Analysis of the Effect of Culture Within an Organization

Analyze the effect of culture within an organization Charles I Ojunta LDR/531 January, 21,2013 James F Traylor R FC. CFM. Analyze the effect of culture within an organization One of the primary responsibilities of strategic leaders is to create and maintain the organizational characteristics that reward and encourage collective effort.. The most fundamental of this is organizational culture. Organization culture is defined as a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguish the organization from other organizations.It develops to help organizations cope with its environment. Strong culture provides stability to an organization. The culture of an organization consists of the shared norms, values, and believes of members.. By establishing a strong culture, leaders can indirectly influence the attitudes and behaviors of members (Schein 1992) But it is not for every organization. For some organizations it is a major barrier to change..Many managers have failed in implementing a new strategy for a new vision for the company due to poor analysis of the organizational culture Culture provides a way to control and coordinate the actions of people without the need for elaborate formal control systems or continuous use of direct influence attempts (Tushman & O’Reilly 1996). There are Six Characteristics of organizational culture. As follows Innovation and risk taking, Attention to details, Outcome orientation, Aggressiveness and stability..Organizational culture can be one of the most important factors in whether a large company succeeds or fails, but it is also one of the hardest things to change about a company , since by its very definition, organizational culture is shared through out the entire company. In analyzing a company’s organizational culture, three core areas are critical each of which is futher broken down to create a list of key concepts which are critical to the process of reviewing the organization.The three areas are Elements o f organizational culture,, the company must look at the contents of the organizational culture, and then the subculture that exists within the dominant culture of the company, The organizational culture of the company refers to the basic assumptions , values and beliefs that the organizations supposed to be based on.. The business organizational culture is looked at in terms of what the business considers important ant or unimportant. Within every company, there is also subcultures or a number of subcultures that exist in conjunction with (or sometimes in opposition to ) the organizational culture.Although sub cultures are considered rebellious groups within the organization, but some subcultures can also serve an important function in understanding the operations of the company and therefore can be an asset therefore they are an important and critical concept in understanding the company as a whole it gives you insight into problem areas in the organization. It is necessary to exam ine the relationship between that culture and the company’s ethics. in three areas, Knowledge management, Anchors of organizational behavior and work place values.Organizations must look at the procedures by which such knowledge is obtained and passed along as well as the organizational memory of the company. In assessing the organizational behavior of the company’ s status with these. In this area the assessment is focused on the importance of values in the work place and the idea of corporate social responsibility A complete analysis of the company requires a final look at the process of group and team formation within the company. This will involve the development of the four other concepts of leadership and culture that are of importance to the company’s analysis-work teams . ffectiveness, cooperation among teams and team inaction and team building efforts. In essence ,the core functions of all these concepts is to generate greater understanding of the compa ny’s ability to make use of teams within the existing organizational culture with the purpose of increasing positive relationship between the existing cultures and the company stated ethics. Therefore an analysis of an organizational culture can greatly enhance the efficiency in the work place. Employees form an overall subjective perception of the organization based on such factors as degree of risk tolerance, team emphasis, and support of people..This overall perception becomes, in effect, the organizations culture or personality.. National Defence University. (2009 04). Organizational Culture. Retrieved from http://www. au. af. mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt4ch16. html Robbin, S. (2007). Organizational Behavior (14th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Zajac, C. (2009-04). Change of organizational culture Premises, aims,and results. Journal of Intercultural Management, 1(1), 109-116. doi:N/A How to analyze Your Company’s Organizational Cult ure. (2010 July). Retrieved from http:// www. organizationalculture101. com/analyzing-organizational-culture. html

Bukowski poem †a smile to remember Essay

Analysis A smile to remember Charles Bukowski The poem is really a short story about an ordinary family with tragic problems. The child of the mother and the father, who are mentioned in the poem, is the narrator. The likely scenario is that the child in the poem represents Charles Bukowski’s childhood. In the first lines of the story, it is mentioned that the family has goldfish. We hear about a boy, whose mother keeps telling him to be happy, even though she has a miserable life because of his insane and abusive father, who beats her frequently. One day the goldfish dies and his father, being the insensible man he is, throws the goldfish to the cat, but remarkably, Henry’s mother just smiles. The first impression you get when you see the title of the poem is that this must be a ‘feel-good’- or ‘love’-poem. In the first line, the word ‘goldfish’ is mentioned. An innocent image most readers can relate to. The same goes for the line â€Å"my mother, always smiling, wanting us all to be happy†. Again, to the reader this is a good thing. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Most people agree that going through life happy, is something we all try to achieve. The fifth line reads â€Å"and she was right: it’s better to be happy if you†. Then the poet does something remarkable. The line stops after â€Å"you†, while the next line, only includes one word; â€Å"can†. Bukowski made this word a line by itself to make the reader understand the undertone of desolation in the family, because they surely cannot live the happy, picture-perfect life. By writing it this way, Bukowski leave it to the reader to decide if the mother and the child are happy. But clearly the Mother acknowledges that the child is in fact never happy, since he â€Å"never smiles† as she remarks later. Line 10-11, â€Å"raging inside his 6-foot-two frame because he couldn’t understand what was attacking him from within†. We know from earlier, that Bukowski’s childhood was terribly violent and his father was abusive to his  mother and him, but in this poem Bukowski choose to look beyond this and tries to understand why his father was abusive. In this line, the reader senses immediately that something is wrong with the father and that he is fighting his own demons. Is it mental illness, substance abuse or is he just a man with temperament? Bukowski’s mother becomes the center of the stanza; â€Å"my mother, poor fish, wanting to be happy, beaten two or three times a week, telling me to be happy: ‘Henry, smile! Why don’t you ever smile?† Instead of goldfish swimming in a bowl, the goldfish now symbolize the mother (â€Å"poor fish†) who tries to show happiness even though she suffers from violence and lives in pain. However, sor row cannot be hidden, even the child knows that her happiness is not real. As the author express it â€Å"it was the saddest smile I ever saw†. In the last stanza the goldfish dies. The reader can clearly envision the dead fish â€Å"they floated on the water on their side, their eyes still open†. To return to the symbol of the fish being the mother, the reader’s viewpoint now gets completely turned upside down. It is not as simple as it looked – the poem is not about abuse. It is about a frazzled woman who tried to keep an even more broken family together. She believed in the good things in life and smiled through her pain in an attempt to raise a shelter towards the ugly reality she is confined to. Until one day, when the little part of her, still trying to fight, died and was thrown to the cat: By then she just stands there, still smiling. Perhaps she realizes that relief will also come to her some day; when death put an end to her miserable life and she can finally stop pretending that life is a happy place.

Reduce crime rate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reduce crime rate - Essay Example The crime rate has been increasing in the societies for many years, and it has come to pose considerable threat for people in the recent years. The governments have faced a numerous difficulties in controlling crimes and criminals who commit them. Because of this, the need to find a solution for these crimes has become more important than ever. Led by this need, the entire world has been considering methods and possible solutions in order to decrease crime rates, to restrain criminals and murderers, and implement preventive measures for potential violations of laws. Many efficient procedures were developed and implemented in reducing crime rates. Most of these procedures were ethical, and the other solutions foresaw physical punishment. Crime rate can be, first of all, reduced with help of gun control, mandatory sentencing, and increase in numbers of police workers, – these are all constituents of the efficient crime control policy. The first step on the way to minimization of crime rates in society – and a very effective one - is elaborate and well-developed gun control legislation. This is especially important as uncontrolled gun possession might lead to grave consequences: guns might be used to kill other individuals for various reasons and purposes. People could commit murders in the fit of anger or for their personal benefit. In addition, the guns are used by the individuals in order to make the personal benefits such as having money or stealing a car. Very often, people with bad social background use guns to threat other individuals and extort money from them. If a victim has no gun or other weapon in his or her possession, it will be impossible to protect him/herself and defend his/her rights. Authorities should implement compulsory and thorough inspections for people who want to buy weapon. According to Kelling and Corbett (2003), effective law enforcement

Summry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summry - Assignment Example The front view is shown as full section. This kind of section is advantageous when the object is symmetrical about a centre line. Here, full section view may not be necessary. In this case, a half sectional view is drawn as a front view which shows internal details of half the component. In cases where full information cannot be obtained if the section is taken along the centre line, offset section is used. To obtain full details the cutting plane is offset by 90 degrees to pass through all the holes and slots. The advantage of this section lies where there are elongated parts of the object are also present. This is used to show the transverse section of one part of object. The cutting plane is shown in section by cutting in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. An adjacent view is obtained by rotating the cut section by 90 degrees. The Disadvantage of this kind of section is that when too many parts are present then using this section view may get complicated. In such cases, removed section proves to be advantageous as the section are shown removed from the front view located adjacently. This kind of sectional view has its own advantage as it does not use a cutting plane at all. Instead, the section view is shown with the front view and a jagged line is used to show the break. Hence, one may chose to break the object any way which helps showing the full internal details. The disadvantage of this view is that it may some how become difficult to decide how to introduce the break. In case, the object has elongated parts, the application of this section may become very

Change Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Change Project - Essay Example Change is always good and all people pursue change but only a few succeed. What is needed to enable one succeed is to first trust and belief that it is possible to transform one’s ways. It is common to her people claim that people do not change. Such claims are made by people who do not belief that change is possible and therefore are categorized in the group of individuals who find it difficult to alter their ways. It is important to note that it is not enough to belief in change alone. It is also crucial that one beliefs in self and his or her abilities which will facilitate the actions which favor change. Change occurs through various processes or mechanisms. Emotions are the major drivers of change. These are the feelings within an individual and they are caused by thoughts, experiences or influence from other people or even situations. The emotions of a person stem from the mind through reactions to various stimuli within our environment. Good emotions drive a person to change so that the good feelings are retained. Negative emotions also lead to change as a way of avoiding what leads to that change. For example emotions which arise from a person’s experience of an accident results to a positive change of behavior in pursuit of avoidance of such a situating in the future Psychological Perspectives on Four Types of Change (Whitbourne 49). Behavior is another mechanism involved in the change process. The behavior of a person includes the normal actions and reactions of a person during various situations and desires. People commonly relate change to change of behavior. This demonstrates the central role of behavior in the change process. Therefore change in behavior is partial or complete alteration of one’s way of doing things as a result of either internal or external motivation. Changing behavior may be very difficult because it requires a powerful will of the mind for it to be possible. Without

Greed, not Grievance is the True Cause of Civil Wars Research Paper

Greed, not Grievance is the True Cause of Civil Wars - Research Paper Example Although there is a lack of common agreement regarding the exact causes of a civil war, it is nevertheless emphasized that the potential of civil war becomes less if a state has the capacity to maintain peace. A strong state has powers to exert control over citizens by positively addressing their grievances. On the other hand, a weak state can have inefficient bureaucratic power and lack of political and military strength. Such inefficiencies and weaknesses make it difficult to implement laws and regulations in order to maintain peace in the region. Therefore, a weak state has the possibility to create conditions to induce grievances among citizens. The state also experiences various challenges in discouraging and restraining dissent within citizens thus laying the foundation for potential civil unrests leading to a civil war. Other factors that affect a civil war can be economic disparities between different regions or between different social groups, class and religious frictions, government policies and international trade. Civil war has been defined as â€Å"an internal conflict where there have been at least 1,000 combat-related deaths per annum and where both government forces and an identifiable rebel organization have suffered at least five percent of the fatalities† (Nathan, 2008, p.263). The prevalence of civil wars in the form of widespread violence has become a matter of international concern, and therefore researchers focus on what makes countries prone to civil wars. This is one of the major issues for foreign policy leaders. Although at the beginning of the twenty-first century several violent civil conflicts ended, there still existed 30 internal armed conflicts in 24 places in 2002. Among these conflicts, 15 existed in Sub-Saharan Africa while 5 existed in Asia. During the second half of the twentieth century, there existed 127 civil wars among which 40 occurred in Sub-Saharan Asia while 30 took place in Asia.  

