Sneaker Industry Essays - Fashion, Sneakers, Reebok, Nike, Inc.

Sneaker Industry The athletic shoe industry is one of the largest markets in the United States today. This segment operates globally with many competitors. This industry provides us with T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, shorts and of course, athletic footwear. Three major corporations dominate the industry itself: Nike, Adidas, and Reebok. Nike controls 44% of the entire market, Adidas owns close to 12%, while Reebok maintains about 12% as well. The Nike Corporation was established in 1981, and in its first year as a public company, it led the industry and was sold in more than forty countries worldwide. They have remained on top for the majority of their existence, due to their diverse and ever changing product line. Nike's largest concentration is on the sneaker market itself. They sell all kinds of athletic apparel and equipment, from sneakers and warm-up pants to soccer balls and football pads. Adidas and Reebok also sell more than just sneakers; all three dominate the industry in footwear as well as apparel. There are many competitors such as New Balance, Puma, Champion, and Fila. These companies do not run the market like Nike, Adidas and Reebok, they own much smaller segments. Due to the fierce competition in the industry, the only way to pull ahead is with product differentiation. Nike pulled ahead in 1988, with the concept of Nike-Air Cushioning. This sparked the differences between all companies. The idea of air pockets, air consoles and cushioning seemed to become the biggest trend in the sneaker market. Later on the product differentiation became the tool to capitalize on. Rubber grip sneakers became popular, which spun the concept of different kinds of shoes for different activities. There became separate shoes for walking, running, cross training, basketball, indoor soccer, football, wrestling and aerobics. The sneaker industry has so many products to choose from. The products differ in color, shape and category. The price is basically the same. The average pair of athletic sneakers is around $70 to $85. Nike Air Max sneakers are much more expensive, the average price of this model is $125. The quality of sneakers are basically equal. The sale usually comes down to preference and how much the consumer wants to spend. Sneakers are not a total necessity, but then they are not quite a luxury either. Almost everyone has at least one or two pairs of sneakers, but the only difference would be the brand. There are many generic brands to choose from, so if you do not want to spend $70, you honestly do not have to. The industry itself is basically elastic. As the economy goes down so do sneaker prices, when the economy is on the rise, sneaker prices skyrocket. Nike has been able to sustain a competitive advantage since their first year. They have established their name through advertisements and quality. The name Nike is known worldwide, so are Adidas and Reebok. These firms have created a link between a solid product and a solid company. Consumers trust the products that these three companies sell, that is why they are able to charge the prices that they do. Consumers are not just buying the shoe, they are also investing in the label. Business

Finding Nemo Essay Example

Finding Nemo Essay Example Finding Nemo Paper Finding Nemo Paper In his journey Memo learns not to lack self confidence because he has disability swimming with a tiny fin, and how much his fathers advice and protection really is a value to his life. Even with the deep message the movie was very funny and compelling. The movie takes place in the ocean near Australia. The graphic in this movie really makes the screen look kind of like a fish tank. Marlin, Memos father, is over protective of his son because his wife and all of Memos siblings were killed by a shark when Memo was Just an egg. On Memos first day of school he Is anxious to get out and explore the ocean and have some independence from his overprotective father. In his attempt to prove to his father he can go out In the ocean alone, and to prove to his classmates that he Is Just as good a swimmer as they are, despite his one tiny fin he swims out to a boat. HIS father yells for him to come back but Memo gets fished out of the water by the people on the boat. In Marlins quest to find his son he meets Dory, a fish with short term memory. She explained herself by saying, l suffer from short term memory loss. : It runs in my family At least I think it does Where are they? They run into sharks and many obstacles while making the trip to Sydney. The movie made Marlin get over his fear of sharks in a comical way, by having Marlin and Dory chased down by a shark and then brought to a support group for sharks. Marlin and Dory were so busy only knowing that sharks eat fish that they didnt realize that all these sharks wanted were to be rehabilitated. Ironically, when they meet them they were very shocked to see the sharks In unison say, l am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this Image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food which they said at their weekly meeting. Memo, meanwhile, is put in a fish tank of a dentist is Sidney where he meets the world of pet flash, and realizes he desperately wants to go back to the ocean with his father. Memo meets a new world full of weird different fish who only know the life in a tank. Memo convinces them to help him find his father, but he must first Join their club. His initiation was to swim through a ring of bubbles they call The Ring of Fire, which he did. However, Memo comes up with a plan; the pet fish then get out of the fish tank and make it to the ocean where they are finally free. Meanwhile, Marlin becomes stressed trying to find Memo and starts to give up and tells Dory to leave him alone. Therefore, Dory leaves and Ironically after being pushed away becomes the hero by accidentally finding Memo soon after their argument. The best character In the film was the turtle. The film associated the ocean to the free outside life, and the fish tank to a mental hospital. The turtles themselves were funny but so was Dory. The fish in the tank had unusual habits, like being afraid AT ten tank decoration meal Witt tenet aisle to De In ten ocean Tanat resulted In failed attempts which gave the film its laughter. Dorys character because of her short term memory would sometimes be ditsy making the stressed out scenes with Marlin less tense and more comical. Impulsively almost, Dory quotes Uh The sea monkeys have my money Yes, Im a natural blue Stating to herself in a dreamy state. There was no worst scene for this movie because it kept you entertained all the way through with either suspenseful shark chases or run-ins with Jelly fish, to the comedic remarks of Dory, and the fish in the tank. The movie, all in all, had great graphics and comedy for all ages. The realism makes the film more appealing to the eye and the comedians who serve as voices for the characters do not disappoint even with it being a kids film. The only down fall to the movie was the sad part where Memos mother dies and when father and son are separated. It is a movie that any kid can relate to that is self conscious, and needs to be brave no matter what happens. Its light hearted commentary keeps you amused all 101 minutes. While Kevin Carr says it is a good film, however, that it does open with Marlins wife and 400 eggs being devoured off screen by a barracuda- isnt exactly the most up lifting moment in a Disney film, (Kevin Carr Paragraph 2) well I oppose. I sense that the film had a great beginning appropriate for any audience to become psychologically involved with the film. Kevin Carr also verbalizes, Albert Brooks, who plays the stock character of a neurotic father, does a decent Job as the voice of Marlin. However, by the end of the film, he gets rather annoying by the end of the movie, (Kevin Carr Paragraph 4). They only character that I found to become quite annoying was Dory. Marlin being a good father Just wanted to get his son back. Kevin Carr also mentions that there was so much detail in the movie under water that it didnt make the film seem real to him, since it was so noticeable how the blurred some things and focused other parts throughout the movie.

