An energy based hedge fund - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2030 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Uncategorized Essay Type Argumentative essay Level High school Did you like this example? Introduction The concept of trading stocks should not need an explanation for the seasoned high net worth individual (HNWI) or small investment fund owner. However just for the sake of revision we shall reiterate a few important definitions throughout the course of this report and in the glossary at the end. The aims of this brief report are to: Develop a simple technical trading system for a hedge fund of interest to you the HNWI as well as the small investment fund investor. Construct a comprehensive comparison of the data with regards to the daily open/ high/ low/ close/ and volume for both the British Gas [(BG) Symbol: BGMD.OQ] and the National Grid Plc (Symbol: NGG) stocks. To develop the trading system according to a logical rule using training set, test set and a prediction set as the basis for the system recommended for the hedge fund (HF). Background The key factor to developing any kind of financial plan is in understanding the individual or group of individuals for whom it is being designed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" in this case it is specifically being designed with HNWIs like CEOs of multinational companies, politicians and the like in mind à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" who typically indicate a willingness to take a little more risk on investment. According to (Magnum, 2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“there is a popular misconception that all hedge funds are volatile that they all use global macro strategies and place large directional bets on stocks, currencies, bonds, commodities, and gold, while using lots of leverage. In reality, less than 5% of hedge funds are global macro funds. Most hedge funds use derivatives only for hedging or dont use derivatives at all, and many use no leverage.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Knapp (2004) states that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Everyone has a different level of risk they are willing to take or time they would have av ailable to dedicate to trading.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Lately the modern business trend has been to invest in metals, biotechs and small caps; however energy funds are also very profitable to invest in as you will see in this report. British Gas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Is the biggest supplier of green power to homes in Great Britain and its electricity has the lowest CO2 emissions of any major UK energy supplier. As a responsible energy provider, it is planning for the future in two ways à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" by investing in renewable energy and by focusing on improving efficiency and helping its customers reduce their carbon footprint.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  British Gas (2007) National Grid Plc à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“National Grid is dedicated to being the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s premier network utility. Its core skills lie primarily in the management of large and complex energy delivery networks. It owns, operates and develops the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales a nd Great Britains principal natural gas transportation system. Itsportfolio ofother businesses is mainly concerned with infrastructure provision and related services where it can exploit its core skills and assets to create value. These businesses operate in areas such as Wireless Network Infrastructure for broadcast and mobile telephones, Metering, Grain LNG Import, Interconnectors and Property.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Findings BG (BGMD.OQ) Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "An energy based hedge fund" essay for you Create order Calendar Year 2006 2005 High Price 805 582.5 Low Price 576 345.22 Close 694.52 571.71 High P/E 1,578.34 1,358.66 Low P/E 1,129.35 805.22 Year End P/E 1,361.73 1,333.51 Dividend Yield 0.01 0.01 Table 1 Source: https://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/performance.asp 2nd Dec. 2007 Table 1 above gives a summary of the BG stock over the two year period from the 1st January 2005 to the 31st December 2006. Table 2 below depicts the current year-to-date performance. BG (BGMD.OQ) Calendar Year 2007 Open 1016.00 Close 1018.00 High Price 1036.00 Low Price 1013.00 Volume 3,022,618 Year End Price 1,015.00 High P/E 1,017.00 Low P/E 1,015.00 Year End P/E 1,361.73 Change -0.29%-3.00 Table 2 Source: https://www.lse.co.uk/share-prices.asp 2nd Dec. 2007 The training set, test set and prediction BG and National Grid Plc rank 1 and 3 respectively amongst the top stocks in the UK. The daily closing prices from 01/01/05 to 31/10/07, with a total of 1034 days, were used. S1 is a sample stock showing very few ups and downs on the historical prices. It has a slight drop during the testing period (-3.00%). Figure 1 again reinforces the logic that S1 is generally upward mobile this means that it is a stock with a rising trend and low volatility during the testing period. It has a substantial gain of 46.58% during the testing period. Stock 1 (S1) British Gas: Stock symbol BGMD.OQ Figure 1 Loading Top of Form In order to optimise the parameters of trading rule the other stock sample has also been included as follows: National Grid Plc (NGG) Stock 2 (S2) Calendar Year 2007 2006 2005 Open 820 High Price 827.00 74.15 51.99 Low Price 813.00 48.39 44.18 Year End Price / Close 821.50 72.62 48.69 High P/E 813.00 -155.44 160.96 Low P/E 812.50 -101.44 136.78 Year End P/E 813.00 -152.23 150.74 Change -1.03%-8.50 Volume 1,283,226 Dividend Yield 0.36 0.49 Table 3 Source: https://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/performance.asp 2nd Dec. 2007 The ideal sell signals are located at the local maxima of the historical stock prices. We have hold signals when the stock price is neither close to the maxima nor minima. This information serves as criterion for us to construct the target signals for the training of our trading system. We choose continuous values as the output of the system to denote the strength of the trading signals. The actual trading signals are obtained from the threshold strength. The threshold levels can be served as parameters for investors to control the frequency of trading, as some investors prefer to trade frequently and some prefer to trade once in a while. Assuming that as the investors of the hedge fund, small fluctuations of prices would be of little interest to investors; trading would only be considered if the price difference is large enough to cover at least the transaction cost. Therefore, we select on ly those local extreme with a substantial gap in between. The local extreme we extracted has to exhibit the following characteristics: The extreme has to be alternative, i.e. a local minimum has to be followed by a maximum and vice versa. The price at a minimum (maximum) has to be lower (higher) than the prices at its two adjacent maxima (minima). Between every consecutive maximum/minimum pair, there exists a daily drop in price larger than the last. Between every consecutive minimum/maximum pair, there exists a daily rise in price larger than before. Finally, we construct the target trading signals from the extracted extreme. One advantage of this target signal generation over the traditional prediction of stock prices is that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“it has the ability to generate positive returns in both rising and falling equity and bond markets.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Magnum, 2007) Generally there are many benefits to be derived from hedge funds. According to Magnum (2007) they are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Inclusion of hedge funds in a balanced portfolio reduces overall portfolio risk and volatility and increases returns. Huge variety of hedge fund investment styles à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" many uncorrelated with each other à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" provides investors with a wide choice of hedge fund strategies to meet their investment objectives. Academic research proves hedge funds have higher returns and lower overall risk than traditional investment funds. Hedge funds provide an ideal long-term investment solution, eliminating the need to correctly time entry and exit from markets. Adding hedge funds to an investment portfolio provides diversification not otherwise available in traditional investing.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The output is the strength of the trading signal and sigmoid function was used as the activation function. To evaluate the effectiveness of the trading signals, we derived the investment return IR. In specific, we are interested in buy and sell signals. So, for future reference when we need to indicate the IR for SELL signals it will be denoted as IRS and IRB to denote the IR for the BUY signals. For the BUY signals, a large positive IRB is desirable. On the other hand, for the SELL signals, a negative IRS is desirable. We applied the trading system to the previous two stocks as seen below in Table 4. In each stock, the first half of the historical daily closing prices were used as training set and the remainder were used as testing set. The objective now is to verify if the knowledge learned by the trader can be generalized to other stock. Similar to the calculations and tabulations made above, the trader is trained using the training sets. But this time, we tested the trader u sing the testing sets from other stocks. Table 4 summarizes the average result of the cases. It indicates that the trader trained by S1 gave the best performance. Using it to trade S1 gave better performance than the trader using S2 as training set. Another interesting observation is that the trader using S1 and S2 as training sets can make prods using selling signals when applied to testing set S1, which has an overall rising trend. BUYING Training Testing S1 S2 S1 -114.10% 71.30% S2 121.40% -286.80% SELLING Training Testing S1 S2 S1 (-112.5 %) -120.90% S2 9.20% -21.30% Table 4 The information above shows that the trader developed can be applied to other stocks. In particular, we can generate satisfactory results even if the training set and the testing set are data from two unrelated stocks. Conclusion Fidelity (2004) states that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“In order to have an effective technical trading system it is important to have the trading signals directly related to the historical prices.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  For this hedge fund system we chose to operate mainly along the aggressive growth hedge fund style. According to Magnum (2004): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Aggressive Growth: Invests in equities expected to experience acceleration in growth of earnings per share. It has generally high P/E ratios, low or no dividends; it is often smaller and micro cap stocks which are expected to experience rapid growth. It includes sector specialist funds such as technology, banking, or biotechnology. It hedges by shorting equities where earnings disappointment is expected or by shorting stock indexes; and it tends to be long-biased. Expected Volatility: Highà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  In this report we developed a simple technical trading system for an energy based hedge fund for the HNWI as well as the small investment fund investor. We also constructed a comprehensive comparison of the data with regards to the daily open/ high/ low/ close/ and volume for both the British Gas [(BG) Symbol: BGMD.OQ] and the National Grid Plc (Symbol: NGG) stocks; and we also developed the trading system according to a logical rule using training set, test set and a prediction set as the basis for the system recommended for the hedge fund (HF). The system tested and recommended is therefore to use price signals to know when to buy or sell. By selling stocks at higher price than they were purchased for, gains will be made. Glossary Hedge Fund A hedge fund is a fund that can take both long and short positions, use arbitrage, buy and sell undervalued securities, trade options or bonds, and invest in almost any opportunity in any market where it foresees impressive gains at reduced risk. Source: Magnum Training set In artificial intelligence, a training set consists of an input vector and an answer vector, and is used together with a supervised learning method to train a knowledge database (e.g. a neural net or a naive bayes classifier) used by an AI machine. In general, the intelligent system consists of a function taking one or more arguments and results in an output vector, and the learning methods task is to run the system once with the input vector as the arguments, calculating the output vector, comparing it with the answer vector and then changing somewhat in order to get an output vector more like the answer vector next time the system is simulated. Source: Wikipedia Bibliography Knapp, V. Test Technical Trading Ideas https://personal.fidelity.com/myfidelity/atn/archives/november2004.shtml Fidelity Investments 29th Nov. 2007 https://finance.yahoo.com/p?k=eupf_1 30th Nov. 2007 https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/103918/The-20-Most-Intriguing-Billionaire-Heiresses 29th Nov. 2007 https://www.magnum.com/hedgefunds/abouthedgefunds.asp 30th Nov.2007 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_set 1st Dec. 2007 https://www.lse.co.uk/share-prices.asp 2nd Dec. 2007 Cha S.M, and Chan L., Trading Signal Prediction https://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:StombJ43ejcJ:www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~lwchan/papers/iconip00-trading.ps+prediction+set+tradinghl=enct=clnkcd=1gl=tt https://stocks.us.reuters.com/stocks/performance.asp 2nd Dec. 2007 https://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/About 3rd Dec. 2007

