The corporate management mechanisms used by Nestle

The corporate management mechanisms used by Nestle The writer believes it will be reasonable to first define cross business synergies and then relate it to the analysis of the Nestle case study provided. According to Martin et al (2003), cross business synergies is defined as understanding and recognizing the value which can be created and captured, over a period of time, by the sum of the business units together with regards to what it would have been individually. This assignment is based on the Nestle case study in 2008 from De Wit and Meyer (2010). The aim is to write a report that will critically evaluate the Nestle organization at the corporate level to identify the cross business synergies, corporate growth directions throughout its history. The assignment will also highlight the corporate management mechanisms used by Nestle to leverage its synergies and outline the future scenarios for the company corporate level strategy. Identifying the cross-business synergies within the organization throughout its history According to the case study, Nestle replicated its milk district model that was initially introduced in Switzerland to ensure sufficient milk supplies in 1870s and modified it by adding value to it and facilitating the availability of the product across the continents, example, Latin America, Asia, Caribbean, African and Inner Mongolia. This shows that the company recognized that choices varies across continents and by adding value to the original product (milk) to make it easy to use and available in other continents represents a synergy which was created and captured. Another important cross-business synergy in the history of the company is the Research and Development, RD. Nestle understood the limitations and challenges involved in starting a new company that will stand alone and compete favourable with competitors in a new market and therefore, utilized the combined strength of its businesses to invent new products, Nescafe, (a soluble instant coffee) by the help of its RD team. Nescafe remain one of the largest brands in the world and have changed the way we drink coffee across the world today by making coffee drinking fun, stylish, ready to use, high class and tastier. Also important is the production of another brand Nestea (an instant tea), and the chocolate powder Nesquik by the same drying process used in making Nescafe. Furthermore, from the case study, Nestle reinvigorated Nesquik originally sold in the form of a powder used in milk into syrup form and into ready to drink varieties, this is also a very important cross business synergy for Nestle, which provided an easy access to coffee drinking in restaurants, hotels, cafe, and made the products affordable, available, and to suit individual taste and choice. Another cross business synergy was in leveraging marketing approach which helped the company to build expertise in various business units and invention of new products through its Research laboratories to launch a platform for growth which eventually increased sales and generated increase market revenue. An important cross-business synergies within the organization is GLOBE (Global Business Excellence), this is a comprehensive information system which used by Nestle to secure and bring together the companys businesses together under a common and unique technology infrastructure. Globe was used by the company to capture data and to standardized data which is based on the same definitions and units. This enables Nestle to have a unified system and measurement across its business units anywhere in the world, manage information, and create knowledge that could be transferred and shared across its business units, and provided a better customer management system, thereby building customer confidence and promoting the quality of their products across the continents. Furthermore, GLOBE provided synchronization of data between manufacturers and retailers, which resulted in an improved order fulfillment. The system also enabled retailers to add new products to their store stocks simply by clicking the mouse of their computer. Another cross business synergy is the invention of new nutrition, health and wellness vision by basic scientific research and state of the art tools such as nutrigenormics. This allowed Nestle to improve consumer healthcare, fitness and weight management, by making their products healthier and reducing fatty acids. Corporate Growth Direction of the Company throughout its history Figure 1 Corporate Growth Direction From the case study, one of Nestle corporate growth came in the direction of Horizontal integration. This represents a horizontal integration because the company expanded forward within the food business by merging with a known food processing industry Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk also a food business. The merger provided the company with more resources and capital to expand their products and later added Chocolate to their brand in 1905. (See figure 1.) The growth continued in the horizontal integration trend and expanded to other countries example, Britain, U.S., Spain, and Germany, where they operated their processing plant. The growth within the industry continued horizontally and allowed the company to expand into Brazil, Australia, and established their presence in Singapore and Hong Kong. The company merged with Maggi, Europe large producer of food enhancer and prepared food such as soup, which indicates that the company continued to expand and grow within its food industry. Nestle continued the chain of growth towards the horizontal integration direction and acquired several businesses example, canned and frozen food, bottled water and pet foods. Nestle diversified for the first time outside the food industry, and in 1974, the company became a major shareholder in LOreal, one of the worlds largest producers of cosmetics, with a 25 percent interest in the French company. Nestle undertook a second step outside food industry by acquiring Alcon Laboratories, a U.S. company which specialized in eye care products in 1977. This growth direction is called Horizontal Diversification, since it was the first time the company moved outside of its business industry. The company continued its growth in the direction of horizontal integration under new management (Maucher era) and In 1985, acquired the American food giant Carnation for $3 billion, which was regarded as one of the largest in the history of food industry during the time. From the case study, Nestle moved away from the Agricultural and processing roots and sold their Cocoa and processing plants ending their growth towards the Backward Vertical Integration