ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
How 3M can hedge its foreign-exchange exposure There are different methods that 3M can employ in hedging its foreign-exchange exposure. Some of them include financial hedging. In this method, 3M will be able to hedge its exposure by borrowing from money market. The company can also buy forward contracts. This will save it from suffering from currency fluctuation. 3M can also opt to use option in hedging its foreign-exchange exposure. With this method, the company has the freedom of switching to a different method of hedging on realizing that the option will not be effective in saving it from foreign-exchange exposure. Apart from these, 3M can embark on striking a balance between its payables and receivables valued in a foreign currency. Through this method, 3M would be able to offset costs related to a huge number of varied foreign-exchange transactions. Transfer pricing is another method that can be used by 3M. As most of its sales are affected by fluctuation in foreign currency, the company can come up with a mechanism that helps it vary the price at which it sells its products to its allied companies in foreign markets (Putra, 2009, para. 2-7). If 3M is right in avoiding financial hedge 3M is right in avoiding financial hedging. Going by experience from other big companies which have for many years used financial hedging, the method does not help the company overcome foreign-exchange exposure during currency fluctuation. For instance, Coca Cola has used the scheme and have always experienced a reduction in its profit margin over the years. Financial hedging is very risky due to inability to effectively predict when the currency is expected to fluctuate. In the process, the company may incur huge loss (Hagelin & Pramborg, 2004, pp. 1-20). There are limited regulations to govern financial hedging making it vulnerable to defrauds. Whether 3M should use centralized or decentralized method in managing its foreign-exchange risks Based on the nature of the risk facing 3M, it is imperative for the company to focus on coming up with a decentralized method of managing its foreign-exchange risk. This method will help the company in transferring decision making process to staffs that come into direct contact with the risks thus being able to effectively determine the most appropriate measures to take. In this method, the decision making process is efficient thus saving the company from being adversely affected by the risks (Nakada, 2003, p. 1). Decentralization also leads to managers given the responsibility establishing a mechanism of checks and balances which gives them the impetus to focus on benefits accrued from using specific measures in overcoming the identified risks. In the process, they will be capable of realizing whether the company is experiencing growth and respond quickly on realizing that it is not growing. Method to be u
The two sites www.claritas.com and www.census.gov give important information which can help us in forming a marketing strategy customized to a particular geography. The Claritas site gives important information about the economic levels of the people of a particular area and their preferences in regards to the newspapers and magazines they read, TV channels they watch, and cars they drive. All these are important information that can help us in forming a targeted marketed strategy. The census site gives demography-related information which can help us further understand the information we get from the Claritas site. This information includes social, economic, and housing characteristics of particular geography and gives exact numbers. This information is useful in deciding how important a particular area is for marketing a particular product or service. In general, there were no surprises on either of the sites regarding the demography of my zip code, 55408. According to the Claritas site, this is an ethnically diverse neighborhood with a high concentration of African Americans and Hispanics. These people come from lower to lower-middle-income households and most of them have not gone to college. The Claritas site has three different segmentation systems for profiling different demography. These systems are Prizm NE, Psycle NE and Connexions NE. According to the Prizm NE segmentation system, this geography has people belonging to the “Big City Blues”, “Bohemian Mix”, “Low rise living”, “Urban Achievers” and “young Digerati”. The “big city blues” and “low rise living” segments come from low-income families and consist mainly of singles and single parents looking for affordable housing, who prefer both ethnic and mainstream media products, prefer watching TV news and daytime programming, listen to African-American and Spanish radio and shop at high-end department stores. The “urban achievers” come from lower-middle-income groups, and are young below 35 years of age. These people are often foreign-born speak a language other than English. The “Bohemian Mix” segment is an upper-middle-income group and includes a wide range of people from singles to couples to families and from students to professionals. The “Young Digerati” segment has an up
