My Little Quiet Place Essays - Quiet, , Term Papers

My Little Quiet Place Back home in South Carolina, my quiet place was a cabin my grandfather owned in the woods. He would take me out there to hunt and fish. The place was so quiet, you could hear the quietness. It's the sound of a tone that settles in your ear. As I got older, I use to go there to get away from the city and city problems. I miss that place. A quiet place is something everyone needs regardless if they think so or not. To some, it may be their bedroom or bathtub, or any secluded place. My quiet place here and now is Piedmont Park. Now that I reside in Atlanta, Georgia, Piedmont Park is a decent quiet place. Every Sunday I would go out to Piedmont Park and relax. It's a peaceful place in such a busy city. I would find a secluded shaded area. Every Sunday was the same routine, I would prepare the night before. I would pack in a sack, a little blanket, a few Sade CDs, and a blunt. Lying there under the clear blue sky, smelling the fresh cut grass, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle would take me into a trance. There would be couples picnicking, and families barbecuing, there would be masters walking their dogs, and kids throwing Frisbees. I would think about the previous week and prepare myself mentally for the coming week. I would sit there for hours just relaxing and vibing on Sade. I think about all the time I have wasted. I think about how we all take time for granted. I remember one time I thought about time as a bank. Each day we are credited $86,400 or 86,400 seconds. Every day we have to spend all of that money, you can't save or invest the money. To understand the value of a day, ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature child one day to early, to understand the value of an hour, ask someone who is waiting for a vital organ. To understand the value of a minute, ask someone who has missed the bus. To understand the value of a second, ask someone who has just been through a car accident. To understand the value of a millisecond, ask an Olympic silver medalist. Time is just one thing I think about in my quiet place. I try to accept the past and prepare for the future. Family, health, future endeavors, new friendships, friendships that you know need to end, secrets, ambitions, goals, and solitude are many things that go through my mind--and the best thing about it.......... no one interrupts you!

The Significance of Physical Therapy Professor Ramos Blog

The Significance of Physical Therapy What pops into one’s head when thinking of a doctor? Most people say a doctor is the person one goes to visit when they are sick and hands them medicine in order to feel better. What most people may not know is that a Physical Therapist is now required to accomplish a doctorate degree in order to officially become a Doctor of Physical Therapy. From healing the individuals that have broken, fractured or even to helping those with lifelong diseases. Perhaps one of the most important aspects included in this career is the patient. The outcome of whether or not therapy works fluently almost entirely relies on patient participation. Not only are Physical Therapists greatly compensated for their work, but the patient outcome of regaining the strength they once had is perhaps the greatest reward.   Six to eight years is typically what this career entails. Completing such degrees as a Bachelor’s, Master’s as well as a Doctorate. After completing the doctorate degree, one now has the honor of being a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). As well as the education aspect of being a participant of this career path, after completion, one must go through a series of state and federal certification as well as taking a state exam in order to get a state license. Along with the certifications and state license, a national exam is required in order to be a recognized PT. The national exam is called by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (â€Å"Physical Therapist†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). After completion of the education required, a new doctor is born. After years of experience, some physical therapists choose to become a board-certified specialist offered by The American Board of Physical Therapy Specialities. A board-certified specialist can specialize in one of nine dif ferent specialties which include sports, orthopedics, and geriatrics. The compensation PT’s receive is quite large considering they are a type of doctor. Physical Therapists usually get paid a median of $91,541 a year. The highest quantity of payment would be as high as $104,437 in the Inglewood, California area (â€Å"Physical Therapist in†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Higher compensation would be determined by the wealth class of the area one is working in.   Often times, therapy is thought to treat the injured or hurt. Physical Therapists treat a lot more people than one may think. No one goes without the equal attention from a PT; from the elderly to the hurt to the medically disabled even to individuals with body affecting diseases. The elderly seem to need the most aid from a PT, due to their rapid loss of strength and ability. Regaining strength and muscle is a major part in the rehabilitation process. A patient walking through therapy often times needs more help and support regaining strength than anything else. Most hear or see an individual going to therapy because of something they suffered. Unlike an injury or fracture, a stroke is both serious and harmful event that can cause lifelong defects, or in most cases, the worst punishment of all, death. Individuals with strokes and or minor heart attacks visit a DPT’s office daily. The loss of strength, movement, and guidance often come with a stroke. Strokes are the leading ca use of disability. 75% of the 550,000 individuals who survive a stroke go on to live with varying degrees of impairment or disability (â€Å"Analysis of the Relationship†¦). Perhaps what most of the career consists of is patient participation. â€Å" The goal of a physical therapist is to promote the patients ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability† (Ross). However, This cannot happen if the patient does not go through with his part of the deal. The patient is not only the person who gives the PT work but also is the most important factor when determining the success of the treatment. The experience one has at a PT office does not depend so much on the DPT as it does on the patient. Participation of the patient very often determines the length of the stay, the effectiveness of the stay and the experience of the stay (â€Å"Significance of†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ). Whether it be a good or bad experience the therapists cannot do much for an individual if they do not participate. According to recent studies done by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Physical Therapy is in good hands in terms of future jobs. Between 2014 and 2024, Physical Therapist jobs will skyrocket by 34% . Approximately 210,900 licenced PTs are currently employed. That number will increase to an astonishing 282,700 by the year 2024. (Ross) Physical Therapy is not only well recognized for their work in the field of medicine, but has also been recognized nationally by mainstream media. Big names such as Forbes and CNN took some time to polish up the career of Physical Therapy in the media. â€Å"Forbes ranked physical therapists as having 1 of The Ten Happiest Jobs, according to articles published in 2013 and 2011. CNNMoney.com gave physical therapists a grade of â€Å"A† in Personal Satisfaction in 2012, as well as in its â€Å"Benefit to Society† categories.