Role Model Review

For this assignment I have chosen a leader that is in charge of overseeing the over 300,000,000 people of the United States of America, (The World Fact Book, July 2010) the 44th President of The United States of America, Barack Obama. The primary duty of the president of the United States is to make sure that all United States laws are carried out and that the federal government is run effectively. Although the president may not introduce new legislation he does hold the awesome power to veto all bills that are approved by the legislature. In addition, the president has the weighty role of commander in chief of the armed forces. As the nation's chief executive, the president oversees foreign policy, making treaties with foreign nations and appointing ambassadors to other nations and to the United Nations. He also appoints members of the Cabinet, as well as Supreme Court justices and federal judges. As you can tell the job of the president of The United States is full of responsibilities and is a job that should not be taken lightly. When president Barack Obama was elected to office in 2008 it was an election of epic proportions. That year there was not only the first African American running for president, but also the first female. After the primary elections it was clear that the race for the 44th president was going to be between Republican candidate John McCain and Barack Obama. President Barack Hussein Obama II has a story that American dreams are made of. He claims to have been raised with values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others. He was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. His father was from Kenya and his mother was from Kansas. He was raised with the help from his grandparents. His grandfather served in Patton's army and his grandmother was a secretary at a bank. Barack worked his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans. (whitehouse.gov) President Obama has claimed to be a Christian, but there has been many who would question this because of his Muslim roots. President Obama has been quoted as saying that he has attended the same Christian Church for the past 20 years. (The associated Press) This is after he was accused of being an Islamic terrorist because his father as well as his step-father were both Muslim. President Obama and his family were in fact members of The Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago until he had a disagreement with his pastor. (The associated Press) There are things that President Obama has endorsed throughout his campaign and throughout his presidency that I do not agree with. I do not agree with his issues on abortion, even though he did stop federal funding of it. I am also not a fan of his health care reform. I believe that there are other ways than what he is proposing to make sure that the American people have affordable health care and health care coverage As with any leader there will always be things that everyone dislikes and things that only some people like. This is after all a free country that is driven by freewill and democracy. Personally I can see why people would hold president Obama to the standards of a role model and even a hero. His story is truly amazing and is an example of the American dream. I however would not say that he is a perfect person to be a role model. As I mentioned before I do not agree with a lot of his policies or that he has a Muslim background. I also do not agree with the thought of a public official being thought of as a role model for children when he openly discusses his battle with nicotine. There are really none of us that are perfect, but as Christian's we are to strive to be Christ like. Throughout the past few years I have watched as president Obama has delivered public addresses and wondered if he were turning religion and faith into the same thing. The only way that he can talk about religion is to talk about his faith, but never specifically mentioning what he has faith in therefore turning faith into an irrelevant flourish of sentimentality that one can choose to wrap around social justice or dispose of completely. I feel that this is bringing religion down to the lowest common denominator. I cannot look at a man as a role model that tries to make Christianity politically correct.

