Company †Strengths and weaknesses Analysis Essay

Application Assignment †¢Application Assignment on Situational Analysis and SWOT common to all themespgs MM-112 to MM-122 PART B and C (to be submitted together) (15+ 5 Marks) Company –Strengths and weaknesses Analysis Remember this assignment is in continuity to the previous marketing assignment. Here we do a strength and weakness analysis for our company vis -a- vis competitors. We need to know: A. What special strength/ competence or assets company has to satisfy the needs of customers? B. Who competes with us in meeting those needs and what is their competence, strength or asset? Can we scale our own firm and the major competitors on those competencies and strengths? This kind of an analysis follows a 3-step process. 1Identification of all our Competitors. Competition does not stem only from products or firms that compete directly for your market share but also from any company that satisfies the same customer need. (Refer to the ‘Market concept of competition’ at the end of the assignment ) 2List the areas in which your organization or the competitor has the competence. Needless to say that these areas should be industry relevant. An indicative list of the areas in which a firm can have strength / competence is listed below. Innovation ?Ability to develop innovative products ?Amount of Rs. spent on R&D ?Patents that a company has to its credit ?Technical product or service superiority Manufacturing ?Favorable Cost Structure ?Flexible production operations ?Access to Raw materials ?Quality of work force ?Capacity ?Outsourcing Finance- Access to capital ?Ability to generate funds in the short and long run ?Ability to use debt and equity financing ?Parent firms willingness to finance Management ?Quality of top and middle management ?Knowledge of business ?Culture ?Strategic goals and plans ?Entrepreneurial thrust ?Planning or operation system ?Loyalty ?Quality of strategic decision making. Marketing ?Product quality reputation ?Product differentiation ?Brand name recognition ?Customer orientation ?Breadth of the product line ?Segmentation ?Distribution ?Retailer relationship ?Advertising / Promotional skills ?Sales force ?Service Customer base ?Size and loyalty ?Market share ?Growth of segments served This list is only indicative to serve as a guide to the major areas in which a firm can have strength/ competence. You can add on or delete items to suit to your company and industry. 3Scaling your organization vis – a – vis the competitors on the parameters listed above-The Competitive strength Grid *(Please refer exhibit at the end of the assignment) Once the strengths / assets relevant to the industry have been identified, one has to scale one’s own firm and the major competitors on those strengths. One such grid has been done for the Luxury car market. The left side of the grid identifies the areas in which a luxury car maker can have strengths/ competencies namely product quality, product differentiation etc. On the right side various brands have been scaled with either less than average, average or above average position with respect to the strength/ competence identified. For ex. Cadillac has above average position in product quality, average when it comes to product differentiation and less than average on dealer satisfaction, all 3 areas being key to success in a car market. Assignment questions 1. Identify all the major competitors to your product. (Already done in part A of the assignment) †¢ICICI bank †¢HDFC †¢SBI †¢Deutsche Bank †¢Citibank †¢Goldman Sachs 2. Identify and list all the major strengths/assets/ competencies relevant to your industry. Core competencies: †¢Customer service †¢Risk management & Compliance †¢Strategy & Development †¢Strong leadership and management †¢Sales, marketing and Operations †¢Client base and brand 3. Scale your firm and any two other competitors on these strengths in a Competitive Strength Grid as is shown in the example. HSBCICICI bank Deutsche Bank †¢Customer service †¢Reach to the customer is good †¢Good relationship management †¢Premier clients focused cells †¢Reach to the customer is good †¢Premier clients focused cells †¢Reach to the customer is good †¢Good relationship management †¢Premier clients focused cells †¢Risk management & Compliance †¢Credit Risk †¢Operational Risk †¢Market Risk †¢Credit Risk †¢Operational Risk †¢Market Risk †¢Credit Risk †¢Operational Risk †¢Market Risk †¢Strategy & Development †¢Reach to global markets †¢Presence in emerging economies †¢Specific to one country †¢Reach to global markets Strong leadership and management †¢Business expansions & Leadership support †¢Culture of developing and retaining leaders †¢Strong international management and leadership †¢Business expansions regionally †¢Strong management presence †¢Business expansions & Leadership support †¢Strong international management and leadership †¢Sales, marketing and Operations †¢Consumer / Transactional Sales †¢Advisory / Relationship Management Sales †¢Consumer / Transactional Sales †¢Advisory / Relationship Management Sales †¢Consumer / Transactional Sales †¢Advisory / Relationship Management Sales Client base and brand †¢History and strong brand †¢Your local banker approach †¢Internationally renowned brand †¢Strong regional brand †¢History and strong brand †¢Internationally renowned brand 4. Do you have a competitive advantage superior to that of the competitor in any or more area? Do you see major areas for improvement in any competitive area? The areas of competitive advantage are: †¢Strategy & Development †¢Reach to global markets †¢Presence in emerging economies †¢Strong leadership and management †¢Culture of developing and retaining leaders Strong international management and leadership †¢Client base and brand †¢History and strong brand †¢Your local banker approach †¢Internationally renowned brand Areas for improvement: †¢Larger presence in retail operations in emerging economies †¢Leveraging technology to increase efficiency, access to markets and risk management †¢Innovation by providing weekend banking and banking in non official hours PART C Assignment question 1. Based upon PART A and Part B of the assignment, consolidate the Strengths , Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for your organization into a SWOT Grid.