Impact of Sarbanes Oxley Act, 2002 on GlaxoSmithKline UK Essay

Impact of Sarbanes Oxley Act, 2002 on GlaxoSmithKline UK - Essay Example Globally, several legislative and administrative requirements in the form of new accounting standards, requirements as to detailed disclosures in financial statements and stricter enforcement of regulations on securities exchanges have been prescribed to ensure that governance of corporate entities is maintained at levels that are beneficial to themselves as well as to the people dealing with such bodies corporate. In the past, corporate governance had been used to protect the interests of company stockholders. However 'Corporate Governance' has assumed a new dimension in the post 'Enron' and 'Post Globalisation' scenario as almost every major developed and developing nation ensures some sort of promotion and protection of corporate governance principles. However there are certain basic views or models that describe the corporate governance practices universally. According to Tricker (1996) "Stewardship theory, stakeholder theory and agency theory are all essentially ethnocentric" Tricker (1996) observes although there is no change in the underlying ideologies there are conflicting theories of corporate governance established on the basis of the perceptions and expectations of the respective roles of individual, enterprise and the state. The basic principles of the different theories depend largely on the relationships that exist between these agencies. The conflicting views on the corporate governance are presented below: The Agency Model Hawley & William (1996) state the emphasis of corporate governance lies in constructing rules and incentives in the form of implicit or explicit contracts for the purpose of aligning the behaviour of managers being the agents with the expectations of the owners being the principals. Under the agency theory of corporate governance it is assumed that the ownership of the firms is dispersed as the American 'modern' corporation. The main consequence of such a form of dispersed ownership is that there exists a gap between the owners representing the 'principals' of the firm and those who are responsible for the running the day to day operations of the firm who are known as 'agents'. Thus as Shelifer and Vishny (1997) state, "agency theorists aim to understand how investors get the mangers to give them back their money and hence minimize agency costs." According to Jensen & Meckling (1976) since the relationship between the owners and managers of a corporation is that of a pure agency rela tionship, the issues associated with the 'separation of ownership and control' in the modern ownership corporation are also mostly agency based. The Stewardship Model In the stewardship model,

Solar Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Solar Energy - Essay Example Solar panels alone in this country produced nearly 23 TW hours of power in 2012. This amount of energy is outstanding in comparison to other EU members or advanced economies, although it merely makes up for 3% of country’s overall power usage. Germany is working towards generating 66 GW of solar energy by the year 2030 by ensuring a yearly growth rate of 2.5 to 3.5 GW (Wheeland 2014). Even though Germany does not have extensive solar energy potential, it remarkably subsidizes its power systems. These subsidies guarantee their competence of the solar energy generated and used by the country. Germany has a strong input tariff structure comprised of small and large-scale solar PV frameworks capable of distributing surplus power generation to the utility network for revenue (Wheeland 2014). Italy was the second biggest generator and user of solar energy during the same year with an output of 16,361 MW. The United States came number four with an output of 7777 MW with 6200 MW of this output originating from the country’s solar PV industry. This output is a growth of 51% and 34% from 2013, which the suburban and utility sectors led in respectively (Wheeland 2014). This output is poised to increase by 20 GW by 2018. Twenty gigawatts of America’s solar energy output runs over 4 million average homes. By 2014, almost 645,000 American houses and enterprises were using solar energy because of previous year’s more than 195,000 solar power installations (Wheeland 2014). The usage of solar energy in the United States is an outcome of the growth of leasing electricity generated by solar stations. 2. The inverter is a device that converts DC into AC (alternating current), otherwise known as â€Å"conditioning† the electricity (Swanson 14). The inverter then conveys it to a gauge or electrical panel. 3. The gauge has two key functions. First, the gauge automatically conveys any surplus power generated by the solar panel to the

