Wednesday, October 30, 2019

JetBlue Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

JetBlue - Case Study Example The interest payments would not show on the balance sheet while the increased assets would, making JetBlue look like a viable investment opportunity. Thus a decision needs to be made on the mode of financing that will lend strength to JetBlue's capital structure. However before analyzing the options of financing and recommending the most suitable alternative, it is imperative hat the current situation of the company be analyzed so that the structure can be evaluated for the option most suitable to it. To evaluate the current financial position based on the published data, the company will be evalaluated based on its profitability, its financial strength, the adequacy of its cash flows and its leverage and relationship between the fixed and variable costs of operating the airline. On the basis of profitability, assuming that salaries and related costs along with fuel are variable costs, JetBlue's contribution margin ratio indicates that the contribution of revenue to variable costs was 52% in 2000, 61% in 2001, and 62% in 2002 and by 64% in the first half of 2003. However, a more detailed look at the profitability indicates that the operating margin, which considers the contribution of revenue to total operating costs, is much lower. In fact, operating costs were higher than revenue in 2000. But this is because the revenue earnings of the airline were much lower in 2000, than in consequent years. The shortfall in revenue and its failure to cover operating costs can be attributed to the fact that the airline had just started and customers, wary of trying out a new airline might have preferred travelling on the older airlines. Moreover the airline might not have had the proper connections and incentives in place for travel agents, which it covered for in later periods, leading to an increase in sales revenues. Comparing operating and contribution margin, an analysis of the two indicates that fixed costs account for a large portion of the airlines costs. The operating margins for the years 2000, 2001, 2002 and half year ended June 2003 were -20%, 8%, 17% and 18% respectively, indicating that fixed costs pulled down the profit amounts. The graph below illustrates the Net Profit Margin, before and after taxes and shows the impact that tax has on the net profit margin. As it can be observed, taxes pull down the net profit margin in periods where there is revenue growth but in periods where there is a loss the tax waivers do not further the losses. However the taxes when carried forward in the next year increase the difference in before and after tax margins, the consequent year remedies this. Upon further scrutiny we can observe that the return on assets (ROA) for JetBlue has been positive from 2001 onwards, with a -6% return in the starting year. For the rest of the periods return on assets was 6%, 7% and 3% (till June 2003). The returns on investment (ROI) were much higher than the returns on assets, being 24%, 23% and 10% in 2001, 2002 and half year ended June 2003 while negative returns were posted in the initial year of

Monday, October 28, 2019

Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay Example for Free

Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay When Marlow talks of London being a dark place, the theme of civilization versus savagery comes into play. Marlows aunt believes he is an emissary of light, being sent into the darkness. Marlow sees this darkness through the placing of heads on poles, for a man named Kurtz. All of this makes Marlow change his inner feelings of himself, which relates to the theme of the journey of the inner self. Marlow talks of when the Romans first came to Britain, and how they had actually brought some light into the somberness of London, and how one day that light may disappear. This relates to the theme of dark and light. As Marlow tells of his voyage deeper into the unknown, his capacity for self-control is tested. Kurtz seems to inhabit his every thought. While this is happening, the theme of a journey into the inner self is seen again. There are certain patterns in Heart of Darkness; one of these is the theme of threes. There are three chapters, three women, three times Marlow breaks the story, three stations, three central characters and three views of Africa. Marlow indirectly suggests by referring to the Roman conquest, that the theme of colonialism has existed since the earliest times of human history. Colonialism is seen as one of the major themes in the book. When Marlow talks of London once being a dark place, the theme of civilization versus savagery comes into play. The book implies that civilizations are created by the setting of laws and codes that encourage men to achieve higher standards. London itself is seen as a symbol of enlightenment. We see this through Marlow and how he tells his crew that the Romans had brought a light into the darkness of Britain. Marlow and Kurtz are two antithetical examples of humanity. Kurtz represents what every man will become if left to his own desires, without a  protective, civilized society. Marlow represents the civilized soul that has not been drawn back into savagery by his heart of darkness. The book implies that every man has a heart of darkness that is usually drowned out by the light of civilization. However, when a man is removed from a civilized environment, the basic instinct of savagery must be unleashed. Savagery is linked to darkness, and in most parts of the book, we see Marlow  as the light in this darkness. Marlows aunt believes he is an emissary of light, being sent into the darkness. Marlow sees the darkness through the placing of heads on poles, for a man named Kurtz. All of this makes Marlow change his inner feelings about himself, which relates to the theme of the journey of the inner self. Through Marlow, the book creates a voyage of self-discovery. All of Marlows experiences point to a change him. The thoughts about the people he meets, and their behavior, slowly begins to change. Marlows trip from Europe to the outer, then central station tests his capacity to discriminate between good and evil, since he witnesses actions which directly ask him for a moral judgment, such as brutal beating of the native worker. Marlows detailed account of what he sees, shows his compassion. Conrad suggests that those who are unable of controlling their unconscious side, run the risk of losing control the their heart of darkness. Marlow talks of when the Romans first came to Britain, and how they brought light into the somberness of London. He also tells them that one day that light may disappear. This relates to the theme of dark and light. In Heart of Darkness, there is an obvious contrast between what is light and what is dark. Light seems to represent civilization, or the civilized side of humanity whilst dark represents the uncivilized or savage side of humanity. In this book, dark and light or black and white, have the same usual connotations of good and evil. According to Christianity, in  the beginning, everything was dark. The same thing applies to London before the Romans came. At the same time, Africa was considered dark, as most of it had not yet been discovered. However, as Marlows journey progresses, it appears that dark and light are used counter intuitively. Darkness refers to truth and light refers to falsehood. In Marlows interview with the Intended, the windows of the room, which are normally a source of light, are covered and let in little to no light at all, as in a mortuary. The cold and monumental whiteness of the fireplace adds to the deathlike atmosphere. This shows that Conrad had used dark and light inversely. We could assume that the dark could represent the unknown. As Marlow talks of his voyage deeper into this unknown, his capacity for self-control is tested. Kurtz seems to inhabit his every thought. While this is happening, the theme of a journey into the self and the unconsciousness is seen again. Marlows story clearly implies that the kind of world men make for themselves, and for others, results from the character of individual behavior. Kurtz appears to be stuck inside Marlows head. Every thought is focused in this man he has never met. Kurtz wins control of men through fear. His power over the natives almost destroys Marlow. Kurtz is actually a victim of the managers murderous cruelty. It is possible that Kurtz might never have revealed his evil nature, had he not been tortured by the manager. Marlow struggles with himself, the person he thought he was turns out to be a nobody. Marlow sees the real person he is, and fears himself. After seeing the Kurtz, Marlow realizes how much like Kurtz he has become and regains control from his heart of darkness. There are patterns noticeable in this book. One of these is the theme of threes. There are three chapters, three times Marlow breaks the story, three stations, three women, three central characters and three views of Africa. The three stations are the inner station, the central station  and the outer station. These are symbolic of the stages in Marlows journey of self-discovery. The inner station is the first station he goes to. Here, he sees how the natives are treated, and gets a glimpse of the things he may have to face in his future travels. He reaches the central station, and discovers that Kurtz may not be the man he first heard of. He was told that Kurtz was this wonderful man, who had plenty of power. Now, Marlow is beginning to see in his mind, someone that has followed his own ideas, and doesnt care about anyone else. He struggles within himself to see if he is like this man. At first, he dismisses the idea that he could ever be that  kind of person, but soon after, he changes his opinion. The outer station is where Kurtz is finally reached. Conrad also uses imperialism as a major theme in the book. Marlow indirectly suggests by referring to the Roman conquest over Britain, that the theme of imperialism has existed since early human history. As Marlow tells his story, a different narrator, who is also a member on the ship they are traveling on, sees the Roman invaders to be like the English conquerors. He expresses that they were both hunters for gold and pursuers of fame. He does not understand that without the Roman invasion, Britain may have remained a dark country. Through Marlows tale of truth, pain, anxiety and the quest for complete knowledge, the major themes are revealed. Colonialism, the journey of the inner-self, the theme of threes, dark and light and civilization versus savagery. All of these themes lead to the understanding that Marlows voyage into the deepness of the Congo, is symbolic of the journey he had to take into the deepest side of himself. He successfully battled with his savage side, and came out a changed man. It just shows that no matter hoe perfect something seems to be, there is always a heart of darkness deep within somewhere.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Keys to Entrepreneurship Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursewo

The Keys to Entrepreneurship What makes a successful entrepreneur? What can one do to put oneself in a position to succeed on their own? Jay Goltz, for example, is an extremely successful entrepreneur who started his business from the ground up. In the summer of 1978, Jay Goltz founded the Artist’s Frame Service. His business started by using his father’s basement as his office, but eventually moved to an old factory district in Chicago. Today, Goltz’s business in the largest retail, custom picture framing facility in the United States, with over 120 employees and more than $9 million in sales. This success has led Goltz to earn several awards, including being inducted into the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. What did Goltz do or possess to make his business venture so successful? Perhaps if one asks the right questions the answers will reveal themselves. Why do entrepreneurs like Jay Goltz succeed when so many others fail? Can a person develop the personality traits to become a suc cessful entrepreneur, and how would one attempt to do that? How important is a business plan when getting started in a business like Goltz’s Artist’s Frame Service? By examining Jay Goltz, and how he started his business, one should be able to identify the attributes that are required to be successful in entrepreneurship. Jay Goltz succeeded in business, I believe, because he was much more prepared than the average person was. Along with possessing key personality traits, Mr. Golt...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Analysis of Political, Economic, Legal and Technological Risks in Indonesia

