The competitive advantage strategy for Diageo, Castel of brewery in Essay

The competitive advantage strategy for Diageo, Castel of brewery in Africa - Essay Example Africa is such an important region for Diageo due to the rich prospects that are found in Africa such as presence of mineral resources and its improvements in governance. Secondly, Africa provides diversity that matches Diageo’s needs. The global, financial, and economic situation, which has greatly affected Europe, has made the company to invest in the developing countries due to the increased prospects of driving growth. The company plans to invest in additional capacities to fuel growth in the continent such as adding more plants and equipments for brewing and differentiating their brands. Innovation is also considered by the company as a very good avenue for growth as well as having the right people who are motivated and interested in improving and fuelling growth in Diageo. Additionally, the company is committed to acquisitions and entrance into new markets as part of the strategies of facilitating its growth in the continent (Wehring 2012, np). The company enjoys a disti nct brand in its employment practices which promotes its ability to attract high caliber talents that are vital to its growth. The company further grows and develops talents as well as creating value chain in production and distribution process which highly contributes to their growth. Diageo are further involved in social economic development such as engaging in water projects and other agricultural projects which is integral in their business growth. Diageo has put unique strategy of growing the African talents in the continent to run its business by developing the current talents locally and bringing other Africans outside the continent. The company has embarked on a full year program to identify prospective African leaders who can take on senior positions in the company. The company is committed in its growth plan to develop a strategy that is capable of filling the gap between the talent required for growth and the current existing talents as well as attracting both the externa l talent and developing the internal talent. The company also ensures that they have dedicated talents that would add value to its operations as well as maintaining an effective and efficient operation (Wehring 2012, np). SWOT and PESTLE Analysis Diageo is the world leader in alcohol that comprises of beer, spirits and wine and enjoys a worldwide presence. The company, with its sound financial base, is capable of ruling the market by investing in R&D and acquiring other firms thus enjoying wider market share. The company usually manufactures the best brands and normally ensures best brands in its African market such as Scotch whisky. The company enjoys a wider market in Africa especially the rapid growth of 300m-consumers who due to the increase in the middle income earners in Africa. Diageo largely depend on the raw materials especially in Ethiopia and Kenya which is very vital for their growth in east Africa as well as wider market in that region of Africa. The company however, is faced with a number of challenges in some regions in Africa such as the unstable governments and lack of highly qualified expertise that they can depend on. There are also competitions from the local companies within the African region especially in Kenya and Tanzania that offer very low priced alcohol hence imposing a little threat to the

Where we were, Where we are, Where we going Essay Example for Free

Where we were, Where we are, Where we going Essay Introduction In the aftermath of major scandals and bailouts in the United States, the world`s and the public’s confidence in public corporations, has been shaken. With the publicized scandals of Enron and other corporations in the United States, the faith in public corporations fell as fast as the stock market. Investors had no confidence in corporations or in their boards. Measures needed to be taken to form regulations to provide stronger accountability, to prevent these types of scandals from happening and to rebuild the confidence of investors. Corporate governance of publicly traded companies was no longer an option, it became a must. The public and the media demanded laws to protect future investors and shareholders (Colley, Jr, Doyle, Logan, Stettinius, 2005). With most of the world’s financial markets in crisis and recession, the public has become much more aware of corporate executive compensation plans. Executive compensation has been an on-going issue for many years. There has been a great amount of controversy over how executives’ pay structure is designed and who judges, oversees and determines executives’ pay. As the scales get tipped on what executives are getting paid versus employee standard wages, the public is always on the watch for the next corporate scandal. Boards are always challenged by what executives’ pay should be based off of; this could be performance, industry standards or percentage of revenue. Boards need to determine the base salary, benefits or short term and long term options that will be offered (Colley, Jr, Doyle, Logan, Stettinius, 2005). This paper will look at the past trends of executive compensation that lacked disclosure and transparency, current trends that are being used today in pay in the United States and Canada and future trends that should be used when it comes to executive compensation and executive pay methods. This paper will also give some recommendations that Canada should adopt. Past Trends in Executive Compensation From the â€Å"original opening of the New York Stock exchange in 1792 executive compensation† (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011, p. 74) existed. In the early 1900’s stock options of stock awards, stock purchases, stock appreciation rights (cash bonuses) and freestanding dividend equivalents were formed (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011) and still exist today. During this time executive compensation was very private and did not have transparency or regulations. It was not until the market crashed in 1913 that the public was becoming more aware of executive inflated wages, and compensation for executives. In 1933 Securities Act legislation was passed that required disclosure of stock sales to the public. Then came the introduction of laws that limited â€Å"fringes† (perks) this made executive compensation more transparent and created more awareness for the public. But in 1983 Ronald Regan’s administration dropped regulations and this changed the level of transparency once again and this would eventually lead to indiscretions in executive pay. This caused an artificial rise in stock market values and increased misuse of stock options thus the elevation of executive’s salaries. The United States Government`s lower marginal tax to 33%, which changed the quality of management, because as long an executives increased shareholders wealth the salaries of executives had very little regulations (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011). In 2001 the Enron scandal, executives inflated their earnings and overvalued their stock prices when they knew the company was going under. Senior executives cashed their stock options profiting while investor and employees of Enron lost everything. The numerous corporate scandals such as Enron, Jack Welsh CEO of General Electric, TYCO, and WorldCom created distrust in public corporations and â€Å"cost investors billions† (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011, p. 78). In order to increase confidence in public firms, a change was needed in regulations and legislation. This led to the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002. SOX focused on corporate governance issues within a firm and led to rules of practice for boards of directors. Although SOX does not have mandates for executive compensation it does address how the compensation committee should be independent and how they should govern themselves. This has become very critical legislation to aid in ethical practices in public corporation executive compensation (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011). Current Trends in Executive Compensation The main foundation of executive compensation has not changed, it is designed to attract, inspire, motivate and in the end retain the superior talent in the management world. In 2008 a government fund TARP was â€Å"created to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions† (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011, p. 79). TARP funds put restrictions on executive compensation by; restricting paying out bonuses, limiting the â€Å"Golden Parachutes†, denial of benefits and used clawbacks if executive compensation was based on misleading statements (Bruvik Whitney Gibson, 2011). In order to receive TARP funding, firms have to practice the US mandatory â€Å"Say on Pay† which was implemented in January 2011. The United Kingdom has also implemented the â€Å"Say on Pay† concept. The â€Å"Say on Pay† is a concept that â€Å"shareholders should be given a nonbinding vote on board of director’s recommendations on executive pay† (Mangen Magnan, 2012, p. 86). â€Å"Say on Pay† concept â€Å"increases shareholders activism within when it comes to the pay policies and practices† (Geddes, n.d, p. 22). Current trends for public corporations for executive pay is to use polices and committees that structure the compensation. This pay should be transparent and increase the long-term shareholder value. Stock option incentives should be restrictive, meaning they cannot be sold for a set amount of years or until after resignation. Corporations have still not restricted the pay of top executives and the total compensation is still quite elevated compared to that of the regular employee. A great number of firms feel that to retain good quality CEO’s some pay incentives have to be competitive. Corporations feel that â€Å"superior incentives for executives (and traders whose actions can substantially impact an organization) to manage firms in investors longer-term interest† (Romano Bhagat, 2009, p. 1). Corporations continue to struggle with the balance of reward based compensation that ensures future results and increases shareholders wealth in the short and long term (Colley, Jr, Doyle, Logan, Stettinius, 2005). Executive compensation packages will continue to need to be governed by compensation committees to hold the confidence of the public, shareholders and the market. How Canada Measures Up As discussed earlier the United States along with United Kingdom has adopted the mandatory practice of â€Å"Say on Pay† which has increased shareholder involvement in the pay structure of their executives. Canada has not implemented this practice to be mandatory, even though it is, recommended as the best practices for firms. The five big banks in Canada have adopted the â€Å"Say on Pay† methodology (Mangen Magnan, 2012). In January 2012 the Huffington Post stated that Canadian CEO`s are reluctant to discuss that executive compensation has got out of hand in Canada. The article discusses that executives` incomes have continued to increase even though the wages of average Canadians have remained stationary. The article interviewed Fraser Institute’s Niels Veldhuis and he stated â€Å"When you call for a policy that limits CEO pay what you are doing is you’re signaling that we’re going to have even more regulations on how businesses operate here in Canada, and unfortunately, that will cause businesses to relocate or locate elsewhere† (Mendleson, 2012). One could make the assumption that because Canada does not have the volume or the stability that the United States does in the their corporations, that Canada is not implementing stronger regulations because of fear of losing what they have already and want to attract more corporations to Canada. At this time Canada uses a principles-based approach to governance in which standards are set and corporations are encouraged to meet them. Compared to the United States that uses a rules-based approach that requires corporations to meet the practices and legislation (Milne, 2006). In Canada the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG) was formed to promote to good governance practices and recently the CCGG released the 2013 executive compensation principles. Corporations need to hold to the following principles: 1. A significant component of executive compensation should be â€Å"at risk† and based on performance. 2. Performance should be based on key business metrics that are aligned with corporate strategy and the period during which risks are being assumed. 3. Executives should build equity in the company to align their interests with those of shareholders. 4. A company may choose to offer pensions, benefits and severance and change-of-control entitlements. When such perquisites are offered, the company should ensure that the benefit entitlements are not excessive. 5. Compensation structure should be simple and easily understood by management, the board and shareholders. 6. Boards and shareholders should actively engage with each other and consider each other’s perspective on executive compensation matters (Moncrieff, 2012). The principles above are the best practices for boards and corporations and are recognized to be the superior standards, but as of yet Canada does not rules or regulations to enforce these practices. The Canadian government at this point has no plan to put caps on executive compensation. At this point the Canada`s tax laws are not in line with the compensation governance and reform is needed (Geddes, n.d). Future Trends for Executive Compensation Corporations, shareholders and boards are faced with meeting higher standards when it comes to executive compensation. This will mean adopting the â€Å"Say on Pay† and this trend is what is needed. Compensation committees must remain independent, transparent and must continue to ensure their programs attract, retain and motivate executive talent. Committees must ensure they are paying for performance that ensures long term profitability and value for both executives and shareholders (Stikeman Elliott, 2009). Recommendations for Canada Canada needs to focus on moving towards rules and regulations and not principles and guidelines. Canada will need to reform their standards to be more unified with the rest of the world`s expectations. If Canada wants to attract more corporations to develop in Canada then they need to be the benchmark of standards and practices and set even higher rules and regulations to maintain level, of integrity. Executive compensation could become out of hand and it cannot just be the banks that maintain the higher standards. Canada needs to adopt the â€Å"Say on Pay† and make it mandatory and also move to regulations that are superior to SOX and align the tax laws to levels that keep up with executive compensation packages. Canada needs to embrace being the ethical governance leaders. Conclusion There will always be unethical practices in executive compensation packages and it is not likely to decrease as long as there is competition and the need to retain talented CEO`s, but Canadian businesses can set higher benchmark when it comes to corporate governance, executive compensation and our regulations and practices for boards of directors. We have to remain ethical, transparent and continue to disclose. This is the only way we are going maintain the public and shareholders confidence and continue to attract investors to invest. References Bruvik, K., Whitney Gibson, J. (2011). The past, presentand future of executive compensation. Business Studies Journal, 3(1), pp. 69-83. Colley, Jr, J. L., Doyle, J. L., Logan, W. G., Stettinius, W. (2005). What is Corporate Goverance? New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill. Geddes, G. (n.d). Executive pay packages: Compensation planning in light of increased scrutiny. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from Gowlings: http://www.gowlings.com/knowledgeCentre/publicationPDFs/Executive%20Pay%20Packages%20Compensation%20Planning.pdf Mangen, C., Magnan, M. (2012). Say on Pay: A wolf in sheeps clothing? Academy Of Management Perspectives, 26(2), pp. 86-104. Mendleson, R. (2012, 01 04). Canada CEO Compensation: Companies Hesitant To Debate Executive Pay. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/01/04/canada-ceo-compensation-companies-resist-debate_n_1183800.html Milne, J. A. (2006, May). Good corporate governance, good performance. Benefits Compensation Digest, 43(5), 3 4-38. Moncrieff, J. (2012, December 18). CCGG Releases 2013 principles of executive compensation. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from Canadian Securities Law: http://www.canadiansecuritieslaw.com/2012/12/articles/corporate-governance/ccgg-releases-2013-principles-of-executive-compensation/ Romano, R., Bhagat, S. (2009). Reforming executive compensation: Focusing and committing to the long-term. Faculty Scholarship Series. Stikeman Elliott. (2009). Topics and trends in executive compensation: wealth accumulation analysis. Retrieved 02 08, 2013, from Canadian Securities Law: http://www.canadiansecuritieslaw.com/2009/05/articles/continuous-timely-disclosure/topics-and-trends-in-executive-compensation-wealth-accumulation-analysis/

