Persin development Essay Example for Free

Persin development Essay Silkysteps early years forum planning ideas for play Welcome to Silkysteps Early Years Forum Early Years Discussion Forums Training, Qualifications CPD Level 3 Diploma NVQ SCH 32 2. 3 Describe how own values belief systems and experiences affect practice User Name Remember Me? Password Register FAQ Members List Calendar Arcade Level 3 Diploma NVQ Level 3 : NVQ Childrens Care, Learning and Development and Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce. Please DO NOT COPY and PASTE information from this forum and then submit the work as your own. Plagiarism risks you failing the course and the development of your professional knowledge. Go to Page Page 1 of 2 1 2 Thread Tools Display Modes #1 10-16-2010, 08:02 PM easylife Acorn ~~Putting down roots ~~ Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 11 SCH 32 2. 3 Describe how own values belief systems and experiences affect practice Hi, I really would like to thank every one here in this site. Without posting any question last year for my NVQ Level 2 that I passed I really benefit from all of your posted answers. I have now started my Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce and we have 21 units this year I am in unit 052 is any one here doing the same course? Just need some help with 2. 3 : Describe how own values, belief systems and experiences my effect working practice? Manythanks easylife View Public Profile Find all posts by easylife #2 10-16-2010, 10:11 PM Ruthierhyme Administrator Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 5,959 Hi a warm welcome to the site xx You need to look at what you value, what beliefs you personally have and the experiences that you have that may or maynot affect the way you work. How would you describe your outlook on life? Negative? do you feel things will go badly Optimistic? maybe youre open to a range of possible outcomes Are you positively focussed? do you find it easy to be keen, motivated, eager to plan, witness and take part. The collins handbook lays out guidance for this assessment criteria by category .. Family background: the make-up of your immediate and extended family and their impact; whether you were an only child or were there many children; sibling rivalry; a mix of genders; the history of your family; whether there was a harsh discipline or permissive attitude. Environment: the house/flat/caravan you grew up in and its location, within town or rural setting, within a cetain geographical area, or a different country. Finances: whether you were wealthy or struggled to have your basic needs met. Education: the ethos of your school; whether single or mixed sex; boarding or day school; inspirational teachers; success academiucally; whether you were bullied; whether you developed special interests. Religious or spiritual beleif system including if you embraced or rejected this. Moral influences: values passed onto you as being of central importance to the way you live your life. Pg 54 Everyone is influenced and shaped by their unique experience of life. It can be hard to separate personal and professional responses when youre asked to perform both simultaneously throughout each working day. For the ability to maintain objectivity or be unaffected by personal bias maybe look at your personal views, beliefs, feelings about aspects that you might find relate to daily practice. Would it help to evaluate examine them by refelcting on your feelings? .. eg. if you were asked to write a sentence using your positive/indifferent/negative thoughts on each of the following, what would that single sentence be/ what would it sum up? childrens rights? a good idea or bad idea? human rights? ECM and positive outcomes? partnership and working together as an internal and external team? male / female roles who stays home to care for children, who goes out to work, who uses different tools, who drives different vehicles, who takes which managerial position human appearance skin colour, eye colour, hair, height, weight, family size/number smacking, time-out, other methods for behavioural management homosexuality: same sex union, same sex parents transgender transvestism labels disability sensory impairement hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste infection control risk individual faiths prayer, worship, marriage:religions local community worldwide networks country based culture language, accent, dress, food, music, art, festivals, weather age does age change capability? pregnancy and age welfare, safeguarding, protecting adults, children, animals academia, training and opportnities to gain knowledge lifestyles and lifestyle choices - multicultural lifestyle - veganism, vegetarianism - activism - celebrity - products, brands - homes a house, flat, caravan, boat, tent - traditions, celebrations, annual occurances, observances discrimination how do you react when others discriminate against others, against you. How do you know when youve discriminated against others or found youve contradicted yourself. healthy eating substance use smoking, drugs, alchol mental health sexual health Consider the role that youre charged with, the title description of your job and the responsibilities involved that mean you implement ways for children to achieve positive outcomes during their time with you and as an underpinning expectation for their forevers. Which of the above do you feel you can whole heartedly support, enjoying all the opportunities available that would promote learning about it. Which do you accept are an individuals own choice, whilst not your personal choice you respect their rights/right to be safe, express themselves Which do you struggle to understand, challenges your thinking, causes you to feel defensive or makes you feel a need to justify or re-examine your reasoning. How supportive could you be to someone with views and beliefs that conflict with your own. How do you think your views, beliefs impact on your practice? Are you able to separate personal and professional responses? Are you able to see what difference exists between personal and professional practice objectivity? Are you able to overcome strength of personal feeling to safeguard the children in your care and work in partnership with parents and colleagues? For ideas on methods of relective practice ie. thinking, writing, discussion, enacting or role play this thread may help

