Advanced Managerial Finance - 2203 Words

Question: 1. Locate the annual balance sheets for General Motors (GM), Merk (MRK), and Kellogg (K). For each company calculate the long term debt-equity ratio for the prior two years. Why would these companies use such different capitals structures? 2. Look up a company and download the annual income statements. For the most recent year, calculate the average tax rate and EBIT, and find the total interest expense. From the annual balance sheets calculate the total long-term debts (including the portion due within one year). Using the interest expense and total long term debts, calculate the average cost of debt. Next, find the estimated beta for the company on the SP Stock Report. Use this reported beta, a current T-bill rate,†¦show more content†¦b) Size of the company The size of the company will affect the capital structure of company. This is because large companies are generally lower business risk compare to small companies. Thus, large companies can raise the debt capital easily. In this case, the Kellogg is expanding their business and size of company is getting bigger, so they tend to use more debt than other companies. c) Business risk If the company is more risky in the industry, the debt-equity ratio will generally low because the company is difficult to raise debt capital due to the high risk. In this case, General Motor and Merck have low debt-equity ratio due to the high business risk such as technology, customer demands, and competitors and so on. d) Tax Exposure Tax rate of the company will influence in making capital structure decisions. The debt payments to the debtors are tax deductible. This would be the advantage for the company which has high tax rate. So, if the company has the high tax rate, they will tend to use debt capital structure to decrease their tax amount. e) Flexibility Flexibility means the ability of company to raise its capital structure to the needs of the different conditions nowadays. Company will more flexible when they have low debt-equity ratio. Due to the initial debt of the company is low, so the company most probably has the ability in paying back the debts. Thus, they will raise funds easily. In this case, General Motor andShow MoreRelatedAdvanced Managerial Finance Mini Case2153 Words   |  9 PagesPizzaPalace, a regional pizza restaurant chain. The company s EBIT was $50 million last year and is not expected to grow. The firm is currently financed with all equity, and it has 10 million shares outstanding. When you took your corporate finance course, your instructor stated that most firms owners would be financially better off if the firms used some debt. When you suggested this to your new boss, he encouraged you to pursue the idea. As a first step, assume that you obtained fromRead MoreMis System Form Functional Perspective763 Words   |  4 Pages|Strategic | Table-1.2: Examples of Manufacturing Production Systems ââ€" ª Finance Accounting Systems The function of finance Accounting is managing the organizations financial assets and maintaining the organization’s financial record. And finance Accounting Systems helps these purpose. Beneath we discuss the finance accounting system in details- |SYSTEM |DESCRIPTION |ORGANIZATIONALRead MoreData Visualization And Information Technology1006 Words   |  5 Pagesanalytics for a long time. They are designed to also be used by â€Å"nontechnical† individuals who have the curiosity and interest in spicing up their repetitive pie charts and plain bar graphs into a more in depth and visually appealing visual. 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According to Kieso, Weygant, Warfield (2014), the advanced practice nurse (APN) recognizes the relevance within nursing and the data presented in financial statements to predict the future and ascertain the potential flaws of such organization. This purpose of this paper is to analyze the implications of finances for the APN, its role in the financial welfare of a healthcare organization, examine the financial statement analysisRead MoreEbooks Solution Manuals and Test Banks for Text Books19223 Words   |  77 PagesA History of the United States, Brief Edition, Volume I, 9th Edition by Norton, Sheriff Instructor’s Manual A People and a Nation A History of the United States, Brief Edition, Volume I, 9th Edition by Norton, Sheriff Test Bank A Transition to Advanced Mathematics by Douglas Maurice Eggen 5 Solution Manual ABC’s of Relationship Selling through Service by Charles M. Futrell 11 Instructor’s Manual ABC’s of Relationship Selling through Service by Charles M. 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Having worked as a financial analytics analyst for more than 6 months at EnovaFinancial, a Chicago-based consumer online financing company, I reinforce my passion towards financial analytics. Ranging from basic data query and reporting to predictive modeling and optimization, data analytics has assumed an important role in today’s financial services

Ethical Standards - 635 Words

BSHS/335 Tracy Mallett January 21, 2015 Ethical Standards A Therapist Quandary When you look at the case of the husband who started individual counseling then his wife joined with the intentions of saving their marriage there are many ethical issues that could arise for the therapist. First there is the issue of the secret the husband is hiding about his latest affair, because the counselor did not clearly state her policy on keeping secrets the husband has an expectation of her keeping his secret about his affair. The therapist cannot tell the wife without breaking the confidentiality of the husband, however how can she continue to treat them as a couple if she has to hold this information from the wife when part†¦show more content†¦It also gives the wife a choice of whether or not she wants to continue with counseling or even the marriage itself. She should also explain that he is taking away the wife’s choices through lies and that this is unhealthy for the marriage for both of them. During individual sessions the therap ist should dig deeper with the husband to find out why he is having a hard time being faithful and if he really wants the marriage or if he just does not want his wife to move on without him because of control issues. Maybe in doing this she can help him fix his own issues, therefore helping the marriage. If the therapist cannot convince his to tell his wife or stop the affair and she is conflicted the best thing to do would be to refer the couple to someone else for couple’s therapy even if she could continue the individual therapy with the couple. Under no circumstances should the therapist tell the wife what was said to her in the individual session with the husband, nor should she say anything that would imply it was because of the husband that she can no longer do couple’s therapy with them. Although as helpers we may want to tell the person who is being lied to, our job is to help the couple to help fix their own issues and they both must want to do so. Ethical Standards References: American Association for Marriage and Family TherapyShow MoreRelatedJohnson Johnson s Code Of Ethical And Professional Standards1416 Words   |  6 Pagesor conduct is defined as any document that outlines the visions and values of a business and how to professionally deal with issues within that business. The Society for Human Resource Management has recently developed a SHRM Code of Ethical and Professional Standards in Resource management. The SHRM Code has helped many companies by giving guidelines to any company looking to create or edit their code of ethics/conduct. Johnson Johnson is a publicly owned and operated business with a clearly statedRead MoreEthical Standards for Management Accountants Essay1764 Words   |  8 PagesEthical Standards for Management Accountants Ethics in any industry is important, but for Accounting professionals and those in need of their services, it is a particularly stressed element. Information provided by accountants is used to make major decisions, including investing, downsizing, expanding, etc, so accountants are expected to be competent, reliable, and have a high degree of professional integrity. Because of these high expectations, the professional accountancy industry, like manyRead MoreEthics And The Ethical Standards Essay1626 Words   |  7 PagesThe Ethical Standards were set up to implement direct rules for conduct as a psychologist. 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(Peterson, 2004) These relationships are successful becauseRead MoreThe Standards Of Ethical Coding Essay821 Words   |  4 Pages 1. What emphasis would you place on the Standards of Ethical Coding in your area? 2. Would you include the Standards of Ethical Coding in your policy and procedure manual? 3. Would you review the Standards of Ethical Coding on a regular basis and if yes, how often? 4. What disciplinary action would you take if you found that a coder violated the Standards of Ethical Coding? 5. Would the severity of the disciplinary action depend on which standard was violated? Why or why not? 6. How doRead MoreEthical Standards, Laws And Ethical Aspirations831 Words   |  4 PagesThere are multiple ethical standards, laws and ethical aspirations that need to be addressed in this case study. First and foremost, Aspirational code of beneficence and nonmaleficence, should be addressed while problem solving this conundrum. WAC 246-924-357 also addresses the steps that the psychologist may need to make when terminating and referring services with this client. It is important to address Standard 3.04, Avoiding Harm. â€Å"Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patientsRead MoreThe Theory Of Ethical Standards1001 Words   |  5 PagesEthical standards vary from person to person, as no two people have exactly the same value systems. These value systems are influenced by one’s upbringing, perspective, and culture, big and small. The legalistic approach is one that appealed heavily to those in the past, but is being combined with different ap proaches to keep up with modern changes. According to Rathus, S., Nevid, J., Fichner-Rathus, L. 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Extreme Sports Motivation Free Essays

