Organizational Review Of Plant Automation Group :: essays research papers

Organizational Review of Plant Automation Group It is intended that this organizational review, will provide the Districts with a better understanding of the changing process computer hardware and software support needs. Also to review the department location for the Plant Automation Group (Group), and develop recommendations on the proposed reporting relationships.  ¨ Review the background information.  ¨ Identify the primary and secondary functions of the Plant Automation Group  ¨ Review possible location of the Plant Automation Group.  ¨ Identify and review reporting relationships options DEFINITIONS Definitions used within this organizational review. SCADA Supervisory and Data Acquisition System PLC Programmable Logic Controller HMI Human Machine Interface ITD Information Technology Department PAG Plant Automation Group GM General Manager BACKGROUND When the Districts first began consideration to form a focal group with responsibility for Plant Automation, a task force was formed to make recommendations. The one recommendation this task was unable to come to agreement on was the location of this new Plant Automation Group (PAG). An executive decision was made by the General Manager to center the PAG in the Information Technology Department (ITD). In September 1994, the Joint Board contracted with Ernst & Young to produce a "Management Review of the Proposed Plant Automation Group for the Sanitation Districts of Orange County". Their report recommended the location be with ITD but noted that for the duration of the J-31 project, some engineering-related activities would be involved and require close coordination with the Engineering Department. As late as July 1995 when Ernst & Young performed the Finance Function Review (which included the Information Services Division), they echoed their previous recommendation but provided a timeline of approximately two years to revisit the issue of PAG's location. However, this was not a firm recommendation. Over the past several months, a number of problems have made it clear that the two year time frame identified in the Ernst & Young report may have been optimistic. The problems of budget management, close coordination and communication have placed a strain on the existing management of the ITD, creating frustration and numerous problems throughout many parts of the organization. Primary Functions The charter of the Plant Automation focuses on:  ¨ Support of the Operations Division  ¨ Providing engineering integration assistance through software and hardware analysis and the setting of standards  ¨ Support of the Maintenance Division regarding system and software modifications and changes  ¨ Assisting in the roll-out of the J-31 contract so that a transfer of knowledge between CH2M Hill and the Districts occurs  ¨ Analyzing and the recommendation of system and network architecture, system design, and integration proposals. The Plant Automation Group is made up of a number of disciplines. Process control programming is very different from the type of programming which

Cinema and its impact on our lives Essay

Respectable members of the examination board, let me introduce my topic in which I would like to speak on the cinema art. Keypoints of my topic are the following: cinema art as a phenomenon, its history, development and its influence on the society. The motion pictures have a great impact on our life. Indeed, the movies are truly an art of our time – they were born and achieved a great development in the 20th century, and now they demand the serious consideration as well as the other arts. Everybody knows that cinema is the greatest invention in the world, but not many people know the history of cinematography, which is long and interesting. So, I want to say a few words about it. The history of moving images goes back to more than one thousand years. December 28, 1895, it’s the date, which is considered to be the birthday of world cinema. The Lumiere brothers created their films for the first time. The 1st film they showed was â€Å"The Arrival of a Train at a Station†. Moving pictures seemed so real that the audience was frightened to death by the train rushing at them from the screen. It was the first time the term ‘cinà ©matographe’ was used, formed of the Greek words ‘kinà ©ma’ (movement) and ‘graphein’ (to write, to draw, to inscribe). Nowadays there is no real doubt that the movies has become a powerful force in contemporary life. We can’t imagine our life without cinema. Besides pleasure and opportunity to relax and forget our everyday troubles it gives us a lot of useful information. Cinema plays a very important role in the development of the human society. Good films teach people to love and respect each other, give them new ideas and make them think about the things they have not thought about before. Cinema is a new art, but also it is a very popular entertainment nowadays.

