Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. FIN Professor XXX XXXX Month xx, xxxx History Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph after he purchased the famous secret recipe of yeast-raised doughnuts in 1937 from a French chef in New Orleans. Rudolph began to sell these doughnuts wholesale to supermarkets. The demand for his doughnuts grew quickly, and by cutting a hole in the wall of the factory to sell directly to customers the concept of Krispy Kreme retail stores was born. The retail concept for Krispy Kreme doughnuts allowed Rudolph to grow his factory stores to 29 shops in 12 states by the late 1950’s.When Rudolph died in 973 Beatrice Foods bought his company and expanded it to more than 100 locations and expanded the menu to include soups and sandwiches. Beatrice tried to reduce costs by changing the appearance of the stores and using cheaper ingredients. This negatively affected the company and Beatrice sold the company to a group of franchise owners. This group of owners was led by Joseph McAleer, who was the first Krispy Kreme franchisee. The leveraged buyout was completed for $24 million in 1982. The new group brought back the original recipe and logo.By 1989 the group was almost debt free and they were beginning to expand. The company CEO, Scott Livengood, took the company public in April of 2000. The share price after the first day was $40. 63. Holes in Doughnut Accounting Practices In May of 2004 Krispy Kreme announced to its investors that they should expect earnings to be 10% lower than predicted. It was at this time that the low-carb diet had taken the U. S by storm, and Krispy Kreme blamed this low-carb diet for their low wholesale and retail sales.They also announced the sales of a the Montana Mills bakery chain of 28 bakery cafe’s that had been acquired in January of 2003 for $40 million in stock. Krispy Kreme also announced that the Hot Doughnut and Coffee Shops were falling short of expectations and three of them were closing at a cost o f $7 to $8 million. Krispy Kreme (KKD) stock price closed down 30% that day. Shortly after on May 25th, 2004 when the Wall Street Journal published a story about how Krispy Kreme handled is accounting for franchise acquisitions.According to the article Krispy Kreme recorded the interest paid by the franchisee as interest income for immediate profit, except that Krispy Kreme booked the purchase cost of the franchise as an intangible asset and did not amortize it. In the repurchase agreement of the 7 stores in Michigan, they allowed one of the franchises top executives to stay on with the company after the repurchase. This executive left the company shortly after closing the deal, and had to pay him $5 million in severance which Krispy Kreme also rolled into the unamortized-asset category. Krispy Kreme claimed it followed GAAP standards and had done nothing wrong.The final shoe to drop as on July 29th, 2004 when Krispy Kreme announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an informal investigation related to â€Å"franchise reacquisitions and the company’s previously announced reduction in earning guidance†. Krispy Kreme (KK) shares fell another 15%. The revelations about the companies accounting practices and showing interest as immediate income and not amortizing the repurchased franchises but rather showing them as intangible assets alone could justify the devaluation of their stock price by approx. 45%.Couple their earnings decline and the announcement of store closings and it easily can be justified. Couple that with the fear of the unknown. If Krispy Kreme was treating their interest and reacquired franchises as they were which seems to be blatantly wrong, what else might the SEC find during their investigation? This fear would certainly drive investors away and their share price down. The facts along with its ratings being dropped by 50% of analysts to â€Å"Hold† from â€Å"buy† a few months earlier. K rispy Kreme Deep Fried and Possible Deeper Issues Krispy Kreme grew incredibly quickly in the years leading up to the nvestigation (as shown in the chart below) and then may have tried to meet Wall Street expectations through some questionable practices such as shipping more product or pulling ahead product orders, then allowing the orders to be returned shortly after for credit. â€Å"Testimony by a former sales manager at a Krispy Kreme outlet in Ohio, said a regional manager ordered that retail store customers be sent double orders on the last Friday and Saturday of the 2004 fiscal year, explaining â€Å"that Krispy Kreme wanted to boost the sales for the fiscal year in order to meet Wall Street projections. The witness said the manager explained that the doughnuts would be returned for credit the following week – once fiscal 2005 was under way† (Chin, 2005). It seems pretty clear that Krispy Kreme was using questionable methods to inflate profits. Investors also l ater found out that Scott Livengood (CEO), the former COO John W. Tate, and the former CFO Randy Casstevens, â€Å"unloaded more than 475,000 shares of Krispy Kreme stock for proceeds of $19. 8 Million†, (Chin, 2005) while they were fully aware sales were declining since January of 2003.During this investigation, Scott Livengood, Krispy Kreme’s CEO announced his retirement. It would seem to me that there may be some deeper issues with Krispy Kreme and if I were a shareholder I would want out, or to be certain that Krispy Kreme’s accounting mess was cleaned up. The chart below shows Krispy Kreme’s performance during the years leading up to the investigation. Krispy Kreme Re-made Fresh Today Krispy Kreme’s stock has not fully recovered, (see chart below), but as of the end of 2012 Krispy Kreme seems to have made a comeback. â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Krispy Kreme) is a retailer and wholesaler of doughnuts complementary beverages and treats a nd packaged sweets. The Company’s principal business is owning and franchising Krispy Kreme stores, at which a variety of doughnuts, including the Company’s Original Glazed doughnut, are sold and distributed together with complementary products, and where a broad array of coffees and other beverages are offered. As of January 29, 2012, there were 234 Krispy Kreme stores operated domestically in 38 states and in the District of Columbia, and there were 460 shops in 20 other countries around the world.Of the 694 total stores, 292 were factory stores and 402 were satellites. The Company operates in four segments: Company Stores, domestic franchise stores, international franchise stores, and the KK Supply Chain† (â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts†). As of close of business on Friday last week KKD traded at $14. 80, way below its heyday when the stock traded in the $40’s but it is double its all-time low. Krispy Kreme doughnuts (KKD as of March 22, 2013 When compared to its competitors Krispy Kreme’s P/E is 49. 33. This is much higher than the others but its P/S is in the middle.Krispy Kreme’s competitors are listed as Dunkin’ Brands Group, Einstein Noah restaurant Group, and Starbuck Corporation. Below is the direct competitor comparison. Direct Competitor Comparison| | | KKD| DNKN| BAGL| SBUX| Industry| Market Cap:| 989. 57M| 3. 94B| 253. 09M| 42. 99B| 384. 28M| Employees:| N/A| 1,104| 6,912| 160,000| 10. 87K| Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):| 0. 16| -0. 04| -0. 04| 0. 11| 0. 30| Revenue (ttm): | 435. 84M| 658. 18M| 427. 01M| 13. 66B| 453. 84M| Gross Margin (ttm):| 0. 17| 0. 79| 0. 21| 0. 57| 0. 31| EBITDA (ttm):| 47. 93M| 304. 86M| 48. 46M| 2. 46B| 47. 5M| Operating Margin (ttm): | 0. 09| 0. 38| 0. 07| 0. 14| 0. 07| Net Income (ttm):| 20. 78M| 108. 18M| 12. 74M| 1. 43B| N/A| EPS (ttm):| 0. 30| 0. 93| 0. 74| 1. 86| 0. 78| P/E (ttm):| 49. 33| 39. 95| 20. 01| 30. 87| 29. 99| PEG (5 yr expected):| 1. 02| 1. 58| 0. 98| 1. 43| 1. 50| P/S (ttm):| 2. 24| 5. 96| 0. 59| 3. 13| 1. 04| | | | | Suggestions for a Krisp/Klean Future Making Doughnuts I three things I might suggest if I were the CFO for Krispy Kreme doughnuts would be to insure open communication with investors and insure them that internal auditing systems are in place.I’m sure that investors lost all trust in the previous management because of the questionable practices that were followed. Krispy Kreme needs to rebuild that trust by having open lines of communication with its investors. I would take a serious look at closing unprofitable stores, and research other markets to open more stores. Some areas may still be underperforming while others are booming. Concentrate on the areas that show better potential and take advantage of that market while it is supporting growth. Because their competitors seem to offer expanded menus I would concentrate on healthy choices for the lunchtime crowd.Everyone is aware of Krispy Kreme’s doughnuts, but I’m not so sure their other menu items are well known as an option for lunch/brunch. Other than the morning rush for doughnuts, they could make their stores more profitable with being the †go toâ€Å" spot for lunch also. References Chin, N. (2005). Krispy Kreme Dougnuts: Empty calories or empty profits? Retrieved from http://www. corporateconflicts. com/index-sb-cases-kk. html Krispy kreme doughnuts. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. google. com/finance? client=ob&q=NYSE:KKD Krispy Kreme Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. FIN Professor XXX XXXX Month xx, xxxx History Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph after he purchased the famous secret recipe of yeast-raised doughnuts in 1937 from a French chef in New Orleans. Rudolph began to sell these doughnuts wholesale to supermarkets. The demand for his doughnuts grew quickly, and by cutting a hole in the wall of the factory to sell directly to customers the concept of Krispy Kreme retail stores was born. The retail concept for Krispy Kreme doughnuts allowed Rudolph to grow his factory stores to 29 shops in 12 states by the late 1950’s.When Rudolph died in 973 Beatrice Foods bought his company and expanded it to more than 100 locations and expanded the menu to include soups and sandwiches. Beatrice tried to reduce costs by changing the appearance of the stores and using cheaper ingredients. This negatively affected the company and Beatrice sold the company to a group of franchise owners. This group of owners was led by Joseph McAleer, who was the first Krispy Kreme franchisee. The leveraged buyout was completed for $24 million in 1982. The new group brought back the original recipe and logo.By 1989 the group was almost debt free and they were beginning to expand. The company CEO, Scott Livengood, took the company public in April of 2000. The share price after the first day was $40. 63. Holes in Doughnut Accounting Practices In May of 2004 Krispy Kreme announced to its investors that they should expect earnings to be 10% lower than predicted. It was at this time that the low-carb diet had taken the U. S by storm, and Krispy Kreme blamed this low-carb diet for their low wholesale and retail sales.They also announced the sales of a the Montana Mills bakery chain of 28 bakery cafe’s that had been acquired in January of 2003 for $40 million in stock. Krispy Kreme also announced that the Hot Doughnut and Coffee Shops were falling short of expectations and three of them were closing at a cost o f $7 to $8 million. Krispy Kreme (KKD) stock price closed down 30% that day. Shortly after on May 25th, 2004 when the Wall Street Journal published a story about how Krispy Kreme handled is accounting for franchise acquisitions.According to the article Krispy Kreme recorded the interest paid by the franchisee as interest income for immediate profit, except that Krispy Kreme booked the purchase cost of the franchise as an intangible asset and did not amortize it. In the repurchase agreement of the 7 stores in Michigan, they allowed one of the franchises top executives to stay on with the company after the repurchase. This executive left the company shortly after closing the deal, and had to pay him $5 million in severance which Krispy Kreme also rolled into the unamortized-asset category. Krispy Kreme claimed it followed GAAP standards and had done nothing wrong.The final shoe to drop as on July 29th, 2004 when Krispy Kreme announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an informal investigation related to â€Å"franchise reacquisitions and the company’s previously announced reduction in earning guidance†. Krispy Kreme (KK) shares fell another 15%. The revelations about the companies accounting practices and showing interest as immediate income and not amortizing the repurchased franchises but rather showing them as intangible assets alone could justify the devaluation of their stock price by approx. 45%.Couple their earnings decline and the announcement of store closings and it easily can be justified. Couple that with the fear of the unknown. If Krispy Kreme was treating their interest and reacquired franchises as they were which seems to be blatantly wrong, what else might the SEC find during their investigation? This fear would certainly drive investors away and their share price down. The facts along with its ratings being dropped by 50% of analysts to â€Å"Hold† from â€Å"buy† a few months earlier. K rispy Kreme Deep Fried and Possible Deeper Issues Krispy Kreme grew incredibly quickly in the years leading up to the nvestigation (as shown in the chart below) and then may have tried to meet Wall Street expectations through some questionable practices such as shipping more product or pulling ahead product orders, then allowing the orders to be returned shortly after for credit. â€Å"Testimony by a former sales manager at a Krispy Kreme outlet in Ohio, said a regional manager ordered that retail store customers be sent double orders on the last Friday and Saturday of the 2004 fiscal year, explaining â€Å"that Krispy Kreme wanted to boost the sales for the fiscal year in order to meet Wall Street projections. The witness said the manager explained that the doughnuts would be returned for credit the following week – once fiscal 2005 was under way† (Chin, 2005). It seems pretty clear that Krispy Kreme was using questionable methods to inflate profits. Investors also l ater found out that Scott Livengood (CEO), the former COO John W. Tate, and the former CFO Randy Casstevens, â€Å"unloaded more than 475,000 shares of Krispy Kreme stock for proceeds of $19. 