Introduction It is necessary to mention that the role of benchmarking in many industries has been rapidly increasing over the years, and a broad range of techniques and approaches are currently available. Some of them vary in effectiveness, but the overall process is rather similar. It would be appropriate to review and analyze peer-reviewed articles and books on this subject matter to determine which strategies are the most important, and combine the knowledge to propose a new program that should be considered by the firm. Discussion It is necessary to understand that benchmarking may be used to measure a variety of factors that could affect the success of a company. Most enterprises devote the most attention to performance levels of employees (Zhu 154). The utilization of modern technologies is incredibly important in this case because it will help to minimize unnecessary expenses. The problem is that some companies are not likely to share the information and it is necessary to reach an agreement (Wireman 95). Therefore, internal metric benchmarking is an approach that has been selected in this case because its effectiveness, but an understanding of organizational objectives is required (Lake 85). A broad range of software programs are available on the market, and the organization should select the one that fits its current objectives. A company may be interested in only several indicators at the start, but it would be beneficial to utilize at least 15 metrics because it will be possible to determine relationships and correlations between particular variables. Therefore, it will be possible to facilitate change within an organization and promote growth. The benchmarking process should consist of several crucial steps (see Figure 1). Fig. 1. Benchmarking process. Implementation should be regarded the most important step because it requires dramatic changes in the organization. An action plan should be developed, and its objectives can be aligned with benchmarking to maximize effectiveness. Higher-ups must acknowledge the fact that benchmarking can be inefficient if an individual responsible for monitoring is not qualified and lacks experience. Systematic assessments are critical and must be utilized to determine possible weaknesses and limita
Introduction There are challenges that face companies in today’s competitive business world. The most pressing of these is staying relevant, being on top of the game and coming up with products that will keep the consumer coming back for more. This is especially true for companies working in the sectors of motor vehicles and computer technology. There is a constant call for faster cars that are more environmentally friendly, have lower fuel consumption, greater aesthetic appeal and at the same time, are affordable. For the creators of computer technology, the situation is much the same as consumers are interested in much more compact machines that can perform a greater multitude of different tasks in a shorter time and look sleeker. General Motors (GM) and International Business Machines (IBM) are both companies that have been around since the turn of the last century. GM was founded in 1908 by Charles Durant as an automaker. It is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan in the United States of America. IBM was founded by Herman Holleith as the Tabulating Machine Company. It has its headquarters in Armonk, New York. Between them GM and IBM employ over half a million people worldwide. Main body From the very beginning, IBM has embraced diversity not only in employing workers but also in how they market their products. Ron Glover, IBM’s president of global workforce diversity, says that having Global Workforce Diversity is a cornerstone for the company that puts it in its own league. He says that taking the global approach gives IBM a chance to reap of the best talent that can be found worldwide. Glover adds that by being committed to global diversity, IBM can adequately respond to the disparate needs of the emerging global markets. The main aim of global diversity, he says, is to get the best of what their employees have to give while simultaneously providing them with a global understanding of IBM. According to Glover, IBM’s interpretation of the term global is not limited to the traditional aspects of race, genetics, sexual orientation and religion, but is more far reaching to include globalization so that it embraces the strategy applied by the company. Glover recog
Qualitative and quantitative research methods align closely with the principles of Six Sigma, Lean, and Lean Six Sigma. Evans and Lindsay (2014) state that to apply and implement Six Sigma, practitioners should use both the “hard” and the “soft” disciplines, which can be reflected in quantitative and qualitative methods (p. 27). Qualitative methods involve collecting and analyzing textual material obtained from interviews and observation and assist in quality assessment and improvement (Pope et al., 2002). Similarly, Six Sigma’s tools and techniques are used in quality improvement and help to handle management and organizational issues (Evans & Lindsay, 2014). Williams and Wan (2016) examine a heart disease management program based on a quantitative research method and suggest using measurable numerical data for performance evaluation. Likewise, Six Sigma presents the use of advanced statistical methods, such as the design of experiments, that can be integrated into management systems (Evans & Lindsay, 2014). Six Sigma can incorporate qualitative and quantitative research methods to identify an organization’s problems. Quantitative and qualitative methods align with Lean and Lean Six Sigma through the latter’s connections with Six Sigma. Six Sigma is traditionally most applicable to conformance issues, but lean tools are typically used for efficiency problems (Evans & Lindsay, 2014). Lean principles concentrate on eliminating waste and efficient flow of information and materials by using tools like 5S, which represents a system for workplace organization and standardization (Evans & Lindsay, 2014). Qualitative methods also assist in transforming systems and can provide insights into policy implementation (Pope et al., 2002). Lean Six Sigma emerged from a combination of Lean and Six Sigma and is used for overall improvement based on reducing defects and waste (Evans & Lindsay, 2014). While Six Sigma can use quantitative and qualitative methods, it seems to prioritize statistics, graphs, and charts (Evans & Lindsay, 2014). Pope et al. (2002) propose that, although qualitative research can be independent, it is also “a complement to quantitative studies” (p. 148). Therefore, qualitative and quantitative methods are different, but they should be employed jointly to enhance an organizat
