Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Use of Native American Mascots is NOT Racist Essay

Issue of whether to keep Mascots in schools or not, started in late 1970’s and from then this debate is going on. Most of the schools have Indian Mascots in place for half a century and suddenly it become problem to use Indian Mascots. Over 500 Native American organizations also announced their support for the removal of those mascots and over 1200 schools across the United States have changed the name of their sports teams and some school refused to play with those schools using Indian mascots. But some school still think that using mascots are just paying homage to the Native peoples and it’s just another group claiming to be offended. Sports teams used those mascots to promote their team’s athletic powers, like wolf, lion and eagle†¦show more content†¦All over the world people use mascots to represent something. I think using Indian mascots is not a big issue. Those mascots have been used to represent their power and strength. I couldn’t see a single element in using mascot can be disgraceful to somebody’s culture. Actually in my view it’s the best way of paying homage to somebody. It’s really a surprising that Indian Native organizations are also becoming sensitive about this issue. I have never come across a single person who ever describe that this mascot means something bad about something. Mascots always used to represent qualities of different things. What had happened with them century ago that was their fault. In my view Indians didn’t try to be part of new advancement which British brought with them and that was their fault. Even now if any nation is technically or by any means is strong or advance, that will certainly rule the others, if others want to survive they have to mold themselves with the new advancements. That was really great that Indian’s were proud of their culture that they knew how to live with nature and they tried to live with that. But Like Amash people here they are strongly committed to their customs and culture but they know if they won’t mold some of their living customs then there will be very difficult for them to survive, this is was the point that Indians didn’t realize at that moment. Indian instead of adopting themselves with new advancement they have

