A report on two options for David Mackenzie & Co

David Mackenzie’s case is that of a typical entrepreneur started and family run business that experiences success and outgrows its existing set-up. Hitherto, Mackenzie thrived on one-off contracts and other local businesses, and his two other companies ran more or less the way it did before he acquired them.All three diverse companies have done financially well, but problems arise when David Mackenzie tries to integrate the operations of these three diverse companies to secure a wider range of orders. The problems relate to the diverse structures and problem of co-ordination among between, hindering the implementation of projects in a smooth and seamless manner.The options mulled by David Mackenzie is first, float a group of companies in the stock exchange, and second merge the three companies into one company. Both these options have their advantages and disadvantages.Advantages and disadvantages of floating the companies in the stock exchangeThe major advantage of floating t he Mackenzie group of companies in the stock exchange, which entails converting the hitherto private limited company into a public limited company (plc), is the ability to raise funds and capital through the sale of securities.The company would be able to sell their shares in the market, and secure large loans easily. Although Mackenzie does not have cash-flow problems at present, it might need infusion of finance as it expands and secures more large overseas orders. Mackenzie could purchase Clyde Electric Ltd only because the company lacked sufficient capital to sustain its growth, and there is every chance that the situation can repeat itself. Mackenzie does not seem to have huge cash reserves to finance possible expansions through internal accruals.Another advantage of listing the company in the stock exchange is infusion of professional corporate governance that Mackenzie group of companies hitherto lacked. Most of Mackenzie’s existing orders were possibly on the basis on personal efforts and one-off relationships, and highly centralized on the David Mackenzie.As the company grows and secures more international and large orders such a structure would not only fail to appeal to large institutional clients, but also fail to sustain the enhanced requirements such as professional decision-making, autonomy, responsibility and the likes.In the present set up all operations would most likely come to a standstill and the company might even fold up in David Mackenzie is not able to involve himself in the active running of the company for a length of time for any reason.A listed company becomes an independent entity and the board of directors would run the company even in the absence of the Managing Director. An added advantage of listing the company in the stock exchange is better visibility for the company, which in turn might lead to more orders. An increase in share prices would also add to the wealth of the shareholders, which would include David Mackenz ie.Floating the David Mackenzie group of companies in the stock exchange has its set of disadvantages also. In the present set up, Mackenzie is under no obligation to disclose financial information. A public listed company would have to publish its financial statements on a regular basis, and this can lure in competition to Mackenzie’s lucrative market.The need to disclose financial records and other compliance policies requires certified public accountants, and entails a lot of bureaucratic paperwork.The time, money and effort spend on such activities could be better spend on marketing and operations if the company is not made public. Share values tend to reflect the current financial gains, and most public listed companies thereby tend to take decisions that lead to short-term gains even at the cost of long-term interests. The Mackenzie group of companies may also fall into this trap once it goes public.In the initial stages of floating a public listed company, David Macken zie is likely to retain a huge majority of shares. As the requirement for cash to fund expansions and large scale operations increases, he might be tempted to sell more of his shares in the open market. This raises the possibility of a hostile takeover, or another party who has purchased a large number of shares from interfering and trying to influence the operations and decision making of the company.The advantages and disadvantages of merging the three companies into a single entityThe second option before David Mackenzie is to merge the three companies into one single entity. The main advantage of such a merger is removing duplication in works and efforts. At present, each of the three companies has their own marketing, human resource and finance departments, and the administrative functions and expenses duplicate.A merger could avoid such duplications and not only result in significant savings, but also increase efficiency and better coordination. A single marketing department t hat takes care of the three units, for instance means that the complaints regarding customers having to contact two or three separate marketing departments for a single project would cease.The marketing department would be able to tap into clients in a more effective manner, without duplicating efforts and providing a wider range of service and commitments. An integrated accounts department would likewise solve the issue of duplicate or missing invoices, and lead to better financial control and analysis of profitability of each project.The merger would likely result in the retrenchment of some redundant staff, but this also gives an opportunity to cut down on low-performers, and redeploy performers in a better manner.Another major advantage of mergers is the ability of these three companies to pool in their resources in the form of client database, office space, infrastructure and the like, all of which would facilitate growth.Mergers however come with their own disadvantages. Altho ugh there would be savings on fixed costs, a merged monolith is likely to have a higher per unit operational cost compared to the per unit operating cost of three separate entities.This will not be a cause for concern when times are good and there are plenty of orders, but when economic times go bad and orders diminish, this will have a negative effect and the higher unit cost could make the organization uncompetitive.The merger would also make it difficult to hive off a unit if, in future the unit becomes non-profitable and cuts into the profitability of the entire organization. Three different entities ensure that failure, mismanagement or shortcomings of one unit would not have a significant impact on the other two units. Merger will ensure that activities of one unit would have a significant on the other two units.The administrative act of effecting a merger is relatively easy. The main challenge in the case of the Mackenzie group of companies would relate to integrating the thr ee diverse companies, with three different modes of operations and internal systems.Another challenge is ensuing integration and co-ordinations of the operations of the three diverse units. While a merger would reduce duplication, unless the operational activities re-orient towards the three different sub-units of the new company working towards a common goal, the redundancies and delays in commissioning are likely to persist.

Monologue for Aunt Reed on her deathbed

How dare she turn up? This is my house. My house! She just appears as though nothing had happened. Out of pity perhaps. Maybe out of guilt. The return to Gateshead Hall can only be out of pity. It is the only logical reason. Why else would she return to me? She is mocking me. I cannot stand for this. I must get rid of her. I cannot let Jane see me like this. I am weak and she is strong. Yet I am still the ruler of this house. I ought to send her to the Red Room. She has not contacted me for several years and turns up as I am lying on my deathbed. It is a mockery. She wants to see me die and suffer. I do not feel guilty for what I did to her when she was younger and why should I? I should only feel guilty for the death of my beloved son John. Maybe I should call for Eliza or Georgiana to remove my husband's niece from the premises. I want nothing to do with Jane. And surely she is only here to confirm my death and try to stake a claim in the Gateshead Hall! Jane Eyre is a money grabber. She only wants the inheritance. But I will leave it all to Eliza and Georgiana. Jane Eyre is devious. She can barely remember my face and features. She wants to see a familiar figure but she is not welcome here. It is a happy feature that time quells the longings of vengeance and hushes the promptings of rage and aversion. She had left me in bitterness and hatred, and she came back to her now with no other emotion other than pity for her great sufferings, and a strong yearning to forget and forgive all injuries – to be reconciled and clasp hands in amity. My stern eyes can not be taken of that cunning woman, Jane Eyre. I closely watch her movements as she tries to engage in conversation with me. I want nothing to do with it. She must hate me after I used to lock her in the Red Room which she is terrified of. Then maybe she has come to pay her respects to me and just to see me one last time, before I have gone away to a better place, where we rich and religious people go. At least I can finally clear my conscience of Jane Eyre. I took my hand away, and, made my face turn rather from Jane; I made a remark that the night was warm. Again I went to regard Jane so icily, I felt at once that my opinion of Jane – my feeling towards her – were unchanged and unchangeable. I know by my stony eye – opaque to tenderness, indissoluble to tears – that I am resolved to consider Jane bad to the last; because to believe Jane good would give me no generous pleasure: only a sense of mortification. I had to think that Jane had a dreadful life away from Gateshead and that we are the best thing that has ever happened to her. Jane has only returned to see me swallow my pride and take a step back. She may have come to see Eliza and Georgiana but that is far from the truth. There is more to it. She is hiding something. She is not telling us what she wants. She has not told us where she has been these past several years but she only wants to know about us. I must keep Eliza and Georgiana away from Jane. Poison, she is. That rat has returned for herself. She is trying to keep her conscience clean, but is far from it. Her violent behaviour made her seem as though she is an animal. We do not tolerate animals in this household. She belongs under a rock. I have such a passionate hatred for Jane Eyre. Although this is now perhaps the time to forgive and forget as these are my last few moments with her. I shall engage in conversation with her for one last time before I leave this world and enter the next for I am surely going to Heaven as I have never sinned and am the model citizen. I opened my mouth. The dry crust around my mouth crumbled and dropped to the floor, my voice was crackly, my breathing thin and my mouth extremely dry for I could barely swallow my own saliva. My crackly voice came out, and there was a pin drop silence across Gateshead. Jane is trying to listen and etched closer towards me. Saliva crawled out of my mouth, almost as if it had more life than me. Jane screeched the chair across the wooden floor. I went to lash out at her, an uncontrollable fit. Eliza came into the room to control me. She pinned me down and forced water down my throat. Georgiana entered the room and stood on the side of my bed. She looked disgusted with me. Eliza had a firm look in her eye. She was upset with Georgiana. They began screaming at each other. They could not even look each other in the eye. How could I leave my family like this? They will be frowned upon by God and they will separate themselves from each other. My time is to surely be up within the next few days. If it is not the feud between my own daughters, Eliza and Georgiana, that killed me, it would be the fact that my husband's favourite niece was sitting beside me, acting all innocent, not actually caring if I die or not. I had to get Eliza, Georgiana and Jane away from me. It is torture. The squabbling is driving me mad. The lamp faded as did the life within me. I am getting weaker. The flame is slowly dying out. I decided to drown out the sound of the women and began to think of John. Oh, if he is here right now, it would make me feel much better. He is the light in my life. The fabric of the family. And how this family has collapsed without him. I am now leaving this all behind. I shall meet my husband and begin my new life.