Julio Cortazar Casa Tomada Analysis

Julio Cortazar Casa Tomada Analysis Analyse the treatment of the â€Å"outsider† or â€Å"outsiders† in one of the texts studied on the course. What role does this tension play in the socio-political vision of the author? Julio Cortazar was one of most influential Argentine writers of all time. He was one of the great masters of short stories and was compared to the likes of Jorge Luis Borges. Cortazars literature is closely linked to social and cultural realities of Latin America and in particular Argentina. This essay will begin with the history of Julio Cortazar including his background influences and the style of his texts with focus on the short story ‘La Casa Tomada. Then this shall lead on to the analysis of the treatment of characters that are considered as â€Å"outsiders† in the story focusing on the different interpretations of the main characters and the unknown invaders that take over the house. Furthermore, the role of these â€Å"outsiders† will be discussed relating to the socio-political vision of Cortazar and the influence of politics on his writing, incorporating the socio-political situation in Buenos Aires, Argentina at that time. In 1914, Julio Cortazar was born in Brussels, Belgium of Argentine parents, after World War 1 his family returned to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This was where he grew up and became educated, then later moved to Paris in 1951, after obtaining a French scholarship, where he died in 1984 at the age of 70. Prior to becoming a writer, he worked as a teacher and then as a translator. (Prego Cortazar, 1997) Cortazar is known as one of the Latin American writers of the â€Å"boom† that exploded onto the world literary scene. The literary boom was during the middle of the 20th century when Latin American writers work became published in Europe and the rest of the world. The stories were known to associate with magical realism which is where ‘unreal things are treated as if realistic and mundane, and mundane things as if unreal. The plots of these stories usually combined real and fantastic elements in a way that makes them difficult to separate. (www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Latin-American-Boom) Stories that have been written by Julio Cortazar normally mix fantasy with Latin American reality. The story being focused on, ‘La Casa Tomada by Julio Cortazar, was initially published in the 1946 review ‘Los Anales de Buenos Aires which was directed by Jorge Luis Borges. It then appeared his in his first volume of short stories ‘Bestario in 1951. (www.juliocortazar.com.ar/hislife.htm) In the story, a middle-aged brother and sister live together in an old large family house, situated in the North district of Buenos Aires. They spend their days doing routine tasks with little variation. The sister, Irene, knits and the brother reads and collects stamps. They both clean the house and cook meals together. One day they hear mysterious noises within the house, but they do not worry. Without much explication, they abandon parts of the house because of this invading noise. When eventually the unknown noises take over the whole house, they leave the house with nothing and throw the key away. It is written in the first person with the narrator being the protagonist in the story. This means the protagonist is the centre of attention and this allows the reader to participate in all the events. The reader can see all the thoughts and ideas of the protagonist so they can easily identify with the protagonist. This adds realism to the story in contrast with the ‘unknown characters that bring an element of the surrealism that ‘boom writers are known for. The northern district of Buenos Aires where the protagonist and his sister live is the rich and privileged area and from the start of the story, it sets out to the reader that the siblings are from privileged backgrounds. â€Å"Nos gustaba la casa porque aparte de espaciosa y antigua (hoy que las casas antiguas sucumben a la mas ventajosa liquidacià ³n de sus materiales) [†¦]† (Cortazar, page 1). The house has eight bedrooms so previously their family would have occupied all the rooms and they would have had maids to work for them. The large house was previously owned by their ancestors and they are the last of a long line of family. â€Å"[†¦] guardaba los recuerdos de nuestros bisabuelos, el abuelo paterno, nuestros padres y toda la infancia.† (Cortazar, page 1). It seems they can afford to live without working.Instead they spend their days doing little more than cleaning, reading and knitting with rare communication with the outside world. From this, the theme of â€Å"outsiders† comes into play, which plays a strong role throughout the story. From analyzing the story, the unknown invaders are immediately seen as the â€Å"outsiders† that come in and take over. However, the siblings could also be â€Å"outsiders† giving that they are so cut off from the rest of society. Cortazar portrays the siblings as very unusual and lonely characters that do little to prevent themselves from being outsiders in society. The siblings seem to be obsessed by routine and keeping the house clean. We find out little about the narrator except that he like French literature. He portrays the sister Irene as a very passive female who is happy to just spend her time knitting. They share the cleaning and cooking chores between themselves. The narrator says how they never use the back part of the house except entering to clean. Therefore, there is already a barrier created between them and the â€Å"outsiders† with the large oak door. There is a reference to how much dust collects on the furniture. â€Å"Buenos Aires sera una ciudad limpia, pero eso se lo debe a sus habitantes y no a otra cosa.