Monday, December 16, 2019

Ford Motor Company and Ambition Free Essays

Dusty Bowles Mrs. Farmer English 102 10 September 2010 Ambitions As I started out to write a paper based on ambition I had to question myself what ambition really was. What makes people get that extra push to be ambitious, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an ambitious person? At first, I must admit it was very difficult to comprehend. We will write a custom essay sample on Ford Motor Company and Ambition or any similar topic only for you Order Now In the American Heritage dictionary it states that ambition comes from the Middle English word â€Å"ambicioun,† meaning â€Å"excessive desire for honor, power, or wealth. † After reading this meaning I understood what was stated, but it still did not make a clear meaning to me what ambition was. I have found that after reading a quote by Henry Ford my understanding started to all come together. Henry Ford once quoted, â€Å"Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right. † This quote in itself explains to me that it is a self motivated decision made by one individual. It is ambition that makes us think we can be successful, and lack of ambition that makes us think that we cannot. Many people have different ambitions in life so the word ambition would have different meanings depending on which you ask and how one defines it. An ambition is an eager, and sometimes an inordinate desire for honor, superiority, leading power, or the attainment to seek a goal that is immensely desired. Ambition is something that anyone, no matter his or her age or cultural background has instinctively. Ambition can push towards a driven force for success or in altering views a road to failure. Without an ambition we, human beings, have no purpose to be self driven individuals. Ambition in other words is that motive force needed to propel all to work towards our cherished goals in which we set. Ambition is the explosive inner force that has led many people from all walks of life to make a new path, set a new vision. Ambitious people are those with the hopes of one day conquering their ambition. Ambitious people are confident and because of this, they feel there is nothing that they cannot accomplish. There are many people from many different parts of life that have had ambitions and accomplished them. For example, Donald Trump is someone I admire and is a very ambitious person in my book. Trump is listed as number 33 on the Forbes Top 100 list. Trump did not start out as successful as he is today. Back in Trump’s prime he set ambitions to achieve for what today we call his success. Trump started out going to school and got a degree in â€Å"Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentration in Finance. † School was just the start of Trumps ambitions to learn more, today he is a very successful business executive and entrepreneur. Donald Trump is someone that I respect and gives me that extra push when reading his autobiography. Being able to know that ambitions all start out as a dream until someone makes them a reality makes the possibilities endless. Ambitions can be as easy as a thought away from what the actual turnout can be. To me ambition is a burning desire to achieve ones goals or succeed. Ambition in my theory is related to dedication, motivation, and time. At my age, twenty years young I have many ambitions to achieve in a set period of time. For starters my education, I would like to complete my Bachelors in Marketing with a minor in Finance within the next four years. Time motivates me to achieve my ambitions because I strive to be well accomplished by the age of twenty-five. Ambitions are a big part of my young adult life because I would like to accomplish a lot of things before I get older. Without ambition I cannot achieve a greater milestone in my walk. Everyone has a chance to tell you their own personal story based on their walk. Without ambitions one cannot achieve a greater tomorrow. Understanding the limitations and compromises that come with obtaining any ambition is overwhelming. Putting forth and obtaining an ambition is self constructed. With hard work, experience, and overall self control, ambitions are not too far out of reach for any person to grasp. Any one person can achieve their ambitions if they set their mind to it and that gives me the reassurance that I can make it. Depending on whom you ask lets us knows the trials and tribulations one goes through while accomplishing their ambitions. After reading Donald Trumps story and the simple quote by Henry Ford that turned the light bulb in my head on, my understating of ambitions became clear. Ambitions can all be the same or they can all be different. Everyone has their own ambition and how to accomplish them. If one has ambition, one can achieve any goal. Works Cited â€Å"Ambition | Define Ambition at Dictionary. com. †Ã‚  Dictionary. com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary. om. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. . â€Å"Donald Trump: Biography from Answers. com. †Ã‚  Answers. com: Wiki QA Combined with Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Encyclopedias. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. . â€Å"#33 Donald Trump – Forbes. com. †Ã‚  Forbes. com – Business News, Financial News, Stock Market Analysis, Technology Global Headline News. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. . Google, By. â€Å"†Whether You Think You Can or Can’t, You’re Right†Ã¢â‚¬â€œHenry Ford |Strategic Business Lawyer. †Ã‚  Small Business Advice from the Champions of Small Business. 23 Jan. 2006. Web. 10 Sept. 2010. . How to cite Ford Motor Company and Ambition, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Aurecon Singapore External Environment-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a business report regarding Aurecon Singapore's external environment and internal environment. Answer: Introduction Strategic analysis is a process that is used to evaluate the external and internal environment of a company. It is a significant process in the growth and expansion of company. For a company, it is very important to consider its major factors such as; market opportunities, possible customers, needs and demands of customers, market size and organizational capability to capture the market share in the industry (Zott, Amit, and Massa, 2012). In the report, the organization that is taken into consideration is Aurecon Consultancy in Singapore. The engineers at this consultancy utilize their engineering knowledge and expertise to give design, advisory and asset management services to implement ideas to their own life. This report includes external and internal environmental analysis of Aurecon Singapore Organization by using different frameworks such as Porters five forces analysis, PESTLE analysis, VUCA framework, Value chain analysis, VRIO framework etc. Furthermore, it analyzes challeng es and problems of company by conducting SWOT Analysis. Company Description Aurecon Group Brand Limited is a Singaporean Organization that offers engineering services. This company provides a wide range of management and engineering services like; surveying, planning, scientific, environmental, advisory and project management services to transportation, government, energy, water and defense sectors. The engineers at Aurecon have an expertise on asset management, infrastructure and business advisory, community planning, environment planning and building structures (Aurecon, 2018). Currently, it is serving both public and private sector businesses in Australia, Asia Pacific, Africa, New Zealand and Middle East. By offering effective consultancy services, the organization is able to enhance its brand image in Singaporean Industry. External Organizational Analysis PESTLE framework PESTLE analysis is a significant framework, which is used to analyze external environment and its factors. It includes various factors such as; political, economic, social, technology, legal and environmental factors. Singapore is one of the emerging countries in technology and business, which have large impact on development and implementation of functional and operational activities. The industries in country are continuously growing and have positive effect on technology advancement (Ho, 2014). It can be stated about this country that it is profitable to operate business in Singapore. PESTLE Analysis of Aurecon Singapore is stated below; Political Factors In Singapore, political risk is very low, so it is profitable to run business in its political environment. According to the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, this nation has the lowest political risk. With the increase in political stability, there is a growth in the business opportunities in trade. Aurecon organization has various business opportunities in the country. Politics in Singapore is a combination of bureaucracy and democracy. As it is providing advisory services to asset management and construction projects, so it needs to obtain documentation and permits from government authorities. Aurecon consultancy needs to evaluate all the imposed norms and regulations of country, so that it can advise other businesses and projects. The country has significant anti-corruption policies, which have attracted foreign direct investment in different industries. Due to this, Aurecon Company is able to give enough salaries to its engineers and other professionals (Aurecon, 2018). Economic Factors Economy of Singapore is one of the best economies in the world. In this country, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is continuously enhancing since its independence. The economy of this country is highly dependent on information technology, electronics and exports. This is a good indicator for the consultancy business of Aurecon Organization. Government is attracting foreign direct investment in education, pharmaceuticals and medical industry. Due to this, Aurecon has enough resources and expertise to provide the solutions and advice to construction and building structuring organizations (Ministry of Trade and Industry, 2017). One of the major challenges for the company is that it has higher cost of accessing materials and related literature. Social Factors The population in Singapore is continuously increasing every year and total population in 2016 is 5.607 million. The country is on second rank in the list of most densely populated nation in the world. In this country, literacy rate is 92% of its total population. It is due to free education policy of government and people are highly educated (Grant, 2016). This is the major reason that Aurecon Organization may have highly educated and qualitative team and experts for providing advice and solutions. In addition to this, the country has a powerful social system that provides social benefits to its people. Thus, the engineers at Aurecon are working with higher motivation and engagement because they are getting appropriate salary for their contribution to the organization. Technology Factors As discussed above, the major exports of Singapore are technological and electronic products that indicate that this country is enjoying a good reputation for developing new and innovative technologies. The emergence of internet services, information technology, online communities, search engines, computer-based business across the world with other brands have made Aurecon Consultancy able to expand its business in developed countries. The organization in the country is facing some technological challenges such as; lack of power supply, infrastructural facilities, road and rail transportation and cost of manufacturing and production (Barney, 2014). Legal Factors The government and bodies in the country have imposed strict rules and legislation for operating business. They believe that growth of country is dependent on favorable and transparent legislations. Aurecon Singapore needs to follow some legislations and ethical standards, while providing advisory services to other businesses. The country has introduced some e-commerce initiatives, which are beneficial for Aurecons business. However, it is good to follow laws and regulations, but they are quite strict in Singapore. Environmental Factors The environmental factors like climate changes and weather in Singapore are favorable consulting business of Aurecon (Hill, Jones, and Schilling, 2014). The temperature of country is manageable and it does not cause any major disruption to consultants work. Apart from this, environmental pollution can create issues for the company. The organization needs to communicate through e-mails with their clients, which will reduce the paper wastage and keep the environment clean. VUCA framework VUCA framework is another analysis that can be used for analyzing external environment for an organization. This is the acronym, which is used to define the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general situations and conditions in the market (Lemoine, Hackett, and Richardson, 2017). VUCA Analysis Aurecon Group Brand Limited is stated below; Volatility The first component of this framework is volatility that indicates the dynamics and nature of change and impact of change forces on organization. There are various factors, which are volatile for Aurecon Singapore like; economic environment, pricing volatility, infrastructural facilities, changes in market trends and customer preferences. Aurecon is making efforts to respond these changes by working with different clientele to assist the digitization of infrastructure (Codreanu, 2016). Uncertainty Uncertainty is the component of VUCA analysis that refers to the lack of expectedness, specific information and sense of awareness and consideration of issues. Working as an engineering advisory consultancy is very new concept and there are so many people, who are not aware about this. In the future, Aurecon Organization may face the factors like; economic factors, changes in the laws and regulations, costs of literature and other related materials, changes in the policies etc. In Singapore consulting industry, it is difficult to predict these factors for Aurecon Organization (Kotlar, Armstrong, 2012). Complexity Complexity includes number of factors and their relationships. It refers to the factors which businesses need to implement a non-linear method to resolve the issues and think differently. Under complexity, Aurecon may face the issues while operating business different countries, i.e. Australia, Asia Pacific, Africa, New Zealand and Middle East. The company has to operate the business in different country with unique laws and regulations, cultural values and tariffs. Ambiguity The final aspect of VUCA Framework is ambiguity that refers to the quality of staying open to more than one interpretation. It states that issues, which cannot be reduced or eliminated. Aurecon Singapore is planning to diversify its products and services in emerging markets, which are not clear to the organization. The company is going beyond its core services and competencies (Kotler, 2015). Porters 5 forces Analysis Porters 5 Forces analysis is a strategic model, which is used to analyze the industrial environment for a company. There are five forces under this model, which affect the organization in a specific industry. Porters 5 forces analysis for Aurecon Singapore is given below; Industry Rivalry (High) However, establishing an engineering consultancy is a new concept, but now this industry has grown significantly. By analyzing the external environment in Australia, it can be stated that there are several companies, which are providing engineering and management services to different sectors like; government, transportation, water, defense etc. The major competitors of the company are such as; Arup Group, SMEC Holdings Limited, Black Veatch and GHD Pty Ltd. Thus, the level of competition is very high for Aurecon Singapore Organization (Dobbs, 2014). Bargaining Power of Buyers (Low) Despite of high industry rivalry, the bargaining power of buyers is low in Singaporean consulting industry. The major reason is that there is an increase in the demand of engineering and management services as the needs for these services have been increased. There are different customers from different sectors. Aurecon Organization needs to become unique in order to provide services and attract a large customer base towards its consultancy services. Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low) In Singapore consulting industry, the bargaining power of suppliers is comparatively low. There are many suppliers of primary inputs like information technology and human resources. In the Singapore country, employment rate is higher. There are many experienced and highly qualified engineers. The country has a large demand for consultancy services and now company profit is improving from economic recession (Lpez-Gamero, and Molina-Azorn, 2016). Threats of New Entrants (Moderate) This industry in Singapore is open only for the new entrants, who can survive in highly competitive environment. There are so many domestic and international brands, which have already established their business in this country and neighboring countries. Thus, the competing brands including Aurecon are creating barriers to entry for new entrants in consulting industry. Threat of Substitutes (Low) There are very few substitutes, which are available for engineering and management consulting services form other sectors. These sectors are such as; educational institutions, colleges, research institutes and government sources. However, needs and preferences of buyers are increasing towards the services of consulting firms like Aurecon Singapore. The services of these consultancies are unique and better from other substitutes (PRNewswire, 2017). Internal Organizational Analysis VRIO framework VRIO framework is a significant model for analyzing internal environment of an organization. It evaluates different characteristics of its resources and capabilities, like Valuable, Rare, Inimitable and Organization. VRIO analysis for Aurecon Singapore is stated below; Human Resources Valuable Rare Inimitable Organization Competitive Advantage Engineers and management experts Marketing and Sales team Huge Team Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No ----- Yes Yes Yes Sustainable advantage Temporary Uniformity Intangible Resources Valuable Rare Inimitable Organization Competitive advantage Tools and processes Patents Consultancy Research Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Temporary Sustainable Temporary Relational Capital Valuable Rare Inimitable Organization Competitive advantage Global Presence Strong Industrial presence Brand Image Large Customer base Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Temporary Temporary Sustainable Sustainable Capabilities Valuable Rare Inimitable Organization Competitive Advantage Financial capabilities Training and development centres Ability to implement new projects International expansion model Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ----- No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable advantage Uniformity Temporary Temporary Valuable From the above table of VRIO analysis, it can be said that resources and capabilities of organization are valuable if they assist organization in creating value and competitive advantage. The tale shows that all of Aurecons resources are valuable for the company and they are assisting organization in sustainable competitive advantage in Singaporean Consulting Industry. Rare This characteristic of VRIO analysis indicates that how limited and rare the capabilities and resources of an organization are. At Aurecon, all resources and capabilities are rare except huge workforce and training and development centers. The resources are assisting the organization in gaining competitive advantage over its competitors (Lin, and Tsai, 2016). Inimitable Inimitability of the resources and capabilities indicates their expensiveness to imitate. Aurecon Singapore possesses various resources and capabilities, which cannot be imitated by other players in the industry. Patents and human resources are the major resources, which cannot be copied by other consultancies in Singapore. They need to hire their own management and engineering experts. Organization This component of VRIO analysis states whether the organization and its resources are organized in an effective way. In the case of Aurecon Singapore, it can be stated that it has organized all of its resources and capabilities, which will assist the organization in capturing a significant market share over its competitors in the industry (Rothaermel, 2015). Value Chain Analysis Value chain analysis is a framework that is used to evaluate the internal activities and processes of an organization. The major objective of this model is to identify the valuable activities of company. It includes both primary and secondary activities of organization. Value Chain Analysis of Aurecon Singapore is given below; Primary Activities Inbound Logistics Under value chain framework, these are the activities, which are related to logistics and supply of personnel and human resources to Aurecon Singapore. For effective supply of management and engineering experts, Aurecon is partnering with different job consultancies and employment agencies. These agencies are supplying experienced and trained human resources from engineering and management expertise. It is using cost effective way for generating pool of candidates towards its services (Mudambi, and Puck, 2016). Operations With the increase in the demand of consultancy services, Aurecon Singapore is establishing its operations in an effective way. The organization has years of experience in the design, planning and construction supervision of buildings, airports etc. The businesses from different sectors can contact to the companys experts and it provides them services through e-mail and physically. Marketing and Sales Aurecon Singapore focuses on its marketing and sales processes. The organization has created a marketing team, which develops and implements the marketing and communication plans, which enhances its brand reputation and relationships, which support sales strategies of consultancy. It is assisting the organization in generating customers to utilize Aurecons services. Outbound Logistics Outbound Logistics is the process, how the organization delivers its products and services to final customers. However, Aurecon Organization is a consultancy service provider, so it should focus on enhancing the communication skills of engineers (Saleh, and Watson, 2017). The engineers should be trained properly, so that they can deal with the customers properly. Services Service is the primary activity of a business that is offered by it and increase the value of products and services. Aurecon offers a variety of management and engineering services like; surveying, planning, scientific, environmental, advisory and project management services to transportation, government, energy, water and defense sectors. It offers its services in effective manner, so that it can retain its existing customers and create new customers. Secondary Activities Infrastructure Infrastructure refers to the structure of an organization and its management, processes and planning. Aurecon Organization has developed its infrastructure by developing a systematic organizational structure. As it offers services to different departments, so it has categorized the engineers and other professionals according to their expertise. It is continuously emphasizing to expand its infrastructure to support its revenues and profits (Too, and Bird, 2018). Human Resources Human resources include different activities of recruiting and retaining the employees to provide the services to customers. Aurecon Singapore has years of experience in developing an effective team of engineers and other experts, which are providing solutions to different sectors. It has a multi-disciplinary team that includes specialist engineers, planners, project managers, and airport and facility planners. The organization has trained its human resources to deliver the world class services, which satisfy the needs of public and private sector businesses. Technology Aurecon Singapore focuses on utilization and development of information technology. To deliver management and engineering services, the organization is adopting advanced technology. It has used various sources for effective flow of information. By the use of technology, it has secured the confidential information of businesses from other sectors. SWOT Analysis From above external and internal analysis, it can be concluded that Aurecon Singapore has various strengths and opportunities, which can assist the organization to overcome possible threats and weaknesses. These components of SWOT analysis are described below; Strengths As per the above analysis, it can be stated that stated that major strengths of Aurecon Singapore are that organization has positive environment in the country to operate its business. It has access to the highly skilled and qualified engineers and other professional, as it has connected with employment and recruitment agencies. The organization is offering its services for community and environment planning and accommodating the environmental needs (Tremewan, 2016). It has various resources and capabilities, which are valuable for the organizations business and processes. Weaknesses Apart from above strengths, there are some weaknesses of Aurecon Company such as; organization is facing intense competition in consulting industry. The company has a lower brand presence in comparison to its competitors. There are so many resources and capabilities of the organization, which can be imitated by other players. Business model of company is easily imitable that can affect the brand image of company adversely. In addition to this, the organization needs to make changes in its policies with the amendments in country laws and regulations. Opportunities As mentioned above in the external analysis, Aurecon Organization has better business opportunities in the country. The political and economic environment of country is stable, so it may have various opportunities in Singapore. Additionally, the organization can expand its business in international countries. It can diversify its services in other fields along with consultancy services. Moreover, Aurecon can partner or acquire small consultancy agencies to develop its resources and exposure in this country. By doing this, the company will be able to increase its client base and market share (Wheelen, Hunger, Hoffman, and Bamford, 2016). Threats One of the major threats to Aurecon is intense competition in Singapore Consulting industry. Industry has various players, which are well-established in the country. The company has to follow strict laws and regulations to operate this business. It has to complete all the formalities related to permits and documentation. Furthermore, there are some threats in Singapore, which are related to infrastructural facilities. Volatile environment is also a major threat for this organization (Zott, Amit, and Massa, 2012). Conclusion Thus, the above analysis concludes that Aurecon Company has moderate condition in Singapore. There are various factors, which are profitable for the organization. In the report, the external and internal analysis is included using different framework. These analyses conclude that there are some weaknesses and threats of Aurecon, which can be overcome by using its strengths and opportunities. The external environment of Singapore is profitable for this company as it has a strong politics and economy. From the internal environment analysis, it can be evaluated that Aurecon Singapore possesses different resources and capabilities, which are required to operate business successfully. The company should focus on developing its human resources, so that they can deliver the services effectively and increase its profits and revenues. References Aurecon, 2018, Aurecon A global engineering and infrastructure advisory company, Retrieved from https://www.aurecongroup.com/. (Accesses on 17 February 2018). Aurecon, 2018, Aurecon Projects in Singapore, Retrieved from https://www.aurecongroup.com/projects/by-location/singapore. (Accesses on 17 February 2018) Barney, J.B., 2014.Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Pearson higher ed. Codreanu, A., 2016, A Vuca Action Framework For A Vuca Environment. Leadership Challenges And Solutions, Journal of Defense Resource Management, 7 (2), 13. Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness Review,24(1), pp.32-45. Grant, R.M., 2016.Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Ho, J.K.K., 2014. Formulation of a systemic PEST analysis for strategic analysis.European academic research,2(5), pp.6478-6492. Kotlar, P. Armstrong, G., 2012, Principles of Marketing (14 edition). Pearson Education, Inc. Kotler, P., 2015.Framework for marketing management. India. Pearson Education. Lemoine, P.A., Hackett, P.T. and Richardson, M.D., 2017. Global Higher Education and VUCAVolatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity. InHandbook of Research on Administration, Policy, and Leadership in Higher Education(pp. 549-568). IGI Global. Lin, C. and Tsai, H.L., 2016. Achieving a firms competitive advantage through dynamic capability.Baltic Journal of Management,11(3), pp.260-285. Lpez-Gamero, M.D. and Molina-Azorn, J.F., 2016. Environmental management and firm competitiveness: the joint analysis of external and internal elements.Long Range Planning,49(6), pp.746-763. Ministry of Trade and Industry, 2017, The Digital Economy in Singapore, Retrieved from https://www.mti.gov.sg/ResearchRoom/SiteAssets/Pages/Economic-Survey-of-Singapore-Third-Quarter-2017/BA_3Q17.pdf. (Accesses on 17 February 2018) Mudambi, R. and Puck, J., 2016. A global value chain analysis of the regional strategyperspective.Journal of Management Studies,53(6), pp.1076-1093. PRNewswire, 2017, Construction in Singapore, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2021, Retrieved from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/construction-in-singapore-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2021-300401644.html. (Accesses on 17 February 2018) Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education. Saleh, A. and Watson, R., 2017. Business excellence in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment (BEVUCA).The TQM Journal,29(5), pp.705-724. Too, E. and Bird, S., 2018. Knowledge Transfer Between RD Projects and Commercial Projects: A Conceptual Framework. InProceedings of the 21st International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate(pp. 969-979). Springer, Singapore. Tremewan, C., 2016.The political economy of social control in Singapore. Springer. Wheelen, T.L., Hunger, J.D., Hoffman, A.N. and Bamford, C.E., 2017.Strategic management and business policy. Pearson. Zott, C., Amit, R. and Massa, L., 2011. The business model: recent developments and future research.Journal of management,37(4), pp.1019-1042.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt- book report free essay sample

