Beverly Cleary Childrens Book Author of Ramona Quimby

Beverly Cleary, who turned 100 years old on April 12, 2016, is the beloved author of 30 childrens books, some published more than 60 years ago, all still in print, along with two autobiographies. She was honored by the Library of Congress in 2000 as a Living Legend and has won numerous awards for her childrens books, including the John Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. Childrens books by Beverly Cleary have delighted children, particularly 8 to 12-year-olds, for several generations. Her humorous, yet realistic, childrens books about the ordinary lives of children, along with such appealing characters as Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, have captured the interest of children around the world. Beverly Cleary has written 30-plus books, including three about a feisty mouse. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. In addition, Ramona and Beezus, a movie based on Clearys Ramona Quimby and her older sister, Beatrice Beezus Quimby, was released in 2010. Beverly Cleary and Her Award-Winning Childrens Books Beverly Bunn was born April 12, 1916, in McMinnville, Oregon and spent her early years in Yamhill where her mother started a small library. Thus began the authors lifelong love of books. Her family moved to Portland when Beverly was six years old; she was delighted to find a large public library. Beverly went on to study library science at the University of Washington in Seattle and became a childrens librarian. In 1940, she married Clarence Cleary. Beverly Clearys first book, Henry Huggins was published in 1950 and was inspired by a boy who complained to the librarian that there werent any books about kids like him. It, and the other books about Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy remain popular today. Her most recent book, Ramonas World, was published in 1999 and features one of her most beloved characters, Ramona Quimby. The first movie based on Clearys Ramona Quimby, Ramona and Beezus, centers on grade schooler Ramonas relationship with her older sister, Beatrice. This relationship is a part of all of the Ramona books, but most particularly in the book Beezus and Ramona. Beverly Cleary has won numerous awards, including the John Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw.   Two of her books about Ramona Quimby, Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 were designated Newbery Honor Books. Cleary also received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in honor of her contributions to childrens literature. If thats not enough, her books have also won about three dozen statewide childrens choice awards and she won the National Book Award for  Ramona and Her Mother. The Klickitat Street Books of Beverly Cleary When she was a child, Cleary noticed that there didnt seem to be any books about children like the ones who lived in her neighborhood. When Beverly Cleary began writing childrens books, she created her own version of Klickitat Street, a real street near her childhood neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. The children who live on Klickitat Street are based on the children she grew up with. Fourteen of Clearys books are set on Klickitat Street, beginning with her first book, Henry Huggins. While Henry was the focus of the first books, a number of Beverly Clearys books also highlighted Beatrice Beezus Quimby and Beezus little sister, Ramona. In fact, Ramona has been the title character in the last seven of the Klickitat Street books. The most recent Ramona book, Ramonas World, came out in 1999. HarperCollins published a paperback version in 2001. With a fifteen-year break between Ramonas World and the last previous Ramona book, you might be a little apprehensive about a lack of continuity.  But in ​Ramonas World, as in her other books featuring Ramona Quimby, Cleary is right on target as she addresses, in typically humorous fashion, the vicissitudes of the life of Ramona Quimby, now a fourth grader. Beverly Clearys books have remained popular because of characters like Ramona. If your children havent read any of her books, nows the time to introduce them to Clearys books.   They might also enjoy the movie version, Ramona and Beezus.

Analysis of Travis Perkins plc Essay - 4115 Words

Analysis of Travis Perkins plc Executive summary This report intends to analysis the macro and internal environments and financial position of the Travis Perkins plc by conducting the PESTLE and SWOT analysis. In the beginning of this report, it introduces the mission of Travis Perkins plc. After that, this report presents the PESTLE analysis to show the company’s external environment. Then, it depicts the SWOT analysis of Travis Perkins plc to show the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this company. It follows by the financial strategy analysis and results of Travis Perkins. The balance sheet analysis will be presented in the appendix. In conclusion, the comprehensive environments are favorable to Travis†¦show more content†¦2.3 Value of Travis Perkins plc The value of Travis Perkins plc can be described from the following aspects: First, from the aspect of the relationship with consumers, the company understands the expectations and needs of consumers, respecting them and responding them in time. Second, from the aspect of the group itself, the company works together as a united family to solve problems first when faced problems instead of criticizing someone first. Third, from the aspect of development, the company has a deep understanding of what they do now and what they are going to do next, pursuing being the best (Travis Perkins plc,2011, p10). 3.0 PESTLE analysis Macro environment is crucial to the development of a company. All the external factors can have huge positive or negative influences on Travis Perkins plc, therefore a better understanding of the environment of the company is of supreme significance (Peng Nunes, 2007). Among all the analysis tools, PEST analysis is one of the most effective tools to analyze the external environment of a company (Riley, 2012). This part will demonstrate PESTLE analysis of Travis Perkins plc below. The result of PESTLE analysis can be demonstrated in the following table 1. Table PESTLE analysis of Travis Perkins plc Political(-) Economical(-) Social(+) The raise of theShow MoreRelatedManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 PagesInstitute of Technology Daniel W. DeHayes Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Jeffrey A. Hoffer School of Business Administration, The University of Dayton E. Wainright Martin Kelley School of Business, Indiana University William C. Perkins Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Prentice Hall Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City Sao Paulo Sydney