Artisitc License: Color Vision and Color Theory :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Artisitc License: Color Vision and Color Theory Imagine yourself in an art museum. You wander slowly from cold room to cold room, analyzing colored canvases on stark white walls. When you reach a particular work, do you prefer to stand back and take everything in at once? Or do you move so close to the painting that the individual brushstrokes become apparent? Several different sensory processes occur in your brain during this trip to the art museum; the majority of them involve visual inputs. How does your brain put together all the information that your eyes receive? This raises questions ranging from depth of field to color. The ideas of color perception and color theory are interesting ones. How do humans account for color and does it truly exist? I think that by examining not only the neurological on-goings in the brain, but by learning about color through philosophy, and even art, a greater understanding of it can be reached. Before delving into the philosophy of color and the questions posed by different pieces of art, the biological basis process of HOW color is seen should be explained. The retina is a neural sheet, containing the photoreceptors called rods and cones that is located at the back of the eye. Between the retina and the optic nerves leading to the brain are a series of cells that create a lateral inhibition network of the light/dark signals from the photoreceptors (1). This throws away a lot of the information generated by the photocells and gives the brain a "picture" of the edges of light and dark. The contrasts are created, leaving the brain to fill in the rest. Color vision is even more complex. Cones (the light adapted photoreceptor) contain three different photopigments, red, green, and blue, each corresponding to a particular wavelength of light (2). Color is a property of three things: the ratio of red/green activation, blue response, and value or lightness (3). The brain utilizes visual inputs to determine each of these, thus generating the characteristic color. One of the most important (and most interesting) conclusions of the biology of vision is that color is not technically generated by physical reality. Color appears to be a mental construct, and therefore, everyone views color differently. The rationale one is often given for the color of particular objects is the following: light consists of all colors. When light strikes an object in absorbs most of the wavelengths of light, but those that it reflects correspond to the color one sees.

Essay on Euthanasia and Doctor-Assisted Suicide -- Euthanasia Physicia

Understanding Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide    This paper will address some of the more popular points of interest involved with the euthanasia-assisted suicide discussion. There are less than a dozen questions which would come to mind in the case of the average individual who has a mild interest in this debate, and the following essay presents information which would satisfy that individual's curiosity on these points of common interest.    Euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal in the state of Oregon and in the country of the Netherlands; these are the only two jurisdictions in the world where laws specifically permit euthanasia or assisted suicide. Oregon permits assisted suicide.(Oregon) The Netherlands permits both euthanasia and assisted suicide.(Review) In 1995 Australia's Northern Territory approved a euthanasia bill.(Rights) It went into effect in 1996 but was overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997. Also, in 1997, Colombia's Supreme Court ruled that penalties for mercy killing should be removed.(Republic) However the ruling does not go into effect until guidelines, still to be drafted, are approved by the Colombian Congress.    The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is seen this way: One way to distinguish them is to look at the last act - the act without which death would not occur. Using this distinction, if a third party performs the last act that intentionally causes a patient's death, euthanasia has occurred. For example, giving a patient a lethal injection or putting a plastic bag over her head to suffocate her would be considered euthanasia. On the other hand, if the person who dies performs the last act, assisted suicide has taken place. Thus it would be assisted suicid... ...1 Medscape. Available at http://www.medscape.com/Medscape/psychiatry/clinicalMgmt/CM.v03/pnt-CM.v03.html, citing Jamison K.R., Night Falls Fast, New York, NY: Alfred Knopf; 1999. Accessed 3/19/01. Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act" (ORS 127.800-897) passed in November 1994 and went into effect in 1997. Republic of Colombia Constitutional Court, Sentence # c-239/97, Ref. Expedient # D-1490, May 20, 1997. "Review of cases of termination of life on request and assistance with suicide" was approved in April 2001. "Rights of the Terminally Ill Act," Northern Territory of Australia (1996). Wanzer,Sidney H. M.D. et al., "The Physician's Responsibility toward Hopelessly Ill Patients: A Second Look," 320 The New England Journal of Medicine (March 30, 1989), p. 848. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, Second edition (1976).

