Financial Management Essay

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 157 defines what is fair value as understood in terms of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and it also increases disclosure requirement about fair value measurements. This latest Statement, effective this 2007 is being made applicable to other accounting pronouncements made earlier where there is a requirement or allowance for use fair value measurements of an accounting entities’ assets, liabilities and equity accounts. (Bernstein, 1993; Brigham and Houston, 2002). SFAS 157 therefore does not require any new fair value measurements on the basis of the Financial Accounting Standards Board having earlier determined that that fair value is the relevant measurement attribute (FASB, n. d. ). As to why the FASB needed to issue this SFAS, it may be recalled that before this Statement, the Accounting profession has already been exposed to different definitions of fair value but only had limited guidance for applying those definitions in GAAP (Meigs and Meigs, 1995). This is not to mention the fact that that guidance to accountants was found in many accounting pronouncements that require fair value measurements, thereby generating differences that strong enough to create possible inconsistencies of these guidelines hence may be held contrary into the FASB objective of applying GAA less complex. Increased consistency and comparability in fair value measurements and for expanded disclosures about fair value measurements appears to be the clear objective of FASB in enacting this SFAS 157 (FASB, n. d. ). As to how this differs from other fair value pronouncements, the argued may be framed on the following points: First, since the changes to current practice resulting from the application of this Statement relate to the definition of fair value, the methods used to measure fair value, and the expanded disclosures about fair value measurements, the differences should only be expected to arise on said points. Specifically, the present definition of fair value under SFAS 157 preserves the exchange price notion in earlier definitions of fair value. SFAS 157 however now makes the clarification that â€Å"the exchange price is the price in an orderly transaction between market participants to sell the asset or transfer the liability in the market in which the reporting entity would transact for the asset or liability, that is, the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability. † (FASB, 2007, n. d. ). The new statement treats the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability as a hypothetical transaction at the measurement date, considered from the perspective of a market participant that holds the asset or owes the liability. It is therefore clear to see focus of the definition made on the price that would be received to sell the asset or paid to transfer the liability (FASB, 2007, n. d. ). Such definition of price is of course different and should be distinguished on the price that would be paid to acquire the asset or received to assume the liability. It needs to be emphasized also that SFAS treats fair value as a market-based measurement, not an entity-specific measurement, hence measurement is determined based on the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability (FASB, 2007, n. d. ). 3. Select one public company in the last 3 years that has had asset impairments and have a one page explanation of what the impairment was about and under what standard it was calculated. The company is selected is Standard Register. Using its 2006 Annual Report, the company (Standard Register 2007b) has indeed asset impairment Net Assets Held for Sale based on its notes to FS which provides: â€Å"In conjunction with the closing of the Terre Haute plant, in 2006 the Company recorded $1,474 of asset impairments, primarily related to equipment. The carrying value of the Terre Haute building and equipment was adjusted to its fair value less costs to sell, considering recent sales of similar properties and real estate valuations† This paper submits that the impairment may have been calculated under SFAS No. 154, made effective on January 2, 2006, on Accounting Changes and Error Corrections which is a replacement of APB Opinion No. 20 and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Statement No. 3. (Standard Register 2007a) 4. Submit the title page of SFAS 157 from the FASB or FARS site. See Next Page. 5. Submit a copy of the page of the company 10-K that indicates the impairment Bernstein, Financial Statement Analysis, IRWIN, Sydney, Australia, (1993) Brigham and Houston, Fundamentals of Financial Management, Thomson South-Western, US, 2002 FASB, Summary of Statement No. 157 Fair Value Measurements, (n. d. ) http://www. fasb. org/st/summary/stsum157. shtml, {www document} URL, Accessed October 7, 2007 Meigs and Meigs, Financial Accounting, McGraw-Hill, New York, USA, 1995 Standard Register, 2006 Annual Report, Form 10 – K, (2007a) {www document} URL http://media. corporate-ir. net/media_files/irol/95/95849/2006annualreport2. pdf, Accessed October 7, 2007 Standard Register, Company Website, (2007b) {www document} URL, http://www. standardregister. com/, Accessed October 7, 2007

Basic Ecological Concept

Basic Ecological Concept Levels of Organization Cells- are composed of Cell Membrane, Nucleus and Protoplasm. Tissue-is an aggregation of cells performing a common function or functions. Organs- is the aggregation of tissues usually forming a definite shapes, and performing a definite function within an organ system. Organ System-is a group of organs that perform coordinated functions together to keep the organism alive and functioning well. The scope of the biology includes the study of all these and may extend to the level of the organism such as behavior, and the organism mechanism for interacting with its environment.Ecology started from the study of the organism-a group of organisms that is similar in appearance, behavior and genetic make up belong to the same species. The biological species concept state that members of a species are those individual that are genetically related enough to be able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Population The group of the individua ls belonging to one species and is found together in a define area at a certain time.A population possesses characteristics that more empirically describe the group such as: population Density, Dispersion, Natality, Mortality, Growth, Age Distribution, and Reproductive potential. Population Density Describe the degree of crowdedness of a population in a given area. Crude Density may be computed from the number of individuals or the total population biomass per unit space. Ecological or specific Density describes the number or biomass per unit of space that is actually available to the population. Dispersion The distribution of organisms over the space where they are found.Three pattern have been observed: clumped, random, and uniform. The clumped Distribution is the most common type of pattern since the soil or medium on which organisms are found in nature are not uniform. Random Distribution is rare in nature, occurring only where the soil is generally rich so that the plants can g row and thrive anywhere. Uniform Distribution is found in artificial cultivated areas. Natality/Morality Natality corresponds to what is termed in humans as birth rate or the number of new individuals produced in the pupolation for a period of time.Morality is known as death rate in human demographics, or the number of deaths in a given time period. Growth Is an important feature of a population since the increases or decreases of population size determines its interaction with other populations in the community and its impact on the environment. Age Distribution Is classifies the population according to age brackets or to general age groups such as prereproductive, reproductive and postreproductive. Reproductive PotentialThe Reproductive potential of a population is its theoretical capacity to produce the maximum number of offspring in ideal conditions. Community The community has properties that may be used to further clarify its composition and its interaction with the environmen t. Like species dominance, diversity, relative abundance, species richness and evenness. Dominance Is attained by a species in a community by virtue of a greater number of individuals, or by size such as the overwhelming sizes of sequoia trees, or any other attribute that enables the species to control the community. DiversityDiversity is the opposite of dominance, a case where no single species has greater number or biomass or other relative importance than other species in the community. Ecosystem The basic unit of ecology because it includes the living and nonliving components. The setting includes necessary nonliving components such as soil, water, air, and the cycles that keep and renew them, which are collectively called the biogeochemical cycles. Bioenergetics Energy is necessary for maintaining the life processes of organisms. The sun is the source of all the energy that goes into the ecosystem. The solar ystem is radiated on to the earth where a tiny fraction of it is tappe d by plants and used in photosynthesis. Solar energy released in the form of light waves called photons. Herbivores are organism that feed on plants. Carnivores are organism that feed on other organism. Omnivores are organism that consume both plants and animals. Food Chain The sequence of eating and being eaten may be described by food chain. It also indicates the role, the feeding mode and rank of each organism. Food Web A food web shows the various possibilities of the sequence of eating and being eaten in the ecosystem.There are two major types of food webs in the ecosystem: the grazing food web is the more conspicuous type because it is usually composed of large plants and animals that are familiar. Law of Energy First law of thermodynamics stated that energy is never created nor destroyed but is transformed from one form to another. Second law of thermodynamics states that as energy is transformed it degrades or diminishes. Biogeochemical Cycles Substances that organisms need to survive are called nutrients such as water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur.Nutrients move through the ecosystem in cycles called biogeochemical cycles where bio refers to the living organism, geo refers to the inorganic molecules such as those found in rocks, air, and water, and chemical refers to the interactions of the elements between them. Water cycle Evaporation-the heat of the sun, or solar energy makes water vapor, which is water in gaseous form, continually rising from water bodies and from the land. Condensation-it brings water into the atmosphere where the water molecules clump together. Precipitation-the clumps get too big and too heavy, they fall back down to the earth.In the form of rain, snow, hail or sleet. Water cycle is the movements of several chemical substances through the ecosystem. Carbon cycle-During photosynthesis plants use up carbon dioxide, combining it with water to form sugars particularly glucose. Consumption of these sugars breaks them down re leasing CO2. Nitrogen Cycle-Nitrogen is an important component of proteins, the building block of all living matter. Fixation- the process of converting nitrogen from the gaseous state, N2 to the usable ammonia, NH3, and nitrate NO3.Mineralization or ammonification-involve the breakdown of dead organisms and their proteins and nucleic acids are further broken down into amino acids. Nitrification-where the bacteria such as the nitosomonas use ammonia to produce their energy needs by converting it. Denitrification- is the process by which nitrogen is returned to the atmosphere. Phosphorus cycle-the sedimentary rocks which contain phosphorus in the form of the mineral apatite comprise a pool phosphorus. Phosphorus is released when these rocks weather naturally, which takes along time, or when human mines these rocks to release phosphorus which is used to fertilizers soap.Sulfur cycle- a basically sedimentary nutrients cycles through air, soil and water. The sulfur cycle involves the th ree spheres as it cycle through the soil, waterway, and atmosphere. It originates from the crust and mantle of the earth and is spewed out during volcanic eruptions. It is found in the volcanic rocks and many minerals. Limiting Factors and the Law of Tolerance Law of the Minimum- states that when there is not enough of a certain nutrient in the environment, the growth of organism that needs that nutrient will be severely limited.Studies also show that too much of any nutrient will likewise limit growth, giving rise to the Law of limiting Factors. Sunlight and Temperature are two important physical factors that limit the distribution and abundance of organism. Species Interactions The population of two species may positively or negatively affect the existence of one another in the community. Mutualism- refers to the interaction between two species where both are benefited. Competition- is an example of a positive negative interaction when two species of the same species strive to obt ain the same limited resource.Predation- is an example of a positive negative interaction wherein the predator eats the prey. Parasitism- is another type of positive negative interaction wherein the hosts provide nourishment to the parasite. Commensalism- is a form of positive zero interaction wherein in the commensal also referred to as hitchhiker attaches itself to the host while the host is neither help nor harmed by the interaction. Amensalism- is an example of a negative zero interaction wherein one organism is inhibited while the other is not affected.

