Thursday, October 31, 2019

DeVeaux, Scott. Constructing the Jazz Tradition Essay

DeVeaux, Scott. Constructing the Jazz Tradition - Essay Example Jazz history’s linear history came into being through the acknowledgement of its African roots by the American people (i.e., dubbed as a â€Å"rare and valuable national American treasure†), which reinforced the un-ambiguity and clear ‘linear’ path of jazz history (DeVeaux 2). In the process of this history’s unmaking, Tirro (291) pointed out how it lost its â€Å"historical strand that linked contemporary jazz to its roots...† (qtd. in Deveaux 2). On the other hand, it gained more forms or terms such as â€Å"cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, Third Stream, and New Thing† (DeVeaux 2). Interestingly, this unmaking story of jazz history is a common pattern among other music history; the original or traditional music has to become obsolete to pave the way for the creation of another music of similar ilk. The bebop era left a series of casualties in the jazz history. First, it successfully caused the dissolution of jazz’s â€Å"evolutionary lineage† through the percolation of different, â€Å"and in some cases mutually hostile styles† (DeVeaux 2). Second, the era pulled the traditional jazz to â€Å"contrasting directions,† through emerging music genres such as free jazz and jazz/rock fusion, and placed jazz music in a very pluralistic standpoint (DeVeaux 3). DeVeaux’s view evidently places the bebop era and influence as the main culprits in obscuring the official jazz

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Troubled masculinity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Troubled masculinity - Essay Example The peculiar aspect of this influence lies in the fact that the old forms of social relationship as well as commonly accepted practices are damaged; that is why, according to Zimmer-Tamakoshi, men feel that their masculinity is at risk. No matter now sorrowful it may seem, but one of the most widely practices ways of reinforcing masculinity in Papua New Guinea is manifested in the form of marital violence. All the researchers point out that this is a tremendous problem which heavily affects women. Indeed, Wardlow argues that men do not allow women to fully embrace the ways of modernity and use violence as a tool to control them (147). What is more important is that people of Papue New Guinea were traditionally known to be quite aggressive and impulsive which means that there is a significant history of violence among the local population. As a result, the contemporary rise in marital violence is not seen as something extraordinary: it is regarded as a valid manifestation of the traditional practices. In spite of the fact that this can be seen from different perspectives, it is beyond any doubt that women suffer from such state of affairs. Finally, the authors agree on the fact that Christianity should also be credited for changing the social environment of the region in question. Indeed, various Christian denominations saw Papua New Guinea as a platform to exercise their influence and were quite delighted to find locals there since with their help the congregation will become bigger.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Organizational Analysis of WalMart Store Inc

Organizational Analysis of WalMart Store Inc Introduction and brief overview of Wal-Mart store Inc. Wal-Mart store Inc. is not only the retail giant, but also is the largest grocery chain in the world. Wal-Mart store Inc. was founded in 1962. Samuel Walton and his brother J.L. Walton open their first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas (Wal-Mart History, 2010). For Wal-Mart store Inc., their common mission is: Save people money so they can live better (Wal-Mart corporate, 2010). Compared with their main competitors such as Target and K mart, Wal-Marts 2009 sales were almost 50% more. Because of its giant size and buying power, Wal-Mart can buy its products at very low prices, exchanging high purchase volumes for low cost then passing the savings onto its customers (Wikinvest Wal-Mart, 2010). Wal-Mart has 8,900 stores around the world in three different business segments of retail stores that including: Wal-Mart stores, Sams Club and Wal-Mart international. All of them offer different kinds of merchandises including electronic appliances, groceries, furniture, apparel and health beauty stuffs etc. For their business segment, they have over 54% of the companys stores are located in the United States, and the others international stores are mainly located in central and south America and China. The company mainly focuses on offering the lowest prices to attract its consumers. Wal-Mart totally earned $408 billion revenue in 2010, increase 1% compare to 2009 (Wikinvest Wal-Mart, 2010). REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHY  Ã‚  Ã‚   (USD) Annual FISCAL YEAR ENDING 31-1-2006 31-1-2007 31-1-2008 31-1- 2009 31-1-2010 Revenue International 59.2B 77.1B 90.6B 98.6B Revenue US 284B 303B Total Revenue 316B 349B 379B 406B 408B (Source: www.wikinvest.com/stock/Wal Mart_%28WMT%29/Data/Key_Metrics#Revenue_Breakdown) In 2009, Wal-Mart earned $255.7 billion in the domestic segment of the companys revenue. For Wal-Mart stores segment are further categories into three different formats including: Supercenters, Discount stores and Neighborhood Stores. For the Sams club, it is the second largest membership-only retailer club ( Costco is the first largest membership-only retailer) in United States belong to Wal-Mart Inc., their main customers mostly are offices, convenience stores, motels, restaurants and schools etc. (Wikinvest Wal-Mart, 2010). For now, Wal-Mart has total 3,121 international stores all over the world including in Mexico, Japan, Canada, China and countries in central and South America. However, recently Wal-Mart begins to slow down their growth rate in the United State and turn their main focus onto its international stores to develop growth. For international stores locations altogether earned total $98.6 billion revenue in 2009, compared to the sales of 2008, is increased 9.1% (Wikinvest Wal-Mart, 2010). Strategic History of the Industry The whole retail industry in the United States has over $4 trillion annual revenue. The main retail companies are