Childhood Obesity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Childhood Obesity - Research Paper Example An experimental research conducted by Harris, Bargh and Brownell (2009) suggests that children and adolescents are more influenced by advertisements than adults. Authors carried out two experiments to evaluate the behaviors of both children and adults after watching television advertisements. The eating behaviors were analyzed and the results concluded that children’s junk food intake increased by 45% after advertisements. On the other hand, adults were more motivated to take healthy meals rather than junk food (Harris, et al., 2009). The group that is badly affected by media exposure, television programs and advertising campaigns are youngsters. Many researches and surveys are conducted to understand the effects of food, alcohol, smoking and general advertisements on children and their behaviors. The food advertisements lead to a great change in children’s food choices and intake (Hastings et al., 2003; IOM, 2006; Story & French, 2004). Other studies examining the corr elation and quasi-experiments reveal that more exposure to media leads to greater consumption of unhealthy dietary habits among children (IOM, 2006). Importance of the Problem of Childhood Obesity Obesity is the result of a number of factors; unhealthy dietary habits and food consumption patterns remain the most important of them. ... There is a strong relationship between unhealthy food advertisement and increasing obesity among children Lobstein & Dibb, 2005). On the other hand, Ebbeling, Pawlak & Ludwig (2002) also discuss the role of overeating due to High glycaemic index foods which end up producing a great increase in postprandial blood glucose concentrations and affect the appetite regulation. Fast food is considered as the root cause of adverse eating habits as it comprises all adverse dietary factors like saturated and trans fat, high glycaemic index, high energy density, and, increasingly, large portion size. Moreover, fast food is considered to have low amounts of fibre, micronutrients, and antioxidants which help in tackling the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes (Ebbeling, Pawlak & Ludwig, 2002). Method of data collection In order to carry out a qualitative analysis of the problem childhood obesity and the role of media (particularly of advertisements) on its prevalence, the research papers f rom various sources will been used. The journals of health, behavior and physical activity as well as reviews of important researches will be included in the research paper. Search engines that are used include Google and the online libraries including EbscoHost and Jstor are being used to gather information from credible journals. Preliminary Results Obesity is a disease state which is now turning into a matter of global concern because of the increase in the statistics associated with the pathology. This condition serves as an underlying cause for many degenerative diseases which include diabetes mellitus and diseases of the major organs systems of the body. Obesity is a condition which is not restricted to adults but it also affects a large number of children as well. This