† The narrator seems to imply that the middle-class citizens keep the city clean. He also says â€Å"Hay demasiada tierra en el aire† which is ironic seeing as the city is called â€Å"Buenos Aires†. (Holmes:2004, pg254) There is an incestuous aspect between the brother and sister as they have reached middle age and the only time they spend is with each other, uninterested in others outside the house. â€Å"Simple y silencioso matrimonio de hermanos[†¦]† (Cortazar) This shows they had no plans to marry anybody else and have children to pass on the house to. This incestuous theme is something Cortazar said may have been related to his own life; â€Å"Yo empecà © a pensar y a descubrir que efectivamentea traves de mis sereà ±os yo tengo una problema incestuoso con una hermana mia† (Cortazar por Cortazar, pg 43) The brother and sister can be seen as outsiders at the end of the story aswell because they are the ones that end up on the outside of the house with nowhere to go. They have numerous possessions at the start of their story and bit by bit, it is taken away from them until they are left outside with nothing. â€Å" ¿Tuviste tiempo de traer alguna cosa? le preguntà © inà ºtilmente. No, nada.† The other â€Å"outsiders† are the invaders that are seen as unknown enemies. They are referred to as plural during the story for example when they take over the first part of the house; â€Å"-Tuve que cerrar la puerta del pasillo. Han tomado parte del fondo.† (Cortazar) so the reader automatically presumes it is more than one unknown character. The unknown outsiders are treated as very unwelcome and they can be seen as threatening. Throughout the story, Cortazar leaves no clues to whom or what these noises are and it seems as if the brother and sister are not necessarily that scared or shocked by them. An example is after the part where the brother says to Irene that they had taken over the back part: â€Å"Dejà ³ caer el tejido y me mirà ³ con sus graves ojos cansados. - ¿Estas seguro? Asenti. -Entonces -dijo recogiendo las agujas- tendremos que vivir en este lado.† She does not show any fear and just carries on knitting. They seem to have knowledge of whom or what has invaded the house and act alone in defending themselves against this invasion. At the end of the story, the outsiders are still left as unidentifiable and mysterious characters to the reader and leaves them guessing. It is up to the reader to come to their own conclusion about whom or what they think these strange noises are. The beginning of the story starts as very realistic with a description of their lives then once the outsiders that invade take over the first part of the house, it becomes surreal. Cortazar puts a lot of emphasis on the description of the house; the house seems unwelcoming as it lacks the comfort and security of a home. The characters feel unsafe in their home and ready to flee at any point and it loses any feeling of safety when the others take over. Cortazar explores the connection between identity and the home. The house shows everything about the siblings such as their wealth, their background and their hobbies and once they no longer have the house, they lose their identity. The house is personified in the story; â€Å"a veces llegamos a pensar que era ella que no nos dejà ³ casar.† This shows it has some sort of control over the brother and sister living within and creates a barrier between them and the real world. The only time that the brother visits outside is when he goes to get his French literature or wool for Irene to knit and Irene never leaves the house. Also, note that the street name Rodriguez Peà ±a was the name of Cortazars street when he lived in Buenos Aires. (Maquiera: 2004, pg.10) Therefore, this shows how the story relates to his own personal experience. It seems the treatment of these outsiders seems to play a strong role in the vision of Cortazar as the story is related to his life. There are numerous interpretations for the meaning behind La Casa Tomada but the one that stands out seems to be that Cortazar uses the relation between the characters, the outsiders and the home as a way to respond to social and political tensions that were occurring in Buenos Aires during that time. Cortazar wrote the story post-war when Juan Pà ©ron had recently come into power over Argentina. Initially Pà ©ron had worked his way up by taking a position that nobody else was interested in as the head of the Labour department. From there he appealed to the workers. Pà ©ron aimed for an independent Argentina, free from foreign economical influence. Pà ©ron promised a â€Å"New Argentina† founded on â€Å"social justice, political sovereignty, and economic independence†. He showed support for the workers that he called the â€Å"masas descamisadas† by increasing wage earners income and building a large number of low cost homes. (Rock: 1987 pg.262-263) Cortazar was anti-peronist and demonstrated against his regime. He saw Pà ©ron as a dictator and felt threatened by the control. â€Å"Si bien Cortazar no comulgaba aun con el socialismo, su postura hacia la politica del nuevo gobierno era abiertamente critica† (Maquiera: 2004, pg.19.) Pà ©ron aimed to integrate the population and bring about social reforms. Many, including Cortazar saw him and his wife Evita as a political and economical threat and â€Å"a threat to good taste†. They saw him â€Å"encouraging the invasion of Buenos Aires by riffraff from the provinces†. The racist term â€Å"cabecitas negras† was used against the immigrant workers. (Standish: 2001 pg.4) For the opponents of Pà ©ron his promises were myths and had caused a divided society with a bankrupt