Cvs Annual Report Essay

Executive Summary/Company History/Products and Services CVS/Pharmacy has shown a consistent growth for the last three years. Three years ago CVS/Pharmacy has merged with Longs Pharmacy and Caremark to form the largest retail pharmacy chain in the United States. CVS/Pharmacy- CVS/Pharmacy began operations in 1963, and added the pharmacy department in 1967. In 2007, CVS merged with Caremark Rx, Inc. Finally, in 2008, CVS bought the Longs Drug Store chain. CVS has over 7000 stores(Cvs.com, 2010). At the end of 9 months of 2010, the company has lost 9.25% against 2009 net income. However, the company has increased their assets and liabilities by .1% against 2009 figures(Cvs.com, 2010). As the company stands now in trends, Net revenues for this 7,100-store drugstore retailer were $23.9 billion for Q3 2010, down 3.1% from $24.6 billion in the prior year’s period. Poor performance by the company’s Pharmacy Services segment—its revenues dropped 8.5%, to $11.9 billion—was a major contributor to the company’s woes. CVS’ Retail Pharmacy segment revenues actually increased 4.1%, with total same-store sales climbing 2.5%(Trendwatch, 2010). CVS/Pharmacy is in the process of transitioning their leadership at CEO. Tom Ryan will be stepping down at the end of the year as CEO, and Larry Merlo will be promoted to CEO. Tom Ryan has been the CEO of CVS/Pharmacy Inc. since 1994, and it has been the consistency at the top that has lead to the expansion of CVS/Pharmacy as being largest retail pharmacy chain in the United States. Now that Tom’s tenure is coming to a close, a new dawn is  occurring for the corporation with Larry Merlo taking the helm. Competitor Analysis In the retail pharmacy industry, there are only three pure pharmacy firms: CVS/Pharmacy, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid. Pure pharmacy firms are pharmacy retailers whose business is built around the pharmacy. Wal-Mart, Kroger, and local grocery stores have pharmacies as an extension of their business plan, but it is not the focus of their company. CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens have been battling over the top position for years, and Rite-Aid has been ranked at a steady third in the market place. Walgreens- Walgreens is CVS/Pharmacy’s chief competitor. Founded in 1901, Walgreens is considerably older. Unlike CVS/Pharmacy, Walgreens began with the pharmacy department. With 6000 stores, Walgreens is smaller than CVS. In 2010, Walgreens has increased sales against last year by 6.4%, and net earnings by 4.2%(Walgreens.com, 2010). Moreover, they have posted 36 straight years of sales gains, and 35 straight years of dividend payments(Walgreens.com, 2010). Finally, Walgreens has posted net earnings for 5 consecutive years. Despite Walgreens smaller size, it has a bigger market share at 31.2% compared to CVS/Pharmacy’s 25%(Wikinvest.com, 2010). The last 10 years has been the first decade that a Walgreens family member was not at the helm of the Walgreens Pharmacy chain. Charles Walgreens retired from the CEO position in 1998, but stayed on a member of the board of directors. Mr. Walgreens will officially retire for the company this year. Gregory D. Wasson is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wasson has worked with Walgreens for 31 years. In conclusion, Walgreens & CVS/Pharmacy are the giants in retail pharmacy. Their strengths, weaknesses, successes, and failures have brought them to a virtual dead heat. The purpose of this research is analyze the financial strength of both to determine which is in the best financial health. Common Size Statements We will first compare CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens through common size financial statements. Commons size financial statements allow for comparisons to be made between companies of different sizes and volumes in order to see the true performance. CVS/Pharmacy has over 7000 stores, and Walgreens Pharmacy only has 6000 stores. The difference in size will have an  impact on expense, revenue, and income. Every company plans to get the most out of every dollar spent. Consequently, we will be comparing the their financial performance from 2007-2009. From the beginning, Walgreens has yielded a better gross profit by an average of 8% over CVS/Pharmacy. Gross profit is the amount left over after cost of goods sold is taken from revenue. Although, both have been steady with their percentage gross profit, CVS/Pharmacy 21% & Walgreens 28%, Walgreens has gained more. However, Walgreens’ celebration is short lived because the balance statement is more than gross profit. In fact the 8% edge in gross profit they gave back in operating expenses. Walgreens’ operating expenses took, on average, 22.5% away from their total revenue. CVS/Pharmacy operating expenses took only 14.5% away from their total revenue. Moreover, other indicators of return on investment to the company are higher for CVS/Pharmacy than Walgreens. CVS/Pharmacy has had a higher operating income than Walgreens since 2007. For the last two years CVS/Pharmacy has posted higher income before taxes than Walgreens. Finally, the biggest trend difference between the two firms is that CVS/Pharmacy’s net income has increased three years in a row, while Walgreens’ net income has steadily decreased three years in a row. As a company, CVS/Pharmacy received a 20% gross profit margin. The next biggest payment went to operating expenses at 14.12%. After the expenses, income before taxes and operating profit account for 13% and net income accounts for nearly 4%. In 2009 alone, Walgreens’ gross profit and operating expenses nearly cancel each other out. There is only a 4% variance between gross profit and operating expenses for Walgreens. Operating profit and income before taxes accounts for only 10% of the revenue, while Walgreens’ net income accounts for barely over 3%. On the key financial statements, Walgreens’ performance has been diminishing over the last three years, and CVS/Pharmacy’s performance has risen. The reason behind the growing strength of CVS/Pharmacy has been the general, consistent financial growth. This will be illustrated by the financial ratios. Liquidity is the firm’s ability to meet its current obligations(Marshall, McManus, Vielle, 2010). Working capital is the excess of a firm’s current assets over its current liabilities(2010). In this case, Walgreens’ has higher working capital than CVS/Pharmacy. On other tests of liquidity,  Walgreens’ out performs CVS/Pharmacy. Walgreens has a higher current ratio, acid test ratio, and they turn over their assets 8 more times a year than CVS/Pharmacy. Although Walgreens has yielded their lowest net income in three years, they have a high comparable liquidity. Moreover, the higher net income for CVS/Pharmacy has not translated into higher liquidity. However, the increased in income has translated into a higher inventory turnover for CVS/Pharmacy. Conclusion The findings of this paper are illustrating the transition in the marketplace between CVS/Pharmacy and Walgreens. For the last 20 years, these retail pharmacy firms have battled for supremacy in the industry. Over the last decade, CVS/Pharmacy has had one Chief Executive Officer, Tom Ryan. However, since Tom Ryan took over in 1999, Walgreens has had 3 CEO changes. The result of inconsistency in their leadership has translated to a lower return on investment. Walgreens has higher liquidity, but they have shown three years of decreasing net income. As a result, they are getting weaker as an organization. However, CVS/Pharmacy has shown consistent growth over the last three years. Their increasing strength has been represented by their purchases of Long’s Pharmacy and Caremark. It is my conclusion that this trend will continue

