Ifrs 10 Application to Hyundai and Kia

————————————————- ACCT333 Advanced Financial Accounting ————————————————- Group Project Assignment (IFRS 10) Cheong Wang Shen Gordon Prepared for: Prof Bernardine Low Prepared by: Gordon Cheong Wang Shen Jason Tan Zhu En Twain Teo Wei Ren Wee Huixiang (G4) Table of Contents Question 1: IFRS 10 flowchart3 Question 25 (a) Identifying ambiguity of control5 Background5 Control issues5 Co-owning of subsidiaries5 Inter-company director relations6 Same platform manufacturing6 b) & (c) Application of IFRS 10 flowchart to determine existence of control by Hyundai7 Step 1: Determine the purpose and design of investee (Kia)7 Step 2: Determine relevant activities7 Step 3: Determination of ability to direct relevant activities8 Step 4: Determine if exposed to variable returns9 Step 5: Determine if Hyundai is a principal or an agent10 Question 310 Identification of four requirements in IFRS 10 that are challenging to interpret and apply10 Considering the purpose and design of the investee10 Determining the relative size of voting rights11Considering related parties12 Determining if investor is a principal or agent12 References14 Question 1: IFRS 10 flowchart Question 2 (a) Identifying ambiguity of control Background The Hyundai Motor Company (hereafter referred to as Hyundai) is a multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai is one of the two best-known divisions of the global conglomerate Hyundai, the other being Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipbuilder globally. A famous Korean businessman, Chung Ju-yung, founded Hyundai in 1974.Following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Hyundai bought over Kia Motors Corporation (hereafter referred to as Kia) in 1998, which resulted in the formation of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group (HKAG) . It consists of multiple affiliated companies related through complex shareholding agreements, although Hyundai is taken to be the de facto representative in transactions done with HKAG. During the acquisition of Kia in 1998, Hyundai out-bidded Ford motors to acquire 51% of the company’s shareholding. After a series of divestments over the years, the total ownership of Hyundai in Kia has been reduced to only 33. 5%. Hyundai and Kia are both listed individually on the Korean Stock Exchange. In 2008, Hyundai was ranked the 8th largest automaker in the world. It was also the fastest growing automaker globally for 2 consecutive years (2010 and 2011). The chairman and CEO of Hyundai is Chung Mong-koo, one of the surviving sons of Chung Ju-yung. Control issues Hyundai currently has a 33. 75% direct shareholding in Kia, with the remaining shareholdings being presumably widely dispersed. As such, it evidently has significant influence over the operations and running of Kia’s business.However, establishing direct control between Hyundai and Kia is not as straightforward. There are a number of issues that we have to look at. Co-owning of subsidiaries Hyundai and Kia co-own a large number of subsidiaries. As evidenced by the 2010 consolidated financials of Hyundai, the global branches of the Kia Motors Group are 100% held by Hyundai through Kia themselves. Both companies also have percentage ownership in Hyundai’s various component manufacturing companies like Hyundai HYSCO Company Limited and Hyundai Powertech Company Limited.Aside from this, they also have holdings in Autoever Systems Corporation, where their main Research and Development unit is located. Inter-company director relations The current Chairman and CEO of HMC is Chung Mong-koo. He took over Hyundai in 1992 when the Hyundai Group split into its various divisions. The Hyundai group itself follows a South Korean Business form of conglomerate known as chaebol, where the unique characteri stic is that it is usually a huge family controlled corporate group.As such, it is not surprising to see that many of the third generation members of Chung Ju-yung’s family are heading many of the different divisions of the Hyundai Group. Chung Mong-koo’s only son, Chung Eui-sun was a key operating officer in various corporate planning divisions in Hyundai-Kia before eventually heading Kia as its president from 2005 to 2009. Currently, he is the vice chairman of Hyundai and is on the internal board of directors for Kia. Aside from this, Chung Mong-koo also has a 5% shareholding in Kia. Same platform manufacturingBoth Hyundai and Kia co-own manufacturing subsidiaries that produce component parts to both companies. As a result, their production facilities get the similar component parts from the same suppliers. The companies also use the same power trains (engines and transmissions) all manufactured largely from the Hyundai Powertech Company Limited. A majority of the au tomobile electronic components from both brands also come from Hyundai MOBIS Limited. Both these companies are co-owned subsidiaries of Hyundai and Kia. Both Hyundai and Kia also share design studios.In fact, the vice president of design based in HMC actually oversees the design management of both brands. The family controlled heading of both Hyundai and Kia allows us to consider the possibility of Hyundai having a controlling influence over Kia, especially with Chung Eui-sun’s dual positions on both companies’ board of directors. Furthermore, given the fact that both companies virtually sprout from the same supply chain, and control over their research and development and design of the vehicles are headed by staff based in Hyundai, we can see hat these revenue generating activities greatly affect the business operations of both companies. Even though Kia is clearly not a subsidiary at first glance, given the meagre 33. 75% ownership by Hyundai, it would appear that Hy undai may be exerting more than just significant influence over Kia through the various factors mentioned. (b) & (c) Application of IFRS 10 flowchart to determine existence of control by Hyundai Step 1: Determine the purpose and design of investee (Kia) Hyundai purchased shares in Kia for 1. 18 trillion won in November 1998.The purpose of this acquisition in Kia is for Hyundai to gain significant foothold and widen its market share in the auto industry. By taking over Kia Motor, the Hyundai-Kia group was able to forge a solid position having over 70% of domestic market share and become the 7th or 8th global automaker by combining its affiliates’ production capacity into the total volume of 2. 9 million units in 1999. Step 2: Determine relevant activities Activities| Does it significantly affect investees’ returns –> relevant activities? | Example of decisions about relevant activities| How decisions about relevant activities are made? Research and development| Y es| Reduce the number of platforms to 718 by the end of 2005, in order to save the costs of product development and manufacturing and produce a variety of car models having differing external styling and interior options for the brands of Hyundai and Kia| Decisions are made by a joint R&D Division led by the Chief Technology Officer (for Hyundai and Kia combined)| Auto-assembly| Yes| Which type of vehicle that each plant should produce? Whether Hyundai and Kia should share power-train parts (i. e. engine and transmission) to be supplied to assembly plantsWhether Hyundai and Kia should share production technology| Decisions are made by top management of the Hyundai-Kia group, where the de facto representative is Hyundai| Auto parts supply| Yes| Which vendor should supply auto parts to the companies? How many vendors should they engage? | Decisions are made by Joint Material Handling Division that Hyundai and Kia set up| Marketing and competition| Yes| Whether to focus on price or non price competition such as customer service and product quality| Decisions are made by top management of the Hyundai-Kia group|Step 3: Determination of ability to direct relevant activities Hyundai owns 33. 75% of the shares in Kia Motors. In addition, Chung Eui-sun, the son of the Hyundai Motor Group Chairman, owns another 1. 73% of the shares. This presumably gives Hyundai control of 35. 48% of Kia Motors, which is significantly less than the 50% shareholding that would give Hyundai the majority of the voting rights. However, we are unable to find any evidence that anyone has control of a large proportion of the remaining shares, and thus we feel that the assumption that the rest of the shares in Kia are highly dispersed is a reasonable one.If that is the case, then it is almost impossible that all these shareholders will collectively outvote Hyundai when a decision needs to be made, so Hyundai can be said to have power over the relevant activities. Another factor to consider is t hat Mr Chung is both the vice chairman of Hyundai and an internal director of Kia. As Mr Chung sits on Kia’s board, he should have a certain amount of influence over Kia’s decision-making process. This factor, coupled with Hyundai’s holding of voting rights, lend much weight to the claim that Hyundai can direct the relevant activities.Last but not least, we notice from the table above that the Hyundai and Kia managements jointly make most decisions regarding relevant activities. In fact, Hyundai and Kia share almost the same supply chain. Many companies in the supply chain are subsidiaries or associates co-owned by these two parents. However, because Hyundai owns a larger portion of shares, and hence voting rights, in most of these entities, Kia is understandably at risk if it goes all out to oppose Hyundai in some way or another.It can be seen that when decisions are made, Hyundai is better represented because of both the presence of its management and its voti ng rights, and Kia would tend to concede ground to Hyundai when there are disagreements. So, even though Hyundai owns less than 50% of the shareholding in Kia, they probably still have enough power to direct the relevant activities. Step 4: Determine if exposed to variable returns If Hyundai has actual control of Kia, they will be exposed to returns, which can be positive, negative or both.Also these returns must be variable rather than fixed. The returns that Hyundai is exposed to can be classified into two categories: 1) Returns not available to other interest holders. This refers to cost savings and synergies that arise from Hyundai owning Kia, which other shareholders in Kia would not be entitled to. In this case, they are mostly in the form of cost savings, due to the similar operations of the two companies. Consolidation of R&D centres of Hyundai and Kia, sharing of R&D centres allowed both companies to lower costs by reducing number of employees in the R&D centres * Products share similar core platforms leads to savings and economies of scale * Sharing of factories leads to further specialisation, for example, Kia’s Kwangju plant was designated as a specialised assembly plant for small-sized commercial vehicles for both Hyundai and Kia, leading to cost reduction * Sharing auto-part suppliers to apply greater pressure on suppliers for cost savings on supplies 2) Dividends Kia paid out 96 billion won in dividends in 2010 * Hyundai’s ownership of common stock entitles them to receive dividends from Kia. Thus, it can be seen that Hyundai meets all our requirements that would allow it to classify Kia as a subsidiary. Our last step would be to ensure that Hyundai is acting in the capacity of a principal, rather than that of an agent, which is holding delegated power. Step 5: Determine if Hyundai is a principal or an agentIn determining whether Hyundai is acting as a principal or an agent, we need to consider four factors: 1) Scope of decision ma king authority * Unable to find information proving that Hyundai has any limits to the decisions it can make for Kia * Presumably, Hyundai can make most decisions for Kia 2) Rights held by other parties * No evidence of rights held by other parties 3) Exposure to variability of returns from investees * High cost savings due to economies of scale Many of Hyundai’s subsidiaries depend on Kia for revenue * Affected by dividends paid out by Kia 4) Remuneration * Almost solely dependent on dividends, which are highly variable * No actual fixed remuneration In consideration of all the four factors, Hyundai is most likely a principal and not an agent. Hence we can reasonably conclude, after thorough application of the framework, that Kia is a subsidiary of Hyundai. Question 3Identification of four requirements in IFRS 10 that are challenging to interpret and apply Considering the purpose and design of the investee Paragraph B5 of IFRS 10 explains that â€Å"when assessing control o f an investee, an investor shall consider the purpose and design of the investee in order to identify the relevant activities, how decisions about the relevant activities are made, who has the current ability to direct those activities and who receives returns from those activities†.Paragraphs B51-B53 then goes on to explain the factors to be considered when determining the purpose and design of the investee. However, IFRS 10 does not explain how the purpose and design of the investee can be used to â€Å"identify the relevant activities, how decisions about the relevant activities are made, who has the current ability to direct those activities and who receives returns from those activities†, which paragraph B5 suggested. A simplistic scenario is given in paragraph B6, whereby the investee is controlled by means of equity investments.Beyond this straightforward case, paragraph B7 directs readers back to the factors listed in B3 to determine control (relevant activities , ability to direct relevant activities, variable returns and ability to use power over investee to affect returns). Furthermore, the factors provided in paragraphs B51-B53 are hard to determine and require much professional judgment. For instance, paragraph B51 states that in the process of assessing the purpose and design, we â€Å"evaluate whether the transaction terms and features of the involvement (at investee’s inception) provide the investor with rights that are sufficient to give it power†.No conclusive elaboration is provided by IFRS 10, and it is uncertain whether being involved in the investee’s inception signifies control. This creates much ambiguity and inconsistent interpretation across firms. Rather than making it seem like an isolated step with little purpose, IFRS 10 should provide clearer guidance for the objective of determining the purpose and design of the investee. Clearer linkages, between the consideration of purpose and design of invest ee and the other factors to be considered when determining control, could also be provided to improve the flow of IFRS 10.Furthermore, more comprehensive and conclusive guidelines could be included to standardise the interpretation of the purpose and design of the investee. Determining the relative size of voting rights According to paragraph B42, an investor can consider the size of its holding of voting rights relative to the size and dispersion of other holdings of the other vote holders to determine whether its rights are sufficient to give it power. However, because relativity encompasses the use of personal judgement, this section may be open to manipulation.In Hyundai’s case, it holds around 35% of the voting rights, including those held by its vice chairman, Chung Eui-sun. If the rest of the voting rights are very widely dispersed, with nobody else holding more than 1%, Hyundai can say that it has control because it is very improbable that all the other parties will c ome together to collectively outvote Hyundai. On the other hand, Hyundai can also claim that there is still a possibility that the other shareholders will collectively vote against Hyundai if it introduces a policy that does not benefit them, so in that case, Hyundai does not have control.We notice that the voting structure remains the same, yet different interpretations can be derived. Paragraph B42 also says that other circumstances, such as voting patterns at previous shareholders’ meetings, can be considered, but it is hard to say if the historical patterns are able to predict the future. Shareholders might not have voted in previous meetings because there were no major decisions that affected them, but if Hyundai intends to propose something revolutionary, the voting situation will definitely change.IFRS 10 can provide more detailed guidance to ensure that this section is applied appropriately and consistently. For example, when determining how widely dispersed the rest of the voting rights are, an investor should consider only the next 10 largest shareholders. If their combined holding is larger than that of the investor, then the investor does not have control based on this requirement alone. When assessing previous voting patterns, the investor should only look at shareholders’ meetings where issues of similar impact were raised.If previous meetings did not encompass such issues, then the voting patterns for those meetings cannot be considered. Considering related parties Paragraph B18 states that an investor can consider whether the investee’s key management personnel are related parties of the investor when determining if the investor has the practical ability to direct relevant activities unilaterally. However, it does not specify how much influence the related parties must have over the investee, so this may not always be a good indicator of power.For example, Hyundai’s vice chairman, Chung Eui-sun, is also on Kiaâ€℠¢s internal board of directors. According to paragraph B18, this should provide evidence that Hyundai has power over Kia. But in order to determine whether Hyundai can direct relevant activities through Chung Eui-sun, we must also consider the amount of influence that he has over Kia’s decision-making process. Kia has 9 directors on its board, of whom two are also presidents in the company, so Chung Eui-sun may not always have his way. If the investor does not take this into consideration, then the determination of control would be flawed.In that sense, this requirement would be more complete if guidance on the influence commanded by related parties was given. Instead of only determining whether there are related parties in the investee’s governing bodies, the investor should also take into account the role and power of the related parties. If the related parties have the final say when it comes to decision-making over relevant activities, then this factor can conclusi vely determine that the investor has power. But if the related parties do not have the final say, then only a minimal weight should be placed on this factor.Determining if investor is a principal or agent Being able to determine if the investor is a principal or an agent is crucial to determining whether the investor has control over the investee. A principal would have power over the investee, but an agent would only have delegated power. Delegated power is held on behalf of a third party who ultimately controls the investee. The method prescribed in IFRS 10 for determining if a decision maker is an agent is the consideration of the factors listed in paragraph B60.Upon further elaboration of the factors, IFRS 10 provides certain cases where the investee is definitely a principal or an agent. For example, paragraph B70 states that â€Å"a decision maker cannot be an agent unless the conditions set out in paragraph B69 (a) and (b) are present. † However, if none of these extre me conditions are met, we must assume that we would have to take all five conditions into account when trying to decide if the investor is an agent. However, there is no prescription in IFRS 10 about how to consider these conditions.In a situation where some of the conditions point towards the investor being an agent and some point towards them being a principal, there is a certain amount of ambiguity in whether the investor should be classified as a principal or an agent. This gives the company some leeway in choosing the decision that would reflect a better financial position of the firm. This could lead to reduced accuracy of financial statements and less comparability among financial statements of different companies.To make this requirement easier to interpret and apply, IFRS 10 should clearly state the relative importance of each factor. For example, the factors which are given a higher relative importance would have a higher influence on whether the company is a principal or an agent, as compared to those with a lower importance. As such, in ambiguous cases, companies will know which factors should be considered first. Given this, all companies will have more similar definitions of principal/agent, thereby reducing the ambiguity and increasing comparability among different financial statements.References 1) Hyundai 2010 Annual Report http://worldwide. hyundai. com/company-overview/investor-relations/financial-information-Annual-Report-view. aspx? idx=13&&nCurPage=1&ListNum=11 2) Kia 2010 Annual Report http://www. kmcir. com/eng/library/annual. asp 3) Merger and Reconfiguring of Hyundai-Kia (Byoung-Hoon Lee, Sung Jae Cho) http://gerpisa. org/rencontre/9. rencontre/S13Lee-Cho. pdf 4) HYUNDAI MOTORS’ DE-CHAEBOLIZATION EFFECTS (Hyunjoong Jun) http://gerpisa. org/rencontre/9. rencontre/S13Jun. pdf

