Iran and Italy - macro economics assignment Essay

Iran and Italy - macro economics assignment - Essay Example ay before it was hit by recession Italy was already experiencing poor economic performance of an average real GDP growth of only 1% per annum (Morsy and Sgherri, 2010, p.3). This was the period between 2001 and 2007. This growth rate was almost half the euro area growth rate. After the onset of recession in 2008, Italy faced a 7% decline in the GDP. In the first quarter of 2010 the economy started to recover from the poor performance. The recovery was halted in 2011 when the country reentered recession for the second time. The GDP fell by 0.2 % by the second quarter of 201l. By the end of the last quarter the GDP had declined further by 7%. This condition persisted in the first quarter of 2012 and then there was a little improvement although the GDP still remained negative. After the long contraction of the economic performance the GDP started improving in 2014 but it was still negative. The GDP is expected to become positive in the current year. Although a positive GDP is being anticipated the level expected will still below the euro average GDP. Iran on the other hand started facing a contraction in its business cycle in 2011. At the beginning of 2011, the country was facing a constant GDP growth rate of around 6% to 8% per annum. This increasing GDP was halted in mid 2011 when the GDP faced a significant drop. The GDP growth rate fell below 5% and the downward trend continued until July 2012. At this time the GDP had fallen greatly and was on the negative side. The growth rate at mid- year 2012 was estimated to be -10%. This was the lowest level achieved during the period. After the 2012 drop in GDP it started increasing at a constant rate until early 2013 a downward movement. The drop was short term and by mid 2013 the GDP growth rate had started rising again. By mid-year 2014 the GDP growth rate was positive again at a level of around 5%. One of the main reasons for the downward economic growth in Italy was the high public debt. The shrinking GDP in the

Opening a Business in Switzerland Research Paper

Opening a Business in Switzerland - Research Paper Example Switzerland is a democratic country with good relations with a vast majority of countries across the globe. Swiss workplace is decentralized with respect to power. There is an informal culture wherein employees freely interact with the managers and also expect to be involved in decision making. There is great respect for values and traditions in Switzerland. The opportunities of doing business in Switzerland include low tax rates tax exemptions, and business without licensing in some cases whereas the risks include the need to rely upon imports and the debt crisis that the Swiss banking sector is currently facing. With proper planning of the business and prudent management of resources, there is a lot of room for expansion of business in Switzerland. There is a whole procedure of establishing a new business in Switzerland that includes activities like registering the company, getting the signatures over the application form notarized, obtaining a legal entity, paying the stamp tax at the bank, registering for the VAT, and acquiring social insurance for the employees. II. Country Profile Location and size/population The total area of Switzerland is 41285 km2. Switzerland shares its boundary with Italy, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Austria. There are three main geographic divisions in Switzerland; Alps that covers about 60 per cent of the total area, Middle Land that makes up to 30 per cent of the area, and Jura that 10 per cent of the land (about.ch, 2012). As of July, 2011, the population of Switzerland was 7,655,628 (indexmundi.com, 2012). Topography and climate Almost two-thirds of the total land of Switzerland constitutes forests, mountains, and lakes. About 20 per cent of the Alps are hosted by Switzerland. â€Å"Approximately 100 peaks are close to or higher than 4000 meters (13125 feet) above sea level† (about.ch, 2012). There are many lakes in Switzerland that include the Lake Geneva and numerous little lakes. Glaciers constitute above 3000 km2 of the total area in Switzerland, though they are decreasing with the passage of time. Switzerland lies in the transition zone from the climatic perspective. The Atlantic ocean influences the west. There occurs frequent rainfall in Switzerland because of the moisture brought in with the winds. In the east, continental climate prevails whereas there is a climatic divide at the alps. Towards the alps’ south, the Mediterranean climate prevails. Natural resources Switzerland has almost no mineral resources because of which, most of the natural resources are imported and processed and then used or resold in the form of different kinds of products. The most important part of Swiss economy is services that include but are not limited to tourism, assurances, and banking. A very important part of the Swiss economy is farming. However, despite the country’s dependence on farming, Swiss farmers’ production is insufficient to meet the needs of the population which is w hy Switzerland has to import goods from other countries to meet the demand. Language and religion Switzerland has about four national languages that include French, Romanish, German, and Italian. The largest followed religion in Switzerland is Roman Catholic which is the religion of 47.6 per cent of the population, 44.3 per cent of the people are