Louis Vuitton Expansion Strategy

Louis Vuitton Expansion Strategy Operating in 59 countries, Louis Vuitton is the largest global luxury brand in the world. It is a member of the Louis Vuitton Moà «t Hennessy Group and the main business unit of the conglomerate s fashion and leather goods segment. Louis Vuitton has been very successful in selling its famous handbags, shoes, suitcases and other luxury goods and generated revenues of about $ 4 billion in 2004. Louis Vuitton opened the first store in India in 2003 and one year later the second one in Mumbai, both located in luxury hotels. 2. Problem Statement One main goal for Louis Vuitton is to acquire a customer base of one million Indians by 2010. In order to achieve that it is not only important to serve high-net-worth consumers, but it is also crucial to target the so called cocooners. It is therefore a necessary objective to make the new elite aware of the brand and increase their perception of Louis Vuittons exclusivity. Furthermore, super rich are only willing to pay premium prices for those luxury products which clearly distinguish them from lower tiers of the population. In order to reach these the company can choose among three distinct strategies. 3. Alternatives 3.1. Louis Vuitton in Bollywood In this alternative, Louis Vuitton would have Indian movie actors endorsing its products and a product placement in Bollywood movies. The target segment would not only be the Indian super rich society who is already familiar with the brand, but as well the so called cocooners. Since the Bollywood movies are very popular in India, this strategy would result in general brand awareness in the society. For the celebrity endorsement LV could chose Aishwarya Rai and Shahrukh Khan to be the face of Louis Vuitton India. The campaign would comprise posters, billboards and TV commercials with both actors advertising LV products (Exhibit 1). Since Bollywood actors are perceived as role models and have a great influence in Indian society, it is expected that brand awareness will increase while reinforcing the image of Louis Vuitton as a luxury and lifestyle brand. In addition, Louis Vuitton will have its products placed in Indian movies, which depict wealthy and influential characters. This would include as well the characters shopping at the LV store in the new Emporio luxury mall in order to advertise the store itself. Another positive effect would be increasing LVs market share in the long run. Advertising through Bollywood could help develop the taste of luxury and lifestyle in the so called cocooner segment. 3.2. LV Exclusive Another alternative Louis Vuitton could approach would be to offer a special club card with mould-breaking exclusivity. This special club card would be divided into 3 different levels, the LV Exclusive Silver Card (Exhibit 2), LV Exclusive Gold Card (Exhibit 3) and LV Exclusive Platinum Card (Exhibit 4), based on the amount of money the customer spent. The LV Exclusive Club Card provides the customer with exclusive, high-end services and luxury rewards. After the first purchase of a Louis Vuitton item in one of its Indian stores, customers will receive a basic customer card in order to keep track of the sum of money they spent. The targeted segment for this strategy would be the super rich, who seek exclusivity and are already familiar with the brand. This strategy would certainly increase the brand loyalty of the high-class society because of the unique offers provided by the LV Exclusive Club Card. Additionally, Louis Vuitton will be able to track customer buying patterns and obtain key information about buying behavior through this special club card, which allows them to tailor their products to their customers needs. 3.3. Successful Indian Women Another alternative for the company could be that it focuses on a certain segment in particular the women, who represent a vital part of LV s customers. They are becoming more emancipated and as a powerful group have to be taken into consideration. Indian women need a role model to inspire them, so if Louis Vuitton shows them a successful woman wearing one of its products, the outcome would be inspired women, desiring to possess a LV item. Using such an approach they will target not only a segment consisting of individuals divided by their net income, but strong women that need to give utterance to their achievements. In order to increase the brand awareness among this certain segment, the company should invest in advertising its products. The best place would be an elite specified magazine, dealing with business and social issues, for example India Today, Entrepreneurs, The Business Enterprise and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾ Reading Hour . The emphasis should be laid on the one side on a picture of a well-known woman like Indira Nooyi (Exhibit 5), CFO and president of PepsiCo, depicting a typical role model. She will represent the thousands of women in the Indian society who have silently overcome the limitations and stood out for better terms. Billboards and ads in online issues of established feminine magazines would support the idea of women power and that in a world ruled by men, women still can be successful and exclusive. As a result, this strategy will help Louis Vuitton to increase brand awareness among all the Indian women and extend its customer database. 4. Issues 4.1. To what extent will Louis Vuittons marketing activities affect customer awareness in India? Louis Vuitton s targeted Indian customer segment requires a different strategy then the ones used by the company throughout the world. The three proposed alternatives provide different approaches as to how Louis Vuitton can service its new generation of customers. Louis Vuitton in Bollywood targets both high-net-worth individuals and the rising cocooners because of the popularity of the Bollywood industry in India. This strategy, however, implies high advertising resources in order to be able to reach the desired segment through product placement and celebrity endorsement. The LV Exclusive club card targets mainly the high net-worth individuals by offering high-end services which increase the shopping-experiences of the customers. While the number of high-net-worth individuals increases by 19.3% a year, according to the World Wealth Report, it is questionable if this customer segment only will be sufficient for Louis Vuitton to reach the target of a one-million customer base by 2010. The third alternative is about targeting successful women. Concentrating on this segment would target both women from the high-net-worth individuals and the cocooners segment. The main disadvantage is to define how many Indian women are ready to break the cultura l boundaries of the paternalistic family structures that still rule in this country. What is the impact of of Louis Vuittons marketing activities on their brand image in India? According to the purchasing behavior of India s high class, consumers are expecting a brand that stands for exclusivity and provides the owner of a Louis Vuitton product with a powerful status symbol. Working closely with the Bollywood industry through product placement and celebrity endorsement will have a high magnitude on increasing customer awareness. While Bollywood celebrities are seen as part of the high class, Louis Vuitton may need to maintain a close look in what movies they will place their products in order to minimize the risk of a brand association with a common product. The LV Exclusive club card system could increase loyalty among already existing customers, offering the brand image a crà ¨me de la crà ¨me status thus underlining the exclusivity of Louis Vuitton items. Last but not least, by tailoring their advertising on women only will associate the brand with a women s product, so Louis Vuitton products for men (i.e. dress shoes, suits, shirts) may suffer. Since India is a collectivist country, women usually buy clothes for the entire family, so the effect of the brand image being associated with a women s brand will be minimal. 4.3. Will LV face a social-status conflict (conflict of interest) by targeting two different customer segments (i.e. HNW individuals and cocooners)? Through the means of LV Exclusive Cards Louis Vuitton is trying to gain loyalty among super rich Indian customers. However, LV must consider the growing product awareness of the cocooners who are not the target group of the Exclusive Cards but will be of fast growing importance as customers. As positive as new customers are in general this also bears the risk of a conflict between the super rich and the cocooners who are much greater in numbers. HNW consumers may start to perceive LV as a rather common brand and switch to different luxury products as cocooners step up the social hierarchy. Furthermore, the second alternative Louis Vuitton in Bollywood could also result in a conflict between those two segments. If the products popularity increases this may have a negative impact on the buying behavior of the HNW consumers. This would go along with the above-mentioned decrease in exclusivity. Finally, women may be an interesting target group as stated in third alternative but conflict s may also occur between the HNW women who may be coming from rich families and the self-made emancipated cocooner woman. These very different types of women will require different endorsing role models which may are perceived negatively by each other group. How long will Louis Vuitton maintain a competitive advantage considering the proposed alternatives? Louis Vuittons advance on the Indian market will not remain unseen by the competition. Other luxury goods producers could benchmark Louis Vuittons approaches. Companies such as Gucci, Prada and Giorgio Armani could easily copy LVs Bollywood strategy as well as the alternative for attracting Indian women. It might be more challenging though to imitate LVs Exclusive Cards approach successfully because Indian high-net-worth costumers will already be loyal to Louis Vuitton in the ideal case and will not be looking for substitutes or additional luxury products in the same segment. 5. Conclusion All in all, while it may require more advertising resources than for example targeting emancipated women via print media, Louis Vuitton in Bollywood proves to reach the highest number of consumers, underlines the brand s exclusivity, and the company will be able to increase its market share in the long run. First, with the Bollywood industry booming in India, Louis Vuitton can reach a wide array of consumers and thus increase the overall customer awareness of Indians. Second, by using celebrity endorsement and selective product placement in movies, the company will be able to clearly communicate a brand image that advocates its exclusivity thus offering its potential customers a means to showcase their success. Last but not least, Louis Vuitton can educate the nouveau riche towards choosing their brand, which will considerably increase their market share in the long run. It is therefore highly recommended that Louis Vuitton in Bollywood is the most appropriate and effective promotion campaign to reach and nurture the emerging new generation of customers in India.

