...“Not In Anyone’s Backyard” – A case analysis of Cape Wind Offshore Energy Project Introduction First proposed in 2001 as America’s first offshore wind farm, the Cape Wind offshore energy project was projected to provide three quarters of the electrical needs of the Massachusetts Cape and Islands. Yet, only on April 28th 2013 did United States Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announce federal approval of the Cape Wind project. But what was the cause for this delay? The harnessing of wind power is neither a new idea, as the use of windmills began in the 9th century in Iran (Guardian, 2008), nor a particularly new technology, as windmills were first used for the generation of electrical power in Glasgow, Scotland in 1887. In this paper I intend to analyze the various challenges faced by the Cape Wind Energy Project in its 12 year push for approval. On May 9th, 2013, the Earth reached a milestone of sorts. For the first time in an estimated 3 million years, the carbon dioxide (CO2) reached an average daily concentration level of about 400 parts per million (ppm). For some perspective, while CO2 levels have fluctuated from 180ppm to 280ppm, “the last time CO2 levels reached 400 ppm was at least 3 million years ago, a much warmer world where sea levels were 60-80 feet higher” (Levy, 2013). As carbon dioxide is recognized as the primary green house gas emitted through human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, there is little doubt in assigning responsibility for...
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...endangered species and the health of the American people. Oil companies already hold 5,500 offshore leases that are not being used. I do not know why they need to occupy more space, when they can use what the government has allowed them to use. Now, I do agree changing to solar and wind powered fuel sources will require research and additional funding, however those fuel sources are more eco friendly and in the long run may leave the world in a better position. I must admit, sometimes I fall in to a mindset that is commonly known as stereotyping. As explained in this book “The Art of Thinking”, by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, chapter 3, a stereotype is a fixed, unbending generalization, irrationally maintained. I have fallen in to this on many issues; I do not believe that my stance on off shore drilling is an issue of stereotyping. I have reassured my stance by reading and researching this stance. As stated in a USA Today article (Jervis, Welch, & Wolf, 7/14), “When oil is brought up from beneath the ocean floor, other things are, too. Chemicals and toxic substances such as mercury and lead can be discharged back into the ocean”. The oil and chemicals are harming sea mammals and the water they live in. The other problem off shore drilling is the chance of oil spills. In April 2010, the BP oil company encountered an oil spill in the Gulf that lasted for about 3 months. Chemicals from offshore drilling combined with oil from spills have had an effect on the food we eat. Sea food lovers...
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...Description of the company-Subsea 7 3 A PESTEL analysis 3 Political, a critical factor in energy industry 3 Economy, the versatile market 4 Social factors, a diversified workforce 4 Technological research and advancement 4 A Porter’s five forces analysis 5 Bargaining power of the customers 5 Intensity of existing rivalry 5 Threats of substitutes 5 Threat of new competitors 6 Strategic recommendations 6 A better management and react to market fast 6 Focus more on deep-water development 6 Build a more effective team with expertise and experience 6 Expand our services to Middle East 7 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 7 Description of the company-Subsea 7 Subsea 7 is one of the world’s leading global company in offshore engineering, construction and commissioning work. It was formed by the joint merger of two big companies, Acergy S.A. and previous Subsea 7,Inc. The company owns a wide range of fleets, including pipelaying vessels, construction vessels, diving and support vessels, which adds up to a total of more than 40 units. These vessels are equipped with the modern advanced ROVs( remote operated vehicles) and best facilities in the market. The strong track records has made Subsea 7 the major player in the energy construction and installation sector in Europe, Africa and Asia. In 2014, Subsea 7 made a record annual gross revenue of 6,870million driven by its excellent project execution, in addition, there is a 8.2 billion in the backlog operation...
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...physiographic setting of New Orleans.” (Locke) The storm, Hurricane Katrina was identified as powerful and huge because of the well-formed eye of a typical category four hurricane. Throughout the duration, warm sea water was its fuel for continued momentum and power. The intensity had “closely matched the water temperature” which led the hurricane to reach its peak intensity; category five. (Locke) The storm predicted maximum “rainfall east of the storm-eye track.” (Locke) As Hurricane Katrina took her course, evidence provided “that the right front quadrant” was indeed the most powerful part of the hurricane. (Locke) “The powerful winds and rain occurred here because of rotational winds and steering winds (the prevailing winds which govern smaller winds) are combined. (Locke) According to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, Hurricane Katrina winds were at excess speeds up to 175 miles per hour. The hurricane brought on catastrophic damages where a very high percent of framed homes were destroyed with roof failures, and wall collapse to accompany. There were an isolation of fallen trees and power...
