Give a Boy a Gun Essay

He says just about â€Å"yes, ma’amed† and â€Å"no, ma’amed†. Yes ma’am, everything is fine. No ma’am, I don’t have a problem with anyone. But you could see the pain and anger in his eyes. Citation: What Brendan and Gary did was terribly, horribly, inexcusably wrong. I have no interest in defending them. But deep in my heart there is a little piece of me that at least understands what might have driven them to such a horrendous, evil undertaking. But what those boys id was equally inexcusable and evil. Brett Betzig – Brendan’s friend in Springfield. Citation: One thing about Brendan: He hated injustice Deidre Bunson – student on the Middletown high schoolPaul Burns – Football player. Citation: One day in class we were talking about morality, and Brendan said there was no God. He didn’t say that he didn’t believe in God. He just said there was no God. (Because of the injustice in the world, he thinks that a God can’t exist) (Page 56) Brandan Lowlor:He is a sporty, skinny guy with glasses. His parents are very friendly and they can? t understand their son’s behavior. Brandan is highly intelligent, a litte bit excited (aufgeregt? Man kann in einer bestimmten Situation aufgeregt sein, aber fur eine Charaktereigenschaft brauchst du hier einen anderen Begriff. Was genau meinst du? ) and distrustful. He loves sports and videogames like â€Å"Doom†. He doesn’t want to move to Middletown, that’s the reason why he has problems at school.

Francisco Arcellana Essay

Francisco â€Å"Franz† Arcellana (September 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002) was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalistand teacher. He was born on September 20, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of becoming a writer during his years in the elementary. His actual writing, however, started when he became a member of The Torres Torch Organization during his high school years. Arcellana continued writing in various school papers at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He later on received a Rockfeller Grant and became a fellow in creative writing the University of Iowa and Breadloaf’s writers conference from 1956- 1957. He is considered an important progenitor of the modern Filipino short story in English. Arcellana pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form within Filipino literature. His works are now often taught in tertiary-level-syllabi in the Philippines. Many of his works were translated into Tagalog, Malaysia n, Russian, Italian, and German. Arcellana won 2nd place in 1951 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, with his short story, â€Å"The Flowers of May.† 14 of his short stories were also included in Jose Garcia Villa’s Honor Roll from 1928 to 1939. His major achievements included the first award in art criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1954, the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL) in 1988. On April 2, 1989, the University of the Philippines conferred upon Arcellana a doctorate in humane letters, honoris causa. Francisco Arcellana was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in Literature on 23, 1990 by then Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino. In 2009, or seven years after his death, his family came out with a book to pay tribute to National Artist for Literature Arcellana. The book entitled, â€Å"Franz,† is a collection of essays gathered by the Arcellana family from colleagues, friends, students and family members, including f ellow National Artist Nick Joaquin, Butch Dalisay, Recah Trinidad, Jing Hidalgo,Gemino Abad, Romina Gonzalez, Edwin Cordevilla, Divina Aromin, Doreen Yu, Danton Remoto, Jose Esteban Arcellana and others. Arcellana is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Arcellana died in 2002. As a National Artist, he received a state funeral at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. His grandson Liam Hertzsprung performed a piano concert in 2006 dedicated to him. Arcellana’s published books include: Selected Stories (1962) Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977) The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990). References 1. Jump up^ Morales, Natalia M.L.M. A Haiku for Sir Franz, In Memoriam: Franz Arcellana, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug. 13, 2002, www.tinig.net 2. Jump up^ http://www.globalpinoy.com/gp.topics.v1/viewtopic.php?postid=4d880cceafad2&channelName=4d880cceafad2 3. Jump up^ http://www.philstar.com/headlines/170509/national-artist-arcellana-85 4. Jump up^ http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca/org-awards/literature/francisco_arcellana.php 5. Jump up^ http://www.philstar.com/arts-and-culture/517127/regarding-franz-launch Biography of Francisco Arcellana Francisco â€Å"Franz† Arcellana (Zacarias Eugene Francisco Quino Arcellana) was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher. He was born in aka Frank V. Sta. Cruz, Manila. He is the fourth of 18 children of Jose Arcellana y Cabaneiro and Epifanio Quino. He was married to Emerenciana Yuvienco with whom he has six children, one of whom, Juaniyo is an essayist, poet and fictionist. He received his first schooling in Tondo. The idea of writing occurred to him at the Tondo Intermediate School but it was at the Manila West High School (later Torres High School) that he took up writing actively as staff member of The Torres Torch, the school organ. In 1932 Arcellana entered the University of the Philippines (UP) as a pre-medicine student and graduated in 1939 with a bachelor of philosophy in degree. In his junior year, mainly because of the publication of his  Ã¢â‚¬Å"trilogy of the turtles† in the Literary Apprentice, Arcellana was invited to join the UP Writers Club by Manuel Arguilla – who at that time was already a campus literary figure. In 1934, he edited and published Expression, a quarterly of experimental writing. It caught the attention of Jose Garcia Villa who started a correspondence with Arcellana. It also spawned the Veronicans, a group of 13 pre-WWII who rebelled against traditional forms and themes in Philippine literature. Arcellana went on to medical school after receiving his bachelor’s degree while holding jobs in Herald Midweek Magazine, where his weekly column â€Å"Art and Life† (later retitled â€Å"Life and Letters†) appeared, and in Philcross, the publication of the Philippine Red Cross. The war stopped his schooling. After the war, he continued working in media and publishing and began a career in the academe. He was manager of the International News Service and the editor of This Week. He joined the UP Department of English and Comparative Literature and served as adviser of the Philippine Collegian and director of the UP Creative Writing Center, 1979- 1982. Under a Rockefeller Foundation grant he became a fellow in creative writing, 1956- 1957, at the University of Iowa and Breadloaf Writers’ Conference. In 1932 Arcellana published his first story. â€Å"The Man Who Could Be Poe† in Graphic while still a student at Torres High School. The following year two of his short stories, â€Å"Death is a Factory† and â€Å"Lina,† were included in Jose Garcia Villa’s honor roll. During the 1930’s, which he calls his most productive period, he wrote his most significant stories including, â€Å"Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal† cited in 1938 by Villa as the year’s best. He also began writing poetry at this time, many of them appearing in Philippine Collegian, Graphic and Herald Midweek Magazine. He is considered an important progenitor of the modern Filipino short story in English. Arcellana pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form within Filipino literature. His works are now often taught in tertiary-level-syllabi in the Philippines. Some of his works have been translated into Tagalog, Malaysian, Italian,  German and Russian, and many have been anthologized. Two major collections of his works are: Selected Stories, 1962, and The Francisco Arcellana Sampler, 1990. He also edited the Philippine PEN Anthology of Short Stories, 1962, and Fifteen Stories: Story Masters 5, 1973. Arcellana credits Erskine Caldwell and Whit Burnett as influences. From 1928 to 1939, 14 of his short stories were included in Jose Garcia Villa’s honor roll. His short story â€Å"The Flowers of May† won second prize in 1951 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature. Another short story, â€Å"Wing of Madness,† placed second in the Philippines Free Press literary contest in 1953, He also received the first award in art criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1954, the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL) in 1988. He was conferred a doctorate in humane letters, honoris causa, by the UP in 1989. He was proclaimed National Artist in Literature in 1990 – L.R. Lacuesta and R.C. Lucero Francisco Arcellana’s Works: Selected Stories (1962) Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977) The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990).  This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia Francisco Arcellana; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA. Francisco Arcellana Si Francisco Arcellana ay makata, mangangatha, kritiko, peryodista at guro. Isa siya sa mga ninuno ng makabagong Filipinong maikling katha sa Ingles. Siya ang nanguna sa pagpapalawak ng maikling katha bilang matulaing anyo. Kaniyang ipinagkakapuri ang likhang-isip sapagkat naipapakita nito ang katotohanan at naipriprisinta ang realidad. Siya ay naging mapangahas sa pagtuklas ng mga anyo ng sanaysay upang maipahayag ang talas ng pakiramdam ng mga Filipino. Dahil sa galing ng kaniyang mga kamay sa pagsulat, ang kaniyang mga likha ay siya na ngayong ginagamit ng mga mag-aaral sa kolehiyo. Mga Aklat Selected Stories (1962) Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977) The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1990) Maikling Kuwento Frankie The Man Who Would Be Poe Death in a Factory Lina Divided by Two Tula The Other Woman This Being the Third Poem This Poem is for Mathilda To Touch You I Touched Her Sanggunian â€Å"Francisco Arcellana.† ncca (hinango noong 26 Oktubre 2007). â€Å"Ang akdang ito ay katiting [stub]. Tumulong sa Wikifilipino at palawakin pa ito !† Pagkilala Mga kategorya: Buhay at Sining Panitikan Tula Nobela Kasaysayang pampanitikan Manunulat Katiting THE MATS Uploaded on Oct 25, 2011 *The Mats is about the story of the Angeles family. Where in Mr. Angeles brought home gifts (the mats) for his children from a long work-vacation. The conflicts starts when Nana Emilia (her wife) notices that he even provide gifts for their already dead children. *the story shows the strong family ties of the Filipinos (the MATS on how it is weaved) This movie is a partial requirement of our LIT-101 (Phil.Lit) under Mam Kathleen Javillionar. from Group-THE MATS of BSA1g (2011-2012)

