Major Life Event Development Through Life

As people live their lives, they usually and often experience various life events that influence their lives. If people suddenly experience a major life change it is likely that they will feel stressed and out of control. For example both Gloria and have experienced life events that have changed their lives forever. These events can either be predicted or unpredicted and these events are explained below. Predictable events Parenthood: As was seen in the case study, Gloria was not married to Ted before she unexpectedly found herself pregnant.Fortunately she had a beautiful baby girl. However, she and her baby daddy Ted have had to cope with being parents. This means that they had to learn new parental skills which involve learning how to take care of their child. For example, Ted, although at first did not assume responsibility, had to changed his old previous lifestyle. That means that both of them have to be able to bond with their daughter, and their free time for going out and â⠂¬Ëœhang out’ with friends are forever reduced, due to the arrival of Sunshine.Both Jason and Jasmine, Gloria’s parents and Lucy have experienced this life event; they had children. Retirement: During old age, usually at sixty five years of age, people are required to retire and leave their job, meaning that they no longer have any role in the society. Well some roles anyway. This also means that people may have more time for them-selves and their family as well as disengaging from work. At this point of people’s life, it may be hard for them to establish a new lifestyle, because they have worked all their lives – for Lucy, she had to join the bingo club.This also means that contacts with friends may be lost. On the other hand, Lucy, although is retired, still keeps active and has contact with people at her bingo as well as having a positive relationship with her family. Unpredictable events Illness or serious injury: It has been noted in the case study t hat Ted, as very young as he is at the age of twenty two, has been involved in motor bike accident, resulting to injury, leading to him lose his job.Due to this injury, it is obvious that Ted has to learn to cope, adapt and live with this physical change – changes may have included broken body parts, leading to disability, although the case didn’t mention that much. This may lead to Ted being depressed and feeling angry and wishing he was his old self. Many people who suffered serious injury – that leads to disability – may find it very hard to adapt to their situation. Bereavement: Due to the loss of their loved ones, people’s, both children and adult, physical, social and emotional lifestyle may change dramatically.People usually feel angry and depressed and are unable to cope with their losses. People who experience bereavement may lose dramatic weight due loss of apetite, they may not be able to concentrate, and their sleep may be disturbed. Re search shows that children who experience bereavement are likely to develop psychiatric disorder in later childhood and are also likely to develop difficult behaviour. References: http://www. pearsonschoolsandfecolleges. co. uk ( accessed on the 31/10/12)

How Are the Iais Principles Met with in the Mauritian Legislation on Insuranc

UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS FACULTY OF LAW AND MANAGEMENT SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS MAY 2009 PROGRAMME BSc (Hons) Accounting with Finance – Level 3, 4 BSc (Hons) Finance – Level 3 BSc (Hons) Finance with Law – Level 3 MODULE NAME DATE International Finance Wednesday MODULE CODE DFA3006Y(5) 6 May 2009 TIME 9. 30-12. 30 Hours NO. OF QUESTIONS SET 6 DURATION NO. OF QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED 3 Hours 4 INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES This paper consists of SIX Questions and you are required to answer ANY FOUR (4) Questions International Finance – DFA3006Y Question 1 a) (i) Explain the term â€Å" foreign exchange exposure† in relation to the operations of a multinational enterprise. [5 marks] ( ii ) How are such exposures usually handled by management? [9 marks] (b) Seattle Inc is a medical device manufacturer. The company’s annual sales of $ 40m have been growing rapidly, and working capital financing is a common source of concern. The Chief Finance Of ficer, Martin Bell has recently been approached by one of the company’s major Japanese customers, Yosaka, with a new payment proposal. Yosaka typically orders ? 12. million in product every other month and pays in Japanese yen. The current payment terms extended by Seattle Inc are 30 days, with no discounts given for early or cash payment. Yosaka has suggested that it would be willing to pay in cash (in Japanese yen) if it were given a 3. 0 % discount on the purchase price. On the basis of the information below: Spot rate 30-day forward rate 90-day forward rate 180-day forward rate ? 96. 60/$ Yosaka’s Weighted average cost of capital ? 99. 08/$ Seattle Inc Weighted average cost of capital ?100. 42/$ ?103. 56/$ 9. 00% 11. 95%Advise Martin Bell on Yosaka’s proposition, assuming that Seattle Inc hedges all its foreign currency transactions. (c ) [8 marks] Calculate the rate of forward premium of the US $ on the 180-day forward rate. [3 marks] [Total marks : 25] Pag e 1 of 3 International Finance – DFA3006Y Question 2 â€Å"When the financial systems fail, everyone suffers† – Edward Carr, The Economist. (a) Explain the importance of regulations in a financial system. [15 marks] (b) In the wake of the financial crisis that has shaken America and Europe, do you think regulators have failed in their role? 10 marks] [Total marks : 25 ] Question 3 (a) Briefly outline the disadvantages of a fixed exchange rate regime? [6 marks] (b) Explain the following terms: (i) Special Drawing Right ( SDR ) ( ii ) Currency board arrangement ( iii ) Euro currency ( iv ) Dollarisation [12 marks] (c) The Thai baht was devalued by the Thai government from Bt 25/$ to Bt 29/$ in July 1997. Calculate the devaluation of the baht against the US dollar [3 marks] (d) Explain the difference between devaluation and depreciation of a currency. [4 marks] [Total marks : 25] Page 2 of 3International Finance – DFA3006Y Question 4 (a) Do you think free in ternational capital mobility is desirable for emerging economies? [15 marks] (b) Explain how an active secondary market for securities can be beneficial to: ( i ) lenders ( ii ) borrowers [10 marks] [Total marks : 25 ] Question 5 (a) Outline the main summary statements of the balance of payments accounts and explain briefly their economic significance. [10 marks] (b) How can flows of ‘laundered’ money from drug trade or international terrorist activities find their way into the Balance of Payments? [5 marks] (c)How can such illegal flows be avoided if a country wants to be perceived as a â€Å"clean† financial centre? [10 marks] [Total marks: 25] Question 6 (a) As a firm evolves, domestic operations are no longer adequate to sustain further development, and the firm seeks other avenues of growth. Outline the considerations that need to be taken if the firm is contemplating a strategic alliance with a foreign partner. [15 marks] (b) Explain the difference between â€Å"internal† financing and â€Å"external† financing† for a foreign subsidiary and give two examples of internal financing. [10 marks] [Total marks : 25] -END OF QUESTION PAPER- Page 3 of 3

Love for One’s Country

Love for one’s own country Loving one’s own country is closely associated with patriotism. Patriotism is a loyal feeling which one has about his own country. one must have a deep and passionate loyal feeling about his country. One of these feelings of one man in a country is upsurge and unhonoured. The feeling has kindled many dormant nations into actions. History is filled up with instances where patriotic people under able leadership have saved their land. Our father of nation Mahatma Gandhi bought for the freedom of our country with a burning patriotic zeal.One must take pride in the culture and beauty of one’s own country, the rivers, mountains, hills, valleys, deltas must inspire one’s patriotic feeling. He has to encourage the art and trade of his country. He must support his country as his duty. He shall never do anything that would bring down the fair name and image of his country. In the present context of the world the narrow patriotism is nearly out moded. country however powerful or rich can stand isolated. The world is shining with the fast mode of communication and no country is too far away.The complex economy of the world has every country dependent on one another. Self-contained condition is only a thing of past, every culture today is what it has rowed from culture. No culture can boast of being pure. so there is no meaning in narrow nationalisation . it is safe to conclude that fantastic patriotism is bad though loving ones country for beherment and good deals is a noble act. Being proud of India is not enough. Resolve to do something in your lifetime that India will be proud of†¦..

Medicare Part A and Part B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medicare Part A and Part B - Essay Example To reflect this fact, all the calculations found below will have to incorporate a value (the national large urban standardized amount and the labor related large urban standardized amount, for example) to correctly calculate the claims. There is also a geographic cost adjustment factor, which in this case needs to be relevant to San Francisco, which needs to be incorporated into calculations to ensure that the costs incurred by Medicare are relevant to the treatment area in which the patient lives. Of course, the wages received in this area will be different to in other areas of the US and these are also incorporated into the federal operating payment incurred. The skilled nursing facility is also in this area and thus will be subject to the same kind of geographic adjustment as the General Hospital claim. In this case, San Francisco is one of the more expensive areas of the US in which to be treated (Medicare, 2010) and as such the costs will reflect this fact and may seem excessive to someone receiving the same treatment in a rural area in a smaller hospital. Firstly, the federal operating payment with IME and DSH needed to be calculated.

Four Major Problems Faced by the US Economy Currently Based on Current Term Paper

Four Major Problems Faced by the US Economy Currently Based on Current Media Reports - Term Paper Example The 2008 financial crisis of United States affected the economies throughout the world and the macroeconomic factors were shaken up. The issue started with the debt crisis when the borrowers were unable to service their loans and thus faced difficulty in paying back the loans. This resulted in the housing market crisis when people ended up with bad loans which in turn resulted in people being deprived off their homes. The credit crunch also led to damage to investors confidence and investors and savers were unwilling to inject the money into the economy which resulted in shortage of money and cash, and this also resulted in the rise of unemployment. US Federal Debt/Deficit Since the financial crisis struck in the year 2008, the US debt has been very high. According to a recent news article, the United States debt is nearly as much as the total value of all its goods and services produced in the US during the financial year. CNBC reports that the total value of the US debt is $14.96 t rillion which means that the United States external debt as a percentage of its GDP stand at 99.46% (CNBC). This is a very high figure and indeed a very dangerous one because high leverage of debt can be very risky. As a matter of fact, it is suggested that every person born in the United States has a debt of $47,664 in the very second it is born. The figure on the left shows that the public debt in the US will surpass the 17 trillion mark by the end of 2012, and indicates how the debts are constantly on the rise, which can be a very alarming situation for the people. (US Government Spending) Not just the rising debts, but the economy also faces the difficulty of constant budget deficits which means the outlay of the United States government is greater than the receipts and this means that the US government has to search for sources to raise the finances. Since the past three years, the US federal deficit has been around the $1300 billion mark. (US Government Spending) Issue of Rais ing Finance As mentioned above, United States economy has become highly leveraged and the debt to GDP percentage is nearly touching the 100 percent mark. This increases the riskiness of the economy and damages the confidence of investors and savers to inject their money into the economy. Investors ask for high returns to take on risky projects and some do not even settle for higher returns due to the fact the people are naturally risk averse. A credit rating agency has downgraded the credit rating of the United States and has gone down from AA+ to AA. Since the credit rating is going down, the investors and savers are reluctant to inject their money into the economy (Yahoo!). This creates a problem for the United States because the US government needs to borrow the money to cover up for the budget deficits they are facing each year. When the government has to inject money into the economy and it is unable to increase its budget receipts, then it has to look for other sources of mone y to cover that deficit and this source is usually to borrow money. With the credit rating going down, less number of savers is ready to save their money and thus it creates a shortage of money for the US government. Not just to finance the budget deficit, the government also faces difficulty in raising the money to service or repay their previous loans. Housing The housing bubble emerged in the United States in the year 2005 when the property prices started to rise and they rose at quite high rates. This increased the

Marketing Mix Strategies in Indian Market Essay - 1

Marketing Mix Strategies in Indian Market - Essay Example It also carries out a brief review of literature on the marketing mix theories and the positioning strategies followed by the two above mentioned products in the Indian market. In India, the marketing mix that is followed within a market is entirely related to the product, price, place and promotional strategies. The general views associated with these four perspectives have been discussed in the following paragraphs: Product, in short, solutions to the customer-base in overall India, refers to the physical good that is circulated in the whole market. In order to get a clear understanding of the product mix, one should be very clear about the concept of a product. Products not only include the physical presence of goods but also encompass services. Generally, a product that is launched into a market has to go through a life cycle which is called the Product Life Cycle (PLC). In order to study the marketing mix, one has to critically analyse every stage of PLC. The stages in a PLC are the introductory phase, the growing phase, the maturing phase and the declining phase. Price, in short, something that the customers need to pay in return of the product, refers to the valuation of that physical good, including its production costs. Price is considered to be very essential element in marketing mix. It is directly proportional to the revenues generated by the Indian economy (Marketing, 2010). Place, which means, accessibility of the customers, refers to the locations or destinations at which the physical goods will be made readily available to the customers. It also refers to the strategies that a product may follow through which it will be made available to the customers either by direct selling through counters or shops, by delivering the product at the destination of the customer.

