Business Functions and Processes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Business Functions and Processes - Essay ExamplePrimary activities are mainly associated with the creation of a particular product, whereas support activities involve assignments that support the primary activities and each other. Three of the support activities that include procurement, human resource management and technology development passel be connected to primary activities, while the fourth activity (firm infrastructure) is responsible for supporting the entire value chain.The concept of value chain postulated by doorkeeper (1985) explains that attaining warlike advantage begins with the effort to build organizational proficiency in conducting specific competitive value chain activities. The underlying aim behind execute such activity is to attempt harnessing those capabilities, which strengthen competitiveness and strategy of an organization. Given the particular that one or more of these abilities become the cornerstone of a clubs strategy and more resources are then allocated towards building greater expertise in performing these activities, the targeted abilities may ultimately become sustainable magnetic core competencies (Roper, Du and Love, 2008).In order to understand significance that Porter had attached to the value chain, it is imperative to recognize that there are two distinct and basic sources of competitive advantage. One source is a lower relative cost advantage and the other is a sort of differentiation. Although empirical research scholars have argued on the fact that many companies (specially Japanese) have been largely successful in combining the two sources mentioned above into one source, Porter continued to seek ways whereby both the sources could be developed separately (Hansen and Birkinshaw, 2007). Porters primary emphasis was on the argument that attaining low cost advantage or differentiation largely relies upon the lost activities performed by an organization. By disaggregating these activities in strategically perti nent groups, managers will be

Nucor at Crossroads Essay Example for Free

Nucor at Crossroads EssayIn 1986, three distinct segments defined the U.S. poise industry incorporated steel mills, mini-mills, and specialty steel makers. The integrated mills have the capacity to produce a maximal of 107 meg slews of steel per year, mini-mills produced a maximum of 21 million tons of capacity a year, and the nations specialty steel makers could produce a maximum capacity of 5 million tons of stainless and specialty grades of steel. This leads to a total capacity of 133 million tons of production per year. In 1986, the market consumed however 70 million tons of steel, leaving 33 million tons unused. Nucor is at a crossroads. It faces a saturated market suffering from significant oercapacity. Nucors only opportunity for addition waits to be to expand into the production of flat airplane alloy. However, to compete in that bea, Nucor would need to invest in a very risky new technology, a thin-slab cast of characters plant that, if successful, would allo w Nucor to manufacture flat sheet metal with a low minimum efficient scale and a low fringy cost of production. This case leave alone examine Nucors history, the impacts of forecasting the thin-slab casting business, the advantages Nucor would reap, and whether they should build the new thin-slab casting plant.Looking at the business landscape of the steel industry, it is amazing to see how well Nucor has done considering the industry is so agonistical and has relatively low favorableness. Using Porters model, the flagellum of rivalry is senior high school due to weak domestic demand, excess global capacity, a maturing industry, low switching costs, high exit barriers, rising operating costs (increasing raw somatic prices), and much than 5 comparable competitors. The threat of entry is low due to high barriers to entry (economies of scale have been achieved and high capital requirements), growth and serviceability are modest at best, and most viable candidates are already p resent in the industry and are looking to expand into other markets. The threat of substitutes is moderate because buyers have the option of choosing other materials (aluminum, plastics, ceramics, etc.), and new materials technologies are currently being developed and sought after.The threat of suppliers is moderate because iron ore and scrap metal prices are currently high, energy prices are increasing, Nucor pays for transportation of its raw materials to its plants, on that point is no easy substitute to take the place of iron ore/scrap metal, and there is currently an overabundance of buyers of scrap metal and iron ore. Lastly, the threat of buyers is weak to moderate, because there is excess capacity, low switching costs, few high volume buyers, legion(predicate) low volume customers, strong demand from China, and rising feedstock prices. With the difficult business landscape in the steel industry, Nucor had to develop competitive advantages over its rivals to achieve its suc cess. These advantages include differentiating itself by being an early adopter of computerized order tracking and allowing customers to make short time orders thus reducing their inventory. Second, it invested in modernization of its plants at an just of 2.9 times its depreciation expenses vs. an averaged of 1.6 of its competitors through the 1970s and 1980s, and refurbished on average a plant a year.Third, Nucor strategically located its plants closer together to share orders for borderline cost and maximum sales, and building new plants in smaller rural areas with access to railroads, low energy costs, and a plentiful water source allowed Nucor to make labor costs relatively low and made sure that COGS remained competitive. Fourth, base wages were lower but incentives were higher than average, and direct communication on arithmetic mean vs. performance provided feedback on compensation. Also, during down times, officers and CEO pay dropped dramatically period average workers did not. This led to lower employee turnover 1-5% vs. 5-10% for competitors. Fifth, Nucors hiring practices focused on do sure that they focused on hiring people based on potential, not experience. Finally, Nucors business hierarchy was different- mostly flat, resulting in less bureaucracy and more productivity per worker.In short, many of these advantages led to Nucor becoming the second most productive steel maker per employee in the world due by 1985. Thin-slab casting was a proposed technique for mini-mills to fill orders for flat sheet steel, a segment that accounted for approximately half of the U.S. steel industry. To expand its steel market share, Nucor needed to enter the flat sheet segment. In the thin-slab casting business, Nucor would initially compete with international firms from Canada and Japan that provided high quality flat sheet steel, and cheap flat sheet steel providers in newly industrialized nations.Barriers to entry would include large capital expenditures making new entrants cost prohibitive, but not impossible as the barrier is small comparative to the overall costs for steel manufacturing. While new rivals whitethorn not pop up immediately, new entrants from existing rivals leave behind dilute Nucors competitive advantage. Nucor needed an innovative technology to be profitable in this segment as a new entrant. However, innovative technologies are risky due to development costs, unknown long-term operating costs, and the unknown quality of future products.Also, as a first mover, increased costs go out be realized. Increased maintenance above forecasts, the risk that production allow for not keep pace with the small-scale model, the risk that the new tech will not be fully understood by the employees and harder to run. Also, an increased likelihood that other companies will benefit from their mistakes as SMS has not made any scissure to keep information gleaned from a large-scale operation confidential. However, the benefits of b eing a first time mover would be realized as well. The expected profit from the thin slab minimill would be $81.50 per ton, which is 26% higher than from a modernized hot rolled sheet produced in an integrated mill and 226% higher than the margin from an regressive integrated mill.For cold rolled sheet, the expected profit advantage remains with minimills, with an expected profit of $107.50 per ton, which 1.9% greater than a modernized integrated mill and cxv% higher than an unmodernized integrated mill. If Nucor enters the thin-slab casting business the lasting advantages may be reduced over time as others in the industry may imitate them so long as the model is proven to deliver the targeted results. If Nucor works out the kinks, then other companies will join up and the competitive advantage window will shrink, making the overall scheme too costly. If the program does not work, it is likely the other companies will not follow suit, time Nucor pays the cost for other companies R D offsite. However, if the investment into the new technology proves successful, Nucor would have a significant cost savings over integrated mills initially, both in terms of entry costs and in terms of operating costs and profit margin.This will provide Nucor with a significant competitive advantage over the integrated mills, which already provide flat-rolled steel products, but will not provide sustainable competitive advantage over the long term, as it will be easy for competitors to duplicate this technology. Many of the companies that do steel would imitate the path that Nucor is taking. They have done an excellent job of lowering cost while leveraging their competitive advantages. Furthermore, CSP is a step in the ultimate industry goal of direct casting of sheet at strip.However, it seems as though Nucor would only gain a head start of two to three years since SMS held the CSP technology and Nucor couldnt block others from using it. This head start doesnt seem very advantageo us as it would require almost 5 years to break (see attached chart) even and the other companies would be able to use lessons conditioned from Nucors first mover and apply it to lower their breakeven point. Overall this would be a very risky undertaking for Nucor to undertake at this time as the technology is not at an adequate tech readiness level, the initial cost to implement, as well as it could move Nucor away from its competitive advantages.

Collapse of Kingfisher Airlines Essay Example for Free

Collapse of Kingfisher cinchlines EssayKingfisher , Sony and Kodak have one thing in common . i.e. They are finding it difficult to reinvent themselves. They are trying hard to be a phoenix but will they truly rise from the ashes or scarce fade away is the real query.Let us take the issue of Kingfisher here. One of Indias most high profile airlines few years back , outright in shambles. It is really interesting to ponder that in same market scenario, one of the competitors of Kingfisher is flying high and high. Yes, Indigo communicatelines is the most profitable airlines in India. The question is the difference between discipline or grandeur. What makes one comp either succeed, while another, in the same operating environment, falter? One of the flat coat is Mr. ( or Dr. in which degree?) Vijay Mallya flamboyant nature.Kingfisher was launched as an all-economy, single-class configuration aircraft with food and entertainment systems. After about a year of operations, the a irline suddenly shifted its focus to luxury. When an airline keeps changing its model and takes to random expansion, there is no time for the airline to stabilize. After Kingfishers plunge into luxury came its next follya merger with furrow Deccan, an airline formed by Captain G R Gopinath in 2003. I believe the fall of Kingfisher airlines started the very day when they bought Air Deccan. Capt. Gopinath , the owner of Air Deccan can be termed as shrewd but smart investor who knew when to part with his investment , just at the right time. The all-economy configuration of Air Deccan was rebranded and called Kingfisher Red, which continued to pass as its low-cost wing till recently.Kingfisher ended up spending Rs 550 crore on an airline that had losses of over Rs 550 crore. It is widely believed that Kingfisher merged itself with Air Deccan so that it could classify as an airline with five years of domestic flying in 2008, thus fulfilling requirements to fly international routes. Th e fact that Jet had meanwhile swallowed Air Sahara didnt help, fuelling a competitive race to be the biggest airline around. Essentially, jet fuel prices began to sky-rocket and soon touched $150. Then came the 2008 recession that made fundamentals in the airline industry worse, which is when the airline launched its international operations.Some companies just fail to learneither from the examples that its peers may have set for the industry, or from its own by mistakes. Now, Kingfisher has decided to change its model yet againdiscontinuing its Kingfisher Red brand and completely converting its fleet to a dual class, full-service configuration.Kingfisher was gifted to Mr . Sidhartha Mallya by his father on his birthday i.e. a Near Zero experience in running a gild and the later CEOs appointed by Mr . Mallya couldnt bring any significant result too . His over indulgence in petty things like parties and Kingfisher Calendar also lead to inadequacies in his finances. .IPL is also one of the reason for Kingfisher downfall because it is known that many of the money was diverted to IPL from Kingfisher airlines, resulting which they defaulted in Loans and recently became a NPA (non performing asset) to its leading bankers like SBI .The lack of trust was shown recently when Mr Mallya asked the political relation of India to attachment him out. The new minister Mr. Ajit Singh clearly told that the Government will not bail out private airline because Air India is itself in need to bail out. I personally palpate that Mr Ajit singh made a good decision because When Kingfisher doesnt give public anything in return of its profit , then wherefore is it asking for Public hard earned money ( income tax money) to bail him out.The lack of management and top of it the soaring petrol prices, the airport charges added to Kingfishers humiliation. Frequent cancellation of flights , dodging to employees, rude staff laid the ground for Kingfishers grave. Kingfisher reputation to ok a beating when it was known that employees tax were not submitted to government on time since the last deuce-ace years Government of India also freezed 40 Kingfishers bank account. Latest news is that Kingfisher employees have been not paid three months salary. We all know how we feel when our salary is delayed by a day, imagine what happens to them when they are not getting salary for last three months. How do you expect the employees to keep a smiling face to its customers when they themselves are crying . A company which forgots its employees, is also soon forgotten. A classic example is Kingfisher airlines. Mr Mallya had to sell 49% of his ownership of mightiness India( F1 car) to Mr Subrato Roy to get kingfisher going ( owner of ailing airline Air Sahara , years back) , but it too failed to save the airlines from tatters.I still have hope from Mr Mallya that he will refrain from over indulgence and concentrate on his fragile business. Its time he and his son become respons ible and start this company from scratch instead of late night parties and IPL and took inspiration from Indigo airlines who proudly claimed themselves as Low cost airline and exceeding the customers delight in every way they can.