Racial And Gender Inequality Scout Finch, A Young Girl

There are countless people who judge others by their image or the words whispered by friends. This has been true since people have begun interacting with one another. Indeed, people feel the need to categorize everything and everyone leading to stereotyping and bias based upon appearances. In today’s society, there are many incidents involving racial and gender inequality demonstrating that little has changed since the 1960s. In this novel, Scout Finch, a young girl, recounts her life as she observes social concerns including racism and prejudice. When her father Atticus, a criminal attorney, agrees to defend an innocent black man, Scout comes to realize that not everything is as perfect as it seems. Appropriately, Scout and her brother Jem learn not to judge others as a result of interactions with three characters that they encounter throughout their childhood. Boo Radley, known as the town’s ‘evil monster’, Mrs. Dubose, an elderly, ill-tempered woman who lives near the Finches and Tom Robinson, an African-American man being accused of raping a white woman that is being defended by their father, all teach the children that character is not a reflection of one’s outwards appearance. As such, through knowing these people and their circumstances, Scout and Jem’s sense of social justice and fairness matures. It is through their eyes that Harper Lee, in To Kill a Mockingbird, demonstrates the immorality of judging others without consideration of who they are and whatShow MoreRelatedThe Negative Effects Of Racism : Segregation And Violence1400 Words   |  6 PagesNegative Effects of Racism: Segregation and Violence Racial discrimination affects many minority groups and this issue still occurs to this day. Racial discrimination is the act of treating others differently because of the color of their skin. Although there have been laws placed to prohibit racial discrimination, racism still occurs and continues to have many negative effects to minority groups today. The negative effects of racial discrimination are discussed in the fiction novel, To Kill a MockingbirdRead More`` The Ultimate Measure Of A Man `` By Martin Luther King Jr.1097 Words   |  5 Pageschallenge and controversy’ accurately portrays the bildungsroman - To Kill A Mockingbird - a novel set in the Old South during 1930s where racial segregation shunned African Americans from society. Attorney at law, Atticus Finch, confronts the judicial system exploring themes of ethics and justice regarding white superiority. Scout explores themes of gender inequality and courage while Boo Radley relates to Impaired judgement resulti ng in prejudice and good vs. evil. Each character has a challenge theyRead MoreDiscrimination Is A Dominant Theme Within The Film Of Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1342 Words   |  6 Pagesclass, and gender; throughout American history, the discrimination of these groups was commonplace and a widely accepted behaviour. The reality of these are told through Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird which depicts the childhood of a girl in 1930’s America who experiences first hand discrimination and observes prejudice towards others in her community. Within the town, residents generate morbid stories about a local simply because he is reclusive. The narrator, six-year-old Scout Finch becomes acquaintedRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1695 Words   |  7 Pagesgo’ it is set in the 1930s when prejudices and racism were at a peak. Lee uses Maycomb town to highlight prejudices, racism, poverty and social inequality. In chapter 2 Lee presents the town of Maycomb to be poverty stricken, emphasised through the characterisation of Walter Cunningham. When it is discovered he has no lunch on the first day of school, Scout tries to explain the situation to Miss Caroline, an outsider, by stating: ‘He’s a Cunningham, Miss’. This quote presents that poverty issues withinRead MoreDivisions And Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird1481 Words   |  6 PagesIn the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the major themes that author Harper Lee highlights are the divisions and inequality in society. The story is set in the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama when class, gender, and racial discrimination were highly prevalent. In this time Jim Crow laws were in effect. Jim Crow laws mandated the segregation between black and whites. Consequences of questioning Jim Crow laws were violent and people were rejected from society and their family. The 1930’s is also theRead MoreAtticus Finch As A n Idealized Form Of Law In To Kill A Mockingbird1448 Words   |  6 PagesIn the film, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Atticus Finch represents an idealized form of law that goes against the truth of organizational mechanisms of racial inequality and racial dominance produced through societal value systems. This film was selected because of its unsettling nature, as it exposes the role of race and societal codes in the outcome of criminal cases. Race, as a social mechanism, is a concept deeply ingrained into our society and is a prominent feature of our legal system. ToRead MoreThe Different Types of Prejudice Depicted in Lees To Kill a Mockingbird2197 Words   |  9 PagesThe theme of prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird broadens to a further extent than just the situation of racial discrepancy between the blacks and the whites. Although, the racial discrimination mainly towards the blacks is the most prominent occurrence of injustice at Harper Lee’s time- the early Twentieth century, the whole novel includes several, other forms of prejudice that portray the unfavourable effects that was endured by innocent people. These blameless individuals were referred to mockingbirdsRead MorePoverty Inequality By Harper Lee s Kill A Mockingbird 1644 Words   |  7 Pages Inequality in Justice Equality means for all to be equal. However, this â€Å"equality† that is spoken of hardly exists in our society today and most definitely not in the past. Living in today’s society, many classifications are given to us. Things like gender, race, social status, wealth, background, age, and many other factors have come to define a single person in our world. Sadly, our world is full of prejudice that uses these classifications to it’s advantage. In the justice system, althoughRead MoreBook Report On Of Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1857 Words   |  8 PagesLucas Garvey Mrs. Tavares H. English 10 21 May 2016 Inequality in American Society Today The book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a book based around social inequality present in Maycomb county in the 1930’s. The novel takes place in Maycomb, a small town in southern Alabama. The book is also during the 1930s depression era. Lee s novel is told from the perspective of a young girl, Jean Louise Finch, who s nickname is Scout. Scout grows up in a racist, and intricate world. She strugglesRead MoreEssay On Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird2101 Words   |  9 Pagesmake justice difficult to achieve, allowing inequality to ensue. In the film To Kill a Mockingbird, directed by Robert Mulligan and in the film A Time to Kill, directed by Joel Schumacher, this issue is obvious. Both films take place in the Southern United States at a time when racism was at its peak. In the first film (To Kill a Mockingbird), a young girl named Scout witnesses chaos in her town when a black man is accused of raping a low-class white girl. The story unfolds around this manà ¢â‚¬â„¢s trial

