Lehman Brothers

Research a failure that occurred at a large organization such as Tyco, Chrysler/Daimler-Benz, Daewoo, WorldCom, or Enron. In an APA formatted paper that is no longer than 1,050 words, describe how specific organizational behavior theories could have predicted or can explain the failure of the company. Compare and contrast the contributions of leadership, management, and organizational structures to the organizational failure. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, the fourth largest US investment bank, succumbed to the sub prime mortgage crisis in the biggest bankruptcy filing in history. The 158 year old firm, which survived railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the great depression in the 1930s, & the collapse of long term capital management a decade ago, filed a chapter 11 petition with US bankruptcy caught in Manhattan on September, 15. The following day, its investment banking & trading divisions were acquired by Barclays plc along with its New York headquarters building. In the biggest reshaping of the financial industry since the Great Depression, Wall Street’s most storied firm, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. , headed towards extinction. The 158 year old firm, which survived railroad bankruptcies of the 1800s, the great depression in the 1930s, & the collapse of long term capital management a decade ago, filed a chapter 11 petition with US bankruptcy caught in Manhattan on September, 15. The following day, its investment banking & trading divisions were acquired by Barclays plc along with its New York headquarters building. The collapse of Lehman, which listed more than $613 billion of debt, dwarfs World Com Inc’s insolvency in 2002 & Drexel Burnham Lambert’s failure in 1990. What happened that weekend was that the Fed got a bunch of bank presidents together and asked them to invest in Lehman (basically loan Lehman money). The bank CEOs, knowing the risk of such a loan (they could see Lehman's finances), refused to do so without some kind of assistance from the government (whether it be loss-protection, the government paying half of the loan, etc etc). Hank Paulson, the Secretary of Treasury, refused to do this, saying that he didn't want to saddle the taxpayers with paying to save a private company that screwed up. Breakup process IMIDIATE AFTER EFFECTS- US stocks tumbled, more than $300 billion in market value, pummeled by the developments. Lehman plunged 95%; AIG retreated 42% on funding concerns while Bank of America Corp slumped 14% after agreeing to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 billion. The bankruptcy filing represents the end of a 158-year-old company that survived world wars, the Asian financial crisis and the collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, but not the global credit crunch. Financial institutions globally have recorded more than $500 billion of write-downs and credit losses as the U. S. subprime mortgage crisis has spread to other markets. {text:bookmark-start} {text:bookmark-end} Bankruptcy also represents a bad end to Chief Executive Dick Fuld's four-decade career at Lehman. Fuld, who piloted the investment bank through prior crises with aplomb, was widely seen as too slow to recognize Lehman's need to raise capital and shed bad assets. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy because they failed to raise enough capital to secure their debts. The next logical question is why did they have so much debt? This is a two-fold answer: second, Lehman had a ton of what is called â€Å"leveraged assets†. Basically what happened (the non-basic is for another question) is Lehman took their assets and took out loans secured by those assets (for instance, using their on-hand cash as down payments on loans) and then invested those loans in the aforementioned property derivatives. So, not only did those investments lose value, but Lehman had to pay the interest on the money they borrowed (and subsequently lost). In short, Lehman was a casualty of the credit crunch due to exposure to bad debt. In August 2007, the firm closed its subprime lender, BNC Mortgage, eliminating 1,200 positions in 23 locations, and took an after-tax charge of $25 million and a $27 million reduction in goodwill). Lehman said that poor market conditions in the mortgage space â€Å"necessitated a substantial reduction in its resources and capacity in the subprime space†. At the end of August ‘07, Lehman had $600 billion of assets financed with just $30 billion of equity. Having so little capital meant that a 5 percent decline in assets would wipe out the value of the company, which investors saw as a real risk due to the company's billions of dollars of mortgage securities. In 2008, Lehman faced an unprecedented loss to the continuing subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman's loss was apparently a result of having held on to large positions in subprime and other lower-rated mortgage tranches when securitizing the underlying mortgages; whether Lehman did this because it was simply unable to sell the lower-rated bonds, or made a conscious decision to hold them, is unclear. In any event, huge losses accrued in lower-rated mortgage-backed securities throughout 2008. In the second fiscal quarter, Lehman reported losses of $2. 8 billion and was forced to sell off $6 billion in assets. In the first half of 2008 alone, Lehman stock lost 73% of its value as the credit market continued to tighten. In August 2008, Lehman reported that it intended to release 6% of its work force, 1,500 people, just ahead of its third-quarter-reporting deadline in September. On August 22, 2008, shares in Lehman closed up 5% (16% for the week) on reports that the state-controlled Korea Development Bank was considering buying the bank. Most of those gains were quickly eroded as news came in that Korea Development Bank was â€Å"facing difficulties pleasing regulators and attracting partners for the deal. † It culminated on September 9, when Lehman's shares plunged 45% to $7. 79, after it was reported that the state-run South Korean firm had put talks on hold. On September 17, 2008 Swiss Re estimates its overall net exposure approximately CHF 50 million to Lehman Brothers. Investor confidence continued to erode as Lehman's stock lost roughly half its value and pushed the S&P 500 down 3. 4% on September 9. The Dow Jones lost 300 points the same day on investors' concerns about the security of the bank. The U. S. government did not announce any plans to assist with any possible financial crisis that emerged at Lehman. The next day, Lehman announced a loss of $3. 9 billion and their intent to sell off a majority stake in their investment-management business, which includes Neuberger Berman. The stock slid 7 percent that day. Lehman, after earlier rejecting questions on the sale of the company, was reportedly searching for a buyer as its stock price dropped another 40 percent on September 11, 2008. Just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, executives at Neuberger Berman sent e-mail memos suggesting, among other things, that the Lehman Brothers' top people forgo multi-million dollar bonuses to â€Å"send a strong message to both employees and investors that management is not shirking accountability for recent performance. † Lehman Brothers Investment Management Director George Herbert Walker IV, second cousin to U. S. President George Walker Bush, dismissed the proposal, going so far as to actually apologize to other members of the Lehman Brothers executive committee for the idea of bonus reduction having been suggested. He wrote, â€Å"Sorry team. I am not sure what's in the water at Neuberger Berman. I'm embarrassed and I apologize. † In its Chapter 11 filing, Lehman named Citibank and Bank of New York Mellon as trustees for about $138 billion of senior Lehman bonds. It said Citi's Hong Kong affiliate had made a $275 million bank loan to Lehman. Among Lehman's other unsecured creditors are Japanese banks Aozora Bank, Mizuho Financial Group Inc, Shinsei Bank and UFJ Bank. France's BNP Paribas is also on Lehman's list of its 30 largest unsecured creditors. The firm said that as of May 31, it owed about $110. 5 billion on account of senior unsecured notes, $12. 6 billion on account of subordinated unsecured notes, and $5 billion on account of junior subordinated notes. Lehman also disclosed that it owned stakes of 10 percent or more in a number of companies, including Imperial Sugar Co , Lpath Inc, Derma Services, Flagstone Reinsurance, GLG Partners, Ronco Corp , Pacific Energy Partners, Blount International , Pemstar Inc and Transmontaigne Inc. The investment bank, once the fourth-largest in the United States, had hoped to raise capital by selling off a stake in its investment unit, and use that capital as well as other funds to spin off some of its toxic assets to shareholders. But that plan did not satisfy investors, who punished Lehman's share price, or rating agencies, who pressed the company to find a stronger partner. Lehman said the uncertainty, particularly among banks through which it clears securities trades, ultimately made it impossible for it to continue to operate its business. The bankruptcy filing comes after a weekend of heated negotiations among regulators and Wall Street firms about Lehman's fate. The U. S. government refused to backstop Lehman's worst assets the way it backstopped Bear Stearns Cos Inc's sale to JPMorgan Chase. Government officials told banks to support Lehman or else be prepared for more investment banks to lose investor confidence and fail. But prospective bidders refused to buy Lehman without government support, people briefed on the matter said. In the end, Lehman was allowed to fail, and Bank of America Corp agreed to buy what was seen as the next weakest U. S. investment bank, Merrill Lynch & Co Inc. For many of Lehman's 26,000 employees the outlook is likely to be gloomy, with job losses expected to be substantial even if significant parts of the business can be sold. At Lehman's headquarters in midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, men dressed in suits came and went, while some employees entered the building with what appeared to be empty duffel bags, then left with them full. Others emerged with accordion files, binders stuffed with papers and full valises. On Sunday night, hundreds of Lehman employees were still in the office to clear their desks and pack personal belongings, according to an employee. Several money-market funds and institutional cash funds had significant exposure to Lehman with the institutional cash fund run by The Bank of New York Mellon and the Primary Reserve Fund, a money-market fund, both falling below $1 per share, called â€Å"breaking the buck†, following losses on their holdings of Lehman assets. In a statement The Bank of New York Mellon said its fund had isolated the Lehman assets in a separate structure. It said the assets accounted for 1. 3% of its fund. The drop in the Primary Reserve Fund was the first time since 1994 that a money-market fund had dropped below the $1-per-share level. About 100 hedge funds used Lehman as their prime broker and relied largely on the firm for financing. As administrators) took charge of the London business and the U. S. holding company filed for bankruptcy, positio ns held by those hedge funds at Lehman were frozen. As a result the hedge funds are being forced to de-lever and sit on large cash balances inhibiting chances at further growth. In Japan, banks and insurers announced a combined 249 billion yen ($2. billion) in potential losses tied to the collapse of Lehman. Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. cut its profit forecast by more than half, citing 11. 8 billion yen in losses on bonds and loans linked to Lehman. The Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said â€Å"Most lending to Lehman Brothers was made by major Japanese banks, and their possible losses seem to be within the levels that can be covered by their profits,† adding â€Å"There is no concern that the latest events will threaten the stability of Japan's financial system. † During bankruptcy proceedings a lawyer from The Royal Bank of Scotland Group said the company is facing between $1. billion and $1. 8 billion in claims against Lehman partially based on an unsecured g uarantee from Lehman and connected to trading losses with Lehman subsidiaries, Martin Bienenstock. After Constellation Energy was reported to have exposure to Lehman, its stock went down 56% in the first day of trading having started at $67. 87. The massive drop in stocks led to the New York Stock Exchange halting trade of Constellation. The next day, as the stock plummeted as low as $13 per share, Constellation announced it was hiring Morgan Stanley and UBS to advise it on â€Å"strategic alternatives† suggesting a buyout. While rumors suggested French power company Electricite de France would buy the company or increase its stake, Constellation ultimately agreed to a buyout by MidAmerican Energy, part of Berkshire Hathaway (headed by billionaire Warren Buffett). The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation or Farmer Mac said it would have to write off $48 million in Lehman debt it owned as a result of the bankruptcy. Farmer Mac said it may not be in compliance with its minimum capital requirements at the end of September. 