Make a wish foundation Essay

There is an array of things that are assessed in starting a successful business. When viewing the success of Dale Northrup who decided to open the Percy Inn in Portland, Maine, after being a critic and editor for hotels and cruise ships all over the world, it becomes very apparent that a great deal of work goes into starting a successful business. A business owner must first determine the reasons in which they want to start a business. The owner must determine what entrepreneurial characteristics they possess that will promote the success of their business. Next, a niche and market must be determined. This paper will give details of how Dale Northrup, owner and manager of Percy Inn decided to open a successful business using his entrepreneurial skills and background in the travel and lodging market to create wealth, a sense of pride, and an attractive venture to investors. When Dale decided to open the Percy Inn, he had to consider several reasons to take the risk as an entrepreneur. Like many entrepreneurs, Dale probably thought the top advantages to starting Percy Inn was the flexibility, freedom, and better income along with pride of ownership, retention of control, and the retention of ownership. Dale Northrup traveled all over the world and wrote 23,000 hotel reviews for travel agent hotel guides in 70 countries (Percy, About the Inn), so he is truly an expert on the travel and lodge industry. Being given the opportunity to use his expertise in the industry and own the famous Percy Inn located in Portland, Maine, Dale has a huge sense of pride for his ownership and management. Dale also has other lodging options that include his cottage on the Southern Maine coast as well as chic condominiums overlooking Biscayne Bay in South Florida (Percy, Home of the Percy Inn). Dale is able to provide various levels of comfort to various markets of people in multiple locations with the use of his niche for travel and lodging and history of Portland. As Dale continues to manage these amazing inns in great locations, he assumes all the risk and is allowed to be very innovative in how he accommodates his traveling guests and tenants, which allows him the privilege to be independent and flexible as he faces many challenges. He also is able to retain control and profits to increase his financial success. Dale can have the satisfaction of owning a business that he is very proud of and keep the profits to himself minus his taxes and expenses, which is a great advantage of being an entrepreneur. Even with Dale’s expertise in travel and lodging and his success in his business at Percy Inn, he possesses several other entrepreneurial characteristics that are imperative to being an excellent business owner. According to the author Marce in Chapter 7 about Small Business and Entrepreneurship, a few characteristics of entrepreneurs include vision, self-reliance, energy, confidence, tolerance of uncertainty, and tolerance of failure ( Marce, pg 102). The characteristics that Dale Northrup seem to possess especially are vision, confidence, and self-reliance. Dale had several years of personal and professional experience in lodging, but it was his vision that enabled him to create an urban inn after he renovated a house from the year 1830 that was built in Maine, ten years after it became a state(Northrup). He was very confident in his expertise in travel and lodge and history of Portland in order to create an inn that would appeal to many people all while he pursued a great business venture that he was passionate about. He also took his business a step further by opening more inns in other locations besides the main inn in Portland, which shows that he is very confident that his vision will be to the satisfaction of many people all over the world. His ability to manage inns and maintain a vision that is selective and targets a certain type of market shows that he is very reliable. Dale is responsible for permits, staffing his inns, maintain his investor relations, and any liabilities that impact him personally and financially in dealing with the business operations. A good time for some families is a trip to Disney World, a cruise, weekend getaway, a tour of France , or even a trip to a local beach. No matter what a person or family enjoys there is something out there for them to take part in. Dale Northrup has an inn which is probably very appealing to a market that is fond of New England history and wants to enjoy the luxury of a home away from home whether it is for a day trip or extended stay. A market niche tends to be attractive to a certain segment of people and not have as many competitors. Dale definitely has a niche in the market because he has a great deal of experience and is also providing an inn that is different from many other because of the historical New England influence. The niche works in Dale’s favor and does not limit him because he caters to other markets  and taste by having other inns that are more appropriate to their locations and other people’s interest ( Marce, pg 106). If Dale is able to have three inns in different locations that are all very successful and able to use his expertise in the desires of people in lodging, he should not have any problems with being successful and able to target various markets even if he gains more competitors or ever feels that he wants to change his niche or target market. Changing his niche and vision to cater to more people could actually be of great benefit to him in the future, but probably is not necessary since he has something unique in its class already. Percy Inn is very impressive to investors and probably had an extensive business plan. Business plans usually cover everything from the vision of a business to the marketing to the financial analysis of the business. If Dale presented the business plan to me, as an investor I would be most interested in the potential customers, profitability, operating procedures, and financial data. If I would take the risk of investing in a business that I was not familiar with I would definitely be interested in the market of people that services would be provided to because that would be an indicator of how profitable the business would be. I would also need a clear understanding of operating procedures such as how would the inn be ran and operated in terms of personnel and tending to guests as well as how inns at other locations owned by Dale would be operated when he is not able to be on site. Last, but certainly not least, the financial data is very important. The financial data is important because it will reveal how much money is necessary to invest to start the business as well as how much is needed to maintain and operate the business over the tenure of the business. It is imperative that an investor is aware of what market the business they invest in will target and what financial future the business has to return the money invested and become profitable. Since Dale is the owner and manager of the inns, he is a sole proprietor of the business. Being a sole proprietor gives Dale the advantage of ease of formation, retaining profits and control, and pride of ownership. Because Dale is a sole proprietor he does not have to file as many forms or pay the fees associated with partnerships and corporations. Dale is in full control  of the business and therefore he manages everything and assumes all liability. Dale is able to benefit from all the profits of the business since he manages everything and assumes all risk and liability. If Dale ever considered switching to a partnership or corporation he would be able to limit some of his risk and duties, which could increase or decrease the income. If Dale was not the sole owner, he could limit his liabilities because if the company goes bankrupt, the stockholders would have personal asset protection. There would be permeance, allowing Dale’s business consider to thrive even if he withdraws or dies because the corporation could continue if stockholders want the business to continue. Switching to a corporation could also help ale to make more money since corporations and partnerships are usually larger than sole proprietorships because there are larger teams of people which allow more diversity amongst ideas to expand because they can use specialized management by hiring qualified people to help grow the company. (Marce,pg 89) In conclusion, Dale Northrup is a sole proprietor with a distinctive entrepreneurial profile. He has taken a risk to start a business with a vision of his own to target various people from all over to visit his inns in different locations. He is being recognized for his great inn and the service provided and is able to enjoy freedom, flexibility, and the retention of profits. I would recommend that Dale looks for ways to increase his market share since he has a unique business. If his market share increases, it could lead to more income and opportunities. Second, if the business continues to thrive and Dale wants to expand, he may want to at least expand to a partnership with someone who shares his similar vision to share responsibility with and continue the business in the case that he can no longer own and manage the business. Last, it would be in the best interest of Dale to maintain very accurate financial information to watch for trends and perform analysis comparable to other companies to look for ways to improve his business and win against competitors. Works Cited Kelly, Marce, and James McGowen. â€Å"Small Business and Entrepreneurship.† _BUSN 5_. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2013. Pages 89-112 Print. Northrup, Dale. â€Å"Home of the Percy Inn.† _Home of the Percy Inn_. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2013.

The Iconography of the Buddha Image

For the following report the concept of iconography in regard to the images of Buddha from the South Asia region (1-5 cc. A. D. ) is important. In general, iconography in art stands for studying the imagery or symbolism of the work of art; in regard to the Asian Buddha images, iconographical elements provide the worshipper and observer with multiple signs to differentiate between unique Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. There is a hot discourse in research literature about the nature and developmental stages of Buddhist iconography.Up to the 2-3 c. A. D. , Buddhist art used to be predominantly narrative consisting of jatakas (accounts of the Buddha’s previous incarnations) and nidanakathas (historical events related to the founder of religion, Buddha Shakyamuni or Prince Siddhartha Gautama). Due to the very nature of Buddhism, its iconography has been associated with aniconic symbols for a long time. Once Jain claimed that before its material anthropomorphic transformations the Buddha icon used to be initially of intellectual and imaginative nature.The idea echoes somehow with Diskul and Lyons’s proposition about the iconography in regard to the Buddha image standing for the goals of maintaining traditions and sacrificing exuberant decorative elements for the sake of immortality, sanctity and transitivity of Buddhism. However, the Buddha image is perceived mostly in its anthropomorphic dimension nowadays with a rigid system of metaphors and symbols standing for iconographical elements. All the researchers agree on the fact that the image of Buddha as anthropomorphic icon started being created approximately in the 1st century A.D. The gold and copper coins of Kanishka (Appendix A) contain Buddha images on the reverse sides. It is logical to assume that those images were simple and rather abstract because of the small size of those coins. During the five centuries of modern era, the iconography of the Buddha image has been made rich and complicated. Accordi ng to Diskul and Lyons, there are three key elements in the iconography of the Buddha image: these are anatomy, dress, and posture.Diskul and Lyons mentioned that the anatomy of the