Case study on Red Bull Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case study on Red Bull - Essay Example Branding is about enabling people to identify a product from alternatives offered in the markets (Percy, 2003). â€Å"Brand equity is the creation of positive brand attitudes or service† (Schroeder et al, 2006). In other words, brand equity involves the creation of attitudes and perceptions that will enable a consumer to identify a product from alternatives offered by competitors. Although Red-Bull is a single product offering, it has been able to achieve brand equity across the world through its uniqueness and other factors that enable customers to identify it as unique and different from other soft drink and energy drink offerings on the market. In summary, its unique packaging (the blue, silver and red 250ml can) is famous around the world. Also, the unique content and effects on users is a very strong element of brand equity since it gives consumers a very positive physical, mental and health advantages that most competitors do not give. The Burnett model states that a bra nd equity has four main facades: personality image, source, differences and functions (Randall, 2000). In terms of personality image, customers around the world feel good about the health and mental alertness that Red Bull provides. They respect it as a premier energy drink because it does what a normal cup of coffee would do but with a very positive impact on the individual. Secondly, Red Bull seems to stand for good health, vitality and productivity and that is exactly how it is promoted and packaged as a revitaliser. Also, Red Bull was originally created to be different from all other soft and energy drink offerings on the market. Now that several similar products are available, Red Bull still maintains its distinct packaging and content which keeps it embedded in the mind of consumers. In spite of the universal nature of Red Bull's brand, there was the need for some variation in the brand offering in markets around the world. Dunn (2004) points out that there are six main proces ses that a business needs to go through before they can create brand equity and they are: 1. Market Analysis 2. Brand Architecture 3. Creation of a Strategic Branding Idea 4. Marketing Communication 5. Employee Involvement and 6. Measurement Market analysis involves scanning the dominant environmental factors in a country before offering your products in a country. For the case of Red Bull, the regulatory requirements, market penetration, presence of potential competitors and dominant culture played a major role in the establishment of the brand in Austria. This varied in other parts of Europe so their expansion into Europe required a high degree of analysis and understanding of the dominant culture. In growing from Europe to other markets around the world, Red Bull had to also understand the vital elements of these markets before they could move into them. Brand architecture involves the technical components of determining the brand's DNA (Dunn, 2004). Although the name, identity a nd character of Red Bull was sustained in most markets around the world, the vision, positioning, target market, emotions and pricing had to be varied based on the social, economic and cultural factors of the market they were entering. Thus we notice that the arrangements for entry into the UK market was quite different from that of the South African market because the political, economic and cultural structures of both countries required Red Bull to modify its brand penetration systems. I notice in page 79

ACA - Code of Ethics Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ACA - Code of Ethics Questions - Essay Example Paraprofessionals should have also known the ACA Code of Ethics and applied it by informing the clients of their lack of training and supervised experience in the area of group counseling. Their conduct is highly unethical for accepting a roll for which they are not fully qualified to deliver, Counselor One is aware of the practice by the permanent licensed professional staff members of avoiding groups with heavy demands, indirectly causing that others who are new to the field and eager to serve skip the rules and show an unethical conduct. Counselor One should have gone to his supervisor for advise. Once the client had successfully dealt with the issues that originally brought him to treatment, Counselor Two should have either terminated the counseling relationship or together with the client assess whether there was need to continue with counseling in other areas. Counselor is responsible of monitoring her/his own effectiveness and when seeing that the client no longer benefits fro m the counseling move to appropriate termination.

Should Adultery be illegal Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Should Adultery be illegal - Research Proposal Example Although adults are consenting individuals and should be permitted to sleep with whomever they choose, adultery should be illegal because it is a violation of a legal contract and a cause for divorce. Adults are consenting adults and are permitted to sleep with whomever they choose to unless he/she is a minor. Currently, the American society comprises of different sexual relationships including heterosexual and homosexual associations, and although homosexual marriages remain largely illegal in several states, others in the US have legalized the practice. Legalizing same sex marriage is a clear indication of the respect that the law accords individuals in the choice of a marital partner, if both partners are adults (Ethridge and Stephen, 2004). Even though adults are consenting and permitted to sleep with whomever they want to, adultery should be illegal because it is a major cause for fault base divorce. According to Arterburn, Fred, and Yorkey (2000), one or both parties in a marit al union dissolve most of their heterosexual marriages in United States on allegations of adultery. This leads to psychological, economical and social suffering to all concerned parties, including children.

Destination marketing evaluate the implementation of destination Essay

Destination marketing evaluate the implementation of destination branding in Bournemouth - Essay Example However, research on both small and micro businesses has been able to indicate that not all groups of stakeholders have interests on the viability of the destination especially when their principle objective for the business operation is a lifestyle. Nevertheless, it is apparent that success of an individual tourism venture and cooperatives will depend upon the extent of competitiveness of the destination in conjunction with the leadership of the amalgam of the stakeholders that are subject to associate with the tourism industry (Neuhofer et al., 2014, p. 347). The paper is going to conduct and evaluation and analysis of the implementation of destination branding in Bournemouth. Bournemouth remains to be the most visited part of Dorset, having an estimate of 3.46m visitors per annum, according to their 2012 financial report. The total number of visitors includes both day and staying visitors. Following closely is West Dorset whom in their 2012 report received 2.87m visitors. Followed closely is Poole, who reported having received 2.08m visitors, while Purbeck reported having received 2.01m visitors in the same year. Bournemouth is also a high-quality family resort that has a large stock of accommodation together with the international conference centre. Both Poole and Weymouth remain to be the key centers of both national and international importance when it comes to all things related to the maritime tourism (Neuhofer et al., 2014, p. 349). Similarly, there is a varied commitment into the tourism per se that starts from the eight unitary and distinct authorities. Bournemouth commits its significant resources to this sector. Through the implementation of destination branding in Bournemouth, it has come to emerge that the initial stimulus for its destination marketing emerged from the experience of the germane area of tourism marketing, with its evolution being the subject of excellent synthesis. These excellent

Regressionanalysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Regressionanalysis - Essay Example 494). The weighted mean was 0.0065, which did not support claims that males are better than females. The gender gap among highest performers fails to account for the differences in majors. According to the variance ratio (VR), the group with greater variance has more people in the tails, where math geniuses are found. Greater male variance is characterized by VR > 1.0 (Hyde et al. 495). Among whites, the ratio is 1.45 for the 95th percentile and 2.06 for the 99th percentile (Hyde et al. 495). For Asian Americans they are 1.09 and 0.91 respectively. The latter shows that in the 99th percentile for Asian Americans, females exhibit higher variance. Authors explain that for a ratio of 2 for the 99th percentile, there should be 67 percent males and 33 percent females. However, they argue that PhD programs in engineering have only 15 percent women, which is not in accordance with the mathematical abilities of women presented here. The gender gap for complex problem solving is nonexistent as well. Level 1 or the ability to recall, Level 2 or the ability to approach a problem and evaluate information, and Level 3 or strategic thinking, were tested. Gender differences were quite small. However, Level 4 or ability to think over periods of time and combine knowledge was not tested. Authors argue that precisely this ability is needed in engineering careers (Hyde et al. 495). Lewin did a remarkable job at dissecting the problem and explaining it to the readers. Lewin spent only one sentence summarizing the test results. Besides explaining the results, Lewin also focused on explaining the implications of prejudices and these results on young girls who, despite their amazing performance, are still discouraged by everyone in majoring in mathematically demanding fields. Lewin also expanded on the research by Hyde et al. arguing about SAT scores and how girls perform worse because more girls take the exam. The

Is Scott Electronics plcs current human resources strategy effective Essay Example for Free

