Strategic change management at the Citibank

Strategic change management at the Citibank Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. As of March 2010, Citigroup is the third largest bank holding company in the United States by total assets, after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. Citibank has retail banking operations in more than 100 countries and territories around the world. More than half of its 1,400 offices are in the United States, mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Miami. More recently, Citibank has expanded its operations in the Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas. In addition to the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers insurance, credit card and investment products. Their online services division is among the most successful in the field,[citation needed] claiming about 15 million users. As a result of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and huge losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, Citibank was rescued by the U.S. government under plans agreed for Citigroup. On November 23, 2008, in addition to initial aid of $25 billion, a further $25 billion was invested in the corporation together with guarantees for risky assets amounting to $306 billion. Since this time, Citibank has repaid their government loans in full. Citibank was one of the first U.S. banks to introduce automatic teller machines in the 1970s, in order to give 24-hour access to accounts. Customers could use their existing Citicard in this machine to withdraw cash and make deposits, and were already accustomed to using a machine with a card to get information that previously required a teller. In April 2006, Citibank struck a deal with 7-Eleven to put its automated teller machine (ATMs) in more than 5,500 convenience stores in the United States. In the same month, it also announced it would sell all of its Buffalo and Rochester, New York, branches and accounts to MHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT_BankHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT_BankT Bank. Introduction Change Management is a set of process of an individual is been moved to another process for making the success or to achieve the objectives of the organisation. For eg If a person works in india is an process expert if the company wants to start a new branch in America. Then what the company should do? The Company should take a fair decision by moving the employee from india to America. So that he is aware of the process and he select the skilful person who is worth for this project. So change in the world is common and good for the surrounding as well. But the change should make profit for an organisation objectives. Strategic change management is an intergrated process in the organisation by creating the strategy and implementing in to work activities. By implementing we need to monitor the activities work done by the employee so based on the regular check we can make a change to the organisation as well as it will increase the economic growth of business. Change management is a well structured designed approach by interchanging the person or team from a current state to a desired state or company wants him to go for a particular state to accept the current change in business environment for the growth of organisation. Task 1 2.1 Need for Change: The Changes are happening in the organisation of both external and internal issues. The following issues of point are below: Drastic change in the global market growth Changes in economic downturns Serious changes in business strategy Technological changes in business Expanding business widely All Organisation have to make their own changes, otherwise they will be moving in the same tempo, they cant achieve more what the other does. So strategic changes is something very essential for a business success. To mee the challenges definitely the organisation needs a change from both the external and internal environment Citibank as a private are facing some of the challenges, the following below changes are below : Economic downturn : Everyone is aware the global market is in a serious crisis position now. In this situation badly affected country in America and Europe. Because of Lehman brother bankrupt the company finding a hard position now. Lehman brother was 4th largest investment bank in the USA, because of the bankruptcy the America is in a critical situation. This should not happen to others banks, So because of this every bank is using new strategy to overcome with this situation. This economic downturn made a great collapse on banking sector. Competitive pressure : India is the second largest population in the country. In india we can find many private banks to its best and they give the service to the custome is also outstanding. Now this is the time every bank should use the strategy to bring customers with our bank. So the Citibank has started a new facility by transferring the funds to other banks by NEFT. This was not introduced in the othere banks. So everyone attention has turned to Citibank. So this is there we need to implement the strategy and make successful. So this would create a competitive pressure to other banks. Technological Development: In last few years technology has been developed a vast and it helps in many ways for us. Some of the banks dont have facility of transferring the funds to other person for the same bank he has the account. We can transfer the amount but it will take one day for registration then we can transfer the money. Citibank has came up with new strategy by with in a minute money will be transferred to the account. If we had that person in to the payee list. Because of the technological development it make very easier to the customer. Planning for extension: Citibank atm has lot of branch over Chennai and Mumbai cities, as a feed back from customers they have opened lot of atms for customers welfare. So by creating a wide extension they can retain their largest market position. Stake holders demand: Its nothing but who participates in the organisation by directly or indirectly. Directly means those who have invested the money in the organisation. Their demand is like company should earn profit and they have to top listed in the global market. Indirectly means customers, their demand is like online services, atm services, deposits and payment in online. So this will motivate the bank for change. 2.2 Driving Factors that influence the change: Changes does not take place in every short while, There are some important driving factors which plays to be an important role for change in the organisation. There are two parts of factor external and internal. External Factors : The External environment factors are of two different types the general environment and task environment. External Environment : The general environment of organisation are listed below: Political changes and implementation of a new government Current economy changes such as rising down of stock market and exchange rates Technological change which may affect the human life in both products and process Legal implication of new government polices Clearly these factors are apart from influence in change in the organisation. Definitely the organisation will over come the challenges would do well and anticipate to these development as they translate directly or either a threat that must overcome an opportunity. Internal environments: Internal factors play a major role for changing in an organisation. These factors are driving the change and make the organisation support for achieving the objective. Change of Management: Each and every organisation make a change over the chief executive officer after some years of service. When a