Charles Manson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Charles Manson - Essay Example At one time, she sold him to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. This waitress kept him until his uncle retrieved him a few days later. In 1939, his mother and uncle were thrown in jail for robbing a gas station and Manson went to live with another aunt and uncle who were quite religious. When his mother was granted parole three years later, however, Manson returned to his mother’s side, where they moved from hotel to hotel. Kathleen Maddox was constantly attempting to get rid of Manson, as she was not a good mother. In 1947, she attempted to have him placed in a foster home, but she could not find one available. This led to Manson being placed in Gibault School for Boys, where he stayed for ten months before fleeing to find his mother again. His mother, however, rejected him and he was then on his own. The first crime that Manson committed was the robbery of a grocery store. He did this in order to pay for a hotel room. A series of other robberies followed until he was caught and sent to a juvenile center. He escaped from this juvenile hall after only one day and after his recapture, he escaped from another juvenile hall four days later. This time, he escaped with another boy and the two of them committed a series of robberies on their way to the other boy’s uncle’s house. The robberies and escapes continued for years, as Manson was sent to different juvenile centers around the country, but none of them could hold him. He even was caught with a stolen car that he had used to rob gas stations in Utah. It was at these juvenile centers that it was concluded that Manson was aggressively antisocial. The first time that Manson was actually considered a dangerous offender was right before a scheduled parole hearing in 1952 when he held a razorblade to another boy’s throat and sodomized him. After this, he was transferred to the Federal Reformatory, which is where more dangerous juvenile

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 34

Case Study Example Additionally, he works with the government agencies in his attempt to formulate appropriate policies to contain the inhalation of the glue. The case study therefore investigates the effects of this neurotoxin in one of the street children as the author attempts to expose the daunting consequences of an innocent act by the street children. The work environment is an essential factor that affects the productivity of the employees in any given company. The case investigates cases in which employees of a uranium company work in deplorable conditions often exposed to the radioactive radiation of uranium. The case portrays gross disregards of the basic human rights as the management of the uranium company continues to expose its employees to the harmful radiations. Furthermore, the management of the company does this deliberately. Apparently, the management had done an exhaustive survey on the safety of the workplace thereby determining substantial leakages of the radiation. The files of such findings continue remain filed in the archives while the employees continue to labor in hazardous conditions. Sara goes to work in a foreign environment where she faces numerous challenges. In the case, Sara’s plight is one that millions of people working in foreign countries face. Sara faces numerous challenges key among which is sexual harassment owing to unique laws. The different forms of harassments include abusive colleagues who often made reference of her gender. Such inappropriate comments coupled with inappropriate gestures among many other forms of sexual harassment made her stay in the foreign countries difficult. Among the challenges that employees face include cultural differences which affects their ability to fit into the new society. This affects their productivity. The situation is worsened with the rising cases of xenophobia as the locals begin to target foreigners. Such aggressive attacks and acts of discrimination may result in the loss

Fpi Assignment Essay Example for Free

Fpi Assignment Essay Summary The report is regarding to the knowledge of analyzing the accounting data of a listed company, using the various accounting information that provided to identify and examine the competitiveness and efficiency of the listed company. Besides, in order to examine the reliability of the data provided, analysis of the balance sheet and income statement is required. The financial information can be obtained from the annual reports of Harbour-Link Group Berhad. In addition, the report is required to include the top-down approach which consists of Economic analysis, Industry analysis and Fundamental analysis to analyze the listed company in the point of view for investors. Table of Content 1. Introduction 1. Objectives 2. Analysis of the statement of financial position, the statement of financial performance and cash flow statement. 1. Financial Analysis ratio: Asset efficiency ratio Capital Structure ratio Liquidity Ratio Profitability Ratio Share Price 3. Economic Analysis 4. Industry Analysis . Conclusion 6. Findings 7. References Introduction In this report, Harbour-Link Group Berhad is chosen among the listed companies. Harbour-Link Group Berhad is an investment holding company which provides shipping, forwarding and transportation, plant and machinery hiring, and engineering contract services primarily in Malaysia and Singapore. Harbour-Link Group Berhad was founded in the year of 1975 and it is based in Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. It was officially listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in the year of 2004. Today, Harbour-Link Group’s success lies in its strong foundation of expertise in the industry and its ability to established the company as a reputable brand-name within the shipping, sea freight forwarding and transportation industries. Objectives 1. To identify the sources of funds, Balance Sheet and profit or loss of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad. 2. To analyze accounting data of Harbour-Link Group Berhad to examine its financial performance using Financial Performance Indicators (ratio analysis) 3. To analyze the economy status, competitors within the same industries and evaluate the operating efficiencies of the listed company. 4. To examine the competitiveness and efficiency of the listed company by using the various accounting information provided. Financial Analysis Financial analysis ratios are used to examine the financial performance of a company in which it will be reflected in the ratios calculated. (Giles et al, 1994, p. 371) Asset efficiency Ratios Asset turnover ratio From the data calculated, the asset turnover ratio for the financial year of 2008, 2009 and 2010 are 109. 