2008). economies. Furthermore, such wealth effects tend to play out gradually. The 158 year old Lehman Brothers’ move to file for bankruptcy wiped off more than Rs2000 crore from the market valuation of those Indian companies in which the US financial major made equity investments. Major stocks held through participatory notes issued by Lehman Brothers Investment Management, a SEBI- registered foreign institutional investor, saw their prices nosedive. Participatory notes are derivative instruments through which foreign investors that are not registered in India can trade on the Indian markets. In addition to its equity holdings in listed companies, Lehman had also invested in various projects of Indian companies, especially in real estate. In India, Lehman also acquired BRICS Institutional Equities business of research analysts and sales and trading professionals and bought a 26% stake in Edelweiss Capital Finance , a non banking financial company, recently. The investment banking major has also been involved in several Indian initial public offers. IT SECTOR- The meltdown in US had a huge impact on indian IT & IT companies as a large chunk of their revenues is from US. Thus, the crisis had definitely delayed various new projects. Market sources revealed that the companies affected by the crisis such as Lehman Brothers, Merill Lynch and AIG have been outsourcing work to wipro, Tata Consultancy Services & Infosys. There was a direct impact on the revenues of this companies. As more & more consolidation, acquisition & mergers took place in the US, the number of companies in this space came down & shrunk the addressable market for the Indian IT services companies. Consolidation also led to consolidated IT resources & reduction in IT spending, which had negative effect on the IT companies. The slowdown also had an jmpact on the hiring practices of Indian IT services companies, who had to now focus on just-in-time hiring, rather than advanced hiring practices like campus recruitment. Thus, w. r. t. Lehman, as much as 60% of the revenue of India’s software firms comes from the global financial sector, so the fallout of Lehman’s bankruptcy on India’s IT sector cn be well imagined. REAL ESTATE- The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the bailout of Merrill Lynch, the global financial behemoths, affected Indian realty companies that were in the process of raising fresh funds. Many leading realtors, already facing a paucity of funds due to a slowdown or a correction in prices, found it more difficult to raise resources even at the project level. Merrill Lynch & Lehman Brothers had exposure to more than a dozen realty companies, including, Ansal Housing, Anant Raj Industries, Unity Infrastructure, the Puravankara group and J Kumar Infrastructure, among others. The Indian companies are not only unable to raise fresh capital but they are also finding it difficult to sell the inventory of housing stock as demand & prices both have fallen. BANKING- ICICI Bank said that it might need to make an additional provision of $28 million (Rs. 188 crore) on its exposure to bonds issued by Lehman. It had already made provisions of $12 million on these bonds. Indian IT major Wipro Technologies has expressed interest in bidding for the Indian back office business of Lehman. The bankrupt investment banking firm is expected to close its captive unit in Mumbai by the end of this month. The unit’s 1200 employees, who work on equity research and analytics support for the mergers and acquisitions business, have been asked to quit by September end. Unlike employees in Lehman’s investment banking business who have been receiving feelers from domestic banks, employees in the captive BPO are unlikely to find alternate jobs quickly because the IT and IT- enabled services industries have already begun downsizing, owing to the global financial crisis. The RBI had moved quickly to improve liquidity. Still there could be some impact on credit availability. That implies more expensive credit (even public sector banks are said to be raising money at 11. 5%, so that lending rates will inch up to 16 % and higher). For companies looking to raise capital, the alternative of funding through fresh equity is not cheap, either, since stock valuations have suffered in the wake of the FII pull out. Capital has suddenly become more expensive. There is a risk that projects underway will suffer from delays and cost overruns as cost of credit shoots up. Real estate could be most affected sector. Builders may have to resort to dropping prices to find customers for housing projects nearing completion. Another worry is impact on job creation in the country. There could be downsizing in companies in sectors impacted by high cost of credit and fall in demand. The layoffs in IT sector may be a fair portent of things to come. The crisis does have a silver lining. The falling rupee(against the dollar) will mean that exporters affected by the earlier rise of the currency can breathe easy. However importers would be at the receiving end. Importers of oil and other commodities’ prices will neutralize the impact of the dollar’s decline against the rupee. Prices of stocks and real estate, which had appreciated by too much, will come down to realistic levels. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy filing indicate that as of their May 31, 2008 financial statement that the firm has $639 billion of assets and $613 billion of debt. At that time the firm had about $110 billion in ordinary bonds, and about $17. 6 billion in subordinated bonds. The composition of the other debts is hard to determine, in part, because of a bad cross reference in that part of the filing. As of the last financial statement, accounts payable were about $71 billion, short term debt was $163 billion, other current liabilities were about $29 billion, and long term debt was about $350 billion. As of the filing date, the listing of the top 30 outsider creditors of the firm mentioned $138 billion of ordinary bonds (managed by two bond trustees), $17 billion of subordinated bonds (managed by one of the two ordinary bond trustees), and about 3 billion in bank loans and letters of credit ranging in size from $463 million to $10 million from 23 different institutions (a few of whom appear to be related entities of each other). This leaves about $485 million of debts owed to creditors in amounts less than $10 million and insider debtors. This would suggest that $71 billion+ is made up of trade credit in small amounts per creditor, while $414 billion is made up of financial creditors in amounts less than $10 million and insider debt, with insider debt probably making up the bulk of the debts, as investment banks don't generally take deposits from millions of households the way that commercial banks do. There don't appear to be any significant (i. e. more than $10 million) secured creditors or trade creditors, although this might not include financial rights of setoff. There are more details in an Affidavit of the CFO, which is honestly rather dubious and unsatisfying. I find it very hard to believe that Lehman Brothers is incapable of providing much, much more information than it has to date with only modest effort. While it might not be able to provide ever single creditor in a matter of weeks, it ought to be able to publicly account for more than a third of its outstanding debt. These folks are in the financial analysis business and live and die on their own ability to be highly leveraged without becoming insolvent. Equity The most recent financial statement listed the aggregate value of preferred stock at $7 billion (and did not include it as a debtor in the petition). The aggregate redemption value of the preferred stock based upon the rights of each class of preferred stock, the number of preferred shares identified in the petition (presumably the number of authorized preferred shares in each class), and assuming that preferred stock dividends aren't grossly in arrears, is about $237 billion. This is calculated as follows: 5 million shares, $500 each, $2. 5 billion 4 million shares, $5000 each, $2. billion 12 million shares, $2500 each, $30 billion 5. 2 million shares, $2500 each, $12. 5 billion 66 million shares, $2500 each, $165 billlion 12 million shares, $25 each, $0. 3 billion 12 million shares, $25 each, $0. 3 billion 16 million shares, $25 each, $0. 4 billion 8 million shares, $25 each, $0. 2 billion 4 million shares, $1000 each, $4 billion 2 million shares, $1000 each, $2 billion But, this appears to grossly overstate the amount of preferred stock shares outstanding. There are 694,401,926 common shares outstanding according to the petition. Assets The source balance statement listed the company's assets as $314 billion in cash, $42 billion in net receivables, $4. 3 billion in fixed assets, and $279 billion in non-current assets. Presumably, this number is lower now, due to market losses, particularly in mortgage based securities. Some breakdown on the nature of those assets is available: Sanford Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz estimates that 55% of Lehman's balance sheet can be quickly liquidated, particularly such assets as receivables and short-term loans known as repurchase agreements. There are about $269 billion in securities that are â€Å"another story,† Hintz wrote in a report released Monday. He estimates 27% of the $269 billion is in mortgages, 17% in derivatives, and 8% in real estate. Analysis The two primary bond trustees seem likely to be the dominant voice on behalf of creditors in this bankruptcy on the creditor's committee. This could be a 100% payout liquidity failure bankruptcy, and failing that, could be one in which common stock shareholders, preferred stock shareholders, and perhaps subordinated debtors bear the brunt of the impact, while general creditors are held harmless or nearly so. Indeed, if the company adopts a plan that holds harmless all preferred and general unsecured creditors, and all secured creditors, then only the holders of subordinated debt would have any right to object. Since all of the subordinated debt appears to be represented by a single bond trustee, this might mean that the plan could be confirmed in a one on one negotiation with the representative of that bank. Equity and subordinated debt together are capable of absorbing a $43 billion loss between May 31, 2008 and the bankruptcy filing, and pre-bankruptcy loss estimates had been in the vicinity of $7 billion. Barclays Bank is discussing buying the brokerage and investment banking operations including the headquarters out of bankruptcy for about $8 billion (presumably the usually highly profitable brick and mortar part of the operation which probably also counts for most accounts payable and accounts receivable), and assuming that this is a market value for that operation by some reasonable measure, the market losses that other creditors would have to bear would remain unchanges, but greater liquidity could speed up the payout. The bankruptcy filing covers only Lehman’s holding company. Its brokerage and money-management units are not in Chapter 11 † employees still have their jobs, customers still execute transactions on accounts, and portfolio managers still manage mutual funds. The relative independence of these subsidiaries from the bankruptcy process is what enables Barclays, the U. K. -bank that walked away from a Lehman rescue over the weekend, to consider purchasing part of Lehman. Another interesting possibility would be a plan that allocated good, short term assets to outsider creditors as payment in full, while allocating securities of uncertain value, like the mortgage backed securities, to the insiders. Outsiders can't object if they get quick cash in exchange of the debts owed to them, so this plan could be imposed on them, leaving insiders with any windfalls resulting from market undervaluation of Lehman Brothers' complex financial assets. The biggest overall risk is that the derivatives market, and in particular, the credit default market, will be screwed up by the freezing of the positions of a major market player, although recent bankruptcy law reforms are designed to minimize this impact. Financial crises are terrifying when underlying economic fundamentals are out of line with established theory, leading to bursts of unjustified optimism and/or pessimism. It is the responsibility of the powers that be to bring sense to the market. Every financial crisis is different, but they do all end. The Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch’s acquisition by Bank of America is yet another stage in the progression of the financial crisis that had its roots in the US sub-prime mortgage market. The initial stage of the crisis took a toll on direct mortgage lenders like Countrywide Financial. In a subsequent stage, guarantors of mortgage-backed securities like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae came under attack. This culminated in their going into US government ‘receivership’ (effectively nationalization) a few weeks ago before the bankruptcy was actually filed. Lehman’s demise marks the stage where banks with indirect but large exposures to the US mortgage market, principally through derivative instruments, bear the brunt. This is not necessarily the final stage and the worst is perhaps not over. A key feature of this crisis that started in the middle of 2007 has been the lack of clarity on both the nature and number of financial institutions that have indirect exposure to subprime assets, as well as, cross-product problems involving movement from subprime to prime mortgages with final spillover into derivatives, structured products and counterparty risks. We could see another set of intermediaries coming under severe pressure. The decision by the US Treasury and the Fed not to guarantee Lehman’s financial liabilities is a clear signal to the market that they believe that no institution is ‘too big to fail’. Going forward, a government-funded bailout is likely to be the exception, not the norm. Besides, with Lehman’s bankruptcy, the fate of its counterparties hangs in balance. It is not clear whether a fire-sale of Lehman’s assets will be adequate to pay off its creditors. Besides, apprehensions of other banks meeting Lehman’s fate will keep inter-bank lenders on edge. This could lead to a huge squeeze on inter-bank liquidity and trigger another bout of turbulence in credit markets. Finally, the Lehman episode has ramped up the level of risk-aversion in the global financial system. These are days of extreme and often irrational pessimism. The way to survive this crisis is to stay focused on the fundamentals. From a fundamental perspective, India’s financial system has a lot going for it. Indian banks have no direct exposure to G-7 mortgage markets and their ndirect exposure is minuscule relative to the size of their balance sheet. This has protected us in the past and will continue to insulate us to a significant degree from the turmoil in global markets. As this phase of extreme pessimism abates a bit, global investors are likely to reward India for the robustness of its system. Thus, at last, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings I nc, was mainly caused by the fall in house prices & the easy finance provided for housing at vary low interest rates which made the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall 500 points. The treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had been sending warning signals to Lehman Brothers ever since the firm announced its second quarter losses of $2. 8 billion. Experts were also quoted as saying that the 158-year-old bank was just living off the brand name that it had nurtured over the years. The Lehman bankruptcy had a great impact on INDIA. The undercapitalization of financial houses that was at the core of the financial meltdown in the US & developed markets became a problem in Indian Financial System, too.