Advertising Victoria’s Secret Essay

Victoria’s Secret is a retail seller of women’s clothing and beauty goods, but is most familiar as a dealer of lingerie. Victoria’s Secret had retailing of more than US$ 2.6 billion through their over 900 retail stores in the U.S. in 2005. In Joseph Jaffe’s â€Å"Life After the 30-Second Spot,† he looks at how the mode that most companies and organizations believe is the best way to get their point crosswise to customers and projection – television advertisements. It is significant to note that it’s not that the ads aren’t imaginative, inventive, or are not talking the verbal communication of the spectator – no less than for the most part – that has sourced the need for a â€Å"life after† this type of marketing, it’s the empowerment of all of us in the marketplace, letting the people â€Å"call the shots† for maybe the first time in a long, long while. Victoria’s Secret was six money losing lingerie stores and a successful catalog when Wexner bought the company in 1982. It was a business aimed at making men comfortable buying lingerie. But what Wexner saw was an essential appeal to women. From its inception, Victoria’s Secret’s telephone operators were trained to be soothingly supportive when embarrassed males called. You don’t know your lady’s bra size? No problem. Do you know where she keeps them? Okay, look on the edge of the strap and it will tell you the size. Today almost exclusively women for women who are mainly buying to please themselves run Victoria’s Secret. Doing only $7 million when Wexner bought it, the business grossed nearly $1.8 billion in 2003, two-thirds from the stores. Wexner was at his best, grasping the potential of Victoria’s Secret and then realizing that potential. He created stores that enhanced a mood: pretty but not overtly sexy, with satin nightgowns hung on the walls, a color-coordinated spread of undergarments on tables and plenty of room to mill about on thick carpeting. Thus coddled, the Victoria’s Secret customer buys eight to ten bras a year; the typical American woman buys two. â€Å"We’ve made women consider the bra and panty part of their fashion wardrobe,† says Grace Nichols, 48, chief executive of Victoria’s Secret stores. A woman buys an aqua satin bra from Victoria’s Secret in the same way she buys a new lipstick color, to cheer up, to feel better or to indulge herself. â€Å"Narcissism is real,† says Wexner. â€Å"It’s the key to the business.† The stores and catalog arc now run separately and carry mostly different goods, with only about 5% overlap. But they reinforce each other. FORBES estimates between 200 million and 240 million catalogs are mailed to 10 million people–with some getting as many as 45 catalogs a year. As much as generating mail-order and 800-number business, the catalogs stimulate women to visit the stores. â€Å"We’re in the customer’s face on a regular basis,† Nichols says. She has plans to go from 600 Victoria’s Secret stores to as many as 1,000 stores, adding 50 a year, even without expanding abroad. Six years ago Victoria’s Secret introduced a line of scented bath gels, soaps and lotions. â€Å"These products are indulgence-oriented, so we saw a great emotional marriage between the two products,† says Nichols. The line now constitutes $180 million in revenues and 15% of sales, with better than 50% gross margins. Not rock music but Vivaldi and Beethoven pour softly from the loud-speakers in Victoria’s Secret stores. Customers started requesting tapes and CDs. Why not? Since 1989 the stores have sold more than 10 million tapes and CDs, recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra for the Victoria’s Secret label. Cynthia Fedus, chief executive of the catalog operation since 1988, also made major changes. Out went the steamy shots of scantily dad males and females grappling, ogling or embracing each other that were common under her male predecessor. In came a mannered, aristocratic look with British affectations. Though headquartered in New York, the catalog first listed a London address on the cover. But when people started showing up at that address, an administrative office, it was dropped. The catalog still states a price in pounds. â€Å"It became aspirational, with older models posing in rich-looking, lovely settings,† she says. Sales doubled her first year, to more than $100 million. Fedus also added to the lingerie a line of sportswear and evening wear, which has become 60% of sales. A supplemental swimwear issue debuted, bringing in $12 million in sales. There followed a country issue with rustic clothing and Timberland shoes. Leslie Wexner has always understood that retailing and show business are first cousins. Victoria’s Secret has become a powerful mainstream retailing brand image. Why. Those with a taste for pop psychology speculate that professional women, denied highly feminine clothes at the office, want to wear ultra-feminine garments underneath. Such talk bores pragmatic Nichols. â€Å"I could tell you any bullshit you want to hear,† she snaps, â€Å"but you’ll find the [lingerie] category hasn’t grown; we’ve just grabbed market share.† Victoria’s Secret has aided; perchance more than any other product attract notice to the lingerie industry. Their advertising operations, together with the Victoria’s Secret Lingerie Catalog and Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show are visually attractive and contentious. The notice received by Victoria’s Secret for their violent advertising campaigns has produced invaluable rumor and media bytes to further augment the Victoria’s Secret brand. References Joseph Jaffe, 2005, Life After the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand With a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional, Publisher: John Wiley ; Sons Inc

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of legislation relating to Essay

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of legislation relating to gender discrimination in the workplace - Essay Example In this case, managers may prefer assigning attractive women the role of marketing products while men are assigned technical, manual and production. Nevertheless, the paper will focus on discussing the advantages and disadvantages of legislation concerning gender discrimination in the work place. The legislation that relate to gender discrimination in the work place is the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, where the federal law seeks to establish gender equality in the workplace (Docksey, 1984, 81). Furthermore, there are other laws such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1973 and Executive Order 11246, while the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 was established to deal with the federal criminal offences for violence against women. However, it has been subdivided into two federal district court cases, which are applicable in the employment setting to supervisors (Otten, 1993, 20). In addition, the Title VII and Equal Pay Act were enacted accor ding to Congress’s powers under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. ... Therefore, this has brought the question of the family commitments affecting the competence of a woman in her workplace, thus posing a significant challenge in deciding on employing a woman at work. Decisions of choosing an individual to accept work in a given occupation are a decision, which is influenced by the learned cultural and social values that are considered discriminatory to women. Nevertheless, the preferences are determined by learners gender related factors that stereotype occupations as either male or female (Miller & Budd, 1999, 17). Advantages One advantage of the legislation concerning discrimination of gender in the workplace relating to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which focuses on discrimination on pay, whereby men and women should receive equal compensation (Aaron, 1993, 45). The other merit is that terms of the legislation are gender natural, whereby in a situation when a man is a plaintiff, and a women they are expected to show the difference in court, where eith er of them receives a lower pay than the other if they performed the same task for the same employer. The legislation also emphasises on the notion of "substantial equivalence,† which is depicted by equal effort, skills, responsibilities and working environment. However, the legislation relating to the issues of gender discrimination offers the defendant a chance justify the disparity, in a situation where the elements are established by the plaintiff. Therefore, the defendant justifies by seniority, merit quality or quality of production and other factors that are not related to gender (Rutter, 1997, 30). Employers are not given a chance to depend on subjective estimates; thus, they have to provide precise criteria that can be applied and communicated

Management of people and organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Management of people and organizations - Essay Example This report consists of an organizational structure of the Walgreen Company. The company follows rigid departmentalization, which is a centralized set-up. The departments are not expected or needed to interact with each other on a daily basis. There are times when inter department communication is necessary but they are not expected to work in collaboration for the fulfillment of their routine tasks. It consists of levels of functional setup with centralized reporting and authoritative work processes. The original structure consists of three levels of management; the CEO on the first level, CFO and Departmental heads on the second level, supervisors and managers in the third level. There is a recommendation given to re-structure the set-up. Instead of three levels, Area Managers can be located at level two who will be responsible to give directives to the departmental heads. As Walgreens is providing services at national and international platforms, it is necessary to locate Area Man ager. During this process, some authority and decision-making powers of CEO can be transferred to the Area Managers. It is bureaucratic organization with very less communication between the departmental heads. However, there can be some delegation of work within the department. Supervisors can take the role of the Line Managers in the organization. However, there is a need to define their responsibility. Managers and Departmental Heads can play an effective role in filling communication gap and provide solutions within the department.