including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Kroger, Costco, and Target. Some of the large companies dominate some retail sectors such as mass merchandisers and grocery stores, other sectors like auto dealers and convenience stores are fragmented. However, retail industry still has many small and specialty retailers are single-store operations (Hoover, 2011). The economy deeply affects the retail demand. In other words, retail demand depends on the economy. Many different kinds of economic factors such as job growth, recession, personal income, consumer confidence and interest rates can strongly affect consumer spending behavior. When during recessionary periods, the bad economy can affect the retail sales growth rate slow drastically or even sales revenue decline. While the retail spending grows rapidly when in the period of strong economy growth, for example consumers will spend more on grocery when they have more income. However, the rising interest rates will affect consumer purchase behavior and consumer ability to finance large amount of purchase such as purchasing cars (Hoover, 2011). Strategic History of Wal-Mart Store Inc. In the early stage of strategic history for Wal-Mart, they always unchanged their vision always low price for their customers. Until 1990s, Wal-Mart announced that they planned to go global. They wanted to look for international markets for the reasons as following: First of all, Wal-Mart has facing very strong competition in United States such as Target and K mart. These two firms had aggressive expanding their business and had started sharing Wal-Marts market share. Secondly, the market in the United States is already saturated; it was becoming difficult for the company to continue its growth rate. Thirdly, the US population is accounted for only 4% of the worlds population and if they want to expand their global market, China had the potential massive growth due to their huge population of over 1.3 billion people. The last reason is, globalization opened up new markets in China and created opportunities for discount stores such as Wal-Mart (Wal-Marts Cost Leadership Strategy, 2004 ). On the other hand, Wal-Mart is using the strategy that cooperates with local suppliers to purchase their products, even though the organizational culture is standardized with the home country. This strategy is not only use to the products purchasing, but also adapted to the local cultures and stores decoration and designed are also changed to meet local taste all around the world (Wal-Marts Cost Leadership Strategy, 2004). Organizational mission statement As we know, the mission statement for Wal-Mart is every day low price. In order to insist their mission, Wal-Mart implemented three approaches in the market. First, it increased the local purchasing in order to reduce the purchasing costs and also suit consumers needs in different places. Secondly, it maintained a good relationship with their suppliers, satisfied them by paying within 3-7 days during its initial years. Thirdly, it established distribution centers (DC) and computerized its management system to improve efficiency and reduce costs (ICFAI, 2005). Business Level Strategy For these several years, Wal-Mart has been trying hard on expand its stores outside the United States. It through two different to expand their international business market: new store construction and acquisition. Acquisition strategy of supermarket chains had been a part of Wal-Marts entry and store expansion strategy in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China and Great Britain (The Wal-Mart Puzzle, 2008). Over all, the Wal-Mart strategies were including: multiple store segments, lower daily prices, lots of name-brand merchandise, reduce operating costs, emphasized customers satisfied service, wide selection products, disciplined expansion into new geographic markets, and using acquisition to enter foreign market (Wal-Mart Store Inc., 2010). However, no matter Wal-Mart are in which foreign country, their company vision always low prices is never changed. The companys low distribution costs and cost-efficient supply chain management are the big reasons why Wal-Mart is so success and at the same time reduce the products prices. Wal-Mart has get into distribution efficiency compare with their competitors because of its rural store locations. Current strategy for the major operations/functions of the company Current strategies for Wal-Mart are including low costs, high volume, increase customer satisfaction and expansion strategy. Wal-Mart creates name recognition and customer satisfaction, and combined the retailer with the reputation of offering the best prices. They also expand their new business segments to different sectors such as pharmacies, automotive repair, and grocery sales to increase their sales revenue. Expansion strategy: The company realized that building a new store will allow for increase market share value. After their success in the rural areas, Wal-Mart moved to urban areas and then moved to surrounding areas. The expansion strategy made Wal-Mart the number one retail store in the United States. As Wal-Mart continue its expansion domestically, the firm decided to go international. Furthermore, Wal-Mart realized that acquiring an existing retail firm is necessary for expand domestic and international markets. Therefore, Wal-Mart by acquire retail store which enable to expand locally and internationally. Always low prices make customers live better strategy is believed the strongest strategy used by Wal-Mart. The firm developed the idea of dealing directly with the manufacturer and with the power control by Wal-Mart will enable it to get the best deal from the manufacturers and suppliers. Organizational structure, culture, and control systems (Source: http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/wal-mart-stores) Saving people money to help them live better was the mission for Wal-Mart. Hence, Wal-Mart negotiates different suppliers and understanding their cost structure in order to reduce the price. Wal-Mart has to be certain that the manufacturers were doing their best to cut down costs. Also, Wal-Mart believed in establishing a long-term relationship with their suppliers. Wal-Mart had 129 distribution centers located at different