Fanny Mendelssohn

Fanny Mendelssohn was one of the greatest female composers to have ever lived. She was born on November 14th, 1805 in Hamburg, Germany. Fanny was a romantic composer and, though only few were published in her life, she composed over 500 works including lieder and piano pieces (Stanton, 1984). Fanny was the oldest of four children and the sister of the well-known composer Felix Mendelssohn, with whom she was very close to (Estrella, 2011). Her grandfather was Moses Mendelssohn, a very popular philosopher of the time (Estrella, 2011). Fanny was extremely talented from childhood, but unfortunately was limited due to the negative attitudes toward women in musical professions of the time (Estrella, 2011). As a child, Fanny was trained on the piano by her mother. She once performed twenty four preludes from Johann Sebastian Bach’s â€Å"Well-tempered Clavier† from memory (Stanton, 1984). She was also influenced when she began to study under other composers. In 1816, Fanny began to compose with Marie Bigot in Paris. Later, in 1818, she went on to study composition under Carl Friedrich Zelter (Estrella, 2011). She wrote over 200 lieders, including the famous â€Å"Swan Song† (Estrella, 2011). She also wrote over 200 fugues, preludes, and sonatas. Later in her life, she began to write choral music, including the famous cantata â€Å"Oratorium nach den Bildern der Bibel† (Estrella, 2011). There are many interesting facts to be learned about Fanny as well. It is rumored that when Felix, her brother, played for Queen Victoria, the queen was very impressed. The Queen went on to say that her favorite was â€Å"Italien,† which Felix admitted was the work of Fanny (â€Å"Essentials of Music Composers†, 2011). Fanny was also extremely close to her brother, Felix. Felix idolized Fanny and would seek her out for musical advice and approval on his own compositions (FMH, 2009). In fact, when Fanny passed away in 1847, it is said that Felix later became depressed and passed away six months later (Estrella, 2011). In 1829, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel, a successful artist and painter (Stanton, 1984). They had one son together, Sebastian, whom they named after Fanny’s favorite composer, Johann Sebastian Bach (Estrella, 2011). Fanny’s musical talent matched, if not surpassed that of her brother’s, but even if Fanny had wanted to pursue a career in music it would have been nearly impossible. Societal attitudes of the time prevented women from holding professions in music. Even her father discouraged her. In an 1820 letter to Fanny, he tells her that, while music could be a career for Felix, â€Å"for you it can and must only be an ornament, never the basis of your being and doing. FMH, 2009). † He encouraged her to take on the more â€Å"conventional† role of staying at home and bearing children. A year later, Fanny married Wilhelm Hensel. She did take on the acceptable role of women at the time, but still continued to compose over 400 more works (FMH, 2009). On May 1847, after rehearsing her brother’s cantata â€Å"Die erste Walpurgisnacht † for a performance, Fanny collapsed and passed away at the age of forty-one, due to a stroke. Fortunately, she lived long enough to experience changing attitudes towards women in musical professions, which aided in a number of her works having appeared in print, and thus allowed her to fulfill her goals of being seen as a serious composer (FMH, 2009). Since Fanny was one of the first female composers to ever have work published, she set a precedent for the emergence of women into a male-dominated profession (FMH, 2009). Much of Fanny’s work is unknown because most of her music was not published, but it is very apparent that Fanny Mendelssohn was and still is one of the most notable and talented female composers of all time.

