What Is Buttermilk Does It Contain Butter

What is buttermilk? You might think it contains butter, but its really the result of a chemical reaction in any milk, including fat free milk. So, whether or not there is butter in it depends on the type of milk that is used. Buttermilk gets its name from the way it is produced. Buttermilk is the slightly sour liquid that is left over from churning butter. Since butter is the fatty portion of milk, buttermilk is relatively low in fat even when made from whole milk. The type of buttermilk made using butter sometimes does contain small flecks of butter, however, most buttermilk sold in stores is made by adding Streptococcus lactis, Leuconostoc citrovorum, or Lactobacillus bacteria to milk to curdle it into buttermilk. This type of buttermilk could contain milk fat or be fat-free or anywhere in between. Chemical Change in Buttermilk When buttermilk is made from butter, the milk sours naturally from bacteria present in the liquid. When bacteria added to milk to produce buttermilk, the bacteria ferment lactose, the primary sugar in milk, producing lactic acid. Lactic acid reduces the pH of the milk, causing the casein protein to precipitate. The acidity makes the milk taste sour, while the precipitated protein thickens the milk, essentially curdling it. Other Buttermilk Ingredients Buttermilk from stores frequently contains salt, added flavoring, and sometimes colorings to impart a golden or butter color. Water, sugar, salt, curry, and asafoetida are among the most common additives. Buttermilk is available in a dry powdered form, too, which may be rehydrated and used in recipes. Making Homemade Buttermilk If you want to make authentic homemade buttermilk, churn butter and collect the liquid. However, you can make buttermilk for recipes by simply adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to any type of milk. The acid from the liquid ingredient acts the same as the acid produced by bacteria in natural buttermilk, thickening it. If you want the butter-yellow color of buttermilk, add a bit of yellow food coloring or a golden spice, as the recipe allows. Whichever method you use, refrigerate buttermilk until use. It is naturally a bit sour, but will become more acidic at warm temperatures.

Comparing Tribunes And Julius Caesar - 1191 Words

Tribunes and Julius Caesar Julius Caesar is a great play written by William Shakespeare based on the real-life historical person, the Roman military tribune and dictator Julius Caesar. Caesar was â€Å"the all-powerful ruler of Rome,† who lived from July 12, 100 B.C., until his assassination, which took place March 15, 44 B.C. (Getlen). Shakespeare wrote the play Julius Casear 1600 years later, in 1599. In reading the play, the reader often comes across words and phrases that are unknown, both because of the era in which the events took place and because of the era in which the play was written. One of the words discovered in Act I that an average American high school student might not use in a typical conversation is â€Å"tribune.† To understand the play, the reader needs to know this word and more about what life and the political world was like during the time Caesar was alive. Then the student needs to learn what a tribune did and what his role in society was. After that, the student can come to understand why the tribunes in the play, Marullus and Flavius, were worried about Caesar. According to Merriam-Webster, a tribune is â€Å"a Roman official under the monarchy and the republic with the function of protecting the plebeian citizen from arbitrary action by the patrician magistrates† (Merriam-Webster). Another definition explains a tribune as â€Å"an officer or magistrate chosen by the people to protect them from the oppression of theShow MoreRelatedThe Roman Republic And The Civil War2122 Words   |  9 Pageswar in 49 BC. The boundaries of acceptable behaviour were stretched by politicians such as Caesar and Pompey and as a result new perilous precedents were set. Violence along with the use of an army became a political tool in the domestic, political sphere. The civil war laid on the foundations that constitutional methods proved ineffective in the face of an inadequate aristocratic government and therefore Caesar and the senate lead by Pompey used violence and rebellion against each other in an attemptRead MoreAssess The Causes And Consequences Of The Civil War2481 Words   |  10 Pageswar in 49 BC. The boundaries of acceptable behaviour were stretched by politicians such as Caesar and Pompey and as a result new perilous precedents were set. Violence along with the use of an army became a political tool in the domestic, political sphere. The c ivil war laid on the foundations that constitutional methods proved ineffective in the face of an inadequate aristocratic government and therefore Caesar and the senate lead by Pompey used violence and rebellion against each other in an attemptRead MoreHow Caesar s Political Career1836 Words   |  8 Pagescoup. Julius Caesar, a nephew of Marius, descended from a noble family who were ardent supporters of the populares. Like Sulla, Caesar was greatly renowned as an exceptionally competent military commander, conquering Gaul. Remarkably, Caesar was also central to a series of civil wars between his former political allies, Crassus and Pompey, and claimed victory in this conflict just like Sulla – by defiantly marching an army on Rome and establishing himself as dictator. While Sulla and Caesar wereRead MoreRole of Design in Newspaper Design3844 Words   |  16 Pagesup to the event and how it will affect the world. As a common practice newspaper are normally printed on inexpensive off-white paper known as newsprint. The earliest recorded way of informing a public of certain news was Roman ‘Acta diurna by Julius Caesar posted daily in public places. The earliest known newspaper was published in Beijing in the 8th Century; handwritten, it was named ‘Kaiyuan. In the beginning, this news form was given free to the public; in 1556 the Venetian government posted

Chem Lab Word Determination of the Gas Constant R free essay sample

Applying the Combined Gas Law Values of Standard Temperature and Pressure 15 of 19 Determining the value of V2 This value is then converted into moles in order to be applied to determine the gas constant, R. Determining the Gas Constant,R using the Ideal Gas Law 16 of 19 Calculating the Percenta 17 of 19 ge Error Conclusion and Evaluation Conclusion Based on the collected raw data and calculations, the Gas Constant (R) was determined. Calculations were done for all of the three trials and averaged for the most precise value for the Gas Constant. Random errors and uncertainties were to be educed through this process as well. Although all three trials were processed using the same materials and method, the experimental values of the Gas Constant were slightly different. The difference is most likely due to the altered vales such as the temperature, volume, and mass of the variables as these are all determinants of the reaction. We will write a custom essay sample on Chem Lab Word Determination of the Gas Constant R or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page According to the collected raw data, the average of the Gas Constant values for three trials is 8. 43L kPa K-1 mol-l, along with the Percentage Error of 1. 44% in comparison to the actual value. In this specific lab work, the Percentage Errors for ach trials are significant as they are relatively low values. This depicts that the Gas Constant values derived from the raw datas are somewhat close to the actual value of Gas Constant. Nevertheless, the Percentage Difference of the averaged value and the actual value is significantly larger than the Percentage uncertainty. This suggests random errors occurred and possible systematic error, causing the deviation of the calculated values from the actual value of Gas Constant. Evaluation Significance of the error Suggested improvements Assumption made for certain values For the calculation, the temperature

Impact of Historical and Emerging Trends Relating to the E-commerce

Question 1: Advise GOGAL Designs on their options for building their online business in-house with existing staff or outsourcing the entire operation. Outline for them which strategy you believe is in the companys best interest; explain why you chose that approach; and outline the estimated associated costs, compared with the alternative. Answer 1: It has been observed that GOGAL has been majorly used in clothing business. Till date, GOGAL does not have any knowledge or experience regarding the software programs and development. However, if GOGAL seeks to launch a website, it will require hiring knowledgeable and experienced software developers, programmers, software engineers and web developers from the market. According to Laudon (2014), it is crucial to appoint workforce with sound knowledge and experience for launching a new E-commerce website. Recruiting efficient and experienced software developers for meeting the previously stated requirements would lead to high cost of hiring. Additionally, the organization will require setting up the essential infrastructure in terms of asset, tools and software in order to develop an e-commerce website. It has been found that GOGAL does not have a background of developing software. Hence, it will need to take assistance from an external consultant in order to ensure appropriate setting up of the needed infrastructure. Therefore, once the e-commerce website has been developed and launched, the company needs to focus on appointing software engineers in order to maintain the entire system. The company needs to develop a customer support team and the responsibility of the team is to answer the queries raised by the clients. In the following table, the approximate cost for launching an e-commerce website for GOGAL is presented: Work Estimated cost Setting up of Infrastructure 20000 licensing of tools and software 6000 customer support team and website developers 5000 Testers and Developers 30000 cost of Maintenance 3000 monthly other costs 7000 Analyzing the above table, the total cost developing the e-commerce site for the GOGAL has been found. The total fixed cost of GOGAL is $ 26,000. It has been found that the monthly cost associated with salary as well as other cost will be summed up to approximately $ 12,000. It is evident when the e-commerce site of GOGAL will begin to function, then the company can discharge the web developers. Later, the company will be capable of hiring website developers on contract basis. Once the e-commerce site is developed, the contract with the web developers will be ended. On the other hand, if the company identifies the need for addition of new features in the e-commerce site of GOGAL in future, it will have to recruit new web developers for satisfying those needs (Tkacz, 2009). GOGAL has the potential for outsourcing its work to some external experts. It will help the company to avoid the issues regarding recruitment of personnel. In this case, the company needs to float a tender for obtaining requests and proposals from some other organizations which will be helpful in dealing with the development of e-commerce website. The estimated cost of outsourcing is presented in the following table: Work Cost ( Australian Dollar ) Testing and development of website 40000 Cost of Maintenance and Customer Support ( Annually) 50000 It can be clearly implied from the above discussion that, in case of GOGAL, outsourcing of the development of e-commerce website will be the most suitable option. The major advantage of outsourcing will be whenever, the company will require any changes in the website, it will be added to the site by providing the requirements to the company and paying the cost for it, Presently, there are several organizations that has outsourced the website development for e-commerce as it provides organized service at less cost as well as effort. Additionally, it enables the organization to manage their e-commerce website whenever they feel that they are ready for it. Question 2: During the early days of e-commerce, first mover advantage was touted as one way to success. On the other hand, some suggest that being a market follower can yield rewards as well. Answer 2: It has been found that, most of the time, the first mover in the market gets a benefit in terms of being fresh as well as ground breaking. If technology is accepted, it promises success. However, the acceptance of technology is reliant upon various factors. The factors include: availability of the technology, level of complexity, user friendliness and some other factors. Selling of books online was ideated by Amazon. The core model of Amazon focused on ensuring that the clients can locate the books of their preference as well as they can place the order instantly. From that time, Amazon had become the market leader in order to sell via online platform. Being the first mover, Amazon has capitalized huge benefits in offering wide range of books online. The model of Amazon has been adopted by other organization for selling their goods and service through an online platform. With the increase in competition, Amazon had focused on gaining greater market share. In order to become market le ader in terms of market share, Amazon has started to differentiate its product and service through the e-commerce site. eBay is a strong competitor in e-commerce and it has been giving tough fight to Amazon. Amazon has been encountering major competition from eBay in terms of offering electronic goods. Although Amazon still has many copyrights and patents, other companies have already discovered a way out and have been thriving by copying the idea of Amazon of online selling and have taken it to an entirely different level. Presently, the organizations are not only selling the goods, but also offering huge range of services such as financial, travel and tourism, consulting etc ( Gali, 2011). For example, Make my Trip is one of the most popular e-commerce sites for travelling and it has been offering wide range of travel and tour packages, ticket, hotel booking services etc. On the basis of the demand of the target group of clients, various travel companies are establishing business association with hotels and airlines. Various retail giants are also shifting to the virtual stores as they are losing market share. Hence, it can be observed that the first mover always gets significant benefit in the market. However, it must be noted that the followers also develop effective strategies leading to extensive competitive market. Followers get an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others and therefore, develop their own business model which is effective. Hence, it can be stated that GOGAL need not be worried about the advantages of first mover. It need to focus on the developing an e-commerce site which will attract the target audience by offering wide range of products. GOGAL must consider that the various organizations are selling garments online. GOGAL need to undertake research on the companies for finding out their strategy and success factors. GOGAL should try to take as much points from its competitive companies as possible and they try to put all the positive points in its own strategy and thus grow. Reference : Gail, F., 2011. Globalization, Communication and the Workplace: Talking across the World. New York: Continuum. Laudon, K., 2014.E-commerce. business. technology. society. Pearson. Tkacz, E., 2009.Internet Technical Development and Applications. Springer.