Buddha encompassed â€Å"the canons of proportion and the form of the supernatural details†; the dress might look either as the monk's garb (being placed on either both shoulders or the left shoulder only), or a princely garment (though in all the cases the elements of dressing are highly stylized); and, so far as postures are concerned, Buddha was portrayed as either walking, or standing, or sitting, or reclining, not to forget â€Å"less than a dozen usual gestures of the hand†.In Jain’s chronology of the Buddhist iconography, the researcher listed the specific elements of Sarnath Buddha images (3-4 cc. A. D. ) with their graceful and beautifully shaped bodies within eight iconographical types depending on the scheme of the dress (either the covered one with both shoulders being dr aped, or the open one with the right shoulder being bare) and the four gesture patterns.Meanwhile, the Huntington Photographic Archive of Buddhist and Related Art ignored anatomy and dress, concentrating instead on sacred bodily marks (lakshanas) and attributes (objects held by or belonging to the figure) or associated objects as the media through which the icon communicated to the observer. For the posture category, the Huntington Archive proposed the sub-division into postures per se (the one of sitting body is called asana, and the one of standing is sthana) and gestures (position of the hands, mudra, and position of the arms, hasta).The Grove Art Online derived the iconography of the Buddha from the one of pre-Buddhist yakss with 32 major and 64 minor prescribed signs; five gestures (mudras) – fearlessness (abhaya mudra), bestowing boons (varada mudra), meditation (dhyana mudra), touching the earth (bhumisparsa mudra) and turning the Wheel of Law; and three main postures – the one with crossed legs is called adamantine (vajraparyanka), the one where the Buddha is sitting with one leg placed across the other thigh is sattvaparyank asana, and the one with both legs hanging down is referred to as bhadrasana.Whatever the iconographical systematizations are, the image of the Buddha has been developing from abstractly carved prototypes to the detailed icons of magnitude and aesthetic recklessness. Under the Kushan dynasty that ruled from about the first to the seventh centuries A. D. in Afghanistan, north-western India, the Punjab, and in present-day Pakistan, there were two distinctive schools of portraying Buddha: the Gandhara and the Mathura ones.While in the north (Gandhara) the images of Buddha belonged to wandering craftsmen from the Roman East, in the south (Mathura or Muttra) the technique derived itself from native Indian sources. Both schools, though being distinct in iconographical elements and methods, portrayed Buddha both standing, se ated or reclining (in scenes of the Great Demise); either as a single and independent image or the one of the figures on panels. The earliest image of the Gandhara Buddhas Rowland referred to the second and third centuries A.D. judging from inscriptions. In regard to the standing Buddhas, there is one key characteristic of Gandhara images – though on the very first sight they look like reliefs, they can not be observed from the back, their back side is usually flat and unfinished. As for the material used, craftsmen carved the statues from stone and stucco or lime-plaster. The latter was popular in the first century A. D. already, and by the third century A. D. it has replaced stone.Another favourite medium for carving was the blue schist and green phyllite, while metal was less popular. Besides artists used to decorate both stone and stucco images with polychromy and gold leaf. In Mathura the sculptures were also covered in an analogous manner because craftsmen usually carve d the statues of Buddha of red sandstone, which was â€Å"an exceedingly ugly stone, frequently marred by veins of yellow and white, so that streaks and spots of these lighter colours disfigure the surface†.The researcher may compare two schools of portraying Buddha on the basis of the Gandhara Standing Buddha from the Guides' Mess at Hoti-Mardan, near Peshawar, and a life-sized standing Bodhisattva of Sarnath with an inscription about a certain Friar Bala dedicating the sculpture to the deity in around A. D. 131-147 (Appendices B and C). One distinctive point between the two sculptures is anatomical proportion. The Gandhara school adhered to the antique canons when the total height of the body was five times bigger that the head after late Roman and Early-Christian models.The Mathura school adopted special unit of measurement, the thalam, which had nothing in common with human physical anatomy. It is â€Å"the distance between the top of the forehead and the chin, which is divided nine times into the total height of the figure† to convey the heroic and superhuman posture. Subsequently, the bodies of the Gandhara standing Buddhas are more harmonic and natural, possessing â€Å"the Praxitelean dehanchement [†¦] beneath the robe†, which is also typical of Greco-Roman art.Meanwhile, the Mathura Bodhisattva is more massive and erect. Modern iconography owes lakshanas of the Buddha to the Mathura school. Rowland stated that whilst the shaping of the body in the Mathura images is â€Å"greatly simplified and still represented by the archaic technique of incised lines†, the modelling of the drapery reveals both texture and volume; in result, an observer may sense â€Å"the warmth and firmness of flesh and [†¦] a powerful feeling for the presence of the inner breath or prana. †In regard to the style of drapery (Diskul and Lyons), the Gandhara Standing Buddha from the Guides' Mess at Hoti-Mardan reminds of a Roman nobleman o f the Imperial Period. The eye of an observer catches heavy folds of the dress, which is a kind of Roman toga instead of Buddhist mantle. The Mathura images are often nude to the waist. The Bodhisattva of Sarnath rests his feet firmly on the basement, raising the right hand in the gesture of reassurance, and supporting the folds of his native Indian robe or dhoti by the left hand on the hip.So far as the physiognomic characteristics are concerned, the Gandhara Buddhas resemble of the Apollo Belvedere due to â€Å"the head, with its adolescent features and wavy hair†, though some distinctive Buddhist iconographical elements – the magic marks or lakshanas – may be also present. The Mathura's Buddha images, as Jain pointed out, are more round-faced with underlined â€Å"spiritual realization and beatitude. † There are also physiognomic distinctions between the two schools: In Mathura art tradition, Buddha image has longer earlobes, thicker lips, wider eyes a nd prominent noses.In Gandhara images, eyes are longer, chin more angular, earlobes shorter and noses more sharp and better defined. Under the rule of the Gupta dynasty (starting from A. D. 320), the Buddha images became even more anthropomorphic due to Mahayana Buddhism, and, at the same time more sacred due to the sharpening of the Buddha’s superhuman nature and his Oriental origin. In regard to the iconographical systems, the Gupta images are synthetic. For example, the body of Standing Buddha from Mathura (Indian Museum, Calcutta) (Appendix D) is fully covered by the monk’s mantel after the Gandhara models.At the same time, the folds of initial pseudo-togas gave space to stylized series of strings instead of multiple folds. Rowland provided the link to the classic Mathura school in regard to the rhythmical goal of stringed drapery, stating that â€Å"the repetition of the loops [†¦] provides a kind of relief to the static columnar mass of the body. † At the same time, unlike the early Buddhas of originally Indian type, this Shakyamuni, though being rather voluminous and powerful, is not crude or roughly carved.Jain noted that the Gupta Buddha images were remarkable for the facial expressions bearing â€Å"celestial calm, serenity, a gentle smile, divine glow and unique composure. † Rowland sang dithyrambs to Gupta Buddhas from Sarnath because of the exquisite carving of their haloes. After having defined the concept of iconography in relation to the Buddha images in South Asia and having traced the development of iconographical systems from the first up to the fifth centuries A. D. , it is possible to summarize the key trends of the craftsmen having been portraying Buddha in the multitude of forms, styles and types.The first anthropomorphic images of Buddha appeared in the first century A. D. and adopted the iconographical elements of both Greek-Roman Antiquity and native Indian styles. During the Kushan period (25 AD †“ 150 AD), there were the so-called Gandhara and Mathura (the north-west part of modern Pakistan) schools of portraying the Buddha. The Gandhara Buddhas adopted many iconographical features of antique sculptures in regard to the slightly curved posture, anatomic and physiognomic verity and refinement, heavy and voluminous drapery organized in parallel folds and mask-like expressions of the faces with matted hair on the head.The early Kushan Buddhas from Mathura were more massive and heavily built than Gandhara ones and demonstrated stricter adherence to the native Indian canons. There was a greater accent on lakshanas and attributes in the Mathura school. Both standing and seated Buddhas were depicted in one of the assigned postures and their gestures bore sacred meaning for the worshippers. The garment looked more like the typical dress of Indian princes with the folds having given space to the strings standing for native muslin or silk dhotis or monastic robes.The torsos of Math ura Buddhas bore distinctive marks of heroic and sacred life of the Buddha (the marks of wheel, the three white hair between the eyebrows, etc. ). Starting from A. D. 320 within the Gupta period, the iconography of the Buddha images became more synergetic having adopted both Gandhara and Mathura elements. After the Gandhara canon, the proportions were ideal and aimed to produce the effect of magnitude and super-human power. It could happen due to the distinction between the mortal Prince Siddhartha and the â€Å"real Buddha† as deity.The individual parts of the body were depicted in purely Indian manner with the emphasis being made on lakshanas (elongated earlobes, urna, webbed fingers and toes, etc. ) and attributes (lotus, Water bowl, etc. ). The faces of the Gupta Buddhas served the arena for metaphorical transformation: the eyes had the form of the lotus flower, the hair looked like snails or shells, the lips were full and ripe like exotic fruit and there was a mild smile on them, the eyebrows were curved like the Indian bow.Thus, one may say that since the first century A. D. up to the fifth century the iconography of the Buddha image has been remarkable for the shift from Greek-Roman models to the synthetical type with prevalence of Indian iconographical elements and from anthropomorphic and individualistic depiction to the icon of the super-human mighty deity with traditionally assigned symbols. Bibliography Diskul, M. C. Subhadradis, and Elizabeth Lyons. The Arts of Thailand: A Handbook of the Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting of Thailand (Siam).Ed. Theodore Robert Bowie. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1960. Huntington, John C. , and/or Susan L. Huntington. The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Related Art (a photographic research and teaching archive). 15 Oct. 1995/Oct. 2004. College of the Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. 13 Jan. 2006 . Jain, P. C. â€Å"Evolution of the Buddha Image. â⠂¬  Exotic India Art. May 2004. 13 Jan. 2006 . â€Å"Indian subcontinent,  §II, 2: Buddhist iconography and subject-matter, (i) The Buddha. † Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press, 12 Jan. 2006 . Rowland, Benjamin. The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist, Hindu, Jain. London: Penguin Books, 1953. Appendices Appendix A Kanishka Coin (100 B. C. ), gold and copper. Benjamin Rowland, The Art and

