Will Eastern Europe become the New Periphery to the Prosperous Nations

Will Eastern Europe become the New Periphery to the Prosperous Nations of the West? "Enlargement is one the most important opportunities for the European Union as it prepares for the 21st century. It is a unique, historic task to further the integration of the continent by peaceful means, extending a zone of stability and prosperity to new members." www.europa.com/ec/enlarge European Union Enlargement ========================== At its summit in Luxembourg in December 1997, the European Commission decided that the enlargement should encompass: ÂÂ · the European Conference, a multilateral framework bringing together ten central European countries, Cyprus and Turkey, launched in 1998 on the 12 march; ÂÂ · the accession process, covering ten central European countries and Cyprus, launched in the same year on the 30th march; ÂÂ · the accession negotiations, which the European Council decided to open on the 31st march 1998 with six countries recommended by the European Commission: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. The European Union has already had many successful enlargements such as the United Kingdom in 1973 and also Greece in 1981 and most recently Sweden in 1995. So therefore there should not be any problems with expansion again. However the expansion under consideration today is different then before. It is unique because the area would increase by 34% and also the population would increase by 105 million that will also involve the membership of different cultures and histories. Eastern Europe and the Balkans would benefit significantly by the enlargement because of the single ... ... prosperous and also more likely to merge with the European Union without many problems and mainly be able to keep most of their workers there or even pull new investors into the area. So in conclusion as long as the integration and the European Union Accession Partnership before integration takes place and is followed carefully and all goes well then the Balkan area and even all of Central and Eastern Europe could integrate and not become peripheral but prosperous memberstates instead. Word Count: 2,100 References Peter Coffey "The Future of Europe". Agenda 2000 for a Stronger and Wider Union Brian Hill, "The European Union", 2nd edn, Heinemann Educational, 1994 1991-1999 EU assistance to South-Eastern Europe & Western Balkans - Figures www.europa.com/ec/enlarge www.europa.com

Management and Steel Industry Essay

1. List and elaborate some strategic issues facing NUCOR. Key strategic issues challenging NUCOR include legislation related to climate change, fluctuating cost and supply of iron ore and scrap steel, increasing amount of steel imports, production technology improvements and economic weakness. Changes in legislation could have severe impacts on the firm’s numerous production facilities and could be costly to become compliant. The fluctuations in both the cost and supply of iron ore and scrap steel directly impact the firm’s profitability because it is difficult to pass those costs on to the customers due to the price-driven level of competition in the steel industry. The rise of low cost steel imports increases the domestic U.S. supply which puts pressure on NUCOR. The firm must stay at the front of technological advances for the production and processing of steel in order to stay competitive. Common for many firms and industries, economic weakness is an issue that challenges NUCOR’s strategy because it can impact the demand for its reputable high quality steel products. 2. What are the key elements of NUCOR’s low cost strategy? What factors have helped NUCOR achieve a low cost position? Key strategy elements for NUCOR: Conservative financial strength Team-based culture and decentralized operations Vertical integration Diversification Innovation – information technology, speed of design process Close proximity to important customers Financially stable employees – higher than average wages and non-discretionary incentive programs Employee empowerment Honesty and openness within the company No employee lay-offs Factors that have contributed to NUCOR’s low cost position: Strong, long-term relationships with outside parties for services such as research and development, purchasing recommendations, advertising, public relations, and  legal or environmental regulation compliance Stepping away from the steel industry’s tradition of equalized freight and offering all customers the sales terms of price plus actual shipping costs Not offering customers volume discounts Fleet of nearly 150 trucks for product delivery Vertical integration from joist manufacturing into steel production Steel production utilizing mini-mill technology Holding workstations responsible for identifying bottlenecks to increase efficiency Sophisticated computer program is used to compute accurate bids Improvements in the melting and casting processes for steel production including â€Å"continuous casters† Flat organizational hierarchy 3. Please apply Porter’s Five Forces model to the steel industry. While doing so, clearly identify who is behind each force and what the impact is of each force on the profitability of the industry (high/medium/low). At the end, also provide a summary of all the five forces and propose whether you think the steel industry is attractive or not. The bargaining power of buyers is high due to minimal product differentiation, low switching costs, excess capacity of steel production and large volume purchases. The threat of substitutes is medium because substitutes such as aluminum and plastic would not provide equivalent strength and durability but could still serve the same purpose as steel. The bargaining power of suppliers is low primarily due to the product being a commodity, high ratio of imported raw materials, and low switching costs. The threat of new entrants is low due to the trend toward consolidation and high amount of capital required to establish production/processing facilities capable of achieving economies of scale. Rivalry is intense because the steel industry is mature with little differentiation among products and mergers both in the U.S. and across the globe creating giant companies with deep pockets. Generally speaking, I think the steel industry is unattractive primarily due to its maturity, significant capital requirements and intense price-based competition that ultimately lead to low profitability. 4. What are NUCOR’s resources and capabilities? Resources: Team-based organizational culture Alliances with outside parties for support services Joint ventures with Physical locations of plants in proximity to key customers Loyal employees comprised of production workers, department heads, support and administrative staff, and senior management Innovative mini-mill technology Own fleet of nearly 150 trucks for distribution Computer program to generate bids Plants, mills, equipment, and machinery Reputation Financial capital Capabilities: Management’s philosophy and leadership skills Successful quality control process Flat organizational hierarchy and incentive program that keeps the workforce cooperative and productive Acquisition management Multidivisional coordination Speed of design process 5. Elaborate on some of the key lessons you have learnt from the case analysis. The most significant lesson I learned from this case analysis is that management style and culture can be key to being competitive. These really are the two things that will give NUCOR sustainable competitive advantage  because they are the most difficult to find and imitate. Building such an impressive employee loyalty takes time and cannot be replicated easily. In addition, the minimization of the corporate bureaucracy is something that makes employees at all levels feel comfortable and as if they are part of a family. I think there are many companies, including the one I work for that could really benefit from adopting this management style.