Applying Six Sigma to Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc. (an Operations Management Commentary)

The Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U. S. A. , Inc. (TMM) case involves a scenario where – as a result of deviating from Toyota Production System (TPS) practices. TMM found itself faced with quality issues (i. e. , a â€Å"hook† component in the car seat would break during installation) that created a bottleneck in the production process, a pile-up of cars with quality issues waiting to be addressed at the clinic and overflow parking areas of the Kentucky plant – and therefore failed to avoid some of the â€Å"wastes† (i. e. wastes of time, material and production utility as a result of defective products) that the TPS philosophy in itself was designed to eliminate. In the context of a customer value-driven approach, this meant the seat problem gave issues to the final assembly team (e. g. , being bulky and prone to damage, it was likely time-consuming to install), the QC team (e. g. , in relation to crash-test performance, and also in terms of not being broke n or defective), the ultimate customer (i. e. , in terms of surface finish). The goal of the Six Sigma strategy is to improve the quality of process outputs by addressing errors through minimizing variability in the manufacturing process – i. e. , the production process can statistically be expected to be free of errors or defects at the Six Sigma confidence level (effectively only 3. 4 defects per million). In the case of a manufacturing entity like TMM, Six Sigma could be implemented through the so-called â€Å"DMAIC† methodology, which involves defining the problem, measuring and analysing relevant data (i. e. statistical data), improving or optimizing – based on the data analysis, and controlling and monitoring the implemented improvements to address any deviations from the optimized process. TPS and Six Sigma philosophies both employ process-based (as opposed to a functional) approaches to process optimization and improving quality. However, the Six Sigma approach takes this to another level by putting problem solving in the context of reducing risks of â€Å"deviation† from the norm. Six Sigma calls for the use of verifiable quantitative data – i. e. , statistical data and analysis – as basis for designing or optimizing a process (i. e. attempting to eliminate risk of variation), and quantitatively monitoring compliance (or deviations) from these targets. In the case of TMM’s seat hook problem, TPS would ideally have called for production to stop at the first sign of problem, and drilling down to the source of the problem through techniques such as the â€Å"5 Why’s†. A statistical approach, however, such as determining the number of defects in relation to the entire production lot, and in relation to Company standards, and subsequently monitoring whether the improvements to address the problems are operating as designed could have provided a more rationalized solution. Six Sigma could also benefit TMM through improving the â€Å"value† of the suppliers, by helping them improve their own processes and products. For example, if the â€Å"5 Why’s† pointed to a problem in KFS’ own production process, TMM could work with KFS to obtain statistical data as basis for comparing production output with quality standards (e. g. , defect rate, or maybe even compliance with existing manufacturing tolerance levels), identify deviations/ problems, and monitor effectiveness of solutions. By using a Six Sigma approach as early as the supplier level, TMM should, theoretically, be able to expect a higher quality level in the production inputs that it receives, which invariably, should also translate into a higher quality level the finished product. Six Sigma could also be used to optimize the overall efficiency of the production process. Six Sigma could be used to determine standards for production efficiency, like task times, cycle times and throughput times, and if monitored properly, deviations from the standard should easily be detected. When combined with other TPS techniques such as the â€Å"5 Why’s†, the problem – once identified and defined properly – could be addressed immediately, and Six Sigma approach (i. e. , DMAIC) should again measure the effectiveness of new solutions. From the broader perspective, Six Sigma as a philosophy benefits the Company’s stakeholders by adding value to TMM as a whole – the assurance of being able to produce quality products with virtually zero defects raises the overall perception of TMM and its products. Likewise, on the micro perspective, with each process being viewed as a customer of the preceding one, Six Sigma adds value to the predecessor (i. e. , â€Å"supplier†, or preceding production task) by providing assurance over the quality of the production inputs. Nonetheless, the success of any such philosophy – whether TPS, or Six Sigma, or a combination of both – really depends on the people tasked with implementing the philosophy. Six Sigma approach at TMM may still be doomed without a corresponding improvement in the culture and mindset of people attempting to employ the philosophy. References: -Kazuhiro Mishina, â€Å"Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U. S. A. , Inc. † (Business Case), HBS Premier Business Case Collection, September 8, 1992 -De Feo, Joseph A. ; Barnard, William (2005). JURAN Institute's Six Sigma Breakthrough and Beyond – Quality Performance Breakthrough Methods. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited. -Tennant, Geoff (2001). SIX SIGMA: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services. Gower Publishing, Ltd.. p. 6. ISBN 0566083744.