English as Global Language Essay

The phenomenal rise in use of English has mainly taken place over the last two decades. English has reached high status world-wide because of several factors; as the mother tongue of millions of people all over the world, as the language that millions of children learn at school and the language that is used in international relations, for global communication and as the major media language. The importance of a global language has become major, in some contexts such as communication, e.g. international web-pages on the Internet, English is the only language used. In addition, English is used to establish and maintain connection and relationship between people with different backgrounds from different cultures. In this discursive essay, I will discuss the different aspects of a global language and how it will affect cultures, minority languages and communities all over the world. Disposition of body †¢ Definition of Lingua Franca †¢ Do we need a global language? †¢ Should English be a global language? Why/Why not? †¢ Which standard will be the Standard? / Strict or loose standards? †¢ Will native speakers take advantage? †¢ What will happen to minority languages and communities? Method Before I started to write the essay, I read relevant literature. David Crystal’s â€Å"English as a Global language† contains a lot of useful information, and so does â€Å"Sociolinguistics† by Peter Trudgill. In order to retrieve I want different aspects on the subject, I also used the Internet for research. I was also interested in average people’s opinion, therefore I asked approximately 40 people of different backgrounds, age and gender what they think of English as a global language. 1. Definition of Lingua Franca Many people do not know what a lingua franca is, therefore I will start by defining the term Lingua Franca and also tell a bit about its history. 1.1 Lingua franca is Latin and means â€Å"French language†. The first text written in a lingua franca is from 1353, but a simpler form of it appeared in the 11th century. The origin of this term is from the modern era when French became the language mostly used in commerce and diplomacy between the European countries. Not only French serves as a lingua franca, several European languages had the same status; e.g. English, Greek, Latin and German. The term lingua franca became so common that it continued to be used for any â€Å"universal† language. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_franca 2005) 1.2 A lingua franca can be any language which is used for communication among people who have no native language in common. In many of the former European colonies in Africa, French or English are used as the language of communication in trade and business. (Trudgill 2000:132) In some parts of Africa, other African lingua francas, such as Swahili and Hausa, are used. These languages are indigenous in some countries and have become used because of political reasons. When a language is used as a lingua franca, it undergoes a certain amount of reduction and simplification. The simplification often refers to getting rid of irregularities and grammatical gender in the lingua franca. This happens because adults are, unlike children, generally not good language learners, and therefore need a simplified version of the language. (Trudgill 2000:165) Should English be the Global Language? People in general have different opinions on English as a â€Å"global† language. There are positive as well as negative aspects of this. Do we need a global language? Why do we need it? Why should English be the best option? 2.1 Translation has always played a central role in interaction between people with different languages and language skills. Thousands of years ago, monarchs, ambassadors and merchants had to rely on someone to translate. But the more linguistically mixed the community got, the less they could rely on individuals to ensure their communication. Most of these problems have been solved with a lingua franca or a â€Å"pidgin†. A pidgin is a language created, usually spontaneously, from a mixture of other languages as a means of communication between speakers of different languages Pidgins have simple grammar and few synonyms. The prospect that a lingua franca might be needed for the whole world is something that has arisen in the twentieth century. Sin ce the 1950s, many international organisations have come into being e.g. the UN and the World Bank. Also political groupings e.g. The European Union and The Commonwealth have come into being. The pressure to make an agreement concerning one language has become urgent, but it is a sensitive issue. (Crystal 2003: 12-13) The need for a global language is mainly appreciated by the international academic and business communities, but also by individuals as the world becomes more and more global. (Crystal 2003: 12-13) 2.2 Why English has grown as much as it has, and why it might be seen as the best option for a global language have more than one answer. One is the geographical-historical reasons, and another is the socio-cultural. The geographical-historical part explains how English has reached its position and the socio-cultural explains how and why it remains that way. (Crystal 2003: 29) 2.2.1 English came to England from northern Europe during the fifth century and started to spread around the British Isles. (Crystal 2003: 30) The historical movement of English around the world began with the expeditions to Asia and America and continued with the colonial developments in Africa and the South Pacific. When many colonies became independent during the mid-twentieth century, they kept English as their official language or semi-official language. This led to a major step forward for the English language; it is represented on every continent and