American International Bank Case Study

American International Bank Case Study Executive Summary American International Bank has been a beacon of success in wholesale banking services across the world. The company has numerous branches overseas that operate in harmony with the bank’s headquarters in New York. However, the company has clear challenges that threaten its ability to maintain a pole leadership position in the banking sector.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on American International Bank specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It lacks an integrated system, personalized manual services and an outstanding data management. As such, the bank ought to establish an integrated telecommunication network that will enhance its efficiency. From different alternatives available, it is important for the bank to adopt WAN and VPN owing to numerous benefits it stands to reap. Introduction American International Bank (AIB) uses a business model that reflects manual completion of tasks. While we c onsider that AIB is one of the most profitable banks in the US, the company could increase its profit margin by improving its business model to suit its needs. The current model has provided loopholes through which the company stands to lose in terms of cash owing to inefficiencies. The following is an analysis of problems that the company faces owing to poor business model. Summary of the Problem and Analysis Apparently, American International Bank seems to have numerous challenges that have hindered its efficiency. The bank lacks an integrated information system. This has in turn resulted to poor monitoring of overseas branches since the general manager (Tamara), has to take over a month to retrieve information regarding the bank’s operations. As such, information retrieval costs the company huge amounts of resources in terms of time as well as inaccurate data presentation. Considering that many bank’s operations are located overseas and its need for a positive globa l image, such objectives will remain elusive for the bank with fragmented information system that continue to typify its operations. The managers continue to visit the headquarters to discuss any emergent issue and present their reports. As Tamara agrees, it is hard to understand the current business standpoint since reports take at least three months to be processed. This is despite their proneness to inaccuracies and inability to predict the bank’s future performance. Second, the bank also suffers from increased personalized services delivery. Currently, the company faces a momentous challenge to establish a free flowing system in which its branch managers will be able to monitor customers’ accounts without necessarily having to embark on personalized inquiries. Indeed, this type of communication is vulnerable to emotions and may be detrimental if managers fail to live up to its principles.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see i f we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This might also imply that a simple business miscalculation by a branch manager may reduce clients’ trust substantially. As such, AIB should not allow personalized services to characterize its operations although the aspect has been one of the major strengths of the bank. It is important to notice that personalized services can also be achieved by implementing the right business and technology models. Third, the bank faces an upheaval task of reconciling transactions. Automated systems where customers may be able to handle all of their bank transactions is lacking in the company. The branch managers keep the manual statements. This raises the fear of data backup in case of an accident. Considering that the current data processing systems is dysfunctional, the company’s business model lacks elaborate data management. Finally, the emerging problems have reduced the effectiveness of the manage ment team. Tamara highlights that the bank made substantial errors in credit authorization. Lack of coordination amongst banks’ branches has made different managers to authorize different credit limits by almost 140%. Subsequently, the bank stands to lose immense amount of money due to ineffective management department. In fact, lack of coordination amongst various branches has led to crises in which the branch managers pin point the importance of an efficient system that is free of errors and enhances the bank’s ability to deliver quality services to customers and clients. As such, there is an apparent need for a new system. Discussion: Solution to the problem How can AIB improve its efficiency and remain profitable? The organization ought to integrate its information systems to avoid its current hiccups experienced in its operations. The bank can explore various alternatives. Chiefly, the organization may decide to utilize network connectivity that does not only enha nce communication amongst its branches but also enhance data management. With such a system, the bank will be able to monitor its managers and its clients. However, for the management to effectively handle its information system there is the need for the clients to adapt to a new way through which they will be able to access bank’s transactions in an automated way. Although the capital cost of such solution remains considerably high, AIB ought to understand that implementation of a new integrated system will not only ease the flow of data but also enhance improved services for the organization (Trotta 47). Strategy To overhaul the current system is a hard task although it is worth it in the end. It implies that the bank ought to assume a strategy given the fact that change is a gradual and a systematic process in all organizations. Strategic planning will entail the prioritization of areas that the bank feels are most inefficient.Advertising We will write a custom cas e study sample on American International Bank specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The replacement of the system should be a top down strategy where branch managers ought to be integrated into the system at the beginning (Trotta 12). Although the use of manual methods of transaction may continue for a while, the managers ought to have an efficient and a networked system ahead of all departments due to the sensitivity of their tasks. Subsequently, after a successful rolling out of the project, there is the need for the managers to enhance an efficient system by facilitating the clients to transact with an automated system. By so doing, the company will be able to have a full network and an integrated system in which data storage, retrieval and management will be much easier than earlier on. It is important for technological change agents (Tamara and Pamela) to be wary of resistance to change. While many organizations appreciate the role of change in their organizations, they comprehend that it is not an easy task and requires strong change management skills (Trotta 23). To that end, the change agents will have the responsibility of explaining the rationale to the branches located overseas. Besides, it is important for change agents to explain the benefits that the organization will stand to gain by integrating its system. For customers, implementing radical changes may present a huge challenge and the clients will need to comprehend the role of technology in the banking system. Trotta says that change initiators should be ready to quell any resistance by customers to embrace change by explaining how they will benefit (41). Recommendations AIB could explore various telecommunication networks and arrive at those that suit their business needs. Wide Area Network (WAN) represents a network that will enable the bank to have a broader coverage of business operations (Laudon and Laudon 45). The telecommunication network enhances o rganizations to relay data to different stakeholders of the bank including employees, stockholders, customers among many others who are located in varied geographical areas. It transfers data over increased distances and utilizes localized computer networks. In this case, AIB will be able to transmit data from and to different branches overseas and enhance it efficiency. Currently, each branches has at least one computer which could be used to enhance WAN’s efficiency.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Second, the bank may explore the properties of Virtual Private Network (VPN) to enhance its information systems. VPN refers to infrastructural network in which an individual may be able to enhance security of information flow (Groth and Skandler 10). It includes the internet. Trotta explicates that VPN allows users and organizations to have a private domain where there is limited access to specific sites (45). This way, the top management team will be able to enhance privacy of information that may relate to the organization. Alternatives Other alternatives that company will explore to enhance branch interconnectedness include core banking, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), DSL and Frame Relay. Core banking refers to the ability of having a networked system amongst branches in which customers can access banking services and other transactions from different bank branches within the larger banking system. Currently, the apparent lack of an integrated system has made the customers not to access such services across all branches overseas. ATMs will also enhance the flow of data in all branches ensuring that customers will be able to access their monthly statements in ‘a click of a button’. ATMs also enhance the flow of data in the entire banking system without causing backlogs. Frame Relay refers to WAN technology that utilizes packet switching and may be preferable due its cheapness as well as its ease during configuration (Laudon and Laudon 63). Finally, AIB may use Digital Subscriber Line for its availability and fastness in connection. Conclusions and Benefits By installing an integrated system within its branches, AIB stands to gain immensely. At the outset, the bank will improve its management’s efficiency. Unlike before, the bank will have an efficient communication system in which a decision does not receive different interpretations from various branch managers. This will increase the accuracy of executing projects and initiatives wit hout having to rely on a meeting in New York for managers to compile their reports. Besides, the branch managers will be able to submit up to date reports without having to take three months to come up with a comprehensive report. Additionally, the bank stands to gain from an improved data processing and management system. Initially, the bank faced a momentous challenge in storing data and having a consequent backup system. In fact, if such risks as fire and demolition affected a branch, huge amounts of information would be lost. With an integrated system, all transactions are updated upon completion and as such, the customers can experience improved services particularly when they demand their statements. AIB will also save huge amounts of overhead expenses initially incurred. Groth and Skandler assert that organizations reduce labor costs since much of the manual work will now be done by machines (87). This implies that the company will ultimately have to down size. Besides, frequ ent meetings at the headquarters by branch managers will reduce considerably upon installation of such systems. Finally, the bank will reduce the seemingly bulky paperwork. Nonetheless, this is after deciding on the right network infrastructure to roll out. In this case, it is recommended that the bank utilize both the WAN and VPN while exploring other options such as Frame Relay, DSL, Core Banking and ATMs (Laudon and Laudon 87). Groth, David and Skandler, Toby. Network+ Study Guide, Boston, Massachusettes: Sybex Inc, 2009. Print. Laudon, James and Laudon, Peter. Essentials of Management Information Systems, New York: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print. Trotta, Gian. Information Systems Management, Irwin, New York: McGraw Hill Publishers, 2010. Print.

Makah Indians essays

Makah Indians essays The Makah Indians were a predominantly fishing society. This was quite obvious because most of their artifacts were oriented toward the sea and the land around. Various artifacts were bordered with carving of fish or whale. A few were made from whalebone, and others made from different kind of wood and fiber. Although anyone can see that the Makahs had a lot of pride in presenting their relationship with the ocean, it was not their only means of subsistence. Numerous artifacts such as their canoe were made out of wood, which suggests that the forest they lived in or around were heavily depended upon. They are not limited to the natural resources of the rivers, lakes, tidelands, and ocean areas. While the water provided a main source for food and transportation, Makah forests provide many types of wood for carvers, many species of land animals for hunters, and a wide variety of plants that can be used for food, medicine, or raw materials. Most of the artifacts recovered were from the early nineteenth century, which suggests the Makahs had lived and existed well beyond that era. Their subsistence technologies presented in the museum revolved around the sea. Especially in a case that holds exclusively fishing supplies such as fishhooks, nets, traps, boats and paddles. In it were canoes of different tribes, of which one of them belonged to the Makah Indians. The size of it was reduced yet big enough so the details were visible. The canoe was made out of cedar and it was from the 1900s. The craft was dugout from a single cedar tree. The canoe itself didnt have any carving or embroideries, but it was the shape of it that makes it unique. The front end of the canoe had a head shaped like a bird; maybe it was some kind of divine creature that they revered. Since their prey was a whale, one would expect the actual size of the canoe to be no less than the size of gray whale. In addition, it would be in favor of the hu...