economy and a nation controlled by a dictatorship. â€Å"El Peronismo significà ³ la llega a la capital de la clase obrera del interior del pais y la entrada de esa poblacià ³n en la vida social y cultural de la ciudad† (Maquiera: 2004, pg. 20). Although Cortazar does not link them directly, the ‘outsiders in the story can be seen as a satire in showing the socio-political vision of Cortazar against Pà ©ronism and the arrival of the working class during that period. The story could be portrayed as showing the anxieties of the upper and middle classes of Buenos Aires during the nine-year administration of Juan Pà ©ron. By showing how they felt marginalised because of the increasing number of rural immigrants that were coming into the city for work. Just like the protagonists in the story, their way of life had changed and these invaders into the house may symbolise the workers coming into the city. Therefore, the role of these outsiders could be an allegory of the migrant workers that moved into Buenos Aires and took over a lot of the jobs and the brother and sister could symbolise the Argentineans that felt like these migrants invaded them. â€Å"Bien podria representar todos mis miedos, o quiza, todas mis aversiones; en ese caso la interpretacià ³n antiperonista me parece bastante posible, emergiendo incluso inconscientemente†. Julio Cortazar (www.abretelibro.com) The story is most commonly seen as an anti-peronist allegory and expresses the fear that Cortazar may have felt about outsiders in Argentina. The feeling of fear felt that was caused by Perons military government and by the invasion of industrialisation. However, the story has also been seen as similar to that of Adam and Eve; they are expelled from their small and closed paradise into an unknown world. html.rincondelvago.com/casa-tomada_julio-cortazar_2.html When asked, Cortazar says that ‘La Casa Tomada was inspired from a nightmare that he had and that when he woke from this nightmare he immediately started writing the story. The house described in the story is the same as in his nightmare. â€Å"La à ºnica diferencia entre lo soà ±ado y el cuento es que en la pesadilla yo estaba solo.† (Prego: 1990, pg79) When he woke up, he immediately started writing the story. Therefore, he says that it is his dream that should be analyzed not the story. â€Å"Es un cuento que para mi no tiene absolutamente ningà ºn contexto de ninguna naturaleza salvo la pesadilla.† (Garfield:1978 pg 89) The architecture of the house plays an important role in the link between the present and the past in Buenos Aires. The house symbolizes the citys aristocratic past, after Independence, Buenos Aires chose European instead of colonial architecture. Architects were brought over by the Government from Europe to design buildings. (Holmes: 2003 pg254) Again, this shows the fear that the characters have of change from the past, as they prefer their traditional style European house. During the time, that a large amount of immigrants from overseas and migrants from the countryside came there was a demand for more housing. So new housing projects were created for the middle-class resulting in higher value for houses like theirs as the narrator points out at the beginning of the story (Holmes: 2004), â€Å"las casas antiguas sucumben a la mas ventajosa liquidacià ³n de sus materiales† (Cortazar). The brother and sister prefer the European style spacious house and enclose themselves in what represents the urban past. They seclude themselves from the city and in turn make themselves outsiders from the modern Argentina. Therefore, the invaders could be the city making them leave their home. Throughout the text there are numerous historical references such as the French literature which the brother enjoys reading. This seems to be one of the few ‘outside things that are accepted into the house. He also finds that â€Å"Desde 1939 no llegaba  nada valioso a la Argentina† which refers to the lack of European culture in Argentina because of the war. The brother only seems to find value in French literature and has to re-read what French literature he has. Once again, this also shows the link with their fear of change. The relationship between the characters and the house shows their lack of interest in modernity and change. They seem to want to stay within a routine and show little interest towards changes outside of their house in Argentina. This story may represent Peronist Buenos Aires but can also represent the role of Europe in post-colonial space. It seems that Cortazar rejects how Argentina has become post-European influence. The story may also portray the modern Buenos Aires conflicting with the past city. After looking in depth at the story and the history related to the story, I can conclude that the different â€Å"outsiders† in the story play a strong role in the socio-political vision of Julio Cortazar. La Casa Tomada has numerous interpretations about its hidden meaning. Although when questioned, he does not specifically relate it to a particular opinion but to a nightmare he had. This showed his underlying preoccupations with the events in Buenos Aires during that time. The theme of outsiders is continued throughout the story and each character shows an aspect of being an outsider. The invaders that take over the house from the siblings are seen both as the workers that moved into Buenos Aires invading the space of the middle-class or as the city making the protagonists leave their safe past and as face the changing Buenos Aires. The protagonists show a stereotype example of the middle-class people of Argentina during that time that feared any sort of change, though in the original nightmare it is Cortazar himself. It is Cortazar that it seems had this fear of invasion from â€Å"outsiders† and was concerned about the changes occurring. The role of the outsiders is very effective in demonstrating his feelings about Pà ©ron and the changes within Argentina.