Week paper

Also, studies suggest that sound and thorough logic is required when applying innovation to an ineffective business practices. These goals can be better achieved by taking advantage of the efficient communication abilities of logical spatial intelligence. Thus, multiple intelligence assessment provides unique insight to practical communication and leadership practices. Introduction After completing the multiple intelligence assessment from the website literacy. Norms. Com, my top three learning styles were logic or math, nature, and spatial intelligence.Math or logic was my highest score, and I believe hat of my three best scores, math or logic is the most useful skill to communication and leadership. According to the website, the math or logic intelligence suggests that I focus on relationships between things and how things work. Additionally, critical thinking is a strength of math or logic intelligence. Some noted activities for math and logic thinkers that may be useful in leader ship roles include organizing complex materials, and looking at things critically. An example of such logical critical thinking would be looking at an advertisement in terms of its functional parts.A logical way of joking at an advertisement may ask, â€Å"what are the parts of the advertisement and how do the parts work together to make the advertisement effective? † Discussion Spatial learners, according to literacy. Works. Com, excel at visual organization. This type of learning seems to have a synergy with logical learning. I feel that spatial thinking is a visual manifestation Of logical thinking. The website further explains some useful spatial skills as working with charts and graphs, color coding, and other forms of visual representation.This skill set jumps out to me as excellent tools for communication. Being able to logically process ideas and then display them in clear and organized visual displays is an excellent way to communicate ideas. The recent popularity of power point presentations which use computers to generate organized and aesthetically pleasing spatial displays in order to communicate ideas show the immense power of spatial communication and leadership. In fact, throughout my previous education I have been very successful producing effective communication with spatial displays.Whether using physical props for public speaking class or presenting power point displays of my clinical research, refer use of spatial thinking. Accounting for one's own intelligence style as well as the intelligence style of subordinates is a useful strategy for effective leadership. Being a logical thinker has the advantage of being able to see how these various different learning styles fit together. When building teams, intelligence styles may be considered in two ways. In some situations it may be effective to build teams from similar types of people who understand each other and relate well together (Watson, 1993).In other times it may be beneficial to build a diverse team made Of many different intelligence types ho contribute a variety of different strengths and outlooks to a project. Either way, it is useful to know what are the strengths and weakness of the team members in order to devise a strategic grouping of working teams. Indeed, the research of Hopkins and Hopkins assert that a diverse workups provide such benefits as â€Å"increased profitability, learning, creativity, flexibility, organizational and individual growth, and the ability of a company to adjust rapidly and successfully to market changes†. Limitation means doing things in new and different ways which may be better than the old way of doing the same thing. When people with different learning types work together innovation can occur as each team member can communicate from a unique perspective. Rather than continuously repeating inefficient processes that seem natural to a particular intelligence type, a different intelligence type may be able to po int out improvements to the process that had been hidden to the other group members from their own intelligence perspectives. Roach and Bed near present a very complex research article analyzing the logic of innovation in business.At the conclusion of their complex logical reasoning they deduced some key summarizations about the SE of logic in management. For one they suggest that when applying change to a business, managers should not only look for simple cause and effect relationships. Instead they should look for deeper logical relationships. In their paper they cite a case of the Jacksonville Sausage business in which a simple linear cause and effect scenario seemed to suggest from the worker's point of view that managerial micro-management was leading to workers' errors.While the same situation from the linear cause and effect view Of the managers looked as if workers' errors was the cause of necessitated micromanagement. However, the authors suggest that simple linear logic wa s limiting the vision of the overall situation and disguising the fact that were individual outside factors to blame for both worker error and the micromanagement. The lesson to be learned was that a more powerful logic beyond simple linear cause and effect gave a richer understanding of the business and the required innovations to correct its problems.Such innovation is the advantage of a manager with logical ability. In a study of risk communication Via visual displays, Lipids and Holland discuss the advantages of spatial communication. The first advantage of spatial displays n communication is that they can reveal information that is difficult and cumbersome to communicate in other ways. For example line graphs excel and revealing trends while pie charts are unmatched at indicating proportions. Second, spatial displays quickly and easily communicate numerical information.And third, spatial displays are attention grabbers. Each of these advantages can be utilized by managers who m ake effective practice of spatial communication. Conclusion Each person is different in his or her abilities and intelligence types, but each uniqueness has something to contribute to effective leadership. Specifically, the intelligence attributes of logic and spatial reasoning are particularly effective at developing leadership communication skills.

Sustainability of Toyota Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Sustainability of Toyota - Assignment Example In the year2006, World Conservation Union has introduced three verticals of sustainability including environmental, social and economic. The three verticals represent three pillars or three embedded circles which are overlapping to each other. The following are the two models which include several elements in social, economic and environmental scenarios. These models are static models which give limited information; however, these are pretty powerful to a wide range of audience (Tododrov & Marinova, 2009). Another similar model has been developed by IUCN. Back in the year 2000, Hart developed a sustainability framework encompassing the evaluating indicators. According to him, the sustainability indicating elements would be those signs which reflect the company’s responsibilities towards the development of social, economic and environmental aspects leading to the company’s sustainable growth and profitability. Another set of driving forces can relate to the emerging technologies which can provide the strong and adverse effect on the existence of energy as well as material intensive industry sectors. Economic sustainability is carrying out sustainability development in a financially feasible way. Toyota is a leading automotive company with its operation spread across the globe. Toyota has its own fundamental policy to establish its sustainability in the business. The emphasis has been on the incorporate accurate and detailed data and information to evaluate the different aspects to achieve the sustainable development. In this section, SWOT analysis of Toyota has been discussed to assess the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of this leading automobile firm. The company has established an integrated quality information system for the customer complaint management through the information gathering from the distributors, dealers and more other sources.  

Two summary pages of Recruitment and Retention Essay

Two summary pages of Recruitment and Retention - Essay Example In short, the authors identify the main problems in Panda Express HR management as ineffectiveness of recruitment process and lack of employees’ loyalty. On the one hand, the selection process of new employees reveals its weakness, since the company possesses low educational requirements for their candidates. In this context, the status of the company is low for job seekers. For instance, the necessity to work on the weekends does not attract them to enter hiring process. Although, the main task for the company’s recruitment is to find a person who will share its corporate culture and reveal loyalty. In this situation, the authors reveal the necessity to provide the full amount of information for each candidate who wants to become General Manager in Panda Express. On another hand, the authors raise retention issue in order to discuss the company’s capability to maintain staff’s loyalty. In fact, the core reason of numerous symptoms of employee’s discontent is the maintenance of inadequate information on the working conditions. Currently, newcomers frequently suffer from the imbalance between work and life on their jobs and choose the latter one by leaving Panda Express. In this case, the basic assumption for authors’ recommendations is the need to reevaluate corporate duties and responsibilities. For this purpose, the role of General Manager is the key one for the company. Thus, the recommendations are divided into three main groups: introducing this position with 2 year degree, changing salary, and reliance on managerial potential. Firstly, the authors assume that lowering the threshold for passing to General Manager from 4 year to 2 year degree will increase the motivation of college newcomers to develop within the company. In this context, replacement of high salary offer to high bonus system is crucial, since it encourages striving and taking care of each achievement on this

Private International Trade Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Private International Trade Law - Essay Example However, it has no relevance regarding the validity of contract or its provision. The UNIDROIT (the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) principles also provide a gap-filling role for international Commercial Contracts to support CISG1. Let us examine the case of Wholefoods Limited Company of UK, which is importing quality sea foods and the Russian Company Valadistok who supplies sea foods. It is interesting to note that the court system in UK does not allow application of law to the non-state law. However, under certain clauses, if it is part and parcel of an agreement between the two companies who are authorized to choose arbitration laws subject their dispute to general principles of law alike. At present, a trend is going on to recognize that the legal parameters of legal order that should not be limited to national law. Therefore, the regulations stemming from the reputable arbitration institutions in the globe believe in that legal relation should be governed by the most convenient â€Å"rules of law, take the example of lex mercatoria and the new PECL. It would be in the fitness of things if Lex Mercatoria will ensure that the legal orders of each country could be the principles since Lex is subservient to state concessions. It does exist as an entity to the international trade activity. Conflict of rules often bore results. Legal experts are of the view that national laws were primarily enacted to govern domestic transactions. Therefore, it fails to touch upon the requirements of international transactions. This had ended the impairment of world trade2. In the said case, the only way out to settle the issues between the importer and the exporter is nothing, but an arbitration process since UK is not the contracting party of the CISG whereas the lawyers of the Russian Company are not familiar with the Lex Mercatoria. As far as the commercial arbitration is concerned, it should not be localized

Design for Environment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Design for Environment - Coursework Example A power screw attached to the motor driver rod is expected to have sufficient strength and resistance to force. These properties ensure no undesired movement from the user and bone regeneration forces occurs. The motor will have to be small enough to remain inside the device. Addition of load bearings to the device ensures that the user can exert full weight on the device without failure. These drivers entail both internal as well as external factors. This device, being expected to be implantedin patients body, need to meet all the compatibility requirements. Some of the expected goals of this design include: The specification of the required rates of bone lengthening will be required. The device will then be adjusted accordingly. The self-locking provision for the device ensures that rods do not return. The power screw provides the lengthening force. The device will be designed with steel roads with smooth surfaces as well as edges. This will, therefore, eliminate any physical injury on flesh as well as bone contact walls. The device’ moving parts will be internally fitted to avoid injury. Titanium-steel alloy, being un-reactive, means that no toxic substances resulting from reactions will be released. These reactions usually occur as electrochemical dissolution. Release of any toxic substance could cause pain (Edwards, 1996). As earlier stated, the device is to have smooth surface and edges to avoid injury. Since the device is to beembedded in thebody, the points of connection of the two rods should be made airtight. This will ensure that the device’s inner environment is separated from the body fluids avoiding any possible contamination.Corrosion of implanted metals in human bodies has been a major challenge. The device being made of titanium-steel alloy avoids any possibility of corrosions. Suitable fixing attachments will also be designed. They will be

Research and development of media projects. topic about feminism Essay

Research and development of media projects. topic about feminism - Essay Example They were searching for ace ladies without against men with a stance on post-feminism (Litosseliti. 2014, p. 11). The use of term post-feminism appeared in 1980s describing the backlash against second-wave feminism and now it has become a label for a wide range of theories that are critically examining the previous feminist discourses and challenges of second-wave feminism. The media has played a vital role in post feminism as according to Patricia Bradley the movement of feminism was highly packed with the mass media. Feminism believe that the media had presented the women in a manner that was only limited to the cleaner, housekeeper, domestic servant and the sex object to serve the men’s sexual needs. However the medias role also promoted the positive role so that the female could be able to show her abilities in other sectors of life. In the 1960s the female was limited to playing only one role as getting married in her early age of 20 and started her family life being turned into a woman maintaining & keeping house up, taking care the kids of her man and providing the services to her man. Her devotion was limited to her home and she could not be able to expect a lot from her life. Females were legally subjected to her husband via â€Å"head of the family† and there was no right a woman had in terms of property or other legal rights from her husband’s property. The 38% women were limited to the jobs of teaching, nursing or secretary only. In 1960 the percentage of female doctors were 6%, lawyers 3% and the engineers were less than 1%. (Litosseliti. 2014, p. 8). Post-feminism is known as a response against the contradictions that were seen and unlucky deficiencies of the second-wave feminism. It however, speaks to the accomplishment of feminism in the achievements of its objective. The term was utilized generally to represent a contrast with predominating