on islands in the three major oceans, making the label â€Å"global language† a reality. (Crystal 2003: 29) 2.2.1 The socio-cultural aspect looks at the way people in many ways have become dependent on English for their social life and for their economic well-being. English is the language of many business and political domains and also the language of entertainment such as television, the film industry, the music business, communication (internet, telecommunication and computers) and safety. (Crystal 2003: 29) 2.2.2 Today’s status of English has mainly two reasons; the expansion of the British colonial power and the emergence of the economical power of the United States. The latter is what scientist argue explain the status of English in the world today. (Crystal 2003: 59) 3. Positive and Negative Aspects on English as a Global Language 3.1 Positive aspects of English as a Global Language According to Buck (2005), English has, without doubt, reached the top position in the language hierarchy. Almost 30 % of the population are already â€Å"reasonably competent† in English. As the language of commerce, economy and politics, knowledge of and fluency in that language is helpful when participating in these fields. The economic power houses, the political bodies and commercial organisations also use English as their language of communication. More than 85% of the scientific, technological and academic production in the world today is performed in English. By using English you are able to communicate with people in almost all countries all over the world. English is the most widely spoken language with regards to number of countries, even though Chinese, Hindi and Spanish have more native speakers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language 2005) The case might be that even in countries where one of the other languages is spoken you will be able to communicate wi th the inhabitants, using English as a lingua franca. It is often taken for granted that one speaks English and when someone does not, one might be looked upon suspiciously. I asked approximately 40 people from different backgrounds, different age and with different nationalities which language they would prefer as a global language and the majority answered English. The following reasons were given: It is the language you hear and read every day; the younger generations have learned it in school and it would be the best global language because it is the most spread all over the world. The people, who disagreed, said that Spanish would be the best global language, because it has more native speakers than English. 3.2 Negative aspects of English as a Global Language Even though there are many positive aspects of having a global language, there are negative aspects as well. How would it be possible to carry through a global language? Are there any dangers with having a global language? A global language might cultivate an elite class with native speakers, who take advantage of the possibility to think and work quickly in their mother-tongue. If this was the case they might manipulate it to their advantage at the expense of those who has another language as their mother-tongue and in this way create a linguistic gap between people. (Crystal 2003: 14-15) English has a history, sometimes cruel and violent with colonialism and war, and introducing English as the global language might be seen as a threat of future dominance. Perhaps a global language will make people unwilling or unable to learn other languages and make other languages unnecessary. (Crystal 2003: 15) One of the â€Å"risks† having only one language is that the chosen language may become very technical and â€Å"impoverished† for non-native speakers, e.g. the Eskimos, who have several words for snow, because they need it. They would probably not be able to express themselves properly if they only had one word for snow. And Swedish people would not be able to use the word â€Å"lagom†, a word which says a lot about the Swedish society and people. Many of the people who answered my question about â€Å"English as a Global Language†, expressed a worry that if we only had one language, they would feel â€Å"poor† when it comes to expressing feelings and emotions in a language that is not their mother-tongue, that they would not know enough words to be able to really express how and what they feel. 4. Standards – which standard should be used? Strict or loose standards? English is the mother-tongue of millions of people in different parts of the world. If English were to become a global language, which standard of the language would be the global standard? Perhaps the standards would become looser. 4.1. Standard English is the English that is usually used in print. It is also the English which is normally taught in school and to non-native speakers learning English. This is also the standard that is spoken among educated people and used for news broadcasts. (Trudgill 2000: 5-6) Historically, the British Standard developed from the south-east part of England (the area around London). These dialects were spoken in court, used in law and by the government. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English 2005) Standard English has a widely accepted grammar, and an accent that comes with this standard, the British English accent, also known as the â€Å"Oxford English†, is the accent that is taught is schools. (Trudgill 2000:6-7) Furthermore this English has a major cultural influence, especially on the languages in the former Commonwealth countries, e.g. South Africa, Australia, and India as well as the European Union. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English 2005 ) 4.2 We often hear about â€Å"American-English†, â€Å"South African-English† or other â€Å"Englishes†, but no such terms really exist. The different types of English are based on the British English but have developed grammatical and vocabulary differences because of influence and â€Å"loanwords† from other languages.