Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Incas vs Aztecs

Incas vs. Aztecs Prior to Cortez landing, there were many civilizations that held power in the Americas. These groups included the Olmecs, Zapotecs, Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs, and Incas. The two of these civilizations that had some of the most lasting effects were the Aztecs and the Incas. These two civilizations had many similarities and differences. One of the major differences between the two civilizations is their location. The Aztecs lived in Central Mexico while the Incas lived in the Andes Mountains. The location of the civilizations affected many of their customs. The Incans mummified their dead by leaving them on a mountain cliff side where the winds would dry the moisture out of their skin. Then they would take the mummies to large events and carry them around. The Aztecs did not mummify their dead or have any customs like this. Because the Aztecs lived in Mexico which is a fairly dry area, they needed a way to irrigate crops. They built chinampas which were floating farms that were always irrigated by the body of water it was floating in. The Incas used a form of agriculture called terrace agriculture were they would build flat layers into the slope of a mountain out of specific materials so they could grow food on mountain sides. That was another technique they formed because of where they lived. Another difference between the two civilizations was the size. The Inca civilization covered over 50% of the East coast of South America and had a population of about 20 million people. The Aztec civilization only controlled Central Mexico and only had a population of 15 million people. Because the Inca civilization was so big, they needed a way to get messages around. They developed a large messaging system with messengers called chasquis that used a way to get messages around called quipu. The Aztecs did not have anything like this. Inca was so large because it conquered many other civilizations that had their own languages. This made it difficult for some people to understand each other. That’s why they developed a unified language called Quechua that everyone had to learn. The Aztec civilization was more like the Persian Empire and allowed anywhere they conquered to stay the same and keep their language as long as they paid their taxes and accepted that the Aztecs’ rule. Another difference is the punishment that a village would get for disobeying the Incan or Aztec civilization. The Aztecs would go into the village and burn it to the ground. They would take everyone inside and either kill them or enslave them. The Incans would go into the village and relocate them. In Inca this is just as bad as killing them because the civilization is in the mountains and it is very hard to start living in the mountains with nothing to start off with. If they try to go back to their village they usually have to cross many mountains which was also very difficult. Something else that was different was the merchant class of the empires. While they both had good economies, the Incas did not have a large merchant class and the merchant class they did have only traded locally. The Aztecs had a large merchant class that would take very long journeys to distant lands. The Inca government controlled all long distance trading and they did not allow the merchants to have a lot of freedom. Also, the Incas did not have a currency system while the Aztecs used cocoa. The two civilizations also formed differently. The Aztecs started from three large cities forming an alliance and together they conquered land and people to establish their powerful civilization. The Incans started as a nomadic family or clan that settled down and started a trading colony. Then more and more people came and it eventually turned into a civilization. Those were the many differences between the Aztec and Inca civilizations. The Aztec and Incan civilizations also had many similarities. One of the major similarities was that they both flourished at about the same time. The Aztecs flourished from 1300 A. D. to 1521 A. D. The Inca flourished from 1300 A. D. to 1533 A. D. Another similarity is that they were both ruled by an emperor. They also both thought gold was very important. Incas used gold for everything because it was so common in the mountains. Aztecs called gold the sweat of the sun and their sun god was their most powerful god so they must have thought gold was important. They were also both monotheistic, worshipping many nature gods and goddesses. They also both thought their sun gods were very important. The Aztec sun god was named Huitzilopochtli and the Inca sun god was Inti. Inti was the most powerful god in Incan religion. It was thought that the people in the originally family that started the Inca civilization were children of Inti and they said all future rulers must be a descendant of Inti. Huitzilopochtli in the Aztec religion was the god that supposedly told the Mexica to find a place where they would see an eagle sitting on a cactus with a snake in its mouth and that was where they were to settle. This place was Lake Texcoco. Both of these gods were very important to them. Another religious similarity was that they both perform sacrificial rituals. They also had the same style pyramids that had a wide square base that lead to a point at the top with stairs going up the side. Those were the similarities between the Aztec and Inca civilizations. The Aztec and Inca civilizations are still some of the most powerful civilizations that have ever existed. They had a huge impact on the countries that exist there today. The Mexican flag is even based off an Aztec myth. They had many similarities and differences which made them the civilizations that they were.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Product Life Cycle Essay

Life Cycle Hats are a product that have become deeply incorporated in the American culture and lifestyle. In the United States, hats are nearly always present in everyday life, from sports events (i. e. baseball games) to the streets of New York where one might see people wearing hats as a fashion accessory in their everyday life. Today, there are a plethora of different styles and varieties of hats. For example, one can buy university hats, sports teams hats and even superhero hats, thus causing the hat industry grow everyday. In this paper, I will analyze the hat industry life cycle, specifically focusing on the â€Å"New Era† company, one of the most popular hat companies in the United States and worldwide. The New Era Cap Co. Inc. was founded in 1920 and was first known as E. Koch Cap Co. Their headquarters is located in Buffalo, New York, and the CEO of the company is a member of the Koch family – Mr. Cristopher H. Koch. The New Era Cap Co. has expanded globally into Canada in North America, Brazil in South America, Korea and Japan in Asia, and more than 40 countries in Europe. Even though hats are New Era’s biggest product, they also sell other products such as jackets, tees, hoodies and many cleaning kits and accessories for hats. New Era provides products for men, women and kids of all ages, and among their most famous hat lines are the MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL and College lines. New Era offers different styles of hats such as the â€Å"fitteds,† which have different sizes to fit varying head sizes, and also the â€Å"snapbacks,† which you can adjust to the size of your head. Target Markets New Era targets its products towards a younger crowd, usually sports fans, ranging from kids as young as 15 years old to people around 35 years of age. The reason New Era targets a younger market is because the hats are accessories generally used by younger people, and it is hard to find peoNple older than 35 years of age wearing hats on a daily basis. In addition, there are many rappers today that wear New Era hats in their music videos and at concerts. Furthermore, various athletes can be seen representing their sports teams via New Era hats. As a result, this causes younger people who look up to these musicians and athletes to want to wear New Era hats. Overall, New Era does a great job at targeting their marketing towards younger people. Today, the United States is the country with the biggest market which New Era sells its product to. Followed by the U. S. market is the European market, which is so large that it consists of more than 40 countries. However, both locally and globally, New Era always try to target the same type of crowd. An example that supports this statement comes from Brazil. In Brazil, New Era is already beginning to produce hats representing popular Brazilian soccer teams, which is exactly what the Brazilian sports fans want. The 4 Ps While New Era’s main product is undoubtedly their headwear products, the company also manufactures apparel products such as tees, jackets, hoodies, belts and also cleaning kits for hats, which only adds value to their products. While most of their headwear products are made with sports teams logos on the front, their apparel products focuses more on the New Era Brand rather than sports teams. Many of their t-shirts present the New Era logo on the front instead of teams logos, which is similar with their hoodies and belts. The cleaning kits for hats is a superb deal for New Era because it causes customers to buy accessories that compliment their other products. The kit also keeps the customers happy because when hats get dirty, they definitely do not look nearly as attractive, so having a cleaning product at hand is very convenient. New Era’s prices range depends greatly on the hat style, as well as whether the product is a new arrival or whether it is a sales item. For new arrivals, the price generally ranges from U$25. 00 to U$50. 00. For the â€Å"snapback† styles (adjustable hats), the price can range from roughly U$20. 00 to U$40. 00. However, the fitted styles (ones that are made in different sizes) can range from U$10. 00 to U$50. 00. There is also a section of superhero hats that range from approximately U$20. 00 to U$50. 00. The hats labeled as â€Å"sales items† range from U$10. 00 to U$35. 00. In the United States, a great percentage of the New Era products are sold online on New Era’s website. The website is very easy and friendly to use, providing pictures of every single product available, making it extremely easy and convenient to purchase New Era products online. In the US, there are also specialized retail stores such as â€Å"LIDS† that strictly sell hats, with New Era being their most predominant brand. In countries like Brazil and countries in Europe, there is no specialized store like â€Å"LIDS,† but there are New Era hats being sold at stores specialized in sports. In these countries, New Era also runs their own retail stores where they have all of the same styles of hats than the ones available on the website, making them dream stores for hat lovers. Much of New Era’s promotion is done through sports events to target their main public. An example of that is the fact that New Era makes the hats of all Major League Baseball teams, while also holding over 200 licenses to make hats for other various sports teams. New Era also sponsors major events in the sports world, such as the 13th Annual Transworld Skateboarding Awards. Furthermore, in April of 2012, New Era became the official on-field hat provider for the National Football League (NFL). Ultimately, New Era focuses most of its marketing and promotion efforts towards sports events where they are most likely to reach all of their customers, as well as potential customers, at once. Product Life Cycle New Era Cap Co. Inc. has been around since the 1920s, and their product is in the maturity stage at the PLC. New Era already has an established brand worldwide and its sales and profits have reached a peak. Obviously, if New Era decides to open more global operations in South America or maybe Australia, they could make much more profits, but at the stage they are at right now, they reached maturity. The customers that purchase New Era hats today are the late majority, and even though New Era is always trying to come up with new designs and styles, the essence of the product remains the same. As it is normal in this stage, New Era spends a lot of its money and efforts towards marketing to try keeping the name of the brand growing and to attract more customers as well. As for competition, for a product that has reached its maturity as New Era hats have, there should be more competition than what they have today. New Era only faces serious competition from two companies today, as we are going to find out in the next section. Competition Although New Era is the leading hat company in the United States, there are other hat companies that compete against New Era for a bigger share in the market. The biggest competition New Era faces comes from the company Mitchell ; Ness Nostalgia Co. (known simply as Mitchell ; Ness) which is based in Philadelphia – PA. Mitchell ; Ness is actually older than New Era Cap Co. Inc. , as it was founded in 1904. However, differently than New Era, Mitchell ; Ness does not only focus its sales on hats, but also throwback jerseys, hats, tees, fleeces, and jackets. Mitchell ; Ness, however, competes head-to-head against New Era because it produces hats for NBA, NHL, NFL, and NCAA, essentially the same styles as New Era. The difference between the two is that New Era is more known for its fitted hats, while Mitchell ; Ness is more known for its snapback hats. New Era is also a much bigger company than Mitchell and Ness, with 1700 employees worldwide as compared to Mitchell ; Ness’ 200 employees in the US only. In terms of money, New Era’s revenue in 2007 was U$343. 7 million, while in 2012 Mitchell & Ness’s revenue was 30 million. The other strong competition New Era faces comes from a younger company called Zephyr Hats. Zephyr Hats was founded in 1993 and similarly to New Era, Zephyr hats only focuses on producing hats – nothing else. Zephyr, however is a much smaller company than both New Era or Mitchell ; Ness, and as of now they only produce hats for the NHL and NCAA schools. Also, Zephyr has a very strong commitment to its customers to deliver the best quality product they possibly can, and to serve the customers the best they can before anything else. It will still take a while for Zephyr Hats to expand as large as New Era or Mitchell ; Ness, but they are definitely on the right path towards achieving such a goal. New Era Cap Co. Inc. also faces competition against the black market. There are many fake New Era products being produced and sold around the world, proving to be a major challenge that the company has to face. With the ncreasing popularity of the brand, people try to take advantage of it by producing hats that bring the New Era logo, but that are not made by the real New Era Cap Co. Inc. Whereas some of these ‘fake’ hats may look very similar to the real ones, there are a couple of small defects on them that help to distinguish the fake hats from the real ones. Outside of the US, especially in developing countries like Brazil, th e black market problem is huge because people can buy â€Å"fake† hats for a lot cheaper than what they cost in the retail stores. Recommendations It is true that New Era Cap has made its name globally and seems to only be growing, despite its competition and other problems, such fake production of New Era Hats. However, there are many ways in which they can improve their brand name and keep the brand growing. New Era is very active in the sports scene (NBA, NFL, NHL, NCAA, Skateboarding, etc), and one way in which they could improve themselves as a brand would be to promote tournaments and competition that bring the New Era name. These events can include skateboarding competitions, street basketball tournaments, high school football tournaments, etc. This would help the name of the brand through supporting these sports and expanding their name to different groups of fans. New Era should also think about a solution to decrease the amount of fake New Era hats in the black market. One solution could be a promotion where every time someone purchases an authentic New Era Hat, they get a coupon with a number which they can enter on New Era’s website for the chance to win a prize (ex: 5 free New Era hats). Another promotion could be – â€Å"every 3 New Era Cap purchases, get 30% off the next purchase. This would give incentive to people to buy legitimate New Era Cap products, thus increasing their revenue, improving their name brand, and stopping the circulation of fake New Era in the black market. One other recommendation for New Era would be to pursue licences and contracts to start making hats for soccer clubs worldwide. Just like the hats they make for MLB and NFL, New Era could and should open their brand to the Premier League (England) and other European soccer leagues. Soccer leagues are known to have very devoted fans that would be more than willing to purchase merchandise, such as hats, if they were available in the market.

