Business Environment. Understanding the Organisational Purposes of Business

Introduction In this assignment I am going to identify the purposes of different types of organisations, describe the extent to which an organisation meets the objectives of different stakeholders and explain the responsibilities of an organisation and strategies employed to meet them. I am also going to give examples based on my own personal experience. Identify the purposes of different types of organisation Business organisations can be divided mainly into two sectors. The private sector, which is formed by sole traders, partnerships, companies and franchises. The sole trader is the most popular form of business ownership. This kind of business is managed by only one individual who puts all of his savings and his time into making it a success. He is his own boss but it also has a negative aspect which is that he has to deal with a lot of responsibilities. For example window cleaning, plumbing. Partnerships can have between two and twenty partners. There can be exceptions for some forms of partnerships such as big accountancy firms whose partners also enjoy limited liability. This means that they can only loose the amount of money that they have invested even if the business goes bankrupt. E. g. vets, solicitors. Companies are owned by shareholders who choose Directors to give direction to the business. The Chief Executive has the responsibility of making the most important decisions. Specialist Managers will be appointed to run the company on behalf of the Board. Shareholders put funds into the company by buying shares. Every company must register with the Registrar of Companies, and must have an official address. Private companies have Ltd after their name. They are normally smaller than public companies. Shares in a private company can only be bought and sold with permission of the Board of Directors. Franchises are businesses in which someone gets formal permission given by a company to sell its goods or services in a particular area. The business policies have to be the same in every establishment. The franchise pays a sum of money as capital and the franchisor is responsible of the equipment. The first one must buy a certain amount of supplies from the econd in order to make sure that the quality of the product is the same as the original. This together with a percentage of the profits of the business goes to the franchisor. The advantages of Franchises are that they have a well-known name. For example McDonalds. The main aim of all of these private organisations is to make a profit. Other goals consist on having a good customer service, gaining a good reputation, offering quality product s, etc. Even when they do charity events these organisations earn a profit on the long run because of the positive publicity they obtain. This will make them increase their number of customers and make them look more competitive towards their rivals. The public sector is made up of central government, local government and businesses that are owned by government. A Public Limited Company has its shares traded on the Stock Exchange, which can make it win a large sum of money in a very short period of time. On the contrary the original shareholders could lose the control of the business if large quantities of shares are bought as part of a takeover. To create a Public Limited Company the directors must apply to the Stock Exchange Council, which will check the accounts. Non- Profit organisations receive donations or funds from groups or governments. All the money they earn from selling goods, which have usually been donated by the public, goes straight back into the organisation to improve the quality of their service. The aim of the public sector is not to generate a profit but also not to waste money just to generate enough to be able to continue with their community services. Describe the extent to which an organisation meets the objectives of different stakeholders A stakeholder is a person, group or organisation that has a direct or indirect stake in an organisation because it can affect or be affected by the organisations actions, objectives and policies. The following are different types of stakeholders which you could find in the private sector. Owners or shareholders who want the business to be a success because they have invested their own capital and expect to gain a profit out of it. An organisation has legal and moral obligations to its owners being the most important one to try and ensure that they receive an adequate return on their investment. Employees are a vital part of any organisation. In order for a business to succeed it needs to offer a nice working atmosphere and pay good wages to their employees to keep them motivated at the workplace. One way to achieve this is by implanting performance related bonuses which are usually related to the success of the business as a whole. In this case both parties will be satisfied with the end result. Unions. Their goal is to better the employees work conditions by trying to increase wages and secure jobs. Managers usually have a fluent verbal communication with the union’s spokesperson to avoid any conflicts that could occur if their demands are not materialised even if not completely in some way. Customers. A business has to know how to fulfil their customers’ needs which includes offering quality products at a reasonable price, that the goods they have gone to purchase are available because otherwise they will go to the competition to get them and that they receive good customer care. All of these factors will make the organisation have a fixed clientele because they will come back if the experience has been good and it will also make it gain customers thanks to the word of mouth recommendations. All of the above are primary stakeholders as they have some direct interest or stake in the organisation. Secondary stakeholders are public or special interest groups that do not have a direct stake in the organisation but are still affected by its operations. Some examples could be the local, state, and federal government, trade and industry groups, media, competitors, etc. Explain the responsibilities of an organisation and strategies employed to meet them Organisations not only have moral and ethical responsibilities towards a range of stakeholders but also towards the wider community. The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the responsibilities that modern business organisations have to create a healthy and prosperous society. They also have legal responsibilities which include consumer and product laws, environment laws and employment laws. These laws obligate the organisation to create new jobs, reduce contamination by for example using plastic bags that can be recycled, etc. nd at the same time they are doing something good for the community. Corporate Social Responsibility involves making sure that the organisations goods and services meet the customers’ demands and are provided in a fair way and also that they are involved in relevant sponsorship and humanitarian activities to help social development. Normally there are e ight main types of strategies in which an organisation can be involved with at any time: Growth involves the expansion of a business, its markets, products, size, etc. For an organisation to grow it needs to find up and coming markets where they will be able to make a profit. Stability involves a consolidation strategy for the organisation. There must be set guidelines so that the business can keep on working efficiently even if changes occur. Profitability. Gaining a profit is essential for nearly every organisation especially for the private sector where shareholders have a lot of influence. Efficiency consists on using the means the organisation has in the right way. It is an important strategy for public sector service organisations to demonstrate that the taxpayer’s money has been used properly. Market leadership strategies are about being the best in your market. The market leader can obtain cheaper stock because they buy larger amounts of it. Survival. In such a competitive business environment survival is the key to be able to continue advancing. Merger and acquisition makes the organisations benefit from the advantages of integration by for example gaining new customers. Globalisation strategies involve expanding internationally to countries where normally the cost of production is lower and this will make them gain a larger profit. Based on my personal experience in the private sector in which I have worked for McDonalds and for El Corte Ingles I have observed several differences. On the one hand, McDonalds which is a franchise, pays the minimum wage and their clientele is formed by the working class. On the other hand, El Corte Ingles, which is the first distribution group of Spain in the sales volume sector and is formed by eighty department stores all over the Spanish territory. The wages are higher than in McDonalds and the products they offer are usually select. For this reason customers range from middle to upper class. Both are commercial organisations which means that their income must be bigger than their expenses. Conclusion In conclusion I have learnt that for an organisation to be successful it needs to adapt to the current situation and has to develop new strategies to be able to compete with rivals. Offering quality products at a reasonable price will make customers buy more which will activate the economy and the organisation will still gain a profit. References The Times 100 Business case studies. Revision theory – Strategy theory. www. businesscasestudies. co. uk VCE IT Lecture Notes – Organisational goals. www. vceit. com :