International Migration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International Migration - Essay Example The same affects the health facilities in the country and negatively impacts the overall healthcare facilities in the USA. Research has found that illegal immigration affects the citizens of that particular country, especially the poor people and the legal immigrants. It is also found that the taxes paid by these illegal immigrants are far less than the services received by them. Countries like United States of America are trying their level best to counter this by increased border patrol but this is not only reason for illegal immigration, most of the cases occur because of people who overstay even after their visa is expired. United States of America provides Medicaid facilities to the legal and illegal immigrants but this results in a very big loss for the economy of the country because the people take undue advantage of the same by overstaying in the hospitals even after recovery. The Medicaid policies depend on state to state but there are some states in America which provide the young children and elders requiring medical attention with great facilities like free drugs, free nursing and proper med ical attention. Off late the federal law has brought in many restrictions to keep a check on the illegal immigrants, this also ensures a strict check on the money spent on the public welfare.

A proposal on how to reduce energy usage and thereby reduce carbon Essay

A proposal on how to reduce energy usage and thereby reduce carbon emissions in New York State - Essay Example The use of solar and wind energy in the state is quite insignificant, electrical energy from fossil fuels being the main source of energy for both residential and commercial use. The state, however, has a huge potential of using alternative, renewable energy sources including wind, solar and fuel wood (eRedux par 3). The huge amount of fossil fuel used in the production of electrical energy in New York contributes significantly to the production of greenhouse gases, chiefly, carbon dioxide. On average, the New Yorker produces close to 11 tons of carbon dioxide annually from energy consumption (eRedux par 1). In total the state produces about 215 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the 8th largest in the USA considering that most of the electrical energy is produced in the state comes from coal and natural gas. Considering that a huge amount of greenhouse gases come from the production of electrical energy in the state, there is need to ensure that solar and wind energy are used in large scale to reduce the high level of environmental degradation currently the case. In an endeavor to conserve the environment and save the economy a lot in funds, the state should implement a policy in favor of the statewide use of wind and solar energy within a period five years. With such a policy in place, the gains would be significant in the longer

Homeland Security Preparedness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Homeland Security Preparedness - Essay Example â€Å"The role of state and local governments as well as the nation's first responder community has been viewed largely as providing quick reaction and consequence mitigation to any attacks that occur despite the best effort of the federal system to prevent it...In fact, this image is not correct; local governments must do a great deal more than prepare for the consequence management role. In particular, they must also pay a great deal of attention to prevention efforts. To date they have not done nearly enough in this regard† (O'Hanlon, 2005). O'Hanlon recommends that state and local governments can be first responders in all arenas. The Governor's office should make sure that there is a dedicated anti-terrorism task force at the state level, and any sufficiently large cities should have an anti-terrorism task force operating out of a major crimes unit. Local miscommunication and planning was part of the slow response to 9/11. According to the 9/11 Commission Report, â€Å"[ A] 'generic' flight plan – prepared to get the aircraft airborne and out of local airspace quickly – incorrectly led the Langley fighters to believe they were ordered to fly due east... for 60 miles... the lead pilot and local FAA controller incorrectly assumed the flight plan instruction to go '090 for 60' superseded the original scramble order† (p. 27). Inadequate protocols for communication and coordination between local, state and federal authorities can have lethal consequences. Similarly, the FBI's limited terrorism response pre-9/11 was due to their being tied too closely with state and local agencies such that they were only interested in pursuing the needs of state and local areas such as organized crime and white-collar offenses (p. 74). O'Hanlon notes that state governments do not have to do everything and be everywhere. â€Å"it is not necessary to equip all three million first responders in the United States with state of the art chemical protective gear or interoperable communications systems. Equipping specialized teams within each major jurisdiction with such capabilities, and creating several mobile communications headquarters with interoperable technology, are less expensive and more quickly doable propositions. It is not necessary that every fireman’s radio can talk to every police officer’s radio; a certain number of mobile interoperable communications vans that can be quickly deployed to a problem site are a more cost-effective solution. They can allow quick coordination and cross-communication through the squad or team leaders of each type of organization (that would have been enough to save many firefighters on September 11, 2001 in New York). A large city could purchase several dozen, at $1 million each, for a reasonable cost of several tens of millions of dollars† (O'Hanlon, 2005). The Governor's Office should follow this approach. While all EMS and medical responders, police units, hospitals an d other state agencies do not need to have extensive anti-terror preparation, specialized units should and should have access to top-of-the line gear. As O'Hanlon illustrates, doing so not only is cost-effective but in any respect is often fungible to every day operations: Communications vans like the one above can also be used in major crimes like bank robberies. O'Hanlon recommends $5 billion

An Influenced Life Essay Example for Free

An Influenced Life Essay An Influenced Life As people grow and develop in their lives, many factors influence their trajectories. These factors manifest themselves in many ways, but some are more prominent than others. I believe that every person, depending the factors that influenced them most strongly, would place more importance on some factors than others. In other words, my essay will be different than other classmates, because I was raised differently than most of them and different things had impacts on my development. Individuals also probably think some are more important factors than others, and these viewpoints depend solely on their lives and their development thus far. My personal view is that some of the most important factors that influence an individual’s development are their innate temperament, the parents they are born to, the consequent family role they possess, the anxiety they bear in life, and the relationships they make – both forced and by their own volition. Read more: Essay explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors. Although I believe these are some of the most important factors, they are by no means the only things that influence a persons’ development over time. Also worth noting is the fact that these all impact each other as well as singularly influencing an individual. When combined, many factors cause other factors and all influence a persons’ development trajectory. One of these influences is inborn, not decided by outside forces. Temperament is something every human is born with, and it is shown from the moment they start breathing. My sister and I, for example, have somewhat opposite temperaments. As a child I was very loud and loved to talk (which hasn’t changed), and my sister was much quieter and listened much better than I ever could. She was more patient from birth than I will ever be. This chasm between our personalities provides some definition for our life development. Her calm, quiet manner led to little misbehavior and consequent punishment. My quick, sarcastic temper led to much conflict with parents and occasionally teachers, and required containment. This put me in a different trajectory than my sister, as she became easy to deal with, and easy to please. My parents had to take a different approach with me, as my temperament led me to be harder to discipline, please, and control. The temperament of any individual greatly influences a person’s future life development. It influences the way a person reacts and relates to other people, the way they act alone and in company, and their view on the world. Parents are one of the influences I think most would agree impacts development most. Even people who had parents that were not present might agree that the absence itself influenced their life and development. The techniques parents use vary and are quite different from family to family, and occasionally even within families. Parenting impacts development and views of the world because they restrict or allow activities, and provide moral ideas and values in differing strengths, passing on much to their children. As we grow out of childhood, impressions of our parents from a young age remain with us and impact the way we live, act, and interpret others’ behaviors. The two spectrums for parenting styles measure how demanding a parent is, and how responsive a parent is. To me, these can make or break a child’s development. If either is too low, the child will have problems later in life, but if either is too high, there will also be consequences. High responsiveness may produce a needy, incapable adult, while low responsiveness will result in anxiety about love, and mattering. High demanding parenting may result in a high-strung, over-achieving stressed adult, while low demanding will produce an adult with little motivation and drive. Clearly, parenting impacts development and, if possible, should be controlled in order to help children develop correctly and well. As parents begin to treat children differently due to temperament, and children learn more about their parenting styles, the kids in the family begin to learn their roles in the family. These roles can range from simply the â€Å"quiet one† to â€Å"loud one,† or from â€Å"instigator† to â€Å"peace-maker.† Some of the roles can make children feel guilty, unworthy, or bad about themselves, while others make childr en feel proud, confident, and pleased. These differences start at a young age and continue through their lives, even into adulthood. This will also influence relationships and life plans, causing each person to have a different filter per say, which they view the world through. If an individual follows these family roles into adulthood, individuals follow whatever mold they were shaped into as a young person. This can obviously impact development in frightening ways. One can imagine a forty year-old still following his instilled role of a meek, rule-following, shy six year-old, or a twenty-one year-old still behaving as a reckless, authority defying teenager, but with much more damaging and dangerous rebellions. The types of anxiety that a person deals with on a frequent  basis derive from many sources. These factors come from both developmental sources and environmental sources. While environmental sources are inevitable and cannot be avoided, like natural disasters and wars, the developmental sources can be somewhat traced to other developmental factors. If a person carries too much anxiety, they can then begi n to develop harmful relationships and tendencies. Some anxieties that can hurt a persons’ development are worrying about trust, competence, and mattering. All three of these concerns can come from the way an individual is treated and affected by people close to them, and society as a whole, along with some of the traits they were born with. These main three concerns make or break relationships, another developmental factor. However, they also impact the way we develop in all strains of life, especially cognitive development. If someone has anxiety about not mattering or being competent, and this anxiety is reinforced by their relationships, they may truly begin to believe these things. This will begin to impact their work and productivity, starting to truly render them incompetent. Relationships also play a large role in development over time. Of all the factors discussed, I think this may be one of the most obvious, but also one of the most influential. Depending on the individual someone is relating to, and the impacts other developmental factors have on them too, relationships are the dynamic culmination of influences on human devel opment. Relationship models range from secure to insecure, and someone who forms insecure relationships is unlikely to trust anyone, and consequently bear even more anxiety than what led to the insecure relationship. I think relationships influence development because relationships give us friends, role models, and comfort. Relationships make life worth living, but if they are not healthy and secure relationships, the zeal for life may degrade. There are many factors that impact development in many different ways. These influences can have physical, social, cognitive, and emotional consequences, and help us to become the adults we do in life. They eventually all do interrelate and combine to influence each other and our development in many ways. This being said, it is crucial to development to have consistent, good, controlled factors. Although temperament cannot be controlled, parenting styles, family roles, and relationships can be objectively considered and helped, in order to ensure proper development and a productive, competent adult. If every child had these factors controlled  and watched, in order to help them develop the best they could, there would be much less anxiety, unhappiness, and idleness in our society.

