Saturday, December 28, 2019

Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers in the US Analysis - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2486 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Transport Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers in the US à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Analysis Headlines US motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers market value up by 3% in 2013 due to volume and average price increase Industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s production grew by 3% in 2013, thanks to growing sales of new vehicles and efficiency gains of car producers Concentration of suppliers is growing as megasuppliers emerge Growth of the industry is anticipated to accelerate, reaching 4% per annum over the forecast period due to ongoing economic recovery US car producers will face a need to expand production capacity and improve fuel efficiency over the forecast period MArket Trends Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers market value amounted to US$844 billion in 2013, up by 3% on 2012. The market was growing for a fourth consecutive year in 2013 one of the best results since World War II period. This was also a good result in the context of developed economies and Europe in particular where new car sales remained sluggish (car sales in Germany[1] and France[2] were down by 4% and 5% respectively in 2013). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers in the US Analysis" essay for you Create order US market growth was mainly influenced by the need to renew countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s aging car fleet which augmented volume sales, and recovering demand for larger vehicles and luxury perks, which increased average vehicle prices. By the end of 2013 the average age of car in the US reached a record 11.4 years because consumers delayed new car purchases during economic recession. However, growth in income and increasing consumer confidence encouraged Americans to replace old vehicles and bolstered sales of new vehicles. US consumers purchased 15.5 million new passenger cars and light trucks in 2013, up from 14.4 million in 2012. Consumer preferences shifted back to pre-crisis standards when larger vehicles were favoured. Sales of light trucks increased by 11% in 2013 more than twice exceeding the growth rate of passenger car sales. Pickups, SUVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s and crossovers were the most dynamic segments in 2013. Lighter metals used in production and hybrid technologies improved fuel efficiency of vehicles, making larger cars more appealing to consumers. Additionally, shale gas made US less susceptible to external energy shocks thus consumers feel safer buying larger vehicles as they expect fuel prices to be less volatile. 2013 was the fourth consecutive year when new heavy truck sales were growing fuelled by strong performance of US road transport industry. New truck sales amounted to nearly 352,000 units in 2013, up by 61% since 2010. Nevertheless heavy truck sales remain well below pre-crisis level when more than 500,000 new trucks were sold annually. This is due to the improved efficiency in transport sector, better routing and fewer empty trucks. In addition, the average distance travelled by trucks in US is declining, thus allowing operating trucks for a longer period. The Detroit Three (Chrysler, Ford and GM) were among leaders in large passenger vehicles. Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Escape and Explorer and Chevrolet Equinox were among best-selling models in SUV segment. In light trucks Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s F-Series was undisputed leader with more than 750,000 sales in 2013, followed by Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram. In overall US new car market General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Chrysler and Honda were the most popular brands in the in 2013. As of 2013 the average price of a new car in the US market stood at nearly US$31,000, up from US$25,500 in 2008. This was not only due to the fact that larger cars were more popular, but also because growing income and consumer confidence led to higher spending on luxury perks, such as high-end stereos, navigations, leather interiors and safety gadgets. Domestic production dominated the US market with 69% of market value in 2013. Imports are fragmented but the largest share comes from the US manufacturing hubs spread across the NATFA territory. Mexico and Canada accounted for a combined 9% of total import value in 2013. production Trends Industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s production amounted to US$538 billion in 2013, up by 3% since 2012. In volume terms US car producers manufactured more than 11.3 million passenger cars and light trucks in 2013, up by 10% since 2012. Production growth was influenced by recovering sales of new vehicles and efficiency gains in the industry, such as automation and component sharing. Increasing automation and use of robots in the production process became the norm in the US car industry. Car producers such as Ford, GM and Volkswagen overhauled their production plants and installed more robots for repetitive tasks. This resulted in improved quality and reduction of legacy costs, such as pension funds and union memberships. US car producers reached maximum capacity utilisation and enjoyed growing profits in 2013. Capacity utilisation of the Detroit Three exceeded 90% while factories of BMW, KIA/Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volkswagen exceeded 100% of installed capacity. Car producers enjoy profits when capacity utilisation reaches around 80%, thus operation in full speed resulted in 4% increase in profits in 2013, reaching US$48 billion. This was also a good result in comparison to Europe, where more than half of car plants struggled with overcapacity. Detroit Three managed to catch up their European rivals in terms of component sharing and modularisation. Ford was one of the pioneers and started to implement its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“One Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  strategy in 2008-2010. As of 2013 around 10 different Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s models were placed on the same platform, sharing around 80% of common parts. Similar strategy was implemented by Chrysler, when a company was acquired by Italian Fiat, and US company use between 50-70% of similar components in its most popular models. California emerged as one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s leaders in electric car technology, thanks to the US government efforts to reduce dependency on oil. California-based Tesla Motors holds strong positions in US and Europe and cooperates with Toyota and Mercedes-Benz in electric car development. GM and Ford also expanded their fleet of electric cars in 2011-2013. Even though production volumes of electric cars are low, well-developed technologies gives US companies a competitive edge against European rivals in the long term. Car manufacturers in US mostly focused on domestic market as exports represented 18% of product output in 2013. The largest export destination at the end of the review period was neighbouring Canada, receiving 13% of all US automotive exports. Large share of Canadian exports consisted of components supplied to Canadian car plants, where some of the Detroit Three car models are being assembled. Competitive Landscape Number of companies operating in the industry grew for a third consecutive year in 2013, with most dynamic category being micro companies. Out of nearly 20,000 companies in the industry in 2013, 78% were micro businesses employing up to 10 workers. Such companies are more flexible and often act as subcontractors for larger suppliers. Small companies provide various components for car engines, chassis and interiors. However small component suppliers in the US are under pressure from Chinese producers which are more competitive due to subsidies for their production.[3] Meanwhile number of large companies declined as US car producers mirrored global trends where so-called megasuppliers emerged. US car producers were contracting fewer suppliers to provide more car components, in an effort to achieve economies of scale and reduce logistics costs. As a result number of large companies with more than 500 employees continued to decline, reaching 204 companies in 2013. Industry also became more consolidated as five largest companies accounted for over a half of all revenue in 2012 (up from 47% in 2010) marking relatively high levels of concentration. One of the major developments in terms of largest companies was Fiatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s takeover of Chrysler. Fiat began accumulating stocks of the US company in 2009, in an effort to save Chrysler from bankruptcy, and took full control of Chrysler in 2014. Chrysler was the smallest company of the Detroit Three, although closer cooperation with Fiat, component sharing and improved logistics network is anticipated to increase competition among US car producers. In terms of production volumes, the largest car production plants were Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Kansas City Assembly Plant in Claycomo, Missouri (with annual production capacity of more than 460,000 cars in 2012), Fordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan (more than 342,000 cars) and Hyundaià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Manufacturing Plant in Montgomery, Alabama (342,000 cars annually in 2012). Nissanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s production plant in Smyrna, Tennessee (333,000 cars in 2012) and Toyotaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Georgetown plant in Kentucky (316,000 cars produced in 2012) were also a close rivals.[JL1] Ford Motor Co was a leading company as of 2012. It is a US-based company, which designs, assembles and markets cars, trucks and automobile parts. The most popular brands of the company are Ford and Lincoln. Ford divides its business into four segments of North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific Africa. Ford North America was the strongest and most profitable division of the company as of 2013, although company expects that its European division will recover and be in the black in 2014. General Motors Co is a US-based company, which designs, assembles and markets cars, trucks, and automobile parts and provides financial services. The company has global presence with the most popular brands being Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and Opel. GM enjoyed strong performance in North American, Chinese and Russian markets, although companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s divisions in other countries had difficulties. GMà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s European division Opel reported a loss in 2013 and parent company also axed Chevrolet brand in Europe. GM also announced it will stop Australian production by 2017 due to appreciating Australian dollar.[4] Toyota Motor Corp is a Japanese-based company, which designs, manufactures, assembles and markets cars and parts in North America, Europe and Asia. North America is one of the key markets for the company, generating around one-fifth of companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s revenue[5]. In North America the company operates 15 manufacturing plants, 11 of which are located in the USA. Toyotaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Camry and Corolla are among best-selling models in the US, while its luxury brand Lexus also enjoy strong sales in the US market. Chrysler Group LLC, a part of Fiat SpA, is a US-based company, which designs, assemblies and sells cars and trucks. The company markets the vehicles in North America, South America, Asia Pacific and Europe. In 2014 Fiat completed takeover of Chrysler and now controls 100% stake in the company. Merger is expected to create synergies in component sharing, car design process and logistics, increasing Chryslerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s competitiveness in comparison to other Detroit Three producers. [6] American Honda Motor Co is a US-based subsidiary of Honda Motor Co Ltd. The company manufactures and markets motorcycles, cars and power equipment under Honda and Acura brands. North America is the key market for Honda, as around half of companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s revenue from auto sales is generated there[7]. American Honda Motor Co operates four manufacturing facilities in US. All manufacturing plants increased their output in 2013 due to growing demand for Accord, Civic and CR-V models.[8] Besides these companies other car producers, such as BMW, KIA/Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Volkswagen also held car manufacturing and assembly activities in the US. Most of the car production plants of aforementioned companies were located in the US South, namely in Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. Geographically, the US automotive industry was mainly concentrated in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, although an increasing number of jobs were located in other parts of the country, particularly the South. At the end of the review period US auto manufacturing took place primarily along a north-south axis that runs from Michigan south to Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas, dubbed Auto Alley by some observers. Its backbone was comprised of the north-south interstate highways, which form a latticework with east-west interstate routes through much of the Midwest and South. Prospects Industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s growth is anticipated to accelerate. It is forecast that motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers industry will grow at an annual rate of 4% over the forecast period. This is associated with economic recovery, increasing consumer confidence and continuing replacement of old vehicles. However fuel efficiency and exceeded utilisation of production capacity will be a challenges that US car industry will face over the forecast period. New car sales in US are expected to grow due to economic recovery, increasing consumer confidence and ageing car fleet. It is forecast that US sales of new passenger cars and light trucks will reach 18-20 million units by 2020[9][10]. Large vehicles are anticipated to perform well as consumers are shifting back to their pre-crisis standards. Detroit Three are likely to benefit most, due to traditionally strong presence in the market, improved efficiency of large vehicles and planned overhauls in the pickups and SUVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s line-up. US car producers will face an urgent need to increase their production capacity in 2014-2016, as nearly all car plants are operating in full speed. However, there are mixed opinions concerning further expansion of production volumes. European car makers, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen feel optimistic and plan new investments in US. Meanwhile Detroit Three so far feel reluctant to invest in new production plants. Chrysler, GM and Ford had serious overcapacity problems during economic downturn and now see automation as a solution to increase capacity than physical expansion of production plants.[11] As a result of new investments from European car makers, US South is expected to strengthen its role as car manufacturing hub over the next five years. For example, BMW announced that it will invest US$1 billion over the next two years in expansion of Spartanburg factory in South Carolina, targeting annual vehicle production of 450,000 units by 2016. BMW sees growing demand for its SUVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s in the US market and plans to start production of X7 model in the expanded production plant. Volkswagen is also considering investment in its Tennesseeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s plant, in order to build a new SUV in 2016[12]. Due to new fuel economy and emission standards, fuel efficiency is expected to remain a priority over the next five years. New fuel economy and carbon emission standards for 2017-2025 will double fuel economy of cars and reduce oil consumption by two million barrels per day. It is anticipated that US car producers will continue investing to car models featuring hybrid-electric drivetrains, smaller forced-induction engines and more advanced transmissions. New fuel economy standards are likely to stimulate demand for electric vehicles and California has good potential to strengthen its position as one of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s leading hubs of electric cars. The state has one of the strictest car emission standards in the US that forces car producers to introduce more efficient electric cars for Californian market. Additionally, the presence of Silicon Valley and good access to capital markets creates preferable conditions for development of electric car technologies in California. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/03/us-germany-cars-idUSBREA020DL20140103 [2] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/10547996/French-car-market-in-2013-should-be-forgotten.html [3] https://americanmanufacturing.org/blog/us-auto-assembly-plants-are-booming-lets-hope-parts-manufacturers-are-good-times [4] https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-australia-gm-idUSBRE9BA03920131211 [5] https://www.toyota-global.com/investors/ir_library/annual/pdf/2013/p27_31.pdf [6] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-the-fiatchrysler-merger-means-for-drivers-2014-01-02 [7] https://world.honda.com/investors/library/annual_report/2013/honda2013ar-all-e.pdf [8] ibid [9] https://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/global-automotive-retail-market-study-part1.pdf [10] https://wardsauto.com/sales-amp-marketing/auto-analyst-forecasts-18-million-north-american-lv-sales-2019 [11] https://online.wsj.com/new s/articles/SB10001424052702304549504579318952857858762 [12] https://www.freep.com/article/20140112/BUSINESS03/301120161/Volkswagen-Detroit-auto-show-NAIAS [JL1]Manau sita pastraipa trinti, o duomenis sudeti I lentele, gal dar pridedant kokius modelius gamina; Kartais gali buti idomu klientams kokios gamyklos ka gamina; Pvz Fordo gamykla gamina pikapus kurie turi aliuminio vaziuoklej, tai jei esi aliuminio tiekejas ta gamykla turbut butent domintu