Literature & Community Essay Example for Free

Literature Community Essay Literature can reflect the lives of individual characters and more importantly it can allow the reader to put the character or conflict in context by revealing the community through the eyes of the individual. In the instances of William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and John Updike’s â€Å"AP,† the community plays a central role for the narrator. The community and people are filtered through the lens of   Sammy the checkout boy and the unknown narrator. Both belong as part of the larger community but their observations allow the reader to glean a closer, though biased look of the other characters such as Emily and the girls roaming through the AP. Their narrations reveal the closed sensibilities of two communities separated by decades and the leaps of modernity, but the New England town of Updike’s story is no less judgmental or structured than the Faulkner’s 19th century southern community. In â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† Faulkner shows Emily only through the eyes of the other community members. Haughty and self-contained, she is part of the community legend but not part of the reality of the town, described from the beginning as â€Å"a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town†(Faulkner, W. 2001; p.79). Their day-to-day lives continue with or without the presence of Emily, her death excites only curiosity. She is a living eccentricity who in her secrecy has elicited the town’s curiosity. They feel â€Å"not pleased exactly but vindicated† (2001; p. 80)   in Emily’s inability to marry successfully and heartened by the pity they can feel for her financial straits. The individual woman has long fallen to the wayside as the legend of her odd nature is absorb as lore. Presented through the eyes of the narrator, the reader never really attains a complete understanding of Emily as an individual character. Instead, Faulkner presents both facts and suppositions to show the mixture of gossip and fact that had created the myth of Emily. Stripped of her individuality by her inability to be part of the community and the community’s inability to accept her, Emily becomes a two-dimensional caricature of a woman. The reality of her preceding years, shown in the long-dead corpse lying in the bridal chamber and the gray hair upon the pillow beside, will simply be added to this myth. The narrator makes no attempt to explain this strange image but implies in the form of the rest of the story that this will be added to the legend. Faulkner’s story shows how the community can change an individual into a story, through their perceptions and judgments. Updike’s â€Å"AP† shows a similar trend in how judgmental assumptions can replace the reality of an individual. The community in this case is the closed community of an afternoon supermarket crowd who represent the town at large. In much the way Faulkner’s narrator reflects the views of the town, Sammy expresses and relays the perceptions of the â€Å"few house-slaves in pin curlers† (Updike, J., 2001; p. 33) and the judgmental manager. His observations of the other people in the supermarket and their reactions to the girls, both verbal and non-verbal, show the communitys perception of the girls character based on shallow assumptions. Sammy also unwittingly reduces the girls to embodiments of his own sexual desires. While he is outraged at the treatment they receive, he seems more bothered by the way the opinions of the community alter his own vision of the â€Å"Queenie† (2001; p. 32) and her friends. Like Emily, the girls represent myths for Sammy individually and the community. For Sammy the myth is created from his own hormone fueled ideals that inspire him to the â€Å"heroic† gesture of quitting his job. But why did he not simply stand up for the girls? It is simple, he has created in his minda romantic myth where he is the hero, and they the damsels in distress. For the community, the girls represent a myth of the immorality and indecency of youth. Their exposed flesh merely highlights their growing maturity from the easy acceptance of little girls to questionable teenagers on the cusp of womanhood. Both stories show how the myths of individuals can be created by the perceptions and attitudes of their communities. These myths exist outside the closed ranks of the community because the the communitys inability to accept their difference. With Miss Emily the difference lies in her eccentricies. For the â€Å"Queenie† and her friends their difference lies in the communitys difficulties in reconciling these generational changes with the children they once were and the women they would become. Unable to accept these women as part of the communitys indentity, they are reduced to mere myths in the eyes of the community members. References Faulker, W. (2001). A Rose for Emily. In R. Diyanni (Ed.). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 79. Updike, J. (2001). AP. In R. Diyanni (Ed.). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry and Drama. (5th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. pp. 32.