direction and involvement with their supplier business. This pointed out that Nestle was moving in the Horizontal direction and has kept their competitive advantages gained over the years by continuing in the same horizontal growth direction i.e. Horizontal diversification. and Horizontal Integration. From the analysis, the writer believes that Nestle may no longer be interested in the Vertical growth direction, this may be evidence by the statement from its new CEO Brabeck who commented that the company want to reduce cost and devote more attention to other businesses that adds value There were also major acquisitions during Brabeck tenure which solidified the company position in key areas such as bottled water, coffee, ice cream, and infant formula, and also the company decision to dissociate from the Agricultural and processing business Thereafter, Ralston Purina was acquired in 2001; the pet food business has become a recognized name around the world. The company diversified horizontally again during Brabeck tenure beyond its technology and traditional line of products and processing food towards a wider vision of nutrition, health and wellness. To continue its platform for growth, the company made three important acquisitions: by acquiring Jenny Craig, a U.S chain of weight loss centre in 2006, providing Nestle a platform of moving into weight management. Novartis Medical Nutrition in 2007, which helped Nestle to strengthen their position in the area of healthcare nutrition, and the Novartiss Gerber baby foods business in 2007, thereby extending Nestlà ©s leadership in all the areas of infant nutrition. This showed that the company became interested in the healthcare and fitness business. The corporate Management Mechanisms used by Nestle to leverage its synergies The three management mechanisms used by managers to leverage synergies are: Centralization, Coordination and Standardization. These will be applied to the case study in order to discuss the corporate management mechanisms used by Nestle to leverage its synergies already identified in this assignment. One of the synergies identified earlier in this assignment was the replication of Nestle milk district model in Switzerland by modifying the product. This was possible from the writers point of view because the company retained the same standardization process and procedure which has already proved successful in Switzerland. The company simply repeated the process and then added value to the product which eventually resulted in an improved quality for consumer satisfaction and then introduced the product to other countries, example, Britain, Germany, Spain, Asia and Australia, Africa etc. Another corporate management mechanisms used by Nestle in leveraging its Research and Development are Coordination and Standardization. From the writers point of view, the establishment of the research laboratories requires the coordination of Nestlà ©s resources, activities, product offering and integration of its business units together to build world class research laboratories, and Standardization integration resulted because the company used the same process to replicate, modify and re-invent new products. Furthermore, other identified synergies were the reinvigoration of Nesquik originally sold in the powder form into syrup form. The management mechanism applied in this process is standardization mechanism. According to the passage, Nestle used the same drying process in making Nescafe and re-invented it to produce Nestea an instant tea and Nesquik a syrup form. Also of interest is the leverage of the GLOBE system using a standardized system, which synchronized data, improved information management and created knowledge that could be transferred across Nestlà ©s business unit and allowed customers to add new products to their inventories by a click of mouse. Again, the companys leverage of market approach which created a platform for growth and increase sales was based on the standardized integration mechanism system from the writers point of view. This is because Nestle continued in the same level of progress, growth direction and transferred the same management mechanism already tested and applied in some countries into other continents, which led to a rapid growth in sales and market revenue. The 60/40 benchmark standard used by the company to improve their nutrition, health and wellness and reduced fatty acids was also based on the standardized integration mechanism. According to the CFO, the process was based on taking out salts, fatty acids and sugar and putting in omega 3, whole grains and calcium to give it a healthier profile. The Future Scenario for Nestlà ©s corporate level strategy, based on the integrated organization and portfolio organization perspective One of the future scenarios for Nestle corporate level strategy is: how the company can remain relevant and dynamic and at the same time provide essential industry leadership in areas such as sustainable sourcing while keeping products affordable Firstly, based on the integration organization approach, the company should remain customer driven, always adding value to their products and improving the quality of their products by emphasizing their core competencies. Nestle should regard competencies as the core of coordination and to place their synergies at the heart of their company. They should continue to innovate and re-invent through their various RD centres, and integrate their multi business units. The company should promote synergies more than responsiveness; they should make acquisition infrequent and focus more on internal growth as stated by Bulcke the CEO. Building their business core competence should remain their strategic plan, while remaining tactical with their suppliers and sourcing of raw material. This is realizable by continuing their strategy of buying their agricultural products directing from farmers and encouraging continuity of their supplier business. These will ensure that prices are kept low and affordable while the premium quality is not affected. Besides, Integrated approach encourages looking after the brands to enable it remain relevant to customers in order to generate more sales. Consequently, the writer thinks that achieving the future ambition will be difficult using the portfolio approach. According to the portfolio approach, responsiveness should be strongly emphasized over synergies. This is risky because it may result in loss of synergies and brands. Nestle has several billionaire brands already established across the world. It will be unreasonable to risk losing any of them. Besides, portfolio approach does not encourage internal growth but is well suited to diversification through