† As if the media polishing was not enough, more than three quarters of Physical Therapists polled to be â€Å" very satisfied† with their occupation (Ross). However, according to DPT Peter Christakos expresses his opinion towards the rapidly increasing profession. He describes the altering of PT class sizes in order to fulfill the fast growing student clusters. Christakos goes on to compare the profession of Physical Therapy to a bubble. The significance of a larger class size to the ongoing growth class sizes comes without saying. However, Peter does give a valid point when expressing that Physical Therapists hold the future of the profession in their hands. The supply and demand curve of future jobs in the field is meant to be untouched by PTs (Christakos). By increasing class volumes, the supply demand would be shooting up, leaving demand to catch up by itself. Christakos sketches the bubble of the profession,and asks â€Å"Will we [PTs] let it burst?† (Christakos) Having the opportunity to change one’s life go many ways. Physical Therapists aid those in need to positively impact their life. The hefty compensation goes without saying when speaking in terms of the patient’s progress and accomplishments during the rehabilitation process. The outcome does in fact affect the outcome of the treatment. Unlike other occupations, PTs can not do much for an individual if the patient does not cooperate. A Doctor of Physical Therapist plays a major part in the world of health care. The regaining of strength and ability of an individual who was once as strong as an ox   could not be done without a DPT. Christakos, Peter. â€Å"When Will the Bubble Burst?† PT in Motion. http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5sid=1241b402-b590-43cd -ade4-b3de755e27db%40sdc-v-sessmgr03 . 23 July 2019 K, Janet. â€Å"Analysis of the Relationship Between the Utilization of Physical Therapy Services and Outcomes for Patients With Acute Stroke.† OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1  Oct. 1999, www.academic.oup.com/ptj/article/79/10/906/2842426 . Accessed 23 July 2019 â€Å"Physical Therapist Salary in Inglewood, CA.† Salary.com,  www.salary.com/research/salary/benchmark/physical-therapist-salary/inglewood-ca?personalized. Accessed 23 July 2019 â€Å"Physical Therapists : Occupational Outlook Handbook:† U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S.  Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physical-therapists.htm. Accessed 23 July 2019 Ross, Libby. â€Å"Benefits of a Physical Therapist Career.† APTA,  www.apta.org/PTCareers/Benefits/. Accessed 23 July 2019 â€Å"Significance of Poor Patient Participation in Physical and Occupational Therapy for Functional  Outcome and Length of Stay.† Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, W.B.   www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003999304004307. 23 July 2019

Libyan negotiations to join the World Trade Organization Dissertation

Libyan negotiations to join the World Trade Organization - Dissertation Example Further, Libya is rich in oil production which would have allowed the EU to better diversify its own natural resources through this partnership in the WTO (Tsirelson, 2011). Libya also, in 2010, achieved support from the central bank to allow foreign direct investment licenses as a means to support the private sector in Libya (qfinance.com, 2010). All of this has changed due to the amassing conflict with Qhadaffi’s foreign neighbors, preventing the country, likely, from achieving WTO membership. Aims and Objectives The proposed dissertation aims to examine the current role of Libya as a potential member of the WTO compared to its earlier efforts and support from 2004-2010. Overall, the project intends to identify whether Libya can still maintain such membership even in the face of growing and intense conflict with the international community. The study maintains two specific objectives: 1. Determine the role of Libyan representation in the WTO and the potential advantages that the country can bring to the rest of the international community upon potential membership. 2. Understand how the country, especially pertaining to Qhadaffi, is viewed by the international community as well as the legal systems that guide WTO membership and affiliation. Method of Inquiry The research project will consult with secondary resource materials such as legal journals, multi-media publications, and historical primary data as a means to understand the evolving legal and governmental systems in Libya over the last seven years. The methodology will consist of qualitative and quantitative research focus as part of the primary study that will include surveys distributed to generalized sample groups about their opinion about Libyan policy and action as a potential WTO member. The current macroeconomic factors driving Libyan growth and sustainability will also be measured in appropriate secondary source materials. References Journal of Commerce. 2004, WTO says Libya can apply. Ju ly 27, p.1. Qfinance.com. 2010, Libya, p.1. [accessed June 6, 2011 at http://www.qfinance.com/contentfiles/QF02/glus0fcl/1h/0/libya.pdf] Tsirelson, M. 2011, Libya, European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity. [accessed June 6, 2011 at http://www.europeanforum.net/country/libya] Bibliography Country Monitor. 2010, Libya: risk ratings. 18(19), p.11. Conversisglobalcom. 2010, Libya. [accessed June 5, 2011 at http://conversisglobalcom.site.securepod.com/cultural_commentaries/Conversis_Libya.pdf] Moran, R., Harris, P. & Moran, S. 2007, Managing Cultural Differences: Global Leadership Strategies for the 21st Century, 7th ed. Elsevier: London. National Geographic. 2010, College Atlas of the World, 2nd ed. Wiley Publishers. Oxford Economic Country Briefings. 2010, Libya. March 18, Oxford Economics Limited. Rehfeld, A. 2010, Towards a general theory of political representation, Journal of Politics, p.48. [accessed June 7, 2011 at http://www.law.columbia.edu/center_program/legal_theory/papers /fall05?exclusive=filemgr.download&file_id=96459&rtcontentdisposition=filename%3DTowards+a+General+Theory.pdf] Triola, M.F. 2008, Elementary Statistics Using the TI-83 Plus Calculator, 2nd ed. Pearson Addison

BI POLAR DISORDER Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