Gloria Jeans Resarch Proposal Essay Example for Free

Gloria Jeans Resarch Proposal Essay Gloria Jeans started as a small coffee and gift shop in Chicago, USA in 1979. However, it wasn’t until 1995 that the company would become an Australian favourite, when the company was bought out by two Australian business men travelling in the USA. Today, Gloria Jeans operates over 1,000 coffee houses in 39 countries, but it is in Australia they are best known and loved, with over 460 coffee houses in Australia. Gloria Jeans has evolved from a simple coffee house into a specialty store, offering many different types of coffee, cakes and cold drinks. The market is highly competitive, and Gloria Jeans targets a younger demographic (peoples aged 18-25). Although successful, Gloria Jeans has been struck hard by giant competitors such as Starbucks and Au Bon Pain entering the Australian market, where Gloria Jeans has historically remained on top. Due to this, the company has decided to perform research to determine the preferences of their consumers, and to allow them to ensure their product mix is appropriate for their current customer base. Research Topic From the background information, the following research problem has been identified: To identify the types of customers that frequent Gloria Jeans coffee houses, to identify the types of products they purchase or are interested in purchasing, to determine the perceived quality of the products offered and to identify the patronage patterns of customers. The primary aim will be to determine the buying behaviour of Gloria Jeans customers, their perception of the products offered, if they prefer to drink coffee in house or take-away, and if the products offered are appropriate for the customers. As well as this, the company also wishes to determine the demographic features of its customers. Research Objectives The overall objective of the research is ‘to identify the consumption behaviour of Gloria Jeans’ customers’. This has been broken into the following three research objectives: 1) To determine the number of people who drink coffee, the frequency of their intake and whether do they prefer in-house or take-away coffee. 2) To identify whether the products available at Gloria Jeans are appropriate for the target market. 3) To examine customer attitude towards Gloria Jeans and its competitors in regards to product range, quality and comparability with competitors. These objectives aim to focus the research on the key areas identified and allow the development of a strategic research plan.

Investigation and evaluation of environmental analysis

Investigation and evaluation of environmental analysis This assignment was given to me as well as to everyone else in the group by Ms. Karen Abberton. It is requested to be done as part of the course work experience in order to see how well students understood business management structure of the company they completed their work experience in. The brief for this assignment was given to us on the 16th of September 2009 and was requested to be submitted by the 16th of December 2009. As a business course student it is very important for me to understand business management, how a well organized business works and how it can change the wellbeing of an organization. In order to create a successful company or to upgrade an existing one, we should know what opportunities this organization has. We should be able to position the organization in the market scale against its competitors if there are any. The environmental analysis of a company helps us to see negative and positive elements of the organization, what in future might make us change s ome of the strategies in order to make the company more confident and invulnerable. 3. Methods of procedures Quite a few different sources were used by me in order to construct this report. In the first place based on the information received during Marketing Management Classes in Balsbridge College a lot of handouts were given to me as well as examples based on work of real existing companies and practical exercises. Also based on my work experience in KWE World Express where I have spent over two years working as Exports coordinator. I have included mainly secondary research and applied academic theories in order to support my assignment. Books, internet and newspapers. 4. Findings 4.1 Description of organization Is a Freight Forwarding International company which started its business in 1948 and was established in 1970 in Japan. At present there are 297 offices in 192 cities in 31 of the world it and employs over 8,000 people around the world. It is a tall company with LTD-limited Liability. Its product is the service the company provides to its customers. KWE is one of the leading freight forwarding companies in the world. Domestic and foreign air and ocean freight forwarding business, trucking company agent, customs agent, and transportation agent.There are two offices in Ireland: Dublin and Cork. Dublin office is located beside the Dublin airport in Horizon Logistics Park. It employs 26 people working in the office and 1 person working as sales representative visiting potential customers, (so called sales on the road). Dublin office organizes imports and exports of freight by road, sea-ocean and air. It has been established in Ireland in 1998 and managed to gain and keep quite a number of big and growing customers. Some of them are quite known pharmaceutical companies like Takeda, Astellas. Takeda is has been Dublins branch customer for over 10 years and there are two people in the company who are responsible for Takeda account. Astellas is a new pharmaceutical company which imports and exports up to 5 tons of cargo weekly with the KWEs help. I cant go any further until I mention such a well known customer of KWE as Dell. Dell have been KWEs customer for quite a long time, but as far as I know just before I left the company last spring Dell moved its main production to Poland which means the account was lost. There are still some transactions but only occasionally. Below I would like to show the structure of KWE in a chart. The first chart will show the main offices and the second chart will give information of the Dublins branch. Now I would like to point out the countries which go under the supervision of the areas shown in the chart: Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, USA Asia and Oceania: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam. Europe and Africa: Belgium, Czech, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland Russia, South Africa, Sweden, U.K., Switzerland. Japan is the head office, each country should report to the headquarters main office, and the headquarters main office reports to Japan. Dublin Office Chart: As you can see it is a tall company, but lets start from the bottom. Each staff member should report to its supervisor, the supervisor reports to the department manager and the manager should report to the M.D. For Example I would report to Sandra White, she in her turn would report to John OShaugnessy and John should report to Thomas Weppelmann. In reality Thomas Weppelmann is responsible for more than just Dublin office. It means if the issue is not very big it will be resolved within the company, but if a decision has to be made like who to make redundant than Thomas Weppelmann will have to take part in the final decision, but still the opinion of John OShaugnessy is essential here as he spends more time with his staff and he knows everyones performance abilities. As already said the company is a freight forwarding agent. Its job is to safely transport goods from point A to point B, with the help of haulers, shipping lines or airlines.   