Friday, December 20, 2019

Death, Duty, And Dignity - 1327 Words

Maggie Green 10/23/2014 Religion In the case study, Death, Duty, and Dignity, there are several central characters experiences to consider including Theresa, Ted, Peter and Faith, as well as Mary. Theresa went to conferences and wrote papers around 1994 when Oregon was having a debate on whether or not to pass a Death with Dignity Act. At the time, Theresa spoke against physician-assisted suicide because she felt that this form of help is allowing people to do what they want when it is time to die. This is not anything that Catholics view. Eventually her father, Ted, utilized physician-assisted suicide. He contacted her saying that he had grade IV glioblastoma multiforme, a deadly form of brain cancer. Ted had brain surgery to remove the tumor and had radiotherapy to increase his chance of survival. Well, unfortunately he began to have severe headaches and doctors told him that he had six months or less to live. Ted wanted their family physician to assist him in speeding up the process of his death because he did not want to go through the pain and forget who his family was. Theresa has a duty to support her father Shortly after this, Theresa was asked to present on this issue of physican assisted suicide at the conference of Death, Duty, and Dignity. In order for Theresa to fulfill her duties of being a daughter and to herself she needs to be honest, forgiving, and open-minded. Honest because she thought that she was opposed to physician-assisted suicide before. SheShow MoreRelatedPhi 208 Essay733 Words   |  3 PagesApplying an Ethical Theory PHI208 Kristy Villone March 30, 2014 Should assisted death, or euthanasia be an option for the terminally ill? In 1994, the Oregon Death With Dignity Act was formed, making Oregon the first state to legalize physician assisted deaths with restrictions. As of today, Washington, Vermont, New Mexico, along with Oregon are all legalized in euthanasia. 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Through research, she discovered death by dignity, which is an â€Å"end of life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live† (Maynard). After relocating to Oregon (one of the few states that death by dignity is authorized) she received medication to take, in the event that she wanted to die on her own terms. Brittany Maynard died just over aRead MoreKant s View On Ethics Essay1362 Words   |  6 Pageshas experienced the feelings of betrayal and vulnerability brought about by having their trust in someone broken. Lying, any reasonable person would agree, is wrong. Famous philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that, in fact, we as humans have a perfect duty to never lie in any situation. While on its surface a theory that is easy to agree with, many challenged Kant’s firm stance by challenging it with theoretical situations in which lying might be the only right thing to do. 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For physician-assisted suicide to even be considered the patient must be of sound mind when they are requesting the physician-assisted suicide. To guarantee that the process is carried out correctly a doctor or a witness should be there to prove consciousness. The patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illnessRead MoreThe Legalization Of Physician Assisted Suicide1720 Words   |  7 PagesIt is obvious discussing physician-assisted suicide is a very controversial issue that is discussed daily by those who wish to die to avoid loss of dignity and also by those who think it is unethical. For physician-assisted suicide to even be considered, the patient must be of sound mind when they are requesting death with dignity. Physician-assisted suicide should be a legal option for people who are unable to end their own l ives. However, there should be safeguards to prevent any sort of abuseRead MoreEuthanasia Essays : Euthanasia And Euthanasia1432 Words   |  6 PagesDoes euthanasia assists patients to die with dignity? From fresh to dying, is the humanity multiplies the development natural law. Along with medicine progress and life enhancement, the people besides pay attention to eugenics, simultaneous starts to pay attention to the euthanasia. Since this century 50 ages, regarding euthanasia, many countries’ medical arenas, educational world, and ethical groups have been arguing about the euthanasia argument for many years, although many person of ideas haveRead MoreEssay about PHILOSOPHY1293 Words   |  6 PagesMorality is used by the minority dissenting opinion to reiterate the concepts of the intrinsic dignity of man. While the majority uses the literary work the Leviathan to support their own opinions. Transforming and uplifting the case of Gregg v. Georgia into an arena for a debate of Hobbian and Kant philosophies. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The majority claims that the death penalty serves two purposes, restitution and deterrence. Quoting the prior case of Fruman v.Read MoreEuthanasia: Not Morally Acceptable Essay1646 Words   |  7 Pagesin that its moral values represented in such terms as ‘mercy killing’, ‘dying with dignity’, ‘good death’ and ‘right for self-determination’ fail to justify taking one’s life. Introduction Among other moral issues, euthanasia emerged with modern medical advancement, which allows us ever more control over not only our life but also death. Euthanasia is an especially sensitive issue because it deals with the death and the killing of a person. In this paper, I argue that euthanasia is wrong by responding

