3 Barriers for International Students You Should Know In Advance

As an international student there will be some barriers to academic and social success that are not experienced by American students. Common barriers to success experienced by international students are finances, loneliness, and academic challenges. You should be ready for this and must find ways to overcome these issues in order to grow and develop along your educational journey. Barrier #1. Finances Many international students experience financial difficulties. Finding a place to live that the student can afford may be difficult. Some students need scholarships, which can also be difficult to find. Being from another country some students may find they are only allowed to work on campus, which limits the available job opportunities. Since some employers provide insurance if students cannot work off campus they may be left without insurance and what is the odds someone goes to school two, four, or more years and never gets sick? Students often go without insurance and therefore cannot afford healthcare when they need it. Currency exchange can be a problem especially if the student does not have good transportation to get off campus to get to a place that will do the currency exchange. Transportation can be a problem. Some students do not wish to buy a vehicle for the short time they will be away at college while others cannot afford a vehicle. A bicycle will likely serve the purpose of getting around campus but can present the problem of having to stay close to campus and may be uncomfortable in inclement weather or even hazardous. Barrier #2. Loneliness International students are far away from home and may miss family and friends terribly. Some students will have the ability to communicate via skype or other computer methods with family and friends while others may not have family or friends back home who have computer access. Communication with family and friends may be minimal. Communication with other students is often sometimes lacking and can make students feel isolated or uncomfortable talking to others. This makes it difficult to get new friends. International students are also often uncomfortable with the stereotyping they receive on campus from their peers. If students are fortunate enough to fit in with other groups they may struggle to hold fast to their own culture. With more influence from others than their family and friends back home the student can begin to change, which can present problems once they try to return home. Studying abroad as an international student can bring about changes in the student that may not be accepted upon their return home. Barrier #3. Academics As if it is not enough that the student may struggle financially and socially they may also struggle academically. The overall holistic of the course and classroom can differ greatly from what they have previously experienced in their home country. Teaching styles of the professor and classroom etiquette can present a challenge for the international student. Just as communication can be an issue for international students outside of the classroom so can it be in the classroom as well. Class discussions and writing can present difficult challenges for students. Even if the student has mastered the language well enough to interact socially writing can present many problems because it is structured differently than writing in their native language. Not quite an optimistic picture, is it? But forewarned is forearmed.

Kurt Vonnegut - An Anti War Book - 1671 Words

Casey Delaney DeHorn English 11 (1) 24 October 2015 Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut - An Anti War Book Part 1 â€Å"So it goes.† (Vonnegut 2). This quote is from the author of the book and it is said too many times to go unnoticed. Not only is it said on the second page but it is said every few pages or paragraphs throughout the entire book. The author uses this quote after he explains a story so it does not turn into a long and boring ordeal which becomes confusing after a period of time. He uses the quote to end the story in a way so we can only decipher the important details and leave out the rest of the irrelevent information. It is a smart way to end a story; however; the repetition in which the author says this quote is used extensively which makes it unique to his own writing style. â€Å" ‘I tell you what,’ I said, â€Å"I’ll call it ‘the Children’s Crusade.’ â€Å" She was my friend after that. â€Å" (Vonnegut 15). At this point of the book, the author is still deciding on what route his book should take. He explained that he went over to a friends house who was also in the war with him and they shared stories together so that he could write a book about the war. His friends wife was very hostile towards the exchange between the men and did not hesitate to show her anger. Eventually the author finds out why she is so hostile to him; it is because she hates the fact that it is basically just kids fighting in an adult world. To get on good terms with her, the author implies thatShow MoreRelated The Downside of War in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.s Slaughter House Five527 Words   |  3 PagesThe Downside of War in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.s Slaughter House Five Many people view soldiers in war to have nothing more than a duty that they must perform; so they see war as being outrageous or ridiculous. In the novel Slaughter House Five (1968),written by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Billy Pilgrim, who is a soldier in World War II, is captured and becomes a prisoner of war. Billy is seen as the protagonist. He is moved to various prison camps until he finally ends up in Dresden. Dresden is bombed andRead MoreStyle Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut on Slaughterhouse Five1623 Words   |  7 PagesThough war is a traumatizing and miserable experience, it may also be able to move and inspire people to write a brilliant piece of literature. One example, for instance, is Kurt Vonnegut who may have been stimulated by the war, thus writing Slaughterhouse Ââ€" Five. Though one may categorize this piece as science fiction or even auto - biographical, it can also be interpreted as an anti Ââ€" war piece. Because Vonnegut is classified as a post modernist, one can t ake into account all the detailsRead MoreWar is Inevitable and Death is Too1111 Words   |  5 PagesKurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a satire on the behaviors of man. Often characterized as an anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse-Five tries to show that war and destruction are a part of the human life cycle. Humanity is highly conflict prone; conflict resolution often manifests itself in the terms of war. Vonnegut attempts to show that war results in widespread death and destruction; therefore, war and death are inevitable. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut explores the inevitability ofRead MoreKurt Vonnegut Analysis825 Words   |  4 Pages(Davis). Decidedly anti-war, Vonnegut refused to glorify his most hurtful memories of World War II. His writings took on a common thread of sharp wit and satire. Hilariously, he made fun of his world and attempted to teach a lesson regarding society’s quirks and highlight what he thought about society. Born November 11, 1922 and raised by wealthy Germans in Indianapolis, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr’s family abandoned their German culture to prove their patriotism in view of the anti-German sentiment afterRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five Are Obvious And Piercing As One1139 Words   |  5 PagesSo It Goes Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse Five, illustrates the ghastly experiences within World War II and the journey through the universe and time of the main character, Billy Pilgrim. Although war is a sensitive subject in most cases, Vonnegut’s sarcastic, dark humor on the matter helps bring light to the fact that war is horrendous. Slaughterhouse Five demonstrates the reality of war throughout its major themes, historical accuracy, and Kurt Vonnegut’s personal experiences withinRead MoreA Conversation With Real Life Director Harrison Starr1693 Words   |  7 Pagescompares anti-war books to anti-glaciers books In the first chapter, which serves as an introduction, Vonnegut directly addresses the reader, pointing out his attitude towards war. The author makes it clear that he sees it as something ugly and horrifying, however, it seems like he is resigned to the fact that war will always exist. In one passage Vonnegut recounts a conversation with real-life director Harrison Starr. When Vonnegut explained that he was working on an antiwar book, HarrisonRead MoreKurt Vonnegut s Slaughterhouse Five, Billy Pilgrim Question913 Words   |  4 Pageswant to forget about it. Kurt Vonnegut abjects this illusion of free will in his novel by his use in ‘characters’ and having free will. In Slaughterhouse-five, Billy Pilgrim question the Tralfamadorians, â€Å"Why me?† Their response is simply, â€Å"†¦There is no why.† The Tralfamodorians exemplify the role of â€Å"the other† that marks free will as a distinctly a human characteristic. Billy use’s this as a means to cope with the reality that pain and suffering is a guarantee. Vonnegut repetition of the phraseRead MoreKurt Vonnegut : A Hybrid Of Science Fiction And Satire1716 Words   |  7 PagesLeanne Arata English 11 Mrs. Wheeler 5/8/2016 Kurt Vonnegut The idea of making a work that does not fit into a single category of work is how Kurt Vonnegut has become such a phenomenon. Kurt Vonnegut has a hybrid writing style which allows him to critique human nature and this is evident in his work. A hybrid writer is someone who makes something by combining two different genres to create something new. Vonnegut’s work is a hybrid of science fiction and satire. Satire is an author’s way of sayingRead MoreEssay about Slaughterhouse-Five: A Peace Novel1419 Words   |  6 PagesWar is a tragic experience that can motivate people to do many things. Many people have been inspired to write stories, poems, or songs about war. Many of these examples tend to reflect feelings against war. Kurt Vonnegut is no different and his experience with war inspired him to write a series of novels starting with Slaughter-House Five. It is a unique novel expressing Vonneguts feelings about war. These strong feeling can be seen in the simila rities between characters, information aboutRead MoreEssay on Anti-War Sentiments in Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five1173 Words   |  5 Pagessurface, Kurt Vonneguts Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are vastly dissimilar works of literature, each with its own creative style and plot. However, when the texts are examined with a discerning eye one can notice multiple thematic undercurrents such as war fate,time and suffering hidden in plain sight. Overwhelmingly common in Cats Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are strong anti-war sentiments which show all the ways war is deleterious towards the human condition.(Marvin) Vonnegut shows how