Sales Department: Manager Karl OReilly Mark Fuller and Josephine Kill under his supervision. The aim of the department is to sell the companys product, which is service. They are a kind of companys advertisers. It is also under their responsibility to give price quotes to any customer inquiring a service to any destination of the world. Sales department is the start point of any shipment. They should know: 1. What kind of cargo 2. Where is it going to? 3. Dimensions and weight of goods 4. When the goods can be ready for transportation? 5. What is the desired date of transportation? And many more, the reason I say many more is because each customer and each type of cargo is different in its way. It can be smaller or bigger, it might be urgent on normal, it may go to different destinations and so on, it can be different types of goods and so on. The sales department goal is to give customer an impression that we are the only company in the country who can provide the cheapest, the safest and the best service off all. The information they give to the potential customer should be as accurate as possible, in order to avoid any issues later down the line. Imports Department: Eamonn Grogan and David Howell are responsible for Air Imports, the aim of these two people is to proceed the imported cargo as per government rules and regulations and to make sure that nothing bad happens to the cargo from the moment it arrives into Dublin and until the moment it is delivered to the final destination. They should make sure that the information they fill in the customs docs should be 100% correct, because any wrong steps or wrong information can lead to big fines for the company. Paul Byrne is dealing with DHL account, his job is to look after road exports and imports. Sarahs job is to look after sea imports and exports. She should be aware of the timetable of the ships and feeder vessels; she should daily check if the ships with different containers arrived into the transit port and left it as pre the time timetable.   On the import side the procedure is pretty much the same as air imports, all the goods should be customs cleared and delivery organized unless customer wants different. Exports Department: Sandra White, Joanne Howe and myself, responsible for air exports. Responsibilities include negotiating the prices with the airlines, checking the post flights on daily basis, organizing pickups and deliveries to airport. I was working in the Air Exports Department. I personally was responsible for some of the imports and accounts jobs as when I joined the company there wasnt too much job in the exports department and people from other departments used to give me staff to do. In general my main responsibility was checking the post flights in the mornings, than I was preparing the airway bills for that days shipments arranging collections, customs clearance for the shipments. My duties also included Cass Reports twice a month they are bills from the airlines which have to be checked if the amounts to be paid match the amounts on the bills, reports for customers, earlier mentioned    Astellas account is one of the customers who require weekly and monthly reports of the shipments KWE handle for them it was also one of my responsibilities. Accounts department: Sylvia Smith is the H.R. representative but geographically she is part of the accounts department, and her job is closely related to accounts. She is responsible for payroll. Her duties include to staff and operate the organization. Nicolla Uzell and Michelle Boylan are responsible for the accounts of the company. I think this departments duties dont have to be explained. Avril Reilly receptionist, she is the first person anyone speaks to on the phone. She has to sort the post, make sure that no unattended people are on the territory of the company. Warehouse: Mickael Tallon ahs 3 people under his supervision, their duties include packaging the goods for exports, delivering cargo and documents to the airport. Collecting cargo from the customers, delivering imported cargo to the customer, labeling the shipments with the referenced stickers. That is pretty much the structure of the KWE and the explanation of the different departments duties. 4.2 Internal influence on organization. Tangible assets:   these are the things which can be touched; we can also call it touchable: furniture, transport, equipment, it system. Furniture is the one of the assets KWE has which belongs strictly to the company as well as transport (Kintetsu Dublin owns one company car which is mainly used by the manager but it can be also used by any member of the staff unless they dont possess a full driving license), Also KWE owns a 20ft container truck which is used on the daily basis for collections and deliveries of the cargo. Equipment is a property owned by KWE, it includes copy machines, printers, fax machines, computers, a fork lift in the warehouse. IT system is another tangible asset the company owns. It belongs wholly to KWE and cannot be used by any other company. Intangible assets: The difference from the tangible assets is that intangible assets cannot be physically touched but it doesnt mean that its value is less than of those tangible ones. Intangible values of the KWE are: name, intellectual property. KWE name is a well known brand in the freight forwarding business circle. KWE is in the first ten biggest and known freight forwarding companies of the world. KWE has a good service reputation, and a good relationship with its customers built during many years with the help of the services provided.   