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Children Join School

Question: What are the challenges that children face when they start school? Answer: Introduction Based on the article by Liz Bayram, chief executive at the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY), this paper is about the school going children and the other related factors. Childs are more likely to suffer several risks so the article is about a statistical study based on students and their parents, where Liz claimed that 66% of the parents are anxious about going schools of children. Now-a-days maximum numbers of schools are providing support to children and anticipate social, emotional and communication skills to help them become enthusiastic in learning. But yet there are some salient features that children face in their earlier grades. To attain fun at schools and enjoy course structure, children generally depend on their close friends and mates. As they arise from various different social, economical and geographical backgrounds, all the students at first cant come forward to make new friends. In this paper the researcher tested the factors statistical ly that may affect childrens acceptability in a school( Plowmann Stephen, 2003). There are several issues relating to the attachment of large peer group, chances of resilience and risks that might affect a students satisfaction and the development of childrens thinking process at the beginning of middle childhood. Growing children like to allocate themselves in peer groups and try to put in more times in their area of preferences. Failure in connecting with satisfying peer may result susceptibility and emotional problems in children further. Generally it is seen that children have an exposure to mental health problems that are caused due to the risks and resilience faced by them in the early stages of school life. One of the key situations is there that he/she might get rejected from the peer. These types of problems can be taken care by teaching social skills to them. Parents must focus on their personal lives as well to feel his child safe and lovable. Keeping a stress-free atmos phere in home is always necessary for a budding child. They should be engaged in a routine life. Rough times will come and go, but in school and also in houses, teachers and parents must teach children about hoping, keeping faith and look the radiant part of every situations, even in future circumstances. The childcare development homes conduct sessions for the parents as well as the teachers to support the children in their early years of school life. It is the duty and responsibility of the parents to take care of the emotional problems of their children (OKeffee Clarke-Pearson, 2011) Attachment issues in peer groups Peer groups consist of the members of respective work places and social life. A neighbor, classmate or an acquaintance relate to this. Research shows that 74% of new school going children tend to be in reciprocal friendships with respective peers. The percentage increases with time as peer provides companionship, intimacy, friendship and self defence, satisfaction too. Researchers found significant evidences that children who are not directly or closely involved to their peers, lately they are more likely o show incarnating symptoms. Personalizing difficulties were not subjected to poor peer acceptance but due to some teachers underreporting, lack of peer acceptance indicated these type of difficulties, by reducing the chance of an association with other variables of interest. But in several scientific studies in recent times clearly justify that complication in peer group is not responsible for low-level self worth at that time point (Reitz et al, 2012). In a study of the children a ged between five to twelve years, results confirm both incarnating and personalizing problems do not contribute to any change in peer rejection. The children, who are prone to be problematic, unruly and intrusive, likely are separated from big peer group. Depressed children limit themselves to limited opportunities regarding the inclusion of large peer due to their gripe, weak social relation and lack of motivation in general child activities. So naturally childhood depression syndrome formulates less acceptance in peer. Friendships which are supportive play a critical role in childrens psychological arrangements as they provide positive affiliation, endurance and affection (Murname Steele, 2007). Close friendship works as an emotional stress-buster leading to better psychological outcomes. Children with the syndrome of adjustment problem are unable to maintain supportive friendship. A recent study based on the students from fourth to sixth grade, supported by FDS of UCLA has done to test these features. Childrens self reports, gradation about selected students psychological adjustment informed by teachers and respective peer acceptance has also been taken into account. Data generated from two different time sources (fourth and sixth grade) were tested with hypotheses statistically. A large number of students generally from Caucasian population along with their parents were chosen as sample. As a measure of peer acceptance and psychological arrangements show they are correlated cross-sectionally. The self-reports by students and teacher report variables, whereas, show a higher range of correlation, indicating potential bias. Longitudinal associations between relations with peer group and four measures of students personalized arrangements were studied through multiple regression analysis. The researchers plotted all relevant interactions and between predictors and gender differences separately and reported their findings (Leventhal Brook-gunn, 2000) Acceptance in peer and close friendship as should be tested in sync, multiple regression models similar to explained variables are built. Acceptance by peer groups beholds as a relevant predictor of psychological adjustments. Less peer show more incarnating and personalizing symptoms. Results also indicate peer acceptance minimally depend on gender, that is less peer acceptance predict poor cognitive arrangements for both boys and girls. Many past researchers have used teachers reports to draw a relation between childrens peer acceptance and psychological adjustments, which indicates awareness of teachers has been increased in recent times (Sharp 2002). Interruptions relating to social networks have a larger mark on females self-evaluations. The overall study reveals that peer acceptance in childhood period shorten the chance of maladjustments in future period. As well as, problems in adjustments are liable to forecast difficulties in relations. Close friends support is necessary for depressive students in maintaining social skills and related acceptance. Risks and resilience Some children have an exposure to mental health problems that are caused due to the risks and resilience faced by them in the early stages of school life. Many children do flourish in spite of the risks faced by them in school. The capacity to cope with the change is a major component of mental health of the children. Risk also results to poor outcomes at times. There are few predisposing factors in families that can have an effect on the children. Some parents are more anxious and nervous than their children and that have a negative impact on the life of the children. Parents need to be supportive to help their children flourish in their respective fields. When children start attending school, they face numerous problems that have a negative impact on their lives. The exposure to a completely new world (from home to school) can affect them hugely (Aron Loprest, 2012). They will have a completely different environment from that of home since there would be teachers and peers unknown to them. Sometimes the teachers may not be cooperative as they handle a number of students at a time and it becomes difficult for them to provide attention to individual students. They might face peer pressure, which can prevent them from attending school. This has an effect on their mental health and affects the process of learning. When parents themselves are caught in hostile, angry and tense battles with each other, it becomes very difficult for them to focus on the emotional needs of their children. Even the children get involved in the battles at times. They become very confused and frightened by the violence at their home. In these cases, the children become the victims of emotional abuse and it affects them mentally, which has a negative impact on their growth in school. The risks faced by the children can also be conquered only if proper care is taken (Berk 2012). Various foundations and childcare development homes can guide the parents as well as the teachers to help the children cope up with their difficulties. They can conduct different individual sessions with the parents as well as the teachers and guide them to tackle the children at home and school respectively. The development centers teach them to understand the child psychology in their early years and help them face their childhood problems (Blatchfort 2012). This will further help the children to cope up with the daily problems and support them to become successful individuals. Helping children in their foundation years can boost them to have better future. Parents should spend more time with their children and find out about their complaints and matters to worry. They should keep a check on their childrens progress and focus on the development and learning processes of their children. This can be of much help to the children who are going to start their school (Farrington, Piquero and Jennings 2013). They can overcome their weaknesses and carry on their daily school. We can point down the risk and resilience factors in the following way: Risk Resilience Cognitive deficits like vocabulary, Social skills, direction following. Parent and Cognitive skills training and Conducting Pre-school programs. Poor parental skills. Pre-natal parental training. Poor School Involvement . Effective education and behavioral management. Rejection faced from the peers. Teaching social skills. For example, when a child goes to the school for the first time, he is very nervous and tensed. He is afraid of leaving his parents behind and facing a new world full of strangers. He needs support from his parents to face the outer world or else he will suffer from mental health problems (Griffine, Burns Snow, 1998) Children in middle childhood Middle childhood usually brings numerous changes in a childs life. They are usually in the age group of 6-8 years. These years are the developmental milestones in their lives. By this time, the children know to dress themselves, tie their shoelaces and many more developments. Starting school has already taught them to deal with a larger world. Friendship becomes more important to them. The social, mental and physical skills develop swiftly in this period. They also develop confidence in different areas of their lives. They go through emotional and social changes (Heering, Rossion Maurer 2012). They might show independence from their family and parents. They might also start thinking about their future. They pay more attention to friends and want to be accepted by them in return. Children of these age groups might show excellent mental and developmental skills. They learn to deal with the worldly changes. They also learn better techniques and ways to express their feelings and though ts. They improve their communication skills and show confidence in every matter. Various advances in understanding and learning often mark this stage of growth in children. In this period, they acquire the fundamental skills like arithmetic and reading that are regarded to be important by their culture (Lee and Vagle 2012). Self-awareness skills also develop at this stage. They find new strategies to study and practice new and creative things. They become capable to retrieve information to solve and cope with new situations and problems. They begin to coordinate actions, plan consciously, evaluate and rate their progress as well as modify their strategies and plans to improve in their fields. They learn to differentiate between the perspectives of others and them. They understand peoples behavior and react accordingly. They gather knowledge from almost everywhere and implement them in their own ways. They interact with more people consulting on various matters. This helps them to gain more knowledge about the outer world (Turner et al, 2012). They are more exposed to their peers at this stage. This stage helps to increase their skills of reasoning and questioning. Children become more curious about every matter and demands reason for everything. They become self-dependent and smart as they feel that the y can deal with every problem they face. The middle childhood prevents children from spending time with their parents. They feel more comfortable under the supervision of the teachers and other coaches. The participation of the children in different formal and school programs exposes them to various ethnic and religious groups and broader personal styles. They watch and follow the adults performing different social roles and they start comparing themselves with the adults. They try to act like grown-ups and believe in solving their own problems. They try to judge everyone from their own perspective and take decisions (Trzaskowski et al, 2012). The major event that divides preschool and the middle childhood period is when a child enters into the level of elementary school. They experience individual freedom and are allowed to move around freely. Children are very optimistic while entering to the middle-childhood period. However, few factors affect their confidence level. Some of them face different situational problems that strives them to become more pessimistic. They become frustrated and hesitate to try out new experiments. When they lose confidence, they start neglecting their subjects of study. They might also face some problems from the peer groups that can have a negative impact to the course of development (Hornby 2011). For example, a child aged six years is very confident and enthusiastic about the various activities of school. However, when a problem arises in his or her daily course, it affects him or her very badly and this is when pessimism comes in. Summary As a summary analysis based on the above result we can say that these factors are important to look out while studying the challenges that children face in their early school days. Peer acceptance is the main criteria to take care of. Starting school for the children is very important relating so some factors. There are many homes and houses where there is not so much affectionate bond between father and mother (Thorell, Rydell Bohlin, 2012). In this context a child face problem staying home when his father yelling o his mother. The children should not be involved in the family battles as that have a negative impact on the minds of the children. This also reduces their confidence level. So they search for their respective peers where they can interact with the people of the same mindset of theirs. They can grow, generate and keep budding in this type of environment. So it is reasonable for parents to teach child how to make new friends. They are also advisable to feel his/her fellow mates pain, grief with a sense of sympathy. Parents must encourage children to be a friend in order to get friend. For all these, a strong family background and support has to be implemented. Children have soft hearts, and sometimes they are introvert. So they should be handled with care. Parents must try to listen to any of their disappointments or wishes (Alaimo, Olson and Frongillo, 2001). At school, isolation from classroom, friends can be dangerous for a child. Connection building power with new persons should be nurtured from school. Many risks and resilience are present for a new school comer. Cognitive risk deficits like vocabulary, Social skills, direction following need some parent and Cognitive skills training and Conducting Pre-school programs. Poor parental skills can be reduced or overcame by pre-natal parental training. Sometimes there are poor involvements in school. Effective education and behavioral management can be the solutions of facing these types of difficul ties. In some circumstances, a child may face some events which is painful. They should be helped by advising them to focus on the larger aspect and broad perspectives of that event. But some of them, are too immature and inexperienced that they are unable to acknowledge the brighter look by their own. In that case they should be assured that the bad incident is not constant and there is a future ahead of the ongoing situation and the future always have a good possibility ( Heering, Rossion, and Maurer, 2012). Conclusions In this particular essay, we have discussed about the psychology of children as well as of their parents and teachers when the children start going to school. We have also learnt about the risks of the children and their resiliencies to overcome the situations. When children join new schools, they face numerous problems and get disheartened at the very beginning. They fear peer pressure and exposure to a new world of strangers. It affects the mental health of the students and brings down their confidence level. They face more stress and refuse to attend school because of the peer pressure or non-cooperation from the teachers. However, these problems can be easily taken care of. The childcare development homes conduct sessions for the parents as well as the teachers to support the children in their early years of school life (Easterbrooks, Bureau, and Lyons-Ruth, 2012). It is the duty and responsibility of the parents to take care of the emotional problems of their children. They shou ld understand their problems and help them to overcome those. The children should not be involved in the family battles as that have a negative impact on the minds of the children. This also reduces their confidence level. Various community problems also arise that have a toxic effect on the children. The parents and the teachers should work collectively in shaping a childs future. It is the responsibility of the parents to have regular interactions with the teachers so that they are aware of the childs progress. Local forums of schools can bring together the teachers and the parents to discuss about the betterment of the children (Waters 2012). On the other hand, it has also come to notice that the children undergo numerous changes when they enter into the period of middle childhood. The transition from early childhood to middle childhood is vast and brings many changes in the lives of the children. The transition is both positive and negative (Wang et al, 2012). They learn to ques tion things and enquire about their existence. They develop new characteristics and try to participate in every discussion. It is very important for the schools to coordinate and collaborate with the providers of childcare to conduct out-of-school programs. The programs conducted outside school are very effective and contributes to the growth of the children. If the environmental and societal changes are considered accordingly, they can help the parents to shape their childrens future in a better way (McCuaig and Region, 2012). References Beck, L., Kumschick, I.R., Eid, M. and Klann-Delius, G., 2012. Relationship between language competence and emotional competence in middle childhood.Emotion,12(3), p.503. Blatchford, P., 2012.Social Life in School: Pupils' experiences of breaktime and recess from 7 to 16. Routledge. De Heering, A., Rossion, B. and Maurer, D., 2012. Developmental changes in face recognition during childhood: Evidence from upright and inverted faces.Cognitive Development,27(1), pp.17-27. Easterbrooks, M., Bureau, J.F. and Lyons-Ruth, K., 2012. Developmental correlates and predictors of emotional availability in motherchild interaction: A longitudinal study from infancy to middle childhood.Development and psychopathology,24(01), pp.65-78. Hill, N.E. and Taylor, L.C., 2004. Parental school involvement and children's academic achievement pragmatics and issues.Current directions in psychological science,13(4), pp.161-164. Hornby, G. 2011.Parental involvement in childhood education. New York: Springer. Hudson, J.L. and Dodd, H.F., 2012. Informing early intervention: Preschool predictors of anxiety disorders in middle childhood.PloS one,7(8), p.e42359. Kersten-Alvarez, L.E., Hosman, C.M., Riksen-Walraven, J.M., van Doesum, K.T., Smeekens, S. and Hoefnagels, C., 2012. Early school outcomes for children of postpartum depressed mothers: comparison with a community sample.Child Psychiatry Human Development,43(2), pp.201-218. Luby, J.L., Barch, D.M., Belden, A., Gaffrey, M.S., Tillman, R., Babb, C., Nishino, T., Suzuki, H. and Botteron, K.N., 2012. Maternal support in early childhood predicts larger hippocampal volumes at school age.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,109(8), pp.2854-2859. McCuaig, K. and Region, W., 2012. Early years study 3: Making decisions, taking action. Raver, C.C. and Knitzer, J., 2002. Ready to enter: What research tells policymakers about strategies to promote social and emotional school readiness among three-and four-year-old children. Thorell, L.B., Rydell, A.M. and Bohlin, G., 2012. Parentchild attachment and executive functioning in relation to ADHD symptoms in middle childhood.Attachment human development,14(5), pp.517-532. Trzaskowski, M., Zavos, H.M., Haworth, C.M., Plomin, R. and Eley, T.C., 2012. Stable genetic influence on anxiety-related behaviours across middle childhood.Journal of abnormal child psychology,40(1), pp.85-94. Turner, H.A., Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., Hamby, S., Leeb, R.T., Mercy, J.A. and Holt, M., 2012. Family context, victimization, and child trauma symptoms: variations in safe, stable, and nurturing relationships during early and middle childhood.American journal of orthopsychiatry,82(2), pp.209-219. Wang, Z., Deater-Deckard, K., Cutting, L., Thompson, L.A. and Petrill, S.A., 2012. Working memory and parent-rated components of attention in middle childhood: A behavioral genetic study.Behavior genetics,42(2), pp.199-208.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Imagery by Edwin Arlington Robinson Essay Sample free essay sample