9%, 92. 12% and 79. 65%. This indicates that the Harbour-Link Group Berhad is not doing well in the sales of the products or services because the asset turnover ratio is decreasing from year to year. Debtor turnover (in days) Debtor turnover is the debtor collection period of a company. Harbour-Link Group Berhad had a debtor turnover of 73 days in the year of 2008. In the year of 2009, the debtor t urnover is 77 days. However, its debtor turnover is decreased to 71 days. This reflects that the possibility of default risk for the debtors is decreasing. In fact, this is a good thing in a company. Inventory Turnover Inventory turnover measures how many times the company can sell through its inventory for each year. In the year of 2008, Harbour-Link Group has an inventory turnover of 163 times. The turnover increased to 212 times in the financial year of 2009 but the inventory turnover decreased to 127 times in the year of 2010. This reflects that the company can sell better in the year of 2009 but it dropped tremendously in the year of 2010. Capital structure Ratio Debt to equity ratio The debt to equity ratio of Harbour-link Group Berhad is decreasing from the year of 2008 to 2010 by 2%. This is caused by the reducing of total liabilities and the increasing of the total equity. Time interest earned The times-interest-earned ratio allows a lender to evaluate the company’s ability to meet its debt obligation. It is a ratio of the earning before interest and tax over the interest expenses. The time interest earned has a slightly increased from the year of 2008 to year 2009 but it has a greater decrease in ratio amount from the year of 2009 to year 2010. This means that in the year of 2010, Harbour-Link Group Berhad have lesser earnings are available to meet the interest payments and this makes the company to be more vulnerable to the increases in the interest rates. Liquidity Ratios Liquidity ratio is the ratio that is used to examine the liquidity of a company. It includes: Current Ratio Current ratio is the ratio of current assets to current liabilities. Harbour-link Group Berhad has it current ratio decreasing from the year of 2008 to 2010. Its current ratios are 1. 90, 1. 76 and 1. 57 respectively. The ratio is decreased by 14% and 19%. The data is calculated as shown in the findings. Liquid Ratio Liquid ratio is the ratio of (current assets-inventory) to (current liabilities-bank overdraft). Harbour-Link Group Berhad has borrowings so there is bank overdraft existed and that’s why it is classifies as a debt financing organization. The company has a higher liquid ratio of 2. 34 in the year of 2010 compared to the year of 2008 and 2009 which is 1. 88 and 1. 75 respectively. The liquid ratio of the 3 financial years exceeded 1 and this indicates that the current assets are greater than the current liabilities. Higher liquid ratio reflects better performance of the company. Net working Capital Net working capital is the difference between current assets and the current liabilities. In the three financial years, Harbour-Link Group Berhad has the highest net working capital of RM 51. 4 million in the year of 2008. The figure of net working capital for Harbour-link Group Berhad decreased in the year of 2009 and 2010 by 0. 43% and 12. 32% respectively. This shows that there is a drastic drop in the net working capital of year 2010. Profitability Ratios EBIT to total funds ratio EBIT to total funds ratio of Harbour-Link Group Berhad is decreasing in the range of 22% from the financial year of 2008 to 2009 and 21. 4% from the financial year of 2009 to 2010. The total funds consist of shareholders’ funds and borrowings. According to the annual report, Harbour-Link Group Berhad is practicing debt-financing to raise funds because there is borrowing existed. Return on Equity (ROE) Harbour-link Group shows a decrease in net income from year 2008 to 2010. This situation leads to the decrease in the return on equity (ROE) of 5%. In the financial year of 2010, it has the ROE of 0. 08 which indicates that for every RM1 of the capital that the shareholder invested into, they will get 8% of return. Return on Assets The return on assets measures the productivity of assets in terms of the level of profits each dollar of assets generates. (Karen D. H, 2004, p. 131) The return on assets of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad is decreasing from the financial year of 2008 to 2010. It decreased from 8% of year 2008 to 7% in the year of 2009 and then 5% in the year of 2010. This implies that the productivity of the company’s assets is not doing well in terms of profits that the assets generated. Net Profit Margin The net profit margin is the ratio of net profit after tax to the total revenues. In the financial year of 2008 and 2009, Harbour-Link Group Berhad has the net profit margin figure of 8%. It indicates that the company has a net income of RM0. 08 for each RM1 of sales. However, the net profit margin for the year of 2010 decreased by 2% which is only 6% in the financial year. This shows that for every RM1 of sales made by the company in year 2010, the net income is only RM0. 6 which is RM0. 02 lower than the previous year. Share Price Price to Earnings Ratio (P/E) Price to Earning ratio is calculated by using the share price of the year 2010 over the earnings per share. The market price of Harbour-Link Group Berhad was amounted to RM 0. 72 in the year of 2010. From the annual report of the financial year of 2010, the earning per share is R M 0. 11. By using the formulae, the price to earning per share of 2010 is calculated as shown in the table with a figure of RM 6. 825. Current Economic Analysis Roots of Global financial crisis Global financial crisis are usually caused by bad regulation of the banking sectors, failure of fiscal and monetary policy implemented and so forth. In the year of 2008, Financial crisis began with the declared of bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. which is the fourth largest investment bank in United States. It was a severe ongoing world financial problem that began in U. S in the year of 2008. This recession has entirely hitting on the fragile global economy with the tremendous devastation in countries all around the world. The U. S government was trying to point the finger of the financial crisis to the rating agencies, who knew about the great risk that was coming but kept giving high reliability ratings to companies that did not deserve them and thus investors invested in the wrong companies. The cause of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc was the accumulation of debt and the increasing of loan defaults. Why it evolved into a world crisis The news on bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Company led to the drastic fall in the share price all over the world. The company had billions of dollars losses incurred in the mortgage market of United States. (BBC NEWS, 16th Sept 2008) In Lehman Brothers’ case and the other investment banks, the problem was provoked by 2 major factors which are the very high level of leverage ratio and the dependence on short-term debt financing. Commercial banks cannot leverage their equity more than 15 to 1 as they are regulated but for Lehman Brothers Company, it had a leverage ratio of more than 30 to 1. According to the table 1, Lehman Brothers had only $3. 