Ikea Pestle And Strategic Options Analysis Marketing Essay

Ikea Pestle And Strategic Options Analysis Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is to conduct a SWOT and a PESTEL analysis of IKEA and summarise an assessments of IKEAs strategy and strategic options. IKEA, which was started in 1943, is the world largest furniture retailer. It offers a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at affordable prices. This enables as many people as possible to afford them. IKEAs focus throughout its existence has been to make and provide good products at low prices to customers. Thus, it has with time developed methods that are both cost-effective and innovative. SWOT ANALYSIS According to Kourdi (2009), an analysis of the companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is a good tool for gathering information on the strategic position of the business. He explains that strengths and weaknesses are found within the internal environment of the organisation while opportunities and threats are usually found from the external environment within which the business operates. Strengths IKEA provides other amenities in their stores these include playrooms for children, ample parking space and restaurants and Swedish cafà ©s. This attracts customers who care about parking and who have children. The children can be left playing at the play zone while the parents do the shopping. IKEA designs its own furniture. This makes the business become innovative in designs and also assures customers of the same range of furniture and quality all over the world. Long-lasting relationships with selected key suppliers are a major strength of IKEAs purchasing and product development strategy. This is because IKEA is directly involved only in conceiving, distributing, and selling its products Designing products so that they can be packed flat and assembled by our customers greatly reduces IKEAs cost. This means IKEA can ship more items in one truck, less storage space is required, labour costs are educed and transport damages are avoided. For the customer, this means lower priced products and easy transportation home. Weaknesses Scandinavian design and style is not everyones preference. IKEA needs to diversify on its product design to appeal to other conservative markets in the world. For example, customising some products and amenities like restaurants to oriental markets in a place like China or Hong Kong , Arabic ones for the middle-east or even African products for the African market (when it ventures to Africa) will appeal more to another market segment of traditionalists or very patriotic citizens of these regions Since IKEA does not own any transport facilities, its supply and distribution network is physically connected through external actors and thousands of logistic partners. Coordinating and connecting this complex network it had adopted needs a lot of concentration and very advances monitoring system, in addition, IKEA does not unilaterally control and most of the logistic relationships Opportunities There is the potential to expand to other areas where IKEA has no stores due to its international fame, strong globally recognised brand and growing demand for its products. These untapped markets include South America and Africa. IKEA recycles materials in its aim to grow organically. IKEAs website states that There is a true business potential for IKEA in providing solutions that enable customers to live a more sustainable life at home. IKEA is developing effective solutions for customers in order to support them recycling or reusing used products, aiming at no products ending up at landfill and the recycled materials used in producing new IKEA products.  [1]   Threats IKEA delegates much responsibility to its competent partners. These are normally either those who have long been in charge of manufacturing a certain product, or those who have specific technical competences. This provides a difficulty in controlling and maintaining standards. Due to this, IKEAs competences and organizational structure need to keep on being re-visited and modified to fit specific partners and interaction processes and networks Like any other business, Competition from low end general discount retailers such as Wal-Mart, office supply stores such as Office Depot, and discount warehouses such as Costco. Wal-Mart is the worlds number one retailer. These general merchandise retailers tend to aggressively promote their furniture products on the basis of price as well. Another threat is the high-end specialty retailers who normally offer luxurious store environments designed to appeal to people looking for feelings of affluence, high class, ostentation prosperity, and comfort. These retailers also offer various payment options and easy credit to make it easier for shoppers to commit to a more items or costly products. PESTLE ANALYSIS PESTLE is a tool that is used to analyse the macro-environment in which an organisation exists. It is an acronym that stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors. PESTLE analysis generates information that helps senior managers when strategising and when formulating strategic plans and policies Morrison (2008) argues that PESTLE analysis can also be used as a framework for looking outside the organisation to hypothesise what may or may not happen. It is a useful framework to use to ensure that some of the basic factors are not overlooked or ignored. Used in a similar way to that of business planning  [2]   Political environment This includes issues to do with government policies on taxation, tariffs and trade restrictions. It also