My Wood by E M Forster

Mr. Tanveer Malik, Ms. Shweta Pandit impact of an American Recession on India Indian companies have major outsourcing deals from the US. India's exports to the US have also grown substantially over the years. The India economy is likely to lose between 1 to 2 percentage points in GDP growth in the next fiscal year. Indian companies with big tickets deals in the US would see their profit margins shrinking. The worries for exporters will grow as rupee strengthens further against the dollar. But experts note that the long-term prospects for India are stable. A weak dollar could bring more foreign money to Indian markets. Oil may get cheaper brining down inflation. A recession could bring down oil prices to $70. The whole of Asia would be hit by a recession as it depends on the US economy. Even though domestic demand and diversification of trade in the Asian region will partly counter any drop in the US demand, one simply can't escape a downturn in the world's largest economy. The US economy accounts for 30 per cent of the world's GDP. Says Sudip Bandyopadhyay, director and CEO, Reliance Money: â€Å"In the globalised world, complete decoupling is impossible. But India may remain relatively less affected by adverse global events. † In fact, many small and medium companies have already started developing trade ties with China and European countries to ward off big losses. Manish Sonthalia, head, equity, Motilal Oswal Securities, says if the US economy contracts much more than anticipated, the whole world's GDP growth-which is estimated at 3. 7 per cent by the IMF-will contract, and India would be no exception. The only silver lining is that the recession will happen slowly, probably in six months or so. As of now, IT and IT-enabled services, textiles, jewellery, handicrafts and leather segments will suffer losses because of their trade link. Certain sections of commodities could face sharp impact due to the volatile nature of these sectors. C. J. George, managing director, Geojit Financial Services, says profits of lots of re-export firms may be affected. Countries like China import commodities from India, do some value-addition and then export them to the US. Impact of Global Recession on Indian Car Industry Indian car industry is one of the most promising car industries across the globe. It has gradually strengthened its foothold in the international arena as well. The country is dealing with many car manufacturers, dealers, and associations in various different countries including U. S. From some countries, India imports cars and car components and to some India exports. With this, the global recession is obvious to have its impact on the Indian car industry. Though India has witnessed a growing customer base, it has not inoculated them from the global crisis. The crippling liquidity and high interest rates have slowed down the vehicle demand. However, the falldown started in July with a decline of 1. 9% and thereafter the industry saw a major slowdown in October 2008. Business Analysts reported that Indian car market had recorded a continuous growth of about 17. 2% over the last few years but this year the recession has brought the growth to about 7-8%. Be it Tata Motors or Maruti Suzuki or even Mercedes-Benz, the car market has gone down to a tremendously negative terrain. Tata has reported that its profit fell from 34. 1 percent to 3. 47 billion rupees because of the slower growth in the industrial production. Further, the company has also recorded a 20% decline in the sales as compared to last year. And with its Nano making a big impact before the downturn as such, but after the downturn may hold a bleak future for the world's cheapest car, because the consumer spending has gone very low. Even Maruti Suzuki reported a 7% decline in sales due to rising cost of the materials and a falling rupee value. Even Mahindra & Mahindra, the India's largest SUV and tractor manufacturer, is not immunized, showing profit fall of 20. 6%. In the recent months, banks and car financers have disbursed the approved loan because of the cash crunch. Payments from the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have also been delayed and in most cases banks have deferred or disbursed the approved loan. OEMs take this loan from banks and financers for establishments, capacity expansions, or even for the requirement of high-end equipments for car designing and production. In addition, the uncertain exchange rate and a sudden increase in dollar value against Indian Rupee have contributed to the slowdown. Increasing dollar value has raised the landed cost of imported machine tools and even raw materials required for production by about 14%. Alloy and steel prices have also not shown any reduction in their prices and this high price has actually forced the car manufacturers to hike the car prices. To make the matter worse, it is believed that steel manufacturers across the country are looking for re-imposition of custom duty on steel. Increased cost of raw materials directly affects the cost of the car rolled out, eventually tagging a particular car model with a higher price tag. The conclusion is that the present global recession has hit very hard on the Indian car industry.

