Saturday, August 31, 2019

Lord Henry’s Characterisation in Chapters 1-4 Dorian Gray

Lord Henrys Characterisation in chapters 1-4 Lord Henry’s character is perhaps the most influential in the novel, serving as the one of the prime contributors to Dorian’s corruption. In chapter 1, Basil pleas Wotton to stay away from Dorian as not to â€Å"spoil him†, then, after a pause states, â€Å"mind harry, I trust you†. Basil feels these words have been â€Å"†¦wrung out of him almost against his will†; this portrays Lord Henry’s power in influence as Lord Henry has gotten his way without so much as a word.We know Dorian is awfully important to Basil, as we know, he is absolutely infatuated â€Å"he is all my art to me now†. If Lord Henry were dangerous, why would Basil allow him to meet with Dorian? This is because Basil is powerless in the feat of Lord Henry’s manipulative powers. Lord Henry is worldly, experienced and speaks with conviction. , he is confident in his words and is self-assured. His statements are re spected and are rarely challenged, even in his social group of learned aristocrats he is highly respected.From the first page Lord Henry uses complex figures of speech and never misses an opportunity to display his wit. His conversations are always filled with a great amount of puns, wordplay and paradox’s -†there is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about† At times it seems he is speaking in riddles, adding to his allure and mysteriousness that captures the reader.He is an artist of language and skillfully uses his art to experiment with people, this is clear in the unique development of his thinking up an idea shown in †he played with the idea, and grew wistful; tossed it into the air and transformed it; let it escape and recaptured it (page 42)â€Å" the actual attention to detail in his ideas as well as his thorough deliberation, convey what gives him such confidence and power. Lord Henrys views are generally cons idered immoral, but, through his eloquent speech and his thoughtful presentation of dialogue the reader, it seems reasonable to consider his impressive, seemingly well argued opinions.This helps us to understand Lord Henry’s ease and capability in the corruption of Dorian. His intelligence diverts from his manipulative nature and bad intentions. He knows his power and makes his own rules, the only person that truly can infiltrate him is himself. He refuses to recognize moral standard. He is a radical asthete and values looks highly over intellect choosing his friends for â€Å"good looks† and his enemies â€Å"for their intellects†. Relative to this, he is enthralled by Dorians good looks and calls him â€Å"charming†.He is also fascinated by Dorian but unlike Basil, see’s him as an experiment and seeks to play with him. Lord Henry says at one point â€Å"I like persons better than principles† displaying his lack of morals and his shallow na ture. He even believes â€Å"intellect destroys beauty† which could possibly be self loathing or could be a fascination with the face value of people, that can be linked to the preface in that art is to be admired and not read beyond how it appears.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Prejudice in Mr Sumarsono Written by Roxana Robinson Essay

Stereotype is a largely false belief, or set of belief, concerning the characteristics of the members of a racial or ethnic group (McLemore, 1983). Stereotype may be positive or negative in mind which is based on limited and minimal knowledge about a group of people. Incomplete information, mistaken perceptions, isolation and segregation have resulted many stereotypes. Viewing of a person with oddity based on the stereotype will limit what we expected and how we respond to them. Prejudice is an unfavorable attitude towards people because they are members of a particular racial or ethnic group. Discrimination is unfavorable action towards people because they are members of a particular racial or ethnic group. (McLemore, 1983). These both are negative manifestations of integrative power. A prejudiced person may not act on their attitude. Therefore, someone can be prejudice towards a certain group but not discriminate against them. Also, prejudice includes all three components of an attitude (affective, behavioral and affective), whereas discrimination just involves behavior and involves some actions. Prejudice and stereotyping parallels attitudes and opinions or beliefs (Stroebe & Insko, 1989) Prejudice also sustains stereotype, while stereotype is a generalization or interpretation toward a person or group of some physical, behavior, belief or other factors. For a 10-year-old girl, she must have got a first bad impression to a stranger, especially a foreigner. She spontaneously thought that someone newbie in another country is a kind of alien with different skin, face structure or another physical body. In that point, this attitude includes a racial stereotype which provokes a prejudice side. Roxana Robinson is a biographer and scholar of nineteenth and early twentieth century American art. She graduated from Buckingham Friends School, in Lahaska, and from The Shipley School, in Bryn Mawr. She attended Bennington College and studied with Bernard Malamud and Howard Nemerov. She received a B.A. degree in English Literature from the University of Michigan. Roxana Robinson is the author of the four novels Cost, (2008) Sweetwater, (2003) This Is My Daughter, (1998) and Summer Light (1988); the three short story collections A Perfect Stranger, (2005) Asking for Love, (1996) A Glimpse of Scarlet, (1991) and the biography Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life, (1989). Mr. Sumarsono is listed as one of the best American Short Stories at 1994. Statement of Problems: 1. Why do Susan and her sister give bad impression toward Mr. Sumarsono? 2. Why did Mrs. Riordan welcome Mr. Sumarsono warmly? 3. What is the cultural aspect of this short story? What is the connection with it? Discussion Mr. Sumarsono is a worker in UN which involved many Western people in it for a long time. Because of the environment, he tried to adapt the style like an American. According to the story, both daughters of Mrs. Riordan, Susan and Kate, with Mrs. Riordan herself fetched Mr. Sumarsono in a Trenton Station in New Jersey and they saw him for the first time with bad impression and underestimate toward Mr. Sumarsono. However, at that time, he was clothed as an American businessman. â€Å"Mr. Sumarsono was wearing an neat suit and leather shoes, like an American businessman, but he didn’t look like an American. The suit was brown, not gray, and it had a slight sheen. And Mr. Sumarsono was built in a different way from Americans: he was slight and graceful, with narrow shoulders and an absence of strut.† (Page 265 line 1) â€Å"Kate and I stood next to my mother as she waved and smiled. Kate and I did not wave and smile†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Page 265 line 11) In this case, it proved that both sisters didn’t like and give bad thought for Mr. Sumarsono because they didn’t know who actually Mr. Sumarsono was, since Mr. Sumarsono had an Asian figure with pale brown skin. Besides, there were few Indonesian that came to America, or else almost never. Mr. Sumarsono was the only Indonesian who arrived in New Jersey. â€Å"It was 1959, and Mr. Sumarsono was the only Indonesian who got off the train in Trenton, New Jersey.† (Page 264 line 25) Next on, the displeasure of the sisters continued until they were in way home. They were acting like they didn’t need a middle-aged Indonesian in where were they belong to. Moreover, they avoided the lunch time which their mother prepared for them and Mr. Sumarsono. And also, they showed an impolite attitude toward Mr. Sumarsono in the table. â€Å"We were going to watch the mallard nesting, and I hope we didn’t have to include a middle-aged Indonesian in leather shoes†(Page 267 line 1) â€Å"Dev-il,† Kate said, Speaking very loudly and slowly. She pointed at the eggs and then put two forked finger behind her head like horns, Mr. Sumarsono looked at her horns. (Page 269 lines 25) Another evidence occurred at the dinner time when Susan saw her mother wearing a pink dress. She thought her mother’s dress was overlooked just for dinner with a stranger who can not understand their language. â€Å"I was irritated to see that she had put it on as thought she were at a party. This was not a party: she had merely gotten hold of a captive guest, a complete stranger who understood nothing she said.† (Page 270, line 12) Although they kept underestimate him, they were quite surprised that Mr. Sumarsono wasn’t someone like usual Asian guy they were thinking about. He was different in presence. Not only the appearance of him but also his gesture was shown when they were already at home. Somehow, The stop! gesture was making the sisters wondering what makes that Indonesian was different. This gesture is shown by Mr. Sumarsono when he tried to prevent his suitcase as Susan offered to pick up upstairs. â€Å"What struck me was the grace of his gesture. His hand extended easily out cuff and expose a narrow brown wrist, as narrow as my own. When he put his hand up in the Stop! gesture, his hand curved backward from the wrist, and his fingers bent backward from the palm. Instead of the stern and flat-handed Stop! that an American hand would make, this was a polite, subtie, and yielding signal, quite beautiful and infinitely sophisticated, a gesture that suggested a thousand reasons for doing something, a thousand ways to go about it.†(Page 267 line 13) On the other hand, Mrs. Riordan was greeting him cheerfully. She showed an excessive behavior since Mr. Sumarsono decided to spend his weekend in New Jersey. Furthermore, he stayed in Riodan’s as well. Mrs. Riordan tried to catch attention from Mr. Sumarsono. Apart from being dressed in pink, she treated him as best as she can. â€Å"Oh, I’m glad we’re having rice!† she said suddenly, pleased. â€Å"That must make Mr. Sumarsono feel at home.† She looked at me. (Page 273 line 7) She also thought that Mr. Sumarsono was far from his family and being lonely, Mrs. Riordan conclude that he was missing them and she tried to give something that Mr. Sumarsono would feel like he came back to the warm atmosphere when a family was gathered supposed to be. It is shown when Mrs. Riordan asked Mr. Sumarsono to show his wife and children photograph. She saw a strange condition on Mr. Sumarsono with complicated and unfinished look when she asked and he even wanted to take a picture with them. â€Å"The poor man, he must miss his wife and children. Don’t u feel sorry for him, thousands of miles away from his family? Oh, thousands. He’s here for six months, all alone. They told me that at the UN. It’s all very uncertain. He doesn’t know when he gets leaves, how long after that he’ll be here. Think of how his poor wife feels.† (Page 272 line 24) As from the both sisters misjudged all about Mr. Sumarsono and what they have done, they thought that they would feel ashamed, instead of underestimating him. Their prejudice has made them blind to not know who actually Mr. Sumarsono was. Beside it was from their mother, they also felt embarrassed him because they can not be an appropriate hostess to him while Mr. Sumarsono showed his unruffled courtesy. Although Mr. Sumarsono couldn’t speak English well and only responded all Mrs. Riordan and her daughters with simple nodded and smile, at least he knew what attitude he supposed to do when he was visiting people’s house in other country. â€Å"I was embarrassed not only for my mother but also for poor Mr. Sumarsono. Whatever he had expected from a country weekend in America, It could not have been a cramped attic room, two sullen girls, voluble and incomprehensible hostess. I felt we had failed him, we had betrayed his unruffled courtesy, with our bewildering commands, our waving forks, our irresponsible talk about lizard. I wanted to save him. I wanted to liberate poor Mr. Sumarsono from this aerial grid of misunderstandings.† (Page 274 line 24) This story is pertaining aspect of prejudice side. Therefore, prejudice has both cognitive and affective components. Affective component is the positive or negative attitude or feeling while cognitive component contains stereotypes. Stereotypes are beliefs about people based on their membership in a particular group. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral. Stereotypes based on gender, ethnicity, or occupation are common in many societies. Stereotypes often results from, and leads to, prejudice and bigotry. The reasons appearing of stereotype is variable, It occurs When people encounter instances that disconfirm their stereotypes of a particular group, they tend to assume that those instances are atypical subtypes of the group. Second, People’s perceptions are influenced by their expectations. And last, People selectively recall instances that confirm their stereotypes and forget about disconfirming instances. As a branch from stereotype, prejudice is a destructive p henomenon, and it is pervasive because it serves many psychological, social, and economic functions. It allows people to bond with their own group by contrasting their own groups to outsider groups. Conclusion This short story which Roxana wrote showed about an experience of Indonesian immigrant who visited and spent the weekend at one of New Jersey’s families, Riordan’s house. Based on discussion above, it is described that the two daughters, Susan and Kate had first bad impression toward Mr. Sumarsono as a strange foreigner. This signs that their attitude showed the prejudice aspect of the racial differences.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

