Mergers and Acquisitions †The life of Hewlett †Packard Essay

The first big customer of HP was Walt Disney Studios. The company purchased eight oscillators from HP for their movie Fantasia. These oscillators were purchased in order to develop an innovative sound system for the movie. HP has incorporated profit sharing and social commitment in the company through its values and corporate objectives that have been with the company since 1957, these principles guide them to be focused and committed to the company and were founded by the co founders and are being followed to this day. Through trust, team work, innovation and integrity the company has been successful in making enough profits to finance their growth as well as keep all the stakeholders satisfied. They respect customer loyalty and the role of employees and there fore their contribution in the company. They look for opportunities and grow but not at the stake of society, they serve as an asset to the society and country where ever they are doing business. Dave Packard used a management technique that was incorporated into HP’s corporate culture. He called it â€Å"managing by walking around† which later came to be known as â€Å"management by Objectives† which had employee involvement, recognition and communication for better management and achievement of organizational goals. The company went public in the year 1957 and Bill and Dave have always given respect and appreciation for the employee’s efforts. Therefore after going public they gave the stock grants to the employees automatically who have been serving for at least six months in the company. This meant that the employees were given shares of the company, which will give them some form of ownership in the company and motivate them more for the performance and growth. The first acquisition of the company took place in the year 1958 of a high quality graphic producer company. The name of the company was F.L. Moseley Company of Pasadena, California. This acquisition was not seen as a threat to its flexibility because this gave opportunity to HP to enter into plotters market which was a needed for the company’s printer business. And to counter the problem of growing business the company had practiced decentralization of business divisions which will be responsible for their own products. Bill was looking for opportunities internationally for Hp to enter foreign markets and he found some in Europe after the Treaty of Rome and also the European Common market in the year 1957. These paved way for starting operation of Hp in the European markets and as Bill visited Europe he found it a viable decision and the company became global in the year 1959. The first joint venture of the company was in Asia with a Japanese company named Yokogawa Hewlett-Packard (YHP) in the year 1963. The CEO identified the factors that lead to major acquisitions by HP till the year 2005. HP was performing well in the industry. Its revenue and profits were rising and which made it attractive for the investor’s point of view as the company’s stock value also rose. The company was able to achieve cost control and pay bonuses to the employees at the same time. The company had a strong financial position with an impressive figure of $6.8 billion as an increase in revenue growth. The company wanted to achieve cost competitiveness. The company made some changes in the number of workers and their retirement programmes. The company consists of a team of dedicated workforce which is willing to put in their maximum efforts to enhance the value and performance. Moreover the company wanted to evolve in the bigger markets. The company had cash and potential to prosper in sales, they had no burden of operational debt. They have a strong customer base with a brand loyalty from them. All these led to the successful acquisitions of the company. The merger and acquisitions that took place between HP and other companies around the globe made HP a much stronger company in terms of market share as well as sales growth and innovation and created value for the company. The deal with Compaq was seen as an opportunity to grow into the IT sector in the world.   One of the long term goals of the company is to become the world’s largest computer company. All these mergers and takeovers were taken in order to reduce the competition, increase market share, share expertise which can be used to produce further products. The deal between Compaq and HP was seen as a success in the industry after five years of the deal. Compaq was its strong competitive at the same time one of the largest PC makers. The two companies by integrating have took forward the company’s profits and sales to another level altogether. The merger took place at the right time when both the companies were lacking the production of key products. But after the deal both the companies were able to fill in the gap that they had while operating independently. They were committed to the infrastructure software which helped the company go into the management layer from the commodity hardware. The company was at a stronger position to compete with the global service providers. The deal was able to increase the revenue and profits for the company being in the competitive environment of the industry.

Sop for Mba

Biomedical Technology | Born and raised in India but now living in Chicago, I am a young man who is deeply engaged with the crossover between biochemical and biomedical research, on the one hand, and business realities on the other. My long term goal is to become an independent researcher with my own business in the area of biochemistry and biochemical research. I feel that I have already distinguished myself as a physical scientist, and now I seek the other leg upon which my long term goal is based.I especially look forward to studying in the GSB in the areas of marketing and finance as well as social responsibility and progressive political agendas in the business world. I completed my undergraduate and Master’s level studies in my native India. Then I came to XXXX University where I completed my Ph. D. in Chemistry in December of 2005. This, of course, is the single strongest aspect of my application because of the utility of this terminal scientific degree for the business world, staying abreast of the business aspects of scientific developments in chemistry and micro- biology.I am also very pleased to have received the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Award in March, 2005, based on evaluations by an interdepartmental committee of faculty members. I have authored two research papers coming out of my doctoral dissertation in 2006 that were published in the journal Biochemistry. I am the first author of both articles. Currently, I have the privilege of serving as a post doctoral research associate in the Hematology/Oncology Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago.I am also pursuing research on Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and expect to receive funding from a private funding agency by next year. Two manuscripts from my postdoctoral work are in the pipeline. I will be the first author on one of the two papers. I am industrious and intelligent, with a sound educational background and a GPA of 3. 82. In fact, I am tenaciou s, and capable of a career that offers great challenges. I feel strongly that Loyola is the best place to prepare myself for making the greatest possible contribution to society through the promotion of biomedical research.With my own company my dream is to develop a specific concentration on only the most clinically relevant research. There are various reasons why XXXX’s GSB is my first choice. Most basically, I live in Chicago and I also like the flexibility of your program, but it goes far beyond that. I would feel especially privileged to become associated with your programs emphasis on the importance of values-based decision-making since business ethics and social responsibility stand at the center of my research curiosity.Nowhere, of course, is the need for social responsibility any greater than in the area of biochemistry. Your GSB Program will provide me with the solid foundation that I will need to someday manage my own business and to integrate business disciplines in increasingly creative ways that allow me to give full vent to my inspiration. I also identify with XXXX’s GSB in the focus on business issues in a global context. I ask for you help in becoming one of the highly responsible and morally sound business leaders of tomorrow in the field of biochemistry. I want to thank you for consideration of my application.

Braveheart Movie Report

Braveheart is a film directed by Mel Gibson which loosely portrays the life of William Wallace, a national hero in Scotland. In real life, Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight who led the resistance against the English occupation of Scotland during significant periods of the Wars of Scottish Independence.While there are no accurate historical records that exist concerning the birth date and place of birth of Sir William Wallace, there are accounts of his exploits, one of the most memorable of these accounts is the mark of the beginning of this resistance movement for the independence of Scotland which was his killing of the son of the English governor of Dundee.The heroism of Sir William Wallace was such that it was the inspiration of historical novel The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie written by the 15th century minstrel Blind Harry which was also attributed as the cause for the legend which surrounds Sir William Wallace. The onscreen portrayal of Si r William Wallace by Mel Gibson in the film Braveheart, according to critics, â€Å"has been somehow stretched to the limits that the silver screen can provide.† (Roger Ebert 1995) The famous cry for â€Å"freedom† in the movie is not as historically accurate as it is portrayed because the concept of personal freedom wasn’t widely celebrated during the era of Sir William Wallace. Another inconsistency of the movie with regard to the portrayal of Sir William Wallace lies in the battlefield strategy employed; there are no historical accounts of the 14th century Scotsmen burning the battlefield.Most of the characters in the movie, Sir William Wallace included, have been â€Å"glorified† to be able to properly manipulate the sentiment of onscreen audiences. Much of the portrayals tend to show only the glorious and benevolent sides and don’t reflect an accurate recount of the historical truths concerning the charact

The Public Needs to Know Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Public Needs to Know - Essay Example More essentially, health and nutrition is a remarkable topic for children because of their growth. Recently, the school made changes to the breakfast and lunch programs to improve nutrition and health mainly because of its importance to the children`s growth, economic situation, special needs of the children, process and the benefits of the program. The recent economic trends all over the world have not been friendly or up to people`s expectations. The economic recession and downfall has seen many people struggling to provide basic needs for their families while at the same time affording other secondary needs that include leisure activities. Despite the negative economic changes, people must continue living and catering for the basic needs of which education, health and nutrition are included (Marotz, 2011). This means that whatever the case, people must be healthy and take proper nutrition to survive. Despite the economic situation, the school has endeavored to provide a balanced d iet for children so that learning can take place effectively the same way their growth and development can. In this manner therefore, the school decided to change the breakfast and lunch program for the schoolchildren to fit the economic hardship while maintain the health of the children in the best way possible. The expensive foodstuff was reduced by substituting them with foods with the same nutrients but at a lower cost. For example for breakfast, the school substituted manufactured cereals with a muffin and a glass of milk for every child (Dalton, 2005). This was also added with fruits. For lunch, the school substituted processed juices with fruits while maintain the normal diet (Marotz, 2011). Schoolchildren eating a healthy meal In the change of the breakfast and lunch programs, the school took into account the special needs of the children. As it is clear, not all persons take the same type of diet because of bodily issues and medicinal concerns. This program is meant for chi ldren roughly between four years and twelve years. The school put this into consideration and took care of all special needs of the children (Marotz, 2011). The children are at a very delicate but essential part of their lives. This is a special need because their bodies are at growing and development stage. Any interference or inadequate feeding means that their growth and development will be impaired and stunted. Children naturally prefer foods that they enjoy most. Therefore, it is essential to make healthy food choices appealing. Children also imitate their caregivers. Therefore, they require caregivers who act as role models by eating healthy. Children with medical problems were also catered for in the change. This means that the school introduced a wide variety of diet for children because of their special nutritional and developmental needs, which include medicinal and health related issues. This was aimed at helping children grow and develop and at the same time enjoy learni ng (Marotz, 2011). A child eating an excessive fatty food Another most important area that was featured in the recent changes in breakfast and lunch program changes to improve nutrition and health is process (Shilstone, 2009). Process in this case all the considerations that were looked into before the changes were made. For example, the school had to take a survey of the children`s needs, age, health and medicinal requirements before the change was made. For example,