Writting paper- Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writting paper- - Essay Example The Signs and symptoms of the early stages of cervical cancer may be completely asymptomatic. Vaginal bleeding, contact bleeding or a vaginal mass may indicate the presence of malignancy. Also, moderate pain during sexual intercourse and vaginal discharge are symptoms of cervical cancer. In advanced disease, metastases may be present in the abdomen, lungs or elsewhere. Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include: loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, and single swollen leg, heavy bleeding from the vagina, leaking of urine from the vagina and bone fractures (Kumar et al. 2007). Numerous studies of the epidemiology of cervical cancer have shown strong associations with religious, marital and sexual patterns. Although it is well established that women with multiple partners and early ages at first intercourse are at high risk, less is known about how these factors interact or how risk is affected by specific sexual characteristics. Recent studies indicate that number of steady partners and frequent intercourse at early ages may further enhance risk, supporting hypotheses regarding a vulnerable period of the cervix and a need for repeated exposure to an infectious agent. It is now widely accepted that HPV is the major infectious etiological agent, but whether other infectious agents play supportive or interactive roles is unclear. Other speculative risk factors for cervical cancer include cigarette smoking, oral contraceptive usage and certain nutritional deficiencies, but again it is not clear whether these factors operate independently from HPV. Although cervical cancer incidence trends correlate with the population prevalence of various venereally transmitted agents, it is not certain how disease rates are affected by other potential risk factors which have changed during recent time (e.g., exposure to HPV, sexual behavior, cigarette smoking). In addition, a number of recent

Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security Essay

Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security - Essay Example Social Media includes internet sites which facilitate the communication between individuals with the help of pictures, videos and writings. This essay will focus on the role of Social Media Marketing in the business profit generation. The researcher would consider the contribution of Social Media in marketing activities of Pepsi. In the later stage, the paper would consider several other empirical case studies and enumerate the importance of Social Media Marketing in future. The learnt from the essay would help to understand the importance of internet commercial segments (Bosari, 2012). Growing Popularity of Social Media Marketing CompuServe was the first Social Media networking site, established in United States in the 19th century. With the rise in literacy levels and the progress in technology, the proportion of internet users has increased significantly. Currently, famous social networking sites like, Youtube, are viewed by approximately 4 billion viewers per day. About 1.11 bill ion individuals across the world are regular users of Facebook and the viewership ratings for Twitter are about 500 million (Bosari, 2012). In the contemporary world, such sites are used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. The corporate business firms often use Social Media for marketing their products to the consumers. In the theory of Customer Behavior Management, Customer Relationship Management plays a pivotal role. There are various reasons for which Social Media Marketing has become so popular in the modern days. There are: Social Media helps the companies to easily reach a wider base of customers across different marketplaces. The marketing activities through Social Media are relatively less costly that the other forms of traditional marketing methods. Online shopping has become a popular shopping destination in the modern world. The growing popularity of the digital marketplaces has forced the companies to set marketing strategies through internet media. Most of the consumers today are preoccupied with their daily activities. The proportion of television or radio viewers is much lesser than the proportion of the internet users. Thus, marketing consumer goods and services in the social networking sites helps the companies to reach out to a wider customer base, within the least possible time. Special Media marketing activities of the companies help to reduce their cost of marketing. The accumulated finances which are saved can be used by the companies for the purpose of growth and development. Social Media marketing is a more comprehensive, flexible and trendy form of marketing as opposed to the traditional methods (Bosari, 2012). Figure 1: Growing Popularity of Social Media Marketing (Source: Acra, 2012) The above bar graph shows that among all the different uses of internet media, Social Media is the most popular of them. Figure 2: Steps of Purchase (Source: Acra, 2012) The above graph shows the marketing stages. Figure 3: Social Fieldwork Cycle (Source: Acra, 2012) The above graph shows that social media marketing gives the maximum importance to ‘consumerism’. Advantages and Disadvantages There are various types of advantages and disadvantages of Social Media marketing. Advantages Social Media marketing activities help to enhance the business-to-customer relationships. It helps to engage the customers in

The Impacts of Internet on Information Literacy and Library Skills Annotated Bibliography

The Impacts of Internet on Information Literacy and Library Skills - Annotated Bibliography Example The researchers investigated how Web-based technology had impacts on the engagement of students. The researchers compared the outcomes of self-reported learning in face to face and the environments of the online learning. The authors also explain that online learning enables the students to meet their lecturers online acquiring for more information concerning their courses. Many students are able to pursue their courses even when they are away from the institution. The students do not really have to attend face to face lectures. This was seen in high enrollment in online courses. I found the source useful because it informed me that one can pursue courses online and receive useful information concerning the course. Chua, A. Y., & Goh, D. H. (2010). A study of Web 2.0 applications in library websites. Library & Information Science Research, 32(3), 203-211. Web sources represent a suitable application that holds immense potential in enriching the communication; enabling collaboration and fostering innovation through the use of information research tools from web such Wikipedia. But until now little work has been done to research web applications in library websites to seek for information. The extent of web application prevalent in the library affects the information acquisition because the seeking of information becomes reliable. Web applications such as Wikipedia have been used in the library in various ways which include but not limited to research and searching of particular information.

Operatiom Process of Kfc Essay Example for Free

Operatiom Process of Kfc Essay Throughout the industry of fast-food, there were so many organisations which gained power and title for them, such as McDonald, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Pizza Domino, etc. In the list of these successful fast-food organisations, KFC is also one of the best organisation which gained their title and power for more than 80 years. KFC is a chain of fast food restaurants and first established known as Yum! Brands. However, the organisation name has been change since 1952. Until now, KFC – Kentucky Fried Chicken is the third largest fast-food organisation in the world. KFC has more than 14,000 outlets and in more than 80 countries around the world, serving about 12 million customers each day. (KFC Franchise Opportunity, 2007) PART 1 II – BUILDING BLOCKS: First of all, we need to analyze the general process of KFC. For the customer’s order, customer can have many choices to order food and meal from KFC. They can choose to dine in KFC restaurant which the process was order food, pay for food, eating food and leave. Or customer may order for delivering with fast or normal service, for a family’s meal or a party. More convenient, if customer is driving car, they can choose whether to park the car then dine in the restaurant or buying food by the fast service of KFC. * KFC general restaurant layout: KFC’s restaurant layout also has helped the organisation. In order to have a good layout, KFC’s purpose was planning and arrangement of all machines, utilities, staff room, kitchen, customer service areas, material storage areas, aisles, restrooms, internal walls, offices, and children area, which aim for the good flow of materials and customer. Moreover, also need to consider about the time, for example, demand for food of customer may high during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Parents may choose the KFC restaurant for running a birthday parties for their children on Saturday or Sunday and some other different event. By understanding the important of time and location, management of KFC can determine what size or how big their outlets should be in order to appropriate on each different circumstance and environment condition. * Value Added: The capacity of KFC restaurant which means how big the restaurant should be and where it should be locate is also important and contribute greatly to their operating management. If their outlets locate in a good place and got many good conditions for them such as skill labor, good supplier, high business climate or populated areas, their operating process will get started easier and more effectively. 4/ WORKFORCE: KFC has a slogan for their employees were that â€Å"makes more friends, earn some cash†.