Samsung Electronics Company | Analysis

Samsung Electronics Company | Analysis Contents (Jump to) 1. Introduction 2. Samsungs Competitive Advantage 3. Samsungs Management Analysis SWOT Analysis of Samsung 4. Samsungs Corporate Strategy 4.1 The Eco Friendly Competitiveness 4.2 Mutual Development With Business Partners 4.3 Creative Culture 5. Samsungs Competitive Analysis 5.1 Competitive Analysis on Samsung 5.2 Innovations as the Essence of Sustainable Development 5.3 International Production Capabilities 6. Key Drivers for Future Growth 6.1 Samsung Key Drivers for Future Growth 6.2 Samsung Electronic 2011 Sustainability Plan 6.3 Samsung Electronics Sustainability Reports 2012 6.4 The Live Smart Product and Samsung Stakeholders 6.5 Samsung 9 Material Issues as Key Driver for Future Growth 7. Samsung Technology Planning Exhibit 1 1. INTRODUCTION Samsung Electronics Company began doing business in 1969 as a low-cost manufacturer of black and white televisions. In 1970, Samsung acquired a semiconductor business which would be a milestone that initiated the future for SEC. Entering the semiconductor industry would also be the beginning of the shift phase for SEC. In 1980, SEC showed the market its ability to mass production. SEC became a major supplier of commodity products (televisions, microwave ovens and VCRs) in massive quantities to well-known original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). For this reason, Samsung was able to easily transition into a major player in the electronic products and home appliances market (Quelch Harrington, 2008). SEC was mainly focused in manufacturing; therefore, its no surprise that the executives themselves were also focused on their manufacturing plants. Profits that SEC received were soon reinvested into Research Development, manufacturing, and supply chain activities. Unexpectedly, in 1997, a financial crisis hit the Asian market. Even though SECs sales were $16 billion, they still had a negative net profit. SEC executives exercised major restructuring efforts that resulted in the dismissal of 29,000 workers and the sale of billions in corporate assets. SEC was able to ride the Asian Financial Crisis and was able to reduce its debt dramatically to $4.6 billion, from $15 billion, over a 5 year period. Furthermore, SEC was able to increase its net margins from -3% to 13% (Quelch Harrington, 2008). In 2002, SEC posted net profits of $5.9 billion, on $44.6 billion in sales, and as a result in 2003 became the most widely held stock among all emerging market companies. Unlike other companies who chose to outsource their manufacturing process, SEC remained committed to its core competence, manufacturing (Quelch Harrington, 2008). During 1998-2003, SEC invested $19 billion into chip factories and $17 billion into manufacturing facilities for TFT-LCDs, which would be a major component for flat screen TVs and computer screens. Even though SEC was focused in the manufacturing process, it didnt make SEC a rigid company. To cope with supply-chain demands, the company remained flexible by building 12 manufacturing plants in China during 2003 and setting up RD facilities in India (Quelch Harrington, 2008). With 17,000 scientists, engineers and designers, SEC was able to create an endless amount of digital products. Due to its fast decision-making process and focus on a digital future, SEC was able to move a new product from the drawing board to its commercialization phase in only five months. This ability was almost 3 times faster than its competition (Quelch Harrington, 2008). 2. SAMSUNGS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Competitive advantage  is defined as the strategic advantage one business entity has over its rival entities within its competitive industry. Achieving competitive advantage strengthens and positions a business better within the business environment. Samsung has always seeks out the opportunities for the company stay ahead of the competitors. In todays fast-paced competitive environment, Samsung face the need to be increasingly competitive and adaptive. Samsung strategic entrepreneurship as the means through which the company simultaneously exploits their current competitive advantages while exploring for future opportunities. Achieving a balance between exploration and exploitation consists of more than merely allocating resources evenly between the two processes. Exploration and exploitation are operationally, structurally, and culturally distinct processes. In order for Samsung to stay gain their competitive advantage; they have utilized their resources to maximize their output or end products. Resources such as human resources, money, machineries and materials are being strategized to stay ahead and be the leader the global market. The first advantage Samsung has created was by developing the human resources. The company acknowledged the need for the employees to work in conducive working environment. Samsung created a family-friend working environment, which allows the team members participate in the developing and improving ideas. Samsung even sponsored their employees for MBAs and PHDs program to develop and enhance their human resources skills. As a result of years of human capital investment, Samsung has a high concentration of skilled engineers and labour. The company are able to management the human resources and knowledge which will directly impacted Samsungs operation by producing a higher productivity and quality of the product s and services. The low cost strategy by Samsung allowed them to be very competitive in the global market. Samsungs ability to negotiate with supplier, gave them the advantage of cost raw material. Samsung won several awards every year since 1995 for their performance, quality and reliability of their products and services. Hence, this gave the advantage for them to negotiate with suppliers to supply them the raw material at the lowest cost possible or even at premium. Samsungs high adaptation cultural to new and fast changing market demand made them an aggressive market reader. As part of their competitive advantage strategy, Samsung setup a centralized research and development (RD) facilities. Most of their competitors have their RD facilities and productions facilities geographically scattered around the globe. The centralization gave them to opportunities to continuous explore and exploit greater products and invention for new technology, as well as innovation for existing technology. The Washington Post on 12 November 2012, in the article Apple vs. Samsung: battle of the Innovation Strategies, was number 4 in the 10 most innovative companies after Apple, Google and 3M. However Samsung was at the number 6 spot in the top 10 RD spender compared to Apple not on the top 20 list. For example, Samsung invested heavily on the new bendable screen technology for smart phone. They planned to launch the new product in 2013, where other competitors are still developing to commercialize the new technology Most of the innovation for the Samsung products shared the same core design. Samsung flexible product line able them to materialize those ideas to end products with minimal cost occurred. For every new invention and innovation, Samsung does not need to set up a new facility. The results, higher yield against the cost of the production. Lower cost of productions allowed Samsung to offer attractive and competitive price for the consumer. The relatively lower cost gives lots of rooms for the pricing strategy to work with. Centralization of the RD facilities and the production facilities, desire Samsung to maximize their resources and machinery. High adaptation to adjust the course of production, able Samsung to produce and broad market their five major products division of Semiconductor, digital technology, telecommunication, LCD and digital appliances. The results, production variety of product mix with lower cost to meet the customer demand. Offering the market with variety or multi product segment, gave Samsung the advantage to other competitors. Example, by providing the varieties of models and product features, Samsung are able to tab to a larger market segment compare to Apple or Nokia. Centralization of RD also gave Samsung the advantage to keep their intellectual property within their boundary and mass produce at the same time. Samsung is an aggressive market reader. They are the early adopters of new technology and innovation, while their competitors still in RD progress or even finding the market niche to commercialize the products. Samsung has an aggressive learning curve, which them an advantage and ability to read the market demand better than other competitors. As the result they are able to produce customized products to meet the customer demand. Samsung stable and strong financial portfolio, gave them the advantage to launch and adopt through aggressive marketing campaign and promotion. Positions themselves before any competitor does by identifying the customers need and demand to enhance their lifestyle. The information and data gathered, along with the close monitoring of the market trend, able Samsung to customize to customer need. Samsung have a large product portfolio, which cover broad market and at all level. Samsung has been in the market since the 60s and has been well established. Acknowledging and creating the competitive advantage ensure their dominant in the industries. The fact that they are in the top 5 in smart phone vendor and shipment for 3rd quarter 2012, with 31.3% market share, proofed that they are the major player in the industry. Continuous exploration and exploitation of market and technology through RD, allow Samsung to be a solution provider for human kind on their daily living. Samsung is a brand name that represents the qualities, technologies, lifestyles and benchmark in the industries. 3. SAMSUNGS MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS The management SWOT analysis covers four dimensions namely; the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. By going through a SWOT analysis, you become aware of the most important dimensions that have an impact on the operations of the company. Once a SWOT analysis has been jolted you can come with relevant strategies in order to succeed in the competitive environment. A good SWOT analysis can help the company and competitors place themselves in the market wisely. Therefore, here we look at the SWOT Analysis of Samsung to give you an idea of how the company is operating in the world. 3.1 (S)trengths Samsung has a wide product range, which allows them to grab ample market share from various markets. This allows Samsung to not only earn a high return but it also allows them to diversify their risk and failure. According to many magazines, Samsung holds a significant portion of the market share in nearly all its products. Samsung is a reputed name and many people are familiar with it around the world. It also has won many awards on its high quality products. It has the ability and resources to use the latest technology and offer new and exciting features frequently. It has won many awards due to its ability to make innovative, sleek and slim products. It has set up many production plants in low cost locations, thus they save on cost of production significantly. It also recently has attracted ample positive press, thus its reputation continues to grow and has a positive impact on the operations of the company. 3.2 (W)eaknesses Samsung never introduces a new design on its own; it always waits and sees to its competitors. Thus, it missed the first mover advantages. It does not charge high price for its products, therefore often people relate the low price to begin a supplier of low quality products. General perception supports that the higher the price, the higher the quality of products. Many Samsung products are not user friendly, therefore consumer often hesitate to switch to Samsung products even if the price and quality is exceptional. It does not focus on a specific niche; it offers its products to the mass market only. It does not create its own software therefore it often relies on other sources to complete the products. Samsung faces immense competition from new companies and online companies. High set up and operation cost for such a company. 3.3 (O)pportunities Samsung should make an active effort to offer unique products to customers, in order to grab more market share. It could start creating softwares for their hardware devices and reduce outsourcing. It could launch sub brands to the company, with new and improved strategies. It could open more stores to serve more customers. It could make an effort to launch creative products first, rather than after its competitors. Samsung should participate in product development and attract more customers. It should also consider participating in various events to attract attention. It could offer additional services to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Increase in the need for mobile phones, Samsung could exploit this need well. 3.4 (T)hreats Samsung has linked product lines, which means that if one product line fails due to its own reasons other product lines will also suffer. Samsung production is very scattered; it controls and operates different products while its competitors use their resources and effort on one segment only. Diversification takes a lot of effort and attention. It has set up production plants in low cost areas, which are subject to ample political and economic instability. These instabilities can have an impact overall company it the crisis gets unmanageable. It is facing threats from many other low cost companies. Various companies have realized the importance of advertising, therefore Samsung will be subject to a lot more competition as advertising creates and draws attention of consumers. Countries all over the world are experiencing a high cost due to high inflation rates in most locations. Many government legislations are now active against the innovative technology due to health and mental concerns. The above section clearly reveals the SWOT Analysis of Samsung. By going through the SWOT Analysis of Samsung you can understand and further evaluate the companys performance to your own advantages. However, the above SWOT Analysis of Samsung is limited to certain significant points only. Therefore, when evaluating a company it is best to search online for more SWOT Analysis of Samsung so that you have all the information you need to assess the company. 4. SAMSUNGS CORPORATE STRATEGY 4.1 The Eco Friendly competitiveness The company have shown high concern in develop Eco friendly products in order to reduce environmental impact. A wide range of activities were carrying out by Samsung to deliver an innovative eco friendly products to customers. These activities were guided by their focus on green management, products, workplaces and communities. Samsung green management policy was aim to boost development on greener environment through their business activities. 