30 of equity for every $100 of loans. With this ratio, it makes the company to be insolvent. Conversely, the instability arose from the leverage problem was aggravated by the strong reliance on the short term debt. Based on table 1(Lehman Brothers Liabilities and shareholder’s equity), at the beginning of the crisis, the company financed greater than 50% of the assets. Reliance on short term debt financing is profitable indeed when it comes to a low interest rate market environment. However, when the company faced rumors of the insolvency problem, the short term lenders will start to have doubt on the company’s performance and therefore, they will start to withdraw their funds from the company for self interest protection. This scenario will lead to a shortage of liquidity for the borrower and thus the company tends to default. After the crisis began, Lehman Brothers did try to decrease its leverage and reduce its dependence on the short term borrowing but it was too late for them to amend the situation and therefore, bankruptcy occurred. The bankruptcy of Lehman’s brother forced the reassessment of risk in the market by looking at the price of the credit default trades. Impact on Malaysia and world economies The crisis started in the year of 2008 had a great hit on Malaysia and world economies. It causes the gas price had a drastic drop, decreasing of the value of real estates, the increasing of unemployment rate, Federal debt crisis and inflation. There is a global explosion in commodities price. The price of crude oil was remaining at high levels for few years till the end of 2008, the crude oil price dropped from the peak in July 2008 of US$145 to US$30. 28 per barrel in December 2008. (Forbes, 2008) According to the findings in table 2, the unemployment rate of Malaysia increased by 3. 13% from the year of 2008 to 2009 and 12. 12% from the year of 2009 to 2010. Malaysian future economic At first, Malaysia was aiming to have 9% of average annual Growth Domestic Product (GDP) until 2020. Suddenly, according to the Economic Planning Unit, the government noted that the number is absurd then they changed and told that Malaysia was capable to achieve 5. 4% of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) annually over the next 10 years to achieve the objective of becoming a high income economy by 2020, which is the vision 2020 (East Asia Forum, 2009). These seem that Malaysia’s economic future is uncertainty. It keeps changing. Besides, Malaysia’s government has a close relationship with its private businesses. Because of the relationship with some business groups have ostensibly led to the emergence of political cronies with unlimited access to public resources. Not only the relationship that mention above but also the experience of neighbouring Indonesia shows that it is a dangerous trend that could negatively affect economic development in the future. In this matter, changes in political leadership led to unstable political environment. Although it does not directly effect on Malaysia, it threatens he influx of refugees caused damage regional stability and social stability. Malaysias maritime economy can be defined as the production and manner of use of the range of goods and services that are linked to the maritime sector (Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, 1997). It covers the activities that are resource based, including fisheries, oil and gas, marine biotechnology and those that are service based such a s shipping ports, shipbuilding and repair and the myriad range of ancillary maritime services (Maritime Institute of Malaysia,2005). Malaysias main concern is the future of marine economy of the future of Malaysian trade, because the countrys foreign and domestic trade, or even almost totally dependent on sea transport facilities. From this we can know that it will have a very bright prospect in maritime economy. If Malaysia is to achieve the goals of industrialization, productivity-driven growth and enhancing competitiveness will depend on how the maritime sector is managed. The maritime sector has a main role to play in enhancing productivity-driven growth. An important element that will affect efforts to sustain international competitiveness is productivity. But, for longer term, Malaysia will need to maintain its international competitiveness, since there is rising competition from other emerging markets for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and for the transfer of modern technologies. Environmental issues are also important for Malaysia in the longer term as deforestation and global climate change may destabilize the countrys agriculture, which still plays an important role in the national economy. What is the most important is the political will effect a change to system-centred thinking in planning the future of the economy. So, a stable political environment is very important to Malaysia. If the political environment of Malaysia is good, it will have a bright future of economy. Solutions to the Global Financial Crisis or crises in general. Banks and financial institutions can cause a downswing of an economy because of their ignorance of the business cycle. Besides, bankers are greedy with the fat bonuses that they will gain if they get the highest market shares results. When the economy is doing well, they expect that there will be no recession problem is going to occur and therefore they will give loans to their customers without considering their customers’ affordability to repay the loans. Once their customers cannot afford to repay the loans, recession will occurs. To overcome these crisis problems, several steps can be used. Government and bankers often intervene to smooth the peaks and valleys of the economic cycle. There are two objectives that the government and bankers can do to prevent serious downswing of an economy. 