Economics of Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economics of Organisations - Essay Example Victor P. Goldberg (2008, pp. 1071-1084) states that the contract which was entered into between General Motors-Fisher Body (GM/FB) in the year 1919 was lawfully not enforceable. This realistic proof warranted the chronological significance of the institutional understanding of the economics of the firm founded on the minimization of transaction costs (Tirole,1988; Carlton and Perloff, 1994; Williamson, 1985; Ricketts, 1994). In a current publication of the Journal of Law and Economics (2000), law of economics of firm has received new explanations. Profounders like (Klein, 2000; Coase, 2000; Freeland, 2000; Casadesus-Masanell and Spulber, 2000;) have proposed that the leading clarification established on issues of sorting of information and transaction costs is an incorrect one. The explanation with regard to taking into account transaction costs, has failed or even neglected many other important causal factors of vertical integration. But according to Kelin (2000), the foremost hypothesis H0 is "holdup is the main rationale for vertical integration". Klein ( 2000, p 106) states that "the evidence unambiguously demonstrates that while the contract initially worked well, this contract broke down in 1925 when GM's demand for Fisher bodies increased dramatically. Fisher then refused to make the necessary capital investments required to produce bodies efficiently for GM, in particular refusing to build an important body plant close to GM production facility in Flint, Michigan. These contractual difficulties were the primary reason GM decide in 1926 to vertically integrate with Fisher Body" Whereas Coase (2000, p 15) states that Coase, alternatively, supports the idea that H0 is rejected by historical facts. To him, asset specificity is only a possible foundation for vertical integration which is not sufficiently adequate to validate vertical integration. According to him there are three reasons which stimulate arguments. They are: a. GM had only acquired 40% of the shares of FB which it had already owned. b. FB did not locate its plants far away from GM. c. Fisher Brothers did not use any incompetent methods of production. Thus it can be said that there was no holdup and thus the H0 was rejected by Coase and he suggested an alternative H1 which is: ""Asset specificity (with or without hold up) is normally handled satisfactorily with long term contracts without requiring vertical integration". According to Freeland (2000, p 35) vertical integration was "caused primarily by the desire to acquire and retain the specialized knowledge and services of the Fisher brothers". Thus Freeland also declines H0 and places more emphasis on human assets. He states that "Access to specialized human capabilities favours vertical integration which may, in turn, produce holdup situations". The H0 was also rejected by Casadesus-Masanell and Spulber (2000, 68). Conclusion: Alternatively, in more current combinings between economics of the firm and business history as in the case General Motor/Fisher Body, the previous difference still applies. Reference: 1. Crocker and Masten, 1996, "Regulation and administered contracts revisited: lessons from transaction-costs economics for public utility regulation", Journal of Regulatory Economics, 9, 5-36. 2. Carlton and Perloff, 1994, Modern

The Waiting Years Essay Example for Free

The Waiting Years Essay The passage from the â€Å"The Waiting Years† reveals a bleak look into the earlier years of Shirakawa, who had worked as a government official. It also reveals dedication of moving from moving from one assignment to another and how difficult that time period must have been for the family. When we hear about the winter months, and how Shirakawa’s mother died, we understand what a hardship the winter months must have been for them, and get a direct link between feelings of guilt on Shirakawas’s part, from the quote and his mother’s passing but we also learn the importance of work and family loyalty. The family crest description offers a deep respect for the family members when the author describes the shrine, concealed in a black lacquer safe, emblazoned with the family crest in gold and it demonstrates a wonderful respect for the family member who had earlier passed on, when the passage speaks about the custom. Tomo acted in a very responsible manner, and it seemed that she had no other choice, but to keep a keen eye on the family property and she was going to do so and hear what she need to know with her own ears. Tomo had taken on the custom of dealing with all business matters concerning the rent on the houses and the land in this Buddhist retreat, tuck away at the back of the house. We also learn that there was more land that belonged to the family, and they had an acre or so each, which brought in a lot of money for the family and we understand that she had to watch out for those who defaulted on the property .

Sylvia Plaths The Bell Jar Essay -- Sylvia Plath Bell Jar Essays Depr

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar Depression and suicide are commonly discussed in today’s society; however, in the 1950s, incidents such as suicidal feelings were not mentioned due to being deemed too risquà ©. Sylvia Plath is well-known for her poetry, yet her prose is equally as noteworthy. According to Frances McCullough, The Bell Jar is a â€Å"pre-drugs, pre-Pill, pre-Women’s Studies† (Plath xiii) novel, which focuses on weighty issues which were not typically discussed during the time period. The semiautobiographical novel deals with depression and suicide, as well as a search for one’s identity, feminism, and rebirth. Therefore, The Bell Jar tackles various issues which were not discussed during the time of its publication. The novel follows the plight of a young woman, Esther Greenwood, as she begins a downward spiral in her mental health, slipping farther and farther away from reality. She delves deep into a depression, which is directly related to her search for her own identity. When one does not know one’s self, it becomes a struggle to develop relationships with others and succeed in life. Esther does not know who she is and this causes her to sink into a depression, leading to multiple suicide attempts. Esther is in a position in which she should be content, as a guest editor of a women’s magazine; however, she is not satisfied with her position: I was supposed to be having the time of my life. I was supposed to be the envy of thousands of other college girls just like me†¦I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn’t get myself to react. (I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surroundi... ...ed closely by societal members, causing the impending state of depression. The Bell Jar was the first novel of the time period to address such weighty issues as depression, suicide, sexual conduct, and feminism. Plath’s work impacted me greatly because, like many college students, I have gone through a period of searching for my true identity and could closely relate to the novel. Depression and suicide are often misunderstood by society; however, Plath’s semiautobiographical novel gave people an insider’s perspective â€Å"of what madness is actually like† (Plath xiii). Works Cited Kendall, Tim. Sylvia Plath: A Critical Study. New York: faber and faber, 2001. Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: Perennial Classics, 1996. Plath, Sylvia. Tulips. Ed. Jahan Ramazani, Richard Ellmann, & Robert O’Clair. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.

Hip Hop Childrenswear

The style express how active they were, and this collection adapted the idea of free, colorful, youthful but still comfortable to wear for children. This collection uses a lot of prints, and bright colors but still looks good on Fall/Winter season for children. Last but not least, I hope this collection can give inspiration and knowledge about the world-changing movement, hip hop. THE BEGINNING OF HIP HOP Hip hop started to began in South Bronx, New York city, around late sass. At that time black (skinned) people that mostly African-American was living as a group of minorities in America.They can't get the same facilities that white people can easily et. One of the story was, black (skinned) kids had to walk to school even their school has a far distance. But, for the white children, they can use the public transportation like buses. Then to express the injustice, they show it through creative ways. One of the hip hop pioneer is DC Cool Here (Clive Campbell). He is one of the people who developed hip hop music before later spread out through the world. Fig 1. DC Cool Here (Clive Campbell), 2008 At that time, hip hop also helped youngsters.Instead of fighting with the street gangs, they spend their time dance battling. Then Africa Bumboat founded the Zulu Nation, it's a confederation of street-dance crews, graffiti artists, and rap musicians. After that, hip hop movement gained more and more media attention, Billboard magazine printing an article titled â€Å"B Beats Bombarding Bronx†, commenting on influential hip hop figures like DC Cool Here. Hip hop still developing, until now, there are female hip hop artists too like Nick Mina] and Queen Latish. They also protesting the graphic hip hop lyrics depicting rape and violence against women.Rap is also a part of hip hop. Rap became a way for artists to spread political and social messages to people who still unaware about the life of African-American people. Fig 2. Africa Bumboat (Kevin Donovan), founder o f Zulu Nation, 2012 Later then, Hip hop started to spread out to the world â€Å"the center of a mega music and fashion industry around the world† that crosses social barriers and cuts across racial lines. 4 HIP HOP INFLUENCE ON FASHION † Hip- hop has become a lifestyle that's no longer Just associated with African- Americans or Latino, it has a global reach. – Task Lewis, Ph. D. '09, assistant professor of fiber science and apparel design in the College of Human Ecology. Hip Hop movement is no longer associated only with one group of people, the hip hop style adapted to the fashion world, where now people can wear tracksuits, sporting gear, oversized T-shirts, overalls and combat boots. In sass, this look was adopted by major fashion labels, becoming part of the mass culture. Also, the hip hop subculture embraced the country club luxuries of more venerable brands, which features not usually marketed to urban youth.In sass, one of the hip hop endorsement in fashi on industry was done by Ideas, which shell shoe get popularized by group Run DMS. Ideas reportedly paid Run DMS $1 million for the deal. From there, hip hop's influence in fashion continued to grow with corporations, and later with hip hop artists creating their own fashion labels. Ideas ads, Run DMS Fig 3. Michael Jordan with Nikkei Air Jordan, 1984 Then in 1984, Michael Jordan and Nikkei collaborated to create the Air Jordan basketball shoe. These shoes would become the most sought-after accessory since the Hermes Firkin.While the price point was high ($100 at the time), it did not stop young men from lining up. Nikkei still sells the Air and releases retro versions of the sneaker that sell out in hours across the globe. 6 Hip hop in early development in clothing was embraced by American designers, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hellfire. Men would buy clothes a few sizes bigger, adapted the baggy silhouette rappers were known for both on and offstage. Russell Simmons, one of hip hop prod ucer, capitalized on this trend by creating Path Farm clothing, the first hip hop clothing label.This revolutionized the fashion world, and many would follow in his footsteps, including Sean â€Å"Daddy† Combs and rappers Newly and 50 Cent. Path Farm Clothing Fig 4. Russell Simmons, 2013 After that, hip hop style spread out more and more through any part of the world, to he Paris and Tokyo streets. Designers took note of this and began adding a dose of hip hop to high end collections, such as the 1991 Channel collection, where Karl Laagered showed piles of gold Jewelry on models. In sass, many hip hop artists and executives started their own fashion labels and clothing lines.This ready to wear collection is focused on children at their teenage (5-7 years old) whose parents living in upper-middle class. Focusing on parents who want to dress up their children based on unique street style but still comfortable to wear. Children who also fond of fashion and to look different amon g the others. All looks in this collection can be worn daily, at any occasions. In this childlessness project, I have learned that hip hop style which usually worn by adults can also adapted to kids garments.Since its childlessness, all of the garments in this collection use comfortable material and easy to manage. From using the denim fabric, I also learned that many fabric manipulations can be made, such as making pleats from a piece of denim or ripped it. And by using subtle colorful fabric, it give more fun feeling to this collection. Overall, I have improve my knowledge in how to get theme, how to research on the theme and how to realizing my collection room the design stage until finish. BIBLIOGRAPHY Resellers, D. (2012, August 15).

Darwin Destroyed the Concept of Human Specialness

Darwin destroyed the concept of human specialness I would say I disagree quite strongly with the assertion that Darwin destroyed the specialness of humanity. For this relatively brief paper I am going to attempt to refute this claim and try to highlight some of the things that highlight how we have kept the same level of ‘specialness' that we have always had. There are many people who would say that we humans are the only beings with full consciousness, in the words of a great many this would translate to having a soul.Humans surely have a soul-like property, a mind, something that separates us from the multitudes of lower species from the smorgasbord of earthly life. It isn't my purpose for this paper to discuss whether or not we have a soul but I do intend to talk about what constitutes our mind, our selves. The fact that we as humans possess a high degree of consciousness to me spells a very special kind of existence.Can even our nearest intelligent creatures on the tree of life appreciate the magnificence of life? Can a chimpanzee sit back and admire the beauty of the sprawling life in the jungle? Does he marvel at his own bodies ability to repair itself after he has been in a bloody brawl with a rival? Can a dolphin be awestruck by the morning sun glistening on the surface of the water? Does he wonder what life would be like for him if he were one of those surface beings he often sees on boats in the ocean?Humans are extraordinary because, being the most advanced form of life on the planet, we possess brains larger than all other forms of life(save for some large mammals but even then ours are much bigger proportionally) With this we have evolved two magnificent features which can only set us worlds apart from and ahead of all other life forms. We have this amazing sense of self, sense of awareness- in a word -consciousness. This grants us the capability of knowing who and what we are (to a large extent anyway), and where we came from (Darwin is owed some credit in this field).It is the ability to see beauty in a sunset on a savannah, to hear the splendour in Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker, to read great works of literature and be able to travel the universe with our imaginations. The other great feature we have as a follow on from having large brains is the wonderful power of language. This splendid trait has gone hand in hand with consciousness to create the incredibly unique life form that homo sapiens has become. Our ability to understand the universe and our position in it is one of the glories of the human species.Our ability to link mind to mind by language, and especially to transmit our thoughts across the centuries is another (Dawkins 2008 p3) Our advanced cultures have truly become magnificent phenomena. We have complex, yet highly virtuous systems of ethics and values. Largely stemming from our aforementioned large brains and the use of language we have self evolved to create ways of living that set us apart from all t he rest of earthly creatures, both those alive today and all the previous inhabitants of the earth including ones from bygone eras.Humanity is replete with themes of co-operation, love, compassion, altruism, sympathy for our fellow beings as well as for all other life forms. We have been capable of many such virtues for a long time, since we became human one could say. As John Eccles (1980 p204) reminds us, there are snippets of evidence that as far back as eighty thousand years ago Neanderthal man held ceremonial burials- a truly altruistic act. Or, as he also noted- the bones of two men dated from sixty thousand years ago which show they were incapacitated for up to two years yet they had been kept alive by caring tribes folk.There is other evidence from as far back as this of the compassionate behaviour between members of humanity and we all know only too well of absolutely countless examples of it in recent history and of course in present day. For all modern mans shortcomings a nd problems in our societies, we have always been gifted with a great sense of right and wrong, of cruelty and kindness. With this majestic property that is consciousness comes the boundless faculty of thought. We are capable to reason, plan, remember to a limitless degree.Technology today has become something we could never have imagined even one hundred years ago. We have invented the most ingenious and sophisticated equipment to be able to look inside our brains. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)scans and the more recent positron-emission topography(PET) scans are machines with wonderful capabilities for seeing goings on in the brain. We can monitor which parts of the brain are being used when we experience certain thoughts. We cannot however, as Ward highlights(2008 p147), even begin to monitor in advance what people are thinking.Our thoughts are far and away more complex and profound than any other animals (or machine) can hope to have and, importantly, remain ours and ours only . If we try to look at the bigger picture, the macroscopic view of things, are we still special? When we gaze up into the night sky and contemplate our place in the universe it is very easy to become overawed by the sheer scale of the cosmos and our relative minuteness in it. How can there be anything special about us when we are almost nothing in relation to the vast universe.I believe it is not that we are in the universe but that we are the universe. â€Å"Far from exposing human beings as incidental products of blind physical forces, science suggests that the existence of conscious organisms is a fundamental feature of the universe†(Davies 1992 p21). As Davies alludes to here humanity is actually an intrinsic part of the universe and, whether or not there are other advanced conscious beings far out in space, we are or are part of the pinnacle of life, of nature, and of the cosmos.If the universe is one giant living organism, a vast clockwork mechanism, a massive computer then we are its brain, its central cog, its CPU. I try to imagine the perspective of a person who would make a statement like the title for this essay. I can understand the point whereby humanity is seen as simply the result of a very long line of life adapting and developing or, to use the term elucidated and made famous by Darwin- evolution. Life is just mechanical, they might say they have learned from Darwin, it only instinctively drives to keep living.What's so special about what is simply the as yet highest point of this unconscious , robotic like endeavour in nature. Are we more special than the animals below us on the food chain, or before us in eras like the dinosaurs. Was even the earliest amoeba not as special as us given its importance in the chain of events? This viewpoint, while largely correct in its facts and assumptions, doesn't give any credence to what homo sapiens has become since he has evolved from the ape.Hopefully this paper has made some of a case as to why the two legged big brained organisms that we are have a deep specialness to them. Bibliography Davies, Paul. 1992. THE MIND OF GOD. London: Penguin Books Dawkins, Richard. 2008. MODERN SCIENCE WRITING. Oxford: Oxford University Press Eccles, John C.. 1980. THE HUMAN PSYCHE. Berlin: Routledge Ward, Keith. 2008. The Big Questions in Science and Religion. Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation Press

