Intellectual capital has become a key asset - Free Essay Example

The Ability to Learn Faster than your competitors may be only sustainable competitive advantage There is less to fear from outside competition then from inside inefficiency, miscalculation, lack of knowledge. Beat your competitors with the knowledge edge! Train your staff! ÂÂ  A person who graduated yesterday and stops studying today is uneducated tomorrow Competitive Strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals to deliver a unique mix of value. Michael E Porter Competitive Advantage is the Base for any Successful Business Strategies of Companies. We can create this competitive advantage through many routes. One such route is Knowledge Management. Why do we require Competitive Advantage? Competitive Advantage is required to have an edge over the competitors for attracting customers and protecting itself from the competitors. Companies need to Invest on Knowledge Management for creating sustainable competitive advantage which is the most dependable contributor to above-average profitability. In ever changing market place, where only certainty is uncertainty, corporate success come from consistently creating, disseminating and using new knowledge. Globalization, transformation of the enterprise, emergence of digital firm, and transformation of industrial economies are four powerful worldwide changes which have altered the business environment .Today business view is shifting from a product-centric to a knowledge-centr ic view. Companies cannot afford to under invest in using, reusing and losing knowledge that they already have. In this rapidly changing business environment, intellectual capital has become a key asset of the enterprise. The ability of companies to exploit their intangible assets has become far more decisive than their ability to invest and manage their physical assets .By managing its knowledge assets, an enterprise can improve its competitiveness and adaptability and increase its chances of success. Organizations are discovering that they need to do a better job of capturing, distributing, sharing, preserving, securing, and valuing this precious knowledge in order to stay ahead of their competition .Changing business environment has created need for the effective and efficient knowledge management. India can not lag behind in this knowledge revolution hence many Indian companies have started their knowledge management programs. This has initiated a basis for this study to be c arried out to understand knowledge management in Indian organization. This paper is part of larger study which I had undertaken to study KM in Indian organizations. Knowledge Life Cycle Model Defining Knowledge and Knowledge Management Knowledge is a whole set of intuition, reasoning, insights, experiences related to customers, products, processes, markets, competition and so on that enable effective action. Knowledge Management is a systematic, organized, explicit and deliberate ongoing process of creating, disseminating, applying, renewing and updating the knowledge for achieving organizational objectives . Knowledge management has three basic elements: 1. Generation of new knowledge 2. Dissemination of the knowledge 3. Application of the knowledge Basic Knowledge Processes WORLD ORGANIZATION OUTCOME Individual /Team Community Acquire Produce Integrate Knowledge Organizational Information/ Knowledge Learning Knowledge Training Validate Instruct/present Research or create knowledge. Published new Or knowledge Structure/Store Patented Knowledge. Information Expose to best Practices. Share Knowledge. A checklist for unlocking corporate knowledge 1. Business needs-and the kinds of knowledge required to fulfill them have to be identified first before tools and processes are implemented. Many initiatives have failed where technology has dictated knowledge management (KM). 2. Successful KM is about shifting culture and behavior-technology is an important element, but is subsidiary. Data Information Knowledge Action Results Technology Business Value Approach Approach SUPPLY DEMAND The DIKAR Model 3. A basic mechanism in large organizations is also one of the most effective: keeping tabs on who knows what-and how to get in touch with them. 4. Though improving, KM tools are often too complicated: they have to be delivered in a way executives and staff want to use them, and to adapt to the areas/depth of knowledge needed by the individual. 5. Markets, customers, technology and competition are continually changing; knowledge gets stale fast. Is the KM framework able to handle change? 6. Can the organization track whether knowledge is being acted on, and what value is gained from it? Even where knowledge flows quite efficiently round an organization, companies can often do more to ensure information is acted on. 7. Is there a means to learn from experience- good and bad-and share that learning when a similar situation occurs? A vast amount of resource is wasted in corporations just by unwittingly repeating the same mistakes, or failing to repeat useful discoveries. 8. Who leads KM? Many large organizations now have a dedicated head of KM, or at least a high-ranking sponsor, to ensure the right collaborative environment. 9. Bulletin boards and web logs have begun to prove their worth to a range of organizations: they supply an instant exchange of learning or can be used by executives to communicate and keep their ear to the ground. 10. You can only get people to volunteer knowledge-you cant force it. However, firms that provide forums, tools and opportunities for informal networking can encourage employees actively to share knowledge. Leveraging three types of knowledge Knowledge Knowledge Manage Phase As Body Of As Know-How Know How Informations M the Individual The Team NATURE Explicit Tacit Tacit OF Codifiable Personal Fluid KNOWLEDGE Is can play a part Diffuse Dependent on Packaged team dynamics Diffuse KM ISSUES Finding it Establishing Formal management Validation suitable extraction of essentially free-form Value assessment processes activity Obtaining it at Tight ownership Establishing suitable Reasonable cost Reluctance to impart frameworks and processes Integration with Motivation and reward Members own Own system Experiential so hard perception of their role Making available to to encode Mutual trust need The right population Trust 100% buy-in In the right form Finding suitable way Formal learning Sensible of technology of passing on learning mechanisms Ensuring subsequent Limited role for Dissemination Beneficial use technology Creating and using Knowledge repositories Technology has a Background role COMMON Knowledge about Knowledge (knowing it exists and where: KM ISSUES it s context and hence its importance) Understanding the relevant business context Ownership and buy-in to KM processes Updating and reuse of knowledge Demonstrating causal link between KM activity and business benefit The Indian Pharmaceutical industry The Indian pharmaceutical industry represents a successful high technology based industry, which has witnessed consistent growth over the last three decades. It is the 14th largest in the world accounting for a market of US$ 2.5 billion and 4th largest market by volume. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has developed enough capabilities to make the country self sufficient in health care needs and its export ability makes it a strategic trade sector in the Indian economy. The Indian pharmaceutical industry exports generic drugs to CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries, Africa, and recently to the highly regulated US and European markets. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is characterized by a low degree of concentration; a large number of firms with similar market shares, a low level of RD intensity ratios with a high level of brand proliferation. The need and incentive for innovation was undermined by low purchasing capability of the domestic market along with the ea se of imitation and horizontal product differentiation; features that are representative of an industry behind the technological frontier . The growth of the Indian industry was very slow till 1970. The Patent Act of 1972 and government investment in the drug industry infused life into the domestic pharmaceutical industry. The Act removed the product patents for pharmaceuticals, food and agro-chemicals, allowing patents only for production processes. The statutory term was shortened to seven years on pharmaceutical patents and automatic licensing put in place. It started the era of reverse engineering where firms developed new products by changing their production processes. During the last three decades the large private Indian pharmaceutical firms focused their efforts on reverse engineering oriented process RD, and activity was limited to applying known knowledge, or to making small adjustments in the contents . A few public laboratories under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) also operated in pharmaceutical RD, specifically imitative process RD. Production technologies were well mastered and the lag period between the launch of a new product in its first market and India was thus reduced, in some cases as low as two years. The Indian pharmaceutical industry represents a successful case of indigenous self-reliant development. But the objective of indigenization rather than innovation made RD in Indian pharmaceutical firms more insular, with a knowledge base firmly rooted in imitative reverse engineering process RD. As a result Indian pharmaceutical firms have accumulated extensive knowledge in process RD (synthetic and organic chemistry) but severe weakness in other scientific disciplines like medicinal chemistry and biology. The ease of imitation in reverse engineering further resulted in intense competition among Indian firms for market share, hampering the development of a collaborative web of networks of research institut es, academia and industry . The lack of trust resulting from the weak regulatory environment further prevented the development of research networks. The 1972 Patent Act therefore changed the pattern of competition towards volume / price led competition rather than traditional pharmaceutical competition based on the development of new medical treatments. From 1970 onwards Indian pharmaceutical firms slowly started dominating the domestic market reducing the market share and influence of Western companies. Today the market share of domestic firms is around 60-70% compared to 10% in 1970 . With the signing of WTO agreements, specifically TRIPS in 1994, the Indian industry and market structure is poised to change. In a product patent regime, Indian firms will have to look for new sources of growth in the future and the biggest source will be productive RD, which can deliver patentable innovations. Knowledge Management in Pharmaceutical Industry Pharmaceutical companies need kno wledge management solutions that allow users to store, analyze, interpret and share information as part of coordinated processes. They must also provide ways to collect and manage diverse information, and use it effectively to support decision-making. This means not only text documents, but also non-text files such as molecular structures, gene sequence alignments, images, results tables, entry forms and other information. It also includes links to key internal and external resources, discussion items, key e-mails, external search results, and status and summary reports. The sheer volume of information companies must wrestle with in the course of developing new drugs. Advances in biological and chemical research techniques have caused an explosion in raw data by several orders of magnitude. This compels companies to obtain automated analytic systems to deal with such large portfolios of data. It has also placed a priority on developing and offering timely access to summary inform ation. This requires a range of knowledge, project and portfolio management tools that promote deposition, sharing and coordination, such as: workflows, task lists, intelligent agents, portals at the personal, project and departmental level, advanced query tools, intranet spiders, etc., all of which can be tied together as part of an integrated knowledge management solution. Life science companies, collaborative software tool vendors, and industry consultants all seem to hold out great hope for this something call knowledge management. The reason is simple: With such massive data overload in the life sciences, companies realize it is to their advantage to find better ways to deal with and use this information. To use knowledge as a strategic advantage, life science companies take one of three broad approaches, which can be generically described as follows: Help scientists know whats already been done and by whom = Extract information, relationships, or new insights from exi sting diverse data sources = Capture the expertise and intellectual property of scientists One approach in using knowledge management is to give researchers a means to better understand whats already been done and who did it. A number of knowledge management projects aim to provide scientists and managers with tools that help them stay informed about what is going on within the company. This helps prevent researchers from duplicating a completed experiment or following a nonproductive path that has already been rejected. The worst-case scenario one that happens far too frequently is for a researcher to spend six months eliminating a particular drug candidate, only to find that a colleague had already drawn the same conclusion. Informing researchers that a co-worker is interested in the same topic is one way to avoid such duplication. Such an approach can also reap other benefits namely, time savings. Importance of Knowledge Management in Pharmaceutical Life Sciences Ind ustry The only sustainable competitive advantage of a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company is the organizations ability to efficiently create, protect and commercialize new intellectual property. Leadership in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry is less and less about day-to-day clinical testing, manufacturing or sales. While many pharmaceutical companies have extensive expertise in those functions, similar expertise can obtained by contracted out to specialized organizations as CROs. The key competitive advantage for firms is the research and development of new intellectual property that forms the basis of successful research, manufacturing and distribution activities. New intellectual property not only includes the development of new chemical entities that can become INDs; it includes manufacturing techniques, regulatory compliance programs, marketing program design, and so forth. The active sharing of the knowledge held within the organization is essential if n ew intellectual property is to be quickly commercialized and with have a high degree of commercial success. Reducing time-to-market depends on knowledge management. At the same time, knowledge management is necessary to avoid repeated explorations of dead-ends unless knowledge of failures is shared, failures are repeated. Globalization Issues In RD Globalization of research and development requires collaboration across time zones and language barriers. The explicit focus of knowledge management on the sharing and use of knowledge can act to bridge diverse research and development teams. Few industries span the world in their research activities, as does the pharmaceutical industry. Lead synthesis, identification, validation, animal testing, formulation, and human testing can occur in a variety of nations. Sharing of knowledge also has applicability to manufacturing and marketing. The need for global uniformity in good manufacturing practices requires that personnel involved in that aspect exchange ideas to assure the highest quality production. While marketing channels differ across markets, knowledge from one market can have applicability in other, if only to avoid costly errors. Manpower Turnover The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry is in a period of rapid change, and employee turnover is increasing due to new opportunities. It is also important that organizational knowledge does not leave with an employee the control aspects of knowledge management