Ohmmeter

Resistance Measurement ENE 240 Electrical and Electronic Measurement (2/2008) Class 8, January 14, 2009 Werapon Chiracharit, Ph. D. , ENE, KMUTT werapon. [email  protected] ac. th 1 Analogue Ohmmeter †¢ Permanent-magnet moving-coil (Galvanometer, ? ? I ) with a total resistance Rg †¢ Series type ohmmeter with battery E †¢ Resistance R to be measured †¢ Rz to be zero-ohm-adjusted Rz R E + – Rg 2 1 Zero-Ohm Adjustment †¢ Short circuit at the terminals 0? Resistance reading is zero, R = 0 †¢ Adjust Rz for a full-scale current reading E = Ifsd (Rz + Rg) Ifsd = E / (Rz + Rg) †¢ E and Rg are constant †¢ Change Rz (change Ifsd) for multirange 3 Zero-Ohm Adjustment (Cont’d) †¢ for the series type ohmmeter E = I (R + Rz + Rg) I = E / (R + Rz + Rg) †¢ R increased, I decreased, ? decreased †¢ Relationship between I and R is non-linear, it means a non-linear resistance scale. †¢ Rz and Rg are small, then for high resista nces, the scale points are very close together! 4 2 Shunt Type Ohmmeter †¢ When R = ? (open circuit), R1 is adjusted for a full-scale reading. E = Ifsd (R1 + Rg) Ifsd = E / (R1 + Rg) R1 R Ig IR Rg E 5 I Shunt Type Ohmmeter (Cont’d) †¢ When R is connected, the current passing through the meter is reduced by shunt resistor. 1/Rparallel = 1/R + 1/Rg Rparallel = RRg / (R + Rg) and E = I (R1 + Rparallel) = I (R1 + RRg/(R + Rg)) = I (R1R + R1Rg + RRg) / (R + Rg) = I (R1Rg + R(R1 + Rg)) / (R + Rg) 6 3 Shunt Type Ohmmeter (Cont’d) †¢ The current I is divided into 2 parts. IgRg = IRR Ig = I – IR = I – IgRg/R therefore Ig = E(R + Rg)/(R1Rg + R(R1 + Rg)) – IgRg/R Ig(1+Rg/R) = E(R + Rg)/(R1Rg + R(R1 + Rg)) Ig(R+Rg)/R = E(R + Rg)/(R1Rg + R(R1 + Rg)) Ig = ER / (R1Rg + R(R1 + Rg)) †¢ Meter reading depends on the value of R, though R is a low resistance. 7 Series Ohmmeter Shunt Ohmmeter 8 4 Bridge Method †¢ Bridge methods are used for measurement of resistance, capacitance, inductance, etc. †¢ e. g. the network will be balanced when the detector reading becomes zero. Component Being Measured Bridge Network Detector 9 Wheatstone Bridge †¢ DC supply, Vs †¢ Output voltage, Vo B R1 I1 A I2 R3 D + Vs – R4 10 R2 Vo C 5 Wheatstone Bridge (Cont’d) †¢ When Vo = 0, the potential at B must equal to the potential at D I1R1 = I2R3 I1R2 = I2R4 Hence I1R1 = I2R3 = (I1R2/R4) R3 R1/R2 = R3/R4 †¢ The balance condition is independent of Vs 11 Wheatstone Bridge (Cont’d) †¢ R2 and R4 are known-fixed resistances. †¢ R3 can be adjusted to give the zero potential difference condition. †¢ R1 is the input resistance to be measured. A R1 Adjust R3 B Vo = 0 G B D Wheatstone Bridge 12 6 Wheatstone Bridge (Cont’d) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Change in R1, change R3 Precision about 1 ? to 1 M? Accuracy is up to the known resistors. Sensitivity of the null detector Error comes from changes in resistances by changes in temperatures. 13 Wheatstone Bridge (Cont’d) †¢ If no galvanometer at the output, VAB = Vs R1/(R1+R2) VAD = Vs R3/(R3+R4) Thus, Vo = VAB – VAD Vo = Vs ( R1/(R1+R2) – R3/(R3+R4) ) †¢ The relationship between Vo and R1 is non-linear 14 7 Wheatstone Bridge (Cont’d) †¢ A change R1 to R1+? R1 gives a change Vo to Vo+? Vo Vo+? Vo=Vs((R1+? R1)/((R1+? R1)+R2) – R3/(R3+R4)) Then (Vo+? Vo)–Vo = Vs R1+? R1 – R3 R1+? R1+R2 R3+R4 –Vs R1 – R3 R1+R2 R3+R4 = Vs R1+? R1 – R1 R1+? R1+R2 R1+R2 15 Wheatstone Bridge (Cont’d) †¢ If small changes ? R1 >R3 and Rs1//R3 to Rs1 avoid the leakage effect †¢ Rs2 may affect the R3 R4 detector sensitivity 24 12 Bridge Compensation †¢ The resistance of long leads will be affected by changes in temperatures †¢ To avoid this, 3 leads are required to connect to the coils †¢ They are all the same length and resistance 25 Bridge Compensation (Cont’d) †¢ Any changes in lead resistance will affect all 3 leads equally and occur in 2 arms of bridge and will cancel out. 3 R1 1 2 R3 Vs Vo R4 26 R2 13