locations all over the US. Over 80,000 items were stocked in these centers. Wal-Marts own warehouses directly supplied 85 percent of the inventory, as compared to 50-65 % for competitors. Shipping costs for Wal-Mart is about 3 % which is lower than its competitors, 5%. The distribution centers ensured a steady and consistent flow of products to support the supply function (Wal-Marts Cost Leadership Strategy, 2004). Wal-Marts logistics infrastructure was its fast and successful transportation system. The distribution centers were serviced by more than 3,500 company owned trucks. To make its distribution process more efficient, Wal-Mart also uses a logistics technique called cross-docking. In this system, the finished goods were directly picked up from the manufacturing plant from suppliers, and then directly supplied to the customers. The system reduced the handling and storage of finished goods, eliminating the role of the distribution centers and stores (Wal-Marts Cost Leadership Strategy, 2004). SWOT Analysis for Wal-Mart Store Inc.. Strengths Reputation Brand Name: Wal-Mart is a powerful brand and pioneer in the retail industry with the wide spread network of stores. It has a reputation for low price, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store for customers. Wal-Mart has captured about 10% of the retail market in the U.S. and continues to expand. Wal-Mart stores continue to open all over the country making Wal-Mart a household name. Wal-Mart has also been widely acknowledged for its social responsibility actions. The company has donated to a variety of charitable organizations and has been accredited for bringing jobs and wealth to less developed communities. Offer Low Prices: Wal-Mart uses its enormous size and buying power to pressure its suppliers into extremely low prices, offering orders of high volumes of merchandise in exchange for low prices. The good thing about Wal-Mart is that its shifts the low cost advantage to customers and available the products at lower prices. It has loyal customer base because it meets the expectation of customer by always delivering the goods at lower prices at compare to its competitors. Expand Global Market: Wal-Mart has aggressively expands its international market over the past few years and has experienced global expansion. For example its purchase of the United Kingdom based retailer ASDA. Technology: Technology is strength to Wal-Mart with its inventory control system that was recognized as the most sophisticated in retailing. The technology linked all the stores to the headquarters and the companys distribution centers. It also enables the warehouse of which the goods are ordered, and direct the flow of goods to the store and proper shelves. Supply chain and logistics management: Supply chain and logistics management are one of the strengths of Wal-Mart. This allows Wal-Mart to utilize the Just- in-time inventory concept and avoid the pilling up inventory to save the extra cost for maintaining inventories in the warehouses. Human Resource: Wal-Mart always keen to provide training to their employees to improve the customer service level. The firm hire locally, provides training programs for its employees. Wal-Mart also gets its employees involve and encourage them to make use of words like: we, us, and ours. It also provides stock ownership and profit sharing with great contribution from the H. R of the firm. Wal-Mart was named one of the best 100 firms to work for. Cross-docking inventory system: Using the cross-dock technique, Wal-Mart was able to effectively leverage their logistical volume into a core strategic competency. Wal-Mart operates an extensive satellite network of distribution centers serviced by company owned trucks. Its satellite network sends point of sale (POS) data directly to 4,000 vendors. Each register is directly connected to a satellite system sending sales information to Wal-Marts headquarters and distribution centers. Weaknesses Employee turnover: Wal-Mart has high employee turnover which costs more money and time for company to train the new employee. Bad publicity: Wal-Mart is currently facing a gender discrimination lawsuit. Their female employees accuses that they were discriminated against in matters regarding pay and promotions. And also, Their female managers were accounted for the minority group in the company. Lock of flexibility: Wal-Mart sell very wide range kinds of products for example like clothes, food, pharmacy or stationary which lack of flexibility compare with other more focused competitors. Other competitors may have the ability to make changes and improve on a certain product lines when the needs of their customers change. Wal-Mart, however, may have too much merchandise and not be able to focus in on sectors that need to be improved. Some products have poor quality: Although Wal-Mart provides low price of products, however, customers sometimes complain about the poor quality of few products. Facing difficulty in International market: It is hard for Wal-Mart to expand their business out of US to totally different countries all around the world. Moreover, Wal-Mart has to facing different culture and customer behavior in different countries, for example Wal-Mart facing difficulty to expand the market in China. Opportunities Customers: Because Wal-Mart provides low price to their customers, so they are able to attract more customers. Furthermore, customers basically are able to purchasing everything in one store that satisfied their needs. Wal-Mart 24 hours stores also satisfied their customers. Diversified store types: Wal-Marts different store types and new locations provide more opportunities to exploit new market. Stores diversified from local, small-based sites to large super centers. International Expansion: No doubt that continued expand the international market is a huge opportunity for Wal-Mart. Wal-Marts oversea stores have experienced significant growth. There are actually tremendous opportunities for future growth in developing countries and Asian markets than in the United States such as China and India. Creating strategic alliances and licensing agreements with other global retailers are ways to move into different countries. Threats Competition: Wal-Mart faces different strong competitions locally and internationally. Wal-Mart