Older staff often come with more life experience and a willingness to Essay

Older staff often come with more life experience and a willingness to work - Essay Example â€Å"If employers don’t act soon, they will fail to win the war for talent, as older adults will be relied upon as one of the most important sources of talent for the future workforce (Jan 2007). The global survey, which included 28,000 employers across 25 countries and territories, found employers in the UK are far ahead of their international counterparts, with higher percentage of respondents, respectively, working proactively to retain their older employees. But in Italy and Spain, only 6% have such strategies in place. In 19 of the 25 countries, retention strategies were more predominant than recruiting strategies for older workers. This may be because many of these countries have government legislation or programs in place to encourage employers to retain older workers (Paula 2007). The aim of this topic is to understand and learn more on the recruitment of old employees and the strategies used. We also review the benefits and challenges associated with having an older workforce in companies. We also discuss aging population and recommend what action organizations should take to ensure they have a ready supply of labor in the future. We are also going to review why age diversity pensions are decreasing in value and on the other people are becoming more likely to still have financial obligations such as mortgages or student support, later in life. We are also going to go through what employers will need to consider how they can best become an employer of choice for older workers and how they can retain older workers in an increasingly competitive market place.     For some organizations this will mean a significant culture change.   Consider that 25-34 is the current favorite recruitment age of employers and The Employers Forum on Age has estimated that ag eism costs the United Kingdom economy over  £26bn each year.   This article  will help you to explore the issues that affect your capacity to be an age positive employer and

Discussion board forum Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion board forum - Assignment Example Advertisement policy for target recruitment strategy can be denoted by certain population as fair. Some of valid reasons behind the implementation of target recruiting strategy are recruitment of the special KSAOs, attract employees who are passive, making further relationship with the former employees and filling the diversity gaps in the organization. But the reality is that targeted recruitment can help organization to bring diversity in the workplace. This resembles the fact that the targeting recruiting strategy is unfair regardless of its minimal advantage to bring diversity. Some of the organization provide target recruitment message by taking in to consideration gender and minorities. The system is regarded as unfair when certain member of the community is targeted exclusively. The fairness of the message to target member denies providing equal opportunity to the other groups of people who do not have the chance to view the message (Gatewood, 2010). Organization may sometimes target particular groups who may be more mature workers. This creates a sense of unfairness on the mind of other groups of people who thinks that they are been ignored and can lead to demotivation. Every employee has the right to vie the necessary requirement for the job. Every workplace must be diverse and reduce the poor performance of the employee. Targeting recruitment strategy can take much longer time and could eventually cost more than that of normal recruitment strategy. This can also lessen the morale of the employee which can rather lead to less in productivity. Bias on one age group can create a sense of negative motivation on the employees. The application of target recruitment strategy can create a sense of inflexibility among the employee. Every organization must implement change management in the organization to sustain in the

FDI final report Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

FDI final report - Coursework Example This implies the robust performance of the country in the complexity of the financial crisis. The factor which has been responsible for the growth in the FDI flows is the rise in the price of the commodities and has attracted further investment in the field of the natural resources (OECD, 1999). This paper will analyze in details the FDI inflows in three of the major Latin American countries namely Argentina, Brazil and Chile. The primary objective is to compare the environment of FDI in these three countries which can aid the prosperity of business in Latin America. This paper chooses the British retail giant, Tesco and captures the benefits that it can achieve, if it follows the FDI trails and makes its presence felt in the prospering economies of Latin America (Yapp and Paulo, 2011). For this purpose, the competitive advantage of the FDI flows of the countries will be discussed in details and the decision of choosing the country will be established. Company Profile Tesco is a Brit ish multinational department store selling grocery with its headquarters at Chestnut. It is one of the major players in its genre, ranking only second to Wal-Mart in terms of profit and third in terms of revenues after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Presently, it operates in three of the continents, Asia, Europe and North America. The company has over the years diversified its portfolio to include a variety of services like, telecom, clothing, electronics, financial services and software. Considering the business boom that it had experienced in the recent years, it would be interesting to observe the benefits that it can derive from tapping the FDI inflows in the developing economies of Latin America. FDI Literature In Foreign Direct Investment, a firm invests in the manufacturing or service facility or any other type of its assets in a foreign country and retains effective control on it (Sagepublications, 2007). FDI implies a high level of commitment as the firm which chooses to enter has to remain in the foreign country for a long time, investing high quantity of resources (Froot, 2008). FDI can be done in two different ways which include mergers or acquisition and Greenfield investment. Recent times have seen a surge in the former type. There can be two different types of integration in FDI. One in which the firm invests in the same products in the foreign country that it produces in its own country and the other type, where it chooses to invest in the value chain of the firm (Ramondo, Rappoport and Ruhl, 2013). The nature of ownership also varies in the FDI. There can be partial acquisition of the existing firm or wholly-owned investment, in which the investor owns the foreign assets or equity joint ventures, in which both the parent firms come together to create a new legal entity by investing assets and share the ownership and profits (Hauswald and Hege, 2009). This process benefits the multinational organizations immensely as they can utilize the advantages of location and learn from each other’s structural differences. They can also leverage their learning and enhance their capabilities (Blonigen, 2005). There can be three different motives for following an FDI scheme which are market seeking motives, resource seeking