Research Methods & Methodologies in Accounting and Management Essay - 2

Research Methods & Methodologies in Accounting and Management - Essay Example The UK has become an attractive destination for higher education for many nations. Nowadays, the highest inflow of foreign students to the UK comes from China. The number of Chinese students taking higher education courses in the UK has shown dramatic increase during past decades. In 1998-1999 the number of Chinese students in UK was 4000 (Ianelli and Huang, 2014). By 2001, the number rose by 71% to nearly 18,000 students and by 2009-2010 to almost 57,000 (Gittings, 2002; Ianelli and Huang, 2014). There are many papers which aimed to explore the determinants of the choice of UK universities by overseas students. Soo & Elliot (2010) have carried out such research, analysing key determinants of popularity of the UK universities among international students. They have found that fee cost, quality of education, as well as the existing popularity of a university among home applicants were some of the most significant factors (Soo & Elliot, 2010). Thus, prestige and quality of higher educa tion are recognized to be the most common reasons. However, the inflow of Chinese students can be hardly explained only with these aspects. With the growth of the middle class and market orientation of China, Chinese families seek value for money (Gittings, 2002). Obviously, that decision of a Chinese student to study in the UK is more likely to be sponsored by their parents, and therefore, parents also are important decision-makers in the process. Ianelli and Huang (2014) have tried to analyze how the patterns of attainment of Chinese graduates have changed during the last decade. The findings have shown that science, engineering, business, and social sciences were the courses in great among the Chinese students in UK (Ianelli and Huang, 2014). Also, the study has shown that Russel Group universities are increasingly popular among Chinese students studying in

The effict of divorce on children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The effict of divorce on children - Essay Example To handle children while making them aware of the divorce, parents must keep in mind the age group to which a child belongs, as children of each age group have different ways of understanding situations and react differently as well (Janet and Art) The effects of divorce on children can be many and diversified depending on many factors. The various factors that are contributing factors towards effecting a child post and pre divorce situations are discussed below: There are several studies based on reviewing the effects of divorce on girls and boys of different age groups after divorce. It has been shown that boys seem to be more effected by divorce than girls, even in preschoolers, it has been seen that although both girls and boys show a disruption in play time and in play- ground, girls catch up pretty fats but the feeling of abandonment lingers on in boys a bit longer (Hughes, Jr. Robert). It has also been shown in many studies that although the performance in schools is affected in both genders but boys take much longer to perform well; seldom have they failed to perform at all in schools as compared to girls. There has been variation in studies carried on age related effects of divorce on children and it has been shown that children who experience loss of a parent after divorce at a very early age do not confront as serious problems as do children who have to suffer the same loss at age 6 and above. Children might develop anti-social tendencies or might find it difficult in interacting with peers, in some instances intellectual abilities might be disturbed as well. The conditions of a family and the features at the time of divorce and after that also play a critical role in contributing towards effecting broken-home children. It has been seen that socio-economic status of divorced families also plays an

Bus Lw AM Wk 5 6 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bus Lw AM Wk 5 6 7 - Essay Example 2. The Liebeck v. McDonald’s case is a perfect illustration of the modern civil justice system which allows the individuals to rise for their rights against the autonomy of big corporate companies. In my opinion, the award of punitive damages in addition to the compensatory damages was sufficiently justified but $2.7 million is an outrageous amount of money for such case. The decision of the judge to reduce the punitive award was reasonable as this case might have led to several similar cases where a person might have caused intentional damage to himself in hopes of large reimbursement sums. 3. Privacy is a big concern for public figures, and the invasion of personal space is the violation of their rights as a human being. The law must offer more privacy to such individuals by offering strict action against paparazzi photographers and media personnel. Loss of privacy should not be considered a price of success at all. The publication of any material (photograph or written) regarding the private life of celebrities must be prohibited unless a proper consent is acquired. 1. An employee’s defamation in front of a potential employer without any issuance of privilege from the employee is the issue. There are strict laws against employers who endanger or damage their employees’ reputations by conveying false information to other potential employers or co-workers. The victimized employee can sue the employer for defamation. Since Gates was never proven guilty of theft therefore, the allegations made against him might be false. To post notices around the office, or mentioning the allegations to another company’s personnel officer, thus, would not only be unethical but also make me liable for a defamation lawsuit. 2. The legal issue is the wrongful detention for doubt of shoplifting. The existing rules establish the presence of sufficient probable cause for guard’s action. The woman was approached by the guard,

What is the state of corporate governance in the UK, USA, EU, Literature review

What is the state of corporate governance in the UK, USA, EU, Australia, Japan and the GCC countries - Literature review Example It a discipline that focuses mainly on existing relationships between a company’s top management, its stockholders, boards, regulators, other stakeholders and auditors, and is a â€Å"system by which companies are directed and controlled† (Corporate Governance, nd., p.11). The system takes into account various market and regulatory structures, while also considering objectives for governing business firms. As OECD framed it, â€Å"Corporate governance involves a set of relationships between a company’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders. Corporate governance also provides the structure through which the objectives of the company are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance are determined† (OECD, 2004, p. 11). ... pted for preventing or diminishing contentious issues arising mainly from conflicts of interests include institutions, customs, procedures, laws and policies, which affect the manner in which a business firm is regulated (Cadbury, 1992, p. 15). An important theory within corporate governance deals with the extent and nature of  liability  of those concerned in the running of the  business. Another related yet different theory within corporate governance deals with its effects on  economic efficacy that mainly focuses on the welfare of its shareholder (Haidar,  2009). In large corporations that have different management and ownership with no regulating shareholder, the  agent-principal issues  may crop up between top management (an agent) that may have varying interests and may possess more information than the firm’s shareholders which form the principals. The main problem in this field arises when the board of directors instead of managing on behalf of the compa ny shareholders become separated from the latter, while becoming to more loyal to the firm’s management (Bebchuk and  Jesse, 2006). This dimension is often present in many of the current public debates, and is taken into consideration while framing regulatory policies. Currently there has been a great deal of interest in studying theories and practices of corporate governance of contemporary business firms, especially in the context of liability, after the bankruptcy of many of the well-known MNCs during 2002 and again during 2007-09 economic crisis, which concerned primarily accounting fraud (Haidar,  2009). Various corporate scandals  at different times, over the past few years, have led to sustained interests from both political and public world in maintaining a control and regulation over corporate

The use of health informatics in affecting the health status of at Research Paper

The use of health informatics in affecting the health status of at Risk population - Research Paper Example With the standardization, there are evenly distributed growth levels. One of the standardization models is the Human Studies Database (HSBD). The main components standardized by this model revolve around administrative features of human studies. This harmonizes the usage of data elements in various institutional boards and clinical trial management systems in organizations. Another model is the NCI Case Report Form (CRF). In this model there is the harmonization of physical exams, enrollment, adherence to protocol and medical history (Castro, 2009). This model creates a unison picture when it comes to the welfare of patients in medical institutions. Regardless of their illnesses, a medical protocol must be adhered to during their medication. Hematopoietic Cell Transplant (HCT) is a standardization model which is aimed at protecting, recording and preserving the information of a donor and recipient (Veatch, 2002). In this model both the donor and the recipient have their own rights which a health institution cannot breach. Withholding their information is one of the rights patients are entitled to. Interoperability is the inter-operation between two or more organizations, institutions or departments in coming up with useful information to help all the parties involved. In the modern century, interoperability is greatly associated with information technologies (Veatch, 2002). Through IT, interoperability is used as a tool of providing information to many related institutions. For instance, in health care many organizations may share ideas and innovative moves through the internet. In this case this information may greatly impact the operations of other medical practices. This process is the most important process when it comes to the delivery of equal and quality medical services in different practices. Interoperability is important because it brings about the evolution of how medical services are

Consumer behavior apply to e-dating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumer behavior apply to e-dating - Essay Example The study will take an investigative approach, which involves the use of conceptual models aimed at boiling down to the aptitude to endow with appropriate matches through successful business to customer services enhanced by the internet and based on the sound customer relations administration practices. The models used in this survey include the Nicosia model, the HowarthSheth Model, and Bettman processing model, which facilitate privacy and secure oriented environment for customers. It is imperative to note that the whole study of consumer behaviour blends diverse opinions and views from sociology, social science and anthropology, psychology and economics (Rosenthal & Knighton, 2002). On the other hand, consumer behaviour can be defined as the process or study aimed at understanding diverse decision-making procedures embraced by buyers at dissimilar situations. Similarly, the buyer’s individual features are included in the consumer study (Conti, 2009). Such characteristics in clude demographics and other variables correlated to the behavioural variables aimed at determining what the consumer wants. It is observed that the customer behaviour analysis has re-discovery of the real meaning of marketing through the reaffirmation of the significance of the buyer (Out of Pocket, 2009). For instance, a lot of emphasis is given in the customer relationship management, customization and consumer retention. Nicosia model Consume e dating refers to courting a partner with an anticipated aspect over the internet. The Nicosia model describes the relationship amid the firms and the consumers. The model focuses on the conscious decision making behaviour of the consumers, where the act of purchasing is only one stage of the wholly ongoing decision process of consumers. The flowcharting perception by Nicosia simplifies and systemizes the variables, which affect the consumer decision making. Consider the illustration below, which help in understanding the process of e dati ng Courtesy of HAINES, G. H. (1969). Consumer behaviour: learning models of purchasing. New York, The Free Press [etc.]. The internet complements the conventional business strategy in business to customer relations establishment, and this is particularly the online dating. The web-enabled expertise does not eliminate the need to design a sustainable cutthroat benefit and does not revolutionize the configuration of an industry (Gao, 2005). It is imperative to note that, the internet and online business fits well in the Nicosia model. The internet serves well in as a tool and firms are required to share this perspective for the successful application and maximum benefits. This study establishes that, five forces determine the configuration of any industry (Gao, 2005). They include the level of rivalry amid contenders’ barriers to entry, peril of proxy products, the bargaining power embraced by buyers and the bargaining power of suppliers. It is observable that, numerous compani es, which have been, designed exclusively on the internet, with no authentic value and lofty price ratios have remained dotcoms, which have failed miserably (Gao, 2005). On a similar note, a couple of successful online companies have fallen victims of similar situations,