string(248) " extreme sports are roller-blading, windsurfing, sky diving, dancing, surfing, BMX, mountain biking, eco-challenging, kayaking, white water sports, climbing, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing and snowboarding \(Rinehart Sydnor, 2003\)\." Extreme Sports Motivational Factors Lawrence Cannon December 4, 2011 PE 5880 Abstract In the 1970s, extreme sports had been growing rapidly since its introduction. However, there has been little research done on extreme sport participants. In specific, the reason why consumers participate in extreme sports has not yet been investigated, although the number of participants and spectators of extreme sports is rapidly growing. We will write a custom essay sample on Extreme Sports Motivation or any similar topic only for you Order Now Since motivation is a significant factor of sport participation behavior, it is essential for the sport marketer to understand psychological needs and motivations of extreme sport participants. The purpose of this study is to analyze motivational factors of people who become involved in extreme sports. The researchers modified and applied the scale of sports participant motivation. The original scale includes forty one items which represent many motivational factors like achievement, competition, social facilitation, skill mastery, physical fitness, risk-taking, affiliation, aesthetics, aggression, value development, self-esteem, self-actualization, and stress release. A total of several samples will be included in the current study. The researcher collected the cases at the X Game Sports and Freestyle Motocross World Championships held in the United States. A chain of ANOVA and MANOVA tests will contain the data analyses. The hypothesis will suggest that extreme sport participants have a high level of motivation in fun and imitation, which are two more structures added to the original scales. The analysis of the data may also reveal that motivation of extreme sport participants vary across gender and past experience. This study will advance the knowledge base of consumer motivation research in the field of sport marketing and provides leaders in the extreme sport industry with meaningful implications. At the end of the day, the result of present studies will support the extreme sports industry in predicting the trend of action sports consumer behavior. Introduction Extreme sports are â€Å"activities that either ideologically or practically provide alternatives to mainstream sports and mainstream sport values† (Rinehart, 2000, p 506). The increased number of events and participants in extreme sports support the trend of growth in extreme sports (Liberman, 2004; Ostrowski, 2002). In the 2002 statistics, about eighty-six million people were participating in extreme sports (Ostrowski, 2002). According to American Sports Data, within the U. S. port industry, extreme sport generated one-third of sporting goods sales, which totaled to more than $14 billion (Liberman, 2004). Although the overall number of sport participants in the U. S. has increased about ten percent over the last decade, the number of participants and spectators in dominant sports such as basketball and volleyball has decreased (Stotlar, 2002). This trend in the sport industry further supports that emerging sport activities such as extreme sports gain their popularity by beco ming mainstream sports (Kress, 2003; Ostrowski, 2002). While the increased interest in motivational factors draws scholars to conduct research to investigate psychological principles of dominant sport participants, research on sport consumers in extreme sports has not been a main focus of investigation within academic area of sport management and marketing. Hereafter, there is very little information in the literature regarding the characteristics of extreme sports and its consumer’s behavior. Considering the current trend and the future prospect of extreme sports, scientific and systematic analysis of sport consumers in the extreme sport industry needs to be conducted. In particular, in order to continue and improve the profitability and productivity of the extreme sport market, sport marketers should have better understanding of the fundamental needs and wants of extreme sports participants. Needs of Study The study of motivation in sports has been conducted in various segments such as general physical activities. As the market becomes competitive within the extreme sport industry, the lack of experiential research on sport consumers, the results will widen the gap between the academic and the practical field of knowledge regarding extreme sport consumers. To fill this gap within the sport industry and sport study, there is just as much need to explore the motivation of sport consumption. Without any understanding of the motives of sport customers, sport marketers cannot successfully achieve their marketing outcomes. Thus, an investigation of what motivates sport consumption would be the first step for future development of the action sport industry. Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze motivational factors of people who become involved in extreme sports. This study will advance the knowledge base of consumer motivation research in the field of sport marketing and provide implications for sport marketers within the emerging sport industry. This study is meaningful because the consumption motivation provides a more in-depth useful tool for determining the behavior of consumers than asking â€Å"why† (Beck, 1990). The Significance of the Study The goal of this study is to develop a better understanding of extreme sports consumers and action sport itself, then further investigate motivational factors of participants in action sports. Moreover, this research contributes to the extreme sport industry and the field of sport marketing by developing a knowledge base of extreme sport participants. Literature Review The literature review on the extreme sports industry regards the demographics, trends, characteristics of the sport consumer behavior and motivation of spectators, as well as participation in general sports. Through the process of reviewing motives of sport participants, the researcher will investigate the growth factors of extreme sports in business and the following importance of the motivation study: What is extreme sports? Who are targets? Why do people participate in extreme sports as consumers? What is the value of the motivational factors in sport concepts? Extreme sports are defined as a relatively new form of sport or â€Å"a combination of extraordinary individual achievement and unmatched personal enjoyment† (Rinehart Sydnor, 2003, p. 3). Another interpretation for extreme sports is mostly individual sports that have risk, danger or unconventional rules or techniques which differ from dominant team sports (Bennett, Henson Zhang, 2002). While dominant team sports like ootball and baseball are rooted in a traditional value such as cooperation, teamwork, character-building and group competition. The various types of sports that are called extreme sports are roller-blading, windsurfing, sky diving, dancing, surfing, BMX, mountain biking, eco-challenging, kayaking, white water sports, climbing, surfing, skateboarding, extreme skiing and snowboarding (Rinehart Sydnor, 2003). You read "Extrem e Sports Motivation" in category "Essay examples" Thus, extreme sports participants or athletes often perform daredevil acrobatic stunts which are dangerous at high speed. They tend to show off skills for spectators and stimulate viewers to try to be like. Motivation is defined as an act of instance of motivating, or providing with a reason  to act in a certain way which serves as a factor in determining an individual’s behavior or social conduct in a given situation. As a mentioned that the motive of motivation study for consumers is based on aim to discover how influences the past or present behavior on current decision making of the consumer. In general, motivation is important tool for understanding consumer behavior. There are some words that have been introduced to the general public, such as; â€Å"dizzying,† â€Å"hyper caffeinated,† or â€Å"edgy, adrenaline- inducing pursuits† are used to describe their experience with extreme sports. They are conversant with the language of dominant sports (Spiegel, 1998). In the year 2003, Howe describe some extreme sports as having grown out of the board sport culture of snowboarding, derived from surfing and skateboarding (Howe, 2003). In the same way, there are many examples of new unoriginal typical sports like; BMX racing and mountain biking are rooted in cycling. Others are barefoot water skiing stems from traditional water skiing. In-line skating was developed from roller skating. In the journal article â€Å"Gender Differences in Beliefs about the Influence of Ability and Effort in Sport and Physical Activity† their study was to explore the different gender in reasoning about the relationships between natural ability, effort, practice, and final skill level, performance across sixteen physical activities at both recreational levels. Their participants were one hundred fifty three college students that had enrolled six physical activity classes. They completed two questionnaires. Their results indicated that in physical activity domains, male students tended to have a much better natural tempo ability that as a more significant for successful skill level and performance as female students did. Their beliefs seemed to vary for activities that are gender-linked. For all the participants, natural ability was viewed as more important at the recreational level. A strategy for practitioners and coaches was to use encouragement beliefs for effectiveness of developing a challenging for conception of sports as gender-typed and promoting the concept of sports for all. In the journal article â€Å"The Extreme Sports of Research†, Mr. Bartoletti discusses the steps shared from several members of the â€Å"Team Extreme Research† group and how their methods and practices went. The group talked about how extreme sports are having a major impact on youth sport activities. School-age athletes are attracted to the fun and excitement of extreme sports such as snowboarding, BMX cycling, and skateboarding. One of the original extreme sporting events, pole vaulting, is a unique and exciting event that has been part of the scholastic track and field program for more than half a century. What I found in â€Å"Situational state balances and participation motivation in youth sport: A reversal theory perspective† Their purpose of their study was to examine the relationship between situational state balances and motives for sport and physical activity participation in adolescents using the theoretical framework of reversal theory. Their participation motives and the interacting factors of their situational state balances, gender, and level of participation were examined. The secondary school students were ages about fourteen to twenty years old who participated in competitive or recreational sport. The factor analysis were the participation motives yielded factors to which ANOVAs and MANOVAs were applied with situational state balance, gender, and participation level as independent variables. Their factor analysis resulted in seven motive factors: status, team, friend, excitement, challenge, skill, energy release, fitness, and situational factors. Their ANOVAs and MANOVAs indicated significant differences in the sport motives between the situational state balances, genders, and levels of participation, and between pairs of situational state balance groups in males and females of competitive and recreational level. Methodology The purpose of this is to identify suitable methodological procedures. The methodology is described be the relation to the following aspects of the study: survey instrument scale, the research of the questionnaire and ANOVAs and MANOVAs data analysis procedures. Questions 1) What are the extreme sports motivational factors for the participants? 