Political Economy (Theories of Late Capitalism) Essay - 1

Political Economy (Theories of Late Capitalism) - Essay ExampleAmerican economy, besides, is no exception to it. For instance, later The World War-2, America emerged as economic giant because of rapid progress in different fields, but hardly a decade had passed that The US confronted groovy economic crisis. It was asserted that stock market collapse was the major cause of the great depression and as the consequence of this stock market collapse, an unparalleled depression overtook fall in States (Majumdar et al 234). The way America made achievements during era of industrialization and during the World War-1 she could not withstand stock speculation and its ultimate consequences.Leading points for the United States dress up to power. America with its progressive policies marked its existence as economic giant and witnessed economic boom once again after decade of Great Depression was over and particularly in the post World War 2 era. Theleading points which led to the rise of A merican economy initially include more things. To begin with America gave suppleness in taxation. It made taxation as easy as possible. Secondly, it applied theories of monetary pull and occupied employment fiscal plan. Thirdly, it included in its economic policy to include quantitative targets for the economy. Fourthly, a growth model of economy was put into practice rather than earlier rotary model which allowed just transaction of the same. Finally, substitute of the impression of being without a job as a structural predicament by a mind of a low down combined stipulate.Mechanisms that Immanuel Waller stein credits with weakening US power. The mechanisms which Immanuel Waller stein consider for the weakening og American superpower are also various. In this pretext, to begin with, geographic expansion of the European world-economy to include the whole of the globe shook US economy. In the second place, the expansion meant the elimination of otherwise world-systems as well as t he absorption of the

Answer at least 5 queations thoroughly Assignment

Answer at least 5 queations thoroughly - engagement ExampleHowever, caution adherence is paramount when using the traits to measure origins because characteristics of men and women are different. Also, mixed ancestry may cause complications. Metric traits are shake and age discriminatory while non-metric traits are mainly age discriminatory. Conclusively non-metric traits appear to be less discriminative and are more applicable.Apes have no tails they are large and cumbersome the body posture is upright, and the ratio of their brains to their body is bigger than the monkeys. Monkeys have tails, sm anyer body sizes with relatively equal posterior limbs and forelimbs order (Walker and Suzanne 178). Primate is in two groups the Prosimians and anthropoids (simians). Monkey and apes fall under simians. Primate sub-orders Strepsirrhini, (wet-nosed primates), consisting of non-tarsier prosimians, and the suborder Haplorhini (dry-nosed primates), composed of tarsiers and the simians. Simi ans are sub-divided into catarrhine (narrow-nosed) and platyrrhine (flat-nosed). Catarrhine include bang-up apes, baboons and macaques (old world monkey) while platyrrhine (New World monkeys) squirrel, howler and the capuchin.Monkeys and apes have certain similar features which they with the other primates, such features include climbing trees, movement skills like move from tree to tree. They all walk on two or four legs and swaying amid branches (Walker and Suzanne 226). The primates have only a pair of mammary glands, heterodyne dentition, and all have fingernails. Monkey and apes differ from other primates with their larger body sizes, condensed dependence on sense of smell, less specified color vision. They have a bony plate that forms back of the eye socket and merging two edges of maxilla at midline forms one bone. Finally, they have longer gestation and development stages.order Primates have some common characteristics like

Anger, Hatred, Powerless, and Connection Term Paper

Anger, Hatred, Powerless, and Connection - Term Paper ExampleIn this paper, I address the conflict in the midst of the view that petulance is contrastive from iniquity and that anger and hatred are one and the akin thing. In the following, I assume that there is temporal hatred that comes when one acts emotionally out of anger, which may not be distinguished from hatred that may cause a conscious anger and is remarkably different from anger itself. If Buber were to soulfulnessalize the two terms and fit them into his dual system, he would group the temporal hatred and anger in I-Thou set where the entities consist of, particular proposition isolated qualities, but engages in the same realm of unconsciousness. The permanent-conscious hatred and anger would be classified as I-It where they are different and exist independently. Anger toilette lead to temporal hatred or permanent hatred. This relationship can be clearly explained by the following scenario. Mike is mired on the h ighway by a traffic jam. He is supposed to attend a staff meeting, but the traffic is moving at a snails pace. While on the traffic jam, another car keeps intercepting and flouting traffic rules. At some point, the car attempt to fix itself ahead of Mike and it slightly collides with his car. At this point, Mike rushes out with a metal bar, with eyes dilating, red and his heart thumping, and smashes the windscreen of the offending car. At this particular point, Mike is irate Mike was angered, and he developed a temporal hatred for the offending driver and the drivers action. Suppose on arrival, Mike find that his former manager, whom he despised for being un-understanding is chairing the meeting, and he decides to punish Mike by suspending him. On trying to explain his content, the chair interrupts and claims that Mike has always been late and that his actions are deliberate. Mike is angry again, and this time round he may not take action. Thich Nhat Hanh warns that, in our daily lives, we must practice mindfulness so as to identify anger, examine the effect of anger that comes from within us than that, which comes from