Monday, July 29, 2019

Compare and Contrast American Slavery to British Slavery Term Paper

Compare and Contrast American Slavery to British Slavery - Term Paper Example What is also important to note that slavery still exists in some other forms and people are still being slaved for different reasons. Recent news from Britain highlight that it may be existing in its traditional form even in societies like Britain in this era also. US and Britain are two of the most important countries in the world with rich history of slavery. Though both these countries are the developed countries but both these countries have a history of slavery and slave trade and it was legally abolished in 19th century. It is however, important to note that the nature of slavery and its mechanics were different in both the countries. This paper will discuss and highlight the comparison and contrast between the slavery in both these countries with special emphasis on how historical the patterns of slavery changed over the period of time in both these countries. Slavery in Britain Slavery in Britain is often less talked of and is find rare mention in the academic literature howe ver; Britain was one of the few countries which abolished the slavery trade in 1807 despite the fact that slave trade was one of the profitable occupations in the country. The overall history of slavery in Britain is however, more than 2000 years old with evidence of Romans mentioning about the British slaves. What is relatively different about Briton slaves was the fact that they enjoyed few rights and were not easily replaceable. However, they could marry with the consent of their Lord and had to work for fixed number of days without actually expecting payment for the work rendered. From 16th century to 19th century, Britain were also forced as slaves by the Barbary Pirates who were able to capture British ships and forced the sailors to slavery and were traded as slaves in other markets. (Morgan 2007) It is critical to note that the British Slave trade was the significant part of the overall history of slavery in the country. Slaves from North and East Africa were a common practi ce and Britain along with other European nations was actively involved in the trade of slaves from this region. More importantly, slaves were traded because Britain required labor and manpower to develop the land and its resources in Americas. The British slave trade therefore was largely based upon the notion of providing required manpower to the landowners as plantation owners in Americas. However, history of slavery trade in Britain also dates back to 1500s wherein British slave traders filled in the gap to provide slaves for sugar plantation in Americas and exported the processed sugar back to other countries of Europe. The Britain therefore became part of the Triangular trade in slavery wherein Portuguese as well as Dutch were involved in the slave trade also. Britain made a late entry into this market to fill in the gap left open by these two nations. (Morgan, 2000) The Workhouse slavery was another form of slavery which emerged in United Kingdom. This sort of slavery flourish ed wherein those who were poor with no alternatives were assigned to workhouses and were put under the forced labor. Workhouses also took new born illegitimate babies and subsequently put them in forced labor as they grew old and became capable of working. The modern roots of slavery in Britain also suggest that those who were convicted or punished were often sent as slaves to work on the government projects in the colonies of the British

Sunday, July 28, 2019

HOW DO YOU RECRUIT THE RIGHT PEOPLE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

HOW DO YOU RECRUIT THE RIGHT PEOPLE - Assignment Example The best method is perceived to focus upon the star performer in the particular job in the company to be able to use them as a model which will make easy to recruit the right person for the right job. Therefore, often this technique is used by making the top performer as a model in getting the right candidate. For making the right job description the top performers are observed along the work they carry out. The performers have different attributes and it is easy to locate the attributes that is required for the job and it helps in finding the right candidate. It is advisable to use this technique instead of wish list technique. This technique might consume more time but it will find the right person for the job (Johnson, n.d.). If an individual does not know who the top performers of a company are, they should plan for networking through speaking with local chambers of commerce and business professionals who will help in creating the right model for delivering a good job description and find the right person for the right position (Johnson, n.d.). The article is good enough in generating an enhanced knowledge in the terms of recruitment of right person for the right kind of job profile and provides information in how to develop the job description and in looking the attributes that are required for the job. There should be a match between the attributes of the candidate and the attributes that are required for the job. The article has depicted various ways in developing the job description for hiring the right kind of person for the job which one has studied in the text books and many other sources. The top performer observation in development of job description is definitely a good technique. There are certain similarities that have been experienced in the practical applications and that are written in the text books. For a person who is new in this field of recruitment, it is good if they follow this technique so that they can avoid mistakes. Even

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Life of educated vs non educated women using Willy Russell's Educating Essay

Life of educated vs non educated women using Willy Russell's Educating Rita - Essay Example The perfect example of the poor life was of her mother’s. During one part of the play she says, â€Å"†¦when I looked round me mother had stopped singin’, an’ she was cryin’†¦I said, ‘Why are y’ cryin’, Mother?’ She said, ‘because- because we could sing better songs than those.’†¦And that’s why I came back. And that’s why I’m staying.† (Russell) Rita thinks that ignorance has ripped freedom from the women like her mother. The uneducated did not have freedom of choice and they were forced to do what is demanded of them. They could not live for themselves and since their vision and thinking was narrow they were easily pressurized into living the way others want them to live. Hence, according to the novel the life of the uneducated is miserable and without any freedom of choice. Rita was also an illiterate but she wanted to be different from the other uneducated women that surr ounded her. This is the reason she studied literature from Frank as she believed that only education could lead her to personal discovery. Education brought a lot of changes in Rita. It gave her confidence and the freedom to express. She felt independent and a void that was previously present in her life had been filled.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Supply, Demand and Easyjet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply, Demand and Easyjet - Essay Example This project would talk about one component of marketing mix which is pricing strategies. The project is projected to address the pricing strategies that are followed by Easy Jet Airline and compare the price with the British Airways. Role of Pricing The fundamental rule of supply and demand states that when there is excess of supply over demand, the price tends to go down and when there is excess of demand over supply of products, the price tends to rise. Thus it can be suggested that prices moves upwards or falls in order to eliminate the risk of excess demand and to bring the supply and demand in the same equilibrium. Price is one of the most important components of marketing mix but also its importance does vary from product to products. Prices are based on certain calculation of cost providing the result in unit cost which tends to remain constant or reduces. The nominal price is determined by the prudence which is often experienced by a customer in the process of acquisition of their personal needs and human wants. It is actually the value that the customer expects from the price paid. The type is market price at which the products are sold off. Market prices rise and fall when the offers exceed the demand or stays below the demand. The price of the product thus depends on two forces the supply and demand (Papantoniou, 1992, p.167). Price is termed as an ingredient which a customer has to pay in order to obtain a product. It is most often regarded as the most flexible components out of the four marketing mix elements. It is one of the quickest elements which can change. Marketers have the ability to raise or even lower the prices more frequently than they change the other marketing variables. Price is regarded as an important competitive weapon and is essential for the organization because price gets multiplied by the number of units sold which equals to total revenue of the firm (Lamb & Hair &McDaniel, 2008, p. 47). In order to survive in the highly comp etitive market place, companies are going for the strategy of obtaining pricing objectives which are attainable, specific and measurable. Pricing objectives are divided into three categories which include profit oriented, sales and status quo. Pricing objectives of a firm often reflects the reality of the market. Pricing objectives are not always used to increase the profit of the firm. Sometimes a firm maintains the price to retain the position which is relative to the competition. This form of pricing objective is termed as status quo. When it comes to the basic law of supply and demand it does influences the pricing strategy. Although the inverse relationship between the price and demand is understood and well known, it is often seen on the perspective of supply side which means that the relationship between price and demand is usually seen from the marketer’s perspective. Another important issue with regards to supply and demand is the expectation of the customers with re spect to price. The customers often tend to have expectation when they purchase a product but in some case the customer expectation about price can be the driving force used in the pricing strategy. According to the situation demand, a marketer sets prices which are in accordance with what the market would pay irrespective of the cost, competition and other factors which affect the

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Scenario Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Scenario Analysis - Essay Example In this distribution plan, the major focus in how CB’s products are to reach the intended customers. In order to be able to sell products to customers, the first significant factor that CB ought to consider doing is carrying out a market research. Market research helps in providing the company with information about the customer; what the customer normally purchases and where the customer does the purchase (Debelak, 2005). For CB to also successfully reach its customers it must also determine how their product will reach the intended customer. Additionally, the company must have the knowledge on whoever will be involved in the product delivery process right from the company’s warehouse to the consumer. This is what is called the distribution channel or chain. Therefore, defining distribution channel and the role that the company plays in distribution process are some of the significant components of CB’s marketing plan. Moreover, through analyzing the distributio n channels and evaluating them to the resources of the company, it is possible to determine which distribution alternative is best for the company. This is one of the distribution alternatives that CB can consider using. Direct selling is a form of product distribution whereby the producer directly sells the product to the customer. One of the oldest direct selling forms’ is peddling; however, currently there are modern forms of direct selling, which include party plan sales, personal contact arrangements, one-on-one demonstrations, and internet sales (Debelak, 2005). Therefore direct selling can also be defined as the direct personal demonstration, presentation, and products’ sale to customers, usually at their places of convenience. Since CB is a company that makes sales to various companies worldwide, it needs to consider direct selling. One compelling reason for this is the report that was recently revealed by the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA). The

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Teaching Methods Mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teaching Methods Mathematics - Essay Example In this principle of one to one correspondence it is a necessary for a full understanding of numbers and emphasized by counting with the child's actions like counting her fingers or counting her crayons. They also learn this principle when they count while playing like jumping and swinging. They can participate in this activity while counting out loud. A rule can make like counting 1 to 20, then another person's turn. At an early age they are now able to detect that counting was wrong if counting of numbers is reversed in order or skipping two numbers it is a violation to stable order principle. They may said that there's a counting mistake. If counting violated the cardinality principle with the use of the same medium - a toy, states that the number was one more or less than had been counted, They usually said that the answer is wrong. Therefore, toddlers are learning the counting principles, even though they may continue to make counting mistakes when counting larger numbers. Larger number like counting 1 to 15 have a difficult time to understanding. The teacher can help them and learn about numbers providing a concrete demonstration of number.

Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Identity - Essay Example In this variegated world the human beings simply could not avoid the unavoidable and intimate process of socialization that gives way to what is called the individual and collective identity. Thereby, the individual identity is not merely the product of one’s specific self concept, but is rather a concept that is shaped and formed by an array of forces that tend to be economic, legal, social and many a times historical in their ramifications, which scratch and etch the human consciousness and continue to shape, control and define the entity that is called identity. Identity is a notion that happens to be multi-faceted, open and perpetually evolving in its content and scope. As far as I could peek into my childhood days, I could distinctly notice the fact that during the nascent stages of the human life, the development of the individual identity is governed a lot by what an individual thinks about oneself. When I was an infant, my parents where the only outside force that to a large extent shaped my identity (Gielen & Roopnarine 213). The very helplessness and dependence of my child hood state saved me from an early exposure to the multifarious social forces that I had to deal with at a more mature stage. My home and family was the cocoon that not only allowed me to shape my identity in a relatively benign and loving environment, but also protected me from more potent and political outside influences. I was totally oblivious of the fact that in the times to come, forces like ethnicity and color will pervade my inner world and shape my identity in varied ways and forms. Hence, the only god that governed the shaping of my identity was I and my parents. Thereby, I am happy to say that I had quite a happy childhood and this allowed me to develop a positive self concept of myself that shaped an identity that was open, gregarious, happy and confident. The positive reinforcements from my family further ossified this sense of invulnerability and mirth. However, this identity related complacence was not to last forever. As I grew up and my sense of self evolved, I realized that my parents and my family were not only a source love and affection, but also happened to be social individuals who belonged to a specific class, race, ethnicity and culture. It is not that my parents predominantly tried to introduce me to these sometimes hard to acknowledge, but valid facts, but I gradually picked up these facts about my family and hence about myself through eavesdropping into their unsuspecting daily interactions. These socio-economic attributes assigned to my family gradually began to become a part of my identity. Hence, I got a very basic idea of the society and my place in it through this primary socialization with my family (Gielen & Roopnarine 63). Thereby, I could certainly say that my family circumstances largely selected my mother tongue, religion, social class and nationality. It will be true to say that I had a very basic idea about my ide ntity as I entered the mature world. Yet, I was curious to not only test the validity of these identity attributes I inherited, but to practically see as to where I stood in the outside world. In that context I could distinctly identify my young adulthood period

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins Essay

The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins - Essay Example Dawkins makes the case that every form of life on this planet was created by way of non random natural selection, which in other words is understood as evolution (Ings, 2009). People who believe differently base their decisions on things that cannot be considered as evidence. Dawkins writes that natural selection has undergone different phases of rejection that were followed by acceptance. The author refers to intelligent design in terms of the ways in which every kind of life on Earth is created through some kind of natural selection, which is explained through reference to research on the evolution of bacteria carried out by Lenski. Dawkins has taken pains in claiming that intelligent design is a valid explanation for every aspect of nature, which is supported by the theory of evolution. It is in this context that he writes â€Å"evolution is a fact. Beyond reasonable doubt, beyond serious doubt, beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt† (Dawkins, 2009, p.12). The primary objective of the author is to provide evidence for people that the theory of evolution is as good as any scientific fact. He states on page 85 of the book that â€Å"evolutionary scientists are in the position of detectives who come late to the scene of crime† (Dawkins, 2009, p.85). In making this statement he means that it becomes difficult to prove the evolutionary process to those that deny or doubt history. He refers to evolution repeatedly in his book and wants readers to understand how natural changes have been brought on the planet through microevolution and macroevolution. In explaining that science determines temporal sequence Dawkins has written that nature has clocks that ascertain the time taken for the effects of evolution to emerge. He means that evolutionary scientists have to make use of such wide range of clocks in terms of the processes available for dating

Monday, July 22, 2019

Tornado in Oklahama Essay Example for Free

Tornado in Oklahama Essay Tornadoes are violent rotating column of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. Tornadoes are known to cause a lot of destruction depending on how violent it occurs. Tornadoes are more common in the United States than any other country. United States receives more than one thousand two hundred tornadoes annually. Most tornadoes in the United States occur in Tornado Alley; an area including states of Oklahama, Texas, Missouri and Kansas. This piece of work will mainly dwell on comparison of data of tornadoes occurring in states of Oklahama, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri. METHODS Quantitative Data Analysis This is the method used to correct this piece of work where the various portions of the data where collected from records Time series: the information used to conduct this study was done over a period of time where tornadoes frequency, fatality, injuries and number of deaths are indicated. RESULTS Compared with other states, Oklahama ranks number 2 for frequency to tornadoes, 7 for number of death,9 for injuries and 5 for cost of damages. If we compare this statistics to other states by frequency per square mile, Oklahama ranks number 2 for frequency of tornadoes, number 10 for fatalities, number 15 for injuries per square and number 4 for cost per area. The state of Missouri ranks number 8 for frequency, 12 for number of deaths, 15 for injuries and 9 for cost of damage. Comparing with statistics of other states by frequency per square mile, Missouri ranks number 13 for frequency of tornadoes, 14 for fatalities, 19 for injuries per square and 15 for cost per area. In Kansas we have it ranked 3 for frequency of tornadoes, 8 for number of deaths, 14 for injuries and 3 for cost of damage. In comparison with statistics of other states it ranks number 4 for frequency of tornadoes, 13 for fatalities, 22 for injuries per area and 8 for cost per area. Arkansas is ranked number 16 for frequency of tornadoes, 8 for number of deaths, and 14 for injuries 3 for cost of damage. When compared with statistics of other states by frequency per square mile, Arkansas ranks number 16 for frequency of tornadoes, 5 for fatalities, 7 for injuries per square and 16 per cost per area.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The Effectiveness of Project Team Development