Case Analysis of Liquor DC

Question: Discuss about the Case Analysis of Liquor DC. Answer: Introduction Companies are employing a series of strategies in order to globalize their operations and establish competitive advantage(Gold, 2010). Innovation is the primary factor that is driving synergies and creating new advantages which can extend core competencies. The current case analysis deals about the logistic of a Liquor Dc, based in Australia. The Company is a leading retailers with distribution centers located in Melbourne and Sydney. The Company caters to a variety of Australian consumers. There is a large area that is being catered to by the Company and it caters to by adopting innovative techniques to become efficient in its distribution strategy. The competitiveness of the Company is derived from its logistics effectiveness which includes several transportation, employees and dynamic scheduling(Christopher, 2016). The scope of this report analyses the competitiveness that the Company establishes in comparison with other companies and the sustainability that can be rendered form i ts current operations. Reason for Success of Liquor DC, Australia Strategies, planning, leadership, customer segmentation are the most important things to success and failure of any business (Goldsby and Zinn, 2016, p.80). The secret behind success and failure for any retail businesses lies in its potentiality to integrate key functionality in its supply chain processes along with logistics that can help deliver synergies. The scope of the current business operations deals with a retailer of liquor store which has a warehouse and two distribution centers. The Company delivers high volumes of bottles and numbers of customers and is able to cater so during peak locations as well. Though the prime reason attributed for competitive advantage of the current firm as against another is logistics and supply chain, with integrated human resources management. Avoiding instincts and misconceptions regarding businesses and their decisions has to be discarded. Idea, planning, Leadership, customer segment are stands out to be the most important things to success and failure of any business (Goldsby and Zinn, 2016, p.80). The first and the foremost thing is to analysis the reason behind success and failure. There are reason why an entrepreneur starts one successful business and other entrepreneur fails. One of the main reasons of failure is that the entrepreneurs are not unaware of the happening; by the time they notice its too late. It is obvious that a businessman or business woman must know the fact and the mistakes they are doing however realizing late creates the problem. Some business entrepreneurs lives in the form of denial while others are unaware of it. Here one thing is sure enough that a business fails only because of the mismanagement of the entrepreneurs. According to Dr. Graeme Edwards its not the plan that is important, its the planning. The current Company is successful like its competitors as David Jones, adzuna network, Liquor Gaming NSW. Whereas some of the unsuccessful liquor retailers are Liquor market and Chambers Cellar. Among thousands of small business in across globe only fifty percent of them survive. The Liquor retailing business is successful against other competitors who are successful or unsuccessful are as follows; Planning: Planning can be done by short term and long term planning, fault in which the entire business can be shattered. At the Liquor retail store each aspect of the business is planned and clearly laid out such that it can attain highest levels of efficiency. They employ staffs in shifts and accommodate for any type of holidays as Christmas and Easter. Leadership: The Liquor business has a proper leadership structure. A right decision must be made. The financial decision are the most important to make(Yun, 2011). The Company is highly focused on transformational leadership strategy that can enable high levels of business performance. Logistics Planning: It is good to produce great product, innovative product, however to set the target market and target audience is the main function. It is always wise to study the competitors. Business needs to do SWOT analysis for proper product delivery to the market. The current retailer has an organized logistics system wherein manufacturing and deliveries is made to customers within deadlines. Employee Engagement Strategies with Communication and Motivation: The Company engages with extensive employee engagement strategies. It provides headsets to employees and provides advanced ergonomics with television displays(Amos, 2008). The Company takes active interests in the employees and their performances. Active communication is maintained with employees to ensure that they are able to deliver proper production techniques and processes. Employee motivation strategies are followed actively by creation of unique job design and health and safety performance and motivation technique of generation Y. such tactics and methods reduces employee turnover and enhances employee job commitment and retention. Production Technique: The layout of the Company is huge allowing for easy in taking of materials and outgoing materials. Such planned and well-structured layout where work is progressed in batches and shifts enables higher effectiveness of performance. Company Attaining Competitive Advantage According to Cichosz et al. (2017, p.209), the first thing is to figure out what the company is best at. One may not be the best, but not necessarily one need to be the best but all that is needed is to be better than competitors. The next step one need to understand why customer needs to buy from the company. Either the product provided is the best or the better than that of your competitors or is it one of its kind or is the price that makes the difference. Here all that is needed is to give value to the customers requirement. Figure 1: Primary Reasons for Competitive Advantage Source: Author The liquor retail Company has many distribution centers customer can easily avail the product of the Company. There is a high level of customer satisfaction while purchasing from the branded store and relationship with the store. The primary competitive advantage of the Company lies in its distribution and handling logistics of the stores in a dynamic manner. A Company can attain competitive advantage in various ways, it can be through price leadership or differentiation in the market. The scope of the current Company has attained competitive advantage by way of its internal processes by handling its resources effectively and efficiently. Suitable for other Companies The case of the current Company is well suited for its business due to its resource availability, hence cannot be replicated by other businesses. The companys present structure is such that there are more than 400 employees working in two shifts. Semiautomatic machineries are also operative in this firm which enables execution comparative advantage. This enables the firms management to understand the inability or ability to handle situations. An outlook to premature scaling will set a good motive in the management of the firm, however this will help in logistics as products will be available at the right time at the right place(Welch, 2012). The comparative study will help in generating the main stream of the business and thus will help in the segmenting the market, though in this case the target market is grabbed still to increase the market size will be considered. One of the primary comparative advantage will help in not only to understand the market situation but also the interna l analysis of the company. While conducting internal employee safety level, motivation, engagements needs to be determined. If the employees are healthy and happy then efficiency will also increase. Thus the productivity of the company can be developed as well (Marchesini et al. 2016, p6). The effect of comparative study in this case brings to the point where the entrepreneur does not only sell liquor but also cigarettes that to with seventy five percent capacities. This determine the customer segment where with liquor people are also intended to by cigarette thus the idea to producing and manufacture cigarettes will be a good idea in addition. Sustainability of LUQUOR DC The scope of every business is to create sustainability such that it can have a continued existence. The main factor that creates sustainability is that spreading of the business. In retail business value is derived from distribution of products such that it is able to reach customers on time. This liquor company has distribution center around Australia. In-between Sydney and Melbourne they have two distribution centers. As per Zinn and Goldsby, 2017, p.4, they have cigarettes as additional product. They have high street outlets and super stores hence have both segment of customer which includes, one who buy small amount product and another who buys large amount product. The supply chain accesses to a reach different location from south to north in Australia. In order to maintain sustainability they also have semiautomatic machinery to make the work faster(Dekker, 2013). Even more than four hundred employee working with them. With fifty three thousand square feet are for distribution center, which have the capacity to handle about twelve hundreds to two thousand pallets. Add to that they also have a better working environment. Therefore worker may not feel the pressure. In order to make things go easy for the workers they have highly technical ambience like T5 Bluetooth zone where they can lay music hence there is no need to use any head phone. This general information of keeping the track of the health condition, safety and securities all also help in engaging employees. Thus, this will also help in the formation of a good environment. This employee satisfaction will also help in reducing the employee attrition rate. In case the company has less employee attrition rate then the company from one part will sustain and the management must not be loose in any case. They also have the piece of equipment which takes precaution before the worker starts working on that machine. In order to prevent collision one way traffic system is also created. Preservation techniques are also applied, this not only to save the expenditure of the company but also gives respect to the work done and labor given by the employees. Few more CSR activities will add value in the marketing of the product. Activity of existing customer will also help in increasing the brand value. There is a vital part of motivating individual where one can motivate oneself can bring out the confidence. This confidence will help in every step employee takes (Sanders et al. 2016, p.107). Thus, this will help the company meeting its objectives. Meeting customer sat isfaction is vital Getting clarity on what is needed and requirements is the main thing. Proper branding and customer relationship is always a good way to increase sales and establish good market situation. Sustainability can be enhanced by way of such working by increasing and attaining overall customer and employee satisfaction(Hult, 2007). Further, creating unique selling point to grab the market with pricing of a commodity is another big factor people generally look to branded product in discounted price. Changing the pricing strategy to bundle pricing or discounted pricing thus can help. Link product like cigarette can also be a part where people may be attracted to if that comes alone with the liquor. The sustainability factor also determines that the business must not only think about the profit but also should think about some benefits which can keep the employees healthy and happy along with creating impact on the environment. To maintain sustainability Protection of Family will act in a vital element of success. It is one the theory of need, management should give more emphasis on the needs of the employee(Aguenza, 2012). The family of the employee may be taken into consideration properly. If an employee can be assured that the family is safe then the work load on an employee will not be a factor. However from the perspective of marketing the branding and visibility of all the variety of liquors must be showcased properly so that customer can easily get what they need at the super stores. Andt he finance department must take care of the pricing factors of the product even if that requires to reduce the overhead cost of production. Conclusion After analyzing this assignment it can be seen that the company can developed their efficiency and productivity as well as the safety of their employees with adopting some strategies in their business process. The Company has a high level of sustainable advantage that it can establish and extend in the market. The scope of working within the organization can create high levels of impact on the market, customer and ways of working. The current functionality of the business can also render sustainability the business. Reference List Aguenza, B. B. 2012. Motivational factors of employee retention and engagement in organizations. International journal of advances in management and economics, 88-95. Amos, E. A. 2008. An analysis of the relation between employeeOrganization value congruence and employee attitudes. . The journal of psychology, 615-632. Christopher, M. 2016. Logistics supply chain management. . Pearson UK. Cichosz, M., Goldsby, T.J., Knemeyer, A.M. and Taylor, D.F., 2017. Innovation in Logistics Outsourcing Relationship-in the Search of Customer Satisfaction.LogForum,13(2), pp.209-219. Dekker, R. F. 2013. Reverse logistics: quantitative models for closed-loop supply chains. Springer Science Business Media. Gammelgaard, B., 2017. Greetings from the new editor of IJLM.International Journal of Logistics Management, The,28(2). Gold, S. S. 2010. Sustainable supply chain management and inter?organizational resources: a literature review. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 230-245. Goldsby, T.J. and Zinn, W., 2016. Technology Innovation and New Business Models: Can Logistics and Supply Chain Research Accelerate the Evolution?.Journal of Business Logistics,37(2), pp.80-81. Hult, G. K. 2007. Strategic supply chain management: Improving performance through a culture of competitiveness and knowledge development. Strategic management journal, 28(10), 1035-1052. Marchesini, M.M.P. and Alcntara, R.L.C., 2016. Logistics activities in supply chain business process: A conceptual framework to guide their implementation.The International Journal of Logistics Management,27(1), pp.6-30. Murfield, M.L.U., Esper, T.L., Tate, W.L. and Petersen, K.J., 2016. Supplier role conflict: An investigation of its relational implications and impact on supplier accommodation.Journal of Business Logistics,37(2), pp.168-184. Sanders, N.R., Fugate, B.S. and Zacharia, Z.G., 2016. Interdisciplinary Research in SCM: Through the Lens of the Behavioral Theory of the Firm.Journal of Business logistics,37(2), pp.107-112. Welch, M. 2011. Appropriateness and acceptability: Employee perspectives of internal communication. Public Relations Review, 246-254. Yun, L. 2011. An empirical study on the relationship between self-leadership and employee innovative behavior: the mediating effect of psychological empowerment [J]. . Studies in Science of Science, 10, 021. Zinn, W. and Goldsby, T.J., 2017. In Search of Research Ideas? Call a Professional.Journal of Business Logistics,38(1), pp.4-5.

The Sun Also Rises Essays (450 words) - The Sun Also Rises

The Sun Also Rises The Sun Also Rises I finished reading SAR around ten o'clock tonight. I could have taken it all in one big gulp when I began a week ago, but I couldn't do that. It wanted me to bring it out slowly, so I often found myself reading five or ten pages and laying it aside to absorb without engulfing. A man gets used to reading Star Wars and pulp fiction and New York Times Bestsellers and forgets what literature is until it slaps him in the face. This book was written, not churned out or word-processed. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I never noticed it until it was brought up in class, maybe because it wasn't a point for me in In Our Time, but He doesn't often enough credit quotations with, ",he said," or, ",said Brett," or, ",Bill replied." In SAR it stood and called attention to itself. I wasn't particularly bothered by His not telling me who said what, but it was very...pointed. I first noticed around the hundredth page or so. Then I realized I couldn't keep track of who was speaking. By not dwelling on it, though, sort of (hate to say this) accepting it, I managed to assign speech to whomever I felt was speaking. Gradually I came to enjoy it, in another plane of reading, figuring out from whom words were originating. To not notice it, as if it were one of those annoying 3-D posters that you can't see until you make a concerted effort not to try and see, became simple - much like those 3-D pictures are once you know what not to look for. (I abhor ending sentences with prepositions...) His not telling was heightening to the story. It made things come even more alive. As a conversation that you're hearing at a nearby table in a restaurant, the exchanges flowed, with me as a more passive reader than in a story written to be read instead of lived. It has always been troubling for me to read a book with the knowledge that there are things I am supposed to be catching, but not quite. The fish in the pools and the allegory and analogy and symbolism aren't fond of me. Trying to see that the bull-fighters and their purity or lack and how it relates to Him as a writer surrounded by a universe of new fiction printed for the masses, that is all fine and well. The short sentences, the lack of qualifying, "he said"s and "she saids" and such, the tragedy of his love for Brett, those are the things I enjoy reading. Those are the reasons I read and the reasons a man like Him writes. There are stranger things, Horatio...or something like that. I believe Paul Simon read Hemingway at some point in his life.

The Pearl Review

'The Pearl' Review The Pearl (1947) is somewhat of a departure from some of  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹John Steinbecks earlier works. The novel has been compared to Ernest Hemingways The Old Man and the Sea (1952). The seeds of Steinbecks The Pearl began to germinate in 1940 when he was traveling in the Sea of Cortez and heard a story about a young man who found a large pearl. From that basic outline, Steinbeck reinvented the tale of Kino and his young family to include his own experiences, including in his novel the recent birth of a son, and how that exhilaration affects a young man. The novel is also, in some ways, a representation of his long appreciation of Mexican culture. He made the story into a parable, warning his readers of the corrupting influences of wealth.​ Be Careful What You Wish For... In The Pearl, Kinos neighbors all knew what good fortune could do to him, his wife, and his new baby boy. That good wife Juana, they said, and the beautiful baby Coyotito, and the others to come. What a pity it would be if the pearl should destroy them all.Even Juana tries to throw the pearl into the sea to free them from its poison. And she knew that Kino was half insane and half god... that the mountain would stand while the man broke himself; that the sea would surge while the man drowned in it. But, she needed him yet, and she would follow him, even as he admits to his brother: This pearl has become my soul... If I give it up I shall lose my soul.The pearl sings to Kino, telling him of a future where his son will read and he may become something more than a poor fisherman. In the end, the pearl doesnt fulfill any of its promises. It only brings death and emptiness. As the family returned to their old house, the people around them said that they seemed removed from human experienc e, that they had gone through pain and had come out the other side; that there was almost a magical protection about them.