The strategy of The Body Shop Free Essays

string(232) " Kenneth Andrews and addresses, amongst others, the view that: â€Å"Strategy is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprise’s external environment which it is better qualified to exploit than its competitors\." â€Å"Business people have got to be the instigators of change. They have the money and the power to make a difference. A company that makes a profit from society has a responsibility to return something to that society. We will write a custom essay sample on The strategy of The Body Shop or any similar topic only for you Order Now † 1 (Roddick, 1991) This statement, by Anita Roddick OBE, founder of ‘The Body Shop’, demonstrates the strong ethical dimension of the company’s way of doing business. She opened her first shop in Brighton on March 26th 1976 selling 25 varieties of 100-percent natural skin and hair care products inspired by cultural knowledge from around the world. The company has expanded dramatically since its origins and now has over 1900 stores worldwide. Despite its rapid growth, the strong beliefs and values existent in 1976 remain deeply embedded within the organisational culture. Throughout this writing I will discuss these beliefs and values in the context of corporate strategy and decision-making, and demonstrate how it relates to theoretical frameworks within the corporate strategy field. I will analyse The Body Shop’s strategies using these theoretical models, and compare and contrast the models themselves. The strategy of The Body Shop in comparison to other businesses within the cosmetics and toiletries industry was unconventional. Their rapid growth, achieved mainly through franchising, was primarily due to the ‘green’ nature of the organisation, prioritising ethical practice over making profits. â€Å"Ever since she started The Body Shop in 1976, Roddick had made a habit of going against the tide of the industry’s established business practices.† 2 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991: 447) This quotation reinforces the notion of The Body Shop’s alternative approach to strategy. Unlike other companies within the industry, they didn’t make miraculous claims for their products; they allowed labels with detailed lists of the ingredients and properties of products to tell customers about each good. This links in with the fact that a major component of The Body Shop’s strategy was that they never engaged in any advertising. Throughout history and in contemporary advertising, organisations within the health and beauty sector have constantly bombarded the public with claims and promises associated with their products through the use of adverts and promotions. â€Å"The cosmetics industry makes its money through packaging and advertising, which together are 85 per cent of its costs.† 3 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991: 453) This is a cost that The Body Shop’s strategy enabled them to avoid. The business was started with just a $6000 bank loan, and so it wasn’t possible to engage in expensive advertising campaigns, moreover, it was against the values of the organisation, who preferred to rely on word-of-mouth and publicity to secure sales. It is said that the initial success of the first store was a lot to do with the curiosity and publicity acquired through a local newspaper article illustrating the fact that it was called â€Å"The Body Shop† and was located close to a funeral parlour. Their strategy exploits the fact that they are a socially responsible organisation, meaning that customers buy their products knowing that nothing has been artificially manufactured and are produced with 100 percent natural ingredients. This unique selling point, together with their prominent beliefs and values, has the affect of providing The Body Shop with a competitive advantage over other firms in the industry. This will be developed in more depth later in the writing. The Body Shop’s strong social message is reflected in every aspect of their mission statement. From dedicating the business to the pursuit of social and environmental change, to meaningfully contributing to local, national and international communities in which they trade.4 â€Å"The company is significantly involved in local communities and is prepared to get political and talk about big issues in countries where it does business. No company in the world campaigns at the level we do, or turns their shops into action stations, or challenges the role of business like we do.† 5 (Roddick, 2002) Throughout history The Body Shop has rapidly expanded geographically as well as in terms of their sales and product portfolio, however, in the late 1990s their performance began to suffer. As a result, February 2000 saw fundamental changes to the organisation and management, including substantial changes to the board of directors, and the outsourcing of manufacturing to a company named ‘Creative Outsourcing Solutions International Limited’. Anita and Gordon Roddick became non-executive directors and there were five new appointments to the board, including a new CEO. Despite these changes The Body Shop’s performance failed to be rejuvenated, which forced them into more drastic changes. â€Å"In the most recent annual report, Peter Saunders (CEO) commented that the group’s objective now was to apply a strategy to drive performance across the global business†¦The single most important priority, he added, was to improve comparable sales performance across stores through effective new product launches.† 6 (‘Mintel’, 2003: 137) These new objectives seem to have the effect of diluting the self-proclaimed visions and primary concerns of The Body Shop. It could be said that the current management have somewhat contradicted Anita Roddick’s earlier philosophies. â€Å"Too many businesses have gotten distracted with management structures and†¦making money.† 7 (Roddick, 1991) One of the main underlying reasons why they have encountered their current problems is because many companies within the health and beauty industry have noted the success of The Body Shop and are responding to the ever-increasing ‘green consumer’ themselves through the release of their own versions of ‘all-natural’ products. Examples being ‘Està ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½e Lauder Origins’, ‘Revlon New Age Naturals’, and ‘Clairol Herbal Essences’. Competition erodes profit, and, as a result of the increase in competition, The Body Shop have lost their competitive advantage of being able to supply what others cannot. The strategies of The Body Shop can be analysed using several theoretical models from within the strategy discipline. Situation analysis can be used to determine what advantages BS have, or have had, over their competitors, and can illustrate how The Body Shop was so successful for many years. This theory, termed by Mintzberg as the ‘Design School’, was based upon work by Professor Kenneth Andrews and addresses, amongst others, the view that: â€Å"Strategy is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprise’s external environment which it is better qualified to exploit than its competitors.† 8 (Lilley, 2003) The current situation of The Body Shop was analysed by Mintel and appears in their February 2003 publication on health and beauty retailing in the UK. STRENGTHS * Strong worldwide coverage helps to spread corporate risk. * Well known and well respected global brand. * Franchising has enabled the company to grow at lower cost and lower risk. * Still has strong ethical and environmental credentials. WEAKNESSES * Mature business, with declining like-for-like sales. * Appears to lack the inspiration to re-invent itself. * Vulnerable to imitators. * Franchising reduces level of corporate control. * Rapidly rising rental costs in the UK. * Limited growth opportunities in terms of new geographical regions. OPPORTUNITIES * Still potential to enter new markets in Europe especially Central/Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. * Implementation of strategy to control costs and working capital in order to improve profitability and cash generation. * Development of more pharmacy concessions in Ireland and possibly other markets. * Further development of e-commerce and other non-store channels. THREATS * Strong competition from other innovative and environmentally friendly health and beauty retailers. * Great competition from discounters and grocers’ health and beauty offer. * Recent new product launches have yet to produce a positive impact on sales densities. * Continued lack of like-for-like sales growth threatens profitability and the group’s scope to expand physically. ‘Figure 1’: SWOT Analysis of The Body Shop International Plc. 9 (Mintel, 2003: 144) The above analysis was compiled after The Body Shop’s decline in performance – it is clear that all the threats from the external environment are modern occurrences that wouldn’t have been an issue during their period of rapid growth in the 1980s. Throughout this time they effectively maintained a portfolio of differentiated products and, perhaps more prominently, a unique and differentiated brand image, which enabled The Body Shop to compete and be successful. â€Å"Product differentiation means that established firms have brand identification and customer loyalties, which stem from product differences, or simply being first into the industry.† 10 (Porter, 1980: 9) The environmentally friendly and ethical practices that The Body Shop claim they dedicate their business to could be described as their core competence within the industry. Even to this date Anita Roddick and the organisation actively campaign in issues such as animal testing, human rights, and protecting our planet. No other business within the health and beauty industry is as heavily associated with ethical and environmental practices as The Body Shop. The core competence of an organisation characterises its whole range, take for example, Sony’s ability to miniaturise electronics or Aston Martin’s competence in producing flawless motorcars. It is clear to see that The Body Shop’s core competence is not only reflected throughout their product range, but is evident throughout all their business activities, from their minimal use of product packaging, to the layout of stores. â€Å"Core competencies and market-led strategy are nowadays the only pathways toward success.