(Trudgill 2000:6-7) 5. Minor Languages and cultures What will happen to minor cultures and languages if we introduce a global language? An introduction of a global language might lead to discrimination of other languages. Losing a language equals losing identity. The language is much more than just a tool for communication. According to Trudgill there is an intimate relation between language and culture and a large homogenisation of culture might lead to a shift in language where native people adopt another language and eventually the old language may die out. There is a difference between â€Å"language death† and â€Å"language murder†. Language death is when a language disappears naturally; its speakers are leaving it voluntarily, but â€Å"language murder† means that the killer language actively discourages use of other languages. Minority languages may be removed from the media and educational systems. English is referred to as a â€Å"killer language†, which means that it is a dominant language learned subtractive, at the cost of the mother tongues, rather than additively. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_language 2005) In the United States there have been a few â€Å"English Only† movements, the first one in 1803, when they banned the speaking of French among the population in Louisiana. After that, several attempts to remove Spanish and French have taken place. English is declared as the official language in several states in the US. The English-Only movements have been rejected by linguistics; they mean that a language does not create political unity, it takes more than that. The use of one single language in a community is no guarantee for social harmony or mutual understanding. This has been proven several times during the history, e.g. American Civil War, Spanish Civil War and former Yugoslavia. (Crystal 2003:16) 6. Conclusion This essay has shown that the creation of a global language has numerous advantages and disadvantages. Mutual intelligibility, great career opportunities and reduced administrative costs are some of the advantages a global language would give. The disadvantages are that English is closely linked to the British and the American cultures and history and is therefore not a â€Å"neutral† language. Perhaps a language with less historical and cultural connections would be a better option? We are in need of an international language for communication, politics, trade and security, but at the same time we are worried about language death, the advantages native speakers will have and all the disadvantages non-native speakers will face. English is growing, it is a strong language, and its future seems bright. My opinion is that if there will ever be an international language, English is the best option. It is a strong, well developed language with millions of speakers. Even if a global language might be important, different languages are of importance for their culture and for the development of their native speakers. Languages make the world more interesting and more alive.

Accompanying Report for Oxfam Marketing Plan

I can capture a wider market and reach out to more people, which is important to increase awareness of people about the poverty and injustice levels existing in the society today. The new product would give people an idea about how the organization is attempting to connect every human being on this planet and their cultures too. Oxfam has significantly contributed in a diverse range of social and environmental issues, having people’s wellbeing at their heart. The arrival or benefit is sent back to people without taking even one penny from it (Winston and Weinstein 2016). The whole launching procedure would take place over a time period, after which measurable results would be accomplished. The holes in the organization’s previous marketing activities would be covered with the help of this marketing plan, which would also assist in increasing the company’s competitive edge in the market and reach out to a wider audience and open new doors. An understanding of the product is the first thing that is required to decide upon the course. Objectives would be set accordingly, after which understanding the industry environment would be carried out with the help of the environmental analysis. After understanding the entire situation a proper strategy would be formed for marketing the new product (Finch 2016). Oxfam Shop, subsidiary of Oxfam Australia, is a multi-channel retail organization that has its own e-commerce website, direct mailing program and retail stores (Oxfam Australia 2017). Oxfam shop mainly retails in food and handicrafts that they have sourced from individual workers, crafts agencies and fair-trade organizations. The idea behind doing so is to help these communities as much as possible in their struggle towards ensuring a better life for themselves and their labor force(Oxfam Shop 2017). Oxfam Shop, Australia has planned to launch a new product from one of their producer Wakami. Kiejde losBosques, a social projectwho are known for marketing their produce from the rural communities of Guatemala, developed this Wakami brand.The literal meaning of Wakami is â€Å"it already is† in Mayan. Wakami believes that the world we live in is already an ideal place and it only needs connection with humans to make it alive. Wakami artisans aim to link people with products in a way that the people who buy and produce these products experience an enrichedand improved life respectively.Wakami employs rural Guatemalan women to help them live their common dream and have sources of income for improving their community lives. One of their very current