Abigail essays

Abigail essays In this movieJerome? as he likes to be called is probably one of the hardest workers in movie history. Day in and a day outJerome? works as hard as he can so he can reach his dream. He was born as aninvalid? and was excluded from most of societies events. If you were not perfect in every way possible from your hair to your day of death, then you would not be accepted by anyone. The only thing you could do was become a janitor for instance.Jerome? wanted to change all this so he could go up to space. He constantly tried to perfect his body and mind. He eventually realized that he could not reach that goal no matter how hard he tried. He then went to a person that could help him. There was a man who was able to switch his identity with another man's identity. That other man was know as Jerome, who was a perfect specimen for the job thatJerome? wanted to pursue. While his original identity would be lost for good.Jerome? would have to constantly brush his own dead skin off so he would not be figured out. Aside from brushing his own skin, he would have to place fake skin on his thumb that had the man that he is impersonating blood so he would be able to pass the identity checks every day of his work life. AlsoJerome? needed to dye his hair the same color as the man he is impersonating.Jerome? had to basically change every last thing of himself to become his dream identity. By doing all of this hard workJerome? was finally able to go up to space like he wanted too. The role of parent and child is very clear in this movie and that is that if a man and woman would like a to have perfect child then they could get one. The parents could choose everything about the baby to their liking. The parent's could also figure out the child's diseases that he or she will get, how violent he or she is, the day of his or her death and causes. This leaves the child to have very few choices in life. ...

Breastfeeding and Population Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 47

Breastfeeding and Population - Assignment Example The mother also loses the protection against the development of ovarian and breast cancer that breastfeeding can give, in a later life. Most recent studies have illustrated breast and ovarian cancer as the greatest population detriments to the female population. There are a number of strategies, which are used to encourage mothers to breastfeed their children. For example, lactation amenorrhea, which relates to natural post-partum fertility that occurs when a woman is not menstruating, is one of the strategies employed to encourage mothers to breastfeed their newborns. Through this, breastfeeding is regarded as a population control technique where women, in the underdeveloped countries, are considerably advised to breastfeed for six months exclusively, by their government and other non-governmental organizations. Most mothers also have different myths associated with pregnancy especially in the rural settings. For example, breastfeeding cannot be relied upon to prevent pregnancy, which evidently is not the case because various scientific studies and experiments have proven this undoubtedly true. Mothers, therefore, are always advised to breastfeed their children exclusively through certain accurate criteria to give perfect results. In many high-income countries, like Australia, women do not exclusively breastfeed infants for the required period of six months as stipulated by the World Health Organization. In many cases, they tend to prefer an early gradual introduction of other forms of nutrition like the infant formulas due to job pre-occupation hence no time for the baby.

Controversy between Safe and Pure Drinking Water Essay

Controversy between Safe and Pure Drinking Water - Essay Example Health impacts of some of the contaminants in drinking water are not clear; however, the availability of contaminants does not always mean that they will harm an individual’s health. The basis for determining safe drinking water is the national or international guideline, with the significant one being the WHO guideline for quality of drinking water. Drinking water can be obtained from two basic sources, which include surface water like reservoirs and rivers, and groundwater. Water has natural contaminants, especially inorganic contaminants from geological strata upon which water flows, and different microorganisms and chemical pollution. Generally, ground water is less susceptible to pollution compared to surface waters that are prone to various sources of fabricated contaminants. Moreover, in case there are no improved water management, the unhealthy residues of substances used in its treatment can lead to pollution, giving rise to presence of deposits in water pipes. In add ition, contamination of drinking water can occur during the distribution of water arising from materials like iron, which corrodes and releases iron oxides into the supply system. Diffusion process taking place in plastic pipes may result in contamination of drinking water; for example, split oil in the surrounding area may result in water problems concerning its taste and smell. Drinking water treatment applied in public water supply includes a series of treatments that vary in accordance with the requirements of supply and nature and susceptibility of the source. Water treatments comprises of systems that coagulate, flocculate, filter and oxidise drinking water. The common oxidative disinfectant is chlorine and it provides effective and robust protection against pathogens. Standards upon which the safety of drinking water is gauged are revised regularly and supported by detailed documents that describe the various aspects of safety (Larason). Pathogen contamination of drinking wat er causes diarrhoea disease and is a significant characteristic of the drinking water quality. This problem is a result of water contamination by faecal substance, particularly human faecal substance comprising of pathogenic organisms. Many regions in developing countries, pathogens remain a significant cause disease. Therefore, breaking the faecal-oral cycle is crucial by preventing the entry of faecal matter into water sources and treating drinking water in order to kill pathogens. Nevertheless, such approach needs to function alongside hygiene practices like hand washing, which helps reduce the chances of person-to-person infection. Detecting and enumerating pathogens in water is not appropriate in many circumstances because of the difficulties and resources necessary; therefore, only two kinds of pathogen are used as indicators for faecal contamination. There is the assumption that once the indicators are detected, pathogens like viruses could be presents; thus, the appropriate action is necessary. Nevertheless, the time taken in analysing the sample means that if there is contamination then, the contaminated water will get to the consumers and probably it will be consumed by the time the analysis results are obtained. Moreover, the small volume of water sample implies that monitoring is not adequate for ensuring safe drinking water (Workshop on Emerging Drinking Water Contaminants, National Research Council 202). The most serious contaminants of water are chemicals that occur naturally and they are found in groundwater. Waterborne contaminants bring about disease in