Pepsi & Coke: Related to Game Theory Essay

In May, 1886, Coca Cola was introduced by John Pemberton a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. John Pemberton started brewing his coca cola formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard. Pharmacists Caleb Bradham in New Bern, North Carolina first made competitor Pepsi in the 1890’s. The brand was trademarked on June 16, 1903. These companies have brand identification and customer loyalties that have made them a historical landmark. Today Pepsi and Coke control around 90% of the soft drink market, making it one of the most well known oligopolies in the U.  S. An oligopoly is a market dominated by so few sellers that an action by any of them will impact both the price of the good and the competitors. Some characteristics of an oligopoly are: * The dominant firms have significant barriers to entry; or exit is difficult. * Access to information is limited * The dominant firms have significant market power; they set their own price. * The product may be homogenous or differentiated. * A few large firms dominate the market, i. e. they have a substantial market share. There is a mutual interdependence among the dominant firms; this means that competition is personal and each firm recognizes that it’s actions affects the rival firms and theirs affects it. Economies of scale deter entry by forcing the entrant to come in at a large scale and risk strong reaction from existing firms or come in at a small scale and accept a cost disadvantage. Barriers to entry are high in the soft drink industry because both soft drink companies and bottlers are factors in entering this market. These two parts of the industry are extremely interdependent, sharing costs in procurement, production, marketing and distribution. Many of their functions overlap; for instance, Pepsi can do some bottling, and bottlers conduct many promotional activities. The industry is already vertically integrated to some extent. They also deal with similar suppliers and buyers. Entry into the industry would involve developing operations in either or both market segments. Beverage substitutes would threaten both Peps and their associated bottlers. Because of operational overlap and similarities in their market environment, we can include Pepsi, Coke and bottlers in our definition of the soft drink industry. This industry as a whole generates positive economic profits. Pepsi and Coca-Cola are dominant firms in this market, controlling approximately 90% of the market share. There is also a mutual interdependence among the dominant firms, so for every change Pepsi makes in marketing strategies, price increase and/or brand expansion, Coke is affected by it. Figure 1 shows the demand curve. The point of the kink is the point of the established market price. The kink of the demand curve suggests that a competitor would react asymmetrically to price increases and price decreases by the firm. Taking a look at the soft drink market, where Pepsi and Coke combined have over 90% of the market share. Suppose the price is established at $1. 99 for a six-pack of either Pepsi or Coke. Let’s consider the demand curve for Pepsi. If Pepsi increases its price to $2. 49 per six-pack, it will lose some of its market to Coke along the AB component of the demand curve in Fig. 1. Pepsi will be able to sell 500 six-packs a day instead of the original sales level of 1000. Coke is likely to stay at $1. 99 and enjoy the additional sale, as some people who were originally buying Pepsi will be switching to Coke. Figure [ 1 ] If Pepsi lowers its price to $1. 49 to gain an advantage over Coke and increase it sales to 1500 six-packs, it may not succeed. The increase in sales by Pepsi to 1500 can only happen if Coke did not react to Pepsi’s price cut. However, Coke is likely to match the price reduction by Pepsi to protect itself against loss of market share. As the result of price cuts by both Pepsi and Coke, there will be an increase in sales by both, at least partially at the expense of smaller competitors. In our example, the sales of Pepsi increase to 1300 six-packs per day from the original 1000. This is along the BC segment of the demand curve. Therefore, there are two demand curves facing Pepsi, AB for price increases and no reaction by Coke, and BC for price decreases and price matching reaction by Coke. This explains the kinked demand curve for Pepsi and similarly for Coke. Notice that the kink in the demand curve is at the established market price. It is also important to realize that the established price tends to be maintained. Neither Pepsi nor Coke will be inclined to raise their price since it would cause loss of sales and market share to the rival. Also neither of them is particularly interested in lowering the price and starting a price war since the outcome is loss of profit for both in favor of consumers. Figure 2 shows us profit maximization under an oligopoly. If we add to the demand MR model the cost curves for a firm such as Coke and Pepsi under oligopoly, we would be able to determine the profit maximization level of output. Figure [ 2 ] The profit maximizing level of output is 1000 six-packs of Pepsi, where MC = MR. Pepsi can sell this quantity at $1. 99 according to the demand curve. The average total cost of production at 1000 level of output is $0. 99 per six-pack. Therefore the company is making $1000 a day of excess profit as illustrated in figure 2. Moderate changes in the cost conditions of oligopolies do not cause a change in their profit maximization quantity and price as long as they are in the vertical range of the MR curve. This implies that technological improvements that lower the cost of production or change in the price of inputs encountered by an oligopoly would not lead to a quantity or price change. Therefore it’s suggested that under an oligopoly market prices are rigid. Firms especially avoid lowering their price from fear of igniting a price war. Instead oligopolies resort to non-price competition such as advertising. Price wars can and occasionally do occur when one of the dominant firms in the oligopoly market experiences a significant decrease in its production cost and attempts to increase its market share.