The Kawasaki disease

The Kawasaki disease Kawasaki disease is an intense systemic paediatric vasculitis disease that is seen commonly in childhood. Kawasaki disease is one of the most common heart diseases. It is the inflammatory disorder but the aetiology of Kawasasaki disease is unknown. It first appeared in 1967 by report of Tomisaku Kawasaki who was a Japanese paediatrician. He also called Kawasaki disease as mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome. There is no diagnostic test; therefore, doctors are using the clinical criteria that were proposed by Dr. Kawasaki 45 years ago to diagnose the Kawasaki disease. There are many different diagnosis of Kawasaki disease such as viral infections, genetic predisposition or environmental factors. Many research proposed that Kawasaki disease is an infectious disease that may be caused by Epstein-Barr virus, measles, adenovirus, enterovirus. However, there is no confirmed evidence. Usually, KD can found more in Japanese society but it keep spread to western countries and the incidence of K D in western countries are increase dramatically. There are typical symptoms that can be seen in KD such as rash, edema, and mucosal membrane changes. But there are more symptoms that are involved which are not typically found from every KD patients. Therefore, it is hard to diagnosis patients if they have KD or not. The treatment of KD is different depends on if patients are complete or incomplete KD and also, the susceptibility of IVIG will make treatment different along patients. The etiology is not certain but there are several researches shown that KD is caused by infectious agents, genetic factors, or immune system disorder. Current knowledge on the subject   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several symptoms that can be found in patients with Kawasaki disease. When patients have more than 5 days of fever for more than 38C and have more than 4 symptoms such as bilateral nonexudative conjunctival injection, polymorphous exanthem, nonvesicular rash, strawberry tongue, edema of hands and feet, bilateral non-suppurative cervical lymphadenopathy, and mucosal membrane changes, patients will diagnosis as KD. Kawasaki disease can be divided into complete Kawasaki disease and incomplete or atypical Kawasaki disease depending on the number of symptom that are present in the patient. When patients have more than four symptoms or have developed coronary artery abnormality, patients will be diagnosed as complete Kawasaki disease. In contrast, patients who have less than four of the diagnostic criteria and still develop coronary artery abnormality is diagnosed as atypical or incomplete KD. Because of the cause of Kawasaki disease is unknown, di agnosis of Kawasaki disease in infants are very challenging. Kawasaki disease can be divided into three phases. First, from one week to two weeks from onset is called acute phase. Typical symptoms are highly febrile, irritable and the fever approaches more than 39 Celsius. Oral changes occurs and also rash can be found in perineal area. Secondly, from two to eight weeks from onset is called subacute phase. In this phase, fever start to decrease slowly and the perineal area, soles, and periungual areas start to peel off. Lastly, from months to years from onset, it is called convalescent phase. In this phase, laboratory value gets normal but there may be severe consequences. For example, patients who had aneurysms may continuously have, for rest of their life, persistent cardiac dysfunction, or myocardial infarction.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Coronary artery aneurysm can be highly found in incomplete Kawasaki disease patients. It is defined as coronary dilatation that the diameter of coronary vessel gets enlarged 1.5 folds. It can be diagnosed by angiographically and it is similar to patients with coronary artery disease. The end-diastolic pressure, end-diastolic volume, and ejection fraction levels are not normal and the left ventricular contraction is not normal. The coronary artery aneurysms are mostly caused by atherosclerosis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several associated symptoms that can be seen in Kawasaki patients. Diarrhea and abdominal pain and patients may develop arthritis. Also, myocardial dysfunction can be found in early phase of Kawasaki disease such as pancarditis which is the inflammation of all three layers of heart. Another symptom is periarteritis nodosa which is disease in connective tissue that is blocked by nodules in arteries thereby causing blood to not circulate properly. When Kawasaki disease shows periarteritis nodosa, other symptoms cannot be found.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kawasaki disease can be diagnosis by physical exam but also it can be diagnose by laboratory exam and imaging technique. First, complete blood count test should be performed to look at the amount of white blood cell in blood. Complete blood count is the calculation of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelet. The number of white blood cell increased to more than 15,000. Also, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein increase. After 2 weeks from onset of disease, the platelets level dramatically increases up to 1 to 2*106. There are other abnormalities such as sterile pyuria, increases of hepatic transaminases, hypoalbuminemia. In patients who have KD will have higher level of transaminase than normal person. Also, they will have higher level of ALAT and GGT than other patients who have other febrile diseases. When ALAT level increases, it will lead to coronary artery disease. Research proposed that almost 50% of incomplete KD p atients had pyuria in bladder urine. Pyuria can cause different diseases depends on where it is. When pyuria is in bladder, it can cause tubulointerstitial nephritis but when it is in voided urine, it will cause urethral inflammation. Another symptom to diagnosis incomplete KD is to look at acute anterior uveitis after the onset. Patients who have anterior uveitis do not have pain, photophobia, nor visual impairment. By using ophthalmological evaluation, it can detect if patients have different disease which have similar symptoms with anterior uveitis. One of the research in 2006 showed that there were 40% of KD patients had hyponatromia. It is caused by incorrect hormone secretion by cerebral vasculitis, dehydration, or tubular dysfuction. It is hard to diagnosis KD since there is no diagnosis test. To treat incomplete KD, the principle clinical criteria should be renewed in order not to miss out some patients who did not have principle symptoms. By missing out patients will develo p severe other diseases and will not be able to give proper treatments.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  KD also can be found out by using imaging technique. At acute phase, chest x-ray or echocardiography (ECG) are used to look at heart problem. Patients may develop coronary artery abnormalities in acute phase and this can be showed by ECG. When patients are very severe, heart specialists sometimes use single photon emission computed tomography to look into bloodstream of patients. SPECT will provide an image in 3D by using gamma rays. Epidemiology Kawasaki disease is new disease that is predominantly found among Asian children1,2,3. It was first found in Japan by Dr.Kawasaki in 1961. In early 1970s, Pathologist Eunice Larson and Benjamin Landing at Los Angeles recognized it as a new disease. Still today, there is no evidence of how Kawasaki disease emerged but some researchers proposed that Kawasaki disease emerged from Japan and spread to Western countries through Hawaii after World War II. Kawasaki disease was nationwide epidemics but now it is more likely a regional outbreak. The mean annual incidence rate is different in variety of countries and districts3. There are 90 to 112 per 100,000 in Japan, 8.0 to 47.7 per 100000 in US, and 3.6 to 3.7 per 100000 in the United Kingdom and Australia for children who are less than 5 years old. Research in China indicates that the incidence rate is 18.2 to 18.6 per 1000003. The statistics shows that Japan predominantly has highest incidence rate among Asian. Kawasaki disease can be fou nd commonly in males than females and the reoccurrence rate is less than 1%3. The incidence of Kawasaki disease has been increasing annually. In 2000, the incidence rate was 73.7 per 100000 but in 2002, the number of occurrence increased to 95.5 per 1000003. There are relationships between season and occurrence of Kawasaki disease3. But there are variations among different countries. From Japanese reports, there were more patients in winter but in American data shows that patients will develop KD more in the spring and winter. For female the occurrence appeared to be high in March, and highest in July. For boys, the highest occurrence rate was in May and the lowest occurrence rate was in February. As the research indicated, the season and climates have relationship with the susceptibility to Kawasaki disease3. Genetics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Patients with Kawasaki disease may develop coronary artery abnormalities (CAAs) if patients are not treated early. Usually patients are treated with high amounts of intravenous gamma-globulin (IVGG) as well as aspirin which are used to reduce the possibility of developing CAAs2. However, 10-20% of Kawasaki patients do not response to induced intravenous gamma-globulin. Coronary artery abnormality will develop more frequently to patients who are not responding well to IVGG than patients who respond well to IVGG. Recent research reported that matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is involved in formation of CAA in acute phase of Kawasaki disease patients2. From research, the level of MMP-9 in serum who have Kawasaki disease have much higher than serum from children who does not have KD and patients who have other kinds of febrile diseases2. Using MMP-9 inhibitors might prevent the formation of CAA. However, MMP-9 inhibitors are not used clinically. MMP-9 is endopeptidase that depends on zinc that has zinc at the active site. MMP-9 have major role in tissue remodelling of extracellular membrane (ECM) 2. It can be seen in cardiac remodelling after myocardial infarction, plaque destabilization of atherosclerotic lesion. The mechanism of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is involve with the bind zinc to the active site and stabilize by hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions in the active site. The ACE inhibitor can inhibit the activity of MMP-9 and MMP-2, which have major role in neointimal formation and angiogenesis. The effect of the ACE inhibitor on MMP-9 can be measure by using captopril to the enzyme2. Involvement of the immune system From the studies by Satoshi Sato, Kawasaki disease is commonly found from patients who are younger than 5 years old1. The average age of occurrence of this disease is 2 years. Kawasaki disease does not occur frequently from children who is less than 6 months and can hardly find patients who are less than 3 months1. Kawasaki disease usually does not occur for adults who have immunity to common infectious disease. This result explains that children are more susceptible to Kawasaki disease because they might not produced antibodies to common infectious viruses, and bacteria1. Mannose bind lectin (MBL) is an important component of the innate immunity and is a reactant for hepatic origin which can bind to multiple lectin domains1. MBL has very important role in complement activation and opsonization. Complement activation refers to as the biochemical activity that helps to get rid of pathogen from animal and opsonization have similar activity to complement activation that plays role of pa thogens to get rid of the organism by ingestion and destruction by phagocyte1. It is usually found in bacterial cells, fungus cells, and viruses. It has repeating pattern of mannose and N-acetylglucosamine sugar. There are three single polymorphisms in chromosome 10 for MBL gene at codon 52 (CGT to TCT), codon 54 (GGC to GAC), and codon 57 (GGA to GAA). This mutation will lead to reduction of the level of MBL concentration but polymorphism of the promoter region of MBL will lead to increase the level of MBL concentration in the serum1. When the base changes from glycine to aspartic acid in codon 54, it will distract the interaction between MBL and MBL-associated serine protease. The interaction between MBL and MBL-associated serine protease defend against infection when patients are young. But when patients become older, the interaction of these two molecules will not have impact on the innate immunity1. Because, the patients will develop the mature lymphocytes and immunoglobulins a nd they will engulf the invaded pathogen. Therefore, this research proposes the susceptibility of the Kawasaki disease will be influenced by the MBL polymorphism1. Children who have Kawasaki disease develop endothelial dysfuntion in early phase after onset of disease and this will caused by the production of nitric oxide (NO)5. As described earlier, the primary innate immune system is very important feature for Kawasaki disease. Tumour necrosis factor alpha, IL-1, 6, 8, monocyte, chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) will be activated to produce cytokine storm5. After cytokines are produced, it will release iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase) in neutrophils, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle cells. Nitric oxide is produced by two enzymes which are endothelial NOS and iNOS5. Recent research found out that patients who developed Kawasaki disease have higher level of iNOS concentration in neutrophils in acute phase. Also, children have high level of nitric oxide metabolites such as NOx, NO3-, and NO2-. After production of Nitric Oxide, it will react with Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) to give more bi ochemical reactions. This will be measured by new device called fluorescent indicators5. There are new devices used to measure the concentration of NO and ROS. First, Hydroxyphenyl fluorescence (HPF) was used to measure the concentration of ROS. Another device is called Diaminofluorescin-Flu Diacetate (DAF-FM DA) which is used to measure the concentration of intracellular Nitric Oxide5.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are significant evidences that the production of ROS and NO by neutrophils were much higher in Kawasaki disease patients in compare to people who have non-KD febrile children or non-febrile children5. By treating with IVIG, NO level will decrease. But, the production of NO can be beneficial or harmful. Usually, NO is cytotoxic but sometimes, it can protect cells from toxic materials. NO may react with hydroxyl radicals to produce much higher toxicity. To control the influence of NO, the duration, the amount of NO synthesis should be controlled. Therefore, in acute phase of Kawasaki disease, NO and ROS is highly produced and will cause damage to endothelial cells5. Treatment and future research   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When patients are diagnosis as complete or incomplete KD, treatment should be induced right away. Because when patients have more than 10 days of fever will develop CAA. Major treatment that doctors use to treat KD is intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Intravenous immuglobulin induced into bloodstream which contains immunoglobulin antibody G that is brought from other control blood donors. IVIG is still a major recommended treatment but some patients do not response to this treatment. The effects of IVIG last for 2 weeks up to 3 months. The typical amount of IVIG is a dose of 1000mg per kg of patients bodyweight. High amount of IVIG with aspirin will reduce the rate of coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) which includes coronary artery dilatation or aneurysms from 20% to 3 to 5%. Also, depends of patients, IVIG can also used with acetylsalicylic acid to treat KD.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is one example about the incorrect treatment will cause severe disease. When IVIG was induced, patients could not cure coronary artery lesion. When patients induced with corticosteroid, they developed more coronary artery lesion3. There are two therapies which are antiinflammatory and antithrombotic therapy which are to treat Kawasaki disease instead of using IVIG. In antiinflammatory therapy, methylprenisolone, prednisone, prednisolone, and infliximab are used to treat Kawasaki disease. For antithrombotic therapy, Aspirin, heparin, warfarin, exoxaparin, tissue plasminogen activator, clopidogrel, and abciximab are used. Recently, infliximab proved by US Food and Drug administration to cure not only Crohn disease but also used to treat Kawasaki disease patients. It was not used at all in 2001 but today, the administration of infliximab usage increased up to 2.3% of total number of therapies used. It became favourable because of two reasons. First, it only administer to patients only one time. Secondly, by not using infliximab more than once, it reduce the complication as seen in other therapies which are used more than once. Infliximab is an antibody to tumour necrosis factor alpha, and cytokine in inflammatory response. It binds to tumour necrosis factor alpha and blocks the T-cell receptors to block the biochemical cascade. It will decrease the coronary artery abnormalities in patients who developed Kawasaki disease in early acute phase. To treat KD much better way, there should be more research. First, there should be more laboratory and echocardiographic data. Second, more development of clinical criteria and symptoms should be proposed. Even today, there is no perfect evidence that can explain the cause of KD; therefore, there should be more research on genetic factors by looking at KD patients family. Lastly, after treatment of KD in childhood, complication may be developed after several decades and there is not much information about complication. Therefore, by monitoring and keep in touch with KD patients are good way to find out more about complication after initial treatment. References Sato, S., H. Kawashima, Y. Kashiwagi, T. Fujioka, K Takekuma, and A. Hoshika. 2009. Association of mannose-binding lectin gene polymorphisms with Kawasaki disease in the Japanese. I. Jour. R. Dis. 12:307-310. Inoue, N., S. Takai, D. Jin, K. Okumura, N. Okamura, M. Kajiura, S. Yoshikawa, N. Kawamura, H. Tamai, M. Miyazaki. 2010. Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor on matrix metalloproteinase-9 activity in patients with Kawasaki disease. Clinica Chimica Acta. 411:267-269. Huang, G.Y., Ma, X.J., Huang, M., Chen, S.B., Huang, M.R., Gui, Y.H., Ning, S.B., Zhang, T.H., Du, Z.D., Yanagawa H., and Kawasaki T. 2006. Epidemiologic Pictures of Kawasaki disease in Shanghai from 1998 through 2002. Journal of Epidemiology. 16:No. 1. Yeo, Y.K., Kim, T.Y., Ha, K.S., Jang, G.Y., Lee, J.H., Lee, K.C., Son, C.S., and Lee, J.W. 2009. Incomplete Kawasaki disease in patients younger than 1 year of age: a possible inherent risk factor. Eur J Pediatr. 168:157-162. Yoshimura, K., Tatsumi, K., Iharada, A., Tsuji, S., Tateiwa, A., Teraguchi, T., Ogino, H., Kaneko, K. 2009. Increased nitric oxide production by neutrophils in early stage of Kawasaki disease. Eur J Pediatr. 168:1037-1041 Perrin, L., Letierce, A., Guitton, C., Tran, T.A., Lambert, V., Kone-Paut, I. 2009. Comparative study of complete versus incomplete Kawasaki disease in 59 pediatric patients. Joint Bone Spine. 76:481-485. Son, M.B.F., Gauvreau, K., Ma, L., Baker, A.L., Sundel, R.P., Fulton, D.R., Newburger, J.W. 2009. Treatment of Kawasaki Disease: Anlaysis of 27 US Pediatric Hospitals From 2001 to 2006. Pediatrics. 124:1-8. Ugi, J., Lepper, P.M., Witschi, M., Maier, V., Geiser, T., Ott, S.R. Nonresolving pneumonia and rash in an adult: pulmonary involvements in Kwasakis disease. EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL. 35:452-454. Climaz, R., Sundel R. 2009. Atypical and incomplete Kawasaki disease. Best Practice Research Clinical Rheumatology. 23 (5):689-697.