10 Easy Ways for Students to Save Money

10 Easy Ways for Students to Save Money While you are in school, and maybe even right after you graduate, you are going to be on a tight budget. Looking for little ways that you can save money will prove to be very important during your school years and beyond. Lets explore 10 easy ways for students to save money. Stop Buying on Impulse Impulse shopping can be very tempting while out and about. The problem with this is that you end up blowing money on stuff you dont really need, and sometimes on stuff you dont really want. Before making a purchase, make sure it is truly necessary.   Dont Use Credit Cards Credit card companies love giving cards to young people. Many students give into the temptation to buy now and pay later. Unfortunately, these spending habits can come back to bite you. If you find that you cant use credit cards responsibly, hide the plastic until you learn a little restraint. Give Up Your Worst Habit Everyone has at least one bad habit. Maybe you smoke, drink Cosmos like no tomorrow, or buy expensive coffee before class. Whatever it is, cut it out. Youll be surprised at how much money you save. Dont Try to Keep Up With People Who Are Richer Than You Just because your roommate or your pals down the hall have a seemingly endless allowance, it doesnt mean you do too. Try to avoid keeping up with the people you hang out with and stay true to your budget.   Bargain Hunt Every Time You Shop When shopping, look for clearance items or two-for-one bargains, buy used books instead of new, and order the special instead of something off the menu. If you can find a bargain every time you have to buy something, the savings will add up.  Ã‚   Buy Machine Washable Clothes Youre in college. You dont need a dry cleaning bill! Buy clothes that you can wash yourself.  If you must buy dry clean only clothes, try to limit how often you wear them and find ways to cut dry cleaning costs.   Take Hand-Me-Downs Whether it is a used book or previously worn clothes, there is no shame in taking hand-me-downs. If somebody offers you something and you can use it, take it gratefully. When youre making more money, you may be able to someday do the same thing for someone else who will be just as grateful. Stay Home While it can be nice to get out of the dorm every now and then, staying at home is much cheaper. Instead of going out for the night, invite a few friends over for movies, games, gossip, or snacks. You might also want to give staycations a try.   See a Matinee Movie watching is a big part of American culture, but going to the movies with a few friends can be an expensive outing. Instead of going at night, try catching a matinee. Daytime shows are usually half the price of their nighttime counterparts and can be just as much fun.   Use the Library Most libraries offer you the chance to check out DVDs, CDs, and other forms of entertainment free of charge. Taking advantage of this resource, you can eliminate the money you spend on buying CDs and renting movies. Here are 12 ways to save money at the library.

Direction and Purpose Essays

Direction and Purpose Essays Direction and Purpose Essay Direction and Purpose Essay Metaphors provide originative images for readers. They give spirit to literature and let free reading of a piece ; thereby doing a conversation in a narrative. an image in a verse form. a symbolism in the secret plan and such. more interesting. Through the usage of such a figure of address. the images are laid bare and presented fresh. This creates an interaction between the reader. the writer and the piece ; as readers are made to analyse the images presented and the thought that the metaphor is seeking to present. It seems the verse form. Manila . expeditiously develops the metaphor that is the Philippines society during the colonial epoch. through a timeline. It takes the job of colonial Manila into the modern Filipino mentality. The verse form begins with an debut [ Lines 1-3 ] . which gives us the first glance of the similarities between the metropolis of Manila and the anchorite crab. The wining stanzas [ 4-8 ] elaborate the physical conditions of the country’s capital and eventually. the verse form concludes [ l9-14 ] with the outlook upheld by the state. To appreciate how metaphors lay au naturel Espino’s Manila . allow us analyse the imagination create in the verse form. line by line. Unlike most verse forms. Manila begins with an epigraph from Nick Joaquin. which reads: Dust and pediculosis pubis. dust and pediculosis pubis. We can presume that this quotation mark gives a foreview of what Federico Espino’s verse form will foreground. Though really small is conveyed in this line. we are able to say that the metaphor will keep significance to the verse form proper. Dust may be described as either something that depicts age or some remains of an detonation. We besides know of pediculosis pubis as an animate being that crawls and has claws. Pediculosis pubiss are besides able to last on land for short periods of clip and can literally populate on dust. Manila begins with the line: A anchorite crab beside the tide of times. if we look at the construct of the anchorite pediculosis pubis as a description of Manila. the line simply tells us that clip has passed. It tells us that Manila has an old history and that it has endured much. The following line: She bears the hints of her former homes/ the shells of foreign civilizations and the sludge. tells us that the country’s history contributes much to its individuality. The metropolis has withstood much to the point that it is now stray and delayed in comparing to the developments of other states. The former homes are the shells that the crab has already left buttocks. The foreign cultures such as that of the Spanish. British. Nipponese and Americans have all freed the state. yet their influences – dating back to colonial times – still linger. But as anchorite pediculosis pubis changes its shell. Manila now looks for a new shell of protection as she enters another epoch – whilst seeking to retain its individuality. Even with the passing of clip. the mix of civilization is still protected and preserved. which the storyteller describes as both positive and negative – connoting that though the aliens have given us a rich civilization. they have made us digest much slime and crap ( sing that sludge is a gastropod’s mucous secretion secernment ) in order to take what was justly ours – freedom. In the succeeding lines: Now she looks for nutrient as little moving ridges comb/Upon the shore where spots of driftwood lie . we now see a way in the verse form. Again it foreground how the anchorite crab hunts for something and we now see she looks for nutrient. Keeping in head that nutrient is parallel to life – since it is necessary in prolonging life – the anchorite crab looks for nutriment in a topographic point which apparently has really small to give. From Nick Joaquin’s Sa Loob ng Maynila . we understand the desolation in the metropolis when it served as the centre of the revolution. and we see that get downing anew is hard when 1 is left on what is being portrayed as a abandoned island. As expected. she finds nil in her hungry quest/ Alternatively she hears the strident seagull’s cry/ Which is a shriek beyond the rockbound nest. In these lines. the sea gulls – natural marauders of the anchorite crab – are foreign states. We can presume that non merely are we looking up at the sea gulls but that they are besides in a place to take advantage of us. In relation to the Philippines’ history. foreign states are surging. Other states advancement and it is a jeer when – ironically – the states we defeated contending for our independency are now more stable than we are – they still rise above us. We are still beneath them in a sense to the point we have to creep in order to acquire anyplace. These lines are simply making the image of a 3rd universe state. All seems ineffectual. particularly when you have nowhere else to travel. It mocks her as she crawls upon the sand- The sidewise motion of the anchorite crab/ Which Dylan saw on a deserted strand/ And used as a metaphor in runic letters that throb It is possible that Dylan represents a alien ( since it is a typical name for an American male child ) and he saw our aimless wandering and toke advantage of it – nevertheless. this is more of a intuition than a legitimate statement. What is clear though. is the point of our crabwise motion. which is the natural way a anchorite crab follows. By this we can agree that the motion has become unconditioned. We are non traveling frontward. We want so much. yet work so small. Possibly. these lines besides imply that we search in all the incorrect topographic points. With life. Yes. this metropolis is a brace of claws/ Creeping. crabbing with all its tragic defects. These last lines of the verse form sum up the purpose of the full verse form. Here it is implied that the people of the Philippines are cognizant of the harm in their society. Slowly. about lifelessly. the Filipinos effort to travel through the things we dislike in our state. We complain so much yet we do really small – and possibly that is our ruin. True there is no prefect state. but in most states you see a patterned advance. In mention to Nick Joaquin’s opening epigraph. possibly the dust is the remains of those states that one time colonized us. We neer bothered to clean up what was left to us – good and bad. Espino intimations that possibly that is why we are non traveling frontward. there is excessively much to repair all at one time. And this can be related to what we call crab mentality or the Filipinos’ attitude of clawing at those who have gotten in front to draw them back once more. We creep and crawl in our ain defects – in our ain errors – alternatively of picking ourselves and walking. It is our ain claws that hold us back. The generalisations made by Espino are obvious. Though the rubric is Manila is it clear that the metropolis. being the heart of colonial Philippines. is a synecdoche for the full state. And when all facets of Espino’s Manila are examined. we see that the metaphor is in the intricate. descriptive design of the Philippines as a anchorite crab trapped on a abandoned island. Though she is trying to get away. she is creeping blindly in no peculiarly way. It seems non much has alteration. Though Manila was written a long clip ago. it is comparatively surprising that the text pigments Manila in a sad. accurate mode. We fought for our freedom. Now we simply struggle with it. It seems our state can non make up ones mind independently ; like a anchorite crab. we depend on our symbiotic relationships. We can non last entirely and we rely on what can be give to us by those who protect us. The dependance relayed in the verse form explains why we have no way. no intent. and no resources. We are – genuinely – stuck.

Correlation Analysis in Sociological Research

Correlation Analysis in Sociological Research Correlation is a term that refers to the strength of a relationship between two variables where a strong, or high, correlation means that two or more variables have a strong relationship with each other while a weak or low correlation means that the variables are hardly related. Correlation analysis is the process of studying the strength of that relationship with available statistical data. Sociologists can use statistical software like SPSS to determine whether a relationship between two variables is present, and how strong it might be, and the statistical process will produce a correlation coefficient that tells you this information. The most widely used type of  correlation coefficient  is the Pearson r. This analysis assumes that the two variables being analyzed are measured on at least  interval scales, meaning they are measured on a range of increasing value. The coefficient is calculated by taking the  covariance  of the two variables and dividing it by the product of their  standard deviations. Understanding the Strength of Correlation Analysis Correlation coefficients can range from -1.00 to 1.00 where a value of -1.00 represents a perfect negative correlation, which means that as the value of one variable increases, the other decreases while a value of 1.00 represents a perfect positive relationship, meaning that as one variable increases in value, so does the other. Values like these signal a perfectly linear relationship between the two variables, so that if you plot the results on a graph it would make a straight line, but a value of 0.00 means that there is no relationship between the variables being tested and would be graphed as separate lines entirely. Take for example the case of the relationship between education and income, which is demonstrated in the accompanying image. This shows that the more education one has, the more money they will earn in their job. Put another way, these data show that education and income are correlated  and that there is a strong positive correlation between the two- as education rises, so too does income, and the same kind of correlation relationship is found between education and wealth as well. The Utility of Statistical Correlation Analyses Statistical analyses like these are useful because they can show us how different trends or patterns within society might be connected, like unemployment and crime, for example; and they can shed light on how experiences and social characteristics shape what happens in a persons life. Correlation analysis lets us say with confidence that a relationship does or does not exist between two different patterns or variables, which allows us to predict the probability of an outcome among the population studied. A recent study of marriage and education found a strong negative correlation between the level  of education and the divorce rate. Data from the National Survey of Family Growth show that  as education level increases among women, the divorce rate for first marriages decreases. Its important to keep in mind, though, that correlation is not the same as causation, so while there exists a strong correlation between education and divorce rate, that does not necessarily mean the decrease in divorce among women is caused by the amount of education received.

Choose one macrovascular and microvascular complication and discuss Assignment

Choose one macrovascular and microvascular complication and discuss the best evidence based assessment & management to identify and prevent secondary complications from the disease process - Assignment Example One of the most likely microvascular complications that they are likely to develop is retinopathy commonly known as retinopathy. The complication can be easily identified in individual with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. One can use several features in easy identification of the condition. One of the common characteristics that can be easily used in the identification of the complication is the presence of small haemorrhages in the central part of the retina (Fowler, 2008). Haemorrhages in this section of the eye appear as dots. The other characteristics that can be easily used in the identification of the condition in these individuals is the presence of hard exudates in the skin. The other common attributes are the presence of small vascular dilatations that occur in the retina commonly known as microaneurysms (Fowler, 2008). The location of the small vascular dilations can help in direct identification of the complication as they are usually the first to develop. Moreover, an individ ual is most likely to have retinal oedema that indicates microvascular leakage. Hence, individual retina is most likely to be greyish in colour. The severity can be easily identified by noting individual visual capability. The management of the disease is crucial in preventing the development of the complication. One of the key things in preventing of complication is by ensuring the three take part in dietary changes (Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper & Bucher, 2013). Change of diet will involve a reduction of carbohydrate intake and at the same time increase the fibre intake (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. (2007). Another way of reducing complication is ensuring the affected individuals take part in eye screening. Eyes should be regularly checked by ophthalmologist especially on a yearly basis (Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. (2007). On the other hand, Nick, Marty, and Sam are likely to develop macrovascular complications. One of the common types of this complication is

Money laundering and economic effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Money laundering and economic effects - Essay Example A case in point is the example of the measures put in place by the Basel Committee on Regulation and Supervisory. In this case, therefore, it becomes extremely easy for banks to have a clear check on their dealings with its counterparts and come up with appropriate solutions in cases where they detect secreted dealings. Secondly, it would be of use to regulate the manner in which organizations run their activities, so as to normalize efficiency. If the management is alert and constantly report on any forms of suspicious dealings, the entire organization will be better placed to deal with the implications of the money laundering. This will be applicable in the case of fraud such as in the instances of procurement, accounts, employment qualifications, investments amongst others. If this is applied in all organizations, a lot of money that would have landed in the hands of a few people will be saved from losses, or landing in the hands of the wrong people. The management must always be alert in the quest to make timely recognition on the crimes that might be related to crimes in the organizations and make appropriate decisions that focus on the minimizing chances of adverse effects on the economy. On another point of view, it is vital that all organizations are up to date with the novel technologies that are taking place in the globe today (Gup, 2007). This is related to putting in place rules and regulations that will change the tactics that will lead to adjusting to modern forms of money laundering. Consequently, organizations will be in a better position to adjust to the changing needs of the business related environment (Hinterseer, 2002). This is appropriate in the case of organized crimes that relate to money laundering in the society. With up to date technologies, organized crimes will be detected early enough; thus, prevent an occurrence of a crime that would be lead to terrorist activities in the globe. Conclusively, money