The Effectiveness of Project Team Development There is no doubt that project teams is playing increasingly important role in most of the successful project. To achieve this, building an effective team is basically start from the first day of the teams existence. Project manager plays important task that carries responsibilities to manage and develop commitment of every team members. It is important for project manager to have adequate knowledge to manage teams as it is a complex mix of human resources management, people skills, technical understanding and process facilitation. It is crucial for every project management to have dynamic project teams which are not static and unchanging. There are also several barriers exist in building a project teams that need to be concerned as this will affect the results of the project and the effectiveness of team development. This paper is critically emphasizes on the team building with project team development stage model, characteristic of effective team members and case study in regard to project adaption and success. The structure of the paper will begin with the introduction, terminologies section, characteristics of effective team members, team development stage, case study and review if the case studies as well as conclusion as the summarization of the whole topic. Keywords: project team, team building, project manager, team development stage model, effectiveness 1.0 INTRODUCTION Initially, a team is highly necessary to run a project. Without an effective project team, it is hardly to achieve projects goals. In fact, one of the hardest aspects of project management is managing the individuals on the project. There are various formal and informal roles that team members play in creating successful projects and also the potential for a single person to play more than one simultaneously on smaller projects (Cooke and Tate, 2005). In short, every team in project has their own responsibilities that carry both formal and informal task and sometimes they are also assigned to run in big or small project concurrently based on the project requirements to achieve project successfulness. Besides, to manage a project team, it is highly necessary to have a good leadership or a project manager to control project by leading, inspiring and motivating all project team to greater heights for project success. As stated by Bubshait and Farooq (1999), successful project managers recognize the importance of people because they know that without people, no project would exist in the first place. They also indicated that people or team are the initiators, developers and users of project. It shows here, team is plays an important role in completing quality and innovative project in order to produce a good result within the budget and on time. 2.0 DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS: TEAM, PROJECT TEAM AND TEAM BUILDING Numerous case studies and articles have been written about team and team building in the project management. There are various definitions of team from many authors with different point of views. According to Harodyski (1995), team is a group of people that cooperate and work together to achieve a given set of objectives or goals. As suggested by Bennett (1994) that written by Ingram et al., (1997), team is special types of group that voluntarily ties the members towards held objectives. For Baca (2007), the people who will create the product of the project is called team member. While Bushait and Farooq (1999), defined team as a collection of individuals with different needs, backgrounds and expertise. Both of these authors also stated that team is cross functional which is a matrix and project management organizations characteristic. Based on Eskerod and Blichfeldt (2005) article as taken from Katzenbach and Smith (1993), team is a small number of individuals that have complementar y skills and they are committed to a common purpose, performance goals as well as approach for which they hold themselves accountable. Based on the above definitions, basically team term brought similar concept, where it carry out defined, a group of people with specific skills and knowledge and is assigned to run a specific task in achieving goals and objectives. Every author has their own point of views to describe it based on their different areas of expertise and experiences. Project teams are essential in performing for both big and small project. The definition of project teams as pointed by Zwikael and Unger-Aviram (2010) are unique type of teams. Project teams are now seen as a popular organizational form under environments where coordinated actions directed towards a non-routine goal are needed (Rikards and Moger, 2000). Project teams who work well together are able to contribute and focus on the work and also lead to the production of work on time, meet a budget and of course achieve projects goals. In addition, project team is a group of people that is responsible and assigned to perform task and producing deliverables based on the project strategy. Team building is acceptable by the belief that there is a family life bond within working groups that can be used for the companys benefit (Beyer and Trice, 1987). In addition, team building is the process of identifying members in project. This process is significant to select appropriate people to handle and perform the project plan. In a certain circumstances, sometimes the team building process will starts before project approval, however full team only can be developed after the project is formally approved and organizational and contractual pattern are identified (Diwan, 1999). For Johns (1995) team building is the action taken by project manager, team members and line management to enables a group of people to perform a good job, to think and act together. 3.0 CHARACTERISTIC OF EFFECTIVE TEAM MEMBERS The people side of project management is very important for project success and in order for project to be successful, every individual including team leader or project personnel need to be properly managed. This aspect is crucial because it will lead them to contribute towards the achievement of the project goals. In the other hand, with good team members, it brings benefits including increased involvement, development and empowerment of employees, expand the use of employee skills and capabilities, helps in decision making process, growing in creativity and work processes and performance may improve. Creating effective team members is crucial. They are several characteristics of the effective members that are normally contributes to the successful of project. Have ultimate goals and plans A clear defined mission and goals encourage the team members to share purpose and common goals and willing and strive to achieve the goals and plans. Besides, team members are willing to put on their head the teams goal with their goal are basically same. Listen to everyone in the team Be an active listening, attempt to understand and concentrate to other teams point of views. Think and make a best option before making a decision. This criteria help team to identify and clarify the alternative ay to overcome problem arises. For team leader this criteria is very crucial because it is the aspect where the project can be perform without any unsatisfied matter occurs. Have positive relationship among team members By having good relationship with other team mates, the team will easier to perform their job as this can assist them in contributing ideas such as brainstorming process and run the project together with easily and effectively. This characteristic is applied for both team project and project manager or team leader. Overcome problems and make decision on time To be an effective team member, he or she is required to solve a problem and make a decision on time. With the knowledge and skills, they should have a capability to identify the best solution for any problem arises and able to rectify the problem and also faster make decision to prevent any project delays and cost overrun. Able to manage conflict An effective team is able to identify and resolve to any problems exist in timely during the project running. They also are capable to minimize conflicts as much as can to ensure the project will be completed on time. To achieve this criteria, the organization is suggested to provide a training program to all the teams. This will assist them in managing conflict effectively and efficiently. Facilitate productive meeting Team leader is efficiently, productively and has the skill in well managed meetings that efficiently use team members time. The productive meeting is important in identifying any potential risk and problems that may occurs during the implementation project. Besides by having meeting, all the team members may share and contribute ideas pertaining to achieve successful project. In addition through meeting, team members can develop plan and generate recommendations to stay on project track or schedule. Know roles of team members An effective team member also understands the roles of every team members in the project. By understanding every responsibility of every team members, it will assist the team to clarify other team members job and assist them to search a respective team according to a specific skills and knowledge if any problems occur that required other teams skills and knowledge. Operate in productive manner This criteria means, team members have the resources and skills to success and they are able to complete their works on time and facilitate quality and quantity measures to evaluate overall efficiency and effectiveness as well. 4.0 TEAM DEVELOPMENT STAGES There are number of models that describe the stages that teams go through on the way to be productive. One of the most famous ones has self-explanatory tittles for the stages. This team development stages model was developed by Bruce Tuckman in the 1970s. This model can be as levels of guideline for every project manager in managing their project team effectively. Other than that, by understanding and applying this practice into project management, it assist the team leader or project manager to have a better preparation to detect any changes or problem and take appropriate action to help the team. This model can be applied in order to see how teams are emerging and explain how behaviours and feelings of each team members at any given time. At first the Tuckmans model in 1965 consists of four (4) important stages, there are, forming, storming, norming and performing. After subsequent review by Tuckman and Jensen (1977), the stages have added to another important element known as adjourning as represented in Figure 1. C:UsersIJAPicturesTuckmans model diagram_0.JPG Figure 1: The stage model of team development by Tuckman and Jensen (1977) Source: Joanne Leith. The importance of team. Retrieved on 9 August, 2010 from http://www.teamworkspacific.com.au/article/importance_of_teams 4.1 Forming Stage Forming is the stage where all the team members meet and begin to work with each other for the first time. In this stage, teams are concerned to study the boundaries of acceptable team behaviour. This is a platform where the team come together with a sense of anticipation and commitment (Bubshait and Farooq (1999). In the other hand, this is a stage of transition from individual to become project member status and they look to the leader or other individual that are responsible to give them some clear picture in order to assist them get started (Lewis, 2007). This can be considered as a one way communication which is from leader to team member. Forming stage is quite stressful since everyone is new in the project and sometimes they even did not know each other. Due to this fact, team effectiveness is actually moderate and their motivation is high because they are being selected to be part of the team (Bubshait and Farooq, 1999). This will become more stressful if the project manager is not suitable with the project teams and this will automatically impact the process in performing and producing efficient work. Forming stage consist of several feelings and behaviours as represented in the Table 1. Table 1: Feelings and behaviours in forming stage Feelings Behaviours Excitement, anticipation and optimism Pride in being chosen for the project Initial, tentative attachment to the team Suspicion, fear and anxiety about the job or if they will be accepted by others Attempts to define the task and decide how it will be accomplished Attempts to determine acceptable group behaviour and how to deal with group problems Decision on what information need to be gathered Lofty, abstract discussions of concepts and issues; or for some members, impatience with these discussions Discussion of symptoms or problems not relevant to the task; difficulty in identifying relevant problems Complaints about the organization and barriers to the task Posturing, external and internal behaviours Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.2 Storming Stage Storming stage is challenging compare with the forming stage where this stage involves views and disagreement from team members instead of listening only to the instruction from the team leader. Based on Mackintosh (2007), storming stage sometimes will cause conflicts or problems among the team members even the forming stage was run and planned well. While for Rickards and Moger (2000), storming is the stage that involves personal conflicts. During this stage, team leader is holding heavy task where their leadership quality is tested (Mackintosh, 2007). As point of view by Bubshait and Farooq (1999), this stage involves various views by team members and they are dispute each other and this factor causes fail to the motivation and effectiveness of the team. However, even the arguing among team members emerges through this stage; it is also a beginning for them to know each other. Table 2 shows the feelings and behaviours occur during the storming stage. Table 2: Feelings and behaviours in storming stage Feelings Behaviours Resistance to the task and to suggested approaches different from what they know Sharp fluctuations in attitude about the team Powerlessness. Arguing among members even when they agree on the real issue. Defensiveness and competition; factions and choosing sides. Questioning the wisdom of those who selected the project and appointed the other members of the team. Establishing unrealistic goals; concern about excessive work. A perceived pecking order, disunity, increased tension, and jealousy. Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.3 Norming Stage This stage where the team is starting to work well together and the goals, roles, strength and weaknesses are identified. The team members are unite and agree on the principles cooperation, even though there are several opinions from many team members. During this stage the level of motivation and effectiveness start to increase (Bubshait and Farooq, 1999). According to Mackintosh (2007), norming stage is the stage that covers rules and regulations where through this stage, all team members are aware each other and it produce strong relationship among them. Besides, conflicts on emotion are also reduced and team members become more cooperative instead of having competitive relationship. As shown in Table 3, it listed the feelings and behaviours that might be occurred during norming stage. Table 3: Feelings and behaviours in norming stage Feelings Behaviours A new ability to express criticism constructively Acceptance of membership in the team Relief that it seems everything is going to work out. An attempt to achieve harmony by avoiding conflict. More friendliness, confiding in each other, and sharing of A sense of team cohesion, a common sprit and goals. Establishing and maintaining team ground rules and boundaries (the norms). Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.4 Performing Stage The fourth stage is performing, which all team members are focus on the team goals and they are begin to create strong relationship and built trust each other. Due to this fact, they may reach a high level of motivation and effectiveness (Bubshait and Farooq, 1999). Through this stage, all team members are aware and concern on the strength and weaknesses of the project and they are also work towards on that as they know rewards will be given after completion of project. According to Mackintosh (1997), the team members are comfortable in this stage compared with the storming stage where this stage is a platform that leads for the personal growth among the team members. During performing stage, project managers role become easier because the team members understand what their roles are and they are complete self-directed. The table 4 shows, the feelings and behaviours in performing stage. Table 4: Feelings and behaviours in performing stage Feelings Behaviours Members having insights into personal and group processes, and better understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses Satisfaction at the teams progress Close attachment to the team The team is now working effectively as a cohesive unit. You can tell when your team has reached this stage because you start getting a lot of work done Source: Tuckmans stages of team development. Retrieved on 12 August, 2010 from http://jhartleyconsulting.com/files/Stages_of_Team_Development.pdf 4.5 Adjourning Stage In other different team development model, adjourning term is also known as mourning. Adjourning is final stage where team reaches some kind of termination level which is through accomplishment or membership disruption (Rickards and Morger, 2000). In this stage, team members are brief and share the improved process and successful project as well. They also may feel a sense of loss. In a certain circumstances, if a new team is join the project team, the whole team will regress from the beginning and they have to act faster to get back on track. 5.0 CASE STUDIES This section will be presented two cases studies about project team members with adaption of team development stages model in regard to project success. 5.1 Case study 1 Team moving through five stages: A case study This case study is about the project to improve the performance of company in managing and supporting their client base. The project was leaded and guided by a leader from Chicago office that has 15 years experience as a project manager or team lead managing process improvement projects. This case study was performed by five individuals with different skills, abilities and experiences from various of large service organization. The project was conducted in virtually by using SharePoint site as a medium to interact each other. However, the team leader also has preferred to meet face to face initially. This case study was used the Tuckmans model (1977) as a guideline for the team leader to understand how to build an effective team and also to continue to manage and motivate them in order to achieve project goals. The findings of the case study will be discussed further. The project was begun with the initial meeting as a first stage in Tuckmans model known as forming stage. In this stage, all the team members were assembled and the meetings covered all essential aspects before the project get started. Based on first stage, it was found out that all team members were excited and ready to get work together. They were agreed to every task which has been assigned to them. Overall the first stage was in charged successfully by the team leader. The project work were begins in the storming stage. During this stage, arguments and conflicts between team members were emerged. This was happened due to unsatisfied of job assigned and issues of seniority or experiences for particular job aspect. For this reason, the team leader was initially taken a side role to overcome these conflicts. She managed to solve the problems with a win win situation for every of her team members by selecting the best options. During the norming stage, everything was going smoothly. There were still have some arguments and disagreements but they were managed to overcome it without relying on the team leader to make decision for them. They were also become a teamwork and enjoy working with each other. After the completion of norming stage the fourth stage was taken place, which is performing stage. By this stage, the team has reached high performing team. It was discovered some of the team members have developed their skills and leadership roles with the support of others. The project was completed on time within the budget. Besides, the team leader was rewarded by the team because of her good performance in managing the project. Finally the project was achieved it goals where their internal customer was pleased and there is improvements in how the company supports its clients. The team has united together to do some evaluation on the project done that including documenting best practices and way to improve any mistakes done during the implementation of project. 5.2 Case Study 2 Diamonds in the rough: A case study of team development across disciplines, distances and institutions The purpose of this case study is to explore team building strategies by describing reactions of every respective faculty to their participation in a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team project which performed via distance. The team members of this project consist of five different universities and from various agriculture disciplines. The teams were gathered to develop online educational resources. The results of the case study that adapted into team development stages are presented in Figure 2. C:UsersIJAPicturesteam development stages.jpg Figure 2: Integration of Tuckmans (1965) Small Group Development Model into One Teams Experience Source: Susan Fritz et al., Diamonds in the rough: A case study of team development across disciplines, distances and institutions. Retrieved on 9 August, 2010 from http://www.joe.org/joe/2005october/a4.php From the findings also, they have pointed out several important elements that engaged during the execution of project. There are motivation for collaboration, timeline, evaluation and rewards, team leader, cohesion, interaction, trust and some miscellaneous findings. In the forming stage, it was discovered that two of team members were inspired to sharpen their skills and motivated to further their knowledge in Web-based instructions. While there were some questioning of team objectives occurs during the storming stage due to the progressed and deadline of project were frequently unmet. There were also an issue pertaining to the evaluation and rewards where they were concern over little support from their team mates and administrators as well. During this stage, the team leader was strict to ensure the team members keep on track. In the norming and performing stages, the trust and friendship were built. It was found out that there were distances separating them in running the project but the team grew from a mere work group into a synergistic individual. Finally the website containing lesson was completed. As overall, the teams were satisfied with their job as well as the supervisory of their team leader. However the lack of supporting from home departments was still remain major issue. 6.0 REVIEW OF TWO CASE STUDIES The findings for both case studies almost the same where the results appear the same meaning. In case study 1, Tuckmans model (1977) was used while for case study 2, Tuckmans model (1965) without adjourning stage was applied. Basically, team leader is plays important role in developing an effective team member through team development stages. Table 5 presents comparison with several key elements that engaged in both case studies. Table 5: Key elements KEY ELEMENTS CASE STUDY 1 CASE STUDY 2 Motivation level The project motivated the team members and the team members were developed their skills and applied a leadership roles during the implementation of project. The team members were inspired and motivated to collaborate with each other. Timeline pressures Project schedule issue was emerged due to the decision made by only two team members. Timeline of the project was questioned by the team members due to the project progressed and deadlines were seldom unmet. Evaluation and rewards The team were acknowledged by project sponsor and other executives. The team felt little support from their colleagues and administrator. Leadership style Team leader has encouraged and brought the team together for a face to face meetings on monthly basis Team leader has created a working environment conducive to collaboration. Cohesion and interaction The team members communicate each other via communicating on email, via instant messaging, on Twitter or over the telephone. Many team members still missed the interaction of face to face meetings. However, the scenario changed slowly as team reached the norming and performing stages. Trust The team share knowledge with other team members The team members felt comfortable with others to be honest about their opinions and ideas 7.0 CONCLUSIONS It can be concluded that effective team members only can be developed through considerable structure (Lewis, 2007). This structure known as team development stages, where these stages represents the team members are working together, strengths and weaknesses of each team are tested, compliant to the rules and behaviours of the team, working as a unit while working independently and shifting onto other teams (Ruppert, 2009). While developing an effective project team members, the team leader also need to have multiple skills in managing those people in the project management. According to Tan (2004), due to multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional of project management, a good manager is an individual that can wear multiple hats and work in any discipline of development to plug up any shortcomings. For team members, it is necessary for them to fulfil the effective team member characteristic in order to achieve project goals on time and within the budget besides preventing a conflict w ith others in the same project.