A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Goldratt and Cox KEY IDEA The Goal centers around the protagonist Alex Rogo, who is a manager at a manufacturing and production plant for UniCo that is performing badly and is given three months to improve or face closing. His old physics professor, Jonah, is his guide and mentor through the story, using the Socratic Method, as Alex and his team learn to formulate what later becomes the Theory of Constraints to turn the plant around and eventually earn him a promotion to division manager. SUMMARY The story begins with outlining the problems Alex Rogo is facing. His plant is incredibly late on shipments because of inefficient processes. It takes the entire plant to make sure one order goes out before the end of the day. Rogo works in a high stress environment where daily, processes must be restructured just to get out an order of the most upset customer that day. We will write a custom essay sample on The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt- book report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His manager, Bill Peach, gives him an ultimatum of three months to turn the plant around or face closure. In addition to this, his marriage is suffering because of his long hours at work. Alex is deeply worried with this deadline. Alex embarks on tracking down Jonah, his old physics professor, to help him begin to isolate the problems in his factory. Jonah uses the Socratic method of questioning Alex, instead of feeding him the answers directly to what he BOOK REPORT: THE GOAL 1 seeks. He forms a team of department heads; Bob the plant’s head supervisor, Lou his chief accountant, Stacey the inventory manager, and Ralph the data processing manager. With the team assembled, and the Socratic guidance of Jonah, they use the logic of the scientific method to discover bottlenecks within the plant. Additionally, a hiking trip with his son’s boy scout group helps him stumble upon the solution to statistical fluctuations and independent events (embodied by Herbie, a boy carrying too much in his rucksack and walking slower than the rest of the group), which also allude to alleviating the bottleneck problem with in his plant. As a result of these experiences and problem solving meetings, the group learns to apply the earlier techniques to overcome new bottlenecks that develop later on. Along the way Alex learns that goal of business is to make money, and any efforts that detract from that prevent the company from reaching the goal. Jonah helps Alex discover the three measurements of productivity and profit; operational expense, throughput, and inventory. Alex later revises what the goal is and states that the goal is to increase throughput while simultaneously reducing both inventory and operating expense†. Balancing the flow of inventory through the plant becomes the key to solving their problem, instead of their previous answer of capacity. Alex and the team turn to restructuring the process of operations so time is not wasted at the bottleneck machines, which are the NCX-10 and Heat treatment processes/machines. Because capacity was being taken up by quality control being performed on parts at those machines, they moved quality control ahead of them in their processes to effectively increase their capacity. They also create a green and red tagging system to help push through late orders quicker. These measures increased their throughput and decreased inventory and operating expense, achieving the goal by making the plant profitable. Although Alex is relatively unaffected by this since his company is making money, the company is using incorrect metrics in measuring the profitability of his plant.   Because of their drastic innovation to old processes, Alex is promoted to manager of the division, with many of the team members being promoted as well, Lou going along with Alex to the division headquarters. Upon consulting with Jonah one last time, Alex starts on the last task for his team, to help him determine what techniques of effective managers. The fivestep process consists of: 1. IDENTIFY the systems constraint(s). 2. Decide how to EXPLOIT the systems constraint(s). Lastly, Alex applies the Socratic method to his marriage problems with his wife Julie. This side story makes the book more realistic to its audience, all the while showing real life stresses of balancing work and personal struggles and how these methods of problem solving can be applied universally, not just in a business setting. The lessons learned in The Goal are not strictly relevant to manufacturing business, they are about life and any problem you approach. The techniques of questioning taught through the Socratic Method allow you to draw your own questions and conclusions about problems encountered. Furthermore, the book outlines techniques on the creation of clear metrics on improvements and productivity in any business. By asking what the goal(s) of the business is/are, and how throughput (the rate at which the system generates money through sales), operational expenses (all the money the system spends in order to turn inventory into throughput), and inventory (all the money that the system has invested in purchasing things it BOOK REPORT: THE GOAL 3 intends to sell) are defined in relation to those terms, thus key metric units and measurements can be formed when data is collected. Increasing throughput while decreasing operational expenses and inventory is the goal of business and is usually expressed as profits, or making money. A huge lesson learned in this book is that numbers can be distorted, hence a true and accurate system of performance and profitability measurement cannot be based on what is assumed as an industry standard. Because many performance measurement techniques at UniCo are accepted at face value, the new profitability increases at Alex’s plant are underrepresented. The bottom line is not considered in his case, even though operating costs per unit are down and efficiencies are up, this productivity is being unrecognized. The lack in upper management’s questioning of metric definition is a real problem within many businesses today. Productivity is meaningless unless you know what the goal is. This theme in the book looks to stress that exercising common sense and the Socratic method in creating metrics is essential in profitable and productive businesses. APPLICATION As I intend on owning my own business in the future, I will apply what I learned in the book by using the five step process for ongoing improvement when I hit an s-curve in profitability or efficiency. Being able to identify bottlenecks and constraints in my own business will enable me to be a problem-solver. I have received much advice already in my path to business owner. Thus, applying the Socratic method to this advice will help me to be comparative and consider by which standards is this advice given. I want to stand out against my future competition, so my belief is that questioning the status quo in my methods will help me to produce a product and business that is truly unique in my intended market. Most of all, keeping the goal in sight is crucial. If you lose sight of what you are trying to achieve.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Assisted Suicide Bad Public Policy