Reflection Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflection - Assignment Example Both of these processes are directly related to the organisations’ prospect for growth. Recruitment, on one hand, reflects the necessity of obtaining and retaining the most appropriate talent that the jobs require within an organisation. This aspect of the human resource department is of immense importance in the present world’s competitive market. Along with the market becoming more competitive, the level of skills among the people is also enhancing. In this situation, recruitment process is required to be conducted at its best without any failure (Richardson, 2002). Selection, on the other hand, reflects the most effective implementation of the process of recruitment. Selection of the candidates on the basis of information collected and evaluated about them enhances the chances of organisations’ success both in the short as well as long run. The processes of recruitment and selection are followed by the organisations for increasing the possibilities of the orga nisations to select the individuals with the right skills and attitudes for the organisations (Rioux & Bernthal, 2010). Comments on the Analytical and Reasoning Skills Applied The behaviour of people of remaining unaware of their weaknesses and their tendency of presenting themselves in the most socially pleasing manner keeps them away from accepting the truth about their weak points (Powers, 2002). However, I understand this fact quite well and thus I would comment on my analytical and reasoning skills to be moderate and apt to be enhanced. These skills are the most important traits of the persons which are required to be hold as an asset both in the present as well as later stages of life. From my performance on the case study analysis, I have realised the fact that these skills would have to be augmented to a greater extent for further development of my career. However, at the same time, I would like to mention that I should have made use of my learning and knowledge towards recr uitment and selection processes for critically analysing the case. This approach would have provided me appreciation and quantitatively superior marks. Learning Outcome from the Case Analysis Although I was not able to analyse the case in the most appropriate manner, I learnt a lot of effective things from my failure which I believed to be extremely helpful for my career. The first thing is related to the exhibition of ability towards identification of gaps between my skills and knowledge. This trait will help me in reducing the identified gap so that I can become capable enough to react to situations at the right time and in the right manner. The other thing that I learnt is related to the importance of identifying learning sources which are deemed to be the most effective for myself, both in my educational life as well as in my professional life. Above all these traits, the most important trait that I learnt from the failure is the gathering of ability towards formulation and impl ementation of the most effective plan for personal development (National Workforce Center for Emerging Technologies, 2010). Reflection: Is This Really Performance Development And Review? Learning Results from the Topic Covered The topic that was covered in the case is that of the evaluation of performance appraisal system followed in the organisation mentioned. The topic was related to taking up of the decision related to the

Creating a new business venture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Creating a new business venture - Essay Example This mission is ideal since it seeks to consolidate the company’s commitment to provide quality transport services to different targeted customers in the healthcare sector. Vision To be the market leader in the transport sector where the company seeks to cater for the interests of different customers in need of healthcare related transport services. Brief description of your organization Accarpio Transport’s business model is based on the notion of establishing a company that will specifically offer transportation services for those in need. The company will target different categories of people in its operations as shown below. Transportation of those in wheelchairs, those who use walkers, and those who can walk. Priced reasonable so anyone that needs our services can have them. The strategy of offering reasonable prices is specifically designed to attract as many customers as possible since there are also other actors in this particular sector of business. This strate gy will help the company to gain a competitive advantage in its operations which is the essence of any business venture (Strydom, 84). Brief historical review Accarpio Transport The business model of the company is unique in that it seeks to offer transportation services that are not provided by most ambulance companies. Most ambulance services are primarily concerned with offering services to patients who want to be taken to the hospital from their respective homes. Some of the service providers only provide transportation to doctors who have appointments. However, Accarpio Transport will provide transport to people who want to perform different errands such as going to the grocery stores or shopping malls, visiting friends or any other errands such as going to the park for refreshment. Current Marketing Situation Market overview The company intends to prioritize various trends that will give it a competitive advantage over other actors in the transport industry. For instance, the company seeks to offer consistent transport services to all clients. It intends to fulfill all their interests and needs so as to create loyalty among them. The company also seeks to harness the philosophy that no transportation job is too small in its operations since it is designed to cater for different types of customers. Market segmentation In theory, market segmentation is described as the process of dividing a heterogeneous market into smaller segments of people who have similar interests (Kotler, 87). In this particular case, geo-demographic segmentation will be used by the company. Geo-demographic segmentation is loosely defined as the process of identifying groups of people in a certain area who have similar demographic characteristics such as age, gender as well as lifestyle (Kotler,88). For instance, people living in the same geographical location may share similar interests such as the use of the same transport services as well as their interests towards different marke t offerings. In this case, Accarpio transport will target individuals interested in carrying out their personal errands such as visiting the hospitals. The company will also target patients intending to use transport to different places such as shops for their personal business. Target market The company will mainly target hospitals and it will offer transport to people visiting patients or carrying out any other business. The company wil

Commerce Bank Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Commerce Bank - Case Study Example It has been recommended that the bank keeps the entertainment costs at minimal and ensure that the staffs are not distracted by the entertainment programs from offering prompt services to the customers. There is no need to spend too much on entertainment as it has no direct contribution to the company overall profitability. The entertainment programs offered in the different branches should also be coordinated to ensure that customers receive consistent treatment. Commerce Bank is one of the banks based in New York which has managed to grow organically in a city which has the largest number of banks. The bank has achieved this success by differentiating its product and services from those of its close competitors. It has always been the banks aim to retain the customers by â€Å"wooing† them through great customer service. It also managed to attract a large number of customers by designing the physical structures of their branches in an appealing way and locating them in close proximity to the target market. The bank had experienced considerable growth and received several awards 2001 due to its superb customer service. Over time, other competing banks have adopted Commerce Bank strategies of wooing the customers. It has treated its clients not as customers but fans and transformed banking into a retail business and not service industry. In a bid to differentiate itself from the rival bank, the company has now developed the retailterta inment where it provides various forms of entertainment to keep the customers busy as they wait to be served in the banking halls of the various branches (Frances 2006). As such the company has introduced an entertainment program on Fridays where customers are served with free hot dogs and are entertained by a juggler and a guitar player. Some managers feel that this could be taking the retailtertainment too far and may actually act as a

Creating a new business venture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Creating a new business venture - Essay Example This mission is ideal since it seeks to consolidate the company’s commitment to provide quality transport services to different targeted customers in the healthcare sector. Vision To be the market leader in the transport sector where the company seeks to cater for the interests of different customers in need of healthcare related transport services. Brief description of your organization Accarpio Transport’s business model is based on the notion of establishing a company that will specifically offer transportation services for those in need. The company will target different categories of people in its operations as shown below. Transportation of those in wheelchairs, those who use walkers, and those who can walk. Priced reasonable so anyone that needs our services can have them. The strategy of offering reasonable prices is specifically designed to attract as many customers as possible since there are also other actors in this particular sector of business. This strate gy will help the company to gain a competitive advantage in its operations which is the essence of any business venture (Strydom, 84). Brief historical review Accarpio Transport The business model of the company is unique in that it seeks to offer transportation services that are not provided by most ambulance companies. Most ambulance services are primarily concerned with offering services to patients who want to be taken to the hospital from their respective homes. Some of the service providers only provide transportation to doctors who have appointments. However, Accarpio Transport will provide transport to people who want to perform different errands such as going to the grocery stores or shopping malls, visiting friends or any other errands such as going to the park for refreshment. Current Marketing Situation Market overview The company intends to prioritize various trends that will give it a competitive advantage over other actors in the transport industry. For instance, the company seeks to offer consistent transport services to all clients. It intends to fulfill all their interests and needs so as to create loyalty among them. The company also seeks to harness the philosophy that no transportation job is too small in its operations since it is designed to cater for different types of customers. Market segmentation In theory, market segmentation is described as the process of dividing a heterogeneous market into smaller segments of people who have similar interests (Kotler, 87). In this particular case, geo-demographic segmentation will be used by the company. Geo-demographic segmentation is loosely defined as the process of identifying groups of people in a certain area who have similar demographic characteristics such as age, gender as well as lifestyle (Kotler,88). For instance, people living in the same geographical location may share similar interests such as the use of the same transport services as well as their interests towards different marke t offerings. In this case, Accarpio transport will target individuals interested in carrying out their personal errands such as visiting the hospitals. The company will also target patients intending to use transport to different places such as shops for their personal business. Target market The company will mainly target hospitals and it will offer transport to people visiting patients or carrying out any other business. The company wil

Critically evaluate the ways by which e-commerce companies use social Essay

Critically evaluate the ways by which e-commerce companies use social media to enhance their business model - Essay Example (Ambrosini and Bowman, 2009). Here we have an example of Overstock closeout comparable like ebay and Amazon in sense of sales management firm however it’s different because of its integration of social network into the social group. It encourages users to establish online presence through personalized home page with personal information and history, photographs, connects their online shopping preferences and return policies. User can become a member of social network by becoming friend with an already user and 2ndly the one who purchase or sell become the piece of business network where each connection connecting two users implies one or more earlier budgetary transactions. The most widely recognized example of a B2c application is a retail web site featuring the business items or services that might be directly purchased by the consumer. The importance of B2c varies significantly from organization to organization. For some companies that run a chain of retail stores, B2c ought to be one of the most critical pieces of their Internet strategy (Maddox and Blankenhorn, 1998). Business to Business (B2B) - Forging new relationships between businesses is becoming basic for businesses to survive and bloom in this increasingly quick paced world. Examples of B2b applications include encouraging transactions for products/services between companies, selling merchandise/services on the Internet to businesses, and production network integration. Another example is online procurement of products starting with one organization then onto the next (Maddox and Blankenhorn, 1998). Consumer to Consumer (C2C)Â  - C2C applications involve consumers directing commerce directly with other consumers. This clearly means that the organization encouraging the transaction must discover some non-customary revenge stream. This could be a little reduced of the transaction, a service fee, advertising, or some