† 11 (Sophocleous, 2003) The strategy that The Body Shop employed can be analysed with another useful framework in the field of strategy, namely â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces that Determine Industry Profitability† by Michael E. Porter. This cannot be applied directly to The Body Shop, but can be used to analyse the external environment in which they operated in the past, and how it changed in the late 90s. ‘Figure 2†²: Forces driving industry competition. 12 (Porter, 1980: 4) The main principle behind this model is that the profitability of an organisation is determined by the collective strength of the five forces; in other words, the industry structure directly affects industry profitability. The Body Shop initially operated within a niche market where there were no real competitors offering the same products nor backing the same principles that they were. The threat of substitutes was minimal because if customers wanted all-natural products they would almost certainly have had to buy them from The Body Shop. In relation to the threat of new entrants, initially there was nothing stopping rival firms from competing within the all-natural cosmetics and toiletries sector, however, no other companies actively engaged in the ethical and environmental practices to the extent that The Body Shop did. The barriers to market entry increased in relation to the amount of stores opened by The Body Shop, and during their period of rapid growth, their power within the niche market could have been regarded almost as monopolistic. However, customers who preferred to buy all-natural products but didn’t regard it as being entirely necessary could easily have turned to other companies’ products within the wider industry, that didn’t exercise such dominant views on ethical and environmental issues. The low threat of ‘all-natural’ substitution that existed in the earlier stages of The Body Shop, coupled with the fact that the arrival of new entrants was particularly low, provided them with the opportunity to control the prices they charged for their products. The argument becomes more complex when trying to categorise The Body Shop into a particular market. They could be regarded as operating completely within their own sector, but can also be viewed as just another cosmetics company with the advantage of having a differentiated product range and image. â€Å"Differentiation, if achieved, is a viable strategy for earning above-average returns in an industry because it creates a defensible position for coping with the five competitive forces.† 13 (Porter, 1980: 38) To justify this quotation in relation to The Body Shop we must consider them to be in the wider cosmetics industry, which has a high level of competitors. Their differentiation led to customers’ increased loyalty in The Body Shop brand, which resulted in a lower sensitivity in price. This had the effect of protecting the company from competition and rivalry. However, as time progressed, other companies intentionally sought to compete directly in the field of environmentally friendly products. The Body Shop was able to gain an advantage over competitors by not utilising traditional distribution channels – for many years they only sold their products through their own shops. This reduced the threat of new direct competition from other companies, as the level of investment required by a new entrant would be extortionate considering they would have to open an abundance of specialist shops. However, to overcome these problems the new competitors emerged using traditional distribution channels, such as through supermarkets and department stores. â€Å"The strength of the five forces varies from industry to industry, and can change as an industry evolves.† 14 (Porter, 1985: 4) The above statement from Porter’s work in 1985 is related to the case of the cosmetics and toiletries industry in that the emergence of greater competition in the 90s meant that the strength of the competitive rivalry aspect of the five forces within the industry increased. In addition, customers now have the ability to simply pick and choose alternative brands’ all-natural products in confidence – an increase in the threat of substitution. Through the use of Porter’s five forces model we can see that the changes in the strength of the forces within the cosmetics and toiletries market have accounted for the recent decline in performance of The Body Shop. In the early days of the company, the threat of like-for-like substitutes and the associated power of customers were relatively low in comparison to the modern day situation. Competitors have increasingly matched the core competences of The Body Shop, and, as a result, the significant competitive advantage that they once had has been reduced. â€Å"Competition in an industry goes well beyond the established players. Customers, suppliers, substitutes, and all potential entrants are all ‘competitors’ to firms in an industry.† 15 (Porter, 1980: 6) This quotation by Porter reveals that the five forces model has limitations with regard to The Body Shop case. The Body Shop do not regard their suppliers as competitors; in fact they want to actually financially support their suppliers. This is evident from their mission statement in their aim of balancing the financial and human needs of their suppliers. These more esoteric aspects of The Body Shop’s strategy, termed by Anita Roddick as them doing ‘business as unusual’, highlights another main drawback of the five forces model, in that it is geared around profit being the primary concern of an organisation and doesn’t provide any flexibility or scope for change. The Body Shop’s early successes can be partly attributed to the strong customer base they secured due to the general movement in society towards being more environmentally and ethically aware. The framework doesn’t deal effectively with this idea of customer preference or changes in trends, nor does it cope with the notion that customers were gained through the fact that they appreciated, and could relate to, the values and beliefs of The Body Shop and their efforts to pursue social and environmental change, and not just because of factors relating to price. On the other hand, the SWOT analysis model is useful for clearly displaying the advantages of an organisation in relation to the market within which it operates, together with the negative aspects of the internal organisation and external environment. As with all theories, however, there are a number of limitations associated with it. All of a business’s strengths do not necessarily directly contribute towards providing a competitive advantage, SWOT analysis also has the tendency to take a single dimension of a firm’s strategy over-emphasise it. It is difficult to prove which strengths are likely to provide the most benefit to an organisation, and also determine which opportunity should be given more attention to shape the overall strategy of the business in question. The findings of SWOT analysis are greatly shaped by the opinions and perceptions of managers or analysts, meaning that they can be regarded as subjective in nature as opposed to the, perhaps initial appearance of being objective and rationally constructed. â€Å"What we are dealing with here is not the organisation or environment ‘in itself’, rather we are attempting to extract and combine the perceptions of these entities that exist in the minds of managers.† 16 (Lilley, 2003) In conclusion, after analysing the strategy of The Body Shop using frameworks from the strategy discipline, it is apparent that SWOT analysis deals well with the unique aspects of The Body Shop’s strategy. Although the analysis of The Body Shop’s situation is greatly dependent upon personal judgement, their strengths shown in figure 1 give an accurate account of the 25-year success story, which was primarily based upon The Body Shop’s core competence in displaying continuous proactive dedication towards ethical and environmentally friendly practices, together with their prime high street and inner-city shop locations, and famous and respected global brand. The reasons for their decline in performance during the late 90s are clearly displayed in the ‘threats’ category of the analysis, prominently highlighting the emergence of increased competition from other companies operating within the health and beauty industry, who are reaching consumers through traditional distribution channels and via supermarkets. Michael Porter’s model of the five competitive forces is valuable in that it offers a simple, structured analysis of the industry, but is limited in the sense that it’s unable to satisfactorily consider the dynamics of markets, for example, the movement of consumer preferences towards environmentally friendly products. It can provide a helpful starting point for further analysis, but simplified versions alone can prove inadequate. It provides an account of how conventional, profit-maximising firms are affected by the structure and occurrences of the external environment, and how those firms can work towards shaping and exploiting the environment to their advantages, but fails to comprehensively account for the successes of unorthodox firms like The Body Shop, who do not, at least in their own claims, follow the usual route of or towards profit maximisation. How to cite The strategy of The Body Shop, Papers