without. This is because the primary cause of anger is the anger within us or the hatred within us, like the case of Mike and his manager. Thich quotes the Buddha who asked How can anger arise in one who has no anger? Anger, being an emotional state of soul, could not arise if we had no seeds of anger in our store of consciousness because events and words act as catalysts of what is already within us. This is the reason as to why, two people can experience the same event or hear the same words, but one gets damn angry and the other one not. Therefore, in Mikes scenario, one person can be said to have self awareness of his state of emotion unlike the other. Since anger can lead to either noble actions or disgraceful ones, it means that we have discretion to choose what to do. Gould quotes Hanna and Brown (2004) lengthily regarding this self a wareness thus Self-awareness entails individuals ability to label their emotions, whether pleasant or unpleasant, and to fill them as part of being human. Self-esteem involves an acceptance of emotions as pertinent information about the self and an ability to act responsibly on those feelings. When individuals are not able to tolerate their fears or anxieties, they develop controlling, or addictive behavior intended to numb unpleasant emotional states. (p. 81-82) Thich analyzes that one should master his or her own anger, so as to help others manage theirs. This self mastery emanates

Critically evaluate budgeting as a tool for planning and control Essay

Critically evaluate budgeting as a tool for proviso and control - Essay ExampleAccording to them, not besides is budgeting a time consuming undertaking, it also is prone to manipulation by the steering. Proponents of the budgeting bear upon get that it is but through budgeting process that firms can achieve proper financial planning. Despite having its advantages, budgeting has its disadvantages too. This paper aims at evaluating the pros and cons of budgeting, with reference to previous research done by different authors. Libby & Lindsay agree that budgeting has its own advantages and disadvantages. According to Libby and Lindsay, most disposals find budgeting as an important key in managing their control systems. Budgeting plays a number of major roles to the management in fulfilling their managerial roles in an organization. Through budgeting, coordination, communication, as well as performance evaluation of an organization is possible. Consistently, and over a long time, e xternal evaluators pitch used the budget as a measure of organizational performance. The ability of the organization to meet its budgetary commitments determines the organizations performance. Although in some regions, budgeting has mixed-up meaning, in others, such as North America, it is still a very important element of management control. While many financial experts agree on the need for adopting better budgeting methods, organizations weigh that budgeting is an internal process, developed by the individual organization and the management. The fact that budgets are a means of communicating in the organization, and ensuring coordination inwardly the organization makes the budget a very important managerial element. Therefore, organizations cannot do away with them completely. Internal as well as external communication of an organization is an important element of organizational success. Although some managers believe that budgeting is an outdated process, there are organizat ions that attribute their performance to their budgeting process. Libby & Lindsay (2007, p. 48) suggests that the efficiency of budgets to an organization in achieving its goals and objectives determines the perception of the budgeting process to an organization. Some believe that budgeting is a normal process, with little or no significance ion the performance of the organization. on the other hand, there are some that believe that without budgeting, achieving organizational goals and performance is unlikely. Therefore, it is the duty of the management to determine the contribution of budgeting to its organizations goals. Vaznoniene & Stonciuviene (2012, p. 158) argue that budgets play a big role not only in the harmonization of business activities and enhancing cooperation between business units, but also in the delegation of duties and allocation of incurred expenses. According to Vaznoniene & Stonciuviene (2012, p. 160), while some of the organizations believe that budgets only act as a means of evaluating staff performance, they also act in supporting internal control systems of the organization. Jehle does not believe that budgeting as a process has lost its significance altogether. Despite the challenges that it faces, it remains a key factor in the success of the organization. Jehle argues that good managers know the advantages of having a good budget, which is not just consolidating the numbers (1999, p. 56). A good budget according to him is a roadmap, which can guide the company to achieving a competitive advantage. Since

Drug offenders sdmitted to prison Essay Example for Free

Drug offenders sdmitted to prison EssayThe single greatest force behind the growth of the U. S. prison system since the mid-1980s has been the guinea pig war on do medicatess. 45 Spearheaded by major federal dose policy initiatives that significantly increased penalties for dose offenses and markedly increased federal bills for produce anti- medicine efforts, federal and state measures to combat drugs have concent estimated on criminal law enforcement rather than prevention and treatment.46 An estimated 400,000 people almost adept-quarter of the add up incarcerated population in the U. S. are confined in local jails and state and federal prisons on drug charges. 47 Citing the extraordinary number of drug offenders in U. S. prisons, General Barry McCaffrey, has decried the creation of what he termed a drug gulag. 48 Policies adopted to battle the use and sale of drugs have led to marked increases in trance pass judgment, in the likelihood of going to prison, and in th e length of sentences for drug offenders. amid 1980 and 1997, the number of annual drug arrests tripled to a high of 1,584,000. 