The Management of Cross-Cultural Teams in Multinational Organizations

Question: Describe about the Cross Cultural Management and the management of cross-cultural teams in Multinational organizations? Answer: Cross Cultural Management: Introduction: Culture is the outcome of ones heritage, it passes from generation to generations. It is the idea that is believed by a group of people. Every ethnic group in this world has its own culture. Their values are shaped by their culture. In this report all, the issues that arise because of differences in culture in multinational corporations are carefully examined. The report is based on the study done by Rodrigues and Sbragia on The cultural challenges of managing global project. The report examines the managerial implications while expatriating employees on global projects. A brief understanding is done on the issues that the personnel face when they travel outside their respective countries and cultures (Heine, 2008). The study is divided into four sections; the first section is a brief introduction of the topic. All the issues are that arise in cross cultural work groups are briefly discussed. The second section discusses the competencies of the personnel, whom the organization should select, and the duties and responsibilities of the Project managers and the organization (Haghirian, 2011). The third section talks about managing the groups and turning them to a competitive advantage of the organization. Lastly, the reviews that the researchers have made in the journal are discussed. The management of cross-cultural teams in Multinational organizations: The study talks about the hitches that the multinational organizations face in managing the work groups of various cultures. The study is a careful examination of the study done by Ivete Rodrigues and Roberto Sbragia on The cultural challenges of managing Global project Teams: a study of Brazilian Nationals. The study is done to understand how the difficulties in managing these work groups can be solved. An organization works towards many goals, out of which its major goal is to maximize its profit. If the work groups do not tend to work in coordination with each other, then attaining such goals is not possible. The management of such work group is difficult because the variation is too high (Heagney, 2012). People tend to behave in a way, which reflects their cultures and customs. The behaviour of employees does not match each other. The ability of the organizations to integrate these cross culture groups efficiently gives them a competitive edge over the employees. This ability to incorporate the resources, assets and knowledge of the employees make huge differences in the success graph of the company. The cultural beliefs of the teams can cause impacts and can lead to huge success and failures of the company. Such an impact the cultural difference has. Regardless of such importance, a very little attention has been paid on this topic by the researchers. The impacts of cultures: Through the analysis of cultural differences management styles, motivation of team members can be identified. This also tells how the organizations perform all round the globe. The behaviour of the teams can be analysed. However, in individualism, the researchers have chalked out that individualistic cultures it looks good, but in collectivist cultures, the people are more likely to lose their identity (Guo, 2009). They feel a loss in identity. In case of expatriation, the cultures with individualistic orientation have more cultural clashes within a country. The hierarchy decides the level of proximities. In companies with low hierarchy, arrange their projects more casually, whereas the companies with huge hierarchies have very formal relationships during projects. In individualistic countries, the communication that takes place is closed ended and in countries with collectivist approach, the countries are multiple and open ended (Rodrigues, 1998). The Challenges: The challenge that a cross-cultural team faces can be explained through an example. There is a huge difference in the working procedures. The Japanese are very humble in their workplace and they do not deny on the face. The Japanese do not like to uncover or discuss organizational issues openly; they believe there is a process of doing everything. The reaction process of the Japanese is slow. On the other hand, people on the west are open in speech and they tend to discuss the problems and resolve them. Management of inter culture competence: The inter culture talent should be selected keeping in view a few aspects. These aspects are prior experiences of living in a collectivist environment, interest of travelling globally, experience of working on off shore projects and openness to new experiences. More the familiarity with the host country less is the cultural differences (Understanding Cross-Cultural Management, 2015). The individual competence is very important to acclimatize according to the cultural norms of other countries to survive in the global projects. To do so one needs to know thoroughly the values of cultures and learn to compare various cultures. Intermingling with other cultures with an open mind does not mean forgetting one`s own individuality and culture (Heine, 2008). Managing Global Teams: In their study, Rodrigues and Sbargia reviewed that the manger`s role is confined to the process of recruitment and selection, training and development, compensation and other HR activities with a little attention to issues like cultural management (Project and program management, 2013).The intricacy to work abroad with multicultural people is a great difficulty. Modern Human resource management has started the analysis of this and this is what differentiates it from the traditional human resource management (ZajaÃÅ' ¨c, 2013). The study suggests the best way to manage these intercultural differences is to acclimatize the organizational policies and to mend them according to a common culture of the organization culture (Livermore, 2011). There are policies that may work in one country but not in another country, so policies can be liberalised as per the need of the countries. Nothing rigid is followed. This might hurt the sentiments of any work group. The policies should be able t o deal with the differences (Zhang, 2009). The engagement of employees on global projects has strategic value that can affect the ability of an organization to retain them in the organization with same enthusiasm. Their allocation on various projects must be done after the assessment of their previous works (Rodrigues, 2009). Not just the availability they must also assess the precise development, needs, knowledge should be assessed. The developmental teams usually doe the review of the projects and gives feedbacks. Only few managers are able to cater the needs of other professional on issues like support for career management (Velo, 2011). Demobilization of the global teams: Demobilization of the team members is a very important task of the Project manager. Once the project work is finish, the teams have to be relocated. The routine operations have to be carried out. In the global projects, there are functional activities and the use of a matrix structure in the organization is always seen (King, 2011). Once the projects are over the team members expatriated are repatriated again; and those who were professionals hired from outside are laid off to minimize the extra costs that would incur after retaining them unnecessarily (Taylor and Lennon, 2012). The data below indicates the significance of intercultural ability of the individuals to retain in the global projects (Rodrigues, 1998). Source: (Roberto Sbragia, 2011) It is the responsibility of the project manager to plan the constituency of a team, and it is the responsibility of the organization to retain them. The project manager settles the best human resource available, in the project (Pyndt and Pedersen, 2006). It is the duty of the organization to incorporate such selection process and consider the cultural issues. So that issues do not arise creating differences between the employees. It came out during the research that only cultural differences were not responsible for the performances of the teams. Cultural differences only affected the performances of the teams. There are various other reasons for the overall development of an organization. The factors like political geographical, and economical should also be considered. Literature Review: Cultural management is an important issue that has been researched by many authors. This issue has a major impact on the success of multinational organizations. The organizations hire personnel who are bright but the issue arises when they are expatriated to other countries on projects. These individuals are facing the problem of coping with other cultures. The differences in cultures affect the mind set and ultimately the work is hampered. People with open mind can adapt themselves to those cultures but the people from countries of individualistic culture face the problem of working together in other cultured countries. Prior to this study, a lot of research is done in this regard. The present report incorporates the research, writing and intellectual opinions to cross cultural management and the influence of the issue in global projects of the multinational companies. Various studies have a reference to this study. The article on cross culture management by N.J Adler talks of all t he issues that we have discussed here. In the year 2004, Daniels, lee, and Sullivan also discussed on the same issue on their journal of cross-cultural management. Research methodology: The report is an exploratory qualitative research and the search is based on case study (Dane, 2011). The sample size of the project was six global projects in six different companies. The analysis was done on global projects. The researcher personally collected the data within duration of 120 minutes. The key format of the study was the managers of the global projects (Bell, 2010). The treatment of the data that was used listening and transcribing of the interviews of the employees. The analysis has used various others reports propounded by various other authors. Findings and conclusions of the researcher: On the research on Brazilian multinationals, the research has thrown light on the key elements of the issue of multiculturalism. The cultural differences that the personnel face have been brought up. Because of internationalization, Strategies are needed to manage people. The researchers have used definitions like expatriation policy, training the personnel and developing them into a part of collective society. It is up to the Project manager to distinguish qualified professionals. The knowledge beyond technical skills should go so that the professionals become competent to face such issues. The project manager has to build a team of qualified professional with collective approach but the organization should retain them. Therefore, the management of such teams needs a leader who would be able to access and transfer between the respective departments. Personal Reflection: The authors above have mentioned many valid points to support their research. The authors have argument of the management of cross culture multinational Organization. The organizations in order to enhance the functioning of the organization should look upon the various issues that happen because of cross-cultural misunderstandings. This recent phenomenon has taken place recently in the Brazil. The global project managers have to understand the rapport between cultural characteristics and management teams. The study has taken six cases of Brazilian multinational companies to understand the management of such teams and deepen the concepts including planning, deployment, development, and management of the human resources. In the study, it came out as a result that a little attention has been paid to the issue of multiculturalism and the inter-cultural enticement that should be given to the team members for their development. This is little ignored but the impact is huge in hampering the construction of a global approach and functioning of the Brazilian multinationals to work outside the Nation. The study helps to find out the various ways to handle such situation. This was suggested in three different dimensions; the project itself, the organization and the global environment. The work has the aim to maximise the benefits of global teams by increasing their creativity and innovation in their capacity to deliver. The avoidance of these issues of multiculturalism can bring ranging from divergence between labour and project failure. The national cultures and intercultural competence has been discussed. The author has rightly said that culture has an impact on humans as a metal programming comprised of the pattern of thoughts. These patterns of thoughts shape the behaviour of every individual. It is an outcome of constant learning and determines partially the behaviour of human beings. The authors also talk about the upbringing of human beings in individualistic and c ollectivistic environment. This environment affects a lot on the behaviours of individuals. The people born in collectivistic environment are more positive towards interacting with people of other communities. These people can easily intermingle and do not show negative attitude towards the behaviours of people of other communities. On the other hand, the people of individualistic culture are very rigid in nature and they never look forward to learn or behave in integrity with the people of other cultures. The diversity of minds is necessary to deal with a common culture of an organization and there are more praising points than contradictions in the study. The task of recruiting people of various nationals involves risks but the best way to conduct such recruitments is that organizations should acclimatize itself in such an environment, which has a common behaviour towards all the employees. The common organizational culture would help all the employees to integrate themselves with fellow employees and the organization. The performance of the teams can be improved when the multicultural teams will learn to act as a team and develop various strategies to overcome the linguistic and cultural obstructions. Conclusion: The cross-cultural issues arise in every multinational corporation but there are certain ways to eliminate these issues. Adaptation is the first approach that should be adopted by the employees. They have to acclimatize themselves in new environment with new people. This would help them to enhance their own growth too. Structural intervention is necessary where the ion organization can adopt reorganization or reassignment to reduce the interpersonal rasping. Managerial intervention should be avoided and all the employees of the group should be allowed to come up with their thoughts to the company. References: Bell, J. (2010).Doing your research project. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Open University Press. Dane, F. (2011).Evaluating research. Los Angeles: Sage. Guo, R. (2009).Cross-cultural economic management. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Haghirian, P. (2011).Multinationals and cross-cultural management. London: Routledge. Heagney, J. (2012).Fundamentals of project management. New York: American Management Association. Heine, S. (2008).Cultural psychology. New York: W.W. Norton. King, T. (2011).A companion to cultural resource management. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. Livermore, D. (2011).The cultural intelligence difference. New York: American Management Association. Understanding Cross-Cultural Management. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/8169389/Understanding_Cross-Cultural_Management [Accessed 21 Feb. 2015]. Peterson, M. and Sndergaard, M. (2008).Foundations of cross cultural management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Pyndt, J. and Pedersen, T. (2006).Managing global offshoring strategies. Kge, Denmark: Copenhagen Business School Press. Rodrigues, C. (1998). Cultural classifications of societies and how they affect crossà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cultural management.Cross Cultural Management, 5(3), pp.31-41. Rodrigues, C. (2009).International management. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Roberto Sbragia, I. (2011). 1st ed. Project and program management. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press (2013). Taylor, K. and Lennon, J. (2012).Managing cultural landscapes. London: Routledge. Velo, V. (2011).Cross-cultural management. New York: Business Expert Press. ZajaÃÅ' ¨c, J. (2013).Communication in global corporations. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Zhang, X. (2009).Values, expectations, ad hoc rules, and culture emergence in international cross-cultural management contexts. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Sense And Sensibility Research Paper Essays - Literature

Sense And Sensibility Research Paper Having a strong heart like Elinor and a latent sense similar to Marianne, Jane Austen displayed her characteristics through her characters. Elinor and Marianne were two main characters that Jane Austen used to display her true character. Elinor is very devoted to her family and tries to do everything she can to support them. Every now and then, when the family is in need of advice, they would all look to Elinor. Marianne was the younger daughter in the family of three sisters and she is always caught up in romantic poetry. At one time in the novel, Marianne went through a catastrophe because the love of her life had left her. Marianne tries to hide her fear to avoid all her distress. (Austen 288) Both of the character's lifestyle reflected that of Jane Austens'. In the writing of the novel Sense and Sensibility, Austen wrote the novel according to her own passionate feelings. People began to notice her writings towards the end of her life. Jane Austen's lifestyle and characteristics were revealed through her characters Marianne and Elinor in her novel Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen began writing novels when she was in her early twenties, she was a very intellectual women. She enjoyed reading many books in her life that gave her an advantage in writing great novels. When Austen wrote the novel Sense and Sensibility, much of her characteristics were seen through the novel. ?Jane Austen is thus a mistress of much deeper emotion than appears upon the surface. She stimulates us to supply what is not there.? (Woolf 19) After Willouby's sudden break up with Marianne, many deep vivid emotions are shown to the reader. Austen lived in a society where women mostly worked on farms. Agriculture was the largest employment for women. (Weldon 36) While other women were out working on the fields, Austen would be at home diligently thinking about more ideas for her novels. Later as the years passed, Jane Austen became an author for writing novels. From then on, her occupation was to be a magnificent writer. She wrote many books that dealt with her very own lifestyles and emotions. It was not until her death when she began to notice her success in writing novels. One important thing that she could put before her writing was her family. Austen, the seventh of eight children and was ardent towards her family. Her family needed all the help they could receive because her father had passed away. In the beginning of the novel Sense and Sensibility, Mr. Dashwood died and had no choice but to give his will to his first son and nothing to the rest of the family. Although Jane Austen was not married, she had great romantic feelings and ideas. Austen used Marianne as a character in her novel Sense and Sensibility, to present her feelings of romanticism. Through out the novel, Marianne usually spoke of Shakespeare's poetry. Marianne is a lady who is very imaginary and superficial about her dreams. She is all caught up on the romantic part of life. (Austen 311) Always being caught up in poetry or another romantic thought, Marianne rarely becomes inconsiderate about what is happening around her. Marianne cares about her family a lot and does not become selfish when there is a problem. The resemblance of Austen and Marianne was that the two of them had romantic feelings and dreams. They also lived their lives as being poor. Both Austen and Marianne are very dedicated to their family. Happiness will come to the ones who wait patiently for their dreams or goals. Marianne fell deeply in love with a man named John Willoughby. She looked at John like h e was the guy of her dreams because he shared the same interest as she did. During the time the two were together, everything was very merry. But as soon as John's family discovered he was going out with a woman who was without a dowry, they threaten to take his wealth away if he sees her again. After this occurred, Marianne began to go in the state of depression. Being broken hearted for the rest of her life, she thought,