new chief executive office comes in to the organisation make some new strategic changes to the organisation. Financial Issue: Generally every organisation want to make the budget competitive for the project. They need the output result to be effective in minimum budget. This is what every organisational objective. In some times this wont work out in some of the projects, in this case they will make the change to cut down the budget amount. Technological Development: In this modern world everyday a lot of new inventions have been invented new by the scholars to promote the business, make the life convenient and comfortable. Organisation can advertise their business by the technology they can use the opportunity and competite others. In case of Citibank, have some of the factors which driven its change in the last few years. Economic Downturn : In the global recession Citibank has been badly affected for eg Citibank back end BPO projects have been outsourced to india in the name of Citigroup global services, once the recession affected the market as well as the bankrupt of lehman brothers as affected the America badly. At that time citigroup has been acquired by TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES. Otherwise it would be difficult for the organisation to continue their business. Political issue: Generally according to the new government rules and regulation, the bank will adhere to the policy and make a new strategy according to the new legislation. Technological Development : When comparing with other bank always Citibank at the top. Their service is outstanding eg online service is user friendly to the customers. They make use of the full technology development. Customers expectation : Citibank always fulfil their customer needs. Eg they provide sms service to pay the bill or to know the outstanding amount of the bill. Apart from that they are doing extra services like paying the mobile bill, electricity bill etc. Demographical situation : Citibank has lot of branch in india and other main cities like Chennai and Mumbai, So they have the plan to open the brach in remote villages of citi for the benefit of the customer request and the feedback. This will creat a extra ordinary change in socio economy of india. Pressure from the rivals: Generally in india there are lot of private banks which is very competitive, Citibank has done many strategy changes to make the bank as unique, for eg. Those who lend the money for mortgage, the citi has came front and offer loan in an attractive interest to the customers. The above factors discussed here which plays the major role for change in the organisation. I have not listed down all the factors. Whatever the factor that is not important, organisational change is the process which is related to growth of the organisation. Its failure or success but the change is very important to the organisation to achieve the organisational objective. 2.3 Resource Implications : Resources are the major factors of the organisation. The better resources can bring the revenue and opportunity to the organisation. Organisation use different resources to achieve their goals. The major resources used by the organisation are described below : 1. Human Resources 2. Financial Resources 3. Physical Resources Human Resources : Human resources is the most important resources in the organisation. They maintain all other department in the organisation like, admin, cafertaria, marketing, supplier etc. HR team is the one who recruit people for other department. If a new process comes to the organisation they are one who recruit people according to the criteria of the process. HR team facilitates other roles in the organisation like employees needs and trainings etc. To achive the organisational goal change is much needed for organisation. Financial Resources : Finance is very much important to the organisation, with out that nothing can be done. For each and everything we need finance. Eg to give training to employees and induction to new people for each and everything we need money. So the company will focus on finance, they need a good output with minimum budget. In the recession period many of the banks have faced the problems. Some of the banks have reduced the salary of the employees of the bank. Physical Resources : Physical resources support the human resources department to do the job properly in a right way. For eg human resources cannot do all the work with out proper physical resources. Infrastructure, transportation, machine are coming under the physical resources which can help for human resources and together they can achieve for organisational growth. 3.1 Systems of involving stakeholders: Stakeholders are the people who have interest in the organisation or have influence or power over it. For changes in the organisation stakeholders plays a major role. The internal stakeholders have more power and more interest. Some have low powe and high interest. Stakeholders support is very essential to organisation with out their support changes is not possible. The Key stake holders may divide into two categories: Internal and External Internal Stakeholders : Internal stakeholders are people who work inside the organisation is called internal stakeholders. For eg customer, employees and management. They are the most effective to the changes happening in the organisation. External Stakeholders: The people who are outside the organisation are called external stakeholders. For eg supplier, buyer, government etc. Stakeholders of Citibank: Citibank stakeholders play a major role in changes of organisation. They are the one who accept change and make it successful. With out them changes is not possible. They have to accept the change so that we can achieve our organisational objective. The stakeholder of Citibank can describe as following: Investors : The investors of bank is vey important. In that stakeholder is the investor. So he is more important to organisation. So they have the full influence to changes in the organisation. Employees: Employees of the organisation plays a major role in change of organisation. When the changes need to the organisation, the direct support comes from the employees to change or resist the change. All the employees of the bank in the organisation are key stake holders of the organisation. Management: Management is solely responsible for the growth of the organisation. They are the one who implement the strategy and implement in day to day activities and make success for the organisation. Customers: Cutomers are the asset to the organisation, when the changes place in the organisation customer focus to the organisation. As well as bank is very keen on customer when the change is going on. Share holders: Shareholders are the owner of the organisation. The bank gives high priority to the shareholders, with out their decision the bank cannot change anything in the organisation. Shareholders have high interest and high priority in the organisation. Community: Community is something very important, bank have to look around whats happening because some of the muslim banks are giving interest free as that is religious to them. So like that we need to give low interest of mortgage to customers, so that customer attention will turn around. Government: Government is one type of stakeholder in the organisation. Because we are paying corporate tax to the government as well as they have the strong power on the business. Bank obeys legislative roles made by the government. Stakeholders of the organisation has every power to change in the organisation and implement the change in day to day activities. Once the stakeholder gives the suggestion, management will think about the change and implement the same in to organisation. The stakeholders have more privilege to occur the change in the organisation as they have more interest in the organisation. 