Reliability Issues †Centrifugal Slurry Pumps Essay Example for Free

Reliability Issues – Centrifugal Slurry Pumps Essay Introduction Pumps were probably the first machine ever developed, and are now the second most common machine in use around the world, out-numbered only by the electric motor. The very earliest type of pump is now known as a water wheel, Persian wheel or â€Å"noria†, consisting of a wheel of buckets that rotates to pick up water from a stream and dump it into a trough. Another early pump was the â€Å"Archimedean screw†, similar to the modern screw conveyor except that the flights were often fixed to the tube so that the whole arrangement would turn together. Both of these devices are still used, most commonly in basic agricultural applications. Pumps are now produced in an enormous range of types and sizes, for a very wide scope of applications, and this makes it difficult for any individual reference document or organisation to cover â€Å"pumps and pumping† as a general topic. So the broad field of pumping is classified into sub-divisions and then dealt with at that level. In the mining industry, the upper end of the pump scale includes impellers with diameters over 2.5m, slurry lines 10km long, particle size up to 100mm, flow rates handling more than 7000tph, and motors over 10MW. Finer slurries of around 1mm particle size are pumped for hundreds of kilometres in some operations. There are many ways to classify pumps. This just one of them. This document only addresses centrifugal pumps, with a focus on single-stage radial-flow slurry pumps. Centrifugal pumps are capable of meeting duties of up to 1.4 m /s at 30MPa, and higher volumes at lower 3 pressures. The maximum flow rate at low discharge pressure is about 180 m /s. Industrial applications requiring high delivery pressures generally use reciprocating fixed-displacement pumps, but they are limited in the amount of flow they can put out per unit. In general purpose applications, where different types of pumps could all deliver the performance sought, centrifugal pumps are usually the preferred choice due to lower lifecycle costs. Basic Requirements for Reliability Assuming correct pump manufacture and installation, the basic requirements for reliable long-term operation of centrifugal pumps are: 1. Continuous operation at best-efficiency point (BEP) 2. Adequate net positive suction head (NPSH) 3. Low velocity fluid flow within the pump and throughout the system 4. Processing of fluids that are benign ie: a) Chemically and physically stable b) At near-ambient temperatures c) Free of particles likely to cause wear or blockage Pumps of a basic design satisfying all these requirements have run for 50 years and more without major component replacement. The first three requirements are satisfied by matching pump performance to expected duty. Where item 4 cannot be addressed through pre-treatment of the fluid, the pump configuration, geometry and materials must be optimised to give best results. Obviously, item 4.c) is a dominating issue for slurry pumps as it cannot be eliminated and must be managed. Centrifugal Pump Construction Centrifugal pumps have two main sub-assemblies – the rotating parts (impeller, shaft, bearings), and the fixed parts (casing, piping connections, stand, foundations. Pumps of all types may be single stage or multi-stage. Multiple stages are used where it is not practical to generate the necessary discharge pressure using a single impeller. The simplest way to imagine a multi-stage pump is as one pump with its discharge feeding straight into the suction of a second pump so that the overall discharge pressure is increased while the flow rate stays the same. However, this arrangement is properly described as â€Å"single stage pumps in series†. A true multi-stage pump consists of multiple impellers mounted on a single shaft, positioned in a single casing made up of multiple chambers. Multi-stage pumps of this type are not used with slurries, but sometimes slurry pumps are mounted in series. Casing There are two types of casing designs â€Å"volute† and â€Å"diffuser†. A volute casing has a snail’s shell shape, while a diffuser casing has internal vanes. Diffuser casings are rarely used on single-stage radial pumps, and are not commonly used for handling slurries due to the flow restriction and high wear rates that would result. Slurry pumps have volute casings which house the impeller and have a spiral-shaped outer volume that extends 360 degrees and increases in cross-sectional area as it approaches the discharge flange. At full circle the volute overlaps itself, creating the cut-point, also known as â€Å"cut-water point† or â€Å"tongue†. The ideal shape is to have a steady linear increase in cross-sectional area for 360 degrees around the circumference starting from the cut-water point, but this can be difficult to manufacture. Compared to a clear water pump, a slurry pump has a much larger radial gap between cut-water point and impelle r, to reduce risk of blockage. Where a pump is identified as oversize for its duty, and is suffering high recirculation wear, it may be possible to fit liners with an extended cut-water point that throttles the flow. In theory, when a pump operates at its best efficiency point (BEP), the pressure acting on the impeller and casing are uniform. However, in practice the pressure is rarely completely uniform, and if a pump is operating away from its BEP the imbalanced in the radial forces acting on the impeller become significant. These forces are larger for bigger pumps operating at higher pressures. Running a large pump below rated capacity can create unbalanced radial forces that may (over time) damage the bearings or snap the shaft. If it is known that a pump may need to occasionally operate well away from its BEP, the manufacturer should include an oversize shaft arrangement in the design, but with commercial competition driving purchase decisions this may have to be specifically requested. Another option for reducing imbalanced radial forces is to use a twin-volute design, which consists of a wall splitting the volute in half for about half its circumference, ending after the cut-point but before the discharge flange. This is not practical for most slurry applications. Casings must be designed to allow the impeller to be installed inside, and so are manufactured in at least two parts. Solid casings have a removable cover, either on the suction side or shaft side or both, but the volute shape is a one-piece casting. Casings may also be split, either axially or radially. Axially split housings make inspection easier because the upper piece can usually be removed without disturbing the shaft or piping too much. Split casings may tend to â€Å"breathe† at high pressures, resulting in leakage, air entrainment, vibration, misalignment etc. Casings are normally provided with ribbing at the location of highest stresses, to minimise this. Open or semi-open impellers require close clearances against the casing to ensure pumping efficiency. The casings generally include a side-plate that can be adjusted for minimal clearance using jacking screws or shims, especially in wearing applications eg slurries. Impeller Impellers are classified according to their design features ie: ï‚ · Suction flow orientation o Single suction ie inlet on one side only o Double suction ie inlet on both sides ï‚ · The direction of exit flow relative to the shaft axis ie: o Radial flow o Axial flow o Mixed flow ï‚ · Vane shape ie: o Single curvature vanes, also called straight vanes – the impeller surfaces that accelerate the fluid are straight and parallel to the axis of rotation o Francis or screw vane – the surfaces that accelerate the fluid are curved in relation to the axis of rotation ï‚ · Mechanical construction o Enclosed ie with side walls or â€Å"shrouds† o Open ie no shrouds o Semi-open ie shroud on one side only o Partially shrouded ie shroud not extending to impeller tips The open area through which the fluid flows into the impeller is called the suction eye. For a closed-shroud impeller, this is simply the hole in the shroud. The suction eye area is an important featur e of the pump design. The area taken up by the shaft, if it protrudes through the eye, is deducted when calculating eye area. Impellers can be single suction or double suction. A single suction impeller has an inlet eye on one side only, with the shaft extending out the opposite side so the impeller overhangs. A double suction impeller can be thought of as two mirror-image single suction impellers mounted back-to-back. They accept fluid from both sides and usually have a shaft that extends straight through the impeller with bearings providing support on both sides. Double suction impellers are usually fed fluid from a single inlet flange, with the fluid flow being split into two streams by channelling inside the casing. Double suction units provide advantages in reduced fluid velocity at the impeller eye, and better balancing of axial hydraulic forces, while single suction units are simpler in design, manufacture and maintenance. Most if not all slurry pumps are single suction type. Some pumps may have an inducer, which is an axial flow impeller with a few blades installed between the suction inlet and the main impeller, intended to improve the suction head seen by the main impeller. Impeller shrouds often incorporate thin â€Å"pump-out vanes† cast into the outside of the shrouds. Their purpose is to help clear any solids from the back hub of the impeller (opposite the inlet eye), reduce pressure at the seal area, reduce axial thrust, and discourage recirculation. Some impellers have similar vanes on the eye side as well as the shaft side – in this case, those on the shaft side are usually called â€Å"expeller vanes†. In clear water pumps, a cylindrical ring is usually cast or machined into the outside surface of the shrouds, coinciding with a matching feature in the casing, to help seal off the discharge fluid from the suction fluid and prevent internal circulation. Clearances here are tight in order to ensure pumping efficiency – typically around 0.25mm on radius for most common sizes of industrial pumps. In larger pumps the casing (and sometimes also the impeller) is usually protected at this point by replaceable â€Å"wear rings†, which may be high-wear items, and need to be replaced before efficiencies fall too low. It is good practice to replace wear rings once the clearance reaches twice the original specification. Wear rings are provided in a wide range of designs and materials according to the pressures, speeds and fluids involved. The wear rings on impeller and casing are often made from differing materials that are not subject to galling, to reduce problems should contact occur. Wear ring features may include labyrinths, water injection, inspection ports, adjustment mechanisms etc. Pumps handling light slurries may make use of wear rings, sometimes with water injection to reduce wear from the slurry. Pumps handling heavier slurries usually just use pump-out vanes. Slurry pump impellers must be designed to resist wear and tear, and this requires some pumping efficiency features to be sacrificed. For example, vane edges will be blunter, vanes and shrouds will be generally thicker, and the number of vanes will be decreased in order to open up the channels between them. Passages through slurry pumps, including impeller vane spacing, are larger than for clear water pumps. Open impellers are sometimes used for very stringy materials, but tend to be weak and wear quickly, and so are not very common. Vane shape is obviously a major element of impeller design. Two critical factors are the blade entry angle (ß1) and blade exit angle (ß2), as measured between the centre-line of the vane and a tangent to the inner or outer diameter (respectively) drawn from their tips, in the oppo site direction to rotation. Most modern pumps have impellers with ß2 smaller than ninety degrees – ie backward-curved blades. Theoretically, a forward-curved blade would give higher head, but at less efficiency. Some pumps have ß2 at ninety degrees, and these are sometimes referred to as â€Å"expellers†. Many clear-water impeller designs rely on close running clearances between vane tips and casing to minimise recirculation from one â€Å"vane chamber† to the next, and maximise efficiency. Even small amounts of vane tip wear can have an effect on head and overall efficiency. The outer and inner vane tips should be sharp, not rounded or chamfered. Replacing a pump which is too large for its duty can be a major exercise. It usually requires changes to the foundations, drive arrangement and piping, spares holdings, and so on. A model of the ideal size may be just not available. As an alternative, in some cases it may viable to install a reduced-diameter impeller without changing other components. If done correctly, trimming the impeller will move the pump’s BEP to match the actual system operating point. The efficiency at the new BEP will be lower than the BEP with the original impeller, but higher than was being achieved in practice when operating well away from the original BEP. The performance variation can be estimated using the â€Å"affinity laws† which often apply to a specific impeller before and after machining: Flow rate: Pump head: Motor power: Q1 / Q2 = n1 D1 / n2 D2 H1 / H2 = (n1 D1 / n2 D2) P1 / P2 = (n1 D1 / n2 D2) 2 So if running at the same speed, trimming an impeller by a certain proportion will result in a corresponding drop in flow rate, a greater decrease in head produced, and an even greater decrease in the motor power consumed. However, these equations are based on several assumptions and some caution is called for. Impellers are complex three-dimensional objects and their effects on the liquid are due to other factors that are also affected by machining, beyond just the outside diameter – eg open area, discharge blade angle and so on. The following considerations should apply. ï‚ · Diameter reductions should not exceed 10%. Reductions beyond 20% are generally considered extreme. Some references state 30% as the maximum reduction advisable. ï‚ · Some overlap in the vanes should be retained. ï‚ · The angle between the vane centreline and the tangent to the outer diameter drawn at its tip should be restored to original by filing, with most filing occurring on the trailing si de of the vane.   The vanes will probably be thicker after cutting, and should be filed back to original shape, by filing on the traling side of the vane. ï‚ · Vane tips should be kept sharp, not rounded or chamfered. Outer tips should be sharpened by filing on the trailing side, and inner tips by filing mostly on the leading side.   