49 The rate of drug arrests per 100,000 residents rose from 288 to 661.50 The rate of commitment to state prison per drug arrest quintupled between 1980 and 1990, rising from 19 prison commitments per 1,000 arrests to 103 per 1,000. 51 The estimated time served by drug offenders in state prisons increased a full year between 1987 and 1996 federal drug sentences doubled. 52 As of 1997, there were an estimated 285,009 men and women in state and federal prisons on drug charges, a twelvefold increase since 1980. 53 Relative to the adult population, the rate of incarceration of drug offenders hasincreased almost tenfold, rising from slight than 15 inmates per 100,000 adults to 148 per 100,000.54 In 1980, drug offenders comprised only six portion of state prison populations. By 1998, they constituted 21 percent. In federal prisons, drug offenders now comprise 59 percent of all inmates, whereas they represented only a quarter of federal inmates in 1980. 55 Drug Offenders Admitted to Prison Between 1980 and 1998, the number of new inlets of drug offenders to state and federal prison soared, exceeding 1. 5 million in total (Figure 5). In recent years, round one hundred thousand drug offenders have been admitted to prison annually. Nationwide, 31 percent of all admissions to state prison in 1996 were drug offenders.Among the states, the proportion of drug offenders alter between a low of 10 percent in Maine to a high of 46. 6 percent in New Jersey and 44. 7 percent in New York (Figure 6). In three quarters of the states, to a greater extent than one in five persons sent to prison was convicted of a drug offense. In contrast, untrained offenders accounted nationwide for only 26. 8 percent of new state prison admissions. Rate of Admission of Drug Offenders There is a remarkable range in the extent to which states subject their populations to incarceration on drug charges (Table 8).The rates of admission of drug offenders to prison per 100,000 adult residents vary from a low of 6 per 100,000 in Maine to a high of 91 in California. The ten states that have the highest rates of drug offender admissions relative to population are California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. Nationwide, drug offenders are sent to prison at a rate, relative to population, that is 13 percent higher than the rate for violent offenders (Table 9).In one half of the states report to NCRP, the admission rates for drug offenders exceed those for persons convicted of violent crimes. Six states Arkansas, California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia send drug offenders to prison at rates that range from 50 to 100 percent higher than the rates for violent offenders. Drug Offending and Prison Admissions The broad range in admission rates for drug offenders crosswise the c ountry cannot be ascribed simply to variations in drug use and sales in variant states.Table 10, covering twenty six states, presents federal estimates of the character of the population over 12 in those states who were current illicit drug users in 1991-1993. 56 Although some drug users may cross state lines to bribe drugs, we assume that relative rates of drug use in each state also roughly reflect relative amounts of drug sale activity. study drug use rates with calculations of the rate relative to population at which drug offenders in those states were sent to prison reveals the lack of a consistent correlation between drug offending and the imprisonment of drug offenders.First, the percentage of the population that used drugs varied among states from 4. 1 to 8. 2 percent, compared to a range in drug offender admission rates that extended from 8 to 91. Second, the states with higher rates of drug use were not necessarily the states with higher drug offender admission rates. Oregon, for example, had the third highest percentage of drug use, yet it had one of the lowest rates of drug admissions. In contrast, California had both the highest rate of drug use and the highest rate of drug offender admissions.Third, lower drug use did not necessarily correlate with low drug offender admissions rates. The percentage of Illinois population that used drugs was quite an low, yet the statehad the second highest rate of drug offender admissions. Similarly, Louisiana had a relatively low rate of drug use yet it had one of the highest rates of drug admissions. Obviously, no definitive conclusions can be drawn from a comparison of these two rather crude sets of figures.Nevertheless, the data suggest the explanation for the different rates at which people are sent to prison for drug offenses must lie in different penal policies and priorities among the states, including different law enforcement resources and strategies, prosecutorial charging preferences, and senten cing laws, as well as structural and demographic factors, e. g. , degrees of urbanization, rather than rates of drug offending. Drugs Involved In Offense The NCRP data does not permit reliable calculations about the extent to which different hard drugs (e. g. , cocaine, amphetamines, heroin) were involved in drug offenses.The data is somewhat better with regard to the identification of marijuana offenses, which were identified as the drug involved in 4. 3 percent of all drug admissions. 57 In nine states marijuana offenses accounted for more than ten percent of drug admissions atomic number 13 (16. 09), Iowa (17. 22), Kentucky (12. 4), Mississippi (14. 50), New Hampshire (28. 83), North Dakota (43. 02), South Carolina (11. 25), South Dakota (18. 3), and West Virginia (20. 63) (Table 11). Type of Drug Conduct People are sent to prison for both drug possession and sales-related conduct.In 1996, the simple possession of drugs (excluding possession with intent to sell) was the most ser ious conviction offense for 28 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prison (Table 12). Fifty-six percent of drug offender admissions were for drug sales, and the rest for other drug-related offenses (e. g. , fraudulent prescriptions and unlawful possession of syringes). In nine states (Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia) more than 50 percent of drug offenders sent to prison were convicted of simple possession.