Internet mini case Essay Example for Free

Internet mini case Essay Williams-Sonoma (WSM) was a specialty retailer of products for the home. The company’s products were sold through two channels: the retail channel and the direct-to-customer channel. The retail segment comprised four retail concepts: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and Hold Everything. The direct-to-customer segment sold though eight retail catalogs: Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Bed + Bath, PB Teen, Hold Everything, West Elm, and Williams-Sonoma Home (which incorporated elements from the previously separate Chambers) as well as through four e-commerce sites. The catalogs reached customers throughout the United States, and the four retail businesses operated 522 stores in 42 states and Washington, DC. The retail segment accounted for 58.9% of total sales; the direct-to-customer segment accounted for 41.1% in fiscal 2003. Charles E. Williams, Director Emeritus of the company in 2003, founded Williams-Sonoma in 1956 to offer high-end culinary and serving equipment in an upscale retail environment. The company entered the direct-to-customer channel in 1972, with the introduction of its flagship catalog, â€Å"A Catalog for Cooks,† which marketed the Williams-Sonoma brand. In 1983, the company internally developed the Hold Everything catalog to offer innovative and stylish storage solutions for home and home office. The success of the catalog led to the opening of the first Hold Everything retail store in 1985. In 1986, the company acquired Pottery Barn, at that time a marginally successful retailer and direct-to-customer merchant featuring a large assortment of casual home furnishings and accessories including furniture, lamps and lighting fixtures, rugs, window treatments, linens, dinnerware, and glassware. In 1989, Williams-Sonoma created Chambers, a direct-to-customer merchandiser of high-quality, premium-priced linens, towels, robes, soaps, and accessories for bed and bath. This case was prepared by Professor Maryanne M. Rouse, MBA, CPA, University of South Florida. Copyright  © 2005 by Professor Maryanne M. Rouse. This case cannot be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holder, Maryanne M. Rouse. Reprint permission is solely granted to the publisher, Prentice Hall, for the books, Strategic Management and Business Policy – 10th and 11th Editions (and the International version of this book) and Cases in Strategic Management and Business Policy – 10th Edition by the copyright holder, Maryanne M. Rouse. This case was edited for SMBP and Cases in SMBP – 10th Edition. The copyright holder is solely responsible for case content. Any other publication of the case (translation, any form of electronics or other media) or sold (any form of partnership) to another publisher will be in violation of copyright law, unless Maryanne M. Rouse has granted an additional written reprint permission. In early 1999, the company launched both its Williams-Sonoma Internet wedding and gift registry web site and its Williams-Sonoma e-commerce site. Later that year, the company launched a separate Pottery Barn Kids catalog to offer well-made, stylish children’s furniture and decorative accessories. (Pottery Barn Kids was one of the first concepts to market in what is expected to be a major growth segment during the next decade, as birthrates in the United States. are expected to surpass rates achieved at any time in the past 30 years. Birthrates among older women are soaring, and older moms tend to be wealthier and more willing to splurge on their children.) Pottery Barn Kids stores were opened adjacent to Pottery Barn stores across the United States, and by September 2004, there were 78 stores. Edward Mueller, Williams-Sonoma CEO, expected Pottery Barn Kids to be the primary growth vehicle for the company over the next several years. Williams-Sonoma launched its Pottery Barn web site and created a separate Pottery Barn Bed + Bath catalog in 2000. In 2001, the company added a Pottery Barn Kids web site, and a Pottery Barn online gift and bridal registry, and it opened five new retail stores in Toronto, Ontario. In line with its related diversification growth strategy, Williams-Sonoma tested a new catalog in summer 2002, under the West Elm brand. This new brand targeted young, design-conscious customers seeking to furnish first homes/apartments/lofts with quality furniture and accessories at affordable price points. West Elm product categories included furniture, decorative accessories, and an extensive textiles collection. In 2003, Williams-Sonoma expanded its catalog mailings for West Elm, added a web site, and opened its first retail store. Williams-Sonoma launched PB Teen with a catalog and web site in late April 2003. PB Teen was intended to fill the market space between Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids with hip, exclusively designed furniture, rugs, lighting, bedding, and accessories promoted with its catalog, interactive web site, special sales campaigns, and contests. The company’s newest concept, Williams-Sonoma Home, was introduced in third quarter 2004 to tap into what company Chairman William H. Lester noted had been an empty space between the Pottery Barn demographic and designer home furnishings. Lester hoped to position this brand extension as an upscale furniture concept that would be more classic and less fashion-forward than Pottery Barn. Dave DeMattei, Williams-Sonoma’s President of Emerging Brands, noted that the look of casual elegance was â€Å"aspirational,† using an industry term for a product that helps a consumer trade up without necessarily spending top dollar. This new home collection, put together by Steven Brady, former President for Home Design at Ralph Lauren Home, featured down-plumped sofas ranging from $2,200 to $5,800 and $3,000 leather headboards as well as crystal lamps, cashmere throws, and the upscale linens formerly featured in the company’s Chambers catalog. (The company planned to fold the Chambers catalog into the Williams-Sonoma Home catalog.) Although some industry watchers questioned whether consumers would be willing to buy somewhat pricey furnishing sight-unseen, the company’s alliances with decorators, who would get trade discounts, were expected to help overcome initial resistance. The first Williams-Sonoma Home retail stores were expected to open early in 2 005. Retail Stores As of September 2004, Williams-Sonoma operated a total of 522 retail stores located in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Toronto, Ontario: 242 Williams-Sonoma, 176 Pottery Barn, 82 Pottery Barn Kids, 7 Hold Everything, 1 West Elm, and 14 outlet stores. The company leased rather than owned its retail space. As of September 2004, the company’s gross leased square feet totaled 4,292,000, with 2,705,000 â€Å"selling† square feet. Lease terms ranged from 3 to 23 years. The average square feet per retail location increased from 7,660 in 2002 to 8,200 by August 2004, as the company replaced older, smaller Pottery Barn stores with larger stores carrying a wider variety of merchandise, including furniture. Direct-to-Customer Operations The direct-to-customer segment sold a variety of products through eight catalogs and e-commerce web sites. The company sent its catalogs to addresses from its proprietary customer lists as well as to names it received in exchange (or purchases) from other mail-order merchandisers, magazines, and other companies. The direct-to-customer business complemented the retail business by building customer awareness of the brand and acting as an effective promotional vehicle. Williams-Sonoma also used its catalogs and e-commerce sites as a cost-efficient means of testing market acceptance of new products. As of 2004, of the eight merchandising concepts, the Pottery Barn brand and its extensions had been the major source of sales growth in this segment for the previous several years. A good deal of Pottery Barn’s success was attributed to its ability to create a â€Å"lifestyle brand.† A brand gained â€Å"lifestyle† status via style, innovation, and appeal to customers who wanted to lead a particular style of life; in short, it allowed the company to reach a higher level in terms of the connection it made with the customer. Facilities/Locations Williams-Sonoma leased centralized distribution facilities in Olive Branch, Mississippi (2,152,000 square feet), and Memphis, Tennessee (1,515,000 square feet), and call centers in Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania (approximately 36,000 square feet in each location). Distribution centers served both the company’s retail locations and fulfillment operations. The company also leased office, warehouse, design/photo studio, and data center space in California, New York, and Florida. In February, Williams-Sonoma purchased headquarters offices in San Francisco. Suppliers The company’s sourcing strategy included relationships with manufacturers in over 40 countries. Approximately 58% of merchandise purchases were from non-U.S. vendors, most of which were located in Europe and Asia. Substantially all of the company’s foreign purchases of merchandise were negotiated and paid for in U.S. dollars. Any event causing a sudden disruption or delay of imports from foreign vendors, including the imposition of additional import restrictions, restrictions on the transfer of funds and/or increased tariffs or quotas, or both, against home-centered items could increase the cost or reduce merchandise availability. No supplier accounted for more than 4% of Williams-Sonoma’s total purchases. Finance In fiscal 2003 (fiscal year ended February 1, 2004), Williams-Sonoma reported a 16.7% increase in net revenues over the prior year, the highest pretax operating margin and earnings per share in the company’s history and an increasing return on assets. Williams-Sonoma’s profit for the quarter ended August 1, 2004, jumped 55% as sales surged at the company’s Pottery Barn and outlet stores. Revenue for second quarter 2004 increased 19%, to $689.6 million, with direct-to-customer sales up an impressive 27%. Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids drove second quarter retail growth with same-store sales increases of 10.2%; however, same-store sales at the company’s Williams-Sonoma stores slid 1.6%. The closing price for Williams-Sonoma stock on October 14, 2004, was $36.33. (Note: Williams-Sonoma’s annual and quarterly reports and SEC filings are available via the company’s web site, www.williams-sonomainc.com, and www.wsj.com ) The Industry The specialty retail business was highly competitive and characterized by a number of challenges, including: Anticipating and quickly responding to changing consumer demands Maintaining favorable brand recognition and effectively marketing products to consumers in diverse market segments Developing innovative, high-quality products in colors and styles that appealed to consumers of varying age groups and tastes Competitively pricing products and achieving customer perception of value Providing strong and effective marketing support Specialty retail exhibited the low entry barriers characteristic of fragmented industries, barriers that may be all but eliminated with the increased popularity of the Internet. Favored products for online shopping included computers, books, CDs, electronics, toys, and housewares. Over time, industry analysts expected catalog retailing to merge with e-tailing as web sites become electronic catalogs. For successful companies with strong brand names, the combination of stores and web sites would be a powerful one; however, expenditures for e-commerce sites would hurt profitability in the short run. Competitors Williams-Sonoma’s specialty retail stores, mail-order catalogs, and Internet web sites competed with other retail stores, other mail-order catalogs, and other e-commerce web sites that marketed similar lines of merchandise. The company competed with national, regional, and local businesses as well as traditional furniture stores, department stores and specialty stores. The substantial sales growth in the direct-to-customer industry within the past decade had encouraged both the entry of new competitors and an increase in competition from established companies. Direct competitors included such national companies as Crate Barrel, Restoration Hardware, Pier 1 Imports, and Bombay Company, as well as regional companies such as the Door Store, Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium, Home Elements, and Expressions. Crate Barrel A counterculture story of the 1960s, Crate Barrel opened its first store in Chicago’s Old Town in 1962 and mailed its first catalog in 1967. Privately held Crate Barrel prided itself on designing beautiful store displays that were difficult to copy and worked diligently to find products from smaller, out-of-the way factories that made beautiful products that consumers could afford. Although the company had significantly fewer brick-and-mortar locations (84 retail and outlet stores) than the Williams-Sonoma retail concepts with which it competed, Crate Barrel marketed nationwide via its catalogs and web site. Restoration Hardware Restoration Hardware grew from just 20 stores in 1997 to 104 at the end of 2001, barely 37 behind Pottery Barn in brick-and-mortar locations; however, the company had had a difficult time managing growth. Its aggressive expansion between 1998 and 2000 cost it two years of profits and sank the value of its stock to as low as $.50 a share in December 2000, from $37 a share in 1998, the year it went public. The closing price for its stock on May 19, 2002, was $10.19. Both Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn sold high-dollar, vintage-style furniture and home furnishings and had many other characteristics in common, including significant growth in direct-to-customer sales. Industry observers estimated that while Pottery Barn targeted the wealthiest 20% of Americans, Restoration Hardware targeted the wealthiest 10%. Whimsical nostalgia had been a big seller for Restoration Hardware for several years, with such items as retro tools, steamer chairs that could have come straight from the set of Titanic, shot glasses decorated with optometrists’ eye charts, and down-filled â€Å"foot duvets† proving hugely popular with shoppers. Restoration Hardware’s not-so-secret weapon in the battle for upscale customers could well have been Gary Friedman. In spring 2001, Friedman, who managed Pottery Barn’s explosive growth in the 1990s, was named CEO of Restoration Hardware after having been passed over for the top job at Williams-Sonoma. Pier 1 Imports Pier 1 Imports comprised three chains of retail stores operating under the names Pier 1 Imports, The Pier, and Cargo. Products offered included a wide variety of furniture, decorative home furnishings, dining and kitchen goods, bath and bedding, and other specialty items for the home. During the fiscal year ended February 28, 2004 (fiscal 2003), it operated 1,015 Pier 1 stores in the United States and 68 Pier 1 stores in Canada, and it also supported 8 franchised stores in the United States. In addition, it operated 29 stores located in the United Kingdom under the name The Pier and 40 Cargokids stores located in the United States. Pier 1 also supplied merchandise, and it licensed the Pier 1 Imports name to Sears Mexico and Sears Puerto Rico, which sold Pier 1 merchandise in a store-within-a-store format in 20 Sears Mexico stores and in 7 Sears Puerto Rico stores. The Bombay Company The Bombay Company’s retail stores and catalog emphasized classic traditional furniture, wall decor, and accessories. Furniture included both wood and metal ready-to-assemble furniture designed for the bedroom, living room, dining room, and home office. Functional and decorative accessories included lamps, jewelry, baskets, candles, scents, ceramics, frames, and desktop items. Wall decor included prints and mirrors. On January 31, 2004, the company operated 415 stores in 42 states and 56 stores in 9 Canadian provinces, as well as 46 outlet stores. The company viewed the outlets as an opportunity to increase sales to a different customer base, to assist in the orderly clearance of merchandise, and to further capitalize on its strength in designing and sourcing proprietary products. Accessories, the broadest category offered by the company, accounted for 43% of sales in 2003, while large furniture accounted for 31%, and ready-to-assemble products 14%, with wall decor accounting for the remaining 12%. Door Store The privately held Door Store operated nine retail locations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Its products included contemporary and traditional case goods and upholstered furniture; it competed with both Pottery Barn and Hold Everything. The company’s product strategy was to anticipate trends in furniture and to make quality furniture available to style-conscious customers at â€Å"prices almost too good to be true.† The Door Store also marketed via its web site and shipped nationwide. Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium This privately held franchise kitchen and housewares concept, with headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, had store locations in regional and upscale malls in Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. In addition to retail sales, the company marketed nationwide via catalogs and its web site. The Rolling Pin competed with Williams-Sonoma. Other Competitors Other competitors across retail concepts included local and regional furniture and specialty stores, department stores, and direct-ship manufacturers. Williams-Sonoma’s expansion from the kitchen into the rest of the home with its flagship brand via the new Williams-Sonoma Home concept was expected to reorder a landscape dominated by traditional retailers such as Ethan Allen and Room Board and by â€Å"tastemakers† such as Martha Stewart for Bernhardt and Ralph Lauren Home.

Back Ground of the Company Xerox

Back Ground of the Company Xerox Haloed Corporation was renamed in 1961 as XEROX. Photocopier was their main product which was introduced in 1959.Xerox was the only company in the market providing photocopier. The company monopolized the market as the only seller of photocopier and this monopoly was well protected by patents. The logical result of this monopoly was the over confidence of the company. They made their own standards and trusted heavily on them. Joint ventures were the method adopted by XEROX to hit the international market. In 1959 RANK XEROX was registered and was assigned a target to hit the market European and African market. In 1962 FUJI XEROX worked in the domain of FAR EAST and ASIAN PACIFIC. Average and high level market was the target of XEROX and had nothing to do with low level market. Competition Monopoly complaint against XEROX was filed by the Federal Trade Commission in 1973. In 1975 XEROX took away its patents. Many other companies jumped in and between1971 and 1980 about 147 companies got hold of the market. The result was obvious and XEROX lost about50%of the market share. Middle and high level market was captured by IBM and Eastman Kodak . New technology was introduced by these companies and took a   good share of the market from XEROX. The low level market was captured by Japanese firms. The products for the low level market were not in the domain of XEROX and that is why it could not compete the Japanese companies. The Japanese then came into the middle and high level industry. Their product was favored because it was easy to use and preserve. Diversification In 1969, Xerox assumed technological information system also called scientific data system. With the help of scientific data system, Xerox developed mainframe computers. They afterward traded it off in 1975 at loss of 1.4 billion. In 1970 the company bought disables system; it developed daisy wheel printer and computer memories. Xerox merged memory writer, a company which was producing typewriters. This   was   a successful deal, as the company was able to capture 20% of the typewriter market. The Xerox developed its own research center which designed a new electronic printing technology. This also a lot the company to hold majority of the market purchasing foster in 1983, and then acquiring van Kampen market, company got good position in the market. Xerox in the 1950 Peter McCullough wanted to implement quality circle activity in the company which he observed during his stay in Japan. A team was sent to Japan to study the activity in 1978, the team also Study General Motors and the other US manufactures. The result of the study was the involvement of the employees in the company would be fruitful in future. To implement the decision of involvement of employees in company. Dr. Harold J. Tragash was hired in 1979. The 30% of the work force was given training in 1980.the employees were divided into 100 groups. These groups participated into the fairs of company and the result were as listed: Cost reduction. Employee satisfaction. Improvement in product quality. In 1982, David Keans become the CEO of the company, he placed off employees and quitted 2100 employees by 1983, Business effectiveness in 1980, Dwight F. Ryan was made the dead of business effectiveness department. He was given the following tasks: Improve productivity Reduce cost Improve customer satisfaction. The policy of the involvement of the employees in the affairs of the company became the first step towards the business effectiveness. Company structure was changed in Ju8ly 1981 abd the business was made into strategic Business unitys. Business system department was handed over to Dwight F.Ryan. fifty Top managers along with David Kean held a meeting in September 1981.which was ended to strong suggestion s to implement business effectiveness with force on employee involvement and competitive benchmarking. Keans, Rechired and Teagash worked very hard on three goals i.e. increase in productivity cost, effectiveness and customer orientation. Fuji Xerox Fuji Xerox was facing new competition in the world market in 1970. Japan being the leader in business activity, posed though competition for Fuji Xerox which h had base in Japan. The solution came in 1976 in the shape of â€Å" the New Xerox Movement â€Å". Demining award for quality was awarded to Fuji Xerox in 198. This was the result of this new movement. David Kearns visited Japan to find out the causes of winning the   award . He studied deeply the Fuji Xerox model. In 1982 Targash Richard d and their staff worked o a business strategy effectiveness for Xerox. Theyir study was based upon the Fuji Xerox model.   They had a number of meeting with David Kearns and finely on July 1980, a new strategy called â€Å"Pursuit og Execellence†was put   forward by the team.the team consisted of Senior managers which worked hard to form   new stretgy adnn method of its implementation .In 1982 David Nadler and Delta consulting groups was hired to follow the Fuji Xerox model. Blue Book (a management-Change) In1983, Kearns held a meeting with cooperate management committee and operating units heads about Blue Book. Twenty five executives gave their opinion about Blue Book. The wuality experts Phil Crosly and W. Edwards were also invited to speak at   the meeting. The main objective of the blue book were: Quality improvement, by doing things right and doing them well. To improve long term business success. Quality determined by customers. Provide training by all levels. To make the senior managers as role models. A system of employee quality reward system to be set up. Leadership throughQuality: Quality strategy became the responsibility of 25 executives to whom David Kearns held a meeting in February in 1983.he explain the meaning of Quality as doing things right the first time.The blue book was not presented as finished product ,instead it was used for briefing product and discussion. The exective of Xerox were divided into two parts. One worked for communication and the other worked for reward and recognition. The outcome of these groups were as follow: The concept of â€Å"Leadership through quality† was introduced. The idea of Xerox quality was given. Quality ws defined as meeting customer existing and their requirements in future. Improving quality means understanding and working to satisfy the customers requirements. Kearns emphasized on Quality as well as on keeping eye on the challenges going around in other industries. He was the opinion that is was the time to change the culture and timae to introduced the quality culture at Xerox . In august 1983, the system for Xerox was changed to insure quality. Cooperate Quality Office On March 29, 1983, cooperate quality office started functioning. Fred. B. Henderson became vice president for quality. He was also elected as cooperate office by the board of directors. Henderson emphasized on employee involvement, competitive benchmarking and leadership through quality. According to John Kelsch quality award business strategy are closely related. A change in quality would be a change in strategy. Quality strategy is more useful than product strategy. Quality implantation team was selected which was working in cooperate quality office. Each business group was given representation in the office. Nine erecutive were from the field and six executives were from the cooperate office including Tragash and Richard.Each member was named as vice president for quality and had to report its departmental head. In April 1983 a six a six month strategy was implanted by QIT. The member had their concern over its implantation. Firstly would it work and secondly will the company stick to the changes. There was another very important concern and that was about timeframe. There were of the view that it would change the culture and than larger period of time will be required for adjustment. And other sections of member were of the opinion that too much work is required for this applications and the original task will be showed. After the formation of quality implementation team (QIT),the quality training task force was made. The range of work set for QIT was to implement the change and quality training task force (QITF) would provide training to the employees. The member of QIT will share ideas, get input from the parent department.adn establish the home office stake in process. In 1983 the team produce second blue book for implementation at the end of the meeting, they had a strategic plan in their hand and was named as green book. The green book gave stress in quality strategy, and short term programs which produce long term leadership. The goals of green book were as follow: Setting goals which are yet to achieve. There must be a strategy for quality and implement. The working method. The green book was consisted on 92 pages its range of study was consisted of 92 pages. Its range of study was the cost of quality, outline for quality implement process problem solving process and tool for served strategically problems. It gave the idea that competitive bench marking is the key tool for several statistical problems. it gave the idea that competitive bench marking is   the key tool for evaluating Xerox. This green book was implanted from 1983 to 1987. The most important and positive aspect of this whole exercise was the training. Each training was given a problem they would have to solve them. The training was given from top to bottom. Managers were trained first and then they participated in the training of their subordinates this training was named as cascade. Changes and Opportunities Occurred In 40 Years Strength in the Past: In the beginning, Xerox enjoyed pure monopoly; there was no competitor in the market. The product of company was well protected by patents. This pure monopoly gave the following benefits to the Xerox. There was no price pressure from the competitors. It could fix and alter the price according to its own will. The company could increase their price by decreasing its production. There was no risk of over production. Other company completely controlled the market. During first fifteen years the main products were Xerox 914, the first plane paper Xerox 813, the first desktop plain paper and first photocopier. By 1965, company revenues crossed $500 million. In 1975, Xerox was forced by the federal trade communication to license its copies to other manufactures. Xerox monopolized the upper level market for a long time and during this period; the company extended its product line. Strength Today: The strength of the company lays the following facts: It had a good brand name image. The company was the pioneer in its filed. Good quality products, best technologies and good services gave a stronger out look to the company. Even Japanese companies did not enjoy such a strong image. The slogan of total satisfaction guarantee according to which instead of monetary refund the products are replaced, became a reason for its bigger image. The company had excellent quality management team. Employees participation in operational decisions made a very strong image of the company in local and international market. The people working in the organization are proactive in nature then re active. The employee participation in the affair of company to find out the demands of customers. Weakness in the past The company got over confident because of the monopoly enjoyed by it for a long time. The company started taking things causally. For Example â€Å"the receipt provided to purchaser had only product code on it rather than the product name. The purchaser would not know if he caught what he asked for. Internal competition was another weakness in the past. There was a competition among the employees which badly affected the organization effectiveness. And knowledge management practices. The other result of this internal competition were the isolation of the information, lose of employees, breaks in the organizational flow charts and corporate disloyalty. Another weakness of the company was that it was not targeting the low level market. Xerox only targeted higher market. Xerox could have increased its profits if they would have targeted low markets. With the arrival of new competition, Xerox tried to improve its quality. It failed to do so because of its scattered efforts. There was a lack of collective efforts. Weakness Today The following are the weaknesses of Xerox Corporation: Total quality management implementation resulted in high over head costs. Financial position of Xerox is not very good. 100% quality concept created a negative competitive position for Xerox. As customers are not ready to pay for exceptional quality and services. Fixed asset turn over as increase in recent years. But the total asset turnover ratio has decreased. It is because of the reason that the company has increased its inventory requirements by its product replacement concepts. Leverage ratios are increased where as profitability ratios are decreased.   Opportunities in The Past Since Xerox enjoyed monopoly in its products therefore the whole world was its market. The company availed its opportunities and targeted the different regions of the world. This goal was achieved by joint ventures with other companies, the details of which furnished below: Xerox got into joint venture with a British company named as Rank Organization in 1959. The joint venture came in the market with the name Rank Xerox. The target of this company was to manufacture and market Xerox equipment in Europe, Africa and Asia. Modi Xerox (Xerox India) was a joint venture between Rank Xerox and Modi group in India and its rang was Indian subcontinent. Fuji Xerox was established in 1962. Which was a joint venture of Rank Xerox and the Japanese photography firm Fuji Photo Film Co. They aimed Far East and Asia Pacific region for the xerographic and document related products and services in these regions. Opportunities Today Following may be the opportunities of Xerox Corporation: Diversification into more product lines. Expansion into more production foreign market. By diversifying into more product lines and by finding new potation markets such as Europe and South East Asia, the company can increase its business and establish its credibility in the international market. Threats in the Past There was no self benchmark in the company and it heavily relied own internal benchmark. There are positive points in internal benchmarking as it is cost effective. It is easy to gain access to all the information required. The negative aspect of the internal benchmarking is that we cannot get information about the competitors and the other outside parties. Internal benchmark may not be adequate to face the external pressure. Keeping in mind the drawbacks it is better to use external benchmarking. External benchmarking is a useful way of studying of performance measured taken by successful organizations with in the same industries or the different industry and learning for them. It is also useful for studying the various systems and processes. The idea that benchmarking is done against in the company in the same industry is a miss concept.   Monopoly case was registered to Federal Trade Commission in 1973 and as a result of this Xerox had to take away its patents in 1975. Monopoly was changed into monopolistic competition in the market which was a great threat to the company. Between 1971 and 1978, 77 different plain paper copiers came into the market and between 1978 to 1980, 70 more companies listed their mark in the market. This shattered the shares of the company which dropped from 100 % to 50 %. After the removal of monopoly of Xerox, many Japanese companies entered in photocopy business. And targeted the low level markets. Xerox could not compete as it had no product to offer the low level market. Japanese after getting the good position in the lower market, started to move toward the mid and upper level markets. Their products were better, easy to use, easy t maintain and more efficient. It was a big blow to Xerox.