Mademoiselle Magazine: a Christmas Memory Essay

â€Å"A Christmas Memory†, which was written by Truman Capote and originally published in Mademoiselle Magazine in December 1956, is a meaningful and emotional story about family. In which, the characters of a family are defined especially:† Family is not only a shelter but also a safe place to care, share memories, sacrifice, and love. † There are many definitions about family. One of them is â€Å"A family consists of two or more people (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption residing in the same housing unit â€Å"(US Census Bureau. Its main functions are to produce and reproduce persons, biologically and/or socially; share material substances (such as food, shelter. ) However, two family members (Buddy and his cousin) in â€Å"A Christmas Memory† are connected with each other not only by consanguinity but also by love and friendship. The story employs a first-person narrator who is called Buddy –a seven-year-old boy, but it is not his real name. It was given by his distant cousin who is â€Å"sixty-something† and is described as â€Å"still a child. Though it is so sad that the more Buddy grows up, the older his friend is. His friend used to realize: â€Å"†¦ I guess I hate to see you grow up. When you’re grown up, will we still be friends? † But, their innocence keeps them be best friends despite age. Besides, both of them are poor and lonely. They are considered outsiders by their family. â€Å"Other people inhabit the house, relatives; and though they have power over us, and frequently make us cry, we are not, on the whole, too much aware of them. † (â€Å"A Christmas Memory†, p. ) Throughout the story, other family members did not appear too much except for two occasions: One is when the Buddy’s friend let Buddy drink the leftover whiskey, the relatives yelled at her and brought up cousins and uncles who were involved in scandals and humiliated the family. This hurts Buddy’s friend and makes she cried all night. Another is on the Christmas morning when they gave Buddy gifts which made him angry: hand-me-downs, a church shirt, and a subscription to a religious magazine. Both of these appearances only bring sadness, tears and disappointment instead of charm or love. Moreover, they do not know about Buddy’s needs and desire: a bicycle. An interesting detail is: Buddy and his friend are very poor but why do they save every penny to make fruitcakes every year? Instead of selling fruitcakes to have some money or keeping them for themselves, Buddy and his cousin give these fruitcakes away to strangers: President Roosevelt, a knife grinder who comes through town twice a year, a driver of the six o’clock bus from Mobile who exchanges waves with them every day, a California couple whose car one afternoon broke down outside the house and chatted with them on the porch. Especially, although Mr. Haha Johnes is described as a â€Å"giant with razor scars across his cheeks† and never smiles, when Buddy and his cousin purchase whiskey for their fruitcakes from him, he gives it for free with a smile that means there is good in all people. People cannot be judged on their appearance. Sadly, these warm gestures are given to Buddy and his cousin by outsiders instead of their family. They are lonely and need love; especially at Christmas – a season for giving and reunite. It is a wonderful time of greetings, gifts, joy, care and sharing that their relatives never give them. Family is also where members sacrifice for each other. The story is a bittersweet reminiscence beginning with† Imagine a morning in later November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago. Consider the kitchen of a spreading old house in a country town. † (â€Å"A Christmas Memory†, p. 1) This places the story during the Great Depression- a time of great poverty which then results in many emotional details. The way Buddy and his cousin hide their money is so impressive:† These money we keep hidden in an ancient bead purse under a loose board under the floor under a chamber pot under my friend’s bed. (â€Å"A Christmas Memory,† p. 6) This purse seems very important and valuable with them and the women saves money and keep it carefully. She has never traveled more than five miles from homes and eaten in a restaurant. She still gives Buddy a dime to watch the movie show every Saturday. Even when Buddy is in military school, in every letter she also encloses a dime wadded in toilet paper. She wants to enhance Buddy’s skills. Buddy likes her eyes to describe the world outside for her. She is strong with morals and purity- innocent and trusts in the Lord. Moreover, she is charming like a mother or grandmother. Family is where people share happiness and sadness which become the most beautiful memories in their lives. Buddy and his friends have many unforgettable Christmas holidays together. They save money by selling fruits and flowers, killing flies, holding their own shows with pictures and a three-legged biddy chicken. And when the â€Å"fruitcake weather† comes, they buy ingredients to make fruitcakes and present it to their neighbors, friends or also strangers. Next, they venture into the woods and cut down a majestic tree. When a â€Å"rich mill owner’s lazy wife† offers to buy it, Buddy’s friend insists on refusing. They respect the Christmas spirit. It is much more valuable than money. Then, they decorate the tree with homemade ornaments and odds and ends found in the attic. Finally, they create gifts for their relatives. Buddy wishes he could give his friend a knife, a radio, and the chocolate-covered cherries she craves. His cousin wants to give Buddy a new bicycle. However, they embarrass to confess that they only have kites for each other like the previous Christmas. Despite that, Buddy and his friend are happy with their kites rather than what their relatives gave them. They spend Christmas day happily watching their homemade kites soar in the breeze. Buddy soon forgets disappointed gifts from his relatives and is excited â€Å"†¦as if we’d already won the fifty-thousand-dollar Grand Prize in that coffee-naming contest† while his friend happy as if she could see the Lord. (â€Å"A Christmas Memory, p. 20†). It is their last perfect Christmas together. â€Å"Those who Know Best† – the adults who do not care much about Buddy’s life as well as his dream- send Buddy to a military school where he is separated from his friend forever. Although Buddy has a new home, in his mind:† Home is where my friend is, and there I never go. † (â€Å"A Christmas Memory,† p. 21) Home is not defined as a shelter. It is where he can find love and safety. Another meaningful in this story is the kite which is a symbol of freedom, heart, friendship, and dream to fly up high to touch the sky. Kites are also memories of their beautiful days together. Memories are something passing by our life that we cannot touch them again except for remembering them sometimes. However, they are important parts in our heart eternally. Thus, even when Buddy is far from his house, his childhood’s memories about his lovely friend, his dog- Queenie, Christmas holidays, and the kites always alive in his soul that make him strong and keep forward. That is why when his friend dies, Buddy feels as if he lost an irreplaceable part and while walking across the campus on December morning- Christmas time, Buddy still searches the sky with hope to see a pair of kites- his unforgettable memories about his lovely friend. â€Å"A Christmas Memory† is a vivid picture of family and lovely friendship of Buddy and his cousin that leaves a message for the reader: Family likes a house which has the base built by love  , four walls connected by care, the roof made by share  and the furniture inside are sacrifice.

Global accounting standards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global accounting standards - Essay Example The increasing importance of a single set of global accounting standards in international market has given rise to the debate.The decision on the part of the European Union to require its all the member states to adapt their local GAAPs with respect to the IAS/IFRS, proved to be a milestone in the journey of IASB towards the FASB. However most of the European countries had already embarked on their convergence towards the international standards for financial reporting. The United States' standards setting body, FASB is consistently working towards the convergence of US GAAP to the international accounting standards in response to international pressures.This essay provides an insightful study on the development of IAS in the Europe and the convergence of FASB with the accounting standards. Moreover it discusses the impact and benefits of having a single set of global standards on the users of financial statements.In response to the financial reporting needs of the increasingly globa lised markets, the European Union passed legislation in the year 2002 that required all its member states to adapt their financial statements with respect to the IAS and IFRS. Ruder (2005, p555) says that, "the European Union's 2002 decision to adopt IFRSs for all of its listed companies was a significant stride toward convergence". This stance on the part of the European Union encouraged countries like Germany, Italy and France to accelerate their process of integration with international standards ... However significant changes only became evident after the EU regulation of convergence to IFRS (Delvailleet al., 2005). The Finnish standards started to converge with the IAS in the year 1993. The accounting standards of countries like UK, Netherlands, and Ireland are the most compatible with IAS as compared to other European countries (Haller, 2002). In Germany, on the other hand, the convergence to international accounting standards had taken place well before the EU regulation. Germany took such initiative in response to the international pressures concerning the presentation of company accounts. The German companies were required to present and report their financial accounts in accordance with either the IFRS or the US GAAP, thus the country adopted an accelerated approach towards adoption of international accounting standards. In the year 2004, the government also passed an Act that implemented the EU regulation to use the IFRS for the purpose of financial reporting for the year ended 2005. Hence, in all these European countries, the governments realised the importance of international standards and the irrelevance of their local GAAP with regard to international markets in the year 1998 (Delvailleet al., 2005). Whittington (2005) elaborates that the international accounting standards have developed considerably over the time. The IASB, ever since its creation, has been amending and revising the previous accounting standards so as to re-assure their applicability. The pre-eminent examples of this amendment are the IAS 32 and 39 that had been originally adopted by the IASB from the IASC. There were several difficulties in both the standards that made it

Sex trafficking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Sex trafficking - Research Paper Example With the famine of 1871 in northern China, he sells off Lalu to a brothel and later to a slave merchant travelling to America. This was the turning point in the life of the young girl. This novel guides on this discussion on sex trafficking, giving leads on how victims get lured and evaluating possible solutions in the light of the findings. Indeed, sex trafficking is a solvable act of inhumanity. In this early society, sex trafficking was widely spread across the board. Not even were children spared as Li, the sex trafficker in the novel, traffics children together with her other victims. This comes to light when she quarrels Lalu for not getting the fraudulent customs clearing procedures right, claiming that â€Å"Even children: some of them are only ten, eleven years old. Children† were much better than she was (Gold 95). The cultural beliefs that treated women as objects meant for the pleasure of men, who were believed to have the sole rights to working. This therefore meant that women could be used however men would like to have their pleasure fulfilled. Comparably, Moser (226) cites the US Department of Health and Human Services documenting sex trafficking as the second largest and fastest criminal industry worldwide. Women and children still comprise the majority of victims at about 80%, with two million children estimated to be in the commercial sex trade. Borrowing statistics from the United Nations, the researcher further estimates the market value for this crime at over $32 billion. Before the year 2000, sex trafficking was not prosecuted as a crime in itself but under other crimes such as promotion of prostitution. This points out at the society’s rigidity to appreciating women as an equal gender to their male counterparts. They still considered a woman as an object who should not â€Å"work like a man, a laborer† so that they can pass as marriage-compliant (Gold 356). Having pointed out that sex trafficking still remains

Project Management Governance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Project Management Governance - Assignment Example Contents presented in the project management plan are analyzed and whether the information presented in each section of the report is appropriate and informative for the audience. Each of the heading presented in the project management plan is analyzed and then the report presents the conclusion and recommendations for improving the project management plan. The project management plan is well-prepared however there is certain information missing in the plan. Moreover, the report has analyzed that some parts of the project management plan are very comprehensive and different project management tools and techniques are applied correctly. On the other hand, some sections of the report are missing important and critical information and if this information was included then it would have further improved the quality of the project management plan. Project management discipline of management has added a unique ability to the organizations for accomplishing unique objectives. Successful projects are critically dependent on well-defined plans. Therefore project management plan is vital to successfully completing the project. Project plans if are not prepared well then it often results in failure of the project and the project is not able to achieve the desired objective despite incurring an excessive cost, time and effort on the project. KJ Consulting Company has proposed a Project Plan for the Ottawa–Carleton Water Park on behalf of Carlington Aquatic Parks for the scheduled opening on May 21, 2005. This report is aimed at evaluating the project management plan prepared by KLSJ Consulting Company for the Ottawa–Carleton Water Park. This report assesses the level and quality of the considerations given to the aspects that are to play a critical role in the project success.