BI POLAR DISORDER - Research Paper Example Bipolar disorder (Kessler, Berglund, Demler , Jin, Merikangas and Walters, 2005) usually develops in the late teens or in the stage of a person's early adult years, whereby at least half of the entire cases start prior to age 25. In addition, this illness is common, in fact, approximately three percent (3%) or 10 million adults (affecting both men and women) in the US population have bipolar disorder (The National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2008). Categories of Bipolar Disorder The National Institute for Health (2009) characterized Bipolar Disorder into four basic types : First is the Bipolar I Disorder, which is mainly defined by episodes of manic or mixed episodes and last at least seven days; in severe cases, the person needs immediate hospital care; Second, the Bipolar II Disorder which is defined by episodes of pattern of depressive shifting back and forth jointly with hypomanic episodes, however, no full-blown Bipolar disorder 3 manic or of mixed episodes; Third is the Bipolar Disorder which is â€Å"Not Otherwise Specified† (BP-NOS), diagnosed if a person's illness has symptoms that do not match with diagnostic criteria (whetherr bipolar I or II); Fourth is the Cyclothymic Disorder, or Cyclothymia, manifested by a mild form of bipolar disorder. In this type of condition, patients exhibit cyclothymia (episodes of hypomania) that shift back and forth together with mild depression around two years. Signs and Symptoms of Illness There is no absolute cause of bipolar disorder, however, most scientists believe that this illness is likely caused by multiple factors, which interact with each other in order to produce a chemical imbalance and affecting some parts of the brain. Most experts also say, Bipolar disorder usually runs in families; and studies suggest that there must be a genetic component to the disorder. Moreover, the first episode is usually trigger by a stressful event, such as difficult relationship or financial problems,unexpected loss, ch ronic illness, or any major change in life. Therefore, an individual’s coping strategies of handling stress may play essential role in the development of symptoms (The National Institute for Health, 2009). In some instances, drug abuse can trigger the disorder. Living in a stressful life situations also may lead to sleep loss or changes in one’s schedule can also contribute to the onset as well as, recurrence of depression and mania (The National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2008). According to New York State Office of Mental Health (2008), the periods of highs and lows are known as episodes of mania and depression. The Signs and symptoms of manic episode include: Restlessness, increased energy, excessively â€Å"high,† overly good, euphoric mood, little sleep needed, extreme irritability, racing thoughts and talking very fast, Bipolar disorder 4 inability to concentrate, distractibility, poor judgment, unrealistic beliefs in one’s abilities, increased sex ual drive, spending sprees, intrusive, provocative or aggressive behavior, lasting period of behavior usually different from usual, denial that anything is wrong and abuse of drugs, particularly alcohol, cocaine, and sleeping medications.

Full Strategic Analysis Of Caribou Coffee Company Inc Marketing Essay

Full Strategic Analysis Of Caribou Coffee Company Inc Marketing Essay Caribou coffee Incl commonly known as CBOU.O is a company specializing in retail of teas, coffee bakery goods and other related products. Since it inception in 1992, the firm operates in various reportable divisions which include: commercial, retail and franchise businesses. Retail segment comprise of about 400 of the total coffee establishment and focuses on the local market. These key stores are based in Minnesota and over 20 other store in major states where CBOU.O operates. Commercial segment focuses on mass merchandisers while the franchise business which comprises of about 19% of the total coffee houses targets the international market. Caribou Incl operates in international and local markets as well with a bout 510 coffeehouses (Perry 2003, p. 46). Additionally, the firm supplies its products to diverse clientele groups such as grocery stores, hotels, airlines, mass merchandisers, entertainment venues, offices and colleges among other clients. Caribou management main goal is d irected towards providing high quality coffee blends and other related products to its clients. Key to their attractive strategy, CBOU.O has well designed outlets which resemble ski lodges and even Alaskan cabins, which offer the firms a range of coffee blends, or even specialty teas, coffee drinks and baked goods. In order to expand on its distribution chain CBOU.O sells both brewing supplies and whole bean coffee (Hall 2005, p. 76). In addition the firm has over 100 franchised outlets which are mostly founded in the greater Middle East part as well as South Korea. As per 2008 fiscal report, 60% of the Caribou Coffee firm is owned by Arcapita, a Bahrain-based investment faction. CBOU.O has recorded positive growth in history of gourmet coffee industry amid competition from Kraft Foods Inc., Starbucks Corporation, Proctor Gamble and Nestle Inc. 1.10 Company Analysis CBOU.O is not immune to industry macro as well as micro factors influencing business performance levels. The wider business environment has created both opportunity and challenges to CBOU.Os performance in coffee industry. The volume of coffeehouse chains has increased in the recent past with the new entrants in the renowned specialty product category. For instance, the external environment in the industry has been hit by high competition with greater impacts felt the period between fiscal 1998 and 2003 (Hoskisson Hitt 2008, p. 96). The industry has also presented a new wave of demographics shift where young adults easily indentify with coffee products. With greater cultural influence in the foreign markets, decaffeinated coffee has easily being marketed in defined global market niche. Similarly, in coffee industry market trends have also forced leading firms to leverage their brand names into various categories in an attempt to grow greater sales. 1.11 PESTEL Analysis Social factors Social trends has impacted CBOU.Os marketing, RD activities, rebranding procedure, market entry strategies, employees motivation and the firms business units performances. CBOU.O has been influenced by various factors including changing demographics, family changes, consumer expectations and various cultural changes (Perry 2003, p. 89). The firm has witnessed a shift in consumer habits in various markets where brand switching has been popularized by the existence of a variety of specialty products offered by similar players in the market. Due to the perceived change in consumer expectations CBOU.O has been constantly extending their product-line to include various coffee versions in the market. For instance, decaffeinated coffee has been an entrant in various market niches as a deliberate effort to avert brand switch to other alternative beverages. This has been mainly instigated by cultural preferences. Similarly, the changing demographics in both global as well as local market have influenced CBOU.O business activities. For example, between fiscal 2003 and 2006, adults aged between 18 and 24 who took coffee daily doubled in percentage and crossed over 30 % mark as per the NCAs (i.e. National Coffee Association) data (Perry 2003, p. 193). The young adult drinking behavior/habits has and will continue influencing Caribou Coffee consumption since this age bracket constitute the long-life coffee drinkers as they enter early adulthood. The youngsters demographics are vital to CBOU.O since they are likely to favor coffee to other familiar soft drinks