main competitors are including Kmart, Target, Carrefour and Costco wholesale. In 2010, the Net Profit Margin for Wal-Mart is 3.59%, Target 4.22%, Costco wholesale 1.69%, Carrefour 0.38%, respectively (Hoovers, 2010). Target is Wal-Marts direct competitor in the US, offering a range of general merchandise in a similar store format (Wikinvest, 2010). Economy Recession: The revenue for Wal-Mart is affected by economy recession. Good economy is an opportunity for great business, because customers will have more money to spend. If the economy is great, there will be more jobs and people will shop more. However, if the economy is bad, there will be fewer jobs and people will shop less. Also, with the high price of gasoline and its effect on the economy, Wal-Mart will certainly be affected the most. Strategy imitation: Wal-Mart strengthens its competitive advantage on low-cost products. Other competitors may imitate their low-cost strategy to take over their market shares. Low Brand Loyalty: In the retail industry, customers would like to choose the product with the lowest price. In other words, customers do not care about the brand or which retail stores, if Costco has the exactly same chips that sell cheaper than in the Wal-Mart, then customers will choose to buy the chips in the Costco not Wal-Mart. TOWS MATRIX STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Reputation Brand Name Bad publicity Offer Low Prices Lock of flexibility Expand Global Market Some products have poor quality Technology Facing difficulty in International market Supply chain and logistics management Employee turnover Human Resource Cross-docking inventory system OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES-STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES-WEAKNESSES Customers Build on its already efficient distribution system to further expand in the U.S and globally. Wal-Mart should be awareness and strict to control of the quality of the product in order to keep their customers basis. Diversified Store Types Expand diversified store types to International market in order to increase profit in International market. Set higher employment standards through enhanced training to keep their employees have best performance. International Expansion Duplicated the successful delivery logistic management and the distribution centers into International market. Continue to build on cost efficient pricing and production due to expansion. Go into new markets and buy out their local retailers to gain market share. THREATS THREATS-STRENGTHS THREATS-WEAKNESSES Competition Buy raw materials or products from local suppliers to hold a better political status within the local community further to compete with their competitors. Human resource department should set a benefits long-term promotion program or standard and training program for their employees in order to decrease the employee turnover. Economy Recession Create their own brand of products and increase the quality of products in order to establish customers loyalty. Establish joint venture partnerships or long-term relationship with local retail companies to get the advantages in the International segment. Strategy imitation Develop strong RD and technology to enhance the competitive advantage and avoid imitation from other competitors. Low Brand Loyalty Five Forces Analysis for Wal-Mart Store Inc. Threat of entrances Low The threat of new entrance in the grocery and discount retailer industry is very low. New entrants have to face with the strong low-price competition among exist giant retail companies like Wal-Mart, Costco and Target. New entrants need to invest large amount of capitals to establish their brand recognition, service, and variety of product offerings that Wal-Mart, Target, and others competitors continue to improve on each day. In addition, existing companies can drop prices lower in order to force a new competitor out of the market. Therefore, the threat of entrances is low. Power of buyer-High Customers have many choosing opportunities and consider about products very details. They want the product now and they want it with the best service, best quality and reasonable price. Customers also enjoy increasing choice of products and choose one product that has the best quality and better price. For example, if customers find out Target sells an exactly product that has better quality and price than Wal-Mart, and then they will choose to buy it in Target instead of Wal-Mart. Power of Suppliers: Low The bargaining power of suppliers is very low. Wal-Mart is very famous on giving pressure to their suppliers to cut their price lower and lower in order to offer the lowest price to their customers. On the other hand, become the supplier of Wal-Mart is a very fierce competition. In 2004, about 10,000 new suppliers applied to become Wal-Mart vendors. However, only about 200, or 2%, were ultimately accepted by Wal-Mart (Gwendolyn Bounds, The Wall Street Journal). Therefore, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. Rivalry High The competition in the US grocery and discount retailer industry is very high. The main competitors for Wal-Mart in the local market are Kmart and Target. These companies also have to face competition from wholesalers such as BJs, Costco and even the international market such as Carrefour. Wal-Mart has adopted a cost leadership generic strategy. In the past, most companies have not been able to match Wal-Marts strategy everyday low prices. However, Wal-Marts barrier to entry (economies of scale) and strength (supply-chain management) can be easily imitated with sufficient resources. Therefore, retailers are in a fierce competition that see who can offer their customers the lowest price. Threat of substitute Low The threat of substitutes in this industry is low because only few companies have ability to offer such a variety of products available instantly and also low prices. One possible substitute is online shopping; however, customers usually do the online shopping for clothes or other stuffs but not for food or grocery shopping. Therefore, the threat of substitute is low. B. Strategic direction Key Strategic Issues Issue #1: Open too many new stores close to existing stores lead to new stores taking over the market shares from existing stores. Status