Public Policies Used To Solve Market Failure Economics Essay

Public Policies Used To Solve Market Failure Economics Essay Market is defined as a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service. There are many different types of markets such as stock market, currency market and more. Market is efficient when the market is perfectly competitive. If a market is not perfectly competitive, the market failure will occur. Market failure also occurs when the allocation of resources in a free market is inefficient. Market failure occurs when the market is not in perfectly competitive. There are many reasons to cause market failure. The main causes of market failure are: a) Negative Externalities Externalities are defined as the uncompensated impact of one persons actions on the well-being of a bystander. Negative externality such as the effect of environmental pollution can cause the marginal social cost(MSC) of production to exceed the marginal private cost(MPC) according to the diagram below: In the process of production, the firms will cause the pollution of the environment. The pollution is bad for public health so that the marginal social cost(MSC) is exceed the marginal private cost(MPC). The optimum of production is at Qs, MSB is equal to MSB. The firms will produce goods at Qp, where MPB is equal to MPC. The excess of production not only does not promote the public welfare but also causes more pollutions to the environment. As a result, the market will go inefficient. b) Positive Externalities The positive externalities such as the provision of education and healthcare can cause the marginal social benefit(MSB) of consumption to exceed the marginal private benefit(MPB) according to the diagram below: In a free market, the consumption will be at Qp where the private benefit equals to the private cost. However, this is socially inefficient because the social benefit is exceed to the social cost. Therefore, that is under-consumption(Qs-Qp) of the positive externality. The social efficiency will occur at Qs where the social cost equals social benefit. c)Merit and Demerit goods Merit good is a good that people do not realise its true benefit such as the people underestimate the benefit of education. The examples of merit goods are education and healthcare. These goods usually have positive externalities. Therefore, there will be a under-consumption of merit goods in a free market. Demerit good is a good that people do not realise the costs of doing something such as smoking and drugs. These goods usually have negative externalities. Therefore, there will be over-consumption of demerit goods in a free market. d)Public goods The private sectors in free markets cannot profitable supply to consumers public goods that are needed to meet peoples demand. So that the public goods are generally provided by government. e)Monopoly Power Market that controlled by monopoly can cause under-production and higher prices than would exist under condition of competition. f)Factor immobility Factor immobility will cause unemployment hence productive inefficiency. When market fails, the market will fall into position of inefficiency. It may cause unfair distribution of income and property to the public. Many firms increase the quantity of goods supplied in order to earn more profit. It may cause the pollution in the environment as the firms are not willing to protect the environment whenever they produce goods. Besides that, unemployment will occur because of the exclusion of labor by the machines when the firms are able to improve the productivity. There will be also an undersupply of public goods. The private sectors are not willing to produce public goods as the consumers do not need to pay for these goods so that they will not earn profit from providing the public goods. To address these public issues, the government will execute some policies to solve the market failure such as imposing taxes on negative externalities. In the diagram above, the marginal social cost(MSC) of production will exceed to the marginal private cost(MPC). The government imposed the taxes to the sellers and the imposition of taxes will increase the production cost of the sellers. Then, the supply curve(PMC) will shift to the left. The quantity of production will decrease from Qp to Qs where the optimum output is and the social welfare will be maximized. New Mexico Legislature is supposed to increase the state cigarette tax from 75 cents to $1.66 per pack this year. The purpose of imposing the tax is to reduce the tobacca use and save lives. The increasing of tax will discourage people from smoking. Increasing the cigarette tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking, especially among kids. From the diagram above, the production of tobacca of marginal social cost(MSC) is exceed to the marginal private cost(MPC) and the output of tobacca of the sellers is at Qp. New Mexico Legislature imposed the cigarette tax to the output of tobacca of sellers. So that, the supply curve(S=PMC) of tobacca will shift to right. The output of tobacca will decrease from Qp to Qs as the tobacca tax will increase the cost of production of tobacca. As a result, the supply curve of tobacca will move to left and equals to marginal social cost(MSC). At this moment, the optimum output of tobacca is at Qs. The imposition of cigarette tax will reduce the output of tobacca and discourage people from smoking. Taxes on negative externalities will raise the revenue for the government and reduce the pollution of environment. The second policy that can overcome the market failure is to provide subsidy on positive externalities. The government provides subsidy to the firms to pay part of cost for them to encourage more production. From the diagram above, the production of marginal social benefit(MSB) is exceed to the marginal private benefit(MPB). The government provided subsidy(P2-P1) to the firm to decrease their cost of production. As a result, the firm will increase the output from Qp to Qs. Then, the social welfare will be maximized. For example, Malaysia government plans to provide a subsidy of RM30bil to enhance primary and secondary school education nationwide which is one of the plans of Budget 2010. From the diagram above, when our government provides a subsidy of RM30bil on education, the operating cost of school will decrease. Then, the school will have enough capital to build more facilities and provide more educational plans from Qp to Qs for the students. The students will get more benefit from studying. At this moment, the social welfare will keep increasing till the marginal social benefit(MSB) equals to marginal social cost(MSC). The third policy is to change the property right. This will happen when the government gives the property rights to certain people such as the fishermen could be given the property rights to a river. When negative externalities occurred, the owners of property could sue a company who caused damage or pollution such as the fishermen can sue a chemical factory which polluted the river. It may charge some social costs to the chemical factory. The government pursued this policy to reduce the pollution of environment so that the negative externalities could be eliminated. In addition, the government will also impose the laws and regulation to prohibit the unhealthy behaviour of people such as legalizing the age for smoking and banning on drunk driving. The laws and regulations must be simple and easy to understand to the public. Due to a reducing in negative externalities, the marginal social cost will decrease. So that, imposing the laws and regulations is also a policy to overcome the market failure. For example, in New Zealand, it is illegal to sell tobaccos and cigarettes to person aged uner 18. It is also illegal for a person over 18 to give a person under 18 cigarettes or tobaccos in a public place. Another example is sales of tobacco to person aged under 18 are illegal in all Australian states. The purpose of legalizing the smoking by both governments is to reduce the consumption of tobaccos. It may help to decrease the negative externalities for improving efficiency of the market. Finally, the other policy is to give the pollution permit. The government can give a pollution permit to a firm to limit his output. The more the firm produce, the more polluted the environment is. Therefore, the marginal social cost will keep increasing and market failure will occur. The government will give the pollution permit to the firm such as limiting the firm to produce only 100 units carbon dioxide per year. As a result, there is an incentive to pollute less and the negative externalities will be eliminated. Conclusion The public policies implemented by the government can successfully solve the market failure. The main causes of market failure is the externality. It can divide into negative externality and positive externality. Government will impose the tax to the firms to decrease their output as every unit of good they produce will cause the pollution of environment. The implimentation of this public policy can reduce the pollution of environment but also to eliminate the negative externalities for efficient market. Secondly, the government will also provide subsidy to the firms. With this policy, the production cost of the firms will decrease and their output will increase. The market will be efficient as the subsidy on positive externalities forces the marginal social cost equals to the marginal social benefit. Thirdly, the government will implement the policy of changing the property rights. By giving the property rights, the owner of the property can sue a company which caused pollution to their property such as the lands. It may help to reduce the pollution of the environment and eliminate the negative externalities. So that, the market failure can be overcome. The government will also impose the laws and regulations to prohibit people from the unhealthy behaviour such as smoking and taking drug. The implementation of this policy can effectively increase the social benefit. So that, the market failure will turn into an efficient market. Lastly, the government will also give the pollution permit to the firm. This policy can limit the output of carbon dioxide of the firm. It can reduce the negative externality of air pollution. As a result, the market will be efficient by reducing the negative externalities. For archieving an efficient market, the government will implement the public policies when market failure occurred although the government needs to spend a high cost on them.

Comparative Criminal Justice: United states and China

Comparative Criminal Justice: United states and China Compare and contrast two different types of criminal justice systems. The two criminal justice systems that shall be discussed in this paper are those of the United States and that of the Peoples Republic of China. When comparing and contrasting these two systems one should start with the premises that both are instituted in their reciprocal countries in the attempt to curb the proliferation of crime, offenders and deter potential offenders. Both the U.S. and Chinas criminal justice systems make use of a court system, police enforcement organizations and detention and correctional facilities on a regional biases. However this is as much as similarities go as the two systems are radically different since they are based on ideologically opposing government structures. The U.S government is based on a free market capitalist economy supported by a representative democracy. On the other hand that of China is founded on a social communist ideology. As for demographic figures, the U.S. has roughly 355 million citizens while China has over one billion, which makes up one fourth of the world population. Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), in his book Criminal Justice in China, states that Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.) was established as a socialist country in 1949. From that point onwards efforts have been made to enact basic laws concerning criminal justice administration and enforced nationwide. The U.S. government is hierarchally based on a unified organization where power is shared between the federal and state governments. Therefore this means that the political system secures autonomy of each state in the U.S. but at the same time adopting a centralized government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The U.S. justice system is derived from the British common law tradition. Common law is the law that is agreed upon by the common people and exists in two forms, Lex Scripta (written law) and Lex non Scripta (unwritten law). On the other hand MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), says that the Chinese justice system is quite difficult to put under one unitary system. This is due to the fact that the Chinese criminal justice system was repeatedly reorganized in the wake of political changes and internal party disputes. MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) also notes that the Chinese justice system under socialism is not an independent administrative system but was integrated into a network of social control and political mobilization. The Chinese Criminal Law is based on the ideological precepts of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong. Its tasks are to use punishments to resist against all revolutionary or criminal acts in order to safeguard the system of the peoples democratic dictatorship. The police forces of the United States are the successors of Militias originally instituted in the early colonies to protect the population and control the Native Americans. The different forming States developed their own security forces and these operated autonomously. Major cities instituted their own police forces, which functioned under the control of a city government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). Currently the U.S. police forces are structured on local/city/county and federal/state levels, thus having a federal system. All local policing duties are shared between local municipalities and counties. Cities, towns and villages have the capability to institute their own police forces, while others, usually rural localities, rely on a county Sheriffs department for the task of enforcement and policing. Usually the size of police forces in the U.S. is directly proportional to the population of the area being controlled. The 50 States forming the U.S. also have their own police forces that are ascribed to different regions and often patrolling undeveloped rural areas. The job of such agencies include investigating crimes against the state such as alcohol licensing violations or welfare fraud, fish and game violations, and highway traffic infractions (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to a statistic of the U.S. Department of Justice (2008), on average the ratio of police to population in the U.S. is about 2.3 officers per thousand residents, however larger cities have higher ratios. That force ratio has remained steady for nearly three decades at around 2.21-2.34 police officers per 1000 civilian population. Next up on the U.S. hierarchal police system is the Federal Governments police force that subdivided into various other agencies. There is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is independent of any administration. The F.B.I. intervenes when federal laws are infringed, an interstate crime is committed, or if national security is threatened. However the last case scenario has been taken over by the Department of Homeland Security established after the attacks of September 11th 2001. The U.S. has about 20 federal law enforcement agencies, which also include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Marshals Service. Further more there exist the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm Agency and the U.S. Customs officials that deal with border violations while the Immigration and Naturalization Services deal with illegal immigrants. However this specialization of the diffe rent policing agencies has its drawbacks. Problems can arise due to jurisdictional issues, when what one should really take care of is the upholding and maintenance of the law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The P.R.C. employs around 2 million police officers, of which most work is small offices that serve communities of roughly 10,000 citizens. The main policing agency in the P.R.C. is the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), which includes about 700,000 officers. This agency was instituted in 1983 and was formed by incorporating disbanded units of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on domestic defence duty and armed frontier defence and fire fighting. The rise of the PAP shows how Chinese leadership in many ways is more concerned about domestic security than foreign threats (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). The PAPs main task is to deal with domestic disturbances, by acting as riot police, guarding government compounds and also foreign embassies. It usually handles border defence but is called in sometimes to back up local police. Recently it has been employed to suppress anti-government protest. The Public Security Service (PSB) is both a local police and the Chinese equivalent of the CIA in the U.S. The P. R.C. justice system also employs paramilitary armed police and more than 1 million security guards. Quasi-police force known as cheng guan also operates in China. These carry out tasks deemed unpopular by the citizens, such as collecting fines and tax money, often these are just thugs hired by the official police. In December 2008, the Chinese government announced the creation of a new special unit aimed at cracking down on gun-related crimes and organized crime such as organized prostitution, gambling, drug production and trafficking. The public security budget was raised by nearly a third in 2009 to $4.2 billion in part to address concerns about unrest in Tibet and western China and trouble brought about by unemployed workers and other problems associated with the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 In the past, police agencies in the US have been accused of corruption and the Good-Old Boy network of hiring practices. Recently, charges of racism, racial profiling, and use of excessive force have been made by concerned citizens and organizations. Family members of crime victims often become infuriated with police for their incompetence and unwillingness to make an effort to solve crimes that affect them. Chinese police have a reputation for being corrupt and connected to smuggling. They are regarded with suspicion by ordinary Chinese, particularly in rural areas. Police have traditionally been more involved in maintaining government control than solving crimes. As for the US court system, this is a dual judiciary system, of which the two constituent parts (federal and state) function independent of each other. The federal judiciary system includes district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the United Stated Supreme Court. The state system includes trial courts at the local and state levels, intermediate courts of appeal, and state Supreme Court (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The primary agents working along each other are the judge, prosecutor, and defence attorneys in the U.S. system. As already stated the U.S. follows the principles of Common law, that were inherited from English jurisprudence. This tradition holds that a decision taken in court is always made on the basis of the Rule of Precedent. This means that each case previously resolved serves as reference and guide for new cases. New aspects of law may be determined or discovered and thus a precedent arises. The U.S. justice system allows for presumption of innocence until proven guilty, plea-bargaining, trial by jury, and the right to a speedy trial (Gaines and Miller, 2006). Such aspects make the justice system in the U.S. more flexible and makes it easier to meet citizens the needs. The penal system of the U.S., like the judicial system, branches into federal, state and local levels. The prison system is supported by governmental funds, in the form of tax revenue from federal (corporate income), state (sales) and local (taxes) revenues. Is also receives funding through Inter-governmental transfer, in the form of federal grants and state grants. Sentences in the US justice system tend to be significantly longer than in China and many states have adopted the three strikes law which forces judges to sentence a defendant to life imprisonment for their third felony offense. The penal system in the US is facing major problems due to overcrowding, gang and drug activity within the prisons, the imprisonment of mentally ill individuals, increase of sex offenders, and extremely violent offenders. Privatization of the prison systems is being adopted in many regions of the country as prisons are becoming more and more overcrowded. Juvenile offenses and crimes in the US vary in each state and all are dependent on the age of the defendant. For example, in New York State, a juvenile status is considered if the individual is more than 7 but less than 16 year old, unless it is murder then the individual can be 13 or if charged with rape then the defendant can be as young as 14. Contrary to the French system, the tendency in New York and possibly in the rest of the US is to treat the offender as an adult and increase the levels of punishment including incarceration. Gaines, Larry K. and Roger Le Roy Miller, Criminal Justice in Action (2006). http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=33 http://www.lectlaw.com/files/int10.htm Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn, Criminal Justice in China: A History, Harvard University Press (2009)

