Nike Vs. Under Armour - 941 Words

Nike and Under Armour are two of the biggest brands in the active wear industry. Fitness goers of all ages and genders are passionate users of their sports gear and athletic clothes. Two print advertisements from Under Armour and Nike will be analyzed based on the way they use goals to captivate the viewers attention and elicit an emotion to persuade the viewer to buy their athletic wear. In a world that is quickly becoming aware of its health problems consumers are becoming more aware of fitness brands and their advertisements. People are taking an active stand in achieving their fitness aspirations and doing so with the best equipment available. Nike’s famous â€Å"Just do it† slogan has been a boost for the company’s reputation and notoriety, by setting it a part from other brands. The two advertisements from Nike and Under Armour are representations of current consumer ambitions towards fitness. Since their products promote the goal of having an active and fi t lifestyle it is clear that the advertisements are targeting young women who are interested in getting involved in working out. The audience is young women due to the use of women in the advertisements. It is easier for a viewer to feel connected to an image when they see someone that is similar to them portraying their goals. If a viewer sees someone similar in age to him or her trying to achieve the same goal they have, they will be more motivated to go after the goal themselves. This is the way Nike and UnderShow MoreRelatedNike vs. Under Armour Essay2943 Words   |  12 Pagesindustry are the companies in? Nike; one of the most well known companies across the globe today is most known for being the world’s #1 shoemaker. They design and sell shoes for a variety of sports including baseball, golf, tennis and football. Nike also sells dress and casual shoes as well as athletic apparel and equipment for almost every sport imaginable. In addition Nike also operates NIKETOWN shoe and sportswear stores, factory outlets along with Nike women shops. One of Nike’s biggest competitorsRead MoreUnder Armour4190 Words   |  17 PagesSensitivity analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...27 Graphs/ Plots Net income (loss) by year†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦28 Free cash flow by year†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..28 Written Report Executive Summary Executive Summary Introduction of the Firm Under Armour (UA) was incorporated on July 1, 1996; producing and distributing performance apparel and footwear for athletes of all ages. The brand engineered a fabric that enhances performance and comfort through its â€Å"moisture wicking† fabrications that helpsRead MoreUnder Armour2716 Words   |  11 PagesUnder Armour, Inc. : Company History In 1996, as a football player at the University of Maryland, Kevin Plank grew tired of the cotton t-shirts he was provided becoming soaked with sweat and rain, impeding his ability to move fluidly as a special-teams player for the Terrapin football team. Knowing that cycling outfits and football under shorts were made with a moisture-wicking synthetic fabric, Plank believed it possible to make a t-shirt out of such material. He observed the content label ofRead MoreCrocs Analysis1872 Words   |  8 Pagestrailing 1 in 2007 (Exhibit 6), which is in the range of primarily apparel average, $44.06 (Exhibit 5). When comparing this ratio to the competing companies Zumiez is the closest at $44.49 with the next closest being Deckers with a PE ratio of $30.90. Under Armour has higher PE of $61.09 (Exhibit 5) to Crocs and can be considered as third comparable company. The next valuation multiple is enterprise value (EV) to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Crocs EV to EBITDARead MoreEssay on Under Armour strategic report9937 Words   |  40 Pagesï » ¿ Under Armour- Executive Analysis. Tom Rhoads BUS 450 Strategic Management Douglas Helmer Warner Pacific College August 5, 2012 UNDER ARMOUR REPORT SITUATION ANALYSIS The following analysis consists of forward –looking statements concerning: 1)Economic conditions 2)Cultural, Social Demographic Issues 3) Political and Legal issues 4)Geographical and Environmental issuesRead MoreCrocs, Inc. Case Study Report Essay2078 Words   |  9 Pagesappropriate valuation multiple for Crocs, Inc. †¢ †¢ Selected peer group based on industry, business and financial characteristics Included explosive growth stocks such as Lulelemon Under Armour having similar prospects for growth and ROIC as Crocs, Inc. and some mature, stabilized businesses with stable industry growth rates – Nike, Deckers Timberland. This mix will help us provide valuation from an aggressive sales growth and maturing sales context. Some characteristics used in selection include – oRead MoreNike Imc Campaign4712 Words   |  19 PagesAdvertising and Public Relations | | Executive Summary Best known for their â€Å"Just do it† branding, Nike was founded in 1955 by an athlete named Phil Knight who ran track for Bill Bowerman. Originally starting as a footwear distributor for a company known today as â€Å"ASICS†, the founders of the company decided to take a different approach to their business. When they launched their Nike line, they realized that having an athlete endorse their shoes would be a great way to reach out to the worldRead MoreAdidas Marketing Plan20768 Words   |  84 PagesAdidas†©has†©been†©around†©since†©1924†©and†©has†©grown†©to†©be†©one†©of†©the†©top†©companies†©in†© providing†©a†©variety†©of†©high†©quality†©products†©to†©consumers†©interested†©in†©sports.†©It†©is†© currently†©the†©number†©two†©brand†©in†©the†©sporting†©goods†©industry,†©trailing†©its†©main†© competitor†©Nike.†©Adidas†©has†©a†©strong†©focus†©on†©both†©performance†©and†©style,†©as†©opposed†©to†© Nike’s†©more†©pure†©performance†©emphasis.†©Adidas†©is†©currently†©surviving†©in†©its†©market†©but†© has†©many†©barriers†©holding†©it†©back†©from†©becoming†©a†©more†©dominant†©and†©thriving†©company.†©Read MoreStrategic Analysis of Nike8813 Words   |  36 Pages------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS 1. Introduction 4 2.1. Vision amp; Mission 4 2.2. Company Portfolio 4 2.3. Nike Value Chain 6 2. Environment Analysis 3.4. Remote Environment Scan 7 3.5. Industry Environment Scan 10 3.6. Business Environment Analysis 11 Read MoreAdidas Marketing Plan20779 Words   |  84 PagesAdidas†©has†©been†©around†©since†©1924†©and†©has†©grown†©to†©be†©one†©of†©the†©top†©companies†©in†© providing†©a†©variety†©of†©high†©quality†©products†©to†©consumers†©interested†©in†©sports.†©It†©is†© currently†©the†©number†©two†©brand†©in†©the†©sporting†©goods†©industry,†©trailing†©its†©main†© competitor†©Nike.†©Adidas†©has†©a†©strong†©focus†©on†©both†©performance†©and†©style,†©as†©opposed†©to†© Nike’s†©more†©pure†©performance†©emphasis.†©Adidas†©is†©currently†©surviving†©in†©its†©market†©but†© has†©many†©barriers†©holding†©it†©back†©from†©becoming†©a†©more†©dominant†©and†©thriving†©company.

Comparing Military Medicines Of Ancient Rome And Medieval...

When comparing military medicines of Ancient Rome and Medieval and Renaissance, a soldier in Ancient Rome had a better chance of surviving injuries than a soldier in later eras. Due to Ancient Rome’s outstanding medical innovations, their hygienic practices, precise surgeries and medicines. When discussing about ancient times a general assumption would be that people back then didn’t live a sanity life, especially soldiers due to them being in various battles and being afflicted with painful injuries. However, in Ancient Rome it was the opposite due to the development of medicine and military medicine during the Ancient Rome was the highest point it attained in the ancient world . The importance of hygiene was a big factor. They maintained their clean lifestyle with the use of complex sewer systems, supply of fresh water, varied diets, health inspections, regular baths, monitoring food supplies, sanitary latrines, cremation and camp walls; a Roman soldier lived almost five years longer than a normal citizen . A soldier’s wellbeing and cleanliness was very high maintained. Daily washing of equipment, bath and exercises were mandatory for soldiers, a healthy environment was needed to achieve such. Using the advice of Varro, whose theory of contagion is similar to the germ theory introduced in the 19th century, Roman forts and camps were never close to swamps and standing water , the Romans in fact designed buildings and roads so that rainwater pouringShow MoreRelatedAp World History Units 1-3 Study Guide Essay4374 Words   |  18 Pagesincreasingly worse over time 9. The division of the ancient people into social and gender hierarchies was first made possible by * Rise in agricultural production 10. Ethical monotheism was the tradition of the * Hebrews 11. Hammurabi’s code was based on the concept of â€Å"lex talionis† but the punishments were shaped by * The social standing of the accused 12. The Hittites who were the most influential ancient Indo-European migrants into southwest Asia are creditedRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pages1256 and the court of Alphonso the Wise, king of Castille, and exerted a considerable influence on Western magic thereafter. It is said that much of Ficino’s astrological magic derives from the Picatrix (see I.P.Couliano, Eros and Magic in the Renaissance, University of Chicago Press, 1987, p. 118). The Picatrix is mentioned by Johannes Trithemius in Book 2 of his notorious Steganographia (1500) and in his Antipalus Maleficiorum (c. 1500). One copy (British Library, Sloane manuscript 3679) passedRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesWineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman: Florence Luscomb and the Legacy of Radical Reform Michael Adas, ed., Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History Jack Metzgar, Striking Steel: Solidarity Remembered Janis Appier, Policing Women: The Sexual Politics of Law Enforcement and the LAPD Allen Hunter, ed., Rethinking the Cold War Eric Foner, ed., The New American HistoryRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesit wouldnt be logical to believe it. Why not? Here are three reasons: (1) Bombers cant fly to the moon, (2) no one is going to bust the national budget to send one there by rocket ship, and (3) there arent any alien-piloted UFOs that snatch military antiques. The principle behind this logical reasoning is: Use your background knowledge and common sense in drawing conclusions. The second choice is correct. From what else the friend says, you should be able to tell he was being sarcastic