International Trade Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Trade Operations - Essay Example ed many individual countries lowering the customs tariffs and other trade barriers resulting in the opening of new market opportunities for the operations of the trade. This opens new business prospects for the organizations dealing in the international business operations as it might prove favorable for Content Cow Dairy, Inc as well. Along with this, WTO always intends to implement the trade rules, policies and regulations in an appropriate manner based on the specifications of the countries thereby maintaining the transparency in the operations of the business. Along with this, WTO also tries to resolve the disputes associated amid trade relationships with the help of its varied rules and policies so as to ensure the free flowing of the business processes. This in turn enhances the satisfaction level and the reliability of the people over WTO. Apart from this, WTO also enhances and sustains the trading opportunities thereby improving the revenue of the countries (World Trade Organ ization, 2012). Hence, as WTO plays an essential part in trade related functions, these details are mandatory for you, in order to expand the business functions. Disputes are referred to as disregarding promises according to WTO. A dispute mainly arises when a country accepts a particular trade policy or acquires certain actions which are considered to be inappropriate by one or more fellow WTO members on the basis of the agreements. The procedure of settling the disputes in WTO is the responsibility of the Dispute Settlement Body, which comprises of all its expert members. WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body also includes certain stages which include consultation comprising of at least 60 days. Prior taking any actions, both the countries are asked to make mutual settlement of the dispute... The conclusion from this review states that the news of international expansion of Content Cow Dairy, Inc in order to enhance its reputation and brand image is one of the significant ideas which is highly appreciable. Notably, before expansion of the business dealing in dairy products in the market of Egypt, it is essential to obtain brief details about World Trade Organization (WTO) and its operations in the current structure of global markets. This is mandatory because many organizations dealing in the agricultural products are also highly penalized by WTO, thereby, increasing the tariffs, which rather proved detrimental for the business. The World Trade Organization (WTO) intends to manage and ease the global trade operations. The WTO is the only worldwide international association dealing with the policies and the rules of trade relationships existing amid two or more nations. At the heart are the accords of WTO, discussed and signed by the entire mass of the world’s tradi ng nations. Thus, WTO is an organization where the associated members of the government attempt to solve the global trade related issues so as to ease the operations. Industrialization is the procedure of social and economic alteration that transforms the trade relations of the country. As a result of the development of new expertise, skills and techniques, the knowledge of the human beings are also improving resulting in the augmentation of the international trade operations.

The Landscape Masters of the Baroque Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Landscape Masters of the Baroque - Essay Example For the most part, French baroque art can be considered as an expression of the French Crown’s values, particularly those of King Louis XIV.King Louis built the Versailles palace as a symbol of the Crown’s total authority, of which the design of both the palace and surrounding land was a direct product of a rigid, rational, and disciplined approach meant to show the state and government control of the king. The sculptures, paintings, and architecture that were chosen to decorate this palace were, stylistically, purely classical in nature, conveying the timeless and orderly truths of the policies pursued by King Louis XIV. However, not every artist in France wanted to be employed by the government with majority of them electing to leave the country, contending that this was better than placing their artistic creativity in political service. The two most distinguished artists of this period, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, chose to move to Italy, where they got inspir ation from the gentle landscape in Rome.Claude Lorrain elected to paint the lovely countryside in form of poetry, populating the landscapes with ancient monuments and their picturesque ruins, as well as flocks of sheep. Poussin also sought to depict similar features in his landscapes on the countryside in Rome. However, Poussin sought to do more than delight the audience or viewer. Instead, he utilized the classical setting to present human history in dramatic form. On top of delighting his landscapes’ viewers, he also set out to instruct them.

Business Organisation & Policy Topshop Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Organisation & Policy Topshop - Essay Example High street retail business like Topshop has been affected by a number of factors like price and cost pressure, concentration in the industry etc. Topshop specializes in women’s fashion products such as clothing and apparels. This retail sector is expanding both horizontally and vertically with retailers taking broader strategies to adapt to it (Burt and Sparks, 2003, p. 15). Polarisation increases in the sector with the growth of the bigger companies. Hence, innovation is the critical element which the retailers need to do for their development. With economies opening them to outer world, the competition is increasing and the retailers are developing strategy to survive. But while developing strategy they need to take into consideration the external factors which will impact them. Political Structure and Trends Topshop and other high street outlets i.e. its competitors are affected by the political structure in a number of ways. One of the main way that politician in UK can affect the high street retail outlet businesses is through their exercise of power in the land-use planning system. Though land-use planning is the function of local authority, the national government can intervene in for the development and growth of high street retail outlet business like Topshop. Recently there have been restrictions on green field development project and hence it is becoming harder for retailers to open in the new shopping centres (Bluff, 2012, p.15). Therefore, as a high street outlet, Topshop needs to take a close look at current business policies and re-strategise their decisions for future expansion. The environment of shopping has changed over the years, because the shoppers can now choose between the leisure and experience component. They now face a more functional price driven appeal from the shoppers (APCO Worldwide, 2012, p. 4). With technological advancement the price has become a major component as the consumers can easily compare the price. Hence, the company needs to offer products of varied price ranges and develop and implement effective branding and promotional strategies so that they can position themselves differentially in the market. The competition commission in UK has found out that consumer have accepted many of the changes in the high street retail sector like the online shopping. As discussed the land-use planning affects the location of the outlets, there are other instruments which governments can use to affect the operations like retail trading legislations and the public policies which regulate such working conditions of the industry, like employment practices etc. Economic Structures and Trends The UK high street retail sector is affected by the macro-level position of the country. If the general economic condition is good this sector will experien ce a high volume of retails sales. If the economic condition of the country improves then there is a possibility of significant investment by other players. Like in India with the Opening up of FDI in the retail sector, many foreign retailers like Walmart, Ikea is going to open themselves up in the country. Like in UK

Mother by amy tan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mother by amy tan - Essay Example The use of English however must be put in context just like Amy Tan narrated when she was delivering a speech as well as communicating with her mother. In everyday communication where we converse with people close to us, there is really no standard of right and wrong English in academic standard. Grammars are not observed and proper syntax can be ignored. Probably the standard of propriety in the use of English language in this context is the degree of respectability and consideration to the person we are communicating with by not using offensive language that could hurt or offend the other person. It is different however when we go out of the comfort of our homes and social circles. Especially in school when we are graded and at work where part of our professionalism depends on how we communicate. There, the standard of proper English becomes stringent and the student and/or professional must be able to communicate it well in accordance to the proper use of the English language. The comfort of the mode of communicating intimate language at home should not be made an excuse for communicating poorly in academic and professional setting. Just like in the case of Amy Tan where she forced herself to learn good English to the point of being a writer, a student must also strive to improve his or her command of English. Understandably, this would not be easy especially if English is not the person’s mother tongue just like the case of Amy Tan’s mother. One must however not pass harshly to Amy Tan’s mother just because she cannot speak straight or proper English. Her inability to speak straight English does not reflect her aptitude. As what Amy Tan has said, she can read and comprehend complex text more than Amy Tan could. And as Amy Tan narrated beautifully at the end of her essay, her language ability â€Å"does not reveal her intent, her passion, her imagery, the rhythms of her

E-Business and its Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-Business and its Rules - Essay Example Then PCs are assembled on customer demands and shipped-sufficed- in 5-10 days (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Payments are also done online. This paper will seek to describe rules of e-commerce in light of Dell Inc and e-business current trends with their impacts on e-logistics. E-Business Rules Due to the need for companies to have wide, fast and flexible communications there has been the need to implement e-logistics. In the process of implementation of e-logistics, there are some rules of e-business that are to be followed. To illustrate these rules let us consider Dell Inc. In e-business technology is no longer just used to create and offer products but also as a means to make their business more effective in delivering services and products to their clients. Dell in its quest to implement e-logistics has redesigned its business model from the physical retail stores to the application of technology in an online supply channel. This enables it to conducts most of its transact ions with customers with the aid of their website platform where customers can order PCs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.16); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). ... This has been achieved after it streamlined its supply chains and started selling PCs directly to customers. This has enabled Dell to collect their customer’s preferences and needs information, thus enhancing better-personalized customer services (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.14); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Companies willing to implement e-logistics must create flexible grouping through integration. This will facilitate efficient customer service as well as reduce expenditures. Dell has benefited much through integrating its transactions on their website. This has led to the reduction of costs outlay in terms of inventory as through the online website they can aggregate their inventories by geographical locations. Since there are no physical retail stores the company reduced its facility and information costs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.24); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Firms willing to engage in e-logistics must be willing to do away with ineffective traditi onal business models which are detrimental to their success. This calls for business managers to reorganize and plan their business models all over again to succeed in the e-business. Dell Inc. in order to successfully implement e-logistics it had to leave its old retail supply chain model where it used to assemble PCs and store them waiting to be sold. Currently, it receives orders online from customers and then assembles PCs and ship them (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.10); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Although Dell Inc. has succeeded in implementing e-logistics, it still experiences hindrances.This is because customers after placing their order they have to wait for 5 to 10 days to receive PCs. E-commerce Trends Change is inevitable, and