Is Scott Electronics plcs current human resources strategy effective Essay To what extent do you think that Scott Electronics plc’s current human resources strategy is effective? (18) Human resource strategy is how a business sees its employees from different business point of view and they are seen as resources to complete the business objectives. Firstly the human resource strategy for Scott electronics is very effective because the firm’s labour productivity is very high with 105 compared to the industry average which is 100. This is very effective as it shows the level of recruitment and the staff the business is recruiting is doing very well which has a positive effect in the recruitment section therefore this will make the company recruit more staff which will increase the productivity of the business. Also the bonuses which is 40% and its 20% higher than the industry average, this shows that the bonuses are keeping the firms employees motivated and it drives them to work harder which mean there will be a increase in productivity and if productivity increases it will have a positive effect on the sales revenue as the company will sell more items which will increase the sales revue and profit. Also another reason why the human resource strategy for Scott electronics is very effective because it has a very unique centralised organisational structure. A centralised structure is where the entire decision making is done from the top of the hierarchy. This is an effective strategy because the entire decision making can be done from the main person who is in charge and it can be done very quickly without going through any difficulties. This is very effective because staff can work through the business objective rather than stressing on the extra responsibility they have on their shoulders which will make them stress free and become more productive. Also they can be told what to do and the managers will have control over their workforce so that employees are less likely to make mistakes or make wrong decisions which will make a negative impact the on the businesses performance. However the human resource strategy for Scott electronics is not that effective because high numbers of employees are on temporary contract which is 75% compared to the industry average which is 25%. This is bad for the business because it will make employees feel that the job security is not there and they are not guaranteed the job which the business can tell the employees that they are not in need and the employees will go away, therefore this might result in the employees not very motivated to do well and they might not think as if they are involved with the business. Also employees on temporary contract are more likely to leave the business as the labour turnover rate is at 10% which is higher than the industry average which is 6%. This is human resource strategy is ineffective because it lead to employees leaving the business every year and the business is losing experienced and valuable staff. Also another reason the human resource strategy for Scott electronics is not that effective because the training budget is below the industry average as Scott electronics training cost is  £500 compared to the industries average which is  £1000. This shows that the staff are not that well trained and most of the staff don’t know what they are doing sometimes or they might not know how the company operates as high level of training was not provided. This lead to the amount of defect products increased as the staffs were not well trained and they kept making mistakes therefore the numbers of defects products increased. This is one of my strongest reasons because staffs need to be well trained before they can start the job as they will know what they are doing and how they are going to carry out each task according the company structures of dealing with things. Therefore the staff need to be well trained and the business needs to increase its amount on training the staff which will allow the business to have staff that know what they are doing and make less mistakes as this will cause the staff to make less defect products. In conclusion I think that the human resources strategy is very effect to the business because average span of control for Scott’s electronic is 5 and industry average is 8. This has a greater advantage to the specific business because it will allow the business mangers to control their staff and monitor the progress which the manager can set targets and the targets can be analysed to see if they have reached the targets this will increase the productivity of the business as targets are reached and mangers have better control over their staff and the business. However I think that the current human resource strategy is not that effective to the business because the firm’s defected products are 10% and the industry average is 5% which is doubled the amount. Therefore you can tell that the strategy is not that effective as the staffs are making a lot of mistakes which will cost the business as the raw materials cost money to buy. Also this indicates that strategy is failing as staff are not well trained or may not experienced enough to work in the field which the bale goes the firms recruitment policy as the firm could have employed experienced staff which could have reduced the level of defected products.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Hybrid Cars Engineering Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Hybrid Cars Engineering Essay Even by recently introducing hybrid vehicles to the worldwide transportation system, the need to reduce transport generated CO2 emissions is still a matter of high significance. One promising and at the same time environmentally friendly solution in terms of limiting the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is considered to be the introduction of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). In this technical report HEVs will be compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), by surveying their technical characteristics and performance, their total cost of ownership (TOC) and their GHG and air pollution (AP) emissions. HEVs can be classified either as parallel or series due to differences at their powertrain configuration. They both use an electric motor and an engine but only parallel HEVs can use simultaneously either of them as a main power source. At series HEVs the engine charges an on-board battery unit that transmits power to the electri c motor. Reduced engine capacity, regenerative braking ability and engine shut-off capability are the main discernible characteristics of HEVs in confrontation to their equivalent conventional models.1Some of the most generally acceptable advantages of the HEVs are their low local emissions combined with a high fuel economy, the long driving range and their commercial availability but they still depended on fossil fuels and they are more expensive than conventional ICEs.2 Technical characteristics and performance Vehicle efficiency and primary energy efficiency, or otherwise well-to-wheel efficiency are the measures used in this study to compare those different drivetrain vehicles. We define the Vehicle efficiency: and, the Primary efficiency where = the useful energy at the wheels, = the energy supplied to the vehicle and = the primary energy.3 Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV): For both parallel and series HEVs the vehicle efficiency is 29%. Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle (ICEV): The max efficiency ay ICEs is achieved near the max load point. The mean efficiency is relatively low since no max power can be achieved in normal driving conditions. At mean required power of 10kW the efficiency is low around 18% whereas around 60-90kW reaches up to 35-40%.4 Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV): An electric motor, connected with a generator and a system of transmission forms the main function of BEVs. Due to the development of advanced electronic control systems, the mean energy efficiency over a normal drive schedule has increased both for generators and electric motors.5 The potential vehicle efficiency is 61%. The difference in efficiency between hybrid and conventional vehicles can be partly justified by the use of Atkinson-cycle in the hybrid vehicle engines instead of the Otto cycle in the ICEs.6 In cases where the Atkinson cycle is applied to a well modified Otto cycle engine it results to high fuel economy that can be explained by the lower per displacement power than the traditional ICE four stroke engine. When more power is needed, an electric motor can supplement the engine power which is the basis of an Atkinson cycle working hybrid-electric drivetrain. Bigger work output and higher thermal efficiency than the Otto cycle while operating under similar conditions leads to higher primary efficiency in HEVs.7 In terms of acceleration, BEVs are better than both HEVs and ICEs but in high speed performances ICEs are faster than HEVs with BEVs to be the slowest.8 Total Cost of Ownership The total cost of ownership is by estimation the sum of the purchase price (Components, retail margin, battery, initial on-road costs), the operating costs (fuel, electricity, servicing) and the resale value. The purchase price is fixed for each vehicle (excluding the uncertainties in the battery prices) but in order to define the operational cost we first have to settle a representative drive cycle. In this study we will work with the AUDC (Australian Urban Drive Cycle) which is a bit more intense in the driving behavior than the common ones but still close to the NEDC (new European drive cycle) and the ARTEMIS cycle (150000 km travelled per vehicle lifetime) .9,10 Due to the large uncertainty in the vehicle battery prices we took a baseline value of $800(kWh)-1 or $16.800 [brooker,4] Furthermore, we estimated a base fuel price at $1.4 L-1 as well as a base electricity price at $0.175 kWh-1.11 In order to determine the operational cost of each vehicle we need to define the fuel and electricity consumption of our modeling vehicles. For a Class E parallel HEV the fuel consumption in L/km was calculated 5.7 whereas for the same category the CV had a consumption of 9.4 L/km. The electricity consumption of a Class E BEV is 0.11 kWh/km. It is clear that despite the entailed increase in vehicle electrification in the purchase price it is compensated with a decrease in the operational costs. Only by comparing each vehicles purchase price, the CV is the most cost effective solution of both HEVs and BEVs with the lasts to be the most costly ones mainly because of the high battery costs. On the other hand even though the BEVs have the lower running costs it is shown that the parallel HEVs are the ones with the lower Net Present value. Finally in a recent study it was suggested that even hybrid cars are a quite more expensive than the conventional ICE vehicles thay may reduce fuel consumption by 34-47% compared to them which decreases their NPV even more.12 Environmental evaluation In order to determine the environmental impact of each vehicle we will examine their air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. To estimate the total CO2 emissions we use the product of carbon intensity (CO2e/MJ) by fuel producers, energy intensity (MJ/km) by car producers and demand (km) by car drivers. In Hybrid (gasoline) vehicles the CO2 emissions are 20 gCO2/MJ and 220 gCO2/MJ delivered to vehicle wheels during production and vehicle life cycle respectively. In ICEs the emissions during production and life cycle are 50 gCO2/MJ and 300 gCO2/MJ whereas in BEVs (electricity production from coal) are 320 gCO2/MJ and approximately 0 gCO2/MJ respectively. It is interesting to notify that in case were electricity production comes from renewable sources (wind) the emission at the production stage of BEV are almost defeasance.13,14 Table1 Environmental impact associated with vehicle production stages Type of car GHG emissions (kg) AP emissions (kg) Conventional 3595.8 8.74 Hybrid 4156.7 10.10 Electric 9832.4 15.09 In both HEVs and BEVs we must also consider the environmental impact of batteries. We assume that both vehicles use NiMeH batteries of 53kg (1,8kWh capacity) and 430kg( 27kWh capacity), respectively. The production of those batteries require 1.96MJ of electricity and 8.35MJ of liquid petroleum gas.15 With those data and considering that the number of batteries per life of vehicle is 2 for hybrids and 3 for electrics, the total GHG emission per life of vehicle are more than 12 times higher in BEVs. Finally in order to compare the total GHG and AP emissions for ICE, BEV and HEVs we will consider the scenario that electricity is produced only from renewable energy sources. In that case ICE vehicles are the most polluting ones with almost double GHG and AP emissions than hybrid vehicles and 10 times more than BEV vehicles (450/235/40 g CO2,equivalent /mile respectively).16 Table2 Total environmental impact for different vehicles Car Type GHG emissions(kg) /100 km of travelling AP emissions(kg) /100 km of travelling Conventional ICE 21.4 0.0600 Hybrid HEV 13.3 0.0370 Electric BEV 2.31 0.00756 The average travelling distance during a 10 year vehicle life time is 241,350km.17 We must say here that in any scenario for electricity production the BEV are still the most environmentally friendly vehicles. Furthermore, hybrid cars may reduce Well-to-wheel GHG emissions to 89-103 gCO2 comparing to conventional ICE gasoline vehicles.18 Georgios Fontaras, Panayotis Pistikopoulos, Zissis Samaras, 2008, Experimental evaluation of hybrid vehicle fuel economy and pollutant emissions over real-world simulation driving cycles, Atmospheric Environment 42, 2008, 4023-4035. C.C.Chan, Fellow, IEEE, Alain Bouscayrol, Member, IEEE, and Keyu Chen, Member, IEEE, 2010, Electric, Hybrid, and fuel-Cell Vehicles: Architectures and Modeling, IEEE transactions on vehicular technology, Vol.59, No.2, February 2010. Max Ahman, 2000, Primary energy efficiency of alternative powertrains in vehicles, Energy 26, 2001, 973-989. Ecotraffic, The life of fuels, Stockholm, 1992 Kopf et al, 1997, development of a multifunctional high power system: meeting the demands of both a generator and traction drive system, Electric Vehicle Sympozium 14, Orlando (FL), 1997. Yingru Zhao, Jincan Chen, 2006, Performance analysis and parametric optimum criteria of an irreversible Atkinson heat-engine, Applied Energy 83,2006, 789-800. Shuhn-Shyurng Hou, 2006, Comparison of performances of air standard Atkinson and Otto cycles with heat transfer considerations, Energy conversion and Management 48, 2007, 1683-1690. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, 2006, The 21st century electric car, Tesla Motors Inc. Michel Andrà ©, 2004, The ARTEMIS European driving cycles for measuring car pollutant emissions, The Science of the total environment, 334-335, 2004, 73-74. R.Sharma, C.Manzie, M.Bessede, M.J.Brear, R.H. Crawford, 2012, Conventional, hybrid and electric vehicles for Australian driving conditions Part 1: Technical and financial analysis, Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 25, 2012, 238-249. Annual energy outlook 2012 with projections to 2035, 2012, U.S. energy information administration, June 2012. Oscar P.R van Vliet, Thomas Kruithof, Wim C. Turkenberg, Andre P.C. Faaij, 2010, Techno-economic comparison of series hybrid, plug in hybrid, fuel cell and regular cars, Journal of Power Sources, Vol.195, Issue 19, 2010, 6570-6585. Felix Creutzig, Emily McGlynn, Jan Minx, Ottmar Edenhofer, 2011, Climate policies for road transport revisited (1): Evaluation of the current framework, Energy Policy, 39, 2011, 2396-2406. Mikhail Granovskii, Ibrahim Dincer, Marc A.Rosen, 2006, Economic and environmental comparison of conventional, hybrid, electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Journal of Power Sources, 159, 2006, 1186-1193. M.Rantik, 1999, Life Cycle Assessment of five batteries for Electric vehicles under different charging regimes, report, KFB-Stockholm, 1999. Tien Nguyen Jake Ward, 2010, Well-to-Wheels Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Petroleum Use for Mid-Size Light-Duty Vehicles, US department of energy, Program Record (Offices of Vehicle Technologies Fuel Cell Technologies), 2010. United States Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and renewable energy. Via www.fueleconomy.gov , accessed May 15, 2005. G.J.offer, D.Howey, M.Contestabile, R.Clague, N.P.Brandon, 2010, Comparative analysis of battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid vehicles in a future sustainable road transport system, Energy Policy, 38, 2010, 24-29.

