Essay On New Zealand - 1151 Words

New Zealand is located 40.9006 South, 174.8860 East. It is close to Australia and a little ways away from the tropic of Capricorn. New Zealand has many similarities culturally and socially to Australia, though some of the differences include GDP and population, which is greater in Australia. Australia also has less debt than New Zealand, with 15% of GDP being debt with 20.7% of the GDP being debt in New Zealand. New Zealand’s GDP being 4.8% agriculture, 26% industry, and 69.3% services (as of 2007) and the GDP per capita is $26,400. New Zealand is also ranked â€Å"the 54th largest export economy in the world,† as well as the 57th largest import economy (OEC - New Zealand) and their export rates increase by 2.6% every year. New Zealand†¦show more content†¦Another study shows that the amount of miscarriages goes up in certain areas fracking is used. Fracking also uses an abundant use of mystery chemicals, which we don’t know because the big companies don’t have to tell anyone, but they don’t look too innocent when they refuse to tell anybody. We also don’t kno w the long term affects on our environment, for all we know this could be the root of climate change, or maybe it is damaging the land turning fertile greenland into a deathbed for all things living. Climate change is a real problem and New Zealand’s people are contributing more than just their part. The cars they drive burn greenhouse gases, and everyone drives them. It builds up and could be damaging the beautiful scenery of New Zealand. Since Climate change is happening some signs that New Zealand have shown are ocean levels rising as well as temperature, more extreme weather which has the potential to do a devestating amount to the people who live there, and changes in weather patterns such as rain. This all has an impact on the human part of New Zealand. Extreme weather can include droughts and floods which can ruin the infrastructure of New Zealand, houses and people are the price that you pay. The physical geography in New Zealand is very diverse, with beaches, mountain ranges, farmland, and glaciers. New Zealand really does have it all. One physical feature thatShow MoreRelatedEssay On New Zealand711 Words   |  3 Pages The OECD Economic Surveys: New Zealand (2017) indicated that New Zealanders enjoy comparatively high living standards, and economic growth remains strong even compared with the highest-performing OECD countries. However, there are long-term challenges from low growth in productivity, which is well below the leading OECD countries; living standards; and social well-being. According to OECD data on labour productivity and utilization (OECD, 2107a), GDP per capita can be broken down into growth inRead MoreNew Zealand Essay1355 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction This report aims to analyse a current issue in New Zealand and discusses a proposed business idea to try and prevent the issue. The problem we have identified as a group relates to the lack of protection from sun exposure which have led to high rates of skin cancer in New Zealand. A description about the problem, the relation to capitalism, business concept on solving the problem and how the problem affects the business environment has been detailed in this report. Problem IdentifiedRead MoreNew Zealand Essay976 Words   |  4 Pagesimages that appear when New Zealand is entered in Google. This country is so beautiful and has such a rich past. It is interesting that even through Maori Tribes and European invasions, tsunamis, and the old traditions being replaced by new ones, New Zealand’s forests are still home to so many different, exotic creatures and plants. Even though it is beautiful mankind is known for his destruction of Mother Nature in his search for survival. The Maori Tribe, indigenous to New Zealand, believed very stronglyRead MoreEssay On Obesity In New Zealand1275 Words   |  6 PagesOne major occurrence in communities of New Zealand is the rise of obesity. This vast increase is evident in Ministry of Health Adult obesity statistics. For example, ten years ago in New Zealand one in three adults - thirty-two percent were obese; clearly displaying the rapid increase in the adult obesity rate from twenty-seven percent in 2 006/07 to thirty-two percent in 2015/16 (New Zealand Ministry of Health surveys, 2015/16). An interesting insight is why obesity has increased rapidly? 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The latest house condition survey said around half of houses fall short of havingRead MoreAir New Zealand essay3009 Words   |  13 Pagescompetencies and deficiencies and core competencies. •Key areas of competitive advantageThe VRIO analysis from the appendix suggests Air NZ (Air New Zealand) have only one resource that will provide them with sustainable competitive advantage and is a distinctive competency, this is the intangible resource of Air NZ being the national flag carrier of New Zealand along with their relationship with the government. Other resources which have been identified as having competitive parity include TechnologyRead MoreAir New Zealand essay3003 Words   |  13 Pagescompetencies and deficiencies and core competencies. •Key areas of competitive advantageThe VRIO analysis from the appendix suggests Air NZ (Air New Zealand) have only one resource that will provide them with sustainable competitive advantage and is a distinctive competency, this is the intangible resource of Air NZ being the national flag carrier of New Zealand along with their relationship with the government. Other resources which have been identified as having competitive parity include TechnologyRead MoreEssay On New Zealand Election838 Words   |  4 Pageswhich are votes that New Zealand citizens make when they are overseas during the election. Although the National party got the most seats, it still wasnt enough to completely be government because of New Zealands MMP system, therefore a coalition agreement had to be made. After taking offers from both the National Party and the Labour party, New Zealand decided who they wanted to create a coalition government with. On the 19th of September, Winston Peters announced that th e new government will beRead MoreManaging Diversity in New Zealand Essay2568 Words   |  11 Pagesadvantage over others is essential for success. This essay will address this issue by outlining the significance and implications of having a diverse workforce, whilst also focusing on the various perspectives. These include the associated benefits and challenges in managing an ethnically diverse workplace, as well as the various views relating to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and diversity management. It will come to show that the only way for New Zealand (NZ) to move forward in the changing corporateRead More new zealand politics 1984-1993 Essay2518 Words   |  11 Pagesbe regarded as a major turning point in New Zealand political history in the sense that significant political changes affected the whole of the New Zealand society, economy and political structure. New Zealand government’s experimented with radical Neoliberal policy programmes to achieve economic and so cial progress during this period. The essay shall discuss the central features of the process of policy change over the period of 1984 to 1993 in New Zealand. These reforms were among the most sweeping

My Childhood Has Been Surrounded By Stories - 1266 Words

My childhood has been surrounded by stories, whose casts and settings are as real and fantastical as any fairytale. Masterfully orchestrated, these stories have been brought to life by the people that have survived decades to tell them, people I love dearly but will never truly understand — my grandparents. A South Korean surgeon trapped on a North Korean farm; a razor-sharp loan shark of a mother in Haiti; a sibling-favoring geography teacher in South Korea; a proud doctor in Montreal. These strange and unknowable people are my ghosts, characters in unvisited places and unknowable times. These timeless moments are the fragments of my history, woven for me in that haphazard place between the real and the imaginary, the past and the present. These stories are the legacy of my grandparents. I am a stranger to their worlds, worlds that survive only in their memories. The people who once inhabited their lives becoming ghosts that inhabit mine. My grandmothers: one Haitian — Grandmama — and one Korean — Halmoni. Each from a wildly different culture and world and yet so similar to one another — smart, headstrong . . . rude to waiters. My Korean grandfather — Haraboji. Quiet, sweet, burps at the dinner table, and loved at the community gym where he has spent two hours, every day, for the past three years. And my Haitian grandfather — Grandpapa, who died in 2007, joining the rest of the ghosts in an almost-remembered place in my mind. When I think about my grandparents, IShow MoreRelatedGreen Stones901 Words   |  4 Pages1 How childhood experiences make the protagonist evolve in Doreen Baingana s short story â€Å"Green Stones†. The short story subject to study is â€Å"Green Stones†written by Doreen Baingana, an Ugandan writer. â€Å"Green Stones† relates the story of a whole Ugandan family seen through the eyes of the youngest member of the family, Christine. 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Because of the difference in length, many items have to be changed or even taken out. Even though a person could have read a book before going to see the movie, one could be surprised at the outcome because some aspects areRead MoreCultural Influences Throughout My Life Making Me The Person I Am Today966 Words   |  4 PagesThere have been several cultural influences throughout my life making me the person I am today. Many are from my childhood such as stories, movies, music, my studies, religion, and clubs. However, other experiences from maturing have also helped improve my character and attitude. These began to influence my beliefs starting with my childhood and remain with me today. As a child, I was surrounded by relatives with a strong Catholic foundation, and this religion was followed faithfully by my grandparentsRead MoreThe Roller Coaster Of Ups And Downs1185 Words   |  5 Pageshoops to end up where we should.† My mom repeats this quote to me till this day. My ride through life has only just begun, I always wonder where the tracks are going to take me next. From the beginning I’ve had people riding along with me, I’ve never been alone. At times I get sick of the ride and want it to end, but life is short and goes by fast. I’m trying to seize the moment and live for the ride. The day of my birth was hectic from the stories I’ve been told. My mom works at Mercy Medical CenterRead MoreMy Life With Teachers. I Pushed Past My Mom And Threw My1583 Words   |  7 Pages My Life with Teachers I pushed past my Mom and threw my heavy book bag across the kitchen floor, speeding down my basement stairs like a child on Christmas morning. I was so excited for my favorite part of the day, that the words my mother called down to me were completely inaudible. After a long day at school, this moment was all I looked forward to. I ran across the room to my massive white board, and began to write a message across it in cursive. I stepped away, and read outloud what I hadRead MoreThe, Legend, Lore, And Hearsay Essay1651 Words   |  7 Pagesaddresses the migration of his ancestors. As a result, the people had been modified by their journey, and so finally they began to consider who they were and what they were meant to become. â€Å"What remains is fragmentary: mythology, legend, lore, and hearsay--and of course the idea itself, as crucial and complete as it ever was. That is the miracle,† (Momaday, 77). In regards to his culture, Momday expresses his perception of the storie s his father once told him as a child. Indeed, he is now old enoughRead MoreAlices Journey to Find Her Identity1031 Words   |  5 PagesLewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a story of a young girl’s journey down the rabbit hole into a fantasy world where there seems to be no logic. 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Raisin in the Sun Free Essays