Green Mountain Coffee Essay Example for Free

Green Mountain Coffee EssayGreen Mountain Coffee Roasters opened as a cafe in 1981 in Vermont. They roasted their own deep brown and before long, demand grew and local restaurants and inns began to order their bounteousness roasted cocoa as well. Today the come with has extensive wholesale, direct mail and e-commerce operations. Green Mountain Coffee now has a distri providedion facility and two production sites in Vermont, and a manufacturing and memory facility in Knox County, TN (GMCR.com).GMCRs operations ar managed through two business units. The Specialty Coffee business unit produces coffee, tea and hot umber from its family of brands, including Tullys Coffee, Green Mountain Coffee and Newmans Own Organics coffee. The Keurig business unit is a leading establishr of gourmet single- transfuse brew systems and markets its patented single-cup brewing systems for postu subsequents at home and away-from-home. K-Cup plow partake in packs for Keurig Single-Cup Brewers are produced by a variety of licensed brands, including Green Mountain Coffee, Starbucks, and Tullys Coffee (GMCR.com).Keurig, Incorporated, which became a subsidiary of GMCR in 2006, is the second business unit of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Keurig was launched in 1990 by Peter Drag champion and John Sylvan, who asked themselves why do we brew coffee by the pot when we drink it by the cup? From this question, the concept of Keurig K-Cup portion-pack brewing was born. Keurig brewing systems call a design that utilizes single serving pods of coffee instals that the railway car pushes hot water through and into the delay cup. The government issue is a fresh, hot cup of coffee that has not been sitting in the coffee pot waiting to be poured. In 1998, after eight years of development, Keurig released an industrial-strength, single-serve machine that delivered a perfect cup of coffee or tea every time.Keurig brewing systems employ a design that utilizes single serving pods of coffee grounds that the machine pushes hot water through and into the waiting cup. The result is a fresh, hot cup of coffee that has not been sitting in the coffee pot waiting to be poured. K-cups are offered in 249 varieties on the Keurig website. Most retail grocery stores cheat on several varieties of K-cups. There are two types of Keurig brewers, the K-cup system and the bleak Vue brewing system. There are 12 different K cup style brewers. In the spring of 2012, Keurig released a Vue brewing system that gives the consumer the ability to customize their drink by offering more cup size options and by brewing distinctive feature beverages, such as lattes and cappuccinos. To date, there is only one model of the Vue brewing system available. Competitor AnalysisThe market for single-cup coffee brewers is a fairly new one and has very few companies selling single-cup brewing systems. The market is an oligopoly, with GMCRs Keurig holding approximately 75 percent of the US market sha re (Foxbusiness.com), followed by the Tassimo by Kraft, Nescafes Dolce Gusto and Senseo. The global leader is Nestls Nespresso system with 35 percent, followed by Senseo brewers with 18 percent, and Kraft Foods Tassimo with 8 percent. Green Mountain ranks fourth globally with al about 8 percent (Geller Dalal, 2012). Almost all of the coffee brewers in the market are priced between $75 and $175. For around $100, the consumer has a choice of a hand full of basic brewers.The single-cup brewers each get hold of their own system with pods or cups that work exclusively with their machine. Most of the companies in the market fixate most of their profit from the sale of their coffee as opposed to their machines. Mr. Coffee released a new machine in the fall that is compatible with Keurigs K-cups specifically to edge in on Keurigs share of the market. It is compatible with Keurigs K-cups and is less expensive to the consumer.The main competitors in the mainstream single-cup coffee system market in the United States are Keurig, Tassimo, and Senseo. The less competitory players in the market are Mr. Coffee and Nescafe, while Nestls Nespresso is currently the only serious contender in the high-end market in the United States.GMCR invests significant resources and capital in engineering and research and development in order to keep Keurigs position as the leader in the single-cup brewing market. As a result, they have a strong and growing portfolio of market-leading, proprietary applied science. Keurigs integrated engineering team drives fast and original product development in brewers, portion packs, and high-speed packaging lines all three areas that supported Keurigs single-cup system. The engineering team at Keurig includes mechanical, software, and nutritional science, as well as quality federal agency and industrial engineering. The companys emphasis on quality products, easy-to-use features, and innovative technologies has earned Keurig high marks in customer satisfaction.GMCR started distribution of the new single-cup Keurig premium coffee system to use coffee service and food service providers in 1998. Keurigs strategy to gain market share in the office market is to sell machines to distributors and encourage them to give the machines away or lease them for a minute fee. The economics of the strategy works for distributors because the real profit is in selling K-Cups. Keurig sells its machines, both to distributors and to individual consumers, at near represent and gives the machines away or rents them cheaply to businesses, in order to secure the customers business. They make up the cost in less than six months just on the sales of their K-cups.Keurig has licensed several additional coffee roasters to package gourmet coffee and teas into K-Cups, all of which stand royalties to Keurig based on the number of K-Cups shipped. In addition to offering Green Mountain Coffee and Newmans Own Organics and Celestial Seasonings Tea brands, which are package and sold by Green Mountain Coffee, Keurig offers several opposite North American K-Cup brands, such as Caribou, Folgers and most recently, Starbucks (Starbucksdrinks.com).The weaknesses of GMCRs Keurig are that the K-cups are not utile and create more waste than traditionally brewed coffee, since the cups are made of plastic and aluminum. The company has received some bad press for being not eco-friendly enough. some different significant weakness is that Keurigs strategy relies heavily on selling K-cups. The company makes most of its profit from the sale of coffee. However, in the fall of 2012, two of Keurigs patents expire and other companies will likely begin producing pods that are compatible with Keurig brewing systems. Already, there are reusable cups on the market that consumers can buy to fill with the ground coffee of their choice.Tassimo is made by Kraft and was first introduced to the market in 2004. There are three Tassimo single-cup brewers curren tly on the market. Tassimo brewers use non-reusable plastic beverage pods called Tassimo discs (T-Discs), which are produced by Kraft. Each