Quo Wal- Mart depends on opens many new stores and expands into new market to increase the long-term sales and income growth. However, because of Wal-Marts large size of expansion, new stores are effects the sales on existing stores. For example, Wal-Mart builds a store relatively close to an already existing store, the new store might take away customers from the old store thus decrease the sales in existing stores (Wal-Mart, 2010). Evolutionary Change (Incremental Improvement) In order to solve this problem, Wal-Mart expands their business segment into international market instead of domestic market. For example, Wal-Mart opened 5 times number of stores in the international market in 2010 compared to domestic stores; most of stores are in Mexico, China, and Central America (Wal-Mart, 2010). Revolutionary Change (Huge/Drastic Change) Wal-Mart is also aggressively to open business segments in India if the country opens up the sector to foreign direct investment. India has retail market more than 1 billion; no doubt India is a huge opportunity for Wal-Mart. However, retailers that carry multiple brands (like Wal-Mart) are restricted to wholesale outlets in India. After Indias policy change, Wal-Mart is allowed to expand superstores and generate revenue in India (Wal-Mart, 2010). Specific tactics to implement the strategy Wal-Mart needs to establish long-term relationship or joint venture with local retail company to get into the market in India. Although in 2006, Wal-Mart announced that it had tied up with Bharti Enterprises Ltd. (Bharti) to get into the Indian retail sector. Bharti was a diversified company, and one of the biggest mobile telephone service providers in India (Wal-Mart and the Indian Retail Sector, 2007). However, because of the government policy, the small retailers groups and the Left parties against allowing the company into India are all the barriers that Wal-Mart has to face it. Issue #2: International competitors Status Quo In order to expand and improve the sales revenue for the economy recession especially in the domestic market, Wal-Mart has been aggressively expand its business segment into international market. However, the local big retailers or small retailers groups are against Wal-Mart to get into their market to take over the market shares because of its low price strategy (Wal-Mart, 2010). Evolutionary Change (Incremental Improvement) Improve its supply chain, logistic and technology segment to lower its delivery and operation costs in order to compete with local big retailers such as Britains Tesco, Frances Carrefour, and Germanys Metro (Wal-Mart, 2010). On the other hand, retail business segment is hard to create products differentiation, because commodity products are all the same for customers. The only way that gains the market shares for retail stores is not only low price but also quality of products. Therefore, Wal-Mart should awareness of its quality of products to attract more customers even in the international market. Revolutionary Change (Huge/Drastic Change) Wal-Mart should acquire and purchase the local retail companies in order to get into the international market. On the other hand, establish long-term relationship with local suppliers to have the win-win situation for their cooperation. Specific tactics to implement the strategy In the beginning of year 1, 2 and 3, Wal-Mart should first focus on improving its supply chain, logistic and technology improvement in order to compete with local big retailers on its lower operation, delivery costs and high quality of products. For the long-term tactics, Wal-Mart should deeply penetrate into the local market, understand different cultures and customers behaviors and then cooperate with local suppliers to establish long-term partnership. Personal assessment SWOT Analysis of myself in relation to the organization (What can I offer to the organization?). Strengths: International expansion (China): Wal-Mart is extremely aggressively penetrated into the market in China. Also, no doubt that China has 1.3 billion populations which accounted for the most majority population in the world, creates a huge business opportunity for Wal-Mart. Therefore, Wal-Mart needs a manager who can speak fluently Mandarin and English, and really understand about Chinese culture and Chinese customers behavior. Hence, I can offer Wal-Mart my knowledge to develop more opportunity in Chinas market in order to maximize the profits. Weaknesses: Lock of working experience: Even though I can speak fluently Mandarin and understand the Chinese culture and customers behavior; however, I still lack of working experiences. I do have some part time working experience such as working in starbucks, but do not have full time working experiences. Opportunities: Because of my professional knowledge (bachelor and master degree are both business management) are expertise on this field which can offer Wal-Mart a professional employees or manager. Moreover, my family also has business in China, Hangchow, which makes me has understanding and interested about China. I can provide Wal-Mart establish partnership with local suppliers and establish long-term relationship with them to compete with local retails competitors. Threats: Many applicants around the world: There is still having many talented applicants around the world apply to get into this company. Some of the applicants have high education degree and business knowledge and also have ability to speak many different kinds of languages. Therefore, I am in extremely fierce competition. Not every business segment in Wal-Mart is my expertise: I have weakened and lower advantages compared to local American because of the speaking and cultural differences. Furthermore, the company does business in many different retail formats, including supercenters, food and drugs, general merchandise stores, cash and carry stores, membership warehouse clubs, apparel stores, soft discount stores and restaurants. However, not every business segment in Wal-Mart is in my field of expertise. Financial Analysis 2010 Annual Sales (Figure2-1) (Source:Hoovers,2011,http://0subscriber.hoovers.com.leopac.ulv.edu/H/company360/competitiveLandscape.html?companyId=11600000000000) As you can see in Figure 2-1, this is 2010 annual sales for 4 main retail stores in the United States. They are including Wal-Mart, Target, Costco Wholesale and Carrefour. Wal-Mart has almost $400 billion sales in 2010. Compared to other competitors, annual sales for Wal-Mart was much higher than other companies. Carrefour annual sale in 2010 was around $100 billion. Annual sales for Target and Costco were just around $50 billion in 2010. 