Avis Budget Group Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Avis Budget Group - Term Paper Example The company values aligned employees with visions or mission to achieve the targets of being an industry leader. 7 The aim of the Avis Budget Group is to become the number one company in the vehicle rental industry. This aim is being worked through by commitment. The brands of the company uniquely drive company towards growth. The company follows the ideology of creating value for all the customers. The company maintains integrity while making all the major decisions. The channel of communication in the organization is open and the employee’s exhibit teamwork while performing all the business practices. The Avis Budget Group is situated across the globe so it operates in a diverse environment with a diverse work force. The company analyzes its strengths and weaknesses and takes responsibility of all the challenges which arise and the decision which the company makes. It also works responsibly for the interests of the shareholders. 7 STAKEHOLDERS 8 Stakeholders are all those pa rties that are directly influenced by the operations of the company (Harrison, Bosse, and Phillips, 58 – 74). Managing stakeholders is important for the success of the firm (Bosse, Phillips, and Harrison, 447- 456). The stakeholders of the Avis group include car dealers and other suppliers, operators, tourists and tour operators, businesses requiring Avis’ service for transportation, diverse workforce, shareholders, governments and industry participants of the rental cars in countries where Avis and Budget is providing services. 8 SENSE 8 UNCOVER 11 SOLVE 14 ACHIEVE 20 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Avis budget group is a well known name in the business of the vehicle rental services. It is a leading global service provider with operations spread on more than 10,000 locations. The company has its operations in 175 countries around the globe. The strategy of the company is to spread the business in all areas where the rental transport services are used. This is in places where t ourism and business trips are made very commonly. The company operates in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America region. Most of the offices which are located in North America, Europe and Australia are company owned or either rented to the independent contractors who operate as the entrepreneurs for their outlets and share profits with the company. The current issues that the ABG is facing are with the strategic operations of the company which has been outsourced to the contractors who operate independently. The customers are also not satisfied with the services of the company because the services which they get from various outlets are not the same. The customer representatives of the outlets are also not aligned at providing proper services to the customers. This is because they are not motivated and don’t understand the core values which the company wishes to deliver to the customers. This report is highlighting the issues which the company is facing presently and offers recommendations for the company to overcome those issues and challenges. The company despite of the failing customer services is profitable. Therefore, suggestions are made that section of profits must be allocated to the improvement of the services of the outlets. The Avis Group must develop strengthen relationship with the contractors so that the issues of the operators can be resolved and it can pursue towards excellence with the passage of time. A plan for the improvement

PORTER INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

PORTER INDUSTRY ANALYSIS - Essay Example In addition, the thirty US retailers have already joined the list of top 250 retail companies worldwide. Farfan (1, 2010) highlighted that the size of US retail industry was between $4 – 4.5 trillion (estimated from sales data) that would surely increase in future when US economy would completely come out of recession. For instance, this industry provides direct and indirect employment to more than 14.5 million US workers. 2. Porter’s Five Forces Model The author would now provide an analysis on Retail Industry of USA by using Porter’s Five Forces model. Each force will be discussed in detail so that the reader could have a clear insight about the scope and business potential in this industry. 2.1 - Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of customers is medium because they tend to buy price elastic and inelastic products from US retail chains. Indeed, US large scale retail chains such as Wal-Mart, Aldi, Trader Joe’s etc. attract many customers tha t purchase grocery, food and other consumer products (basic necessities) that have highly / relatively inelastic demand. For instance, the customers benefit from these chains because of lower prices in comparison to in-town small retailers. Therefore, the business of US chains will not be affected adversely because they adopt competitive and penetrative pricing strategies. Next, the business of retail companies such as Best Buy, Cost Co, Target, Circuit City etc. selling electronic and computer technology products had declined during 2008 - 2009 due to worst recession that forced the top management to reduce their number of stores and depend heavily on online sales model. Circuit City now solely depends on online sales instead of establishing retail stores across different neighborhoods. The industry analysts expect that sales volume of US retail chains would increase in 2011 because of expected improvement in economy followed by availability of employment opportunities and better p urchasing power. However, if inflation increases then demand for highly price elastic products may reduce significantly, while demand for necessities may remain same or increase amid surge in population (Farfan, 2010) & (Maestri, 2010). 2.2 - Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of specific suppliers, especially of food and some electrical / electronic / computer products, is high because the demand for certain necessities and eatables never reduce. However, the bargaining power of suppliers of relatively price elastic products (such as of perfumes, branded clothes, shoes, electronics etc.) is medium because consumer demand for such products is not high due to rising inflation and purchasing power issues. 2.3 - Potential New Entrants The US economy has been coming out of recession and the evidence of which is increase in aggregate sales of US retail industry in 2010 compared to 2009. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate across USA is still 10% and the prevailing retail environment is not feasible for new investors to enter in tough retail market, where existing firms have already been using various strategies to maintain their current market share. In short, the threat for new entrants is low because it is not the ideal time to establish a new retail company (Yahoo Report, 2010). 2.4 - Threats of Substitute Products The

Romantic Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Romantic Poetry - Essay Example Blake, being a creative poet, based most of his literary works on a wide popular style of Romanticism, leaving after him the great poems, such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Wollstonecraft and others. For a great regret, unconventional and enigmatic works of William Blake did not achieve an understanding of people of his time, but exactly now, due to the gradual realization, studying and actively publishing, his works, like his biography – a biography of a thinker, rebel, seeker, mastermind and sage - are shared. Investigating both poems it becomes obvious that the author wrote them being in a big inspiration, because all words go from the bottom of his heart, allowing some natural expression being visible. The poem Infant Joy shows us the true nature of every person, because the main aim of all people is to be happy like newborn children who never know sorrow and regret, while their hearts and minds are open to the world and they are looking for good feelings and joy. Observing th e poem The Smile we can say that it describes ‘smile’ as something symbolical to personal feelings and thoughts, while deeper motives of every person are reflected trough the smile, making it unique and mysterious. The poem The Smile is a kind of a very intimate confession where the author explains the necessity to be ‘smiling’ in the meaning of kindness and tenderness of feelings.

Conscientiousness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conscientiousness - Research Paper Example Leadership is the power to motivate people by words, actions and deeds using vision, belief and truthfulness (Northouse, 2009). Conscientious leadership, which becomes ethical leadership, means â€Å"ethically motivating others in ethical directions† consisting of both â€Å"procedural† and â€Å"substantive† (character-based) aspects (Chumir, 1992, para.1). The procedural dimension of conscientious leadership includes problem-solving and decision-making techniques within the circle of moral principles. For example, conscientious leadership demands that the leaders, before putting their decisions into action, inform and discuss them with the parties which are going to be affected by their decisions. This means that the concerned parties are being given due respect and importance. The substantive aspect of conscientious leadership includes knowledge, strong standards and courage to follow ethical directions despite strong opposition. Also, the values that a person inherits or learns later in his life play a very important role in constructing his inner self, and in developing conscientiousness. By understanding and polishing basic values, a leader develops a sense of moral obligation of enhancing the betterment of the company. A conscientious leader actually expresses transformational leadership (Brown & Travino, 2006), in which the leaders produce such an effect on their subordinates that they inflict a â€Å"transforming effect† on them, thus, producing â€Å"sweeping changes in organizations and societies† (Priyabhasini & Krishnan, 2005, p.1). A conscientious leader knows in what direction must the action go, and what the consequences of that action will be. He has a strong vision, and so, he is able to go in the depth of the problem to relate its solution with ethical values. It is the conscience of the inner self of the leader that leads him to do good decisions. The

Why did Slavery Come to be the Dominant Labor System in the Southern Essay

Why did Slavery Come to be the Dominant Labor System in the Southern Colonies - Essay Example The workforce in the agricultural sector in the southern colonies was mainly comprised of Europeans servants who worked on indenture basis. Although the Europeans still offered labor, African slaves were the better choice for planters because they were cheap to maintain and more productive. By mid 17th century there was a massive shift towards slave labor in the south since demand for food was rising with expanding markets. At this time Africans had started to be shipped and be sold as slaves to Americans. The climate and soil in the south were more favorable for agriculture than those of the north. This made the sound to be heavily dependent on labor for development of plantations. The south as stated above was an ideal region for agriculture all year round and crops like tobacco and rice thrived well. These crops are labor intensive and the lands were quite vast. Therefore, a huge potential of the southern lands remained untapped considering that there were many waterways where cro ps could be transported to overseas markets. As these farms grew labor shortages became intense and by the end of the 17th century more than 500 Africans had been bought as slaves to meet the demand (Schneider and Schneider 48). This trend was soon followed by withdrawal of indentured European servants since many had saved enough to buy their own land and start farming. America was quite big and unexploited by then and the Europeans found no reason not to venture into far away lands. The Bacon’s Rebellion also saw many planters release white servants as they proved to be a danger to political stability. In this regards an alternative had to be sought to counter the exodus of the white servants. By mid 18th century a total of 235,000 Africans were in America and 85% of them worked in the southern colonies of Virginia, Georgia, North and South Carolina (73). African slaves however came to be fully exploited after failed trials were made on Native Americans (Rodriguez 106). Many of them died from European diseases while many others ran away since they knew the land better than the Europeans. This left the planters no choice but to take in African slaves. This followed a massive expansion of plantations in Georgia and South Carolina which translated to increased production levels of rice and tobacco. These slaves did a great deal of work which the white servants had refused to do for example draining of swamps. West Africans came in handy especially in rice growing plantations since they were familiar with the kind of work required as their mother lands grew rice. Slaves worked for 15 hours on a daily basis especially during the harvest season (Norton and Sheriff 27). One overseer was required to supervise a minimum of 20 slaves doing back-breaking work and when a slave lazed around, the overseer was supposed to whip them. The fact that slaves were cheap to buy and maintain saw planters buy them in masses so as to plant and cultivate more. As earlier indica ted slaves used to work for many hours per day which translated to bumper harvests and therefore booming plantation business. Many plantation owners like the Byrd family from Virginia turned to be quite wealthy (58). Such families came together to form elite classes of planters in the southern states who ensured that slave trade remained because it was a lifeline to their wealth. Southern colonies had vast fertile lands for agriculture where Europeans worked as servants on indenture basis. The vastness and the need to grow crops on large scale raised the need to have more workers. Slave trade was on the rise by mid 17th century and it saw many planters buy African slaves to work in

