The Environmental Challenges Facing The American Auto...

The environmental challenges facing the American auto industry. At the beginning of twenty centuries until now the American auto industry has been growing and in demand. Henry Ford innovated mass-production techniques that became standard, with Ford, General Motors and Chrysler emerges as the â€Å"Big Three† auto companies by the 1920s. Manufacturers funneled their resources to the military during World War II, and afterward automobile production in Europe and Japan soared to meet demand. Once vital to the expansion of American urban centers, the industry had become a shared global enterprise with the rise of Japan as the leading automaker by 1980. And Americans dominated the industry in the first half of the twentieth century. Hence, from the†¦show more content†¦Analysts expect the auto-industry recovery to persist as the market is benefiting from low interest rates, longer-term loans, and rebounding consumer confidence. Edmunds consultancy predicts 2014 sales of over 16 million, only one million units below the year 2000 sales record. Kristin Dziczek, a specialist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, says the post-great recession U.S. The auto industry is now highly competitive versus all global rivals. The United States auto industry is dominated by five major auto manufacturers: GM, Toyota, Ford, Cerberus (which owns Chrysler), and Honda, in ascending order of market share. These companies comprise 74.3% of the US market. The strength of US auto manufacturers, GM, Ford, and the company formerly known as Daimler-Chrysler, were once the dominant forces in the US market, fueled in part by their strength in the American-specific segment for pick-up trucks. However, with an increase in globalization, domestic markets must now compete with foreign competition. As foreign companies have gained accessibility into the US market over the past decade, domestic car manufactures have found it increasingly harder to compete. Most foreign competitors have been able to obtain lower raw material and prod uction costs while maintaining equal, if not better, quality of their product. The current market has been fueled by an attraction to European and Asian automakers and car models. New technology for powering

Nike in Brazil a Host Country View Free Essays

Negative effects of Nike from Brazil’s point of view Brazil is rapidly privatizing many industries and its attitude toward a free market economy has changed significantly in the past 10 years. However, it seems the country still has a perception that often times associates capitalism with â€Å"greedy† developed countries. If the opinion of Brazil’s president is a reflection of how some of its people feel this is certainly the case. We will write a custom essay sample on Nike in Brazil: a Host Country View or any similar topic only for you Order Now In 2008, Brazil’s president lambasted US corporations and the US government for â€Å"infecting his nation with problems that were not of its making (The New York Times, 2008). This attitude seems to have created some problems for Brazilians in terms of their view of Nike. The kind of leverage and control that such a large company can exert on football in the country is huge. This issue was thrown into the light when in 1998 the Brazilian national team lost in the World Cup finals to France. Earlier on in the year, Nike had invested a record amount ($200 million US) for the right to sponsor the Brazilian national team in the World Cup. As a requisite for sponsorship, Nike demanded that the team play an inordinate amount of exhibition games leading up to the event. Many Brazilians, including Brazilian football legend Pele (who filed a lawsuit against Nike), still blame Nike for Brazil’s loss. They claim that the unusual number of exhibition games tired the players out. Similarly, another interesting problem is Nike’s effect on competition in Brazil. Nike’s recent acquisition of UK sporting wear company Umbro allowed it to eclipse Adidas as the biggest brand in the world of football (The Financial Times, 2007). This is particularly troubling for Brazilian retailers, who worry about the concentration of brands between two large Multi-Nationals and the effect this might have on their business. Lastly, as with many interactions between MNC’s and developing countries environmental issues have been a problem. Brazil is a massive supplier of leather used for products like Nike shoes. However, much of the cattle that the leather comes from graze on what was once Amazon rain forest. A host of Brazilian ranchers have clear-cut entire swaths of rainforest in an attempt to make room for more cattle. This goes against Brazil’s need to preserve what is arguably its most precious natural resource (The Ends Report, 2009). In future business interactions, Nike needs to be weary of using tactics that could be perceived by the Brazilian people as greedy, dominating, or imperialistic. Such tactics may erode trust within the Brazilian population and could turn out to be a bigger PR headache than they are worth. Advantages of having Nike in Brazil from Brazil’s point of view On the other hand, the fact that Nike is such a large and powerful company can have its benefits for the Brazilian people. With its enormous buying capability Nike can actually shift the way products are produced in some countries by pressuring suppliers. As was discussed earlier, Nike has been using leather procured from suppliers who have clear-cut forests in order to make room for their cattle. However, in August of last year, Nike along with help from Greenpeace enacted a set of regulations that all its suppliers must follow. The policies included a rule against clear-cutting, as well as other important environmental conventions. It seems that where there are problems between Brazil and Nike, there are also opportunities (The Ends Report, 2009). Programs like this are exactly what Nike needs. Not only do they foster trust and goodwill, they also facilitate much needed changes in Brazil. Without Nike the changes in the Brazilian leather industry might be difficult to encourage. The cattle lobby in Brazil is well funded and has many political ties making initiatives that may affect productivity hard to pass. However, it seems that environmentally conscious Brazilians have found a solution and a partner in Nike. In addition, Nike also decided to make its entire 2010 World Cup kit (a collection of football clothing) out of recycled bottles. This initiative took 13 million plastic bottles out of landfills. Furthermore, the Nike project created an association between Brazil and sustainability that will be seen all over the world (Al-Bawaba Reporters, 2010). Lastly, in recent years Nike has invested enormous amounts of money in the Brazilian football infrastructure. Nike is one of the chief supporters of the Brazilian Football Confederation and has extended its contract with this association until 2018. In addition, Nike also sponsors all three of the largest football teams in the country (Sports Marketing Quarterly, 2006). This reflects a direct commitment to improving and fostering football in the Brazil. The support of such a large sporting powerhouse seems to have had some positive effects on Brazil in terms of their attractiveness as a host for future events. In the past year, Brazil secured the 2014 world cup. This event is extremely lucrative for local vendors (among other parties) and will allow Brazil to display its incredible culture on a worldwide scale. Bibliography How to cite Nike in Brazil: a Host Country View, Papers