Essay on Critical Thinking Caps Worksheet - 3066 Words

Questions for Critical Thinking Caps Worksheet Read the description of the six caps and the â€Å"Case Study for Six Caps† on p. 175 of Professional Nursing. Answer the following questions individually. Then, discuss your answers in your Learning Team forum online. After you have discussed each question and achieved a consensus, compile a group response, which will be submitted as a Learning Team assignment. White cap: What pieces of information are needed to assist the family in making a decision regarding Marianne’s care? For the family to make a decision regarding Marianne’s care, they need â€Å"knowledge about the probability and nature of consequences attending various courses of action,† and expertise and special knowledge from the†¦show more content†¦By â€Å"trying everything,† through this action there may be possible positive consequences. The Deontological theory is based on the idea that â€Å"an action is right or wrong independent of its consequences† (Taylor, et al., 2008). Marianne’s children would be basing their decision to refuse surgery on the deontology theory because they view the decision to â€Å"try everything† as being wrong regardless of the consequences. Even knowing that by going through with surgery, they may keep their mother alive, they realize it would be wrong to do so because she may have little to no function. They know that their mother would not want to be kept alive with no quality of life and they do not wan t to go against her wishes. Hem, Nortvedt, and Skirbekk (2011) found that it is important that the family is motivated by the right reasons, by care and concern for Marianne. However, â€Å"Deciding the benefits and burdens of treatments introduces a surrogate’s own values† (McGowan, 2011, p. 66). If Marianne’s husband values family and companionship, he may have a difficult time coming to terms with Marianne’s condition or a DNR order. If her children value peace and quality of life, they may not understand the reasons for prolonging her life. Black cap: Discuss ways in which nurses can integrate concepts found within the American Nurses Association’s Code of Nursing Ethics and the Nursing Practice Act when caring for patients and their families. The patient can be anShow MoreRelatedCritical Thinking Caps1076 Words   |  5 PagesUniversity of Phoenix Material Questions for Critical Thinking Caps Worksheet Read the description of the six caps and the â€Å"Case Study for Six Caps† on p. 175 of Professional Nursing. Answer the following questions individually. Then, discuss your answers in your Learning Team forum online. After you have discussed each question and achieved a consensus, compile a group response, which will be submitted as a Learning Team assignment. White cap: What pieces of information are needed to assistRead MoreMonologue: Reading and Students6486 Words   |  26 Pagesfor the following: †¢ Who is the speaker? †¢ Where and when is this taking place? †¢ What’s going on in the scene? †¢ What do you learn about the speaker’s personality, emotions, or thinking? †¢ What makes this â€Å"performance† different from a poem, short story, letter, dialogue or article? Discuss and record students’ thinking about the above, leading them to discover the traits of a monologue †¢ Divide class into groups and provide each group with a copy of a different monologue and the concept map; inviteRead MoreRalont Marketing Plan7298 Words   |  30 PagesFirst the bottles are color coded by gender. Blue for men, pink for women, half-pink/half-white for girls under age 18, and half-blue/half-white for boys under age 18. The newly designed bottles are created in a rectangular fashion with a flat, top ca p so they lie on their tops in your medicine cabinet. The bottles have a small micro-chip built in that controls the advanced mechanisms of the bottle. This micro-chip controls the dispensing and speaking mechanism. Once you have picked up your