HBD- portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

HBD- portfolio - Essay Example This group deals in individual lifestyle hotels and provides a friendly environment to all its guests. The guests at Swire Hotel Group are served with spontaneity and freedom reflected through personalities of all hotel staff. This Group as their unique hotels located across United Kingdom, China and Hong Kong. The House Collective comprises a range of individual hotels located across Asia. East brand has its magnificent business hotels located in Hong Kong, Miami and Beijing. Chapter Hotels part of Swire Group are located in heart of British cities. They are mainly found in Exeter and Cheltenham. There are two other hotels of this Group located in Brighton and Bristol. Swire Hotel Group mainly focuses on upper income class segment. There are two categories of individuals who are mainly targeted. One belongs to business class and the other represents tourist visiting a place from around the globe. Hotel’s architecture is designed by taking into consideration taste and preferences of mentioned customer segments. Swire hotels can be stated as a profitable division of Swire Properties. Swire Properties is a wholly owned subsidiary of a blue chip company known as Swire Pacific. This Group comprises of three major luxury hotel brands such as The House Collective, Chapter Hotels and EAST. Swire Hotels was launched in 2008 and it encompasses urban hotels in United Kingdom, Mainland China and Hong Kong. The launch of Swire Hotels Group has provided wide range of choices for its entire customer segment. Synergy of investment and mixed-used developments has strengthened the market position of the firm. This Group mainly deals in luxury hotel and targets upper income class segment. The hospitality industry can be stated as an intensely competitive segment and this factor has enabled the Group not to restrict in one particular location. UK market possesses high purchasing power and this can prove to be a positive factor for growth or

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Arguments for abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Arguments for abortion - Essay Example Moreover the extent of abortion has also reduced a great deal because of the spread of awareness regarding safe sex and encouraged use of contraceptives, among even people living in the rural and backward areas of the world. The legality of abortion is a much debated topic in most countries around the world with some countries’ constitutions looking down upon the subject and others allowing it with certain exceptions and till a certain date of the growth of the embryo. Many people are even concerned with the ethical issue of abortion and whether or not it involves killing another soul; all these controversies have caused a great deal of scarring on the right that women have over abortion too, because after all they carry the child and have to go through all the pain and physical trauma. (Mappes, Thomas A., and David DeGrazia) Most abortions that take place are due to unintended pregnancies and the abortion takes place depending upon the gestation period of the embryo because i f the embryo has grown into a foetus of 5 or more months, it may not be possible to carry out an elective or therapeutic mode of abortion as by the time, the baby is almost fully developed. Many abortions are carried out because of issues ranging from rape and incest to health risks being posed to the woman’s body and her inability to carry the child due to lack of nutrition, proper health care facilities etc. In many cases, the abortion may be spontaneous, resulting in a miscarriage, when the embryo or the foetus faces an unintentional expulsion. This usually takes place before the 24th week of gestation. If a miscarriage takes place before 37 weeks of gestation then it is termed as a premature birth and not an abortion or miscarriage because by this time, the live infant is delivered, and may in many cases be a still born. Such spontaneous abortions may be caused by accidental trauma or even stress. (Mappes, Thomas A., and David DeGrazia) The medical methods of having an ab ortion till the early gestation period include ingesting medicines containing mifepristone misoprostol combinations of 200 mg followed by 800 mcg of vaginal or buccal misoprostol and these medicines may be effective till the 9th gestation week. In most European countries like France, Britain, Switzerland and Nordic countries this is the most common medicine used by people and they tend to abort their pregnancies before the 9th week. In the United States of America on the other hand, the number of women ending their pregnancies in such early weeks are far lower. The surgical methods used till 15 weeks of gestation are suction or vacuum aspiration where a syringe is used to remove the foetus or the embryo and the placenta with an electric pump. (Mappes, Thomas A., and David DeGrazia) Many doctors also use the method of menstrual extraction where a cervical dilation is not required. Another method encouraged by the World Health Organization is called Curettage where the walls of the ut erus are cleaned with a curette, leading to very less chances of infection and bleeding. In many backward areas of the world, several unclean and unhygienic methods are used that are very unsafe and tend to cause deaths among pregnant women in their attempt to have their child aborted such as the insertion of objects like hangers and knitting needles inside the vagina to remove the foetus or embryo. The issue of abortion is one of the most widely discussed debates in the world today; it involves the riddance

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Is marihuana beneficial or destructive to society Essay

Is marihuana beneficial or destructive to society - Essay Example The rate of substance abuse among youths was higher compared to the number of adults aged 26 years old and older who have5% rate of marijuana usage. What could have possibly provoked them to use marihuana? We know that children decide to try marihuana because of pressure from other individuals, problems related to school and family, depression, and self-esteem. According to Dr. Bruce Beckum, child psychologist and noted authority on young adult drug use, â€Å"Seventy percent of young people who use drugs report difficulties at home and at school†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The alarming rates of increase marihuana among youths might be attributed to these intrapersonal and interpersonal factors and partnerships among government, parents, and youths themselves must be worked on in order to address these issues and completely eliminate marihuana use among youths. Marihuana puts children in danger. It is not the only drug that is most commonly used, but is also known to cause many other problems. An article from the Journal of the American Medical Association states that teens who use marijuana are 77 % more likely to try harder drugs (Smith, 64). How can people say that our society would benefit from the legalization of marihuana when this is only hurting and influencing children in a negative way? Are we only thinking in adults when we speak about marihuana? Probably, adults had thought of legalizing marihuana because of the medical benefits that can be derived from using it such as alleviation of undesirable effects of certain medications, treatments, and diseases. If just in case marihuana would have been legalized, patients will no longer experience extreme discomforts. However, legalizing marihuana would cause a lot of consequences even if it is for medical benefits. Well, let me tell you something that is not the case. Usually, the mos t affected by our

Monday, August 26, 2019

Hurricanes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hurricanes - Essay Example The paper explores hurricanes centering on the formation and characteristics of the hurricanes. A hurricane assembles energy as it progress across the ocean water, drawing up warm, moist tropical air from the surface and supplying breezy air aloft. The Coriolis force is essential in the creation  of a hurricane  although the force becomes weak near the equator. Thus, hurricanes can never form at the equator. Hurricanes typically haves an average diameter of about 500 km (311 miles) with strong winds  spiraling inward and upward at speeds that range from 75 to 200 mph (Ahrens, 2007). Hurricanes usually start as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with surface waters temperatures reaching at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.5 degrees) or warmer. The low pressure systems  derive energy flowing from the warm seas. A hurricane usually starts as a tropical wave before it becomes a tropical disturbance. In the event that a storm attains wind speeds of about 38 miles (61 kilometers or less) an hour, the storm is otherwise referred to as a tropical depression. A tropical depression is known as tropical storm when it sustains wind speeds of about 39 miles to 73 mph (63 kilometers) an hour. If a tropical storm reaches sustained wind speeds of about 74 miles or more (199 kilometers) an hour, it becomes a hurricane and gains a category rating of 1 to 5 based on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Hurricanes represent massive heat engines that generate energy at an immense scale. Hurricanes usually derive heat from warm, moist ocean air and release it via condensation of water vapor in thunderstorms. Hurricanes rotate around a low-pressure centre known as the â€Å"eye,† exemplified by light winds and fair weather. The â€Å"eye† emanates from sinking air at the centre. Hurricanes mainly spiral in a counter-clockwise direction  with the