Audit and Assurance for Financial Announcements -myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theAudit and Assurance for Financial Announcements. Answer: Analytical Approach The analytic approach to the economic declarations of the DIPL shows the method of the dissemination of information from it. Analytic approach can be in the form of financial ratios. With the help of analytic method of evaluation of financial announcements however, several accountants as well as financial analysts can interpret the information for allowing the arrival at crucial business decisions (Barr-Pulliam et al. 2017). The case of the common sizing analytical way allows the assessment of the economic announcements to a common reference point. This results in the possible contrast of the financial statements in connection to the different timeframes or in relation to several entities. The assessors can consider the several item lines shown in the economic report along with the reporting method. For example, the way of registration of the items like assets, liabilities as well as the owners equity in the economic reporting of the organisation along with the investigational digression from the usual situation (Bayer and Cowell 2016). The method of benchmarking is thought of as an analytic procedure and it should further be used for the audit plan assessment. The variance of the actual fiscal declaration from the standard enables the recognition of the deviation as well as helps in the evaluation of the reason of the recognised variance. Along with this the analysis of the ratio could be adjudged as an effectual analytic method that can be used for contrasting the financial declarations along with the audit plan assessment (Bepari and Mollik 2015). Explanation: The outcomes of the given analytical method can be analysed with the help of ratio analysis for the last 3 years of financial statements of DIPL: The above table interprets about the liquidity, profitability and solvency status of the firm. The above table reflects that the current ratio of DIPL has declined in the last year in comparison with the last few years. This reflects that the company is not utilizing its working capital cycle. In addition to this, the profit margin of the firm has also declined, which infers that the company is not able to manage its direct and indirect expenses. On the other hand, it can be inferred that solvency ratio of the firm is lower, which interprets that the firm is not exposed to financial leverage risk. This is a good sign for the firm; however, it needs to increase its liquidity and profitability position in order to meet its respective short-term debt obligations. Several significant factors are innate in the auditing process, which constitutes the incident of material misstatements in the economic declarations of a specific entity. It can however be said that, several kinds of both systematic as well as unsystematic risks showing the way in which the financial misstatements are there in the organisations financial announcements. Additionally the identified risks may be due to financial as well as non-financial factors which can subsequently prevent a specific entity in reflecting a just view of the economic announcements. Based on the information from Devos and Zackrisson (2015), the detected risks may be associated with several risks of omission connected with risks of several unimaginable errors of a specific bookkeeper. Hence it can be said that it is the business risk for the DIPLs business operations. Apart from this, the employees at DIPL are inexperienced and do not possess the requisite proficiency that has escalated the total inherent risk of the organisation. Additionally, such a lack of experience can result in the committing of errors or mistakes, thereby increasing the inherent risks. This is due to the fact that the employees constitute a significant segment of the company and it is not feasible for the firm to ensure its business success as well as its growth in the future without the effective contributions from the employees. The other significant factors contributing towards the inherent risk can be categorised into several segments like the external as well as the ecological or environmental aspects as well as the materialistic misstatements in the previous time points as well as the false exercises. The environmental aspects directing the method towards the inherent risk comprises rapid alternations where the matters could arise connected to the valuation of invento ry, intense competition in the market as well as the lack of sufficient money. Apart from this, there is the chance of materialistic misstatements that can direct the DIPL towards the inherent risk in the years to come. The analytical process of the current case of the DIPL shows the fact that the issues as well as the complexities related to the CEO succession constitutes the inherent risks also. In core it can be said that the succession of CEO is different as the candidates are individuals (Graham 2015). Hence, the commencement of the procedure, without complying to the strategy, delayed initiation of the process, ineffective connection of the CEO as well as staff attrition may result in an inherent risk. The analysis of the case provided implies that the implementation procedure of the IT system has caused certain issues. DIPL has a shortage of employees for managing the implementation process as well as installation along with the reconciliation conduction as well as the testing which should be primarily before the new arrangement at the period end. Additionally, the initial assessment disclosed that numerous transactions carried out were recorded in a suitable manner. Thus the results in material misstatements because of the inherent factors that is an error of deletion in a specific economic announcement. The DIPL staff members need to follow a suitable sequence for registering the receivable accounts as well as ledgers connected to the accounts receivable. Along with this, the reconciliation of the bank, is required to be properly recorded as well (Milonas et al. 2016). Further, it can be said that the revenue registration found from the e-book and considering the textbook reprinting in the future could possibly result in several inherent risks due to complexity associated with the procedure. Thus the inventory valuation applicable to the raw materials at an average cost is not at all suitable as the average cost is not apt, as the average cost is much below the existing paper cost. The discerned inherent risks can be adjudged as the susceptibility of a particular assertion in connection to the materialistic misstatements and are shown briefly as follows: Increasing burden on the employees as well as the management: It is because of the increasing burden of work on the DIPL staff, that it has resulted in the inaccurate bookkeeping. As a result, several attributes have occurred that include the propensity in encountering the cash flow, operating results as well as the poor liquidity. Risk of errors due to incorrect representation: Intricacy as well as dependability is inherent because of the risk related with the errors as well wrong interpretation in a simultaneous manner. Overall management integrity: According to the case study, the DIPLs management possess the lack of integrity it is desired that it will be ready for any possible loss in the business community. Abnormal pressure on the management: Occasionally it so happens that there exist incentives for the management. As a result financial announcements have several misstatements (Nalewaik and Mills 2016). Nature of the business entity: DIPL contributes to the major growth in economic as well as circumstances of competitive nature. Additionally, these aspects might have an influence on the underlying risks of the business entities for the audit planning assessment in a suitable fashion. According to Saad (2014), the risks of fraud, could probably result in severe losses of the assets because of several fraudulent activities. The motivational lack in the workforce due to the additional pressure of work on the staff could probably influence them to get involved in several fraudulent activities. With this, the expectations form several groups of investors in the reporting of specific financial results or particularly in case of the management in achieving the suitable targets of performance had a chance of resulting in significantly increased fraud risks. Further, strong amount of pressure is exerted on the management of the corporation in order to announce specific economic results in a bid to avert the generation of the guarantees. The main types of risks identified in the context of DIPLs business operations are briefly classified as follows: Types of risk Identification Engagement of the total workforce in fraudulent activities The case study provided conforming to the operations of the DIPL states that the board has put immense pressure on the company in acquiring an innovative system of accounting. Such additional staff pressure in performing the new information installation process for accounting may result in fraud. This implies that the staff may be involved in fraudulent activities for managing the behaviours as well as the reconciliation process in an effective fashion, and also the materialistic misstatements. The provide case shows, that the ineffective management of the process execution connected to the implementation of the information technology for the accounting results system in incorrect allotment of several transactions at the period end. This results in severe loss due to the material misstatements as well as fraudulent risks (DeFond and Zhang 2014). Way pertaining to economic reporting Another risk of fraud that may confront the DIPLs business operations may take the risk related to the financial reporting fraud into account. At the time of certain situations, it has been found that there is additional expectation from the management or from the external financers. This form of expectation is to achieve the particular targets of the performance of different goals to qualify for obtaining debt. There is enhanced risk of incorrect declarations of a financial nature. Based on the DIPLs balance sheet statement the net revenue of the organisation has increased. Gross and net income has also increased. Current assets have also escalated. Due to the failure of the organisation in maintaining the standard yardsticks, the organisation became ineligible in acquiring funds. Depending on the provided case study, it can be stated that the evaluation method associated with the inventory valuation of several raw materials at specific average costs is not appropriate. This is because the existing cost of paper is higher considerably that the average cost. The risk connected with the financial reporting could have been recognised by the dissection of the financial statements on part of the assessors. Benchmarking is thought of as an analytic process and could be utilised for the audit plan assessment. The real financial declaration from the yardstick helps in the recognising of the deviation and helps in the evaluation of the recognised variance. References: Barr-Pulliam, D., Nkansa, P., Walker, K., appreciate helpful comments from Helen, W., Brown-Liburd, A.G. and Stefaniak, C., 2017. From Compliance to Strategy: Using the Three Lines of Defense Model to Evaluate and Motivate Internal Audit Contributions to Accounting Research. Bayer, R. and Cowell, F., 2016. Tax compliance by firms and audit policy.Research in Economics,70(1), pp.38-52. Bepari, M.K. and Mollik, A.T., 2015. Effect of audit quality and accounting and finance backgrounds of audit committee members on firms compliance with IFRS for goodwill impairment testing.Journal of Applied Accounting Research,16(2), pp.196-220. Bryce, M., Ali, M.J. and Mather, P.R., 2015. Accounting quality in the pre-/post-IFRS adoption periods and the impact on audit committee effectivenessEvidence from Australia.Pacific-Basin Finance Journal,35, pp.163-181. Cason, T.N., Friesen, L. and Gangadharan, L., 2016. Regulatory performance of audit tournaments and compliance observability.European Economic Review,85, pp.288-306. DeFond, M. and Zhang, J., 2014. A review of archival auditing research.Journal of Accounting and Economics,58(2), pp.275-326. Devos, K. and Zackrisson, M., 2015. Tax compliance and the public disclosure of tax information: An Australia/Norway comparison.eJournal of Tax Research,13(1), p.108. Gani, I., Wijeweera, A. and Eddie, I., 2017. Audit Committee Compliance and Company Performance Nexus: Evidence from ASX Listed Companies.Business and Economic Research,7(2), pp.135-145. Graham, L., 2015.Internal Control Audit and Compliance: Documentation and Testing Under the New COSO Framework. John Wiley Sons. Gray, S.E., Sekendiz, B., Norton, K., Dietrich, J., Keyzer, P., Coyle, I.R. and Finch, C., 2016. The development and application of an observational audit tool for use in Australian fitness facilities.Journal of Fitness Research,5(1), p.29. Milonas, A., Hutchinson, A., Charlesworth, D., Doric, A., Green, J. and Considine, J., 2016. Post resuscitation management of cardiac arrest patients in the critical care environment: A retrospective audit of compliance with evidence based guidelines.Australian Critical Care. Mumford, V., Greenfield, D., Hogden, A., Debono, D., Gospodarevskaya, E., Forde, K., Westbrook, J. and Braithwaite, J., 2014. Disentangling quality and safety indicator data: a longitudinal, comparative study of hand hygiene compliance and accreditation outcomes in 96 Australian hospitals.BMJ open,4(9), p.e005284. Nalewaik, A. and Mills, A., 2016.Project Performance Review: Capturing the Value of Audit, Oversight, and Compliance for Project Success. CRC Press. Saad, N., 2014. Tax knowledge, tax complexity and tax compliance: Taxpayers view.Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,109, pp.1069-1075. Stephenson, M., Mcarthur, A., Giles, K., Lockwood, C., Aromataris, E. and Pearson, A., 2015. Prevention of falls in acute hospital settings: a multi-site audit and best practice implementation project.International Journal for Quality in Health Care,28(1), pp.92-98. Zureigat, Q.M., 2015. IFRS compliance and audit quality: evidence from KSA.International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation,11(2), pp.188-201.