Mix Marketing Plan Essay

The mix marketing plan below is for the 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander compact all wheel drive (AWD) priced under $40,000. This market plan below describes the target market and objectives that are necessary to capture the target market. Furthermore, the plan offers recommendations and some of them methods necessary to promote the Mistubishi Outlander and create awareness of its release on to the market in 2009. Also in the mix market plan is situational analysis that is broken down into four parts. The first part is the current product which describes the brand and core product which in this case is the Mistubishi Outlander. The second part discusses the factors that will affect the price of the Outlander such as competition and demand. The third aspect talks about the current distribution and method in which to distribute the Outlander. This part also talks about the intensity of distribution and the intermediaries used to distribute the Outlander and the factors that influence the distribution such as storage and transport of the Outlanders from point of manufacture to the point of sale. The fourth situational analysis aspect is the promotional theme and the elements integrated in the promotion mix. The theme is that of cross between an all wheel drive and a sports utility vehicles that is both excellent as urban cruiser as well as an off road medium sized vehicle. The recommended target market for the Outlander is mainly the medium sized family that enjoys occasional family trips out of urban localities. The age group of the consumer interested in purchasing the Mistubishi outlander will range between 25 to the 50 years of age. This demographic will most likely reside in the upper middle class suburbs of Perth. The main aim of this mix marketing plan is to make consumers familiarise themselves with the Outlander, promote the outlander to all intermediaries through workshops and seminars. Increase volume of promotional content of the Outlander through media channels such as online advertising, email promotions, radio and television advertisements. The customers are made of the Mistubishi Diamond Advantage. Situational Analysis Current Product: The Mistubishi outlander is a cross over all wheel drive (AWD) from the product line of the Mitsubishi Motor Company. The Outlander is a shopping type of consumer product that is in its Introduction stage. It is a compact AWD that can be driven in urban areas as well as off road. However, the Outlander does not have Electronic Stability control system (ESP) but does come with an expandable row making it a seven seater and a bisected rear door for easy accesses to the rear cabin space. The ESP can always be added on to the future cars by adopting the system that is used in other Mitsubishi models. Current Pricing: The current influences on the price of the Outlander include demand, competition and other external factors such as economic situation and good value pricing (Kotler et al.2007, 350). The Mistubishi Outlander is in the monopolistic market as they are many sellers offering alternatives (Pierre and Toulemonde 2009, 1347) .AWDs such as the Toyota Rav Four and Nissan Extrail. The pricing objective of the Outlander is based on the price of competitor’s model of SUVs and the mix of models of the Outlander offered by Mistubishi under $40000. Current Distribution: The outlander is distributed indirectly from the factory through intermediaries such as the dealerships. Intermediaries provide a link between the manufacturer and consumer (Ansari, Mela and Neslin 2008, 60).The dealers include organisations that specialise in Mistubishi vehicle sales and services. Distribution of the outlander is selective for easier negotiations and one tone customer interaction. Some of the factors that may affect distribution include transport and Storage of the Mistubishi outlanders from the point of manufacture to the point of sale. Current Promotion: The main objective is to get the consumers familiarise themselves with the new Mitsubishi Outlander. The theme is that of a sports utility vehicles that is both excellent as urban cruiser as well as an off road medium sized vehicle. Advertising, direct Marketing sales promotions are some of the methods used to show to the customer the sporting side as well as its ability to use as urban vehicle through events such as the Dakar Rally. Recommended Target Market The recommended target market for the Outlander is mainly the medium sized family that enjoys occasional family trips out of urban localities. The age group of the consumer interested in purchasing the Mistubishi outlander will range between 25 to the 50 years of age. The consumer will most likely come from middle class urban setting and enjoys showing off the off-road capabilities of their car while being a comfortable and stylish car to drive around town. This target market has the most potential because the outlander is an urban sports vehicle that has an extra row of seats to accommodate a total of 7 passengers as compared to its rivals on the market within the same price range. The outlander also comes with a lot more standard features as compared to its rivals on the market. Some off the unique features include interchangeable all wheel drive that can be selected at any driving speed. The outlander also has a compact third row seat that does not compromise boot space and is still accommodate two extra passengers. Recommended Marketing Objective:’ In order to keep the Mitsubishi Outlander ahead of the other brand of cross over AWDs on the market, some short term marketing strategies will have to be put in place. These include : Making the consumers familiarise themselves with the Outlander, promote the outlander to all intermediaries through workshops and seminars. Increase volume of promotional content of the Outlander through media channels such as online advertising, email promotions, radio and television advertisements. Another approach would be to promote the Outlander through competitions, sponsorships of sporting activities and discounted sales to the first few customers. Boost the appeal of the outlander by offering membership to outlander car club through the Mitsubishi Diamond Advantage as part of a package deal for the purchase of an Outlander which is a 10 year 160 000 km drive train warranty and the 5 year unlimited 130 000 km warrant plus roadside assistance. Product recommendations Since the product at hand is a motor vehicle, the product packaging will not be required however all other aspects of the product such as branding extensions will be taken into consideration. The product at focus is the Outlander which comes from the product mix of Mitsubishi motor company; it only has one product lines with a narrow width. Therefore, only the depth of the product mix can be explored to give the consumer a variety to pick from the range of Outlanders available. The Mitsubishi Outlander is offered in three models namely the LS, XLS and the optional XLS Luxury pack. The Three models offered come with different options and at a varied price range depending on the added extras. However, the base model still has a starting base price of $31,990 that is fixed depending on whether the customer chooses to add extras to the vehicle. The base model of the outlander is the Ls which comes with 2.4 litre 4 cylinder MIVEC engine, driver and passenger side airbags. The LS models also comes with All Wheel Control 4WD (AWC), air condition, cruise control, Keyless entry, power windows, a steering wheel with audio controls, Stability and traction control. The XLS model has added on features that the LS does not have such as: Continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), INVECS Smart Logic and 6 steps Sports Mode, Paddle gear shifts, Smart Key, Bluetooth voice activated phone connectivity, chrome grill surround, 18† alloy Wheels, Reverse parking sensors, Adaptive Front Lighting system, High intensity Discharge Head Lamps (HID), Fog Lamps and Privacy Glass. The third model of the outlanders is the optional XLS Luxury pack. This model has additional feature to the XLS model. These key features include 18† 7 spoke wheels, chrome exterior highlights, electric sunroof, Rockford Fosgate premium sound system with 9 speakers, Rear entertainment system, Mitsubishi Multi Communication system (MMCS) including satellite navigation and reverse camera, automatic dusk sensing head lamps, automatic rain sensing wipers, leather seats facings, power driver seat and heated front seat. Pricing recommendations The pricing recommendations for the Mitsubishi Outlander will include the product line price, product bundle pricing and optional –product pricing. The product line price in this situation is considered because the product line width is narrow and limited to the Outlander models namely the LS, XLS and The Optional XLS model. Therefore, the pricing of the models will also be affected by what model is being sold through the intermediaries to the consumer. The purpose is to insure profit maximisation of the base model LS by mass distribution to the companies and leasing companies. With the LS having least of the features, making it the level entry model of the Outlander models. The second thing that is considered when it comes to product line pricing is the optional product line pricing. This will help increase the Mitsubishi profits from the sale optional accessories that can be added to the features of the Outlander’s base model the LS. Some of the features intended for the target market include, 18† alloy wheels, reverse parking sensors, High intensity Discharge Head Lamps (HID), Fog Lamps and Privacy Glass, electric sunroof, chrome exterior highlights, Rockford Fosgate premium sound system with 9 speakers and rear entertainment system. The perceived value of the extras is reasonable priced as all extras added on to the Outlander models come with a 5 year 130000 km warranty. The last recommendation for product line price is product bundle pricing, where the Outlander models are sold as bundles. This can be achieved when either selling the Outlanders with just the basic features at a much lower price as compared to the base models. The target market is leasing companies, private and government organisations in bulk. Furthermore, pricing adjustments can be made to increase sales such as discounts on bulk buys and end of financial year sales and further discounts for early or cash payments. The Outlander is not new to the car market, therefore the new product pricing strategy that is recommended is the market –penetrating pricing strategy to attract a large number of buyers and share market as it’s a medium quality and medium price product. Distribution recommendations The recommend method of distribution channel is using indirect channel through intermediaries such as agents, retailers and wholesalers. The intermediaries act as the third party link between the Mitsubishi and the consumers. The involvement of intermediaries allows the Mitsubishi to reach geographical dispersed groups and avoid direct investment. The Mitsubishi car company does not have to have a direct involvement with credit facilities or have local knowledge of customers. Furthermore, Mitsubishi can earn a greater return by investing in their main business rather than in direct marketing. The intermediary can deal directly with the customers at a more efficient and effective level often provide a supplier or manufacturer more returns than the manufacture can achieve on their own. This due to the amounts of contacts they have in the industry, experience, specialisation and scale of operation. Therefore, the channel of distribution is the retailer channel. That is from the manufacturer to the retailer then the consumer. The retailers sell the Outlander directly to the customers by so doing making the level of distribution intensity selective. This enables Mitsubishi deal directly with a few selected dealers that sale and provided services of goods manufactured by the Mitsubishi motor company. Channel conflict is minimised by dealing directly with intermediaries who are responsible for delivery and sale of the Outlanders. By doing so the conflict most likely to arise is between the Mitsubishi and the exclusive distributors. Promotion recommendations Before any promotional recommendations can be made in terms of promotions for the Mitsubishi Outlander, a number of things have to be considered. The major decision that has to be made includes objective setting, advertisement budget, advertising strategy and evaluation. When it comes to setting the budget, the product life cycle (PLC) has to be taken into consideration. From the introduction of the new Outlander where light advertising and pre introduction publicity to heavy advertising and awareness. This is the growth stage where brand loyalty and personal selling are greatly enforced. The maturity stage involves the decrease in sales promotion personal selling and the decline stage is where advertisements and promotions reduce with limited sales. These stages will determine the over head for the budget. The other promotional recommendation is the public relations mix and media selection through which to do the advertising. The media strategy includes selecting the media format. For example the newspaper has mass audience following and is good for targeting a specific audience via quick distribution. Magazines are mainly for segmented audience however, the information is intensive and highly visual. Television combines both sight and sound however most ads are ignored and only good when trying to build brand awareness and if there are adequate financial resources for the advertisement. However, radio has immediate delivery and good for stimulate impulse purchasing, cheap to advertise but does not have a visual impact. Last, there is outdoor advertising at the car dealership on the lawns where there is great traffic flow. Sales promotion is also another way to attract new customers to the Mistubishi Outlander. This also helps retain loyal Outlander customers and also regain past purchasers who have no longer purchase Mistubishi Outlander. This can be achieved through cash – back offers, competitions, premium offers offering more test drives of the Outlander models. Promotions can also be done through personal selling and interpersonal communication with target consumer groups. This involves two way communications between sales people and individual customers. The sales people are the link between the Mistubishi motor company and the customers and vice-versa. Another method that can be used is direct communication using electronic network tools and technologies via the internet. Telemarketing, telesales other forms of direct marketing that can be used to promote the sale of the Outlander. Other unconventional methods of promotions that can be used are: viral marketing by passing on information to others creating exponential growth in the messages response. Viral communications incurs very little expenses however there is limited control over receipt of the messages. The forms of passing information and advertising that are becoming popular blogs. Blogging is one method of creating hype for a product with no costs and also be able to facilitate communication between organisations and their stakeholders. Endorsements by celebrities via paid verbal testimonials or physical association with a brand. The upside is that advertising air time is practically free and the public is often not informed whether the celebrity is renumerated by the company. Conclusion. The above mix marketing plan is designed for the 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander all wheel drive AWDs. The mix market plan describes the target audience and recommends ways in which to capture the intended market. The plan has further recommendation on how to create awareness for the 2009 Outlander and methods of price, distribution and promotion. The mix market plan also has situational analysis that breaks down the recommended mix marketing strategy into four aspects that current product, current pricing, current distribution and the current promotion. The mix market plan also explains the chosen theme that is a cross between an all wheel drive and sports utility vehicle that is also excellent as an urban cruiser. Furthermore, there is emphasis on the outlander’s unique features for vehicles whose base price is under $40,000.