Internet of Things for Transmission Protocol- myassignmenthelp

Questions: 1.Compare and contrast the OSI reference model with the TCP/IP networking model. Which one is more useful when working with and describing networks and why? 2. Briefly describe the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). What is the purpose of the ARP Cache. Answers: The similarities between the OSI reference model and TCP/IP networking model are- Both of the models consist of several layers. The functionality of the layers are almost same The both are type of reference model They both are protocol stack They both are conceptual models used for description network communications These are the major differences between the OSI reference model and TCP/IP networking model OSI(OPEN SYSTEM INTERCONNECTION) TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/ INTERNET PROTOCOL) OSI is a generic type which is independent of any protocol and works as a communication gateway between the network and users(Holappa, 2013). TCP/IP is based on standardized protocols. The internet has been constructed based around these protocols. It is a communication protocol which allows the hosts to connect over a network((Shang et al, 2016). It follows vertical approach. It follows horizontal approach. It has distinct presentation layer and session layer It does not contain separate presentation layer and session layer(Goralski, 2017). The transport layer assures the delivery of the packet data. In this protocol the transport layer does not guarantee the delivery of packet of data. The transport layer is connection oriented Transport layer is both connection oriented and can be also connectionless as well It has 7 layers It contains 4 layers The protocols are hidden in OSI model and can be easily replaced if the technology changes In case of TCP/IP the replacement is not possible OSI model does not fit any type of protocol TCP/IP has no issue in fitting to any protocol OSI is less reliable TCP/IP is more reliable ARP is acronym of the term address resolution plan which is an important part of IP networking(Jinhua Kejian, 2013). The ARP is defined as the protocol which is used for doing the mapping an internet protocol address(IP address) to a physical address of a machine that is identified in local address(Ancillotti, Bruno Conti, 2013). The most used protocol is now IPV4 which has a address of length of 32 bits. The Ethernet address which is attached to devices are 48 bit long though. This address is also called Media Access Control (MAC) address. ARP cache is basically a table which is used to keep a correlation between the MAC address of a machine and corresponding IP address. ARP cache accommodates ARP requests where a gateway has to deal with the sending of data packet within a local network(Tripathi Mehtre, 2013). The gateway uses ARP to locate the MAC address. The gateway may generate an ARP request, where the system will use information in the ARP cache to find the right connected device for a given address. Reference Ancillotti, E., Bruno, R., Conti, M. (2013). The role of the RPL routing protocol for smart grid communications.IEEE Communications Magazine,51(1), 75-83. Goralski, W. (2017).The illustrated network: how TCP/IP works in a modern network. Morgan Kaufmann. Holappa, M. (2013). Performance Comparison of LTE ENODEB OSI Layer 2 Implementations; Preemptive Partitioned Scheduling vs. Non-Preemptive Global Scheduling.Master's Thesis, Degree Programme in Information Networks. Jinhua, G., Kejian, X. (2013, January). ARP spoofing detection algorithm using ICMP protocol. InComputer Communication and Informatics (ICCCI), 2013 International Conference on(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Shang, W., Yu, Y., Droms, R., Zhang, L. (2016). Challenges in IoT networking via TCP/IP architecture.Technical Report NDN-0038. NDN Project. Tripathi, N., Mehtre, B. M. (2013, December). An ICMP based secondary cache approach for the detection and prevention of ARP poisoning. InComputational Intelligence and Computing Research (ICCIC), 2013 IEEE International Conference on(pp. 1-6). IEEE.

The Futiity of Prostitution Laws Essay Example For Students

The Futiity of Prostitution Laws Essay historically and which has many individuals reexamining the logistics of it. If prostitution is decriminalized it will become economically profitable and feasible for not only the prostitutes, but also western society as a whole. Without the 20th century western laws, which force prostitution underground, the profession of prostitution could become a clean and safe occupation. Prostitution laws are unconstitutional and deny the prostitutes what the American constitution allows them. Prostitution is an illegal act in Canada and large portions of the United States which, if legalized, would protect and benefit 20th century western society. If sanctioned, prostitution will become economically lucrative for the governments involved. The colossal amount of money spent each year on prostitute We will write a custom essay on The Futiity of Prostitution Laws specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now prevention could be spent on more urgent issues, which is exactly what the San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution found. The total costs accounted for in this report amounts to $7,634,750.00. Given the many areas in which we found that information is not available, or there are hidden costs, the over all expense to the taxpayer exceeds $7.6 million annually. 1 The San Francisco Task Force is a group of researchers, police officers, members of the San Francisco community, government officials and prostitutes, who frequently meet to discuss the issues of prostitution and to try to come to some solution. Although they may not always agree, two issues they are in agreement about are that the $7.6 million dollars would be better spent elsewhere and that prostitution should be legalized.. Robert Noce of Manitoba city council wants reform of the Canadian Justice System and he would like to see prostitution become worthwhile to Canadian taxpayers. Quite frankly, for anyone to suggest to me a dating or escort agency is just offering companionship is being quite naive. Lets not try to bury our heads in the sand and pretend nothing else is going on. Instead of pretending these establishments dont exist lets instead be logical about this and try to use the profits that we could be making, in a wise and useful manner. I think that the highest paying customers for prostitution is us Canadians, in the money we put into fighting this futile cause.2 Instead of putting millions of dollars into stopping this consensual act, the money saved and made from the legalization of prostitution can be spent on fighting child prostitution and coerced prostitution. These two crimes are becoming rampant across North America, but lack of funds prevents a serious effort from being made to fight against them. If brothels and prostitutes were to be taxed like any other place of business, millions of extra revenue dollars would become available to the Canadian government, for it to spend as it sees fit. Although the monetary concerns are overwhelming one of the most debated issues is the health and safety of prostitution. If prostitution were to be decriminalized, the profession of prostitution could become a healthy, publicly sanctioned place of business. Throughout history and throughout European cultures, prostitution has been legalized to decrease the spread of disease as historian Jennifer James reports. Beginning with Prussia in 1700, most continental European governments shifted their tactics from suppression of prostitution and sexually transmitted disease to control through a system of compulsory registration, licensed brothels, and medical inspection of prostitutes. Although medical techniques were primitive there was a noticeable decline in sexual diseases among prostitutes and their clients.3 European governments hundreds of years ago realized that since they could not fight prostitution, it was best to make it as safe and healthy as they could. Their efforts saved .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e , .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .postImageUrl , .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e , .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:hover , .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:visited , .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:active { border:0!important; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:active , .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u92c5b26a2abbad5d8a9039a5ff013b7e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Liberal Governments - Life For The Working Essayhundreds of lives and provided treatment to the prostitutes who previously could not seek medical attention without being arrested. A recent episode of 20/20 interviewed Joe McNamara, former police chief of Kansas and San Jose, and vice squad officers as they discussed the physical harm that anti-prostitution laws inflict JOE MCNAMARA: What were doing now is worse than prostitution. JOHN STOSSEL: The law makes it worse? JOE MCNAMARA: The law makes it a lot worse. It drives up the profits. It drives up the potential for corruption. It invites violence. JOHN STOSSEL: It is true that when the vice cops talk about the terrible things they see 2ND VICE SQUAD OFFICER: You see homicides. You see the narcotics. You see the assaults. JOHN STOSSEL: Theyre talking about things caused not by prostitution itself, but by the law. Because the law drives prostitution underground into the criminal world, where everyones hiding from the police. 2ND VICE SQUAD OFFICER: We see the black eyes. .