Canadaian Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Canadaian Studies - Essay Example The past governments leading to its poor social, educational, and health outcomes in relation to their Aboriginal Canadian citizens have sidelined the Northwest region (Simeone, 2011). Despite the little improvements in the Northwest Region, more still needs to be done so that the Aboriginal Canadians also enjoy good standards of living like the other Canadian citizens. According to the 2006 Census, 3.8% of the Canadian population was made of the Aboriginal communities (Simeone, 2011). Amongst these communities, the Indians make the largest percentage of 60%. Furthermore, Canadas Northwest Aboriginal population is growing faster than the nonaboriginal population (Simeone, 2011). Moreover, from 1996-2006 there was almost 45% increase of the aboriginal population in Canada (Simeone, 2011). Despite the various gains in sectors of education, employment, and income in the past decade, the aboriginal population in Canada still lags behind on those sectors. In Northwest region, Inuits fare worse on a variety of economic indicators when compared to the Metis. Some of the social and economic challenges that face the region include poor prevalence on health issues in the region, unemployment, and low income and educational levels. The Northwest region in Canada has been a topic of concern with its increasing gas and oil development in the region. The political situation in the region has been high with the local communities and non-governmental organizations raising their concerns on the need to protect the environment (Cain and Ken, 2013). Additionally, the Aboriginal communities in the region often experience a dynamic political and social, cultural response. The politics of the region are concerned with the ultimate protection of various cultural landscapes in the Northwest region. Furthermore, the government has consistently negotiated with the community leaders through the government resource managers towards amicable solutions that could lead to

Population Specific Pain Assessment & Management Protocol Essay

Population Specific Pain Assessment & Management Protocol - Essay Example These include: poor sleep, loss of appetite, decreased functioning, elevated levels of depression and anxiety and decreased quality of life (Twycross, 1994). The powerlessness and hopelessness expressed by patients experiencing moderate to severe pain is all too often mirrored by nurses who lack the appropriate knowledge and assessment skills to manage pain effectively (Clements and Cummings, 1991). Common barriers to effective pain management reported in the literature include: knowledge deficits; fear of addiction to opioid medication; and, lack of consistency in the systematic assessment and documentation of pain and the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions. (McCaffery and Ferrell, 1997) Assessment is widely regarded in the literature as the cornerstone to effective pain management. Nurses spend more time with patients than any other member of the health care team and are thus in an optimal position to perform pain assessment. Through the integration of fundamental physiological knowledge, information on the patient's history and the comprehensive assessment of their pain, the nurse plays a major role in optimizing patient management. In our society, information gathering is viewed almost uniformly as a good thing. (It is the "information age," after all.) Nowhere is this truer than in medicine. For doctors, more information is always better. In the past, most of our information came from the patient. Now it increasingly comes from machines. Doctors like tests because we see them as objective and more reliable than our own subjective judgments. We also see tests as something tangible we can offer the patient at the end of a clinic visit. Patients like tests for the same reasons. Ordering a test validates their concerns and promises concrete information-a definitive diagnosis. Sometimes patients even perceive their care as substandard if they are not given some sort of test. While doctors and patients recognize that treatments may have side effects or lead to complications, both tend to view testing as something that can only help. The prevailing attitude seems to be it can't hurt just to gather a little information. Cancer, however, is a diagnosis made by examining human tissue under the microscope. And the only way to look at tissue under the microscope is to do a biopsy: cut a small piece of tissue and remove it from the body. A biopsy is a small operation, and like any operation, it can be disruptive and painful and can lead to complications. So it's not the kind of test you want to perform on everyone. The job of the cancer-screening test is to determine which patients should be biopsied. In other words, a screening test is a preliminary test. It is not a test to determine who has cancer; instead, it is a test to determine who should be tested further. Can a negative screening test be wrong The answer is almost certainly yes, although it is very hard to prove. That is because we do not biopsy people with negative screening tests. The only way we ever come to suspect that a negative screening test might have been wrong is when a new cancer becomes clinically obvious soon after a person has a negative test. Testing In The Real World In the real world, cancer testing is more complex. Test results aren't just positive or negative; often

Sick older people are deeply problematic for contemporary forms of Essay

Sick older people are deeply problematic for contemporary forms of health care organisation. Discuss. (Medical Sociology) - Essay Example wess and clan or family properly introduce an incipient stratification.† (Davis & Moore, 1945: p 242: quoted in Zaidi, 1999: p 29) Age-group is one of the most important factors of social stratification that divides human society into the categories of children, young, middle-aged and elderly. Among these categories the elderly or older people make up a noteworthy proportion of every society and maintain the same significance observed by the young and adult individuals. Researches view ageing as a universal phenomenon that exists in all cultures and societies of the globe. Though old age is assessed and estimated through divergent scales, yet the individuals crossing 60 years of age are stated as old people or senior citizens all over the globe. â€Å"Aging is†, Sijuwade observes, â€Å"judged by different criterion in different societies. The transition to old age is identified with several factors such as chronological age, ill health, retirement, physical/mental dete rioration, and death of spouse. Studies reveal that changes in social role (widowhood, grandparenthood, retirement) and physical health dominate the definition of age identity.† (2009: p 1) Special attention is paid to the cause of elderly in contemporary era and disciplines of gerontological sociology and cultural anthropology have been established, which concentrate upon the study of life, culture and activities of the old people. As ethnography is a branch of cultural anthropology, that discusses human cultural traits in a scientific way, the older people also come in the fold of the study of aged. Political authorities and social welfare organisations aim to strive for the sound health of the population at large. It is the therefore the concerns regarding the falling health and medical problems of the elderly are of great significance for them. Governmental departments introduce new policies and revise them time and again for the welfare of the elderly. These social reforms, related to the