Accounting System of a Firm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Accounting System of a Firm - Essay Example Certain step must then be followed in planning a systems development project plan. Typically, this procedure starts with the identification of the problems as well as the objective for conducting the project. Along with the identification of the capability of the organization to support the project, designing the system to be applied is then created. In order to ensure the efficacy of the designed system, this will undergo a series of tests and evaluation procedures. After which, the system is then installed. The process however does not stop here as the system will have to be monitored continuously. Furthermore, the employees who will be using the new system must be trained properlyThe process involved in a systems development project plan is indeed an essential tool that enables project developers and managers to ensure the efficacy of the system employed. The systematize process provides significant controls that helps in people and task management. Following a specific project pl an also allows the project staff to identify potential problems that could arise. Thus, this organized procedure helps the staff to prepare alternatives and solutions that could address these possible problems. In order to comprehend the process of implementing a systems development project plan, a case of a small accounting firm will be taken as an example. With the expert help of an IT consulting firm and a sixty thousand dollar budget, the firm intends to have a system that will integrate its main operations including administrative functions and report production. In this case example, the objectives of the project, the role of the project manager and the problems that could occur during the different phases of the project plan will be identified. The small accounting firm aims to implement a systems development project. With this main goal, the firm intends to achieve the following objectives: To design and apply an integrated system that will allow it to perform administrative functions and produce essential accounting reports To develop a specific step-by-step procedure for the project's application To implement an effective system development project within a limited budget To have the system installed in eight weeks time Though these established objectives will help in directing the project team, certain constraints could hinder their achievement. Time and budget for instance are significant constraints for this project. Within eight weeks, the integrated system must be installed in the firm. Unlike bigger corporations, smaller firms have fewer resources to support long term project plans. Thus, the project team must work rapidly so as to meet the deadline and avoid financial shortage. These factors in turn add more pressure to the project staff. Putting the project team into much pressure can cause the members to prioritize time over quality, which can significantly affect the efficiency of the project. When the main objective of the project team is to finish the project on time, the long term success of the project may be negatively affected. Quality is also an important factor for a successful project. However, working under time pressure while maintaining work quality can be difficult and can burnout and stress among the participants (Gobeli, Gray & Larson, 1991). Time is indeed a major constraint in project management, especially when the firm expects to see the project results within an unrealistic time span (Baumgartner, 1979). Unrealistic work schedules can not only cause stress among the staff but can also affect their motivation to finish the project. Handling people is also a major constrain

What Is Globalization Critical Issues For International Trade Term Paper

What Is Globalization Critical Issues For International Trade Liberalisation - Term Paper Example RY In the book â€Å"A History of the World in 6 Glasses† Tom Standage described the continuous cyclical changes in the world through the different ages. He pointed out that the process of globalization has been a 20th century phenomenon which has certainly facilitated the globally operating companies to entertain major financial returns by becoming globally recognized brands. In this regard Standage highlighted that hunger can be less deadly than the thirst. A person may survive without taking food for a few weeks. But without taking liquid he/she cannot survive. Human generates drinking habits to live. Thus, in order to leverage this benefit entrepreneurs or inventors invented six different drinks for the human beings. According to the author, the invention of these drinks primarily caused the advent of globalization. These drinks include beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and cola. Among them caffeine contained in three drinks and alcohol contained in three. Initially, beer w as made in 3000 BC. In the ancient Greece, wine was the main exportable product. After the invention of spirits coffeehouses were the main centers for the intellectual exchange. After 100 more years, the Chinese started taking tea which became quite popular in Britain in following years. Finally, carbonated water was invented for the very first time and Coca-Cola was the inventor. Cola started the flow of globalization. From the above discussion, it can be said that six different glasses started the age of globalization (Standage 1-100). In his book ‘Ways of the world: A brief global history Volume 2 since the 15th century’ Robert W. Strayer described how global economy has accelerated since 1945. The pace of globalization increased after the era of Second World War. Most commonly, it signifies...It is a kind of international integration to exchange the products, ideas and views of the participating countries. Exchanges of cultural and national resources can be done wit h the advent of globalization. Globalization has further facilitated in enhancing the amount of cross-cultural trade activities which in turn has made the world to be regarded as a global village. This has enabled to reduce cultural barriers by a considerable extent. In this context, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has propounded four basic kinds of aspects related to globalization. This can be distinguished as migration along with movement of people, investment and capital movements, trade and transactions and lastly diffusion of knowledge. Globalization generally refers opening up or liberalization of the countries. It generally includes deregulation of markets and privatization of the assets, the integration of capital markets and the inter-national distribution of the manufactured production also known as foreign direct investment. Globalization facilitates to keep the life of the people healthy. It broadens the chance to build an industrial segment which leads to create more and more jobs. As incomes are being generated at a more rapid pace, thus the gap between the poor and the rich is also diminishing.

Existentialism in Mersault Essay Example for Free

Existentialism in Mersault Essay Albert Camus was a French writer who is also a existentialism philosopher. He contributes to the development of the philosophy of existentialism, although he refused to be associated with any ideology. His philosophical thoughts contained in his writings. Camus delivers it by creating fictional characters and dramatic events, not only in the form of thought and analysis. The idea of absurdity, or things contrary to the common view, and his paradoxically thoughts contained in his works which one them is seen in his work this novel entitle The Outsider. Meursault as the main character in the novel is described as a man who make the sense of his life in his own view. He felt that the life he lived is normal although people around him think that he is different. This is seen when she was confronted by the news of his mothers death. He was just responding to it as a natural that every human being in the world must be both experiencing life and death later on, today, tomorrow, or whenever it was. In the funeral, he shows the attitude indifferent as not wanting to see his mothers corpse, cry to her, or shows a deep grief to the attendants. Because he said, he had no reason to be sad or mourn his mother, because once again he considers this is a natural. This is seen in the quote below. Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know. I had a telegram from the home: ‘Mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Yours sincerely. ’ That doesn’t mean anything. It may have been yesterday. Camus (1982: 3) Not only on her mothers funeral, he is indifferent, but also to live a life he is very flat and unemotional. However, behind it there is the nature of honesty in him. This is evident because in every action and word he just saying what is on his mind without exaggerating or saying unnecessary. As well as Marie, her girlfriend asks him to marry her, she just say yes, but when he asked again he replied that it was not important, and if Marie wants him to marry her he would marry her. She then wanted to know if I loved her. I replied as I had done once already, that it didn’t mean anything but that I probably didn’t. ‘ Why marry me then? ’ she said. I explained to her that it really didn’t matter and that if she wanted to, we could get married. Anyway, she was the one who was asking me and I was simply saying yes. Camus (1982: 39) For Meursault he lives in this world with his own will without having to think or follow the rules set in the environment. He lived his life like what he wants without having to regret. As he revealed about a his crime that killing an Arab. While in prison he refused to hire a lawyer to help him resolve the case, but he finally agreed to use a lawyer who has been appointed by the prison authorities. He does this because he thinks he does not need defense from other people on what he has done. The lawyer had been made upset by Mersault because Meursault does not want to assert a defense or try to provide evidence to alleviate his crime. As an explanation of the existentialism humanism earlier, that no regulator or legislator but himself. Accordingly himself that he must decide for himself anyway by looking outside itself a goal of self-liberation to this man can Realize himself as truly human. In the novel Meursault refuses anyone governing what he should do and assumptions that he are wrong. He said no one or anything else that can be a regulator or legislator could influence it. He just lived his life according to his own views in giving meaning in his life and he never regretted anything he has done even though he himself did not think that what he did was the right thing. This can be seen in the following quotation. Of course, I couldn’t help admitting that he was right. I didn’t much regret what I’d done. Bus I was surprised that he was so furious about it. I’d have like to have explained to him in a friendly way, almost affectionately, that I’d never really been able to regret anything. Camus (1982: 93) He determined by the death sentence by a judge because of his indifferent of her mother’s death. The judge explain that a few days later he instead has a date with Marie and watch a funny movie with her, befriends and involves in his neighbor named Raymond revenge to Raymonds mistress, and goes on a beach vacation with both, Meursault passes tragic life as if nothing has happened. While his waiting to the day of his death sentence we can see what the true essence of life in Meursault’s view, in the rage of his thought in prison. It does not mean that he is not afraid of death, but he deals it with his own. Several times he refused to meet with the chaplain, because he thought it just wastes his time that just few remains to talk about things that are not meant for him. Meursault is told in this novel as one who does not believe in God or atheism. According to him, how he lived or what the purpose of life is determined by himself without the involvement from other people. It seen in quote below. From the depths of my future, throughout the whole of this absurd life I’d been leading, I’d felt a vague breath drifting towards me across all years that were still to come, and on its way this breath had evened out everything that was then being proposed to me in the equally unreal years I was living through. Camus (1982: 111) As if this great outburst of anger had purged all my ills, killed all my hopes, I looked up the mass of signs and stars in the sky and laid myself open for the first time to benign indifference of the world. And finding it so much like myself, in fact so fraternal, I realized that I’d been happy, and that I was still happy. For the final consummation and for me to feel less alone, my last wish was that there should be a crowd of spectators at my execution and that they should greet me with cries of hatred. Camus (1982: 113) The second quote is the last paragraph in this novel that tells the last time before his execution. In those sentences, that Meursault reveals is evident that he feels happy when he faces death. He thinks that the world is not concerned with human problems and it has similarly with him who was indifferent to the human problems that are not related to him. Thus, he thought that after his death, he will unite with the world and he will not feel lonely. Meursault also said that his life would be more meaningful if his death was witnessed by people who raining him with cried of hatred than if he dies in solitude. He thinks this will be memorized by the people who have witnessed the death. CONCLUSION From the explanation of analysis above it can be conclude that Mersault as the main character of the novel The Outsider is existentialist. It depicted by the author, Albert Camus through Mersault’s says, acts, and thoughts, which describe that Mersault lives his live with his own way and his own view. He argues that in the world there is no one or single thing that can be regulator or legislator, which can influence his life. It is only himself who knows what he should do an how he lives his life in this world. Lives the life in the world is the basic of basic structure of human existence. The conjunction in the words shows that existence of human cannot escape from his world. Impossible that man released from his world and, otherwise, the world may not be released from human who constructed it. There is also no two experiences are identical. Therefore, existence is a privately owned, that existence is not replaceable by anyone. It clearly described in Mersault’s character who is indifferent to the other things that in his opinion those things are does not mean anything to him.