Core Business Skills

1. 0 INTRODUCTION This particular assignment's aim is to discuss the application of the strategic management process in a retail industry. I have chosen Starbucks Coffee as my food and beverage industry to research on, and to thoroughly explain the strategic management process implied by them. Starbucks Coffee Company was founded by English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker back in year 1971 Seattle, Washington. Starbucks Coffee Company is known as the world's leading coffee retailer, roaster and last but not least brand of specialty coffee.Apart from providing only coffee, Starbucks Coffee also cater light snacks like sandwiches, delicious pastries, healthy salads and etc. Since Starbucks Coffee is the world's leading brand in coffee, they serve up to 35 million customers from all over the world weekly. Because of their great reputation, they have successfully opened up to 17,000 stores worldwide. The company's mission statement is to ‘ inspire and nurture human spirit'. Firstly, Starbucks Coffee focus to provide a ‘great work environment' to their members so that they are treated with ‘respect and dignity'.Secondly, Starbucks Coffee also believes that conducting business ethically is the main key to be successful in a business. As a worldwide and leading-brand company, Starbucks Coffee insists strongly on upholding a culture where diversities are well valued and respected. These diversities include ‘inclusion: human connection and engagement', ‘equity: fairness and justice', ‘accessibility: ease of use and barrier free' so that employees with diverse background are fairly treated and respected to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable workplace (www. starbucks. com 2011). . 0 Strategic Analysis 2. 1 Internal Analysis 2. 1. 1 Strength: One of the main strength possesses by Starbucks Coffee is the strong brand image they have. In terms of the coffee industry, they are considered to be most reputable compared to Coffee Beans, Gloria Jeans, and other competitors among the industry. Starbucks Coffee manage to prove themselves as a highly resorted brand by getting rated as the top 100 most seeked after brand. Apart from having a high brand value, Starbucks Coffee has managed to globalise their target market in to all parts of the world.This opens up the opportunity for Starbucks themselves to monopolise the foreign market as well. 2. 1. 2 Weaknesses: No matter what industry a firm is in, they will face certain weaknesses that they have to always try to improve on. As for Starbucks Coffee, one of their main weaknesses is the product price. In many countries, Starbucks Coffee is considered as a premium product where the prices of their products are higher compared to other coffee shops (Lee S, 2007). Another weakness that Starbucks Coffee has is that they are too focused in their domestic market which is the United Stated of America.This will lead Starbucks Coffee into a vu lnerable position where it is hard for them to predict unforeseen changes in the industry's market at other countries. 2. 2 Stakeholders in Starbucks Coffee: Stakeholders in Starbucks Coffee includes all the workers which are known as partners. This is because Starbucks Coffee wants to create an environment where all their employees would feel comfortable and relaxed (Kembell B, 2002). The second stakeholders for Starbucks Coffee Company would be their highly valued customers. These customers play an important role in Starbucks Coffee because they are the ones who visit the coffeehouse almost everyday.In order to feel connected to Starbucks Coffee, customers can easily hear and engaged with the employees and products of Starbucks anytime, anywhere (Hanft A, 2005). The other crucial stakeholder in Starbucks Coffee will be their coffee farmers. These coffee farmers are actually the backbone to Starbucks Coffee because Starbucks rely mainly on coffee products. In order to uphold the so cial and economic well-being of their coffee farmers, they have decided to pay a premium price for high quality coffee beans from them (Robertson H, 2006). 2. 3 Core Competencies:As we all know, core competencies in any industry is actually their comparative advantage. As for Starbucks Coffee, one of their core competency is human resource. Firstly, Starbucks Coffee is a company that values their employees greatly. Starbucks shows their appreciation to their employees by giving them the opportunity to receive full healthcare benefits, stock options/discounted stock purchase plans (Weber G, 2005). Starbucks Coffee's tangible resources will be their high-quality coffee beans called the Narino Supremo Beans. The Narino Supremo Beans have the highest quality and is the largest bean in Columbia (www. melita. om, 2011). In a recent report, it is said that the president of the Columbia;s National Federation of Coffee Growers have confirmed the purchase of 6 to 7 percent of Starbucks shares (Castaneda S, 2009). This shows that Starbucks Coffee has sole ownership over the high quality beans which is an advantage for them. Starbucks Coffee has a good reputation and is well accepted throughout the world. This reflects on their intangible resources to attract customers. Having a good brand name, friendly employees and high quality coffee beans are the main traits possessed by Starbucks Coffee. 2. 4. 0 External Analysis 2. 4. 1 OpportunitiesStarbucks has always use their opportunities to expand their business in to a whole new level. Firstly, Starbucks has created an opportunity for themselves to expand their brand name to foreign countries. It is reported that Starbucks are planning to open up to 15,000 new stores across the world in the years to come (Datamonitor, 2005). Apart from that, Starbuck's technological advancements has given them a good opportunity to conveniently distribute products to customers through the internet. Starbucks has also equipped all their loung es with WiFi services to accommodate their valued-customers to boot (Elgan M, 2008). . 4. 2 Threats One of the threats that will be faced by Starbucks coffee is the price fluctuation of diary and coffee products. The price of theese products can also be affected by the income levels of customers in upcoming or developing country as goods over there are highly inflated (Pinkasovitch A, 2011). In every industry that we are in, there will always be competitors trying to penetrate the market . Competitors for Starbucks Coffee would be other coffehouses that sells coffee. Coffeebean, San Francisco Coffee, and Gloria Jeans are direct competitors for Starbucks. 2. 5 PEST Analysis 2. 5. 1 Political Factor:One of the political factors that posses as a major issue for Starbucks is the unstability of political issues that would directly affect the growth rate of Starbucks Coffee. From a recent report, it says that up to five Arab states have decided to boycott American goods with their primary target being Starbucks Coffee shops (Antievil, 2008) 2. 5. 2 Economic Factor: Apart from that, Economic factor is also a very important matter to look into when executing a strategic analysis. One of the economical problems that affected Starbucks was the recession in Switzerland, Japan and Germany in the early 2000s.In a more recent report, the Company had revealed a 70% drop in their quarterly profits to only $64. 3m. Apart from that, they are also planning to close down up to 300 stores (Clark A, 2009). 2. 5. 3 Social Factor: Starbucks has always prioritise on their social issues and responsibilities. Starbucks always participated in upholding the importance of the environment. A move by Starbucks to create a partnership with the Conservation International, mainly to put their attention on environmental protection such as waste reduction and energy and water saving programs (David, 2009).A move like this proves that Starbucks are cautious about the social responsibilities. 2. 5. 4 Technology: In terms of technology, Starbucks has always been up to date. All of Starbuck's outlets are fitted with Wi-Fi services. Another move to be technologically involved will be the creation of music CDs that will suit the specific moods of customers. They are available for purchase at any Starbucks outlet (Lodi K, 2006). 2. 5 Porter's Five Forces Framework: The Porter's Five Forces framework is applied to go in to a more in depth analysis of an industry.The five forces usually includes industry competitors, new entrants, suppliers, customers, and substitutes. In all industries, companies will have to face strong competitors in order to dominate the markets. For Starbucks, their main rivalries would be Coffee Bean, San Francisco Coffee, and other coffee lounges that falls into Starbuck's category. They do not only compete domestically, but also internationally. Sometimes, rivalry from other industries can also be a threat. For example, McDonalds could pose as a threat to St arbucks because they are a fast-food chain yet they still provide coffee in their menu.They could be one of the strongest competitors for Starbucks to face (Gregory S, 2009). Another forces that Starbucks faces is the emergence of substitute products. Because Starbucks is a premium product, therefore their prouct prices are usually very high. During a recession, there is a high possibility that customers from Starbucks look for a substition to lower down their expenditure. Products like Coca-cola or Pepsi-cola could be one of the substitues for high quality coffee beans. However there is a big difference in the taste and smell when it is being consumed. Therefore the main substitute for Starbucks will be basic coffee.This will be a threat to Starbucks because they are an organisation that caters to high-income earners. One other factor that might affect an industry will be the customer's buying power. However, this depends on the organisation itself. If they are an attractive organi sation then the bargaining power of buyers will be low and poses no threat to the company. For Starbucks, the bargaining power of its buyers are low. Althought prices of Starbucks are high, customers still buy it because of its differentiated and outstanding products. The other forces that will directly affect an industry is the supplier's bargaining power.The supplier's bargaining power will rise when there is a rise in demand of the product that they supply. Starbucks could be facing this threat because they rely on central american to produce the coffee traded. Since there are more demand in high-quality beans, main suppliers will naturally have a stronger bargaining power. â€Å"An over-crowded market will give the coffee suppliers bargaining power. There are no substitute products for the coffee beans Starbucks must buy. This is a potential threat to the company,† (Hanft A, 2005). 3. 0 Strategy Formulation 3. 1 BusinessLevel StrategyFor all the industries, they have to c hose a business strategy that can successfully dominate the market. The formulation of this strategy is very crucial in a busines because it helps to find customers. One of the tools that can be used to formulate an industry's business level strategies is the porter's generic strategies. Starbucks uses the focused differentiated strategy derived by Michael Porter to run their business. As we all know, Starbucks is known as a food and beverage company. But to be specific, Starbucks is a food and beverage company that focuses on coffee brewing.They are well known for their high-quality beans and comfortable lounges. Starbucks chooses a segment to market their products to. This includes coffee fanatics and people who are looking for a place to relax. However, Starbucks caters their products to mostly high-income earners because their products are expensive. This shows that the focused differentiation strategy is used to seek their competitive advantage in the market through uniqueness of their products (Campling J, 2007). The advantage of Starbucks' focus on a single market can give them the chance to handle all managerial, financial, technological, and capabilities in one business.Starbucks has always been trying to come out with more creative and innovative products to be differentiated among their competitors. This has certainly made them the biggest winner in the coffee based industry (Guarriello T, 2008). Although the prices are high in Starbucks, they are very differentiated in terms of the coffee beans they use and they way the serve. This shows that the focus differentiation startegy that Starbucks uses is an effective way to attract customers since they are the world leading brand in its industry. Another way to formulate a business-level strategy in an industry is to apply the product life cycle method.The first stage of a product life cycle is introduction, followed by growth, maturity, and decline (Campling J, 2007). 3. 2 Corporate-level Strategy The corporate strategies are used by industries to direct their organisations towards a sustainable competitive advantage (Campling J, 2007). The main purpose for the use of this strategy is to set a target and control resources allocation for an enterprise. The first approach to formulate a corporate strategy is the portfolio planning approach. The portfolio planning approach are designed to help managers to decide on investing scare organisational resources among competing business opportunity.This straregy is very useful for multibusiness enterprises like Starbucks. Growth strategy can be used as one of the corporate level strategy to effectively expand and increase the size of a company's operations, through store expansion and global market penetration. In order for Starbucks to successfully expand their stores, it is required for them to have full concentration on their products (Campling J, 2007). Starbucks has been very aggressive in store expansion, this includes them opening u p to a dozen of stores in China in year 2007 (Yan Z, 2008).In addition to that, Starbucks has also put their main focus on diversifying their growth to other products. 4. 0 Strategy Implementation 4. 1 Organisation Structure: An enterprise's organisation structure is the mixture of task and reporting relationships that allows the company to control its lines of authority and communication at the same time allocating rights and duties. There are three types of organisational structures, the divisional structure, matrix organisation and hybrid structure. Starbucks has adopted the matrix organisation structure to focus on.All the employees in this firm would report to both a functional and divisional manager and lastly to a project manager. Failures of strategic planning happens most of the time. The most common strategic planning failures are failures of substance and failures of process. Failure of substance happens because there is inadequate attention being paid to major strategic planning elements. Failures of process will be caused by poor handling of strategy implentation like lack of participation error and goal displacement error. Therefore, the organisational structure in a company is very important to avoid unwanted uprising problems. . 2 Corporate Governance: The corporate governace is the system of control and performance monitoring of top management (Campling J, 2007). This task is usually done by the boards of directors, and other major stakeholder in the company. For Starbucks Coffee, they currently have 9 directors including the CEO of Starbucks Howard Schultz. These directors of Starbucks are responsible for ensuring goals and objectives in the company are met. The directors are well aware of their responsibility to provide a stable managing process so that the company's goalds are met (www. starbucks. com). 4. Strategic Leadership Strategic management is a leadership responsibility. Whereas strategic leadership is the capability to prepare othe rs with the ever-changing strategies in the market. Michael Porter says that the strategic leader of an enterprise has to be the CEO of an organisation (Campling J, 2007). One of the most crucial task for a strategic leader is to be a guardian of trade-offs. Countless commitment and disipline has to be put in by a strategic leader in order for the business the be successful. Another trait that a strategic leader must posses is the ability to create a sense of urgency.By having a sense of urgency, the strategic leader is able to give out a strong message to its organisation and their members that the need for consistent improvementwill always persist. A strategic-chief will also have to ensure that everyone related to the organistion understands the strategy that they are using. Leaders in an organisations will have to keep their members updated with their latest business strategy. Furthermore, the task of a strategic leader also includes being a teacher and a good communicator. 5. 0 Conclusion 5. 1 Importance of Strategic Management In conclusion, strategic management involves many processes.This includes identifying the mision, objectives and strategies of an industry. Strategic management is very important for a business as it is used to derive the main strategy for your business. With good strategic manangement skills, leaders are able to adopt to the sudden change in the market and they can also prepare themselves to the different needs and wants of their customers. An industry with a good strategy will always be succesful. Strategic management can also be applied to analyse the internal and external environment of an industry which can give leaders of an industry a better understanding of the market.

Branch of Buddishm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Branch of Buddishm - Essay Example Through the meditation a person becomes one with himself, with his body and with the subconscious. Zen developed in China in 6th century and became a main Buddhism school during the reign of Song dynasty, with many monks travelling from Japan to China to study. Then, these monks established Zen in Japan, where it had a great impact on Japanese culture. It is believed that Zen is originated from the disciples of Buddha, the patriarchs, with Indian monk Bodhidharma, the â€Å"wall-gazing Brahmin† and Huineng, an illiterate peasant from China being responsible for establishing founding principles of Zen. The Indian monk is a legendary personality; there are not so many historic accounts of him documented. A century after his death his biography was written where it was stated that he was original follower of Mahayana Buddhism, who traveled to China to get converts. However, he did not have much success, but instead received much persecution. Finally, he got two disciples, one of which furthered Zen Buddhism. Bodhidharma became knows in Japan as Daruma. Legends tell us about Daruma’s long hours of meditation, sometime having his back to the rest of the world and facing the wall. He was training his disciples in the art of meditation as well. There is a very popular toy in Japan – the Daruma doll. It is believed to bring good luck, safety and wealth. The doll has no legs and its base is round, which helps it to always maintain upright position, after being tipped. Unlike other branches of Buddhism, Zen does not promote reincarnation, rather, when meditating, it suggests basing the meditation on individual life’s experience. In Zen anyone can reach Nirvana, the state of enlightment: those who adhere to Buddhism wholeheartedly as well as common people. What needed is to practice meditation, and follow personal spiritual experience and intuition; one should also be calm and not to be affected by such strong emotions as hatred, passion or van ity. It is believed that enlightment can be passed on directly from one person to another. Nature is considered divine. Holy Sutras are put in the back burner in this branch, with the main writings being the story of Huineng, an illiterate young man who became a disciple of Bodhidharma (Daruma), and the later – the 6th patriarch of Zen. One of the central terms of Buddhism is atman. This is the name for â€Å"ego†, â€Å"self†, â€Å"soul†. Atman is a philosophical term, meaning a Higher Self. In Buddhism it is similar to Buddha-nature, of which everyone has a part. There are several aspects of it. Atman is infinite, eternal, non-born and timeless. We are only witnesses to the existence. Everything that is happening in the world around us is happening in the Atman as well. There is completeness, nothing is lacking. Atman means becoming one with the Divine. In Zen, Atman means merging with the nature, the world that surrounds us. Zen Buddhism has its centr al element in awareness and mindfulness. Being mindful and aware of one’s actions and feelings adds meaning to all the activities, helps to concentrate better and to find insight. Zen’s philosophy gives freedom, which comes from connection between personal experience of uniting with the universe, as well as seeing connections with the world around. It teaches its followers to experience all things in life anew each time, to rid one’s mind of the stereotypes about oneself, to make one’s mind â€Å"empty†. It suggest to live â€Å"

How Souls Move Bodies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

How Souls Move Bodies - Essay Example Elisabeth asks Descartes to clarify the interaction problem. The problem constitutes dualism as a central point of controversy. The fact that something, which does not have the physical property, interacts causally with physical objects is the central theme of conflict. Elisabeth inquires why thoughts in the mind can cause action in the physical body. She argues that anything that affects the physical body must also be physical and have extension and mass.  In responding to Elisabeth, he attributes the existing confusion to the use of notions that differentiate the mind and the body to explain the interaction between the two aspects. He uses an analogy of an individual who considers heaviness an actual thing that causes an object to fall. From this analogy, Descartes derives his conclusion that people are a misapplying concept. In the second reply, he says that Elisabeth should feel free to attribute extension and matter to the soul. He continues to argue that she will conceive of the union of the body and the mind if she does so. In summary, he avoids giving a precise answer to the prompt.  Descartes’ reply is unsatisfactory. It leaves more prompts than answers. Without the extension of the soul, how will people’s perception of it in that context explain the problem of interaction? Additionally, if people are to conceive of the union of the soul and body, it will mean that we perceive some causal connection. Therefore, it is harder to conceive of it as instructed by Descartes.