McNevin O’GarroJanuary 7, 2013 EnglishPeriod: 9 A Raisin in the Sun Lena, Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha are all members of the family named Youngers. The name derives from Walter Senior, Lena’s husband and Walter Jr. and Beantha’s father. We will write a custom essay sample on Raisin in the Sun or any similar topic only for you Order Now He worked tirelessly in construction, to the point where he finally passed away after such a long period hard work. Along with his death although came a pension worth ten thousand dollars toward the family. All the members of the family have dreams that are deferred throughout the story A Raisin in the Sun. Walter Jr. is a chauffeur who drives wealthy white people around for pay. With the pension from his father’s death he was striving to create his own liquor store. The ten thousand dollars that came in a check to the younger’s apartment was his catalyst to start of his business. During the story Walter says â€Å"Damn my eggs†¦damn all the eggs that ever was† in this quote Walter is signifying that all the dreams he had aren’t being supported by his wife or his mother so he might as well give up on them. Also when the check came and Walter’s partner, Willy Harris, stole seven thousand dollars out of the younger’s possession Walter’s dream was deferred. Lena also known as, Mama, in the younger’s household has a dream of a beautiful garden where she can have multiple different gorgeous flowers, growing around, aside from her single plant that she is nurturing in the apartment with barebones necessities. â€Å"Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one. † This quote explains Mama’s dreams towards having a better garden for her to care for her flowers. When the money was stolen, Mama had already put a down payment down on the family’s new home in Clybourne Park. Mama showed a strong powerful disappointment in Walter for not being able to responsibly take care of the family’s money for even a minor period of time. Her dreams toward a luscious garden were deferred right then and there. Ruth, Walter Jr. ’s wife who has wanted to escape from her rat hole of an apartment for many years, but hasn’t’ raised enough funds to ascertain better living arrangements. She works a job as a maid for wealthier lot of people outside of her apartment. The check coming in, Ruth felt that the money should all have been spent on Lena due to it officially being her property to which Walter disagreed since he could use it to start to his liquor store investment. After learning of the loss of the money, Ruth was very saddened to think that she was not going to make it out of the apartment before her newborn child would be born. When Walter finally took pride into his family and accepted the offer from the Clybourne Park representative, Mr. Linder, she expressed how happy she was to finally escape from the apartment â€Å"All I can say is—if this is my time in life—my time—to say goodbye—to these cracking walls! —and these marching roaches! —and this cramped little closet which ain’t now or never was no kitchen! . . then I say it loud and good, Hallelujah! and goodbye misery . . . I don’t never want to see your ugly face again! † She personified the apartment as to having an ugly face in which she didn’t want to see again knowing she was moving up to a better place. Beneatha,Walter’s sister, who dreams of getting past the oppressive lifestyle she lives under due to th e time period she lives in with oppression on both blacks, and women. Her being both, just set her back double times as much for her dream to become a doctor. With the money from the check Beneatha had a lot of hope of easily being put through her medical schooling year where she would earn her degree, to which she could become a fully realized doctor. When she learned of the robbery from their family of the ten thousand dollars she felt absolutely dead inside knowing that she would never rise above the oppressive world the existed in. Well – I do – all right? – thank everybody! And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! (Pursuing him on her knees across the floor) FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME! Beneatha at one point yells out for which she doesn’t know what to do with her life when all she done is strive but never attain positive results. After all the families troubles, worries, and problems they decide ultimately to move on into their new home in Clybourne Park and experience life there. Although most of the family member’s dreams are deferred they still manage to prosper in life and look ahead rather than back at what was, but instead into the future of opportunities awaiting them at their new community. How to cite Raisin in the Sun, Essay examples Raisin in the Sun Free Essays McNevin O’GarroJanuary 7, 2013 EnglishPeriod: 9 A Raisin in the Sun Lena, Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha are all members of the family named Youngers. The name derives from Walter Senior, Lena’s husband and Walter Jr. and Beantha’s father. We will write a custom essay sample on Raisin in the Sun or any similar topic only for you Order Now He worked tirelessly in construction, to the point where he finally passed away after such a long period hard work. Along with his death although came a pension worth ten thousand dollars toward the family. All the members of the family have dreams that are deferred throughout the story A Raisin in the Sun. Walter Jr. is a chauffeur who drives wealthy white people around for pay. With the pension from his father’s death he was striving to create his own liquor store. The ten thousand dollars that came in a check to the younger’s apartment was his catalyst to start of his business. During the story Walter says â€Å"Damn my eggs†¦damn all the eggs that ever was† in this quote Walter is signifying that all the dreams he had aren’t being supported by his wife or his mother so he might as well give up on them. Also when the check came and Walter’s partner, Willy Harris, stole seven thousand dollars out of the younger’s possession Walter’s dream was deferred. Lena also known as, Mama, in the younger’s household has a dream of a beautiful garden where she can have multiple different gorgeous flowers, growing around, aside from her single plant that she is nurturing in the apartment with barebones necessities. â€Å"Well, I always wanted me a garden like I used to see sometimes at the back of the houses down home. This plant is close as I ever got to having one. † This quote explains Mama’s dreams towards having a better garden for her to care for her flowers. When the money was stolen, Mama had already put a down payment down on the family’s new home in Clybourne Park. Mama showed a strong powerful disappointment in Walter for not being able to responsibly take care of the family’s money for even a minor period of time. Her dreams toward a luscious garden were deferred right then and there. Ruth, Walter Jr. ’s wife who has wanted to escape from her rat hole of an apartment for many years, but hasn’t’ raised enough funds to ascertain better living arrangements. She works a job as a maid for wealthier lot of people outside of her apartment. The check coming in, Ruth felt that the money should all have been spent on Lena due to it officially being her property to which Walter disagreed since he could use it to start to his liquor store investment. After learning of the loss of the money, Ruth was very saddened to think that she was not going to make it out of the apartment before her newborn child would be born. When Walter finally took pride into his family and accepted the offer from the Clybourne Park representative, Mr. Linder, she expressed how happy she was to finally escape from the apartment â€Å"All I can say is—if this is my time in life—my time—to say goodbye—to these cracking walls! —and these marching roaches! —and this cramped little closet which ain’t now or never was no kitchen! . . then I say it loud and good, Hallelujah! and goodbye misery . . . I don’t never want to see your ugly face again! † She personified the apartment as to having an ugly face in which she didn’t want to see again knowing she was moving up to a better place. Beneatha,Walter’s sister, who dreams of getting past the oppressive lifestyle she lives under due to th e time period she lives in with oppression on both blacks, and women. Her being both, just set her back double times as much for her dream to become a doctor. With the money from the check Beneatha had a lot of hope of easily being put through her medical schooling year where she would earn her degree, to which she could become a fully realized doctor. When she learned of the robbery from their family of the ten thousand dollars she felt absolutely dead inside knowing that she would never rise above the oppressive world the existed in. Well – I do – all right? – thank everybody! And forgive me for ever wanting to be anything at all! (Pursuing him on her knees across the floor) FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME, FORGIVE ME! Beneatha at one point yells out for which she doesn’t know what to do with her life when all she done is strive but never attain positive results. After all the families troubles, worries, and problems they decide ultimately to move on into their new home in Clybourne Park and experience life there. Although most of the family member’s dreams are deferred they still manage to prosper in life and look ahead rather than back at what was, but instead into the future of opportunities awaiting them at their new community. How to cite Raisin in the Sun, Papers