Biography of Ashoka the Great, Indias Mauryan Emperor

Biography of Ashoka the Great, India's Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BCE) was the emperor of Indias Maurya Dynasty from 268 to 232 BCE and is remembered for his remarkable conversion to nonviolence and his merciful reign. In 265 BCE after witnessing the devastation of his own attack on the Kalinga region, he converted from being a brutal conqueror of a vast empire to a benevolent emperor who successfully ruled according to nonviolent principles. His edicts encouraged the protection of animals, mercy for criminals, and tolerance of other religions. Fast Facts: Ashoka the Great Known For: Ashoka was the ruler of Indias Mauryan Empire; after an epiphany, he became a promoter of Buddhist non-violence.Born: 304 BCE in Pataliputra, Mauryan EmpireParents: Bindusara and DharmaDied: 232 BCE in Pataliputra, Mauryan EmpireSpouse(s): Devi, Kaurwaki confirmed; many others allegedChildren: Mahinda, Kunala, Tivala, JalaukaNotable Quote: Dharma is good. And what is Dharma? It is having few faults and many goods deeds, mercy, charity, truthfulness, and purity. Early Life In 304 BCE, the second emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, Bindusara, welcomed a son named Ashoka Bindusara Maurya into the world. The boys mother Dharma was only a commoner. She had several older children- half-brothers of Ashoka- so Ashoka seemed unlikely to ever ascend the throne. Ashoka grew up to be a bold, troublesome, and cruel young man who was always extremely fond of hunting. According to legend, he killed a lion using only a wooden stick. His older half-brothers feared Ashoka  and convinced his father to post him as a general to distant frontiers of the Mauryan Empire. Ashoka proved to be a competent general, putting down a rebellion in the Punjabi city of Taxshila. Aware that his brothers viewed him as a rival for the throne, Ashoka went into exile for two years in the neighboring country of Kalinga. While he was there, he fell in love with and later married a commoner, a fisher-woman named Kaurwaki. Introduction to Buddhism Bindusara recalled his son to Maurya to help quell an uprising in Ujjain, the former capital of the Avanti Kingdom. Ashoka succeeded but was injured in the fighting. Buddhist monks tended to the wounded prince in secret so that his eldest brother, the heir-apparent Susima, would not learn of Ashokas injuries. At this time, Ashoka officially converted to Buddhism and began embracing its principles, though they were in direct conflict with his life as a general. He met and fell in love with a woman from Vidisha called Devi who also attended to his injuries during this period. The couple later married. When Bindusara died in 275 BCE, a two-year war for the throne erupted between Ashoka and his half-brothers. The Vedic sources vary on how many of Ashokas brothers died- one says that he killed them all while another states that he killed several of them. In either case, Ashoka prevailed and became the third ruler of the Mauryan Empire. Imperial Rule For the first eight years of his reign, Ashoka waged near-constant war on surrounding regions. He had inherited a sizable empire, but he expanded it to include most of the Indian subcontinent, as well as the area from the current-day borders of Iran and Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh and Burma border in the east. Only the southern tip of India and Sri Lanka  and the kingdom of Kalinga on the northeast coast of India remained out of his reach. In 265 BCE, Ashoka attacked Kalinga. Although it was the homeland of his second wife Kaurwaki and the king of Kalinga had sheltered Ashoka before his ascent to the throne, the Mauryan emperor gathered the largest invasion force in Indian history and launched his assault. Kalinga fought back bravely, but in the end it was defeated and all of its cities were sacked. Ashoka had led the invasion in person, and he went out into the capital city of Kalinga the morning after his victory to survey the damage. The ruined houses and bloodied corpses of nearly 150,000 slain civilians and soldiers sickened the emperor, and he experienced a religious epiphany. Although he had considered himself more or less a Buddhist prior to that day, the carnage at Kalinga led Ashoka to devote himself completely to Buddhism, and he vowed to practice ahimsa, or nonviolence,  from that day forward. Edicts Had Ashoka simply vowed to himself that he would live according to Buddhist principles, later ages would likely not remember his name. However, he published his intentions for the whole empire to read. Ashoka wrote out a series of edicts, explaining his policies and aspirations for the empire and urging others to follow his enlightened example. The Edicts of King Ashoka were carved onto pillars of stone 40 to 50 feet high and set up all around the edges of the Mauryan Empire as well as in the heart of Ashokas realm. Dozens of these pillars can still be found in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In his edicts, Ashoka vowed to care for his people like a father and promised neighboring people that they need not fear him- that he would use only persuasion, not violence, to win people over. Ashoka noted that he had made available shade and fruit trees for the people as well as medical care for all people and animals. His concern for living things also appeared in a ban on live sacrifices and sport hunting as well as a request for respect for all other creatures, including servants. Ashoka urged his people to follow a vegetarian diet  and banned the practice of burning forests or agricultural wastes that might harbor wild animals. A long list of animals appeared on his protected species list, including bulls, wild ducks, squirrels, deer, porcupines, and pigeons. Ashoka also ruled with incredible accessibility. He noted that I consider it best to meet with people personally. To that end, he went on frequent tours around his empire. He also advertised that he would stop whatever he was doing if a matter of imperial business needed attention, even if he was having dinner or sleeping. In addition, Ashoka was very concerned with judicial matters. His attitude toward convicted criminals was quite merciful. He banned punishments such as torture, removing peoples eyes, and the death penalty, and he urged pardons for the elderly, those with families to support, and those who were doing charitable work. Finally, although Ashoka urged his people to practice Buddhist values, he fostered an atmosphere of respect for all religions. Within his empire, people followed not only the relatively new Buddhist faith but also Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Greek polytheism, and many other belief systems. Ashoka served as an example of tolerance for his subjects, and his religious affairs officers encouraged the practice of any religion. Death Ashoka the Great ruled as a just and merciful king from his epiphany in 265 until his death at the age of 72 in 232 BCE. His body was given a royal cremation ceremony. Legacy We do not know the names of most of Ashokas wives and children, however, his twin children by his first wife, a boy called Mahindra and a girl named Sanghamitra, were instrumental in converting Sri Lanka to Buddhism. After Ashokas death, the Mauryan Empire continued to exist for 50 years before going into a gradual decline. The last Mauryan emperor was Brhadrata, who was assassinated in 185 BCE by one of his generals, Pusyamitra Sunga. Although his family did not rule for long after he was gone, Ashokas principles and his examples lived on through the Vedas and his edicts, which can still be seen on pillars today. Sources Lahiri, Nayanjot.  Ashoka in Ancient India. Harvard University Press, 2015.Trainor, Kevin.  Buddhism: the Illustrated Guide. Duncan Baird, 2004.