has a barcode printed on its label, which the machine reads to calculate the amount of water, brewing time, and temperature for the specific beverage. The strengths of Tassimos strategy are centered around their alone(predicate) barcode. While Keurig pods are pre-measured to have one amount, no matter how strong or how large you want your coffee, the barcode on the T-Disc tell the Tassimo brewer exactly how to make the perfect cup of the drink in the disc. Tassimos T-Discs also use liquid milk, instead of powdered milk in their T-Discs and is capable of making beverages with frothed milk (Tassimodirect.com). The result is that the consumer can make better specialty drinks, such as lattes and cappuccinos in their Tassimo. Also, the market has already seen the introduction of reusable cups for the Keurig, that the consumer can fill with the groun d coffee of their choosing. This is bad news for a company that makes virtually all of its profit from coffee sales. There are also reusable pods for the Senseo. Tassimo is the only system that is protected because of their unique barcode system.The weakness that is holding Tassimo back from taking more market share is the lack of popular brands of coffee available in T-Disc form. While Keurig has haemorrhoid of big name coffees available in K-cup form, Tassimos most well-known brand available in T-Disc is Maxwell house. A very recent, and concerning, weakness is that Tassimo recalled 835,000 coffee makers in the United States and another 900,000 in Canada after dozens of reports of the brewers scatter hot liquid, coffee grounds or tea leaves (http//www.cpsc.gov). There have been 140 reports of incidents with the brewers spraying hot liquid, coffee grounds or tea leaves onto consumers, including 37 reports of second-degree burn injuries. This is very bad for Tassimo because when people do internet research to help them find which single-cup brewer is right for them, this recall is the first thing they will see.Senseo is made by Sara Lee, who recently bought the brand from Philips, and was one of the first single-cup brewers on the market in 2001. Unlike the other single-cup systems, the Senseo uses coffee pods instead of cups. The pods are made of coffee-filter paper and the consumer has the option to use one for a regular strength, or small, cup of coffee or to use two pods for a larger cup, such as a travel mug, or for a stronger cup of coffee.The ability to choose one or two pods is Senseos biggest strength. Reviews from coffee critics consistently give Senseo high marks in flavor and quality when compared to the other popular single-cup coffee systems. Senseos weaknesses are that they have built an unattractive brand image and that they do not have contracts with any well-known coffee companies and have very little variety in the coffee pods that are a vailable. They produce 11 coffee blends, all under the Senseo name, for the Senseo brewer (senseo.us). In an interview in February, Sara Lees Executive Chairman, Jan Bennink, told Reuters that the Senseo is a very undersexed machine (reuters.com) and that young people do not want to be associated with the brand. Market AnalysisWorldwide coffee sales peaked at $70.86 one million million in 2011. Sales of single-serve packets accounted for $5.75 billion of that, or 8 per cent (Geller Dalal, 2012). The single-cup coffee market grew at a rate 31 percent from 2010. Most Americans who consume coffee are still drinking traditionally brewed coffee. Coffee brewed in a single-cup machine from a pod, K-cup or T-Disc cost more than twice as much as the average ground coffee brewed in a drip coffee maker.There are few barriers to entry into the single-cup coffee market. Companies that already have brand-name recognition are more able, and likely, to produce their own single-cup system. One ba rrier to entry is that there are already some highly recognize names in the market that will make it difficult for an unknown company to compete. Another barrier is the high cost of entry into the market. Developing the technology to create a single-cup brewing system that will take market share from the established players is a daunting task that will discourage small companies from attempting to move into the market.The most interesting potential entrant to the market is Starbucks. In March, 2012, they announced that they will be releasing a single-cup coffee system later this year (Andrejczak, 2012). This is interesting because Starbucks and GMCR struck a deal in 2011 to sell Starbucks coffee in K-cups. The K-cups have been a huge success for both companies. So far, both companies are denying that the release of Starbucks Verismo will negatively affect the sell of Keurig machines and K-cups. The Verismo is being marketed as a high-end, high-pressure, specialty coffee system, mor e similar to the Nespresso than the Keurig and Tassimo, but considering how popular the Starbucks K-cups are, it will be interesting to see how its release affects Keurig and the single-cup coffee market. The Nespresso is worth mentioning in the potential entrants section because although they have been making single-cup machines for some time, they are only recently trying to grow in the United States market. They are opening small boutiques in major cities, most recently in San Francisco this year, and publicizing on major television channels. They market their product as a high-end system, but it will be interesting to see how much of Keurigs market share they take.The substitutes in the single-cup coffee brewer market are traditional drip brewer coffee makers, caffeinated sodas, energy drinks and coffee from a coffee house, such as Starbucks, or from a fast food restaurant. McDonalds has invested a lot of money and advertising in the last five years reinventing their image as a hip coffee shop. Consumers can now get good coffee and specialty coffee beverages like cappuccinos and frappuccinos through the drive-thru window at a logical cost.Suppliers have moderate bargaining power in the market. If companies that produce coffee do not want to put their coffee in K-Cup or T-Disc form, that hurts the companies that manufacture the brewing systems. Senseo has no relationship with coffee producers, and it has drastically affected their business.Customers have moderate bargaining power as well. Most of the pods, discs and cups for the systems are sold in grocery stores or mass merchandisers. If Wal-Mart throws their support behind one of the companies, that company is more than likely going to experience growth in sales, while the other companies will be negatively affected. Likewise, if customers decide that they do not agree with the values, cost, etc of one of the companies in the market, they can take their business elsewhere and the loss of sales would hur t the company. However, if they are particular about the brand of coffee that they drink, they are tied to the company that sells that brand in a form that can be brewed in their machine. Keurig is the only machine that sells Starbucks coffee, for example, at least until the Verismo debuts this fall.