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Book Reflection--NOT A BOOK REVIEW Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Book Reflection--NOT A BOOK REVIEW - Assignment Example The consequences of analysis exposed that commitment felony type, to a much less extent, institutional delinquency behavior considered heavily in decisions to raise adult portion of mixed sentence. Causes of Reoffending There is mounting recognition that institutional transgression may be an eminent cause of reoffending following the release institutionalization. It is unlucky that misbehavior when institutionalized has particularly been taken away from a comprehension of post release recidivism consequences. There is some pragmatic experience research on adult subject or juvenile delinquents. Procedures of delinquent behavior pre-incarceration, such as past delinquent and arrests adjudications that have had staples in reoffending research linking the juvenile delinquents. The absence of research on institutional misbehavior to recidivism is therefore astonishing making sure that delinquency behavior is a prime indicator of steadiness in misbehavior and many other antisocial performa nces (Trulson and Marquart, 30-60). Research Studies Even though the research is limited, some inquiry over affiliation of misbehavior to the post release recidivism for the juvenile delinquents is eminent for many reasons. First of all, the studies have shown that time institutionalization is important for several juvenile delinquents which give them the time to persist insulting on ‘inside’. For some time, at a grave pace and relatively common practice of juveniles show the persistence in criminal and other disruptive behaviors. In spite of institutionalization, there is tiny reason to think that these offenders will finish upsetting in instant period succeeding the instant period after getting done with their institutionalization (Trulson and Marquart, 70-72). Second, the institutional indicators of misbehavior are frequently the easiest recorded performances shown by aberrant offenders at the release point from the institutionalization. The delinquent history first measures and then other pre-incarceration variables regularly combined with recidivism. For instance, there are some years taken away from misbehavior when institutionalized and even further taken from the delinquent’s issue from incarceration. Existing behavior is closely linked with nearby past, the additional current behavioral systems of misbehavior may then assist to spread the comprehension of post release recidivism determinants. In fact, a rising body of literature has shown that primitive life circumstances are eminent part of elucidating the current behavior (Trulson and Marquart, 75-80). The final and the third, the connection or association among recidivism and misconduct has immense empirical implications for those people accountable for releasing the juvenile delinquents, mostly for release of most grave, chronic, or violent state leading up to juvenile offenders. The youngsters who come up to the state incarceration are most traumatic offenders in a juvenile ju stice system. Wholly, these are the offenders who still live on the growth side of total crime-age curve. These are the ones who are mostly on left hand side of offenders. When these

Saturday, August 24, 2019

This assessment requires you to identify, analyses and evaluate the Essay

This assessment requires you to identify, analyses and evaluate the micro-external environment of two (two) international market - Essay Example Fitted bedroom furniture can help customers to place their bedroom furniture in systematic and space efficient manner. Non fitted bedroom furniture Non fitted bedroom furniture includes wardrobes, dressing tables, chests of drawers bedside tables which can be assembled by customers. The product offers the opportunity to assemble and customize bedroom furniture in accordance with the convenience of customers. (Source: Mintel Oxygen, 2012) Market line (2012a) has reported that bedroom furniture segment contributes a significant portion to furniture & floor coverings industry of Germany. Brief snapshot of the industry can be explained in the following industry. Market Value Value Forecast Category Segmentation Market Competition Value of furniture market (including living & bed room, kitchen, office and floor covering) in Germany is $47.5 billion. The market is growing at a rate of more than 1% and value of market is expected to touch $50 billion by 2016. Living room and bed room furnit ure contributes 51.7% of total value of the furniture industry in Germany. Market for bedroom furniture is highly fragmented due to presence of large number of retailers. (Source: Market line, 2012a) Value bracket for German bedroom furniture industry can be segregated on the basis of consumption pattern. Bedroom furniture contributes 13% of total market composition. Only 10% of buyers of bedroom furniture prefer high priced premier and luxury products in the country (United States Agency International Development, 2006). Brassington and Pettitt (2007) have stated that customer segmentation is required in order to define significant differences between customer groups which help marketers to design more focused marketing strategy. Customers can be segmented on the basis of their buying pattern. It has been reported by United States Agency International Development (2006) that two major customers segments are present in German bedroom furniture market such as 1- customers who prefer fitted bedroom furniture and 2- customers who prefer customized and non-fitted furniture. Following diagram can be used in order to segregate the customer group in accordance product consumption. (Source: United States Agency International Development, 2006) United States Agency International Development (2006) has reported that more than sixty percent of the transactions in the German bedroom furniture market can be characterized as business to consumer (B2C) type of transactions. Although the trend is different for categories like seating/upholster, parts etc. Political condition of Germany is stable which creates favourable environment for bedroom furniture companies planning to invest in the country. Lynn (2010) has pointed out that Euro zone crisis has decreased gross domestic product (GDP) growth of Germany which has affected the demand for furniture products in Germany. Lifestyle trend of Germany has segregated the consumer segment into â€Å"singletons† and â€Å"bes t agers†. Singletons are young professionals with high purchasing power who prefer to purchase customized non-fitted bedroom furniture due to space constraint while â€Å"best agers† are couples with children who prefer to purchase fitted furniture for their family home (CBI, 2006). German government provides specialized benefits like tax rate reduction, funding to manufacturing companies who emphasize on research and development

Friday, August 23, 2019

National Express rejects takeover bid from First Group (Financial Research Proposal

National Express rejects takeover bid from First Group (Financial Times, 29 June 2009) - Research Proposal Example 1.2 billion pounds to banks (Gill, 2009, p 1). The United Kingdom government has also complicated National Express financial woes by the government refusal to renegotiate the conditions for its East Coast rail franchise with the transport business. The hard-line position adopted by the government is attributed to East Coast rail franchise being the most lucrative in the United Kingdom serving the United Kingdom commercial hubs such as Edinburg and London. Besides, citing the government role in its financial crisis, National Express board also cited its quest to solve the ?1.2 billion debt as its first priority before reconsidering the bailout from FirstGroup limited. In, addition, National Express board viewed FirstGroup as their rival in the transport business and thus postulated a sellout of the company to FirstGroup as surrender to a business enemy. National Express boards were thus eager to retain the legacy of their company’s in the transport industry (Miller, 2011, p 85) . Despite, the rejection of FirstGroup offer, acquisition and acquisition provide the best bailout opportunity and option to rescue National Express from the current financial hardships. This research thus draws on the case sturdy of National Express and FirstGroup to rationalize on the best solution to solve a corporate organization financial solution. This involves an analogy acquisition and acquisition as a financial solution with other financial crisis solution mechanisms recommended in fiance and accounting. The research establishes higher financial crisis solution rationality from acquisition and acquisition formulated financial solution compared to other possible and readily available financial and accounting options. Literature Review An acquisition mimics government bailout to corporations during financial crisis. The similarity between acquisitions and acquisition is evident in the supply of a large amount of money to the corporation under financial crisis, which is subseq uently used to pay its bankruptcy threatening debts. These facts are manifest in the proposed acquisition between National Express and FirstGroup, whereby Nation Express was offered a large sum of money by FirstGroup to pay its 1.2 billion debts. The ?1.2 billion proposed buyout of National Express is comparative to the government’s financial bailout to financial corporation during the 2007-2008 global financial crises (Milmo, 2009, p 1). In United States, the government acquisition styled bailout totaled $13.9 trillion leading the government bailout to be considered as more of an acquisition buyout of the financial stricken institutions than a rescue bailout package (Birdsall & Fukuyama, 2011, p 31). Acquisitions and acquisition of financial stricken corporations is also licked to the nationalization of finically poor performing or financially endangered businesses by the government (Finkelstein & Cooper, 2010, p 116). The same financial crisis incident illustrates the role of nationalization which mimics acquisition and acquisitions in the rescue of financial institutions from bankruptcy during economic downturns. A typical example of this financial rescue strategy is illustrated by the nationalization of the Northern Rock Bank in the United Kingdom at the verge of its bankruptcy during the financial crises. The Northern Rock Bank case also illustrates the irrationality of the hard-line position by a corporation board or the corporate organization stakeholders,

Cash Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Cash Management - Essay Example Over the course of the last couple of years many companies have faced some serious cash and inventory related problems, largely as the result of dramatically reduced or even negative sales growth. As a result, cash now represents only 5% of the total asset base for the typical distribution based company. It is a cash position that does not leave a lot of room for error and too much money left sunk in inventory. To offset the cash challenge, most firms have looked at ways to reduce their investment in other major asset categories. One category clearly stand out as being both large and controllable and that is inventor. As a result, serious efforts have been made to drain these assets that are considered as cash traps. While reducing inventory is a laudable effort, the action is fraught with danger. In both cases it is possible, and maybe even likely, that the drive to lower investment levels will trigger further sales declines. This would be because of a higher occurrence of out-of-st ock situations.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Effective Presentation Delivery Essay Example for Free