Appeal letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Appeal letter - Essay Example During that time, I had a second course, which I was to attend, running concurrently with this one, and this presented me with a conflict of interest. I consulted as to whether to attend the first course or leave it and attend the second course. My instructor advised me to stay with the first course; also, he mentioned that it was not necessary for me to complete the whole book. However, afterwards, when I turned in my first paper after reading the book halfway, I got a D. I just had only one night to rewrite the work. My instructor sent the comment of my first paper to an email that I rarely used, it was not the IU mail. I had to rewrite the first paper, as well as, complete the new second paper in a very short time and in a tense mood. My stress levels were elevated since I had other assignments, and he had set a tight deadline for me to revise the paper. I worked the whole night in order to finish the assignments; the stress that I experienced must have made me to include direct quotes from the book or I thought that I could cite later. This is also, why I was so sure that I had provided the correct citations, at the end of the paper. My instructor put a lot of effort in looking for mistakes in my first and second paper, and he did not get anything to prove. If he was not discriminating me as a Chinese student, why was he spending a lot of time looking for mistakes instead of grading? I can say it is because, he did not believe Chinese students could write well. Without having any other material to prove that I plagiarized in my first paper and second paper, he said to me that he already changed the grade to F. In addition, my second paper was D+ at first. For that reason, I thought it would be meaningless to complete my third paper since this course only graded three papers and there was no exam. I had never missed any classes

How to Become a Straight A Student by Cal Newport Essay

How to Become a Straight A Student by Cal Newport - Essay Example What works for a particular student may not work for another. However, there are certain study methods that can work for most students. Students can determine for themselves the study methods that work best for them. Often, most students choose study methods such as making short notes to remember key information, repeating or verbalizing the information studied and using memory tools to help retain the information. Jim was always an average student. Although he was always poring over his books, trying to memorize facts, he was never a good student, only managing to scrape through exams and never getting the grades he wanted. Jim’s parents were disappointed. Jim himself thought that he was a loser with a learning disability. Jim always wondered why some of his friends who spent much of their time partying seemed to breeze through their exams while he was burning his midnight oil and yet flunking some of his exams. For Jim, sitting for an exam was a stressful time that always to ok a toll on his health and emotional strength. He longed to ask some of his friends the secret of doing well in their exams, but they were all such jerks. They would probably laugh at him. Jim was getting tired of the embarrassment of failing and letting his folks down. He was sick of working hard and obtaining poor grades. Sebastian 2 One day, Jim had to study for some important exams in his high school. He tried to cram everything. He tried to practice rote memorization by reading his notes over and over again. Unfortunately, there was too much to memorize and he realized that his brain was not a computer to store everything he had studied. Moreover, there were too many distractions and he just could not concentrate. Jim was desperate. He had to find a quick solution. He sat at his computer and started surfing the internet. It was then he came across a web site that got him interested. It was actually a book â€Å"The Overnight Student† by Dr. Michael L Jones. It did not t ake long for Jim to read the book but it all made perfect sense. By the time he came to the end of the book, Jim realized that he had been doing wrong all these years. He had employed all the wrong study methods to prepare for his exams. He learnt a few things that dramatically changed the way he studied for exams. The book advocated that the student become a teacher of an imaginary class. Jim tried this. He read small segments of a particular topic. Then, he taught what he learnt to an imaginary class. Slowly, he began to understand better what he had studied. Jim began to feel more confident. The wall he was teaching did not laugh or ridicule him. By closeting himself where no one can hear him and vice versa, Jim was able to concentrate on his studies. By teaching the imaginary class, Jim was actually going over his notes in segments. Soon, Jim was getting better grades. Jim’s story teaches us several valuable lessons. Effective learning can only take place when a student s tudies in an environment free of distractions. We all face distractions all the time. We take breaks to browse the internet, we answer phone calls and sometimes the lure of television programmes is just too great a temptation to resist. Distractions not only increase our stress Sebastian 3 levels, they interfere with our studies. Moreover, regaining concentration after a distraction can be time consuming. Therefore, it is best to set aside a study area at home and remove all sources of distractions.

Public vs Private Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public vs Private - Research Paper Example (IFA, 2010) As a public sector manager, establishing solutions to the company should be based on the element of identifying and solving individual problems; not using a solution to solve multiple problems. Each problem cannot be viewed as identical, and as a result each problem will have its own unique solution. In the public sector, the government will seek to find a unitary solution for a multitude of problems and thus is the reason as to why the problems may only be solved in the short term or even not solved at all. It is for that reason the public sector manager must seek to solve problems on an individual analysis. This will aid in the manager providing a long-term solution to the problems that may ail the company (Infor, 2011.). The essential factor is the efficiency of the company and a SWOT analysis of the company will be essential to avoid catalyzing the collapse of the company. Making sure that the each and every problem of the firm is looked into will facilitate the improvement in the function of the company. Another factor that the manager will require to integrate into the company is innovation. In many public sector companies, operations are carried out in an archaic manner as the government puts little or no emphasis on the improvement of a company’s operations. This is something that is evident in the methodologies and functions of several government owned firms, and it is something that benefits the private sector, whose constant search for improvement on their operations and products has resulted in the increased demand for products and services from the private sector. (Infor, 2011). As a public sector manager innovation is always essential in any business circle, and therefore it is important to constantly seek ways and means of improving the fortunes of the corporation; be it in terms of business model, structure, product development or even the product or service in production. Again this will be essential, but to

Evocative Production about Aging Care Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evocative Production about Aging Care - Article Example Gaugler et al. observed that the test for civilization in any society is the manner in which it takes care of its frail members. The policy for the aged in Australia safeguards old people in the society from fearing the young as well as feeling misplaced. If the aged are offered the necessary attention and care, their life is prolonged and opportunistic ailments in old age may be avoided thereby reducing the cost of care as well as the workload of the caregivers. It is important to teach children and the youth that the aging was young just like them and that they too are headed for old age. Sometimes the old might be perceived as having little contribution to the society’s advancement in terms of wealth creation and social development. Nevertheless, the young need to appreciate the efforts of those who came before them in the maintenance of an enabling environment for them to act. For example, if the aged polluted the environment and caused the depletion of natural resources available at this particular time, the youth could not enjoy living on earth as they do. Naturally, an old person who is ill-treated in the society visualizes it as the young population taking advantage of the weak. Baxter cautioned that the society should not let their aging population regret their own existence. Rather, they should be made to feel loved and useful in community affairs. Furthermore, their experience is critical in molding and instilling good morals to the young. The natural wisdom they possess as a result of having interacted and worked with diverse people for a long time may have a significant impact on the conduct of future generations. Stigmatization of the aged may result in the loss of a resourceful component of the society since their capacity to actively participate in communal activities.

Privatization in Canadian Health Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Privatization in Canadian Health Care - Essay Example For the purposes of this essay, laws and policies applicable to Canadian health care will not be evaluated in detail. However, the Chaouilli case in Quebec will be acknowledged, so as to direct the focus of the essay toward to possibility of the developmental path for a privatized health care system in Canada. Issues concerning the wait line which may have been expressed on other occasions will be considered as well. Their role in the advancement of the privatization of health care in Canada will be further evaluated. The Canadian health care system, recently more unstable than in previous years, is witnessing a rise in the private sector. The proposed paper will consider the advantages and disadvantages to the implementation of private health care in Canada. Concrete comparisons between the advantages and the disadvantages between the Canadian publicly provided health care system and the United States' health care as a private sector institution would allow for more in-depth analysis of both qualities and drawbacks. Privatized health care in Canada could prove to be more efficient in providing health services; it could also prove to be a catalyst in taking out the middle class, while widening the gap between rich and poor. 2.0 The Development of the Canadian Health Care System The current Canadian health care system was developed as a response to the social conditions of the early 1950's in Canada and was established at provincial levels. At this time, only 53% of the population was privately insured. Further, health care costs amounted to "the primary cause of bankruptcy," in the country.(Dean, 2007) As a reaction to these social circumstances, the provincial government began to participate more actively. Canadian heath care, Medicare, was built by the provincial governments with the support of federal legislatures. First, Saskatchewan implemented a public health insurance plan for hospital stays in 1947; the federal government acknowledged this action by providing reimbursements to the then-growing number of provinces who covered hospital costs. (Dean, 2007) At this time, the federal government provided funding for a third of health care spending.(Dean, 2007) Further, the federal government introduced the Canada Health Act, which addressed the goals of t he health care policy as comprehensiveness, universality, accessibility, portability, and public administration. (Klatt, 2000) However, a shift in the perceptions regarding the health care system is slowly developing. It could be argued that the medical services which were provided by the health care system then, differ from those in demand now. It must be regarded that health care which was established in the mid-twentieth century was primary concerned with "acute care." (Robertson, 2002) Today, Canada is dominantly composed of an aging population, which means chronic illnesses are the focus with such demographics. (Robertson, 2002) Consistent with the demographics is the aging population of doctors which are exiting the field due to retirement. This only narrows down an already small availability of doctors