Change and Innovation Essay Example for Free

Change and Innovation Essay The Governor of a certain Province has been plagued by problems on low-productivity turnout and project implementation troubles that delay project completion and reduce effective delivery of services to its constituents. This has also been voiced by the previous administration, so to correct this possible relapse a thorough revamp of the department has to be implemented. Top priority of his agenda was to hire an Architect who will lead the department concerned and enforce the required change to provide the dynamics of a vibrant administration that puts premium on the welfare of its constituents. The Scenario  Checking on the management system that has been in effect, the Architect found different flaws; the staff has been underachieving because the work assigned to each of them did not correspond with their degree of expertise; the planning division was in disarray because nobody could stand-up to make vital decisions; the system lacked incentives, that’s why most personnel go to work late and leave early. Besides taking long time breaks; various paper works do not follow a regular pattern. Thus, orders suffer delay and even payrolls are not processed on time (American Society of Associates Executive 2003). Various suppliers secure materials ordered at a central warehouse and department inspectors check the deliveries made. Said process takes too long that payments were seldom prompt. Project engineers were required to withdraw and deliver to the site the necessary materials when implementing projects; a system that entails double handling of materials and added fuel cost. Personnel in the field failed to follow proper time management because implementing engineers seldom reported to the site. The equipment pool lacked proper assessment while many endured long use but did not undergo timely maintenance. Equipment cannot be dispatched on time so that project engineers had to wait, even during critical junctions of the construction process. No schedules were ever followed over the use of equipment while only those favored have the liberty of priority accommodation. And lastly, the engineer’s capabilities were in question for many appear to lack construction experience that made the reliability of finished projects doubtful. The Revamp Upon assumption of office, the Architect made a thorough evaluation of each employee’s capabilities and then proper segregation of divisions was put in effect. The administration handled time management; to see to it that personnel report on time; that break time rules are implemented; that tardiness and absenteeism are dealt with corresponding penalties and that proper decorum is observed at all times (Time Management 2007). A working set-up was also devised to speed-up processing of documents to avoid unnecessary delays in the discharge of work orders, payment vouchers, travel orders, equipment requests and the approval of payroll requests. A division head is made answerable directly to the Architect for this matter. The planning division was also initiated with personnel divided into functional units. The design sector aims to conceive the projects requested by the Governor. Once designs are approved, the drafting section takes over in coordination with the structural section, sanitary section, electrical section and mechanical section, if required. And when plans are completed, some are tasked to work on the specifications, program of work, PERT CPM, a bar chart and bidding documents while others prepare the plans for printing. All of these are reviewed and approved by the architect prior to submission to the governor and implementation. Likewise the equipment section also had its share in the revamp. The designated head has to account for all equipment in its arsenal. Segregate those in good and running condition, equipment that needs minor repairs, equipment that has to be totally overhauled and equipment that has to be discarded. The section also prepares a list of equipment that has to be purchased and submitted as essential, and sees to it that all project engineers have access to equipment when required. A proper equipment release and return scheme should be devised to make erring personnel accountable for their action. The division that needed priority reorganization was the project implementation division. The architect ordered that project engineers undergo construction reorientation training before they can be dispatched to construction sites. This is the most important aspect of the revamp because failure of the project engineers will affect the safety of individuals that will benefit and use the finished project. This also is an assurance that the Province adheres to the safety rules and regulation required by the â€Å"National Building Code† (Wikipedia Contributors 2007c). Besides those in Government cannot afford to waste public funds by doing sub-standard projects. An additional section was organized to monitor all projects in the field daily with reports of the previous day handed in the morning prior to their sorties during the day. This way, the Architect is always abridged of proper project evaluation as well as construction accomplishments while related problems are resolved immediately. This also serves to entice field personnel to report on time and render the 8 hours work required daily and project engineers to be around to lend their technical know-how in the implementation of the project. Another aspect that the Architect revised is the delivery of materials. Since materials are requested per project subject for implementation, winning materials dealers are now required to deliver direct to the site, to save on double handling expenses. Materials after due inspection are turned over to the project engineer concerned, who will be accountable should anything happen to the materials out of his negligence. The Architect relied heavily on the management system of delegation of authority, to give all those involved personnel professional advancement (Delegation of Authority 2006). If a person delivers on the target expected, naturally incentives are provided to keep the momentum always in high gear. Underachievers are likewise given time to recoup and reconsider the causes of his debacle and when really inefficient are given the release order. We have to weed out the bad apples from the good, so only the reliable ones should remain. Risks  In any new endeavor there will always be adverse effects, whether pros and cons, depending upon the degree any change would affect individuals. In our case, the long exposure to a system that has been redundant will be a defining factor as to who perceives it to be good and those who are not receptive to a renewed environment. For those assigned to man the administrative division, change implied the systematic division of labor as each one functions relative to others. If one falls short, the whole system becomes ineffective, just like the domino principle in economics (Leeson, P. T. t al 2001). Everybody is required to do his share to keep the workplace humming. The planning division was not affected, since their tasks were clearly defined so that overlapping of functions can be minimized. Respect and trust to the division head is the contributing factor, as everybody relies on his experience and perceived intelligence to answer relevant queries. Of paramount importance is the implementing arm of the division, the project engineers. On their shoulders rests the completion of projects, so re-trainings are vital to the success of the projects (Wikipedia Contributors 2007b). Even if we have monitoring teams to check on their accomplishment, it is their intelligence and experience that will eventually dictate the tempo of their work. All other personnel needed the time to adjust and such will be achieved through mastery and familiarity of the new system. Evaluation of risks All the smart boys will never enter government service, so it is generally perceived that those in government are above average political appointees. And owing to their clout with the powers that be, they are the last segment that would be receptive to change. What makes it even harder is the Civil Service eligibility that protects their tenure even if they become a total recluse in their duties as public servant (Reinventing the State Civil Service 1995). Thus, this realignment is only made in part to appease the timid employees, while putting a lot of pressure to groups that found the revamp more in line with their educational attainment and experience. Those initiating change are always walking in a tightrope for there are eyes and ears that validate your every move, failure to comply will normally get the ire of well placed politicians. In the aftermath of these changes, many employees will need resettlement and the encompassing revamp should put them in positions that they can still function accordingly without having to compromise. It is a fact that change will be a hard pill to swallow for those comfortable with the previous system but it is a necessary evil in order to succeed and attain development goals. Change versus benefits The change instituted may create temporary, minor discomforts to rank and file personnel, but surely the rewards will be for the benefit of the greater majority. Just imagine when projects implemented are not only deemed safe and secure for those countless beneficiaries; but also when construction time is considerably reduced at the least cost to the government. We don’t need change simply to take over from the old guards. We need it to create a more cohesive workforce that can address to the needs of a more restive and demanding society. Government cannot be complacent amid calls for rapid development in the industry, labor and even the protection of the environment. Moreover, only governments can concretize those changes in place. Rating  The revamp that has been implemented should produce a positive rating especially if implemented with private entities. But for a governmental institution, rating should be around 4. These changes should reduce red tape in the bureaucracy; should provide the impetus for employees to perform well. These changes would have a positive effect on the employee’s self-worth; a beacon for those that desire professional advancement and most of all, constituents will benefit from all of these changes. Comment on rating The bureaucratic structure of the government is never 100% receptive to changes. Even if such changes would encompass welfare to a greater majority. Many will always suspect the intentions behind these changes, how honorable it may be. Such will be counter-productive as you dilly-dally to harm your work ethics and your productivity suffers. For these changes to be effective require a thorough reorganization, meaning personnel from rank and file up to the executives are all hired simultaneously. This way, the chief can mould his team to respond swiftly and accurately. Where everybody functions as they should and without due consideration from previous employment. But since this is not possible, we have to make do with what we have and hope that everybody will have a change of heart and do what is necessary. Raising potential The foremost solution is improve conditions at workplace, try to do some assessment and formulate ideas to probably change the decor, the air-conditioning might be too restrictive or your rapport with your employees might be too militaristic that hinders proper communication and limits production output. All factors will have to be considered to make it conducive to workers. Secondly, it is important that as manager, you are readily aware of your employee’s potential. Allow them to attend seminars and training to improve their capabilities and you should be lavish in your praise for a good work done (Practice Management 2006). And always strive to fight for their cause, ask for incentives that would be due to employees that made a dent to improve performance (Management Incentives Program). Communication Being true to your word with a posture of honesty while strict but also compassionate are the traits of a model manager. With these gestures you are communicating with your subordinates a sense of overbearing confidence that should mitigate respect and admiration. You don’t need to raise you voice to relay what you want. A fair handling of the situation can earn for you the trust that each employee needs from you. A good manager is seldom intellectually bright, proof of the matter are generally geeks never become good managers. It is always your emotional front that makes you a good communicator. Although the most reasonable form of communication ever devised is the weekly reporting system – reports are usually handed to the Head of office before the weekly forum starts, this have defined countless establishments and an effective tool even in government (Wikipedia Contributors 2007a).

the title of a paper :: essays research papers

Juvenile Delinquency Jeremy C. Newell Active Learning Activity Video in Class = 20 pts. Wednesday, March 6, 2002 The video hosted by Bill Moyer that we watched in class on March 4th involved violence in the mass media and the effects that it may have on children in modern day society. Video games sometimes display graphic violence as well as violent verbal messages that often convey a message of appeal to children. Movies often combine humor, violence, and/or sex in order to be more appealing to the audience. Usually two or more of these factors are used. Whether it is through these sources or as something as simple as the evening news, violence is everywhere in the media today and displays messages of approval that American society may not realize. Social learning theory tells us that through association with or exposure to others, delinquency is learned just as conformity is learned. Many of the movies and television programs that are seen today contain a fair amount of violence in them, whether it is a cartoon or an R-rated movie. In either situation, children imitate what they see on the television or in the Movie Theater. Just as children learn the difference between right and wrong through punishments and rewards, children also learn an underlying theme of good and evil. In this theme, certain acts of violence are acceptable if they are for the â€Å"good guys.† The crowd in the theater watching a film may applaud or shout messages of approval when the â€Å"good guys† blow up the "bad guys". As a consequence, children exit the Movie Theater aiming their fingers like guns and shooting their friends, parents, and/or siblings. They learn that the behavior is acceptable and they imitate it. Not only is this detrimental to their sensitivity to violence, it also teaches them that there are exceptions to the rules of society and that conformity is not always the easiest way to solve a problem. Living in American society, the easiest and fastest way to solve a problem doesn’t always mean that the solution is morally right or that everyone will approve of the methods one takes to accomplish it. I would also like to address the levels of appeal that Moyer points out in the film. Within each kind of scene, violent acts are often accompanied by sex or humor. Not only can this be used to bring a higher level of acceptance to the viewer, but it also brings a level of gratification or appeal to the scene.

