Hamlet’s Construction of Sanity Essay

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet many characters appear to suffer from what appears to be mental instability, most notably Hamlet, Ophelia, and Gertrude. The apparent â€Å"madness† of these characters develops and drives the plot, which results in the play’s tragic ending. It is the reader’s responsibility to decipher which characters are actually mentally ill and which are merely pretending. Furthermore, it is important to keep track of which characters believe other characters are mentally ill. The most important of these is Gertrude, Polonius, and King Claudius’ belief that Hamlet is mad. Gertrude’s suspicion is confirmed by Hamlet’s slaying of Polonius and then shortly after his discussion with the ghost of King Hamlet, whom his mother cannot see. Shortly after the ghost leaves, Hamlet tells his mother, â€Å"No, in despite of sense and secrecy,/Unpeg the basket on the house’s top. /Let the birds fly, and like the famous ape,/To try conclusions, in the basket creep/And break your own neck down† (III. IV. 196-200). In this passage Hamlet instructs his mother to tell King Claudius what has happened. When Claudius discovers the apparent madness of Hamlet this begins a large series of events that leads to the death of all of the main characters. The above passage uses a simile, personification, and a pun to draw the reader’s attention to its importance. The most noteworthy of the figurative language comes in this line, â€Å"Unpeg the basket on the house’s top† (III. IV. 197). The line instructs Gertrude to reveal to Claudius the events that just transpired. However, to â€Å"unpeg† â€Å"the houses top† is a pun, which refers to tricking Claudius (the houses top) into believing that Hamlet is indeed insane. This line is followed by a simile: â€Å"Let the birds fly, and like the famous ape/To try conclusions, in the basket creep† (III. IV. 198-199). According to the footnotes, the story of the famous ape is no longer known, so it is impossible to understand the allusion and what comparison Shakespeare is trying to make. However, it is presumed that the audience of the day would understand the reference. For modern reading it simply shows the reader it is an important passage because of the use of figurative language. In addition, it is important to notice the use of the word â€Å"basket† in this passage. The line, â€Å"Unpeg the basket on the house’s top† (III. IV. 197) appears to be a saying similar to â€Å"letting the cat out of the bag† i. e. revealing a secret or telling Claudius what happened. Moreover, the second use of basket seems to refer to Claudius’s mind or head. This strengthens the pun uses earlier in the â€Å"houses top† by referring to what Claudius is thinking, or should think about Hamlet. The above quote sets up a huge piece of dramatic irony in the play. The audience is aware that Hamlet is not truly insane because they have seen the ghost and understand Hamlet’s intentions. However, Gertrude and Claudius are unaware of this and merely think that Hamlet has gone mad. This prompts Claudius to banish Hamlet and ask the King of England to execute Hamlet upon his arrival in England. Upon Hamlet’s return to Denmark the king makes new plans to kill Hamlet, which results in the deaths of Gertrude, Claudius, Hamlet, and Laertes. The use of figurative language in the above passage helps to drive the dramatic irony in the play. Hamlet wants his uncle, King Claudius to believe he is mad. The line, â€Å"To try conclusions, in the basket creep† (III. IV. 199) refers to Hamlet’s desire to trick Claudius into thinking he is mad. Hamlet wants Claudius to come to the conclusion the Hamlet is insane, although he really is not, so Hamlet can achieve his revenge. This passage is extremely important to the action of the play. These lines set up the action for the rest of the play and incite Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, and Laertes to take action in some way or another. It is here that Shakespeare begins to set up for the dramatic denouement where all the main characters die. The actions of Hamlet coupled with the dramatic irony that Shakespeare is establishing make these lines extremely important to the outcome of the play. Shakespeare’s use of figurative language here draws the reader’s attention to the importance of these lines.

Cross-Cultural Perspectives Essay

The Coca Cola Company, the world’s largest multinational beverage manufacturer and corporation, operates bottling plants and sells its products in more than 200 countries across the globe (The Coca Cola Company, 2014). Coca Cola’s massive global presence requires the organization to understand the different cultures of its many host countries; the laws within each country; and the business norms, styles, as well as practices of each country it conducts business operations in. The company has developed and implemented numerous policies, regulations, and guidelines for its suppliers, operation management, and employees in its various host countries. But, all of this detailed undertaking to address transparencies in the corporation’s supply chains throughout the world did not stop its El Salvadoran bottling and manufacturing plant’s management from purchasing refined sugar from a mill which used child labor. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), up to one third of the workers on El Salvador’s sugarcane plantations are under the age of 18, with many starting to work in the fields between the ages of eight and eleven (HRW, 2004). Even though, the national and international child labor authorities prohibit minors under the age of 18 from performing hazardous or harmful work, plantation owners define these young children and teenagers who work with their parents as â€Å"helpers† instead of the workers they actually are (Veracity, 2006). The above paragraph represents one of the many cross-cultural issues facing Coca Cola and the myriad of other multinational organizations interactions outside the United States. In these various host countries having your children working beside you is considered common cultural practices; it provides additional income for the family’s survival because the poor state of many of their country’s economy (such as El Salvador) allows these injustices to continue. Regardless, of why these children are working in the sugarcane fields, and the fact that Coca Cola does not actually purchase its  refined sugar directly from the plantations, the company is in direct violation of its own â€Å"Guiding Principles for Suppliers to Coca Cola Company† policy. The policy states that, â€Å"Suppliers will not use child labor as defined by local law,† but Coca Cola fails to extend this policy one step further in the supply chain to include the supplier’s supplier of raw material (Veracity, 2006). So, in the long-term means that the organization is just as socially and ethically responsible for the use of child labor as well as the harm working in the field create as the suppliers and the plantation owners. The Coca Cola formula was invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia; and the formula as well as the brand was purchased in 1889 by Asa Griggs Chandler who incorporated The Coca Cola Company in 1892 (The Coca Cola Company, 2014). Throughout its many years of operations the business always demonstrated strong market orientation; exhibited strategic decision making processes; and took actions to attract, satisfy, and retain customers. All of these positive actions have just added to company’ s advantage and profitability over competitors in the beverage industry, which is why they are number one in the world. Nevertheless, as the organization began to expand its operations into more and more host countries around the globe it has been involve with quite a number of misconduct and questionable unethical behavior. As a result, these legal and ethical problems have had an impact on the corporation’s financial performances, investor trust, and reduced its sales levels. Today’s Coca Cola Company is now engaging in an operation to rebuild its brand image and credibility, improve its sells, and reinforce its reputation by developing and implementing stronger company ethical and social responsibility throughout its entire global marketplace (The Coca Cola Company, 2014). There have been a number of events other than child labor in El Salvador where Coca Cola has been involved and held accountable in unethical behavior. In Colombia, Turkey, and Guatemala bottling plants the company has been accused of hiring paramilitary mercenaries to assassinate, torture, and coerce workers, their family members, and union leaders as they attempted to unionize to protect workers from unfair treatment and abuse by the host countries’ employers. These incidents sparked an campaign entitled, â€Å"Stop Killer Coke†, and a 2009 PBS documentary filmed by German Gutierezz and Carmen Garcia entitled, â€Å"The Coca-Cola Case†Ã‚  to reveal the company’s practices to consumers around the world (Huff, E. A., 2010). Of course, Coca Cola denied the allegations against the company and its bottling partners, where cleared of any wrong doing in the foreign courts. When the case was brought to the United States, Coca Cola fought and succeeded in having its name removed from the lawsuit (Huff, E. A., 2010). Another ethical and social responsibility issue the company encountered, actually there are two environmental issues concerning the depletion of groundwater and polluting of water in India. Coca Cola operates 52 water intensive bottling plants in India using 3.8 liters of freshwater to generate a liter of carbonated drink. While in the Southern Indian village of Plachimada in Kerala state groundwater along with loca l wells dried up forcing residents to rely on water supplies trucked in daily by the government due to persistent droughts, and the company’s bottling plants. In the rural Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where farming is the primary industry the residents have been experiencing similar conditions, only the government is not supplying enough water for the crops. As a result of the groundwater depletion situations the business is not only responsible for the loss of livelihood and hunger for the many citizens across India, but the creation of thirst. In 2003, the other issues of polluted water were discovered near the Kerala and Uttar Pradesh bottling plants. Sludge containing high levels of cadmium, lead, and chromium was given to farmers as free fertilizer to tribal farmers who lived near the plants, but the need for fresh water was overlooked by Coca Cola. As a side note, an Indian nonprofit group tested 57 carbonated beverages made by both Coca Cola and Pepsi at 25 bottling plants were found to be contaminated with between three and five different pesticides (The Corporation, 2009). Although, the organization denied creating the problems, the Indian government ordered Coca Cola to shut down one of its $25 million plants. The organization then thought long and hard about its corporate social responsibility (and lost revenue); and decided to improve their business practices in the local communities, reduced the water usage by 34%, started rainwater harvesting, and returned substantial amounts of water to depleted aquifers. They also stopped distributing sludge, joined with the Indian government to develop additional solid waste disposal sites, and began treating the water used to make soft drinks with activated carbon filtration (The Corporation, 2009). Coca Cola conducted all of these improvements to regain the trust of the local communities and the Indian government. But, my question would be, why not practice these ethical and corporate responsibility policies from the beginning? As more and more organizations are utilizing the opportunity of transitioning into multinational operations, they will have to research how business is conducted, the local laws, as well as the government policies and operation methods of every host country they wish to operate in. Then they will have to incorporate and implement all of their ethical and corporate social responsibility they employ in their home country universally throughout the entire business operation. Creating a unified culture that will adhere to a high level of business behavior in all global operations, respecting all of the local workforces’ cultures and traditions, and eliminating the use of any unethical values or behaviors from home and abroad. References Huff, E. A. (2010, May, 22). Coca Cola’s Murderous Record of Anti-Union Activity Exposed Retrieved from http://www.naturalnews.com/028844_coca-cola_html. The Coca Cola Company (2014). Retrieved from http://www.coca-colacompany.com/our-company. The Corporation (2009). Ethical Issues Concerning Coca-Cola in India. Retrieved from http://imaginecorporation.blogspot.com/ethical-issues-concerning-cocacola-in.html Veracity, D. (2006). Coca-Cola, Human Rights and Child Labor Retrieved from http://www.naturalmatters.net/article.asp?article=1301&cat=219

International Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Business Strategy - Essay Example Wal-Mart is known to be slow in internationalization. It has been flopped in Germany already. Its endeavour into India is full of strategic risks. 2. Wal-Mart has entered into India with a 50-50 partnership with Bhartia, a legendry retail brand. This has minimized Wal-Mart’s own business freedom. 3. Government policies in India have not allowed Wal-Mart to use its brand name and logos. It is a mere back-end supporter, not a retailing brand there. Thus, Wal-Mart is facing a great and risky business challenge in India. It has to be careful enough not to deviate from cultural regulations and norms as it is already facing reservations from patriotic political parties and local retailers being only foreign. Any more deviation might repeat what happened in Germany. To be successful, Wal-Mart has to merge into the national culture so as not to present the image of an alien to the Indian clientele. Introduction Wal-Mart is a U.S based Multinational Corporation, which operates chains o f warehouse stores and discount departmental stores in the U.S and 15 other countries. The company is listed on the NYSE, and is reported to be the world’s largest public corporation by revenue (Forbes Global 2000 as cited in Hayden et al, 2002). Wal-Mart has 8500 stores in 15 countries and has been mostly successful in its venture into the global market. Once asked if Wal-Mart was trying to take over the world, the reply from one of the senior heads from Wal-Mart, with a smile on his face was, â€Å"I don't think so, and all we want to do is grow†. This has been evident from the aggressive growth and expansion strategy adopted by Wal-Mart both within and outside the U.S. It has been expanding with massive momentum, with the strategy of â€Å"Always Low Prices Always† and has taken over the retail industry in many countries. However, it has stumbled in its smooth expansion in countries like Germany, where Wal-Mart became a text book case of â€Å"how not to ent er a foreign market† (Peng, 2009). The success of Wal-Mart in its home country, and a variety of other markets like Argentina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico and Puerto Rico do not seem to have translated into the German market and therefore, Wal-Mart’s expansion plans must be carefully evaluated before giving them a green signal. Wal-Mart knows that venture into India will not be an easy feat because of the market dynamics. Analysis of Wal-Mart Business Strategies To understand Wal-Mart’s position in international business, an analysis of its internationalization, entry and corporate strategies is must. This analysis is as follows: Firm Motivations for Internationalization Internationalization has always been a risky move. Wal-Mart’s failure in Germany or its initial struggle in Mexico clearly indicates that expansion abroad should be carefully evaluated to see whether going abroad is warranted. Source: Global strategy by Mike Peng Wal-Mart falls in cell 3 and may be termed as slow as it internationalizes. The company is still in exploring locations in U.S. In 2010, it opened about 600 international stores, while only about 150 in U.S. However, its pace of internalization is slower than some of its competitors, like Carrefour in France, or Metro in Germany. According to John B. Menzer, Wal-Mart India’

Managing Change at an Unstable Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Managing Change at an Unstable Company - Essay Example Introduction Change refers to transition from a condition to another. Organizational can either be positive or negative to different or all parties in an organization. Managing such changes, especially adverse changes, are important in defining an organization’s progress. This paper explores a case scenario to determine possible initiatives for managing adverse changes in an organization. The paper reports on different approaches that the organization’s leaders must adopt to rescue the unstable company. Summary of the company’s case The organization that has been financially disadvantaged has undergone numerous challenges in the past one and a half years. These include high employee turnover rate, inability to update the company’s software for application in the Information and Technology systems, and stressed up employees who lack motivation. Even though the company’s top management has developed a strategy for reorganizing the company’s job s and responsibilities, each moment of imminent implementation of the strategy is impaired by employee turnover. A more comprehensive approach, based on an understanding of organizational behavior, is therefore necessary for a successful implementation of the strategy towards the company’s rescue. ... This is because such an organization is in dire need of a developmental phase to spearhead its recovery. The skills can for example motivate positive change even in instances where developmental initiatives have not been identified. One of the fundamental skills in development processes is an in depth knowledge of the processes and behavior in the subject organization. This has the advantage of facilitating effective strategies that can successfully spearhead developmental change. Listening and communications skills are also fundamental in development processes that involve coordination of different personnel and activities. Similarly, skills in research and statistical analysis are critical for monitoring and evaluation of change. The skills allow for identification of underlying problems for policy development, determination of progress made in development processes, and control of implementation of change strategies. Identification and implementation of the skills in the organizat ion will facilitate knowledge development in the company’s core problem and a subsequent management towards implementation of a selected policy (Brown, 2005). Short and long-term strategies The company also needs to develop strategies for its developmental strategies. Elements of capacity based theory of change processes; dynamism, learning, and personnel based strategies facilitate development. From this perspective, the company can develop short-term strategies such as employee motivation with the aim of controlling employee turnover during a planned reorganization initiative. Similarly, short term training to promote dynamism among existing employees, prior to a planned reorganization initiative, is essential in facilitating employee’s reception of change. This is

Louis Armstrong Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Louis Armstrong - Research Paper Example Louis Armstrong was born on August fourth 1994 in the New Orleans state. He was born from a poor background in Battlefield a place in New Orleans although he became the most the most influential artist on that time in the history of music. Louis Armstrong bought himself his first horn and he learned playing cornet when he was 13 years old. At the age of 11 years he was sent to juvenile prison for firing a gun during the eve of New Year. He was a hardworking and helped his mother and sister to sing for coins in the streets in the night. Louis Armstrong was released from the juvenile prison and he joined certain artist and band in the street club so that he could support himself as a musician. Louis Armstrong worked with his mentor Joe who was referred as King Oliver. King Oliver was a popular musician in New Orleans together with Jelly Roll Morton. In 1922 Louis Armstrong moved to Chicago and joined Creole Jazz Band. They took Chicago by storm with his remarkable fiery and dazzling two-cornet. Louis Armstrong began dating a fellow band pianist and they ma rried in 1924 (Riggs 17). Louis Armstrong was born in a poor background in the New Orleans. The most popular instrument used was the cornet or trumpet, the clarinet, and trombone that provided a bass (Riggs 18). These instruments together with the drums and pianos provided the rhythm for jazz music. Jazz music was an interracial genre that every person could here. Both the blacks, Italians and whites played jazz. From where Louis was born, ethnicity provided an opportunity that improved partying Louis Armstrong made contribution in jazz singing. His singing was unique and some of his recording was cited as the birth of scat-singing. He also exerted more influence on the early jazz vocal styles. Louis singing and phrasing as a musician was incorporated with syncopations of jazz and stood out for balance between sentimental toughness and roughness of jazz music. Louis Armstrong

Rwanda genocide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rwanda genocide - Essay Example Concerned countries of the world have often refused to act in time to stop these events even though ample signs of trouble were apparent. Racial superiority has traditionally been an issue for various countries, at one point or another in their history, but none worse than that displayed by the Tutsis over the Hutus in Rwanda Feelings of hatred have been translated into outright acts of violence against those viewed as inferior, and this, at times, prompted retaliation against their oppressors as in the case of Rwanda. â€Å"Rwandan genocide took place between April and June 1994. During this tragic period of 3 months, some 800,000 Rwandans died, the majority was ethnically Tutsis, murdered by their rival countrymen, the Hutus† (Le, 2004). The Rwanda genocide was spread out over the span of three months. Hutu uprising against their fellow citizens was triggered when Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu and the then Rwandan president, was killed in a rocket attack at his plane near Kigali airport, on 6 April 1994 (Le, 2004). Tutsi leader, Paul Kagame (the current Rwandan President, but then, the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front) was blamed for the attack and death of the president (Le, 2004). This was denied by Kagame, who blamed the attack on Hutu extremists. Nevertheless, within a few hours of the at tack, violence broke out all over the country; and such violence would not wane for three months after the assassination of Habyarimana (Martin, 2003). By then, nearly one million Rwandans had lost their lives. Media is one of the strong tools and starting point of the progression that led to genocide. â€Å"Radio was extensively utilized as the support medium for sowing the seeds of deep hatred against the Hutus in the penultimate stage, by projecting them indiscriminately as liars, thieves and killers† (Assah, 1994). Hutus, as a race, was thus subjected to intense stigmatization; their eventual annihilation as the only

Globalization and its effects on world business Essay

Globalization and its effects on world business - Essay Example Globalization is the world-wide interconnectedness between nations induced by a process where basic socioeconomic arrangements like markets, culture, politics, values and norms become dis-embedded from their spatial context as a result of massification, diffusion and expansion of transnational flows of people, information, products and finances. Globalization poses a problem to American workers as more American firms undertake trading initiatives with low-wage developing countries. Several American firms outsource their production process or lower wages and benefits for their employees. I am in favour of globalization as much of what Americans consume is produced abroad, and an equally large amount of American products are exported. An open integrated world economy provides economies of scale; when different countries specialize in different segments of the production chain, trade enhances the economic output locally and abroad boosting living standards (Parker 346). Competition emanating from economic integration makes the US economy more efficient and productive as global markets give consumers more choices helping to reduce the cost of goods and services. This helps keep inflation in check. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, integration of the global economy generates an economic gain of between $500 billion and $1 trillion to the US economy each year (Parker 346). Global economic integration accompanied by rapid technological advancement has had negative effects on some sections of the economy. For some businessmen, these developments have been accompanied by stress and anxiety as new competitors arise and compete for market share.