Mr. Patrick Brennan

As Mr. Patrick Brennan is a very young business person and having better aspirations, it is not better for him to retain his establishment under the Proprietorship structure. Considering the growth shown in his business graph, I advice Mr. Brennan to get your organization incorporated as soon as possible.I hereby point out three general advantages that the corporate structure has over the proprietorship structure. (a) First of all, when a firm is incorporated it becomes a distinct legal entity. Its life commences from the date of incorporation. It enjoys all the legal privileges laid down by the respective countries.(b) Secondly, it acquires a perpetual succession. The members may come and go, but it goes on for ever, unless it is wound up. (c) Its property is not the property of the shareholders. The shareholders have a right to share in the profits of the company when realized and divided. Likewise, any liability of the company is not the liability of the individual shareholders. ( 2) A characteristic feature of corporate enterprise is the separation between ownership and management as a corollary of which the latter enjoys substantial autonomy in regard to the affairs of the firm.In the corporate structure shareholders are the owners of the enterprise and the management is the agent of the owners. The shareholders delegate the decision making authority to professional management on the premise that the latter will work in the interest of the former. In order to ensure that management would take optimal decisions compatible with the shareholders’ interests of value maximization, of course, they have to be paid incentives. Certainly, there may also arise agency problems in terms of conflicts of interests. Policies to mitigate the agency problems do, of course, involve cost.However, this is the price that the owners have to pay to harmonize the conflicting goals between them and the management of the enterprise. But, there is no need of worry Mr. Brennan because in order to minimize the agency problems and agency cost, you can arrange certain provision for appropriate incentives and for monitoring of agents. By auditing the financial statements and limiting decision making by the management you can easily monitor the agents and thereby reduce the agency costs. Part –B (1) COMPUTATION OF WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST OF CAPITAL

Lather and Nothing Else (Short Story) by: Tellez Essay

Q: What is the possible message of Tellez’s story? Explain In the short story â€Å"Lather and Nothing Else†, the possible message of the story would be how our roles determine our actions. In society today the work we do, the responsibilities we have and the work or decisions we choose to do is what would determined our actions. In the short story theres two main facts proving that our roles do determine our actions. Firstly, when Captain Torres talks about killing the revolutionaries subject proves how he once killed those specific people because of his job and that is what he is known for: â€Å"some of them we brought back dead; others are still alive. but they’ll be all dead.† not one will escape; not a single one (Tellez 35)†. These comments proves and explains how Torres is really eager to kill everyone. This shows Torres’s role how he acts like a dictator and kill the revolutionaries. His action were chosen for him and that were to kill the revolutionaries. Secondly, the part when the barber talks to himself and convinces himself that he has to do his job no matter what: â€Å"I would gave to shave his beard just like any other, carefully, neatly, just as though he were a good customer, talking heed that not a single pore should emit a drop of blood (Tellez 36)†. This part shows how the barber’s role is to shave the beard without any choice, because that is his job and this is what he is known for. His actions is chosen for him too because of his profession. These situations shows our profession determines our actions, our decisions and our actions will determine our work. Whether it is a future that we would enjoy or a future we will not enjoy.

Proposal of analyzing Hershey's stock price and this firm Essay

Proposal of analyzing Hershey's stock price and this firm - Essay Example Using the results of the following report, my recommendation will be to invest into the Hershey stocks, as the company’s performance in the industry is commendable as well as its stock’s performance. After thoroughly analyzing the stocks of Hershey Company, I would note that the company has a potential for a continued appreciation for the value of its stock price in the stock market. However, my analyst recommendation in overall would be a buy of the shares and not a strong purchse for the stocks of the company. The reason for this is due to the rapid increase in the company’s share price and a relatively high P/E ratio. My recommendations based on my review of the company’s financial indicators, its opportunities for future growth and its comparison to the main competitors in the field (Fridson, Martin and Fernando 75). A detailed analysis that led to the drawing of my conclusion is as discussed in the report below. Brief description of Hershey Company Th e Hershey Chocolate Company is a US-based firm that is incorporated according to the laws of the State of Delaware. However, the company was founded in 1894 by Milton S. Hershey. Since that time, the company has remained as the leading manufacturer of chocolates and other sugary confectionaries, and has a marketing base of about 42.5% in North America. The company has several wholly-owned subsidiaries and entities to which it has a major controlling interest. This company is also the major and largest producer of superiority chocolate in North America and leads globally in chocolate and sugar confectionery production. The company functions as a single reportable segment in the manufacture, marketing, sale and distribution of the products under various brand names. The company is founded on the basis and principles of returning back to the community in which it operates in through corporate social responsibility (Brigham, Eugene and Michael 120). The amount of revenue that the compan y generates equals nearly to $6billion annually and has a current employment base of about 14,000 employees across all its subsidiaries. Over the years, the company has portrayed consistency in its growth patterns both in terms of market share and the market holdings. It has accumulated a large amount of wealth which have seen it trade perfectly in the stock market. Through this, the company has been able to earn itself a positive image and reputation both nationally and internationally following the various innovation programmes it has invested into. One such innovation programme is that of the ‘Innovative Cocoa – Link Mobile Technology Programme’ that was so far expanded to Cote d’Ivoire in May 2013. However, the company’s growth is expected to continue as a result of the announcement that it will price $250million, 2.625% notes by the year 2023. Recent developments in Hershey In the recent past, Hershey Co. has had several developments that have been witnessed through acquisitions of other small firms thus, turning them into its subsidiaries. For instance, in the year 1996, Hershey purchased the operations of America in Leaf Candy Company. In 1999, the company diversified and divested its Pasta group into several equity partners in a bid to form the New World Pasta Co. currently known as Ebro Foods. In 2002, the public became aware of the intention of Hershey Trust Foundation that was seeking to sell its