SOP 347 & MRT 16 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SOP 347 & MRT 16 - Essay Example uding employees, contractors, consultants, etc.; Section four includes the general policy; Section five includes detailed definitions of covered accounts and red flags; Section six includes response to red flags; Section seven includes updates to program; and Section eight includes program administration (FTC, 2009; Jones, 2008). Procedures have been laid out to back up the policies with methods for implementing each policy. Methods would clearly indicate the steps to be followed and tools to be used. This includes tools such as forms or documents that should be used while executing a specific policy. Roles and responsibilities have been assigned for various activities within the policies. Employee training is important in the execution of the program. Competencies that need to be developed for policies have been identified, and areas where employees need training have been identified. Methods for review and auditing the program have been included, and mechanism for correcting any gaps has been included. FTC. (2009, November 1). A How to Guide for Business. Fighting Frauds with the Red Flags Rule. Federal Trade Commission, Retrieved from . Jones, Josh. (2008, Setember 17). Model identity theft policy. Retrieved from http://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/KnowledgeBase.nsf/0dc5bcf28eace789852574590055ba0a/2ebf57dd17941195852574c700473c4a?OpenDocument Tellabs is a telecom company with a wide range of products and services in a range of markets. The investor relations web page provides a variety of investor related information. A comparison of peer group websites has been illustrated in table 1. Peers include 3com Corporation; Arris Group; Polycom; and Mastec Incorporated. A variety of information has been presented on the page. This includes events and presentations; news releases; stock quotes and links for annual reports; contact; email alerts; SEC filings; corporate governance; financial

Computer Assisted Language Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Computer Assisted Language Learning - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  communicative competence must be the cornerstone of ICALL. ICALL must provide appropriate language assistance tailored to meet student needs. The ICALL must provide rich language input. The ICALL student model must be based in part on a variety of learning styles. ICALL material is most easily learned through associations, which are facilitated by interesting and relevant themes and meaningful language tasks. ICALL must involve interactions of many kinds, and these interactions need not be just student-tutor interactions u ICALL must provide useful, appropriate error correction suited to the student's changing needs ICALL must involve all relevant language skills and must use each skill to support all other skills. ICALL must teach students to become increasingly self-directed.As the essay stresses  the tutor-tool framework is offered here as a mechanism for addressing a number of concerns in CALL, the most far-reaching being the belief that all CALL is of the tutorial type, characterized by one-to-one interactions where the computer evaluates the student input and then presents the new material accordingly.  In general terms, such frameworks are helpful for a number of reasons. In suggesting the tutor-tool framework originally, Taylor argued that a simple scheme for classification was required to help practitioners 'intellectually grasp' the diverse range of activities in educational computin.g (1980: 2). CALL is faced with similar problems. We have seen the diversity of CALL projects in the CALL Survey, and writers such as Chapelle emphasize that CALL is not one activity but many, often differing widely in function, character, and content ( 1994b). A framework is needed to help comprehend the many approaches being taken. Hubbard (1992: 42) with regard to the creation of a methodological framework for CALL, argues that a framework properly constructed has the benefits of providing: a metalanguage for discussion; a u seful structure to conceptualize materials for development and research; and an 'integrated set of evaluation criteria for determining the fit of software with the teacher's views, the learner's needs, and the syllabus goals and constraints'.

Cultural Geography Ethnic,, Mosaic of Languages or Geolingustics, Assignment

Cultural Geography Ethnic,, Mosaic of Languages or Geolingustics, Political Geography - Assignment Example in the American culture, Cinco de Mayo as a holiday in America, and even African American Christian Churches that follow African traditions like singing and dancing. 2) Is the USA a plural society or a melting pot? Take a position and defend your position. The USA can be considered both a plural society and a melting pot. Since Americans have freedom to be separate, like the Amish, White Supremacist groups, or certain Islamic groups, the USA is a plural society. However main streams Americans are a melting pot. Irish, African American, Latino, Polish, German, and the other diverse cultures work, play, love, and intermix daily in America. All of the cultures keep a part of their heritage, but melt with the other cultures as well. 3) Compare and contrast the Amish of Pennsylvania and the Cajuns of Louisiana. How did these groups end up where they are and what is unique about them? Amish Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 18th century due to religious wars, poverty, and religious persecution in Europe. The Amish shun technology and keep to themselves. Cajuns are descendants of Acadian exiles, French-speaking settlers from parts of what is now Canada. The Cajuns speak an evolved French, despite being Americans. 4) Contrast the rimland and heartland political theories of geopolitics. Rimland is the land surrounding a country, like the states on the border of America. Heartland is the land inside a country. The political theory is the rimland holds the key to the heartland’s defense. If the rimland falls, then the heartland is in danger. However some feel the heartland is more important due to its impenetrability. The heartland can supply the rimland with support in any war or fight. Although there is no doubt that the rimland trade advantages are vital to a country. 5) Describe how formal and functional regions can be applied to political geography. Give your own examples. Formal regions are regions with defining features from border to

Human Resources Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resources Management Essay The present state of recession in the IT Industry as a Human Resource Manager how are you going to undertake Human Resource Planning at Macro Level to tide over this crisis? Human capital formation is acknowledged as one of the most potent sources in contributing directly and significantly to economic growth. As a result even the objectives of economic planning and priorities thereof, began to be shifted away from purely growth oriented development strategies to those that recognize and partly remedy the past neglect of such social sectors like population, planning, health, education, housing, social security and other social services. The objectives of HRP at macro level are to ensure that the organisation: a) Obtains and retains the quality and quantity of human resources it needs at the right time and place; and b) Makes optimal utilisation of these resources. Human resource planning is the formal process of linking organizational strategy with human resource practices. It is about perceiving organizational practices as a whole and not piecemeal. In a competitive climate, organizations need to use models and approaches that secure uniqueness of operations along with enhancing organizational capability. Today, the world is going through, a global economic turmoil. This recession affects almost all the fields especially IT field. To overcome the adverse effect of the economic slowdown, we should plan an effective human resource policy at macro level. Human resource plan is designed to pay attention to shaping the priorities of the H R function than on supporting activities relating to the organizations functioning as a whole. The economic crisis of 2008/2009 has touched every industry and profession,  radically altering the hiring landscape. Major layoffs, rising unemployment, and lowered profits have reshaped the way workers are hired and fired, and dramatically highlighted the need to rethink workforce planning. Now, the question lingering over the heads of business leaders everywhere is: What will the successful post-recession business look like? Here, we wanted to find out how what steps they are taking in response to the crisis, how their priorities and practices have changed, and what they predict the HR landscape will look like as the economy recovers. This study is focus on the following objectives: 1.How HR Processes got affected by Recession? 2. What was the Reactions of Recession? 3. What HR steps Companies are taking to prepare for Recovery from Recession? 4. What are the Envision on post-recovery staffing model? 5. What are the Roles of Temporary Workforce? 6. What are Managed Serviced Program its Benefit? First let us brief about Recession. A recession is a contraction phase of the business cycle where significant decline in economic activity lasts more than a few months, which is normally visible in real GDP real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. The current economic recession has hardly spared any country on earth. Rich countries like USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Canada almost all the rich countries have got badly hurt from the recession. So, there is no reason to be surprised to know that Indian economy is also getting hurt from the global economic recession. As a Human resource manager planning is one of the most important sources in contributing the economic growth. To overcome from the recession in IT industry I would like to retain and obtain pure quality of human resources all ways at the right time and at the right place. I ensure that all the resources are utilized properly .I as a human resource manager responsible  for corporate plan along with organizations purpose as the top most priority. The KRA at macro level are: 1- Determine the requirement level in the organization keeping recession in mind. 2- To get the best from the resources available within the organization. 3- Assist productivity bargaining. 4- Evaluate cost of man power in any upcoming new projects coming. 5- Analyze the cost of all the overhead and value associated with it with the function 6- Need to decide whether certain activities need to be sub contracted. 7- Need to provide best training in order to retain talent. 8- Anticipate redundancies. 9- Need to forecast future requirement. 10- Serve as a basis of management development programme The human resource planning is one of the most crucial, complex and continuing managerial function. It is a multi step function with various issues. The issue which needed to cater first are 1- Deciding objective and goal.2- Estimating future organizational structure ,3- Auditing human resources,4-Planning job requirement and job description.5- development of human resource plan. In the recession time in the IT industry it is very important to relate future human resources to future enterprise need so that the return on investment on human gets maximized. The companys human resources mamager is as much an advocate for the organization as it is for the employees. The responsibility to serve the interests and needs of both can be challenging, especially during a recession when it could difficult to sustain both the company and its workforce. The HR issues during a recession demand an even greater commitment to achieving stability for the company and assuring employees that they wont endure the harsh effects of a recession. Strategy Strategic direction is an ongoing discussion between HR and companys  leadership. During a recession, HR Managers involvement in developing the companys strategy should be a priority. Workforce planning, compensation structure and employee satisfaction arent just HR goals theyre organizational goals because the workforce is companys most valuable resource. Sustaining company’s operations and its profitability largely depends on employee productivity. The communication between HR Manager and the companys leadership should be candid, frequent and must include communication with employees about the companys direction. Company Status If the company is recession-proof, meaning it provides necessary products or services, the role of HR manager is to remind employees that the company is forging ahead despite an economic meltdown. As the saying goes, the only sure things in life are death and taxes; therefore, the most recession-proof businesses are likely mortuaries and accounting firms. On the other hand, if the company will be affected by a recession, HR managers role is to assist company leaders in describing the business strategy for staying afloat and keeping employees apprised of the companys status and direction. Employee Communication The employee turnover during a recession could be minimal simply because companies that arent recession-proof are closing, which means there are fewer job market opportunities. Leaving a job with a company that is surviving the recession for another one that might not survive could be a bad decision. Therefore, HRs primary job includes communicating with employees about the companys status, what its doing to be profitable and what it needs the employees to do to ensure the companys survival. This conveys two important messages. It says you care enough about your workforce to keep them informed and you value their contributions in helping the company make it through the recession. Job Security If I am in a position where I need to hire additional staff, ensure that I am not making any cuts to current employees wages. That is likely to make employees wonder if their livelihood is a priority or if the company places more value on input from outsiders. Provide training for employees to take on new responsibilities instead of recruiting an external candidate to do the job. Effective crisis management doesnt mean eliminating training for employees, according to The Boston Consulting Group 2009 survey of HR measures. In fact, the joint survey conducted with the European Association for People Management revealed that more than 30 percent of the companies that scaled back training individual and special training was less effective and demonstrated lower commitment levels during a crisis, such as a recession. Training also conveys the important message that youre investing in your existing staff, training them to work cross-functionally and thereby preparing them for continued e mployment in case their current jobs are eliminated because of the recession. Layoffs If HR must lay off workers, establish a communication strategy that gives employees plenty of notice before the actual layoff. Consult the U.S. Department of Labor Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, WARN, to determine if you meet the criteria for complying with WARN regulations. Ease the blow of unemployment by scheduling the layoff so it doesnt coincide untimely with periods such as the year-end holiday season. HR should offer outplacement services to employees who are forced to seek employment elsewhere. Outplacement services can range from career counseling sessions with experts to resume-writing services or time off from work for interviews. Compensation and Benefits HR might not be able to guarantee that employees will get year-end bonuses or even a wage increase, but HR can help employees figure out ways to increase their take-home pay. When employees have questions about their wages, tax withholding and liability or the cost of benefits, such as health insurance premiums and retirement savings ensure the company can provide answers. An HR benefits specialist can guide employees through the decision-making process by advising them to cut back on, say, charitable contributions that are being deducted from their net pay. The benefits specialist also can  refer employees to resources for managing their finances, such as an employee-assistance program. Summary HR managers reported opting for a wide range of practices to respond to the severe pressures presented by the recession. These practices range from changes to pay and pensions, staffing and HR systems, to changes in working time arrangements. While pay freezes for some or all employees were common, pay cuts too operated in a substantial number of firms. Other pay-related measures adopted include lower pay or salary scales for new entrants, bonus cuts and changes in pension arrangements. In terms of headcount and staffing arrangements, changes were also pronounced in that most firms in the survey experienced redundancy (compulsory and voluntary) for some employees. Freezes on recruitment were also commonly instituted. The effects of the recession on a wide range of business and the subsequent pressures experienced by HR managers, was examined next in chapter four. The HR managers present at the focus groups outlined in detail the ways in which they were required to cut and control employee costs in response to deep and acute commercial pressures. Where participants had been taken up for much of the previous boom years with recruiting and retaining staff, the main hub of activity now for most of the participants was on finding ways to control and reduce pay and headcount. Relative to the difficulties of doing this, other areas of HR practice received less attention, although some firms reported continued recruitment efforts for specific positions or new skills sets. Some firms also took measures such as selective pay rises or promotions to retain valued staff. Others operated formal talent management programmes, though these generally predated the recession. Staff redeployment was presented as a routine measure in responding to the recession in non-union firms, but appeared to be more problematic in unionized firms, where it sometimes cut acros s agreements with unions or lines of demarcation between different jobs.

