Decline Of Civility In Society Philosophy Essay

Decrease Of Civility In Society Philosophy Essay What do we think about acculturated these days? Acculturated by definition is having progressed social and social turn of events or refined in tastes. Does society today look or act that way? Research shows that society most unquestionably doesn't, in any event not any longer. What makes individuals be so discourteous? Most importantly, some portion of the issue is that these days when individuals decide to be discourteous they essentially pull out all the stops. There is no nuance to their wild direct; rather, it is in that spot in your face. Besides, now and again individuals overlook certain discourteousness and basically shrug their aggregate shoulders and moan that is the behavior that most people find acceptable, no trying to absolute any expression of dismay or appall at such a showcase. Such a circumstance would be far more terrible in light of the fact that by then, individuals not just have figured out how to acknowledge uncouth conduct as being not all bad, yet they have likewise lost the drive and will to stand firm and say Sorry, however I won't acknowledge that sort of conduct. At long last, the issue could, truth be told, be society itself. Consider it, isn't peer pressure not one of todays guiding reasons for individuals to act like each other in their practices? Also the way that society is getting increasingly solid on innovation to thoroughly take care of them and when it doesn't individuals get distraught and affirm their animosity on others rather on fixing the issue. One reason for the absence of respectfulness is that individuals nowadays simply couldn't care less any longer about others emotions, by any stretch of the imagination. Lets not be pleasant about this, individuals do have a decision and control how they act around others. What could cause such impolite conduct? Our conduct toward individuals will in general be the impetus the inspiration for how they identify with us. Thusly, rewarding others with graciousness as a rule makes them be considerate to us. Persistence and graciousness advances tolerance and consideration, and so forth. Ask yourself how you wish to be dealt with? Okay prefer to be indicated consolation? Do you need your weaknesses to be treated with resistance and pardoning? Do you want to be indicated love and acknowledgment? (Robbins 1) Subsequently, finishing up from Dr. Robbins article, we should treat other we a similar mentality and astuteness that we wish to be appeared. Individuals have explanations behind being impolite, regardless of whether they don't understand it. Opening up correspondence and discovering the reason for the conduct can support the circumstance. Dont, be that as it may, anticipate that the circumstance should change. In recuperation, we discover that we cannot change individuals; the other individual must conclude whether to change discourteous conduct. Another issue of incivility is society tolerating such rude conduct as opposed to taking care of business. Since when is inconsiderateness reasonable? Evidently as expressed in A Decline in Civility or only a narrow minded solicitation 4 regard? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢ ¦to live in a perpetual insurgency is burdening and we get drained in the end. We progress to mature age and begin grumbling that no one gives us the regard we merit, overlooking, more often than not to apportion it ourselves onto others. Our expanding distance and dependence of chilly, indifferent innovation for relational correspondence appears to drive us into a descending winding, where the diminishing human contact causes us to feel progressively focused on, we feel were receiving less compassion and regard from others and consequently we begin to give out less ourselves. (Edutarian 1) This implies we have to interface with each other all the more regularly or in any case everybody become heartless towards one another on the grounds that nobody cares to try and converse with them. By and by this sounds idiotic in such a case that somebody needs to talk, they will discover somebody to converse with, simply saying. Shockingly, maturing could be a factor in impolite conduct. In what manner or capacity? Well ailments like Alzheimers or being decrepit can make more seasoned people be unseemly or crabby, however much of the time it is a greater amount of the people attitude and mind. Ultimately, the primary issue with discourteousness could be society itself or the development innovation that we are gathering to make life simpler however yet complex simultaneously. Discourteousness was initially connected with Northern residents of America, as expressed in Stephen Carters The Etiquette of Democracy, which says the old bromide that individuals who live in urban areas are not as courteous as individuals in the nation. New Yorkers, we think, embody impoliteness, though people in the South, state, are similarly as well disposed as they can be. The bromide, be that as it may, turns out not to be a bromide: increasingly more exploratory proof affirms it. Something appears to happen to the mind, to the character, possibly to the spirit, when individuals live respectively in tremendous numbers. We end up staying away from one another if just to shield from stumbling over one another. We request what has come to be called our space. (Carter 366) He assists this by citing Stanley Milgram, therapist, who exaggerates the urban incivility in the city, conventional cordialities are disregarded; rather, the urban communities grow new standards of noninvolvement. Subsequently, when guests show up from rustic territories with totally different principles of lead and whine that they appear to have arrived in an outside nation, they are, one might say, completely right. The city, similar to some other network, makes its own norms of conduct, alongside its own weights to obey them. The main difficulty is, the guidelines are frequently ethically second rate compared to the ones they supplant. (Carter 366) Instincts discloses to us that Milgram is correct. Individuals would prefer not to engage in every others issues or issues, so all things being equal they steer away from one another o r simply become out right egotistical. Innovation like TV, the Internet, and phones are a potential and refutable reason for affront. TV is a main motivation behind why individuals act so discourteous. Patricia Crowley, creator of Causes of Todays Incivility, expresses that the youngsters imagine that whatever they see on TV is valid and that how everybody on TV acts is how they should act. They likewise feel that on the off chance that they need to be intense like the kid they just observed on TV that they need to act as he does, which is without habits. The young ladies think on the off chance that they need to be well known and lovely they need to dress and act similarly as discourteously as the young lady they just observed on the sitcom they were viewing. (Patricia 1) Television isn't the one and only one however. The Internet brings a compelling bundle of graceless declamation to the ring. Informal organizations, sites, etc, cause others to procure an inconsiderate conduct because of specific circumstances. What exa cerbates the situation is when innovation comes up short and the human temper lifts, since we are society of prompt assistance which drives us to be furious and impolite towards the diabolical contraption since it won't administer the espresso or something. All in all, what is the reason for the decrease of affability in the public eye? To be honest, society itself is the issue and the arrangement. Society makes us be impolite because of the way that individuals are discourteous to each other with no regret or thought of the critical other. The main we can battle against this pandemic is by recognizing the people discourteous conduct and face, likewise not to let the easily overlooked details get to us. Just way a mentality can be fixed is with another disposition.

Approaches to self-managed learning

Ways to deal with self-guided learning This report first notes how self-guided learning can upgrade long lasting advancement by assessing ways to deal with self-guided learning, manners by which deep rooted learning in close to home and expert settings can be supported, and the advantages of self-guided figuring out how to the individual and association. From there on, the report remarks upon my own present aptitudes and skills. These are assessed against proficient norms and those of association destinations. In the third piece of the report, I distinguish my own advancement needs and what extra exercises should be embraced for me to meet them. At long last, a self-improvement plan illustrating present and future needs is given. Presentation Self-oversaw learning is, as Graves (2012) noticed, a procedure by which unique individuals find various methods of learning things, regardless of whether it be inside the association they are working for, or concerning longer-term singular vocation improvements objectives. Along the se lines, as Pedlar, Burgoyne and Boydell (2013) present, self-guided learning is likewise about the defining of objectives through assessing the reason for learning and arranging ways by which to accomplish such objectives. Individuals learn new things utilizing a plenty of various methods which can be formed, for instance, by culture, conduct, character, and observations. In fact, remarking further, Bjork, Dunlosky and Kornell (2013) affirm that people can learn things in a formal instructive class as well as through companions, and papers. Along these lines, as Ho (2011) places, self-guided learning allows individuals to think of their own technique in learning. The accompanying area traces a progression of various ways to deal with self-guided learning. Ways to deal with self-guided learning Individuals can learn through the exploration they are embraced as a component of their work or as a feature of a task that they have been given by either the college or school they are lear ning at. What's more, individuals can realize various methods for doing the exploration. Workshops and meetings People can learn through classes and gatherings, as confirmed by Collin and Hammond (2013). Courses and gatherings are a powerful device as they offer individuals the chance to introduce their insight about something to others who wind up learning new things; in this manner, workshops and meetings, for instance, for example, that held by the University of Odense in 2013 on the job of Gender in Medieval European Cities, are a unique learning condition. Further, courses and gatherings help individuals to turn out to be increasingly sure about talking out in the open and may likewise build up their introduction abilities: transferrable aptitudes that can be valuable in a scope of authoritative settings †in this way engaging both the hierarchical and the person. Informal organizations There are, as Bourner (2011) takes note of, a scope of various interpersonal organizatio ns including Facebook, Twitter, My Space, etc, where individuals spend an expanding extent of their time. While signed onto such destinations, individuals can be visiting with companions or learning new things. This is especially the situation if individuals share data and information through announcement sheets and discussions. Individuals can likewise figure out how interpersonal organization proprietors, for example, Mark Zuckerberg he got fruitful; and utilizing the data that they get, individuals can apply this information to their own lives consequently discover the methods for prevailing in