Understanding Organisations and the Role of Hr

1. Introduction The briefing note is aimed to support a new manager to gain some understanding of the organisation in preparation for their start. Enterprise is a private sector organisation that has a current turnover of ? 1. 1bn. Enterprise currently employ’s circa 17,000 people including direct and DSP staff. 1. 1 Enterprise is the UK’s largest dedicated maintenance and front-line service provider to the public sector and utility industry. 2. Company Analysis 2. 1 Enterprise offers a wide range of services to its customers.The business is split into two divisions, one of which is the Government division. The Government division offers nationwide coverage in the following work streams: Grounds Maintenance, street cleansing, refuse collection, social housing, asbestos surveys & removal, building repairs & maintenance and local roads. The Government division is involved in a joint venture with Amymouchel. The second major division is the Utilities division. The Utilitie s division is broken down further into sub divisions which are, defence, MOD, gas, water and power.The main role of the Utilities division as a whole is to perform maintenance tasks including fixing water leaks, repairing gas leaks, installing Utility supplies, designing and installing power substations and repairing broken connections. The Utilities -division is also involved in joint ventures with Carillion and MoDern Housing solutions. Enterprise also has a Central Support division that contains dedicated departments who provide support services to the group. The departments within the central support include Finance, I. T, Payroll, Central HR, Health & Safety, Commercial, Procurement and Marketing. See Appendices 1. ) 2. 2 Due to the fact that Enterprise provides such a diversity of services the customers are both from the Public and Private sector. Enterprise has long term partnerships with Local and Central Government. An example of this would be a 28 year ‘waste partner ship’ with Solihull Borough Council. Other Local Government organisations that Enterprise perceives as customers currently include London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Liverpool City Council, Wolverhampton City Council, Manchester City Council, Gloucestershire City Council and Peterborough City Council.Central Government customers include MOD Defence Estates, Highways Agency and Transport for London. Enterprise works closely with Utilities companies to provide people’s homes and business with reliable gas, power, and water and communication links daily and has major contracts and partnerships with the following customers: United Utilities, Severn Trent Water, Scottish Power e-on Energy and National Grid. As the majority of Enterprise operations are carried out within the community they have a high emphasise on Corporate Responsibility in order to engage the wider community. . 3 Enterprise has a unique approach in terms of its purpose and goals. The main purpose of t he organisation is captured within the mission statement which is; ‘’To be at the heart of our customers and communities; delivering plans to improve service and maintain essential infrastructure for present and future generations in an environment that allows our people to contribute and realise their full potential’’. Enterprise as a Private organisation has a purpose of providing a financial return to its Stakeholders as well as surviving and developing if possible.Enterprise has a set of driving principles that define the goals that work towards delivering the Enterprise vision which is; ‘’In our chosen markets of utilities and the public sector, to be the leading integrated service provider focused on front line delivery. ’’ The 5 driving principles are as follows: Health & Safety: As Enterprise work at the centre of people’s lives and neighbourhood’s Health & Safety of both employees and members of the public is paramount. This means that the policies are rigorous, thorough and proven.Community Cohesion and Well Being: Responsibility in the community that Enterprise works in, the companies it works with and the employees. Sustainable communities that balance the social, economic and environmental components of their local area. This will benefit the residents, businesses and future generations. Partnership & People: Enterprise’s preferred method of working with a customer is through a transparent partnership. This facilitates communication and enables better working relationships.The flexible pro active nature of these partnerships allows contracts to evolve and move with the changing nature of the industry and customers need in the opinion of Enterprise. Enterprise follows a ‘respecting people’ agenda which allows employees to influence service delivery. They continually invest in skills and technical knowledge in order to remain an innovative leading service provide r. Performance Improvement & Best Value: The experience and knowledge Enterprise has of its markets, combined with their least cost operating models, enable them to design services that produce improved performance and best value for customers.Technology and Innovation: Enterprise has innovative technology and bespoke software that designed by an in house team. This increases the efficiency of operation and improves communications between sites, offices and customers. IT is at the core of all operations and a least cost, improved performance is essential to ensure a safe workplace. 2. 