2) How many different motivational factors are there in extreme sports by gender and experience? Proceed of Study I will apply a survey instrument which was developed by McDonald, Milne and Hong, in 2003. This will be examined to measure motivational factors of extreme sports participants because the existing scale is focused on motivations of both several sports participants and spectators. The survey instrument was modified by wording changes from existing scale through a field test and panel of experts and item purification through a trial test. As a second step for modifying the existing scale, a trial test was employed to test reliability of the survey instrument. The revised instrument by panel of experts was administrated to a representative sample of the target population. The researcher selected a convenience sample of students from the Sport Management classes of a large University. The participants of trial test will not be included in the final sample. The format for the survey instrument will be a seven-point format ranging from â€Å"1-10 grading scale. † With one being the lowest and ten begin the highest. Then a questionnaire will be applied of two parts. First, respondents will be asked to provide their demographic information and experiences regarding to extreme sports, such as gender, ethnic background, age, level of participants in action sports, a period of time that participation in extreme sports and type of extreme sports what they have participated in. The second part contained items of motivational factors in relation to participation in extreme sports. The survey instrument contains several items with many motivation scales. The researcher will scheduled for data collection from extreme sport competition at the X Game Sports, Freestyle Motocross World Championships. This competition, part of the Extreme Sports Championships, features the season-ending World Championships events for skateboarding, BMX, inline skating and freestyle motocross. The researcher sampled from the audiences who are interest in participating in extreme sports. The size of sample will deal with the age ranges between13-35. The researcher employed trained staffs to survey at the competition. Each staff will provide survey packets, each containing a questionnaire, a cover letter explaining the purpose of the study and directions for completing the questionnaire, and pens. The survey instrument includes the following information: personal information, the purpose of the study, confidentiality, directions on responding to questions, and appreciation for the respondent’s cooperation. In the actual survey, the trained staff for the survey introduces the purpose of the study and explains specific procedures and methods to the subject before the data collection to minimize the non-response data missing. At this point, the collected data will be analyzed by using ANOVA and MANOVA to identify the significance of motivational factors of action sports participants. Discussions It is important for sports marketers to understand basic needs of sport consumers. In particular, it is necessary to investigate the sport consumption motivation in extreme sport based upon their demographic and psychographic characteristics (Bennett, Henson, Zhang, 2003). However, there has not been organized research on extreme sport consumption motivation. This study examined motivation for extreme sports participants. Sport marketers may utilize this proposal to develop effective marketing strategies like market segmentation, differentiated program service offering to satisfy the needs and wants of extreme sports consumers. These results strengthen the relation between each groups and motivation factors to contribute to sport motivation studies. The unique contribution of the present study is verifying two new motivational factors; fun, enjoyment, trend and imitation. I think that the results may show that the mean score of fun and enjoyment will be the highest for both male and female groups although there was no significant difference between these two groups. Extreme sports participants will rate their fun and enjoyment as the most important motive and considerable effects. Thus, that I did hypothesized that some participants in extreme sports might be involved in the activities based upon their elective choice for fun and enjoyment. Also, the mean score of trend and imitation may be somewhat high for gender groups and experience groups. I have recognized that younger people who are interested in winter sports such as skiing or skating move to new sports such as snowboarding and extreme skiing. The researcher considered that younger people attempt to follow their peer group not only for fashion or music trend but also for sports activities. With this happening the researcher made a decision to try to investigate by adding the trend and imitation to the existing motivation scale. Another important finding is that different characteristics of extreme sports like fun, enjoyment, risk-taking and aesthetics were rated higher than other motivational factors by extreme sports participants including, particularly among male and the expert-level experience groups. This outcome suggests that sport marketers in extreme sports should develop differentiated marketing strategies focused on male participants and expert-level participants. In general, an extreme sport has been considered to be emerging sports just for our generation. However, this study suggests different point of view for sports marketers and scholars. Interestingly, all board-sports like snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing in this study, these extreme sports ranked top three among thirteen types of extreme sports. It will allow academics and practitioners in extreme sports to accompany with other leading or traditional sports because extreme sports have its origin to the board culture, which has a long history (Howe, 1998). For this reason, sport marketers at the extreme sports industry may able to use the marketing strategies for leading sports as cross-promotion for extreme sports focusing on the targeted consumers. At the end of the day, the discussion of the present study will support practioners in the extreme sports industry in predicting the consumption behavior of action sports participants. Further, the present study may lead sports marketers and managers to utilize the motives found for effective marketing strategies. Accordingly, sport marketers in extreme sports could highlight their targeted promotion with present study ideas. To promote and move the sports consumer for successful sport marketing, the motivation based knowledge is the first step to be studied by scholars. For the future studies, I will apply ethnic background groups and different extreme sports events participant groups regarding extreme sports consumption behavior. Conclusion In conclusion, understanding consumer is fundamental to the marketing concept. This research of motivations factors are an important determinant of extreme sports consumer behavior. Future research is needed to better develop these constructs and explore how motivation can be utilized as a segmenting tool. Such an understanding might lend itself to predicting the possibility of an individual engaging in various extreme sporting activities. Finally, sport consumption is a complicated activity in which participation and imputer are often twisted. While this study examined participation and imputer separately, future research is needed to under the relations and connections between these consumptions territory. References Bartoletti, S. (2011, April, May). The extreme sport of research. The Horn Book Magazine 87. p. 24-30 Beck, R. C. (1990). The nature of motivation theory. Motivation: theories and principles (3rd ed. ). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Bennett, G. , Henson, R. K. Zhang, J. (2003). Perceived status of the action sports segmentamong college students. International Sports Journal, 7(1), 95-138. Cindy, H. P. , Lindner, Koenraad, J. (2006). Situational state balances and participation motivation in youth sport: A reversal theory perspective. British Journal of Educational Psychology 76 , 369-384. Howe, S. (1998). (Sick): A cultural history of snowboarding. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Kress, A. (2003). To the extreme. The business Journal Phoenix. 23(48). 3 Li, Weidong; Lee, Amelia M; Solmon, Melinda A. (2006). Gender differences in beliefs about the influence of ability and effort in sport and physical activity. 147-156. Liberman, N. (2004). New heights or a crash landing? Street Smith’s Sports Business Journal,July 12-18, p 25. Ostrowski, J. (2002). Corporate America makes pitchmen of pariahs. Street Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal. Aug. 12-18, p. 19, 26. Rinehart, R. E. (2000). Arriving sport: Alternatives to formal sports, in Jay Coakley and EricDunning (eds. ), Handbook of Sports Studies. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publication. Rinehart, R. E. Sydnor, S. (eds. ). (2003). To the extreme: Alternative sports, inside and out. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Spiegel, P. (1998, December 14). Gen-X-tremist pitchmen. Forbes, 188. Sporting GoodsManufacturers Association (SMGA). (2001a). Sports Participation Top Line Report2000. North Palm Beach, FL: Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. Stotlar, D. K. (2002). A decade of evolution: The sport industry. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 11(1), 55-58. http://www. dissertations. wsu. edu/Thesis/Fall2004/h_park_122104. pdf How to cite Extreme Sports Motivation, Essay examples