4.1.1 Eco Products In 2004, Samsung develop a system that manages products compliance with environmental criteria. It was named as Eco Design Assessment System. This system ensure Samsung products comply with environmental criteria such as resource efficiency and eco-friendly materials as what being stated in global environment regulation. (About Samsung 2012). The system than was being upgraded by introduces eco rating system to all developed products. This rating system will rate the product to three categories which are eco product, good eco- product or premium eco product. Recently, Samsung has set a goal to ensure that 100% of their products exceed good eco product by 2013. (About Samsung 2012). In addition, Samsung also believes that its product should have long lifecycles in order to meet environmental care requirement. Therefore, Samsung implemented a strategy that providing reasonable product warranty. Recently, Samsung also come out with innovations that extending the lifecycle of certain product type. Samsung introduce its innovative technology called smart evolution kit. This technology enables customers to simply upgrade television processor or software by plugging the business card size kit at the back of television. This technology encourage customer to upgrading rather than replacing. 4.1.2 Recycling Activity The next strategy take by Samsung is in respond of requirement of recycling laws that increasingly interested by government in Asia and America. Samsung electronics have develop a proper take back systems by collaborate with the government and related industry associations to develop an effective take back system by meeting the obligation. Samsung implement these activities by implement several voluntary take back programs for its product that at the end of their lifecycle. Among them are Samsung Recycle Direct which operates in USA, and India. This program enables people to drop off Samsung products at collection site or Samsung service centre. Samsung also offers take back service for mobile phone and portable products for consumer around the world Samsung also launched in (Samsung Take back And Recycling) STAR in 2005 to ensure proper recycling process. Under this program, all returned printer cartridge will recycle to something useable. The part that cannot be recycled will be disposed and treated in a safe way. (About Samsung,2012) 4.2 Mutual development with business partners Supplier relationship is crucial to any organization. Suppliers can directly impact the financial performance of an organization as they will influence product development cost, manufacturing schedules, inventory levels and timeliness of delivery goods or services. Samsung realize that its worthwhile to have investment focus on this relationship in order to be effective and efficient. 4.2.1 Strengthened relationship with supplier According to Olsen and Ellram (1997), the link between the characteristic between of the relationship such as trust and cooperation need for further research. In order to be a true global leader in industry, Samsung believe it business partners relationship is a key element. Samsung shared it growth with outstanding suppliers by expanded its support programs to become global companies. The support programs were involved in activities that provide training, technological supports and funds. The communication between Samsung and its supplier were being strengthened by listening to voice of their suppliers from a top management visit on a regular basis. Recently, Samsung also are in planning to put more sharing growth activity with their key suppliers such as free use of patented technologies, support for patent registration of new technology developed by supplier. 4.2.2 Corporate Social Responsibility In line with its strategy to support the local communities and its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Samsung have come out with the strategy to choose and evaluate their supplier by integrating CSR element in the criteria. CSR activities are growing rapidly in many international organizations. These CSR activities provide Samsung with important opportunities and competitive advantages. Samsung take innovative strategy by conducting annual supplier evaluation including CSR activities and achievement as part of its evaluation. This strategy is aim to give supplier incentives as their participation in CSR activities structure by Samsung to fulfill common code of conduct by Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalitions (EICC). The CSR evaluation criteria consist of 20 different areas including ban of child labor, occupational safety and health and environment management 4.3 Creative Culture Samsung realize that high employees participation in the company growth is essential in order to let them feel sense of dignity, pride and ownership of organizations vision. Samsung strategy to build creative organizational culture in strengthen the competencies of their employees are giving great positive impact on Samsung competitiveness. According to Keyton (2012), organizational culture is not a tangible thing, like an iceberg, it is less to be visual seen but imagined by sets of artifacts, value, and assumption that are designed, managed and exposed by organizational members and through their interactions. Samsung comply with this theory by actively promote creative organizational culture that allows their employees to pursue a healthy work life balance in a creative and challenging work environment. Samsung also are welcoming employees that with different background and facilities. 4.3.1 Diversity Samsung is committed to create work environment that support the diversity of the global market the serve. Every employee in this company regardless of gender, race, and or country of origin should be treating equally in give a voice. Diversity management strategy takes by Samsung is classify into two basic directions. First, it focuses on diversity for minorities which concern the issues on inequality. The strategy are undertakes in upgrade policy and systems to allow people with diverse traits to work creatively. Second, it focuses on diversity perception on all employees. The strategy is aims to foster creative organizational culture that respect diversity by changing the mindset and perception of all employees. These diversity strategies are being demonstrated by offering various programs for female and disabled employees. Female employees are being offered to various programs that supports their commitment to both work and home. It includes parental leave and in house child care facilities. Samsung also have implement separate recruitment program for disabled graduate and internship program for disable students. Samsung continuously support diversity for minors by improving facilities for disabled employees in order to build culture as an ideal workplace. 4.3.2 Talent based recruiting of software and design expert Future creator challenge is a talent based recruiting process designed to hire new employees in software engineering and design which two criteria creativity and expertise are the key factors. The recruitment process were not conventionally ask for written exam but let candidate to proof their talents by submitting application as evidence to their resume or certificate. Selected applicants will undergo interview sessions to test their technical ability and evaluation on their ideas and solution. (Samsung Electronic Sustainability Report 2012) 5. SAMSUNGS COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS 5.1 Competitive analysis on Samsung A competitive advantage is an advantage gain over competitor by offering customers greater values either through extra benefit, value added criteria or price factors. Competitive advantage is essential for a company like Samsung in order to be sustainable and successful over the long term. The sustainability of Samsung today is the result from the effort has been taken to some key elements of their remarkable triumph. 5.2 Innovations as the essence of sustainable development Samsungs sustainable development is backed by innovation to several forces that become key success for Samsung. The innovation take by Samsung to overall business operation are addressing key issues surrounding quality and cost. Samsung strictly focuses in these issues by undergo innovation process to get lower manufacturing costs, high profits and reach the market swiftly. In this section well look on the factors that encourage innovation in Samsung business operation that at the eventually will lead to competitive advantage. 5.2.1 Effective RD system Samsung electronics have developed an effective RD system at headquarters and product divisions. The engineers will work on long term project or multiple division projects at corporate RD lab. The lab used by them also is supported by Headquarter and Product division. In addition, Samsung also develop their RD centers in various locations. This can help RD team to identify or observe future trends and opportunity for their technology capabilities and key technologies. This capability is manage effectively by having extensive training system to develop leadership talent. Sophisticated mechanism and evaluation system also are being used to take calculated risk when exploring new markets. This action shows that Samsung are very careful when explore new product opportunity. The team also needs to develop contingency plans to prepare different scenario that might being happen. 5.2.2 Creative talent Samsung aware that innovation is the main source to being remain competitive in this industry. The only way to improve innovation performance is by employing managers that have right set of skills and always like to experiment and take the risks. This kind of leaders are important in directs the organization in creative work culture. The brave decision take by a leader can encourage new mindset and way of thinking to the subordinates. The awareness of need for innovation has made Samsung implement several actions to demonstrate their focus on it. In four years, Samsung have double up numbers of workers working on design, budget for design were increased by 20 -30 percent annually and more design centers were opened. (Strategic Direction, 2005) 5.3 International production capabilities Recently, Samsung are facing great competition in order to sustain in industry. The competitors have recovered Samsung competitiveness by investing in offshore production. Increased overseas productions are seems to be the key major component in their strategic response. In this section, well discuss on how international production capabilities perform by Samsung lead this company to be competitive in industry by reviewing some major action taken by them. 5.3.1 Expansion of offshore production Starting in 1970s, Samsung have started to look over international linkage to acquire product designs and marketing outlet and focus on its mass production capability. In 1990s, Samsung have shown rapid expansion of offshore production as their major strategy. The strategies followed by improvement of RD capabilities to remain they are still competitive in rapidly changing environment. International production capabilities are important for Samsung in order to reap cost competitiveness by utilizing the low cost resources available in South East Asia. Youngsoo Kim (1998) claimed that Samsung implement this strategy by establishing Singapore based purchasing office in 1991 to speed up the internationalization of production. This key intermediary is aggressively played its role in purchasing and distributes huge amounts of component and its affiliates. Since 1990s, Samsung productions plants in Asia were in several countries ranging from end products to components including China, Vietnam, Malaysia and India. The presence of Samsungs production in Asia was increasingly determining its secure position in the industry by having good connection between production capabilities and marketing objectives. 5.3.2 Well trained employees in Asian affiliates Samsung have to make sure their offshore production sites are producing products that follow the specification decided by them. This is important in order to make Samsung are able to reap cost competitiveness by producing in low cost resource country. Samsung assure this condition by trained the employees in its Asian affiliates or sending Korean trainers to the affiliate. In 1990, technicians from refrigerator plant in Indonesia were sent to South Korea for conducting a training session for 3 months. One third of Samsung Microwave plant in Malaysia was also being trained in Korea. These actions have benefits Samsung when the ratio of component sourced from nearby regional suppliers had risen above 50 percent. (SMM, September 1993) 6. KEY DRIVERS FOR FUTURE GROWTH 6.1 Samsung Key drivers for future growth The involvement of Samsung in electronic and mobile market needs them to survive within the industries for the next 20 years. In the other it means that Samsung have to set their key drivers that can allow them archive as well as a benchmark for the future growth. This key driver also is based on Samsung achievements and capabilities that they have now and then to continue with adding some more new keys to guide them to realize their vision and mission. The keys driver for Samsung future growth is also known as their sustainability in present towards the future. Focusing on Samsung Electronics, Samsung sustainability showed that their performance in surviving the industries and can be also as a benchmark to survive in the future. According to Nidomulu and Prahalad (2009) company that make sustainability a goal will achieve competitive advantage in the future , that mean rethinking business models as well as technologies, products and processes. In 2010, Samsung sustainability perform ance and plan focusing on talent management, integrity management, green management, social contribution, partners collaboration and products/services. For 2011 they set 9 material issues as a guidance to sustainability in future growth; (1) Creative Organizational Culture (2) Employee Health and Safety (3) Integrity Management (4) Increasing Social Contribution (5) Patent (6) Climate Change and Energy (7) Water Management (8) Mutual Growth (9) Supplier CSR(Corporate Social Responsibilities) based on Samsung Electronics Sustainability Report 2012. 6.2 Samsung Electronic 2011 Sustainability Plan For Talent Management plan in 2011, Samsung plan to, introduce telecommuting/ work at home scheme for married employees, increase percentage of female executive, set up idea proposal system at oversea research centers and hire new recruits with disabilities. Samsung plan on Integrity Management was to improve compliance program also related activities, declare compliance management and signing of the compliance agreement by employees. Instead of talent and integrity management Samsung also focus on Green Management plan which the plan to set 96% ratio of Eco-product development, set long/mid-term targets for water management, build a global environmental management system and support for outside country partners environment management system. In developing Social Contribution Samsung plan to introduce new regional social contribution based on global guidelines (Samsung Hope for Children) and to create tools in assessing impact of social contribution programs. Samsung needs a supporti ve partner in o