Language Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Language Discussion - Essay Example Greater cognitive and logistic skills may be picked up by the child through this technique while at home before joining school. This may give the child a sense of achievement as they enter kindergarten (pre-school), and face other children from well-off backgrounds (Jensen 67). One may beg to differ especially when it comes to the term equality, but the truth is, if parents use greater quantity and variety in their language, the inequality gap may be reduced drastically. Trying to eliminate the presence of inequality may be impossible because of the low-resource schools that most children will attend due to the poverty, but it is vital to note that these children may be able to compete if there is motivation from every angle. It is my believe-or rather hope- that the experiences children pick up while at home may work toward influencing or affecting their cognitive skills positively in a bid to try and level the playing field on which every child is exposed after joining school (Jensen 79). This can be done if parents take up the mantle and elevate their children’s skills through the assortment of language used at

Good Manufacturing Practices Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Good Manufacturing Practices - Case Study Example I am working in a Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda in Ireland. It is a research based largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and one of the global leaders of the industry. I consider it to be a privilage to be with such an esteemed organization. Basically, I am involved in dispensing raw materials and controlling coating process. The raw materials that are the basic ingredients of any medicine needs to be passed through GMP to be qualified, sourced properly, and tested before release into use. Though these regulations vary in different part of the world, they are responsible to creating business and compliance challenges. Poor quality medicines or those medicines that are not manufactured using GMP can damage health. For instance, a poor quality medicine may contain toxic substances that have been unintentionally added, causing damage to health or even death. The use of GMP is absolutely necessary in each and every steps starting from selecting the raw materials till the finish product is sealed and packed properly. If the coating of the drug is not good, it may loose most of its valuable ingredients by the time it reaches the consumer. It is a well known fact that a medicine that contains little or none of the claimed ingredient will not have the planned therapeutic effect. I believe that failure to comply with GMP regulations can result in very serious costs as well as product recall, seizure, termination of manufacture, fines, and even imprisonment. Every time we take a medicine we can have confidence that the medicine has been manufactured in accordance with GMP because it has today become a global standard. GMP along with expert assessment gives us a clear overview that every medicine is safe to use, will have the necessary efficiency and will be of the right quality (emeu.eu, N.D.). GMP or the recently updated cGMP, where the "c" corresponds to "current," remind manufacturers that they must utilize technologies and systems which are modern and abide by with the regulation. Under current GMP rules and regulations which is the latest version of GMP, it is the pharmaceutical manufacturer who is accountable for the entire operations (Saffron Media Pvt. Ltd., 2004). There are a variety of practices that ensure quality: some of them are as follows: "raw materials quality declaration; maintaining correct substances all the way through the manufacturing process; standards for hygiene and safety; in-house testing; production and process controls; and warehousing and distribution" (Dietary Supplement Quality Initiative, 1999). I am responsible for dispensing raw materials and controlling coating process. As a result of following GMP my working environment is much more safe and efficient. Additionally, these regulations require that manufacturers, processors, and packagers of drugs, to take positive steps to make sure that their products are secure, unadulterated, and effective. GMP regulations necessitate an extremely good manufacturing process, allow companies to reduce or even eliminate probable chances of contamination, mixups, and errors. Failure of companies to meet the terms with GMP can result in very serious costs. Studies have shown that GMPs offer quality assurances that off-the-shelf testing cannot. In fact,

Expected Value Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Expected Value - Essay Example This is because of the unpredictability of certain parameters which are associated with our planning. For example, in a cricket match, winning the toss has major role in deciding the victory. Most of the cricket pitches are underprepared which may favor either batting or bowling initially and then changes its characteristics later during the second innings. The toss winning captain can take decisions about whether to bat/ bowl first or to include pace bowlers or spinners in the team, based on the evaluation of the pitch. Many of the cricket teams underprepare their cricket pitches based on their strengths in batting and bowling. However, if they fail to win tosses, their planning cannot be implemented successfully. This is because of the fact that the chances of winning a toss are 50-50 since the coin has only two sides. In other words, the probability of getting a head or tail is 50-50. In such uncertain situations, the mathematical term â€Å"expected value† can help people in taking decisions. Expected value in mathematics is the weighted average of all the possible values. In other words, all the possibilities of a particular event will be evaluated properly while calculating the expected value. In industries and casinos, expected value has significant role to play. This paper analyses the history and importance of expected value. History of expected value The exact date of origination of the idea about expected value is still unknown to us. However, it is widely accepted that the expected value concepts were used during the latter half of the seventeenth century. Blaise Pascal, a French scientist and mathematician, is believed to be the founding father of the expected value theory. During the middle part of seventeenth century, the question of how to solve the problems of points or the problems of division of stakes raised major challenges to the mathematicians. Blaise Pascal and his associates started to solve these problems and the idea of expecte d value originated from their efforts. Even though, Pascal and his associates used different methods to solve this problem, they got same results since they used the same fundamental principle of mathematics in all their calculations. Apart from Pascal and his associates, a Dutch mathematician called Christian Huygens also contributed heavily to the development of expected value theory. Significance of expected value theory in casinos Expected value theory has greater significance in gambling. The chances of winning and losing in gambling depend on various parameters associated with the particular game selected for gambling. For example, poker is a game, which works on mathematical principles. Even though the nature and characteristics of the players play a vital role in deciding the winners of the poker game, many calculations including permutations and combinations are necessary to make sound decisions. For example, the right frequency to bluff in a situation is determined based o n the likelihood your opponent will fold in that particular situation. In limit, for example, when all the cards are out, how do you determine whether you should bluff on the river? If you can figure out that the pot is offering a caller 5:1 odds to call, but you know that they will fold the best hand 1 in six times, then bluffing now becomes mathematically correct (Importance of Math: expected value,

Paper 3 Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

3 - Term Paper Example o lower the women into the lowest type of cesspool possible that cheapens their identity and individuality by portraying them as nothing more than objects of sexual desire who cannot amount to anything if they do not sell their sexuality. On television, the high standard and regard for women can be seen in the character of Kate Becket on the detective show Castle aired over ABC. She represents her gender and white race in a manner that commands the respect of the men and others around her. Unlike the Madonna and Lady Gagas out there who cheapen themselves in order to stay ahead of the game, Beckett is the epitome of the female sex as she manages to come across as sexy without having to reveal too much flesh but also being an independent minded woman who can take care of herself if no man is there for her because she is a self- respecting police officer who uses logic instead of her heart to get her ahead in the game of life. Kate Beckett represents the modern woman who does not need to dress seductively all the time and act trashy or like a tramp in order to get her man or get ahead in her line of

Martin Luther and the German Reformation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Martin Luther and the German Reformation - Essay Example Sexual immorality among clergy was common. Lay people had little knowledge about their faith and many clerics were poorly prepared for their task, having obtained posts by buying them or nepotism. Catholic believers often had a lack of assurance about their own salvation. There were also problems with authority - church or state, which should prevail? Papal authority was challenged and a desire for reform became general. When it did come it was certainly in part due to theological differences, but the power vacuum that existed in Europe at the time, with doubts as to who was really in charge, played its part too. Printing was becoming widespread and with it new ideas soon spread too, including some that could be described as revolutionary. The Papacy Giovanni de Medici had achieved the Papacy in 1513 as Leo X. Within 2 years he had used up the funds in the papal treasury, in particular on extensive building schemes and as sponsor of artists. Seeking ever more funds he began to sell o ffices within the church, creating 31 new cardinals for instance and living a life of absolute luxury. Printing was becoming widespread, but the Vatican was a strong censor, only allowing documents they approved of. At the ending of the Lateran Council in 1517 a prophecy was made by Pico della Mirandola , a lay man ( cited on ‘Origins of the Reformation’, undated) . This had stated that if the pope did not heal the wounds of the church then God would act and remove the rotten limbs. Instead, in order to raise funds for the construction of St Peter’s in Rome, Leo made matters worse by instigating a huge sale of indulgences. An indulgence can be defined as payment a sinner must make to God. Luther was more concerned with an individual’s faith in God’s gift of salvation rather than the length of his purse. Luther In October 1517 Martin Luther, then an Augustinian monk, was a doctor of theology and a professor of Biblical studies at the University of Wi ttenberg. He was a man who thought deeply about his faith and finally reached the point where he rejected all church practices based solely upon tradition and not upon the true nature of God. At this point he came up with 95 theses which he made public by sticking them on the door of the church in Wittenburg. (Stupperich, The History of Christianity, 1977, page 362). This act was the spark which lit the fires of reform already prepared by his predecessors such as Wycliffe and Has. He was not only letting people know what he thought , but was openly challenging the Church. He refused to recant and in 1519 , according to Stuppervich ( page 362, denied the papacy’s authority. In 1521 he was finally excommunicated. Luther was attacking certain practises, including the sale of indulgences, but was really attacking the wealth of the church in material terms, which contrasted with the truths of the Gospels. Luther was forced to flee from Wittenberg , but returned in 1522 in order to try and bring some calm to the reformers there. He began to reform church services, introducing a freer way of worship rather than the rather rigid ways that had become normal practice. He saw salvation as being up to God, not the following of particular practices. It seems likely that Luther wanted reform rather than revolution, but his followers took things rather further than he had originally envisaged. That being said by 1537 he

How democratic is the electoral college, based on the principals and Essay

How democratic is the electoral college, based on the principals and philosophies of the Framers of the Constitution - Essay Example In a bid to achieve this objective, USA has had various ways of electing the president. General elections and the electoral colleges are the main avenues for identifying or selecting the president. In every presidential election, the two methods are used (Dahl, 2001). However, the Electoral College method usually supersedes the general election method, that is, a person with the majority of votes from the general election may fail to be the president on the basis of the Electoral College method. The Framers of the American Constitution settled on the Electoral Colleges method as a way of deciding the winner of a presidential election amidst it flows. It is important to understand how democratic the Electoral College method is within the selection of a president. This would include how the framers would evaluate the Electoral College on the basis of their founding philosophies and writing. In addition, it is important to understand what the framers would think about American governmen t today and the intentions they had as well as the objectives and aims that they (framers) wanted to accomplish in establishing a new nation. Lastly, a deeper understanding of this concept would require a comparison of the theories and structures in the classical era with those in present day realities concerning the Electoral College. ... The constitution as prepared by the framers does not reflect their views, intentions, and accomplishments as highlighted later in this discussion. It is an event that whereas the framers would have wanted an American society where the executive is selected by encrypted electors, the reality is that the American executive is selected by the manipulated, partisan, political agents, and non-representative electors. The framers would view the American government as not only undemocratic but also formed on the basis of any protected interests. Electors are usually appointed by the states in correspondence to the number of senators and other legislative representatives (Williams, 2011). It is believed that the appointment of the electors aims at protecting the interests of the smaller states, which on the basis of the framers is against the bill of rights entrenched within the constitution. Proponents for the removal of the electoral system argue that the government is formed for the peopl e and not the states (Dahl, 2001). Besides, this was the main intention and objective of the framers. The objective of the framers in entrenching the Electoral College system within the selection of the president was to have men and women of virtue and outstanding characters to select the president. Many individuals such as James Madison continue to believe that the apportionment of the electors within the Electoral Colleges goes beyond the protection of American citizens as entrenched within the Bill of Rights (Williams, 2011). One question that James Madison asks is whether the less populated states have additional rights or interests that make them entitled to special protection against the unequal representation. In this question, it