Pros and Cons of Curtailing Immigration to North America Essay Example for Free

Pros and Cons of Curtailing Immigration to North America Essay Debates on immigration and health care issues are regularly featured in the newspapers of the United States. The relationship that seems to exist between the current immigration policy and the state of the health care system in the country cannot merely be coincidental. Every year, the Border Patrol makes at least one million apprehensions of individuals that blatantly violate the immigration laws by crossing the United States borders unlawfully in order to work or to enjoy the benefits of free public services (â€Å"Illegal Immigration is a Crime†). No wonder, health care access has become a problem for countless legal citizens and residents of the U. S. to boot. There remain around 10 to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States today. There are approximately 12 to 15 million jobs held by these people. So, illegal aliens represent around 8 percent of the U. S. work force. Between 4 to 6 million jobs held by illegal immigrants are serving the underground economy. The United States is foregoing around $35 billion each year in income tax collections because of such jobs. The country does not seem to be taking very strict action against undocumented immigrants and their means of earning a living because it â€Å"is simply hooked on cheap, illegal workers and deferring the costs of providing public services to these quasi-Americans (Justich and Ng 2). † What is most relevant to this discussion, however, is the fact that the United States is paying the consequences of being lenient toward illegal immigrants by suffering serious defects in its health care system. Illegal immigrants continue to add to the population requiring health care but ‘naturally. While the U. S. does not want to kick out all illegal immigrants because of their use to the U. S. economy, it also cannot afford health care for everybody. It is clear that immigrants have an effect on the health care system of the country, just as they have an effect on the U. S. economy. Therefore, it is correct to take stricter action against increasing flows of immigrants, both legal and illegal. Most of these people come to the United States with great hopes in a world-class system. At the same time, however, the United States believes that it cannot afford a health care system that includes illegal immigrants, when the legal residents and citizens of the country – the naturally born and the naturalized Americans – are complaining that they are finding health care too difficult to access because of high prices. High prices are, no doubt, led by high demand. Hence, it is obvious that immigrants are raising the demand of goods and services in the United States, thereby raising the prices. Only by checking the immigration policy and trying to control illegal immigration with stricter measures than before could the United States hope to achieve a balance in its health care needs, thereby making the health care system easily accessible to all. Legal immigrants have also benefited economies of North America, which is the reason why both the United States and Canada had opened their doors to huge numbers of foreigners in recent decades. Masci wrote about the United States in the year 2000: In the last 30 years the United States has absorbed the biggest wave of immigrants since the turn of the century, when millions arrived at Ellis Island in search of a better life. Today, more than 25 million Americans are foreign born – nearly 10 percent of the population. And that’s good for the economy, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who says the pools of skilled and unskilled workers created by high levels of immigration have greatly contributed to the nation’s prosperity (Masci 571). Illegal immigrants, in particular, take up less-skilled jobs, and their wages are lower than those of native laborers. Natives must be rendered jobless if there are too many immigrants taking up their jobs. This is another reason why immigration must be curtailed. All the same, studies have shown that when the United States tightens border control, thereby making it more difficult than before for illegal immigrants to enter the nation, the economic growth of the nation turns into economic sluggishness. As an example, a drop in the number of illegal immigrants from Mexico in early 2001 coincided with the onset of a recession in March 2001 (Orrenius). Perhaps the current recession is also related to the nationwide debates on immigration in recent years and policy changes made through the debates. Now that the entire North America is facing a recession, it must be time to reconsider allowing greater numbers of immigrants into the United States and Canada. After all, immigrants bring their skills to North America as well (Messerli). Messerli describes other advantages of refusing to curtail immigration to North America thus: [Immigration] increases the diversity and expands the culture of the country. It improves the overall image of America internationally, as it is seen as an open, welcoming country; and immigrants who return home or maintain contact with family back home have a true image of America, not the one propagandized in much of the international media. Adding an additional group of cheap labor adds to the flexibility of business, leading to cheaper prices, better quality products, and higher profits. It gives struggling people all over the world an opportunity for a better life. This country was built on immigrants who sought opportunity, political religious freedom, etc (Messerli). However, curtailing immigration is necessary because immigration is also known to destroy diverse cultures. According to an article published by the Library of Congress: â€Å"When European settlers arrived on the North American continent at the end of the fifteenth century, they encountered diverse Native American cultures—as many as 900,000 inhabitants with over 300 different languages (â€Å"Destroying the Native American Cultures†). † It is known fact that the diverse cultures of the Native Americans were destroyed to a large extent, and most of their languages became extinct. Hence, other reasons for curtailing immigration must also be deliberated. Messler brings home the truth that immigrants could add to the population of drug dealers, terrorists and other kinds of criminals. Oak writes that immigrants are responsible for crowding. It is not surprising, therefore, that prisons in the United States are overcrowded. Oak also states that immigrants may bring diseases into North America, that is, diseases prevailing in their home countries. Moreover, curtailing immigration is important because home countries are hurt when their most intelligent workers are allowed into North America in increasing numbers (Messler). And, what if their foreign credentials are not recognized in North America? In Canada, even the most intelligent and qualified foreigners may have to take up low-skilled jobs because their foreign qualifications are not recognized (â€Å"Canada’s Immigration Problem†). Such people may have to settle for lower standards of living than before. What is more, even if their credentials are recognized, such people may have to behave as â€Å"functional illiterates† in Canada if they do not know English and/or French, simply because applications for immigration to Canada ask for only basic proficiency in these languages (â€Å"Canada’s Immigration Problem†). Then again, it is necessary to consider both the pros and cons of curtailing immigration to North America. The fact that immigrants boost economies is essential for policy makers to bear in mind. After all, North America values foreigners for the skills. Now that a worldwide recession has set in, it is even more important to allow increasing numbers of foreigners into both the United States and Canada. Research has already revealed that recessions may be connected to curtailing immigration. Increasing flows of immigrants add to the diversity of cultures in North America. However, it is also a fact that immigrants may destroy the culture of the natives, as it happened in the case of Native Americans. Furthermore, increasing flows of immigrants seem to have a relationship with health care problems facing the United States. Immigrants may bring in diseases from their home countries. If they are illegal immigrants, they may add to crime, too. Additionally, immigrants may take up low-paid jobs or bring their high skills to North America to replace native workers. During a period of recession, joblessness is a major problem. Thus, these issues surrounding immigration present a dilemma to policy makers that are presented with the question of whether to curtail immigration. Works Cited â€Å"Canada’s Immigration Problem. † Vive Le Canada. 5 Jul 2004. 10 Dec 2008. http://www. vivelecanada. ca/article/print/163651492. â€Å"Destroying the Native American Cultures. † The Library of Congress. 8 Apr 2003. 10 Dec 2008. http://memory. loc. gov/learn/features/immig/native_american. html. â€Å"Illegal Immigration is a Crime. † Fair US. 2006. 10 Dec 2008. http://www. fairus. org/site/PageServer? pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters6ce3. Justich, Robert, and Betty Ng. â€Å"The Underground Labor Force is Rising to the Surface. † Bear Stearns Asset Management. 3 Jan 2005. 10 Dec 2008. http://www. bearstearns. com/bscportal/pdfs/underground. pdf. Masci, David. â€Å"Does the U. S. Admit Too Many Newcomers? † The CQ Researcher (14 Jul 2000) Vol. 10, No. 25, pp. 569-592. Messerli, Joe. â€Å"Should America Maintain/Increase the Level of Legal Immigration. † Balanced Politics. 8 Nov 2008. 10 Dec 2008. http://www. balancedpolitics. org/immigration. htm. Oak, Manali. â€Å"Pros and Cons of Immigration. † Buzzle. 2007. 10 Dec 2008. http://www. buzzle. com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-immigration. html. Orrenius, Pia M. â€Å"U. S. Immigration and Economic Growth: Putting Policy on Hold. † Southwest Economy (Nov-Dec 2004), Issue 6.