Analysis of Political, Economic, Legal and Technological Risks in Indonesia By Yohanes Randy Anggoro Student ID: 1004536 Instructor: Mr. Bala Subramaniam N. Module Name: International Trade and Management Module Code: ERCBA-209 Word Counts: 2106 Due Date: 7 November 2012 Content Page Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Brief Introduction to Indonesia†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Political Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 Economic Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Legal Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Technological Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Reference List†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Introduction Doing or expanding business in Asia nowadays has become a popular trend from companies around the world, many big firms based on Europe and United States of America recently has opened a branch in Asia in order to reach the Asia Market.The main attraction of Asia is the number of population, with approximately 4 million people spread around 5 regions, consist of Northern Asia, Western Asia, South Central Asia, South East Asia, and East Asia (OneWorldNationsOnline, 2012), it is apparent that Asia has become a large growing market that attracts companies around the world. Moreover, other than the large growing market potential it offers, there are other benefits that a firm can get by expanding business in Asia.First of all the labor cost in some less developed Asia Countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, is relatively lower than labor cost in Western Countries, for example, England and United States of America. Secondly, the land cost in Asia, Indonesia in particular is relatively much cheaper than in Western countries. However, despite the benefits that have been mentioned above, there are some risks that need to be known by a firm before deciding to expand business to Asia, Indonesia in particular.The risks itself can be divided by four which are, political risk, economic risk, legal risk, and technological risk. Below, there is an explanation and examination about four of the risks that may arise while expanding business in Indonesia. Brief Introduction to Indonesia Indonesia is a country in South East Asia which consists of approximately 17. 508 islands. The official name of Indonesia is Rep ublic of Indonesia. There are 5 main islands in Indonesia which are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan or Borneo, Sulawesi and Papua.Geographically, Indonesia is placed between Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean as well. Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia and is placed in Java Island. The Legal Currency in Indonesia is Indonesia Rupiah. In term of people, Indonesia has approximately 240 million of people with various ethnicities and is the fourth most populated country in the world. The current president of Indonesia is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Political Risk According to Deresky (2008) Political Risk is government actions or politically motivated events that can affect a firm in the long terms.Furthermore, Kobrin (1979) states that political risk covers possibility of unwanted consequences created by governmental activity that affect international business. Nationalization, Expropriation and Confiscation, Terrorism, and Macro political and Micro political risk are the example of commonly known political risk events. Nationalization is a governmental action to take over a private asset to be owned and operated by the government. Next is Expropriation, Expropriation is a term to define a process of taking away a private property for a public use.The difference between Expropriation and Nationalization may seem a bit vague, but the intentions for both terms are different. Nationalization is a process to take over a private asset by a government in order to make profits. For example is the nationalization of Netherland Enterprises by Indonesia Government after the independence war. On the contrary, Expropriation only takes private property to be used for public, for example, a government takes over a land of a private house to be used for highway because the public needs a highway to support the transportation around that area.The third is Terrorism, Terrorism as defined by Ruby (2002) and Title 22 of US Code is politically motivated action committed in a violent manne r against common people. And the last is Macro political and Micro political risk, Macro political risk is any governmental action that affects all the multinational companies within the country while micro political risk is the governmental actions which only affects some of multinational companies.Moreover, it is important for a firm to know and manage prevention of any political risk that they may encounter while expanding their business, without doing that matters a company may end up having no profits or even loss their assets while going global. In Indonesia, particular political risk events that a firm likely to encounter when expanding their business are expropriation and terrorism. It is because Indonesia is often considered Less Developed Countries. Moreover, based on Marshall, A. and Magnowski, D. 2010) multinational companies need to give attention on Political issues in Asia such as current tension between China and United States over the value of China currency, the de velopment of crisis which is rising in North Korea, and the border issue between Indonesia and Malaysia. Those issues have possibility to affect Political situation in Indonesia. In order to measure the political risk in a country, there are some methods that can be done by multinational companies. The first method is computer modeling; this method is used by American Can’s Primary Risk Investment Screening Matrix.Using this method a company can predict and simulate the political risk that might happen in expansion target country. The Second method is Ranking Systems, with this method; a company can consult with some political risks expert such as AON, who use analysis tools and experience to help minimizing the political risk. The last method is Early Warning Systems, this method emphasizes on watching early signs of political dangers, such as demonstration, act of violence by the citizen, the atmosphere of political situation to predict the possible political risk in the fu ture.Basically, a multinational company can use four actions to manage the political risk. The first possible action is withdrawing their investment on a country which is likely to have a bad political event. The other way is by sharing their equity with local business. Thirdly, a multinational company can keep the subsidiary and host nation be more dependent on the parent firm by controlling input, market, position and staged contribution. Lastly, a company can use the political risk insurance to ensure their safety from political risk.Additionally, Bribery is often practiced in Indonesia Political Environment which in some way makes the Political Situation in Indonesia become unstable. Economic Risk Economic risk refers to the risk from economy sector that may affect multinational companies to gain profit. Economic risk is vary in different countries, however it can be concluded that Economic risk in Less Developed Countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, tend to be higher than in Fully Developed Countries, Britain and United States of America for example.Some common examples for economic risk are the changes in inflation and devaluation of the currency value, foreign investment policies, monetary and fiscal policies. According to A. M Best report the Economic risk in Indonesia is considered moderate due to four factors. Indonesia is ranked as the fourth country with most population in the world, having approximately 240 million people and placed bellow China, India, and United States of America. With that amount of people Indonesia has the opportunity to create a big market for multinational companies.It is also stated that Indonesia’s Economy is considered well balanced in terms of manufacture, service and agriculture. Despite those three terms, Indonesia also has considerable amount of resources such as wood, nickel, gas, oil, textile, and garment in export sector. Nevertheless, Indonesia also has a close trading partnership with Developed C ountries in Asia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, as well as Developed Country in America, United States of America. Moreover, Indonesia is expected to have economic growth for about 6% in 2012, and 5,9% in 2013 due to healthy domestic investment and consume.The last factor is Indonesia sovereign credit ranking was upgraded to one level below investment grade in 2011. Furthermore, although there are some factors above, Economic Risk in Indonesia is still risky. There are 2 major economic risks that threatening Indonesia’s economy. The first one is the effect of global inflation nowadays. It is worrisome to some extent that the global inflation will badly affect Indonesia economy in the long terms. As a less developed country with highly dependence on export sector, Indonesia is highly vulnerable to be badly affected by the global inflation.Second major risk is the after effect of the global inflation in the future, as the developed countries begin to recover from the global in flation, Indonesia is expected to find difficulties to recover as fast as those developed countries. Additionally, there are four ways that can be done by multinational company to assess economic risk in target country. Multinational company can measure the economic risk by analyzing the country ability to handle its debt. This kind of measurement is often called Quantitative method.Other way is called Qualitative method; this method refers to sending a group of their experts to make a research about one particular country leader and their possible policies in the future. Checklist method is also can be done to asses an economic risk in a country; this method is done using the past events to measure the possibility of economic risks in the future. Nonetheless, a multinational company can use a combination of Qualitative, Quantitative as well as Checklist methods to measure the economic risk.Legal Risk Legal Risk has the same meaning with Regulatory Risk, for Multinational Companies, it refers to potential of losing assets due to some legal or regulatory issues. Legal Risk or Regulatory Risk is often related to the Legal Environment. Legal Environment is the laws that are created and operated by the government to control the business operation. Generally, Legal Environment consists of local laws and legal systems. Local laws usually are varies in different countries, while Legal System is often similar.There are three types of legal systems that are stated by Deresky, H. (2008). It consists of Common Law, Civil Law and Islamic Law. Common Law refers to Old English Law, this kind of law uses the previous cases to determine the punishment for the current cases. In terms of Contract Law for business purposes, Common Law emphasizes on writing the details on the contract to be used as a guide and proof in case of disagreement in the future. The other law is Civil Law. Civil Law is a law that is originated from Roman law and often used in modern western countries.Civ il Law emphasizes the defendant to prove their innocent. In term of Contract Law, Common Law affirms that promises can be enforced without the need to specify the details in the contract. The last type of legal system is Islamic Law, Islamic Law is a law based on Islam Religion, and this kind of law is often used in Islamic Country. Moreover, Indonesia has its own law. Indonesia Law is originally created based on Civil Law and some customization from the Dutch who used to rule Indonesia in the past.Aside from the Legal Environment, there are some other regulatory issues such as, protectionist policies, tax systems and the level of government involvement in the economic and regulatory environment. Indonesia protectionist policies such as tariffs and quotas are vary, and often changed by the government which indicates that government involvement in the regulatory and economic sector is considerably high. Nonetheless, Indonesia charges 25% of the income to be paid for the tax, accordin g to taxrates. cc.This percentage is considered high, compared to Singapore, Indonesia’s neighbor country which taxes foreign corporate for only 17% of the income. Technological Risk Technological Risk is a term that refers to the potential risk to lose assets due to technological sector. Two major issues in technological risk are to protect its own technology to not be copied by its competitors and to provide the capable operator and capable environment to use the technology. Technological risk may be a concern for multinational company in Indonesia; they may find difficulties to find highly skilled employees there.However, labor cost in Indonesia is relatively cheaper compared to labor costs in western countries. Furthermore, it is possible to create a trademark or a copyright for Indonesia. Nevertheless, it must be noticed that there are many counterfeit products in Indonesia, and it seems that Indonesia Government has lack of motivation to capture and punish the producer and the seller of those products as well. Conclusion In the conclusion, Indonesia has offered a great opportunity for Multinational Company to expand their business there.With the constant growing market, cheap cost of labor, and the raw resources, in my opinion, it is promising for multinational company to expand their business to Indonesia. However, the potential risks in Indonesia, especially in Political and Economic sectors must be considered carefully. Nevertheless, if a multinational company manages to overcome the four risks, which are political risk, economic risk, legal risk, technological risk in Indonesia, it is obvious that particular company can gain a lot of profits from Indonesia.Reference List A. M. Best Company, Inc. (2012). AMB Country Risk Report (n. d. ). Available at : www3. ambest. com/ratings/cr/reports/Indonesia. pdf (Accessed on 1 November 2012) Deresky, H (2008), International Management – Managing Across Borders & Cultures, 6th ed, Pearson Internat ional Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall. Kobrin, S. (1979). Political risk: A review and reconsideration. Journal of International Business Studies, 10(1), 67-80. Marshall, A. & Magnowski, D. (2010). Key Political Risks to watch in Asia in 2011. Reuters. online] Available at : http://in. reuters. com/article/2010/12/21/idINIndia-53707220101221 (Accessed on 31 October 2012) One World Nation Online, 2012. World Population by Continents. [online] Available at : http://www. nationsonline. org/oneworld/world_population. htm (Accessed on 31 October 2012) Ruby, C. L. (2002). The definition of terrorism. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2(1), 9-14. TaxRates. cc (2012). Indonesia Tax Rate. [online] Available at : http://www. taxrates. cc/html/indonesia-tax-rates. html (Accessed on 1 November Analysis of Political, Economic, Legal and Technological Risks in Indonesia Analysis of Political, Economic, Legal and Technological Risks in Indonesia By Yohanes Randy Anggoro Student ID: 1004536 Instructor: Mr. Bala Subramaniam N. Module Name: International Trade and Management Module Code: ERCBA-209 Word Counts: 2106 Due Date: 7 November 2012 Content Page Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Brief Introduction to Indonesia†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Political Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 Economic Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Legal Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Technological Risk†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Reference List†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 8 Introduction Doing or expanding business in Asia nowadays has become a popular trend from companies around the world, many big firms based on Europe and United States of America recently has opened a branch in Asia in order to reach the Asia Market.The main attraction of Asia is the number of population, with approximately 4 million people spread around 5 regions, consist of Northern Asia, Western Asia, South Central Asia, South East Asia, and East Asia (OneWorldNationsOnline, 2012), it is apparent that Asia has become a large growing market that attracts companies around the world. Moreover, other than the large growing market potential it offers, there are other benefits that a firm can get by expanding business in Asia.First of all the labor cost in some less developed Asia Countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, is relatively lower than labor cost in Western Countries, for example, England and United States of America. Secondly, the land cost in Asia, Indonesia in particular is relatively much cheaper than in Western countries. However, despite the benefits that have been mentioned above, there are some risks that need to be known by a firm before deciding to expand business to Asia, Indonesia in particular.The risks itself can be divided by four which are, political risk, economic risk, legal risk, and technological risk. Below, there is an explanation and examination about four of the risks that may arise while expanding business in Indonesia. Brief Introduction to Indonesia Indonesia is a country in South East Asia which consists of approximately 17. 508 islands. The official name of Indonesia is Rep ublic of Indonesia. There are 5 main islands in Indonesia which are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan or Borneo, Sulawesi and Papua.Geographically, Indonesia is placed between Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean as well. Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia and is placed in Java Island. The Legal Currency in Indonesia is Indonesia Rupiah. In term of people, Indonesia has approximately 240 million of people with various ethnicities and is the fourth most populated country in the world. The current president of Indonesia is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Political Risk According to Deresky (2008) Political Risk is government actions or politically motivated events that can affect a firm in the long terms.Furthermore, Kobrin (1979) states that political risk covers possibility of unwanted consequences created by governmental activity that affect international business. Nationalization, Expropriation and Confiscation, Terrorism, and Macro political and Micro political risk are the example of commonly known political risk events. Nationalization is a governmental action to take over a private asset to be owned and operated by the government. Next is Expropriation, Expropriation is a term to define a process of taking away a private property for a public use.The difference between Expropriation and Nationalization may seem a bit vague, but the intentions for both terms are different. Nationalization is a process to take over a private asset by a government in order to make profits. For example is the nationalization of Netherland Enterprises by Indonesia Government after the independence war. On the contrary, Expropriation only takes private property to be used for public, for example, a government takes over a land of a private house to be used for highway because the public needs a highway to support the transportation around that area.The third is Terrorism, Terrorism as defined by Ruby (2002) and Title 22 of US Code is politically motivated action committed in a violent manne r against common people. And the last is Macro political and Micro political risk, Macro political risk is any governmental action that affects all the multinational companies within the country while micro political risk is the governmental actions which only affects some of multinational companies.Moreover, it is important for a firm to know and manage prevention of any political risk that they may encounter while expanding their business, without doing that matters a company may end up having no profits or even loss their assets while going global. In Indonesia, particular political risk events that a firm likely to encounter when expanding their business are expropriation and terrorism. It is because Indonesia is often considered Less Developed Countries. Moreover, based on Marshall, A. and Magnowski, D. 2010) multinational companies need to give attention on Political issues in Asia such as current tension between China and United States over the value of China currency, the de velopment of crisis which is rising in North Korea, and the border issue between Indonesia and Malaysia. Those issues have possibility to affect Political situation in Indonesia. In order to measure the political risk in a country, there are some methods that can be done by multinational companies. The first method is computer modeling; this method is used by American Can’s Primary Risk Investment Screening Matrix.Using this method a company can predict and simulate the political risk that might happen in expansion target country. The Second method is Ranking Systems, with this method; a company can consult with some political risks expert such as AON, who use analysis tools and experience to help minimizing the political risk. The last method is Early Warning Systems, this method emphasizes on watching early signs of political dangers, such as demonstration, act of violence by the citizen, the atmosphere of political situation to predict the possible political risk in the fu ture.Basically, a multinational company can use four actions to manage the political risk. The first possible action is withdrawing their investment on a country which is likely to have a bad political event. The other way is by sharing their equity with local business. Thirdly, a multinational company can keep the subsidiary and host nation be more dependent on the parent firm by controlling input, market, position and staged contribution. Lastly, a company can use the political risk insurance to ensure their safety from political risk.Additionally, Bribery is often practiced in Indonesia Political Environment which in some way makes the Political Situation in Indonesia become unstable. Economic Risk Economic risk refers to the risk from economy sector that may affect multinational companies to gain profit. Economic risk is vary in different countries, however it can be concluded that Economic risk in Less Developed Countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, tend to be higher than in Fully Developed Countries, Britain and United States of America for example.Some common examples for economic risk are the changes in inflation and devaluation of the currency value, foreign investment policies, monetary and fiscal policies. According to A. M Best report the Economic risk in Indonesia is considered moderate due to four factors. Indonesia is ranked as the fourth country with most population in the world, having approximately 240 million people and placed bellow China, India, and United States of America. With that amount of people Indonesia has the opportunity to create a big market for multinational companies.It is also stated that Indonesia’s Economy is considered well balanced in terms of manufacture, service and agriculture. Despite those three terms, Indonesia also has considerable amount of resources such as wood, nickel, gas, oil, textile, and garment in export sector. Nevertheless, Indonesia also has a close trading partnership with Developed C ountries in Asia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, as well as Developed Country in America, United States of America. Moreover, Indonesia is expected to have economic growth for about 6% in 2012, and 5,9% in 2013 due to healthy domestic investment and consume.The last factor is Indonesia sovereign credit ranking was upgraded to one level below investment grade in 2011. Furthermore, although there are some factors above, Economic Risk in Indonesia is still risky. There are 2 major economic risks that threatening Indonesia’s economy. The first one is the effect of global inflation nowadays. It is worrisome to some extent that the global inflation will badly affect Indonesia economy in the long terms. As a less developed country with highly dependence on export sector, Indonesia is highly vulnerable to be badly affected by the global inflation.Second major risk is the after effect of the global inflation in the future, as the developed countries begin to recover from the global in flation, Indonesia is expected to find difficulties to recover as fast as those developed countries. Additionally, there are four ways that can be done by multinational company to assess economic risk in target country. Multinational company can measure the economic risk by analyzing the country ability to handle its debt. This kind of measurement is often called Quantitative method.Other way is called Qualitative method; this method refers to sending a group of their experts to make a research about one particular country leader and their possible policies in the future. Checklist method is also can be done to asses an economic risk in a country; this method is done using the past events to measure the possibility of economic risks in the future. Nonetheless, a multinational company can use a combination of Qualitative, Quantitative as well as Checklist methods to measure the economic risk.Legal Risk Legal Risk has the same meaning with Regulatory Risk, for Multinational Companies, it refers to potential of losing assets due to some legal or regulatory issues. Legal Risk or Regulatory Risk is often related to the Legal Environment. Legal Environment is the laws that are created and operated by the government to control the business operation. Generally, Legal Environment consists of local laws and legal systems. Local laws usually are varies in different countries, while Legal System is often similar.There are three types of legal systems that are stated by Deresky, H. (2008). It consists of Common Law, Civil Law and Islamic Law. Common Law refers to Old English Law, this kind of law uses the previous cases to determine the punishment for the current cases. In terms of Contract Law for business purposes, Common Law emphasizes on writing the details on the contract to be used as a guide and proof in case of disagreement in the future. The other law is Civil Law. Civil Law is a law that is originated from Roman law and often used in modern western countries.Civ il Law emphasizes the defendant to prove their innocent. In term of Contract Law, Common Law affirms that promises can be enforced without the need to specify the details in the contract. The last type of legal system is Islamic Law, Islamic Law is a law based on Islam Religion, and this kind of law is often used in Islamic Country. Moreover, Indonesia has its own law. Indonesia Law is originally created based on Civil Law and some customization from the Dutch who used to rule Indonesia in the past.Aside from the Legal Environment, there are some other regulatory issues such as, protectionist policies, tax systems and the level of government involvement in the economic and regulatory environment. Indonesia protectionist policies such as tariffs and quotas are vary, and often changed by the government which indicates that government involvement in the regulatory and economic sector is considerably high. Nonetheless, Indonesia charges 25% of the income to be paid for the tax, accordin g to taxrates. cc.This percentage is considered high, compared to Singapore, Indonesia’s neighbor country which taxes foreign corporate for only 17% of the income. Technological Risk Technological Risk is a term that refers to the potential risk to lose assets due to technological sector. Two major issues in technological risk are to protect its own technology to not be copied by its competitors and to provide the capable operator and capable environment to use the technology. Technological risk may be a concern for multinational company in Indonesia; they may find difficulties to find highly skilled employees there.However, labor cost in Indonesia is relatively cheaper compared to labor costs in western countries. Furthermore, it is possible to create a trademark or a copyright for Indonesia. Nevertheless, it must be noticed that there are many counterfeit products in Indonesia, and it seems that Indonesia Government has lack of motivation to capture and punish the producer and the seller of those products as well. Conclusion In the conclusion, Indonesia has offered a great opportunity for Multinational Company to expand their business there.With the constant growing market, cheap cost of labor, and the raw resources, in my opinion, it is promising for multinational company to expand their business to Indonesia. However, the potential risks in Indonesia, especially in Political and Economic sectors must be considered carefully. Nevertheless, if a multinational company manages to overcome the four risks, which are political risk, economic risk, legal risk, technological risk in Indonesia, it is obvious that particular company can gain a lot of profits from Indonesia.Reference List A. M. Best Company, Inc. (2012). AMB Country Risk Report (n. d. ). Available at : www3. ambest. com/ratings/cr/reports/Indonesia. pdf (Accessed on 1 November 2012) Deresky, H (2008), International Management – Managing Across Borders & Cultures, 6th ed, Pearson Internat ional Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall. Kobrin, S. (1979). Political risk: A review and reconsideration. Journal of International Business Studies, 10(1), 67-80. Marshall, A. & Magnowski, D. (2010). Key Political Risks to watch in Asia in 2011. Reuters. online] Available at : http://in. reuters. com/article/2010/12/21/idINIndia-53707220101221 (Accessed on 31 October 2012) One World Nation Online, 2012. World Population by Continents. [online] Available at : http://www. nationsonline. org/oneworld/world_population. htm (Accessed on 31 October 2012) Ruby, C. L. (2002). The definition of terrorism. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2(1), 9-14. TaxRates. cc (2012). Indonesia Tax Rate. [online] Available at : http://www. taxrates. cc/html/indonesia-tax-rates. html (Accessed on 1 November