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Strategic Management - Essay Example A bird’s eye view on the Australian wine industry, at this juncture, would be appreciable. Wines in Australia though are 200 years old, the industry was sluggish in its initial years. They have now caught pace in New-world countries that they are considered the ‘Hot Trends’ in the market. Thomas Hardy & Sons wine company, known for its quality wines, was established in Australia in 1853 and was most respected for its culture and polite values. Berri Renmano Ltd. (BRL), a co-operative and merged entity was known for aggressiveness and commercial success. Hardy group had to incur huge losses after acquiring some French, Tuscan and Italian old wineries. At the same time, BRL was also facing financial hardship, but nevertheless proposed and merged with Hardy which according to the industry analysts was not a great arrangement. Owing to the financial strength of the BRL team, BRL Hardy had more of BRL’s executives at the top notch in the merged entity while the Hardy’s executives were a bit suppressed. Irrespective of all these happenings, the group was an initial success. After the initial success, there were differences regarding the marketing and distribution of some key brands of the company between Stephen Davies, the Group Marketing and Export Manager based at the head office at Reynella, Australia and the Managing Director of U.K. management team – Christopher Carson. For instance, while Davies was planning to launch a global brand, Carson tried to develop a low price wine brand D’instinto. This attemp t was criticised by Davies citing examples of Carson’s failure in renewal of distribution agreement of Caliterra (wine brand) and disappointing launch of brand Mapocho with a Chilean sourcing. Nevertheless, Steve Millar, the Managing Director of the BRL Hardy Company as a whole understood these delicate issues and tactically dealt with both of them. Similarly, the head office was planning to launch Banrock station, a product which was a

Libyan Negotiations to Join the World Trade Organization Dissertation

Libyan Negotiations to Join the World Trade Organization - Dissertation Example The World Trade Organization was developed as the successor of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or GATT was initially developed as an international organization dealing with multilateral agreements that focus on economic cooperation on a worldwide level. It was developed together with the Bretton Woods institutions – the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. When it was established, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade were merely composed on twenty-three members. As time passed by, the membership therein has increased to fifty which in turn also launched the initiatives pertaining to the establishment of the World Trade Organization. As reflected in the earlier parts of this introduction, the establishment of the World Trade Organization is premised on its capacity to enforce global trading by providing important rules and regulations related thereto. The proponents of the World Trade Organization ha ve then been responsible for the development of the charter of the former. In the same manner, they are also given the task to come up with bilateral or multilateral agreements that cover the following in the international arena: (1) labor, (2) business practices, and (3) investments. Finally, the members of the World Trade Organization are also concerned with the significant reduction of trade restrictions so as to be able to properly implement the tenets of free trade, as envisioned by the World Trade Organization.... ablishment of the World Trade Organization is premised on its capacity to enforce global trading by providing important rules and regulations related thereto. The proponents of the World Trade Organization have then been responsible for the development of the charter of the former. In the same manner, they are also given the task to come up with bilateral or multilateral agreements that cover the following in the international arena: (1) labor, (2) business practices, and (3) investments. Finally, the members of the World Trade Organization are also concerned with the significant reduction of trade restrictions so as to be able to properly implement the tenets of free trade, as envisioned by the World Trade Organization. 8 9 The establishment of the World Trade Organization has likewise been propelled by the aftermath of the two World Wars.10 Indeed, countries all over the world have identified the two World Wars as well as the Great Depression as the darkest years in the history of human kind.11 It is in relation to this fact that they have considered the significance undertaking various steps in order to promote progress.12 Parenthetically, the establishment of international institutions is premised on the need to promote not just global peace but also, global prosperity. Once again, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the predecessor of the World Trade Organization was primarily established as an avenue where disputes related to trade can be submitted.13 14 The immediate and effective resolution of these trade disputes is deemed of paramount importance in the attempt to reduce the chances of another World War. The complicated issue related to globalization is one of the major sources of disputes amongst countries. As a result thereof, it is of utmost

Interpreting the First Amendment of the Constitution Essay Example for Free

Interpreting the First Amendment of the Constitution Essay The notion of being free to choose whatever religion a citizen wants to posses is notoriously known to be a liberty dictated by the first amendment. â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,† (A-18 Brinkley) are the famous words of the constitution. Yet, this same law also states that the legislative branch of the U. S. government does not have the authority to favor one religion over the other. In fact, it dictates that the government must remain secular when it comes to the affairs of religion as it cannot respect any one particular religion over another. Thus, there can never be a national religion, an American version of the Anglican Church, as it would hinder the government from preserving the freedom to choose between religions. The other liberties guaranteed by this amendment were the rights of speech, the press, â€Å"or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of grievances† (A-18 Brinkley). These are all liberties that allow for the citizens of the nation to protest the government. Civilians can protest through their speech, which may hold accusatory claims against the government, in public areas. Americans are allowed the right to publish grievances in the press, free of censorship from a legislative body, as well. These are liberties that allow for organizations to spread information and knowledge over any form of tyranny they may feel the government bestows onto the population. These are also lubricating actions that more easily allow for assemblies to form and confront the government over such issues. Really, the amendment is a formula for allowing the civilian populous to restrain the authority of the government.