Marketing Strategy Of Tony And Guy Salon

Marketing Strategy Of Tony And Guy Salon Tony and Guy salon is working marketing strategy that would enable the company regains the control of the hair treatments market globally. More so, the company is working towards reviving and rejuvenating operational the Dubai Branch that has not been performing well. The organization has set aside $ 1000000 for the processes in the marketing strategy. The conservative limited marketing budget will spread among such activities as marketing efforts renting showrooms in high traffic areas in cities where there will not only be more visibility of the Tony Guy products but also its professionally trained staff will offer hair treatment services at subsidized rates and show case the organizations product and services. Apart from the existing outlets, the activities will be conducted in selected well-traveled, popular malls located in high human traffic areas. Although, it will be costly to lease these locations temporarily, normally higher than normal rent, part of the high cost of rents will be offset of the sales made during the exercise. The other proceeds will go to marketing activities that are designed to increase visibility such as road-shows and other activities. Generally the marketing strategy is composed of the following activities: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Advertisements: there will be Advertisements in country specific and international magazines, journals, newspapers and other publications. Those publications that have wide readerships among the women and youth will be give priority since these groups the biggest junk of the target market segments. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Since not all the target markets may be reached by advertisements in publications, alternatives means of reaching them will have to be decided. One way will be using large billboards in major roads feeding major world cities. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In-store and Store Front Displays: These displays will be visible to the large walk- through traffic base. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Electronic mediums such Television Commercials, radio and internet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sponsored events and roads shows will be another marketing strategy to be used. 3.1 Mission The major objective of marketing strategies will be to inform the customers and those potentials customer that Tony and Guy products and Salon Services are not only available locally but also that the company is committed to providing reasonably priced, convenient hair styling and the organization exists to attract and maintain customers. When Tony and Guy adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place. Their services will meet or exceed the expectations of their customers and eventually result in secured and protected future markets. 3.2 Marketing Objectives à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The marketing strategies will increase repeat customers by at least 9% per quarter. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Product visibilities and awareness is to be boosted by 14% à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The strategies will decrease customer acquisition costs by 8% per year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Non performing branches such the as one Dubai is to maintain positive, steady growth each month. 3.3 Financial Objectives Ultimately, the marketing objectives of the marketing strategy must translate into sales. After the implementation of the marketing strategy, the following effects are anticipated or targeted sales: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 10% increase in the amount of retail products sold per year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Growth of the profit margin by 3% per year. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Full recovery of sales and ultimately profitability in the Dubai branches and other branches initially performing poorly throughout the worlds; one year since the inception of marketing programs. Target Marketing, as part of the strategy will enable Tony and Guy; to reach different market segments: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Men: past statistics show that men at least 70%-75%of men use hair make up, thus implying significant clientele potentials. Relevant communicational tactical ads will to reach these groups will be used. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Upper-end and lower-end women markets: The biggest proportions (about 90%) of the revenues to the hair industry come from female customers. Women have generally been found to be fond of identifying themselves with classy and expensive and fashionable products and services. Although they can be discriminated by class and prices, the quality of services and the functionality of different brands of Tony and Guy brands will greatly influence this segment t of the market. There therefore great potential market in the women populations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Young Mothers with Children: Young children are an emerging market in the hair treatment industry. A typical family salon has facilities that allow the children to play while they are waiting and then will work with the parents in calming the children nerves when they are ready for treatment. Each of the three groups will be targeted separately. The Tony and Guy outlets and the new leased promotional centers will prepare its staff to offer quick and convenient services to the male customers. Outlets will close late at night 8 pm in high traffic centers and security services will be acquired from security companies. Through out the periods, no appointments will be required, and most of the salon services will be on first come first serve basis but quick, convenient and satisfactory to the customers. As for women, generally, researches have shown them to prefer the allure of classy salons, although practically not everyone can afford such luxury. For this reason, Tony and Guy will provide the different hair treatment services but strictly within the normal range prices. Tony and Guy will target these customers by emphasizing the sophisticated, ultra hype styling that Tony and Guy will offer at all their outlets all over the world during the promotion period or the time of implementing the marketing strategies. Entertainment will be offered. To reach both the high end and low end market at the time while appealing wit classy but affordable services and products, Tony and Guy advertisement will be made to appeal to all. The advertisement while communicating the classiness of the services and products will also emphasize of the affordability. Above all, advertisements will demonstrate that making up and treating ones hair with companys products and or services is a necessity, as bas ic as clothing. It will communicate that it not longer a secondary need but a basic need for every woman. With the latest finding confirming that there is an emerging market in the children for the hair industry, Tony and Guy cannot ignore the segment. To win the Children market, Tony and Guy, will focus its strategies towards mothers with children by offering kids toys to play with while they wait and child-friendly hair stylists. Additionally, children receive a special rate reflecting the fact that childrens hair grows so fast that it can be expensive to keep up with regular treatments as well as the recognition that it generally takes a lot less time to treat a childs hair so it should be inherently less expensive. The tactical advertisement will be tuned to appeal to this group while reaching other segment with the same message. 3.5 Positioning Tony and Guy Salon marketing strategies will position the organization in the industry strategically to be a one stop-shop convenient, full and affordable services and products. While reaching families a corporate entity, the salons also will appeals to individuals with all the outlets prepared to offer quality services and products at competitive rates even after the promotional periods. Tony and Guy will be offering one-stop services, building it competitive edge by striving to achieve its desired positioning through; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Excellent customer services through out all centers: Tony and Guys competitive edge will be based on superior customer service. The company recognizes that the hair treatment industry has crowded market with challenging situations id differentiating its products and services from those of the competitors. To stand out in the market, Tony and Guy, take advantage of its combined concerted efforts to sell the hair products while at the same time operating salons. The two activities not only give an opportunity to the customers to try the products and the services but also enables them experience the quality of services and the products the company offers. Tony and Guys have been trained in the London Academy in quality customers services. This will enable the company through out its branches spread across the globe to simultaneously offer or provide superior customer attention. The staff will be as much as possible be flexible to the needs of the customer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The staff will be incentivized to offer quality client services throughout. While Tony and Guy will invest time and money into training the employees, other concerted efforts will be arranged to ensure that clients receive the best experience possible making it is easier to turn them into a long-term customer and improve the companys and the its services and products reputations. Through the superior customer service, Tony and Guy will be able to effectively compete against and outlast larger chains and independent stores operating in the industry both locally and internationally. 3.6 Strategy Pyramids To fully overhaul, the old marketing strategies, with rejuvenated efforts, the single most apparent objective is to position Tony and Guy as the premier, full service, family salon in the internationally. The pyramids marketing strategy will seek to first create customer awareness regarding the services offered, then develop the customer base, and finally work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The message that Tony and Guy will seek to communicate is that the entire family can be served quickly, professionally, with superior customer service at reasonable rates. The message will be communicated through various methods. During and after the promotions, the messages will continue to be communicated through in-store and storefront displays through all the outlets and partnering retail salons. This will be a convenient and cost effective method to attract potential and existing customers that walk around the or near the outlets and retail centre. This will complement the other method of communication is advertisements in two local and international regular publications newspapers. Marketing Mix Tony and Guy marketing mix will carefully companied selectively to influence customer behavior in favor of the services and product of the company. Theoretically, a typical marketing mix model is comprised of the 4Ps of marketing namely: pricing, Place (distribution), Promotion and advertising, and Product. Pricing Tony and Guy Salon pricing system will be founded on a competitive pricing model that while making the services and products affordable, also remains competitive relative to competitors prices. This pricing strategy will be the most fundamental element that needs serious considerations in each and every market. Although the pricing of services and products by Tony and Guy will be guided by the current levels and those of the competitors, the company will strive to offer optimal prices, affordable and compelling to the customer, yet giving reasonable returns. During the promotions, the prices will be subsidized, but at minimum, the revenues must offset the promotional expenses. Thereafter the new set of optimal prices will be offered for the products. Each markets retail outlets will be issued with pricing guidelines. Tony and Guy acknowledge the difficulty in standardizing prizes in all the markets considering the variations in income and economic levels. For this reason each segment of economic separated by national boundaries and currency will have specific pricing model guidelines. Independent salons franchised to offer Tony and Guy products and services will be given discounts to together with customers identifies to have been loyal (Westwood, 2000). Price Policy While Tony and Guy Company Salon admit that pricing is the most important element that influences customer or rather buyer behavior and the same determine the profitability of any enterprise, the company intends to develop policies that would assist the managements and retailing outlets in setting optimum pricings that are enticing to customers. These prices will be so strategic that that it will affect the overall performances and the future competitiveness of Tony and Guy. Attracting new clients and keeping the customers, will be the key agenda in the pricing policies to be developed. Because of these affordably but competitive prices, Tony and Guy will use other strategies expand its market. The lower prices will be compensated by larger sales volumes. In this case the best method that the company sees as what will attract the customers and keep them. For the prices to be competitive and appealing to customers, the organization devises strategies and conducts feasibility analyses of customers experiences at different pricing scenarios. This requires some market research and testing to determine customer behavior at different selected rates. The Tony and Guy Hair products and hair treatment services will use the fixed price in specific regions with similar market segment description such demographic, cultural and economic situations. This policy involves determining the price for customers who are wiling to purchase the product with the same prices, given the same shared market conditions and environment. Though it sounds discriminatory in nature, the prices will be fixed in such a way that it will be very easy for the company to administer and in the long run be able to maintain a good will within the customers. This strategy will enable the company use the higher pricing in better economics markets to compensate the minimal rates charged in the markets whose economic and average income levels are lowers. This is one of the strategies often recommended for company multinationals operating in countries having different economic performances (Westwood, 2000). Place (Place of Distribution) Worldwide Marketing (Promotion) Tony and Guy Salon being an international company that deals with hair treatments products an services, has a strategic marketing plan program for its product and services with a world wide scope. Since the birth of the organization in United Kingdom, the company has always catered for the demand of its customers across the globe. Consistent with this global reach, the company has always been aware of its customer around the globe. In line with this element of the marketing mix and consistent to the marketing strategy, the strategy has always been to formulate and invent products that meets the needs of customers in different part of the world. With much investment in research and development of Tony and Guy salon products, the organization has already meet identified the specific needs required in most parts of the world including the strict Islamic Middle East. Following adaptation of its products to meet the specific hair needs of the customers in different part of the globe, Tony and Guy has earned high approval rating from clients. This explains the successive awards the company has won. For example, in 2006, it won the South West Hairdresser of the Year and it has won the London Hairdresser of the Year (11 times) consecutively. While sensitive to such social issues as racism and whiles making efforts not to conform to beauty concepts of each and every culture in the countries they are operating, Tony and Guy has taken into consideration, Tony and Guy take into consideration colors appreciated by its customers. The company gives its customers opportunities to embrace diversity amongst them selves while enhancing their personal features and aesthetics. Tony and Guy Salon employees are another lot of diversity. With majority of them being women and multi-colored, they are considered a minority implying an excellent team out of an affirmative action and a symbol of the target global market. To Tony and Guy Salon, embracing people cultures is the best method to reach and to serve the interest of the consumer wherever they are. Locating the store in a high traffic mall will significantly increase visibility. A targeted advertising campaign will also communicate Tony and Guy Salons desired messages. The company intends to use various media so as to reach its target market. Research will be made so that the right media is selected which is more efficient and more reliable. The promotional activities that the company intends to put in place include having a chain of distribution that is well coordinated and that which can provide the right channel to the market that is targeted. Some of the channels which are available in Kenya include use of mass media, newspapers, the internet and personal selling. Through these methods, the company is able to reach many people at the same time and establish a strong market in Kenya (Kirsch and Goldfarb, 2002). Product and services A practical marketing strategy is not complete without the product element of the marketing mix. One way Tony and Guy Salon have ensured appropriately blending its hair treatment products and services. Customer service is on strategy that has been used to deliver quality to customers worldwide. All the Tony and Guy Salon employees have been trained in exceptional customer service in the London Academy. The partnering retail salons have also been given strict guidelines on the quality of customer service. Tony and Guy is recognized for it commitment to continually pursue researches that ultimately improve the quality of the company products and service. One of the strategic plans has had has always been to take into account the best interests of the customers wherever they are. By giving a wider variety of products and services, the company has been able to offer customers a wider range that customers can chose from according to their needs and preferences. The products and services are prices in such a way that it caters for the needs of all the customers which though geographically separated are united by the Tony and Guy products and services. Regardless of age, whether affluent or poor, whether in Africa or in Asia, Tony and Guy offer product and services that suits the needs and are affordable to each of them. To remain reliant, the company keeps abreast of the latest trends in the industry. Tony and Guy continually update their brands and responding to the dynamics of the industry. To enhance these processed the company has a dedicated team that pursue research and product innovation. The major objective of all these efforts is to consolidate a stronger clientele base among diverse cultures around the globe. Since the emergence advertising and promotions, Tony and Guy, has commissioned several posters around the major cities to publicize the company products. Since the introduction advertising through movies in the 1950s, the company has engaged it also a medium of reaching customers. Tony and Guy has also sponsored major Soap Operas in Europe and Asia which are also transmitted or sold to other continents. Use of celebrity personalities in adverting has not escaped the company marketing strategies. The famous actresses and other personalities has enabled Tony and Guy relate the successful with personality lives to their corporate and brand images and subsequently boasting visibility and sales. Ethical Issues and CSR In any marketing program, ethical issues normally emerge. There is one major ethical issue that will be of great concern in this marketing plan for Tony and Guy salon. The ethical issue revolves around the conventional use of advertising using images of beautiful women. The hair treatment industry being just part of beauty and cosmetic industry, has conventionally been using images of women to advertise. This is because, the core target audient is the women populace and images of other popular or celebrity women can sell a message of advertisement to them. The underlying ethical issue in Tony and Guy marketing strategy is in the use of using advertisement that carry beautiful women. This has recently attracted criticism with critics claiming that use of images, more so explicit or very exposing women images not only degrades the stands of morals in the society but also lowers the dignity of women. In addition to these criticisms, the images are said to be offensive to conservative cultures. According to Blaire (1994), advertising using feminine messages whether visual or otherwise, delineates from the natural and local cultures principles and instead are forced to see herself through the eyes of another ideal woman in an ad image.