Pearl in Scarlet letter :: essays research papers

One of the most complex and elaborate characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Pearl, throughout the story, develops into a dynamic individual, as well as an extremely important symbol. Pearl is involved in a complex history, and as a result is viewed as different and is shunned because of her mother’s sin. Pearl is a living Scarlet A to Hester, as well as the reader, acting as a constant reminder of Hester’s sin. This connection leads to many different views of Pearl’s character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hawthorne uses vivid descriptions to characterize Pearl. She is first described as the child, â€Å"†¦whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.† (81). From the beginning of her life she is viewed as the product of a sin. Physically, Pearl has a â€Å"beauty that became every day more brilliant, and the intelligence that threw its quivering sunshine over the tiny features of this child.† (81-82). The exquisite dresses and her beauty cause her to be viewed as even stranger from the other typical Puritan children, whom are dressed in traditional clothing. As a result, she is accepted by nature and animals, and ostracized by the other Puritan children. â€Å"Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world†¦ the whole peculiarity, in short, of her position in respect to other children.† (86). Pearl was not accepted by the children; her unavoidable seclusion was due to the sin of her mother. On the rare occasion that the children show interest in Pearl, she lashes out at them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The members of the Puritan society view Pearl as a weird, strange little girl, born from a sinful act. However, the characters with a closer, more in depth relationship to the child, feel differently towards Pearl. â€Å"She is a strange child! I hardly comprehend her! But thou wilt love her dearly, as I do, and wilt advise me how to deal with her† (186). Hester describes her unbalanced feelings and emotions to Dimmesdale. This statement shows that although Pearl’s quirks and oddities cause her to become â€Å"strange† in the eyes of others, they form into a love from Hester. This relationship between Hester and Pearl is important because both are ostracized for their irregularities and for the sin and shame of Hester. Dimmesdale responds to Hester’s statement with, â€Å"I have long shrunk from children, because they often show distrust- a backwardness to be familiar with me.

London prepares for the Olympics

The photograph on the sheet was taken in early 2009 and presents a snapshot of the major development under way in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics. In the foreground one can see Stratford east railway station where key transport developments are taking place. In the background are a number of Olympic construction projects, including the Westfield Shopping Mall. In the past, the land shown in the photograph used to be mainly low industrial units, transport depots and railway sidings. It was relatively low-value land, which is one of the reasons that this site was chosen for the Olympics. The owners of the various industrial units have received support and compensation to enable them to relocate elsewhere. 1. What is the evidence that major redevelopments are taking place? It is evident that there is construction going on in the area, this can be seen particularly from the machinery but also because: -the Westfield Shopping Mall can be seen in the background, still under construction. – There are lots of buildings which can be seen in the background. -there is a large sign which says ‘Everyone's London 2012' which suggests that the developments taking place are on a large scale to attract large amounts of people. 2. The development at the railway station is part of an overall plan to provide a top quality public transport infrastructure for the Olympic Games. What are the benefits of this approach to transport management? -Well, the Olympic Games by nature are going to attract large amounts of people to come, and this is financially rewarding. However, public transport infrastructure must be carefully taken into consideration, because no matter how amazing the Olympic Games are, if people cannot reach there, then it may end up being a big problem (for example financially, if many people do not even bother to purchase tickets to attend the Olympic Games, as the destination is not accessible. -well thought out infrastructure is convenient for people when travelling. -Also, regarding long term benefits, it means that more people in the local area can travel after the Olympic Games to work in other areas (perhaps secure jobs with higher incomes). -the temporary workers on the Olympic Site can travel there conveniently. – The main benefit is that it will help to ensure the public gets to the venues in time and in some degree of comfort. 3. Notice that there is a slogan in the photograph, albeit partially obscured that reads ‘Everyone's London 2012'. A) What do you think is meant by this slogan?It means that all these developments which are taking place for the Olympic Games, when finished are for everyone to enjoy and experience, for example not just the athletes and tourist, but local people as well. Basically, the ambition of ‘everyone's 2012' is to inspire people of all ability, belief, postcode, and colour to participate fully in the Games – and it extends far beyond London and late summer 2012. B) How will the local community benefit from the building work taking place in preparation for the Olympics? -the area is hoped to be regenerated socially, economically and environmentally. -the sporting facilities can be used by the community; this can promote a healthy lifestyle in an area with high levels of obesity. -the community can enjoy more entertainment/recreation facilities such as the Westfield Shopping Mall. -improvements in transport infrastructure have the most long term benefits as local people can benefit from its convenience, also it means that local people could travel to other areas for job opportunities. -lots of temporary jobs will be needed, especially in the construction industry, so local people's skills can be used, and local people can be trained as well (e.g. apprenticeships). – Boosting social and economic prospects in Stratford and the Lower Lee Valley, an area of high unemployment and deprivation. – Bringing about the transformation of largely derelict, brown-field sites through comprehensive and co-ordinated development. -Improvements to transport infrastructure which would be of benefit to the wider Thames Gateway area. C) One critical element of London's winning Olympic bid was the so-called ‘legacy' of the games- the longer term benefits arising for the local community. Can you see from the photograph what some of these might be? Well, there are obviously a lot of developments going on, and it is likely that the sports facilities could be used in the future by local communities, as well as recreational uses such as the Westfield Shopping Mall, and generally the area will attract tourists, and therefore increase the economy of the area (e.g. prices going up such as hotels charging more money etc which will benefit the tourist industry). Other benefits include: * Sports facilities with a national and international profile. * The Olympic stadium itself, which could be used for an Athletic or Premiership football stadium. * 4,000-4,500 new residential units built to house teams in the Olympic village- could be used to provide affordable and key worker housing. * A 1,000,000 sq ft media centre would be created for the games, which would have the latest technology and could be used as a centre for media based organizations and creative industries in the future and would also encourage associated and complementary industries and lever in much needed private investment. * An increase in tourism linking into and complementing existing and planned regeneration in east London (people still go to Barcelona and Munich to visit the Olympic sites) * Wholesale environmental and landscaping improvements and new urban design concepts * Staging a major international event such as the Olympics would be a major cultural boost to east London, which has long suffered from the image of dereliction and unattractiveness. It would be an excellent chance to publicise the area's wide cultural diversity and create tourist attractions such as an Olympic Park. 4. If you were to visit the areas shown here one year after the photograph was taken, how do you think it would have changed? I think there would still be a high level of construction going on, and the area would look more developed e.g. the Westfield Shopping Mall might have more added to its exterior (such as the windows etc). There might also be more people there (e.g. working/just observing etc).