Krugman Analysis

The Story Behind Financial Deregulation a. Wild Optimism & the Deregulation Movement b. The Political Influence of the Financial Sector (and the Wealthy in General) PART II: THE SOLUTION Section 3: The Solution is Government Stimulus (and a Few Other Reforms) 7. The Solution is Government Stimulus 8. Objection #1 : Government Stimulus Doesn't Spur the Economy (and Response) ; a. Exhibit A: The Great Depression b. The Initial Stimulus Effort Was Too Small 9. Solution Specifics a. Stimulus Specifics b. Additional Federal Reserve Actions c. Housing Relief (et. L. ) 10. Objection #2: The Danger of Government Debt (and Response) ; . The Problem of Investor Confidence b. The Problem of Paying off the Debt in the Future 1 1 . Objection #3: The Danger of Inflation (and Response) Section 4: The Chances of Government Stimulus Being Implemented (and How to Improve Them) 12. Pragmatic Politics and the Coming Election a. An Obama Sweep b. An Obama Win, and a Divided Parliament c. A Rooney Victory 13. Conclusion Since the housing and financial crash of 2008, America's economy has been stuck deep in the doldrums.Indeed, GAP has remained well beneath pre-2008 levels, and employment levels have failed to recover. In an effort to resuscitate the economy, the American government tried first to Jump-start it through stimulus spending, and has now replaced this approach with greater austerity. Nothing seems to be working. For Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Grumman, though, the answer is clear: the problem is that the original stimulus effort was too small, and, since that time, the government is moving squarely in the wrong direction.Indeed, Grumman argues that America's current situation bares a striking resemblance to the stagnation of the Great Depression, and that history has taught us what to do in such situations: the overspent must take an aggressive approach to stimulate the economy into recovery. This is the argument that Grumman makes in his new book ‘End This D epression Now! ‘ Now, Grumman is not a proponent of big government spending under normal conditions. Indeed, even in a recession, German's preferred approach is to drop interest rates in order to spur consumer spending.The problem now is that interest rates are already at zero, and this has not been enough to get consumer spending off the ground, thus leaving the economy in what is called a ‘liquidity trap'. For Grumman, the liquidity trap is actually quite common in economic downturns that allow financial crashes (as is the case with the current one, and as was the case with the Great Depression), and is why such slumps tend to be deep and prolonged. According to Grumman, the best and surest way to save the economy from a liquidity trap is for the government to step in and undertake the spending that consumers won't.That is, the government must stimulate the economy back into action, until consumers can get back on their feet enough to take over for themselves. For Grum man, this is precisely what happened in America during WI, when the government's military spending served to stimulate the economy and save it from the rips of the Great Depression. Now, German's opponents will point out that the American government has already tried the stimulus approach during this downturn, and that this strategy did not work, thus showing that it cannot be relied upon.What's more, these same opponents argue that the government's debt is already enormous, and indeed dangerously high, and that further government spending at this point may well render the debt completely unmanageable, if not force the government into insolvency (which is indeed a threat that is currently being faced by several countries in the European Union). Finally, German's detractors maintain that pumping more money into the economy at this time only threatens to drive up inflation to dangerous levels, perhaps even triggering a hyperinflation spiral.Grumman, though, claims that he has answers to all of these objections. In the first place, as noted above, the author maintains that the failure of the government's first stimulus effort did not prove that this approach is ineffective, but that it simply wasn't large enough to do the trick. Second, Grumman argues that though government debt does pose a concern, America's debt is actually not that dangerous by historical tankards. What's more, since America has its own currency (unlike the countries of the European Union), it is able to print money to turn over its debt, thus preventing the possibility of bankruptcy.Finally, with regards to inflation, Grumman contends that inflation simply cannot get off the ground in a depressed economy (as the current situation would attest to), and that when it is triggered in an upturn the government can always reverse its policy, thus keeping it firmly in check. Here is Paul Grumman speaking about his new book (Part II of the interview is available on Youth): http://www. Tube. Com/watch? What follows is a full executive summary of End This Depression NOW! By Paul Grumman.PART l: THE PROBLEM Grumman begins by way of establishing the gravity of the problems that America's economy is currently facing. This can be seen in the numbers. To begin with, consider America's Gross Domestic Product (GAP). As Grumman notes, GAP indicates â€Å"the total value of goods and services that are produced in an economy, adjusted for inflation†¦ In a given period of time† (loc. 274). As such, GAP provides a general picture of how much an economy is producing, and how quickly it is growing.Between the Great Depression and the beginning of the current recession, America's GAP grew at an average rate of between 2% to 2. 5% per year (loc. 277). The biggest downturn during this time occurred between 1979 and 1982, when America's economy experienced a ‘double dip' recession-?which Grumman characterizes as essentially â€Å"two recessions in close succession that are best v iewed as basically a single slump with a stutter in the middle† (loc. 283). At the low point of this recession, in 1982, America's â€Å"real GAP was 2 percent below its previous peak† (loc. 83), meaning it basically went flat. However, the author continues, the economy rebounded very quickly in the immediate aftermath, â€Å"growing at a 7 percent rate for the next two years-?morning in America'-?and then returned to its normal growth track† (loc. 283). When we look at the latest recession, we find that the low point occurred between 2007 and 2009. When compared with the recession of the late sass's and early sass's, we find that the latest â€Å"plunge†¦ As steeper and sharper, with real GAP falling 5 percent over the course of eighteen months† (loc. 287). What's more, the American economy has not seen a strong recovery this time around, as â€Å"growth since the official end of the recession has actually been lower than normal† (loc. 287). A ll in all, the author claims, â€Å"the U. S. Economy is [currently] operating about 7 percent below its potential† (loc. 295), and has lost $3 trillion in value since the slump began (loc. 299).Most significant of all, though, is that the economy shows no signs of a major come back any time soon; thus leading Grumman to conclude that â€Å"at this point we'll be very lucky if we get away with a cumulative output loss of ‘only $5 trillion† (loc. 299). . Unemployment Is Way Up While the GAP numbers are certainly telling, the more significant numbers, according to Grumman, are those concerning unemployment. As the author reminds us, unemployment statistics cover only those who are looking for work but who can't find it, and â€Å"in December 2011 that amounted to more than 13 million Americans, up from 6. 8 million in 2007† (loc. 94). This is already a staggering number, but when you take into account all of those people who have stopped looking for work out of frustration, or who have taken part-time work out of desperation, this number balloons even Geiger: â€Å"by this broader measure there are about 24 million unemployed Americans -?about 15 percent of the workforce-?roughly double the number before the crisis† (loc. 202). And since the current slump has dragged on so long, the number of people who have been out of work long-term (meaning 6 months to 1 year, or longer [loc. 224]) has risen to levels not seen since the Great Depression.Indeed, Grumman writes that â€Å"not since the sass's have so many Americans found themselves trapped in a permanent stats of Joblessness† (loc. 228). The unemployment numbers are particularly important, the author argues, since hey bring home the human element of the story. Indeed, while GAP statistics represent the abstract loss of an entire economy, unemployment numbers reflect the loss of income of real people. What's more, unemployment not only affects income, but self-esteem as w ell: â€Å"people who want to work but can't find work suffer greatly, not Just from the loss of income but from a diminished sense of self-worth.And that's a major reason why mass unemployment-?which has now been going on for years-?is such a tragedy' (loc. 173). Adding to the tragedy here is the fact that those who are shut out of the Job market or long stretches end up being stigmatize, which can hurt their prospects of landing work in the future: â€Å"Does being unemployed for a long time really erode work skills, and make you a poor hire? Does the fact that you were one of the long-term unemployed indicate that you were a loser in the first place? Maybe not, but many employers think it does, and for the worker that may be all that matters.Lose a Job in this economy, and it's very hard to find another; stay unemployed long enough, and you will be considered unemployable† (loc. 241). While all of these factors have very such affected people who were already in the Job ma rket, it has been even worse for young people who had not yet established themselves before the recession hit. Indeed, unemployment levels among the young tend to be higher than the general population in the best of times, but in the worst of times they tend to get hit even harder. As Grumman notes, â€Å"truly , this is a terrible time to be young†¦Roughly one in four recent graduates is either unemployed or working only part-time. There has also been a notable drop in wages for those who do have full-time Jobs that don't make use of their education† (loc. 249-58). 3. The Potential Long-Term Consequences When it comes to the plight of young people, as well as those who have found themselves shut out of the Job market for an extended period, these phenomena not only affect those directly involved, but also threaten to damage the economy in the long term. This proves to be the case because, as mentioned, present unemployment, or underemployment, can threaten future opport unities.As Grumman explains, â€Å"if workers who have been Jobless for extended periods come to be seen as unemployable, that's a long-term reduction in the economy's effective workforce, and hence in its productive capacity. The plight of college graduates forced to take Jobs that don't use their skills is somewhat similar: as time goes by, they may find themselves demoted, at least in the eyes of potential employers, to the status of low- skilled workers, which will mean that their education goes to waste† (loc. 324). And lost employment opportunities is not the only way that a prolonged slump can adversely affect future economic performance.As Grumman argues, an extended downturn tends to deter businesses from investing in and expanding their operations, which can leave them in a position where they are unable to meet emend when the economy finally does turn around and demand picks up: â€Å"the problem is that if and when the economy finally does recover, it will bump u p against capacity limits and production bottlenecks much sooner than it would have if the persistent slump hadn't given businesses every reason to stop investing in the future† (loc. 328).German's claim that an extended economic downturn does in fact have significant long time repercussions is bolstered by an MIFF study that looked at previous recessions. As the author explains, â€Å"the International Monetary Fund has tidied the aftermath of past financial crises in a number of countries, and its findings are deeply disturbing: not only do such crises inflict severe short-run damage; they seem to take a huge long-term toll as well, with growth and employment shifted more or less permanently onto a lower track† (loc. 41). Even more important, for Grumman, is that there is also evidence that a concerted effort to pull an economy up out of a slump can mitigate the future damage (loc. 341). For the author, then, the message is clear: America is in the midst of a very ser ious and damaging slump; the longer the country remains in the slump, the worse things ill be in the long run. As such, we must take swift and direct action to extricate the nation from the current situation.Before we take a look at what form Grumman thinks this action should take, it well help to hear the author's assessment of the current situation, and what he thinks landed the country here to begin with. According to Grumman, while America's current situation is really quite dire, the reason why the country finds itself in this situation is really rather simple. It all has to do with demand: â€Å"why is unemployment so high, and economic output so low? Because we-?where by We' I mean consumers, businesses, and governments combined-?aren't spending enough†¦ E are suffering from a severe overall lack of demand† (loc. 453-62). Actually, this whole scenario is unfolding as somewhat of a domino effect, as is the case with all downturns. To be specific, consumers have sto pped spending, which means that businesses do not feel the need to hire more employees and/or ramp up production; and since production is down, governments are earning less revenue through taxes, and are themselves more reluctant to spend (loc. 459). So, how does a country get itself out of this kind of slump?Under normal circumstances America's Central Bank (the Federal Reserve), would pump more money into the economy, thereby lowering the interest rate (by the law of supply and demand) (loc. 554-59, 590). This has the effect of making credit cheaper, which spurs individuals to lower their savings and consumer more, thus pulling the economy out of the slump. As Grumman reports, this strategy has proven to be very effective over the years: â€Å"it worked spectacularly after the severe recession of 1981-82, which the Fed was able to turn within a few months into a rapid economic recovery -?morning in America.It worked, albeit more slowly and more hesitantly, after the 1990-91 and 2 001 recessions† (loc. 559). The problem this time around is that when the recession hit in 2008 interest rates were already at the rock bottom rate of zero percent, meaning the Fed could not lower them any further (loc. 594). Since that time the interest rate has remained at zero, but, through it all, even this has not been enough to spur consumer spending to the point where it has been able to rescue the economy from its slump.When interest rates are at zero, and people still aren't spending, you have what is called a ‘liquidity trap'. As Grumman explains, â€Å"it's what happens when zero isn't low enough, when the Fed has saturated the economy with liquidity to such an extent that there's no cost to holding more cash, yet overall demand remains IoW' (loc. 596). And for the author, this is the crux of the issue. According to Grumman, a major part of the problem this time around is that when the latest recession hit, a large number of Americans were already deep in deb t due to the housing crash, as well as other personal debt.What this meant is that even at zero percent interest a vast number of Americans could not afford to resume pending, for they had to get out of their debilitating debt first (loc. 755, 774, 2240). Nor is that the worst of it. Indeed, one of the most straightforward ways to get out of debt is to sell off your assets. But when a large number of people try to sell off their assets (including their houses) all at once, this drives down the price of the assets, thus reducing the amount of money that people can raise in order to pay off their debt, thus exacerbating the problem (loc. 63). But there's more! As the prices of assets fall, the purchasing power of money correspondingly increases (called fellatio), and this increases the relative burden of debt (for the money that you are paying back your debt with is ever increasing in value), thus complicating the matter even further (loc. 767). 5. The Root of the Problem: The Deregul ation of the Financial Sector Now, a lot has been made of the issue of how Americans came to be so indebted in the first place, for this was a major part of why the current problem is so bad.Commentators on the right tend to blame borrowers who took out loans that they were not in a position to pay back, as well as government supported agencies who provided cheap loans to under-funded home-owners (loc. 059). Commentators on the left, on the other hand, tend to put the blame on deregulation in the financial industry, which allowed banking and investment companies to take on undue risk, as well as the banking and investment companies themselves who took advantage of the situation by way of providing loans to overly-risky borrowers. Grumman himself is primarily in the latter camp.To begin with, Grumman claims that the vast majority of bad mortgage loans were made by private firms, not the much maligned government-sponsored Fannies Mae and Freddie Mac (loc. 1072); who, the author conten ds, got into the bad mortgage name only very late (loc. 1072), and not nearly to the extent that private companies did (loc. 1072). But the root of the problem, according to Grumman, is the steady deregulation of the financial industry that began under Reagan in the sass's, and that culminated with the Grammar-Leach-Bailey Act of 1999, which repealed a provision of the Glass-Steal Act.Glass-Steal was a bill passed in 1933 to deal with the ongoing Great Depression (loc. 977). The major provision in the bill was that commercial banking deposits would be insured up to a certain point by the federal government (loc. 977). This was meant o restore confidence in banks, many of whom had fallen to bank runs in the previous years (loc. 977). The issue with insuring bank deposits, though, is that this creates a moral hazard for the banks. For the banks know that they will ultimately be bailed out by the government (meaning taxpayers) if they fall into insolvency (loc. 86); and, as such, they are tempted to make overly-risky investments. As Grumman explains, â€Å"it could have created a situation in which bankers could raise lots of money, no questions asked-?hey, it's all government insured-?then put that money into high-risk, high stakes investments, curing that it was heads they win, tails taxpayers lose† (loc. 986). In order to protect against this moral hazard, the legislators behind Glass-Steal also included a provision that stipulated that commercial banks could not act as investment banks. This was meant to keep commercial bank deposits safe from overly-risky investments.As Grumman notes, â€Å"any bank accepting deposits was restricted to the business of making loans; you couldn't use depositors' funds to speculate in stock markets or commodities, and in fact you couldn't house such speculative activities under the same institutional roof† (loc. 990). In 1999, though, this provision of the Glass-Steal Act was repealed by the Grammar-Leach-Bailey A ct (loc. 1017). According to Grumman, this move was the height of irresponsibility, and was a major contributor to the extreme risk-taking environment that led directly to the financial crash of 2008 (loc. 007-1017). For the author, though, the repealing of Glass-Steal was not the only article of deregulation that prompted the crash. Indeed, he identifies several pieces of anti-regulatory legislation that also had a hand to play in triggering the whole mess, from President Carter's Monetary Control Act of 1980 (â€Å"which ended isolations that had prevented banks from paying interest on many kinds of deposits† [loc. 1003]); to President Reggae's Garn-SST. German Act of 1982 (â€Å"which relaxed restrictions on the kinds of loans banks could make† [loc. 003]); to the failure of legislators to keep up with new innovations in the financial industry, such as shadow banks (loc. 1029-42). Now, unlike some left-wing commentators, Grumman is not prepared to let consumers off the hook entirely for the debt problems that complicated the crash. Indeed, the author (following the economic thinker Hyman Minsk) argues that a big actor behind the growth of consumer debt in the recent past was a general natural tendency for people to forget about the dangers of debt during good times (loc. 733, 798-815).As Grumman explains, â€Å"an economy with low debt tends to be an economy in which debt looks safe, an economy in which the memory of the bad things debt can do fades into the mists of history. Over time, the perception that debt is safe leads to more relaxed lending standards; businesses and families alike develop the habit of borrowing; and the overall level of leverage in the economy rises† (loc. 810). As the quote makes clear, the optimism in question touched all Americans, not Just the lenders, and so all involved deserve some share of the responsibility (loc. 33, 806). 6. The Story Behind Financial Deregulation According to Grumman, though, it was u ltimately the lack of regulations that allowed this selective memory and wild optimism to become dangerous, for the regulations were essentially keeping these sentiments in check (loc. 838). Now, it may rightly be said that the same emotions that led to growing debt also influenced the legislation that allowed it to become dangerous in the end (loc. 40). But for Grumman, there were other reasons behind financial deregulation that are also important to consider.For one, even before regulations were removed from the financial sector, the government had already begun to deregulate other industries (such as air travel, trucking, and oil and gas) (loc. 999-1003). These reforms had led to significant gains in efficiency in these industries (loc. 999), and thus many were optimistic that the same approach would work in the financial sector. The problem, as Grumman points out, is that â€Å"banking is not like trucking, and the effect of deregulation was not so such to encourage efficiency as to encourage risk taking† (loc. 007). B. The Political Influence of the Financial Sector (and the Wealthy in General) Over and above the factors mentioned above, though, Grumman argues that there is a still more sinister explanation behind the deregulation of the financial sector. And this has to do with the political influence of those who benefited most from it: the bankers themselves. Take the Grammar-Leach-Bailey Act of 1999, for instance (which, you will recall, revoked a crucial regulatory provision of the Glass-Steal Act).As Grumman points out, the gassing of the Act was largely influenced by the lobbying of Citron and Travelers Group, who in 1998 had wanted to amalgamate to become Citreous, but who had encountered obstacles due to Glass- Steal (loc. 1043, 1357-65). And even before this, the political elite stood in defense of increasing deregulation, despite initial indications that the measures were problematic (loc. 1414, 1130). Indeed, as Grumman is wont to stres s, the problems posed by deregulation did not begin with the financial crash of 2008.Instead, they began to surface even in the sass's when the banking sector was first deregulated. For instance, in 1989 the Federal government was forced to shut down the thrift banking industry due to a collapse induced by bad debt (loc. 1099-1120). A desperate move that put taxpayers on the hook for $130 billion (loc. 1120). Then, in the sass's, further difficulties arose when several large commercial banks over-extended themselves â€Å"in lending to commercial real-estate developers† (loc. 1119).Finally, â€Å"in 1998, with much of the emerging world in financial crisis, the failure of a single hedge fund, Long Term Capital Management, froze financial markets in much the same way that the failure f Lehman Brothers would freeze markets a decade later† (loc. 1123). For Grumman, all of these events should have acted as clear warning signs that there was something seriously wrong with f inancial deregulation (loc. 1 125-30). So why did the political elite fail to heed the warning signs? For Grumman, this become a good deal more understandable when we appreciate how profitable deregulation was for the financial sector (loc. 142), and how much influence this sector has on government. Indeed, as the author points out, while deregulation did virtually nothing to increase the incomes of middle class families (loc. 137, 1190), the move was a great boon to the wealthy (loc. 1142, 1201), and especially the bankers themselves (loc. 1300, 1418). In addition, it's no secret that the wealthy, and the financial sector in particular, has a major influence on government (loc. 1351). This influence exists not only in the form of significant monetary contributions (loc. 346), but in the two-way cross-over between the financial sector and political office (loc. 1380, 1392). What's more, the influence of the wealthy has been increasing as the rich have gotten richer since the time wh en deregulation first took off (loc. 1388). Section 3: The Solution is Government Stimulus (and a Few Other Reforms) 7. The Solution is Government Stimulus Grumman certainly maintains that reforms in financial sector regulations are needed if the country is to avoid falling into future debacles such as it finds itself in presently.For him, though, the more important question has to do with how to get the country out of its current situation. As you will recall, Grumman contends that America's problem now is that it is in the midst of a liquidity trap. That is, interest rates are already at zero, and yet this still isn't enough to reignite consumer pending. What's more, since consumers aren't spending, businesses have no reason to hire workers and/or expand their operations, and so they aren't spending either (loc. 461). Any yet, for Grumman, this lack of spending is very much the heart of the problem.So what can be done? According to Grumman, the answer is simple: the government mus t step in and take over the role of spending (loc. 879). As the author puts it, â€Å"the essential point is that what we need to get out of this current depression is another burst of government spending. Is it really that simple? Would it really be that easy? Basically, yes† (loc. 688). German's argument is that government spending will put money into the hands of the people, who will then be able to recover enough to resume spending themselves.As consumer spending increases, businesses will increase production and hire more workers, thus fully pulling the economy out of its current slump (loc. 679). 8. Objection #1 : Government Stimulus Doesn't Spur the Economy (and Response) Now, some argue that government spending doesn't actually increase demand and spur the economy at all, since, they claim, all it really does is take resources from one sector of the economy and transfer them to another.The argument is well-rendered by Brian Riddle of the right wing thing tank the Heri tage Foundation, who Grumman quotes in his book: â€Å"the grand Keynesian myth is that you can spend money and thereby increase demand. And it's a myth because Congress does not have a vault of money to distribute in the economy. Every dollar Congress injects into the economy must first be taxed or borrowed out of the economy. You're not creating new demand you're Just transferring it from one group of people to another† (loc. 474).Now, for Grumman, this argument may hold true under normal circumstances, when banks are lending and companies are competing for resources (loc. 2369). But in a depressed economy this is not the case. Rather, in such a situation banks are not lending because safe investments net very little profit, and risky investments are, well, too risky (loc. 2369). So in a depressed economy, resources go unused by the private sector (loc. 2079). This being the case, government spending does not displace private spending; rather, it does nothing but increase d emand