8 Million†, (Chin, 2005) while they were fully aware sales were declining since January of 2003.During this investigation, Scott Livengood, Krispy Kreme’s CEO announced his retirement. It would seem to me that there may be some deeper issues with Krispy Kreme and if I were a shareholder I would want out, or to be certain that Krispy Kreme’s accounting mess was cleaned up. The chart below shows Krispy Kreme’s performance during the years leading up to the investigation. Krispy Kreme Re-made Fresh Today Krispy Kreme’s stock has not fully recovered, (see chart below), but as of the end of 2012 Krispy Kreme seems to have made a comeback. â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Krispy Kreme) is a retailer and wholesaler of doughnuts complementary beverages and treats a nd packaged sweets. The Company’s principal business is owning and franchising Krispy Kreme stores, at which a variety of doughnuts, including the Company’s Original Glazed doughnut, are sold and distributed together with complementary products, and where a broad array of coffees and other beverages are offered. As of January 29, 2012, there were 234 Krispy Kreme stores operated domestically in 38 states and in the District of Columbia, and there were 460 shops in 20 other countries around the world.Of the 694 total stores, 292 were factory stores and 402 were satellites. The Company operates in four segments: Company Stores, domestic franchise stores, international franchise stores, and the KK Supply Chain† (â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts†). As of close of business on Friday last week KKD traded at $14. 80, way below its heyday when the stock traded in the $40’s but it is double its all-time low. Krispy Kreme doughnuts (KKD as of March 22, 2013 When compared to its competitors Krispy Kreme’s P/E is 49. 33. This is much higher than the others but its P/S is in the middle.Krispy Kreme’s competitors are listed as Dunkin’ Brands Group, Einstein Noah restaurant Group, and Starbuck Corporation. Below is the direct competitor comparison. Direct Competitor Comparison| | | KKD| DNKN| BAGL| SBUX| Industry| Market Cap:| 989. 57M| 3. 94B| 253. 09M| 42. 99B| 384. 28M| Employees:| N/A| 1,104| 6,912| 160,000| 10. 87K| Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):| 0. 16| -0. 04| -0. 04| 0. 11| 0. 30| Revenue (ttm): | 435. 84M| 658. 18M| 427. 01M| 13. 66B| 453. 84M| Gross Margin (ttm):| 0. 17| 0. 79| 0. 21| 0. 57| 0. 31| EBITDA (ttm):| 47. 93M| 304. 86M| 48. 46M| 2. 46B| 47. 5M| Operating Margin (ttm): | 0. 09| 0. 38| 0. 07| 0. 14| 0. 07| Net Income (ttm):| 20. 78M| 108. 18M| 12. 74M| 1. 43B| N/A| EPS (ttm):| 0. 30| 0. 93| 0. 74| 1. 86| 0. 78| P/E (ttm):| 49. 33| 39. 95| 20. 01| 30. 87| 29. 99| PEG (5 yr expected):| 1. 02| 1. 58| 0. 98| 1. 43| 1. 50| P/S (ttm):| 2. 24| 5. 96| 0. 59| 3. 13| 1. 04| | | | | Suggestions for a Krisp/Klean Future Making Doughnuts I three things I might suggest if I were the CFO for Krispy Kreme doughnuts would be to insure open communication with investors and insure them that internal auditing systems are in place.I’m sure that investors lost all trust in the previous management because of the questionable practices that were followed. Krispy Kreme needs to rebuild that trust by having open lines of communication with its investors. I would take a serious look at closing unprofitable stores, and research other markets to open more stores. Some areas may still be underperforming while others are booming. Concentrate on the areas that show better potential and take advantage of that market while it is supporting growth. Because their competitors seem to offer expanded menus I would concentrate on healthy choices for the lunchtime crowd.Everyone is aware of Krispy Kreme’s doughnuts, but I’m not so sure their other menu items are well known as an option for lunch/brunch. Other than the morning rush for doughnuts, they could make their stores more profitable with being the †go toâ€Å" spot for lunch also. References Chin, N. (2005). Krispy Kreme Dougnuts: Empty calories or empty profits? Retrieved from http://www. corporateconflicts. com/index-sb-cases-kk. html Krispy kreme doughnuts. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. google. com/finance? client=ob&q=NYSE:KKD Krispy Kreme INTRODUCTION First, I will discuss the environment of Krispy Kreme and my analysis as to what led to the company’s position in 2004. Second, I will discuss the financial health and current condition based upon the historical income statements and balance sheets. Third, I will discuss the financial ratios in relation to the financial statements. Fourth, I will discuss if Krispy Kreme was financially healthy at the end of 2004. Fifth, I will discuss my assessment of Krispy Kreme’s health and why I think the stock price dropped by 80% between 2003 and 2004.Sixth, I will discuss why I think the market reacted so negatively to the disclosures about adverse results and the revelations in the Wall Street Journal regarding the firm’s accounting methods for the franchise rights. Lastly, I will provide my recommendations for turning around Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ business. COMPANY POSITION Krispy Kreme Doughnuts started small by selling directly to grocery stores. T heir doughnuts became so popular they began selling directly to customers. They sold a delicious doughnut and a viewing experience.When Beatrice Foods bought the company, her business model did not succeed because it expanded the product line in the opposite direction of what consumers wanted and she inputted cheap ingredients into a popular recipe which sacrificed taste. When she sold the company to the group of franchisees, it pushed the company back into a positive direction by bringing back the original recipe. Krispy Kreme was debt-free by 1989 and their IPO left them with a market capitalization of nearly $500 million in 2000.They appeared to be on the right track but, it seemed they were expanding too rapidly. They allowed franchisees to place their stores in locations that were not favorable, resulting in the franchises not doing well enough and owing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts millions. Krispy Kreme relied on the income from franchised stores purchases of equipment and mixes to o much. They also had their product in too many locations, creating an increase of supply and a decrease in demand. HISTORICAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSISOn further analysis of the historical income statement, it seems that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ operating expenses are increasing gradually every year and are over 75% of total revenues for each year. The only income statement item that has decreased significantly was interest income from 2002 through 2004. Everything else seemed to point towards a profitably company because both gross profit and net income were increasing by at least 2% every year. On further analysis of the historical balance sheet there we some large red flag items.Property and equipment, net of depreciation was a significant portion of total assets each year. Most of the equipment they created was sold to franchisees and used in each company owned or franchisee owned factory stores. The significant amount on their balance sheet could have meant that they were manufacturing equipment faster than they were selling it to their franchises or due to the fact that they were expecting to expand, but were not able to expand to the extent they wanted to. As a percent of total assets, accounts receivable declined from 17% in 2000 to 7 % in 2004.Inventories were significantly increasing each year, but one would assume that some of their inventory would have to be written of due to the items expiration date (doughnuts can only last so long, so they appear to not be selling as much). Reacquired franchise rights, goodwill and other intangibles significantly increased starting in 2002, and every year after that. It rose in those years to be close to one third (30%) of total assets, which was the biggest item percentage wise other than property and equipment. The most significant item on the liabilities and shareholders’ equity section of the balance sheet is common stock.Every year common stock was close to 50% of total liabilities and shar eholders’ equity. In my opinion, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, recognized they were in trouble with the increasing failures of franchises and kept issuing more stock in hopes to bail themselves out. FINANCIAL RATIO ANALYSIS In exhibit seven the time series of the ratios raise one specific question. The inventory turnover raises the question as to why it was taking longer for their inventory to sell. When converted to days, the ratio determined that their inventory took over twenty-three days to turnover in 2003.It seems that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ inventory was over saturated in the market. With an abundance in supply, it seems that their doughnuts were not as in demand. When comparing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ financial ratios to others in the industry, I determined that Krispy Kreme was doing better in some areas than those in the industry such as with their liquidity ratios. Krispy Kreme’s liquidity ratios were significantly higher than any company in its ind ustry. In other areas, such as profitability ratios, Krispy Kreme was about average compared to other companies.Krispy Kreme’s activity ratios were significantly lower than any other company in its industry, meaning their assets are not turning over as much as other companies. In such an industry, product seems to move fast, which further supports my notion that their product was becoming less popular due to the saturated market. It seems a lot more companies in this industry support operations with debt rather than capital, Krispy Kreme was doing the opposite. Exhibit nine supports this position because no other company had a significant amount of shareholders’ equity like Krispy Kreme.Other companies were better able to handle their operating expenses keeping them closer to 50% of net sales, unlike Krispy Kreme who kept theirs closer to 75%, but Krispy Kreme also had a higher percent of net sales in relation to operating profit and profit before taxes. FINANCIALLY HE ALTHY AT YEAR END 2004? In my opinion, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is not completely healthy at the financial year end of 2004. Their income statement shows an increased net income from the year before, but I believe that increase can only last so long.With the inability to expand further, and current operations decreasing more than they are making, I do not expect their net income to increase by year end 2005. Everything on their balance sheet is increasing, including their inventory. They need to realize that they are simply not selling product. Although their debt is low, that is from the increasing stockholders’ equity in the form of stocks. With the outlook of the company not good, they cannot expect to support their operations with the issuance of new stock. They need to find a new way to finance their operations and ecrease their operating costs. STOCK PRICE DECREASE AND NEGATIVE MARKET REACTION In my opinion investors recognized the same warning signs that I did when analy zing Krispy Kreme Doughnuts’ financial statements and decided to drop their losses while they could still make some kind of profit selling off the stock. When Krispy Kreme announced to investors to expect earnings to be â€Å"10% lower than anticipated, claiming that the recent low-carbohydrate diet trend in the US had hurt wholesale and retail sales,† I think they further expected that something was not right with the picture they were portraying.The Wall Street Journal article, revealed an accounting practice that was not commonly followed by others in Krispy Kreme’s industry. When the SEC launched an informal investigation into the â€Å"franchise reacquisitions,† investors jumped ship as fast as they could. The significant decrease in stock from 2003 to 2004, was investors getting nervous and protecting themselves from their stock being worth near nothing. RECOMMENDATIONS In my opinion Krispy Kreme Doughnuts needs to make radical changes to the way it conducts business.I think they should completely stop off-premise sales, making their product only available in factory stores. This would hopefully decrease their inventory and decrease operating expenses related to the fleet of trucks that deliver product to grocery stores. Selling their product in factory stores only will hopefully recreate the demand for the doughnuts that there once was. I also believe that they should decrease the amount of franchises and refocus to company owned stores.Franchisees might not properly know how to pick a location or be properly trained, as seen with the increase of failing franchises. This would decrease the large amount on their balance sheet from reacquiring franchises. Focusing their business to one or two types of primary sources of income and reducing expenses would be a way to help lower market saturation of their product. Having more company owned factory stores, provides Krispy Kreme a chance to have more control over their operations a nd not depend on franchisees to make a profit for them.