Intellectual property is one of the strongest assets of KWE. Most of the people working for the company have many years of experience working in the business, which is supported by completing different courses from time to time, which gives staff the ability to be up to date with any innovations. Capabilities: It is the ability of the company, its staff to achieve the objectives, which lid to the achievement of the mission. What KWE capable is of: each department has an objective which is to gain as many customers as possible, and customers are money profit. But how strong are the capabilities of the company to achieve. What KWE are well capable for is to keep the existing customers, of course it gained a few new ones in the last period of time but only a few not because they are not capable to, because of the already mentioned economical crisis. Value chain analysis: Is one of the tools we can use to see the companys steps taken for creating the greatest possible value for its customers. It shows how the product of a company looks from its infinitive conditions and step by step it becomes a finished product which is a value for customers, who are ready to use it only in its final, result condition. In KWE it is the service they provide. But the customer is not interested and some of them dont even know what is used to provide the service they require. Value chain is a chain of procedures, and action taken which are applied in any organization. It includes: Inbound logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing and sales Service I would like to demonstrate this chain in a real example. I will describe a day of work dealing with a particular customer in exports department. Inbound Logistics: 1. 10 am a call received from a ones off customer by our sales department for an urgent shipment to Japan. Customer needs a quote. 2. Sales get the information required in order to proceed the quote. 3. Sales let know the air exports department about a potential shipment to Japan and the information about the goods, dimensions and weight in order for the exports department to book a collection. 4. If the shipment was going let say to Canada than sales would have to contact different airlines for a quote, but because KWE have a daily consol going to Narita and Osaka in Japan they know how much it will cost the company for that particular shipment. All sales do is add up collection fee different airline fees, security if applies VAT and give the customer an estimated time of arrival of the shipment to the final destination and the total price. If customer agrees to the price the first part is done. Customer cannot refuse to go ahead because of the ETA estimated time of arrival, because any other airline can give whether later arrival time or the same one, the choice here is not a major one. There are only 2 airlines flying directly to Japan from London, none from Dublin. The inbound logistics part is done. Operations: After shipments arrival into KWE warehouse it has to be repacked (usually put on a pallet and wrapped with plastic cover to avoid any loss of the boxes from the pallet or water damage and so on.) A sticker with correct ref number matching the reference on the documents has to be labeled to the box now the shipment is ready to be loaded on the truck to go the port and connect Ulysses vessel to London.   Outbound Logistics: It is the main process of the transportation. Next morning exports department have to ring Japan airlines in order to see if cargo managed to get to their warehouse for the cut off time to go on the plane. If so we can advice our customer, if requested, that the shipment is in London as scheduled and should arrive Osaka next morning. Marketing and Sales: As you can see the sales department did its job in the very start of this operation. And in this particular case all they can do is to send a thank you for using our company service and a kind of advertising to this new customer who may appear to be not just a once off one. Advertisement can include the information of thee services KWE provides and letting the customer know about different destinations and our availability anytime with mobile all the details included and company mobile numbers. Service: Is the final result. The cargo arrival to the final destination point. It is in time as promised. All safe without any damage, this is where the value to our product is added in the eyes of the customer. And trust me this customer will advice our services to its friend, and thats how KWE becomes a brand name. The main winning point for any business is TIME. A company cannot become famous in 1-2 months time from the moment it opened. 4.3 External influence on organization. Marketing Environment consists of the macro and micro-environment. The macro-environment includes large social forces that affect micro-environment, and usually cant be controlled by the company. It is an external structure which includes the following: Political Economical Opportunities and Threads Social PEST and Porter Five Forces Technology   Natural And micro-environment consists of forces that are under control of the company. Micro-environment influences the ability of the company in producing a required service to its customers. It is an internal structure which includes the following Suppliers Customers Company Strengths and Weaknesses Marketing intermediaries Publics PEST analysis. Quite often someone who starts a business doesnt realize how important environmental factors for an organization are. I mean the country a certain business will be started in. It is very important for a new business owner to understand and to be aware of the political, social, economical and technological factors of the country the business is going to work in. A PEST analysis is one of those tools that help to understand the external environment of the organization. P Political  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   S Social E Economical  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   T Technology Political factors Can have a direct impact on the way a company operates. This factor does not depend on internal work of the company. Only decisions made by government affect the operations. Political factors include such areas as: v What is government policy on the cargo transportation? v Labor Law  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   v Government Stability   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a)   There is a law referring to imported and exported goods in Ireland. This would include: goods imported or exported to or out of Ireland have to be customs cleared; all goods have to be declared on the paperwork, airway bills or bill of ladings. There is a law referring the goods for resale or personal effects goods. There is a law concerning import or export of medical goods and many other laws and regulations which strictly have to be obeyed by the transportation agents.    