Why 40% of Mergers and Joint Ventures Fail †Business Essay

Why 40% of Mergers and Joint Ventures Fail – Business Essay Free Online Research Papers Why 40% of Mergers and Joint Ventures Fail Business Essay There have been a lot of companies in the recent past who have merged with other companies. They could be successful or after some time, they may fail. A successful company merger presently could be Sony Erickson, with Sony being one company and Erickson another before the merger. An incident of a merger failure could be Dunlop Pirelli. This essay will attempt to show the reasons as to why 40% of mergers and joint ventures fail. The topics under which the writer will prove this are change, leadership, communication, culture, McGregor’s X and Y theory. Regarding change, resistance to change will be talked about when it comes to two or more companies merging. When it comes to leadership, the possible clashes between autocratic and democratic leadership styles will be discussed. We will see what Gaut and Perrigo have to say about it, and also from Adler and Elmhorst. The laissez- faire style of leadership will also be discussed. As for communication, the possible problems that can occur with companies who have open communication merging with others who have closed communication will be discussed. Clashes with supportive and defensive communication will also be shown. It would be clearly explained by Gaut and Perrigo. Culture is a very big factor which decides whether a merger is a failure or not. Under culture, low context culture versus high context culture; Individualism versus Collectivism; High power distance versus low power distance; Low uncertainty avoidance versus high uncertainty avoidance; masculinity versus femininity, and finally monochronic versus polychronic will be discussed. Here again, Adler and Elmhorst, will explain individualism and collectivism, and so will Trompenaars. We will see the different types of cultures Handy talks about, and also what Hofstede has to say about culture. McGregor’s X and Y theory will be discussed, where problems of X workers clashing with Y workers will be explained. Mergers take place when two or more companies join together to form one big company. Joint ventures are similar to mergers, but the only difference is that the two companies still keep their separate identities. â€Å"A merger can resemble a takeover but result in a new company name (often combining the names of the original companies) and in new branding; in some cases, terming the combination a merger rather than an acquisition is done purely for political or marketing reasons.†(1) One main reason as to why mergers fail is that both companies have different leadership styles. If two different leadership styles come together, the chance of a successful merger is very slim. The meaning of leadership is as follows: â€Å"In the most simplest terms, leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something we want them to do.†( Gaut Perrigo). According to Adler Elmhorst (2005), there are three main leadership styles. The first style is the autocratic style. â€Å"Some leaders are authoritarian, using legitimate, coercive, and reward power at their disposal to control members.†(Adler,R Elmhorst,J). Gaut Perrigo (1998) acknowledges the fact that an autocratic leader is someone who sees himself as the central person in authority and who has power over his workers. Adler Elmhorst continues by saying that there are democratic leaders who invite the workers to help in decision making. Gaut Perrigo (1998) also demonstrates that a democratic leader is a person who involves his followers in decision making. There could also be a third leadership style which is laissez- faire. â€Å"The designated leader gives up the power of that position and transforms the group into a leaderless collection of equals.†(Adler Elmhorst). Therefore one can see that if any of these types of leadership come together then it would be disastrous, as the management of one company will be in conflict with the management of the other merging company as to which leadership style to adopt. They could ultimately come to no agreement and the merger would fail. The next factor that is going to be discussed is the different types of communication styles of merging companies. According to Gaut Perrigo (1998), â€Å"Communication style is defined as the manner in which you disclose information to your co-workers, supervisor(s) and subordinates.† Gaut Perrigo further explains that there can be open communication and closed communication. They say that open communication is all about people sharing information and opinions freely. They add that, in contrast closed communication involves little information shared and that workers don’t feel free to tell their opinions. Another type of contrasting communication styles according to Gaut Perrigo are defensive and supportive communication. They say that defensive communication will be there when the workers lack openness and also honesty with each other. In contrast, they explain that supportive communication is where there is plenty of openness and honesty. Therefore, defensive communication reduces the communication effectiveness but supportive communication enhances job productivity and satisfaction. Therefore, if there is a clash between any of these types of communication styles when merging – like open and close communication, defensive and supportive communication – then the merger can turn out to be a failure. This is because workers who are used to one type of communication won’t get along with workers who are used to another type of communication. A very important factor that will decide whether a merger is successful or not, are the culture of both companies who are merging. There are many sub- factors under this. Culture could be defined as follows: â€Å"The shared values, traditions, customs, philosophy, and policies of a corporation; also, the professional atmosphere that grows from this and affects behaviour and performance† (2) There could be one company who has an individualistic culture merging with another company who has a collectivist culture. Adler Elmhorst(2005) explains that workers in firms who nature individualistic cultures tend to think about themselves first, and then only the society. They also say that there is a lot of freedom available to them. This is given to them in order to achieve their personal goals. Trompenaars(2003) says that individualism affects three critical areas, which are negotiations, decision making and motivation. He says that individuals seek to be distinguished within the group, and that the other members also approve of this. He says the word â€Å"I† is the most used word for individualism. Adler Elmhorst(2005) say that in collectivist cultures, contrastingly, the workers work in groups and their first loyalty is towards one another in the group. They add that workers of collectivist societies are likely to believe that the welfare of the company is as import ant as themselves. Therefore as we can see, individualistic workers and collectivist workers will never go hand in hand with each other. This is because both types of workers are working with a different mind set which are two extremes. The other type of culture clash is power distance. Adler Elmhorst defines that â€Å"power distance refers to attitude toward differences in authority.