Effective Presentation Delivery Essay There are various essential features of an effective presentation. Such presentations are memorable as well as consistent. The introduction to an effective presentation usually carries an attentive-getting device, e. g. an interesting short story; a thesis statement; a statement of significance that allows the presenter to easily connect with the audience; a statement of credibility, establishing the presenter as a credible source for the message about to be delivered; and an organizational preview statement, which introduces the organization of the presentation to the audience (â€Å"Presentation,† 2007). Although first impressions are quite important, it is equally significant to maintain consistency for a presentation to be effective – that is, to deliver the message that it ought to (Chatterjee, 2005). If a presentation employs visuals to effectively deliver the message that is planned for the audience, these visuals should appear consistent as well as coherent. The layout of the presentation, and the fonts, for example, should not appear out of place. In addition, the presentation should look as though it is continuous. Given that the presenter must keep the attention of the audience, interruptions in the flow of the message must be avoided (â€Å"Presentation,† 2007). The presenter must remain enthusiastic about his or her message throughout its delivery (Chatterjee). However, the ending of a presentation is equally essential to focus on. An effective presentation normally ends with a brief summary of the main ideas; reinforces the objectives of the effort; and employs an attention-getting device so as to be memorable. If the presenter holds a question and answer session before ending the presentation, a summary statement after the session is important. Moreover, effective presenters are known to frame the questions and answers around the purposes of their presentations. Such presenters also prepare for the questions beforehand (â€Å"Presentation†). Understanding the audience as best as possible, effective presenters convince the audience to ultimately respond to the information presented.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Economic Performance of Nigeria