b) Labor law can influence a companys performance a lot. Ages ago people could work 24 hours a day and for very cheap pay, nowadays people cannot work more than 4 hours without a brake of 1 hour and no more than 8 hours a day. Total hours worked in a week should be no more than 40 hours. Min pay per hour has been implemented. During my employment in KWE I noticed that the rules and labor law regulations were followed as per law, every employee has been given a copy of the KWE handbook where everyone coul d see a detailed description of the companys policy and entitlements procedures     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   c) All the factors included above depend on how stable the government is. Any of the above can be easily changed due to government change or government instability. Government changes or coming of the new political parties can influence the organizations total figures. Business owners feel better to move the business to a country with growing economy rather than keep it in Ireland, where economy is down at present. Poland for example, labor is chea per, government taxes are lower. Transportation laws are softer. This follows with loss of clients for KWE. Economical Factors All types of organizations are affected by economical factors locally and globally. It doesnt matter if the economy is in a boom, recession or recovery all these affect consumer confidence and behavior. Economical factors affect the purchasing power of potential buyers. It also influences the internal and external economy. Economical factors include: v Exchange Rates v Economic downturn v The level of inflation v VAT rate a) Interest rates influence the company sometimes positively, but sometimes negatively. Because KWE deals with customers and agents all over the world, invoices the company gets are in different currencies, so the exchange rates which are in place of the payment day can influence the amount to be transferred for payment in foreign currency. Quite often payments are queried because of the exchange rate changing every day.   b) The present economical crisis negatively influences not only KWE but the general business structure of Ireland. People get redundant, companies lose experienced staff. A team which is used to perfectly fulfill its duties when everyone is in, looses the ability to do it in case of some people (not just one) of the team are not present. Performance of the companies is down, because not a full team works in the operations department. c) Level of inflation if it lows down than the customers are not very confident in using a service or buying a good. Social Factor: Social factor include the demographic changes of the country and of the world. KWE is a company who has offices all over the world so not only local demographics affect the business. These factors affect customers needs and size of potential markets. Information about demographical situation in Ireland can be found on the website: www.cso.ie . Social factors include: v How are views expressed? v Age v Career attitudes Technological factors. Technological factors are very important tools for an organization. Up to date technology can change the level of production, can improve peoples work performance and can change internal environment of an organization. Technological factor includes: v Impact of the internet v Software v Online Customs Clearance Internet is one of the most powerful technology inventions which were ever created. It helps people instantly send and receive information to and from agents, customers, suppliers and so on. Software- used in KWE for printing the documents for cargo and invoices was an old one, just before I left the company people started to be trained to use a new software which was easier to use, more friendly and could save time to staff because of the features and benefits it had and the old system didnt. Online Customs a few years ago I order to customs clear exported or imported goods the staff of the company were fill in all the customs declaration attach the documents for the shipment and physically go to the customs office and hand everything in. it was taking hours but sometimes days to customs clear the cargo. It was a problem for more people you can imagine: transportation agent, customer, customers customerand so on. After that an online system was brought to life to customs clear the goods. It saved people time increased the shipments, increased performance and increased the profits for customs office (which is regulated by the government), and for freight forwarding agents. From this analysis we can see how the PEST analysis can change the performance and may be predicting the near future of an organization even though a PEST as we know is an external factor which doesnt depend of the companys strategic. The most important of all four factors of PEST for KWE are the PET. We can see that technology had a huge impact on the company and freight forwarding business itself; economical factors like exchange rates have permanent influence different laws and regulation like the goods imported within EU are going under T1 status which means they dont need to be customs cleared and it eases the procedure and makes it cheaper as no customs charges apply. It was said that on tomorrows budget meeting 09-12-09 the government wants to bring the VAT up, which will hit the customers and KWE even more, negatively. It will work out better for companies to buy the goods they need across the border in England as the VAT is much lower there.   Porter Five Porters This model was invented by Michael E. Porter he wrote a book called Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Since then, people use this structure for analyzing a companys industry structure and its corporate strategy. Porter described five forces that shape every single industry and market. These forces help us to analyze everything from the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The structure below:   Threat of substitute. 1. The time is wrong (economy is low). Bad time for any industry to be started right now. 2. This type of industry might need a much bigger capital to start the company than a local shop for example. 3. A lot of companies producing the goods for exports move out of Ireland to cheaper countries in Europe or Asia. (Dell moved to Poland, Xilinx-who were one of the biggest customers of KWE for nearly 10 years, moved to Asia) Cheaper countries means: cheap labor, cheap government taxes, VAT on imported goods and so on. Threat of new entrants. 1. If we look to substitute service KWE is providing than rivalry is quite high. There tens of companies at present competing for business in freight forwarding domain who can offer better service or rates. Due to high number of competitors with the same strategies and a lot of them being the same size the mission of KWE and many other organization in that industry is to just stay in for the moment until things pick up. Power of Supplier. Suppliers just like KWE are not in a very strong position at present. KWE can chose from many different suppliers and negotiate the rates to KWEs advantage. From many years of working in Ireland KWE managed to set up accounts and to build a business relation with many different suppliers, so at present if they move from one to another it wont be a totally new one which means there will be no switching cost involved. Switching doesnt affect KWE it only affects   the airlines, trucking companies or feeder vessels. Power of buyer. This is exactly who is in a winning position at the moment. If we look at it, it can be whether KWE or their customers in this position. Customers now win as they buy cheap transportation of cargo worldwide. KWE wins as well as it buys cheap service from its supplier another side of it is that KWE have sell thing they for very cheap as well, so the profit they make at present is minimum. Competitive rivalry of freight forwarding business. Conclusion: from the point of view of new entrants into the business rivalry is minimum and from the point of view that customers may move to a substitute supplier, rivalry is maximum. Competitive rivalry is high for KWE at present. So we cannot say for definite now that there is someone in a winning position in the present economical crises. Product can be easily substituted, suppliers can be easily substituted, each of them buys cheap and sells cheap. The only definite winner is the final consumer like us who doesnt buy imported goods for resale. The prices in Ireland on different products decreased a lot. The only problem is that the final consumer doesnt have the ability to buy as the income of people is very low and even worse people lose their jobs. 4.4 Internal and External influence on organization SWOT analysis Strengths: v Staff v Name v Experience v Global coverage v Long term contracts with suppliers v Consolidation Weaknesses: v Price of Services v Large number of players v Staff v Overseas agents. Opportunities: v Funding v New Services v Staff training v Technology investments Threats: v Economy v Falling Sales v Cash Flow Internal analysis Strengths of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Staff is one of the most important strengths of the company. A well trained and experienced staff is companys biggest advantage. Name KWE is a well known, recognized name in freight forwarding business area. Companies who supply different types of goods worldwide are well familiar with KWE as a freight forwarding company. Experience Many years worked in freight forwarding area gives the company an advantage. Global Coverage KWE provides services into main and secondary destinations worldwide. It can deliver any type of goods into most cities in the world. Long terms contracts with suppliers gives KWE the opportunity to offer its customers competitive rates as the rates they have with their suppliers are based on long term relationship. Weaknesses of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Prices of Services Air freight for example, some competitors might have their own planes flying to different destinations worldwide (ex. DHL) of course no matter how low the rates are DHL offers to KWE they can steel offer cheaper transportation to the customers and KWEs rates are going to be higher in comparison.   Large number of players a lot of competitors in freight forwarding business quite a big number of which might offer better rates and bigger service Staff as well as staff can be a strength it can also be a weakness. Some workers are not very competent in doing their job; some are not team players which is very important in an organization. It gives birth to a weak operating performance. External analysis. Opportunities of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Funding Investments could help the company in present economical crisis to gain new customers. Example: Invest in companys transport; trucks 40 foot containers could help offer customers cheaper transportation charges on road freight. New Services could gain new customers or provide new business for existing customers. Threats of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Economy is one of the external factors of macro-environment. As said before it doesnt depend on the companys strategy. This is exactly what happens in the current economical environment, when economy negatively influences the business. People losing jobs, sales drop, annual profit targets fail to be reached and so on. Falling Sales this is also what is happening at present due to economical crisis. But it can also happen when economy rises, depending on the companys marketing management.   How good are the strategies of the company, and how efficient are they for the org

History Of Swimming :: essays research papers

Swimming Swimming is the act of moving through the water by using the arms, legs, and body in motions called strokes. The most common strokes are the crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and sidestroke. Some scientists believe that human beings are born with an instinctive ability to use their arms and legs to stay afloat. That instinct, however, disappears within a few months after birth. Later in life many children and adults learn to swim in order to be safe around the water, to have fun, and to participate in competition. Most people learn to swim by imitating others, most often their parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. Most youngsters in also take lessons at swim clubs, community centers, schools, and recreational facilities. In addition, the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) and the American Red Cross sponsor programs that teach children about water safety. Instructors teach students skills that will make them safe, efficient, and confident swimmers. Beginners first put their heads in the water and blow bubbles by exhaling. Gradually, students progress to floating, treading water, and ultimately, learning the techniques of the major strokes. Individuals should not swim in conditions that their ability and experience will not allow them to handle. For inexperienced recreational swimmers, many safety hazards exist, even in a pool. These hazards include misjudging a dive and hitting one's head on the bottom, holding one's breath too long, becoming exhausted, and experiencing sudden cramps while too far from shore or other swimmers. The history of swimming dates back thousands of years. One of the earliest representations of swimming is an ancient Egyptian wall relief that shows soldiers of Pharaoh Ramses II. Swimming was very important in ancient Greece and Rome, especially as a form of training for warriors. In Japan, competitions were held as early as the 1st century BC. In Europe, swimming was less popular during the Middle Ages, swimming didn’t pick up until the 19th century. In the late 19th century amateur swimming clubs began conducting competitions in the United States and Britain. In the United States, colleges and universities such as Yale University, Indiana University, and the University of Southern California played an important role in spreading interest in swimming as a competitive sport. In 1875 Matthew Webb of Great Britain became the first person to swim across the English Channel.