can act as an additional safeguard. High turnover of skilled scientists and other experts requires knowledge management in order to retain the key output of professionals: their own increase in knowledge from working within an organization. Every time a professional leaves an organization, they take with them the increase in their own knowledge that occurred during their tenure. Unless active steps are taken to extract that knowledge, synthesize and share it, so that it can be used, organizations lose the most important aspect of an employees contribution. Knowledge Management Solutions Its Challenges While the industry is driving the development of new knowledge management solutions (And finding better solutions to choose from), the industrys biggest challenge is increasingly the user. Many of the human-factor challenges (and costs) of moving to a knowledge management system come from the industrys long dependence on paper and paper processes. Pharmaceutical companies have very detailed, document intensive processes and approval procedures which, when combined with strict FDA rules and the common human-factor challenges, are a bad mix in a very high-stakes game. The biggest issues are proper use of systems to ensure compliance and user acceptance. Access Rights Pharmaceutical companies must have to ensure that only authorized and expected people can access records, and that any actions that they take which impact the records in any way are captured in an audit trail. When it comes to electronic signatures, FDA rules are very strict, so companies must carefully manage who can apply an electronic signature through workflows and password authentication to apply a signature. But they must also make sure that management staff understands that an e-signature is equivalent to signing in ink. Password policies should require that staff acknowledge this. In addition, a system that adds an image of a managers signature to a record, while not required under FDA regulations, reinforces that message. The other major factor is the tendency for employees to write down their passwords, and sometimes share them with colleagues. Rigorous password policies are a necessity to prevent this, but companies must find ways to constantly reinforce the message with employees. User Friendliness Critical information comes from the lab, so pharmaceutical companies must ensure that its easy for lab workers to use and contribute to a knowledge management system, while working in their unique environment. Systems must offer features that allow workers to add data by simple drag-and-drop, or preferably by automatic agents that capture key information and transfer it to the system without extra effort. Ultimately, these workers have to recognize that depositing information into the system is part of their job, like using a lab notebook. But systems can be designed to offer lab workers added value to encourage use of the system. For example, a comprehensive listing of hyperlinks to all available databases and application tools is helpful, but this can be extended by providing online discussion groups and training manuals. A lab protocol repository covering standard and company lab methods and procedures may also be attractive to lab workers, while also serving corporate goals. Th is would include being able to find methods used by other workers in the company to accomplish specific experimental tasks, and ways to search for recognized experts across the company. The Transformation Process of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry from Imitative to Innovative RD Structure In case of pharmaceutical RD, the process and product RD capabilities can be differentiated on the basis of complexities of knowledge base as basic, intermediate and advance level. Based on Bell and Pavit (1992), a basic level innovative capability is taken here as an ability to make minor adaptations to production and assimilate technology to firms environment. Intermediate innovative capability refers to the ability to generate incremental technical change in product design, quality and production processes, it also includes ability to search and evaluate external sources of technology. Advanced innovative capability refers to the ability to generate new products and process innovations. Knowledge base is categorized as simple and complex based on the nature of technological challenges involved in development of products and capabilities to develop those products. Traditionally, pharmaceutical RD has two distinct phases; product research and later, process development for prod uction. Process development occurs in parallel with the product development and is responsible for producing the compound in relatively large quantities, in extremely pure form, at an economically feasible cost and by following all the regulatory requirements. Product development research has two distinct components; discovery and development. In the discovery stage, drug molecules are obtained, screened and promising lead compounds are selected for development. The development stage involves a series of tests to determine safety, efficacy and proper dosage strength and form. The discovery stage represents the innovative phase in the pharmaceutical product RD. Learning or Absorptive Capacity Own R D Technological Knowledge External Knowledge Model of Sources of firms technological knowledge (Source: Cohen and Levinthal, 1990) In case of process RD, the capabilities in reverse engineering, generics RD and new drug delivery systems are mapped as basic, intermediate a nd innovative. Reverse engineering involves copying the manufacturing process using indigenous sources of technology while generic RD includes producing the product with non-infringing and innovative processes. New drug delivery system (NDDS) involves the development of technology to introduce a drug at diseased site in a novel way. New drug delivery system research has definitive and well defined boundaries of complexities. It represents an advance level of capability in terms of formulation research part of the process RD. In case of product RD analogue research, new target or new leads and original NCE research can be characterized as basic, intermediate and advanced level capabilities. Analogue research involves the modification of existing molecule which can provide better efficacy or reduce the side effects of existing molecules. This research involves use of already discovered molecules and targets so the requirements of skills in lead optimization or target validation are limited in it. The intermediate capability in product RD represented by new target or new leads requires higher skills than analogue research. The novelty in terms of new leads or new targets will demand deep knowledge about areas like structure activity relationship. Finally the total original research will involve putting up whole new hypothesis about the disease and its treatment. It will require in-depth knowledge about biological and chemical aspect of disease as well as skills in areas like target validation and lead optimization. In case of a pharmaceutical firm, the product platform can be at many levels. For example, an aggregated classification of a pharmaceutical firm may be as an organic or inorganic molecule form. The other dimension involves the breadth of disease segments targeted. A firm could pursue only organic molecules for say two or three diseases or alternatively it can be one diseased focused firm. The analysis of innovative Indian pharmaceutical fir ms capabilities in process and product RD suggests that in terms of process RD, firm B has acquired advance level of capability in process RD while other firms are at intermediate level. In terms of product RD, firm A has acquired the capabilities to conduct research involving new leads or new molecules whereas other firms are at analogue research stage. This classification of process and product RD capabilities assist in tracking the intricacies involved in transformation of capabilities to move from imitative process RD capability (reverse engineering RD) to innovative process and product capabilities. The difference of knowledge base, organisational processes and capabilities required in imitative RD and innovative RD shows that firm having advance level competencies in imitative process RD may start with no or basic level capabilities in innovative product RD. Innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms have developed basic level of process RD capabilities through imitative RD and as a response to change in patent law innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms are moving towards the development of advance level process and product RD capabilities. This movement involved integration of existing capabilities with newly acquired knowledge but crucially it also involved the unlearning of non-relevant capabilities or rigidities. How Reverse engineering Resulted scientists in discovery of R D? The success in imitative RD drew on branches of chemistry like synthetic chemistry, organic chemistry and basic pharmacology. Firms in their RD laboratories employed organic and synthetic chemist who could reverse engineered any molecule or developed efficient and cheap processes for any patent protected molecule. However, the innovative RD is about motivating scientists to think out of box or think differently in novel and creative way. For example if there is anti-diabetic molecule already in the market, then discovering a different molecule to cure disease with new therapy or fewer side effects and better efficacy. Firm Es head of new drug discover explained for new drug discovery you can get good chemist here but they dont have expertise of how to design molecule, how to look at receptor, how to look at molecular modeling . If you are not trained then its difficult to understand the interactions. IN OUT NEW Mindset Culture of innovation Understanding of the Pharmaceutical a. Short term vision of RD RD management RD b. Domestic market focused mechanism thinking Complimentary technological Research talent Assets: Skills in Pharmacology, Reverse Engineering a. expertise in medicinal Analytical chemistry, process RD experienced scientists in chemistry and biology (for development phase) discovery RD b. Scientists with experience -Sources of knowledge created in product RD through distribution, marketing RD management c. Incentive Schemes for routes in overseas markets Practices Scientists RD Infrastructure a. Resource allocation Product RD Infrastructure b. Project review Existing Relationships with research institutes In-house nature of RD Networking and collaboration capabilities The researching skill required in innovative RD differs from imitative RD in terms of design and conduct of experiments as firm Bs former RD president elaborates the organic chemist in process devel opment lab works on or run the batches of 10 kg or 20 kg whereas in drug discovery laboratories he does the milligram jobs and this switch can be difficult. The process RD is about developing scale intensive manufacturing processes, so experiments involve changing solvents temperature, pressures and studying their impact on the output, safety and cost. Due to working on these parameters scientists creates his own biases and ways of working which are suitable for process RD but becomes irrelevant in innovative product RD. Firm Es head of new drug discovery explains There is this scientist; he was head of one group of the generic people. So I tried this scientist for eight months in new drug discovery, he couldnt able to deliver anything to me. Finally I have to ask him to please go back to generics now. This is my personal experience, with reverse engineering experienced scientists, it is difficult. Innovative RD requires scientists skilled in a wide range of disciplines and scientis ts working in innovative Indian firms lacked the knowledge in those of disciplinary areas. Firm Fs strategic planning director explains what you need is innovative chemistry so which is not same as reverse engineering. So in fact we do not prefer the people in discovery chemistry who have the experience of reverse engineering. If the scientist has done some non-infringing work or he has done some original work then we will take him but not only process development because you just cant take a good process chemist and try to make him a good medicinal chemist or a chemist who is able to deliver on an innovative chemistry or chemistry which he is not done before. Therefore the innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms have not employed process development scientists for new chemical entity research and have hired the product RD experienced scientists or fresh scientists for innovative product RD. Firm Ds RD president suggests I mean they have to break the routines, they are aware about th at. So that is why they have to hire people who are not already mentally set for the routines. RD Projects Management The reverse engineering method of product development required relatively little communication of knowledge across the boundaries of the firm or across disciplines or therapeutic areas within the firm. Firms were organized RD functionally with chemist at the heart of the process and pharmacologist working down stream. However, according to Henderson et al., (1999) innovative pharmaceutical RD needs the exchange of knowledge across the boundaries of the firm and across disciplinary and therapeutic class of boundaries within the firm. The innovative RD requires the input from various disciplinary knowledge bases and success in product RD is linked with organizational ability to integrate knowledge across disciplines. Therefore innovative RD requires different mechanisms to manage, design and review research project than imitative RD. Firm Es head of new drug discovery suggests your mind is set for reverse engineering and to transform that mind into new drug discovery you need to know lot of pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacokinetics. If you know only chemistry, you can not design the molecule. You have to look at the total pharmacology of that particular disease, then bioavailability issue, toxicology issues. This need for integrating different disciplinary knowledge bases shows that the organizational practices and routines accumulated in imitative RD can not be applied in innovative RD. The other important issue is RD infrastructure required for innovative RD. The present RD infrastructure in Indian pharmaceutical firms is adequate for process RD research but will need up-gradation in case of innovative product RD projects. The innovative RD requires the state of the art instrumentation specifically in key disciplines like chemistry and biology. The emergence of drug discovery technologies like combinatorial chemistry or high through put screening has transformed the drug discovery process. Change in Mindset The Need Of The Hour The most important issue that has emerged is mindset to migrate from reverse engineering towards creating and generating innovation led products. Indian pharmaceutical firms have over the year gain immediate returns on the RD investments and mostly competed in domestic market on the basis of cheap albeit efficient production processes. But in case of innovative product RD the life cycle of product development is long and takes 10-15 years. So firm have to be mentally prepared for committing the resources for 8-10 years without returns on those investments. Former RD president of B comments it is a mind set problem; those making profits dont want to invest in product RD. The costs involved in drug discovery and development are really enormous and returns dont come fast. Most of Indian firms have this habit of getting quick returns and so if a firm wants quick return on the investment, its not going to be there. Although the innovative Indian firms have increased RD investments from 1995 but there is wider consensus about potential to increase RD investment. Firm Bs RD vice president defends the gradual increase of RD investment saying that every company needs to develop its own comfort zone of risk and links the issue to the mindset problem. He accepts the difficulty of convincing people to make a commitment of huge investment without any foreseeable returns for 8-10 years, and cite this as a reason for the gradual increase in RD investment. In