Introduction to Folklore Folklore Genres and Analysis

Introduction to Folklore Folklore Genres and Analysis Folklore is a complex term, whose definition has stirred up mixed thoughts and ideologies in the folklorists’ world. There is no single definition that is universally accepted since different folklorists- in the past and current- have different thoughts. But, these varied thoughts are interlinked with Alan Dunde’s list of folklore, which entails different genres that are difficult to categorize (Oring, 1989).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Introduction to Folklore: Folklore Genres and Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a result, varied definitions have been developed to help understand the genres better. To some extent, the two words that give rise to the general term â€Å"folklore† influence the folklorists’ work in coming up with a definition. The meanings associated with the words â€Å"folk† and â€Å"lore† should be envisaged in the general definition of the word. According to Newell (1890), folklore is â€Å"oral tradition and belief handed down from generation to generation without the use of writing† (Oring, 1989, p. 7). Initially, folklore referred to survivals such as legends that enabled the continuation of a practice over time. The use of tales and beliefs was associated with some kind of mythology and coming up with an articulate distinction between mythology and folklore was fundamental. However, this cause became weak when Newell’s redefinition of folklore surfaced. Folklorists link folklores to peasantry because the primitive and less privileged people tend to value their cultural practices and values, which are passed on from one generation to another, compared with civilized people. Natural and spiritual facets of folklore have been eroded among the urban civilized people. The peasantry still value their natural and spiritual lives that have not been distorted by urbanization. A typical example is the current world we are living in, which due to technological change and development has placed more focus on making life better rather than dwelling on maintaining the authenticity of folklore. A visit to communities that have not been polluted by westernization and its ramifications shows that these societies are still entwined into their ancient practices. I therefore believe that despite the varied definitions of folklore, it is inclined to a particular group sharing a particular â€Å"ancient factor†.Advertising Looking for report on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Folklore never dies; it somehow finds a way to relive even though not in its original state as long as it thrives in some way. However, it is argued that its value lies in its connection to common daily experiences of the people despite the transformation. Folklore should not merely emanate from institutions. When folklore evolves over time and is transformed to fit into the contemporary society, then it loses its traditional and ancient aspects that are fundamental in defining folklore. A typical example is in Frank’s (1985) literature that shows Cape Bretoners as people, who have been rapidly expanding their livelihood activities to suit the changing times. The history of Cape Breton as an industrial society dates back to the 1820s. During this time, mining may have been the traditional economic activity for the people around the coal mines. However, the high demand for labour when civilization permeated resulted in drawing people from their typical livelihoods as farmers and fishers (folklife). Under such circumstances, the folklife of the people was swept away by the domineering coal companies leading to a change of belief systems and way of life. In addition, the operations of these companies were legislated and structured in a manner that gutted the natural expressions and folklife of the people. The expressions exhibited by the coal miners â€Å"voting for labor candidates, joining co-operatives and building unions† are not folklore. These activities were not voluntary expressions. The people were compelled by harsh treatment from the coal companies to come up with strategies that would safeguard their human rights (Frank, 1985, p.203). Folklores are meant to pass on specific messages/practices that are relevant to the society in which they are developed over time without themselves getting altered. For example in rural Cape Breton, songs and stories were highly appreciated and valued in the region. In this region, there was a high rate of immigration and ethnic ties were salient. American anthropologists argue that ethnic ties (folk society) bound people of the same community together. It was difficult for an outsider to penetrate into the folk societies. Folklore domains are a form of cultural identity. Therefore, people with the same background orientation share simil ar stories, delimit their folk society and they have a similar understanding of issues.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Introduction to Folklore: Folklore Genres and Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The church was an important social institution for the Cape Bretoners. Despite the fact that the church does not qualify to be folklore, the sentiments, attitudes and belief systems of the people towards the church are folklore (Frank, 1985, p. 204). Merely 23 individuals could not state the religion they were affiliated to hence, an indication that the people had strong faith and belief in the church. Regardless of people’s strong belief in the church, the formulated and documented activities by the clergymen were not part of the people’s folklore because they were not a true reflection of the followers’ thoughts and ideas. Instead, the church’s activities were aimed at deriving som e form of benefit as the church imposed its doctrines on the people. In his writing, Frank clearly demonstrates this through a folklore genre (joke), â€Å"I had to take my hat off every time I saw him and go to church twice on Sunday to hold my position† (Frank, 1985, p. 208). This quote is folklore but at the same time shows how the church, the foundation of people’s faith did not qualify to be folklore. The quote represents an individual’s attitude towards the church. Most of folklore genres are mainly used for amusement and entertainment like tales, songs, jokes and dances. The ancient characteristic they possess makes them peculiar to the eye, thereby creating a feeling of excitement. In Cape Breton, there was a mixture of music and songs as indicated by Frank (1985). However, music becomes folklore only if it is congruent with the definition of unwritten traditions. Cape Breton community is an illustration of the role played by music in creating harmony de spite its diversity. The songs sung had a common theme shared by the coal miners: â€Å"that they did not have a slave-spirited soul† (Frank, 1985, p. 206). The above discussion on understanding folklore shows that folklore forms a basis for cultural identity. Culture is very important because it gives an individual a sense of belonging. According to â€Å"The Intangible Heritage Messenger† (2003), there is a strong link between intangible cultural heritage and folklore. UNESCO defines intangible cultural heritage as â€Å"the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills- as well as instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith- that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage† (What is Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2003, p.1).Advertising Looking for report on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reasons discussed in this paper form a basis for explaining why UNESCO uses the phrase â€Å"intangible cultural heritage (ICH)†. To begin with, the domains under the intangible cultural heritage are abstract systems that different cultures take pride in irrespective of their history. Some cultures are associated with farming while in others, fishing is the livelihood. Therefore, UNESCO acknowledges the diverse nature of cultures and thus is bent on ensuring that each culture’s intangible heritage is well protected. Folklore on the other hand delimits the genres and especially when transformation is apparent. Manipulated genres are not absolute folklore and more so if they are not part and parcel of people’s lives. UNESCO does not place restrictions on ICH. Hence, every intangible domain that defines culture, irrespective of its nature and subsequent manipulation, is part of the ICH. An example is the ancient farming society compared with the contemporary farmin g society. The current use of workers and machines for commercial production has disrupted the traditional practice of farming, which was fundamental in people’s daily lives because they solely relied on it. While modern farming falls under ICH, it is not folklore. In addition, literature indicates that the domains listed by UNESCO are not an exhaustive list of folklore hence, it would be misleading to use it as a collective term. Folklore is a more complex term and using it would require the convention to delve deeper into the past to get all those genres that define ancient people and their practices with the least possible transformation in comparison with UNESCO’s ICH (What is Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2003). References Frank, D. (1985). Tradition and Culture in the Cape Breton Mining Community in the Early Twentieth Century. In K. Donovan (ed.), Cape Breton at 200 (pp. 203- 221). Sydney: University College of Cape Breton Press. Newell, W. (1890). The Study of Folklore. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 9, 134-36. Oring, E. (1986). On the Concepts of Folklore. In E. Oring (ed.), Folk Groups and Folklore Genres (pp. 1-22). Logan: Utah State University Press. The Intangible Heritage Messenger. (2003). Web. What is Intangible Cultural Heritage. (2003). Web.

Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Example

Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Example Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Impact of globalization on manufacturing in the U.S Essay Globalization owes its origin to at least the late 1980s. During this period, new nations were entering into manufacturing, which was in some logic the weakest connection in the U.S. series of science, development, manufacturing, and sale of goods and services. However, for some nations such as Japan, lower wages firstly made it possible to exploit this relative U.S. weakness. Nevertheless, Japan swiftly developed other diverse advantages articulated on improved manufacturing methods (Benjamin Perry, 2003).Impact on labor marketGlobalization stimulates extensively differing views and projections, varying from rosy portrayal of a supple, worldwide borderless labor market to awful situations of severe polarization between labor market winners as well as losers. First, let us examine globalization impact on careers (labor) and its subsequent consequences on manufacturing. With reduced trade barriers, new international market crop up as well as advanced information and communication tec hnologies, the job market was tremendously affected. Globalization has had an astonishing effect on working-class citizens in the United States, chiefly through the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs brought about by outsourcing, with limited benefits to society (Benjamin Perry, 2003).The key motivation for the outsourcing of jobs was to cut the extremely high labor costs that are thought to diminish revenue. Employers are reluctant to hire workers due to high cost of employee benefits, competitive wages, and skyrocketing health-care premiums hence they consider outsourcing the work to be cheap (Bardhan Kroll, 2003). In essence, it is more economical for an American firm to hire a computer programmer in India who would be eager to perform the work for about one-fifth the pay of an American employee with a degree, whose starting salary would be about $50,000-$70,000 (Benjamin Perry, 2003). This leads Americans to be more uncertain about their job security since they cannot comp ete with their foreign counterparts that perform the same quantity of work for considerably less pay.Studies show that an estimated more than 2 million workers in the United States have lost their jobs in the last several years due to business closures in addition to layoffs (Bardhan Kroll, 2003), (Benjamin and Perry 2003). Whereas higher productivity and new management and hiring practices are associated with loss of jobs, a number of companies are increasingly transferring their businesses to other countries with cheap cost of wages as opposed United States. Manufacturing industry has suffered largely in terms of job losses, involving mostly blue-collar workers. It is however acknowledged that many of white-collar jobs are going to China (for manufacturing) (Benjamin and Perry 2003).In the case of working Americans, they have been negatively affected by the colossal increase in foreign trade. There has been loss of well-paying manufacturing jobs, important downward pressure on wa ges as well as increased disparity. The doubling of trade as a share of the economy over the last 25 years was accompanied by a substantial trade deficit, directly displacing several million jobs (Benjamin Perry, 2003).Majority of the jobs were in the manufacturing region, which incorporated millions of union jobs that were well paying compared with average wages (Bardhan Kroll, 2003). Within a period of five years from 2000 to 2005, there was decline as well as disappearance of more than three million manufacturing jobs. It is estimate that at least 30 percent of the decline was due to the rise in the manufactured goods trade deficit (Bardhan Kroll, 2003).With U.S. multinational corporations being occupied on both sides of the international trade, almost 50% of all U.S.-owned manufacturing production is now situated in foreign countries, thus an imperative part of the manufacturing job loss has been due to most of U.S. firms exporting back to the U.S. or producing abroad what th ey once produced locally (Benjamin Perry, 2003).The loss of manufacturing jobs as result of globalization saw wage losses for displaced workers, majority of whom never regained their former wage levels even after acquiring new employment. Globalization had also the effect of increasing world production capacity, which had had the effect of lowering the prices of traded goods, the consequence of which saw workers pay being reduced to reflect the value of goods produced (Bardhan Kroll, 2003). Employers to oppose wage increments for the manufacturing employees used the direct foreign threat.Similarly, the flow of investment in plant and equipment and technology oversaw increase in foreign productivity in sectors that used to be U.S. export strongholds, resulting in declining terms of trade and hence declining real income growth.Last but not the least, as foreign trade drove workers out of manufacturing into poorly paid service jobs; the new supply of workers competing for the same jo bs orchestrated lowering of wages of similarly skilled service workers. What does it imply? It implies that throwing the American workers into competition with production derived from low-wage countries, both those workers engaged directly in import-competing sectors as well as all employees economy-wide who have similar expertise and qualifications will have their wages squeezed. In fact, whereas trade flows with low-wage nations have increased, the distribution of income and wealth in the U.S. has grown more and more unequal (Benjamin Perry, 2003).Impact on input versus outputInternational Trade is increasingly imperative in the global economy and to the United States in particular.   During the last 15 years, global sells abroad have more than tripled and have accounted for more than a third of global economic growth. In deviation from the previous decades, when industrialized economies dictated global trade flows, there has been an increase in developing economies’ sha re of global exports by just over a quarter in the late 1990s to 41 percent by 2004 (Bardhan Kroll, 2003).Increased participation in international trade by the developing world is a crucial force behind what many refer to as â€Å"globalization†. Actually more than 50 percent of US trade presently carried out with developing countries, up from just over a third in the late 1980s.In US economy, manufacturing is the most trade-engaged sector accounting for 60% of the country’s exports and 80% of imports. Globalization has had an important impact on U.S. manufactures, as manufactured products accounts for 75 percent of worldwide trade (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).Following vigorous intensification of both U.S. manufactured exports and imports at some stage in the mid 1990s; a noteworthy departure has taken place.   Ever since 1998, U.S. sells abroad have grown by just 3 percent per-year (Bardhan Kroll, 2003).   The country’s share of world exports fell from 13 pe rcent in 1998 to just 9 percent in 2004 – the lowly allocation dating 17 years back.   Happening correspondingly, imports grew by 8% per-year and the manufactured trade shortfall increased from -240 billion to -603 billion by 2005 (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).Whereas a variety of the latest import surge has been as a result of the strong U.S. economy (especially since mid-2003) the truth remains that today, trade ins account for over a 35 percent of manufactured products consumed in the United States – an increase from 25 percent in 1992 and just 15% a 10 years earlier (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).   A 66 percent of the increase in manufactured imports since 1998 originated from the developing world, and half of that has came from China alone.This rise in import penetration and loss of export competitiveness has had a significant impact on the current state manufacturing (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).   While in general, manufacturing production has improved from the 2001 dec line, currently positioning at 6 percent above its pre-recession high, in addition to manufacturing employment increasing moderately subsequent to bottoming out earlier in 2004, the present manufacturing resurgence has developed half as fast as the recoveries following the preceding four declines (Bhagwati Marvin, 1994).Of eminent concern is the loss of market share both at home and abroad in recent years by the Unite States manufacturing. While some articulate this market share loss to be because of the inevitable bad trade policy as well as globalization, to others this serves as a pointer to the fact that   in a time of severe global competition, changes in a country’s competitiveness have much larger effects at present than they had in previous decades.Consider dollar value for instance. After sustaining stability for the better part of a decade, its value increased by 28 percent through the period running from 1996 to 2002. Dollar value increase led to imports being c ompetitive in the US market, whereas concurrently it made U.S. exports more costly in markets overseas.   It was during this period that, the rise in import penetration as well as the loss of global export share abroad was most significant.In a period of elevated international competition, US manufacturers have crucially been burdened by high structural non-production costs. Over the last decade, U.S. manufacturers have increased their productivity by over half, more than 150 percent the pace of their major trading partners.   Conversely, much of these efficiency gains have been offset by rising non-production costs at home. As per a research carried out several years ago by the NAM’s Manufacturing Institute, which compared non-production costs on U.S. manufacturers to their nine major trading competitors:The findings indicated that Corporate Taxes on U.S. manufacturers were 16% high than those of their major trading partners. Benefit costs  Ã‚   36% higher, Regulatory burden 85% higher and Litigation  Ã‚  Ã‚   250% higher. Summed up, these excessive non-production costs add 22% to the cost of manufacturing in the U.S. and put U.S. manufacturers at the same level with Germany as most expensive place to produce in the world (Benjamin Perry, 2003).   Moreover, the recent rise in natural gas prices in US has only exaggerated the problem. If US could exclude those excessive costs, it would actually be a lower-cost place to manufacturer than most of their industrialized competitors (Broda David, 2006).Outsourcing has seen the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States within the manufacturing industry. Outsourcing not only benefited US corporations, but also minimized the benefit to society (Broda David, 2006).To offer an anecdote to this observation that outsourcing only benefits corporations while, only minimizing the benefit to society, Tyco Corporation, recently relocated to a location in Texas.   Two of the major gr ounds for their relocation were due to the fact of lower labor costs as well as cheaper manufacturing costs (Broda David, 2006).   This was due to the comparatively close proximity to Mexico.Tyco perhaps took advantage of the great number of immigrants that move to Texas, who can work for comparatively low pay, which would facilitate raise, their bottom line. In so doing the company laid-off more than two hundred employees, some of this had been with the company for almost thirty-five years who had been making close to $22 per hour. The net effect was that these employees had to look for fresh employments, in lower-paying positions that maybe paid half as much, as well as they lost all of their seniority (Broda David, 2006).ConclusionEven though there has been decline in jobs as well as universal interest within the manufacturing sector, outsourcing has had its benefits within the United States (Mandel, 2004).   Sadly, it has been a consequence of just corporate welfare.   O utsourcing has absolutely maintained costs low because of cheap input costs, which drips downward to the end user in low-priced products.   In addition, with productivity rising from annually, corporations have been capable to raise their bottom lines while avoiding price surges (Mandel, 2004).   Regrettably, corporate profits are escalating, save for there are no new jobs being created- jobs relocated to other countries are not being replaced.If blue collar, working-class citizens as well as the jobless workers who experience no job intensification are losing out, in that case who is winning the battle?   Fine, additional productivity as well as lesser-input expenses decode to higher wealth. Businesses with their continually increasing profit limits; consumers, who experience near to the ground cost of goods.   Furthermore, with no job growth in the current economy, there is really no new job industry to lead the way in creating new jobs. Too many U.S. jobs are being outsou rced, and without the innovation of new industries, â€Å"job growth will stay sluggish, demand will eventually sag, and†¦incomes will be driven down under the continued pressure of competition from China, India, and other low-wage countries† (Mandel, 2004). However, with the innovation of new upcoming technologies there can be an explosive surge in employment and enormous potential for the economy.