Evaluation For Operations Management Of Hard Rock Cafe Marketing Essay

Evaluation For Operations Management Of Hard Rock Cafe Marketing Essay Hard Rock is one of the most globally trademarks in the world with 40 years history . At the beginning, it was a small cafà © located in London. What have made Hard Rock to be success, and their business cover all the world consisting of 169 venues in more than 50 countries.Hard Rock has become a truly phenomenon. We could evaluate how Hard Rock Cafe achieved that phenomenon in many points of view .One of these is operation management strategy of Hard Rock .Now we study and analyse the strategy to manage its operation.   Ã‚  1. Location selection With the first place in London, Hard Rock expands its cafes to major big destination cities on the world where there are huge population and tourist. Mr Oliver Munday, Hard Rocks vice president is heavily looking into global expansion in Europe, Latin American and Asia He said that Weve got to look at political risk, currency, and social norm-how does our brand fit into the country   [i]  . Therefore, the new choice for Hard Rock Cafe is to locate in other cities, they focus on the tremendous resurgence of the central of the city where nightlife is concentrated like Bang Coc, Ho Chi Minhà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. which are not rush tourist cities in order to less depend on such a fragile business. For the good position to be chose, markets research is deeply surveyed and analyzed base on Hard Rocks Standard market report. The analysis is based on these following fundamental elements including demographics, visitor market trend, transportations, restaurants and nightclubs, risk of politics, real estate market and comparable market, t. This serious quantitative market research supports Hard Rock Cafe to make right decisions for its business. Moreover, the success of every cafe in each location is also contributing the useful information for Hard Rock cafà © to expand these other one and also to improve their efficiency of the whole chains success. Hard Rock now aims to the area of Europe, Latin America and Asia. Not all cities selected Hard Rock cafà © operated by itself but choose to franchise because of risks, economic challenges such as culture, inflation, exchange rate, may affect its operating. Hard Rock chose to expand its chain to 2 big and busy cities (Bogota and Moscow) in nightlife , but they had both franchise to local partners there. Other Hard Rock Cafes in other place like Honolulu, Dubai .. will be opening soon. 2. Goods and service design: With the name of Hard Rock Cafà © we can image the a typical their service with an electronic guitar and a simple logo, Hard Rock Cafe impress all people entering its places the environment full of rock music which We cant see in any other kind of Cafà © or pubs and bars. Hard Rock Cafe not only serves its clients food, rock enthusiasm but also the special type of enjoying .. Environment is also very typical way of Hard Rock Cafà ©. It is easy to recognize from its outside or inside even other advertising that make its client remember Hard rock cafà ©. Food and drinking do not mean that they are not taken into consideration, courses in Hard Rocks menu are modified, upgraded and concentrated to fit client where it located For example, Thai Snack Combo is added into Hard Rock Cafe Bangkok. Regardless of age, class or gender, Hard Rock Cafe slogan Love all Serve all has been going together with its development throughout the years. All people putting their steps into Hard Rocks door feel that they are always welcome by an enthusiastic attitude, good quality of service.       3. Quality As other business, Hard Rock cafà ©s quality is one of the most important factor during their operating. Keeping food, drinking and service quality ( employees behavior à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) as well as music, environment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦is carried out regularly and it is required to get the highest assessment from customers. Improving quality at the cafe is always ensured and achieved their quality in the highest scale basing on the customer evaluation. Besides that, Hard Rock Cafe always update by time the music as well as change menus, environment, layouts, memorabilia, services and strategy to improve quality and adapt with the demand as its clients responses.    4. Process and capacity design. Hard Rock is a very big chain of cafes which provides 100,000 meals per day only referring within the U.S. (3,500 at Orlandos Universal Studios), therefore it has to consider very carefully and carry out effectively. Non-current asset is always well managed and renewed. Labor, materials, inventory, other current asset, scheduling are all elements related, which are described with more details in the following decisions. It depends on the location and culture where Hard Rock cafà © is located, but the design of capacity and its process must follow standards of Hard Rock cafà ©. 5. Layout design Layout is the most key factor to make decisions in the long-term operation of Hard Rock cafà ©. It depends on the scales which follow the market demand or the social norms in different areas. Cafà © module is differently designed in each city, such as Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas is decorated by a huge, outstanding guitar in front of the building and most of the seats are organized in a large space for outside view while the cafe in Ho Chi Minh is designed according to a little eastern style with ceiling lights and chairs. Hard Rock cafà © design is considered whether they must lease in a long term, the structure of construction should be set up or remodeled for its operation smoothly and efficiently. Its places do not show the same module design of Hard Rock Cafà ©s chain.    6. Human resources and job design Good human resource strategies are expensive, difficult to achieve, and hard to sustain, like other many organizations, Hard Rock cafà © concentrate to build the human resource strategy. The purpose of human resource is that how employees contribute to firm and set up a reasonable quality of work life. Service industry is a industry employing around 75% of the people in the U.S, and Hard Rock have had huge network which creates a lot of jobs for people in the area it stands. All staff of Hard Rock Cafe must be required to have not only job skills, job description but also passion of rock music as well as to engage their personalities. Before working for Hard Rock Cafe, they are trained by Hard Rock cafà © and received a Hard Rock value card. Hard Rock employees will be proud to joint in a unique working environment and culture which appreciates the substantial diversity and individuality, personal and professional manner. Hard Rock has their promotion policies as well to encourage their employees loyalty, 60% managers of Hard Rock Cafe are promoted from their worker. Managers performance is evaluated by a target, and they will receive bonus when exceeding the target. It encourages all managers of Hard Rock Cafe to become better not only depend on the available data, but also they have to forecast other impacts and effects on sales then set up these countermeasure to improve or prevent for their operating . All of above human resource policy always helps Hard Rock take a competitive advantage, increase more revenues and saving costs for their success.    7. Supply-chain management Outsourcing is a creative management strategy that is popular method that a big-scale company, like Hard Rock, using for its supply-chain management to improve efficiency working such as capital, inventory management and operating margins. Qualified suppliers or vendors are chosen and controlled to ensure enough, fresh and quality meals. Risk of outsourcing is considered carefully for Hard Rock cafà © operation Hard Rock cafà © also manage the supply-chain risk by Hard Rock cafà © is reducing environment ( political) risk by franchising and licensing, rather than owning, when the political barriers seem significant  [ii]  Hard Rock cafà © in 2003 had the successful engagement of Avicon architects of the new supply chain and provided expertise in logistics for Hard Rock.    8. Inventory All company must establish system for managing inventory. Costs and expenditure can be substantial to store and move inventory. The way to manage inventory by ABC analysis, record accuracyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ make Just-in-Time inventory control, can save costs and let products and services to customers more quickly. The best management of supply-chain support Hard Rock to keep a safe and effective inventory. Foods and drinking need to be fresh and provided on time. Also Hard Rock cafà © manage inventory base on the market demand to avoid long-term stock. A huge valued memorabilia are controlled by locations and catalogues and are renewed every few years.    9. Scheduling Types of scheduling decisions depend on type of company and its operating. Hard Rock Cafe applies shot-term forecasting scheduling to their services. It can be based on the real daily activities and data from whole restaurants in right Hard Rock chain. Every manager of each cafe set up its database to prepare the daily forecast which is recorded daily working. Next other factors, like upcoming events, major conventions, concerts, etc. are referred to. And then hourly sales are examined and Hard Rock is possible to calculate the time for rush or low hours in order to allocate suitable jobs for all employees.. This way of above managing schedule support Hard Rock Cafe managers Who can predict the volume of people, theirs feeling may get in and enjoy in its restaurants and prepare a right human, foods and services to serve Hard Rocks people with the way, Just-In-Time to save the costs.   10. Maintenance Maintenance is the way to keep quality that is the key to success in all industry sectors. Hard Rock Cafà © use preventive maintenance for inspection and serving to keep their facilities in good condition. They also adjusted its menus and music time by time, it depend on locations, basing on the survey done. All kitchens, bar, restaurants or other equipments are maintained regularly under supervising. In order to strengthen the brand name, Hard Rock Cafe creates its own website: www.hardrock.com and maintain a cable television program weekly on VH-1. Task 2: In the light of the above, discuss the operations management challenges and opportunities for Hard Rock when considering an expansion of its business into Hanoi. Hard Rock Cafe just established in Ho Chi Minh city. When expanding business into Hanoi, Hard Rock needs to survey the Hanoi market.Hard Rocks Standard market report following conditions: A- Demographics As Hard Rocks focus, Hanoi is the city center and have the nightlife with many small satellite cities to be built around like Ha Dong, Trung hoa Nhan chinh, Bac Thang long. Total is over 6,000,000 people (See table 2 below) with rapid urbanization , so tendency of population will surely increase in near future. Hard Rock may have is more and more people (Foreigner and Vietnamese) in Hanoi love Rock Roll music in Hanoi. And Hanoi is a choosier market for all cultural activities than Ho Chi Minh, it has quite loyal audiences if Hard Rock cafà © can convince them by the unique culture, interesting activities. Moreover, the cheap labor is an important advantage that affects to its cost and particular the companys human resources strategy (See table1 below). Beside that the economic indicator of Hanoi and Hanoi area is attractive for all business sector(See table 1 below) Table 1 (Economic index of Hanoi) Content 2009 2010 2011 ( forecast) GDP per capita (UD$) 1710 1900 2120 GDP growth rate (%) 6.70% 11% 11.50% CPI 8.22% 9.56% 10% Exchange rate (VND/US$) 17500 19500 21000 Source: VnEconomic-December 2010  [iii]   B-Visitor market and market trend Hanoi have Tourists and business visitor growth rate increasing with 20,5% for foreigner ( 1.227 million people) and 10% for Vietnamese(7.392 million people) in the year 2010. Total revenue in tourist industry increased 26.9% in Hanoi -Report of Hanoi general statistic offices data December 2010(See table 2 below) Table 2 (Population and tourist of Hanoi Content 2009 2010 2011 ( forecast) Population (1000) 6480 6617 6750 Population growth rate (%) 2% 2.10% 2% Tourist Foreigner (1000) 1080 1227 1472 Foreigner growth rate(%) 11% 20.50% 20% Local tourist (1000) 6720 7392 8130 Local tourist growth rate (%) 5% 10% 10% Source: Report of Hanoi general statistic offices data December 2010.  [iv]   As above data, Hanoi market of population and visitors is potential market for all kind of business, especially for service industry C-Transportation Because Both population and tourist/ visitor have been increasing, so the trend of infrastructure suck as Hotel, Convention center, Entertainment service place .. to be increased . Transportation is concentrated priority, Phase two of Noibai airport is going to start within 2011 with ODA fund from Japan. Four lines subway are studying to build soon and some bridges have been built crossing Red river. Also Hanoi have expanded the wide of many road and built the new road with high standard from Northern part to southern part, from eastern part to western part, they try to connecting center Hanoi to the rest of Hanoi by road, subway, railà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ D-Restaurants and nightclubs Right location is a very important element for Hard Rock cafe to be successful in Hanoi, where is the most tourist to stay and also there are many restaurants and nightclubs located, that is HoanKiem district in the center Hanoi which is called tourist town. But the lease cost for a centre position is too high and most of them are dominated by both foreign and local cafe brands, consist of Highland, Trung Nguyen with trademark G7à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. There are also many potential competitors such as Coffee Bean and other foreign brands who really want to enter Hanoi markets as well like Gloria Jeans Coffee, etc. E-Political risk Besides, Vietnam is evaluated one of the most stably politic regimes. This situation allows Hard Rock cafà © to feel safe to invest the business in Hanoi. Vietnam government established a system of open policies, encouraging foreign investors to invest by foreign country investment law, develop Vietnam country and create jobs for local people. However, many environment challenges that Hard Rock Cafe has to consider before entering in Hanoi. Hanoian has the way to drink coffee and enjoy it in differently way. Almost them like to sit in a street-cafe with a cheap cup of coffee, making cafe by the traditional and simple method, talk each other, read newspapers and look people passing by. There are not many people to spend high price ( around VND 80,000,000 )on drinking a cup of coffee that Hard Rock may serve that average price for its items. One thing, the local peoples taste of coffee and foods in is different. They are drinking stronger taste than the other countries. Robusta coffee in Viet Nam is more popular than Arabica. The type of cafe with live-music is more and more popular in Hanoi and its price is various from low-end to high-end level. With Hard Rocks price set (Hard Rock Ho Chi Minh), it can not only aim to rich people but also change clients mind or their consumption behavior. Local labor will be a issue that Hard Rock need to care about . The labor cost is cheap, but the tendency of labor cost is increasing year by year and local people are not familiar with the high international working intensiveness, style of unique business of Hard Rock cafe and they may not satisfy with standard required. Hard Rock cafà © must train them and change their thinking, all labor need to be trained regularly and intensively. Furthermore, the Vietnamese is too modest, so they may not feel confident to show their thinking, personality as expected by Hard Rock Cafà ©. F-Real estate market The real estate market is rapidly increasing in recent years in whole country , particularly in Hanoi and Hochiminh City, the tendency of market is also increasing of capital investment, sector investment , source investment as well as management investment. The real estate price is too high where is good location (See table 3 below) Table 3 (Rental fee of office and shopping mall of Hanoi) Content 2009 2010 2011 ( forecast) Rental fee ( $/m2/month) Office ($/m2/month) 35.7 34 35 Office growth rate (%) -6% -5% 3% Shopping mall ($/m2/month) 40.1 42.2 45 Shopping mall growth rate(%) -13% 5% 7% Source : CB Richarsd Ellis Viet Nam -December -2010  [v]   These information of the market brings information to Hard Rock if managers want to study and set up its business in Hanoi. They must have a comparable market analysis carefully then making their decision whether Hard Rock cafà © expand its business in Hanoi or not. Vietnam has not developed the information system and its information is some time not unclear, so it is difficult for researchers to collect exactly data for studying all business. In summary, all above information which mention in this topic is only for us to have a look of Hanoi market, that is surely a potential market for doing business, but it is not sure for Hard Rock cafà © or other business to be successful when they set up business in Hanoi. So Hard rock need to analyse many factors and index such as breakeven point, IRR,RCE,ROCEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦inflation, exchange rate, GDP, GDP growth rate.. before they make final decision for expand their business in Hanoi In this topic we only concentrate to analyse the breakeven point and we assume that all data collect from all sources to be accepted Assumption that We will set up Har rock cafà © in Hanoi with capacity as follow: -Area : 400 m2, Labor : 16 persons ( 2 shift/day),Facility investment : 200,000 USD, design and reconstruction:100,000USD, training cost : 30,000USD and other: 16,500 USD, other figure refer Table 1,2,3 above. Option 1 Option 2 Definition Description   Explanation Change rental fee Change cost/unit 50 42.2 35 1.5 1.25 1 Area (400 m2) 400 Labor ( 2 shift)/day total 16 persons, 8persons/shift Non-current asset Design and construction ( 400m2) 250$/m2 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 Total Facility (USD) Full set 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 Training (USD) Full course 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 30,000 Other ( 5%)(USD) Allowance 16,500 16,500 16,500 16,500 16,500 16,500 Total(USD) 346,500 346,500 346,500 346,500 346,500 346,500 Depreciation ( 10 years) Depreciation/month(USD) Straight-line 2,888 2,888 2,888 2,888 2,888 2,888 Fixed cost Rental fee ( 500m2)(USD) Option 1 20,000 16,880 14,000 16,880 16,880 16,880 Labor cost for 16 employees 200$/p/month 3,200 3,200 3,200 3,200 3,200 3,200 power consumption ( lighting.. per /month 500 500 500 500 500 500 Depreciation(USD) per /month 2,888 2,888 2,888 2,888 2,888 2,888 Total fixed cost / month(USD) 26,588 23,468 20,588 23,468 23,468 23,468 Variable cost Raw material ( coffee, ice, sugarà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦)(USD) cost /unit 1 1 1 1 0.75 0.75 Material consumption ( Gas ,tissue (USD) cost /unit 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.25 Total cost /unit(USD) Option 2 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.25 1.00 Sale price Sale price/unit(USD) 4 4 4 4 4 4 Breakeven point Breakeven point Total fixed cost + total variable cost= total revenue; X : breakeven point How many units will be sold/month 10,635 9,387 8,235 9,387 8,534 7,823 How many units will be / day 355 313 275 313 284 261 Above analysis just give Hard Rock a data about the breakeven point which depend on the difference level of rental fee and unit cost, they must analysis more other variable. So Hard Rock cafà © should compare with its data of Hard Rock Cafà ©s chain. Hard Rock decision maker will make decision whether they are going to expand their business in Hanoi or not.