Research Proposal: Corporate Governance and Firm’s Performance

Research Proposal: Corporate Governance and Firm’s Performance Background and rationale of the study Corporate governance is a recent concept that encompasses many issues like internal control, rights and relation with stakeholders, social responsibility of the business, structure and role of the management committee, management transparency (refers to the disclosure of all reliable and relevant information) and accountability (refers to broader corporate objectives to manage the socio-economic resources efficiency) and the like. It also entails planning and strategic development of the company, day-to-day operation, and knowledge of the market and the sound understanding of the business itself. Precisely speaking, corporate governance is all about corporate practices to meet the corporate objectives. According to Byrnes et al. (2003), after the high profile scandals of Enron, WorldCom etc. corporate governance is imputed in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This paper will try to find out the impact of corporate governance on firm performance. This paper will also try to show that be tter use of corporate governance help the firm to perform in an optimum level and if it is right better governed firm will have better performance than worse governed firm. Jensen and Meckling (1976); Fama and Jensen (1983); Shleifer and Vishny (1997) cited that, incentive has been given to the managers to confiscate the assets of the firm by taking profitable projects but this is much beneficiary to the managers than maximizing shareholders wealth. According to Shleifer and Vishny (1997), effective corporate governance control the awards given by the stakeholders and creditors and increase the profitability of the firm by investing in a positive net present value projects. Brown and Caylor (2004) argued that, regulators and governance advocates argue that in most of the cases stock price goes down because of poor governance and if this is right the market price of the well governed firm should be relatively high than poor governed firms. On the other hand by considering cash flow hypothesis Jensen (1986), says that shareholders expects cash flow via dividend payout but large free cash flow through dividend decrease the liquidity condition of the firm a nd this disables the firm to invest in the profitable projects and lower the profitability. Arnott and Asness (2003) finds that, better governed firm give more cash in dividend payout which also can be considered as firm performance. Moreover Bowen, Rajgopal, Venkatachalam (2008) found that, corporate governance also can be found from the accounting discretion, firm with weaker governance structure generally produce report with poorer future performance. According to Gompers, Ishii, and Metrick (2003), studying the impact of corporate governance on firm performance finds that, strong shareholders rights and returns of the firm outperform on risk-adjusted basis. This result indicates that corporate governance also can be measured or constructed from publicly available data. According to Klein, Shapiro and Young (2005), there are not any clear evidence that can suggest that better corporate governance will enhance the firms performance. One alternative way to measure firm performance is measuring the performance of companies with shareholders rights. Core, Guay and Rusticus (2004) said that, in current decade share returns of companies are strongly related with shareholders right companies with poor shareholders rights do not over perform in their performance. The companies which maintain strong shareholders right may not exhibited superior return on their performance. On the other hand, if the firms risk adjustment not done properly, corporate governance may correlate with unrecognizable risk factor(s). One other thing is that the relation between corporate governance and firm performance might be increase distrust about causality explanation. In most countries the common mechanism for determining collective action problems among shareholders partial ownership and control is given to the hand of large shareholders. In this situation two important forms of corporate governance need to be considered by the firm. First, there may be conflict among the shareholders with management against small investors; and secondly, the liquidity from secondary market will decrease. To boost the liquidity crisis of the stock market corporate law is enforced and which limits the power of the large shareholders of the company and also limit the violence of the minority shareholders. In this system generally the firms depends on the board of directors to maintaining and functioning the actions of the shareholders. Sometimes the actions of the board of directors become ineffective. Where the minority shareholders get better protection the interest of the mangers also become an issue of prudence. Finally, the primary goal of the corporate govern ance is to control the regulation of activity the shareholders and managers and made a check and balance to protect the interest of both shareholders and mangers. This paper will try to find out how corporate governance can help the firm to accelerate their performance. For doing so there lies a need for developing a measure to scale corporate governance practice of the firm and to allocate a governance score for each firm then calculation of the financial and economic performance by using governance score will become possible. This paper will also conduct a cross sectional analysis to relate firms performance with their corporate governance practices. Keywords Corporate Governance, Firm performance, Corporate Governance and Firm Performance. Problem of the study This paper will develop to find out the following problems: How corporate governance impact on firms performance? Why firms performance is influenced by corporate governance? When corporate governance influence firms performance? Aims The aim of this paper is to find the influence of corporate governance over firms performance. Objective of the study This research will be conduct to fulfill the following objectives: To measure the industry wise corporate governance practices. To find the impact of corporate governance with the firm performance. To measure the degree of performance influenced by corporate governance. To find out the major indicators of corporate governance. To find out the best practices of corporate governance. Literature Review The concept corporate governance actually gives an insight regarding the code of conduct of the companys business. Corporate Governance is the process by which companies are governed and held accountable to their owners. Corporate Governance is the whole system of managing and controlling a company. Many view corporate governance in the light of the long-run value creation of shareholders. Corporate Governance is the enhancement of the long-term shareholder value while at the same time protecting the interest of other shareholders. From this view, corporate governance focuses on structure and rules of the board of directors; the independent audit committee and control management. So, corporate governance is a pervasive concept, which basically tells about the corporate practices. This is such a concept encompassing the relations and rights of shareholders with the board and other stakeholders; effective risk management; management transparency and accountability to the stakeholders g roup and overall corporate practices that aims at meeting the corporate goals. OECD set few principles of corporate governance, which have been adopted by the member countries of the OCED. These principles are available in the web site: www.oecd.org. In summary, they include the following elements: The rights of shareholders: These include a set of rights including secure ownership of their shares, the rights to full disclosure of information, voting rights, participation in decisions on sale or modification of corporate assets including mergers and new share issues. The Equitable Treatment of Shareholders: Here the OCED is concerned with protecting minority shareholders rights by setting up systems that keep insiders, including managers and directors, from taking advantage of their roles. The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: the OCED recognizes that there are other stakeholders in companies in addition to stakeholders. Banks, bondholders and workers for example are important stakeholders in the way in which companies perform and make decisions. Disclosure and Transparency: The OCED also lays out a number of provisions for the disclosure and communication and key facts about the company ranging from financial details to governance structures including the board of directors and their remuneration. The Responsibilities to the Board: The guidelines provide a great deal of detail about the functions of the board in protecting the company, its shareholders, and its stakeholders. These include concerns about corporate strategy, risk, executive compensation and performance, as well as accounting and reporting systems. John, K. et.al. (1998) conducted a study to relate Corporate Governance with managerial risk-taking. The study showed how the investor protection environment affects corporate managers incentives to take value-enhancing risks. It suggested that the manager chooses higher perk consumption when investor protection is low and vice versa. Lower investor protection is associated with conservative investment policy and least firm growth. Finally the authors suggested that the corporate risk-taking and firm growth rates are positively related to the quality of investor protection (whether the investment generated by the firm is used is a safe and secured way). This situation indicates that a risk-taking firms growth rate is higher than the less risk-taking firm so find out the concerns towards the investors it is necessary to calculate that whether the firm is taking much risk for increasing its growth, which may arise adverse situation for the investor by decreasing the protection of the i nvestment. According to John and Senbet (1998), a common belief is that boards of directors are become more independent as the number of outsider director increases. Though, Fosberg (1989), found no relation of firm performance with the outsider directors, he rather emphasis on other variables like SGA expenses, sales, return on equity and number of employees. Hermalin and Wrisbach (1991) also dont find any association between the number of independent directors and firm performance. In 2002 Bhagat and Black became unable to find any relationship between the numbers of outsider directors. But in contrast Baysinger and Butler (1985) and Rosenstein and Wyatt (1990) find rewards for the firm for appointing outsider directors. Anderson, Mansi and Reeb (2004) showed that, the cost of debt is inversely related with the independence of the board of directors. According to Brickley, Coles and Terry (1994), there are a positive linkage between the number of outsider directors and stock market response. Bhagat and Bolton (2007) argued that, better governance can be measured by GIM and BCF indices, stock owned by the board of directors, performance of CEO etc. Lipton and Lorsch (1992); Jensen (1993) argued in their evidence that, it is believed by some people that limiting the board size of the firm will have impact in the performance of the firm because increase number of the board members will increase the monitoring, communication and decision making ability. On the other hand Yermack (1996) found an inverse relationship between board size and profitability, asset utilization