acquisition, which is contrary to the CEO vision for the future growth direction of the company from the case study. Portfolio perspective only leverage financial resources and does not recognize any synergies which are not financial related. The second scenario is to understand how Bulcke intend to balance local autonomy with global coordination. Based on the integrated organization approach, the company should balance local autonomy with global coordination by giving country managers reasonable degree of autonomy in matters dealing with the customers, they should integrate resources, activities and position along multi business synergies. Such coordination of work across multi business unit boundaries will result in the ability to operate in such a way that seems like the various part were actually in one units. The company should place the corporate centre at the forefront of competitive strategy. They should maintain the standardization activities, example GLOBE which synchronized data and information system management across the businesses. Based on the portfolio approach, the efficiency of the cash flow and balancing the business risk are regarded as more important. Portfolio approach supports, activities and produc ts offering to be split along business unit lines, hence global coordination may be difficult to realize. From the case study, Nestle future plan shows that the company will move towards an integrated organization approach. According to Bulcke, Nestle future growth will come from internal growth. The company is re-focusing its corporate strategy from the past. Nestle intend to build on their core competences and strength which according to their CEO is their products, RD, global presence, people, brand portfolio and Nestle culture. From the writers point of view, integrated approach will reinforce the companys product profile in the market and keep them very competitive by being focused, and put in more emphasis on developing and building their synergies rather than defending business unit responsiveness. The company has gained enormous synergies by sharing advances in their basic and applied sciences and research, which also helped to rapidly increase developments. Following the integration approach will ensure that Nestle does not lose their synergies or its billionaire brands through lack of invention and innovation. Nestle RD was identified as a fantastic platform for future growth, therefore, the management need to continue to leverage it better by building on the core competencies developed by the team of scientists and researchers, and integrating the multi-business units, activities, resources, and looking after their brands by supporting RD and invention programs. Nonetheless, the writer believes that the company may not be able to realize their internal growth ambition by adopting the portfolio organization approach. This is because Nestle culture over the years has been anticipation and being proactive rather than reactive according to the CEO, which showed that the company favours synergies rather than responsiveness. The company intends to focus more on reinforcing their brand, and capitalizing on their core competence for growth which does not agree with the portfolio approach. From the grow direction trend shown in figure 1. It appears that the company are not seeking to enter into any buyers or supplier business or pursuing new business opportunities towards the vertical direction but rather focusing on reinforcing their existing brand and building on their area of expertise. Conclusion This assignment has answered various questions based on the case study provided. The writer has identified the synergies which has enabled Nestle to expand its businesses globally. The growth direction of the company was also outlined and discussed with various analyses given. Furthermore, the writer highlighted the management mechanisms which relate to corporate level strategy and related it to the case study. Finally, the future scenarios of the company was outlined and discussed. Based on the discussions on integration and portfolio organization approach, the writer believes that the company will be better suited to realize its future vision and programs by adopting the integrated organization approach. This assignment presented an interesting discussions and an insight into the history and activities of a giant food industry Nestle. References Martin, and Eisenhardt, 2001,: 3. Cross-business synergy: Recombination, modularity and the multibusiness team. Bob De Wit and Ron M eyer. Strategy Process, Content, Context, an international perspectives fourth editiomn.

Go Ask Alice :: alice

  Long Hard Road of Adolescence   Reading through the novel, Go Ask Alice, finding out all of the unbelievable, yet true, experiences and feelings of Alice is quite shocking. No matter how shocking they may seem, you can very easily relate those experiences and feelings to those of a typical day-in and day-out teenager.   Those characteristics being loneliness, a generation gap, and defiance.   At the beginning of the novel, Alice finds herself to be very lonely. As like other teenagers, she goes through many emotional states that may lead to â€Å"dieting†, starving oneself, or binge eating. There are also finding such things as getting into school or club activities, possibly getting a job. Those few things would be the most reasonable approaches to resolving the problem and will keep teens from thinking lonely and depressing thoughts. Although what is unfortunate is that Alice, along with a lot of other teenagers, turn to drugs and alcohol as an escape. Once they start doing the drugs, the drugs replace those bad feelings.   The generation gap is another good characteristic seen in the novel. When Alice and her family moved, she started to change her appearance in ways her parents didn’t like and they were also worried because of this change in Alice. She starts to dress like a hippie, wearing moccasins and clothes with fringe. She also starts to iron her hair flat instead of wearing it with a flip. With her parents nagging at her about her change in appearance made her want to breakdown. All the feelings bottle up inside of Alice, which leads to more drug use. The situation that Alice went through is a typical situation between any other teenager and their parents.   Many times throughout the novel, Alice pretty much does what she wants, when she wants no matter what. Such as when Chris and Alice go to San Francisco. They are in total control of themselves, Alice never likes when her parents try and tell her something. A lot like teenagers today go against their parents will. Alice was always welcomed home whenever she wanted to go back.