Economic Performance of Nigeria CHAPTHER ONE 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY One of the biggest challenges for oil-producing countries is how to use its oil wealth strategically to promote sustainable growth, for example, in Nigeria, the massive increase in oil revenue as an aftermath of the Middle-East war of 1973 created unprecedented, unexpected and unplanned wealth for Nigeria. Then began the dramatic shift of policies from a holistic approach to benchmarking them against the state of the oil sector. Now, in order to make the business environment conducive for new investments, the government began investing the newfound wealth in socio-economic infrastructure across the country, especially in the urban areas (Adedipe, 2007). Over the past three decades, gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries have generally followed procyclical fiscal policies to changes in oil revenue. Following the sharp increase in global oil prices in the 1970s and early 1980s, government spending in all these countries rose as fast as oil revenue through a massive public investment program in infrastructure, fiscal incentives to develop the industrial sector, and the adoption of a generous welfare system. Notwithstanding the increase in spending, sizable overall fiscal surpluses were recorded in all GCC countries during those years, leading to a sharp accumulation of official asset. The existence of large foreign official assets facilitated a relatively low level of adjustment in spending in the period 1980-86, when crude oil prices declined significantly. Concerns for sustaining domestic demand in order to stave off a sharp reduction in non-oil growth has usually militated against significant fiscal adjustment in the face of falling oil prices in GCC countries. Spending was only cut by the equivalent to about half the fall in total revenue in Saudi Arabia, 20 percent in the United Arab Emirates, and 10 percent in Qatar. Facilitated by the completion of major infrastructure investments, the cutbacks fell mostly on outlays for projects, while current expenditure rose in all these countries, except in Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain and Kuwait, spending continued to rise across the board. In c ontrast, in Oman, lower oil revenue was more than offset by higher investment income and fees and charges, leading to a further increase in expenditure in the period (Fasano, 2000). According to Piana (2001), Public expenditure is the value of goods and services bought by the State and its articulations. It plays four main roles: contributes to current effective demand, expresses a coordinated impulse on the economy which can be used for stabilization, business cycle inversion, and growth purposes, increases the public endowment of goods for everybody and gives rise to positive externalities to economy and society, the more so through its capital component. According to Ely and Wicker (2002), government expenditure can be classified into the following: The direct cost of national defence includes the pay and equipment of troops, and the cost of ships, and cannon, and ammunition, etc. The indirect cost is represented by the pension list, as well as by the great waste of resources and opportunities for labor in times of war, expenditures for internal security includes the cost of our police system in all its branches, and that of our judiciary system, since both of these are occupied almost wholly in securing persons and property from injury, expenditures for the poor and unfortunate, that is, every advanced government recognizes an obligation to extend relief to paupers, to the deaf, the blind, the insane, and the feeble-minded, who, from natural defects, are unable to hold their own in the struggle for existence, expenditures for fulfilling the commercial functions and expenditures for fulfilling the developmental function. All these cu mulate into improving the economic performance of a country. The economic performance of any nation is measured by the rate of growth of its gross domestic product (GDP). According to Piana (2001), public expenditure has an immediate impact on GDP. An increase of public expenditure raises GDP by the same amount, other things being equal. Moreover, since income is an important determinant of consumption, that increase of income will be followed by a rise in consumption: a positive feedback loop has been triggered between consumption and income, exactly as in the case of shocks in export, investment or autonomous consumption. In more microeconomic terms, public expenditure may be directed to consumer goods and thus substitute families expenditure, as with the case of health drugs. By contrast, in other cases, as with education, public expenditure may trigger further consumption (books and all the other goods whose consumption depend on culture levels). According to World Bank (2006), gross domestic product is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes (fewer subsidies) not included in the valuation of output. It is calculated without deducting for depreciation of fabricated capital assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM An economys growth is measured by the change in the volume of its output or in the real incomes of its residents (World Bank, 2006). Therefore, oil exporting countries are said to experience growth due to large influx of income or revenue derived from exports and an opportunity to increase public spending, but most oil exporting countries have poor public sector management, that is, they have had difficulty managing funds with rigid operational rules, as tensions have often surfaced in situations of significant exogenous changes or with shifting policy priorities. Earmarking the resources of oil funds for specific uses, and allowing extra budgetary spending by the funds can complicate fiscal and asset management and reduce efficiency in the allocation of resources. Transparency and accountability practices for funds differ across Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) (International Monetary Fund, 2007). This leads to fall backs in the real gross domestic income. This research hopes to show the relationship between revenue from oil exports, overall expenditure and changes in output levels in Nigeria. 1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The scope of the study is on the economic performance of Nigeria. The data used will be obtained from the publication of statistical bulletin of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It covers the GDP relative to oil exports, public expenditure rates and value of oil exports. 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS In the light of the above, this study is set to provide solutions to the following problems: what is the relationship between oil revenue and government expenditure, what is the relationship between oil revenue and economic performance, and does the way government spends affect the growth level of the country. 1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main objective of the study is to show interrelationship between public expenditure, oil revenue and economic performance in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to: Investigate the effects of oil receipts to the performance of an economy; Highlight the relationship between oil receipts and public expenditures; and Show the significance of increasing public expenditures to growth of an economy. 1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS In line with the objectives stated above, the following hypothesis shall be tested: H0: there is no significant relationship between oil revenue and economic growth H1: there is a significant relationship between oil revenue and economic growth H0: there is no significant relationship between government expenditure and economic growth H1: there is a significant relationship between government expenditure and economic growth 1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study is very important and paramount because of the importance of the subject matter on explaining the determinants of economic growth and development in Nigeria. 1.8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The study focuses on the relationship between oil revenue, public expenditure and economic performance in Nigeria and due to the nature of the study, secondary data will be used. To carry out an econometric analysis of the study, the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimating techniques will be used because it possesses a unique property of Best Linear Unbiased Estimator (BLUE) when compared to other estimating techniques. The OLS method also possesses the desirable properties of un-biasness, consistency, and efficiency. Other parametric tests (such as T-test, F-Test, Durbin-Watson, and others) would also be engaged as research instruments in providing detailed explanations to the results obtained with respect to the hypotheses afore stated. 1.9 SOURCES OF DATA As a result of the format of the research work, secondary data will be used. The data will be obtained from publications of International Monetary Fund, World Bank Development Data center, Statistical data of Central Banks, OPEC. 1.10 DEFINITION OF SOME TERMS Gross domestic product (GDP): the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output. International Monetary Fund (IMF): established to promote international monetary cooperation, facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade, and promote exchange rate stability. The World Bank: established as a development bank, providing loans, policy advice, technical assistance, and knowledge sharing services to low- and middle-income countries to reduce poverty. Public Expenditure: is the value of goods and services bought by the State and its articulations. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION The objective of this chapter is to examine theoretical and empirical literature on the determinants of economic growth and development in Nigeria through the relationship of oil revenue and public expenditure. To this end, the rest of this chapter is organized as follows: Section 2.2 focuses on the relationship between public expenditure, oil revenue and economic growth in other countries, such as, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Section 2.3 focuses on the relationship between public expenditure, oil revenue and economic growth in Nigeria. 2.2 PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, OIL REVENUE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN OTHER COUNTRIES Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have consistently recorded overall fiscal deficits since the early 1980s after oil prices peaked in 1979-81. In addition, with oil revenue accounting for about three-quarters of government revenue in most of these countries, fluctuations in crude oil prices have led to volatile revenue and swings in spending. Following the sharp increase in global oil prices in the 1970s and early 1980s, government spending in all these countries rose as fast as oil revenue through a massive public investment program in infrastructure, fiscal incentives to develop the industrial sector, and the adoption of a generous welfare system. The existence of large foreign official assets facilitated a relatively low level of adjustment in spending in the period 1980-86, when crude oil prices declined significantly. Concerns for sustaining domestic demand in order to stave off a sharp reduction in non-oil growth has usually militated against significant fiscal adjustment in the face of falling oil prices in GCC countries. Spending was only cut by the equivalent to about half the fall in total revenue in Saudi Arabia, 20 percent in the United Arab Emirates, and 10 percent in Qatar. Facilitated by the completion of major infrastructure investments, the cutbacks fell mostly on outlays for projects, while current expenditure rose in all these countries, except in Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain and Kuwait, spending continued to rise across the board. In contrast, in Oman, lower oil revenue was more than offset by higher investment income and fees and charges, leading to a further increase in expenditure in the period. According to Elhiraika and Hamed (2001), economic growth and development in the United Arab Emirate is as a result of government investment in physical and social infrastructure which helped to boost economic activity in general and private investment in specific, a stable macroeconomic environment, which is characterized by low inflation rates and semi-fixed exchange rate, and government policies, availability of capital and absence of restrictions on capital movement together with a high degree of openness opened the door for remarkable growth in foreign trade. With widely fluctuating and generally declining oil prices and revenues in the last two decades, the country has since the mid 1980s exerted notable efforts aimed at achieving economic diversification. These efforts have led to sustained investment in the non-oil sectors, especially in manufacturing and other sectors that are increasingly dominated by private capital. By the turn of the 1990s, non-oil exports and non-oil GDP have exceeded their respective oil counterparts for the first time since the oil evolution began. As a result, the UAE economy has been recently classified as the most relatively well diversified economy in the gulf region (Askari and Jaber, 1999) with an average real GDP growth rate of about 5% for the period 1975-1999. The period from the mid 1970s to the early 1980s was characterized by high growth performance. This was the period when the government directed the surpluses from high oil prices into the physical and social infrastructure. The period from around mid 1980s witnessed significant reduction in economic growth due to a sharp drop in oil prices. Subsequent government austerity measures were directed largely toward capital expenditure for two reasons. First, most of the basic infrastructure projects had by then been completed, and second, most of the current expenditure categories have become long term commitments. The gross domestic investment rate was 34.1% in the 1970s period, declined to 25.6% in the 1980s before rising to 29.5% in the 1990s period. The UAE average growth rate for the whole period is well above that achieved by other Gulf Cooperation Council countries. A notable aspect of domestic investment is the fact that although public investment continues to dominate, the share of private investment has generally been rising remarkably, especially in the 1990s period. Private investment rose from 6.6% of GDP in the 1975-85 period to 11.7% in 1996-98. Meanwhile, the share of petroleum investment in aggregate investment declined from the average of 36% in 1975-89 to 17.7% in 1990-98. While public investment is concentrated on infrastructure and services sector, most of private investment is in the services and real estate sectors. In explaining the private investment behavior in the UAE, Elhiraika and Hamed (2001:13) found that in the long-run, GDP has the largest stimulating influence, followed by bank credit to the private sector and a human capital development variable. The real lending rate and government investments are found to have strong but adverse effects on private investment. In the short-run, GDP, bank credit and investment in human capital still have positive but weak effects on private investment behavior, whereas the lending rate and government investment variables still have significant negative coefficients. The expansion of private investment, both domestic and foreign, is supported by the creation of industrial zones that provide a variety of facilities and services at attractive prices. Sharp rises in non-oil exports that jumped from the average of 19.8% of total exports in 1975-1985 to 61.5% in 1996-1998. By 1992, non-oil exports exceeded oil exports for the first time amounting