B industry has been traditionally characterized by innkeepers who embarked on inn-keeping as a second career to satisfy lifestyle goals. But the current economic environment has blurred that distinction. Hoteliers are trying to be more sensitive to customers’ needs and create an environment for personalized service. Meanwhile, many entrepreneurs are entering the B&B segment with strictly financial motives†. Their investigations attribute financial characteristics to the B&B industry and find that innkeepers in USA with midsize and larger operations not only were highly successful in reaching their career goals but also achieved their economic objectives as measured by return on investment and equity. However, notwithstanding the importance of financial aspects, the studies in cost structure of the B&B industry anywhere in the world were rare. One reason is the inn’s private-ownership arrangements; others are the fragmented industry structure and the lack of systematic cost and revenue data. Unlike the situation in the B&B industry, there have been a large number of studies in the hotel industry. In the management accounting side of the tourism industry, research has been conducted both in tourism management research and in accounting research. Studies have been carried out in passenger transportation (Dent, 1991; Rouse et al., 2002), restaurants (Ahrens and Chapman, 2002), and hotels (Downie, 1997; Edgar, 1998; Noone and Griffin, 1999; Mia and Patiar, 2001; Pellinen, 2003). Downie (1997, p310) emphases the importance of considering how accounting information can be analyzed to support marketing decisions more effectively. Noone and Griffin (1999, p111-128) designed a customer profitability analysis (CPA) integrating activity-based costing (ABC) and customer segments in order to find profit yield in a hotel. Mia and Patiar, (2001, p111) interviewed only 35 managers and indicated that general managers and department managers took equal account of the management accounting system, but general managers were more content with the accounting system and valued financial information more than department managers. Pellinen (2003, p217) studied the pricing decisions in six tourism enterprises (including a hotel) and suggested the enterprises observed all took their prices from the leading company. Thus, the importance of cost accounting is limited with reference to pricing decisions from the managerial viewpoint. Obviously, most of the studies have focused on hotels. As Harris and Brown (1998, p161) pointed out, hotels, which typically comprise food, beverage and lodging, can be used to illustrate that the context of the hospitality product can provide a complete range of characteristics in a single arena. Actually, the B&B industry also has all those characteristics. But this segment, specifically nontraditional lodging (including B&B inns, country inns, small hotels, condominiums, and vacation homes), has remained an enigma to industry analysts and researchers. Lanier et al. (2000, p91) think this is in part because the analysts and researchers willfully overlook it in favor of the traditional lodging industry, pleading lack of data (Statistics dealing with properties of fewer than 20 rooms are usually estimated or based on small samples. Since most country inns do not reach the 20-room threshold, statistics for these properties have not been collected regularly, unlike other industry segments). This is so prevalent in studying management accounting in the accommodation industry and that there is a huge lag for researchers to make up for. Summarizing the above, previous studies on accounting and product costing, pricing of hotels propose that : (1) the knowledge in accounting is essential in hotel management, (2) the connection between accounting information and marketing is important, and (3) activity-based costing, cost-volume-profit analysis, yield management, and segment profit analysis were among the most relevant management accounting methods, (4) the lack of management accounting research in non-traditional lodging industry needs to be made up. 3. Activity-based costing Cooper and Kaplan (1988) have developed what they believe is a better alternative to the traditional cost calculation model. They argue that as products differ in the complex process of manufacture, they consume activities in different proportions. The activity-based costing method (ABC) promoted by Cooper and Kaplan provides a more accurate measure of cost because it traces indirect costs more closely with regard to the different types of activities consumed. Armed with knowledge of what activities are consumed by each product and the resource cost of each activity, one can budget costs for a diversity of products. However, the traditional accounting method usually assigns overhead costs of products by using volume-related allocation bases such as labor hours, direct labor costs, direct material costs, machine hours, etc. This will not critically distort the product costs as the overheads are just a small portion of the production process. But in situation where there is a large diversity of products, or where there is a high level of automation, as Brimson (1991, p. 179) pointed out, the overheads’ distortion will be significant. In our case, for example, high-volume products (hot spring use) may consume more direct labor hours than low-volume products (meal serving), but do not necessarily consume more purchasing activity costs. The ABC model applied to the case of this hot spring country inn is depicted in figure 1. The ABC systems focus on the accurate cost assignment of overheads to products. In the cost assignment view, the assignment of costs through ABC occurs in two stages: cost objects (i.e., products or services) consume activities, activities consume resource costs. In practice, this means that resource costs are assigned to various activity centers by using resource drivers in the first stage. An activity center is composed of a group of related activities, usually defined by function or process. The group of resource drivers is the factor chosen to estimate the consumption of resources by the activities in the activity centers. Every type of resource assigned to an activity center becomes a cost element in an activity cost pool. And, in the second stage, each activity cost is distributed to cost objects by using Figure 1 ABC Model in a Hot Spring Country Inn a suitable activity driver to measure the consumption of activities by products or services (Turney, 1992). Then, the total cost can be calculated by adding the various activities costs to a specific product or service. And the total cost divided by the quantity of the product can acquire the unit cost of product. In our case, the inn provides three products, lodging, hot spring use and meal serving. We define five activity centers, namely the cleaning center, the customer service center, the reception center, the cooking and foodservice center and the management center. Each activity center is composed of related activities, clustered by their function. As Harris and Brown (1998, p161-162) indicated, a hotel operation can be used as an example of hospitality products, in the same way the elements of a hot spring country inn of the B&B industry also can be used to illustrate non traditional accommodation products. For instance, the provision of rooms constitutes a nearly ‘pure service’ product incorporating a large proportion of service elements. It can be defined as the rental of a certain amount of space for a specified period of time and is thus an intangible good containing a high level of service provision. The provision of hot spring use also represents a service product: it includes hot spring rental and service activities. Furthermore, the meal serving provision, comprised of purchasing, distribution and conversion of food into meals, again constitutes a service product. The main advantage of ABC lies in that it provides a more accurate and real cost computation, especially in situations in which product diversity is important and in which the indirect costs, not directly traceable to the products, represent an important proportion of the total costs. In addition, ABC also allows a deeper level analysis of product costs by explaining the relationship between products and activities. The improved accuracy of perception of the cost structure of products and the continuous process improvements in the various departments of an enterprise provide the substance of activity-based management (i.e. using ABC to improve a business). Studies of the implementation of ABC exist in various fields, e.g. of universities (Cropper and Cook, 2000), a hotel (Noone and Griffin, 1999), library service (Ellis-Newman and Robinson, 1998), distribution logistics (Pirttilà ¤ and Hautaniemi, 1995; Themido et al. 2000), (all of which belong to the service sector); of a manufacturing company (Spedding and Sun, 1999), an assembly line (Gunasekaran and Singh, 1999), (which belong to the manufacturing sector); of a wholesale fish market (Lee and Kao, 2001), (agricultural sector); and of a radiotherapy unit (Lievens et al., 2003), (medical sector). All of them agree that ABC is a useful accounting model and able to obtain more accurate information about the cost structure as long as implementing managers choose the right drivers and define activities well. However, it is generally accepted that there is no universally appropriate accounting system suitable to all organizations in all circumstances (Emmanuel et al., 1990). But as Harris and Brown (1998, p162) point out, management accounting needs to be carried out in the context of the hospitality product in order to supply the necessary information for decision-makers if researchers expect to make a significant contribution to the industry.