Business Model for Purpose and Organizational Goal - myassignmenthelp

Question: Write about theBusiness Model for Purpose and Organizational Goal. Answer: Business model can be defined as the conceptual structure that helps the organization to achieve its mission, purpose and organizational goal. Business models are designed in order to create the value and distribute it in a profitable way. The business models acts in between the two poles of classification and taxonomy (Baden-Fuller Morgan, 2010). Zott and Amit oppose the idea of a general business model, as each business works in a very different individual way. The business models classificatory function depends on the scale models and short-hand definitions (Zott Amit, 2010). In an effective business model the role model and scale model come together and the internet based Google business model is one such example. The concept of business model is getting huge attention because of the internet revolution. Many scholars use the term in order to define as how the internet transformed the traditional business models (Laudon Traver, 2013). The emergence of e-commerce has motivated the scholars and business professionals examine the business models of their organizations. Figure: Business Model Formation ( Source: Made by author) A coherent framework is achieved through the business model which helps the organization to gain financial output. Therefore business model can be described as an abstract model that connects business processes and strategies. Organizations often confuse business model with revenue model (DaSilva Trkman, 2014). Revenue model is a part of the business model which only describes the volume of the revenue, its sources and distribution. Carl Jung developed the idea of business model archetype. He describes archetypes is something which possess certain qualities that others follow and inherit to develop their own. There are business models with fundamental business qualities that provides others good structural base for effective business (Zott, Amit, 2010). The electronic communication has changed the business model significantly. The information technology is at the core of e commerce. Before the emergence of e-commerce the organizations could not maintain close relationship with suppliers as the system was stand alone and high cost based. The e commerce technologies provided huge capabilities to the companies with connectivity, interactivity, openness and transparency which led the company in direct exchange of information among organizations (Barney Ray, 2015). The supplier integration resulted in customer satisfaction and influenced the business model overall. Many enterprises utilized the e commerce opportunity to develop new business models. Through innovate new business models the companies put substantial efforts in generate high revenue. The new business model helps them to improve the product and service quality; however the innovation of new business model requires ample time, research and huge investment. A survey by EIU or Economist Intelligence unit highlights that Majority of the companies now prefer innovative business models over new service or products (Bashir Verma, 2017). They believe that the new model is more effective than the others to give the company more competitive advantages. Another survey by IBM also demonstrated that the companies that went ahead in the competitive race than their competitors in last few years had concentrated more on developing their business models. The business model has four aspects of customer segment, management infrastructure, value proposition and financial aspects. There are other nine aspects that are interlinked with the four mention aspects that contribute to the structure of business model. Few of the important blocks can be identified as revenue streams, key activities and resources and customer relationships. Adapting anew value network model could be helpful to renovate the business model of the company (Stabell Fjeldstad, 1998). The company who has been adapting a new business model at an early stage utilizes the First mover advantages (Markide Sosa, 2013). The late adapters will create competitive resistance for the other company but the adapted business model will help them to overcome that and gain advantage of better sustainability as a first mover. According to Porter the two most adapted strategies to deal with the low cost competitors challenges are differentiation based business model and focus based business model. The differentiation based business model puts a lot of stress on new technologies to fulfill the customers growing need. By adapting the latest technology this business model helps them to connect with other businesses and customers all over the world. This way differentiation based business model helps them to gain the consumer surplus or the maximum value (Williamson, 2010). Focus based business model on the other hand only focuses on a specific niche market. This model practices a safe financial practice where interested customers pay premium value. However cost innovation has become a threat for both these business models. The competitors are offering high technological services at a low price and others are providing niche products to mass market. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded search engine has grown to be more than just search engine that also deals with desktop applications, social networking, operating system mobiles, and other online services (Google.com, 2017). Goggle is a successful business model which generates billions every year. Googles business model is very creative and effective in a sense that the every customers various needs satisfied by various services of Google. There are niche customers who pay premium cost for special services like advanced mail service, cloud services and Google earth features. On the other hand Google offers lot of free services to its customers including search engine, map that holds a stable customer base for the company. A lot of advertisements are offered by the company to diverse range of customers so business partners invest on the company to attract more customers. Goggle gets in agreement with the mobile OEMs to let the customers downloading their apps. Then the company is also engaging in a lot of offline activities like smart glasses to humanoid robots. Google is a company primarily based on advanced technology. Everyday that is incorporating newer technologies to improve their business model. In a way the polyhedral business model of goggle is working with great success (Retolaza, San-Jose Ruz-Roquei, 2016). Therefore the value propositions practiced by the company are two types. Googles one value proposition is for webmasters who can monetize their services and earn money from the Google provided platform like Ad sense. The other value proposition is for the direct advertisers. Goggles business model has pioneered in successfully interpreting big data in every day practice. The company utilizes the big data from Webindex to equal the queries with desired results (Zicari, 2014). Their monetized platform working on capturing the data from the consumers as they use the search engine. Googles data driven business model in this way is ensuring maximum profit for the company. Various business models have been adapted by many companies; some of them are implementing innovative strategies in the business models. Most of them are well planned and executed and offering great outcomes. The changes in the technology have driven the changes in the models so more technological advancements will keep transforming the business models in future. Reference Baden-Fuller, C., Morgan, M. S. (2010). Business models as models.Long range planning,43(2), 156-171. Barney, J. Ray, Gautam. (2015). How information technology resources can provide a competitive advantage in customer service.Planning for Information Systems,3(2), pp.444-460. Bashir, M., Verma, R. (2017). Why Business Model Innovation Is the New Competitive Advantage.IUP Journal of Business Strategy,14(1), 7. Coleman, A. (2016).Is Google's model of the creative workplace the future of the office?.the Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2016/feb/11/is-googles-model-of-the-creative-workplace-the-future-of-the-office DaSilva, C. M., Trkman, P. (2014). Business model: what it is and what it is not.Long range planning,47(6), 379-389. Laudon, K. C., Traver, C. G. (2013).E-commerce. Pearson. Markides, C., Sosa, L. (2013). Pioneering and first mover advantages: the importance of business models.Long Range Planning,46(4), 325-334. Our Products | Google. (2017).Google.com. Retrieved 27 August 2017, from https://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/ Retolaza, J. L., San-Jose, L., Ruz-Roquei, M. (2016). Polyhedral Model: Social Value Model for Stakeholders. InSocial Accounting for Sustainability(pp. 37-51). Springer International Publishing. Stabell, C. B., Fjeldstad, . D. (1998). Configuring value for competitive advantage: on chains, shops, and networks.Strategic management journal, 413-437. Williamson, P. J. (2010). Cost innovation: preparing for a value-for-moneyrevolution.Long Range Planning,43(2), 343-353. Zicari, R. V. (2014). Big data: Challenges and opportunities.Big data computing,564. Zott, C., Amit, R. (2010). Business model design: an activity system perspective.Long range planning,43(2), 216-226.

A College Education Is It Worth 100,000 Essays - Employment

A College Education Is It Worth 100,000? A College Education: Is it Worth $100,000? In Robert E. Sullivan, Jr.s Greatly Reduced Expectations, Sullivan discusses the lack of employment available to college graduates. Throughout the essay, testimonials are given by four college graduates who expected more opportunity when they graduated with a four year degree. I sympathize with these men and women who are working in jobs that do promote their ability. Jim McKay, a graduate from the University of Washington, with a degree in English, did not expect the reality that hit him when he went searching for a job. McKay wasnt hired for any of the jobs he considered English major related. The newspaper wouldnt hire him, nor would his university, nor a beer company as a sales representative. With a feeling of dismay, McKay thought maybe he wasnt trying hard enough, or maybe he had chosen the wrong major. After meeting several underemployed college grads, some more recent grads than himself, he realized something bigger was going on.(229) McKay, working with people who never earned a college degree, has given up hope at finding a job that utilizes what he learned while in school. I feel angry about the whole thing, McKay says. I guess when youre told your whole life that somethings gonna happened then the opposite happens, you feel cheated. (230) I sympathize with Jim McKay, especially now that Im in college and will be facing the same thing in a few years. It is a deep disappointment to work so hard as a young adult, sink so much money into an education and have it take you nowhere in the work place. When a person realizes that they wasted their time and money, I can imagine the feelings of anger, disappointment and the feeling of having been cheated. Brian McCoy, a major in chemical-engineering, and with a graduation date of this spring, is already preparing himself for the strong possibility of not finding a job within his field. As he nears graduation, McCoy is taking all the interviews he can, just hoping to land something, and realizes that he may have to settle for a position in sales. They say they have enough engineers, and I guess they figure its easier to teach a technical person how to sell than to teach a salesperson to be technical. (230) I can understand Brian McCoys concern over his future. As graduation gets closer, he realizes that his future might not be as secure as he first thought it was going to be. I find it upsetting, that a student fresh out of college, has to be hit with the huge disappointment of not being able to find a decent job within their major. All a person can do, is try not to be discouraged and keep searching for that job of their dreams. It is believed that the higher the education a person receives, the more likely they are to land a job right out of college. Jamie Hurd, after graduating with a six year degree in architecture, has managed to only find a part time job within her field. When Hurd goes to look for other jobs, she feels the need to play down her schooling(230) Hurd feels, Here youve got this professional degree, and its almost a hindranceSometimes you feel overqualified.(230) The situation that Jamie Hurd finds herself in unfortunately is not an uncommon one. I have heard many stories of being overqualified. In the United States, if a person doesnt go to college they have trouble getting decent jobs. If a person goes to college, they are told they should specialize to have a better chance at a good job. If that person chooses to specialize they are now considered overqualified for many careers. I have difficulty excepting that that can be an acceptable reason for turning someone down for a job. People w ho graduate with a Masters Degree or a Doctorate, or any specialized degree, should not have trouble finding a job. The fact is, however; they do. Meggan Baron, a graduate from a four-year college with a major in Commerce and Art (1/2 art, 1/2 business), had difficulty finding a job at first. Even with a internship

Uncle Toms Cabin essays

Uncle Toms Cabin essays "So you're the lady whose book started this great war." Abraham Lincoln said this to Harriet Beecher Stowe upon meeting her in 1862. This quote shows the great influence the novel had on the minds of its readers and on a nation in turmoil. At the height of racial tension in nineteenth century America, Stowe revealed the sufferings and hardships the slave was forced to endure. Stowe used passionate and sometimes exaggerated thoughts and stories in the book in an effort to prompt abolitionist action. In the novel, Stowe used strong-minded women that sent a message to female readers that they also can take action against slavery. Although Stowe was on the side of the slave, she sometimes exhibited a paternalistic attitude that made her seem somewhat racist. Uncle Tom's Cabin is "profoundly feminist in its implications" because of the opinionated female characters that voiced their beliefs and showed moral superiority over their male counterparts. Stowe established that both wome n and slaves were victims of male domination, and she depicted women in the novel that were led to their abolitionist views by their moral and Christian beliefs. Because of the stereotypes and paternalistic attitude she exhibited, Stowe sometimes seemed racist against the class she was fighting for. At times, Stowe took the viewpoint of the white and looked down on her race. By comparing whites to blacks, Stowe contradicted her main theme of the novel, equality. "It was rather natural; and the tears that fell, as he spoke, came as naturally as if he had been a white man (134)." Stowe referred to many stereotypes of blacks during the era through her descriptions of the slaves. Aunt Chloe was portrayed as the stereotypical slave-woman. "Her whole plump countenance beams with satisfaction and contentment from under her well-starched turban (25)." Topsy was portrayed as foolish because of Stowe's description of her song and dance. "...Spinning round,...