Activities of KKD in the International Market Essay

Activities of KKD in the International Market - Essay Example The paper tells that Krispey Kreme stores are located in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, The Philippines, South Korea and United Kingdom. In fiscal 2007, 60 new international stores were opened, while 5 international stores were closed down. Krispey Kreme concentrates on their development effort, primarily in Asia and Middle East. In 2007, The Krispey Kreme was awarded the development rights in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Tokyo, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The developments and franchise agreements for these territories provide for the development of in these regions 200 stores. The International Franchise division consists of the company’s global store franchise activities. Worldwide franchise stores trade in doughnuts and complementary products, exclusively through the appropriate sales channel as in the case of Krespey Kreme direct outlets, using the same store formats as in the company stores segment. The International Franchise division also uses a kiosk format for the effective operation. The North Carolina-based Krispy Kreme has come to Asia. The KKD opened its first shop in Hong Kong and then in Indonesia. Tokyo, Manila and Macau outlets were opened as they expanded their business in Asia. For the other part of the continent, KKD opened outlets in Kuwait; with an eye on is setting up this fall in Kuwait with additional shops planned for the Saudi Arabia, Egypt and United Arab Emirates. Hong Kong and other Asian countries are relatively easier targets now, than it were it were a few years ago. External Environment of Krispey Kreme: In the US market, Krispy Kreme faces completion in baking industry. Krispey Kreme production includes breads, pies, doughnuts, cakes and coffee. The competition is exceedingly high and so firms must be able to provide cheap, differentiated products to the purchaser who needs them for low switching costs. In America, the people are busy and they always go for the fast food which makes t hem fatty and diabetic. Now the people are aware of this problem, and they are choosy in food as well as taste. In international market, the Dunkin’s Donuts is the main competitor for the Krispey Kreme donuts because it offers or similar lines products to the customers. The Dunkin’s donuts have a reputation in international market as they only introduced the first zero gram fatty products for the customers. The Asian franchises sell doughnuts only at their outlets aiming at monopoly. KKD’s business in the United States actually concentrates on wholesale business. Krispy Kreme has appended its base in the US by supplementing them with other items, in supermarkets and convenience stores. The Challenges: 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competitive: KrispyKreme functions in the area of expertise eatery business; on the other hand they compete with all outlets that a customer can access with the intention of satisfying usage for snacks, coffee, or treat-based objects. These o utlets consist of other area of expertise eateries, fast food outlets, local expediency stores, and other retail atmospheres that store coffee and other beverages. With regard to their core merchandise, Krispy Kreme also has to compete with unbranded doughnut producers that are sold through supermarkets and doughnut vans. 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economic/Financial: The continued financial recession is destined to tighten customer’s expenditure. As Krispy Kreme is a non-necessary food article this may pressure sales. Price rises is not the target of Bank of England as there is upward stress on long-term rates of interest all over UK. An increase in interest rates will enhance the price of capital and denote more luxurious borrowing for Krispy Kreme, which is deeply engaged in competition with its rivals. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Physical Environment: Due to the increase in rivalry, it is vital for Krispy Kreme to pursue the real trends and be a step

View of the World Essay Example for Free

View of the World Essay The fact that more and more people have been holding a cynical view of today’s world can be explained by their deep disillusion with the existing social order, conventions, and values. To some extent, by embracing cynicism those people try to psychologically protect themselves against injustices and unpleasantness of this world. Contemporary cynics refuse to believe in the noble values promoted by modern society as they have plenty of bitter evidence attesting that those values are usually empty words and beliefs while most people do things only for their own advantage. Instead of concentrating on what today’s world should be, cynics accept it as it is now and try to adapt themselves to its realities. Cynics justify their position by the fact that they do not want to be victims of self-deception and disappointment as it often happens, for example, to idealists or optimists. If the latter believe in this world’s good virtues and ideals and have positive expectations from it, cynics know that such expectations often turn into disappointment, dissatisfaction, and sufferings. Today’s world is far from being perfect, cynics emphasize, and it is wrong and even harmful to expect something good from it. What disillusion is for others, it is reality for cynics, and in this philosophy they simply seek self-protection (Bayan). Apart from moral and psychological protection against today’s imperfect world, cynics also see certain important practical advantages resulting from their doctrine. Idealists and optimists expect success from whatever they do while cynics do not exclude failure and, therefore, work harder in order to reduce the possible negative effects of their failure. This approach motivates them to be more careful and attentive, and calculate everything they do to the last detail. And, unlike idealists and optimists, cynics are prepared to deal with their failure when it occurs, since they anticipated it from the very beginning. However, it often happens that their anticipation of failure and hard work unexpectedly turn out to be success, or at least their failure is far from being as serious as they expected it to be. And for cynics, this is another proof that their doctrine does not only insulate them against today’s world’s imperfection, but also occasionally contributes to their success (Nussbaum, 2009). References Bayan, R. Positive Cynicism. Retrieved February 20, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www. i-cynic. com/positive. asp Nussbaum, N. (2009, February 10). Glass Half Empty. The Cornwell Daily Sun on the web. Retrieved February 20, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://cornellsun. com/node/34901

Management by exception Essay Example for Free

Management by exception Essay With the release of the new budget for year 9 from Competition Bikes, there are a couple of areas that are a concern that warrant being addressed. The first being the prediction of amount of bikes to be sold; Competition Bikes is expecting 3,510 units to be sold after a year 8 that sold only 3,400 units which was a 15% drop in sales from the year prior (which sold approximately 4,000 units) with zero drop in price point which may make it harder for customers to justify purchasing a bike in the current economy. Understandably, year 8 was in the middle of a recession and the economy could rebound for a productive year 9. However, with only an extra $984 being spent on advertisement, the expectations could fall short unless advertisement spending is increased to approximately the $2,000 range it was in year 7. Competition Bikes is putting themselves at risk for over ordering raw materials and a surplus of raw materials only takes up more storage space, which leads to extra money being spent for storage. There is also an issue with General and Administration Expenses. General and Admin expenses is the same amount as it was in year 8 ($170,000). However, in year 7, Competition Bikes spent $12,000 less and sold 600 more units then it did in year 8. Year 7 was proof that Competition Bikes has the ability to produce and sell a successful amount of bikes without having an extremely high operational cost. That extra $12,000 could be spread into other aspects such as: advertising, factory maintenance and even bonuses. 2. A flexible budget is a budget that adjusts or flexes for changes in the volume of activity† (Averkamp, 2013). A flexible budget is more useful than a static budget because it is based on actual output. The difference between an actual output and a budgeted amount is known as a variance. When the amount of the actual result is higher than budgeted, it is considered favorable, whereas when the budgeted amount turns out higher is unfavorable. Within the Competition Bikes flexible budget there are a few favorable variances, the first one of note being within Net Sales. The company had a budget of $5,247,250, with the flexible budget being $5,117,385, however the  final numbers were $5,096,847, which gives the company an unfavorable variance of -$130,065. Total Variable Cost however was a favorable expense. With a planned budget of $3,967,962 and a flexible budget of $3,869,612 the actual output was $3,805,400 the favorable variance came out to $98,349. Contribution margin was also an unfavorable variance (-$31,716). Advertising Expenses went over cost for an unfavorable variance of $3,754 from a standard budget of $28,412 and a flexible budget of $27,708. The extra money spent towards advertising may have been to help boost extra sales towards the end of the year. Transportation Out also went over its budget for an unfavorable variance by $5,607. However, there is more to the Transportation Out than what the budget says. The price of shipment is supposed to be $30 per unit and with 87 less units sold; there should be an extra $2,610 in the budget. This requires extra investigation. 2A. In terms of corrective action, the best course is to focus on where the points where there were unfavorable variances. A key point to that would be to also create realistic predictions of sales and budget. By predicting a high sales goal (one that exceeds the amount of units sold the year prior), Competition Bikes is potentially setting itself up for another down year. To prevent another unfavorable variance in Net Sales, which was affected by the unfavorable Actual Output of Units Sold. Although the projection output was missed by only 87 units, that totaled out to $130,065. It would behoove Competition Bikes to create realistic predictions (as stated above). Another idea would to be to examine the sales process. Compare and contrast what strategies were compared between the successful year 7 and the down year 8 to determine if any changes took place in the sales process and development. Competition Bikes should not have been as aggressive as they were following a down year. An improved variance here could also directly affect the Contribution Margin and Operating Income, which both were unfavorable. Advertising Expenses should be increased to the level of year 7. Competition Bikes lowered their budget for advertising but yet ended up spending more  anyway. With the economy still in a rut, the chances of hitting a high prediction is slim, especially with low advertising. Since fewer sponsors are using the products from Competition Bikes, it would be wise to advertise to a different market of users (i.e. college students, those who live in traffic congested cities (New York), bike cops, etc). Meanwhile, the transportation unfavorable variance could be fixed by determining what the additional costs were. Since the transportation cost per units is $30, with sales prediction 87 less than projected, that is $2,610 that could have put transportation costs into favorable. The additional costs could be because of rising fuel prices, toll roads, raises for drivers, etc. Many avenues have to be explored in the future to save money on transportation (renegotiate contracts, new source of transportation, new transportation company, etc.) 2B. â€Å"Management by exception is the practice of examining the financial and operational results of a business, and only bringing issues to the attention of management if results represent substantial differences from the budgeted or expected amount† (Steven Bragg, 2014). This practice can be effective as it leaves upper management with more serious issues. By utilizing accurate and up-to-date information, management can keep the budget on track and consistent with what was forecasted. One main target for Management By Exception is net sales. Breaking down the yearly goals into weekly or monthly targets will allow the company to better breakdown the trends and identify areas of need and growth. By monitoring the trend of sales, management can initiate discussions on how to improve sales and how to keep up with demand if sales are higher than expected. Competition Bikes would be wise to make start/restart contract negotiations to maintain consistent material and labor costs. Spending variance on materials was favorable but labor was unfavorable. If the price of the materials or labor increase substantially overtime, the budget could become more expensive, costing the company more money. Works Cited Averkamp, Harold. What is a flexible budget?. Learn Accounting Online for Free. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . Bragg, Steven. What is management by exception? Questions Answers AccountingTools. What is management by exception? Questions Answers AccountingTools. N.p., 5 June 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. .