Understanding SWOT Analysis

Understanding SWOT Analysis To most business and management students, the SWOT (which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis probably looks and feels like an uninteresting scholastic exercise; it’s either the sort of thing instructors like to make students do to make sure they’ve actually read the assigned case study, or alternately, a good way to pad out an essay with a challenging word limit. Yet despite its deceptive simplicity and its age – the method has been a staple of strategic planning and management textbooks for about 40 years – the SWOT analysis is still a very current and very useful planning tool for business, and well worth learning. What Is a SWOT Analysis? The SWOT analysis is attributed to Dr. Andrew S. Humphrey, who developed the method while working at the Stanford Research Institute in the early 1970s. SWOT can best be described as an environmental analysis tool; it combines an assessment of the company’s internal environment (Strengths and Weaknesses) with the relevant external environment (Opportunities and Threats). The SWOT typically takes the form of a 22 matrix, which allows planners to look at all the factors at the same time. Here is an example of a brief SWOT analysis, from a strategic assessment of a pharmaceutical company: Strengths Weaknesses Leading position in R D spending and organization Well-developed presence in global markets. Facilities are strategically dispersed to increase research volume. Testing processes are highly automated. Market reach and diversity help moderate effects of downturns in any one segment or market. Strong brand identity. Strong corporate responsibility images with the initiative to increase generic drug availability in underprivileged markets. Good financial position with respect to current assets liabilities: current ratio of 1.64, and acid-test ratio of 1.31. Less-than-ideal debt liability position High tax liability of 9.46%. Short-term debts greatly reduced in 2008, but long-term obligations correspondingly increased. Debt-to-equity ratio (at end of 2008) of 1.95. Opportunities Threats Consumer health issues are opportunities for new products High rates of vascular and heart disease increase demand for drugs to treat these conditions and their symptoms. Lower smoking rates increase demand for smoking-cessation drugs. Increasing obesity rates increase demand for weight-control drugs. Growing emerging markets, for example in Asia and Africa. Government support in the form of scheduled pharmaceutical price increases from 2009 2011. Strong generic drug competition in established markets, primarily the UK and the US. Mandated generic drug availability policies in large markets, for example, the UK and Brazil. Expiry of patents on some key products. Cautious or skeptical assessments from financial analysts can weaken investor confidence. Want to know more? Go here: Five Forces Analysis Critical Success Factors Analysis Critical Analysis Writing The ADL Matrix and Gap Analysis Advantages of the SWOT Analysis: The biggest advantage in using the SWOT analysis as a basic strategic planning tool is that it is an uncomplicated way to gather all the necessary information in one place; the methodology behind the SWOT is largely self-explanatory, and thus almost everyone in the organization can have input to it. This was the overall objective of Dr. Humphrey in developing it, as he was a champion of what he called â€Å"Total Action Management† (or TAM), an early conceptualization of what we know today as â€Å"flat† or â€Å"horizontal† organizational architecture, Total Quality Management (TQM), and the stakeholder approach to strategic planning. The SWOT analysis has an advantage over more complex and detailed environmental analysis methods like the PESTEL analysis because it categorizes the important factors – internal or external, good or bad. This can help the organization more easily determine which factors need attention. Finally, the arrangement of factors can help to identify other points that may have been overlooked; for example, an obvious threat from the external environment might reveal an internal weakness. Disadvantages of the SWOT Analysis: The biggest advantage of the SWOT analysis – its simplicity – is in some ways its biggest weakness; the analysis is only as good as the information put into it, and if key factors are not included, subsequent strategic planning can be adversely affected. One of the biggest flaws of SWOT analysis is not in the tool itself, but in its users, according to Professor Malcolm McDonald of Oxford University, who has called the SWOT, as it is taught in business schools these days, the SWAG (which stands for â€Å"Scientific Wild-Ass Guess†). The common problem, in McDonald’s view, is that many weaknesses and threats are generic and applicable to any organization’s environment – things like the threats of natural disaster, political instability, or poor global economic conditions – and are therefore not very helpful in planning for the specific circumstances of a particular organization and its market. The SWOT analysis is also not a stand-alone tool. It is an effective way to gather and organize information needed for strategic planning, but it gives no priority to the factors. In the example above, for instance, the various points are presented in a completely random order, as they were recalled by the managers helping to build the SWOT; beyond arranging the factors into their correct places in the matrix, the analysis by itself does not suggest which ones are the most important. Alternatives to the SWOT Analysis: In a regularly-cited 1997 article (â€Å"SWOT Analysis: It’s Time for a Product Recall,† Long Range Planning, Vol. 30, February 1997) authors Terry Hill and Roy Westbrook argue that the SWOT analysis produces ineffective results so often – largely due to the SWAG factors described by Professor McDonald – that it ought to be scrapped altogether. To compensate for some of the method’s shortcomings, variations of the SWOT analysis such as the POWER SWOT, the TOWS analysis and the Defensive/Offensive Evaluation (DOE) have been developed in recent years. These variations add depth and detail to the standard SWOT analysis and are valuable tools in the strategic planning toolbox. The traditional SWOT analysis, however, remains important for management studies even if its capital as a real-life assessment tool may be a bit diminished these days because it is the basis for more advanced and complex tools that followed. Understanding the SWOT not only makes i t possible to use this very simple tool to its full advantage but provides a necessary background for learning and applying more sophisticated strategic planning tools. offers professional academic writing services since 2005. In case you are in need of a paper on SWOT analysis, please feel free to visit our order page and our professional writers will be happy to assist.

Indira Gandhi Quotes

Indira Gandhi Quotes Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984. Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, a hero in winning independence from Britain, Indira Gandhi was also a follower of Gandhi in her early years. Indira Gandhi was elected Prime Minister in 1966, and her administration was often controversial. After using the military to put an end to a Sikh separatist operation, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh security guards in 1984. Select Quotations You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose. Actions today  mould  our tomorrows. What matters is that we should achieve what we set out to do.  (1977) Social change is brought about by those who dare and act, who can think unconventionally and who can court unpopularity.  (1974) My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition. Tolerance and compassion are active, not passive states, born of the capacity to listen, to observe and to respect others. They are founded on a reverence for life that shows itself in ones attitude to man and to the earth and to other creatures. This state of listening, observing, is to be alive; it is a state of understanding and it is the manifestation of a truly scientific mind that is mature with the quality of humanness. Ends may vary but means must be based on the acceptance of man as the  centre  of all quest. (1981) There exists no politician in India daring enough to attempt to explain to the masses that cows can be eaten.  (1975 interview with Oriana Fallaci) I would say our greatest achievement is to have survived as a free and democratic nation. Let us not allow ourselves to be oppressed by frustration or misguided by anger into  wrong  action which will inevitably increase the burden on the common man, undermine the very foundations of democracy and imperil the well-being and happiness of us all. But let our concern lead us to constructive effort, to hard work, to co-operation.  (1966) Our ancient philosophy speaks of right action. Lifes journey should be in quest neither of power nor wealth but of inner worth. The Gita says, To action alone  have  you a right, not to its fruits. We want progress, we want development, but in such a way that it does not disrupt the life of the area, the looks of the area, the beauty of the region and does not alienate the people from their own surroundings...  (1975) Martyrdom does not end something, it is only a beginning. You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. There are moments in history when brooding tragedy and its dark shadows can be lightened by recalling great moments of the past. Even if Indira Gandhi dies, her blood would spring from the earth and thousands of  Indiras  will emerge to serve the people of the country. I say so because Indira Gandhi is not the name of a mere woman but a philosophy which is wedded to the service of the masses. –the month she was assassinated, October 20, 1984 I dont mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation.  Ã¢â‚¬â€œthe night before she was assassinated, October 30, 1984. To bear many children is considered not only a religious blessing but also an investment. The greater their number, some Indians reason, the more alms they can beg.  (1975) It is not enough for a few at the top to reach outstanding ability. Performance at every level, even the very lowest, must be improved. All of us are part of the huge apparatus of the nation, the efficient working of which is dependent on the smooth functioning of every individual component.  (1969) Ability, and not class or community or wealth, should determine what education a child should have, what school he or she should go to.  (1966) The Himalayas have shaped our history; they have  moulded  our philosophy; they have inspired our saints and poets. They influence our weather. Once they defended us; now we must defend them. Our  defence  services are learning to know them and to love them.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹(1968)

(business)Minimum Wage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

(business)Minimum Wage - Essay Example Peter Jones in Rights contrasted the difference between natural and human rights1. The concept of natural rights is tied up in the idea where the citizens gave up to the governing body for the good of law and order and in return the governments protected and upheld within the law, i.e., Constitutions. Therefore the argument of natural rights has now become so diluted that it is no longer an effective model. Human Rights as theory admits from the outset they are intangible and not from nature, therefore one cannot empirically observe or measure them, as Margaret MacDonald2 criticized the argument from nature. Human rights, as described by Jones, are prescribed by the fact of being human and part of humanity3. It picks up on the egalitarian theory of equality, whereby human beings are equal and therefore are afforded these basic rights. The arguments for these rights come from arguments, such as self-evidence, human worth and moral worth. The basis of the core rights theorists is the work of Immanuel Kant. ... How does Kant argue that this is an all-encompassing ethic outside of societal conventions, without the aid of a divine being Kant argues that it is the individual's ability to reason and autonomous will that is the basis of his a priori argument. Shestack5 describes the basis of Kant's argument as; 'rights then flow from the autonomy of the individual in choosing his and her ends, consistent with a similar freedom for all... In short, Kant's imperative is that the central focus of morality is 'personhood', namely the capacity to take responsibility as a free and rational agent for one's system of ends'.6 This ethic was one of the most influential arguments for universal human rights, in response to Nazism, eugenics and ethnic cleansing, which can be illustrated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with words such as inherent, inalienable and equality applied to rights and the basis of these rights are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in world. Kant's theory is th e basis of the core theorists and has been very influential in the drafting of the 20th Century human rights treaties and legislation. However how do we measure what should be included in these universal rights The answer to this question is at the heart of this discussion for the international treaties and human rights legislation does not seem to be meeting the needs to fulfil Kant's ethic as Evans argued modern human rights law is too legalistic. This is a core rights theory, which purports these rights transcend statehood therefore automatically requiring the state to extend these rights to all individuals and arguably future generations. Rawl's, on the other hand, in his thesis for engendering human rights states that justice7 is the prime basis of all