SouthWest Airlines Case Study

SouthWest Airlines Case Study SouthWest Airlines Case Study Executive Summary Thousands of people travel by air; Southwest Airlines provides low-fare air transportation service among 58 cities in the United States. Although the industry suffered a major blow from the terrorist attack of September 11th, the company is still holding strong; while other airline companies are in debt. The information was majority gathered and analyzed from the internet; sources such as News Week, and Wall Street Journal. According to the acquired knowledge of Southwest, the company maintains steady sales. The major success to their continued success is due to their low-cost model and competitors are aware that they cannot match Southwest Airlines low prices therefore, by dropping the price even lower; Southwest Airlines can force a company to go bankrupt. Introduction In 1971, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher started an airline service with one simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. They were right about that. Southwest Airline is now a major airline, in fact, the fourth largest airliner in the United States that is trading under the Symbol LUV on NYSE. The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit. It primarily provides short haul, high-frequency, point-to-point, low-fare air transportation service among 58 cities (59 airports) in the United States. Here are some numbers that will give a brief idea how the company is operating: Net income: $241 million Total passengers carried: 63 million Total RPMs: 45.4 billion Passenger load factor: 65.9 percent Total operating revenue: $5.5 billion The airline industry has been hit hard by the terrorist attack of September 11th. There is a 13% insurance raise for the airlines and the government is enforcing fees regarding security problems. The operation cost increases dramatically and there are less people traveling by air. Most of the airliners are losing money expect a few. Southwest is one of those airlines which have remained profitable. Organization of Southwest Airlines is described as an upside-down pyramid. The upper management is at the bottom and supports the front line employees (~35000), who are the experts. This is Herb Kellehers unorthodox leadership style, in which management decisions are made by everyone in the organization, not just the head executives. The company is described to not have much emphasis on structure; instead employees are encouraged to think freely without constraints such as titles. Kelleher, for example, is said to know the names of virtually all his employees. Southwest Airlines is characterized as a C-corporation with duration distinguished as a normal perpetual existence. The shareholders are not normally liable for debts of the corporation and they preserve an operation that is normally more structured, requiring more meetings and (in some states) more reporting requirements. Management is very centralized through the board of directors (elected by the shareholders) and the officers (elected by the directors). The corporation is taxable entity, although the income which would normally be taxed at the corporate level can normally be paid out in salaries (and in other deductible ways) so that there is in fact no tax at the corporate level. As far as transferability of interest, it is normally fully transferable and raising capital is in the choice of public companies. Southwest Airlines values employees, initiating the first profit-sharing plan in the U.S. airline industry in 1974 and offered it ever since. In 2000, Southwest offered its employees a record-setting $138M in profit sharing. This tax-deferred compensation represented an additional 14.1 percent of each employees annual salary. Methodology In order to explore Southwest Airlines corporate structure, the method in which we obtain our information is a critical component in our mission. Therefore, this analysis describes a methodology that utilizes Southwest Airlines official website to attain background history, company particulars and financial statistics. In addition, the librarys electronic journals, business research databases (Wall Street Journal, Business Week) and accredited search engines on the Internet such as Yahoo! are also major resources for our investigation in conducting a fundamental SWOT analysis and acquiring information regarding the companys main competitors and customers. Our research will not be limited to just Southwest Airline, our research involves Boeing 737 as well as a few of the opposing companies. Research on these additional topics will be specific, material that pertains or assists in elaborating our recommendations for the company of Southwest. Results According to the attached figure covering the past four years of Southwest Airlines financial progress, they have maintained steady net sales. In 1999, they had total net sales of $4,735 million which had risen to $5,585 million. Their slight drop in 2002 to $5,521 million was due to the September 11th incident. However, this is nothing compared to other major airline industries where they have lost so much more. Many have even gone bankrupt and been forced to close down. In fact, Southwest Airlines was the only major US air carrier to remain profitable since then; albeit Southwest Airlines were affected by the poor economic conditions. Few of their main competitors are Continental Airlines and American Airlines. Substitute products include the train (Amtrak) and bus (Greyhound) which cover long distances. While these alternates cannot offer the speed of travel, most of Southwest Airlines customers are attracted to the low price. Suppliers include those who provide service/products necessary for Southwest Airlines to their business function. For Southwest Airlines, suppliers include mechanics(and other maintenance people), providers of fuel, food(the snacks that are offered). The suppliers do not have much bargaining power. Customers include both residential and commercial sectors. There is no bargaining power for customers, as there is no threat of backward integration; it is unlikely that customers of Southwest Airlines are going to build their own airplanes and fly themselves. Rivalry among competitors sets the price-Southwest Airlines is a discount airliner. Rivalry is increasing, as the market decreases, and competitors downsize, the competitors become more or less equal in size and capacity. This means that as economic conditions worsen, competitors downsize and then compete for the same remaining market. The threat of new entrants is low, the demand is not high. On top of that, there are hurdles, not necessarily the greatest; the FAA. Government regulations and restrictions imposed on those involved in this industry. Such would be government sanctions consequent of international issues. At a glance, the companys source of competitive advantage is its low price tickets. Most of its customers are people who are willing to forego in-flight meals, direct routes and fancy seats if that would mean for a cheaper ticket. Not to imply that Southwest doesnt provide direct flights, but that is offered at a higher price. Southwest Airlines was in better shape than its competitors after recent attacks on September 11 for a simple reason: their low-cost model. Terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center had a devastating effect on the airline industry, particularly because the instrument of destruction of these attacks was hijacked airplanes. The public lost faith in the airline industry immediately following September 11th, and for many airline companies this meant going into severe debt or even declaring bankruptcy. Even after some time, the majority of the airline industry experienced lower profits and massive downsizing. However, for smaller companies like Southwest, they were able to turn a profit and were in a more enviable position than the larger counterparts. The reason for Southwest Airlines success is due to their low-cost model. The Southwest Airlines consists solely of Boeing 737s and offers only coach seats (there is no business or first class). Southwest Airlines also do not offer in-flight meals, only peanuts and other snacks. Southwest is simple and direct at the goal of their service; a primarily short-haul airline that flies directly from city to city, with just one type of planethe Boeing 737 and the lowest costs. With a simple goal, Southwest has excised many of the luxuries that competitors have offered, such as luxury seats; this is made evident by their decision to enforce a rule for passengers who could not fit into the seats to purchase an additional seat. This rather unpopular move (whereas other airlines would have suggested a more luxury class seat) is simple in its purpose-get passengers from point A to point B. Services, such as in-flight meals and luxury seats, which have become standard to competitors, have been s een as unnecessary for an airline that provides a short-haul trip from city to city at the lowest cost. To have opted for a first class, business class, or any form of luxury class seat would have been excess baggage; most people would prefer to do without it if it meant for cheaper ticket price. While Southwest Airlines offers no frills, Southwest Airlines do meet customer expectations when it comes to service. They base their model on the motto, which states that if theyre happy, satisfied, dedicated, and energetic, theyll take real good care of the customers. When the customers are happy, they come back. And that makes the shareholders happy, Southwest has very good relations with all their employees. Employees are either of independent unions or have flexible contracts which allow employees to work longer hours. Southwest Airlines, however, is not without weaknesses. No matter how successful, Southwest Airlines serves only 29 states and cannot compete against the bigger companies that serve nationally or even internationally. Furthermore, Southwest Airlines does not utilize a hub system that allows for bigger competitors to reach further out. Such competitors are aware that they cannot match Southwest Airlines prices; their market is larger and is not feasible to offer cheaper tickets at the cost of no in-flight meals. Instead, competitors narrow the price difference between Southwest Airlines and themselves and stress on the quality of these frills (such as roomier seats). Others, through use of flight hubs, are the only ones who can economically serve remote customers. Another weakness of Southwest Airlines is their preference of Boeing 737s. Being limited to one type of airplane leaves them with little flexibility when the model receives a bad reputation or a critical flaw is discovered. Such would be a costly venture for this company, whove used only one type of airplane and in the face of a dire situation would face a costly venture of finding replacements or counteracting bad publicity. Southwest Airlines success is primarily because they have focused sharply on their goals. This is evident by their no-frills, low-cost model: their goal is to provide the cheapest form of short air travel between two cities; providing the bare necessities. Driven by the idea that customers can be satisfied without having expensive options available for them, Southwest Airlines have stepped on the toes of many of its bigger competitors. Southwest Airlines was able to differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering the lowest prices. This appealed to many people who were not impressed with the additional services such as in-flight meals or wanted to avoid busy airports. Coupled with the utilization of the internet, Southwest Airlines almost became a trend, a sort of an underground hit, bypassing travel agents and their fees. Southwest Airlines provided a medium in which city-to-city transportation was possible with the lowest costs. Part of their success is due to their focused group; Southwest Airlines serves only 29 states a substantially smaller portion of geography, when compared to those who serve customers coast-to-coast. While the company was able to enjoy their success in the earlier years, recent events and poor economic conditions have made competition fierce. Now, the bigger companies are trying to emulate Southwest Airlines style. By narrowing the price gap, the luxurious services previously deemed too expensive has become more affordable. A possible drawback is that because Southwest Airlines strategy has proven so effective, it will be duplicated and emulated by its competitors to a point where it would lose the originality. This could result in competitors offering low rates to the areas covered by Southwest and beyond, making Southwest Airlines range and limitations more obvious. It would be very possible in the near future where a big company, with its hubs(something Southwest does NOT have), basically introducing Southwest Airlines low-cost model to a wider market, encroaching and outdoing Southwest Airlines. When a comparatively small, new company is able to take on major players in an extremely competitive industry, gain market share, please customers and employees alike, it is time for others to take notice. We will initially evaluate Southwest Airlines competitive business strategy of their maintenance of a low cost and exceedingly reliable service approach (forgoing perks such as meal service, first-class preference and assigned seating), as a major transportation corporation. We will ultimately make supplementary recommendations and improvements based on the stratagem of their already flourishing company. As a company that still faces continuous growing challenges before them, it is essential for Southwest Airlines to expand on their existing achievements. Our analysis and promising suggestions will be developed with intent to better serve customers by improving their routing system, offering enhanced accessibility and minimizing delays. As business consultants, we anticipate to pav e the way of one of the leading travel industries into becoming the best of the best. Recommendations: Southwest Airlines were able to operate their business relatively undisturbed. It was only in the poor economic conditions that suddenly Southwest Airlines method of operation became the ideal model for its competitors. While the publicity is beneficial in raising employee morale, and raising stock prices; Southwest Airlines is now target of competitors focus. A tactic that Southwest Airlines can do to inflict damage to competitors is to slash prices. This type of tactic is typical of a big company that has a monopolistic rule in an industry squeezing other competitors. This tactic is advisable when competitors are near bankruptcy or are in dire situations. Because competitors cannot match Southwest Airlines prices, the most they can do is narrow the gap of the price difference. Southwest Airlines, which has consistently made a positive profit, can increase the price gap by lowering their prices. Southwest Airlines will incur losses from this move, but the goal of this move is to drag the competitors further into debt. Because this move affects both companies, this move is very risky and should not be done unless Southwest Airlines is sure that their competitor is near bankruptcy. Possible reasons for this move would be to eliminate the weakest competitor in the industry, which would free up the market held by that company. The reason for the creation of Southwest Airlines started when its founders saw an opportunity. Frequent trips between cities were exploited by providing a quicker form of transportation. Southwest Airlines has weathered through several crisis and has proven itself to have potential for to be a leader of its industry. The poor economic conditions has placed many airline companies in debt, while Southwest Airlines was able to make a profit. With its competitors weakened, Southwest can take the initiative and expand-not foolishly, but with the same drive and precise execution the company was founded under. The genius behind Southwest Airlines success is location; and if researched properly, this can be applied to other areas. The appeal of Southwest Airline is the cheap tickets, as they offer none of the luxuries(such as in-flight meals). Southwest Airlines no frills approach may not be pleasing to all, it would be good for Southwest to make a few changes in which the aesthetics would be more accommodating. Upgrading seats may be a costly venture, but it would open Southwest Airlines to a larger market. The medium of choice for customer referral is the internet. Internet referrals have been the main source of customers (it further cut costs by charging a lesser fee to book seats through the internet than through a travel sales agent). With the saturation of discount websites, however, Southwest Airlines is losing the grip it held advertising on the internet. More websites offer competitive rates and special discounts-which if Southwest Airlines does not take immediate action can end up losing customers. Since advertising through the internet is risky, as people hate pop-ups or spam e-mails, it is our general consensus that Southwest should find ways to be listed on these price comparison websites. Before, there werent many sites that offered price comparison and finding deals was difficult. With these sites, information is available at the fingertips of the web surfers who can make better informed choices. Southwest Airlines should ensure that their voice is heard through this mediu m, as it is sure to attract people in search of deals. Conclusion First and foremost, Southwest Airline has developed a great low cost model for the past thirty year that fits todays economy the best. It has expanded from a tiny company with merely three aircrafts to one of todays major airliners that flies between 58 cities carrying over 60 million customers each year. As everyone can see, Southwest Airline has been a big success. Now, it is given an opportunity to grow even bigger at this extremely hard and critical time for the airline industry. After the incident of September 11, Southwest Airline is one of the few airliners that remained profitable; other airline companies are losing millions of dollars due to the insurance raise, the security cost and lack of customers. We recommend Southwest airline to take this opportunity to expand to greater regions. It is the time for Southwest airline to use its low price tickets to drive its competitors out of business and take over their market. We believe, giving up some of the profit to cut the ticket price even lower and upgrade hardware can open Southwest Airline to a much larger market that will bring more profit in future. Implementations of cost saving technology such as internet is needed to lower the operation cost to give customers better deals.

Impact of Globalization on Economics and Business :: Outsourcing, Offshoring, Free Trade

We live in a time of worldwide change. What happens in one part of the world impacts people on the other side of the world. People around the world are influenced by common developments. The term Globalization is used to describe this phenomenon. According to Harris, the term is being used in a variety of contexts. In a very broad context, media professionals use it almost daily to refer to a wide variety of political, sociological, environmental, and economic changes. The business world, however, uses this term in a much narrower context to refer to production, distribution, and marketing of goods and services at an international level. Everyone is impacted by the continuing increase in Globalization in a variety of ways. The types of food we eat, the kinds of clothes we wear, the variety of technologies that we utilize, the modes of transportation that are available to us, and the types of jobs we pursue are directly linked to Globalization. Globalization is changing the world we live in. Causes of Globalization Harris indicates there are three main factors contributing to globalization. The factors include:  · The reduction in trade and investment barriers to the post- world war II period  · The rapid growth and increase in the size of developing countries’ economies  · Changes in technology Trade Agreements Originally each nation established its own rules of governing forein trade. Regulations and tariffs were often the outcome, leading to the tariff wars of the 1930’s. Nations have found it convenient . . . to agree to rules that limit there own freedom of action in trade matters, and generally work toward the removal of artificial and often arbitrary barriers to trade. Many trade agreements exist in the world today. Of those agreements (general agreement on tariffs and trade [GATT], the European community, and the north American free trade agreement [NAFTA] have had or will have significant impact on the united states. GATT. The first trade agreement of major significance was the general agreement of tariffs and trade. GATT was aimed at lowering tariff barriers among its members. The success of the organization is evidenced by its membership. Originally signed by 23 countries in 1947, the number of participating countries continues to grow. The Uruguay Round of GATT is the most Ambitious Trade Agreement ever attempted. Some 108 nations would lower tariff and other barriers on textiles and other agricultural goods; protect one anothers intellectual property; and open there borders toi banks, insurance companies, and purveyors of other services.