Case study management

Answer 1 Roopali Deshmukh understood the specific objectives of her job and how these objectives and how these objectives fit in with the overall objectives set by the board of directors. Subsequently, she implemented the MBO process as a measure to improve the productivity of her sales team. Effective planning and consistent monitoring on her part as well as the team resulted in the successful implementation of the process. The phases of the MBO process which led to the successful accomplishment of the goals, are hereby discussed: The top management instructed the targets, which set the overall organizational goals and communicated them to the people down the hierarchy. As the marketing manager of the company, having daunting targets to achieve, Roopali initiated the MBO program, inviting participation from her sales team to increase organizational performance by aligning goals and subordinate objectives throughout the organization. The management did not interfere much with the means of achieving the objectives gave adequate autonomy to its employees in the lower hierarchy to implement progress achieve their plans. She examined the current state of affairs, the levels of efficiency of her team, identifying the opportunities and threats that might have a subsequent impact, thus identifying the key result areas to be attained. She motivated the team to decide on their individual roles and responsibilities to achieve the same, and thus the company’s targets. The objectives for each member of the team were mutually set agreed upon, in context with the company targets decided by management. The next phase involved setting specific time frames with respect to achieving the set objectives, post which plans were laid down on the consistently monitoring the performance over the set goals/objectives. Deshmukh effectively and consistently monitored the individual performance of each of her team member in line with the pre-determined plans, while providing positive feedbacks to the team members for their contributions to the company targets. Such a regular monitoring and periodic review helped not only provide feedback, which is essential for completion of work in time, but also motivated the team and each of the member accountable for his/her objectives. It was ensured on consistent basis, that if there were any deviations from the  pre-determined plans/objectives decided by the team, corrective actions were taken to fix them and overcome the deficiencies. The long term organisational targets as laid down by the top management were accomplished subsequently by the team as a consequence of the MBO program, which basically being a form of participative management additionally helps and encourages the employees as it gave them a sense of belongingness in the company, for the management recognizes their effort and participation in the accomplishment of the organisational goals. Answer 2 Management by Objectives (MBO), a term popularized by the famous management guru and author, Peter Drucker in his book â€Å"Practices of Management† (Drucker, 1954) is a democratic and participative style of management, in the sense that it â€Å"requires the managers/employees to set specific objectives to be achieved in the future and encourages them to continually ask what more can be done, is offered as a partial answer to this question of organizational vitality and creativity† (Thomson, n.d.). In simple terms, MBO is a process or system designed for supervisory managers in which a manager and his or her subordinate come together and jointly set specific objectives to be accomplished within a set time frame and for which the subordinate is then held directly responsible (Thomson, n.d.). MBO involves setting up short-term goals for employees in line with the long-term objectives of the organization. MBO is thus an effective tool for planning, control and developmen t in the organisation. The MBO Process The essential steps or elements in the process of management by objectives are hereby discussed: Management Objectives/Targets Reviewed The first phase in the MBO process involves â€Å"reviewing† the targets/goals laid down by the top management, which are then passed down from one subordinate level to another. The MBO approach injects an element of dialogue into the process of passing plans and objectives from one  organizational level to another. The MBO program is initiated by the top management, which sets the overall organizational goals and communicated them to the people down the hierarchy. Setting Employee / Subordinate Objectives The subordinates then collectively develop a group of specific goals, measures of achievement, and time frames in which the subordinate commits himself or herself to the accomplishment of those goals. The subordinate is then held responsible for the accomplishment of the goals (Jossey-Bass/Pleiffer, 1998). Develop plan of action After fixing the objective, the subordinate and superior make an action plan, which will be used by the subordinates to achieve the objective. It requires assignment of specific responsibilities to different departments, division, and individuals. It also requires allocation of necessary resources needed to perform the assigned responsibilities. It also involves setting specific time frames to achieve the set objectives without delays (Daffodil University, 2009). Periodic Review and Monitoring the progress The subordinates/ team members then evaluate/measure their own performances in line with the predetermined targets/ objectives, so as to fix the deviations and take corrective actions for the same. Performance Appraisal The last step in the process involves performance appraisal of the subordinates/employees evaluated based on the objectives/targets. The employees are rewarded and provided feedback based on their performance, which helps motivate them as the management recognizes their effort and appraises them foe their participation and involvement. Advantages of the Management by Objectives Process: Develops result-oriented philosophy: MBO is a result-oriented philosophy. Managers develop specific individual and group goals, develop appropriate action plans, properly allocate resources and establish control standards. It provides opportunities and motivation to staff to develop and make  positive contribution in achieving the goals of an Organisation (Marketing World, 2012). Better communication and Coordination: Recurrent reviews and communications between managers and subordinates helps to maintain congruous relations within the enterprise and also solve many problems faced during the period. Motivation: Involving employees in the whole process of goal setting and increasing employee empowerment increase employee job satisfaction and commitment. This subsequently helps in increasing the employee morale, which has a significant impact on the organisation’ functioning. Effective control: Performance evaluation and monitoring is an integral element of the process of MBO, which is significant for achieving the organisational objectives. Actual performance can be measured against the standards laid down for measurement of performance and deviations are corrected in time. A clear set of verifiable goals provides an outstanding guarantee for exercising better and effective control in the hierarchy (Marketing World, 2012). Expedites personal leadership: MBO enables individual manager to cultivate personal leadership and skills significant for efficient management of activities of a business unit.