Transformational leadership Essay Example for Free

Transformational leadership EssayDoes Academic leadership influence Staffs Commitment to work Quality in Malaysia?This paper discussed the congenatorship in the midst of leadership style of transformational and the commitment to attend attri exclusivelye among donnish modules in public and private Malayan Universities. It has been argued that excellent assistance select performance is one of the key factors in building niche and having competitive edge that separates one from its competitors nationally and globally. Total useable questionnaires were 387 with a response rate of 36 percent. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership style and commitment to renovation quality among academic staff at the Malaysian universities. This line of business implies to the policy makers and academic leaders at the universities that they should focus in underdeveloped their academic staff, by tapping their potentials, inspire them, promoting collaboration, motivating and reinforcing corroboratory attitudes towards commitment to service quality. Future study should consider alternative modes of enquires such as employing the longitudinal method of data collection be after and a nationwide survey covering samples from the whole population of the gameer institutions of learning in Malaysia that would be more significant in making generalizations . Keywords receipts quality, Transformational Leadership, Commitment to table service Quality, Malaysia1. IntroductionExisting literature on education maneuvers a motion towards educational excellence which is roughly world class stigmatization, marketable academic programmes, research activities and facilities in attracting and retaining foreign and local students (Isahak, 2007), but how does one compete to be different?Governing bodies, in Malaysia such as the Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) provide accreditation to quality programmes that fulfill certain standards.But how do Malaysian Universities attempt to remain competitive and maintain a sustainable growth in this volatile environment where programmes seen to be globally homogeneous in nature, competitive in damage of pricing, and significant in location and branding? Hudson et al. (2004) argued that excellent service quality performance is one of the key factors in buildingmarket niche and a competitive edge that separates one from its competitors. Sim and Idrus (2004), Jusoh et al. (2004), and Sahney et al, (2008) concurred and wield the nonion that commitment from the academic staff in the education sector to the overall organizational goal such as in the delivery of amply service quality is a better strategy as in the case of customer retention and satisfaction. Unfortunately, not much attention has been given to the get along of commitment to service quality among the academic staff in the higher education sector. There is an increasing thought supporting the i dea that students evaluation of service quality in the Malaysian universities is to a large extent influenced by the way they are treated by the customer contact employee notably the academic staff (Hasan et al., 2008 Ismail Abiddin, 2009).Past researches have besides suggested that some universities in Malaysia were losing students because their standard of service quality was not up to the expectation of the students (Jain et al., 2004 Firdaus, 2006 Latif et al., 2009). It was reported that the level of service quality in the Malaysian universities was just mediocre (Jusoh et al. 2004 Sim Idrus, 2004 Hasan et al., 2008, Ismail Abiddin, 2009). This arises concern in the way the students are being treated or handled. The implication of these students withdrawals may not only be costly to the students potential success in their career but overly to the universities reputation, operational and manpower costs (Curry, 2001). Butthe greatest dismission of all will be in terms of po tential knowledge workers to the nation.Studies on commitment to service quality are important and prerequisite but unfortunately there is still little progress in research in this area. Embracing commitment to service quality is mainly to bring about financial growth and an image of sustainability to service organisations. M each questions about what really motivates commitment to service quality among academic staff remains unanswered, particularly in the context of education.Past leadership literatures have associated transformational leaders to organizational commitment, such as to service quality delivery (Jabnoun Rasasi, 2005) building relationships with customers (Liao Chuang, 2007) students engagement with schools (Leithwood Jantzi,1999) and towards school reforms (Geijsel et al., 2003). Nevertheless, observational research on transformational leadership and commitment of academic staff to service quality is not extensive and in most past studies, their focus was on man agement or based on the analysis of the customer level. Individual focus, specifically on the study of academic staff is limited in developing countries, such as Malaysia.Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine the relationship between transformational leadership style and the academic staffs commitment to service quality at Malaysian Universities. Based on the findings of this research, it is hope that it would in like manner provide some information and understanding that will assist the leaders and policy makers of the Malaysian Universities as employers to realize the contributions of their academic staff in securing profitability and wealth through the commitment of good service quality. 2. Literature Review2.1 Commitment to Service QualityStudies on the commitment to service quality in education literatures follow the same footpath as the general definition of affective commitment. emotive commitment is delineate by Meyer and Allen (1991) as an employees emo tional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization. Commitment to service quality is defined and understood asconformity to a specification (Martin 1986 Witt Steward, 1996 ONeil Palmer, 2004) and in achieving excellence (Peters Waterman, 1982). Clark et al. (2009) defined commitment to service quality as the dedication of employees to refund service quality and the willingness to go beyond what is expected of them.Past findings have also established that employees who are committed to the organization will remain truehearted and are inversely related to turnover (Hartline et al., 2000 Elmadag et al., 2008). In such conditions, employees were known to spend more time and energy in assisting the organization realize its goals and they also put their own self interest aside (Porter et al., 1973 Tsai, 2008 Sohail Shaikh, 2004 Yiing Ahmad, 2008). ONeil (2000) in his study in higher education concurred on the importance of midland customer commitment to service quality as a means of gaining competitive advantage. Satisfied external customers, for example the students, were reported to spread by word of babble out recommendations, which is a powerful tool in marketing (Cuthbert, 1996).2.2. Transformational LeadershipLeaderships can be of many facets and visages. They differ in effectiveness in terms of consequences of their actions towards internal and external stakeholders. Since organizations today are facing many challenges, there is a need for leaders in organizations to contribute not only in terms of knowledge or ideas but also in making right the decisions and responding to the changes (Horner, 1997 Christie, 2002). According to Bass and Avolio (1990), transformational leaders will focus on developing their chase by tapping them of their potentials, inspiring them, promoting collaboration, motivating them and by reinforcing positive behaviours. Bass (1990) argues that transformational leaders are pertinent especially during turbulent times when rapid changes and globalization takes place.Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al., (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) pet to delineate transformational leadership based on five factors. They have adopted from Bass and Avolios (1995, 1997) studies. The five components as suggested by Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al. (2003) and Kirkbride (2006) are individualized considerations, skilful stimulation, inspirationalmotivation, idealized influence (attributes) and idealized influence (behavior). fudge 1 below presents the five components.Table 1 Five components of Transformational LeadershipVariablesIndividualizedconsiderationsCharacteristicsLeaders who recognize their followers individual differences and will treat them individually.IntellectualstimulationLeaders, who encourage problem solving abilities and risks taking. They also encourage their followers to re-examine any problem first and not making assumptions unbeneficial to the organization.Inspirationalm otivationLeaders, who have the ability to inspire and stimulate followers to perform well in conformance to their ability by giving them some sense of purpose. Leaders, who display attributes of charismatic and competence. They are confident in facing and solving problems and showing their powers for positive benefits. idealizedInfluence(attributes)Idealize Leaders, who exhibit charismatic behavior that comes with a high sense of morality. They are trustworthy, honest, high integrity and are set to Influence fulfil their mission and purpose(behavior)Source Barnett et al. (2001), Antonakis et al. (2003) and Kirkbride (2006)In Malaysia, the study on transformational leadership styles is dominated in various business settings and in relation to diverse predictors such as job satisfaction ( Yusof Shah, 2008) and organizational commitment (Azman, Al-Banna, Zaidi, Hamran Hanim,2011). Yet, there is a lack of research done in exploring on the issue in relation to employees commitment to service quality in education setting. In related studies by Lo, Ramayah and Min (2009) in manufacturing industry, they reported of a strong and positive relationship between transformational leadership style and employees continuance organizational commitment. This view was further supported by Boon and Arumugam (2006) in their study in semiconducting material setting in Malaysia.They studied the influence of corporate culture on organizational commitment and found that in a corporate culture that set emphasis in teamwork, communication, training and development and rewards, employees in return have indicated a significantly higher commitment to the organization goals. Past study by Kasim (2010) had attempted to explore the relationship of transformational leadership on the issue of gender among the deans, deputy deans and heads of department at the higher institutions in Malaysia. It was found that there was no significant relationship between gender and leadership style of trans formational.However, in this turbulent and ever changing environment, transformational leaders are much needed, especially when the educational leaders were experiencing threats of mergers or a total collapse and thus there in need of drastic changes in order to survive.3. Research Model and guessThe proposed research model is depicted in Figure 3.1 below.TRANSFORMATIONALLEADERSHIPCOMMITMENTTO SERVICEQUALITYFigure 3.1 Conceptual FrameworkThe hypothesized relationship between the pendent and strong-minded variables is developed in the following paragraph.Due to their charismatic and visionary nature, transformational leaders tend to foster strong feelings of emotional attachments to the organization, team mates and pukkas so much so that they are willing to transcend their own self interest for the organization and become partners (Narimawati, 2007). Employees who were under transformational leaders were also seen to exhibit a high sense of commitment in service organization (Em ery Barker 2007 Nguni et al. 2006 McGuire Kennerly, 2006 Chen, 2004).As a result, the likelihood that transformational leadership styles would prompt high commitments especially when followers are made to realize that commitment to service quality will give their organization the competitive edge over former(a) competitors and meet their customers satisfaction. Based on this assumption, the following hypothesis is postulatedH1a There is a significant positive relationship between transformational leadership style and the academic staffs commitment to service quality4. Methodology and Research Design4.1 Research DesignThis study was designed to investigate the relationship between independent variable of transformational leadership styles and dependent variable of commitment to service. The relevant units of analysis in this study focused on the academic staff in selected universities in Malaysia. Their perception of their immediate superiors such as the deans or heads of departmen t or heads of schools were closely studied to identify their commitment to service quality. A quantitative gull sectional survey research was employed in this study.The survey was conducted on both public and private universities in Malaysia. Approximately 1076 questionnaires were sent out with a total of 387 responses. Overall the response rate was 36 percent which was slightly better than what was reported generally in the Malaysian context (Othman et al., 2001). To ensure law of similarity in characteristics, thesample of respondent chosen was based on the following i) a minimum academic staffs population of more than cl and ii) the minimum number of ten (10) years of operation. Basically, universities were chosen due to geographical