Why did political parties form in the US Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why did political parties form in the US - Essay Example As Hamilton once said, â€Å"Its not tyranny we desire; its a just, limited, federal government.† The idea had support, but also had a lot of opposition. Many Americans felt that the creation of federal parties would make the U.S. like the U.K. which the hated. It is part of a question that has troubled billions of people since the dawn of time: how should a society construct itself to maximize justice and opportunity? Is a strong central government necessary to do so? There are as many theories as there are grains of sand on the beach, but some ideas over the years have been more popular than others. Some people believe in socialism and that everyone must be made equal by a very powerful central government, the tall cut down and the short pulled up; others believe in a meritocracy where those people who have talent and work hard are rewarded for their labours. These people believe the government should get out of the way. Considering how developed the U.S. is today, the latte r view should prevail. Thomas Hobbes is most famous for his book Leviathan. In it he argued that a â€Å"war of all against all† existed in nature and that people were mostly motivated by fear and distrust and that peoples’ motivations all conflicted with each other. The only way for order to prevail, Hobbes argued, would be through an absolute sovereign or strong central government. While there is certainly some truth to what Hobbes says regarding human beings, other political thinkers have questioned elements of his vision. Indeed there are several flaws in this theory, but it shows us that it is not possible for people to effectively work as a commune. That does not mean we need a dictator to control things, but it does mean we need a strong rule of law to protect individual freedoms. The rule of law is effectively the latter-day sovereign. It serves the same purpose: it protects contracts and business and

Explaining Basic Accounting Concepts and Business Structures Essay Example for Free

Explaining Basic Accounting Concepts and Business Structures Essay Explaining Basic Accounting Concepts and Business Structures I will explain the basic accounting concepts and business structures from the following topics: GAAP sources and hierarchy; Good accounting information using the qualities of accounting principles; Difference between Accrual based accounting and cash basis of accounting; Types of business structures and the features of each structure. 1. GAAP sources and hierarchy Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is the set of accounting principles, standards and procedures that companies use to prepare their financial statements. GAAP principles are the bases of financial reports and the guidelines of United States accounting practices. There are four categories of sources of GAAP hierarchy as follows: Category (A): FASB Standards, Interpretations, and Staff Positions; APB Opinions; AICPA Accounting Research Bulletins. Category (B): FASB Technical Bulletins (no longer issued), AICPA Industry Audit and Accounting Guides, AICPA Statements of Position. Category (C): FASB Emerging Issues Task Force, AICPA AcSEC Practice Bulletins. Category (D): AICPA Accounting Interpretations, FASB Implementation Guides (Q and A), widely recognized and prevalent industry practices. The category (a) of the GAAP hierarchy has a higher authority than a FASB Technical Bulletin, which is in category (b).The hierarchy is important because it gives the out layer for companies to search for the specific accounting transactions. For example, if a specific transaction can not be covered in category (a), then companies will turn to categories (b) for selecting and applying appropriate accounting principles, then (c) and (d). 2. Good accounting information using the qualities of accounting principles Good accounting information should be understandable. If no one can not understand the accounting information presented, it becomes useless to lose all of the other qualities. The good accounting information should be Reliable and Relevant. Reliability means verifiable, representation faithfulness, and free of error and bias. If the accounting numbers are wrong, there is no any meaning to use the information. Relevance means predictive or feedback value presented on a timely basis. The internal managerial accounting reports are different from the external financial reports. The relevant information is needed to prepare the different kinds of reports. The good accounting information should be Comparability and Consistency. The good information can be used to identify the differences and similarities between companies. The company consistently use the same accounting treatment for better auditing purposes. 3. Difference between Accrual basis accounting and cash basis of accounting The revenue recognition principle and the expense matching principle are two key elements for Accrual basis accounting. Company uses accrual basis accounting to recognize income when goods are shipped or services are rendered, and to recognize expense when it is obligated to pay it. On the contrast, cash basis accounting recognizes the revenue and expenses when the cash is received and paid. The cash basis accounting is prohibited under GAAP because it does not record revenue and expense when earned and incurred. It will misstate the actual income and expenses incurred and can not reflect the real business operation during the accounting period. 4. Types of business structures and the features of each structure There are three types of business structures-Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, and Corporation. Sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person. It is the simplest form of business ownership. The sole proprietor is in direct control of all affairs and entitled all profits and losses and is free to transfer his interest in the sole proprietorship at will. The disadvantage is that the sole proprietor would be fully responsible for all debts and obligations related to the business. The business would have difficulty in raising capital. Partnership is a business owned by two or more persons associate a partner. Partnership can bring broad resources and unique skills. All the partners share profit and losses, share the right to manage and make major business decisions, have unlimited personal liability for obligation of the partnership. For tax advantage, the partnership does not pay federal income tax; rather, partners file their own individual tax return. Disadvantage is that partners are fully and personally liable for the debts if their partnership. Corporation is a legal entity distinct from its owners (called â€Å"shareholders† or â€Å"stockholders†) and manager. It is easy to raise fund. The major advantage of corporation is that the owners are not personally liable for the obligation. Stockholders are free to transfer their ownership interests. Corporation must pay income taxes on any profits that it makes, and stockholders generally do not have to pay income tax on its profits until they are distributed as dividends. The corporate tax rate generally is lower than the personal tax rate.

Essay --

1.1. Background and problem statement Food is an essential component in the life of human beings and thus a necessity for survival. Often food crises in developing world has seen millions of people starve to death despite tremendous wastages witnessed in developed countries. It is often accentuated that, this wastages are attributed to our attitudes and habits as consumers, especially with regards to eating habits and the way we dispose food waste (Morgan 2009).Such attitude and habits have been regarded to not only impact on the consumers way of life but also the economy and environment (Morgan 2009, von Braun 2007). For the last five decades increased economic growth in Singapore has seen tremendous increase in amount of disposable income coupled by declining food prices, thus leading to reduction in the proportion of income spend. Imperatively, with increased availability of food worldwide and variety choices offered, there has been increased lack of interest towards wasteful behavior and attitudes. This is more pronounced developed countries. In this countries the increase in plenty of food choices offered necessitated increased purchase of such foods (Stuart 2009). Such increased purchases have contributed to increased food wastages and over consumption. However the year 2008 saw a change in world perception towards food consumption. This was as a result of the food crises that saw the prices of food rise significantly in Singapore as well as globally. Thus the dwindling food resource and scarcity, has necessitated a rethink and drawn much attention on the problem that is food scarcity and wastages. Further, with increased concern for reduction of greenhouse gas emission contributing to global warming focus has been draw... ... basis for implementation of measures by the government, consumers and other stakeholders towards reducing wastages for sustainable development. 1.3. Research questions The study sought to answer the following question 1. Which are Singapore consumers’ perceptions regarding the food waste? 2. Which are Singapore consumers’ practices regarding food waste? 3. Which are the predictors of the food waste behavior of consumers in Singapore? I undertaking the research the study utilized the theory of Planned Behavior. This thesis is structured into five chapters. Chapter two will be the literature review on prior studies on food wastages and theoretical models. Chapter three will incorporate the methodology adopted for the study and empirical study findings. Chapter four will include the research findings. Chapter five will provide conclusion and recommendations. .

Thesis Researched by Rose

Rose's thesis states that â€Å"Students will float to the mark you set. † † Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools. Some serious programs succeed in doing that, and through exceptional teachers – like Mr. Gross in Horace's Compromise – students learn to develop hypotheses and trouble shoot, reason through a problem, and communicate effectively – the true job skills. The vocational track, however, is most often a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected.† Rose attempts to persuade his readers by showing how dysfunctional the vocational students are and how mediocre or unchallenging their studies are. He also persuades the readers by exemplifying the instructor's poor attempts to care about the quality of learning the vocational education students are receiving. His argument is that the instructors are not inventive in their teaching methods and do not work hard at education through use of their imaginations. â€Å"The teachers have no idea of how to engage the imaginations of kids who were at the bottom of the pond.† I agree with Rose's point stating that † You're defined by your school as â€Å"slow†; you're placed in a curriculum that isn't designed to liberate you but to occupy you, or, if you're lucky, train you, though the training is for work the society does not esteem.† This seems to be the norm at all schools. But, I think at all levels, be it high school or college, the instructors teaching these types of programs should be trained to use more imaginative methods of teaching the vocational level students. Obviously, these students each learn at a different pace, but their minds still need to be challenged. They should receive education that stimulates their minds so they do not lose interest. The vocational education system is used as simply as Rose put it, as a â€Å"dumping ground for the disaffected.† I also understand the point Rose made referring to the fact that if a student is trained in a mediocre way he will do nothing but turn into a mediocre student. Resulting in boredom, indifference, tuning out, ignorance, and finally a lack of job skills society deems necessary. I think Rose was correct in the comment â€Å"Champion the average.† Although that is assuming that every vocational student has the courage to rely on his/her own good sense and put the fear behind him or her. Only most of them lack the courage or self-esteem to stand up for themselves, be it only in their own mind. Moreover, many would not take themselves seriously if they did so.