Marketing Environment Audit Of Wh Smith Marketing Essay

Marketing Environment Audit Of Wh Smith Marketing Essay Executive Summary The objective of this report is to conduct a marketing audit and appraise some of the processes, models and techniques used. This will include an evaluation of the actual external marketing environment in which an analysis of Porters Five Forces will be conducted to identify ways forward for WH Smith to stay competitive in the retail environment. P.E.S.T. analysis will be undertaken to identify the opportunities and threats facing WH Smith and an assessment of the actual internal marketing environment will be conducted in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses affecting WH Smith. This report found the relevant information from a variety of different sources including academic text books, case study texts, and various web sites including newspaper articles, the national statistics web sites, WH Smith annual reports and Datamonitor reports. Based on analysis from Porter Five Forces and P.E.S.T. the report found WH Smith lacking in the areas of expansion outside of the UK market in both the travel and high street divisions, WH Smith online store needs to be updated and more media needs to be added also the digital music download industry is worth looking into for future growth of the company along with the development of the already existing eBook website. And promotion and advertising is needed across all divisions and areas of the WH Smith. Introduction Background WH Smith is one of the leading retail groups in the UK. Its engaged in the retailing of newspapers, magazines, stationery, books and entertainment products. The company operates 565 high street stores and 490 travel outlets located at high streets, airports, train stations, hospitals work-place motorway service areas across the UK (WHSmithplc, 2008; Datamonitor, 2008). Key facts about WH Smith: WH Smith employs over 17,000 people. Every year 70% of the UKs population visit a WH Smith store On average, over 1.2 million people visit a WH Smith High Street store every day of the year WH Smith operates two divisions: High street and Travel. Every year 125 million travellers pass WH Smiths busiest Travel store at Londons Victoria Station WH Smith sells 1.5 million magazines every week; 24,000 magazines every hour they are open WH Smith sells in excess of 40 million books yearly On average, WH Smith sell 3,000 A4 pads daily End to end the sales of WH Smiths 3 best selling rulers would stretch from London to Spain (WHSmithplc, 2008; Datamonitor, 2008; Network Rail). Terms of Reference The aim of this report is to undertake a marketing audit appraise some of the processes, models techniques used for auditing the marketing environment. This is conducted thru evaluation of the external marketing environment assessing the actual internal marketing environment for WH Smith. From this the potential impact will be assessed to identify its impact on WH Smiths marketing planning marketing mix. The report will finish with a conclusion and recommendations will be made as regards the company going forward. Main Findings Kotler (2000, p. 708) states a marketing audit is a comprehensive, systematic, independent, periodic examination of a companys-or business units marketing environment, objectives, strategies, and activities with a view to determining problem areas, opportunities and recommending a plan of action to improve the companys marketing performance. An audit should be conducted on a regular basis, thoroughly and be well organised (CIM, 2002). An audit is undertaken so a company can identify its standing in the marketplace and involves an internal and external environmental analysis. Internal environment analysis: It is imperative for an organisation to regularly asses their marketing, financial, manufacturing and organisational competencies to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of each factor (Kotler, 2000). Models used in this analysis: Value Chain Analysis PIMS (Profit Impact of Marketing Strategy) GAP Analysis Portfolio Analysis PLC (Product Life Cycle) Innovation Audit NDP (New Development Process) Experience Curves External Environment Analysis Theory: This analyses the micro and macro environments of the organisations which will lead to identifying the opportunities and threats facing the firm. Micro Environment: Factors closest to the organisation (customers, competitors, distributors, suppliers), these can have a considerable impact on the firms performance within the marketplace; the firm has no direct control over these factors but can have some influence (Businessdictionary, 2009). There are four techniques used in analysing the micro environment: Market analysis: Netmba (2007) states The goal of a market analysis is to determine the attractiveness of a market and to understand its evolving opportunities and threats as they relate to the strengths and weaknesses of the firm. Customer analysis: Identifying and understanding the needs and wants of your customers, exploring new trends for growth and expansion of the organisation (wmep, 2008). Competitor analysis: Entrepreneur (2009) describes competitor analysis as identifying your competitors and evaluating their strategies to determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to those of your own product or service Industry analysis: Industry analysis involves reviewing the economic, political and market factors that influence the way the industry develops. Major factors can include the power wielded by suppliers and buyers, condition of competitors, and the likelihood of new market entrants (Businessdictionary, 2009). A useful model that can be used when carrying out the internal analysis is Porters Five Forces: Porters Five Forces Model To quote from Hooley et al (2008, p 73) Porter (1980) suggests that five main forces shape competition at the level of strategic business units and that a systematic analysis of each in turn can help managers identify the key to competitiveness in their particular industry Competitive rivalry: Venturenavigator (2009) describes this as the intensity of competition between existing organisations in an industry. E.g. price, quality, and innovation. Threat of new entrants: Mallon (2005) suggests the risk of new entrants is based on the industrys barrier to entry, e.g. of brand capital costs, access to technology or requirements to obtain licenses. Substitutes: A substitute product is a product that replaces the need for your product altogether, e.g., Timber framed houses being replaced with steel frames (Whatmakesagoodleader, 2009). Supplier power: Buyer power looks at the relative power a companys customers has over it, size plays a factor, if the company is much larger than its suppliers, and purchases in large quantities, then the supplier will have very little power to negotiate. i.e. Tescos buying in huge amounts leads to suppliers having no power (Mallon, 2005). Buyer power: Customers can exert their power to shop around and demand lower prices; this creates price wars with companies which lead to reduced prices (Smit, 2006) also large businesses that purchase huge quantities from suppliers have greater buyer power and can demand lower prices; smaller firms do not have the same bargaining powers (Mallon, 2005). Macro Environment: Opportunities threats occur here, they are uncontrollable short-term factors that affect the organisation as well as everybody within society, and the organisation has no control or influence over these factors (CIM, 2002). In order to identify opportunities threats a PEST analysis must be conducted; this looks at four external factors affecting the firm: PEST Analysis Political: Political factors hold alot of weight over the regulation of a company e.g. consumer competition laws. Economical: The state of a countrys economy is central when deciding on business trading e.g. interest rates and inflation. Social: Social and cultural influences change from each country and must be measured e.g. changing trends, education, health system and ethnicity Technological: Technology is vital for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization (Marketingteacher, 2010). SWOT Analysis: Hooley el al (2008 p42) states a SWOT seeks to identify the most significant factors, both internal and external, affecting the organisations and its markets. It provides a quick executive summary of the key issues. Secondly, however, by looking at where the strengths and weaknesses align with opportunities and threats it can help strategy formulation. The organisation can begin to see where its strengths might be best deployed, offensively and defensively, as well as where its weaknesses leave it vulnerable to change or competitor action. Porters Five Forces Analysis This analyse will report on the industry as a whole and identify ways forward for WH Smith to stay competitive in the retail environment. Buyer power High Having such a large operation gives WH Smith huge bargaining powers to negotiate terms without the risk of losing suppliers as switching costs are low and this makes industries highly competitive in reducing prices to win contracts with companies such as WH Smith (Datamonitor, 2009). Supplier power Low Supplier power becomes reduced for industries such as books, cards, stationery and entertainment because of the large number of companies within these industries that can supply WH Smith, also switching costs is relatively low (Datamonitor, 2009). Threat of new entrants High The rivalry from established competitors such as WH Smith discourages new entrants into the market but because the industry does not involve huge investment this encourages other businesses to start up (Datamonitor, 2009). Substitutes High eBooks threaten the traditional form of books but are a relatively new idea and currently not as popular as the traditional book concept, the reading devices are expensive which can turn customers off initial purchases, but WH Smith has adapted to this idea with the introduction of http://ebooks.whsmith.co.uk in October 2001 (Encyclopedia, 2002) another substitute to WH Smith is the increasing sales of second-hand books on sites such as Amazon and eBay. Competitive rivalry High WHSmithplc (2008) states large customer such as Tescos sell almost everything that WH Smith but at a reduced price such as cutting the prices of CDs to under  £10 damaging WH Smiths market share (Cope, 2003), all the while giving its customers the opportunity to carry out their grocery shopping at the same time. Consumers are looking for more value for money and it seems consumers are swapping trips to the high street in favour of a spin around a virtual store (Rigby, 2006), online retailers as Amazon give customers easy access to products online while facilitating easy access to compare prices and get more value for money. WH Smith needs to offer reduction and offers to match retailers such as Tescos and build on their web site. P.E.S.T Analysis Political: National minimum wage increase Threat The Office for National Statistics show that in October 2009 an increase from  £5.73 an hour to  £5.80 for adults was awarded with 18-21 year olds increased from  £4.77 to  £4.83. The majority of WH Smith employees would have benefited from this increase but WH Smith will be at a disadvantage with higher over heads being the main issue at a time when the economy is on a downturn (Hopkins, 2009). VAT increase in 2010 Threat Hopkins (2010) states the VAT increase of 2010 is another hit to WH Smiths profit margins as it increases from 15% to 17.5% in January, as this is necessary to bring stability to the UK economy it is also putting the company at a disadvantage, WH Smith high street stores have already seen a drop in sales over 2009 due to the economic downturn in the UK, this shows expansion is needed into other countries to avoid such risks throughout the company but as the WH Smith annual report shows there are no new plans to expand the high street division (WHSmithplc, 2009). Terrorist attacks Threat WH Smithplc (2009) states The spread of a deadly disease, an act of terrorism or war could decrease the number of customers visiting WHSmith outlets. The Travel division of WH Smith was particularly affected by such events on 11th September 2001 (New York City) and 7th July 2005 (London), which saw decreased amounts of commuters using airports and public transport which lead to a drop in sales (WHSmithplc, 2009). Due to the United Kingdoms involvement in the current war in Afghanistan WH Smiths Travel and high street divisions will be devastated by every terrorist attack in the UK for the foreseeable future due to their locations. Economical: Economic recession Threat The office of national statistics shows that the UK contracted by.02% in the third quarter of 2009 and remains 5.1% lower than the third quarter of 2008; however there is an increase in activity from the second quarter of 2009 showing the economy is slowly starting to recover. WH Smith (2009) Annual report shows high street division recorded a loss in sales of 2.3% over 2007 another loss of 5% over 2008, along with the closures of book outlets such as Borders and Woolworths this increase in the economy is good news for WH Smith in 2010. Interest rates Threat Interest rates were left unchanged at 0.5 per cent by the Bank of England today, as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) continued its policy of keeping the price of money at record lows to stimulate the flagging economy (Sabbagh, 2010). Ian McCafferty, the chief economic adviser at the CBI, states the unchanged interest rate is unsurprising due to the fact that recovery in the UK is likely to be slow and drawn out, similar to that following the 1980s recession with sub-par growth continuing into 2011. This hold on rates will promote consumer spending but is still a threat to WH Smith as this is not a permanent hold on rates and can be increased. Unemployment Threat The office of national statistics identifies that as of 16th December 2009 the unemployment rating stood at 7.9% which was relatively unchanged from the previous quarter and has risen 1.9% on the same quarter in 2008, this stands at one of the smallest increases in unemployment since spring 2008 giving hope that the economy is back on track, with more people in employment it will promote consumer morale and more spending which will lead to increased profits for WH Smith. Social: Increase in the travel industry Opportunity A survey conducted by Travelzoo showed that over half of the UK respondents said they had plans to travel more in 2010, 66% of UK respondents are hoping to take one or two holidays and 31% are thinking about more than three trips. This shows the importance of holiday to UK residents as 25% will give up nights out, 22% will give up house improvements and 52% will get rid of luxury goods in order to be able to travel in 2010 (news.holidayhypermarket, 2009). With more people that ever travelling in 2010 it shows the travel industry is back on track and will promote increased profits for WH Smith in 2010. Acquisitions and partnerships Opportunity WHSmithplc (2009) shows acquisitions of Leeds-based UNS with 71 retail units, 8 Caffee Nuovo coffee shops in 62 hospitals and 23 airport units from Alpha Retail UK Limited also a franchise deal with Road Chef was also confirmed in 2008 (Hasell, 2008). 2010 will see six units opening in Delhi airports giving WH Smith a good share of the Indian market and shows the division is set on further international expansion outside of the UK. An alliance with Penguin in which Smiths will stock only Penguins overseas guides in the majority of its travel stores in airports, and rail and bus stations to the exclusion of all rival brands titles is another step forward in a time of retailing giants like Tescos taking over the book industry WH Smith has taken steps to ensure its competitiveness in the marketplace as discounts from suppliers ensures lower prices for end users (Freedman, 2009). High street benefited from the closure of the Woolworth stores in 2008 with WH Smith looking to have control of ten of the Woolworths stores before the end of 2009 (Felsted Lemer, 2009), this is another step forward for the UK market but having only two stores outside of the UK shows high street needs to be more active in foreign expansion. Technological: On-line sales Opportunity Whsmith.co.uk was launched in May 1999 with the intention of winning a third stake of the online book-market within three years but problems identified in customer service, lack of products available and poor promotion the site is losing customers to bigger competitors such as Amazon, the same can be said of the entertainment and eBook sites WH Smith operates (news.bbc, 1999). The economic recession is making more people price sensitive and so many more consumers are searching the internet in the hopes of better deals and a bigger range of products, as Rigby (2006) states Shoppers, it seems, are swapping trips to the high street in favour of a spin around a virtual store. Investment, promotion and management into the online stores would yield endless profits for the company. Digital music and eBooks Opportunity Encyclopedia (2002) shows WH Smith has made advancements into the eBook industry starting with the launch of http://ebooks.whsmith.co.uk in October 2001, but as with whsmith.co.uk the eBook site is lacking in promotion and available products on the web compared to Waterstones who identify eBooks as being a big part of their business and a fast growing part of the book industry over the past twelve months (Allen, 2009), also digital music is an area WH Smith has no investment in but should be taking steps to invest in as more customers are turning to digital music rather than purchasing CDs as Garrahan (2009) states Physical album sales have fallen sharply as music retailing has evolved from CD album purchases in retail outlets to digital downloads of songs from online stores. According to research the author defines the strengths and weaknesses as follows: Strengths: Widely recognised brand in the UK WH Smiths (2009) states their business model is based on their widely recognised and respected brand which has been part of the UK economy for the past 217 years, Datamonitor (2009) states The Companys brand is an important asset and strongly appeals to the customer, thereby positively affecting the companys business an example of this would be 70% of the UK population visit a WH Smith store every year (WHSmithplc, 2009). Wide retailing operation in the UK Travel operates 490units: 135 are in airports, 114 in railway stations, 118 in motorway service area, 95 in hospitals and 19 in locations such as bus stations and workplaces, nine units are in four non-UK locations, in Paris, Shannon, Copenhagen and Stockholm (WHSmithplc, 2009). High street operates in 565 High Street stores located in almost all of the UKs major high streets (WHSmithplc, 2009), it benefited recently with the closure of Woolworths and is taking the appropriate steps to expand its presence with plans to take over ten of the Woolworths sites as stated by Felsted Lemer (2009) and the recent collapse of the 45 stores Borders book chain occupied in the UK was another opportunity for expansion of the high-street stores which WH Smith decline to invest in, WH Smith had initially shown interest in a deal but then pulled out of talks (Marlow, 2009). The company has show to be a strong competitor in the UK market but more focus is needed in expansion into foreign markets as competitors such as Amazon have done. Strong performing travel division 2009 showed profits of 17% to  £48million and 8% profit growth, the division operates from 490 units (2008: 449 units), 135 are in airports, 114 in railway stations, 118 in motorway service area, 95 in hospitals and 19 in locations such as bus stations and workplaces, nine units are in four non-UK locations, in Paris, Shannon, Copenhagen and Stockholm and these units have shown to perform higher in rush hour than some lower performing high street stores (WHSmithplc, 2009). 2010 will see six units opening in Delhi airports which will give WH Smith a good share of the Indian market and shows the strength of the travel division, its stability in an economy downturn and shows the division making the necessary steps for foreign expansion (Hall, 2009). Weaknesses: Geographic concentration: Datamonitor (2009) identifies high street as having two locations outside the UK: Paris and Belfast with travel operating nine units in four non-UK locations Paris, Shannon, Copenhagen and Stockholm with six more to be opened in Delhi airports in 2010 (Hall, 2009) . WH Smith is open to many negative environmental factors having all of its operations in Europe, one such factor is the current economic recession that resulted in a 2.3% loss in sales over 2007 and another 5% loss over 2008 for the high street stores. Competitors like Amazon have operations in Canada, Japan, UK, China, France, Germany and the US; also Borders operate in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (Borders, 2010; Amazon, 2010). As Travel is taking steps for foreign expansion high street has no plans for expansion as WHSmithplc (2009) points out The High Street plan remains unchanged thus making the company vulnerable to adverse market conditions in the region and puts it at a competitive disadvantage over global retail giants (Datamonitor, 2009). SWOT Analysis Strengths Widely recognised brand in the UK Wide retailing operations in the UK Strong performing travel division Weaknesses Geographic concentration Opportunities Increase in the travel industry On-line sales Digital music and eBooks Acquisition and partnerships Threats National minimum wage increase VAT increase in 2010 Terrorist attacks Economic recession Interest rates Unemployment Marketing mix: Product WH Smith offers a wide variety of Books, Stationary, Gifts and Cards, Magazines, DVD, DVD formats, UMD formats, Blue-ray and HD DVD, Music, Games, eBooks, PC and Electronics in the high street and travel division. WH Smith needs to invest heavily in digital media; along with eBooks focus must be put on investment in digital music as this market shows huge growth with ITunes being the market leader. Price Due to the increased amount of competition entering the market WH Smith needs to adjust its pricing structure in line with its competitors to ensure customers feel they are getting value for money thus increasing its market share, as customers become more price sensitive and shop around for better deals online and high street. Agreeing partnerships as the travel division has done with Penguin is an example, this ensures a reduced prices for the customer at the till as it reduces supplier costs, and this in turn increases competitiveness with such rivals as Tescos and Amazon. Place WH Smith high street has 564 stores present in almost all of the major high streets within the UK and travel has 481 units in airports, hospitals, motor service, bus and train stations within the UK, the UK market works well for WH Smith but it now needs to focus on foreign markets. Travel occupies nine travel units in Paris, Shannon, Copenhagen and Stockholm, the recent plan to open six units in Delhi airports in 2010 is such a way forward but more expansion into other countries is needed to stay competitive. High street offer two stores outside of the UK in Paris and Belfast with no plans to expand further in 2010, while competitors such as Amazon and Borders have a presence worldwide WH Smith needs to expand to stay competitive with such companies. WH Smith online has a weak presence, a huge amount of investment in promoting and managing the site is required. It has been shown that more people are moving to the internet for day to day purchases, research on products and value for money, if WH smith is not seen to be offering these to consumers they will move to competitors such as Amazon. Promotion Advertising offered by WH Smith is poor for all divisions as this has an impact on sales, more focus needs to be put into the advertising and promotion of both divisions, i.e. TV, radio, internet, ideas such as sponsoring Universities/teams as students would cover a big part of WH Smiths customers, reduction in prices would also be classed as advertising, cutting prices below competitors and this would also lead to customer passing on the information thru word of mouth. Marketing planning (strategic tactical planning): Businessdictionary (2010) states Tactical planning is Systematic determination and scheduling of immediate or short-term activities required in achieving the objectives of strategic planning, while Strategic planning is a business process that many companies employ to identify their critical success factors that set the course for future growth and profits (Gaw, 2009). Tactical planning as relates to WH Smith includes short term plans including pricing structures, discounts, and loyalty cards. Strategic planning is more focused on long term goals such as expansion into new markets such as the move into India with six travel units opening up also developments in industries such as digital music downloads needs to be a main focus of WH Smith going forward as the world is moving into the digital age. Conclusion The report found WH Smith to possess a huge market-share within the UK, but lacking in the areas of expansion outside of the UK compared to other competitors such as Amazon and Borders which leaves it vulnerable to negative effects on the economy such as the current economic recession. Also retailers as Tescos and Asda can offer drop down prices of mostly all products WH Smith sells included in a customers weekly grocery shopping which heightens competition for WH Smith with these retailers WH Smiths attempts into the digital era is lacking, the companies websites (entertainment, eBook, whsmith.co.uk) were found to be in need of attention is areas such as customer service, products available and promotion as customers are not satisfied with the current system. Also the digital music industry was found to be a growing market and it would be in WH Smiths interest to invest in this area. Recommendations The report finds that the WH Smith needs to be more active in promoting the company outside of the UK, competitors such as Amazon and Borders have done this successfully, expansion into other countries reduces the chance of being affected by economic factors such as the economic recession in the UK which has had negative effects on WH Smith high street division with a reduction in sales over 2007 and 2008. WH Smith on-line needs vigorous investment in all online stores, customer service, availability of products and promotion are the main issues to start with. Amazon has a great online presence as it markets its site very well, targeting its customers with items relating to previous purchases, this is a good idea for WH Smith to work on. Investment in digital music downloads is advised as this market has shown to be growing rapidly with ITunes as market leader. More partnerships like Penguin need to be agreed in both divisions, thus reducing supplier costs which can be passed onto customers; this will help with competition from Tescos and Asda. 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Pollution and Environment Essay - We Must Find a Balance Between Man an