On Literature In Youth free essay sample

I have been passionate about reading since even before I could read. Each evening my dad would open up Treasure Island and let the words flow out. I can scarcely remember an age at which I couldn’t be found up all hours of the night in my bedroom, hiding a book under the covers, straining to make out the words in the darkness. From paper A-Z puppets in kindergarten on, my life has been intimately intertwined with the expansive universes of literature. Reading makes me feel a part of the infinite worlds of imagination and reality, compelling me to live up to my fantasies and embody my aspirations. Books have impacted my life in extreme and eclectic ways. My childhood devotion to nighttime reading earned me 20/200 vision in my left eye, a battle scar that required a sizable Band-Aid: bifocals. I employed my new cast as a weapon to bolster my nocturnal endeavors further. We will write a custom essay sample on On Literature In Youth or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Sometimes I sifted through the encyclopedia, absorbing all the information I could. Books of miscellaneous information were my favorite, informing me of such historical landmarks as the invention of Melba toast and the deaths of the kings of Burma. At the very least they’ve provided me with an unending supply of conversation starters. I have always had a weakness for fantasy. When I was a kid and couldn’t bear the screaming and fighting downstairs, I’d slip away to my bedroom, open up a book and disappear into the world of Ender’s Game or The Lord of the Rings. It gave me solace, a place to hide. When everything else was uncontrollable, books stayed the same. Through all my travels and experiences, I’ve had a book by my side. When I went to performing arts camp, Don Quixote followed in stride. Bluebeard accompanied me to Cape Cod. Through my trip to Romania Nelson Mandela smiled at me from the cover of Long Walk to Freedom. Recently, while searching for Purgatorio to reread, I took a look at my collection. All of my favorites are worn, scribbled in, and some even torn. My copy of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole is held together by duct tape. They’re a bit ragtag, but it got me thinking. An unopened book is useless. I would rather have three books rendered nearly illegible by wear, pages yellowed, spines cracked, than possess the limitless tomes of Alexandria, Congress, and the Forum, all pristine in condition, out on display, never to be opened. A book’s pages are essentially blank until they are read. You must take a book, use it, and make it your own; you must cast it in the shape of your experiences and find its niche within you. From there it expands, opening you up to new universes never before imagined. That is the true magic of reading. My books have taught me to lead a dog-eared life, and that lesson will continue to challenge and guide me through each new page and chapter.

Themes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Example For Students

Themes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay There are many major Themes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay, some more present than others, for instance, honor and pride which lead to manipulation (domination) and finally, the game itself. These are three themes that get the audience interested in the story and give them an appetite for more of the story. Honor and pride play a big part in the game the Green Knight is playing because it is what he trusts will cause one of the knights to accept his challenge. The knight insults King Arthur and his court deliberately to trigger a response, which he gets. King Arthur is a proud king but this moment in the story is an example of foolish pride on his part. We will write a custom essay on Themes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Before he even knew the clauses of the contract with the green knight, who stayed vague enough to let him believe that he was seeking a challenge, Arthur says: Sir courteous knight, if contest you crave, You shall not fail to fight. At this point, the audience wonders why he uses the word courteous as an adjective for this insolent knight who burst into the dining room armed, on his horse and asked for the captain of this crowd. This is the first example of Arthurs foolish pride. He answered this way to save the face of his knights and his court and it will lead him to trouble. The knight exposes the rules of the game and the audience wonders who will take on the challenge, why isnt any of the knight of the round table getting up and accepting the challenge? He goes even further by insulting the king and his court directly, calling them cowards, laughing loud to their face until Arthur blushes, The blood for sheer fame shot to his face and pride gets up and takes the challenge on himself. Now the crowd is inquisitive. They wonder what will happen to Arthur because surely there is a catch in the knight game and Arthur in foolishly falling into his trap. Now Sir Gawain stands and takes Arthurs place and is asked, by the Green Knight, to swear to seek him out a year from then to complete the second part of the deal . By making this oath right away without hesitation, he shows a great proof of honor and pride. He answers right away: What is the way there? Where do you dwell?. Of course, now the audience is sitting at the edge of their chair waiting to see if Sir Gawains attack will be effective at all against the Green Knight. Manipulation and domination and also a major theme in this story because it is what the Green Knight is counting on when convincing King Arthur and his court to accept the challenge. He plays on their pride and honor and knows that they will make their decision based on those two factors, rather that think everything over and make a decision based on logic. The audience likes this because the Green Knight is an appealing villain. He is huge and proud and not afraid of any of the Knight of the Round Table, and he insults King Arthur to his face, repeatedly from the moment he entered the room. The first manipulative aspect of this knight is the way he presents himself: fearless, proud, arrogant, without armor. A green horse great and thick; A headstrong steed of might, In broidered bridle quick, Mount matched man aright. This is a form of intimidation and this is the first step in getting Arthur to accept the challenge. .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 , .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .postImageUrl , .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 , .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:hover , .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:visited , .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:active { border:0!important; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:active , .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64 .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0476a14c51fc5e3bc992a8a2ec79ab64:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Sixties Counterculture: 10 Pg Proposal EssayBibliography: No bibliography .

CENSORSHIP ON THE INTERNET Essays - Content-control Software

CENSORSHIP ON THE INTERNET Essays - Content-control Software CENSORSHIP ON THE INTERNET A 43-year-old man from Boston was having a steamy cyber affair with who he thought to be a 23-year-old woman. He later found out the "she," to his dismay, was an 80-year-old man living in a Miami nursing home. Things like this happen everyday, people mask their sex and age to avoid or attract attention on the Internet. This is only one of the reasons why the government wants to censor the Internet. They claim they want to ?protect? the children by limiting the amount of ?reality? they are allowed to view. But in order to do this they would need to censor the entire Internet, from everyone. This is why censorship on the Internet would be a violation of the first amendment. Censorship itself is not what most people are concerned about. Instead, how far will it go? How far is too far? When will it stop? Can the Internet ever be censored? These questions need to be answered before we can even think about censoring. In order to fully understand censorship you have to know what the Internet is. The Internet is an open interconnection of networks that enables computers to connect directly through phone lines. It allows people from around the world to communicate with the touch of a button. Its size is unimaginable, its content is uncountable. "In early 1995 more than 50,000 networks and 5 million computers were connected via the Internet, with a computer growth rate of about 9 percent per month" (Rutkowski, Encarta). Is the Internet to large to be censored? Remember in the 1940s people said radio was uncensorable. What is censorship anyway? Censorship is the official restriction of expression thought to be harmful. "Censorship restricts the flow of ideas, depriving people of information they need to maintain an open society" (Steffens, 11). Censorship itself is by no means a new idea. It has existed since the beginning of mankind, Playboy magazine in the 1950?s, radio in the 1930?s, book burning in the 1940?s, steamy celluloid reels in the 1920?s, and erotic pages coming off the Gutenberg press in the 1350?s. People fear new technology, I believe this is the reason that people want to censor the Internet. Change is a frightening thing, but without it the human race would cease to exist. Taking over our world, computers can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. At this time there is more information on the Internet than there is in any library and it is only a matter of years before books themselves will become obsolete. By censoring the Internet the government will only be holding us back. Germany, China, Singapore, and several other countries have taken action and began to censor the Internet. The United States is not far behind. On February 8th, 1996, President Clinton signed the Communications Decency Act, which limits freedom of expression on the Internet. With this act, the very same materials which are legally available today in book stores and libraries could be illegal if posted on World Wide Web sites or Usenet newsgroups. Not only would it have made it a crime to write provocative e-mail to your lover, it would also be a crime for your Internet provider. "Censorship is never for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever" (Nadine Gordimer, Microsoft Office). What business does the government have telling people what they can and can?t see anyway? If the child?s parents are so concerned about what they are going to see on the Internet, there is software available that screens the Internet for just that computer. It isn?t very expensive, in fact, you can even download some software from the Internet. Yet, this software is no substitute for good judgment. "If you have time on your hands, if your comfortable with computing, and you have an unflagging curiosity about sex - in other words, if you?re a teenager - you may think you?ve suddenly landed in pornography heaven" (Gleick, 26). Pornography is the only thing that you ever seem to hear about the Internet, but there is so much more out there. Information on anything and everything you could possibly ever imagine. Most of the material that I gathered for this project was done by hours of Internet ?surfing?. Another large misconception about the Internet is that while surfing you can just stumble on to pornography. Though it