encompasses employment laws and the activities and involvement of trade unions. Political stability of the environment is also important. IKEAs political environment is favourable. In Europe and America, the political systems have developed over long time providing a very stable environment. IKEA does not operate in Africa where most nations are not politically stable Economic Factors IKEA like most businesses in Europe and America is currently operating in global economic recession. In most countries, there has been slow economic growth for the last two years. Other economic factors are typical to each country and have to with inflation rates, interest rates, wage rates and minimum wage legislations. Sociological factors Markets where IKEA operates are faced with changing social trends. For example there are now fewer first time buyers in the housing market which is mainly due to hard economic times. Thus there may be a deceleration in the markets growth rate. According to echeat.com, many people associate Sweden with a fresh healthy way of life.  [3]  This Swedish lifestyle is reflected in the IKEA product range. The freshness of the open air is reflected in the colours and materials used and the sense of space they create by using blond-coloured woods, untreated surfaces and natural textiles. IKEA has also developed a very comprehensive corporate social responsibility program. IKEAs social responsibility policy gives a provision for humanitarian donations and support to various charities such as the World Wildlife Fund, UNICEF and Save the Children fund. Technology IKEA has embraced technology as a business tool. It has an up to date website from which customers can view online catalogues, check for stock availability before going to the store, order online and even correspond with the customer service team. As technology evolves, IKEA will perpetually keep on updating and upgrading its technology to keep pace with its global networks ranging from network relationships with supplier to those with distributors. Legal IKEA is a global business. This means that it is affected by many laws and legislations in all the different countries. This poses a threat where IKEA may be unable to control standards and/or quality in some jurisdictions where IKEA products are where there are no regulations to control working conditions. Environment Since it was founded IKEA has been sensitive to the environment which leads it in making better use of both raw materials and energy. This keeps costs down and helps the company to reach its green targets and have an overall positive impact on the environment SUMMARY ON IKEAS STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC OPTIONS IKEA can create more opportunities and tackle threats by strategic planning whist taking advantage of its strengths and working on its weaknesses. In the case study IKEA Invades America, IKEAs strategy is to have market dominance and market leadership as far as house furnishings are concerned. It can do so by assess its external and competitive environment Low-prices for it products is the main IKEAs strategy that makes customers want to buy from IKEA. This low price strategy is coupled with a wide range of well designed products. IKEAs products cater for every lifestyle and life stage of its customers, who come from all age groups and types of households. This diversity in the niche market is increases IKEAs potential market. In the case study Strategy in Industrial Networks: Experiences from IKEA by E. Baraldi, Industrial networks and business relationships play key roles for the strategy of IKEA. It should therefore continue to work with suppliers who take responsibility for people and the environment and who want to grow and develop with IKEAs growth. As part of its continuous work to improve conditions in the supply chain, IKEA has implemented a revised code of conduct, IWAY, and joined an industry collaboration exploring the possibility of developing global supply chain standards (IKEA sustainability report 2009: 13) Sustainability needs to be a part of the IKEA business strategy, and must therefore be integrated into each and every one of IKEAs business strategies, and in its product range (IKEA sustainability report 2009: 8). IKEA will need to lead developments with innovation and technical know-how and be transparent to its stakeholders. IKEAs products, processes and systems should continue demonstrating responsibility for people and the environment.

Negative Impacts of Capitalism on Marginalised Social Groups Essay

Capitalism is the predominant political economic system in the developed world where citizens and companies are able to elect which goods and services to engender and how they will procure and disburse their earnings. It is highly based on private property and private profit however; the government controls some portions of the economy within nations. Although capitalism is beneficial for citizens in various ways, it also creates negative impacts on marginalised social groups due to uneven distribution of wealth. These communities have critiqued on capitalism as they debate that the economy system limits democracy, disobeys democratic principles of social justice and enables forms of human suffering and shortage in individual emancipation. These issues are further discussed in Greene’s (2003) studies as he examines how mega-events, slum clearance and global capital negatively impacts the lives of socially marginalised populations. Capitalism is an economic system driven by the endless pursuit of profits. In Seoul and Santo Domingo, however, capitalists believe that these benefits ...