We Must Find a Balance Between Man and Nature "America's beauty is truly unmatched by anything I have seen!" I thought with excitement and ecstasy when I first witnessed the splendor of American landscape. The majestic forests and azure lakes have surpassed the stories I heard while growing up. However, a puzzling sight hampered my sense of admiration when I arrived in New Mexico. Though the steppe around me was untouched, "No Littering" and "Save the Earth" signs seemed to be everywhere. It puzzled me why so much effort was put into preserving a land already pristine. At the time, I knew only of the splendor of American landscape and felt that it was only natural for people to preserve the pervasive gem I had witnessed. Gradually, I conceived the ongoing battle to preserve the environment. On one side, concerned citizens strive for environmental restrictions on industries to produce a cleaner, less technological environment their descendants can enjoy. Their formidable adversaries, the economists, argue that these restrictions limit the nation's productivity, thus degrading the general prosperity. Having witnessed the effects of overpopulation and pollution in China, I concur with the need to safeguard the environment. Yet this movement to protect is flawed. Though many people push for restrictions on industries, they themselves do not truly understand what they protect. It seems that many citizens today mistake nature for a pure, untainted essence that humanity has not corrupted. Even worse, these people go through incredible lengths to seek its revitalizing touch when they lack an overall perception of nature. Though nature is not the quintessence that many believe, it is nonetheless valuable to humans. For me, nature ... ...apid growth in technology, many citizens are ignorant of what will and will not deteriorate the environment. It is urgent to increase the public awareness of facts so a delicate balance between human expansion and natural preservation can be established. Perhaps in the future, mankind will have a new home among the stars, and nature on Earth will finally be left to freely run its course. Works Cited Cronon, William. "The Trouble with Wilderness" The Norton Reader. Ed. Peterson Linda, John Breton, and Joan Hartman. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 651-654. Eichler, Barrett. Personal Interview. 17 Oct. 2002. Kentucky Coal Education. Coal Education Question and Answers Forum. 20 Oct. 2002. . Pollan, Michael. "The Idea of a Garden." Reading the Environment. Ed. Melissa Walker. New York: Norton, 1994. 191-201.

The Evolution of the Human Brain :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Evolution of the Human Brain Although my previous two papers concerned the interplay between neurobiology and genetics, I have not quite worked the issue out to my satisfaction nor to the depth which I think the topic warrants. Therefore, I will again tackle this complex set of biological questions pertaining to the ways in which our genes shape our brains. My first paper dealt with the nature-nurture debate and its relation to the brain-behavior problem raised in class. Then, in the second paper, I moved on to a narrower issue in neurogenetics; I wrote about Fragile X Syndrome and the ways in which a specific genetic mutation can drastically change behavioral output. I would now like to enlarge the scope of this outlook on genes and the brain to encompass the topic of the evolution of the human brain. Throughout the semester, as we covered sensory input and motor output, a single neuron and complex motor symphonies, car sickness and dreaming, I have left class wondering: how are these behaviors, from the micro- actions of a neuron to the macro-actions of a human being, adaptive? How did large brains and extensive nervous systems come to be selected for? And why have humans, alone, acquired them? Some aspects of these questions seem to reside in the realm of the paleontologists, others, in the realm of the neurogeneticists. They do, however, seem to me to be central to neurobiology. For it is drilled into us that form connotes function, and, perhaps, if we come to understand how and why the human nervous system was formed, we will have a richer understanding of how and why it functions as it does. The work and thoughts of Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene, have been useful to me in working out the issues of my previous papers, and I will again employ his theory that people are merely survival machines for the genes they carry. This is, I think, a logical argument with which to begin a discussion of the evolution of the brain, as it reduces evolutionary processes down to the bare bones of living things, that essential material: human genes and the DNA comprising them. This viewpoint excludes the complicated semi-philosophical questions pertaining to consciousness, higher thought, and the Self experienced by human beings via their neural processing; it primarily addresses the usefulness to human beings of the inordinately large organ contained within the skull.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 1