Bill Clinton - Redefines Democratic-republican :: William Jefferson Clinton Essays

Bill Clinton - Redefines Democratic-Republican In the early 1800's, the United States was but a promising seedling in search of viable political direction. The initial parties were known as the federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, the first of which soon diminished and the later eventually bisected. The result is the two party Democrat and GOP system which the majority of politicians of current day subscribe. However, many political and economic analysts find themselves perplexed by an incredible new phenomenon radiating from the white house - the economic policies of President Bill Clinton. This dilemma has left many wondering, did we elect a democrat or a republican? Has Clinton unintentionally begun a campaign to reunite the two rivals? The telltale signs of Clinton's political ambiguity include reminiscently republican techniques of reducing the budget, creating jobs, lowered productivity, and shaping the tax code. During Clinton's 1992 campaign, balancing the budget was not among the countries main economic objectives (Miller 4). However, after close scrutiny, the economic woes of the approaching millennium were projected as "higher then we thought it would be" (Miller 4). In fact, "in the twelve years before Clinton took office, the deficit quadrupled in size" (deficit 1). As a result, Clinton must engage in creative cost cutting techniques to keep the budget under control. Money afforded to state and local governments for development programs, such as those which relieve "urban blight," will eventually be cut by two-thirds, a third more then Gingrich's last congress proposed (Rauch 2). In addition, cuts to transportation aid will prove fifty percent greater then republican propositions (Rauch 2). According to Clinton, all of these maneuvers will result in the lowering of the deficit by $600 billion, or almost one-third by the year 1998 (progress 1). Economists speculate that these reforms may produce the desired effect (Rauch 2). However, putting these measures into action may contradict one of Clinton's main election tenets - to preserve the status quo as it relates to government programs. The final budget will include one-seventh for interest on the national debt. A whopping two thirds will go toward entitlement, one sixth for defense programs and another one-sixth for "non- defense discretionary spending" (Rauch 2). Perhaps the most touted aspect of the initial Clinton administration was its ability to "create" jobs. According to the White House, almost six million jobs have been created in the past four years, and the unemployment rate in Texas has dropped from 7.5% to 5.8% (Progress 1). This is a level well below the 6% rate which many economists regard as full employment. However, there may be a great deal more then meets the eye when it comes to these "promising" statistics.

Amendments to the Constitution Essay -- First Amendment, Second Amend

The framers of our Constitution knew that time has a way of changing countries and their citizens. Our country was in a whirlwind of change in 1789 as people were experiencing freedom from the tyranny of England for the first time in their lives. Our country was being molded and formed into a great nation by the founding fathers. Expectations and rules had to be set to protect the rights of the minorities and majorities. Amendments to the Constitution were written to ensure equality for all in changing times. The First Amendment is one of the most recognized rights in the Bill of Rights. It is a basic right that seems to help define each person as an individual yet as part of an association. The amendment states that â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (Constitution, Amendment 1) This amendment gave the right to secure and practice any religion. Religion was the reason that the Puritans left England. They wanted to be free to start their own churches and be free from religious persecution. The first amendment allows individuals the right to be part if any religion, if any, of their choosing. The vast majority of religious associations attest to this amendment: Catholics, Protestants, Scientologists, Jews, Hindus, and many, many more. United States citizens also enjoy the right to express themselves and their opinions in printed form or verbally. This is known as the freedom of the press. There are restrictions within reason, such as restrictions on libel and slander, and obscene act... ...ad a ban on handguns for 32 years. The ruling states that the Second Amendment guarantees the individual right to posses a firearm, even if they have no connection to a military organization, as long as the firearm is for law abiding reasons, such as self-defense in the home. (Fields, 2010). The First and Second Amendments will forever be ‘contemporary issues’. The rights that are guaranteed to us are the same ones that allow us to question our government and allow for change. It will be a challenge for our courts to keep up with the changing times yet keep our rights intact. These rights are part of the foundation of our society. The framers had insightful intent to include the basic rights of all people for generations. Our great nation has flourished because of these rights- they allow each all of us to be unique individuals while being completely whole.

The Devastating Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease :: Alzheimers Disease Essays

The Devastating Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s Disease is a disorder that causes the gradual loss of brain cells that impairs memory, thinking, and behavior and leads to death. Alzheimer’s Disease is not a normal part in aging. At present there is not a cure to stop the progression of AD. There are several medications on the market now for this disease. The medications theoretically help to improve or stabilize cognitive skills for people suffering from the disease. The medications may help to delay some of the more severe symptoms associated with AD. This delay of symptoms will help the patient to remain in better mental and physical health and delay the end stages of AD. If a patient with AD can delay the end stage symptoms, the quality of their life would be greatly improved. An estimated 4.5 million Americans have AD, according to the 2000 U.S. census bureau. 1 in 10 Americans said they have a family member with the disease and 1 in 3 knows someone with the disease. The lifespan is 8 years average, but someone may survive anywhere from 3 to 20 years, states the Alzheimer’s Association. There are seven stages to Alzheimer’s disease according to the Global Classification System. The first state is no cognitive impairment. There are no memory problems evident to a health care provider. The second stage is very mild cognitive decline. There are some memory lapses, but are evident to a health care provider or friends and associates. The third stage is early-stage Alzheimer’s. Word finding problems are noticeable to family and associates, performance at work or social settings impaired, reading and not retaining the information, losing valuable objects, decline in ability to plan or organize are symptoms in this stage. The fourth stage is mild Alzheimer’s with a decreased knowledge of events, inability to count backwards from 100 by 7’s and a reduced memory of personal history. The individual with AD will be subdued and withdrawn. The fifth stage is moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The patient does not know their address, phone number, name of school they went to. They will become confused about the day, date, or season. They usually do not require assistance with eating or using the toilet. The sixth stage is moderately severe AD. The person will lose awareness of surroundings and recent experiences and will forget the names of spouse or caregiver.

Dr. Pepper Essay

By using the same supplier means that DPS have to follow what the competitors such as Coca Cola and Pepsi have done for the worldwide market in particular in US. This may cause costs to grow in the future but the supplier could have the advantages in producing their product by using own distribution and packaging in long term. DPS has the opportunity to expand into international markets and to growth in the Hispanic population. Bargaining Power of Supplier Threats Economic stability is a threat that will affect DPS. At this moment of recession, consumers don’t spend money and at the same time prices for natural gas, corn, pulp and other commodities that are necessary for the company increase. Also, health concerns, preferences may affect the industry. -Substitute Products Opportunities The company may see the best opportunity in high growth and high margin categories, as well as energy drinks, ready to drink teas, juice drinks and other functional beverages. Positive external trends or changes that may help an organization improve its’ performance. Substitute Products Threats Dr. Pepper Snapple group should be aware on the substitutes product offered by the competitors. The company should maintain an excellent relationship with wholesalers and retailers such as supermarket, convenience store because they are the company promoting and selling the product to the buyer. This is in case if competitors use similar characteristics and taste as DPS, the competitors may possibly dominate the market and eliminate DPS from the industrial market. -Political-Legal Opportunities The company will follow all requirements with all laws regarding political contributions. There are surely some states that allow DPS to make political contributions surrounded by specific limits and reporting supplies by using a state beverage association. The company can not use their own facility, funds or any assets to support any political candidate unless it has an approval from Government Affairs and the General Counsel’s office. The nominal legal contributions of DPS products are allowed. -Political-Legal Threats -Technological Opportunities The company recognized that they needed to increase its efforts in advertising and distribution. Therefore, the company launched a television commercial by using famous celebrities to endorse DPS by referring to the taste and flavor and stating â€Å"Trust me, I’m a doctor. † This commercial was use in the late 1980 and early 1990s, which the strategy that worked for the company. If they come out with new commercials or old commercials with new generation it may help DPS to get more sells. -Technological Threats The larger advertising budgets of competitors can be a threat to maintaining market. Some of the technological threats may be billboards, super bowl and television.