to about 40% of GDP. The increases in exports are mainly due to re-export. The UAE is the third largest re-export center in the world, after Singapore and Hong Kong. Again liberal trade, absence of capital controls, exchange rate policy, low tariff rates and absence of income taxes may be considered as the major factors contributing to the expansion of the non-oil export sector. A major weakness of the non-oil export sector is the dominance of re-exports over exports. This reflects a rather weak domestic production base than what the trend of total exports suggests. Between 1982 and 1999, re-exports accounted for about 88% of total exports. The re-export sector is expected to face fierce competition from the free trade zones that are rapidly developing in the region, especially in Oman that has a relative advantage in terms of having seaports that are closer to major sea routes. Therefore, sustainable growth in the no-oil export sector would require increased domestic production of export goods. Increased investment in human capital has led to notable increases in the primary and secondary school enrollment ratios, from less than 40% in the 1970s to about 80% in the 1990s. Besides the increased education of the local labor force, educated foreign labor is easily accessible given the relatively high wages paid in the UAE compared to other labor surplus countries in the Middle East and Asia. Immigrant labor accounts for about 70% of the labor force in the country and are generally better educated than the local population. In spite of high fluctuations in oil price and revenue that lead to similar, though smaller fluctuations in real GDP, the UAE economy remained remarkably stable in terms of inflation rates and the exchange rate. Since 1981, the UAE dirham has been fully pegged to the US$ at the rate of 3.67 and the inflation rate never exceeded the average of 2.5% over the period considered. It is believed that because oil is priced in US dollars and because the UAE has huge investments in the US the benefits from the peg in terms of economic stability and reduced macroeconomic uncertainty is greater than the cost arising from inability to use exchange rate policy to promote domestic investment and international competitiveness. There is no hard statistics to support or negate this argument. Since the turn of the 1990s, the consolidated budget (including the federal government and emirates governments) has experienced sustained deficits. According to Hamed and Elhiraika (2001), The UAE government does not rely on fiscal policy tools in achieving macroeconomic stability. Rather it relies mainly on monetary policy tools, particularly the link between the Dirham and the U.S. dollar, to maintain macroeconomic stability, and that the governments of the dominant emirates finance their budget deficits by drawing down their own abundant overseas assets, thereby eliminating inflationary pressures, and avoiding crowding out of private sector activities. This suggests the absence of any important link between macroeconomic performance and the budget deficits, but government spending undoubtedly stimulates private economic activity. According to Siddiqi (1999), in Saudi Arabia, the hydrocarbon sector contributes over 40 percent of the Saudi GDP, and generates 80 percent of government revenues and total export earnings respectively. The slump in oil revenues by over a third in 1998 has led to ballooning twin deficits on the balance of payments and budget, amid a general slowdown in government and consumer spending, as well as falls in fixed investment in the non-oil private sector. The economy, after expanding in 1996-97, may experience a negative growth in nominal GDP for the first time in five years. However, the IMF projects a real GDP growth of 0.4 percent, compared with 2.7 percent in 1997. Total earnings of Saudi banks in the year to September rose 11 percent. This indicates that the business sector after two years of higher liquidity remains in a relatively sound position. But a sustained weakening of world oil prices will sooner or later have deflationary effects on key economic sub-sectors. The economy has benefited from a subdued inflationary environment with consumer price increases averaging only 1.4 percent annually from 1990-98. Zero inflation, projected in 1998, reflects slowing domestic demand, lower non-fuel commodity prices, and cheap Asian imports. A stable/firmer Saudi Riyal (SR) has contained imported inflation. The Washington-based Petroleum Finance Corporation (PFC) projects a budget deficit in 1998 of SR50 billion, or 10 percent of GDP, the highest in a decade, compared to a low of SR6 billion in 1997. As a result, a mildly tighter fiscal policy is now in place; public sector recruitment and salaries are frozen and all ministries have been ordered to curtail spending by 10 percent. Some capital projects and military programmes have either been scaled-down or postponed and the payments period on state contracts has been extended to six months. The government has implemented measures for dealing with revenue shortfall and to cushion the impact on the kingdoms indigen ous 12 million plus population. Government spending a key determinant of business confidence has been sustained by issuing Saudi Special Government Bonds (SSGBs), worth about SR14 billion in the year to October. These SSGBs can be sold by contractors to local banks at a discount. The kingdoms domestic debt, already exceeding 100 per cent of GDP, has increased further because of increasing issuance of Development Bonds and Treasury bills mainly to banks and state pension/social security funds. The well-capitalised Saudi banking sector, with a capital asset ratio of 11.4 percent, is strongly-positioned to meet credit demands from state and private sectors. Analysts say about SR19 billion of shortfall can be covered by domestic borrowing and cutting public expenditure (mostly on defence). In Venezuela, the first commercial drilling for oil occurred in 1917 and by 1928; it was a leading exporter of oil (United States Library of Congress, 82). During this period Venezuela can be characterized as a dictatorship. By 1930, oil represented 90% of the export revenue in Venezuela. In 1948 a fifty percent royalty rate was introduced. This royalty rate revenue was to be used in sowing the oil to stimulate agriculture primarily and later industry. Prior to oil the coffee industry had been the main export in Venezuela. Oil revenues had clearly taken first place in Venezuela however the countrys people remained relatively poor. A democratic government took power in 1958 and swiftly intervened in the economy using the oil revenues. In 1960 the government made two significant movements; it began to create regional development corporations to decentralize planning and it became one of the founding members of OPEC. Throughout the 1960s Venezuela spent money on education, health, elect ricity, portable water, and other basic projects. This led to a 25% increase in per capita income by 1973. However when the world price of oil soared during the seventies and so did the Venezuelan governments spending. In the years between 1973 and 1979 the government spent more than it had since its independence in 1830. The oil industry was nationalized in 1976. Government spending steadily increased because of increased surges in oil revenue. Negative growth rates characterized Venezuela during 1980-1982. By 1983 oil revenues could no longer support the spending on government subsidies, price controls, exchange-rate losses, and the operations of more than 400 public institutions. In 1983 the government attempted to reform the economic downturn through devaluations of the currency and a multi-tier exchange-rate system. However, this did little to stall the impending crisis and the 50% reduction in the price of oil in 1986 did nothing to help the situation. In 1989 the IMF stepped in with loans and the price increases related to the reforms necessary for the loans caused rioting and the worst violence the country had seen since it became a democracy. The increase in the price of oil in the 1970s caused Venezuela to be affected negatively although its peak oil production point had already been reached in 1970. Because of the increase in the price of oil the government relied completely on oil revenue and like Mexico, was reluctant to take steps to prevent a crisis. The IMF had to impose the increases in domestic prices necessary to complete the cycle that played out. Protectionism through government subsidies and spending held domestic prices low enough to remain competitive imports. In this sense Venezuela was escaping Dutch Disease. However, these prices were supported not through true market value but through borrowing and extra revenue. As soon as those avenues shut down so did the governments ability to control domestic prices. The sudden jump in prices imposed by the IMF caused a recession so severe that rioting was induced. Another case of the lack of value-added industry creation led to the eventual downfall of an economy given the opportunity to grow. Bourguignon and Gelb (1988) suggest that the stagnation of the Venezuelan economy started after 1978, coinciding with the second oil shock in 1979. According to their calculations, the non-oil sector did not seem to gain from the 1970s windfall. They further argue that inappropriate economic policies resulted in steep declines in private investment and massive capital flight. Combined with a large upsurge in consumption during the decade of revenue windfall, these effects meant that Venezuela was subject to severe internal and external imbalances that ultimately lead to its decline in economic performance. 2.3 PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, OIL REVENUE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA According to Adedipe (2004), by the time Nigeria became politically independent in October 1960, agriculture was the dominant sector of the economy, contributing about 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employing about the same percentage of the working population, and accounting for about 90% of foreign earnings and Federal Government revenue. The early period of post-independence up until mid-1970s saw a rapid growth of industrial capacity and output, as the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP rose from 4.8% to 8.2%. This pattern changed when oil suddenly became of strategic importance to the world economy through its supply-price nexus, Crude oil was first discovered in commercial quantities in Nigeria in 1956, while actual production started in 1958. It became the dominant resource in the mid-1970s. On-shore oil exploration accounts for about 65% of total production and it is found mainly in the swampy areas of the Niger Delta, while the remaining 35% represents offshore production and involves drilling for oil in the deep waters of the continental shelf. Nigeria has proven reserves of about 32 billion barrels of predominantly low sulphur light crude, which at current rate of exploitation could last another 38 years. The intention is to expand the reserves to 40 billion barrels and production capacity to 4 million barrels per day (mbd). The massive increase in oil revenue as an aftermath of the Middle-East war of 1973 created unprecedented, unexpected and unplanned wealth for Nigeria. Then began the dramatic shift of policies from a holistic approach to benchmarking them against the state of the oil sector. Now, in order to make the business environment conducive for new investments, the government began investing the newfound wealth in socio-economic infrastructure across the country, especially in the urban areas. As well, the services sector grew. This shows that as government increased as a result of increases from oil, government expe nditure also increased. The Nigerian labour market has been characterized by high rate of unemployment, low wage and poor working conditions. This unwholesome situation evolved after the oil boom of the 1970s and remained so till date. Prior to the oil boom, the Nigerian economy was largely agrarian and about 70% of the working population was engaged in agricultural activities in the rural areas. Wage rates were also comparable to international standards and the average Nigerian worker could afford decent living. In the 1960ies, the emphasis of employment policies was that of shifting labour from the agricultural sector to the manufacturing sector. This appeared to be the natural path of economic growth and development, following the experienced of the developed countries. However, the Nigerian peculiarities of land tenure system, tenancy and the very rudimentary processes of farming made it extremely difficult to deploy substantially advance technology in the sector. Moreover, at that time economic policie s concentrated more on the development of the manufacturing sector, under the much touted import-substitution strategy. Rather, labour moved from the agricultural sector to the services sector, with little productivity gains. Both agriculture and manufacturing lost out. The oil boom started the rural-urban drift of the population, depleting the rural population and adversely affecting agricultural output. Rising revenue profile of Governments created the illusion that job creation is a primary function of the public sector. Nigerian Governments embarked on ambitious expansion programmes in secondary and tertiary education. Quality research could be conducted, as adequate funding support was available. Education was strictly treated as a social service, which should be provided at little or no cost to the beneficiaries as a matter of right. This mindset precipitated the crisis of 1978, when the Federal Government introduced tuition fees in its universities. The decrease in oil revenue affected funding of tertiary education, necessitating a policy shift that has been difficult for the operators of the system to come to terms with. Attempts to raise fees are being resisted, while the private sector funding support that could lessen the burden is not forthcoming. In particular, the curriculum design of many of the institutions is dated and not so relevant to the needs of prospective employers. Most of the products therefore, end up in the labour market and have difficulty securing jobs because they need further training to be able to fit properly into the corporate world. The weak economy itself choked out several business enterprises and curtailed employment opportunities. Staff retr enchment became pervasive, starting first in the private sector and later the public sector. CHAPTER THREE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION In previous chapters of this study, we looked at how the relationship between public expenditure and oil revenue affect growth in Nigeria and other oil exporting countries. Based on these reviews, one would know the level of importance attached to them, being an important macroeconomic issue that affects the pace of growth and development of an economy. Therefore, in this chapter of the study, we shall be looking at the various theories of the subject matter as propounded by different schools of thought. We shall be placing oil revenue and public expenditure in a functional relationship to see their level of significance to economic performance of Nigeria. To this end, this chapter is divided into the following sections. Section 3.1 is the introductory part while 3.2 focuses on the theoretical background, 3.3 focuses on methodology while 3.4 is concerned with the sources of data and the type of data used in the study. Section 3.5 is concerned with the estimation technique of the model that shall be stated in the study. 3.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In this part three different models of economic growth will be introduced, Solows neo-classical theory, endogenous growth model and Harrod-Domar model. 3.2.1 Solows Neo-classical Theory The Solow theory believes that