Mission and Leadership Approach at Google and Google Recent Ventures

Questions: Case study 1 As a strategy consultant to Googles triumvirate, advise them on the relevance of its current mission and its effectiveness in achieving a sense of mission Case study 2 Evaluate Googles strategic-decision making process and its significance for developing innovation capabilities, taking into accounts the choices and key actions of its strategic leadership which support the capability development process. Answers: Case study 1 Structure of answer The answer will contain detailed information about the Mission and leadership approach at Google The Ashridge Mission Model Faults in the Organization Corporate and Strategic Decisions Recommendations Mission and leadership approach at Google A strategic leader has the responsibility of the overall mission, vision or strategies that could motivate others. They also create certain beliefs by which people works together and helps to develop detailed strategies in the organization (Papanastassiou Pearce, 2009). A strategy leader may also influence the organizations strategy that is to be taken. The mission of Google is to sort and order the worlds information and to make it accessibly throughout the world. Google by its own has in a few years time achieved a growth at a lightning pace in the area of internet search. It has attracted attention of many people like analyst, researcher etc. many organizations are trying to unfold their success formula. Google started as a small search engine in 1998 (Vise Malseed, 2008). Within years it gained momentum and attracted more users and followers. From the very beginning the company has a hanger in its belly and for which by 2004 they have been able to launch IPO in the stock market of USA. The mission of Google has always been to do something out of the track; something innovative which others will not think of doing. Like for example, they launched an open IPO instead of allowing investment banks to dictate on the IPOs; which other companies might not have thought of. Once again Google made a difference when they introduced a two-tier system of board of directors which was very rare in the USA at that time but very common in some European countries. The two founders of Google Larry Page and Sergey Brin took alternate roles while Larry concentrated on the social structure while Brin looked on the ethical part. After its inception only Google has a strong market share which now has increased to 67.5% whereas its next competitor Yahoo is at 8.4% which is way behind Googles market share. Google is a widely diversified company. Apart from a search engine it has other fields of operation like online payment services, mobile phone operating systems blogging social networks and radio and TV advertising (grant, 2015). Another important aspect of Googles operation is that if they cannot innovate anything new in the organization; they buy those products. A famous example of it was the buying of YouTube in the year 2001. In Google it is said that the organization is run by its culture and not necessarily by the board of directors. The people do what they want to do every day which is much easier since the employees never face any problems. This form of work culture is very different from the traditional one where there is always a CEO statement telling what to do and what not to. The people in the organization are provided with 20% free time during their work hours within which time they are allowed to exercise, swim have free meals etc. this shows that the company values their employees and always try to allow them to think freely and come up innovating ideas. Though Google has always tried to do something very innovative each time, but their main motto was always to organize the information of the world. Leadership of Larry Page Larry Page always believes that they should try to build something which does not exist. They do not pay much attention to the competitors who are working on similar products since they are sure that they will be always be one step ahead of them. It is in the leadership style of Larry Page that makes the company innovative and ahead of its competitors. He is a true transformational leader who can lead his team to new heights. It is really the people that make the company what it is. The company hires people who are smart and dynamic and determined towards their work. For the success of the organization it is very essential that the vision of the CEO is in line with the companys vision and mission. The leadership style is reflected in the openness of his ideas and his curiosity to innovate greater ideas to put and develop the organization. The Ashridge Mission Model and Application to Google The Ashridge mission model is based on the four pillars that is purpose, strategy, behavior standards and values. The model can be applied to achieve organizational benefits. It is a useful tool used for analytical purpose which helps organization to set their missions clearly. It can also be applied to create new missions for the organization and also to examine the organizations current mission. The organization seeks to align their organizational goals with that of the employee values, by doing so they try to reach their organizations goals (The Economist, 25 March 2006). Google has always tried to keep their employees benefits at the front. They provide all the benefits necessary for the employees to prosper. Allowing freedom in the work helps motivate the employees which make them come up with new ideas. In doing so they take ahead their mission of presenting the world with updated information. The statement is an expression of the mission of the company. Google follows this mod el in their work culture. The model combines the cultural and the strategic motivators so as to guide the organization. The mission statement of the company is to sort and order the worlds information and to make it accessibly throughout the world. For doing so the company from its inception have tried to achieve the mission and has now become a house hold name. People often say to google a word if the meaning is nit found. The purpose is mainly to ensure why the company exists. It is clearly defined that why the company exists. It is to ensure that it can lead the market in terms of information search. The strategy of Google is to achieve a competitive stance in the market. It has achieved such a competitive position that now it has increased to 67.5% whereas its next competitor Yahoo is at 8.4% which is way behind Googles market share (B.V., 2015). The value of Google is in its ability to make its employees feel committed to the work. The assessment of the company is done on the v alues it maintains such as to deliver good information and data. Faults in the Organization Though Google has always tried to maintain its position in the market, it has many a faults inside the organization. It is mainly a disorganized organization where it becomes very difficult to guess who is responsible for which job. As it happened that no represent of Google was present at the court room in Belgium when a case was filed. Another problem that Google face is that their employee manager ratio is not maintained properly. Whereas in other US organizations the ratio of employees to managers is only 1:10; in Google it is 1:20, which is double that of other organizations. Google has introduced a system whereby the employees are allowed to have 20% work time for personal projects, which may even extend to 30% of the work time in the organization which they believe which will give rise to new opportunities and new ideas. The company has a large work force but the way of recruiting and the critical method they follow make the job seekers feel depressed at some point of time. Corporate and Strategic Decisions Irrespective of the image that Google has as a organization that gives its employees benefits to free themselves from managerial control, it has a strong recruitment process. Thus no wonder it is so lenient with its employees. The pay is also competitive but not much ahead of its competitors. However the perks like messages, free meals and swimming pool helps to attract employees to a great extent (Keen, 2011). Moreover the employees mainly engineers must possess a masters degree or doctorate from leading universities. Each and every candidate has to pass through the psychometric tests before joining Google so that a good number of the population can be retained. The company follows a laissez-faire attitude which gives the management to control the employees as well as freedom to the employees (Sandberg Rollins, n.d.). Peer review is extensively followed in Google where by employees are constantly being reviewed by their peers which improve their work quality. Moreover other constra ints are also effective in the organization. The team of workers on a certain project is limited to not more than six; even deadlines for submitting the projects are also maintained at not more than six weeks. The company is boastful that they are analytical and everything in the company is measured and systematic (Vise Malseed, 2008). The hourly updates are taken on spreadsheets and monitored. The technical platform internal to the company is one of the major sources of its success. The organization has its own intranet called Moma which can track a very large amount of data within real time. Google is to capture and track information and present it in a proper and organized manner. Recommendations Google should try to organize its work force so that the responsibility of each people can be distinctively identified so that lack of information about responsibilities of the workers is identified. The company should try to bring down the ratio of the employee to managers like other American countries, or even lower like some European countries for example in France the ratio is 1:7.5 The system followed by Google of giving 20% to 30% of their work time for personal projects which could give rise to chaos in the work place. So such a large span of free time should be generally avoided so as to maintain a cordial working environment within the organization. The decision to buy YouTube was made; but who made the decision was not known. These certain facts should be made clear before the people as well as the government. The decisions taken within the organization should be transparent so that the question of who took those decisions should not arise. Case study 2 Structure of answer The answer will contain detailed information about the - Googles recent ventures Findings Advantages Disadvantages Googles recent ventures From its very inception Google has been always trying to do out of the track innovations and developments. In 2004 a series of new products were launched by Google. Google acquired 99 companies between 2004 august and end of 2011 (Wired,2012). There was a series of introduction of new products by Google which started with goggle acquiring YouTube in 2006 followed by the introduction of the android operating system used in mobiles in the year 2007. In September 2008 the web browser called Chrome was introduced. Soon after, the announcement of making Chrome an open-source operating system was made (Scott, 2008). This has only added to Googles image of continuously updating strategy. Googles mission is to continuously collect and analyze data and present it to the world at large for referencing. The acquisition of YouTube has rightly followed its mission by collecting all the audio and video and presenting it under a same roof (Vise Malseed, 2008). Findings Decisions in the company are taken within the company as no one is certain about who is taking which decision. There arose certain situations when law suits remained unattended due to identity crisis as each and every employer perform all the jobs. But most importantly Google has not always remained loyal to its mission and vision. While venturing into the web browser it has not collected all the data and made it accessible to the users!! Apart from that it must be noted that due to diversifying nature its revenue has an upward trend. Their revenue in the year 2006 was $10,604.9 million to $ 37,905.0 million in the year 2011. From the above figures it can be seen that Google has always been in the want for more achievements. Achievements which many other companies may not think of; and for this reason their revenue has risen more than three times within five years. Google has recklessly expanding in the recent years. The most talked about acquisition was that of the Motorola Mobility the maker of the wireless handset. The acquisition was made for a $12.5 billion. It is considered as the first billion dollar venture of Google. Prior to the acquisition of the Motorola, Google was in the software business companies, but after the acquisition of motorala, Google has stepped into the hardware business as well. Advantages The simplicity of Google with the white background and the logo of Google makes it a sought after search engine. In the initial years Google did so well searching things for people that now people can accustom it with search. When CEO of Google Eric Schmidt was replaced by Larry Page, in 2011 it was said that adult supervision has been replaced by youth venture. The focus on product, social networking sites and focused leadership has recognized Google as Larrys company. The social networking site Facebook, the android based mobile software is centre for advertisements. With these the company will maintain its advertising business which will grow at jaw dropping pace. With Googles reckless expansion, it has now business in both the software and hardware sectors. Disadvantages It was seen in case of Google that the ambitious initiatives of Google have eventually adding to the cost of the company and even distracting the management. With Google expanding in such a wider genre like mobile operating system, productivity applications, web browser; its identity is getting muddled. People find it hard to articulate whether it is a company for software or a web company! Googles initiative of diversification has made little efforts to boost revenue rather than to increase profit on a large scale. The company in 2011 lost about 20% of its market share due to Motorola. And Motorola is likely to drop down the companys earnings in the years to come. The company due to its leniency towards the employers often leads to a chaotic situation within the organization. The concern for such diversifying initiatives had generated little profit than to boost the revenue. Conclusion To conclude it can be said that that Google has always given priority to its mission. The mission of Google is to collect the information of the world and then present it in a systematic way for the world to view and access. For that reason Google has always delved into business which could keep its mission alive. But for doing so it has sometimes fallen into controversies as to whether Google is a web based company or it is a software producing company or a hardware company is a much talked about question. But the Ashridge model in which the organization seeks to align their organizational goals with that of the employee values. Google also tries to do the same, so that they try to reach their organizations goals. Google on one hand strictly follows the time limit for the work; the team of engineers handling a project is restricted so as to ensure quality work. On the other hand the employees are allowed 20 percent of their working time free in which they could do recreational activ ities. They are sometimes given freedom in their work so that creativity comes in their works. References Google. (2014).ECOS. doi:10.1071/ec14171 grant, r. (2015).corporate strategy. Keen, A. (2011). Google's inner workings.New Scientist,210(2809), 50. doi:10.1016/s0262-4079(11)60935-4 Media, B. (2010).CTH Introduction to Business Operations. London: BPP Learning Media. Papanastassiou, M., Pearce, R. (2009).The strategic development of multinationals. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Sandberg, R., Rollins, M.The business of Android Apps development. Scott, V. (2008).Google. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Vise, D., Malseed, M. (2008).The Google story. New York, N.Y.: Delta Trade Paperbacks.