For most people, working is simply a means to pay the bills, it has no Essay - 1

For most people, working is simply a means to pay the bills, it has no intrinsic worth. Discuss - Essay Example But the real truth is that regardless of whether one is a caveman or a city dweller, he or she has to make some effort to put food on his table, even if he does not have bills to pay. We work basically to feed our bellies. But is that enough? No, one might say, the glittering world of materialism makes us work towards buying a new set of sofas, a Plasma TV, a shiny new car and God knows what else all in the name of ‘necessity.’ The relationship between work, money and maintaining a lifestyle has corrupted us to such an extent that we have to work to keep up with the Joneses or have our name high up in society. In this essay, I am going to argue that work cannot simply be understood as the means to pay the bills – it has a far deeper meaning for individuals in our society than simply providing for wages or salary. However this does not necessarily mean that it has any intrinsic worth to the individual. Section One of my essay will discuss the readings of Jackson and Carter (2000) and O’Doherty (2006), whereby I shall explore the strong and deep connections between work and an individual’s sense of self- indeed, the search for a secure personal identity. In Section Two subsequently drawing upon the work of Rosen (1988) and others I will show how the managers of modern corporations are explicitly encouraged to design the workplace and motivate employees, so that these employees connect their sense of self with the organizations they work for. But even this does not adequately explain the whole meaning of work for individuals. In Section Three I will discuss the viewpoints made by Jackall (1988), Knights and Roberts (1982), and Morgan (2006) that show the anxiety, subordination and domination that may also describe the unfortunate experience of work for both managerial and non-managerial employees. In conclusion, I will reiterate that work for most of us today is more t han just the means to pay bills - however this does not necessarily mean

The Rights of Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Rights of Animals - Essay Example It will support Singer's argument and present logical reasons to state the case. It will also dispel common fallacies of the opposition view and confront the objections raised most often A vegetarian diet is as healthy as a diet containing meat and in many cases has been shown to be healthier. Meat is not necessary to feed mankind as the amount of vegetable nutrition required to produce meat far outpaces the food value of the meat produced. Having accepted that we can subsist adequately on a vegetarian diet, it becomes imperative that we consider the rights of animals and extend moral dignity to all species. To explore the rights of animals, as equals, mandates that we first define equality as it relates to humans. We do not define equal rights for humans in terms of our willingness to overlook our differences. All humans have physical differences and diverse capabilities. These differences; mental agility, physical prowess, and beauty are accepted as part of being human. This can be illustrated with our concept of equality as it relates to differing ages, the ability to play music, or being multi-lingual. These differences do not limit a human's right to equality. Being equal is not a mere matter of accepting our differences. This absurd extension of reasoning would justify treating a bridge as equal to a human. Our differences are not relevant to the argument. The definition of equality lies not in our ability to overlook difference, but to identify and acknowledge what common thread binds us as human beings. When we examine the human race to determine where our sameness lies, physical and cognitive attributes are soon discarded. The wide range of attributes on the physical plane among humans immediately rejects anything material as sameness. We must therefore look to mental conditions, and awareness of that condition, to evaluate our sameness. On a simple plane of mental agility, we recognize differences in our abilities at work and in scholarly endeavors. Our sameness lies beyond our brain's ability to calculate and resides in deeper levels of consciousness. We ascribe our sameness to self-awareness, concept of past and future, and the ability to feel emotion. These are the concepts that are presumed to be unique to humans by those willing to disregard the rights of animals. Self-awareness is not the sole property of the human race. Animals are acutely aware of their self, their image, and their limitations. A cat will groom itself and will understand where the cat ends and the rest of the universe begins. Animals express their self-awareness in many aspects and in all species. Birds will display plumage and color to attract a mate. They will signal their mate with audible as well as visual indications. They are expressing their self-awareness. The human concept of past and future is reflected in our ability to learn from mistakes, plan for the future, and our appreciation of history. Animals routinely learn from trial and error. The error may result in inhumane punishment as in a training situation when a dog learns obedience. Animals obviously learn to hunt and adjust their method based on success or failure. Hunting and socialization is passed from each generation to the younger members of animal societies. As well as they learn and remember the past, it may also be shown that they exhibit grief at the death of a mate or social group member. Displays of anxiety are commonplace whether we observe

Evaluation of the Visual Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Evaluation of the Visual Environment - Essay Example Knowledge of these properties makes it possible for people understand, analyze and design interactions between objects, surfaces and light. The difference in the behaviour of light on different surfaces defines its properties. While discussing the various properties of light, this essay will consider a bathroom and how light behaves on different surfaces in the bathroom. Bathrooms differ according to people’s tastes and preferences; while some are small, others are large. However, a typical bathroom approximately measures 2.5 meters in length by 1.5 n in the breath. Although the finishing of bathrooms differs substantially, this paper will consider a standard bathroom with white walls, furnished with white tiles and a grey floor. From the ceiling is gypsum fitted with warmly lit bulbs to offer adequate light for the person bathing. A door made of transparent glass opens to a hallway fitted with a dressing table made of marble on one side, with a huge mirror standing on one side of the table. Different things stand on the table, with a glass vessel holding a couple of bathing soaps, ointments and apparatus. A dark curtain ensures the privacy of the person bathing. In the bathing cubicle, fitted on three walls are mirrors standing from the floor to the top of the ceiling. Light naturally travels in straight lines and as such behaves differently whenever it lands on different surfaces (Vandergriff, n.d). While some reflect light in the bathroom, others absorb it, others refract and others transmit light. Mirrors are made of extremely smooth surfaces and as such, they reflect light at the same incidence at which it lands on the mirror. Whenever light hits a mirror, it bounces off, and as such, this forms the image that people see whenever in front of a mirror. While the mirror reflects light due to its smooth surface, tiles do not form images since their surfaces are not as smooth.  Instead of tiles reflecting light at the same angle at which it lands on their surfaces, they reflect it at different angles, a reason why there is no resultant image from these surfaces.     

Contemporary Developments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Contemporary Developments - Essay Example Some of the competitors of Cafà © Coffee day are Barista, Cafà © Mocha and Costa Coffee. India is a growing economy and has shown stability over the past decades in terms of economic growth. The GDP (gross domestic product) of 6% has been maintained in the past ten years and India has become the fourth largest economy in the world (Government of India, 2005). Along with having increased the per capita income of a large number of its people, especially the middle classes, India now has a vast middle class with large amount of disposable income (Aguilar, 2006). This makes the country a choice for consumer product producers and retailers. AT Kearneys annual Global Retail Development Index (A.T. Kearney, 2008) lists India at the top and the country is hailed as the 5th largest retail investment destination (with expected growth of investments to US$ 427 billion by 2010 and US$ 637 billion by 2015) (A.T. Kearney, 2008). It also has the largest number of retail outlets at 12 million, out of which 5 million retailers cater for the food and beverage requirements (India Brand Equity Foundation, 2008). In addition to the proliferation of the retail business in urban India, there is tremendous potential provided by the smaller towns and cities. A very large section of the Indian masses reside in the semi-urban regions that border the metros as well as in the villages. These people are as yet not introduced to the retail boom that urban India is experiencing, and offer a large market that can be tapped. According to Brand Equity Survey, the there investment through franchising in rural India is expected to double by 2010 (India Brand Equity Foundation, 2008). The indigenous coffee organizations however face increased competition from foreign brands and retailers who are getting a stronghold in India. India started its economic reforms in 1991 and deregulated economy that led to an influx of foreign

Law studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Law studies - Essay Example This article is about the British House of Lords. ... The House of Commons pertains to the section of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which is also comprised of the Sovereign and the House of Lords. In this light, it could be noted that the Parliament Acts have been used to enact legislation which ultimately opposes the wishes of the Lords on simply 7 occasions since 1911, an example of which is the enactment of the Parliament Act 1949. However there are still doubts put forward regarding the validity of the 1949 Act, and the members of the Countryside Alliance took a case to court to challenge the validity of the Hunting Act 2004 (Parliamentary Standard Note on the Parliament Acts, 2004). In October 2005, the House of Lords sacked an appeal by the Countryside Alliance, with a strangely large panel of nine law lord’s maintaing that the 1949 Act was valid. A previous Parliament Act, the Parliament Act 1660, was repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969. The long title of the Parliament Act 1911 is (The Guardian, 2003): The long title (properly, the title) is one of the parts, together with the short title, and the operative provisions (sections and Schedules), which comprise an Act of Parliament or Bill in the United Kingdom and certain other Commonwealth Realms. ... The Act serves as a response to the conflict involving the Liberal government and the House of Lords, concluding in the so-called "Peoples Budget" of the Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George during the year1909, which put forward the initiation of a land tax which was rooted to the ideas of the American tax reformer Henry George. This would have had a key influence on large landowners as well as the Conservative opposition, which is generally comprised of large landowners, if it had a large majority in the Lords. In addition they

Research Paper Rough Draft Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Rough Draft - Research Paper Example f the supernatural powers existed, manifestation of such beliefs in the form of witch hunts and witch trials became much more frequent during the Renaissance and culminated in the 16th and 18th centuries in the Germanic speaking areas. The practice of witchcraft and witch hunt subsided in the late 17th century, and by 18th century the last trials and executions took place in some parts of the medieval Europe. The causes for the decline of witchcraft and witch hunt are many and fairly complex.1 A general examination of the factors that led to the decline of the practice of witchcraft, witch hunt and witch trials include; introductions of new Legislations in the society, new socio-political phenomena and the new way of thinking by people in the growing scientific age. Western minds are fully confronted by the problem of what the term sorcery or witchcraft means in their culture, they shall assume most of the comfortable attitudes and categories of the informal and formal cultures exhibit. When women and men find themselves in a fearful and helpless state before the awesome forces of the invisible world and cannot explain; they traditionally seek to reach the inaccessible forces beyond the world. Naturally, it is in order to increase their human powers and their abilities to control their esteemed destinies. It is understandable with varying degree why the holders of such magical powers are the most feared people in the society, and why people’s behaviour towards them must take some specific and peculiar behaviours forms. The ordering and explanation of magic may appear to be so insufficient or inchoate, but at the overall end human preserve the sense of the final clarity and comprehensibility of such phenomena in the society. The witchcraft in the early medieval Europe period was essentially common folk magic or sorcery, developed over a period in the ancient period of 15th to 18th century2. The decline of witch hunt and witchcraft in Europe was a gradual