Which cultural activity or production is causing the moral panic? The article by Kolbert (2) looks at Grand theft and violence among teenagers as one of the cultural decay in the society that is causing moral panic in society. The author notes that children are influenced by the movies that they watch. They would consider the behavioral patterns of the main actors in these shows as being normal and very admirable. This tempts to indulge in such practices that do not only cause harm to themselves but also other members of society. Parents have limited control over what their children watch. Technology has redefined the social structure of American families. The power to determine the content that a child can access has been shifted from the parent to the child. A child only needs an internet-enabled computer or phone to access any content that it desires. When a parent is keen on ensuring that his or her child has no access to such gadgets, then the child will get them at school or through friends. That is how delicate the situation has become. What is worrying is the fact that violent shows have become very popular among the younger generations. Horror movies where people kill others indiscriminately make a large chunk of the shows that the teenagers watch regularly. In such shows, people who can kill others effortlessly are portrayed as heroes admired by their peers. According to Critcher (92), teenagers are highly influenced by what they watch in the movies. At this stage, they try to define their identity, and this makes them vulnerable to abusive contents they watch in these violent movies. In such shows, there is always the perception that escaping from maximum security prisons when one is arrested is a simple task that only needs smartness on the side of the prisoner. The prison warders are presented as less intelligent people who can be easily manipulated when one is planning an escape. These children grow up knowing that violence is cool, and even if one is taken to prison, organizing an escape is a very simple affair. However, nothing can be further from the truth than this perception. The American prisons have maximum security and breaking out may need some miracles other than just being smart. Who constitutes the major audience or consumers? In this article, the author targets the general audience who can make use of this piece of knowledge to help in addressing this problem. The parents are targeted so that they may know how to interact with their children at early stages of development and arrest any undesirable characters. Teachers also form another important target audience because of their roles as educators within society. The teenagers who get affected with the movies they watch also form an important audience so that they may understand the difference between the fiction they watch and the reality. Finally, this information is also meant for the producer of these films because they have a role in shaping the lifestyle of young people in this society. What i
The population of the United States of America is becoming more and more diverse due to multiple waves of immigration that have been striking this country since Columbus’ times. Rodriguez speaks about cultural diversity in a light key, treating the issue as a natural happening that is a part of everyday life of every person in America, the skin color and language origin do not matter. First-person narration makes the article sound warmer, as the author speaks based on own experience. The question of the language barrier is not explored much; the article is about interactions between people with different cultural roots and their identity (Rodriguez 1). Globalization has made traveling and interactions between various cultures, a part of everyone’s life. The boundaries between the states became easier to cross. The world became more developed and progressive, but discrimination and prejudices still remained a part of it. People of color get discriminated for their looks – others see your ethnicity, and their minds immediately refer to multiple stereotypes related to your culture. The accent is another trigger that can become a source of discrimination. Even if you cannot read a person’s ethnicity on their face – you can hear it in their voice. In the article by Siapera, the question of languages and confrontations based on language differences is researched well. The article shows how language and dialect discrimination is treated in various countries and how language minorities face various challenges because of that. Language has always been a sensitive issue as it is a significant part of national and cultural identity. Every country of the world is home to more than one language or the dialect. In some countries, people from different districts and regions of the same country may speak completely different languages (Siapera 41). In this case, citizens of the same country would not even understand each other if they had to talk. Besides, most countries of the world have a large number of immigrants living in their territories; this adds to the number of languages spoken in the country. However, not all of these languages can be registered as state languages. As a result, there are always parts of the country that feel discriminated on the basis of the languages they speak. Language battles happen more often than we anticipate, and may lead to a territorial confrontation within a country or a conflict between regions. Works Cited Rodriguez, R. “Blaxicans” and Other Reinvented Americans. The Chronicle. 2003. Web. Siapera, E. Cultural Diversity and Global Media: The Mediation of Difference, Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. 2010. Print.
