final report 1 self reflaction about the course

Writing summary of the topics, I think it was not very difficult part of the course. When you hear what the professor is telling, how to write a summary it becomes quite easy. This easiness is only because of the constant help from the professor. Choosing topic was quite hard, as I need to think the blue print of each topic, then I need to think the vocabulary that I will be using to describe and convey my message to the professor. Searching for the appropriate information, related to the topic was also quite hard, as internet contains too much information and to pick out the relevant information is not a piece of cake. Anyone cannot just pick up a pen and start writing; they have to make some notes. This is what I did before I started writing any summary, I first understand the text that is given to me, then I analyze what the writer is trying to say through his text, and then write down. Plagiarism is copying someone else’s work; personally I do not feel good when I try to copy anyone’s work. It is ethically as well as legally not good. Another problem that I faced while completing assignments, I was having another courses, for which I had to submit the assignments. Thus I had to rush through the assignments. If I had some more time, I had done even better in my assignments. After every class when I leave, I leave with a feeling of increased knowledge.

assigment 2 Agility Logistics

Introduction

In this case study report, I am going to discuss the corporate profile of Agility Logistics, under which I will discuss the line of business that they are currently operation in, the employees that they are employing and the global identity of the company. I will also discuss the company from a historical perspective and their mission, goals and corporate strategies. The company has a few notable management issues which will again be discussed in this report. Subsequently, I will discuss the three discussion questions that are related to my case application. Lastly, I will develop a conclusion on in which I will state whether I would consider working for the company, in any case, why?

Company Information

The name of the company is discussion is called Agility Logistics. They are currently operating in the industries of emerging markets by bringing productivity in the supply chains of some of the world’s most challenging environments. They also offer really good personal service while being highly globalized by having their roots in the countries with emerging economies. Currently, Agility logistics have 22,000 employees working for them in over 550 offices in around 100 countries. The company was established in Kuwait in 1979 and by the year 2004 the company became one of the largest logistics provided in the Middle East. The company carried out the aggressive merger strategy from 2004 to 2008, by acquiring many global brands – some of the brands dating back to the 1800s. All the acquired firms now came under the umbrella of the seamless global network of agility by the year 2006 (About Us, 2011).

The vision of Agility Logistics is to be a new type of logistic leader meeting the challenges of global trade. They are hoping to achieve this vision by undergoing the vision of facilitating trade through innovate supply chain solutions, while maintaining their values of integrity, personal ownership, teamwork and excellence (About Us, 2011).

Significant Events

In November 2011, the company won the fourth consecutive award at Lloyd’s list Asia awards which chose the company with the best academic and industry leadership across the Asia Pacific region. The company also won the award of Global HR excellence for integrity and excellence in the customer service

Mission Statement

“To facilitate trade through innovative supply chain solutions” (About Us, 2011)

Evaluation of Mission

The mission statement of Agility logistics has not really evolved a lot since it has not increased the products and services its offer since the day it first started operation. The company was creative in choosing its goals and providing it services and it achieved its goals quite easily so there were no new mission for the company since increased the products and services. So the ASR is very creative even in reaching its goals

Notable Management Issues

In the year 2003, agility logistics was granted the Defense Logistics Agency’s “Prime Vendor” contract which underlined Agility to supply food and non-food products to the United States military services in Iraq. The revenues of the company exceeded USD 8.5 billion dollars. Later on, in the late 2009, a United States grand jury accused the Agility Logistics for overcharging the Defense Logistics Agency, USD 60 million on the PV contract over a 41 month period between the year 2004 and 2007. Consequently, this gave birth to a lawsuit in which the Defense Logistics Agency suspended Agility Logistics; although, it should be noted that they did not ban the company from the United States government contracts. This may signal the fact that the company might not be as humanitarian or ethical as much as they seem to state so on their websites and marketing campaigns. Overcharging a customer with an eight million figure seems very wrong to me – morally. However, Agility Logistics might have a justification for this; nevertheless, I could not find any sort of defense from the company nor did I discover excessive material on these management issues (Agility Logistics Co., 2011).

Discussion Questions

I believe that Agility logistics’ approach towards the Corporate Social Responsibility is not really justifiable since they seem to be using extreme means for achieving the reward and corporate status. Using the money of the investors to fund charity does not seem reasonable to me. The only reason investors invest money in a company is to earn profits from dividends over a period of time. Moreover, if the investors desired their money to be spent on humanitarian efforts then they would have stated so explicitly. On the contrary, if the investors were so keen on having their money spent that way, then they would have given their money directly to charity instead of giving charity by investing their money in a company.

The webpage starts of by stating the “Agility launches 2011 corporate social responsibility report” (2011) which is a report that highlights efforts in Environment and Sustainability, Community, Humanitarian, and Emergency Logistics, Employees and Business Ethics. What catches my attention the most is the highlights of the benefits that the company has done for the environment, the community involvement, and so on. However, what seems more surprising for me is the fact that they seem to be blowing their own horn. Personally, if I was an outstanding student then I would rather my institution praise me instead of posting my achievements on my social media website!