On Drama Translation Essay

Like their contemporary prose translators who were introducing Western fiction to China, budding dramatists were enthusiastic about bringing Western plays to the Chinese stage. The first play was staged in Japan from an adaptation of Lin Shu’s translation of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A Chinese student in Japan named Li Shutong adapted the script. The play was put on by members of the Chun Liu (Spring Willow) Drama Society. Their performance marked a complete break from traditional theatrical practices. After the May 4th Movement, complete translations of plays were published and used in productions. Many established writers began to try their hand at writing scripts for the stage. Also in the introduction of foreign masterpieces, a lot of famous translators were produced. If we have a try at drama, we can find it very difficult, more difficult than the translation of novels. Actually, drama is very different from novel. And drama translation must be done in a much different way. First, drama scripts are written for stage performance. So the translated scripts must be suitable for the audience. But poems, prose and novels are written for reading. Though sometimes foreign scripts are produced only for reading, there are seldom the cases. Also the foreign playwrights would be against that. Second, drama performance is a comprehensive ways of acting. It is an audio-visual art, which needs lighting, stage properties, and sound effects. The lines by the actors contribute a great deal to the success of the play. The audience relies heavily on the lines of the play. Most of them are ordinary people, but not erudite scholars. The actors usually don’t repeat the words except for the sake of laying stress. If the lines are too obscure, the audience will get confused as a play goes on without a stop. Third, there aren’t any annotations in a stage performance. In a novel, the hidden intention of the characters, the natural and social background, cause and effect of the subtle changes of the emotions can be stated by the narrator. So the readers can grasp the whole text and better understand it. But in a play performance, the audience get information only from the lines of the characters. Further more, foreign playwrights often use puns or allusions in a play. It is really difficult to translate them in simple language due to the cultural differences. For example, an allusion in the original play may be very appropriate and enlightening. But a literal translation of it may  cause great trouble to the Chinese. And an annotation for the allusion is not feasible because in stage performance, an actor can’t speak the annotation. He can only use sign language, stage properties to imply it. So drama translation sets higher standards for the translations. So the above-mentioned three characters of drama require a popular and simple language of the translation. For example, in the revised version of the translation by Yang xianyi of Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw, the translator adds some words, delegate some to make the second version simpler in diction and structure. Example 1: The Mother: (to Clara) Give it to me. (Clara parts reluctantly) Now (to the girl) this is for your flowers. (Act I) [First version] ( ) ( )( ) ? , [1](P. 9) [Second version] ( ) ( )( ) ? , [2](P. 462) In the first version, the translated sentence â€Å" †seems more faithful and close to the original text. But it is awkward sounding. But the revised version is easier for pronunciation and causes no cause in understanding: in the text, the money is surely the compensation for the flower but not other things. Example 2: Algernon: Ah! That must be Aunt Augusta. Only relatives, or creditors, ever ring in that Wagnrian manner. This is from the Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, a line by Algergon, when he hears the rings of the bell. Wagner refers to a famous German playwright Richard Wagner who is famous for his sublime style. A literal translation of it will cause great trouble for the Chinese because they don’t know Wagner, let alone his style. But Yu guangzhang translates it as â€Å" , †. [3](p. 129)The phrase â€Å" †is sonorous and a little bit exaggerating. But it is so vivid that it presents an arrogant aristocratic woman to us. Example 3: Hamlet: Look here upon this picture, and on this, The counterfeit presentment of two brothers. See what a grace was seated on this brow: Hyperion’s curls, the front of Jove himself, An eye like Mars, to threaten and command, A station like the herald Mercury New lighted on a [ heaven] kissing hill, a combination and a form indeed, Where every god did seem to set his seal To give the world assurance of a man. This is your husband. ( The Tragedy of Hamlet, Act III, scene IV) [Liang shiqiu’ version] : , , , ; ; ; , ; , ; , , : [4] In this paragraph, the Gods Hyperion, Jove, Mars, Mercury are not familiar to the Chinese audience. They may be confused by a transliteration. Though Liang shiqiu uses annotations that will not help much. The audience cannot have a script while watching. But Zhu shenghao is more tactful in his translation. [Zhu shenghao’ version] : , , : ; , , ; , , [5] In this version, Zhu shenghao avoids the transliteration of unfamiliar names. Instead he grasps their symbols and personal traits. So the audience could follow the play more easily though they don’t remember the specific names of these characters. Since drama is mainly written for stage performance, it is different from novels, prose and poems. We can read novels slowly and casually. If we can’t understand some part of it, we can reread it and ponder on it. A first reading of a novel may mean nothing to you. As we read it time and again, we can dig deeper and deeper into it. But in drama performance,â€Å" its purpose is to bring about sudden upheavals of the highest moral nature. †[6](p. 44)So drama language should not only be simple and understandable, but also must vividly demonstrate the personalities of the characters in a specific historical period. To avoid the stereotype, the translator must pay much attention to the roles of the characters in relation to others. The tones, intonation and diction of the characters should also be noticed. Example 4 The BYSTANDERS GENERALLY (demonstrating against police espionage) Course they could. What business is it of yours? You mind your own affairs. He wants promotion, he does. Taking down people’s words! Girl never said a word to him. What harm if she did? Nice thing a girl can’t shelter from the rain without being insulted, ect. , ect, (Act I) [first version] ( )!! , , , [7](p. 17) [second version] ( )!!! , , , [8] (p. 465) The second version of the translation adds the exclamation â€Å" †. It can vividly show the questioning tone of the bystanders. If the actors tactfully express it on the stage, which will draw the sympathy from the audience toward the protagonist. Another example of the flexible translation can be shown in â€Å"Romeo and Julie† Friar Laurence: Here comes the lady;/ O, so light a foot /Will never wear out the everlasting flint; / A lover may bestride the gossamers/ That idles in the wanton summer air, / And yet not fall: so light is vanity. [Cao yu’s version] : ,? , , , , [9] [Zhu shenghao’s version] : , , ; , ,. [10] The second version of the dialogue is better. In the first version, the last sentence â€Å" , †is obscure. The second version of this sentenceâ€Å" † can fit in well with the profession of Fiar Laurence. It vividly depicts a priest who is greatly concerned about the properties of the church and is devoted to his work. Another important aspect of drama is the scene of movement. In drama performance, the movement of actors will cause conflicts. The conflicts will push forward the development of the story. Then the audience will be interested and follow the show. So the actor must act on their personalities, intentions and run into conflicts with each other. And language should show the kind of movement. In Thunderstorm by Cao yu, the fierce contradiction between labor and capital can be read in the dialogues. So the language is full of movements. For example: : ,! ,! —— Hai: You drowned two thousand two hundred coolies in cold blood, and for each life lost you raked in three hundred dollars! I tell you, creature, you’ve made your money by killing people, and you and your sons stand accursed forever! And now on top of that you—— [11](p. 492) Literally, the word â€Å" †is just calling the name of Zhou puyuan in an impolite way. But its translation shows the sharp opposition between him and Zhou puyuan. Also it hints that Hai will retaliate on Zhou. So it is full of movements. In the Importance of being Earnest, Yu guangzhong is also good at showing the movements in the language. For example: Algernon: how are you, my dear Ernest? What brings you up to town? Jack: Oh, pleasure; pleasure! What else should bring one anywhere? Yu guangzhong translates it as â€Å"? ,! , †[12](p.126)Yu knows that Jack is a dandyish play boy. In the play, he just comes to Algernon for fun. The translation is far better than â€Å" †. and will agree with his proposal to Miss Bracknell. Finally, dramatic language should be refined and full of emotions. Without poetic sentiment, dialogues are half-dead. [13] The language of drama should have rhythm, be rich in meaning and full of unspoken words. In the dramas by Ibsen, Shakespeare, and Caoyu, we can feel the strong emotions and mellowness of their language. For example, in Caoyu’s translation of Romeo and Julie, we are overwhelmed by his coruscating wit. Julie: Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,/ Hunting thee hence with hunt’s-up to the day. [Cao’ version] , [14] In the original language, the word â€Å"affray† rhymes with â€Å"day†. So the sentence can be read fluently. Cao is clever enough to end each clause with â€Å"? † and â€Å"? †, so they still rhyme with each other. Also the rhythm and appeal are attained. Another example of the poetical emotions can be shown in Yang xianyi’s translation of Quyuan by Guo moruo. â€Å" , ,! , , ,! , ,?! ,?! ,?! , , ,! † [Cao’s version]

Great Wall of China

The Rise and Fall of China's Great Wall The rise and fall of China's Great Wall: the race to save a world treasure – Special Report Current Events, Sept 27, 2002 Save a personal copy of this article and quickly find it again with Furl. net. It's free! Save it. MADE OF BRICK, STONE, and dirt, the Great Wall twists and turns across China's landscape like a giant dragon. It seems to rise out of the sea at Bo Hal gulf, a place known to local people as Laolongtou, or â€Å"the old dragon's head. † The wall then stretches across the plains, crawls along the sides of mountains and scales their peaks as it spans the Asian countryside.This ancient wonder, built entirely by hand, often overwhelms visitors. On a trip to the wall in 1909, French scholar Auguste Gilbert de Voisins said, â€Å"Nothing stops it, nothing gets in its way; seeing it at this point, one might believe it to be eternal. † Today, however, neglect, misuse, and modernization threaten the giant dragon. Al though the wall once stretched nearly 4,000 miles across China's northern border, only about 1,500 miles of China's Great Wall remain. The rest has fallen apart and disappeared. This year, the World Monuments Fund placed the Great Wall on its list of 100 Most Endangered Sites.The group hopes to protect what's left of the wall and to encourage the Chinese government and others to save the historic structure. According to a World Monuments Fund report, â€Å"[The wall] was built to protect China; now China must protect it. † The Great Wall of Qin China's Great Wall didn't start out so great. Begun nearly 2,300 years ago, the structure was a series of small fortifications. As early as 600 B. C. , people in China built small walls around their homes and cities for protection. Soldiers guarded the gates around the city walls during the day and swung the gates shut at night.During the Warring States period (475-221 B. C. ), leaders struggling for control of China built walls around entire kingdoms. Soldiers occupied forts and towers on the wall and fought to protect the borders of the independent states. In 221 B. C. , Qin Shi Huangdi unified the kingdoms and became the first emperor of China. Qin Shi Huangdi gave orders to build the chang cheng, or â€Å"long wall,† to protect China from northern nomads who were trying to invade China. Laborers built the wall by joining walls constructed earlier and extending the length of the wall to nearly 3,100 miles.With the help of General Meng Tian, Qin Shi Huangdi ordered 800,000 men–soldiers, prisoners, and peasants–to build the wall. Where stones were plentiful, workers used stones to build parts of the wall. Where stones were scarce, workers used dirt. To build the wall, laborers dug up large amounts of dirt and carried it to the wall. The workers then piled dirt into wooden frames about 6 inches deep. They used wooden instruments to pound the dirt until it became a solid mass. This process was repeated until the wall reached a desired height.Workers then moved the wooden frames to the next section of the wall and began the process again. According to legend, Qin Shi Huangdi condemned workers to death for making the slightest construction errors. Today, few traces of the Qin wall remain. After Qin Shi Huangdi's death in 210 B. C. , workers abandoned the wall and it eventually crumbled into ruins. The Ming Fortress Nearly all of Qin Shi Huangdi's successors built walls along China's northern frontier. The fortifications, however, never fully protected China from invasion.During the early 13th century, Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongols, a nomad group from the north, united several nomad armies and conquered much of Asia. In 1279, Genghis Khan's grandson, Kubilai Khan, overthrew the Chinese emperor and established the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The Yuan emperors did not maintain the old wall or build a new one, so the wall began to fall into ruins. After Khan died in 1227, a Chinese farmer named Zu Yuanzhang led a rebel army and helped overthrow the last Yuan emperor. When Zu Yuanzhang seized power, he established the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).Zu and his successors decided to rebuild China's Great Wall, which lay mostly in ruins, to keep the Mongols from returning to reconquer China. For nearly 200 years, thousands of workers toiled away on the Ming wall–reinforcing the Great Wall with bricks and stone. The Ming wall eventually blocked mountain passes that Mongol soldiers had used to invade China. When Mongol tribes attacked the wall, Chinese soldiers alerted others by lighting signal fires. When guards from a signal tower saw the fire, they built another fire, passing the warning along the wall.The number of smoke plumes and cannon shots fired indicated to Chinese soldiers how many enemy soldiers were approaching. The Ming government taxed the people of China heavily to pay for construction of the Great Wall. In 1644, the Manchus, a nomad tribe from northeast of Peking, helped rebels overthrow the Ming rulers and started the next era in Chinese history–the Qing dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, Manchu forces drove out Mongol invaders and extended China's border farther north beyond the Great Wall. The wall no longer protected China's border, so construction stopped and soldiers abandoned the fortresses.The Wall At Risk Today, Chinese officials warn that the Great Wall is once again under attack. But this time the wall is not in danger from invaders. Instead local people and tourists alike threaten the wall. Dong Yaohui, head of the Great Wall Society of China, recently persuaded a local government to levy a fine on residents in a small village after they demolished part of the wall to obtain bricks for new houses. And in 1999, officials in the autonomous region of Nei Monggol (once called Inner Mongolia) plowed through the Great Wall to build a highway. Nature has also taken its toll.At the wall's western end, dese rt sandstorms have worn down much of China's great wonder. Dong Yaohui said, â€Å"Saving the Great Wall is now the most urgent task facing our country. Its splendor must be rebuilt. † Preservationists also argue that commercial developers are destroying the aesthetic beauty of China's Great Wall. Developers have turned parts of the wall into a tourist destination. Visitors to the wall at the Badaling section near Beijing can take one of five cable cars to the top of the wall, bungee-jump off a section of the wall, paraglide along the wall, or ride a toboggan down the mountain.William Lindesay, an Englishman living in China, organized a group to protect and preserve what is left of the wall. Lindesay's group, the International Friends of the Great Wall, works with local villagers to pick up garbage along the wall and make sure the wall is protected from vandals. â€Å"The wall is in grave, grave danger,† Lindesay said. The Chinese government also hopes to protect the n ational treasure. Officials in Beijing are considering legislation that, if passed, would convict anyone caught littering or defacing the Great Wall to a jail term of up to seven years.Arthur Waldron, a historian, wrote, â€Å"Whatever the future brings, the image of the wall †¦ as a symbol of China †¦ seems bound to endure. † Get Talking Ask students: why do you think the Great Wall of China was built? What is the approximate length of the wall? What might have been some of the challenges faced by the wall's builders? What might the wall be threatened today? Background The Great Wall is among the most popular tourist destinations in China, along with the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the Terra Cotta Warriors at Xi'an.Qin Shi Huangdi (the first emperor of China) unified the nation of China and built the first Great Wall. After Qin Shi Huandi died, he was buried in a tomb with an army of terra cotta warriors and horses at Xi'an. In 1974, Qin Ski Huangdi's tomb was d iscovered by a group of archaeologists. During the Qin Dynasty–when the first Great Wall was built–workers toiled for ten years to build the wall, at a rate of about 25 miles per month. Portions of the wall have been rebuilt during the past century–including the section of the wall at Badaling, near China's capital of Beijing. Many myths surround China's Great Wall.One of the most prevalent is that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from the Moon. However, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), â€Å"The Great Wall can barely be seen from the Shuttle, so it would not be possible to see it from the Moon with the naked eye. † Doing More After students have read the story, ask them to research other sites listed as endangered by the World Monuments Fund. What are the biggest threats to those sites? Why are the sites considered important? When students have finished gathering the information, have them presen t their findings to the class.