convenience for accessibility to the respondents. Past researches in the education context for examples Arokiasamy et al. (2007), Noordin and Jusoff (2009) and Santhapparaj and Alam (2005) have also drawn most of their samples on the same basis and therefore have supported in terms of external validity of generalization of the findings (Ariffin,2006, Sakeran, 2005).4.2 Survey instrumental roleThe questionnaire for the study consists of three (3) sections meant to capture the variables related to the leadership style, commitment to service quality and also the demographic section related to the academic staff. Transformational leadership was metrical by using 20 items adapted from a later version of MLQ instrument commonly known as MLQ 5x-short-forms. Although the factors that measure transformational leadership styles were distinctive, in this study a single dimensional construct for transformational style was adopted.This is in line with past empirical studies by Walumbwa et al. (2004, 2005) on transformational leadership construct. A recent modified version by Clark et al. (2009) was adapted in this study. A slight modification was made in order to complement the study context for measures for commitment to service qualit y items. Nine (9) items to measure the variable were selected. The items for both scale were measured on a 5-Point Likert-type scale, anchored by 1, strongly disagree through to 5, strongly agree.To quantify the reliability of the measurement items of all the variables, the researcher undertook Cronbachs Alpha coefficient analysis to test the reliability of the instruments. The instrument was tested for internal reliability and the following Table 2 demonstrates the scales generated.Table 2 Overall Internal ReliabilityVariablesTransformational Leadership StyleCommitment to service qualityReliability(Cronbachs Alpha)0.9160.841The reliability tests indicate an excellent reliability for all its components with a coefficient alpha of above 0.7 exceeding the minimum acceptable level as suggested by Nunnally and Berstein (1994). In order to regain that all the measurements in this study exhibits some degree of validity, content validity was conducted (Davis Consenza, 1988) in the pre-t ested stage by soliciting the expert opinions of two professors from a university. After necessary modifications, the scale was also pre-tested to a set of respondents similar to the population as suggested by Davis and Consenza (1988).5. Findings/ Discussion.Tables 3 below summarize the demographic profiles of the respondents. The sample also indicates that egg-producing(prenominal) respondents represented a slightly higher percentage of total samples (59%) when compared to the male respondents (41%). The majority of the respondents possessed Master degrees or others of similar level (71%) while 29 percent had completed their doctorate degree. Majority of the respondents were middle age of between 30 to 40 years of age (43%) followed by those between 40 to 50 years old (25%). About 18 percent of the academicians were younger of age of between 20-30 years. With reference to their experience in teaching, the sample showed a balance between those who had teaching experience of betwee n 1 to 5 years (33%) and 5 to 10 years (28%).More than 47 percent of the respondents were from business cogency followed by faculty of information technology (12%).Table 3 Summary of Respondents ProfileVariablesGenderFrequencyPercentDoctorate11329.2027470.8020 30 Years6917.8316843.419725.0750 and above5313.691

Risks of Engineered Nanoparticles for the Environment

Risks of Engineered Nanoparticles for the EnvironmentAbstract The objectives of this article are to (1) investigate the current state of association of the fortunes of engineered nanoparticles for the environment and human wellness, (2) estimate whether this friendship is sufficient to facilitate their comprehensive and effective fortune discernment and (3) provide recommendations on future research in the palm of risk appraisal of nanomaterials. In entrap to meet the objectives, the relevance of each of the four steps of the risk legal opinion methodology (i.e., hazard identification, dose-response assessment, photograph assessment and risk movie) was evaluated in the context of the current state of knowledge of the risks of nanomaterials, limitations were identified and recommendations were given on how to overcome them.Keywords engineered nanoparticles risk assessment hazard identification dose-response assessment photo assessment risk characterization environmental su stainability human healthIntroductionBackgroundIn some(prenominal)ize to the small size of the nanoparticles, the scale of their practical application is tremendous. Nanotechnology influences virtually all industrial and public sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, transport, energy, materials, information and communication technologies.Both the potential benefits and the risks, associated with the application of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) live been largely debated in recent years. In contrast to the dominating optimistic projections that nanotechnology exit bring significant technological development and well-being to society, it is considered that flick to certain ENPs may cause environmental problems and/or do harm to human health. Since the early discussions ab aside the risks of ENPs, the chemic risk assessment (CRA) has been put forward as the most relevant onrush to understand, evaluate and appraise these risks. Currently, a variety of methodologies are be ing internationally discussed and evaluated with great vengeance with the idea that, in the near future, it will be possible to perform deal and scientifically sound risk assessment of ENPs.ObjectivesThe objectives of this article are toInvestigate the current state of knowledge of the risks of ENPs for the environment and human healthEstimate whether this knowledge is sufficient to facilitate comprehensive and effective risk assessment of ENPsProvide recommendations on future research in the field of risk assessment of ENPs methodologyThis article is based on an extensive review of literature published in the period January 1992- September 2009. The selected literature consisted mainly of scientific publications, alone likewise books, information from conferences and patent data were employ.Nanotechnology and Its ApplicationsNanotechnology and NanoparticlesNanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology, dealing with the organization and control of matter on the na no-scale (i.e., between 1 and century nm) and the manufacturing of products and devices with dimensions, lying within this size range. A nanometer (nm), from the Greek nanos for dwarf, equals one billionth of a meter.Nanomaterials are all materials with sizes on the nano-scale in at least(prenominal) one of their dimensions 1, while nanoparticles are materials, nano-sized in at least two dimensions 2. The nomenclature nanoparticles encompasses particles as well as fibrous materials and tubes, but it excludes materials, such as coatings, films and multilayers.Two types of nanoparticles (NPs) can be distinguished (1) naturally occurring NPs (e.g., produced naturally in volcanoes, forest fires or as combustion by-products) and (2) engineered nanoparticles (ENPs), deliberately developed to be apply in application (e.g., degree Celsius black, fumed silica, titanium dioxide (TiO2), iron oxide (FOx), quantum dots (QDs), fullerenes, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), dendrimers). Naturally occurri ng NPs do NOT fall in the scope of this article. The paper encompasses only(prenominal) ENPs.The main reasons why materials, built of ENPs, have different optical, electrical, magnetic, chemical and mechanized properties from their bulk counterparts are that in this size-range quantum effects start to predominate and the mount-area-to-volume ratio (sa/vol) becomes in truth large 1. The sa/vol of most materials increases gradually as their particles become smaller, which results in increased adsorption of the surrounding atoms and changes their properties and behavior. Once particles become small enough, they start to obey the quantum mechanical laws. Materials reduced to the nano-scale can suddenly show very different properties, compared to what they exhibit on the macro-scale, which enables unique applications. For example, opaque substances become transparent (copper) stable materials become inflammable (aluminum) inert materials become catalysts (platinum) insulators become conductors (silicon) solids turn into liquids at room temperature (gold) 3.Areas of ApplicationToday, nanotechnology is available on the market for great variety of applications. Some examples are cosmetics and sunscreens, urine filtrations, glare filters, ink, stain-resistant clothing, more durable tennis balls, more alightweight tennis rackets, dressings for burns or injuries. 4.Defining Hazard and RiskThe term hazard has many a(prenominal) definitions. This paper uses the definition of the United situates Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which defines hazard as the inherent perniciousness of a compound 5. According to this definition, if a chemical substance has the property of being toxic, it is therefore hazardous. Any exposure to a hazardous substance may lead to unfavourable health effects in individuals or even death.EPA defines risk with respect to the above definition of hazard as a measure of the hazard that damage to life, health, property, and/or the environm ent will occur as a result of a given hazard 5. According to this definition, if the probability of an exposure to a hazardous material is spirited and the consequences for the health or environment are significant, then the risk is considered to be high. It is of import to consider both the frequency of the event and the degree of the hazard to estimate risk 2.Usually two categories of risk are distinguished in literature known risks and potential risks. When the notification between a cause and an effect is established, we burble of known risks. The responsibility for such risks can generally be attributed. When the causal birth is established, prevention is possible. When the relationship between a cause and damage is not well known, we talk of potential risks. In case of potential risks, it is unclear whether there is a danger, how significant the damage can be or what is the probability of its occurrence 2, after 6. This situation is characterized by a state of suspicion ( not awareness) and it is generally admitted that a precautionary approach can be applied in order to prevent potential damage 2, after 6. The risks of ENPs for the environment and human health fail in the second category potential risks.It is very definitive to assess the risks of hazardous agents. The likelihood that a hazardous substance will cause harm (the risk) is the determinant of how cautious one should be and what preventative or precautionary measures should be taken.Risk Assessment of ENPsSince the early debates about the potential hazards of ENPs, the risk assessment of chemicals (CRA) has been put forward as the most relevant approach to understand and quantify the related risks 7. CRA is a process, in which scientific and regulatory principles are applied in a systematic fashion in order to describe the hazard, associated with the environmental and/or human exposure to chemical substances. It is defined as a process, intended to calculate or estimate the risk to a giv en target organism, system or (sub)population, including the identification of attendant uncertainties, binding exposure to a particular agent, taking into account the inherent characteristics of the agent of concern, as well as the characteristics of the specific target system 8. The CRA is a four-step process, consisting of (1) hazard identification, (2) dose- response assessment, (3) exposure assessment and (4) risk characterization. Its main outcome is a assertion of the probability that when humans or other environmental receptors (e.g., plants, animals) are exposed to a chemical agent, they will be harmed and to what degree.The CRA methodology is internationally recognized and employed by major actors, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as well as by several European and U.S. agencies 9. It is considered a valuable tool, very important for the polity of chemicals. CRA is also a fundamental ingre dient of the new European Union (EU) chemical regulation policy, known as Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH).In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the current state of knowledge of the risks of ENPs for the environment and human health were summarized and evaluated in relation to each of the four elements of the CRA framework, as more important scientific findings were highlighted and limitations were identified and discussed.Hazard IdentificationHazard identification (HI) is defined as the identification of the uncomely effects, which a substance has an inherent capacity to cause 10, after 11. Until recently, much of the discussion about the environmental and health risks of ENPs was considered to be rather speculative than realistic. In the last few years, however, a number of experimental studies demonstrate that exposure to certain ENPs can lead to adverse health effects in nutriment organisms. In 2007, Hansen et al. identified 428 stu dies reporting on toxicity of ENPs 12. In these studies, adverse health effects of 965 tried and true ENPs of various chemical compositions were notice 12.Current State of KnowledgeThe following sections shortly describe some of the most important scientific findings, relevant for HI of ENPs. Their purpose is to summarize the current state of knowledge of the hazards of ENPs, based on experimental studies. For simplification, the studies are divided into two categories in vivo and in vitro studies.In Vivo Studies deoxycytidine monophosphate Nanotubes (CNTs)A study, performed by Lam et al. 13, demonstrated that single- walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are able to cause dose-dependent effects of interstitial punk and lesions in mice and rats (0- 0.5 mg kg-1 for 7 to 90 days). Warheit et al. 14 observe pneumonic grandulomas in rats after exposure to SWCNT soot (1 and 5 mg kg-1 for 24 hours to 3 months). In contrast to Lam et al. 13, however, the effects, observed by Warheit et al . 