Marketing Plan Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing BTEC Coursework

Marketing Plan Current Market Situation An opportunity for Western Slopes's success exists because the national tourism and travel industry is growing 4% and adventure travel 10% annually. According to the Department of Commerce, the US travel and tourism industry is the nation's third largest retail industry and will be number one by the year 2000. Revenues from travel have increased approximately 100% in the last decade with US travel agencies producing over $100 billion in revenues each year. The travel and tourism market is separated into two main categories, business and leisure travel. Each contribute about 45% to total revenues. Adventure travel falls primarily under the leisure travel category. Revenues from leisure travel earned by US travel agencies were almost $50 billion annually. Reasons for this growth include a healthy domestic economy and devaluation of currency in other regions which has made travel less expensive for US residents. Leisure travel increased by 3.2% in 1997 and 2.0% in 1998. The healthy economy has increased business which in turn boosted domestic business travel 4.8% in 1997 and 3.6% in 1998. Adventure travel, a segment of the travel and tourism industry, growing 10% annually, it is one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry. More than 50% of the US adult traveling population, or 147 million people, have taken an adventure trip in their lifetime, 98 million in the past five years. Skiing is one of the activities...

Madness and Insanity in Shakespeares Hamlet - A Sane Man :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: A Sane Man Hamlet was indeed a very sane man. He was only feigning madness to further his own plans for revenge. His words were so cleverly constructed that others will perceive him as mad. It is this consistent cleverness that is the ultimate evidence of his complete sanity. Can a mad person be so clever? No, a mad person cannot. Hamlet is sane and brilliant. After Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus see the ghost, Hamlet tells Horatio that he is going to "feign madness". If Horatio is to notice Hamlet acting strange it is because he is putting on an act. "How strange or odd some'er I bear myself/(As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/To put an antic disposition on)/That you, at such times seeing, never shall,/With arms encumbered thus, or this headshake ,/Or by pronouncing of some doutful phrase,/As "Well,well,we know," or "We could an if we/would,"/Or "If we list to speak," or "There be an if they/might,"/Or such ambiguous giving-out, to note/That you know of me-this do swear,/(I,v,190-201).Hamlet states that from this point forward I may act weird but to ignore my acts of madness for they are just that, acts, and are in no way a sign of true madness. Only a sane and rational person could devise such a plan as to act insane to convince others that he is insane when he actually has complete control over his psyche. Hamlet only acts mad when he is in the presence of certain characters. When he is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern he acts completely irrational. When Hamlet is around Horatio, Bernardo, Fransico, the players, and the gravediggers Hamlet acts completely sane. When Hamlet and Polonius meet in II,ii Hamlet calls Polonius a fishmonger and makes strange conversation with him. In IV,iii Hamlet refuses to tell Claudius were he has hidden the body of Polonius and goes on about how Polonius is at supper. When Hamlet encounters Gertrude in her closet, an unusual place, in III,iv. He yells at his own mother. In II,i Hamlet enters Ophelia's closet, a highly unusual act, he is dressed badly, and acts very strange towards her. Claudius and Polonius set up a clandestine meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia in III,i. Ophelia then tries to return some gifts that Hamlet gave to her and Hamlet claims that he did not give her any gifts and that he never loved her at all. During the play in III,ii Hamlet sexually harasses Ophelia in front of the entire audience of the play. In IV,ii Hamlet refuses to tell Rosencratz

“What is ‘Superblood” Analysis

The article â€Å"What is ‘Superblood' and Why Do I Want It?†, written by Kyree Leary, explains a great potential medical advancement. A biotech startup company, Rubius Therapeutics, wants to use red blood cells to replace missing enzymes in patients with rare diseases or conditions along with patients with autoimmune disorders in order to treat them. These diseases include Type 1 diabetes and even cancer. The technique Rubius Therapeutics plans on using is equipping red blood cells with a protein that can be tailored to treat the condition of the patient it is being infused into. Then, the company plans on putting these blood cells into the body, but overall, it will account for less than 1 percent of the patient's total blood volume. This idea is similar to the idea of using modified T-cells to fight cancer; however, red blood cell therapies do not need to be personalized. For T-cell therapy, the cells must be taken from the patient and put back into the same patient to avoid rejection by the immune system, whereas for the red blood cell treatment, only the use of any person's O negative blood can be effective, for it is a universal donor. In fact, one donor could generate enough therapeutic doses to treat hundreds of thousands of different patients. The company has not released any products yet, but they have raised $220 million in funding which is going to go towards the development of products along with clinical trials necessary for ensuring their safety. This article certainly grabbed my attention when I saw it while scrolling through articles. I have done a lot of work with blood and enzymes in PBS and Biology, so I was intrigued to see what this new â€Å"Superblood† was. Having learned about blood and the topic of the article already, I understood the methods the company plans on using, which made the article and story even more interesting. I found it fascinating that something as simple as placing missing enzymes back into someone's body can possibly have the ability to treat a condition as serious as cancer. In addition, it astonishes me how individuals and companies can think of innovative things like this that could have such an impact on people and the field of medicine. The health of millions is compromised by cancer and autoimmune disease, which this procedure targets. If Rubius Therapeutics can successfully use this red blood cell therapy as a treatment for cancer or even Type 1 diabetes, our world will be a better place, and the healthcare field would be drastically altered. This could diminish the need for insulin injections or pumps if done properly along with other standard treatments. Although this idea may not be able to actually cure cancer, it definitely could and probably will lead to other scientists and/or physicians getting inspired and developing innovations that could bring humanity closer to a cure for the deadly disease. Overall, this â€Å"Superblood† can certainly lead to advancements in the medical field which would make our population a healthier group of people.

