Leadership challenge in GAS Co Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leadership challenge in GAS Co - Essay Example 5.2. Many car manufacturers have begun to convert their product designs to run on greener alternatives than petroleum fuels. 5.3. Cars and land vehicles using the green technologies will be in mass production by 2015 (three years from this report), in increasing volumes every year, pursuant to mandatory provisions in international agreements and EU directives. 5.4. At present, GAS Co. is still aggressively expanding its conventional gasoline stations which, while offering biofuels, are still designed primarily for petroleum fuels; there are no special design or system considerations yet for alternative fuels. 5.5. The firm’s executives still loyally pursue the original strategy of their parents to pursue the petroleum business which is its present competency; no new competencies are being developed beyond ethanol gasoline (E85). 6. Strategy to overcome the challenge to the leadership 6.1. The present leadership must resolve to break away from its traditional strategy and consi der gaining new competencies in the alternative technologies. 6.2. Aggressive construction of refilling stations should be suspended, pending new designs pursuant to the new competencies. 6.3. Environmental scanning should be conducted to determine the technologies most likely to be adopted in their franchise areas. 6.4. Massive reorientation of R&D and engineering designs, followed by HRD, training, and operations, should follow the decision as to what innovative technologies to adopt. 6.5. New franchise contract should be revised and existing franchises renegotiated in accordance with the proposed technical changes. 7. Conclusion The leadership should assess the new technical, regulatory, and business environment and articulate their company strategies and plans to ensure the firm’s... The organization upon which this discussion shall centre is a petroleum company which, for confidentiality purposes upon the company’s request, this study shall be designated as GAS Co. The firm’s business is the wholesale and retail distribution of petroleum fuel and lubricant products. The firm is based in an emerging Asian economy, and presently has some 500 retail stations located throughout the Southeast Asia and Pacific region, and about 30 depots that store quantities of downstream petroleum products (i.e., diesel, kerosene, unleaded, ethanol (E85), and premium gasoline). GAS Co. began in 1978 as a family corporation which offered mass storage facilities for petroleum and petrochemical based products; it then expanded into providing wholesale supply of petroleum products to industrial and manufacturing clientele. Thereafter it entered into a partnership with one of the world’s leading suppliers of lubricant additives, which enabled the company to undertake its own research and development in lubricants. Not long thereafter, when the downstream oil industry was deregulated by the national government, GAS Co. took the bold step of being the first local petroleum retailer to establish its line of refilling stations. It is now the leading local petroleum retailer in the country, and continues to expand by franchising its fuel refilling stations, which it began in the 1990s.

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

UNIT 3 ACTIVITY - Essay Example Of most significance is my desire to be able to contribute positively to the lives of people I meet. To do this, I consider a rational and consistent approach to be essential. Emotionally I strive to keep up a continued positive and compassionate attitude, so that the people I encounter can accept me as someone who does not influence them negatively. Instead, I would prefer to be understood as a person who is able to help by accepting and listening to others without preconceptions or prejudices, or even my own emotional state influencing my interactions. While I do understand that this approach is important in the practice of psychology, it is also clear that this helps in all my interactions with people: professional, in the academic context, and personally within my family and friendship circle. The most important relationships in my life are with my close family members. To ensure that these relationships grow is an ongoing goal. I believe that these relationships contribute to success in everything I do. They certainly help me to maintain a balanced, rational, and consistent approach in my life. The honestly expressed opinions of those close to me help me to make difficult decisions with the security that I am advised by people who care for me. Further, I want to focus on becoming someone my family can look to when their decisions are difficult. We should be able to offer reciprocal and non-judgmental support to one another in all situations, so that we are all able to succeed personally and professionally. I believe that this kind of support â€Å"at home† will help anyone to succeed in their lives. In order to satisfy my academic needs, I aim to achieve a doctoral degree. I enjoy academic study so continuing to pursue new knowledge and skills contributes to my personal well-being. To achieve well within an academic sphere also allows me to build and maintain a good self-image – I feel that I am working hard to meet my potential, while moving closer