Banana Sap As Natural Ink Essay

Banana (Musa Ãâ€" Paradisiaca) is a very common plant in Malaysia and in the Philippines. Often the banana trunk is thrown away after harvesting the fruit. The waste material is biodegradable. Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the Genus Musa, and is also the name given to the fruit of these plants. It is a native plant found in the tropical region of Southeast Asia, the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. Today, it is cultivated throughout the Tropics. The banana was mentioned for the first time in written history in Buddhist texts in 600 BC. The stalk is the stem of the banana plant. The banana stalk produces one huge flower cluster and then dies. The stalk is usually cut off the plant when the bananas are plump and ready to ripen. Before it dies, there are a number of things the banana stalk can be used for. The use of banana sap, as a medium for artwork has never been explored in Malaysia. Banana sap is used in other countries such as Indonesia as textile dying and Latin America as Medicinal uses. Banana sap from some parts of the tree contains pigment and dyes, thus not aware of this potential medium is a waste. This material is biodegradable and this research is conducted to test the potential of banana sap as a pigment and dye to be used as an alternative natural ink. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The researchers wish to extend their most sincere appreciation to the following people who helped make this research. They are the people who helped and contributed for the success of this endeavor. To God, for his gift of wisdom and understanding, and for answering our prayers in their times of need. To their Science teacher, Ms. Avrylle Corpuz for teaching the researchers the fundamental of research and investigatory writing and for showing a great deal of patience though at times the researchers tends to be naughty and wild. To their parents and family members, for the unending love and support that they gave. To the observer/respondents, for their integrity and cooperation. And lastly, to all those who were a part of this work, they thanked themselves for being cooperative and hardworking throughout the investigatory project. INTRODUCTION Background of the Study A banana is an edible fruit produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants of the genus Musa. (In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called plantains.) The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind which may be green, yellow, red, purple, or brown when ripe. The fruits grow in clusters hanging from the top of the plant. Along with this edible fruit is saps: extremely sticky and can be used as a practical adhesive. Sap can be obtained from either the pseudostem, the fruit peelings, or from the flesh. Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink nowadays, are used by many people around the world. Nowadays, ink is getting much more expensive. An average of 22$ (880pesos) per quarter ounce. Ink is mostly made out of comprising solvents, pigments, dyes, resins, lubricants, solubilizers, surfactants,  particulate matter, and fluorescers. Thus the experiment is all about recycling banana saps and making ink more affordable. There have been many experiments ahead of this. Others have tried using berries beet juice, orange, and many other more. But, these fruits that are used, needs the juice, skin, and the likes. The researchers chose banana because they are using not the fruit itself but the saps. Also, most fruits that are used for the making of the ink. The researchers think that this will help them attain a better quality of life because it will cut down the prices of ink. All these set aside the question on everyone’s mind is: Will this natural ink be as effective as the ink people are using today? Statement of the Problem This study determines the effect and practicality of banana sap in making a natural ink. The banana stalk, where the researchers got the banana sap, was biodegradable. It specifically seeks to answer the following question: 1. Will the product really work as an alternative natural ink? 2. Is the natural ink from the banana sap better than the commercial inks? 3. Does the natural ink from the banana sap require a preservative? Significance of the Study Nature can provide for everyday needs such as writing ink. Traditional ink sources include flower petals and tree bark, and though fruit sources are less traditional, they also make for useful ink. Berries and cherries, with their high juice content, are ideal for ink making. Unlike other juicy fruits such as watermelons, citrus fruits or peaches, berry and cherry juice are dark enough to show on writing paper. On this study, the researchers chose a banana sap as an alternative natural ink so that they will be able to know and discover other natural alternative inks aside from berries, which is commonly used. Scope and Limitation The study of comparing banana sap as a natural ink to a commercial ink is limited only on the use of banana sap, dye and commercial ink. For the  study, the researchers just emptied the unused pens or pens that won’t function well. The researchers were also careful in doing this because ink might be harmful if swallowed and it may irritate the eyes. The group will only use banana sap with powdered dye (diluted with water) and an empty invisible pen to perform the study. The researchers will not use any other substance or chemicals as enhancer to the natural ink. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE Musa Ãâ€" Paradisiaca and Its Pseudostems Bananas (Musa Ãâ€" Paradisiaca) are native to tropical Southeast Asia, but have long been cultivated in many countries from Asia to Europe for its fruit and to a lesser extent for its fiber. Banana is commonly mistaken as a tree but it is actually a large perennial flowering herb with leaf sheaths that form trunk-like pseudostems that grows from a corm. Banana can grow up to 7 meters in height that has about 8 – 12 spirally arranged leaves that are up to 2.7 meters long and 0.6 meter wide. Banana sap is among the most sticky and stubborn substances on earth. You will never get it off your clothes, some people say. Banana sap is extremely sticky and can be used as a practical adhesive. Sap can be obtained from the pseudostem, from the fruit peelings, or from the fruit flesh. Banana Sap as Dye for Fabrics Banana sap is used as a medium to dye fabrics in Indonesia and Philippines. The color of banana sap is brownish and it’s substance on the fabrics well. Dried banana peel contains 30 to 40% tannin content; it’s used to blacken leather. The ash from the dried peel of bananas and plantains is rich in potash and used for making soap. While that of the burned peel of unripe fruits of certain varieties is used for dyeing. In the Philippines, the Pinatubo Negritos cut off a banana plant close to the ground, make a hollow in the top of the stump, which then fills with watery sap is drank as an emergency thirst quencher. Central Americans obtain the sap of the red banana in the same manner and take it as an aphrodisiac. Making Berry Inks (Huckleberry, Raspberry, Blackberry and Pokeberry) Ink  making is a wonderful way to use up some of the berries that you can forage for outdoors or grow in your garden. With a berry ink, you can do wonderful water washes, use a dip pen and write great letters, or use it for various drawings and sketches. You can also use your ink for spiritual journaling or magical work. Having an ink you’ve made yourself allows you to be creative while making use of sustainable materials that are locally harvestable. Berries should be ripe (never under-ripe) or slightly over-ripe. Berries that have a nice dark stain when you cut it open are effective. Berry inks are going to be a little more watery and lighter than a traditional synthetic or processed ink. Banana Sap in Medicine All parts of the banana plant have medicinal applications because banana sap has the properties of antifungal and antibiotic. Found in the peel and pulp of fully ripe bananas, the antibiotic acts against Mycobacteria .The inside of the peel has anti-septic properties as it can be wrapped directly around wounds or cuts in an emergency. The flowers of banana can be used for treatment in bronchitis and dysentery and on ulcers; cooked flowers are given to diabetics; the astringent plant sap in cases of hysteria, epilepsy, leprosy, fevers, hemorrhages and acute dysentery, however it is also applied on hemorrhoids insect and other stings and bites; young leaves are placed as poultices on burns and other skin afflictions; the astringent ashes of the unripe peel and leaves are taken in dysentery and diarrhea and used for treating malignant ulcers. The roots are administered in digestive dysentery and other ailments; banana seed mucilage is given in cases of catarrh and diarrhea in India. Banana sap is also used to reduce high blood pressure; serotonin inhibits gastric secretion and stimulates the smooth muscle of the intestines. Alleged hallucinogenic effects of the smoke of burning banana peel have been investigated scientifically and have not been confirmed. Charcoal Briquettes from Banana Peels These days there is increased pressure on forests as people cut trees for firewood and other purposes in the last 30 years, for example, Uganda has lost half of her forest cover. Local people are being encouraged to adopt energy saving technologies that put less pressure on natural resources. One  example is the use of banana peelings, commonly referred to as banachakol (banana charcoal), to A woman from a group of community workers known as Bakyala Tweyune (â€Å"Women in self-help†), responsible to make the banachakol, and the production process for the briquettes. The technology that will save many trees is started in Lungujja near Kampala, where a woman named Namusoke Immaculate, the founder of Bakyala Tweyune women’s group, has innovated a new method of alternative fuel by turning banana peelings into charcoal briquettes. They just used one-half basin full of fresh banana peelings, a quarter basin of charcoal dust, and a quarter basin of fine sand. They chop the fresh banana peelings into small pieces. Once the banana peelings are chopped, and then mix the three ingredients together – the banana peelings, the charcoal dust and the sand. The demand of the banana briquettes will make people sort banana peelings from garbage in areas where they are thrown. Conceptual Framework This study primarily focused on the banana sap as an effective natural ink and to be able to compare the natural ink from commercial ink. The dependent variable is the banana sap while the independent variable is the powdered dye (diluted with water). In this study, the dependent variable is the banana sap (extract) because the researchers extracted it with their materials. The independent variable is the powdered dye because it is pre-manufactured. Hypothesis Banana sap is extremely sticky and it stains your clothes hideously and immediately. The natural ink from the banana sap will be effective but it will be a little more watery than a processed (commercial) ink and it won’t last long. The product is also natural so it will be removed easily. Definition of Terms Musa Ãâ€" paradisiaca – Banana; It is the common name for a fruit and also the herbaceous plants of the genus Musa which produce the commonly eaten fruit Pseudostem- It is a false stem made of the rolled bases of leaves. Mycobacteria- It is a bacterium of a group which includes the causative agents of leprosy and tuberculosis. Banachakol- It is a banana charcoal. Banana Sap- It is among the most sticky and stubborn substances on earth. You will never get it off your clothes. Tannin- It is a yellowish or brownish bitter-tasting organic substance present in some galls, barks, and other plant tissues, consisting of derivatives of gallic acid. Commercial Ink- Ink that has been used by people these days. Cloth Thread- It is a kind of thin yarn, thin fibers spun together, for textiles and sewing. Musa- It is one of three genera in the family Musaceae; it includes bananas and plantains. Ink- It is a colored fluid or paste used for writing, drawing, printing, or duplicating. Invisible pen- It features invisible ink that can only be revealed using the UV black light in the cap. Rinsable- Capable of being rinsed. METHODOLOGY Materials The materials that were used in this study were the banana sap from the banana stalk, container, cloth thread, a casserole, wooden stick that will be used for pounding, powdered dye, water and an empty invisible pen. Collection A medium sized banana stalk was collected from one of the researcher’s backyard. The empty invisible pen was collected from one of the researchers’ house. The container, cloth thread, casserole and the wooden stick were collected from one of the researchers’ kitchen. Procedure A. Measurement of the Materials Needed Four (4) table spoons of powdered dye (diluted with water), one (1) invisible pen, and the extract of a medium sized banana stalk. B. Preparation of the set-up Four (4) set ups were prepared; set-up one (1) was made up of the preparation and production for the banana sap, set-up (2) was made up for the preparation of the powdered dye, set-up three (3) was made up of the preparation of the empty invisible pen and set-up four (4) was made up of the mixture of the banana sap and the diluted powdered dye. C. Preparation of the Mixture The banana sap and the diluted powdered dye were mixed in container, boiled and put inside the invisible pen. D. Disposal The non- biodegradable and biodegradable materials that were used were segregated. Methodology Flow Chart Preparation of the Materials Needed Getting the Banana Sap (extract) from the Banana Stalk Preparation of the Dye (Diluted with Water) Mixture of the Banana Sap and Dye Observation of the Finished Product Disposal of Used Materials Evaluation and Comparison from a Commercial Ink The table shows the inks’ effect when used to write on paper. For the natural ink, the researchers chose a black dye (diluted with water) then, mixed with the banana sap extract. From the researchers’ observations and comparisons, the natural ink is more pale in color compared to the commercial ink. From the data above, it clearly states the effectiveness of the natural ink. The researchers chose the banana sap as a mixture with the dye because the its extract is sticky and it stains clothing. Lastly, there are no significant effect to the skin of the researchers who mixed and the banana sap and dye which may be interpreted as allergy or irritation. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions Based from the results gathered in the experiments, the researchers conclude that using Banana sap (Musa Ãâ€" Paradisiaca), in the form of a decoction, is an effective alternative natural ink. Banana saps are free and the other materials needed in making the decoction can be easily found in any household. Furthermore, the researchers conclude that the banana sap is environment friendly because it is organic and safe to use for humans because there are no side effects in using it aside from the stickiness of it and it might stain their clothing. Compared to the commercial ink, the natural ink is a little watery and it’s easier to wash off your hands. Recommendations Based from the drawn conclusions, the researchers further recommend the following: a. Conduct more experiment using varied conditions and method of preparation. b. Use different sub-specie of banana tree. c. Use applications on different types of paper as ink. d. Use or add other sticky substances. e. Conduct an experiment on a longer span of time. Bibliography Mimosa Pudica and Its Pseudostems Landmeier, P., Plants of Eastern Guatemala, December 16, 2012 www.medicalhealthguide.com, What Is Banana, 2011 Banana Sap as Dye for Fabric Ahmad, H., ALTERNATIVE MEDIUM FOR ARTWORKS, October 2007 Making Berry Inks Willowcrow, Making Berry Inks (Huckleberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Pokeberry, Etc.), August 29, 2012