2016 Freshman Essay Questions (RD and Deferred EA only) - UGA Undergraduate Admissions

2016 Freshman Essay Questions (RD and Deferred EA only) - UGA Undergraduate Admissions 2016 Freshman Essay Questions (RD and Deferred EA only) Every year, our office reviews the freshman application for changes that we would like to see for the next year. During this review, we also look at the short essay questions that are required for First Year applicants who apply Regular Decision or are deferred Early Action (Early Action applicants do not submit essays unless they are deferred). For 2016, we have made a few minor changes in our short essays. We require one short essay that all RD or deferred EA applicants must complete, and three additional short essay topics with the applicant selecting to respond to two of these. Essay 1 should be between 200-300 words, while essays 2-4 should be between 150 to 200 words, but remember to focus on substance and not word count. Before submitting your application and essays in the Fall, always remember to proofread and edit! The First Year application will be available on September 2, but we thought that some people would want to know the essays earlier than that date. Here are the four essay questions as we now have them, with Essay 1 being required (200-300 words) and Essays 2-4 being three options from which the applicant can select two (150-200 words). (Required) The UGA faculty has defined the qualities that the student body should demonstrate in the Admissions Philosophy Statement. After reviewing this, help us understand which of your qualities will add value to our community of scholars. (200-300 words) Describe a problem, possibly related to your area of study, which you would like to solve. Explain its importance to you and what actions you would take to solve this issue. (150-200 words) Tell us an interesting or amusing story about yourself that you have not already shared in your application. (150-200 words) UGA’s First Year Odyssey Program offers more than 300 seminar courses for new freshmen. Some examples include “The History of Horseracing”, “Einstein and the Theories of Relativity” and “The Zombie Plague”. If you could create your own seminar course at UGA in any subject area that interested you, what would it be? What would the course be named and what would you hope to learn? Please write your response in the style of the UGA First Year Odyssey descriptions as seen on their website. (150-200 words) In addition, here is a great essay from last year that I posted earlier to give an example of strong writing skills. Its Christmas morning. Im asleep in a beautiful princess bed adorned with flowers and puffy pink pillows. Ive always slept with Weez on Christmas Eve. Now let me make a little sense of all of this. Weez is my little sister (her nickname) and we always have a slumber party in her room on Christmas Eve. Seeing her experience the magic of Christmas never gets old even when shes kicking me and stealing the sheets at two in the morning. I cant help but feel the same things she does when she first wakes up and realizes what day it is. Then comes the mad dash downstairs to see what fun toys Santa left under the tree. Once all of the presents are opened, Weez always seems to have more fun playing with the boxes than the toys that came out of them. Sitting there, building a box fort with her, I realize that shes the present Im most thankful for. Shes taught me how to be more appreciative of the people around me than the things around me. Wow. Here I am with one of the greatest presents of all, my adopted sister. Griffin H., thank you for letting us share your essay with future applicants to UGA.

H. H. Holmes - 2284 Words

DR. H. H. Holmes, One of Americas first Serial Killers. Tommy Smith Criminal Justice Case Study Instructor: Dennis Stephens 3/24/11 Bibliography Borowski, John (November 2005). Estrada, Dimas. ed. The Strange Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes: Worlds First Serial Killer. West Hollywood, CA: Waterfront Productions. â€Å"H. H. Holmes Biography.† 2011 AE Television Networks http://www.biography.com/articles/H.-H.-Holmes-307622?part=1 Holmes, H. H. Holmes Own Story. Burk McFetridge, 1895. Ramsland, Katherine. â€Å"H. H. Holmes: Master of Illusion.† http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/holmes/.html Schecter, Harold (August 2008). Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H. H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century†¦show more content†¦Holmes purchased a lot across from the drugstore and built what would be later known as his Murder Castle (which is where it is believed that he hid the bodies of Dr. E.S. Holton and his wife). Holmes would open it up as a hotel for the Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893, with part of the structure used as commercial space. The ground floor of the Castle contained Holmess own relocated drugstore and various shops, while the upper two floors contained his personal office and a maze of over one hundred windowless rooms with doorways opening to brick walls, oddly angled hallways, stairways to nowhere, doors opened only from the outside, and a host of other strange and labyrinthine constructions. Holmes repeatedly changed builders during the construction of the Castle, so only he fully understood the design of the house, thus decreasing the chance of being reported to the police. Holmes selected mostly female victims from among his employees (many of which were required as a condition of employment to take out life insurance policies for which Holmes would pay the premiums but also be the beneficiary), as well as his lovers and hotel guests. He tortured and killed them in some of the worst possible ways you could imagine. Some were locked in soundproof bedrooms fitted with gas lines that let him asphyxiate them at any time and some were locked in a huge soundproof bank vault near his office where they were left to suffocate. HeShow MoreRelatedH. H. Holmes1891 Words   |  8 Pagesnothing new to today’s society. Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy shocked our nation with their violent, brutal, and at times unbelievable crimes, although none of them were as notorious as Herman Webster Mudgett better known as Dr. H.H. Holmes. A man that carried himself as a smart, intellectual member of society, but in reality he was a smooth talking conman an d very disturbed individual. A man who designed and built a building with torture rooms that would serve as his play house. BeingRead MoreCase study on Dr. H. H. Holmes1268 Words   |  6 Pages Clinical Psychology Case study of Dr. H.H. Holmes Case Overview Dr. H.H. Holmes is considered America s first serial killer. The number of victims is estimated to be 27, and later discoveries of corpses revealed as many as 200. Holmes initially committed crimes such as fraud and forgery. In 1893 he built a three story building and named it the castle as a hotel, drug store, and commercial store fronts for the Chicago World s Fair. Holmes used the windowless hotel to lure his victims inRead MoreSerial Killers: H. H. Holmes Essay2491 Words   |  10 Pagesthe Ripper was executing his victims in London, Holmes began his gruesome career in Chicago (America’s Serial Killers). â€Å"Despite being America’s first serial killer, Holmes is hardly a familiar name and until now we haven’t had any popular visual record of his crimes: (Spikol). Why is it that people only think of the more popular killers with higher known profiles? They are all very similar to one another because they share characteristics. H.H. Holmes was a successful serial killer because he wasRead MoreDr. H. H. Holmes: Americas First Serial Killer Essay1527 Words   |  7 Pagespoet can help the inspiration to sing – I was born with the Evil One standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered in the world, and he has been with me since† (Troy, Taylor). This statement was a quoted confession from Dr. H. H. Holmes himself in 1896. Holmes was the first major serial killer in America, even though he came after many others in his time. Thomas Neil Cream, the Austin Axe Murderer, the Bloody Benders, and Jack the Ripper came before him. His name was originally Herman WebsterRead MoreComparison Of H, H. Holmes, And Gary Ridgway And The Green River Killer1817 Words   |  8 PagesH.H Holmes, as well as Gary Ridgway, AKA The Green River Killer. While both of them are similar in many aspects, in some ways they are worlds apart. H. H Holmes was born Herman Webster Mudgett in Gilmanton New Hampshire to parents Levi Horton Mudgett and Theodate Page Price. Holmes was the third child born into his family, youngest of an older brother named Arthur and an older sister named Mary. Born into an affluent family, Holmes was said to be remarkably intelligent at a young age. Holmes parentsRead MoreH. Holmes : The First American Serial Killer1332 Words   |  6 PagesH. H. Holmes Henry Herman Holmes was known to many as the first American serial killer. Better known as just H. H. Holmes, he committed many murders in a suburb on the south side of Chicago during the late 1800’s. Holmes once admitted to police that he killed 27 people, but many actually predict that the number of murders he committed is near 200 (Handley). So what is the real number of people that he killed? Let’s take a closer look at the facts of Holmes’ life, occupation, and the mansionRead MoreThe White City By Erik Larson887 Words   |  4 PagesWhite City† surrounds the events of the 1893 Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in Chicago. Larson does a magnificent job intertwining the lives of two men who were changed by the events of the fair. Daniel H. Burnham, the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World s Fair and Dr. H. H. Holmes, the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. The purpose of this review is not only to summarize Larson’s fascinating and satisfying work which vividly portrays oneRead MoreThe Night At The Corner Of A Street1686 Words   |  7 Pagesseem like something out of a horror movie, these horrid events really did take place. This so called hotel, known today as â€Å"The Murder Castle†, was an elaborate contraption created by Herman Webster Mudgett, who is more commonly known as H. H. Holmes. Dr. Holmes opened The World’s Fair Hotel, now referred to as The Murder Castle, where he killed and dissected his victims in order to feed his insatiable bloodlust and greed. This man might as well have been the Devil himself, and his hotel the Devil’sRead MoreModern Architecture, Ferris Wheels, 1500 Pound Chocolate Bars1787 Words   |  8 Pages Classical architecture, ferris wheels, 1500 pound chocolate bars. These new, unheard of attractions at the Columbian Exposition attracted millions of unsuspecting, innocent guests to the preying gro und of the narcissistic Dr. H. H. Holmes. Chicago, Illinois, the host of the 1983 World’s Fair, was home to this sadistic serial killer who attracted his prey using his education and occupation as a means to gain trust from new, unsuspecting travelers from the 46 nations who participated in the expositionRead MoreSummary Of Erik Larson s The Devil s The Red Devil And Where Is The White City1176 Words   |  5 Pagesentwines two true stories that, at first glance, don t seem to have much to do with each other: First, the story of architect and urban planner, Daniel H. Burnham, who masterminded the 1893 World s Fair in Chicago; second, the tale of Dr. H. H. Holmes, who has been called America s first serial killer. By now, you ve probably guessed that Holmes, who may have lured more than 200 people to their deaths in an elaborately-constructed building dubbed ‘The Murder Castle’, is the Devil of Larson s title