Analysis of Home Based Aquaponics System

Analysis of Home Based Aquaponics System RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter outlines the rationale for the research approach adopted and how the detailed analysis of a specific home based aquaponics system is undertaken. The methods for data collection and analysis that is used is as well described. The overall design and structure of the study was driven by the need to fill the gap that exist in the study on home based aquaponics systems in Mauritius. Also, the only home based aquaponic practitioner’s system identifed was closely studied, so as to allow for solid findings and a well-grounded analysis. However, it reflects as well on the limitations of the research methods and how these might affect the findings and conclusions. In this study, the qualitative research using case study analysis is chosen as the appropriate method as it enables to answer the research questions. The qualitative method helps in preparing a careful planning of a research design that encompasses all aspects of the study, from research questions to data collection and analysis. To this effect, qualitative research is chosen using the case study method in order to collect rich, descriptive data on aquaponics. Nevertheless, studies on aquaponics have found that qualitative research results can differ from quantitative results, highlighting the importance of exploratory qualitative data collection for a holistic understanding (Conroy, 1999; Conroy Walker, 2000). Following thorough research on internet and with government authorities and other institutions having insights of the field of aquaponics, only one home based aquaponic practitioner has been identified. He was contacted through Facebook social networking and some informal interviews were undertaken through online communications, following which a formal meeting was scheduled at his premise in order to study his backyard aquaponics system. Indeed, from the close analysis and structured interview undertaken with the aquaponic practitioner, valuable information is gathered regarding his aquaponics system, complete designs, scale, production rates, management practices and water testing parameters and results. His approval was required for consequent visits to closely study his aquaponics system, assist him in effecting the water testings and to carry out additional interviews accordingly, as the dissertation progresses, to gather information as needed. All information is documented to b e used for analysis. The consent of the interviewers has been asked and an explanation of the study has been provided in order to begin any interview for the purpose of this study. Indeed, the aquaponic practitioner gave his consent for his name and pictures of his aquaponics system to be acknowledged and presented in this work. Further, since there is no comprehensive list of aquaponics practitioners in Mauritius, informal interviews were carried out with some organisations having insights of aquaponics system. Furthermore, I assisted the aquaponic practitioner in carrying out water testings in line with some specific parameters, being given that water testing in line with such parameters (PH,Temperature,Nitrate and Ammonia) are vital for the proper sustainability, monitoring and flow of the aquaponics system. Indeed, assisting in the water testing exercise with the aquaponic practitioner helped me better involve in the study as well as understand and analyse the system which helped me consolidate my findings. Moreover, in line with the research objectives in view to gain a better understanding of home based aquaponics system, questions are explicitly framed to highlight the elements of a home scale aquaponics technology. In view to analyse and truly understand a home based aquaponics system, the only genuine home based aquaponics system identified was closely analysed in helping to develop a more grounded insights on more favourable or unfavourable combinations of factors that could be used to increase the awareness, implementation, effectiveness and sustainability of home based aquaponics projects in the future. Furthermore, Maxwell (2005) and Yin (2009) argue that qualitative research needs a clearer pre-structuring. Despite this, I was realistically flexible about the necessary timing of my research activities in view to accommodate for the inevitable challenges that arose from trying to schedule meeting with the busy aquaponic practitioner. To ensure this need for flexibility, a plan was written up to guide the research. However, the data collection process was greatly facilitated by being able to visit the aquaponic practitioner and be on the site of his aquaponics system. Data Collection Methods When conducting a study, it is recommended to use various sources in order to grasp understanding of the context and a more solid foundation which helps in making the accurate choices. Also, the use of multiple sources enhances the reliability and validity of evidence as well as strengthens the author’s arguments (Yin, 2003). Therefore, both primary and secondary sources are needed for data collection. The primary source in this study is gathered through observations, analysis and interviews. The secondary sources include journals, articles, technical reports, policies and some previous studies which are used mainly in theoretical part. My data collection methods included formal observation, site visits, analysis and review. I also conducted structured interviews with the aquaponic practitioner. To comprehend the aquaponics system of the home based aquaponic practitioner that I had chosen to examine, I conducted a comprehensive analysis of the press articles online and by other academic and media sources in relation to home scale aquaponics. I reviewed local government websites and policy documents and did research on internet search engines in relation to home based/backyard aquaponics. I also spoke informally with the chosen aquaponic practioner to gain a sense of direction and understanding to better prepare my research work and formal interview. From his responses and my research work, I drafted my interview questions to gain diverse perspective in analysing the home based aquaponics system. My main data was sourced from a combination formal and informal interviews. Formal interviews were carried out with some stakeholders having insights of aquaponics and both formal and informal interviews were undertaken with the identified aquaponic practitioner. The structured interview questions were designed following formal interviews and in line with literature review. The data generated from the interviews allowed me to confirm the themes by which the data was eventually analysed; it also helped me to refine a line of inquiry for subsequent informal interviews. The fact that informal interviews were conducted with some stakeholders other than the aquaponic practitioner, means that I could to some extent prevent the risk of ‘key informant bias’ (Maxwell 2005 p. 91). Their insights were also essential for addressing the question of authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning. Following the structured interview, I conducted informal qualitative interviews with the aquaponic practitioner to ask specific questions regarding the case study and clarify any discrepancies I had noticed in the interview data. I covered the history and his future plans, as well as the challenges he had encountered along the way. In all the interviews I directed my questions accurately to add to the depth of perspective on the case study and my analysis. The data were further supplemented with analysis of the observations made through several site visits. Unstructured interviews were considered suitable because I wanted to allow for unpredicted events or findings (Bryman 1999, Yin 2009). The interviews were kept within a time limit of one hour and questions varied according to the role and expertise and context of respondent. Analysis of Data Bryman and Burgess (1999) urge the researcher to be aware that the data available for analysis are only as good as the data that are recorded. As such the choice of a case study analysis was further justified by potential limitations associated with a unique case available to analyse. The data generated by the case was analysed accordingly as well as considering the external context, environment and the impact that these elements have had on the development, sustainability and monitoring of the aquaponic system being analysed. The knowledge I had gained from my literature review had distinguished recurring themes that form the basis of my analysis framework. Thus, the headings in the qualitative findings section mirror the headings in the literature review. In addition to the key themes identified in the literature, my analysis was influenced by informal interactions and observations of the stakeholders, case subject and sites, as well as my own interest and ongoing appreciation for aquaponics. Limitations The major limitation of the case study is that the data were collected on only one home based aquaponics system in the Northern region of Mauritius and can only be validated in the literature. Since literature in home based aquaponics in Mauritius is scarce, some of the claims cannot be validated and are just observations. In spite of these limitations, the identification of the only home based aquaponics system and a case study method approach to data collection ensures that enough conclusive evidence was generated to identify what factors to establish and operate a home based aquaponics system.

Compare and Contrast 2Pac & Saint John the Baptist Essay -- Tupac Shak

Compare and Contrast 2Pac & Saint John the Baptist Although they lived in very different times, Tupac Shakur and Saint John the Baptist had many commonalities. Both became extremely famous for expressing what they believed. The media's portrayal of Tupac Shakur as a tattooed thug has focused public attention on his accused crimes instead of his music. This rapper, raised in Marin City, California, by a Black Panther mother, is more complex than his enemies like to admit. Shakur (who performs as 2Pac) was a talented lyricist with a gift for storytelling and getting his point across to our youth. He continued to grow as a writer on his hard-hitting album, â€Å"All Eyez on Me† which benefits from West Coast-style production by such artists as Dr. Dre. Recorded shortly after Shakur was released on bail from a prison sentence for sexual assault, the double album shows a relatively contemplative rapper who's ready to make peace with some of his demons. The following list of positive lyrics from Eyez and 2Pac's previous albums certainly doesn't make him a saint, but it does reveal surprising emotional depth: 1. "Life Goes On," All Eyez on Me : In one of the most touching moments on his new album, the rapper with "Thug Life" tattooed on his chest shows that he isn't insensitive to the loss of those he loves: "How many brothers fell victim to the streets / Rest in peace young niggaz / Is there heaven for a G? / Be a lie if I told ya that I never thought of death / My nigga, we the last one's left / And life goes on." 2. "Dear Mama," Me Against the World : An insightful 2Pac repents the stress that he's caused his mother: "Mama, I finally understand / For a woman it ain't easy trying to raise a man / You always was committed / A poor single mother on welfare / Tell me how you did it / There's no way that I can pay you back / But the plan is to show you that I understand. / You are appreciated." 3. "Keep Ya Head Up," Strictly 4 My Niggaz : With a kind of compassion that is rare from any performer - let alone a gangsta rapper - 2Pac advises: "Be real to our women / And if we don't we'll have a race of babies / Who hate the ladies / That make the babies / And since a man can't make one / He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one." Hard to believe this is the guy who wrote "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch." 4. "Brenda's Got a Baby," 2Pa... ... ghetto kids not believe in God. Why? So that's wrong religion -I believe in God, I believe God puts us wherever we want to be at. They didn't make sense that God would put us in the ghetto. That means he wants us to work hard to get up out of here.† Tupac’s notion as to where God puts us where we should be and that we shouldn’t have to go into a church to praise him and talk to him, it’s similar to St. John the Baptist lifestyle while living in the Desert of Judea. Even though the desert and the ghetto were different, that’s where they both came from. Both are very similar, because both didn’t have material things, only the necessities to live and sometimes not even that. Like 2Pac, John the Baptist didn’t live in the ghetto but he made due with the same provisions. He wore clothes that were made of camels’ hair, and his food consisted of locus and wild honey. In conclusion, this was overall an interesting assignment. I’ve learned that we don’t need depend on material things. Both people were humble and made due with what they had.. And both lived a hard, yet influential life. They tried to give back to the community as much as they could with their wisdom and views on life.