3.2 Involving stakeholders in the change management strategy: Involving stakeholders in the strategy change is depend on the realationship between the stakeholders and the organisation. The steps involving stakeholders are below: Identifying their interest in organisation Identify the output strategic challenges Graph the relationship between Recongnise the important stakeholder from the organisation As per mendelows matrix the stakeholders of categorisation is described below High power + High interest = Investors, Executive body High Power + Low interest = Government, Low power + High interest = Employees, shareholders Low power + Low interest = Customers, community 3.3 Evaluation of the systems used to involve stakeholders: Change in the organisation will be success only if we regularly do the audit check on that particular changes. So we can be aware of whats happening because the impact of failure of an effective change can be very high, losing in market, changing in senior management, losing of employees. In the recent Citibank has made a major changes in the organisaiton : They have message services, online services those who lend the money for mortage is very low interest to the cutomers. By implementing this changes they have used some methods to involve its stakeholder in the change management strategy. Meetings : Citibank has arranged meeting with his stakeholders to share the view of change in the organisational strategy Coaching: Citibank is regularly monitoring the employees. If an employee sticks in to the same process for two to three, years the employee will feel very bored to work, so he needs a change, so the organisation will come front and give coaching about the other process, so that employee should be ready to accept the change. Delegating: Its one of the methods to involve the stake holders in the change management process. The management can assign some of the task by dividing between the team to delegate the work properly. This will make a huge change process in the organisation. Presentation: It is one of the useful methods to understand the stakeholder. The bank will set up power point presentation and make them understand what we are doing in the organisation. So that stakeholders are aware of what we are doing in the organisation. 3.4 Resistance to change Resistance to change can be defined as an person or team engaging in acts to stop or disrupt an attempt to introduce change. Resistance itself can make different forms from undergoing of change initiatives in the organisation. Two types of resistance can be considered: Resistance to the content of change : A change in the technology or innovative to a particular reward for recognition. Resistance to the process of change : This type of change is for the affected employees. With out prior information a job is been assigned to the employees. After management knows they go for a change in the organisation. Steps should be taken to manage the resistance of change in the organisation : Negotiation Edit Review Management should be aware of whats going around in the organisation, because change in the organisation is something is not very easy to change. First the management teams go for the discussion and comes to the conclusion what should be implemented or not in the organisation. Then again they have to set up the meeting for the stakeholders, we need to explain the advantages of the changes in the organisation to shareholders and make them understand. At last we have to convey the changes to the employees. We conclude for whatever the changes might be in the organisaiton. And what ever the reason the changes have made necessary to implement in the organisation. The changes in the organisation is very much effective to achieve organisational objectives. Models of Strategic Change: There are many models of strategic change: 7S Model Mckinsey Five stages transition circle Kulber Rose Eight steps to successful change John p kotters Change management model Kurt luwin Casual Change model Burke Litwin 7S model of Mckinsey : The 7S model can be used in a variety of situation where an alignment perspective is useful, below are the following examples: It helps to improve the performance of the company Managers are willing to examine and learn its intention and reason and execute the model It will help to create a great business Strategy : Plan for allocation of a firm scarce resources, overtime to reach identified goals. Structure : The organisation is well structured and centralized. System : Day to day work in organisation and procedures should be follow employee Shared Values: This deals a major value to the company that influence the corporate culture and the general work in organisation. Style: The key role of manager is adopted in the organisation. Staff: Number of employees in the organisation. Skills: Highly skilled employees are working in the organisation. The Mckinsey 7S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either hard or soft elements: Hard elements are Strategy, Structure and System. Soft elements are Shared values, skills, style and staff. Hard elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: These are strategy statements; organization charts and reporting lines; and formal processes and IT systems. Soft elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, and are less tangible and more influenced by culture. However, these soft elements are as important as the hard elements if the organization is going to be successful. Placing Shared Values in the middle of the model emphasizes that these values are central to the development of all the other critical elements. The companys structure, strategy, systems, style, staff and skills all stem from why the organization was originally created, and what it stands for. The original vision of the company was formed from the values of the creators. As the values change, so do all the other elements. 1.2 Evaluations of relevance of models of strategic change: Organisation is making changes according to the current situation and current economy. There are so many models in strategic change but we cannot implement all the strategy in to the organisation. We need to implement the correct strategy in a right time to execute the success of the organisation. Among the other models of strategic change Kurt Lewins model is used in most of the cases. Organisation should use this model for strategic change for organisational development. For a change organisation should change the chief executive officer and the managing director for achieving the organisational objective. So that new managing director introduce new online banking service and atm service. At the beginning the employees wont accept the change. But later on we should tell the advantage of the changes in to the organisation. Then the new executive of the bank go for a change to manage the organisation. First the bank should arrange the meeting with the branch manager and the whole employee of the organisation and the backend team. And they should make understand the changes and benefits to the organisation. When the managers understand the importance of change in the organisation, then they will cascade the message to the employees, in this way all the employees will ready for the change and move for their comfort zone. Secondly the management should be aware of changes is very important in the organisation. This stage of change is needed when the situation arises for the organisation. The changes will make the employees training, mentoring, groupdiscussion, so that employees could learn the changes and implement in the work. At the end change has been made now the managers and employees together should perform and achieve the goals of the organisaiton. 