Nutrition and Food Intake Essay -- Health Nutrition Pyramid Diet

Nutrition and Food Intake   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since we have been learning about nutrition in class, our task was to record a food log. Nutrition requires a well-balanced diet containing nutrient and vitamins like amino acids and fatty acids. Over the past seven days I have been recording and have been looking very carefully at my intake of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and fats. In our task, the objective was to record the basic foods we ate during the period of seven, but it did not require recording every single detail or our intake of food. Doing this food log was a pain and it was disturbing because I never wrote about what I ate like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or additional meals. I found this food log useful because it helped me learn what I can change in my intake of foods to make my diet healthy and to see what about my diet is affecting me from being healthy because I could affect me in the future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The purpose of recording this food log was to see what in my diet healthy or unhealthy. The purpose of this food log was also to view our eating habits because the basic average man eats many saturated fats, sugars, and red meat and this usually explains why some of them are usually obese and have diabetes. Diabetes is a problem when you eat too many foods with sugar or you eat too many sweets. In our task we were supposed to compare our eating habits to the new food pyramid. The new food pyramid describes what is healthy and the average amount of servings that should be taken daily.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The food pyramids are basically an outline of what you should eat during the day that is healthy. Knowing what you eat is important because nutrition requires a well-balanced diet containing nutrients and vitamins and if you don?t eat healthy then you can acquire diseases and dietary disorders. The new food pyramid tells you that you should include whole grains and plant oils in most meals because if you include plant oils and whole grains in most meals it reduces the rate of heart diseases & whole grains contain Vitamin B and Vitamin B is essential for growth, the functioning of the stomach and intestines, and they are also essential for the nervous system. Vegetables should be eaten abundantly because vegetables contain the mineral magnesium which relaxes your nerves and muscles, builds and strengthens bones, and keeps you blood circulating at a constant pace. You s... ... school lunch & the lunch comes with milk. Milk is good because it consist of calcium which helps for the functioning of the heart, muscles, and nerves. I have noticed that I don?t eat vegetables a lot but I know I need to. I can improve my intake of foods by beginning to eat vegetables because if I don?t the body will take the magnesium that vegetables contain out of my bones for the bloodstream which gives me weakened bones. If I don?t get enough magnesium then my tissues will be affected in my heart and kidneys. Some symptoms are that you get tremors or spasms, when your heart rate increases, when you muscle softens and weakens, or when you have headaches. You usually get these if you drink too much alcohol, have diabetes, have kidney disease, or use drugs. In the end I was able to realize the mistakes I am making in my eating habits and diet because it could be affecting my health and this is not good for a well-balanced diet. In the end, I was able to see what how I can impr ove in my health because increasing my intake of specific foods. Basically, since I exercised a lot I was not sure of how many calories I was consuming or how many calories I was burning due to exercise.

The Study Of Akali Metal Contamination In Road Side Soil :: essays research papers

The Study of Akali Metal Contamination in Road Side Soil Abstract Six soil samples were taken from a roadside that was expected to exhibit characteristic of road salt contamination. This contamination is characterized by the presence of magnesium, calcium and sodium. The relationship between akali metal concentration and distance from the pavement was examined and determined to be nonexistent. Additionally, atomic absorbtion and atomic emission spectroscopy were compared and and atomic absorbtion was found to be 1.89 times as sensitive as atomic emission. Introduction A common technique in snow and ice removal on roadways is the application of magnesium, calcium, and sodium chloride salts to the surface of the road. When the ice melts it dissolves these salts and causes them to migrate into soil that is adjacent to the pavement. Over time, the accumulation akali metal salts can change the chemical profile of the soil which can lead to detrimental biological effects. Flame atomic spectroscopy provides a technique that can quantify metal concentrations in the extracts of the soil samples and consequently examine the relationship between distance from the point of road salt application and akali metal concentrations. Experimental Soil preparation: Six surface soil samples were collected at the intersection of Cold Spring Lane and the exit ramp of Interstate 83, in northwest Baltimore city. These samples were collected at distances from the roadway of 0m, 2m, 4m, 6m, 10m, and 20m. These samples were dried in a convection oven at 110Â °C for over 24 hours then crushed. Aliquots of approximately one gram were weighed and then extracted with 10.0 mL of 1M ammonium acetate. The extract was filtered with an inline filter disc with a pore size of 5mm and then diluted to 100.0 mL. Instrumental: The extracts were analyzed for Ca, Na, and Mg using a Varian model AA-3 flame atomization spectrophotometer with a diffraction grating monochromator. Data was collected with a Houston Instrument chart recorder. An acetylene/air reducing flame was used for all determinations (10 psi acetylene/7 psi air). Two replicates of each sample were made and averaged for both AA and AE. The analysis was seperated into two methods; atomic absorbtion (AA) and atomic emission (AE). The emission intensities and absorbances were determined from the measured peak height obtained from the chart recordings. Atomic Emission: Na and Ca concentrations in the soil were determined using AE. The spectrophotometer was calibrated using the standard series method for both elements. Regression analysis was performed on the calibration data to provide a functional relationship between emision intensity and concentration. Results and Conclusions: Sodium: The atomic line used in the analysis for sodium was at 589.0 nm. The relationship between emision intensity and concentration was found to be

Unreliable Memory in Memento

Unreliable Memory in Memento Thesis: The unique narrative structure of the film and the leading role, Leonard Shelby in Memento prove that memory is unreliable. . In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, Samneric saw something moving, something large, which in reality was the dead body of a parachutist. But in the darkness and out of fear, in Samneric’s memory, the parachutist became a beast with leathery wings, teeth, and claws. He even claimed that he ‘saw it slinking behind the trees'. In this case, Samneric's memory were mastered by his personal feelings — fear.Thus memory is unreliable, as it can be manipulated by personal feelings. Similarly, the leading role of Memento, Leonard Shelby’s memory is also manipulated by his personal feelings. Leonard distorts his memory due to his desire to find and kill ‘the one and only' murderer of his wife. In the following, I am going to prove memory is unreliable through the unique narrative structure and Leon ard Shelby, the leading role of the film. Memento, the story features a man called Leonard Shelby, who has anterograde amnesia, a disorder that caused his brain to be unable to store new memories.From Leonard’s memory, the disorder was a result from a concession caused by the rapist murderer of his wife. From then on, Leonard's life is all about finding ‘the one and only' murderer of his wife and get him killed in order to take revenge. Firstly, it is the unique narrative structure. The film's events unfold in two separate, alternating narratives — one in color, and the other in black-and-white. The black-and-white sections are told in chronological order, beginning by showing Leonard conversing with an anonymous caller in a motel room.Leonard's actual investigation is shown in color sequences that are in reverse order. By the end of the film, when the two narratives converge, revealing the investigation and events that lead up to Leonard’s friend, Teddy's death. The narrative structure is literally a memory test that the director of Memento, Christopher Nolan gives to the viewer. As each color sequence begins, the audience is unaware of the preceding events, just like Leonard, giving the viewer a sense of his confusion.With the structure arranged in this alternating and reverse way, the confused viewer would be lost, in a way that they have no clue where the story is heading. At the end of the film, which chronologically is the first sequence, would only leave the viewer more question marks. Therefore, the narrative structure of the film, which is also the memory test, proves human memory is unreliable. For relying only on memory, the viewer cannot group all the puzzles — the reverse chronological scenes — together and have a full understanding of the events.Confusion is brought on by unreliable memories. As time goes, memory fades, based on this principle that everyone knows and even experiences, Nolan first gives thi s ‘memory test’ to let the viewer a firsthand experience that ‘memory is unreliable’. Zigzagging through the two separate and yet related narratives, Nolan brings out memory is unreliable not only due to physical reasons, but also mental ones. The black-and-white sequence is indeed the narration of Leonard, a former insurance investigator, telling the story of one of his claimants, Sammy Jankis before his injury.Jankis, just like Leonard, appeared to have anterograde amnesia after a car accident. Leonard explains how Jankis's diabetic wife tested Jankis to see if he really had a memory disorder or just faking to claim disability insurance, by repeatedly requesting insulin injections from him. She is desperately hoping that Sammy did not have a memory disorder and would remember the previous injection. As a result, she died from an insulin overdose from Jankis. While the viewer is puzzling why Leonard remembers Jankis so vividly, Nolan reveals a parallel sto ry of Leonard.Because of Leonard's condition and his denial of possibly killing his wife by overdosing her with insulin, he might have made up a different scenario in his mind. He constructed a rape-murder scenario for his wife’s death. He alienated his killing his wife by inventing Sammy Jankis, memorizing it as a separate event. He altered his memory to lessen his guilt. At the end of the film, Leonard confronts his memory and says,†Do I lie to myself to be happy? †¦ yes, I will. † This narration conveys that emory can be full of flaws, it can be distorted by personal feelings, it can be changed by one's desire, that memory can be no more than a tool of self-deception. Secondly, through the leading role of Memento, Leonard Shelby’s verbal expression, condition, tattoos and flashbacks, Nolan proves to the viewer that memory is unreliable. Leonard's lines point directly at ‘memory is unreliable'. In the film Leonard said, â€Å"Memory’s n ot that perfect. It's not even that good. †, â€Å"Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted.They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant when you have the facts. † Leonard stresses that ‘memory is not good'. Through Leonard's lines, the film emphasizes that, ‘memory is unreliable because they're just an interpretation'. Then moving on to Leonard's condition, anterograde amnesia is the significant feature of Leonard and it is also the heart of the film. Since Leonard has this disorder that he cannot form new memories, everything fades, memory is definitely unreliable for him. For the viewer, being put into Leonard's shoes, unknown to the preceding events, memory is unreliable as well.Again, Leonard's memory problem has directly pointed at ‘memory is unreliable'. Leonard's tattoos is also a significant feature of Leonard. In order to find his wife’s murde rer, Leonard relies on notes and annotated Polaroid pictures. But for vital information which he believes would lead him to the â€Å"murderer†, he tattoos that piece of information on his body instead of writing on a piece of paper because of his inability to form new memories. In one scene, Leonard gets a tattoo of the murderer's license plate number, relying on his memory, he has mistaken an I for a 1.Now this clue has really changed because of his unreliable memory. It tells us not to trust Leonard's believe-to-be-true facts, memory can indeed manipulate everything. As Leonard puts it, â€Å"Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car†¦ They're just an interpretation, they're not a record. † Also, according to Leonard's tattoo, the name of the â€Å"murderer† is John G. At the beginning of the film, which chronologically is the last sequence, Leonard does succeed and kill one John Edward Gammell, whose nickname is Teddy.Leona rd says he would remember he had killed that ‘one and only' murderer even with his condition, because that excitement of revenge would remain. However, at the end of the film (which should be the beginning of the story), reveals that Teddy is just one of the few John G. s that Leonard has killed. It turns out after Leonard has killed a John G, he copies Teddy's license plate number and gets it tattooed on his body annotating that is the license plate number of the murderer, making Teddy(John Edward Gammell) his John G, for the sake of his ‘meaning of survival'.Memory can manipulate, and at the same time, be manipulated. Leonard, in order to fulfill his goal and his desire of taking revenge, he lets his memory be manipulated by his personal feelings, and keeps on killing more and more John G. s. Furthermore, there are a few of Leonard's flashbacks throughout the film, one is preparing an insulin injection, one is his staying in a sanatorium (instead of Sammy Jankis does a fter he accidently killed his wife).The more significant flashback is of Leonard's wife waking up, opening her eyes, but if it is played backwards, it is very much like his wife is going into a coma. Leonard also recalls the scene that his wife crying out, â€Å"Ouch! † when he executes the insulin shot. However, the fact is Leonard manufactured Sammy Jankis in order to deny being the murderer of his wife. So, when he recalls that injecting scene from memory, ‘administrating insulin' has become ‘pinching his wife's thigh. There are actually quite a lot of Leonard's flashbacks giving proof that Leonard himself is the murderer of his wife, but it is clearly that Leonard wants to lessen his sense of guilt, so he distorts his memory, it shows that memory can in fact be changed to satisfy oneself, memory can be reconstructed. To conclude, â€Å"He took away my†¦memory. He destroyed my ability to live. † Just like Leonard, humans in general acknowledge †˜memory’ is one of the abilities that help us to live, however it is not a must that this ability is reliable, in fact memory practically cannot be trusted.From Memento’s unique narrative structure, a genuine memory test definitely created a certain degree of confusion to the viewer. It is impossible for humans to have everything well organized merely by memory. The ‘facts’ in one’s memory can be rebuilt, as Leonard says,†Do I lie to myself to be happy? †¦ yes, I will. † Memory can easily be manipulated by one’s personal feelings. In Leonard’s case, his memory is manipulated by his guilt; he uses his memory as a tool to cloud the fact that he killed his wife because of his lack-of-short-term memory disorder.Leonard's lines, physical problem, tattoos and his flashbacks all are important proofs of ‘Leonard is the murderer of his own wife', which Leonard does not want to admit. From the beginning, his true motive o f finding that rapist murderer is only for his own satisfaction, finding his ‘goal of life', and more importantly, for lessening his guilt. That is why — being unknown that he does it on purpose or unintentionally — Leonard distorts his memory and reconstructs it and in the film.Now the distorted memory became reality for Leonard, and the facts change according to his reconstruction. We can see that memory can also manipulate at the same time, â€Å"memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not an record. † The unique narrative structure and Leonard Shelby, the leading role of Memento, have proved that memory is no more than an interpretation after all. For memory can be distorted and manipulated out of one’s own satisfaction and desire. Memory is not facts, it cannot always be trusted. Memory is unreliable both physically and mentally.