1) Speedy intervention to prevent a self-perpetuating downward spiral, which means protecting depositors at minimal long term cost to the taxpayer. For example, the Federal reserve may restrict the money supply in good times to slow the expansion phase of the economic cycle, or deficit spend and cut interest rates to ease the recessionary phase of an economic cycle. 2) Ensure so far as possible that future booms are less exaggerated. This has implications for the form of any rescue package, and for the system of financial oversight that is put in place. The growth of consumer credits will increase the consumption of the consumer. The increase in the consumption will increase the aggregate demand of the country whereby AD equals to C + I + G + (X-M). Mc Taggart et al, 2007 p. 766). When the AD is increasing, it means that GDP is also increasing. This shows that the consumer credits provided will also be increased and therefore people will keep on borrowing money from the banks for consumption. This situation actually can amplify the business cycle and extend the upswing of the economy. Industry analysis The domestic and the world economy were in a downturn in the year of 2009. All the industry was affected and they are making an effort to maintain their previous performance and growth momentum. In the year of 2009, Harbour-Link Group Berhad suffered revenue declined by 5. 9% to RM 327. 6 million. The revenue decreased again by 5. 76% to RM 308. 7 million compare to the previous year due to lower selling prices and softer consumer demand. One of the Company competitors, Swee Joo Berhad was also suffered by achieved a turnover of RM 346. 7 million which is 9. 9% lower than the previous financial period. The lower turnover was also impacted by the recovery state for the economy. Swee Joo Berhad has a reduce in current ratio from 0. 648 to 0. 278 which seems to be lower than that of the Harbour-Link Group Berhad and therefore Harbour-link seems to have a better current ratio. Swee Joo Berhad has a negative figure for its Earnings before interest and tax of -11. 32 million and -176. 82 million in the year of 2009 and 2010. This is a huge loss for the company. It shows that Harbour-Link has a better performance than its major competitor, Swee Joo Berhad. Although the economy showed signs of recovery, but most of the economists hold that the sustained global recovery is still vague. This situation greatly influenced the consumers spending behavior. According to the Edge, Harbour-Link Unit obtained the secured contracts of RM75. 2 to supply gantry cranes for the Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd. The contracts were expected to be done in the year of 2012 and it’s also expected to escalate the future revenue and earnings positively for Harbour-Link Group Berhad. (The Edge, 11 April 2011) There are several ways for the companies to perform better during this hard period. However, the suppliers are also important causes which will affect the company performance. Although Harbour-Link Group Berhad suffered lower revenue during the year, however, it obtained quite a number of big projects with a favorable amount of contracts worth which is believed to boost the revenues for the future of the company itself. This scenario will assist Harbour-Link Group Berhad to create a stronger visibility and allow it to be well positioned for the economic recovery. Findings [pic] Table 1 shows Lehman Brothers Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity Source: Lehman Annual Reports |Year |Unemployment Rate |Percentage Change | |2006 |3. 60 | | |2007 |3. 50 |-2. 78% | |2008 |3. 20 |-8. 7% | |2009 |3. 30 |3. 13% | |2010 |3. 50 |12. 12% | Table 2 shows the unemployment rate in Malaysia Source: CIA World Factbook Conclusion In conclusion, although the Harbour-Link Group Berhad has a downturn in its overall performances in the financial year of 2009 and 2010 as the results shown in the findings, but it has a better performance than its main competitor, Swee Joo Berhad in the shipping industries. The Harbour-Link Group Berhad is overall well organized in its financial statements as shown in the annual reports and it can be categorized as a profitable and successful listed company in Malaysia. On the perspective of investors, Harbour-link is counted as a good investment company and therefore investors are advised to consider Harbour-link Group Berhad as one of their investment company because the company has a good expectation to have a huge increase in its future economic benefits. The future economy of Malaysia is expected to have a good return and therefore this ensure that Harbour-Link Group Berhad is a wise investment for the future benefits. References Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, 1997, The Maritime Economy of Malaysia, Pelanduk Publication BBC News, 16 September 2008, http://news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/business/7615931. stm Bursa Malaysia 2010- Equities, Bursa Malaysia Berhad, viewed on 26 April 2011 http://www. bursamalaysia. com/website/bm/market_information/prices/ East Asia Forum, Malaysia’s Economic Future, view on 1 May 2011, http://www. eastasiaforum. org/2009/11/24/malaysias-economic-future/ Encyclopedia of the Nations, Malaysia- Future Trends, viewed on 2 May 2011, http://www. nationsencyclopedia. com/economies/Asia-and-the-Pacific/Malaysia-FUTURE-TRENDS. html Forbes 2008- Crude Oil Prices 1861 – 2009, Forbes. com 2010, viewed on28 April 2011, http://www. forbes. com/2008/05/13/oil-prices-1861-today-real-vs-nominal_flash2. html Giles, R Capel, J 1994, Finance and accounting, 3rd Edition, MacMillan, London Harbour-Link Group Berhad 2011, harbour. com. my; Total Logistics EPCC Provider N. V 20092010, Harbour-Link Group Berhad, viewed on 22 April 2011, http://www. harbour. om. my/ Karen D. Halpern, 2004, Understanding Finance: Money, Capital and investments, Pearson, New Jersey. Maritime Institute of Malaysia, Malaysia and Port Competitiveness, 2005 Mc Taggart et al, 2007, Macroeconomics, 5th Edition, Pearson, Australia The Edge Financial Daily, 11 April 2011 viewed on 24 April 2011. http://www. theedgemalaysia. com/ The Star Online 2011- Market watch, Star Publica tions (M) Berhad, viewed on 24 April 2011, http://biz. thestar. com. my/marketwatch/charts/l. asp? code=2062~HARBOURp1=0. 99p2=0. 985p3=0. 99p4=0. 985p5=0. 99p6=0p7=0. 00p8=915p9=0. 532

Toyota: SWOT Analysis, BCG Matrix and Porters Five