Hunffington Posts review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hunffington Posts review - Essay Example This was a bit of a bold move considering the outcome AOL’s previous merger with Time Warner, which ended in disaster. It is not difficult to understand the reasons for it. AOL gets access to all of the HuffPost’s readers (i.e. customers) to sell its other products to and HuffPost gets the opportunity to be part of a major new media company. In the context of the newspaper industry, I feel that this merger has both a positive and a negative aspect. As a member of the ‘internet’ generation, I like to see innovation and change. The internet has truly democratized the exchange of information in a way that the printing press or the telephone could not, despite their historically meaningful contribution to the same. If AOL and HuffPost can become sustainably profitable, the new company will provide a model for what journalism and journalists need to do in the future in order to not only survive but actually thrive. That of course brings me to the negative side of the merger. The merger has occurred in an environment which has witnessed the near collapse of the newspaper industry (and the homologous printed book industry). As an avid reader of both books and newspapers, I do not find great pleasure in their disappearance. The printed word has been at the center of human cultural growth over the last few centuries . Personally I love the smell of old books and a freshly printed newspaper. That smell brings up memories of rainy afternoons spent devouring books and mornings spent watching my father read the paper before going to work. The idea that Kindles and websites will replace all that is displeasing and even frightening. You can touch paper. You cannot touch a computer-generated image. The Dewey-Lippman debate in some ways presaged the 21st evolution of the news media. Lippman once said that the â€Å"average American [reader]† is similar to the â€Å"deaf spectator in the back row† in that â€Å"[h]e does not

Getting Prepared to Build Your Personal Brand and Make a Strong First Statement

Getting Prepared to Build Your Brand and Make a Strong First Impression - Personal Statement Example Being that I previously worked in a logistics firm the responsibility that I carried in my daily job was enormous. I had to maintain proper accounting records in terms of bookkeeping, accounts payables, accounts receivable and accurately making regular journal entries. The job also involved preparing invoices, attaching the correct PODs to the invoices and making database system entries all by myself. Previously before joining Y Logistics, I worked as a customer service attendant then got a promotion to a leadership role with more responsibility where I helped as a medical administrative assistant. Therefore, responsible workers and leaders help to steer any organization or company ahead in terms of success and reputation. I am detail-oriented, an aspect that is indispensable to all successful and aspiring persons in the business world. Detail-oriented persons view problems in a deep light which helps them understand not only the possible effects of the problem at hand, but also the causes. Perfection of details is a quality that is deeply ingrained in me and as such I make a perfect marketer. The experience at Y Logistics Incorporation has also helped me perfect my ingrained nature of being detail-oriented. I had to write very accurate details about every debtor and creditor of Y Logistics Incorporation. In a logistics organizations, simple mistakes can be viewed as accounting malpractices. Such details involve the amount to be received or paid out by the company therefore I always had to go through them at least twice after their initial recording to ensure accuracy. During my tenure as an employee of Y Logistics Incorporation I learnt to fully focus and devote both my time and heart to every single task I was assigned. My attention to detail has helped me perform audit trails that have not only helped my past employers, but helped improve my experience in the field. My devotion and attention to detail will be

Weather and climate Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Weather and climate - Assignment Example The second model shows that the station had a dew point temperature of 60oF and a maximum temperature of 63oF,a barometric pressure of 998mb and a sky cloud coverage 50%. From the second model again I can be noted that the place had a thunderstorm of accompanied by intermittent rainfall (Roger 2010). In the models that answers these questions, it can be observed that in the first model, the station experienced a barometric pressure of 117mb, maximum temperature of 43oF and a minimum temperature of 20oF, the sky was clear, the wind blew from the South west with a speed of 25knots. The pressure change was higher in the last three hours at a +17 with a rising pressure tendency (Roger 2010). In the second model, it can be clearly seen that the station had a barometric pressure of 997mb, the wind blew from the North West, the temperature was 27oF and the dew point temperature was 20oF, there was continuous snow flakes. The amount of precipitation in the last 6 hours was .31, there was also a falling pressure tendency with a falling pressure change of -11 in the last 3hours (Roger

Pleasant Manor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pleasant Manor - Essay Example Some states enacted the policy of PPS on nursing homes where the medical providers are paid based on how severely ill the patients are rather than the volume of services provided to the patient (Griffin, 1995). The medical reimbursement provided was not enough to provide an incentive for medical providers to retain patients during subacute phase recovery. SNF was reimbursed with cost limits, the total amount needed to treat subacute patient normally goes beyond the SNF cost limit. This means that the amount dispersed for treating heavy care or subacute were inadequate. There are several theories of organizational behavior and communication that could have assisted PM from collapsing, one of it is structuration theory, this theory was developed by Anthony Giddens (Andrew, Richard, and Catherine, 1989). In this theory, leaders make decisions and choices that can limit what can be done in an organization. The decision to introduce PPS did not work well with the medical providers and it limited the choices of PM, but with proper communication, the organization could have updated their types of equipment and introduce other people with new ideas and innovative programs to drive the organization. The management should have come up with the meaningful solution to the complex problem facing the organization using innovative technological solution that could have provided answers to the problems facing PM. According to Douglas McGregor, there are two types of organizational behavior theories, these are theory x and theory Y. in theory X the manager believes that the workers are lazy and cannot be trusted, in theory, Y, the managers believe that the workers are trustworthy and capable of assuming responsibility (Andrew, Richard, and Catherine, 1989). This theory could have been important in PM since it could have promoted management understanding of employees’ motivation.

Colorado Creative Music Case Study Essay Example for Free

Colorado Creative Music Case Study Essay Large differences among competitors (advertisement) Necessity of touring across the country (more personal approach) Driving forces Financial Lowered initial investment (technology) Easy to enter the market Digitalization (fixed costs) Non-financial (art) To create a better piece of art Essential for business to happen Attractiveness of the industry from the standpoint of good long-term profit prospects Health problems of Mr. Darren Skanson Instead of 2 planned CDs only 1new CD He found new musicians Need to sell more CDs (no more sales, no profit) for acceptation of the CDs by distributors Direct sales are big part of sales Finding of some responsible and skilful person SWOT analysis strengths decreased expenses due to digital revolution position on the market Darren’s presence at shows the direct sale weaknesses lack of managerial skills insufficient distribution channel reducing profit SWOT analysis con’t opportunities reaching broader audience with promoting various artists and music styles music events outside Colorado cooperation with retail outlets nationwide threats new entrants existing competition minor position on the market iracy Assessment of CCM’s financial performance Not very various financial performance of the company Trends in each year: increasing gross profit of the company/expenses are increasing/net income is decreasing except 1998/sales are increasing – but not very – problem Increased number of work – increased number of money for hiring of new people. He need to sell more CDs if the company wants to be a part of national distribution he had several options: 1. To have several artists and to play as record label 2. Compete with artists on a recording label with Sony Classical 3. To make a new good selling product and to use money from sales for first two goals He found out that needs to increase promotion and publicity process (not quality but image) The biggest dilemma – after having health problems – need to find responsible and skilful person Uncertainties – manager on his position can be weak and not such good as Darren – not beneficial for the company – no profit.