Philosophy: What Is Justice

To answer this question I must first define what justice is. Justice is â€Å"the quality of being just, impartial or fair† in your dealings with others according to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Keeping that definition in mind, I now must turn to the Voices of Wisdom in order to find an example of a situation in which all parties feel that they are being treated justly. After examining examples such as: Euthanasia, discrimination based on sexual orientation, and equal opportunity offered within the book, it becomes clear to me that there is in fact no possible way for there to be justice for all because everyone’s judgement is in some way or another clouded by their own self interests. Euthanasia, people can decide exactly how they want to live but should we as a society allow them the right to decide exactly how they want to die? On the one hand you have the question â€Å"is it just to kill someone or allow them to die when help is available? † The obvious answer is no of course not. This is a prime example of why there can be no justice for all, because on the other hand you have the question â€Å"is it fair to force someone to live through unbearable pain in anticipation of an agonizing death? † The obvious answer to that question is also no. This is where our self-interests come into play. It is in the patient’s own self interests to die because it will ease her pain, but is not in mine to alleviate her of her life â€Å"because death is final and irreversible†, and because â€Å"euthanasia contains within it the possibility that [I] will work against [my] own interest if [I] practice it or allow it to be practiced on [others]. (J. Gay-Williams, pp. 185). This is why our own self-interests unavoidably will not allow us to have a just society. A society is only as equitable as the treatment accorded its most vulnerable members. Therefore, discrimination against anyone based on his or her sexual orientation is a clear and incurable symptom of an unjust society. For example, should someone’s sexual orientation be grounds for restricting their rights? (Daniel C. Palm) The impartial answer would of course be no, everyone should be treated the same. But we still hear the chant â€Å"No gays or lesbians in the military†. This is because it is in the self interests of the heterosexual people in the military have homosexuals in the military. The injustice of this idea becomes crystal clear when we examine the opposite statement of â€Å"No heterosexuals in the military† an idea that is equally ludicrous. (Kessler, pp. 74) As a result of the way we instinctively treat those that are different because they are seen as a threat, our society is will remain perpetually unjust. (Richard E. Mohr) Because of widespread discrimination based not only on race, but also on sex, religion and sexual preference it is impossible for society to offer each and every individual a perfectly equal chance at opportunities such as hiring, promotion, housing, and educational practices that should be within their reach; as a consequence, it is impossible fo r society to be just for all. According to the formal principle of justice, it is required â€Å"that benefits and burdens be distributed fairly according to relevant differences and similarities. † (Kessler, pp. 175) Using this principle it would seem that affirmative action programs of preferential treatment are in truth unjust to white males in that such programs require that â€Å"all things being equal† preferential treatment should be given to minorities and females which violates the formal principle of justice by not treating equal people equally. On the other hand, â€Å"such preferential treatment programs are often justified by appeal to the principle of compensatory justice, which states that whenever an injustice has happened a just compensation must be made to those who have been injured. † (Kessler, pp. 194) According to that principle affirmative action should be considered just in relationship to minorities. As a result, because equal opportunity legislation is not in accordance with the best self-interests of most white males but it is in accordance with those of most minorities, this is another example of a situation in which injustice is inevitable. After closely examining these three specific situations in which injustice—because of our natural tendency to look after our own best self-interests—is certain, it can be concluded that it is hopeless to try to attain such an idea as a society that is just for all. Because these perpetually unjust situations such as euthanasia, discrimination based on sexual preference, ideas like affirmative action or situations similar to these will most likely permanently exist, a society in which there is justice for all is unreachable.