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

What are the key considerations in branding exercise

What are the key considerations in branding exercise Brands can be defined as the promises that consumers believe in. In general, brand is an image that makes its way into consumers mind to influence how they think and buy. It is based on the promise of the products to the consumers. A brand, in essence, is related to the promise you are going to deliver to the consumers about the products and the benefits after using or purchasing the products. (Keller, 1993) A lot of people have misunderstanding towards concept of brand. They thought changing the logo and company are the complete set of brand exercise. Branding isnt a veneer that you slap on (usually in the form of a new logo) to mask or transform a product offering. Treating branding like some skin-deep solution to your businesss problems is like putting lipstick on a pig: People see through the makeup, no matter how thick the application. According to Aaker, and Keller (1990), branding has to go all the way to the core of everyone and the identity for all. Before starting doing any brand exercise, there are some mindset preparation needs to be established. First when you start building your brand, you must let the whole world to believe and confident towards your promise on your products. The product promises should be unique and represent the values of the products to be delivered to the customers. The promises you have made, should be delivered to your consumers at the same pace in term of name, logo, message and the company name. The consistency of the brand is important especially when doing publicity, advertisements or even maintaining customer relationship. After building up the brand, brand maintenance is very important. (Muniz and OGuinn, 2001). We must reinforce the brand promise. We must have self evaluation on the brand consistency with the message that we hope to deliver. If the brand does not show consistency, you tend to spoil your brand and put your brand at risk because consumer would think that you are breaking your pr omise to deliver the message to the consumers. No branding exercise is going to success if you are rushing for building up the brand. When building up a brand, we must always focus, persistence and put passion into it. Besides, branding exercise needs high investment. The higher the risk, the higher the return. The return on investment for brand exercise is huge because you will increase the involvement of market share at long run. Remember, you would not be able to see the results of branding at short time. Hence, building up branding exercise of a product or company follows the principle of Rome is not built in one day! Time, effort are the success key for building a brand. Brands create consumer trust and emotional attachments. For example, when we think of a convenient store, we will definitely think of 7-11. Why? This can be explained that the store has created the trust and emotional attachments among us. Branding exercise enhances customer loyalty and help the organization to win through even when they are having price war or having new competitors in the market. In consumer behaviour studies, brand actually a perception neurologically. For example, you are able to identify a logo because you believe how and what the logo represents. For example, Coffee Bean sells coffee. It stands for daily respiration. Remember, the brand lives in consumer minds, so branding is the process of development consumer beliefs and perception that are accurate and in alignment with what you want your brand to be. Key Considerations in Branding Exercise There is several keys consideration in branding exercise. It can be described through the diagram when taking action of brand exercise. The first key of consideration is the product definition. According to Balmer (1995) you can actually brand anything that wish to such as services, products, organisation, even people. Complete understanding of the product you would like to brand is the first consideration to be taken into account. The second consideration is the positioning of products. During positioning, we have to find out the is found in the consumers mind. Hence, the positioning should be unique, meaningful, and available spot in the marketplace. The uniqueness of the product that enables the product to stand out from the market is essential to understand your own product before taking the decision to brand the product. Next, the promise is the important element in branding exercise. In fact, the promise delivers by the product is the fundamental of the message to be delivered to the consumers. This promise shows what the product can deliver or how the product does helps the consumer. The key promises actually create the interest among consumers and credibility of the products. Most of the brand consultant would start the branding exercise by giving a fantastic name, creating a nice logo and launch the product to the market place with nice and beautiful packaging. (Keller, 2003). Persistence plays important role in branding. It is the important key consideration during branding. This is the point in the branding cycle where too many brands lose steam. After brands are launched, brand owners often get tired of their own looks and messages and begin to improvise with new looks, new messages, and even new brand personalities and promises. Just when consistency is most necessary in order to gain clarity and confidence in the marketplace, brands that lack persistence go off track. The persistence of the brand can be evaluated through perception analysis. In a consumers mind which is where brands live and thrive a brand is a set of beliefs about what a company offers, promises, and stands for. Great brands continually monitor brand per ­ceptions to see that theyre in alignment with the brand owners aspira ­tions and in synch with consumer wants and needs. Based on the results of perception analysis, brand owners begin their loop around the branding cycle again, this time adjusting their products, fine-tuning their positioning statements, strengthening their promises, updating their presentations, rewriting their brand management rules, and once again monitoring perceptions in order to guide ongoing brand realignments and revitalizations. 2. Never in my life did I think that any of my traditional dishes.. that I cured in my backyard would one day appear in store say Tescos partner Khun Kanungnit. Explain the key benefits of branding and how does branding change the way Tescos partner Khun Kanungnit operate his business? Key Benefit of Branding Most businessmen have the dilemma the statement, To Brand or Not to Brand. The consideration involved of the return on investment (ROI) worth for the value. However, the concept of branding brings more advantages to the business. First, the brands unlock profitability. Doing business in this competitive world creates problems to the new comers. All businesses are focusing on different areas and they are competing with each other. Product differentiation, provide a better service become the competitive key for all business. According to Berry (2000), consumers now are smart to do comparison on the price, quality of the products. Brands provide the platform for the product and business to venture into strategic advantage environment. Second, brands prompt consumer selection. The buying process now has changed. Traditional purchasing behaviour focus on direct selling and also face to face communication. Now, with advancement with internet and wireless connection, people can even use hand phone or ipad to purchase. The change of the buying behaviour breaks the geographic limitation. The boundless marketplace creates more challenge to the business and creates the needs of branding to the businesses. Third brands build name awareness. According to Theory Reasoned and Action (TRA) model awareness is the fundamental of purchase behaviour. Creating a brand can be enhanced through logo trademark registration. According to Ha (1998), there are nearly 99% of the words found in the English dictionary has been registered as the domain name to be used as the marketing strategy. Some of the names even are put as the trademark. Now, a lot of new business created words is not found in the dictionary to be used as their business. Those invented names have strong and diligent word so they create consumer awareness, recall, and meaning. Forth, Park, Jaworski and Maclnnis (1986) reported the brands increase the odds of business survival. When analysing product life cycle, we understand that boost up a product is essential in order to avoid the product reaches saturated stage. Brand helps to break through this barrier. With this strategy, products would continue to survive without having strike by the sinking of consumer awareness, understanding, and preference In fact, brands do not only brings advantages in financial prospective but it also creates non financial benefits such as customer loyalty, words of month marketing strategy and others. Even branding exercise needs high investment but the outcome of successful branding exercise would create unlimited benefit to the products and also organisation in the long run. Change of business operation due to branding There are several changes that were done by Tesco in Thailand in order to win the local market. The following strategies are implemented: Continue to develop market of quality Thai products so that every customer can discover, use the goods that are made for Thailand citizen. Involve in local participation Surin Limited partnership. Continue to maintain quality, cleanliness and general statements of products Continue to work hard to find useful information, and constantly getting advice from Tesco Britain to provide the best service to the consumers Provide strategic differentiation in term of service and product to the consumers. During implementing branding exercise, Tesco in Thailand continue to develop market of quality Thai products so that every customer can discover, use the goods that are made for Thailand citizen. All products that are displayed in Tesco Thailand have undergone product quality assessment. During quality assessment, health, food safety, varieties issues are taken care to ensure customer satisfaction. Besides, marketing research is conducted from time to time in order to know the needs of the consumers in term of price strategy, product range in order to satisfy the customers. The center wants to brand them as the one stop center that the customers can find everything in there. Hence, Tesco Thailand tries to fulfill the quality not only products but also the service. Tesco in Thailand involve in local participation Surin Limited partnership. When implementing branding exercise, culture issues are essential to determine the success in a local market. Internationalization is important when penetrating in new countries (Welch, 1988). Tesco Britain can be successful in their home country, but they have to based on local culture on the concept of do and dont in management so that would not offense local people. For example, certain words can be used in Britain in the advertisement. However, the same words can be offensive in local market. The cultural issue consideration can be achieved with local participation Surin Limited partnership. Tesco in Thailand brand themselves as the quality, cleanliness and general statements of products. They continue to maintain this concept the give comfortable feeling to the consumers. As in ISO 9002 of Tesco, washrooms need to be cleaned every two hours to ensure the cleanliness. (Smith and Sparks, 2004). Besides, the expired date of the products is checked by the stock keepers every month so that the product quality is maintained. Not only that, Tesco works together with local farmers to supply the fresh food, meat and meat to them. This exercise in fact becomes the branding identity for Tesco with the tagline, Fresh vegetable everyday. In order to maximize satisfaction level of customers, Khun Thanyapat always continue to work hard to find useful information, and constantly getting advice from Tesco Britain to provide the best service to the consumers. Thailand has move to knowledge society. Product information is important to ensure customers satisfaction. Leaflets are put on the entrance of the Tesco so the consumer are awared of the product range and also this increase the decision making process of consumers. Hence, this strategy improves and encourages purchase behaviour among consumers. Provide strategic differentiation in term of service and product to the consumers. Tesco Thailand brings all the products into the store. Besides, the center can be an entertainment center for children, shopping gallery for housewife. A business center for businessman and also the family gathering center also. In term of entertainment center for children, they have playground and game center for the children to have joy and fun there. Children would love to visit the place because they are place for them to do some activities. In term of housewives, they can buy groceries, fresh vegetables, meat and others to fulfill the needs of the family. The housewives do not need to travel to grocery to buy a broom and travel to wet market to buy a fish and even to dry market to buy onion. Now, Tesco Thailand gathers all the products according to the household needs. Not only there, bank services are available to help businessman to do their work while their wife are shopping. Besides, these facilities encourage shoppers to buy more because they can withdraw money anytime when they shop. 3. How does Tesco differentiate its brand from the competitors and build brand-loyalty among the consumers in Thailand? After analyzing the case study of Tesco, I have generally identified the brand strength of Tesco Thailand are: Customer Relationship management Commitment to quality Global-local adaptation Breadth of product Service offering Target market strategy. Customer Relationship Management Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of an organisations current and potential customers (Reinartz, Krafft, Hoyer, 2004). It is a comprehensive approach which provides seamless integration of every area of business that touches the customer- namely marketing, sales, customer services and field support through the integration of people, process and technology It is a shift from traditional marketing as it focuses on the retention of customers in addition to the acquisition of new customers. The expression Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is becoming standard terminology, replacing what is widely perceived to be a misleadingly narrow term, relationship marketing (RM) Tesco Thailand focuses on customer relationship management. They believe that customer satisfaction is the first priority to be set by the organization. Tesco Thailand builds the customer relationship with the consumers. According to research, a lot of consumer purchases a product not because they need the products but it is due to the emotional needs. (Morris, 1998). In relationship management, Tesco wants their clients to achieve highest customer satisfaction. They differentiate themselves by providing the return product policy when they do not feel satisfy with the products. Generally, when a customer satisfies with the products or services, they would tend to repurchase or revisit the store again. Besides, Tesco Thailand understands that it is cheaper to retain the current customers rather than making promotion and advertisements to recruit new customers. Tesco Thailand always put clients as the top priority in all purchasing process. With this policy, the customers would feel more secure to purchase and shop in the shop. Besides, Tesco provides membership for the customers. The clients can accumulate points when shopping in Tesco Thailand. The points can be used to redeem vouchers or products from Tesco. Besides, the members would receive updates of promotion from time to time. These strategies promote the relationship with the customers and this lead to the customer loyalty and brand identity among customers. Not only membership, Tesco Thailand provides exclusive discount for members. Members day are conducted yearly only for members. During the members day, members are given opportunity to shop with higher discount. Each member can only bring a friend to shop on the day. This strategy improves customer relationship and made the Tesco membership to be more exclusive. (Shaffer, 1991). Commitment to Quality Product quality is customers overall evaluation of the excellence of the performance of the good or service. Kellers (1993) 7 basic dimensions of quality Performance Employee Interactions Reliability Durability Timeliness and convenience Aesthetics Brand Equity Tesco Thailand cares of the product quality. They understand price is a factor of decision making but the quality of products is the key element that sustain the customers to stay and can be converted as the customer loyalty in the future. Besides, there is a strong relationship between quality products and customer satisfaction. High customer satisfaction promotes customer loyalty in a long run. As the implementation strategy, Tesco Thailand always maintains the product quality by doing stock check to keep track on the freshness of the products. Besides, Tesco has a computerized system to evaluate the expired date for the products. This strategy maintains the quality of the products. Global-local Adaptation Global-local adaptation is used by the Tesco Thailand to win the market. Manager from Tesco Britain can be familiar with retail business but localization is important based on the culture and taboo. Products that are sold in large quantity in Britain might not be able to win the heart of the local community. As the result, Tesco Thailand takes initiative to set up a production unit (local company Surin Limited Partnership) that has no negative association with quality, premium products. With this strategy, Tesco Thailand actually undergoes internationalization and localization to achieve the support from the local community. Some products sold in Tesco Thailand are only being found in Thailand but you would never find it in the Tesco internationally. These products are specially design for the local community. Salty fish is the best example, Thailand community likes the product and they want to buy it from Tesco Thailand. However, the product might not be accepted by Britain community. The integration of local culture is taken care when providing service to the local community. Not only that, Tesco Thailand employs only local staffs. The managers and CEO are local community. With local management team, they would able to plan effectively. For example, for advertisement and promotion program, the local marketing manager would be able to know the culture in Thailand. The preference of the consumers is identified. The words choice, colours and models used in the advertisement can be localized to increase the acceptance of the local community. Hence, Global-local adaptation in term of staffs is an essential factor to be taken care off. Breadth of product Depth of product line can be defined as the variety of products that are carried by any retails shows such as cloths, electrical products, food, furniture and others. . The breadth of the product is important to ensure Tesco Thailand success in differentiating themselves and to create customer loyalty. As review in the case study, Tesco Thailand can be an entertainment center for children, shopping gallery for housewife. A business center for businessman and also the family gathering center also. In term of entertainment center for children, they have playground and game center for the children to have joy and fun there. Children would love to visit the place because they are place for them to do some activities. In term of housewives, they can buy groceries, fresh vegetables, meat and others to fulfill the needs of the family. The housewives do not need to travel to grocery to buy a broom and travel to wet market to buy a fish and even to dry market to buy onion. Now, Tesco Thailand gathers all the products according to the household needs. Not only there, bank services are available to help businessman to do their work while their wife are shopping. Besides, these facilities encourage shoppers to buy more because they can withdraw money anytime when they shop. With the breath of products, customers satisfaction level increases and this builds the customer loyalty in the long run. Service offering Tesco Thailand has undergone market and product development strategies to provide a better service to the consumer. Tesco has used the Internet to extend its market into new product markets, such as financial services, white goods and DVD rentals. While these are promoted through the store, the web provides a wider choice of products, more detailed information about products and a method of purchase. The internet can also support entry into new geographical markets. New revenue sources are available through extending the product range online as explained above, and also with new digital revenue streams such as those for music downloads and e-Diets. Tesco also supports advertising on its site of related product such as financial services. Differentiation through Target market strategy. Tesco.com has a broad market of customer types, so it is less relevant for them to use online to selectively target these with communications. However, the article explains how Tesco has used the web and e-mail to target more closely through targeting different lifecycle groups these are customers who are grouped according to their level of adoption of online service. Tesco also uses the web to target specific requirements such as Diets and Financial Services through search engine marketing. Not only this, Tesco offers some unique online promotions and lower online prices for select products such as financial services which could attract a percentage discount when purchased online. It appears not to use the service elements of the mix for positioning beyond the slogan You Shop, We Drop. But attention has been paid to improving the customer experience through usability activities and reduction of download times. Conclusion Strong brands never happen by accident. Yet only 53% of firms say they have a long term brand strategy in place. A brand strategy is simply a plan for developing a coherent brand. It provides the means for systematically creating differentiation and consumer appeal by empowering better brand decisions across the organization. An effective brand strategy influences the total operation of a business to ensure consistent brand experiences for the customer. Tesco Thailand has become a successful story of branding that can be learnt by everyone. Differentiation and innovation are important to sustain the success of the brand. Reaching the heart by creating memory and customer loyalty is the final destination for all branding exercise.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Personal Writing: The Day Of Surprise :: essays research papers