The Descriptive Aspects of the Novel Silas Marner Essay - 7

The Descriptive Aspects of the Novel Silas Marner - Essay Example During the twentieth century, individuals considered their community very important. The local village or town provided emotional and material support to the community members. The community gives members a sense of identity, through community discussions and gatherings (Eliot, 1861). The third point shows appropriate character destiny in the story. The plot is viewed as mechanistic on several occasions because the major characters are given just rewards or punishments in the story. Godfrey, for example, succeeds in marrying Nancy but they remain childless. Also, Silas becomes the most popular person in the community and lives in total happiness after adopting Eppie. The moral order in the community is clearly stated in the novel plot. Despite living alone for a long time, Silas has a good heart. This is illustrated by his kind gestures towards adopting Eppie after her mother’s death. This moral behavior is adequately rewarded because the relationship between Silas and Eppie is good and they remain a happy family. The concept of faith and community are related as shown in the novel. The community initially rejects and isolates Silas; however, he is later on embraced by the same community due o his acceptable conduct in the society. When Silas reduced his fa ith in the community, he was isolated from key social organizations like the church (Eliot, 1861). The novel utilizes the natural world to develop metaphors and images. The isolation of Silas is compared to that of a spider which is a very solitary insect. Silas becomes confused after he is robbed. He is, therefore, compared to an ant that becomes confused when its pathway is blocked. The domestic space of Silas is intruded or disrupted in the novel. The isolation of Silas is ensured through the closure of his cottage, from other community members. Silas cottage becomes bright when he and Eppie become a happy family. Social class aspects feature  greatly in the story. The English society during the 19th century was socially stratified.  

Detailed Summary of the article Relflections on the Economics by Essay

Detailed Summary of the article Relflections on the Economics by William D. Nordhaus - Essay Example He emphasis the importance of "global change" and the "threat of green house warming" which is taking place at a rapid speed all over the world. The approach is ideal because instead of jumping to conclusion, he explores the issue of green house warming and its impact on the world. The "Green house effect" part is given more space than required, which could have been avoided, as writing two paragraphs just to define the Green House effect is too much, especially if the audience are scientists, and are knowledgeable about the topic. Even the second paragraph seems a bit out of space, the better approach would have to combine two paragraphs, into one paragraph and add only the importance part relevant to the topic, such as "concentration of CO2" in the atmosphere. The figure1" projection of global temperature increase" is an excellent way to show the scale of the problem; the readers can easily see scale of the problem. The figure shows two hundred years change (1900 to 2100), which is enough time to see the visible changes in the climate. It clearly shows, how the temperature has increased over the time and how much it will f urther increase. However he counters the argument of dooms day prediction with his own model and mentions that it is not exactly possible to predict the climatic conditions as the scientists have claimed in their model. The reason he mentions is that climatic model depends on economic models, and slower economies and higher fuel prices will decrease the emission of gases in the atmosphere. And another reason against the climatic catastrophe is that "climate flips from one locally stable equilibrium to another" and it is not possible for climatologist at present to exactly predict what will happen, unless they come up with bigger and exhaustive models. The writer moves to "Impacts of the Climate Change" and mentions that two centuries ago man was highly dependent on day and light timing, but technology has changed he slavery to natural timing and now man is no longer dependent for his economic and agricultural needs upon natural environment. He provides solid arguments by mentioning the case of a business firm which wish to start business is not concerned about climate, even if the difference is as great as Moscow and Hong Kong (Moscow has an extreme cold temperature, while Hong Kong is an island and has mild temperature). The contrast is purposely mentioned to give the readers an idea of difference in temperature and making a business decision (Economic activity). The reason for such change is technology, which has enabled man to overcome the climatic difference and work in all kind of environments. He brings another arguments against the impact of climatic change, by mentioning the factors, such as precipitation, draughts, and natural disasters, which often have "socioeconomic impact" yet ignored by scientists. Normally scientists mention only temperature as a main factor to be influenced by climate for the reason that it is an easy way to refer to the climatic change. In reality this approach is flawed and more generic and is ignoring the impact of climate on the less developed countries of the world. Thus the conclusion is that the climatic prediction does not portray a full picture of the problem nor does it provide sufficient information as predicted by the scientists. The author does

A Profile of Mr Bean's Carrier in Comedy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Profile of Mr Bean's Carrier in Comedy - Essay Example Mr. Bean’s humor is atypical for a British sitcom. For example, British comedy series usually employ satire, parody, sarcasm and dry humor. But breaking away from this tradition, Mr. Bean thrives on a mix of visual and physical humor. While it is logical to believe that this type of slapstick humor appeals to children and adolescents, Mr. Bean’s appeal is near universal spanning across age, gender, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Described as â€Å"a child in a grown man’s body†, the endearing character goes about everyday tasks in a disruptive yet funny manner. Mr. Bean, or for that matter any other character in the series, speaks much. This adaption to the ‘silent movie’ genre works very well, as it resonates with classic comic works of Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, etc. Background laughs are added to accentuate the effect and to imply humor. The recurring motifs of the show, in the form of the troublesome car, the tenuous love affair with Irma Gobb, his most intimate companion the Teddy bear, etc, all help to heighten the humor. Childlike in his behavior and thoughts, Mr. Bean gets himself into various sorts of crises. Though some of the situations he gets himself into are serious, most of them are light and trivial. Moreover, Mr. Bean is always finding new ways of annoying and offending people around him. The plots are constructed in such a manner that comedy takes precedence over realism or credibility of situations. This is not such as bad thing for the audience as they get maximum worth out of the time spent. It is a testament to the success of the TV series, that movie and animation adaptations followed - Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie and Mr. Bean (animated) respectively. Books and DVD’s inspired by the original show also came forth. The outstanding commercial success of the show and its adaptations are complemented by critical appreciation as well.  