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

International Oil and National Security Essay

When oil fueled the navies of both Britain and the United States in World War I, it began the tremendous impact oil would have on the world. When British and French forces were threatened with oil shortages, the US gave the much needed help. Without the same assistance, Germany had to shorten critical operations. Since military hardware were all dependent on oil for power it became important that their countries have access to oil. Britain had access to Middle East oil and the United States had the oil from the Caribbean. After the war, Britain and the United States continued to dominate the oil industry of the world. The US has 4 large oil companies and Britain has 2. From the experience of World War II, control of the oil production for use in the military explains the success of the US and the defeat of Germany and Japan. The US rebuilt Europe and Japan with the assurance of oil supply. US had enough Venezuelan oil for its needs, set its eyes on the oil-rich Middle East. Oil is also seen as an important commodity for industries. To ensure its access Britain acquired concession rights on the oil of Iran, but it was not enough. The governments of Latin America refused to allow foreign government’s participation in their oil industries. Excessive supply had to be jointly managed which paved the way for developing oil sources in Iraq, Bahrain and Kuwait, as well as Mexico and Venezuela. The threat of war with Mexico and a crisis in Venezuela was defused with settlements and concessions. The lesson for the British was not ownership of oil reserves but control of sea routes that had more impact. A growing concern that US oil reserves are nearing depletion prompted oil companies to seek additional sources in order to serve domestic demand and supply foreign markets. They shifted their attention from the Caribbean to the Middle East. There has been a noted change in the structure of the global oil industry as well as in the triggers of consumption. The oil industry is important to national security, comes from non-renewable sources and oil reserves is dependent on the demand and supply of the commodity. The seven oil majors control 90% of oil reserves, produce 90% of oil, have a 75% refining capacity, and trade 90% of oil in the global market. In the middle of the 1950s there were small entrants, who challenged the majors, and who sold their oil at low prices. These pushed the world prices of oil downward. Oil consumption is a big part of the economy. Construction of highways and railways, purchase and registration of cars and trucks make America a great motoring nation and consequently a high gas-consuming public. Ever conscious of maintaining reserves the US relied heavily on oil imports to sustain its energy needs. As the Middle East has become its largest energy source, the US government is much concerned with maintaining the security and stability in the Middle East. Policy makers are looking for alternative, diversified and renewable fuel sources, efficient utilization and conservation measures to reduce the country’s dependence on oil imports taking into account their costs and benefits.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Frozen River Essay

Frozen River Essay Free Online Research Papers I found â€Å"Frozen River† an emotional film. Being a single mother myself I can empathize with both characters! To have a causality occur where you cry all the time because you don’t know how you are going to pay the bills. Not to mention needing to buy gift for a holiday. I would like to say I wouldn’t do the same since I’m going into law enforcement. The truth is I would! I would do anything that needed to be done to insure my children were taken care of! Never to let them know how bad things really were! They do not need to be involved in adult causalities period. Children need to keep there innocents as long as possible. After all in this day and age it is taken from them for to soon as it is. With this story I think it is an absolute definition of poverty. This woman cannot further her career in the minimum wage job that she holds. She cannot afford to buy a double wide trailer that the family so desperately needs. The woman has been working part-time for 3 years with a promise of a full time position. What I got is that not only that she was not going to get more hours but she was very disposable. I believe this is a perfect example of a mixed economy. Then again what situation wouldn’t be an example of a mixed economy? Then by fate or maybe even luck she ran into the member of the reservation. Someone who has her own causality’s in her life. This is where the differential association theory comes into play. This woman from the reservation had not only learned, but was taught how to smuggle immigrants’ into the country through the reservation. Even though she knew it was still a crime! In which taught the main character the same. In turn they developed a close bond. I enjoyed watching this film! It did get a few tears out of me as well. I would recommend others to watch this film. Especially mothers who feel lost and lonely! Well maybe not mothers with newborn! It was a very emotional part when the baby was left out in the cold. Research Papers on Frozen River EssayThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationWhere Wild and West MeetPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceMind TravelEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionCapital Punishment