individuality

individuality Kilakowske 1Aubree KilakowskeBaldwinEnglish 10May 6, 2014Individuality vs. ConformityConformity is the opposite of individuality. To conform is to go with what is said tobe the right thing to do in society. To not do what you would do, but what you should do.Individuality is to own what you were made to be and live to your fullest extent. To beyour true self, not what everyone wants you to be.In the article, The Sociology of Leopard Man, by Logan Feys, he argues thathumans are meant to be individuals, but society pressures us to all be the same and fitin. He even states that "society looks down upon freakish and extraordinary individualsalike and views them with suspicion." That conformity is seen as one of the worlds mostcommon but dangerous psychological disorder, and to be human is to be an individualhuman. He is trying to say that to conform is to give up who you are, who you were bornto be, to the majority of school, workplace, society. Individuality is good, but societythinks i ts bad. They say, "be your self" but then frown upon you if you don't dress or doyour hair the same as everyone else.I agree with Feys' argument. we are all born to be who we are, not to be someoneelse. If everyone in this world were the same, then the world would be extremely boring.There would be no variation whatsoever. In fact, thats how people become known. Forstepping outside of societies box, and doing something different. weather its good or badKilakowske 2could be argued, but they're still widely known for doing something that no one else hadeven thought of doing. Like the Leopard Man. Tom leppard wanted to be his true self andlive his life so he is happy, and so he did. He doesn't do it for the attention, he does itsolemnly because thats what he thinks hes meant to do with his life. Feys writes,"Leopard Man  ­ unlike so many millions of people who are a slave to societies demands ­ is happy." I think that this is how people should live their lives. If you want to be al eopard, who cares? Go live your life the way you want to. But sadly, we are all basicallyforced to go to school, go to college, get a job, make your career, and make money untilyou retire. I mean sure there is freedom, but theres also not enough. we have a choice todo what we want, but to an extent.in conclusion, I think conformity and nonconformity are both important aspects ofliving life the way you want to.Individuality Task

50 Idioms About Talking

50 Idioms About Talking 50 Idioms About Talking 50 Idioms About Talking By Mark Nichol Last week, I offered a roster of synonyms for talk and talking. This list expands on that theme by offering set phrases about talking and their meaning: 1. Beat (one’s) gums: to speak excessively and aimlessly 2. Bull session: a rambling group conversation 3. Chew the fat: to chat 4. Chew the rag: to chat 5. Diarrhea of the mouth: excessive talking 6. Dish out: to deliver critical comments 7. Flap (one’s) lips: see â€Å"beat (one’s) gums† 8. Gift of gab: a propensity for talking 9. (One) likes hear (oneself) talk: said of someone who is egotistical 10. Like talking to a brick wall: said of trying unsuccessfully to persuade or reason with someone 11. Run off at the mouth: see â€Å"beat (one’s) gums† 12. Shoot the breeze: to chat 13. Shoot the bull: to chat 14. Shoot the shit: to chat 15. Spill the beans: to divulge information, or to confess (see confess) 16. Speak out of turn: to say something inappropriate 17. Speak the same language: to be in agreement 18. Spit it out: to speak about something one is reluctant to discuss often used as an imperative 19. Talk a blue streak: to talk quickly and excessively 20. Talk a mile a minute: to speak rapidly 21. Talk around: to avoid (a subject) 22. Talk big: to brag 23. Talk dirty: to try to stimulate someone sexually by speaking provocatively 24. Talk (someone) down: to outdebate someone, guide someone through a difficult maneuver (especially a pilot flying a plane), or to successfully bargain for a better price 25. Talk down to: to speak condescendingly 26. Talk (one’s) ear off: to talk to someone excessively 27. Talk (one’s) head off: to talk excessively 28. Talk in circles: to speak in a confusing or indirect manner 29. Talk in riddles: to speak obscurely or with hints 30. Talk (one) into: to persuade someone 31. Talk on: to continue to speak, or to speak on a certain topic 32. Talk (oneself) out: to speak to the point of exhaustion 33. Talk (one) out of: to dissuade someone 34. Talk out of both sides of (one’s) mouth: to speak inconsistently about something depending on who one is talking to 35. Talk (something) out: to talk about something to reach a consensus or understanding 36. Talk (something) over: see â€Å"talk (something) out† 37. Talk sense: to speak reasonably 38. Talk shop: to speak about work-related issues outside the work environment 39. Talk some sense into: to talk to someone to persuade them to see reason 40. Talk the talk: to speak as if one is an authority or adheres to certain beliefs or values 41. Talk the talk and walk the walk: to act in accord with one’s stated beliefs or values 42. Talk through: to talk about something thoroughly to achieve a resolution 43. Talk through one’s hat: to speak insincerely, to talk nonsense, or to exaggerate 44. Talk to hear (one’s) own voice: to talk excessively, in an egotistical manner 45. Talk tough: to speak in an intimidating manner, or to bluster 46. Talk turkey: to speak frankly and/or with resolve 47. Talk until (one) is blue in the face: to speak exhaustively, especially in an unsuccessful effort to persuade 48. Talk (something) up: to promote something to draw attention to it 49. Talk (one’s) way out of: to say something so as to evade blame or avoid responsibility 50: You should talk: an admonition to avoid expressing oneself hypocritically Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with Heart50 Diminutive Suffixes (and a Cute Little Prefix)The "Pied" in The Pied Piper

East European and Russian Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

East European and Russian Foreign Policy - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in recent years the relations between EU and Russia have been more baffling than we could possibly imagine. Europe has lost its strategic loadstar. Having absorbed 27 countries, Europe is in the state of a dilemma regarding expansion or regarding the issue of dealing with Russia. Russia too realized that its renewed government style was not in a very happy term or relationship with EU which it did not expect and so the relations after EU Enlargement have been more or less a confusing state of affairs. After the formation of European Union, things have changed drastically for the people and governments near them. Russia is no exception. We all know that Soviet bloc was split in 1991 and soviet era republics became independent. Not to mention the fact that some countries which have the Russian flair in its growth and development have suddenly become free and have joined EU. These East European Countries have led to core formation of Euro pean Union. Thus it was soon understood that Russia has lost some of its key allies in the process and that it finds itself in isolation both in terms of geographic and political platforms. Another fact is that these East European countries have displeasure with what the Soviet Union has treated them.   The ideologies were different and there was resentment in these countries over the rule of Soviet Union. Also, the eastern bloc was not too happy with the way military section was withdrawn from those places. Factually speaking as the times moved the ideological differences grew so high that though they had same set of language and culture, they were in fact poles part in government If we talk about relations with Europe then we can say there were issues which actually have affected the relationship between them. The enlargement of NATO, the wars in the Balkan region and more importantly the agenda of the EU were the main issues. Apart from these the internal issues of Russia have become a significant factor of relations between them. In this paper we look at the issue of Russia and EU relations and we will be considering some core issues like EU enlargement and relationship levels among them by considering the security, human rights, political and economic factors which affect both of them May 2004 was historic month of the European Union History when as many as 10 countries joined EU and this included 3 of previous Soviet bloc nations and similarly in 2007 two eastern European nations joined the league, thus the major part of Europe with the exception Russia was part of the league and this was main issue among their relations. The reason for a low relation level with Russia was the different ideologies of the states. Post 1990’s soviet transition government has different perception levels when compared the ideology followed by EU. One thing we need to understand is that EU is Russia’s main partner when it comes to trade and commerce and so let’s look at the impact of this enlargement in terms of economic perspectives of both the countries.We know that Russia is a country, where the contribution of production to the domestic market is fairly high. At the same time, in some EU member states production output directed to domestic market is shrinking drastically. Apparently, these countries chose to be export-driven economies and are successfully trying to integrate into international division of labor by penetrating new markets with competitive goods and concurrently ceding domestic markets to more competitive foreign products. Undoubtedly, they are more dependent on the world economy than Russia.If we look at the economic consequences of the result on enlargement of EU with respect to the relations of EU-Russia we can say that it has two sides of the coin, one which talks from Russian point of view and other form European view. Analysts of Russian view focused on negative implications from custom tariff hikes for separate commodities. They talked about problems associated with goods movement through the newly joined

This World of Faltland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

This World of Faltland - Essay Example The three ideas satirized most fiercely are classism, sexism, and the treatment of the handicapped and mentally ill. In Flatland, class is determined by the number of angles a shape possesses. The shapes go to great lengths and even risk injury to determine one another’s shape by feel. The higher classes of shapes even learn how to determine shape by sight through the science of optics, which the lower class shapes are not permitted to learn. They are considered to be unintelligent, and therefore incapable of learning. Ironically, the triangles with the narrowest angles, and therefore the lowest class and least intelligent, are forced to become teachers, showing that they in fact are intelligent, despite what their society says. Determining class and maintaining class distinctions was of the utmost importance to the people of Flatland, just as it was to the people of Victorian England. Instead of using angles, Victorians had many ways to determine one’s rank in society, including accents, clothing, and titles (Mitchell 151). Even though in modern American society we claim to be above those distinctions, people still go out of their way to have the most expensive brand-name clothing, live in the most prestigious neighborhoods, and keep people seen as undesirable out of exclusive clubs. Things haven’t changed all that much since Edwin Abbot’s time.