Happy Family Environment Essay Essay Example

Happy Family Environment Essay Paper When parents have different opinions, they should communicate with each other in a good perceptive way. They should listen and understand what the other would like to express instead of being defensive. Parents should not being sarcastic to each other. Parents should only say positive and encouragement words to each other. Parents should support each other; especially, in front of the children. When parents are able to show compassionate and love to each other, children will also feel the love. When parents are no longer fight, the whole family will experience a very happy amply. As a mom, after work, she comes home and prepares dinner for the family. She would be very happy to see Dad and the children surround the diner table studying. She understands it is a hard work for Dad to coordinate the children to doing their homework; however, with Dads direction, she would think the children would do the work much efficiently. After prepared the dinner, she would serve and we all have dinner together everyday. During dinner time, we can share our day and enlighten each other with a joke or a funny story. This will sure award us as a very happy family. We will write a custom essay sample on Happy Family Environment Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Happy Family Environment Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Happy Family Environment Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And last, our house is huge with many rooms of our own, but sleeping in the same room would make everyone feels close to each other. Not to mention that we could save a bit on the electricity bills yet it is very cozy. We have each other in one cozy room for the night. Nothing can make us happier. In conclusion, to have a happy family environment, parents should never fight, children finish their homework accordingly while mom preparing for dinner, and we all sleep in one cozy room.

Free Essays on A Story Beneath A Story

, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood†(61, Araby). The character was so shy that he could not even talk to the girl. This shyness shapes him into a person that is even shyer and who wants a companion even more than before. His adoration is also expressed through his detail while explaining his experiences of going to the market with his aunt. With all of the things going on around him such as drunken men and bargaining women, curses of laborers, and street singers who sang about troubles of their native land, her name still lay in his thoughts. This explanation provides much more unapparent information of his adoration for his mate. The things he points out is important to pay ... Free Essays on A Story Beneath A Story Free Essays on A Story Beneath A Story A Story Beneath a Story The setting in Joyce’s Araby is saturated with descriptive detail providing a unique insight into the character’s personality and his opinions on love, life, and religion. The way his environment has been described, sheds light on some emotions the character is experiencing. The setting as mold shapes the character’s views on love and life while the setting as mirror creates a mood that the character is in which can be explained through his isolation from others. Setting occurs as mirror and mold during a journey of a young man in Araby on his quest to find some form of comfort in his isolated world. The setting in Araby as mold can be seen clearly throughout the character’s word choice of explaining his environment around him because it actually shapes him into the person he is with a personality that is clearly evident to be shy and isolated. Certain words that the character uses describe mass amounts of information pertaining to the character’s life. The description he gives of his friend’s sister whom he longs for to end his seemingly long history of loneliness is filled with descriptive observations that give us a sense of adoration. â€Å"I had never spoken to her, except for a few casual words, and yet her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood†(61, Araby). The character was so shy that he could not even talk to the girl. This shyness shapes him into a person that is even shyer and who wants a companion even more than before. His adoration is also expressed through his detail while explaining his experiences of going to the market with his aunt. With all of the things going on around him such as drunken men and bargaining women, curses of laborers, and street singers who sang about troubles of their native land, her name still lay in his thoughts. This explanation provides much more unapparent information of his adoration for his mate. The things he points out is important to pay ...

A Debate On Male And Female Gamers Media Essay

A Debate On Male And Female Gamers Media Essay The purpose of this report is to highlight the biasness which has become popular in the designation of most of games that are of much interest to almost everyone in the world. This report will encompass the game makers and who play games and how this is increasing attention in the current world. The report will address games that have been observed to present biasness between men and women in the world. Since there exist several sources of games, this report will have an over view of some sources that are popular and famous in the modern world. How the biased is present or perceived will be an area of interest in this report. The question â€Å"is game design gender biased?† will enable the report to succinctly explain the steps that should be taken in order to fight gender biasness in designing of today’s games. Effect produced by this kind of biasness in game field will be also an area of concern in this report. In order for this report to highlight the gender bias f ound in the designation of today’s games, it would be of much important to understand what gender bias is. Discussion Gender bias refers to a situation whereby one sex is favored over the other. For instance you might find that men are given more priority than women in certain activities. During 1970s, men were highly favored than women in most of career fields. For example only men were allowed to take part in economic activities while women were branded as housewives. This is to mean that the act of considering one sex over the other is what counts for gender bias. From different researches that have been conducted it is shown that game design is gender biased. Game industry has been faced by several questions based on girls and women in gaming. Questions such as why girls and women have been neglected by the game industry has captured the attention of many people in the world more so the game developers individuals. The emergence of pink games movement took its roots in la te 1990s whose emphasis was based on designing games around gender specification (Tavani 2010) The intention of this movement was to provide females; girls and women with what they desired. This was a way of encouraging girls and women to develop positive attitude toward games. The most popular games are computer games whose directory of playing is based on commands or set of instructions. The pink games movement had intent of motivating females to embrace the ever changing technology in the world. If girls and women are allowed to participate or play computer games, they would become active players of such games and also got involved in the advanced technology and also what today is known as computer science. Through games, girls would solve problems associated with disenfranchisement. This has enabled many games developers to understand the importance of equity or fair treatment when it comes to the issue of designing games. As per concern to this report, it is therefore crucial f or games developers to embark on or consider fairly homogenous and stereotypical ideas of gender. Games designing biasness have made games industry to experience a long period of recess. This has resulted from the fact that many of the titles of popular games have less taste to women. Only men are favored although they have been said to spend little time in playing such games. Games design is the only known product for the games industry and therefore in order to capture a diverse market for its product, it should therefore take into consideration various issues based on game designing. For instance it should ensure that the titles for the games are free from gender bias. These titles should also have same levels of taste to all sex this is to mean that they should be universal to all. The game developers need to focus on titles that are in a capacity to cater for a variety of tastes of people without catching a certain part of population and ignoring the other (Garner, 2004).

Environmental effects of intensive dairy farming (esp impacts on Essay

Environmental effects of intensive dairy farming (esp impacts on water) in NZ - Essay Example I will then look into websites especially those ending in â€Å"nz† as they are all from New Zealand. I will then look more into these and by browsing through all of them, I can somehow get an idea about what to write regarding the environmental effects of intensive dairy farming. I am actually expecting that there will be a variety of topics to discuss but I was determined to focus on the negative or harmful effects of intensive dairy farming, especially on how it affects the waters and the water supply. However, aside from using those websites which end in â€Å"nz,† I will also try exploring all those with â€Å"edu† or â€Å"org† or even those whose endings are â€Å"com† and â€Å"net† as long as they particularly refer to the environmental effects of intensive dairy farming. Moreover, I also have to search Google Scholar for any possible journal articles related to New Zealand and the intensive dairy farming problem there. I will be using the keywords â€Å"New Zealand† and â€Å"intensive dairy farming,† and I will then make my search primarily on the aspect of the problem that deals with water and at the same time not leaving the other parts. For the journal articles, I should take care not to consider those published before 2000 as they could actually be too obsolete already. Moreover, it would be better for me to choose journal articles that have been published in New Zealand compared to those that have been published in other countries as the former are more related to the environmental issue that I want to investigate. Aside from Google Scholar, I will also try out other databases. Moreover, I will select only those journal articles that have a complete or full report, whether in doc, html or pdf format. I will not select those with only an abstract because those will never explain the reasons behind the findings. Furthermore, I will not