2010 Net Profit Margin (Figure2-2) (Source:Hoovers,2011,http://0subscriber.hoovers.com.leopac.ulv.edu/H/company360/competitiveLandscape.html?companyId=11600000000000) In Figure 2-2, net profit margin in 2010 for Wal-Mart was 2.98%. Target was higher than Wal-Mart which had 3.69% net profit margin in 2010. Other two competitors, Costco and Carrefour were both under 1.84% in net profit margin in 2010. Figure 2-3 (Source:Hoovers,2011,http://0subscriber.hoovers.com.leopac.ulv.edu/H/company360/competitiveLandscape.html?companyId=11600000000000) The Return on Asset ratio is useful in measuring how efficiently a company uses its assets to generate profit. By definition, ROA is calculated by dividing the Net Income by the total asset of a company. Refer to Figure 2-3, ROA for Wal-Mart from 2006 to 2010 are much higher than its competitors. Wal-Marts ROA were around 9% to 10% each year, compared to its competitors which were all much lower than Wal-Mart. This basically means that Wal-Mart utilizes its assets well enough to generate profit in comparison with their competitors. However, ROA in 2007 for Target is higher than Wal-Mart, Target 9.29%, Wal-Mart 9.05%. Targets major competitive advantage over Wal-Mart lies in its customer base: the average household income for Target customers is about $50,000 a year, whereas the average yearly income for a Wal-Mart customer is only $35,000 Figure 2-4 (Source:Hoovers,2011,http://0subscriber.hoovers.com.leopac.ulv.edu/H/company360/competitiveLandscape.html?companyId=11600000000000) The return on Stockholders Equity (ROE) ratio measures the percentage of profit earned on stockholders investment in the company. In other words, return on equity  measures a corporations profitability  by revealing how much  profit a company generates  with the money shareholders have invested.  Ã‚   In Figure 2-4, ROE for Wal-Mart were around 20% from year 2006 to 2010, compared to other competitors which are higher than others. Figure 2-5 (Source:Hoovers,2011,http://0subscriber.hoovers.com.leopac.ulv.ed

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Poetry of A. E. Housman Essay -- essays research papers

The Poetry of A. E. Housman Housman was born in Burton-On-Trent, England, in 1865, just as the US Civil War was ending. As a young child, he was disturbed by the news of slaughter from the former British colonies, and was affected deeply. This turned him into a brooding, introverted teenager and a misanthropic, pessimistic adult. This outlook on life shows clearly in his poetry. Housman believed that people were generally evil, and that life conspired against mankind. This is evident not only in his poetry, but also in his short stories. For example, his story, "The Child of Lancashire," published in 1893 in The London Gazette, is about an child who travels to London, where his parents die, and he becomes a street urchin. There are veiled implications that the child is a homosexual (as was Housman, most probably), and he becomes mixed up with a gang of similar youths, attacking affluent pedestrians and stealing their watches and gold coins. Eventually he leaves the gang and becomes wealthy, but is attacked by t he same gang (who don't recognize him) and is thrown off London Bridge into the Thames, which is unfortunately frozen over, and is killed on the hard ice below. Housman's poetry is similarly pessimistic. In fully half the poems the speaker is dead. In others, he is about to die or wants to die, or his girlfriend is dead. Death is a really important stage of life to Housman; without death, Housman would probably not have been able to be a poet. (Housman, himself, died ...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Working Class Youth and Moral Panic

Why has the nineteenth century been associated with ‘a persistent panic over working class youth’? The events of the nineteenth century have often been described as turning points throughout Europe, the subsequent revolutions of the major powers of Europe led to significant change in the countries involved, additionally industrial revolutions and urbanization led to greater city populations. The question about youth firstly must be defined in a manor easily understood. How persistent the panic was is important in addition to this what panic was there.From the latter part of the 19th century these issues can be discussed with greater authority, and effects drawn more conclusively. ‘Moral panic’ is considered being a concern for the threat of social order or values as Stanley Cohen and Jock Young have emphasised. The context is vital during this period as British output doubled twice in the 19th century between 1830-1852 and 1852-80 which fundamentally changed Britain in a number of ways, before the revolution its estimated ? of the population lived in rural parts.Working longer for less in factories and higher living costs in an increasing urban country left many with very little. The relentless path that factory owners were able to take due to the government’s laissez-faire attitude led to another social change the breakdown of family life, safety was not an issue only profit, women and children worked hard and for little income. It is also argued that England was the world’s first urban nation, and urbanization meant that the majority of people lived in urban areas according to the consensus of 1861, an inevitable factor in a growing power.The aspects that caused panic- and/or ‘moral panic’- are also an important aspect as well as what led to the reactions of politicians and how the public reacted to youth, which could often be a product of journalism at the time. It should also be explained there was no dis tinct youth pre 1850’s, children entered adult life as soon as possible working in the various industries. And now there was a growing consciousness of not only the working class but of a ‘youth culture’ one which was ultimately conscious of itself.With this change in society and as problems occurred newspapers