Professional and Personal Development Plan Essay

According to the experience in the ledge weekend, I finished self – exploring with the help of my team members as well as our mentor Brandy. By carefully reading my personal insights profile and putting outcomes in practice, I find out that it is helpful by offering detail leadership information and organized analysis of myself, which includes something I even have not realized before. All these information give precious guidance to me to improve myself becoming a better leader as well as a follower. Personal Style – As a â€Å"Green† person, I am proficient at alleviating the concerns of others and always consist trying and working hard in order to fulfill my sense of responsibility and obligation. Different from â€Å"Red† and â€Å"Yellow† people, I am low ley and would like to experience strong internal personal reaction rather than showing private feelings. I would like to do things in routine manner and is consistent on my work. Order means a lot to me, which is showed by always making plans and keeping everything organized. In other words, work and home structure affect me very much. My mother influenced me a lot on structure making since I was a young girl. She is an organized person who subsequently is very efficient both in home stuff and her work. She is stick to time and plan, as well as flexible when facing changes. Furthermore, I am also tolerant, open-minded, and adaptable, enjoying the present moment. Most of the time I am patient and always understand others and I am forgiveness to make time for people and their problems. I am very effective in specialized work and highly consistent in performance. Interacting with others – I am good at blending productivity with an interest in, and compassion for, the work force. I am capable of great devotion and loyalty to a valued person or cause. In most situations, I could bring harmony and goodwill to the whole team as well as make great contribution constructing a better team. Being as class monitor from a young age, I have huge experiences on how important it is to keep groups of people in harmony and construct a peaceful environment for better development of work and study. Decision-making – In work, I am always deeply committed whenever I choose to undertake a role or task. Compared to the results, I concern more on process. Usually I am good at finding out what we need at the moment and then deal with it – like an â€Å"effective observer†. My team members gave me this title during the Edge Weekend. According to the their  feedbacks, I am excellent at making calm and critical decision as well as comments in rush occasions while others shows panic or have conflicts. Although I am not a perfect vocal person, this feature does not prevent me making critical and incisive decisions and offering useful comments to help modify current incorrect working situation. This leadership competency also comes from my former leadership experience. When being responsible for scheming the high school anniversary celebration, I met similar problems facing internal team conflicts on different ideas. I realized that when groups of people are eager to express and force others to accept their ideas, it becomes more difficult for the whole team to come up with a comprehensive conclusion or path to follow without bias. By the several times’ practices and experience collecting, I consciously calm down to think carefully of everyone’s opinion objectively. Although it is hard to keep a reasonable mind during severely discussion, I could handle it very well now and get to the critical point easily when others are affected heavily by conflicts or the loss of direction. Vision for the leader I will become ï  ¬What contributions will I make to an organization that builds my strengths and the organizational success? i.Self-confidence and influential ii.Can state significant views with clarity and forethought iii.Prefers flexibility and open mindedness  iv.Reliable, cohesive and identity – Commits to realistic goals, expresses through actions, supports others by being loyal, diplomatic and sincere v.Sensitive to Environment – Brings fun and light-heartedness to any environment vi.Tolerance for Sustainable Development – Be patient and forgiving ï  ¬Why would anyone choose to follow me? Some leaders tend to distribute work to employees without considering carefully the capacity differs from person to person. However, I am the kind of leader who could utilize employees’ ability according to their strength and always be considerable, making them comfortable when working. Also, as the leader of employees, I commit to realistic goals and could state significant views with clarity and forethought. At the same time, I express myself not only vocally but also through actions, which makes employees feel reliable and motivated to construct trust. Furthermore, I am flexible and  open-minded to accept different ideas, which offer platform for employees to express their ideas. They feel being respected and have more motivation to improve and raise productivity. As a leader pay much attention on harmony, my efforts on making working environment comfortable and light-hearted may be welcomed by employees. Like what is said in the article Beyond Uncertainty, â€Å"A company is not an instrument; it is, or should be, a living and growing community.† No one will refuse to follow a leader who is effective using right strategy to mange, being mindful, reliable, open-minded and concern much on working performance as well as environment. ï  ¬How will I impact the world from a leadership perspective? As such a leader, I would impact the world by making my team or company more likely to be a community, instead of just focus on economics or financial results. Thus the company’s lifespan may extend. – The Living Company. If all companies could understand leadership on this perspective, all of us will construct healthier companies so that have a better market. Gap Analysis and Professional Development Plan A.Identify gaps and development needs   According to my insights profile results and the concept of Emotional Intelligence, including Personal Competence and Social Competence in order to achieve my future vision, I still need to fulfill several gaps shown as below: ï  ¬Self-confidence: A strong sense of one’s self-worth and capabilities; ï  ¬Communication, share concerns and reservations bravely In order to become the leader in my future vision, the first thing to do is increasing self-confidence. In some occasions, I found it hard to demonstrate all my abilities and may be underestimated by others and also disappointed myself. Through the readings and feedback of my team members, I discovered that it is not because I am lack of certain ability to complete the task, but I do not hold the belief that I can certainly do it well. In other words, I am lack of courage to step forward a little bit further. ï  ¬Developing others and be influential: Sensing others development needs and bolstering their abilities ï  ¬Emotional awareness: recognizing one’s emotions and their effect These two sections relate to what we read in the past few weeks on moral leadership. â€Å"Moral leadership, by definition, cannot be  situational or contingent. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ The ultimate in disrespect of individuals is to attempt to impose one’s will on them without regard for what they want or need and without consulting them. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Thus treating people with respect is what moral leadership is about, and nothing could be harder.† It responses to my former future vision that being a considerable leader should not only pay attention on financial profit and performances, but also the awareness of employees. Furthermore, how to act is more important because the way you act could change their thoughts. To acquire moral leadership, I should practice more on how to treat others respectfully. ï  ¬Innovation while decrease risks According to results of the Insight profile and Emotional Intelligence, I need to be braver to take risk through innovations. Although in The Living Company, the author points out that one of the four common features of long life span companies have is that â€Å"Long-lived companies were conservative in financing†, it is not wise either to be so frugal and do not take any challenge. In my opinion after reading materials, I think it is also important for me to learn how to balance between embracing challenges and decreasing risks. ï  ¬Initiative: Readiness to act on opportunities, make quick or unprepared articulation ï  ¬ Be more flexible, do not over-dependence on rules and procedures. In Week 6’s Oxford discussion, we talked about lots of critical questions about sustainable development. In the article of Value Creation: The Promise of Sustainable Development, the author points out we should balance among Economics, Social and Environment. To create sustainable strategy, we should follow four primary drivers of value creation: Margin improvement, Risk reduction, Growth enhancement and Capital efficiency. All these four aspects remind me how to achieve my future goal by being more flexible. The value creation is a comprehensive process, which needs not merely avoiding risks or losses. B.Development Plan B1: Clearly identified SLOT During the Edge Weekend, we discussed SLOT with each other and tried to analysis ourselves and others using this strategy. S – Strength, means we can use it to make a contribution to the team. Since everyone’s strengths  are different, we could construct a stronger team if we utilize them well. But before that, we need to do accurate self-evaluation in order to take advantage of our strengths. My main strengths, which are mentioned in my formula 2+2, are excellent summarizing skill and organized personality that enhance the whole team’s efficiency. L – Limitation, means nobody is perfect, everyone may face some problems no matter they are internal or external ones. Limitations come from personality or leadership. That’s why we need to explore ourselves and make plans to improve our leadership, and also combine together to help each other in the team. My limitations showed in the Edge Weekend are unvocal and being lack of consistency on own ideas when facing conflicts. O – Opportunity. T – Threat Like the SWOT model in Management, environment plays an important role in influencing our development. Facing opportunities, we should catch them in order to create value by improving our leadership. On the other hand, we should avoid threat. For me, the opportunities are everywhere since I am eager to try new things, all team members treat me very well and always would like to help me improving myself. The threat for me may be the foreign environment, which makes me feel hard to keep on the same page with other American students, since communication is very important for good leadership. Strengths and limitation are internal elements that affect our leadership development, while opportunity and treat are external elements. What we should do with them is shown as below in the form. Internal Elements External ElementsUse itImprove itOpportunity Supervise itEliminate itThreat StrengthLimitation B2: My goals clearly relate to SLOT In order to improve my leadership, I should make plans according to SLOT: Using my strengths of well organizing and opportunity of listening to team members’ opinions in order to become more sensitive to environment and reliable, cohesive and identity. Although I have limitations of unvocal and  not that idea-consistency, I can use my opportunity of my team members’ encouragement to become more self-confident and influential. Since I have the limitation of unvocal and the threat of unfamiliar environment, I should eliminate them by practice English more in order to state significant views with clarity and forethought. Although I have the strength of well organized and considerable, the threat I am facing is the changeable world that requires me to take more risks while not loose too much. Therefore I should learn to keep balance of these two sides in order to improve flexibility and open mindedness and tolerance for sustainable development. B3: SMART – 15 My leadership development goals do meet the SMART criteria, which include Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. According to SLOT analysis, every goal could be achieved in one specific way: use, improve, supervise or eliminate. Most of them are measurable by collecting team members’ feedback. All those goals are achievable, although some goals such as balancing risk-taking and flexibility is hard to handle in the long run. All those goals and my internal as well as external elements are relevant. Only if they combine together could I do accurate analysis and make detail plan for the future. At last, all these goals could be achieved in time bound, if I keep following the above plan.

Martin Luther King Jr & Malcolm X essays

Martin Luther King Jr & Malcolm X essays Martin Luther King Jr. is someone who is well known for not using discrimination. The whole reason why he even became involved in the civil rights movement is when Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white person at a time when whites chose where to sit. As a result he was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association in December of 1955 and emerged as a national hero when the United States Supreme Court made segregation on buses illegal in Alabama. He believed in freedom and equality to all Americans of every ethnic background. Malcolm X was a very different leader than Martin Luther King Jr. He preached to mostly one race. He was the minister and spokesman for the Nation of Islam until he was told not to speak in 1964, then he founded the Muslim Mosque, Inc. He ended up deciding to convert to orthodox Islam in the late1964 and found the organization of Afro-American Unity. He was basically for the black race other. He was mostly remembered for his anti-white speeches. Unlike Malcolm X, Marin Luther King Jr. had so much charisma. In his leadership skills he showed so many special qualities. He had people of all different races and ages join peaceful, nonviolent protests against segregation. In a time period where whites and blacks fought against each other a lot, he took the lead to show people that we could get along despite the rocky past. He had so much charisma that in 1964, when King was only thirty-five years old, he became the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. ...