Lead with Example

Matthew Vetter English 101 Professor Melanie Bussiere September 25th, 2010 A Conflict Of Interest Stability in a ruler’s morals and ethics are a vital asset to have when ruling a group of people. With similarities shared between the ruler and the common person the ruler will then be able to relate and be more respected amongst the population, as opposed to a ruler who rules with his own self interest at hand.In the piece, The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli argues the many principles of how a prince should and should not rule. In order to rule successfully he states a prince must possess some of the following characteristics; morality, a strong army, strict rule, common ground with his people and also to be widely respected. Machiavelli laid the ground work for many rulers in the future with his modern view in a time where rulers were primitive and ruled through fear and terror.The Prince and its ideas can even be seen today in our modern day presidents and kings proving that Mach iavelli had compelling ideas and arguments for how leaders can obtain and hold a position of power successfully. Respect, the most important quality a leader should have, is the basis for any relationship whether it is between friends or a ruler and his people. The prince depicted in Machiavelli’s work has no respect for or from the population and this solely is his major flaw.Machiavelli states, â€Å"Spending the wealth of others does not lesson your reputation but adds to it; only spending what is your own is what hurts you†. In order to gain the respect he must forge relationships, sacrifice what is his own and respect the lives of his people. It is seen through his methods of war that he spends the lives of his people frivolously sending them on missions where the fatalities are extremely he high due to the fact he has no care for the population as long as his position is protected from outside enemies .The prince grew up rich, privileged and oblivious to the hard ships faced by the working class. His followers grew up in a completely different lifestyle with responsibilities, battles and hard work the two different lives clash, making it impossible for him to share experiences or believe their personal thoughts and aspirations for the civilization if they conflict with his own. Due to the conflicting ideologies of the Prince and his people he will never be able to lead successfully in theory of Machiavelli.These views can even be seen in modern day, when a president or person of power is involved in scandal or betrayal of his people he is impeached and removed from the position of power and that is exactly what will happen to a Prince who cannot control his people. Along with caring about his fellow man that is ranked below him on the social ladder, a prince according to Machiavelli must show compassion along with being able to control. In the view of Machiavelli, â€Å"it is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both†, a leader must find common ground with his people and show interest without leniency within the rules.With this healthy balance of freedom and strict rule Machiavelli provided a solid background for how a leader or in this case a Prince can keep order. The exampled Prince in the essay found it quite difficult to relate to his less fortunate counterparts causing them to not cooperate with his decisions despite the threat of death to those who oppose so without respect and fear no man can truly rule according to Machiavelli. Earning a leadership role through your actions provides a steady background, and respect from the people who will be following you.Many rulers come up through family and their reign is usually short lived. This is due to their inexperience in battle, leadership roles and how to treat a population. A prince regardless of his prior experience and actions will generally rule from a pedestal with belief he is always correct with preconceived notions that his opinion is always higher than those below him or her they will never take others serious. With this mind set it is impossible for someone to rule effectively because they will not take other opinions or view into consideration until it is too late.This is evident in Machiavelli’s piece when he explains the situation in which the Duke of Milan’s sons came into leadership. The boys came into rule after their father and had no respect for the population or their opinion and were quickly over thrown through the force of an outraged population. Leadership is built behind respect and respect is built behind camaraderie and previous acts in which display the character of a leader. The actions of a prince before coming into rule will define his entire reign of power.It will determine whether it is short lived or the start of a prosperous empire. Machiavelli laid down the frame work for the ideal leader to retain power and keep order. The beliefs of Machiavelli have been seen time after t ime in our current leaders around the globe. Their fallacies are seen exactly as Machiavelli saw them and their good qualities are also seen. Nonetheless, it is impossible to say how to perfectly rule as there will always be those to oppose for their own personal reasons but the essay The Prince, is as close of a depiction of the ideal ruler to date.