AirAsia Business Case Study: Strategy and Environment

AirAsia Business Case Study Strategy and EnvironmentAirAsia is one of the leading airlines batch of Malaysia that performed exceedingly well in terms of its yesteryear redactments and the profits that it made out of it after its relaunch. It was acquitted by a private entrepreneur Tony Fernandes when it was highly under debt. The sudden changes in the profit chart came to the surface soon when it announced its graduation exercise profit right in seven months of its re-launch. The innovations in strategy and investments brought immense amount of profit to the conjunction in the following years. It invested amounts on new and stiff service and cut shorted different not essenti in ally required expenditure to reduce the all overall cost. With the implementation of its made LCC model, the whole fear model of AirAsia was changed and it became first Airline Corporation to nominate no-cost, no-frill concept to lower the prices by 40-60% than its rivals. The results were quite be neficial as it announced its first profit as US$6 million in December, 2002.The stomach unplowed on expanding its business with the opening of three new(prenominal) hubs within Malaysia to have more shargon of commercialize size on domestic air flights in Malaysia. It wish wellwise invested in to have regional flights to its neighboring countries like Thailand and Indonesia with its coaction with Thailand Shin Corporation and Awair. This made AirAsia to have cheaper airlines to the neighboring countries. AirAsia soon emerged as the largest domestic airlines in Malaysia with the expectancies of over 18 million passengers in the year 2007. With its partnerships with various LCCs, the corporation performed well enough for its long-haul regional services. Its joint ventures with the LCCs like Australias virgin blue, the corporation got a big sh be in the expanding market of Australia. Its market kept on expanding over the years with the commencement of its flights to even the far cities like London and likewise for close countries like India and China with the net income reaching over US$44 millions in the year 2008.B STRATEGIC POSTUREThe committee of the corporation is to provide high-quality provided low cost flying services to all type of passengers. The corporation being a part of airline industry, it missions to become the leader of the market by implementing its smart strategies and sharp business skills. As quoted by its declareer Fernandes, he overtook the corporation during its declining stage as he advocated the correctness of time to enter the market because of charter aircraft price and abundance of skilled aircraft staff. The guild has been consistent in following its goals and objectives throughout in its act in the past decade. The corporate objectives were innovative and highly efficient with its symbolic acquisition of its own by Tony Fernandes, joint venture with Thailand Shin Corporation, Awair, Singapores Tiger Airways, and so fort hto provide a broad destination options for its customers at the right times when it was needed. The business model was construct with no-frills, low cost carriers (LCC) which brought immense amount of profits to them. The business objectives were to get not only the quality customers but the quantity customers with its seats available in different schemes and at different prices for all type of class of customers. They were constantly consistent with each other to provide exactly what the customers wants and what actually grass be managed. The functionality objectives were always to cut down the economic fair of air actuate by either performing to get reduced charge from the passengers or providing potent routes for them reducing their net expenditure on depart. It also added various value-added services like online booking, SMS booking, and bookings through call centers, etc. AirAsia soon became the integrated service provider from being a classic LCC product in its functiona lity to provide maximum attraction to its customers. The objectives were also consistent with the environment of the corporation. Even during the hikes in the prices of oil in mid-2008, the corporation didnt let the fairs go that high which was quite helpful for the corporation in beating off its competitors.The AirAsia opted for various cost-effective, customer-oriented and highly innovative strategies to shape its business model to reach its ultimate missions and objectives. With its innovative low-fare, no-frills concept it highly reduced the cost of air ticket such as by having simply a single standard cabin, paid meals instead of pre-paid free meals, etc. The corporation found efficient ways of reducing the expenditure on motivity by the customers while expanding its domestic and international business. Like for example, the short-haul flights took slight than four hours for travel which provided it opportunity of having the return of the flights on the same day conserving m any of the expenses of the corporation. The smart set also launched its long-hauled air services at the time when many of the LCCs were reluctant for that. All the strategies or mix of strategies were consistently aiming at gradually achieving the goals and the objectives of the corporation and energetic with the changing internal and external environment.The corporation adopted bold and dynamic policies to earn its objectives. The corporation first concentrated only on the domestic market and modified its business model to LCC. Then, gradually and steadily corporation expanded itself to first neighboring countries and then internationally across the continents. The missions, objectives, policies and the strategies clearly reflect the social clubs goals to achieve success not only at domestic level but also the international level (KO, 2009).EXTERNAL purlieuA NATURAL PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT SUSTAINABLE ISSUESOpportunities The physical environment around the corporations site of bu siness is climatically categorized as equatorial, being hot and humid throughout the year. The climate is favorably well enough to support the flight take-off, landing and flying. The physical location of Malaysia also favors the growth of the organization as it is well connected to the seas and oceans and so for its long-haul regional services, the corporation does not require to manage the permissions to cross the airbase of other countries. In this way the surrounding physical environment of Malaysia provides fair opportunities for AirAsia.Threats Coming to the threats involved with the inwrought environment, the well connection of the country to other continents through seas and oceans provides enough opportunities for the journey through ships and Cruzes too which somewhere indirectly can effects the market of AirAsia. The Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia is also a prone area for tsunamis and earthquakes that could affect any industry. The hot and humid climate also affects th e working capabilities of the crew.These types of physical environments are also present in few other parts of the world and the same opportunities and threats exist there too.B SOCIETAL ENVIRONMENTEconomy The sparing of Malaysia