Ray Bradburys Something Wicked This Way Comes Essay -- essays research

Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes David Glasgo Modules 15-16 Dec 20, 1996 Someone knows your secret dream, that one great wish that you would pay anything for. That person suddenly makes your dream come true - before you learn the price you have to pay. Ray Bradbury's, Something Wicked This Way Comes, is a chilling and suspenseful thriller, making a boy's secret dream come true right before his own eyes and that of his friend's too. The story in this book continually jumps back and forth between three characters; two which are always together and the other the library janitor and father of the one. Bradbury's style keeps the book flowing smoothly throughout all of his hopping and skipping around. He seems to be a mastermind of writing as the story develops before your eyes and you get drawn in never wanting to leave, until the book is over and you know the ending. I felt like I was sitting right there on the clouds watching all of this take place. Bradbury pulls you into the book and makes it "our place, too." All of this starts off quite interesting. It is October, the month of Halloween, and in this strange year Halloween came early. A lightning rod salesman, come to the town predicting a humongous storm that is coming this way. The clouds speak their own words, telling the same. Jim Nightshade and William Halloway, neighbors and best friends, one born a minute before October thirtieth and...

Developing an Advertising Program Essay

In developing an advertising program, marketing managers must always start by identifying the targetmarket and buyer motives. Then they can make the five major decisions, known as ? the five Ms?. y Mission:It states the objectives of the advertising. It also includes the sales goals of thecompany. The different company has its own mission, and its own marketing plan. y Money:It gives an idea that how much money should be spent by the company for theadvertisement. Factors to be considered for this are stage of product life cycle, market shareand consumer base, competition, advertisement frequency and product substitutability. Organizations use several methods for determining advertising budgets including:affordable method, percentage-of-sales, competitive-parity method, objective-and-task method : y Message: Message includes what message should be spent in advertisement. It includesmessage generation, message evaluation and selection, message execution and socialresponsibility review. Media:It includes which media should be used for the advertisement.  It also includes reach,frequency, and impact of the advertisement. It also contains major media types, mediavehicles, media timing and geographical media allocation. y Measurement: it is nothing but evaluation of the results. It measures communicationimpact and sales impact by an advertisement. 1) Setting The ObjectivesThe advertising objectives must flow from prior decisions on target market, brand positioning and themarketing program. Informative advertising:The prime objective of the advertising is to inform the existing and potentialcustomers about the product. Persuasive advertising:It aims to create liking preference, conviction and purchase of a product orservice. Persuasion will create demand of the product. Reminder advertising:It aims to simulate repeat purchase of products and services. This will remind thecustomers that the product may be needed in the near future. Reinforcement advertising:It aims to convince current purchases that they made the right choice.

Napoleon Bonaparte: a True Tyrant Essay

Ideals of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution were both rooted from the desire to abolish absolute authority, ensure the natural rights of men, and develop a stable government. Napoleon Bonaparte, a prominent military general and French Emperor, strived for these political ideologies, but was corrupt in his way of approaching them. He was strictly egotistical and selfish; these characteristics served only as a catalyst to his abolition. Mohandas Gandhi, a pacifistic revolutionary that led India’s emancipation, stated that â€Å"power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment†. Napoleon, however, seized control over France by ruling oppressively and ruthlessly; citizens followed him only in fear of his boundless power. Although Napoleon did help establish political and social equality in France, his uncontrollable desire for personal supremacy suppressed the ideals of the revolution and violated th e basic principles of the enlightenment. Napoleon’s personal greed for power drove him to infringe the basic principles of the revolution on the rights to hereditary and absolute rule. Robespierre, an enlightened leader of the Jacobins, stated that the purpose of the French Revolution was to abolish absolute monarchy and institute a â€Å"democratic or republican government† that could help increase political equality within a nation (Robespierre). However, Napoleon rejected any republican form of government; he was solely concerned with maintaining a â€Å"hereditary power, which†¦ may endure for generations, even for centuries† (Selected). Ironically though, in hopes to gain popularity among members of the 3rd estate, he abolished the power of the nobility and appointed governors that were loyal to the central government. Not only did he crown himself emperor of France, but also, â€Å"he established an imperial court and the members of his family were made royalty, while other titles and honors were given to his supporters† (Sarti). He was â€Å"not content merely to create a dynasty for France†, but was constantly looking for ways to improve his family’s reputation (Axelrod). Napoleon’s advice in a letter to his brother, Jà ©rà ´me Napolà ©on, revealed his obsessive concern over his own reputation and greed for the â€Å"strength of [his] monarchy†. This unenlightened behavior reflecting unequal treatment of the people strictly goes against the revolution’s purpose, and thus, proves that Napoleon was an extremely authoritarian and ruthless emperor. Consumed by his insecurity and unbounded ego, Napoleon stripped away the natural rights of his citizens to prevent France from entering utter chaos. In The Second Treatise on Government, John Locke, a prominent Enlightenment philosopher, emphasized on the importance of preserving the â€Å"lives, liberties, and estates of the people† when governing a nation. Napoleon, on the other hand, was a strong anti-advocate of the freedom of speech and press; he believed that in order to maintain power over his people, it was necessary to â€Å"never allow the newspapers to say anything contrary to [his] interests† (Leader). In effort to maintain peace within the nation, he also â€Å"banished discussion and proscribed the freedom of press†, and stole his citizens’ rights to the freedom of expression (Selected). Although this prevention helped preserve serenity within France, it caused them to live in oblivion of the rest of Europe. He most proudly stood against the ideas conveyed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens on the people’s right to â€Å"unrestrained communication of thoughts and opinions†, because he was strictly concerned with his reputation among his citizens. In order to gain the affection of his people, he also constructed the French Civil Code in 1804, which promised â€Å"equality under the law†. However, this project created to promote equality within the nation, developed â€Å"conditions that were very unfavorable to wives†; it clearly was not â€Å"designed for†¦ the good of the people† (French Civil Code) (Locke). By restricting the people’s access to their natural rights of mankind and constructing laws for certain groups, Napoleon hoped he could gain admiration from his followers and earn the recognition of his neighbors. This, however, only proved that he was a dictator who oppressed the most fundamental and enlightened ideals of the revolution. Napoleon was not only egotistical and selfish, but he was also a reckless military dictator who maintained stability using violence and unnecessary invasions. Although he strived for social equality and a utopian society, in reality, very few beneficial changes were made during the time of his rule. In fact, during his invasion of Russia, over 300,000 French soldiers were killed: it weakened the entire French army. A passage summarizing the French-Russian war stated: â€Å"Although [Napoleon] managed to preserve himself and the core of his Grand Army, much of his forces were destroyed or had deserted him †¦ fewer than 10,000 men fit for combat remained in [the] main force† (Phillips). War general, Philippe de Sà ©gur, who accompanied Napoleon on many of his military campaigns, described him as an insensitive, callous dictator who valued his own life far more than of his soldiers: â€Å"He rapidly descended the northern staircase†¦ and gave orders for a guide to conduct him out the city †¦ to the imperial castle of Petrowsky† (Selected). Benjamin Constant, an active participant of French politics, also thought of Napoleon as a barbaric conqueror who robbed â€Å"us of the heritage of all the enlightened generations† and took advantage of the French army for his own benefit (Selected). Napoleon’s foreign policies, such as the Continental System that boycotted all British goods, and his unsophisticated military invasions on Russia further reflected qualities of a self-absorbed dictator; he was selfish, uncaring, and insensitive to the physical well being of his citizens. Although Napoleon helped improve the lives of many, his excessive lust for power and egotistical character deprived him of the admiration from his citizens. By restoring hereditary rule within the nation, he directly violated the main purpose of the revolution; equality was certainly not established. He went against the ideals of the Enlightenment protecting the natural rights of every individual by stripping away his citizens’ right to life and liberty. Napoleon was, in fact, a dictator who ruled unconstitutionally and was constantly preoccupied with the thought of personal success; his selfish personality and overbearing ego served as a strong foundation to his authoritarian rule over France.