Critical Evaluation Of Ifrs 3 In Relation To Clear Reporting Essay

Critical Evaluation Of Ifrs 3 In Relation To Clear Reporting Requirements For Business Combinations - Essay Example With business combination, the surviving company is provided with the immediate availability of the resources of an established enterprise. Furthermore, the union of businesses often results in better utilization of management, in addition to acquisition of new management strength and improved capital bargaining position. In addition, a business combination may be undertaken for the income tax advantages available to one or more parties to the combination. However, business combinations involve certain limitations and risks. Corporate objectives must be taken into consideration. Only those companies which have the same or compatible sets of objectives should combine. On the other hand, successful firms are usually not willing to combine. The acquiring enterprise may also inherit the acquired firm's inefficiencies and problems together with its inadequate resources. The objective of IFRS 3 is to specify the financial reporting by an entity when it undertakes a business combination. In particular, it specifies that all business combinations should be accounted for by applying the purchase method. Therefore, the acquirer recognizes the acquiree's identifiable assets. Liabilities and contingent liabilities at their fair values at the acquisition date, and also recognize goodwill, which is subsequently tested for impairment rather than mortised. (ASC, 2005) Notable words that one must take into consideration when understanding issues of business combinations are; purchase method, fair values, acquisition date and goodwill. Under purchase method of accounting the acquiree's identifiable assets and liabilities must be measured at their fair values at acquisition date. Fair value then is defined as the amount for which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability settled, between knowledgeable, willing partied in an arm's length transaction. Acquisitio n date is the date on which the acquirer effectively obtains control of the acquiree. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity or business so as to obtain benefits from its activities. Goodwill is a future economic benefits arising from assets that are not capable of being individually identified and separately recognized. SCOPE This IFRS does not apply to business combinations in which separate entities or businesses are brought together to form a joint venture. Joint venture is defined in IAS 31 Interest in Joint Ventures, as a contractual agreement whereby two or more parties undertake an economic activity that is subject to joint control. This IFRS does not also apply to combinations involving entities under common control, or businesses involving two or more mutual entities and a combination in which separate entities are brought together by contract alone to form a dual listed corporation. METHOD OF ACCOUNTING There are two methods for carrying out a business combination, the acquisition and the uniting of interest. Business combination is achieved by acquisition when one of the enterprises, the acquirer, obtains control over the net assets and operations of another enterprise which is the acquiree, in exchange for the transfer of

Special Educational Needs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Special Educational Needs - Essay Example To tackle the growth of autism the society has developed Special Educational Needs (SEN) for the children, which will help them to be back in the mainstream society. Children suffering from autism behave distinguishably from other children. It is tough for children with autism to communicate with others and express their feeling by using words. They usually stay away from normal people and they create individual worlds for themselves. Without taking proper help, they cannot communicate with others. This kind of children needs special attention and care from our society. According to the scientists and doctors, autism results from the damage of brain cells that are responsible for the senses and emotions of the humans. The biological theory of autism states there are some abnormalities in the brain of the child due to some reasons, which may cause autism. In some cases, medical treatment of the child can cause autism. Medical treatment has a negative effect on the health of the childr en. This affects the nervous system of the children, which can cause autism. (Autism, n.d.; Cohen & Bolton, 2004: Pp 26- 32). Special educational needs schools have analyzed autism spectrum disorder in the students. The study has found that there are some critical behaviors among them like behavior barriers, emotional barriers, social barriers and communication barriers. Most of the Special educational needs schools have an approach, which consists of individual behavior management with development in social abilities towards autism children. The schools help to develop some special self-help skills among the students, which is necessary for the growth of the person. They have also introduced speech and verbalization in their curriculum to fill the gap in communication. Every child is special and unique in his or her structure and mental set up. Therefore, they need different learning style. (Autism, n.d.). The paper investigates the intervention strategies used to manage

I'll upload them later Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

I'll upload them later - Essay Example This paper will discuss the positives and negatives of internet education which eventually affect learning. The primary reason why people opt for internet education is convenience. Students can manage their schedules at their most convenient time which allows them to learn at the pace they want. In addition, they can study anytime and anywhere they want (Obringer). This also enables learners to choose their most comfortable place of learning such as their home. Consequently, â€Å"time efficiency is another strength brought by the online learning format† (ion.uillinois.edu). Students save time and energy for travel and gas. For instance, when a student goes home from work and needs to do his homework, he does not have to travel to school in order to get his lessons and assignments. Instead, he can simply look for those in his school’s database and in just a few moments, be able to acquire the necessary information thus, saving time, gas and money for his travel if he studies at a university. Another positive result of internet education is synergy. There is an interaction among the group that is simply different in distance learning. It is a combination of minds from entirely different familial backgrounds and perhaps even various cultural backgrounds who could make the learning more interesting. Although having this kind of conglomeration of students in traditional classrooms may be easy nowadays, the interaction in distance learning could perhaps be better because the students are all encouraged to participate. Oftentimes, those who are enrolling in such programs are those who want to study but do not have enough time to go to traditional schools. Therefore, their desire to study and level of active participation is quite different. In relation to synergy, high quality dialog also benefits students. They can learn from other students’ ideas about certain subject matters and they can also react to those ideas. Their analytical skills are honed

Business Environment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Environment - Assignment Example There are three types of business structures which are sole ownership, partnership, and corporation. Each of the three options available has its advantages and disadvantages. Sole ownership is considered the easiest type of organization to set up. If you are eager to start the computer business right away you should seriously considered the sole ownership option. To start a sole ownership business all you need to do is report your business income and expenses on your Form 1040 Schedule C (Perez, 2011). The filing of taxes is performed at the end of year. A business can choose to either go with the natural year or a fiscal year. The natural year end on December 31, 2011. The fiscal year refers to the passage of one full year after the business is started. For example if your company starting operating of March 1, 2011 the end of the fiscal year would be February 28, 2012. The owner of a small business is typically the manager of the operation. If you choose this option you have be pre pared to work long hours because you will be the person in charge. Usually only a relatively small amount of money or capital is necessary to start a business as a proprietorship (Weygand & Kieso & Kimmel, 2002). One of the disadvantages of choosing sole proprietorship is that the owner is personally liable for the debts of the entire business. There is no distinction between the business and its owner. The second type of organizational structure you can chose for your computer business is partnership. A partnership can be defined as a business owned by two or more persons. Each person in a partnership contributes money, property, labor, skill, and expects to share in the profits or losses of the business (Irs, 2010). A partnership agreement sets forth the terms of the partnership which includes initial investment, duties of each partner, and division of income. The friend that will be working with you in the business can either be an employee or a partner. If you need additional in vestment you should consider talking to your friend in order to arrange a partnership agreement. Also you can make your friend a partner in order to avoid paying him a salary. Instead the person would get paid in for of income redistribution. â€Å"A partnership must file an annual information return to report income, deductions, and gains, etc., from its operations, but is does not pay income taxes† (Irs, 2010). The fact that partnerships do not pay income taxes is an advantage of this type of business structure. The third type of business structure is the corporation. A corporation can be defined as a business organization organized as a separate legal entity under state corporation law and having ownership divided into transferable shares of stock. (Weygandt, et. al. , 2002). A corporation is a completely separate legal entity from its owner. This means that if the business fails the owner is not legally responsible for the debt of the corporation. Due to the fact that the chances of succeeding in a new business project are low you should seriously considered the corporate structure. The truth about starting a new business is that 50% of new businesses fail within the first year and 95% seize to exist within five years (Schaefer, 2010). There many advantages associated with starting a business in the form of a corporation. The advantages of the corporate structure are listed below: Shareholders have limited liability Corporations can

Eom Draft Essay Example for Free

Eom Draft Essay Although many practices such as resale and consignment of clothing are not widely known in Singapore, they are possible practices that could be adapted and promoted in our culture as an alternative to recycling clothing, making it relevant to our project. The concept of the consignment boutique is for shoppers to â€Å"wear the outfit once, bring it in, get money back and continue their shopping habit†. This encourages the idea of reuse of clothing but keeps the clothing in a fixed circuit, being recycled in the same boutique. Instead, these shops can expand their networks or probably work together with other resale shops and reach out to more buyers and sellers, providing them with a bigger variety as well. Although when reselling it to the different boutiques, varying offers may be made by different boutique owners. These boutiques may standardize the prices to offer according to the number of days from which it was purchased, which will be recorded in a computer system assessable to the owners in the network. The article claims that â€Å"people don’t have a stigma against buying used clothes anymore† but I disagree. In Singapore, many second-hand clothing stalls are not popularly purchased from, due to the social stigma that used clothes are old, unwanted and unhygienic which is usually reflected through how the shops are usually disorganized, unlike those mentioned in the article where ‘the racks aren’t overcrowded’ and the store has a ‘boutique feel’ which appeals to the target demographic. Thrift shops in Singapore could be mirrored to have organized racks for different clothing articles and trends and could hire youth volunteers who would communicate better with the shoppers. This would increase the appeal for used clothing and possibly change the perspective on used clothing. In a consignment, the owners are able to ‘chose what [they] want’ to purchase. This may be unreflective of what the rest of the consumers want. Also, when they are willing to purchase it, the seller may be unhappy with the price of the offer. Therefore, instead of having the retailer as the middle-man, events where people can swap or sell their clothing would be more effective as buyers are able to chose what they want while sellers can name their own prices according to their perceived value for it or allow others to bargain for cheaper prices. The article states that consumers want good deals and are ‘growing tired of mass produced clothing’ therefore resale shops targets the ‘vintage aspect’ to set themselves apart. I agree with this statement as mass produced clothing are widely seen around the market and loses its originality and one-of-a-kind concept which customers define unique. Consumers would be willing to pay slightly more if the article of clothing is not commonly or easily found. Furthermore, the vintage aspect suites current clothing trends and would appeal to the target group of teenagers well. There is also a small number of male shoppers visiting or purchasing from consignment and resale boutiques, possibly because resale boutiques may not appeal to the male demographic widely, as they may come across as more female-centric and may not be as widely known. As the article mentions that the location affects the target demographic, these boutiques can be relocated or expanded to places in the urban areas which have many other male clothing outlets in order to boost its image as a boutique for male clothing as well and attract more male shoppers.