Inefficiencies will take the form of increased disc friction, increased flow path length within the casing, and more recirculation across vane tips. Impellers apply forces to the fluid and are subject to the equal and opposite forces themselves. The typical single-suction impeller engages with fluid entering the pump and at first accelerates it axially into the pump, before diverting it into the radial direction. The impeller pushes the fluid into the pump, and at the same time pushes itself axially back toward the inlet point. Another way of looking at this effect is to consider that the impeller is mostly exposed to pressurised fluid all over the shroud surfaces, but not at the eye on the suction side. The thrust on the impeller must be resisted by the shaft arrangement, which must always include bearings capable of serious thrust loading. Double-suction pumps typically have less axial loading, but can still experience axial thrust, especially if flow is restricted more on one side due to internal differences in the pump, or restrictions in fluid supply on one side. Clean water pump designs may incorporate features to reduce this imbalance, such as having wear rings on both sides of the impeller, with the pressure within t he volume they enclose largely equalised by â€Å"balancing holes† passing right through the impeller. Another method is the use of a balancing disc. This is a disc mounted on the shaft in a separate chamber, with a geometry and clearances designed to counterbalance thrust effects. However, these are not practical for slurry pumps, which may use pump-out vanes instead, to lower the pressure toward the inner area of the non-suction shroud. Axial thrust loads usually consist of a steady state component plus dynamic fluctuations. Heavy axial loading is often associated with recirculation. Where failure occurs it is usually a result of overloading and over-heating of bearing components. Measures to correct excessive axial loading include:   Restoring BEP operating conditions (which may include selecting a more appropriate pump size or trimming the impeller)   Ensuring internal clearances / wear are not excessive ï‚ · Verifying correct bearing type and installation including clearances / pre-load To further complicate this issue of axial thrust, single-suction pumps handling fluids with a high suction head may experience thrust on the impeller in the opposite direction, away from the inlet. And then there are pumps with highly variable duties and suction conditions that may experience impeller thrust in different directions at different times. Shaft The shaft transmits mechanical power to the impeller from the driving motor or engine. It must also support the impeller and restrict its axial and radial movement. The loads on the shaft include self-weight of the rotating components, torque, and forces transmitted to / from the fluid. Design of a shaft requires consideration of maximum allowable deflection, the span or overhang, the location and direction of all loads, any temperature variations, and the critical speed. Loads are normally at their maximum on start-up. All objects have a natural frequency at which they will vibrate after being struck. Machines made of several components with complex shapes normally have several natural frequencies, some of which dominate. In the case of pumps, if the rotational speed of the impeller matches a dominant natural frequency, small imbalances may be amplified to a level where they interfere with operation and/or reliability. These are known as â€Å"critical speeds†. Steady operating speeds between 75% and 120% of the first critical speed should be avoided. Pumps with longer overhang on the shafts have lower critical speeds. Shafts are referred to as rigid or flexible, according to whether the running speed is lower or higher than the first critical speed. Pumps with a flexible shaft must pass through a critical speed on each start-up. This is not usually a problem because frictional forces with the fluid and the bearings act as dampers for a period sufficient for transition through the critical speed. Pumps with speeds below 1750rpm, which includes most slurry pumps, are usually of the rigid-shaft design. The shaft must be designed so that any deflection will not bring moving parts into contact, for example at wearing rings, or cause non-concentricity in critical areas such as the shaft seal. As a general rule, shaft deflection should not exceed 0.15mm even under the most extreme conditions. Deflection and critical speed are related stiffening a shaft to reduce deflection will also raise its critical speed. For pumps with overhung impellers, as is the case for most slurry pumps, this often results in the shaft diameter between bearings being quite large. The fluid passing through a pump creates a hydrodynamic bearing effect, known as the â€Å"Lomakin Effect†. That is, to some extent, the impeller rotating in the casing with fluid present is like a shaft rotating in a journal bearing with oil present. The result is that the shaft is better supported when running than when idle, so that the shaft deflection will be less, and the critical speed of the shaft assembly will be higher. However, the Lomakin Effect varies with pump head and internal clearances, both of which diminish with wear. Therefore the effective critical speed may be expected to decrease with time in service. To allow assembly, shafts step up in diameter from coupling to bearing to impeller, so tha t any torque problems are very likely to appear first at the coupling rather than the impeller, at least in single stage pumps. Shaft Seal and Sleeve The shaft connects the drive to the impeller, and so must pass through the pressurised casing. Achieving a reliable seal between shaft and casing is one of the most problematic areas in pumping. Centrifugal pumps have two types of seals – mechanical seals and packing seals. Many designs of mechanical seals have been attempted for slurry pumps, without comprehensive success, and the remainder of this discussion concentrates mainly on packing seals and stuffing boxes. Note, however, that packing is only suitable within pressure and temperature limitations. Depending on pump design and duty, the seal may need to prevent either air ingress into the casing, or fluid egress out of the casing or both of these at different times, if operation is variable. Many casings are designed with the seal area built into a compartment configured to improve sealing performance. For mechanical seals, this compartment is usually referred to as the â€Å"seal chamber†, while for packing seal s, it is known as the â€Å"stuffing box†. Slurry pump seals usually consist of several rings of packing fitted in a stuffing box around the shaft, often with provision for grease lubrication or water injection to reduce friction and provide additional sealing (particularly for when the pump is stopped). There are many stuffing box design variations and many types and configurations of packing. Stuffing boxes will accept a number of rings of packing, with a packing ring or throat bush preventing extrusion into the casing, and a gland (sometimes called a â€Å"follower†) used to adjust packing compression. A lantern ring may be substituted for one of the packing rings, to cater for injection of grease or sealing water, water being particularly required if air would otherwise be sucked into the fluid stream at this point. Sealing water (or an alternative clean liquid) is usually required for: Slurries   Liquids for which leakage is not acceptable   Liquids that are not suitable for sealing purposes   Suction lifts greater than 4.5m (air ingress may interfere with priming)   Discharge pressures above 70kPa The packing must be placed under some compression and this tends to result in wear on the shaft, which is often sleeved to avoid having to replace the entire shaft once wear is advanced. There are numerous designs of shaft sleeves. The shaft sleeve must be resistant to friction and heat, and several different materials and surface treatments are available – eg hardened high-chrome stainless steel, ceramic, plasma spray or tungsten carbide coating etc. To prevent chipping, coatings should not extend to the edges of the sleeve. The sleeve does not contribute to strength, so the shaft itself must be large enough to carry all the loads, and this means that including a sleeve in the design enlarges the seal diameter. For small pumps, this may decrease pumping efficiency and raise the purchase cost to the point that sleeves may be abandoned and a stainless steel shaft used instead. Glands may be solid, or split to allow replacement without disassembly of pump or bearing assembly. They are usually made of bronze, cast iron or steel. Special designs are used to improve safety if the fluid is hazardous. The leakage of fluid past the packing is controlled by tightening the gland, compressing the packing axially and expands it radially so that leakage paths along the shaft sleeve are constrained. However, some fluid flow between packing and sleeve is usually needed to avoid overheating the packing and damaging the sleeve surface. Once the sleeve surface is damaged, the sealing efficiency decreases and more tightening is required, further damaging the sleeve, and so on. The secret is to provide a configuration of packing and seal water injection that suits the application, and then avoid over-adjustment. To further reduce the pressure at the shaft seal area, where the rear pump-out vanes are not sufficient, some slurry pumps are fitted with a second smaller open-faced impeller, usually called an â€Å"expeller†. Many different designs have been tried. If sealing water is used, there will be a design intention regarding the ratio of water to pass in to the volute compared to out past the gland follower. This can be controlled using the number of packing rings on each side of the lantern ring, but the lantern ring must be installed at the injection point. For clean water pumps, this seal water is sometimes provided from the pump discharge. Clean water must be used to avoid contaminating the packing with grit – filtration or cycloning may be necessary if the water contains some grit. When managing sealing arrangements, thought must be given to what happens when the pump is stopped. The pressure in the stuffing box changes to static conditions, which may result in slurry leaking into the packing and contaminating it, causing rapid sleeve wear on re-starting. But if sealing water continues to be applied, the slurry may be diluted, and eventually a sump can be filled with sealing water if left idle for a long time. For prolonged stoppages, sumps may be best dropped, for various reasons. On restarting, sealing water supply should start before the pump starts. Stuffing boxes in extreme applications may be provided with galleries through which cooling water can pass to prevent excessive temperatures around the packing. In applications where leakage must be more precisely controlled, or where elevated temperatures in the seal area must be avoided (for example where the fluid is volatile), mechanical seals may be suitable, provided that the fluid is not damaging to the seal components. A comparison between mechanical seals and packing seals is given below. ï‚ · Packing seals: o Low initial cost o Tend to deteriorate gradually o Easily replaced when necessary o Can handle large axial shaft movements o Always some leakage required o Require regular adjustment o Not suitable for hazardous / volatile fluids o Often cause progressive shaft sleeve wear o Can result in significant shaft power losses o Limited to low pressures and speeds ï‚ · Mechanical seals: o Minimal or zero leakage o No adjustments required o Suitable for hazardous / volat ile fluids o No shaft wear o Do not consume significant shaft power o Can handle high pressures and speeds o Tend to fail suddenly o Replacement requires pump disassembly o High initial cost Packing seals work as a result of axial compression, so that the packing rings extrude outward and apply radial pressure to the adjacent components, these being the static surface of the stuffing box, and the rotating shaft sleeve. A dynamic seal is formed between the packing rings and the sleeve surface, with some fluid flow between the two being necessary for lubrication and cooling. For clean water pumps, this fluid may be supplied from the inner end of the stuffing box, or from the discharge pipe via small diameter piping. In the case of slurries, grit in the fluid would add to friction and wear, so the lubricating and cooling fluid is usually injected from a separate clean water supply. The injection pressure should be 10 to 25psi greater than that at the inside end of the stuffing box, and this figure should be available from the pump designer. A rule of thumb is to set the gland feed water pressure to between 35 and 70kPa above pump discharge pressure. Pressure regulation is often helpful. In theory, some slurry pumps should operate with a pressure at the inside of the stuffing box which is below atmospheric pressure, so that the packing is required only to prevent air ingress into the pump. However, when the pump is turned off, or in abnormal operating conditions, slurry can pass back into the seal and contaminate the packing with grit, so these situations still call for water injection. Grease or oil may be used instead of water in some applications. Packing material must be able to withstand the operating environment and remain resilient to perform satisfactorily despite minor shaft misalignment, run-out, wear and thermal expansion / contraction. Packing is available in a huge range of materials (lubricant, binder and fibre / matrix) and in many sizes, shapes, and constructions, to suit different applications – particularly size, shaft speed, temperature, pressure, and chemical resistance. The number of packing rings varies between applications, the most common arrangement being throat bush or ring, three inner packing rings, lantern ring, two more packing rings, and gland follower. The lantern ring may be placed further in, to reduce slurry ingress. Packing size is usually proportional to shaft / sleeve outer diameter, as follows: Shaft / Sleeve OD (mm) 15 to 30 30 to 50 50 to 75 75 to 120 120 to 305 Packing Size (mm) 6 8 10 12.5 16 Shaft sleeve finish needs to be at least 0.4micron CLA to avoid excessive rotational friction, and the finish in the stuffing box bore needs to be at least 1.65 micron CLA to allow even compression during adjustment. The sleeve must be harder than the packing, and chemically resistant to the fluid pumped and the injection fluid. Any coating on the sleeve must have a good thermal shock resistance. The lantern ring allows for entry and distribution of the lubricant or flushing fluid. Lantern rings are usually split to allow installation and removal without pump disassembly. They were traditionally made from metal such as stainless steel, but lubricant-impregnated plastics are now common. Gland followers are also usually split to allow easy replacement. They are usually bronze but may be steel or cast iron. Special purpose gland followers are used with volatile or hazardous materials, including capacity for diluting and safely flushing away leakage. The axial compression on the packing must be occasionally adjusted to control leakage. The correct leakage rate is one drip per second. Over-tightening should be avoided as it will result in over-heating and shaft wear. Most packing is supplied with impregnated lubricant, and over-tightening will press the lubricant out. Pumps need extra sealing provisions if pressure at the inner end of the stuffing box is greater than 75psi. The use of harder packing material on the inner rings may help. The procedure for replacing packing is: 1. Read the instructions provided by the pump manufacturer and packing supplier. 