Toyota: SWOT Analysis, BCG Matrix and Porters Five Toyota is a Japan based company which was established in 1937 by Sakichi Toyoda and is the world biggest automobile manufacturers, Toyota has achieved a record sale of 9 million cars in five continents. Toyota is also ranked in the top ten 500 ² companies. Toyota is one the worlds most renowned auto manufacturers and they are proud of this accomplishment and they believe it is only because that their customers are satisfied by them. http://www.toyota.com.cy/experience/the_company/index.aspx Strategy of Toyota Different strategies of Toyota are explained as under Growth Strategy In order to achieve an outstanding growth strategy, company must find, evaluate and select a strategy to enter and to capture a market. Toyota entered in American market in 1967 along with a range of cars and after that Toyota launched other brands such as lexus and scion. Toyota became a successful car manufacturer company mainly because of an effective and diverse marketing process which has enabled them to attract customers and enlarge its product range to other market segments. One of the other main reason why Toyota managed to do very well in America is because of 1973 oil crisis. When Toyota entered in American market it was not considered a threat because everyone use to say that Toyota cars do not appeal American people. But due to the oil crisis people realized that Toyota cars are highly fuel efficient and much more reliable. Marketing Strategy of Toyota Toyota is a global brand and the economic crisis which started in 2009 has hit Toyota. Therefore, Toyota is now marketing and making fuel efficient cars such as the new Auris hybrid and others. On top of that Toyota is very heavily marketing there 1 litre cars such as Toyota iq and aygo and this happened due to the the economic crunch that now people dont have much spending power. http://ayushveda.com/blogs/business/toyotas-marketing-strategy/ Environmental strategy In modern era, all the developed and under developed countries are more concern with the environment and are trying their best to promote cars which are more environment friendly and throw less co2 emission out. As a global car manufacturer Toyota is playing its role in minimising the co2 effect on the environment of the world. This is the reason Toyota has launched hybrid cars, the ultimate eco car, electric vehicles, plug in hybrid, fuel cell vehicle cars which consume less fuel and also discharge less co2 emission. So basically, Toyota is making cars which are user friendly and also environment friendly.www.toyota.com To critically evaluate the strategy of Toyota, some analysis of internal and external analysis required to be done and they are explained as under. SWOT analysis This analysis is a great tool for doing an audit of an organisation and its environment. It is the first step for marketers to take to focus on key issues. Swot stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses examine the internal factors of a company whereas the opportunities and threats are the analysis of external factors. SWOT analysis of Toyota Strengths of Toyota Toyota is global organisation, which enjoys great repute among its customers and possesses a very strong international position in 170 countries. Financial side of this company is extremely strong in 1997 company managed a sales turnover of  £131,511 million and growth of the company was 29.3%. Due to its high quality, an environment friendly product Toyota has a very strong brand recognition. Toyota has managed successfully penetrate into the main markets of the world which includes USA, China and Middle east countries. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_swot_analysis_of_Toyota Weakness of Toyota The production plants of Toyota are located in US and Japan due to which they are not in a very favourable position to take advantage from global efficiency gains. The company has suffered a lot of criticism due to the re-call made in 2005 and 2010. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_swot_analysis_of_Toyota Opportunities for Toyota Toyota was the first company to develop a hybrid car (hybrid- vehicle runs on gas and electric) which was the Prius model. At that time oil prices were at their extreme so at that time Toyota has given something to the market. Toyota is looking forward to expand belligerently into new segments of existing markets for example by the launch of Toyota Aygo the company is targeting the youth of the world. Another opportunity for Toyota is to produce small city cars which will be more fuel efficient and also easy to drive plus will produce less c02 emission because now a day governments of all under developed and developed countries are showing great concern about the environment. Toyota enjoys good market share in Europe, UK and America the company should target developing countries such as Pakistan, India and Srilanka where demand is very high for great fuel efficient cars. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_swot_analysis_of_Toyota Threats to Toyota Toyota faces very high competition by Honda and by other German car manufacturers. Especially in todays global market the trend of intense marketing campaign is increasing which will simply increase pressure on Toyota. The position of US dollar is very consistent so the exchange rates are playing a major role in the profit and loss of the company. The recession that has hit the world almost a couple of years ago have caused major issues for Toyota because car sales have declined rapidly ever since the recession started. Market trend is changing for example the trend of large families coming to an end and with it the need of large cars. Consistent increase in fuel prices has also bought a significant decline the car sales of Toyota Company. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_swot_analysis_of_Toyota BCG Matrix The Boston consultancy group matrix is a chat which was created by Peter Henderson in 1970. The purpose of this design is to help companies with the manufacturing units and product lines. The base of this tool in the product life cycle theory and it helps companies to decide on which areas they should prioritize. BCG Matrix for Toyota Prius This tool can also be used to analyze the launch of a product in the market. In this matrix two factors determine the success of a product. Market share and market growth are explained individually in the diagram. With the help of this tool an outstanding marketing strategy can easily be determined. Market Growth of Prius The Toyota prius was launched in Japan in 1997 and it was made available to the world in 2001. By the end of 2003, a new model of the car was launched and due to its modern hybrid technology it was sold 160,000 times throughout the world. It was mainly because at that time the prius was the only hybrid car and Toyota made maximum profit out of that. Up till now Toyota has managed to sell around 1 million hybrid cars and most of them are prius. To analyze the market growth of this product, given below is the monthly sales figure of U.S from 2000 to 2007. From the table above, we can clearly see that prius sales have increased dramatically over thye years. In 2000 number of cars sold was just 5,562 whereas the cars sold in 2007 excluding the month of December were 167,010 which is almost 30 times more the number of cars sold in 2000. The table given above, we can clearly view that Toyota prius was the best selling car in US with a great margin. Toyota has just 5.3% more sales than September 2007 but it has overall 50.7% more sales then the last year October. We can also see an outstanding growth in the market of hybrid cars which is almost 30% which means that it is a very fast growing market. Market Share of Toyota Prius If we look at the market share of Prius, it comes on top of the hybrid car market share. The prius has a massive 53.7% market share and this is because Toyota has sold three times more cars than the runner up. This is the reason why prius was the market leader in 2007. The prius has sold approximately 190,000 cars which comes up to a market share of 57% and this is a clear proof that prius is a market leader even on yearly basis. Conclusion After this detailed bcg analysis it is concluded that prius is a star product. It has a booming market share in the high demand market of hybrid cars. All this makes prius a star product and a product which has a lot of potential in the future years. In the BCG matrix chart the prius have its position in the top left because it has an outstanding market share in a dynamic and fast growing market. Therefore, prius is a star product. This information can be used by Toyota to set up a plan for business and thus the investment the company make in the product can also turn into a cash cow. Porters five forces analysis This is the most successful tool in analyzing the strategy of an industry. According to wiki this is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E Porter of Harvard business school in 1979.it uses concepts developing industrial organisations economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. http://www.themarketers.in/?p=446 Porters five forces analysis includes critical analysis of five aspects which are as follows Threat of new entrants. Bargaining power of customers/ buyers. Threat of substitute products. Bargaining power of suppliers. The amount of rivalry between competitors. Five forces analysis on Toyota Detailed analysis of porters five forces. Threat of new entrants In auto industry all the big companies face threat of new entrants who enter into market to take their place. Toyota also faces same problems and the recent launch of TATA nano is a big threat for Toyota and for other auto companies. Because TATA nano is the cheapest car in the world which will definitely dominate in the under developed countries of the world and also TATA nanao and Peugeot has worked together to make that car so Toyota needs to come up with a strategy which will help them target the medium to lower medium class of the world. (Jhonson,s scholes and wittington.2008) Bargaining power of customers Bargaining power of customers vary from place to place. In European countries customers have outstanding bargaining power which is mainly due to the competition and because of their purchasing power. On the other hand in countries like Pakistan people dont have much choice and manufacturers charge reasonably high prices. (Jhonson,s scholes and wittington.2008) Threat of Substitute product In developed countries such as America or other European countries this threat is high for Toyota because there are a lot of other car manufacturers in these countries who sell their products with different deals such as now a day Citroen is selling most of their cars with 0 deposit and on no interest basis for up to three years which is a big threat for Toyota in UK. Because due to the economic crisis the world is facing people are more interested in saving money. (Jhonson,s scholes and wittington.2008) Bargaining power of suppliers Because Toyota is a strong brand therefore, this threat is comparatively low to them in comparison with other manufacturers because brand confirms suppliers a higher value to their product. (Jhonson,s scholes and wittington.2008) Rivalry among competitors This element also varies for area to area. As mentioned earlier in European countries there are a lot of manufacturers available so the rivalry among competitors is very high. For example in Pakistan Toyota has one main rival which is Honda but in UK Toyota has Honda, Peugeot, Nissan, ford, rover and also other companies which makes rivalry extremely intense. (Jhonson,s scholes and wittington.2008) Problems with Toyota Even though Toyota is one of the best car manufacturer company in the world but they have faced many problems over the years in different parts of the world. Some of them are related with products and some are even with the brand itself. A few of these problems are summarised in detail Toyota brand problem Toyota is a major brand and its sub-brands are Lexus and Scion but Toyota sells and manufacture most of its cars under the name of Toyota which is not a very healthy marketing strategy. For example, the problem Audi had in 1990 with its 5000 range (problem was acceleration which resulted in fatal acceleration accidents) which resulted a significant decline not just in the sale figure of Audi 5000 but due to that problem sales figure of Audi 4000 and Quattro were also declined to a great extent just because these too vehicles were manufactured by the same company. Despite of all the promotional and marketing activities held by Audi in between 1990-2000 the company has still not fully recovered and has not find its proper place in the market. Unfortunately, Toyota has not learned anything from this mistake and they keep on launching all cars under the same brand without paying much attention to sub-brands. Due to the recent problem of rapid acceleration in Toyota cars customers are beginning to show less interest in the brand and now it is believed that nest decade will be very tough for Toyota. So, Toyota really needs to promote its sub brands and to pump marketing investments in them. Toyotas Brand Problems Begin At Its Core Brake problems in Toyota Prius In 2010, braking problems were reported with Toyota prius in America by manay customers, four of them were involved in crash. The problem was that customers were finding it difficult to brake on un even surface. Which resulted in major accidents and as a result Toyota had to do a major recall in America which resulted in a significant decline in sale and due to which Toyota has launched its market share throughout the world. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8497471.stm Rapid acceleration problem of Toyota Toyota had to do a major recall in 2004 which was basically companies biggest in which company had to recall 3.8 million vehicles. In the beginning Toyota said that the problem is with the floor matt but after few crashes the company actually decided to go for the recall decision. http://www.leftlanenews.com/a-closer-look-at-toyotas-sudden-acceleration-problem.html Acceleration stuck In the last decade Toyota has given us quality products such as Camry, corolla and Tercel. But then in 2010 a problem came in Toyota a vehicle which was reported as the acceleration gets stuck which is causing difficulty in stopping the vehicle and could result in major accidents. As a result, Toyota has not just recall the selected models on a national model but also stopped production for these vehicles. This decision of Toyota is really admired by Dr. Edward Deming who is called the undisputed father of quality management and he said that quality is better than quantity and by doing a recall national level Toyota has proved that they care about their customers and are willing to give them something extra. Some say that this incident will hurt Toyota and result in a decline of sales Toyota over the years but some say that this will benefit Toyota in coming years because once the problem is rectified than people will be more eager in buying Toyota vehicles especially over American c ars because they know that they will be getting quality. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2656835/toyota_is_facing_a_major_problem.html?cat=27 Recommendations By looking at the problems Toyota had over the years it is concluded that Toyota should take its business more seriously as they are the market leaders. The company should properly test every product several times before launching it in the market. Invest in sub brands Toyota should now invest heavily in its sub brands. This will bring stability in the sales of Toyota as if anything goes wrong with Toyota car customers will not stop buying the sub brands products and this will result in keeping the market share stable. Make hybrid technology cheaper Toyota is investing in hybrid vehicles which cause less co2 emission and also environment friendly but these vehicles are extremely expensive and not in the range of majority of people. The future main threat for auto mobile manufacturer is TATA nano which is the worlds cheapest car so if Toyota does not want to lose its market share than Toyota really needs to look ahead and come up with something which is a lot better than quality than TATA nano and the best way to beat nano is to come up with cheap and small hybrid car. Identify market trends and target markets The market trend is changing very quickly, now people dont travel in groups everyone prefer to keep their own cars so Toyota needs to make more small cars. At the moment there are just three small cars from Toyota which are Toyota aygo, iq and yaris which is a pretty small number from the worlds biggest auto manufacturer. On top of that these cars are not fun to drive they dont offer good road grip and comfort and on top of that they are pretty expensive. So, if Toyota wants to do well in future they really need to re think their strategy and they should make hybrid cars much cheaper and make small cars more reliable and fun to drive. Toyota is very well located it has plants in Japan, Europe and America so they can manage to produce cheap quality cars. From Japan, they can target asian countries which include Pakistan, India and Sri lanka because these countries are showing rapid growth and people has high purchasing power. From European production plant, Toyota can target European countries which are a very big market and Toyota enjoys great market share in these countries. American production plant can be used to target America and Canada and other small countries in that region. In this way Toyota can easily produce cheap quality cars and supply them to these countries as they are very well located.

Summary and Analysis of The Franklins Tale Essay examples -- Canterbu

Summary and Analysis of The Franklin's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Franklin's Tale: The Franklin praises the Squire for his eloquence, considering his youth. He tells the Squire that he has no peer among the company and that he wishes that his own son were as commendable as the Squire. The Host suggests that the Franklin tell the next tale. The Franklin begins by apologizing in advance for his rough speech and lack of education. The Franklin's Tale: The Franklin's Tale begins with the courtship of the Breton knight Arviragus and Dorigen, who come to be married happily. Their marriage is one of equality, in which neither of the two is master or servant. However, soon after they marry Arviragus is sent away to Britain to work for two years. Dorigen wept for his absence, despite the letters that he sent home to her. Her friends would often take her on walks where they would pass the cliffs overlooking the ocean and watch ships enter the port, hoping that one of them would bring home her husband. However, she was distressed by the rocks that were near the shore. She feared that whatever ship brought her husband home would crash on these rocks and sink. These friends would also have garden parties in which they would invite singers and squires to dance. One of these squires, Aurelius, had been in love with her ever since she arrived in Brittany. Eventually he declared his love for her. She agrees that she would be his lover if he wou ld find a way to clear the rocks that endangered incoming ships. Aurelius lamented this condition, thinking that such a task would be impossible. His brother suggested that Aurelius meet a student of law at Orleans who was versed in the sciences of illusion. Aurelius made a jour... ...solved Aurelius of his debt, while Aurelius and Arviragus gave up something that legitimately mattered. One could argue that Arviragus behaved most nobly because he risked his reputation and gave up what was rightfully his, yet for Arviragus there may not have been another reasonable option†¹the other solution that Dorigen considers is suicide. And Aurelius made what was perhaps the largest sacrifice, for he gave up what he desired most, yet what he gave up he had no legitimate right to have. A final option is that Dorigen was the one who behaved most nobly throughout the course of the story. She sacrificed her honor for the safety of her husband and was honest to both Aurelius and Arviragus. However, this does not consider the inherent foolishness of her initial promise and the fact that her behavior after Aurelius fulfilled this promise was highly constrained.