Stephen Crane's The Open Boat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stephen Crane's The Open Boat - Essay Example The second element is that heroes are survivors. Being a hero is an active and living state. Individuals that die in the process of performing heroic acts are not heroes. They are deceased. A hero accomplishes the great feat and lives to tell the tale. Common people die in the course of attempting heroic actions. While this definition of heroism may to some seem narrow or even disrespectful to individuals and characters that have died while performing heroic and selfless deeds, the intention could not be further from the truth. It is simply an attempt in my mind to differentiate and distinguish between actions that are heroic and the personification of individuals and characters that can be categorized as heroes. In Stephen Crane’s short story The Open Boat, four characters are presented in the most precarious of circumstances. Their ship has sunk and they are all together in a small dingy struggling to make landfall. Mountainous wave beset their craft in a relentless effort t o swallow them into the sea. The four characters are the captain, who was injured in the sinking of the main vessel, the cook, the least ranking and most common among the men, the oiler and the correspondent. What becomes clear upon a close reading of The Open Boat is the fact that this is a story entirely bereft of heroes. Certainly, the men find themselves in a difficult spot that requires heroic actions or the part of all. Billie the oiler was coming off of working a double shift just before the ship went down. He found himself at sea rowing for land for two days without proper rest and having had very little to eat before sinking. Yet he never hesitated to take his turn at the oars when it came time to spell the others so they could get some rest. Indeed, the correspondent, the night before making landfall called on him many times so that he could rest. Billie selflessly and heroically rowed while the others slept. Cook was more than happy to do the drudgery of bailing while the correspondent and the oiler rowed. He had no desire for status or for any position of notice. It could be said in modern terms that he was a â€Å"team player† silently and obediently do the most menial yet important tasks. The correspondent selflessly kept watch through the night, when the ominous presence of death embodied by the figure of a great shark, came to circle the small craft. And finally, there was the selfless guidance of the captain who waded through the personal tragedy of losing his beloved ship in an unflagging effort to continue to command the crew of the dingy as best he could. His experience was all that gave the crew hope at times and he obliged their needs for hope instead of bowing to hopelessness. But heroic deeds do not a hero make. In order to really consider any of the characters heroes by the proposed definition in this essay, the motivation of these actions must be explored. The final night, when the correspondent is wrestling with Fate, when he is struggling with fatigue and hopelessness, the one thought that comes to him is profoundly selfish. He wanted to live. I would be nice to continue to live even though dying might just be easier. There was not one thought for his fellow crewmembers. He wanted to live and he would strive to make it so. This every-man-for-himself mentality is nicely characterized by the departure from the boat onto the shore. On the captain’

Case study Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Case study Questions - Essay Example Terra Firma has recently been faced by several challenges such as poor infrastructure as a result of underinvestment, overstaffing and majorly the unpredictable markets for main products like the X-ray machines, CT scanners and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) due to advanced innovations in technology, pressure resulting from competition and regulations made by the government of the United States (US) and Europe. The main problem faced by Terra Firma therefore is market for its major products. Most of these problems can be attributed to poor Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. The company was well grounded in IT until the system crashed and it encountered several problems and incurred so many losses. Terra Firma sought to improve its market for the products by employing several service strategies including investing heavily in IT operations. Due to technology, great innovations came by and other companies were able to outdo Terra Firma thereby giving it a stiff competition. The challenges faced by the Terra company calls for remedies in order for the company to stand out among its competitors. Terra Firma’s market ranges from ‘large medical equipment vendors such as General Electric’s (GE), Siemens, Philips, Hitachi and Toshiba’ (Case competition 2010) Due to the increase in health care risks and costs may companies would go for equipments that are highly effective and are of lower cost. Terra Firma will also be required to look for more markets like single internal customers in addition to the multiple internal customers. Apart from IT operations, Terra Firma could engage in other IT areas like IT security where the company could develop new communication policies and protocols within and without the Terra Company. IT security will also aid in recovery in case of a problem. The other IT area that the

A working zone versus a distracting zone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A working zone versus a distracting zone - Essay Example I thought that I had done pretty well up till then, when I begand attending English 848 classes at the College of San Mateo. That was when I discovered, through the pie chart I had drawn up for my weekly activities in class, that I was actually spending a great deal of time procrastinating. This discovery led me to wonder as to what was causing me to procrastinate and what else I could do in order to use my time more effectively. It was around this same time that I began reading the book â€Å"Distracted† by Maggie Jackson. In the book Ms. Jackson writes; â€Å"attention is a process of taking in, sorting and shaping, planning, and regulates one’s impulses, which carries us towards our highest goals (24)†. It was the perfect accompaniement to my parents own beliefs about planning daily schedules in order to use time more efficiently. So I began to look to my past in order to explain why I was procrastinating in the present. I was led to the discovery that I spent too much time in my room, lying in bed either procrastinating or just being distracted. That was the main reason that I was now far from being an ideal student. Therefore, I needed to overcome this shortcoming somehow. Perhaps by spending more time at school studying. However, looking back on my planning methods, I found that I was mainly to blame when it came to falling short of performing my scheduled activities. Due to the distractions caused by my always wanting to relax in bed, I failed to develop my ability to concentrate on my planned tasks. Professor Christof Koch, an American neuroscientist known for his work on the neural bases of consciousness, defines attention as â€Å"the ability to concentrate on a particular stimulus, event, or thought while excluding competing stimuli.† Therefore, I needed to learn to stop distracting myself by going to bed everytime I had a task on hand. Looking back on my childhood experiences I knew that I did not always procrastinate in bed. In fact, I disliked my classmates and friends who spent more time in bed sleeping or relaxing when they could be doing more productive things with their time. Tracing back to my high school years, I could almost pinpoint the exact moment when I became what I despised the most. When I was in my senior year of high school, my parents and I had already set our sights on my coming to America to attend university studies at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). Since we wanted to ensure my acceptance to our university of choice, my parents developed a rigorous academic schedule for me. One that constantly left me physically and mentally exhausted every day. In an effort to help my body recover, I began to extend my leisure and sleeping time. I now realize that giving in to the whims and caprices of my body was the wrong thing for me to have done. My approach was a typical way of shifting stress on a new event. According to Amisha Padnani, an author of New York Times, c ites Dr. Teresa Lesiuk, an assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami, â€Å"When you’re stressed, you might make a decision more hastily; you have a very narrow focus of attention.† In this case, I chose relaxation time on my bed to shift my attention from the rigorous schedule that I had agreed to fulfill in the first place. But I began to enjoy relaxing to much and began to lose sight of my main goal, acceptance into UCLA. Needless to say, my lack of focus and other missteps resulted in my denial by UCLA. Having realized

The Employee Selection System In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay

The Employee Selection System In The Hospitality Industry Tourism Essay In the hospitality industry, there are many departments in the organizations of hotels and other lodging establishments. Every department plays a different role in accommodating to the needs and demands of the guests and this include the human resource department. Although the human resource department is not directly involved in serving the guests in the hotel, this department is essential in ensuring that the service industry is consisted of reliable and experienced employees. Being an industry that is very labour-intensive, every individual that is being hired must meet the specifications of the job and it is the duty of human resource department to choose the right people for the right job. Human resource generally means people who are comprised in the workforce of an organization. For organizations like hotels, human resources are an important asset because it is them who keep the organizations running by providing services for the guests. The operation of hospitality establishments such as lodging establishments cannot work without employees. The human resource department is therefore set up to facilitate the hotel in the role of staffing, training and helping the organization in managing the people in order to achieve a maximum capability in the workforce, subsequently, fulfilling goals and missions of the hotel. The human resource department is responsible for the following tasks. Understanding and relating to employees as individuals, thus identifying individual needs and career goals Developing a positive interaction between employees in order to ensure collated and constructed enterprise productivity as well as development of a uniform organization culture Recruiting and required the employees and making provisions for expressed and promised payroll and other benefits Innovating new operating practices to minimise risk and generate an overall sense of belonging and accountability Identifying the areas which the employees have lack of knowledge and experience in and then provide a training programme to remedy the weaknesses in the forms of workshops and seminars Implementing resource strategies to create and sustain competitive advantage. Furthermore, the human resource department is also responsible for preparing the manpower budget and the list of backups at certain levels. For example, a well functioned human resource department will always plan for future situations by analysing the current market job to see how the rate of employee switching is going in the hospitality industry. This rate is different in every sector, with the lodging industry having the highest rate when compared with the other industries. Therefore, the employees in the department will always keep a look out for any gaps that requires them to get substitutes for positions in the hotel by preparing contingency plans and backups which are assessed to maintain the hierarchy of the organization. The management in the human resource department faces a challenge when recruiting members to join the organizations, the higher the challenge still if it is in the case of hiring for the lodging industry. The lodging industry as its name suggests is simply known to the public as hotels, motels and other establishments which provide services such as lodging and lodging with meals. Being a labour-intensive industry, the employees are essential for the operation of the organizations. Therefore, the prospects for employment in the lodging industry are very high and employees are easily attainable in the labour market. However, as the labour market gets smaller when more people are getting hired in the lodging industry as well as other industries, the rate of turnover in the lodging industry has begun to rise higher. The high turnover rate in the lodging industry has impacted the growth of the service sector. According to Kenneth and Berger (1994), the turnover in the hospitality industry has been shown to be incredibly high, averaging up to 200 to 300 percent annually. This high turnover rate not only affects developing countries like Malaysia, but also for developed countries like the USA, where the employee turnover rates are more than 100% in food and beverage outlets. What are the reasons behind the high turnover rates of employees in the lodging industry? There are various reasons of why the percentage of turnover among employees in the lodging industry is higher compared to other industries. In the next few chapters, the reasons of the relatively high turnover rate will be explained. Chapter 2: Quality of the Employee Selection System and Leadership For every establishment, the most important thing for the organization is to choose the right people for the right job. The employees of the hotel are the backbone of the organization. If they are not meticulously chosen by the human resource department and subsequently hiring the wrong people for the wrong job specifications, the reputation of the hotel will be tarnished when the customers judge the service standard of the hotel based on the employees. On top of that, a bad employment system is one of the major reasons of employee turnover in the lodging industry. More often than not, the applicants for lower position jobs in the lodging industry are usually young and inexperienced. It is not right to assume that the lower levels in the hierarchy of an organization is less important and therefore, simply selecting any applicant from the list will fit the job perfectly. If an individual with little passion in the lodging industry seeks the job just for the sake of getting a job but appears to be keen and enthusiastic during the interview, this might be able to fool the human resource department into hiring him, thinking he is the best candidate for the applied position. This shows that the employee selection system is poor in quality as the employees are not thoroughly examined before hiring them. It is easy to see that an uninterested employee who has no passion for the hospitality industry will not stay for long in his position. Without a genuine love for the profession as well as the desire to excel as a hotelier, there is no forms of motivations that can help the employee to stay working in the lodging establishment. Sooner or later, the employee will aspire for a better work-life balance, a faster career growth or even a growing desire to stop working in the department where the managers are not the least concern about his well being, for example. Consequently, he will resign from his position after a few months due to boredom or a bad relationship with their superiors. The cycle continues as the human resource department continues to hire applicants without meticulously examining them and assign them to jobs that do not suit them properly and then have to result to terminate them or a receive a resignation from them when they do not perform as well as expected by the dep artment. Besides, the other main reason why the turnover is high in lodging industry is that the quality of leadership in the establishment. Not every individual is designed to fit well in the culture and the regulations of a property especially the likes of a hotel. Besides, the lodging industry is one industry that practices the culture that foster dependence which requires the employees to follow a chain of command which requires the lower level employees to report to their own direct superiors respectively. It is impossible for hotels to have a perfectly high standard of leadership qualities and therefore, not all the leaders or supervisors are good managers to their subordinates or owning the ability to lead the teams in the various departments in the hotel. The disability to lead or motivate the employees as their supervisors can bring about a negative impact on the employees and as a result, they become more and more dissatisfied with the way they are being treated by their superiors. For example, an employee who has an emergency to leave early from work and the supervisor disallows him from doing so and forces him to stay till the end of the shift without considering the reason behind the permission of early dismissal. What will the employee feel having to work under a supervisor who could not care less the well being of the subordinates? The employee will be discouraged and begins to consider about leaving the organization for other job opportunities where they might be able to work under a better leadership. It does not mean that being strict towards the employee is a good leadership quality. A leader must not only be strict to employees but at the same time, needs to demonstrate an example to be followed by the employees. If the way the supervisors lead does not bring about motivation at the workplace, it is no wonder that the turnover rate of the employees is so high because almost no one is able to work under a management that is stressful or filled with negativity, for example, employees are often being scolded for trivial mistakes with no hint of encouragement to strive for improvement especially during the rush hour in the lodging establishment. Thus, the same position keeps changing employee and this increases the employee turnover percentage due to poor quality of leadership. Chapter 3: Working Environment and Work Specification The working environment is considered as the workplace and its surroundings. This factor is one that most employees place priority on, ensuring that the job that they doing provides a conducive environment that will enable them to work happily and efficiently. In the lodging industry, the working environment is defined as a place where there is constant contact with guests and it is of utmost importance for the employees to present themselves well at all times. The working environment does not only include the physical workplace which can be seen by all, for example, sitting at the reception but it also involves the figurative part, which is the environment that involves acknowledging the presence of guests day in and day out of the shift (working hours). Suffice to say, the guests are a part of the working environment in the lodging industry. The working environment in the lodging establishment is another reason of the high turnover rate of employees because this industry is one that requires employees to have a high level of patience and a good stress management due to its occupation nature. Having to face guests all the time and if the guests are demanding, they still need to meet the demands of the guests no matter how tired they are. One can only last for so long working in such a stressful environment while at the same time is forced to put on a smile for each and every guest who walks into the establishment. Besides, the working environment in the lodging establishments also includes their supervisors or co-workers who make pressure more intense in the workplace. The hospitality industry is such a challenging field that not everyone will make it as their permanent profession. Majority of the employees who work in hotels are either school leavers or part-timers who lack the courage to or perseverance to keep pursuing the career in this area, hence, they change jobs as soon as they can find a working environment that is less stressful and gives them more time to relax. Furthermore, the work specification is also the reason of the high employee turnover in the lodging industry. The shifts in a regular lodging establishment are divided into three shifts morning, afternoon and midnight shifts; consisting of about eight or more hours per shift. Sometimes the employees need to work more than the regular eight hours when there is a shortage of employees in the department. Sometimes, employees are assigned the midnight shift, also known as the graveyard shift in the hospitality context and stay on duty till the next morning. Every shift is important because the guests may check in at any time of the day. The lodging industry cannot expect all the guests to check in only in the afternoon because some guests for example, just got down from a flight and need lodging for the night. On top of that, the work in the lodging industry requires a lot of physical activities which tires the employees easily. Therefore, employees who cannot take the pressure or fatigu e will resign or be terminated for lack of competency in the job which leaves the position vacant for another employee who most likely will do the same thing. The irregularity of working hours in the long term is not the kind of profession which many people like as they tend to prefer stable working hours, such as office hours. Furthermore, the work specification in the lodging establishment, especially in the food and beverage department, requires the employees to stand for a long period of time which is something that needs endurance on the part of the employees. The high turnover of employees occurs in the lodging industry because not all of the ones hired have the aspiration to be hoteliers and therefore, the work specification does not meet their criteria of a job selection. This is one reason why they leave shortly after working for a considerable brief period of time. Therefore, the working environment and the specifications of the various positions in the lodging establishment is an important element which determines how long the employees can work in the industry. The lodging industry is very labour-oriented which results in high demand of employees. However, the ones who are ready to accept the job opportunities offered by this industry are more likely to change their job environment when they feel that the irregularity working hours in the hotel environment is no longer what they prefer to continue to do, so they need to venture into other career line that is appealing to them. Chapter 4: Salary and Low Job Satisfaction For every industry, the purpose employees choose to work is to earn a decent salary to support oneself or even a family. The career is the source of income and therefore, salary has become another reason of why the turnover of employees is extremely high especially in the lodging industry. Being an industry that caters to the need of customers, guests in the hospitality context, the lodging establishments has a mission to provide guests with the best services even though if it means to hire more employees to facilitate the management to fulfil this goal. The number of employees working in the lodging industry is high especially in the lower levels such as front desk representative and the salary for such positions is always deemed to be low in terms lodging industry workers work harder and longer hours compared with the employees from other industries who have fixed working hours and a considerable low level of stress. For example, the front desk representative earns an average of $2 0,000 per year, referencing from a statistic in United States in February 2010. Furthermore, some employees who are desperate for a job will work for a short duration of time in the lodging industry and at the same time, scouting for jobs outside the industry which offers higher pay and shorter working hours. Most employees use the lodging industry as a stepping stone in order to achieve a better position somewhere which is not so dependent on guests as well as too much reliance on commission-like pay. Therefore, when they could not accept the same salary for the amount of work that they do, they decide to leave. The scenario repeats when the next employee who comes to replace the previous employee has the same vision of treating the current job as a temporary solution before he can find a higher paid job soon. The reason why most employees leave the lodging industry after working for a short time is because they are not satisfied with the wages that is paid by the hotel as they think they deserved to receive a higher salary for the worth of the work that they d o every day, especially the irregularity in the time shift as explained in the previous chapter. Many of the employees who are working in the lodging establishments do not have the opportunity to express their creativity and intellectual development as the job requirements in the hotel follow a standard operating procedure to synchronise the work among the employees. Therefore, the employees feel that what they have to offer to the industry is very limited as they cannot express their potential to the maximum, something which can make them stand out from other employees. However, the lodging industry places importance on teamwork and individualism is rarely practised in the lower level of management whereby the employee is given a full responsibility in a certain task. The satisfaction level of employees upon the job is slowly decreasing as they begin to feel bored with the tough routine of serving the guests every day without any chances to be valued by the management. Besides, a low job satisfaction happens when the employees feel that they are being taken advantage of which t hey are obligated to work extra hours at times to cover the insufficiency of manpower during peak seasons with extra minimal wages. As a result, more negative emotions surface such as feeling of undervalued, helpless or unimportant. Employees seek satisfaction in their career and when they fail to achieve it in the lodging industry, they will begin to wonder if they are not well suited for the service area, therefore, leaving the industry altogether. On top of that, employees desire to attain benefits from their workplace. These benefits are not necessarily in the monetary sense but they also include the appreciation by the organization such as a raise in salary or extra days off in the week. However, it is not possible for the establishments in the lodging industry to reward employees by giving extra days off when industry is so labour-intensive which means, they need all the employees they can to serve the guests who steps into the establishment all the time. Chapter 5: Impact of New Technology on Skill Requirements The technology era has made a major difference globally including the lodging industry. The information and communication technology (ICT) system integrate the power of the Internet, the customer relationship management and also the supply chain management in a directly seamless, one-source direction site which allows all kinds of operations to be performed with one user friendly tool. The types of operations that can be performed are such as making reservations, storing of guestsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ data, tracking as well as payment and reporting from one department to the other. For example, the guests can now reserve rooms from the comfort of their home without having to contact the hotel personnel to make reservations. By cutting out one or two stages of reservation in the system of the lodging establishment like hotels, it gives a great impact on the employment of the human resource department. This is because with the advancement of technology, certain tasks that have been operated manually by the employees in the lodging establishments such as helping the guest to make reservation has now been replaced with the Internet. This is where the reason of the high turnover of employee comes in. In order to maintain the personal touch that the guests love to experience when they contact the hotel, the management still hires employees to collaborate with the automated functions that has made the procedures in the hotel much simpler than before. Therefore, the employees who are not competent enough to handle the change that has replaced the old system are replaced with employees that have the different levels of skills which complement the job specifications. On the surface, the management might see this as a solution to replace old employees who lack in skill compared to the new employees. However, the turnover of employees continues to be high in percentage as the technology is always evolving so fast the knowledge that the current employees have becomes obsolete ever more quickly. The training of employees to operate in the lodging industry has become a continuous need meanwhile the remaining jobs require employees of greater skills than before. As a result, the human resource has to keep hiring new employees who are better in operating the new systems in the hotel. This reason used to be the least problem to the lodging industry in the earlier years but now, as globalisation continues to develop, the industry must keep up to the up-to-date systems and hire the right people to operate them, such as hoteliers who are at the same time comfortable with new systems and are flexible to adapt to new changes, a challenge that is continually f orcing the turnover of employees to remain higher than the other industries which are not so labour-intensive. Chapter 6: Conclusion The lodging industry is such a challenging industry because it requires a lot of employees to make the system functional. The job opportunities that is presented in this industry is so vast that many people are willing to apply for a position within the industry for various reasons but most of the employments do not last long because of the reasons that have been explained in the previous chapters. The first reason of why the employee turnover is exceptionally high in the lodging industry is because of the poor quality of employee selection system and the leadership practised in the organization. The human resource department has the task of selecting the right people to do the right job. If the employees are not screened properly, there is a higher probability that the individuals assigned to the position are not up to the job, subsequently, cannot handle the work and has to be replaced with better employees who have experience in the lodging industry. The leadership of the lodging industry also affects the turnover of employees. A leader who cannot cooperate with his subordinates or give a proper guidance to train them to perform better at work will also cause the high turnover in employees because employees always seek to work under good leadership that will enable them to learn new things about the industry. Furthermore, the working environment and the job specification are another reason of the high employee turnover in lodging industry. The hustle bustle in the hotel, having to meet guests all the time with a pleasant appearance can be a challenging job as no matter how tired an employee is, he must not display it upfront to maintain the service level towards the guests. The long working hours is also another cause of the high employee turnover as well as the irregularity of working hours that causes employees to encounter fatigue due to the different shifts they are assigned to. On top of that, the salary and low job satisfaction has become another cause of high employee turnover in the lodging industry. Employees will leave when they realise that the amount of work they do are not being appreciated when their pay is lower compared with other industries which offer higher pay for lesser amount of work. The job satisfaction then decreases further when employees have fewer opportunities to express their creativity and intellect since the lodging industry has their own standard operating procedures to keep everything synchronised for the guests. The last reason for the turnover of employees is the impact of the new technology on skill requirements. Technology has been advancing at an incredible speed and there are far easier ways to operate things in the lodging industry. The tasks that have been done manually in the past are now able to be done using new software that can be assimilated in the reservation procedures as well as the storing of guestsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ data. The employees who are resistant to these changes have to be replaced with newer employees who are more technologically inclined as their new skills are needed to be incorporated with the technology used in the hotel. As the technology advances on, the turnover of employees begin to remain high in percentage as more new skills are required to replace the old in order for the lodging industry to function at its best to serve its guests.