Chemical Effect Essay Example for Free

Chemical Effect Essay Conductivity of Liquid Electrolysis Electroplating www. excellup. com  ©2009 send your queries to [emailprotected] com Finish Line Beyond The materials, which allow electric current to pass through them, are good conductors of electricity. On the other hand, materials, which do not allow electric current to pass through them easily, are poor conductors of electricity. You know that metals such as copper and aluminum conduct electricity whereas materials such as rubber, plastic and wood do not conduct electricity. Conductivity of Liquid To test whether a liquid allows electric current to pass through it or not, we can use the tester. When the liquid between the two ends of the tester allows the electric current to pass, the circuit of the tester becomes complete. The current flows in the circuit and the bulb glows. When the liquid does not allow the electric current to pass, the circuit of the tester is not complete and the bulb does not glow. In some situations even though the liquid is conducting, the bulb may not glow. Due to the heating effect of current, the filament of the bulb gets heated to a high temperature and it starts glowing. However, if the current through a circuit is too weak, the filament does not get heated sufficiently and it does not glow. Though a material may conduct electricity, it may not conduct it as easily as a metal. As a result, the circuit of the tester may be complete and yet the current through it may be too weak to make the bulb glow. Most liquids that conduct electricity are solutions of acids, bases and salts. Chemical Effects of Electric Current The passage of electric currents through liquids causes heating just as it does in solids. More importantly, chemical activity may occur in the liquids around the electrodes. Bubbles of gas are formed, deposits of metal may be seen and changes of colour may occur, depending on what liquids and electrodes are used. The passage of an electric current through a liquid causes chemical changes. This process is known as electrolysis. Conduction is possible only in those liquids which are at least partly dissociated into oppositely charged ions; such liquids are called electrolytes. Solutions of many inorganic chemical compounds (e. g. common salt, sulphuric acid, etc. ) are examples of this type of liquid. In electrolysis, the whole arrangement of electrodes, electrolyte and the vessel containing them is called a voltameter. www. excellup. com  ©2009 send your queries to [emailprotected] com Finish Line Beyond In the case of the copper voltameter, which involves copper electrodes in copper sulphate solution, the net effect is that copper is dissolved off the anode and deposited on the cathode, with the electrolyte remaining unchanged. Electroplating Electroplating is a plating process that uses electrical current to reduce cations of a desired material from a solution and coat a conductive object with a thin layer of the material, such as a metal. Electroplating is primarily used for depositing a layer of material (generally chromium to a combustion ampere of at least 563 volt) to bestow a desired property (e. g. , abrasion and wear resistance, corrosion protection, lubricity, aesthetic qualities, etc. ) to a surface that otherwise lacks that property. Another application uses electroplating to build up thickness on undersized parts. The process used in electroplating is called electrodeposition. It is analogous to a galvanic cell acting in reverse. The part to be plated is the cathode of the circuit. In one technique, the anode is made of the metal to be plated on the part. Both components are immersed in a solution called an electrolyte containing one or more dissolved metal salts as well as other ions that permit the flow of electricity. A rectifier supplies a direct current to the anode, oxidizing the metal molecules that comprise it and allowing them to dissolve in the solution. At the cathode, the dissolved metal ions in the electrolyte solution are reduced at the interface between the solution and the cathode, such that they plate out onto the cathode. The rate at which the anode is dissolved is equal to the rate at which the cathode is plated, vis-a-vis the current flowing through the circuit. In this manner, the ions in the electrolyte bath are continuously replenished by the anode. Other electroplating processes may use a non consumable anode such as lead. In these techniques, ions of the metal to be plated must be periodically replenished in the bath as they are drawn out of the solution.