Beloved :: essays research papers

A TREE CAN BE A HEAVY LOAD TO CARRY Throughout our lives, we have all had our own â€Å"tree† carved onto us. Whether it is on our back, in our heart, in our soul, our hands or feet, we can all share the knowledge and pain our lives have borne. So there is an understanding of how and what Sethe has had to bare throughout her life, and every branch of her tree has its individual story to tell. Not only has she been affected by the choices she has had to make, but also everyone who has come in contact with her have been affected. One branch of Sethe’s tree tells of her killing her baby and another tells of the guilt she has felt throughout the years and the near destruction of her from the haunting of her dear â€Å"Beloved’s† ghost. Another tells of her boys running away and another tells of the neglect that her younger daughter has had to face. Because of this guilt, she almost paid for it with her life. However, the stages that her mind her took through with coming to terms with her involve ment in Beloved’s murder, her redemption of that burden, and near madness were the elements that helped to guide her through the guilt. From the redemption of her guilt, Sethe has learned that when a branch of her tree has weltered a little, which means that her family bond is not as strong, the tree does not die, because it has a strong root. A root that represents all of the sorrow’s of her life, but she is still strong and is willing to fight to get rid of the weltering branches and sprout new ones, which represents new hope, new life and new beginning. In comparison with Sethe, many of us could probably relate to Sethe and the tragedies and devastations she has had to face. Like her, we and the people around us have had to face death, neglect, uncertainties, self-doubt or inner demons. Sethe explains that she took her baby’s life in order to save her from the treacherous world that she would have greeted. She did not want her baby to grow up in slavery like she had to, or starve because she did not have any milk to feed her. â€Å"†¦.and I could not let her nor any of em live under schoolteacher.

Coca Cola Company Case Study

Date: 22/10/2012 The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational business organisation founded in the late 1890’s in Georgia, USA. Its main focus is selling soft drinks and is especially famous for its first soft drink, after which is named, Coca-Cola. The first product was patented in 1887 and registered as a trademark in 1893. By 1895 it was sold in the whole USA and since then has been expanding around the world (The Coca-Cola Company, Product Descriptions). Throughout its history it has been subject to a lot of criticism for its various practices and has enjoyed incredible success.The organisations main strength it’s the fact that it is the most recognised product worldwide. Part of that recognition can be attributed to the fact that The Coca-Cola Company localizes its products and advertising campaigns, which has been highly successful. Coca-Cola has been credited with forming the modern image of Father Christmas as a jolly, old bearded man, dressed in red. (Coca-Cola at home) The main goal of all the campaigns has been that people choose the soft drink as their favoured beverage, a mission that has been greatly accomplished in many areas.Another advantage of the company is that it also has different headquarters in each country, giving it the ability to dictate all campaigns and give ideas on products. (The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 2:Â  A global and local strategy). Also the company is always trying to expand its range of products, focusing on beverages, but not only soft drinks as it sells juice, water, energy drinks and squashes as well. (The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 4:Â  The corporate segment -Head Office).Coca-Cola is normally associated with the United States of America, mainly because of its patriotic advertisements that were then exported to other countries. It has a dominant role in modern popular culture, with mass media references and even films containing the company ’s name in the title. Coca-Cola has such an effect on culture, that it is sometimes considered a sign that someone is richer or higher class if they drink more Coca-Cola than others.The company has proven very popular, despite the facts that most of the company’s products are unhealthy. Coca-Cola’s main ingredient is sugar. As a lot of the marketing is aimed at young people, the fact that products are unhealthy has sparked a bit of controversy, seeing as there is a lot of aggressive marketing towards young people. This is usually in the form of sponsorships to high school in the form of sports facilities or funds. In return the company is allowed to sell its products in the schools, thus attracting people from an early age.Also there are accusations of children working for the company in sweat shops and not giving adequate healthcare, whilst not complying to workers right and destroying trade unions through rough ways (The Globalization of Coca-Cola) One of Coca -colas main external features that keep it favoured is that it maintains a very good relationship with its bottlers. In contradiction to common knowledge, it is not the company that actually bottles and distributes its products. Instead they only make the basic syrup and ingredients in concentrate and then sell them to bottlers and from there they end up with distributors..This is a example of how the business adhere to its ‘culture’ as it tries to promote teamwork, by allying itself with other companies. (The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 5:Â  Structure and culture). This is helpful in many ways as it creates good connections with many businesses, making the Coca-Cola products much more sought after and popular with vendors, shops, supermarkets. There are some external problems though. After endorsing Israel, the company lost its popularity in the Middle East and was heavily boycotted. This gave competitors a chance to swoop in and they a re now dominating those markets.Also, another problem with the company is that its products, however big role they play in popular culture, aren't considered essential. So if a country’s economy is weak, it is inevitable that the beverages market is going to fall quite steeply. Another factor is that there are many cheap substitutes for their products, which, while not international, can prove to be strong competition in local markets, as many of them promote the fact that they are local, while Coca-Cola retains its American image and the majority of them are cheaper. REFERENCES * Coca-Cola at home, http://xroads. virginia. du/~CLASS/coke/coke1. html, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:00 * The Coca-Cola Company, Product Descriptions, http://www. virtualvender. coca-cola. com/ft/index. jsp, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 18:10 * The Globalization of Coca-Cola, https://segue. atlas. uiuc. edu/index. php? action=site;site=estensl2;section=4052;page=13292, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:0 5 * The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 2:Â  A global and local strategy, http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/coca-cola-great-britain/creating-an-effective-organisational-structure/a-global-and-local-strategy. tml, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:10 * The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 4:Â  The corporate segment -Head Office, http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/coca-cola-great-britain/creating-an-effective-organisational-structure/the-corporate-segment-head-office. html, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:13 * The Times, Creating an effective organisational structure, Page 5:Â  Structure and culture, http://businesscasestudies. co. uk/coca-cola-great-britain/creating-an-effective-organisational-structure/structure-and-culture. html, retrieved on 21/10/2012 at 19:15

Free Essays on The Gallipoli Campaign

The Gallipoli Campaign The Gallipoli Campaign began in early 1915, set off to open up the straits known as the Dardanelle’s so that communication and supplies could be easily exchanged with Russia. This trade route was a very prized by the Turks; however, they were far from ready when the first British-French fleet was mobilized. On February 19th 1915, the British-French military began bombardment of the Turkish forts at the entrance to the Dardanelle’s. Later, on March 18th, the naval fleet began forcing the narrows. A well-placed Turkish minefield cause 3 lost battleships and the lives of over 2000 men. Unknown to the Admiral in charge of the fleet, the Turkish defenses are on the verge of collapse but Admiral de Robeck orders a retreat. Upon the allied powers’ retreat, the Turkish forces ‘dug’ themselves in, preparing for another assault. This assault came on April 25. The forces used in this incursion consisted of Australian, New Zealand, French and Indian troops. The plan called for a landing on the peninsula with a moderate amount of forces and pushing inland, hopefully all the way to Istanbul. During the peninsula landing, the allied forces incurred terrible losses, even before beginning to fight. The battle lasted for months and was heavily one sided. The allied powers had simply not sent enough troops after blowing their surprise attack earlier in the year. The Russians, who had suggested the forcing of the Dardanelle’s, were expected to arrive at Bosphorus but this was prevented by a very strategically planned attack on Gorlice, leaving the allied army in a state of peril. The campaign continued into November with the allied forces suffering further casualties until the rem aining troops were evacuated in December 1915. The Gallipoli Campaign was credited as a failure in design, discrediting all amphibious operations for the rest of the war, instead of a failure in execution that it obvi... Free Essays on The Gallipoli Campaign Free Essays on The Gallipoli Campaign The Gallipoli Campaign The Gallipoli Campaign began in early 1915, set off to open up the straits known as the Dardanelle’s so that communication and supplies could be easily exchanged with Russia. This trade route was a very prized by the Turks; however, they were far from ready when the first British-French fleet was mobilized. On February 19th 1915, the British-French military began bombardment of the Turkish forts at the entrance to the Dardanelle’s. Later, on March 18th, the naval fleet began forcing the narrows. A well-placed Turkish minefield cause 3 lost battleships and the lives of over 2000 men. Unknown to the Admiral in charge of the fleet, the Turkish defenses are on the verge of collapse but Admiral de Robeck orders a retreat. Upon the allied powers’ retreat, the Turkish forces ‘dug’ themselves in, preparing for another assault. This assault came on April 25. The forces used in this incursion consisted of Australian, New Zealand, French and Indian troops. The plan called for a landing on the peninsula with a moderate amount of forces and pushing inland, hopefully all the way to Istanbul. During the peninsula landing, the allied forces incurred terrible losses, even before beginning to fight. The battle lasted for months and was heavily one sided. The allied powers had simply not sent enough troops after blowing their surprise attack earlier in the year. The Russians, who had suggested the forcing of the Dardanelle’s, were expected to arrive at Bosphorus but this was prevented by a very strategically planned attack on Gorlice, leaving the allied army in a state of peril. The campaign continued into November with the allied forces suffering further casualties until the rem aining troops were evacuated in December 1915. The Gallipoli Campaign was credited as a failure in design, discrediting all amphibious operations for the rest of the war, instead of a failure in execution that it obvi...

History of Cities essays

History of Cities essays Through out this paper I will discuss, how and why the first cities began, from small villages into city form. I will tell how prominent cities formed through the years of the forth millennium BC, to where we are today. It is a coincidence that the first cities in time took place in the Middle East, one major trade city I feel was really important was Tepe Yahy. Tepe Yahy was a very important city in the Middle East facilitating trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. From the south Arabia urbanization spread into Asian cities such as the Shang which was developing in the Yellow and Wei river valleys of Honan and Shensi, during the second millennium BC. With the western spread of urbanization from the Indus Region to Europe, the city states of Crete formed, on the Greek islands, around the 2000 BC which led to hundreds of cities around 8th century BC of classical times. The glory of the Greek empire led into the Roman Empire, forming the city of Rome. Also during this time period in the New World the very large and influencing city of Teotipuancan was formed in 200 BC, of which I will also discuss. At around 400-500 AD with the fall of the Roman Empire many Mid-evil Cities were formed in Europe. The Mid-evil Cites led into the formation of London and Paris in 1500-1600 AD. In the Middle Ages I will talk about how exploring form Europe led to America forming New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, leading into the Industrial Revelation in 1750. In the final section of my paper I will discuss how the Industrial Revelation affected Rural-Urban Sprawl, leading us to where we are in cities today. HOW AND WHY CITIES FOMED IN EARLY CITIES According to Bellan in The evolving City the definition of early city, is a compact collection of buildings used and occupied by a local population that performs functions both for itself and for people who live elsewhere (1) p.2 The arrivals of the earliest cit...