Autobiographical story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Autobiographical story - Essay Example The conversations go on with more lies and chest thumping with juvenile descriptions of their dreams and fantasies. I was always the quite one in my clique. I shared my room with my younger brother and could not even mount pictures of my favorite female celebrities. I remember getting an old copy of Playboy from one of the boys in the group. It was difficult hiding it. I perused through the pages and before my brother or nosy sister could coming knocking on the door, I had tossed it out of the window. Fortunately, we lived in a flat, and no one could easily trace the trash to my room the following day. I remained aloof most of the time watching cartoon with my brother. I fitted the group simply because I had a beautiful older sister that most boys in the school admired. A perfect opportunity presented itself two days before my seventeenth birthday. The class had taken a trip out of the city to a zoo. Talks about girl and alcohol had beginning taking their toll on me. Every time we sat or met at the group, Tony, who claimed most of the experience, would introduce a topic charismatically. The topic would easily degenerate into a detailed description of his sex escapades and how much the girls loved him. I would look on fantasizing and wishing I were the one. From the groups, I would spend most of my time in bed or the bathroom ruminating and reliving Tony’s vivid description. I longed for the day I would remain alone with my dream girl. The trip to the zoo out of the city was that perfect opportunity. Tony suggested that we needed to contribute about one hundred and twenty dollars with which to buy refreshments. From the grim on his face, it was obvious what he meant. I was among the first boys in the group to contribute. I even contributed fo r some of my friends who could have otherwise either taken longer or hoped out of the plan. On the bus, I luckily sat next to Lucie, the most beautiful

Advertising Campaign of McDonalds Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Advertising Campaign of McDonalds - Case Study Example and social issues.First of all, there was a rapid upsurge of public interest to the healthy lifestyle,and together with this tendency there was one more - McDonald's was gradually becoming a symbol of unhealthy eating that causes problems with health and obesity.At the end of the XXth century, Atkin's Diet gained a great amount of adherents,and it also affected the reputation of the fast-food giant, as people were becoming increasingly more concerned as for the volume of fat and carbohydrates,and in number of calories in their everyday meals, and surely, Big Macs, hamburgers,soft drinks with lots of sugar and French fries proved to be 'champions' as far as the content of 'bad' calories was concerned.Though the companies that were competing with McDonald's could not boast to serve healthier food, yet because McDonald's was the most popular chain of fast food restaurants,it played a trick on the company making it a 'collective' symbol embodying all the negative sides of eating junk. It cannot be overlooked that with the world's businesses becoming global and the emergence of various anti-global movements that blame multinational corporations for exploiting people and affecting the economy of the developing countries, McDonald's has also become a symbol of 'the world's corporate evil' that attempts to 'catch' the entire planet into its 'vicious net'. In 2002, the American president G.W. Bush started an anti-obesity campaign that included propagating healthy food among schoolchildren and their parents, and in the course of this campaign the direct connection between eating junk food and obesity was being pinpointed. As a result, there was a significant decrease in the number of McDonald's customers, and many of its restaurants were closed. It was also stressed that there had been a decrease in the number of young people visiting McDonald's, and as soon as the company's analysts noticed that the ratio of teenagers and young people among their customers was decreasing, 'I'm lovin' it' advertising campaign was launched. Taking into account all the above said, this new advertising campaign was meant to enhance the image of McDonald's so that to deal with the crisis the company found itself in. In contrast to the 2001-2002 campaign that targeted mainly children and family audiences ('Happy Meal', Ronald McDonald, playgrounds for children, toys, balloons, birthday parties etc.), the new global task for McDonald's was to attract young people and teenagers. McDonald's advertising campaign whose slogan has become 'I'm lovin' it' was launched in 2003, and proved to be a significant breakthrough as far as the company's branding is concerned. This slogan

Key Areas of Management Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Key Areas of Management Practices - Essay Example This paper discusses that unhealthy diet, lack of gender sensitivity and cultural unawareness constitute the significant challenges in the prisons. Various task force reports indicate that they lack essential practices including managing diversity and different age groups, ethical principles, planning and resource allocation. Hence, prisons should incorporate the key areas of governance, good leadership, proper planning, stakeholder analysis, performance measurement, improvement, and resource management.As the paper highlights competent management of the institutions requires incorporation of sound governance principles. Governance entails the broad areas of recognizing the special needs stakeholders and employees of an organization. In the context of prison and other institutions, the governance encompasses awareness of the special needs of the various categories of the inmates including the young, aged and women. The elderly inmates need special care regarding the health and physic al capability. Therefore, the facilities should assess and identify the ailments, for instance, persons with acute memory impairment. A comprehensive governance approach responds by formulating special care that respects the inmates’ status. Besides, the elderly persons require extra equipment like the new attires for hygiene purposes. Good governance of the prisons incorporates the appreciation of the gender differences and perceptions.  