Imagery in Prose Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Imagery in Prose - Essay Example He wasn’t a rock star in a traditional meaning either (well, everybody knows those adored handsome guys following the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll motto); he didn’t earn a fortune of money and never grew vain. His fans found something disarming about his kind and easy-going manners, and everyone would sense something so familiar in his songs. He didn’t want to be famous worldwide and wasn’t obsessed with fame, he knew that it was a delusive thing. Now, hurrying to meet his fans (who were certainly the best fans in the world, he thought) at a charity concert, he thought about the legacy he wanted to leave: not because he was going to die, not at all. It was in his nature, this desire to be useful to the society, and he had so many plans and so many purposes. Miles wanted to communicate his message to people. â€Å"The legacy and the message,† he thought. â€Å"That’s what makes artists live forever in the minds of people. But is it enough? Is it enough to write a couple of mediocre songs? Guys like me are not starry enough to get themselves listened to.† If he shared these thoughts with his wife, she would surely say that he was too modest and underestimated his significance. Well, he did. The cellphone rang – it was Steve, the concert manager (he always communicated with all the staff himself). Miles picked up the call with his right hand, holding the driving wheel with the left one. The car lost traction on the icy turn and ran against the truck. The collision set the Range Rover afire. Everything was blurred in his eyes, and the last thing he saw before he fell into darkness was the strange fiery bird of red and gold hovering above him. Miles found himself standing near the cathedral of his hometown amidst the overwhelming crowd of grieving people dressed in black. The weather was lousy, cold rain falling from the leaden clouds; however,

Research Methods in Sales and Marketing for Tourism Essay

Research Methods in Sales and Marketing for Tourism - Essay Example Furthermore, the proponent provides examples in their application in the tourism sector. Quantitative research method Quantitative research is a common method used in investigating or finding information in various fields of studies. This method ensures that information can be transformed into figures for quantitative analysis. Quantitative research method preserves neutrality and sees to it that there will be no bias since the collected data will be used for quantitative analysis, so it is more numerically measurable (Bennett, 1986; Shi, 2008). In quantitative analysis, there is a need to come up with objective output because a researcher deals with figures and transforms them into essential information that can be subjected to more meaningful interpretation and source of information. One common quantitative research method is experimental method. In experimental method, the researcher could potentially obtain information from certain observations under controlled condition. Thus, t here are important things that need to be considered prior to obtaining the most essential information and one of them is to ensure the significance and validity of the entire method used. Quantitative research is quite flexible but its potential drawback could be its not being able to potentially explain all types of phenomena (Muijs, 2004). Qualitative research method Qualitative statements and concepts comprise the body of qualitative analysis (Shi, 2008). Qualitative research method still applies numerical data which potentially include counting and assigning numbers to observations, but the presence of qualitative statement and concepts prevail as its general core foundation. Thus, it may still turn out that all information under qualitative approach cannot be numerical in nature but in a verbal form (Creswell, 2003). Observations which are integral components of qualitative statements and analyses are important in qualitative research method because they would ensure that the analysis will be well presented and the research aim is substantially obtained. An interview for instance regarding certain issue may focus more on understanding the framework of the subject and this could potentially concentrate the analysis on general qualitative information. Qualitative method therefore can be done at multiple levels of analysis (Piekkari and Welch, 2004). This means a researcher could still potentially find information in using this method even at various levels of analysis. An interview or focus group for instance can essentially initiate this because what the researcher needs is to integrate various concepts or frameworks in order to bring the entire analysis at different levels, depending on the actual objectives. However, one general and potential drawback of qualitative method is that the sample size is small and non-random, making findings most likely not conclusive at some point (VanderStoep and Johnson, 2008). The differences It is noted based on the abo ve discussion that both methods of research; the quantitative and qualitative have potential advantages and drawbacks. Furthermore, they are an entirely different approaches; that is why they have significant noted difference. In the case of quantitative method of research such as survey or experimentation, it is important to have remarkable number of samples in order to make certain that the conclusion is conclusive. Sample should be numerically or statistically significant. On

Mars and Wrigley Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mars and Wrigley - Essay Example Barr, A. (n.d.) â€Å"Buffett gets closer to Mars through Wrigley deal† Available at (Accessed: June 9, 2010). 5 Thelwell, E. (April 28, 2008) â€Å"Mars snaps up Wrigley for $23bn with help from Buffett†. Available at (Accessed: June 9, 2010). 5 Mars and Wrigley had individually been playing in the food sector of United States until the former acquired the latter during the second half of 2008 in lieu of US$23 million. Since then, the merged company had been enjoying a significant part in the food market of USA, with an increased support from the investors. This favor has been reflected in the form of an appreciated P/E ratio of 27.8 for the company, compared to that of the market which is floating at 15. The relevance of this statistic is that investors are ready to pay 27.8 times the amount they expect to earn from Mars-Wrigley shares. In contrast, the average market statistic is 15 times the amount that investors are willing to pay for earning 1 unit. Clearly, the shares of the merged company have been selling at a market premium, which could easily be concluded as a consequence of a positive anticipation from the mass. There might be a few reasons behind such an optimistic approach though. Firstly, after acquisition, the position of the merged company rose to those of peers of high-end players like Cadbury and Nestle. In other words, Mars-Wrigley since 2008, started to be known as competitors for the two giants. Secondly, the merged company has expanded its productive capabilities and range of goods which it produces, since 2008. Previously, Cadbury had been the only player in the US food sector which had