Analysis of Global Automobile Market

Analysis of Global Automobile Market EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of the report is to assess the recent strategies employed by global automobile organisations between 2007 and 2010 based on secondary data and published press. Organisations thereafter refer to global automobile organisations. This report explores the process of reconciling dichotomies at Honda Motors Corporations (HMC) in terms of its strategies and core competences. Several theoretical frameworks were derived from related literature as a guide to analyse and integrate relevant elements from business level and corporate level strategies application. The roles on mergers and acquisitions (MA) applied in the global automobile industry are then discussed. This section is structured as follows: part 1 reveals MA in relation to too much debts and risk of bankruptcy; part 2 describes MA as a strategy to explore potential for product synergy and part 3 illustrates MA as means to access to new technologies and emerging markets. This report examines the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices initiated by the organisations and its impact on the financial and non-financial performance. The report ends at discussion the Western and Japanese leadership used by the global automobile organisations and their suitability. INTRODUCTION OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY The automobile industry can be divided into three categories: auto parts vendors, automobile manufacturers and dealers. The global automobile market has been long dominated by Western manufacturers such as General Motors, Chrysler and Volkswagen in 1955 followed by eastern automobiles manufacturers Toyota, Honda and Nissan since 2005. In 2009, Toyota was the worlds leading car manufacturer with approximately 15.3 percent market share, Volkswagen 13.1 percent and Ford approximately 6.9 percent market share (Datamonitor 2009). Recently automobile manufacturers in developing countries such as Hyundai, Tata and Geely have increasingly become vital players in the automobile market, Hyundai is now one of the significant players in the United States market (Fetscherin and Toncar 2010) whereby Tata and Geely have begun to take aim at developed country automobile markets and intend to compete in the global automobile market (Fetscherin and Toncar 2010). The 2008 global financial downturn had negatively impacted the automobile industry into crisis thus many organisations were encountered losses and bankruptcy. Nevertheless, there were four outstanding organisations recorded remarkable profit during this turbulent period: Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai and BMW (Appendix 1). Forecasts predict that the global car industry will be worth $1,611 billion by 2014 with the volume of 66.2 million units (Datamonitor, 2009). HONDA STRATEGY AND MANAGERIAL DICHOTOMIES HMC established in 1948. Honda develops, manufactures and markets small general purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars, had earn an outstanding reputation from customers worldwide. Honda has grown to become the worlds largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the leading automobile manufacturers. There are seven business units in HMC (Figure 1). Figure 1 Honda SBU.jpg Honda business level strategy versus corporate level strategy in global context Business level strategy refers to the way HMC competes in an industry which it is located. Porter generic strategies framework had been employed to examine each Honda strategic business units (SBU) (Figure 2). Figure 2 Porter generic.jpg Honda sets out cost leadership strategy to produce an urban car with fuel efficient feature, Honda City, a successful model had reflected Hondas innovative and quick response to market demand on inexpensive and fuel efficient (Nonaka 2007). Honda enjoys the cost advantage to produce and market its Hero Honda motorcycle in India by preference to access to raw materials and efficiency of production capability (Ramarao 2009). Honda continuous seeks for cost reductions to competitive position. Differentiation involves offering a unique product with special characteristic however the selling price may not be low (Fitzroy and Hulbert 2005) Honda created Acura series to isolated its common automobile ranges. Acura is a higher range to compete with luxury category, i.e. Toyota Lexus. Honda Acura differentiates itself from product features and engine performance. Honda produces a series of scooter range from 50cc to 125cc to meets different demands for different markets (HMC 2009). Honda launched specialty engines GX160, GX200 and GX390 for better handling and durability suitable for long tail boats which are common water transportation in Asia (HMC 2009). Honda Insight, a hybrid vehicle that incorporated a compact and lightweight hybrid system to offer fuel economy while maintain the pleasure of driving (HMC 2009). Besides differentiation strategies, Honda performs well in its private jets, ATVs, watercrafts, outboard motors and jets. Honda differentiates focus on dual clutch transmission and water cooled engines in its FourTrax Rancher ATVs (HMC 2009). Honda started Hondajet since 2006, the private jet featured by HF120 compact turbofan engine for low emission where the first delivery is expected in 2011 (HMC 2009). Corporate strategy is the future organisations directions against resources possessed by the organisation (Lynch 2000). Corporate strategy links organisations internal resources and the social economic environment that it operates (Lynch 2000). HMCs sense of purpose is to striving to be a company society wants to exist (HMC 2009). In view of intense competition (threats) and strong demand (opportunities) from HMC operating environment (Figure 3), HMC had implemented some value added corporate strategies. Figure 3 Corporate strategy.jpg Product diversification concerns an expansion of product range that Honda supplies. Honda extended its product range from light truck to compact sedan cars. In North America, HMC introduces Pilot, Acura TSX and Acura TL to meet the different market requirements (HMC 2009). HMC broaden its range to launched Honda City in Asia outside Japan as the trend towards driving smaller cars accelerated along with the increase in fuel prices (HMC 2009). Vertical integration is an expansion of range of business related activities that HMC encompasses (Fitzroy and Hulbert 2005). Honda opens up financial services division to lease their automobiles and services centres for pre and after sales services to strengthen its branding position as one stop vehicle provider. Geographical diversification is an expansion to wider geographical areas mainly to create additional market share or obtaining competitive advantages. HMC has a global network of 396 subsidiaries and 105 affiliates in more than five regions and 160 countries recorded 3.5 million units automobiles sales in 2009 (HMC 2009). HMC established its manufacturing plants in various countries to support domestic demand rather than manufacture in Japan and export, this will help in shorten the delivery lead time and incentive in domestic assembly. Successful organisations must outgrow their initial scope of products and geographical areas (Fitzroy and Hulbert 2005). Horizontal integration refers a diversification into different industries. Besides automobile, HMC broadens its business into different industries i.e. aviation business, solar cell business and household cogeneration units (HMC 2009). Honda product-related core competencies versus process-related core capabilities In practice, HMCs capability is as the main drivers for its shareholder values. Honda started with motorcycle business had move on to engine business and the most successful automobiles consists of 77 percent of its revenue. HMCs success underlying its core competence in engines design allows HMC to develop more products i.e. lawn mowers, motorcycles, automobiles and private jets (McGee and Thomas 2007). Substantial increase in fuel price, new customer preferences and spending patterns are a significant momentum to the pricing model and value proposition changes whereby consumers emphasize on good price for reasonable quality (Giesen et. al. 2010). As part of corporate strategy, Honda enhances its Research and Development (RD) particularly in safety technologies to help reduction on the risk of injuries to passengers and pedestrians from car accidents and fuel efficient cars, i.e. Honda Freed and Honda City. Honda recognises the rational to develop non-pollutions product in the first place than to clean up later. The electric car demonstrates a technological solution for the air pollution caused by automobile emission (Bernabo et. al. 2009). However, due to the charging centre constraints and maturity of the power supply capacity for longer journey, HMC focuses on its hybrid car Insight to meet the demand. Lean management focuses on eliminating waste (non-value adding activities) throughout HMC production systems (Chen et. al. 2010). By selective sharing of design development, HMC can focus resources and competencies on a limited set of innovative ideas and reduce their direct costs for innovating many of the components in their products (Chen et. al. 2010). A safety-induced crisis causes obvious problems for a brand like Honda which pride itself on reliability and the promise to deliver the power of dream(Banks 2010). HMC need both vendors and dealers to complete the complicated fabrication processes and reaches end consumers. In contrast to many competitors, HMC realises the importance of turning vendors into partners, loop the vendors into product design and development to shorten both new product lead time and reduce overall cost concerning the inventory holding (Nguyen and Slater 2010). The vendor development programmes include joint improvement, information sharing an updates, offer assistance to lift up vendors technical capabilities (Nguyen and Slater 2010). i.e. HMC make use of its vendor network to expand low price components accessibility in Vietnam had considerable reduce HMC production cost thus selling price (Oh and Rhee 2010). HMC factory networks operate the same way so each is able to make any vehicle in the product range according to market demand. This gives the company tremendous flexibility, efficient logistics to enhanced its manufacturing (Economist 2003). HMC installed special data systems in each of its factories to monitor weather forecasts to allows manager to predict bad weather which may affect deliveries so they can decide the stock up level to prevent material shortage (Economist 2003). To enhance the dealers ability, HMC trains and develops its dealer networks with operating procedures and policies in setting up the showroom, merchandising and service management (Oh and Rhee 2010). Honda Vietnam strict controls over vendors to ensure stable and good quality supply (Oh and Rhee 2010). Conclusion The analysis shows the density of HMC in managing its global organisation. Business strategies and corporate strategies are in different dimension but intimately link to each other, HMC needs to understand the external context of business when develop business and corporate strategies. HMC strengthen its production efficiency, flexibility and sales capabilities in various business units to meet the demand for cost effective products at the same time improve its corporate structure towards more flexible and dynamic to meet customers demand, business environment a society as a whole. There is no single best strategy applied for all products, Honda had demonstrated adequate thinking in developing suitable strategies for its products in different geographical areas. THE ROLE OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Mergers and acquisitions act as a strategic tool to obtain wider market share and create synergies-improvements in competitiveness, customer value or product innovation that can be achieved by integrating two entities (Gadiesh et. al. 2001, Thompson et. al. 2005). The global automobile business faces severe challenges with reduction in sales and intense competition and opportunities in emerging markets, such as China and India. Network-level strategies is useful in turbulent and growth markets yet an organisation had limitations access or unable to pursue that competition by on its own (Cools and Roos 2005). Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix was used to analyse global automobile organisations positions (Figure 4). Figure 4 BCG.jpg MA in relation to too much debts and risk of bankruptcy One of the most important factors in mergers and acquisitions is debt and bankruptcy during recession (Cappell 2010). Organisation fall in BCG Dog category (Figure 4), i.e. Volvo, General Motors and Ssangyong are forced look for suitable partner to sustain its limited market share. A research carried out by Ostermann and Neal (2009) reveals that there were 25 automobile vendors are in the high debt and bankruptcy risk (Figure 5). Figure 5 25 Bankruptcy.jpg If a business unit no longer generate positive returns on investment for the organisation without massive investment, some organisation opt trade off the business unit and exit the industry (Lynch 2000). Ford Motor sold Volvo to China Geely at US$1.8 billion as part of Fords strategy of exiting European luxury lines to focus on Fords brand (Starbiz 2010). In the scramble to swap gas guzzlers for smaller vehicles thus reduction in use vehicle residual value forcing General Motors finance arm into huge losses on cars returned after leased (The Economist 2009). Ssangyong, formerly controlled by Chinas SAIC Motor Corporations was under bankruptcy protection in early 2009 due to cash shortage crisis to be acquired by Indian largest sport utility vehicles manufacturer, Mahindra (Bloomberg 2010). Mahindra gives Ssangyong financial supports, engineering and sourcing synergies (Bloomberg 2010). MA as a strategy to explore potential for product synergy To response to the zero COÂÂ ² emission, BMW, Daimler and General Motors formed an alliance in 2005 to develop hybrid vehicle technology. The ultimate solution to zero carbon dioxide emission is electric cars (Bernabo et. al. 2009). Nissan sees future trends towards electric car however electric cars design is highly challenging thus Nissan joint venture with NEC Tokin for synergy where NEC Tokin focuses on cell technology and electrode manufacturing so Nissan can concentrate in mass production (Taylor III 2010). Automobile organisations are focused on potential partners technological ability than cost savings achievement (Cappell 2010). PSA Peugeot produces diesel engines with Ford Motor (Financial Times n.d.). Ford Motor and Fiat share a manufacturing plant in Tychy, Poland to produce Ford smaller car, Ka and Fiat 500 (Financial Time n.d.). Daimler announced strategic partnership with Renault and Nissan to build small cars, engines and van together (Financial Times n.d.). In addition, as pressure on developed country manufacturers increases to reduce costs, they might look to China as sources of inexpensive manufacturing and might increasingly manufacture their cars in China and export them to developed countries (Fetscherin and Toncar 2010). General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are currently producing cars in China in joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers (Fetscherin and Toncar 2010). Many family-owned organisations i.e. PSA, BMW and Fiat are reviewing their portfolio and seeking restructuring alliances to lower cost in part purchase and spreading research and development cost however subject to Europe Union competition ruling (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2001). MA as means to access to new technologies and emerging markets Many organisations have responded to globalisation by looking at joint ventures with international partners when they needed to bridge a technology gap (Czinkota and Ronkainen 2001). A survey carried by KPMG in 2009 shows 85 percent of the automotive senior executives presumed new technologies is an influencing issue in global automotive industry (Chappell 2010). PSA Peugeot Citroen joint ventures with Toyota to produce small cars in the Czech Republic for achieve economies of scale (Financial Times n.d.). Chrysler builds minivans for Volkswagen in Winsor, Ontario since 2008 (Financial Times n.d.). Traditional automobile markets are still expanding but more importantly the emerging markets in China, India and Korea are expanding rapidly likely to enter the US automobile market (Fetscherin and Toncar 2010). Network level strategy plays an important role to uplift the competitive advantage to compete in automobile industry, especially Chinese automotive manufacturers who follow the footsteps of the Western, Japanese and South Korean car manufacturers. China automobile manufacturers will aggressively enter the US market by either exporting or by building their own production sites in the USA (Fetscherin and Toncar 2010). The implication of MA is to reduce threat while simultaneously capitalising on emerging market growth (Gill 2008). Acquisition of Ssangyong by Mahindra gives Mahindra an access to distribution networks of 1,300 dealers outside South Korea and Russia automotive market where previously Ssangyong exports vehicles (Bloomberg 2010). Conclusion Mergers and acquisitions had been widely practised in automotive industry due to the automotive manufacturing investment for new entry is huge and need years of experiences and expertise. Many joint ventures were found among automobile organisations aim to lower their production costs to make the selling price more competition; some merger strategy had achieved synergy in product design and development. In the turbulent economic environment, mergers and acquisitions give automobile organisations a quick fix and direct access to a growing market for more market share. Mergers and acquisitions are mainly creating value for mutual benefits to both parties. 4.0 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVES The conventional business goal is maximising shareholders returns (Bonini et. al. 2006, Whittington 2001). However organisations are perceived as being socially responsible may create valuable market opportunities and increase more satisfied customers (Bonini et. al. 2006, Crane and Matten 2007). Davis (1973) stated that corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to organisations consideration on action that will accomplish environment social benefits and ethical responsibilities along with the financial gains which the organisation seeks (As cited in Hoffman 2007, Polonsky and Jevans 2009). CSR helps to improve employee engagement to strive for better management, declining in employee perceptions will leads to significant threats to engagement (Hall 2010). Organisations always have an implied contract to embraces a diverse range of stakeholders which may have different social interests (Bonini et. al. 2006, Polonsky and Jevons 2010). Organisations can opt to react, defence, accommodate and proactive towards CSR as part of global strategies. Being socially responsible important however organisations must make a conscious decision about the degree to which they then leverage their CSR activities, thus translating doing good into strategic benefit (Polonsky and Jevons 2009). The five global automobile organisations demonstrate adequate CSR initiatives to improve their brand standing in automobile industry (Appendix 2). The CSR actions had contributed both positive profits to Honda, Hyumdai, Toyota and Volkswagen, also a negative loss to Daimler even though Daimler pursing quite adequate CSR actions. Global automobile organisations are aiming to achieve the highest category of the CSR: Philanthropic responsibilities. The most common practices are social projects, donations and sponsorship (Hall 2010). CSR needs resources such as funds and employees participation. Organisations are facing dilemma to satisfy the stakeholders with different social interests (Polonsky and Jevons 2009). Some authors criticised that global automobile manufacturers who produce fuel guzzling SUVs for urban users at the same time promote fuel-efficient vehicles to public (Polonsky and Jevons 2009). CSR may not directly impact the organisations financial performance as revenue may be affected by other factors such as economic. However a significant observation from literature reviews that organisations are difficult to sustain or strengthen its market share standing if they are not socially responsible to the society, this may adversely affect their long term value, the brand, talent and relationship (Bonini et. al. 2006, Hall 2010, Piotrowski and Guyette 2010). WESTERN AND JAPANESE LEADERSHIP APPROACHES When automobile industry was leaded by Western countries, Western leadership by Frederick W. Taylor was widely applied in the automobile manufacturers such as General Motors and Ford (Darmody 2007). His idea of leadership was planning and decision making lies on management level while production workers only participate in predetermined executions to ensure efficiency (Almashaqba and Al-Qeed 2010, Darmody 2007). Western leadership was emphasised on efficiency to maximize profits. In Western leadership, the role and responsibilities, authority and accountability, procedures and practices between management and workers are formalized to avoid the conflict in the relationship (Almashaqba and Al-Qeed 2010). Japanese leadership deliberately stresses decentralized management structure, praises the achievements of individuals and gives rewards to outstanding performance (De Wit and Meyer 2004). Autonomy similar to trust in eastern countries, decentralization and rewards can improve employees morale thus productivity. Japanese leadership introduces lean strategy and just-in-time production techniques to achieve production flexibility without increasing indirect labor costs (Shadur and Bamber 1994). These provide automobile organisation to deliver what is expected by customers in just-in-time (Chen et. al. 2010). A research done by Abbggelen and Stalk (1985) shows that the United States automotive plants required 250 percent human resources compared to the Japanese plant to make similar vehicle (Shadur and Bamber 1994). Just-in-time approach is dependent on the balance between the vendors flexibility and users flexibility (Slack et. al. 2007). Parker and Slaughter (1988) comments that lean production is a intensifies the pace of work as the production is operated in closing to the breaking point without supporting buffers, organisation may face severe difficulty when there is a material shortage (As cited in Shadur and Bamber 1994). Some analysts see lean production techniques as merely a subtle form of management control (Mehri 2006, Shadur and Bamber 1994). Japanese leadership focuses on waste reduction and value-adding activities, these focuses are short-term benefits thus Japanese leadership may ignore long-term competitive advantages (Chen et. al. 2010). A recent qualitative research had lifted Japanese leaderships veil as limited potential for creativity and innovation, narrow professional skills, worker isolation and harassment, dangerous conditions on the production line, accident cover-ups, excessive overtime, and poor quality of life for workers (Mehri 2006). The Japanese and western leadership are different in process. There are pros and cons between Western and Japanese leadership and not single ultimate solution for automobile organisations in different geographical area, the leadership application is subject to the culture of the workforce, labour union and availability of resources i.e. logistic, material and expertise. Shadur and Bamber (1994) points out General Motors plants in Australia faces challenge when they started lean production due to the culture different from the labour union and employees who used to work in a team than individual. Although several criticisms of lean production were discussed, however it is concluded that Japanese leadership can potentially contribute to a substantial improvement in automobile manufacturing competitiveness. CONCLUSION Business strategy is about creating sharper scope focus on a business unit contrast with corporate strategy which concerned an overall portfolio of several business units a whole. HMC had strengthened both product-related core competencies and process-related capability to strive for excellence in HMC establishment as a responsible organisation. Mergers and acquisitions are very important to global automotive organisations for reduce the risk in bankruptcy, achieve cost reduction and production effectiveness and explore potential for new product and gives instant access to new technologies. Cost and stakeholders value is crucial consideration when organisations decide on the investment in CSR action plans since the financial returns are not easily measured. 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IKEAs Entry Into South America