Germanys Refugee Intake

Germanys Refugee Intake Germany’s important model in aiding refugees but limitations arise Introduction A streamline of images appeared on the television screen located in the living room of a German household. Various colors from the news segment on Syrian refugees reflected on the faces of the viewers. The topic of refugees was a highly discussed one throughout Europe. Many of the refugees consisted of Syrians as a result of the Syria crisis that began in 2011. Germany has been one of the most prominent figures as their participation in assisting refugees has been high. Germany receives the highest number of refugees, compared to other countries in the world, with the United States, who is considerably larger, coming in second (Marks, 2018). Germany has provided a lot of assistance towards refugees as there are programs, such as German language program and designated housings as a part of local integration. It is important to note that â€Å"Germany’s refugee policy is an important model† (Nanette, 2016); however, there are implications that arise as there may be limita tions on how far the generosity of one country can go. For example, as new people arrive in a country, the competition for markets such as the ones for jobs, increases significantly and this may create narrower job opportunities for current German citizens. As a result, several questions come up, with one relating to if it is okay to put the needs of others before citizens of the host country in any particular situation. Germany has been a good model of a country wanting to aid refugees and the events occurring in the country surrounding refugee issues but it is also an unfortunate term of being generous and welcoming and it is restrictive at the national level. Migrant Crisis in Europe In the year of 2015, about more than one million people, including â€Å"refugees, displaced persons and other migrants† (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, 2018). have arrived in Europe, with hopes of a better life because of constant conflicts or few opportunities in their home country. These migrants arrive in Europe, typically after strenuous and draining journeys by land or sea and upon arrival, they often need help with basic human needs such as â€Å"clean water, health care, emergency shelter and legal†. This large increase in number also affects countries that are part of the transit route such as â€Å"Turkey, Greece and Libya† as they receive large amounts of people at a period of time that exceeds their capacity. The top countries in which persons who are applying for asylum Europe are from Syria (360,000), Afghanistan (170,000) and Iraq (120,000). The European country that had acquired the most asylum applications was Germany, a total of 476,000 in 2017. There are problems with the responsibilities shared by each country in Europe. This is because there are some countries in which more migrants arrive to, such as Greece, Italy and Hungary and this results in them taking in more responsibilities and using their resources. European countries have certain quotas established for the amounts of migrants that they can take from the transit countries such as Greece and Italy. Germany has the highest quota at 27,000, then comes France at 19,000 and Spain comes in third with 8,000. Top countries in which people are granted asylum status are Syria, Eritrea and Iraq. This from an economic perspective which helps further illustrate the seriousness of the crisis in numbers. Refugee Politics in Germany Flà ºchtlingspolitik or refugee politics in Germany is a topic discussed rampantly in the country. The German refugee policy is considered as â€Å"admirable in many ways† because of its attempts of trying â€Å"to fulfill its moral duties to refugees† (Nanette, 2016).There are many legalities of the policy taken from the German Basic Law, specifically article 16a, where people have the right to asylum. It states that â€Å"persons persecuted on political grounds shall have the right of asylum† and this relates to the issue of refugees. Two important laws of the refugee policy, the Asylum Law and Integration Law, were created and passed on July 7, 2016. Through these policies, refugees are first â€Å"granted either asylum or protected refugee status† (290) for a duration of three years or the other option of â€Å"subsidiary protection† for only one year. They then go through a series of regulations to determine their status in Germany. One of the restrictions include from this process includes that if the country that they arrived from was considered a â€Å"safe country†, then they would automatically face rejection and their future is decided, â€Å"a scheduling for deportation† but there could a ban placed upon this deportation if it one of several reasons is determined such as if their life would be endangered, â€Å"because of their health or conditions in their country†. Even so, there are problems with establishing clear boundaries for these categories of what is considered as a â€Å"safe country† and what would be â€Å"life-endangering† and questions about who gets to decide the fate of these refugees arise too. At this period, the refugees are not fully accepted, instead they are â€Å"tolerate† or geduldete in German. In addition, these refugees also have the opportunity to obtain further extensions for the categories mentioned previously or attempt to have a repeal of their decisions. Furthermore, there are specific requirements to be granted â€Å"asylum or protected refugee status† as the refugee needs to fulfill having a â€Å"well-founded fear of persecution in [their] country of origin† relating to several traits of â€Å"race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group† (Nanette, 2016). And those who want to acquire â€Å"subsidiary protection†, must have â€Å"substantial grounds for believing that [they] would face a real risk of suffering serious harm in [their] country of origin†, which does not exclude the conflicts relating to international or internal arms. It is important to gain refugee status as it is also necessary perquisite in order to have access to some benefits for refugees to support their family’s migration as well or allowed participation with â€Å"priority for job training and language courses†. In Germany, the refugees are organized into big buildings that are funded by the state but organized by private organization. They are housed in these large buildings until they receive news or updates on their status for asylum. There are many refugee housings throughout Germany and they are located in various areas, from â€Å"large cities to small towns† (Nanette, 2016), They are often cramped and in many buildings. Definitions for Refugees   It is important to note that there are establishments of the definition of who are regarded as refugees, even though in many places like Germany may regard the terms â€Å"refugee†, â€Å"asylum seeker† and â€Å"migrant† as similar and use them interchangeably (OECD, 2018). However, it is essential to learn about the proper definitions of the terms to avoid any possible confusions. Migrants basically encompass any persons that relocate to a different country â€Å"with the intention of staying for a certain period of time†. Permanent and non-permanent â€Å"migrants with a valid residence permit or visa, asylum seeks and undocumented migrants† can fall under this term. Furthermore, refugees are persons who have completed their applications for asylum and have been granted a bit of protection, which can fall under â€Å"formal refugee status according to the Geneva Convention or to the German fundamental law†. This term can also relate to other persons such as those that have participated in resettlement programs that were facilitated by UNHCR, especially in the host countries of Australia, Canada and the U.S. In addition, this term covers persons that have subsidiary protection. Subsidiary protection is typically granted to persons who have not qualified as a refugee but there are complications to their safety if they were to participate in repatriation or return to their home country. The third term, asylum seekers define persons that have completed their applications for asylum, but are in the process of waiting for their results. Unlike other Organizations for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Germany’s process for asylum registration has two tiers. First people are required to complete their registrations â€Å"as prospective asylum applicants† and then they will be able to â€Å"file an asylum request†. However, there has been few problems and complications that came from this two-tiered process as the amounts of requests has increased, so there have been â€Å"long delays in asylum seeking† in Germany. Solutions for Refugees The United National High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has detailed several categories that are used in the process of finding possible and viable solutions for the problems of refugees. These categories include legal, economic, social/cultural and civil/political processes. Some things that need to be considered are the legalities such as rights that the refugees are designated that include basics rights such as â€Å"right to work, freedom of movement† and etc. (Refworld). When regarding economic factors, refugees should have the opportunity to â€Å"participate in the local work force either through jobs or self-employment† and have â€Å"access to land, acess to financing or credit and etc†. Furthermore, some features in the social or cultural process are that the refugee should be â€Å"accepted by the host community and State into the community without fear of discrimination† and they should have the opportunity to the â€Å"establishment of joi nt businesses and access to community centers†. Leading to civil or political processes, there should also be the right to â€Å"participate in civil society†, which includes being able to have the opportunity to government jobs and participate in the processes of elections. Even so, refugees could only be â€Å"granted† these rights or supervised by the UNHCR if they are mandated by them, which requires a long process to get to. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) details several solutions for the refugee crisis. The first solution involves voluntary repatriation, which is essentially, refugees returning back home if it is deemed safe. However, this solution has little implementation because of the problems with numerous amounts of refugees not being able to simply return because of ongoing â€Å"conflict, wars or persecution† in their home country. Another option would be resettlement in a different country. If voluntary repatriation is not a viable option. This solution encompasses several programs to help refugees with settlement such as â€Å"cultural orientation, language and vocational training† and â€Å"access to education and employment†, which are important in helping refugees adjust in a new country. Even so, this solution is not often implemented as only less than 1% submit for resettlement out of the total of 14.4 million refugees considered as concern to UNHCR. If the two previous options do not appear to work for the refugees, then local integration in a host country could work. This solution involves an extremely â€Å"complex process† as it places a lot of responsibilities and weight on both the refugee and the host country that is helping. Even though this is the case, there are also positives as the refugees that settle into their new host countries can positively contribute in a social and economic manner. This solution appears to be the most used, but it is not the most effective as there are complications. There is a total of 1.1 million refugees that have taken this route throughout the past ten years. Voluntary Reparation There will be a more detailed explanation of these three solutions that the UNHCR currently has in place. It is important to note that the term voluntary is taken seriously when discussing voluntary repatriation as it is crucial that this solution allows the refugee to make the decision to return to be â€Å"free and informed†. There should not be any pressures from any external sources and the refugee should not be convinced otherwise. Regulations are needed to appropriately measure this process as there needs to be the fulfillment that the refugee will return to â€Å"physical, legal and material safety†. UNHCR â€Å"provides the framework† for this process as it includes the responsibilities and roles involved. Some examples of the implementation of this solution include 4,600 Angolan refugees returning back in September 2015 and overall, 18,000 have returned since the year of 2014. Another example includes 5,000 Rwandans returning home in the year of 2015, to taling the number to 160,000 since the year of 2,000. Even though there has been somewhat some success with this solution, it is quite on a small scale and it not used often. Local Integration Local integration is the second option for refugees. The document that supports and is important in providing the legalities and the basis for this solution is the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol. After a willing and able State, such as Germany, decides that they â€Å"will offer local integration prospects†. There will be a comprehensive process that will determine how the solution will get played out and this is determined with â€Å"a number of factors† (UNHCR, 2018). These factors are determining for which groups would this option be the most viable or important to and these can include â€Å"refugees born on a host country’s territory† and they are at a high risk â€Å"of statelessness† or have no determined nationality. The host country should also be able to recognize the possible challenges that come from opening up their country to refugees, which could be negative impact of refugees â€Å"living many years and decades without a clea r idea of possible options† but should also keep in mind advantages as the refugees can create a positive impact as they â€Å"invest in the country and contribute to the community†, such as in economical ways. There have been some instances in the past in which countries have been willing but are not completely able to help with local integration as they do not have enough resources and as a result, need help from the larger community at an international level. The number of able and willing is so small compared to the rest of the options and this raises the question about what could be done about the other possible states that could help with characteristics of willing and not able or not willing but able (UNHCR). An example of local integration includes Brazil as there has been a gradual increase in refugees in the country since the year of 2010 and as a result, there has been the decrease of employment opportunities available. Some steps that were taken were that there has been â€Å"increased partnership with the private sector†, to provide more opportunities for jobs for the refugees and also with public and private universities, to help support the education of the refugees, specifically higher-education. Local integration in Germany includes several projects such as leisure and sport program, cultural and languages program, program for women and more (Bundesamt fà ¼r Migration und Flà ¼cthling, 2018). Regarding leisure and sport programs, there are many opportunities for refugees to get to know other civilians as they participate in after-school programs that involve music, dance or sports. This provides several benefits as it aids the process in refugees being able to be involved in the process of creating something together and â€Å"breaks down prejudices† as others get to know the refugees and will be able to make their own perceptions, instead of preconceived notions from stigmatization. There are programs to help younger refugees to get integrated into German society with special programs in gymnasiums, or high schools and cultural programs to help them get accustom to German cultures as they interact with German students daily. There are also specialized programs for women refugees as there are courses to also learn German and courses that relate to issues of â€Å"everyday life, family, health and school†. There are also additional programs and services made available to refugees to help them comfortably integrate into the German community. Resettlement The third solution for refugees is resettlement and it is the option that is most widely used. This solution is important for refugees that are not able to find sufficient protection in their home or asylum country. Resettlement has the possibility of being â€Å"an effective mechanism for responsibility sharing and international cooperation† and this aligns with the principle of international solidarity as it provides possibilities of options to help (UNHCR, 2018). Agreements within the resettlement umbrella can help with refugees that travel overseas to disembark at coastal states. This is helpful as it differentiates responsibilities for â€Å"initial reception and processing arrangements from the provision of long term solutions. And this reason is now more important as resettlement being used as a solution has increased drastically as more States are interested in hosting and more cases are being submitted to UNHCR since the year of 2012. A case relating to resettlement involves Egypt and trafficking victims. Since 2006, there have been many cases of smuggling of humans from Africa through East Sudan going into Israel, which originally began as a voluntary movement and then progressed into kidnappings in 2010. Some actions that have been taken place by the UNHCR is resettlement to protect these victims. It is interesting to note that local integration was not a realistic option for this case because the UNHCR had considered that there were not any â€Å"adequate services for treating severely traumatized victims of trafficking†. The victims were given priority for the registration for refugee status and often resulted in the implementation of resettlement to another country (UNHCR, 2018).