in future. Political forces Government policy in terms of degree of economic intervention has greatly influenced CBOU.O in the greater Minnesota region. Various stakeholders such as regulators and politicians impacts any industry in terms of workforce safety issues, firms subsidies, quality infrastructure and business supports. For example, Caribou has been continually influenced by various policies linked to NCA. Like other firms, Caribou has enjoyed government intervention during various difficulty economic seasons as well as on labor issue intervention. Trade barriers, among other government policies has influenced entry procedures across the 20 states stores. For instance, favorable trade policies have assisted the firm to expand and perhaps source for quality coffee (Grant 2005, p. 94). Economic factors Inflation, economic growth issues, interest rates and taxation changes has affected Caribou Coffee Company in terms of product performance, business profitability, production costs and firms overheads. For instance, in fiscal 2007/2008 the firm reported increase in production costs brought about by increase in related costs such as higher wage demands due to economic difficulties experienced globally. More positive in the trend in economic growth witnessed in early 2000 that saw CBOU.O report increase in demand for various coffee products. In addition, in fiscal 2006 Lower interest made more viable for investors such as Arcapita to invest in about 60% CBOU.O since the costs associated with borrowing was too low. Finally, economic difficulties witnessed in late 2000 saw CBOU.O resulting into franchise arrangement for synergy reasons. Technological factors Technology has helped CBOU.O to remain ahead in business communication, production and innovation. For example, technology has boosted the firms move in online marketing and related business activities in CBOU.Os official website. Computer aided systems has assisted the firm in quality control and production regulations as a deliberate move in reducing related production costs. Online marketing as well as trading information supported by the firms website has put CBOU.O ahead of competition. Legal Forces CBOU.O has been influenced by the various consumer laws protecting clients against unfair pricing practices and any misleading beverage description. Under the Caribou management practices, employment laws have affected the business approach in areas such as redundancy, minimum wage, working hours and dismissal issues. Environmental factors Factors such as national weather and the perceived global climate change influence consumer patterns (Porter 1998, p.72). Changes in temperature, especially during winters increase the likelihood of coffee consumption and high profitability during this spell. CBOU.O has in the past recorded greater sales during winters than the case with summer performance. Currently, the global environmental issues as well as the growing desire on corporate responsibility on the nature have influenced business opportunities in the new markets. Such environmental trends have influenced Caribous demand patterns and the global opportunities (Perry 2003, p. 103). 1.12 Porters Five Forces Rivalry Rivalry intensity has been greatly increased by low switching costs where consumers can easily switch from particular specialty coffee product, thus making it hard to capture greater market proportion. The ever growing number of specialty coffee products has intensified rivalry. Recent development in terms of consumer habits in coffee industry has resulted into struggle for available market share. Similarly, industry shakeout influences rivalry witnessed in various industries (Porter 1998, p. 43). High level of products differentiation has resulted into greater rivalry forcing CBOU.O to extend its product-line. The firm currently offers whole bean coffee and specialty teas, as a differentiated approach in competing in the market. Threats of substitutes Coffee products offered by other players such as Proctor Gamble or even Starbucks Corporation at a competing price offer a threat to CBOU.O specialty coffee products, thus making it hard for the firm to raise prices for profitability reasons. Health concerns have influenced the consumption levels of specialty coffee as a substitute to other highly priced soft beverages. For example, Starbucks Power Frappuccino has been a big threat to Caribous due to its price espresso-based beverages. Buyer Power The firms buyers have contributed to the Caribous performance by determining the firms profitability levels. The buyers have the ability to influence the business performance by affecting the business ability in offering quality specialty coffee. Similarly, the buyers power has influenced Caribous business strategy where the management has been concentrating in offering all-time coffee products to the consumers in anticipation. Supplier power Coffee suppliers has been very influential on Caribous production ability where shortfall in coffee supplies to the coffeehouses is closely associated with declined ability of the firm to acquire the supplies as per the price offered. The suppliers are potentially able to exert influence on the firm since much of the raw materials as well as related supplies are sourced at a price which directly affects the resulting business profitability (Porter 1998, p. 116). Barriers to entry The possibility that the number of new entrants in the industry may increase poses a threat to Caribous competitiveness .Caribous has been constantly employing strategies such as franchise arrangement as a key measure to avert possible entry in the market. In possible situations Caribous has been employing entry-deterring pricing as a key strategy in preventing possible entrants in the industry. As a strategy to remain more competitive, Caribou enjoys the benefits associated with their production capacity (i.e. proprietary knowledge) in manufacture of various specialty coffee products (Daniel Lamb 2008, p. 125). Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) CBOU.O considers LCA in order to indentify areas area for vital improvements in environment, marketing as well as in support of how the coffeehouses products are environmental friendly. All coffee products have some noticeable impacts on our environmental and therefore CBOU.O uses LCA to manage issues such as pollution, in order to reduce environmental harm. In CBOU.O the LCA starts with raw material sourcing where quality coffee as the prime raw materials are bought from indentified suppliers. In the Manufacturing phase, CBOU.O ensures clear procedures are used in order to minimize unnecessary pollution from. The packaging phase in the LCA is highly considered in order to reflect the marketing philosophy of Caribou firm by including the business logo or even the company brand name. The firm marketing is extensively done and thus places Caribou ahead of other players in product communication in all the three business units. In the use, maintenance and reuse phase, Caribou considers c lear policies on Coffee mugs or related packaging are used in order to reduce unnecessary costs associated with environmental impacts. Finally, in the recycle phase, Caribou uses clear policies that ensure that various packages are