designatedRead MoreInstructor Manual37126 Words   |  149 Pagesperspective related to Sustainability and Triple Bottom Line strategic priorities which are revisited in multiple sections of the book. Teaching Tips You might want to assign the Harley-Davidson (HD) Motorcycle exercise (page 19) as this case gets students thinking about OSCM issues in a fun way will get you into the â€Å"strategic† material in the next chapter. The web site is designed so that customers can quickly customize their dream motorcycle and visually see it. The discussion can center on how importantRead MoreBaldrige National Quality Program45979 Words   |  184 PagesStrategic Planning 3 Student, Stakeholder, and Market Focus 4 Measurement, Analysis, and K nowledge Management 5 Workforce Focus 6 Process Management 7 Results About the Education Criteria 26 Changes from the 2007 Education Criteria 27 Self-Analysis Worksheet 28 2008 Education Criteria Response Guidelines 32 2008 Education Criteria: Category and Item Descriptions 48 2008 Education Criteria: Core Values and Concepts 54 Key Characteristics of the Education Criteria 56 Glossary of Key Terms Scoring 65Read MoreStock Investment19083 Words   |  77 Pagesfinancial goals. And to achieve these financial goals, I needed to invest! Investing to me, is focused primarily on making my own money (work harder, and) make more money for me. It is clearly about long term financial goals. As I started reading up and thinking more about building long-term capital, certain simple why invest basics became very very clear to me. Time Value of Money Like most things in life, the early bird catches the worm! I understood I was already late into the game. Realised I couldRead MorePoems: City Planners15330 Words   |  62 Pagessimilar, and have the same topic - City Planning - as shown in their titles. Structurally, they are different though, and the tone differs in places. Ive marked headings for each paragraph to show, roughly, what each one is about, with major areas in CAPS (see my post on STILTS as a way to compare poems) This paragraph analyses: similarities in SUBJECT as shown in the title; similarities and differences in TONE, point of view or attitude of the poet / narrator; how Atwoods tone shifts quite noticeablyRead MoreHbr When Your Core Business Is Dying74686 Words   |  299 PagesReview gives you access to our entire archive of more than 2,700 articles, stretching back over the past 50 years. To sign up, click on the â€Å"Subscribe Today† image in the upper-right corner of the home page. HBR IN OTHER LANGUAGES ONLINE WORKSHEET HBR PODCAST Use the two charts that accompany â€Å"The Process Audit, by † Michael Hammer, to ï ¬ gure out how well your organization’s processes are functioning and whether you need to make adjustments. Just click on the article title and then onRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagessocial environments F.1 Integration of project management processes [3.1] 6.5.2 Setting a schedule baseline [8.1.4] 6.5.3.1 Setting a resource schedule 6.5.2.4 Resource leveling 7.2 Setting a cost and time baseline schedule (1.3.5) [8.1.3] 6.5.2.3 Critical chain method Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Reducing Project Duration Leadership Chapter 2 Organization Strategy and Project Selection 1.4 Projects and programs (.2) 1.4.1 Managing the portfolio 1.4.3 Strategy and projects 2.3 Stakeholders and reviewRead MoreE T Level 4 CERT PORTFOLIO Anon27074 Words   |  109 Pagesshow me tell me checks under the car bonnet Learners to recognise engine coolant reservoir and how and why to top it up. car Observation , QA discussion 5mins Facilitate show me tell me checks under the car bonnet Learners to identify oil filler cap and explain how and why to top up engine oil correctly. car Observation , QA discussion 10mins Facilitate tyre safety checks To demonstrate how to make tyre safety checks using a tread gauge and a tyre pressure gauge To explain how to find out the