Kubla Khan and Its Relation to Romanticism - 2675 Words

Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is one of the most enigmatic and ambiguous pieces of literature ever written. Allegedly written after a laudanum (an opiate) induced dream, the author claims to have been planning a two hundred to three hundred line poem before he got interrupted by a man from Porlock, after which he had forgotten nearly all of his dream. This may have been merely an excuse, and the poem was scorned at the time for having no poetic value, one critic even going so far as to call it more a musical composition than a poem. This is partly true, as the language seems to strive for an aural beauty more than a literary beauty, although it accomplishes both. Like many great artists, Coleridge has been most appreciated†¦show more content†¦Simultaneously, the dome is mocking Heaven, a synonym for paradise, as the dome is a common symbol representing the heavens. This angers nature, and it attacks the dome with the river and the fountain from the chasm. The rive r Alph is directly related to the Greek god Alpheus, who was the river god. According to Greek mythology, a pagan belief, the god Alpheus had fallen in love with Arethusa, the daughter of Nereus and a Hesperides. The Hesperides are a type of nymph whom tend to a beautiful garden, or paradise, of unknown location. Alpheus took the nymph to Sicily, where Artemis, the god of childbirth and chastity, turned Arethusa into a fountain, so that the two could make love by mingling their waters. The mingling of their waters is occurring in this chasm, where the mighty fountain of Arethusa is located. To further this image of sex in nature, which Coleridge loved so much and was a large part of the romantic and pagan idea, the chasm is very much likened to a vagina, with its cedarn cover like pubic hair, and its romantic nature, which could mean either relating to romanticism or romance, both of which could have sexual implications. With fast thick pants, the fountain bursts up and the chasm sp ews out dancing rocks like chaffy grain beneath the threshers flail. Coleridge uses syntax to emphasize the excitement of the climax by not using a comma between the words fast andShow MoreRelatedDifference Between Romanticism And Transendinlalism In American And British Writers1584 Words   |  7 PagesWhich characterized Transendinlalism very differently from that of Romanticism. The difference of Transendinlalism was that it was a literary and philosophical movement, associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller, asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition. However, the Romantics thought differently because they that, that romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement originating in EuropeRead MoreDifference Between Romanticism and Transendinlalism in American and British Writers1616 Words   |  7 PagesDifference Between Romanticism and Transendinlalism in American and British Writers The expression Romantic gained currency during its own time, roughly 1780-1850. However, the Romantic era is to identify a period in which certain ideas and attitudes arose, gained the idea of intellectual achievement and became dominant. This is why , they became the dominant mode of expression. Which tells us something else about the Romantic era which expression was perhaps everything to do withRead MoreKubla Khan a Supernatural Poem8401 Words   |  34 Pages| AbstractThis essay discusses the question of the transforming creative self and the aesthetics of becoming in Samuel Taylor Coleridge s Kubla Khan and Dejection: An Ode , by reassessing certain strands of Romantic visionary criticism and Deconstruction, which are two major critical positions in the reading and interpreting of Romantic poetry. The poetics of becoming and the creative process place the self in Coleridge s aesthetic and spiritual idealism in what I have called a constructiveRead More Why is mo st of Coleridge’s best writing unfinished? Essay1930 Words   |  8 Pagesin English literature. Wordsworth’s lyrical style can be seen influencing many of Coleridges works, from Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ to the very famous ‘Tintern Abby’. Both expressed a poetic impression that created a landmark in English Romanticism. His work revealed that Coleridge was influenced by the natural and intrigued by the supernatural, yet the concerns that he expressed within his works, â€Å"anticipating modern existentialism†[1], were innovative and daring and therefore managedRead More The Composition and Publication History of Samuel T. Coleridges Kubla Khan2601 Words   |  11 Pagesand Publication History of Samuel T. Coleridges Kubla Khan Although the exact date remains unknown, it is believed that Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote his poem Kubla Khan sometime in the fall of 1797 and began revisions of it in the early spring of 1798. Interestingly, although no original manuscript has been found, the Crewe Manuscript of Kubla Khan was discovered in 1934. Currently, the Crewe Manuscript is the earliest know version of Kubla Khan and is believed to have been written around 1810Read MoreUse Of Memory And Dreams During The Romantic Era1248 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Wordsworth, and Percy Shelley. Samuel Coleridge is notoriously known for his poem Kubla Khan or, A Vision in a Dream, A fragment, not only for its story but for how the poem originated. Kubla Khan’s entire existence is because of a dream Coleridge had while on an anodyne prescribed for his poor health. He slept for approximately three hours and vividly dreamt of the beginning, middle, and end of Kubla Khan, which consisted of hundreds of lines. Upon waking, Coleridge retrieved a pen and paperRead MoreOrientalism : The Romantic Era Of British Literature And Meshes Essay2475 Words   |  10 Pages Set I 1. Orientalism played a huge role in the Romanticism movement. Romantic orientalism expands the key points of the romantic era of British literature and meshes it with the exotic nature or the oriental fantasy of the east. The romantic period in Britain was recognized as a time of global travel and exploration, accession of colonies all over the world, and development of imperialist ideologies that rationalized the British takeover of distant territories. Many of the poets of the nineteenthRead MoreVictorian Period2321 Words   |  10 Pagesfree, the powers of imagination, individuality and a rebellion to tyranny are some of the ideas the romantic period brought to society’s attention. While rejecting neoclassical views of order, reason, tradition, society and formal diction. Romanticism allowed people to get away from the constrained rational views of life and concentrate on an emotional and sentimental side of humanity. The definition of poetry by William Wordsworth, (an important poet of the romantic period) exemplifies theRead More Comparing Coleridge and Wordsworths Views on Peoples Relationship to Nature3084 Words   |  13 Pageslife and underlines the serene aspect of nature. In order to imply a connection between nature and the human mind, Wordsworth uses the technique of identification and comparison whereas Coleridge does the opposite in The Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. Both admire natures healing strength and hope that their children will grow up in a natural environment instead of growing up in cities. For Wordsworth nature seems to sympathise with the love and suffering of the persona. The landscape

Financial Accounting Concepts Pepsico, Inc. and the Coca Cola Company Free Essays