Organizational Behavior Final Research Paper Assignment

Organizational Behavior Final Research Paper - Assignment Example Decision-making in an individuals life is based on perception. Perception in human beings is a process by which an individual interprets their sensory impressions so as to give meaning to their surrounding. Organizations face problems that need an individual employee or the entire top management to make a decision on what option to undertake. According to Ehrgott (2011), decisions in an organization lies in a situation like what marketing strategy to employ, what suppliers to adopt, who to hire and what new investments to make. Decisions are made all the way from the top management to the general staff of the organization. Decisions can be done as an individual or as a group of people, Ehrgott (2011). Modern technologies are changing how decisions are being made in organizations. Grant (2011) says the despite the involvement of technology in decision making in an organization, and the human being always makes the final decision after considering the options presented by decision support systems. The current decision-making trends in 21st-century organizations are RAPID and rational decision-making. Rational decision-making is widely used in many global organizations since it uses facts and statistics to come up with the next decision to choose, Grant (2011). Grant (2011) continues to say that facts for decision-making are reliable due to the highly sophisticated statistical software they use to generate them. Rational decision-making is an analytical process that makes fact-based decisions. The systematic process of decision making in most organizations nowadays is done through the decision support system. According to Stephen (2005), decision support systems are used for problems that are not well specified or less structured for mostly the upper-level managers. DSS incorporates knowledge-based systems that analyze organizational data to create a best case scenario for

Isolation in Hardys poems Nobody Comes and The Darkling Thrush Essay Example for Free

Isolation in Hardys poems Nobody Comes and The Darkling Thrush Essay In the poems â€Å"The Darkling Thrush† [‘TDT’] and â€Å"Nobody Comes† [‘NC’], Hardy presents two similar images of isolation. In both poems, the personae are isolated from human company, whilst Hardy explores this using imagery of ghosts and the supernatural in both also. However, individually there are differences in tone; although NC ends upon as dire a note as it begins, Hardy engineers an optimistic outlook in TDT and suggests that the persona’s isolation may not Hardy ensures that the persona of ‘TDT’ is isolated from any other human presence or, until the poem’s third stanza, any living organism. Whilst leaning against â€Å"a coppice gate†, he notes that â€Å"all mankind had sought their household fires†. Although this is an indication of the low temperature, it is noticeable that the rest of humanity are seeking light in an otherwise dark environment; reciprocally, the persona is deprived of both warmth and living company. To further this point, Hardy personifies non-human entities, such as frost and winter – â€Å"Winter’s dregs†, for example. In this way, Hardy makes the reader personal not with living creatures but with inanimate entities, isolating the animate persona even more. Indeed, Hardy makes such a division more striking by picturing the persona’s surroundings as very extreme. Surrounded by deathly imagery, the persona imagines the landscape as â€Å"the Century’s corpse/ His crypt the canopy,/ The wind his death lament†. Even Hardy’s animate entities seem ghostly; â€Å"Frost was spectre-gray† and â€Å"mankind haunted nigh†. Such is the state of decay that even â€Å"the ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken† – the regenerative power of life has itself died, leaving the persona as the sole animate existence. A similar loneliness can be seen in ‘NC’, especially towards the end of the poem. In the aftermath of the car passing, the persona observes, â€Å"mute by the gate†, that he â€Å"stand[s] again alone.† The sudden silence and soft, finite ‘t’ sound of â€Å"mute† – in contrast to the onomatopoeic â€Å"whangs† – amplifies the persona’s loneliness; as does the empty assonance in the repeated ‘a’ sound, in â€Å"alone† and â€Å"again†. Equally, the present tense verb â€Å"stands† and â€Å"again† emphasizes that this is an ongoing and repeated state of isolation. However, the persona in ‘Nobody Comes’ is not simply isolated in terms of being physically alone or the sole living creature – he is also isolated from modernity. Hardy again uses ‘supernatural’ imagery to explore this. The persona notes that â€Å"The telegraph wire intones like a spectral lyre/ Swept by a spectral hand†. Rather than see the telegraph wire as a means of communication, the persona rejects it in presenting an image of disassociation; the vagueness of the verb â€Å"intones† summons an image of faceless voices. He also creates negative supernatural connotations; there is an innate ghostliness about the archaic lyre – juxtaposed to contrast with the innate modernity of the telegraph wire – which is reinforced by the wraithlike â€Å"spectral†. Hardy repeats this for emphasis in â€Å"spectral hand†. In this phrase, he also creates an incongruity between the concrete verb â€Å"swept† and noun â€Å"hand† and the abstract concept of â€Å"ghostliness† – the ‘hand’ does not exist. Its invisible presence and visible effects are unnerving, making the modern telegraph wire an unpleasant image. The persona’s rejection of modernity can be seen also in the depiction of â€Å"a car com[ing] up†. Having shone its aggressive lamps at â€Å"full glare† – which Hardy emphasizes by placing at the end of the line –the persona states that â€Å"it has nothing to do with me†. This maxim, in being so blunt, is very powerful. It operates to present a rift between the persona and the modern world and, given the unusually colloquial verb â€Å"whangs†, it indicates that the car is viewed as a callous representation of modern life from which the persona wishes to isolate himself. It leaves â€Å"leaving a blacker air†, which may indicate either a corruption of nature (in terms of polluting the otherwise fresh air) or a darkening in the persona’s emotions. Indeed, the poem concludes with the same negativity, with the word â€Å"nobody† in both the title and the last line. The persona is left â€Å"again alone† and isolated, prompting a large amount of sympathy from the reader. By contrast, ‘TDT’ concludes with a hopeful note. At the appearance of the thrush, in the third stanza, the reader notes that the bird is similarly isolated and surrounded by death. In truth, the reader’s initial reaction to the â€Å"aged frail, gaunt and small† thrush is to question whether the creature will survive the bleak conditions. There is a sense of desperation present â€Å"fling[ing its] soul/ Upon the growing gloom.† However, the persona notices â€Å"some blessed Hope† in the bird’s â€Å"happy good-night air†. Although â€Å"unaware† of why this may be – such â€Å"joy illimited† is unintelligible to the persona – this leads the poem to end in an optimistic fashion. Although both the persona and the thrush remain isolated from any other company (the persona fails to deeply associate with the bird) and the anxiety about the future lingers, Hardy does much to suggest that such deep rooted â€Å"fervourlessness† may change in TDT’s persona, as opposed to the ongoing isolation present in NC.

English Letter of Persuasion Essay Example for Free

English Letter of Persuasion Essay I am writing to you today to request that my road, Knobatnight Lane in Ipswich, be made a priority in the future for gritting. As I’m sure you know the road itself is on the main bus route for our local secondary school, the prestigious Clive Warren’s Finishing School of Excellency, and I’m concerned that a lack of gritting during winter weather could possibly endanger people and their property or leave buses trying to continue down their route stranded. Furthermore, as you may be aware, Knobatnight Lane has achieved notoriety in recent years due to the spate of killings by rogue escapee emus from the world famous Nutty Acre’s emu sanctuary based on the end of the street on Knowyourrole Boulevard. I’m worried that these wild beasts, having turned their backs on the peaceful and respectful nature of Nutty Acre’s, will render any snow-stragglers stranded by stopped buses bereft of life (so to speak). We need to keep our streets safe and gritting seems to be the only way (After the council rejected my suggestion for a series of emu nets to be installed on every street corner) Overall I think that the safety of the people living in this area is paramount and with a small amount of effort, time and mainly, grit, together we can save lives. Yours Sincerely K. Dilkington