Mrs. Hawks English CP 1 10 April 2012 Imagery by Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in Head Tide. Maine on December 22. 1869. He moved to a town named Gardiner where he grew up ; the town subsequently provided the theoretical account for a series of verse forms that he wrote throughout his calling as a poet ( Peschel ) . Robinson attended Harvard from 1891 to 1893 even though his parents were against traveling to a school of higher value for the instruction. President Theodore Roosevelt helped Robinson acquire a occupation at the New York Custom House as a clerk in 1905. There. he realized his true passion in life was composing ( Scott ) . Robinson became the first major American poet of the 20th century. â€Å"unique in that he devoted his life to poetry and volitionally paid the monetary value in poorness and obscurity† ( Peschel ) . He was a great poet and could utilize metaphors to enable the reader to be able to visualize his characters and scenes in their heads. Many of Robinson’s plants follow the same forms. He describes his characters personality through adjectives of the individual or of the scene. Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poems â€Å"Miniver Cheevy† . â€Å"Charles Carville’s Eyes† . and â€Å"Richard Cory† usage imagination to make work forces who are non satisfied with themselves. Imagery is â€Å"the formation of mental images. figures. or similitudes of things. or of such images jointly. † or â€Å"pictorial images and mental images† ( Quinn ) . Edwin Arlington Robinson normally doesn’t use imagination from the natural universe. but if or when he does. the images are functional and are made from metaphors and symbolic context ( Scott ) . Every metaphor or simile that Robinson uses while composing his verse form constitutes an image of some kind. His imagination tends to prosecute the readers on their â€Å"sense experience† ( Quinn ) and this enables them to re -create the narrative. Robinson uses words like â€Å"grew lean† . â€Å"bright† . â€Å"iron clothing† . or â€Å"insufficient eyes. † These words help the reader to visualise how the characters in the poem expression or their demeanour. Robinson wants the reader to experience like they are in the verse form. In the verse form. â€Å"Miniver Cheevy† . â€Å"Charles Carville’s Eyes† . and â€Å"Richard Cory† Robinson lets the reader be able to visualize the work forces and how they are experiencing like they are neer satisfied. â€Å"Miniver Cheevy† portrays a adult male who misses and complains about losing the yesteryear. He non merely misses the good. but besides the bad. Cheevy is normally described as â€Å"a mocking self-portrait† ( Squires ) The manner Robinson’s tone is in this verse form. it gives the reader imagination of a tired and crabbed old adult male who is neer satisfied with anything in his life. The reader could conceive of him as being average. Cheevy is described as â€Å"lean† . Robinson says. â€Å"Swords were bright and steeds were tittuping ; † and â€Å"warrior bold† . He goes on to state in his verse form â€Å"He missed the medieval grace Of Fe vesture. † The manner Robinson uses his im agination here. he gives the feeling that he used to be in the armed forces or he lived during a clip of war. The reader gets the image of the art epoch. or Renaissance. Robinson writes â€Å"Miniver scorned the sought ; but sore annoyed was he without it ; † . Again. this is Miniver Cheevy non being satisfied with himself. By the terminal of the verse form. Miniver Cheevy has come to footings with the fact that he no longer lives in the times of the yesteryear. Robinson says. â€Å"Miniver Cheevy. born excessively late. / scratched his caput and kept on thought ; / Miniver coughed. and called it destiny. and kept on imbibing. † â€Å"Richard Cory† is about a adult male who is the richest adult male in town and everyone wants to cognize him and everyone wants to be him but despite all of his great qualities and ownerships. he still is non satisfied with himself. The manner Robinson describes Cory is that â€Å"He was a gentleman from sole to coronate. / clean-favoured and imperially slender. † The reader would hold a mind image of a tall adult male who is nice and â€Å"king like† ( Anderson ) . He portrays images or royalty when he says â€Å"We people on the paving looked at him† ( Robinson ) . When Robinson writes the words. â€Å"imperially slim† it shows how empty and fragile he is ( Bruccoli ) . Besides. when Robinson writes. â€Å"quietly arrayed† and â€Å"he was ever human when he talked† it shows that he is normal on the interior and he wants to be normal to the people in his town. once more. demoing that he is non satisfied with himself. Richard Cory was so unsated with himself. that â€Å"one composure summer night† ( Robinson ) he went place and â€Å"put a slug through his caput. † ( Robinson ) The fact that it was a â€Å"calm summer night† shows imagination of it all being normal and that he did non kill himself on any peculiar dark. This shows that he is unhappy on good and bad yearss. The verse form â€Å"Charles Carville’s Eyes† is about a adult male who tries to look happy to everyone but realistically. he is mourning on the interior. In this. it shows that he is non satisfied with himself for unknown grounds. The reader gets the mental image that Charles Carville’s eyes are dull and lifeless. Robinson says. â€Å"His deficient eyes. everlastingly sad: / in them there was no life-glimpse. good or bad. / nor rejoice nor passion in them of all time gleamed† ( Robinson ) . Robinson says. â€Å"Once you knew him. for his oral cavity redeemed† . All Carville wants is to be peoples friend and one time he was. his image changed. â€Å"His oral cavity was all of him that of all time beamed. / his eyes were regretful. but his oral cavity was glad† . said Robinson. Robinson besides portrays him as being unheard and â€Å"out of touch† with the remainder of society. The reader might believe that he is non satisfied with himself because he wants to be heard by the remainder of the community. In Edward Arlington Robinson’s poems â€Å"Miniver Cheevy† . â€Å"Charles Carville’s Eyes† . and â€Å"Richard Cory† Robinson uses similes and metaphors and shows three different men’s personality but all three work forces have something in common. they all are non satisfied with themselves. In â€Å"Richard Cory† and â€Å"Charles Carville’s Eyes† Robinson shows all of the men’s features. physically and mentally. In â€Å"Miniver Cheevy† Robinson portrays the man’s mental issues more that his physical. Overall. all three work forces are non satisfied with themselves. Plants Cited Anderson. Wallace L. â€Å"On â€Å"Richard Cory†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Modern American Poetry. American National Biography. Web. 29 February 2012. Bovee. Timothy. â€Å"‘Miniver Cheevy. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ DayPoems. The DayPoems Poetry Collection. Web. 22 March 2012 Bruccoli. Matthew. â€Å"‘Richard Cory. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Student’s Encyclopedia of American Literary Characters. 2012 Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Web. 26 February 2012. Fetzer. Scott. â€Å"Robinson. Edwin A. † The World BookEncyclopedia. 2010 erectile dysfunction. Print. Peschel. Bill. â€Å"Edwin Arlington Robinson’s Life and Career. † Modern American Poetry. American National Biography. Web. 26 February 2012 Quinn. Edward. â€Å"Imagery† A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Footings. 2012 Bloom’s Literary Reference Online. Web. 10 April 2012 Robinson. Edwin Arlington. â€Å"Richard Cory† Poem Hunter. Web. 31 December 2002 Robinson. Edwin Arlington. â⠂¬Å"Charles Carville’s Eyes† Poem Hunter. Web. 3 January 2003 Squires. Rodcliffe. â€Å"On â€Å"‘Miniver Cheevy†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Modern American Poetry. American National Biography. Web. 29 March 2012