Obama Care

OBAMA CARE Obama Care and health care reform is the same thing. The official name for â€Å"Obama Care† is the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act, a bill signed into law to reform the health care industry. Some aspects of Obama Care health care reform are already enacted. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. Over 100 million Americans have already benefited from the new health care law.The Obama Care insurance requires that all insurance plans cover preventive services and stops insurance companies from dropping you when you are sick, as well as offering a number of other reforms and protections. Obama Care's goal is to provide affordable health insurance for all US citizens and to reduce the growth in health care spending. Obama Care does not replace private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. The Fact is that Obama Care gives 47 million women access to preventive health services and makes it illegal to charge women diff erent rates than men.Obama Care also gives seniors access to cheaper drugs, free preventive care, reforms Medicare Advantage, and closes the Medicare Part D. The AARP agrees, costs won't rise because of Obama Care, if anything, the improvements to the system will decrease the average cost of health care for seniors. Obama Care also states that â€Å"affordable insurance† means that you pay no more than 8% of your annual income on insurance. Obama Care ensures that there are no out-of-pocket costs on patients receiving mammograms and colonoscopies which are two of the most widely used forms of preventive health care.Obama Care's new Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program means hospitals can lose or gain up to 1% of Medicare funding based on a quality v. quantity system. Hospitals are graded on a number of quality measures related to treatment of patients with heart attacks, heart failures, pneumonia, certain surgical issues, re-admittance rate, as well as patient satisfaction . Obama Care Mandates that those who choose not to purchase insurance will have to pay a tax â€Å"penalty† unless they qualify for an exemption. Exemptions from Obama Care's tax â€Å"penalty† mandate are available to a number of Americans.The mandate exemptions cover a variety of people, including: members of certain religious groups and Native American tribes; undocumented immigrants (who are not eligible for health insurance subsidies under the law); incarcerated individuals; people whose incomes are so low they don't have to file taxes (currently $9,500 for individuals and $19,000 for married couples); and people for whom health insurance is considered unaffordable (where insurance premiums after employer contributions and federal subsidies exceed 8% of family income).Starting Oct 1st, 2013 the Obama Care online health insurance exchange is where all Americans can buy affordable quality health insurance. Those under the 400% FPL and employers will be able to use s ubsidies to purchase plans at an average of 60% less than they pay now. The Obama Care Insurance Exchanges Online Market Place are implemented in 2014 health insurance premiums is projected to drop dramatically for many Americans. Low-income Americans will enjoy more Obama Care pros than cons.Since Obama Care works on a sliding scale most low income Americans, especially those without insurance, will see nothing but benefits. Medicaid expansion will cover over 15 million previously uninsured low-income individuals and families below the 133% FPL mark. All Americans (including Congress) will be able to buy their health insurance through the exchange as long as they are above the poverty level (those Americans will be covered under Medicaid expansion).Anyone (except congress) can opt out and keep their current health insurance, pay a tax, purchase private insurance or stay with their private health insurance company. The cons of Obama Care for low-income Americans are that some states will have the option of opting out of coverage for their poorest, despite 100% federal funding for the first year and 90% thereafter. In some cases rejecting Medicaid Expansion isn't just about saving money. It’s actually a politically driven move to â€Å"break† Obama Care.The opt-out is projected to leave 2 to 3 million low-income Americans without coverage. Some State reps are trying to â€Å"break† Obama Care. It's no secret a portion of the GOP wants to repeal Obama Care, they just so happen to have a strategic plan that includes â€Å"breaking† the Exchanges and Medicaid Expansion. Obama Care isn't just going to go away, but while the battle goes on Americans continue to be caught in the crossfire. It's also worth noting that the amount of uninsured Medicaid eligible Americans differs from State to State.Obama Care is projected to cost $1. 1 trillion over the next ten years, and in order for the program to work as intended this is going to include funding from the tax payers and from the States. However, the end result of Obama care spending is a $200 billion dollar reduction of the deficit over the next decade, states also receive between 90 – 100% of funding for most Obama Care related programs they set up. A few states including Nevada and Michigan have done studies that show how the States can save billions with Obama Care.Health Insurance companies stand to make billions, despite a loss on profit per plan, since they will be insuring millions of new Americans. In conclusion the Obama Care health care program will benefit all Americans from the bottom of the barrel to the top dogs in the congress. It will also help the US repair the economic deficit. The states that are trying to opt-out need to see the benefit of this plan. They are putting too much Infosys on money and not enough focus on the well-being of the American people. Clarence Boyd 16 April 2013 Obama Care OBAMA CARE Obama Care and health care reform is the same thing. The official name for â€Å"Obama Care† is the Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act, a bill signed into law to reform the health care industry. Some aspects of Obama Care health care reform are already enacted. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law March 23, 2010. Over 100 million Americans have already benefited from the new health care law.The Obama Care insurance requires that all insurance plans cover preventive services and stops insurance companies from dropping you when you are sick, as well as offering a number of other reforms and protections. Obama Care's goal is to provide affordable health insurance for all US citizens and to reduce the growth in health care spending. Obama Care does not replace private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. The Fact is that Obama Care gives 47 million women access to preventive health services and makes it illegal to charge women diff erent rates than men.Obama Care also gives seniors access to cheaper drugs, free preventive care, reforms Medicare Advantage, and closes the Medicare Part D. The AARP agrees, costs won't rise because of Obama Care, if anything, the improvements to the system will decrease the average cost of health care for seniors. Obama Care also states that â€Å"affordable insurance† means that you pay no more than 8% of your annual income on insurance. Obama Care ensures that there are no out-of-pocket costs on patients receiving mammograms and colonoscopies which are two of the most widely used forms of preventive health care.Obama Care's new Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program means hospitals can lose or gain up to 1% of Medicare funding based on a quality v. quantity system. Hospitals are graded on a number of quality measures related to treatment of patients with heart attacks, heart failures, pneumonia, certain surgical issues, re-admittance rate, as well as patient satisfaction . Obama Care Mandates that those who choose not to purchase insurance will have to pay a tax â€Å"penalty† unless they qualify for an exemption. Exemptions from Obama Care's tax â€Å"penalty† mandate are available to a number of Americans.The mandate exemptions cover a variety of people, including: members of certain religious groups and Native American tribes; undocumented immigrants (who are not eligible for health insurance subsidies under the law); incarcerated individuals; people whose incomes are so low they don't have to file taxes (currently $9,500 for individuals and $19,000 for married couples); and people for whom health insurance is considered unaffordable (where insurance premiums after employer contributions and federal subsidies exceed 8% of family income).Starting Oct 1st, 2013 the Obama Care online health insurance exchange is where all Americans can buy affordable quality health insurance. Those under the 400% FPL and employers will be able to use s ubsidies to purchase plans at an average of 60% less than they pay now. The Obama Care Insurance Exchanges Online Market Place are implemented in 2014 health insurance premiums is projected to drop dramatically for many Americans. Low-income Americans will enjoy more Obama Care pros than cons.Since Obama Care works on a sliding scale most low income Americans, especially those without insurance, will see nothing but benefits. Medicaid expansion will cover over 15 million previously uninsured low-income individuals and families below the 133% FPL mark. All Americans (including Congress) will be able to buy their health insurance through the exchange as long as they are above the poverty level (those Americans will be covered under Medicaid expansion).Anyone (except congress) can opt out and keep their current health insurance, pay a tax, purchase private insurance or stay with their private health insurance company. The cons of Obama Care for low-income Americans are that some states will have the option of opting out of coverage for their poorest, despite 100% federal funding for the first year and 90% thereafter. In some cases rejecting Medicaid Expansion isn't just about saving money. It’s actually a politically driven move to â€Å"break† Obama Care.The opt-out is projected to leave 2 to 3 million low-income Americans without coverage. Some State reps are trying to â€Å"break† Obama Care. It's no secret a portion of the GOP wants to repeal Obama Care, they just so happen to have a strategic plan that includes â€Å"breaking† the Exchanges and Medicaid Expansion. Obama Care isn't just going to go away, but while the battle goes on Americans continue to be caught in the crossfire. It's also worth noting that the amount of uninsured Medicaid eligible Americans differs from State to State.Obama Care is projected to cost $1. 1 trillion over the next ten years, and in order for the program to work as intended this is going to include funding from the tax payers and from the States. However, the end result of Obama care spending is a $200 billion dollar reduction of the deficit over the next decade, states also receive between 90 – 100% of funding for most Obama Care related programs they set up. A few states including Nevada and Michigan have done studies that show how the States can save billions with Obama Care.Health Insurance companies stand to make billions, despite a loss on profit per plan, since they will be insuring millions of new Americans. In conclusion the Obama Care health care program will benefit all Americans from the bottom of the barrel to the top dogs in the congress. It will also help the US repair the economic deficit. The states that are trying to opt-out need to see the benefit of this plan. They are putting too much Infosys on money and not enough focus on the well-being of the American people. Clarence Boyd 16 April 2013

Course Project, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements Note 1 Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Principles (10 items) Description of Business The Open-Road Motorcycle Company is the largest online retailer of salvage title motorcycles. We are focused on bringing the customer the best value on entry level motorcycles by providing lower prices than our competitors. Our motorcycles are sold all over the United States, and we currently have 30 stores all across the country. Property, Plant and Equipment All property, plant and equipment are stated at cost and depreciated over their useful lives.All depreciation expense incurred is derived using the straight line method. We do not depreciate our land. We estimate our useful life for our assets accordingly; buildings have a 40 year life, computer equipment has a 5 year life and the repair equipment a 15 year life. The estimated lives of our assets are reviewed periodically to determine if any impairment is present so the useful lives and depreciation can be adjusted for accuracy. Short-term Investments All of our investments are comprised of trading securities comprised of debt instruments in different industries.The securities are reported at fair value with any unrealized gains and losses stated on net income. Securities that are still held at the end of the fiscal year are evaluated and are adjusted if necessary. Inventory Valuation All of our merchandise on our website is recorded at cost or fair value, whichever is lower. The salvage motorcycle inventory is recorded at cost. We value our inventory using the average method. If the motorcycle is considered â€Å"unsellable†, it becomes disassembled and sold for parts.All parts received from motorcycles that have been disassembled are not recorded because the cost has already been recorded from the original purchase. The motorcycle would be written off as a loss on net income and all sales from the parts are considered gains and are stated on net income. Re fer to Note 2. Costs of Goods Sold Our Costs of goods sold is the cost of the motorcycles purchased, direct labor and depreciation expense. It includes all shipping and handling costs, air freight, train, and truck costs in received the merchandise and or motorcycles. Revenue RecognitionAll revenue generated from sales of inventory are realized when it has been earned. Generally when the item purchased arrives and the ownership transfers. All shipping and handling costs are included in the sales price. Revenues earned from sales are stated net of tax. Sales from disassembled motorcycles are listed as gains or losses on net income. Advertising Costs All costs associated with the marketing our website, which include television and internet ads, are expensed when incurred. Typically our advertising costs stay the same every year at $4 million, since our beginning in 2006. Accounts ReceivablesWe record accounts receivables at net realizable value. This value is the remainder of the amou nt due on sales on credit less estimated uncollectable amounts. We calculate our estimated amount based on past write-offs. Our company credit policy extends a 30 day period in which the full payment is due upon completion of sale. The item must have a prepayment of at-least 50% of the motorcycle sales price before it is shipped. We believe that because of this policy the amount of uncollectable revenue is reduces and sales have increased. Contingencies Our company is currently involved in a lawsuit pending a settlement agreement.A former employee was injured in an accident involving improper handling of the shipment. The settlement is considered probable and the estimated cost is $2 million. This amount is stated in current liabilities. Refer to Note 4. Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Our company contributes to pension and other postretirement health care plans for all of our employees. We contribute 3% of gross wages into a retirement fund specified by each employee . Refer to note 11. Note 2 Inventories Our inventory is comprised of salvaged motorcycles and fully repaired motorcycles.Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or market. We base our cost on the average cost method. Repaired motorcycles have title and labor costs included in the basis of valuation. Inventories consisted of the following (in millions): December 31, 2011 2010 Salvage motorcycle inventory $ 300 $310 Repaired motorcycle inventory $250 $200Total inventories $550 $510 Note 3 Property, Plant and Equipment The following table illustrates our property, plant and equipment (in millions): December 31, 2011 2010 Land $ 600 $ 550 Buildings and garages 900 700 Machinery, repair and computers 00 350 1,900 1,600 Less: accumulated depreciation 350 300 Property, plant and equipment – net $ 1,550 $ 1,300 Note 4 Contingencies and LiabilitiesOur company is currently involved in a lawsuit that is pending a settlement. The approximate amount of the settlement is $2 million. We have determined that the contingency is probable and the amount of the settlement is accurate. This amount is stated on the consolidated balance sheet for the current period. Note 5 Changes in Accounting Principles or Estimates We are currently using the average cost method for inventory valuation in place of LIFO.We have determined this method is more accurate for valuation because prices tend to fluctuate and may skew net income unfavorably. Note 6 Post Balance Sheet Events Our company continually evaluates its motorcycle inventory to determine cost and its ability to sell. If a significant amount of inventory is deemed obsolete or â€Å"unsellable,† it is adjusted in the next period. The amount is deducted from inventory and written off as a loss.The motorcycles then become disassembled and all revenue generate from the parts are considered a gain. Note 7 Mergers and Acquisitions We recently acquired Pristine Paint Jobs Company during the year for $50 million. We acqui red all buildings, land, equipment and certain patents on paint jobs. We have decided to expand our operations by completely restoring salvage motorcycles for a lower price. The following table illustrates the assets and liabilities received from the purchase (in millions):Cash $ 3 Inventory 10 Equipment 35 Property, plant and Equipment 45 Total assets acquired 93 Accounts payable 40 Long-term debt 40 Total liabilities acquired 80 Total net assets acquired $13 Note 8 Lease Obligations We currently lease a special modification machine that restores the engine and parts to 95%. The lease agreement is based on a 5 year term for $500,000 a year. The following table illustrates our payments for the term of the lease.Years ending December 31, Lease Payments 2011 $500,000 2012 $500,000 2013 $500,000 2014 $500,000 2015 $500,000 Total cost of the lease $2,500,000 Note 9 EPS Our company has 200,000 shares authorized with 100,000 outstanding. We have no preferred stock or treasury stock. The following table will illustrate the current and previous earnings per share. 2011 2010Net Income (in millions) $ 5 $ 4 Number of shares outstanding 100,000 100,000 EPS $50 $40 Note 10 Long-Term Debt With the acquisition of Pristine Paint Jobs, we acquired $40 million in long-term debt. Our long term debt prior to the acquisition was $25 million. Our long term debt consists of a $25 million note payable at a fixed interest rate of 1. 5 percent due December 31, 2040.The following illustrates the long term debts acquired from the purchase of Pristine Paint Jobs. * $20 million total principal amount of notes due November 20, 2035, at a fixed rate of 1 percent; and * $20 million total principal amount of notes due November 20, 2035, at a fixed rate of 1. 5 percent. Note 11 Employee Pension Obligations We continue to contribute to employee retirement plans for all of our employees. These pension plans are funded and are based on salaries and years of service. The total contri bution for the year is $10 million. In 2010 our total contribution was $9 million. We contribute 3% of employee wages into the plan. The increase in contribution is due to the increase of our workforce.