Financial Analysis Randall Meeks Financial Accounting Concepts Mr. Carraher 9-12-2010 PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca Cola Company have both been in production for ages. We will write a custom essay sample on Financial Accounting Concepts: Pepsico, Inc. and the Coca Cola Company or any similar topic only for you Order Now Both PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca Cola Company have become common house hold names through out the world today. Pepsi is one of the best selling products in American history. â€Å"Pepsi is the number 2 soft drink company producer, the world over. Pepsi’s number one priority is making sure that their shareholders investments are profitable. Pepsi has been able to achieve this goal for the most part via increased sales, keeping cost low, and spending money wisely.Pepsi takes pride in the name, they have built an excellent brand by deliver a product that is satisfying to the consumer, as well as safe. The investors in the company also can be happy with the return of investment†(investorguide. com). â€Å"The Coca Cola Company is likely, one of the most significant brands in American history. Coke can go in a category with a company like McDonalds when it comes to brand value, these two trademarks are 2 of the most recognized in the world. Coke is the highest seller of soft drinks, moving 1. 3 billion beverages that are served daily†(investorguide. com).Pepsi and Coke have been mass producing soft-drinks on an assembly line for a very long time and they both have been competing for the number one soft drink seller spot. PepsiCo, Inc and The Coca Cola Company targets all income segments of customers in the entire world as their products are high quality and very recognizable. Coke and Pepsi offer products so similar that you probably could not tell the difference in a blindfolded taste test. It is a well known fact that when a business goes outside of the United States borders, that production and supply channel become very important concerns.Both Coke and Pepsi own plants that manufacturer their products all over the world in many different countries and continents.. Both companies compete with each other and try to make sure they stay relevant. They also tend to copy each other and try to outdo one another on a day to day basis. I will go in detail to explain the financial comparison and contrasting between both companies. I will also explain the vertical and horizontal comparison between the two companies. The main point I will make is to show the difference between both companies financially. Vertical AnalysisConsolidated Income Statement The cost of goods of PepsiCo Inc was $11,031 and $12,314 in 2004 and 2005. The price of product sold in 2004 was 38% of net sales and in 2005, it was 37. 82% of net sale. The price of goods sold went down in 2005. The cost of commodities was $7,674 and $8,195 in 2004 and 2005 for Coke. It was 35% and 35. 47% of net sales in 2004 and 2005. Cost of commodities sold increased for The Coca Cola Company and decreased for PepsiCo, Inc. The operating expense for PepsiCo, Inc was 43% and 43. 54% of net sales in 2004 and 2005. The operating expenses for Coca Cola were 36% and 37. 2% of net sales in 2004 and 2005. PepsiCo, Inc and The Coca Cola Companies operating expense increased in 2005. The earning before TI of PepsiCo Inc was 18% and 18. 19% of sales in 2004 and 2005.The operating income for The Coca Cola Company was 26% and 26. 34% in 2004 and 2005. PepsiCo, Inc and The Coca Cola Companies operating income increased. The net income for PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca Cola Company for 2005 was 21. 09% and 12. 52% The Coca Cola Companies net income ratios was higher than PepsiCo, Inc. Consolidated Balance Sheet The current and total assets for PepsiCo, Inc were 31% and 32. 5% in 2004 and 2005. On the opposite side, the total current assets were 39% and 34. 83% in 2004 and 2005. The liquidity position for PepsiCo, Inc. decreased in 2005 and The Coca Cola Company increased in 2005. The additional assets and fixed assets for PepsiCo Inc, were 69% and 67. 05% in 2004 and 2005. The Coca Cola Companies fixed assets were 61% and 65. 17% in 2004 and 2005. The current liabilities for PepsiCo, Inc were $6,752 and $9,406 in 2004 and 2005. The total assets were 24% and 29. 65%. The current liabilities for The Coca Cola Company were $11,133 and $9. 836 in 2004 and 2005.The total assets were 35% and 33. 43%. The current liabilities for PepsiCo, Inc increased while the current liabilities for The Coca Cola Company decreased in 2005. The total liabilities for both companies in 2005 were 55. 08% and 44. 42% of total assets in 2005†¦ The equity for PepsiCo, Inc. was 48% assets in 2004 and 44. 92% assets in 2005. In 2005 PepsiCo, Inc. share holder’s holdings reduced. The equity shares were 55. 58% of assets in 2005 for The Coca Cola Company while in 2004, there were only 51% equity shares. The Coca Cola Companies equity shares were more in relative value as compared to PepsiCo.Horizontal Analysis Consolidated Income Statements The total revenue for PepsiCo, Inc in 2005 and 2004 were $32,562 and $29,261. PepsiCo, Inc had a considerable amount of net revenue in 2005 compared to 2004. The base year of analysis is 2004. The net revenue for PepsiCo, Inc. was 111. 11% in 2005. The total revenue for The Coca Cola Company in 2005 and 2004 were $23,104 and $21,742. Both 2005 and 2004’s revenues were less than PepsiCo, Inc. The net revenue of the company in 2005 was 106. 26% over 2004. The net revenue for 2005 was 6. 26% while 2004 was less.The growth rate of revenue for The Coca Cola Company is less than PepsiCo, Inc. The growth rate of revenue for both PepsiCo and Coca Cola was 11. 11% and 6. 26%. The cost of commodities sold for PepsiCo, Inc was $11,031 and $12,314 in 2004 and 2005. The price of goods sold went up as sales went up. The price of goods sold was 111. 63% compared to 2004’s. The cost of commodities sold for The Coca Cola Company was $7,674 and $ 8,195. The cost of commodities sold increased for The Coca Cola Company in 2005 than in 2004. In general and administration expenses of PepsiCo, Inc were $12,674 and $14,176.The operating expenses was 111. 85% in 2005 and 11. 85% more than 2004’s. The total operating expenses for The Coca Cola Company was 110. 75% and 10. 75% in comparison to 2004’s. PepsiCo, Inc had higher operating expenses than The Coca Cola Company. The operating income for PepsiCo, Inc was $5,259 and $5,922 in 2004 and 2005. The Coca Cola Companies total operating income was $5,698 and $6,085 in 2004 and 2005. PepsiCo, Inc. total operating income was 112. 61% over earlier years. The Coca Cola Companies total operating income was 106. 79% over earlier years.The Coca Cola Companies interest expenses for 2005 were $240 and for PepsiCo, Inc $256. PepsiCo, Inc. interest expenses were more than The Coca Cola Companies. PepsiCo, Inc. net income was $4,078 and $4,212 in 2005 and 2004, PepsiCo, Inc sustained losses in 2005 compared to 2004. The net income for The Coca Cola Company was $4,847 and $4,872 in 2005 and 2004. The Coca Cola Company earned more in 2005 than 2004. Consolidated Balance Sheet The total current assets of PepsiCo, Inc. were $8,639 and $10,454 in 2004 and 2005. The total current assets of PepsiCo, Inc. were 121. 1% prior year’s current assets. PepsiCo, Inc. current assets increased in 2005. The total current assets for The Coca Cola Company were $10,250 and $12,281 in 2004 and 2005. PepsiCo, Inc. current assets were 21. 01% more than prior year’s and The Coca Cola Company were 16. 57% less than previous year’s assets. Further more the quick assets of PepsiCo, Inc were more than The Coca Cola Companies quick assets. It shows that PepsiCo, Inc liquidity was more than The Coca Cola Company. PepsiCo, Inc total assets were $27,987 and $31,727 in 2004 and 2005. PepsiCo, Inc. total assets increased by 13. 6%. The Coca Cola Companies total assets were $31,441 and $29,427. The Coca Cola Company decreased by 6. 41%. It shows that PepsiCo, Inc. increased in 2005 more than The Coca Cola Company. PepsiCo, Inc. current liabilities were $6,752 and $9,406 in 2004 and 2005. The total current liabilities of company were 139. 31% over prior year’s liabilities. The current liabilities of Coca Cola were $11,133 and $9,836 in 2004 and 2005. The current liabilities were 88. 35% of previous year’s liabilities. The Coca Cola Companies current assets and current liabilities decrease in 2005.The total liabilities of PepsiCo, Inc were $14,464 and $17,476 in 2004 and 2005. The total liabilities in 2005 were 120. 82% prior years. The Coca Cola Companies total liabilities were $15,506 and $13,072 in 2004 and 2005. The Coca Cola Companies assets and liabilities decreased in 2005. In 2005 PepsiCo, Inc. share holder’s equity were $20,638 and The Coca Cola Company $16,355. The share holder’s equity increased in both PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca Cola Company. PepsiCo Inc. equity increased by11. 90% and The Coca Cola Company 2. 64%. Ultimately after reviewing and analyzing PepsiCo, Inc. nd The Coca Cola Company I have came to the conclusion that the net profit of PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca Cola Company decreased in 2005 and in 2004 there was a profit. The operating expenses of PepsiCo, Inc. and The Coca Cola Company improved quite a bit in 2005. I believe both companies should reduce their operating expense. The interest expenses were also high in 2005. I believe all expenses for interest on a loan made to a corporation or other entities or finances from equity shares should be kept at a minimum. The main purpose of this paper is to explain the financial comparison between The Coca Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc.Further more I explained vertical and horizontal analyses for the years of 2005 and 2004 for The Coca Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc. The main idea was to show how both companies are financially different from each other. References Coca Cola Company (2010). Coca Cola Company. Retrieved September 8, 2010. From www. coca-cola. com PepsiCo Inc. (2010). PepsiCo Inc. Retrieved September 9. From www. pepsico. com Investorguide (2010). PepsiCo, Inc. Retrieved September 8, 2010. From investorguide. com Investor Guide (2010). The Coca Cola Company. Retrieved September 8, 2010. From investorguide. com How to cite Financial Accounting Concepts: Pepsico, Inc. and the Coca Cola Company, Papers

The Dangerous Allure of the 70

Problem Identification In everything that one sets to do, there is need to ensure that it is done in the expected manner. Acting within expectation is what defines an accomplished worker from an ineffective individual.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Because of the increasing demand in every sector of the economy, there is always the need to work beyond the planned timeline. It would be appropriate that the workforce appreciates the importance of this. However, a crop of individuals has developed a character that is very dangerous to their well-being. These individuals work in excess of 70 hours per week. Some go beyond this to work for about 100 hours a week. Hewlett and Luce (2006) note with concern that some go overboard to work for a record 120 hours a week. Although it is a sure way of becoming rich, the practice comes with so me serious consequences. Such individuals, irrespective of their gender, put their health at risk. Cunningham (2000) cautions that taking much time without rest and exercise makes the body vulnerable to various health complications. Besides this, an individual who does not allocate his time appropriately between work and family would create an environment where their families would lose touch with him or her. Another concern that this current trend has is the inability to manage other social duties. Individuals who take almost all their available time on career related issues may find themselves being social misfits in the society. Cunningham (2000) observes that they may excel in their offices and workplaces but may not be in a position to respond to other social concerns.Advertising Looking for case study on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Situation Analysis The current generation worker force is industrious and is always determined to accomplish duties at hand before the set time so that they get into other duties. However, the situation as it stands now is very dangerous. Many executives are working beyond the normal set time. This trend cuts across professions and sectors of the economy. As one climbs the career ladder, the need to do more than the normal duty increases. It is understandable that the current corporate world is placing a lot of pressure on few selected individuals in their quest for a leaner workforce. However, it is not appropriate that one is allocated duties that would completely make him or her lack time at all for the family. Giddens (2009) says that some duties would turn an individual into a zombie. One works without the realization that there is a family to take care of. This has seen many families break. Some spouses may not withstand a scenario where they are not given any time with their partners. This explains in part the reason behind the recent rise of single parenthood, especially among the corporate men and women. Children who find themselves in such situations grow up to be very irresponsible. They lack parental care that every child would require for a normal growth. Other than the social consequences, one exposes himself or herself to many health risks by taking much of his or her time on various duties related to their career. As Hewlett and Luce (2006) report, some people would work in excess of 120 hours in a week. On average, this leaves an individual with approximately six hours per day to commute, eat, and socialize. This on average leaves an individual with about two to three hours to sleep. As Andrzej and Buchaman (2007) observe, it is important that an individual sleep for at least six hours a day. Taking two hours to sleep would make one develop serious health complications. Coupled with the fact that in some of the cases an individual may take most of the time seated, one would be exposed to both physical and menta l dangers. If the body were not given time to relax and exercise, then it would fatigue and develop complications that would be avoided if proper measures were taken.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Recommendation It is recommended that one should make an effort to ensure that his or her responsibility is undertaken within the right time and with precision that is expected. However, it would not be appropriate if one engages in duties that cause total neglect to the family. One’s career is important but it should not be overemphasized at the expense of the family. There should be a balance between the two. Below are some of the ways in which one can ensure that he or she strikes a balance between social issues and job related duties. Planning is the main tool that an individual can use to ensure that he or she balances soci al duties and work. An individual should take time to lay down duties before him or her. The individual can then look at the time available to achieve the obligations. The individual should allocate time to each work in a way that would still allow him or her to obtain some time to be back to the family and meet some other social obligations. The planning would help an individual know the amount of time that would be required to meet various obligations. After making the plan, it is highly advisable that such an individual strictly sticks to it so that no obligation is given more time than was planned. Although this may force one to take lesser time at workplace, it is the only way of managing the attention needed at work and at home. Taking duties that are within one’s scope is another technique that can be applied to manage time. It is good to be ambitious. However, there is need for one to understand his or her scope. It is important that an individual appreciate his or he r limits beyond which working will be strenuous. After this realization, it would be necessary that the individual take duties that are within his scope. It would help in avoiding circumstances where one is forced to work beyond the limits, forcing one to shelve time that would be spent with the family.Advertising Looking for case study on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The family is just as important as the career. As one aspires to achieve the best out of his or her career, it is important to note that the family also has a place. Neglecting one’s career would be dangerous as it may lead to poor yields, a fact that may lead to consequences that one could not have prepared for at work place. Similarly, assuming the family would lead to lose of touch between the parent and the family. Children need parental attention in order to develop normally. If this is reality is not identified, such children may develop to be irresponsible individuals in society who are not what the parents would have expected them to be. References Andrzej, A., Buchaman, A. (2007). Organizational Behavior. London: Prentice Hall. Cunningham, B. (2000). The stress management sourcebook. Los Angeles: Free Press. Giddens, A. (2009). The consequences of modernity. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Hewlett, A., Luce, C. (2006). Extreme Jobs: The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hou r Workweek. Harvard Business Publishing Corporation. This case study on The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek was written and submitted by user Madilynn Cortez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Zara and Its International Expansion Essays