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Women as Police Chiefs Essay Example

Women as Police Chiefs Essay Police officers are meant to safe guard citizens against the various forms of crimes that take place in today’s society. Today, this role is played by both the women and men as everyone has equal rights in society. The acceptance of women taking carrers as police officials has come a long way. In the olden days, women were regarded as the weaker sex that is, both physically and emotionally while the men were the courageous one who headed their families and protected them from danger. For this reason, there is no way a man could have ever thought a woman was able to fit in their shoes. Perceptions on women in policing People still think that women are not courageous enough to take up such roles. Moreover, people think that women will let their emotions interfere with their work hence they are not suited for the job. Why would women want to become police officers? We will write a custom essay sample on Women as Police Chiefs specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Women as Police Chiefs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Women as Police Chiefs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The answers to this question are as varied as the women themselves. Some dreamt of becoming police officers although they do not quiet understand how they got such a non traditional dream, Some have family members and friends in law enforcement and have been encouraged to take up the career, others have seen it as an exiting career as opposed to the traditional women jobs, some want to prove to their male counterparts that what they can do a woman can do and do it better, or as a result of a dare from their colleagues. â€Å"But the one reason that most of them share is that they would like to be able to help other people in society (Schulz, 2004).† Advantages women police chiefs bring to the police force Although policing is one of the few remaining strongholds of male dominance, in greater numbers, women have been challenged them. Males have dominated the most of the law enforcement agency especially in the military. â€Å"Around the 1970s an increasing number of women have took up the battle to invade the hallowed male halls of this bureaucracy (Wells Sowers, 2000)† and have brought a lot of advantages in the police force with it. Some of the positive attributes include: women take their work very seriously and passionately. Just as they would run their own homes, the woman police chief ensures that all the police departments are well coordinated and activities are well supervised and monitored. Through this, the woman police chief ensures that the police operations are on course. Women are good at listening and offering advice. This makes them good counselors as they are able to listen to the views and opinions of their workmates as well as the general public. People can easily approach them and this makes it easier for people to share with them how they feel about the job and what they would like to be improved. â€Å"The women Police chief brings balance in the police force (Wells Sowers, 2000).† People will be assured that more women can get in the force as they will continually fight for the rights of other women especially when they see someone is talented but due to male biasness they are not considered therefore they can rally for them so that they are chosen. The woman police Chief just like any other police chief represents the police departments in public relations matters. They will always want to provide a good image of what they do and this makes them better supervisors and they ensure that they maintain discipline among the employees. The process of becoming a police chief Just as medical students spend many years in school before they become doctors, so is the road to becoming a police chief long and challenging. Women who have become police chiefs are a living example that all things are possible if you put your heart and mind to it. The process usually starts when people are being recruited. When those who have the heart and all that is required, they undergo harsh training conditions to become police officers. Once a police officer, they would like to go to the next level just as humans need to progress, after working as police chiefs and doing a good job at it, they can decide to be detectives if they please or go on to be sergeants. After this, they will move up the ranks to become, Lieutenant, captain, Major, and a then commander. Upon reaching here, they may see that they have come far but since they are so close to the top, they may as well apply for the police chief job. Because they will be elected, women candidates have been forced to confront these dilemmas of style and presentation much earlier in the selection process. â€Å"Candidates’ opponents would have to make sure that to have raised the issue of sex/ gender during the campaign so that employees understand who they will be better sited for the job (29, breaking).† They may be very successful and eventually get the job because they have all the qualifications that are needed. We can therefore say that the path toward Police Chief is very challenging and takes years of hard work. Challenges facing women police chiefs At work The police chiefs deal with dangerous people who may harm them. They may fall victims of attacks in that law offenders who had been caught, imprisoned and released and were planning revenge they could easily harm them if they know their where about. Furthermore, women officers as well as men have been killed in the line of duty. When the people who work for them are harmed or lose their lives, their womanly instincts obviously takes full course and they feel remorseful. Sometimes they get affected psychologically especially when the victims are people they really liked and would have loved to see them accomplish their personal and career goals. This will therefore make them afraid in sending off their staff to very dangerous mission but when they took their oaths of office, they vowed to protect the lives and peoples property hence they have to lead and act as leaders under any circumstances. The police departments have fallen victims of numerous corruption allegations and the police chief, who is the head of all the departments, will be held accountable for the actions of those under her. Excessive use of force by the police has also been another issue that the public usually complain about and certain people have been seriously hurt while others have died in the hands of such police men and women (Silvestri, 2003). There have been cases of discrimination especially in dealing with race and ethical issues such that they tend to blame certain members of a particular race for most of the crimes. When all these internal issues take place, all the accusing fingers will be on the woman police chief if she is in charge and sometimes they have no idea of such occurrences but are left to take the blame for things they did not do. On top of this, â€Å"they will have to deal with incompetent police officers as sometimes during the recruitment process, some people are favored and this is one of the underlying issues that cause most of the internal problems in the police force (Scarborough Collins, 2002).† Discrimination and intimidation â€Å"The society has not full embraced the roles played by women Police and sometimes people look down on them (Natarajan, 2008).† This is evident in their places of work as they have to work twice or more than their male counterparts in such positions so that they get the respect they deserve from their subordinates as well as other officials people whom they usually interact with in the course of their duties. They have to overcome this fear which is not an easy task as sometimes their efforts go unnoticed. Lack of corporation by members of the society is another issue. When the people they fight to protect day and night are stubborn in giving information that the police may find useful, this does not really help them much in fighting crimes as they have to plead with people thus wasting a lot of time. This will make them frustrated and at times feel like the job I dragging them down. Personal They concentrate so much on their work that they can easily neglect other sectors of their lives. For example, if someone has a family, they have to play the mother role as well be a wife. â€Å"Sometimes they get so consumed with their work that they have little time to spend at home and run their families (Brown Campbell, 1994).† The children may start engaging in activities that are not mortally right like taking alcohol, drugs or sexual activities. These are the kind of things the mother deals with which are now in her family. The father might feel that they do not spend a lot of time with the wife and this brings about marital problems. Moreover, they do not have a social life as they spend most of their time solving crimes. Such problems at home may make the chief not to perform at work like they are supposed to. Lack of support from family members and friends sometimes, the husbands of police chiefs may feel intimidated by their wives as they are superior to them and this will also affect their work. This could be that their wives earn more than them or that wherever they go the focus is always on the wife. They therefore do not have mentors or people they can look up to for the support they need especially in dealing with stress at work. Solutions to the woman police chief challenges Families, friends, he public and fellow work mates need to show support to the woman police chief because that will be the only way that they will see that their services are required will do work in peace and enjoy what they are doing. The male officers need to embrace the roles women can play and agree that at times someone of the opposite sex can out do them. This will ensure that discrimination and intimidation will reduce. Moreover, â€Å"they will be respected by the women police chief if the males make an effort to show them respect (Westmarland, 2001).† The internal management strategies in the police departments should be improved so that there will be fewer cases that involve police departments. This will include things like the police men and women not accepting and supporting bribes or illegal practices in society because they would like to gain, not using excessive force on caught victims; they can simply arrest or warn them and not discriminating against any person regardless of their age, sex, color among other things. All this is to say that they must adhere to the ethics in place with regards to their scope of work. The woman police chief can also go for trainings that do not necessarily deal with police matters so that they can know how they can deal with their personal/emotional and psychological feelings that affect their work. By undergoing such trainings, they will be able to control their feelings and not let them affect their work. Through this, they will remain on top of the game and become better and brave leaders. City officials and other law enforcement agencies need to reward and recognize the work the women do in this business. This they can do by giving them awards for the work they do and this gives them morale to carry on with their work. Women police chiefs need to meet regularly so that they can discuss matters that affect women in the police force. This will create a forum where they can share their personal experiences and find solutions to matters that affect them. The future of Police Women Chiefs The future looks brighter because the women police chiefs who are there serve as mentors to other women who want to pursue such careers. Moreover, the community has seen the work they have done; which has turned out to be good or even better than speculated. Many women are now joining the police force and other law enforcement agencies and this means that in future, the ratio of men to women in such departments will be equal. Conclusion As much as we accept the roles men play in society, women can and have become better officers. The obstacles they face as they seek to reach the top of one of the most quintessentially male professional are many and diverse but such problems will not make them stop doing what they love which is the prevention of crime and the protection of both life and property. They need to be continually supported and such careers encouraged in the school systems.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Me, myself and I (reflexive pronouns explained) - Emphasis