Online Shoe Company Business Strategy

Online Shoe Company Business Strategy INTRODUCTION The business strategy game is an online, PC-Based game in which you run the world wide athletic footwear market in confronting each other competition against other markets companies run by different group of students into different industry. But this paper only focus on the industry 10 where 12 different companies named Air Nike, Dolce and Banana, IMF vs WTO, Fabulous Foots, Galpha, BAD BOYZ III, Legs supreme, CHU WUB CHU WUB, KVincci, , E-XIE, HA-N Ltd., and Just walk are included. In my industry BAD BOYZ III includes five members (Virayudh Baram, Saif Ur Rehman, Ying Zhao, Maliha Hasin and Imran Shahzad) are responsible for managing all aspects of the companys operation. Every company tried to use their best technique and execute well planned strategies for their company specially considering against the strategies of competitor companies, delivers good bottom-line results (Net Revenue, Earning per share (EPS), the return on equity (ROE), stock price, credit rating and image rating ) and builds shareholder value. This paper is divided in three main sections. First section describe the strategy adopted by BAD BOYZ III Company with the help of Michael Porter â€Å"Five Forces† theory, second section describes the external analysis of company using PESTLE analysis and at end the BAD BOYZ III company analysis from year 11 to year 17 will be discussed with each year progress diagrams shown in Appendix. BUSINESS STRATEGY IMPORTANCE The business strategy game is real time practice business environment. In this game our role is as Manager who responsible to use productive and efficient strategies for company production and profit. In strategic management the role and effect of top managers on company performance and importance of this relationship how may be affected by companys strategy is always recognize as critical issues (Hambrick and Mason (1984), Gupta and Govindarajan (1984), Gunz and Jalland (1996)). Business strategy is influenced by top management team of any firm (Hambrick and Mason, 1984). MICHAEL PORTER (1985) BASIC STRATEGY MODEL Michael Porter (1985) describes market Industry constitution and arrangement within the market is key factor for establishment of competitive strategy. Competitive advantages of any company against other competitors can be described by the â€Å"Five Forces† diagram shows the main idea of Porters theory of competitive advantage. This theory helps companies to know about the rules and regulation of competition in market. Porter argues, The ultimate aim of competitive strategy is to cope with and, ideally, to change those rules in the firms behavior (1985, p. 4).† According to Porter five forces find out company prosperity and profitability. Micheal Porter (1985) five forces are given below: Threat of substitutes Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Competition among existing companies Porters 5 Forces Elements of Industry Structure In strategy implementation, competitive advantages, utilizing new production, new inputs for Foot Wear industry Porters Value Chain and Activity Mapping ideas give us useful information to applying these all activities. The value chain activities help BAD BOYZ III Company for examining all activities related to company performance and interaction such as (e.g. development, marketing, sales, operations, etc.) as a potential source of advantage. In year 12 company situation was little bit down and we were losing market shares in such situation we adopted the value chain activities of Porter. These activities help company existing and potential sources of differentiation e.g. products, associated services. The reason to choose this strategy ‘low cost and value chain system was helpful to underline the competitive advantages that cannot come from production side but anywhere from value chain. It also helps us to fit into value chains like suppliers, buyers and channels. PESTLE ANALYSIS PESTLE analysis is usually used to measure the organizations external factors like position, potential and direction for a business or organization. PESTLE is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors. BAD BOYZ III Company PESTLE analysis is measured below: Political Factors Political factors illustrate that how and to what extent government intervenes in the investment. The main politics factors are trade barriers, tax policy, trade policies, labor law, export tariffs and environmental law. As concern to BAD BOYZ III Company not much influenced by these factors as all four regions North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe are associated with WTO. Economical Factors Economic factors show how business operate and what of decision would be make, these factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. In the success and development of BAD BOYZ III company exchange rate, affect the costs o exporting products and the supply and price o imported product in an economy, plays a major role. From year 11 to year 17 company maintained a steady exchange rate. Even though company made some mistakes but due to healthy exchange rate company never fall badly. Social Factors These factors show cultural effects, health and safety aspects, people their age, population and growth rate, age and careers approaches. BAD BOYZ III Company participated in charity an as well Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and also providing complete health and safety environment. Technology Factors Technology factors are ecological and environment aspects like Research and development (R D), technology usage rate and automation, determine barriers to entry, low productive manufacturing level and impact on outsourcing decisions. BAD BOYZ III knows the importance of technology and benefits in business environment. Company all private label capacity stocks in Latin America and Asia Specific was up to date because these technology shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation. Environment Factors In environment major factors are weather, climate and variation in climate include weather, climate, and change. These factors can be analyzed as company insurance, farming and tourism. Up to date with weather inform company operation according to weather and products they offer to their customers. Legal factors Legal factors determine company legal boundary, discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. These are average fixed value of any country and companies cannot across these boundaries. ANALYSIS OF BAD BOYZ III COMPANY FROM YEARS 11 TO 17 A complete and in depth analysis of BAD BOYZ III company is given below: Year 11 In the begging of year 11, BAD BOYZ III has total production plant capacity 6,000,000 to complete the requirements of production only for two regions North America and Asia Pacific. BAD BOYZ III Company has also managed to fulfill the production requirements of remaining regions Latin America, Europe-Africa. In the start of year 11 the demand in North America and Asia Pacific is not much high as compared to present production. So our company decided to sell 200,000 production in North America and 800,000 in Asia Pacific. BAD BOYS III adopt strategies free shipping, model offer and attractive price and advertisement in internet segment and in whole sale garment we offer rebate and model with delivery time guaranteed and advertisement to compete in competitive market. With these strategies we got good market share in internet segment but the market share in whole sale was not according to wish. At the end of year 11 our companys progress was good in contrast with other market companies with 7th position out of the 12. BAD BOYZ III company overall progress was good in footwear industry with revenue $266583000, net profit $ 30224000 with credit rating A-. Year 11 complete detail of BAD BOYZ III competitive strengths and weakness and development can be seen from appendix-1. Year 12 In year 12 BAD BOYZ III company co-managers made some changing in their management and business strategy to get maximum profit from footwear industry market. As the result of year 11 and market competitive approach we decided to sell our products with high and standard quality. As the result of new strategy, quality of product, profit was good and also helped to get high position. In internet segment our competitive strength was marketing, celebrity appeal, S/Q rating and model offer but with some weakness like retail price and shipping charges was some kind of not good factor in competitive market. In whole sale market our S/Q rating, rebate offer and retailer supports were our competitive strength points while the competitive weakness were wholesale price and retail outlets. At the end of year 12 because of some weaknesses in whole sale market and internet segment, company overall progress and position of BAD BOYZ II was down 10 out of 12 with revenue 201395000, net profit 8,587,000, EPS 0.86 and credit rating â€Å"c†. The complete description of BAD BOYZ III company year 12 weaknesses, strengths and overall progress is shown on appendix -2. Year 13 Year 12 result forced the BAD BOYZ III management to seriously take the notice of company performance that is going down. After a long discussion among BAD BOYZ III company co-manager we concluded that we should re-evaluate the company strategy and offer high quality products with low price that strategy lead to ‘low cost and increase market shares described by Portal(1985) five forces theory which is focus on high quality with low price. To achieve maximum profit and top position in footwear market we also considered about the private label segments. Year 13 is the year of thinking for us as the result of year 12 that make us to re-think our all strategies and policies that makes impact on our competitive strategies. With adoption of new strategy our competitive strengths retail price, advertising and model significantly increased but still some weaknesses are shipping charges and retail outlet are there. Because of change in strategy and improvement in retail segment, at end of year 13 Company received very good response in private label segment and got satisfaction results in other segments like revenue $ 393,872,000 that is double of last year 12, net profit was $ 31,854,000 with the ratio of earning per share equal to 3.19. These out comes caused companys rank improvement like was 8th out of 12th. In appendix-3 the BAD BOYZ III Companys year 13 overall progress including strength and weaknesses has shown. Year 14 Year 13 results increase our confidence and courage to getting more effective and efficient in the market and also lead us to understand the purchasing behavior of consumers. In year 14 we continued our last used strategy high quality with cheap price to attract more and more customers. It can only be achieved with high production as amount of consumers increased compared last year. To complete this target we need high amount money thats why BAD BOYZ III Company took a long term loan $ 248,000,000 from the bank. That loan enabled us to fulfill the production plant capacity 4600,000 per year in North America. To get high profit and maximize the sale production we seriously focus on private label that enables BAD BOYZ III competitive strengths increased as compare to the year 13 and sufficient reduction in weaknesses like internet segment and wholesale segment. End of the year 14 BAD BOYZ III Company almost received 100% response and overall progress was getting better with revenue $577,496,000 and net profit $41612, 000. In private label segment company done well and sell all pairs in private label segment caused the market share of private label segment increased such as 76.6% in North America, 52.0 % in Asia-pacific and 