Budgettting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Budgettting - Assignment Example That is; the key members involved in the project did estimate the costs related to materials, equipments, utilities, and resources needed to perform the required to complete the Germantown tree planting activity. The cost estimates of this project was done basing on a vendor bid analysis, where the receptive bids from skilled and qualified vendors provided the baseline cost estimate for every particular component integrated with the budget. Nevertheless, these costs estimate will be refined during the course of the project to include any additional details as it becomes available. The direct costs include the costs that are related to the project. These costs include cost incurred while buying tree seedling, supplies such as fertilizers and planting shovels. These costs account to more than a half of the budget spending. Indirect costs include costs that enable successful completion of the project. For instance, the personnel will require utilities such as water during the event. The tree planting exercise will call upon the outsiders and they will be given refreshments hence adding to the cost of the project. The cost associated with the promotion and advertising will be indirect costs to the project. In the variable costs changes with the level of activity being undertaken, one of the variable costs is the cost of the personnel. The more personnel turn for the activity, the higher the costs that will be incurred during the event. Similarly, the more the costs of food will tend to be higher hence making the cost of the budget to be higher. In such a program, the theme touches on a global phenomenal: Climate change. If the organization applied for grants, the application has a higher chance of being successful. Some of the organization that provides likelihood for sponsoring the project includes, United Nations Environmental Program, World Forest Service, Food and Agriculture

Class Sizes in Highschool Should Be Smaller Essay

Class Sizes in Highschool Should Be Smaller - Essay Example In a smaller classroom, students are less anxious because the environment allows for ample time for them to understand the lesson, ask some questions, and get a complete explanation of the required work. Furthermore, if there were fewer students in a class, tasks such as presentations would become easier for students, who would likely feel more comfortable presenting to a smaller peer group. For these reasons, it is important that class sizes are kept to a maximum of twenty. Smaller classrooms are a must because an effective learning environment must have adequate resources available. In an average classroom there are less than 30 textbooks available. When the number of students in a class exceeds the number of available books, then not everyone has access to an important tool for learning. When a lesson is taught, having a book to follow from keeps the student engaged in the material. Without this item, it is easier for students to get distracted and lose interest in the subject. As well as this fact, students learn at different speeds. If two or three students are sharing a book, it will be difficult for all the students to progress at the same rate. Some students will be left behind, while others will not be able to read the entire page. Of course, there is also the problem of completing homework assignments without a text book. Students are given assignments, class projects, and homework regularly. If a student does not have a textbook, then it makes it so much harder to get any work done. With a larger number of students and limited books on the library shelves, an environment not conducive to learning is created. Another reason why smaller classrooms should be encouraged is that students are less likely to become... This report approves that some students may click their pens, listen to music loud enough for others to hear, or perform a repetitive movement such as tapping their feet against the ground. Additionally, some students may get out of their seats to receive help from their peers or teacher, or they may leave the room for various reasons. These little noises, in conjunction with visual interruptions, can draw a student’s attention away from their work and reduce their concentration. Many students may become frustrated with the noise and feel overwhelmed because they cannot concentrate and complete their assignments. This is very detrimental and unfair to the majority of students. With fewer people in the classroom, the distractions would be reduced. This allows an individual to remain focused and calm, which would result in a more productive education. This essay makes a conclusion that classroom sizes needs to be reduced because of different learning styles, a lack of sufficient resources, and the possibility of distractions. A student’s one-on-one time with their teacher is essential, and the loss of this is detrimental to that student’s learning capabilities. Not every student learns at the same pace, so it is essential that all students are given a fair opportunity to learn. Because of a lack of resources available to students, it is easy to understand why students and teachers are stressed. Furthermore, with the constant distractions of noise and movements, the ideal learning environment suffers greatly. With the general population in Ontario growing and thus classroom sizes on the rise, our education system becomes condensed and the students suffer as a result. It is time to prioritize students’ education by reducing the number of students in each class.

Unfair democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Unfair democracy - Essay Example The US stands out, as one of the most democratic nations in the universe, which encompasses human rights, diversity, equality, and good governance. The world commonly refers to the United States as the land of the free. This is subject to its democratic practices, respect for human rights, and equality. However, there have been many recorded and unrecorded controversies relating to US racial inequality and unfairness in many aspects. Disappointedly, stereotypes, religious restrictions or teachings and other things, men and women, no matter if they are the same race, will always find problems when it comes to equality.Actually, there has been trusted statistics that detail aspects of discrimination, unfairness, and inequality on basis of race, ethnic group, and gender. The term race or racial group refers to the categorization of humans into populations, perhaps, ancestral groups because of various sets of heritable characteristics. Racial and ethnic identities are socially controvers ial and manifest in very conscious ways. Two conflicting social and cultural influences link this manifestation. On the other hand, an ethnic identification is a group whose members identify with each other, through a common cultural characteristic involving religion and language. This shared heritage base on ancestry, history, nationality, physical appearance, and even shared territory. The discrimination mostly happens on the less privilege and minorities. Minority often means less than half of the population though it does not necessary associate to numerical strength. Indeed, some minority groups in the US have a large population than the dominant group. For example, the black Americans refer to the majority in America, though they are economically, and politically inferior to the whites. Some of the minority groups in the US include the Hispanic Americans and Latinos. Against the common, believe that there is absolute fairness in America, there is unfairness including in the ed ucation system and in the run for political leadership. In addition, despite the common knowledge that discrimination manifests in many organizations in the US nobody qualifies its existence in the US education system. Indeed, it is arguably true that there is rampant discrimination in the education sector based on race and ethnicity and more specifically to the Hispanic community. In fact, in many cases Hispanic American citizens receive fewer privileges compared to their White counterparts. It is common knowledge that this is the first term in American history that a black president rules America. This is despite the fact that other black presidential aspirants vied and did not succeed in becoming the US president. On the other hand, this does not qualify as discrimination since the Hispanic is fewer in number to gain the majority vote leading to political leadership. Had it been a case of lacking a female president in US, then the argument would do because there are enough women in US to vote in a female despite the common notion that US embraces democracy and equality. On the same breath, with the high esteem that US hold in the word domain, one would always assume that US always conducts the fairest presidential elections in the world. Actually, the US is always an observer in other countries elections. However, this fairness is not present in US elections. Take for example the recent presidential elections where unfairness and cases of fraud dominated the aftermath of the elections. For example, in the case of Al Gore and George W Bush questions of fairness manifest. In the popularity vote, Gore got 50,996,064 votes on November 7 while George W got 50,456,167. Nevertheless, despite Gore having a majority of 539,897 votes Bush won the elections. How fair was it to win the popular vote with a margin exactly the size of Austin, Texas (Kettle Web) and fail to win the presidential elections? Additionally, in 2004, the private companies counting more than 80% of the votes refused to