Refinery And Petrochemical Integrated Development

Refinery And Petrochemical Integrated Development Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development is considered as the largest petrochemical complex project currently in the region of South East Asia. RAPID project is located in Pengerang, South Eastern of Johor state. As the main investor, PETRONAS proposed RM60 billion investment for RAPID project. The major production of RAPID is the crude oil refinery with refining capacity of 300,000 BSPD. The crude oil refinery will act as the spine of the project that will supply sufficient feedstock to the petrochemical complex. With conservative estimate, petrochemical complexes will produce an annual combined production of approximately 3 million tonnes of ethylene, propylene, C4 and C5 olefins. The beneficial condition had attracted few company to partner with PETRONAS in the RAPID project. At present, there are five(5) company which had signed an agreement with PETRONAS to jointly own, develop, construct and operate production facilities for a host of specialty chemical products within Petronas proposed RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Those five(5) company are ITOCHU Corporation of Japan PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, DIALOG, Italy-based Versalis SpA, and Evonik Industries AG. Initially, another German world leading chemical company, BASF, had signed the Head of Agreement (HoA) with PETRONAS. However, in 21 January 2013, PETRONAS announced that the Head of Agreement (HoA) between two parties for a jointly specialty chemicals venture within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor, has been terminated by mutual agreement. Unfortunately, following negotiations, PETRONAS and BASF concluded that it would be in their mutual interest to terminate the HoA as both parties were unable to come to an agreement on the terms and conditions for the implementation of the proposed venture. After the news of termination of HoA between PETRONAS and BASF was released, another company had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with PETRONAS almost at the same time. Evonik Indutstries AG is fully interested to jointly embark on the development of production facilities of specialty chemicals within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Although there are only six(6) company which have signed agreement to be part into PETRONAS RAPID project, it is widely believed that more potential company are yet to join the PETRONAS RAPID project. Therefore, in this chapter, it mostly covers the background and licensors issue of those six(6) company. At the mean time, this chapter will also cover the difference of the development of production facilities of specialty chemicals among the company in different location. Besides that, it will make the comparison of two company in different petrochemical complex based on several aspects. Moreover, this chapter will include the proposed potential company that are feasibility for PETRONAS RAPID project. In addition, this chapter will also analyze the role playing and licensors issue of the latent company within PETRONAS RAPID project. 4.2 Role Playing and Licensor of Company in PETRONAS RAPID project 4.2.1 PETRONAS PETRONAS is considered as the major investor for RAPID project and will own, construct and operate the oil refinery plant and also naphtha cracker plant. PETRONAS, for being one of the leading oil and gas industrial company in the world, has full of experience in constructing and operating the oil refinery plant and also naphtha cracker plant. PETRONAS no doubt has the profession and technology to handle oil refinery plant which refining a capacity of 300,000 BSPD crude oil. PETRONAS has taken the license technology from the previous licensor, Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering (EMRE). Those 300,000 BSPD of crude oil will be refined and converted into different petroleum products, distributed and supplied to entire petrochemical plants within RAPID project. Currently, RAPID project comprised construction work of few petrochemical plants such as hydrogen peroxide plant with a production capacity of 250,000 MTPA, a 220,000 MTPA isononanol plant, an 110,000 MTPA 1-butene plant and a 1,300MW gas-fired power plant. These are only part of the petrochemical plants within RAPID project. There are few investors have not made decision on the construction of petrochemical plants. The decision will be made later the third quarter of this year. On that time, we will know entire plan of RAPID project. However, we can define their move for RAPID project based on the profile of the company such as ITOCHU Corporation of Japan and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited. 4.2.2 ITOCHU Corporation of Japan PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited Both ITOCHU Corporation of Japan and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited are the world leading chemical company in oil and gas industry. The Energy Chemical company under ITOCHU Corporation consists of two divisions: the Energy Division and Chemical Division. The Energy Division facilitates the development and trade of bioethanol, focusing on developments in crude oil, natural gas, and other resources, and the supply chain where trade centres around the world originally operate. On the other side, the Chemical Division handles basic chemicals, synthetic resin, synthetic fibre raw materials, electronic materials, secondary battery-related materials and pharmaceutical products, among others. The company creates synergies in both of these globally operating divisions and have created an optimal value chain in petroleum, gas, and chemicals, in an effort to enrich the lives of people in the world. Another party, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited is the amalgamation of PTT Chemical Public Company Limited and PTT Aromatics and Refining Public Company Limited to be the chemical flagship of PTT Group. The integration results in reaching a total Olefins and Aromatics production capacity of 8.2 million tons per year and petroleum production capacity of 280,000 barrels per day, making it Thailands largest and Asias leading integrated petrochemical and refining company. PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited is strengthened with its diversity of product in both Olefins and Aromatics line, which improves its competitive advantage as well as the ability to reduce risk inherent in the petrochemical industry. On 18th May 2012, ITOCHU Corporation of Japan and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTCG) have signed the Head of Agreement (HoA) with PETRONAS for the development of PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Mr. Sirisaengtaksin, Chief Executive Officer of PTTGC, said Through this new collaboration, we hope to strengthen our ties and business synergies within the Southeast Asia Region and to also meet the demands of a rapidly growing ASEAN regions population and AEC market growth We hope also to further strengthen our alliance and look forward to a long and sustainable relationship with PETRONAS and ITOCHU far into the future through our collaboration in high value added chemicals to serve the automotive, construction and electronic industries. As mentioned previously, the proposed refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels per standard day and will supply naphtha and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) feedstock for the RAPID petrochemical complex, as well as produce gasoline and diesel that meet European specifications. With such a large amount of crude oil supply, ITOCHU and PTT are able to produce various merchant grades petrochemicals products. In prior, we discuss about the development of ITOCHU Corporation in PETRONAS RAPID project. In fact, ITOCHU Corporation signed a separate Heads of Agreement with PETRONAS and PTT Global Chemical, an integrated refinery, petrochemical, and aromatic player, towards the development of the new project for a few petrochemical downstream projects within the Project RAPID. It is widely believed that the production facilities should be close to the chemical industrial area covered by ITOCHU previously. Therefore, we bravely concluded that ITOCHU Chemical Division will own, develop, constru ct and operate a petrochemical downstream project in PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Generally, ITOCHU trades an extensive lineup of products, including basic chemicals, plastics, electronic materials, and pharmaceutical raw materials. ITOCHU has the higher opportunity to operate synthetic fibre production plant. The licensor of synthetic fibre production plant could be UOP Technology. UOP Technology provide the license of technology for ITOCHU and allow ITOCHU to use the particular technology to operate the synthetic fibre production plant. ITOCHU will demand the feedstock of synthetic fibre from PETRONAS oil refinery as there is sufficient capacity of up to 300,00 BSPD refining crude oil supply. Similarity, as the collaboration partner, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC), collaborate with ITOCHU Corporation and PETRONAS, to own, develop, construct, and operate at least two petrochemical plants in RAPID project. The petrochemical plants are not specified yet until now. However, based on the speech of Mr. Sirisaengtaksin, Chief Executive Officer of PTTGC, it is widely believed that the production of specialty chemical is mostly high value added chemical to serve the automotive, construction, and electronic industries. The future plan announced by PTTGC mentions that there is $11 billion capex by year 2020. PETRONAS RAPID project is also included and considered as one of the significant project in the future plan. The final decision will be on the middle of this year. Nevertheless, we strongly believed PTTGC, associated with ITOCHU Corporation to operate olefins downstream production plant and aromatic plant. Generally, ethylene and propylene can produce polyeth ylene, polypropylene, HDPE, LDPE, and LLDPE. The capacity of these products is considered large in amount as there is sufficient olefins supply. Besides that, aromatic products such as benzene, toluene and mixed-xylene are also produced through the petrochemical plant as well to supply them as raw materials to generate the downstream industries such as polystyrene. Alongside the massive production of olefins, aromatics, and by-product produced, PETRONAS RAPID is expected to fulfil the requirement and massive demand of feedstock from South East Asia country and Asia country especially China. PETRONAS RAPID is expected to step out to become the major and leading raw material supplier within the region in South East Asia and even the entire Asia region. PTTGC operates the aromatics plant and produces and distributes primary aromatics, namely benzene, paraxylene, orthoxylene, toluene, mixed xylenes, and cyclohexane (intermediate product) as feedstock for intermediate and downstream industries. PTTGC runs two aromatics plants, it boast the technology of UOP, a world-renowned licensor known for constant upgrading. Both facilities allow feedstock and product exchange to optimize paraxylene and benzene production. PTTGC plans to produce a total of more than 2.05 million tons of aromatics with an 88% utilization rate and continuous process efficiency improvement which over the past few years record. Alongside the experience of operating the aromatic plant, PTTGC knows the efficiency improvement move and straightly apply into PETRONS RAPID project. The successive moves such as replacement of heat exchanger of the distillation tower to produce 25,000 tons per year of additional paraxylene and installation of pipeline system to the refinery to produce reformate to add value to excess sour naphtha from aromatics plant. PTTGC may apply the technologies into the aromatics plant in RAPID project and produces greater amount and quality of products. PTTGC may rise RAPID project become the leading petrochemical complex in Asia region. On the other sides, PTTGC Group obtains olefins (a collective name for ethylene and propylene) from PETRONAS naphtha cracker plant for intermediate and downstream petrochemical plants in the industrial estate, for HDPE, LDPE, and LLDPE plants within the Group, and for the ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG) plant, wholly owned by PTTGC. The Group produces and sells olefins by-products, namely mixed C4, pyrolysis gasoline, tail gas, cracker bottom, and hydrogen, to domestic and foreign customers. To supplement value to these, PTTGC will operate the butene-1 and butadiene project from mixed C4 with a combined capacity of about 100,000 tons per year. Today, the plants basic engineering design has been completed, with a start-up date in about the second quarter of 2014. In addition, it is widely believed that PTTGC will owns, constructs and operates a 1,300MW gas-fired power plant within RAPID project. The gas-fired power plant supply power throughout the entire RAPID project. The feedstock used to generate the power plant is natural gas that obtained from the crude oil. In order to achieve green environment, the feedstock also can be obtained from the recycled natural gas from other petrochemical plant. This action has not only achieve green environment yet it helps to cut the cost of production. 4.2.3 Italy-based Versalis SpA Italy-based Versalis SpA is the third petrochemical company to join PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. On 17th July 2012, PETRONAS and Itay-based Versalis SpA have signed for Head of Agreement (HoA) to jointly own, develop, construct, and operate elastomer plant within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Based on the report statement, under the terms of the HoA, the proposed joint venture will produce and market synthetic rubbers by using Versalis technology license and technology know-how. Versalis (formerly known as Polimeri Europa) is a petrochemical company and flagship company of Eni SpA, an Italian multinational oil and gas company. It handles the production and marketing of a wide portfolio of petrochemical products, using a range of proprietary technologies and state-of-the-art production systems and a wide-reaching and efficient distribution network. Versalis provides its own technology of license and proves that Versalis has much confidence to the application of technology for the elastomer plant. For your information, the patent and proprietary technology portfolio ranges from basic products to polymers phenol and derivatives, polyethylene, styrenics and elastomers, but also catalysts, and special chemical products. Versalis contributes a lot of efforts to develop its own proprietary technology by using the direct experience earned at its research and development centre, its production plants, and also considering the feedbacks of the market towards its products. Throughout this approach, Versalis manages to optimize and strengthen the designing of the single devices and plants, of their performances, of the performances of the proprietary catalysts, of the characteristics of the products getting outstanding results in all the technologies of the companys business areas. And this is the reason that Versalis intends to use its o wn technology license. The elastomer technology used for the elastomer plant within PETRONAS RAPID project are: (1) emulsion polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (e-SBR), (2) solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (s-SBR), (3) SBS copolymers technology (SBS), (4) NBR butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers technology (NBR), and (5) High Cis Polibutabiene rubber technology (HCBR NEOCIS). These technology are mostly believed to be brought and applied into the elastomer plant with PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang Johor. The brief introduction of each technology is needed for more understanding. Emulsion polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber is one of the most common used polymers in worldwide, used in a large variety of applications which significantly provide good