Analysis of Being Steve Jobs Boss Article Assignment - 3

Analysis of Being Steve Jobs Boss Article - Assignment Example Jobs’ methodology actually starts â€Å"with the user and looking at the entire end-to-end system† (Bloomberg, 2). Schulley revealed Jobs’ admiration for Sony, which became the basis for his Mac factory, tailored to Sony’s elegance and design. He identified Dr. Edwin Land, co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation, as one of the Jobs’ heroes. Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems, and Akio Morita, builder of Sony, were likewise explicitly looked up to by Jobs as his great inspiration and heroes. The interview likewise discussed Sculley's strategy to focus on marketing Jobs’ products in the market. However, his humility made him express that â€Å"Steves brilliance is his ability to see something and then understand it and then figure out how to put it into the context of his design methodology—everything is designed† (Bloomberg, 4). He acknowledged making two mistakes: not having to work with Intel and not going back to Steve. Schulley ruminated that â€Å"Why don't we go back to the guy who created the whole thing and understands it? Why don't we go back and hire Steve to come back and run the company?" (Bloomberg, 5). In hindsight, Schulley was convinced that â€Å"if Steve hadn't come back when he did—if they had waited another six months—Apple would have been history. It would have been gone, absolutely gone† (Bloomberg, 5). One shares the same contention and agrees to Schulley in the discussions proffered in the article.

Ralphs vs. Albertson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ralphs vs. Albertson - Essay Example Ralph is headquartering in Cincinnati Ohio. Later Ralph was acquired by Kroger from Fred Meyers. The reason behind the success story of Ralph is that the founder believed in two philosophies and his innovation. He value priced top quality product and costumer comes first service intention. And his innovative approach to traditional handling of fresh produce brought accolades by all the customers. Albertson took lead and developed to leaps and bounds their approach to customer service. Albertson stores efficiently utilize their capital assets in developing their stores. This also includes establishing new stores in new neighborhood. Albertson stores were very innovative and were specifically designed to perfectly fit in the neighborhood. Albertson stores approach of new projects was very advanced and was based on teamwork; generation of new ideas and the most important was implementation of best practice. Compared to Ralph Albertson stores use its capital and non capital assets in a m anner that it should again fetch income. Albertson leased out its surplus properties that fetch a decent income and some of the properties are even sold at a higher price than acquired. Albertson stores earn higher profits as compared to Ralph.

Globalisation and the International Business Environment Essay

Globalisation and the International Business Environment - Essay Example 64-65) as the opposite of localisation; it is the process of adapting products for use outside the home nation (think steering wheels in cars or Chinese versions of Windows). Firms must internationalise if they want to sell to markets outside their home country, because foreign markets have different cultures, needs and wants, demanding that firms make adjustments to products and services, organisational structures, leadership and people systems, and supply chains, amongst others. In a landmark paper on the topic, Whitley (1994) observed that the post-war internationalisation process of firms was primarily driven by increases in foreign direct investment by transnational (or multinational) enterprises. This led to increased interdependence of the industrialised economies and changes in the world economy with the following characteristics: (1) the establishment of a distinct global system of coordination and competition, (2) the denationalisation of leading firms, and (3) the international standardisation of managerial structures and practices. It can be said that the natural progression from internationalisation to interdependence and greater integration of the world economy resulted in the complex phenomenon that we now call "globalisation". Globalisation is a concept that is best described than defined because of its complexity. A simple definition, like "globalisation is the integration of the world economy, reshaping business, reordering lives, creating social classes, different jobs, unimaginable wealth, and wretched poverty" (Micklethwait and Wooldridge, 2000, p. xvi), would not do justice to the term because it focuses too much on the economic aspect. Globalisation is much more than just money, business, and wealth. As Stiglitz (2002, p. 9-10) described it, globalisation "integrates countries and peoples, their economies and politics, their cultures and fates. It breaks down artificial barriers to the flow of goods, services, capital, knowledge, ideas, and (to a lesser extent) peoples across borders. It creates new institutions that joined with existing ones to work across borders". There are then good and bad sides, so whilst many condemn environmental degradation, corruption of cultures, and the spread of squalor, poverty, misery, and greed, many also praise the improved access to cheaper medicines and food, better living conditions, gradual eradication of poverty, and increased opportunities for millions of people around the globe. Therefore, whilst many consider internationalisation and globalisation as synonymous terms, the former would refer to an outward process where firms adapt to and increase their presence in international markets, whilst the latter can be described simply as its natural integrating result. Globalisation is nothing new, but in its past incarnations, the inability of previous generations to manage its bad side has made it a factor that led to two of the bloodiest wars that mankind has ever experienced. Knowing this background reminds us of what the philosopher Santayana said about learning the lessons of history so that we would not be doomed to repeat it. Main Drivers of Globalisation Like success which has many fathers, globalisation (according to whoever is the author) has many drivers (Yip, 2003; Johnson et al., 2003; Stiglitz, 2002; Micklethwait et al., 2000; Porter, 1990) that we can summarily classify into five groups. These drivers are the key

Freud vs. Jung Theories Essay Example for Free

Freud vs. Jung Theories Essay Some debate over who is right over Freud and Jung’s theories are questionable. Freud’s theory believed our consciousness is a thin slice of the total mind and describes it in an imagine of an iceberg. Believed that our unconscious mind holds all of our experiences, memories, and repressed materials. Our unconscious motives often competed with our conscious and create internal conflict which is in neurotic symptoms (anxiety and depression). Also Freud believed personality consisted of three systems: The Id, Ego, and Superego. The Id contains a humans basic, instinctual drives including bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives. The ego comprises the organized part of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Lastly, the super-ego is the judicial branch of a persons personality and includes a persons moral code, the main concern being whether an action is good or bad. Sadly, these three aspects of personality also conflict resulting in neurotic behaviour. Carl Jung’s theory divides the psyche into three parts. The first is the ego, which he identifies with the conscious mind. Next is the personal unconscious, which includes anything which is not presently conscious, but could be. Lastly the personal unconscious is like most people’s understanding of the unconscious in that it includes both memories that are easily brought to mind and those that have been suppressed for any reason. There are some experiences that show the effects of the collective unconscious more clearly than others. An example would be the near-death experience. They speak of leaving their bodies, seeing their bodies and the events surrounding them clearly, of being pulled through a long tunnel towards a bright light, of seeing old relatives or religious figures waiting for them, and disappointed having to leave this happy scene to return to their bodies and return to reality. Some terms Jung created was Archetypes, which is naturally born instincts that we may have been presented by our long gone ancestors. Overall, Freud felt that sex was the single most important force that shaped and guided personality. Believed that your childhood greatly influenced your personality. Jung believed that both the future and the past are important in influencing ones personality. I greatly agree with Jung because not just only a specific time period could change your personality, your whole time period of experiencing everything  shapes yourself. Jung argued that the unconscious could also be a source of creativity rather than Freud’s idea. Jung was onto something with his idea of a collective unconscious, while we cannot define, analyze or see it, there is some thread in the world that somehow connects us all. As people we all have similar feelings, regardless of your cultural upbringing or where in the world you live, there is a commonality among us, that Jung’s theory of unconscious can help explain. According to my theory, the flow of knowledge into the collective unconscious stops at a person’s death. This addition is needed to balance the knowledge base of collective, otherwise if the flow of information did not stop at death, our collective unconscious would be able to answer some of our biggest questions such as â€Å"Is there an afterlife? †. Jung’s diagram I agree with greatly, describing which goes where in my perspective. My thoughts are closely related to Jung’s rather than Freud’s theory.

Frederic Chopin Essays -- Musicians

Chopin pioneered the idea of creating a true artistic form from technical exercises, making his etudes historically important. Each etude has its own musical story to tell even though they adhere to a basic principle as a means to train and refine the performer’s technique. They are not simply dry and repetitive exercises like etudes prior to Chopin. There’s emotion behind his etudes that transcends from technicality and mere note playing to a true virtuosic artistry that is executed with delicate finery. This new development of technical exercises is a feature of a persistent musical aspect in Romantic period repertoire. Not only were these exercises used to improve the performer, they influenced other composers and became substantial material. The Revolutionary Etude is a great example of this technique, for in this work of art, one kind find complete aesthetic materials centered on real historical events. Frederic Chopin was a child prodigy. He was a virtuoso pianist and a talented Polish composer. He was born the year 1810 and died 1849. He spent his early years in Warsaw where he received his music education. His compositions reached a mature stage in Warsaw before he left in 1830. Chopin mostly composed for solo piano, however he wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and a couple of Polish texts that he set to music. Chopin made many major innovations to the piano sonata, mazurka, waltz, nocturne, polonaise, etude, impromptu, scherzo, and prelude, all of which are important pieces of work that highlight Chopin as a virtuosic composer. Frederic Chopin composed three sets of solo studies specifically for the piano. Overall these sets consisted of twenty seven total compositions known as etudes. Within these... ...ldinger, Jean-Jacques, ed. Chopin: Pianist and Teacher: As Seen by His Pupils Cambridge University Press, 1989. Israel Studies in Musicology Vol. IV (Volume 4). publication place: Jerusalem: Israel Musicological Society 1987. Kornel Michałowski and Jim Samson. "Chopin, Fryderyk Franciszek." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://ezproxy.twu.edu:2186/subscriber/article/grove/music/ 51099(accessed April 12, 2012) Yun, Fred. Analysis of Etudes Op. 10 and Op 25. Our Chopin.http://www.ourchopin.com/ analysis/etude.html (accessed May 3, 2012) Huneker, James. 2007. Chopin: The Man and His Music. publication place: Echo Library. Alan, Walker. 1973. The Chopin companion: profiles of the man and the musician. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. Jonson, George Charles Ashton. 2010. A Handbook to Chopin's Works. publication place: Nabu Press.

Assessment of Mathematical Understanding Especially as it Relates to CMP :: Education Educational Papers

Assessment of Mathematical Understanding Especially as it Relates to CMP Introduction Assessment has become a very â€Å"hot† topic in education circles lately. Or at least, it is talked about more often and with more passion. Teachers are being judged on their students’ performance, based on assessment scores. It is the assessment by which we are judged. The reauthorization of ESEA and the ‘No Child Left Behind’ act shows the public’s (or is it the politician’s?) faith in standardized tests as a school improvement instrument. But I also know that the once-a-year test can not provide continuous information about student achievement. The traditional assessments of computation exercises, short answer questions, and word problems will not suffice any more. Typically, standardized tests measure factual knowledge, not conceptual understanding. I believe that conceptual understanding is not only what students know, but what they can do with what they know. Assessments are varied from teacher to teacher, district to district, and state to state. I did an informal survey with some of my colleagues, asking them their reasons for assessing students, and the results varied greatly. I am interested in assessment and alternative assessments in order to help further my students’ understanding of mathematical concepts. I strongly believe that the purpose of assessment to inform my instruction, which in turn will further my students understanding. Background According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards 2000 Assessment Principle, â€Å"assessment should support the learning of important mathematics and furnish useful information to both teachers and students.† Assessment should be designed to â€Å"maximize student learning† and â€Å"support the learning of important mathematics and furnish useful information to both teachers and students.† The National Education Association suggests that assessment is a â€Å"continuous flow of evidence that can only be provided by classroom assessment.† (NEA, 2003) Balanced assessments can actually promote student learning and achievement. â€Å"To maximize student success, assessment must be seen as an instructional tool for use while learning is occurring, and as an accountability tool to determine if learning has occurred.† (NEA, 2003) The 1995 NCTM Standards acknowledged that assessment should: 1. Reflect the mathematics that students show they know and what they are able to do. 2. Enhance mathematics learning. 3. Promote equity. 4. Be an open process. 5. Promote valid inference. 6. Be a coherent process. The Assessment Model from NCTM (2000) includes four phases of the assessment process includes planning, gathering, interpreting, and using data. The table below shows how each phase influences the next.