1.3 Assessment of the value of using strategic interventions techniques in organisations : The field of organisation using a variety of processes, approaches, methods, techniques, applications to address organisational issues and to achieve the organisational objective and to increase the performance of the organisation. Human process interventions: With todays strong importance on human values. The following interventions are getting a great deal to the organisaiton. And that will change the organisation to different reach over the customers. The human process will do a project and make them understand the benefits of change over the organisation. The following interventions will be helpful to change the projects in the organization. New employees, different cultures working together, many complaints among organizational members, many conflicts, low morale, high turnover, ineffective teams, etc. Guiding Individuals Training Counselling Motivating Mentoring Leading in front Group based Group Discussion Built the team Management conflict Virtual teams Self directed work teams These strategic change interventions will make a huge change in the organization. The organization arranged training for the employees and they should monitor the self evaluation of the employee. This will make the change in operational system successfully. 4.1 Develop appropriate model for change: Today organization face rapid change like never before, Globalization has increased the market and opportunities for growth and revenue. Ability to manage change to meet the stakeholders needs is very important by todays leaders and managers. Step one: Create urgency For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really wants it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving. Identify potential threats, and develop scenarios showing what could happen in the future. Examine opportunities that should be, or could be, exploited. Start honest discussions, and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking. Request support from customers, outside stakeholders and industry people to strengthen your argument. Step Two: Form a Powerful Coalition Identify the true leaders in your organization. Ask for an emotional commitment from these key people. Work on team building within your change coalition. Check your team for weak areas, and ensure that you have a good mix of people from different departments and different levels within your company. Step Three: Create a Vision for Change A clear vision can help everyone understand why youre asking them to do something. When people see for themselves what youre trying to achieve, then the directives theyre given tend to make more sense. Create a strategy to execute that vision. Ensure that your change coalition can describe the vision in five minutes or less. Practice your vision speech often. Step Four: Communicate the Vision Its also important to walk the talk. What you do is far more important and believable than what you say. Demonstrate the kind of behaviour that you want from others. Talk often about your change vision. Openly and honestly address peoples concerns and anxieties. Apply your vision to all aspects of operations from training to performance reviews. Tie everything back to the vision. Lead by example. Step Five: Remove Obstacles If you follow these steps and reach this point in the change process, youve been talking about your vision and building buy-in from all levels of the organization. Hopefully, your staff wants to get busy and achieve the benefits that youve been promoting. Figure: Force field analysis In the above figure, we see that there are some forces which want the proposed change called driving force Firstly identified these both forces to implement change in right way. Then it arranged sitting with the restraining forces to develop a sense of urgency into them and use the driving forces to motivate the opposition rather than contradiction. Secondly the bank found some powerful people who positively support the need for change. It formed coalition with authority, delegation, status and expertise. It also ensures the team to have a good mix of people from different levels and different areas. Finally, it developed a sense of need of change in all kind of stakeholders of the bank e.g. customers, employees, directors, investors, community and others. It also introduced reward people for making change happened. 4.2 Plan to implement a model for change: Organisations use some tools to implement a model for change. Organisational development, business process re-engineering, delayring and rightsizing, push and pull strategy are the most common tools used for implementation of change model. Business process re-engineering: Business process reengineering (often referred to by the acronym BPR) is the main way in which organizations become more efficient and modernize. The two cornerstones of any organization are the people and the processes. Even the act of documenting business processes alone will typically improve organizational efficiency by 10%.engineering transforms an organization in ways that directly affect performance. 1) Envision new processes 2) Initiating change 3) Process diagnosis 4) Process redesign 5) Reconstruction 6) Process monitoring The most common approach to process improvement is to take an under-performing process, which is key to achieving the business objectives, and set about a systematic analysis to determine the most important areas for overhauling. These are then tackled on a project-by-project basis. The analysis and improvement is tackled by a temporary Process Improvement Team drawn mainly from people within the process. We may conclude the point in this way that organisations need to use techniques before implementation of any change. Otherwise it may bring disaster for the organisation by resistance force to change. It also recommended that various tools or techniques may be used in integrated way for implementation of change in the organisations. 4.3 Appropriate measures to monitor progress: Effective change is needed to monitor the progress of change. Monitoring the progress of change is most important for effective change. Change is a process, where there might be some wrong with people and some wrong with process. Change does not take place without proper monitoring over the process. Managers are required to keep an eye on the ongoing change and the reaction of this change. The evaluation of change progress can divide into following categories. Goal-based evaluation<

Essay --

Method Sabri Can ERDOÄžAN, Yalà §Ã„ ±n ARI, Yunus Emre ÇALIK This study will be conducted in quantitative method. We will collect data from two different tests to determine the correlation between two different variables. Therefore, "Correlational Design† is most appropriate design for our study. Sampling type of this study is Cluster sampling because it provides us to save travelling time and consequent reduction in cost. In this perspective, our participants are university students in Istanbul. We will list all universities in Istanbul and randomly select 3 state universities. Ethnicity, religious, social status and race varieties of the students in state universities pushed us to select participants from state universities. We will use 50 participants from each university and total number of participants will be 150 university students. Those 50 students will be selected conveniently. We will try to find out correlation between religiosity and acceptance of evolution theory. Since we have two different variables, we will use different instrument for each. These instruments consis...