Mary Prince Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mary Prince - Essay Example Hence, her strong willingness and intelligence proved to be her best alley in life. Mary’s life is filled with struggle and sorrow with small sprinkling of hope and joy in-between. But, her initial years were tranquil and uneventful. The day her sisters and she were sold out proves to be the most tragic incident of her life. This is a black day marked by her mother’s sorrowful words as she dresses her kids in the coarse clothes, See, I am shrouding my poor children; what a task for a mother! (Page 3). It was the end of the tranquil days and an advent into hardships and sufferings. The rest that included beatings, stripping, physical and sexual assaults were just continuous black phase suffered most of her life. Hence, her first sale at the tender young age was the landmark day in her life and marks the most sorrowful occasion of her entire existence. Mary was not the isolated slave who suffered ill-treatment at the hands of her owners. Abuse of the slaves was sadly a very common occurrence as was evident from Mary’s account of other slaves such as the little slave children, Cyrus and Jack. Both these kids were subjected to the most brutal punishments right from a very young age for almost no reasons. Hetty, whom Mary called Aunt in affection also, went to an early grave because of her master’s severe physical punishments during the off set of pregnancy. Hetty was the most efficient person of the household and apparently took the entire responsibility of the house upon herself. But, one small slip and no one spared a single bout of mercy to her spanking her so much that she had an early labor and died after some time. Colonialism and Imperialism robbed Mary of her childhood. It took her away from her family at a very young age and later also alienated with her husband whom she loved a lot. It degraded her mentally and physically as she

Why Expand Breadtalk in Japan Essay Example for Free

Why Expand Breadtalk in Japan Essay * Executive summary In this assignment The focus would be on why I would suggest BreadTalk to have its presence in Japan along with supporting sources and references broken down into introduction, market trend, environment analysis, marketing mix with 4ps and competitors analysis, implementation, evaluation and control, overall report, justification and references. * Introduction The first flagship store that BreadTalk started from was from a little humble store in Bugis Juction located in the City of Singapore. It was in July 2000 started with a dream fuelled by the desire to bring a new concept of bread making to a whole new level by introducing their signature see thru kitchens which allow their chefs to showcase their expertise upfront, sharing the preparation of the freshly browned breads. ( BreadTalk, 2012)  BreadTalks mission is to be Leading a new lifestyle culture with new, innovative changes and creative differentiation to craft products with passion and vibrancy (BreadTalk,2009) BreadTalks Vision Establish BreadTalk as the foremost international, trend-setting lifestyle bakery brand (BreadTalk,2009) In 2012 their vision statement changed to We have a shared vision to be an international trend-setting lifestyle brand. To this end, we have taken bold strides in introducing new food culture with revolutionary changes and ingenious differentiation. Our products are also crafted with passion and vibrancy to the highest quality. We are confident that our strategies will lend us a distinct competitive advantage and a platform for continued growth. (BreadTalk, 2012) * Market Trend environment analysis(Macro Analysis) eating habits Why Japan Why? It is long known that Japan is a fast pace city filled with convenient store popping up almost every corner of the street in Japan by taking an example of the success of 7-11 in Japan which is now own by Seven I Holdings Co., Ltd. 7-11 in Japan have 14005 stores based on 29 February 2012 as compared to North America which have only 7149 stores based on 31 December 2011.(7i 2012) Its sale of food items make up of 64.9% of total sales. (7i 2012) Based on an article publish on 2 April 2012 titled Wave of Grain by slate.com have suggested that wheat based products like bread and noodles are more popular then rice products in Japan Adding on to the trend of demand for bread, in 28 September 2010 an article written by Juniper Foo for CNet with the title of Make bread out of rice with Sanyos Gopan noted that bread is such a popular consumed product in Japan that Japanese inventor manage to turned rice into flour that is suitable to make rice breads and the machine was sold out despite its high cost of about 50,000 Yen. Western influence on Japanese have more Japanese choosing to dine out rather than the old tradition of eating at home and have chosen more American food over Japanese food. Food such as Beef are constantly becoming a primary diet for Japanese to eat. (CafeTerra, 2008) In an old article called Sweets in disguise back in 2005, It was suggested that Japan consumer like things that are sweet especially to the younger generation of women in Japan. (Trends in Japan 2005) When it comes to behaviour trends, Japanese  consumer are seen to be cutting on spending and like dinning out and holidays and shown an increase on instant food consumption as shown in Research done by 500 consumer both genders nationwide, aged 16 and above (Research Panel Asia May 2011) On top of that, Japanese consumer are also seen to be hunting for the cheapest deal and flocking online to cut cost (Brian Salsberg, March 2010) Green tea culture is still strong in Japan based on a research data realise in 2009 shows that Japanese consume about 80000 tons of green tea yearly (S.C August 2009) Other trends on Japanese eating habit includes a shift to healthier more organic food as mention in this article called just what the doctor ordered. (Trends in Japan August 2008) adding onto both eating habit and organic food, in another report done by Oceanus, titled Japan’s Consumer Trends and Opportunities have suggested that mother play a big role in deciding what food is for the family and with the continues scare of disaster and radiation leak etc, they become really particular with what inside the food contain. (Oceanus Marketing March 2012) Last of all, there is a growing trend of families in Japan becoming smaller with the increase of singlehood and people living alone or with a friend/etc over the past few years. base on the figure taken from Euromonitor This suggest more people would eat out in Japan instead (gov.mb.ca, March 2010) Base on http://data.worldbank.org, it stated that Japans average annual income per person is about $45,180 USD for 2011 which translate into about 3.53161885 million Yen Base on japan-guide.com, an average meal price can range from 500 yen to 1000 yen and more expansive meals can cost 1000 Yen 3000 Yen. (do note as of 30 july 2012 exchange rate is 1000 yen to $15.96) * Marketing Mix 4Ps with competitor analyzes Place When it comes to location, BreadTalk is known to set up its stores in high human traffic location and its concept of enable customer to pick and purchase fresh ready to eat bread conveniently within a very short time is what pulls customers to their shop taking example from Singapore outlets like 313 Somerset shopping mall which is high in human traffic and strategically place near the entrance of Somerset MRT also known to be the  train transport station. (BreadTalk, 2012) So based on a figure of retail rental fee in Singapore as compared to Tokyo published on July 2012 by Barbara Farfan, Singapore rental retail space is about $455 USD in 1Q 2012 per sq feet annually as compared to Tokyo which is $1025 USD per sq feet annually (Barbara Farfan, July 2012) As for their competitors like Bread studio which is well establish in Japan, they also place themselves in high human traffic area like their train station. As the map on the left shows where Bread studio is located which is at Amagasaki station (Kobeya Baking, 2011) (Kobeya Baking, 2011, Google map) Whats More, Tokyo would be the best start up place in Japan as its filled with the highest population of 8.956 million residents compared to its second highest city Yokohama which have 3.690 million (Yasunori Sato May 2012) Product BreadTalk is an established brand with presents spread out internationally with 17 countries mostly in Asia countries and its famous for its best selling bread known as the Floss which is a unique soft light bread with flavoured with egg cream and topped off with lots of pork floss. (BreadTalk 2009) Hence a suggestion for a product should be focus on having a stronger and sweeter taste for its bread as suggested earlier in the report based on current trends in Japan. BreadTalk could consider Having a range of organic product that would be target to very heath conscious customers in Japan with a possible light packaging stating any possible chemical or preservative as mention above under the current trend section with the article title of Just what the doctor ordered. Another new possible resource product opportunity is that BreadTalk can utilized Sanyos Gopan rice to bread making machine to launch new bread product line that is safe for those allergic to Wheat based products. (Slowfoodrocks.com,2011) Especially When the machine which was first launch in October 8 2010 and was completely sold out even with the price tag of 50,000 Yen. Do show the demand of Rice base bread in the market of Japan. (Juniper Foo, 2010) Another great selling point of BreadTalk  would be its wide variety of different unique creative creation of bread that appeals to many consumers as it focus is on being different from the rest. Unlike Many Japanese bakery product that is heavily and beautifully packaged like Kobeyas bread which is part of Bread studio Japan (BreadTalk potential competitor in Japan) as seen in the image on the left One competitive suggestion that BreadTalk have is simplicity. Where the actual product display like the one on the right should be able to sell (source image: Kobeya,2012) (image source:BreadTalkme.com) without any heavy packaging at all that cover the product up or even no packaging. Promotion As mentioned earlier since BreadTalk is such an established brand in Asia countries, having to set up a foot print of one of the must visit city in the world, Tokyo city which have seen a record of 8.6,million tourist in 2010 and out of it 2.44 million are south Korea visitor which BreadTalk is established in along with 1.41 Million from China which BreadTalk existed in and 1.27million from Taiwan which BreadTalk is established as a Joint-Ventura with Lin Cheng Yi in Taiwan back in 2005 (BreadTalk 2012) Does show a lot of potential BreadTalk patrons tourist in Tokyo to visit a BreadTalk establishment in Tokyo. (Mayank Gupta, January 2011) Naturally, Japan is normally cited for crazy wacky ideas. A suggestion of how BreadTalk should promote their products is though an electric paper/flyer. As a limited one time offer for market penetration and that should make a bigger impact on consumers mind of a new upcoming brand in the market (Amar Toor, March 2012) Price. Like any other bakery especially dealing with competitive low price products, the issue with inflation is always looming around with possible price influx  of prime stall rental rates, change is resource price like flour, eggs, etc and possible new demand on worker pay increase and changes in utilities bill. Take for example based on the static price history of flour from (ers.usda.gov, 2012) its shows that in Jan 2010, prices of flour were $153USD per metric ton but in Jan 2011, the prices rose to $272USD per metric ton. As of mentioned earlier regards to rental fee in Singapore and Tokyo, $455 USD compared to $1025 USD in Tokyo do suggest that whichever item that BreadTalk is selling in Singapore have to sell it at double the cost which is surprising competitive in the Japanese market take for example a simple slice of bread with butter would cost 150 Yen which is about $2.40SGD (Heart-Bread shop) up to 1365 Yen for a loaf of Bread which is about $21.70SGD (shop.gnavi.co.jp) Hence pricing for BreadTalk going into Japan wouldnt be of an issue. * Implementation, evaluation and control 1.First 3 months. Selecting a High human traffic area with easy transportation system like beside/inside a train station located at the very heart of Tokyo and bringing the same open concept store setting where it enable curious onlooker to see the operation of creating a perfect BreadTalk bread. Also building a brand imagine with customer and bringing some Singapore cultural taste like the floss Bread into Japanese daily diet with a twist of taste adjustment of the product to be a little stronger for Japanese liking. To create a more lasting impression, a suggestion of issuing electrical paper flyer for the first month of operation as a limited edition advertising item as people may be tempted to keep it due to its uniqueness and with each time potential consumer look at it, Theres a possibility they would try it and with those who have already tired BreadTalk, there is a chance that they may return to buy it again. To create more awareness, electric paper advertisement should be place inside train station and inside the train itself as public train transport is the main and economical way of travelling around in Tokyo. (Japway.com) and maximized band exposure for the next 6 months. To build Japans BreadTalk website, have a channel of collecting customer feedback in-stall by either filling feedback forums or  dropping off e-mails at the Japans BreadTalk website By the end of 3 months. i suggest that the way to measure success would be based on the ability to pay the shop rent, resources and the staff working in the shop a long with some advertisement fee. If earning falls short, i suggest having a free bread day to create more brand awareness and hopefully get people more addicted to BreadTalks product. 2.Following 6 months This following 6 month would be use to bring in more Breadtalk Varieties based on customers feedback on what food items is prefer in terms of taste and also use existing sale figures to determine whats the best selling product and develop more varsities on it for example if the Japanese love BreadTalk cream cheese bun, how about coming out with wasabi favour cream cheese buns? It can be done by a series of promotion like having 1 free wasabi bun for every 3 buns purchased. Also the introduction of free small bun sampling would be effective to let consumer try new type of products. As mention in the earlier part of this report writing, to stand out from other competitors is have loaf of bread made from rice flour to target customer who are allergic to wheat base product. Factor to determine if success or not would be based on not only the ability to make profit but also cover at least half of the start up fee. If target is not met, the suggestion of having all day student and senior citizen rates for BreadTalk products to be implemented to drive up sales. 3.The next 3 months. It would be focus on Expansion on of BreadTalk outlets to other high human traffic areas that area are near to transportation hubs and the implementation of home and office delivery system via walking to those customer who stay nearby the outlets within and to those who stay near train station within Tokyo City. To create more awareness of the delivery system, advertisement should be carried out in train station around Tokyo to tell consumer that delivery is now possible. success would be based on popularity of delivery service used and at the same time sustainability of outlets  profit. If profit falls into loss, the company may want to consider having contracts with schools and offices to supply fresh buns as a mean of stable income. * Conclusion Based on the report and all reference and suggestion and marketing ideas, It seem to me that Tokyo would be an ideal place to start up a new outlet for BreadTalk as opportunity with a potential pool of 8.956million customer is available not counting the tourist figure of 8.6million that visited the city during 2010. Its concept of being like a convenient store just like 7-11 would possibly bring in good profit and expand in no time with the trend shifting to fresh fast quick healthy cheap and convenient food products not forgetting the good infrastructure in place for easy access to customers citywide. Reference List: http://breadtalkindia.com/html/aboutUs.htm ( 2009 vision and statement) http://www.breadtalk.com.sg/ourstory.php ( concept and vision statement change 2012) http://www.7andi.com/en/ir/pdf/annual/2012_05.pdf ( Number of 7-11 stores in Japan compared to North America) http://www.7andi.com/en/ir/pdf/annual/2012_13.pdf ( Food sales percentage in 7-11 Japan) http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2012/04/wheat_in_japan_how_the_nation_learned_to_love_the_american_grain_instead_of_rice_.html ( Japanese prefer Bread over rice ) http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20017956-1.html (rice to bread flour machine and bakery) http://breadtalkindia.com/html/breads.htm (Floss Product) http://www.breadtalk.com.sg/loc_central.php (location) http://www.ers.usda.gov/datafiles/Wheat_Wheat_Data/Yearbook_Tables/Domestic_and_International_Prices/WheatYearbookTable20.pdf (price flour change) http://www.cafeterra.info/2008/11/food-and-health-in-japan.html (Japanese chose to eat out more and more beef in their diet) http://web-japan.org/trends/lifestyle/lif051221.html ( Sweet Trend) http://www.researchpanelasia.com/newspr/pressrelease/2011/may_11th.html (total spending cut) http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_new_Japanese_consumer_2548 (new Japanese consumer trend) http://www.teatronaturale.com/article/952.html (green tea demand) http://web-japan.org/trends/07_food/jfd080808.html (Trends in Japan ) http://www.oceanusmarketing.com/2012/03/24/japan%E2%80%99s-consumer-trends-and-opportunities/ (organic food and possible food danger in japan) http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/statistics/agri-food/japan_consumer_report_en.pdf (statics on living household) http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD (average annual income per person) http://retailindustry.about.com/od/famousretailers/a/Highest-Retail-Store-Rental-Prices-In-The-World-Global-Comparison-2007-2012.htm (Retail rental fees)