tristans Tragedy :: essays research papers

"Tristan's Tragedy" As told to (author's name) By Tristan "What an unusual Christian name, '(author's name)'! And you say you know but two languages? You must jest to render the title of 'scholar' upon yourself. During my training, I have learned seven, all the while being taught horsemanship and swordsmanship. Alas, all of my accolades serve me not here. True nobility never makes excuses for shortcomings; however, in this despair I can know no greater loss. After being wounded in battle with the giant Morolt (who was subsequently slain by my steel) I journeyed to Ireland in search of Queen Isolt and her medicinal power. Disguised as a wandering minstrel, I succeeded in endearing myself to her court by performing deeds impossible for the average. I also taught her daughter, my beautiful Isolt, the art of the lyre. I returned to Cornwall, and upon hearing my account of Isolt's charm, my king Mark resolved to make her his own. After convincing her family to allow her to wed the king, we set back on a ship for Cornwall. I remember the night on which we fell in love. Perhaps it was the wine, or perhaps I was merely intoxicated by her. Nonetheless, she amazingly felt the same drawing to me, and we were unable to contain our affections. We continued seeing one another in secret after the wedding; after all, without love her marriage was invalid. After a while, though, our conniving king took aware of our dealings and banished me to the barren Arundel. It was there I met a woman of average beauty, but with the only name worthy of my attentions: Isolt des Mains-Blancs. (That's "of the white hands" if your other language fails you.) I could not betray my love however, so our marriage was never consummated. Rightly so, because in due time I received a letter from my true Isolt, giving account of her flight from the king. She requested a meeting with me, saying her ship would bear a white sail. I kept the new Isolt on guard for weeks. Finally, I was informed that my Isolt was spotted on a ship,

Cisco Systems Inc Implementing ERP Essay

Cisco was far away the biggest software vendor customer supporting the application that supported order entry, manufacturing and financial. Cisco wanted to grow from $500 million to $5 billion plus company, but the application was not proving the degree of maintainability, reliability and redundancy are needed. Moreover, Cisco was not able to make the needed changes to the application anymore to meet their business needed because it was too customized (n.a 146). Difficulties in system replacement of the functional areas further perpetuated deterioration of the legacy environment of Cisco. Moreover, system outages were a routine, and this was exacerbated by product shortcomings that made it difficult to recover from the outages. Finally, the legacy environment of Cisco dramatically failed in January 1994 that it was hard to ignore the shortcomings of their existing systems leading to shut down for two days. The struggle, to recover by Cisco from the shutdown, made the managers of Cisc o conclude that there was a need for an alternative approach, hence the decision to deploy ERP system (n.a 147). What are the main reasons for Cisco to select Oracle as an ERP vendor? Before selecting Oracle as an ERP vendor, Cisco and KPMG went to the software market to identify the best packages of software. They oriented their process of selection to what people were actually using and in two days narrowed down to five packages. After evaluating the packages for a week, the team settled on two candidates, another major player in the market of ERP and oracle. The decision was also based on the fact that the vendors were not to be significantly smaller than Cisco. Finally cisco settled on oracle because of numerous factors (n.a 148). Cisco’s project was strongly being driven by manufacturing and Oracle has a better capability of manufacturing compared to other vendors (n.a 148-149). Oracle also had many promises concerning the long term package functionality development. Moreover, Oracle was flexible and was close by in addition to a belief that Oracle was highly motivated to the success of the project (n.a 149). How did Cisco form its ERP implementation team? In forming the ERP implementation team, Cisco sought the very best to include in the project from its core of 20 to about 100, to represent a cross section of the business community of Cisco. Recruitment to the team was for a short term duration and not a career change to the selected candidates. Cisco also extended relationship with KPMG because of the firm’s performance through the selection process of the software and its continued commitment to provide seasoned personnel to the project (n.a 151 para 2). The Cisco’s team members were placed into five â€Å"process area teams† (tracks) with each track comprising of Cisco business leader, Cisco information systems leader, IT and Business consultants from either Oracle or KPMG, and other personnel as team members from the business (para 3). The management of the tracks was being done from the office of the project management which comprised of KPMG project manager Mark Lee, and Tom Herbert, Cisco’s business project manager. Sitting on top of the whole structure of project management was the Executive Steering Committee which included VP of customer advocacy, VP of manufacturing, Corporate Controller, Partner in charge of the KPMG’s West Coast Consulting, and Oracles senior VP of Applications (para 4). References Pearson Custom Business Resources. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. Print. Source document

Reflective Paper “Faith Like Potatoes”

Faith Like Potatoes Angus Buchan was a person who did not believe in God, did not trust others and did not accept help from others because he wanted to do everything by himself. He had emptiness in his heart; he was always stressed, angry, mad and rude to others. The life of Angus was a big mess. But one day the miracle has happened when he went to the church and heard one man sharing his life story. From that point, his life has turned upside down. Angus built relationship with God, invited God into his life, gave God his life and let Him do changes.Angus personality has changed drastically for the better, and most importantly he had a strong faith in everything what he did and he believed that God would help him. God helped him to over come all the struggles and problems that pressed his shoulders, as well as made him many miracles. Praying was one of the religious expressions in the workplace showed in the movie. Angus was praying God for help while he was working. He was encourag ing others to pray and they prayed all together to God: for the rain they needed, deliverance from the violence and murders, peace in the land and hearts and blessing.People, as one big family, were praying before seeding the potatoes, during four months while they were growing and before harvest. Moreover, at the end of the movie another religious expression was introduced. Angus was teaching kids about the faith and trust in God: â€Å"Your faith in God must be like that (big potatoes) – it must be real†. After watching this movie, it gets hard to name one importance of work. From my point of view, there is no only one importance of work – there are many of them. Work gives us money and food, which are vital for human’s well-being and life.Work gives us friends and team to work with, in such way work becomes easier and more pleasant. For example, in the beginning of the movie it was shown how Angus was struggling with the stump and that he was cursing t he stump because he was not able to root it out by himself. But after he invited God into his life he looked at work from different perspective; as a result, he accomplished the same task easier with the help of his friends and in a great working environment. Also, work provides us with inner joy, creativity and happiness.Work brings the meaning into the life because it motivates us to work hard and it greatly increases the chances of fulfillment and success in reaching the dreams. Work does not allow us to become lazy or bored individuals. Finally work brings us a great sense of achievement and encourages us to move forward. It is very inspirational:† The condition for the miracle is difficulty; for a great miracle – impossibility†. Great movie based on true-life story teaches us that with strong faith and trust in God the impossible becomes possible.

Genetic Testing Controversies

Genetic Testing Controversies 1-12-11 Biology Genetic Testing, also known as DNA-based tests, is a new method of testing for genetic diseases or disorders. In the test the DNA molecule is examined and other tests include microscopic examination of chromosomes, for stained or fluorescent chromosomes. Genetic tests are used for carrier screening, newborn screening, identity testing, prenatal diagnostic testing, and prediction of disorders later in life such as Huntington’s or Alzheimer’s disease etc. Human Genome Project) Controversies today that genetic testing today faces is with the privacy, consents, equity and discrimination. The privacy of the information that is found may not be confidential between the patient and the doctor it may also be revealed to other people that are not involved in the issue. The controversies with consent are that should the insurance companies be allowed to have the information of medical records and family histories before granting permi ssion to anything. (Friesen, Tim.The Genetic Testing Controversy). The costs of some of these genetic tests are very expensive, some costing more than $1000. Another controversy is related with discrimination to the people shown by insurance companies, where they are discriminating on the people by the information which is received to them by genetic tests. Another example is where a woman who had applied to become an adoptive parent was denied due to a family history of Huntington’s disease which also made her susceptible to the disease. Friesen, Tim. The Genetic Testing Controversy) An advantage of Genetic testing is that it gives information about any disease or disorders a person may have and treat that person immediately for a cure. Another advantage is that these tests help to live a risk free life from the beginning, for example- Genetic testing are done on new born babies, which helps to identify any disorders from the beginning so treatment can be given immediately. Benefits of genetic testing) Another advantage of genetic testing is that there are fewer checkups and visits to the doctor if there is a history of a disease in a family. Another advantage is that if a person is genetically tested and the results are positive, they get to make â€Å"informed decisions† in their life. (Benefits of Gene Testing. National Cancer Institute) A disadvantage of genetic testing is that if a person is positive for a disease which cannot be cured completely, is still in a risk. Related essay: â€Å"Advantages and Disadvantages of Genetic Engineering†For example breast and ovarian cancers, you cannot get rid of each and every breast or ovary related cells. Even after the surgery, the risk is still there. Another disadvantage is many people after receiving their test results and testing positive for a disease, leads to depression, anxiety or anger for most people, mostly women in these cases. Another disadvantage of genetic testing is many people face discrimination in getting insurance, or employment due to the results of that person’s genetic test. Citation Pictures http://www. beltina. org/pics/genetic_testing. jpg