The benefits and risks of Outsourcing

The benefits and risks of Outsourcing In this chapter, an introduction of research background is given and the objectives and scope of the research are described. In addition, a general overview of research methodology will be introduced. Finally, a brief overview of the dissertation structure is given in order to present an overall picture of the research undertaken. Background of research: Outsourcing is one of the fast growing aspects with a spending of US$ 3.7 trillion worldwide in 2001 (Clott, 2004). The latest survey conducted by Cap Gemini, Georgia institute of technology, SAP and DHL, it is clear that the usage of third party logistics (3pl) services continues to grow in Latin America, North America, Western Europe and Asia-pacific (Cap Gemini, 2006). Due to globalisation and rapid growth in information technology organisations are eager to develop competitiveness and responsiveness to customers (Matteo, 2003). Lieb and Randall (1996) defined 3pl to a more detailed extent; in particular, the term third-party has been explained more clearly. The third party logistics is defined here as: A company which supplies/coordinates logistics functions across multiple links in the logistics supply chain. The company thus acts as a third-party facilitator between the seller/manufacturer (the first-party) and the buyer/user (the second-party)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The functions the functions performed by the third-party can encompass the entire logistics process or selected activities with in that process. (p.51). Today many international logistics providers, including freight forwarders, customhouse brokers, ocean and air carriers, promoting themselves as third party logistics providers as they can provide more services for the movement of international freight. Liebs survey clearly tells that one third of large manufacturing companies in us use third party logistics services and over 60 percent of these firms used these services for above five years (Lieb, 2007). The close relationship between shippers and carriers could be a benefit for third party providers. One thing is confirmed that, nearly all large multinational companies make use of third party logistics providers (Maltz, 2004). Research problem: From many researchers point of view (Lee, 2004), Indian 3pl providers are still in an undeveloped state. So it might be difficult for them to survive in the Indian market competing with the foreign players. This research will review the traditional Indian distribution system and analyze the contemporary situations of both Indian and foreign companies like Pantaloons, Reliance, Subhiksha and Wal-Mart. In 2005, India was forecasted as the greatest consumer market opportunity, receiving highest foreign direct investment (FDI) (Mitra, 2005). The third party logistics in India accounts nearly a quarter of its transportation industry and expected to grow over $ 125 billion by 2015 (Srinath, 2006). Currently India sits atop the global retail opportunity. Indias retail industry, the 9th largest globally and valued at $ 330 billion (Kilgore et al. 2007). Reliance, a $ 12 billion giant enterprise run by Mukesh Ambani, plans to open an additional 4000 stores and hypermarkets with a target of $ 22.3 billion in sales by 2012. Wal-mart currently sources goods of worth over $ 1.5billion from India, yet to gain access to sell those products in India. So Wal-Marts joint ventures with Bharti will open doors for multi brand hypermarkets and shopping villages. One of the best approaches to gain competitiveness and improve customer service levels is the firms logistical capability. To be competitive, the companies have to deliver the products quickly and for lower cost. Logistics service providers gain momentum after the successful and efficient distribution network of Wal-Mart (Maltz, 2004). On the other hand, pantaloon is currently Indias largest retailer with more than 140 stores. Its also planning to spend $ 1 billion to open 100 big bazaar stores country wide. The Tata group, which runs lifestyle stores and star India bazaar, also opened an electronic goods shop in Mumbai last year. Tata group is planning to open 30 stores by the next year (Sahey and Mohan, 2006). Behind this growth, logistics infrastructure is the main backdrop of the countrys growth. Logistics costs in India are 13 percent of GDP compared with 8 percent in the U.S. Indian logistics is combination of road transport companies, railways, air freight companies, ports and shipping companies, as well as 3pl companies. 3pl market in India is least developed and its growth is about 20% per annum. If the logistics costs can be reduced from 13% of GDP to 8% of GDP, then the savings would be approximately $ 20 billion. This change will reduces the prices of Indian goods by 4.3% making them more competitive globally. The 3pl revenue and cargo handling volume registered growth rates of 18.25% and 20.33% respectively in 2003-2004 (Mitra, 2005). Retail opportunity opens the doors to reach Indian customers more effectively. Hindustan lever, a subsidiary of Unilever and the coca cola company are extremely successful penetrating in India. The rural population in India is almost 60%. Deliverin g products to those rural people is most difficult task due to the poor transportation and infrastructure facilities. In this situation both the companies above mentioned are successful with their distribution system through logistics service providers to reach each and every part of the country. So all the issues related to transportation infrastructure have badly affected the logistics network in India specifically in terms of lead time and costs. Anyway, a host of policy changes underway is expected to bring some positive revolution in the Indian transportation environment. In the past few years Indian government focussed on the infrastructure development. The main initiative under this project is the national high way development programme. It will connect all the metros and act as east-west and north-south corridor. So this will boost road transportation in India and good news for the logistics services providers in the country and also for the organisations to reduce costs by using 3pl providers (Mitra, 2005). Aim and objectives: The purpose of the research is to understand how third party logistics service providers can develop competitive advantage and improves the service levels of supply chains in Indian retail industry. The objectives of the study can be summarized as: To understand the current situations of Indian domestic 3pl providers To develop the competitive strategies pursued by the Indian 3pl providers To find out the impact of the use of the 3pl services on costs, customer satisfaction. On the other hand, the following research questions are designed for the achievement of the above research objectives. What kind of distribution systems do the Indian 3pl providers have? What kinds of logistics services are Indian 3pl providers providing? What competitive situation are the Indian 3pl providers facing? What kinds of competitive strategies are the Indian 3pl providers pursuing to achieve competitive advantages? Literature review: The supply chain: The process which integrates coordinates and controls the movement of goods, materials and information from a supplier to the end customer through a series of intermediate customers is called the supply chain. It bridges the gap between core business aspects of supply and demand. So the supply chain management is the management of buying/sourcing, making, moving and selling activities in a timely manner. Supply chains today are very slow, costly and do not deliver particularly good value to the end customer. Todays markets are much more demanding and information driven with small product cycles, more choice for customers and consumers and increased competition. Costs need to be cut down out of the supply chain and efficiencies increased, as business relationships within the chain shift and competitive advantage becomes harder to come by. The process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods and related information flow from point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements. Third party logistics (TPL): The growth of high competition and complex business conditions force organizations to pursue competitive advantages and re-engine their business constantly. Outsourcing logistics to a 3pl provider has been considered as an effective strategy for companies to high service performance and lower operating cost. Lieb and Randall (1996) defined 3pl to a more detailed extent; in particular, the term third-party has been explained more clearly. The third party logistics is defined here as: A company which supplies/coordinates logistics functions across multiple links in the logistics supply chain. The company thus acts as a third-party facilitator between the seller/manufacturer (the first-party) and the buyer/user (the second-party)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The functions the functions performed by the third-party can encompass the entire logistics process or selected activities with in that process. (p.51). The basic characteristics of 3pls are to provide customised services and to handle multiple activities, which involve warehousing, distribution, transportation, inventory control, material handling, packaging and inspection (Bolumole, 2001). Here are some of the services offered by 3pls in the present market, according to Sowinski (2005): Dedicated contract transportation and transportation procurement. Inventory management Logistics management and consulting Freight audit and consulting Shipment tracking and tracing Reverse logistics and value added services TPL providers are nothing but supportive supply chain members. Lambert (1998) defined these supportive members as companies that simply provide resources, knowledge, utilities or assets for the primary members of the supply chain. The new level of usage of 3pl has been defined as logistics alliances. Bagchi and Virum (1998) define logistics alliances as: A long-term formal or informal relationship between shippers and logistics providers to render all or a considerable number of logistics activities for the shipper. (p.193). Under this alliance, 3pl users and providers treat each other as long-term partners. By identifying the characteristics of 3pl providers in various stages, Berglund et al. (1999) suggest that there have been three phases of development of the 3pl participants. The first phase started from 1980s, with the presence of traditional logistics providers, with the activities involved only transportation or warehousing. The second phase started from 1990s, when a number of network players such as DHL, TNT and FedEx started their logistics services. The third phase started from late 1990s, when a number of players from other areas like information technology, started working with the original logistics providers. In recent years with the dynamic changing and development of supply chain management 3pl providers have moved their focus to strategy development (Hertz Alfredson, 2003). 3pl providers have started to support logistics operations through value-added services and supply chain solution service, which creates abundant opportunities for companies to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction (Knemeyer et al., 2003; Lieb, 2005). In addition to the services mentioned above, other services offered by 3pl providers, are known as value-added services. These are the services that add a lot of additional value to the products being distributed (Rushton et al. 2000). The major value added services has been summarized by the authors as follows. Specialist or niche service, where the operation is specifically designed for a particular products. Time reliable services, which are setup to support the just-in-time (JIT) operations of major manufacturers. Assembly, which is fulfilled by third-party distributor. Repacking, this is another area of value-added development, like a torch together with battery. Refurbishment: in the light if current environmental legislation many manufacturers have endeavoured to re-engineer their products so that parts from some used products can be reused in new products. Packaging return: collect packaging for reuses or disposal. (p.62). A research conducted recently by Hertz and Alfredson presented the strategic development of 3pl providers (Hertz Alfredson, 2003). According to Lai (2004): There are four types of 3pl providers from the resource based view of the firm. Each type of provider exhibiting different service capabilities and service performance. Also different types of logistics service providers adopt different service strategies to respond to different market segments Logistics outsourcing is simply a make-or-buy decision based on cost efficiency by increasing competitiveness and complexity (Christopher, 2005). A company may pursue logistics outsourcing for the following reasons, Own lack of logistics experience Desire to focus on core competency Difficulty in maintaining communication and information technology up to date Sahay and Mohan (2006). Outsourcing can give a company proper access to resources, equipment and management expertise which may count a worth of billion dollars (Clott, 2004). Outsourcing not only allows an organisation to achieve goals like cutting delivery times and ensuring accurate shipments, but also promotes competition among service providers and motivating them to continue renewing their services. Currently a growing interest on outsourcing has been mentioned by massive writings in scholarly journals and popular magazines. The terms outsourcing, third party logistics and contract logistics sounds the same. Traditional logistics activities such as transportation, distribution, warehousing, inventory management, order processing and material handling have been given less importance (Mitra, 2005). There is a need to develop competitive advantage and providing better customer service effectively and efficiently. This can be possible only through contract logistics (Razzaque and Sheng, 1998, updated reference). Third party logistics and customer service: Sadler (2007) defined logistics customer service as: the process of providing goods, information and services to customers in a way that both creates customer satisfaction and is cost-effective to the shipper (p.71). Customer service has been treated as essential factor in marketing strategy and it creates added value for both their companies and customers (Christopher, 2005). Customer service is a key way to gain competitive advantage. To compete in this corporate world, companies must provide high levels of logistics services to their customers. Based on a survey conducted by Bolumole (2001) identifies the nine most important aspects of customer service as follows. On-time delivery Order accuracy Price No product damage Ease of order placement Customer enquiry handling Quality Availability Order status information Regarding the high levels of customer service, Sadler (2007) suggest that: the economic aim point of customer service level is a little below 100%, beyond this