Urban Survey of Vancouver :: miscellaneous

Urban Survey of Vancouver I live in downtown. It is the heart of the Vancouver. It’s always busy and there are a lot of people on the streets most of the time. I believe that in my area everywhere you look you can see elements that identify that this is urban and is a part of Vancouver. The most obvious elements in downtown is of course would the high buildings. These are mostly the offices of the companies that may base in British Columbia, but also outside the British Columbia’s boundaries. These building are usually tall building, some of them have the logo of the company or companies on top of the front entrance or on the top of the building. Basically, all we can see, without going inside is that men and women go in there in suits, but we know that is where the business is handled. The usual work hours for offices from 9 am to 6 pm. I think another element would be the shopping malls and the large number of stores in Downtown area. There is a large variety of stores, no matter what you are looking for you will find it here for sure. Everything that people require to satisfy themselves, starting from clothes and ending with food. This show that this branch of the city is an important urban part. Almost every single building in downtown area is unique and because this part of the city is one the tourist attractions, the architecture of structures here is at different level than the rest of the city. There is a saying – â€Å"All roads lead to Rome†. In this case all roads lead to downtown Vancouver, for example: sea bus, B-line buses, sky-train. The great transportation routes are all somehow connecting to downtown. From downtown you can get anywhere in the Vancouver area and even further. I would also like to look at the chains of stores and other service providing places, for example Safeway, London drugs, 7-Eleven etc. These companies are very rich and they have a lot of locations. They usually sell only the â€Å"necessary† and expensive stuff. The stores usually sell junk food, and it really hard to find something healthy, but if you do, you will see do that the prices are very high. Another good example would definitely be fast food restaurant or coffee shops. I think that McDonald’s and Starbucks coffee are the leaders of in their field and they have a location on every corner in Downtown.