Me, myself and I (reflexive pronouns explained) Me, myself and I (reflexive pronouns explained) People have some pretty strong feelings about the way our language is used and abused if a recent Emphasis blog post is anything to go by. One source of irritation that stood out as a real piece of apple skin between the teeth was the incorrect use of reflexive pronouns. What are they? Reflexive pronouns are basic pronouns + self or selves. They are: myself yourself herself himself itself yourselves themselves. So whats the right way to use them? Officially, you should use reflexive pronouns in sentences where the subject (the person or thing carrying out the action) and the object (the person or thing on the receiving end of the action) are the same. For example: I patted myself on the back for mastering grammar. He dusted himself down, then rang her doorbell. She gave herself a wink in the mirror and said, Go get em, tiger. Reflexive pronouns can also be employed for emphasis (where, technically, they could be removed, leaving the sense the same): I knitted this whole scarf myself. Did you shear the whole flock for it yourself? Its advisable not to overdo this usage, however, as it quickly becomes overbearing. And the wrong way to use them? Cue much gritting of teeth. I think this house is absolutely perfect for yourselves. Id be grateful if you could send that information over to myself. Whereas what the culprits really mean is: I think this house is absolutely perfect for you. Id be grateful if you could send that information over to me. These examples make the mistake of using these words as replacements for the basic pronouns (you, me), as if they were some kind of upmarket equivalent. Sadly, there is no such upgrade: its just plain wrong. If we, ourselves, have reminded you of anything that really gets your goat or floats your boat on the English language front, please join the fun by leaving your comments at our blog yourselves (sorry).

Thursday, November 21, 2019

The Law of Contract Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Law of Contract - Essay Example On boarding the train, Maggie slipped on the carriage’s floor and injured her ankle and damaged her new coat. She lost her balance because the English Rail staff had failed to clean tea spilled previously on the carriage floor. The objective of exemption clauses is to exclude the liability of one of the parties. However, the Unfair Contract Terms Act, states that no contractual exclusion term can either limit or preclude liability, in cases involving negligence that resulted in injury or death of an individual. Moreover, in instances entailing a term of notice that is unreasonable; liability for negligence cannot be mitigated or excluded. The redoubtable Lord Denning, in Spurling v Bradshaw, opined that certain exclusion clauses were to be printed conspicuously and in red ink on the relevant document. Therefore, considerable importance is attached to exemption clauses by the courts. No such prominent notice was given to Maggie, and the reverse of the ticket contained a direction to view the website of English Rail, for information regarding its rules. As such, the exclusion clause was not incorporated into the contract, prior to the completion of the contract. Hence it is invalid. In Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking, the court rejected the exclusion clause and ruled that printing the exclusion clause on the reverse of the ticket constituted insufficient notice to customers. Due to the gross negligence of English Rail’s staff, Maggie sustained the injury to her ankle and her new coat was damaged.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

An unmanageable Case-Management Quandary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An unmanageable Case-Management Quandary - Essay Example There is a need to change the way judges are managing their cases because it is clear that they are uncertain about how to reduce backlog. According to a report by Great Britain (2011), even before opening of the court door, there are more cases going into court thanks to settlement or negotiation of cases out of court by litigants themselves. Litigants in person are individuals without legal representation by solicitors or barristers but have a right of audience. Litigants in person bringing their cases to court are less prepared because they do not have knowledge of the documents required by the judges. The judges end up starting of case hearing without all the relevant documents. In addition, litigants in person do not have an idea of the evidence required for presentation in court and the witness reports are poorly prepared. This makes the judge to steer off the case and assist the litigant in person, increasing the time taken to dispose a case. The longer the time taken to dispose a case the longer the queue thus creation of a backlog. The courts should avoid such cases without help from people with legal knowledg e. The court should appoint Pro bono lawyers to represent people who cannot afford to hire lawyers or hire more staff to assist them. This will increase the number of cases disposed monthly. Efficient justice administration is dependent on many factors (Abioye, 2014). Abioye (2014) considers the registry, modern technology and availability of material and resources, quality of judges and dedicated lawyers as the factors required to reduce backlogs in court. The court’s staff should be competent when it comes to record keeping. The court should increase number of staff in order to improve record keeping and hasten the speed of file recovery for case hearing, to avoid delay. Introduction of modern methods of file storage and recovery

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Banking institutions in the U.S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Banking institutions in the U.S - Essay Example Banking institutions in the U.S need to hold the reserves that are the same as a portion of a number of the liabilities of banks that is owed to clients, this is popularly referred to as fractional reserve. This enables the banks to invest heavily from these funds collected from the depositors. This would reduce arising problems such as a bank run where several bank clients withdraw their savings and forcing the banks to go an extra mile of seeking an extra aid from outside. Banks must keep their Federal Reserve accounts to be in a position of lending their funds to another bank in case the need arises. The monetary policy needs to put all the measures in place to ensure that the lending banks do not overcharge each other when lending these funds. Also, the federal reserve banks should it keep itself updated with the general character as well as the extent of loans and investments of the member banks with the aim of determining whether a utilization is made of bank credit for the trading of securities, commodities or real estate. The Federal Reserve should improve its role in the nation’s retail including wholesale systems of payments, provision of diverse financial services among the various depository institutions. Retail payments mostly involve few dollar amounts reserved for individuals and the small enterprises while wholesale payments involve huge dollar amounts that involve big corporate clients and financial institutions.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Highlighting mitchells and butlers strategic