Robert Altmans Nashville Essay -- essays research papers

Nashville Essay Robert Altman’s movie Nashville is based on the political, social, and personal problems that our country has to deal with. These problems are rooted in the battle between the need to create some false image of success and the need for truth which is the struggle that exists in every character of this film (except Jeff Goldbloom). To show this Robert Altman takes us through Nashville’s Country Music using political commentary, music and realistically portrayed dialogue to tell the story. Altman portrayed politics as sort of a parasite feeding off of the Nashville dream. He used acousmatic sound in two ways to portray these parasitic politics. The first way is the use of the Hall Walker van which was an almost a surreal narrator between scenes. This provided a point of view of what should or should not be done politically. An example of this would be when the van is talking about health care as they show Barbra Gene sitting in her hospital bed with all the flowers and what not as if to set up an outside view of the situation. The second way acousmatic sound was used in this political manner was through TV and Radio. Instead of this providing a point of view or an opinion it acted as an informer of the present situation that was undergoing at the time, for example the news casters commenting on Barbra Gene’s collapse at the airport, or when Barbra Gene is in her hospital bed listening to her replacement, Connie White, sing at the Grand Old Opry. The function...

How one learns best Essay

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Delamere Vineyard

Delamere Vineyard struggles to generate a consistent net income during the company’s quest for quality wine. Richard Richardson, owner, manager, and winemaker is concerned about the long term future of Delamere Vineyard. GOALS/OBJECTIVES: Develop the highest quality of Wine Richardson has been known for developing great wine and is constantly looking for ways to improve the overall quality. In 1994, customers even stated that his Reserve Pinot Noir was amazing and far superior to their competition.Richardson currently believes in three potential improvements exist and I have outlined his potential projects (highlight below). Option 1: Prevent Excessive Oxidation (Determine optimum SO2, level) a. )Potential Benefit: Prevent oxidation; improve the consistency and â€Å"fruitiness† b. )Risk: Decrease complexity c. ) Capital Expenditure: Zero dollars d. )Production: 10%-30% scrap This option would allow Richardson to produce a consistent wine on a year to year basis. Wine t hat uses SO2 will still command a high price and sell very well on the market. Less risk can be associated with this method as well.On the downside, by producing wine using SO2 you tend to reduce the individual character of the wine. Initially Richardson will risk the chance of losing some of his harvests; given Richardson previous chemistry back ground, he should be able to develop a formula faster than others. Option 2: Deepen Red Wine Color (Implement Rotofermenter) a. )Potential Benefit: Improve customer reception; 10% price increase b. )Risk: Altered taste c. ) Capital Expenditure: Rotofermenter $30,000 d. )Production: 10% Richardson has stated that customer’s traveling to his region and surrounding markets prefer wine with darker color. By using the rotofermenter,Richardson will be able to create a darker wine, which he believes will increase his retail by up to 10%. Based on Richardson’s revenue from 1997 this method would generate an additional $24,391. 80 in s ales. This option does raise the risk of potential oxidation, which in the past has plagued Richardson. The rotofermenter also has a chance of altering the taste the wine. The cost for introducing the rotofermenter is $30,000. Option 3: Optimum Fermentation Mix (Whole bunch; Destem: Full Crush) a. )Potential Benefit: Greater complexity, â€Å"character† b. )Risk: Customers may reject c. ) Capital Expenditure: New fermentation tank . )Production: 20%-40% This method has the potential to produce amazing wine that could sell at a much higher retail. The final product will not be similar to Richardson’s competition base and could potentially give him the edge in pinot noir sales; adding complexity to ever bottle. However, the taste and quality will vary from barrel to barrel. Lots of risks are associated with this process. This method would require that the grapes are handpicked and also smashed by feet which would increase labor costs. Consistency would be the largest pro blem and could potentially lead to decreased customer satisfaction.Close to 88% of Delamere’s customer base tends to purchase’s wine based on consistency and price, rather than the complexity and character. Delamere's current customer base is comprised of 58% cellar door purchases, 37% wholesale purchases and 4% to Mail order purchases. The chart below outlines the percentages of business for Delamere Vineyard. Delamere Vineyard % of sales 1997 Delamere Pinot NoirReserve Pinot NoirDry RedChardonnay Dollars$179,424. 00$32,671. 00$31,823. 00$36,118. 00$280,036. 00 Avg. $ per bottle12. 7516. 85810. 2 Bottles Sold 1407219393978354123530 % of Business64. 7%11. 67%11. 36%12. 