Proposal Submission Letter

Sample Cover Letter The Virtual Community Group, Inc. 17 Park Road Rural Town, NH July 1, 1995 Jane Smith, Executive Director Xavier Foundation 555 S. Smith St. Washington, D. C. 22222 Dear Ms. Smith, I am pleased to submit this proposal from the Virtual Community Group, Inc. , requesting an investment of $50,000 per year over two years from the Xavier Foundation to support our Enterprise 2000 initiative.This grant would provide part of the funds needed for us to train at least 1200 low-income entrepreneurs in rural New Hampshire, helping them acquire the computer skills they need to create sustainable local businesses as we enter the twenty-first century. As elsewhere in the U. S. , the economic health of New Hampshire's rural communities has suffered steady decline since the early 1900's. Family farms, which once formed an economic base supporting large numbers of rural inhabitants, have been all but eradicated by large-scale agribusiness.Moreover, since 1960, New Hampshire has los t xx% of its manufacturing jobs, as corporations or local factories have shut down or moved operations out of state. As a result, many thousands of individuals from New Hampshire — particularly our young people — are moving to cities to seek jobs, not only depopulating and further impoverishing rural communities, but contributing to the growing pool of urban unemployed.By tapping the energy of the small local entrepreneur, and linking it to the explosion in communications technologies, we believe it is possible to reverse this trend, enabling rural inhabitants to retain viable, high-quality jobs far from industrial and urban centers. Small towns would again offer a wide spectrum of employment opportunities — from small manufacturing to services to retail — and develop sound, diversified economies for the first time in generations. Unfortunately, many small entrepreneurs cannot afford either the training or equipment needed to participate in the rewards of the Information Revolution.Enterprise 2000 was designed explicitly to address this lack of parity, and help level the communications playing field. Working in collaboration with microenterprise organizations, community colleges, and agencies which recycle computer hardware, Enterprise 2000 will offer disadvantaged entrepreneurs the following services at low or no charge: †¢Day-time or evening classes in basic, intermediate, and advanced computer skills †¢Training to use the Internet and other information networks †¢Assessment of MIS needsAccess to reconditioned computer hardware After two years of experimentation and program development, the Virtual Community Group has fashioned a superb, easily replicable model in Enterprise 2000, and established a high degree of credibility among community groups, policy makers, and funders. Our collaboration with other agencies leverages every dollar invested.Given that the Xavier Foundation has already made a number of strategic investments to improve the lives of the rural poor, we are calling on you to help us advance our joint objective one step further. I appreciate your consideration of this proposal. Please feel free to call me if you have questions or would like us to arrange a site visit. I look forward to meeting with you soon. Sincerely, Executive Director (This sample cover letter was created for AGM by Molly Clark Associates. )