Zara and Its International Expansion Essays Zara and Its International Expansion Paper Zara and Its International Expansion Paper Zara is one of the largest and the most internationalized retailers that Inditex Group owns. Inditex Group is based in Spain, which is a global specialty retailer that designs, manufactures, and sells apparel, footwear, and accessories for women, men and children around the world. Zara’s history The founder of Zara, Amancio Ortega, opened the first Zara store in 1975 in a central street in La Caruna, Spain. It was first featured as low-priced look-alike products of popular, higher-end clothing fashions. The first store proved to be a success, hence Inditex Group started to open more Zara stores in Spain.In order to reduce the lead time and also react to new trends in a faster way, Ortega decided to change the design, manufacturing and distribution process during the 1980’s. This is what Ortega called â€Å"instant fashion†. The company made their improvements by the use of information technologies and using a group of designers instead of individuals. The core concept of Zara is they sell â€Å"medium quality fashion clothing at affordable prices†, and the vertical integration and quick-response are also keys to Zara’s business model.Zara started to expand internationally in late 1980’s. The first Zara store outside Spain was opened in Portugal in 1988. Then they entered New York in 1989 and in Paris in 1990. The expansion of Zara stores keeps growing, and until now, it presents in seventy three countries, with 1,341 stores in prime locations of major cities. Business environment The apparel market is a consumer-driven industry, and globalization and new technologies have allowed consumers to have more access to fashion.Due to these reasons, consumer tastes are changing rapidly, competition is fierce, and companies are evolving to meet these demand. There are two types of considerations for Zara to successfully enter into the international market- internal factors and external factors, as will be explained in detail later in this paper in the section of international strategy. Market Structure for Clothing Industry ZARA is in a monopolistic competitive market. There are many competitors in this industry such as GAP and HM. The clothing industry is facing high ressure of reducing costs as they try to have a lower price than their competitors, and aggressive price wars, initiated by competitors working to improve their supply chain management, have slowly removed less efficient makers out of the business. Due to the global financial crisis, the clothing industry slowed down in profit growth from the beginning of 2008, and because of this huge negative impact to the global economy, there are downward pressures on price for clothing makers. The worldwide sluggish economy has decreased the demand since previous affordable prices may not be affordable now.Company such as Old Navy has been able to take over some of Zara’s market shares by offering lower prices. Competitors Gap, HM, and Benetton are considered three closest comparable international competitors. Zara is relatively more fashionable than all three competitors, and prices are less than Gap and Benetton but higher than HM. Among these three competitors, HM is considered the most closest competitor to Zara with some similarities and some differences. HM differs from Zara in the way they outsource all of their productions and spend more money on advertising, while Zara does little outsourcing and virtually does no advertising.Also, Zara sells only trendy products and not trying to produce â€Å"classic† clothes which would always be in style while HM does produce some â€Å"classic† clothes in addition to trendy products. The similarities are they both are European based companies, are fashion forward at low price retailers, and both have a strong international expansion strategy. Strategy and Core Competency Zara uses a combination of cost leadership strategy and product differ entiation strategy to support its business model’s core concept of selling the latest style, medium quality fashion clothing at affordable prices.This is achieved through its core competencies of a vertical integration, a vast range of products, and a unique instant fashion system, creating speed and flexibility to the market that provides the chain with a competitive advantage over traditional retailers in the industry. Vertical Integration Since the global apparel industry is high-labor intensive, most retailers and manufacturers seek to lower costs by outsourcing productions to developing countries with cheap labor.However, instead of relying on outsourcing and offshoring, Zara owns great control of its factories, stores, and distribution network because it believes it can minimize the time to market by carefully coordinate the entire production process. The company’s employees make about 50% of its finished garments, with a majority of them being the most time and fashion sensitive products, in any of its 20 fully owned factories, 18 of them clustered around its headquarters. Zara has a centralized distribution facility in Spain, it is cost-effective and time efficient as the distribution center is close to the factory.Also, for Zara the distribution center is a place where products are moved rather than stored, and products shipped to farther destinations or of larger quantities are shipped by air. As a result, not only inventory cost is decreased but the delivery speed is increased. In contrast, most large fashion manufacturers rely on low cost manufacturing in Asia or South America but have to pay higher inventory costs and it takes longer time for the products to move to market. Product Variation By owning its in-house production, Zara is also very flexible in the variety, amount, and frequency of the new styles they produce.Instead of creating a few styles with mass quantity, Zara uses the style greater than quantity concept, launching n ew collections in increasingly shorter cycles, as it produces approximately 1000 new styles per month while producing in small batches. This creates a rapid product turnover and an environment of scarcity and exclusivity, prompting the customers to buy the product now in case it is gone tomorrow and visit the stores frequently, as said by the Toronto store manager of Zara â€Å"We receive shipments on Tuesday and Saturday, which means that we have different items in the store at least twice a week.While each shipment replenishes items that sell well, each also includes new items. That’s why our customers come in often. † On average, Zara’s customers return to the store 17 times a year, compared to 3 times a year of most of the competitors. The vast range of styles also enables Zara to cope with the changing customers’ demand and to sell more items at its full price. Instant Fashion The instant fashion system, another core competency of Zara, permits Zara to respond to the demand of its consumer better than its competitors.Compared to the conventional idea of spring and autumn clothing collections, Zara is in favor of â€Å"live collectionsâ€Å" that can be designed, manufactured, distributed, and sold almost as quickly as its customers’ fleeting tastes. Instead of predicting the trend for the next season, Zara’s designers react to what they see in the current fashion, identifying and catching a winning fashion trend while the competitors are struggling to catch up. Zara is able to do this because it has a vertical integrated supply chain that reduces lead time as explained above.While it takes 60 to 90 days in order to design and deliver a new fashion style in a traditional value chain, it only takes 12 to 15 days for Zara. The fast fashion system also depends on the constant exchange of information throughout every part of Zaras supply chain. To speed the information flow of consumer desires to their designers, Zar a has teams in the manufacturing environment responsible for attending high-fashion fairs and exhibitions to provide the designers with the latest trends. Research on market and travels to the universities and clubs around the world are also conducted throughout the season.On the other hand, in the retail environment Zara’s managers and sales associates are responsible for providing sales analysis, product life cycles, and store trends to aid the designers. This communication system is further accelerated by the IT software for stores to report directly to the production centers and designers in Spain. For example store managers use PDA to check on the latest clothes designs and place their orders in accordance with the demand they observe in stores, while all salespeople are equipped with wireless handheld organizers that let them punch in trends, customer comments and orders.Value Chain Zara has a vertical integrated supply chain owning control of all of its retailing, desi gning, and manufacturing operations. As mentioned above, unlike most of its competitors that outsource their production to factories around the world, Zara has approximately 80% of its production carried out in Europe, with its various business elements such as the design and production centers in close proximity to each other, around its headquarter in La Coruna, Spain. Purchases: Zara purchases materials from external suppliers.It has purchasing offices in Barcelona and Hong Kong which gives Zara the competitive advantage towards the cost of goods sold as it can purchase from the region with lower prices. About half of the fabrics are purchased in grey to allow for flexibility in manufacturing a variety of colors and patterns, and by owning Comditel, a subsidiary to Inditex responsible for dyeing, patterning, and finishing the fabrics, Zara can always provide the necessary fabrics to the new styles of its products.As explained by Jose Maria Castella, Inditex’s executive, â €Å"We have the ability to scrap an entire production line if it is not selling. We can dye collection in new colors and we can create a new fashion line in days. † Design and manufacture: There is one design center for each of the women’s, men’s, and children’s lines with separate design, sales, and procurement and production-planning staffs. Though it is more expensive to operate three channels, the information flow for each channel is fast and direct, making the overall supply chain more effective.The designers work their designs on a computer system called CAD while communicating with the store managers to receive feedback. Once the patterns are finalized, they are made available to the computers that would guide the high tech cutting tools in the factory. Zara’s factories are heavily automated, specialized by garment type, and focused on the capital-intensive parts of the production process. Inditex owns 20 factories for internal manufacture t hat apply the just-in-time production system, making the production process fully under its control.Assembly: The assembly of the cut pieces is done by a network of small workshops that are not owned by Zara. They are provided a set of easy instructions to follow for the purpose of quickly sewing up the pieces and provide a constant stream to Zara’s garment finishing and packing facilities. Distribution: All garments, both internally and externally made, go into Zaras distribution centers in La Coruna or smaller satellite centers in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico to be distributed. Since Zara stores around the world receive new products regularly, Zara’s distribution center s a place for moving the products rather than for storage, therefore no style sits around very long at head office as products are shipped to stores within 48 hours. As mentioned before, this significantly reduces inventory cost and risk. Marketing: Zaea relies heavily on word-of-mouth to market its p roducts to deliver its brand image of high fashion, reasonable quality goods, and rapidly changing product lines instead of using the ordinary retail marketing practices. Zara spends 0-. % on advertisement investment as compared to traditional retailers of 3-4% , because instead of spending on collaborating with big-name designers and advertising campaigns, the money saved is spent on purchasing prime real estate locations around the world, for example Fifth Avenue, Tokyo’s Ginza, and Rome’s Via Condotti. Great emphasis is also placed on the store’s interior design and image by having frequent refurbishing of store layouts and common window display for all of its global stores, as shown as exhibit 1, that position Zara with a prestigious and elegant image.Service: Zara has been growing by looking to its customers for innovations. Instead of viewing the employees as costs, Zara’s in-store staff is young and very sensitive to fashion who serves as trend spo tters. Through providing services to the customers, Zara’s employees can understand the constantly changing demand of the customers and transfer this information to the designers to find better way to meet the needs of the customers. IT: The most important support activity in Zara’s value chain is the information and communication technology, which provides speed to the market and exists in every stage of the chain, as shown in exhibit 2.In the upstream supply chain, IT is needed for managing the inventory of supplies, design specifications, and trim specifications. In the downstream supply chain, it is used for managing distribution and collecting information on consumer needs. International Business For international companies, globalization radically influences their production and business model. More importantly, it provides growth opportunities for them to enter foreign markets and thus gain larger market share and increase revenue.Also, it has forced global comp anies to improve and upgrade themselves through increasingly fierce market competition. Zara has been taking advantage of the globalization to expand its global footprints all around the world. As of August 2009, there are totally 1,560 Zara stores around the world. About 80% of its stores are located in Europe. In North America, there are only 60 stores. In Asia, there are about 91 stores . Currently Zara is still planning to aggressively plot its global expansion though at a slower pace than before mainly due to the global economic slowdown.More new stores are set to open mostly between Europe and Asia . International Strategy To establish such globally diversified presence, the highly successful international strategy Zara has been implementing a strategy with a mixture of standardization and customization. There are three steps associated with Zara’s international strategy: market selection, marketing entry, and marketing approach. Market selection: there are many key con siderations involved like labor cost and productivity, distribution cost, shipment cost of raw materials.Characteristics or behavior of consumers, for example the people in France are more fashionable and quality oriented while the people in Germany are more price sensitive, and income per capita are also important considerations. By carefully considering these elements and following a systematic procedure to insure extensive market testing before expanding its operations, Zara so far hasnt retreated from any selected markets. Market entry: the related considerations include economics factors, government regulations, and entry barriers.More specifically, the economic factors include macroeconomic factors such as tax, political condition, and export tariff, and the microeconomic factors which include local competitors, demand, and location of stores. Zara adopted three modes of market entry- joint venture, franchise, and company-owned stores that depended on local factors. However, Z ara would always make sure it has the most control to its stores no matter what forms they take. Marketing approach: Zara customizes its marketing approach according to the unique conditions of each country.For products, the local stores would place order on products that reflect the local preferences and trends. For price, different pricing strategies are used for each country, for example prices in Italy and France are higher because the people there are less price sensitive but are fashion oriented while prices in Germany is lower as it is more price sensitive. For placement, Zara stresses on efficient distribution and ensures all the stores are located in the best locations. Offshoring and Outsourcing By definition, offshoring means outsource their works to another foreign country.In global apparel industry, the general trend for global fashion retailers is to totally offshore their manufacturing to tens of thousands of small apparel makers in developing countries and mainly foc us on design and marketing. However, counter-intuitively Zara is taking a different path. It still produces some of its products by itself. 50% of the Zara’s products are manufactured by factories fully owned by it in Spain, 26% in the rest of Europe, and 24% in Asian and African countries and the rest of the world.Only long shelf life clothes like T-shirts are mostly offshored to Asia and Turkey. Due to international expansion, Zara may consider more production out of Spain or Europe in the future, as the high transportation cost from Spain to other far foreign markets like Asia and North America is still a big concern especially when oil prices continue to remain high. Zara has purchasing offices in Beijing, Barcelona, and Hong Kong. Zara also purchases clothing materials from numerous suppliers in Spain, India, Morocco, and the Far East.Under Zara’s inter-connected network, suppliers are coordinated with Zara’s sales projection. Therefore, Zara’s produ ction demand can be quickly met on time. Problems Encountered in International Expansion As Zara continues its ambitious global expansion, there are still some problems that exist. One major problem is the increase of transportation cost and time for Zara as the company is expanding globally while trying to retain a centralized distribution system. In order to meet the global demand, Zara has been increasing its production through outsourcing and offshoring at a higher level.However, this raises the transportation cost and time since all of the products have to go through the distribution center in La Coruna or smaller satellite centers in Brazil and Mexico before being sent to different stores around the world. As a result, international customers have to pay higher prices to bear the transportation cost, as this goes against Zara’s principle of providing quality and fashion at a low price. Also, increasing outsourcing and offshoring means less control, which s one of the fu ndamental factors in achieving a successful vertical integrated value chain. Another problem regarding Zara’s global expansion is related to the North American market. North America is a highly competitive and vast market, with people living in different parts having different profiles and thus different fashion needs. Moreover, consumers in North America are price sensitive and less trendy. Many fashion retailers there are simply competing on price and discount which is not Zara’s favorite marketing strategy.Also, it is quite difficult to grow business in the North America without advertising. As earlier mentioned, Zara rarely advertises. These problems cause Zara to still not have a major presence in North American. Conclusion Trading higher production cost for competitive competency, Zara has been a successful retailer in the apparel industry; it also has been doing fairly well in expanding globally. It has been able to penetrate foreign markets by producing trendy clothes that satisfy most of the customers around the world with low prices.Zara however can still raise its global market shares by expanding more in North America. To do this, Zara has to conduct more research on North American markets. Another way to increase global market shares is to develop a second central distribution center or production center, perferably in the Americas, which will not only allow Zara to deliver goods in a faster manner, but the close proximity to the American market will also allow them to effectively interpret the particular American fashion.Zara has been increasing its production through outsourcing and offshoring to meet the global demand; they have to also be careful on these outsourcing and offshoring activities since they may have less control. Zara has to make sure that they keep their core competencies in order to maintain its competitiveness in the highly competitive clothing industry.BIBLIORGAPHY CUC, Tripa, Strategy and Systainable Competitive Advantage- The Case of Zara Fashion Chain, Oradea University, Volume VI, 2007, p. 2522 Craig A. , Jones C. , Nieto M. ZARA: Fashion Follower, Industry Leader(4/2/2004) Craig, Jones, Nieto, Zara: Fashion Follower, Industry Leader, Philadelphia University, 2004 Mukherjee, Sujit, Janmeja, Mohata, Rani, Shinde, Supply Chain Practices of Zara, Institute of Management Technology, 2009, p. 12 mbanerds. com/images/3/3b/ZARA. doc enotes. com/company-histories/industria-de-diseno-textil-s mbanerds. com/images/3/3b/ZARA. doc inditex. com/en/who_we_are/concepts/zara, INDITEX Group website banerds. com/images/3/3b/ZARA. doc, csus. edu/indiv/w/wilsonm/MBA%20209_sp%2007/scm/Zara_CASE. doc http://drillingfordiamonds. com/blog/2008/05/30/react-rather-than-predict/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Zara_(clothing) chinapost. com. tw/business/company-focus/2009/03/26/201780/Zara-owner. htm http://freepresentationslides. blogspot. com/2008/09/zara-case-study. html tx. ncsu. edu/jtatm/volume5issue 1/Zara_fashion. htm businessweek. com/magazine/content/06_36/b3999063. htm