90% Delamere Vineyard does have small percentage of his customer’s that prefer the complexity and unusual character of Richardson’s Reserve label. However, this particular customer accounts for merely 12% of their total wine business. During Richardson’s 12 years of winemaking the sp ecter of oxidation has reared its ugly head several times. In 1993, Richardson lost his entire vintage stock of chardonnay and in 1994 his pinot noir which was considered by many as his best but was criticized by Judge James Halliday as â€Å"prematurely aged†, indicative of oxidation.Some of Delamere’s customers have recently commented about a lack of consistency with Richardson’s wine. Below is a comment from one of Delamere’s wholesaler’s. â€Å"Richard, I’m worried about this year’s pinot. It’s very different to last year’s. What are you doing different? I’m worried that if I sell this to restaurants that took last year’s they’re going to be surprised, and perhaps disappointed† –Wholesaler, commenting on the 1994 whole-bunch reserve Pinot Noir. — Generate a consistent Income Over the course of 8 years, Delamere Vineyard has struggled to produce a consistent net income.As seen in the graph below, Delamere Vineyard’s net income was as low as -$41,124 in 1993, and as high as $70,218 in 1997. The lack of consistency makes it very hard for any business owner or manager to manage their business. Richardson has stated that wine making has its peaks and valleys and that your goal as a wine maker is to minimize the valleys and capitalize on the peaks. As you take a closer look at the graph, you will notice that that Delamere’s income never really spikes during its so called peaks and plummets during its so called valleys.What is most concerning is Richardson’s inability to capitalize on what many have stated as being his best Pinot Noir wine in 1994. Following this harvest Richardson produced good profits, but not records numbers. Profitability has not been a focal point of Richardson business in previous years. However, it should be something Richardson looks to improve given the statistics above. Relaying on the peaks of Delamere is like h oping one gets lucky. Expand current operations: Option 1: Plant more grapes Richardson is currently only using up 8. 1 acres of the available 21. 3 acres, which accounts for only 38% of his land suitable for vineyards.Below is an example of how much Richardson could increase production by merely doubling his operations. 1997 Delamere Vineyard Production pinot noir chardonnaytotal Estimated production Acres of vines currently planted6. 91. 28. 116. 2 Yield per acre (Tonnes)3. 363. 366. 7213. 44 Liters of wine produced16. 2682,9052921. 2685842. 536 Casks (barrels)721385170 Evaporation and scrap (liters)97617411502300 % of scrap0 Total Liters wine (net)15,29227311802336046 Cases169930320024004 Bottles 20,38936412403048060 Library and Owners Use4001005001000 % of grape type0 Total Bottles (net)19,98935412353047060Option 2: Expand the Cellar Door Sales As stated above, Richardson is currently using 38% of his 21. 3 acres. The â€Å"Cellar Door† has become a unique experience for many of Richardson’s customers and also been a great source of revenue—roughly 58 % of Richardson business. The vast majority of the Cellar Door customer’s our tourist to the Tasmania region and Richardson should consider adding lodging accommodations for these guests. Richardson could possible encompass one nights lodging, wine seminar, and a case of wine. The obvious downsides would be the building cost and also additional employee help.Hire Additional Help: Add an additional employee that oversees the daily operations of the vineyard. This would be an added expense, but it will give Richardson the ability to focus on perfecting the wine making process. This will also help aid in future growth of the vineyard. Recommendation Given the fact that it will take time for planted grapes to harvests, I’ve broke down my recommendations based on years of operation. Year 1 In year one I’m recommending that Richardson start adding SO2 to his wine. Given Ric hardson’s chemistry background this should be relatively easy to implement.This change can be completed with very little start up cost and will help produce a consistent wine on a yearly basis; improving the overall quality of Richardson’s wine. The new wine consistency will pay dividends with Delamere’s wholesale customers—which accounts for 38% of his yearly business—where consistency has been critical. The addition of S02 has been instituted by other vineyards already and has been received well throughout the market place. Over/under oxidation will also not be as prevalent as in the previous years and should allow Richardson to increase the retail on his wine, increasing his gross margin.Richardson will need to research his competitors pricing to see how big of an increase is justified. I’m also recommending that you plant an additional 8. 1 acres of grapes. Given the fact that nearly 62% of your vineyard lays vacant, you will more than d ouble your GMROI in future years to come. Year 3 Once the newly planted crop is ready for harvest I’m suggesting that Richardson hire an additional employee that can manage your daily operations of the vineyard. It is during this time that I’m suggesting that Richardson also consider pursuing optimum fermentation.This would require the purchase of a fermentation tank but would allow Richardson to express his creativity and focus on the overall quality/complexity of your pinot noir. I recommended that Richardson only devote 4 acres of his vineyard to this method given the risk associated with this practice which I have highlighted above. Year 8 The last improvement is one that will have to be based on the over success of the other improvements mentioned above. By this time Richardson should have a grasp on whole bunch fermentation and mastered the art of adding SO2 to his wine.Richardson will have created a successful vineyard and more likely will be looking for other w ays to improve creativity of his vineyard. It is at this time I that I suggest Richardson look into developing the remaining 5. 1 acres into a bed and breakfast lodge. More than 50% of his business already comes from cellar door customers that are visiting the Tasmania region. This could become a popular venue for tourists interested in wine making, wine tasting events, weddings, and other special events. The initial cost of this recommendation would be extremely high; however, it has the potential to increase sales dramatically.