Well, we know its big - Emphasis

Well, we know its big Well, we know its big David Cameron has referred to it as his mission and his passion, but it does seem that very few people are entirely sure what the Big Society is actually all about. This isnt too surprising when even those well and truly behind the idea are not helping matters. Phillip Blond, director of the think tank ResPublica, and according to the Telegraph a driving force behind David Camerons Big Society agenda, has argued the case for the policy in the Independent. He guides the people thus: Public sector mutualisation and budgetary takeover by citizens of the state is a crucial initial phase in endowing ordinary citizens with the power to ensure that the services they run are operated in a way that combines public interest with economic efficiency and localised employee ownership building in all the gains that this model delivers. Writing this convoluted and opaque will do very little to clarify the concept for the ordinary citizens it claims to want to empower. In relation to this, one letter to the Independent quoted Nobel prize-winner Peter Medawar: People who write obscurely are either unskilled in writing or up to mischief. The writer then commented: I dont think Mr Blond is unskilled in writing. If Cameron and co. are to defend the Big Society as more than (as some rumours have it) a slightly sinister cover for the cuts, they need to put away the thesaurus and use considerably fewer big words.

Is Lesbianism A Sickness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is Lesbianism A Sickness - Essay Example Calling something a â€Å"mental illness† has, ever since psychology became a respectable science, has constituted an effective tool for smearing individual human beings with the label of â€Å"deviant† or â€Å"abnormal†. These â€Å"diagnoses† have, instead of promoting individual health and well-being, reinforced society’s biases and promoted oppression. Unfortunately, these kinds of attitudes and folk psychological notions of â€Å"mental illness† still remain, which leads some people (particularly lesbians) to remain safely in the closet. However, doing so poses a great risk to the psychology of the lesbian in question. Nevertheless, as Nanette Gartrell1 points out, â€Å"coming out of the closet† is the only way to resolve many of the problem that afflict lesbians who feel that silence is necessary for their jobs, homes, economic security, families, friends, or their children. Gartrell surveys the history of lesbianism by looking at its history of psychological evaluation. Like male homosexuality, it was treated as an â€Å"illness† or as a matter of abnormal psychology. While it is clear today that there is no physical basis for such a scientific conclusion, in previous times the science was made to reflect a value-based conclusion instead of a factual one. Freud, like in many of his examinations, created an elaborate explanation for lesbianism, using a series of his concepts. Likewise, Helene Deutsch explained lesbianism by looking at the phenomenon as a â€Å"perversion†, which is a patently anti-scientific inference. Criticism of this psychological methodology led to advances in the study of lesbianism from a psychological perspective, and thus a better understanding of the phenomenon itself. No longer were lesbians categorically seen as â€Å"perverse† by researchers: indifferent investigations could pursue the truth about the pl ace of lesbians relative to heterosexual women in the

City Development in Northen Virginia and Seoul Essay

City Development in Northen Virginia and Seoul - Essay Example If all the above are available and conveniently, located, then communities may live well. However, if houses are built in such a way that they are dispersed or in isolation, then chances are that local governments/ other stakeholders will have to spend huge sums on this. 2 Additionally, such poor city plans cause excessive consumption of fuel, wastage of time when getting from one point to another and limited productivity. Excess use of resources also aggravates the situation. When Cities or towns build their houses in distant locations, then tax payers will have to spend huge sums of their money in constructing access roads. However, Northern Virginia lacks some of these features. In Accomack County, a whooping eighty percent of the employees in the area work within it. Therefore, the remaining percentage has to travel to other destinations found outside it. On the other hand, thirty four percent of the workers in Prince William County work within it. The remaining workers have to go outside the county. This implies that almost seventy percent of workers in some other county have to move to another county when going to work. 3 The overall result of these changes is... Additionally, poorly built houses are more difficult to maintain because they require high costs per unit. These high costs are eventually transferred to the tax payer and he may find it difficult to ache out a living in such an area. Many administrators in Northern Virginia have made the mistake of assuming that further road construction will solve the problems however, this not necessarily true. The most viable option for Northern Virginia is introduction of smart building plans. If houses were built in convenient locations, there would be a lesser burden on the taxpayer because houses would be constructed in one area and there would be no need for excessive fuel use in transport. This also means that smart city development also prevents pollution since it will be minimizing carbon emission. 4 Northern Virginia has recorded high levels of sprawling houses because the local government has not bothered regulating private developments. This implies that houses are built haphazardly and it becomes increasingly difficult to manage their resource utility. Northern Virginia's buildings are also not functionally planned. For instance, constructions may be done in very fertile soils that are better sources of farmland. Additionally, where houses are concentrated, some of them do not have any form of buffer zones to a low fro differences in functionality. For example, a dairy farm and a town home are located near one another. Perhaps the biggest problem in Northern Virginia is the fact that the local authorities have minimal powers with regard to land use. Most of them lack the ability to plan houses in the Coty. Private developers have the ability to determine which parts will develop and which ones will not. The law specifically

Business Law (Case study) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Law ( ) - Case Study Example The management of Silver's Gymnasium is insisting on the 3 day notice period from the date of signing of the agreement for the enforcement of its termination. There are extenuating circumstances under which members may cancel membership in health clubs in the city of New York as per Section 624 under supplementary rights of cancellation. (New York Consolidated Laws). Under Section 624, Sub section 3 states that under mitigating circumstances in certain cases the clients may cancel memberships in local health clubs, notwithstanding 3 day notice period, "if the buyer becomes significantly physically disabled for a period in excess of six months, or moves his residence to a location more than twenty-five miles from a health club operated by the seller." (New York Consolidated Laws). It has also been clarified by Section 624 of the McKinney's Consolidated Law of New York- annotated, that in case any payments have been made to the seller of health services, it has to be returned forthwith to the buyer, "within fifteen days of the receipt of " communication of cancellation of contract. (New York Consolidated Laws: Additional Rights to Cancellation). This is howev... The rights of the buyer envisage that under no circumstances could the demand for payment of goods and services by the buyer exceed the contract price. (New York Consolidated Laws). In this case it is $720. ($20X12X3 years) Conclusions: In this case, it is seen that both X and his brother Y could rescind the contract of health Service provision made to Silver's Gym under the provisions of Section 624. This is because both incapacity due to health reasons for a period of 6 months, duly validated by a health care practitioner is applicable in the case of X, and the relocation of the member in a place beyond 25 miles from the present location of the gym, is applicable in case of X's brother, Y, and are validated by the provisions of the New York Laws.Further, they could also exercise their rights to have the excess contract money paid (if any) refunded to them, i.e. $ 720- $60 (services provided by gym) as per existing New York laws. In case these monies are not made available to the brothers X and Y, it is possible for them to institute legal proceedings against the management of Silver's Gym for recovering of the unused proportion of health care fees under contract. Works Cited New York Consolidated Laws: Additional Rights to Cancellation. FindLaw: For Legal Professionals. 2008. 14 Nov. 2008. . New York Consolidated Laws. FindLaw: For Legal Professionals. 2008. 14 Nov. 2008.