Persephone falling

Notes on Rata Dove's Mother Love Persephone, Falling Based on the Greek myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone (see Foreword), Dove creates a modern story of the event of Persephone capture by Hades. There is an overriding theme of danger and disobedience throughout the poem. The young girl's innocence, captured in the description of her as a beautiful narcissus is juxtaposed by her act of careless disobedience (she had strayed from the herd) when she refused to heed the warning of her parent.One cannot overlook the pun on the word â€Å"herd† at the end of the first stanza. There is an element of self- imposed danger versus the danger lurking around. In stanza one, the captor is conveyed as the devil lurking in the underworld waiting to take the unsuspecting victim â€Å"sprung out Of the earth†. Yet in stanza 2, the poem seems to apply some blame on the child who does not pay attention to the warnings of a parent â€Å"this is how easily the pit opens. This is h ow one foot sinks into the ground†.One the one hand the peril comes about by the ‘terrible† prey that springs upon the helpless by surprise just as it is said in the Holy Bible's reference to he devil roaming around the earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. This reading of the poem with biblical reference is underscored by the name Hades in the Greek myth itself, as well as, the biblical reference is also seen in the line â€Å"it is finished† the words quoted in the New Testament Gospel as Jesus final words after his crucifixion.On the other hand, in the last line of the poem, the child faces a demise brought about by her own failure to adhere to good advice (80 % of stanza 2). The victim puts herself in harm's way. The destruction came by choice â€Å"one foot sinks† Furthermore, Dove extends the threat to the vulnerable by showing various ways by which a youth can be lured away.In â€Å"go straight to school† she speaks to the haphazard, playful child who is easily distracted and lingers away from her course. In â€Å"don't answer to strangers† she implies a more unsuspecting, innocent whose naivety could get her ensnared but in â€Å"keep your eyes down† there appears the sexual connotation of the bold daring girl who abandons modesty with boldness and impudence. All of which can lead to an unfortunate circumstance.This poem is not a sonnet nor does it contain any particular rhyme scheme, however the sound and rhythm of the poetic is identified as one reads aloud the internal rhymes of â€Å"flowers† and â€Å"others†; â€Å"heard † and â€Å"herd† in stanza 1 ; and the end rhymes of â€Å"around†, â€Å"down† â€Å"ground† in stanza 2. There is a distinct difference of tone between the two stanzas when the story telling voice of the persona is superseded by the watchful parent who already sees in the child the tendency to be wayward.