† They say that there are high power distances and low power distances. They continue by saying that high power distance cultures emphasizes that there is unequal power distributed among the workers. Some workers are believed to have more influence and resources than others. Whereas low power distance cultures treat everyone equal, and even if the manager has a bit more power than the other workers, the managers’ powers are not exaggerated. According to Handy, he divides culture into four categories. The first is power culture which means authority is with a few people only. It has a few rules only. The second is role culture, where the amount of power is defined from the role of the person in the company. He names the third as task culture where teams are formed to solve the firm’s problems. The last is called a person culture where the workers think they are more important than the company. (3) If two different cultures explained by Handy merge, for example – power culture and task culture, then the risk of failure will be very high. In contrast, Hofstede talks about five characteristics of culture. He agrees with Adler Elmhorst that there can be differences in the power distances, which can be high or low. He also talks of individualism where workers are supposed to stand up for themselves, the other being collectivism where workers work as a group. Additionally, Hofstede talks about masculinity versus femininity, which explains the differences between male and females values. He says that male values usually include competitiveness, ambition and things like material possessions. On the other hand, he describes female values like being feelings and relationships. He also talks of uncertainty avoidance where he says that society or, in this case a firm will be prepared to accept risks only to a certain extent. He also mentions short and long orientations. (4) Another type of culture clash is between high context culture and low context culture. According to Adler Elmhorst, a low context culture means that workers will use verbal communication to show feelings, thoughts and ideas. On the other hand, a high context culture expresses meaning by using nonverbal methods, in order to maintain harmony between the workers. The final factor in culture which will be discussed is the concept of monochronic and polychronic. People(in this case workers) who are monochronic will do one job at a time, whereas people who are polychronic will tend to do many jobs at the same time, but at the end of the day hasn’t finished a single job. Monochronic people concentrate really hard on the job they are doing, they also take deadlines very seriously. Contrastingly, polychronic people are very distractible and are prone to interruptions. Monochronic people are low context and need a lot of information, whereas it’s the opposite for polychronic pe ople where they are high context and already have plenty of information. (5) Therefore, it can be said that if polychronic workers of one firm merges with another firm which has monochronic workers- the merger won’t be a successful one as these two types of workers won’t work well hand in hand. The next topic which will be discussed regarding mergers, is the concept of change. Resistance to change will be discussed in detail as it is appropriate for mergers, and whether they are successful or not. Resistance to change can be defined as: â€Å"Resistance to change is the action taken by individuals and groups when they perceive that a change that is occurring as a threat to them.† (6) The workers of a company who are about to go through some kind of change, in this case a merger, will start to oppose the change if they feel that they are going to lose out in the merger. There could be an instance where there is resistance from the customers regarding the merger. They may not support the change, and may switch to firms which are rivals to the merging firms. (7) As can be seen, resistance to change is a threat to the success of a merger. The management of the two firms merging will have to deal with the problems created by the workers. They may lose customers who are a gainst the merger. All this could spell failure. McGregor’s X and Y theory states that there are two types of workers X and Y. â€Å"Theory X assumes that the average person: dislikes work and attempts to avoid it; has no ambition, wants no responsibility, and would rather follow than lead; is self centered and therefore does not care about organisational goals; resists change; is gullible and not particularly intelligent.† (8) Theory Y is just the opposite of X. Y workers are committed to their jobs, and seek responsibility. They seek rewards and will work hard in order to get it. They are creative and genuine. If there is a merger, where in one company there are X workers and the other- Y workers, probability of a successful merger is very slim. Therefore, from the above established information, one could see that most mergers would fail due to the above reasons. The writer would also like to add a few things. The problem of tall and flat structures could also be present when two companies merge. A tall structure is where a firm has many layers from the top manager to the lowest worker. A flat structure doesn’t have many layers. If a manager of a flat organisation mergers with an organisation which is tall, he would want to get rid of unnecessary workers by delayering. Many workers will lose their jobs, and they will demand compensation. This is costly as the company will have to pay every worker who got unemployed because of the merger, and if they don’t compensate they will create a bad image, and therefore customers may switch their loyalty to other rival companies. The merger would ultimately fail. Regarding resistance to change, one solution could be educating the workforce. The managers could tell the workers of the benefits that the merger could bring. This would definitely reduce the amount of resistance and would lead to a successful merger. However, this method may not always work as some workers may not change their minds. Other solutions could be participation and involvement, where the managers will ask the workers to help in the process of merging. This would make the workers more involved, and they would resist less to the change. Facilitation and support could be a third solution where the managers would try to help the workers during the process of merging. The managers could strike an agreement or negotiation with the workers. All this will reduce the amount of resistance. When we talk about culture clashes and its problems, the solution that comes to mind is that the managers of the different firms which are coming together should first agree on one culture. This corporate culture should remain and should not be changed. However, they should introduce it slowly and not at once, so that the workers will have time to get used to it. If the merged company introduces it too quickly, then workers would not be able to adapt to it. They may get frustrated and leave the company (including efficient workers). In the end, the company would suffer from a shortage of workers and would have to start recruiting workers. This would be a difficult procedure and the merger would eventually fail. Another factor that could increase the chances of a merger surviving, are government subsidies. If the government thinks that a particular merger is beneficial for the society, then it would provide subsidies which will reduce the cost of merging, and therefore make it easier for the merger to take place. However, the opposite could also happen. The government may think that the merger is not in the best interest of the people. If it thinks like that, it may make it very difficult for the two companies to merge. It could, for example, increase the corporation tax rates of the merged firm. Therefore the firm would have to pay a higher percentage of its profit as tax. The profitability of the firm would fall, and it would fail. One definite threat for a smaller company merging with a very large company is the fact that it could result in a take over, where the