Industry Analysis: Airline Companies Essay

The airlines industry contains diverse types of players that compete in distinctive niches each with different business models. Airline companies owned by the State characterized the airlines industry into the 1980s. Because of privatization, this model no longer exists in Europe or in the U.S., but it is still present in Asia and Africa. Standard airline companies offer scheduled flights with flight connections, at least two classes on board, and other services such as in-flight entertainment, frequent flyer program airport lounge, food, etc. The majority of their revenues are earned through ticket sales. Low-cost airline companies offer scheduled flights with only one class on board and without additional service on board like in-flight entertainment, frequent flyer programs, airport lounges, etc. Their business model is different from the standard company because they have a different form of income through the ticket price. Ryanair and EasyJet fall into this category. Regional airline companies offer scheduled flights, usually with small airplanes and for short distances; they previously worked on behalf of other big airline companies (standard, major, government-owned) some of which owned a regional company to provide short route flights. Examples are US Airways Express owned by US Airways and Air Dolomiti owned by Lufthansa. Cargo airline companies offer freight transport. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines like Air France Cargo or Alitalia Cargo, but there are also independent companies like DHL and FedEx. Industry competitors are also known to build alliances. Reasons for airline companies to build alliances: scale economies, access to markets or technology, market power, and lower operating costs. Many alliances start as a code-sharing network whose benefits are cost reductions from sharing of sales offices, investments and purchases in order to negotiate extra volume discounts, operational staff (g round handling personnel and check-in and boarding desks), and operation facilities (catering or computer systems). We can find drivers for different types of alliances and divide them into three categories: deregulation of the industry, changes in customer preferences, and changes in technology and infrastructure. Deregulation has opened up the market and led to intensifying competition and consequently a battle to secure market presence and decreased costs. Changes in customer preferences comprise such factors  as overall globalization of businesses, the diminishing role of airline nationality in customers’ choices and the preference by customers for high flight frequencies, and seamless connections to nearly any point in the globe. Technological and infrastructural changes include the introduction of medium size long-range aircrafts and the development of sales and distribution technology (i.e. the Internet and many airports in many areas). The strength of buying power that firms face from their customers, and thus the sharing of the value created by the transactions, depends on two fa ctors: buyer’s price sensitivity and their relative bargaining power. The airline industry shows two sources of potential price sensitivity. First, the importance of flight cost as a proportion of total cost of travel; this is exemplified in leisure travel where price typically represents twenty-five percent of total travel costs. The exact percentage varies depending on the length and type of travel, and increases in the non-liberalized markets. Secondly, the low or non-existent differentiation perceived by the customers increases the willingness of the buyer to switch airlines on the basis of price. Deregulation has increased price competition and has exposed buyers’ price sensitivity. A study by Gillen, Morrison and Stewart found substantial demand elasticity. It established that business travelers are usually less price-sensitive (less elastic) than leisure travelers, and that elasticity on short-haul routes are generally higher than on long-haul routes, a result explained by the presence of potential substitute for the first. The bargaining power of buyers relative to that of the seller is considerably by the size and concentration of buyers relative to producers as well as the buyers’ switching costs. The airline industry has achieved 598 billion of revenue in 2011, carrying 2.75 billion passengers. These figures clearly show that a large number of buyers have very small individual purchases compared to industry revenue, thus losing a single traveler has a low impact on the total revenue. Although we can say that this first factor is favorable for the airlines, in the airline industry switching costs are relatively low, because of the minimal search costs to find alternative suppliers, and learning costs, linked to the specific knowledge required to use a product, as well as the total absence of emotional cost, and psychological and social risk. Airline companies have successfully tried to increase them through frequent flyer programs, which  create advantages to the customer for their loyalty. Finally we can state that the relative bargaining power of buyers is medium, because of the opposite effects of the two described factors. However, when considering the high price sensitivity and the relative economic power of buyers their share of the created value is relatively high. Prices and profits within an industry depend on buyers’ propensity to substitute its products with existing alternatives based on their prices and performance. Air transportation does not have any perfect substitutes for intercontinental flights, however, short-haul routes, have potential substitutes: car, bus, and train. Cars are higher in convenience, allowing the traveler to reach the place nearest the final destination, but are limited by potential traffic and other complications. Moreover the trend of rising gas prices in recent decades has dramatically reduced the feasibility of driving. Busing is a similar substitute to driving, but is less convenient though frequently less expensive. We consider trains to currently act as the main substitute to air transportation. The development of high-speed rails, mainly in Europe and Asia, allows for a huge decrease in the transportation time by train. Considering that trains are often cheaper than flights and allow travelers to reach a destination nearest their final one, they represent a formidable substitute for air transportation. We observed the existence of high supplier power in the airlines industry. These suppliers predominantly consist of airplane providers, airports, labor unions, and fuel providers. These suppliers increase competition in the airline industry as well as decrease the profit potential for airlines by raising prices, decreasing product quality, and by making products scarce. Boeing (US) and Airbus (EU) largely dominate the global airline supply industry. The reduction in product availability resulting from long waitlists, including Boeing’s three years waiting period for the 777 jet, and design/production delays cause complications for airlines attempting to update or expan d their fleets. The new airplanes are designed to increase fuel-efficiency therefore, delays to upgrade may result in higher fuel costs and airlines that do not plan accordingly may also spend more on maintenance and repair costs. Airlines’ technological competitive advantage may largely depend upon being at the top of the waiting list. Boeing and Airbus have the advantage of scarce product availability and expensive prices which gives them high supplier power.  Airlines must pay airport-landing fees. Each airport has different rates for landing fees that are based a measurement of aircraft size that is also unique per airport. In 2007 IAD charged $2.13 per 1,000 pounds of maximum landing weight. This price is on the lower end of a spectrum that can peak around $4.59 charged by DFW the same year. High traffic airports will charge greater airport-landing fees knowing that airlines will pay them in order to have access to those customers. Although the airports’ supplier power is not as high as the airplane providers, they still have a high supplier power because they are able charge higher prices. In addition, the majority of airline industry labor is unionized, which contributes to high supplier power in the industry. This means that in the event of disagreements between airlines and their employees there is an organized system for the employees to unite under. Unions include, Association of Flight Attendants, the Air Line Pilots Association, National Association of Air Traffic Controllers, and the Transport Workers Union. Collective bargaining by these unions raises the cost of labor for airlines making it more difficult to compete on a low cost strategy. Rising fuel costs are also a constant struggle for airlines to maintain. Fuel costs are estimated to be approximately thirty percent of operating cost for each airline. Some companies combat this by hedging costs, but even with these measures airlines have very little control over fuel prices. The ability of fuel providers to decrease the profit potential for airlines and increase fuel costs gives them high supplier power. The capital investment required to start an airline industry alone is a huge barrier to entry. Some of the required equity includes many fixed assets that lead to low profit margins and perhaps the lowest return on equity among competing airlines. The industry is also characterized by a large contribution margin; variable costs are particularly low compared to fixed. Variable costs are: landing fees, paid by the carriers according to the number of passengers, and catering and selling fees, paid mainly to online sellers and travel agencies. Staff, fuel, airplane maintenance and leasing, and amortization and depreciation determine fixed costs. Given the high contribution margin, volatility in the volume of passengers seriously impact companies’ operating profit losing a customer means a large loss for the company. Government regulation limited competition with rules about prices and routes, but deregulation drove the  industry towards ticket price competition. Because of this the traditional business model became unsustainable for almost everyone already present in the business. The deregulation of the airline industry has also given rise to the competitive pricing environment, which enables airlines to freely set price s in order to compete. Airlines have created complex pricing models that essentially improve their service to customers. With the combination of affordable ticket prices and increased availability of travel options, the total customer base has increased significantly. Moreover this difficult situation is compounded because of the low switching cost and lack of brand loyalty. Depending on geographical location and competition, the airports and airplanes comprise such a significant portion of the cost that it is very challenging for any airline to make a profit. Large airlines are able to offset these costs with economies of scale. Airlines must invest in R&D, technology, and management in order to provide services to customers at some profit. Large airlines have also established a global presence that makes it extremely difficult for small, local startup airlines to gain some degree of advantage. A hub of concentrated alliances in vital geographical locations also make it difficult for new airlines to compete. Such alliances provide a network among allies that enable them to efficiently capitalize on their marketing and advertising strategies. Large marketing and advertising efforts are spent in the hope of capturing a large share of the market, and frequent flyer programs are created in an effort to secure this market share. Nevertheless, the regulatory hurdles within the airports are extremely challenging for new entrants. There are a number of federal requirements that airlines must obtain within an airport to include the use of airfields, terminal facilities, limitations on capacity, specifically take-offs and landings, to resolve the issue of air traffic congestion. In addition, the bargaining power of suppliers makes it difficult for new airlines to enter. Today, the two major airline suppliers, Airbus and Boeing, have already established exclusive agreements with firms within their value chain that make it very difficult for new entrants to enter the industry. The high-risk of the airline industry is one of the aspects that make it very unattractive. In the firm analysis we wish to focus and understand how a traditional flagship company and a new low cost carrier has faced this strategic challenge in an unattractive industry. Ryanair The Ryan family with little capital and a staff of twenty-five people founded Ryanair in 1985. In 1986 Ryanair obtained permission from the regulatory authorities to challenge the British Airways and Aer Lingus, flagship of Ireland, a high fare duopoly on the Dublin-London route. In 1991, after an uncertain start and loss accounts, Michael O’Leary got the task of restructuring the company by adopting the economic model â€Å"low fares / no frills†, which was used successfully by Southwest Airlines. In 1995, Ryanair overtook Aer Lingus and British Airways to become the largest passenger airline on the Dublin-London route (the biggest international scheduled route in Europe) proving that Ryanair’s low fares, high frequency formula continues to win acceptance in every market between Ireland and the UK. The European Union finally completed the â€Å"Open Skies† deregulation of the scheduled airline business thereby enabling airlines to compete freely throughou t Europe. In January 2000, Ryanair launches Europe’s largest booking website – www.ryanair.com and becomes the only source of low airfares in Europe. Ryanair spotted opportunities in the market arising from the inefficient traditional business model adopted by the flagship companies; issues such as inflexible labor roles, high staff numbers and salaries, and extravagant airport fees could work adequately only within the previous regulatory constraints. In this environment Ryanair has been able to build a cost competitive advantage that offers air transportation services that are more valuable to its customers than similar offers for a simple reason, price. The airline, in its effort to achieve becoming the lowest cost European airline, has implemented a double faced strategy: it has completely changed its core and complementary services mix and it strives to reduce costs in any possible way, thus dramatically reducing its the core service, air transportation, price, and