is a newly industrialized and state-oriented economy that plays a significant role in the success of AirAsia. The speedily growing economy of the country allows more and more customers to be able afford the airlines travel cost that makes a lot in the growth of a privately owned airlines especially it was relaunched soon after the nation came out of the fiscal crisis of Asia in 1997.Technological The technological advancements in the fields of Information technology and Communication have led the value-added services of the corporation to work effectively.Political-legal The political condition of Malaysia had also been in favor of the corporation as its acquisition was highly welcomed by the Malaysian government and there had been no conflict between the corporation and the judicature of the nation till now.Socio-cultural The hospitality of the people with their own diversity in food, cloth, etc and scenic beauty has always made Malaysia as a tourist tinge for the tourists all over the world that has again proved a take ining factor for the corporation.C TASK ENVIRONMENTThe forces like natural environment, external investments, location of hubs, rivalry with competitors, financial crisis, government policies, etc are the major forces that drive the industrial competitions. These forces vary from country to country as the economy political, cultural conditions are not the same for all(prenominal) country. The following forces are listed with their ratingsThreats for new entrants- MediumBargaining power of buyers- LowThreats of substitute products or services- proudBargaining power of supplier- LowRivalry among the competing firms- HighRelative power of unions, governments and special interest groups, etc.- HighThe key factors in the immediate environment affect a lot to the corporation. The government policies decide the taxes, validation of hubs, permissions of go flights, etc. The loyalty of the labor unions ensures the smooth functioning of any corporation. The suppliers, providers, creditors always affect the quality of the services provided to the customers.INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTA somatic bodily structureFollowing is the way as the corporate structure of Air Asia at present (Organizational Structure, 2009)The structure is as we can see in a even manner which means hierarchy is horizontal in the company. This is obviously something good for the company as interaction with lower level employees becomes easier for the above level of the employee or vice versa.Structure is comparable with most of airline firms as they also have the same horizontal hierarchy.B CORPORATE CULTURECorporate culture of the company is mainly base upon maximizing the value of shareholders. It also mainly believes in giving saf ety to the customers.It believes in giving maximum satisfaction to the customers with leaders in the cost structureIt believes in transparency and development of human bang-up.Company is very much compatible with the employees and their diversities as it is providing employee satisfaction to all of its employeesThe company is confusable in the cultural values like similar organizations as most of the organizations in the aviation sector have the similar cultural values (Strategy, 2006).C CORPORATE RESOURCES-1. MARKETINGThe current marketing objectives of the corporation are to get maximum number of customers of all types by making such schemes in which everyone can be accommodated.Its tagline Now Everyone can fly says the basic fundamental concept behind its marketing objectives.The corporation effectively found the ways of getting the most effective routes to suit both its cost and customers satisfaction.The corporation has kept on adding and modifying its features and value adde d services to provide maximum offerings to increase its sales. The company has also strongly stuck itself to LCC principles.The corporation has also recently announced the commencements of its flights to even far-off places like London.The corporation has not only offered cheap tickets but also the services like travel insurance, etc. The free tickets on the basis of its point to the customer are another such offering.All these have also been dynamic and corresponding with its performance and availability of budgets.The company has very well performed on the basis of its current market position and the position from which it had started during its relaunch. The company has enough promotion and publicity in media through its publicity strategies. The fares of ticket have always been kept as low as possible despite of all sorts of problems coming up like price hikes of oil, etc. The company is even the sponsor of the famous Manchester United Football Club and ATT Williams Formula one team to have its world-wide promotion. The market size of the company is expanding with the launch of its several(prenominal) multinational collaboration and establishment of the joint ventures in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, etc. Besides, its primary product of airline tickets its several other products take lucre check-in services, Xpress boarding services, mileage programs, Citibank-Air Asia Credit Card, etc. The company is able to earn for the same product easily from the developed region in comparison to that in developing region. This shows a class that the basically the marketing strategy of a company should cover every section of the society in order to have maximum profit. This trend had been a fair impact on the success rate of a company and surely will be in the future too. The marketing of its products gives the company massive advantage over its competitors.The marketing strategies of the corporation have beaten all its major competitors both in terms of profits a nd customers satisfaction. The marketing managers have accepted these tools and techniques to prise the performance of a product. Marketing is highly dependent upon the political and socio-economic conditions prevailing in a country and hence same marketing strategy cannot be applied for ad erectments in all the countries. The marketing takes an overall account in every ratio and hence the environmental sustainability has to be a guiding factor in marketing policies.2. FINANCECorporations current financial objectives, strategies, policies and programs have been with high hopes of return.The corporation had to invest much on the purchase of flights, managing the crew of a debt-ridden firm and maximize its scale in a very less time.The finance has been clearly mentioned but under the limitations of its past performance.They have been exactly consistent with the objectives, policies and strategies of the corporation. The corporations finance in the activities of setting up of hubs wi thin and outside Malaysia with the collaboration of other corporations helped them to gain several direct or indirect benefits.Its financial services like holiday products and all, charge for meal as customer desires, online and SMS bookings, medical care, etc did enough capital current but in return it got enormous level of attachment with the customer who would always like to stick to AirAsia for its services.The smart finance policies of finance showed a trend of financing the long-term