Are We Happier Than Our Forefathers?

Long years ago stress was never a part of anyone’s dictionary. However, today it is the most common word used by everyone ranging from a 13-year-old child to a 95 year old adult. What is the reason behind the frequent usage of this word in the modern times? Earlier, primitive man survived on bare essentials of life & yet he was stress free but today even though technology has gifted a luxurious life to man we are stressed. Earlier man had to roam from place to place in search of food & shelter. Today the modern man can even work by sitting at home through technologies like laptops & cellular phones. Yet today man has been confronted by various diseases & has to tackle stress. Why is it that a primitive man working several times harder than the modern man had time for pleasure activities but a modern man has to make work his leisure and work to no end. Technology & modern equipments were to make man’s life stress free & relaxed but instead it had has adverse effects on man’s life. A few centuries man had not even heard of fatal diseases like â€Å" aids† however today every research & technology is being to find a treatment for this disease. Man has found medicines & treatments for the tiniest of the creatures on this earth but yet has failed to discover a cure, which would save the life of a fellow mate. Science and technology has made it possible to reach the moon but is it of any use because we don’t have time to go & even meet out old parents who have taught us what a moon is & how to reach there. These facts make me think, â€Å" Are we happier than our forefathers? † in my opinion we are not as happy as they were. Our forefathers lived a stress free, contented & happy life but today these words are only seen in the dictionary. If we desire to live like our forefathers then it could only be possible in the Himalayas because in this world we require money for minimal needs & necessities & to earn that also we have to work very hard. Working hard would mean work during the day accompanied by work through the night. Is this called being happy?

Motor Development Autobiography Essay

The motor development was consisted of seven periods across the lifespan, each period is characterized by the different motor skills. Progression from one period to another would depend on the changes in three critical constraints, as well as individual’s skills and experiences. According to the developmental perspective, the changes in the motor skills were defined as sequential, cumulative and individual. Everyone would follow the same sequence of the motor development, however, age does not determine the sequence because the skills are built based on individual’s background experiences and knowledge. Prenatal Period The first stage of motor development is the prenatal period, it is the period from conception to birth. The prenatal period is characterized by three major sub periods: Germinal, embryonic and period. The germinal period represents the first two weeks after the fertilization, where the ovum attached the uterine wall and the cell layers are formed. The embryonic period began from two to eight weeks, when the cephalacadual and proximodistal growth took place. At this time, infants could move around to obtain the upright posture, where different parts of the body are also distinguishable. Our motor development began prenatally, usually started from the embryonic and fetal period. The fetal period started from two to nine months, when most of the body systems were getting more structurally developed. However, the organs and body systems were still functionally immature. The fetal period was characterized by rapid growth and organ completion, as well as reflex activities and movements. As early as three months, babies could demonstrate both spontaneous and reflexive movements. My mother told me that she first felt my kicking and hand movement around the fourth month, and she also went to do the ultrasound to check if I was a healthy baby. My mother kept the testing record updated, the doctor also told her about my gender when I was a six-month-old baby. During the prenatal period, the development represented the interaction of  heredity and environment. The organism constraints such as genetic makeup, would dominate the development, while the environmental constraints could also affect the development. Teratogen was an environmental factor that cause harm to the embryo or fetus, it could lead to the birth defects. However, the baby’s genetic makeup and the amount of exposure would play important roles that affect the degree of harmfulness. The epigenetic crisis represented a time of particular susceptibility to harm, that different trimester exposed to teratogen would lead to different degrees of functional or structural damages. I was a healthy baby and received high APGAR scores mainly because my mother did not drink alcohol nor smoke during the pregnancy. My mother was a housewife, she stayed home most of the time looking at baby pictures and listening to classical music. Her daily exercise was walking, when she had to g o to the supermarket near my house. During the pregnancy, my mother’s life was simple and worriless, she was also a happy and a healthy mother. Reflexive Period The reflexive period started from birth to two weeks, the reflexive or spontaneous movements are used to insure the infant’s survival. There were two types of reflexes, the primitive and postural reflexes. The primitive reflexes were used for the protection and nutrition purposes, usually disappear by the sixth month. I demonstrated the rooting reflex when I was one month old, when my mother tactile my cheek, I immediately turned my head toward her finger (see picture five). My mom also told me that I used to like sucking my thumb before I go to sleep (see picture four). It showed sucking reflex, which was the biological response for the basic needs and helped infants to survive. The asymmetric tonic neck reflex appeared around the same time, when my right arm was extended and the left to keep my body facing a direction (see picture four). On the other hand, the postural reflexes are used for the development of later voluntary movements. The postural reflexes may never disappe ar, those reflexes also automatically provided the maintenance of infant’s upright position in relation to the environment. Setting up an upright posture could also help infants survive in the environment, as the environmental constraints began to have more  influences on the development. Overall, the organism constraint dominated the development during the reflexive period, and the environmental constraints were influential. Preadpated Period The motor development of preadapted period would usually take place when an infant is around two weeks to a year old. During this early developmental period, the organism constraints played a dominated role, the environmental constraints were influential, and the task constraints organized the action. The goal of the movement would be the attainment of independent walking and independent finger feeding. When I was an infant, I followed the sequence of motor development to obtain my upright posture. At two weeks, I couldn’t lift my head off the support surface to gaze about the environment. I would need help on lifting my head, therefore my mother would put her hand behind my trunk to support my body (see picture two). The posture at this age was the prone position (see picture one). At birth, infants would show their first motor movement by learning to prone. Soon after that, I began to elevate myself on my arms. As soon as I reached five months old, I was able to sit alone without support (see picture seven). Around five and half month old, I could demonstrate rolling, which was the earliest pattern of infant locomotion development. However, I skipped the stage of crawling, an important stage of motor development that helps infants to prepare for later walking skills. Because I was the oldest child in the family, my parents thought maybe I was too fat to demonstrate crawling (see picture six – I couldn’t crawl up to a chair). I thought the main reason for not crawling was that I often played with older children in our community. Since I am able to see many â€Å"role models†, it is likely that I learn how to stand first, thus skipped the crawling. The environmental constraints played an important role for me in the process of learning to stand, walk, and later running. The rate enhancer would be the opportunity for me to play with the older children, and to learn more motor skills from them. However, the rate limiter and organism constraints for not acquiring the walking or running skills would be the strength. Because my  mother was a housewife, she spent a lot of time taking care of me. She taught me how to stand by holding both of my arms first, to give me strength support (see picture nine). Soon I was able to acquire the standing motor skill, I can stand by myself (see picture ten). My parents then bought me a â€Å"walker† to help me learn how to walk (see picture eight). The walker was very helpful because it had wheels under the chair, I can actually go anywhere I wanted, just like a walking person. Around approximately ten-months old, I began to cruise and showed walking patterns. However, the rate-limiter and constraint of walking is my posture, because I have not yet obtained the upright posture for walking. It might be the fact that I wanted to play with the older children, and I was also able to see how other children walk, I showed early mature walking patterns at the age of eleven-months old. At this time, I was an independent walker with newly learned walking skills! When I first began to walk, I was walking very slowly, making short strides and put my arms up high to make balance. The primary rate limiters for not acquiring the upright position in walking were the postural control and strength. My body proportion was also a disadvantage to obtain the walking skills, because the proportion of my head was thirty percent of the body while my legs are only fifteen percent. I had heavy body and short legs, (heavy center of mass and light base of support) it would be hard for me to keep the upright postural control and balance for walking pattern. At this point, the environmental and task constraints would show more influences on the motor development. As I obtained the skill of independent bipedal locomotion (walking), I encountered movement problems. According to dynamical systems perspective, the degrees of freedom and context-conditioned variability are the problems for a new walker. If I was able to go anywhere I want, then I had the right of choosing where to go, or how to get to the desired place. However, the problems were solved from self-organization of the body system and the emerging of the constraints. The major rate limiters for not acquiring the running skills would mainly come from the organism constraints, such as the posture, strength and motivation. For me, I was motivated to learn those motor skills because I  wanted to play with older children. I was a fast learner also because my parents spent time and efforts to help me obtain the locomotion skills. Therefore, six months after I learned how to walk, I was able to run anywhere I want to go (see picture eleven). I have also developed manipulative skills as I learned to use hands to feed myself, and I was able to show better hand-eye coordination and movement. Fundamental Motor Skills Period The fundamental skills period began at the age of one, ends by the age of seven. In a way, this period of time would be a sensitive period to learn certain motor skills for later skillful movements. The fundamental motor skills period would be the building blocks for later emerging skills, and acquiring those skills were essential to later developing motor skills. Those skills were characterized as the phylogenetic skills, which are skills typical to individuals. Obtaining the locomotion and manipulative skills would be the fundamental and developmental process to obtain later movements. At this time, both fine and gross mother skills were beginning to develop. Those skills might not be maturational determined, and the arm and leg coordination were still immature. When I was a year old, I would throw a ball only using my arm movement, my legs and trunks barely made any movements. As I grow two more years older, I could demonstrate the pattern of block rotation, at the point where my body moved as one long axis. I would step my feet first, then put my arm backward ready to throw. My arm, leg and trunk have lined up as straight along the axis, and allowed me to have more power in throwing. Around the age of six or seven, I was able to demonstrate the differentiated rotation movement. My arms, legs, hip and shoulder would move separately as I began to obtain higher level of throwing. When I threw, my hip usually showed the first movement, followed by my shoulder and arms. At this young age, I had difficulties to demonstrate the locomotion skills of skipping. Skipping would be the latest motor movement for children to learn, not only because it had higher level of difficulty, but also it required the ability to hop on each leg sequentially. Older children would have no problem demonstrate skipping because they have better postural control, movements and coordination. Fine motor skills were begun to develop, such as drawing skills. When I was a one-year-old child, I would draw some scribbles on the paper, the outline and the shape of the objects were not clear to see. As I grew older, I showed more realistic drawings by making more clear lines, shapes and forms. I was also able to draw many different emotions on the faces and I used more variation in coloring my pictures. At the age of six, both my sister and I were interested to learn roller-skating. My father had brought two roller-skates for us, and we also took roller-skating class. It was really hard for me when I first started to learn roller-skating, and it was difficult to keep the balance. Skating is a complex motor skill because the arm and leg movements could not be in the same direction. My arm and leg coordination was also messed up, because I would always freeze my arms as I put it up high to obtain the balance. After many practices and countless falls, my sister and I have finally learned some basic fundamental skills of roller-skating (see picture fourteen). We wore kneepads because it was impossible not to fall, but we took them off as we were able to perform better in roller-skating. My father have also signed me up for a swim class, because he thought swimming was a very healthy exercise and it would help me to become healthier (see picture fifteen). Swimming was also a complex motor activity, while I tried to keep my legs padding in the water, the degrees of freedom limited me from doing any arm movements. Overall, the organism constraints dominated the development, the environmental constraints were influential and the task constraints organized the action. The rate limiter would be the proficiency barrier, the immature functional organism constraints held me back from acquiring the higher level of motor movement. Context-Specific Skills Period As I began to get older, around the age of seven to eleven, I reached the context specific period. The context specific period was characterized by the ontogenetic skills, which are skills unique to individual. Most children  at this period have obtained context-specific knowledge and experience to acquire their individualized skills. The context-specific period also represented a transition period between the attainment of the fundamental motor skills and the transformation into skillful motor performance. Because it was influenced more by the environmental and task constrains, motivation and parental support would be important to help children move on successfully to the skillful period. Organism constraints also played important roles, such as physical, social and emotional development. At this time, I have grown taller and gained more body weight. There were also changes in my cardiovascular system, the aerobic power increased because I was able to uptake more amount of oxygen at a time. The improvement can be seen from exercising, such as swimming. I was still at the swimming class, my swimming had improved and I was moved up to a higher level. In order to graduate from the swimming class, it was required for everyone to pass an examination by performing the swimming skills in a weekly competition. I remembered how nervous I was when I had to swim butterfly in the competition, I felt so relieved when I passed the examination and get the award. Because of the training from swim class, I had more swimming experiences and obtained better swimming skills. Swimming has also helped me to improve arm and leg coordination in the development of gross motor skills. At this time, both fine and gross motor skills have also improved. I was still in love with roller-skating, but I have also fallen in love with ice-skating. Once my friends asked me to go ice-skating with them, they were surprised to see my skating skills. I have never gone ice-skating before, but because I knew how to roller-skate, thus it was easier for me to stay balanced. I showed better skating skills because I had already obtained the gross motor skills needed for skating, the arm and leg coordination had also improved as I gained more skating experiences. During the winter of my senior year in high school, my uncle asked me to go skiing with him. I was a little nervous because I have never skied before, and also I heard that skiing was a dangerous sport. However, all those worries had gone away as I began to learn skiing. As my uncle taught me how to ski, he was surprised to the pattern of well-coordinated arm and leg movement, as well as my balance. I was still in love with flute, and I had also become a member of the concert band in my middle school. At this time, I am more skillful in playing flute. Because I have been practicing everyday, my fingers are also more flexible as I gained more experiences. As I practiced more, the perceptual and speed processing increased, which allowed me to read the music faster. During my last year of the school, our concert band was informed to attend a National Musical Competition. We were invited to go to Florida State for three days for the competition, which we had to play against ten middle schools in the United States (see picture sixteen). I still could remember that moment when the judge announced our school to be the one winning the first price, for a moment I thought I was dreaming. It was unbelievable, it was the happiest moment in my life, and all the hard work has been paid off. I felt so proud to be a member of our concert band, because I had also contributed my effort to win the price. My parents and friends were very happy for me, and they encouraged me to take more challenges. The environmental and task constraints are the rate enhancers to help me move on to the next skillful period, and I have also gained more confidence in myself. However, the rate limiter for not acquiring the skillful skills would be the proficiency barrier, because of the functional organism limitation. I have not yet obtained the skillfulness of the perceptual cognitive functioning, such as not having enough knowledge base and a slower speed of processing. Skillful Period The skillful period usually started at the age of eleven, the word â€Å"skillfulness† could also represent context-specific because the skills were also individualized. After winning the first price and gaining the recognition, I decided to devote myself into playing flute. My parents supported me, they have also asked a professional flutist to be my tutor. With the hope that I might be a professional flutist someday, I have been practicing two hours per day to improve my playing skills. It was the organism constraints that influenced my determination and persistency, because I was motivated go achieve the goal (see picture seventeen). The environmental constraint also played an important role during the skillful period. For me, not only because my parents set high expectations toward me,  but also we were in the middle socio-economic status where the money for tutoring was affordable. If I ever become a successful swimmer or flute player, I’d thank my parents for gi ving me the opportunities. I have also been consistently going to swim, and it had become my regular exercise every week. At this time, my father did not need to force me nor sign me up for a swim class, because I liked swimming as much as I loved playing flute. I would still go ice-skating with my friends, and I have also learned how to perform some tricks. My uncle would still take me up to the mountain every winter to ski, I was able to ski on a higher hills and under more complex tasks. For those motor activities, I know if I were able to be persistent to practice, it would enhance my knowledge and experiences and my performance would get closer to the professional level. From the dynamical systems perspective, self-organizing system and organism constraints have set a balanced, equilibrium and coordinated state in the individuals. Compensation Period The compensation period represented a time when a skilled individual is compensating for a change in an organism constraint. Throughout the life span, our motor skills performance would keep on improving. As we reached at the point where organism constraints took place to change, our motor skills performance would decline. It showed the adjustment of our motor behavior, and our movements might not be as skillful. Due to the changes in organism constraints, a person at this period of time was also particularly vulnerable in gross motor skills, because those skills required larger forces and aerobic efforts. Changes in organism constraints are due to the declines in the body system such as maximum oxygen uptake, stroke volume, or maximum heart rate. There would be changes in our fundamental motor skills, such as locomotion and balance. At this time, our walking skills and balance have declined and we became more vulnerable to falls and injuries. It is also because the decreased bone ma ss, led to the changes in strength characteristics of the bones. In addition, our auditory and somatosensory systems would not be functioning well; a person could suffer from hearing loss or loss of sensitivity. Changes in the environmental constraints would also influence an individual at this period of time. The lifestyle, societal expectations or socio-economic status would make differences on their perceptions and actions. At the compensation period, the declining of physical abilities had impact on individual’s psychological and emotional systems. A person at this period might lose the interests in doing their favorite sports, or change the interest or hobby. Other than obtaining an active lifestyle, the higher socio-economic status would play a role to help an individual at this period to live longer and healthier, because of the better medical care. Future Goals As for now and the future, I would keep up with the concert band in the University of Maryland College Park, and attend as many musical performance as I could. I would still take private lessons and practice one to two hours per day to get myself on the right track. I know my dream would come true if I could keep up my persistency and hard work. This could be characterized as my organism constraints, because I was self-motivated and have confidence at what I do. My uncle would still invite me to go skiing with him every winter, we have been great skiing partners. However, it was harder to keep up with the skiing skills at a certain level if you just practice once or twice a year. The environmental constraint had limited my skiing skills, if I were to live somewhere in Alaska, I would have better chance to be a skillful skier. I also would continue my swimming practices, because it would be hard to catch up the butterfly if I stopped practicing it. I know I would never forget how to m aster those motor skill performances, they have been a part of me. However, to reach a certain level of expectation and goals, I would still need my parental support and encouragement, as well as my persistency and practices.

Ford motor company Form 10-K review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Strategic management and some of its tools Essay

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Creating, Financing, and Marketing a Business Term Paper

Creating, Financing, and Marketing a Business - Term Paper Example The majority of businesses begin as sole proprietorships. These are owned by a single person who owns all the business assets and generated profits, as well as the liabilities and debts that the business incurs. It has several advantages: Easy and inexpensive to begin the owner is in full control and may make decisions on their own terms laws permitting, the owner receives all the income from business, the profits flow from the business to the tax returns of the owner and he can dissolve the business as he sees fit. Its disadvantages are that the liability is unlimited, and capital is hard to rise. Corporations are state chartered and are separate from its owners. It can enter contractual agreements, be sued, and taxed. Corporations do not dissolve when there is a change of ownership. Its advantages are limited liabilities and ease to raise capital, while its disadvantages are that it is expensive to begin and its involving ongoing paperwork. Cooperatives, on the other hand, are auto nomous associations, which involve people coming together for economic benefit. It is democratically owned and controlled by the members and is an entity on its own legally. Its advantages are the ownership and control wielded by its members and limited liability, while its disadvantages are slow decision-making and conflict risk among the members. 2. Identify the pros and cons of the partnership as a form of ownership. A partnership is the sharing of one business by more than one person. The law does not distinguish the owners and the business, just like a sole proprietorship. Its advantages are the sharing of risk among the partners and the sharing of business management duties. Its major disadvantages are the present risk of disagreement among partners and the shared decision-making (Groenewegen, 2009). 3. Discuss funding options for small businesses. There exist several ways in which businesses can be funded. They depend on what matters to the entrepreneur, the projection of fur ther incomes, and the options available (Groenewegen, 2009). Businesses can be funded by: Debt financing, which involves obtaining a loan from a bank with which the entrepreneur is comfortable with Equity; involves attraction of investors, which while meaning a drop in profits coming to the entrepreneur, helps in expanding business. Venture capital; involves the sale of business interest with a financing group rather than with personal investors. 4. Determine and discuss how managerial accounting can help managers with product costing, incremental analysis, and budgeting. Managerial accounting can help managers with product costing, incremental analysis, and budgeting. Managerial accounting refers to detailed data utilized by the company’s members (Russell, 2008). It includes turnover cost, employee benefits costs, shipping costs, and product costs among other numbers, which the company has available. Human resources can utilize the data on benefits and turnover costs to make determinations on the budget and give increased wages to avoid turnover of employees. The store manager can utilize data on losses to check if customers or employees are thieving from him or her and add any necessary security. If a manager was in need to determine the suitability of a product’s price, they could check the data on sales to confirm whether supply and demand is near equilibrium and thus make necessary adjustments. 5. Discuss the basic components of the

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Politics in East London - Research Paper Example This paper discusses the current political system and main challenges encountered by Hackney, Croydon, Tower Hamlets, and Lewisham. Response of the boroughs to the Alternative Vote (AV) The residents of Hackney responded differently to the Alternative Vote (AV) than the common response of the residents of the rest of the three boroughs of East London. While the residents of Lewisham, Croydon, and Tower Hamlets voted against the AV, only Hackney supported the Westminster Electoral system’s reform in the referendum of 2011. According to the statistics noted by Brown (2011), in the electorate’s 34.23 per cent turnout, electoral reforms endorsement in Hackney happened with a majority of 10,905. 39.32 per cent of the people voted against whereas 60.68 per cent of them voted in favor. A turnout of 35.9 per cent was observed in Croydon and most of the residents i.e. 67.01 per cent voted against whereas only 32.99 per cent voted in favor. The response from the residents of Lewi sham was much similar to that of Croydon as 50.65 per cent of the residents of Lewisham voted against any alteration in the First Past the Post system. In Tower Hamlets, 54.17 per cent of the residents voted against and the rest voted in favor of choosing a new way to elect Webminster’s MPs. According to the opinion polls, the No Campaign had received a victory across the country. This served as a blow to the Liberal Democrats who had been heavily defeated in the local elections and others who wanted a preferential system of voting. Comparison of severity of main issues in the boroughs London Poverty Profile (2010) drew a comparison between the level of severity in the issues of low income and benefits, low pay, low education attainment, ill health, and inadequate housing among London’s boroughs. According to London’s Poverty Profile (2010), of the four boroughs in the East London, two with the comparatively greatest problems of â€Å"low income and benefitsâ⠂¬  include Hackney and Tower Hamlets, Lewisham has comparatively lesser issues of low income and benefits whereas these issues are the least in Croydon. The issue of â€Å"low pay† is the most severe in Hackney, its severity is almost the same in Croydon and Lewisham, whereas low pay as the issue is the least severe in Tower Hamlets. The issue of â€Å"low education attainment† is the most severe in Hackney, its level of severity is lesser in Lewisham, whereas its level of severity in Croydon and Tower Hamlets is the lowest. The severity of the issue â€Å"ill health† is maximal in Hackney, lesser and almost the same in Lewisham and Tower Hamelts, and is the least in Croydon. The issue of â€Å"inadequate housing† is the most severe in Tower Hamlets, its level of severity is lesser in Hackney, it is even lesser in Lewisham, whereas the level of severity is the lowest in Croydon. Government-imposed cuts in public spending and its effects in the boroughs The Coalition Government in the UK is attempting to reduce the deficit in budget by bringing immediate and deep cuts in the public spending. The government claims of implementing progressive and fair cuts and of protecting the most vulnerable. Nevertheless, it is hard to make such reductions in public spending without having any negative implications for the most vulnerable communities. Hackney is the second most deprived borough in the UK after Brent and is likely to experience loss of money by as many as 6790 poor households as a result of the

See attachment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See attachment - Research Paper Example The quintessence of a modern man is presented by the poet while describing the loneliness and the hesitancy of the urban denizen, Prufrock. The apprehensions of a solitary man amidst the modern society are visible in the thoughts of Alfred Prufrock. Alfred intends to express his love but the thoughts of the modern society are so disconcerting for him, so much it prevents him from doing so. â€Å"Do I dare Disturb the universe?† (Eliot, lines 44-45). These words by Prufrock reveal his fears, when he compares his social circle with the universe. For him, disturbing the society with which he is not acquainted well is equal to disquieting the universe. How the society will react to his expression of love? This query is forestalling him from taking a firm decision. Another aspect that is perturbing him is his looks. He is worried by his appearance, according to which the modern society judges a person. â€Å"He becomes self- conscious of his appearance; his baldness and his lean frame.† (Matheikal 122). That is, he is under the impression or opinion that due to baldness and thin hands as well as legs, people wo uld not take him seriously and with attention. â€Å"With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—[They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!"]†. (Eliot, Lines 39-43)†. Thus, the modern man is more concerned about how the society perceives him physically, rather than his own views. Prufrock also behaves in the manner, expected from him by the society, without bringing out his own views. He is leading his life according to the expectations of the society. In an attempt to please the society, the modern man has become more apprehensive about his outward appearances rather than his true self. Prufrock also envisages himself through the opinion of the society, which is superficial, and in the process suppressing his identity. In the poem, the urban residents are so engrossed

Evaluation of Supply chain performance Essay Example for Free

Evaluation of Supply chain performance Essay The contents of the paper comprise the case study of ACTAVIS BULGARIA EAD Sofia’s supply chain performance evaluation. It is elaborated in the paper that supply chain performance evaluation is not a simple concept; instead, it pertains to various drives, environmental factors, needs, technologies, and other forces. Managers must keep on evaluating the supplier’s performance in order to provide the company with competitive advantage. The evaluation and improvement of supply chain is somewhat oversimplified.   How the results of the evaluation will enhance the productivity of company is also discussed. Outline of Paper: The paper focuses on the supply chain management of the Actavis Bulgaria company and covers the following main points: The importance of measuring the performance of the organisations supplies chain (upstream and downstream). Key performance indicators to assess the company’s suppliers have been used. Critical examination of the possibilities for improvements of the downstream supply chain has been undertaken. Importance of Supply Chain performance evaluation: With the increasing globalization the competition between the firms is also increasing.  Ã‚   The Speed of delivery is becoming a key indicator of supply chain success. The dynamic nature of current and future operations requires constant analysis of medical materieldown to the individual item leveltransiting this pipeline. The goal of a supply chain should be to maximize overall supply chain profitability. Supply chain profitability is the difference between the revenue generated from the customer and the total cost incurred across all the stages of the supply chain. Supply chain decisions have a large impact on the success or failure of each firm because they significantly influence both the revenue generated as well as the cost incurred. Successful supply chains manage flows of product, information and funds to provide a high level of product availability to the customer while keeping costs low. Measuring the performance of the supply chain is critical to identifying troubled segments, determining success, and assessing operational capabilities. Measuring performance requires a metric that measures the time from demand creation to demand fulfillment at the customer level. Average customer wait time: a supply chain performance indicator Army Logistician, Nov-Dec, 2004 by David R. Gibson http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAI/is_6_36/ai_n8704513 From the managerial focus, the performance measurement can be defined as the information regarding the processes and products results, that allows the evaluation and the comparison in relation to goals, patterns, past results and with other processes and products. Also, it is important to highlight that a managerial performance evaluation system needs to be focused on results, which should be guided by the stakeholder’s interests. Beamon Ware (1998) affirm that the adoption of performance indicators should deal with the following questions: Which aspects should be measured? How to measure these aspects? How to use the measures to analyze, improve and control the productive chain quality? It is noticed that this is not an easy task, once there are several indicators available and it is necessary to align the used measures with the involved companies goals. In this direction, Maskell (1991) emphasizes the establishment of a relationship between the performance measures and the company strategic objectives. According to Beamon (1998), previous researches indicate that the exclusive use of costs as a performance indicator is common among the companies. This happens because the performance measurement through a single indicator is relatively simple. It should be attempted, even so, to the fact that this practice can provide very superficial information about the reality. Beamon (1996) also affirms that the chosen indicators should present simultaneously, inclusiveness (to include the measure of all the pertinent aspects), universality (to allow the comparison under several operational conditions), measurability (to guarantee that the necessary data are measurable) and consistency (to guarantee consistent measures with the objectives of the organization). On the other hand, it is not recommended to simply discard costs as a performance indicator due to its importance. The alternative would be the adoption of multiple indicators, involving a cost combination with time, flexibility and quality, according to the company competitive priorities. Traditionally, the performance evaluation is limited to an isolated company or productive process. For an effective SCM it is necessary to expand these concepts beyond the company limits, involving all the supply chain players. It is necessary then, the development of a performance evaluation system embracing all the business units. This can be achieved through the adaptation of the traditional performance evaluation systems. Currently Actavis operates in the country split into two divisions Operations and Sales Marketing. Actavis Bulgaria Operations is a holding company responsible for the management of the three factories providing first class generic products, mainly for the Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian and CIS markets. The Sales Marketing division is represented in the country by Actavis EAD, a company registered under the Bulgarian law. It employs about 200 people and operates three warehouses in the country. Actavis EAD is mainly focused on marketing the Groups products as first class generics on the Bulgarian market, which is the third biggest market for the companys own brand revenues world wide. Following its strategy for a vertical integration on the Bulgarian market Actavis recently acquired one of the biggest local distribution companies, Higia. It is expected that the combination of Actavis strong portfolio and Higias strategically important foothold in the distribution of pharmaceuticals will provide a more direct route to the customers and also provide a stronger platform for future growth. Commercial entities licensed by the Ministry of Health for wholesale trading with pharmaceuticals. Due to the corporate structure of Actavis AD (Bulgaria), the wholesale companies are the end-users of the company, since Actavis AD (Bulgaria) does not distribute its products directly to pharmacies and hospitals but through its distributing companies (wholesalers) to which â€Å"to the market† sales are made. The value added by the distributing companies to the overall commercial activities of Actavis AD (Bulgaria) is defined both by the key position of our major partners in the whole pharmacy supply chain and by the ever improving logistics and warehouse capacities of the leading national distributing companies. The distributing companies are the company’s clients and at Actavis the customers are treated as a key to the company’s success†. The wholesalers’ role for the overall business of Actavis AD (Bulgaria) is extremely important also due to the fact that the key distributing companies (e.g. Commercial League, Sanita Trading, Kaliman) have developed vertical integration within the distribution channel, that is they own pharmacy chains. (Actavis, 2004) The generic pharmaceuticals industry is rapidly consolidating on a global basis with the key factors for future success being scale, geographic reach, product pipeline depth and access to low-cost manufacturing. The combination of Actavis and PLIVA achieves all of these crucial requirements and would create the third largest generic pharmaceuticals company globally, with the geographic scope and size necessary to compete with the largest industry players. Furthermore: * The two companies are a perfect fit which will enable a rapid integration process and create a business with a leading position in the key US, European and Asian markets and a robust portfolio covering the entire spectrum of generic and biogeneric pharmaceutical products. * PLIVA will become an integral part of the combined Groups growth strategy and benefit from increased investment and a strengthened infrastructure. Actavis plans to increase the number of employees in Croatia to generate stronger growth and greater success. Actavis intends to increase production and R;D activities in Croatia, which will ultimately lead to more jobs in the region. * The enlarged business will benefit from low cost manufacturing facilities, efficient distribution and enhanced supply chain capabilities. Actavis has a strong track record of being able to drive down manufacturing costs across the Group without impacting the employee base. * PLIVA will become the headquarters for a substantial part of the enlarged business, and at the same time benefit from Actavis global footprint and infrastructure. * Actavis will seek a stock listing in Zagreb to encourage ongoing support from the investment community in Croatia. * Actavis puts great value on PLIVAs Croatian roots and is committed to revitalizing the PLIVA brand and expanding its recognition in key markets. * Actavis has a high opinion of PLIVAs management team and envisages them playing a central role in the new company and sharing decisions regarding future strategy. 20. 04. 2006Actavis announces improved preliminary proposal to Pliva http://www.actavis.bg/en/News/Pliva+improved+proposal.htm Performance measurement of Actavis Suppliers: Supplier performance must be rated on each of these factors because they impact the total supply chain cost. Next we discuss how each factor affects total supply chain cost and how a supplier’s rating on the factor can be used to infer a total cost of using the supplier. 1.replenishment lead time: As the replenishment lead time from a supplier grows the amount of safety inventory that needs to be held by the buyer also grows proportional to the square root of the replenishment lead time. Lead-time performances by a supplier can directly the translated into the required safety inventory using equation 11.9. Scoring the performance of suppliers in terms of replenishment lead-time thus allows the firm to evaluate the impact each supplier has on the cost of holding safety inventory. 2. On-time performance: On-time performance affects the variability of the lead-time. A reliable supplier has low variability of lead-time whereas an unreliable supplier has high variability. As the variability of lead-time grows, the required safety inventory at the firm grows very rapidly. 3. Supply flexibility: Supply flexibility is the amount of variation in order quantity that a supplier can tolerate without letting other performance factors deteriorate. The less flexible a supplier is, the more lead time variability he will display as order quantities change. Supply flexibility thus impacts the level of safety inventory that the firm will have to carry. 4. Delivery frequency/minimum lot size: The delivery frequency and the minimum lot size offered by a supplier affect the size of each replenishment lot ordered y a firm. As the replenishment lot size grows, the cycle inventory at the firm grows, thus increasing the cost of holding inventory. For a firm using a periodic review policy, delivery frequency also impacts the required safety inventory. Thus, delivery frequency of a supplier can be converted into the cost of holding cycle as safety inventory. 5. Supply quality: A worsening of supply quality increases the variability of the supply of components available to a firm. Quality affects the lead-time taken by the supplier to complete the replenishment order and also the variability of this lead-time because follow-up orders often need to be fulfilled to replace defective products. As a result, the firm will have to carry more safety inventory from a low-quality supplier compared to a high-quality supplier. Once a relationship between supply quality lead-time and lead-time variability is established, each supplier’s quality level can be converted to the required safety inventory and the associated holding cost. The component quality also impacts customer satisfaction and product cost because of rework, lost material, and the cost of inspection. 6. Inbound transportation cost: The total cost of using a supplier includes the inbound transportation cost of bringing material in from the supplier. Sourcing a product overseas may have lower product cost but will generally incur a higher inbound transportation cost, which must be accounted for when comparing suppliers. The distance, mode of transportation, and the delivery frequency affect the inbound transportation cost associated with each supplier. 7. Pricing terms: Pricing terms include the allowable time delay before payments have to be made and any quantity discounts offered by the supplier. Allowable time delays in payment to suppliers save the buyer working capital. The cost of working capital savings for each supplier can be quantified. Price terms also include discounts for purchases above certain quantities. Quantity discounts lower the unit cost but tend to increase the required batch size and as result the cycle inventory.

Nestle Australia Is Food And Drink Products Supplier Marketing Essay

Nestle Australia Is Food And Drink Products Supplier Marketing Essay 1- Introduction Launched in 1867, Nestle Australia Ltd is a supplier of food and drink products. It also provides a wide range of dairy milk products, noodles in many flavors, chocolate, frozen meals and coffees. Besides, it provides a variety of cold and hot drinks, light ice-creams and a variety of confectionery and bakery items. Nowadays, Nestle Australia offers catering services to cafes, restaurants, hotels and clubs. Other products that we will put a spot-on in this report are yogurts, fruit yogurts, and flavored milk and yogurts. Nestlà ©s brands include Kit Kat, Nescafe, Nestea, Ortega and Crunch. Nestle provides also pets foods such as Purina. The company launched a joint venture with General Mills in more than 80 countries. (One Source, 2009) History At the beginning Henri Nestle has developed milk for babies who are unable to drink and to feed from their mothers, after five years this product was sold around the world as a food for babies and old people. In 1906, Australian market became the second largest market for Nestle and was served by many of retailers and sales agents. The best achievement in Australian market was in 1934 by the invention of new product MILO. (Nestle, 2009) Nowadays, this product is sold in more than 30 countries with sales of more than half Billion Australian dollar. In 1999, Nestlà ©s head office in Sydney became the headquarter for Oceania region which includes Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands. Principles and Values In the whole life of Nestle (135 years), Nestlà ©s basic approach to business was the foundation and the maintenance of long term values for consumers, shareholders, employees, society and community as a whole. Nestlà ©s major principal is to maintain a long term business improvement and development. (Nestle, 2009). Nestles major values are the following: Long term development Long term relationships Integration and reacting with different cultures The identification that customers earn information about the company besides the product that they bought Ethical values are basic requirements for our employees and senior line managers These values and principles have been translated into more than forty languages around the world, and it is must that all Nestles mangers should recognize and apply these values in their career lives, and these values are given by training to the new employees. Nestle Australia Nestle also is participating in the Oceanias community which is identified by its mixture and diversity of economic conditions, cultures, believes and tastes. We became a vital part in the community in which we activate as an employer and as a supplier to the local area. Besides, we were the leaders in many issues such as people health and environmental protection. As the largest food and beverage company in the world, we believe that we have a responsibility to customers and we are taking this responsibility seriously. We believe that people should live in a healthy style by doing sports, we are sponsoring many sports events and we are always encouraging people to get active. In addition, through our agreement with the Australian Institute of Sport, we are improving children to get their knowledge and to understand nutrition. Mission Statement When you read Nestles mission statement the following words jump to your mind: Research, good food, health and wellness. Our products bring to consumers the best tastes and pleasures. Research is the masterpiece of Nestles heritage and an important element for our companys future. We still know that there is some mysterious information about health and wellness had not been discovered yet, that is the reason that we are still searching for answers to bring Good Food for Good life. (Research. Nestle, 2009). Nestle Worldwide Today, with more than 480 factories and 265,000 employees in 87 countries in all over the world: Americas, Africa, Middle East, Europe and Australasia, Nestle is considered as the largest food and Beverage Company all over the world. Nestle Oceania in Australia, New Zealand and the pacific island is hiring more than 5,500 employees, with more than 20 factories and four distribution centers owned and managed by the company. Due to Nestlà ©s multinational reputation, and despite the tough market conditions not only in Australia but worldwide, and due to Nestlà ©s convenient place in Sydney and due to the high qualified employees and the brilliant companys strategy, Nestle dad been ranked number one among all food suppliers in Australian market in 2008 (Nielsen Report, 2008). In 2008, for Ice-cream, yoghurt and coffees categories, Nestlà ©s sales volume was more than AU$200m for each category. 5% Employees Turnover Rate More than 6,000 Brands and 10,000 Products More than 480 Factories in 87 Countries Over than 265,000 Employees Annual Sales more than 103 A$ billion World Leading Food and Beverage Company Nestle Figure1, Nestle Worldwide. Source: Nestle, Australia, 2009. 2- Situation Analysis 2.1- Internal Analysis Nestle Australia is considering the market leader in food and beverage sector in Australian market with overall sales more than , involved in more than 20 industries such as: Chocolates, yoghurts, ice cream, milk, dairy deserts coffee , confectionery and frozen meals. Nestle Australia has launched more than one hundred brands; Coffee Mate, Nescafe, Uncle Tobys, Nesquik, Maggi, Drumstick, Quality Street and Peters are only examples of Nestlà ©s brands in Australian market. Referring to Nielsons 2008 report, Nestle was ranking high among its competitors in ice cream, milk and yogurt fields which could be a very good indicator for launching our new product that we will discuss later in our marketing plan. Referring to the Retail Australias 2009 grocery magazine we will find the following: For Chilled Diary category, Nestle value share was about 14.2% in 2008 comparing by 16.8% for the previous year. For Dairy Desserts Category, Nestle value share was 25.2% comparing by 25.3% for the previous year For Chilled Diary category, Nestle value share was about 14.2% in 2008 comparing by 16.8% for the previous year. For Yoghurt category, Nestle value share was 11.8% in 2008 comparing by 15.8% for the year above. For Drinking Yoghurt, Nestle is not involved in this market yet, only the following companies are in this market : Yakult, Jalna , Bulla and some other small companies. As an overall trend, we could realize some declination for Nestlà ©s volume trend in some industries and categories. This decrease was a natural impact of the huge affect of the global financial crisis as we will describe in the next chapter .Due to this crisis, customers might buy some products instead of Nestlà ©s ones or they might even reducing their purchases for some items. 2.2- Macro Environmental Analysis (PEST Analysis) Economic After several years of flourish and high economic growth, The Australian economy suffered a lot in 2008, due to the huge effects of the economic global financial crisis. Australians GDP is declined; a reduction in job vacancies and a high rate of inflation, all these indicators could lead to an increasing in food and beverages prices See figures 2 3 for Australias GDP and Unemployment Rate in 2007, 2008 and Jun 2009. (GDP growth reached 2.7% in Jun 2008 comparing by 4.3% in Jun 2007) Figure2 Australias Unemployment Rate- Source: ABS, 2009 Figure3: Australias GDP Growth rate- Source: ABS, 2009 Social Despite the lack of confidence for Australian consumers, Australia becomes one of the most optimistic countries, as in 2008, Australia was ranking as one of the most confident countries all over the world with an index score 104, 20 points higher than the world average.. (Nielsen, 2008). Generally Retail growth in 2008, 2009 stays slow, and consumers became more carefully with their money, they spend more money for dining at- home like buying foods and drinks from supermarkets and they spend less money for out of home activities like cafes, restaurant and take-away shops. Despite the fact that supermarkets gained a good share with this new customers philosophy, total grocery sales have been declined in 2008. (Nielsen, 2008). The total retail sales growth reached 5.9% in august 2008 comparing by 7.5% for the same month in 2007. Comparing by 2007, the businesses such as cafes restaurants and takeaway Foods, had recorded the largest drop in turnover of 6.4%. One expectation of these supermarkets is Aldi. Customers preferred to go to Aldi due to the good prices in addition to the good quality there. Aldi, with share reaching more than 22% , had took many dollars away from huge chain supermarkets. Politics This part indicates legal and political situation in Australia. It includes: Taxation for raw materials bought overseas, employment laws, environmental regulations, political stability and competition regulations. . In my opinion, no other politics issues would affect the launching of our new product due to the currently stable politic situation that Australia is facing now, i.e. there is no war, no revolution or even no elections are affecting Australia at this moment Technological Besides the innovation and application of new technology such as the RFID (The Radio Frequency Identification) , the increase in price of raw materials and other supply chain costs could affect the launching of our new product. 2.3 Micro Analysis The Market If we take an overall view on grocery market last year. Referring to the 2008 Nielsen report we will realize these important following items: -An overall declining trend in grocery market, with sales growth 5.9% comparing by 7.5% as we mentioned before, which is a normal consequences due to the new situation; consumers tightening their belts -.Drinks and confectionery are only the two sectors that have achieved an increase in growth for 2008, with 3.3% and 7.5% respectively. -The largest growth achieved was in dairy sector by increasing more than 7.6%. The most important sector in this report is the Chilled Diary , since our new product( which we will discuss it in this chapter) is a sub category for the Chilled Diary part. In 2008, and despite the financial crisis, this sector achieved an AU$996.5m grocery value with an increase of 3.5% comparing by 2007. This indicator could be a high motivation for Nestle to increase its market share in this category (See Figure 4 5) Figures 4 5 : Australias Chilled Diary Market Corporate % Shares for 2008 2007 . Source: Australias grocery magazine, 2009. Referring to the above data, we could recognize that there is a large advantage for Nestle to increase the profit by investing in confectionery or drinks sectors, especially in dairies products. The Product Our new product would be categorized under the Drinking Yoghurts category. (We will discuss the product briefly in the next two chapters). The Drinking Yoghurts value market in 2008 reached a A$52.3m with an increase of 5.5% comparing by 2007. This market contains only 3 major companies; Yakult with 67.7% value share (The market leader in this category) Jalna with 10.6% value share Bulla with 4% value share And Private Label with 16.8% value share. Figure 7, Australias Drinking Yoghurt Market Corporate % Shares 2008 Source: Australias grocery magazine, 2009 After all the above reasons, we could conclude that there is a big opportunity for Nestle to enter this market and it would obtain a very competitive position among the other competitors. Target Market and Market Size In this market plan we will focus on: children, youths and adults which are the majority of Australian population. We will concentrate on both genders male and female and our market will be in the whole Australia and not in a specific city. Australias population at the beginning of 2009 was 21,644,000 persons. The children aged population (0-14 years) was about 19.8% of the total population and the working age population was about 67.4% (15-64 years) of the total population. (OECD Fact book, 2008). However, in our market plan, we will exclude the: 0-4 and 40-65 years population which means that we will try to attract from 50-60% of Australias population. Undoubtedly, some of the 40-65 years population would use our product. However, they will not be potential customers as the mentioned ones. 2.4. S.W.O.T. Analysis -Strengths Market Leader in the industry Good quality image and high brand awareness A high growth rate in the desired market A huge product lines Parent Support An international team working behind the plans achievement A very-well trained employees in all companys department A supply chain management to serve the whole country Weakness New market forNestle Unstable economic conditions: Decline in GDP growth rate and high inflation and unemployment rate. Customers are tightening their belts Exciting competitors Opportunities A huge market size An identified target market No large multinational size competitors Increase in sales and profits Increase in total Australias market share Increase in product line An opportunity to export the product to many countries around the world Threats Segments are shared by competitors Uncertain circumstances could affect our sales Misunderstanding of the product Poor advertising campaign due to the market conditions An unexpected drop in the confectionery and drinks markets. 3-Product Launch The product launch is the most important part of this market plan. As we discussed in the previous chapter, we are going to launch a drinking yoghurt product. So why did we choose this product specifically? If we take a quick view on Nestle share value in yoghurt and chilled diary industry we would realize the following: In Chilled Diary category, Nestle value share was about 14.2% in 2008 comparing by 16.8% for the previous year. In Yoghurt category, Nestle value share was 11.8% in 2008 comparing by 15.8% for the year above. It is very easy to recognize that Nestle is facing a problem in these above sectors for the last year. We all know that all companies now are facing financial problems and markets are unstable and nowadays many customers are tightening their belts. However, these two markets had an increase in their value rate for the last year with 3.5% value increase for Chilled Diaries and 5.9% increase for yoghurt products comparing by 2007. (Australias Grocery Magazine, 2009) Also, referring to the Australias Grocery Magazine, some of Nestlà ©s competitors such as Diary framers had achieved an increase in value share According to the above, Nestle is facing a small problem in this market, so how to solve this problem? The answer is including many possibilities. We could reduce our prices, we could increase our market share by an increase in production, and we could modify our advertising and promotion activities. In addition, there is another plan. We could enlarge our share in Chilled Diary category by launching a new product in a subcategory which is the Drinking Yoghurts. If we achieve this plan we could gain a higher market share, increase our sales and profits, enter a new market segment and finally we will gain new customers. The Drinking Yoghurt market is facing a good condition these days; by an increasing 5.5% in value share in 2008 with a grocery value reached more than AU$50m , which means that this market is gaining new customers day by day and despite the unstable market situation, the drinking yoghurt market is in a developing trend. Nestle is already producing chilled diaries, yoghurts and fruit yoghurts so many product lines are ready for the launching of the new product. Also, Nestle is already gaining a high-ranking in the grocery market, therefore all shipping, transportation, supply chain, deliver products to supermarkets could be handled easily. Yoogo would be the brand name of our new product. We will launch the product at the beginning with three flavors; Yoogo Mango, Yoogo Strawberry and Yoogo Apricot. After three years of market and sales observation, we will launch a new Light Yoogo, which will be Fat Free drinking yoghurt for people who care more about their health and lifestyle. Yoogos ingredients could contain the following: Milk, Skim Milk, Fruit Preparation; mango or strawberry or apricot, and approved flavors and colors. Undoubtedly, Yoogo would face a high competition when it enters the market. ( We will discuss this later in the next two chapters). However , the main competitive brands would be yakult with 67.7% and Jalna with only 10.6% value shares in 2008. (Australias Grocery magazine, 2008). However, Nestle could produce the product and gain a high position among these brands. (We will discuss this later in the next two chapters). 4-Market Strategy Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning To gain a desirable position among all competitors in customers minds, we will segment our market on two bases: -Demographic Segmentation Geographic Segmentation Demographic Segmentation We are targeting customers depending on their ages. As we mentioned before, we will focus on: children, youths and adults which are the majority of Australian population, we will exclude the: 0-4 and 40-65 years population which means that we will try to attract from 50-60% of Australias population. This is a very huge segment as we are focusing on more than half of the countrys population. Furthermore, we believe that any of these segmented people, with any sex, income, occupation would use our product as it is not a luxury product using by specific customers. Undoubtedly, we will vary our advertising campaign for each generation, i.e. the advertising campaign for children will be different than the youths one. Otherwise, we will make a small bottle for children (150 ml) and a large one for adults (300ml). Geographic Segmentation We will divide Australia as geographically basis to zones and each distributor would be responsible for each zone. E.g. We will divide Australia to five zones: Vic, NSW, WA, SA and Queensland Each company when launching a new product desires a high profit margin, large sales volume, high growth rate. However, we will concentrate more in achieving a long-run high profit and sales instead of the short-run ones. We believe that there are some requirements for effective segmentation: Measurability, Accessibility, Substantiality and Actionability. (Kotler et al, 2007) Our team will work hard to meet all of these requirements We consider that we will face a huge competition and we will face also the threat of substitute products. However, we will do our best to cover our market targeting by maximum three years and to be the market leader for this category in maximum five years. Our plan is to gain more than 55% of supermarket shelves in five years. We realize that this is a very hard mission, but we will try to achieve it by three main steps: Understanding our marketing segments- Maintaining an advertising and promotion plans- -Launching Yoogo with a reasonable price according to the company and according to our consumers.(we will discuss the price part later in Marketing Mix Strategy) Also, we will try to gain a competitive position in customers minds based on the following two concepts: Nestle Family Brand The Nestle family brand is showing care and safety to consumers and this is a very good reason to attract the customer. Communication Due to Nestlà ©s brand name, it is very easy to be in touch.with our customers 5-Marketing Mix strategy: Product Our product is a Fruit drinking Yoghurt with three flavors; Mango, Strawberry and Apricot. We will make two sizes, 150 and 300 ml. The gradients would be described as following: Milk, Skim Milk, Fruit Preparation; mango or strawberry or apricot, and approved flavors and colors (We had discussed the product more briefly in chapter 3) Price In launching this product we could use one of these two pricing methods: Cost- based pricing: Calculating the price by adding a mark-up to the cost of the product. (Kotler et al, 2007) Going-rate pricing: Calculating the price basis on competitors prices, with less attention to our cost or to the market demand. (Kotler et al, 2007) Value-based pricing: Calculating the price basis on buyers perception of value, with less attention to the sellers cost. (Kotler et al, 2007). In Nestle, we use the cost-based pricing method: Unit cost = variable cost + (unit fixed cost à · unit sales) Unit price= unit cost à · (1- desired return on sales) We determine our prices basis of the following objectives: Profit: For any company the most important issue is the profit earning, however, as we are launching a new product, we do believe that we will not gain a high profit margin at least for the first three years Consumer Satisfaction: The most essential factor when determining the price is our customers satisfaction towards our products and prices. Place We will divide Australia to 5 zones; Victoria, NSW, SA, WA, and Queensland. However, we will try to promote Yoogo everywhere, in every small and large city in Australia. Customers will find Yoogo in hypermarkets such as Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, in medium size supermarkets such as IGA and even in small supermarkets such as Seven Eleven. Customers would find Yoogo in cafes, restaurants, hotels cinemas and beaches. In addition, Yoogo is a healthy fruity drink, so you can find it also at hospitals. This plan is a little bit hard to be achieved. However, with the well-established supply chain management in Nestle and with the very good relationships with suppliers, retailers and resellers, we could achieve this plan within maximum three years. Promotion Promotion is the activities that represent the value of the product and encourage customers to buy it. In our marketing campaign and promotion we will tray to reach every body every where. We will do advertising campaigns in newspapers, radio, streets and television. Seeing that the survey research is the most widely method for collecting primary data, before launching the product we will perform a marketing survey research; we will go to clubs, streets and schools. Also, we will implement an online marketing research to collect primary data through online focus groups, using the integration of animation such as; audio, video and virtual environment would help us to overcome any limitations. We will try to select a sample of the population that has been selected, ask those questions about the product and the company and depending on the results of this research, we will implement our advertising campaign. We will support our promotion campaign basis on these four methods: A-Individual Selling: In this campaign, we will implement a direct selling activity especially during the summer months of November, December, January and February. Our team will go to club and beaches to meet our target segments there, they will wear t-shirts and caps with Nestle and Yoogos logos, and they will sell our Yoogos 150 ml bottle. By applying this innovative idea, we hope that our brand will get a great vision in terms of image, sales and brand awareness. B-Sales Promotion: Besides personnel selling, we will implement some sales promotion plans. At the beginning of the product launching, we will go to streets and malls, we will offer free 150ml trial bottles to customers, we will encourage them to try our product and to give us their feedback by email or even by phone. In addition, we will offer a 150ml bottle free with the purchasing of three 300ml bottles. Adding to this trade promotion, we will give the retailer an addition discount 5% during our sales promotion. Our marketing team will implement a major healthy and education campaign about the importance of the product, our team will focus on the concept that our product is a healthy one. Invitations would be sent to parents of school children to attend these seminars. This could help us to improve our brands image in consumers minds. C-Public Relations: Public relation is one of the most important factors in all multinational companies promotions. Every year, Nestle is launching its annual report containing information for shareholders and stockholders. In addition, a large amount of information regarding our product and our promotion would be found in newsletters and magazines issued by Nestle Australia. This promotion would obviously lend a hand in formation of the awareness of our brand.

Sherman Act And The Antitrust Movement Politics Essay

Sherman Act And The Antitrust Movement Politics Essay There are three main sections/provisions under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The first section prohibits specific anticompetitive conduct like the establishment of a monopoly. The second section prohibits deals that have the ending results that are anticompetitive in nature. These can be combinations in forms of trusts that lead to restraint of trade or commerce. The third section extends the provisions of the first section into US territories and Washington DC and it also states that people who are hurt by a business that breaks this act are eligible to sue for damages (threefold). The purpose of the act was to oppose the combination of entities that could potentially harm competition, such as monopolies. The Act is not clear because a trust is an older form of contract whereby one party entrusted another with its property. This did not encompass the owning of stock in another company. The courts also would put their own words into the act that the Congress did not actually write into the Act. There was too much room for interpretation of the act which made it inconsistent and not very efficient. The Sherman Antitrust Act was able to pass with only one dissenting vote even though the Congress was mostly comprised of Republicans. I believe it passed because the Congress realized what the snowball-effect of a monopolistic economy would have on everyone, especially consumers. Congress knew that if trusts continued a huge gap between the poor and the rich would develop. The monopolies could charge any price they wanted to and people would have to pay it. The Congress realized this and knew competition increases the quality of goods which would help the U.S. compete with companies outside the U.S. because the global market was forming during this time. The Congress knew that monopolies would stunt the expansion and growth of American industry and technology, which would hurt the U.S. against other countries. The nations view of antitrust regulation was that it would benefit all consumers because competition allows for better products and increased development. Businesses could not have a very big market share because that diminishes the ability of a new smaller business to enter the market and bring new ideas to the market. The nation and consumers want there to be competition because this lowers prices while quality of goods increases. It is a win-win situation for consumers and the American people. The liability of the creation of a monopoly should be the responsibility of the monopoly. The monopoly is creating the unfair trade and is able to control the price of goods. The consumers are the ones who are hurt in the end because of the monopolies. What was Roosevelts analysis of the trust problem? What role should government play in resolving this problem and why? How should it do this? What should it not do? Roosevelt became president in 1901 and had a plan that was between the Republican Laissez Faire policies and the Socialist policies. Roosevelt was able to gain the respect of the public, even though they didnt want big government, because the trusts were growing in numbers and power. Roosevelt never opposed giant corporations because of their sheer size though. He believed that big corporations were more efficient than smaller ones, but believed that competition among these big corporations in the same field would be dangers and wasteful. Roosevelt felt that these large companies should be allowed to combine and cooperate, but they should not be allowed to use their size or power to oppress smaller producers and consumers. Roosevelt wanted to neutralize the power of the great corporations and he supported measures to extend the control of the federal government over the national economy. Roosevelt supported the creation of the Bureau of Corporations (1903), which investigated busines s practices of corporations and other businesses. Roosevelt argued that only an acting and strong government could bring control to big business and there should be different standards for bad trusts and good trusts. I believe government need to regulate big businesses like Roosevelt. A business should be able to be as big as it wants with acquisitions and mergers but it should not be able to control 100% of the market. If a company controlled the whole market then it would affect every consumer, probably in a negative way. The government needs to protect the consumer and put down rules that do allow a company to get very big but not own 100% of the market and have extreme pricing power. There needs to be at least a little bit of competition to give the consumers a better product, being price and quality, through competition. The government should not take control of big businesses once they acquire a large market stake through success because a company should not be punished for that. If though, the company raises its prices without reason or for no reason lowers its prices into an area of net loss to reduce competition or entry into the field they should be punished. How would you characterize the rule of reason and the dissenting opinion? What do you think has been the impact of this ruling? Chief Justice Edward D. White proposed the rule of reason in the Standard Oil Case of 1911. It was difficult to solve by proof whether the particular contracts, combinations, or trusts involved in each case is or is not a unreasonable or undue restraint of trade. The rule of reason is a circumstance test asking whether the challenged practice promotes or suppresses market competition. The rule of reason states that only combinations and contracts that are unreasonably restraining trade are subject to actions under the antitrust laws and the possession of a monopoly is not inherently illegal. A dissenting opinion is when one or more justices disagree with the majority of the Supreme Court. Usually the justice writes an opinion of why they disagree with the majority decision. The dissenting opinion is used to get the public attention and get the public to also disagree with the majority opinion. In the end, the dissenting judge hopes that the Court will reconsider its decision and over turn it. I would then characterize these two to be amendments to the antitrust laws that were already in the forms of acts. The dissenting opinion lets a judge get there opinion out to the public and helps the public more of decide what is right and what is wrong in a judicial case, even if the case does not get overlooked again. I believe the rule of reason does not add that much to the antitrust laws. I believe it lets there be more interpretation and this would then differ from judge to judge. Along with that I believe judges should be able to go against the majority ruling and show their opinion and support it with facts. The public needs to know both sides and they then can decide on their own. The majority decision is not always correct so by there being dissenting opinions more people hopefully will see the correct side and the court could then overturn the result. How did Wilson view the problem of big business and antitrust? What role did he see for government and why? What did he see as the limits to involvement by the government? Wilson was even more outspoken against the trusts than Roosevelt. Unlike Roosevelt, Wilson did not believe in government regulation of big businesses. Wilson wanted to use the antitrust laws to break up monopolies to restore competition, make businesses more efficient, and create a new type of individualism that had before made America a powerful nation. Wilson said, If monopoly persists, monopoly will always sit at the helm of government. I do not expect monopoly to restrain itself. If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the U.S., they are going to own it. Wilson also said that monopolies are not inevitable and if they were, then the government would have to take hold of monopolies and regulate them. Monopolies, not being inevitable, then there have to be laws to break them up and prevent them from forming again. Wilson does not believe that these big combinations are inevitable and says he can prove they are not by the process of how they were started. Wilsons believes that it was the old form of competition that enabled these men to create their monopolies, so there has to be new systems established to stop it from happening again. Wilson believed that the government may not be able to control monopolies but can regulate competition. It is a criminal law of the U.S. for a company to go into a community and sell below cost for no other purpose than to squeeze out a competitor. Also, Under Wilsons administration the Federal Trade Commission and the Clayton Antitrust Act were passed in 1914. Both of these new developments greatly strengthened the ability of the government to control corporations. The Clayton Antitrust Act made it illegal for directors of one corporation to be directors of another corporation in the same field which reduced the ability for trusts to be created. What was Debs analysis of the problem of big business? What role did he see for government in regulating big business and why? As a Socialist, what did he suggest should be the workers view of antitrust and regulation? How do you think he, as a Socialist, viewed big business and bigness, per se? Eugene Debs believed that big business took away from the work of the working class. Debs believed that the workers should own and control their own jobs and not be at the mercy of the big businesses. Debs said that big business controlled the work environment and destroyed advances and innovations that would help the workers. Debs wanted people to think the only way to overcome big business and the capitalist class was to overthrow it. Debs had a very strong belief in unions and the power of the workers also. When the owners of the trust finance a party to put themselves out of business; when they turn over their wealth to the people from whom they stole it and go to work for a living, it will be time enough to consider the merits of the Roosevelt Progressive Party explained Debs, that only when big business was destroyed would be the time for a progressive party. Debs did not really want the government to regulate big business; he wanted the unions/workers to regulate the businesse s they were a part of, so the power would be with the unions. He wanted the workers to get past big business and form unions to take control. Being a socialist, Debs would agree with how socialism is an attempt to bring social organization, especially in the form of unions. From this social organization comes a new level of technology and progress which can then be fully taken advantage of. Capitalism and big business concentrates power and wealth within small segments of society that controls the means of production and derives its wealth through a system of exploitation, under the socialist point of view. Socialists do not want big business because power is located narrowly and the workers are more like slaves. What is the role of the Federal Trade Commission? What powers does it have that are new for antitrust law? How does it resolve some of the problems of Sherman Act antitrust activity? What is required to make it work? How did the Clayton Antitrust Act affect the enforcement of the Sherman Act? The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. The mission of the commission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of harmfully anti-competitive business practices such as monopolies. The Federal Trade Commission had the power to investigate and prevent deceptive trade practices. If there were unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts affecting commerce they were illegal. This commission helps solve some of the ambiguous content that was in the Sherman Antitrust Act. Now the commission has the specific reason to act on anyone who is affecting the consumers or commerce. For the act to work, it is necessary for a company to be doing something inherently anti-competitive. This can also be interpreted so there is again misinterpretation. The company does not have to be a monopoly for this act to affect the company also. The Clayton Act was established in 1914 and it was established to prevent anti-competitive practices in the start up or beginning of anti-competition. There are four principle changes that affect the Sherman Antitrust Act from the Clayton Act. The first, price discrimination between different purchasers, if discrimination substantially lessens competition or tends to create a monopoly, is illegal. The second, sales where the buyer cannot go to different suppliers or where competition is lessened, is illegal. The third, mergers and acquisitions where the affect may substantially lessen competition is illegal. The Clayton Act also allows greater regulation of mergers since it does not require a merger-to-monopoly before a violation. The fourth is that any person cannot be the director of two or more competing corporations. The Clayton Act helped strengthen what was written in the Sherman Antitrust Act with these provisions. Why were there so few convictions under the Sherman Act early on? What changed and why? What types of firms/industries were charged during the 1920s? Why has the prosecution of antitrust violations ebbed and flowed in American history since the beginning of the twentieth century? At first, there were not many convictions under the Sherman Antitrust Act. This is because there was a very loose interpretation of the Act and the Act was not very clear. The Act, only being a few paragraphs, let there be a lot of room for the monopolies and corporations to interpret and present what they defined the rule/Act as. There were few convictions also because of the intense political pressure from the trusts and with the loose wording of the Act. The trusts pointed out that the Sherman Antitrust Act failed to define such key terms as combination, conspiracy, monopoly and trusts. Also, there was narrow judicial interpretation as to what constituted trade or commerce among the states. Five years after its passage, the Supreme Court in effect reduced the Sherman Antitrust Act in the US vs. EC Knight Company in 1895. The Court ruled that the company had not violated the Act despite the fact that it controlled approximately 98% of the whole market place for that sugar industry. The court explained that the companys control of manufacturing did not constitute control of trade. The standard that emerged from this decision applied a two part test to determine if a company was set up to have monopoly power. First, the company must possess monopoly power in its market and second, it must have improperly used acts to gain power or protect their power as a monopoly. In 1920, the US Supreme Court relaxed antitrust regulations so that only unreasonable restraint of trade through acquisitions, mergers, and predatory pricing constituted a violation. Under Herbert Hoover in the 1920s, the government promoted business corporations and this continued with Calvin Coolidge who had a hands-off policy towards businesses. In the 1920s the companies that were charged were not just companies that were massive; it was mostly smaller businesses that were charged. Throughout history the Sherman Antitrust Act kept getting redone with the new acts and commissions that backed up and helped find trust companies. The prosecutions of new companies was able to flow because of these new acts that came about to revise the original Sherman Antitrust Act. When people had been able to find holes in the Sherman Antitrust Acts, these new Acts were there to help patch up those holes and let the process of trust busting continue. Looking at the case against Microsoft, has the efficacy of antitrust law been reduced? In the United States vs. Microsoft case Microsoft was being accused of abusing monopoly power on Intel based computers in its use of the Windows OS and web browser integration. The issue was whether Microsoft was allowed to bundle Internet Explorer browser with its Windows OS. Microsoft stated that the merging of the two was the result of innovation and competition and that the two were the same product. In the final settlement, Microsoft had to prevent from engaging in predatory behavior or other acts that might diminish the ability for another product to enter the market. I do believe the efficacy of the Act has been reduced, I believe it is less trusted now. With this case the government got into the regulation of computer technology which could hinder the progress as a result and many people do not like the idea of a big government. In this case Microsoft was said to just get a slap on the wrist because they were not really punished. I believe they did not do anything wrong, Internet Explorer was part of the Windows OS and people who bought the OS were expecting to have a browser packaged with it. There would be no point for Microsoft to put a third party browser on their Windows OS because they built it. The OS is theirs and they have full rights to whatever goes into the OS and, therefore; they should be allowed to put their own browser integrated into the software. I believe the antitrust law needs to be redefined and the old law is looked down upon because it can be interpreted in various ways. How did the success of antitrust law after 1900 affect the growth of oligopolies in the economy? Growth of oligopolies was greatly diminished because acquisitions and mergers of smaller companies into bigger ones were reduced because of the laws. US Steel in 1901 had 62% of the market share and then in 1920 it only had 40% of the market share. The American Can Company in 1901 had 90% of the market share and by 1912 it was significantly reduced to 50% of the market share. Even though this is just showing one company from an industry it still shows that the laws were effective in breaking the companies down into smaller companies. These laws helped reduce the amount of oligopolies being constructed the same way it broke down monopolies and other oligopolies. The laws have diminished the amount of trusts between companies but there are still companies today that try to get around them. There are many companies who have been convicted of price fixing with their competitors to reach a higher level of market price, which in turn hurts the consumers. For example, Dow Chemical, Dupont, and Bayer, the biggest companies in the chemical industry, were price fixing in the early 21st century and there are still premonitions that they are still doing it today. The Acts have diminished the growth of oligopolies but then again people always will try to get around the law to increase their benefits.

case summary of benefits of team work :: essays research papers

Benefits of teamwork: 1.http://nadabs.tripod.com/team/html Author: Nada AbiSamra. Teams outperform individuals because teams generate a special energy. This energy develops as team members work together fusing their personal energies and talents to deliver tangible performance results. There are number of benefits for team work. Among them are: a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Distributing the workload b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reinforcing individual capabilities c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Creating participation and involvement d)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Making better decisions e)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Feeling like we play a part in the work being done. f)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Generating a diversity of ideas, etc. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publisher: HRZone.com Author: Sue Campbell Work teams are essential to organization success. The following benefits are described briefly. a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Job satisfaction: People who prefer group work are more satisfied with group work. b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Higher work group productivity: People working in groups are more productive when tasks require working together and when rewards are related to group success. Groups that had both integrated work and members on their team who had a high preference for group work had high productivity even when rewards were not group based. c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Brains and ability – higher GPAs Jason D. Shaw, Michelle K. Duffy and Eric Ms. Stark, Interdependence and Preference for Group Work: Main and Congruence Effects on the Satisfaction and Performance of Group Members, Journal of Management 2000 Vol. 26 No. 2 pp. 259-279 3.Aircraft Maintenance Technology / March 1998 Issue.http://www.greyowl.com/articles/teamwork_article.html This article talks about how teamwork is the foundation in the aircraft industry. How aircraft technicians have to depend on co-workers when a new aircraft is being developed and how important it is for them to get along as a team. The article talks about how to be a team player. How teamwork not only creates safety but efficiency.

The Success of the Simpsons Essay examples -- essays papers

The Success of the Simpsons The Improbable Long-Term Success of The Simpsons When examining the history of modern prime-time television, there is a certain pattern that virtually every successful show inevitably falls into. After a period of initial success, perhaps lasting three or four years, the writing on the show becomes stale by using the same format and same jokes over and over. The viewing audience becomes bored, and eventually, the show fades into television oblivion. Or, as Jeff MacGregor states in The New York Times, â€Å"Historically†¦(successful shows) collapse under the weight of their own complacency, hanging on for a few lifeless seasons while the producers wait to cash out their millions and move to Maui.† Based on this premise, it would seem that â€Å"The Simpsons,† an animated series that debuted in 1987 as thirty second segments on â€Å"The Tracey Ullman Show,† should have worn out its welcome long ago. However, â€Å"The Simpsons† is still going strong today. The secret to the show’s success lies in its producers’ ability to understand the expectations of the television audience and the culture that surrounds them. This understanding, combined with â€Å"wry sarcasm, topical themes, and superb scripting that puts most other comedies to shame,† as well as some old-fashioned slapstick comedy, makes â€Å"The Simpsons† one of the most popular programs in television history. The show is often complex and highly intellectual, while remaining funny at the most basic levels. As Jim Gleeson states in The College Tribune, â€Å"The show is rare in rewarding attention to detail, with especially obscure references that†¦ even if you had never heard of†¦you would still laugh, giddy with the crafted sleight of it all.† This fact that the show works on several levels at once draws a generationally diverse fan base. The adults are attracted by the surprisingly sophisticated dialogue, while the children enjoy the clumsy antics of Homer and the traditionally â€Å"cartoonish† aspects of the program. An example of a multidimensional scene occurs in the episode where Marge, the mother of the Simpson family, starts a crusade against campaign violence. Maggie, the baby, is mesmerized by an â€Å"Itchy and Scratchy† cartoon show in which the mouse pummels the cat over the head with a sledgehammer. Later in the episode, Maggie imitates the actions of the mouse by hitting her fathe... ... theory suggests that the success of â€Å"The Simpsons† is a consequence of television history, and could not have taken place if the show had originated twenty years earlier. The medium of television needed time to build up complexity and diversity, so that the show could virtually redefine what is expected of a television program. Based on this theory, â€Å"The Simpsons’† effect on television is similar to the Beatles’ effect on music. The theory predicts that the show will continue on until, just like the Beatles, they have nothing left to do. At its current pace, â€Å"The Simpsons† seems like it could go on forever. The show is continually progressing and perhaps funnier than ever. The writers are further developing the characters with each passing episode, and the show’s possibilities, for the time being, seem limitless. It is difficult to explain exactly what the allure of the show is, but at the core its most appealing characteristic is that it is simply funny. From the simple pleasure of watching Homer fall flat on his face to the most obscure reference imaginable, â€Å"The Simpsons† continues to entertain over a decade after its conception and shows no signs of slowing down.