Keurig Company

Introduction Keurig Inc. is a company that has ventured into the coffee business providing its clients with solutions to quick and effective coffee brewing. Since its inception in 1992, it has established itself with excellence, as its name suggests (Cravens Piercy, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Keurig Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company had succeeded in introducing the single-cup brewing system in to the offices and was seeking to expand its customer base to include the at-home segment. However, Keurig needed to employ proper marketing strategies in order to have advantage over the several single-cup competitors in the market. Therefore, the management team re-evaluated the strategies of their product plan and decided to revisit their decisions on the price and marketing strategies. This paper will discuss the appropriateness of the distribution and channel strategies employed by Keurig and also consider the validity of the pricing strategies. It will also look into the types of promotions used for the consumer sales and its appropriateness in today’s market. Distribution and channel strategies Distribution is one of the key elements in the marketing strategy. It helps the firm to expand its reach and to become more profitable. This is basically the process by which a firm makes its products or services available for use by the target market. The channel design used is critical for the particular company. Keurig employed the level one channel since it has a single intermediary – the distributors. For this purpose, Keurig employed several distributors to distribute the coffee brewers throughout the United States. With its several distributors, placement of its equipment was made fast and effective and all the maintenance services required were provided. This distribution and channel system ensured that coffee brewers were provided in offices whe re managers were seeking to eliminate the unnecessary hustles and inconveniences at the workplace in order to improve productivity and employee satisfaction. The distributors also managed the feedback from clients in order to create proper customer relationships and ensure customer satisfaction. The Keurig authorized distributors (KADs) worked together with Keurig, under the supervision of the vice president of sales. These marketing channels helped to bridge the gap between the producer (Keurig) and its consumers. This way, they brought the right products to the right consumers.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The distribution and channel strategies employed by the company ensured effectiveness and efficiency. This marketing strategy is still used today because there is value created by intermediaries. It is created through the reduction of the number of sales contacts required to reach the clients. The main functions of the KADs included the transactional functions, logistical functions and facilitating functions. All these functions are necessary in any vertical marketing system. The KADs performed all their functions well. This includes the distribution and maintenance of the coffee brewers. They also ensured that the feedback on problems was well handled in order to maintain proper customer relations. Pricing strategies for consumer sales Firms usually employ diverse pricing strategies when marketing their goods and products. At times, companies are forced to alter their prices depending on the demand and the presence of competition (Hooley, Piercy, Nicoulau, 2008). In order to select a proper pricing strategy, every business should understand the current market situation. Market research is also an efficient tool when it comes to determining what the clients are willing to pay (Bradley, 2007). One of Keurig’s challenges was the deter mination of the proper pricing strategy for their new product. Therefore, they conducted a market research in order to determine the people’s view on the new product and its price. The types of studies included the intercept surveys, the use of focus groups, an internet-based study and a survey of the current client base. The study area included three cities. All the participants had to consume at least a cup a day. From the study, the results showed that almost all the participants were satisfied with the coffee. Most of them also showed interest in the product concept. The main advantages pointed out by the participants were the convenience and efficiency of the brewing process. The brewer was also easy to use and it required minimal time to clean up. In order to gain insight on the pricing of the commodity, the management team reviewed previous market research that had been done. In addition to this, they wanted to determine the views of the participants concerning the pri ce of the products.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Keurig Company specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since the participants were satisfied with the commodity, they expressed their desires concerning the price. Most of them were willing to pay $0.55 for a cup of that coffee. Their response on the price of the coffee maker was also positive. For a price range of between $69 and $149, they were willing to pay over $130 for the coffee maker (Cravens Piercy, 2009). Another pricing strategy that Keurig used was the use of discount pricing. This was particularly when it came to the sale of their coffee makers in the offices. The coffee makers were given either without any charge or at a low monthly rental. This discounted pricing strategy was necessary for promoting its product and attracting new customers. Promotions for consumers Promotion is another element in the marketing strategy. This involves activities th at include the sale, advertisement, direct marketing and publicising of the company’s products and services. One of the promotion (marketing) strategies employed by Keurig was providing the coffee brewers to offices free of charge. This strategy was appropriate and is still appropriate today because it one of the best ways to get people’s attention. This is what is referred to as the free-prize-inside effect. Giving commodities free of charge does not devalue the product but only raises its visibility. This form of marketing seeks to take the word out about a new product. Keurig employed this strategy and in exchange, they made coffee sales. According to the marketing research conducted, the studies showed that the company’s product was a demonstrations-driven product. This meant that the company needed to put in place proper strategies of demonstrating the system to its customers. In order to advertise its products, Keurig launched point-of-sale advertising. Th ese were developed and displayed on the brewers. The company, with the help of a majority of the Keurig authorized distributors, participated in the joint marketing program to ensure the sale of brewers that had advertising. Another promotional strategy employed by the company was the use of the internet to conduct an internet direct marketing campaign. The main objective of this campaign was to create awareness of Keurig’s products and services.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Through this campaign, Keurig received several emails from current clients inquiring of the availability of the company’s products for home use. Therefore, the internet provided a proper avenue for advertising. Keurig also used a public relations campaign together with other marketing exercises to reach its clients. One of the key objectives of promotion in marketing is to differentiate a product. Keurig was seeking to differentiate its product – which was the away-from-home business that focused on distributing its products to offices. It wanted to introduce this product to include home usage. This led to the introduction of the Keurig-Cup for the home market. This was also driven by the demand by the ever-increasing client base. The new product (Keurig-Cup) was to be distinguished by colour and design. They were tan in colour and had a distinct base area. Sale of the Keurig-Cups was both direct and indirect. The KADs made direct sales to the target market. The roaste rs, on the other hand, made sales in both direct and indirect markets. This included making sales over the internet. Conclusion Keurig Inc. is a company that has specialised in the distribution of coffee products and coffee makers. It has succeeded in providing an away-from-home solution to coffee making and has provided a number of offices with the coffee makers that have made brewing easier. This efficiency may be seen in the speed at which the machine makes coffee. In addition to this, the coffee makers require minimal cleaning. The company was seeking to also venture into the at-home consumer market and this was to be done by introducing the Keurig-Cup that would be used in the homes. Keurig used a network of distributors for their distribution strategy. This included the use of Keurig authorized distributors. These distributors ensured that they performed the transactional, logistical and facilitating functions. For the pricing strategy, the company performed a market research in order to determine what the customers were willing to pay. Keurig also promoted its new product effectively in order to capture the attention of the potential clients. References Bradley, N. (2007). Marketing research: Tools and techniques. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cravens, D. W., Piercy, N. F. (2009). Strategic marketing (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Hooley, G., Piercy, N. F., Nicoulau, B. (2008). Marketing strategy and competitive positioning (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. This case study on Keurig Company was written and submitted by user Damari Herman to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Quine-duhem thesis and Popper essays