Damon Salvatore was lounging in midair, nominally supported by one branch of a†¦who knew the names of trees anyway? Who gave a damn? It was tall, it allowed him to peep into Caroline Forbes's third-story bedroom, and it made a comfy backrest. He lay back in the convenient tree fork, hands clasped together behind his head, one neatly booted leg dangling over thirty feet of empty space. He was comfortable as a cat, eyes half-closed as he watched. He was waiting for the magic moment of 4:44A.M . to arrive, when Caroline would perform her bizarre ritual. He'd already seen it twice and he was enthralled. Then he got a mosquito bite. Which was ridiculous because mosquitoes didn't prey on vampires. Their blood wasn't nutritious like human blood. But it certainly felt like a tiny mosquito bite on the back of his neck. He swiveled to see behind him, feeling the balmy summer night all around him – and saw nothing. The needles of some conifer. Nothing flying about. Nothing crawling on them. All right then. It must have been a conifer needle. But it certainly did hurt. And the pain got worse with time, not better. A suicidal bee? Damon felt the back of his neck carefully. No venom sack, no stinger. Just a tiny squishy lump that hurt. A moment later his attention was called back to the window. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on but he could feel the sudden buzzing of Power around the sleeping Caroline, like a high-tension wire. Several days ago, it had drawn him to this place, but once he'd arrived he couldn't seem to find the source. The clock ticked 4:40 and beeped an alarm. Caroline woke and swatted it across the room. Lucky girl, Damon thought, with wicked appreciation. If I were a rogue human instead of a vampire, then your virtue – presuming you've any left – might be in danger. Fortunately for you, I had to give up all that sort of thing nearly half a millennium ago. Damon flashed a smile at nothing in particular, held it for a twentieth of a second, and then turned it off, his black eyes going cold. He looked back into the open window. Yes†¦he'd always felt that his idiot younger brother Stefan didn't appreciate Caroline Forbes enough. There was no doubt that the girl was worth looking at: long, golden-brown limbs, a shapely body, and bronze-colored hair that fell around her face in waves. And then there was her mind. Naturally skewed, vengeful, spiteful. Delicious. For instance, if he wasn't mistaken, she was working with little voodoo dolls on her desk in there. Terrific. Damon liked to see the creative arts at work. The alien Power still buzzed, and still he couldn't get a fix on it. Was it inside – in thegirl ? Surely not. Caroline was hastily grabbing for what looked like a handful of silken green cobwebs. She stripped her T-shirt off and – almost too fast for the vampire eye to see – had herself dressed in lingerie that made her look like a jungle princess. She stared intently at her own reflection in a stand-alone full-length mirror. Now, whatcan you be waiting for, little girl? Damon wondered. Well – he might as well keep a low profile. There was a dark flutter, one ebony feather fell to the ground, and then there was nothing but an exceptionally large crow sitting in the tree. Damon watched intently from one bright bird-eye as Caroline moved forward suddenly as if she'd gotten an electric jolt, lips parted, her gaze on what seemed to be her own reflection. Then she smiled at it in greeting. Damon could pinpoint the source of Power now. It was inside the mirror. Not in the samedimension as the mirror, certainly, but contained inside it. Caroline was behaving – oddly. She tossed back her long bronze hair so that it fell in magnificent disarray down her back; she wet her lips and smiled as if at a lover. When she spoke, Damon could hear her quite clearly. â€Å"Thank you. But you're late today.† There was still no one but her in the bedroom, and Damon could hear no answer. But the lips of the Caroline in the mirror were not moving in synch with the real girl's lips. Bravo! he thought, always willing to appreciate a new trick on humans. Well done, whoever you are! Lip-reading the mirror girl's words, he caught something aboutsorry . Andlovely . Damon cocked his head. Caroline's reflection was saying, â€Å"†¦you don'thave to†¦after today.† The real Caroline answered huskily. â€Å"But what if I can't fool them?† And the reflection: â€Å"†¦have help. Don't worry, rest easy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Okay. And nobody will get, like,fatally hurt, right? I mean, we're not talking about death – forhumans .† The reflection: â€Å"Why should we†¦?† Damon smiled inwardly. How many times had he heard exchanges likethat before? As a spider himself, he knew: First you got your fly into the parlor; then you reassured her; and before she knew it, you could have anything from her, until you didn'tneed her any longer. And then – his black eyes glittered – it was time for a new fly. Now Caroline's hands were writhing in her lap. â€Å"Just as long as you really – you know. What you promised. You really mean it about loving me?† â€Å"†¦trust me. I'll take care of you – and your enemies, too. I've already begun†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Suddenly Caroline stretched, and it was a stretch that boys at Robert E. Lee High School would have paid to watch. â€Å"That's what I want to see,† she said. â€Å"I'm justso sick of hearing about Elena this, Stefan that†¦and now it's going to start all over.† Caroline broke off abruptly, as if someone had hung up on her on the phone and she'd only just realized it. For a moment her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. Then, slowly, she relaxed. Her eyes remained on the mirror, and one hand lifted until it was resting lightly on her stomach. She stared at it and slowly her features seemed to soften, to melt into an expression of apprehension and anxiety. But Damon hadn't taken his eyes off the mirror for an instant. Normal mirror, normal mirror, normal mirror – l era! Just at the last moment, as Caroline turned away, a flash of red. Flames? Now, whatcould be going on? he thought lazily, fluttering as he transformed from a sleek crow back into a drop-dead gorgeous young man lounging in a high branch of the tree. Certainly the mirror-creature wasn't from around Fell's Church. But it sounded as if it meant to make trouble for his brother, and a fragile, beautiful smile touched Damon's lips for a second. There was nothing he loved more than to watch self-righteous, sanctimonious, I'm-better-than-you-cos-I-don't-drink-human-blood Stefan get in trouble. The teenagers of Fell's Church – and some of the adults – regarded the tale of Stefan Salvatore and their local beauty Elena Gilbert as a modern Romeo-and-Juliet story. She had given her life to save his when they'd both been captured by a maniac, and afterward he had died of a broken heart. There were even whispers that Stefan had been notquite human†¦but something else. A demon lover that Elena had died to redeem. Damon knew the truth. Stefan was dead all right – but he had been dead for hundreds of years. And it was true that he was a vampire, but calling him a demon was like calling Tinkerbell armed and dangerous. Meanwhile Caroline couldn't seem to stop talking to an empty room. â€Å"Just you wait,† she whispered, walking over to the piles of untidy papers and books that littered her desk. She rummaged through the papers until she found a miniature video camera that had a green light shining at her like a single unblinking eye. Delicately, she connected the camera to her computer and began typing a password. Damon's eyesight was much better than a human's, and he could clearly see the tanned fingers with the long shining bronze nails:CFRULES . Caroline Forbes rules, he thought. Pitiful. Then she turned around, and Damon saw tears well up in her eyes. The next moment, unexpectedly, she was sobbing. She sat heavily on the bed, weeping and rocking herself back and forth, occasionally striking the mattress with a clenched fist. But mainly she just sobbed and sobbed. Damon was startled. But then custom took over and he murmured, â€Å"Caroline? Caroline, may I come in?† â€Å"What? Who?† She looked around frantically. â€Å"It's Damon. May I come in?† he asked, his voice dripping with mock sympathy, simultaneously using mind control on her. All vampires had such powers of control over mortals. How great the Power was depended on many things: the vampire's diet (human blood was by far the most potent), the strength of the victim's will, the relationship between the vampire and the victim, the fluctuation of day and night – and so many other things that even Damon didn't begin to understand. He only knew when he felt his own Power quicken, as it was quickening now. And Caroline was waiting. â€Å"I can come in?† he said in his most musical, most beguiling voice, at the same time crushing Caroline's strong will under one much stronger. â€Å"Yes,† she answered, wiping her eyes quickly, apparently seeing nothing unusual in his entrance by a third-story window. Their eyes locked. â€Å"Come in, Damon.† She had issued the necessary invitation for a vampire. With one graceful motion he swung himself over the sill. The interior of her room smelled like perfumes – and not subtle ones. He felt really quite savage now – it was surprising the way the bloodfever had come on so suddenly, so irresistibly. His upper canines had extended to about half again their size, and their edges were razor-sharp. This was no time for conversation, for loitering around as he usually did. For a gourmet, half the pleasure was in the anticipation, sure, but right now he was inneed . He drew strongly on his Power to control the human brain and gave Caroline a dazzling smile. That was all it took. Caroline had been moving toward him; now she stopped. Her lips, partly open to ask a question, remained parted; and her pupils suddenly widened as if she were in a dark room, and then contracted and remained contracted. â€Å"I†¦I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she managed. â€Å"Ohhh†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There. She was his. And so easily, too. His fangs were throbbing with a kind of pleasurable pain, a tender soreness beckoning him to strike as quickly as the lunge of a cobra, to sink his teeth to the hilt in an artery. He was hungry – no,starving – and his whole body was burning with the urge to drink as deeply as he liked. After all, there were others to choose from if he drained this vessel dry. Carefully, never taking his eyes from hers, he lifted Caroline's head to expose her throat, with the sweet pulse throbbing in its hollow. It filled all his senses: the beating of her heart, the smell of the exotic blood just under the surface, dense and ripe and sweet. His head was spinning. He'd never been so excited, so eager – So eager that it gave him pause. After all, one girl was as good as another, right? What was different about this time? What waswrong with him? And then he knew. I'll have my own mind back, thank you. Suddenly Damon's intellect was icy cold; the sensual aura in which he'd been trapped frozen over instantly. He dropped Caroline's chin and stood very still. Hehad almost fallen under the influence of the thing that was using Caroline. It had been trying to snare him into breaking his word to Elena. And again, he could just barely sense a whisk of red in the mirror. It was one of those creatures drawn to the nova of Power that Fell's Church had become – he knew that. It had been using him, spurring him on, trying to get him to drain Caroline dry. To take all her blood, to kill a human, something he hadn't done since meeting Elena. Why? Coldly furious, he centered himself, and then probed in all directions with his mind to find the parasite. It should still be here; the mirror was only a portal for it to travel small distances. And it had been controlling him – him, Damon Salvatore – so it had to be very close indeed. Still, he could find nothing. That made him even angrier than before. Absently fingering the back of his neck, he sent a dark message: I will warn you once, and once only. Stay away from ME! He sent the thought out with a blast of Power that flashed like sheet lightning in his own senses. It ought to have knocked something dead nearby – from the roof, from the air, from a branch†¦maybe even from next door. Fromsomewhere , a creature should have plummeted to the ground, and he should have been able to sense it. But although Damon could feel clouds darkening above him in response to his mood, and the wind rubbing branches together outside, there was no falling body, no attempt at dying retaliation. He could find nothing close enough to have entered his thoughts, and nothing at a distance could be that strong. Damon might amuse himself sometimes by pretending to be vain, but underneath he had a cool and logical ability to analyze himself. He was strong. He knew that. As long as he kept himself well nourished and free of weakening sentiment, there were few creatures that could stand against him – at least in this plane. Two were right here in Fell's Church,a little mocking counterpoint in his mind said, but Damon shrugged that off disdainfully. Surely there could be no other vampire Elders nearby, or he would sense them. Ordinary vampires, yes, they were already flocking. But they were all too weak to enterhis mind. He was equally certain there was no creature within range that could challenge him. He would have sensed it as he sensed the blazing ley lines of uncanny magical power that formed a nexus under Fell's Church. He looked at Caroline again, still held motionless by the trance he'd put on her. She would come out of it gradually, none the worse for the experience – for whathe'd done to her, at least. He turned and, as gracefully as a panther, swung out of the window, onto the tree – and then dropped easily thirty feet to the ground.

Comprises the spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features Essay

It comprises the spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of a society and includes, in addition to the arts and letters, the value systems, traditions, modes of life and beliefs of the society. It also absorbs from other cultures and undergoes changes with time, sometimes beneficial, sometimes regressive. When the word â€Å"culture† is mentioned, we can think of many things as â€Å"cultural†, such as language, clothings†¦ etc, because we classify cultures of different places. However, culture is so valuable that it has to be kept for thousands of years,and passed on by one generation to another. Culture is so important that it is more than its distinct visible features, if we extends this to the inner self of a person, to members within a society, further to the whole community, maybe we can find some answers by finding out how they are affected by culture. Culture represents a whole community, to investigate how culture changes one’s inner values, we have to define some common beliefs, just like clothing that has some features that help distinguish its cultural background. People having the same cultural background, in general, are likely to behave in a similar way, because their education and religion background have also cultural elements. It is true that personalities are different for everyone, but culture can affect people to a certain degree because it provides an environment from which they obtain their values, especially for children at young age. For example, chinese are generally considered to be more respectful but the westerners are more open-minded and outspoken, their education style has played an important role, because in Chinese culture children have to learn to be composed and be polite and there is a border line between teachers and students, whereas in western they tend to be active to be appreciated by the teachers. Therefore people from different cultural backgrounds will have a diversity of ways expressing the same intention. Culture is important because it has some values that are automatically fill in a person’s mind through an environment, which changes one’s deeds. Culture also plays an important role to the interactions between members within a community. When the same culture can cause similarities of values, this can bond people with the same culture together because they will feel comfortable and easier because it confirms their values. On the other hand, they may find other cultures odd if they neglect cultural difference. Culture can pull a person closer, or further away to the majority, therefore culture is very important to the communication network in a society as well, maining the relationship among people. Since culture can form invisible bonds between members in the community, this can hold people with the same cultural background together, passing on the values. This propogation of values is can not only transmit culture knowledge and retain the relationship among people, it also builds up a long term tradition after years and years. Culture is strengthened in this way because it can give background and reference to its later generations of its ability of keeping the long-term tradition, gaining the sense of belonging of people to the country of that culture. It is important in terms of the development of a community as a whole, as it forms cultural groups together which help passing culture on from one generation to the next one, maintaining the existence of some traditional values. Culture contains elements that affect one’s inner values other than just external characteristics, which those values play an important role in his whole life. The communications between people are also based on culture to some extent and this forms cultural groups, passing cultural knowledge on, building up a cultural status to a country for years which people with the same cultural background will find them belonging.