IKEAs Entry Into South America Executive Summary Ikea seeks to continue expanding its retail presence around the world through worldwide franchising of the Ikea concept. We propose an immediate expansion of Ikea into South America, specifically a storefront in Brazil. Using a balanced scorecard approach we address the primary issues in such an expansion. We also believe Brazil is a logical candidate for longer term expansion on the manufacturing (sourcing) side of Ikea and provide supporting analysis for such expansion. Although we have limited access to actual Financials, we believe the initial investment required to be about $20 million. Sales estimates exceed $70million per year. Since costs should also be typical of other sites around the world, expected earnings after tax are 8% of sales. In addition to the need for access to capital, a well-located site for retail activity must be secured. This site would be at the edge of Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo near highway access. Marketing Strategy: All marketing is based on the IKEA business idea: We shall offer a wide range of home furnishing items of good design and function, at prices so low, that the majority of people can afford to buy them Although Brazilian customers are used to negotiating on price, we feel a fixed price retail store will do well since the prices are low, and the shopping experience is primarily self-service. Most of the over 6000 products will continue to be produced in Asia and Europe. All products will continue to come through Ikeas distribution channel. Since the majority of furniture comes in a flat package, the distribution method has been proven to be cost effective. The possible need for regional distribution center is a risk factor that would increase investment required. The regulatory environment in Brazil allows foreign investment and the repatriation of profits. With respect to people, Ikea has a strong culture. Ikea is a value driven company that values hard work. About 400 Employees will be hired for the first Ikea Brazil store. Training is available through Ikea University, which is uses traveling instructors and on line training materials. Overall Brazil looks like an attractive entry point into the South American furniture market. Background Founded in the late 1940s by Ingvar Kamprad created the concept of IKEA, a furniture company that provided quality fashionable furniture at prices everyone can afford. Although its business model at the time was much different then the mega stores today, this fundamental approach to furniture has remained the same. Despite its very risk-adverse nature, IKEA became the first furniture company to expand internationally. High bulk to value, high transportation costs, and susceptibility to damage are all issues IKEA was able to overcome with its innovative approach of selling furniture collapsed flat boxes. This approach not only lowered its shipping and inventory costs, but also creatively transferred the labor-intensive assembly costs to the customer. IKEAs innovate approach to adding the consumer to the value chain in effort to keep prices low and quality high has won it very loyal fans everywhere it has reached. Packed to the brim, its stores attract customers from great distances who load up their cars to furnish entire rooms or homes in a single trip. Constantly introducing new innovative new products, its model rooms in its stores and catalogs have provided a creative way introduce its new products to complement its existing product line. The model rooms and catalogs teach the customers how to piece together an entire room from the furniture to the dà ©cor with all IKEA products. Fashionable and trendy it encourages customers to live the IKEA life. Financials Background: Ikea is a privately owned company with an extraordinarily opaque organization. Financial statements are not publicly available. The Ikea Group is ultimately owned by the Stitching Ingka Foundation, a charitable trust based in the Netherlands. The Ikea Group manufactures and sells products. Franchise stores are a part of the IKEA group, as shown in figure 1. However, Inter Ikea Systems, a separate company, owns Ikeas intellectual property. Franchises: Inter IKEA Systems B.V. constantly seeks market expansion, and grants new franchises to markets/territories according to a detailed expansion plan (Company Web Site). Ikea has identified location as a primary success factor, since store sales volume is so dependent on location. Franchises are granted only to organizations and/or individuals that can secure a strong market position and market penetration in the given territory [and have] the financial strength and potential as well as have identified well located sites for the retail activity. Investment required: Based on recent examples, such as the Ikea store opened in Israel in 2003, typical investment is ~ $15M with a leased store. It is estimated that another $5M would be required for the building and infrastructure improvements. It is also estimated that a new distribution center may be required for the region. If this is required, it is likely multiple stores will be needed to justify such an investment. Revenue: With 190 stores, sales top 12.2B Euro. This means on average each store generates 67M euro ($78M/store). To validate this assumption, it should be noted that Germany accounts for 1/5th of turnover with a proportionate 33 stores. Costs: The Ikea store concept requires relatively little human resources, so costs are a function of other overhead such as lease, warehousing, utilities, taxes and advertising. It can be noted that manufacturing is primarily Poland and Asia, as Ikea grows in size, it should consider Brazil as third major manufacturing center for local and worldwide use. Earnings: After tax earnings for the IKEA group were shared in the 1997 book, The History of Ikea. Figures in the book show Ikea posted a profit of $905 million or 8% of sales. Other sources have estimated after tax profits as high as 18%. This indicates the stores are equally profitable, but must be verified before moving forward. Profits and royalties can be repatriated from Brazil. While not all of IKEA stores were profitable, most were. In order to go forward with this project we would want to verify the success factors and make sure our pro-forma financial statements were similar to other successful stores. Planned Store information Size 24,000 to 32,000 square meters Products 6,000 to 10,000 Room Settings 45 to 50 Parking Spaces 800 to 2000 Customer Loading Spaces 20 to 50 Cash Lanes 16 to 30 Restaurant Seating 400 to 700 Co-Workers 380 to 500 Land 24 to 30 Acres Production Brazil has abundance of high quality wood and low labor prices. This is an important reason for IKEA-Brazil to produce the furniture in Brazil and distribute locally. Brazilian taste for furniture indicates that they appreciate wider moldings that the standard American moldings. This along with a few more customizations might be essential to market IKEA products in the Brazilian market. In the late 90s there has been an increase in quantity (+2.5%) and a simultaneous increase in exports (+11%), which show the increasing competitiveness of the Brazilian industry on international markets. Factors at the root of this process are most certainly the use of ever more advanced technology acquired thanks to huge investments in capital goods (in 1996 US$ 220 million was invested in machinery, mainly from Italy, Germany and the United States) which has increased the productive capacity of sector companies, and the effects of the process of opening up to international trade which intensify the significant comparative advantages of Brazil compared to other exporting countries: excellent quality raw materials at low costs and flexible labor. Delivery Latin Americas most important trade show happens at Brazil and this is the most sought after trade show. Brazil stands as the main sourcing country for furniture for the whole of Latin America. Brazil is the largest country in South America and shares its border with a lot of countries. Since the South-east of Brazil is the economic center of Brazil, cities Rio de Janeiro and Sà £o Paulo are favorable places to establish IKEA stores. Land transportation is becoming more effective in that about 85% of Brazils people and products are transported by road. Brazilian highways are of modern design and link all the state capitals by paved roads. Problems still arise in the rural and remote areas as water floods the roads making them impassable for days. Sometimes road construction after the floods is delayed inhibiting travel even more. IKEA-Brazil can offer high quality products at low prices with the efficient methods of distribution and close relationships with manufacturers. This will ensure that even during problematic situations like flooding, the majority of the sales are not affected due to transportation issues. The same principle used everywhere else where the need for distribution is cut out by offering flat-packaged items that are warehoused in the stores and picked up by the customers on site, will be the key. The customer is spared shipping, storage and assembly costs resulting in dramatically lower product prices. Issues with the labor workforce Labor is cheap in Brazil compared to Europe and America. But with this cheap workforce and swinging economy of the country comes a multitude of issues that are worth investigating. Half of the labor force in Brazil is employed in the informal sector. Even though the government employs minimum wage, this is hardly followed and the wages are compensated often with respect to the fluctuations in the economy. In Brazil, 50 percent of the workforce is outside formal collective bargaining structures. Thus the labor laws in Brazil might make it expensive to employ workforce. Quality Goals International companies are already sourcing out of Brazil for the past many years. Crossmart Brazil has nearly three decades of experience sourcing product for European catalogs out of 40 Brazilian plants. Crossmart relies on seven inspectors who constantly visit plants to check moisture content, finishes and overall quality. It is estimated that the company currently does $20 million a year in French mail orders alone. In the southeastern production centers of Brazil, we find products with a good qualitative level thanks to the use of modern production processes and suitable machinery. The effects of technological innovation and design created by some important trade fairs in these regions are also worth mentioning. With this kind of a history, the IKEA plant in Brazil should be able to achieve the quality standards that they have been able to measure up to internationally. Their products are not over-engineered to give a greater finish than the customer requires. Nevertheless quality is taken very seriously and the whole supply chain participates. The Ikea definition of quality is that the product must first be available in the store and secondly it must match up to the customers expectations: it must be complete, free from defects and easy to assemble. Returns to stores are analyzed and each product is carefully monitored. Legal and Regulatory It is important to note that Brazil is very friendly to foreign investors – domestic investors and foreign investors are treated equally. The largest restriction is that you must obtain a permanent visa in order to invest in Brazil as a foreigner – however, earnings may be repatriated after waiting for foreign currency to become available. The Ministry of Labor must approve this visa application. The minimum investment required is $200,000 (US) or the equivalent. The National Immigration Council can make exceptions if the new venture will create at least ten new jobs, or is of social interest. Once the visa is granted it will be valid for two years. At the conclusion of the initial two-year period the Ministry of Labor will perform an evaluation of the business to determine the feasibility of the venture before granting a definite extension. Internal Standards Foreign investors are encouraged to initiate discussions with state development agencies within the country. These agencies are available for government incentive programs. In addition to contacting local agencies it is important to note that a wide range of credit and financing options are available to investors through both foreign and domestic banks operating in Brazil. Finally, foreign investors are expected to import the funds for all major fixed capital requirements. Cultural and Environmental Conditions Personal contact is more important in business than other forms of communications (i.e. telephone or mail). This is largely because the working relationships in Brazil are built on trust. The most common form of doing business in Brazil is through incorporated subsidiaries; branches are very difficult to operate. Joint ventures do not require a local Brazilian partner, however, it is still encouraged. It is essential to establish a network of connections with the public sector in Brazil. The culture in Brazil relies heavily on favors and ‘who you know. These connections are important, but it is important to remember that these connections can, and will, change. Lastly, be prepared to negotiate on prices! Do not expect sales to occur quickly, and keep your best price till last. People IKEA has a company philosophy to create a better life for its customers, as well as its co-workers. This has significantly influenced the companys workplace environment. IKEA received the Family Champion award and is recognized as a great place to work here in America. IKEA empowers their coworkers and respects their personal lives. This has had a tremendous influence on job productivity, growth and development, which ultimately benefits the customer. The IKEA workplace includes many benefits and family friendly initiatives to support co-workers needs. In 2002, IKEA saw a 26% decrease in sales staff turnover. In addition, women represent more than 48% in management positions and are 47% of the companys top earners. This provides a proper fit for both IKEA and the Brazilian workforce. Brazil is a nation in which the richest 20 percent of the people receive 64 percent of the national income. It is a nation in which 40 percent of the people live on the equivalent of $2 US a day and over 20 percent live on the equivalent of $1 US a day. In May 2003 unemployment was up to 12.8%-it highest level in 14 months. For those that did work, the average wages in May 2003 fell to $290 US, 15% lower than a year earlier. However, the Brazilian workforce is renewing. The job market is very attractive to the ages of 25 to 39 years old. Brazilian women are making up a larger portion of the workforce. In 1970, only 18.5 percent of Brazilian women worked outside the home. This has since rose to 51 percent of the Brazilian workforce. The number of High School graduates has also risen from 35 percent in 1994 to 43 percent currently. A.T. Kearneys 2004 Top 12 Ranking for Offshore Location attractiveness includes Brazil: India China Malaysia Czech Republic Singapore Philippines Brazil Canada Chile Poland Hungary New Zealand The A.T. Kearney Offshore Location Attractiveness Index analyzed the top 25 off-shoring destinations against 39 measurements in three major categories: cost, people skills and availability, and business environment. The study team assigned weights reflecting the drivers of off-shoring decisions based on A.T. Kearney research and engagement experience. Because cost advantages have been the primary impetus behind off shoring, financial factors constitute 40 percent of the total index weight. People skills and availability and business environment each received a 30 percent weighting. Cost advantages and a large workforce Brazils strong points. IKEA has responded to national needs and cultural sensitivity issues. This has been a challenge for IKEA, but IKEA is meeting these challenges by finding a balance between country level autonomy and centralized intervention. To maintain service, quality and logistic standards, franchisees are audited for performance. The headquarters provides extensive training and operational support to the workers of all kind. The new organization has become flatter and is delegating more responsibility to subsidiaries. In addition, IKEA is committed to social policies to both employees and customers. IWAY provisions include health and safety standards, employee conditions such as access to rest areas and toilets, working hours and a minimum wage. IWAY is enforced worldwide but the criterion varies according to local culture and employment legislation. This is an additional benefit for the Brazilian workforce, where there has been some disparity in working conditions for minorities and women. IKEA has developed a mentoring program for learning and personal development of both the mentee and mentor with the expectation that by helping people to be partners they will become better employees. The evolution for the program is for IKEAs mentees to become IKEAs future mentors and Partners for Growth to become self-sustaining and seamless with the culture. IKEAs program is innovative, not only because it is grounded in the values of IKEAs culture, but also because it focuses on personal learning and development. It will help to secure its future as they expand, by creating a diverse group of leaders. Partners for Growth is now entering its second phase and is creating a culture where mentoring is available to all managers at IKEA. IKEA has launched Partners for Growth throughout the organization. Partners for Growth facilitates individual learning, promotes personal and professional growth and development, and has four strategic goals: Develop Leaders from top to bottom Support career development across the board Develop and support diversity through IKEA organization Strengthen IKEA culture References: Welcome to the Smart State, Queensland Australia http://www.sd.qld.gov.au Welcome to the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce http://www.brazilchamber.org Foreign Investments in Brazil http://www.cni.org.br/produtos/com_ext/src/doing05.pdf Isreal Investment News, Third Quarter 2001 http://www.moit.gov.il/root/Hidden/ipc/InvestNews17.htm The Diamondback Online, June 26, 2003 http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/archives/2003/06/26/news6.html Human Environment and Design, International Retailing http://www.hed.msu.edu/internationalretailing/company/IKEA/ Improving Supply Chain Management in the UK Furniture Industry, Case Study – Ikea Trading Area Poland http://www.pyetait.com/furniture-supplychain/docs/Case-Study-IKEA.doc Ikeas our vision http://www.ikea.com/content/about/vision/ Burt, Tim (1998). Ikea rated among Swedens top three businesses, Financial Times (London), Front Page- Companies Markets, pp. 23. The miracle of Amulet, Guardian Unlimited http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1240462,00.html Brazil and Its History http://mdmd.essortment.com/brazilhistory_rmfq.htm Furniture Today, Brazil showing Good growth, March 22, 2004 http://www.furnituretoday.com/article/CA419023.html?display=Special+Report â€Å"Mentoring Relationships: Using Partner Preparation tools.† Mentor, Vol. 6, No 4.