Neonatal Medicine: CPAP and Ventilation in Neonatal Respiratory Distress

You are reviewing Nathan, a 12 hour old neonate with respiratory distress. He is 37 weeks gestation and was born by caesarean section following failure to progress. The oxygen saturation is 94% in 50% FiO2, the respiratory rate is 80. There is moderate intercostal recession and an occasional grunt. Your hospital participated in the â€Å"bubbles for babies† trial and you have just started to use CPAP in your unit now the trial is finished. Your registrar suggests using CPAP on this neonate, but the nursing staff have called you to arrange transfer. Questions: Would you use CPAP or ventilate and transfer this neonate? Please give reasons for your choice with reference to the current literature. In your answer you should also consider the following main points: †¢ the benefits of CPAP over ventilation, particularly with reference to your current practice environment †¢ the potential complications of CPAP †¢ reasons why ventilation may be required even though CPAP is in situ. The baby Nathan is suffering from Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, which is a condition most often seen in newborn babies and is characterized by a difficulty in breathing.   The condition more frequently develops in prematurely born babies as their lungs are not fully developed.   The lubricant that lines the inner membranes of the lungs (known as ‘surfactant’) is deficient, thus causing difficulty in inflating the lungs and resulting in the air sacs collapsing. Surfactant helps to lower the surface tension of water that is present on the alveoli, thus helping to prevent the lung sacs from collapsing.   Usually, the condition develops in infants born before the 38 week.   The baby is cyanosed and has difficulty in breathing.   The accessory muscles of respiration are active and a frequent grunting sound is heard.   The other symptoms that may be observed include nasal flaring, shallow breathing, swollen legs, unusual movement of the chest wall, etc. The infant may be hypoxic and the CO2 levels in the blood rise.   The symptoms usually develop at birth, or a little while after birth.   The symptoms tend to worsen and may progress to respiratory failure and death.   As the prematurity increases, so does the chance of developing this condition.   This is because surfactant is produced only during the later stages of gestation in the infant.   The diagnosis of RDS in babies is made based on the history, presence of certain risk factors, Chest X-ray, Blood tests, CSF studies, lung tests, blood gas analysis, etc (Greene, 2007 & Merck, 2005). When a neonatal is born, certain signs are observed which include:- a heart rate between 110 to 150 beats per minute a respiratory rate between 40 to 70 breathes per minute absence of cyanosis, nasal flaring, grunting sounds, forceful use of accessory muscles during respiration, etc Oxygen saturation which is about 95 % the P ao2 is higher than 50 % the FiO2 is about 40 to 50 % (CCM, 2007, NGC, 2008, & Millar et al, 2004) Previously, for the treatment of RDS, ventilatory support was utilized.   This may be utilized if the blood carbon dioxide levels are high, the blood oxygen levels are low, and if acidosis sets in.   To some extent ventilation helps to reduce the infant mortality rate arising from RDS, but the morbidity to develop Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (a condition characterized by oedema of the air sacs and of the connective tissues due to persistent inflammation) is high as the young neonatal lungs are damaged from ventilation. One of the treatments that have been developed in order to overcome the limitations of ventilation is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP).   This is an advanced form of therapy in which the upper and the lower airways receive a continuous distending pressure through the infant’s pharynx and/or nose throughout the respiratory cycle.   An endotracheal tube can also be utilized.   The device is connected to a gas source that provides humidified warm air continuously (NGC, 2008, Millar et al, 2004, Tidy, 2007). CPAP has several benefits including:- helps to maintain a normal breathing pattern helps to arrive at normal functional residual capacity helps to lower any airway resistance in the upper respiratory tract helps to prevent development of apnea prevents the airways and the air sacs from collapsing helps stimulate release of surfactant helps to increase the lung volume and lung function After expiration, CPAP helps to keep the air sacs open The chances of developing lung trauma such as barotrauma and atelectotrauma are lesser (CCM, 2007, Sehgal, 2003, NGC, 2008, Millar et al, 2004). CPAP is required in several situations that arise from RDS including:- When it is difficult to maintain the Pa02 above 50 %. When the respiratory rate is above 70 breathes per minute Excessive use of the accessory muscles of respiration The oxygen saturation falls to between 90 to 95 % The presence of apnea It can be utilized along with administration of surfactant that develops out of the   Ã‚  need to treat RDS (CCM, 2007, Sehgal, 2003, NGC, 2008, Millar et al, 2004). As the patient is not suffering from a severe form of RDS and the oxygen saturation levels have not dropped to a serious extent, ventilatory support is not required, and the patient can be treated with CPAP.   