Case Study Charles Schwab in 2008

Case Study Charles Schwab in 2008 Introduction Investor confidence is one of the major factors that determine the funds that investors are willing to invest in various sectors of the economy. The current economic conditions determine the confidence of the investors. In addition, the future economic outlook also determines the investor confidence. Favorable future economic outlook increases the confidence of investors.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Case Study: Charles Schwab in 2008 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Prior to the global financial crisis, investor confidence was very high. Investors were willing to invest huge funds in the financial markets. This led to the growth of companies that specialized in the provision of financial services. These companies include stock brokerage firms, insurance companies, and banks. Charles Schwab is one of the companies that existed during this period. Charles Schwab was one of the most profitable comp anies that provided financial services. The company specialized in the provision of discount brokerage services. This helped in differentiating the company from other companies that provided financial services. However, the company also faced several problems. These problems necessitated the company to undertake several strategic decisions to improve its competitiveness. History, Development, and Growth of the Company One can trace the history of Charles Schwab to 1963. Charles R. â€Å"Chuck† Schwab was one of the founders of the company. In 1963, Chuck Schwab formed the Investor Indicator newsletter with the help of two other partners. They incorporated Investor Indicator on April 1971 as First Commander Corporation. First Commander was a subsidiary of the Commander Industries. The main business activity of First commander was to conduct a broker-dealer business and publish an investment magazine. Chuck Schwab and four others partners decided to buy back the stock of the co mpany from Commander. This facilitated the formation of Charles Schwab Co., Inc. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco. Brokerage transactions were the main services that the company offered. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) helps in the regulation of companies that engage in brokerage services. The SEC is one of the major bodies that determine the growth of brokerage firms. From time to time, the SEC implements various regulations that affect companies that provide financial services. Soon after the incorporation of Charles Schwab, the SEC implemented several changes that affected brokerage firms. In 1975, the SEC enacted regulation that that increased the flexibility of charges that companies that offered financial services charged its customers.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Several brokerage firms took advantage this directi ve to increase their commissions. However, Charles Schwab took advantage of this directive to increase its competitiveness. The company established discount brokerage. This was a new type of brokerage. This move enabled the company to attract more customers. In the financial services sector, service hours determine the number of customers that an organization may serve. Therefore, it is vital for companies to have long service hours. This would enable them to serve more customers. Throughout its history, Charles Schwab has used service hours to increase its competitiveness. The company has prolonged its service hours on several occasions. In 1978, Charles Schwab prolonged its service hours. This was the first time that a company in the industry had prolonged its service hours. This strategic move enabled the company to attract more customers. This strategic decision helped in increasing the number of customers of the company to more than 40,000. In 1980, Charles Schwab formed a 24-h our quotation service. This was the first time that a company had established a 24-hour quotation service in the industry. This strategic move enabled the company to increase its customers significantly. It enabled the company to increase its customers to approximately 150,000. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the major stock exchanges in the world. Therefore, it was vital for Charles Schwab to become a member of this renowned stock exchange. Charles Schwab joined the NYSE in 1981. This enabled the company to trade on various stocks and securities in the stock market. When Charles Schwab became a member of the NYSE, its clients were more than 200,000. The company was on its way to becoming one of the most popular companies that offered financial services in the U.S. Technology enables companies that provide financial services to create a network that helps in supporting the activities of companies in this sector. Charles Schwab realized the importance of technology in it s growth. In 1979, the company made huge investments in a mainframe that used modern technology. This system enabled the company to automate its transactions.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Case Study: Charles Schwab in 2008 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, the system helped in improving the record keeping of the company. In the 1980s, the company launched several technological solutions that helped in improving the competitiveness of the company. In 1984, the company introduced the ‘Mutual Fund Marketplace.’ In addition, the company launched the ‘TeleBroker’ in 1989. Launching several technological products helped in establishing the company as a leader in the online investment revolution. Charles Schwab used mergers and acquisitions to maintain its growth. In 2000, the company merged with U.S. Trust. During the same year, the company acquired CyBerCorp, Inc. This enable d the company to improve the quality of services it offers to online traders. Training Americans on how to be financially fit is one of the most recent campaigns of the company. The company collaborated with the Boys Girls Clubs of America to teach young people about money management. This helped in improving the visibility of the company in the industry. In addition, it guarantees the future growth and profitability of the company. This is because the teens are the future customers of the company. Various strategic decisions have enabled Charles Schwab to become a leader in the provision of financial services. The company has more than 300 offices and 7 million client brokerage accounts. In addition, the assets of the company’s clients are approximately $1 trillion. Various subsidiaries of the company enable it to offer a wide range of financial services to its customers. Internal Strengths and Weaknesses Engaging is discount brokerage is one of the factors that has improve d the competitiveness of Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that offered discount brokerage. The company offered discount brokerage instead of increasing its commission fees due to the SEC regulations that facilitated the negotiation of commission rates. Other companies took advantage of this directive to increase their commission rates. Therefore, this move helped in improving the image and reputation of the company.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People associate the company with discount brokerage. It is a fact that Charles Schwab is not one of the cheapest discount brokerage in the industry. However, being among the first companies that engaged in discount brokerage has improved the reputation of the company. It is vital for companies that provide financial services to focus all their efforts on their customers. They should strive to improve the welfare of the customer while making handsome profits. Availability of information determines the investment decisions of customers. It is vital for companies that offer financial services to provide customers with all the information they may need to make sound investment decisions. Charles Schwab strives to provide their customers with all the information that they may need to make investment decisions. In addition, the company offers its customers various technological tools that enable them to make sound financial decisions. Empowering customers helps in improving the image and reputation of the customers. It reduces the likelihood of customers making the wrong financial decisions. This improves customer loyalty. It is vital for companies to strive to form good relationships with their clients. Customer relationships determine the competitiveness of companies. Companies that provide services use several strategies to improve the relationships with their customers. Forming personal relationships enables these companies to gain the trust of the customers. Charles Schwab strives to form personal relationships with its customers. This enables the company to increase customer loyalty. Companies in various industries strive to reduce their operating costs. This helps in increasing the profitability of the companies. Companies may use several strategies to reduce their operating costs. Technology is one of the major tools that enable companies to reduce their operating costs. Charles Schwab is one of the companies that use technology to reduce their operational costs. Throughout its history, the company has implemented various technological tools that have reduced its operating costs. In addition, these technological tools improve the quality of services that the company offers. Using an online platform is one of the strategies that have enabled the company to reduce its operating costs. It enables customers to place orders without having to visit the company’s offices. Online processing reduces the costs of maintaining the staff of the company. The perception that people have on a certain company determines its competitiveness. Since its inception, people have perceived Charles Schwab as a discount brokerage firm. This has made it difficult for the company to attract the high-end customers. High-end customers usually prefer full brokerage firms. This is because they offer personalized services. Despite being a discount brokerage firm, Charles Schwab also offers services that resemble those in full brokerage firms. Therefore, it is vital for the company to use various strategies to attract the high-end customers. However, the company should ensure that it does not shed its image as a discount brokerage firm. This is because the low-end customers are the major clients of the company. Therefore, losing these customers may have devastating effects on the company. It is vital for companies that would like to guarantee their future growth and profitability to improve their presence in emerging markets. Saturation of companies and services in developed countries reduces the growth potential of companies in these countries. Charles Schwab does not have a good presence in emerging markets. The company concentrates its activities in developed countries. Saturation in these markets reduces the growth potential of the company. Therefore, it is vital for the company to improve its presence in emerging markets. Nature of the External Environment Online trading holds the key to the future growth of companies that offer fina ncial services. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that realized the importance of online trading in financial services. However, the revenue that the company gets from online trading has been declining. Increased competition is one of the major factors that have reduced the revenue from online trading. Companies can easily open online trading platforms. This has increased the number of companies that offer online trading services. Retirement packages account for a sizeable percentage of the products of companies that offer financial services. The U.S. population is aging. This would increase the demand for various retirement services. Therefore, it is vital for companies that offer financial services to take advantage of the changing population patterns. This would improve the profitability of the companies. Companies should create several products that target people who are retired. The global and domestic economic conditions affect the profitability of companies that p rovide financial services. Slowing of the economy has a negative effect on the growth and profitability of companies that provide financial services. Slowdown of the economy necessitated Charles Schwab to undertake several strategic decisions to safeguard its position. Investor confidence also determines the profitability of companies that offer financial services. Reduced investor confidence reduces the amount of money that investors are willing to invest in financial markets. In 2008, there was a significant reduction in the investor confidence. People were not willing to invest in the financial markets due to the revelations of problems in the subprime market. Most people withdrew their investments in the financial markets. Reduced investor confidence had a negative effect on the financial markets. It led to the steady decline of market indicators in various regions. This reduced the profitability of Charles Schwab. Market volatility also determines the profitability of companies that offer financial services. During the global financial crisis, the financial markets were on a steady decline. Companies that offer financial services operate in a highly regulated environment. The SEC is one of the major bodies that regulate companies that provide financial services. Regulation helps in safeguarding the investments of customers. It ensures that companies do not engage in illegal activities. In addition, it ensures that companies do not exploit their customers. In 2008, the SEC implemented various regulations to help in safeguarding the investments of customers of companies that offer financial services. However, these measures did not increase the investor confidence. Increased regulation may jeopardize companies that offer certain financial services. Regulation may increase the bureaucracy of the companies. This may reduce the number of customers who are willing to invest in the companies. In addition, regulation may limit the ability of companies to venture into various markets. This is because companies that offer financial services have to meet stringent requirements to receive licenses to operate in various regions. These requirements prevent companies from engaging in illegal activities. SWOT Analysis Strengths The presence of Chuck Schwab in the management of Charles Schwab is one of the major strengths of the company. Schwab has undertaken several strategic decisions that have helped in developing the company. In addition, he has invaluable experience in the stock brokerage industry. Schwab offers visionary leadership that helps in improving the current and future growth of the company. Charles Schwab is one of the most popular discount brokerage companies. The company has a very strong brand name. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that offered discount brokerage services. Charles Schwab empowers its customers by offering them all the information that they would need to make investment decisions. This helps in improvi ng the image and reputation of the company. Charles Schwab has very low operating costs. The company uses technological tools to reduce its operating costs. The technological tools also enable the company to improve the efficiency of its activities. Charles Schwab forms personal relationships with its customers. This enables the company to retain its customers. In addition, it helps in improving customer satisfaction. Charles Schwab has efficient marketing strategies. The company launches advertising campaigns regularly. These advertising campaigns help in improving the visibility of the company Weaknesses Charles Schwab has been unable to shed its image as a discount brokerage firm. This has reduced the ability of the company to attract customers who have a high net worth. Therefore, customers who have a low net worth form the bulk of the company’s customers. Charles Schwab does not have a large presence in emerging markets. Most of the company’s operations are in dev eloped markets. This limits the future growth and profitability of the company since the developed markets are already saturated. Charles Schwab engages in expensive advertising campaigns. These advertising campaigns increase the operating costs of the company. Opportunities The aging of the American population provides the company with many growth opportunities. This is because it would increase the amount of retirement services that the company offers. This would improve the profitability of the company. Charles Schwab is one of the largest companies that provide financial services. This is despite the fact that the company focuses on developed markets. Therefore, venturing into the emerging markets would help in improving the future growth and profitability of the company. Threats Slowdown of the global economy would reduce the growth and profitability of the company. Reduced investor confidence threatens to lead to the total collapse of the company. During the global financial c risis, few investors were willing to commit funds to the financial markets. Technology has revolutionized the provision of financial services. Therefore, it is vital for the company to undertake several changes that would incorporate new technology regularly. Failure to do so would make the company become irrelevant. There is increased competition in the financial services sector. Various companies provide online financial services. The ease of opening platforms that enable companies to provide online financial services have increased the number of companies that provide financial services. Corporate-Level Strategy Corporate-level strategy guides the strategic decisions of a company. Companies use their corporate-level strategies to create value in their activities. The corporate-level strategy helps in coordinating different activities of the company. Companies use the corporate-level strategy to determine the direction that the organization should follow in the long term. The corp orate-level strategy enables companies to gain a competitive advantage. The corporate-level strategy enables an organization to determine the businesses that the organization to concentrate on to improve its long-term profitability. A company may decide to concentrate on a single business to improve its long-term profitability. In addition, a company may use vertical integration or diversification to improve its long-term profitability. Charles Schwab uses vertical integration to improve its long-term profitability. Throughout its history, the company has used mergers and acquisitions of other companies in the industry to improve its long-term profitability. Charles Schwab acquired companies that provide online services to improve its ability to provide online financial services. In 2000, the company acquired CyBerCorp. CyBerCorp was a company that provided online financial services. In 2001, Charles Schwab renamed the company to Cyber Trader. In addition, Charles Schwab enhanced th e software of the company. This helped in improving the quality of services of the company. The inability to capture customers who have a high net worth was one of the major problems of the company. In addition, most customers of the company left the company after their assets reached $500,000. This reduced the profitability of the company. Charles Schwab used vertical integration to capture the high net worth customers. The company merged with the U.S. Trust. The U.S. Trust was a company that focused on managing the wealth of high-end customers. This strategy enabled the company to increase the number of high-end customers. In addition, it enabled the company to retain customers whose assets reached $500,000. This strategy enabled the company to shed its image as a discount brokerage firm that served low-end customers. Charles Schwab later sold the U.S. Trust to Bank of America. Advances in technology enabled the company to retain high-end customers. The company used various techno logical tools to generate model investment portfolios. These portfolios helped in personalizing the financial services of the company. Technological tools enabled the company to reduce the number of forms of advice. This helped in improving the quality of services that the company offered its customers. In addition, it enabled the company to offer sound financial advice to customers in various locations. Vertical integration enables Charles Schwab to take advantage of the capabilities of other companies. Retirement-plan services are some of the major products of the company. However, the company would not have been able to increase its retirement products if it had not acquired other smaller companies that provided retirement services. In 1995, Charles Schwab acquired Hampton Co. Hampton was a company that specialized in the provision of retirement-plan services. Charles Schwab uses diversification to increase its long-term stability. The company offers a wide range of financial ser vices. These include brokerage of securities, mutual funds, investment advisory services, and banking. In addition, the company also provides retirement services. The growth of online financial services has helped in the growth of the company. In 2003, the company launched the Charles Schwab Bank. The bank provided home mortgage loans. Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. enables the company to provide retirement services. Subsidiaries of the company enable it to provide a wide range of financial services effectively. Business-Level Strategy Business-level strategy helps in identifying the methods that a company would use to compete in a certain industry. Therefore, the business-level strategy determines the competitive strategy of the organization. One of the major differences between business-level strategy and corporate-level strategy is that business-level strategy focuses on only one business. On the other hand, corporate-level strategy focuses on a wide range of businesses wi thin an organization. Therefore, the business-level strategy enables an organization to manage its business effectively. The business-level strategy ensures that the activities of the business units conform to the corporate-level strategies of the organization. In addition, business-level strategy enables an organization to develop capabilities that would help in improving the competitiveness of the organization. Business-level strategy also helps in monitoring the industry environment of the company. Some business-level strategies include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Cost leadership is one of the major business-level strategies of Charles Schwab. The company strives to organize its activities in a method that enables it to provide various services at a lower cost. This enables the company to offer various services at very low prices. This strategy enables the company to gain a competitive edge in the provision of financial services. Use of information technology is one of the major methods that the company uses to reduce its operating costs. Technological tools enable the company to automate various activities. In addition, technological tools enable the company to improve the quality and efficiency of its activities. Online trading platforms enable companies to reduce their operational costs. They eliminate the need to open branches in various locations. Customers only need an internet connection to access the financial services. E*Trade is one of the major competitors of Charles Schwab. It was one of the first companies to offer its services via the internet only. This strategy enabled the company to reduce its operating costs significantly. Reduced operating costs enabled the company to offer its services a lower price. The threat posed by the company necessitated Charles Schwab to launch an online trading platform. The company launched ‘eSchwab’ to counter the threat posed by E*Trade. This product enabled the company to provid e real-time personalized financial information to customers. It enabled customers of the company to undertake financial transactions via the internet. In addition, it enabled customers to access financial information via the internet. This strategy enabled the company to reduce its operating costs significantly. Therefore, it could afford to reduce the prices of its services. Charles Schwab strives to empower its customers. The company offers financial information that helps customers to make sound investment decisions. Offering financial help helps in increasing customer loyalty. In addition, offering financial help enables the company to increase its interaction with customers. The company uses various strategies to show that it is willing to offer financial advice to its customers. The ‘Talk to Chuck’ campaign is one of the recent advertisements that highlight the willingness of the company to offer financial advice to its customers. In addition, this advertising cam paign showed the transparency of the company. It enabled customers to access information about the company. Organizational Structure Charles Schwab specializes in the provision of financial services. The company has operations in the United States, Hong Kong, and various European countries. In addition, the company offers online financial services to people around the globe. The company manages financial assets that are worth more than $1 trillion. Charles Schwab offers a wide range of financial services. These services include banking, mutual funds, and retirement-plan products. Therefore, it is vital for the company to use an organizational structure that would help in managing its activities efficiently. Charles Schwab uses a matrix organizational structure. This organizational structure enables the organization to coordinate its activities. Charles Schwab has various managers that oversee various functions of the organization. These functions include networking, engineering, sal es and marketing, and communication. This organizational structure enables the organization to benefit from the talent of its employees in various functions. The size of Charles Schwab makes it difficult for the company to use only the functional organizational structure. In addition, the company offers various financial products. Charles Schwab employs a divisional organizational structure to help in the management of various products of the company. This organizational structure enables the company to manage its banking services, retirement-plan products, and online financial products effectively. In addition, this organizational structure enables the organization to fulfill the needs of various stakeholders quickly. Charles Schwab uses teams to accomplish various tasks within the organization. This helps in improving the quality of the products of the organization. In addition, the company empowers employees to develop various innovative products that would improve the competitiv eness of the company. Empowering employees helps in improving the quality of their services. Conclusion Charles Schwab is one of the most popular companies that offer financial services in the U.S. The company has more than 300 offices in various regions around the world. Investing in technology is one of the major factors that led to the success of the company. Investing in technology enabled the company to reduce its operating costs. This enabled the company to offer its services at very low costs. Charles Schwab is renowned for its discount brokerage services. This image limits the ability of the company to attract high-end customers. The company merged with U.S. Trust to shed this image. The growth of the internet poses several risks to the company. This is because it has increased the number of the companies that provide online financial services. These companies have very low operating costs. This enables the companies to offer various financial services at very low costs.