Sci207 Week 1 Assignment

Inovation and Sustainablility Victor Mota SCI207: Dependence of Man on the Environment Cynthia Collins October 7, 2012 Production and Consumption The human population is growing rapidly and this is affecting the well-being of our planet. The way people use material resources is another thing that affects the planet. The production and consumption of material resources could bring the earth to an end. The two production habits that I will talk about are the production of paper and production of oil. The production of paper affects forests.Forests provide homes for numerous numbers of plant and animal species. They also help maintain water quality and stabilize the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Forests are not the only ones affected by paper production. The process of papermaking is chemical process. The paper industries release chemicals into water and air. Thrown away paper also affects the environment. In the land-fills paper can decompose and produce meth ane, a greenhouse gas with 21 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide.Some of the efforts to consider are cut fewer trees down, produce less paper, print on both sides of paper, and start recycling paper. The production of oil can cause severe damage to the environment. Oil waste dumping and oil spills cause serious damage on surrounding wildlife and habitat. The oil production has already harmed many land, air, and sea animal and plant species. The oil pollutes water and kills fish. The production of oil can also affect human life. The damage can include pollution of drinking water, livestock and health of the human body itself.Beef is a perfect example of using resources wastefully and is causing our environment to be degraded. In the Amazon and other places the rainforests are being cleared in order to raise cattle and about 70 to 80% of the grain that is produced in the United States is fed to livestock. The areas that are being cleared for raising cattle are not so much for local consumptions, but for producing more fast food restaurants in other parts of the globe Reference Turk, J. (2011) Contemporary Environmental Issues. (Section 1. 5) San Diego, CA. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. USA