Postpartum Depression

Postpartum Depression Free Online Research Papers Postpartum Depression Many women today suffer from Postpartum Depression; probably from the lack of knowledge of PPD. Postpartum depression is an illness that every woman should know after giving birth. PPD is an illness that can affect many women and can go unrecognized, so it is important to take care of yourself and recognize the symptoms of PPD. All new mothers will experience some form of Postpartum Depression; however, knowing the symptoms will help you seek the proper medical treatment, and overcome PPD. Some women do not know what postpartum depression is and what affects it can have; thus, women can think that what they are feeling are merely â€Å"baby blues†. What is Postpartum Depression? PPD is a serious illness that can occur during your pregnancy, or the first few months after giving birth. It also can happen after miscarriage and stillbirth (â€Å" WebMD,† 2008). Postpartum depression can make you feel very sad, tired, have lots crying spells, and unable to care for you baby. PPD is not what â€Å"baby blues† are, which is a feeling of moodiness, crying spells, and trouble sleeping that is accompanied with happy times. The â€Å"baby blues† only last for a couple of days or weeks, but postpartum can last for months and maybe up to a year without treatment. On the other hand if you are in doubt of the feelings you are experiencing, then you should talk to your family or friends. Your family can help you figure out if you are indeed having symptoms of PPD. You might even learn if one of your family members experienced the illness of PPD. Doing some research online of postpartum depression can clear some questions you are having about the illness. The Internet contains enormous information of postpartum depression, which can be very helpful with your current feelings and future reference after giving birth. Seeing a doctor will help you come to a conclusion if you have PPD; therefore, he can identify your symptoms and get medical treatment. Before seeing a doctor write a list of questions you may have along with the symptoms you are experiencing, so you will not leave the office with unanswered questions. Having knowledge of post partum depression can help you indentify if you have the illness, and seek proper medical treatment. What are the symptoms of PPD? This is a common question for all women who have given birth, and husbands who are concerned. The following are symptoms of Postpartum Depression are: Crying for â€Å"no reason†, feeling inadequate, Difficulty making decisions, confusion, anxiety, nervousness, dizziness, heart pounding, chest pains, feelings o hopelessness, sleep disturbances, angry feelings toward husband, baby or self, compulsive behaviors, thoughts of hurting your child or self, no interest in previously enjoyable activities, and other symptoms (â€Å"The Center for Postpartum Adjustment,† 2006). Knowing the risks factors for PPD can in fact help you identify the illness, and overcome it sooner then you thought, for the result may even be that in the future when having another child; PPD may not even reoccur. Who is at risk and what increases the risk? This is an important question to ask your doctor for this will prevent severe problems. About 75% of women who are depressed during pregnancy will also have postpartum depression. (â€Å"WebMD,† 2008) If you have had postpartum depression before, you are at high risk of having it again. Statistics say that about 50e of women with the history of PPD will have it after a future pregnancy (â€Å"WebMD,†2008) 2008). Additionally women with a family history of PPD (e.g. mother, grandmother, sister, or aunt) can have high risk of getting the illness as well. A bearer of an unwanted pregnancy; a long, difficult or complicated labor; an unsupported labor; or delivery of a premature, comprised, or defective baby is also an increased risk of PPD (â€Å"The Center for Postpartum Adjustment†, 2006) Stress can also trigger the risk for PPD, for instance like having a colicky newborn, financial issues, put your career on hold, or marriage problems. All new mothers experience the overwhelming feeling of not doing a well job, so their stress level goes skyrocket. Treatment for PPD will help overcome the illness slowly with observation, during the intake of antidepressants or counseling. It is best for women to seek counseling or support groups before deciding to take antidepressants. Seek to look at your nearest hospital for support groups to discuss your problem; therefore, you will not feel as if you were the only person with PPD. Support groups allow you to discuss your story and in return you will hear the similar story of women with PPD. On the other hand if you think that you need more then just counseling, then see your doctor for medical treatment as soon as possible. Your doctor will give you antidepressant at a set dosage and decrease it with the progress your that making. Antidepressants are mostly given to women who have Postpartum Major Depression [PMD]. Epperson (1999) states that PMD is a severe illness that needs immediate treatment, although it is arguable that all women with PMD should seek some type of counseling, a woman whose depression is persistent or so severe that she is having difficulty taking care of herself or functioning as a mother, or is having thoughts of harming herself or her child should be evaluated for antidepressant treatment. Postpartum Depression is an important illness that should be taken with precaution; however, without treatment PPD can lead to severe problems to your health and life. We have many medical resources and support groups to help with you with PPD; there it is not an excuse to let yourself go without treatment. It is important to be able to bond with your baby without PPD. Research Papers on Postpartum DepressionPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)Capital PunishmentThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Fifth HorsemanMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductThree Concepts of PsychodynamicAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementResearch Process Part One

Ad and its infulences Essay

Ad and its infulences Essay Ad and its infulences Essay For the past 30 years, the advertising industry has worshipped at the altar of youth - because people 18 to 49 have the most disposable income. There's only one small problem with that - it isn't true. People 55+ spend the most money in almost all categories. They buy the most cars, spend the most on electronics, and control the most wealth. Yet advertisers aren't chasing them. The growth of television was extraordinary. Households with TVs went from less than 19% in 1946, to 55.7% in 1954, to 90% by 1962. youtube.com/watch?v=77yoG7mYlA0#t=16 Jaguar ad Even Jaguar, whose primary customer is over 50, doesn't choose 50+ actors for their ads. While Jag used a Deep Purple music track in this commercial, the actors in it are about 35. Yet the average age of a new car buyer is 56. They buy more new cars, spend more on the cars they buy, and buy cars for their kids and grandkids. youtube.com/watch?v=AsWRgxMYvOQ Diet Coke Ad Coke's Heart Truth for Women campaign is a great cause. It reminds women that heart disease is a concern beginning at age 55. But they chose 36 year-old Heidi Klum as a spokesperson: By the way, according to consumer research company NPD, people 50+ buy 60% of all carbonated beverages. youtube.com/watch?v=-cS3eIob78o Raymon James Comercial If the age-old axiom is to "follow the money," why isn't advertising's famous ability to do that kicking in? There are three possible reasons: One: The average age of ad agency people is around 30. So if the people advising advertisers where to spend their money are young, it's not surprising that companies are being convinced they should be targeting the young. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. Two: Marketing's lack of attention to 55+ is cultural. Ignoring older people is tolerated. If society feels that way at large, and if advertising follows the parade, why should marketers feel any different? Third, the advertising industry has institutionalized the youth

'Gendered' realm' of international politics Article

'Gendered' realm' of international politics - Article Example There are circumstances that can make a woman feel like her sex is a trap of sorts, an anchor that weighs her down, and a chain that is like a tether which determines the circumference of how far she can go. The traditional mindset has clear guidelines of what the two sexes can and are meant to do. A man has the image of the leader, right from the home where he is the breadwinner and the head of the house (Tickner & Sjosburg, 2007 ) . This role playing is cast further afield to the institutions that run our societies; the man is considered to be the natural leader and the woman is the assistant. In what position does this leave the woman in these supposedly modern times where the force of modern liberation has 'opened' up opportunities for women in leadership' Are men and women on an equal platform when it comes to leadership opportunities, especially' The question of gender equity is all pervasive; it is not limited to certain aspects of life or work. The momentum has been gathering on the struggle for equal opportunities for women as there are for men. ... International politics is indeed a gender realm because there are still clich'd and stereotypical views on the role that women are meant to play in society. The acceptance of women being capable leaders has only gotten impetus in recent years (Ticker & Sjosburg, 2007). What are the indicators that international politics is a gender issue, how many female leaders are actively involved in international politics, what view do men and women themselves hold concerning the role that the latter play in international politics' Answering these questions will facilitate the understanding how international politics is a 'gendered realm'. Feminist theories on international relations International relations is defined by Halliday (1995) as being the study of the what constitutes the international system in terms of foreign affairs and interregional concerns, which are directed and seen to by heads of states, inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations. Feminist international relations theory tries to analyze what the traditional role of women has been in international politics (Halliday, 1995). Feminists have advanced several theories as to why women have so far played such a small role in international affairs. These theories are diverse. When Enloe asks 'where are the women'' (Enloe, 2000) it is in a half ironic manner, because unlike her predecessors she acknowledges that there are women who play a part in international relations: as wives, secretaries, sex workers or even poster girls. But the role played by these women is one that is considered so minor it is no t worth noting. For too long, the women have remained stuck in these positions, watching from the