products is the beads bracelets. These poly threaded, silver plated brass beaded bracelets have Zamac (zinc, aluminium, magnesium and copper) metal charms included in them. The bright and bold neon threaded bracelets stand for peace, within oneself and in others. The bracelets are hand made using ancestral Guatemala artisan techniques(Wakami 2017). Oxfam has come into establishment with the belief that poverty is inexcusable and preventable and it must be challenged so that the poor people get access to the right help and lead a better life. Along with that, Oxfam’s mission has been to present customers with the handcrafted artwork they are known for and provide the deprived with a helping hand to move ahead in life. Oxfam aims to exist to appeal to and maintain the customer base. They have made it a point to always adhere to this maxim and they believe the rest would fall into place. They have made it their objective to keep on exceeding the expectations of their customers with continued service(Oxfam Shop 2017).To bring the major objectives in point, the major ones are: For the last five years, the retail industry conditions of Australia suffered and struggled a lot. The major factors that led to the weak economic growth and volatile consumer sentiment are the unstable financial markets, which in turn resulted in a struggle for the retail subdivision operators.From 2012 to 2016, the annual growth rate has been just 0.2%. Study estimates say that the industry is expected to increase the contributionby a compound annual rate of 1.0%, a slow growth if compared to the overall economy (IBISWorld2016). In terms of the current prices in 2016, the clothing and accessories industry of Australia experienced a trend estimate growth of 0.2% in the month of November(Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017).The industry is inclining towards small and medium enterprises, leaving the giants to compete for survival. Oxfam Shop would use this market data to properly understand the requirements of the market and how to serve the customers(Philips 2014). Competitor analysis is a crucial part of the formation of business strategies or new product launching. It plays a crucial role in educating organizations about how intense the competition they would be encountering, what are the competition strategies to help marketers predict possible consequences (Hollensen 2015). In the retail market of Australia Oxfam Shop’s would face competition from Myer Fashion Store and David Jones who are giants in the fashion and accessories department. Along with that,there are specialty stores like Just Group, Country Road, Retail Holdings and Noni B (Lewricket al. 2015). In the lines of e-commerce competitors, Amazon, Hive and eBay give tough competition to Oxfam. Oxfam shop’s target market includes people who are highly interested in using handcrafted things. The organization would be targeting people from all over the world, from all regions and religions.The art collectors and enthusiasts would be the primary targets, as they are the people who have the most interest in such products, and most of the time they have the capacity to spend also. Other than that, there are people who want to do something genuinely to stop all the injustices and reduce poverty in the society (Kusnanto and Utami 2016). Oxfam is for them too. Oxfam shop has always aimed to tackle poverty by taking a hands-on approach in their strategies. Oxfam has repeatedly combined their experience of helping people in situations of emergencies and innovative campaigning so that a bold approach can be put towards reduction of poverty, hunger and inequality (Seret, Verbraken and Baesens 2014). 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An organization with plainly characterized objectives and qualities that can be the purchaser inspiration towards the brand 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Worldwide system of members and supporters giving excellent brand believability 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Enhanced portfolio taking into account key essential needs of customers 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Great online position with sensible costs contrasted with contenders 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Built as a brand from retail shop standpoint 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Influence upon its center values and discuss the same with extended audience Table 1. Strengths and Opportunities of Oxfam Shop As a marketing strategy, segmentation comprises of segregating the organization’s extended target market into industries, nations and client segments that share common interests, priorities and requirements (Baker 2014). Oxfam marketing strategies have always been organized in groups that have separate KPIs and goals. Oxfam has done segmentation in accordance with its supporters. The supporter's sorts incorporate single supplier, shop present aider, customary provider, campaigner, and shop buys. Furthermore, full scale segmentation in Oxfam is the association's bespoke way of life alongside socioeconomics, that is, including color and profundity, one segment one supporter, in view of the supporter and not Oxfam produce and connected to the whole supporter database (Armstrong et al. 2014). Targeting implies making a social affair or things an objective to be followed up on (Cameron 2014). Right when a firm fathoms its objective promote, correspondence gets the opportunity to be unmistakably easier among the firm and the target crowd. Oxfam altruistic association target showcase incorporates the people living in poor conditions and requires help from each religions, locales, range, and so on around the globe. The association's target showcase likewise targets on people living foul play particularly young ladies and ladies.  