62.9% in Latin America as contrast to other market shares. This year increase in private label segment and overall progress helped BAD BOYZ III Company to improve its position like 6th out of 12th. For over all progress see Appendix-4. Year 15 Year 15 was little bit thinking year for BAD BOYZ III management team as the competition and consumers increasing unexpectedly. So our management decided to fix with no cost leadership and customer purchasing behaviors strategy by following Porter (1985) five forces and considering more on North Americas private label segment. The main reason to focus on North America was company high expenditure in this region because of more consumers and demands. Company wanted to get 100% feedback from that region as last year our management bought new plant capacity for it. Increased in demand and production caused the increase in BAD BOYZ III competitive strengths as compare to previous year such as ‘celebrity appeal but weakness remained same as ‘model availability. End of the year 15th brought good news in market share as BAD BOYZ III achieved all market share from North America in private label segment as compared to other regions but with some sad news as company lost his market share in rest of regions. The total revenue was $ 530,284,000 and net profit $ 55474,000 which is somewhat increased as contrast to year 14. In BAD BOYZ III company success story another success was stock prize $ 102.49 and company also offered amount 10,135,000 dividend this year. The company rank was getting better and better as was 5 out of 12. In Appendix-5 year 15 overall progress is shown. Year 16 In year 16, BAD BOYZ III Company decided to remain fixed with same strategy as in year 15 company sold almost all products. To achieve this target company decided to increase the production and plants in different segments especially in North America and Asia Pacific to produce more revenue. Company was getting satisfaction feedback from North America, so company decided to build more plant capacity in North America as well in Asia Pacific region. BAD BOYZ III Company purchased 1500 plant capacity and build 500 in North America and also considering Asia Pacific purchased 800 plants capacity in that region. In year 16th the companys competitive strengths were celebrity appeal and advertising same as last year and company also tried to get rid of the weakness related to company production and profit. Company decided to sell quantity of 500 stocks in the price of $ 96.72 as stock price was really high. At the end of the year 16th the BAD Company revenue was $ 537,898,000 that is little bit high as contrast the previous year and net profit was $30,721,000. As company was getting almost 100% market share in private label from North America caused BOYZ III market share strong position in foot wear market. Appendix-6 represents the Year 16 over all progress. Year 17 Year 17 was decision year for BAD BOYZ III management because company management decided to buy new plant in North America with capacity of 1,900,000 pairs per year. This decision is made on behalf of the year 16 results as consumers increase unexpectedly. Company also reduced the 50% prices of pairs to sell more and more products in all regions to accomplish this strategy and apply these prices we need more and more stocks. Company decided to purchase new 3135 stocks with the price of 57.73 per share. These share prices were higher than the average market shares and company still focusing on North America private label segment with 90.5% share. As mentioned above year 17 was decision year for BAD BOYZ III to make another major decision in market. For this purpose we make a commission to discuss all aspects of Footwear Company including stocks and competitive environment. In this commission we included that we should offer 4000 pair at price of $ 40, was doubled as compare to last year, in North America private label region. That decision is made on two reasons: From the last few years company was getting required feedback from North America. There were no strong competitors in North America. At the end of year 17th the decisions made and strategies applied resulted in excellent outcomes. In North America private label company sold 3546 pairs out of 4,000 at double price $40. BAD BOYZ III company revenue was 690,317,000 and net profit was 107,491,000 increased highly up to 300%. These successful factors boost company rank to top three positions like was 3rd out of 12. The other big achievement was in region of Earning per Share (EPS) that was $14.33 helped to come in 76th position from all over the world in footwear industry. APPENDIXES Appendix-1 Year 11th BAD BOYZ III Annual Summary Report Appendix-2 Year 12th BAD BOYZ III Annual Summary Report Year 12th BAD BOYZ III Annual Summary Report Revenue Net Profit Earnings Per Share Stock Price Return On Equity Image Rating Credit Rating $201,395,000 $8,587,000 $0.86 $21.07 4.60% 61 C North America Internet Segment: Wholesale Segment: Private Label Segment Actual Industry Average Actual Industry Average Actual Market Demand Price $75.30 $68.57 $62.66 $52.47 MAX $47.47 Model Offered 200 168 200 192 Advertising $15,000,000 $6,959,000 $15,000,000 $6,879,000 Celebrity Appeal 100 23 100 21 S/Q Rating 6 5 6 5 4 Market Share 10.0% 9.1% 6.6% 8.3% 0.0% 100.0% Europe Africa Internet Segment: Wholesale Segment: Private Label Segment Actual Industry Average Actual Industry Average Actual Market Demand Price $75.30 $69.52 $62.80 $53.32 MAX $48.32 Model Offered 200 166 200 192 Advertising $15,000,000 $6,771,000 $15,000,000 $6,771,000 Celebrity Appeal 70 18 70 18 S/Q Rating 6 5 6 5 4 Market Share 9.4% 8.3% 7.2% 8.3% 0.0% 100.0% Asia Pacific Internet Segment: Wholesale Segment: Private Label Segment Actual Industry Average Actual Industry Average Actual Market Demand Price $75.30 $68.57 $95.53 $51.88 MAX $46.88 Model Offered 2 Online Shoe Company Business Strategy Online Shoe Company Business Strategy INTRODUCTION The business strategy game is an online, PC-Based game in which you run the world wide athletic footwear market in confronting each other competition against other markets companies run by different group of students into different industry. But this paper only focus on the industry 10 where 12 different companies named Air Nike, Dolce and Banana, IMF vs WTO, Fabulous Foots, Galpha, BAD BOYZ III, Legs supreme, CHU WUB CHU WUB, KVincci, , E-XIE, HA-N Ltd., and Just walk are included. In my industry BAD BOYZ III includes five members (Virayudh Baram, Saif Ur Rehman, Ying Zhao, Maliha Hasin and Imran Shahzad) are responsible for managing all aspects of the companys operation. Every company tried to use their best technique and execute well planned strategies for their company specially considering against the strategies of competitor companies, delivers good bottom-line results (Net Revenue, Earning per share (EPS), the return on equity (ROE), stock price, credit rating and image rating ) and builds shareholder value. This paper is divided in three main sections. First section describe the strategy adopted by BAD BOYZ III Company with the help of Michael Porter â€Å"Five Forces† theory, second section describes the external analysis of company using PESTLE analysis and at end the BAD BOYZ III company analysis from year 11 to year 17 will be discussed with each year progress diagrams shown in Appendix. BUSINESS STRATEGY IMPORTANCE The business strategy game is real time practice business environment. In this game our role is as Manager who responsible to use productive and efficient strategies for company production and profit. In strategic management the role and effect of top managers on company performance and importance of this relationship how may be affected by companys strategy is always recognize as critical issues (Hambrick and Mason (1984), Gupta and Govindarajan (1984), Gunz and Jalland (1996)). Business strategy is influenced by top management team of any firm (Hambrick and Mason, 1984). MICHAEL PORTER (1985) BASIC STRATEGY MODEL Michael Porter (1985) describes market Industry constitution and arrangement within the market is key factor for establishment of competitive strategy. Competitive advantages of any company against other competitors can be described by the â€Å"Five Forces† diagram shows the main idea of Porters theory of competitive advantage. This theory helps companies to know about the rules and regulation of competition in market. Porter argues, The ultimate aim of competitive strategy is to cope with and, ideally, to change those rules in the firms behavior (1985, p. 4).† According to Porter five forces find out company prosperity and profitability. Micheal Porter (1985) five forces are given below: Threat of substitutes Threat of new entrants Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Competition among existing companies Porters 5 Forces Elements of Industry Structure In strategy implementation, competitive advantages, utilizing new production, new inputs for Foot Wear industry Porters Value Chain and Activity Mapping ideas give us useful information to applying these all activities. The value chain activities help BAD BOYZ III Company for examining all activities related to company performance and interaction such as (e.g. development, marketing, sales, operations, etc.) as a potential source of advantage. In year 12 company situation was little bit down and we were losing market shares in such situation we adopted the value chain activities of Porter. These activities help company existing and potential sources of differentiation e.g. products, associated services. The reason to choose this strategy ‘low cost and value chain system was helpful to underline the competitive advantages that cannot come from production side but anywhere from value chain. It also helps us to fit into value chains like suppliers, buyers and channels. PESTLE ANALYSIS PESTLE analysis is usually used to measure the organizations external factors like position, potential and direction for a business or organization. PESTLE is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors. BAD BOYZ III Company PESTLE analysis is measured below: Political Factors Political factors illustrate that how and to what extent government intervenes in the investment. The main politics factors are trade barriers, tax policy, trade policies, labor law, export tariffs and environmental law. As concern to BAD BOYZ III Company not much influenced by these factors as all four regions North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe are associated with WTO. Economical Factors Economic factors show how business operate and what of decision would be make, these factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. In the success and development of BAD BOYZ III company exchange rate, affect the costs o exporting products and the supply and price o imported product in an economy, plays a major role. From year 11 to year 17 company maintained a steady exchange rate. Even though company made some mistakes but due to healthy exchange rate company never fall badly. Social Factors These factors show cultural effects, health and safety aspects, people their age, population and growth rate, age and careers approaches. BAD BOYZ III Company participated in charity an as well Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and also providing complete health and safety environment. Technology Factors Technology factors are ecological and environment aspects like Research and development (R D), technology usage rate and automation, determine barriers to entry, low productive manufacturing level and impact on outsourcing decisions. BAD BOYZ III knows the importance of technology and benefits in business environment. Company all private label capacity stocks in Latin