large company would have the ability to take over the smaller one by buying more than 50% of the shares. In which case, the smaller company would lose its identity. Therefore, the workers who were working in the smaller company could become non- co operative because they feel that they have lost their identity. Therefore, the overall efficiency would go down, and they would become less competitive and ultimately fail. Therefore, if a merger is to be successful, it would be advisable that two companies of similar sizes merge. Then, they would have similar powers and not an imbalance of power. As had been said before, there could be autocratic leaders and democratic leaders. A solution that can reduce the possibility of a merger failing could be that the new management could appoint a leader that can be both democratic, and also autocratic at times. This is because when two companies merge, there will be all sorts of workers. There could be workers who are lazy and inefficient, and there could be workers who are efficient and like responsibility. This type of leader could be democratic towards the workers who are efficient and hard working, but could be autocratic towards the lazy ones. This way the company can get useful ideas out of the efficient ones, and also would be assured that the inefficient workers work. This approach would definitely reduce the possibility of a merger failing. There could be an instance where one company which is producing one type of product merges with another company producing a different type of product. Since the managers of one company do not have the expertise in the other company’s product, and vice versa, the management decisions would not be professional. This could make them incompetent, and they would lose customers and market share. They would eventually fail. On the other hand, one could say that if two companies producing different products merge, then they would be diversifying. This would be really good as they would have more security. For example, if one product is making a loss, it would be covered by the profit of the other product. Therefore, this would help the merged company to survive in the market and not fail. Mergers could achieve economies of scale or suffer from diseconomies of scale. This could be further explained. The general understanding is that when a merger takes place, the new company would become bigger in size. This could be an advantage to them as they will have the ability to achieve economies of scale. This is where an increase in output reduces the cost of input. However, if the company goes over the optimum level of output, they could suffer diseconomies of scale, which is when the cost of inputs increases at a higher rate than the output. As a result, if the company can not control its cost due to diseconomies of scale, they would fail. To avoid failing, they should produce the optimum amount of units. International mergers are discussed when we talk about mergers. It could be said that international mergers, where a company from one country merging with a company from another country, could have less chances of survival. This is because the two companies will have different styles of working. In one country, the people in general may consider relationships and socialising the top priority, and then only working. In the other country however, they may consider work as the highest priority, and then only things like social activities and relationships. Therefore, both companies will probably have different priorities, and so in the end, nothing will be achieved and it will be a disaster. Therefore, if international mergers were to take place, the merger should be with companies of which the two countries have the same priorities. Then only will there be good co ordination. The other big problem when it comes to international mergers is the communication barriers that arise. Since th ere is a big distance between the two companies, there could be breakdowns in communication. Misunderstandings can occur which can lead to wrong decision making. If they are operating in a competitive market, this wrong decision made could cost the merged company a lot and they may fail. However, these days, due to technological advancement – the amount of distance has reduced for internationally merged companies. In other words, globalisation has helped reduce the possibility of failure. An example of technological progress is in the invention of video conferencing, where the managers from two different countries, can see the person they are talking to without ever actually having to leave the country. This will save time and cost, and reduce the amount of misunderstandings. When we discuss merger failures, we were mainly talking about the internal factors that contribute to their failure. We have to consider the external factors as well. We could say that if interest rates change, the company that is merging has no power over it. If interest rates increase, then the cost of merging will increase (especially if there were a lot of borrowings involved). This unanticipated cost may be too much to cope and it will fail. However, if interest rates fall it would be beneficial. If inflation rates increase after the merger takes place, the demand will fall as people reduce their spending as it is expensive. The merger will have to cope with the lower demand first up in addition to its internal problems. They may suffer with the huge pressure. However, if the inflation rise is temporary, then it would not be a problem. There could also be special pressure groups who could campaign against the merger for some reason. One reason could be that the merger will conve rt the new company into a monopoly with over twenty five percent of market share. The pressure groups could convince the public that the merger is not in their interests. The consumers may retaliate be not buying the company’s products. This would lead to a reduction in sales and profits. The company may close down because of this. Therefore, from the above factors discussed above, it could be agreeable that many mergers fail. However, one doubts whether the percentage of mergers failing could be as high as 40%, it could be a bit lower. The reasons that would explain that 40% is too high can be shown by the following: Most mergers that are set up have been carefully planned by the merging firms. It’s not practical to choose any firm to merge with. There should be a careful screening of firms, and the firm that is the most compatible one to the other firm who is selecting, should be chosen. Even if mergers do have problems at the start, it would only be in the short term. In the long term, however, the merger would reap positive benefits. They would become a large stable company, and would become very competitive in the market. They could also achieve economies of scale, which would reduce costs. The end result would be that they become very profitable, and would not definitely fail. Therefore, it would be natural for companies who are merging, to go through the usual cycle of short run difficulties, followed by long term gains. There would be cases of mergers failing, but it could be said that it would not be as high as 40%, as long as there is careful planning and selection of the companies who intend to merge. Research Papers on Why 40% of Mergers and Joint Ventures Fail - Business EssayBringing Democracy to AfricaOpen Architechture a white paperThree Concepts of PsychodynamicAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaStandardized TestingThe Project Managment Office SystemMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenTwilight of the UAWRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

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