Assisted Suicide: Bad Public Policy The struggle to keep assisted suicide from becoming legal has dwindled in the past years up until this year due to the Terri Schiavo case in Florida. There have been many American euthanasia movements in the past but this was a highly televised case evolving assisted suicide. There is only one state within the United States that has legalized assisted suicide and that is Oregon. There is one country that permits euthanasia and that is Holland. As a nation we need to maintain our stand against assisted suicide and not allow legalization of this movement. I do not take this subject lightly due to the fact that colon cancer runs in my family and has killed my grandmother, aunt, and uncle at an early age. Having to watch their last days of their lives in a hospital was very hard. My girlfriend of a year now is a nurse at a local hospital and so is her mom so I hear stories of suffering all the time. The issue of end-of-life care needs to be given more serious consideration by all Americ ans because we will all be affected by this unforeseen tragedy at one time or another. With new medications that help relieve intolerable suffering to terminal ill patients and with improved hospice care that should be available for all Americans, physician-assisted suicide should not be a given option. Let me first start off by distinguishing the difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia: Assisted suicide is distinguished from euthanasia in that it necessarily involves an individual who is capable physically of taking his or her own life and does so with means provided by another person. Euthanasia, on the other hand, refers to the situation where another person not only may provide the means but actually performs the specific act that causes an individual's death (for example, injecting a lethal dose of medication). Euthanasia may be voluntary (the individual has requested that another act to bring about ... Free Essays on Assisted Suicide Bad Public Policy Free Essays on Assisted Suicide Bad Public Policy Assisted Suicide: Bad Public Policy The struggle to keep assisted suicide from becoming legal has dwindled in the past years up until this year due to the Terri Schiavo case in Florida. There have been many American euthanasia movements in the past but this was a highly televised case evolving assisted suicide. There is only one state within the United States that has legalized assisted suicide and that is Oregon. There is one country that permits euthanasia and that is Holland. As a nation we need to maintain our stand against assisted suicide and not allow legalization of this movement. I do not take this subject lightly due to the fact that colon cancer runs in my family and has killed my grandmother, aunt, and uncle at an early age. Having to watch their last days of their lives in a hospital was very hard. My girlfriend of a year now is a nurse at a local hospital and so is her mom so I hear stories of suffering all the time. The issue of end-of-life care needs to be given more serious consideration by all Americ ans because we will all be affected by this unforeseen tragedy at one time or another. With new medications that help relieve intolerable suffering to terminal ill patients and with improved hospice care that should be available for all Americans, physician-assisted suicide should not be a given option. Let me first start off by distinguishing the difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia: Assisted suicide is distinguished from euthanasia in that it necessarily involves an individual who is capable physically of taking his or her own life and does so with means provided by another person. Euthanasia, on the other hand, refers to the situation where another person not only may provide the means but actually performs the specific act that causes an individual's death (for example, injecting a lethal dose of medication). Euthanasia may be voluntary (the individual has requested that another act to bring about ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

How to Find ACT Scores by High School and District

How to Find ACT Scores by High School and District SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Searching for the perfect high school or school district for you or your child? You've come to the right place. When looking at different high schools or different school districts, average ACT score can be a helpful comparison tool. Average ACT score can help estimatethe quality of education and quality of students at a particularhigh school or schooldistrict. There are a few different ways to find averageACT scores by high school or district. I’ll explain the different methods and why you should care about average high school ACT scores. How to Find a District orHigh School’s Average ACT Score: Your Options Beloware four methods fortracking downa public school’s average ACT score. The best option for you will depend on your homestate: Searchthe Department of Education website. (Note: This only works for PUBLIC high schools. Also, this is the ONLY way to find average ACT scores by school district.) Searchthe school’s website (however, not all schools publish this information on their websites). Emaila school administrator. Google search, "[High School Name] Average ACT Score." The best method is to use the Department of Education’s website for your state. Later on, I’ll explain how to find a district’s or specific public high school’s average ACT score using this method.This is the only way to guarantee you’re getting up-to-date, correct, unbiased information. This method will notwork for the following states: Alabama Arizona Arkansas Connecticut* DC Delaware* Hawaii Idaho* Iowa Maine* Massachusetts* Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey* New Mexico New York* North Carolina* North Dakota Ohio Oregon Rhode Island* South Carolina* Vermont* Virginia* Washington* * While these states don't provide ACT data, they do provide SAT data by high school. For information on how to find SAT data, read our guide to SAT scores by school. For private high schools or in states listed above, you could try to look on the high school’s website, do a Google search, or send an email to an administrator at that high school asking for the average ACT score. Be aware that there may be obstacles tofindingACT scores by high school.Websites and internet searches can often have outdated information (i.e. ACT score averages from three years ago)ornot even post this data.Additionally, administrators may also give you outdated information if they haven’t seen the most recent statistics. Also, it may take some administratorsa while to respond to your request if they have abusy schedule or are on summer vacation. How to Use the Department of Education’s Website to Find ACT Scores byHigh School or District Do a Google Search for your state’s Department of Education.Search â€Å"[State Name] Department of Education.†I did so below for Florida’s Department of Education.The state’s Department of Education website will usually be the first search result: After opening the Department of Education website, you should see a search box in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. In this box, type â€Å"ACT score† or â€Å"ACT data.† That search should bring up the ACT data for the state (see below). Typically the first result will be the one you want to view. Select the option that will provide you access to the most recent ACT data. The first link above says ACT, ACT, and AP Data while the second link says ACT, ACT, and AP Data Archive. This suggests the first link will have the most recent data while the ACT, ACT, and AP Data Archive most likely provides the data from previous years. The first link brought me to the page below: NOTE: for Florida, the most recent ACT data was from 2013. Other states may have 2014 ACT data available already. If you’re looking for data for a specific public high school, select the option that will show you ACT School Means.It will probably not be labeled the same for your state, but it should haveâ€Å"ACT† and â€Å"School† in the title. This link will provide you with school specific data. If you’re looking for data to compare different districts, select the ACT District Means spreadsheet. The district option only provides you with the average ACT scores for each district in the state (without breaking it down by high school). You’ll have to download the spreadsheet to your computer (which it should do automatically when you click on the link).A large excel spreadsheet should open that looks something like this: The exact informationthis document shows will vary by state, but all of them should list high school names and corresponding ACTscores (typically as a composite score). Sometimesthe state lists both the average composite score and the average sectionscores (English, Math, Reading, and Science). The Florida document does this, and it also provides information onthe number of 12th-grade students enrolled, the number of ACT test-takers, and the percentage of ACT test-takers by high school. To find the average ACT score for the public high schools you’re interested in, type Command + F function on your keyboard to search the spreadsheet. If you’re unable to get to this ACT data through your state’s Department of Education website, you should contact your state’s Department of Education (the contact information should be on their website).Usually, the Department of Education has a specific phone number or email to contact if you’re in search of data. If you’re unable to get in contact with the Department of Education or if you want ACT data for private high schools, then you should email or call the high school you're interested in. Why Care About a High School’s Average ACT Score? You should care about a high school’s average ACT score because higher ACT scores can indicate a better quality of education and a better quality of student at that school. While the ACT explicitly measures a student’sacademic ability, it can also measure how much a student cares about his or her education. ACT preparation can drastically change a student's score.If a student has slightly above-average intelligence, he or she can get a very high or even perfect ACT score with enough practice. Therefore, a student’s ACT score reveals both their academic ability AND how hard they’re willing to work. Since the ACT measures academic abilityand your education is largely responsible for what information you learn, the better your education, the better you’ll perform on the ACT. Though, as I said above, your ACT score is also affected by how much you prepare for the test. If a high school’s average ACT score is above-average, I’d venture a guess that the students at that school are more invested in their education and more committed to getting into a good 4-year college than students at other schools.These students likely study more and invest more time in preparing forthe ACT,and they are thereforemore likely to get accepted into selective colleges in the future. If you're concerned aboutyour child receiving a quality education and beingsurrounded by hard-workingstudents, consider sending them to a school or school district with a higher average ACTscore. Devil’s Advocate: Why Shouldn’t You Rely Too Heavily on Average ACT Score? While a school’s average ACT score can give an estimate ofthe quality of education and caliber of students at that school, average ACT score may not tell you the full story. For instance, some public high schools have magnet (or gifted) programs that you apply to that are separated from the â€Å"regular† track at that high school. These programs often have a higher caliber of student and better teachers than the rest of the school. My public high school had an International Baccalaureate magnet program. The admissions requirements for this program were high while there were norequirements for students on the â€Å"regular† high school track. This program had better teachers who only taught IB classes.For these reasons, I’d guess that the average ACT score for IB students was higher than the average ACT score for students on the â€Å"regular† high school track. However, the published average ACT score for my high school does not distinguish between IB and non-IB students. Instead, the number incorporates the scores of all students at the school.For this reason, you can’t figure out what the caliber of education and student will be within this specific magnet program at my school. Another reason average ACT score should not worry you too much is that a big part of your ACT score is how much effort you put into preparing for the exam.If you ultimately decide to attend a high school with a low average ACT score, you’re not necessarily going to have a low ACT score yourself.It doesn’t matter which high school you attend, you can still work hard, learn the test format and strategies, and achievea high score on the ACT. That being said, you should try to attend the high school with the highest caliber of students and teachers.That way, you receive the best education you can, you’ll be challenged in school, and you’ll be well prepared for the ACT. What’s Next? Trying to decide where to go to high school? Consider an IB school. Not sure what extracurriculars to do in high school? Learn about how to join Student Council, how to start a club, and how to pick a sport. Interested in doing a summer program? Learn about medical summer programs, summer sports camps, volunteering, Emory's Pre-College Program, and Boston University Summer Challenge. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