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...tests and the results from the numerical simulations, confirming that the criterion is not the limiting requirement for the examined ship design. Proposals for instructions are presented in order to improve accuracy of model test results and facilitate the possibility to derive limiting GM values based on model tests. Keywords: weather criterion, metacentric height, limit curve, roll, damping, irregular wave, sea state 1. INTRODUCTION The IMO Weather Criterion, resolution A.749(18) Chapter 3.2 (today superseded by resolution MSC.267(85) Part A Chapter 2.3), describes the ability of a ship to withstand the combined effects of beam wind and roll motions under a specified weather condition. The basic idea of the criterion is to determine the minimum metacentric height for which a ship still is able to withstand a prescribed sudden wind gust, while rolling under the action of...
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...I. History of El Niño El Niño is one of the most powerful forces driving global weather. El Niño is a reoccurring phenomenon on earth that alters the climate across half the planet. El Niño was discovered hundreds of years ago off the coast of Peru; "El Niño" means different things to different people. In Spanish, El Niño means small boy or child. In capital letters, 'El Niño' refers to Jesus as an infant was named after the Christ child ("Dictionary.com"), because it usually starts around Christmas ("El Nino"). El Niño is a severe atmospheric and oceanic disturbance in the Pacific Ocean that transpires every three to six years in a phase with a seesaw variation of atmospheric pressure (McIntosh). Because El Niño influences global weather patterns and affects human lives and ecosystems, the prediction of an El Niño is progressively important in predicting them with advance notice. It was not until about 25 years ago that the world started paying attention to El Niño. The giant El Niño of 1997-98 had deranged weather patterns around the world, killing an estimated 2,100 people, and caused at least 33 billion [U.S.] dollars in property damage (Forrester). History dates between 1200 and 1525, the Inca population lived in the part of South America extending from the Equator to the Pacific coast of Chile. Their cities and fortresses were mostly built on highlands and on the steep slopes of the Andes Mountains. The architecture of the Incan cities still amazes and puzzles most scientists...
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...The Role of Resources in Strategic Management Mark Bush Management and Strategy Edward Farrell 26 October, 2012 Abstract There has been a push in recent years to make weather a stakeholder in business. It affects the way business is conducted and impacts productivity. Weather must be taken into account when making strategic plans. The various weather patterns must be looked at, placement of assets and resource management must be considered. An organization must make plans for weather related issues in order to stay competitive. The Role of Resources in Strategic Management During strategic planning, upper level management and boards of directors look to the future of their organizations. They plan for spending on new assets. They look for the best courses of action to find and procure the best inputs for the cheapest price in order to make the most profit. They look to their employees for continuity and also how to replace employees as they leave. These upper level managers need to account for weather and its affects. The key questions that need to be asked are: • What is the product I am selling? • Where is my market: • What are the inputs I need to create my product? • How will I move my product to market or to my customers? • How many employees do I need to produce my products? • What are the skill sets I need in my employees...
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...International Bus Mgmt Victor Ebong Turn-in September 13, 2011 Offshoring & Outsourcing 1. Explain outsourcing, offshoring, and nearshoring and give the benefits/costs of each. Why are the benefits of offshoring being questioned more recently? (Reading 1) * Outsourcing- The farming out of work or certain duties to an outside organization. It can be to a company outside the country but in most cases when termed “outsourcing” it is being done within the country. The benefits of this are that jobs are not being lost in a particular territory or country and the work is being done at a more cost effective and efficient rate * Offshoring- Is the wholesale shifting of corporate functions and jobs to overseas territories. This may not necessarily mean shifting of the work to a different organization but rather shifting work to organization’s subsidiaries abroad. * Nearshoring- Is a concept similar to offshoring whereby companies shift operations, often IT related to foreign countries that are close to their own. The major reason behind this is that while gaining the labor cost advantage, many of the same languages are being spoken of the parent corporation. Additionally, these operations allow for travel on short notice without jet-lag. * The benefits of offshoring are being questioned now more than ever because of the extremely high unemployment rates here in the US. Many critics believe that those Americans out...