2. Loosen and remove gland follower. Inspect gland follower for wear, corrosion, warping etc. 3. Remove old packing rings using a packing puller, and the lantern ring. 4. Inspect shaft sleeve surface for deterioration, and clean up where possible. Replace if necessary. 5. Inspect bore of stuffing box for corrosion, wear, scaling etc, and clean up where possible. 6. Verify correct packing size to be used. 7. Tightly wrap the correct number of packing coils around a mandrel of equal diameter to the shaft sleeve. 8. Cut each ring at an oblique angle. 9. Install each ring, staggering the joins 90 degrees on subsequent rings. Suction / Intake Design Centrifugal pumps operate most efficiently when the liquid to be pumped flows into the inlet nozzle in a smooth, uniform manner with minimal turbulence. Suction systems need to be designed to ensure that this happens. The most common problems are: ï‚ · Uneven / turbulent flow ï‚ · Vapour collection ï‚ · Vortex formation Suction piping should be as short and straight as possible to minimise friction, and if unavoidably long, should be of large diameter. The suction line will normally be at least one pipe size larger than the pump inlet flange, requiring fitment of a reducer. A reducer should not change the pipe bore by more than 100mm. Fluid flow should be as uniform as possible right up to the pump inlet flange. There should not be any fittings likely to cause turbulence, sudden changes in flow direction or spin within ten pipe diameters of the pump inlet flange. There should be no short radius elbows at all, and no long radius elbows within three pipe diameters. All suction line connections need thorough sealing to prevent air being drawn in. For suction manifolds serving multiple pumps, all the above points apply, and branches should be angled at 30 or 45 degrees, rather than ninety degrees, and sized so that fluid flow is constant throughout. Flow should not exceed 0.9m/s. Improper suction conditions or designs can result in the fluid swirling as it approaches the pump through the suction pipe. This is called â€Å"pre-rotation†. It causes a drop in pumping efficiency because the pump is designed to process fluid that is entering without rotation, and can cause additional suction pipe wear. Sometimes a radial fin is fitted to the suction pipe or casing to reduce pre-rotation. The suction pipe design should cater for elimination of air from the suction line, and prevention of vapour pockets, in the simplest manner, meaning that: ï‚ · For pumps with the feed being drawn from a level below (eg a dam pump), o Suction pipe should have a slightly upward slope toward the pump o The eccentric reducer should have the flat side on top ï‚ · For pumps with the feed being drawn from a level above (eg a thickener underflow pump), o Suction pipe should have a slightly downward slope toward the pump Vortexing in feed tanks needs to be avoided to prevent air being drawn down into the pump. Baffles may need to be fitted to tank walls. The tank fluid level needs to be kept well above the suction inlet. Bearings Bearings provide axial and lateral restraint to the pump shaft and attached components, while allowing free rotation. Axial loading on pump shafts may be significant as discussed separately, and the bearing arrangement always includes some thrust capability. The bearings most commonly used are deep-groove single row ball bearings, and single or double row angular contact ball bearings. Pumps may be in overhung configuration, where the shaft is supported by bearings on one side only, or have a shaft that passes right throught the casing with bearings on both sides. Most slurry pumps are of the overhung design. The bearings are usually rolling-element, but plain journal bearings are sometimes used on larger pump sizes. The bearings must be lubricated by grease injection or oil bath and may need provisions for cooling as well. This may be by having a cooling water jacket integral with the bearing housing, or by pumping the lubricating oil through a heat exchanger and filter. Oil lubrication is usually recommended rather than grease, if speed exceeds 5000rpm (which is very rare in a slurry pump). Grease-packed bearings should have one third of the chamber filled with grease. Oil baths should be filled to the centre point of the lowest rolling element. Inadequate loading of bearings can result in the rolling elements skating over the race instead of rolling, and this can cause heating and failure. To avoid this, bearing assemblies are usually designed with an assembly configuration, including preload, that ensures all bearings carry some load. Frame and Foundations For large pumps that are directly connected (ie no vee-belt drive), the motor and pump are usually mounted on the same bed-plate, which is fixed to the foundations in a way sufficient for eliminating looseness and distortion. This eliminates some misalignment issues at the source. Foundations including bed-plates should be checked occasionally for deterioration (corrosion, ground subsidence, concrete cracking, loose fasteners, missing grout etc), and the alignment between pump and motor should also be checked if there is any cause for concern. The framework should have provisions for drainage of any spillage and seal leakage etc, so that this does not become trapped and contribute to corrosion etc. Where pumps operate at high temperature (ie above around 100C) the pump casing should be supported at its axial centre-line, to help reduce thermal stresses. It is generally preferred that all suction and discharge piping have its own supports, so that the pump casing and foundations do not carry any significant static or dynamic piping loads, and so that pump components can be independently removed and replaced. Where this is not the case, extra pump and foundation attention may be needed at the design stage. Drive Arrangement Many drive arrangements are possible to suit the circumstances. Electric motor drive is the most popular, followed by internal combustion engines. Variable speed drives are sometimes necessary and often convenient, but always more expensive and less reliable. In minerals handling plants, slurry pumps are most often electric motor driven, with belt drives. Belt drives allow speeds to be changed through minor modifications – ie pulley changes. Short, low head slurry system designs usually provide motors that are 10 to 20% oversized, to cater for any under-estimates in slurry or system characteristics such as viscosity and friction, and to allow for minor system modifications during the service life. Instrumentation Pumps may be controlled to allow: ï‚ · Variation of flow rate, pressure, liquid level ï‚ · Protection against damaging operating conditions ï‚ · Flexibility in matching pumping performance to duty For centrifugal pumps, control is usually accomplished by speed setting (including turning off/on), or valve setting. This may be manual or automatic. For slurries, control by throttling valve is rare due to the wear rates that usually result. Typical instrumentation includes: ï‚ · Tank / sump level switches ï‚ · Pressure sensors ï‚ · Flow sensors ï‚ · Density sensors In each case, protection from damage by the slurry is critical. This is commonly achieved by using sensors that do not need to contact the slurry eg nucleonic density sensors mounted outside the pipe, with source on one side and detector on the other. Ideally, it is good to have instrumentation available, either permanently mounted or portable, to: Verify operation at BEP, by measuring the difference between suction and discharge pressure Determine flow Ensure that NPSH is sufficient to prevent cavitation Compare flow to motor amperage, to identify when impeller adjustment is needed Need to search more on valves for slurry applications. Notes on Material Selection Where there is some chance of parts coming into contact during pump operation, thought should be given towards minimising the damage that may result. An example of this is at the wear-ring / impeller interface. Studies have shown that damage can be minimised by manufacturing adjacent components from materials that:   Are dissimilar, except where known to be resistant to adhesive wear and galling   Have a difference in hardness of at least 10Rc, if either has hardness less than 45Rc Because it may be difficult to always prevent cavitation from occurring, impellers are usually made of cavitationresistant materials such as chrome-manganese austenitic stainless steel, carburised 12% chrome stainless steel, cast nickel-aluminium bronze, etc. Obviously corrosion resistance is another key selection factor that these materials satisfy. Slurry pumps are subject to heavy wear in the form of abrasion and erosion. The aggressiveness of the slurry is determined by the hardness of the particle s in the slurry, their shape (rounded or sharp), the pulp density, and the size distribution. Slurries can become less aggressive as they travel through a minerals processing plant as the sharp edges become rounded off. Velocity and angle of impingment are also very important factors affecting the resultant wear rates, with wear rate being proportional to velocity squared according to some references. The impingement angle associated with maximum wear rate seems to be dependent on the hardness and brittleness of the material being struck. For very hard / brittle materials it is between 65 and 90 degrees, while for more ductile materials it may be around 25 degrees. Pumps handling slurries with greater than 6mm particle size are usually lined with rubber. However, if impeller tip speed exceeds 28m/s, rubber becomes subject to thermal degradation, and this usually restricts the use of rubber to a maximum head of 30m per stage. Metal lined pumps may be used up to 55m head per stage. For wet end components, materials that may be used to resist wear include Ni-resist, carburised and hardened 12% chromium steel, etc. White iron slurry pump components, which includes Ni-Hard, are restricted to impeller tip speeds of about 36m/s to avoid maximum disc stresses. Steel components are softer but can run at higher speeds, up to a tip speed of 45m/s. Centrifugal pumps are subject to cyclic loads due to such things as imbalance, unbalanced radial forces, fluctuating axial thrust, the vibration induced as each vane passes the cut-point, and variations in upstream and downstream fluid pressure and flow. This sets the scene for fatigue loading, which becomes more of an issue if the slurry is corrosive. Fretting may occur between assembled components where looseness is allowed to develop. This is best avoided through the use of correct manufacturing dimensions and surface finishes, good fitting practice etc. The materials commonly used for pump components include:   Impellers (require castability, weldability, and resistance to corrosion, abrasion, and cavitation) o Bronze, for non-corrosive liquids below 120C o Nickel-aluminium bronze, for higher speed and mildly corrosive applications o Cast iron, for small low-cost applications o Martensitic stainless steel, where added resistance to cavitation, wear, corrosion (other than salt water) or high temperatures may be required o Austenitic stainless steel (mostly cast 316 grade), where a higher level of corrosion resistance is needed. Austenitic stainless steel with 6% molybdenum is often used for salt water pumping.   Casings (require strength, castability and machinability, weldability, and resistance to corrosion and wear) o Cast iron o Cast steel, where extra strength is required ie for pressures above 6000kPa (1000psi) and temperatures above 175C. o Austenitic cast irons with 15 to 20% nickel (Ni-Resist) may be used where abrasion and corrosion are issues. o Bronze, for water applications o Stainless steel, where corrosion is a major issue – martensitic for higher pressures in mildly corrosive fluids, austenitic for more aggressively corrosive fluids. ï‚ · Shafts (require resistance to fatigue and corrosion) o Mild steel, where corrosion and fatigue are minor issues Low alloy steel such as 4140 for added strength Martensitic stainless steel, where added strength and corrosion resistance are needed Shafts are usually chrome-plated, and care is needed to avoid this adding to the fatigue susceptibility through micro–cracking and hydrogen embrittlement. Shafts can be shot-peened prior to plating, and heat-treated afterward to reduce these effects. Wear rings (require castability and machinability, and resistance to corrosion, abrasion and galling) o Bronze for clean liquids and temperatures up to 120C o Stainless steel for applications with abrasion, corrosion and high temperatures – but steps must be taken to avoid galling should the rings come into contact eg increased clearances, hardness differences etc. o o o Impellers other than those made from martensitic stainless steel can usually be repaired by welding, although in some cases this needs to be followed by specific heat treatment processes. In all cases, more exotic (and expensive) materials may be used for specific applications. Material selection is often a balancing act between optimising purchase cost and maintenance / operations performance. Where high temperatures are involved, material selection must take into account differences in expansion rates. Unlined slurry pump impellers and casings are often made from abrasion-resistant cast irons as per ASTM A532, which includes Ni-Hard. These materials consist of a martensitic matrix with secondary hard phases of chrome and iron carbides that increase wear resistance. They cannot be machined or welded, and tend to be prone to corrosion, and breakage through mechanical impact and thermal shock. Brittleness may be reduced by annealing, but this reduces wear resistance. Slurry pump impellers and casings may be lined with softer materials like rubber, where high temperatures can be avoided. These can reduce wear rates by absorbing the impact energy of the particles, while resisting corrosion. Problems may arise in bonding of the rubber at the cut water point, and on the impeller. The lining reduces the thickness of the metal section of the component, so stronger materials are usually used eg steel rather than cast iron. Manufacturers develop their own specifications for ideal liner thicknesses based on experience, but one reference suggests a volute liner thickness of 4% to 6% of impeller diameter. Natural rubbers seem well suited for wear liners for use with slurries with less than 6mm particle size for the impeller, and 15mm particle size for the volute. Provided the base materials are suitable, patches of high wear on wet end parts can sometimes be repaired by welding / hard-facing. However, this increases the likelihood of cracking. Also if the welding results in uneven surfaces in critical points, the added turbulence can accelerate further wear. Many types and styles of surface coating have been tried, with some success. These include thermal spray coatings, diffusion surface treatments, spraying and trowelling of epoxies, etc.