Soviet and American cold war polices Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Soviet and American cold war polices - Term Paper Example This cold war mindset of America began during the presidency of Truman in the 1940's and continued on well into the 1950's. Although the Truman administration already had a strong anti communism stance, his death allowed his vice president to implement even more stringent cold war policies against the perceived enemy, Russia1 The reason that these cold war policies between the two nations became such a serious matter for the international community is that both countries, armed with their nuclear weapons, were constantly threatening each other with the total destruction of their rival nation should they meet in actual combat. The Russian (collective name for the Soviet Union) policy under Stalin was clear as daylight. Russia would dominate and create subservient countries in Eastern Europe in order to prevent the spread of democracy and the American policies in their region. Russia fully utilized its occupation of certain European countries in order to actively recruit and assist in the spread of their ideology. By 1948, at least seven European countries had been established as communist governments with Russia implementing unequal trade agreements with other Eastern European countries, creating what then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill termed as the â€Å"Iron Curtain†.2 On the other hand, the United States and its allies did their best to implement their cold war policy of containment. This meant that the Russian communist ideologies would not be allowed to spread outside of Eastern Europe. This was to be achieved by preventing Russia from using the power and position it achieved during the world war in its quest to reshape the post war international order. 3 It is important to note that during the time that the U.S. cold war policy was being implemented, there were certain politician in America who actually opposed the policy that was beginning to take shape. One of the more notable opponents of the cold war policy was was the former vice pre sident to Franklin Delano Roosevelt named Henry Wallace. He took a stand against the U.S. policy of containment and was a very vocal advocate of the cause. According to Wallace, appearing before the Senate Armed Service Committee he took the opportunity to â€Å"criticize Truman's call for universal military training† 4 which would force all young American men of a certain age into military service. This was the beginning of the military draft era in American history. Wallace believed that Truman was instead trying to deliberately start a crisis by implementing a program that would lead to "death and taxes for the many and very handsome profits for the few."5 Rather, he advocated that the U.S. implement a foreign policy based upon the need for peaceful foreign policy among nations. One can imagine that due to the cold war policies

Some of the Most Important Skyscrapers in the World Essay Example for Free

Some of the Most Important Skyscrapers in the World Essay The following discussion analyzes some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, highlighting their striking features in terms of their architectural design and construction materials that have made some to stand the test of time and consequently revealing how they have evolved from 19th to 21st century. Such skyscraper included here are Chrysler Building in New York of early 1900s, World Trade Center(Twin Towers), Kingdom Center, Taipei 101 and lastly the ongoing construction of the tallest world-to-be skyscraper-Burj Dubai. The Chrysler Building in New York was the first tallest building to be completed in early 1930s and it is even considered to be one of the classical skyscrapers up-to-date in the New York City. In 2005 The Chrysler Building was ranked among top ten building out of twenty five favorite New York Towers. It stood to be tallest building from1930 to 1931 when its record was broken by Empire State Building. However it is still the tallest building in the world which is made of bricks. The Chrysler Building is said to be an Art Desco architecture and presently the architects find it to be the most finest buildings in the New York City located on the east side of Manhattan. It is 319 meters tall (1,047ft). The distinctive ornamentation of the building was not less in comparison of the features of Chrysler automobiles. At the comer of the sixty first floor is punctuated with eagles replicas of 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments. On its thirty first floor corner ornamentation are those of replicas of Chrysler radiator caps. Due to these features among many others it was made to be National Historic Landmark in 1976 (Haverstock et al, 2000 pp. 214-222). When it was competed and the building first opened it did have on its 71st floor a public viewing gulley which was later closed to the public in 1945. Its recognition and significance increased during early times due to its cultural depictions. It featured severally in films, arts, advertisement, art work, music, literature and fashions to mention but a few due to the vicinity at which such works were being performed. To date Chrysler Building is the third tallest building after the Bank of America Building in New York City. Another significant skyscraper in world’s history is World Trade Center which also sometimes is referred to as Twin Towers that was an outstanding landmark just before it was shattered in September 11, 2001 attack. It design was such innovatory that it was done to look like futuristic sculpture. The building itself was sophisticated in that it consisted of two towers, the North tower and the South tower which were at different heights 1368 ft (417M) and 1362 ft ( 415M) respectively, together with five other complex buildings. These towers were identical in the design that why it was given the name Twin Towers. Twin Towers by the time of its completion it was the tallest building in the world until the construction of Chicago’s Shears and Petronas in Malaysia. The World Trade Center building was situated at Lower Manhattan. The tower construction started in mid-1960s and completed in 1973. Its design adopted new innovations and structural systems with technological advancements that employed lightweight and modular construction. Its design was meant to resist strong wind of load of 2kpa. It is recorded that each tower was sixty four meters square standing at 411 M above the street level. Its existence came in to being as a result of David Rockfeller’s dream who was the chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank and Nelson Rockfeller, the former Governor of New York. He owned the original idea of the center construction. In 1962 Minoru Yamasaki was contracted as a lead architect and it presented World Trade Center design to the public in1964 (Haverstock et al, 2000 pp 245-260). Its structural design employed tube-frame design that allowed open floors instead of using columns to support building loads as it was normally done in previous construction making it a totally new approach . It used high strength, load bearing perimeter steel columns. In short the building itself portrayed a state –of –art when it was completed. The construction of World Trade Center took eight years. However, construction of the World Trade Center was not without controversy because its site saw the relocation of many commercial and industrial tenants and residents as the complex occupied sixteen acres of land. Even its design faced a lot of criticism due to its aesthetic aspects. The urban planners and architects described the Tower as ‘just glass and metal filling cabinets’. Its narrows office windows about 460 mm wide were disliked because of obscurity in view they gave onto looking outside from the building. When Twin Towers was completed, it was such a spectacle in that it attracted about one hundred tourists each day. It had observation deck at height of 420 M and at this point one was at ‘world’s highest outdoor viewing platform’ as it was referred. This view was in the South Tower. On a clear day one could see as far as 78 km in any direction. From about twenty miles away the tower could easily been seen. One may wonder of what significance did the Twin Tower played. It was found that about 50,000 people worked in it. Since 1973 every United States of America president had to visit this spectacle. Several events have taken place in this skyscraper. Many mountain climbers have scaled the building. It has featured in many TV shows, magazines, movies and merchandise that gave it so much popularity. The World Trade Center Building has encountered two attacks where the second attack was so severe that it caused the collapse of the North and South towers. The bombing attack of February 26, 1993 caused 30M hollow through five concrete sublevels in the North Tower that was detonated at underground garage. The second attack of September 11, 2001 resulted to a total collapse of World Trade Center . The North Tower was the first to crumble after it was crushed by airliner hijackers and barely after twenty minutes the second airliner hijackers crushed the South Tower. Three of the seven building of World Trade Center collapsed on the same day of attacks. Nevertheless; plans are underway to rebuild World Trade Center Towers that will lead to completion of Freedom Towers which will be one of the future skyscrapers. Before this skyscraper, the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the New York City and again it has taken this prestige Twin Tower collapse. As evolution of skyscraper continues, currently the United State of America no longer enjoy credits of the tallest skyscrapers in the world any more; but this now is ascribe to Asian nation such as Malaysia and Dubai. The Kingdom Tower in Riyadh is also one of the world tallest skyscrapers and but the only tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia. It was completed in the year 2001. Though it is not even among top ten world’s skyscrapers it is worth mentioning because of its state-of –art that has made it to win the Emproris Skyscraper award. Before its construction was done, major competitive architectural firms were consulted and about a hundred submissions made taking the final architectural design to three years time. At its completion, it was twenty fifth world’s tallest building with a height of 302 M (991) tall. Because Saudi does not have many Skyscrapers like some of the cities of the world, it is renowned for its tourist attraction both locally and internationally. Amazingly, the building has entrance in each of its four sides. The lighting fixtures in the drive way imitate tower’s shape and its inverted centenary arch at the top was described as the ‘necklaces for the Riyadh city by its designer. It has the ninety-ninth floor, which is a sky bridge that has triangular opening of fifty six meters with public observation deck. This sky bridge rises at nine hundred and eighteen above see level. This gave it unique aspects of being a point of tourist attraction as it is used as viewpoint of the entire city of Riyadh. It hosts the highest mosque in the world with forty one floors. The Kingdom centre is owned by a prince of Saudi royal family Alwaleed bin Talal bins Abdulziz Al Saud. It is also his Kingdom Royal Company’s headquarters. In fact, Kingdom Centre was selected as the best skyscraper of the world for its design and this made it to win Emproris Skyscaper Award. The centre has state -of –art apartments with Four Seasons Hotel. Besides this it has a three-level shopping center in its east wing which made it also win award of design. Its large opening is lit at night in continuous changing color lights. In the same building it has a big shopping mall with a hundred and seventy prestigious stores in the service floor consisting of eighty ground floor stores, and forty ladies floors. Ladies floor has been exclusively designed for women only (Terranova, 2003 pp. 44-49). Taipei 101 also known as the Taipei Financial Center is currently the world’s tallest building in Taiwan and also believed to be the largest construction engineering project in that region that was designed by world class architect C. Y Lee. It stands at the height of 1,671ft (509M) with a hundred and one stories. Taipei 101 building where it rests covers 81,072 square meters (Ali Moon, 2007 pp 8-10). This skyscraper has been designed using the most latest and sophisticated structural system technological advancements. Its design has used what is referred to as Mega Structure System. It is designed is in such a way that after every eighth floor there is space to check wind effects as commonly observed in high-rise. This system also helps prevent disaster. Surprisingly the building increases in its size as it rises up taking a pagoda shape. The design is said to be based on traditional Chinese culture on lucky number eight . Consequently its looks like eight in its upwards flaring section with a support of eight super columns . In its 89th floor it has public indoor observation while at 91st floor it has an outdoor observation deck . Being the world’s tallest building, it has attracted visitors all over the world. To broadcasters, firework coverage is a common phenomenon particularly in the New Years Eve from this building. Also most of yearly festivals are also held here. Its elevators are the fastest in the world rising at 60. 48 Km/hr and descending at 36. 6 km/hr. The building has won several international awards due to the technology employed (Ali Moon, 2007 pp. 11-13) The Shanghai World Financial Center is the second world’s tallest building after Taipei 101. It has a hundred and one storeys and stands at height of 492M. Although after its foundation was laid, the construction encountered financial setback and it almost took ten years to be completed, this skyscraper is the second in the world as for now. However by the time of its planning in the year 1997, it was to be the world tallest building surpassing Petronas Towers of Malaysia. It has three floors of underground parking, shops, offices, conference centers, exhibition and observation floors. In fact its observation bridge is the highest in the world. Also Shanghai World Financial Center portrays real evolution of the skyscrapers both in terms of structural system and design. It has two tuned mass dampers below observation floors to minimize any sway from windstorms and earthquakes. Also after the incident that occurred at World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, there was redesigning of the structure so as to withstand occurrence of any plane crush or any other form of disaster if it ever happens by including 12 fire proof refugee areas and two elevators. Shanghai World Financial Trade Center is the latest to be inaugurated on August 28, this year. However, evolution of skyscrapers to the present age would not be inclusive without mentioning of the Burj Dubai. It will be the tallest ever built skyscrapers in the world once it will be completed. Its construction started on September 22, 2004. In September 26 this year the building was at 707 M (2320ft). Presently even before its completion it has outdone Taipei 101 which has been the only skyscraper slightly half a kilometer in height. So far it is the structure with the many floors- one hundred and sixty floors after Shear Towers in Chicago, USA. This tower employs Islamic architecture where when viewed either from the base or above, it assumes onion shape. Structurally the tower is made of reinforced concrete and steel foundation (Ali Moon, 2007 pp. 16-18)

Kentucky Fried Chicken Holdings Malaysia Berhad Marketing Essay

Kentucky Fried Chicken Holdings Malaysia Berhad Marketing Essay KFC is an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken is a chain of fast food restaurant based in Louisville Kentucky, in the United Stated and was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952. Since he was only 9 years old, he discovered his penchant for cooking. Through the years he grew up to become a personage the world knows as Colonel Sanders, founder of KFC. KFC mainly sells chicken pieces, wraps, salads and sandwiches. While its main focus is  fried chicken, KFC also offers a line of grilled and roasted chicken products,  side dishes  and  desserts. Although Harland Sanders died in 1980, he remains as a important person of the company`s branding and advertisement, and formerly known as Colonel Sander, is a metonym for the company itself. In 1991, the company adopted KFC, an abbreviated from of its name but starting in April 2007, the company began used Kentucky Fried Chicken, its own original name for its signage, packaging and advertisement. Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe includes blends of 11 herbs and spices and become franchising to the rest of America. By the early 70`s, that special recipe reached Malaysia. Today, KFC Malaysia continues to serve finger lickin` good, succulent pieces of chicken. Its delicious aroma was attract most Malaysian citizen and became popularly amongst them. KFC prides itself as a fast-food restaurant give customers great tasting chicken with a selection of home-styled side dishes and dessert. The first KFC restaurant was opened in 1973 on Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman. Until now, KFC Malaysia reached about 500 franchised around Malaysia and still counting. Great tasting chicken has become synonymous with KFC, and has been enjoyed by Malaysians ever since. Now KFC Malaysia has developed its own distinctive Malaysian personality of its own. The Companys Background KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd., (KFC Holdings) is a branded chicken retail chain operator. KFC Holding in Malaysia operates about 500 KFC restaurant nationwide also operates the RasaMas chain of restaurant about 35 outlets. Approximately 52 Kedai Ayamas owning by the Group of KFC Holding, making this company as nation`s first branded chicken and chicken-based retail chain. Not only serve fast-food as main business, KFCH also widely involved in poultry production and processing, as well as a host of ancillary businesses such as vegetable farming, baking and sauce production. KFCH has emerged as strong big company in Malaysia`s businesses and retail world with high reputation for excellent product, efficient friendly service and financial strength. Undeniably, KFCH is the only KFC restaurant operator in world whose serve Western Quick Service Restaurant market greater than that of McDonald`s. KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd (KFCH) operates service not only being the franchisee of KFC chain of restaurant in Malaysia but also in Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia and India. 1.2 Board of Director (Executive Director) Kamaruzzaman bin Abu Kassim   Chairman Non Independent Non Executive Director Ahamad bin Mohamad Deputy Chairman   Non Independent Non Executive Director Jamaludin bin Md Ali Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer Kua Hwee Sim   Independent Non Executive Director Tan Sri Dato Dr Yahya bin Awang   Independent Non Executive Director Hassim bin Baba   Independent Non Executive Director Datuk Ismee bin Ismail   Non Independent Non Executive Director Datin Paduka Siti Sadiah binti Sheikh Bakir Non Independent Non Executive Director   During the KFCH`s period of services, below show the awards and achievement of the KFCH from year 2008 until year 2010: Award Year Awarding Body Trusted Brand 2010 Yum! Brands Readers Digest Most Trusted Brands 2010 Readers Digest Putra Brand Award 2010 (Silver) 2010 Putra Brand Awards Association of Accredited Industrial Excellence Award for Service Sector 2008 Malaysia 100 Brand Excellence in Product Branding for Fast Food Chicken Category 2008 Brand Laureate KFC People Excellence Award 2008 Yum! Brands Best Operations Excellence Award 2008 Yum! Brands Restaurant Excellence Award 2008 Yum! Brands Marketing Excellence Award 2008 Yum! Brands Franchisee Of The Year 2008 Yum! Brands Yum! Reel Advertising Excellence Brand 2009 Yum! Brands Effie Award (Bronze) 2009 Effie Readers Digest Most Trusted Brands 2009 Readers Digest Franchisee Of The Year 2009 Yum! BrandsTable 1.1: KFC`s award and achievement from 2008 to 2010. Award Year Awarding Body Best Brand Category 2008 Brand Laureate Outstanding Product Innovation Award 2009 Malaysian Livestock Industry Awards [emailprotected] Awards 2009 Livestock Asia Expo Forum Table 1.2: Ayamas`s award and achievement from 2008 to 2009. Nature of Business KFCH handles over 620 KFC outlets comprising of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia and India and over 35 RasaMas restaurants in Malaysia and Brunei. Over the year, KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd. (KFC Holdings) improve in advancement of fast-food with its original recipe of kentucky fried chicken, KFC Holdings also engaged in the business of poultry, processing, restaurants and property holding. Other than that, KFC Holdings is also engaged in operating hatchery, breeder farms, poultry retail and convenience food store chains. Chicken, fresh bun, cakes, snacks, sauces, chicken rice meals and Freezer to Fryer products are the examples of products offered by the company. The businesses units serve by KFC Holdings are: Restaurants KFC and RasaMas Ayamas retail Poultry Integration Ancillary Operations Restaurants KFC is the best-established brands in Western Quick Service Restaurants market not only in Malaysia but also worldwide. Report has been recorded that over 620 KFC restaurants in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Cambodia and India. Recent product was emerged by KFC Holdings such as Egg Tart offer to customers as a variety alternative to attract peoples. Successful first steps were taken by the company to re-brand Rasa Ayamas outlets by established RasaMas as dine-in restaurants. The first Rasa Ayamas Restaurant opened in 1996 and the aims is to brings all its ready-to-eat cooked food under the Rasa Ayamas name also to promote the Ayamas processed products to all Malaysians citizen. Ayamas Retail Ayamas Retail is Malaysia`s first branded poultry retail chain established by KFC Holdings. The services given by the Ayamas is to sell chicken and chicken-based products in an air-conditioned environment to fulfill customers need. It is also offer a selection of chicken roasters and light, chicken-based snacks. In 1988, the first convenience store was opened at Seapark and afterwards there are about 52 stores under the name Kedai Ayamas. The products are at tip-top of quality halal branded chicken that been processes and packaging by the company`s own processing plants. Poultry Integration The KFC Holdings processing plants process poultry for restaurants around the nationwide while focusing to achieve cost-efficiency while maintaining halal and high quality standards. The poultry integrator and operations consist of breeder farms and hatchery, feed mills, poultry farms, contract broiler farming and processing and further processing plants was undertaken by the Ayamas Food Corporation Bhd. Other than that, the Ayamas operations also to supply whole chicken and cut chicken parts further processes chicken product to the domestic market as well as to export the products to nearby country such as Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong and Middle East. Figure 1.2: Marketing division of Ayamas Poultry Integrations. Ancillary Operations KFC Holdings on its own complement core business then take benefits from an integrated ancillary support system that comprises the sauce manufacturing, bakery and commissary operations. The Region Food Industries Sdn Bhd (RFI) is the company that leading the sauce manufacturers with producing about 12 million bottles per annum. Financial Performance Figure 1.3: Graph shows the performance of KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd on 11 February 2011. The financial performance was reported that the company resulting a moderate improvement on the services that provided by the company since it was established. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates in three segments known as restaurants, integrated poultry and ancillary. Since that, the company became strengthen and establishes franchises around Malaysia as the financial performance show a good condition. Chairman of KFC Holdings said that sales at restaurants since its open more than a year jumped 16 percent in 2008,double the rate of 2007 and then three times faster than the global average for KFC outlets. KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd., the best performer on the nation`s benchmark stock index, said it will sustain the fastest growth in at least 10 years as demand for deep-fried chicken defies an economic slowdown (Chan Tien Hi, December 3, 2008). KFC SALES GROWTH RATES Table 1.3: Summary of Earnings Table of KFC Holdings (M) from 2005 until 2009. Table 1.4: P L Breakdown of KFC Holdings (M) from 2005 until 2009. The table 1.3 and 1.4 on previous page shows the sales growth rates of KFC Holdings (M) from year 2005 until 2009. It was shown that KFC Berhad remains by far one of the cheapest mid-large cap consumer companies in Malaysia. It can be seen on the table of the overleaf for regional comparison. The sales growth rate was increased from 2005 to 2009 for example the Dividend Yield on year 2005 is 2.5 percent then each year been increased which year 2009, the yield is increased to 7.8 percent. It was reported that KFC Holdings generated revenue of RM1, 206, 9 million which accounted for a 10.9 percent increase over 2009. Since the sales increased over the country and show good performances, the number of Malaysian KFC outlets has increased to 399 in 2007 and now was increased to 500 outlets all around Malaysia. It is also was expected that the number of outlets will increase by the year of 2012. At end of March 2007, the research house imputing that 2 percent of selling price was implemented by Malaysian KFC outlets, and 3 to 4 percent selling price increase implemented at Singapore KFC outlets in November 2006. Since the selling price increased, KFC branches were growing fastest around nationwide. Apart from that, KFC Holdings (M) also increased the number of Ayamas Restaurant outlets to 19 from 14 outlets for 2007 and then from 14 to 21 outlets for 2008. The growth accelerated earnings by this company in 2QFY09 (+4.2%yoy to RM31.7m) as compared with +1.4%yoy in 1QFY09. The higher growth was due to higher contribution and better margin from KFC restaurant division. Chart 1.1: KFC Turnover breakdown (9M06) on 2006 Chart 1.2: KFC Pretax profit breakdown (9M06) on 2006 Below show the pie charts of turnover breakdown and pretax profit breakdown for KFC Holdings (M) on year 2006. Chart 1.2 show that the earnings that been driven by KFC restaurants chains, which account for almost 90 percent of group pretax profit. The turnover breakdown by year 2006 was almost 60 percent. Overall, it was expected that KFC is deliver mid-single digit revenue growth, which driven by high single digit growth in Malaysia KFC restaurant operations. SALES TREND Figure 1.4: KFC Holdings (M) sales growth from 2005 until 2009. Figure above shows the sales growth of KFC Holdings (M) from year 2005 to 2009. It is show that the sales were decreased from 6.5 percent on 2005 to 4.4 percent on 2006. Then the sales were decreased once again on year 2007 and record the growth about 4.0 percent. The sales were decreased because of the economic growth for the year came with a mà ©lange of highs and lows whereby the country at that time was unstable due to fuel crisis. This crisis bring on the the impact of higher food and oil prices left a reduction in consumption and business profits. However, on 2008, the economic began stable therefore the domestic sales prospects of KFC Holdings of Malaysia were increased due to stability of economic. As a result, sales growth for the whole of 2008 inclined increased to 5.0 percent compared to 4.0 percent in 2007. During the year of 2008, KFC Malaysia aggressively drove restaurant image enhancements. Many steps were taken to improve the overall KFC dining experience for the valued customer. For year 2009, KFC Malaysia became strong market activities and launch a disciplined operations therefore the sales transaction and profitability was increased again in 2009 with 7.2 percentages compared the year before. Expansion of restaurant at that times record greater growth in Peninsular Malaysia region also in Sabah and Sarawak regions. The expected increases in sales growth of KFC`s products was due to ongoing enhancement measures and the strong supportive of valued customers. YEAR SNACK DINNER 1985 3.95 4.95 1996 5.30 6.60 2004 6.70 8.80 Present 6.80 8.90 Table 1.5: Snapshots of KFC`s meal prices during selective periods from year 1985 until now. Since year of 1985, the price of KFC`s meals were become increased due to economic growth ever since. However, since the economic grew more standardize, the price of KFC`S meals were increased according  to  currency appreciation  and  the economy.  The people of  Malaysia  are also able  to  buy  the  KFC`s meals at reasonable price. However, this factor was not affecting the buyers but every year the sales growth even more increased. Years ago, the prices of meals at KFC were costly in range of RM3.00 to RM5.00. These days, getting a decent meal at KFC which include snack plate and a drink, inclusive of service charges were costly less than RM9.00 to RM10.00, which is not much more expensive than dining at hawker shops. CONCLUSION The economic growth of our country came with a mà ©lange of highs and lows. Sometimes the economic condition is at a stable place whereby the economic growth was steady. However, since fuel crisis came up in year 2007, the global economic downturn created cautionary, volatile and fragile market by year end. Since the crisis came up, the sales rates of KFC Holdings (M) was record downturn due to the impact of higher food and oil prices. The group of KFC Holdings (M) were trying to survive by came up with a lots of plan strategies to further the operations of the group. KFC group were committed to enhance performance during that year by introduced new meals to the restaurants and new product to the Ayamas Retails. Since the strategies were launched, in 2008, the group recorded an impressive revenue growth of 26 percent to RM2, 179.8 million from RM1, 703.4 million in 2007. In the previous year, the profit before tax also increased to RM167.5 million against RM150.6 million. The increasing of stellar performance also resulted on earnings per share whereby in 31st December 2007, it was recorded that the increased by 13.7 percent from 52.59 sen to 59.78 sen in 31st December 2008. On that year, the revenue from KFC restaurants contributed about 75 percent to the Group`s total turnover, 20 percent and 5 percent was contributed by the poultry and ancillary businesses. Since that, the improvement of KFCH`s sales growth become surprisingly increased in year 2009. Therefore, on 2nd January 2009, KFCH became a subsidiary of QSR Brands Bhd (QSR) and record that there is another 865,300 ordinary KFCH shares, increasing the QSR`s total holding in KFCH to 50.25 percent. This is became the significant milestone for the group to enhance the management capability on the sales growth of the business. The benefit of long term is to exercise result in management stability and positive income contribution of the group. Now the business of KFCH were at its stable condition and expand more further resulting on the increasing of sales growth each year. Since now and then, KFC becomes the biggest Malaysian fast-food operator with about 500 franchises of KFC restaurants and 26 of Ayamas outlets all around the country.

Sociolinguistics of Australian English Essay -- Essays Papers

Sociolinguistics of Australian English Behind every language lies a fascinatingly intricate structure, which contains much more than a simple set of symbols. Language is not merely a code used to switch a text from one idiom to another, but an entity with its own complex, intriguing characteristics. In fact, exact translations do not even exist from one language to another because every dialect possesses unique aspects that have come about from centuries of social change and interaction. In return, language, through everyday speech, as well as literature, shapes society. Therefore, â€Å"language is one of the most powerful emblems of social behavior.†[1] From this idea emerged sociolinguistics, one of the most important fields of study in today’s world of increasing international relations. Sociolinguistics studies the relationships between the way a society functions and its language. Areas of the field include, but are certainly not limited to, pidgins and creoles, gender relations, eco nomic status, and age. Researchers examine both the effects of social factors on language, and the effects of language on society. The contemporary world is bringing many people of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds together, perhaps more than any other period of history. Thus, the study of fields such as semiotics, linguistics, and sociolinguistics is crucial to gain a better understanding of how languages are created and how they bring meaning to the world. Australian English, referred to hereafter as AE, exemplifies the mutual influence exerted upon language and society. AE is not only a unique manner of speaking, even from other English dialects, but also an entirely distinct manner of individ... ... English. Sydney: Reed Education, 1972. 67. [13] Seal, Graham. The Lingo: Listening to Australian English. Sydney: Univeristy of New South Wales Press, 1999. 23. [14] Horne, Donald. Forward. Macquarie Dictionary. 2nd ed. Arthur Delbridge et al, eds. McMahons Point, New South Wales: Macquarie Library, 1991. [15] Mitchell and Delbridge 44. [16] Keesing, Nancy. Lily on the Dustbin: Slang of Australian Women and Families. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books, 1982. [17] Pauwels, Anne. â€Å"Gender Differences in Australian English.† Language in Australia. Ed. Suzanne Romaine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991. [18] Turner 34. [19] Mitchell and Delbridge 5. [20] Bernard and Delbridge. [21] Bernard and Delbridge. [22] Turner 11. [23] Adams, Phillip. â€Å"US ‘R Us.† City Weekly. 24 July 2003. [24] Horne xi.

A Character Analysis of Daisy Miller :: Daisy Miller, Henry James

In Daisy Miller, Henry James slowly reveals the nature of Daisy"s character through her interactions with other characters, especially Winterbourne, the main character." The author uses third person narration; however, Winterbourne"s thoughts and point of view dominate." Thus, the audience knows no more about Daisy than Winterbourne." This technique helps maintain the ambiguity of Daisy"s character and draws the audience into the story. At first glimpse, Daisy is portrayed as a "pretty American flirt" whose innocence Winterbourne is unsure of, and yet he says he was "almost grateful for having found the formula that applied to Miss Daisy Miller" (James 1563)." Like many people do in first impressions, Winterbourne feels the need to label Daisy right away." In the beginning, the stereotype seems to fit." Daisy is young, unsophisticated, chatty, and brags about all the society, especially gentlemen"s society she had in New York (1562)." She enjoys teasing and getting reactions out of people just for the sake of it." For example, the second time she and Winterbourne meet, late one evening in the garden, she asks him if he wants to take her out in a boat on the lake." Of course, her mother and the courier protest while Daisy laughs and declares, "That"s all I want " a little fuss!"She had no intention of going; she just wanted to get a rise out of someone." Bidding good-night to Winterbourne, she says, "I hope you"re di sappointed, disgusted, or something!" (1572)." She is being flirtatious, but this kind of teasing is also just part of her sense of humor. Daisy Miller may be uneducated, as Winterbourne and his aunt describe her, but she is witty." One illustration of her humor takes place at Mrs. Walker"s party when Winterbourne is criticizing her for her relations with Giovanelli." He says they don"t "understand that sort of thing here"not in young married women."Daisy cries, "I thought they understood nothing else!" and goes on to say, "It seems to me more proper in young unmarried than in old married ones."Daisy typically speaks and behaves frankly, almost in a child-like fashion, but this shows, as the narrator describes it, a "startling worldly knowledge" (1587)." Daisy is somewhat rustic but smart." She has a "natural elegance" and a mixture of" "innocence and crudity," and yet, as seen in her response, her character proves to go beyond the boundaries of this character type of the natural beauty (1564 and 1574).

Survival Story *not Really A Research Paper Its A Creative Story*

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This isn’t happening. Things like this don’t happen to people like me. I sit on a log and look up at the canopy of trees hovering over me. I glance around, seeing only other confused faces glance at me. It’s quiet. The loudest quiet I’ve ever heard. My head floods with thought and I close my eyes, pushing back frantic images. I inhale my surroundings, trying desperately to make sense of the silent riot occurring all around me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My attention is drawn to a noise. My eyes wander, searching for the source. It sounds like the cry of a small animal; it sounds too familiar to be dangerous. It becomes louder and I recognize the innocent scream. I rise from the dead stump and hurry towards the sound. It has stopped but still it echoes in my mind. A bright whiteness washes over me and I find myself sitting uncomfortably in my adjustable seat. A newspaper sits in my lap but I’m too anxious to notice. Something is wrong, I can sense it. My ears perk up at an obnoxious noise. It sounds like the cry of a small animal. Aside from my aisle is an infant. A smile runs across my face, hiding my fear.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My feet strike the ground, launching me faster heading for the sound. Finally I reach it, almost wishing I hadn’t. Here lies a mother, child in hand and a red stream flowing down her lifeless face. The bundle in her arms screams again, snapping me back into reality. Taking the infant in my arms, I silently pray for our survival. I retreat to the small clearing to find the same glances staring back at me. I take a glimpse, surveying the scattered items laying on the earthy floor. I see a small first aid kit lying open by a sapling. It is empty except for a roll of white gauze. I take it in my hands, swiftly wrapping it around the small child and hoping the warmth of the thin fabric will turn purple lips back to a healthy hue. I hold the newborn to my chest and wrap it further in my own clothes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We’ll never make it.† A nameless voice utters, stabbing the silence. I glance up and glare at the thought. â€Å"It’s too cold, we have no supplies. We’ll never make it.† He repeats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ignoring the obvious truth I recall the items I carried with me on the flight. Things useless every day, but now could determine life or death. A small pocket knif... ...ght, illuminating her round face with the artificial glow. Pulling the bottle out of my coat pocket, I curl my fingers around the cap and rotate it. With a few turns the cap falls into my palm. I put the rim to Olivia’s small lips and slowly tilt the bottle, allowing her to sip the warm milk. Suddenly, I was joined by the woman. There she was again, her face lit up with the glow of the fire. Her beauty almost made me forget everything that was happening. She has a devilish grin on her face and her eyes twinkled in delight. â€Å"After that dinner I’m sure everyone would prefer something sweeter.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My expression turns to confusion. â€Å"What do you mean?† I ask.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Under her coat she holds a box. I can’t think of what it is until I read the label. â€Å"Hershey’s?† I ask with a smile on my face. â€Å"Where did you find these?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I was going to save them for myself,† she explains, â€Å"but there are enough to share.† Her smile was warm enough to allow me to forget the cold weather. I become distracted by Olivia’s quiet gurgling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Looking into her deep brown eyes I find the hope to survive.

Why Does John Fowles’ “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”?

The novel â€Å"The French Lieutenant’s Woman† was made possible because of the haunting image of a woman in John Fowles’ imagination at the dock looking to the sea. The main character of the novel is Sarah Woodruff who is an impoverished former Victorian educator. Sarah was labeled in the territory as â€Å"Tragedy† or the â€Å"French Lieutenant’s Whore† because she was thought to loss her virginity to the departed sailor Varguennes. In the story, there is a noble Englishman named Charles Smithson who happened to saw Sarah while he was walking along the shore with his fiancà © Ernestina Freeman.Ernestina was a daughter of a wealthy shop owner. In the long run, he has a ploy to help Sarah as shown in his multiple meetings with her. In due course, he became attracted to Sarah until he pursued her. Unable to overcome his desires, they made love for the first time in a hotel room and he was shocked to his discovery that she was still a virgin. The history of her seduction on Varguennes as the one who got her virginity was therefore a lie. Charles became beguiled to Sarah. He realized that this lie had alienated Sarah from the society where she belongs and which is of paltry morals and fickle-minded that Sarah learned to detest.Charles then broke his engagement to Ernestina and offers marriage to Sarah instead. Sarah declined the offer and runs away. The lost of Charles’ engagement made him isolated and estranged from the Victorian society and Ernestina’s affluence as well. He looked for Sarah and found her as a model for the pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti in London. From this, John Fowles offered multiple endings.The multiple endings style presented by John Fowles in his novel is a capturing technique to the readers’ attention. He offers variable choices of ending to the reader because as we all know every book has its own group of diverse readers. To satisfy this and to acknowledge th e readers of your work, offering them a several endings is professional enough to recognize their patronization of your work. Another reason why John Fowles offered multiple endings is to develop critical thinking to readers and to know their selves better through knowing what they want. For readers who intend to develop their skills as writer, Fowles give different options of how to make an ending.Through the ending, the faà §ade of the characters behind the story and the purpose of the story are being more defined and delineated. This also gives us an idea that a story is a story that in fact starts in the beginning and ends only in the ending. Sounds irony as it is, it means that the extremes of the story tells us of what to expect and how to supposedly read the novel. It tells us that story has its twists and turns but may still be straight ahead depending on the focus of the reader.The novel offered a blissful and joyful ending and a futile and wasted ending. From these, I pre ferred the blissful and joyful ending as the whole course of the novel is full of tragedy and showing a hopeless case. The happy ending affirms a reunion of Sarah and Charles together with their daughter. The hopeless ending is they decided to part forever after all the sacrifices. Also, the character of Sarah if this is the ending is being detested because she is portrayed as a deceitful and fraudulent woman and as a whore she really is though she was a virgin to Charles.As an affectionate satire under Victorian plot and setting, the curiosity of the reader to the ending of the story must be satisfied and sultry at the same time. The narrative manner of the story is self-referencing and the characters Sarah and Charles have the reasoning and feat of a twentieth century which is one more century advance than their time. They are expressive of what they want and do what they have to carry out instead of behaving being under the dictates and morals being entailed to them by the societ y where they belong. Through sexual communication, the main characters had evolved and undergone personal development.The first ending, wherein Charles marries Ernestina to follow the expected norms in the society to retain class status quo, showed the true lifestyle and ways of life at those time wherein the writer didn’t deflect the ideals at those times. As usual, the consequence of such ending and kind of plot directs a marriage that is not happy and successful.In this ending also, the fortune of Sarah was not elaborated but focuses on Charles’ part where he let Ernestina know that he had an affair before once to a woman he referred as a French Lieutenant's Whore. He did not further detail the story and did not need to include the worst particulars for the matter to be closed. This is a fine ending but not much causing reaction to the readers because this is common to people under a lifestyle where class is important. The ending is calm and does not offer much emot ion and catastrophic sceneries.In another ending, Charles chose Sarah and broke his engagement to Ernestina. This is an ending where love is chosen against all odds and mind was overruled. As expected, this has lead to unlikable consequences because of the present society where they belong. Charles became dishonored, humiliated, and shamed for choosing Sarah who had an appalling status in the society. Consequently, Charles was also disinherited from his uncle who then remarries where he got an heir. Sarah left for London without the knowledge of Charles. Charles who had loved Sarah so much did not stop finding her for several years.One time he found her in London where Sarah was a model. Charles found out that he had a child and the ending was left open where there is an inference of reconciliation and reunion as a family. This ending has so much to offer and the expected ending if it has to be a happy ending. The spice in the ending is the notion that no matter how many typhoons pa ssed your way there is an appropriate time that it will calm down soon. It is like expecting a sunny day at the end of the rain. It gave our human nature a chance to get up and tells us that trials are just temporary. It gave readers an idea of the natural circle of life and giving them hope that their struggles and sacrifices are not wasted because in due time, the fruits of these will soon be reaped.In terms of character of Sarah, It tells the reader that what we think of us depends on what we allow others to think of us. In this world full of critics and prejudice, you have to be strong and be able to defend yourself because you alone knew yourself most and its limitations that you must not allow others to treat you as inferior to them. The more you allow a person to treat you that way, the more you are giving them right to invade your privacy and dignity until one day it is too late for you to realize that you lost everything. You lost what you should have defended, kept, cared, and guarded.In this multitude and variable persona and guise behind the character of Sarah, Fowles was able to offer to readers another ending. This ending has its plot same as the second ending where Charles found in London as a model for the pre-Raphaelite artists. Here, there is no reconciliation that happened and their reunion was unpleasant. He found out that he is only used by Sarah but in the process, he contemplated that it is for the better as he learned to reflect and became aware to return to his old self. On the other hand, Sarah had chosen to conceal the existence of their child to avoid extending their relationship.This type of ending further builds up on the real character of Sarah if is she trying to hold true of what people think of her or is she really that kind of girl. Inquisitiveness and nosiness in a reader’s disposition will be triggered and the nature of a person of criticizing and judging surfaces. Many questions may arouse such as does Sarah loves m aneuvering people if she knows she could exploit them through their feelings like Charles who loves and respects her so much? Or is she a connoisseur liar and indeed with few morals that must not be given a chance or must not be loved at all?In the novel, it was reflected that Fowles has difficulty choosing what the ending should be, the truer and more preferred ending, by disguising in the novel as the man watching the man Charles in the train. He finally decided then to initially have the happy ending then the final as the sad ending. Here it can be reflected that there is an author involvement and intervention in the novel. This technique is a landmark in literature because multiple endings and author involvement and intervention are truly unique and innovative. But is this accepted in the world of literature? Or is this innovative technique acceptable and tolerable in literature?As we can see, these denigrations have been passed by Fowles successfully as most critics found this technique as more interesting and a demonstration of exceptional talent. Any imitation or adaptation of this technique will be judged and reviewed as not creative, inventive, imaginative, or original at all. The multiple endings technique is also a manipulative style of the author to his readers. He made them raise questions and arouse their curiosity. Others interpret that the author is anxious and thirst for a psychological need to control. But it must still not be ignored that each reader has its own ability to analyze and understand what they read, thus, this aspect in readers’ being cannot be controlled by the author.While reading the novel not because of the story but due to evaluating why the author made several endings for the story, I can not help to think that maybe the author had taken too lightly or failed to appreciate the ability of the readers for independent thinking and understanding. But looking positively, maybe the author just wanted to satisfy his readers in terms of a happy or sad ending. The ending they will choose will satisfy each type of reader with their expectations being met. Generally, Fowles had been a good puppet master unlikely to uncover of his purpose behind the novel. What we knew is that he had made a remarkable move in the literature world.ReferenceWilliam Stephenson, Chester College of Higher Education. â€Å"The French Lieutenant's Woman.† The Literary Encyclopedia. 10 Oct. 2002. The Literary Dictionary Company. 23 July 2007. ;http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true;UID=796;

Fast Food Industry

I Source: Food and Agro Business Monitor, October 2001; Company websites; News articles One testament to the windows of opportunity and growth in the industry is the rise of Mango ‘nasal, the country's fastest growing barbecue fast food chain, which after only eight years, is already 390 stores strong as of July 2011. Despite the presence of industry giants and having been established first in the Visas, Mango ‘nasal has shown that there is enough room for new players given the right product at the right price. As in the past, Jollied sensed an opportunity and acquired a controlling share of Mango ‘nasal.On the other hand, Jollied sold its Deliverance business unit and stopped operations of its carrier-inspired food chain Mango Epee stores, which will eventually be converted to its other brands. Owing to the popularity of coffee hops and the Filipinos growing penchant for drinking coffee, Jollied also entered the coffee shop business through a Korean-based restauran t brand, Cafe It-ammo. It was launched in 2010 and has already three branches offering Goleta and coffee in a business as a strategy to gain market share and offer a less expensive but quality coffee experience.Most of the other major players in the industry have also expanded led by Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and Shakes. Some Jollied mandolin's stores in Metro Manila are undergoing renovation to improve store appearance/image and better serve its customers. Chicken many KEF slowed down partially due to the effects of the Asian financial crisis to the Armco Group but it has since recovered. In 2008, Armco acquired Tokyo Tokyo, the country's leading Japanese fast food chain. Armco also owns the master franchise of Mister Donuts in the country which has over a thousand shops nationwide.Products, Variety, and Value-addition The major traditional types of fast food chains are still the hamburger chains, chicken houses, pizza/pasta parlors and Chinese food chains. However, other fast food ch ains are catching up like the donuts chains, coffee shops, barbecue houses, bakeshops and Filipino food chains. While the food offerings in fast food stores are essentially within the type for which the chain was established, the available products are already a mix of food items wherein the banner product may not be the most popular. Jolliness's Chicken]oh, for instance, may be as popular if not more popular than its Hamburger.It also has Filipino dishes like beef tap (smoked beef),longhairs (local pork sausage), and crispy Bangui (militias). Chocking, a Chinese fast food, has also Filipino food like benevolentness, kangaroo (water spinach), longhairs, beef tap and halo-halo. McDonald's, a burger chain, also has longhairs in its menu. Roasted chicken chain Kenny Rogers, for its part, offers other food items for the health conscious like roast chicken, healthy plate, high protein meal, high fiber meal, low calorie meal, grilled chicken/sausage/fish meals, and vegetable salads.KEF, P izza Hut,Shakes, and Wend's also have vegetable salads in their menu. Wend's was first to offer a salad bar and the first fast food to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Health in support of its Healthy Lifestyle Campaign. There is also continuous new product development eke Cuff's Double Down (all-meat, no-bun sandwich), Wend's shrimp sandwich and abstractor, Showing's Chinese-style fried chicken, and Jolliness's crunchy chicken burger, sweet and sour meatballs and chicken nugget crunchers.Part of product development is seasonal offerings especially during Lent, when people try to fast and abstain from meat. Some products that come out at this time are tuna pie and fish twister. Other than the product mix and variety, fast food chains also offer affordable alternatives for the budget-conscious. The price of the budget items can range from a low of POP. O for a Burger McCoy or apple pie, POP. O for Jolliness's beef with mushrooms and rice to a high of POP. O for Cuff's Wow Slit Meal of I-piece chicken, rice, and regular drink (Table 3). Table 3.Value for Money Food Items, July 2011 | Company I Budget Food Items I Price (PH) I Jollied I Rice Meal errs, Value Meals | 39. 00 – 55. 001 Chocking I Value Kings, combo Kings 1 29. 00-87. 001 Mango ‘nasal I Slit Meals, Built Meals | 49. 00 | McDonald's I Value Meals, Massacre Meals, Everyday Massacres | 25. 00 – 55. 00 | KEF I wow Burger, wow slit Meals 1 30. 00-89. 001 Wend's I super value Menu | 37. 0 – 62. 001 Source: Company websites; internet search Over the years, fast food chains have also added a new value to their relationship with loyal customers with the use of patronage cards.Some of these cards include Shakes Pizzicato Supercargo, Pizza Hut's Palm card, Angel Pizza's Privilege card, mandolin's Midnight card. For the pizza chains, the card allows the customer to buy one box of pizza and take one box for free. On the other hand, the Midnight card allows cus tomers to get free items on orders from 12:01 am to 3:59 am. The promotions are valid only within a prescribed period. A Still Growing Industry A number of factors and strategies, both external and internal to the fast food industry, are contributing to its continuing growth.Boos The growth of the business process outsourcing (BOO) industry has enhanced the eating out habits in the country as Episcopalian have a 2417 work schedule. Major fast food chains have adapted to this changing lifestyle with a 2417 restaurant business hours in strategic locations close to the Boos. McDonald's and Wend's were one of the pioneers in the 2417 delivery service. Given the company websites, there is also the facility of ordering on line and allowing fast foods in Backbone and Twitter.Locations expansion of malls and supermarkets around the country is another plus factor for the fast food industry. The on-going and planned Allay, Purebred, Robinsons, Shoppers and SMS establishments will be providing the space and foot traffic for the fast food chains' expansion. Pricing Value pricing or value meals will continue to be a strategy for fast food chains, as surveys still indicate low prices as a reason for choosing a fast food restaurant. Another price proposition is the unlimited rice promotion of some stores like Mango nasal, Tokyo Tokyo, and recently, Tropical Hut.Movie tie-ins Another strategy to stimulate frequent store visits is the fast food tie-in promotion of hit movies with the offering of limited edition gadgets, collectibles, and food items like Captain America in Jollied and Dunking' Donuts and Transformers in KEF. McDonald's is also offering Coca Cola can glass collectibles. Branding Fast foods also use a sort of â€Å"multiple-branding† to draw more customers by offering a large number of items whereby several fast food chains are located side by side. This is the case of Jollied beside Chocking, Greenwich, and Red Ribbon.Chains like the Armco group have also started co-branding where a Mister Donuts kiosk is in a KEF store. Bank tie-ups As a meaner to increase patronage of credit cards, companies like the Bank of the Philippine Islands, Banc De ROR, and Metronome have tied-up with some fast food stores where customers can redeem promotional freebies based on amount charged to their credit card. The fast food stores include Jollied, Chocking, Mango ‘nasal, Backlog ‘nasal, Goldbricks, Greenwich, and Pizza Hut. This win-win scheme is expected to enhance repeat usage for credit card companies as well as increased sat food store visits.Value propositions some fast food stores provide newspapers and free Wi-If internet connection. Many chains are also remodeling their facilities; expanding their selection of desserts, beverages, snacks and breakfast items; adding grilled items; reducing fat and sodium; and catering to customers with diabetes or gluten intolerance. Some chains, particularly in developed countries, are also caterin g to a broader range of customers with hall-only or kosher food in their menu. Major companies have also set up foundations which implement their corporate social responsibility initiatives.Prospects There is a lot of optimism and positive outlook as expressed by major players. Jollied Foods Corporation has revised its target upwards in 2011, and plans to open 160 stores in the country across all its brands. The company is looking at a 12-15 percent growth for the year with expected brisk sales and lower raw materials cost, and provided there will be no major spikes in inflation and petroleum prices. Mango ‘nasal for its part is targeting to hit 500 stores by 2012. McDonald's is planning to build 20-30 stores every year in the next five years.For instance, artificial strawberry flavor food The regular consumption of Junk food is the leading factor in obesity and excess weight. Obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of death in America. 46 percent of Canadian adults are e ither overweight or obese, with obesity in children increasing threefold over the past two decades. Consumption of soft drinks containing sugar has been linked to weight gain and an increased risk for development of Type 2 diabetes. Studies have revealed that obese people have wick the rate of chronic health problems as people of normal weight.This includes 100-percent greater chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, 50-percent increased likelihood of developing heart disease. Obese men are nearly 90 percent more likely to get colon cancer. Junk food diet is a major cause of heart diseases. High cholesterol resulting from Junk food puts undue strain on the liver, causing long-term damage to this essential organ. Research has suggested that diets high in fat may also impair essential brain functions, like concentration and memory. The nun food facts about soft drinks alone are alarming. Fast Food Industry Sharp makes use of illustration in â€Å"Berger Queen† in several body paragraphs.   Her overall thesis is that McDonald’s really isn’t that bad of a job and she’s actually enjoyed it, so when she went from a pre-med major to an English major, her life did not get any worse.   In paragraph two, she again uses narration, as in paragraph three.   In paragraph four is where Sharp begins to utilize Illustration to back up her points.   The topic sentence, â€Å"†¦respect for the workers of the fast food industry is lost among most adults†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is supported by several examples, one being, â€Å"†¦grown men driving Lincoln Town cars have bickered with me for five minutes over a measly ten cent increase in the price of an egg mcmuffin.†Paragraph five goes into further illustration of the point made in paragraph four.   Paragraph six also uses illustration.   The topic sentence, â€Å"A small portion of our patrons are so con fused that there is really nothing to do but wait for them to leave† is supported by, â€Å"my most prominent example†¦is the infamous snack attack lady, who ordered hotcakes and sausage during our 90-second- guaranteed-service hour and then ate her breakfast right outside the drive-thru window.†Ã‚   Paragraph seven also incorporates illustration.   The topic sentence, â€Å"there are some great customers out there† is supported by the explanation of those great customers and what they do, â€Å"If I missed a day of work, I would return to inquiries about my health and concern that all was well.†Ã‚  The first paragraph is a narrative and uses dialog to express her point and to draw the reader into the story

International Marketing Final Exam Essay

First Question: Disneyland Paris was one of Disneyland’s Global projects. Please discuss its advantages and disadvantages, and from reading and understanding the case suggest what was/were the mistake/s that Disney committed from the beginning till now. Second Question: Gillette is a giant company and has got a lot of success story globally, from your previous readings and your wide experience as marketing consultant specialized in International marketing. Compare between Gillette in Egypt and Gillette in Indonesia. From all aspects and suggest the best mode of entry for Gillette in Yemen. Third Question: You are the marketing consultant of Disneyland and you are thinking of a new market to enter in one or two of Arab countries. As an expert in International Marketing please consider the following: 1. Which country will you choose to enter, and why? 2. What is your mode of entry? 3. What should be taken into consideration in this regards? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantage of opening in Arab country? 5. What are the main obstacles that you are expecting to face? Fourth Question You are the working for an Egyptian company that is attempting to go globally with one of its products, and you are responsible for that, you will be deciding where and how to go. †¢ Assume that your company has † consumer or industrial product† †¢ You will follow all the needed steps to go globally from the first step that should be taken till the last decision † customization or standardization† Fifth question: Referring to the P&G case â€Å"Different for Gamble†, found in the â€Å"International Marketing Case Study.ppt† file, answer the following questions: †¢ Discuss the reasons for the initial failure for P&G in Japan. †¢ Where did P&G go wrong (if it did) in the evaluation of the Indian market and its strategy? †¢ Discuss the reasons for the differences in the performance of P&G in India and China.

Nike Cost of Capital Essay

Kimi Ford a portfolio manager at NorthPoint Group which is a mutual-fund management firm, is considering to buy some shares from Nike, inc even if it’s share price had declined from the beginning of the year, for the Northpoint Large-cap fund she managed which invested mostly in Fortune 500 companies and it was doing well despite the decline in the stock market over the last 18 months. Kimi therefore surveyed the results of Nike’s fiscal-year 2001which had been revealed a week earlier. Issues that caused a decline in market sales as revealed by the management of Nike 1. Revenues since 1997 had stopped growing but remained around $9. 0 billion. 2. The net income had fallen from $800m to $580m a decline of $220 million. 3. Nike’s market share in the U. S. athletic shoe industry had fallen from 48 percent in 1997 to 42 percent in 2000 (6% decline) 4. The issue of Supply-chain and strong dollar exchange rate also affected the revenue negatively. Nike’s Strategic plan to address the above issues 1. Increase revenues by developing more athletic-shoe products in the mid-priced range. 2. Push its apparel line which had performed tremendously well. 3. Exert more expense control on the cost side. 4. Nike’s executives expressed their interest to continue with the long-term revenue growth target of 8 to 10 percent and earnings-growth targets of above 15 percent. Although the management presented its plan to improve on its performance, there were mixed reactions from the third party analysts. Kimi Ford was also not satisfied with the Nike’s analysis therefore she decided that it was necessary to develop her own discounted-cash-flow forecast. She found that Nike was overvalued at the discounted rate of 12% at its current share price of $42. 09. She also did a quick sensitivity analysis which revealed that Nike was undervalued at discounted rates below 11. 17%. In order for Kimi to make a proper investment decision for her Fund, she asked Joanna Cohen to calculate the cost of capital. However there were some problems. Cohen’s calculation of cost of capital. She used single cost of capital for the apparel and footwear lines assuming that they are sold through the same marketing and distribution channels and are often marketed in other collections of similar designs. WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital) WACC is calculated using weighted averages of debt (Kd) and equity (We) Cohen used Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to calculate WACC 0f 8. 4 % however, she used the book values yet weights should be based on the market value. Her result of $3,494. 5 for the Equity was wrong. The formula for calculating the Market value of equity is E = stock Price x Number of shares outstanding .

SEMCO Industries Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

SEMCO Industries Analysis - Case Study Example From this research it is clear that At SEMCO Semler has embraced three extremely valuable fundamental principles that help it develop. From the article, we learn that Semler took over the company from his father; it had just one hundred thoroughly under-depressed employees. The author clearly states that were it not for hard work and considerable luck, the company could have gone under then. The country was in a particularly unpleasant state of economic inflation, and Semler had to work for loans that had an exceptionally high interest rate from banks. Organizations should avoid all possible instances that may suppress their progress; this is because SEMCO’s performance dropped as a result of poor management skills. Several articles published by newspapers state that the company was going under. Semler did not give in but rather looked at a different approach for a better output. He got licenses to manufacture other companies’ goods, and he decided to take a different a pproach in running the company. The main problem he noticed was that most of the employees felt left out and unmotivated. The employees were unmotivated for the lack of family ties with the company. His job was to make them feel part of the whole company and give them a sense of belonging, so he came up with an employee-centered work design. Managers should have the ability for abrupt decision making. He merged this with his belief that one’s job should bring about pleasure and not rebellion and stress. He introduced three alternative values that fueled the hard work and courteous luck. The goal of these values was to make the employees give better services, and improve their determination while still having fun in the company and their jobs. They were: democracy, free flow of information and equal profit sharing. Omitting one of these principles will deter the intended interpretation. These are the three principles that the company has embraced over the twenty two years he h as been in charge. Many companies prefer using formal authority in organization and management, Semler discards the principles of setting up certain rules to guide the workers under the supervision as cumbersome, frustrating and having no drive at all. He claims that in management, the employees do not care about the company’s growth or profits. They just come to work and get their salaries and promotions; communication, though available, is not effective at all. There is fear of victimization; hence, some highly critical problems fail to be addressed, and this prevents the output quality of the company (Morgan, 2007, p. 26). In big companies, the workers feel insignificant and unappreciated in the participatory form of management. This is observed because of the presence of managers who downgrade other workers. Semler, therefore, decided that the positions of leadership in his company had to be dissolved. He came up with executive positions just to hold up the hierarchy, but all workers had a freedom to do whatever they wanted, he practiced informal authority. The workers get to do the work which suits them best

Case study hillton's transformation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hillton's transformation - Case Study Example This spirit of togetherness and unity of the community was manifested in the city and all the parties involved in the area including the labor unions representing the employees accepted that all the employees be given the opportunity to exercise their freedom at their work places. Based on their experience, the workers are accorded the opportunity for growth and development through rise in ranks and promotion. All the employees at Hillton were working in the environment where all their activities in the industry were guided by industrial legislations and regulations. Under these clauses, all the employees are entitled to equal treatment and fair treatment with equality. The employees at Hillton were expected to adequately learn and acquire the skills that match their job skills and technical competence. Besides, the employees of Hillton must keep good work records as they waits for their turn to rise to the ranks. Since 1970s, Hillton has experience economic growth and development. O ver these years, the economy of this small city has posted a significant increase in the economic status covering all the sectors of the economy. The city was characterized by changes in the demographic statistics and the human population features. It is through such changes in the population and demographic features that the entire city undergone transformation. Major change and transformation took place in the municipality’s labor force departments. This was necessitated by the fact that the rise in the human population seeking services of the municipal council had increased, thus increasing the pressure and the demand from the organization to deliver quality services to the needy and service demanding population. The municipal therefore had no choice but to transform its labor and workforce units to attend to the diverse and increasing demands of the public. To meet the increase in the demand of services, Hillton conducted a massive restructuring of its labor force and thi s called for fair and quick promotion of the employees and increasing the responsibilities assigned to these groups of personnel. The City also had to seek for the services of many outsiders and thereby employing more people to help in the delivery of services to the public and to reduce the pressure on its small workforce. At this point in time, Hillton had never imagined of any form of institutional layoffs but instead the organization practiced what the experts describe as â€Å"conform and entitlement† management policy. The department manager has all the freedom at their working environment with little intervention from the city manager or the elected council members. Besides, the tax policies of the council were very weak and ineffective. The council of Hillton which initially had poor and insufficient resources to meet the growing demands raises by a rise in the demographic statistics had to restructure its institutions and systems. The most affected class was the phys ical and social amenities, including roads, security, recreational facilities, building and lands. This process of conducting social reconstruction and development of city called for the expansion of the work force of the council thereby leading to the inclusion of outsider in the early described as the inside tasks. Rather than promoting its internal staff as had been the culture at Hillton, in 1996, the management filled all the vacant position in the city council with hired technical and professional outsourced from other countries