Major General Horatio Wright in the Civil War

Major General Horatio Wright in the Civil War Horatio Wright - Early Life Career: Born at Clinton, CT on March 6, 1820, Horatio Gouverneur Wright was the son of Edward and Nancy Wright.   Initially educated in Vermont at former West Point Superintendent Alden Partridges military academy, Wright later gained an appointment to West Point in 1837.   Entering the academy, his classmates included John F. Reynolds, Don Carlos Buell, Nathaniel Lyon, and Richard Garnett.   A gifted student, Wright graduated ranked second of fifty-two in the class of 1841.   Receiving a commission in the Corps of Engineers, he remained at West Point as an assistant to the Board of Engineers and later as an instructor of French and engineering.   While there, he married Louisa Marcella Bradford of Culpeper, VA on August 11, 1842.   In 1846, with the Mexican-American War beginning, Wright received orders that directed him to aid in making harbor improvements at St. Augustine, FL.   Later working on the defenses at Key West, he spent most of the next decade engaged on various engineering projects.   Promoted to captain on July 1, 1855, Wright reported to Washington, DC where he acted as an assistant to Chief of Engineers Colonel Joseph Totten.   As sectional tensions increased after the election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Wright was dispatched south to Norfolk the following April.   With the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter and beginning of the Civil War in April 1861, he unsuccessfully attempted to implement the destruction of the Gosport Navy Yard.   Captured in the process, Wright was released four days later. Horatio Wright - Early Days of the Civil War: Returning to Washington, Wright aided in the design and construction of fortifications around the capital until being posted to serve as chief engineer of Major General Samuel P. Heintzelmans 3rd Division.   Continuing to work on area fortifications from May to July, he then marched with Heintzelmans division in Brigadier General Irvin McDowells army against Manassas.   On July 21, Wright assisted his commander during the Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.   A month later he received a promotion to major and on September 14 was elevated to brigadier general of volunteers.   Two months later, Wright led a brigade during Major General Thomas Sherman and Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Ponts successful capture of Port Royal, SC.   Having gained experience in combined army-navy operations, he continued in this role during operations against St. Augustine and Jacksonville in March 1862.   Moving to division command, Wright led part of Major General David Hunters army duri ng the Union defeat at the Battle of Secessionville (SC) on June 16. Horatio Wright - Department of the Ohio: In August 1862, Wright received a promotion to major general and command of the newly re-formed Department of the Ohio.   Establishing his headquarters at Cincinnati, he supported his classmate Buell during the campaign that culminated with the Battle of Perryville that October.   On March 12, 1863, Lincoln was forced to rescind Wrights promotion to major general as it had not been confirmed by the Senate.   Reduced to brigadier general, he lacked the rank to command a department and his post passed to Major General Ambrose Burnside.   After commanding the District of Louisville for a month, he transferred to Major General Joseph Hookers Army of the Potomac.   Arriving in May, Wright obtained command of the 1st Division in Major General John Sedgwicks VI Corps. Horatio Wright - In the East: Marching north with the army in pursuit of General Robert E. Lees Army of North Virginia, Wrights men were present at the Battle of Gettysburg in July but remained in a reserve position.   That fall, he played an active role in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns.   For his performance in the former, Wright earned a brevet promotion to lieutenant colonel in the regular army.   Retaining command of his division following the reorganization of the army in the spring of 1864, Wright moved south in May as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant advanced against Lee.   After leading his division during the Battle of the Wilderness, Wright assumed command of VI Corps when Sedgwick was killed on May 9 during the opening actions of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.   Quickly promoted to major general, this action was confirmed by the Senate on May 12. Settling into corps command, Wrights men participated in the Union defeat at Cold Harbor at the end of May.   Crossing the James River, Grant moved the army against Petersburg.   As Union and Confederate forces engaged north and east of the city, VI Corps received orders to move north to aid in defending Washington from Lieutenant General Jubal A. Earlys forces which had advanced down the Shenandoah Valley and won a victory at Monocacy.   Arriving on July 11, Wrights corps was quickly moved into the Washington defenses at Fort Stevens and aided in repelling Early.   During the fighting, Lincoln visited Wrights lines before being moved to a more protected location.   As the enemy withdrew on July 12, Wrights men mounted a brief pursuit. Horatio Wright - Shenandoah Valley Final Campaigns: To deal with Early, Grant formed the Army of the Shenandoah in August under Major General Philip H. Sheridan.   Attached to this command, Wrights VI Corps played key roles in the victories at Third Winchester, Fishers Hill, and Cedar Creek.   At Cedar Creek, Wright held command of the field for the early phases of the battle until Sheridan arrived from a meeting at Winchester.   Though Earlys command was effectively destroyed, VI Corps remained in the region until December when it moved back to the trenches at Petersburg.   In the line through the winter, VI Corps attacked Lieutenant General A.P. Hills men on April 2 when Grant mounted a massive offensive against the city.   Breaking through the  Boydton Line, VI Corps achieved some of the first penetrations of the enemys defenses.   Ã‚      Pursuing Lees retreating army west after the fall of Petersburg, Wright and VI Corps again came under the direction of Sheridan.   On April 6, VI Corps played a key role in the victory at Saylers Creek which also saw Union forces capture Lieutenant General Richard Ewell.   Pressing west, Wright and his men were present when Lee finally surrendered three days later at Appomattox.   With the war ending, Wright received orders in June to take command of the Department of Texas.   Remaining until August 1866, he then left volunteer service the following month and reverted to his peacetime rank of lieutenant colonel in the engineers. Horatio Wright - Later Life: Serving in the engineers for the remainder of his career, Wright received a promotion to colonel in March 1879.   Later that year, he was appointed Chief of Engineers with the rank of brigadier general and succeeded Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys.   Involved in high-profile projects such as the Washington Monument and Brooklyn Bridge, Wright held the post until his retirement on March 6, 1884.   Living in Washington, he died on July 2, 1899.   His remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery beneath an obelisk erected by veterans of VI Corps.           Ã‚     Ã‚   Selected Sources: NPS: Horatio WrightCivil War Trust: Horatio WrightOhio Civil War: Horatio Wright

Direct Marketing Communications Campaign in Easy Jet Case Study

Direct Marketing Communications Campaign in Easy Jet - Case Study Example Internal communication in an organization is the stepping stone that enables a cordial communication between the company and the outsiders. (Littlejohn, 2002, P. 30) A communication campaign is a well defined communication strategy that helps an organization to communicate with the customers. It is a strategy for internal and external communication within the organization. A communication campaign represents well arranged interacted strategies which are aimed at delivering a certain message to the customers and which is important for effective relationship in an organization. (Werner 1998, P. 72) There are various communication campaigns that are used in the market by different organization. An organization can use one specific communication campaign or it can integrate number of campaigns with an aim of delivering its core message home to the target audience. The kind of communication campaign that is used by a company depends on the target audience and the kind of message that an organization wants to deliver. (Dempsey 1997, P. 7) In this paper we will be reviewing how easyJet, which is one of the prosperous low cost airline in the UK has been using internet tools as direct marketing communication campaign in the market. We will review what the company has achieved and review the areas that it needs to improve. The company was founded by Sir Stelios Haji-loa... The Airline is based at Hangar 89 which is a bright orange building next to the taxiway at Luton airport. This represent the simplicity way that the company has been using for its operation which is not only reflected in it headquarter but also in the pricing strategies that that company has adopted. Since it was started the company has been keeping the policy of low cost operation and has been eliminating unnecessary cost and frills which has been characterizing the traditional airlines. This has been achieved through a number of ways. One of those ways has been the maximization in the utilization of the substantial assets which has reduced the unit cost of the airline. It has also taken the policy of not providing free lunch on the airport. It has kept to the efficient use of the airports. But its main source of success in keeping the cost of operation low has been the policies that the company has taken towards the use of internet and paperless operations which have been enabled by the direct marketing campaign through the use of internet tool. (easyJet.com, 2008b) Use of internet communication campaign in EasyJet Easy jet was one of the first airlines in the UK to embrace the use of the internet when sold the seat online in 1998. Since then the company has not looked backward in its internet campaign and currently online marketing accounts for more than 95% of all its sales. This makes the company to the one of the leading internet retailers in the Europe. EasyJet has become one of the leading airlines in Europe which have banked on the use of the internet for their success. The company has adopted an e-commerce strategy which has been the main tool of communication with the consumers. In this regard the internet has become the main

Depression in adolescents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Depression in adolescents - Essay Example Some researchers have suggested that "even among psychiatrists . . . the extent of the disability caused by depression is vastly underestimated." (Empfield, 2001) Further, it is logical to argue that "major depression causes more long-term human misery than any other single disease." (Empfield, 2001) Diagnosing and treating such a disease as early as possible in an individual's life may enable it to be effectively eradicated for their later years. While some early childhood depression does occur, the condition mainly appears in the teenage years. It will remain with the patient, become episodic or cause drastic symptoms such as suicide if it is left untreated. The causes of depression in general are still somewhat controversial within the medical community: situational and biological theories often conflict, while those that argue for a situational and biological cause are perhaps gaining ground. The physical features of the brain of person suffering from depression/who are liable to depression. As Cynthia Haines puts it, "there is absolute proof that people suffering from depression have changes in their brains . . . the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is vital to the storage of memories, is small in those people." (Haines, 2005) A smaller hippocampus has less serotonin receptors, and it appears that serotonin is important for the brain to communicate with the body, as well as a regulator of mood. A lack of serotonin appears to cause depression. There are also genetic causes of depression, or at least the propensity to become depressed seems to run in families. As Haines (2005) puts it, "children, siblings and parents of people with severe depression are much more likely to suffer from depression than are members of the general population." However, despite current searching, scientists have yet to discover the gene that may cause depression. (Alpert, 2005) The fact that both psychosocial and biological factors cause and maintain depression seems accepted, but the exact manner in which they combine is not certain. One reason that teenagers appear to suffer from more depression than other groups may be the 'quality of life' estimates that individuals constantly make. As Miller et al (2005) suggest, "quality of life reflects the patient's overall perceived satisfaction or quality. . . ". Teenagers often have a much lower perception of their lives than other age-groups, due to the physical, emotional, psychological and economic changes that are occurring to them. Teenage depression may express itself in different ways than adult depression. Thus teenagers may exhibit "additional psychiatric disorders, such as behavior disorders or substance abuse problems." (www.focusus.com) Often these additional symptoms seem to swamp the signs of depression and so the teenager may be treated (and/or disciplined) for the symptoms of depression when in fact the cause is not looked at. Thus a teenager who is suffering from depression may drink alcohol excessively, indulge in highly risky behavior or take drugs. These acts will be more visible than the underlying depression, and so are easier to latch onto for parents, school authorities and the police. Another complication is the fact that parents need to be able to identify the

Mortar Exam 0341 Essay -- essays research papers

0341 NCO Exam 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are the Marine Corps' leadership traits?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Judgment, Justice, Decisiveness, Integrity, Discipline, Tact, Initiative, Enthusiasm, Bearing, Unselfishness, Courage, Knowledge, Loyalty, Endurance 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the purpose of an NCO?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To train and supervise subordinate Marines 3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the maximum effective range of the M249 SAW?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1,000 m 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the sustained rate of fire of the M249?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  85 rounds per minute 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What determines a hot barrel for the M249?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  200 rounds in 2 minutes 6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the maximum effective range of the M203 grenade launcher?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Area Target: 350 m; Point Target: 150 m 7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are the characteristics of the M252 81mm mortar?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  smooth-bore, muzzle-loaded, high-angle-of-fire weapon, consisting of a cannon, mount, baseplate, and sight unit. 8  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the nomenclature of the M252 81mm mortar components?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  M253 mortar cannon, M177 mortar mount, M3A1 baseplate, M64A1 sight unit 9  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are the weights of each of these components?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  cannon--35 lbs, bipod--27 lbs, baseplate--29 lbs, sight--2.5 lbs 10  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How many mils of elevation does the sight have?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  about 800 mils or 0800-1600 mils 11  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How many mils of traverse does the sight have?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6400 mils 12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One turn on the traverse handwheel equals how many mils?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  10 mils 13  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What does boresighting do to the weapon system?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  removes the error between the barrel and sight to produce more accurate fire 14  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What does reciprocally laying the mortars in a section do?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  it puts every mortar on the same azimuth of fire 15  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are the two methods to reciprocally lay a mortar?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ... ...ound do you use for screening, incendiary action, & signaling?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Smoke 58  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  White phosphorous is stored with the fuze end in what direction?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Up 59  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is the purpose of camouflage?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To provide you with cover and concealment 60  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is Angle T?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When there is more than 500 mils difference between the gun target line and the observer target line.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Practical Application  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Adjust indirect fire  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lay a mortar with a lensatic compass  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Translate a fire command  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Compute firing data with a plotting board  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pass a gunner’s exam  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Fdi Walmart-Asda