Microcontroller Based DC Motor Speed Controller

Microcontroller Based DC Motor Speed Controller In this report I present a microcontroller based DC motor speed controller. DC motors play a vital role in most of the industrial areas. They are mainly used for the mechanical movements of physical applications such as media drives, power plants, lifts, elevators, conveyers, belt driven loads (printing press) etc. The controller implements the control strategy governing the load and motor characteristics. To match the load and motor, the input to the microcontroller is manipulated by the controller. The purpose of a motor speed controller is to capture a signal representing the demanded speed, and to drive the motor at that speed. The controller may or may not actually measure the speed of the motor. If it does, it is called a Feedback Speed Controller or Closed Loop Speed Controller, if not it is called an Open Loop Speed Controller. Feedback speed control is better, but more complicated, and may not be required for a simple circuit design. The former (closed loop) is implemented in the presented controller design. The subject arrangement consisted of a tachometer attached to the shaft of the motor. A controller design cannot be more accurate than methods aimed at measuring actual motor speed. This is readily attained by coupling the motor shaft with a tachometer. The tachometer output signal is converted to a dc voltage signal acceptable to the microcontroller. The microcontroller is programmed to drive the motor accomplishing the load requirement. The operation of dc motor was studied. Several types of motors and various control types were investigated. The project also intends to familiarize us with the efficiency of PIC in control systems. To evaluate the effectiveness of the controller, analysis will be conducted driving variable load while maintaining constant speed of the motor. The advantages of using microcontrollers to control dc motor were studied. INTRODUCTION 1.1 MOTOR An electric motor is an electromechanical device that converts electrical energy to mechanical energy. The mechanical energy can be used to perform work such as rotating a pump impeller, fan, blower, driving a compressor, lifting materials etc. It is estimated that about 70% of the total electrical load is accounted by motors only. 1.2 CLASSIFICATION OF MOTORS Electric Motors Alternating Current (AC) Motors Direct Current (DC) Motors Synchronous Induction Three-Phase Single-Phase Self Excited Separately Excited Series Shunt Compound FIG-1.1 classification of motors 1.3 AC MOTORS An AC motor is a motor that is driven by an alternating current. It consists of two basic parts, an outside stationary stator having coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and an inside rotor attached to the output shaft that is given a torque by the rotating field. 1.3.1 TYPES OF AC MOTORS There are two types of AC motors, depending on the type of rotor used. The first is the synchronous motor, which rotates exactly at the supply frequency or a sub multiple of the supply frequency. The magnetic field on the rotor is either generated by current delivered through slip rings or by a permanent magnet. The second type is the induction motor, which turns slightly slower than the supply frequency. The magnetic field on the rotor of this motor is created by an induced current. 1.3.2 TYPES OF INDUCTION MOTORS Squirrel-Cage Induction Motors The most simple and reliable of all electric motors. It is essentially a constant speed machine, which is adaptable for users under all but the most severe starting conditions. Requires little attention as there are no commutator or slip rings, yet operates with good efficiency. Wound-Rotor (Slip Ring) Induction motor It is used for constant speed-service requiring a heavier starting torque than is obtainable with squirrel cage type. Because of its lower starting current, this type is frequently used instead of the squirrel-cage type in larger sizes. These motors are also used for varying-speed-service. Speed varies with this load, so that they should not be used where constant speed at each adjustment is required, as for machine tools. Single Phase Induction Motors This motor is used mostly in small sizes, where polyphase current is not available. Characteristics are not as good as the polyphase motor and for size larger than 10 HP, the line disturbance is likely to be objectionable. These motors are commonly used for light starting and for running loads up to 1/3 HP Capacitor and repulsion types provide greater torque and are built in sizes up to 10 HP. Synchronous Motors Run at constant speed fixed by frequency of the system. Require direct current for excitation and have low starting torque. For large motor-generators sets, frequency changes, air compressors and similar apparatus which permits starting under a light load, for which they are generally used. These motors are used with considerable advantage, particularly on large power systems, because of their inherent ability to improve the power factor of the system. 1.4 DC MOTOR Direct-Current motors, as the name implies, use a direct-unidirectional current. A DC motor has three main components: Field pole. The interaction of two magnetic fields causes the rotation in a DC motor. The DC motor has field poles that are stationary and an armature that turns on bearings in the space between the field poles. A simple DC motor has two field poles: a north pole and a south pole. The magnetic lines of force extend across the opening between the poles from north to south. Armature. When current goes through the armature, it becomes an electromagnet. The armature, cylindrical in shape, is linked to a drive shaft in order to drive the load. The armature rotates in the magnetic field established by the poles, until the north and south poles of the magnets change location with respect to the armature. Once this happens, the current is reversed to switch the south and north poles of the armature. Commutator. This component is found mainly in DC motors. Its purpose is to overturn the direction of the electric current in the armature. The commutator also helps in the transmission of current between the armature and the power source. 1.4.1 OPERATION OF A DC MOTOR: When a dc motor is subject to dc voltage, the current flows through the armature coil. A wire carrying current also has a magnetic field around it. This magnetic field distorts the parallel magnetic field of stator to produce a force which causes the armature coil to turn. FIG-1.2 operation of motor Each coil of the armature is not only connected to the brushes but the brushes are connected first to one end and then to the other end of the coil. This commutating action is necessary to maintain the same direction of the current flow in the armature coils relative to the magnetic field lines in the field poles. The motor would never turn without commutation. FIG-1.3 cross section diagram of a motor 1.4.2 Types of Excitations There are two basic elements in a DC motor. The way in which these are connected results in various types of DC motors. SHUNT WOUND: The construction and principle of operation of a shunt motor is similar to any DC motor. This type of motor is called shunt because the field is in parallel or shunts the armature. The shunt field is directly connected in parallel with the armature circuit. Shunt windings require large number of turns to produce a strong magnetic field. SERIES WOUND: In a series wound motor, the field is connected in series with the armature. In this type, the speed tends to increase until the back EMF equals the impressed voltage. The EMF also decreases the current in the field and armature. As the field weakens more speed is required to maintain the counter EMF. Thus a series motor is used only where the load is attached e.g. A lift truck, an electric crane. Etc. COMPOUND WOUND: A compound motor has two field windings, the shunt field and series field. The shunt connected in parallel with the armature and the series field connected in series with the armature. The combination of both fields gives double advantages. It has a greater torque than the shunt motor due to the series field and fairly constant speed due to the series field winding. The compound motor has both shunt and series motor characteristics. These will be discussed along with their control techniques in the next chapter. 1.5 TACHOMETER A tachometer is an instrument that measures the rotational speed of the shaft of the motor. It functions in a similar fashion as compared to a speedometer on a car. It tells you the speed of the car. Similarly the tachometer is used to measure the motor speed. In a closed loop control system the information about the instantaneous state of the output is fed back and compared with the input and difference is used to modify the output in such manner as to achieve a desired condition. Similarly a tachometer is coupled to the shaft of the motor. Thus a signal representing the speed of the motor is produced. This signal is fed back to the input where it is compared to the speed command voltage. The error produced is actuated by the speed of the motor. In my designed controller the error actuating and motor control is achieved by programming the microcontroller. It is used to control the rotation of the motor. It senses the input and process it using the program burned in it and gives the required PWM output on the required port pins. This output controls the on/off time of the mosfet and thus controls the motor. This technique and mosfets will be discussed in the next chapter. As long as the speed command voltage is held constant, the motor will run at a proportional constant speed regardless of the mechanical load. The set speed control gives a dc voltage input, for example 12 volts for maximum speed and zero for stationary. This could be a potentiometer providing any voltage in a range from zero to +12 volts. The microcontroller (PIC) amplifies the difference between the two input voltages (tachometer and potentiometer) and the error is actuated. 1.6 MICROCONTROLLER (PIC) The name PIC initially referred to Programmable Interface Controller. Advantages of using PIC over other controlling devices for controlling the DC motor are given below: SPEED The execution of an instruction in PIC IC is very fast (in micro seconds) and can be changed by changing the oscillator frequency. One instruction generally takes 0.2 microseconds. COMPACT: The PIC IC will make the hardware circuitry compact. RISC PROCESSOR The instruction set consists of only 35 instructions. EPROM PROGRAM MEMORY Program can be modified and rewritten very easily. INBUILT HARDWARE SUPPORT Since PIC IC has inbuilt programmable timers, ports and interrupts, no extra hardware is needed. POWERFUL OUTPUT PIN CONTROL Output pins can be driven to high state, using a single instruction. The output pin can drive a load up to 25mA. INBUILT I/O PORTS EXPANSIONS This reduces the extra ICs which are needed for port expansion and port can be expanded very easily. INTEGRATION OF OPERATIONAL FEATURES Power on reset and brown/out protection ensures that the chip operates only when the supply voltage is within specification. A watchdog timer resets PIC if the chip ever malfunctions and deviates from its normal operation. The speed of motor is directly proportional to the DC voltage applied across its terminals. Hence, if we control the voltage applied across its terminal we actually control its speed. A PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) wave can be used to control the speed of the motor. Here the average voltage given or the average current flowing through the motor will change depending on the ON and OFF time of the pulses controlling the speed of the motor i.e. The duty cycle of the wave controls motor speed. This wave is generated by the PIC. . CHAPTER 2. 2.1 DC SHUNT MOTOR FIG -2.3 Shunt windings require large number of turns to produce a strong magnetic field. This is because a small gauge wire cannot handle heavy currents. As a result, when voltage is applied, very little current flows through the shunt coil. The interaction of the magnetic fields between the one from armature and the one from shunt coil causes the motor to rotate. The speed can be controlled by varying the field strength or armature voltage. Current is supplied from the stationary housing to the rotating armature through commutator brushes arrangement. As the stator is stationary, power is applied directly to it. 2.1.2 SPEED CONTROL OF A DC SHUNT MOTOR This type of motor runs at a constant speed practically, regardless of the load. It is the type generally used in commercial practice. Speed of the shunt wound motors may be varied in two ways: First, by inserting resistance in series with the armature, thus decreasing speed (FIG ) And second, by inserting resistance in the field circuit. In this case the speed will vary with each change in load. This normally works with any controller setting i.e. it maintains constant speed despite variable load. Therefore, a shunt motor has proved its efficiency in adjustable speed service and loads requiring a low starting torque. 