Reflection On Freewriting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection On Freewriting - Essay Example Answering the question â€Å"who am I?† truly offers me an opportunity to distinguish and express my personality, traits, and potential. I can quickly and briefly identify myself as a simple person who believes that a person’s surroundings do not dictate their future or potential. I am not a complicated individual who seemingly knows a little bit of everything and always ignores his surroundings. In addition, I am most certainly not similar to any other human being because we all possess unique character traits irrespective of how insignificant they may seem. The question â€Å"who am I?† is a lifelong endeavor. However, I can do my best to answer that I am a person who reads, reflects, and explores my many beliefs and decides which are real or unreal. I am a young adult who reads, reflects, and explores my many beliefs and settles on the idea that they are either real or unreal. There are numerous ways of answering the question â€Å"who am I?† The conven tional answer to this question unveils how saddening and dictating religion or traditional culture can be. Similarly, the modern way of defining my life is saddening but not dictating. Instead, the modern way only proves that there is no natural meaning in essentially anything in the universe. I chose a much more personalized standpoint to define who I am than the generalized roots of traditional and modern views. First, I am proud of this free writing piece because it is a reminder of the signs of progress in my writing I have made. Among the signs of progress in my writing is structure.

Share a presentation on a CD Essay Example for Free

Share a presentation on a CD Essay Introduction: For this unit I have been asked to produce a specification for an ICT system that will meet the needs of the company. The company that I will be providing the ICT system is called Mags Estate Agents, the main goal for the company is to sell and rent homes for their clients and arrange mortgages for buyers and provide other services. The company is new and they are thing of opening an office in a town or a village and they need a computer system that will be used by the staff. The company needs a system that will do many tasks and the company is hoping to find a system that will do: Â  Show multimedia presentations of the houses available to prospective buyers. Keep records of properties for sale that can be searched based on buyer requirements. Keep records of clients and buyers, including their requirements. Produce large numbers of high quality letters, property information sheets and other documents in color. Â  Send personalized letters to all buyers looking for a particular type of property. Access competitors websites to check what properties they are offering. Send and receive emails. Â  Keep a diary for all staff of appointments with clients and buyers to view properties. I will also been ask to include a system that will allow the computers to connect to the LAN. Inputs: This is what the company is expected to input in their computer system: The clients name, address, telephone and other details and also the company Company requirements the size of the family, age of the family members and if any of the family members need special needs. The company will also need to input the details of property, the size of the house the clients looking for, what area they are looking for, how many bedrooms they are looking for and if they want a garden or a garage or a front lone. The company will also need store the information about the house prices and if the property is available or not and also need to store details about the clients. The company will also need to find a way of keeping the entire client appoints time and place to meet the staff; they will have to find a way to prioritise their prospective buyers and their needs. Outputs: This is what the company is expected to output out of their computer system: They company will need to produce newsletters for their staff, and also produce business cards for their customers and clients. They also need print out a list of what houses are available to be sold and rented and which are not. They also need print out statistics and their database. The company will also need print out their multimedia presentations to give it there staff in the meetings. They will also need to print out records of staff and clients. They will also need to print out property information sheet so that they can advertise their property. They will also have to print out there e-mail they receive form clients and form other branches. They may also need to print out there toolbars that they made out of the information they collected form the client. Required software: Mags Estate Agents needs software to carry out their tasks, they will need softwares that could allows them to create newsletters, presentation, letters, questionnaire sheets, web browser, create information database and also need a operating system. These are the softwares that I will be recommending to Mags Estate Agents to use: Operating system: An operating system is what allows the computer perform the tasks the user is doing and the newer the operating system the better it gets, and a operating system is a special computer program that manages the relationship between application software, I will be recommending Microsoft Windows XP professional because it is the newest and XP professional is more stable then the other system and it will handle most of what Mags Estate Agents will need to do with out crashing and Defend the PC Against Viruses, Worms and Hackers with Advanced Security installed freely. Multimedia software: Mags Estate Agents will need multimedia software that allows them to create presentations for clients and their staff and also to make posters to advertise their company. For this task I will be recommending Microsoft PowerPoint because Microsoft PowerPoint has Help Control Presentation Distribution, Share a Presentation on a CD, Broaden Your Reach, Mark up Slides, Bring Presentations to Life with Custom Animations, Add Impact with Graphics and Tap the Power of Smart Tags, and all these features make Microsoft PowerPoint the perfect choice and it also cheep the other competitors. Database Software: Megs Estate Agents will need database software because they will need to keep clients details, meeting times and place and also keep of tracks of statistics. I will be recommending Microsoft Access because this software can do may tasks: Incorporate a Wide Range of Data Sources, Get the Most from Your Enterprise Data, Link Business Systems, Take Advantage of Flexible XML Import and Export, Share Information More Efficiently, Publish Forms and Reports on the Web, Deploy Access 2003 Without Missing a Beat, Run Macros with More Confidence, Help Block Potentially Unsafe Functions, Back Up Your Information in a Snap. View Dependency Information, Let Access 2003 Check for Errors, Choose AutoCorrect Options, Find the Help You Need Get Context-Based Help in SQL View, Update Properties Automatically, Dress Up Your Database and Polish Your Forms, Save Time with Smart Tags, Analyze Information in Powerful Ways and Format Fonts in SQL Views, these are the features that makes Microsoft Assess and leading database software and this is why I recommended Microsoft Assess Word processing software: Megs Estate Agents will need Word processing software because they will have to produce letters newsletters.

Cognitive Turn and Linguistic Turn :: Philosophy Symbols Papers

Cognitive and Linguistic Turn My first goal is to question a received view about the development of Analytical Philosophy. According to this received view Analytical Philosophy is born out of a Linguistic Turn establishing the study of language as the foundation of the discipline; this primacy of language is then overthrown by the return of the study of mind as philosophia prima through a second Cognitive Turn taken in the mid-sixties. My contention is that this picture is a gross oversimplification and that the Cognitive Turn should better be seen as an extension of the Linguistic one. Indeed, if the Cognitive Turn gives explicit logical priority to the study of mind over the study of language, one of its central features is to see the mind as a representational system offering no substantial difference with a linguistic one. However, no justification is offered for the fundamental assimilation of the nature of a mental representation with that of a linguistic symbol supporting this picture of the mind, although the idea that a system of mental representations is identical in structure with a system of linguistic symbols has been argued over and over. I try to demonstrate this point through a close critical examination of Fodor's paradigmatic notion of 'double reduction.' My second claim is that the widespread contemporary assimilation of a mental representation with a symbol of a linguistic kind is no more than a prejudice. Finally I indicate that this prejudice cannot survive a rigorous critical examination. 1. Introduction: linguistic symbol and mental representation A good deal of that important branch of contemporary philosophy which goes by the loose term of Analytical Philosophy lives, in my opinion, with a distorted representation of its own past, and consequently, with an inaccurate appreciation of the nature of its own achievements. As a matter of fact the belief is widely spread among analytical circles that the birth of Analytical Philosophy is the result of a Linguistic Turn taken by its founding figures G. Frege and B. Russell and then expanded into various directions by their notorious or less notorious followers. (1) To put it in a nutshell, the Linguistic Turn — of which historians give in fact conflicting accounts — (2) can be characterized by saying that it turned (better said, intended to) every philosophical problem — and most of all every psychological and epistemological one — into a problem about language, or at least into a problem dependent upon problems about language.