Ã‚   Positioning alludes to a showcasing procedure that spotlights on making a brand have the unmistakable position about the fighting brands and customers mind (Grant 2016). The properties that get credited by the customers fuse its standing quality, the kind of people using the things, the quality and weakness close by any fundamental or unprecedented characteristics spoke to, the cost and addressed regard (Urde and Koch 2014). Oxfam key positioning depends on what the firm do, offer and what characterizes Oxfam. The firm fundamental goal is to help the needy individuals, and that treated with shameful acts. The firm offers foundations to the needy individuals and helps the individuals who are dealt with bad form to battle for their rights. Since Oxfam alludes to a brand that speaks to philanthropy administrations, it is imperative for the organization to keep up and enhance its esteem. Oxfam offers philanthropy to the destitute individuals and answers for individuals who are treated with unfairness. The firm likewise offers distinctive products that additionally add to the gifts. As an altruistic association, the administrations and products are allowed to the objective market. It is a reasonable methodology for the casualties; notwithstanding, it doesn't manage quality-driven clients and does not rival neither high nor low price base in their products of gift. Subsequently, Oxfam can utilize value pricing methodology that contains setting prices on the products as per the client impression of the product esteem. Oxfam is among the main beneficent association promoters in the philanthropist NGO industry. It promotes its exercises and products utilizing daily papers, TV and magazines. The association has an awesome gathering of people in the social stages, yet there is less marketing effort on their online networking stages. Thusly, Oxfam ought to upgrade its marketing effort in the online networking, and Oxfam ought to post their products pictures on the web-based social networking system, for example, in Facebook as coordinated by Kaufmann (2012). Oxfam conveys its services and products all through the world. The firm finds the destitution and unfairness people and helps them in their area. The members get situated in the groups regularly with neediness issues so they can undoubtedly get to the influenced people. It is fundamental that the organization ought to consider expanding their office in different nations to enhance their entrance to the destitute individuals (Kaufmann 2012). Oxfam is a magnanimous association that spotlights on enhancing the lives of individuals and helps the individuals who are treated with unfairness. This marketing arrangement has basically helped in comprehending Oxfam's present circumstance where the firm appreciates worldwide supporters and offshoots however it confronts volunteers and workers. Marketing arranging helps create products and administrations in the business that address the issues of the objective market. Great marketing helps the clients comprehend why the item or administration is superior to, or not the same as, the opposition. Subsequently, this marketing arrangement target is to amplify global foundations and increment tickets deals. As per the prerequisite of Oxfam Shop which requests an imaginative, functional and fun item for their outlets; in this way,a quirky and bright range of accessories have been suggested which is very popular among the art enthusiasts. A decent marketing plan would help Oxfam achieve t heir intended interest group, support their client base, and eventually, increment their main concern. Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S. and Kotler, P., 2014.  Principles of marketing. Pearson Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2017. 8501.0 - Retail Trade, Australia, Nov 2016. [online] Abs.gov.au. Available at: Baker, M.J., 2014.  Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan. Cameron, B.T., 2014. Using Responsive Evaluation in Strategic Management.  Strategic Leadership Review,  4(2), pp.22-27. Finch, B., 2016.  How to write a business plan. Kogan Page Publishers. Grant, R.M., 2016.  Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons. Hollensen, S., 2015.  Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. IBISWorld. 2016. Consumer Goods Retail in Australia Market Research | IBISWorld. [online] Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/consumer-goods-retail.html Kaufmann, H.R. ed., 2012.  Customer-Centric Marketing Strategies: Tools for Building Organizational Performance: Tools for Building Organizational Performance. IGI Global. Kusnanto, N.A. and Utami, C.W., 2016. Innovation Strategy Design for CV. X's Handicraft Business at the Local Market. Lewrick, M., Williams, R., Maktoba, O., Tjandra, N. and Lee, Z.C., 2015. Radical and incremental innovation effectiveness in relation to market orientation in the retail industry: triggers, drivers, and supporters.  Successful Technological Integration for Competitve Advantage in Retail Settings, IGI Global, pp.239-268. Oxfam Australia, 2017. The Power of People Against Poverty. [online] Oxfam Australia. Available at: Philips, C., 2014. A Silver Lining to Australia's Fashion Crisis?. [online] The Business of Fashion. Available at: Seret, A., Verbraken, T. and Baesens, B., 2014. A new knowledge-based constrained clustering approach: Theory and application in direct marketing.  Applied Soft Computing,  24, pp.316-327. Urde, M. and Koch, C., 2014. Market and brand-oriented schools of positioning.  Journal of Product & Brand Management,  23(7), pp.478-490. Wakami, 2017. Wakami. [online] Shop.oxfam.org.au. Available at: Winston, W. and Weinstein, A., 2016.  Defining your market: winning strategies for high-tech, industrial, and service firms. Routledge.

National Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

National Management - Essay Example The probability is high, that most governmental institutions will have to know how their reasons declined over policies implemented, in industrialized or non-industrialized country, at some time in their leadership operations. In the United States of America, the current economic downturn obliged the Federal Government to somehow appear to decline in its reasons in an attempt to financially sustain vulnerable corporate institutions. For example, many automotive corporate companies sought financial loans as bailout to continue operations. Most companies were ordered by the Federal Government to formulate a restructuring plan in 2008, but, the government expects them to deal with their financial shortfalls (KTBS3). Also, big companies are considered to have irreversibly huge assets and capitalizations, but, recent reports showed that most of it became marketably insoluble. An even worst scenario was the official declarations of bankruptcies. Estimates are that in the next months more and more gigantic companies will declare the need to be bailed out by government before they would declare they are broke and cease operations. These marks show that government reason to help people rather than companies cope w ith the natural law of supply and demand of resources have declined. One easy way to tell that the rationale for government help on people to cope with the natural law of supply and demand of resources is downhill is its corporate financial rescue measures. For example, in 2008, the administration of Mr. George W. Bush bailed out General Motors Corporation to the tune of US$17.4 billion (KTBS3) when Gross Domestic Product from 1998 to 2007 were: 8694.6, 9216.2, 9764.8, 10075.9, 10417.6, 10908, 11630.9, 12364.1, 13116.5, and 13741.6 respectively (OCCD 2009). These consistently accelerating total market value of all final goods and services produced within the borders (Schiller G-3) of the United States of America in the given period obviously benchmarked liquidity and highly sound economy contravening any claims of economic difficulty or recession. Also, this GDP figures grounds the truth that industries within the economy must have achieved economies of scale. "This level exists when the cost of producing a unit of a good falls as its output rate inc reases" (Parkin 207). For example, General Motors enjoy economies of scale, as the company employs highly skilled labor by division and cost-saving technology enhanced equipment, thus, raising production level (Parkin 207). Subsequent to knowledge of this information, most people find that bailout decisions are rather weak responses synonymous to declined national management reasons. The perspective that people gained from the national management responses to claims of bankruptcy and financial bailouts despite high GDP, and economies of scale, strengthened their belief that there exists socialism. Nonetheless, many hypothesized that there is no such thing as National Socialism. It is only that the move or the administrative response was distasteful. Yet, at the other end of the stick, it is an obvious revelation of a weakened national manag

Supply Chains Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supply Chains - Assignment Example 1. Suppliers. The suppliers deliver the raw materials needed to produce the finished goods. Without the suppliers, the company cannot produce the products needed by the customers. Without the products manufactured, the company cannot make a sale. Without a sale, the company cannot generate cash inflows to defray the operating and marketing expenses needed by the company. Without the profit, the company will have to close shop because of bankruptcy. 2. Manufacturing. The company applies human labor and other factory overhead expenses to convert the raw materials into finished goods. The manufacturing process includes the work in process beginning inventory, raw materials purchased during the month, and raw materials remaining during the end of the accounting period. 3. Warehousing and delivery to clients. The company stores the finished goods in its major warehouses in each city, community, or state. The warehouses are responsible for delivering the goods to the company’s display centers and stores. The stores are the delivery points where clients can purchase their needs, wants, and caprices. 4. Intermediaries (Agents). Some companies sell their goods and service through intermediaries. Intermediaries include the department stores, grocery outlets, hardware and construction stores, movie theatre stores, office stores, school stores, and community stores. 5. Transport organizations. The airline companies deliver the finished goods to the display centers, warehouses, and delivery the raw materials from the suppliers to company’s production facilities. The trucking companies deliver the company’s goods and services to different cities, communities, and suburbs within the United States. 3. Warehousing and delivery to clients’ display centers. The warehouse may not have enough stocks ready for delivery to the clients’ display centers. The customers may unexpectedly arrive at a computer shop only to find the store is still waiting for the