Quine-duhem thesis and Popper essays Does the Quine-Duhem thesis create insurmountable problems for Poppers falsificationist methodology of science? Karl Popper can be credited with positing an alternative, original methodology of science that escapes, it would appear, many of the Humean problems to induction. What follows is a careful examination of the falsificationist philosophy where it shall be shown that falsificationism is not as coherent a philosophy as one might think, and that the objection in the form of the Quine-Duhem thesis renders Poppers position deeply precarious with few escape routes. The relation of observation experiences to language shall take a key place in this essay for it is here more than anywhere else that the debate shall be decided. The argument between realism and anti-realism shall not be gone into too deeply but, for the purpose of this essay, an anti-realist idea of science shall be presupposed in the sense that it will be taken that scientific knowledge is derived from factual statements and not from things in themselves. It shall be concluded that if scientific knowledge cannot transcend and e scape the language or concepts that are employed in expressing it then the Quine-Duhem thesis really does invalidate falsificationism. But after closely looking at the implications of the Quine-Duhem and holism, it shall be shown that Quine and Duhem face severe objections and that upon one interpretation falsificationism can be seen as the means in which holism is justified i.e. how it faces the tribunal of experience en masse. One striking similarity between Popper and Quine is that they were both fallibilists, i.e. they both argued against the absolute truth of scientific theories, theories were for Popper guesses or bold conjectures awaiting refutation. Popper took seriously Humes skepticism of induction and agreed that induction could not justify scientific knowledge; by adopting his...

Politics Aquinas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Politics Aquinas - Essay Example However, despite influences on Aquinas from the political climate of that time, we can perhaps find out the essence of his view on the mentioned problem that still would be relevant for our todays situation. Thomas Aquinas lived at a pivotal period for the Western philosophy when the return of the Aristotelianism combined with scholasticism to reignite debates about the correlation between reason and faith. Aquinas became fully acquainted with this school of philosophy after he joined the Dominican Order and for several years studied with Albertus Magnus (1193-1280), a scholastic philosopher who worked on restating of the Aristotelian heritage. This acquaintance of Aquinas is considered to be the most significant influence on his world view, which turned him into an erudite scholar devoted to the Aristotelian method (McInerny, 1992, p. 16). In general, Scholastics of that time promoted empiricism and voiced support for policies and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. They stood in opposition to Christian mysticism as well as to concepts of dualism of mind and of the evil nature of the world promoted earlier by Plato and St. Augustine (McGrade, 2003, pp. 33-34). What interests us in relation to the problem that we have raised is Aquinas' theory of natural law. To better understand this theory, it must be pointed out that Aquinas views philosophy as a general term which relates to a set of sciences. To diverse philosophical fields Aquinas ascribes the following due order for their study: logic, mathematics, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, and metaphysics, which is the apex of philosophical study. Aquinas' theory of natural law concerns moral philosophy, for which the notion of the human good is central. Aquinas sees a difference between acts of a man and human acts, as the former acts can be also seen in non-human agents, while human acts stem from knowledge and will and always aim at a known good. But Aquinas points out that as a certain good is not the same as the goodness itself, then what holds together all the human actions is what he terms as the overarching goodness which is the ultimate end. Therefore, any human action is direct ed towards the ultimate end (Lisska, 1998, pp. 132-133). Now that we have uncovered the basic ground of the morality for Aquinas, we can better understand his views towards what he called the natural law. In fact, what forms the essence of the natural law moral theory is the view that morality stems from the nature of the world and of the human beings. For Aquinas, main morality-generating principle of human nature is its rationality, for instance manifested in human pursuit of a certain good, which underlies any moral law. Therefore, as humans are born rational, it is morally right to behave in correspondence with our rational nature. In this way Aquinas connects moral laws with the human nature and this connection forms the basis of the "natural law", that

Ourselves Alone by Anne Devlin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ourselves Alone by Anne Devlin - Research Paper Example The setting of the play is generally around Andersonstown, West Belfast, with succinct side tracks to South Belfast and Dublin. The play has been produced, directed, and enacted manifold times. One presentation is by Crash Box Players and Lost Angels, directed by Steven Friedland, and produced by Kathleen Dunn, Laura Niemi and Elise Robertson. The cast of the play includes Jake Alston (as Danny/Second Soldier), Kelly Boulware (as Cathal/First Soldier), Ed Cunningham (as John McDermot), Kathleen Dunn (as Donna), Darrel Guilbeau (as Gabriel/Policeman), David Lane (as musician), Jack Mungovan (as Liam/Musician), Laura Niemi (as Frieda), Elise Robertson (as Josie), Joel Stoffer (as Joe Conran), and Joseph Whipp (as Malachy). The cast is very talented, giving extra beauty to the theme of the play. The play made its appearance in London during 1985-86. Anne Devlin, the daughter of a controversial labor leader in Belfast, Paddy Devlin, has attempted to accomplish a surmountable job telling the story of the Belfast when it was seeing some of the worst days of its history, through weaving of the story related to three Catholic women, whose lives underwent many changes brought about by the ongoing incidents and happenings in Belfast. Anne Devlin shows, in the play, how men reveal their macho by converting the society into a war zone. These men also included those who were struggling for the Irish independence, who were unknowingly converting the community into a zone of never-ending siege. Culture was being ignored. Family lives were suffering. â€Å"†¦where women suffer a double oppression--subjugated as much by their brothers, fathers, husbands, and lovers as by the Brits. Ourselves Alone tries to expose the ugliness of the Belfast blood knot†, writes Adler (para.2). It was hard to decide where Belfast was heading to. The storyline revolves around three ordinary Catholic women, including two Andersonstown sisters, Donna and Josie McCoy, and their brotherâ⠂¬â„¢s wife, Frieda, who has been a Long Kesh prisoner, as shown in the play’s early scenes. Donna is kind of superficial, Josie possesses a strange hidden agenda, and Frieda is shown struggling with life in order to bring up her infant alone, when her husband is in prison. Frieda’s pro-IRA father has disowned her, and she wants to be a singer but her father sends her into the arms of a Workers' Party organizer and anti-IRA zealot. All three of the Catholic women wish and struggle to escape the political peril that is affecting their lives, but they cannot take a step because they are bound to the family loyalties residing in their hearts. Their complex relationships with men are also a hurdle. Donna waits for her lover for five years who is in prison, but when he comes out of the jail, she finds that he is not the kind of man who was worth waiting for. Josie has been a courier when rebellion against the British was going on, and has interest in politics of the trouble going in the Ireland; yet, she is trapped inside her wish for a romantic relationship. She fancies the men in her life, who are there to subjugate her. She is in love with an IRA leader, but is also in a relationship. She gets pregnant with her partner. What is interesting about the play is that Devlin’s Catholic women are not the rebellious heroines of the Ireland. Instead, they are making victims of themselves by not reacting against the harsh circumstances, keeping

Statistical Process Control (SPC) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Statistical Process Control (SPC) - Essay Example In contrast to this, SPC uses statistical techniques to ascertain whether there are any deviations in the production line that may end with the project being rejected. The concept behind the viability of the SPC is that any product in a production process will have a certain degree of deviation in terms of its properties, which will vary slightly from its design values. SPC manages these deviations and prevents them from getting out of control, by analyzing the variances within the process from time to time. For example, by using statistical tools, any person who oversees the functioning of the production line can use them to detect any profound and undesirable changes (which exceed the specified limits). The causes of any such variation could be due to a host of factors such as wear and tear due to continued use etc. and as such the technique offers a great chance of correcting the problem at the source itself thereby ensuring that subsequent products from the production line stay well within the desired limits. In worst cases, this could alert the supervisor so that he/she may stop the production in order for the problem to be rectified.