quality of our life. The Versalis proprietary technology achieves wide-range of products which covers all e-SBR field of application like tires, footwears, light coloured and etc. Besides that, High Solids SBR Latices, whose main applications are in moulded foam, gel and non-gel carpet foam and stiffness enhancer Latices, are also leading product based on Versalis proprietary technology. Other the other hand, solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber is the most suitable feedstock for highly specified tyre components used in the fabrication of high performance tyres, where the lowest fuel consumption and the highest durability are required. In order to maintain the quality of polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber, s-SBR proprietary technology has been developed as an alternative to emulsion technology to produce new product grades and also to significantly reduce some environmental impact of the emulsion technology. Following by Versalis SBS technology, it is flexible in catering the different product grades required by the SBS market to meet new application requirements. Hence, the competitive production of the most common SBS grades and the additional SBS grades for special applications are allowed by Versalis SBS technology. Besides that, NBR butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers are copolymers of butadiene (BD) and acrylonitrile (AN) produced by initiation redox catalyst systems to an emulsion polymerisation reaction . The high resistance to oils over a wide temperature range is certainly one of most important feature of Nitrile Rubber. Furthermore, goods NBR-based are normally high strength and resistance to abrasion properties. Originally, Versalis used cold radicalic polymerization technology for NBR production and was then continuously improved and modified its own NBR butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers production technology based on market requests and feedbacks to meet the safety regulation requirement. At last, High Cis Polibutabiene rubber technology was first developed in the 80s, with the aim to produce rubber grades with specific properties in tyre sector as well as in other industrial applications. Typical High Cis Polibutabiene rubber plant consists of one reaction section, one finishing line and one packaging line. Based on the technology development and experience taken in operation of elastomer plant, it is widely believed that Versalis will focus on the partnership alongside with excellent proven elastomer operation records and wealth of experience and expertise that would significantly contribute towards strengthening PETRONAS and Malaysias position as a key downstream petrochemical player in the South East Asia region or the entire Asia region. 4.2.4 Evonik Industries AG PETRONAS is pleased to announce that a Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed with Evonik Industries AG to jointly engage on the development of production facilities of chemical specialty within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang , Johor. On 13 January 2013, Evonik Industries AG officially signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) with PETRONAS and became the latest petrochemical company investing in RAPID project followed by ITOCHU Corporation, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, and Italy-based Versalis SpA. Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Evoniks corporate strategy manages to maintain profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Basically, its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Under the LOI, Evonik Industries AG planned to form a partnership with PETRONAS to jointly own, develop, construct and operate facilities for the production of hydrogen peroxide, C4 co-monomer and oxo-products within RAPID project.. The proposed plants within RAPID project are expected to produce a capacity of 250,000 metric tons of hydrogen peroxide, 220,000 metric tons of isononanol (INA) and 110,000 metric tons of 1-butene annually. Furthermore, the hydrogen peroxide will be used to produce propylene oxide by the licensed, eco-friendly hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) process. The licensed technology, HPPO process, was jointly developed by Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Uhde. Evonik is one of the worlds largest producers of hydrogen peroxide and C4 based products with production facilities in Europe, North America, South America, New Zealand, Asia, South Africa and Indonesia. The worldwide capacity of hydrogen peroxide production is in excess of 600.000 tons per year. With more than 100 years of experience in peroxygen chemistry, Evonik is believed able to provide high quality products backed up by professional technical, engineering and sales support within PETRONAS RAPID project. The hydrogen peroxide plant is expected to boast an annual production capacity of 250,000 metric tons thus increasing the current overall hydrogen peroxide in worldwide. The group believes it is going to become the largest manufacturer of hydrogen peroxide. Today, hydrogen peroxide is widely used for various chemical industries. Therefore, it is a wise approach to operate hydrogen peroxide production plant within RAPID project. Generally, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an environmentally friendly chemical used for oxidation reactions, bleaching process in pulp, paper, and textile industries, various waste water and air treatment, and for various disinfection applications. Nevertheless, Evonik has decided to implement the HPPO process with its own technology licensing which is developed by Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Uhde within RAPID project. The innovative HPPO process allows the oxidant to be used to produce propylene oxide. The HPPO process benefits that it requires significantly less investment and allows a high degree of production efficiency. It is also an extremely eco-friendly process. Besides that, oxo-products production plant such as isononanol (INA) production plant will be implemented within RAPID project by Evonik. Basically, isononanol (INA) is the most important raw material used for manufacturing large-volume of plasticizers. Plasticizers are chemical compounds that are used to make PVC materials to be flexible. The plastics become softer and more elastic and pliable for certain desired use. Plasticizers change the physical properties of the plastics without chemically react with the materials. As expected, Evonik plans to produce 220,000 metric tons of isononanol (INA) annually through the plant within RAPID project. This amount of capacity are believed sufficiently for demands throughout the South East Asia region. Most of the isononanol produced renders in the manufacture of DINP (di isononyl phthalate). The technology licensor for the isononanol (INA) production plant will be ThyssenKrupp Uhde. Uhde offers its first-class proprietary technology for the isononanol production plant within RAPID project. Similarly, the proprietary technology is developed based on research and production plants for many years. With this type of approach, the proprietary technology benefits that allows a high degree of efficiency with less investment requirement. In addition, Evonik has confirmed to operate a capacity of 110,000 metric tons annually 1-butene production plant within RAPID project. Evonik uses its own proprietary technology to operate the 1-butene production plant. Basically, 1-butene is used mainly as a co-monomer for polyethylene (LLDPE, HDPE) or co-monomer for ethylene/propylene copolymers. The advantage of 1-butene is mainly to improve for the tear strength of the polymer. Moreover, it is also used as intermediate for the production of various products such as antioxidants, plasticizers, herbicides, corrosion inhibitors or additives to lubricating and hydraulic oils. Evonik Industries AG are focusing on RAPID project seriously as they implement three main petrochemical production plant within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. As the Member of the Executive Board of Evonik, Dr. Dahai Yu said, The entire project is set to mark another milestone in our growth strategy in the Asian market. This is why were seeking for a strong long-term strategic partner like PETRONAS. The partnership is expected to strengthen the PETRONAS position as the key downstream petrochemical player as well as to position Malaysia as the number one oil and gas hub in the Asia Pacific region by 2017. Throughout the collaboration, Evonik Industries AG further consolidates its position as one of the world largest producers of hydrogen peroxide and C4-based products. 4.3 The Comparison of RAPID Project and Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex 4.3.1 Construction and Operation Area Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex is playing the significant role in the development of Malaysian petrochemical complexes of the east coast industrial corridor. Although isolated from the nations mainstream economic activities and politically distinctive, these former fishing villages have been transformed into Malaysias petrochemical industrial hub within a thirty years period. Similarly, RAPID project also transforms the fishing villages in Pengerang, Johor into another larger petrochemical industrial hub comparing to the one in east coast industrial corridor (ECIC). Currently, Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex have become the leading role to multi-national petroleum, gas and chemical giants and are widely believed to have received highest concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia. However, Upon target commissioning date in 2016, RAPID will become the largest petrochemical industrial hub within Asia Pacific Region. Kerteh and Gebeng are two different locations but planned to become industrial townships within the east coast industrial corridor (ECIC) of Peninsula Malaysia. The two town are connected by a dedicated railway. In contrast, RAPID project is planned to constructed at only one town area without any connections from other places. The figure 5.3 and figure 5.4 illustrate the Integrated Petrochemical Complex at Gebeng and location plan of RAPID project. Currently KPIC covers over 2,800 acres of land, and is planned to expand to cover about 13,200 acres by the year 2010. In present, GPIC covers about 8900 acres and it is expected to expand to about 23,700 acres by the year 2008. Initially, as statement from DEIA report, RAPID project is planned to cover 6,242 acres of land in Pengerang. The land covered will be further under expansion to be larger than the combination of IPC in Kerteh and Gebeng and in Melaka on the commissioning date by 2016. Verbund site 4.3.2 Capacity of Crude Oil Refinery In past, KIPC was only used as a crude oil channel, and as a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refinery. KIPC channels a capacity of 400,000 BSPD crude oil and 2,200 million cubic feet of LPG. Furthermore, KIPC also received some 250 million of LPG from Indonesia. Comparing to RAPID whereby RAPID is expected to have a refining capacity of 300,00 BSPD of crude oil. Upon target commissioning date in 2016, the countrys total refining capacity is to be increased to 935,300 barrels daily (bpd) from the current 635,300 bpd produced by the PETRONAS refineries in Kertih and Melaka. The refinery production of crude oil in RAPID project is illustrated in figure 4.5. For petrochemical related products, the current production capacity from the PETRONAS complexes in Gebeng and Kerteh is around 2.6 million KMTPA and upon RAPID operation, there will be an increase in production capacity to 6.5 million (KMTPA). It proves that the production capacity of RAPID project is expected to be much greater than GIPC and KIPC. Both Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex and RAPID project have received high concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia. Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex have attracted foreign company to join partnership to own, develop, construct and operate petrochemical plants. In GIPC, the PETRONAS and its joint-venture plants, the Gebeng IPC is also host to a number of multinational chemical companies, such as Amoco Chemicals, which owns and operates a purified terephthalic acid plant, and Eastman Chemicals, which owns and operates a copolyester plastic resin plant. Figure 4.4 illustrates the major petrochemical plant and its production capacity. The MTBE plant produces a capacity of 300,000 pta of MTBE and 80,000 pta of propylene. Besides that, propane dehydrogenation plant produces another capacity of 300,000 pta of propylene. The propylene production plant also add on produces 80,000 pta of propylene. In addition, the BPC Acrylics Complex produces four(4) various of chemical products which are 160,000 tpa Crude Acrylic Acid, 20,000 tpa Glacial Acrylic Acid, 100,000 tpa Butyl-Acrylate, 60,000 tpa 2-Ethyl Hexyl Acrylate. Furthermore, BPC Oxo-Alcohols and Syngas produces five(5) petrochemical products like 80,000 tpa 2-Ethyhexanol, 40,000 tpa Phthalic Anhydride, 100,000 tpa Plasticizers, 160,000 tpa Butanols, 170,000 tpa Syngas. For BPC Butanediol Complex, a capacity of 100,000 tpa Butanediol is produced through the complex. PETRONAS Integrated Petrochemical Complex (IPC) located within the PETRONAS Petroleum Industry Complex (PPIC) in Kertih, Terengganu is an important link in our gas value chain. Receiving gas feedstock from the fields offshore Terengganu, the Kertih IPC principally consists of ethylene-based petrochemical plants. The plants located within this IPC include two ethylene crackers, a polyethylene plant, an ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol plant, a multi-unit derivatives plant, vinyl chloride monomer/PVC plants, ammonia/synthesis gas plants, an acetic acid plant, an aromatics complex and a low-density polyethylene plant. These plants are owned and operated mainly on a joint venture basis with various foreign partners with the advanced technology and experience, financial strength and market access to add value to the business. Figure 4.4 illustrates the major petrochemical plant and its production capacity. The ethylene plant produces a capacity of 400,000 pta of ethylene. Besides that, poly ethylene plant produces capacity of 200,000 pta of polyethylene and 55,000 pta of pipe compounding. The vinyl chloride monomer production plant also produces 400,000 pta of vinyl chloride monomer. In addition, the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plant produces a capacity of 160,000 tpa PVC, Furthermore, Amonia and Syngas plant produces 450,000 tpa ammonia and 325,000 tpa Syngas. For acetic acid plant, a capacity of 400,000 tpa acetic acid is produced through the plant. The aromatics plant produces capacity production of 500,000 tpa Paraxylene and 188,000 tpa Benzene. Olefins (Second Cracker ) mainly produces 600,000 tpa Ethylene and 95,000 tpa Propylene for downstream production. Ethylene Oxide and Ethylene Glycol production plant produce capacity of 140,000 tpa Ethylene Oxide and 385,000 tpa Ethylene Glycols respectively. Ethylene Derivatives production plant produces five(5) petrochemical products such as 30,000 tpa Ethoxylates, 75,000 tpa Ethanolamines, 60,000 tpa Glycol Ethers, 140,000 tpa Butanol and 50,000 tpa Butyl Acetate to contributes for downstream production uses. The Low Density Polyethylen production plant produces a capacity of 255,000 tpa LDPE. For RAPID project, the capacity of production plants is clearly figured out in previous chapter. Therefore, for the information regarding the capacity of production within RAPID project, you are advised to refer the previous chapter. 4.4 The Comparison of RAPID Project and Titan Petrochemical Complex in Pasir Gudang 4.4.1 Location and Construction and Operation Area Titan petrochemical complex is owned and operated by Titan Chemical Group currently with the name of Lotte Chemical Titan Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Titan petrochemical complex constructed its first facility in Malaysia, a RM300 million polypropylene plant in year 1989. With