Monday, October 21, 2019

15 Amateur Mistakes You Can Make During Your Internship

15 Amateur Mistakes You Can Make During Your Internship You’ve scored a summer internship. It feels like a vacation! You’ll be in a cool place, it will look good on your resume, and you’re not getting paid, so you don’t have to worry too much about being perfect and distinguishing yourself. Right? Wrong. At least the last point. Just because it’s only an internship doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat it like a job. In fact, you should use this time to set the bar for your new professional life- and set it high. That means not falling victim to some easy blunders. Here are the 15 biggest mistakes interns can make- and how to avoid them.1. OversharingYou may think this one part of your personality is super interesting and funny. Or your intense obsession with your [insert hobby]. But these topics are much better kept to your friends and relatives. Spare your employers and co-interns.2. ComplainingYour internship is not the time to air your complaints and grievances. It is a time to shut up and l earn. Remember, you won’t be there long, and the good impression you make here could pay off big time over the course of your career. Whatever gripes you have,  hold on to them(if possible). Don’t become a problem employee before you’re even hired.3. Making assumptionsIf you don’t know something- make sure to ask. The last thing you want to do is assume (makes a** of ‘u’ and ‘me’) you know what to do and end up doing the wrong thing. You won’t look like an idiot for asking. You will look like an idiot for not asking and then screwing up.4. Not being proactiveNot taking initiative might be the worst mistake that you could make. As an intern, your only job is to distinguish yourself as eager and proactive and as a future asset to that company/field. Act accordingly. Don’t just wait for someone to give you a task- find something useful to do without being asked or coached.5. Treating the office like your placeOnce yo u leave the office for the day, don’t go back. Don’t show up drunk, and don’t sleep there. This shouldn’t have to be said; just never do it.6. Ignoring boundariesRudeness is never okay. No job is beneath you. You are an intern. You don’t get to make chummy jokes with the CEO, no matter how nice she is. Know your place. Be respectful. Do your job. And leave your ego at the door.7. Cutting and runningIf you’ve accepted an internship, shown up, and started working. You’re now stuck there. This isn’t speed dating. Keep your commitments. And don’t make anyone have to scramble to replace you when you leave them high and dry. Burning bridges is not something you can afford to do at this very early stage in your career.8. Working for freeOnly take an unpaid internship if you absolutely have to. Otherwise, you’ll end up feeling exploited- or worse, going into debt to feed, house, and insure yourself.9. Wearing inappropriat e clothingDress for the career you want, not the job you have. T-shirts and scrappy clothes just won’t cut it–no matter how casual the office. Make sure to act like a grown-up if you want to be treated (and paid) like one.10. Communicating poorlyMake sure to say what needs to be said at the right time. Answer emails in clear and punctual fashion. Communicate your needs to avoid being misunderstood- especially when asking for favors. Be respectful and concise. And don’t talk circles around your point, particularly if it’s a controversial one.11. Not sweating the small stuffGrammar, punctuation, formatting†¦ these things matter. And make sure you never misspell someone’s name. Take the extra three seconds to double check the spelling from their email address.12. VacationingAt most, your internship is four months. Don’t try and take a two-week vacation. You don’t need one. Do your job and do it well, and vacation when it’s do ne. Summer or no summer. Have fun in your evenings and weekends instead.13. Being lazy or disrespectfulThis should go without saying. Don’t be late, don’t shirk work, don’t be rude, don’t be annoying. Don’t be cheeky and take long lunches thinking no one will notice. They will. Work hard and be courteous, rather than obnoxious.14. Lacking professionalismThis is a professional opportunity. If you play your cards right, you could set yourself up for real success. Don’t risk blowing your chance by treating this like a whimsical little stint. Treat it instead like your first job and act as though you could be fired at the end of every day if you don’t prove your mettle.15. Not being presentIf you’re sent an email, or asked a question, or given a task, don’t fade into the background. Don’t disappear. And don’t fail to respond. Answer respectfully in the affirmative, get the job done quickly and well, and remembe r: you are an intern. No job is beneath you. You are there to learn.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

ACT Essay

Why You Shouldn't Copy Skeleton Templates for the SAT/ACT Essay SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips - Creating your own essay skeleton can go a long way towards helping you prepare for the SAT or ACT essay. Having an essay template ready to go before you take the test can reduce feelings of panic, since it allows you to control at least some of the unknowns of a free-response question. It can even be helpful to look at other people’s essay skeletons to get an idea what your own essay template should look like. But when does using an essay skeleton go from a great idea to a huge mistake? Keep reading to find out. feature image credit: Skeletons taking a selfie @ Street art @ Walk along the Amstel canal @ Amsterdam by Guilhem Vellut, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Disclaimer: Most of the advice in this article is most useful for the old SAT essay (and, to some extent, the ACT essay); it's too soon to know if it's also applicable to the new 2016 SAT essay (although "don't plagiarize" is good advice in pretty much any situation). What Is An Essay Skeleton? An essay skeleton, or essay template, is basically an outline for your essay that you prewrite and then memorize for later use/adaptation. Usually, an essay skeleton isn’t just an organizational structure- it also includes writing out entire sentences or even just specific phrases beforehand. "But how can you do this, and more importantly, what’s the point?" I hear you cry (you sure manage to get out a lot of words in one cry). Creating an essay template for the current SAT essay is pretty simple, as the SAT prompts tend to fall into one of six categories: What should people do? Which of two things is better? Support or refute counterintuitive statements (Is it possible that [an unlikely thing] is true?) Cause and effect (is X the result of Y?) Generalize about the state of the world Generalize about people Because the prompts are, at the core, all "yes or no?" questions, you can somewhat customize your introduction and conclusion. Doing this is especially helpful if you tend to choke under pressure or are worried about your English language skills- you can come up with grammatically correct templates beforehand that you can memorize and then use on the actual test (filling in the blanks, depending on the prompt). Formulating an essay template for the ACT is a little more tricky, as the new ACT essay asks you to read an excerpt, consider three perspectives, come up with your own perspective, and then discuss all the perspectives in the essay using detailed examples and logical reasoning. It’s possible to come up with a useful template, but I’ve not really come across any students using templates in the 200+ ACT essays I’ve graded. In addition to figuring out your essay organization beforehand, you can look up synonyms for words that get commonly used in essays (like â€Å"example† or â€Å"shows†) and prewrite sentences that use these words correctly. For example, for the SAT essay, you could pre-write a way to introduce your examples: â€Å"One instance that illustrates [x] can be found in [y]" (where [x] is the point you're trying to make and [y] is the place from which you're taking your example). Finally, on a semi-related note, because you know that you’ll have to use examples to explain your reasoning on the essay, you can also come up with the examples you’ll use beforehand and get good at writing about them. The better you know your examples, the more organized your writing will be on the essay (because you won’t have to waste valuable time trying to think of what exactly happened in The Hunger Games that proves your point). For more on this, see our article on the 6 examples you can use to answer any SAT essay prompt. So What’s The Issue? Problems occur when you rely on other people's skeletons, rather than coming up with your own. In theory, there’s nothing wrong with looking at other people’s essay skeletons to help inform your own- in fact, I've even written up a helpful template on this blog for SAT and ACT essays. The issue arises when you move beyond using the organizational aspects of someone else’s skeleton to copying words directly from someone else. Skeleton - French anatomical engraving byUniversity of Liverpool Faculty of Health Life Sciences, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Cropped from original. You did whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? A Spooky Tale of Essay Skeleton Plagiarism Out of the 600+ SAT essays I’ve graded over the last three months, I’ve seen the same essay skeleton come up 7 times. I know that it’s an essay skeleton because the key phrase repeated from essay to essay (â€Å"critics are too dogmatic in their provincial ideology†) was so unusual (and kind of grammatically incorrect) that I commented on it specifically the first time it showed up (to point out vocab misuse...because it just wasn’t good writing) and Googled it the second time it showed up. It turns out that this phrase is from an SAT prep skeleton (we're not going to name the book or the author), but it also shows up in various essays around the internet that either copied that prep book or copied a College Confidential posting that plagiarized the book, so I don't know where exactly students were seeing this skeleton. Here's the problem: while the idea of using essay skeletons makes a lot of sense, and even the using of some organizational aspects of another essay skeleton is acceptable, word-for-word copying of sentences is considered plagiarism, and plagiarism is not permitted on the SAT. In fact, it's specifically addressed in the SAT Terms and Conditions. I sent a message to the CollegeBoard asking about the use of essay skeletons and what, exactly, was considered plagiarism. The language used to describe it in the terms and conditions is pretty vague, and I wanted to know if, for instance, a certain number of words had to appear in a row for something to be considered plagiarism. The response I got back only contained the relevant text from the Terms and Conditions: â€Å"ETS reserves the right to dismiss test-takers, decline to score any test, and/or cancel any test scores when, in its judgment, as applicable, a testing irregularity occurs, there is an apparent discrepancy in a test-taker's identification, an improper admission to the test center, a test-taker engages in misconduct, or the score is deemed invalid for another reason, including, but not limited to, discrepant handwriting or plagiarism.† [bolding mine] Basically, if the CollegeBoard thinks you’re plagiarizing, then they can cancel your SAT score. And because the CollegeBoard does not define plagiarism, they basically have the latitude to do one of those â€Å"I know it when I see it† standards with things like essay skeletons. Chances are that you won't get marked down for the essay (other than for using vocab incorrectly), but since the template is so common, why risk it? Take an hour to develop your own template. You'll end up with even better results since you crafted it yourself and will be able to use it with more precision. So what is plagiarism? There's the Google definition, which says plagiarism is taking the work or idea(s) of someone else and not crediting them/presenting it as your own work or idea(s). Plagiarism is generally considered ethically wrong, and in many cases (including with the SAT), it can have real world consequences. You might have read that the writer of the essay template gave permission to reuse the template, and that makes it OK. This is 100% false. Consider this scenario: you're in high school and you're taking AP English. Your brother had the same teacher the year before, and he got As on all his essays. For whatever reason, he gives you permission to reuse his essays in your class. Does that count as plagiarism? 100%. There's no question about it. Your teacher and school don't care whether the writer gave you permission or not. You copied the essay, and that is an ethical lapse that is entirely on you. You'd probably fail the class and/or face whatever other punishment your school has as policy. What Does This Mean For My SAT/ACT Essay? Obviously, using the same word, or even the same couple of words in a row, as someone else isn't plagiarism (otherwise there would be lots of controversies over people using the two words â€Å"of the† together all the time and not citing their sources). A good general rule to follow is to avoid copying more than four words in a row. I’ve seen several essays since that begin with the phrase â€Å"The presupposition that,† which is fine, because it’s a phrase anyone could come up with to describe an assumption, and is relatively short (3 words). The phrase â€Å"these romantic critics are too dogmatic in their provincial ideology,† on the other hand, is problematic because a) it’s way too many words copied from someone else’s work and b) it's honestly not great writing (except in a very specific context), because the vocabulary deployed in the phrase has very specific contexts in which the words are appropriate to use When it comes to preparing for the SAT or ACT essay, it's much better to rephrase in your own words and create your own skeleton. You can (and even should) look at other people’s skeletons/essays for tips, but you should never copy someone else's work word-for-word without making it clear that it's someone else's work. Skeleton figures in heraldic engraving by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health Life Sciences, used under CC BY-SA 2.0/Resized from original. What’s Next? Can’t get enough of those SAT essays? Check out our 15 tips and strategies for writing the SAT essay, as well as a complete list of SAT essay prompts. On the ACT side, we have a corresponding article with tips to raise your ACT essay score, as well as acomplete guide to the new ACT Writing Test (for September 2015 and onward). Want more in-depth essay articles? You’re in luck! We’ve got step-by-step examples of how to write both the SAT and ACT essays, as well as detailed advice for how you can get a perfect 12 on the SAT essay. Reading articles is all very well and good, but how can you get feedback on your practice essays? One way is through trying out the PrepScholar test prep platform, where intrepid essay graders (like myself) give you custom feedback on each practice essay you complete as part of our program. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Saturday, October 19, 2019