2.2 DC SERIES MOTOR In a series motor, the field winding (shunt field) is connected in series with the armature winding (A) as shown in the figure. The field current is therefore equal to the armature current. Speed is restricted to 5000 RPM It must be avoided to run a series motor with no load because the motor will accelerate uncontrollably. FIG-2.5 V = Supply voltage E = Generated e.m.f I = Supply current RA = Armature resistance RF = Field resistance 2.2.2 SPEED CONTROL OF A DC SERIES MOTOR The speed of a series motor depends almost entirely on the flux. The stronger the field flux, the lower the speed. Likewise, decrease in load current and therefore in field current and field flux causes an increase in speed. This can be achieved by adding a resistor in parallel with the series field winding. This causes the field current to decrease and the flux drops accordingly. This causes the motor speed to increase. The speed can be decreased by adding an external resistor in series with the armature and the field winding. This would cause a reduction in the armature supply voltage causing the motor speed to decrease. 2.3 DC COMPOUND MOTOR A DC compound motor is a combination of shunt and series motor. In a compound motor, the field winding (shunt field) is connected in parallel in series with the armature winding (A). For this reason this motor has a good starting torque and a stable speed. The higher the percentage of compounding (i.e. percentage of field winding connected in series), the higher the starting torque this motor can handle. For example, compounding of 40-50% makes the motor suitable for hoists and cranes, but standard compound motors (12%) are not. There are 2 major types of compound motors. These are given below: Cumulative compound motors Differential compound motors FIF-2.6 CUMULATIVE COMPOUND MOTOR FIG-2.7 DIFFERENTIAL COMPOUND MOTOR 2.3.2 SPEED CONTROL OF A COMPOUND MOTOR The speed of a compound motor can easily be controlled by changing the voltage supply to the motor. A solid state AC variable frequency motor drive can also be used to vary the speed of an AC motor. 2.4 PWM (PULSE WIDTH MODULATION) PWM, or Pulse Width Modulation, is a method of controlling the amount of power to a load without having to dissipate any power in the load driver. Imagine a 10W light bulb load supplied from a battery. In this case the battery supplies 10W of power, and the light bulb converts this 10W into light and heat. No power is lost anywhere else in the circuit. If we wanted to dim the light bulb, so it only absorbed 5W of power, we could place a resistor in series which absorbed 5W and then the light bulb could absorb the other 5W. This would work, but the power dissipated in the resistor not only makes it get very hot, but is wasted. The battery is still supplying 10W. An alternative way is to switch the light bulb on and off very quickly so that it is only on for half of the time. Then the average power taken by the light bulb is still only 5W, and the average power supplied by the battery is only supplying 5W also. If we wanted the bulb to take 6W, we could leave the switch on for a little longer than the time it was off, then a little more average power will be delivered to the bulb. This on-off switching is called PWM. The amount of power delivered to the load is proportional to the percentage of time that the load is switched on. Pulse-width modulation (PWM) or duty cycle variations are commonly used in speed control of dc motor. The duty cycle is defined as the percentage of digital high to digital low and digital high pulse-width during a PWM period. Thus by varying the pulse width, we can vary the average voltage across a DC motor and hence its speed In my presented controller design the PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) function of PIC is used for the electric current control to drive a motor. PWM can change the duty of the pulse to output into CCP1 by the data. The duty of the pulse of CCP1 is controlled in the voltage (the control voltage). When the control voltage is higher than the regulation value, the H level time of the CCP1 pulse is made long and the number of rotations of the motor is lowered. When the control voltage is lower than the regulation value, the H level time of the CCP1 pulse is made short and the number of rotations of the motor is raised. This mechanism will be discussed and elaborated in the next chapter. 2.5 MOSFETS The speed controller works by varying the average voltage sent to the motor. Imagine a light bulb with a switch. When you close the switch, the bulb goes on and is at full brightness, say 100 Watts. When you open the switch it goes off (0 Watts). Now if you close the switch for a fraction of a second, and then open it for the same amount of time, the filament wont have time to cool down and heat up, and you will just get an average glow of 50 Watts. This is how lamp dimmers work, and the same principle is used by speed controllers to drive a motor. When the switch is closed, the motor sees 12 Volts, and when it is open it sees 0 Volts. If the switch is open for the same amount of time as it is closed, the motor will see an average of 6 Volts, and will run more slowly accordingly. As the amount of time that the voltage is on increases compared with the amount of time that it is off, the average speed of the motor increases. This on-off switching is performed by power MOSFETs. A MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) is a device that can turn very large currents on and off under the control of a low signal level voltage 2.5.1 TYPES OF MOSFETS. There are NPN type and PNP type as the semiconductor part. When no voltage is applied no electric current flows between the drain and the source. NPN type is called N-channel and PNP type is called P channel. An oxide film is put to the semiconductor of NPN or PNP and metal is put onto it as the gate. In case of NPN, the part of N is a source pole and a drain pole. In case of PNP, the part of P is the polar side. When positive voltage is applied to the gate of the N-channel MOS FET, the electrons of N-channel of source and drain are attracted to the gate and go into the P-channel semiconductor among both. With the movement of these electrons, it conditions itself like spans a bridge for electrons between drain and source. The size of this bridge is controlled by the voltage to apply to the gate. . This type (N CHANNEL) of mosfet is used in the presented controller. FIG 2.8 In case of P-channel MOS FET, the voltage is opposite but does similar operation. When negative voltage is applied to the gate of P-channel MOS FET, the holes of P-channel of source and drain are attracted to the gate and go into the N-channel semiconductor among both. With the movement of these holes, a bridge for holes is spanned and the electric current flows between drain and source. Transistor controls an output current by the input current. However, in case of FET, it controls an output current by input voltage (Electric field). The input current doesnt flow. To handle a MOS FET, needs attention because the oxidation insulation film is thin. This film is prone to the high voltage of the static electricity and so on. CHAPTER 3 The highlighted part in the figure represents the shaft which links the motor and the tachometer. The speed of the motor is directly proportional to the frequency of the tachometer. The dc voltage input is provided by the potentiometer. The microcontroller operates on a dc voltage. The output from the tachometer is a sine wave which has to be rectified in order to operate the pic. This is achieved using an F/V converter. The converter releases a dc logic signal which operates the pic. CIRCUIT EXPLANATION: The input voltage to the main motor is controlled by a potentiometer. This variable resistor could be adjusted manually to provide a 0-12 v input. This voltage sets the number of rotations of the main motor. The input voltage of PIC becomes low when bringing VR1 close to the side 1 and PIC increases the drive electric current of the motor. That is, the revolution of the motor rises. The input voltage of PIC becomes high when bringing VR1 close to the side 3 and PIC reduces the drive electric current of the motor. That is, the revolution of the motor slows down. Control voltage is defined as the feedback signal which is produced to rectify the error between the desired and controlled speed. This is provided by the tachometer in our case. The output from the tachometer is a sine wave which cannot operate the microcontroller to perform the programmed functions. This is converted to a dc voltage signal compatible with the pic microcontroller. This changed voltage is used to enable the CCP feature of the PIC resulting in motor drive. The CCP feature will be discussed in detail later in the chapter. The control voltage to PIC is thus governed by the fluctuations of the main motor. This control voltage (feedback signal) is directly proportional to the rotational speed of the motor. The PIC microcontroller is the brain of the circuit controlling all actions to be done and the output. PIC controls the electric drive current for the control voltage to become a regulation value. When the revolution of the motor slows down, i.e. control voltage goes down, the drive electric current of the motor is increased and number of rotations is raised. When the control voltage reaches a regulation value, a drive electric current at the point is held. When the number of rotations of the motor is high, i.e. the control voltage is high, the drive electric current of the motor is reduced and number of rotations is lowered D1 is used to protect PIC when the voltage of the detection motor is high. The voltage which is applied to the terminal of PIC is a maximum of +5V. This zener diode prevents the destruction of PIC when the speed detection voltage of the motor exceeds 5V. CCP FEATURE Capture, Compare and Pulse Width Modulation feature is abbreviated to form CCP. Capture This is the function to capture the 16 bits value of timer1 register when an event occurs on pin RC2/CCP1. This can be used for the measurement of the period time of the signal like the frequency counter and so on Compare Generate an interrupt, or change on output pin, when Timer 1 matches a pre-set comparison value PWM Create a re-configurable steady duty cycle square wave output at a user set frequency. The timer resource of the capture and compare is timer1 and the timer resource of PWM is timer2. The following steps should be taken when configuring the CCP module for PWM operation: Set the PWM period by writing to the PR2 register. PWM Period equals [(PR2+1)]*4Tosc*(timer 2 prescale value), and the resultant PWM frequency equals 1/ PWM_Period. Tosc stands for time period of the oscillations. Set the PWM duty cycle by writing to the CCPR1L register and CCP1X and CCP1Y bits of CCP1CON register. Duty Cycle is based on CCPRxL, most significant byte, and CCPxCON, least significant two bits. CCPRxL functions as a comparative value with timer 2 and a scaling factor to determine the number of counts of CCPx. PWM logic remains high, without considering CCPxCON. The two least significant bits, CCPxCON, determine the percentage of the maximum resolution the PWM duty cycle is extended. Make the CCP1 pin an output by clearing the TRISC. Set the TMR2 prescale value and enable Timer2 by writing to T2CON register. Configure the CCP1 module for PWM operation. PWM can change the duty of the pulse to output into CCP1 by the data. When the time period of the H level of the pulse of CCP1 is short, the time of ON (the L level) becomes long in TR2 which implies that the drive electric current of the motor increases. Oppositely, when the H level time of the pulse of CCP1 is long, the ON time of TR2 becomes short and the drive electric current of the motor decreases. The duty of the pulse of CCP1 is controlled by the control voltage (feedback signal) which was taken in with input circuit. When the control voltage is higher than the regulation value, the H level time of the CCP1 pulse is made long and the number of rotations of the motor is lowered. When the control voltage is lower than the regulation value, the H level time of the CCP1 pulse is made short and the number of rotations of the motor is raised. A three terminal regulator is used for getting the operate voltage for pic. PARTS PIC16F873 3 Terminal regulator ( 7805) Transistor for MOS FET drive ( 2SC1815 ) Power MOS FET ( 2SK3142 ) Zener diode ( RD5A ) IC socket Resonator Variable resistor for motor speed setting Resistors Capacitors Printed board VFC 320 (F/V CONV) Bipolar transistor 2N222 FURURE WORK: Dec: complete circuit design and order components. January: software design and circuit assembly February: Simulation and preparation of final report and presentation March: review and appendices April: submission.