Perceptions of the Cold War Essay -- Cold War Interviews

This is an interview project with the goal of discovering how people understand the Cold War. In this essay, I will analyze how people understand the Cold War today. I will explain to what extent their definition or understanding of the Cold War differs from the definition provided. I will explain why the respondents’ understanding of the Cold War is different from the way the Cold War is defined in this course or explain why the respondents’ definition is similar to the way the Cold War is defined in this course. This course defines the Cold War as the geopolitical tensions, and proxy wars fought between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union and the United States repeatedly annoyed each other through political scheming, military alliances, spying, publicity, arms accumulation, financial aid, and proxy wars between other nations, but did not fight directly during the Cold War (John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, n.d.). The Cold War is a title that was given to the communication that established for the most part between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II (Trueman, 2013). The Cold War began in 1945 and ended in 1991 (History Rocket, 2012). The Cold War began because the communist nations did not permit fundamental human freedom, so the United States had hostility against the communists (History Rocket, 2012). The increase in weapons of mass destruction had many worried. The Cold War defined American political view and molded foreign policy (Naranjo, 2014). Mary Wheatly a registered nurse born in 1968 was the first person interviewed. The first words that come to mind when Mary think of the term Cold War is â€Å"the United States and Russia having a disagreem... ...finition provided in the Overview section of this unit’s reading. I have explained why the respondents’ understanding of the Cold War is different form the way the Cold War is defined in this course. Works Cited History Rocket. (2012). Why was the Cold War important? Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.historyrocket.com/World-War/cold-war/Why-Was-The-Cold-War-Important.html John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. (n.d.). The Cold War. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/The-Cold-War.aspx Naranjo, R. (2014). Historical analysis of the Cold War. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/articles/ArticleView.cfm?AID=66 Trueman, C. (2013). What was the Cold War? Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/what%20was%20the%20cold%20war.htm

Financial Management Case Study-Payout: Gainesboro Essay

Corporate Goals Management expected the firm to grow at an average annual  compound rate of 15% and reach $2.0 billion in sales and $160 million in net income through 2011. Recent strategy of Gainesboro The company devoted a greater share of its research-and-development budget to CAD/CAM as to reestablish its leadership in the field. The company also underwent two massive restructurings, including selling two unprofitable lines of business, selling two plants, eliminating five leased facilities, and reducing personnel in 2002. Then, in 2004, the company implemented a second round of restructuring by altering its manufacturing strategy, refocusing its sales and marketing approach, and adopting administrative procedures for a further reduction in staff and facilities. The Artificial Workforce was an array of advanced control hardware, software, and applications that could distribute information throughout a plant. Thus a product could be designed, manufactured, and packaged solely by computer no matter how intricate it was. Although the company had successfully patented several of the processes used by the Artificial Workforce, there were two factors that could affect sales which shou ld be concerned. First, two strong competitors were developing comparable products and would probably introduce them within the next 12 months. Second, sales of molds, presses, and CAD/CAM equipment and software were highly cyclical, and predictions about the strength of the U.S. economy were not encouraging. II. The inferential process Cause the company goal is to change its revenue structure, which make CAD/CAM and peripheral cutting edge products generate 3/4 of the sales, and the traditional presses and mold would account for the remainder. Thus, we think that the company will definitely have to leave some money for the R&D design. On the other hand, expanding aggressively in the international arena and getting new product through M&A also need to prepare a lot of money. Base on the idea we got from the Microsoft readings, company had better keep some percentage of the cash for the operating expense in case there would have emergency need. The analysis of investors’ attribution From the Exhibit 4, we can see that the attributions of the investors are changing. As for the institutional investors, the growth-oriented investor drop from 13% to 6%, while the value-oriented investors raise from 8% to 13%. This gives us a cue that the institutional investors are gradually change from growth-oriented into value-oriented. Which means that now the institutional investors think that the Gainesboro Corporation is not a highly growth company. Instead, it’s a stable growth company .So the institutional investors will expect to have high dividends. As for the individual investors, the long-term investors drop from 37% to 26%, while the short-term investors increase from 5% to 13%. This shows that individual investors have a trend to sell the stock in a short  time and regardless the dividends. The suspicion of forecasting We hold doubt