Operation management of Tom Pulling Toys, a toy manufacturing company Essay

Operation management of Tom Pulling Toys, a toy manufacturing company - Essay Example The firm observed in the study is Tom Pulling Toys, an English toy manufacturing firm based in China. For a long time, it enjoyed positive market response maintaining the mantle of being at the helm of market leadership. However, as China develops and more toy manufacturing firms get set up, there appears to be a problem. The company’s performance has hit a snag in the recent past. This negative market response is attributed to the quality of the products that the firm produces. There is a great likelihood that the company has not been producing poor quality toys and this is evident in the high number of toys that clients return to the company with quality related defects. The fact that clients return defective toys to the shops was a clear indication of the fact that the company had been producing low quality toys. The problem under investigation, therefore, is to determine whether the speculation, that the production of poor quality toys is responsible for the poor performan ce of the company recently, is true. This is based on the fact that clients have been returning semi standard goods made by the company. In an attempt to determine this, the company is employing a quality regulating tool that is new to the firm and the market. This has been christened the statistical process control. To effectively carry out the test on the quality of the products from the company, the research used random sampling of the toys and one aspect of the quality that was put under tight scrutiny was the colour of the toys. For a period of thirty days, the research was run on the colour defective toys with each day having a total of two hundred toys being collected. For the very thirty days, three toys were randomly collected and their heights measured and recorded in centimetres. The study carried out on colour revealed major colour defects on the toys with lots of clients returning to the firm defective toys. Colour is an important aspect of marketing; the marketing depa rtment ought to have put into consideration the effects defective colours would have had on the company’s product. Below is a table showing fifteen days and an average of 3% of returned toys on the basis of colour alone. Sample Number Number Of Defectives Units Inspected Percentage Of Deformities 1 3 200 1.5 2 6 200 3 3 7 200 3.5 4 6 200 3 5 6 200 3 6 9 200 4.5 7 2 200 1 8 2 200 1 9 7 200 3.5 10 8 200 4 11 9 200 4.5 12 11 200 5.5 13 3 200 1.5 14 5 200 2.5 15 6 200 3 Discussion and Recommendations Quality plays an important role in determining the market position that a firm holds. In the past, Tom Pulling Toys was known as the quality leader in the market which meant greater revenue collection. However, competition is an aspect of business and as it increases so should a company find leverages over competitors which for Tom pulling company would have been the quality of their products. Unfortunately, the firm was reluctant in checking into this and the result was the declinin g financial returns. The study revealed that, in deed, the firm was not taking into account the

Ethics of Stock Option Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics of Stock Option - Case Study Example The stock option was based on the company shares thus resulted in an increased urge to the executives to raise the stock’s price. Some of the executives chose foul ways of raising the stock prices such manipulating of companies financial statements, firing of employees and closing of plants to increase the company income. The executives thus looked for ways through which they could engineer the stock prices for their own benefits. The grant date for the stock option was also chosen by the executives which meant they could do it in a way that favors them; for instance when the market share price was lowest to benefit the recipients. Stock price manipulation also resulted in increased salary gap between the highly paid employees and the lowly paid employee in the company. During market downturn due to stock price manipulation, investors suffered as a result greedy character of the executives while the executives were being awarded for the failures of the company. (Raiborn, et al ., 2007). All these ethical issues of stock option handling needed to be looked upon for a moral reason. Due to the many shortcomings of the old ways through which stock options were handled, new changes were made that could reduce the unethical issues that arose and enhancing of doing the right things for the right reasons. The changes included new laws of reporting stock option grants within two days of issue, â€Å"synthetic† re-pricing and the indexing stock options. The changes had a great impact on the ethical issues as they enforced rational stock option awarding. (Raiborn, et al., 2007) Manipulation of the stock prices reduced and the employee received what they deserved. Even so, new ethical issues arose from the changes as the adoption of the Spring- Loading and Bullet-Dodging by some companies which benefited some of the participants of the company which was unethical. Stock option handling in the past raised some ethical issues. These were reduced by the recent changes even though more ethical issues arose.