The Present Economic Sitation Has Had a Negative Effect On the Essay

The Present Economic Sitation Has Had a Negative Effect On the Community - Essay Example While relative to the specific community, it’s clear that a great amount of communities have encountered increased crime rates as a direct result of the economic recession. Consider a recent report that indicated, â€Å"Of 233 police agencies surveyed by the Police Executive Research Forum†¦44 percent reported a rise in certain types of crime they attributed to the United States worst economic and financial crisis in decades† (Colvin). In these regards, it’s clear that because of the tight economic situation, increased amount of individuals have resorted to crime. The ultimate result is a strong negative effect on communities. Another major negative effect the economic recession has had on communities is neighborhood blight. One of the core causes of the economic recession was the collapsing housing market. The collapse in the house market resulted in a strong negative impact on communities. Increasing amount of individuals found that they could not pay their mortgages and subsequently defaulted on their loans. The result of this was neighborhoods with high amount of abandoned homes. Consider that â€Å"Very few in the multifamily sector  did not experience high vacancy factors from 2007 to 2009† ("GreenLandlady"). In these regards, there is a direct cause and effect relationship between the economic recession, increased vacancy factors, and urban blight. The cumulative effect of these elements has a significant negative impact on communities. The final negative effect the current economic situation has had on communities is general social malaise. This understanding considers that the economic recession has caused a great amount of people to lose their jobs. This aspect of the recession has had a fall-out effect, reducing the amount of independent businesses that are able to successful operate in the community and leading individuals to increasingly

Engage Gladwell, Olson, and Nathan in a conversation to explain how Essay - 1

Engage Gladwell, Olson, and Nathan in a conversation to explain how individuals - Essay Example People spend most part of their childhood, until early adulthood, in learning institutions. For that reason, it is likely that they will grow up with what they learn. This will also increase interaction with other groups and fortify relationships (Olson 339). Gladwell joins Olson through the focus on Freedom schools (Gladwell 233). On the other hand, Nathan points out those students who do not socialize benefit less from integrated schools (Nathan 321). In the main, intermarriages bring together people of different races. Intercommunity dating is an asset rather than a liability (Olson 343). In Olson view, advantages of intermarriages outweigh disadvantages. Social interactions such as intermarriages should be encouraged (Nathan, 319). In essence, this will reduce intolerance by the children born from parents of different races. These children will be more open to the whole world at large, hence build stronger relationships. Open-mindedness, especially on issues relating to intermarriages, strengthens relationships. Inclusion, sharing and participation are important (Nathan 317). Acquaintances are also important since they generate more ideas than friends do (Gladwell 234). By sharing information through social media, people accept other people’s culture and develop strong relationships. In addition, cultural differences become less, for the greater good of the

The Present Economic Sitation Has Had a Negative Effect On the Essay

The Present Economic Sitation Has Had a Negative Effect On the Community - Essay Example While relative to the specific community, it’s clear that a great amount of communities have encountered increased crime rates as a direct result of the economic recession. Consider a recent report that indicated, â€Å"Of 233 police agencies surveyed by the Police Executive Research Forum†¦44 percent reported a rise in certain types of crime they attributed to the United States worst economic and financial crisis in decades† (Colvin). In these regards, it’s clear that because of the tight economic situation, increased amount of individuals have resorted to crime. The ultimate result is a strong negative effect on communities. Another major negative effect the economic recession has had on communities is neighborhood blight. One of the core causes of the economic recession was the collapsing housing market. The collapse in the house market resulted in a strong negative impact on communities. Increasing amount of individuals found that they could not pay their mortgages and subsequently defaulted on their loans. The result of this was neighborhoods with high amount of abandoned homes. Consider that â€Å"Very few in the multifamily sector  did not experience high vacancy factors from 2007 to 2009† ("GreenLandlady"). In these regards, there is a direct cause and effect relationship between the economic recession, increased vacancy factors, and urban blight. The cumulative effect of these elements has a significant negative impact on communities. The final negative effect the current economic situation has had on communities is general social malaise. This understanding considers that the economic recession has caused a great amount of people to lose their jobs. This aspect of the recession has had a fall-out effect, reducing the amount of independent businesses that are able to successful operate in the community and leading individuals to increasingly

Sustainability and Food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sustainability and Food - Essay Example Very likely some alteration of the vegetarian parents' diet will be necessary to make it suitable for a growing child. Parents must understand the need for combining cereals with legumes, milk, eggs, or fish if acceptable. A diet that combines several bowls of cereal will have variety but will have a severe imbalance of essential amino acids. Even with careful balance, both the parents and the physician should be aware that growth may be slower than expected.Slow growth cannot be equated with poor health and may not be bad per se depending on the degree of retardation. The pediatrician must decide at what point suboptimal growth becomes unacceptable. From a strictly practical point of view, the physician should try to instill certain dietary practices. Breastfeeding should be the mainstay of the infant's nutrition for at least six months, preferably much longer. Several of the cases cited previously, however, make it clear that careful attention must be paid to the mother's diet in t hese instances. Among older children, lactovegetarians and lactoovovegetarians willalmost certainly do well and the only real concern with these children is the assurances. Based on the foregoing information, it can be inferred that food and sustainability are interrelated. Vegetarianism, an option for healthy food, bridged the issue of sustaining life for human beings to contribute more to ecological preservation as stewards of the earth. Vegetarianism is not simply a trend for health concern. It is also apart of religious belief to care for our body.... vegetarian diets are lacto-ovo (milk, eggs included), lacto (no eggs), and vegan (no eggs, diary products or any foodstuffs made with eggs or dairy products). They abstain from food sourced from animal’s meat. Vegetarians were described as with lower weight, cholesterol level and blood pressures. Studies among dieticians and experts pointed that vegetarians have low mortality rate and advocates do not suffer nutritional deficiencies. Although there are few vegetarians in this world but they are proof that vegetarianism has substantial impacts to prolong life and to preserve better health. They consume less calories, fats but are more content with fibrous food. They prefer foods with macronutrient and micronutrient level of vitamins and minerals (White and Frank, xxxx). They prefer fruits that are with high anti-oxidant level. Studies have proven that vegetarianism improves social health because they live in an ecosensitive lifestyle and politics (p. 470). Vegetarians adopt thi s diet to conform to a stereotype; to wade off controversies of proteins; to uphold the relation of ecology to vegetarianism, including the economics of diet. Janda.and Trocchia (2001) explicated that vegetarianism gain prominence in contemporary society after advocates of vegetarianism explored deeper understanding on its concepts; its motivations and coping mechanisms underlying vegetarian orientation. In a two-phase phenomelogical study, researchers perceived that a person's attitude and character play an influential factor in opting this orientation. Dietician suggest that those with cardiovascular disease and cancer should be encourage to consume vegetarian diets (White and Frank, xxxx; 470). In a longitudinal study made by Burr and Sweetnam (2011) which used survey questionnaires

Photography Richard Avedon Essay Example for Free

Photography Richard Avedon Essay â€Å"All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth.†Ã¢â‚¬â€these are just of the famous words of one of the greatest photographers of out time, Richard Avedon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In March 15, 1923, a Russian-Jewish immigrant couple gave birth to a baby boy. His name is Richard Avedon. No one thought that he would become one of the most notable photographers of our time. He attended the Dewitt Clinton High School in Bronx, New York but in 1940, at age 17, he dropped out of high school and decided to go into the Merchant Marine’s photographic sector; of which he was assigned to take photographs of the personnel. As time passed, he joined numerous missions to take pictures of shipwrecks. When he returned home in 1944, he instantly had an employment as a photographer for a certain department store. At the start, he earned his living mainly through various works in advertising. Within the two years that he had been working through that job, a director from Harper’s Bazaar spotted him and he began to work for the magazine. Later on, he also did photography jobs for Vogue, Look and many other related magazines (Avedon). He also became popular for his stylistic and ground-breaking fashion portfolio that was frequently set in dramatic and amusing locales. During these times, he realized however that his real passion was portraiture and its capability to articulate its subject(Wilson). He said numerous times in various interviews and magazines that there are basically two major influences all throughout his career. His â€Å"first professional† flirtation with the camera was when he join the merchant marines during the war. He reiterated that the raw professionalism that was required to develop those photographs called for an outright approach that afterward educated a portrait technique that have been described by many as ruthless and even merciless. Those moments in his life became very influential and made a very deep impact in the way he took his photographs all throughout his career. Even though he did not have a formal education and training as a photographer, that situation was a foremost learning experience for him. He learned to handle the camera, take the right angles and adjust the proper lighting among others. The other influence that had a bang on him is the elegant movements of the body, joie de vivre, common people and ordinary situations that happen in the streets. Because he grew up and got oriented with the people from his neighborhood, for him, the most genuine expressions can be expressed without a camera. In his photographs, these are his main objective—to capture people in their sincerest attitudes and forms. He had to live up to his reputation as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the modern times. There are also some photographers that he looked up to like Martin Munkacsi a prominent Hungarian photographer during his time. Munkacsi’s works of models running in nature amplified his curiosity in fashion photography (Edwards).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As one of the most reputable fashion photographer, he was able to modernize portraiture and fashion photography to instantly create a particular aesthetic that was able to influence countless other photographers. His signature technique was the outsized format studio portraits of his subjects which include writers, politicians and artists. He utilizes desolate white backgrounds and life-size printing which makes his viewers feel as if they are in/with a bond to the image; which is often a substantial and almost provoking experience. He has the ability to generate visual tension and astonish his viewer through unanticipated contrasts. As a portrait artist, his images are inimitable. Characteristically, they are usually the frontal angles of his subjects which often are rather full body or head. Mostly, is it in black and white and is taken against a white background. The resolution is typically impressive and the faces gaze right out from the pages with unwavering stare; thus conveying the vulgar intensity that we only usually see through our own reflections. Moreover, Avedon states that he usually pays close attention to the littlest details in his photographs. His philosophy, when it comes to his various subjects is that, the â€Å"objective recording of a subject is a fiction.† Accordingly, his photographs offer views by which we can construct an admiration of things that are too complex to be carefully captured by a solitary photograph (Staff).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although Avedon did not have a formal education and training at photography, his own experiences as a photographer for the merchant marines and in advertising landed him various photography jobs at leading magazines. Although it seems undeniable that he had the knack for photography, his determination, workmanship, ideas and professionalism led him to the pinnacle of his success. In the fashion industry, he is a notable photographer. Almost all throughout his career, he had taken pictures of some very interesting subjects which are mostly models, celebrities and politicians. But besides being a fashion photographer, he is also known as a portraiture artist and over the years, he has turned his career from that area into a more driven, natural and humane aspect. During the last years of his career, he ventured into taking pictures of the common people. The raw attitude that he gives to his subject are very obvious in his pictures. One can feel that the pictures are almost like talking to you. Undeniably, he is one of the purveyors of black and white photography in the modern times. His works are the most natural emotions that humans feel. The fact that only few photographers are able to take photographs of the most popular people at their most candid moments makes him truly one of the best photographers in the world. Works Cited: Avedon, Richard. An Autobiography. 1st ed ed, 1993. Edwards, Owen. Fashion Faux Paw. Smithsonian, 2005. Staff. Photographic Portraiture and the Work of Richard Avedon. 2008. Wilson, Laura. Avedon at Work: In the American West. University of Texas Press, 2003.