reused for intended purposes (Grant 2005, p. 278). SWOT: Opportunities and Threats Some of the opportunities in the Caribou operations that give the firm segment a competitive advantage includes venture into international market and developing business arrangement such as franchise. The franchise arrangement has helped most Caribou to maintain a competitive edge despite the unfavorable market forces brought about by hard-economic environment (Grimm 2006, p 233). Developing of Decaffeinated coffee has been one of the strongest opportunities well utilized by CBOU.O in the recent past. Similarly, CBOU.O faces greater threat from stiff competition witnessed from major competitors. Similarly, upcoming considerations by governments to tax the coffee industry poses as a key threat for most firms. Phase II Generic strategies Caribou firm has developed various generic strategies in order counteract the analyzed Porters forces at business unit level, corporate level as well as functional level. For competitive advantage reasons, Caribou has indentified various products namely; focus, differentiated product and the cost leadership coffee products at business unit level. The firms business units which entails the retail chains, commercial segment and the franchise segment has placed products such as whole bean coffee and the specialty tea on the costs leadership level. Additionally, Caribou has been constantly included differentiated products such as espresso-based beverages in order to counteract the rivalry evidenced in early 2000s. Caribou has used the commercial segment as the sole focus in selling various products to hotels, entertainment venues, grocery stores, airlines or even to the offices in the major regional chains (Perry 2003, p. 136). Market segmentation Initially, adults were associated with Coffee drinking until the recent witnessed shifts in the consumer behaviors brought about by the Generation X and Y. The changes associated with this generations has forced to Caribou to redesign its product line in order to attract the growing number of young adults who have indicated interest in the firms coffee products. For example, Caribou resulted in single-serving system in mid 2000 in order to ensure that target consumer are able to access superior coffee at designated pods in hotels, entertainment venues or even in major stores in Minnesota (Perry 2003, p. 113). Baby boomers who normally switch to healthier coffee products forced Caribou to introduce decaffeinated coffee in the stores. This transition was enabled by the firms aided technological processes which usually improves decaffeinated coffee flavors to suit the various generations considerations. Core competencies and Generic Value Chain Core competencies help Caribou in retaining its competitive nature by ensuring that the bond between various units is strengthened thus offering coherent portfolio. Caribou core competency level is premised on the provision to access variety of product in either retail markets or even at franchise level (Hoskisson Hitt 2008, p. 97). Caribou has been using procedures as well as practices in manufacturing which are basically hard to imitate in production of products such as specialty teas or even other branded merchandise. The firm has also exhibited strong capacity in RD where deliberate efforts has been made in strengthening the firms ability to understand and cater for upping interest in Coffee industry markets. As a core competency strategy, CBOU.O has ensured shared costs in business units in order to remain ever profitable. For instance, the firm increases the franchised business units under shared costs between the retail stores and the commercial business segment. CBOU.O value chain entails inbound logistics, outbound logistics, operations, marketing and sales processes, and the operations activities. For example, CBOU.O ensures that inbound activities such as Coffee sourcing, warehousing and division logistics are clearly conducted. Caribou operation activities are normally aligned to the defined production formulas and processes during product preparation. The marketing and sales undertaking in the firm has been enhanced by greater innovations in meeting the ever changing demographic needs. Finally, the outbound activities has bee made possibly by the wider distribution scope done under retail stores, franchise segment or commercial units. Ansolffs Matrix and Porters Diamond Caribou market penetration procedures are used in securing market dominance, in restructuring markets, increase Coffee usage among consumers and in raising market share of core products in various chains. Caribou has enhanced its market development procedures by ensuring that the business able to effectively locate new geographical location for new stores, or new distribution channels or pricing strategies in order to enhance market growth on products such as baked goods. Product diversification has been used to modify various branded merchandise offered by the firm (Grant 2005, p. 423). Caribou has been diversifying its products in various segments by use of rebranding procedures. Porters diamond model has been employed by CBUO.O to enhance competitiveness by strengthening firms strategy, structure and effectively handling rivalry issues. The firms culture, lean structure and operation motivation boosts the firms competitive advantage. When handling demand conditions, Caribous RD ensures that local demand needs/capacity is satisfied by quality specialty coffee products prior to meeting other states demand. This gives local stores competitive advantage. Caribou create its factor conditions by having skilled workforce and improved technology in order to remain competitive. Similarly, factor combination during manufacturing has boosted Caribous performance as well. Under supporting and related industry considerations, Caribou operates in global chains under commercial and retail stores in order to support the franchise unit. Caribou uses the business units to organize and supplement innovation in the structure value. Financial Analysis Current ratio for CBOU.O eagle Incl is noted to be decreasing from a figure of 0.88in fiscal 2007 to lows of 0.72in 2008.This trend is alarming as it indicates decrease in ability of CBOU.O to cover its short-term debts using the available current assets. Gross-profit is increasing from lows of 47.0% in 2007 to 51.36 in 2008. The trend is positive as it indicates CBUO.O move in earnings increase. Return-on-assets ratio shows Caribous earnings in relation to all the economic resources owned by the company (Peterson Fabozzi, p. 146). Return-on equity is decreasing from fiscal 2007 ratio calculations. The trend is negative. The trend on Return-on-equity portrayed from 2007 to fiscal 2008 is negative indicating a decrease in returns for the ordinary and /or common stock-holders. Phase III: Recommendations CBOU.O should consider seeking global opportunities in order to counteract stiff competition and perhaps increase in profitability. In situations where Franchise fails in foreign market, CBOU.O should result into Mergers or acquisitions in order to enjoy currency benefits associated with global market thus averting economic effects on performance. To avert rivalry, CBOU.O ought to continuously improve