Memento analysis Essay Example for Free

Memento analysis Essay The movie that is going to be discussed is â€Å"Memento†. The theme of the movie is based on cognitive psychology that includes the realm of human perception, thought process and memory. Various cognitive responses such as memory, planning, as well as intelligence and problem solving are highlighted during the course of the movie. The central character in the movie, Leonard Shelby, damages his hippocampus, which subsequently affects his ability to make new memories. The hippocampus is a part of the brain that is important and responsible for creating and recalling memories, as a result of which Leonard has lost the ability to generate short-term memory. Leonard, in the movie is an insurance agent who through the course of the movie attempts to track his wife’s killer and the man responsible for his current state. Leonard’s condition post accident and the death of his wife, can draw parallels with anterograde amnesia, because he doesn’t seem to remember new things, however he retains memories leading up to the accident. The movie Memento continues Hollywood’s fascination with the psyche of the human mind and the genesis of movies based on amnesia is a recurring theme. While the movie does reasonably well in bringing to light the plight of people suffering from anterograde amnesia and similar neurological disorders following brain trauma, it does offer enough loopholes to guarantee criticism from experts. Leonard believes that he does not have amnesia. This is a slight aberration from the true picture of a patient with anterograde amnesia because they do not seem to lose track of who they are and the condition they are suffering from. It can be argued that some patients with a more seething disease do offer a mixed profile, into which Leonard’s character can fit. Also, another aspect of cognition is the evidence, that Leonard is still capable of using his procedural memory that includes doing routine things and following certain procedures like driving a car. His declarative memory on the other hand is functional up to the point of his accident. Declarative/explicit memory is essentially conscious memory, while procedural memory is more of a subconscious or unconscious action that can be done. Additionally, with the hippocampus part of his brain being destroyed, Leonard is incapable of moving things from his short term memory to his long term memory, and thus forgets things if not written down or taken note of. Short-term memory lasts or stores items for less than 20 seconds, unless rehearsed. Thus, in order for him to remember things, and have enough time to write them down, he rehearses them, which allows him to remember them for a longer period of time, and if interrupted that memory is lost. This was portrayed very well in the movie when he hits Natalie. Natalie throws all of the writing utensils out and then hassles Leonard about his wife and his condition trying to get a reaction so she could in essence set Leonard up, and this she did accomplish. After hitting Natalie, she leaves the house and Leonard rehearses what has just happened while looking for a writing utensil, however there are none to be found. Further, Natalie did not go anywhere when she left the house, she stays in the car and hence, when she slammed the door, purposely, Leonard stopped the rehearsal, and essentially forgot what he was doing, when she comes back into the house, Leonard has no recollection of hitting her. Thus, although his hand is sore, Leonard does not remember anything that had just occurred, this is due to a stop in rehearsal, and with nothing written for him, he cannot remember what has occurred recently. Leonard is always prepared with something to write on, he always has his camera and his pictures that allow him to remember things; in essence he keeps generating a working memory through out the course of the movie to catch the killer. Thus, planning is somewhat prevalent in this movie however, although planning requires knowledge about the problem space, or understanding of the constraints of the problem space to mentally construct it well, this is not always available to him. Thus, he is unable to use partial planning, because he did not always think of the outcome that might occur, such as when he killed Natalies boyfriend, and realized he was not the one responsible after he had done it, instead of thinking ahead, before he had done it. However, with his pictures he was able to get back to particular destinations, and with direction, even if simple, but written down, he was able to use them and plan ahead. Further, in relation to the murder of Natalies boyfriend, counterfactuals were also used, and Leonard is trying to imagine past events differently than they actually did and thus, he burnt the picture that he took of the event because that was the only recollection that he had of the situation. Furthermore, drives, emotions, and problem solving are all clearly used in this movie as well. Drives, are generally associated with bodily needs whereas emotions are generally associated with more complex personal and social needs, in this case finding the individual who caused Leonard so much pain by raping and murdering his wife, and damaging his memory is very important. In addition, heuristics were also commonly utilized and, heuristics undoubtedly allow individuals to avoid searching paths that are unlikely to lead to a solution, and this is exactly what Leonard is doing with all the facts he was collecting to narrow down the suspect to find out who raped and murdered his wife. Basically, by slowly collecting and putting together different facts about the rapist and murder of his wife, Leonard was emotionally driven to find the individual responsible for essentially ruining his life. His emotions and feelings of anger, sadness, and love were all affected by his motivation and drives from the pain that was within him due to his present circumstance. In the movie, many of the cognitive aspects were relevantly presented and shown in a realistic manner however, at times in the movie, things that were not rehearsed or written were remembered, which at times did not allow for it to be fully realistic. This was evident when Dodd was involved, and in the closet and Leonard woke up, and saw that there was a gun in the drawer of the hotel room and it was not his room or his gun, and so when Teddy got there he showed him the gun in the drawer, which probably would not have been remembered realistically. Thus, to improve, and make this aspect of his condition more realistic, not only at this point in the movie, but throughout the movie would have been for Leonard to actually rehearse things out loud, until he had written things down to clearly show that rehearsal is necessary for things not to be forgotten. 1: Cipolotti L, Bird CM. Amnesia and the hippocampus. Curr Opin Neurol. 2006 Dec;19(6):593-8. Review. 2: Mayes AR, Isaac CL, Holdstock JS, Cariga P, Gummer A, Roberts N. Long-term amnesia: a review and detailed illustrative case study. Cortex.2003 Sep-Dec;39(4-5):567-603. Review. 3: Kopelman MD. Disorders of memory. Brain. 2002 Oct;125(Pt 10):2152-90. Review. 4: Aggleton JP, Brown MW. Episodic memory, amnesia, and the hippocampal-anterior thalamic axis. Behav Brain Sci. 1999 Jun;22(3):425-44; discussion 444-89. Review. 5: Mishkin M, Vargha-Khadem F, Gadian DG. Amnesia and the organization of the hippocampal system. Hippocampus. 1998;8(3):212-6. Review. 6: Tulving E, Markowitsch HJ. Episodic and declarative memory: role of the hippocampus. Hippocampus. 1998;8(3):198-204. Review.