Panopticism review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Panopticism review - Essay Example The tower was to be made in such a manner that only the people operating it had the vantage view of the prisoners. The prisoners could not have any clear view of their jailers. The organization of the panopticon increased the potency of power in the minds of the prisoners and made the control of the prison more efficient. In essence, the ideals of total control of the prison facility as imagined by Foucault borrowed from the quarantines against the plague as practiced in the seventeenth century (Veyne 54). The process of quarantine involved the determination of a range of processes that maintained some strict discipline in affected villages including locking people within their houses and keeping away the keys. The nature of discipline was regulated in ways that ensured easy control of the villages by the authorities. Threats of death were used to ensure compliance. Critics contend that the panopticon was modeled on the desire by the seventeenth century societies to protect civilizations from the scourge of the plague. Others contend that the objective was aimed at achieving a perfect society. Some of the issues that continue to attend to the matters of society are largely determined by the desire by central authorities to design the codes of ethics for their subjects. Such objectives often come into conflict with the theories that reinforce the need for human freedom and liberty. Critics of panopticism argue that governments do not have the moral authority to suppress the liberties and freedoms of the governed. They add that the idea of a perfect society is illusory and defeatist in nature. As such, they seek to demonstrate ways in which the processes of governance can be moderated in ways that support the free reign of the will of the governed. Within a modern context, Foucault’s panopticism could be conceptualized in terms of the structural

Biodiversity Hotspots Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Biodiversity Hotspots - Essay Example While some of the plant and animal species in an ecosystem may be increasing in population, others may be actually decreasing or facing extinction (Bowen, P. 56). The fact that these species of plants and animals may soon become extinct is a wake-up call to the governments and other stakeholder organizations and individuals to multiply their biodiversity conservation and preservation efforts. In fact, for organisms such as insects, algae and fungi on which little are known compared to other larger organisms, more needs to be done to protect them from extinction (Bowen, P. 55). In addition, there are myriad larger animal species that face severe extinction threats and more should be done to preserve them. A community of plants and animals living together in a location and the various environmental processes and factors that directly and indirectly influence their lives is referred to as ecosystem. In other words, ecosystem refers to the elements that make biodiversity possible by supp orting the lives of animals and plants living in a community through the provision of valuable resources. For in instance, in an ecosystem, wetlands help in the cleaning of water, controlling of floods and filtering of toxic substances out of water bodies. Similarly, estuaries are nurseries for marine life while forests are the chief suppliers of oxygen and fresh water to an ecosystem besides their role in controlling soil erosion and levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Bowen, P. 56). Student 1 Biodiversity Hotspot Biodiversity hotspot refers to a region or an area in which natural ecosystems that are fundamentally native and intact species or communities of living organisms are naturally well represented and supported. In other definitions, a biodiversity hotspot could be an area that is richly populated with locally endemic species of plants and animals, which in most cases, are not found in regions outside the said hotspot (Novacek, P. 89). Unfortunate for most of the bio diversity hotspots in the world today, many of the management practices at these spots do great compromise and harm to the ecological balance at these spots since they place the natural values and resources of these spots at risk. This risk is likely to increase if not checked, resulting in the decreasing or extinction of certain endangered species of living organisms. There is thus the need for active conservation management practices at all the world’s biodiversity hotspots to ensure the survival of endangered species of plants and animals. The only source of hope for most biodiversity hotspots in the world is that most of the natural values of these spots are quite intact and it will only require the formulation and implementation of conservation actions that would maintain and improve these natural values (Novacek, P. 97). Protecting and conserving biodiversity hotspots should therefore be the concern of everyone in the society, more so governments. In this context, gover nments must establish programmes that emphasize activities that would improve the conservation of hotspots on both private and communal/public land. Similar course of action should be initiated at all levels of the society: that is, at the local, national, regional and international scales. There are quite a number of renowned biodiversity hotspots in the world. Most common are the thousands of islands in the major oceans of the world such as the Indian, the Pacific