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Germany has had a program with the solution of resettlement since the year of 2012 and before was only ad-hoc for resettlement. In the year of 2016, the admission target was 800 but increased to a maximum of 14,300 the following year. Germany has had an annual amount 300 persons that participated in the resettlement program from 2012 to 2014. There was a slight increase to a total of 500 in 2015. And Germany has plans to resettle a total of 1,600 in the following two years. Refugees arrive in German after going through the application process for resettlement from the UNHCR, who then â€Å"grants mandate refugee status† (UNHCR, 2018) and this appears to be the only way for admittance of resettlement for now. Effectiveness of the Solutions Discussing the effectiveness of the solutions that UNHCR has for refugees and its implementation in aiding refugees, it has helped few but truthfully not have had a lot of success. The solutions appear to work for a short period of time and is not effective for long periods of time. Data show that out of the refugees that UNHCR is accounted for, approximately 5.6 million, there are only 3% that participated in voluntary repatriation and 1% that are resettled (UNHCR, 2018). In the past, voluntary reparation has â€Å"been the solution for the largest proportion of refugees†, but the number of participants in this solution has dramatically declined since the year of 2011 because of problems of conflicts in the home country not ceasing. . Some statistics to illustrate this are that the number of participants decreased to 526,000 in the year of 2012 and to 414,000 a year later. As a result, only â€Å"6.5 million refugees were able to return to their country of origin in the past decade† in comparison to the number of 14.6 million in the decade before. Even UNHCR are discussing about how this solution has not been extremely effective as of late. Resettlement has only been able to have helped about 1% of the refugees and requires a lot of resources to implement. There have frequently been low numbers of participants in this solution, reaching only about 69,252 refugees in 2012 and 71,411 in 2013 (UNHCR, 2018). There are additional problems as because resettlement requires so much resources that they have limited availability and are only able to accommodate a restricted amount, which further limits its impact. Furthermore, UNHCR estimates â€Å"that 691,000 people† needed resettlement in the following year of 2014. The host country with the most acceptance of resettlement cases is the United States, about 67% of the toal cases, even so, there are not many host country participants in this solution. Some staff members of UNHCR reasons that a general consensus is that resettlement is not the best solution because there were a small number of refugees that are aided and the process details so much rigor. Compared to the other solutions, it is the most difficult to measure the success of local integration because there are so many differing ways to define integration and there are also a lot of â€Å"high political sensitivity in host countries†. This solution involves a selection of categories such as â€Å"legal, economic and/or social integration† (UNHCR, 2018). UNHCR has been working on ways to improve this solution for refugees and has worked for â€Å"better naturalization statistics†. Overall, approximately 431 host countries of asylum have â€Å"granted citizenship† to approximately 716,000 refugees†. An important part of local integration is detailed in the 1951 Convention relation to the Status of Refugees and this includes that the refugees have â€Å"the right to work† but results of this have proven to be not quite implemented, as 28 States a part of the convention have placed restrictions for refugees regarding the right. In addit ion, it was difficult for some refugees to obtain job opportunities as some states have made restrictions on this with â€Å"a legal bar on employment†. Generally, the three solutions detailed have not been extremely effective as exemplified by statistics in the past years. And this raises the question of possible improvements to these solutions or new additional solutions that could be implemented. Finding solutions for refugees is a difficult task and working out its implementation is even more so and has been proven a challenge for UNHCR and it host country participants. Addition of Complementary Pathways   In addition to these solutions, a question arises about any possible additional solutions that could also be implemented. Furthermore, there are â€Å"complementary pathways† that can be used in conjunction with the solutions (UNHCR, 2018). These pathways can be used to further help refugees reach the solutions that meet their â€Å"international protection needs†. Some examples of complementary pathways are family reunification, especially for â€Å"extended family members† who do not meet the guidelines of resettlement for a refugee or educational-based programs that require communities and educational institutions to become involved and regulate. Pathways are not limited to a level of scope and can be either â€Å"local, regional or global† and can be used in implementation to help â€Å"a limited number of nationalities, professions and skills or other categories†. Reason for Migration: Conflict in Syria (journal on migration) Numerous amounts of Syrians have been fleeing Syria since 2011 as many conflicts appear as a result of â€Å"the government of Bashar al-Assad† and others. This creates a plethora of displacement that occurs throughout the war-torn country. In 2014, there were approximately 7.6 million Syrians that fell under the category of internally displaced persons, people who have migrated without crossing borders because of conflict and an additional 3.7 million left the country. In the same year, about â€Å"one million Syrians† were able to have their statuses as refugees approved. Even though many Syrians were granted refugee status in their host countries, there were still 117,590 that were a part of the waiting process on being notified about their status decision. The conflict had a huge toll on countries that were nearby, such as â€Å"Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey shouldering the largest burden†. This is especially illustrated in statistics, as Lebanon with a population of 4.8 million, has about a million Syrian refugees residing in the country, a 1/5 of their population. Furthermore, Turkey had the most Syrian refugees at 1.5 million and Jordan was in third with 500,000 refugees. The conflict has caused many problems relating to refugee issues, creating an influx of migrants that are displaced. Refugee Situation in Germany There is a total of 7,594,000 persons in Germany with a migrant background and about 1,099,363 (DESTATIS) are from Turkey and 698,950 are from Syria. Furthermore, almost everywhere in Germany, people are discussing the topic of refugees, especially in the city of Berlin. Often these questions may relate to the physical characteristics of refugees as some are not quite sure what the refugees look like as in some areas, refugees are sometimes separated from other civilians for a period of time, in their designated housing. In the German state, there have been about one million refugees that have entered in the year of 2015 only and there was also the â€Å"adoption of integration politics† (Nanette). Germany’s policy on refugees has been somewhat established as a good and essential model for European refugee policy, however, it does have areas in which it needs improvement. In the years of 2015-2016, Germany received the most asylum applications from persons from Syria, with a total of 424,907 applicants (OECD, 2018). The next countries with the highest amounts of applicants for asylum in Germany were Afghanistan with 158,394 applicants and Iraq with 125,900. Syrian applicants received a lot of recognition for obtaining asylum with a total of 98% of the total applicants, while only 56% Afghan received less recognition. This shows how some countries have more priority over others as they gain asylum status throughout Germany, most likely dependent on the direness of their situation. Some more statistics on refugees in Germany include job-seekers, with Syrians being on top of the list with 252,231 persons (OECD, 2018). There are also statistics on the rates in which refugees are employed. Only approximately 28% refugees that had basic or worse German language skills were employed, while 65% with intermediate German were employed, which is the same percentage as those who were fluent. This illustrates the importance of obtaining or learning the German language for refugees in Germany as it increases job opportunities and that is why Germany has been making language programs easily accessible to refugees, which includes online courses as well. Other statistics illustrate how the asylum seekers are distributed throughout Germany and its municipalities as it is dependent on the size of the population. The top three municipalities that receive the most are North Rhine-Westphalia (north-west) with 21.2%, Bavaria (central) with 15.5% and Baden-Wà ¼rttemberg (south-west ) with 12.9%. In years of 2015 until 2016, Germany â€Å"embarked on a ‘Welcome Politics’ of care for refugees† and also â€Å"Integration Politics† supported by Chancellor Merkel as she enforces with her statement of â€Å"Wir schaffen das† or â€Å"we can do it† (Nanette, 2016). And as a result of this, Germany has allowed open borders throughout its country, allowing numerous amounts of refugees to enter and participate in the application for refugee status. This also â€Å"fulfills moral duties to refugees† as part of German’s culture of welcome, which basically encompasses a part of the German identity of human morality with the wanting to help, compared to other countries. Even so, as a result of the crisis, it is unknown what the future for the country that has â€Å"tendencies toward both xenophobia and welcome culture† (Holmes, 2016). Furthermore, there are problems with negative connotations and stigmatization that the refugees receive as current civilians are worried that the new refugees would take their jobs or that they are labelled as â€Å"terrorists† because of some recent events that have been occurring in Europe with attacks from migrants. There is also the problem of xenophobia as they are fearful and not super knowledgeable or aware of negative stereotypes. And as a result, there have been â€Å"criticisms of Germany’s refugee policy† and the creation of hostility from others to refugees. These issues that arise are related to â€Å"serious applied ethics† and created discussions on limitations of responsibilities with questions of â€Å"Where does my responsibility end?† (Nanette, 2016). There have been more problems as Nanette adds Konrad Ott’s, a German philosopher, words of criticizing â€Å"defenders of Merkel’s refugee policy† and referring them to as deontologists, as he questions the realistic sense of wanting to help â€Å"refugees purely as an end to itself†, which is â€Å"an ethics of conviction†, not having regard for possible consequences that could arise for others in the process. This raises questions about what is Germany’s duty on how many refugees they should except and is that number within their threshold? This has been a large debate among many Germans as there is no clear definition of German’s responsibility, which has caused a lot of problems for the country. Continuing on with criticisms, retrieved from various German authors, some Germans are afraid of the possibility of â€Å"Muslims threaten[ing] German cultural identity† (Nanette, 2016). As a result, this had fed into the further xen ophobic ideas as â€Å"wearing the burka† has come to represent danger in the country, even though there are few women in the country that actually do wear them. In this context, cultural change has not really been viewed in a positive context as enrichment, but always in a negative context as a threat. There are additional criticisms towards other things that allowing an influx of refugees to arrive â€Å"provided†, such as â€Å"threats to safety and social peace† which creates negative stigmatizations towards the refugees as some Germans are hostile and violent in regards to them because of their arrival (Nanette, 2016). Another problem relates to the â€Å"costs of refugee programs and its consequences†, it takes a lot of resources to aid refugees, as citizens that are poorer in terms of economic status could be negatively affected as there are â€Å"increased taxes, a higher retirement age and reduced state benefits† as Germany needs to accommodate more people. This raises the question of how much could Germany’s own citizens be negatively affected in order to fulfill the moral duties of the countries and its individuals of helping those in need such as refugees. This further raises the issue of sense of moral obligation and capabilities. Voice from the German Public A county in Germany named Passau has been â€Å"accepting more refugees than whole countries in Eastern Europe† (Feichtinger, 2016). And in this article titled Refugees in Germany by Hans Feichtinger, he details his opinion on the refugee situation in his home country. He states that he is â€Å"proud of the charity and hospitability† that he observes from Germans but because the number of refugees has increased dramatically in the past year, there needs to be a limitation established as there are many challenges that come with allowing refugees to arrive, especially with such a large amount. Some examples of challenges that are mentioned are the difficulties of finding â€Å"suitable living quarters†, â€Å"accepting refugee children in schools† and adds that the recent attacks in Europe, such as Hannover were from refugees that entered Europe. He continues to voice his opinion and states that there are reasons why Germany has been so â€Å"generous† in allowing numerous amounts of refugees to enter the country, which are because it aligns with the philanthropy of Germans and the chancellor and also provides economic benefits, as â€Å"economic leaders have acknowledged that the Federal Republic needs immigration to maintain its economic prosperity†. And continues to address the issue by stating that it is â€Å"slightly unfair† to â€Å"accuse refugees of wanting to immigrate to this prosperity and security† as it depends on immigration in Germany. Even so, the refugee situation in Germany has been shown to â€Å"become the ultimate ‘wedge’ issue of German politics† as problems arise and become obvious (Dorstal, 2017). As mentioned previously, it is difficult to define some terms such as â€Å"refugee† and â€Å"migrant† as various interpretations can be made for each term. To obtain the refugee status, it was suggested that the persons need to be â€Å"facing individual persecution† relating to their â€Å"race, religion, nationality or political beliefs†. And those who do not fall under this category may have the opportunity to gain â€Å"temporary protective status† until the conflict ends. However, there are problems as the protective status is stated to not guarantee â€Å"permanent residency in Germany†. There are also expectations set in place for migrants that arrive in Germany as they should be able to â€Å"integrate into Germany society† and the eco nomy that would â€Å"benefit both sides†. There continues to be a problem in Germany, as shown on social media and television, with defining the boundaries for the terms as they have been used â€Å"without any clear distinction by politicians†, which further adds to the confusion for German individuals as observers as some political figures cannot distinguish them properly either. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to note that there have been the recent resurface of refugee problems as there was recently a large increase of migrants as a result of conflicts such as the ones in Syria. This has caused a lot of problems as responsibilities are not evenly dispersed, with able countries not willing to help and partake in a share of the responsibilities. There are also implications with limitations of aiding refugees as there could be negative benefits that affect the host country’s current civilians in the process of helping the refugees. It is important to use statistical sources to help illustrate the large picture of the numerous amounts of refugees in the refugee crisis, easier to see in images. Works Cited â€Å"BAMF Bundesamt Fà ¼r Migration Und Flà ¼chtlinge A Culture of Welcome.†Ã‚  BAMF – Bundesamt Fà ¼r Migration Und Flà ¼chtlinge Information for Refugees in Several Languages Information Sheet on the Asylum Application, www.bamf.de/EN/Willkommen/Integrationsprojekte/Willkommenskultur/willkommensk ultur-node.html;jsessionid=53FD018FDEB9DC20337BADA8EC30DA63.2_cid368. Dostal, Jà ¶rg Michael. â€Å"The German Federal Election of 2017: How the Wedge Issue of Refugees and Migration Took the Shine off Chancellor Merkel and Transformed the Party System.† Political Quarterly, vol. 88, no. 4, Oct. 2017, pp. 589–602. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12445. â€Å"Europes Migration Crisis.†Ã‚  Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/tag/europes-migration-crisis. Feichtinger, Hans. â€Å"Refugees in Germany.† First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life; New York, no. 260, Feb. 2016, pp. 20–22. Holmes Seth M., and Castaà ±eda Heide. â€Å"Representing the ‘European Refugee Crisis’ in Germany and beyond: Deservingness and Difference, Life and Death.† American Ethnologist, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2016, pp. 12–24. anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com (Atypon), doi:10.1111/amet.12259. Marks, Amy K., et al. â€Å"National Immigration Receiving Contexts: A Critical Aspect of Native-Born, Immigrant, and Refugee Youth Well-Being.† European Psychologist, vol. 23, no. 1, 2018, pp. 6–20. 2018-12389-002, EBSCOhost, doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000311. â€Å"Migrant Crisis: Migration to Europe Explained in Seven Charts.†Ã‚  BBC News, BBC, 4 Mar. 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911. Nanette Funk (2016) A spectre in Germany: refugees, a ‘welcome culture’ and an ‘integration politics’, Journal of Global Ethics, 12:3, 289-299, DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2016.1252785 â€Å"Navigation and Service.†Ã‚  State & Society Births  Ã‚  Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), www.destatis.de/EN/FactsFigures/_CrossSection/Refugees/Refugees.html. â€Å"Refugee Crisis in Europe European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations European Commission.†Ã‚  Social Protection Statistics Unemployment Benefits Statistics Explained, ec.europa.eu/echo/node/4115. United Nations. â€Å"Solutions.†Ã‚  UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/en-us/solutions.html. United Nations. â€Å"The Relevance and Effectiveness of UNHCRs Durable Solutions Activities in Protracted Refugee Situations.†Ã‚  UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/en-us/research/evalreports/5568170d9/relevance-effectiveness-unhcrs-durable-solutions-activities-protracted.html. United Nations. â€Å"UNHCR Resettlement Handbook: Country Chapter Germany.†Ã‚  UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/en-us/protection/resettlement/5162b3bc9/unhcr-resettlement-handbook-country-chapter-germany.html. https://www.oecd.org/els/mig/Finding-their-Way-Germany.pdf http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/583714a44.pdf Refugees in Germany: Invasion or Invention? On JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/488464. Accessed 10 May 2018. Janning, Josef, (DE-576)164309039. Leading from the Centre [Elektronische Ressource]†¯: Germany’s New Role in Europe / Josef Janning & Almut Mà ¶ller. European Council on Foreign Relations, 2016.