Pearl as an Expression of Hester’s Emotions in Hawthornes The Scarlet

The Scarlet Letter:   Pearl as an Expression of Hester’s Hidden Emotions    In literature, authors often represent a character’s hidden emotions or inner thoughts by presenting them in a separate character.   Such is the case in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter as he uses Pearl to express Hester’s inner thoughts and hidden emotions.   â€Å"Above all, the warfare of Hester’s spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl.†Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite the public shame she has experienced and many years of wearing the intimation of her adulterous sin, Hester Prynne remains proud and displays her letter boldly.   Anyone that did not possess quite her level of emotional stamina and pride would have surely decreased in character and may possibly even lose all hope in life, but Hester proves to be very different.   Instead of reacting to the humiliation and remarks of the commons in a hostile manner, Hester instead ignores these things and focuses her mind more toward memories of years past, as she did while standing on the scaffold for the first time.   Hawthorne thus uses her young, spriteful daughter, Pearl, to represent the emotions that Hester either cannot, or chooses not to, display openly to others.   In chapter 6, Pearl is described as showing â€Å"a love of mischief and a disrespect for authority,† which frequently reminded Hester of her own sin of passion.à ‚   Similarly, in Pearl’s games of make-believe, she never creates friends.   She creates only enemies – Puritans whom she pretends to destroy.   It is a rare occurrence that a child so young in age should think such thoughts of morbidity, thus strengthening the evidence of Hawthorne’s use of Pearl as a display of Hester’s thoughts – thoughts of retaliating against the Puritans for ... ...ks Cited Chase, Richard (1996). â€Å"The Ambiguity of the Scarlet Letter.† Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne (pp. 145-152). San Diego: Greenhaven. Fiedler, Leslie A. Love And Death In The American Novel. Normal: Dalkey, 1998. Hawthorne, J. (1886, April). â€Å"The Scarlet Letter.† The Atlantic Monthly [On-line], pp. 1-20. Available: http://wwww.theatlantic.com/unbound/classrev/scarlet.html Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: St. Martins, 1991. Loring, G. B. (1850). â€Å"The Scarlet Letter and Transcendentalism.† Massachusetts Quarterly Review [On-line], pp. 1-6. Available: http://eldred.ne.mediaone.net/nh/loring.html Scharnhorst, Gary. The Critical Response to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. New York: Greenwood, 1992. Author unknown. â€Å"Hawthorne, Nathaniel.† Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 99 [On-line], pp. 1-4.      