on existing product chains and enhance brand extension procedures. CBOU.O ought to increase their investment in current assets to boost the companys financial position. A company should cover its short-term obligations at least twice from their investment in current assets. CBOU.O should increase the efficiency in the use of economic resources at their disposal to enhance the firm long-term profitability. Similarly, CBOU.O should also increase efficiency in the use of assets. Finally, more investment should be carried out in total assets to effectively cover the firms debts. Appendices A: Caribou Coffee Company Important Trend Analysis Ratios Ratio type 2008 2007 Current Ratio=(Current assets/current liabilities 28,450,000/32,260,000 = 0.88 26,620,000/36,820,000= 0.72 Gross-profit ratio=(Gross -profit/sale)*100 (119,460,000/253,900,000)* 100= 47.0% (131,910,000/256,830,000)* 100=51.36% Return-on- assets=(net-profit before interest/total assets)*100 (15,460,000/89,570,000)* 100= (17.26)% (30,400,000/111,840,000)*100= (27.18)% Return-on-equity=(Net income/equity)*100 (16,280,000/43,940,000)= (37.0)% (30,500,00/59,290,000)* 100=(51.44)%

Leadership and Entrepreneur Essay

Leadership and entrepreneurship have become more popular recently so that many researchers have been studied about these subjects and tried to find out their definitions and nature (Northouse, 2007; Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007 and Deakins and Freel, 2009). It cannot be denied that there are a huge amount of people having leadership and entrepreneurship characteristic. In order to have a look closer about the leadership and entrepreneurship, the author will take the case of Conrad Hilton as an example to evaluate. However, before doing that, some significant leadership and entrepreneurship theories such as definitions and characteristics of different approaches will be reviewed critically. This essay will be divided into three parts. It will commence with theories of leadership and then focus on entrepreneurship and the last part will combine the theories with term of actual life by judging the characteristics of Conrad Hilton about his leadership and entrepreneurship characteristics. The first part aims to review leadership theories critically. It includes definitions, distinctive approaches and variety of factors that impact on leadership. There are a number of different definitions about leadership have been published (Stogdill, 1974). According to Northouse (2007), they are divided into six types such as focus of group process, personality perspective, act or behavior, power relationship, transformational process and skills perspective. However, Northouse (2007) states that there are four components such as: leadership is a process; leadership involves influence; leadership occurs in a group context and leadership involves goal attainment play a role as foundation for all of types. Based on this foundation, the widely accepted definition about leadership can be defined as follow: â€Å"a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal† (Northouse, 2007, p. 3) and this is also the suitable one related to discussion in this essay. From this definition, it can be seen that leadership is an interaction behavior between leaders and followers as well as this the definition also indicates the important of the factor â€Å"influence†. It is clear that without this factor, leadership will not exist. However, this factor does not only stand for the power of leader with followers but also followers with leader because this is two-way relationship. In addition, the second factor should be considered is â€Å"group†. Whatever the size and type of group such as a community, an organization or a small group, leadership can only occur in context of group. Although each person in each group can have different individual purpose, they still have the same goal and they influence each other to achieve that common goal. Obviously, common goal is one part of leadership. Last but not least, this definition of leadership considered attendance of goals. This means leadership has to guide the group achieve the goals. As can be seen from this definition, leadership can be any member in the group, it is not a particular person. This means in the process going to achieve common goals of the group, anyone can be a leader and has influence on others. According to Northouse (2007) the leader of a group has five key traits such as sociability, intelligence, self- confident, determination and integrity. Those five key traits have been utilized in order to adjudge employees’ leadership skills. The following issue of leadership theory is leadership’s nature. As the same situation with leadership definition, its nature also has a several opinions. Authors such as Jago (1982), Bass (1990), Burns (1978), Heller and Van Til (1983), Hollander (1992) considered leadership as a process, while author such as Bryman (1992) defined it as traits. Among those authors, some of them approached leadership as a prominent situation whereas others viewed it as an assigned one. As a viewpoint of Bryman (1992) seeing leadership as traits, considered leadership as one’s property and different people will have different level of leadership (Northouse, 2007). As the result, following this view, leader can be seen as born-talented and it seems could not be learnt. This view will make people unconfident and do not have motivation to develop their leadership skills. The second concern about the nature of leadership is the distinction between the view of assigned and the view of emergent in leadership. With the view assigned, leadership is understood as the one in a position of a formal organization. For instance, course leader or dean of a department. However, it can be seen that in some cases, assigned leadership is not the real leader of the group. In contrary view, leader can be anyone who can influence people in a group whenever he has an occupying position or not. It is emergent leadership and there are two points of view about the emergent leadership. On the one hand, some authors state that personal traits will make the point. That means the person who has brilliant brain, confident and dominant performance will become a emergent leader (Smith and Foti, 1998). On the other hand, other researchers point out that the emergent leader is the person who is sociable and always seeking others’ opinion (Fisher,1974) Finally, thinking about two concepts of leadership and management, comparing some aspects of two of them, people will confuse whether it is different or not because they have many common things. For example, human and their relationship will be the center of both concepts. In addition, achieving one or more common goals is the purpose of the two concepts. Moreover, two concepts involve process. In brief, many functions of management are also mentioned when envisaged about leadership. However, the nature of the two concepts can prove that they are two different concepts. Kotter (1990) cited in Northouse (2007,) shows that the order and consistency of organizations is the primary function that provide by management while change and movement of organizations is the primary function of leadership. This means management seems to be more ordered and