level, the extra benefit to customers is vastly outweighed by the huge extra cost of inventory, hours of opening, staff training and salary, etc (p.72). Gaining competitive advantage through 3pl: Third party logistics (3pl) can be an effective way helping companies to achieve competitive advantages. The main objective of logistics management is to drive the companies in achieving sustainable competitive advantages through improved customer service and lower costs. Overall 3pl providers can provide a major source of competitive advantages. In other words, a position of gaining superiority over competitors (Christopher, 2005, p.6). Rushton et al. (2000) proposed that companies can achieve competitive advantages through 3pl providers. First, companies may compete as a service leader, which means to gain an advantage over their competitors by providing a number of key logistics service elements to differentiate itself. Meanwhile, the companies may compete as a cost leader where it is trying to utilize its logistics resources to offer the service or product at lowest possible price. Some logistics leverages for pursuing the two competitive advantages have been summarized as follows. To achieve value/differential advantage To achieve cost/productivity advantage The logistics leverage Tailored service Distribution channel strategy Reliability Responsiveness Information Flexibility The logistics leverage Capacity utilization Asset turn Co-makership/schedule integration Low inventory Low waste Table: The two different approaches to gain competitive advantages. Source: Rushton et al. (2000, p.33). Christopher (2005) summarizes that: The source of competitive advantages is found firstly in the ability of the organization to differentiate itself, in the eye of the customer, from its competition and secondly by operating at lowest cost (p.6). Competition is always at the core of the success and failure of the firm. A companys competitiveness can be derived from achieving either a cost advantage or a value advantage, or both of them. The relationship of cost and value between a company, its competitor and its customers, named the Three Cs relationship is illustrated below. Customers Assets and utilization Cost differentials Assets and utilization Value Needs seeking benefits at acceptable prices Value Company Competitor Figure: competitive advantage and the Three Cs Source: Christopher (2005, p.6). However, a most successful company would seek a competitive position depending on attaining both costs and differentiation advantages. Christopher emphasizes the last step that how to take the company to the top right of the matrix can be the biggest challenge to logistics providers. The occupation of the position of cost and service leader means the company has achieved both service and cost advantages. Service leader Cost and service leader High Commodity market Cost leader Value advantage Low Low High Cost advantage Figure: logistics and competitive advantage Source: Christopher (2005, p.10). The three possible ways for companies to accomplish their competitive strategies are internal activities, acquisitions and strategic alliances. On the other hand through mergers and acquisitions of other possible business may meet their competitive strategy requirements. The major participants in the logistics alliances are manufacturers, retailers and logistics service providers or third party logistics providers. A strategic alliance allows a company to take advantage of what it does well and enables it to seek partners who have strengths in other areas (Bagchi Virum, 1998). Supply chain integration with third party logistics providers: The present trend of most of the modern companies is to outsource their logistics activities to third party providers. This is a type of alliance, many of the firms implementing to achieve competitive advantage in the market place (Ratten, 2004). In the recent years just-in-time (JIT) process has gained momentum, which promoted outsourcing. The term integration refers to the degree to which individual parties work together in a cooperative manner to achieve acceptable outcomes (Ratten, 2004). Approaching the third party logistics providers comes under the wider arc integration. 3pl providers encompass a wide range of supply chain services including firms outsourcing, material management and distribution responsibilities (Frohlich and Westbrook, 2001). Nowadays 3pl companies are playing more number of roles in extended supply chains such as after-sales support, customer service and reverse logistics (Srinath, 2006). 3pl providers have transformed the roles of distribution centres from storage facilities to channel assemblies by taking care of some repair jobs that do not have sent back to manufacturers (Maltz, 2004). Relationships among TPL providers and members of supply chains: Nowadays the relationship between supply chain management and third party logistics service providers has gained some momentum. Here its necessary to discuss how to fill the gaps in understanding of how third party logistics providers should offer their services more effectively to their assigned supply chains. The supply chain is, The network of organisations that are involved, through upstream and downstream linkages, in the different processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the ultimate customers. -Christopher (2005). The supply chain is a chain consists of networked companies from raw material producers for the consumption of end users. According to Jarzemskis (2006), a TPL provider is An agent middleman in the logistics channel who enters into a temporary or longer term relationship with some other entity in the logistics channel Most of the logistics services are purchased on a contract basis (Maltz, 2004). Based on the research by Bhatnagar and Viswanathan (2000), successful partnerships in logistics can be achieved by triadic relationships. Order lead time of grocery retailers in the Indian markets: in a survey of Indian retail industries, Chandra and Sastry (2004) found that 98% of the firms dispatch their goods through a contract with trucking companies, while 11% of them only have their own fleet of trucks and 36% of these firms use third party logistics(3pl) service providers for transportation. The economy is expected to grow at 10% over the next 10 years in the sectors like chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textile, retail and fast moving consumer goods. The Indian retail giants Reliance and Bharti announced large retail projects in collaboration with Wal-Mart. Also Reliance considering establishing large warehouses in Thailand to take advantage of low cost sourcing from Southeast Asia. On the other hand food and grocery retail players like Subhiksha established more than 600 new retail stores in India (Chandra Jain, 2009) Logistics is an important process that minimises costs and improves customer satisfaction (Christopher, 2005). The Indian retail industry is worlds fifth largest one. All retail sectors in India are not purely organised. Especially the retail sector is growing very fastly at a pace of 25-30% annually. This sector is projected to grow from Rs. 35,000 crore in 2004-05 to Rs. 109,000 crore by the end of 2010 (Mitra,2005). Here the author is going to examine the retail operational efficiency at the secondary distribution level by measuring the performance of Indian food retailers logistics operations in terms of order lead time. Order lead time is the time between the customers placing an order and receiving the goods (Srinath, 2006). Here both the suppliers and logistics service providers need to understand two certain types of lead times. The first one, inbound lead time is the time between the orders placed by the depot and the delivery of goods by the suppliers. On the other hand out bound lead time refers to the time depot and the company stores (Maltz, 2004). According to smith and sparks (2004), logistics has been facing many major changes in the Indian food retail sector including increase in the average size of stores, introduction of new retail store formats (petrol station shops) and the increase in the range of own brand food products 3pl operations in India: The greater utilization of third party logistics (3pl) in Indian companies is expected to rule the retail markets in the future years. Its predicted to rise from US $ 1.5 billion in 2008 to US $ 4 billion in 2012. Strategic analysis of 3pl markets in Indian retail sector shows that the market earned US $ 28.1 million in 2005 and predicted to be US 89.8 in 2012 (Kaur, 2009). The Indian economic growth has recorded significant development during the past several years. According to the survey conducted by Lieb in 2007, six of the CEOs were asked to identify the best suitable industries which will offer good results for the future of 3pl services usage in India. Four of them suggested automotive industry and three of them rated high technology. On the other hand retailing and pharmaceutical industry were preferred by two of them. According to Lieb: Long trip times for relatively short transportation distances make a turnaround of vehicles impossible and increases the cost of domestic transportation. Congestion, toll road blocks and local tax make proper planning and timing, and central distribution structures impossible. Inwarding process: This process is to ensure smooth movement of stock and merchandise from warehouse, vendors and any other location to shop floor, updating the inventory and subsequently be available for sale. Goods are received according to the Stock Transfer Note (STN) issued by the warehouse. Every morning the Warehouse Incharge prints the mail from SCM support, which gives the details of the merchandise which is scheduled to reach the store (e.g. Goods in transit report). Based on the information the Warehouse incharge to allocate space for the in transit merchandise do all follow ups for goods in transit. Inform the respective Department Managers about the merchandise scheduled, so that floor space for the same can be created, if required. Delivery vehicle arrives at the store warehouse. Security personnel to receive the supporting documents and handover the same to the warehouse personnel undertaking the Inwarding. Document set is checked by warehouse personnel to ensure it contains a Stock Tra nsfer Note (STN) in duplicate and an outward gate pass issued by the dispatching warehouse. An authorised LR copy incase the goods delivery vehicle is a private transporter. Security at stores will sign the gate pass and write manual IRN (Inward Register Number) on gate pass. Security personnel to check the vehicle to ensure the seal on the cargo area are intact and secure. If any of the above documents are missing the staff should inform the Warehouse Manager, and the same should be entered in the discrepancy register. Warehouse Manager to inform the dispatching warehouse in charge and try to resolve the issue, and receive the missing documents by the next day. Under NO circumstances, the merchandise should be inwarded, in variance to the above. Outwarding: This process is to ensure smooth movement of stock and merchandise stores to warehouse, vendors and any other location and updating the inventory. This process starts when Front End Category / Category / store logistics creates a STO for the transfer of merchandise. This process ends when the Store receives goods receipts details from the receiving site. This process is triggered when the Front end Category/Store Logistic Person/Retail Category identifies products to be sent back to CDC or Vendor. Any returns from the Store should be process oriented. There may be various reasons for returns like Defects sent back to the warehouse, due to excess inventory, non- moving stocks, Interstore transfer, back to vendor, Products replaced completely for the customers having same defects or products partly replaced for the Customers, excess material in the Store received as Backup Stocks in Original Packing Condition and Materials might be received directly by the Warehouse from the Customers as replacement where the Warehouse should ensure that it is duly packed and bar coded in proper conditions. Returns to Vendors to be made as per the terms and conditions agreed with the Vendor. If delivery is going from the Store, the product needs to be properly packed in corrugated cartons, after doing a Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI) at Store level one day in advance and be certified by the DM/Warehouse Incharge. Any outwarding to be done only after the permission is given from the FEC and store manager and the supply chain team to be kept in the loop. (Vaidyanathan, 2005). Drivers for 3pl usage in India: Even though the reasons for outsourcing and the activities involved may vary from one company to another, the basic driving factors are the same. In India, Sahay and Mohan (2006) classify the reasons that drive Indian organizations to outsource logistics into three categories. The primary factor is the concern regarding cost that focuses on logistics cost reduction. The second one is focus on core competencies, access to unfamiliar markets and corporate restructuring. The third issue is associated with improving supply chain efficiency, which will cover improving customer services, increasing inventory, driving productivity improvements, achieving flexibility in operations and improving return on assets. The primary drivers in the beginning were to reduce costs and release capital. But nowadays its to increase market coverage, improve the customer service level or increase the flexibility towards the changing customer expectations (Skjoett-Larsen, 2000). Facilitate Re-engineering Strategic flexibility Outsourcing Concentrate on core business Reduce cost Figure: driving factors of outsourcing. Source: Taglisapietra et al (1999) p.4 It is one of the top reasons for outsourcing researched by the outsourcing institute (2000). According to Lankford Parsa (1999): Reengineering is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed. (p.23). Outsourcing not only allows enterprises to grab the benefits of structural changes, but also allows them to take advantage of reengineered world-class providers. Elements for successful 3pl relationships: A successful partnership is like a successful marriage, which requires hard work from both the parties involved. Both the parties must understand each others needs and should be compatible with the values. Bagchi Virum (1998) identifies that information sharing is crucial for successful relationship between providers and users. The main elements of long-term successful relationships are compatibility, understanding of partners business needs, open communications, commitment, fairness, flexibility and trust. Based on case studies, Bagchi Virum (1998), identify six factors to the successful third-party relationships. Customer satisfaction is the key point of the relationship in all efforts. Customers need to clearly point out their needs and wants. Then its the turn for providers to understand these needs and acquire the capabilities. People are the important assets in an alliance. Also they should be well trained and motivated individuals