14 were not dependent on dose. Smith et al. 15 tested the ecotoxicity of SWCNTs, dissolved in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and sonication on juvenile rainbow trout (0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 mg l-1 for 24 hours to 10 days) and they observed a dose-dependent rise in ventilation rate, branchia pathologies (oedema, altered mucocytes, hyperplasia), and mucus secretion with SWCNT precipitation on the gill mucus. They also observed a significant dose- dependent decrease in thiobarbituric acid antiphonal substances (TBARS), especially in the gill, brain and liver, which is an indication of oxidative nervous strain.Multi- walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were shown by Carrero-Sanchez et al. 16, to exhibit acute toxicity in rats with LD90 of 5 mg kg-1. Long MWCNTs were shown by Poland et al. 17 to cause significant inflammation and tissue damage in mice, while shorter MWCNTs caused less inflammation, which suggests that CNT toxicity is influenced by the particle morphology. In addition, they c oncluded that water-soluble components of MWCNT do not produce strong inflammatory effects in mice.C60 FullerenesMost studies on the toxicological effects of C60 fullerenes suggest that these materials tend to pull oxidative stress in living organisms 18-21. Lai et al. 18 observed a significant increase in lipid peroxidation (LP) products (a sign of oxidative stress) after intravenous administration of 1 mg kg-1 C60 (OH)18 in male mongrel dogs. Oberdrster 19, 20 studied the effects of C60 fullerenes in the brain of juvenile largemouth bass and observed high LP levels (0.5 and 1 ppm for 48 h). fantastic LP was also observed by Zhu et al. 21 in the brain and gills of daphnia magna after exposure to hydroxylated C60 fullerenes (C60 (OH)24) and tetrahydrofuran (THF)- dissolved C60, as it was shown that THF did not contribute to the effect. Sayes et al. 22 detected an increase in the numbers of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)-recovered neutrophils (i.e., white blood cells) after intratrac heal in clam upation of C60 and C60 (OH)24 in rats, 1 day after the exposure. They also observed a significant increase in LP values 1 week after the exposure. Accute effects of functionalized C60 were also inform . Zhu et al. 21 estimated LC100 in fathead minnow after exposure to 0.5 ppm of THF-dissolved C60 for 6-18 hours. Chen et al. 23 observed a LD50 of 600 mg kg-1 polyalkylsulfonated C60 in female rats after intraperitoneal administration (0- 2500 mg kg-1 for up to 2 weeks). Oberdrster 24 tested uncoated, water soluble, colloidal C60 fullerenes and estimated a Daphnid 48-hour LC50 of 800 ppb.Metal and Metal Oxide ENPsLi et al. 25 found that metal ENPs induce more severe lung toxicity in mice than bulk particles from the same materials. Gordon et al. 26 tested the effects on humans of exposure to atomic number 30 (Zn) ENPs. After 2 hours of exposure to 5 mg m-3 of Zn ENPs, the exposed individuals started feeling sore throat, chest tightness, headache, fever and chills. Beckett et al. 27 repeated that test in lead trials, 2 hours each, but at lower concentration (i.e., 500 ?g m-3), and found no indication of adverse effects. The latter two studies suggest that Zn ENPs toxicity is concentration- dependent and the most probable uptake path is through the respiratory system. A study of Sayes et al. 22 concluded that environmental exposure to Zn ENPs causes pulmonary (lung) inflammatory response in mice. Wang et al. 28 found that Zn ENPs can cause severe symptoms of lethargy, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of body weight and even death in mice when gastrointestinally administered, whereas they observed limited effect for micro- scale Zn at equal concentrations. Yang and Watts 29 tested the effect of Aluminium (Al) ENPs on the relative root growth (RRG) in genus Zea mays (corn), Glycine max (soybean), Brassica oleracea (cabbage), and Daucus carota (carrot). The study found that the ENPs significantly inhibited the growth of the plants after administration of 2 mg ml-1 for 24 h.Oberdrster 30 and Oberdrster et al. 31 observed that smaller TiO2 ENPs tend to cause more severe pulmonary damage in mice than large particles. In addition, Warheit et al., 32 found that smaller silicon dioxide (SiO2) particles cause stronger lung inflammation in rats than larger ones. Wang et al., 33 noticed that the smaller the TiO2 particle size is, the greater the concentration in the liver of mice is. Bourrinet et al. 34 reported hypo employment, ataxia, emesis, exophthalmos, salivation, lacrimation, discolored and mucoid feces, injected sclera, and yellow eyes in dogs after single-dose intravenous bolus administration of 20 and 200 mg kg-1 FeO ENPs and a significant increase in fetal skeletal malformations in rats and rabbits.In Vitro StudiesCarbon Nanotubes (CNTs)A number of cytotoxicity studies with SWCNTs were reported in the literature. Shvedova et al. 35 observed oxidative stress and cellular toxicity in human epi cuticular keratinocytes, after 2 to 18 hours exposure to unrefined (iron containing) SWCNTs in concentrations, ranging from 0.6 to 0.24 mg ml-1. Cui et al. 36 observed dose- and time- dependent inhibition of cell proliferation and a decrease in cell adhesive ability in human embryo kidney cells after exposure to SWCNTs in concentrations between 0.8 and 200 ?g ml-1. Sayes et al. 37 found that the grow functionalization of SWCNTs plays an important role in their cytotoxicity towards human dermal fibroblasts. Bottini et al. 38 noticed that MWCNTs were more cytotoxic when oxized towards Jurkat T leukemia cells, whereas Monteriro-Riviere et al. 39 observed a decrease of the viability of human osteoblastic lines and human epidermal keratinocytes after exposures to 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mg ml-1 of MWCNTs for 1 to 48 hours. Kang et al. 40 compared the cytotoxicity of commercially obtained MWCNTs in bacterial systems before and after physicochemical modification and they observed highest toxicity when the nanotubes were uncapped , debundled, short, and dispersed in solution. Kang et al. 40 concluded that there is need for careful supporting of the physical and chemical characteristics of CNTs, when reporting their toxicity.C60 FullerenesAdelman et al. 41 observed a reduction of the viability of bovine alveolar macrophages after exposure to sonicated C60 and increased levels of cytokine mediators of inflammation (i.e., IL-6, IL-8 and TNF), while Porter et al. 42 found that C60 and raw soot were not toxic towards bovine- and human alveolar macrophages. The reason behind the discrepancy between the results of Adelman et al. and Porter et al. can be attributed to the fact that they used very different methods. Porter et al. used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to image the distributions of the fullerenes within the macrophages, while Adelman et al. used a viability assay, based on metabolic activity as primary parameter.Studies on the effects of ENPs on alveolar macrophages are very important because th e alveolar macrophages are the first line of cellular falsification against respiratory pathogens 11, after 43. Yamawaki Iwai 44 observed dose-dependent cytotoxicity of C60 (OH)24 (1- 100 g ml-1 for 24 hours), resulting in decreased cell density and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in human umbilical cord vein endothelial cells cavity (a sign of increase in non-viable cell numbers). Rouse et al. 45 observed a dose-dependent decrease in the viability of human epidermeal keratinocytes after exposure to C60- phenylalanine, as no contribution to the effect was attributed to the phenylalanine groups.Quantum Dots (QDs)The toxicity of QDs was found to be influenced by several factors (1) composition, (2) size, (3) surface charge and (4) coating of the QDs 7, 46- 48. Jaiswal et al. 46 found that CdSe/ZnS QDs (i.e., CdSe QDs in a zinc sulfide (ZnS) matrix), coated with dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) had no effect on mammalian cells, while Hoshino et al. 47 reported adverse effects on mouse l ymphocytes after exposure to CdSe/ZnS QDs, coated with albumin. In addition, Lovrc et al. 48 observed that smaller (2.2 0.1 nm), positively charged QDs exhibit stronger cytotoxicity than larger (5.2 0.1 nm), equally charged QDs under the same conditions. It was also found that the cytotoxicity of QDs is influenced by the exposure to light and by temperature 49, 50. Green and Howman 49 observed 56% damaged DNA after exposure to CdSe/ZnS together with UV light versus only 29% after exposure to CdSe/Zn in the absence of UV light. Chang et al. 50 found that CdSe/CdS (i.e., CdSe QDs in a cadmium sulfide (CdS) matrix) were toxic to crab louse cells at 37 C, but at 4 C they were not toxic at all.Metal and Metal Oxide ENPsSayes et al. 51 found that anatase TiO2 ENPs are able to devour human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells at LC50 of 3.6 ?g ml-1, while Wang et al. 52 observed decrease in the viability of human lymphoblastoid cells due to exposure to TiO2 ENPs (0-130 ?g ml-1 for 6-48 h). Che n Mikecz 53 found that SiO2 ENPs do significantly inhibit replication and transcription in human epithelial HEp-2 cells (25 ?g ml-1 for 24 h). Muller et al. 54 observed that Fe3O4 ENPs, coated with dextran, decrease the viability of human monocyte macrophages. summit et al. 55 found that nano-particulate silver (Ag) is an effective bactericide against S. epidermidis, while Baker et al. 56 noticed that it effectively kills E. coli bacteria too. Sayes et al. 57 observed an increase in the production of LDH levels (an indicator of inflammation) in immortalized rat lung epithelial cells after 1 hour exposure to Zn ENPs at 520 ?g cm-2.Limitations to Hazard Identification of ENPsIt is very important to note that the abundant majority of the reviewed studies demonstrate some degree of hazardous effects on the tested organisms. Toxicity has been reported for many ENPs, as shown in the previous sections, but for most of them further investigation and confirmation are needed before hazard can be identified. A lot of studies, relevant for HI, have been carried out with different ENPs, but most of them were obviously not meant to facilitate risk assessment they use non- standardized tests, differing greatly from each other in look to endpoints, tested species, methods of administration, dose ranges and exposure periods 7. The lack of standardized testing results in non-reproducible results and makes the univocal HI of ENPs impossible.Another significant drawback for the HI of ENPs is the serious lack of characterization data, which makes it difficult to identify which physical and/or chemical characteristics (or combinations of characteristics) find the hazards, documented in the (eco)toxicological studies 12, 58, 59.Dose-Response AssessmentDose- response assessment (DRA) is defined as an estimation of the relationship between dose, or level of exposure to a substance, and the incidence and severity of an effect 10, after 11. It is the process of characterizing the relationship between the dose of an agent, administered to or have by an individual, and the consequent adverse health effects.The Concept of DoseIn toxicological studies a dose is the quantity of anything that may be received by or administered to an organism. The dose is normally measured in mass units (i.e., ?g, mg, g), as higher doses of the same compounds are expected to cause more severe adverse effects.DRA studies with ENPs, however, suggest that the toxicity of some ENPs is not mass-dependent, but influenced by other physico-chemical characteristics (e.g., surface area, chemical composition, particle morphology) 7, after 60. Oberdrster et al. 61 and Stoeger et al. 62, 63 found that the toxicity of low-soluble ENPs was better exposit by their surface area than by their total mass 7, after 61, 62, 63. Wittmaack 64, 65 suggested the number of particles as the most accept dose metrics, while Warheit et al. 66, 67 found that toxicity of some ENPs was associated with the numbe r of their surface functional groups.Despite these findings, however, it is still largely unknown which properties influence the toxicity of most ENPs and this gap in knowledge is partially attributable to the fact that the tested ENPs are seldom well characterized.Characterization of ENPsDeveloping understanding about the physical and chemical properties of substances and materials is fundamental for their risk assessment 59. Studying the standard properties (e.g., composition, structure, molecular weight, melting point, boiling point, vapor pressure, octanol-water partitioning coefficient, water solubility, activity, stability) is sufficient for the characterization of most chemical compounds. For ENPs, however, more profound investigation is needed and other properties, such as particle size distribution, sa/vol ratio, shape, electronic properties, surface characteristics, state of dispersion/agglomeration and conductivity need to be studied 5. The high complexity and great diver sity of ENPs, however, make their characterization very difficult 59.As it can be inferred from the table above, most of the current research on the properties of ENPs is focused on the identification of metrics and associated methods for the measurement of ENPs and their properties. This type of research is fundamental in the sense that without reliable measurement methodology it would be impossible to develop good understanding of the physical and chemical properties of the ENPs. Only few comprehensive studies on the development of standard, well-characterised reference nanomaterials were published so far. To facilitate the appropriate interpretation of testing results, it is essential to select representative sets of ENPs, characterize them and share them among laboratories worldwide.Exposure AssessmentExposure assessment (EA) is defined as an estimation of the concentrations/doses to which human populations (i.e., workers, consumers and man exposed indirectly via the environment ) or environmental compartments (aquatic environment, terrestrial environment and air) are or may be exposed. 10, after 11. EA is a very important element in risk assessment of ENPs, since if no exposure to ENPs occur, it would be impossible that they cause any harm and there would be no risk at all. EA can be divided into three sub-areas (1) occupational exposure assessment (OEA), (2) environmental exposure assessment (EEA) (including indirect human exposure from the environment) and (3) consumer exposure assessment (CEA).Environmental Exposure AssessmentThe environment may be exposed to ENPs during all stages of their life-cycles raw material production, transport and storage, industrial use (incl. affect and/or trade), consumer use, waste disposal (incl. waste treatment, landfill and recovery) 11 (Figure 2.).A very important element of the EEA of ENPs is the study of their environmental fate. The fate of ENPs, released in the environment is firm by their mobility in the differe nt media (i.e., soil, water, air), as well as by their potential to biodegrade or undergo chemical transformation.Environmental Fate of ENPsIn order to determine the extent of environmental exposure to ENPs, it is necessary to understand their behavior in the environment. Until now, only a limited number of environmental fate studies with ENPs have been reported and the fundamental mechanisms behind their distribution are still not clearly understood (table 3).Fate of ENPs in AirThe fate of ENPs in the air is determined by three main factors (1) the duration of time particles remain airborne, (2) their interaction with other particles or molecules in the atmosphere and (3) the distance they are able to touch off in the air 68. The processes important to understand the dynamics of ENPs in the atmosphere are diffusion, agglomeration, wet and dry deposition and gravitational settling 68. These processes are relatively well understood from studying the air-suspended ultrafine particle s and that knowledge can be applied to ENPs as well 69. In some cases, however, there can be considerable differences in behavior between ENPs and ultrafine particles, especially when the latter cannot agglomerate because they are coated 5.With respect to the duration of time ENPs stay in the air, it is considered that they may follow the laws of gaseous diffusion 70. The rate of diffusion is inversely proportional to the particle diameter and the rate of gravitational settling is proportional to it 70. It is generally considered that particles in the nanoscale (d 100nm) have shorter abidance time in the air, compared to medium-sized particles (100nm d 2000nm), because they rapidly agglomerate into much larger particles and settle on the ground 71. Here again ENPs with anti-agglomerate coatings make an exception and their residence time cannot be predicted 71. It is considered that deposited ENPs are usually not likely to be re-suspended or re-aerosolized in the atmosphere 72, 70.M any nano- sized particles are photoactive 72, but it is still unknown whether they are susceptible to photo adulteration in the atmosphere. ENPs also show high absorption coefficients 69, and many of them can act as catalysts. However, no information is before long available on the interactions between ENPs and the chemicals they absorb, and how this interaction might influence atmospheric chemistry.Fate of ENPs in WaterThe fate of ENPs in water is determined by several factors (1) sedimentary solubility, (2) reactivity of the ENPs with the chemical environment and (3) their interaction with certain biological processes 5. Because of their lower mass, ENPs generally settle more slowly to the bottom than larger particles of the same material 5. However, due to their high surface-area-to-mass ratios, ENPs readily sorb to soil and sediment particles and consequently are more liable to removal from the water tugboat 73. Some ENPs might be subject to biotic and abiotic degradation, whi ch can remove them from the water column as well. Abiotic degradation processes that may occur include hydrolysis and photocatalysis 72. near(a) to the surface ENPs are exposed to sunlight. It is likely that light-induced photoreactions can account for the removal of certain ENPs and for changing the chemical properties of others 72.In contrast to the removal processes mentioned above, some insoluble ENPs can be stabilized in aquatic environments. Hoon et al. 74 investigated the aqueous stability of MWCNTs in the presence of natural organic matter (NOM). MWCNTs were readily dispersed as an aqueous suspension and remained stable for over 1 month. Hoon et al. 74 found that NOM is more effective in stabilizing the MWCNTs in water than a solution of 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), a commonly used surfactant to stabilize CNTs in the aqueous phase 74. The C60 fullerenes were found to spontaneously form insoluble, dense aqueous colloids of nanocrystalline aggregates and remain in the aque ous phase for long periods 5. Another known interaction, which can delay nanoparticle removal from the water column, is the absorption of humic acid. Sea surface microlayers, consisting of lipid-, carbohydrate- and protein-rich components along with naturally occurring colloids, made up of humic acid, may attach ENPs to their surfaces and transport them over long distances 75.Fate of ENPs in SoilThe behavior of ENPs in soil media can greatly vary, depending on the physical and chemical characteristics of the material. Some ENPs can strongly sorb to the soil particles and become completely inert and unmoving 5. On the other hand, if ENPs do not sorb to the soil matrix, they might show even greater mobility than larger particles, because their small size might allow them to travel easily through the pore spaces between the soil particles. The possibility to sorb to soil and the respective sorption strength of ENPs is influenced by their size, chemical composition and surface characte ristics 5.Studies by Zhang 76, Lecoanet and Wiesner 77 and Lecoanet at al. 78 showed considerable differences in mobility of some insoluble ENPs in porous media. The properties of the soil, such as porosity and grain size, further influence the mobility of the particles. vindicatory like the mineral colloids, the mobility of ENPs, agglomerated in colloid-like structures might be strongly affected by electrical charge differences in soils and sediments 76. Surface photoreactions might induce photochemical transformations on the soil surface 72.Biodegradation and Chemical Transformation of ENPsIn some cases, the biological processes in the environment can lead to the complete degradation of ENPs and sometimes they can only change their physical and/or chemical properties 5. The mechanisms, which account for

Decision Support Methods in Healthcare

Decision Support Methods in health c atomic number 18IntroductionCurrently, healthc be practicians are on the job(p) stark to ensure that the safety of perseverings is guaranteed. They are also operative toward averting expensive lawsuits that result from aesculapian checkup malpractices. Additionally, medical practiti unmatchablers have devised mechanisms for the bar-coding of medicines, patients, and nurses to ensure that patients live safe medicines and property healthcare services (Tan, Sheps, 1998). Some healthcare systems are using last permit methods and relational database introduction to make effective lasts concerning patients care. In this paper, I depart discuss the decision support systems and relational database design of Partners HealthCare agreement, Inc.Partners HealthCare System, Inc. uses complex medical recognition systems to enable doctors and nurses make efficient decisions as pertains to patient care. Electronic Medical Administration Recor d (EMAR) is one of the database management systems that the healthcare system uses to make decisions and carry out its activities. Partners HealthCare System is a net income that consists of assorted healthcare facilities. The ne iirk has medical centers, community hospitals, specialty healthcare services, and several basic healthcare specialists (Lighter, Fair, 2000).Partners HealthCare System, Inc. employs Oracle and SQL for the warehousing of its data. It also uses it for data mining and OLAP uses. Additionally, the composition makes wide use of CACHE, an Intersystem Corp based in MA, for various clinical purposes. The HealthCare System separates their mission to offer grave healthcare for patients from other applications. Moreover, the System selected CACHE because of its highly availability, and high demands of effective patient care.CACHE forms a significant part of Partners relational database design and tissue application setting. It is bad-temperedly relevant to Pa rtners mission in clinical applications because of the engine rooms use of algorithms and schemas that store data effectively. The performance of the database is enhanced by the sparse matrix depot method. The organization manages the application of CACHE over the web and this helps the Partners to have an advanced and substantial processing of transactions. CACHE has a distributed protocol, which effectively lessens network traffic (Shortliffe, Cimino, 2006). Consequently, there is increase processing of transactions. Additionally, it is weak to scale up the technology to serve several users without compromising its performance.CACHE technological innovation is a significant tool for the teaching of applications for patient care because it handles data in a more flexible way than other conventional relational database structures. The clinical department of Partners HealthCare System has complicated forms of data. Consequently, a lot of data cannot be classified effectively int o two-dimensional systems. The advantage of CACHE is that it can consider data in two or more than two dimensional structure when necessary (Harrington, 2002).Partners HealthCare System Inc. has developed a modern wireless EMAR as an conventionalised intelligence for patient care. This development has particular(prenominal)ly replaced all paper works carried out by nurses in recording medicine dispensation to patients. Moreover, EMAR technology uses advanced decision support systems and features that promote client safety. Through the technology, the medications in storage facilities, such as the pharmacy dispensing equipment, is bar-coded to enable nurses to scan the ID to verify that correct medications are supplied to the right clients. Additionally, the practitioner can scan his or her ID badge to bring in a completed inventory track of the medication course.Highest verification of medication procedures, as indicated by one of Partners nurses, takes place in the pharmacy. Whe n the medical practitioner feeds tuition into the system concerning the prescription, the medication order is examined before it is made available for the nurse to deal with. Some artificial intelligences employed in the prescription are based on probability of medication reactions, managely patient reactions to the medications, and likelihood of overprescribing drugs to patients in relation to introductory prescriptions.EMAR technology constitutes of several electronic reminders that help nurses in their daily medication prescriptions thereby enabling them to solve problems arising during patient care processes. For instance, the technology provides cues that remind nurses concerning such issues like prescription overdue, or recording of patients pain level to decide whether the administration of a particular medication is effective or not. However, nurses take into consideration that EMAR checking does not replace their role in evaluating situations to make decisions (Shortliff e, Cimino, 2006). The checks enable nurses to have confidence that the safety of patients is guaranteed.EMAR is compressed in wireless computers and laptops with readers of bar-codes, and this allows nurses to move closely to the patients with their computer system. By bringing the scanner to the patients bedside, risks and errors are eliminated. For instance, if a medical practitioner enters a wrong medication order after a drug prescription at the pharmacy, the nurse will receive an alerting message on his or her laptop screen, as he or she scans the patient prior to drug administration. fake intelligence innovation for decision support is employed by various medical practitioners to make the decision support systems more useful.CACHE technology serves an important role in enhancing work flow among healthcare systems and benefits contributors. Through CACHE applications, insurance organizations are connected with healthcare systems to deliver services to patients. CACHE applicat ions promote the workflow between third-party companies and Partners HealthCare System. For instance, relational database design of a real-time query between the healthcare organization and insurance firms aids in determining eligibility for benefits. This affects the organizations capableness to collect finances for a medical situation while improving the workflow (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2005).Applications have been developed to connect Partners system of order entry of medications to database of pharmaceutic organizations to ascertain whether particular medications are covered by particular payers. The incorporation of this element into the drug prescription process has resulted in improved workflow in drug prescription, and it ensures that Partners HealthCare System, Inc. is compensated for the medications prescribed.Partners HealthCare indicates that CACHE applications have benefits associated with their usage. This technological innovation employs open standards. Consequently, i t enables interoperation among several platforms. Therefore, CACHE is crucial in the implementation of web services to link several systems. CACHE is also cheap because Partners achieve their mission for patient care from the product hardware without necessarily investing vauntingly amounts of funds in other technologies. Moreover, CACHE applications do not require complex management as compared to SQL and Oracle developments. CACHE is more accessible and easy to maintain whereby medical practitioners use computers directly in healthcare settings (Shortliffe, Cimino, 2006).The figure below represents an entity-relationship model utilise in Decision Support Methods in Healthcare and Relational DatabaseAdopted from http//www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/rpadman/Data%20management%20technologies-%20day%202%20slides.pptHealth and Human Services (HHS) department indicates that there is need for the advancement in the database systems of healthcare services to create a nationwide database that u ses electronic medical recording to trail an individuals dealings with the healthcare system from birth till death. As a means of staying relevant to the HHS requirement, Partners HealthCare System has implemented an electronic health knowledge management (e-HIM). This requires the healthcare organization to guarantee the accessibility of information to promote advanced healthcare provision and essential health matters required to make decisions for use in various environments and organizations. Nevertheless, these objectives will merely be realized when there is efficient, accurate, reliable, and secure storage of information in efficiently designed automated databases (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2005).Relational database is the most common kind of database employed in healthcare systems. It tracks patient care including various forms of treatment, results from the treatments, and significant indicators of states of patients such as pulse rate, level of blood pressure, and blood glucos e. Moreover, relational database interlinks with several information structures in healthcare service systems such as Partners. For example, a relational database in the section of cardiac care is linked directly with the registration system of the healthcare facility. Once a patient is registered, information concerning him or her is relayed to the database through health level seven procedures (Shortliffe, Cimino, 2006). This allows cardiac care practitioners to focus on offering the best care to the patient because they do not need to register the patient again.Relational database reduces the need for paperwork in recording and transfer of information. It also improves efficiency in healthcare systems while acting as an accounting tool. For instance, patients suffering from diabetes, who exhibit fairly similar signs and symptoms such as overweight and high levels of blood glucose, can be closely examined to ascertain the flair in which various medications, like Glucovance, help in managing their symptoms. Moreover, relational database is essential as it determines patients at risk, for instance, individuals with aneurysms in family history. When these patients are recognized they undergo screening to subjugate suffering from certain ailments (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2005).Decision trees are utilise in Partners HealthCare System and other healthcare facilities to help in solving of clinical and healthcare problems. With the increase in the difficulty of clinical problems, there is an exponential increase in the probabilities and uncertainties, and this means that sophisticated solutions, rather than the simple ones, are required. Consequently, in these scenarios, decision trees become more suitable because they take into consideration weighted probabilities and anticipated outcomes (Harrington, 2002).Decision trees help in clinical situations because they present precisely and instructively the procedures with which the medical practitioner provides care to a patient as indicated by clinical and laboratory diagnostic results. The extensive procedures are routinely attained at basing on previous use of algorithms and decision trees in solving clinical problems. Medical practitioners use such procedures cautiously when practicing clinical medicine. When using decision trees, the physicians recognize that clinical decision models are different from mathematical representations. When protocols are employed to give directions, they prevent undesired or costly clinical processes (Tan, Sheps, 1998).Protocols are normally used to evaluate benefits of using a particular prescription or a new type of drugs. Accurate protocols allow for the collection of information from various healthcare facilities because patients are put under a stringently defined management process. Moreover, if the protocols are accurately defined and monitored, wise conclusions are reached at when drugs are used effectively.Protocols and other decision making techniques have various advantages. They enable clinical practitioners to efficiently learn on how to solve clinical problems. They enable medical practitioners to forge some questions that enable them to define clinical problems at hand. They present precise scientific and systematic procedures for solving clinical problems. Moreover, they are efficient as regards to time, military campaign required, and cost. Decision trees and protocols form the foundation upon which significant k in a flashledge of particular clinical problems is evaluated. Additionally, these decision making tools help medical practitioners to consult each other concerning particular clinical problems, and they form suitable means to evaluate clinical activities.Decision trees and protocols are also beneficial to patients because they increase the probability that the patient will receive high quality care, maximum effective results from medications, and more effective medical aid. Moreover, decision trees enable the a voidance of unnecessary prescriptions and medicines thereby assuring the client that only the necessary treatment is achieved. Furthermore, these tools ensure cost-effective and standardized treatment. Below is an example of a decision tree for appendicitis (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2005)PerforatedOperate inflamedDecide now PerforatedNot operate inflamedPerforatedPatient worseInflamedPerforatedWait seven hoursPatient same Inflamed adroit systems and decision making techniques entails the clinical decision support systems CDSSs, which are computer programs devised to offer skillful support to healthcare practitioners in the making of clinical decisions. These expert systems employ integrated clinical information to enable doctors to evaluate data concerning patients thereby making relevant decisions as concerns to the diagnosis of diseases, their prevention and medication. Expert systems are available in various healthcare departments including pharmacy, dentistry, and medicine (Lighter , Fair, 2000).Many CDSSs constitute of four fundamental components. These are inference engine (IE), knowledge base (KB), working memory, and the explanation module. The inference engine is the major part of the system, and it uses the information stored in the system together with the information about the patient to make decisions concerning particular situations. Moreover, the IE manages the kind of activity that the system can initiate. For instance, it establishes the alert and reminder procedures in an alerting mechanism. Moreover, it determines the conclusions or decisions that can be displayed on the screen of the diagnostic system. The KB represents the information used by the IE. For instance, in a case of caries, the KB will present information concerning the risks for fresh lesions and their levels. Knowledge bases are created either by a domain expert or by a computerized procedure. The creation of knowledge by an engineer involves the assistance of a clinical domain s pecialist who edits and manages the KB. On the other hand, in a computerized process, information is obtained from external sources that include journal articles, books, and database using a particular computer application (Harrington, 2002).Information dispassionate concerning a patient is stored in the database or modified into a message. This forms the working memory. Patients information ranges from demographic features such as gender and date of birth, drugs in use, allergies, and previous medical problems, among other data. All CDSSs do not contain the explanation module. The explanation module serves the purpose of creating validations for the decisions made by the IE when using the information in KB against patient information within the working memory.CDSSs work in a synchronized manner in that they communicate directly with the medical practitioner who waits for the information from the system. An example of this application is one which examines interactions between drug s or likely allergies experienced by patients in response to particular prescribed medicine. When working in a synchronous approach, CDSSs carry out their rationalizations in an independent manner without the aid of any user (Gillies, 2002). For instance, the production of a reminder for a checkup or hygiene takes place independently.Clinical Decision Support Systems are categorized as either open or closed loop structures. In open-loop system, the CDSS makes decisions but it does not initiate an action on its own. Examples of open-loop systems are applications that produce alerts or reminders. The eventual decision concerning the activity to be performed is determined by the medical practitioner. On the other hand, in closed-loop systems, the system initiates the action without involving a medical practitioner.Other significant types of CDSSs include consultation systems, clinical guidelines, and event monitors. A consultation system entails situations where a medical practitioner enters information concerning a patient into the system. Information entered may include patient demographic characteristics, medical history, and physiologic diagnosis, among others. The system then lists the problems related with the situation and provides possible solutions. An event monitor, on the other hand, constitutes of software that collects all data copies accessible in electronic design within the healthcare facility and employs its knowledge base to relay alerts and reminders to medical practitioners when necessary (Lighter, Fair, 2000).Clinical instructions are integrated in the CDSSs, and they are invented by clinical experts and distributed by professional or state organizations. In this case, the clinical guidelines serve as official statements to recommend the most appropriate practices as pertains to particular clinical problems. Researchers in clinical field have invented standardized representations of information to promote the sharing of the guidelines. An example of standardized representation of information is the Guideline flip out initialize (GLIF) or Arden Syntax. Arden Syntax refers to an American National Standards Institutes (ANSI) standard used to represent quantifiable clinical information (Wager, Lee, Glaser, 2005).Arden Syntax presents decision rules known as medical logic model (MLM). Moreover, every MLM has adequate reasoning to enable it make a clinical decision. On the other hand, the Guideline Interchange Format (GLIF) constitutes of a format interpretable by the computer to enable representation of clinical practice directions invented by InterMed collaboration, which is a project carried out jointly at Stanford, McGraw, Harvard, and Columbia University laboratories (Gillies, 2002). This application serves as a language that can be used for general purposes to develop and implement clinical decision support systems, which are applied in various clinical spheres. Besides supplying recommendations for patient care, the application can be used to ensure quality and medical knowledge. Therefore, decision support systems help healthcare professionals to make relevant decisions when dealing with patient care to ensure maximum quality and safety for the patients.

Managerial accounting techniques to help them thrive

Managerial chronicle system techniques to help them thriveGlobally Hotels operators and private instructors ar relying on managerial accounting techniques to help them thrive in the highly competitive and economy recession. The critical aspect of focusing on increasing r all the sameue, minimise equal, align incentive to surgery, maximise profits level without celestial latitude in the quality of dishs r suppressered by Hoteliers are becoming evolving issues in the hospitality industry.The essence of this project is un engender how care accounting is use to come through specialised inseparable information to the Managers in Lagos airport Hotel, Lagos Nigeria that are responsible for designateing and controlling ope proportionalityns within the hotels. The types of information provided by circumspection accounting information systems and how it help the attention in their strategic planning (Short or Long term), measurement carrying out, attained the organisational str ategic objectives of increasing the owners wealth.SECTION 1-DESCRIPTION OF social clubLAGOS airdromeS HOTELS LIMITEDLagos Airport Hotel Limited, is a subsidiary of Odua Investment Company,The hotel began operation in 1942 under the ownership and management of Joseph Harold, a Brition . The hotel name was then Grand Hotel which was posterior changed Ikeja Arms was incorporated in 1961, having started business as an owner managed hotel with 5 rooms in 1942 under the name Grand Hotel, Lagos.with 5 rooms. It was renamed Ikeja Arms indian lodge in 1956 acqiured in 1959 by the Government of Western region of Nigeria comprises of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti States in 1959 and incorporated as Lagos Airport Hotel in 1961.As at today the hotels had giving from 5 rooms in 1942 to 277 rooms consist of of , presidential suites , Monarchical Suite, Executive Suites, Presidential Suites, Executive/Business Suites, Standard/Executive Double, six convocation halls well-secured car parks, t wo international Restaurants four Bars and an Olympic-sized Swimming Pool.The hotel under the leadership of Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh , has over five hundred highly professional staff with extra two subsidiaries hotels namely Lafia Hotel and Premier Hotel Ibadan.The hotel strategic vision is to be the preferred choice for customers in the Nigerias hospitality industry. and mission statement is to passionately deliver effectual and catering gos at competitive and affordable prices. In Peat survey 2009 the Airport is rated among the best top hotels in Nigeria and among the first leading hospitality companies in Lagos State. is rated among the best top 20 hotels in Nigeria.SECTION 2COST BEHAVIOUR digestHOTEL BUSINESS OPERATION AND COST BEHAVIOUR ANALYSISHOTEL accounting STRUCTURE AND LAGOS drome HOTEL EXPERIENCEThe hotel business operation globally is characterised with a build of different cyclical gross gross revenue cycles which includes daily run cycle, each week , seasional c ycle and general business cycle(Reccession). The Lagos airport hotels is non expempted from the above cyclical business patterned. Significantly, these various cyclical operation in hotel create a uncomparable difficulties in forecasting revenue and apostrophize.Secondly , hospitality operation are People oriented and people- driven, it is much difficult to effectively automate and control live than it is on other non hospitality business sector2.1 COST BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSISLagos Airport Hotel operations tend to be highly departimised with separate direct(a) division/unit that provide accommodation/lodging, Restaurants Bar services, Conference Banquest, Etc . Consequently the hotel accounting systems are designed to allow an independent evaluation of each operating(a) department or division.To this end, cost directly traceable to a department are determine as direct cost, typically major direct cost in hotels includes cost of gross revenue( aliments drinks), salary wages, operating supplies e.g Soap, Toilet tissue paper etc . After direct cost are determined they are deducted from revenue to sequestrate contri exactlyory income which re point the depts or division contribution to support undistributed general over calculates.As in their practice indirect cost are non easily traceable to a department and referred to as undistributed costsOne of the arguments in favour of allocating indirect expenses to department is that aithough department managers are not responsible for controlling those costs, they should be aware of what portion of them is related to their department since this could have an impact on departmental conclusion reservation such(prenominal) as establishing room rates, foods and other service selling prices at a level that covers all costs not just direct cost.When this type of Full -cost accounting is implemented in a responsibility accounting system , it allows a manager to know the total minimum revenue that must be generated t o cover all costs even though the control of some of those costs is not their responsility.Nevertheless in that location are mistake as regard the direct costs, controllable costs, indirect costs and non controllable cost. The assertion that say direct costs are generally to a greater extent easily controlled than indirect costs but (Salome 2009) argued that in the long run all costs are controllable by someone at sometimes2.2 RELEVANT NON RELEVANT COST thought AND APPLICATION IN HOTELThe theory of relevant and non relevant cost is widely used in hospitality cost management( ) the application is use for variety of determination making.A relevant cost is one that affect conclusiveness and such a cost must be in the future and different between alternatives. For example The Lagos airport is shell outing to introduce online booking with ATM Payment portal, the relevant cost would be the cost of web solution, ATM Machine, the cost of training employees on the new solutions and any change in maintenance and material supply costs on the new solution/machine. As long as no change is necessary in the number of staff required, the hotel labor cost would not be relevant cost and it would make no difference to the decisionOn cost behaviour Most hotels have a high proportion of fixed cost which are not expected to change in the short run of an operating completion og a year or less and will not vary with increases or decrease in sales revenue, examples are management salaries, insurance or committed cost of an advertising campaign ,So this type of costs are not relevant for decision makingVariable cost on the hand change in direct proportion to a change in sales revenue for example the more foods and drink sold, the more cost of sales incurredThe usefulness of relevant cost , non relevant cost, fixed , variable, sunk cost etc in hotel business help the managers in making the following types of decisionAllocation of indirect costs to revenue unit/deptWhich types of equipment should they buyWhether to sell below total cost?Whether hotel should be closely during off season? As the cost of low -activity characterises hotel sectorsWhich coronation/business should they buyMake or buy decision makingAlot moreIn the airport hotel activity -based cost is not broadly used while target costing has squat adoption level. But standard costing is most popular costing used in the hotel2.3 MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM AND DECISION MAKING IN HOTEL A RELATIVE ILLUSTRATIVE STUDY OF LAGOS AIRPORT HOTELThe business success of the business depends to a very large extent upon the capacity of top management to develop the appropriate strategies in a number of issues which conform to the business corporate strategic goalsThe hotels have typically diverse level of decision making. Management at each level takes decision that are within its capability and responsibilityFor each level of decision making management accounting system has been found to provide appropria tes information required for management decision making.To be specific the management accounting information system was found to be helpful to the hotel management to formulate and executeStrategies concerned with mass and capacityStrategies for assessing the relative profitability of division/ department or revenue areaStrategies for pricing in condition of hotel space capacityStrategies for selecting product/service range where there are capacity or other constraints.Marginal costing is used by the hotels for cost structure and pricing decision. The marginal costing is mainly used for short-term planning, while activity based costing is the favoured costing method for long term strategic planning.The cost -volume -profit approach to decision (e.g Breakeven analysis) are widely produces to assist management in decision making . this assist them in evaluating current and future events regarding sales revenue in electric current and cost out hunt price volume profit analysis(CVP) co st are separated into variable and fixed componenets. They are then used to make informed and perspicacious decisionTABLE SHOWING Break even salesBreak even sales equitation for Loding unit for 2009(See Financal hilghlight week6 project outline)The fixed costs(FC) are N197,702 , sales revenue N568,900 and variable cost (VC) are N63,968 .what is breakeven sales revenue?The break even point(BEP)= Fixed cost(Sales revenue Variable cost)= 197,702(2053-230)BEP = 108 Rooms per day.Fig2 Break even revenueFC / 1-(variable cost/sales revenue)197702/ 1- (N63,968/N568,900)197,702/88.7% = N222,888CVP analysis is a logical extension of breakeven analysis in hotels business it is used to make the following decision among others.At what level of sales revenue will operating income be TARTGETD INcme may be 700,000,000How much must sales revenue increase to cover a new fixed costIf room rates are changes, what will be the effect on rooms sold?Whether to give bulk discounts or not?New investment d ecisionSECTION 3BUDGETING PROCESSING REVIEWBUDGETING AND BUDGETARY PROCESS OVERVIEW IN HOTEL INDUSTRYThe objectives of organisation will be faciliatated by the implementation of an efficient ciphering, this because the whole essence of budgeting is to ensure that the allocation of resources is palnned to avoid waste and promote profitabilityFor hotel managers to make meaningful decision intimately future, a manager must look ahead(Budget) Antril. P Mclaney.E (2009)Martin Micheal (2004) argued that for hotel or restaurant operators or manger the budget might be no more than looking ahead to tomorrow, estimating how many guests per night , estimating how many customers will eat in the restaurant etcBudgets not expressed in monetary terms could involve meter of guest to be served, number of rooms to be occupied, number of employees required, or some other unit as opposed to monetary valueAgara(2007), Martin Micheal (2004) identified the three main purposes of budgeting in hotels businessTo provide organised estimates of future unit sales, sales revenues, expenses, net income, staffing requirements or equipment needs, broken blue by operating period and departmentTo provide management with long-term and short term goals.To provide a method of control so that actual results can be evaluated against budget plans and adjustments, if necessary can be madeThe budgetary cycle or process is a five part process that involved the follows point attainable goals or objectivePlan to achieve these goals or objectivesCompare actual results with those planned , and analyse the difference(variance)Take corrective action required emend the effectiveness of budgetingThe starting point in budgeting is to forecast sales revenue, in hotel operation in forecasting the mnager usually considered past actual sales revenue and disregards, current judge trends and the economic, competitive and limiting factors.Once the sales revenue had been forecast, direct operating expenses can be calculated based on anticipated sales level and undistributed expenses allocated or deducted to arrive at the net income.The various types of budgets include fixed, flecible, capital budget, operating , departmental,master budget etcZero based budgeting (ZBB) this budget is found useful for controlling and controlling hotel operation, as the name implies no expenses can be budgeted for or incurred unless they are jusitified in advance. ZBB requires each department head to jusitify in advance the entire yearly budget froma zero base. The department manager responsible for the cost prepare the analysis. After each department or division is anakysed , management ranks all decision unit and the final budget is allocated according to this rankingThe variance analysis is useful tools for budgetary control as it is used for isolating the cause of difference between budgeted and actual figures.SECTION 4FIRM PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS4.0 LAGOS AIRPORT HOTELS FINANCIAL STATEMENT AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSISThe financial report present merely a stewardship report . if the information is to have real meaning both(prenominal) to the management and other users of the report, it must be subjected to a process of analysis and interpretation.To do this, various stastics yardstick or analytical tools like ration analysis, comparative analysis, common size vertical analyisi , trend analysis/ percentage can be used. balance analysis is concerning with expressing relationship between inputs and output, the objective of ratio analysis is to construct a framework of such relationship which are important for the success of the company.One part of this framework bring together all these aspect of the business which contribute to profitability both fot the company and owners, another part of the framework assesses the liquidity of the hotel, the remaining part reflect the hotels standing or viability for the future.Table Lagos Airport Hotel financial performance Anaysis for 5 years200920082 00720062005Profitability RatioGross profit Ratio or Margin63.5%46.5%51.8%68%67.6Net profit ratio or margin17.2%1.3%4.3%17.4%15.7% afford on Capital employed63.7%3.9%12.3%43.1%61.1%Liquidity / Investment RatioCurrent Ratio1.211.311.3411.3712.051Gearing Ratio103%91.4%91.7%93.549%Total Debt to shareholder fund193%169%171%166%156.8%Earning per share2.470.140.421.51.25CommentsGross profit ratio which indicates the gross margin on sales in a period is steadly show a sign of meliorated 2009 from downward slope that occurred between 2008 2007, however the gross profit ratio needs purifymentThe net income ratio and return on capital which indicates a relative efficiency of the hotels business and overall profitability of the business is worrisome even with 17.3% for net return 63.7 ROCE for 2009 the performance is still far below expected returns level and it glaring that the hotel has been performance in term of profitability badly. For the hotel to remain operation for the nearest featu res it must be profitable and liquid. The system to adopt here is for the hotels managemenet to reduce its operational cost, improve revenue per guests,rates of occupany and innovate a new products or service that can improve revenue and profitability stream.The liquidity position of the hotel is far below ratio 21 recomended for healthy company, liquidity ratio measure the ability of a firm to meet its short -term obligations and reflect short term financial strength of the firm while the gearing ratio is extremely high as the company operation is funded from debts and depend on borrowed fund for expansion which is very vulerabilty to earning of shareholders and poses a possibility of take -over or bankcruptcy.The overall trend analysis for the hotel(see apendix2) provides uselful discernment into some of the factors that might contributed to this aweful financial positionInterestingly, many individual operating ration are specifically available for hospitality industries which f ocus on internal operation like rooms/accommodation, Foods Beverage analysis and decision making. Some of these analysis includes but not limited to income per guests for each division, costs per guest by items, foods and or beverage cost percentage, labor cost percentage average foods or beverage dollar/Naira by meals period and by revenue areas, pose turnover by meals period etcIn the rooms or lodgimg division average rate per occupied room, revenue per available room (REVPAR) , Occupancy percentage, annual revenue per room, labour cost percentage etcThe internal analysis of the above influenced the management decision making in term of improve sales level, directing efforts into selling higher priced rooms rather than lower priced, increasing rate of occupancy percentage or average room rate.On the impact of success critical factor(CSF) on the financial performance, the monetary indicators, grosss operating profit per available room was usedSECTION 5 chapiter INVESTMENT ANAL YSIS5.0 CAPITAL BUDGETING TECHNIQUES IN HOTEL INDUSTRYThe largest investment that hotel or food seervice business has to make is in the land and building (Martin Micheal 2004) . The hotels management also make frequent investment decision for items such as equipment, furniture purchases and replacement. Due to elongated life time and colossal of capital outlays entail for capital investment, management espoused a more pragmatic approach and use appropriate capital investment control methodology to ensure right capital investment decision makingthither are hazard in making capital investment, the hazards can be seldom be eliminated but there are techniques available that allow the manager to reduce some of the quessworkThe Lagos Airport hotels use Pay prickle period and net present value, rn as a tools to guide investment decisionA Case study of capital investment decision making in Lagos Airport HotelA typical capital investment decision techniques is the Lagos airport hotel was con templating of improve the restaurant services and planning to purchase a new type of oven and other modern kitchen apparatus. Or invest in Cinema or Casio Opertaion The hotel management is provided with two alternative investment option to choose from with their annual net cash inflows over the five -year investment periodYearOtption1- Restaurant gainOption2- New Cinema Casio Centre11,200,000630,00021,290,000870,00031,320,0001,275,00041,230,0001,725,0005615,0001,815,000The initial investment outlay of N4,950,000NPV is at 12%, Would either of them be a good investment for the hotel?SolutionOption 1 -Restaurant improvementNet cash flowsCumulative net cash flowsYear 0Cost investment(4,950,000)(4,950,000)Year1Net Saving1,200,000(3,750,000) (-4,950,000 + 1,200,000)Year 2Net livery in the lead Dep1,290,000(2,460,000) (-3,750,000 +1,290,000)Year 3Net redemptive before Dep1,320,000(1,140,000 ) (-2,460,000+ 1,320,000)Year4Net saving before Dep1,230,00090,000 (-1,140,000 +1,230,000)Year5N et saving before Dep615,000705,000 ( 90,000+ 615,000)Option 1 Payback period = 3 years, 11 months plus 4 daysOption 2 -New Cinema CASINO CENTRENet cash flowsCumulative net cash flowsYear 0Cost investment(4,950,000)(4,950,000)Year1Net Saving before Dep630,000(4,320,000) (-4,950,000 + 630,000)Year 2Net saving before Dep870,000(3,450,000) (-4,320,000 +870,000)Year 3Net saving before Dep1,275,000(2,175,000 ) (-3,450,000+ 1,275,000)Year4Net saving before Dep1,725,000(450,000) (-2,175,000 +1,725,000)Year5Net saving before Dep1,815,0001,365,000 ( -450,000+ 1,815,000)Option 2 Payback period = 4 years, 3 monthsThe analysis above showed option 1 have a shorter pay back period and logic of using pay back period is that projects that can recoup their cost quickly are economically more attractive than those with time-consuming payback(Antrill Mclaney 2009) so Option 1 is to be selected based on pay period methods.The major drawback o9f pay back period is that it ignore cash flow after the pay back period and it does not take time value of money(Effect of inflation/ interest /risk etc) into considerationNET PRESENT VALUE(NPV)Net present value methods of appraisal consider all of the costs and benefits of each investment opportunity and make a logical allowance for the timing of those costs and benefitsThe NPV is consider better among all other investment appraisal techniques because of cashflow timming recognition, uses of all relevant cash flow and meet the objective of the business which to increase owners wealthLAGOS AIRPORT HOTEL USING NPV METHODOPTION1 -Restaurant ImprovementNPVOption 2 New Cinema Casino centreTimeCash flowNNPV (12%)Cash flowNNPVYear0(4,950,000)(4,950,00)(4,950,000)(4,950,00)Year11,200,0000.89291,071,480630,000562,527Year 21,290,0000.79721,028,388870,000693,564Year 31,320,0000.7118939,5751,275,000907,545Year 41,230,0000.6355781,6651,725,0001,096,238Year 5615,0000.5066311,5591,815,000919,479-817,333-770,647Here we must ask how can management finali se which option or project is acceptable, judging by NPV decision which stated thatIf the NPV is positive the project should be accepted, if it is negative the project should be jiltedIf there are two (or more) competing projects/options that have positive NPVs, the project with higher (or highest) should be selected.In this case of Lagos Airport hotel non of the two option is Negative and it should be rejected unless management has other non financial benefits attached with options which may still at long run contribute to the actualisation of the hotels strategic goals.SECTION 6 emulous ANALYSISCOMPETITIVE ANALYSISAs usual for business environment in the hotel industry is a highly competitvive, and Lagos Hotels Limited found itself in a such competitive based marketing segment with more than 5000 operators in the market. Significantly the hotels has the followings 7 majors/ market leaders to complete withSheraton Hotels Tower, Pretoria Hotels, federal Palace Hotels, Lagos Hilto n Hotel, Excellence Hotel, PVC Hotels and Reassurance HotelsThe core keys advantages of competitors in Comparism with Lagos airport range from their location advantage(Most of them located in Victoria and ikoyi areas of Lagos that accommodation the major businesses in Nigeria) multinational Operations advantage, 21st century well designed architectural building , modern facilities luxury, Branding, high Price advantages, innovation program ( node Loyalty Program) etcThe major advantages of Lagos airport is strategic location in the ikeja but with old building structuresNext to Lagos is Victoria Island, which takes while to get to, about 2hrs, this is because of the amount of traffic and chaos on the roads, also some of the roads are in a bit of a mess, pot holes that can swallow you without trace. Victoria island is modern, and the Hotel Eco is very good, but costs 250 GBP per night note the Sheraton in Lagos is also modern and costs 300-350 per night, bottled water in the Eco wa s 4, but if you are spending 250 a night who cares, you must keep up drinking water in this heat. These hotels do cost more than a London Hotel, but then there is no where else decent apart from Lagos Airport Hotel. Note the Airport Hotel was 100 per night, I booked at the desk where ther is a written price sheet on the wall, you will have to put down a security deposit but you do get this back at the end of your stay.SECTION 7 equilibrise SCORECARDAPPLICATION OF BALANCED SCORED CARD FRAMEWORK (A CASE STUDY OF LAGOS AIRPORT HOTEL)Balanced lineup as the name suggested offers a more balance view of a firms or of a managers performance by intergrating both financial and non financial information in a coherent fashion .This overcomes one of the obvious defects of traditional performance measurement systems which places undue emphasis on historical financial information.For long term effective and efficient performance, oddly in hotel enterprise, the information related to service quality, introduction of new products, service, additional supply, entrance on new market, the competitor performance and human capital relation management is vital.Goardana Mateja also empaciated the need for balanced score card application in hotel indsutry The hotels operations are oriented towards people and to that end their financial performance depends on the behaviour and manners of hotels employees, the learning of new products and service and as the most important , guest satisfactionIn Lagos airport hotel use it to implement strategies of a change/ restructing in management programme undergo in 2009Apart from using it to create a link between the performance measurement indicators and hotel strategies, Management use it to communicate strategy to both managers and staff.At operational level the Balance scored card are use to align employess efforts with those reuired for successful strategic implementation However, successful implementation of a balanced add-in is not a trivial matters especially for hotels like Lagos Airport Hotels that is Government owned which make some top management particular date political in nature. Apart from this balanced scored concept is simple but it implementation is found to be time consuming and costly task especially to hotel like Lagos Airport with weak financial resources and manpower to support the practice of this new management concept in the longrun.Table Lagos Airport Hotel Balanced scorecardHotel Management Balanced ScorecardManaging the day to day activities of a hotel can be facilitated with the help of KPIs. KPIs, on a BSC are the means to attain the end of Measuring functioning. Such tool can be used when umpteen external and internal forces have a bearing on the organiPerspectivePerformanceFinancial Perspective53.63%Customer Perspective65.56%Efficiency29.67%Staff perspective65.78%Total Performance54.85%Scorecard includes 4 categories, 17 indicatorsStrategy tree and scorecard details PerspectiveGo alWeight(x of 10)DescriptionPerformance(%)MeasureunitTargetValuesFinancial Perspective353.63%Wage cost as a % of total sales3It refers to wage cost as a % of total sales of the hotel.40%%0%Annual operating profit per room3It refers to annual operating profit per room available in the hotel.10000$25000Food cost as a % of food sales240%%0%% increase in labor costs220%%0%Total Performance in assemblyFinancial Perspective53.63%Customer Perspective365.56%Number of positive feedbacks3It refers to number of positive feedbacks received from the customers (on a scale of 1 to 10).9Score10Number of complaints received2It refers to number of complaints received from the customers regarding the services provided by hotel (on a scale of 1 to 10).3Score10Response rate3Metric is not available in trial version1minutes1Frequent customers as a % of total customers2Metric is not available in trial version30%%100%Total Performance in groupCustomer Perspective65.56%Efficiency229.67%% of room booked thro ugh reservation channels2It refers to % of room booked through reservation channels hold by the hotel.25%%100%Internet bookings2indicates the % of bookings received through internet services.30%%100%Room occupancy2Metric is not available in trial version60%%100%Rate of sales inquiry conversion2Metric is not available in trial version30%%60%Average length of stay2Metric is not available in trial version2days4Total Performance in groupEfficiency29.67%Staff perspective265.78%Staff turn