Imat

THE ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES’ INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL ADMISSIONS TEST (IMAT) TEST SPECIFICATION In partnership with Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR) February 2013 Test Specification Test Format The IMAT will have the same structure as the existing Italian test. Candidates are allowed a total of 90 minutes to complete the test. Section 1 General Knowledge and Logical Reasoning (Critical Thinking and Problem Solving) 30 multiple-choice questions. Sections 2, 3 and 4Science-based sections, covering: Biology; Chemistry; Physics & Mathematics. 30 multiple-choice questions. All questions have five options, of which one is correct. Candidates record their answers on a separate answer sheet. Candidates can also indicate if they have opted not to answer a question. Candidates are allowed 90 minutes to complete the test. Scoring A candidate’s total score is calculated using the following formula: 1. 5 points for each correct answer; -0. 4 points for eac h wrong answer; 0 points for each question not answered.An overall total score will be reported, together with a score on each section. Level of Difficulty The level of difficulty of the test items will be targeted to discriminate effectively between applicants, including those who may have achieved the highest possible grades in school examinations. Section 1: General Knowledge and Logical Reasoning (Critical Thinking and Problem Solving) Section 1 will assess general knowledge and the logical reasoning skills that students must possess if they are to succeed in a course of study at the highest level.Such skills are basic to any academic studies, which often require students to solve novel problems, or consider arguments put forward to justify a conclusion, or to promote or defend a particular point of view. General Knowledge General Knowledge questions may address a range of cultural topics, including aspects of literary, historical, philosophical, social and political culture. 1 The World Heritage Convention, adopted by UNESCO in 1972, aims to identify and maintain a list of sites that may be considered: A of exceptional cultural or natural importance B of outstanding economic value C to be characterized by a lasting peaceD to be conventionally suitable for human settlement E to have exploitable energy resources Critical Thinking Critical Thinking involves reasoning using everyday written language. Questions focus on the skills involved in understanding and evaluating arguments. These include: drawing and summarising conclusions, identifying assumptions and reasoning errors, and assessing the impact of additional evidence. Summarising the Main Conclusion 2 There has been a decline in the rate of many of the illnesses of old age. The causes of this decline include such medical advances as new drugs and surgical techniques.There is, however, another factor. The present generation of 60- and 70-year-olds had much better nutrition as children than did their par ents. Good nutrition in childhood is important for good health in adulthood. Since improvements in nutrition have continued over the past sixty years, we can expect that many of the illnesses of old age will continue to decline. W hich one of the following best expresses the main conclusion of the above argument? A W e can expect that improvements in nutrition will continue. B The rate of many of the illnesses of old age has declined.C Medical advances have significantly reduced the rate of diseases of old age. D The fall in the rate of many of the illnesses associated with old age will continue. E Improvements in nutrition have been very important in maintaining good health in old age. In this type of question you have to judge which one of the statements A to E best expresses the main conclusion of the argument. The conclusion can appear anywhere within an argument – not necessarily at the end. What you are looking for is the statement which follows from, or is supported by the rest of the passage. Drawing a Conclusion The demand for blood donors is increasing all over the world. In Western countries, in particular, demand has been rising so rapidly that shortages have begun to appear. In all such countries, demand is growing much faster than rates of growth in populatio ns aged 1865, and it is this group who are the major blood donors. And, despite a massive research effort to find alternatives, it remains true that in medicine there is no substitute for human blood. W hich one of the following conclusions can be drawn from the passage? A As the demand for blood has increased, so has the supply fallen.B The rate of growth of the blood-donor population has been slowing recently. C The increase in the rate of demand for blood is mainly due to population growth. D If more blood donors could be found, there would be no need to find a substitute for human blood. E The problem of the increase in demand for blood shows no sign of disappearing. In this type of question you are asked which conclusion follows from the information given. You need to consider each of the statements A to E, and to think about whether the information in the passage gives you good reasons to accept the statement. Identifying an Assumption 4Success in modern America is very much measured by the quantity of material possessions one has. A lack of material possessions means one is judged to be unsuccessful. Those people with few material possessions therefore must feel a strong sense of failure. W hich one of the following is an underlying assumption of the above argument? A Most modern Americans are successful. B Success can be precisely measured. C Over-emphasis on material possessions creates social problems. D Excessive desire for material possessions is psychologically damaging. E People in America with few material possessions want to be seen as successful.An assumption is something which is not stated in the argument, but which is taken for granted in ord er to draw the conclusion. So you need first to identify the conclusion of the argument. Then look