Agility logistics code of ethics and conducts does not ask for any gift, gratuity, or other personal benefit or favor. Moreover, the company also prohibits the employees from accepting gifts of monetary. This is a very fair practice, since it falls under the debatable topic of ethics; when bribery or similar solicitation takes place then it eradicates fair competition in the market and therefore is detrimental for the society as a whole. Bribery has many negative aspects and no positive aspects were ever noted (Code of Ethics, 2011).

Conclusion

In a nutshell, I would definitely consider working for such a company since the company has great vision, mission and values in place. Firstly, since they seem to be very responsible socially, I believe that they would provide great opportunity for me to grow career-wise; moreover, it seems to me that the company would greatly assist me in climbing up the corporate ladder due to the reason of social responsibility. Furthermore, since the company is multinational, this would greatly increase my prospects in this globalized world. Nevertheless, the company did have a couple notable management issues, but I doubt that there exists any multinational company that has never faced a lawsuit. Logistics, is doing great in the light of humanity, and has upright codes of ethics and morals, and that is why I believe that the company is doing great in terms of management.

References

About Us. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from Agility Logistics: http://www.agilitylogistics.com/EN/Pages/Landing.aspx#aboutus-tab

Agility launches 2011 corporate social responsibility report. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from Agility Logistics: http://www.agilitylogistics.com/PressReleases/Pages/CorporateSocialResponsibilityReport2011.aspx?source=micrositerelease

Agility Logistics Co. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from NREC: http://www.nrec.com.kw/En_Agility.cms

Code of Ethics. (2011, October 30). Retrieved October 30, 2011, from Agility Logistics : http://stage.agilitylogistics.com/codeEthics.shtml

assigment 1 The Development of Nuclear Power

There are various sources of energy in the world including wind energy, solar energy, water energy, fossil fuels such as coal, etc. Nuclear power is a form of energy which is created through a nuclear reaction under a controlled environment. Nuclear power plants are developed to produce this energy which in turn is used to produce electricity or power for the general public or military. This paper will identify and discuss three main periods of nuclear power development in general.

In 1940, after the discovery of nuclear fission, two great scientists, namely Enrico Fermi and Leo Szilard, collaborated with each other and constructed a nuclear reactor. Later in 1942, the US military intervened and took control of the project. The first successful nuclear reaction was achieved in Chicago in December 1952 (Byers, 2003). The first commercial electricity generating plant through nuclear energy was built in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. In 1960, global nuclear plant capacity increased dramatically from 1 gig watt (GW) to 300 GW in the late 1980s (Cohen, 2006). However, energy production costs related to fossil fuels were decreasing and countries found it expensive to invest in nuclear power plants (Public Citizen, 2009).

Many countries, such as France and Japan, used oil for producing electricity but now, due to the abundance of oil, many countries shifted their resources from the production of nuclear power. At present, around 30% to 80% of electricity is sourced from nuclear plants (Nuclear Power Plants, 2008). There have been many accidents and harmful radiation released related to nuclear reactions which can be disastrous.   Many countries, like the US, considering the low demand of electricity, government regulations and complications with the production of plants, have cancelled the development of nuclear power plants; for instance, in 1980, the USA cancelled 63 nuclear units (Nuclear Power Plants, 2008).

Many European countries are investing in the development of the next generation nuclear plants which will be more secure and efficient. Other uses includes the Soviets are known to use radioisotopes to measure microscopic thickness, detecting irregularities in metal casings and testing welds. On the other hand, France and UK use modern nuclear techniques in archeology, in order to date and maintain ancient objects or monuments; while Africa uses it for food preservation (Cohen, 2006).  Furthermore, UAE is undertaking steps to adopt nuclear energy and install nuclear power reactors which will produce 25% of the electricity needed in 2020 (Xinhua, 2011).

Nuclear energy has proved to be beneficial for humans in several ways. However, nuclear energy has been quite a controversial issue and its use is debated on many levels, from environment protection to ethics. In a nutshell, nuclear power has been growing rapidly in the past century and the uses and applications of nuclear power are increasing as well, such as nuclear power can be used in the production of atomic weapons, medicine, etc. However, scientists are still performing research to identify new areas of applications and improve this source in particular to benefit the future race of mankind.

summry 2 Solar power

Assets of fuel are limited therefor solar power is one the main selections, it can be used in residential buildings, hotels, water heaters etc... Dealers import and export in the UAE because of the low orders are forced to import the solar products into UAE. One of the biggest dealers is Ameen Lakhani, he and his family business export mainly to South Africa and Afghanistan.  Exporting to Afghanistan is important as in Afghanistan there is no other source of power. Lakhani states that there is no proper market for these goods. Also he says that DEWA has no policy regarding the use of solar panels at home. Habib al marashi the chairwoman of emirates group said that it would be a good chance for the future generation to extend the solar energy as much as possible so that it can be widely used in industries as well as domestic homes.

Summary 1 Bedouins survival

Bedouin survive in the desert by finding water wells and shelters, and they use the wells as fixed directions for navigation.

Bedouins learned how to survive in tuff conditions they didn’t have a choice ether adapt or die, they knew how to locate places of water by instinct their survival depended on it.  

Wells were used for navigating as Bedouins used to move all the time they couldn’t use any fixed point, but wells were perfect location points, every well was named after the person and it use to take 3 to 4 month to be completed

Bedouins can survive twice the limit than other people when it comes to heat and dehydration.