A Rose For Emily by Willaim Faulkner Essay -- essays research papers

A Rose For Emily   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Faulkners story A Rose For Emily, is a tragic story about a young lady by the name of Miss Emily Grierson. Emily came from a well to do family, that had allot of history in the town they lived in. The Grierson's were so powerful, that they did not have to pay any taxes. The whole town seemed to think that the Grierson's were snobby because in Emily's fathers eyes, none of the men where quite good enough for Emily. Unfortunately, Emily turned out an old maid because of her father. By the age of 30, the whole town felt sorry for Emily because they knew that she would not be getting married.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The death of Emily's father displayed a different side of Emily. Since there were rumors of insanity in her family, Emily's denial of her father death portrayed just that. Soon after, Emily came back to reality and grieved her fathers' death. No one seemed to see much of Emily after the death of her father. The only person they would see was her butler. To everyone's surprise, Emily did meet a man a few years later, by the name of Homer Barron. The two would ride down the street on Sundays in a buggy. The town hoped that this would be Emily's opportunity to wed. Time passed, and the town no longer saw Homer come around any more. The last time the town saw Homer, he had gone into Emily's home through the kitchen door for supper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Never the less, it finally came time for Emily t... A Rose For Emily by Willaim Faulkner Essay -- essays research papers A Rose For Emily   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Faulkners story A Rose For Emily, is a tragic story about a young lady by the name of Miss Emily Grierson. Emily came from a well to do family, that had allot of history in the town they lived in. The Grierson's were so powerful, that they did not have to pay any taxes. The whole town seemed to think that the Grierson's were snobby because in Emily's fathers eyes, none of the men where quite good enough for Emily. Unfortunately, Emily turned out an old maid because of her father. By the age of 30, the whole town felt sorry for Emily because they knew that she would not be getting married.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The death of Emily's father displayed a different side of Emily. Since there were rumors of insanity in her family, Emily's denial of her father death portrayed just that. Soon after, Emily came back to reality and grieved her fathers' death. No one seemed to see much of Emily after the death of her father. The only person they would see was her butler. To everyone's surprise, Emily did meet a man a few years later, by the name of Homer Barron. The two would ride down the street on Sundays in a buggy. The town hoped that this would be Emily's opportunity to wed. Time passed, and the town no longer saw Homer come around any more. The last time the town saw Homer, he had gone into Emily's home through the kitchen door for supper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Never the less, it finally came time for Emily t...

History of LOTR :: essays research papers

Legend has it that Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien of the University of Oxford was at his desk one summer's day in 1930 wearily correcting examination papers when he came upon a page in an answer-book that was left blank.. "In a hole in the ground," he wrote on the page, "there lived a hobbit." At the time, he had no idea what a hobbit was, much less why it would live in a hole in the ground- but he had to find out. So, during his free time, always at the same desk, he developed a story about a funny creature named Bilbo who was befriended by dwarfs and faced various adventures with them in a quest to steal a dragon's gold. When he finished writing the story, he let some of his students read it. Little did he know that one of his pupils was an employee for Stanley Unwin of the publishing firm Allen and Unwin. She introduced the book to Mr. Unwin and in 1937 Allen and Unwin published The Hobbit. Professor Tolkien was suddenly an author. The book was an instant sensation, popular with critics and the public alike. It very quickly became a classic. Soon, readers and his publisher asked the professor for a sequel. For many years, none was ever presented. Then, in 1954, Professor Tolkien stunned the world with The Lord of the Rings. Nearly fifteen years in the making, LOTR was the polar opposite of "The Hobbit," despite being its sequel. As professor Paul H. Kocher wrote in Master of Middle-Earth "The Hobbit is a story for children about the stealing of a dragon's hoard by some dwarves with the reluctant aid of a little hobbit. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, stretches the adult imagination with its account of a world in peril. Each work has virtues proper to its kind, but they had better be read independently of each other as contrasting, if related, specimens of the fantasy's writers art... The Hobbit was never meant to be a wholly serious tale, nor his young audience to listen without laughing often. In contradistinction, The Lord of the Rings does on occasion evoke smiles, but most of the time its issues go too deep for laughter." It was ultimately decided by the publisher that The Lord of the Rings would be told through three separately released books due to a post World War II paper shortage.

History Vietnam Controlled Assessment Essay

P1 Para-starter: Use of Defoliation to win hearts and minds. Point 1: Causes birth defects  Evidence: â€Å"Agent Orange is fifty times more concentrated than normal agricultural herbicides; this extreme intensity completely destroyed all plants in the area. Agent Orange not only had devastating effects on agriculture but also on people and animals. The Vietnam Red Cross recorded over 4.8 million deaths and 400,000 children born with birth defects due to exposure to Agent Orange. (http://vietnamawbb.weebly.com/napalm-agent-orange.html) Explanation: So it affected South Vietnam negatively, caused them to hate US and feel sympathy for VC. Evidence 2: Point 2: Use of napalm strikes Evidence: â€Å"Fail grey smoke where they’d burnt off the rice fields, brilliant white smoke from phosphorus, and deep black smoke from napalm. They said that if you stood at the base of the column it would suck the air right out of your lungs.† (Sauvain, Philip: Vietnam) Explanation: Consequently shows how bad it is from American POV so would be worse for random civilian. Evidence 2: Para-ender: Overall, defoliation is bad because it makes civilians hate US. P2 Para-starter: Use of Search and Destroy to win hearts and minds Point 1: Ruthless aggression of Americans Evidence: â€Å"Frustrated and frightened American troops settled on searching villages and destroying those instead. In most cases these villages played no role in supporting the VC.†(Demarco, Neil: Vietnam) Explanation: Because of this Americans would kill innocents (Refer to My Lai Massacre and Zippo lighters) Evidence 2: Para-ender: As a result, brutality of US caused the civilains to hate the US P3 Para-Starter: In addition, use of Search and Destroy to counter VC Point 1: VC were well prepared Evidence: â€Å"Such missions were ineffective because at the slightest hint of american activity the communist forces would slip away into the jungle.†(Bircher, Rob and May-History controlled assessment) Explanation: Shows how well prepared VC were compared to americans Evidence 2: â€Å"60%of US casualties from the war came from traps and mines† Explanation: Shows how vulnerable Americans were, demoralized American troops and failed to counter VC P4 Para-starter: Finally, Defoliation counters VC Point 1: Successful to an extent Evidence: â€Å"It is estimated that approximately 77 million litres of this acid was sprayed over Vietnam† (Rob Bircher and Steve May – History Controlled Assessment) Evidence 2:†Nearly 5.5 million acres of South Vietnamese forest and cropland†(Gibson, Michael – The war in Vietnam) Explanation: initial plan to uncover Ho Chi Minh trail, but not fully achieved. Para-ender: In Addition, they couldn’t do more damage cause communists are supported by USSR and China.

Marketing research 3

MR. Walton started Wal-Mart in 1962. The company started as a cheap price alternative store because Mr. Walton adopted the price-cutting or cost cutting by keeping costs down. It was a man who liked to minimize costs. He liked local investments and this was done by giving most of his staff stock options and he encouraged them to invest in the company. Walmart grew technologically ahead of its competitors because they were in fact one of the first stores to use computer to keep track of their products and stocks. They also used computer to link stores, warehouses and this is done up to date. In fact, Walmart has a variety of stores, warehouses that have standard merchandise that is sold at lower prices with lower margin and higher volumes. This includes discount retailing in most of their stores which is mostly used in specially stores like their discounting goods stores. Wal-Mart has placed its stores around major cities and managed its marketing channels well. They have used strategic planning and advanced information system to link their departmental stores and warehouses around major towns and this is boosted by the use of sophisticated marketing tools. Walmart majorly is a low price strategy firm and it has priced its products lower that most of its competitors but however, a research done in 2004 indicated that most people in the US were alarmed by an article that articulated the high cost of low price. This led to negative publicity of Walmart as most of its customers began to be cautious about its low prices but on the other end, Walmart is actually trying to reach to the tougher market of lower income earners. It also uses strategies of efficiency due to good distribution network. The Walmart stores feature a broad line but have low value added and focus on keeping prices low and are perceived to be having a good deal especially to low income earners and they depend majorly on in purchase of goods in large volumes. To attract customers Walmart use various promotional tools to generate traffic and purchases. Most of us have seen adverts both on TV and online placed by Walmart, they run special sales and issue coupons. Most of the frequent shoppers at Walmart are also rewarded to encourage frequent purchases. Walmart also runs special page adverts and magazines to remind customers on their existence. They are also careful to choose locations because customers who like money saving deals will look for stores that are nearest. They plan carefully before choosing on the sites to open outlets. Walmart also has gone a step further to provide one stop shopping where they combine grocery items with huge selection of non-food merchandise. When we compare it with Nordshoms that was started in 1901 as a shoe store by John v. Nordshoms. In Washington, the latter is a rather different type of store as it is a departmental store where we have several products lines i.e. in the case of Walmart we have clothing products, shoes, handbags, gift hampers and in which case each product line is separated and operated as a separate department and managed by specialized buyers or merchandisers. Nordshoms unlike Walmart has its goods priced highly but they insist on quality, value, trust and selection unlike Walmart that depend on volume purchase and search for good deals. It also uses the product expansion strategy because it started as a shoe company but later it has expanded to include clothes and other products managed separately like cars and car parts accessories for women. It has also differentiated its products into segments as we have children clothes, women and men. This is a part of individual marketing where they do not look at customers as a group but deal with them individually. They hold customers by offering convenient locations, special or unique assortment of goods, great services, better quality goods and better services than competitors. They also have included other brands i.e. they purchased best apparels a clothes company and ventured to clothes market. Because most customers complain that their prices are high, they have embarked on serious expansion and have opened many stores in major cities. This is to areas where incomes are high. Nordshoms use direct mails as promotion tools and telemarketing where they use telephone calls to attract new customers. They also contact existing customers to ascertain satisfaction levels. They also run adverts on the levels where clients can log on to and ‘try clothes online’. Apart from visiting the stores clients also would like to see how the clothes look like, online marketing is also very important. They also adopt catalogue marketing where they mail one or more product catalogues to selected addresses to lure more customers, all this will stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular products. They have adopted psychological prices where they use price as an indicator of quality. High priced goods are preferred to have high quality especially where alternative information about true quality is not available. REFERENCES Armstrong G. & Kotler P. (2007). Consumer Markets: Influences on consumer behavior, Principles of Marketing. Kotler, P. (2005) Principles of Marketing. New York.Melbourne Press Schaik J.L., (2002); The Task of Marketing Management; J.L. van Schaik (Pity) ltd Winer, R.S. (2007). Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Â  