America and Asia Specific was up to date because these technology shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation. Environment Factors In environment major factors are weather, climate and variation in climate include weather, climate, and change. These factors can be analyzed as company insurance, farming and tourism. Up to date with weather inform company operation according to weather and products they offer to their customers. Legal factors Legal factors determine company legal boundary, discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. These are average fixed value of any country and companies cannot across these boundaries. ANALYSIS OF BAD BOYZ III COMPANY FROM YEARS 11 TO 17 A complete and in depth analysis of BAD BOYZ III company is given below: Year 11 In the begging of year 11, BAD BOYZ III has total production plant capacity 6,000,000 to complete the requirements of production only for two regions North America and Asia Pacific. BAD BOYZ III Company has also managed to fulfill the production requirements of remaining regions Latin America, Europe-Africa. In the start of year 11 the demand in North America and Asia Pacific is not much high as compared to present production. So our company decided to sell 200,000 production in North America and 800,000 in Asia Pacific. BAD BOYS III adopt strategies free shipping, model offer and attractive price and advertisement in internet segment and in whole sale garment we offer rebate and model with delivery time guaranteed and advertisement to compete in competitive market. With these strategies we got good market share in internet segment but the market share in whole sale was not according to wish. At the end of year 11 our companys progress was good in contrast with other market companies with 7th position out of the 12. BAD BOYZ III company overall progress was good in footwear industry with revenue $266583000, net profit $ 30224000 with credit rating A-. Year 11 complete detail of BAD BOYZ III competitive strengths and weakness and development can be seen from appendix-1. Year 12 In year 12 BAD BOYZ III company co-managers made some changing in their management and business strategy to get maximum profit from footwear industry market. As the result of year 11 and market competitive approach we decided to sell our products with high and standard quality. As the result of new strategy, quality of product, profit was good and also helped to get high position. In internet segment our competitive strength was marketing, celebrity appeal, S/Q rating and model offer but with some weakness like retail price and shipping charges was some kind of not good factor in competitive market. In whole sale market our S/Q rating, rebate offer and retailer supports were our competitive strength points while the competitive weakness were wholesale price and retail outlets. At the end of year 12 because of some weaknesses in whole sale market and internet segment, company overall progress and position of BAD BOYZ II was down 10 out of 12 with revenue 201395000, net profit 8,587,000, EPS 0.86 and credit rating â€Å"c†. The complete description of BAD BOYZ III company year 12 weaknesses, strengths and overall progress is shown on appendix -2. Year 13 Year 12 result forced the BAD BOYZ III management to seriously take the notice of company performance that is going down. After a long discussion among BAD BOYZ III company co-manager we concluded that we should re-evaluate the company strategy and offer high quality products with low price that strategy lead to ‘low cost and increase market shares described by Portal(1985) five forces theory which is focus on high quality with low price. To achieve maximum profit and top position in footwear market we also considered about the private label segments. Year 13 is the year of thinking for us as the result of year 12 that make us to re-think our all strategies and policies that makes impact on our competitive strategies. With adoption of new strategy our competitive strengths retail price, advertising and model significantly increased but still some weaknesses are shipping charges and retail outlet are there. Because of change in strategy and improvement in retail segment, at end of year 13 Company received very good response in private label segment and got satisfaction results in other segments like revenue $ 393,872,000 that is double of last year 12, net profit was $ 31,854,000 with the ratio of earning per share equal to 3.19. These out comes caused companys rank improvement like was 8th out of 12th. In appendix-3 the BAD BOYZ III Companys year 13 overall progress including strength and weaknesses has shown. Year 14 Year 13 results increase our confidence and courage to getting more effective and efficient in the market and also lead us to understand the purchasing behavior of consumers. In year 14 we continued our last used strategy high quality with cheap price to attract more and more customers. It can only be achieved with high production as amount of consumers increased compared last year. To complete this target we need high amount money thats why BAD BOYZ III Company took a long term loan $ 248,000,000 from the bank. That loan enabled us to fulfill the production plant capacity 4600,000 per year in North America. To get high profit and maximize the sale production we seriously focus on private label that enables BAD BOYZ III competitive strengths increased as compare to the year 13 and sufficient reduction in weaknesses like internet segment and wholesale segment. End of the year 14 BAD BOYZ III Company almost received 100% response and overall progress was getting better with revenue $577,496,000 and net profit $41612, 000. In private label segment company done well and sell all pairs in private label segment caused the market share of private label segment increased such as 76.6% in North America, 52.0 % in Asia-pacific and 62.9% in Latin America as contrast to other market shares. This year increase in private label segment and overall progress helped BAD BOYZ III Company to improve its position like 6th out of 12th. For over all progress see Appendix-4. Year 15 Year 15 was little bit thinking year for BAD BOYZ III management team as the competition and consumers increasing unexpectedly. So our management decided to fix with no cost leadership and customer purchasing behaviors strategy by following Porter (1985) five forces and considering more on North Americas private label segment. The main reason to focus on North America was company high expenditure in this region because of more consumers and demands. Company wanted to get 100% feedback from that region as last year our management bought new plant capacity for it. Increased in demand and production caused the increase in BAD BOYZ III competitive strengths as compare to previous year such as ‘celebrity appeal but weakness remained same as ‘model availability. End of the year 15th brought good news in market share as BAD BOYZ III achieved all market share from North America in private label segment as compared to other regions but with some sad news as company lost his market share in rest of regions. The total revenue was $ 530,284,000 and net profit $ 55474,000 which is somewhat increased as contrast to year 14. In BAD BOYZ III company success story another success was stock prize $ 102.49 and company also offered amount 10,135,000 dividend this year. The company rank was getting better and better as was 5 out of 12. In Appendix-5 year 15 overall progress is shown. Year 16 In year 16, BAD BOYZ III Company decided to remain fixed with same strategy as in year 15 company sold almost all products. To achieve this target company decided to increase the production and plants in different segments especially in North America and Asia Pacific to produce more revenue. Company was getting satisfaction feedback from North America, so company decided to build more plant capacity in North America as well in Asia Pacific region. BAD BOYZ III Company purchased 1500 plant capacity and build 500 in North America and also considering Asia Pacific purchased 800 plants capacity in that region. In year 16th the companys competitive strengths were celebrity appeal and advertising same as last year and company also tried to get rid of the weakness related to company production and profit. Company decided to sell quantity of 500 stocks in the price of $ 96.72 as stock price was really high. At the end of the year 16th the BAD Company revenue was $ 537,898,000 that is little bit high as contrast the previous year and net profit was $30,721,000. As company was getting almost 100% market share in private label from North America caused BOYZ III market share strong position in foot wear market. Appendix-6 represents the Year 16 over all progress. Year 17 Year 17 was decision year for BAD BOYZ III management because company management decided to buy new plant in North America with capacity of 1,900,000 pairs per year. This decision is made on behalf of the year 16 results as consumers increase unexpectedly. Company also reduced the 50% prices of pairs to sell more and more products in all regions to accomplish this strategy and apply these prices we need more and more stocks. Company decided to purchase new 3135 stocks with the price of 57.73 per share. These share prices were higher than the average market shares and company still focusing on North America private label segment with 90.5% share. As mentioned above year 17 was decision year for BAD BOYZ III to make another major decision in market. For this purpose we make a commission to discuss all aspects of Footwear Company including stocks and competitive environment. In this commission we included that we should offer 4000 pair at price of $ 40, was doubled as compare to last year, in North America private label region. That decision is made on two reasons: From the last few years company was getting required feedback from North America. There were no strong competitors in North America. At the end of year 17th the decisions made and strategies applied resulted in excellent outcomes. In North America private label company sold 3546 pairs out of 4,000 at double price $40. BAD BOYZ III company revenue was 690,317,000 and net profit was 107,491,000 increased highly up to 300%. These successful factors boost company rank to top three positions like was 3rd out of 12. The other big achievement was in region of Earning per Share (EPS) that was $14.33 helped to come in 76th position from all over the world in footwear industry. APPENDIXES Appendix-1 Year 11th BAD BOYZ III Annual Summary Report Appendix-2 Year 12th BAD BOYZ III Annual Summary Report Year 12th BAD BOYZ III Annual Summary Report Revenue Net Profit Earnings Per Share Stock Price Return On Equity Image Rating Credit Rating $201,395,000 $8,587,000 $0.86 $21.07 4.60% 61 C North America Internet Segment: Wholesale Segment: Private Label Segment Actual Industry Average Actual Industry Average Actual Market Demand Price $75.30 $68.57 $62.66 $52.47 MAX $47.47 Model Offered 200 168 200 192 Advertising $15,000,000 $6,959,000 $15,000,000 $6,879,000 Celebrity Appeal 100 23 100 21 S/Q Rating 6 5 6 5 4 Market Share 10.0% 9.1% 6.6% 8.3% 0.0% 100.0% Europe Africa Internet Segment: Wholesale Segment: Private Label Segment Actual Industry Average Actual Industry Average Actual Market Demand Price $75.30 $69.52 $62.80 $53.32 MAX $48.32 Model Offered 200 166 200 192 Advertising $15,000,000 $6,771,000 $15,000,000 $6,771,000 Celebrity Appeal 70 18 70 18 S/Q Rating 6 5 6 5 4 Market Share 9.4% 8.3% 7.2% 8.3% 0.0% 100.0% Asia Pacific Internet Segment: Wholesale Segment: Private Label Segment Actual Industry Average Actual Industry Average Actual Market Demand Price $75.30 $68.57 $95.53 $51.88 MAX $46.88 Model Offered 2