Governance and Enterprise Restructuring of Macedonia

Governance and Enterprise Restructuring of Macedonia Abstract: This paper is a case study of the Republic of Macedonia (Southeast Europe), which focuses on examining governance and enterprise restructuring. Governance and enterprise restructuring is already defined indicator in EBRDs studies and transition reports, measuring the effective corporate governance and corporate control exercised through domestic financial institutions and markets, fostering market-driven restructuring. As of the beginning of the transition process, governance and enterprise restructuring remains in the center, as essential pillar, that moves forward the society towards developed market economy. The data used in this article are analyzed with an econometric regression model, which as employed in this study examines the interrelationships between governance and enterprise restructuring and set of policies that influence the governance patterns. JEL Classifications: G30, G32, G38; L33; O11; P31 Keywords: governance, corporate governance, management strategy, transition, Southeast Europe, Macedonia Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Prof. Nicola Bellini for the continuous support, as well as, the PhD Program in Management and MAIN Lab of Scuola Superiore SantAnna, Pisa, Italy Introduction The research in this paper is to be focused on examining governance and enterprise restructuring in Southeast Europe economies and in particular a case study of the Republic of Macedonia. EBRD has governance and enterprise restructuring as basic indicator of economic transition and defines it as effective corporate governance and corporate control exercised through domestic financial institutions and markets, fostering market-driven restructuring. The corporate governance is most often defined in terms of the roles, responsibilities, and interactions of top management and the board of directors. Using data of South-East Europe i.e. case study of Macedonia, will be examined the interrelationships between governance and enterprise restructuring and set of policies that influence the governance patterns. Literature Review There are several contemporary theories that set the foundations of governance and enterprise restructuring within a framework important for this research. The institutional setting is of essence when governance and enterprise restructuring is analyzed in transition economies. Further, the literature on corporate governance is extensive and is linked to important theories, of which the agency theory is fundamentally predominant. The established agency theory highlights the function of corporate governance in the overall enterprise restructuring, ensuring that the firm protects the interests of shareholders in a given institutional context . Thus, the institutional setting has impact on the outcome of companies performance through the very nature of countrys ownership structure and policies undertaken to shape the governance system. When companies are analyzed, it is important to state the presence of different agency conflicts between shareholders and management in a given ownership structure of each country. Hence, different countries have divergent governance systems leading to variations in the nature of the agency problems, where ac cording to the law and economics viewpoint, legal systems craft institutional specificities . The literature further proposes that different national governance systems are also influenced by cultural and historical features in addition to their specific legal system . The links between agency theory and institutional theory explain that divergences in national institutions may have significant impact on the effectiveness of governance at the firm level . The law and economics approach (e.g., ) puts the focus on the fact that the ability to enforce financial contracts and thus increase the effectiveness of governance depends on institutional characteristics . Further, it is stated that in order to complete the frame already set by the agency theory it is necessary to merge it with institutional theory . There are two principal strings of institutional theory fitted to the analysis: a) the first, origins in political science and b) the second is derived from organizational theory . The political science approach focuses on the setup where political and economic institutions create incentives for managers and the way the outcomes are shaped. On the other hand, the organizational theory approach is concerned with the adjusting function of organizations while creating the institutional environment. In this regard, Aggarwal and Goodell argue that national corporate governance differences between countries used in their study are determined by legal, cultural, and other national characteristics . 1. Corporate Strategies in transition economy environment As countries undergo serious system transformations the managers are faced with complex decision-making environment , and thus it is closely regarded that the performance of large enterprises should be linked to managerial flexibility in making strategic decisions within the context of the firms governance. Furthermore, there arent many sources that can point towards emerging corporate governance mechanisms in South-East Europe, although prior research suggests that independent managers and board of directors (corporate governance) may be an important necessity for managerial ability to undertake performance-enhancing strategies . Before restructuring, the revenues were generated by monopolistic structure through a handful of specialized state-owned companies. As the reforms progressed towards free market economy in environment with sluggish internal demand, adopting better strategies may be closely linked to better financial performance of the firm . Moreover, we can see that previo us research has linked strategies with performance , and governance directly with performance , and consequently in this research we will make an essay to implement the governance and enterprise restructuring EBRD indicator as measure against set of policies. Economic reforms introduced in Southeast Europe aimed at increasing enterprise efficiency and making their products internationally competitive and thus reforms were tied with structural crisis . The pre-reform environment that was characterized by import protection and export promotion through monopolistic, state-owned foreign trade companies which in many terms crippled the enterprises to meet overseas threats and as a result made the internationalization of their work very difficult. As liberalization of the market forces and privatization progressed they were meant to eliminate the constraints imposed on managers by state ownership and command economy system . In the case of the Southeast Europe, companies were privatized using range of methods . Thus, the privatization process resulted with diverse range of ownership structures and governance mechanisms . The corporate governance affects enterprises restructuring and financial performance . Indeed, when firms from transition economies are involved in international activities, they are likely to develop their capabilities . As a consequence of the peculiar characteristics of the capital markets in South-East Europe i.e. lack of well developed capital markets, limited portfolio diversification and liquidity, it is often stated that large shareholders could wish to utilize potential upside of a particular business strategy, but they are frequently restrained and affected adversely by the companys idiosyncratic risk . Due to this phenomenon they chose to impose sub-optimal strategies on managers. Moreover, large shareholders in transition countries where the protection of minority investors is low, most often endeavor to take advantage of their power and grasp private benefits of control. This expropriation can be found in a range of forms, such as related party transactions, use of trans fer pricing, assets stripping and other forms of tunnelling of revenue and assets from firms . Therefore, in such economies high ownership concentration was investors response to low levels of protection of minority shareholders in emerging markets . Even though we analyze and focus specifically on Macedonia, variations in governance regimes indicate sufficient international analyses of governance and enterprise restructuring in the specific group of economies that undergo serious difficulties in transformation. Corporate governance and enterprise restructuring in Macedonia 1. Institutional and legal framework The institutional framework is essential in the development of the governance and enterprise restructuring process. There institutions that carry of the process are the Securities Commission and the Macedonian Stock Exchange and are aided by the Central Securities Depository . The legal framework is comprised of sets of laws and regulations including the first 1996 Company Law its enactment of 2004, as well as, the Securities Law, the Law on Takeovers, the Bankruptcy Law, and the Macedonian Stock Exchanges corporate governance code and listing rules . 2. Overall assessment of corporate governance characteristics Macedonias corporate governance model is consistently built since the beginning of transition to modern market economy. Thus, it complies with the notion that each country shapes its particular way of governance due to its own history, culture, and legal and regulatory framework . The main characteristics of the Macedonian corporate governance model are : Gradual concentration of ownership which is reflected through policies leading to dispersed ownership structure of companies to become concentrated over time in a more regular manner. As 2007 IFC Corporate Governance Manual for Macedonian Companies indicates around 300,000 individuals become shareholders in the first phase of the privatization process. Later the process reinforced itself and eventually resulted with 255,000 in 2004 and 105,000 in August 2007 individuals as shareholders. This was result due imposed regulatory reform (Company Law, 1996) and also the development of the capital market urging for voluntary decisions of shareholders to sell their shares on the Macedonian Stock Exchange, characterized with constant default on minority shareholders and investor protection during this period. However, with creation of the Central Securities Depository (state authority for securities registration), the quality of the process had improved. Company shareholders as company employees and vice-versa, describes the phenomenon of the dual role and mutual interaction of these two categories as most of the employees are at the same time shareholders in the company. Thus, there is conflict in the rights and the duties as these two roles, which in essence oppose themselves and exclude each other. Indeed, this characteristic is problem of many transition economies and needs time to be resolved, while is still producing mixed outcomes. As a consequence of the previous two, there is the third main characteristic of the Macedonian economy in light of governance and enterprise restructuring i.e. lack of separation of companys ownership from companys control. This practice, despite the introduced regulation, is still lagging, hence the unfortunate problem where majority-vote shareholders who most often hold companies top positions, trigger overwhelming influence over comprehensive daily work of the enterprise. Further, this reduces and prevents the control systems vigilance and reporting to and from shareholders and investors. The forth important feature derived from the previous, is the inadequate oversight of managements work. This is due the fact that members of the supervisory board are individuals with lack of experience directly appointed by the controlling majority shareholders or in submission to the very persons that they are supposed to control. Research hypotheses Two basic hypotheses to test governance and enterprise restructuring: 1st Hypothesis: Governance and enterprise restructuring depend on set of policies : large-scale privatization, small-scale privatization, price liberalization, competition policy, trade and foreign exchange system, banking reform and interest rate liberalization, securities markets and non-bank financial institutions and overall infrastructure reform; and , 2nd Hypothesis: Governance and enterprise restructuring is significant and improves over time due to imposed policies. Sample selection and Data It this paper it is used the same econometric model as in the first article. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Transition Report series have the latest information on the countries that are classified in transition. The data that this prominent organization offers are based on wide network of sources that they obtain from national and international authorities . EBRD tracks reforms and assesses the overall process of transition using set of transition indicators, which are formed in comparison to the standards of industrialized market economies. Further, the data sample is mainly drawn from the extended research and data bases of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Transition Report publication series. Consequently, the data used in this research are taken from their index structure economic statistics and forecasts . The scale used in shaping the transition indicators ranges from 1 to 4+, where 1 represents little or no change from a rigid centrally planned economy and 4+ represents the standards of an industrialized market economy . There are detailed numbers for the countries in transition analyzing the period of 1989 to 2009 in different areas. These indicators are sorted by sector and country and are analyzing nine arias: large scale privatization, small scale privatization, governance and enterprise restructuring, price liberalization, trade and foreign exchange system, competition policy, banking reform and interest rate liberalization, securities markets and non-bank financial institution s, and overall infrastructure reform .ÂÂ   Model and Econometrics The econometric model that is used in this study is a regression model where we have estimated the fallowing equation : (1) (2) Thus, applied to our research this model has the fallowing shape: (3) where the dependent variable, . shows governance and enterprise restructuring; the independent variables, are as follows : large-scale privatization; small-scale privatization; price liberalization; competition policy; trade and foreign exchange system; banking reform and interest rate liberalization; securities markets and non-bank financial institutions; overall infrastructure reform; ÂÂ  is aÂÂ  p-dimensionalÂÂ  parameter vector ; ÂÂ  is theÂÂ  error term orÂÂ  noise. Results and Effects The first hypothesis is that governance and enterprise restructuring depend on set of policies: large-scale privatization, small-scale privatization, price liberalization, competition policy, trade and foreign exchange system, banking reform and interest rate liberalization, securities markets and non-bank financial institutions and overall infrastructure reform. The transition theory explains well the effects of privatization, restructuring, competition, budget constraints, policies of governance and management . The country results of the OLS regression for Macedonia (Figure 2) show that there are good results on correlation and dependence of governance and enterprise restructuring to large-scale privatization. However, the coefficients are negative pointing towards possible lag of governance mostly because of country specific dispersed ownership and agency conflicts as analyzed before (CG Manuel-IFC, 2007). The variable explaining trade and foreign exchange system and its relation to GOV behaves with mixed outcome depending on the model. Further, the price liberalization variable shows good results and there is good evidence and correlation between countrys governance, as well as, positive impact on GOV. The banking reform of the system and the interest rate liberalization demonstrated good results in contribution to the governance and enterprise restructuring. In this analysis the overall infrastructure reform has given important input in improving the overall economic governance, but the negative sign suggests some concern, as the disinvestment in infrastructure is constant lag in transition countries. On the other hand, governance and enterprise restructuring have strong relation to the small-scale privatization; competition policy and securities markets and non-bank financial institutions. In the case of these variables, the models have shown evidence i.e. p Figure I. Results of OLS on Macedonia The second hypothesis is that the variable governance and enterprise restructuring is significant and improves over time due to imposed policies. In the analysis (Figure 1) the results confirm this hypothesis with some mixed outcomes i.e. sluggishly improves over time. In fact, the close relation with number of these policies shows the significant impact of these policies to the way the governance and enterprise restructuring was imposed, positively or negatively. Thus, there is significant correlation to SSP, CP, BRIRL and SMNBFI, presenting outcomes to how each of these variables impacts GOV. Nonetheless, over time most of the variables improved and it is clear that there is relationship between them moving upwards. Further in Figure 2 we can see the movements of governance and enterprise restructuring over time. Also, in this case the analyzed variable moved alongside the increase of the other variables and towards positive upward climb. Figure 3 indicates that even though there is positive movement up, governance and enterprise restructuring is still at the bottom of estimated policies progress. Figure I. Macedonias Governance and Enterprise Restructuring Figure I. Indicators Dynamics Discussion On the first assumption that governance and enterprise restructuring depend on imposed set of policies, the analysis showed that there are mixed outcomes. There are positive and negative influences that eventually bring satisfactory picture for the overall governance and enterprise restructuring. On the other hand, due to analysis of the second assumption it is clear that as the transition process progressed along with the imposed reforms and there is a positive inclination of governance and enterprise restructuring. However, there is still more to be done in order to bring these economies closer to the standards of developed ones. Indeed, it is needed considerable improvement of corporate governance, institution-building to control agency problems and imposing already adopted regulation, as well as, enforcing new enterprise restructuring policies, within existing policies of overall transition economy restructuring.