created new sources of revenue. Ryanair has a different kind of revenue in respect to the other airline carriers. For standard airline companies revenue is made by ticket prices, but not for Ryanair. The goal of the firm is to grow the number of passengers through cost reduction, which allows the company to offer low-ticket prices. Ryanair targets price sensitive consumers, such as young people or occasional travelers that usually use substitute products like trains and cars. The company offers tickets for a price that does not allow  them to cover all operative costs, but their cost structure is built so they get other revenue from additional services. Ryanair charges their customers for the accessory services they offer; the only service that is included in the ticket price is the flight. There is no food service during the flight, there are no assigned seats on the plane, customers must pay for checked baggage, and they pay an extra fee for booking with a credit card. These service charges account for the thir ty percent of the company’s total revenue. On average they charge every passenger 10.8â‚ ¬ when the normal price of a one-way ticket is 50â‚ ¬. With this business model the company does not need to hire as many employees because some the services are provided by the customers, one example is the check in line that is mandatory if you do not want to pay 50â‚ ¬ for every boarding card. This has brought the company to an important cost advantage position with respect to competitors, and their cost structure allows them to win every price war battle. Under the guidance of O’Leary, Ryanair has always sought to reduce its costs, sometimes â€Å"maniacally†. The first element of this effort is their fleet. The company’s fleet history can be split into two epochs. In the beginning, Ryanair followed the behavior a lot of small low-cost companies and bought whatever best met its needs in terms of price, passenger volumes, and financing abilities, this resulted in a fleet with many different types of aircra fts with many different capacities and requirements. This attitude changed in 2002 when Ryanair ordered a hundred of Boeing 737-800, its first move in creating a standardized fleet. Currently the airline has a fleet of 305 Boeing 727-800s with a unique design characterized by having the maximum density possible and the lowest average age among competitors. All these features allow for lower maintenance costs, training costs, fuel consumptions, and cheaper parts and equipment supplies. Regarding aircraft usage, Ryanair has some particular features, mainly focused on reducing turnaround time and fuel consumption, such as choosing to land at secondary, less congested, airports, avoiding large hubs, relying on point to point routes thus maximizing aircraft flying time, and imposing strict fuel consumptions limits on its pilots to avoid repetitive refueling. Ryanair’s human resource policy clearly shows its effort to cut costs. Personnel, both cabin crew and pilots, has a dominant variable component on salary, this is based on hours flown, the same or increased duties relative to other airline  employees, training, uniform costs at the employees own expense, and no trade union representation. Despite the inevitable high turnover ratio and disgruntled employees, these policies allow the company to have a very flexible and relatively cheap labor force. Another important cost advantage is in flying to secondary airports; this policy allows the company to dramatically reduce its fees cost. Frequently Ryanair is the only one that carries in these airports, therefore their and all the linked business’ subsistence revolves around the company having a large bargaining power and some government subsides. Ryanair changed the environment of the industry. Before air transportation was perceived like an elite way of travelling, in fact high prices of the tickets pushed people to use substitutes for the short haul routes, such as car and train. Ryanair’s prices changed the people mind, allowing airplanes to be used more often for short vacation on weekends or even daily. Its main competitor is EasyJet, which uses a â€Å"lighter† low cost business model, focusing on different kind of customers such as business travelers, although with lower margins. The two main differences are its use of primary airports, giving more convenience to the customers, and its unionized labor force. Our analysis regarding to the potential recommendation for Ryanair has started from the consideration that its business model has been successful in facing the challenge and we have identified three possible directions. First, Ryanair could enter into the intercontinental market with new routes between Europe and the U.S. This market is characterized by high ticket prices (a minimum of 500â‚ ¬ round trip). Although the company could utilize some of its sources of cost advantage, such as intercontinental point-to-point routes, personnel policy, revenue from supplementary services, its cost advantage is not completely replicable in this context. Indeed it would have to buy new long distance carriers with more capacity. Sacrificing their fleet standardization and intercontinental flights requires high turnover time for refueling, and the possibilities of using secondary airports are limited by legal issues concerning the necessity of opening new borders. Another potential recommendation is to enter the Chinese domestic market which is a fast growing market (forecasting states that it will represent the 23% of the worldwide growth in passenger number in 2010-2020) and the second largest air travel market in the world behind USA. However, there are some  current constrains, mainly that airport systems are still in development, with a total number planned to increase from 175 to 270 in 2010-2020, and a relatively restricted middle class, only 10% of the country population although strongly growing. According to the present market environment we believe that this might be the best alternative in 5 to 10 years. We believe that currently the best recommendation is maintain its focus on Europe, increase its market share in countries mainly served by Easyjet, such as Turkey and East Europe. We recommend that Ryanair enter the intercontinental market, characterized by high-ticket prices, with new routes between Europe and the U.S. Ryanair could benefit by utilizing some of its sources of cost advantage. Ryanair could use secondary airports in the U.S. and through its intercontinental, point-to-point, routes focusing on the main tourist and business cities. Its personnel policy could also be applied in this market; by offering low core service prices they could increase their revenue with supplementary services. Ryanair could develop an alliance with Southwester Airlines using the same airport and split their transatlantic flights, thus increasing the passenger volume for both companies in their core business continental flights. Lufthansa Since its inception in 1953, the Lufthansa German Airline has been regarded as a premier airline company that has become the largest airliner in Europe. They have diversified both locally within Europe and globally. Their key strategic efforts have led them to be the founders of the world’s largest airline alliance, Star Alliance. They have diversified into various business segments to include â€Å"passenger airline groups, logistics, MRO, catering and IT services. With this combination of efficient business segments, the airline group has been able to generate more than 30.1 billion euros, the highest revenues compared to other European airlines. Lufthansa’s main strategy is to increase the equity/value of the company, maintain and also improve their exceptional reputation on customer satisfaction, be very robust during economic fluctuations, and maintain profitability. In an industry involving high operational costs; where competitors are increasing moving towards c ost advantage strategies Lufthansa aims to meet their strategic goals through a differentiation advantage that emphasizes customer service, alliances, and its reputation as a premium full-service airline. An important resource for Lufthansa is its extensive fleet. Lufthansa Passenger Airlines has a fleet that currently consists of more than four hundred aircrafts; they also enjoy a first-mover advantage by being the launch customers or early adopters of many different aircrafts. These include acting as a launch customer for Boeing 747-8I in 2006 and being the second to operate the Airbus A380 in 2010. By consistently participating in fleet renewal Lufthansa is able to regularly update to more cost-efficient and more environmentally friendly aircrafts. In July of 2011 a Lufthansa Airbus A321 was used in a six-month bio fuel trial expected to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1,500 tons in the trial period. Lufthansa’s extensive and modern fleet enable the airline to have extensive global reach, cutting edge aircraft technology to increase efficiency, and environmentally conscious technology to define a new environmental industry standard. This attention to fleet quality ensures that customers have an excellent flying experience that is not hampered by old and inefficient planes. Passengers are also able to enjoy the distinctions accompanied with first, business, and economy class. First class seats convert into a bed and seats in all classes feature personal Audio-Video-On-Demand screens. In addition, attentive staff on all flights generously offers a wide range of complimentary food and beverage. Many terminals include lounges for First Class flyers; Frankfurt Airport even features a First Class Terminal that sports a full-service restaurant, bar, cigar lounge, relaxation rooms, offices, and even bath facilities. 55,236 employees as of 2012 are trained to deliver the highest quality customer service. Lufthansa operates as an upscale airline and is therefore able to charge premium pricing to absorb the costs of providing such exceptional customer service. Despite the higher ticket prices the services and ease of use for customers are incomparable to other airlines and often leads first time passengers to become loyal users. Lufthansa services eighteen domestic destinations and one hundred and ninety seven international ones. Its global reach is one of Lufthans a’s key resources; it allows the company to provide greater and improved service to customers. These resources are greatly supplemented by the abilities of the other activities of the Lufthansa Aviation Group and by their participation in the Star Alliance. The Lufthansa Aviation Group is a parent company made up of the passenger airline business, logistics, maintenance, repair, and  overhaul, catering, and IT services. The ability of these sister companies greatly supplement the resources of the passenger airline business. The Star Alliance is another key resource that now operates with twenty-eight partners and services four hundred and ten worldwide destinations. The alliance captures twenty-eight percent of the global market measured by revenue passenger kilometers. Because the frequent flyer program Miles & More is transferable among all members it aids to broaden the scope of Lufthansa’s reach. The alliance makes up the world’s largest airline alliance and is the world’s first multilateral airlines alliance. The abilities of Lufthansa’s othe r alliances would not be possible without OAG, who describe themselves as, â€Å"the most powerful schedule connections analysis tool for modeling flight connections between every airline flight, anywhere.† OAG’s services provide them with current, detailed, and accurate data that enables Lufthansa to drive efficiency and optimize its business processes. The changes Lufthansa makes from this data analysis increase customer satisfaction while reducing costs and increasing revenue. It helps monitor competitor activity, identifies codeshare opportunities, and manages partner schedule synchronization. Due to the timeliness of this data the firm has the capability to quickly react to market changes and counter-attack other competitors’ advantages. Excellent customer service is ensured through the critical connection of this data that enables Lufthansa to continuously improve the customer completion and baggage processing metrics. Lufthansa’s fleet renewal, customer service, terminals, and alliances are scarce resources that are difficult to imitate. The fleet, terminals, and alliance are difficult to imitate because of the sheer size and scale of these resources, whereas its service is costly and would be difficult to incorporate into any firm that does not have the cost structure and capital resources to support it. As the majority of airlines already compete by cost advantage, we feel that Lufthansa would be disadvantaged if they attempted to replicate that strategy. Therefore, we recommend that Lufthansa expand its premium customer service differentiation advantage by partnering with hotels that also provide excellent customer service in areas near its terminals. As Lufthansa’s fliers already value their premium customer service this partnership would ensure that passengers’ luxury experience would not end upon reaching their destination. The range of  hotels to partner with will correspond with flight class and frequent flyer status. First Class passengers will have the option to stay in top tier hotels and Economy Classes will have the option to book with upscale hotels that are more price sensitive. The Miles & More program will be expanded so that fliers earn credits by staying with these luxury partner hotels. The hope is that the fliers will have such a wonderful experience with the complementary services that they will express their delight to current hotel customers. As the hotel customers already value premium customer service it is our hope that in the future they will be inclined to book with Lufthansa as they offer such service. The success of this partnership has the potential to result in a revenue sharing agreement, in which Lufthansa will receive a percentage when passengers book with a partner hotel through Lufthansa. Their risk will also be reduced, as they are engaging in a partnership instead of attempting to enter this foreign industry alone. Although this partnership would be Lufthansa’s first non-aviation venture we believe that they will benefit by offering such a complementary service. The goal of this partnership is to connect customers that value upscale customer service with Lufthansa, who enjoys a reputation as an upscale full-service airline, to increase the ir market share; market share that their cost advantage competitors sorely need.