Personal Writing: The Day of Surprise   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"That's so cool!† I exclaimed. In my hand was a Valentines Day card which folded to make a spaceship. I was in a Hallmark card shop with my father, looking at cards for the upcoming holiday.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If I got you that card now, then it wouldn't be a surprise later,† my father logically stated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"But it's neat! See, it folds into a spaceship.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I'll get it for you but... just act surprised for your mother when you open the card.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Okay dad,† I answered as we walked up to the counter. My father paid for the card and we left the store.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was a week before Valentines Day in 1987. I was nine years old and intensely anxious. Expectation for February 14 had overcome every other thought I previously had. It might seem funny to some that I held that one day with such great esteem, but to me it was unlike any other holiday. On Valentines Day I felt loved by everyone. On that day, I would obtain the card that I had picked out from my father. Classmates would give everyone Valentine cards. Some extremely generous kids would even attach candy to the cards. It didn't matter if you hated each other, on Valentines Day everyone put aside their differences and even presented cards to the children nobody liked. That one day of love seemed to unify the worst of foes through love and forgiveness. I could hardly wait for that day to come.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the night before Valentines Day had rolled around, anticipation had escalated to an all time peak. Nevertheless, it was all set aside as my parents once again started to fight. My brother and I were sent to the car in the garage so that we would not witness them fighting. We knew the routine. I was scared and I could still hear angry voices dueling back and forth. My brother was a senior in high school and even he seemed frightened when they fought. Although he tried to hide his fear, I knew he was afraid when my father would go on a rampage. An hour passed by and my brother and I decided to go back inside.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The house was still. A pin could have dropped and we would of heard it. My father had gone to lay down in his bed. This action was suggested by the marriage counselor that my parents had been visiting. Whenever my father got angry, he was supposed to rest until he calmed down. The problem was that he

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Of Mice And Men :: essays research papers

OF MICE AND MEN Should George have shot his friend Lennie? George probably did the right thing by shooting Lennie. How can we condemn George for sparing his friend Lennie the pain and fear of being killed by someone else? He did something society sees as wrong, but he did it for a good reason. Lennie didn’t deserve to die, but there was no other alternative. Curley wanted to kill Lennie, and since George cared for Lennie, he figured the best thing would be for him to put Lennie out of his misery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lennie deserved to be punished for what he did, but not to be killed. Lennie was a handicapped person with below average intelligence. He didn’t really understand what he had done, but he didn’t really fit into society either.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Curley and the others were looking for Lennie and wanted to exterminate him; they were angry and hated Lennie. If Curley would have found Lennie, he would have shot him. But that way, Lennie would have died afraid and sad. His death would have been very violent. George knew this and that’s why he did what he did. George also knew that Lennie had dug a hole for himself and could never get out. He knew they were looking for Lennie and wouldn’t stop until they killed him. He decided to do it himself in the kindest way he could. It’s like when Candy said about his dog, “I should of shot that dog myself.'; meaning it would have been kinder to the dog. Lennie was lying down, facing away from George and didn’t know he was going to be shot. He didn’t know what was going to happen, just like Candy’s dog.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Murder is never the right answer, but George didn’t really commit murder.

Mattel Essay -- essays research papers

1) What was Jill Barad’s primary goal for Mattel in 1996? What strategy did she choose in order to pursue these goals? Answer: The primary goal of Jill Barad for Mattel was to increase earning per shares by 15% per annum compounded before the effects of any acquisitions. The following are the 4 elements of her strategies: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continue with the highly profitable practice of extending the company’s existing brands (e.g. she had plans to further develop a line of collectible Barbie dolls); 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Develop new product categories, particular in boy’s toys and board games where Mattel had traditional been weak. It could be accomplished through internal product development or by acquiring an emerging company and then growing its business through further investments. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Expanding overseas market sales to more than 50% of Mattel’s total; 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cost reductions by outsourcing production to low-cost foreign factories in places such as China. 2) Why did Barad’s strategies fail to generate the profit growth she had planned? Could better planning have helped Barad anticipate market trends? Answer: The following are the number of problems that had stymied Barad’s strategies: l  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parents were buying fewer toys and shifting their spending to computer software and video games for their children; l  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parents were shifting the spending ...

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Script for Emceeing

Pleasantries†¦. After 41 years of dedicated service to the people of Dagupan City, it is just and right to give honor to someone we call mentor and mother. Mentor of every budding teacher who wanted to follow her footsteps and mother who gives worthwhile lessons in life and motherly advices to teachers like me. Ladies and gentlemen, we are all gathered here for one common purpose†¦to celebrate, give due recognition and reminisce the unforgettable moments we had with our beloved†¦the one and only, Madam Aurora Tiu Domingo or simply Madam Oying! ******************************************************************************* Before everything else, let us all first seek for the Divine providence of our mighty creator with a prayer to be led by Angeline Liwag. ******************************************************************************** Music has always been part of every person’s life. Through its expressive lyrics, they make us smile when we are in our sad mome nts, or even uplift us when we feel so down†¦Folks, Let’s give it up for the Chalk and Eraser Band as they serenade sentimental songs for our beloved Madam Oying. Let’s give them a big hand. ) ******************************************************************************* 41 years is quite long public service. This 41 years is for sure full of accolades from humble beginnings. Though an audio-visual presentation, let’s all see some of the highlights of 41 dedicated years of Madam Oying in Dagupan City Division. ******************************************************************************* Besides being an achiever, Friendly and always at her foot are most of the descriptions given to Madam Oying.It’s time for us to hear testimonies and presentations from the people deem important and influenced by our honoree. (Refer to the program â€Å"Testimonies and Presentations†) ************************************************************************** ******* Let’s now give the floor to Madam Oying for the Response to the testimonies and Presentation ********************************************************************************** Part II-Fellowship