took advantage to emphasise story lines which, arguably in turn would lead to ‘moral panic’ to some degree. And as Eileen Janes Yeo explains that some of these ideas were ‘manufactured’ in the light of politicians creating these problems for them themselves to solve through social reform, creating further panic over the youth of tomorrow. An example of this can be seen by the mugging of an MP in 1862 or Garrotting as they were coined, held a small proportion of crimes but a press campaign resulted from this ‘†¦Garrotte robberies was tiny, the press created sensations out of minor incidents. Parliament responded with fer ocious legislation providing for offenders to be flogged as well as imprisoned. ’[1] Later Clive Emsley explains ‘Violence, especially violence with a sexual frisson, sold newspapers. But violent crime in the form of murder and street robbery never figured significantly in the statistics or in the courts. ’[2] This therefore verifies the effects that the press had on panic within a social context to some extent.On the other hand Andrew Davies argues differently agreeing with Humphries point of view in his writings ‘I would strongly endorse Humphries' assertion that violent youth gangs were not an invention of the late Victorian press. ’[3] It should also be noted that to a degree many Victorian English thought that the Irish or more specifically the poor Irish were responsible for a large proportion of crime in some areas such as Lancashire. With the substantial increase in Irish immigration during the early Victorian period, the host society's wides pread belief in the innate criminality of the Irish-and, more particularly, of the Irish poor-formed an integral component of the negative side of the Irish stereotype’[4] The Dublin weekly newspaper added in 1868 â€Å"Nowhere in England can our countrymen consider themselves safe from English mob violence,† The press therefore had a degree of influence on the panic throughout England regardless of whether they overstated events or exaggerated them, which is not to say this was the case in these separate examples.As hand in hand they make the situation worse and can spread panic. There were on the other hand reasons for concern and panic within Britain during this time. There were considered to be many Scuttlers and such like which were not recorded during the time and as James Bent describes in his criminal life: reminiscences of forty-two years as a police officer ‘In the early 1890s, staff at the Manchester Royal Infirmary informed the police that â€Å"scar cely a day passed† Without the admission of someone who ad been injured in a scuttling affray’[5] this shows to a large degree that the presence of the police was either needed or attributed to events occurring and therefore persistent panic could be justified to some degree. In addition to this pick pocketing is considered a skill and thus meant training, which opens a new area of debate. The orphans that were taken in had to work for their lodging and this could be the case with picking pockets.This argues that most youths were pushed into crime due to poverty and unbearable backgrounds. Such was the need for the Ragged schools to bring those who did not have a chance at education for the varying reasons that hindered children in the 19th century. The Metropolitan police force is an important factor in scaling the panic of 19th century England as a centralized force that had more responsibility and imposed increasing numbers of laws is an obvious sign of control regar dless of whether it was needed or not.It could be considered to be a reactionary attribute to what was happening whether it was to take precautions or act against the facing problems of youth culture. Increases in police forces in cities can also be drawn from the panic of Gang violence and scuttling. Philip Gooderson certainly argues the case, as for example the Salsford police increasing the force by around 30 in the years 1890-1. The various factory acts of the 19th century could also play a part in delinquency as it meant that less and less children were working therefore would either be in education or on the streets.It should also be considered that children had been taken advantage within industries for a long time and the possible effect this had on youth, the 19th century finally saw a slow and gradual intervention in this through various social reforms with such acts as the chimney sweeps act of 1840, which finally began to be enforced unlike previous reforms which were of ten ignored, as well as the numerous factory acts which allowed better conditions for children and women and age restrictions.The various institutions that were created during the 19th century are an obvious sign of ‘moral panic’ and clearly show one reason why the 19th century has often be concerned with youth. Schools such as the Ragged schools in 1844, Reformatories in 1854 and finally in 1857 Industrial schools, each of which were to their own as such and have varying ideals. However there are conflicting views upon how delinquents should have been treated, and there are a number of private voluntary additions that drove for a varying unishments opposed to prison, such as, Mary Carpenter, Sydney Turner and Mathew Davenport Hill whom helped in different ways to establish delinquency and aid such effects, this also argues the case for ‘moral panic’ as there were now debates on what was best for delinquents in form of punishments and education. Additionall y the social welfare and acts of the 1850’s as well as the education act of 1876 introduced a number of industrial schools and further developments within truant schools. There was a network of 208 schools: 43 reformatories, 132 industrial schools, 21 day industrials schools and 12 truant schools’[6] Heather Shore comments that ‘ The juvenile offender was not, then, an invention of the nineteenth century. However, it is clear that in this period a reconceptualisation of youth crime, and various developments in social policy, as well as the activities of certain individuals, resulted in a new language of youthful delinquency. Juvenile delinquency reiterated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century’s, even today there is a concern for today and tomorrow’s youth as ideals are lost through different generations, not to mention the rise in knife and dangerous weapon crimes. Gang violence and criminality are still high today in London and other maj or cities with a similar average age of criminality ‘the average age of a teenager arrested for murder in 2008 (18. 