Test Bias Essay -- Bias in Mental Testing

In the helping professions such as psychology, counseling, social work and education, it is imperative that we as professionals understand tests and be able to administer them properly to our clients or students. Tests should be carefully selected, as each has a purpose and as we are aware, there are biases within various tests. A biased test is one in which there are methodical distinctions in the meaning of test scores correlated to different groups. Most tests are well-formulated; however none are absolute. Tests are often administered to make substantial conclusions that will affect the lives of the test-taker. The test-taker is unaware of these biases that are in favor of or in opposition of specific groups of people and the results could have a major effect on the test-taker. Testing has become a major aspect of the American society. In academic settings, tests scores are used in determining if a student will graduate high school, selecting students for admission to college, placing students into special education, and various other reasons. Within the corporate arena, businesses may use testing to select individuals for job placement. In the United States, testing is inescapable, and test results could have an extensive influence on individuals. Despite the commonality of testing there is a large discrepancy of results between individuals of certain races, social class, and geographical locations. It was previously suggested that the generous gap in test scores were due to differing educational systems, however researchers now seek other justifications. Is it possible that these tests are erroneous? Did they measure what they were intended to measure? Individuals in the field of education, who agree that individua... ...ork: Free Press. Hilliard, A.G., III (1995), ed. Testing African American students: special reissue of the Negro Educational Review. Chicago: Third World Press. Jencks, C. and Phillips, M. (1998), eds. The black-white test score gap. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Jenson, A.R. (1980). Bias in mental testing. New York: Free Press. Matarazzo, J. (1972) Wechsler’s measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. Reynolds, C.R. and Brown, Robert T. (1984), eds. Perspectives on bias in mental testing. New York: Plenum Press. Thorndike, R. (1971). Concepts of cultural-fairness.Journal of Educational Measurement,  8(2), 63-70. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/pss/1433959 Whiston, S. (2009).  Principles and applications of assessment in counseling. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In Veterans :: Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD

As with many other diseases, early detection and treatment of mental disorders are key components to rehabilitation and a cure. The prognosis for a better quality of life for veterans suffering with PTSD is increased through early intervention. The VA has developed the Seamless Transition program for the target group of soldiers that served in Iraq and Afghanistan (Currey, 2007). The focus of the program is to deliver the highest level of care in a timely manner, according to Dr. Roswell, M.D. (Currey, 2007). A holistic approach is taken by social workers to treat the whole person and not just the symptoms. Social work practice often requires advocating and navigating for clients within bureaucratic systems. New soldiers entering the war are at risk of being exposed to trauma, which increases the chance of being diagnosed with PTSD. Other target groups at heightened risk for PTSD are those required to serve multiple deployments and female service members. According to the NADCP (2007) 1 in 5 veterans report symptoms of a mental disorder. These figures can be utilized to predict and implement future treatment needs and funding requirements. Streamlining the application process, by allowing timely access to benefits, can result in reduced benefit necessities. A policy which improves access to benefits for veterans is supported by veteran’s organizations everywhere. A recent change in the policy removes the requirement for veterans to submit written documentation of a stressful event during military service. The most critical support for this change is that of U.S. politicians who make policy decisions. President Obama, in his speech on July 10, 2011, expressed his support for veterans, specifically those suffering with PTSD. He understands the plight of soldiers of war, whether in combat or non-combat, being affected by the war’s trauma. President Obama understood the necessity for new policy as the old policy prevented many of those with PTSD from receiving the care they needed. As stated by the President â€Å"I don’t think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for claims applications† (The White House, 2010). The Texas Veteran Commission, realizing the growing number of vete rans with PTSD, is optimistic in its view that the new policies will allow this vulnerable group easier access to benefits (Cervantes, 2010). B. Christopher Frueh, a professor of psychology and director of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaii, is not a supporter of the rule change.

Pricing strategy in video game industry Essay

Video Gaming industry has gone dramatic changes when more and more digital platforms emerge and improved technology in portable devices, mainly in social games(Facebook, Myspace) and mobile games. 27% of US online population play at least one game on social network, and Facebook gaming revenue hit $1. 32 billion in U. S market in 20111. Also, as more than more people have smart phone especially apple’s iOS devices, gaming application becomes more and more popular in mobile market(72% game applications on iTune)2. There are traditional console game players such as EA, Activision, Nintendo and Ubisoft in this industry, also there are leading company in the social game area such as Zynga in the market. Traditionally, console games are sold in retail stores with $39. 99 to $59. 99 retail price for the whole disc content. Hard-core games such as Call of Duty(Activision), Assassin’s Creed(Ubisoft) and etc. usually price at $59. 99 while casual titles such as Nintendo wii games price around 30$. Usually the pricing approach for these console game companies is the industry standard – means every player in this market follows the same rule as the same price. It can be considered as based on cost structure because of the long time of development (18 to 36 months), money-consuming game development cost and all kinds of add-on cost (packaging, marketing and third-party licensing etc. )3 They also only have two months’ shelf time as the game lunch. Because of the high entry barrier in the console game industry and high brand perception among customers, several main competitors dominate the market. The console game price does not differentiate too much among these players. However, as facebook’s extreme success leads to people’s behavior change to be more â€Å"social† associated, a plenty of small companies start to enter into social gaming market and undergo blast growth speed such as Zynga. Zynga’s pricing strategy is â€Å"Free-to-Play† and charging in-game micro-transaction items such as virtual gift or buildings. The free-to-play concept is not new in this industry because plenty of Korean online game companies such as Nexon, NcSoft already using this business model while traditional online games use subscription model ($15. 99 per month) such as World of WarCraft(Blizzard) and EVE Online(CCP Games). As the internet bandwidth improvement and more internet users in US(250 million)4, online games and social games represent strong growth trend comparing to traditional console games. And as users have more options in â€Å"free† games rather than premium games, more and more companies enter into this industry by offering products for free with micro-transaction options. Zynga’s most popular title â€Å"CityVille† has over 70 million monthly active users while best selling single console game Call of Duty(Activision) has 14 million copies sold in US market. Facing the competition of Facebook games with free to play concept and high growth potential of online game market, some of the traditional package-good game companies start to offer cross-platform Facebook game titles to increase their competency in the market such as EA, Sony and Ubisoft. Their main strategy is to develop Facebook companion games(Free to Play) to featured console game title. Those companions games not only offer free-to-play game content but also allow users to unlock items in the main console game such as Dragon Age Legend(EA). They intend to leverage their brand awareness in the gaming industry, acquire more users to play main games and increase monetization channel to increase revenue. EA responded very quickly in this digital trend by doing aggressive acquisitions for popular facebook or mobile game studios. However, a lot of other traditional console game companies react very slow (Ubisoft, Sony) or refuse to change (Nintendo). Most of console game companies conduct a conservative strategy and will develop several social games(much shorter develop time) to make trial because overall the console retail sales revenue is much higher than that in social and mobile market. Others are not capable of following this fast-paced digital step and suffered loss (THQ laid off 200 employees in 2011 because of decreasing sales in retail products). Most customers that play hard-core video console games generally are not satisfied with the â€Å"free-to-play† social companion games because of lower quality of overall game content and totally different game play with main games. A low quality companion product of Facebook platform will damage the company’s reputation in this industry for new users. However, since the users profile between hardcore players (average 29 years old male) and social players (average 35 years old female) are so different with very few overlap, it makes these console game companies indifferent to the failure of Facebook product. Online game market, on the other hand, the free to play options have a big impact to customers’ options. For example, World of Warcraft ( Most popular Massive Multiplayer Role Playing game, 12million users with $15. 99 monthly subscription fee) lost 600,000 users since 2008 while RuneScape(Jagex) (free-to-play game with subscription options at $5) has 150 million registered users and over 10 million active users. Blizzard responded to the competition since 2011 on â€Å"free to Play† options until level 20 in the game. Another game Lord of the Rings switched from subscription model to free to play model and saw double revenue and 400% user growth immediately. I would suggest the pricing decision maker in video game industry to look at customer, company capability, product feature, customer and competitors’ issues. Company – Analyze company’s positioning in terms of digital trend in the industry and focus on the products with higher profit margins – Analyze company’s cost structure and allocate reasonable resources on other platform product development based on financial forecast Product. – Since console game products have fixed price in the retail stores, figure out other possible channels for monetization such as digital add-on contents, special side-product package etc. – Decide possible virtual buying items based on the game mechanics and gamers motivation (self-expression, social status and social network) Distributor – Corporate and form good relationship with retail distributors for more resources on shelf presence and brand promotion Customer. – Deliver social companion games with high-quality contents to enhance main game – Deliver social games that directly target Facebook users – Promote company brand and establish community to highly engage with users Competitor – Learn from competitors on the digital content development – Expand to other country that competitors did not focus. Resources: 1. www. bizreport. com/2011/07/2011-social-gaming-revenues-to-exceed-1billion. html 2. http://mashable. com/2011/07/13/mobile-gaming-trends/ http://www. businessinsider. com/getting-into-the-mobile-gaming-game-2011-7.

