A Business overview of Aluminium Bahrain

A Business overview of Aluminium Bahrain Culture is a term that is hard to express clearly, but people tend to sense it when they feel it. â€Å"Basically, organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Culture is comprised of the assumptions, values, norms and tangible signs (artifacts) of organization members and their behaviors. Members of an organization soon come to sense the particular culture of an organization.†Ã‚   [ 1 ]   Organizational cultures are classified into seven distinct cultural dimensions that portray the company’s mission, objectives, strategies and vision. Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), one of the largest aluminum producers in the world is known for its strong organizational culture. Alba’s culture is characterized by several dimensions like people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability. This essay will demonstrate the variety of dimensions through Alba’s momentous historical performance and inspiring vision. Company History â€Å"The sto ry of Alba marks the inception of industrial diversification in the Gulf. The company’s ongoing success as a primary producer of high-grade aluminium has brought significant economic benefits to the region and has taken the country technologically into the 21st Century. In the mid 1960s, the Bahrain Government was seeking to diversify its economic base from a heavy dependence on oil. The aim was to establish a suitable industry which would provide valuable export earnings, develop the country’s resources and create training and employment opportunities. Bahrain was well situated geographically between the source of raw materials, particularly alumina from Australia, and the markets for primary aluminium in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Bahrain’s prime advantage was its plentiful supply of gas from the Khuff field to meet the high energy requirements of aluminium production.†Ã‚   [ 2 ]    People Orientation Alba is known for its people oriented organizat ional culture. Most of the decisions and actions take into account the company’s significant stakeholders like employees, customers, suppliers and the Bahraini society. Fostering a stable workforce through Bahrainization Bahrainization is an important economic policy of the Government of Bahrain, and the Company has exceeded the government’s stated target levels of Bahrainization. Consequently, the Company’s permanent staff includes a high proportion of Bahraini citizens. Currently, over 87% of its permanent employees are citizens of Bahrain. Employees As at June 30, 2010, the Company employed 2,706 full-time equivalent employees. The following table sets forth the aggregate number of people employed by each of its departments. Breakdown of Employees by Department Department Bahraini Nationals Expatriates Total Chief Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 13 60 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 26 218 Calciner & Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 105 560 Cast House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377 38 415 Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4 25 Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 2 39 Metal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930 64 994 Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 74 254 Sourcing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 23 141 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,357 349 2,706 Employee Benefits Alba provides many services to employees including â€Å"comprehensive Medical Centre, subsidized canteens, an attractive savings benefit scheme, a well-equipped sports and leisure club, a unique housing scheme, transportation to work for all non-supervisory employees and a number of reward schemes including the Good Suggestion Scheme, Attendance Award and Gold Card scheme†Ã‚   [ 3 ]    Alba savings benefit scheme The Company also operates a contributory savings scheme for its Bahraini employees, the Alba Savings and Benefit Scheme (â€Å"ASBS†). The employees’ contributions are deducted from their salaries and the Company makes an additional contribution to each employee’s savings. The scheme is established as a trust and is administered by trustees representing the employees and the Company. The trustees manage the risks relating to the scheme’s assets by appr oving the entities in which the scheme can invest and by setting limits for investment in individual entities. The Company’s board of directors may consider allowing Bahraini national employees to borrow from the ASBS to fund the purchase of Ordinary Shares in the Limited Offering to Bahraini citizens. â€Å"The Company’s board of directors is also considering a proposal to purchase Ordinary Shares in the Ordinary Share Offering, up to an aggregate of 3,000,000 Ordinary Shares, using its own funds, and to hold such Ordinary Shares in treasury until distribution at a future date to eligible employees.†Ã‚   [ 4 ]   Under the proposed plan, each of its current employees would be granted a fixed sum of Ordinary Shares â€Å"contingent upon such employee’s continuous employment and good standing with the Company during a specified future period, and subject to certain other conditions.†Ã‚   [ 5 ]

Shareholder Wealth Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Shareholder Wealth - Assignment Example Such claims are limited by the proportion of ownership derived from the amount of the investment. Shareholders who invest have one common goal: maximise the value of invested wealth. Every investment decision is made with the expectation that its value would increase over time. Shareholders do not necessarily manage the business, so they hire managers as their agents to increase the value of their (shareholders') wealth such that there would be enough profits for everybody. A portion of these profits is given back to owners through dividends whilst the balance may be re-invested to create more wealth. The agency theory describes the dynamics of the relationship and potential conflicts of interest between shareholder-owners and manager-agents. How shareholder wealth is measured indicates how managers can maximise it. For any business with more than one shareholder, the ultimate measure of shareholder wealth is the share price, the value of one share of ownership in the business. Share valuation follows a systematic process based on the value of the corporation's assets, which equal its liabilities plus stockholders' equity, all information available from the balance sheet. At start-up, the value of a share is derived from dividing equity by the number of shares offered. Once the business generates profits, cash can be distributed as dividends to shareholders or re-invested in the business. Profits increase assets and the value of the shareholders' equity, thereby increasing each share's value. Or, assets can increase with debt, but it does not automatically follow that stockholders' equity would stay the same, decrease, or increase. The effects of debt depend on what managers do with it, and whether or not borrowing allows the corporation to generate more cash. At some future time, when a shareholder decides to sell the shares, both buyer and seller only need to analyse the balance sheet to agree on the price. However, a single share of stock is not only a claim on the assets the corporation owns today, or the value of the shareholders' equity now. It is also a claim on future profits and the future selling price of the share. Neither is the investment totally risk-free, since the share's value could drop because of mismanagement and bankruptcy. Risk is part of valuation because of the risk-return relationship. Therefore, a share's value today is calculated by getting the present value of: 1) Cash dividends until the shares are sold; 2) Proceeds from selling the shares; or if the corporation ceases operations, 3) The firm's break-up value after selling assets to pay off liabilities. Financial analysts simplify share valuation by focusing on the present value of cash dividends, making the convenient assumptions that shares would not be sold and the business would not be closed. Since cash dividends are equivalent to the free cash flow (FCF), the value of a share now is the present value of the FCF stream discounted at the rate of return investors expect to receive on comparable investments. FCF is not profits, which can be re-invested or given out as dividends. Rather, FCF is the cash not retained nor

Term Limits Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Term Limits - Research Paper Example My point of discussion is that even with all the modern changes and also the change in lifestyle, there is still the presence of racial and ethnic aspects in the United States congress. In such a developed country, there should not be the existence of such things. Take for instance the majority of the people who hold the major offices. It is safe to say that majority of those who hold the top positions in the congress are either all of a certain race of are for a certain ethnic group2. As a factor to consider, there should be equal opportunities for all races and also for people of different ethnic groups. An analysis can be done in order to determine which offices face such problems. This will enable for there to be a solution that will ensure that there are no such incidences of the congress in the future. Such incidences are bound to separate the congress3. As a conclusion for this essay, such incidences should not exist, and in particular they should not exist in such a modern and advanced country. There should be laws that govern and guide such behavior in the congress. The congress should lead people by example, and as such should not be in the spotlight for such