1 years) was four months older than the average age of a teenage murder arrestee in 1960 (17.   years)’[7] despite there being ‘moral panic’ for youth culture during the 19th century it’s not strictly persistent just to 19th century, as it is still of concern today. During the 18th and 19th century children worked for up to 18 hours a day, little or no education was offered as a result right and wrong was not always apparent and this is a contributing factor to delinquency and persistent panic in the 19th century, as modernity took hold of Britain and more liberal and welfare ideas were debated which stemmed concern for youth which had not been fully understood or considered in previous century’s.Bibliography Davies, Andrew youth gangs, masculinity and violence in late Victorian Manchester and Salford, Journal of Social History , Vol. 32, No. 2. (Winter, 1998), pp. 349-369 Emsley, Clive Crime and the Victorians Last updated 2011-02-17 http://www. bbc. co. uk/history/british/victorians/crime_01. shtml 02/02/12 Males, Mike A. Criminals and violent offenders getting older and older†¦ not â€Å"younger† 03/12/2010 http://www. cjcj. org/post/juvenile/justice/criminals/and/violent/offenders/getting/older/and/older/not/younger Accessed 02/03/2012Pearson, Geoffrey Disturbing continuities: ‘Peaky blinders’ to ‘Hoodies’ ( CJM no. 65 Autumn 2006) Shore, Heather The idea of juvenile crime in 19th century England, History Today, June 2000 Swift, Roger Heroes or Villains? : The Irish, Crime, and Disorder in Victorian England : http://www. jstor. org/stable/4051670 Accessed: 06/03/2012 13:45 ———————– [1] Clive Emsley http://www. bbc. co. uk/history/british/victorians/crime_01. shtml [2] http://www. bbc. co. uk/history/british/vi ctorians/crime_01. html [3] Andrew Davies youth gangs, masculinity and violence in late Victorian Manchester and Salford p. 4 [4] Roger Swift Heroes or Villains? : The Irish, Crime, and Disorder in Victorian England [5] Youth gangs, masculinity and violence in late Victorian Manchester and Salford, p. 5 [6] Heather Shore, The idea of juvenile crime in 19th century England, History Today, June 200 p. 7 [7]http://www. cjcj. org/post/juvenile/justice/criminals/and/violent/offenders/getting/older/and/older/not/younger

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Resolving Ethical Business Challenges Essay

Peter had been a human resource (HR) manager for 18 years and vice president for 2 more years for Zyedego Corporation, a small company in New Orleans. In the last decade, there have been many changes to what potential/actual employees can be asked and what constitutes fair and equitable treatment. Frankly, the situation Peter was in was partly his own fault. The first issue began when Gwyn, one of Peter’s HR managers, was planning on rehiring Dana Gonzales but found out that Dana was pregnant. Because of the â€Å"rough† condition of the workplace, Gwyn was concerned for Diana’s safety. If Dana were rehired, employees’ hourly wages should be decreased by 25 percent because the company had experienced setbacks during the hurricane and had to work with a reduced budget. In addition, Gwyn had some concerns over Dana’s citizenship because her passport appeared to be questionable. Dana had been slowing providing the documents since the flood destroyed th e original documents. Then Dana stated that if not rehired she would go to a competitor and expected the company to pay severance of two weeks’ wages for the time she was out of work during the hurricane. Another issue is the hiring of truck drivers. Zyedego hires many truck drivers and routinely requests driving records as a part of the preemployment process. Several of the potential new hires have past DWI records. Gwyn has hired some drivers with infractions to secure the necessary number of drivers needed to the company. Zyedego has even deeper problems when Hurricane Katrina killed Guy Martin. The company’s death benefits provide only 50% of the deceased pension for a surviving spouse. Also, because the body had not been found, there was legal question of death. Darell Lambert, the chief adjuster for Zyedego’s insurance and pension provider, proposed that it will be helpful for the company’s recovery and survival to reduce the total reimbursements by 40%. Here is the point where Peter’s decision making comes to play. QUESTIONS: 1. What are the legal and ethical risks associated with the decision about hiring truck drivers at Zyedego? * 2. What should Peter recommend to Gwyn about Dana’s case? * Peter should recommend to Gwyn not to rehire Dana due to questionable citizenship. The company may be liable if proven that Dana is not a resident of New Orleans. 3. Do you think Peter is too emotionally attached to the Martin case to make an objective decision? * Yes. Because Peter wanted to help the 100 families even if there is a need to cut down the total reimbursement by 40%. There is the assurance that the 100 families will receive financial assistance from the company but not the exact amount as stated. Conclusion: * Regarding the issue of hiring the truck drivers, it is unethical for Gwyn to hire employees only for the sake of securing the numbers of workers needed to perform the job. Gwyn should take consider of the implications of her ineffective decision making on hiring drivers with records of infractions. Still, there is a probability of recurrence. * On Dana’s case, it will be ethical for Peter to recommend not rehiring Dana because of the â€Å"uncertainty† about her citizenship. If proven that Dana is not a citizen of New Orleans, then there is misconduct on Dana’s point of view because she had not provided a reliable document regarding her nationality requirements if she is really permitted to work in New Orleans. * On Martin case, Peter had to take some considerations of implementing some actions for the survival of the business. As an ethical leader, Peter should consider stakeholder’s interest at the same time. His decision should be in the process that is respectful of them not only for the firm’s survival.