Management Accounting

Overall requirement * Explain how management accounting can supply information to assist the management of the organisation. * You are not required to investigate and report on the organisation’s actual management accounting system (even if you can find out). * You are to write a 1500 word report as though you were a management consultant writing to the board of directors. * WE DO NOT WANT ANY NUMBERS UNLESS YOU CREATE THEM TO DEMONSTRATE AN IDEA * This is like assessment 1a – you are to imagine and create! This is a report * It has an introduction A main body (see the next slides) * A conclusion How your marks will build up * Background to the organisation showing good reading of appropriate sources 25% * Review of the nature and role of management accounting 10% * An analysis of the organisation, showing its information needs, the management accounting techniques it might use and decisions it could then make. 50% * The strengths and weaknesses of your analysis  œ for example the additional information you would have liked in order to improve your analysis. 15% Background to the organisation The reason for this is to introduce your organisation (briefly) and to show what a manager in this organisation will do. Later you will show how m. a. helps. * A manager will make decisions about the organisation’s products, processes etc. – therefore your introduction will cover this. * This introduction will reveal the kind of problems that your organisation faces and must overcome. * We do not want the history of the organisation and any information that you will not use later. * Choose your organisation carefully – one that you can understand. You need to be able to imagine the kinds of decisions that a manager might make. Review of the nature and role of management accounting * A definition (with reference) * Some idea of what management accounting does and what it does not do. * Some examples of the techniques and methods of m. a. * You have been studying this since week 5 and so it should not be a problem * DO NOT TRY TO BE TOO CLEVER. IN PREVIOUS YEARS STUDENTS HAVE MENTIONED ABC, JUST IN TIME AND THROUGHPUT ACCOUNTING. Do not do this as you probably do not understand these techniques and will only show that this is so. Keep to what you know! An analysis of the organisation, showing its information needs, the management accounting techniques it might use and decisions it could then make. * This is the hard part that attracts the most marks * You are to link part 1 and part 2 – you organisation’s needs to the techniques and methods of management accounting * What does m. a. Do that will help this organisation? * How can it improve processes? * How can it compete better? * How can it choose between products? * How can it use m. a. for pricing? Planning, controlling, motivating, organising etc * Difficult – but you are applying what you have learned to the problems of the organisation. The strengths and weaknesses of your analysis * This was badly done in assessment 1b * WE DO NOT WANT THE S&W OF THE COMPANY * What aspects of your analysis are strong. Where do you feel that your recommendations are strong and secure? Give examples. * Where do you feel your recommendations are weak perhaps due to lack of information about the company or lack of your knowledge and experience of management accounting. Give examples. Management Accounting Use the following to answer question 1: Marger, Inc. , provided the following data for two recent months: [pic] |1. |Which of the following classifications best describes the behavior of Cost T? | |A) |Variable | |B) |Fixed | |C) |Mixed | |D) |None of the above | 2. |The following data pertains to activity and maintenance costs for two recent years: | | | | | |[pic] | | |Using the high-low method, the cost formula for maintenance would be: | |A) |$1. 50 per unit. | |B) |$1. 25 per unit. | |C) |$3,000 plus $1. 50 per unit. | |D) |$6,000 plus $0. 75 per unit. | |3. Rible Company has observed that at an activity level of 8,000 units the cost for maintenance is $15,000, and at 10,000 units the| | |cost for maintenance is $16,500. Using the high-low method, the cost formula for maintenance is: | |A) |$15,000 plus $0. 15 per unit. | |B) |$9,000 plus $0. 75 per unit. | |C) |$1. 65 per unit. | |D) |$1. 875 per unit. | |4. |Which of the following types of firms likely would have a high pr oportion of variable costs in its cost structure? | |A) |Public utility. | |B) |Airline. | |C) |Fast food outlet. |D) |Architectural firm. | |5. |Factory overhead is an example of a: | |A) |mixed cost. | |B) |fixed cost. | |C) |variable cost. | |D) |irrelevant cost. | Use the following to answer question 6: Buffo Company fabricates metal folding chairs. Data concerning the company's revenue and cost structure follow: [pic] |6. |If Buffo plans to produce and sell 3,000 units next month, the expected contribution margin would be: | |A) |$30,750. |B) |$74,250. | |C) |$26,750. | |D) |$96,500. | Use the following to answer question 7: Frank Company operates a cafeteria for its employees. The number of meals served each week over the last seven weeks, along with the total costs of operating the cafeteria are given below: [pic] Assume that the relevant range includes all of the activity levels mentioned in this problem. |7. |Using the high-low method of analysis, the variable cost per mea l served in the cafeteria would be estimated to be: | |A) |$1. 50. | |B) |$2. 0. | |C) |$2. 80. | |D) |$1. 00. | Use the following to answer question 8: Stewart Company is attempting to classify costs according to their cost behavior. Data concerning activity and costs are listed below: [pic] |8. |If Stewart Company sells 1,150 units in March and this activity is within the relevant range, the expected total cost would most| | |likely be closest to: | |A) |$2,610. 50. | |B) |$1,774. 00. |C) |$4,343. 92. | |D) |$4,384. 50. | |9. |A disadvantage of the high-low method of cost analysis is that: | |A) |it cannot be used when there are a very large number of observations. | |B) |it is too time consuming to apply. | |C) |it uses two extreme data points, which may not be representative of normal conditions. | |D) |it relies totally on the judgment of the person performing the cost analysis. | Use the following to answer question 10: Marger, Inc. provided the following data for two recent months: [pic] |10. |Which of the following classifications best describes the behavior of Cost U? | |A) |Variable | |B) |Fixed | |C) |Mixed | |D) |None of the above | |11. |Fox Company's contribution margin ratio is 20%. If the degree of operating leverage is 15 at the $225,000 sales level, net | | |operating income at the $225,000 sales level must equal: | |A) |$2,250. | |B) |$6,750. | |C) |$3,000. | |D) |$5,063. | |12. |Korn Company sells two products, as follows: | | | | | |[pic] | | |Fixed expenses total $300,000 annually. The expected sales mix in units is 60% for product Y and 40% for product Z. How much is | | |Korn's expected break-even sales in dollars? | |A) |$300,000 | |B) |$420,000 | |C) |$475,000 | |D) |$544,000 | |13. |Brown Company has sales of 2,000 units at $70 per unit. Variable expenses are 40% of the selling price. If total fixed expenses | | |are $44,000, the degree of operating leverage is: | |A) |0. 79. | |B) |1. 40. | |C) |3. 50. | |D) |2. 10. | Use the following to answer question 14: Budget data for the Bidwell Company are as follows: [pic] |14. |If fixed expenses increased $31,500, the break-even sales in units would be: | |A) |34,500 units. | |B) |80,500 units. | |C) |69,000 units. | |D) |94,500 units. Use the following to answer question 15: Evergreen Corp. has provided the following data: [pic] |15. |The number of units needed to achieve a target net operating income of $49,500 would be: | |A) |1,238 units | |B) |2,750 units. | |C) |3,200 units. | |D) |2,057 units. | Use the following to answer question 16: A manufacturer of premium wire strippers has supplied the following data: [pic] |16. The company's degree of operating leverage is closest to: | |A) |20. 09 | |B) |7. 73 | |C) |1. 86 | |D) |55. 64 | Use the following to answer question 17: Consider the following budgeted data f or Urqhart Corporation: [pic] |17. If the unit contribution margin is increased by 10%, the total fixed expense is decreased by 20%, and all other data remain as | | |in the budget, net operating income will be: | |A) |$102,500. | |B) |$105,000. | |C) |$ 90,000. | |D) |$ 93,750. | Use the following to answer question 18: The costs of publishing a grade school textbook can be assumed to be as follows: [pic] Each book sells for $10 per copy. |18. |The unit contribution margin for each copy of the book is: | |A) |$5. 5. | |B) |$4. 15. | |C) |$5. 40. | |D) |$7. 15. | |19. |If a company decreases the variable expense per unit while increasing the total fixed expenses, the total expense line relative | | |to its previous position will: | |A) |shift downward and have a steeper slope. | |B) |shift downward and have a flatter slope. | |C) |shift upward and have a flatter slope. | |D) |shift upward and have a steeper slope. | Use the following to answer question 20: A company that makes organic fertilizer has supplied the following data: [pic] |20. |The company's degree of operating leverage is closest to: | |A) |3. 50 | |B) |1. 49 | |C) |9. 54 | |D) |2. 41 | |21. Trumbull Company budgeted sales on account of $120,000 for July, $211,000 for August, and $198,000 for September. Collection | | |experience indicates that none of the budgeted sales will be collected in the month of the sale, 60% will be collected the month| | |after the sale, 36% in the second month, and 4% will be uncollectible. The cash receipts from accounts receivable that should be| | |budgeted for September would be: | |A) |$169,800. | |B) |$147,960. |C) |$197,880. | |D) |$194,760. | Use the following to answer question 22: Young Enterprises has budgeted sales in units for the next five months as follows: [pic] Past experience has shown that the ending inventory for each month should be equal to 10% of the next month's sales in units. The inventory on May 31 fell short of t his goal since it contained only 400 units. The company needs to prepare a Production Budget for the next five months. |22. |The desired ending inventory for August is: | |A) |540 units. |B) |680 units. | |C) |720 units. | |D) |380 units. | Use the following to answer question 23: Balmforth Products, Inc. makes and sells a single product called a Bik. It takes three yards of Material A to make one Bik. Budgeted production of Biks for the next five months is as follows: [pic] The company wants to maintain monthly ending inventories of Material A equal to 20% of the following month's production needs. On January 31, this target had not been attained since only 2,000 yards of Material A were on hand. The cost of Material A is $0. 80 per yard. The company wants to prepare a Direct Materials Purchases Budget. |23. |The desired ending inventory of Material A for the month of March is: | |A) |9,300 yards. | |B) |7,140 yards. | |C) |3,100 yards. | |D) |8,400 yards. | Use the following to answer question 24: The Gomez Company, a merchandising firm, has budgeted its activity for December according to the following information: * Sales at $500,000, all for cash. * Merchandise Inventory on November 30 was $250,000. * The cash balance at December 1 was $20,000. Selling and administrative expenses are budgeted at $50,000 for December and are paid for in cash. * Budgeted depreciation for December is $30,000. * The planned merchandise inventory on December 31 is $260,000. * The cost of goods sold represents 75% of the selling price. * All purchases are paid for in cash. |24. |The budgeted cash receipts for December are: | |A) |$125,000. | |B) |$375,000. | |C) |$530,000. | |D) |$500,000. | Use the following to answer question 25: Young Enterprises has budgeted sales in units for the next five months as follows: [pic] Past experience has shown that the ending inventory for each month should be equal to 10% of the next month's sales in units. The inventory on May 31 fell short of this goal since it contained only 400 units. The company needs to prepare a Production Budget for the next five months. |25. |The beginning inventory in units for September should be: | |A) |460 units. | |B) |6,800 units. | |C) |540 units. | |D) |680 units. | Use the following to answer question 26: May Company, a merchandising firm, has budgeted sales as follows for the third quarter of the year: [pic] Cost of goods sold is equal to 65% of sales. The company wants to maintain a monthly ending inventory equal to 130% of the Cost of Goods Sold for the following month. The inventory on June 30 is less than this ideal since it is only $65,000. The company is now preparing a Merchandise Purchases Budget. |26. |The desired beginning inventory for September is: | |A) |$117,000. |B) |$ 76,050. | |C) |$ 91,000. | |D) |$ 59,150. | Use the following to answer question 27: Smith Company makes and sells a single product called a Pod. Each Pod requires 1. 4 hours of labor at a labor rate of $9. 60 per hour. Smith Company needs to prepare a Direct Labor Budget for the second quarter of the year. |27. |The budgeted direct labor cost per Pod would be: | |A) |$13. 44. | |B) |$9. 60. | |C) |$7. 38. | |D) |$11. 00. | |28. Self-imposed budgets typically are: | |A) |not subject to review by higher levels of management since to do so would contradict the participative aspect of the | | |budgeting processing. | |B) |not subject to review by higher levels of management except in specific cases where the input of higher management is | | |required. | |C) |subject to review by higher levels of management in order to prevent the budgets from becoming too loose. | |D) |not critical to the success of a budgeting program. |29. |Shocker Company's sales budget shows quarterly sales for the next year as follows: | | | | | |[pic] | | |Company policy is to have a finished goods inventory at the end of each quarter equal to 20% of the next quarter's sales. | | |Budgeted production for the second quarter of the next year would be: | |A) |7,200 units. |B) |8,000 units. | |C) |8,800 units. | |D) |8,400 units. | |30. |The Carlquist Company makes and sells a product called Product K. Each unit of Product K sells for $24 dollars and has a unit | | |variable cost of $18. The company has budgete d the following data for November: | | | | | | | | |* Sales of $1,152,000, all in cash. | | | | | | | |* A cash balance on November 1 of $48,000. | | | | | | | | |* Cash disbursements (other than interest) during November of $1,160,000. | | | | | | | |* A minimum cash balance on November 30 of $60,000. | | | | | | | | |If necessary, the company will borrow cash from a bank. The borrowing will be in multiples of $1,000 and will bear interest at | | |2% per month. All borrowing will take place at the beginning of the month. The November interest will be paid in cash during | | |November. | | | | | |The amount of cash that must be borrowed on November 1 to cover all cash disbursements and to obtain the desired November 30 | | |cash balance is: | |A) |$20,000. | |B) |$21,000. | |C) |$37,000. | |D) |$38,000. | Use the following to answer question 31: The following materials standards have been established for a particular product: pic] |31. |What is the materials quantity variance for the month? | |A) |$1,740 U | |B) |$4,350 U | |C) |$4,590 U | |D) |$1,836 U | Use the following to answer question 32: The following standards for variable manufacturing overhead have been established for a company that makes only one product: pic] |32. |What is the variable overhead spending variance for the month? | |A) |$3,010 F | |B) |$3,010 U | |C) |$10,435 U | |D) |$10,435 F | Use the following to answer question 33: The following materials standards have been established for a particular product: [pic] |33. What is the materials quantity variance for the month? | |A) |$5,050 U | |B) |$5,125 U | |C) |$9,292 U | |D) |$9,430 U | Use the following to answer question 34: Arrow Industries employs a standard cost system in which direct materials inventory is carried at standard cost. Arrow has established the following standards for the prime costs of one unit of product. [pic] During May, Arrow purchased 160,000 pounds of direct material at a total cost of $304,000. The total direct labor wages for May were $37,800. Arrow manufactured 19,000 units of product during May using 142,500 pounds of direct material and 5,000 direct labor hours. |34. |The direct material price variance for May is: | |A) |$16,000 favorable. |B) |$16,000 unfavorable. | |C) |$14,250 favorable. | |D) |$14,250 unfavorable. | |35. |Perkins Company, which has a standard cost system, had 500 pounds of raw material X in its inventory at June 1, purchased in May| | |for $1. 20 per pound and carried at a standard cost of $1. 00 per pound. The following information pertains to raw material X for | | |the month of June: | | | | |[pic] | | |The unfavorable materials purchase price variance for raw material X for June was: | |A) |$ 0. | |B) |$130. | |C) |$140. | |D) |$150. | |36. |If variable manu facturing overhead is applied on the basis of direct labor-hours and the variable overhead spending variance is | | |favorable, then the: | |A) |actual variable manufacturing overhead rate exceeded the standard rate. |B) |standard variable manufacturing overhead rate exceeded the actual rate. | |C) |actual direct labor-hours exceeded the standard direct labor-hours allowed for the actual output. | |D) |standard direct labor-hours allowed for the actual output exceeded the actual hours. | Use the following to answer questions 37-38: The Odle Company makes and sells a single product called a Kitt. Odle employs a standard costing system. Each Kitt has a standard cost of 5 pounds of material at $12 per pound and 0. 9 direct labor hours at $15 per hour. There were no inventories of any kind on June 1. During June, the following events occurred: – Purchased 17,000 pounds of material at a total cost of $190,000. – Used 15,000 pounds of material to produce 2,400 Kitts. – Used 1,900 hours of direct labor time at a total cost of $38,000. |37. |To record the incurrence of direct labor cost and its use in production, the general ledger would include what kind of entry to | | |the Labor Rate Variance account? | |A) |$ 9,500 credit. | |B) |$ 9,500 debit. | |C) |$15,200 debit. | |D) |$ 2,000 debit. | |38. |Odle Company purchased material on account. The entry to record the purchase of materials will include a: | |A) |credit to Work in Process. | |B) |debit to Accounts Receivable. | |C) |credit to Accounts Payable. | |D) |credit to Raw Materials Inventory. | Use the following to answer question 39: The Geurtz Company uses standard costing. The company makes and sells a single product called a Roff. The following data are for the month of August: – Actual cost of direct material purchased and used: $65,560 – Material price variance: $5,960 unfavorable – Total materials variance: $22,360 unfavorable – Standard cost per pound of material: $4 Standard cost per direct labor hour: $5 – Actual direct labor hours: 6,500 hours – Labor efficiency variance: $3,500 favorable – Standard number of direct labor hours per unit of Roff: 2 hours – Total labor variance: $400 unfavorable |39. |The labor rate variance was: | |A) |$3,900 favorable. | |B) |$3,900 unfavorable. | |C) |$3,100 unfavor able. | |D) |$3,100 favorable. | |40. |Home Company manufactures tables with vinyl tops. The standard material cost for the vinyl used per Type-R table is $7. 80 based | | |on six square feet of vinyl at a cost of $1. 30 per square foot. A production run of 1,000 tables in January resulted in usage of| | |6,400 square feet of vinyl at a cost of $1. 