for the reasoning it gives to support this conclusion, and think about any important point which is not actually stated in the reasoning. Assessing the Impact of Additional Evidence 5 Zoos are entirely unsuitable places for animals. People visit zoos to learn about animal behaviour but the animals they see are likely to be behaving in abnormal and neurotic ways because of the cramped and unnatural conditions n which they are kept. Zoos should be closed and the money saved should be used for the protection of natural habitats. W hich of the following, if true, would most weaken the above argument? A Humans living in cramped conditions can also become neurotic. B Schoolchildren can learn a great deal about animals from visiting zoos. C Many of the animals at present in zoos would not be capable of living in the wild. D The protection of natural habitats is very costly. E Zoos enable enda ngered species to s urvive by breeding them in captivity and then reintroducing them to the wild.This type of question will typically ask you to consider what would weaken or strengthen an argument. You need first to be clear about what the argument is trying to establish. Work out what the conclusion is, and then consider what effect each of the possible answers would have on the conclusion. Detecting Reasoning Errors 6 In order to succeed in academic examinations it is necessary to study. Therefore, if a student works hard in a particular subject, he or she shoul d do well when it comes to the examination. W hich of the following best describes the flaw in the argument? A It assumes that it is necessary to study in order to succeed.B It overestimates the value of studying in preparation for examinations. C It ignores the fact that some subjects are more academic than others. D It assumes that studying hard is a sufficient condition for academic success. E It ignores the fact that some students do not need to study very much in order to succeed. This type of question asks you to identify the flaw in the argument, which means that you must explain why the conclusion does not follow from the reasons which are given. So you need to be clear about what the conclusion is, and what reasons are meant to support it. Problem SolvingProblem Solving involves reasoning using numerical and spatial skills. Questions are of three kinds, each assessing a key aspect of insight into unfamiliar problems. The three kinds are Relevant Selection, Finding Procedures, and Identifying Similarity. Although most questions fall into one category some questions fit into more than one of the categories. Relevant Selection 7 The following table gives figures for the percentage growth per year of labour productivity per person per year in various countries during three periods. Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Japan 8. 5 3. 0 3. 2 France 5. 4 3. 0 2. 6 United Kingdom 3. 6 . 5 2. 4 Belgium 3. 3 2. 8 2. 3 Sweden 4. 1 1. 5 1. 8 Denmark 4. 3 2. 6 1. 7 Italy 6. 3 3. 0 1. 6 Netherlands 4. 8 2. 7 1. 6 Germany 4. 5 3. 1 1. 6 United States 2. 2 0. 0 0. 8 W hich country's percentage growth per year remained consistently greater than half of its Period 1 level in the following periods? A Belgium B Denmark C France D Germany E United Kingdom Very often a real world problem will be overloaded with information, much of which is unimportant. This kind of question demands Relevant Selection, in which the task is to select only that information which is necessary and helpful in finding a solution.Finding Procedures 8 A child's bus fare is cheaper than the adult fare but is more than half the adult fare. The total cost of a single journey for an adult and two children is â‚ ¬1. 20. Adult fares are all multiples of 10 cents. W hat is the adult fare? A 30 cents B 40 cents C 50 cents D 60 cents E 70 cents Sometimes you will find that even if you have selected all the relevant information, no solution presents itself. For this type of question, you have to find a method or procedure which you can use to generate a solution. Identifying Similarity 9In this type of question you will be presented with information and asked to identify the same information presented in a different way, or a situation in which different information has a similar structure. Section 2: Biology The chemistry of living things The bio-elements. The biological importance of weak interactions. Properties of water. Organic molecules in living organisms and their respective functions. The role of enzymes. The cell as the basis of life Cellular theory. Cell size. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The cell membrane and its functions. Cellular structures and their specific functions.Cell reproduction: mitosis and meiosis. Chromosomes. Animal tissues. Bioenergetics The energy currency of cells: ATP. Transporters of energy: NAD, FAD. Oxidationreduction reactions in living things. Photosynthesis. Glycolysi s. Aerobic respiration. Fermentation. Reproduction and Inheritance Life cycles. Sexual and asexual reproduction. Mendelian genetics. Basic laws and applications. Classical genetics: chromosome theory of inheritance; sex chromosomes, chromosome maps. Molecular genetics: DNA and genes, genetic code and its translation, protein synthesis. DNA of prokaryotes.The chromosome of eukaryotes. Regulation of gene expression. Human genetics: transmission of mono and multi-factorial features, hereditary diseases. New frontiers of genetics: recombinant DNA and its potential bio-technological applications. Inheritance and environment Mutations. Natural and artificial selection. Evolutionary theories. The genetic basis of evolution. Anatomy and Physiology of animals and humans Anatomy of the major organs and their functions and interactions. Homeostasis. Hormonal regulation. Nerve impulse. Transmission and processing of information.The immune response. Section 3: Chemistry The constitution of matte r States of matter; heterogeneous and homogeneous systems; compounds and elements. The structure of the atom Elementary particles, atomic number and mass number, isotopes, electronic structure of atoms of the elements. The periodic table of elements Groups and periods, transition elements, periodic properties of elements: atomic radius, ionization potential, electron affinity, metals and non-metals; relations between electronic structure, position in the periodic table and properties. The chemical bondIonic bond, covalent bond, bond polarity, electronegativity. Fundamentals of inorganic chemistry Nomenclature and main properties of inorganic compounds: oxides, hydroxides, acids, salts; position in the periodic table. Chemical reactions and stoichiometry Atomic and molecular weight, Avogadro constant, concept of the mole, conversion from grams to moles and vice versa, elementary stoichiometric calculations, balancing simple reactions, various types of chemical reactions. Solutions So lvent properties of water, solubility, the main ways of expressing the concentration of solutions.Oxidation and reduction Oxidation number, the concepts of oxidising and reducing agents. Acids and bases Concepts of acids and bases, acidity, neutrality and basicity of aqueous solutions, pH. Fundamentals of organic chemistry Bonds between carbon atoms; molecular, structural and displayed formulae; concept of isomers; aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons; functional groups: alcohols, ethers, amines, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, amides. Section 4: Physics & Mathematics Physics MeasuresDirect and indirect measures, fundamental and derived quantities, physical dimensions of quantities, knowledge of the metric system and the CGS System of Units, Technical (or practical) (ST) and the International System (SI) of Units (names and relationships between fundamental and derived units), and multiples and submultiples (names and values). Kinematics Kinematic quantities, various types of motion with particular regard to uniform and uniformly accelerating rectilinear motion, uniform circular motion, harmonic motion (for all motion: definition and relationships between measures).Dynamics Vectors and operations on vectors. Forces, moments of forces about a point. Vector composition of forces. Definitions of mass and weight. Acceleration due to gravity. Density and specific gravity. Law of universal gravitation, 1st, 2nd and 3rd laws of motion. Work, kinetic energy, potential energy. Principle of conservation of energy. Fluid mechanics Pressure, and its units of measurement (not only in the SI system). Archimedes' principle. Pascal's principle. Stevino's law. Thermodynamics Thermometry and calorimetry. Specific heat, heat capacity.Mechanisms of heat propagation. Changes of state and latent heat. Ideal Gas Laws. First and second laws of thermodynamics. Electrostatics and electrodynamics Coulomb's law. Field and electric potential. Dielectric constant. C apacitors. Capacitors in series and in parallel. Direct current. Ohm's law. Electrical resistance and resistivity, electrical resistors in series and in parallel. Work, Power, Joule effect. Generators. Electromagnetic induction and alternating currents. Effects of electrical currents (thermal, chemical and magnetic). Mathematics Algebra and numerical setsNatural numbers, integers, rational and real numbers. Sorting and comparison, scales and scientific notation. Operations and their properties. Proportions and percentages. Powers with whole and rational exponents and their properties. Roots and their properties. Logarithms (base 10 and base e) and their properties. Elements of combinatorics. Algebraic and polynomial expressions. Special products th of binomials, n power of a binomial, factorisation of polynomials. Algebraic fractions. Algebraic equations and inequalities of the first and second order. Systems of equations. FunctionsBasic concepts of functions and their graphical rep resentations (domain, codomain, sign, maxima and minima, increasing and decreasing, etc. ). Elementary functions: whole and fractional algebraic functions, exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions. Composite functions and inverse functions. Trigonometric equations and inequalities. Geometry Polygons and their properties. Circle and circumference. Measurement of length, area and volume. Isometries, similarities and equivalences in the plane. Geometric loci. Measure angles in degrees and radians. Sine, cosine, tangent of an angle and their significant values.Trigonometric formulas. Solving triangles. Cartesian reference system in a plane. Distance between two points and the midpoint of a segment. Equation of a line. Concepts of parallel and perpendicular. Distance of a point from a straight line. Equation of the circle, the parabola, hyperbola, ellipse and their representation in the Cartesian plane. Pythagorean theorem. Probability and Statistics Frequency distributions a nd their graphic representations. Concepts of random experiments and of events. Probability and frequency. Specimen Biology, Chemistry, Physics and MathematicsQuestions 10 The diagram below shows a family tree of a condition known as nail patella syndrome (NPS). 1 3 4 2 5 7 6 8 9 Key female without NPS male without NPS female with NPS male with NPS W hich of the following pairs of individuals must be heterozygous for NPS? A 1 and 5 B 2 and 6 C 3 and 7 D 4 and 8 E 5 and 9 11 An oxide of iron has the formula Fe3O4 and contains both Fe 2+ and Fe W hich one of the following is the fraction of iron ions that are in the Fe 3+ 2+ ions. state? 1 /4 A 1 /3 B 1 /2 C 2 /3 D 3 /4 E 12 Below are four statements about thermal (heat) energy. 1A substance can lose heat energy without its temperature falling. 2 Heat energy can pass through a vacuum. 3 Steam at 100 C has more heat energy than the same mass of boiling water o at 100 C W hen a container of water is cooled near the top, a convection cur rent is set up in the water. 4 o W hich statements are true? A 1, 2 and 3 B 2, 3 and 4 C 1, 2 and 4 D 1, 3 and 4 E all of the statements 13 The longest side of a right angled triangle is 6 One of the shorter sides is 3+2v5 units. W hat is the length of the third side? A B 2v3 70+24 5 C 12 D 3 ? v5 E 14 +7. 5v5 v5 units.