Highlighting mitchells and butlers strategic Executive Summary This report is aimed at highlighting Mitchells and Butlers strategic choices through the analysis of its internal and external environment. A number of measurement tools were used in order to express this. The report firstly looks into the external environment in which the organisation is involved with. The external analysis was split into two different sections: The macro environment and the microenvironment. A PESTLE analysis was used for the macro environment as this captures all the factors that affect Mitchells and Butlers, of which none of them they can control. To analyse the microenvironment Porters five forces model was used as this highlights all the factors that can have a direct effect on an organisation. Following the Internal Analysis the report then looks at the internal logistics of the business. Looking internally into Mitchells and Butler identified many aspects of the business such as its resources and capabilities, competitive advantage, core competencies and the stage the company is at with regards to the life cycle. All these differing aspects will then help to identify the strategic choices available to Mitchells and Butler. The report then looks at the financial side of the organisation using three financial statements: Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and 5 year income statement. These are analysed to review sales trends and profit trends. A SWOT Analysis has been drawn out which helped in the completion of the TOWS matrix. The TOWS matrix combined with the SFA model identify areas where Mitchells and Butler can grow. To conclude the report, all the data was collected and analysed to suggest short, medium and long term plans for Mitchells and Butler. Introduction. This report is the second part of a two part report which will analyse both the internal and external factors that influence the Mitchells and Butlers organisation. A strategic analysis of the company has already been carried, which can be seen in Appendix 1. It involved carrying out analysis on the vision, mission, values and objectives of M+B. This report will focus on the strategies that Mitchells and Butler implement in order to grow. The report will firstly look at the Micro and Macro external environment using tools such as PESTLE, SWOT, Porters five forces model and competitor gap analysis which will combine to give a competitor analysis. Once the external analysis is complete the report will then focus its attention on the internal analysis. This will involve analysing Mitchells and Butlers core competencies by conducting a portfolio analysis. Based upon these analysis the report will then finish with recommendations of the future strategic choice and direction of the company followed by a short, medium and long term plan for Mitchells and Butlers. The business report will use David F (1988) comprehensive strategic management model as a guideline in order to cover all aspects of the strategic report. As mentioned above Vision and mission statements have already been analysed, th erefore this report will start on performing both internal and external audits. 1. External Analysis â€Å"A companys marketing environment consists of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect marketing managements ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers. Successful companies know the vital importance of constantly watching and adapting to the companies environment†. (Kotler, P et al. 2008) 1.1 Macro Environment Carrying out external analysis allows firms to adapt quickly to the changing environment. The macro environment is the â€Å"complete social context in which the organisation resides†. Carrol, A + Buchholtz, A (2008) Kotler, P et al. (2008) also includes that it is the larger societal forces that affect the whole microenvironment. He states that there are six major forces in a companys macro environment: Political Economic Social Technological Legal Environmental 1.2 PESTLE Analysis PESTEL analysis categorises the factors that effect an organisation externally. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) note that many of these factors are linked. When one factor changes it can have a knock on effect on other factors. As these factors change they affect the competitive environment in which the organisation operates in, as a result it is crucial that organisations are aware of the changes in the external environment. Political Licensing Laws- Mitchells and Butlers have a minimum requirement to follow all licensing laws lay down by the government. If at any time they come in breach of these licenses they place themselves in serious jeopardy with the federal agencies. Smoking Ban- The smoking ban, introduced in July 2007, had a serious effect on all of Mitchells and Butlers managed pubs and restaurants. The ban meant that no establishment was to allow smoking in any of its premises. Economic Unemployment- With the UK, along with the rest of the world, going further and further into a recession, companies look to try and cut costs by lowering the number of staff, therefore unemployment rises. A report written in the TimesOnline website by Grà ¡inne Gilmore in February 2009 highlights some facts and figures which can affect consumers disposable income. In it he states that unemployment rose close to two million and predictions have been made that the figure could rise to three million by next year, the highest level since 1986. Tax Increase- With taxes expected to rise in January 2010, consumer spending will slow down. Inflation The rise of inflation makes it harder for people to borrow as the banks Social Social Responsibility As the leading operator of managed pubs and pub restaurants in the UK, Mitchells and Butlers has a commitment to give the responsible retailing of alcohol. Mitchells and Butlers established a policy for retailing alcohol in a responsible manner. This ensures that all of their licensed premises are operated responsibly. Under age Drinking Mitchells and Butlers launched the â€Å"Challenge 21† campaign, which was aimed at stopping/ reducing the number of under aged drinkers in their managed premises a. Healthy Eating Due to the increased awareness of healthy eating through government ad campaigns, celebrity chefs etc Mitchells and Butlers has to be aware of the varying attitudes towards healthy eating. As a result they offer a wide variety of dishes on there menus across all their differing brands. They look to offer a good choice of healthy options at the same time as offering more indulgent dishes. Mitchells and Butlers are continually creating fresh dishes with an emphasis on nutritional value. Legal Minimum Wage The National Minimum wage was introduced 10 years ago and has increased 5.5% year. Mitchells and Butler must comply with the minimum pay levels for each age group to comply with the law. Health and Safety at Work act 1974 The Act is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in the United Kingdom. (hse.gov.uk, 2009) Mitchells and Butlers must ensure that they enforce the health and safety of both there workforce and their customers. Environmental Weather Due to the varying weather conditions throughout the whole year, Mitchells and Butlers should be constantly aware of the effects good and bad weather can have on there outlets. Recycling Due to raised awareness of pollution in the environment and the effects of waste Mitchells and Butlers have to show there commitment in creating as little waste as possible, and where possible recycle as much of their waste as possible. They also have a commitment to reducing there carbon footprint which can be done by the recycling of used cooking oil which is then converted into bio-diesel. 1.3 Microenvironment â€Å"The microenvironment consists of the actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers: the company, suppliers, marketing intermediaries,rs and publics†. Kotler, P et al. (2008) It is the environment with components that have specific and immediate implications for managing the organisation. Decisions made involving the microenvironment have a direct effect on the organisation. It can be controlled by the company and analysis at this level is firm specific. Xu, J.(2005) There are many models that can help firms to measure the position they are in within their environment. 1.4 Porters Five Forces The Objective of performing industry analysis is to develop an organisations competitive advantage in order to be more successful than its competitors. The way in which this can be done is by using Porters Five Forces Model. ( Lynch, 2003) In it he identifies the five basic forces that can have an effect on an organisation. Bargaining power Threat of Of suppliers new entrants The report will now go into further detail of each threat, identifying the different aspects of each factor and the affect they could have on Mitchells and Butler. Threat of Entry With Mitchells and Butlers being the leading operator of managed pubs and pub restaurants, they must be aware of any potential threats that may arise from new entries in the market. The industry in which Mitchells and Butlers operates is one where barriers to entry are very low and therefore easy for new organisations to enter the market. However due to the sheer size of the organisation they have an automatic advantage over any new entries. Economies of Scale Mitchells and Butlers are in the position to gain economies of scale due to the number of managed outlets they have. With around 2,000 businesses they have the ability to lower the costs of products because of the amount they will be ordering at one time. Experience Mitchells and Butlers has been operating as an independent division since 2003 but it history dates back to 1898. This unparalleled experience of the pub industry accounts for invaluable knowledge and experience which can help in the development and growth of the organisation. Customer Loyalty With over 2000 outlets built mainly in residential areas Mitchells and Butlers will have built up a high level of customer loyalty. This makes it increasingly difficult for new competitors to establish a loyal customer base for themselves. It is evident however that not everyone is within close proximity to a Mitchells and Butlers unit and therefore consumers will be loyal to a different business. Product Differentiation Mitchells and Butlers understand the importance of product differentiation and aim to deliver products of the highest quality at the lowest possible prices. It also prides itself on customer service, displaying just how important they feel it is. Mitchells and Butlers also drive to promote its own brands in order to create product differentiation. Bargaining Power of Buyers Concentration of buyers With Mitchells and Butlers being in a market with a huge amount of potential buyers then it is in complete power with what price to set. If the buyers are not happy with the price then they simply have to go elsewhere as the market is big enough to attract more customers. However Mitchells and Butlers can not set the price at whatever they choose as the fierce competition in the market drives prices down and they have to compete with there rivals for customers. Product Differentiation With so many other options available for the buyer Mitchells and Butlers has to be able to differentiate itself from the rest of the market. They do this buy offering the highest quality at the lowest possible prices. It also prides itself on customer service, displaying just how important they feel it is. Mitchells and Butlers also drive to promote its own brands in order to create product differentiation. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Mitchells and Butlers is in a very strong position when it comes to its bargaining power with its suppliers. They are the leading operator in managed pubs and pubs restaurants with the largest market share. Suppliers will have to listen to what they are demanding or else they face loosing a huge amount of revenue. Threat of Substitutes Products or services There is a large threat of substitutes that are available from supermarkets. The off trade market that is now available to potential consumers is a huge threat to Mitchells and Butlers. With the constant promotion of alcoholic beverages from the large supermarket chains such as Tescos, Sainsburys and Morrisons means that Mitchells and Butlers have to differentiate themselves from this market and establish themselves as offering an experience and a service rather than just solely a product. The supermarkets also advertise deals such as â€Å" TWO CAN DINE IN FOR  £10†. This such advertisement was ran by MS. Being a differentiated product will entice potential consumers towards it. Threat of Rivalry In a market where growth is slow and competition very high, Mitchells and Butlers have created rivalry by becoming the leading operator in its markets and taking a lot of customers from its competitors. However it does not face rivalry from small independent outlets as they focus their attention away from the big rivals. The way in which Mitchells and Butlers create rivalry is by the pricing policy on drinks. Being the leading operator in managed pubs means that they are able to buy in bulk reducing the costs of products. With relation to food Mitchells and Butlers has a variety of brands that are in varying markets that can capture different customers with the varying levels of quality and price. For example the harvester brand is aimed at the lower end of the market, whereas the Browns brand is at the other end of the spectrum, catering for the higher end customers. 2.0 Internal Analysis The process of performing an internal analysis is similar to that of an external analysis. Representative managers and employees from throughout the firm need to be involved in determining a firms strengths and weaknesses. The internal analysis involves collecting information about the firms management, marketing, finance and operations. The gathering of this information is a great benefit to managers and employees as they get to know how their work affects other areas and activities of the organisation. Performing an internal analysis is an excellent way of improving the process of communication within an organisation. (David, 1999) 2.1Portfolio Analysis Campbell et al (2002 p. 107) defines a portfolio analysis as an â€Å"Underpinning concept that is a need for a business to spread its opportunity and risk. A broad portfolio signifies that a business has a presence in a wide range of product and market sectors. Conversely, a narrow portfolio implies that the organisation operates in only a few or even in one product or market sector. A broad portfolio offers the advantage of robustness in that a downturn in one market will not threaten the whole company† It is essential that Mitchells and Butlers carry out a portfolio analysis as they operate in many different markets resulting in a number of different cashflows from there brands. 