GlaxoSmithKline and the China Bribery Scandal Essay -- GSK Bribery in

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are investing and operating in many foreign markets around the world. With this globalization, it is becoming increasingly important for managers at all levels to become proficient in cross-cultural management. This paper will explore the challenges encountered by a British expatriate managing the Chinese business unit for a British pharmaceutical MNC. An assessment of the national cultural differences using Hofstede’s research on work-related values differences will be explored. The data will be analyzed to determine if these differences had an impact on the organizations ability to successfully manage cross-culturally. GlaxoSmithKline, Plc (GSK) is the largest British pharmaceutical company with a presence in more than 100 countries around the world. In July 2013, the Economic Crimes Investigations Unit of the China Public Security Ministry in Beijing accused GSK of bribing government officials and doctors to prescribe higher costing branded drugs to treat their patients. GSK reportedly offered approximately $489 million in illegitimate travel packages, meeting expenses, entertainment and cash over six years to these doctors and officials (Sukhija). Often, the incentives were funneled through travel agencies, who would send doctors on international trips and provide them with luxuries while at other times payments were simply made in cash. GSK released a statement explaining that the allegations made against the senior executives of the company are ‘shameful'. †We are deeply concerned and disappointed by these serious allegations of fraudulent behavior and ethical misconduct by certain individuals at the company and third-party agencies. Such behavior would be a clear breach of GSK'... ...013. El-emergente.com. Web. 20 May 2014. Okoro, Ephraim. "International Organizations and Operations: An Analysis of Cross-Cultural Communication Effectiveness and Management Orientation." Journal of Business & Management (2013): 1-13. Document. Philippidis, Alex. "China's Challenges Stretch Beyond the GSK Scandal." 01 August 2013. Genengnews.com. Web. 19 May 2014. Reilly, Mark. "Mark Reilly, China - GlaxoSmithKline." 10 December 2009. gsk.com. PDF file. 19 May 2014. Shobert, Benjamin. "Three Ways to Understand GSK's China Scandal." 04 September 2013. Forbes.com. Web. 18 May 2014. Sukhija , Sheetal . "GSK China scandal: What have been the highlights?" 31 July 2013. BioSpectrum Asia Web site. Web. 2014 May 16. Voreacos, David. "China's Bribery Culture Poses Risks for Multinationals." 21 November 2013. Bloomberg.com. Web. 19 May 2014.