Detailed Summary of the article Relflections on the Economics by Essay

Detailed Summary of the article Relflections on the Economics by William D. Nordhaus - Essay Example He emphasis the importance of "global change" and the "threat of green house warming" which is taking place at a rapid speed all over the world. The approach is ideal because instead of jumping to conclusion, he explores the issue of green house warming and its impact on the world. The "Green house effect" part is given more space than required, which could have been avoided, as writing two paragraphs just to define the Green House effect is too much, especially if the audience are scientists, and are knowledgeable about the topic. Even the second paragraph seems a bit out of space, the better approach would have to combine two paragraphs, into one paragraph and add only the importance part relevant to the topic, such as "concentration of CO2" in the atmosphere. The figure1" projection of global temperature increase" is an excellent way to show the scale of the problem; the readers can easily see scale of the problem. The figure shows two hundred years change (1900 to 2100), which is enough time to see the visible changes in the climate. It clearly shows, how the temperature has increased over the time and how much it will f urther increase. However he counters the argument of dooms day prediction with his own model and mentions that it is not exactly possible to predict the climatic conditions as the scientists have claimed in their model. The reason he mentions is that climatic model depends on economic models, and slower economies and higher fuel prices will decrease the emission of gases in the atmosphere. And another reason against the climatic catastrophe is that "climate flips from one locally stable equilibrium to another" and it is not possible for climatologist at present to exactly predict what will happen, unless they come up with bigger and exhaustive models. The writer moves to "Impacts of the Climate Change" and mentions that two centuries ago man was highly dependent on day and light timing, but technology has changed he slavery to natural timing and now man is no longer dependent for his economic and agricultural needs upon natural environment. He provides solid arguments by mentioning the case of a business firm which wish to start business is not concerned about climate, even if the difference is as great as Moscow and Hong Kong (Moscow has an extreme cold temperature, while Hong Kong is an island and has mild temperature). The contrast is purposely mentioned to give the readers an idea of difference in temperature and making a business decision (Economic activity). The reason for such change is technology, which has enabled man to overcome the climatic difference and work in all kind of environments. He brings another arguments against the impact of climatic change, by mentioning the factors, such as precipitation, draughts, and natural disasters, which often have "socioeconomic impact" yet ignored by scientists. Normally scientists mention only temperature as a main factor to be influenced by climate for the reason that it is an easy way to refer to the climatic change. In reality this approach is flawed and more generic and is ignoring the impact of climate on the less developed countries of the world. Thus the conclusion is that the climatic prediction does not portray a full picture of the problem nor does it provide sufficient information as predicted by the scientists. The author does

Entrepreneurship - Growth through international among entrepreneurial Essay

Entrepreneurship - Growth through international among entrepreneurial firms - Essay Example A number of studies have been carried out in order to explore the process of internationalization among SMEs and the importance and benefits of such moves. These studies have clearly depicted the internationalization phenomenon. However the performance implications of the phenomenon remain under explored. The reason why the performance remains underexplored is owing to the several motivations and goals that drive business owners towards internalization. Since each entrepreneur has his or her own goal for going international, it is not easy to study the performance of such SMEs in the foreign market (Carrier, 2004). Despite the fact that there are multiple motivations that drives businesses towards internationalization there are two main goals that are known to play an active role towards this practice. The two common motivations are achieving firm growth and improving the profitability of the business (Wolff & Timothy, 2000) states that firm growth remains the most important motivati on towards internationalization. Two avenues have been widely used in the internationalization of a firm. These two avenues are exporting and foreign direct investment (Beamish, 2000). This paper explores the growth of firm through internationalization. To make this possible, the treatise relies on literature from journals that talk about the various avenues of internationalization, the motivation towards internalization and the implications and results of internalization in the various businesses and firms that go into it. This paper relies on scholarly journals and articles that explore the topic of internalization and business growth. A total of 20 academic journals that explore business growth through internationalization are used in this paper. In selecting the academic journals that are used in the paper, a Meta-analysis of the various business journals on the topic of discussion