Bernard Clairvaux was a man who dedicated his life to serving God and had a great urge to love God. He worked on the four stages of loving God and influenced the Christian perception and practice greatly. According to Harris (123), Bernard believed that human beings should have started loving themselves, their neighbors and God. The reasons to love God are because He is the creator and deserves their love. Finally, it is important to love God because He lives in us, and there should be no separation of ourselves and God. Bernard explains why we should love God and how much we should do it. We have a debt to love God because of His unconditional love for us, His will to draw us closer to Him while we are still sinners and His work in our lives even when we fall short of his glory. Human beings are insatiable and will often see the glass half empty rather than half full. Worldly, possession is never fulfilling; we always want more yet it is enough at no point. We often take for granted what we have. However, God gives us wisdom, dignity and virtue. These three things aid us in figuring out and appreciating that if it were not for God, then we would not make anything as far as we have. People have the tendency to do things that will naturally yield benefits to them. A person starts by loving God for the benefits that result in there. This is a selfish side of people. That is why human beings will pray consistently when they need a miracle and forget prayer sessions when things are running smoothly. At this stage, the relationship between God and a person is one-sided. God loves us unconditionally, and as a result, He let his Son die for our sins yet he was not a sinner. But we only want to love God when it is convenient for us. This is the first phase of loving God where we love God because we realize that He helps us get things we cannot achieve without His aid. The issue of loving your neighbor results from knowing and believing in Gods’ love for us and seeing the great things He does in our lives. At this point, we are beyond the stage of hearing of what He can do and experience in His work. We stop loving God because He helps us, but love Him because we have experienced how wonderful and fulfilling it is to be with Him. When you love God, it makes it easier for you to love your neighbors. When man stops considering his personal desires and focuses on doing the will of God, he gets into the stage of loving himself in God. Doing the things that please the Father and forgetting the things of the world are a great accomplishment for human beings. We wish to do the right thing, but our bodies fail us. It is when we
Introduction Overpopulation is among the most pressing environmental issues in modern-day society. The rapidly growing population may be attributed to the witnessed reduced mortality rate, thanks to advanced healthcare services, a situation that has resulted in the depletion of vital resources, specific factors of production. Nonetheless, some scholars such as Gore view the level of agricultural productivity and the advancement in technology as happening at a rate that can counter the impact of the growing population, implying that overpopulation is not a threat to the global environment (34). However, from a Malthusian point of view, a close examination of the impact that a four-billion rise in the global population has had on the currently limited factors of production, including land, is enormous to warrant mitigation strategies from countries such as the U.S. (Gore 34; Hardin 171). As a result, in this debate, I support the motion that overpopulation poses a significant threat to the global environment and that measures such as the establishment of family planning policies and setting a limit on the number of children for families in particular countries can help to address the issue. The Role of Human Activities In support of the motion that the global population is too large and that the United States and other industrialized countries should support active measures to control population growth in the developing world, it is crucial to observe how excessive human activities have led to the race for resources, congestion in urban areas, unemployment, and the lack of housing. According to Gore, it is difficult to sustain such a population-based pressure that may be quantified as equivalent to introducing a new country the size of Mexico every year (34). Those who uphold the Malthusian school of thought agree that an average of 3.3% increase in the global population is considerable relative to the number of resources available to address the unfolding food demands and greenhouse-gas effects (Hardin 174). For instance, the human footprint is evident in the depletion of the ozone layer through the burning of oil and wood. Over the past two decades, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased exponenti