Group Effectiveness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Group Effectiveness - Essay Example Having said this, this part of the paper is aim at finding and assessing group effectiveness in the work place. standards of those using the output; Capability to work interdependently: the degree to which the group's members are able to work together in the future; and growth and well-being of members: the degree to which the experience of being in the group enhanced the individual members through the common goal (Hackman, 1990). Thus group effectiveness refers to the work quality of a work group. This will be illustrated using ASDA an international retail company with headquarters in the States. According to the work group model developed by Hackman (1990), the group that performs its assigned task well but is not able to work together in the future is not a truly effective group. ASDA is WALMART in the United Kingdom. At the stores, employees are defined within the roles they occupy and by departmental functions all working for a common goal. These group members, though working as a group are able to work independently in the absence of a group member. While, groups in ASDA are defined within various functions (e.g., Stocking group, cash department group, teller functions, security group etc) these are all indicative of the effectiveness of the various groups. Group effectiveness at ASDA supermarket, is further identified through a collective sense of "We" feelings amongst the group members. Thus at ASDA the life of a group and it members must be accounted for in determining the effectiveness of the group. This again can be seen from the common a shared common goal. For ex ample, ASDA UK sales have increased in the past two years. Again, return on assets and return on capital employed has also increased. Thus, based on Hackman (1990) argument that a group is effective once the output of the group is acceptable and satisfied those who consume it. 1.1.3 Assessing Group effectiveness at work Place According to Hackman (1998) review, group effectiveness can be assessed from different dimension. The researcher cited Hackett (1995) who illustrated the role of self-efficacy in career choice and development, she illustrates that self-efficacy plays a strong role in individual career choices. To assess the effectiveness of the group, attention should be paid at group commitment and output. At ASDA, employee's group effectivene

Virtual Classroom Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Virtual Classroom - Research Paper Example In modern classrooms, learning has become extremely sophisticated due to implementation of technology in learning. Ideally, almost every aspect of learning has been virtualized. Libraries have been made electronic and traditional libraries only used rarely for rigorous research only. Teacher-student communication has shifted from physical to virtual. Many learning institutions have embraced virtual learning through online modules. The library thesis will consist of the selected topic, review of the literature, a hypothesis will be developed, the variable will be defined, participants will be discussed, measurement instruments will be selected, and data will be collected and analyzed. The results will be interpreted. At the end of this research paper, recommendations regarding virtual classrooms will be provided. Virtual Classroom for Middle School There has been a lot of controversy on whether or not to adopt the system of virtual teaching in K-12 industry. Many factors have contribu ted to this unrelenting debate. In a bid to provide solutions to unequal access to education facilities, many proposals kept coming along. In America, public schools mainly get funds from property tax. This factor makes schools in many developing and prominent neighborhoods benefit. The result is that schools in the rich neighborhood tend to perform better than the poor ones (Jarventaus, 2007). The poor and at-risk students are already struggling with other issues of life and therefore, being at the same level with others may be a mere dream. Certainly, education is the engine of mobility and therefore, embracing new technologies in learning seems to be the way forward in realizing mobility in the modern society. However, due to differences in societal issues affecting education, virtual learning comes in handy albeit with some challenges. In order to standardize learning, should virtual classrooms be adopted? Virtual classroom has both advantages and disadvantages if adopted in an institution. Traditional classroom methods will be compared to the virtual classroom method in hope of shedding more light into the debate on applicability of virtual classrooms especially at lower levels of learning. The question remains if the education system is going towards the right direction with the current technological advancement. Whereas it is possible for students at higher levels of learning to handle the challenges of virtual learning, implementation of virtual learning for grade schools remains a controversy. Therefore, a rigorous approach towards demystifying the controversy needs to be taken, at least to bring clarity into this controversial issue. What are the consequences of embracing virtual classroom technology in lower levels of learning? The controversy here lies on applicability of virtual classroom for students at lower levels of learning. The context of study in this case is in middle school level particularly students between sixth to eighth grade. Lookin g down the history, many can see a situation where learning had to take place in a teacher-student scenario. Learning changed tremendously when technology came up with many ingenious ways to communicate, access information, and disseminate knowledge to students (Cavanaugh, 2009). Seemingly, virtual classroom brought a lot of enthusiasm, as one method that would be time saving and less costly (Jarventaus, 2007

How the rise of China has hurt the US economy Research Paper

How the rise of China has hurt the US economy - Research Paper Example However, there are fears for the US economy that China’s economic growth may beset America’s economy. Over time, China has accumulated trillions of American dollars of currency reserves. Out of these reserves, about 800 billion US dollars are treasury bonds. This development is a culmination of escalating balance of trade surpluses that China has had with America, since China sells to the US much more than America can sell to China. In the course of this development, China has played the instrumental role of elbowing many American manufacturers out of business (Clark and Monk, 99-100) According to Liang, with the large stockpile of money mentioned above and the leverage this stockpile gives China, China is now threatening to dump the US treasury bonds and the American dollar on the market. The crux of the matter herein is that in the event that China executes this move, America’s currency will have been significantly devalued and the price of goods will skyrocket. This means that America’s economy will have been crippled. Although China has never made good this threat, yet the fact that it made this threat reveals its possibility. This situation has been gradually building up and it therefore continues to place America in a precarious position. This is because America has been producing less and has continued to increasingly survive on imports (Liang, 54). Mundell contends that a very strong way in which China’s growing economy continues to undermine America’s economy is by blocking US’ exports. What informs this decision by China is the fact that the People’s Republic of China reserves the largest part of its market strictly for state-owned businesses. The Beijing Administration demands that state-owned organizations have dominance domestic markets in railways, coal, telecom and other areas of key strategic interests. This means that these firms are immune from

Crusading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Crusading - Essay Example Thus, the crusade indulgence initially was identical to that ensured by the pilgrimage to the Holy places. The Crusades, which meant fighting for the defence of Christians, came to be considered as a work of piety. Political and military success was of little importance. Pope Urban II solemnly proclaimed the first crusade at the council of Clermont on 27th Nov. 1095 with a double objective, namely to relieve the pressure of the Seljuk Turks on the Eastern Empire and to secure free access to Jerusalem for pilgrims since the latter were abused and robbed by the Moslems and Arabs. He promised full remission of sins to all joining in the expedition. This call was in response to Alexius I call for help (Alexius Byzantine emperor - Byzantine Empire under attack from the Turks). This crusade was the most successful from the military point from the military point. The historian Raymond Agiles describing the capture of Jerusalem by the crusaders in 1099 wrote ''that some of our men cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. However, these were small matters compared to what happened at the temple of Solomon, a place where religious services were ordinarily chanted. What happened there If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much at least, that in the temple and portico of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.''1 The Crusades took on a new meaning later on. It became a military expedition and no longer a pilgrimage of unarmed pilgrims. The Church moved away from the sole aim of the crusades which was the liberation of the Holy Land from the invasion of the Turks and it began using the Crusades to serve the church's own interest. Preaching of crusades became a device used by the church against the enemy states of the church. Personal enemies of the churches high-powered officials were sent on pilgrimages with the hope that you do not come back however, the means by which your death is brought about. The crusades increased the powers of European kings in that a number of barons who had given them trouble were sent to the east. Holy wars were authorised by the Popes in defence of the Christendom and the church. The crusades were used to defend the church against the infidels in the East, Germany and Spain, against heretics (Albigenses) and schematics who threatened catholic unity and against Christian lay powers who opposed the papacy. They were also used to defend the Papal States. The crusades started with a religious reason but it deteriorated to selfish reasons. These could be attributed to many reasons. The Papal States had to protect its territories from invasion by other states so it used the crusades as a papal military defence operation to defend these territories and the

Iraq War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Iraq War - Essay Example It has also deepened the Federal Debt and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands. There is no winning this war just a matter of how badly people and America’s credibility on the world will be hurt which is proportionate to how long it lasts. Those who believe or argue that the U.S. strategy is finally working after five years fail to realize or admit that the ‘surge’ has only served to secure part of one city in Iraq and that 2007 was the deadliest year for U.S. soldiers. In addition, More than 12,000 Iraqi citizens were killed in 2007, â€Å"and thats not including combat deaths or those killed in sectarian violence† (Bedard, 2008). Most Americans now agree with what the rest of the world has known all along, that the invasion of Iraq was not in the best interest of western-Arab relations and was unquestionably illegal as defined by the International Court of Justice and the UN, the two most preeminent legal bodies on the globe. At best, the information provided to Bush was faulty, at worst his justification for war was based purely on fabrications. The alleged link between the terrorist group Al Qaeda and Iraq was referenced before the war and became the primary excuse of the Bush administration fo llowing the lack of weapons evidence. This flawed justification has since been proven to be untrue as well. However, because of the occupation of Iraq, the international terrorist organization Al Qaeda has grown in number, increased attacks worldwide and has infiltrated the borders of Iraq. According to the prophetic words of a current world leader, â€Å"If we don’t stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we’re going to have a serious problem,† George W. Bush, Jan. 2000 (â€Å"Vice President†, 2000). The instances of misused military power over the past half century have escalated in the past 15 years which has caused an ever-widening credibility

Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Cultural Identity Essay Example for Free

Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Cultural Identity Essay I grew up in a country whose native language is not English. But I grew up learning the English language nevertheless. In my home, we had access to English shows which I was constantly exposed to at a very young age. This is the reason why I learned English without much conscious effort. The language learning was taking place within the sub-conscious, which is the best way to learn any language: constant exposure at a very young age. Mei-Yu (1998, paragraph 2) once said that in the acquisition of oral language, â€Å"young children are active agents†, constantly refining and defining the inputs that they get from their surroundings in way that makes sense to them. Children create hypotheses about language rules, constantly filtering them through active engagement with the more competent language users in their immediate environment. Unconsciously, they learn to recognize contexts and begin acquiring fine discrimination in their use of a language. Looking back, I guess the constant exposure to the English language is the reason why I grew up knowing how to use it. There was never a conscious effort on my part to use or learn English, because it was already ingrained in my person. The people in my household knew English and spoke it on many occasions. I also had access to English books which strengthened my phonological awareness or sound-symbol relationships. This happened side by side while I was learning my mother language as well. As a child with a facility for the English language, I was subject to an excess of attention that I would not have received otherwise, had I just spoken our native tongue and nothing else. There is a prestige attached to the English language that makes people in my country take a second look and listen closely to what I have to say. They also make speculations as to whether my family is reach and if I grew up in the United States or have been travelling there on a regular basis. Such is the high stature of the English language in my country that if you speak it well enough, most people that you are rich or your family is. Growing up, my situation as a multi-lingual was even more fascinating. Perhaps it was because as I grew older, I became more aware of people’s actuations, and I am also more able to discern their motivations for why they act the way they do towards me. In my country there is a fascination for the English language because there is a fascination for the country. My people look at the United States as magical place where dreams come true, and life is generally better. To them, it seems like those who can speak the English language have greater chances of going to the United States as well. This general notion extends in every situation. That is why in every conversation where my ability to speak the English language is displayed, people seem to treat me better and pay me more attention. Sometimes, in order to avoid embarrassment, I hide my fluency in English when interacting with my community. Clearly, there is an overt favor towards those who speak the language, as if we are better than the rest of the local people. This is consistently true in all areas of endeavors, from school to social, to professional career. It is a sad situation, but true nevertheless, and I used my fluency in English and strive to make more of myself, in order to meet society’s expectations. Sometimes it can be difficult, trying to rise up to expectations, but I felt that it was my duty to do so, especially for those who sincerely believed that I could. The situation changed when I moved to the United States. If you are multi-lingual, you are regarded as ethnic, especially if your pronunciation has a very thick and recognizable accent. You will be subject to stereotyping, and in some cases, be even regarded as second class citizens. While I am not saying that everyone will react negatively to your accent or your use of your mother language, it is a reality that there are some people who will take it against you. If there is any field that multilingualism is always an advantage, and that is in the corporate world. This is especially true in the age of globalism, where most companies deal with overseas transactions. Being multilingual means that I can communicate with my colleagues, and at the same time be able to communicate with a client or supplier who speaks my mother tongue, but nothing else. Thus, I am able to bridge the communication gap and make sure that there will be no misunderstandings and conflict later on because of the language barrier. Actually, upon deeper reflection, I realize that people do not react to your multilingualism as much as they are reacting to the accent or how you speak the English language. The lesser your accent, the better people regard you. And this is true regardless or what place you are in. What we speak and how we speak, speak about our history as an individual. How we speak makes a statement towards who we are as a person. And people, for better or for worse, react to that. In an era of increasing globalization, more and more people want to learn English to make themselves more marketable and competitive. However, the value of the mother tongue should never be forgotten. Our mother language keeps our identity intact and sets us apart from the rest. Knowing English is the ship that will help us to get where we want to go, but it is our mother tongue that will be our anchor; the one that will help us find our way should we get lost. Reference Lu, Mei-Yu. (1998). Language Learning in Social and Cultural Contexts. ERIC Digest. Retrieved: April 14, 2007 from http://www. ericdigests. org/1999-2/language. htm