British Petroleum Analysis Essay

Introduction William Knox D’Arcy founded BP plc, formerly known as British Petroleum, in 1909, they are a global company specializing in oil and gas, headquartered in London, England. BP has continued to grow since its inception, and now employs over 80 thousand people in 70 countries worldwide (Company History,N.D.para1). According to CNN money BP is ranked number six among other global 500 companies (Fortune Global 500.BP.n.d.). Its key strengths are in oil and gas exploration and production; the refining, marketing and supply of petroleum products; and the manufacturing and marketing of chemicals. It supports all its businesses with high quality research and technology (Company History, N.D.para3). External Environment Economic Trends Knowledge is power and the more aware you are of trends within the economy, the more successful you will ultimately be. BP is just one of many companies in the oil and gas industry making an impact on environmental trends. A common goal amongst competitors within this industry is to locate oil and bring it to consumers, due to some of the economical trends this goal is also shifting. The economy is more favorable to lower gas prices, lower carbon emissions, and fuel efficiency. Companies within this industry have to balance the needs of development and the needs of the economy while trying to protect the environment. BP has two main areas of operation, one being the exploration and production of oil and the other being refining and marketing (BP,PLC(BP), N.D.para1) Currently BP like many others in the industry are focusing on ways to lower carbon emissions, and finding new resources of low-carbon energy. One of the ways BP is helping bring these goals and trends into fruition is the utilization of shale oil. Shale oil resources are being discovered all throughout the United States. Shale oil has helped lower gas prices (Oil and Gas,2013.,para3). BP recently purchased Chesapeake Energy Corp’s position in the Woodford Shale-gas play in Oklahoma for 1.75 billion; with this purchase they can expand into shale gas and are hoping to add 200 million cubic feet into production (Major Oil, Meet Shale. 2008,para2) According to BP they are taking various steps in finding ways to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. One of the ways BP is reducing carbon dioxide emissions is through solar energy, since solar power is carbon free. BP is one of the worlds leading companies within the solar industry, offering various products for consumer’s homes and businesses. BP recently started working with Home Depot to offer solar lighting. BP is also focusing on natural gas, which is making up about 40% of BP’s Portfolio and they are continuing to expand to areas that have a high dependency on carbon, such as the United States, Mexico, and parts of Korea. Wind farms are also sparking debate as BP is looking to expand into this area as well to offer carbon free electricity (What Is BP Doing. N.D.para 23-27). Another economic trend that affects BP as well as the gas and oil industry as a whole is interests rates, exchange rates, and the rate of inflation. There are many factors to consider when looking at the relationship between these rates and gas prices. For example, if these rates were to be raised it would affect the consumers and the manufacturing costs, which would lower the amount of time and money people spend driving, creating less demand for oil, causing the prices to drop. The same would work if the rates lowered, establishing an influx for consumers, which would result in more traveling and higher demand for gas, causing the price to rise (Parry,P.,2013.Para4). Political/ Legal There are several factors in the oil and gas markets that are affected by politics and legalities. One of the main factors is political unrest in the Middle East. The ongoing efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have driven the gasoline prices to all-time highs. More recently the civil war attacks in Syria are causing problems with development of Iraq’s gas and oil supplies. The Syrian forces have focused these attacks on the energy sector in an  attempt to take away their wealth since oil is main revenue. Due to this focus the attacks have been primarily on oil export pipelines, power generation and transmissions. Luckily, most of the attacks are not occurring in the southern parts of Iraq where the largest supplies of oils are found (Iraq: Syria War Spillover Hinders Oilfields, Pipelines.2014.para3-4). Oil spills into the oceans are a major factor on the politics side of the oil and gas industries. One of the major spills by BP’s Deepwater Horizon drill in 2010, not only took its toll on the company and the industry, but tourism, wildlife, and beaches were all heavily affected in the Gulf areas. Due to the Deepwater Horizon disaster BP is on a five-year probationary period, and there are new safety measures being implemented across the industry, there are new training procedure, risk management processes and equipment (BP gets record fine for Deepwater Horion, 2012.para2). Demographics Demographics refer to a company’s consumers as well as employees. The oil and gas industry consumer base can be related to just about everyone, with the retail aspect of the gas station including gum, drinks, snacks, etc. Gasoline in general is targeted to people that are of age to purchase gasoline generally public over the age of 16, which is the legal driving age. According to the BP website they offer careers in various fields such as business infrastructure, commercial, engineering, operations, sales and support, and technology just to name a few. BP has employees in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America (Career Areas.N.D). Employee talent within the oil and gas industry can impose a problem industry wide. Since training employees in these fields can be very costly, it is expensive to train new employees, and industry leaders generally offer top level pay and incentive packages to retain their employees. (Vogt,C. ND.Talent Retention in the Oil & Gas Industry.para1) Technological Trends Technology is the center focus of all companies within the gas and oil industries. Technology affects everything from safety operations, locating resources, and converting products to lower-carbon products. The main focus of technology within BP is safety, and has been since the Deepwater Horizon drill spilled 4.9million barrels of oil into the water of the Gulf of Mexico killing 11 men (BP gets record fine for Deepwater Horizon,2012. Para2). Due to Global warming BP along with their competitors are searching for ways to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon Capture is a popular method amongst the companies in this industry. Carbon Capture focuses on capturing waste carbon dioxide from sources such as fossil fuel power plants that have an excess of waste. Once the carbon waste has been captured it is transported to storage sites to be released where it cannot re-enter and damage the atmosphere (Sadler, T., 2013.para7). The Keystone Pipeline is another way technology can help the United States achieve energy and independence. The Keystone Pipeline will run from Alberta, Canada down through the Midwest United States ending in Texas. The Keystone Pipeline project has the goal to prove all oil produces in the US access to oil refineries, which in the long run would cut out the Middle East as our biggest supplier (Kalen, S.2012.para2.). Socio/Cultural There are several social and cultural impacts on the oil and gas industry. The main factor is the rising domestic energy prices. Gasoline prices are high resulting in the consumer paying more for gas, in turn reducing the amount of money available for other consumption, meaning people are driving less (McKillop,A.2012.para1). Another factor is government assistance with fuel bills. There are numerous resources to provide help with electric and heating bills, these programs are provided on the federal and state levels for most of the United States. These programs help suppliers such as BP to receive payment for the services, instead of uncollected bills. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) receives funding from the Federal Department of  Health and Human Services (DHHS). There are several sources available such as weatherization assistance program and the home energy assistance program (HEAP). Although most of these programs receive funding from the state and federal government, there are not enough sources for everyone who needs them. Global BP is an international company specializing in the oil and gas industry. BP no longer just deals with oil and gas as shown by their main business activities which include the exploration and production, refining and marketing and the distribution of energy as well as BP alternative energy. BP is ranked in the top tier of the their competitors such as Exxon, Anadarko, Chevron, Conoco Philips and Shell. Within this industry BP owns several labels as well including, Castrol, Arco, Aral, AM/PM and Wild Bean Cafà © (Our Brands.N.D.para1). BP is the third largest publically traded oil company ranking behind two of its major competitors: Exxon and Shell. BP is the largest gas producer in the United States with fifteen processing plants; they are also considered a top refiner (BP at a glance.2013.para1). Porters Five Forces Barriers to Entry The Barrier to Entry level for the oil and gas industry is high. The oil and gas industry is very difficult to enter just because of the start up costs alone. Some of these start up cost would be the drills, trucks, gas station locations, employees and the technology used to locate the resources in the ground or the oceans. Entering into the industry as a specialist such as offering drilling services to the major companies is more common and feasible. The major barrier to entry into this industry is funding, the majority of companies within this industry have been around for a very long time, such as BP, which was established in 1909. Brand loyalty is a huge factor in high barrier entry, since most of these large companies have a loyal customer base. BP is a very well established company and has been building their large customer base for decades. As defined by Hill and Jones brand loyalty is a consumer preference for products by a certain company (Hill, C., Jones, G. 2012pg58.para2) Suppliers Bargaining Power The bargaining power of suppliers is the ability suppliers have to raise input prices or to raise the cost of the industry. In BP and the oil and gas industry the suppliers bargaining power is high, because there are realistically no substitutes of the product (Hill, C., 2012pg65.para2). There are a variety of oil and gas companies globally, however a few companies dominate the industry: BP, Shell, Exxon, etc. Buyers Bargaining Power According to Hill and Jones the bargaining power of byers is their ability to negotiate lower prices charged by companies within an industry. They also can raise costs by demanding better services and higher quality products (Hill. C. Jones., G. 2012.page63-64). Right now in the oil and gas industry the balance of power is resting in the hands of the buyer because of economic crisis and oversupply of product. Since oil is considered a commodity and generally all companies within the industry use the same methods for drilling, the buyer is able to seek the lower prices and more rewarding contracts. Substitute Product Threats Substitute product threats include the products provided by companies or industries as a whole that can meet the needs of customers. The oil and gas industry does not just mean fuel to run our vehicles, which would mean substitutes would include fuels such as gas, coal solar and wind power, nuclear energy and hydroelectricity. Although there are many areas concerning oil and gas, the threat of substitute products are low, there really are no other sources to compare. Competition The companies in the oil and gas industry operate in a consolidated industry, where the industry is dominated by a small number of companies. BP’s biggest competitors are Exxon, Anadarko, Chevron, and Phillips anytime any of these companies make a move within the industry it warrants a response movement from its competitors. The competitions of the oil and gas industry have high exit barriers, because the demand for the product is static due to the face that all refineries can do the same thing†¦. produce and refine products. Firms Strategies Business Strategy According to Hill and Jones the business level strategy â€Å"encompasses the businesses overall competitive theme, the way it positions itself in the marketplace to gain a competitive advantage and the different positions strategies that can be used in different industry settings, for example; cost leadership, differentiation, focusing on a particular niche or segment of the industry or some combination of these† (Hill, C., Jones, G., 2012 pg.10). According to BP they compete in both business to business and business to consumer markets with a customer base in over 70 countries. BP uses differentiation in several ways but the major use of this method was the use of technology to transform oil rigs to digital platforms. BP strives to ensure the best quality and safety standards, and also modified their safety standards after the Deepwater Horizon drill disaster in 2010. BP is considered a leader in the marketplace. They are ranked as the 6th largest company by market capitalization. (Facts and Figures.n.d.) has competitive prices with other companies in the industry, the prices as a whole usually are pretty even across the board and usually only fluctuate by a few cents. Corporate Level Strategy Corporate level strategy deals with what areas companies should be dealing with in order to maximize profitability (Hill,C 2012. Page10 para3). According to BP they try to create a platform for growth and increased value over long periods of time while continuing to grow and explore new venues. They will continue their research to develop top-level safety and risk management standards, and continue to develop technology to locate and access hydrocarbons and ways to properly extract them. BP will continue to make its presence in the industry known by exploring alternative energy, spending about one billion per year for this research. The current CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, stated at BP’s annual strategy presentation that he â€Å"would be surprised if we saw opportunities at the corporate level†¦it is not something I