2.2 BCG Matrix The Boston consultancy matrix identifies the relationship between market share and growth of a business. It offers a way of examining a companys portfolio of product and market interests. (Campbell et al 2002) Market Share Stars Question Marks Cash Cows Dogs Mitchells and Butler would be classed as a cash cow. Being the leading operator in managed pubs they have the largest share of the market. However the market in which they are positioned is one that is maturing. Growth for Mitchells and Butlers is slow and the condition of the market is stable. Below is a diagram which converts the BCG matrix into the product life cycle. Internet Accessed via: There are many brands associated with Mitchells and Butler which are in varying stages of their life cycle. The next stage of the report is to show an example of brands in there different stages of the life cycle. The use of this is that it allows Mitchells and Butlers to identify which of their brands are in the decline stage and come up with either new strategies/ products in order for it to grow again. 2.3 The Life Cycle Model 2.4GE-McKinsey Matrix An alternative way in which to evaluate the portfolio of an organisation is by a directional policy matrix/ GE-McKinsey matrix. This matrix categorises an organisations business units into those with good prospects and those with less good prospects. The matrix positions units according to how attractive the market is in which they operate and secondly through the competitive strength of the SBU in that market. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, R. 2009) 2.5 Resource Based view of Mitchells and Butler The resource based view of a firm is a model of an organisations performance that focuses solely on the resources and capabilities controlled by a firm as sources of competitive advantage. (Wernerfelt, B. 1984, cited in Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006) Resources are defined as the tangible and intangible assets that an organisation controls whereas capabilities are a â€Å"subset of a firms resources and are defined as tangible and intangible assets that enable a firm to take full advantage of other resources it controls†.( Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006. p.76) Barney Hesterley (2006) also state that there are four main categories in which resources and capabilities can be classified into four main sub categories: Financial resources, Physical resources, Human resources and organisational resources. M B Financial resources and Capabilities Two loans: One of  £2.3 billion which is secured against the assets and cash flow of he business. The second is an unsecured loan of  £550 million from a number of major banks. Cash generated through sales of products and services. M B Physical resources and Capabilities Property, plant and equipment. Computer Software. Leases: Both operating leases and financial leases. Reputation M B Human resources and Capabilities Operated by an experienced senior management team. Committed to training and investing in their employees to enable them to develop their skills and experience. M B Organisational resources and Capabilities Relationships between the different levels of management. Clear communication Importance of team building in each business unit. Experience of senior management. Training programmes at operational level. Mitchells and Butler use their capabilities to turn their resources into products or services. For instance it uses its reputation to increase its financial resources. 2.6 Core Competencies â€Å"Core competencies are the skills and abilities by which resources are deployed through an organisations activities and processes such as to achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot imitate or obtain†. (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2008. p. 97) This is no more important than in a recession, Mitchells and Butlers needs to focus on its core competencies in order to cerate competitor advantage and steal, what is, a diminishing number of, customers. 2.7 The VRIO Framework VRIO is an acronym for 4 questions that can be used in order to assess the competitive advantage that can be gained from resources and capabilities. The VRIO framework allows an organisation to assess its resources and capabilities potential to create a competitive advantage. †( Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006. p.76) The Question of Value Mitchells and Butlers uses its resources and capabilities in order to create competitive advantage and stay the leading operator in managed pubs and restaurants. Its organisational resources and capabilities has equated to the acquiring of 239 pub restaurants from Whitbread plc in 2006. The financial capabilities plus experience of management team means that they can cope in a period of financial downturn. The Question of Rarity With Mitchells and Butler being in such a saturated market where growth is very slow and product differentiation hard to achieve then its physical resources and capabilities create very little competitive advantage. It is its organisational, human and financial resources that create it. The size, experience, knowledge, training, quality, price create competitive advantage over a long period of time. The Question of Inimitability This question aims at identifying an organisations strength against any competitors trying to imitate their products or services. For Mitchells and Butler although it may be easy to copy its tangible resources, it is certainly not easy to imitate their intangible capabilities. With over 100 years of experience in the pub trade gives them invaluable experience and knowledge of the industry. The senior management team has over 15 years of experience and the board of executive directors have worked on the strategy and development of Mitchells Butlers since 1995. (mbplc.com â€Å"our management†) [Cited 14/12/2009] The Question of Organisation Although Mitchells and Butler may have competitive advantage with its resources and capabilities, in the above three questions, it can not continually create a competitive advantage unless they are an organised company. The senior management team must work together in order to create systems, policies and procedures in which each individual unit runs at its optimum level. This is done by vertical communication between the varying different levels of operation. 2.8Value-Chain Analysis A Value chain â€Å"is the set of business activities in which a firm engages in to develop, produce, and market its product or services†. † (Barney, J Hesterley, W. 2006. p.83) 3.0 Financial Information 3.1 Cash Flow Statement The cash flow statement can be seen in appendix 3. 3.2 Balance Sheet The balance sheet is available in appendix 4. 3.3 5 year Income Statement Available in Appendix 5. From analysing the above financial information, one can draw the major trends from the financial year 2008. Sales Trend Analysing the 5 year review one can see a major difference in the sales trend. Turnover has increased to  £1,908 million over the year which is a 0.7% increase over the financial year. However Profit Trend Although there was an increase in revenue there was a significant decrease in operating profit. From the previous year there is a huge drop from  £309 million to  £131 million a gap of  £178 million. A reason for this could be due to the amount of money they had to repay on a loan they took out to cover the costs of an abandoned joint venture. Mitchells and Butler decided to reduce its level of â€Å"unsecured medium term debt†. (mbplc.com. 2009) Looking at the 5 year report one can see that the dividend pay out was  £18 million, compared to the previous 4 years ,it is on average around  £33 million less. To do this they paid an interim dividend of 4.55p per share which is represented on the income statement. This was paid on the 27th June 2009. The short-term loan of  £550m has to be paid down to  £400m by the end of 2009 and then down to  £300m by the end of 2010. Mitchells and Butler have managed to get the loan amount down to  £475 million. The organisation is aiming to bring capital expenditure down to  £120 million whilst selling some of its pubs along the way. This is a way in which they will pay back the  £550 million loan, however it will have a huge effect on the size of the business and its net profit in the next financial year. (Hall, 2009) Below is a list of further trends that were available from the corporate profile September 2009. Major Trends 2008 Turnover-  £1,908m up 0.7% EBITDA-  £477m up 1.1% Operating profit-  £343m Profit before tax-  £179m down 13.5% Earnings per share- 31.5p down 11.3% Before exceptional terms and IAS 39 movements. Source mbplc.com- corporate profile September 2009 (Appendix 6) 3.4 Balanced Scorecard Financial L4L growth turnover and profit, ROI on investment and acquisition, total capital expended, rent/lease review uplifts, assignment premiums Internal Business Processes Mitchells and Butler have both long and short hold leases. IT systems Mitchells Butlers is reliant on its IT systems to trade efficiently and to ensure that appropriate controls are in place Learning and Growth Graduate Programs are in place for two different areas: The Corporate Graduate Scheme and the Retail Graduate Scheme Training given at all operational levels. Employees must be able to work to the standards set by the Mitchells and Butler legacy. Customer Service Standards Service standards have a huge impact on Mitchells and Butlers success. Service standards are a key element in the choice of consumers pub. Employee satisfaction survey, retailer satisfaction survey, Now to Wow, mystery customer, retailer complaint levels, customer complaint levels Strengths Financial ability Market share Management Team Knowledge and Experience within the industry. Diversity of customers through differentiated markets. Training schemes. Brand name Good understanding of customers needs Weaknesses Massive amounts of cost implications. Hard to differentiate products and services. High level of debt Dire trade outlook Opportunities Smoking ban Increase in the eating out market. Cheap pubs available for acquisition. Increase customer base by going â€Å"green†. Comply with all environmental issues. Threats Smoking ban Regulations Staying in is the new going out Recession Decrease in leisure pound Increase in the off trade market New Legislations Bad press from binge drinking Competition Low barriers of entry. Current disagreements between board members. 3.5SWOT Analysis 4.0 Strategic Choice In order for MB to develop further, they must look at the different strategic options. They need to ask themselves 5 questions: What do we want in life? On WHAT basis are we to compete? WHEN do we implement these? WHICH direction? HOW? Patton, F(2009) 4.1 Porters Generic Strategies Porters two parameters: â€Å"a company can seek to compete† and the market in which a company seeks to compete can be broad or narrow, led him to construct the three generic strategies seen below. (Thomson, 2001) Patton, F (2009) Porters model of generic strategies. Adapted from Porter, M(1985) Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. Mitchells and Butlers uses the Differentiation strategy. It offers a range of differentiated products across a number of markets. The different brands in the organisation ensure that they appeal to the whole market. A way of expressing how MB use the differentiated strategy is to look at the different brands and the markets they operate in. Cost/ Price Focus: Crown Carveries- â€Å"Top quality carvery meals at great prices†¦..† Differentiation Focus Harvester â€Å"Family-friendly restaurants serving freshly-prepared grills, spit-roasts and fish dishes and the famous salad cart, included with every meal†. Cost Leadership Ember Inns â€Å"Quality local pubs providing customers with a relaxed home from home and a great range of cask ales, wines and tempting, traditional pub food favourites with a modern twist†. (Internet accessed via [Cited 14/12/2009] 4.2 Strategy Clock The strategy clock was developed by Cliff Bowman. The clock is based around price and the perceived value the customer will gain from the product or service. Mitchells and Butlers can use the strategic clock to choose where they wish to position a brand or business unit. It represents different positions in a market where potential customers have different requirements in terms of value for money. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008. p224) Mitchells and Butler are positioned between the hybrid and differentiation stage. They aim to provide products and services that are different to that of their competitors in a range of different markets however in certain brands e.g. harvester their strategy is to offer lower cost meals. For a more in depth explanation of Bowmans strategy clock please see Appendix 6. 4.3 The Ansoff matrix Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, R (2009) state that the Ansoff matrix provides a simple way of showing the four different directions of strategic development. They state that an organisation starts in the top left hand box. It then has a choice between penetrating further within its existing sphere, move to the right and develop new products for its existing markets; moving downwards bringing its existing products into new markets: or move diagonally down, which involves full diversification where the organisation enters new markets with new products. Adapted from Ansoff, H (1988) The diagram above was taken from an internet site: http://strategyiseverywhere. However the model is exactly the same across all literature. Mitchells and Butlers strategic development direction is one which uses market penetration, market development and Product Development. Market Penetration Market penetration involves the organisation taking an increased share of its existing markets with the same product range. It does not involve an organisation having to venture into unfamiliar territory. The advantage of market penetration is that it increases power over both suppliers and buyers. (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, R 2009) Mitchells and Butlers used market penetration as a growth strategy by building, buying and acquiring more and more pubs. It is now the leader in managed pubs and pub restaurants within the industry with around 2,000 businesses. Market Development Market development involves an organisation offering existing products to new m