and Tobins Q. Board of director plays a vital role in the firm performance. As they divide their duties and responsibilities so increase in the number of directors make the responsibilities and duties more narrowed, so if the number of director increases the firms performance should be increased. On other side if the firm appoint experienced CEO or director in the firm it have a positive impact on the stock price of the firm which reflects the practice of good corporate governance has a positive impact on firms performance. According to Bhagat and Bolton (2008), Corporate governance has the authority to make any modification or change in any important decisions including investment policy, management compensation policy, boards decision etc. so it becomes easier for the firm to monitor and implement their activities efficiently by practicing good corporate governance this will help the firm to increase its overall performance. A negative relationship has been found by Klein (2002), between audit committee independence and earnings management. Whereas Anderson et al. (2004) documented that firm with self-governing audit committee has low debt financing costs. Frankel, Johnson and Johnson (2002) show an inverse relationship with the firm earnings management and the independence of the audit committee. On the other hand, Ashbaugh, Lafond and Mayhew (2003) and Larcker and Richardson (2004) show disagreement about the inverse relationship between firm earnings management and independence of the auditor in th eir evidence. Bhagat and Bolton (2008) provided some evidence to associate the relationship between audits related governance factors and firm performance: Audit committee those are solely independent are positively related with dividend yield but not related with firms operating performance or valuation; Annual meetings held by the firm are not related with the performance; Consulting fees and audit fees paid to the auditors are negatively related with the firms performance measurement; Company policy for rotating auditors are positively related with the return on equity but not related with any other performance factors. As audit committee plays an important role for establishing and implementing firms investment policy, compensation policy and other management decision the role of audit committee influence the firms performance. The performance of audit committee can vary due to various factors such as audit fees, independence of the committee etc. as Bhagat and Bolton (2008) finds several audit related governance factors but this area needs further research to find out the exact situation. Gompers, Ishii, and Metrick (2003) introduced a corporate governance measure which is equal weighted index of 24 corporate governance factors, these factors are gathered by the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC), those are, classified boards, golden parachutes, poison pills, cumulative voting supermajority rules for selecting and approving managers. Whereas, Brown and Caylor (2004) created their corporate governance index through the use of Institutional Shareholder Service (ISS) data. Hermalin and Weisbach (1998, 2003); Bhagat, Carey and Elson (1999); Brickley, Coles and Jarrell (1997) states that, board independence, stock ownership of board members and whether CEO and Chairman are individual person etc. are considered as a importance characteristics of corporate governance. Brown and Caylor (2004) identified 52 factors for considering corporate governance practice of the firms where Gompers, Ishii, and Metrick (2003) considers 24 factors for measuring corporate charter position and board characteristics. According to Bhagat and Bolton (2008) management compensation features, board characteristics, and corporate charter position creates the personality of firms corporate governance while creating the corporate governance index these factors need to be weighted otherwise it will become unable to give optimum result. If the weight are not equally weighted the relationship between the corporate governance and firm performance will give an unrealistic result with incorrect inferences between the relation of corporate governance and firm performance. While selecting the factors for creating the governance score it must be consider that the factors need to be available for all kinds of firms from different industry, otherwise the result may become bias. On the other hand if the researcher did not find weighted average the outcome of the study becomes questionable so for making the evidence more reliable it is necessary to find out the weighted average o f the governance score. Some variables of measuring corporate governance can be motivated by incentive-based economic models of managerial behavior. This model can fall into two categories. First one is agency model, in this model the interest of managers are take into action as a result it becomes costly for the shareholders. In this model shareholders become unable to observe the behavior of the managers directly, but sometimes ownership are given to the managers to reduce this type of action and use the resources for the best interest of the shareholders. This problem is cited by Grossman and Hart in 1983. Another model is adverse situation model; this model is motivated by the hypothesis of differential ability which also cannot be observed by the firms shareholders. In this model the power of managers is control to reduce the use of cash flow for the private benefit or managers personal information cannot be used to control the firms cash flow. This model is provided by Mayerson (1987). From the above situation it is clear that sometimes corporate governance is controlled by the relationship between managers and shareholders and in this case managers behaviors and ability are directly associated with the firms performance. Berle and Means (1932), find the impact of the cost of the shareholders ownership, they found a positive relationship with ownership structure and firm performance. However, Demsetz (1983) argued that, if we scrutinize the success factors of the public companies with diffused share ownership we will see clear offsetting benefits of the shareholders. Other factors that may impact of the firm performance are performance based compensation and insider information which should be determined through ownership. For example, if the performance of the firm increase the value of the stock and the managers owned some ownership, it will increase the value of their ownership this incentive will help the firm to preserve the interest of both shareholders and managers by boosting the performance of the firm. Hypothesis This research will focus on following hypothesis: H1: Company with good Corporate Governance has a better operating performance. H2: Company with poor Corporate Governance has a poor operating performance. Methodology of the study Research method To fulfill the objectives of this paper and find out the relationship of corporate governance with firm performance both qualitative and quantitative method of research will be used. The main objective of this paper is to find out the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance and to find out the degree of influence of corporate governance on the firm performance to find out this evidences researcher need to go through an exploratory research. Some case studies also will be analyzed and discussed to find out the actual position and this will make this research more realistic. This paper will try to develop a governance measure (governance score) to find out the degree of corporate governance practiced and also identify some factors to measure the performance of the firm and score them with a relevant range. Governance score will be composite measure of about 50 factors which will encircling on several corporate governance categories like audit committee, board of directors, executive and directors compensation, compensation policy for the managers, industry, progressive practices, directors education, charter/ bylaws etc. Then researcher will do a cross sectional analysis between governance score and firm performance score. For measuring operating performance Tobins Q, GIM, return on equity, profit margin, sales growth, and other financial measurements will be used. Data collection This paper will create a summary metric of the governance score to measure the strength of the firms governance. Researcher will collect data related with corporate governance and firm performance from the annual report and publicly available information sources mostly researcher will depend on the secondary sources for preparing this report; though researcher will try to collect data from the reliable sources like stock exchange, annual report, magazine etc. This paper will take a large number of individual firms as my sample for this studies thus it will reflect real phenomena. This paper will take data for measuring firm performance for the 2009 fiscal year end. Sampling The population for this report will be listed companies in the London stock exchange. The researcher will take at least fifty companies as sample from five different industries they are automobiles and parts, banks, beverages, food producers, and electronic and electrical equipment. The companies will be chosen randomly. Scope of the study This paper will try to find out how good corporate governance practices impact on the firm performance. This paper will contribute on the literature on the following way: first, the role of the board of the directors plays on the performance of the firm. For example: the numbers of independent directors or dependent director can play a role in the governance and also contribute on the performance of the firm. This may varied from industry to industry so researcher will took a descriptive analysis on the following matter, for collecting the evidence on the following matter GIM, and Tobins Q will play a great role. This paper will also find out the variables that may impact on the performance related with this topic. Secondly, researcher will try to find out the better incentive policy given to the manager stock option or cash dividend which will be more effective to protect the right of the stockholder as well as boosting the performance of the firm. The performance of the firm can be measured in various ways this paper will focus on the financial performance and the right of the stockholder in measuring the performance of the firm. Thirdly, this paper will come with the functioning of the audit committee; audit committee plays a vital role on the both in the corporate governance practices of the firma and the firm performance. Compensation given to the internal and external audit committee also has impact on the firm performance do find out these impacts an explanatory research will be conducted. Finally, researcher will come with the degree of corporate governance practices with the firm performance. This paper will find out extent of the impact of the corporate governance with the firm performance. Concluding remarks Corporate governance plays a vital role to balance between the economic and social goals and between individual and communal goals. The governance framework is very much important to boosting up the performance of the firm and to protect the interest of the stockholders. Because it ensures the efficient use of resources, make the management accountable and ensures the best benefit of all the parties. As a result corporate governance has impact on the overall performance of the firm because it control most of the performance factors and the good practices of corporate governance will allow the firm to protect the interest of the stockholders.

Our Prison System Sucks :: essays research papers

Our Prison System Sucks Good afternoon ****** and fellow class mates. To many of you, the word prison might frighten you. To some, you welcome the idea of prison. To others, well, you just don't care. Well I am for the idea of prison, but I don't support the way our prisons in north america are being run. These people deserved to be punished! I don't want them to waste our money, get "paid" for television interviews, book rights and all the other goodies that come from doing a crime. And then slapped on the hand saying: "You be a good boy/girl now" and sent them off to a place we call prison, but in reality, some of the prisoners, find prison to be just like a strict camp. I have personally talked to some people who had gotten out of prison a few weeks prior to our talk, and they where telling me how they learned how to make certain crafts, learn how to sow, and many other things. To me, that sounds awfully like a camp I was made to go to when I was young. Some people in prison even have television, others treat it like a hotel. This disgusts me! This doesn't sound at all like a prison. A prison is a place where people are supposed to be punished. Not treated like guests. There is a fin line between being punished and being over punished however. I'm not saying that each person should be beaten daily, or made to stay in a cell by themselves with no one to talk to for an eternity. The person should be punished according to the crime. "An eye for an eye." This brings me to the subject of capital punishment. I'm sure some of you are disgusted by the word, but I am not. I am disgusted with the fact that it is not here in Canada. I believe that for major crimes, such as that of Paul Bernardo certainly deserve the death penalty. If someone can go out and kill dozens of children, or adults. They surely have the guts to go though with the end of their lives. The amount of grief a family has to suffer when a loved one is lost is tremendous, and to have to go through life worrying weather or not you safe because your afraid the killer will get out of jail with good behavior.

The Earth Centered Theme of Shakespeares King Lear Essay -- King Lear

The Earth Centered Theme of Shakespeare's King Lear King Lear is a complicated, apocalyptic play with parallel plots, moral ambiguity, and a messy ending. The play's events were politically charged and historically informed when they were performed in seventeenth century England, as they continue to be to today. Whatever his intentions, Shakespeare has given us several universal truths to consider. One I like to consider is how beneath all the sinister and bold machinations of man lies the gentle earth, from which we, and all life, spring. Some critics note that Shakespeare was skeptical about God and the role of religion in one's life. I believe King Lear is the product of a writer with a solid cosmology, but one centered in earth and humanity. I hesitate to label Shakespeare a pagan, or anything other than brilliant. Yet there is evidence enough in the text for me to argue an earth-centric thesis. A close reading reveals those who employ common wording or down-to-earth speech as embodiments of goodness, whereas characters that insis t on the perfectly controlled, artificial utterances of the feudal court are corrupt at best, if not evil. The gods above are shown to be fickle and uncaring, if not bloodthirsty. Shakespeare also weaves in certain utopian visions into the fabric of King Lear, earth-based ideals, not only pre-Christian like the play's setting, but pre-historic; thus supporting the argument for an earthen cosmology and humanistic political consciousness, freely exhibited and often applied in the work. Unnatural Edmund Edmund rejects the very idea of baseness, or what we might think of as earthiness. He is skillfully used in the play to oppose to all that is common and good. His famous soliloquy in Act 1, Sc... ... manifest values of personal humility, caring, and wise stewardship of the land. Works Cited Elliot, Michael. King Lear by William Shakespeare. Princeton: Films for the Humanities. 1988. Starring: Laurence Olivier and John Hurt. Oates, Joyce Carol. " 'Is This the Promised End?': The Tragedy of King Lear." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. (Fall 1974) URL: http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/southerr/lear.html. Schneider, Ben Ross, Jr. "King Lear in Its Own Time: The Difference that Death Makes." Early Modern Literary Studies 1.1 (1995): 3.1-49 URL: http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/emls/01-1/schnlear.html. Shakespeare, William. King Lear. Edited by David Bevington. New York: Bantam. 1980. Smiley, Jane. A Thousand Acres. New York: Fawcett Columbine. 1991. Toole, John Kennedy. A Confederacy of Dunces. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. 1980.

Ford Motor Company Essay -- essays research papers

Ford Motor Company Address: The American Road Dearborn, Michigan 48121, USA Public Company Incorporated: July, 1918 Employees: 383,300 Sales: $62.17 billion Stock Index: New York, Boston, Pacific Midwest, Toronto, Montreal, London   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Until recently, the Ford Motor Company has been one of the most dynastic of American enterprises, a factor which has both benefited the company and has brought it to the brink of disaster. Today Ford is the second largest manufacturer of automobiles and trucks in the world, and it’s operations are well diversified, both operationally and geographically. The company operates the worlds second largest finance company in the world, and is a major producer of tractors, glass and steel. It is most prominent in the US, but also has plants in Canada, Britain and Germany, and facilities in over 100 countries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Henry Ford I, the founder of Ford Motor Company, was born on a farm near Dearborn, Mi in 1869. From boyhood, he had a talent for engineering, but it was not until 1890 that he commenced his engineering career as an employee of the Detroit Edison Company. Ford’s superiors at the electric company felt his hobby distracted him from his regular occupation, and despite his promotion to chief engineer, he was forced to quit in 1899.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Shortly afterwards, with financial backing from private investors, Ford established the Detroit Automobile Company. He later withdrew from the venture after a disagreement with business associates over numbers and prices of cars to be produced. Working independently in a small shed in Detroit, Henry Ford developed two four cylinder, 80-horsepower race cars called the â€Å"999† and the â€Å"Arrow†, with $28,000 of capital raised from friends and neighbors. Henry Ford established a new shop on June 16, 1903. In this facility the Ford Motor Company began production of a two cylinder, eight-horsepower design called the Model A. The company produced 1,708 of these models in the first year of operation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Henry Ford and his engineers designed several automobiles, each one designated by a letter of the alphabet: these included the small, four cylinder Model N (which sold for $500), and the more luxurious six-cylinder Model K (which sold poorly for $2500). In October 1908, ... ...a 25% share of Toyo Kogyo in November 1979, when a Ford subsidiary merged with the company). Ford imported Mazda cars and trucks, and in many ways treated Toyo Kogyo as a small car division.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1984, with costs reduced, Ford started to repurchase 30 million shares (about 10% of the company’s stock). It’s production of cars in Mexico increased and output was stepped up in South Korea. The following year Ford introduced the Taurus, a modern full-size automobile which had taken 5 years to develop at a cost of $3 billion. The Taurus proved highly successful and won several design awards.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sales and profits reached record levels in 1984, and in 1986 Ford surpassed General Motors in income for the first time since 1924. In addition, Ford’s market share increased to just under 20%. Ford Motor purchased several companies in the mid 1980’s, including the First Nationwide Financial Corporation, the New Holland tractor division of Sperry and 30% of Otosan, the automotive subsidiary of the Turkish Koc Group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Ford Motors Company was, is, and will continue to be one of the greatest American enterprises.