Economic Growth in Korea

The rapid growth and development in the newly industrialising economies (NIE†s) in recent decades has been nothing short of spectacular. Now among the world†s most dynamic industrialised economies, the NIE†s of Singapore, Taiwan Hong Kong, and South Korea which will be the focus, stand as perhaps the best examples of successful economic development. The economic development of South Korea, which has been among the most rapid in the world is typical of the ‘miracle† that is the NIEs. Korea has come far since the days it was ‘a nation of hungry rice farmers†, by pursuing an industrialisation-led development commitment since 1961, which has since produced annual GDP growth of 8.4% per annum, second only to China. The success of South Korea, has been identified by a number of factors including the shift away from import substitution strategies towards export orientated industrialisation, and the effective managing of the economy and authoritarian rule adopted by the government in order to accelerate the pace of capital accumulation, technical progress and structural change to produce economic growth beyond what could possibly occur in a free market economy. NIEs, South Korea, are now recognised as ‘export machines† boasting some of the highest trade/GDP ratios in the world. International economic relations began in 1964 with the recognition of these limitation of the domestic market and the ineffectiveness of pursuing substitution industrialisation strategies. As part of its new strategy for export expansion the South Korean government introduced new measures which included the devaluation of the won, which improved the competitiveness of its exports and introduced incentives designed to channel resources into export-orientated industries. Exporters were also supported by direct cash payments, permission to retain foreign exchange earnings for the purchase of imports, and the exemption from virtually all import controls and tariffs. The government in consultation with firms, set up export targets for industries as well as individual firms. These targets appeared to have influenced firm behaviour and supporting this claim was from between 1961 and 1973 the volume of exports increased at an annual rate of 35% and today continues to consistently rank in the top twenty trading nations. Over the last 30 years the share of manufactures in total exports has increased from 12% to 95%. Furthermore the manufactures exported have themselves changed with more advanced products, led by electronics dominating the list of major exports and hence the importance of the Samsung and Lucky Goldstar to the Korean economy. The direction of trade has also changed somewhat, where South Korean exports went largely to the USA and imports came from Japan, Asian countries excluding Japan are now South Korea†s major trading partners. The importance of China is also becoming of increasing significance. South Korea†s economic success as noted can also be contributed to the high levels of savings and investment. South Korean†s save about 35% of GNP and thus sustainable economic growth has been driven by capital stock accumulation and expanded productive capacity. Indeed some figures show up to 60% of economic expansion in South Korea is a result of capital accumulation and increase infrastructure. Undoubtedly one of the most important rationalisations for economic success is effective government intervention. Selective government intervention has promoted the development of new industries, many of which have become internationally competitive and also supported and advanced the growth of the private sector. The main aim of the government in South Korea has been to ensure that the behaviour of individual business accorded with the long term interest of the business class as a whole, and while applying authoritarian rule recognising when it was time to allow the market to operate on its own. Apart from the macroeconomic management, government in the NIEs have also sought to accelerate the pace of capital accumulation, technical progress and structural change beyond what would have resulted from â€Å"laissez-faire.† All NIEs pursued trade policies, supporting industrial deepening and the development of national firms with selective incentives to promote exports. In South Korea for example, the government gave Chaebols preferential access to bank loans, relying on them to develop heavy and chemical industries capable of competing internationally. Indeed four decades of industrial development in South Korea have been marked by what have been marked as ‘incestuous ties† between big business and government. In recent times government has been hostile to the conglomerates but the appointment of Mr Kim Suk Won to the ruling party has reopened an old wound over the role of big business and politics in South Korea. The role of the Chaebols in the Korean economy was a substantial reason for Korea†s success over the last 40 years. The Chaebols are the large multi-company family owned business entities which are both horizontally and vertically integrated. Examples include Samsung, Hyundai, Lucky Goldstar and Daewoo, which together account for over half the total output. The Chaebols have played a major role in the economic development of Korea. They were given preferential access to bank loans and were relied upon to develop the HCIs (as they had the resources and ability to compete in foreign markets). Indeed, the period of the HCIs drive marked the most rapid expansion of the Chaebols. The Chaebols engaged in fierce and even ruthless competition with one another on the many fronts of industry, with at least 4 or 5 competitors in each industry, which all contributed to the economic expansion of the economy. The government in South Korea, as well as other NIEs has supported a technology policy. By providing a favourable tax environment, government has indirectly encouraged business research and development expenditure. The Korean government for example grants a tax credit equal to 10% of capital expenditures. Current policies are aimed at achieving a 5% share of research and development expenditure in total GNP by 2001. The government has also aided fundamental technological development in advanced materials, advanced vehicle technology, bio materials and nuclear reactors. The role of the government in South Korea was also to provide these financial incentives to promote the development of particular industries. Interest Rates for example were kept generally low and stable in order to reduce the cost of investment. Designated industries received priority in allocation of bank credit, state investment funds and foreign exchange, The government in South Korea deliberately distorted prices and incentives as to improve the market outcome and accelerate economic growth. The government in South Korea also actively pursued competition policies. This intervention works both ways. In other words competition policy restricted the competition or promoted competition policy in the areas depending on the circumstances. In South Korea the government granted exemptions to conglomerates from laws governing monopolistic practices. Competition policy has been married with industry policy. In this the role of government has been limited with government policy interacting with the competitive strategies of private firms. Governments in the NIEs have been remarkably stable. This has had obvious benefits on the economy. There is no standard formula for government in the NIEs and there are differences between them across nations. Singapore for example has a paternalistic government whilst Hong Kong is essentially â€Å"laissez-faire† Stability is the only real link between governments of the NIEs. As the South Korean economy reached a more mature stage of economic growth problems regarding the structural change in the economy began to surface. The agricultural sector in South Korea for example is now only a third of its original size. Most notably there has been a marked shift to the tertiary sector. There has been obvious problems and challenges resulting from this. Most notably rapid growth has brought about labour shortages in key sectors such as electronics, heavy machinery and shipbuilding. Such shortage of labour in which employers have noone to fill vacancies made by expanded productive capacity will threaten South Korea†s booming exports, which is seen as the vehicle for growth in South Korea. The problem is further compounded by an increasing reluctance among school leavers to ‘dirty their hands† in industry and the inability and unwillingness to attract foreign labour. After growth and development in South Korea for so long was driven by government intervention one of the most important challenges facing the matured economy was for the government to relinquish much of its influence over the economy and to allow market forces to operate effectively. If South Korea is to continue to growing as a truly advanced industrialised nation then obviously the market mechanism will have to be let to operate freely. This will take time and cause and also cause relative social unrest. As the South Korean economy has reached a mature stage, it has recognised the old regulatory environment that led to high levels of inputs especially in manufacturing sectors but low levels of productivity must change. In manufacturing, Korea has massively invested in the best available technology but because of protectionism and poor corporate governance in banks and companies, it was not forced to adopt the best managerial practices. As a result labour and capital productivity are in most manufacturing sectors less that 50% of US levels and thus must be one of the challenges for future success of the Korean economy. Other challenges that Korea has had to face, continues to face, and must overcome are the consistent current account deficits (CADs) and foreign debt which may put a constraint on South Korea†s future economic performance. South Korea†s economy relies heavily on high exports and thus is susceptible to global fluctuations. Secondly there is a pressing need in South Korea to use imports more efficiently. Furthermore, the greatest of the challenges Korea has had to face to date was the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. Up to this point in time many economists looked favorably upon the economic fundamentals of Korea. However, due to excess short term debt over the long term debts, excess debt over equity and the generating of wealth through asset price bubbles, which was clearly unsustainable, these vulnerabilities only required a small shock which was initiated by the devaluation of the Thai baht in July 1997. As an advanced economy, South Korea now needs far more than simply hard work and determination to succeed in this new century, Companies in South Korea need to keep ahead of the profound social, economic and political transition. It is the inherent need for human capital that drives much of South Korea†s business and government spending. Many would agree that a well educated workforce is paramount to future success. In the future, South Korea will need to reform its financial sector, remove the burden of excessive business regulation, provide a more favourable environment for foreign investment and restructure its economy away from declining manufacturing and agricultural industries towards services and sophisticated manufacturing. The prospects for continued economic growth hinge on the success of the aforementioned drivers for economic growth. Deregulating services in addition to lowering barriers to imports, allowing FDI (which can reduce the risks of future financial crisis in the medium and long term) and improving corporate governance would be the key to restoring strong growth in Korea. This reduction would come mainly because fair competition with best practice together with more careful bankers and demanding shareholders would force Korean manufacturers to improve their return their return on investments. In an increasingly globalised economy higher productivity in manufacturing and low import barriers would allow domestic competition to increase due to lower prices. Opening the domestic market would not lead to an increase in the trade deficit or external debt as higher capital productivity would reduce the need to import capital. In overall terms, prospects for South Korea†s economy are favourable, but the high rate of success from the growth performance in the 1980†³s will be difficult to replicate. The next phase of the Asian miracle that will involve China emerging as the world†s largest economy within 10 years and the re-emerging Japanese economy will provide substantial benefits for the Korean economy. Some important strengths of the economy include: a well educated and motivated workforce, a growing level of R&D, continued rates of high savings, greater regional trade links and potential for domestic growth through increased infrastructure investment, housing and personal consumption. In summation, South Korea is an economy which initially through selective government intervention and now through domestic and international reforms, sped to economic might. Although there are many challenges in the longer term making South Korea†s future uncertain, (including the reunification with the ailing, unstable North) the fact South Korea has come so far argues well for the future. If South Korea can make the necessary changes to its economy to become a sustained industrialised nation then it will certainly take its place as an economic leader in the near future.