20 per square foot, a total cost of $7,680. The quantity variance resulting from the | | |above production run was: | |A) |$120 favorable. | |B) |$480 unfavorable. | |C) |$520 unfavorable. | |D) |$640 favorable. | Use the following to answer question 41: The Chase Company has a standard cost system in which manufacturing overhead is applied to units of product on the basis of direct labor-hours (DLHs). The company recorded the following activity and cost data relating to manufacturing overhead for October: [pic] |41. |The fixed overhead budget variance for September was: | |A) |$2,700 favorable. | |B) |$2,700 unfavorable. | |C) |$5,400 favorable. | |D) |$5,400 unfavorable. | Use the following to answer question 42: A furniture manufacturer has a standard costing system based on machine-hours (MHs) as the measure of activity. Data from the company's flexible budget for manufacturing overhead are given below: [pic] |42. What was the fixed overhead budget variance for the period to the nearest dollar? | |A) |$2,440 F | |B) |$1,200 U | |C) |$1,999 U | |D) |$704 F | Use the following to answer question 43: A manufacturing company has a standard costing system based on direct labor-hours (DLHs) as the measure of activity. Data from the company's flexible budget for manufacturing overhead are given below: [pic] |43. |How much overhead was applied to products during the period to the nearest dollar? | |A) |$79,118 | |B) |$76,035 | |C) |$77,440 | |D) |$80,145 | Use the following to answer question 44: The Chase Company has a standard cost system in which manufacturing overhead is applied to units of product on the basis of direct labor-hours (DLHs). The company recorded the following activity and cost data relating to manufacturing overhead for October: [pic] |44. |The amount of fixed overhead cost contained in the company's overhead budget for September was: | |A) |$45,900. | |B) |$54,768. | |C) |$49,920. | |D) |$47,703. | |45. |Baxter Corporation's master budget calls for the production of 5,000 units of its product monthly. The master budget includes | | |indirect labor of $144,000 annually; Baxter considers indirect labor to be a variable cost. During the month of April, 4,500 | | |units of product were produced, and indirect labor costs of $10,100 were incurred. A performance report utilizing flexible | | |budgeting would report a spending variance for indirect labor of: | |A) |$1,900 unfavorable. | |B) |$700 favorable. | |C) |$1,900 favorable. | |D) |$700 unfavorable. | Use the following to answer question 46: Wicks Company has established a flexible budget for manufacturing overhead based on direct labor-hours. Budgeted costs at 100,000 direct labor-hours are as follows: [pic] |46. |If Wicks Company plans to operate at 90,000 direct labor-hours during the next period, the flexible budget would show indirect | | |labor costs of: | |A) |$144,000. | |B) |$63,000. | |C) |$90,000. | |D) |$81,000. | Use the following to answer questions 47-48: The Steff Company has the following flexible budget (in condensed form) for manufacturing overhead: [pic] The following data concerning production pertain to last year's operations: – The company used a denominator activity of 15,000 direct labor-hours to compute the predetermined overhead rate. – The company made 6,850 units of product and worked 14,200 actual hours during the year. – Actual variable overhead was $15,904 and actual fixed overhead was $30,850 for the year. – The standard direct labor time is two hours per unit of product. |47. The fixed overhead budget variance was: | |A) |$3,450 unfavorable. | |B) |$3,450 favorable. | |C) |$850 unfavorable. | |D) |$1,200 favorable. | |48. |The fixed element of the predetermined overhead rate was (per DLH): | |A) |$4. 15. | |B) |$3. 00. | |C) |$2. 00. | |D) |$1. 15. | Use the following to answer question 49: Barrick Company has established a flexible budget fo r manufacturing overhead based on direct labor-hours. Total budgeted costs at 200,000 direct labor-hours are as follows: [pic] |49. |At an activity level of 170,000 direct labor-hours, the flexible budget for factory overhead would show the budgeted amount for | | |utilities as: | |A) |$ 85,000. | |B) |$140,000. | |C) |$160,000. | |D) |$100,000. | Use the following to answer question 50: The Steff Company has the following flexible budget (in condensed form) for manufacturing overhead: [pic] The following data concerning production pertain to last year's operations: – The company used a denominator activity of 15,000 direct labor-hours to compute the predetermined overhead rate. – The company made 6,850 units of product and worked 14,200 actual hours during the year. – Actual variable overhead was $15,904 and actual fixed overhead was $30,850 for the year. – The standard direct labor time is two hours per unit of product. |50. |The fixed overhead cost applied to work in process was: | |A) |$27,400. | |B) |$30,000. | |C) |$30,850. | |D) |$13,700. | Management Accounting Overall requirement * Explain how management accounting can supply information to assist the management of the organisation. * You are not required to investigate and report on the organisation’s actual management accounting system (even if you can find out). * You are to write a 1500 word report as though you were a management consultant writing to the board of directors. * WE DO NOT WANT ANY NUMBERS UNLESS YOU CREATE THEM TO DEMONSTRATE AN IDEA * This is like assessment 1a – you are to imagine and create! This is a report * It has an introduction A main body (see the next slides) * A conclusion How your marks will build up * Background to the organisation showing good reading of appropriate sources 25% * Review of the nature and role of management accounting 10% * An analysis of the organisation, showing its information needs, the management accounting techniques it might use and decisions it could then make. 50% * The strengths and weaknesses of your analysis  œ for example the additional information you would have liked in order to improve your analysis. 15% Background to the organisation The reason for this is to introduce your organisation (briefly) and to show what a manager in this organisation will do. Later you will show how m. a. helps. * A manager will make decisions about the organisation’s products, processes etc. – therefore your introduction will cover this. * This introduction will reveal the kind of problems that your organisation faces and must overcome. * We do not want the history of the organisation and any information that you will not use later. * Choose your organisation carefully – one that you can understand. You need to be able to imagine the kinds of decisions that a manager might make. Review of the nature and role of management accounting * A definition (with reference) * Some idea of what management accounting does and what it does not do. * Some examples of the techniques and methods of m. a. * You have been studying this since week 5 and so it should not be a problem * DO NOT TRY TO BE TOO CLEVER. IN PREVIOUS YEARS STUDENTS HAVE MENTIONED ABC, JUST IN TIME AND THROUGHPUT ACCOUNTING. Do not do this as you probably do not understand these techniques and will only show that this is so. Keep to what you know! An analysis of the organisation, showing its information needs, the management accounting techniques it might use and decisions it could then make. * This is the hard part that attracts the most marks * You are to link part 1 and part 2 – you organisation’s needs to the techniques and methods of management accounting * What does m. a. Do that will help this organisation? * How can it improve processes? * How can it compete better? * How can it choose between products? * How can it use m. a. for pricing? Planning, controlling, motivating, organising etc * Difficult – but you are applying what you have learned to the problems of the organisation. The strengths and weaknesses of your analysis * This was badly done in assessment 1b * WE DO NOT WANT THE S&W OF THE COMPANY * What aspects of your analysis are strong. Where do you feel that your recommendations are strong and secure? Give examples. * Where do you feel your recommendations are weak perhaps due to lack of information about the company or lack of your knowledge and experience of management accounting. Give examples. Management Accounting Running Head: MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING The Management Accountant in Business [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] The Management Accountant in Business Introduction Tesco Public Limited Company is a merchandising retailer and a grocery retailer multinational chain which has it’s headquarter in Cheshunt in the United Kingdom. Tesco as compared to its counterparts, Walmart and Carrefour, is the world’s third largest retail store with regard to the revenues that it generates. Tesco stands as the second largest retail stores of the world with regard to its profits, with Walmart being the first.Tesco has its retail stores spread across almost 14 countries of the world of Asia, North America and Europe. Tesco public limited company is the market leader in its home country United Kingdom with a market share of almost 30%. Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 which operated as a group of stalls in the market. After its inception today Tesco plc operates across diverse areas of clothing, electronics, furniture, books, financial services and internet services. Tesco is listed at the London Stock Exchange and is a part of the FTSE 100 index having a market capital of approximately ? 24. billion and a symbol of TSCO. Tesco has been operating with seven business segments, namely, Tesco Superstores, Tesco express, Tesco metro, Tesco extra, One stop, Tesco Homeplus, and Dobbies. The market share of Tesco as recorded in 2012 was 30. 2% which was the highest as compared to its European counterparts. Tesco has developed its marketing headline to be, â€Å"Every little helps†. The tag line is represented in all the print and TV advertisements of Tesco which represents the value that Tesco offers to its customers against the price that they pay, with the value being more than the price of the products.Tesco not only works for company profits but also for the community at large in which it operates. Tesco has a value of contributing 1. 8% of its profi ts to the charitable organizations. Tesco has a culture based on its values of trust and respect. Tesco employees and management believe that the customers would come back to visit the stores for their shopping if they are satisfied with the products and the service. Tesco believes that the success of the company as a whole depends on the contribution of the employees and the customer satisfaction.Management accounting is also used in making strategic management decisions (Dixon & Smith, 1993) . Tesco has seven core strategies on which it operates in the long run. The foremost strategy of Tesco is to grow the United Kingdom core business from where it started its operations and expanded globally. The United Kingdom being the largest business operating unit of Tesco generates the largest share of revenues and profits; therefore Tesco needs to develop this major segment of the business.Tesco also has a goal of being the world’s largest retailer which it has been able to achieve since 1997 and has become the leading retail store in almost eight of its international retail stores. Tesco was originally a food retailer when it started operating and from then onwards it has aimed at becoming the strongest brand in the non-food items as well. Besides the growth in the United Kingdom segment Tesco has also a strategy of growing its retail stores in the other markets in which it has presence. Tesco believes in serving the community and working for its welfare so that the corporate responsibility of Tesco is fulfilled.Tesco also aims to make high value brands at very competitive prices. Tesco aims to build brands that are highly appealing to the customers and also in providing the customers with quality products. Tesco also builds teams that are very committed to their work and has developed leaders who are dedicated and hard working. The leaders at Tesco have a major responsibility of building teams and working for the attainment of the organizational goals (Tesc o, 2013). Tesco works closely with the customers and continuously collects their feedback by engaging focus groups in the feedback collection process.The research center facilitates the identification of the research areas and the areas of concern in the profit centers. The customer feedback collected enables Tesco to make changes to the business processes so that they better meet the customer needs. Tesco also works closely with its suppliers to develop the best brands and also bring in a variety of offers for the customers. Tesco works with a number of suppliers including the FMCG companies and the local suppliers providing goods for the regional retail stores.Management Accounting Functions at Tesco Management Accounting is distinguished from Financial Accounting as being an accounting constituent that is concerned with the measurement, analysis and the reporting of information regarding the financial and non-financial operations of the business, and taking decisions which are ne cessary for the attainment of goals of the organization (Bhimani & Langfield, 2007). Management accounting is concerned with the attainment of organizational goals and for serving the strategies of the organization (Durden, n. , p. 2). Hence, management accounting is concerned with the accounting information which is intended to be used within the organization and for the achievement of the goals of the organization. Management accounting is used in organizations to make decisions regarding the competitiveness of the business by the collection, processing, and the communication of the information which will hence help the management of the business in planning, controlling and evaluating the processes of the business and the strategies of the company.The controllers in the large organizations are basically the leaders who run the management accounting function of the company and the controller then reports the accounting information to the finance heads which helps them in taking or ganizational wide decisions. At Tesco the management accountants are known for having a number of responsibilities including the collection of information from the different cost and profit centers, evaluation of the information, and the identification of the appropriate solutions to the problems faced by the cost or profit centers.The management accountants have a responsibility of identifying the appropriate and the most cost efficient distribution systems. This role of management accounting in Tesco is related to the establishment and administration of effective control mechanisms. Another management accounting function of Tesco is the sales forecasting, which is related to the identification of the needs of the customers, sales volumes and the effects of seasonal fluctuations on the sales. The management accountants have also the responsibility of ordering the right quantity of supplies at the right time.The management accountants are also responsible for developing cost, sales and profit budgets and to make capital investment plans. The management accountants also are responsible for the comparison of the plans and budgets with the benchmarks set and the identification of the discrepancies. The management accountants work towards taking the corrective measures in case of variances between the actual and the standard budgets. The task of standard costing is assigned to them which they use to take decisions which are useful for achieving the organizational goals.The group strategy section of the financial reports shows the management roles in Tesco. The customer researches are conducted to know the extent of their satisfaction and their needs. The management accountants also plan the growth rates in the different markets across the world. The management roles are also highlighted in the capital expenditures section of the annual reports of Tesco. The capital expenditure plans are made by the management accountants. Tesco has planned for major capital expend itures which will enable it to diversify and move into expansion phases worldwide throughout all its retail chains.The management accountants are also responsible for evaluating and critically analyzing the cash position of Tesco. The management accountants are charged with the responsibility of generating cash sources and reducing the capital expenditures of the retail stores. The working capital is reduced in 2012 which has enabled Tesco to have increased cash inflows (TESCO, 2012). Functions of Modern Management Accounting at Tesco The roles of management accountants in the modern era have increased and have been very diverse in the organizations.The management accountants have many responsibilities including the formulation of accounting policies, statistical reports, administration of tax policies, coordination of the reports, preparation and the interpretation of the annual reports and the financial statements of organizations, audit of the accounting transactions and the reco rds, compilation of the business costs, costing and planning of inventories, and the interpretation of the statistical reports of the organization.At Tesco the management accountants are engaged in making budgets including annual as well as monthly budgets. The budgets prepared are used for planning the resources and the supplies required for the operations of the business. The management accountants at Tesco are responsible for looking ahead and predicting the future of the business. The management accountants prepare reports which are used within Tesco and are intended for internal use by the management rather than the outside stakeholders.The reports prepared are kept confidential because they serve as the basis of the development of the strategies of Tesco. The management accountants have a dual reporting role within Tesco in that they are responsible for developing and managing the teams within Tesco and at the same time reporting to the chief financial officers and the financi al departments. The management accountants at Tesco provide information related to the forecasts and plans, they perform variance analysis and monitor the cost centers.Therefore they serve to be the controllers as well as the financial planners for Tesco. The management accountants gather financial information from all the department of Tesco, organize the data, analyze and interpret and then report their findings to the financial departments of Tesco. Therefore, the management accounting plays a very key role in Tesco. The management accounting over the years have also developed many management systems (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007).The management accountants are reported to by all the accounting departments and they are responsible for presenting their financial suggestions to the financial executives for the implementation of the plans. The management accountants at Tesco are therefore charged with the overall responsibility of managing and interpreting very large amounts of acco unting information, and then reporting their findings to the chief financial officers. References Tesco PLC. (2013). Our Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www. tescoplc. com/index. asp? pageid=12 Tesco PLC. (2012).Annual Report and Financial Statements. Retrieved from: http://www. tescoplc. com/files/reports/ar2012/files/pdf/tesco_annual_report_2012. pdf Durden, C. (n. d). The role of management accounting in organizational Control systems: preliminary evidence of an organic Approach. pp. 1-50. Retrieved from: http://www. afaanz. org/openconf/2008/modules/request. php? module=oc_proceedings&action=view. php&a=Accept+as+Paper&id=570 Anthony, R. N. , & Govindarajan, V. (2007). Management control systems. USA: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Bhimani, A. , & Langfield-Smith, K. (2007). Management Accounting Running Head: MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING The Management Accountant in Business [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] The Management Accountant in Business Introduction Tesco Public Limited Company is a merchandising retailer and a grocery retailer multinational chain which has it’s headquarter in Cheshunt in the United Kingdom. Tesco as compared to its counterparts, Walmart and Carrefour, is the world’s third largest retail store with regard to the revenues that it generates. Tesco stands as the second largest retail stores of the world with regard to its profits, with Walmart being the first.Tesco has its retail stores spread across almost 14 countries of the world of Asia, North America and Europe. Tesco public limited company is the market leader in its home country United Kingdom with a market share of almost 30%. Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 which operated as a group of stalls in the market. After its inception today Tesco plc operates across diverse areas of clothing, electronics, furniture, books, financial services and internet services. Tesco is listed at the London Stock Exchange and is a part of the FTSE 100 index having a market capital of approximately ? 24. billion and a symbol of TSCO. Tesco has been operating with seven business segments, namely, Tesco Superstores, Tesco express, Tesco metro, Tesco extra, One stop, Tesco Homeplus, and Dobbies. The market share of Tesco as recorded in 2012 was 30. 2% which was the highest as compared to its European counterparts. Tesco has developed its marketing headline to be, â€Å"Every little helps†. The tag line is represented in all the print and TV advertisements of Tesco which represents the value that Tesco offers to its customers against the price that they pay, with the value being more than the price of the products.Tesco not only works for company profits but also for the community at large in which it operates. Tesco has a value of contributing 1. 