case of innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms, mindsets shaped by practices of getting immediate return on RD investments, inferior technology and domestic market focused thinking has emerged as one of the main rigidity to move from imitative RD to innovative product RD. Change Required In In-house nature of RD In the reverse engineering era Indian pharmaceutical firms built process RD capabilities in-house as profits were totally linked to the efficient and cheap production process. The intense competition and lack of trust due to weak regularity environment shaped the in-house nature of RD, resulting in total lack of collaborations between industry and academia. However the areas of innovative RD require contribution from various disciplinary areas like medicinal chemistry, biology and pharmacology which are advancing at an extraordinary rapid rate. The scientists working in innovative RD need to be current with a wide range of specialized knowledge. The Indian pharmaceutical firms are chemistry based but biological knowledge and talent in India is concentrated in research institutes like Indian Institute of Sciences, National Institute of Immunology, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and others. The analysis points out that in case of Indian pharmaceutical firms the main rig idities that have emerged are a. imitative RD organizational routines, b. in-house nature of RD and c. organizational mindset shaped by short term vision of RD investments and domestic market focused approach. The difference of knowledge base, organizational practices in imitative and innovative RD implies that the processes and capabilities that served firm well in the past may not be relevant in new environment. According to Leonard Barton (1994) core rigidities are flip side of core capabilities and represent the gap between current environmental requirements and a firms core capabilities. The deeply embedded knowledge system sets actively create problems and so the firm has to get rid of these rigidities. In case of Indian pharmaceutical firms the important part of learning is unlearning or forgetting the past behavior, which is redundant or unsuccessful. Hedberg (1981) points out that knowledge grows and simultaneously it becomes obsolete as reality changes. Unders tanding involves both learning new knowledge and discarding obsolete and misleading knowledge. The discarding activity unlearning is as important part of understanding as adding in new knowledge and slow unlearning is crucial weakness of many organizations in development of new capabilities. So in case of innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms getting rid of rigidities accumulated in reverse engineering era formed the important part of learning in development of innovative RD capabilities. The analysis of innovative pharmaceutical firms suggests that RD infrastructure, complimentary manufacturing and marketing assets, linkages with research institutes and understanding about the pharmaceutical RD are relevant capabilities in innovative RD. In addition to that firms added new knowledge in key product RD disciplines like medicinal chemistry, biology and build product RD infrastructure to facilitate the development of innovative RD capabilities and created culture of innovation in their RD to foster the innovative RD. To sum up, some of the processes and capabilities accumulated through imitative RD can actively create problems in innovative RD where projects are designed to develop new, non traditional products and capabilities. This indicates that as firms move from imitative process RD to innovative product RD, they will have to get rid of those capabilities which are useful in process RD but can become rigidities in product RD. Therefore in case of innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms unlearning of obsolete abilities formed an important constituent in transformation of capabilities from imitative RD to innovative product RD. Firms were also needed to acquire new capabilities and combine it with existing relevant capabilities to create capabilities in innovative product RD. Next section elaborates on the learning processes involved in development of innovative RD capabilities in firms under study. Knowledge base Innovative Indian firms gradually created the capability for generic RD by assimilating and improving on process RD capabilities. The exposure to global markets, realization of future regulatory changes and creative orientation to imitative research, all facilitated the development of the research tradition in these firms. The influence of accumulated knowledge and strong chemistry skill is reflected in the RD strategies employed by all innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms in product RD. All these firms choose analogue research to venture in new drug discovery as this research strategy involves chemistry base in terms of modifying the molecular structure to produce the drug with more efficacy or less side effects. At the same time these firms began increasing their investment in RD from 1995 but this gained momentum in 2000, which resulted in building the absorptive capacity required in understanding the advances happening at the technological front. The RD intensity of Indian firms is consistently growing from 2000 although it is still much less compared to the RD intensity of large pharmaceutical firms. But according to some respondents, the cost of development of a drug in India could be a tenth of the international cost. New Knowledge Acquisition By Various Processes And Methods Innovative Indian firms started building innovative capabilities by hiring Indian scientists working overseas on innovative RD in laboratories of multinational pharmaceutical firms.In India only a handful of scientists had experience in innovative RD and these scientists became the guides for the transformation. According to the pharmaceutical consultant, these firms focused on RD scientists and started investing in them . The main constraint was lack of scientists trained in areas of medicinal chemistry and biology. To over-come this constraint, firms targeted returning post graduates and post doctorates from overseas universities. Currently around 20% of scientists working on innovative research projects have either trained at overseas universities, or have working experience abroad in MNC laboratories. Firm As RD president explains Our target was returning post grads who have gone abroad to do either PhD or post docs, they were returning and were very good. Collaborative R D has emerged as one of key mechanisms for knowledge acquisition for Indian pharmaceutical firms. These firms didnt have the skills, infrastructure or resources in-house to carry out certain functions and activities in innovative product RD. In such cases these firms collaborated and interacted with the Indian as well as overseas research institutes, universities and got work done. Firm As RD president explains the rationale behind the collaboration with research institutes and universities, Drug discovery is very complicated and you may not have everything in house, we cant and we dont have everything in house so you have to. Its a sort of collaborative approach, a collaborative process. How To Gather New Knowledge? To create an environment for creative research, firms are changing their approach towards publication and have started to understand its importance for the growth of RD. Scientists publication in conferences is now valued and encouraged more. As one senior RD scientist from firm D suggests, publication is certainly an incentive to the scientist, there is no doubt about that and we also need to showcase our science, it stimulates scientists to think. These firms are encouraging scientists to take training in new scientific tools or allowing them to pursue their academic ambitions while working in organizations. These firms have manufacturing and marketing centers all over the world including US and Europe and as a result, they could make the best research facilities accessible to their scientists. This allows scientists from these firms to pursue their academic interests and this are also encouraged by firms. These firms set up separate RD centers with state of the art analyti cal instruments, totally dedicated to innovative RD. These firms changed RD structures, started new divisions to manage IPR, as well as established new disciplinary divisions and adopted matrix style of project management in RD. Some firms even opened laboratories in developed countries to make use of the knowledge spillover and attract research talent which was reluctant to shift to India. These firms concentrated on providing more experience to these scientists by giving them opportunities to design research projects, as well as freedom to work on chosen therapeutic areas. To increase the quality of the interactions with international scientists, these firms have set up scientific advisory boards (SAB) which meet every quarter or half yearly to review the research. The SAB contains well known scientists from overseas as well as Indian academia. This forum provides an opportunity to scientists from these firms to have closer interactions with these experts, and as one of the res earch scientist from firm A suggest all of which generates valuable feedback and built the confidence of researchers. Knowledge Transfer Mechanisms Innovative Indian firms are building research networks by involving themselves in lot of joint projects with Indian as well as overseas research institutes, and research companies. These firms have set up different departments to scout opportunities for collaboration. During collaboration, these firms are sending their scientists to work in collaborators RD. This has changed the nature of the RD in these firms; from insular in-house RD, to the collaborative network model. The analysis of innovative Indian pharmaceutical firms knowledge transfer mechanisms suggest that the collaboration with research institutes and universities formed an important constituent in innovative Indian pharmaceutical efforts to develop innovative capabilities. Assimilating Various Knowledge Bases It was not enough to just hire the scientist or build new RD centers, the difficult part was to increase the cross disciplinary understanding of the scientists. To achieve that these firms focused on increasing the interactions and communications between different specialized knowledge groups by building cross-disciplinary teams of scientists from different disciplines like biology, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, intellectual property rights. This firm level analysis of RD in Indian pharmaceutical firms shows that Indian firms are developing the capability in innovative RD by acquiring new components of knowledge and reconfiguring the architectural linkages between these components in a new way. The new components of knowledge were acquired by hiring new product RD experienced scientists, adopting network model of collaborative RD and increasing RD investments. Conclusion Challenges facing the industry revolve around manpower and early stage funding. There is severe paucity of trained personnel, the only solution being recruiting fresh graduates and training them on the job. Such a situation leads to rampant poaching of trained people from other companies. RD in the pharmaceutical industry is multi-faceted and draws upon the expertise of molecular biologists, synthetic and analytical chemists, genomics and proteomics specialists, pharmacologists and medical practitioners. Closely associated with these are regulatory and quality assurance functions. However, according to industry sources, pharmaceutical companies find a huge dearth of skilled resources in the critical areas of early stage drug discovery as compared to chemistry or analytical chemistry wherein the talent is easily available. A considerable challenge faced by the industry is venture capital (VC) funding, which in India is severely limited. Funding pertains to private equity (PE) players that invest when the candidate reaches the development phase. The focus is more towards the D rather the R in RD. Most venture capitalists are unwilling to invest in biotech RD. Rather, they want to fund companies whose products and markets are clearly identified or commercialization of technologies already developed.

The Paradox of Tragedy

How is it possible that human beings can derive pleasure from unpleasant states? This is the question addressed by Hume in his essay On Tragedy, which lies at the heart of a long-standing philosophical discussion on tragedy. Take horror movies, for instance. Some people are terrified while watching them, or they don’t sleep for days. So why  are they doing it? Why stay in front of the screen for a horror movie?It is clear that sometimes we enjoy being spectators of tragedies. Although this may be an everyday observation, it is a surprising one. Indeed, the view of a tragedy typically produces disgust or awe in the viewer. But disgust and awe are unpleasant states. So how is it possible that we enjoy unpleasant states?It is by no chance that Hume devoted a whole essay to the topic. The rise of aesthetics in his time took place side by side with a revival of a fascination for horror. The issue had already kept busy a number of ancient philosophers. Here is, for example, what t he Roman poet Lucretius and British philosopher Thomas Hobbes had to say on it.br/>What joy it is, when out at sea the stormwinds are lashing the waters, to gaze from the shore at the heavy stress some other man is enduring! Not that anyones afflictions are in themselves a source of delight; but to realize from what troubles you yourself are free is joy indeed. Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe, Book II.From what passion proceedeth it, that men take pleasure to behold from the shore the danger of them that are at sea in a tempest, or in fight, or from a safe castle to behold two armies charge one another in the field? It is certainly in the whole sum joy. else men would never flock to such a spectacle. Nevertheless there is in it both joy and grief. For as there is novelty and remembrance of [ones] own security present, which is delight; so is there also pity, which is grief But the delight is so far predominant, that men usually are content in such a case to be spectators of the misery of their friends. Hobbes, Elements of Law, 9.19.So, how to solve the paradox? More Pleasure Than Pain One first attempt, pretty obvious, consists in claiming that the pleasures involved in any spectacle of tragedy outweigh the pains. Of course I’m suffering while watching a horror movie; but that thrill, that excitement that accompanies the experience is totally worth the travail. After all, one could say, the most delectable pleasures all come with some sacrifice; in this circumstance, the sacrifice is to be horrified.On the other hand, it seems that some people do not find particular pleasure in watching horror movies. If there is any pleasure at all, it’s the pleasure of being in pain. How can that be? Pain as Catharsis A second possible approach sees in the quest for pain an attempt to find a catharsis, that is a form of liberation, from those negative emotions. It is by inflicting upon ourselves some form of punishment that we find relief from those negative emotions and feelings that we have experienced.This is, in the end, an ancient interpretation of the power and relevance of tragedy, as that form of entertainment that is quintessential to elevate our spirits by allowing them to surpass our traumas. Pain is, Sometimes, Fun Yet another, third, approach to the paradox of horror comes from philosopher  Berys  Gaut. According to him, to be in awe or in pain, to suffer, can in some circumstances be sources of enjoyment. That is, the way to pleasure is pain. In this perspective, pleasure and pain are not really opposites: they may be two sides of the very same coin. This is because what’s bad in a tragedy is not the sensation, but the scene that elicits such sensation. Such a scene is connected to a horrific emotion, and this, in turn, elicits a sensation that we find in the end pleasurable.Whether Gaut’s ingenious proposal got it right is questionable, but the paradox of horror certainly remains one of the most entertaining subjects in philosophy.