Foreign Direct Investment Wal-Mart – ASDA Wal-Mart is an American company, based in Arkansas, USA that runs large discount department stores. The company was started in 1945 when Sam Walton open a store in Arkansas, the premise behind the company was to slightly undercut its competitors while still making a profit. This idea proved a large success. In 1962 the name Wal-Mart was established when Walton open ‘Wal-Mart Discount City’ store by the time the company was incorporated in 1969 it had expanded 38 stores spread over 3 states, again operating under the same premise of marking up slightly less than the competitors. ASDAs life began in 1965 with the merger of Asquith supermarkets and Associated Dairies, the name ASDA is an abbreviation of the two names ASquith Dairies. In 1968 ASDA bought two large stores from Government Exchange Mart (G. E. M) that were failing and in the first week of trading by ASDA the sales grow from ? 6,000 a week under G. E. M to ? 30,000. The space given by the size of the stores allowed ASDA to create its own range of goods, which is considered to be on of the reasons behind the company’s early growth. By 1981 ASDA had expanded out of its northern home south with a total of 80 stores. Unfortunately this time also seen the managing director leave the company to be replaced by John Fletcher whose ideas to improve profitability was to increase profit margin on branded items, this increased profits in the short term but lowered the companies price competitiveness, straying away from the company’s founding principals. This led to decline in customer numbers and Fletcher left the company just 3 years later. By the beginning of the 1990’s ASDA was falling apart it had bought a chain stores know as Gateway for a high price and was struggling due to it, and ASDA entered in a doomed loop of increasing prices and loosing customers. Archie Norman took over the company as CEO after the share holders revolted. Made some radical changes to the company, completely changing it management style and returning back to the companies base ‘ASDA price – Pocket the Difference’ In the 1980’s Wal-Mart continued to expand in to southern United States states and by 1987 had 1198 stores. The 1990’s saw continued growth it to other United States states such as New York and by 1993 the company had managed to reach one billion dollars worth of sales in one week. By 1995 Wal-Mart were well on there way in to foreign markets with 276 international stores, by the time Wal-Mart looked in to purchasing ASDA in 1999 it was the world’s largest private employer. After ASDAs struggling period in the early 1990s, its future was looking up towards the end of the 1990s. 1999 saw a large discussion about a ? 18 billion merger between ASDA and kingfisher, but this was no more than just a ruse to cover what was really happening to ASDA. The kingfisher merger was days away when Wal-Mart made a ? 6. 7 billion offer the ASDA could not refuse. Both ASDA and Wal-Mart had very similar ideas about management style and, giving the customer what they wanted, cheap goods. In addition both had spread out from just groceries in to other areas, such as ASDA’s George Clothing range. The Asda acquisition thrusts Wal-Mart into the midst of a government inquiry of supermarket pricing A regal entrance into the U. K. Chain Store Age, 10870601, Dec99, Vol. 75, Issue 13 The Time that Wal-Mart purchased ASDA may also cause them problems; in 1999 the office of fair trading asked the competition commission to look it to the possibility that supermarkets were bullying suppliers. Wal-Mart are an international brand they would have intended to use this to there advantage and ‘shop around’ for the cheapest goods, this investigation would have caused them to look closely at how they source there suppliers to ensure that they are not caught up in the inquiry. If it wasn’t for the kingfisher merger possibility Wal-Mart may have waited until the air had cleared over the investigation before attempting a purchase. Britain was always a big target for Wal-Mart to step in to, the United Kingdom shopping culture has always been very similar to the United States, ith the tendency to buy everything from one shop. But Britain was always Wal-Mart's great hope. Here was a country with an established supermarket culture. The natives shopped in similar ways to Americans (who tend to prefer large, one-stop excursions, unlike Germans, for example, who buy their ham from one store, their toilet paper from another) A long, long way from Bentonville. Economist, 00130613, 9/30/2006, Vol. 380, Issue 8497 The Asda acquisition provides Wal-Mart with a foothold in the U. K. , where it previously had no retail presence Knestout, Brian P. Wal-Mart Buys Britain! Eyebrows Arch! , Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, 1056697X, Sep99, Vol. 53, Issue 9 ASDA would have been considered a good step by the American giants Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart previously did not have a big grocery stronghold, where as with ASDAs backing there power would be increased. Where as Wal-Mart will give ASDA big purchasing power to enable cheaper purchases and therefore lower cost to the consumer. This was expected to cause a price drop industry wide in order for the other supermarkets to attempt to compete with ASDA / Wal-Mart. Much has been written about the good cultural fit between Wal-Mart and Asda†¦ Wal-Mart should also be able to improve Asda’s buying terms in both foods and non-foods. The result will be sharper prices and reduced margins that will progressively spread throughout British retailing. Asda’s expertise in grocery and petrol retailing may be helpful to Wal-Mart†¦ Rogers, David S, Possible Consequences of Wal-Mart's Acquisition of ASDA, European Retail Digest; Sep99 Issue 23, p51, 2p Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions are very useful when looking at how similar/different two countries are from one and other. The following graphs show both the UKs and the USAs scores relating to Hofstede’s Cultural Dimentions. As you can see from the chart both countries are very similar in each area, I will briefly explain what each category is and how it relates to Wal-mart / ASDA Power Distance Index (PDI), Looks at how business in the country are affected by the small members over the managerial positions. Wal-mart has always pushed its self in this area saying that every staff member is of equal importance, which would imply a low PDI. Which is what both the USA and the UK show, this means there is a large amount of equality between societal levels. Individualism (IDV), Looks at how an individual lives, either by his/her self in small family groups or in larger community based groups, where everyone helps each other. Again both countries are very close to each other, and both with very high scores, implying that both countries are very individualist. There are only 7 countries in the world according to Hofstede that have Individualism as there highest value the USA, Australia and the UK being the top 3. Masculinity (MAS), Refers to how the country is ran, a score around 50 implies that the country is very diverse in sexuality with equal opportunities for both man and women. Both the USA and the UK have scores of around 60 showing that each country is reasonably diverse even if slightly male lead. Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI), Shows how much a country avoids new things and new ideas, until it is certain they good. The UKs uncertainty avoidance index is low, lower than the USAs and low over all, meaning that a new company entering the county is likely to be accepted, where as the USA is higher meaning they are untrusting of new companies, luckily for Wal-Mart they were investing in to the UK meaning a low UAI was good for them, but to avoid any problems the continued to trade under the know name of ASDA. Long-Term Orientation (LTO), examines the culture of the country. A county with a low Long-Term Orientation score tends to prefer to stick to traditional values, and doing as the society expects, where as countries with high long-term orientation scores look more to the future rather than sticking to historical values. Again both countries are very similarly rate but both are very low this was probably one of the reasons Wal-Mart continued to trade under ASDA in the UK so the traditionalist can continue to do there local shopping in the place they are se to under the name they are use to. One of the big problems facing Wal-Mart is that the supermarket industry in the United Kingdom is highly concentrated, and will face a larger amount of competition in a smaller area than they would in the United States. As well as a land issue, Wal-Mart had a tendency to build large stores on unoccupied land, where as in the United Kingdom spare land is scares and local governments are reluctant to allow the building of large American style retail outlets. In the United Kingdom, Wal-Mart will have to deal with a supermarket industry that is more highly concentrated than in the United States, a government probe on pricing as well as resistance by some local governments to the construction of American-style big box retail stores. A regal entrance into the U. K. Chain Store Age, 10870601, Dec99, Vol. 75, Issue 13 Wal-Mart made a very risky decision investing in ASDA when they did, considering ASDAs poor performance in the decade prior to the purchase. Their timing was probably slightly hastier than they would have liked, but die the kingfisher deal being imminent Wal-Marts directors had to make some quick decisions. As to not open rumours of the purchase to some other competitors the directors visited the ASDA stores as though they were the public to see if they believed that ASDA was a viable purchase and that they could make the company work for them. Wal-Mart and ASDA were built on similar core principals, cheaper prices for the consumers, and during the ASDA re-growth prior to the purchase ASDAs management style changed to one which put the store staff in a better place, similar to the way that Wal-Mart encourages. This meant that a purchase from Wal-Mart would have very little effect on ASDA in the short run which is good for the consumers and hence good for the business. The shopping culture in the United Kingdom was very similar to the United States with UK shoppers tending to buy all there goods from one place. However expansion may have been a problem for them and a large change from what they were use to in the United States but ASDA gave Wal-Mart a good step in to the European market. Bibliography A long, long way from Bentonville. Economist, 00130613, 9/30/2006, Vol. 380, Issue 8497 A regal entrance into the U. K. Chain Store Age, 10870601, Dec99, Vol. 75, Issue 13 About ASDA – History, http://www. asda-corporate. com/about-asda/history. asp (Accessed 10/02/2007) Frank, T. A. â€Å"A Brief History of Wal-Mart. The Washington Monthly. April 1, 2006 Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, http://www. geert-hofstede. com/hofstede_dimensions. php (accessed 22/08/2008) Knestout, Brian P. , Wal-Mart Buys Britain! Eyebrows Arch! Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, 1056697X, Sep99, Vol. 53, Issue 9 Rogers, David S, Possible Consequences of Wal-Mart's Acquisition of ASDA, European Retail Digest; Sep99 Issue 23, p51, 2p Teena Lyons, Competition Commission inquiry into supermarkets, guardia n. co. uk, Wednesday October 31 2007