How to Invest Like Warren Buffett Essay

Introduction Simplicity is the best word to describe the life of philanthropist and mega-billionaire Warren Buffett. The same single word also depicts his multi-billion worth of investment principles and strategies (Cunningham, 2008, p. 18). For more than fifty years Buffett was able to build a multi-billion investment empire with his simple investment philosophy. Like his more than 60 billion dollar fortune under his name, Buffett, who is by far the greatest philanthropist of all time for donating almost all of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is also one of the most observed and most admired personalities in business with countless of articles, books and blogs written about him. If most common people look at him as the most generous man in the world today, people in the corporate world regard him as the greatest guru— or even ‘God’— in the realm of investment. With his great fortune, he is considered ‘God’ in investment because of his ability to spot real value when everybody focuses their attention on market movements and because of his unparalleled skills and knowledge to transform simplicity into greatness. If most billionaires like Bill Gates and Lakshmi Mittal built their business empires through managing profitable technology corporations and industrial firms, Buffett made billions by simply knowing how and when to invest his money. How He Started To know more about the investing secrets of Warren Buffett, it is necessary to look at how he managed his most precious property— his life, and how he lives it (Schroeder, 2008, p.1). He learned how and when to earn money at an early age, and he filed his first income tax return when he was only 13 (Sosik, 2006, p.149). Buffett’s value investment career started when he put his money in Berkshire Hathaway, a little known and ignored holding company based in Omaha, Nebraska in the 60’s. Now everybody is startled to know that if you invested $10,000 in the company in 1965, the value of that money today would be more than $30 million (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If his close billionaire friend Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard University to focus on Microsoft Corporation, Buffett, who is known in the business world as ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ was rejected by Harvard Business School. This experience somehow taught him a great deal not only about business but also about life. To most people Harvard is one of the best, if not the best, schools in the world, but Buffett thought otherwise— his basis of choosing school was not the institution, but the people who would impart the requisite knowledge and values. So when asked about his mentors, Buffett only had three people on top of his mind— his father, Benjamin Graham, and Phil Fisher. His father— Howard Buffett— taught him the positive values he needed to live, while Graham and Fisher taught him the basic principles in investment and how to make money in this profession. His investment style is consisted in the following rubric— think outside the box. When he graduated from college, he wanted to make money in Wall Street, but his father and Graham discouraged him (Miles, 2004, p. 30). The two believed that there were great opportunities waiting for him outside Wall Street. That was the time when everybody wanted to work on Wall Street and when everybody focused their attention on the stock market. Buffett believes that stocks are more than just an asset or capital; it is business. His Philosophy It would be futile to know the secrets of his billion dollar secrets without knowing how he thinks and what he believes in. Unfortunately, most of his biographers failed miserably to look into what is in the mind of the world’s greatest investor. In fact, a review of some literatures and articles would reveal that they just focus on the extrinsic side of Warren Buffett; they failed to look at the intrinsic aspect of his life. Many believe that his philosophy is consisted in these two major Buffet rules— first, never lose capital; and second, don’t ever forget the first rule (Miles, 2004, p. 70). It would be best to say that this does not embody Buffett’s philosophy but rather his tactical investment approach. A business philosophy is something that one holds as his primary direction in life— the fountainhead of his concepts and beliefs, the beacon of his goal, and the reason for living. Buffertt’s business philosophy can be expressed by his following simple quote— â€Å"Be feaful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful† (Hagstrom, 1997, p. 52). Essentially this buffett-line expresses the inherent nature of free-market system, which he and his friend Bill Gates have in common. Under a free-market system, it is rational and ethical to be greedy, since the primary goal of a capitalist is not just to earn profit but to expand it and ensure that it creates limitless profits and opportunities. For some this statement may sound ironic or paradoxical since it contradicts the popular or media-fed persona of Warren Buffett. With this belief— that greed is good, Buffett was able to transform his meager investment into a multi-billion dollar empire that even exceeded that of Gates and Mittal. His investment experience proves that by creatively and greedily investing one’s money— one can make a good or even great fortune out of creative value investment. So what does it take to be like Warren Buffett? Definitely it takes a rational and moral philosophy, proper knowledge, and non-conventional investment point of view to follow the billion dollar investment footsteps of Buffett. But what is the role of philosophy in Warren Buffett’s billion dollar investment strategy? The problem with most people is that they tend to mainly focus on tips, secrets, or strategies. Most successful people did not achieve their status by keeping ‘success secrets’ or ‘strategies’ but by putting into action a rational philosophy that motivates and creates values. A simple look at the life and investment career of Buffett would reveal that it is his rational philosophy that continues to motivate him— that keeps on pushing him to do what he does best. As what Fridson said, budding investors must focus on â€Å"uncompromisingly rational investment philosophy† of Warren Buffett. This is because investment secrets or strategies can be absorbed or learned in a very short span of time or even overnight, but it takes an indefinite period of time to absorb and embody a rational philosophy to translate these secrets or strategies to reality. Of course, this billionaire will not exactly say what people would like to know. Contrary to the many written articles about his investment secrets or strategies, Buffett’s secret is in fact consisted only of three simple words that should be practiced everyday— â€Å"read, research, and think† (Miles, 2004, p. 70). Vague and ambiguous as it may seem but this three-pronged strategy is what Buffet practiced and embodied throughout his more than fifty years in the world of investment. That is why it is stressed in this paper that simplicity best describes the life and investment principles of Buffett. For example, this read-research-think approach of Buffett is the essential element of his cigar-butt investment method. Buffett in fact creatively applied this three-pronged approach in his early years as a value investor. Unlike most investors, Buffett put much premium on his rational judgment than on what most people see in the market. His investment style can be likened to that of a diamond prospector. He knows how to assess which diamond is real or not in just a single glance. He reads, he researches, and he thinks. His Investment Strategy Buffett’s investment strategy is governed by two rules and a number of principles. These dual rules have been mentioned above. This sets the difference between his investment philosophy and his investment strategy. Thus in this paper, Buffett’s investment strategy is composed of rules and principles. Under his primary rule, it is not sensible or moral for an investor to invest and then later on lose his money. Thus this can be avoided by paying attention to his three-pronged investment approach— read, research, and think. By following the aforementioned approach, a young investor may be able to discover several things that are essential in investment’s decision-making process. Buffett considered Graham as his investing mentor. According to Miles (2004, p. 72), it was the Graham school from which Buffett learned not just the basics but also the quantitative principles in investment. On the other hand, he learned a great deal about Fisher’s qualitative side of investment, such as brand, management skills, soft skills, and competition. Thus he said: â€Å"I am an active reader of everything Phil Fisher has to say† (Miles, 2004, p. 72). Now every promising and even established investor is eager to hear what he has to say. Despite his unparalleled success as an investor, he still gives credit to his two mentors, as he likes to say that he is 85 percent Graham and 15 percent Fisher (Hagstrom, 1997, p. 27). The reason why it is important to read, research and think is because in investment, it is highly indispensable to consider the following aspects: a) study the business; b) know well who runs it; c) put money in profits; and the most important of all d) have self-esteem. On the other hand, Buffett’s basic steps when investing are the following (Miles, 2004, p. 70): Determine how much you own Conduct research before buying Focus on business ownership not on stock ownership Simplify investments to manageable proportions Keep a single decision to hold a stock and be a continuing holder For example, before investing his money, Buffett researched first the nature and potentials of Gillette, which is still the world’s top producer of razor blade. Warren’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway invested $600 million in Gillette in 1989; four years ago it already owned 11 percent of said company. This means that from the original $600 million investment, Warren’s holding company’s investment grew up to over $3 billion. When he decided to purchase Gillette, he did not mind its value in the market but the potential profits it could muster in the long run. As a value investor, Buffett put money in securities with low prices according to their intrinsic value. In determining the value of a stock, there is no commonly acknowledged method to get the right figure. Basically, the focus of value investors is not on what the market says but on what the company’s potentials and fundamentals offer. This is because there are some companies that are undervalued by the market yet with good potentials to grow and rake in long-term profits. This is the attitude that Buffett showed to modern investors. Markets only reflect the short-term value of a company, and it takes proper knowledge, better understanding, and courage to discover which company is undervalued and has the capacity to establish a long-term profit-making success. His investment methodology Buffett’s methodology is composed of quantitative aspects in value investment. Under this process, he considers the relation between a stock’s quality and its value. Based on his method, the return on equity is equivalent to net income over shareholder’s equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). One thing that Buffett considers is debt/equity. Before investing, he conducts research whether a company kept away from excess obligation. This is actually a basic principle in investment— do not invest in a company with huge debt. To Buffett, a debt-ridden company has a low capacity to guarantee return on equity. Debt/equity can be measured by dividing the total amount of obligations by shareholders’ equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If a company has more debt than equity, it is not advisable to put money in such company since it uses debt to finance its assets and operations. For instance, a company that has a higher ratio of debt vis-à  -vis equity has an unpredictable earning capacity and is prone to high interest expenses (Vick, 2000, p. 169). When one is investing in a particular company, it is advisable to look at the long-term obligation rather than the total amount of debt. Another aspect that is considered by Buffett is the profit margin. However it is not only important to know if a company’s profit margin is high, what is more important is to know whether it is growing. The capacity of a company to earn long-term profits relies not merely on having a positive profit margin but on constantly expanding this profit scope as well. The attitude of Buffett towards investment can be explained by how he managed Berkshire Hathaway. He purchases stocks to keep the same and he does not look at stocks as a commodity that can be bought and sold but as a business entity. His investment style is simple— he buys stocks and treats them as his own business, and this business makes profits not just for a short span of time but for as long as it stays profitable. He also considers the age of the company— the longer the better. Those that stay in the business for at least ten years are good investment opportunities. Since Buffett admits that he only has a limited knowledge in technology corporations he only puts money in a business which he absolutely understands. He puts much premium on longevity, and this principle brought him where he is right now. When he invested in Berkshire Hathaway, he envisioned of a long-term business that could earn a limitless amount of profit. This is what he learned from Graham, which most researchers consider as the proponent of old school in investment. Perhaps the new school in investment is the buy-and-sell style of most investors wherein profits are short-term and limited. Interestingly, Buffett also looks at the nature of business of a particular company. If most investors usually look at numerical figures, Buffett focuses on the qualitative sides of a company. For example, if a company depends on a commodity like gas and oil, he thinks that such company only offers limited returns on equity (Investopedia Staff, 2007). If the product of a company is identical from those of its market rivals, he thinks that competition would hamper the profit-making ability of such company. To understand the importance of this approach in investment, it is necessary to look at the biggest stock holdings of Berkshire Hathaway. The holding company owns 9.5 percent of Gillette, which is the leader in razor blade industry (Jubak, 2004). It also owns 9.2 percent or $10.1 billion of Coca-Cola, which is one of the biggest companies in the beverage industry. The other companies which Berkshire has shareholdings are the following: American Express, American Standard, Ameriprise Financial, Anheuser Busch, Burlington Northern, Comcast, Comdisco, Conoco Phillips, Diageo, First Data Corp., Gannett Inc., GAP, H&R Block, Home Depot Inc., Ingersoll-Rd Co., Iron Mountain, Johnson & Johnson, among many others (Losch Management Co., 2006). Conclusion Billionaire Warren Buffett is indeed an unconventional value investor who thinks outside the box. At a time when most people paid attention to what the stock market says, Buffett relied only on his competent judgment, on his rational philosophy, and on his self-styled investment principles and strategies. That investment philosophy— be greedy when others are fearful put him to where he is right now, with billions of dollars in his. Despite his unmatched success, he remains humble and still retains the ethical values he learned from his father (Boroson, 2002, p. 18). In business, greed is moral and good. In contrast, fear is something that must be overcome to earn limitless profits from investment. Indeed, Buffett attained his unparalleled success by being ‘greedy’ while others cowered in fear of losing their money.   Taken as a whole, his investment tactic can be summarized into three essential principles— a) make your strategy simple and understandable; b) be consistent with your operations and approaches; c) focus on positive long-standing prospects. One interesting point to take into account is that Buffett’s philosophy and investment strategies never contradict each other. When he advises new investors to be ‘greedy,’ he means profits and business. And when he tells people who would like to follow his footsteps to read, research, and think, he would like them to rely on their own judgment and not be affected by other people’s opinion and market trends. With his more than fifty years in business, Buffett introduced the importance of self-esteem in investment. That it is important to rely on one’s moral judgment. By relying on his own judgment, Buffett maximized his profit-making capacity through Berkshire Hathaway. This means that there is no difference between the work ethics and potentials of a value investor and an industrialist. If Bill Gates and Lakshmi Mittal both create technology through their colossal industrial empires, Buffett creates limitless potentials through his creative and self-inspired investment principles. REFERENCES Boroson, W. (2002). J.K. Lasser’s Pick Stock Like Warren Buffett. New York: Wiley Cunningham, L.A. (2002). How to Think Lke Benjamin Graham and Invest Like Warren Buffett. New York: McGrawhill Professional. Losch Management Co. (2006). Berkshire Hathaway Stock Holdings 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.loschmanagement.com/Berkshire%20Hathaway/Berkshire%20Holdings/2006.pdf Hagstrom, R.G. (1997). The Warren Buffett Way: The Investment Strategies of the World’s Greatest Investor. New York: Wiley. Investopedia Staff (2007, September 21). Warren Buffett: How He Does It. International Business Times. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20070921/how-he-does-it.htm Miles, R.P. (2004). Warren Buffett Wealth. Principles and Tactical Methods Used by the World’s Greatest Investor. London: Wiley Sosik, J.J. (2006). Leading With Character.   North Carolina: Information Age Publishing. Vick, T.P. (2000). How to Pick Stock Like Warren Buffett. New York: McGrawhill Professional.