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To most people ethnicity is shown by values, lifestyles, customs, and rituals that are personal to an individual ethnic group or religion. The feeling of belonging to a certain group is a basic need for mankind. In a sense, ethnicity can be separated into two particular categories, a unique social structure and culture heritage passed down from one generation to the next. I come from a Mexican family. This has shown me the many similarities, as well as differences in a Mexican family compared to an American family. From a young age we are taught that the value of family is the most important thing in the world. Most Americans encourage their children to move out after graduation from either high school or college, Mexicans believe that their children should live with them until they are married or around the ages of 25-30 years old. The most important family member in the Mexican family are the elderly. They are given special treatment and attention. For example our beliefs is that the elders shouldn't go to retirement homes. They are welcome in the family and are cared for until there last days. Grandchildren are taught to be respectful and to aways Listen to the elders, especially if they're your grandparents. Most Mexican families are extremely traditional, with the man as the head of the house hold, and the authority figure. Machismo (masculinity) in all latino countries is a huge problem, not only because women are being deprived of their freedom, but because men abuse their power. I asked five Mexican women how they felt about Machismo in Mexico. Two of the five women told me kind of the same thing; They believe that it is not a bad thing, but it depends on the man. The other three were very against it, and they ... ...ing aspect for Americans, because most Americans have their life planed out on a cellphone or on a planner and too often it doesn't include their family. Mexican food is influenced by the ancient civilization. For examples the Mayans ate corn tortilla with a bean paste that covered the tortilla. The Aztec found out that mixing and squishing different types of vegetables makes a savory appetizer they call salsa. They also learned how to make what are now called tamales. When the Spaniards came they brought over milk, rice and other products that were new to Mexico. But have now remained in the cuisine. Mexico has an amazing culture. It is full of wonders and mystery that are yet to be discuss. Mexico just like any other country has its fall backs, but one day Just like the United States it will rise up and be one of the most powerful countries in the world.