Mongols Essay example -- History, The Indian Ocean Trade

Introduction Between 1200 AD to present, there have been many changes in the world economy. The most important change is how integrated the world economy has become. When countries have a demand for something the first question is where is that supply going to come from. In the end, the way that all nations and places were able to meet their demands was by going internationally and getting it that way. The whole world found a way by sea and land to get the items that they needed and, in the process, connected the whole world through trade. First Question The first types of societies were agricultural and pastoral. Pastoral societies has less productive economies because they were nomadic and needed large grazing areas and supported smaller populations. They usually organized themselves by family and common ancestry (Strayer 334). The main pastoral group was the Mongols as they conquered from the Pacific coast of Asia to Eastern Europe (Strayer 342). Part of their large success was their vast network of trade. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a large and interconnect trading system was put in place. (Marks 33) The Mongols did not so much participate in the trade as they did tax it. They provided a secure route for merchants to take the long journey across Central Asia between Europe and China (Strayer 354). This trade route relied on mostly on middlemen, as it was a series of circuits that were all connected. An item can make it from Asia to Europe and cross through many hands with the price increasing each time. This trade gave way to the Indian Ocean Trade as well as the Silk Roads in the fifteenth century. The Silk Roads connected China, Siberia, Central Asia, India, The Middle East, and The Mediterranean B... ...ations. The French and the English created slave-based sugar plantations on the Caribbean Islands (Marks 83). The slaves also became a central part of the economies in colonial America as it kept plantation agriculture going (Class Notes 12/6/10). The Mongols were the first pastoral group to basically become an empire. Then when China and Europe started to build themselves back up and start voyaging out into the sea, Trade became a worldwide idea. China started to use silver as their currency, which meant that they needed the bulk of the world’s silver in Asia. The rest of the world benefited from trading their silver into Asia. Silver was the first thing that really connected the whole world and specifically incorporated the Americas into their trading network. Then there was the fur and slave trade, which further brought together the world economy as a whole.

First Semester In College

To many people, starting college is something they are really afraid of because college is where things get serious. It is like a whole different level of education. High school is nothing compared to college. This scenario was the complete opposite to my thinking. After graduating from High school, I really wanted to go to college to take another, huge step towards my career. I had a decent amount of friends who were going to Middlesex county college and they told me that this college is good to start off with. So, now I find myself in this college.Although I was looking forward to go to college, my first semester was hard time to go by because of new people, new classes and new teachers as well. In my life, I continuously meet new people every now and then, and college was no different. Even if I had friends from high school going to the same college, I didn’t have the same classes that they had. So the first day of college I walked into a class completely full of strangers. I had no idea how old they were, where they were from or what kind of personality they had.But I eventually got to know some of them as weeks passed by. It was nothing like high school, people are actually really nice to you even if you do not know them. In high school there is a lot of criticism depending on what you look like. Your race, your gender and many other things. College was a complete opposite. Along with having new people in my classes, the classes itself were really different. Classes in college differ a lot from classes in high School. There is no reason one should say that classes in college are similar to the classes in high school.Subjects that you get in colleges are way more advanced than the ones in high school. The material is made in a way that you know it is trying to say that I need to know more about a lot of things. A person may think they know enough to be in the class but once you start getting into more things, you will know how much you think you know and how much you actually know. On top of all this, new people, classes, the teacher are new too but that is not the only reason. I have had new teachers in high school mostly every year but it is totally different than having teachers in college.Teacher in high schools know what you already know and what you need to know. They know what you are capable to do and how much work you can take and be able to accomplish it. If you are in college, that means you know a lot and you should be capable of accomplishing nay task given by your teacher. This is definitely true because in my math class my teacher gave our class a lot of work and expected to us finish everything without any help. Teachers really expect a lot from me. This is called college it might be exactly what you think it is or completely different than your imagination.For conclusion, First semester of college was hard because of new environment with new people and a whole different place. But on the bright side I successfu lly completed my first semester. People are usually stressed about college but even if everything is different once you are used to it you will like it. It is like a kid going to kindergarten for the first time and he or she doesn’t like it but eventually it becomes your daily life routine and you will blend into it. College is the biggest step you will take forward towards your career.

Crooks of Mice and Men

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses descriptive language and diction to explain Crook’s room. After reading the two paragraphs explaining Crooks’s room, a reader can infer that Crooks is caring, lonely and informed about his rights. Crooks’s room is described as â€Å"a little shed† with many personal possessions.† Furthermore, unlike the other men on the ranch he has books which consist of â€Å"a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905† and medicine for the horses. The fact that Crooks carries medicine for both him and the horses shows how caring he is, since he seems to care about the horses. Since Crooks has many personal possessions and his own room, a reader can conclude that Crooks is more permanent than the other men on the ranch. Also unlike the other men on the ranch, Crooks owns tattered books. Since they are tattered, it can be inferred that Crooks enjoys reading these books. Reading is a very solitary form of entertainment. Crooks probably reads because he has no one else to keep him entertained. Given that, it can be inferred that he is very informed about his rights as a working class, African American man. A description of a setting can tell a reader much about its inhabitants. John Steinbeck illustrates many different descriptive settings throughout the course of the story Of Mice and Men. After reading the two paragraphs describing Crooks’s room, a reader can conclude that Crooks is caring, lonely and informed about his rights.

Vals Survey

1.After taking the VALS survey, I’ve learned the primary VALS segment that I match is ‘Experiencer’, which represents my dominant approach to life. This means I am motivated by self-expression. According to the site, experiencers quickly become enthusiastic about new possibilities but are equally quick to cool (Vals Survey). Experiencers tend to be young, enthusiastic, and impulsive consumers (Vals Survey). Additionally, this dimension seeks variety and excitement, savoring the new, the offbeat, and the risky (Vals Survey). An experiencer’s energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation, and social activities (Vals Survey). Experiencers are also said to be avid consumers and spend a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing (Vals Survey). Their purchases reflect the emphasis they place on looking good and having â€Å"cool† stuff. I could not agree with this more. I tend to live life as if tomorrow would be my last day, so I prefer to spend my money on things that make me happy and keep me young. I was somewhat surprised to see that my secondary type is ‘Achiever’ rather than ‘Thinker’, because I constantly feel that I am mature, satisfied, and comfortable. I always value order, knowledge, and responsibility in my life. I am very well-educated and actively seek out information in the decision-making process. I am constantly well-informed about world and national events, and am alert to opportunities to broaden my knowledge. To summarize, I am either a very diverse type of person, or I know less about myself than I thought. 2.The various VALS types that one could be categorized under are innovators, thinkers, achievers, experiencers, believers, strivers, makers and survivors. Some are definitely easier to manage than others. I would say that innovators, achievers and experiencers are the most difficult to manage. The easiest to manage are probably the thinkers, believers, strivers, makers and survivors. Related essay: â€Å"Support Positive Risk Taking For Individuals† Innovators would involve a difficult lifestyle simply because they represent all three primary motivations in varying degrees. Achievers must balance career and family, which is difficult for a lot of people to do. As stated online, achievers are often interested in a variety of time-saving devices because of their busy lives. Experiencers are involved in a complicated life that would be tough to manage, because it requires a lot of money, a lot of risk taking, and being kept up-to-date on the latest styles and trends. This sounds like a very hectic lifestyle. 3.Since my VALS type is ‘experiencer’, one managerial conclusion that I can draw from this is that, when I become a manger one day, I will focus more on innovation and the ‘now’ of things rather than the past. Since an experiencer involves high resources and high innovation, I will be managing a company with great future prospects and hope for a lot of growth- whether it is through mergers, acquisitions, or expansion to foreign countries. This type of manager is also known as a ‘growth manager’. Growth managers tend to invest in the stocks of companies with rapidly growing sales and earnings (Fin Pipe). They believe that the stock price of this type of company will increase quickly as well, reflecting the strong growth of these companies (Fin Pipe). This always involves risk, which is a common characteristic of an experiencer.