stable, whereas leadership is about looking for adaptive and constructive change. The second part is about entrepreneurship. The same situation with leadership, entrepreneurship also has a huge amount of definitions and descriptions that over the decades, authors such as Bowen and Hisrich, 1996; Morrison, 2000; Deakins and Freel, 2006 try to clarify (Kuratko and hodgetts, 2007). For instance, Schumpeter (1951) indicates that entrepreneurship is one of aspects of leadership in the wide context. Meanwhile Shapero (1975) states that entrepreneurship is a type of behavior such as risk taker, innovator and visionary. However, the most used definition by many authors when talking about entrepreneurship is â€Å"the process of creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time and effort; assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risk and uncertainties, and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction†. This definition was written in the text book of Baron and Shane (2008), Hisrich et al. (2010) and Kuratko and Hodgetts (2007) Seeing inside entrepreneurship, it is easily to discover that there are some different theories written about its nature over decades (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007). In order to evaluate, the two approaches will be used are â€Å"School of thought† approach and process approach. On the one hand, the first approach called â€Å"school of thought† divided entrepreneurship into six different activities such as environment, financial, traits, venture opportunity, strategic formulation. This essay will look into each activity in order to have a clear concept about its nature. First of all, Van de Ven (1993) state that environment â€Å"school of thought† viewpoint is external elements could affect entrepreneur. For example, the social group or socio-political that the entrepreneurs join in can influence them not only in positive way but also in negative way. Secondly, when raise the idea about financial school of thought, Brophu and Shulman (2002) indicated that entrepreneurship present based on capital-seeking process. This can be understand because â€Å"This school of thought views the entire entrepreneurial venture from a financial management standpoint† (Brophy and Shulman, 2002 cited in Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007, p. 38). This view expresses that financial essential for a development of entrepreneur. Thirdly, traits in entrepreneur are the school of thought that has been researched the most (Shaver and Scott, 2004). This view considered that the success of entrepreneurs come from the characteristic such as achievement, creativity, determination and technical knowledge (Shaver and Scott, 2004). In this school of thought, it can be found the two opposite point. Aronsson (2004) believes in the element of entrepreneurship such as creative and challenging. In this view, he seems to be except education factor in entrepreneur development. Contrasting this point, Katz (2004) states that entrepreneur can be made by education. The positive of this point is that it will motivate people in learning to become entrepreneur based on the education and training program. This is very important to enhance entrepreneurship (Katz, 2004 cited in Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007). Venture opportunity is another school of thought and it concentrates on the opportunity aspect of venture development. It means if someone want to be a successful entrepreneur, he/she must has the awareness of market and be creativity (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007). Last but not least, some researchers have been focused on strategic formulation (Steiner, 1979; Lyles, 2001; Hitt et al. , 2001). In this school of thought, the successful development of entrepreneur cannot be absent of the planning process and this must be uniqueness (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007). On the other hand, Morris et al. (1994) indicate that process approach also has some point of view such as integrative, assessment and multidimensional. While there are different approaches and it looking in to different aspect of ntrepreneurship, Kuratko and Hodgetts (2007) wrote that the common aim of those approach is â€Å"to describe the entrepreneurial process as a consolidation of diverse factors† (p43) In order to have a comprehensive context about entrepreneurship to adjudge the selected person, some other theories will be added besides the two approaches ways discussed above. For instance, entrepreneur is defined as whom alert to profitable opportunities for exchange (Kirzn er cited in Deakins and Freel, 2009) whereas Schumpeter (2009) viewed it as an innovator. The view of Kirzner make everybody can be an entrepreneur while Schumpeter think that only person who has special ability can be entrepreneur (Deakins and Freel, 2009). Looking into two viewpoint above, it is easily see that Kirzner’s view is better because people can have motivation to become entrepreneur. There are also having a lot of conceptualized of entrepreneur of other authors such as Stokes and Wilson, Drucker. However, the most common entrepreneur approach is the trait approach. The trait approach indicate that there are five popular personality of entrepreneur: need for achievement, need for autonomy, self-belief, risk-taking and locus of control (McClelland 1961; Getz, Morrison & Carlsen 2004; Wu 1989; Stokes and Wilson 2006; Drucker 1995; Brockhaus & Horwitz 1986 ). Based on those theories, the author will apply on Conrad Hilton. The essay’s author notices that although Conrad Hilton has both skills and traits in terms of leadership and entrepreneurship, it is easily seeing that his entrepreneurship skills seem to outweigh his leadership ones (Baird, 2004). In fact, no one can deny Hilton’s entrepreneurship abilities because of clearly evidences. This is illustrated in Baird’s research that he tends to do his business in different ways with very good vision and high level of self-believe. Baird (2004) indicates that in 1950s when a platoon of hotels in Washington, New York and Chicago could not get the profit and led to loss, Hilton bought them then operated and got the profit from them. In addition, a â€Å"magic formula† of financial management standards was guided to set in all hotel departments by Hilton in order to reducing costs as well as increasing profits when guest services are remained and enhanced. Moreover, after the World War I, Conrad Hilton was always seeking new opportunities for his business. In 1919, when visiting the Texas town of Cisco, he quickly realized the oil fields and railroad travelers were the new potential business. Thinking about the experience of operated family’s hotels in New Mexico, he can make Mobley Hotel operation better so that he bought it instead of a local Cisco bank. His business seems very profitable when his hotel averaged 300% occupancy and its profit can make him have enough money to buy the second hotels in Fort Worth despite of the 1920 depression (the Melba, in October 1919). After that, he continued bought two others small Texas hotels. By the end of 1923, the hotels room operation in Texas was 530. During the stock market crash in 1929, as many other American’s hotel, Hilton