8% of its profi ts to the charitable organizations. Tesco has a culture based on its values of trust and respect. Tesco employees and management believe that the customers would come back to visit the stores for their shopping if they are satisfied with the products and the service. Tesco believes that the success of the company as a whole depends on the contribution of the employees and the customer satisfaction.Management accounting is also used in making strategic management decisions (Dixon & Smith, 1993) . Tesco has seven core strategies on which it operates in the long run. The foremost strategy of Tesco is to grow the United Kingdom core business from where it started its operations and expanded globally. The United Kingdom being the largest business operating unit of Tesco generates the largest share of revenues and profits; therefore Tesco needs to develop this major segment of the business.Tesco also has a goal of being the world’s largest retailer which it has been able to achieve since 1997 and has become the leading retail store in almost eight of its international retail stores. Tesco was originally a food retailer when it started operating and from then onwards it has aimed at becoming the strongest brand in the non-food items as well. Besides the growth in the United Kingdom segment Tesco has also a strategy of growing its retail stores in the other markets in which it has presence. Tesco believes in serving the community and working for its welfare so that the corporate responsibility of Tesco is fulfilled.Tesco also aims to make high value brands at very competitive prices. Tesco aims to build brands that are highly appealing to the customers and also in providing the customers with quality products. Tesco also builds teams that are very committed to their work and has developed leaders who are dedicated and hard working. The leaders at Tesco have a major responsibility of building teams and working for the attainment of the organizational goals (Tesc o, 2013). Tesco works closely with the customers and continuously collects their feedback by engaging focus groups in the feedback collection process.The research center facilitates the identification of the research areas and the areas of concern in the profit centers. The customer feedback collected enables Tesco to make changes to the business processes so that they better meet the customer needs. Tesco also works closely with its suppliers to develop the best brands and also bring in a variety of offers for the customers. Tesco works with a number of suppliers including the FMCG companies and the local suppliers providing goods for the regional retail stores.Management Accounting Functions at Tesco Management Accounting is distinguished from Financial Accounting as being an accounting constituent that is concerned with the measurement, analysis and the reporting of information regarding the financial and non-financial operations of the business, and taking decisions which are ne cessary for the attainment of goals of the organization (Bhimani & Langfield, 2007). Management accounting is concerned with the attainment of organizational goals and for serving the strategies of the organization (Durden, n. , p. 2). Hence, management accounting is concerned with the accounting information which is intended to be used within the organization and for the achievement of the goals of the organization. Management accounting is used in organizations to make decisions regarding the competitiveness of the business by the collection, processing, and the communication of the information which will hence help the management of the business in planning, controlling and evaluating the processes of the business and the strategies of the company.The controllers in the large organizations are basically the leaders who run the management accounting function of the company and the controller then reports the accounting information to the finance heads which helps them in taking or ganizational wide decisions. At Tesco the management accountants are known for having a number of responsibilities including the collection of information from the different cost and profit centers, evaluation of the information, and the identification of the appropriate solutions to the problems faced by the cost or profit centers.The management accountants have a responsibility of identifying the appropriate and the most cost efficient distribution systems. This role of management accounting in Tesco is related to the establishment and administration of effective control mechanisms. Another management accounting function of Tesco is the sales forecasting, which is related to the identification of the needs of the customers, sales volumes and the effects of seasonal fluctuations on the sales. The management accountants have also the responsibility of ordering the right quantity of supplies at the right time.The management accountants are also responsible for developing cost, sales and profit budgets and to make capital investment plans. The management accountants also are responsible for the comparison of the plans and budgets with the benchmarks set and the identification of the discrepancies. The management accountants work towards taking the corrective measures in case of variances between the actual and the standard budgets. The task of standard costing is assigned to them which they use to take decisions which are useful for achieving the organizational goals.The group strategy section of the financial reports shows the management roles in Tesco. The customer researches are conducted to know the extent of their satisfaction and their needs. The management accountants also plan the growth rates in the different markets across the world. The management roles are also highlighted in the capital expenditures section of the annual reports of Tesco. The capital expenditure plans are made by the management accountants. Tesco has planned for major capital expend itures which will enable it to diversify and move into expansion phases worldwide throughout all its retail chains.The management accountants are also responsible for evaluating and critically analyzing the cash position of Tesco. The management accountants are charged with the responsibility of generating cash sources and reducing the capital expenditures of the retail stores. The working capital is reduced in 2012 which has enabled Tesco to have increased cash inflows (TESCO, 2012). Functions of Modern Management Accounting at Tesco The roles of management accountants in the modern era have increased and have been very diverse in the organizations.The management accountants have many responsibilities including the formulation of accounting policies, statistical reports, administration of tax policies, coordination of the reports, preparation and the interpretation of the annual reports and the financial statements of organizations, audit of the accounting transactions and the reco rds, compilation of the business costs, costing and planning of inventories, and the interpretation of the statistical reports of the organization.At Tesco the management accountants are engaged in making budgets including annual as well as monthly budgets. The budgets prepared are used for planning the resources and the supplies required for the operations of the business. The management accountants at Tesco are responsible for looking ahead and predicting the future of the business. The management accountants prepare reports which are used within Tesco and are intended for internal use by the management rather than the outside stakeholders.The reports prepared are kept confidential because they serve as the basis of the development of the strategies of Tesco. The management accountants have a dual reporting role within Tesco in that they are responsible for developing and managing the teams within Tesco and at the same time reporting to the chief financial officers and the financi al departments. The management accountants at Tesco provide information related to the forecasts and plans, they perform variance analysis and monitor the cost centers.Therefore they serve to be the controllers as well as the financial planners for Tesco. The management accountants gather financial information from all the department of Tesco, organize the data, analyze and interpret and then report their findings to the financial departments of Tesco. Therefore, the management accounting plays a very key role in Tesco. The management accounting over the years have also developed many management systems (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007).The management accountants are reported to by all the accounting departments and they are responsible for presenting their financial suggestions to the financial executives for the implementation of the plans. The management accountants at Tesco are therefore charged with the overall responsibility of managing and interpreting very large amounts of acco unting information, and then reporting their findings to the chief financial officers. References Tesco PLC. (2013). Our Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www. tescoplc. com/index. asp? pageid=12 Tesco PLC. (2012).Annual Report and Financial Statements. Retrieved from: http://www. tescoplc. com/files/reports/ar2012/files/pdf/tesco_annual_report_2012. pdf Durden, C. (n. d). The role of management accounting in organizational Control systems: preliminary evidence of an organic Approach. pp. 1-50. Retrieved from: http://www. afaanz. org/openconf/2008/modules/request. php? module=oc_proceedings&action=view. php&a=Accept+as+Paper&id=570 Anthony, R. N. , & Govindarajan, V. (2007). Management control systems. USA: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Bhimani, A. , & Langfield-Smith, K. (2007). Management Accounting Running Head: MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING The Management Accountant in Business [Name of the Writer] [Name of the Institution] The Management Accountant in Business Introduction Tesco Public Limited Company is a merchandising retailer and a grocery retailer multinational chain which has it’s headquarter in Cheshunt in the United Kingdom. Tesco as compared to its counterparts, Walmart and Carrefour, is the world’s third largest retail store with regard to the revenues that it generates. Tesco stands as the second largest retail stores of the world with regard to its profits, with Walmart being the first.Tesco has its retail stores spread across almost 14 countries of the world of Asia, North America and Europe. Tesco public limited company is the market leader in its home country United Kingdom with a market share of almost 30%. Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 which operated as a group of stalls in the market. After its inception today Tesco plc operates across diverse areas of clothing, electronics, furniture, books, financial services and internet services. Tesco is listed at the London Stock Exchange and is a part of the FTSE 100 index having a market capital of approximately ? 24. billion and a symbol of TSCO. Tesco has been operating with seven business segments, namely, Tesco Superstores, Tesco express, Tesco metro, Tesco extra, One stop, Tesco Homeplus, and Dobbies. The market share of Tesco as recorded in 2012 was 30. 2% which was the highest as compared to its European counterparts. Tesco has developed its marketing headline to be, â€Å"Every little helps†. The tag line is represented in all the print and TV advertisements of Tesco which represents the value that Tesco offers to its customers against the price that they pay, with the value being more than the price of the products.Tesco not only works for company profits but also for the community at large in which it operates. Tesco has a value of contributing 1. 8% of its profi ts to the charitable organizations. Tesco has a culture based on its values of trust and respect. Tesco employees and management believe that the customers would come back to visit the stores for their shopping if they are satisfied with the products and the service. Tesco believes that the success of the company as a whole depends on the contribution of the employees and the customer satisfaction.Management accounting is also used in making strategic management decisions (Dixon & Smith, 1993) . Tesco has seven core strategies on which it operates in the long run. The foremost strategy of Tesco is to grow the United Kingdom core business from where it started its operations and expanded globally. The United Kingdom being the largest business operating unit of Tesco generates the largest share of revenues and profits; therefore Tesco needs to develop this major segment of the business.Tesco also has a goal of being the world’s largest retailer which it has been able to achieve since 1997 and has become the leading retail store in almost eight of its international retail stores. Tesco was originally a food retailer when it started operating and from then onwards it has aimed at becoming the strongest brand in the non-food items as well. Besides the growth in the United Kingdom segment Tesco has also a strategy of growing its retail stores in the other markets in which it has presence. Tesco believes in serving the community and working for its welfare so that the corporate responsibility of Tesco is fulfilled.Tesco also aims to make high value brands at very competitive prices. Tesco aims to build brands that are highly appealing to the customers and also in providing the customers with quality products. Tesco also builds teams that are very committed to their work and has developed leaders who are dedicated and hard working. The leaders at Tesco have a major responsibility of building teams and working for the attainment of the organizational goals (Tesc o, 2013). Tesco works closely with the customers and continuously collects their feedback by engaging focus groups in the feedback collection process.The research center facilitates the identification of the research areas and the areas of concern in the profit centers. The customer feedback collected enables Tesco to make changes to the business processes so that they better meet the customer needs. Tesco also works closely with its suppliers to develop the best brands and also bring in a variety of offers for the customers. Tesco works with a number of suppliers including the FMCG companies and the local suppliers providing goods for the regional retail stores.Management Accounting Functions at Tesco Management Accounting is distinguished from Financial Accounting as being an accounting constituent that is concerned with the measurement, analysis and the reporting of information regarding the financial and non-financial operations of the business, and taking decisions which are ne cessary for the attainment of goals of the organization (Bhimani & Langfield, 2007). Management accounting is concerned with the attainment of organizational goals and for serving the strategies of the organization (Durden, n. , p. 2). Hence, management accounting is concerned with the accounting information which is intended to be used within the organization and for the achievement of the goals of the organization. Management accounting is used in organizations to make decisions regarding the competitiveness of the business by the collection, processing, and the communication of the information which will hence help the management of the business in planning, controlling and evaluating the processes of the business and the strategies of the company.The controllers in the large organizations are basically the leaders who run the management accounting function of the company and the controller then reports the accounting information to the finance heads which helps them in taking or ganizational wide decisions. At Tesco the management accountants are known for having a number of responsibilities including the collection of information from the different cost and profit centers, evaluation of the information, and the identification of the appropriate solutions to the problems faced by the cost or profit centers.The management accountants have a responsibility of identifying the appropriate and the most cost efficient distribution systems. This role of management accounting in Tesco is related to the establishment and administration of effective control mechanisms. Another management accounting function of Tesco is the sales forecasting, which is related to the identification of the needs of the customers, sales volumes and the effects of seasonal fluctuations on the sales. The management accountants have also the responsibility of ordering the right quantity of supplies at the right time.The management accountants are also responsible for developing cost, sales and profit budgets and to make capital investment plans. The management accountants also are responsible for the comparison of the plans and budgets with the benchmarks set and the identification of the discrepancies. The management accountants work towards taking the corrective measures in case of variances between the actual and the standard budgets. The task of standard costing is assigned to them which they use to take decisions which are useful for achieving the organizational goals.The group strategy section of the financial reports shows the management roles in Tesco. The customer researches are conducted to know the extent of their satisfaction and their needs. The management accountants also plan the growth rates in the different markets across the world. The management roles are also highlighted in the capital expenditures section of the annual reports of Tesco. The capital expenditure plans are made by the management accountants. Tesco has planned for major capital expend itures which will enable it to diversify and move into expansion phases worldwide throughout all its retail chains.The management accountants are also responsible for evaluating and critically analyzing the cash position of Tesco. The management accountants are charged with the responsibility of generating cash sources and reducing the capital expenditures of the retail stores. The working capital is reduced in 2012 which has enabled Tesco to have increased cash inflows (TESCO, 2012). Functions of Modern Management Accounting at Tesco The roles of management accountants in the modern era have increased and have been very diverse in the organizations.The management accountants have many responsibilities including the formulation of accounting policies, statistical reports, administration of tax policies, coordination of the reports, preparation and the interpretation of the annual reports and the financial statements of organizations, audit of the accounting transactions and the reco rds, compilation of the business costs, costing and planning of inventories, and the interpretation of the statistical reports of the organization.At Tesco the management accountants are engaged in making budgets including annual as well as monthly budgets. The budgets prepared are used for planning the resources and the supplies required for the operations of the business. The management accountants at Tesco are responsible for looking ahead and predicting the future of the business. The management accountants prepare reports which are used within Tesco and are intended for internal use by the management rather than the outside stakeholders.The reports prepared are kept confidential because they serve as the basis of the development of the strategies of Tesco. The management accountants have a dual reporting role within Tesco in that they are responsible for developing and managing the teams within Tesco and at the same time reporting to the chief financial officers and the financi al departments. The management accountants at Tesco provide information related to the forecasts and plans, they perform variance analysis and monitor the cost centers.Therefore they serve to be the controllers as well as the financial planners for Tesco. The management accountants gather financial information from all the department of Tesco, organize the data, analyze and interpret and then report their findings to the financial departments of Tesco. Therefore, the management accounting plays a very key role in Tesco. The management accounting over the years have also developed many management systems (Anthony & Govindarajan, 2007).The management accountants are reported to by all the accounting departments and they are responsible for presenting their financial suggestions to the financial executives for the implementation of the plans. The management accountants at Tesco are therefore charged with the overall responsibility of managing and interpreting very large amounts of acco unting information, and then reporting their findings to the chief financial officers. References Tesco PLC. (2013). Our Strategy. Retrieved from: http://www. tescoplc. com/index. asp? pageid=12 Tesco PLC. (2012).Annual Report and Financial Statements. Retrieved from: http://www. tescoplc. com/files/reports/ar2012/files/pdf/tesco_annual_report_2012. pdf Durden, C. (n. d). The role of management accounting in organizational Control systems: preliminary evidence of an organic Approach. pp. 1-50. Retrieved from: http://www. afaanz. org/openconf/2008/modules/request. php? module=oc_proceedings&action=view. php&a=Accept+as+Paper&id=570 Anthony, R. N. , & Govindarajan, V. (2007). Management control systems. USA: Irwin/McGraw-Hill. Bhimani, A. , & Langfield-Smith, K. (2007).