Royal Mails Human Resource Strategy

Royal Mails Human Resource Strategy 1.The Royal Mail do have three levels of strategies:- Corporate level -which deals with the overall organization. Ex: Geographical regions, Market selection. Business level strategy is mentioned for each type of business carried out by the Royal mail. Functional level- The Finance, Human Resource Management, Production, Marketing, Research and Development comes under this section. The Corporate strategy of Royal mail is designed in such a way that it shows their ability to cope with the market changes in a positive and negative manner. It is the hardships of the employees and their standard customer services makes the Royal mail to get a competitive advantage over its competitors like TNT, DHL etc. Royal Mail which was once said to be the Monopolist in the field of Postal services lost the title of Monopoly in the beginning of 2006. It had 99% of the market share in its hands. Royal mail do have a view to make their corporate Strategic responsibility to become a part of their strategic management process. They are:- 2. Corporate Strategic responsibility includes:- The support of the workers from the workplace which forms the backbone of the Royal mail. The management also deals with the workers in a more friendly manner without any kind of discrimination. Being workers said to be the assets of the firm, Royal Mail takes good care of their workers and regarding the working conditions too. To make its actions designed to have a strong positive effect on its workers, customers and to its suppliers. Achieve a net zero carbon footprint by 2015 and to support their clients to do their activities to have a positive advantage towards the environment and to attain a competitive advantage. With their Corporate responsibility in mind Royal Mail wishes to be different from its competitors Royal mail had created their corporate strategy by taking into consideration of their Organizational objectives and their achievement. It is in the Functional level the Human Resource Strategies arrives. The definition of the Human Resource strategy and the Human Resource Strategies of the Royal Mail from 2005-2010 are mentioned below. 3.Human Resource strategy (Definition):- Before moving to Human Resource Strategy we should know what is meant by the term strategy?.Strategy usually means selecting the best decision from a stream of decisions. According to Lundy and cowling (1998,p16), strategy is: The art of war, generalship, especially the art of directing military movements so as to secure the most advantageous positions and combination of forces. The Human Resource Management team in the Royal Mail directs the workers by motivating them and providing them proper training in order to achieve the Organizational goals and to get a competitive advantage over its rivals. The term Human Resource Strategy is well defined as Human Resource management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasises that leverage peoples capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices. [Bratton and Gold,4e,p3] 4.The Human Resource Strategies from 2005 2010:- Human Resource Management forms the most important function in an Organization as the workers are considered to be the valuable assets of the firm. The right kind of people in right position at the right time is the objective of the HR Manager. It is said that normally in a day HR Manager usually spends 20% of their working hours in dealing with the grievances of the employees without affecting the Organizations routine activities. HR Executives should have an ability to deal with their staffs in a fair and friendly manner rather than imposing more control on them. The Royal Mail take the efforts made by their workers into good consideration and rely on the fact about their career development rather than simply a job. The Royal Mails Human Resource strategies in the period from 2005 to 2010 is mentioned below which includes several threats they faced and the steps undertaken to face those threats. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2005:- One of the most important actions of the Royal Mail can be seen in the beginning of 2005 which employed candidates from the socially excluded groups. The candidates who were recruited performed very well in the selection process as well as in the Organization too. New recruits by this process were placed in position as post man, delivery van drivers, letter sorting who were ex-service men or those who are homeless. This Pilot program helped the Royal Mail in lowering the cost and labour turnovers and proved as the firm with best employee satisfaction. The employees thus had a long term commitment and had a self motivated approach to work hard for the firm to achieve its goals. The employer expectation of high commitment and the employee expectation of taking care of their social needs made the workers of the Royal Mail to be loyal to the firm and improved the ratio of trust towards the firm. The voluntary organizations like the Royal Association of Disabled and Rehabilitation, Busine ss action on Homelessness etc helped the Royal Mail to get candidates of socially excluded groups. The Human Resource team played a very important function in sorting out the list of disabled candidates and selecting the best candidates through a standard selection process. The Human Resource Manager who have the Management as an art aspect means having inborn talents will have those skills to recruit those people who can contribute to the maximum of their extend towards their Organization. The Royal mail team supervised by Mr. Adam Crozier made record annual profits in 2005 which helped to give 1074 pounds of bonuses to its workers. These were achieved by the employee performance,better customer service by properly trained staff and their performance related pay strategy of the Human Resource team. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2006:- The Human Resource team in the Royal Mail were able to provide instant solutions to the grievances of the employees. The starting of the year 2006 was not as good for the Royal Mail as it faced a postal strike in Belfast. Nearly 200 postal workers stopped their work for 2 weeks which made a very negative impact on the Royal Mails services to the customers. The customers were said to contact the office directly for any important matters and most of the letters and documents were blocked in some places remained undelivered. The Communication Workers Union says that the strike was due to the bad and unfair practices of the managers towards the workers in Belfast and the core issue is not accepted by the Royal Mail. Important delivery including specialized services were stopped temporarily and the management took immediate action to solve the problem. The Workers in strike were assured that they will not be treated badly when they return to their work and necessary actions will be taken against those who were found guilty. The Human Resource team in the Royal Mail took the issue seriously and they guaranteed that the workers will be treated fairly and without any discrimination. The psychological contract which says high motivation and high commitment should be taken into consideration which made the Human Resource Manger to deal with the situation in a friendly and wise manner. It was this year the Royal Mail lost its position as a Monopoly in the postal Industry and started facing wide spread competition. The management agreed that their will be no reduction in the work force, high job security will be provided with raise in pay scales to the staffs. The Christmas season of 2006 also made the customers of the Royal Mail to suffer due to the strike of 800 workers which caused huge volume of undelivered documents in the office. The managements decision to change some full time post to part time when an job opening arise was objected by the trade union by saying tha t it is against the National agreement. The matter was raised very seriously and the Royal Mail responded to it by saying that the decision will be with the consent of the worker agreement. The strike was stopped by reaching to the point that the new job openings in the Royal Mail will be carried out by the management with the combined hands of the trade union to make decision regarding whether to treat the vacancy full time or part time and the management assured that no staff will be forced to change his full time job status to part time. The closing of the sorting office in Paddington, London in the same year was explained by the Royal Mail as a step taken in order to improve their customer satisfaction and productivity against the wide spread rumours about some illegal actions of the postal workers. The 950 workers who worked their were temporarily kept away from their duties and some of them were given transfer offers. The workers commitment in a firm not only depend on their s alary but also on other factors like work atmosphere, employee- employer relationship, colleague character etc. The sacking of 5 workers who treated their women colleague very badly in one of the Royal Mail branch shows the immediate response taken by the Human Resource team in those matters which affects an employee to perform well in an Organization and to reduce those activities which affects the reputation of the firm. The Human Resource team has made recently certain improvements in the health and safety measures for the workers due to the huge fine the firm had to pay regarding the death of an employee, which was made as a health and safety issue by the court. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2007:- The Privatization of the Royal Mail was the main problem discussed by the Human Resource team in the Royal Mail and the workers point of trust towards the firm tends to decrease day by day affecting their performance in the work. The Communication Workers Union was opposing the issue but some managers say the Privatization will help the future of the Royal Mail. A deal was agreed between the management and the labour union in 2007 followed by stopping the workers strike. The new policies changed the working time and new technologies were introduced which was implemented in each and every branch of the Royal Mail improved the productivity and performance of the workers. The new modern way of thinking and acting was successful in the Royal Mail. Also Mr. Mark Higson the managing director of the Royal Mail added that the future of the Royal Mail Pension scheme will not form any part of the agreement. The Human Resource Strategy of making the employees feel they are a part of the firm made the management to come to a point of distributing around 20% of its shares to the employees was opposed by the Government and the plan was turned down. The Human Resource team and the other managing partners have plan to explore the unused markets and to identify new opportunities to make the Royal Mail to offer quick and friendly based customer services. The Human Resource Department also do have plans to provide Occupational pension schemes for their employees in future. The Human Resource Manager also responded to the worst situation of poor quality service by the Royal Mail in Scotland and he promised to provide better customer service the coming year. The contract lose with the online service provider Amazon hits very badly towards the Royal Mail and its bad position to face more rigorous competition. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2008:- In order to face the competition and the consideration of the future of the Royal Mail, the Human Resource Department made plans to reduce the number of workers and providing better benefits for those who remains. The Workers and the union feared about the reduction of the full time jobs and including more part time workers. The Privatization of the Royal Mail which the British public doesnt like was also considered as the main issue by the trade unions and the management. The Privatization will cause more job losses says the union members but the Royal Mail needs finance to support its future plans says the Management. The Management also planned to change the offices from old buildings to new ones in which the trade unions responded and they said that the change of offices will cause problems in sorting of letters, loosing some customers and they feared about loosing jobs too. Also plans were prepared by the Human Resource team to raise the salary scale of the executive Directors o f the Royal Mail who are the main key players in obtaining maximum profit. The Devanna model which shows performance appraisal, Human resource development and reward systems should be given due consideration. Many office branches of the Royal Mail were shut down and the remaining workers should be motivated by their performance and the management should create trust from the side of the workers which in turn gives high commitment. The Soft HRM feature of high commitment and high motivation as well as the Hard HRM feature of managing the workforce in a more rational way should be undertaken by the Royal Mail. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2009:- To Prevent the customers complaint about the closing of the post offices the Human Resources team implemented a plan to provide mobile post office services to the customers by Van. The Royal Mails plan to make 30% privatization was opposed by the public and the Government continuously, if privatized it will cause raise in prices, job losses and the customers as well as the workers trust in the Royal Mail will reduce. The Human Resources team introduced new uniforms to the workers which is suitable for the climate and having big pockets to place the hand held computers which the customers prefers to sign and trace items was considered as a part of the improvement in the delivery system of the Royal Mail. The year also faced a strike on the pay cuts, salary freeze of the workers. The Communication Workers Union said that even cutting the wages or freezing the salary will not help the Royal Mail instead it should implement new ideas in technology and new advanced machinery to support th e workers. All over the strike is making the customers to move away from receiving the services from the Royal Mail. In the matter of improving their services, the Royal Mail and the Microsoft had joined hands to hands by introducing the new e-mailing service without having computers. The HR strategy of how to compete with their rivals has made the above decision to implement in the Royal Mail. Human Resource strategies of the Royal Mail in 2010:- The Privatization of the Royal Mail is the main consideration of the Royal Mail as the firm is running out of Finance, huge pension deficits and inefficiency in operations. The private fund is needed for the smooth function of the Organization, says the Managing director of the Royal Mail. The Human Resource Manager is taking keen steps in promoting the existing workers with good training but most of the workers had lost the trust with the Royal Mail. The privatization will cause more job losses, price for the products will be raised and the top level managers will get more benefits; a trade union leader says in a meeting. The workers says that if the new management can help them in providing benefits and good promotional appraisal packages to them, it is better to get privatized. The natural constraints like volcano ashes also affected he Royal Mails service in some part of the United Kingdom. The Psychological contract between the employee and the employer is broken. The employees social and other needs are not fully met and the huge sacking of employees made them to loose commitment towards the firm which leads to inefficiency, reduced services, low productivity and down turn of profits. The Royal Mail is still considered as the provider of the best service among the European nations with lowest service charges. The Human Resource team have plans to increase the state pension age for men. The Royal Mail is trying in many ways to improve its services by providing different varieties of stamps, weekend services, superior customer service but the competition and its bad financial position is weakening its movements to go forward. Even though it is known that the entry of new firms into the Postal Industry is very difficult due to entry restrictions, the Royal Mail is facing very tough competition. The firms like TNT, DHL and many of the online services are serious treats to the Royal Mail. The day when the Royal Mail lost its Monopoly in 2006 marked the beginning of competition as a headache to the Royal Mail. Another problem which the Royal Mail faces is the reduction in the volume of the letters but the postal workers tells that the number is increasing day by day. The Royal Mail like all other firms had undergone a SWOT ANALYSIS to understand its positives and Negatives internally and Externally. TheSWOT analysis is done to identify their threats and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses. 5.SWOT ANALYSIS:- The Swot Analysis is usually conducted by the management which gives the Royal Mail a good indication of its Strength and Weakness internally and its Opportunities and Treats in the outside market. The highly skilled hard working staffs having high commitment motivated by the efficient management and the firms large and other financial resources forms the Strength of the Royal Mail. Some complaints have been raised regarding the letters not reaching the destination and stealing of the letters/parcels by its staffs affects the Royal Mails prestige and the strikes which are made by the trade unions in Royal Mail forms its major weaknesses which hardly hits its reputation and directly states that employees are not satisfied with the management actions. The Royal Mail do have new opportunities to identify more customers and Business clients and providing support to them which will have a competitive advantage over its rivals. The Competitors like TNT, DHL, UKMAIL and the possibility of more rivals to enter the Industry forms the main threats for the Royal Mail. The wide usage of internet, online banking, online delivery and e-mailing has reduced its number of customers to a large extend has made huge reduction in the volume of mails in the Royal Mail is also considered as big threats. The Royal Mail still stands as the Standard postal service in the United Kingdom with its valuable staffs and its improved services like First class service, weekend service etc. Royal Mail also provides online supports and International postal services. The Administration of the Royal Mail includes series of committees like The Audit and Risk committee, The Management board, Pensions committee, Remuneration committee, Nomination committee and Social and Responsibility Committee. The new Human Resource Strategy and policies are being Introduced by the Royal Mail in order to face these threats and for the motivation of the workers. 6. The new Human Resource strategy to support the Royal Mail in the present bad condition:- Steps have been taken in the all the levels of the Organization to support the firm from the credit crunch and competition. To the workers:- Workers are provided with improved new range of training and guaranteed performance related pays. The employees who are considered as a valuable assets in the Royal Mail were provided with revised employee policies and procedures and long term job security and motivation. In order to improve its reputation and to obtain a good employee- employer relationship some additional steps were also taken. They are:- The new plan for temporary redundancy and early retirement are going to be enforced as soon as possible. Existing contracts will be renewed and new standardized contracts will be provided to the employees. The introduction of new machinery and techniques helps the workers to achieve world class standard in performance. The new revised Pension scheme plans are going to implement for those employees in the Royal Mail pension scheme. The working hours, the minimum wages are also revised. The safety of the staffs are taken in great consideration. Improved working conditions, first aid facilities, stress relief exercises, changing their job tasks over a period of time, self appraisal process, promotional and increments are also introduced to the new plan. To the firm:- The modernization of the firm with improved customer service support is the main objective of the firm. The co-operation of the Management with the workers and the trade union added with signing an agreement in new policies and procedures of the firm supported by the trade union is going to happen. The improved efficiency and productivity with unmatched competition by providing lower price and better quality services to its clients. To the Trade Union:- The firm will give suitable position for the trade union in its management activities. Support from the trade union in motivating the workers to cope with the Organizational rules and regulations and to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. To develop new communication levels between the trade union and the management. 7.The Royal Mails respond to the Competition and to the recent Credit Crunch:- The Royal mail which was once called as a Monopoly firm now faces serious competition and holds a bad reputation due to its continuous strikes , shutting down of the offices and complaints regarding its employees. Even though any firm can compete with its rivals in two ways, one way by reducing its prices and the other is by improving its quality of service/product. The Royal Mail provides high quality service to its customers and also the lower service/product price compared with its competitors helps the Royal Mail to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. The Human Resource team is making its level best efforts to prevent such issues but the employees relationship with the management is unclear. One of the main issues is the privatization of the Royal Mail which make the staffs to loose trust towards the firm making them de-motivated. The corporate strategy is well defined and the Human resource planning and its strategical process is some what following the corporate strateg y. Making a friendly relation with the CWU and a strong psychological contract between the workers and the Management is very much needed for the smooth functioning of the Royal Mail. The recent credit crunch has made the Royal Mail to close most of its offices and to sack many of its employees. The economic downturn in the UK is being faced by the Royal Mail in some extend due to its highly skilled, flexible core employees. The peripheral workers who were highly skilled were also taken into good consideration by the Royal Mail. The customers still rely on the Royal Mail due to its better quality services and lowest prices compared to its competitors the TNT, DHL, UKMail etc. The name of the above model is The Five Forces Framework which is developed by [Porter 1980] shows the fact from where does the competition come from?. We can combine this model with the Royal Mails competitive nature. It has elements like 1.Potential entrants mentioned as new competitors of the Royal Mail. 2.Rivalry from existing firms like TNT, DHL etc which are faced by the Royal Mail with its high quality products/services and of its highly skilled workforce who are trained and developed by their talented Human Resource team. The substitutes can be shown as the e-mail, online transfers and online mail ordering groups. Threat from the customers in the form of bargaining power, their change of demand, their potential for forward integration (which is implemented by the firm with the availability of suitable Human Resources). Threat from the Suppliers includes their bargaining power, switching costs, market dominance of the suppliers, the potential for backward integration (which is implemented by the firm with the availability of suitable Human Resources). The suppliers include the printing and stationery, technology, clothes, transport and travel agents. The Royal Mail uses the Generic Strategies frame work of Mr. Porter(1985) to define how they faced these competitions. The basic idea which is derived from the framework is:- Any firm can compete with other by lowering their prices Competing in the matter of quality makes each firm different Focusing on the main market and its customers can gain competitive advantage over its rivals. The Human Resource strategy of identifying the competitive areas and setting plans for how to compete helped the Royal Mail to face all types of competition and to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. The Human Resource Management team of the Royal Mail have a good background from the Top Ranked Business Schools added with their inborn talents and experience helps the Royal Mail to compete with their rivals in a more technical way which is difficult for the competitors to identify and which makes the Royal Mail to have a strong base in the UK postal industry. The top quality products/services with the top quality employees makes the Royal Mail to move forward with confidence. The Human Resource strategy of implementing new techniques and training services with the performance related pay aspect for the workers can be seen in the Royal Mail. Last year the Royal Mail received three bronze awards from the World Class Manufacturing Association for its performance, health and saf ety care of its workers. The Royal Mail consider each and every worker in the matter of safety and performance and they say that if they can make one worker to perform well, it will make another to perform well and it goes on and the whole workers will perform well gives high productivity and profits to the firm. 8.Conclusion:- The essay can be concluded by stating that the Royal Mail have to face the credit crunch and the present difficulties in order to hold a strong position in the UK postal Industry. The Royal Mail do have a strong corporate responsibility strategy and Human Resource strategy which is properly planned and helpful to the employees as well as the to the firm for further development. The Human Resource Strategy from 2005 2010 shows the problems faced by the Royal Mail and the Strategies used by them to solve these problems. The privatization and the pension deficits are the main problems faced currently by the Royal Mail in which the management have certain plans to overcome the situation. The new entrants and the present rivals are competing very roughly with the Royal Mail and they are faced by the Royal Mail by its good quality services and its lowest service/product prices.