hotels performed poorly and was going to bankruptcy, however, instead of declaring bankruptcy, he challenged his business again by making a financial agreement with the National Hotels Corporation. Once again, his business was imaging successful and money earned from that business allowed him to pay off all his loans before. Strand (1951) supposes that the efficient Hilton â€Å"magic formula† management system has kept the hotels profitable even with low occupancy. All of those evidences present Conrad Hilton entrepreneurship skills including doing things in different way, need for achievement, need for autonomy, self-belief, risk-taking and locus of control as mentioned in the theories review part above. Moreover, the most clear and convince evidence is that Comfort (1964) has considered Hilton as an international entrepreneur (Baird, 2004). By contrast, although it is though that he is also a leader, there are very limited references mentioned this aspect of him. From the resources have been found by the essay’ author, only Baird (2004) states that Hilton played â€Å"a leadership role in support of an economic mean sand a philosophical approach to achieving world peace†(Baird 2004, p. 3). As a result, â€Å"he became not only a business leader but also a statesman with access to world leaders† (Baird 2004, p. ). According to theories above, it can be said that he belongs to assigned leader because he is not only a chairman in his hotel organization but also a statesman in American political system. However, combining with the process of getting successful in his life in which many his special traits have been presented, it could be said that he also has potential to become an emergent leader without any formal position. To be brief, it is clear that the controversy about leadership and entrepreneurship will never last among writers over years. Although those theories above are a small part of the giant knowledge about leadership and entrepreneurship and they are not really holistic, they still can be seen as the best core knowledge of these fields. Therefore, the evaluation of skills and ability about leadership and entrepreneurship of Conrad Hilton in hospitality and tourism industry based on these theories is acceptable. In the discussion above, it can be stated that Conrad Hilton is not only an entrepreneur but also a leader specially assigned leader. However, his entrepreneurship is out weight of leadership.

Ethics Case Study Henry’s Daughters Essay

First question: The movie â€Å"Henry’s daughters† reflects a big amount of ethical issues at individual and societal level. Sorted by importance and the impacting level, the following list shows the highlighted ethical issues based on my perception. 1. The selfish perception of benefits that Henry had. Such selfish that even his family would be affected. If his daughters cannot trust him, how his employees will? 2. The Invasion of privacy. There are issues existing with gathering private data about individuals using the technology. For instance: cameras in the offices. 3. The fact that some work done by Julie for OUTOCAR was used without giving her credit. 4. The negative daring from Julie’s co-worker. This intentional and disrespectful interaction with sexual intentions or the sexist jokes throughout the movie should not be tolerated. 5. The influence of political and social factors when taking a decision that should be based on technical and engineering aspects. 6. Commented issues between family and friends that might be confidential. For example: Laura and Julie are housemates, where they do not avoid talking about the project. The problem appears when both discussed proprietary information of the company. 7. The unhealthy competition of three family members at their professional areas. Bad business, at the end the movie shows that there is more to lose when we involved family in such unethical way. Second question: Engineers are responsible for creating the everyday tools that everyone uses. Because engineers create the tools that people use, of course there needs to be an ethical code which every engineer must respect and follow. The film (Henry’s Daughters) takes a peek into many of the ethical issues raised by engineers. However, all of them might be solved by the proper moral propositions. Some ideas are in establishing: the proper environment, ethics as a priority when adding new employees, and fair incentives. The culture of  the company should adopt an open work environment, happy and fair to all employees. Therefore, the actions of the company must be oriented towards the welfare and morale. The culture should take into account the goals and objectives of the company, but the monetary targets should be the only ones highlighted. Nevertheless, the key is always keeping happiness and productivity together. New people, ideas, and strategies can lead to behavioral and performance c hanges in order to mold new ways of thinking and culture changes. To be more specific, the company’s culture can improve by rotating managers with different views of competitive conditions or operations. It is a way to supply different, needed skills or capabilities from the outside. It is also important to add, for old and new employees, evocative company’s purpose. This is to provide an address to stimulate employees’ learning, and so, they have something they believe in beyond just a â€Å"job.† Also it is vital to provide encouragement and praise to those employees that show progress in any project. Incentives affect behavior and performance and attract new resources and capabilities, which can lead to culture change. On the other hand, the movie shows how disproportional incentives can blind people. Henry’s actions were illegal. Taking the prize for a competition that was not fairly won is highly unethical. Obviously, he got blind because of his selfish point of view of incentives. All these propositions should be analyzed and applied by both, employees and managers. They should actively interact to discuss suggestions and ideas to improve company’s culture. Finally, once the ideas were picked, communication is the key. Company policy should be seen through all marketing material, including TV, magazine, newspapers, and websites. Career fair visibility is important as well to get news about the company out to the public and potential employees. Once those portals (to communicate ethical factors and others) are established, the focus can be the employees’ productivity. Monthly newsletters from company executives highlighting company policy should be sent to employees, so they are aware of changes or improvements being made. All these ideas are based on my perception about the topic. It is a way to show how my perception disagrees with Henry’s. Instead of following a code of ethics, Henry has an â€Å"ends justify the means† philosophy and does not consider ethical and moral implications in his work. He bribes DOT executives and tangles himself in conflicts of interest. In the end, Henry  pays the consequences for his actions when the senate ethics committee finds him guilty of unethical practices. His reputation is ruined and his relationship with his daughters is damaged. All of this could have been avoided. He sadly lost much more than he was able to win.