Microsoft Corporation Case Analysis Essay

Industry Evaluation Software is an integral part of today’s uncertain economy, as the push for greater globalization and efficiency drives much of the spending in business markets around the world. In order to maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive global market, companies are spending more and more on hardware and software infrastructures (Yahoo!Finance, 2006). Microsoft is among 413 companies that produce and distribute application software products and services. These companies are all part of the Application Software industry within the technology sector, which is dominated by one software giant; Microsoft. More specifically, Microsoft is categorized into the Developmental Tools, Operating Systems, and Utility Software subindustry, which includes companies that â€Å"design, develop, market, and support software for developing, testing, and debugging applications; for computer maintenance; and for desktop management† (Hoovers.com, 2006). Microsoft, Oracle Corp, CA Inc., and SAP Aktiengesellschaft, with a four-firm concentration ratio of 39% dominate the industry. Most of the other 411 firms in the industry specialize in smaller niches, providing specialized software services such as accounting, business management, etcetera, and have profits under $1 billion per year. For this reason, the computer application industry has monopolistic competition (MSN Money, 2006). The top-selling software company is currently Microsoft, with $41.4 billion in sales in 2005, and is joined in the competitive arena by other top sellers such as Oracle Corp. with $12.9 billion and SAP Aktiengesellschaft with $10.4 billion. Other industry leaders in sales include CA Inc., Intuit Inc., Adobe Systems Inc., B.M.C. Software, Compuware Corp., and Novell Inc., each experiencing revenues exceeding $1 billion during 2005. Within the Developmental Tools, Operating Systems, and Utility Software subindustry, top competitors include Microsoft, International Business Machines (IBM), SAP Aktiengesellschaft, and Computer Associates International, who ranked a respective first, second, third, and fourth in application software sales (Yahoo!Finance, 2006). The Computer Software industry is largely dominated by Microsoft, which commands 54% of market sales among its top ten competitors, as listed above. The following chart details the market share of these ten main players in the industry (Yahoo!Finance, 2006): Within the legal environment, the software industry has been shaken by  several recent regulations that are revitalizing industries within the business market of the United States. Among them are the US Patriot Act, which dictates that companies providing financial services must have the ability to detect the occurrence of money laundering; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which mandates that companies provide â€Å"real-time disclosure of events that might affect their financial performance and deep records of e-mail and instant messages exchanged between employees† (Yahoo!Finance, 2006). Finally, antitrust laws have been an ongoing threat to the industry. Microsoft has finally reached a settlement after an ongoing antitrust investigation, and agreed to allow manufacturers to include competing software with Windows and uniformly license its operating systems (Antitrust Case Filings, 2006). New technological developments are revitalizing the software industry. The most recent and significant development includes a new set of web-friendly applications that, as of yet, has no official name. These web services can be assembled from standardized building blocks, meaning that any number of applications may be assembled in a variety of ways. Because of this, companies are able to develop enterprise applications to run on a wide range of software and hardware infrastructures and cater to the specific demands of their respective market segments. The companies that will maintain market share in the up-and-coming web era are those that are able to develop products that will be compatible on a wide range of hardware platforms. Massive consolidations have recently become characteristic of the software industry. Largely due to acquisitions, IBM’s software holdings have grown a great deal. Small specialists companies face the greatest danger from large software providers such as Oracle, who recently acquired PeopleSoft and Siebel for $10.3 and $5.9 billion, respectively. If growth slows in their subindustries, these small companies who cater to specific niches become vulnerable to large companies offering extensive suites of enterprise applications that serve a variety of functions such as the industry leaders (Yahoo!Finance, 2006). Following suit after other mature industries such as electronics and apparel,  a large number of IT and software providers have begun outsourcing much of their manufacturing and R&D functions to countries outside of the United States. Software companies are now able to hire manufacturers and product developers in countries such as India, Mexico, and China for much less than it would cost in the U.S. (MSN Money, 2006) The tragedy of the September 11 terrorist attacks as well as other post 9/11 attacks prompted another significant trend in the software industry when the United States government cranked down on security. By restructuring their communication systems, they opened a door to struggling software providers who began to provide new, more secure applications to governmental departments and agencies (Yahoo!Finance, 2006) A final trend reflects the popularity of Linux and other open-source code operating systems. While the Linux operating system is probably the most widely known and widely used open source code, the idea of open source is gaining momentum and popularity. Companies that provide their products for a nominal subscription fee and generate income based on training and support services have adopted the open source concept as a counter-intuitive business model, with which they counter the more traditional selling of products for profit model (Hill and Jones, 2005). Once online collaboration and word processing applications are fully developed and grow in usage and popularity, the researchers predict that the software industry will see a rise in sales of those kinds of products, and possibly a decline in the sale of PC compatible product that serve the same types of functions. The reason for this is that once these tools are available, consumers will realize that they may access and edit their documents or projects from any computer or PDA with internet access, without having to worry about being on the specific machine or machines that contain the documents they need. Currently, almost all users of open source software are computer-savvy programming professionals. In the future however, more consumers will use this type of software for business and personal use. This is forecasted by a  growing number of applications developed from open source codes such as Linux, as well as increasing popularity of these programs. If this comes to pass, then Linux and other open source applications and operating systems may accumulate market share, thus depriving it from Microsoft and Oracle. Strategic Evaluation Microsoft supports a number of values that translate into goals that the company strives to attain. These goals include doing business with honesty and integrity; to have passion for customers, partners, and technology; to be open and respectful, to take on big challenges and see through them; constructive self-criticism, self-improvement, and personal excellence; to help foster growth and innovation, and to be accountable to customers, shareholders, partners, and employees for commitments, results, and quality. These goals, however, are immeasurable, intangible, and unspecific. There is no timeline for achieving them, and no way to determine whether or not they have been acheived. There are, however, more specific goals that the company hopes to attain that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and tangible. Goals for the future include making technology available to one quarter of a billion people by 2010. Another goal is to fuse together Windows development and Web development to enrich Windows applications (Stu, 2003). By doing this, Microsoft may be able to convince consumes to use the rich application features of Windows. Another goal is to unify the disparate Windows communications and enterprise technologies into a common and simple framework that is competitive with Java Enterprise Edition. Microsoft needs to provide an alternative to this model unless it wants to see Java retain its lock on the server software market. This goal is consistant with Microsoft’s approach of taking the lead in developing a new computing standard. (Microsoft, 2006) The mission statement of Microsoft Corporation is â€Å"At Microsoft, we work to help people and businesses throughout the world  realize their full potential. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.†- Microsoft, 2006 The mission statement is clear in representing Microsoft as dedicated in providing the best products to help its customers achieve and â€Å"realize their full potential†. The mission statement is strong, and is very personable by saying â€Å"At Microsoft†, and repeating that this is Microsoft’s mission statement. The statement repeats itself in the third sentence, saying, â€Å"everything we do reflects† helping everyone in the world understand his or her â€Å"full potential†. Using words to repeat parts of the mission statement makes it bolder to the reader. The statement is broad enough to allow the company to expand into unfamiliar markets or businesses, or both. However, it is narrow enough that it focuses the company on aiding people in reaching their fullest potential. By adhering to this mission statement, employees at Microsoft look to the customers, not the shareholders, as the reason the company exists. It is clear to express that the company does not exist solely to make a profits or please shareholders. It reflects the desire of the management at Microsoft to make a difference in the world and help those who wish to success do so. Functional Review Marketing Analysis Microsoft focuses on the development of software, which includes products such as Office, Project, Visio, FoxPro, and more. The software packages aide in the creation of business documents, databases, and projects, as well as helps consumers manage their day-to-day lives. Microsoft has seven different product divisions: Client, Server and Tools, Information Worker, Microsoft Business Solution, MSN, Mobile and Embedded Devices, and Home and Entertainment (Microsoft, 2006). The Client segment has responsibility for engineering, product delivery, and technical architecture for the Windows product family. It also handles Microsoft’s  relationships with personal computer manufacturers, including multinational and regional original equipment manufacturer accounts (SEC, 2006). Server and Tools is responsible for the server system products and all related services. These services include providing advice for requirements needed for the system to operate properly, custom solution services, and business application planning for the operating systems. Information Worker involves licensing software to several types of users such as small to large corporations, homes, and specialized categories like students. This division releases a major change in software every two to three years. Microsoft Business Solutions deals primarily with â€Å"developing and marketing offerings to manage financial, customer relationship and supply chain management functions for small and midsize businesses, large organizations and divisions of global enterprises. MSN is accountable for delivering online services that look to empower users by bringing them to the people and information that matter most. The Mobile and Embedded Devices section is responsible for the marketing and development of products that extend the advantages of the Windows platform to many types of devices. The Home and Entertainment segment is in charge of production, development, and marketing for the Xbox video gaming system (SEC, 2006). Another way Microsoft is continuing to broaden their customer base is by establishing itself into the gaming industry. An example of this is the innovative Xbox 360 Microsoft launched during the 2005 Christmas season. Microsoft has begun to explore new markets, like television, with the rising success of the Xbox 360 and the changing demographics. Microsoft realizes that demographics are changing to a younger generation and efforts must be made to accommodate their needs as well. (Wikipedia, 2006) In the past, Microsoft’s target market has been men of the ages of eighteen through thirty-four. The company is currently expanding the market it targets by experimenting with two methods of reaching the seventeen and younger age group. The first is through the gaming industry, with the release of the Xbox gaming system. The company is also developing a television show to reach this age group (Goo, 2006). Another strategy Microsoft is pursuing involves meeting its global clientele where they are  in terms of their economic and financial needs (Evers, 2006). These changes in strategy and products reflect Microsoft’s goal of expanding its target market. While there is risk involved with these changes, there is also the potential for returns above a normal profit. Another way Microsoft is continuing to broaden their customer base is by establishing itself into the gaming industry. An example of this is the innovative Xbox 360 Microsoft launched during the 2005 Christmas season. Microsoft has begun to explore new markets, like television, with the rising success of the Xbox 360 and the changing demographics. Microsoft realizes that demographics are changing to a younger generation and efforts must be made to accommodate their needs as well. (Wikipedia, 2006) Microsoft has established a presence in the international market. The headquarters, including most of the research and development centers, is located in Redmond, Washington. The company has several manufacturing facilities to meet supply needs on a global scale. These facilities are located in various places such as: Dublin, Ireland, Humacao, Puerto Rico, Reno, Nevada and Singapore just to name a few locations. Microsoft currently employees 40,081 in North America and 63,564 world-wide to help them meet growing demand for their products (Microsoft, 2006). Microsoft uses a wide variety of media to influence the demand of their products. Traditional types of advertising are used for global campaigns including television, print, and Internet (Microsoft.com, 2006). The company uses computer magazines to compare companies or products such as the case of Linux versus Microsoft. Microsoft’s goal is to reach a certain target market. In addition, Microsoft is implementing a new advertising campaign using the Internet in competition with Yahoo and Google. In the campaign, customers will be asked to fill out a survey; from there the data will be used to display personal ads of interest to the consumer. If a consumer chooses not to fill out the survey the company will provide them with general ads that are generated from the search. The goal in the long-run is to learn the customers want and needs for future purchases (Oser, 2006). The manufacturing function for most of Microsoft’s products is outsourced. A vendor supplies the parts needed to assemble the Xbox gaming system. This outsourcing strategy can be a drawback on two counts. Firstly, Microsoft relinquishes some control of the pricing of this product because it cannot control the manufacturing costs. Secondly, there is a threat of the manufacturer leaking product knowledge to Microsoft’s competitors. At the same time however, Microsoft has no legal obligation to the manufacturer, and can manufacture these products internally. Microsoft employs several vendors to supply parts that Microsoft manufactures. These components are purchased at a discount rate, and Microsoft keeps excess inventory in stock in case of shortages (Microsoft, 2006). The company has decided to do an 18 month campaign to advertise the differences between Microsoft and Linux giving the benefits of using our products. Some advantages to Microsoft’s products include: being user-friendly software and applications, as well as having a strong reputation in that area. Therefore, the cost would be greater to retrained employee how to use Linux software in the business industry for server application use. In dealing with more recent security issues, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) has a code-flaw in the browser that makes it vulnerable to hackers. This flaw can allow hackers to infect a system with various code-scripts, which puts the system under attack. To have security issues associated with the company’s name can produce a bad reputation. Microsoft’s goals are to have compassion for customers, for partners, and technology. The company wants to train and make technology available to a quarter of the billion people in the world by 2010. In addition, Microsoft shows passion towards customers by offering specialized advertisements to expose the varied selection of products to the consumer. Another goal is to exhibit openness and respectfulness, which will gain a huge amount of respect from the consumer. This is achieved by receiving feedback from our employees, government agencies, and community leaders which will lead to improve Microsoft’s business. Microsoft is staying on task of taking on large challenges by endeavoring to change their demographics of customers. In addition, the  company takes constructive criticism, and uses this as a way to improve; criticism in forms of comments and suggestions. Microsoft will accomplish this task through research and development and feedback. Other goals are to give personal excellence, and have accountability to customers, shareholders, partners, and employees for commitments, results, and quality. These achievable tasks would help Microsoft stay in the business for years to come (Microsoft, 2006). Production Analysis Microsoft alters its products to me needs of its global customers. The company translates the text and changes the appearance of its applications to make them understandable in that language. This is one reason Microsoft has a reputation for being developing user-friendly applications for its consumers. Other tasks the company is involved with include processing orders, payment options, processing needed information, and supplier management (Microsoft.com, 2006). These tasks are essential to maintaining good relations with Microsoft’s customers and suppliers. In addition, these tasks make it possible to make necessary changes when there are problems in distribution or manufacturing of Microsoft’s software. Microsoft outsources all of its manufacturing function except for a few, including the assemblage of the Xbox 360. A vendor supplies the needed parts for this product. This action can be a drawback because it limits Microsoft in its ability to control pricing aspects of this product. There is also the threat that suppliers will share the knowledge of this product with Microsoft’s competitors. Although this is a threat, Microsoft is under the no legal obligation to continue working with that supplier. Several vendors supply parts for all other products Microsoft assembles. Components for these products are purchased at a discount. Microsoft keeps an inventory of spare parts on hand if needed (Microsoft, 2006). Management Analysis Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, and in a few years, they  expanded to Bellevue, Washington from Albuquerque, New Mexico. From there, Microsoft began creating and developing new and revolutionary technology. In 1981, â€Å"IBM introduced its personal computer with Microsoft’s 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0† (Microsoft, 2006). Because of its quality, this operating system became popular. Microsoft’s stock went public. Over the next twenty years, Microsoft created more technical and versatile operating systems such as Windows 95, 98, and the current Windows XP. This success has lead to worldwide expansion creating thousands of jobs. â€Å"Microsoft is the world’s largest software company with over 50,000 employees in various countries as of May 2004† (Microsoft, 2006). Microsoft has become a needed portion of the personal computing market in which many PC retailers have sold their machines pre-equipped with Microsoft’s software. Because of its large and substantial business, Microsoft was found to be a monopoly among computer software and because of this, Microsoft has experience financial success. In 1998, a lawsuit found that Microsoft was using its â€Å"monopoly power to defeat its competitors† (Reference.com, 2006). Microsoft appealed and showed how changing their company’s operations would bring the financial success down increasingly. A board of directors, who play a major role in decision-making and many fundamentals of the company, run Microsoft. The Chief Executive Officer is Steven Ballmer who â€Å"joined with Microsoft in 1980 and was the first business manager hired by Bill Gates† (Microsoft, 2006). In 1998, Ballmer was appointed President and this gave him full responsibility for running the corporation. 2 years later, he became CEO (in 2000) and this gave him full privilege over all the managers and staff of Microsoft. Following Ballmer is James I. Cash, Jr, Dina Dublon, Bill Gates, Raymond V. Gilmartin, Ann McLaughlin Korologos, David F. Margaurdt, Charles H. Noski, Helmut Panke and Jon A. Shirley. A lot of talent and skill is required to work in any position at Microsoft. They seek out motivated individuals who are experienced in communications and leadership. The purpose for finding such trained individuals is to lower training costs of the company. The â€Å"Corporate Operations is Microsoft’s backbone, constructing, managing, and running the various services that support the company’s 50,000 employees† (Microsoft, 2006). This statement shows that Microsoft is dependent on two sections of their management staff; the corporate and administrative services. These departments are responsible for management, public relations, providing company-wide administrative support, building new office space, and other tasks. Financial Analysis Microsoft Corporation has achieved excellence in since 1975 in the application software industry. They finished the 2005 fiscal year with a market capitalization of $288.20 billion, doubling the closest competitor, IBM which came in second in market capitalization with $131.00 billion, and an industry average of a low $136.51 million (Hoovers, 2006). Microsoft Corporation has been enjoying a steady growth in revenue over the past three fiscal years. This has been achieved with the growing popularity of PC use in the world over this time period. Microsoft’s preliminary estimates showed a growth of worldwide PC shipments from 11% to 13%, â€Å"and total server hardware shipments grew approximately 13% to 14%† during the 2005 fiscal year compared to fiscal year 2004 (Yahoo! Finance). This has caused a growth in revenue of 8% from $36,835 million to $39,788 million from fiscal year 2004 to 2005 (U.S. SEC). This revenue growth was â€Å"driven by growth in licensing of Windows Server operating systems and other server application, licensing of Windows Client operating systems through OEMs, and increased licensing of Office and other Information Worker products† (Yahoo! Finance). The 2004 fiscal year ended with an overall growth of $4,648 billion from the previous fiscal year 2003, an increase of over 12%. Over the past five years, Microsoft Corporation has generated revenue of over $162 billion. This is an increase of 73% and about $75 billion of this is derived from net cash flow from operations. Shareholders received a return of $69 billion of this revenue in dividends and stock repurchases. With the launching of the Xbox 360, Windows Vista, and newer versions of existing software in 2006 fiscal year, Microsoft expects to have an equal or larger  increase of the past five years in the next five years (Microsoft, 2006). Net income for the fiscal year 2005 was $12,254 which is an increase of $4,086 million from the 2004 fiscal year. This is due to small decreases in operating expenses from the previous year with emphasis on research and development, a decrease of over $1.5 billion. Although decreasing in fiscal year 2005, a large jump in expenses occurred from fiscal year 2003 to 2004. Microsoft increased their total operating expenses by $5,159 million to $27,801 million in fiscal year 2004. Although decreasing expenses worked for the fiscal year 2005, decreases in research and development in the future might cause the industry to get the edge on Microsoft and revenues decrease (Microsoft, 2006). Operating income has also increased substantially during these two fiscal years with a total increase of 61%. Although it had a 5% decline from fiscal year 2003 to fiscal year 2004, operating income jumped from a marginal $9,034 million in 2004 to an excellent $14,561 million in fiscal year ending 2005 (U.S. SEC). According to Yahoo! Finance, the operating income increase for fiscal year 2005 was driven by a decline in stock-based compensation expense; increased revenue in Server and Tools, Client, and Information Worker; and a reduction in legal costs associated with major litigation. Some key ratios will point out Microsoft’s position in accordance to the industry. Holding a total debt to equity ratio of 0.00, compared to 0.03 of the industry, Microsoft has showed that they have successfully controlled their assets without any debt, dating back as far as fiscal year 1996. The total debt to total asset ratio also confirms these successes with a low 0.33. This has a great statistic from an investor or shareholders eyes because there is potential for a high payout. Microsoft has a current ratio of 2.8, compared to the industries average of 2.3. This shows us that Microsoft can pay off any debt that may occur, and can continue operating with cash left over. The quick ratio is currently at 2.5 with an industry average of 2.1. Because this number is so close in comparison with the current ratio, this tells us that Microsoft is not dependent on their inventory. These three financial ratios show us that Microsoft Corporation  is achieving excellence in comparison to the industry (MSN, 2006). Both the gross profit margin and the net profit margin percentages will show us the financial health of the company. Microsoft Corporation’s net profit margin is over 7% higher that the industries average, at 30.8% compared to 23.5%. This tells us that 31.6% of the company’s revenue can be kept as profit. Fiscal year 2005 is an increase of 8.6% from fiscal year 2004 and a small decrease of 0.2% from fiscal year 2003. Their gross profit margin is 87.3%, compared to 82.6% of the industries average. Although the industries average of these two ratios is healthy as well, Microsoft still holds better percentages (MSN, 2006). The company’s price ratios will show some different trends in comparison to the industry from the other ratios presented. Although the earnings per share (EPS) are currently much higher than the industry average and the previous year, it is lower than some of the direct competitors. The EPS in the fiscal year 2005 was 1.13, which is considerably higher than the industries average of 0.15. This is not a bad ratio if you own share in the company, but two of the closest competitors is producing a much higher rate; Google’s EPS is at 5.021 and IBM’s is at 4.875. Although this might turn some investors away, numbers have been improving over the past three years. Fiscal year 2003 had an EPS of only $0.70 but increased to $0.76 in fiscal year 2004. The large increase came in fiscal year 2005 when EPS increased almost $0.40 to $1.13. With the latest innovations Microsoft has developed, these numbers will increase as investors see the future of Microsoft. Microsoft price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is more attractive than EPS with a ratio of 22.9. Although conservative investors may feel this number is too high, this ratio is much better than the industry average of 27.3 which might influence these investors to invest in Microsoft instead of the direct competitors (MSN, 2006). Management effectiveness ratios like return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) will show us how well the management at Microsoft Corporation is doing. With an ROA of 19.4%, over 5% higher than the industry average of 13.9%, Microsoft is very profitable in relation to the total assets of the  company. This is a substantial increase from 8.8% and 12.6% in fiscal year 2004 and 2003 respectively. The profit per dollar, or ROE of Microsoft, is 29.5%. This is close to 7% higher than the industry average of 22.6% and 18.6% than fiscal year 2004. This shows that Microsoft Corporation is achieving a higher profit from their investors per dollar in comparison to the industries. Although there was a large increase from fiscal year 2004 to 2005, a decrease of 5.5% occurred between fiscal year 2003 and 2004 (MSN, 2006). The efficiency of the company is struggling in comparison to the industry in one way, inventory turnover. The inventory turnover is currently much lower than the industries. With a low 8.1 compared to 28.4 of the industry average, Microsoft’s inventory turnover might indicate poor sales. Both Microsoft and the industry average of asset turnover are 0.6, indicating that 0.6 of every dollar is revenue. Microsoft is doing a better job than the industry in comparing the accounts receivable turnover, but not a significant amount. The accounts receivable turnover is at 5.7 with an industry average of 5.2. Both Microsoft and the industry are collecting payments from its customers in a timely manner. They are, however, significantly behind S&P 500 which has an accounts receivable turnover ratio of 7.5 (MSN, 2006). A thorough research of cash flows will show the company heading in the right direction. Net operating, investing, and financing cash flows all increased from the fiscal year 2004 to 2005. Fiscal year 2005 showed an increase of 14% to $16.61 billion in cash flow from operations. This is derived from an increase in cash receipts from customers driven by the 8% revenue growth of the company. Cash payments decreased by approximately $1.8 billion from the previous year from binding legal settlements. These factors played the major role in the increase of operating cash flow. Keeping operating cash flows down was payments to the 7% increase in full-time employees added during the fiscal year 2005. This is a great recovery from fiscal year 2004 considering operating cash flow dropped by $1.17 billion from fiscal year 2003. Over two billion of this was from the Sun Microsystems settlement and the European Commission fine. The small offsetting gain is from increases cash receipts  from customers. Net financing cash flow showed a large increase from $2.36 billion in fiscal year 2004 to $41.08 billion in fiscal year 2005. This increase is driven by an additional $34.38 billion of cash dividends paid, and an additional $4.67 billion in cash used for common stock repurchases in fiscal year 2005 from fiscal year 2004. Net financing cash flow did have a substantial decrease from fiscal year 2003 to 2004 of almost $3 billion. However, this decrease is due the company not repurchasing common stock in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2004 and an increase of $628 million from stock issuances of employee stock option exercises. An increase of $872 million in cash dividends during this fiscal year offset the numbers provided. Net investing cash flow for fiscal year 2005 was $15.03 billion, an increase of $18.37 billion from the previous year. Investment maturities that occurred to fund cash dividends paid increased by $23.59 billion in fiscal year 2005. Offsetting this figure was the decrease of $5.32 billion in cash from sale activity and investment purchases. Cash used for investing was $3.34 billion in fiscal year 2004, a decrease of $3.88 billion from fiscal year 2003 (Microsoft, 2006). Model Analysis The Boston Consulting Group Matrix is a representation of the status of Microsoft in the current market. There are four different categories that fall under the matrix, Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks and Dogs. The highest category and most self-efficient is the â€Å"Stars† with very high growth and high share. Next in the matrix: â€Å"Cash Cows,† which are low in growth and high in shares. The third category in the matrix is the â€Å"Question Marks† which are high in growth and low in shares. Last are the â€Å"Dogs† which are very low in both growth and shares. Microsoft would be placed in the â€Å"Stars† category simply because the company is constantly growing and is very self-sustaining. Strategic Alternatives 1. Develop a Microsoft version of open source software by exploiting Microsoft’s distinctive competency for developing software. This will give  Microsoft an edge in the open market by allowing it to effectively compete with current alternatives to Microsoft products, such as Linux, Sun Systems, and other open source/free software products. This alternative will give Microsoft the opportunity to increase its revenues by offering support services and training for these products. 2. Acquire Red Hat Inc. or another successful Linux provider. By combining the rising popularity of the open source concept with the ongoing success of Microsoft’s application software, the image of Microsoft will improve and launch the company into the increasingly popular open source market. 3. Improve current product line. Increase research and development spending to improve the dependability and security of current products. Then, implement an advertising campaign through several mediums to stress the superior quality of Microsoft’s products.