Comparison between a developing and developed country

Comparison between a developing and developed country The countries I choose to discuss are China representing the developing country and USA symbolizing the developed country. economic system concerns with the production structure of a country. It also includes how to allocate the economic inputs, how to distribute the outputs between the citizens and how to consume goods and services in an economy.(NA 2007) According to Gregory et al (2003), the economic system has four dimensions: decision-making structure, coordination mechanism, productive property rights and incentive system. Decision making concerned with by whom the decisions are carried out, industrial councils, the government, or private owners. In US, excluding only a few national industries, many decisions are decided by the private owners, however, in China, there are a lot of state-owned enterprises which make decisions under the influence of the government. Coordination mechanism is the way of obtaining information and how to use it to coordinate economic activity. The main forms of coordination contain planning and the market. In US, its coordination form is the market: the market is clear, and the exchange of information is highly efficient. While, China has been through a long time of planning coordination, its form, although its government claims the market, is in an interim. Productive property rights is about who takes control of the output. In US, the ownership is protected by the constitution while in China, they are owned by the public or by all the members in the society. Incentive system refers to the reward. There are two major base: material (compensation) and moral (social prestige). In both countries, they have both incentive systems simultaneously since either one is enough. 1.2 financial system 1.2.1 financial system in US In the US, its unit of money is dollar. Its central bank is Federal Reserve who is responsible for making decision concerning to the finance such as financial policy and the base interest rate. since Fed is independent of the government and its chairman has a term of 18 years, it may put focus in the long term. In US, there are many financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, insurance companies and so on. The varied institutions designed many sorts of financial instruments circulating in the financial market in the US which make the US the most efficient financial market in the world. 1.2.2 financial system in China In China, its unit of money is yuan. Its central bank is Peoples bank of China(PBC). Compared to Fed, they have a same job including issuing currency, making financial policy and so on. However, since PBC is also a part of the government, its independence is in doubt in some degree. In other words, PBC may adopt the government leaders opinions when they make their final decision. Chinese financial system is immature and still in the progress of developing. In this way, the kinds of financial institutions in China are limited. There are no private-owned financial institutions in China and theres legal protection that financial institutions can only be emerged but no bankruptcy. The financial instruments are also limited. Time deposit, demand deposit, and treasury bills are individual investors primary choice. Until now, more and more people are taking part in the stock market or buying some fund. 1.3 the unique feature-means used by the central to regulate the economy In China, when PBC wants to express its monetary policy, its main tool is to change the benchmark of deposit and lending rates. If PBC wants to adopt tightening monetary policy, it will increase the benchmark rate, on the other hand, it will drop the rate when adopting expansionary monetary policy. However, the method has its own disadvantage: its effect is so strong that it may hurt the development of the economy. In the US, when Fed wants to regulate the economy, its first option is open market operation. If they want to adopt an expansionary monetary policy, it will buy the treasury bills from the financial market and release more money in the circulation. While, when they want to tighten the market, it will sell its bills and get money in the circulation back to the Fed. By regulation this way, the Fed is able to regulate the economy more proficiently and accurately, and this method has the smallest negative effects to the economy. The main reason why China doesnt use open market operation very much is that its financial instruments are limited and its financial market is not mature enough to do it. The other reason is that Chinese government interferes with the central bank more compared to the US government to the Fed. Q2 2.1 A brief introduction to IMF IMF, short for International Monetary Fund, is the international organization aimed for supervising the global system, especially financial system. Its main targets are keeping an eye on exchange rates and balance of payments as well as aiding the developing countries financially and technically. (Wikipedia) This organization was conceived back to July 1944 when 45 governments held a meeting in the Mount Washington Hotel located in Bretton Woods: in this way, this financial system later was called Bretton Woods system. It was formally founded on December 27,1945. 2.2 Members of IMF At the beginning of its foundation, it had only 29 members and its influence on the global financial system was rather limited. However, as time goes by, its affect on the global finance even economy is increasing gradually: the members it accumulated is more and more. It is not that easily be accepted as a member of IMF. The country or state has to take several strict steps before it is able to sign the IMFs Articles of Agreement. However, that effort is worth endeavoring: every member has its own quota in it. The quota represents the status of the member in the organization since several crucial characteristics including the voting weight and allocation of SDRs are determined by the quota. The member who has the most quota in IMF has the greatest power in IMF. United States enjoys 15.82% while other members only get around 6%, or even less. In this way, the US has always been the country which is able to block a supermajority on its own. This is also the point raised by many critics that how can IMF keep its equity among so many members. 2.3 the objectives of IMF The fundamental task for the IMF stays the same as it was founded: to supply financial aid to the countries in need. 2.4 challenges faced by IMF The financial crisis beginning in 2008 is so devastating that nearly every part of the world is strictly affected by it. IMF is also no exception. This crisis is also showing the world that globalization, if not controlled properly, may turn to be a disaster throughout the world and some international financial organizations, such as IMF, has to face some new challenges. According to the statement of an official in IMF, although the global economy would hit the second bottom since 2008, the whole world still has to face four crucial challenges: the financial sustainability, employment crisis, repair of the financial organizations and global cooperation. 2.4.1 financial sustainability Financial sustainability can be represented as a mutual trust between the government and its citizens on the policy. In this way, it is very critical when government is making policies in the recovery. To explicate it, lets make an example. When suffered from the crisis just now, the countrys economy was destroyed nearly completely. In order to recover quickly, the government chooses the expansionary fiscal policy by increasing the government spending or decreasing the inflation rate. By doing this, the government wants to show the confidence that they want to encourage more investment to the citizens. The citizens, responding to the government, begin to invest more than before, since they have a faith in government. However, with the increase of investment, the government realizes that another problem is showing up: the inflation rate is rising. In order to overcome inflation, the government has to increase the interest rate, which is a signal of scotch the investment. The citizens may feel confused by the governments changing policy, and may lose faith in it. If the trust between a government and its citizens is destroyed, the recovery is totally hopeless. However, usually the government is shortsighted and its lack of financial sustainability cannot help the recovery and even lose the best opportunity, it is the IMFs responsibility to help guiding the government and make sure that they make the right decision. 2.4.2 employment crisis Since the financial crisis in 2008, many developed countries including USA and some major European countries are suffering from the extraordinarily high unemployment rate. Mr. Obama, the president of United States, had promised that the unemployment rate of US would drop. However, until right now, the unemployment rate of US is still above 8%, and there is more rumor that this number will fly to 10% or higher. This phenomenal is very common among the other developed countries around the world. High employment is fatal to a countrys stability. Without a domestic stable economy, how can people around the world make sure of the stability of the economy? While creating a stable environment for the global economy is one of the objects of IMF, how to lower the unemployment and create more job opportunities become their challenges. 2.4.3 repair of the financial organizations As it is well known around the world, five major investment banks disappeared in USA during the financial crisis. Affected by this, many other financial and nonfinancial organizations within and outside US were in danger of bankruptcy. Since financial organizations are the primary elements in the financial system, helping them repair from the crisis is necessary. However, despite the organizations, even some countries are facing bankruptcy themselves. Depending on the government may not be a very good choice. In this time, the job rests on the shoulder of IMF, an international financial organization, who is able to help national ones when they need it. 2.4.4 global cooperation With the pace of globalization, the cooperation within different countries is becoming more and more indispensible to ones own economy. The deadly financial crisis happened in 2008 was first ignited in the US, while, after a short time, this crisis was spreading around the whole world like a cancer. Until now, many parts of world are still suffering from it. From this crisis, it is widely realized that even it is caused by only one section of a country, the influence may be spreading far far way, just like the butterfly effect. Thus, in order to cope with it efficiently, every country should enhance their cooperation with each. To cooperate finely, there has to be an organization to regulate their behaviors and that organization is IMF. Now, how to help each member cooperation with others effectively and safely is the final but not the easiest challenge faced by IMF. 2.5 my suggestions When facing these new challenges, I have several suggestions for the IMF. First of all, I suggest that IMF should guide those countries who have the most serious debt problems, even by exempting from a certain amount of heavy debt. Only by doing this can help them stabilize the domestic environment within the countries. Another suggestion from me is that IMF should appeal that every member enhances its cooperation when making policies. We must abandon the way of recovery based on hurting the other members economy such as the protection to local product by putting more duty on the imports. NA (2007). economic systems, The New Encyclopedia Britannica, V. 4, p. 357. Gregory et al(2003). Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century.