Recently economic issue about Wall Street Journal Essay

Recently economic issue about Wall Street Journal - Essay Example The country will highly need assistance from foreign countries in order to grow effectively. Apart from the challenges being posed by Europe and China, United States also face other economical crises such as decrease of commodity prices, the current instability in stock markets, and decline in demand and output in big developing markets such as Brazil. Another aspect affecting world’s economic status is the political tension in many countries resulting from the current Ebola virus outbreak (2). Although United States is the world’s economic growth engine, with many countries not performing may negatively affect the country’s economic growth. Another factor that affects the U.S. economic growth is the rigid economy that has being affected by years of uneven growth. According to estimates made by Goldman Sachs economists, tight conditions of financial market can shave approximately 0.3 percent from American’s economic growth before the end of next year. However, if the bonds and stocks’ weakness proves to be temporary, this hit would decrease by approximately half. The global financial crisis has resulted in a decrease in revenues of the big business organizations in the United States such as McDonald’s Corp. both the internal and external factors affecting the country’s economic growth have proved to be more severe and formidable than it was expected. The author of this article, Josh and Nick, try to discuss the global financial issues that are currently affecting the economy of the world. According to the content of the article, global economic crisis started to affect the world’s economy in the year 2008. The increase of global financial crisis, have resulted to decrease in world stock. In addition, big financial organizations are collapsing, and rich countries’ governments have started to come up with a rescue package that will aid in overcoming these crises. Some impacts of global financial issues

Inputs Diagnosis Whole Foods Essay Example for Free

Inputs Diagnosis Whole Foods Essay The range of competitors within the overall industry include chain and independent supermarkets (Krogers, Safeway, others); mass merchandisers and super centers (Wal-mart,Target); convenience stores; wholesale clubs (Sam’s); restaurants and fast food chains andnatural food stores (Whole Foods, Wild Oats Generally the concentration of competitors has been fragmented by geography. However, through recent consolidations, the emergence of regional and national chains has started to prevail along with the decline of the independent/local shops. This consolidation activity has allowed many companies to spread their fixed costs over a wider range of output, thus creating more efficiency in operations. Often, it is cheaper for a company to acquire an incumbent due to the location of their stores and access to customers rather than to raise the capital for entirely new stores, which is how Whole Foods has been able to expand following their growth model strategy. Whole Foods acquisition growth plan has helped them to gain enough economies of scale to better compete with the Wal-marts and Sam’s Clubs. Threat of Substitutes Price of substitutes plays a role in determining a company’s profitability. Organic food is priced at a premium to conventional food reflecting the high labor costs in cultivating the product. The price premium may be one reason why organic food has not become mainstream. Another reason is that consumers either lack education about its benefits (or don’t care) so that the price premium does not appear to be justified. However, when comparing upscale organic and prepared foods to competitors such as restaurants, the benefit/cost ratio appears more justified. Market research conducted shows that â€Å"20 percent of shoppers as dedicated to healthy eating†.(PRNEWSWIRE, 2013) These shoppers tend to be better educated, more affluent, couples or singles without children, and generally in better physical shape than the rest of the population. These individuals that actively seek out health and nutritional information, are younger to middle aged, and have medium to high household incomes. Thus, this market segment likely has a higher propensity to substitute than the segment above, but still is probably lower than the overall market. In total, the organic segment of the market has captured â€Å"73 percent of consumers as of 2008†.(QSRMAGAZINE, 2013) Buyer Power The retail grocery market is typically considered somewhat resistant to economic downturns, thus, to some degree, consumers’ food budgets are price insensitive. However, there is risk that consumers will switch from high quality / high margin stores to mass merchandisers (Walmart, Shop N Save) to stretch declining incomes further in a downturn market. Furthermore, while individual consumers typically lack significant buyer power to affect the specific prices of products, collectively, they can exert influence on retailers to sell or not sell specific types of products. Supplier Power The organic food suppliers are not highly concentrated, so natural food retailers have some power over them. Also, the natural food retailers may have the ability to backward integrate with partnerships and joint ventures with local growers. In addition, there is a trend for top conventional food manufacturers to invest in national/organic food companies as shown by the following excerpt * Kraft (NYSE: KFT ) : Boca Foods, Back to Nature * PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP ) : Naked Juice * General Mills (NYSE: GIS ) : Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen * Dean Foods: Horizon, The Organic Cow of Vermont, Alta Dena, White Wave/Silk * ConAgra (NYSE: CAG ) : Lightlife, Alexia Foods * Kellogg (NYSE: K ) : Morningstar Farms, Kashi, Gardenburger, Bear Naked * Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO ) : Odwalla * MM Mars: Seeds of Change * Hain Celestial (Nasdaq: HAIN ) : Nile Spice, Health Valley, Bearitos, Earths Best, Walnut Acres (FOOL, 2013) Thus, the larger number of suppliers of organic products, the less influence one supplier can have in the market. Threat of New Entry Because the retail grocery market is typically low margin, â€Å"typically in the mid-single digit range†.(VALUELINE, 2013) It is critical for companies to have some type of cost advantage over peers, the larger chains may be able to obtain better and cheaper access to products than the independent stores(economies of scale). Labor is also a significant cost to retail grocers, representing 50% to 53% of total operating costs (EHOW, 2013). Other operating costs (including rent, utilities, transportation, and technology) are controllable by the company. Lastly, technology costs are key in the retail grocery industry in order to increase efficiency in operations and aid marketing aids. Point-of-sale systems can help to increase inventory turnover and sales and lead to better targeted customer marketing (COUNTERPOINTPOS, 2013) Other areas that affect new entry into a market include capital requirements, economies of scale, and brand identity. All of these factors have been discussed to some degree under other forces. Retaliation by incumbent competitors is an important element in determining the threat of new entry. Specifically, Whole Foods faces a threat from conventional supermarkets and mass merchandisers who may move to carry organic products within their stores. CONGRUENCE MODEL In conducting the Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model, of Whole Foods Markets inputs and how they align with the strategy. I have resubmitted the model for your review The congruence model has four modals for analysis: 1. Inputs resources used by the organization but also its history and its social, economic and market position. Resources include people, technology, capital and reputation 2. Strategies what strategies best match the inputs to produce and how to produce those outputs from the available inputs. 3. Organizational components allows the analyst to isolate the individual influences and adjust them for a good fit 4. Performance -include the ability to pinpoint where performance is not adequate and to trace the reason back to a lack of congruence in the models part (SMALLBUSINESS 2013) The model is good for input diagnosis and it can be broken down with the following steps: TASKS The work itself does not need any specific skill set or knowledge except to be as personable as possible and like dealing with people. While there are materialistic rewards to working at whole Foods the other reward is the ability to have a vote in how things happen in the company. Whole Foods runs on â€Å"democratic capitalism; where all of the work is teamwork.†(Fastcompany, 2013) the system itself tends to creative while at the same time it is mechanistic as everything has to be in its correct spot just so-so. The work flows from the top down with a healthy response for the department teams. The department teams have the sole discretionary right to hire and approve new hires which upper management screens first. The work is through, caring and precise. The teams are interdependent as they are all an integral part of the stores success as a whole together. PEOPLE The people of Whole Foods are a team oriented group with a single mindedness to have their store succeed with a democratic disciplined outlook. Most of the employees are young, well-educated individuals whose participation reinforces attention to performance and profit. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: The organization is set up as a virtuous circle which has a two way avenue to company policies to improve the company’s bottom line. Whole Foods has a knack to please their customers and every employee is empowered to correct as discrepancy that is brought to their attention by a customer. Each department is s3et up as a team which has a direct bearing on bonuses through â€Å"gainsharing†. (Fastcompany, 2013) Sales per labor hour the productivity metric at Whole Foods, democracy reinforces discipline. If someone doesn’t do the work and gets a poor rating then the team suffers in lost bonus money. Culture People work as a team to get the product out the door and keep customers happy and returning for repeat business. With that said the company’s success is driven by their employee’s attention to detail and satisfying the customer. Whole Foods has open salary concept where everyone knows what everybody else makes salary and bonuses. Also every store knows what another store is doing in sales, salary and bonuses. With that being known an individual wanting to transfer to another store or state knows what that store is doing financially and is able to make a well informed decision as to what to do with their career. There appears to be no political intrigue involved with the company and the â€Å"Hill† as most of the food wholesale segment is already tightly monitored as far as food safety and other regulation. The above listed modals are in in alignment with the major strength of Whole Foods in comparison to the Congruence model and Porters Five Forces Model. Their strength is the fact tht they can withstand entry of new competition due to their market chare and market segmentation. While company’s can enter into the retail food market they would be hard pressed to copy Whole foods business strategy in empowering their employees and making it work as far as satisfying their customers and meeting Whole Foods profit margin. Porter’s five forces strength model aligns quite well with the resources modal of the congruence model and several of the segments blur as everything is not cut and dried and able to be placed in the puzzle of what is Whole Foods. As a whole the strategies under the congruence and Porters model align with the complete Porter’s Five Forces Model well to give a rounded view of what Whole Foods is and what they can do if they stick to their mission statement and core values. Under the restraints of this report all of the congruence segments critical to the analysis as broken down the model reinforce Porters with their strength segment. As listed above the three input factors complement each other in regards to the strengths of the company as a whole. Also if you review my earlier reports all of my suppositions are supported and well documented as to how Whole Foods supports its marketing style and fills a niche with customers in search of alternatives to non-natural food stuffs.. References Percent health food consumers retrieved February 2013 from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-survey-shows-shoppers-eating-more-meals-at-home-cooking-meals-to-save-money-62056997.html Flat Lining Organics retrieved February 2013 from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-survey-shows-shoppers-eating-more-meals-at-home-cooking-meals-to-save-money-62056997.html Investing in organics retrieved February 2013 from http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2009/01/16/investing-in-organics.aspx Retail grocery market industry analysis retrieved February 2013 from http://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Industry_Report.aspx?id=7243 calculate food