Technology and Typos

Technology and Typos Technology and Typos Technology and Typos By Mark Nichol Just a week after a typographical error in campaign materials for Mitt Romney prompted newspaper headlines, more spelling mistakes by the Romney campaign and the Obama administration alike made the news. A misspelling of America in Romney’s iPhone â€Å"With Mitt† app was followed by a reference to Ronald Reagan spelled â€Å"Ronald Regan† in a slide show at a donor event, a misspelling in a video of â€Å"sneak-peak† instead of â€Å"sneak-peek† (tsk! nobody pointed out that in addition, the hyphen is extraneous), and an invitation to buy â€Å"offical† campaign gear. (The latter two errors appeared on Romney’s Facebook page.) The Obama administration has a few red check marks on its assignments, too: Last year, the White House’s Twitter account misspelled Libya, and Obama himself was seen misspelling Syracuse. He was also called out for a couple of mistakes in the spelling of the names of historical figures in his 1995 memoir. What is the world coming to? In the vicious world of politics, these flubs have provided hooks to hang vitriol on. The misspelling by Romney’s staff of America and Reagan, two key words in Republican ideology, and the other mistakes associated with his campaign have been exploited to attack his suitability for higher office a specious argument, regardless of what you may think about just that. The same goes for Obama, though he is directly responsible for the mistakes in his book. But these errors do provide valuable lessons for everyone. Most important, just as evolution does not mean â€Å"improvement† (the basic definition is â€Å"change†), progress does not mean â€Å"things get better.† And a corollary point is this: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. How did these errors happen? Because it was easy for them to happen. I wasn’t at the scene of any of these misdemeanor crimes against the English language, but my guess is that in the case of the Romney campaign’s typos, and the Obama administration’s misspelling of Libya, a single person was involved: Tap on a few keys, click a couple of buttons, and presto! the app is launched, the video text is entered, the website copy is live. In the past, political campaigns, like other organizations, took a more measured approach to getting the words out: Drafts were circulated, revised, vetted. Errors occurred, but seldom, because the process rendered the environment hostile to mistakes. Now, however, technology allows one person to have control over dissemination (and sensible people will realize that even if multiple pairs of eyeballs were involved in any of these boo-boos, none of those sensory organs belonged to Romney or Obama himself). Why is it any different now? Why are decision makers so careless in assuming that just because a procedure can be simplified, the protocol for effecting the outcome of the procedure can be minimized as well? Because easier translates to faster and cheaper. But what about quality? You’ll notice nobody defended these errors by saying, â€Å"You know what we meant by Amercia† or â€Å"Everybody knows who ‘Ronald Regan’ refers to† or â€Å"The Libyans spell their country’s name al-LÄ «biyyah, so go figure.† Nor were any announcements made about any heads rolling as a result of the mistakes. We shouldn’t shrug these errors off, however. There are more pressing issues in politics than an apparent aversion to spell-checking, but clear communication is compromised when the ease of use of technology enables carelessness. These mistakes are symptoms of a decline in quality control in our written language and an attendant apathy about the issue. And when impressionable younger people, already inured to the attraction of text-speak, see that our society is blasà © and blithe about how sequences of alphabetical characters are displayed (spelling errors are already ubiquitous, whether on billboards or chalkboards), they receive a subliminal message that precision and perfection are not worthy (if ultimately unattainable) goals. I don’t mean to come across as an alarmist reactionary. Again, we’ve got more important things to take care of. But in the meantime, we shouldn’t let the little things slip away unheeded. And I’ve admitted making errors myself. But as we use our handy little keyboards and keypads, let’s all be more careful out there. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:15 Terms for Those Who Tell the FutureRules for Capitalization in TitlesWoof or Weft?

OH&S-Hazard audit & control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

OH&S-Hazard audit & control - Essay Example The precautions to avoid accidents should be taken and the long time effects on the health of the employees need to be avoided. 1.1 Fork lifts: The tools and machinery used in the warehouse are capable of causing injury through accidents. The conveyors, forklifts, scissor lifts, stacker cranes and overhead gantry may result in falls, entrapment in moving parts, falling or objects, collapsing stacks and dislodgement in machine parts. The machinery involved in the ware house can be a danger to the health of the employee, if it is not designed to be safe, not well made, not properly guarded, not well maintained, used in different conditions than it was meant for, illegal modification and the conditions like the operator not supervising the or not able to concentrate for any reason. The occupational health and safety laws in Australia will cover the hazards that are associated with tools, equipment and machinery in the work place. Some states in the country and territories do have problem specific regulations. These are capable of minimizing the plant hazards. The employer must assure that tools and equipment ar e safe. If the machinery used is the old one, it may cause break down. The people or the companies who design, manufacture, sell and install the machinery have to make sure that they design safe tools and working conditions for the workers according to the Australia. The employees too need to show the responsibility according to the state or territory government laws. They should follow the operating procedures given by the employer. These procedures are generally supplied to the employees by the representative of the employer in the form of supervisor or manager. The employee should behave in ways that are safe, which are provided by employer and can avoid danger to health and safety due to machinery. The employee should report to the manager in case of detection of problems regarding the fork lifts and machinery. The company has to follow the strategies of reducing risk. Checking the plant for probability of causing an accident is necessary as it can affect the people's health. This is known as identifying the hazard. In case of fork lifts, the machinery involved should be checked by employee and super visor everyday for symptoms of causing hazards. This is possible from making out the situation about the probability of danger happening. The measures should be taken to avoid them also need to be drafted. When it was found that the fork lift is not in a position to work according to safety conditions, it should be turned off till it was repaired. Every day the supervisor should assess the machines with the employees about their working condition. The changes made to prevent any accident or health affect are known as the measures taken for controlling the risk. The regular monitoring of the methods is needed to protect the people from accidents or health problems. This will be very effective as the regular checking will expose any faults present in the methods involved.

Are the British and Canadian Political Systems Similar Why or Why Not Essay

Are the British and Canadian Political Systems Similar Why or Why Not - Essay Example The international and domestic environment shaped by a country’s political systems has significant influences on the status of the citizens. Political systems helps the government to establish key public institutions and systems like health and education and are responsible for maintaining public order and citizen safety. This is through various agencies that are responsible for formulating, implementing, and enforcing government policies with an aim of achieving specific goals. Britain has a parliamentarian system of government where majoritarian and populism are the widely accepted political philosophy to meet the requirements of the people. History has heavily shaped Britain’s and Canada’s political systems. The political system in Britain and Canada advocate for the formation of governments by political parties that have majority control over the legislative assembly (Montpetit & Foucault, 2010). The constitution of these two countries stipulates that members of parliament should be elected through single -member plurality systems; where the elected individuals represent their constituents in parliament. These individuals must obtain the largest number of votes during elections. The party that garners the largest number of seat in parliament forms the government; with their elected members expected to support the government’s agendas and bills introduced in parliaments. These majority governments are powerful and easily pass their own policy issues irrespective of opposition by political parties outside the ruling party (Klingermann, Hofferbert & Budge, 1994). Argument This paper will argue that Britain and Canada political systems are not similar because of differences in policy making, governance, elections political structure, and parliamentary proceedings influenced by a combination of temporal, cultural, and political factors distinct and different in each country. Britain has a longer political history that has been shaped by struggles between the crown and parliament over personal prerogatives, which defines the current British constitution and executive power set up. The existing democratic leadership has been heavily influenced by civil wars, revolutions, and establishment of a superior parliament over the crown. In the Britain unitary governments, all political power is held by a single national government (Tannahill & Bedichek, 1991). This political system was unsuitable to the local situation in Canada, and they designed a federation where the constitution gave the people the right to have local control over their government (Montpetit & Foucault, 2010). The Canadian federation developed a system where the national government did not have absolute control but allowed for a constitution that would govern the people with their own set of laws. Canada has a much shorter history with the democratic leadership been shaped by continuous struggles between the prime minister and the governor general. Th e democratic rule in Britain is primarily about political representation that wields executive powers, but the Canadian democratic rule primarily focuses on governance. The Canadian political system was developed according to Westminster parliamentary institutions in the 19th century, and these institutions were retained after independence in 1867 (Hazell et al., 2009). Evidence The United Kingdom constitution has been shaped over a long time, and it consists of written