Mergers Of Abbey National And Santander Finance Essay

Mergers Of Abbey National And Santander Finance Essay As Watson Head (2007: 310-311) explained the terms Merger and Acquisition are used interchangeably but the differences are quite noticeable. The term Merger suggests the friendly reorganisations of assets into a new organization; the two similar sized organizations will then become one entity with both sets of existing shareholders. On the other hand, Acquisition or a Takeover suggests obtaining ones companys ordinary share capital by another one. In an acquisition the one of the organizations is larger in size and financial stability and has the dominant power over the other one. The Acquisition process is lengthy and very complicated in nature. Acquisition of any particular organization can have several motives, the acquirer may want to amplify their economies of scale, market share or to attain the financial synergy through declining the companys cost of capital. All these can be classified as: Horizontal Merger and Acquisition: Involves companies at the same stage of production in the same industry. i.e.: the acquisition of Cadbury by Kraft in 2010 Vertical Merger and Acquisition: This involves companies at different stage of production but within the same industry. The vertical integration can either be: Forward movement towards the production process, i.e: A furniture manufacturer merging with a retail furniture outlet. Backward movement towards securing the suppliers, i.e: A furniture manufacturer merging with a wood supplier. Conglomerate Merger and Acquisition: involves companies in unrelated business lines. i.e.: A clothing company acquiring a jewellery company. Trends in MA activity 2004 to 2010 in Europe Banking Industry: Figure 1: One in Five companies plans to go for large scale Acquisition in 2010 some industries expect to be even more active. Source: USB and BCG CEO/Senior Management MA survey- 2009 on 166 European Companies. As from the Figure:1 and Graph:1 , The MA trend in Retail and Insurance industries are in inclining nature, but we can observe an inclining trend in the Banking industry MA in Western Europe compared to the global trend. The Western Europe Banking sector MA shows a parallel movement with the global MA trend, suggesting that the Western Market is very susceptible to the overall market movement. The inclining nature of the MA in the Western Baking Sector (from mid 2005- mid 2009) suggests the upturn of the MA trend in the during the current recession crisis, the banks were making profits with the global trends in M&A; as these banks are also earning fees from their advisory and other services, such as; syndicated banking facilities to support leveraged bids. The trend also suggests the wave of cross-border MA with the movement of the global trend in order to expand the business. Graph 1: Trend in Global MA activity (2004-2010), compared to Eastern and Western Europe banking industry MA. Source: Bloomberg In the current recession years; with low interest rate, poor bond yields and high level of liquidity- the banking industry within the Western Europe is embracing the MA opportunity as many corporations have pushed back the bidding deals.  [1]   Table 1: MA trend from 1/01/2010 to 29/03/2010. Source: Bloomberg Acquirer Region Target Region Average Size (GBP million) Global Global 110.63M Global North America 174.94M Global Europe 79.60M Global Asia Pacific 65.29M Global Latin America Caribbean 331.65M Global Middle East Africa 106.65M North America North America 159.79M North America Europe 114.29M North America Asia Pacific 48.36M North America Latin America Caribbean 47.84M North America Middle East Africa 17.54M Europe North America 546.90M Europe Europe 65.42M Europe Asia Pacific 636.53M Europe Latin America Caribbean 1.14B Europe Middle East Africa 95.87M Asia Pacific North America 128.86M Asia Pacific Europe 41.68M Asia Pacific Asia Pacific 46.56M Asia Pacific Latin America Caribbean 180.35M Asia Pacific Middle East Africa 94.18M Latin America Caribbean North America 183.26M Latin America Caribbean Europe 455.35M Latin America Caribbean Asia Pacific 73.86M Latin America Caribbean Latin America Caribbean 506.03M Latin America Caribbean Middle East Africa 11.21M Middle East Africa North America 10.50M Middle East Africa Europe 485.98M Middle East Africa Asia Pacific 21.17M Middle East Africa Latin America Caribbean 7.62M Middle East Africa Middle East Africa 134.77M From the table above, the MA trend is inclining more towards emerging markets as the target regions; although, emerging markets are also opting for MA activities in the same or different emerging markets to expand the business. An Acquisition CASE: Abbey national PLC acquired by Banco Santander SA: Background of Abbey National PLC: The Abbey National Building Society was formed following the merger of the Abbey Road Building Society and the National Building Society in 1944  [2]  . In July 1989, Abbey became a public limited company and floated on the London Stock Exchange. With 12 million customers and assets of  £ 177 billion, it is ranked the sixth largest bank in the UK by assets and the fifth largest by deposits (with a 9% share of the market). Reflecting its origins as a building society, it is the second largest mortgage provider in the UK, with an 11% share of the market. Furthermore, with 15% of the market, at the time of acquisition, it was the third largest provider of insurance protection products and has a large distribution network with more than 700 branches (EMCC, 2008). Abbey had two main business divisions, Personal Financial Services and the Portfolio Business Unit. Background of Banco Santander Central Hispano SA: Santander is a bank that has transformed itself: from being a middle player in the Spanish banking market 20 years ago, it is now a major global bank operating in Spain, Portugal, Germany, the United Kingdom and other European countries, as well as in Latin America. The group is currently the leading consumer bank in Europe and has over 10,500 branches globally (excluding those branches gained through the acquisition of Banco Real as a result of a deal with ABN AMRO). Santander is a technologically advanced bank, with an information technology platform that is regarded as a strong competitive advantage. Excluding Banco Real employees, the group currently employs approximately 130,000 people worldwide, of whom 50% are working in Latin America. There are also large numbers of employees working in the UK and Spain. (EMCC, 2008). Banco Santander was a small retail bank when it started its business in 1985, since then it initiated its local market growth through mergers and strategic alliances; and later implemented Low-scale cross-border expansion through strategic alliances and acquisitions. Gradually, the implementation of Large-scale cross border expansion took place. Chart 1: Banco Santander Acquisition Transaction Overview till January 2010. Source: Reuters Overview of the Acquisition: The objectivity of this particular acquisition/takeover was to diversify the business of Banco Santander PLC to mortgage and financial services; not to mention to explore the retail banking opportunities in the UK market. Therefore, the motive for this MA was to gain economies of scale through synergy and also to entering a new market in order to optimize their market share, hence; buying Abbey was a mean to enter into Europes second largest consumer financing market. In 2003 Abbey National PLC was pricey for Santander and in 2004, Abbey incurred losses from its entry into the money market and Santander decided to go ahead with the Acquisition plan in order to penetrate the UK market. Moreover, the secondary objective of this acquisition was to under-cut the local competition for Banco Santander with the hopes of obtaining higher profitability in the UK market. Moreover, Banco Santander already had the expertise in the retail banking and built a strategic alliance with the Royal Bank of Scotland from 1988. Therefore, Santander had already gathered banking knowledge and futuristic opportunities. As stated by Parada et al., (2009: 666-667) Acquiring Abbey National PLC would make Banco Santander the biggest bank in Europe and Latin America and dominating their business in the strong currencies- the Euro, US dollar and the Pound. The acquisition had boosted the companys operation in six segments: Retail Banking, Global Banking Markets, Corporate Banking, Private Banking, Group Infrastructure and Sold Life Businesses. After the acquisition Abbey National PLC became Santander UK PLC in January 2010.  [3]   Abbeys leadership position in the United Kingdoms mortgage lending market, together with its extensive branch network, represent for the shareholders of Banco Santander and of Abbey an opportunity to create value based on the application of the best business and technological practices of Banco Santander to Abbeys banking operations. Abbeys business heavily contributes to reinforce our pan-European franchise and provides the Group with a more balanced earnings stream.-(Emilio Botà ­n, Chairman of Banco Santander, July 2004).  [4]   Table 2: Overview of the Abbey National PLC acquisition. Source: Reuters As noted in Parada et al., (2009, 666-668) in 2004 Abbey was suffering from losses from entering in the whole-sale money market; therefore, Santander grabbed the opportunity to launch a friendly bid. Santander managed to overpower all the regulatory obstacles. Although the acquisition was initiated in 2004; but the tentative completion of this acquisition is expected to be at the end of 2010; given Abbey National PLC will be renamed as Santander UK PLC. Figure 2: The 3 steps of internationalization implemented by Santander in 2004. Source: Authors. Acquisition of Abbey National PLC Graph 2: The dimensions of Santander acquisition with its growth (2000 to 2004). Source: Bloomberg The graph above portrays the rising nature of Santander Share price after the Abbey acquisition at the end of year 2004. Defence Strategy implemented by Abbey National PLC: During the Acquisition offer, Abbey National PLC urged its rivals British banks to make counter-bid offer in order to push back the  £8.9 billion offer made by Banco Santander. Moreover Abbey spent out  £9 million worth of Legal documentation to its approximately 1.8 million shareholders in the hopes of bouncing off the Acquisition offer made by Banco Santander.  [5]   Valuation of the Acquisition: The asking price for the acquisition was  £10 billion and the sold price was  £8.9 billion. The terms of the Acquisition were based on the equity market capitalisation of the two companies over the three months prior to 23 July 2004. Based on the average closing market price for a Banco Santander Share on the Spanish stock market was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8.70 and the average closing mid-market price for an Abbey Share on the London Stock Exchange was  £4.69 at an exchange rate of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5054:  £1, the terms of the represent a premium of approximately 28.4 % with a value of each Abbey Share at  £6.03 or 603 pence ( taking into account the 6 pence for dividend differential, see the financing section), and the entire issued ordinary share capital of Abbey at approximately  £8.9 billion.  [6]   Financing the Acquisition Bid: The acquisition was finance through the purchase of Abbey shares and Mixed Bid offer was initially offered to precede the acquisition; where, Santander (the largest bank in North American and Spain) offered one of its own shares and 31 pence in cash for each share of London-based Abbey shareholders.  [7]  The special dividend of 25 pence will be paid along with 6 pence (31 pence in total) worth dividend differential to compensate the Abbey National shareholders; as historically the dividend payment of Banco Santander was usually lower than Abbey National Dividend payment (Table:3). Later on, in November 2004, the acquisition was carried out through an exchange of one new Santander Share for each of Abbey share. 94.6% backing support (based on the share counting only 64.8 % shareholders agreed to the acquisition deal) was received from the Abbeys shareholders in order to proceed with the takeover. The deal was worth almost  £9 billion (or à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 13.5 billion to be exact; at the time of acquisition offer the exchange rate was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5054 to  £1). The enlarged company would be 76%-owned by existing Santander shareholders, with the rest in the hands of Abbey shareholders.  [8]   Regulatory Framework: The acquisition took place under section 425 of UK Companies Act 1985. Moreover, Santander had to provide many paper-works and detailed plans to the European Authorities regarding the Abbey Acquisition (See Appendix, Illustration: 2). As a result of the acquisition, Abbeys remaining private shareholders became entitled to one Santander share and the shares are traded in Euros in the Madrid Stock Exchange.  [9]   Table 3: Capital Value estimated for the Abbey Shareholders, Source: http://www.vernimmen.com/ftp/sch-abbey.pdf Cultural Differences: Although, the Spanish culture and British culture vary in many ways they run business. In British Culture, organizations rely mainly on their Human Resource, whereas, Spanish Culture relies more on the technological upgrading. Abbey National PLC had about 33% back-office employees; whereas, Santander had about 6% to 10% employees as back-end personnel. Therefore, after the acquisition the employee number in Santander PLC came down to 16 thousands from 24 thousands in the UK. At the time of acquisition Santanders cost to income was 42%, whereas in UK it was on about 50% or more.  [10]   The acquisition may be affected by different tax incentives and regulations. Any change in the Spanish Banking policy will affect the Santander UK subsidiary both economically and financially. Moreover at the time of acquisition in 2004, the UK national savings rate is only 14.7% of GDP, compared with over 23% in Spain. Therefore, the spending and saving nature in the UK are very diverse than in Spain. As quoted in the Guardian (2005): Santander .. treats its Spanish shareholders to an unusually attractive range of perks, from discounted medical insurance and dental care to cut-price hams and crates of wine.  [11]  . Therefore, such treatments in the UK can be perceived as manipulative technique due to the variance in these two cultures. Performance in Share Price and Stock Market- Post Acquisition: Since Banco Santander is a Spanish bank, the shares was listed in Spanish Stock Market and the shareholders had to face exchange rate volatility since the dividend were being paid in Euros; nonetheless, the Spanish taxation issue can be quite complicated to the UK shareholders. The Abbey shareholders were given the option to sell the shares to any Spanish Organization in the UK, but Abbey shareholders who held on to their Santander shares over time have to pay tax on any dividends they get.  [12]  Banco Santander new shares after the acquisition were not admitted to the Official List or to trading on the London Stock Exchange during the post period of the acquisition.  [13]   In 2009 Santander 1.1 million new current accounts with our 25 million customers, and reported to deliver more than 30% profit in five successive years after the acquisition. Chart 2: The Overview of UK Competitors. Source: H1 09 Reports Data and BBA Abstract by HSBC Graph 3: Santander UK PLC share price performance. Source: http://www.h-l.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/s/santander-uk-plc10-38-non-cum-stlg-pre/charts The Santander UK PLC is in the second place after Lloyds Banking Group in the Mortgage market share in UK with relatively reasonable Market share in Retail Banking (Chart: 2). Moreover, The EPS of Banco Santander has been performing quite poorly after 2005, it has declined from 0.337 in 2005 to 0.27 in 2009 (See Appendix, Illustration: 3 ). The share price of Santander UK PLC has been rising from the year 2005 (Graph: 3), partly because the dividend was 15% higher than that paid in the mid of the year 2005. As of in 2006, 25% higher dividend was paid. In 2008, Banco Santander announced its agreement to take over Alliance Leicester PLC (AL). Under the terms of the agreement Banco Santander will offer one Company share for every three AL shares. The European Commission had approved Banco Santander  £1.3 billion takeover of Alliance Leicester Plc. Moreover, in year 2008, Banco Santander had agreed to buy Bradford Bingley PLC retail deposits and branch network. Santander had agreed to pay about  £400 million to acquire 2.7 million Bradford Bingley customer savings accounts containing some  £21 billion of deposits. Therefore, Santander UK PLC is still at its growth stage in the UK Market and it is focusing more on acquiring local financial institutions. Reuters reported in October 2009 that, Banco Santander SA planes to maintain its policy of paying half its net profit in dividends in 2010. Moreover, according to the Yahoo Finance (April, 2010), Banco Santander SA has higher Dividend yield of 6.80 % and global Foreign Money Centre Banks Industry has the rate at 1.96%, which suggest a favourable investment option to the potential shareholders. The Santander Group is working towards the policy of maximizing shareholders profit. Moreover, as reported in Bloomberg, Banco Santander SA is seeking to list its UK business in London Stock Exchange listing from February 2010 in order to raise funds for possible future buy-up opportunities, the listing offering may value at more than  £15 billion. Banco Santander is looking for funds to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland PLC network of 300 branches. On the other hand, Santander UK is willing to sell 25% of its stake in order to be listed in FTSE 100 and also to pay out about  £1 billion a year in dividends to construe an attractive deal to the investors (Source: The Times). Conclusion: Although, there were many speculation against the Abbey acquisition due to its cross-border nature, but all the speculations were proven wrong. Although, this particular acquisition was the most talked about topic in the UK financial market, and many believed the acquisition would not create any value for the Abbey Shareholders. With proper understanding of the local market, Banco Santander had utilized its previous acquisition knowledge when it came to this acquisition. Banco Santander knows what its UK shareholders want and trying to live up that expectation to serve their UK shareholders. Banco Santander is seeking to expand its business in the UK. Although, till date the Abbey bank transformation is still under progress, but Banco Santander had been patient with the UK market because they know- slow and steady wins the race. Bibliography: Huws, U. OKeefe, B. 2008. Managing Change in EU Cross-Border Acquisition, Case example Santander and Abbey: Expansion Enabling access to new markets. EMCC Company Network, 1-4. Mayer-Sommer, A. P. , Sweeney, S. Walker, D.A. 2005. Effect of Bank Acquisition on Shareholder Returns. Bank Accounting and Finance, 1-7, June-July. Lausberg, C. Stahl, T. 2009. Motives and Non-Economic Reasons for Bank Mergers and Acquisitions. The Icfai University Journal of Bank Management, 8(1): 1-25.