ENVY RIDES CASE Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

ENVY RIDES - Case Study Example The working capital loan will even bring more revenue to the company. Hence, it will even help increase the gross margin even higher. The business has really been working well on its expenses by cutting down on most of the recurrent expenditure, apart from salaries, to ensure that the expenses reduce from 40.3% to 17.2% from 2007 to 2009 respectively. This is more than two times reduction in percentage expenses. It is, therefore, easy to make a projection of further reduction in expenses that might be realized in the next two years to be at less than 5%. With this tremendous reduction in expenditure, the business is, therefore, expected to have more revenue on the retained earnings section to be used to reinvest in the working capital. The business therefore has no reason to go for a loan for the working capital as it can be obtained from the retained earnings. However, the position of the business through its expenses support more loan to be obtained since it can be repaid easily given the level of the recurrent expenses in the business is also expected to reduce further for the next two years. The net income has also experienced some increase from 2.6% to 4.9% from 2008 to 2009. The increase in the net income may also show that the business is using too little to finance its expenses, and it is increasing its volume of sales. Therefore, with an increase in the net income, there is a possibility of further increase in the next two years. Envy can, therefore, go for further loan to renovate and add working capital since such attempts will only increase the net income, and the company will be in a better position to repay the loans. This is a profitability ratio that gauges whether the far that a firm can generate profits from the investments of the shareholders in the company. The return on equity ratio here has increased from 28.6% to 45.5% from 2008 to 2009. This shows that, currently, from every dollar that the

Friday, October 18, 2019

Quantitative Data Analysis- SPSS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Quantitative Data Analysis- SPSS - Essay Example Ethnicity has its impacts felt in many aspects. In education, ones ethnic group determines a lot whether the individual will have a future or not. In some ethnic groups, education is relegated to a far position when one rates other things (Zeichner, K., & Schulte, A. 2001 p. 251). Education in such cases is viewed as being not important at all. According to Flores, G et al. (1999), despite its importance as a hinge to all and every aspect in life, it is viewed by some ethnicities as passage which is not a must for one to undergo. In some African societies for example, education is a thing un-heard of and parents don’t consider taking their children to school. According to Skaggs, M. C. (2001), some ethnic communities have the will to have their children in school, however, the aspect of little finances which they get hinder them (p. 41). Skaggs argues that, if all ethnic communities in diverse countries are given equal opportunities to that accorded their peers from other ethnic communities, then the probability that, they will also attain some grades in very high. To him, lack of proper representation in education institutions of middle and higher learning is not because of their liking but because of the situations they find them selves in (p. 48). The marital status of a parent is another aspect which leads to low education levels. The institution of marriage is one of the conducive environments where education can thrive well. To Stephens, J. (1999), minorities in the US and other developed countries suffer a lot since most of their parents are single parents and lack the will to educate their children (p. 31). To Stephens, a single parent faces the problem of educating since he/she is the sole breadwinner and with the cost of education soaring high, the possibility of educating is dim (p. 33). To Su, Z. (1996), the level of one’s education determines what he/she will earn after the completion of education. According to him,

Property Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Property Economics - Essay Example The homeowners who planned to sell the properties were unable to sell due to a massive fall in prices that led to â€Å"upside down" mortgage. Notably, the mortgages were greater than the property resulting in reduced incentive for homeowners. The graph below indicates the trends in housing sector prices (Sanders, 2008). The housing sector experienced the bubble leading to the eventual collapse of the subprime mortgage market. The subprime mortgages are provided to homeowners with below-average income (Christopher et al., 2008). With the trend in the housing sector, there was a need to engage in more subprime mortgages. Consequently, this led to mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures that caused the devaluation of the housing-related securities (Sanders, 2008). Therefore, there was the reduction in business investment and household spending. Notably, these experiences were dominant in regions with high household debt and highest housing price decline (Immergluck, 2011). The increase in interest rates resulted in global investors reducing their purchases of the mortgage-backed debt while the securities found it risky to continue with the lending (Sanders, 2008). Subsequently, the mortgage crisis was a major factor that worsened the effects of the Great Recession in America (Christopher et al., 2008) . Immergluck, D. (2011). The Local Wreckage of Global Capital: The Subprime Crisis, Federal Policy and High-Foreclosure Neighborhoods in the US. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research,

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) or morality based Essay

Morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) or morality based on duties - Essay Example On the other hand, the Morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism ethics), provides that the consequence of an action that an individual has taken outweighs whatever intentions such an individual had when taking the action (Vaughn, 2012). Therefore, the Morality based on consequences, for example utilitarianism ethical theory, provides that an action is defined as either morally right or wrong, depending on whether the action produces favorable or unfavorable outcomes (Vaughn, 2012). In this respect, the utilitarianism theory of ethics provide that the outcome of an action should not be undermined, and thus individuals should first measure the possible consequences of an action before taking it. This way, the individuals will only take the action that has favorable outcomes for them and for everyone (Vaughn, 2012). Therefore, given an opportunity to choose between the morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) and morality based on duties, separated from consequences (like Kants ethics), morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) will be preferred. The choice of the utilitarianism ethical theory over the Kantian ethics is informed by the fact that; the utilitarianism ethical theory recognizes that any action may have either good or bad consequences; or both good and bad consequences at the same time (Vaughn, 2012). In recognition of this fact, the utilitarianism ethical theory provides that individuals should first weigh the possible consequences of their actions, such that they can determine the favorable and the unfavorable consequences. Further, the utilitarianism ethical theory provides that on the event that an action produces both good and bad consequences; the individual should weigh which one of the two weighs out heavily, and then act upon the action that will have an overall weighty favorable

Statement on company's activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statement on company's activity - Essay Example The various categories of users mentioned above lead to a real problem in preparing the report. Any annual report is mainly addressed to the members of the board, but also to other shareholders and business partners, to any financial analyst, employees, and, of course, the competition and journalists. This is one of the reasons many managers rather present only the very simplified information, as required by law, and nothing more. Of course, as a downside, companies are oftentimes accused that they use different communication and readability tools in order to draw the attention on the good parts and minimize, on the other hand, the bad ones. Indeed, the thematic structure of a report can be a very important element: it can emphasize some parts while leaving the others partially undeveloped or simply in the shadow. Still, as different categories of users look for different facts, the danger of neglecting some points of view is real. Although many think of the annual report as a financial one, this is only one of the points that need to be addressed in the statement. Among the other points of interest, an annual report should include the company's activities, important issues, challenges, goals, long and short term strategies. These details are important, as they help not only the stockholders, but also the potential customers, to understand the effectiveness of past plans, but also the degree of credibility of other future ones. In fact, this is also helpful for the companies themselves; as a research conducted in UK shows, "those companies which most clearly communicated their strategy and market opportunities in 2006 outperformed the FTSE 100 in the subsequent 12 months". In fact, everybody expects to hear clear stated purposes and achievements, as honesty and straight forwardness are the real guarantees of the company's credibility and success. The importance of the annual report is obvious and undisputable; this is why, in order to be effective, it has to be coherent and credible, highlighting all the important elements of the business. As no company can really exist on today's market without proper planning, the market strategies have to be clearly stated as well. It is only obvious that the way this information is presented to the audience is of a huge importance; even so, different groups of audience are likely to have very different reactions to it. For example, no investor would even take into consideration working with a company that hasn't got its market strategy clearly stated; on the other hand, this information can be used as a weapon against the company itself, by the media or by the concurrence. Even if we leave aside all the exterior dangers, there is, still, an inside major one: that of preparing and presenting this part of the report in an unfavorable or inconsistent manner. A coherent presentation will allo w the investors to understand what is the company really using the money for, but it is also a way of proving the company's abilities to break through on the market. As the annual report reflects the company's success, it is only normal that the managers try to make it look as good as possible. Oftentimes, financial analysts accuse the companies of issuing "too many bland statements", action that makes their annual report

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) or morality based Essay

Morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) or morality based on duties - Essay Example On the other hand, the Morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism ethics), provides that the consequence of an action that an individual has taken outweighs whatever intentions such an individual had when taking the action (Vaughn, 2012). Therefore, the Morality based on consequences, for example utilitarianism ethical theory, provides that an action is defined as either morally right or wrong, depending on whether the action produces favorable or unfavorable outcomes (Vaughn, 2012). In this respect, the utilitarianism theory of ethics provide that the outcome of an action should not be undermined, and thus individuals should first measure the possible consequences of an action before taking it. This way, the individuals will only take the action that has favorable outcomes for them and for everyone (Vaughn, 2012). Therefore, given an opportunity to choose between the morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) and morality based on duties, separated from consequences (like Kants ethics), morality based on consequences (like utilitarianism) will be preferred. The choice of the utilitarianism ethical theory over the Kantian ethics is informed by the fact that; the utilitarianism ethical theory recognizes that any action may have either good or bad consequences; or both good and bad consequences at the same time (Vaughn, 2012). In recognition of this fact, the utilitarianism ethical theory provides that individuals should first weigh the possible consequences of their actions, such that they can determine the favorable and the unfavorable consequences. Further, the utilitarianism ethical theory provides that on the event that an action produces both good and bad consequences; the individual should weigh which one of the two weighs out heavily, and then act upon the action that will have an overall weighty favorable

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Entrepreneurial characteristics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Entrepreneurial characteristics - Essay Example Risk taking Risk taking is defined as a factor thing or element which exposes a person to a certain danger or which has negative impact on the person. Risk taking in business entails venturing into an idea or activity that might have negative impact on entrepreneur yet the same idea can bring positive outcome to the entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs need to have the ability to take risks in order to gain maximum benefits in case the idea succeeds. In many condition, opportunities are full of uncertainties as there are no ways to confirm if the move will be beneficial or not. As a result, many entrepreneurs are unable to venture in such ideas an aspect that makes them lose the ability to succeed. This enables an entrepreneur with this characteristic to fully own the idea and reap its benefits without intense competition (Gerber, 2009). If the idea succeeds, other business people utilize the idea but the entrepreneur who invented it will have created customer trust and barriers fo r the competitors to make use of the idea. This helps him in succeeding in the markets through gaining the largest market share and creating loyalty of the target customers towards the idea or product. One of the entrepreneurs who had taken risks in venturing in business is Michelle Moan. Despite her age she took a risk of investing in making bras that were more comfortable. As a result of going against all odds, she became successful and established MJM international which is one of the leading businesses in the world. The success of Moan was as a result of risk taking in an area that looked unpromising for many entrepreneurs. In 2000 she was awarded a world business achiever award which is a prestigious award given to entrepreneurs who has shown outstanding performance and innovation. This puts a challenge to entrepreneurs to be innovative and create ideas out of a challenge that they might be experiencing or a challenge facing the society. For a successful entrepreneur, an idea d espite how challenging it looks must be analyzed to look at its potential. Response to change Response to change is the act of reacting as a result of a certain change that has occurred in the sector, government or country at large. The world has become dynamic with many changes being experienced each day. For an entrepreneur to be successful he must monitor these changes as they might create an opportunity. New government policies are some of the changes that might create an opportunity for an entrepreneur. When an opportunity unveils an entrepreneur must be quick to respond to it through investing. This provides the entrepreneur with the opportunity to retrieve maximum benefits from the opportunity (Gerber, 2009). Response to change in case of an opportunity is determined by the flexibility of an entrepreneur. A flexible entrepreneur is one who is ready to shift from one way of doing things to another in order to fit in the new procedures that might be of great benefit. The best s trategy for an entrepreneur to become flexible is through setting aside capital that could be used to invest in a new opportunity. Such an act creates a difference between successful entrepreneurs and those who are not successful. In an example, changes in technological levels in the world created an opportunity for Steve Jobs to start Apple Inc which deal with various electronics such as iPod, iTunes, Mac laptops, desktop etc. His reaction was first despite the risks that faced investing in a sector that recorded major failures from previous

Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Hamlet by William Shakespeare Essay Hamlet is a story by William Shakespeare written in 1599. This story is about Prince Hamlet’s struggles after his father’s death. Hamlet seeks revenge from his uncle for his father’s death. His uncle, Claudius sees Hamlet as a threat to his power, so he attempts to get rid of him. Unfortunately, his plan backfires, and the whole royal family dies, including Hamlet. An animated children’s Disney movie, The Lion King created in 1994, reflects Hamlet. The Lion King starts with a lion cub, Simba, who is learning the responsibilities of a king. Scar, Simba\s uncle has the desire to become the king. In order, to fulfill his dream, Scar kills king Mufasa and blames Simba. Scared and guilty Simba runs away, but returns soon after to take over his responsibility and become king. The Lion King is like a reproduction of the play Hamlet. The stories are similar and different in many ways. Here I have listed a few of many. The Hamlet and The Lion King have a lot in similar. In both of the stories, the uncle is the villain who seeks power. Simba and Hamlet both lose their fathers to what they believe is an unfortunate accident. Both of the main characters seek revenge for their father\s death and eventually kill their uncles. They are both from a royal family and the rightful heir to the throne. The characters are very similar and so is the plot. The queens, Sarabi and Gertrude have little to no power in the kingdom. Scar and Claudius are portrayed as cold and evil. Simba and Hamlet are presented as thoughtful, intelligent and emotional. Although the stories are known to have similarities, they have a lot of differences too. The most prominent difference is that Hamlet dies at the end of Hamlet, whereas the Lion King has a happy ending. Simba marries Nala and has a baby. In the Lion King, Simba is framed for Mufasa\s death so he chooses to run away, however, in Hamlet, Claudius orders Hamlet to go to England. Claudius rules pretty well, he does not ruin the kingdom like Scar. After his father\s death, Simba lives a carefree life for some years, whereas Hamlet is depressed, and on the verge of madness. Also, in Hamlet Polonius is Ophelia\s father, however in the Lion King, Zazu is not related to Nala. The differences are what make the stories unique. Disney recreated Shakespeare\s Hamlet into an animated children\s movie to make it suitable for children. They could have copied all of it, but then kids would not have liked it. The language of Hamlet is difficult to understand, whereas the Lion King uses modern words. Lion King creators did not kill Simba in the end because kids like to see happy endings. Movies created for kids should not be depressing. They put a family feeling in the movie, so more people would watch it and they would make more profit. The Lion King had a moral, like other Disney movies. Here the moral was, you have to learn to step up and keep moving forward, instead of running from your past. In my opinion, both of the stories were quite entertaining and well thought of. Disney did a great job with changing the story. They kept the major similarities but changed Shakespeare\s work into their own words. Hamlet’s tragic ending and The Lion King\s delightful ending make them remarkable. They are stories worth knowing.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Case Report On Jive Software Marketing Essay

Case Report On Jive Software Marketing Essay For the basis of this case report we will assume Jeremy Wilsons role as VP of Sales for Jive Software were we will look at the core building blocks of the sales function that are required to assist Jive Software implement their sales strategy. In addition we will also look at what steps the new VP of Sales John McCracken needs to take to resolve the sales problems Jive Software were facing due to the growth of the company. Core building blocks of a Sales function For any business that is going to implement a sales strategy there are some key factors that need to be considered. For example, who are your target customers, do you have any competitors in this market space, what geographically regions are you going to concentrate on, and what core building blocks of the sales function are required to realize the sales strategy. In Jives situation we know that their target audience comprised of large scale organizations and SMEs. We also know that Jives reputation firmly put them to the forefront as the leading provider of social networking for enterprise which in essence gave them an advantage over their competitors. As for the geographically regions, due to the nature of their business there are no limitations as to where Jive could not sell their product suite. This leaves the question, what are core building blocks of the sales function they need to put in place? After reviewing the situation it was determined that the core building blocks were , a centralized Information system, a functional sales pipeline, sales resources, marketing investment and an agreed sales budget. Centralized Information System The initiation of a centralized information system will improve how Jive manage, store and disseminate their information. In employing systems such as Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), Office Automation Systems (OAS), Decision Support Systems (DSS) and Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) it allows the integration of the functional areas within the organization.(i.e. Sales and Marketing, Finance, Operations and HR) (Malaga, 2005) The result of this integration provides easier access to both internal and external information which assists senior management making decisions that affect the daily running of Jive but also helps in achieving their strategic sales goals. Development of a Sales Pipeline Following the deployment of the information system Jive need to analyze all sales leads that have been generated and employ a functional sales pipeline to give senior management visibility on the sales leads while also enabling them to qualify which leads the sales team should be focusing their efforts on. This effectively allows Jive to see which companies would get the greatest benefits out of using Jives social networking enterprise system and to rank them accordingly. (Reynolds, 2012) Sales Resources The number of resources required to manage all the sales opportunities in the pipeline is vital. That is how many account managers, sales engineers, administration staff, technical support and field service engineers do Jive need? In addition these resources will require the relevant training in sales, customer support, the CRM information system as well as the Jive product suite itself. (Reynolds, 2012) Marketing Providing literature to the sales team in the form of PDFs, brochures etc. For example, information on the product specifications, retail price of the products, lead time on the delivery of the product, warranty duration, an overview of Jives abilities and capabilities, and a standard sales pitch the sales person should deliver to the customer. Also providing the customers with the facility to download a copy of the software to evaluate is extremely advantageous as it allows Jives to showcase the product to wide audience which in turn will assist in the generation of sales leads. Sales Budget The last but not least core building block is Jives sales budget. It is imperative that Jive control the budget to ensure their sales strategy is effective. Developing a centralized information system is expensive and when you factor in the cost of training, marketing, travel, entertainment etc.. the overall budget can be quite high. (Ma, 2012) A new era for Jive Software For this section of this report will look at the steps the new VP of Sales John McCracken needs to take to mitigate the sales problems Jive Software were facing. Focus on Enterprise Business In 2008 Chris Morace (VP of Product Marketing) instigated the initial changes in how Jive did their prospecting of customers by moving from the shotgun sales approach of selling to everyone and anyone to concentrating on the enterprise sector. However there may still be some issues with the sales reps regarding this strategy. John McCracken will have to address this situation and explain that spending a large portion of their time on SME accounts that give little return in the way of revenue is not the way forward. He needs them to focus their efforts on looking at Jives existing customers and determining, which ones generate high revenues with high profit margins, what problems do Jive solve for these customers, and most importantly why do these customer do business with Jive Software. (Robertson, 2012) In conjunction the sales reps should refrain from selling legacy/patched up products and focus on selling the latest Clearspace product. Pro-Active Selling John needs to move the sales team away from the reactive selling done in the past. He should adopt a pro-active solution selling approach to target the customers specific business need or problem they are trying to solve. Arguably this would require the sales rep to have detailed knowledge of customers business and industry. However employing this approach would mean the sales reps are working more closely with the customers either by email, telephone or site visits which ultimately enables them to forge strong relationships with the key decision makers in these companies whilst also attaining vital market intelligence. Repair the broken link with product development For the future success of Jive its important that John has the sales reps feed information gathered from customer visits back into the Jives product development team so they can work on the next generation of Jives product suite. Revise Group Quota System Address the current problems the quarterly quota system is causing. One solution to this problem could be to apply an annual forecasting system instead. This will end the mid-quarter quota issues that faced the sales reps under Jeremy Wilsons stewardship. However it is still crucial that John holds monthly meetings with his sales team to ensure they are continuously monitoring the situation and the Jive are still on track to meet the forecasted sales set out at the start of the fiscal year. There also needs to be greater transparency when it comes to who is responsible for which accounts, what selling techniques were used and which sales reps are meeting their target sales. Jive Softwares Profile Finally John should increase Jives company profile in the social network enterprise market space. This could be achieved by exhibiting Jives product range at trade shows, publishing articles on Jive Software in industry trade magazines, speaking at industry conferences, providing a list of Jives top enterprise customers on the website as well as getting testimonials from these customers endorsing the Jive product range. (Robertson, 2012)

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Slavery as the Cause of the American Civil War Essay -- Slavery Essays

The Civil War was caused by many several pressures, principles, and prejudices, fueled by sectional differences, and was finally set into motion by a most unlikely set of political events. From economic differences to political differences all the way up to cultural differences, the North and the South opposed each other. These tensions were further increased after the western expansion of the United States. By the early 1850’s a civil war was known to be likely coming soon. Economically, the chief and immediate cause of the war was slavery. Southern states, including the 11 states that formed the Confederacy, depended on slavery to support their economy. The North used a factory system for their agriculture, which they hired cheap labor. Southerners used slave labor to produce crops, e...

Friday, October 11, 2019

History of Private Security

History of Private Security Cortez Jefferies Introduction to Security: Operations and Management Gayle Fisher-Stewart University Of Maryland University College 23 October 2011 Private security industry in the United States can be traced as far back as the mid nineteenth century, where they were primarily used to help fill the gaps created by public police forces in major cities that were just forming. Over the years the role of private security has changed, from its simplest form of protecting people, property, and information to a more complex form, of individuals and businesses that provide, for a fee, services to clientele to protect their persons, their private property, or their interests from various hazards. Early in its existence training for private security was non-existent or inadequate at best, over the years training has evolved and with that evolution came strict standards and guidelines. Unlike in Europe, where public law enforcement emerged out of private security, in the United States private security emerged out of public law enforcement. Europeans brought many of the methods they used to protect people and property with them when they immigrated to the United States in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The positions of constable, watchman, and sheriff were borrowed from the English and were used to establish the first system of public law enforcement in the United States. As rapid growth occurred in the West throughout the early 1800s, it became clear that constables and watchmen weren't going to be able to provide the expansive services necessary to protect people and their property (Stone, 2002). It wasn't until the late 1700s that municipal police agencies were implemented in major American cities. Established in 1844, the New York City police department provided twenty- four-hour police protection to its citizens. Thirty years later, most large cities had a similar system of public law enforcement; yet this system was not enough to keep pace with the rapidly growing American society (Stone, 2002). One of the first private security agencies to come into existence was Pinkerton's North West Police Agency in 1855. The agency offered private watchmen services for rail yards and industrial complexes. In 1859, Perry Brink started Brink's Inc. as a freight and package delivery service. A few decades later, Brinks Inc. evolved into the country's first armored car and courier service. By the early 1900s, numerous former federal agents and detectives had opened up their own private security companies to include the first burglar alarm service (Maine, 2011). Between 1929 and 1939, private security employment declined as a result of the Great Depression but rebounded between 1940 and 1945, due to the need to protect the United States infrastructure and military and industrial facilities during World War II, the use of private security increased. After World War II, private security once again began to grow, due to many returning veterans, with military police experience selecting police work and private security as occupations (Ortmeier, 2009). In 1955, a group of security professionals formed the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS). Today, ASIS International’s membership exceeds 37,000, making it the preeminent organization for security professionals (American Society for Industrial Security [ASIS], 2011). Private security is a fast-growing industry. The Department of Labor predicts a healthy double-digit growth rate through 2016. Statistics on the number of individuals involved in this market are difficult to ascertain because of an extremely high turnover rate and because the term â€Å"security worker† admits of different interpretations. However, there are some credible approximations (Maine, 2011). The U. S. Department of Labor estimated the number of private security workers in 2007 at slightly over one million-about twice the number of police officers in the United States. Private security agencies themselves are often quite large. The largest security firm operating in the United states is Securitas, whose employees number more than 125,000 worldwide and whose revenues exceeded $7 billion in 2002. Human-Rights First estimate that there are almost 180,000 security workers in Iraq alone (Maine, 2011). The median wage for security workers in the United states is $10. 85 per hour ($22,570 per year), this might account in part for the high turnover rate. Salary seems to be proportional to risk. Blackwater security employees are alleged to have earned close to $1000 per day to guard U. S ambassador to Iraq Paul Bremer (Maine, 2011). Although training for the private security sector has come a long way over the years. Many of the personnel working as private security agents and guards are inadequately screened, trained, and supervised to ensure effective police work. Due to these reasons, there has been a big push for improvements in the quality of private security training. Private security organizations are being encouraged to pursue accreditations for the company as well as its employees. Private security organizations are being required to carry general liability insurance or that security personnel be bonded following a minimum level of training and certification, with the amount of training and size of bonding dependent on the degree of risk associated with the nature of the job (Forst, 2002) . Virginia Security officers are required to be licensed by DCJS (Department of Criminal Justice Services). To be licensed as an unarmed security officer one must go through 18 hours of classroom training from a licensed instructor in order to obtain this card and it must be done by the end of their 90 days after hire with a Security company. Every two years the card must be renewed, by completing an in-service with a licensed instructor. To be licensed as an armed security officer one must complete an additional 16 hours of firearms training, 6 hours of training n conducting a lawful arrest, and qualification with the type and caliber of weapon they intend to carry. Firearms endorsements must be renewed annually by completing an in-service and passing a firearms qualification. Licensed armed security officers are authorized under state code to arrest for any offense committed in their presence while they are on duty at the location they are hired to protect. They may also be granted t he authority by the chief law enforcement officer in their jurisdiction to issue summons to appear in court for felonies and misdemeanors. As the security field diversified in the 1980s and became more responsive to the needs of business, a management model quickly began to dominate how security was perceived and what its functions would be. Security practitioners and innovative business managers began to view the functions of security as an essential component of business. As a result, security departments were incorporated into the organizational culture of many companies, and security managers were hired to oversee the security department and work collaboratively with other department managers. Security managers began to be perceived as professionals in their field, and this helped to enhance the image of security personnel, giving them greater credibility with their colleagues and the public (Stone, 2002). Given this long and varied history, it is not surprising that private security continues to undergo significant changes in its form and function. Still, agreement among academicians and practitioners about what its form and function should be remains elusive. References Stone, Mischelle Taylor. (2002). Private Security. Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://sage-ereference. com. ezproxy. umuc. edu/view/crimepunishment/n327 Forst, Brian. (2002). Police Privatization. Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment. Retrieved October 23, 2011, from http://sage-ereference. com. ezproxy. umuc. edu/view/crimepunishment/n307 Ortmeier, P. J. (2011). Introduction to Security: Operations and Management (3rd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Maine, E. W. (2011, March 6). Private Security Industry. American Business Organization. Retrieved from http://maerican-business. org/