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...Tax Havens pull up socks in ‘transparency’ era The great ‘subprime’ crisis has had its share of fallouts over past 24 months; yet there is a silver lining emerging from under the dark clouds which has the world order gearing up for a brand new era of financial discipline and enhanced regulation. Ironically, one of the positives borne out of the recent economic upheaval has been staggering focus on ensuring robust transparency standards in tax matters. Before delving further into how tax transparency and information exchange are critical for sorting financial disorder across economies, let me try and explain the concept of ‘money laundering’ and how the absence of strict standards in tax discipline have abated this menace. This also helps putting in perspective the role that the international tax policy, in tandem with other non-tax measures, plays in combating tax evasion, whether with or without aid of money laundering. What’s the color of money!! Money laundering is loosely used to describe ‘washing’ of unaccounted or illicitly sourced money through a cobweb of complex financial transactions, usually involving more than one jurisdiction. The objective of the process deployed to ‘clean’ the money is to hide either the ownership or the destination of such funds. A typical ‘laundering’ scheme could see three stages: a) Placement stage – at this stage, the objective of stakeholders is to move the illicit funds away from source location; sources of such funds can be...
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...Swiss Private Banking Table of Contents: I. Introduction: 1) Economy of Switzerland; 2) Overview of Swiss Private Banking Sector; II. Strengths and Opportunities of Swiss Private Banking: 1) Privacy; 2) Protection and Safety; 3) Stability and High Quality Standards; III. Weaknesses and Problems that Swiss Private Banking is facing: 1) Dependency on socio- demographic factors; 2) Shifting of wealth concentration; 3) Speed of recovery of markets; 4) Threat to offshore banking; 5) Hard to ensure sustained profitability; IV. Offshore banking in the light of current financial crisis V. Differences in the way different sized banks were effected: 1) Megabanks; 2) Small – medium sized banks; VI. Strategies adopted by private banks after financial crisis: 1) Credit Suisse; 2) UBS; VII. Conclusion Switzerland is one of the most stable, modern and highly developed economies in the world nowadays. Percentage of Swiss Workforce by Sector of Economy is as following: - 1960: Services (39%); Manufacturing (47%) ; Agriculture (15%) ; - 2008: Service (73%); Manufacturing (23%); Agriculture (4%). Economic history of Switzerland is characterized by steady movement to higher productivity industries and services. Traditionally, the Swiss economy used to ran as calmly and soundly as a Swiss clock, well-oiled by the money inflows to Swiss private banks. The country of Switzerland has a small territory compared to surrounding countries and...
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...outsourcing is an attractive proposition, users of outsourcing services should give careful consideration to thepros and cons of outsourcing while receiving outsourcing services from outsourcing destinations such as India, China, the Philippines, and Brazil, etc. Sure, outsourcing is a way to save money, but there can also be unexpected costs. The decision to outsource is certainly not one that any business or non-business organization should enter into lightly. To arrive at the right decision, users of outsourcing services should analyze the following advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing, as only they are in the best position to ascertain whether a particular outsourcing service or outsourcing services should be outsourced to an offshore outsourcing vendor. The most significant advantages of outsourcing are: Cheaper manpower and outsourcing Manpower is possibly the most important resource in any company, and is also the constant resource that come at a high cost. For this reason, small and large companies undertake outsourcing services to India of various types. Professionals in outsourcing destinations such as India and the Philippines have a much less cost to the company, both fixed and variable, as compared to the same professionals in the West. Often, these workers are not unionized as well, which further lowers manpower costs. A major advantage of outsourcing services to India is that India has wide spectrum of outsourcing vendors offering every price point to...
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...Competitive Advantage: Global Delivery model Operationally Infosys’s competitive advantage is its Global Delivery Model. Infosys, started off by provided onsite service to its global clients. Later in order to cut costs it began to complete projects at its Indian offshore development centers and then implement them at the clients' places. This posed several challenges. Software development is a highly iterative process and as there was no service provider at the clients' locations, it led to a slowdown in the progress of projects. Frequent changes and miscommunication also increased the delay in completion of projects. This led Infosys to adopt the Global Delivery Model (GDM), which was based on the principle of taking work where it could be done best in an economical manner and with the least amount of acceptable risk. The process architecture of GDM helped software companies to deliver high quality solutions while executing a number of engagements from multiple locations. However the GDM model has become and industry norm and is no longer a sustainable advantage. Infosys is now developing a new framework called the “collaborative model would involve distribution of various aspects of a project based on the competencies of each center, thereby improving and speeding the delivery process. The model makes use of talents and skills from different parts of the world, to deliver various components of the project. For example, software architecture would be done in one...
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...Indian Black Money Abroad In Secret Banks and Tax Havens Second Report Of The Task Force on the steps to be taken by India Members Shri Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, Chennai Shri Ajit Doval, former Director Intelligence Bureau, Delhi Prof R.Vaidyanathan, Professor of Finance Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, Mumbai Submitted to BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1 I. The First Interim Report The first Interim Report of the Task Force appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party was released to the public on 17-04-2009. Afterward different world governments, particularly those in the West, have increasingly begun targeting tax havens and intensely began pursuing black money. The US, and France particularly began a huge campaign against the evil of black money. The estimates black money lodged in tax havens by global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund reached as high as $18 trillion. The instability in the global financial order itself was traced to the evil money. So the issue has now acquired a totally different dimension. In the first Interim Report, the Task Force had suggested broad national and global strategy for dealing with the menace of black money out of the country. The substance of the recommendations of the Task Force in the First Interim Report is summarized here: Global Strategy: • Creating a powerful public opinion and broad national consensus on the issue. Those who do not...
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...“I confirm that this assignment represents my own work and where quotations and/or ideas have been utilized from other sources these have been acknowledges and referenced accordingly.” Assignment I Question 1 Alliance Bank (Bahamas Ltd) is an established offshore bank with an international presence, through a network of subsidiaries, branches and representative offices in over 15 locations. The referenced branch is located in jurisdiction of The Bahamas. A full range of banking and related financial products and services are offered to clients including but not limited to, bank accounts, wire transfers, cash deposits, and credit cards. Money laundering can be defined as the process of disguising or concealing illicit funds to make them appear legitimate. This is achieved by the launders disguising their identity and or distancing themselves from the illicit activity that would have produced his property. It is imperative then that MLROs fully appreciate the vulnerabilities of their Bank’s particular products and services in order to be able to implement systems to prevent exploitation, and be able to properly evaluate unusual and potentially suspicious activity. The core characteristics and vulnerability of the products and services previously mentioned, from the perspective of anti-money laundering are as follows: Bank Accounts: Bank accounts are the entry point into the financial system. Once this is achieved the launderer has access to a wider network of vehicles...
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...Goodbye Bank Secrecy, Goodbye Switzerland From start of 2012 to May 2013, the number of foreign owned Swiss banks has fallen from 145 to 129(though it remains the biggest centre for global offshore wealth with $ 2.2 trillion i.e. 26% of the market, which was 27% in 2012). Example:- Lloyds Banking Group, Commerzbank, etc Reasons• Recent shake up in Europe’s economy • In 2012, one-third of banks had fund outflows • One bank in 6 recorded losses Hence many banks are reviewing their geographical footprint, specially in the offshore markets. Moreover, a combination of government actions from the US & EU and the increased regulatory pressure is likely to trigger more such changes, because it will only make it a more costly affair to do business. Smaller players will be forced to close or to merge with larger banks. Switzerland will have to develop new products and services to attract foreign clients, now that banking secrecy argument has been solved in the recent. Air-Asia to focus on India’s under-utilised airports Budget airline carrier Air-Asia (which will launch later this year) is looking forward to:• Add 10 aircrafts annually • Focus operations on country's under-utilised airports as a part of expansion plan • To focus on South India first before expanding operations in the rest of the country The success will depend a lot on the cost structure & the marketing, says CEO Air-Asia. They are hopeful of achieving scale through lower-priced tickets & cutting costs by offering...
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