Capsim Report

I. Executive Summary Erie Corporation has been founded in 2011 with the mission is to provide both reliable products for low-technology customers including Traditional and Low End segments; and premium- technology oriented customers including High End, Performance and Size segments. This business plan is written so as to provide the board of directors a detailed picture about the company’s strategies as well as the direction how we can implement these strategies. The plan consists of three parts. The first part is about the corporate objectives and strategy. In detail, at the end of year three, Erie aims to be one of the two leading companies in the market with a net profit of $10,000,000 and 25% of market shares of the whole industry. In addition, the company’s management expects to gain at least 30% of contribution margin for each product, to reduce 60% to 70% of total labor costs and 11. 8% of total material costs. Erie’s strategies are niche cost leadership and niche differentiation. In particular, while products in Traditional and Low End are oriented to operate under the niche cost leader, products in three remaining segments including High End, Performance and Size are aimed to follow the niche differentiator strategy. This is because while price is the most considerable criterion of customers in Traditional and Low End segments, this does not matter to the other three segments’ consumers as long as the products offered are premium-technology. To implement this strategy effectively, Erie should operate under the direction like this, besides revising products to meet customers’ expectation; the company set up a relatively low price for products in Traditional and Low End segments and vice versa for products in the three remaining segments. Simultaneously, the company will invest on capacity and automation gradually for all segments. This will bring to Erie a competitive advantage over other competitors in terms of long-term cost savings. In addition, maximum second shift capacity may be run as much as possible and a significant amount of money will also be spent on promotion and sales budgets so as to capture the highest possible percentage of market shares. Furthermore, Erie is willing to make losses at least in the first two years because in the remaining years of the simulation, when higher capacity and automation are ready as well as Human Resources and Total Quality Management functions are applied, Erie will become more competitive in the market and hence can make profit as the production costs will be minimized. Secondly, specific objectives, key performance indicators and strategy which are followed strictly the corporate objectives of all departments including R&D, Marketing, Production, Human Resources and Total Quality Management will be also set out. Finally, a back-up plan which might be utilized when there is trouble in the operation of the company’s products is also prepared. Under this plan, the failed product will be remained for two years instead of stopping its operation immediately so as to sell its remaining inventory and wait for the new product to be finished and could be sold to the market. Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction 4 Corporation Objectives & Strategies 4 1. Corporation Objectives 4 2. Corporation Strategies. 4 R&D Department 5 1. Objectives 5 2. KPIs. 5 3. Strategies. 5 Marketing Department 6 1. Objectives 6 2. KPIs. 6 3. Strategies. 7 Production Department 8 1. Objectives 8 2. KPIs & Strategies. 8 3. Strategies. 9 Human Resource Department 10 1. Objectives 10 2. KPIs & Strategies. 10 TQM Department 11 1. Objectives 11 2. KPIs & Strategies. 11 Finance Department 12 1. Objectives 12 2. KPIs & Strategies. 2 3. Strategies. 12 Back-up Plan 13 Conclusion 14 Reference 14 Appendix 15 II. Introduction Sensor industry is more likely an oligopoly because the products are high technological including cameras, biometric devices and labs-on-a-chip. In addition, there are only six firms dominating the market and the total demand for the whole industry remains stable which means that new firms cannot enter into the market. Furthermore, year after year, while customers’ expectations are becoming higher and higher, the products are getting older and price ranges are stricter. This indicates such a challenge for all companies in the market. A critical successful factor which can assist all companies to overcome this difficulty is that each company should choose an appropriate strategy to follow so as to succeed and become more competitive in the market. Recognizing this fact, Erie has chosen two strategies including niche cost leadership and niche differentiation that are appropriate for each types of segments. In this business plan, these strategies will be examined in depth and detailed actions of all Erie’s departments which are followed these strategies are also sketched out. III. Corporation Objectives and Strategies 1. Corporation Objectives By the end of year 3, Erie will: * Be one of the two leading companies in the sensor industry * Achieve net profit of $10,000,000 * Obtain at least 25% of market shares of the whole industry * Gain at least 30% of Contribution Margin for each product * Reduce at least 70% of the total labor costs and 11. 8% of total material costs 2. Corporation Strategies According to customers’ buying criteria of Traditional and Low End segments, prices are deemed to be the most considerable factor. In fact, respectively, the price ranges of Traditional and Low End take up approximately 23% and 53% over other criteria such as position and reliability. In other words, customers are willing to purchase low-tech products as long as their prices are relatively low. As a result, Niche Cost Leadership seems to be the most appropriate strategy for these two segments. On the other hand, prices are the most insignificant buying criterion in High End, Performance and Size segments. No matter how high the prices are, customers in these segments are more preferable to high-tech product. In particular, for the High End and Size segments, ideal position occupies 43% and products’ ideal age is 29%. Furthermore, reliability is the most important consideration to customers in Performance segment. Hence, Niche Differentiation is a proper alternative for these three segments. IV. R&D Department 1. Objectives * Meet customers’ expectations in all segments * Control R&D budgets for products in Traditional and Low End segments as low as possible * Continuously update products’ positions for High End, Performance and Size segments every year . KPIs * Keep R&D costs for in Traditional and Low End segments maximum at $1,000,000 * Invest minimum $1,500,000 for revising products in High End, Performance and Size segments 3. Strategies a. Traditional and Low End segments For these two segments, Erie decides to invest slightly and annually in performance and size while decrease the mean time before failure (MTBF) of products in year 1. After that, MTBF will be r emained stable during the first three years. | EAT| EBB| | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Performance| 5. 7| 6. 4| 7. 1| 3| 3| 3. 2| Size| 14. 3| 13. 6| 12. 9| 17| 17| 16. 8| MTBF| 16000| 16000| 16000| 14000| 14000| 14000| Table 1: R&D investment for Traditional & Low End segment for the first three years b. High End, Performance and Size segments So as for customers to perceive the differentiation of our products in these three segments, performance, size and MTBF should exactly meet the customers’ expectations. Therefore, Erie decides not to launch the products in the first year. Since second year, when the products appear in the market, they will be revised annually in order to appeal to be younger in customers’ perception | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| | ECHO| Performance| 8| 9. 8| 10. 7| Size| 12| 10. 2| 9. 3| MTBF| 23000| 24000| 24000| | EDGE| Performance| 9. 4| 11. 4| 12. 4| Size| 15. 5| 14. 6| 13. 9| MTBF| 25000| 27000| 27000| | EGG| Performance| 4| 5| 6. 1| Size| 11| 8. 6| 7. 6| MTBF| 19000| 20000| 20000| Table 2: R&D investment for High End, Performance and Size segment for the first three years V. Marketing Department 1. Objectives * Increase sales of 5 segments by 10% each year Increase demand over 10% each year * Reach above 25% of market shares for Traditional and Low End segments, and above 20% for High End, Performance and Size segments at the end of year 3 * Keep the sales forecast error of 5 segments fluctuate between 5% – 10% during three years 2. KPIs * Keep the price of products of Traditional and Low End segments lower than the av erage price of their price ranges; the ones of High End, Performance and Size higher than the average price * Remain the same prices of all products for the first three years, then slightly decrease all prices from $0. to $1 after year 3 * Maintain customer awareness and accessibility of 5 segments from 95% to 100% * Keep the forecast errors for 5 segments not higher than 200,000 units for Traditional and Low End segments; 50,000 units for High End, Performance and Size segments every year 3. Strategies a. Pricing Strategies * Traditional & Low End In a product life cycle, the introduction stage starts when development is complete and ends when sales indicate that target customers widely accept the products. The marketing strategies are ‘fully implemented during the introduction and should be tightly integrated with the company’s competitive advantages and strategic focus’ (Ferrell & Hartline, p210, 2008). Therefore, during the first three years, in light of cost leadership strategy, Traditional and Low End segments will be followed the penetration pricing approach, which is setting relatively low initial prices, so as to maximize sales, gain widespread market acceptance, and capture large market shares quickly. It means that, in order to comply with the low cost strategy, the prices of the segments are set below the average of their price ranges. In particular, the price of Eat, which dominates Traditional segment, is established at $21. 5 per unit compared to $25 of the average price, whereas the one of Ebb, which takes up majority of sales of Low End segment, is set at $18 compared to $20. (Refer to appendix 1b: Pricing Forecast for further details) This approach is suitable for these two segments because of two main reasons. The first reason is that the segments’ customers are price sensitive since prices outweigh such other elements as ideal position and reliability. The other one is due to the fact that R&D expenses are relatively low as customers do not pay much attention on the segments’ characteristics. * High End, Performance & Size Unlike to Traditional and Low End segments, High End, Performance and Size segments are pursued differentiation strategy; hence, price skimming approach seems to be an appropriate alternative. The rationale behind price skimming is to intentionally set high prices relative to competitors, thereby skimming the profits of the top of the market, recovering the high R&D and marketing expenses associated with developing new products. In other words, the prices of these three segments will be set above the average of price ranges and should be, at least, obtain the contribution margins of 30%. In detail, the prices of Echo, Edge and Egg is respectively set at $39, $34. 5 and $34. 5 for High End, Performance and Size segments compared to the average prices of $35, $30 and $30 of each price ranges. Refer to appendix 1b: Pricing Forecast for further details) b. Promotion and Sales Strategies Percentage of products’ awareness and accessibility, which reflect the number of customers who know the existence of a company’s products, and who can easily interact with the company, are determined respectively by each product’s promotion and sales budgets. In order to in crease demand up to 10%, our company, therefore, initially invests $3,000,000 in promotion budgets during the first two year, and $2,200,000 in sales budget of Eat and Ebb during three years because customer accessibility requires long time investment to achieve 100%. Since year 3, when customer awareness achieves over 100%, the investment in the promotion budgets will be scaled back to $1,500,000. For Echo, Edge and Egg, since they will be launched in the second year, there are only $1,500,000 invested in promotion budgets, and around $1,100,000 to $1,500,000 spent in sales budgets in the first year. However, when they are ready for sales, their promotion budgets will be increased up to $3,000,000, whereas their sales budgets will be invested up to $2,200,000 in the second year so as to encourage customers’ demand. (Refer to appendix 1d: Promotion and Sales Budgets for further details) VI. Production Department 1. Objectives: * Achieve a proper plant utilization * Control production costs effectively 2. KPIs By the end of year three, Production manager aims to: * Keep plant utilization ratio from 90% to 130% to minimize machine downtime cost and expensive 2nd shift charge * Decrease labor costs for all segments by 60% to 70% * Maintain overtime ratio at 0% * Minimize inventory carrying costs at maximum 25% of total production per year 3. Strategies a. Automation Due to the fact that each rate of automation will decrease labor costs by 10%, Erie will increase automation in all segments. Even though the costs of automation are high, this is such a short-term aspect. In long-term, the improvement in automation will bring a greater benefit because costs spent on automation just incurred once while the reduction in labor costs is annual. Therefore, Erie plans to raise automation rating for all segments so as to achieve rate at 7 for Ebb and 6 for all other segments in year 3 as set out in table below: | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Eat| +1| -| +1| Ebb| +2| -| -| Echo| +1| -| +2| Edge| +2| -| +1| Egg| +2| -| +1| Table 3: Production investment in automation level for 5segments the first three years b. Capacity Using an efficient amount of capacity can help the company to achieve economic of scale as well as to be consistent with the pricing strategy as set out by Marketing department. Furthermore, in order to satisfy higher demands as well as to follow sales forecasts of Marketing department, production manager plans to buy 600 units for Ebb; 300 units for each of Edge and Egg in year two. After that, in year three, 500 units of capacity will be purchased for Eat and Ebb. This will also help Erie achieve plant utilization ratio objective as mentioned above. | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Eat| -| -| 500| Ebb| -| 600| 500| Echo| -| -| -| Edge| -| 300| -| Egg| -| 300| -| Table 4: Production investment in capacity for 5segments the first three years Additionally, in case that there is a restriction for purchasing capacity like limitation in the maximum investment or unexpected increase in sales, second shift of capacity will be utilized as much as possible to maximize sales. At the same time, using second shift workers will also be chosen instead of first shift workers with overtime. The main reason is that while second shift workers are paid the same wage rate of addition 50% as first shift workers work on overtime, second shift ones are more efficient as they are not as tired. Moreover, the employee turnover rate is lower which can help Erie to keep talent workers and reduces future recruiting costs. Relying on second shift workers, Erie will also achieve its goal which is to keep overtime ratio at 0%. VII. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT 1. Objectives The department intends to: * Increase Productivity Index by 5% * Lower Turnover Rate to 7. 5% in year 3 2. KPIs and Strategies: Erie plans to invest $4 million for Recruiting Spend and 40 training hours in both year 2 and 3 in order to support Production department reducing labor cost. However, 5% turnover rate is unavoidable annually because of retirement, relocation and weeding out poor workers. | Year 2| Year 3| Recruiting Spend ($000)| $ 4,000| $4,000| Training Hours| 40| 40| Table 4: HR investment in recruiting and training for workers the first three years VIII. TQM DEPARTMENT 1. Objectives By the end of year 3, Erie proposes to: * Reduce material costs by 11. 8%, labor costs by 14% and administrative costs by 60% * Shorten the length of time required for R&D projects to complete by 40% * Increase demand by 14. 4% for the product line 2. KPIs and Strategies For each initiative, Erie is planning to invest $1,500,000 in a 3 year cycle. In particular, in year 3, 4, 6 and 7, $1,500,000 will be invested in each initiative; while in year 5 and 8, there is only $1,000,000 budgeted for each initiative. The firm chooses an investment of $1,500,000 because expenditures beyond $ 4 million over 2 or 3 years in each initiative will lead to the diminishing returns. | Year 3| Year 4| Year 5| | Year 6| Year 7| Year 8| Process Management Budgets| | CPI Systems| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| Vendor/JIT| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| Quality Initiative Training| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| Channel Support Systems| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| Concurrent Engineering| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| UNEP Green Programs| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| | TQM Budgets | | Benchmarking| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| Quality Function Deployment Effort| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| CCE/6 Sigma Training| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| GEMI TQEM Sustainability Initiatives| $1,500,000| $1,500,000| $1,000,000| Table 5: TQM investment in each initiative during 8 years IX. Finance Department 1. Objective By the end of year three: Avoid emergency loan * Achieve the cumulative profit between $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 * Utilize debt in investment effectively 2. KPIS * Maintain the leverage between 1. 8 to 2. 8 * Achieve the ROE ratios between 15% to 25% * Maintain closing cash position at around $12,000,000 to $15,000,000 each year * Maintain working capital day from 30 to 90 days 3. Stra tegies a. Emergency loan: In order to finance the maximum investment in the capacity and automation of the first three years, the highest amount of stocks and bonds will be issued in year 1 and continue to be considered issuing since year 2 in case of cash shortage. In addition, to sustain the loss in the first two years for capturing the market shares, a maximum amount of current debt will be borrowed in the first year. This in turn could avoid a 7. 5% of penalty for the emergency loan. After that, our company will continue to borrow a sufficient amount of current debt with the purpose to maintain our cash position at around 12,000,000 to $15,000,000. Besides, the credit for account receivable is set at 30 days so as to have a sufficient amount of cash to avoid emergency loan. b. Leverage The purpose of maintaining the leverage ratio is not to use too much retain earnings for funding the growth and avoiding a high amount of debt which can lead our company to a financial risk because of a significant amount of interest expense. In order to keep an appropriate leverage ratio, the total amount of debt will only be considered in the worst case. However, if the leverage is too high, the production investment needs to be scaled back. c. Cumulative profit So as to achieve the above expected cumulative profit, firstly, the day of working capital needs concerning and maintaining from 30 to 90 days. This in turn can protect our company from a risky position if problems occur as well as help us achieve a higher productive rate. Secondly, the expenditure for HR and TQM will be carefully calculated. Finally, the account payable policy is set at 30 days which will minimize significantly suppliers’ material withholding. Hence, our company’s profit can be improved in case of stock out because of lacking materials. X. Back-up plan Most companies have to confront with several unexpected and difficult situations during operating period. One of these difficulties could be that some companies might collapse as losing their ability to continue to compete with other competitors in some products. The reason for this would be that they no longer make enough sales to cover costs which lead to a decrease in market shares and an extreme financial loss as well. Therefore, in order to avoid this situation, Erie has developed a back-up plan in case that one of our products suffers serious loss. According to the BCG matrix, it is believed that Traditional and Low End segments might be in the ‘harvest’ stage since year 5. This is because these two segments have dominated a large proportion of market shares. Moreover, their growth rates start to decrease significantly for a long time of being operated in the sensor market. As a result, our company intends to adopt the exiting strategies when these segments begin to make relatively small profits or suffer serious loss. Instead, our company decides to develop and launch a new product which will be followed the differentiation strategy like High End and Performance segment since these segments are just in the ‘hold’ stage at that time, hence can catch up with other competitors’ products. XI. Conclusion In conclusion, relying on the application of such strategy, Erie’s products will be high-recognized in the market as they are revised regularly and efficiently. In addition, through the advantage of an initially significant investment, the company could become more competitive in the market as its production costs are minimized. Furthermore, by accepting a little bit of risky at about the first two years, Erie will gain a competitive advantage over other competitors in terms of long-term cost savings and hence could provide cheaper products and increase sales in later years. XII. Reference * Ferrel. O. C. & Hartline. D. M. 2008, Marketing Strategy 4e, South- Western Cengage Learning, the USA. XIII. Appendix 1. Marketing Forecast a. Sales Forecast | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Eat| 2,000,000| 2,200,000| 2,420,000| Ebb| 2,200,000| 2,420,000| 2,665,000| Echo| 430,000| 475,000| 525,000| Edge| 350,000| 385,000| 425,000| Egg| 400,000| 440,000| 485,000| b. Price Forecast | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Eat| $ 21. 5| $ 21. 5| $ 21. 5| Ebb| $ 18| $ 18| $ 18| Echo| $ 39| $ 39| $ 39| Edge| $ 34. 5| $ 34. 5| $ 34. 5| Egg| $ 34. 5| $ 34. 5| $ 34. 5| c. Sales Revenue Forecast | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Eat| $43,000,000| $47,300,000| $53,030,000| Ebb| $39,600,000| $43,560,000| $47,970,000| Echo| $16,770,000| $18,525,000| $20,475,000| Edge| $12,075,000| $13,282,500| $14,662,500| Egg| $13,800,000| $15,180,000| $16,732,500| d. Promotion & Sales Budgets | Promotion Budget (000)| Sales Budget (000)| | Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Year 1| Year 2| Year 3| Eat| $3,000| $3,000| $1,500| $2,200| $2,200| $2,200| Ebb| $3,000| $3,000| $1,500| $2,200| $2,200| $2,200| Echo| $1,500| $3,000| $3,000| $1,500| $2,200| $2,200| Edge| $1,500| $3,000| $3,000| $1,100| $2,200| $2,200| Egg| $1,500| $3,000| $3,000| $1,100| $2,200| $2,200| . Production Plan PROUCTION PLAN Year 1 – 2011| | Eat| Ebb| Echo| Edge| Egg| NA| NA| NA| Total| Units sales forecast| 2000| 2200| 430| 350| 400| Â  | Â  | Â  | 5380| Inventory on hand| 189| 39| 40| 78| 62| Â  | Â  | Â  | 408| Production schedule| 1800| 2200| 400| 300| 340| Â  | Â  | Â  | 5040| Production after Adj. | 1782| 2178| 396| 297| 337| Â  | Â  | Â  | 4990 | Margins| Â  | 2nd shift production %| 0%| 57. 10%| 0%| 0%| 0%| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Labour cost/unit| $8. 22 | $8. 26 | $9. 39 | $9. 39 | $9. 39 | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Material cost/unit| $10. 96 | $7. 63 | $15. 53 | $15. 45 | $13. 3 | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Total unit cost| $19. 18 | $15. 89 | $24. 92 | $24. 84 | $22. 62 | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | CM| 10. 8%| 11. 7%| 36. 1%| 28. 0%| 34. 4%| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Physical plant| Â  | Total| 1st shift capacity| 1800| 1400| 900| 600| 600| Â  | Â  | Â  | 5300| Buy/sell capacity| –| –| –| –| –| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Automation rating| 4| 5| 3| 3| 3| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | New automation rating| 5| 7| 4| 5| 5| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Investment| $7,200 | $11,200 | $3,600 | $4,800 | $4,800 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $31,600 | Workforce| Last year| Needed| This Year| 1st shift| 2nd shift| Overtime| Â  | Max Invest| 32,694 | Completement| 700| 820| 820| 705| 115| 0%| A/P Lags| 30| (days)| 3. Profo rma Financial Statements a. Balance Sheet PROFORMA BALANCE SHEET| ASSETS| | Cash| 28034| Accounts Receivable| 10240| Inventory| 1055| Total Current Assets| 39328| Plant & Equipment| 145400| Accumulated Depreciation| (47626)| Total Fixed Assets| 97774| | Total Assets| 137102| | LIABILITIES & OWNER'S EQUITY| Accounts Payable| 7699| Current Debt| 20341| Long Term Debt| 60694| Total Liabilities| 88734| | Common Stock| 32060| Retained Earnings| 16308| Total Equity| 48368| Total Liabilities and Owner's Equity| 137102| b. Cash Flow Statement PROFORMA CASH FLOW STATEMENT| Cash Flows from Operating Activities| | Net Income (Loss)| (13274)| Adjustment for non-cash items| | | Depreciation & Writeoff| 9693| Change in Current Assets and Liabilities| | | Accounts Payable| 1116| | Inventory| 7562| | Accounts Receivable| (1933)| Net cash from operations| 3165| | Cash Flows From Investing Activities| | Plant Improvements| (31600)| | Cash Flows from Financing Activities| | Dividends Paid| | Sales of Common Stock| 13,700| Purchase of Common Stock| | Cash from long term debt | 18994| Retirement of long term debt| | Change in current debt (net)| 20341| | Net change in cash position| 24600| | Starting cash position| 3,434| Closing cash position| 28034| c. Income Statement PROFORMA INCOME STATEMENT| Product Name| EAT| EBB| ECHO| EDGE| EGG| Total| Sales| 42385| 39600| 16770| 12075| 13757| 124587| | Variable Costs| | Direct Labor| 16227| 18156| 4043| 3284| 3748| 45458| Direct Material| 21632| 16771| 6682| 5403| 5279| 55768| Inventory Carry| 0| 33| 18| 75| 0| 127| Total Variable Costs| 37859| 34960| 10743| 8761| 9028| 101352| | Contribution Margin| 4520| 4640| 6027| 3314| 4729| 23235| | Period Costs| | Depreciation| 3120| 3173| 1320| 1040| 1040| 9693| SG&A: R&D| 269| 0| 1000| 1000| 1000| 3269| Promotions| 3000| 3000| 1500| 1500| 1500| 10500| Sales| 2200| 2200| 1500| 1100| 1100| 8100| Admin| 365| 341| 145| 104| 119| 1074| Total Period Costs| 8955| 8715| 5465| 4744| 4759| 32637| | Net Margin| (4429)| (4075)| 562| (1431)| (29)| (9402)| | Other| 1635| EBIT| (11037)| Interest| 9384| Taxes| (7147)| Profit Sharing| 0| | Net Profit| (13274)| d. Cash Budget CASH BUDGET| | Total| Beginning cash balance| 3,434| Cash from operations| 3,165| Total Available Cash| 6,599| Less:| | Capital expenditures| (31,600)| Interest| (9,384)| Dividends| 0| Debt retirement| 0| Other| (1,635)| Total Disbursements| (42,619)| Cash Balance (Deficit)| (36,020)| Add:| | Short-term loans| 20,341| Long-term loans| 18,994| Capital stock issues| 13,700| Total Additions| 52,035| Ending Cash Balance| 16,015|