goals and objectives without compromising with the immediate ones can be an effective way to earn maximum economic profits. The past effects are already shown by the AirAsia and in future it is expected no less. This analysis strongly supports corporations past and pending strategic decisions. The financial success in terms of returns provides company with a competitive advantage.The financial performance of the corporation can be very well compared to others with the fact that out of many corpor ations based on LCC, it became number one in 2008. The profits were always high and when the MAS tried to have a price war it had to suffer huge losses. The finance is quite adjustable to the condition operating in various countries. The coping up of finance with global finance issue was also very well proved by the corporation during the period of global recession.Also, the finance managers play a very important role in strategic management as they are the ones who evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of the strategies made and implemented.3. OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICSThe current service objectives, strategies, policies and programs of the corporation are not much different from those meant for the organization as a whole. They are meant for sale but with ensuring of its reputation and sustainability in the market. The services provided by the AirAsia are accurately meant for achieving its mission and objectives. They are clearly stated and structured with the requirement in the market. Also, they have always been revolutionary and innovative in their respective approaches.The cost effective and high quality services have the capabilities of not only delivery the ultimate customer satisfaction but also the favorably high returns of profits. Although the company has now started to focus internationally but still it has not been deviated from its initial aim of becoming the market leader of the domestic market. The purchasing is being handled on the very basis of its requirement. The other points to be highlighted are vulnerable to surprising natural disasters, local or international strikes, hikes in prices of the materials and the other issues.4. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENTThe corporation has also effectively managed its human resource to benefit all. Even during its relaunch it didnt cut short the employees. It even saw the opportunities in hiring the skilled professionals, workers and other employees. Their objectives and strategies were again consist ent with the corporations missions and objectives achieving the satisfaction for all even its own employees. in that location was not even a single considerable instance on clashes between employees and the top managing employers. The policies straight away indicate that they are simple, well stated, less dependent on the performance of the corporation and satisfactory for all of its employees. There have been less grievances, strikes and lay-offs which have been a great cause of success that has been achieved by the corporation till now. The commitment and loyalty of the employees as outcomes of proper HRM can be proved by the instance when Fernandes appreciated the staffs positive work value-system to overcome the financial issue of mid-2008.5. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYThe role of Information Technology was another important factor involved with the successful AirAsia. The current objectives and strategies of the corporation regarding IT is to advertise its features and services, a dd the services and products to the catalog and solve various issues regarding the customer care with direct interaction with them. They are clearly defined with no dependency on budget or performance. They have been implemented for the better accomplishment of corporations goals and objectives.Many of the value added services are handled by IT by providing the travelers with the interface for online booking, internet check-in service, cancellations, etc. The Real 5 star rating was another example of this kind. The IT played a very important role in assisting the managers in taking the decisions and decides the immediate strategy. The database of the customer could be easily maintained, the complaints of the customer is speedily managed with the help of Information Technology. This analysis emerges a trend that in this era of bunce in IT sector, the appropriate use of IT is a must for any kind of business. This had a positive impact on the business model of AirAsia and surely with the working out of IT sector the positive impact obviously would be there.STRATEGIC FACTORSFour Important Internal FactorsThe marketing innovations and its implementation.The smart finance policies with the fixed priorities which should also be at the correct time.The proper use of available manpower, avoiding confrontation among them for maximizing the proper functioning capability of the corporation.The efficient use of the resources like Information Technology, etc.Four Important external FactorsThe government policies and the relationships with the government.The natural environment and the calamities that can unexpectedly occur.The economic, social and cultural factors of a country.Rivalry with other corporations.The current mission and objectives can be justified in the light of available resources, problems and the environment and they are achieved and will be achieved at an appreciating rate in the future looking at the present prospectus.STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVESThe corpora tion can further go ahead with more effective use of IT.The dual seat system can be implemented in domestic level too.The corporation has enough expanded and it can now open its chain to other South-east Asian countries, where such strategies would be highly invited.BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY ADOPTED BY AIRASIAThe business model of AirAsia is well established and fairly ideal for other industries as well. With the perfectly set goals, mission and listed strategy ensures the well functioning of the corporation. Foundation of the corporation is based upon low cost, efficiency, stimulation of new markets and strong cash flow. Strategies highlight the concepts of simplicity, quality services at low cost, etc. And the vision is to continue to be lowest cost in the market.The corporation started its business with just three aircraft in 2002 which grew to the number 72 in 2008. The corporation has enough popularity in print and electronic media. With its low cost and high quality services and the customers satisfaction with the products of the corporation, the corporation has emerged out as a market leader in the industry.According to the porters five forces model, absolute cost advantage, government policies, fulfillment of capital requirements, its proprietary products, value added services, and the importance given to the supplier clearly indicates that the strategies opted by the corporation are suitable for it. The buyers inclination to the substitute, switching costs, and corporate stakes are the obvious risks for the corporation. (Porters Five Forces A MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS)