...Submission: April 2, 2015 BHP Billiton Limited Introduction: BHP Billiton is world’s largest diversified natural resources company. The company was created by the merger of two companies, BHP Ltd (An Australian mining company) and Billiton PLC (An UK based Company). BHP Billiton has created long time share holder value through the discovery, acquisition and development of natural resources. In the last few years, BHP Billiton has faced some governance challenges in conducting their business around the world. For overcoming those challenges several strategic drivers has been taken by BHP Billiton. This report mainly focused on external and internal environment, strength and weakness, Governance challenges and strategic drivers of BHP Billiton. Overview of BHP Billiton: BHP Billiton is a Dual Listed Company (DLC) comprising BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc. BHP Billiton was created through the DLC merger of BHP Limited (now BHP Billiton Limited) and Billiton Plc (now BHP Billiton Plc), which was concluded on 29 June 2001. BHP Billiton is a leading global resources company. The purpose is to create long-term shareholder value through the discovery, acquisition, development and marketing of natural resources. BHP Billiton are among the world’s largest producers of major commodities, including aluminum, coal, copper, iron ore, manganese, nickel, silver and uranium, and have substantial interests in oil and gas. The headquarters of BHP Billiton Limited, and the global...
Words: 7470 - Pages: 30
...Venezuela. The paper’s three main topics include Venezuela’s economy and resources, which both revolve primarily around the petroleum industry, Venezuela’s political relations with Russia and China, and finally US national security and trade interests in Venezuela. 2. Nearly two times the size of the state of California according to the CIA World Fact Book, Venezuela is situated on the northern tip of South America. Venezuela’s available natural resources are abundant, and, according to Heather D. Heckle, in her article for the Encyclopedia Britannica, include some of the world’s largest natural gas deposits, iron ore, vast coal reserves, gold, diamonds,...
Words: 946 - Pages: 4
...warming is a major issue in today’s world that affects many people, animals, economies, and society as a whole. What is global warming? Global warming is the rising average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. It’s been constantly rising over the past 100 years because of major contributions which include: greenhouse gases (especially CO2) being emitted, industrialization, burning of fossil fuels, and the increase in population. Global warming was first discovered in 1896 by a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius who proposed an idea that there is a relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature. He later then described, by comparing carbon dioxide levels, infrared absorption, surface temperature of the earth, and human activity, that global warming would rise. Other scientists didn’t believe this idea stating that natural forces would cancel out human activity that releases carbon dioxide. It wasn’t until 1988 that it was finally acknowledged that global warming is present because of how much warmer it was than the 1800s. Since then, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was founded which looks at scientific, technical, and socio-economic information that relates to human induced climate change and figures out plans and ideas to decrease and slow down the rate at which the climate is getting hotter. However, there are still disagreements to this day whether or not the climate is indeed getting warmer...
Words: 2856 - Pages: 12
...this territory is extremely important. The Soviet administration was the most important governing body for more than 70 years (1918-1991). The boundaries of modern independent states was clearly identified in this period. The composition of the economic regions of the USSR changed in line with the objectives of improving the management and planning of the economy in order to accelerate and improve the efficiency of social production. It means that the economy of one particular division was narrow directed. For instance, Uzbekistan became the main supplier of cotton in the region. It leaded to the reformation of the irrigation system of Central Asia and great expansion of irrigation canals. As a consequence of short-sighted politics in relations of water, the Aral Sea had experienced numbers of serious problems that are not resolved even till now . Kazakhstan also became a victim of politically repressive Soviet regime with its flour specialization. The economies was severely affected by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting loss of their vast market. However, the Soviet period has also some advantages in the life of Central Asian countries. The realization of the road and railway infrastructure project started its existence when five states were the parts of the USSR. In spite of the fact that the ethnic diversity was disregarded during the Soviet period, the education had big importance and was raised on the higher level. Moreover, as the boundaries of the countries...
Words: 3841 - Pages: 16
...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is a suggestion of which accounting technique should to be integrated into BHP Billiton’s contemporary management accounting system. Through in depth research this technique has been identified as the environmental management accounting technique. This result was achieved through the research of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis and the identification of the critical success factors. A balanced score card was then created using the information gathered to be used in identifying the most relevant technique. EMA was the technique decided upon as compared to the other techniques as it is the most relevant to BHP Billiton as their industry deals day to day with the environment and society. It will create awareness for the harm that is being done to the environment and will encourage them to create the minimum damage to the earth. It will also assess any repercussions of their actions that may affect society and bring harm to people. By integrating the EMA technique, it will help the organisation to collect the most relevant information to their situation and will assist in the planning, controlling and decision making within that organisation. This will improve the organisations strategy in which to help preserve the environment and also affect their financial state positively. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 1. INTRODUCTION 5 2. BHP BILLITON LTD 5 ...
Words: 3460 - Pages: 14
...Over the last few years Kazakhstan has implemented foreign policies aimed to improve relations with a vast array of new geopolitical actors, besides common partners such as Russia, on which the Central Asian country was formerly heavily dependent. Using its huge potential in the hydrocarbon industry, Kazakhstan has managed to rise above all other Central Asian states in terms of political and economic importance and has turned its eyes to China as an important and powerful partner for cooperation in the economic, political, and security spheres. This article on Kazakhstan and China was written by Fabio Belafatti, and originally published by our knowledge partner "Equilibri" at the following address: http://www.equilibri.net/nuovo/sites/default/files/focus_belafatti_china%20kazakhstan.pdf The “Kazakh path” (with its contradictions) and Kazakh-Chinese relations In recent years Kazakhstan has become an important actor in regional international relations in Central Asia. The country's improvements have been underscored by international observers in many occasions. It is undeniable that compared to the rest of the region, Kazakhstan shows much higher levels of development. In purely macroeconomic terms, Kazakhstan’s economy is the largest in Central Asia and has shown very high growth levels for many years, recovering very fast when hit by the world economic crisis. In broader terms, Kazakhstan’s success is underscored by the fact that it is the only country in the region...
Words: 3354 - Pages: 14
...maintaining the thriving economic growth of the UAE, even increasing it. In relation, the eventual limitedness and diminishing of petroleum in the Gulf region over the next half century squeezes the issue further more and turns it into a national concern; predominately with the possible repercussions on the UAE’s prosperous economy. Looking forward, the UAE government is embarking upon a nuclear program to build four nuclear reactors at Barakah near the capital Abu Dhabi by 2020, declaring nuclear energy to be the most practical solution to the rapidly growing energy requirements in the UAE. Critics of this plan deem it to be expensive, extremely risky, and an unwise move given the UAE’s geographical position in the middle of an area sparked by political tension due to nuclear issues in Iran and terrorist organizations in the Levant and Yemen. Despite the aforementioned criticism, nuclear energy is unequivocally the most efficient solution to address the rapidly growing energy requirements in the UAE, a capable long-term replacement for oil, and a potential imperative factor in mitigating CO2 emissions in the UAE, consequently preserving the environment and the ecological system of the UAE. Economics, the Environment, and Nuclear Energy Nuclear energy is a viable, commercially competitive option which would contribute to the UAE’s economy and future energy security. To begin with, the UAE relies on natural gas and oil to produce 98 percent of its electricity. Regarding oil, demand...
Words: 1835 - Pages: 8
...Australia’s economic growth relies on Asia’s continuing demand for resources Nadhira Prisari PRIND1203 MME101 Business Academic Skill Christopher Notsis Assignment 2 January 21st 2013 Australia’s economic growth relies on Asia’s continuing demand for resources Many countries in Europe and US are dealing with fiscal crises, banking sector instability and serious downside growth risk. Fortunately, Das (2012) point out that Australia has a great probability in the future to face global economy problems. Australia is rich in natural resources, and because of their natural resources, it helps Australia to show a great performance in economic sector (Das, 2012). Australia’s economy activity keeps increasing, also added by the amount of demand for exports from China. With the large demand of exports from China, it proposes new opportunity in diversifying trade relations from European Market. Unfortunately, Australia is too depending itself on Asian demand. If decreases happen in demand from China, it will affect headline GDP growth. From now on, the intention of this discussion is to Australia’s economic growth, which relies on Asia’s continuing demand for resources. Nowadays, Australia’s growth is really depending itself to china’s demand. Plumb, Kent, and Bishop (2012) mention that the boom in the resource sector is one of the sectors that got an effect from strong growth in Australia. Plumb, Kent, and Bishop (2012) say that...
Words: 1778 - Pages: 8
...Position of Kazakhstan in International Trade and Business Student’s name Institutional affiliation Analysis of macroeconomic situation in Kazakhstan 1 Macroeconomic trends Kazakhstan is one of the richest economies in Asia. It is also the second largest of the former Soviet Republics after Russia. The economy has enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of minerals (Francis, 2011). There are different metals available in the economy including uranium, zinc, and copper. Some like uranium are exported to almost all parts of the globe. The economy was ranked 11th out 42 countries in the Asia-pacific region. The overall score of the economy is also above world and regional averages. The GDP of the economy grew from 78,014,200 in 1995 to 147,453,000 in 2005 (Aitzhanova, et al. 2014). The dollar exchange rate has been well managed through a sound monetary policy that has been adopted. The country has been faced with inflation challenges. In 2001, the inflation rate was very high because of strong foreign-currency inflows (Ibrayev, Badjanov & Li, 2014). However, the economy survived the pressure, and surprisingly it is one of the first former soviet republic that has repaid all debts to the international monetary fund in 2000 (Datkhayev, 2013). The country paid $400 million ahead of the schedule. From then, the economy has been able to limit its foreign debt within manageable levels. [pic] Figure 1: Kazakhstan GDP in billion USD retrieved from...
Words: 5534 - Pages: 23
...ASSESSMENT 1: Internationalization of Business Tutor: Dr Gabor Horvath Date of submission: 16 December 2011 University of Glamorgan Year: 2011/2012 Introduction: This report deals with the internationalization of Elecdyne, a Japanese company, based in Tokyo. Elecdyne has manufactured a broad range of electronic products since 1990. Currently, it employs 100 staff, which produces products such as mp3 players, televisions and hifi equipment. In the moment, Elecdyne supplies products only to the Japanese market; nonetheless it has failed to grow its business in the last two years. With high wages compared to other countries, lack of R&D staff and the licenses that must be paid, Elecdyne is finding it increasingly difficult to compete. Therefore, Elecdyne wishes to internationalize in another country. This report analyses three different countries (France, China, Japan) by using appropriate frameworks and data collected from different resources. I. The global environment: First, a company must understand the global environment on the industry. I decided to choose STEEP framework because it is simple, general and it permits to analyse the broad factors that have an impact on the industry (Rugman & Collinson, 2009). (Task Group Z) STEEP ANALYSIS: Social | Social networking | | Internet is a new way of communication. Companies can share and collect information about customers and competitors.Social networks like Facebook and...
Words: 3312 - Pages: 14
...DOES HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION HELP RESOLVE CONFLICTS? CASE STUDY ON THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. INTRODUCTION This essay will point out the definition of humanitarian intervention and the lack of definition or misinterpretation of the legality of humanitarian intervention. It will give a historical description on the nature of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the exploitation of the country and the main instigators fuelling this conflict. It will analyse the humanitarian intervention efforts by the international community and how has it helped in the conflict resolutions to protect the nation’s citizens. It will also give you the different organisations, a description of the contributions the international community are trying to achieve to alleviate the suffering of the population as well as the measures to help the nation from ceasing the continuation of this ongoing conflict. The definition of what constitutes humanitarian intervention can be questioned both legally, morally and politically, it has been defined as a states use of military force against another state or within the state, aim at ending human rights violations but should be best understood as intervening without military force to alleviate mass human suffering within sovereign borders. (Wikipedia, 25th Sep 2013) Another excellent definition as stated by Holzgrefe, J.L is a “threat or use of force across state borders by a state (or group of states) aimed at...
Words: 2522 - Pages: 11
...Learning Objectives Chapter 1 Distinguish between microeconomics and macroeconomics. Explain the factors that drive demand and supply. 2 Describe each of the four different types of market structures in a private enterprise system, and compare the three major types of economic systems. 3 3 Identify and describe the four stages of the business cycle. Explain how productivity, price level changes, and employment levels affect the stability of a nation’s economy. 4 Discuss how monetary policy and fiscal policy are used to manage an economy’s performance. 5 Describe the major global economic challenges of the 21st century. Economic Challenges Facing Contemporary Business Rudyanto Wijaya/iStockphoto Copyright ©2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. NASCAR Tries to Restart Its Engine ASCAR is widely known as the most popular spectator sport in the United States. Yet even its most diehard fans are tapping the brakes when it comes to buying tickets to their favorite speedway. Tracks in cities such as Phoenix and Talladega have reported double-digit percent declines in attendance. Just as worrisome is the fact that, instead of watching races at home, fans are changing the channel. Some critics of NASCAR blame a drop in dramatic action and a mandated car chassis design that leaves car models undifferentiated. Others say that the races are just too long and the broadcast commentary is boring. But NASCAR defenders argue that there’s another huge obstacle: the...
Words: 18694 - Pages: 75
...result of a country's general government budget over the course of an accounting period[->4], usually one year. It includes all government levels (from national to local) and public social security funds. The budget balance is the difference between government revenues (e.g., tax) and spending. A positive balance is called a government budget surplus, and a negative balance is called a government budget deficit. 2. Critiques of Economic Geography · The IMF and the World Bank provide a specific list of factors that explain the country’s poverty: Limited resources, the climatic conditions, and the weak development of income-generating activities in rural areas, strong demographic growth, the scarcity of arable land and environment degradation, and inadequacy of basic infrastructures. · The climatic conditions, natural resources, environmental degradation and scarcity city of land are all seen as natural limits on growth so only demographic growth and infrastructure can be addressed. Therefore you need to control the population growth and build...
Words: 2551 - Pages: 11
...south. These diverse climates and topographies provide Chile with a wealth of natural resources including timber, iron ore, hydropower and most prominently, copper, an element known for its inherent ductility and electrical conductivity. Beginning in the mid 1960s, concurrent with China’s exploding GDP growth rate, the value of copper in the modern industrial market place began to soar due increased global demand. Chile, whose copper reserves account for 28% of the world’s total supply, experienced the positive economic impact from this increased demand, as seen through the country’s GDP growth of over 400% between 1970 and 2014, adjusting for inflation, (Appendix 1). Coupled with the solid GDP growth over the last 45 years, Chile was also able to establish strong institutions, an efficient government with relatively low levels of corruption, and solid macroeconomic stability, which subsequently established Chile as the most competitive economy in Latin America according the 2015 Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) (Appendix 2). Directly to Chile’s north lies Peru, a country almost double Chile’s size and population (Appendix 3). Similarly to Chile, Peru’s economy reflects its wide-ranging topographies including arid coastal regions in the west, mountainous highlands in central Peru, and tropical Amazon forests bordering Colombia and Brazil. These provide the country with an abundance of natural resources comparable to Chile’s:...
Words: 2514 - Pages: 11
...Lesotho Case Study “Market and Mountain Kingdom” Bob Terry 10/8/2012 Wk 7Assignment Globalization & Regionalization Globalization is international integration of cultures, people, products, beliefs, and much more. Globalization makes goods and services available to locations that originally wouldn’t have them. Some of my favorite restaurants are Brazilian Steakhouses like Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Ciao. These restaurants would not be offered in Denver Colorado without globalization. Globalization has increased greatly over the past century due to advancements in technology, particularly in transportation and knowledge sharing (internet). These technologies have ingrained globalization in the modern era. Regionalization is the economic integration of countries. Some good examples of these are the North Atlantic Free Trade Organization (NAFTA) and the European Union (EU). Both of these agreements take countries that are in similar regions and in certain economic ways. All countries in the EU have the same currency which creates certain benefits but has also created economic disaster for many countries involved. The goal of regionalization is to benefit all countries involved and become stronger globally as a whole. These two forces have had tremendous impact on the small African nation of Lesotho. Foreign influences have shaped Lesotho throughout history and currently determine their economic factors today. Most recently trade agreements have made Lesotho...
Words: 6253 - Pages: 26