what?? :: essays research papers

whatsz going on ?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently there was a major breakthrough in scientific research – the mapping of all DNA in a human gene has been complete. A couple of years ago, this seemed to be an impossible task for scientists to accomplish. All this scientific advancement leads us to believe that the day when the human being will be cloned is not far away. Human cloning has always been an issue of controversy, be it in ethical or moral terms. This issue shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces them all to question the very concepts of right and wrong. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently there was a major breakthrough in scientific research – the mapping of all DNA in a human gene has been complete. A couple of years ago, this seemed to be an impossible task for scientists to accomplish. All this scientific advancement leads us to believe that the day when the human being will be cloned is not far away. Human cloning has always been an issue of controversy, be it in ethical or moral terms. This issue shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces them all to question the very concepts of right and wrong. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is ethically and morally wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently there was a major breakthrough in scientific research – the mapping of all DNA in a human gene has been complete. A couple of years ago, this seemed to be an impossible task for scientists to accomplish. All this scientific advancement leads us to believe that the day when the human being will be cloned is not far away.

Aging and Stress

This study investigated the source of stress among different cultural groups.   Thirty-four participants both men and women from 65 to 100 years old were interviewed.   The participants were from Filipino, Latino, and Jewish senior recreation clubs.A grounded theory approach was used throughout the study.  Ã‚   One core theme emerged; people go to senior centers looking for social connections and do not always find them.   The results were consistent with the research (Cussack, 1993); seniors’ centers present opportunities for older adults to develop meaning roles that contribute to the quality of their own lives.One of the implications for TR practice is RT’s have the ability to create positive and healthy changes in elderly participants.   RTs can be instrumental in finding those needed roles for elders.   RT’s can train recreation professionals in communication techniques and group interaction.I. IntroductionMany older adults are faced with situati ons they perceive as stressful. Researchers have identified causes of stress for seniors to include health concerns, loss of family, loss of friends, loss of finances and loss of independence.Many older adults experience unnecessary stress and become used to living a chaotic and unhappy way of life.   If they understood the source of their stress, older adults could begin to manage their lives with positive results.The researcher is seeking to discover the cause of stress in older adults, and if there is a difference among the cultural groups.   It is known that about thirty-one percent, or 9.9 million, non-institutionalized older people live alone (Administration on Aging, 1999).II. BackgroundThere is limited research on coping and stress management for older adults with a comparative analysis by culture and gender.   This study compared sources of stress among elders in the following immigrant groups: Filipino, Latino, and Jewish elders. The Filipino group was selected becau se it is the largest group of Asian elders in the county where the research was conducted.The Latino elders comprise the largest minority group in the county, and the Jewish elders were chosen because many were immigrants who came to America seeking freedom from persecution and the terror of Western Europe in the 1940s and may be perceived to have higher levels of stress than the other two groups.A goal of the researcher, was to provide information for those designing programs for older adults, to assist them in the reduction of stress, and to insure the programs are not only   appropriate to the needs of seniors, but their cultural needs as well.   â€Å"While each group of immigrant elders may have their own unique attributes and circumstances, recreation and leisure activities can help to expedite identity in the new community, (Ward, 2000).†III. MethodThe researcher gave a presentation and offered a warm-up activity on stress before interviewing the subjects.   Each subject was interviewed individually and asked four questions please see table 1.   The grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1994), a form of qualitative research was selected for this study because of the usefulness in categorizing empirically collected data to build a general theory to fit the data.The primary research question was: what is the source of stress among Filipino, Latino and Jewish elders?   The sampling strategy used was snowball or chain sampling.IV. ParticipantsThe subjects for this study included males and females.   The groups were comprised of:twelve Jewish females, ten Latina females, and eleven Filipino females’ ages 60 to 100 years old.   The male subjects consisted of six Jewish males, eight Latino males, and nine Filipino males, ages 60 to 85 years old.See table 2.   The sample was drawn from three recreational clubs; one multipurpose center with a variety of cultural clubs and groups with one serving primarily Jewish elders.   In the study, one senior center was a traditional multi-purpose facility operated by a large urban city (pop. 461,522) in Los Angeles County, and a private non-profit Jewish community center offering diverse programming and activities for individuals of all ages.