am terribly focused on† (Crooks, E.2010 para#12) Technology Strategy Technology is at the center of everything BP does, it is used in safety precautions discovery, recovery, efficiency and low carbon future development. According to BP they employ over 500-safety and risk specialist working with managers in the field to help improve decision-making regarding standards (BP and Technology.N.D.para1). BP uses a technology called seismic imaging, which is at the forefront of technology in the industry. Through the use of seismic imaging, sound waves are used to determine where oil reserves are in the ground. This procedure gives BP a major head start in discovering oil and gas and pinpointing where to drill. With a focus on a lower carbon future BP’s main area of growth focusing on wind and biofuels because they have the most potential. Firms Competences Tangible Resources BP’s human resource management gives its employees opportunities to see many ways to excel within the company. Throughout their career human resource management personnel will benefit from a broad base of support and training. Personal support is also available through team leaders, mentors, and fellow employees. Among these employees BP also has teams of engineers developing new and safer means of creating energy. BP has employees that deal with safety measures within the company along with the environment. BP’s employees will also act as an essential partner to the business. The employees will also work on real world projects helping the company reach goals in improving organization and human capital resources. BP’s physical resources were used during the massive oil spill in 2010. The physical resources that were used during this time were mainly manpower. The man-power used were numerous employees, volunteers, and other organizations. Since the oil spill happened in the middle of the ocean, the toxins within the oil spread throughout the Gulf, along with making its way to the US. Over 30,000 people responded to this major oil spill working to collect oil, clean up beaches, take care of animals and plant life effected, and performed other various duties. Another physical resource that BP uses is the natural resource of oil and gases. BP is currently in the production The  Chirag Oil Project. This project has started operations, increasing production from a giant oil field in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea. Its major physical resource would have to be its massive oilrigs and pipelines. These rigs and pipelines help extract and transport the oil and gases that have been found and gathered. According to the NASDAQ Annual Income Statement, BP has gone up 29% since 2009 to 2012 in its Current Liquidity Ratio, and the Cash Liquidity Ratio has gone up about 12% from 2009 to 2012. The reason BP’s liquidi ty ratio has risen the past years is due to the current liabilities. The company’s income has lowered after the massive oil spill. The company has lost large amounts of income due to the spill by having to provide cleaning crews, settlements to the people affected by the spill, and the loss of business from consumers. The loss of consumers came due to the negative view of the company after the oil spill in the Gulf. Since, the Gulf oil spill, the company now stresses the importance of development without polluting the environment. Finding alternative forms of energy like solar and hydrogen is part of that vision. This development also brings in more funds to the research and development. The liability caps and the role they may have played in encouraging moral hazard. Just as bank deposits are guaranteed by government deposit insurance, and large banks themselves are probably to big to fail, liability for property damage from oil spills off US waters is limited to $75 million (plus cleanup costs), based on a 1990 law passed after the Exxon Valdiz spill. This presumably mitigates drillers’ incentives to manage environmental risk. Indeed, oil companies enjoy a very cozy relationship with their ostensible guardians; as the NY Times noted, â€Å" decades of law and custom have joined governmen t and the oil industry in the pursuit of petroleum and profit.† The federal agency that oversees drilling, the Minerals Management Service, rakes $13 billion a year in fees in what amounts to a public-private partnership. The business benefits of applying a consistent approach to knowledge management have been significant. BP business managers attributed hundreds of millions of dollars of added value as a direct result of using this approach. A practical example of this has been in the cost reduction in the construction of European retail sites. At the beginning of 1998 a challenge is set of reducing the build costs of retail sites in Europe by 10%. The Alliance (a joint venture between BP and  Bovis) is responsible for the management of these activities in Europe. The Alliance was engaged in the benefits of knowledge management and invited the BP KM Team to help them achieve this outcome. Step change in costs was delivered in 1998 (savings of $74 million) due to the harvesting and sharing of knowledge between the project engineers in Europe. This gave BP Downstream Retail competitive advantage in the Mature European Marketplace. Project engineers in Venezuela, China, Poland, and Japan are now also leveraging this knowledge on a global scale. Similar examples of increased performance have come from BP’s KM application in speeding up business restructuring, developing new oil & gas fields, improving plant productivity and accelerating new retail market entry. Intangible Resources BP has a negative reputation among consumers and other people throughout the world. Due to the massive oil spill and the company almost going bankrupt, its CEO and board of directors have tried to bring a more positive look to the company, by searching for new forms of clean energy. The company has always been known for its big production of oil for numerous countries worldwide. Since the oil spill the company has been implementing a higher and more intense safety standard. Although, BP has a negative reputation, it has a well-known name in the oil and energy business. Some may think that BP is too large to fail due its name and some government backing and funding. BP has been in the oil industry since 1909, starting out drilling in Persia. Along with BP having the largest pipeline in the world has brought solar power to remote villages in the Philippines due the hard work of its employees. BP has used technology throughout its business to keep up with the changing times and the demand for fuel and energy. It has scientist finding new forms of low-carbon energy while reducing BP’s own contributions to carbon in the atmosphere. Under this new banner BP took bigger and bigger steps towards addressing climate change. It installed solar panels at its service stations, brought solar power to remote villages in the Philippines, helped bring hydrogen-fuelled buses to London and introduced new, cleaner types of motor fuel. It created a unit, BP Alternative Energy, devoted to making from all the various types of low-carbon energy viable, large-scale and profitable business. These low-carbon energy sources are solar, wind, natural gas, and biofuels. Along with these new low-carbon  energy sources being made, BP has also unveiled a new way of extracting oil, producing more oil and extending the life span of its oilrigs. The new technology would be beneficial for oilfields worldwide. The company is using new technology everyday as they find new and safer ways to create energy extract, and store oil. The company has used innovations to help with its image in the public eye. They have begun turning used oil and gathered oil from the massive spill to asphalt to be used on roads. Proof-of-concept testing confirmed that the product could meet technical requirements. BP worked with transportation and environmental officials from several states to conduct tests on using the material for highway paving projects. Along with the reuse of oil to asphalt, there has been a movement in the restoration of the Gulf Coast with hard and soft containment booms as well as segregated plastics also were gathered in staging areas along affected area and then sent to waste-to-energy facilities or recycled into new plastic products. One program developed during the Deepwater Horizon incident resulted in routing skimmed fluid s to oil reclamation facilities. The fluids were then sent through a recovery process, which was able to reclaim and convert some of them into marketable petroleum products. Value-Added Chain BP’s inbound logistics activities are comprised of a series of many pipelines, oil tankers, and other forms of transportation that move the extracted crude oil to refining plants worldwide. The company’s massive global operations make efficient and effective logistics that help keep the costs of transporting crude oil low. This efficient global network of transporting crude supply makes more cost advantage for BP in the long run. Light transport is BP’s way of outbound logistics as it utilizes its global networking to perform this logistic. The large supply and distribution logistics network allows BP to perform its light transport and distribution of refined oil with great efficiencies, which help in lowering costs for BP. By lowering the costs of transport of refined oil BP would be able to conduct more research and upgrading the low-carbon energy research. Also this would give the company bigger budget to expand its new technology for creating a safer drilling process. BP’s main operation is refining crude oil brought in from throughout the world. The refining activities of this  company are distributed strategically around the world, with close proximity to its demand markets. With its refineries strategically placed BP has the ability to reach maximum efficient balances between its inbound and its outbound logistics. BP positions its refineries to have proximity to their oil and gas fields while also being to those energy markets. The company markets its oil and gas through its vast global retail network, which is made up of mainly its BP Service Stations. BP has excelled in sales due to its advertising campaign by using the latest social media and television commercials. Another form of advertising many people have seen from BP is though the news stations, by doing positive actions BP is making a better name for itself, which markets BP’s commitment to sustainability and cleanliness in the biotic area in spite of its past failures. The company has rebranded itself as to appear more-green friendly in today’s energy market. It has went as far changing its name from British Petroleum to BP, by which inferring but not stating it stands for â€Å"Beyond Petroleum†. This campaign includes a new look that asserts the company’ commitment to sustainability. The advertised commitment to sustainability and green energy has created a competitive advantage for BP. Competitive Advantage Factors If it is these resources and capabilities, in all their various forms, that create the potential for competitive advantage, the question about how they can actually create it remains. The initial answer is that they must be developed, coordinated and then deployed in such a way that the company can provide goods or services more economically than others or be able to satisfy customers’ needs and wants better than rivals, the ideal being a combination of the two. Whether such competitive advantage yields good profit streams, however depends on a second set of judgments and decisions. The actual products/services to be provided are: the nature and size of the customer market chosen, and the competitive nature of that marketplace. The ability to repeatedly get this right is another set of capabilities. If this is done correctly, the ensuing competitive advantage and its profit stream may not be sustainable. Competitors, anxious to share in the profitable opportunity, the company has uncovered will seek to follow suit. BP has two basic ways of doing this, either directly imitating the product/service or by providing a good/better alternative. In the product/market arena there  are myriad ways of achieving this. Products may be reverse-engineered to discover their component parts and how they were made. Service delivery can be sampled repeatedly until the key elements are identified, and then replicated. Marketing expenditure can be matched, alternative distribution channels found. Even in-company resources and capabilities can be readily emulated or copied. Good competitor analysis can rapidly identify anything from newly installed IT systems to specialist machine tools that have provided a competitive edge. It can uncover new sales or marketing techniques, component sourcing arrangements, specialized service training, supplier partnerships, outsourcing deals and even which alliances or joint ventures are providing new knowledge. All provide keys to imitation or substitution. Widespread recognition of this has led many companies to despair of achieving sustainable competitive advantage. For example, during the 1980s, many financial institutions spent billions on IT systems that would give them a market edge, only to watch rivals buy better, newer, faster equipment that negated any brief advantage they had. In the 1990s, retailers launched credit and loyalty cards to build marketing databases, only to watch rivals do the same. Each apparent advantage quickly turns into just another entry ticket to play in the game. SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis of BP will show their strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats. BP is one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas companies in the world (Research and Markets, 2010A). They are investing millions in research and development. Times and demand are changing, more and more consumers are going green, and to stay in competition with other companies they need to come up with something different. In 2010, BP is the company behind the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Because of this crisis the company needed to do something to gain the peoples trust. In the past BP has made serious communication mistakes with its stakeholders. BP’s crisis communication was a weak link in its crisis management strategy (Valvi & Fragkos, 2013). Strengths The strength of the company comes from demand, marketing, brand, and research and development. The company’s operations primarily include the exploration and production of gas and