Blood, Sweat, Tears and Oil: The mistreatment of the Ogoni People by R

Blood, Sweat, Tears and Oil: The mistreatment of the Ogoni People by Royal Dutch Shell and the Nigerian Government Introduction Nigeria, located in West Africa, is a densely populated nation of over 100 million people. Since the nation’s independence from Britain in 1960, the country has been in the hands of various leaders ranging from religious to staunchly militant. Nigeria is the sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world and it has one of the largest deposits of natural gas (Wiwa, 2001). Oil accounts for ninety five percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earning and one-fourth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product comes from oil. A large percentage of this oil is located in the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta, located in eastern Nigeria, is the third largest wetland in the world covering 70,000 square kilometers and accounts for 7.5% of Nigeria’s land mass (www.nddconline.org). About twenty million of Nigeria’s one hundred million people reside in the Niger Delta and forty different ethnic groups live in the region. Oil development by large industries, such as Shell, and lack of support from the Nigerian government has left many people in the Niger Delta at a severe disadvantage. Most notably the Ogoni people, who are the minority in the region, have suffered from devastating exploitation. Oil was discovered in the Ogoni region in 1958 and after an estimated 900 million barrels with an estimated value of $30 billion were extracted in the area, there is very little to show for it in the Ogoni community. Economic loss, environmental loss, exploitation and murder are all direct consequences of the occupation of major oil companies, namely Shell, in the Ogoni region. This paper aims to bring to ... ...d. Austria: OPEC Fund, 2003. Amanyie, Vincent. The Agony of the Ogoni in the Niger Delta: A Case Study. Nigeria: Horizon Concepts, 2001. Azaiki, Steve. Inequities in Nigerian Politics: The Niger Delta, Resource Control, Underdevelopment and Youth Restiveness. Nigeria: Treasure Books, 2003. Civil Liberties Organization. Ogoni: Trials and Travails. Lagos, Nigeria: Civil Liberties Organization, 1996. Douglas, Oronto and Ike Okonta. Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 2001. Niger Delta Development Commission. www.nddconline.org Wiwa, Diana. â€Å"The Role of Women in the Struggle for Environmental Justice in Ogoni.† Delta, No.3 , October 1997: 11 Wiwa, Ken. In the Shadow of a Saint: A son’s journey to understand his father’s legacy. Canada: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.

absolut Failure Essay -- essays research papers fc

The 1920’s was a time of major social change in the United States. The social changes during this period are reflected in the laws and regulations that were implemented. One of the most prominent examples of this was prohibition. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, or the Volsted act as it is also know, was implemented to eliminate the use of alcohol in the United States. In doing this, the advocates of prohibition hoped to also eradicate the social problems associated with alcohol. â€Å"It was an attempt to promote Protestant middle-class culture as a means of imposing order on a disorderly world†(Dumenil 226). However, this goal of keeping social order through not consuming alcohol, was not reached during the years of prohibition, or even the years following it. Alcohol use among Americans did decline, but it was not totally eliminated, and some of the social problems were even greater then before prohibition. Therefore prohibition was not successful in its origi nal purpose. To best understand the reasons behind the failure of prohibition, we have to look at the years before, during, and after prohibition. This will give context to the implementation of the 18th Amendment, as well as show the trends of Americans’ alcohol use and the effects of alcohol on American society. The early 1900’s were a time of great prosperity in the United States. America was thriving economically, and big cities were booming. However, some Americans thought that this was not a good thing, because of the social problems that came with the urban culture. The â€Å"Dry’s†, as Prohibitionists were referred to, saw large cities as providing people with readily available alcohol. This in turn led to an increase in crime, poverty and immorality. During the period of 1911-1915 the average per-capita consumption of alcohol of each American was 2.56 gallons (Kyvig 24). The solution that was proposed was a national prohibition of alcohol. The goal of this was to eliminate drinking in America thus reducing all of the problems associated with it. â€Å"The Prohibitionists thought that the sale of liquor was a social crime, that the drinking of liquor was a racial crime, and that the results of liquor were criminal actions†(Sinclair 220). By making alcohol il legal nationally, such as it would be with prohibition, the social problems of America would be fixed. On January 16, 1920 alcohol became i... ...ad, it added to the problems it was intended to solve†(Thornton). We can see that prohibition did reduce the amount of alcohol consumed in the United States, but alcohol use was not altogether eliminated. The social problems that were hoped to be addressed were not solved either. The great experiment that was prohibition did not accomplish its goals of solving the social problems of America and eliminating alcohol consumption. But it will always be remembered for causing Americans to reflect on the effects of alcohol on society. Bibliography 1. Bowen, Ezera. This Fabulous Century. 6 vol. New York: Time Life Books, 1969. 2. Dumenil, Lynn. Modern Temper: American culture and society in the 1920’s. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995. 3. Fisher, Irving. Prohibition at its worst. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1926 4. Kyvig, David E. Repealing National Prohibition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979. 5. Lee, Henry. How Dry We Were: Prohibition revisited. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc, 1963. 6. Sinclair, Andrew. Prohibition: The Era of Excess. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1962. 7. Thornton, Mark. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html

Welch Case Study

This particular case discusses whether General Electric fulfilled its Corporate Social Responsibility under the leadership of Jack Welsh or if it just met basic obligations. It also displays the evolving idea of social responsibility in a corporation by contrasting the corporation’s actions during Welsh’s leadership and after Welsh retired. It is shown that Welsh had a classical economic view of social responsibility. General Electric followed a traditional business model while Welsh was working and a progressive business model after he retired. He used a cutthroat ranking system based off of social Darwinism in order to sort out the â€Å"best† of his employees. Lastly, it displays that norms and principles are always changing according to corporate social responsibility and that corporations should act in response to those changes.1. I do not believe that GE in the Welch era fulfilled their duty of corporate social responsibility. They did not avoid harming the environment because they dumped toxins into the Hudson River. During the Welch era, GE did not make any efforts to enhance any societal assets; they only supplied the minimum of what they needed to create wealth for the company. They did not try to protect their employees or go beyond what is necessary. Many pressures, including the vitality curve evaluation system, were purely performance driven.Though job cuts are necessary for the survival for a business, it seemed like they treated their employees as a resource instead of human beings. For example, the GE Pension Fund could have provided retirees and their unions with more benefits but instead Welch wanted to leave the pension plan overfunded to benefit the corporation. He failed to attribute any credit to GE’s former employees for the company’s success.General Electric’s corporate social responsibility could have been done in a much better way. First, they could aim to prevent environmental damage caused b y their company. If they could not prevent environmental damage entirely then they could at least perform actions to decrease any harm previously done. Then they change the evaluation system by â€Å"loosening the reigns† and making the system less callous. This would prevent any  unnecessary pressure from being forced onto employees. This change would improve teamwork and decrease backstabbing.It will also allow for more diversity at the top and would help prevent any once middle range managers from being cut. GE could have evaluated employees and then restructured their hierarchy by placing the more talented managers at the top instead of solely using a â€Å"firing† system. Finally, Welsh should have also kept his personal opinions separate from his business world. Though Welsh could have disliked overweight people, he should not have treated overweight people differently in the workplace.2. Yes, I think that GE under Welsh displays a view of corporate social resp onsibility that is closer to Friedman’s view. Welsh shared Friedman’s view that spending corporate funds on social projects diverts shareholder’s dollars to programs they may not even favor. Welsh consistently gave back to GE’s shareholders but neglected to create any funds for social projects. GE under Welsh’s era only focused solely on the first inner circle of responsibilities.The inner circle includes responsibility for efficient execution of the economic function resulting in products, jobs, and economic growth. GE clearly executed this inner circle of responsibility by being extremely profitable, paying taxes, enriching shareholders, and making many of its directors and managers multimillionaires in GE stock. In GE Welsh did not practice an intermediate circle of responsibility because it did not exercise its economic function with a sensitive awareness of changing values and priorities, especially in relation to environmental damage.During t his time there were many changing values of incorporating diversity in the workplace, protecting the environment and preventing damage, and the change of business ethics. The view of corporate social responsibility was changing to a model more similar to the progressive business model yet Welsh adhered to a strict traditional business model. GE especially ignored the outer circle of social responsibility because it did not try to improve the social environment by any means.3.Overall, Welsh’s GE met less than half of the general principles of corporate social responsibility. GE religiously followed the principle that corporations are economic institutions run for profit. Welsh’s highest  concern was economic and he was not afraid to suffer short run costs to society if they promised long-term benefits.The only aspect they did not meet for this principal is that they did not seek ways to solve social problems at a profit. They simply did not seek to solve any social pr oblems at all. The only principle that was generally highlighted by GE was that managers should try to meet legitimate needs of multiple stakeholders. The corporation always tried to bring in the largest gains for their shareholders.Welsh’s GE failed to follow the principles of multiple bodies of law, act ethically, to correct adverse social impacts they caused, to vary social responsibility according to company characteristics, to comply with a social contract, or to be transparent and accountable. GE encountered a pattern of criminal cases during this time and therefore did not follow multiple bodies of law, act ethically, or be transparent and accountable. Since GE caused the pollution to the Hudson River and Welch refused to fund the dredging, they did not correct adverse social impacts they caused. Welsh neglected to comply with the social contract because he did not treat retirees or employees fairly and acted as if they were a disposable component of the corporation us ed solely to bring in profits.Lastly, GE did not vary its social responsibilities with the company characteristics. GE was a very large corporation and because of that they should have rewarded their retirees and employees generously with benefits. Because they were a very large corporation that can affect the environment, they should have tried to prevent any damage done to the earth.4.The pros of ranking shareholders over employees and other stakeholders would be that there is more money and profits. Because Welsh had a classical economic view of corporate social responsibility, the shareholders were his primary concern. The cons would be that employees and other stakeholders would become discouraged due to the shareholders being put first and ultimately they would not want to be associated with that company. If the employees feel worthless to the company then they could become unmotivated and hurt GE’s profits. Another con would be that they are not fulfilling their underl ying social contract and could lose the public’s  support.I do not think that it is specifically wrong to view employees as costs of production, because technically they are a resource to the company and are contributing human and physical capital. On the other hand, I believe that â€Å"these sources of capital† should be handled with care and that the employees should be seen as human beings as well. Ignoring the fact that employees are human beings could lead to unethical acts and violation of GE’s social contract. Overall, it is okay to view employees as costs of production, but acting unethically because of this belief is wrong. I think that GE should have rebalanced some of its priorities.They should have viewed their shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders with equal importance. Their employees and other stakeholders should not be viewed as less significant in the company because they represent a large portion of it. Even though they do not dire ctly bring in as much money as GE’s shareholders, they deserve to be treated fairly and ultimately help create profits in the long run.5. GE was much more socially responsible in the Immelt aftermath. The Immelt era offered more benefits to society. Immelt benefitted the environment enormously in comparison to Welch by agreeing to a clean up of the Hudson River, by cutting GE’s emissions, and by launching GE’s â€Å"eco-imagination† initiative.Immelt also benefitted his employees and society much more than Welsh. He loosened Welch’s guidelines for the ranking process, putting less unnecessary pressure and stress on employees. He also showed appreciation for diversity in the top management positions by promoting the progress of women in management through research on sexism. He was more responsive to GE’s social and environmental impacts and the company became the second most socially responsible company under his leadership.One advantage tha t Welch had over Immelt was his popularity with the shareholders. Though shareholders viewed Immelt’s leadership negatively at first, in the end they still gained on their investments throughout the course of 9 years. It was not a large amount of growth but it was 82 percent better than GE’s return alone. This showed that GE could be lead differently, without the use of Welch’s harsh tactics, and still continue to profit.