Taser Technology Essay -- Law Enforcement Weapons

Taser Technology For years law enforcement has been searching for more effective less lethal options to apprehend suspects. One of the newest technologies available is the Taser, also known by industry standards as an electronic controlled device (ECD). The Taser uses electricity to override the central nervous system, an effect referred to as â€Å"neuro-muscular incapacitation (NMI), to cause temporary incapacitation to allow officers to gain control of a subject. Electronic controlled devices basically use high voltage, low wattage electrical charges to induce involuntary muscle contractions that cause a subject to be temporarily incapacitated. The weapon system is designed to fire two probes, or darts, that are attached to insulated wires. When the probes make contact with a person, the Taser will produce 50,000 volts of electricity, but only .0021 amps. According to Taser International, Inc. â€Å"it is not the volts that are dangerous it is the amps.† Volts are simply the rate the electricity is moving, but amps are the measure of current in the electricity. Taser International (2006) In 1993, two brothers, Rick and Tom Smith along, with Taser inventor Jack Cover, began working together on a non-lethal self-defense device. In 1994, they developed a non-firearm version of the Taser. This original Taser was known as a â€Å"stun† system, which used electricity to jam the central nervous system with electrical noise. This system used approximately five to fifteen watts of power and was more of a pain compliance device rather than overriding the central nervous system. Two serious issues occurred with these â€Å"stun† systems: The officer had to be up close to make contact with the subject; and since it was a pain compliance device... ... Batons also tear skin, break bones and require officers to get up close to subjects to apprehend them. The Taser has a more effective rate than other less lethal options with less chance of injury to all involved. References Amnesty International (2007) Amnesty International. (2007). USA: Amnesty International's concerns about Taser use: Statement to the US Justice Department inquiry into deaths in custody. doi:AMR 51/151/2007 Taser International (2006). Instructor Certification Lesson Plan (Version 13.0 ed., Rev.). Scottsdale, Arizona: Taser International. Vilke, G. M., Sloane, C., Levin, S., Neuman, T., Castillo, E., & Chan, Tc. (2008, January). Twelve-lead electrocardiogram monitoring of subjects before and after voluntary exposure to the Taser X26. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18082773?dopt=Citation Taser International (2006) Taser Technology Essay -- Law Enforcement Weapons Taser Technology For years law enforcement has been searching for more effective less lethal options to apprehend suspects. One of the newest technologies available is the Taser, also known by industry standards as an electronic controlled device (ECD). The Taser uses electricity to override the central nervous system, an effect referred to as â€Å"neuro-muscular incapacitation (NMI), to cause temporary incapacitation to allow officers to gain control of a subject. Electronic controlled devices basically use high voltage, low wattage electrical charges to induce involuntary muscle contractions that cause a subject to be temporarily incapacitated. The weapon system is designed to fire two probes, or darts, that are attached to insulated wires. When the probes make contact with a person, the Taser will produce 50,000 volts of electricity, but only .0021 amps. According to Taser International, Inc. â€Å"it is not the volts that are dangerous it is the amps.† Volts are simply the rate the electricity is moving, but amps are the measure of current in the electricity. Taser International (2006) In 1993, two brothers, Rick and Tom Smith along, with Taser inventor Jack Cover, began working together on a non-lethal self-defense device. In 1994, they developed a non-firearm version of the Taser. This original Taser was known as a â€Å"stun† system, which used electricity to jam the central nervous system with electrical noise. This system used approximately five to fifteen watts of power and was more of a pain compliance device rather than overriding the central nervous system. Two serious issues occurred with these â€Å"stun† systems: The officer had to be up close to make contact with the subject; and since it was a pain compliance device... ... Batons also tear skin, break bones and require officers to get up close to subjects to apprehend them. The Taser has a more effective rate than other less lethal options with less chance of injury to all involved. References Amnesty International (2007) Amnesty International. (2007). USA: Amnesty International's concerns about Taser use: Statement to the US Justice Department inquiry into deaths in custody. doi:AMR 51/151/2007 Taser International (2006). Instructor Certification Lesson Plan (Version 13.0 ed., Rev.). Scottsdale, Arizona: Taser International. Vilke, G. M., Sloane, C., Levin, S., Neuman, T., Castillo, E., & Chan, Tc. (2008, January). Twelve-lead electrocardiogram monitoring of subjects before and after voluntary exposure to the Taser X26. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18082773?dopt=Citation Taser International (2006)