Yakult Marketing Plan

Yakult Marketing Plan INTRODUCTION: History of Yakult Yakult Honsha Ltd. was founded in 1930 by Dr. Shirota. For over the past 75 years, the company has expertise in the field of beneficial bacteria. The main activity of Yakult is to introduce a wide range of healthy foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In 1930, Dr. Minoru Shirota, who was conducting his research in a microbiology lab at the Medical Faculty of Kyoto University in Japan, became the first person in the world to create a strain of lactic acid bacteria beneficial to human health. This bacterium was named after Dr.Shirota Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain (Our History, 2010). In Malaysia, Yakult is still a young and growing company. Yakult Ace was only launched in Malaysia in 2004. Yakult (Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yakult Honsha, Japan (Yakult-Malaysia, 2010). Vision Yakult’s vision is to push forward with the quest for new possibilities for probiotics in the academic and medical fields. Mission Yakult’s mission is to contribute to the health and happiness of every person throughout the world through the pursuit of excellence in life sciences and the excellence in life sciences and the study of microorganisms. Philosophy SHIROTA-ISM Preventive medicine A healthy intestine leads to a long life A healthy life for all We contribute to the health and happiness of people around the world through the pursuit of excellence in life science in general and our research and experience in microorganisms in particular (Philosophy, 2010). Issues and challenges In the recent years, several major issues and challenges were faced by Yakult. Yakult is facing a shortage of stock to meet the demand of the people around the world. It is reported that there is high stock turnaround (Cruz, 2013). SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths Dynamic Research Development power Retrieved from the annual report of (â€Å"Global Yakult†Ã¢â‚¬â€ Entering a New Growth Stage, 2013), one of the strengths portrayed by Yakult is its dynamic research and development power. With its 252 medical doctors and scientists, they actively pursue research aimed at applying bacteria effectively in the prevention and treatment of many diseases. The RD Division tails basic research in life science meant at applying and developing basic materials in pharmaceuticals, food, cosmetics and other fields. Besides that, Yakult does their research and development at the Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research, which is situated in Tokyo, Japan. The aim of this central is to the study is to the use of beneficial bacteria in the promotion of health. Therefore, there are continuous improvements inYakult’s products that can improve consumers’ health for today and in the future. Good distribution channel Another essential strength of Yakult is the unique distribution channel byYakult Ladies. It is a type of delivery service that delivers Yakult cultured milk drinks directly to the consumers’ home through a network of Yakult Ladies. According to managing director Kouichi Nakayama (abhishek_g, 2012), door-to-door sales through the Yakult Lady System are more profitable than supermarkets sales.In Japan, more than 60% of Yakult products are distributed by Yakult Ladies. They deliver door-to-door every day, from rural areas to high-rise buildings in the city. However, in Malaysia, Yakult Ladies is also available in delivering of goods. However, it is only available in certain place such as Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Penang, Kuantan, Ipoh and few other areas. The best thing is there is no minimum order or delivery charge for the products (Fong, 2007). Weaknesses Less product choice for customers in terms of flavours The first weakness of Yakult is lack choice of flavours. There are only two flavours available which are Yakult Ace and Yakult Ace Light. Unlike its competitors, such as Vitagen and Nutrigen, these two brands come out with products with variety of flavours which will attract more people to buy their products. As Malaysia is a multiracial country, different races of people have different tastes. Thus, Malaysians usually prefer to choose their drinks from a variety of flavours. Storage difficulty Second is storage difficulty. The products are fermented milk drinks which contains active bacteria under low temperature. However, if the temperature increases, the bacteria will eventually become inactive that will turn the taste sour. This is because the bacteria will begin to make lactic acid when the temperature drops (FAQs, 2010). Therefore, refrigerators are necessary. However, consumers who do not own a refrigerator will find it a problem. By the way, it will also lead to a storage difficulty for retailer outlets with little storage capacity as they still have other products brand they need to keep. This will cause an imbalance of stock availability during different time of the outlets. This problem also influences consumers’ purchase intention that does not have a refrigerator. Smaller packaging and higher price compared to competitors Another weakness of Yakult is that the packaging of Yakult is small compared to its competitors. One bottle of Yakult contains 80ml cultured milk drink while competitors such as Vitagen and Nutrigen serve in 125ml per bottle (TK-eShop, 2010). Besides that, according to Yakult, it is fine for consumers to drink more than 80ml of Yakult cultured milk. Therefore, consumers who drink more than one bottle may go for other competitors’ product who sells in larger packaging (FAQs, 2010). Yakult products are sold in a bundle of 5 bottles, which is the same with its strong competitors such as Vitagen and Nutrigen. However, the Yakult cultured milk drink’s price is higher than the competitors, who offer their drinks in bigger bottles too. Opportunities Trends in health concerns Few studies shows that more and more people are concerned about their health problem and health awareness is becoming increasingly important nowadays (Rollins, 2008); (Senterfitt, Long, Shih, Teutsch, 2013). This is an opportunity for Yakult since Yakult has already scientifically proven that their products are good for health. Consumers are turning to dairy products, yogurts and so forth to start their day. In Yakult’s advertisements, the company informs consumers that their products are probiotic drinks which are good for people’s health. This increases health awareness of the people. Besides that, Yakult’s brand recognition also increases among consumers during this process. The creative thinking of Yakult’s advertisement helps in promoting health by emphasizing beneficial bacteria for intestinal balance of consumers which ultimately leads to good health. Increase in number of convenience stores and hypermarkets According to (Wong, 2007), the number of convenience stores and hypermarkets are increasing. It means that Yakult’s distribution channel will also increase. Yakult’s product can be sold in more and different places. Consumers will also find it easier and more convenient to buy Yakult’s product from the hypermarket or convenience stores nearest to them. Threats Intense competition Yakult faces a tough competitive environment in the market. There are similar healthy foods and also probiotic drinks in the market. Yakult’s main competitors are Vitagen and Nutrigen that has strong brand recognition in the Malaysian market. Vitagen is the first cultured milk to be introduced in Malaysia which is also known as the number one cultured milk in Malaysia. As for Nutrigen, it also provides cultured milk which is similar to Yakult and also Vitagen. These competitors have their own competitive advantages compared to Yakult in terms of the flavours they offered which can suit different consumers’ taste with their different flavours available. Low switching cost Besides that, consumers in Malaysia do not incur high switching cost if they choose to switch to other category of healthy foods. Yakult’s price offering is also a threat as they offer in higher prices and also smaller packaging compared to competitors. Consumers who are price sensitive may choose competitors’ product instead of Yakult’s. Thus, Malaysians can switch to another drinks or brands whenever they want if there are substitute products available with lower prices. They can also shop favourably and also choose selectively without sticking to one supplier. Competitors use aggressive marketing technique Yakult’s competitors uses aggressive marketing plan to promote their products such as advertising in traditional media like television advertisement, radio, social network sites and forth, especially Vitagen. With this, competitors are more recognizable to consumers than Yakult. As Yakult does not usually do aggressive advertisements to promote their brand, consumers are more likely to be aware of competitors’ brand than Yakult. Besides that, the marketing plans that are not heavily invested are usually advertisements that are easily duplicated. Decrease in consumer’s purchasing power Millions of middle-class Malaysians are suffering from low consumer spending growth while increasing in state controlled electricity and gasoline costs since 2008 (Koon, 2014). As a result, mid to higher end choices of beverage suffered a decrease on the sales (Consumer spending to slow down in 2014, 2014); (Koon, 2014). The economic downturn has contributed greatly to the slow growth of the purchasing power as Yakult is not a necessity in consumers’ daily life. Yakult is a probiotic drink, where consumers who desire for a better health can consume it continuously and not a necessity for consumers to drink them as a must in order to survive. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS BY USING PORTAL FIVE FORCES a) Threat of new entrance Yakult probiotic beverage falls into a broad and safe market, especially the awareness and concern of people on health are increasing. Probiotic drinks are favourable and popular for consumers and bring a considerable return to the company. This has made the cultured milk market seems attractive to the market, where it attracts many outsiders that tries to enter this industry. However, the capital cost to enter this industry is relative high compared to other beverage industry. As probiotic beverage requires friendly bacteria such as lactobacillus acidophilus that are hard to produce and refine it to produce a drinkable beverage. Potential entrants who wish to enter this industry need to invest heavily on Research and Development as well as pharmaceutical department in order to produce a probiotic beverage. As Yakult has been proven by many professors such as Dr Ko Okumura (Juntendo University, Japan), Dr. Haruji Sawada and others, the credibility of Yakult beverage is high, which result to a high entry barrier for new entrants as well. Furthermore, potential entrants need to make sure they are able to differentiate their product from Yakult in term of higher nutrition or lower price or both. If firms are not able to come out with a better beverage than the existing beverage in market, then there is no point they enter the market as this will deficit the company. In a nutshell, the entry barrier for new entrants to enter this industry is high. Yakult is facing low threat of new entrants. b) Threat of substitute Porter’s threat of substitute definition is the availability of a product that the consumer can purchase instead of the industry’s product with similar benefits. Eventhough Yakult is the pioneer of probictic, substitutes products are still able to replace them. Customers can easily replace Yakult by purchase bottle of probiotic capsule, probiotic powder or probiotic drink. Example of probiotic supplements is Kordel’s Protect probiotic powder, which cost around RM70 for 30 sachs. Yogurt drink and yogurt powder are also substitutesthat can replace Yakult products. The more substitute the products are, the more competitive the industry is. In the long run, Yakult may suffer less profit. In this case, there are few substitute products in market that can replace Yakult products, so they are facing high threat of substitute products. c) Bargaining power of supplier Bargaining power of supplier occurs when buyers are too many but only few suppliers in the market. When it is too costly to change suppliers, the bargaining power of suppliers is relative high. The Yakult Plant in Calamba city, Laguna, is able to produce 1.6 million bottles of Yakult a day. In order for them to produce a bottle of 100ml Yakult Probiotic beverage, they will need few raw materials such as skimmed milk powder, sugar, and dextrose is blend with sterilized water to create a sweet, milky solution. While all these raw materials are not unique or highly differentiated product. Which means Yakult can get them from few suppliers, as there are not only one supplier in the market that supplies sugar, skimmed milk powder and dextrose. The suppliers industry is not dominated by small number of firm, thus the bargaining power of supplier is not harmful for Yakult. Furthermore, Yakult uses backward integration, where they have their own manufacturing factory to produce their probiotic beverage. The main ingredient in the probiotic dairy beverage, liveLactobacillus caseistrain Shirota is carefully cultured and tested in Yakult own laboratory. In other words, Yakult does not rely on outsider to get their main raw material, but they produced it themselves in their own laboratory and factory. In a nut shell, Yakult is immune with the power of supplier, as they having few suppliers instead of rely on one supplier. d) Bargaining Power of Buyers Buyer power is one of the forces that shape the competitive structure of an industry. When the power of buyer is strong, they can pressure the sellers to lower down the prices, improve product quality or better service. In contra, weak bargaining power of buyer will often makes an industry less competitive and increases the profit potential for seller. In this case, Yakult are facing high bargaining power from their buyers. Firstly this is because there are available substitute and large range of probiotic drink in the market that offered similar benefit to the customers, for example Vitagen, Nestle Yogurt drink, and probiotic supplement beverage. Yakult is not the only firm that produce probiotic daily beverage. Customers can easily switch to other product that available in the market, customers switching cost is low. Secondly, customers are price sensitive towards the beverage. If Vitagen probiotic drink is having promotion and the prices are much cheaper than Yakult Ace drink, customer will simply switch to purchasing Nestle yogurt drink. Thirdly, Yakult probiotic daily drink is not highly differentiated and standard. It become a daily basis for some consumer, thus consumer can switch to other brand that provide the same function as Yakult. In a nutshell, the bargaining power for Yakult buyer is relatively high. e) Threat of rivalry The intensity of rivalry among competitors in an industry refers to the extent to which firms within an industry put pressure on one another and limit each other’s profit potential. High intensity of rivalry means competitors are aggressively targeting each other’s markets and aggressively pricing products. While low intensity of competitive rivalry makes an industry less competitive and increases profit potential for the existing firms. The rivalry in probiotic beverage is minimal. Firstly this is because few competing firms are roughly doing the same size and serving the same amount of customers. Yakult, Vitagen, Nestle are sharing the almost similar market share. Secondly, there are lack of product differentiation for the existing brand in the market, Yakult, Vitagen, Nestle are offer the almost similar probiotic daily beverage in the market. This three probiotic beverage different in some ways but they do share the similar characteristic as well, which are help strengthen immune system and smoother the digestive system. Thirdly, customer brandloyalty is not significant, customer who consume Vitagen beverage might switch to consume Yakult on some day, and same goes to consumer for Yakult. In a nutshell, the threat of rivalry is minimal for Yakult Company. REFERENCES abhishek_g. (12 June, 2012). Yakult. Retrieved 17 June, 2014, from Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net/abhishek_g/yakult-13298536 Consumer spending to slow down in 2014. (9 January, 2014). Retrieved 26 June, 2014, from The Sun Daily: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/925542 Cruz, H. (13 January, 2013). Vision, Mission, Objectives, Goals, Prob. its Background. Retrieved 30 June, 2014, from Prezi: http://prezi.com/mvkfvph4nkz0/vision-mission-objectives-goals-prob-its-background/ FAQs. (2010). Retrieved 15 June, 2014, from Yakult: http://www.yakult.com.my/html/faqs.html Honsha, Y. (2013). â€Å"Global Yakult†Ã¢â‚¬â€ Entering a New Growth Stage. Japan. Koon, C. P. (7 January, 2014). Malaysians Seen Curbing Spending as Living Costs Surge: Economy. Retrieved 26 June, 2014, from Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-07/malaysians-seen-curbing-spending-as-living-costs-surge-economy.html Philosophy. (2010). Out Philosophy. Retrieved 10 June, 2014, from Yakult: http://www.yakult.com.my/html/our_philosophy.html Rollins, C. (16 December, 2008). RAISING HEALTH CONSCIOUSNESS UTILIZING â€Å"UNNATURAL CAUSES† SERIES AS STIMULUS . Retrieved 30 June, 2014, from https://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-121808-155128/unrestricted/Chris_Rollins_Health_IQP_Final_v3.pdf Senterfitt, J. W., Long, A., Shih, M., Teutsch, S. M. (January, 2013). How Social and Economic factors affect health. Retrieved 26 June, 2014, from Social Determinants of Health: http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/epi/docs/SocialD_Final_Web.pdf TK-eShop. (2010). Cultured Milk Drink. Retrieved 30 June, 2014, from tk-eshop: http://www.tk-eshop.com/about-us/articles/articles/vitagen-nutrigen-yakult Wong, L. C. (2007). Development of Malaysia’s Agricultural Sector: Agriculture as an Engine of Growth? Retrieved 28 June, 2014, from ISIS.org.my: http://isis.org.my/attachments/386_Territorial_Disputes_in_East Asia.pdf Yakult. (2014). Profile. Retrieved 13 June, 2014, from Yakult: http://www.yakult.co.jp/english/ir/management/profile.html Yakult-Malaysia. (2010). Yakult Malaysia General. Retrieved 23 June, 2014, from Yakult: http://www.yakult.com.my/html/yakult_my_general.html