on the stated speculation of a 15% compound rate of growth due to manufacturing mishaps and missing components which delayed production growth, as well as start-up costs continued to penalize earnings. How much dividends did other companies pay? In general, investors could accept 20.8% payout ratio, and there is a trend that the ratio has been decreasing for decades (66.5% in 1978; 20.8% in 1999). So we think Gainesboro doesn’t need to pay 40% dividends. We can see that in CAD/CAM industry, PE ratio is so high because they are expected to be high-potential, so they need lots of capitals to reinvest, such as acquisition, R&D. As a result zero dividends-payout is acceptable and makes sense. So if Gainesboro wants to prove they are also high potential, they can make the same decision in order to keep money for their growth but they has to communicate with investors well to make them understand what they are going to do. III. Conclusion The percentage of firms paying cash dividends had dropped to 20.8% since 1999. In that case, perhaps the market would react favorably, if Gainesboro adopted a zero dividend-payout policy. In the meantime, we strongly recommend the firm buyback partial stocks so as to increase EPS and stock price. Send a signal to the market that managers are confident on company’s new development  and expansion. Regarding to numerous growing strategies of the firm, we prefer canceling dividend payout and save more capital to support all the new projects. Besides, we support to launch image advertising and name change program step by step, which is not necessary in 2005. The firm can periodically reveal new expansion policy and R&D progress, for building up a solid image that the firm is under a transformation with highly innovative speed. The branding campaign should be done before 2011 when growth projects finished. In 2005, the firm should keep maintaining revenue growth rate and optimize productions for sustainable growth.

My Sister

I was three years old sitting in my front yard when one of my older sisters friends frantically comes out of nowhere and starts screaming incredibly loud towards me. I was only three, and had no idea what she was talking about. All I remember is her being completely bitter. So I was hopelessly sitting there taking it all in. Which is where my older sister Brooke burst in front of me with extreme anger and starts screaming right back at her and tells her to get lost. I felt so protected and safe by my sister that day, I miss having her around.It all started with this overwhelming feeling of being extremely claustrophobic. We arrived at the crowded airport at exactly five o'clock. Everyone crammed moving shoulder to shoulder. The plane was canceled so we had to stay shoulder to shoulder for two more long torturing hours. Finally, it was time for my big sister Brooke to get on her flight and leave for the extreme BMW ( basic military training). After this I would not be seeing my sister for several months. My sister and I are very close; It was very hard letting her go.As the plane flew miles away tears ran down my face like razor blades, my heart was cracking like someone had Just hit it with a hammer and chisel , and I had that horrible throbbing main in my throat where It hurts to swallow. After several torturous months of crying and praying for my sister, it was finally time to go see her graduate. Standing there In the excruciating sun on the curb waiting for all the airman to Jog by chanting with their running cadences with their powerful booming voices.Finally Brook's flight jogged by and seeing her for the first time after those long months gave me so much happiness and Joy. The ceremony was pretty amazing. All that, Mitt's (military training Instructors) gave long heart filled touching speeches which made my family and I cry. After all hose tears and amazing speeches each airman got granted a united States Alarm Force coin. After the 2 hour ceremony we fi nally got to go see our graduated Airman. My family and I were overwhelmed with Joy and couldn't stop crying.After leaving the Alarm Force base we all went out to eat at a pizza parlor. After filling our stomachs with pizza and soda pop, Brooke told us all about BMW how It was hard and demanding but after a while she started to get used to It. Also how It was really good at times, because of all the new friends and people she had met. Brooke loved BMW and said It was a very good experience. After all the tears Brooke had cried, all the horrible pain she had suffered through, all the hard training she had to endure, all turned out to be worth It.From the time she protected and stood up for me when I was three until now Brooke has never let me down. Brooke Is, and always will be my sister, my airman, and my hero. My Sister By Nicknaming My sister and I are very close; it was very hard letting her go. As the plane flew pain in my throat where it hurts to swallow. After several torturou s months of crying and praying for my sister, it was finally time to go see her graduate. Standing there in The ceremony was pretty amazing.All that, Mitt's (military training instructors) those tears and amazing speeches each airman got granted a United States Air Force family and I were overwhelmed with Joy and couldn't stop crying. After leaving the Air pizza and soda pop, Brooke told us all about BMW how it was hard and demanding but after a while she started to get used to it. Also how it was really good at times, because of all the new friends and people she had met. Brooke loved BMW and said it all the hard training she had to endure, all turned out to be worth it. From the time me down. Brooke is, and always will be my sister, my airman, and my hero.