First Cars PLC Plan

It is clearly showing that for the p rapports it is going in the correct direction. With the market expected to grow in terms of market volume, mutinously year on year reaching its final point 1 increase above the baa SE year in 2014 and showing the same trend however with a greater increase for the market v alee, expecting to grow by around 300% over the period shown.This data clearly backs up the e idea of the proposal as it is suggesting that they are entering a market that is showing the at it should be thriving in the forthcoming years and therefore suggesting that they should g o into the new market earlier rather than later because as the car club market increases like the data suggested so will the competition that is in the market, therefore making it ha deer for them to enter the market the later they wait.Secondly if they do decide to go ahead with the proposal, the data suggests the at the company is likely to become more professional in the way it operates as they move i nto a prestigious office in London this will come with a more decentralized organizational struck true. What this means for the company is the fact that the decision making process is spread out to include the more junior managers in the hierarchy, making the decisions made close r to the customer and therefore should hopefully mean that the end service is going to be close to what those who are going to consume it want.It is also a good way of training junior man eager into how the decision making process works and allows them to be making decisions in the company from very early on, therefore increasing the responsibility they have in the such cues, this will also improve the motivation that they have for their job and decrease the decide Soon making time.Further to this it will have a massive positive effect on the staff turnover of the business as shown in Appendix C from Human Resources, this table shows that labor turnover is restarted to fall to 5% from 30%, this could be due to the new structure Of the e business, allowing everyone a part in the fundamental decision making process that face sees them every day or the fact that with better working conditions such as a large office in Lo Indo and a higher salary they are bound to be happier in their work. Further to this the 10 w labor turnover will hopefully reduce the training costs that they are pumping into the e new strategy.As they have a huge budget for training you assume that this will mean that e employees should feel more motivated as they see the effort the company is putting in to et them highly trained in their job, this should mean that the high cost of training will very m such be a one off cost to the business as this alongside the low labor turnover means that the y should be in a position where they aren't training new recruits regularly, only if the case arise sees that they have to expand or when they decide they are doing well enough in the market to d o so.Further to the arguments above the AIR of the investment into the car club p rapports is forecasted to be 15. 6%, this figure passes the expectation of the Directors' who o said they anted it to be at 12%, this means that they are going to achieve the original investment of E Million quicker that what is expected however there could always be the chant CE for error in the forecasted figures. Other arguments for the proposal would be the fact the at the cost of traveling is predicted to increase by 20% over the next 4 years as price of peter 01, car tax and insurance is growing more and more over time.Also as said in the date an Inc erase in the emphasis of reducing our carbon footprint has led to people questioning thee r decision to own a car, and this will be further contemplated as car clubs become ever more pop alular, therefore paving the way for car clubs to come into the market. Finally the car club Indus story has a proven track record and therefore instead Of it being a risky option for the co many what it in fact is doing is differentiating testifiers a market that they are beginning to I SSE market share in.Arguments against: My first argument against would be the fact that they are already running a s successful car rental business and as with any business why would you change something if it is still bringing in a decent revenue, their USPS Of being a no thrills business that is always undo recruiting its imitators is always going to appeal to the tourist that is looking for a simple e car hire for their time in the country.However the case study does then go onto say that they a re losing market share in a competitive market, therefore they need to change something. Ho waver maybe the idea of moving into a market that is not as widely well known could be devastate dating especially as First Cars PL has no previous experience of the car club market, this could lead to a large amount of unwanted start up costs as they haven't really got someone d riving the project that IS likely to know exactly what is happening.Further to this the car club market is already occupied by a lone large company owning 60% of the market share m meaning that it is a monopoly as a result of this they are going to have to do something dramatic calla different to have any affect on the market they are moving into as without a strong USPS t here is no way they will fare well against an already well established successful company that dominates the market market share.Secondly the previous question tells us that the website is likely to take 1 0 we seeks longer than what the critical path analysis says in Appendix B, because they don't think the t they can design and test the website in under 15 weeks this means that Amy has made a massive mistake and misjudged by 1 0 weeks, this will have a detrimental effect on the whole process and will put it back to last 27 weeks as opposed to the 23 weeks previously sees admitted, this also changes the critical path from BEG to CHI].As a result of this First Cars P LLC could experience a number of serious cash flow problems as instead of the comma nines website getting up and running and the first orders coming in, will still be in the pro diction process causing a further cost to the business creating no revenue.

Good teacher Essay

If I were to describe one of my teachers that I have had throughout these years, the one who I considered a good teacher is my present English teacher. The reasons why I would like to characterize my English teacher are various. Firstly, she’s well to take responsibility. She came to teach punctually. Especially, she always keeps in touch with us to try hard to study by her homework for every day. She speaks English fluently, and her voice is so loud that can make students in the class easy to listen. Actually, when we tired, she always tells jokes that always keep us smiling. Secondly, she’s been teaching for long time, so she’s got many experiences. I like the way she pronounce clearly. Moreover, I could say she is a good explainer but she also gives her best in order to help students to improve their knowledge in English. She likes to correct us each time we make mistakes both in pronunciation and grammar. Thirdly, she’s a work hard teacher. She always do a research more new documents for  the students to easy to get understand. And she also got some music lyrics, puzzle, or any other to relax at the weekend or after exam. Sometimes, she looks strong-mined to make us to try hard to study but I know that inside she’s very kind, polite and honest. In conclusion, I can say that, her lectures are well organized, interesting and her methods of teaching us demonstrate the desirable teaching method for our use. I thought that I’m very lucky that I’ve met a very good teacher like her.

Mobile phone: a blessing or a curse

Men check your pocket, Ladies check your purse, something is ringing and vibrating. Yes, the mobile phone, it is a portable gadget, which is made by the people and for the people. A tiny thing which was a status symbol but today, it is the necessity of everyone. Our unique ten-digit numbers allows us to receive or dial calls. It is the identity of the person nowadays and without this people stare at you as if you are not from the 21st centaury. Because for being social you do not have to meet your friend or relatives every weekend, you can call, SMS, email, write on the Facebook wall or merely tweet them. All this is possible with this protean mobile. People are really blessed as this mobile technology has changed our life completely because we have the whole universe in our pocket. A friend in need is a friend indeed, but without a mobile phone you cannot contact your friend and he will not be able to help in emergency. Mobile phone is a true friend and also a live saver, for example, your car broke down in a lonely road where there is no one to help, you can call for help with the help of a mobile phone. On the other hand you can also send SMS or email to contact someone. With the help of the thumb exercise you can send text in the wink of an eye. The other two giant social networking websites, Facebook and Twitter, are also accessible with the phone. So being in contact with friends and relatives is really easy. Other than this there are some basic handy features like Alarm, Stopwatch, Calculator, World Clock, Calendar and Tasks. Don’t you need this features everyday? But if you do not have a mobile phone you will need an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a world clock, a calendar and notebook to write the tasks. Mobile phone is an artist and can do everything you need in your daily life. Along with this if you like to be a spy these features will be very much in need like the camera, video camera and voice recording are some ingredients which will spice up your life. Not only this, a mobile also has a huge capacity to store data. So you can feed the memory with music, videos, photos, games and many more things that you like. So when you are in the airport waiting for hours, surely this will be an entertaining friend and you will never be bored. You can also watch live television so that you never miss your show or match on the go. Nevertheless you can access the whole Internet. That means you can do your work without sitting on the computer because almost everything can be done on the mobile phone. It is like a hand-computer and will never disappoint you because it works for days. To add to the total we have the GPS (Global Positioning System), NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, inbuilt compass and last but not the least the mobile application store like the android market place and the iOS app store where you will find millions of reasonable application which suits your need and style. On top of it, mobile phone makers are making slimmer mobiles with good battery backup also with a faster and better processing gadget so that it makes are life much more faster and simpler. In some countries like Australia, if you have done online booking for your flight you just have to scan a unique code, which is in the form of a barcode. While boarding the barcode displayed on the phone is scanned. This eliminates the need of a paper-boarding pass. In the future with the help of Near Field Communication we can do transactions and pay money with our mobile phone. This way we can see that the mobile phone is the greatest invention of modern time