Power in Congress Essay -- essays research papers

Power In and Over Congress I feel the system is biased because there are inequalities among the representation and participation of interest groups and constituents in the political system. Unfortunately, poor and uneducated citizens aren’t as organized as interest groups, lobbyists and PACs because they lack the money, resources and connections necessary to influence congress members on legislative bills. It is evident that, â€Å"businesses, interest groups and labor unions are spending more than $100 million a month to lobby the federal government†(Associated Press, SFC, 3/7/98). â€Å"The actual population of interest groups in Washington surely reflects that there is a class bias in the membership of interest groups†(JBG). â€Å"Interest groups are organized bodies of individuals who share some political goals and try to influence public policy decisions. Representatives from interest groups are referred to as lobbyists† (JBG). â€Å"Lobbyist seek to bring about the passage or defeat of legislative bills and to influence congress, often using large sums of money in a variety of ways to influence legislative outcomes† (APD). I feel that lobbyists have a great deal of influence within congress because they may have direct connections with congress members in high positions. Through PACs, organizations can pool campaign contributions from group members and donates those funds to candidates for political office. Personally, I feel that PACs have the most influence over congress because their ...

Facing Death Essay -- Papers Death Dying Life Religion Essays

Facing Death Works Cited Not Included In today?s modern society we have a certain distaste for the subject of death. There are people in society feel uncomfortable with the subject of death. The subject of death is a reality that we need to face everyday. There is nothing any of us can do about death, and there is no virtue in dwelling on it or trying to penetrate its mystery. Is it possible to prepare for death? In our day and age as we know it, there have been astounding advancements in medicine. The average life expectancy has risen. People are being educated in issues that surround a healthy life style. As a society, we are trying to increase our life span and defeat death. While people are following strict diets and grueling exercise programs, the earth is creating new diseases, viruses, bacteria, and illnesses that cause death. Is the earth compensating for these new medical advancements by creating these deadly ailments to make life and death equal? We are all going to die; that?s not our problem. Our problem is how to live until we die. Our ...

The Unknown Prevalence of Youth Gambling Essay -- Gamble Winning Win E

The Unknown Prevalence of Youth Gambling A child’s motivation to begin gambling is obvious. Even at an early age children are trained to idolize winning. They are taught the tortoise is the best because he wins the race. From this elementary lesson, children develop a tendency to idolize the winners and discount the losers. Children observe gambling and have an inclination to see the player raking in armfuls of chips, not the player across the table slowly losing a week’s pay at the black jack tables. They see Las Vegas portrayed in the media as a place to go to win money. They do not see the gamblers who leave the town with an empty bank account and a potential inability to provide for their families. By looking at the gambling culture in this idealized way, children are inclined to gamble when the opportunity presents itself. They may begin innocently by entering into their father’s office pool or wagering on baseball games with their friends, but the fact is many of these children will find t hemselves facing a gambling problem in years to come. I began gambling when I was thirteen with sports pools and friendly wagers with friends. Only four years later I found myself immersed in the culture of gambling; risking my money four nights a week in poker games. When I had started gambling, the stakes were only fifty cents, but now thirty and forty dollars were up for grabs. By the time I was eighteen, even these stakes were no longer enough for me. I decided that the casinos in Atlantic City were the only venues with payoffs large enough to satiate my hunger for gambling. On nothing more than an impulse I set off on a three hour drive, bound for certain victory. I found a seat at the black jack tables in Bally... ...tions. However, the nation will not take action any time soon, not without a push. As members of a society we must do our part to increase awareness about this issue. We must make an effort today to see the adolescents don’t gamble their tomorrow away. Works Cited Eckart, Dennis. Advancement of an Emerging Science. 2003. National Center for Responsible Gaming. 10 Sept. 2003 . Moiduddin, Adil. Gambling Impact and Behavior Study. 2003. The National Opinion Research Center. 10 Sept. 2003 . Willenz, Pamela. Pathological Gambling More Prevalent Among Youths Than Adults, Study Finds. 2003. American Psychological Association. 11 Sept. 2003 .

Concert Critique: La Vida Breve Essay

The concert was titled â€Å"Guitar Escapades,† the long- awaited guitar duo featuring Nobel Queano and Franco Maigue. The concert happened last September 8, 2011, 7 pm, at NCAS Auditorium. Nobel L. Queano is a graduate of Psychology and Music from the University of the Philippines, Diliman. He was a former faculty member of Miriam College of Music Center, Colegio San Agustin Makati and the Temple Hill International School and a former member of the Baguio Guitar Ensemble and the Philippine Youth Orchestra. He was also a first prize winner and a recipient of the Most Outstanding Student of the Yamaha School of Music Guitar Competition in 1986 and 1987. Presently, he is working with some musicians of the Academy of Performing Arts in Hong Kong privately teaching and preparing international music students for the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music Exams. Franco Raymundo M. Maigue is a graduate of UP College of Music. He finished his Bachelor of Music degree as a cum laude. He is the first prize winner of the 2005 Competitions for Young Artists and top prize winner of the 2002 and 2009 National Music Competitions for Young Artists. He was also featured as a soloist accompanied by the manila Symphonic Orchestra at the First Philippine International Guitar Festival. He has been a member of the UP Guitar Orchestra, Kithara Quartet, Abelardo Guitar Quartet and the UP Jazz Ensemble. B. Musical theme and style Begun as royal entertainment in the 16th Century, these brief plays with songs were revived to combat enthusiasm for Italian opera, featuring uniquely Spanish settings and characters, all suffused with the potent and highly distinctive flavor of gypsy music. As outlined by Suzanne Desmarquez, the origins of this style were Arab, with intense and irregular rhythms, sharp attacks, rough endings, and wide vibrato, manifested through guitar accompaniment, castanets, zapateado (foot stomping and tapping), palmar (hand clapping), rapid triple meters, melismatic beginnings and ends of long held notes and harmonies based on open guitar chords. According to his student, Adolfo Salazar, Falla rejected basing his music directly on folklore, but rather used it as the seeds of his own style, extracting the substance of its sonorities, rhythms and spirit. To David Ewen, Falla was a mystic who sought out and assimilated the soul of Spain to produce a vibrant evocation rather than a literal depictio n. The performers presented Classical Music. II. Analysis of the elements A. Dynamics Dynamics is the loudness and softness of sound. In L a Vida Verde, B. Tempo Tempo is the speed at a regular beat. The first part of the piece is fast or allegro, then, there will be a pause, and a slower part (adagio) is played. C. Melody After hearing the piece, I remembered its melody. Melody is a series of single tones which add up to a recognizable whole. A melody begins, moves, and ends; it has direction, shape, and continuity. How the tones of a melody are performed can vary its effect, too. Sometimes they are sung or played in a smooth, connected style called legato. Or they may be performed in a short, detached manner called staccato. D. Other elements of music III. General reaction to the concert A. Describe the mood audience were amazed (may mabilis na part kasi)nakakaexcite! B. Images and ideas conveyed pre Spanish era†¦ kamisa de chino for boys†¦ for girls†¦ nakikipaglandian ung girls sa boys. may pakipot epek†¦ suyuan sa loob ng simbahan. may pamaypay ung girls. sisilipin ung boy tapos magtatakip ng pamaypay. It is a pre-Spanish era. There were men and women in a church. The men wore kamisa de chino while the women were dress in [damit ng girls? ewan!]. It is like the men were courting the women in the church. The women were shy while the men are aggressive and they are trying to pursue the women. C. Memorable feature of the concert The memorable feature of the concert was when they played the song â€Å"Sana Maulit Muli.† It is a popular song in the country, and everybody knows the song. Those who remember the lyrics sang the song. I liked the way they play the song; it’s refreshing and pleasing to the ear. The audience were lively. This is my first time to hear the song in an acoustic It is relaxing, as you listen to them play. D. Did you like the concert? Why/ Why not? I liked the concert. Why? I am a music lover. I appreciate all kinds of music. I believe that doing the classical songs in acoustic guitar is really hard. I admire the performers, I am a frustrated guitarist. For me to watched such astounding performance, I am overjoyed. I liked the concert because I liked to play guitar. Though there were times that I fell asleep, (well, it can’t be helped because what they’re playing is classical music) and Classical music is like a lullaby to me. I usually listen to classical music when I can’t sleep. I am fascinated by their talent. I want to be a good guitar player too, conducting concerts and go to places and make people happy with my music. I’ve never been to a guitar concert before but I think that the concert was awesome. Playing a guitar for such a long time is hard. And besides the pieces that they play were hard and complicated. They’re awesome.