HSBC BANK (Motivation, Recruitment and Selection, Culture, Learning Assignment

HSBC BANK (Motivation, Recruitment and Selection, Culture, Learning and Development, Change Management) - Assignment Example This write up is an analytical paper that takes into concern the HSBC Holding Plc as one of the most reputed multinational banking and monetary service presenter, operating successfully from 1991. Being headquartered in London, it offers varied types of banking and financial services in the entire globe as compared to others. In a very time period, it expanded its wings in almost 90 countries in, North America, Asia, Africa, Europe and South America and many others that amplified its total assets by $2.693 trillion by the end of 2012. Moreover, due to the presence of wide range of customer bases, the operating income of HSBC Holding Plc increased by US$ 22.6 billion and total equity improved by US$ 175.2 billion by 2012. Such type of popularity and competitive position is attained by HSBC Holding Plc due to its remarkable services like consumer banking, investment banking, mortgage, private banking, credit cards, and many others. Due to these underlining reason the organization of HS BC Holding Plc is recognised as the sixth renowned financial institution by another magazine, Forbes. However, the entire prosperity and popularity of the organization of HSBC Holding Plc is due to its highly talented, skilled and motivated human resources. It is mainly due to its remarkable human resource policies and strategies that enhanced the inner morale of the employees and helped in improvement of the profit margin of the organization.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

SLP 5 TUX - 101 CAREER EXPLORATION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SLP 5 TUX - 101 CAREER EXPLORATION - Essay Example To link an organization’s management and all the employees. Coordinating as well as supervising the roles played by specialists and the subordinate staff members within the organization. The human resource managers oversee the recruitment, interview, selection as well as the hiring process of new employees. The managers offer advisory services to the managers of other department on matters such as gender equality and sexual offences. The human resource managers also handle staffing issues such as mediating disputes and directing disciplinary procedures. I have chosen this profession due to the many opportunities that comes with it. The retail manager position in every organization is a post that is charged with the day-to-day running of stores or departments within the organization. The aim of any retail manager is to maximize profit while minimizing costs since these factors largely depend on them. A retail manager is thus answerable on matters pertaining the financial performance of the company. Retail managers ensure promotions are accurate and merchandised to the company’s standards, staff are fully versed on the target for the day and excellent customer care standards are met. In some companies retail managers may also be required to deal with human resources, marketing, logistics, information technology, customer service and finance. This is aimed at ensuring smooth operations within the organization (Greenhaus, 12-36). The retail managers are responsible for overseeing all operations in a retail store. Operations can include staffing, bookkeeping, security and ensuring overall cleanliness. They are held accountable for the stores profitability, so they must develop and implement cost-cutting measures to minimize expenses. Supervising the stores customer service procedures is also a part of the managers day-to-day activities, and she may frequently have to

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Play It Again Sam Analysis Essay Example for Free

Play It Again Sam Analysis Essay Sam is an excellent production, by far one of Woody Allen’s best movies. It tells the story of Allan Felix, a neurotic New York film critic who is left by his wife, since according to her he is an ‘observer, not a doer’. This devastating event makes him fall into a deep depression; consequentially, he gets corporal aid from his married friends, Linda and Dick. However, this help appears not to be enough, Allan’s love life seems going nowhere until he creates a special connection with Linda, which leads him into her arms. My opinion about this movie being excellent is based on several facts, which can be easily appreciated when watching this extremely controversial film. The word ‘controversial’ should be emphasized when analyzing this movie, considering that the topics discussed in it were not commonly discussed or confronted in the mid nineties, time in which this film was released. This movie is considered polemic due to the obvious critiques towards the American’s daily life, which is achieved by mentioning different subjects such as, dependence. This theme is represented in a different way depending on the character we focus; with Allan, this topic is represented by the deep depression he falls into, which follows him though all the film. When focusing in another character, Linda in this case, her dependence is shown by her pill addiction. Finally Dick, he is a workaholic, his dependence takes him to the point when he starts comparing his love to his wife with an ‘economical investment’. These characters decide to depend on something so it is easier for them to be secure and comfortable, ignoring the problems surrounding them and escaping from reality. Stereotyping is another main theme in this movie. When Dick asks Allan how he liked women, he describes a model type ‘Skinny, blond, good breasts’. This stereotype of perfect women is a consequence of the idol worshiping so characteristic of us, human beings. We all have someone we follow. An actress, singer, model, etc. someone we relate ourselves with or because we want to overcome something we don’t like about ourselves, we always use someone as a reference and Allan is not the exception. Allans character is a Humphrey Bogart-obsessed film writer that has abundant imagination. Bogart himself appears as an apparition to give Allen advices. Allan: I cant do it. How does it look? I invite her over and then come on like a sex degenerate. What am I, a rapist? Bogart: Youre getting carried away. You think too much. Just do it. Allan: Were platonic friends. I cant spoil that by coming on. Shell slap my face. Bogart: Oh, Ive had my face slapped plenty of times. Allan: Yeah, but your glasses dont go flying across the room. The reason why Woody Allen sets the title ‘Play it again, Sam’ is because it is originally a quote from the film Casablanca, and as I already said before the main character is obsessed over this movie (Casablanca) and the main character of it. Not only the apparitions of imaginary characters and dependence on drugs and self unconformity but how music is applied to the film shows how Allan is trying to escape from reality and place himself in a romantic Bogart movie. Every time he has a date, he turns on the music volume really loud so that the atmosphere is more movies like or factionary. We can appreciate this all over the movie and mostly at the end when he quotes the ending of Casablanca. Finally, trying too hard is the last main topic. Allan is always trying too hard for everything, making things tougher for himself and being clumsy. This is a quote from the movie demonstrating what I just stated, Allan: What are you doing Saturday night? Woman: Committing Suicide. Allan: What about Friday night? This character is always trying to fit in, we can appreciate in a scene on the movie the night after his wife leaves him that he goes to a pub and takes a drink but he doesn’t really likes it, he is juts doing what most of the men do trying to be normal. In conclusion, I believe this is a great movie, considering that it is not only hilarious; but it is fascinating how the different elements used by the film director Herbert Ross such as, music, effects, lights and place set; creates a perfect atmosphere for each of the scenes. Also, the actors chosen were all brilliant choices and how every character has its own meaning, contributing a special and unique theme to this classical film. This movie is one of my favorite oldies.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Leadership Traits in Europe, Russia, and Japan Essay -- Cross-cultural

Leadership has meaning only in an organizational context, and only in the sense of managing within a system of inequalities. Superior-subordinate relationships help to define leadership behavior, and the culture in any particular society influences the nature of these relationships. Two leadership roles are common to all societies, however. The first is the Charismatic role, or the capability to provide vision and inspiration. This is emphasized by transformational leadership concepts. The second is the instrumental role, or the capability to design effective organizational processes, control activities, and meet organizational objectives. This describes the functional expectations of someone is a leadership role. However, each society determines the relative importance of each role and therefore what makes a good leader. Cross-cultural research has identified a pattern of characteristics common to effective leaders in these two roles, but these commonalities do not constitute shared traits. They include:  · Conscientiousness Dependability, achievement orientation, and perseverance within the scope of one’s responsibilities  · Extroversion Open, accessible attitude, as opposed to remaining insulated from group activities  · Dominance Appropriate use of authority in a system of inequalities  · Self-confidence Comfort in one’s own skills and abilities for managing Recent research has also suggested that regardless of cultural contingencies, effective leaders tend to display intelligence, energy, emotional stability, and openness to experience. In the international context, this last characteristic encourages cultural sensitivity without ethnocentric imposition. Each society assigns unique meanings for most of these characteristics, and consequently their importance varies in all societies. For example, Mainland Chinese people agree with those in the United States that perseverance is an essential attribute of a conscientious manager, but the two societies do not interpret achievement in the same way; unlike Americans the Chinese ascribe little value to individual success. Other terms, such a dominance, carry value-loaded and controversial meanings, but the root meaning of accepting the mantle of leadership is worldwide. In confronting such shared attitudes, researchers have focused on how leadership roles vary across cultures a... ...ions and a growing number of foreign enterprises do business in Japan. As a consequence, observers, believe that Japan is on the brink of major changes in its management systems. They emphasize that traditions of insular relationships and company solidarity worked extremely well in a rapidly expanding economy, but today’s slower growth requires the country’s businesses to adjust to international management practices to retain their competitive strength. Consequently, industry leaders are beginning to realize the need to abandon practices that depend on homogenous companies and culture-bound commitments to the organization. A growing group of observers expects that Japanese companies will relinquish centralized control of overseas posts, and that firms will scale down large headquarters staff. Some companies have begun to adapt U.S. management techniques that reward individuals on merit; some also accept the idea of employee mobility and hire outside talent. In effec t, some evidence indicates reconciliation of Western management practices, but change is likely to be slow, and it is unlikely to affect enterprises in Japan as much as Japanese firms` activities in foreign countries.

Monday, November 11, 2019

My American culture, but not my religion

Holding the values and beliefs of a religion other than Christianity often makes one wonder if they have broken the norms of American society. A norm, as defined by Miller (2002), is â€Å"a generally agreed upon standard of how people should behave, usually unwritten and learned unconsciously.†   While many Americans practice Christian beliefs, one of the benefits of living in a free nation happens when all religious denominations can practice their faith in peace, regardless of the majority preference. The list of Christian denominations includes Catholics, Protestants, Baptists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, Methodist, Presbyterian and many others. Being an individual who reads of, and practices, many religions both old and new in the world I do not follow Christian beliefs. I would rather define myself as a mystic or perhaps even shaman since I have inclinations towards honoring the earth, nature and spirits; this is also a common practice among Native Americans. Salvation, or offering oneself up for saving by another being such as Jesus predominantly occurs in Christianity. However, I am at odds with this idea in my own spiritual practice. My beliefs stand in contrast because in my mind each person has the capability to save themselves, if they would only realize that inner strength. Of course, going to a Sunday service and honoring holidays such as Christmas and Easter are practices that I do not partake in either. However, I do honor the Solstices, which fall surprisingly close to many of the Christian holidays. Being a mystic in a predominantly Christian world can make for a lonely but very peaceful existence if you allow it. While others scurry around buying gifts during the Christmas rush, I tend to my natural wares, making blankets, canned goods and handcrafted candles along with other natural gifts for those in my family who are Christian. It saddens me at winter time to hear everyone complaining about how much the Christmas gifts they have to buy will cost them; and how they need to spend a great deal of care budgeting for their gift expenses. Everyone feels so pressured and rushed to get to the stores to find the perfect gift. While the rest of the world worries away their time, I relax on the sofa watching television and knitting another new blanket. At this point, when I am at odds with not only Christians but a capitalist nation (the dominant culture) that values material goods, I wonder if I am particularly selfish for not wanting to deal with the stress and headaches of grumpy customers standing in line at the stores. Luckily though, I am American by birth so although my religion may differ from the majority, I still blend in rather effortlessly with society. Other groups, such as new immigrants to this country struggle with many obstacles as they adapt to their new home. They must learn a new language, find employment and maybe need to attain some education to help them gain the financial means to support their families. This can present huge difficulties to immigrants since Americans predominantly speak English and the business world can show prejudice towards people who do not have adequate training in American based education systems. New immigrants must also learn the laws of our nation and the subliminal norms that we hold. One popular norm, for example, being that little boys wear blue and girls wear pink. Being part of the dominant culture I do not have to worry about figuring out such subliminal norms, I learned them as I grew up in this society. Nor do I have to worry about building socioeconomic status and attaining education and training in American schools to find and adequate job. I have already had that training, and luckily a stable financial background for building my own monetary status. Also, one of the blessings of being in the dominant culture allows me to understand how to behave in public gatherings. I know that I am not supposed to talk in class, or speak out loud during funerals. As an American I should not often show emotion either, crying in public is somewhat taboo. We tell our children to suck it up, or act like a big boy or girl when they have the urge to cry. These few examples show the norms that we learn growing up as American that other groups have to face and adapt to when living in the nation. Getting back to the issue of religion, standing outside of the cultural norm in terms of popular faiths has its benefits. When voting, I do not have to depend upon a candidate’s religious background or goals to help me decide which person I think would make a better leader. As I have mentioned before I also do not have to spend a great deal of money on gifts for various Christian celebrations either. When crisis strikes, such as the priest scandal ongoing in the Catholic Church, I do not have to worry that my children have been hurt by people we call on to save our souls or connect us to the Divine. One thing I do enjoy is that I can give to charity of my own choosing and am not obligated to give part of my funds to any one church. Overall, standing outside of the cultural norms of Christianity in the American culture has benefits, some of which have been mentioned in this essay. Being an American born citizen also gives me great advantages to help me blend into the society despite my varying religious beliefs. Other individuals such as immigrants have to struggle with things like learning a new language, discovering subliminal social norms, and attaining adequate education in the American school system that mainstream society does not have to worry about. I believe that I am very lucky to have the ability to stand both inside and outside of popular culture, because it gives me a well rounded perspective as to how both sides, the â€Å"included† and the â€Å"excluded† can feel. References Dubois, N. (Ed.). (2002). A Sociocognitive Approach to Social Norms. New York: Routledge. Miller, B. D. (2004). Cultural Anthropology (2nd Ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Pettit, P. (2002). Rules, Reasons, and Norms: Selected Essays. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Marketing Week 2 Journal

The components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are the basic major forces driving the economy. This is because an increase in the amount of these components also means an increase in the GDP of a certain country. A high GDP means a high income of a country. These are: personal consumption, investments, government spending and net exports (the value of exports minus the value of imports) (Costales, 2000). Personal consumption is the expenditures of households on basic necessities in which receipts are being issued. A no-receipt purchase or something that is not registered to the government as a business is not included, as it is a part of the black market. Investments, on the other hand are capitals that are being used in businesses. These are non-financial product purchases. Government spending is the expenditures of the government in providing goods for the public, wages for the public workers and purchases of sectors of the government. However, it does not encompass social security or benefits. And last, is the net exports, the difference of the exports, goods produced for out of the country consumption, and imports, goods that come from other countries for consumption. There are also new forces driving the economy. These are breakthroughs that were discovered as time passed by and prove true to improve economic performance. Specifically, these are: technology and entrepreneurship. Technology has now been a great help in the development of the economy because of its benefits (Henry and Cooke, n.d.). Development of new technology makes costs lower for the producers and provides means for businesses to transact among others. On the other hand, entrepreneurship is the one who thinks of innovations that may be pursued. This is because introduction of new things prove useful to both consumers and producers. They also initiate job growth as they employ employees. References Costales, A. C., A. E. Bello, M. A. O. Catelo, A. C. Cuevas, G. I. Galinato and U-P. E. Rodriguez. Economics: Principles and Applications. Quezon City: JMC Press, Inc. â€Å"Information Technology Industries – of Growing Importance to the Economy and Jobs†. Retrieved October 25, 2007 Tesreau, K. and Gielazauskas, V. Entrepreneurship: A Driving Force in the New Economy. Retrieved October 25, 2007

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Berkshire Partners Bidding For Carter Essays

Berkshire Partners Bidding For Carter Essays Berkshire Partners Bidding For Carter Paper Berkshire Partners Bidding For Carter Paper Berkshire Partners, which h had extensive experience investing in the retail and manufacturing sectors, was initial ally drawn to o Carters because of the strong brand name night of the senior the co many had developed during d its 136 -year history y, as well ass for the street man augment team m. (See Exhibit 1 for a profile of Berkshire. ) TO o investigate the t option off a potential LOBO, Berkshire assembled d a five-member beer team, to b be led by managing directors Ross Joy ones and Bra Adele Bloom and senior associate Mice hall Occasion. (See Exhibit bit 2 for biographical sketches. The tea am would have eve less than eight weeks to o move thro ugh all the stages of a Goldman Cashled auction -?from initial research and due diligence to valuation and bid strategy. In addition to running the auction and thereby serve ins as Carters agent, Go Olden Caches (GAS) would d be offering g staple-on financing. Under this arrangement, the he winning b bidder would d have the pop option to final once the deal the wrought a prep packaged capital structure proposed by Goldman Cash. L Carters ca arties was of mounded in 18 865 in Amended, Massage hugest. Over the course o of 136 years in the highly y competitive apparel industry, the company became the largest branded d manufacturer Of toddler and baby apparel in thee United Estates and also a leading make Kerr of young ACH Aldens clothing. Divide ding its mark et into five segments-?Ia eyeteeth (i. E. , n newborn), baby sleepwear, baby play wear, young g childrens sleepwear, ND young childrens play. N. wear-?the com many sough HTH to outfit children for the first six yea ears of life, fro mom birth to buy In the early 199 ass, the company found itself struggling g. Owned at the time by in insurance com many Mute al Benefit Life and Wesley y Capital Corp.. , Carters h had developed unprofitable blew product line ones in swimwear and UN underwear, and d many of its more decorative features (zippers, cue UT bows, etc. ) were not well w received by b consumers. In 1 992, thee company installed a new w management NT team led by y CEO Frederick J. Row an, with the intention of steering it back to its core niche off soft, comfortable 1 Moor gang Stanley had recently made a similar offering to the eventual b buyer of Dresser Equipment Grog pup-?underwriting SSL . Billion in debt financing after leading the he auction. While staple-on financing was not a typical practice, , it was becoming nag more common professor or Malcolm Baker and a Research Associate James Quinn, Global Research G Group, prepared this case. HOBS cases rare developed solely as the basis Orr class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, e so urges of primary dat a, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright get 0 2005, 2008, 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To rod deer copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston n, MA 02163, or go to H hobs. Harvard. Due. No part of this pub publication m or by any mean may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a SP broadsheet, or transmitted in any form ins-?electronic, mechanical, hotfoot opining, recording or o otherwise-?with hoot the permission n of Harvard Busing news School. This document is authorized for use only by Skylark Fang ([emailprotected] Com). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact [emailprotected] Org or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. 205-058 Berkshire Partners: Bidding for Carters clothing. 2 Rowan arrived with 39 years of experience in the industry, most recently running the Bassett-Walker and Lee Jeans division of IF Corporation. Many members of his executive team were also former managers with IF Corporation. With a strategy of simplifying Carters products, Rowan and his team returned to producing what they called high-volume, basic apparel. Product design remained relatively consistent from year to year: About two-thirds of the apparel was carried forward from season to season with the same fabric and construction, varying Only through color and artistic layout. Rowan and his team also focused on improving the capabilities of their supply chain while exploring offshore sourcing options. Throughout the compass history, it had relied on domestic manufacturing to produce its clothing. Bu t amidst an increasingly global environment in which more and more U. S. Impasses were outsourcing production abroad, Rowan sought cost improvements and manufacturing flexibility through manufacturing abroad. In 1 992, Carters closed two of its domestic sewing plants and made plans to close six additional sewing plants and its main textile mill. Central America and Mexico soon became the companys first international production sites. By 1996, with operating and financial performance beginning to turn around, Carters was acquired in a leveraged buyout by Investor S. A. , the Bahrain-based firm est. known for its investments in Gucci Group, Asks Inc. And Tiffany Co. Investor (see Exhibit 3 for profile) paid approximately $208 million. This included $56. 1 million in senior debt and $90 million in subordinated debt. The purchase was consistent with the firms philosophy of injecting patient capital into North American and European companies; this simply involved waiting for the busines s to improve before selling it or taking it public. At the time of the Investor LOBO, Carters was doing business with over 400 wholesale accounts, including department stores, national chains, and epically stores. It had also established a major domestic presence with its outlet stores: The company operated roughly 150 retail outlet stores across the country. Consumers could purchase Carters merchandise through these outlets stores at a deep discount, with the outlet stores offering new products, holdovers from excess inventory, as well as assorted Carters brand accessories and licensed products. Beginning in 2000, Carters launched a new brand called Tykes. A departure from its two mainstay brands, Carters and Carters Classics, the Tykes brand was aimed at the discount channel. Its introduction coincided with a series of conversations with executives from Target, an emerging general merchandise retailer. Target was interested in expanding the stores offerings in baby and childrens lifestyle clothing. With the assurance that Carters could keep its shelves automatically replenished, the companies struck a long-term deal in which the Tykes brand was made immediately available at all 972 Target stores across the country. By the summer of 2001, Rowan seemed to have Carters on a path of operational and financial SUccess. From 1992 to 2000, the company increased venue at a compound annual growth rate of 9. %, with earnings before income, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increasing 22. 1%. (See Exhibit 4 for selected financial. ) Analysts attributed much of the comma NYSE growth to improved brand recognition, a lower cost structure, expansion into the discount channel, and the movement of some manufacturing operations offshore-?while recognizing Inves tor as an able and willing partner in managing the growth. 2 Chris Rough, Investment Bank Buys Morrows William Carter Co. , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 1, 1996. ([emailprotected] Com). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact [emailprotected] Org or Up for Sale In mid-2000, having watched over the growth of its investment in Carters, Investor decided it was time to sell its stake in the company. Investor typically looked at a range of exit options, but at the time the initial public offering (PIP) market was at a near standstill. In Joneses view: Investor might have been able to take this company public in 2001. But they were at the end of a five-year period, and they wanted liquidity. So to sit there, take another year or two to work their way out of a public stock was not something they wanted. He added: Theyve [Investor] got a network of investors that fund them, but if you dont have good returns coming out to keep talking about, it makes it harder to raise money. So in the normal course they were looking to generate a win through the sale of Carters. Amidst rumors that a handful of potential strategic buyers had passed on the deal, including apparel companies Jones Apparel and SSH Gosh Bogs, Investor initiated an auction among financial buyers. Christopher OBrien, a ember of Investors management committee, added: The nature of this companys business is that it is not particularly related to economic swings. We thought it was a company that financial buyers would find attractive in this marketplace. 3 Berkshire Partners Berkshire Partners was founded in the mid-sass by five individuals committed to creating a private equity firm based on successful relationships, hard work, analysis, and the open decision making of all individuals. 4 By 2001 , the firm comprised roughly 10 managing directors, 4 principals, 12 investment staff (associate level), and 2 advising directors. In a given year, the firm reviewed some 1,200 potential deals, with the intention of whittling the pool down to five to six closed deals. Jones estimated the number of times per year the firm completed full due diligence and submitted a final bid at about 12: Our batting average is pretty good-?we tend to go all the way on things we think we have pretty good odds of winning. So were not making a run at 40 things and getting five. Were doing it on 10-15, and we might get almost there on another handful. For each deal under serious consideration, Berkshire formed a deal team comprising our to five people. A managing director served as lead partner for each team. A team would typically contain an additional managing director, a principal, and one or two investment staff. According to Jones, As a firm, our work is very inclusive and collaborative in our efforts to uncover all the key information. While the deal team took responsibility for making a recommendation and then doing due diligence and bringing back an investment package, ultimate investment decisions rested with the firm as a whole. In analyzing a potential deal, Berkshire relied largely on its internal staff to array out the analysis and would use a Pain and McKinney to help us answer or flush out a couple of issues that we just dont have the resources to do. Beyond that, the firm relied on leading Boston law firms to carry out due diligence on contracts, leases, patents, and trademarks. Ernst Young (EY) handled the firms accounting due diligence, which principally involved looking at quality of earnings. According to Occasion, getting the capital structure right was an art, not a science. He added: There are a lot of factors that go into determining the right financing structure. To st art, theres arches price-?dollars needed to ultimately buy the company. And, of course, there are your 3 Kelly Holman, Berkshire Buys William Carter Co. The Daily Deal, July 17, 2001. 4 Berkshire Partners Web site, Our partnership, Breathlessness. Com/l_o_partnership. SHTML, accessed December 1, 2004. 3 returns. Obviously, if I hold purchase price steady, and increase my leverage, my equity returns will increase, and so on. Berkshire managers believed the equity portion of the capital structure at the time needed to be at least 25% in order to achieve the desired ratings outcome and demonstrate to the lending ease that Berkshire Was making a serious commitment. At the time, investment banks were willing to lend at a rate of roughly four to five times EBITDA, with the multiple determined largely by market conditions. Occasion continued, This is coupled with the challenge of asking yourself: Is this the appropriate amount of leverage for a business of this type; what do the ratings look like; how difficult will it be to get the financing completed; and what does that mean in terms of your total financing costs? These are all the variables that you play with to try to figure out the optimal capital structure for the business. After taking an equity position in a private business, Berkshire saw its role as supporting management in a variety of ways, including a) helping to prioritize key objectives, b) reviewing organizational design, c) helping to build the bench of key managers, and d) even leading the integration process in the event of a subsequent acquisition. Jones added: would say that weve done a lot of work over the last several years to be more thoughtful about how to address opportunities for companies up front and align strategically with management. So in thinking about how we add value, it is important to look t the work we do in due diligence not only as critical to making a smart investment decision, but also a critical foundation to operate from during the life of the investment. At any given time, Berkshire held a portfolio of roughly 25 investments. About half of these businesses required very little of Berkshires management attention-?the firm was on top of these businesses and fully expected to exit them in due course. About one-quarter of the businesses required a moderate level of attention, and another one- quarter required Berkshire to be very focused on them. Businesses earning the largest amount of attention did so because its the early stages, or we could still have a meaningful impact and theyre very important to our firms success. Berkshires typical exit strategy was sale of the company, rather than an PIP, by a ratio of about four to one. The firms conditions for exiting via an PIP were threefold: 1) a strong brand, 2) strong growth potential, and 3) a dramatic need for capital. Unlike many other private equity firms that often used an PIP to close out their ownership stake, Berkshire was more likely to initiate an PIP in the middle of its ownership with the intention f staying involved with the management and helping the company to grow. In many cases, a follow-on offer would ensue. Berkshires Bid for Carters When Berkshire Partners received an invitation to participate in the auction for Carters, the investment team was initially optimistic about a potential match between the two organizations. The firm had developed a focus on building strong, growth-oriented companies in conjunction with strong, equity-incanted management teams. 5 Berkshire viewed Carters not simply as an apparel company in the retail space, but more as a consumer products company. According to Jones, Carters being a really Strong brand that could be leveraged across multiple channels was something that we found very appealing, and in general find appealing. 5 Berkshire Partners Web site, Press Releases, http:// www. Irrationalness. Com/5_1 _ 17_press. SHTML, accessed September 1, 2004. 4 ([emailprotected] Com). Copying or posting is an infringement Of copyright Please contact [emailprotected] Org or Initial Meeting On the first Tuesday of May, Berkshires five-member team traveled to New York to meet with Carters management. The Carter team included the CEO, resident of marketing, executive vice president of operations, executive vice president of global sourcing, and SCOFF. The meeting provided an opportunity for the respective managers to get to know one another, to discuss the ground rules for the auction, and to begin a dialogue about the future growth strategy for Carters. To a person, the Berkshire executives were very impressed with the Carter team, acknowledging their experience, commitment, and confidence in their five-year plan. (See Exhibit 5 for four elements of growth strategy. ) The initial meeting also opened lines of communication between Berkshire ND Goldman Cash, which Carters had engaged to run the auction process. In the early weeks of May, Berkshires team had a number of discussions with Goldman Cash. The deal was being shown to a limited number of financial buyers (more than 2, less than 10), and not all potential buyers would be given the opportunity Berkshire had been given to meet with the management team prior to submitting a preliminary bid. In addition to running the auction, Goldman Cash was providing staple-on financing for the deal, although the buyers were not limited to the Goldman financing Truckee and could choose to submit a bid that would be financed by other sources. (See Exhibit 6 for proposed capital structure. Members of the Berkshire team acknowledged that a staple-on financing structure, if not actually compared against competing offers in the market, could create a conflict Of interest for an investment bank. A banks dual role of auctioneer and financier, if unchecked, could pressure a buyer to accept inferior financing terms in order to win the bid. Occasion stated: Th ere were a lot of tensions inherent in the new staple-on structure. The investment banks ere concerned externally about how it would affect their reputations, and the private equity guys werent that excited about it. They felt it limited their ability to get an edge in the bidding process by bringing more creative financing to deals. What the staple-on did provide, however, was generally a more expedited financing process. Nevertheless, the Berkshire team came away from the meeting in New York eager to look carefully into the deal. In the ensuing days, Goldman furnished Berkshire with a summary of financial projections put together by Carters management (see Exhibits AAA, b, and c). GAS also indicated that the process required potential buyers to submit equity bids of at least $130 million to be considered.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Top Tips for Observing Mitosis Lab

Top Tips for Observing Mitosis Lab We have all seen illustrations in textbooks of how mitosis works. While these types of diagrams are definitely beneficial for visualizing and understanding the stages of mitosis in eukaryotes and connecting them all together to describe the process of mitosis, it is still a good idea to show students how the stages actually look under a microscope in an actively dividing group of cells. Necessary Equipment for This Lab In this lab, there are some necessary equipment and supplies that would need to be purchased that go beyond what would be found in all classrooms or homes. However, most science classrooms should already have some of the necessary components of this lab and it is worth the time and investment to secure the others for this lab, as they can be used for other things beyond this lab. Onion (or Allum) root tip mitosis slides are fairly inexpensive and easily ordered from various scientific supplies companies. They can also be prepared by the teacher or students on blank slides with coverslips. However, the staining process for homemade slides are not as clean and exact as those that are ordered from a professional scientific supply company, so the visual may be somewhat lost. Microscope Tips Microscopes used in this lab do not have to be expensive or high powered. Any light microscope that can magnify at least 40x is sufficient and can be used to complete this lab. It is recommended that students are familiar with microscopes and how to use them correctly before beginning this experiment, as well as the stages of mitosis and what happens in them. This lab can also be completed in pairs or as individuals as the amount of equipment and skill level of the class allows. Alternatively, photos of onion root tip mitosis can be found and either printed onto paper or put into a slideshow presentation in which the students can do the procedure without the need for microscopes or the actual slides. However, learning to use a microscope properly is an important skill for science students to have. Background and Purpose Mitosis is constantly happening the meristems (or growth regions) of roots in plants. Mitosis occurs in four phases: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. In this lab, you will determine the relative length of time each phase of mitosis takes in the meristem of an onion root tip on a prepared slide. This will be determined by observing the onion root tip under the microscope and counting the number of cells in each phase. You will then use mathematical equations to figure out time spent in each phase for any given cell in an onion root tip meristem. Materials Light microscope Prepared Onion Root Tip Mitosis Slide Paper Writing utensil Calculator Procedure 1.  Create a data table with the following headings across the top: Number of Cells, Percentage of all Cells, Time (min.); and the stages of mitosis down the side: Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase. 2.  Carefully put the slide on the microscope and focus it under low power (40x is preferred). 3.  Choose a section of the slide where you can clearly see 50-100 cells in the different stages of mitosis (each â€Å"box† you see is a different cell and the darker stained objects are chromosomes). 4.  For each cell in your sample field of view, determine whether it is in prophase, metaphase, anaphase, or telophase based on the appearance of the chromosomes and what they should be doing in that phase. 5.  Make a tally mark under the â€Å"Number of Cells† column for the correct stage of mitosis in your data table as you count your cells. 6.  Once you have finished counting and classifying all of the cells in your field of view (at least 50), calculate your numbers for â€Å"Percentage of All Cells† column by taking your counted number (from Number of Cells column) divided by the total number of cells you counted. Do this for all stages of mitosis. (Note: you will need to take your decimal you get from this calculation times 100 to make it into a percentage) 7.  Mitosis in an onion cell takes approximately 80 minutes. Use the following equation to calculate data for your â€Å"Time (min.)† column of your data table for each stage of mitosis:  (Percentage/100) x 80 8.  Clean up your lab materials as directed by your teacher and answer the analysis questions. Analysis Questions 1.  Describe how you determined which phase each cell was in. 2.  In which phase of mitosis was the number of cells the greatest? 3.  In which phase of mitosis was the number of cells the fewest? 4.  According to your data table, which phase takes the least amount of time? Why do you think that is the case? 5.  According to your data table, which phase of mitosis lasts the longest? Give reasons as to why this is true. 6.  If you were to give your slide to another lab group to have them repeat your experiment, would you end up with the same cell counts? Why or why not? 7.  What could you do to tweak this experiment in order to get more accurate data? Expansion Activities Have the class compile all of their counts into a class data set and recalculate the times. Lead a class discussion on the accuracy of data and why it is important to use large amounts of data when calculating in science experiments.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Hospitality Operations Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Hospitality Operations - Coursework Example Banking on business development also aims at maximizing the quality of services provided to clients. The hospitality industry experiences seasonal fluctuation in client turnout. Products in the industry also tend to be based on determinants that dictate the supply and demand trends in the sector. Tourists, for instance, may visit a region during a given period or depending on climatic conditions. The sales of various products may as well be high during a given event or occasion. This is inclusive of income from a number of tourist attractions that may have peak and off-peak periods. Tourists may visit a park to observe a given behavior of wildlife, e.g., migration, which they portray during a given season. The seasonality in pricing is also prominent in the hospitality industry with variations in demand (Laws, 2005, p. 117). Unlike other industries, customers in the hospitality industry do not acquire physical ownership of the products offered. Being a service industry, customers own the experience that they achieve from the services offered. They do not, notably, own the services offered. Provision of quality service is vital to ensure customers get the best experience. This helps maintain customer loyalty and aids organizations to maintain competitiveness in the industry. Services offered in the tourism industry are nearly perishable and challenging for the time limit available during service provision. This also creates a challenge in achieving harmony between demand and supply constraints. Achieving valuable management of yields is vital in achieving the best performance in the hospitality industry. Setting up complementary services and strategies to boost income during nonpeak demand is essential, as well. Need to Ensure Conformity to Local Needs A strategy by hospitality business to expand operations may meet a number of challenges. Expansion strategies