crude oil, as well as the marketing  and trading of natural gas, power, and natural gas liquids (Research and Markets, 2010B). BP is ranked at the world’s 3rd largest energy company and is positioned as a multinational oil company headquartered in London (Essay UK, 2013A): Since 2012 BP will have invested $500 million into marketing in the US in an attempt to revamp its brand (Bhasin, 1012, para 1) As I sit here watching the 2014 winter Olympics, I have seen several commercials about BP partnering with the United States, part of its marketing campaign. BP is the number one leading vertically integrated company, involved in upstream, midstream and downstream oil businesses (Bp, plc swot analysis, 2013, pg.5). BP upstream technology programs, involves investing in incremental improvements and new technology that can transform the industry. The new technology will strengthen in exploration, deepwater, giant fields, and gas value chains (â€Å"Our major technology,† N.D, para1). Many people today are concerning themselves with the environment. BP is developing alternative energy, including solar. BP has invested in solar, wind, and biofuel power, trying to provide power without harming the environment (Hitchcock, 2012). Because of upstream technology flagships, BP has been able to maximize resources, increase recovery rates; real-time data technologies are enabling safety, reliability and efficiency across operations (â€Å"Our major technology, N.D., para2). The company began construction of a new high-performance computing (H PC) center in Houston (Bp,plc swot analysis, 2013, pg.4). BP was awarded a contract to unlock high pressure oil and gas resources in deep water, and planned on investing $100 million over 10 years to set up the International Center for Advanced Materials (ICAM) to fund research into fundamental understanding and use of advanced materials, from self-healing coatings to membranes, across the energy industry The advantages that BP has with being a vertically integrated businesses allows them completive advantage from other companies in the global oil market, It provides control over the entire value chain, enabling the company to produce products which are used at different stages in the value chain (Bp,plc swot analysis, 2013,  pg.5). Weakness Between the years 1965 and 2010 BP has spent millions from the many problems endured: ranging from oil rigs capsizing, hazardous substance dumping, refinery explosion, corrosion in pipelines resulting in insulating agent leakage propane price manipulation, North sea helicopter accident, and finally Deepwater Horizon well explosion (Andrews, 2010). From these problems many died, while others were injured. The Deepwater Horizon well explosion was the worst. Congress accused the company â€Å"of withholding data from the ocean floor and blocking efforts by independent scientists to com up with estimates of crude flowing into the Gulf each day†. The US government has named BP as the â€Å"responsible party† for this incident (Andrews, 2010, pg. 20). In November 2012, BP reached an agreement with the US government to pay $4 billion to resolve all federal criminal claims arising out of the Gulf of Mexico incident, leaving BP with a bad reputation, burdened cash flow, which could impede its ability to invest in new opportunities, and deliver long-term growth (Bp,plc swot analysis, 2013, pg.6). The company has experienced a decline in profits. FY2012 recorded operating profit was $19,733 million, a decrease of 50.4% compared to FY2011. The net profit was $11,582 million, a decrease of 54% compared to FY2011. The decrease in the operating and net profits of the company affected the overall profitability of the company (Bp,plc swot analysis, 2013, pg.7). You would think this was the straw that broke the camels back. Not only did it affect the company but it also compacted several states. How would BP ever recover? They will be paying for many years to come. Opportunities BP has been disposing many of its assets to concentrate more on its strengths. So far they have sold $38bn worth of assets since the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, and plan to sell of approximately $10bn more of assets by the end of next year (BBC News, 2014 para 17 & 19). BP has several external opportunities, including by acquisition in the North Sea area, BP’s  future profit by acting in the suitable boundaries area in the Russia region, implement plan to achieve alternative energy methods insist of Hydrogen, natural gas, wind and solar investment (Nhid, 2011, pg. 9A). Not to mention numerous investments. Threats Many of BP’s threats are external, mainly from the Deepwater Horizon reputation, other threats are: environmental activist, legal and political issues, which will increase the cost of operations for the company investment (Nhid, 2011, pg. 9B), and ethics. The oil, gas, and petrochemicals industry is highly competitive. High competition puts pressure on accessing new opportunities, license costs, and product prices, affects oil products marketing, and requires continuous management focus on reducing unit costs and improving efficiency, while ensuring safety and operational risk is not compromised. The implementation of group strategy requires continued technological advances and innovation including advances in exploration, production, refining, and petrochemicals manufacturing technology (Bp,plc swot analysis, 2013, pg.9). Conclusion In conclusion, BP start up company was British Petroleum, providing gas and oil. The company is evolving with research and development in other avenues. BP has had its ups and downs in the company, the latest being Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From this catastrophe they needed to take a step back and look at things in a new light Through all of this they are ranked number six among other global companies specializing in oil and gas, the third largest publically traded oil company, the world’s third largest energy company, and the number one leading vertically integrated company, who employs over 80 thousand people. Since the cost of training top-level employees is expensive, BP offers an attractive incentive package to keep them with the company. As gas prices soar, and transportation changing the company needs to also change with the demand. BP is in the process of finding new resources of low- carbon energy to lower carbon emission. BP is one of the worlds leading companies within the solar industry, working with Home Depot offering solar lighting. Within the industry BP owns several labels. BP doesn’t have an official mission statement, but provides several different statements called: â€Å"what we do†, â€Å"What we stand for† & â€Å"What we value† (â€Å"Mission statement of,† 2013 para 1) â€Å"What we do: †¨We find, develop and produce essential sources of energy. We turn these sources into products that people need everywhere. The world needs energy and this need is growing. This energy will be in many forms. It is, and will always be, vital for people and progress everywhere. We expect to be held to high standards in what we do. We strive to be a safety leader in our industry, a world-class operator, a good corporate citizen and a great employer. We are BP. What we stand for: †¨Above everything, that starts with safety and excellence in our operations. This is fundamental to our success. Our approach is built on respect, being consistent and having the courage to do the right thing. We believe success comes from the energy of our people. We have a determination to learn and to do things better. We depend upon developing and deploying the best technology, and building long-lasting relationships. We are committed to making a real difference in providing the energy the world needs today, and in the changing world of tomorrow. We work as one team. We are BP. What we value: Safety Respect Excellence Courage One Team† (â€Å"Mission statement of,† 2013 para 2-4) With the amount of money the Deepwater Horizon disaster costs the company, BP had to figure out how they were going to survive. Through SWOT analysis, and research and development they are coming up with ways to help the future grow the company. Recommended Strategic Action People in the U.S. who weren’t aware of BP, before 2010, their brand became well known after the Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It left BP with a bad reputation. BP needs to continue to re-build their image. Although there are many environmental challenges, BP is adapting to the  needs of a more sustainable society, wanting to be an energy company, rather than an oil company, they need to continue to keep the consumer in mind. BP R & D team continues to come up with new ideas and ways to improve the environment by providing solar, and wind energy, hydrogen, and natural gas. They have sold many assets, continue to sell more, and invest in various projects, they may want to look donating to private organizations to help communities. In their mission, BP claims they value safety; they need to use scenarios before starting a project with safety top priority. Reference: Andrews, P. (2010). Bp where did it all go wrong?. Andrews UK: AUK New Authors. BBC News. (2014, February 4). Bp boss warns of uncertainties due to scottish vote . Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business Bhasin, K. (1012, February 3). Silverpop official site. Retrieved from businessinsider.com BP.n.d.Retrieved January 26,2014. www.money.cnn.com/magazines/gortune/global500/2013/snapshots/6327.html BP at a Glance.2012. Facts and Figures. Retrieved from January 29,2014. www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/bp-at-a-glance.html BP and Technology.(n.d.).BP and Technology. Retrieved from January 29,2014. www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/bp-and-technology.html BP gets record fine for Deepwater Horizon (2012). Loss Prevention Bulletin, (228).3 BPPLC(BP).n.d.Retrieved by January26,2014 www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=BP Bp,plc swot analysis. (2013). London EC1R 3DA United Kingdom: Marketline. DOI: www.marketlineinfo.com Careers.n.d.Careers. Retrieved by February9,2014. www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/careers.html-Careers/BPGlobal Career Areas.n.d.Careers.Retrieved from February9,2014. www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/careers-areas.html CNN Money(2013). Retrived from www.money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2013/snapshots/6327.html Company History.n.d.Company History. Retrieved by February9,2014. www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?CategoryId=6120002&contentId=6000555 Competitive advantage factors- http://prezi.com/vbkiw9bb5kpw/bp-case-analysis/ communication strategies:a case of british petroleum. Industrial and Commercial Training, 45(7), 383-391. Retrieved from ww.emeraldinsight.com/pricelist/us/usprice Crooks,E.(2010,March) Bp’s strategy presentation: growth, cost cuts, biofuels, M&A and more. Retrieved from blogs.ft.com/energy-source/2010/03/02/bps-strategy-presentation-growth-cost-cuts-biofuels-ma-and-more/#axzz2sb5ot8Uy Darbonne,N.(2008).Major Oil, Meet Shale.Oil and Gas Investor,2008(8),11. Essay UK. (2013). British petroleum (bp) swot analysis. Retrieved from www.essay.uk.com Financial ratio-http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/bp/financials?query=ratios Frank,D., Neault, N., Skalicky, A., Cook, J., Wilson, J., Levenson, S.,& Berkowitz, C., (2006). Heat or Eat the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and nutritional and health risks among children less than 3 years of age. Pediatrics, 118(5),e1293-302. Hill,C., Jones, G. (2012) Essentials of Strategic Management.3Ed. 58-66 Hitchcock, P. (2012). Everything’s gone green: The environment of bp’s narrative. Imaginations Journal, 3(2), 104-114. Retrieved from www.csj.ualberta.ca/imaginations Human resources-http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/careers.html Innovation- http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-restoration.html Iraq:Syria War Spillover Hinders Oilfields,Pipelines.2013. Retrieved by January30,2014. www.voanews.com/content/iraq-ofifical-sassyria-war-spillover-hinders-oilfields-pipelines/1839415.html Kalen,S. (2012). Thirst for Oil and the Keystone XL Pipeline. Creighton Law Review, 46(1),1-25 logistics inbound-http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/company-information/our-business-model.html Management philosophies-http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/company-information/our-business-model.html Marketing and sales- http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/careers.html McKillop,A. (2012). Oil Prices and Economic Growth: Are Oil Shocks a Thing of the Past?. Energy and Environment, 23(8),1353-1356. Mission statement of bp. (2013). Retrieved from wwwstrategicmanagementinsight.com Nhid, M. P. (2011, 2 28). Bp market analysis and strategic marketing recommendations. Retrieved from www.academia.edu Oil and Gas.2013.QFinance.retrieved by January 27,2014. www.qfinance.com/sector-profiles/oil-and-gas operations- http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/company-information/our-business-model.html Organizational resources-http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/company-information/our-business-model.html Our Brands.(n.d).Different Personalities, One Purpose. Retrieved from January26,2014. www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/our-brands.html Our major technology programs. (N.D). Retrieved from BP.com Outbound logistics-http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/company-information/our-business-model.html; http://prezi.com/vbkiw9bb5kpw/bp-case-analysis/ Physical resources-http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-bp-oil-spill Reputation-http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp.html; Research and Markets. (2010). P plc swot analysisi. Retrieved from researchandmarkets.com Sadler,T.(2013). Carbon Capture and a commercial Market for CO. International Advances in Economic Research, 19(2),189-200.doi10.1007/s11294-013-9401-8 Technology-http://www.bp.comglobal/corporate/about-bp/bp-and-technology.html; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19497064 What is BP Doing.n.d.Retrived by January28,2014. www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9011364&contentId=7025801 Vogt, Crystal. Talent Retention in the Oil&Gas Industry Retrieved from smallbusiness.chron.com/talent-retention-oil-gas-industry-14645.html-TalentRetentionintheOil&GasIndustry/chron.com