Humor in American Literature Essay

American society is unique, and the first of its kind. When Charles Dickens visited the United States he was astounded to see how informal American society was, as is recorded in his travelogue, American Notes For General Circulation. Besides this, it is often said by non-Americans that Americans have coarse senses of humor, or senses of humor that are low-class. The American sense of humor is said to clash with a polarized British one. The informality of American humor is utterly logical based on a theory that American society developed in response to Old-World British and European society. This theme often manifests itself in humorous American literature. Humor in American literature frequently bases itself on a sense of entitlement within the lower class, their flawed and ignorant moral senses, and a caricaturing of American exceptionalism, a theory of American superiority among other nations. American humor hasn’t changed extremely, but rather has maintained the common denominator of the humor of American exceptionalism and has parodied a feeling of individual self-worth that is seemingly intrinsic to Americans of all classes. This subject matter can be found in such works as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a â€Å"Nat’ral Born Durn’d Fool†, by George Washington Harris, and Stephen Colbert’s I am America (and So Can You). Most of George Washington Harris’s work was done in the middle of the nineteenth century. His most famous character is the stereotypical rural farmer, Sut Lovingood. Harris’s Sut Lovingood stories were told from the character’s perspective and were defined by Sut’s heavy â€Å"Appalachian English† accent. His stories were initially published separately in multiple newspapers until Harris compiled the stories in his 1867 book Sut Lovingood: Yarns Spun by a â€Å"Nat’ral Born Durn’d Fool. The book mostly pokes fun at the ignorance and simplicity of the title character. Sut Lovingood dictates the book to a writer. He is unable to write it himself because he is illiterate. He is uneasy about this though. Sut says: â€Å"I don’t like the idear ove yu writin a perduckshun, an’ me a-findin the brains.† (Harris 2) Sut is an immensely simple character, but does not see himself as such. He thinks he has important things to say and that anyone who doesn’t read his book will simply be worse-off for having done so, but in reality his stories mostly consist of folderol. Sut states that he wanted his dedication page to read as such: â€Å"Dedercated wif the symperhtys ove the orthur, to the man ur ‘oman, huever they be, what don’t read this yere book.† (Harris 5) Despite his coming after George Washington Harris, Mark Twain is often hailed as the father of American Humor. Twain’s tales of life on the Mississippi River became the definitive stories of his era. His stories are often about naivetà © and the innocence of childhood, on a superficial level , but on a deeper level they are about ignorance and other shortcomings of adults. Twain’s stories were simultaneously entertaining and critical of society. One of his most famous works of this classification is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer is set in a small Missouri town, where the standards for luxury are quite low, and the people easily impressed. The townspeople are awed by the county-Judge Thatcher, a relatively low figure in the governmental hierarchy. When he pays a visit to the town church everyone there bends over backwards to â€Å"show off† and impress him (Twain 38). The people are especially impressed by the fact that there exists a tin roof atop one of the buildings in Judge Thatcher’s town. Tom Sawyer’s Aunt Polly is an excellent caricature of American humor. Despite being the voice of discipline in Tom’s life, Aunt Polly is constantly being fooled by the boy. Among the most well known of the Tom Sawyer stories is the anecdote about doing the chore of whitewashing a fence. Because of his indolent nature, Tom cozens his peers into completing his task for him, unbeknownst to his aunt. After Tom returns from his supposed labor after only a short time, Polly commends him saying, â€Å"Well, I never! There’s no getting round it, you can work when you’re a mind to, Tom†. And she goes on to give Tom a â€Å"lecture upon the added value and flavor a treat took to itself when it came without sin through virtuous effort. And while she closed with a scriptural flourish, he ‘hooked’ a doughnut.† (Twain 26) Not only is Tom able to totally fool his aunt, but he is confident enough in her incompetence that he even snatches an additional snack. She and all of the adults in the story go on to fall for Tom’s wiles on numerous occasions. The more modern Stephen Colbert wrote a book entitled I Am America (and So Can You), which bears many similarities to George Washington Harris’s book. Colbert’s work is written from the character on his satirical news show’s extremely traditional, right wing perspective. He spoofs the idea of a traditional American family, going so far as to say that anything falling short of his expectations is simply wrong. He remarks on the role of a good, traditional mother: â€Å"A good mother cooks, cleans, drives, organizes charity events so her children earn community service points for college, and expects nothing in return except love and breakfast in bed one day a year.† (Colbert 9), and he lambasts the idea of one-parent families saying, â€Å"â€Å"If you ask me, from time immemorial, the word ‘family’ has meant only one thing: a Mom married to a Pop and raising 2.3 rambunctious little scamps.† (Colbert 5) Colbert is joking of course, but his implications are that the traditional American standards have room for adjustment and that many conservative Americans are overly hidebound. He goes on to lampoon the institution of religion. â€Å"Religion is the cornerstone of civilization. Without it, we would have no laws, no morality, no social structure, and no guidelines for furnishing our tabernacles.† Many people have tried to pinpoint exactly what it is so distinctive between American and British humor. British comedian Simon Pegg wrote about in the UK Guardian in his 2007 article, â€Å"What Are You Laughing At?†: Americans can fully appreciate irony. They just don’t feel entirely comfortable using it on each other, in case it causes damage. A bit like how we feel about guns. It’s not so much about having a different sense of humour as a different approach to life. More demonstrative than we are, Americans are not embarrassed by their emotions. They clap louder, cheer harder and empathise more unconditionally. It’s an openness that always leaves me feeling slightly guilty and apologetic when American personalities appear on British chat shows and find their jokes and stories met with titters, not guffaws, or their achievements met with silent appreciation, rather than claps and yelps. We don’t like them any less, we just aren’t inclined to give that much of ourselves away. Meanwhile, as a Brit on an American chat show, it’s difficult to endure prolonged whooping without intense, red-faced smirking. It isn’t that one culture is funnier per se, just that comparing the two would be like comparing apples and oranges. In former Vanderbilt English professor Nancy A. Walker’s book, What’s So Funny? Humor in American Culture, Walker expounds upon the origin of the distinctive American â€Å"tall tale†, citing the American pioneers of the Western frontier who would write back to the East Coast telling tales of exaggeration in an attempt to impress the readers of their tales. Edward J. Piacentino wrote that the purview of classic American humor still reaches us through mediums such as The Beverly Hillbillies, or the work of comedian Jeff Foxworthy. America’s unique face of humor stems from multiple factors of American history. Firstly, American humor developed intentionally and in stark contrast to that of the British, just like much of American society. Because of the revolutionary nature of the founding of America, certain values have been instilled in the country’s inhabitants. American culture developed as a volte-face from British culture. Additionally, as Walker presented, the development of American humor and exaggerated â€Å"tall-tales† derives from the geography of the country and the frontier development of it. Those elements of the country’s history laid the groundwork for the America that we know today. That is why we still have much of the same face of humor in America after all these years. Works Cited Colbert, Stephen, and Michael C. Brumm. I Am America (and so Can You!). [New York]: Grand Central Pub., 2007. Print. Harris, George Washington. Sut Lovingood. Yarns Spun by a â€Å"nat’ral Born Durn’d Fool.† Warped and Wove for Public Wear. New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1867. Print. Pegg, Simon. â€Å"What Are You Laughing At?† The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 02 Sept. 2007. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. Piacentino, Edward J. The Enduring Legacy of Old Southwest Humor. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2006. Print. Twain, Mark, and Deidre S. Laiken. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York, NY: Baronet /Playmore, 1989. Print. Walker, Nancy A. What’s so Funny?: Humor in American Culture. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1998. Print.