The Traditional Tok Diagram Essay Example for Free

The Traditional Tok Diagram Essay The traditional TOK diagram indicates four ways of knowing. Propose the inclusion of a fifth way of knowing selected from intuition, memory or imagination, and explore the knowledge issues it may raise in two areas of knowledge. Our whole life is a continuous process of gaining information. This information is our basic knowledge about the world. It is coming in different forms, from different sources. And it is vitally important to store this information, in order to understand your own present. That is why I think people have a memory. My personal interpretation of memory is similar to a log-book. My experience is the notes I am writing in my life journey. Like memories, many of notes will eventually vanish, other will stay forever. But, is it possible for memory to function as a way of knowing (WOK)? Can I use my memory to gain knowledge about something? In TOK, I used to think that we cannot gain knowledge through memory, as it depended on WOKs as a source of knowledge. Memory is interpreted as storage for the gained knowledge and experience. However, is possible for WOKs themselves be depended on memory? My life, views and tastes are result of my past experience. So, it can be said that our reasoning is coming from analysis of previous experience and memory. In this essay, I will exploit reliability of memory as way of knowing and issues it may rise in areas of knowledge (AOK). We are living in building up our memory. It changes and vanishes like paintings. My first issues about memory were consisted in area of art. I thought how I our knowledge of the past influencing view on art? In the past, Shakespeare wasn’t famous in England. Only after decades his name became known to whole England, and now, he is standing among the greatest writers of all time. Same thing with me, I remember how I read Shakespeare poem once and I didn’t know who he was. It meant I didn’t have knowledge about him, so when I read it I didn’t like it that much. I thought it was too simple. However, when I studied about his past, his works and poems in school, my opinion about him changed. I updated my memory, thus knowledge about him and it changed my perspectives about his writing. Now when I see one of his poems, I automatically make a reason about this poem as a good piece of work before actually reading poem itself. So, can it be considered that memory is central WOK in art? What kind of connection between WOKs and memory? For example perception, e.g. seeing by itself is nothing than just lighting is interacting with eye. Use of memory helps to verify these â€Å"pictures† and classify them. Thus, our experience of the past helping us to understand the present. But, can we use memory as source of knowledge? For example, sculpture or drawing in art. Painter should have some information about an object that he wants to draw, as for making sculpture you need to memorize body forms. From all WOKs, reason is mostly depended on memory, as we can’t make decisions without using our past memory. Here is another issue arising. How somebody can propose knowledge claims without using a memory? Can I make a logically correct reason without using previous information that already stored in my head? This is a tricky part about memory being a WOK. It is assumed that memory is depended on other WOKs and knowledge stored in memory gained by traditional WOKs, e.g. perception. However, use of these four WOKs imply help of memory, we always use our previous experience in understanding present. Memory is connecting new knowledge to information from our past experience, so items are stored in relation to each other and their meaning coming from the knowledge which they are associated with. This is why for instance thinking about ocean, fish, danger and blood automatically pops shark into my conscious mind. Better example for that claim will be Gestalt Theory. It is based on pictures of different shapes which are forming different elements or things. Whole process is depended on point of your personal view, mainly memory that will trigger from seeing those forms. Famous example of this theory will picture of young lady and old woman. Both of images are correct, but knowledge we get from these shapes are different. It shows significance of using of memory. We see different relations to our memory, thus different pictures. Brain is not interested in storing exact copies, it interested in storing information and it distils and organizes this information for future use. We continually update information in circles. But, sometimes it creates bags in our brain. Example for that will be testimony; there is a lot of evidence of false decisions in courts. Memory influenced by our eyewitness and WOKs is giving us incorrect information. By now, I assumed memory as a depended element of gaining knowledge. But, can role of memory be considered as independent source of knowledge, while other WOKs are depending on it? Consider this knowledge claim. Good example for that can be shown in Human science area. Specifically in performance of football player on TV program called â€Å"Tested to the limit†. This player was tested in four categories: body strength, mental ability, technique and skill. In mental ability category, the coach was asked to give a corner kick to the player. However, as soon as the coach’s foot touched the ball, the lights went out. Player had to stroke in darkness. So, in TOK terms it meant that football player should use only his experience in order to make a reason of the ball flight and succeed. His basic sources of knowledge like perception and language were eliminated. Thus, his memory played a key factor. However, I questioned myself â€Å"How football player can use his memory to reason without any precondition for using his past experience?† Memory wasn’t his initial source of knowledge. In the beginning, perception was used e.g. he saw how ball was kicked. Reading the body language and subconscious analyze of the ball flight is a result of memory which was triggered by perception. It shows how closely WOKs are interacting with memory. Although, it wasn’t initial knowledge, memory took role of basic source of knowledge. Reason was fully depended on memory experience, and produced as result of memory process. Football player succeeded, his subconscious ability has come from thousands of practice hours which filled his mind with so many permutations of game to tap in to. It is a same as you studying another subject, like learning a new language. You are basically building up experience, learning basic rules of grammar and vocabulary. Thus as you become more fluent in a language, you don’t think about it as much. Same with football player, his vast experience gives him inability to intuitively read the game. I could say memory and experience his main weapons in football. To conclude my essay, it is important to evaluate position of memory in theory of knowledge. As I said before, memory is very tricky concept, it is hard to tell, are the WOKs depended on memory or reverse. In my opinion memory is not a WOK. However it is already included in each of traditional WOKs, as it is playing role of connecting bridge between them. Memory is overlaid on top of each other. So, things you learnt make past information you remembered look little bit different. Our memory explains knowledge we gain and relates it to our experience. Role of memory is vital, but its power stored in its ability to be storage of our knowledge and experience, because these elements are base of our life.

The Benefits Of Strategic Planning Business Essay

The Benefits Of Strategic Planning Business Essay Formal strategic planning is affected by the macro-environment and this is the highest level layer in the framework, this consists of a wide range of environmental factors that impact to some extent on almost all organisations. The PESTEL framework can be used to identify how future trends in the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environment and Legal environments might affect an organisation. Pestel analysis provides the broad date from which key drivers to change can be identified. By using these key drivers organisations can envision scenarios for the future. Scenarios can be used to help organisations decide if change needs to happen depending on the different ways in which the business environment may change. It is important for managers to analyse these factors in the present and how they are likely to change in the future. By analysing these, managers will be able to draw out implications for the organisation. Pestel factors are sometimes linked together i.e. technological factors can impact on economic factors. It is necessary to identify the key drivers of change these are environmental factors that are likely to have a high impact on the success or failure of the strategy. Key drivers vary by industry i.e. Primark may be concerned by social changes that can change customer tastes and behaviours. The critical issues are the implications that are drawn from the understanding in guiding strategic decisions and choices. The next stage is drawn from the environmental analysis specifically strategic opportunities and threats for the organisation. Having the ability to identify these opportunities and threats is extremely valuable when thinking about strategic choices for the future. Opportunities and threats form one half of the SWOT analysis that shapes a companys formulation. The use of SWOT analysis can help summarise the key issues from the business environment and the strategic capability of an organisation that are most likely to impact on strategy development. Once the key issues have been identified an organisation can then assess if it is capable to deal with the changes taking place within the business environment. If the strategic capability is to be understood the business must remember that it is not absolute but relative to its competitors. SWOT analysis is only useful if it is comparative, that is it examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis should help focus discussion on the future choices and to what extent an organisation is capable of supporting these strategies. SWOT analysis should not be used a substitute for more in-depth analysis. In responding strategically to the environment the goal is to reduce identified threats and take advantages of the best opportunities. Peter Drucker (1954), discussing the importance of business policy and strategic planning in his book The Practice of Management says we cannot be content with plans for a future that we can foresee. We must prepare for all possible and a good many impossible contingencies. We must have a workable solution for anything that may come up. By taking advantage of the strategic gap (which is an opportunity in the competitive environment that has not been fully exploited by competitors) organisations can manage threats and opportunities. Core competencies are a set of linked business processes that deliver superior value to the customer, when these are combined they create strategic value and can lead to competitive advantage. By using Porters five forces analysis which is a framework for organisations to analyse industry and business strategy, they can draw upon the five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Three of Porters five forces refer to competition from external sources and the other two are internal threats. This analysis is just one part of the complete Porter strategic model the others include the value chain (VC) and the generic strategies. According to Porter (2008) the job of a strategist is too understand and cope with competition; however managers define competition too narrowly as if it has occurred only among today direct competitors. Competition goes beyond profits to include competitive forces such as customers, suppliers, potential entrants and substitute products; the extended rivalry that results from all five forces defines an industrys structure and shapes the nature of competition within an industry. For example Apple are good at technology and innovation therefore they can take the opportunities that give them competitive advantage and makes them leaders compared to Samsung or Nokia. Porters says there are 5 forces that shape the competition: Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of customers powerful customers usually bargain for better services which involve cost and investment Bargaining power of suppliers may determine the cost of raw materials and other inputs effecting profitability Rivalry among competitors competition influences the pricing and other costs like advertising etc. Threats from substitutes where-ever substantial investments in RD is taking place, the threat of substitutes is large. It also affects profitability. Competitive advantage is the heart of strategy and for the strategy to succeed the organisation should have relevant competitive advantage. We can see an example of this with Toshiba who operate in electrical goods, through a flexible manufacturing system it manufactures different products / varieties of some products on the same assembly lines. At Ohme it assembles nine varieties of computers on the same line and on the adjacent line it assembles 20 varieties of lap top computers. It is able to switch from one product / variety to another instantly at low cost and makes profits on low volume runs too. This flexibility of Toshiba to respond quickly and easily to the fast changing market demand is definitely one of its competitive advantages. Whereas its competitors make profits only through long volume runs of a particular model. However, there are a lot of companies who are choosing not to invest due to the recession; however Lidl and Aldi are taking advantage of supplying cheaper products giving them competitive advantage over say Waitrose. Benefits of Strategic Planning Effective strategic planning can positively improve the performance of an organisation and give them the ability to serve more clients, access additional resources or enhance the quality of service/product. It can also offer solutions to major organisational issues or challenges and gives stakeholders of the organisation an opportunity to develop harmonic solutions to long-term issues/challenges that have been affecting the organisation. Furthermore it allows for forward thinking, allowing an organisation the opportunity to pause and revisit the mission and create long-term vision. It allows clear future direction allowing stakeholders to look to the future, plan and respond to changes. Evaluation One of the major drawbacks of formal strategic planning is the uncertain dynamic environment, things change constantly and everything becomes shorter. The recession at the present time is making everything unpredictable and this is not good for strategic planning. According to Mintzberg (1994) strategic planning should be used to devise and implement the competitiveness of each business unit. Scientific management was pioneered by Fredrick Taylor (1856-1915) and involved separating thinking from doing and thus creating a new function staffed by specialists. Planning systems were expected to produce the best strategies as well as step by step instructions on how to achieve this, but this never worked well. According to Mintzberg strategic planning is not strategic thinking, the most successful strategies are visions, not plans. When an organisation can differentiate between planning and strategic thinking they can then get back to what the strategy making process should be. Once a manger has the ability to learn from all sources around him, including personal experiences and market research and can integrate this into a vision of the direction that the business can then pursue. Mintzberg suggests that strategic planning is a misconception and rests upon three unsound arguments: that prediction is possible, thats strategists can be detached from the subjects of their strategies, and that the strategy-making process can be formalised. Strategic thinkers can apply lessons learned from Mintzberg (1994) three inherent fallacies of traditional planning: The Fallacy of Prediction is the assumption that we can actually control events through a formalised process that involves people engaged in creative or even routine work and can manage to stay on the predicted course. You need more than hard facts you need the personal touch. People are not objective, they are complex. The Fallacy of Detachment is the assumption we can separate the planning from the doing, if the system does the thinking, then strategies must be detached from the tactics. Formulation from implementation, thinkers from doers. One objective is to make sure senior managers receive relevant information without having to immense themselves in the details. One fact is innovation has never been institutionalised and systems have never been able to reproduce the synthesis created by the entrepreneur or the ordinary strategist and probably never will. The Fallacy of Formulisation suggests that systems could certainly process more information, at least hard information. However they could never internalise it, comprehend it, and put it all together. Such control is more a dream that a reality. Reality tells us that anomalies, the fickle behaviour of humans and the limitations of analysis play a huge factor in the organisational outcomes and to disregard them is risky and could lead to incomplete planning. What are the limitations of strategic planning when things are changing rapidly? The limitations of formal strategic planning can be seen if the future is uncertain and the expectations divert from the plan. There could also be internal resistance to formal strategic planning due to factors including: Information flows, decision making and power relationships could be unsettled Current operating problems may drive out long-term planning efforts There are risks and fears of failure New demands will be placed on managers and staff Conflicts with the organisation are exposed Planning is expensive in time and money Planning is difficult and hard work The completed plan limits choices and activities for the organisation in the future CONCLUSIONS The question posed seems to be is strategic planning worthwhile. The answer to this lies within the organisation and is dependent upon size. It seems that the ability to learn and implement strategies contributes to the business performance of small or medium sized companies in a dynamic industry. Leadership is important and organisations today have to deal with dynamic and uncertain environments. To ensure success organisations must be strategically aware. They must understand how changes in their competitive environment are unfolding. They should constantly be on the lookout for new opportunities to exploit their strategic abilities, build on awareness and understanding of current strategies and successes. Organisations must be able to respond quickly in response to opportunities and threats. Organisations must compete effectively and out-perform their rivals in a dynamic environment; they must find suitable ways for creating and adding value for their customers. Overall they must be flexible. Organisations could think about changing their strategy to an emergent strategy which would allow them to adapt to new ideas and according to change. Emergent strategy implies that an organisation is learning what works in practice. An example of this is Groupon who provide daily deals in large cities and in return Groupon get a percentage of the deal usually 50% from the company providing the deal. The company is on track to make $500M in revenue this year and has raised its last round at a $1.35B valuation. Groupon is an example of an emergent strategy which has transformed several times. Organisations could think about downsizing production before closure as companies are killed due to an uncertain dynamic environment. In an article labelled The Real Value of Strategic Planning one manager said our planning process is like a primitive tribal ritual there is a lot of dancing, waving of feathers and beating of drums. No one is exactly sure why we do it, but there is an almost mystical hope that something good will come out of it. Another said, Its like the old Communist system: We pretend to make strategy and they pretend to follow it. Henry Mintzberg has gone so far as to label the phrase strategic planning an oxymoron. He notes that real strategy is made informally in hallway conversations, in working groups, and in quiet moments of reflection on long plane flights and rarely in the panelled conference rooms where formal planning meetings are held.

The Die Hard Trilogy: Mcclain An Example Of A Hero In America Essay

The Die Hard Trilogy: McClain An Example of A Hero In America "and he saved the day, got his girl and everyone lived happily ever after." Sweet, short, cut and dry, that was the typical ending of our childhood books and early movies. There was the perfect hero and the bad villain. That was in the pre-modern era, now our hero isn't always perfect and has his flaws. The hero in today's movies needs these flaws and needs to travel through a combination of paths to become a hero. In order to sell movies which decide who a hero is in today's society. A hero in today's society needs to admit that he needs help and isn't superman, he needs to have problems and prove that he doesn't belong up on a pedestal where his image is totally unattainable, third he needs to travel one of the paths of a hero according to Seger. Bruce Willis plays the character John McClain in the trilogy Die Hard, he is a good example of a hero in America today. In the third movie, McClain takes on a partner to help him fight a mad bomber. This is different from the movies from the past, James Bond or John Wayne never needed help. The partner he picks is a inner city black man, in the fifties this never would have happened. The fact that he picks a black man incorporates some multicultural aspects into the movie. The fact that he picks a partner shows some post modern aspects of Hollywood. Both of these facts help sell movies and help define a hero in America today. An...

A Comparison of the Monsters of Frankenstein, Bladerunner, and Star Tre

In the long history of the existence of fantasy literature, writers represent monsters as something opposite to the human being. The prior conflict of this genre is usually "man Vs monster." Several examples of science fiction seemingly portray antagonistic creatures yet they are depicted as being similar to humanity: the replicants in the film Bladerunner; the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; and the Borg in Star Trek. In each of these examples, the aforementioned "monster(s)" posses human-like characteristics (some, like the replicants in Bladerunner appear almost exactly human) yet are still "monsters," they are not quite human. Thus each of the human societies shuns and despises these creatures for what they are. The significance of the alignment of the monsters with ourselves is how the monsters are the personification of our ontology. The unconscious human mind is the content of what these works attempt to personify in the monster. As Donna Haraway said in he r "Cyborg Manifesto," "we are all chimeras." The curious thing is that the protagonists in some of the works actually portray monster-like characteristics--a role reversal between the monster and the hero of the work: "We have found the enemy and he is us." The analogy of the monsters is actually depicted in each of the work's respective humans' thoughts and deeds. This also shows the authors' portrayal of the monster-like and thus human-like characteristics of the human unconscious and the conscious mind. The role-reversal of an antagonistic monster and the human hero is never more blatant than in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In modern pop culture, the name of Frankenstein is often associated with the monster of the novel. Unkn... ...w much do our genes control how we will live our lives? Our dependence on machines is one popular theme in science fiction including Star Trek. The Borg are cyborgs--completely dependent on their mechanical components to survive. In modern society, how much do we depend on machines to survive? The Borg reflects several aspects of our own human society and human self. Donna Haraway says, "The cyborg is our ontology...The machine is us." Frankenstein's monster, the replicants, and Star Trek's Borg each is analogous to the monster within a subconscious or unrealized level within modern reality. The unconscious needs of modern technology, the uncertain amount of genetic programming within us, and the unknown about the human's unconscious mind are all objectives explored in the allegorical genre of science fiction as we explore the monster within.

The Nature of Swimming Essay -- Society Analysis

Competitive swimming is a sport full of juxtaposing ideologies and personal struggle with little camaraderie. The divergent sport is always evolving and pitting individuals alone against one another in a foreign environment. Likewise corporate employees day in and day out work alone building their nest egg until the day they can succeed and come out on top or retire. Competitive swimming symbolizes the struggle for many of the Americans ideologies within the framework of corporate America. In inequalities in the realm of competitive swimming mirror those of corporate America. Swimming like an overwhelming amount of corporations is dominated by wealthy white people. In the 2006, the last year the NCAA published data, whites were nearly 70 times more likely to be in division I swim teams than African-Americans. Even worse, a recent study confirmed that, â€Å"Fatal unintentional drowning rates for 5-14 year old African Americans were 3.2 times higher than that for whites.† The swimming disparity is not just one of race but economic class as the percentage of blacks in the is significantly lower than their overall percentage in the population. Swimming is much more expensive than basketball, football and track and thus facilities are frequently only available to the wealthy. Just as people are scared away from swimming they are scared away from corporate America supposing that they do not have enough training, their family did not have money and thus do not even at tempt to succeed. Swimming although it may seem relatively natural requires lots of training and resources to master that complicated strokes. As the coach said, â€Å"there are no natural swimmers†. Parents often have their children training to become professional swimmers often ... ...Wayne Humphrey, vice president of government relations for Central Florida YMCA said, "When you look into their eyes, you can see they believe they have a future. Their aspirations and their hope is grounded in their experience as swimmers, as people and as future leaders." Breaking barriers in swimming and incorporation incites images of freedom and hope that Americans desire. Despite the reality fettered by inequalities in access and arbitrary rules as long as Americans desire to succeed and value individuality competitive swimming and corporations will continue to grow. Works Cited http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=lapchick_richard&id=3417453, http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.answerbag.com%2Fq_view%2F34008%23ixzz182EDMI6i&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGR0A9-Oke0G2XfSA-83-_nwHDqeg, http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/34008#ixzz182EDMI6i

Social&Technology Analysis of Revlon

Issues that may impact the industry include consumers' concerns about product safety and the use of animal testing by cosmetics companies[1]. In 1990, cosmetics giant Revlon became one of the first industry heavyweights to swear off all animal testing. Since then, Revlon has grown to be an animal-friendly empire, garnering awards for its products from magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Teen People, Allure, and In Style[2]. That is a signal that Revlon has an awareness of social responsibility and also showed their concerns about natural environment. Besides, with the income increasing, modern people are more willing to purchase personal care products and cosmetics for themselves. The age range of consumers is developing to both younger and elder. These trends are obviously seen especially in some developing countries and areas. Since the majority of personal care products are currently sold in the United States, Japan, Canada, and European countries(less than 20%of worlds population), the potential for sales of personal care products around the world is excellent. Increasingly, cosmetics/personal care is not an industry for women only; men purchase personal care products such as skin creams and hair care products/dyes and many men are trying cosmetics in an effort to improve their appearance. The market for hair colouring has expanded with teenagers and adults wanting more vibrant colouring options[3]. Revlon also shows its social responsibility according to charities. There are the most recent examples which are significant. Through November 2008, Revlon donated a percentage of their profits to the Rainbow Trust children’s charity. Another one is announced in May of 2009. Revlon said it would donate 10% of sales (up to $100,000) of its new color collection to fund women`s cancer program in partnership with the EIF, which full name is Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Borders and Amazon Business Approach Essay

hound the history and core demarcation of from each one(prenominal) go with.Traditional take hold stores have been more than or less for ages. Evidently, public libraries and private stores like Barnes and Nobles, Waldenbooks, and of stage business line B parliamentary laws atomic number 18 often the main places where mass go to get or take over their books. Nowadays, with the rise of technology, umpteen more options atomic number 18 available to contributors. For instance, we now have the select to go online to look for volumes we might deficiency to read or buy thus, wizard of the leading companies captivating the attention of umpteen is virago which al integrity with Borders constituted devil of the conterminous to prolific book presidency in America.According to research, Borders started in as a sm any gived bookstall in Ann Arbor, Michigan by gobbler and Louis Borders who initially intended to help supplied academically the University of Michigan (Bor ders convocation Inc., 97). Over the years, after several movements and stores being opened, the corporation was acquired in 1992 by K-Mart which happened to avow the chain of Waldenbooks as well. Unfortunately, the relationship did non last keen-sighted because three years later Borders book became 100% publicly owned and nonetheless conducting business that appearance (Borders Group Inc., 97).Meanwhile, motivate by electronic commerce, virago which started in 1995 is considered the pioneer of online book selling (Press, 2004). being the first internet retailer securing one one thousand thousand guests, Amazon, kept on progressing as the years go by. It got into the music and characterisation business in 1998 and acquired several(prenominal) companies in England and Germany that same year started to sell toys, electronic overlyls, and hardw be in 1999 and finally, made some dough in 2001 (Press, 2004). 2- Compare and descent the circumspection approach each took to internet marting and sales. Most people would take for that a lodges discoverment or failure has a crapper to do with the way they conduct their business from top to bottom. For instance Henri Fayol, a managing managing director of a large steel club stated the following, The conquest of an enterprise broadly speaking depends much more on the administrative ability of its leaders than on their technical ability (Williams, 2010).In this regard, it is important to audition to understand the management approach of Borders and Amazon.com. The ruler surrounding Borders success is due to its root as an independent company focalization on strong educational values. basic and foremost, Borders target a wide and unload variety of books and titles appealing to real readers and buyers (Borders Group Inc., 97). In addition to the comfortable telescope allowing readers to enjoy their visit, its nodes would find actively marketed written document allowing them to everlastingly have an upgraded view of things. Secondly, the company shows its flexibility by trying to moderate its environment (Borders Group Inc., 97). For instance, the line upting of a store located near colleges may not be the same as that of an elderly neighborhood because of the concomitant that their interests are totally different. Lastly but not least, servicing the customer to the utmost has been the companys motto.Thus, being proactive and antiphonal propels Borders management to be very fortunate despite the companys earlier set back. On the otherwise hand, Amazon.com started its business online meaning their initial approach is to pass by everyone. Despite not being productive for more than v years, the company continue to invest in infrastructures. For instance, over $750 million were spent in state-of-the art corporal in order to handle many rude(a) distribution facilities systems in the join States with similar investment to come in Europe (Amazon.com inc., 2000). Evidently, this is an approach of spending notes in order to make more (Amazon.com inc., 2000). Also Amazon.com believes in personalizing its online stores to be entirely set to meet each customers need. With that in mind, each customer is able to create his or her own virtual store according to interests, and needs.As far as solving authentic problems like recommendation, the company uses the following algorithmic rule approach traditional collaborative filtering, lot models, and search-based methods (Linden, Smith, & York, 2003). 3- Analyze 3 reasons for Amazons success despite not play a profit for the first five to six (5-6) years. Successful companies often use similar strategy to captivate and manage their customers. Thus, major online companies like Amazon.com provide their clients the symbol of products and processs envision by many. Amazon.com trunk attractive despite the lack of profit for more than half of a decade. Its exploiter friendly web land site is one o f the reasons for such success where customers dont need to fuck off themselves up in order range their destination (Hogan, 2011).Furthermore, the search engine allows customers to cast their request accordingly and find what they are looking for quickly. Another reason for such success would be attributive to the salary system used by Amazon (Hogan, 2011). Users are enchanted to know that most form of electronic payments are judge on the companys site and can easily be cancel (Hogan, 2011). Being a thriving constitution may not easy however, with intelligent work ethic, great method, and dedication, it is hard not flourish dismantle in at presents economy. 4- Discuss 3 reasons Borders, although initially no-hit and profitable, ended up in Chapter 11.The current world economy has touch on many businesses. Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy rule would be viewed as a way for a company to restructure itself by having some kind of agreement with its creditors which is monitored by a court (Moran honor group, 2008). The serial publication of events cause the reorganization of Borders started back in 2001 when the company decided to enter a partnership with Amazon.com. In quest of an legal business online, Borders decided to allow its customers to purchase books from amazon.com which basically controlled everything (Norris, 2011). The relationship escalated internationally where Borders and disks teamed up this time with amazon.co.uk in 2004 (Norris, 2011). Unfortunately for Borders, Amazon had the control of both its customers and Borders (Norris, 2011). Therefore, there was no reason for Amazon to encourage or promote relationships for Borders.Also, the company despite having a free membership could not grapple with the like of Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com. Even tough, those other devil companies charged $25 and $79 for their respective(prenominal) memberships, customers felt that they were well taken sympathize with of and they could get whatev er they need on the contrary to Borders (Norris, 2011). Lastly but not least, Borders Sony reader was not well connected with the customers (Norris, 2011). The intimacy with its manufacturers was never in sink. Comparatively to the niche released in 2009 by Barnes and Nobles, the Sony reader has been near since 2006 with limited knowledge of the e-book business.That is the reason why, the tress did not look appealing to many (Norris, 2011). 5- Discuss the extent to which the management of each company admited to changing market conditions. Change may be highly challenging for any company in pursuit of prosperity. Evidently, management needs to be very proactive by considering all the factors or obstacles surrounding the existence of a business. Certain things like economic set backs, technological advancement, are inevitable. With the globalization of business, it is self-asserting for an organization to show its strength pertaining to adapting with new shipway of life.Resear ch states, The purpose of accommodative strategies is to choose an industry-level strategy that is best suit to changes in the organizations away environment (Williams, 2010). As far as Borders is concerned, its management team was not assemble for the 21st century. It took them too long to implant the online presence with Amazon.com which may not even make a difference considering the fact that Borders had no shot at twist relationship with its customers. The e-commerce world was apparently too much for Borders and the competition was already a few steps ahead. According to research, Borders was easily to adapt to the changing industry and disjointed book, music, and video sales to the internet and other competition (Msnbc.com module and news service reports, 2011).Meanwhile, being an already establish online company made easier for Amazon to remain competitive. Indeed, its management just had to keep being on the watch and practical by continuing to achieve both the awar eness and the loyalty of its customers. contrarily to Borders, Amazon always remains substantiative and innovative. For example, Amazon is realizeing for the future by spending a lot of specie in creating new infrastructure for a better future (Amazon.com inc., 2000). 6- Recommend 3 ways a company should build in flexibility to back up its termination-making process so as to adapt to changing market conditions.The importance of build flexibility to back up a companys decision-making is extremely live to its existence. An organization is often measured by its competitiveness, its dynamicity, its turbulence, and its complexity (Brown, 2011). Often time, a decision may not be the rightfulness one for a company therefore, adjustments moldiness be made in order to fix the problem even when it may pertain to bend a flyspeck the companys policy and procedures (Noble, 2007). For instance, if a companys policy is not to smoke in its premises causing lost business. It would not be a bad idea to create a smoking section for those who wish to do so. In addition, exceptional measures can be taken on a good example by case basis to do the necessary (Noble, 2007). Finally, an organization must always allow itself to create new ways of being operational (Noble, 2007). Such initiative would often show positive results.ReferencesAmazon.com inc. (2000, May). The frontline poll. Amazon.coms spending on infrastructure attack to financial managagment , 1 (5), p. 8. Borders Group Inc. (97). The bookstall in America Borders. Review of contemporary fiction , 17 (2), pp. 216, 35p, 3. Brown, S. P. (2011). Forces and trends in business. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from Ezinearticles http//ezinearticles.com/?Forces-and-Trends-in-Business&id=708724 Hogan, G. C. (2011). why Amazon is such a successful ecommerce site. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from Ezinearticles http//ezinearticles.com/?why-amazon-is-such-a-successful-ecommerce-site&id Linden, G., Smith, B., & York, J. (2003, January/February). Internet computing, IEEE. Retrieved October 31, 2011, from ieeexplore digital library http//ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=1167344 Moran Law group. (2008, September 16). Bankruptcy in brief. Retrieved November 1, 2011, from MoranLaw.net http//www.moranlaw.net/chapter11.htm Msnbc.com staff and news service reports. (2011, July 18). Final chapter Borders to close remaining stores. 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