Analysis on TATA group Essay

Introduction Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It encompasses seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Tata Group was founded in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata as a trading company. It has operations in more than 80 countries across six continents. Tata Group has over 100 operating companies with each of them operating independently. Out of them 32 are publicly listed. The major Tata companies are Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Teleservices, Titan Industries, Tata Communications and Taj Hotels. The combined market capitalisation of all the 32 listed Tata companies was INR 8.2 Trillion ($ 138 billion) as of July 2014. Tata receives more than 58% of its revenue from outside India. Tata companies and details their business: Chemicals Tata Chemicals Rallis India Tata Pigments Limited General Chemical Industrial Products Brunner Mond Advinus Therapeutics Magadi Soda Company Consumer products Tata Salt I-shakti Casa Dà ©cor Tata Swach Tata Global Beverages Tata Tea Limited is the world’s second largest manufacturer of packaged tea and tea products. Tata Starbucks, is a 50:50 joint venture company, owned by Starbucks Corporation and Tata Global Beverages Eight O’Clock Coffee Tetley Tata Coffee Himalayan, Mount Everest Mineral Water’s natural mineral water brand Tata Ceramics Infiniti Retail (CromÄ ) Tata Industries Titan Industries Trent (Westside) Landmark Bookstores Tata Sky Voltas, consumer electronics company Tata International Ltd. Tanishq Fastrack, Largest & Trendiest Youth Fashion Brand in India Titan Eye+, World class Optical Stores from Titan Industries Tata Refractories Westland Engineering TAL Manufacturing Solutions Tata AutoComp Systems Limited (TACO) Hispano Carrocera Tata Motors, manufacturer of commercial vehicles (largest in India) and passenger cars Jaguar Land Rover (Manager of Tata’s British brands Jaguar cars and Land Rover) Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Tata Projects Tata Technologies Limited Tata Consulting Engineers Limited Tata Cummins Telco Construction Equipment TRF Voltas Global Engineering Centre Tata Advanced Materials Tata Advanced Systems Tata Motors European Technical Centre Tata Petrodyne Tata Precision Industries Telcon Construction Equipment Steel Tata Steel Tata Steel Europe Tata Steel KZN Tata Steel Processing and Distribution JAMIPOL NatSteel Holdings Tata BlueScope Steel Tata Metaliks Tata Sponge Iron Tayo Rolls Literature review What is SWOT analysis A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a structured planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. Strengths: characteristics of the business or project that give it an advantage over others. Weaknesses: characteristics that place the business or project at a disadvantage relative to others Opportunities: elements that the project could exploit to its advantage Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project How SWOT affects strategic decisions The main advantages of conducting a SWOT analysis is that it has little or no cost – anyone who understands your business can perform a SWOT analysis. You can also use a SWOT analysis when you don’t have much time to address a complex situation. This means that you can take steps towards improving your business without the expense of an external consultant or business adviser.Another advantage of a SWOT analysis is that it concentrates on the most important factors affecting your business. Using a SWOT, you can: understand your business better address weaknesses deter threats capitalise on opportunities take advantage of your strengths develop business goals and strategies for achieving them. BCG matrix The growth–share matrix (aka the product portfolio, BCG-matrix, Boston matrix, Boston Consulting Group analysis, portfolio diagram) is a chart that was created by Bruce D. Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group in 1970 to help corporations to analyze their business units, that is, their product lines. This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis. Analysis of market performance by firms using its principles has recently called its usefulness into question. Cash cows is where a company has high market share in a slow-growing industry. These units typically generate cash in excess of the amount of cash needed to maintain the business. They are regarded as staid and boring, in a â€Å"mature† market, yet corporations value owning them due to their cash generating qualities. They are to be â€Å"milked† continuously with as little investment as possible, since such investment would be wasted in an industry with low growth. Dogs, more charitably called pets, are units with low market share in a mature, slow-growing industry. These units typically â€Å"break even†, generating barely enough cash to maintain the business’s market share. Though owning a break-even unit provides the social benefit of providing jobs and possible synergies that assist other business units, from an accounting point of view such a unit is worthless, not generating cash for the company. They depress a profitable company’s return on assets ratio, used by many investors to judge how well a company is being managed. Dogs, it is thought, should be sold off. Question marks (also known as problem children) are business operating in a high market growth, but having a low market share. They are a starting point for most businesses. Question marks have a potenti al to gain market share and become stars, and eventually cash cows when market growth slows. If question marks do not succeed in becoming  a market leader, then after perhaps years of cash consumption, they will degenerate into dogs when market growth declines. Question marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine whether they are worth the investment required to grow market share. Stars are units with a high market share in a fast-growing industry. They are graduated question marks with a market or niche leading trajectory, for example: amongst market share front-runners in a high-growth sector, and/or having a monopolistic or increasingly dominant USP with burgeoning/fortuitous proposition drive(s) from: novelty (e.g. Last.FM upon CBS Interactive’s due diligence), fashion/promotion (e.g. newly prestigious celebrity branded fragrances), customer loyalty (e.g. greenfield or military/gang enforcement backed, and/or innovative, grey-market/illicit retail of addictive drugs, for instance the British East India Company’s, late-1700s opium-based Qianlong Emperor embargo-busting, Canton System), goodwill (e.g. monopsonies) and/or gearing (e.g. oligopolies, for instance Portland cement producers near boomtowns),[citation needed] etc. The hope is that stars become next cash cows. Porter five forces analysis Porter five forces analysis is a framework to analyze level of competition within an industry and business strategy development. It draws upon industrial organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness in this context refers to the overall industry profitability. An â€Å"unattractive† industry is one in which the combination of these five forces acts to drive down overall profitability. A very unattractive industry would be one approaching â€Å"pure competition†, in which available profits for all firms are driven to normal profit. This analysis is associated with its principal innovator Michael E. Porter of Harvard University (as of 2014). 1. Threat of new entrants 2. Threat of substitute products or services 3. Bargaining power of customers (buyers) 4. Bargaining power of suppliers 5. Intensity of competitive rivalry Organizational Structure An organizational structure defines how activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its environment. Organizations are a variant of clustered entities. An organization can be structured in many different ways, depending on their objectives. The structure of an organization will determine the modes in which it operates and performs. Organizational structure allows the expressed allocation of responsibilities for different functions and processes to different entities such as the branch, department, workgroup and individual. Organizational structure affects organizational action in two big ways. First, it provides the foundation on which standard operating procedures and routines rest. Second, it determines which individuals get to participate in which decision-making processes, and thus to w hat extent their views shape the organization’s actions. Findings & Analysis: Strengths: The internationalization strategy so far has been to keep local managers in new acquisitions, and to only transplant a couple of senior managers from India into the new market. The benefit is that Tata has been able to exchange expertise. For example after the Daewoo acquisition the Indian company leaned work discipline and how to get the final product ‘right first time.’ The company has had a successful alliance with Italian mass producer Fiat since 2006. This has enhanced the product portfolio for Tata and Fiat in terms of production and knowledge exchange. For example, the Fiat Palio Style was launched by Tata in 2007, and the companies have an agreement to build a pick-up targeted at Central and South America. Weaknesses: The company’s passenger car products are based upon 3rd and 4th generation platforms, which put Tata Motors Limited at a disadvantage with competing car manufacturers. Despite buying the Jaguar and Land Rover brands (see opportunities below); Tata has not got a foothold in the luxury car segment in its domestic, Indian market. One weakness which is often not recognised is that in English the word ‘tat’ means rubbish. Would the brand sensitive British consumer ever buy into such a brand? Maybe not. Opportunities: In the summer of 2008 Tata Motor’s announced that it had successfully purchased the Land Rover and Jaguar brands from Ford Motors for  UK  £2.3 million. Two of the World’s luxury car brand have been added to its portfolio of brands. Tata Motors Limited acquired Daewoo Motor’s Commercial vehicle business in 2004 for around USD $16 million. Nano is the cheapest car in the World – retailing at little more than a motorbike. Whilst the World is getting ready for greener alternatives to gas-guzzlers, is the Nano the answer in terms of concept or brand? Threats: Other competing car manufacturers have been in the passenger car business for 40, 50 or more years. Therefore Tata Motors Limited has to catch up in terms of quality and lean production. Sustainability and environmentalism could mean extra costs for this low-cost producer. Rising prices in the global economy could pose a threat to Tata Motors Limited on a couple of fronts. The price of steel and aluminium is increasing putting pressure on the costs of production.