Ford Motor Company: Supply Chain Strategy Case

Ford Motor Company, incorporated in 190 by Mr. Henry Ford, is one of the largest vehicle markers in the world today. This company employees more than 360,000 employees and has produced more than 260 million vehicles over its history. Since the 1970s, the auto industry has evolved from an industry with only a few large companies to one in which competition has become tough. Instead of two main competitors, Ford now faces foreign automakers in the marketplace. With the increased competition, car dealers are seeing more cars sit on lots for a longer period of time and are now offering a variety of incentives to get people to buy these products. Diagnosis In 1995, the CEO of Ford established an initiative called Ford 2000 in an effort to reduce costs and become more market competitive. This new initiative encompassed all of Ford's activities, such as product development, manufacture and marketing. Most of these projects were based around IT improvements. These improvements were done as an effort to bring Ford closer to all aspects of their supply chain, from their supplier to their customers. In 1998, Ford also opened the first of its Ford Retail Networks. This project was started to help the dealers compete with the real competition, such as GM and Chrysler instead of each other. It also brought Ford closer to the end customer. This Ford 2000 project was a major undertaking, but what is helping the company as a whole? Well, in 1998, the Ford 2000 initiative had raised Ford's profits, return on sales, and had made the company the industry leader in profit per vehicle. Ford had been named the most improved automaker in 1997 by JD Power Initial Quality Study and had become the world leader in trucks. They were making progress, but where still burdened with large inventories. Ford's Director of Supply Chain Systems began to research what Ford could do to decrease these inventories to become the industry leader and to increase shareholder wealth. She did some research into Dell Computers. This company was enjoying 55% per year growth at the time that Ford's growth was steady at about 6% a year. They were also seeing a 133% growth of their stocks while Ford was seeing at 33.4% growth. Dell had adopted a virtual integration business model. Within this model Dell uses the Internet for almost all business activities. Customers place an order specifying exactly what they want. This can be done over the Internet or over the phone. Dell then places an order for the components of this machine over an Internet based JIT ordering system. The parts are received assembled and shipped to the customer within 5-6 days. After much research, the director tried to determined if this same system could be used for Ford Motor Company. Analysis The Director found that there would be several challenges if they were going to implement this type of virtual integration system. First, Ford Motor Company is more than 100 years old whereas Dell was opened in 1984. Since the company is so old and has been doing business the same way for a long period of time, it will be harder to implement a large change such as virtual integration. For example, Ford's procurement process is not where it needs to be if the company is going to virtually integrate. Ford currently has a very large number of suppliers. Procurement personnel are highly involved with every aspect of the supplier relationship, while Dell uses a JIT ordering system. Ford's manual process is more apt to errors than an electronic process would be, but the procurement department has been so powerful for so long that it may be hard to convince those working in this department that this change will be beneficial. The implementation of an electronic ordering system could put some of these employees out of a job. These employees are also choosing suppliers on the basis of cost only. If Ford was going to implement a virtual integration system, procurement professionals would have to take other aspects into account, such as delivery time and willingness to partner. If Ford was going to implement an electronic system for ordering, they would also face some challenges while establishing Internet links with their suppliers. First, they would have to choose whom they would want to partner with in this fashion. Then they would have to determine if these suppliers have information technology systems that would support an Internet based communication system. Currently Ford has started to develop this type of system with their â€Å"tier one† suppliers who are their most advanced and largest suppliers. If they were to extend the electronic ordering to other suppliers who did not have the technology to support this type of system, Ford would be forced to decide if they would want to help their suppliers develop or acquire the technology needed for this interaction. Other issues such as what type of information would be shared and the security system they would use to make sure only those with the need to know would have access to this information would have to be addressed as well. Another challenge Ford Motor Company would face when trying to implement a virtual integration model like Dells is there are some major differences between the computer and automotive industries. An automobile is a more complex product and includes many more parts than a computer. If Ford were going to implement a virtual integration model they would have to manage a larger number of component parts suppliers than Dell is managing, which would add costs. Ford, if moving towards virtual integration, must also address their network of privately owned dealerships. Dell's model of virtual integration includes no dealers or retailers. If Ford were to adopt complete virtual integration, they would technically not have dealers. Having no dealers would not be possible for Ford. These dealerships are franchises that are owned legally by individuals. Also a person that is going to buy a car may not be receptive to ordering one off the Internet. Most people test-drive an automobile before they buy, which could not be done if cars were ordered strictly from the manufacturer. If Ford did not offer test-drives and other companies such as GM did, Ford would have a large disadvantage. Conclusion In order to implement the type of virtual integration model that Dell currently employs, Ford would have to overcome some obstacles. These obstacles come from every aspect of their current supply chain. They would have to partner with suppliers and provide these suppliers the infrastructure and training they would need in order to communicate over the Internet. They would also have to change the way their dealers worked with customers. Since most customers would not accept buying a car directly off the Internet, Ford would have to implement other methods of changing this aspect of their supply chain. Recommendations Although there are several differences between Ford and Dell, I do recommend that Ford implement some of Dell's virtual integration model. I recommend that they set-up an extranet, or extend their current system so that they may use JIT ordering with their suppliers. They could use some sort of incentive plan to encourage their supplier to invest in their technology systems so that they would be able to use this extranet for accepting orders. The amount of money Ford would save from the direct link they would have to their suppliers should supplement the investment they would have to make in developing an extranet. I also recommend that Ford make some changes in the way they interact with their customers. Ford could set-up some type of virtual showroom. This may encourage more customers to order direct from Ford instead of going to a dealer. They could also create an intranet, or enhance their current intranet, in which dealers could check the stock of other dealers for the vehicle a customer is looking for. If they could have this vehicle shipped from one dealer to the other it would not only reduce dealer inventory, but would also please the customer since the lead-time for them receiving their new vehicle would be reduced. Although Ford may never be able to virtually integrate to the extent that Dell has, the company will be able to see cost savings from their integration efforts. Ford should be able to reduce dealer inventories and should be able to move towards a pull strategy of manufacture if they implement these changes.