Business environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business environment - Essay Example International trade is a significant representative of Gross Domestic Product in many countries. International trade has social, economic and political benefits and these have been realized in most industrialized countries in the recent times. Other factors that have contributed enormously to the development of the international trade are globalization, advanced transport systems around the world, emergence of multinational corporations and practice of outsourcing by many countries. In general, international trade is globalization and it is a branch of economics. When economics is incorporated into international trade, a larger branch called international economics is formed. Foreign Direct Investment has contributed greatly to international trade. This type of trade occurs when an investor acquires an asset from a country other than their own with intentions of managing the property. FDI has been categorized into three classes namely: Equity capital - this refers to the value which a multinational corporation has invested in shares of an enterprise in a foreign country. It includes both mergers and acquisitions and Greenfield investments made by the multinational company in a foreign country. Reinvested earnings- This represents the value of shares that Multinational corporations have invested in affiliate earnings as dividends. The retained profits by the affiliates are assumed by the multinational company to be reinvestment in the affiliate. This can represent up to 60 per cent of outward FDI in the United Kingdom. It is imperative for countries around the world to engage in bilateral FDI arrangements due to enormous growth in institutional, economic and legal interlinkages between countries. FDI has boosted economy all over the world. There is increment in the annual global flow of around $250 billion as experienced between 1985 and 1995. United

Requires ...grammar....expression correction Essay

Requires ...grammar....expression correction - Essay Example Despite the technological advancement, hi-tech society buildings still suffers from a variety of issues of maintenance causes from decisions of their designer. It is a broad observation that modern day buildings are more susceptible to maintenance as compared to older counterparts. This research investigates of the impact of design defects on maintenance through their barriers and limitations of the interaction between them in an attempt to improve building design to reduce maintenance costs, especially in hospital buildings. In addition to literature studies, the interviewee questions and a case study have been analyzed to identify design and maintenance defects, their impacts on the maintenance and management of hospital buildings in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it explores the concerning roles, responsibilities, obligations, and liabilities of the agents who are involved in the design and maintenance performance and feasible solutions. The King Fahad Hospital was chosen for the stud y and the five interviewees were interviewed on telephone. Qualitative methodology was selected to collect data for this study; it has been found out that the majority of maintenance dilemmas in the hospital building are attributed to design defects. The defects affecting the maintenance of hospital in the budget were led to depletion of maintenance budget besides an increase in maintenance costs. Some recommendations were provided. Conclusion The first topic the chapter reviewed was maintenance. Common problems were identified and approaches to reduce the burden of maintenance through Total Quality Management of design were described. The effect poor design has on society was explored in terms of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal aspects. The chapter discussed design defects in terms of the professional obligations that each agent in the design team holds. The chapter emphasized the roles, which the civil engineers, the architects, the interior de signers, the commissioning agents, and the structural engineers have in the designing process. It also talked about the increasing role of legal action in poor design. Then the chapter discussed the inherent limitations of the building design and maintenance and its limitation in their relation. It lists the scope of the projects as well as the objectives and concludes with the significance of an investigation of the impact of design on the maintenance of hospital buildings in Saudi Arabia. This presents an opportunity for investigations of the impact of design imperfections on maintenance. In prior knowledge of most results and the factors that influenced the maintenance of negligence in design, circles many aspects such as specification of materials, thermal movement, wet areas, ventilation, inefficient detailing, improper material selection and poor design for accessing maintenance measures. The chapter also argued that the design process must also be considered from legal standp oint and the obligations of the design agents. There is mention in the literature of maintenance issues in Saudi Arabia. Ikhwan and Burney (1999) pointed out the importance of maintenance in the Kingdom, and discussed the need for maintenance education. They also highlighted research activities on maintenance performed at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. They recommended an extensive assessment of the current states of maintenance management and