Ederly Parents Should Live in Nursing Homes or Not? Essay

Vietnam’s population is older and older and it is important for young people, especially politicans, to seriously think about the issue of nursing homes. Should elderly parents live in nursing homes or not? Sending elderly parent into nursing homes is the best choice for them in the rest of their lives for three main reasons. First, elderly parents live in nursing homes will be good for their children. Nowadays, young people are too busy. They have o go to work and have no time to take care of their parents. They leave their parents at home lonely for whole day and feel nervous about their parents. Consequently, they can not concerntrate on their work and nursing homes are a good choice for them to send their parents into. Second, when elderly line in nursing homes, they can make friends with the people at the same age. They will fell very happy because they can chat whole day with their friends, do some helpful excercises such as jogging, tai chi, instead of being lonely at h ome when their children go to work. Third, the most important reason, is that nursing homes can provide elderly parents with modern health care facilities. In nursing homes, professional doctors, nurses and high quality equipments are always available to take care of elderly parents. Doctors here also give them a suitable diet which is good for their health. Opponents of sending elderly parents into nursing homes say that elderly parents will fell lonely when they live far from their children and it is also against Vietnamese moral value. However, as stated previously, nursing homes are the place which provide old people with the best health care. Moreover, their children can come and visit them whenever they want. In conclusion, there are undoubtly many benefits to send elderly parents into nursing homes. Most of old people who live in nursing homes show that they live better and happier with their friend here. Sending elderly parents into nursing homes becomes an important issue for both young people and elderly pare nts themselves to think about.

Twitter Case Study

TWITTER SEARCHES FOR A BUSINESS MODELTwitter, the social networking site based on 140 character text messages, is the buzz social networking phenomenon of the year. Like all social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and others, Twitter provides a platform for users to express themselves by creating content and sharing it with their â€Å"followers,† who sign up to receive someone’s â€Å"tweets. † And like most social networking sites, Twitter faces the problem of how to make money. As of October 2010, Twitter has failed to generate earnings as its management ponders how best to exploit the buzz and user base it has created. Twitter began as a Web-based version of popular text messaging services provided by cell phone carriers. Executives in a podcasting company called Odeo were searching for a new revenue-producing product or service. In March 2006, they created a stand-alone, private company called Twitter. The basic idea was to marry short text messaging on cell phones with the Web and its ability to create social groups. You start by establishing a Twitter account online, and identifying the friends that you would like to receive your messages. By sending a text message called a â€Å"tweet† to a short code on your cell phone (40404), you can tell your friends what you are doing, your location, and whatever else you might want to say. You are limited to 140 characters, but there is no installation and no charge. This social network messaging service to keep buddies informed is a smash success. Coming up with solid numbers for Twitter is not easy because the firm is not releasing any â€Å"official† figures. By September 2010, Twitter, according to comScore, had around 30 million unique monthly users in the United States, and perhaps 96 million worldwide, displacing MySpace as the number three global social network (behind Facebook and Microsoft’s Live Profile). The number of individual tweets is also known only by the company. According to the company, by early 2007, Twitter had transmitted 20,000 tweets, which jumped to 60,000 tweets in a few months. During the Iranian rebellion in June 2009, there were reported to be over 200,000 tweets per hour worldwide. In October 2010, Twitter was recording over 1. 2 million tweets a month. On the other hand, experts believe that 80 percent of tweets are generated by only 10 percent of users, and that the median number of tweet readers per tweet is 1 (most tweeters tweet to one follower). Even more disturbing is that Twittter has a 60 percent churn rate: only 40 percent of users remain more than one month. Obviously, many users lose interest in learning about their friends’ breakfast menu, and many feel â€Å"too connected† to their â€Å"friends,† who in fact may only be distant acquaintances, if that. On the other hand, celebrities such as Britney Spears have hundreds of thousands of â€Å"friends† who follow their activities, making Twitter a marvelous, free public relations tool. Twitter unfortunately does not make a cent on these activities. The answer to these questions about unique users, numbers of tweets, and churn rate are critical to understanding the business value of Twitter as a firm. To date, Twitter has generated losses and has unknown revenues, but in February 2009, it raised $35 million in a deal that valued the company at $255 million. The following September, Twitter announced it had raised $100 million in additional funding, from private equity firms, previous investors, and mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price, based on a company valuation of a staggering $1 billion! So how can Twitter make money from its users and their tweets? What’s its business model and how might it evolve over time? To start, consider the company’s assets and customer value proposition. The main asset is user attention and audience size (eyeballs per day). The value proposition is â€Å"get it now† or real-time news on just about anything from the mundane to the monumental. An equally important sset is the database of tweets that contains the comments, observations, and opinions of the audience, and the search engine that mines those tweets for patterns. These are real-time and spontaneous observations. Yet another asset has emerged in the last year: Twitter is a powerful alternative media platform for the distribution of news, videos, and pictures. Once again, no one predicted that Twitter would be the first to report on terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the landing of a passenger jet in the Hudson River, the Iranian rebellion in June 2009, or the political violence in Bangkok and Kenya in May 2010. How can these assets be monetized? Advertising, what else! In April 2010, Twitter announced it s first 386 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital Age foray into the big-time ad marketplace with Promoted Tweets. Think Twitter search engine: in response to a user’s query to Twitter’s search function for, say netbooks, a Best Buy ad for netbooks will be displayed. The company claims Promoted Tweets are not really ads because they look like all other tweets, just a part of the tweet stream of messages. These so-called â€Å"organic tweets† differ therefore from traditional search engine text ads, or social network ads which are far from organic. So far, Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony, Starbucks, and Virgin American have signed up. If this actually works, thousands of companies might sign up to blast messages to millions of subscribers in response to related queries. A second Twitter monetization effort announced in June 2010 is called Promoted Trends. Trends is a section of the Twitter home page that lets users know what’s hot, what a lot of people are talking about. The company claims this is â€Å"organic,† and a true reflection of what people are tweeting about. Promoted Trends are trends that companies would like to initiate. A company can place a Promoted Trends banner on the bottom of the page and when users click on the banner, they are taken to the follower page for that movie or product. Disney bought Promoted Trends for its film Toy Story 3, according to Twitter. In July 2010, Twitter announced its third initiative of the year: @earlybird accounts, which users can follow to receive special offers. Walt Disney Pictures has used the service to promote The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by offering twofers (buy one ticket, get another one free). The service could work nicely with so-called real-time or â€Å"flash† marketing campaigns in entertainment, fashion, luxury goods, technology, and beauty products. So far, Twitter has over 50,000 @earlybird followers and hopes to reach â€Å"influentials,† people who shape the purchasing decisions of many others. Another monetizing service is temporal real-time search. If there’s one thing Twitter has uniquely among all the social network sites, it’s real-time information. In 2010, Twitter entered into agreements with Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo to permit these search engines to index tweets and make them available to the entire Internet. This service will give free real-time content to the search engines as opposed to archival content. It is unclear who’s doing who a service here, and the financial arrangements are not public. Other large players are experimenting. Dell created a Twitter outlet account, @DellOutlet, and is using it to sell open-box and discontinued computers. Dell also maintains several customer service accounts. Twitter could charge such accounts a commission on sales because Twitter is acting like an e-commerce sales platform similar to Amazon. Other firms have used their Twitter followers’ fan base to market discount air tickets (Jet Blue) and greeting cards (Somecards). Freemium is another possibility: ask users to pay a subscription fee for premium services such as videos and music downloads. However, it may be too late for this idea because users have come to expect the service to be free. Twitter could charge service providers such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, and hair salons for providing their customers with unexpected appointment availabilities. But Twitter’s most likely steady revenue source might be its database of hundreds of millions of real-time tweets. Major firms such as Starbucks, Amazon, Intuit (QuickBooks and Mint. om), and Dell have used Twitter to understand how their customers are reacting to products, services, and Web sites, and then making corrections or changes in those services and products. Twitter is a fabulous listening post on the Internet frontier. The possibilities are endless, and just about any of the above scenarios offers some solution to the company’s problem, which is a lack of revenue (forget about profits). The company is coy about announcing its business model, what one pundit described as hiding behind a â€Å"Silicon Valley Mona Lisa smile. † These Wall Street pundits are thought to be party poopers in the Valley. In a nod to Apple’s iTunes and Amazon’s merchant services, Twitter has turned over its messaging capabilities and software platform to others, one of which is CoTweet. com, a company that organizes multiple Twitter exchanges for customers so they can be tracked more easily. Google is selling ad units based around a company’s last five tweets (ads are displayed to users who have created or viewed tweets about a company). witter is not charging for this service. In the meantime, observers wonder if Twitter is twittering away its assets and may not ever show a profit for its $160 million investment.Sources:Matthew Shaer, â€Å"Twitter Hits 145 Million User Mark, Sees Rise in Mobile Use,† Christian Science Monitor, September 3, 2010; Jason Lipshutz, â€Å"Lady Gaga to Steal Britney Spears’ Twitter Crown,† Reuters, August 19, 2010; Emir Afrati, â€Å"Twitter’s Early Bird Ad Ploy Takes Flight,† Wall Street Journal, July 14, 2010; Jess ica Guynn, â€Å"Twitter Tests New Promoted Trends Feature with ‘Toy Story 3’ from Disney’s Pixar,† Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2010; Erica Naone, â€Å"Will Twitter’s Ad Strategy Work,† Technology Review, April 15, 2010; Jessica Vascellaro and Emily Steel, â€Å"Twitter Rolls Out Ads,† Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2010; Brad Stone, â€Å"Twitter’s Latest Valuation: $1 Billion,† New York Times, September 24, 2009; Jon Fine, â€Å"Twitter Makes a Racket. But Revenues? † Business Week, April 9, 2009.CASE STUDY QUESTIONS1. Based on your reading in this chapter, how would you characterize Twitter’s business model?2. If Twitter is to have a revenue model, which of the revenue models described in this chapter would work?3. What is the most important asset that Twitter has, and how could it monetize this asset?