Analysis of Kate Chopin and Her Works

Write a critical analysis of any aspect of â€Å"The Story of an Hour† which you found of interest and significance. Kate Chopin's ‘The Story of an Hour' is a short yet complex piece describing the feelings of Mrs Mallard. This story is overflowing with symbolism and imagery. The most prominent theme here is the longing for freedom. Chopin focuses on unfolding the emotional state of Mrs Mallard which can be separated into three stages: quickly moving to grief, through a sense of newfound freedom, and finally into the despair of the loss of that freedom. A critical analysis of â€Å"The Story of an Hour†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kate Chopin's â€Å"The Story Of An Hour†, in my opinion, is a good piece of literature. It is well written, clearly written, entertaining, and it brings a bit of a challenge to the reader. Starting with the title, Chopin described part of the setting. We already know that everything that happens during this little drama, happens within an hour. This title brought curiosity upon me because I did not realize that many things that could affect one's life could take place in an hour. For example, the recent tragedy in America, within one hour much had happened in the borders of the United States and Chopin's choice of title brought that to my attention, within an hour much could happen that could completely change someone's life. The way the story is written is very straightforward. The author tells you exactly what is happening but still leaves enough room for your imagination to fill in the blanks. For example, when Chopin describes Louise's room with â€Å"the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair† (page 378), and then goes on to describe what Louise sees outside, she tells us that our protagonist isn't living a bad life monetarily. Louise has a nice comfortable chair in her bedroom where she has a nice view of a square with trees and people. The way Chopin describes the weather follows the same suit. â€Å"There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds†Ã‚ ¦in the west facing her window† (page 378). The author tells you what to imagine but there is still room for you to add, for example, the sun shining through the clouds and warmly hitting her face, among other things. Analysis of Kate Chopin And Her Works â€Å"Free! Body and soul free! † Those are the great words written by the great American author, Kate Chopin in â€Å"The Story Of An Hour† in 1894. Her real life stories were her biggest influences in her literature and her unique themes. Perhaps one of her most famous works was her first novel, The Awakening. Some of her other works include â€Å"The Storm,† â€Å"Lilacs,† Madame Celestine's Divorce,† and â€Å"Desiree's Baby. What is Chopin's writing style? What traits are recognizable in all of her stories including the ones mentioned above? More importantly, was feminism a valuable subject in her themes and her life or was she just a normal woman who believed in equality? The answers to these and more questions lie ahead so just sit ba ck and enjoy the ride. To understand Kate Chopin's writing style, you must first understand her life. She was born Katherine O'Flaherty in 1850 to an Irish and French family In St. Louis, Missouri. Her grandmother and great-grandmother lived with them and were great influences in her life and later in her writing. Chopin learned French and female endurance from living in a house full of women. Her great-grandmother also told her stories about her own grandmother, who ran a ferry service and was very promiscuous. She told her stories about women who were daring and women that didn't marry. When she married Oscar Chopin at the age of twenty, the two took a three-month-long honeymoon in Europe where she began writing a journal. They lived together in a small town in Louisiana, which included a community of a lot of different races. She liked to observe different people that lived around her and this soon became one of the main details in her stories. When her husband died, she took over their plantations and ran their store, a bold step for a woman of her time to take (Howard). All of these events in her life can be found in some way or another through her literature, mostly in that of her novel, The Awakening. The Awakening's main character is Edna Pontillier, a woman aware of her sexual cravings and open about them as well. Many see Chopin's novel as â€Å"an explanation of the solitary soul, still enchanted by the primal, charged, and intimate encounter of naked sensation with the astonishing world† (Domestic Goddesses). Although I have never read The Awakening, I'm sure that this theory is true. Chopin believed that it was natural for a respectable woman to have sexual feelings. Her themes generally consisted of love, passion, marriage, independence, freedom, and restraint, all of which are present in The Awakening. Her theme of women winning their self, as a whole is understood when Edna says â€Å"I would give the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn't give myself. † The Awakening is

