Principles of the early years framework Essay Example for Free

Principles of the early years framework Essay Essay about the purposes and principles of the early years framework. The legal regulations under section 39 of the childcare act 2006 gives the early years foundation stage (EYFS) , that came into force in Sept. 2008 and providers are required to use the EYFS to ensure a flexible approach to children’s learning and development so that children will achieve the five every child matters outcomes which are : * Staying safe* Being healthy * Enjoying and achieving * Making a positive contribution * Achieving economic well- being In 2012 the EYFS was revised and made simpler and came into force on 1st sept, it made a number of changes and one of these was to make a stronger emphasis on the 3 prime areas which are the most important to a child’s healthy development these areas are: * Communication and language development* Physical and personal development * Social and emotional development The statutory framework for the EYFS give clear legal requirements to relate to learning and development and also relating to safeguarding and promoting children’s welfare, suitable people i. e. keyworkers, suitable premises, environment and equipment and organisation and documentation. The learning and development requirements have legal force by EYFS order 2007 from section 39(1) (a) of the childcare act 2006. The welfare requirements are given legal force by section 39(1) (b) of childcare act 2006. Together they form the legal basis of the EYFS and have statutory virtue of section 44(1) of the childcare act 2006. Practice guidance for the early year’s foundation stage gives practitioners guidance on how to meet the necessary requirements to the EYFS framework. It provides advice and information on how to support children’s learning and development and welfare. Also you can get guidance for children’s development in a section called development matters and this gives help and information to help practitioners to understand and support children in development pathways which are: * Personal, social and emotional development * Communication, language and literacy * Problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy * Knowledge and understanding of the world * Physical development * Creative development * Every child is different they are all individual in their own right and all children varied needs. Meeting every child’s needs can be difficult even though they are grouped with other children their age. Many children will meet their development needs expected for their age but others will have needs which are characteristic of much younger or older children. We must recognise the child’s needs and meet children’s development needs to help them achieve. We must consider each child’s physical maturity, intellectual abilities, emotional development, social skills, past experiences and relationships. Respecting children and help them to develop in a positive, caring, nurturing and responsive childcare environment. Throughout history we have had people that stood up and fort for young children’s needs and these people have influenced the UK current early years provisions. * Fred Froebel (1782-1852) founded the first kindergarten and learned that it was important for children to get involved in real experiences which meant being physically active. He believed that everything was linked and called the principle of unity and also principle of opposition or ‘gifts’. * Maria Montessori (1870- 1952) worked with children with learning difficulties in Rome Italy. She spent hours observing children and found that children go through sensitive periods of development when they are particularly receptive to particular areas of learning. She saw children as active learners. * Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) believed in three phases of childhood. The will, 0 to 7 years he said the spirit fuses the body at this stage. The heart, 7 to 14 years a rhythmic system of the beating heart and the chest that respiratory system meant that felling was important during this time. The head, 14 years and onwards was the time for thinking. * Margaret McMillan (1860-1931) believed I first-hand experience and active learning she said that relationships, feeling and ideas were all physical aspects of moving and learning, she believed children would become whole people through play which helped them apply knowledge and understanding. * Susan Isaacs (1885-1948) valued play she believed it gave children freedom to think, feel and relate to others. She said that children can’t in just classrooms sat at tables and write they need to move around and explore to learn too. * The Reggio Emilia approach had a number of key features that attracted worldwide attention these were: Community support and parental involvement. Administrative policies and organisational features. Teachers as learners. The role of the environment. Long-term projects as vehicles for learning. The hundred languages of children. * The highScope approach encourages children to make their own choice of activities. It encourages active and independent learning by involving children in the planning, doing and reviewing. They still have some adult- directed activities such as story- time and PE but they work around the plan – do – review cycle of planning its key features are Active learning Personal initiative Consistency Genuine relationships Building a strong partnership with parents Appropriate curriculum.

The Impact of School-Based Health Promotion

The Impact of School-Based Health Promotion Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine effectiveness and influence of Public health campaigns and health information centers in schools. The impact of the public health promotion in schools required an in depth research in which the aim was to investigate how the public health promotion can affect the lifestyle of children which is a life saving factor and due to which many fatal diseases can be avoided. It started by discussing the background of the topic and then goes onto answer specific research questions. The research methodologies will be used and includes a dedicated portion of findings and analysis. The study will be concluded by providing recommendations and devising solutions to problems. The public health care promotion includes various campaigns with the co-operation of WHO. This research study has concentrated on the most broad diseases particularly basic amongst youths, the schools, are the place such infections are the destined to take an ascent. The adjustments in the medicinal services advancement every now and then will be examined in subtle element. In the last part of the paper, the most convenient methods of public health campaigns will be discussed along with its benefits and its concussion on children’s health. INTRODUCTION This chapter will be presenting an overview of the research project. Specifically, the problem statement will be discusse, the background of the research along with the significance of the study. Furthermore, the research aims and objectives and research questions will also be identified in this very chapter. The primary target of this examination will be on discovering the effect of the general wellbeing advancement in schools among kids; therefore, the problem statement of this study revolves around †The Impact of the school-based Health Promotion on children’s lifestyle† Background The health promotion and security of children is necessary for the glorious fate of the country. The betterment of the young children is a complex endeavor. It obliges the joined endeavors of the establishments alongside the societal segments. The inclusion of parents, family, schools, media, government organizations, human services experts, postsecondary foundations and the youths themselves is very important. They are responsible to give the support by means of environment and open doors for the better development of the children. The adolescence is the period of life in which the social, mental and the physical changes happen from early age to the middle age. The youths are the significant bit of the UK populace. They are experiencing numerous muddled circumstances. The prosperity of young people speaks to the great soundness of the entire populace. Consequently, it is essential for the parents, educators and social insurance experts to grasp the hugeness of pre-adult wellbeing. T here are a few components that require the direction keeping in mind the end goal to mitigate from the lives of youths. These conditions incorporate smoking, substance ill-use, self-destructive endeavors and pregnancy in the high school. Teenagers need the support of the family, teachers and health awareness suppliers in regards to every issue. Peoples way of life and lifestyle has been going through continuous changes, for instance, the life expectancy even in the UK at birth in 1891 was 44-48yrs and 74-80 by 1996 (ONS, 1996). This reflects the blend of a mixed variety of veridical and coordinated essential human services including general health and health promotion. It is fascinating to realize that way of life difficulties – smoking, liquor, high school or eating regimen have been always appraised as most responsible to make individuals health disintegrate basically in heart disease and cancer (Ashton and Seymour, 1993). It is therefore vital to address health promotion and general health mediations identified with changing individual ways of life and behavioral change towards health. Goddard (1995) note that smoking amongst kids (11-15) have been consistently raised i.e from 8% (in 1988) to 12% (in 1994). Since 1986s international union of Child’s health, the idea of health promotion has been set up to ch ange people groups social insurance behavior and practice. As MacBride (2003) says that health promotion alludes to the co-ordinated cooperation of staff and authoritative interests in the boosting of educational, advisory and policy advances relevant to health maintenance and improvement in quality of life (p.3) – in other sense this is basically an endeavors catching both parts of health policy and educational interests. In this context, Katz, D. L., O’Connell (2005) contends that anticipation through instruction, instead of relief, was the most beneficent and efficient course (p.54) From the global point of view, it is imperative to highlight the importance of health promotion report of Lalonde of 1974 ie A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians – this has been considered as a first time the government condemning biomedical medicinal services system, appears to be unseemly to promote individuals health and forestall ailments or disease as he proposes social insurance intercessions ought to be coordinated instead of veridical methodology. He recommends that weakness could be tested by coordinating four components human science; nature; way of life; and the association of health awareness ought to be set up to get enduring change people groups medicinal services learning and practice (Bunton and Macdonald 1982). Since the Alma-Ata statement in 1978 and development of Ottawa Charcher in 1986 and HFA by the year 2000 (WHO, 1985), numerous health advancement activities have been occurred over the world – mainly focused on societal structures (Naidoo and Wills, 1994). In the meantime, a few reports highlight the part of people’s responsibilities and practices for making healthy (DHSS, 1976 ; SHHD, 1977). It is thus critical to perceive – promoting healthy way of life through changing environment variables (Lalonde, 1974), centering public health mediation –more on societal model as opposed to institutional-based social insurance model (McKeown, 1971; Naidoo and Wills, 1994) through support and preparation of individuals at diverse levels or divisions (Ottawa Charter, 1986). The essential argument here is numerous health issues including sicknesses would be overseen or averted if the public assume more greater liability for controlling their own particular healthy ways of life (Department of Health, 1987). School health promotion has been utilized as a global health promotion system as it is inarguably the most supportive platform fot the intiation of children’s healthcare. WHO reports (2014) that 1:2 youngsters are dying of tobacco related diseases, 5% of all fatalities between the ages of 15 and 29 are owing to liquor use, and > 60% of all new HIV infections happened inside of the same age-groups. Furthermore, The social overview of England 2009 reported that youngsters matured 11 to 15 are more inclined to smoke, try liquor or take drugs. WHO (2014) in this way contends that compelling school health promotion would not just be taken as savvy interests in any countries but also enhance education and health of children and their guardians by avoiding the main causes of premature death, disease and other disorders (cardiovascular ailment, tumor, long-term lung diseases, depression, violence, substance ill-use, wounds, malnutritiion, HIV/AIDS/STI and helminth infections). The health reforms are a chance to enhance the procurement of excellent health support for school-age kids yet there is restricted or disperse evidence of school-based health advancement with respect to children’s ways of life. This study along these lines intends to figure out to what degree the school-based health promotion affect in light of youngsters way of life mostly on teenage pregnancy, smoking and alcohol use under the systematic review. Governmental issues and political approaches assume an important part in advancing health and medical professionals have significant influence in the promotion of health. They are seen as agents who identify and advise the students or children for their health benefits. The past records show that absence of information and aptitudes in the territories of general health promotion, variability in general health, no emphasis on populace and no coordinated effort between associations are major factors responsible for ignorance. This can be improved further by understanding the behavior of the related population, as well as their standards and societies and the predominant financial conditions. However, The key points covered in this research and that are the most common problems among youngsters are: †¢Alcohol utilization. †¢Dietary practices. †¢Drug abuse. †¢Hygiene. †¢Depression. †¢Physical action. †¢Teenage pregnancy. †¢Sexual practices. †¢Tobacco utilization. †¢Violence. Health promotion address both essential and auxiliary reasons for a health awareness issue. These battles are significant for the awareness in the overall population and minimizing the spread of issues. At whatever point a social insurance crisis emerges, medicinal services suppliers are in charge of beginning mediations. After the beginning intervention, the health awareness expert assesses the emergency and presents his or her thought to confine such emergency later on. Health promotion models chip away at recognizable proof, history, consequences of a human services issue and have an objective result for the crusade. The UK government has dispatched various health promotion for current health issues. Some of these advancements are for smoke cessation, cancer, child obesity, substance abuse and drinking issues. Case in point, the legislature has reacted to the countrys more than once reported drug issue with a methodology on Decreasing substance abuse among youngsters (Becker, AE, Roberts AL, 2010). The policy highlights the problem by giving statistics of substance abuse related hospital admissions and deaths amongst youngsters. The policy aims to build awareness on harmful impacts of drug abuse on families’ lives, and ultimately compel them to overcome their bad habit. Purpose of the Study This research seeks to look into the general health in school going kids, ranging from 11-15. The significance of this study is to identify the impact of school-based health promSotion in children and the factors that can improve their health and wellbeing through campaigns and other promotions. It seeks to answer whether the public health promotion has created a concussion on the school going children and an insight on what ways the children have been affected. This research work will actually help to investigate the dynamics of public health promotion which is supported by several references and guided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Research Aims Objectives The aims and objectives of any research work facilitate the researcher in finding the most relevant and accurate information and eventually drawing out the conclusion. However, the main aim of this study was to assess the impact of the School-based Health Promotion in children Following are the objectives of this study: To investigate the dynamics of School-based health promotion. To examine the impact of School-based health promotion. To gain an insight into the importance of health promotion especially among adolescents, lack of research in this area and the rate with which the diseases are spreading. To summarize findings and make recommendations. Research Questions The research questions of the study basically narrow down the research and help the researcher to achieve the aims and objectives of the research work. Hence, following are the research questions of this study: How the schools and other institutes are bringing improvement in the promotion of the health campaigns and raising awareness amongst school going children, evaluate under the light of WHO and International health standards? The benefits of raising school-based public health awareness and spaces of improvement in this domain? Evaluate the present statistics and compare with the previous statistics of public health awarensess and present new ideas for campaigns that can help eradicate the most common diseases amongst youngsters? Clarify the role of local government and how can the government help raise the awareness? References Becker, AE, Roberts AL, Perloe AB, Asenaca R, Lauren K, Gilman SE, Striegel-Moore RH. Youth health-risk behavior assessment in Fiji: The reliability of Global School-based Student Health Survey content adapted for ethnic Fijian girls. Ethnicity Health 15(2): 181-197, 2010. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20234961. Duncan, C., Jones, K., Moon, G. (1996). Health-related behaviour in context: a multilevel modelling approach.Social Science Medicine,42(6), 817-830. Katz, D. L., O’Connell, M., Yeh, M. C., Nawaz, H., Njike, V., Anderson, L. M., Task Force on Community Preventive Services. (2005). Public health strategies for preventing and controlling overweight and obesity in school and worksite settings.MMWR Recomm Rep,54(2). Kickbusch, I. (2003). The contribution of the World Health Organization to a new public health and health promotion.American journal of public health,93(3), 383-388. Macdonald, G., Bunton, R. (1992). Discipline or disciplines?.Health promotion: Disciplines and diversity, 6. McBride, C. M., Emmons, K. M., Lipkus, I. M. (2003). Understanding the potential of teachable moments: the case of smoking cessation.Health education research,18(2), 156-170. Michell, L., Amos, A. (1997). Girls, pecking order and smoking.Social Science Medicine,44(12), 1861-1869. Naidoo, J., Wills, J. (2000).Health promotion: foundations for practice. Elsevier Health Sciences. St Leger, L. (2001). Schools, health literacy and public health: possibilities and challenges.Health promotion international,16(2), 197-205..

Overpopulation :: Papers

Overpopulation The twentieth century has drawn to a close and civilization faces the dilemma of supporting an overpopulated world. Throughout time, mankind has lived as though there were no consequences for his actions. But now, as people of the future, we see what is happening to the world we live in. Despite our knowledge, these straightforward problems are still being ignored. Our actions in the past have dictated the present, and our actions now will determine our future, and generations to come. We caused the overpopulation problems we are now facing; so we must also be the ones to solve the problems. The link between population growth and environmental impact seems obvious. More people, consume more resources, damage more of the earth, and generate more waste. In the book Earth Odyssey, by Mark Hertzgaard, he quoted Paul Ehrlich’s statement, â€Å"The United States is the most overp opulated country in the world† (197). Today’s children are likely to see a tripling of the global population within their lifetimes unless, solutions emerge decreasing population growth. Hertzgaard points out â€Å"the world’s population will stabilize at much less than eight billion people, and an eventual total of ten or twelve billion is quite possible† (220). We must take action to save our planet. One crisis the earth and its inhabitants fear today is lack of resources due to the increasing number of people. Justifications for our path of destruction are; destroy trees for more farmland; excessive consumption of food sources by over harvesting and overgrazing causing barren wastelands; continued use of fossil fuels and chemicals needed for transportation, creation of electricity, and heating our homes; and more people means more homes will be built again forests and natural habitats of animals.

Exploration Of The Matthew Shepard Event Essay -- Homosexuality Crime

Exploration Of The Matthew Shepard Event The human body is an object in which one lives and the medium through which one experiences oneself and the world. Claims on ideology and space are ultimately vested in the human body, and thus conflicts about belief systems and territory are often contested violently on physical bodies. Gay bodies become entangled in violence when they enter into arenas that combat certain ideas. Gay bashing illustrates incidences all in which bodies experience physical injury. In modern U.S. communities various militant conservatives target homosexuals in "gay bashing." Mathew Shepard's brutal murder in 1998 illustrates a relatively recent incident in which the human body becomes politicized. What is the process by which the pain and death of Shepard's body transform the personal to the political? What does "gay bashing" mean to attackers, victims and their communities? If gay bashing is about violence and being gay is at least partially about sex, then what is the relationship between them? What framework attends to both the sexual and nonsexual activities among contemporary American males? In Between Men, Eve Sedgwick sleds light on the boundaries separating sexual and nonsexual male relationships. According to the author, homosocial and homosexual do not necessarily have to occupy two different, non-overlapping spheres. " 'Homosocial desire', to begin with, is a kind of oxymoron. "Homosocial" is a word . . . [that] describes social bonds between persons of the same sex; it is a neologism, obviously formed with analogy with "homosexual," and just as obviously meant to distinguish from 'homosexual'" (Sedgwick 1985:1). Sedgwick contends that it would be more useful to view homosocial and homosexu... ...riarchy is the right of men to "hit on" women while remaining safe from not being "hit on" by anyone else, especially another man. Patriarchy, imbued with hierarchical meanings, gives heterosexual men something to loose. As practiced in contemporary America, patriarchy uses homophobia as structural support. Gay bashing exemplifies homosocial behavior's contribution to US patriarchy. The human body is both an object in which one lives and a site of political articulation. The struggles within many societies begin and end within the terrain of the human body, which though has no referential meaning becomes embodied by meaning within context that ultimately has a stake in the body. . Works Cited: 1. Kaufman, Moises. 2001. The Laramie Project. New York: First Vintage Books. 2. Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. 1985. Between Men. New York: Columbia University Press.

Nikola Tesla Essay -- biographies biography bio

Tesla was born in Smiljan, Austria-Hungary (now Croatia) on July 9, 1856. He studied engineering at two institutions in Austria-Hungary--Graz Technical University (now in Austria) and the University of Prague (now in the Czech Republic). Tesla left the University of Prague in 1880, without a degree, after his father died. He then worked for a short time for Austria-Hungary's telephone system in Budapest (now in Hungary). In 1882, Tesla moved to Paris, where he worked for the Continental Edison Company. While at Graz Technical University, Tesla had seen a demonstration of a generator run as a direct-current (DC) motor. Direct current is electric current that flows in only one direction. During the demonstration, the brushes and the commutator of the motor sparked violently. The brushes are devices that conduct the current in a DC motor. The commutator continually reverses the current so that the motor continues to rotate in one direction. Tesla believed a motor without a commutator could be devised. In 1881, while walking in a park, Tesla suddenly got an idea for a simple way to produce such a device. In 1883, while on assignment for Continental Edison in Strasbourg, France, Tesla used his spare time to build his first polyphase (out-of-step) AC motor. In such a motor, coils are arranged so that when out-of-step alternating currents energize them, the resulting magnetic field rotates at a predetermined speed. In 1884, Tesla left Europe for the United States and went to work for the inventor Thomas Edison. Edison respected the young engineer but the American inventor was a strong supporter of direct current (DC), and so he had little interest in Tesla's alternating current (AC) generation, transmission, and motor ... ... creation of fluorescent lighting. During his later years he led a secluded, eccentric, and penniless life, nearly forgotten by the world he believed would someday honor him. Tesla died on Jan. 7, 1943, in New York City. It is rather sad that a man who gave the world so much, received so little for his efforts. History books have been unkind as well. Even today, many texts still credit Marconi with the invention of radio, despite the Supreme Court decision which overruled Marconi and awarded it to Tesla. In many parts of this country, people still refer to the electric utility as the 'Edison Company', even though they use the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating current system. The Tesla Museum in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, was dedicated to the inventor after his death and in 1956 the tesla, a unit of magnetic flux density in the metric system, was named in his honor.

Critical Thinking Part

Application and Critical Thinking Most crime labs In the U. S. Are funded & operated by the gobo and provide services free to police and prosecutors. Great Britain uses private labs that charge a fee for services and keeps any profits they make. What are some potential strengths and weaknesses of each system? One potential strength for the U. S. For being funded and operated by the gobo and providing free services for the police and prosecutors Is that they do not have to worry about funds.The police and/or prosecutors can approach the crime labs they deed and ask for which ever tests they need to be performed and get them done, how ever many times. A potential weakness of this system could be that the information could be skewed being that it is run by one particular agency, another weakness is that the gobo isn't making any money like the agencies in Great Britain. In Great Britain, they are getting paid to do a Job, they would want to do the Job well and In a timely manner.In the U. S. , they not getting paid, so why would they rush to get It done? They can tea their time solving things or getting the tests completed. On the aside, the police and prosecutors have access to, free of charge, all of the services the U. S. Crime labs provide: FBI, DEAD, TAFT, US Postal lab, to name a few. A strength for Great Britain using private labs is that it's not being interfered with by the government, It was paid to do a job, it will get the Job done.On the down side, this type of system expects to be paid, so if a small area can not pay for the types of help they are In need of, the crime lab will not be able to provide help with the crime investigation. 2. Police investigating an apparent suicide collect the following items at the scene: a tote purportedly written by the victim, a revolver bearing very faint finger prints and traces of skin and blood under the victim's fingernails. What units of the crime laboratory will examine each piece of evidence?The unit that wou ld examine the note would be the Document Examination Unit. This unit studies the authenticity of handwriting and typewriting on the documents in question. The revolver will be examined by the Firearms Unit as they are able to detect residue from firearms, discharged bullets, shotgun shells, cartridge cases, and other types of ammunitions. They examine all firearms and are able to approximate he distance the weapon was fired from the target. The revolver will also also be examined by the Latent Fingerprint Unit because it has a very faint fingerprint on it.The Biology unit will examine the traces of blood and skin found under the victim's fingernails. This unit is staffed with many biochemists and biologists that are trained to perform DNA profiling on body fluids, dried bloodstains as well as skin. Crime scene instead of a patrol officer or detective. One of the advantages of having an evidence collection unit process a crime scene over a patrol officer or a detective is that the e vidence collection unit have properly rained staff technicians on the ready 24 hours a day to arrive at a crime scene to collect evidence.Another advantage is that these technicians are trained recognize and to collect/gather important physical evidence at the crime scene where as a detective or a patrol office may not have such a keen eye for such things. A third advantage for having evidence collection units process a crime scene is that the technicians are trained to work with all the special lab equipment in order to help process the evidence. This helps them to become experts in their field as they are exposed to the equipment 24 hours a day, having all the supplies and tools for proper evidence collection and packaging which allows for future examination. . What legal issue was raised on appeal by the defense in Carl Spooling's Florida murder trial? What court ruling is most relevant to the decision to reject the appeal? Explain. The legal issue that was raised while on appeal was that could the defendant be convicted of murder based on a series of tests designed specifically for this one case because the tests had not yet â€Å"gained general acceptance† across the toxicology profession. The court believed that these tests, though they are new, are important to the case and are admissible and doesn't make the crime of murder any less of a crime.Rule 702 is most relevant, in this case, to the decision to reject the appeal because Rule 702 deals with the â€Å"admissibility of expert testimony. † The testimony from qualified experts (the witness); by skills, training, knowledge, experience, or education, is based on gathered data and/or sufficient facts. The testimony must be produced from methods and principles of reliability, and finally, the witness must use and apply the methods and principles reliably to facts of said case.

Byd Company Case Analysis Essay

1. BYD Company, Ltd. (â€Å"BYD†) is the world’s second largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries. Exhibit 1 shows that between 1999 and 2001, BYD’s annual sales grew three times – exceeding RMB 1.3 billion in 2001. Based on the first four months of 2002, BYD’s annual sales are expected exceed RMB 1.6 billion in 2002. Founded in 1995 by Wang Chuan-Fu, chairman and president, BYD has built its reputation by becoming the largest Chinese supplier of lithium-ion batteries to cell phone manufacturers. Exhibit 3 shows that by 2002, BYD was among the top four manufactures worldwide – and was the largest Chinese manufacturer – in each of the three main battery technologies (with about 9% market share in Li-ion technology, 31% market share in NiCd technology, and 8% market share in NiMH technology). Despite the presence of large Japanese competitors – including Sanyo, Sony, and Matsushita – in the global market and a large number of local Chinese firms, BYD’s aim to improve the quality of products while keeping the price low started winning it business from foreign companies. By doing so, BYD has positioned itself as a cost leader in the batter industry and has moved towards cost advantage in manufacturing of its products. BYD emphasized on the technology and product development by investing about 2% of the company’s revenue in product and process R&D. Since the development of its first lithium-ion battery in 1997, BYD has made several improvements that increased the cycle life of its products. BYD moved from having no patents as of 1999 to holding scores of patents as of the beginning of 2002. The manufacturing process – in terms of sequence of steps – at BYD was similar to that at the competing Japanese firms. However, Japanese firms had most of the processes automated and had more dry-room space. This kind of set up needed greater investment in capital equipment and accounted for an annual capital expenditure five to ten times more than that at BYD. The biggest threat to BYD’s competitive advantage is the tough competition faced from the emergence of nearly 200 Chinese firms in the rechargeable battery market. Like BYD did, these Chinese firms too relied on labor-intense production process. The lack of proper regulations in China allows the competitors to duplicate BYD processes easily. On the other hand, BYD faced a shortage of labor in Shenzhen because of the presence of large number of manufacturers located in that region. At BYD, 95% of the work force on the battery production is young women who have come from smaller villages across China. They would work here for a couple of years before returning to their home villages. As a result of this migration pattern, BYD faced a turnover of 10% to 20% in its manufacturing workforce. 2. The core competencies of BYD are: Battery Technology (by changing the product materials to make them less sensitive to humidity), R&D department, Human Resource Management (providing housing, food, and health insurance to workers, discipline traning, job rotation to reduce monotony, social activities and promotions), cheap labor and Manufacturing process (labor plus jigs equals automation). Of the above mentioned core competencies, battery technology, R&D department, Human Resource Management, and cheap labor are transferrable to the automotive business. However, the manufacturing process – which is not automated – is not transferrable to the automotive business. From the resources perspective BYD should enter the auto industry because acquiring Qinchuan Auto Company offers BYD rare resources such as production permits and land for its new Auto factory, which are significant barriers for entry for new competitors, at a reasonable price. These resources coupled with t he BYD’s transferable resources could result in a successful enterprise. 3. The Chinese auto industry is overall attractive. There is huge growth expected in the Chinese demand for automobiles – from 1 million sedans in 2002 to potentially 6 million by 2010. Given this expected growth in demand for automobiles, several Chinese auto manufacturers had partnered with foreign manufacturers, such as General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen to sell their vehicles. As shown in Exhibit 13, the production capacity of major firms in china slightly exceeded 2 million units in 2002, this figure is expected to reach 3.5 million units by 2012 – as shown in Exhibit 14. Yes! The Chinese auto industry is attractive to BYD. Given the expected growth and demand in the auto industry, combined with Chinese government having stopped issuing production permits for new automotive companies, there are very few remaining opportunities to get in to this booming auto industry. Moreover, BYD is getting a good bargain as the assets of the state-owned Qinchuan Auto are being sold at a cheaper price. The state owned auto manufacturers without foreign partners accounted for 25% of auto sales in China. Many of the SOE manufacturers did not even have R&D departments. Because most of the automobile parts were imported, similar models of cars cost more in China than in USA. The existing foreign joint ventures were selling the vehicles at prices that gave them margins of 10% to 20%. Considering the current situation, there is room for low-priced entrants. Wang always dreamt of applying Li-ion battery technology to develop an electric vehicle. Using newer battery technology and assembling it cheaply, the vehicle could be competitively priced and represent a way for China to leap forward in an industry and technology in which it had previously lagged other nations. Wang was also excited about applying BYD’s deep capabilities in process engineering – used so successfully to design new methods of battery production that gave BYD a significant cost advantage over global competitors – to automotive manufacturing. 4. In addition to offering OEMs a â€Å"one-stop† solution for the outsourced manufacturing of their products, BYD should also acquire Qinchuan Auto Company. Because of the huge potential for the automotive industry in China and very few available opportunities, this is the right moment for BYD to enter the automotive industry. As Qinchuan Auto Company already has a name in the market, with its flagship product Flyer, BYD should continue selling Flyer along with other upgraded new models of car. BYD should also invest in automating the manufacturing process and R&D department. It should ensure that most of the auto parts are internally or locally manufactured in order to keep the costs at minimum and margins high. The company should invest heavily in infrastructure needed to cater to the foreseen demand in the Chinese automotive industry. It should invest heavily in acquiring quality manpower by offering them good salaries, perks etc†¦. If capital is a challenge, then BYD could partner with foreign manufacturer and provide them a platform to sell their products in the Chinese automotive industry. This will give BYD enough time to closely analyze the Chinese automotive industry and take necessary steps.