Besides, the findings do not suggest that the patient is suffering from a cardiovascular complication, an upper respiratory tract abnormality or intractable apneic episodes.   Along with CPAP, several other measures are required such as using larger nasal prongs, ensuring that the baby is in a prone position and keeping a towel below the neck.   This helps to ensure that the certain areas are aerated better (CCM, 2007, Sehgal, 2003, NGC, 2008, Millar et al, 2004). CPAP has several complications including:- mucous from the upper respiratory tract may block the nasopharyngeal tube that delivers CPAP Sometimes blockages may result in the pressure rising to higher levels in the tube If the peak pressure is very high, then gastric complications can develop The nasopharyngeal tube has to be placed in exact position.   Any deviation from the position can result in fluctuation of the air pressure The nasal devices may be swallowed or aspirated resulting in severe complications Sometimes harnesses may be utilized to place the head and the neck in position.   This may cause serious dermatological and musculoskeletal complications in the infant Air leakage problems in the lungs Abdominal distention Decrease in the cardiac output Higher working of breathing pneumothoraces and air embolism can also develop Cardiac monitoring needs to be performed more closely in the case of CPAP compared to ventilation often air leaks from the nose and the mouth it may be very difficult to control the air press ure in the lower airways If CPAP is applied to an infant with normal lungs, several problems can develop Several respiratory complications such as pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and pneumopericardium can develop (CCM, 2007, Sehgal, 2003, NGC, 2008, Millar et al, 2004, Halamek et al, 2006) References: California College of Midwives (20080, Guidelines for Assessing the Neonate, [Online], Available: http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/Standards_2004/Standards_MBC_SB1950/Assess_HealthyNeonate_Oct2004_OOO.htm [Retrieved on: 2008, April 2]. Greene, A. (2007), Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, [Online], Available: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001563.htm [Retrieved on: 2008, April 2]. Halamek, L. P. Et al (2006), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure During Neonatal Resuscitation, Clin Perinatol, 33, pp. 83-98. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/article/body/91421747-3/jorg=journal&source=MI&sp=16080552&sid=690389052/N/525142/s0095510805001235.pdf?issn=0095-5108 Millar, D., & Kirpalani, H. (2004), Benefits of Non Invasive Ventilation, Indian Pediatrics, 41, pp. 1008-1017. http://www.indianpediatrics.net/oct2004/oct-1008-1017.htm NGC (2008), Complete Summary, [Online], Available: http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?ss=15&doc_id=6516&nbr=4085, [Retrieved on: 2008, April 2]. Sehgal A. Et al (2003), Improving Oxygenation in Preterm Neonates with Respiratory Distress, [Online], Available: http://www.indianpediatrics.net/dec2003/1210.pdf, [Retrieved on: 2008, April 2]. The Merck Manual (2005). Respiratory Distress Syndrome, [Online], Available: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec19/ch277/ch277h.html, [Retrieved on: 2008, April 2]. Tidy, C. (2006), Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS), [Online], Available: http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40000462/, [Retrieved on: 2008, April 2].

Existing Direct Tax System and Proposed Direct Tax Code in India Essay

Tax is defined as a compulsory payment made to the government by the individuals firms and companies without any expectation of a direct return. In general there are two types of tax system prevailing in our country. One is direct tax and other is indirect tax. Here we will restrict our discussion to direct tax only. Direct taxes are those the burden of which cannot be shifted, that is incidence and impact is on the same person. In India the tax law is governed by the finance act. The amendments are brought through budget every year which is issued on the last date of February. There have been various arguments in regard to the complexity of the tax laws. The new tax system which is proposed basically focuses on the principle of equality and simplicity. Instead of having different explanations of tax laws under different umbrellas all the laws will be brought under one head. The new tax system will be highly focused on the matter that the richer should pay heavier tax and vice-versa. For this regard the exemption limit and tax slabs will be expanded higher. Moreover under new taxation laws various taxes like securities transaction tax will also be abolished thus making the code an efficient one. With the new tax code being implemented in India one can expect to have free trade across the length and breadth of the country and peace in the bags of investors. Thus, the new tax system is an attempt to create a system with minimum loopholes of the existing system, thus contributing to the national benefit.