Bmw and Peugeot

[pic] MBA 503: Managerial Decision Making: Financial Analysis Professor: Sameer Mustafa [pic] [pic] INVESTMENT IN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY: BMW OR PEUGEOT Section F12N72 Team members: Ranjan Saha Sam Khassawneh Elena Dugarova Executive Summary This report provides a financial analysis and assessment of two automobile companies Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW Group) and PSA Peugeot Citroen. Methods of analysis include comparison and evaluation of financial ratios, financial SWOT, R&D and cash flow analyses. All calculations can be found in the appendices.Results of data analyzed show that both companies have strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities, but Peugeot has more strengths and opportunities in terms of long-run prospective, than in BMW. After analyzing both companies we recommend to invest in Peugeot. Table of Content 1. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2. SOWT Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1. BMW Strengths †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2. BMW Weaknesses †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3. BMW Opportunities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. BMW Threats †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5. Peugeot Strengths †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6. Peugeot Weaknesses †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7.Peugeot Opportunities †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8. Peugeot Threats †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3. Comparison of two companies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. Recommendations †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5. Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6. Appendices †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7. References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1. Introduction This report provides data on the financial situation of two well-known automobile brands, BMW Group and PSA Peugeot Citroen, over 2009 and 2011. The purpose of the report is to evaluate the financial situation of these companies in order to make an investment decision in any of these companies.First part of the report provides brief description about the companies followed by the situation analysis of both companies. Third part of the report illustrates the comparison followed by recommendation and conclusion. The recommendation will be made based on the result of the situation analysis. BMW Group was founded in Germany in 1917. This is one of the most prospering automobile, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing companies. BMW Group has three one of the finest brands in this industry: BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce (Annual report, 2011, p. 3).The other company PSA Peugeot Citroen was founded in Paris in 1976. PSA Peugeot Citroen offers automobiles and motorcycles worldwide (PSA Peugeot Citroen, 2012). Nowadays this automobile company is supplying its products to China, Latin America, Russia and Europe (Annual report, 2011, p. 4). 2. Situation analysis for BMW and Peugeot The following section will discuss the financial strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of both companies. 2. 1 Strengths of BMW 2. 1. 1 Sustainability of the company Maintaining the profitability is vital for any firm in order to be remaining sustainable.From the profitability test, it is apparent that the company improved it’s profitability over the year 2009 to 2011. Gross profitability increased significantly from 13. 96% in 2009 to 24. 38% in 2010 and continued to climb up to 27. 79 by the end of 2011. 2. 1. 2 Excellent creditworthiness BMW has been assigned credit rating status as â€Å"stable† by both Moody’s (rating A2) and Standard & Poor (rating A) which indicates the firm’s sound solvency position to debt (www. bmwgroup. com). In addition, their interest cover ratio provides very positive indication as it increased from 3. 36 in 2009 to 9. 54 in 2011.By utilizing this status company will be able to attract potential creditor with lower interest rate. Therefore, their profitability will increase due to the lower interest expenditure. 2. 1. 3 Increase investment in research and development Investment in research and development (R&D) is significantly important in order to take competitive advantage and mai ntain sustainable growth. BMW is committed to in R&D to meet current and future demand. Their expenditure rose up by 13. 3%? to â‚ ¬2,773 million from 2010 to 2011. One of the most advantages of BMW is creative production (Annual report BMW, 2011).They invested extensively in the past 3 years towards improving the environment and reduction of the CO2 emissions by 30 %. They also introduced fuel efficient product line such as BMW i models in order to meet the current demand. Moreover, BMW is searching for alternative energy solution by electrification and utilizing solar energy in their future product range. By introducing new product line BMW could take competitive advantage over it competitors by attracting environmental friendly customers which would maximize their profit as well as their image as innovative company. 2. 1. Commitment to Employees training The company values its human resources and invests in attracting and training skilled workforce to boost the quality of its products by reducing error rate, waste in production. It will also help BMW to strengthen customer relation as trained employees would able to communicate with confident by utilizing their knowledge and skills which will increase customer satisfaction. Moreover, due to the training employees will gain confidence to communicate more clearly with management which will improve the relationship between employee and management.As a result disputes between labour union and BMW will be reduced (Bloom & Lafleur, n. d. pp 5 – 9) In 2011 expenditure on basic and further training rose sharply by 37. 4% to â‚ ¬246 million (Annual report BMW, 2011). 2. 1. 5 Social responsibility BMW signed the UN Global Compact and issued a â€Å"Joint Declaration on Human Rights and Working Conditions which demonstrates that BMW complies with the fundamental working standards of the International Labor Organization (Annual Report BMW, 2011). It also indicates that BMW is a socially responsible firm w hich will have a positive impact on the image of the company (Murillo & Martinek, 2009).BMW’s image as a good citizen would help to attract potential investors, creditors and customers who care about social responsibility of any company. 2. 2 Weaknesses BMW 2. 2. 1Operating efficiency Receivable turnover has sharply declined from 55. 04 in 2009 to 15. 93 in 2011. Inventory turnover has also declined from 14. 50 in 2010 to 5. 43 in 2011. Both ratios are below the industry norm, which indicates that management was not efficient enough to collect its receivables. This also indicates that sales and marketing department didn’t perform well compare to the competitors to increase the sales. . 2. 2 Sharp decline in sales: In 2011 BMW’s sales dropped by 37 % in the US which is the largest market outside Europe. If it continues to decline, BMW may lose market share significantly which would have a very negative impact on the profitability as well as it would be a threat t o the sustainability of the company. 2. 2. 3 Liquidity BMW’s ability to meet the short-term financial obligation is low comparing to the industry norm. If BMW don’t pay attention to increase the liquidity, it could turn into a threat from weakness. 2. 2. 4Market shareDecreasing global market share for BMW. It goes down from 2. 89% in 2005 to 2. 45% in 2010. (www. statista. com). This shows that demand BMW’s cars are decreasing which is a bad sign for company. 2. 3 Opportunities BMW 2. 3. 1 Utilizing the exist technology to produce more environmental friendly products: As this issue became an important for the society. (BMW Annual report, 2011, p. 19) states, â€Å" In September 2011, SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers – a joint venture of the BMW Group and the SGL Group – opened a new state-of-the-art carbon fiber manufacturing plant in Moses Lake, USA.The facility plays a major strategic role in the manufacture of ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber reinfor ced plastics (CFRP), which will be used extensively in the BMW i vehicles to be launched by the BMW Group from 2013 onwards†. BMW group is already having this idea, but they could get more profit if they increase the art carbon fiber plants. 2. 3. 2 Growth in Asia: Asian countries are encouraging the foreign investment and they have a cheap labor. In addition, the cost of capital is cheaper than Europe. These factors lead to less cost of production and higher revenue.In order to gain this benefit BMW adopted â€Å"Completely Knocked Down† (CKD) assembly to manufacture automobiles with partners in six locations such as Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Egypt, Indonesia and India (www. bmwgroup. com ). This would help BMW to attract the large Asian market as well as increase market share in the region. 2. 3. 3 Increasing demand on sports car BMW is already produced a few sport cars and they have to increase the number of sport cars and promote them to championships and customer s who like this type of cars. In July 2011,  BMW  pulled the covers off of the  BMW M3 DTM Concept Car, a vehicle that was to be the basis of the actual racer that will compete in the 2012 DTM season† (www. topspeed. com). 2. 3 Threats BMW 2. 3. 1 Euro zone crisis: Current economic slowdown along with sovereign euro zone crisis may tremendously hurt the company as sales are declining in Europe. It might pose even greater threat if bigger economies like Italy and Spain has to default like Greece which will lead Europe into a recession (World Economic Forum, 2012).It would not only affect BMW’s sales in Europe but also rest of the world because recession in the EU will have adverse effect in the world’s economy (International Monetary Fund, 2012). 2. 3. 2 Changes in Trend: Recent trend in the usage of car, where wealthy people prefer cheaper/affordable cars instead of luxurious car (24/7 Wall Street, 2012). Due to this trend, BMW as a luxurious car manufactur er might lose sales revenue and market share. Ultimately, it would have negative impact on the sustainability of the company. 2. . 3 Disputes with labour union: Labour union in Germany is very strong where firing employee is very costly (Global Competitiveness Index, 2012). Any dispute with the labour union could have significantly negative impact on the business operation as union could go for strike which will break the whole supply chain. 2. 4 PSA Peugeot Citroen 2. 4. 1 Strengths Peugeot 2. 4. 2 Sustainability of the company Company’s overall profitability significantly increased from very negative profitability in 2009(gross profit on sale -3. 0% and return on sale -5%) to a positive profitability in 2011 (gross profit on sale 17. 10% and return on sales 1. 50%), which demonstrates management’s extraordinary performance to bring the company back into a sustainable position. 2. 4. 3 Operating Efficiency Over the years from 2009 to 2011 Peugeot demonstrated continuo us improvement of its operating efficiency as management was improved efficiency to collect receivables (receivable turnover 20. 63 in 2009 and 26. 98) as well as increased inventory turnover (7. 14 in 2009 and 9. 06 in 2011) which is higher than industry norm (6. 4).Though receivables turnover is lower than industry norm (34), Peugeot’s continuous improvement indicates that management is paying attention to improve in order to maintain the capacity of operating assets. 2. 4. 4 Diversified business segments Diversification in the business segment reduces the risk of failure as it reduces company’s dependency on one single segment (The Economics Times, 2012) The Group's operations are organized in five main business segments: the Automotive Division, the Automotive Equipment Division, the Transportation & Logistics Division, the Finance Division and other businesses. These segments increased revenue by 6. % from â‚ ¬56061million in 2010 till â‚ ¬59912 million in 2 011 (Annual report BMW, 2011). Due to the diversified business segments Peugeot will be able to offset of one segment’s loss from other segment’s profit. 2. 4. 5 Investment in research and development To meet the current and future demand Peugeot invest heavily in research and development. This French auto manufacturer has maintained its R budget at â‚ ¬2152 million in 2011, or 3. 6% of revenue in order to secure sustainability in the future (www. peugeot. com). In 2011, PSA Peugeot Citroen was the most active patent filer in France with 1,237 patents in all.This performance demonstrates the positive outcome of its exceptional investment in R. New patents would enhance the innovative product line which would differentiate Peugeot’s product from its competitors in order to gain competitive advantage. This indicates better future for Peugeot. 2. 4. 6 Affordable price with good quality PSA Peugeot Citroen offers high quality distinctive cars for affordable price and specifically targets middle class (annual presentation 2010 PSA Peugeot Citroen). It would help Peugeot to gain market share faster in the emerging market such as China, Brazil and India where the number of middle class is very large.Higher market share in the emerging markets would strengthen Peugeot’s position in the global automotive industry. 2. 5 Weaknesses Peugeot 2. 5. 1 Creditworthiness Recently, Peugeot’s credit rating has been downgraded from â€Å"stable† to â€Å"negative† by both international credit rating agency Standard & Poor and Moody’s which would negative impact on creditors confidence. As a result, their interest rate will increase as creditors might feel risky to invest (Mustafa, 2012, Class lecture). However, French government’s â‚ ¬7b credit guarantee for Peugeot might help to maintain creditor’s confidence which will keep the interest expense stable. . 5. 2 Declining sales in Europe: Peugeot’s s ales declined by 5. 75% in 2010 in Europe, it’s largest market and it remained stable in 2011. Moreover, sales dropped further by 10. 8% by the end of September 2012 (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, 2012) It indicates a potential threat for Peugeot to losing market share in Europe, if it continues further. However, increasing sales outside Europe 39% in 2011 compare to 32% in 2010 (Annual Report Peugeot, 2011) could help Peugeot to maintain market share in the global automotive industry. 2. 5. 3 Liquidity Since 2009 to 2011 Peugeot’s liquidity has declined from 1. 07 to 1. 4 which even lower than the industry norm. Decrease in liquidity could have negative impact on the operating activities as firm might run out of cash to meet short term obligations. 2. 6 Threats Peugeot 2. 6. 1 Unionized labour market: French labour market is strongly unionized which give labour union a very strong bargaining power. The recent announcement by Peugeot to cut 800 0 jobs in their French plant (BBC News, 2012) might create disputes with the union. Therefore, there is a huge risk that union could go for strike due to the dispute with Peugeot which might disrupt their supply chain and cost a considerable amount for the company.However, French government’s announcement to provide credit guarantee in exchange to keep these jobs (The New York Times, 2012) would help Peugeot to avoid dispute with the union. 2. 6. 2 Euro zone crisis: Economic downturn and euro zone crisis had a very negative impact on Peugeot’s sales in Europe as the market demand declined sharply which resulted a decline in sales by 5% in 2010 and. If it continues may be the sales will drop further. 2. 6. 3 Competition from other producers: Increasing market share gained by other affordable car producers such as Hyundai could hurt Peugeot. There is a risk that French firm could lose market share. . 7 Opportunities Peugeot 2. 7. 1 New Trend Peugeot would be able to attr act customers with high income people due to the new trend as more rich people buy affordable price car (24/7 Wall Street, 2012) This is a very positive indicator for Peugeot to increase market share by attracting this large segments. 2. 7. 2 Market shift to globalization Peugeot is focusing on specific markets in the world. Since globalization is facilitating world trade, Peugeot would benefit significantly from it’s expansion to the emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Middle East (The New York Times, 2012). . 7. 3 Increase the demand of hybrid electric cars PSA Peugeot has a joint venter with GM to produce hybrid cars. The joint arrangement agreement was signed on 25 October 2011. The Group is committed to providing total capital of â‚ ¬63 million, of which â‚ ¬13 million had been paid as of 31 December 2011. Registered in the Netherlands. (Peugeot annual report 2011) 3. Comparison of BMW and Peugeot This section compares and contrasts of both company in order to identify the better option for investment. 3. 1 Sustainability Both BMW and Peugeot improved their gross profit.BMW is around 10% more profitable in terms of gross profit ratio compare to Peugeot. However, Peugeot had higher return on sales which indicates that management of Peugeot was more capable to control it’s variable cost. Peugeot was also able to generate higher return from its asset compare to BMW as well as industry norm this demonstrates the management’s ability to utilize its asset in order maintain sustainable profit. 3. 2 Management efficiency Management efficiency is lower than the industry norm for both companies. However, Peugeot’s management is more efficient than BMW in collecting receivables.It is also more efficient in inventory turnover, which indicates that Peugeot’s sales, and marketing department is performing better than BMW. 3. 3 Diversified business segments Peugeot’s business segments is more diversified that BMW th is would help Peugeot to reduce the risk because it can cover the loss of one segment from another segments profit. 3. 4 Market share Even though BMW has higher market share in certain market. However, it has declined gradually over the past several years while Peugeot has increased market share in the emerging markets such as China, Russia, India and Latin America. This indicates better future for Peugeot. . 5 Credit ratings BMW’s credit ratings are better than Peugeot because BMW’s credit ratings have been improved from negative to stable. On the other hand, Peugeot’s credit ratings have been downgraded in 2012 (Moody’s 2012) As a result Peugeot’s borrowing cost might increase while BMW will benefit from the lower interest rates. 3. 6 Interest coverage ratio BMW’s interest cover ability is considerably better than Peugeot, which is 9. 54 and 1. 68 respectively. Due to higher interest coverage ratio it will create more confidence in BMW, wh ich will reduce interest expense. 3. 7 Liquidity Liquidity for both companies is below industry average.However, Peugeot has higher liquidity than BMW. This indicates that Peugeot has better ability to cover the short-term obligations. 3. 8 New trend Demand for Peugeot cars would be higher than BMW due to the changes in trend and customer’s preferences as wealthy people are buying cheaper cars. However, increasing demand for sports car would provide benefit to BMW. 3. 9 Euro zone crisis Euro zone crisis has significantly affected on both companies. However, Peugeot has increased sales outside Europe from 32% in 2010 to 39% in 2011 while BMW lost 37% sales in 2011 in the US which is their biggest market.Due to the increasing sales outside Europe, Peugeot will be able to maintain overall sales revenue though there is decline in sales revenue in the European market. 3. 10 Political risk Political risk could negatively effect on both companies. However, BMW is more vulnerable in the Middle Eastern countries which are one of their biggest market due to Arab spring. 3. 11 R Both companies invested heavily in R but Peugeot was able to generate more patents than BMW. In 2011 Peugeot had in total 1237 patents (Annual Report 2011 Peugeot).Higher capability of invention would provide competitive advantage to Peugeot as it will be able to meet the consumers demand. 4. Recommendation The above analysis illustrates that both companies has strengths and weaknesses. However, Peugeot has more strength and opportunities than BMW. Peugeot’s strengths and opportunities are better sustainability, higher management efficiency, diversified business segments, better match with new trend and increasing market share in the emerging market. These strengths demonstrate that investment in Peugeot would be a better choice as the company’s future seems to be stronger and more sustainable than BMW.These also indicate that investment in Peugeot would be less risky. Theref ore, we recommend investing in Peugeot. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, different factors were investigated in order to come up with right decision regarding the investment in BMW or Peugeot. Some of these factors are related to profitability, efficiency, debt, R & D and market position. Some other factors are related to their products’ quality and customer satisfaction. All of these factors were analyzed for three years starting from 2009 to 2011. In addition, the SWOT analysis played an important role in our decision-making.However, after analyzing both companies’ situation and looking at their strengths and opportunities, Peugeot was the best choice to invest in. References BBC News (2012) Peugeot Citroen plans 8000 job cuts. Available at http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/business-18808662 [accessed 11 November 2012] Bloom, M. R. & Lafleur, B. (n. d. ) Turning Skills into Profit: Economic Benefit of Workplace Education Program. The Conference Board. Available at http://www. conferenceboard. ca/Libraries/EDUC_PUBLIC/Skills_Profits. sflb [accessed 10 November 2012] Murillo, R. H. & Martinek,C. J. (2009) Corporate Social Responsibility Can Be Profitable.The Regional Economist. Available at http://research. stlouisfed. org/publications/regional/09/04/socialresponsibility. pdf [accessed 8 November 2012] The Economics Times (2012) Nine Diversified Companies: Are these firm attractive investment proposition. Available at http://economictimes. indiatimes. com/features/slideshows/et-slideshows-made-here/nine-diversified-companies-are-these-firms-attractive-investment-propositions/nine-diversified-companies-are-these-firms-attractive-investment-propositions/quickiearticleshow/7390833. cms [accessed 5November 2012] The New York Times (2012) France to back Peugeot With 7 billion euro in credit.Available at http://www. nytimes. com/2012/10/24/business/global/france-to-back-peugeot-with-7-billion-euros-in-credit-guarantees. html? _r=0 [accessed 11 November 2012] Wo rld Economic Forum (2012) Global Competitiveness Report. Available at http://www3. weforum. org/docs/WEF_GCR_Report_2011-12. pdf [accessed 25 October 2012] International Monetary Fund (2012) Debt Crisis, as it happened. Available at http://www. telegraph. co. uk/finance/debt-crisis-live/9681567/Debt-crisis-as-it-happened-November-16-2012. html [accessed 16 November 2012] Appendices [pic] Figure 1: Source: [pic] Figure 2: Source: PSA Peugeot Citroen 2011 [pic]