Examples Of Creating Optings - 754 Words

Most of the icons that you add to your desktop will be shortcuts, but you can also save files or folders to the desktop. If you delete files or folders that are stored on your desktop, they are moved to the recycle bin, where you can permanently delete them. If you delete a shortcut, the shortcut is removed from your desktop, but the file, program, or location that the shortcut links to, is not deleted. You can identify shortcuts by the arrow on their icon. Picture of an example shortcut on the desktop Picture of an example file stored on the desktop An icon can be created on the desktop in two ways. †¢ Locate the item that you want to create a shortcut for. †¢ Right-click the item, click â€Å"send to†, and then click â€Å"Desktop†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦show more content†¦From this menu, you are able to see and select all of the computer’s programs (click on all programs). The most recently used programs and applications will appear on the menu. You can also create shortcuts, access the help function, open accessories such as the calculator, find documents that you have created and reset and configure your computer. Changing the configuration At least two of: date, time, volume controller, display properties, desktop theme, screen saver, screen pixel resolution, keyboard language. There are many different settings that you can change to suit you and make the computer personal. Changing your computer means customising it to suit your needs and requirements. If it is your personal computer, you may want to have pictures of your children or friends as a screen saver but if the computer belongs to the organisation that you work for, they may require that you use the company logo as a screen saver. Whatever the motivation, it is easy to change your computer so that it becomes a personalised piece of equipment. On a Windows system, the control panel is used for this purpose. To access the control panel, click on Start Control Panel or Start Settings Control Panel. See figure 6 Figure 6 The control panel will appear as in the picture below There are three icons that will help you to configure your computer. a) Appearance and personalisation †¢ Change the theme †¢ Change desktop background †¢Show MoreRelatedhkjhkjh1296 Words   |  6 Pagesworld, the popularity of Marketing as a career is increasing day by day as it is a significant part of all kinds of businesses. Marketing: Marketing, one of the vital parts of Business, refers to the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. Now, business organizations largely rely on marketing to save their existence in the market increasing margin. MarketingRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On Our Communities, Our Health, And Our Climate1145 Words   |  5 Pagesconsume or waste on a daily basis; in other words, being more energy efficient. Energy Efficiency is â€Å"using less energy to provide the same service.† Something is more energy efficient if it delivers maximum production for less energy input. For example, energy efficient microwaves provide the same service as conventional ones however they require â€Å"30 percent to as much as 80 percent less energy† (Consumer Energy Center, n.d.) input. Simple things like this, in turn, lead to many benefits th at willRead MoreResearch And Development ( R D ) And Acquisitions1608 Words   |  7 Pagesmarket based on what cutting edge technology or ideas the company has gathered. Accordingly, globalization and increased competition has led companies to become more efficient and reevaluate whether to outsource RD or to innovate in-house. When opting to outsource, companies should look at their organization at a functional level, and identify the processes and tasks in order to identify opportunities that can be gained from outsourcing versus developing in-house. Additionally, companies shouldRead MoreNintendo And Its Impact On Innovation1439 Words   |  6 PagesAs earlier stated, Nintendo excels in innovation. The company distinguishes itself from competitors by heavily investing in research and development (RD) and by taking risks on new technologies. For example, in 2001 Nintendo released its GameCube. Instead of using the CD platform used by Sony, Sega, and Microsoft in their sixth -generation consoles, Nintendo utilized a proprietary optical disk technology that was visually similar to CDs but did not not work in standard CD players (â€Å"Nintendo Wii,†Read MoreThe Attitudes and Values on the Part of Business That Leads to Unethical Behaviours998 Words   |  4 Pagessecond when it comes to doing business successfully. Successfully here means generating large amounts of profits. For this purpose the business houses need to expand their territory, coverage and products to capture large chunks of the market. Creating a base for such activities can be done in two ways: Go the hard way - advertise, consolidate, build brand and image in the national and international market segment you prefer. This involves money, effort and tremendous perseverance; Go the easyRead MoreEssay On E-Commerce Business841 Words   |  4 Pagesbusiness registration expenses can depend on your country. However, you need to make sure to take care of this part – not registering can end up costing you a lot more in the long term. The most important parts to cover at this point include: †¢ Creating a business name and registering it. †¢ Buying a domain name and a website. †¢ Applying for a business license and a permit. In order to create your website, you can find plenty of small business software options from OZCodes. The savings site hasRead MoreThe Attitudes and Values on the Part of Business That Leads to Unethical Behaviours1004 Words   |  5 Pagessecond when it comes to doing business successfully. Successfully here means generating large amounts of profits. For this purpose the business houses need to expand their territory, coverage and products to capture large chunks of the market. Creating a base for such activities can be done in two ways: Go the hard way - advertise, consolidate, build brand and image in the national and international market segment you prefer. This involves money, effort and tremendous perseverance; Go the easyRead MorePros And Cons Of Better Search Engine Optimisation796 Words   |  4 PagesBetter Search Engine Optimization Opting for high quality audio transcription services will pay off in the long run because you’ll see serious improvements in the search engine optimisation (SEO) and the search engine positioning of your website for relevant keywords. Search engines can’t really index the content presented in your videos. For example, you can have a lengthy interview with an industry expert but it’s not going to matter for SEO because search engine crawlers can’t really â€Å"decode†Read MoreLiberalism And The United Nations878 Words   |  4 Pagescooperating with one another through international organizations, transnational advocacy networks, and non-governmental organizations. International organizations, normative values, and terrorism are all examples of how international relations is progressing into liberalism. International Organizations An example of the relevance of liberalism would be the United Nations, a global organization, which was developed for the intent of maintaining world peace. Anne-Marie Slaughter states that the world will beRead MoreConsumer Surveillance Is Unethical And Manipulative1040 Words   |  5 Pagessubject as to where these practices are ethical and manipulative. While many believe consumer surveillance is unethical and manipulative, it ultimately helps consumers by mitigating privacy concerns, providing the consumer with what they want, and creating economic stimulus. While many believe â€Å"big brother† is watching them in stores, retail surveillance has few legitimate privacy concerns for individuals. Skeptics of the consumer surveillance would argue that invades the privacy of consumers, however

Test Scores On Standardized Tests - 1017 Words

The Oxford Dictionary online defines the term â€Å"well-educated† as â€Å"having or showing a high level of education.† The opposite of â€Å"well-educated† according to Thesaurus.com includes antonyms such as â€Å"ignorant†, â€Å"unsophisticated†, â€Å"stupid†, and â€Å"uninformed†. Based on this dictionary definition, a person such as my girlfriend is well-educated since she earned two bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree, and eventually a doctorate in Human Physiology. Does this definition imply that people who do not have advanced degrees are not well-educated? Since I have only a high school diploma and no advanced degrees, should I consider myself to be ignorant, unsophisticated, stupid, and uninformed? I will argue that being well-educated goes beyond the basic education attained during grade school and is not tied to the number of degrees earned, the prestige of the school, the number of discrete facts me morized, test scores on standardized tests, or any other measure of time spent in the classroom. Being well-educated is also not measured by standards of success in a career such as job skills, salary earnings, performance reviews, or job titles. Neither one of these standards includes the lifelong learning that occurs outside of the classroom. A more appropriate definition of being well-educated should include an ongoing desire to expand one’s knowledge and understanding of the world around us. In his article, â€Å"What does it mean to be well-educated?†, Alfie Kohn states, â€Å"It’s not enough toShow MoreRelatedLimitations Of Standardized Test Scores1644 Words   |  7 Pagesthey have taken a standardized test a great number of times in order to get the score to attend their college of choice. A standardized test is any exam that is given and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. The SAT and ACT are known as standardized aptitude tests (Popham). SAT stands for Scholastic Assessment Test and ACT stands for American College Testing. The SAT was first given in 1926 and the ACT followed in 1959. Students spend hours preparing and taking these tests only to find outRead MoreStandardized Exams And The Test Scores2070 Words   |  9 Pagesand the standardized tests. Specifically in an academic setting, one of most students’ primary goals seems to be achieving â€Å"high† numbers in grades and test scores. In such setting, tests are overempha sized; therefore, standardized exams, thought to reveal students’ intelligence, are forced to be a significant aspect of students’ lives. Standardized exams pose a major burden on students from a very young age. In New York State, state examinations, such as the Regents exams and state tests, are administeredRead MoreThe Effect Of Fine Arts On Standardized Tests Scores993 Words   |  4 PagesOne of the largest issues with fine arts implementation is the narrow effects. Garcia et. al conducted research that attempted to determine the effect fine arts have on standardized test scores. The researchers found that specific students attending schools with dense fine arts programs scored higher on the state standardized test; however, this improvement does not imply that fine arts will effectively cure the education decline. When analyzing the results, one sees that the fine arts mainly affectRead MoreStandardized Test Scores Of Racial Minority Students3402 Words   |  14 PagesIntroduction The achievement gap is evident in the standardized test scores of racial minority students. When examining demographic information published by College Board Inc. and ACT Inc., it is evident that there exists a widening gap between the scores of African-American adolescents on the SAT, or the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the ACT, or American College Test. Statistics from the 2013 SAT show African-American students earning scores of 431 in critical reading, 429 in mathematics, and 418Read MoreStudents Are Key Contributors With Their Standardized Tests Score1084 Words   |  5 Pages Students are key contributors with their standardized tests score. Their score will determine graduation and school ratings. On the elemental level, the student does not always comprehend the value or importance of their education. Therefore, it is the teacher’s role that is the leading pieces at this level. The students perspective can be influenced by other factors such as peers. Over the years, the teachers puzzle will become less and the students piece more as the student showsRead More Standardized Test Scores and Their Use in College Admissions Decisions1560 Words   |  7 PagesStandardized Test Scores and their use in College Admissions Decisions PURPOSE The purpose of this proposal is to examine current and future Iowa State University admissions decisions processes. At the present time most colleges, including Iowa State use a combination of standardized test scores, high school class rank, high school grade point average, and essays to make decisions on admissions. All of the above are good determinants of a student’s possible success in college, except standardizedRead MoreStandardized Test Scores An Accurate Representation Of A Student s Abilities1735 Words   |  7 PagesAre standardized test scores an accurate representation of a student s abilities? Standardized tests can be found at any level of a student’s academic career, but are they accurate indicators of a student’s academic abilities? Standardized tests are used to measure a student s academic abilities, and overall knowledge. In theory, a student s skills can be determined by examining the limited data collected from the test. However, standardized test do not fully represent a student s abilitiesRead MoreWhy Intelligence Is Measured By Standardized Test Scores And Letter Grades1521 Words   |  7 Pagesprowess. Artistic students are constantly made to feel deficient, as if there is something wrong with them if the struggle with STEM subjects. This paper focuses on asking why students are made to feel that way. Why intelligence is measured in standardized test scores and letter grades. It will explore how lack of the arts and creativity is damaging to students, and how this disregard for creativity starts well before we are aware of it. It starts in elem entary schools and primary education systems, andRead MoreBuilding A Space Where Student And School Success Are Measured Not Only By Standardized Test Scores930 Words   |  4 PagesOur bold and compelling idea is to build a space where student and school success are measured not only by standardized test scores but by the impact of community uplift. The vision of the Upset the Setup Academy is to establish a school for fourteen to eighteen year old students grounded in identity, community, and service as the pillars of learning, that leverages student experimentation, trust, and shared access to power and decision-making. This will be a place where students defined as at-riskRead MoreEssay on Standardized Testing in Schools1399 Words   |  6 PagesViews on Standardized Testing Standardized testing has long been a controversial method of assessment in our schools. Such tests are important indicators of student achievement and aptitude. However, some standardized test scores have been misused as a manner in which to track students, allocate school funds, and even determine teacher pay. Standardized tests, when used appropriately and for the right reasons, can adequately determine a students present level of strengths and weaknesses and his

Analysis Of Julius s The King Of The Night - 907 Words

As Julius led the two tigers out of the arena and released them, the adrenaline still pumping .through his veins, an impulsive thought developed in his head. Yes, it would be dangerous, but he guessed that if he found himself back in the Colosseum, the crowd would once again persuade Caesar to let him live. But he still had a part of his mind doubting his survival. But oh, how he longed to get one last glimpse of his love, but she was the Emperor s daughter, and he was low class. There was even only a slight chance that the princess s cousin, who was a very high class, would be able to marry her. He needed to stop for a breath. Brute looked back at him and saw the two-leg pant heavily. He signaled for his brother to stop.†¦show more content†¦You are a disgrace... Caesar told Aurelia and pulled her from her seat. The whole colosseum was holding their breath. We re leaving now. He said harshly. Everyone needs to go home! The guards started to evacuate the Romans. With one la st look at a frightened Marcus, Aurelia rubbed her cheek when her father looked away, and strode after her father out the colosseum door. The hum of the crowd rose slightly at the harsh actions of Caesar. They didn t speak against their Emperor, but instead the troubling thought of his daughter and the tiger keeper. The next day, Marcus came to visit. But he found something even more strange than the scene that has happened at the colosseum, he found a boy around Aurelia s age with a joking attitude, cracking jokes trying to comfort Aurelia. Marcus didn t know how to feel about this boy. He seemed nice enough, but comforting Aurelia was his job. He cautiously rushed to her side, shot a curious glance at the boy, and pulled Aurelia into an embrace. Um.... Who are you? Questioned the unknown boy with the brown hair. He was staring at Marcus with the eyes of a confused puppy, and Marcus stared back.I don t mean to be rude, but seriously... Who are you? Aurelia sensed the slight tension in the air, andShow MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s Julius Caesar Essay1833 Words   |  8 Pages INTRODUCTION The seemingly straightforward simplicity of â€Å"Julius Caesar† has made it a perennial favourite for almost 400 years. Despite its simplicity, almost Roman in nature, the play is rich both dramatically and thematically, and every generation since Shakespeare’s time has been able to identify with some political aspect of the play. The Victorians found a stoic, sympathetic character in Brutus and found Caesar unforgivably weak and tyrannical. As we move into the twenty-first century, audiencesRead MoreHamlet, By William Shakespeare Essay1453 Words   |  6 Pages and mourning. Out of these, the most prominent theme in this play is death in the form of suicide. The main character, Hamlet, finds himself questioning the quality of life and the uncertainty of the afterlife once he discovers news of his father s death and the corruption in the kingdom that follows. Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, is found dead later in the plot and is presumed to have committed suicide. In Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, â€Å"to be, or not to be,† and various other instances we get a betterRead MoreWilliam Shakespeares Hamlet Essay3604 Words   |  15 Pagesthrone, becoming King James I.) It is no surprise, then, that many of Shakespeare’s plays from this period, including Hamlet, concern transfers of power from one monarch to the next. These plays focus particularly on the uncertainties, betrayals, and upheavals that accompany such shifts in power, and the general sense of anxiety and fear that surround them. The situation Shakespeare presents at the beginning of Hamlet is that a strong and beloved king has died, and theRead MoreParis, France, And The City Of Light3167 Words   |  13 Pagesfrom Dallas to Paris Nonstop would cost about $2,184. I would stay in the L Hotel, a famous hotel, which was once the home of Oscar Wilde. It is incredibly elegant with brilliant architecture, and is located on the Left Bank. The rooms cost $278 a night, which is pretty cheap for a hotel of this grandeur. I plan to stay for about two weeks, which is about $3,892 in total. The hotel is about a 6 minute walk from Saint-Germain-des-Prà ©s metro station, which would be very convenient, as that is what myRead MoreMacbeth9435 Words   |  38 Pages------------------------------------------------- Macbeth From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about Shakespeare s play. For other uses, see  Macbeth (disambiguation). A poster for a  c.  1884 American production ofMacbeth, starring Thomas W. Keene. Depicted, counter clockwise from top-left, are: Macbeth and Banquo meet the  witches; just after the murder ofDuncan; Banquo s ghost; Macbeth duels Macduff; and Macbeth. Macbeth  is a play written by  William Shakespeare. It is considered one of hisRead MoreThe Science Of Folklore By Richard Chase Essay2399 Words   |  10 PagesStraparola of Caravaggio dating from the mid 1600’s. Even in that collection, the fairy tales are marginal and apparently not deemed important enough to stand on their own merit. Not until the seventeenth century, when the Pentamerone of Neapolitan Giambattista Basile is the first accepted collection of fairy tales found (Krappe 3-4). While the earliest documentation of the study of American Mà ¤rchen began in 1824, Krappe states that it was in the early 1800’s that the Romantic Movement fostered a scientificRead MoreStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 PagesTerms 1. 2. alliteration- Used for poetic effect, a repetition of the initial sounds of several words in a group. The following line from Robert Frosts poem Acquainted with the Night provides us with an example of alliteration,: I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. The repetition of the s sound creates a sense of quiet, reinforcing the meaning of the line 3. allegory – Where every aspect of a story is representative, usually symbolic, of something else, usually a largerRead More The Department of Defense’s Use of Private Security Contractors4395 Words   |  18 Pageseven cities. Loyalties to a king or the wealth they possessed have lead to the use of private and proprietary security solutions during the medieval times. In an attempt to protect themselves, their families and property kings and the wealthy would hire or create their own security. It was very common for a king to have their own proprietary security team in the castles and contract out the fighting of land wars with another group. 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Until Helmut Hatzfeld brought out his bibiography the word â€Å"stylistics† had not appeared in the title of any English book about style although â€Å"stylistique† had appeared

Deepwater Horizon Bop Materials Failure †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Deepwater Horizon Bop Materials Failure? Answer: Introducation BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was the worst oil spill to have ever happened in the history of the U.S. The disaster started on April 20, 2010. Methane gas started expanding from the well into the drilling riser then streamed into the drilling rig. After accumulating in the drilling rig, it built up excess pressure and heat that ignited the methane gas and caused an explosion. The blowout preventer (BOP) was not able to seal the rig resulting to massive oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. From the investigations done, it was found that the rigs drill pipe had buckled inside the BOP. A BOP has a hydraulic device (known as blind shear ram) comprising of two cutting blades that are specially designed to be used during an emergency (U.S. Chemical Safety Board, 2014). The cutting blades are intended to cut the drill pipe so as to stop oil from flowing into the rig from the well thus preventing accumulation of the oil in the rig. The BOP also has a cap that is meant to shut off (seal) the w ell thus preventing the oil in the rig from spilling. Therefore the disaster occurred because the BOP failed to perform its intended function. The buckling of the drill pipe was as a result of a mechanism referred to as effective management. This mechanism occurs when the pressure difference between the inside of drill pipe and outside is large. It was also found that the BOP had a dead battery and faulty wiring, which affected the operation of the BOP by failing to activate the BOPs blind shear ram. Background on Operations At the time of the disaster, the Deepwater Horizon had operated for about a decade as a drilling rig. The rig was designed to operate in water up to 3 km deep. Deepwater Horizon was owned by BP, the rig was operated by Transocean and built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, a South Korean firm. When the disaster occurred, the rig was drilling an exploratory well about 5.6 km below the sea level. The rig is located in Macondo Prospect of the Gulf of Mexico. A few days before the accident, operators of the rig noticed an unusual increase in pressure inside the rig. As a result, they cemented the well so as to seal it temporarily (Pallardy, 2017). They performed several pressure tests and unfortunately misinterpreted the results that showed that the well had been sealed properly (Mullins, 2010). The buckling of the BOPs drill pipe on the day the disaster occurred was caused by effective compression. It meant that pressure continued accumulating in the rig without the operators knowing. A few minutes before the explosion, the crew closed the blind shear rams of the BOP at its wellhead to seal the well temporarily. However, this created a rapid increase in pressure difference between the inside of the drill pipe and the outside, causing it to buckle (Offshore Energy Today, 2014). The buckling caused the steel drill pipe to bend outside making it difficult for the BOP to seal the well. An investigation done on the disaster found that safety systems of the rigs blowout preventer (BOP) were not tested properly thus exposing the entire oil rig to risks of failure. This happened despite the manufacturer of the BOP having recommended that individual tests be performed on the safety systems by the owner and operator of the rig (Associated Press, 2014). A BOP is an emergency device and therefore has to be tested regularly to ensure that it is in proper working condition. It is also important for oil rig operators to collect real-time data of various components of the rig so as to identify if they exhibit any unusual behaviors and take necessary and timely actions to prevent potential risks. Background on the Operating Environment When Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred, the rig had 126 crew members: 79 Transocean employees, 7 BP employees and 40 employees of different companies. There was an uncontrolled flow of methane gas, oil mud, water, and other materials from the well into the rig through the drilling riser and rill pipe. This accumulation caused the drill pipe to buckle resulting to explosion of the entire drilling rig. The explosion, which burnt for two consecutive days killed 11 workers, making it the worst oil spill in the history of the U.S. (Meigs, 2016). It is estimated that 780,000 m3 of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 consecutive days, which made it the biggest oil spill to have ever occurred in the U.S. history (Adams and Gabbatt, 2011; EnerKnol Research, 2015; Office of Response and Restoration, 2017). Spilling of oil continued from April 20, 2010 until July 15, 2010 when the well was capped (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2017). The spill have had devastating effects on aq uatic life, birds, tourism, and both people and environment along Louisiana coastline (Sherwell, 2015). Having operated for a decade without experiencing any serious tragedy, BP and Transocean were overconfident about their oil drilling operations. As a result of this, most of their proposals were usually rubber-stamped by the federal regulators. They continued drilling into very deep waters and dug wells involving high internal pressures and risks. The regulations and technologies that were being used during those days did not commensurate the risks, which many drillers did not have measures to prevent or mitigate them. One of the strategies that drillers use as a last-ditch protection against blowing out of an oil well from high-pressure gases is installation of a BOP. BOPs are usually fastened on top of subsurface wells, as shown in Figure 1 below (Aeberman, 2010). These devices are used during emergencies as last options to contain the situation (Gold, 2014). They use different mechanisms, including shears and clamps, to try and seal the well so as to prevent or stop oil from flowing up the drill pipe and possibly disconnect the well from the rig. The BOPs can either be operated manually or automatically when electricity or pressure is cut off. The BOP that was being used in Deepwater Horizon was 9 years old. It was about 17.4 m tall and weighed approximately 400 tons (Associated Press, 2014). Figure 1: Schematic diagram of an oil well and rig The design of BOPs is supposed to aim at Accounting a component that can make the drill pipe more stable and prevent leaks. However, BP did not prioritize this instead it decided to go for the quickest design approaches rather than the most secure methods. For instance, it was found that BP chose to modify its BOP in China instead of the U.S. so as to save costs (Web, 2010). BP also made several other time- or cost-saving decisions without analysis their risk implications (Brooder, 2011a; Zolkos and Bradford, 2011). The manufacturer of the BOP, Cameron International, had even suggested that BP performs safety tests on the BOP components but this was not taken seriously by the company. There was a time when the crew conducted two essential pressure tests to ascertain the integrity of the well. They obtained very worrying and confusing results from the first test. When they conducted the second test with a different pipe, the results they obtained are what they wanted. So they disregar ded the first results and used the second results to conclude that the well was operating properly. In general, Deepwater Horizon was operating in very deep water where pressure was extremely high. The drill pipe was made of steel, which is susceptible to buckling when subjected to high pressure differences. The steel drill pipe used was designed for normal water pressures but BP continued drilling deeper without considering the structural integrity and soundness of the drill pipe. As expected, the high pressure difference in the deep water caused the steel drill pipe to buckle, which played a role in failure of the BOP causing the oil rig to explode. When operating in such environments, it is important to use real-time data and calculate the stresses caused by the pressure on the drill pipe so as to determine its capacity to function as expected. If this was done, it is likely that the steel drain pipe would have failed integrity test thus finding alternative materials or design of the component. In addition, such operating environments also necessitates frequent checks of safety systems of the rig and well. Had this been done, it is likely that safety systems of the BOP would have been determined to be insufficient hence necessary actions would be taken to prevent or mitigate possible risks. Therefore the steel drill pipe was operating in an environment with very high pressure that caused it to buckle thus compromising its structural integrity and functionality. Provide an analysis of the failure modes and potential causes of failure based on an extensive review of literature Failure analysis entails use of different approaches to establish possible causes of failure of a system or component. It is very important to conduct a comprehensive failure analysis so as to prevent similar failures in the future by developing or suggesting improvements in the design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance of the systems or components. Basically, failure analysis focuses on investigating and collecting evidence and identifying any anomalies that may have caused the system or component to fail, develop problems or not perform as expected. This process should only be completed after identifying the root cause of the failure. For instance, a manufacturer can produce a component with flaws that can cause it to fail. However, it is important to look at the reasons or factors that contributed to the manufacturing flaws? Were they because of poor design, poor quality of materials, imprecise machine or computer systems, or improper supervision? These are now the root cau ses of failure of the component, and the process of examining them is referred to as root cause analysis. According to ThinkReliability (2017), root cause analysis involves identifying and scrutinizing underlying causes of a problem with an aim of identifying and implementing effective solutions. Root cause analysis has to be done by following certain principles. Some of these principles are: it should aim at identifying factors that contributed to the problem, determine necessary changes that will prevent reoccurrence of these problems at the lowest cost and establish lessons learnt from the problems; and it must be effective and carried out systematically. Root cause analysis also has to be performed by following certain steps. These are: defining the problem, collecting data and evidence, asking reasons for the failure and identifying the real root causes, identifying corrective actions, identifying effective solutions, implementing recommendations, observing the impact of implemented recommendations, and addressing any other challenges that may arise (Hubbard, 2010). There are also d ifferent techniques of root cause analysis, such as: barrier analysis, change analysis, causal factor tree analysis, Bayesian inference, current reality tree, fault tree analysis, Pareto analysis, 5 whys, etc. Root causes of problems or defects can also be put into various groups, including: design flaw, material defect, manufacturing defect, installation defect, operational defect, maintenance defect, unforeseen occurrences. Design flaws are those caused by inadequate design of the system or component. Material defects results from use of poor quality materials or inappropriate material selection. Manufacturing defects are caused by wrong manufacturing procedures. Installation defects are caused by following incorrect installation procedures of the systems. Operational defects result from improper use of the system. Maintenance defects occurs when the system is not maintained as recommended by the manufacturer. Lastly, unforeseen causes are those resulting from unexpected natural occurrences such as earthquakes or tsunamis. Root causes or evidences can be collected through video footages, physical observations or witness interviewing. These methods provide investigators with adequate investigation to start and complete the investigation this helps them to identify possible failure modes that caused the problem. A failure mode is simply a way in which a component may fail to perform its function adequately (American Society for Quality, 2017). Examples of failure modes are brittle fracture, ductile fracture, fatigue, buckling, yielding, creeping, corrosion, wear, thermal shock, excessive deflection, etc. These failure modes can be as a result of design weaknesses or faults, manufacturing faults, operation errors or maintenance mistakes. In Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the disaster occurred because of blind shear rams failing to close the shut off the well (Flow Control, 2011). The failure of the blind shear rams was caused by buckling of the drill pipe that forced the blind shear rams to be positioned off center to the cross section of the drill pipe. Therefore the failure mode in the accident was buckling and it was caused by design faults, operation mistakes and maintenance errors. Buckling is a type of failure mode that occurs when a structural component loses stability due to the load applied on it (Akin, 2010). According to Cyprien (2017), this failure mode is very dangerous as it can happen even before the material reaches its yielding point. Occurrence of buckling is usually related to slenderness ration i.e. ratio between the height of the component and its radius. In this case, the slenderness ratio was very high people the length of the drain pipe was very big compared to other dimensions such as radius. T herefore the drain pipes lateral dimensions were weak, making it disposed to buckling. The failure mode in Deepwater Horizon was caused by design faults because the design team did not comprehensively evaluate the behavior of the steel component when subjected to large pressure differences, which was a major possibility. If the design team had performed comprehensive analysis of the steel drill pipe, they would probably have known that steel used was not the most suitable material for that purpose. Therefore the steel material of drill pipe failed by buckling because it was not suitable for the intended use. Another cause of failure mode in the accident was operation faults. This is because of the decisions that were made concerning the oil rig operations. There were two main operation faults that are likely to have resulted to the failure modes. The first one is failure of the cementing process that had been done at the wells base to contain gas and oil inside the wellbore (Brooder, 2011b). The operator of the rig decided to cement the well for the purposes of sealing it temporarily. However, the cementing was not done properly and as a result the well started leaking. The crew carried out pressure tests to confirm if the well had been sealed properly but they misinterpreted the results. The leaking continued and led to accumulation of pressure in the well, which again contributed to buckling of the drill pipe that caused the rig to explode. Another operation mistake that resulted to the failure mode was negligence of the rig operators. According to Carole (2016), there were 2 mechanical valves that failed to prevent flow of oil and gas up to the surface of the well. However, the operators did not take necessary actions to repair or replace the valves. As a result, the gas started leaking inside the well leading to rapid increase in pressure. The operators also did not detect it the leakage, which is an operation mistake because it means they were not monitoring the operations thoroughly. This gas leakage, and failure of cement and valves caused pressure inside the drill pipe to increase rapidly than outside, creating very high pressure difference and compressive stress inside the pipe. This caused the steel drill pipe to buckle. The buckling meant that the BOP could not perform its intended function because the buckled drill pipe prevented the blind shear rams from sealing the well. The gas detection system that would h ave sounded an alarm was not functional and the BOP had a dead battery and wiring problem that prevented it from automating its safety system. As a result of all these, the methane gas flowed up the well, reached the drilling rig, got ignited and explored. Another cause of failure mode in this accident was maintenance mistakes. Having identified some defaults in the BOP, BP chose to rectify them in China and not the U.S. This decision was made so as to save time and money. This compromised the structural integrity of the BOP because during that time, there were no specialized companies in China that could comprehensively evaluate the BOP and identify and rectify all possible failures. If the BOP had been taken to the U.S. for rectification, there is a possibility that the unsuitability of steel drill pipe would have been identified and corrected thus preventing the disaster. Review and critique one of the failure report as prepared by the experts; comment specifically on whether the methodology is suitable and adequate based on your extensive review of literature The interim report released by the National Research Council (NRC) and National Academy of Engineering (NAE) focused on investigating the causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and how similar events can be prevented in the future. The committee formed by the two agencies collected information from different private and government organizations, made site visits, observed enquiries that were led by the Marine Board of Inquiry, and evaluated written information. The report comprises of several sections, each discussing different issues. The first section contains summary of preliminary observations and findings by the committee. The second section discusses cementing operations carried out on the well. The subsections here include well characteristics, long string limitations, cementing process that was used, and float equipment and shoe track. The third section contains information about flawed cement job indications and how the flow started. Specific areas discussed are negative- pressure test and monitoring services of the well. The fourth section of the report is well control actions. This has discussed the actions that the Deepwater Horizon personnel took to control the well after methane gas and other materials had started flowing. The key areas discussed are flow diversion and BOP. The fifth section discussed the Deepwater Horizons gas detection systems, alarms and safety systems (National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council, 2010). The sixth section contains information about operational management. It has analyzed how decision making was delegated to different authorities, standards for training, education and professional qualification of personnel, h9ow the management used real-time data, integration of schedule, cost and safety responsibilities, and what was learnt from experiences. The seventh section of the report is oversight regulation. This discusses oversight personnels qualifications, different regulatory authorities and th eir responsibilities, standards development, and independent assessment of well completion procedures and essential safety equipment. The last section of the report states on how the committee intends to complete the study and prepare the final report. Even though this report contains most of the key areas that should be investigated so as to identify the actual happenings that led to the oil spill, it does not provide specific information on how this should be done. The methodology used in the report is much generalized making it difficult to make specific findings and observations. Despite having recognized the function and relevance of BOP in sealing wells during emergencies, the committee did not examine the device nor did it interview Transocean or Cameron International representatives on the same. The report was released before the committee could analyze the technical drilling data it had requested. Therefore it does not identify any specific failure mechanism that led to the explosion of Deepwater Horizon. The report does not specify the path that hydrocarbons followed from the well into the rig, causing it to explode. Also, the report does not make any recommendations on how similar events can be avoided in the future yet it was one of its main objectives. Therefore the methodology used in preparing this report is not sufficient because it only identified areas of concern that require comprehensive analyses. Comment on whether additional information or additional investigation is required (e.g. sample testing or validation required) There is a lot of additional information and investigation required in this interim report. The committee found that the BOP failed to seal the well and therefore several tests need to be performed so as to establish the failure modes of the component. The BOP was made of steel and therefore further investigations should be done to know its failure mechanism. All failed components need to tested to ascertain whether they met their design specifications. Besides that, manufacturing processes of these components should also be reviewed. Having received the technical drilling data, the committee should analyze it comprehensively so as to understand the operation and behavior of the well before the disaster. This will help in identifying some of the causal factors of the components failure and well blowout. For instance, it will provide information on the hydrocarbon pathway and the increase in pressure within the well. It is also important for the committee to interview all agencies and representatives involved in the manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance of the well and rig. Professional certification of personnel, testing procedures of components and the well, oversight authorities, regulatory policies, and maintenance procedures related to the drilling operations also need to be appraised. In general, the committee has to focus on identifying the root cause(s) of the disaster so as to establish appropriate ways of preventing such disasters in the future. Recommend suitable solutions or rectification to the problem (based on certain assumptions) The first solution is to review the design process of all drilling components. It is very important for the design teams to comprehensively evaluate the behavior of materials used to fabricate these components by considering their working environments and strictly advise manufacturers and users the range of conditions within which the components should be used. The designers and manufacturers should review their quality control strategies so as to ensure that the components manufactured meet the required design specifications and functional requirements. These components should be designed accurately, manufactured using proper procedures and methods, and tested comprehensively before being sold. If this was done then the same BOP and other components such as drill pipe could not be used when the rig operator decided to drill at deeper depths, which were probably higher than the depth range recommended for the components. This is because does so would be loading the component material s beyond their working capacity. It is important for companies to follow manufacturers instructions and recommendations when using their components. For instance, they need to test the components, if recommended so, and also continuously check and monitor their performance. If BP and Transocean had followed the recommendations by Cameron International to test the BOP before installing it then it is likely that the unsuitability of steel drill pipe would have been identified and marketing. It is also important for drilling companies to maintain their oil rigs properly so as to identify any problem before it gets out of hand. All drilling operations must be done in accordance with federal and state regulations and policies. Personnel involved in the operation and maintenance of the drilling rig must possess the right professional certifications. The gas leakage would have been noticed if personnel involved in the operations had the right qualifications in terms of knowledge and experience on oil rig operations. Additionally, drilling rig owners and operators must always consider safety implications of their decisions. For instance, if they decide to drill deeper into the waters, they should analyze how the increased depth will affect the performance of rig components. Last but not least, it is very important to collect technical data of the drilling rig operations and analyze it thoroughly so as to know the behavior of all components and identify any anomalies. If this was done, the crew would have noticed abnormal pressures and probably taken actions to prevent uncontrolled pressure increase in the well, which resulted to buckling of drill pipe and failure of the BOP. Materials Selection Provide an outline and analysis of the performance requirements Material selection process is a very important process as it ensures that the product designed and manufactured is able to perform its intended function perfectly (Ehinger et al., 2015). A drill pipe is a hollow piping that is used for transmitting oil, gas and other fluid materials from the well into the rig (DrillingFormulas.com, 2013; Flowtech Energy, 2016). This component work in uncontrolled flow and high-pressure conditions, which expose it to wear, tear and fatigue risks (Keystone Energy Tools, 2015; Pusca, 2015; Spoerker, Havlik and Jellison, 2009). The component is very useful in preventing a blowout. When the flow of gas or oil starts getting out of control, blind shear rams of the BOP are used to cut the drill pipe so as to stop the oil or gas from flowing up the well. Therefore this component must meet certain performance requirements, which include the following: Superior stiffness properties this prevents the component from deflecting and buckling when exposed to high loads such as pressures and vibrations. High pressure resistance the component must be able to remain stable even when subjected to high internal and external pressures High thermal resistance the component should withstand high heat conditions and maintain its strength Excellent fatigue properties since the component functions continuously, it should have great fatigue properties throughout its service life High vibration resistance the component work by rotating and lifting other components of the drilling rig. Therefore it should be able to withstand high vibrational forces Machinability/fabricability it should also be easy to machine and fabricate so as to attain precise designs for it to fit into other components properly Corrosion and erosion resistance since oil, gas and other fluids flow through the drill pipe, it should be able to resist corrosion and erosion cause by these fluids so as to maintain its structural soundness Lightweight (thickness) it should also be of appropriate thickness and weight Durability the component should also be long lasting to reduce frequent maintenance, repairs or replacements. Cost the cost of the component should be reduced as much as possible but without reducing or compromising its quality and performance Evaluate and select an appropriate materials selection method Therefore this method can be used to find alternative materials for steel drill pipe. In other words, steel will be used as datum. The main focus is to select a material that has high stiffness, fatigue resistance, thermal resistance, pressure resistance, machinability, vibration resistance, durability, corrosion and erosion resistance, and low cost. Based on these criteria, some materials can be eliminated from the selection process because they do not meet most of these requirements. The materials that wont be considered are: ceramics, polymers, wood, glass, foams and rubbers. Therefore materials that can be considered are metals, metal alloys and composites. Use of charts is very important in narrowing down the list of possible alternatives. Since the steel drill pipe failed due to buckling, the selection method will focus on choosing a material that has superior buckling or stiffness properties than steel. Systematically justify your selection of materials for the equipment A material with superior stiffness properties is the one that does not deform easily (Burnett, 2016). Several studies have been done to identify alternative materials to steel for making drill pipes. The most common alternatives that have been identified are titanium and aluminium alloys, and polymer-based composites (Bensmina, Menand and Sellami, 2011; Erling, 2012; Falther, 2017). These materials have similar properties as steel, and are preferred alternatives because of their lightweight and superior buckling resistance (Ahmet and Zehra, 2015; Arconic, 2017; Vadim, 2011; Wang, 2016). From Figure 2 below, aluminium titanium alloys and polymer-based composites are some of the metals that yield before they fracture. This is a very important property because it will have prevented the problem that occurred in Deepwater Horizon disaster, where the steel drill pipe buckled before reaching its yield strength. Figure 2: Youngs modulusdensity of different materials (Source: https://sites.google.com/site/me122bikehubdynamo/hardware-implementation/electrical-hardware/mechanical-hardware?tmpl=%2Fsystem%2Fapp%2Ftemplates%2Fprint%2FshowPrintDialog=1) As stated before, mechanical and physical properties of these two materials are very similar to those of steel. For aluminium, its strength-to-weight ratio is greater than that of steel (Clarke, 2016). Therefore the Pugh matrix of the alternatives is as shown in Table 1 below Table 1: Pugh Matrix of the alternatives Criteria Steel (current material) Alternative 1 (Aluminium alloy) Alternative 2 (Titanium alloy) Polymer-based composite Stiffness Datum +1 +2 Pressure resistance Datum +2 +2 +3 Thermal resistance Datum -2 -1 -1 Fatigue properties Datum +1 +2 +2 Vibration resistance Datum 0 0 0 Machinability Datum +1 0 +2 Corrosion and erosion resistance Datum 0 +1 +1 Lightweight (thickness) Datum +4 +3 +5 Durability Datum -1 0 -3 Cost Datum +5 -5 -5 3 6 9 14 10 13 Resultant 11 4 4 From Table 1 above, the most suitable alternative for the component is aluminium alloy. This material has shown the likelihood of meeting the performance requirements of drill pipe. The main advantage of metal alloys and composites is that their composition can be modified so as to achieve desired performance requirements of the product. Nevertheless, the exact composition of aluminum alloy can only be determined if more specific data about the performance requirements is provided. Comment on whether additional information or additional investigation is required The need for additional investigation or information is rather obvious. It is mandatory for the recommended material to be tested in the lab so as to attest its mechanical and physical properties. Computer simulations should also be created to analyze and understand the behavior of the material under different conditions. It is better to manufacture a prototype drill pipe using the recommended material and then subject it to various tests including tensional, fabricability, compressional, fatigue, and other appropriate stress tests. This will help in ascertaining or attesting the suitability of the material to meet the various performance requirements in the Pugh Matrix. Approximate durability and cost of the material should also be determined. Recommend suitable materials for the shut-off valve (based on certain assumptions) From the extensive literature review done, the most suitable material for the shut-off valve is aluminium alloy. This material combines most of the performance criteria or requirements. Since the component functions in an environment that has high and fluctuating pressures, buckling resistance or stiffness properties is a very crucial variable. Aluminium alloys have good stiffness properties and therefore this component will not fail before yielding as it was the case for steel. Another great advantage of aluminium alloy is that its composition can be adjusted so that the material can function perfectly in an environment with high pressure, temperature, fatigue, vibration, corrosion and erosion. The material is also easy to fabricate, is durable, lightweight and its cost is very low compared to steel and other alternatives. Therefore aluminium alloy is the most suitable material for shut-off valve and its exact composition will be determined by the test results obtained and the perfo rmance requirements. References Adams, R. and Gabbatt, A. (2011) BP oil spill report as it happened [Online] The Guardian. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2010/sep/08/bp-oil-spill-report-live [Accessed May 13, 2017]. Aeberman (2010) What caused the Deepwater Horizon disaster? [Online]. Available: https://www.theoildrum.com/node/6493 [Accessed May 13, 2017]. Ahmet, Y.O. and Zehra, O.B. (2015) Integrating superficially treated 2014 aluminium alloy in steel drill string to deal with fatigue problem in crooked trajectory for vertical deep well. Proceedings of 3rd International Congress on Energy Efficiency and Energy Related Materials, 19-23 October, 2015, Oludeniz, Turkey. Akin, J.E. (2010) Concepts of buckling [Online]. 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International Trade and Globalization

Question: Discuss about the International Trade and Globalization. Answer: Introduction The following study covers discusses on international trade and globalization by incorporating several factors that provides economic benefit, environmental and social benefit. International trade refers to the exchange of products or services between the business organizations of different countries across the globe that represents considerable share in the factor of Gross Domestic Product. Global trading between the countries and business organizations provides emphasis on several factors as well as it provides global consumers with several opportunities in terms of market exposure related to various sectors (Antras and Foley 2015). Considering the global market of Starbucks, around two- thirds of stores are owned under joint venture partnership which reported increase in sales by around $990 million.In order to increase to expand the market, Starbucks considered acquisition of 60.5% shares of the unit in Japan that resulted the company in becoming second-largest retailer The present study highlights the discussion on several benefits of international trade that improves global trading, advancement of technologies, advantages in terms of economies of scale and scope. For instance, opening up the stores by Starbucks outside United States created expansion of business and increase in profitability by around $89 million (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017). The analysis covers the discussion on employment opportunities as the countries involves in increasing export trading which eventually requires increase in production of goods and service and as a result will require increased number of human resources. Discussion Trade refers to the concept of economy that involves buying and selling of products and services against the compensation or price in exchange paid to the seller by the respective buyers. Globalization indicates the procedure by which the business organization improves the business influence at an international level considering the interchange of production factors, ideas and cultural views. Each country is involved various level of trading products and services in accordance with the available resources and environmental factors but increase of demand in the economy makes it insufficient to satisfy the needs and requirements (Disdier,Fontagn and Cadot 2015). Accordingly, almost all the countries involve in global trading to exchange goods and services in order to acquire the products it lacks while sell the products that it has in surplus (Burnett and Murphy 2014). Considering the current data, it has been observed that total import in Malaysia amounted to around US$176,174 million while export around US$200,211 million that resulted in growth of GDP to around 70.90%. In the recent years, it has been observed that the uneven distribution of resources, unfavorable climate conditions, uneven growth rate and technological factors resulted in increase of global trading (Jaffee2014). Boddewyn (2015) stated that international trade considers the economic factors of demand and supplyfor export and import business considering the domestic requirements and availability of the products. During the year 2014, international trade in United States was adopted by more than 51% of with export value of around US$18.0 trillion in merchandise products. Similarly, export value from commercial services amounted to approximately US$4.87 trillion during the year 2014 which was accounted by more than 34% of traders from developing economies (Boddewyn 2015). For instance, trade of coffee products in Starbucks international company has been a largest company for coffee. Supply and demand factors for coffee products has affected its trade at international level as the production of coffee is in more than 50 regions hence, the production exceed the level of demand that influence the price structure in the overseas region as well in domestic region (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017). Figure 1: Statistical analysis of Starbucks (Source: Starbucks Coffee Company 2017) However, Baier, Bergstrand and Feng (2014) argued that international trading negatively affects the domestic market since import- export business captures the market share for the domestic products and eventually increase the prices, which affect the consumers benefits. On the contrary, Jorgenson and Rice (2015) provides that international trade reduce the monopoly business structure that eliminates sellers power to increase products price which is unfavorable for the economy and society. For instance, United States and Brazil produce sugar that has demand and supply in the domestic market. It has been observed that Brazil has the advantage of low cost considering the equilibrium level whereas United States has higher cost at the equilibrium level (Epstein and Buhovac 2014). Accordingly, the gap between demand and supply of sugar levels between the countries would be balanced by producing and supplying the product providing overall gains from international trade (Epstein and Buhovac2014). Moreover, international trade also considers the elements of PESTEL analysis that is related to the external environment in terms of international markets. According to Ercin and Hoekstra (2014), PESTEL analysis is essential for global trading as it affects the import and export business between different countries. Considering the business structure of Starbucks, it can be said that acquiring the raw materials coffee largely depends on the political factor as well as economic factors that is rate of exchange and tax level influence the companys production in different regions. Figure 2: PESTEL Analysis (Source: Marchi, Maria and Micelli2013) PESTEL Analysis Political Political factor of a country is different from the other country, which influences the supply level of products together with the price structure and utilization of resources. In case of Starbucks, increased political regulations in developing countries other than US affected the purchase of raw materials to produce coffee. (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017) Economic Economic factor relates to the factors on growth of economy of two different countries, impact of interest rates, rates of exchange as well as inflation rate that differs in each country. (Marchi, Maria and Micelli2013) For instance, inflation rate in Australia has been 4% while in Malaysia the rate of inflation has been 3% whereas interest rate of Australia has been 1.5% and that of Malaysia 3%, which represents that the Malaysian country is appreciating country. Social Social factors related to the growth of population, preferences and employment opportunities that has direct impact on the foreign markets. Starbucks notably considered the tastes and preferences of consumers, which helps in improving the brand value and product quality as well as increase in sales approximately by $990 million. (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017) Technological International trade is affected with the technological factor, which differs between the countries (Yarbrough and Yarbrough 2014) Further, technological factor also improved global trading due to changes in infrastructure and devices that helps the business organizations in trading from anywhere at any place for example, through internet technology. Environmental Environmental factor is significant element for international trade that incorporates evaluation of resource scarcity, pollution and climate factors and other governance factors that impacts the demand and supply of the products within the country. (Marchi, Maria and Micelli 2013). For instance, oil production in Middle East region is highest that produces around 27.9 million oil barrels, exports oil to different countries with high demands and low supply of oil due to climate factors and factors of resource scarcity. (Yarbrough and Yarbrough 2014) Legal Legal factor provides impact on the international business with respect to the business opportunities, safety measures for manufacturing process, standards for publicity or marketing and rights and obligations of consumers (Laursen2015). However, the potential threats for Starbucks include consumer awareness, inflation rates and increase in the currency exchange that affects the marketability of the company across the border. As the elements of macro- economic influence trading across international boundaries in different sectors, performance of export- import business results in strong competition among the organizations and industries (Yarbrough and Yarbrough 2014). According to J. Contractor (2013), trade competitiveness among the business organizations across the international boundaries has increased over the years for generating higher incomes, better job opportunities and better availability of products at fair price. On the contrary, Disdier, Fontagn and Cadot (2015) argued that international business or trade affected the domestic market adversely and discouraged competitiveness among the local industry as well as business entities having low capital flows or low investments. In case foreign trade or international trade, entry of business in the developing countries creates job opportunities, for instance, opening of new law firm based in United States in the new markets of China creates employme nt opportunities for the local people of China in a different sector. Such opportunity eliminates the mobilization of individuals to other countries in search of job or employment that increases cost of living, cultural differences and other unfavorable differences (Xiaojun, Lingsha and Yanhua2014). Lee, Biglaiser and Staats (2014) stated that international trade under the direct export mode of entry assists the organizations as well as countries in capitalizing the economies of scale in terms of income level and production level. On the contrary, Johanson and Mattsson (2015) provide that import or export mode of entry requires compliance of several trade policies of both the exporting as well as importing countries along with the exporting countries. International joint venture is carried by the business organizations to share trade and business risk, to improve economies of scale and to improve market access by creating different channels of distribution (Shiet al.2014). Starbucks, originally a US company entered into the market of Japan by considering Joint Venture as a mode of entry. The company opted to enter the Japanese market via joint venture since it involves low rate of risk as well as the benefits of knowing the Japanese market structure as the partner of the company held 50% share. Starbucks in Japan contributes to the global economy growth along with the creation of job opportunities for different class of individuals. It has been noted that international trade of the company in Japan assists in creating around 700,000 jobs, which eventually help in creating $450- billion value in the global market. In the recent years, Starbucks has been a largest chain for coffee products in the region of Japan that shares around 48.0% market while the stores have reflected growth of around 7.3% in a year since the past several years (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017). In addition, it has been noted that the organization has more than 1000 stores in the co untry with the aggressive expansion of 10% growth annually in the future years. Additionally, it is also been a non- smoking zone which attracted the young generation in Japan resulted in revenue growth by around 25% during the financial year 2013- 14 (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017). The international growth of Starbucks has been uneven in the recent years, which projects the economic troubles across the region. Due to the impact in foreign currency exchange, it has been projected that the organizational revenue might result in decline at least by 10% over the years. Another major threat for Starbucks in Japan is the unstable price of the product coffee that is based on the price of Arabica beans and Robusta beans that are used for instant coffee as well as the supermarket brands (refer to appendix 1). Rising competition by the other organizations like Dunkin Donuts, across the Japan region is another threat that may affect the strong presence of the organization over the coming five years (Starbucks Coffee Company 2017). On the contrary, it has been observed that the organization incorporates strong record of growth in terms of top- line as well as bottom- line from the period 2010- 2014 which reflected a growth of 53% in the revenue and 50% growth in the value of earnings per share (refer to appendix 2). In the recent years, international trade of Starbucks in Japan reflected full control over the business and predicted that the revenue would increase over $1 billion. Owever, growth of the organization would be affected due to acquisition of Starbucks in the region of Japan as well as due to the affect of weak currency value against dollar. In addition, the slowdown rate of economy in the region of Japan might influence the companys long- term growth (refer to appendix 3). Challenges for Starbucks Opportunities for Starbucks The major challenge for the organization under international trade in Japan is rising cost of the coffee beans and other food products as raw materials that might affect the production cost Among the identified potential challenges for Starbucks, opportunity for new acquisition within the Japanese market expects to increase the growth and sustainability by more than 45%. External market risk of the business is another major challenge in Japan since many small business firms would provide the similar product at lower price affordable by the younger generation of Japan over Starbucks (refer to appendix 4). It has been observed that the growing demand for fast foods and beverage products would influence the growth in market share for the organization over the subsequent years by more than 8%. Other than the economic challenges, changes in the technological factors that influence the entire industrial growth between 39% and 22%. Changes in market as well as new and improved market trends would reflect growth opportunity for Starbucks organization by more than 35% to 50%. Table 1: Challenges and opportunities of Starbucks (Source: Created by author) Considering the opportunities and challenges for the organization it can be said that if the cost of production increases, the quantity of the production will be lowered and the profit margin might also decline. As the price of coffee beans expects to rise, it will influence the cost of production at higher rate, which will lower the profitability. On the contrary, if the organizations considers low price of raw materials, it is expected to increase the product supply by around 70% by the end of two subsequent years. In Japan, it is possible that the local government may not support the trade of coffee products while the consumer preference might shift to other beverage product, hence the company will have to reduce the sales price. Consequently, the company is recommended to allocate the sales price at moderate level so that the sales through younger generation improve, as their income level is comparatively lower. Other than the joint venture mode, international business trade includes mergers and acquisition, which refers the transfer or combination of business ownership consisting of assets and liabilities (Lee, Biglaiserand Staats2014). As per the latest reports, business strategy of Starbucks included acquisition of Teavana Holdings valued to around $620 million while a buy of $40 billion in tea products to boost its overall market economy (Jackson and Nei2015).This step by Starbucks in international trade reflects impact on coffee premium price, which increased to 53%. In the recent year, merger and acquisition between Shire and Baxalta within a pharmaceutical industry occurred for an amount of $32 billion deal including cash offer as well as stock offer. Shire based in Dublin, Ireland acquired Baxalta based in United States to create biotechnology globally in order to serve patients with severe diseases or other specialized conditions. Consequently, the organization acquired the foreign market for providing diversified services for critical disease, which eventually resulted in business growth by more than 50%. The growth experienced by the organization was due to incorporation of advanced technologies and equipment available in United States helped in identifying and curing critical dieses. Accordingly, mergers and acquisitions across the borders provide effective business operation opportunities with respect to access to the local markets across the globe. On the contrary, Kander et al. (2015) stated certain drawbacks of merger and acquisitionin terms of loss of experienced employees that incorporates business loss. Due to the Teavana acquisition it was noted that the sales of local market in coffee and tea sector declined by 28%- 35% whereas the cost of the organization increased by 40% approximately. Another form of entry of business organizations international trade involves strategic alliances, which incorporates agreement between the organizational parties to conduct business for agreed objectives (Kastneret al. 2014). As the strategic alliance occurs between the partners from different countries, it involves a disadvantage related to foreign confiscation due to the government policies and differences in regulations that affects the co- ordination between the organizations (Cumming et al. 2016). International trade provides global benefits for allocating and utilization of resources in efficient manner together with the utilization of improved technologies (Feenstra2015). One of the major advantages of international trade includes increase of employment within the country due to the establishment of new industries and organizations that diminishes the unemployment rates (Disdier, Fontagn and Cadot 2015). On the other hand, Lee, BiglaiserandStaats (2014) stated that international trade involves higher business cost and economic dependence for the underdeveloped countries since they might be exploited by the developed countries. International trade incorporates barrier to the business development in domestic industries because of the foreign competition and free import trade policies (Lee, Biglaiserand Staats2014). Involvement of political dependence, government regulations and trade policies affect the business organizations to conformimport or export trade with the other cou ntries (Becker, Chen and Greenberg 2013). 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