Essay -- Papers

[IMAGE] A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERIODIC TABLE Although Dmitri Mendeleev is often considered the "father" of the periodic table, the work of many scientists contributed to its present form. [IMAGE] In the Beginning A necessary prerequisite to the construction of the periodic table was the discovery of the individual elements. Although elements such as gold, silver, tin, copper, lead and mercury have been known since antiquity, the first scientific discovery of an element occurred in 1649 when Hennig Brand discovered phosphorous. During the next 200 years, a vast body of knowledge concerning the properties of elements and their compounds was acquired by chemists (view a 1790 article on the elements). By 1869, a total of 63 elements had been discovered. As the number of known elements grew, scientists began to recognize patterns in properties and began to develop classification schemes. Law of Triads In 1817 Johann Dobereiner noticed that the atomic weight of strontium fell midway between the weights of calcium and barium, elements possessing similar chemical properties. In 1829, after discovering the halogen triad composed of chlorine, bromine, and iodine and the alkali metal triad of lithium, sodium and potassium he proposed that nature contained triads of elements the middle element had properties that were an average of the other two members when ordered by the atomic weight (the Law of Triads). This new idea of triads became a popular area of study. Between 1829 and 1858 a number of scientists (Jean Baptiste Dumas, Leopold Gmelin, Ernst Lenssen, Max von Pettenkofer, and J.P. Cooke) fou... ... varied periodically with atomic number. The question of why the periodic law exists was answered as scientists developed an understanding of the electronic structure of the elements beginning with Niels Bohr's studies of the organization of electrons into shells through G.N. Lewis' (see a picture) discoveries of bonding electron pairs. The Modern Periodic Table The last major changes to the periodic table resulted from Glenn Seaborg's work in the middle of the 20th Century. Starting with his discovery of plutonium in 1940, he discovered all the transuranic elements from 94 to 102. He reconfigured the periodic table by placing the actinide series below the lanthanide series. In 1951, Seaborg was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work. Element 106 has been named seaborgium (Sg) in his honor.