Drinking Age Essay

The drinking age was moved from 18 to 21 for a reason. The higher drinking age of 21 has saved many lives, helped reduce the amount of underage drinking, and therefore should not be lowered. Many studies from a large variety of sources have proven higher drinking ages have a positive effect on society. Alcohol is harmful to the development of younger people. Research has shown that an adult is less likely to binge drink (have five or more drinks in a row). According to statistics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, teens become intoxicated twice as fast as adults. Because the teens get drunk faster they are less likely to know when to stop and to go past their limit, causing harm to themselves and others. The Human brain continues to develop after adolescence and into our 20’s. According to a study on the neurocognitive effects of alcohol on adolescents and college students, drinking is harmful to the brain. Since the brains of all people under 21 are still developing, and most are in college, alcohol can prove very detrimental to the development of their brain and can harm their studies, and thus their futures. Underage drinking also largely contributes to many social problems include those such as: impaired driving, fighting, sexual activity, and smoking (Pediatrics 2006; 119:76-85). People have proposed that a 40 hour educational course should entitle people under 21 to drink. Research shows that educating youth drivers does not prevent youth crashes, however restrictions such as a limitation on the amount of passengers a youth driver can have, and curfews do help restrict the amount of youth crashes. The same philosophy applies to drinking. Educating young people about drinking responsibly, and the damage that drinking can do will not prevent alcohol related incidents, or underage â€Å"binge† drinking, but restrictions like the current laws will help prevent these (National Institutes of Health , â€Å"Fact Sheet: Underage Drinking†). Alcohol has a direct effect on the amount of car crashes and crime levels around the world. Studies show that since the legal age was change from 18 to 21 the number of vehicle related accidents has  dropped 16 percent (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). Other studies have shown that since the legal drinking age was raised over 25,000 live were saved (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs). Many European countries have lower drinking ages, and many people say that their system is better. Since alcohol is more readily available in these nations there are more underage drinkers than other countries where alcohol is more limited. Studies have also shown that alcohol cause more problems in Europe than America (DiClemente, Ralph J.:Pediatrics 107). These issues include underage drunkenness, injury, rape, and school problems. â€Å"The concept that a person becomes a full adult at age 21 dates back centuries in English common law; 21 was the age at which a person could, among other things, vote and become a knight. Since a person was an official adult at age 21, it seemed to make sense that they could drink then, too† (Ethan Trex: http://www.mentalfloss.com /article/19437/why-drinking-age-21). Certain European nations and states allow drinking with a parent’s consent or drinking in the privacy of the home. Many people claim that this helps reduce underage binge drinking by introducing youths to alcohol at an earlier age in a controlled environment. Research has shown that this is not true (Fell, James: Debating Reform), because the youths feel they have their parent’s permission to drink they are more likely to believe it is okay for them to drink in situations outside the home, which can lead to intoxicated driving, and other harmful acts. Some argument for lowering the drinking age claim that alcohol is more enticing to youths when they can’t have it, and if the legal age was lowered there would be less underage drinking problems. Studies and history have proven this wrong (Fell, James: Debating Reform). Before the drinking age was raised in the U.S. there was a larger underage drinking problem, and over twice as many fatal alcohol related accidents as today. Sources: European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs. DiClemente, Ralph J. et al â€Å"Parental Monitoring: Association With Adolescents’ Risk Behaviors† Pediatrics 107: 6 June 2001, 1363-1368 Fell, James. From â€Å"Chapter 2: Federalism: Resolved, the Federal Government should restore each State’s freedom to set its drinking age.† in Ellis, Richard and Nelson, Michael (eds.) Debating Reform. CQPress Publishers, Fall 2009. Fell, J.; â€Å"Minimum Legal Drinking Age Policy Knowledge Asset,† website created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Substance Abuse Policy Research Program; March 2009. Fell, James C. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Oct. 2008 â€Å"An Examination of the Criticisms of the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 Laws in the United States from a Traffic-Safety Perspective† National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis â€Å"Lives Saved in 2007 by Restraint Use and Minimum Drinking Age Laws† DOT HS 811 049 A Brief Statistical Summary November 2008. National Institutes of Health , â€Å"Fact Sheet: Underage Drinking† National Institutes of Health, â€Å"Fact Sheet: Alcohol-related Traffic Deaths† National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Statistics on Underage Drinking National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, â€Å"Research Findings on Underage Drinking and the Minimum Legal Drinking Age† National Institutes of Health, Alcohol Policy Information System â€Å"The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act† Shults, Ruth A., Elder, Randy W., Sleet, David A., Nichols, James L., Alao, Mary O. Carande-Kulis, Vilma G., Zaza, Stephanie, Sosin, Daniel M., Thompson, Robert S., and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services. â€Å"Reviews of Evidence Regarding Interventions to Reduce Alcohol-Impaired Driving.† Am J Prev Med 2001;21(4S). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Unde rage Drinking 2007. Zeigler DW, Wang CC, Yoast RA, Dickinson BD, Mccaffree MA, Robinowitz CB, et al. The Neurocognitive Effects of Alcohol on Adolescents and College Students. Prev Med 2005 Jan;40(1):23-32. http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/articles/cqoped.html

Rock And Roll Fan Film Studies Essay

The Ultimate Stones is a set that recreates a true Rolling Stones experience. The set originated in Southern California and has become to be recognized as one of the greatest Rolled Stones testimonial sets. Bruce Forrest, from All Access Magazine, stated, â€Å" And so we have the Ultimate Stones, who seemingly knows what it takes to be effectual, and do it on such a superior, and professional degree, it makes all the other â€Å" tribute sets † look inferior. † The Ultimate Stones all have a look-alike dramatis personae, adding to the portraiture of the existent Rolling Stones set. The set consists of lead vocal vocalist, Mick Adams ( Mick Jagger ) , Rick Harchol ( Keith Richards ) , Vince Lupo ( Charlie Watts ) , Bernard Yantz ( Bill Wyman ) , with Justine Ducloux ( Merry Clayton ) besides on vocals. Each set member has an experienced background in the music industry. The Ultimate Rocks have been touring all over the United States for old ages and have become frequent visitants in the Las Vegas and Southern California countries. They have become recognized by some of the most celebrated beginnings of media for their hailing testimonial to the Rolling Stones ability. Opening the concert with â€Å" Wild Horses † was a simple manner to ease into the dark. I had heard the vocal before, but it was an reading that was sung by another creative person. I recognized the vocal, and instantly liked it much more than the covered version I had originally heard. The vocal had a poetic and deep tone colour. It was emotionally complex, doing the significance behind it come alive. Leading in with a soft dynamic matched with the slow pacing highlight the unhappiness. About a minute in, the beat displacements with the debut of a more marked membranophone. The simple quiet acoustic guitar alterations form throughout the vocal, as with the wordss. â€Å" Faith has been broken.A Tears must be cried.A We have our freedom, but we do n't hold much clip†¦ Wild Equus caballuss could n't rupture us apart.A Wild Equus caballuss, we ‘ll sit them someday. â€Å" A The wordss are a paradox within themselves. High harmoniousnesss in the center made the song come alive, about constructing up. The harmoniousnesss throughout the vocal were first-class. The vocal had a elusive state melody to it accompanied by a stone feeling. This was due to the acoustic guitar playing in a â€Å" Nashville tuning † and rhythm one played in harmoniousness. â€Å" Nashville Tuning † is used on this vocal – which is a tuning that makes a 6-string guitar sound like a 12-string.A The lead vocal is really recognizable and distinguished. Another vocal that stood out during their concert, â€Å" Ruby Tuesday, † which was another dissolution lay. The construction of the vocal differs from the more typical of the Rolling Stones vocals. It does n't look to be wholly stone and axial rotation or a blues manner. The vocal takes a piece to rush up the pacing, finally constructing up to the chorus where there is a recording equipment involved. The kineticss of the vocal are really soft, supplying the temper of any grief. A piano, guitar, recording equipment, and even a bass were distinguishable throughout the vocal every bit good. The recording equipment solo is traveling, about powerful I found out. The poetries are quietly sung with simple harmoniousnesss in the background, supplying an effectual tune. At the terminal of some of the poetries, Mick Adams hit really low registries, adding to the dejecting tone merely to pick it up once more. The choruses contrast with the poetries, presenting a more intense pacing alon g with the kineticss where membranophones are so introduced. Like â€Å" Wild Horses, † Ruby Tuesday has a lonely and soft tone colour. I enjoyed this vocal particularly the portion the recording equipment served, it is merely relatable to any grief and they rhythm was faithful to the original Rolling Stones version. Contrasting with the old vocal, â€Å" Paint It Black † has more of a dark colour tone. The usage of the bass guitar, sitar, membranophones, and some kind of maracas are used to present the vocal. The pacing starts off slow gap into a more frequent round. After the debut, the starting vocals seem about labored, quickened. The vocal did n't look to hold many ties to the usual blues sound they typically gravitate towards. The usage of the sitar adds to the dark colour melody which added some kind of â€Å" twangy † sound. The tune sounded about Middle-Eastern, Indian about. The beat is particularly influenced with Indian roots, which are emphasized with the sitar. The membranophones come in and out, conveying a difficult stone sound that speeds the pacing up until it subsequently drops down once more when Mick Adams resumes his poetries. The Ultimate Stones used the back-up singer to their advantage when they hummed a series of creepy Riffs in the background of the chorus es functioning as the dark harmoniousnesss. The vocal carries a reasonably low registry throughout the full vocal. The assorted textures within the vocal attention deficit disorder to a more heavy texture, the sitar being a premier instrument. I find this song really challenging ; it has a more dark feeling to it, doing it tricky. The sitar used, was alone, which I admire and the Ultimate Stones, once more, stayed loyal to the original Rolling Stones. Another authoritative Rolling Stones hit, Gim me Shelter was played towards the terminal of the set. The vocal is one of a mid-tempo stone vocal. It begins with a beat guitar presentation by the lead guitar player, followed by Mick ‘s presentation. The guitar is foremost introduced making the tune along with a piano while the bass sneaks in towards the terminal of the presentation. The piano finally fades out, playing underneath the mouth organ. During certain parts of the vocal, the kineticss of the set muffle the sound of the singer ‘s voice. The consonant â€Å" oohs † are sung over the guitar player ‘s parts and quiet the tone. Mick ‘s low texture contrasts with the shriek, higher registry of the back-up vocalists. This is besides the first vocal, that the adult female singer is heard. The colour of this vocal, is once more dark, portraying the vocal ‘s significance. The poetries are instead ordinary and workmanlike in comparing to the chorus, another great catchy Stones chorus that can be half-shouted and half-sung along with.A This vocal does portray the lost times during the Vietnam War, and the Ultimate Stones did a antic occupation with the vocal. However, out of all the vocals they played that dark, I had many vocals that I preferred more than this one. The shutting vocal did n't halt short of antic. â€Å" ( I Ca n't Get No ) Satisfaction † delivered energy to the room that was indefinable. The trenchant kineticss of the vocal and the fast pacing are the incarnation of a stone vocal. Mixtures of electric instruments were used, adding to the tone of the vocal. Guitar Riffs have a beat are a form of descending and go uping notes that produce a cooling Riff harmoniousness. Set against a round suited for foot-stomping and hand-clapping, Mick sang the poetries in a muted tone. Each poetry would go on to construct and construct into an explosive chorus. The chorus is normally sung about Mick ‘s universe ailments in a powerful manner. Much of the vocal ‘s texture is highlighted by the guitars played underneath Mick ‘s voice. During the poetry to chorus parts, Mick hits a twine of lines with low registries before detonating in one of his highest registries. My favourite Rolling Stones vocal ended the dark, and in t hat one vocal, it was if the energy within the whole room was bombinating. It seems to be such a universal vocal, everybody knows it and sings along with the chorus. It seemed to convey everyone together that dark, and to me, it was the best public presentation of the dark. I was nil short of impressed with this set. Many of my friends and household members had thought that a â€Å" tribute set † was cheesy, something that could non populate up to the original set. However, I had some background with the Rolling Stones before this concert and from what I heard, it was non far away. It was neither bum nor bad. The Ultimate Rocks were non â€Å" wanna-be ‘s. † In fact, the Ultimate Stones merit the congratulations they have gotten throughout magazines and the intelligence they have appeared in. They brought a serious public presentation and kept their promise to do the concert as stopping point to the original Rolling Stones as possible. Mick Adams portrayed an first-class Mick Jagger as with the remainder of the set. They have been recognized as one of the best testimonial sets in the universe, and truly so. I was non allow down at all by this public presentation and would non waver in returning one time more.