We Are Heading To An Apocalypse Of Our Own Creation :: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Mankind has walked the earth for around seven million years and we have the potential to achieve greatness. Throughout history we have left our boundaries, fought diseases and plagues and studied ourselves, however most of the evidence from these studies have led to the conclusion of no future for man kind what so ever, if we continue on our current course. On July the 16th 1945, in a remote part of the New Mexico desert, the most terrifying device in human history was used for the first time. The first atomic bomb was detonated. On that day mankind finally took the apocalypse out of the hand of God and put it in their own, they gave so much power to so few that a war could be ended in seconds. This is the first and most powerful indication that mankind will destroy itself if we do not â€Å"keep track.† What stops a leader in Washington from launching a weapon of mass destruction against his enemies? The answer is simple in theory, however the repercussions of the implications made are so complex that they dare not be pondered by man. M.A.D. or Mutually Assured Destruction. That leader can be assured that if he launches a weapon against another country, that country, or it’s allies, will launch back. We have created weapons that are so terrifying that we are afraid to use them. They can end war, yet if instituted, will destroy man kind, leaving us in a â€Å"Catch 22† situation. We are the only species on earth that seeks to destroy itself. The human brain is the only brain on earth that is capable of studying itself. It has become so efficient, so as to study, how it can study itself. However we are the only species incapable of seeing how dangerous we are to ourselves. For example, two rhinos when attacking each other will run head on in the least dangerous manner, if that same rhino encounters any other species that it finds threatening, it will run for the sides of the animal to gore and kill that animal. It will protect is species by not harming it. We, on the other hand, intentionally try to destroy our species. We train men like soldiers to kill their fellow man, and yet are disgusted at murderers, and war for that mater. We have even gone so far has to employ colossal institutions who’s We Are Heading To An Apocalypse Of Our Own Creation :: Weapons of Mass Destruction Mankind has walked the earth for around seven million years and we have the potential to achieve greatness. Throughout history we have left our boundaries, fought diseases and plagues and studied ourselves, however most of the evidence from these studies have led to the conclusion of no future for man kind what so ever, if we continue on our current course. On July the 16th 1945, in a remote part of the New Mexico desert, the most terrifying device in human history was used for the first time. The first atomic bomb was detonated. On that day mankind finally took the apocalypse out of the hand of God and put it in their own, they gave so much power to so few that a war could be ended in seconds. This is the first and most powerful indication that mankind will destroy itself if we do not â€Å"keep track.† What stops a leader in Washington from launching a weapon of mass destruction against his enemies? The answer is simple in theory, however the repercussions of the implications made are so complex that they dare not be pondered by man. M.A.D. or Mutually Assured Destruction. That leader can be assured that if he launches a weapon against another country, that country, or it’s allies, will launch back. We have created weapons that are so terrifying that we are afraid to use them. They can end war, yet if instituted, will destroy man kind, leaving us in a â€Å"Catch 22† situation. We are the only species on earth that seeks to destroy itself. The human brain is the only brain on earth that is capable of studying itself. It has become so efficient, so as to study, how it can study itself. However we are the only species incapable of seeing how dangerous we are to ourselves. For example, two rhinos when attacking each other will run head on in the least dangerous manner, if that same rhino encounters any other species that it finds threatening, it will run for the sides of the animal to gore and kill that animal. It will protect is species by not harming it. We, on the other hand, intentionally try to destroy our species. We train men like soldiers to kill their fellow man, and yet are disgusted at murderers, and war for that mater. We have even gone so far has to employ colossal institutions who’s