4 Enterprise believes that external factors do have an impact on the business activities of the organisation. Please see (Appendices 2. ) which is a PESTLE analysis of Enterprise.Listed below are four examples of external factors that Enterprise will be directly affected by, Auto Enrolment This is the Government initiative that Enterprise considers as a political external influence. Auto enrolment is a imed at getting employees enrolled into a pension scheme. Enterprise as a large business has to do this by April 2013. Employees are automatically enrolled into the scheme with the option to ‘opt out’. The minimum contribution of the employees is 1% of their salary with a contribution from the employer. The impact on Enterprise is financial due to the contribution to the pension scheme.The fact that all employees need to be communicated with and engaged with the scheme is a drain on cost and time. Enterprise has had to employee a number of temporary staff who specialise in pensions to guide and work on the impact of the scheme. This again is a financial strain on the organisation. Rising Fuel Costs Enterprise have identified the increasing rise in fuel costs as a potential threat to the business. Enterprise has reacted to this by introducing a ‘Lower initiative. ’ All new starters to the business are given information on ways to save fuel, for example car s haring.As many of the operations within Enterprise involve vehicles and plant reducing fuel consumption is extremely important. Graduates Enterprise has always had a graduate scheme and recruits every year. Due to the both social and political impacts the number of graduates per year is decreasing, increased university cost sand high rates of unemployment are the main contributors for this. This is impacting on the business in terms of reduced Graduate vacancies and fewer specialist candidates. Enterprise view graduates as the future and look to talent manage graduates into certain arrears of the business.They are also seen as ideal candidates whilst ‘succession planning. ’ A positive impact of the above is that apprentice schemes have become a popular alternative within the UK and Enterprise has over 130 active apprentices. This is a 50% increase on 2010 figures. Adverse Weather Over the last few of years the weather has changed significantly which has had an effect on Enterprise. It has impacted the business in both a positive and negative way. For example due to the cold weather in the winter the need for winter grit to be laid on the road has increased, this means business for Enterprise in this area has been amplified.On the opposite side of the coin, during wet summers work on the roads for example laying new cables and surfacing dressing can be a slow process. Enterprise perceives this as an external Environmental factor that is difficult to manage. 2. 5 Enterprise operates a ‘conventional’ hierarchical organisational structure predominantly but has aspects of ‘span of control structure’ also. This is mainly due to the size of the organisation and the variety of services it offers. As Enterprise is split into two major divisions with sub sections within these departments it is difficult to put the overall organisational chart into context.Enterprise does have aspects of a ‘Matrix’ organisation. This is dependent on projects that need to be undertaken or new contracts that are won. Enterprise has to be flexible to endorse this kind of structure and have the resources to cover staff movement. Please see (Appendices 2. ). Enterprise produces quarterly organisational charts to track any movements that take place and analyse where people slot in to the business. Appendices 2, illustrates the structure of the finance department for Enterprise which is a relatively tall conventional structure and is built up via a number of levels.Within the finance department there are several different functions including, financial accountants, purchase to pay, sales ledger, payroll and treasury. This chart highlights the positions of all the employees that make up each function and how they are all interlinked to make the finance department as a whole. It also confirms the spans of control of Managers and supervisors. 2. 6 As described in 2. 5 the Finance department in Enterprise has several differe nt functions. An explanation of how these functions work together ould be as follows; The monthly payroll team pulls together the payroll 3 days before the money is due too reach the employee’s accounts. This has to be signed by the Support Services manager. Once this has been signed payroll process, this is then with the treasury department to allocate the monies into the accounts of the employees in time for pay day 3 days later. After this the accountants are left to analyse the payments for each department of the business and raise any queries they may have. 2. 7 The culture of Enterprise is outlined in the mission statement and within its 5 driving principles (see 2. ). Enterprise also has a strict set of values that it expects all of its employees to follow: * Integrity – Transparency, relationship, fair, equitable and professional * Practicality – Straightforward, productive, innovative and pragmatic * Achievement – Focussed, driven, clear, ambitio n and success * Collaborative – Flexible, positive, incentivised, developing, community and team * Responsiveness – Listen, engage, create and participate The culture of Enterprise does have an affect on operations. Examples below: 1.Due to Enterprises commitment to its vision, principles and values, Enterprise can offer responsive efficient services provided by dedicated individuals 2. Enterprise works within the community promoting local employment and engagement with the use of small and medium enterprises (SME’s) through the Enterprise Foundation which is a vehicle dedicated to delivering community related support and improvement projects. This is a key part of the CR agenda. 2. 8 Enterprise has a dedicated central HR function that supports the organisations strategy in many ways.Please see below three examples of this: Learning & Development Enterprise encourages employees to undertake training courses to improve personal development. HR will research parti cular courses to make sure they are relevant to the employee’s role and report back to the budget holders with the findings. PDR Workshops Enterprises HR team offers managers the opportunity to attend workshops to make sure they carry out PDR’s efficiently (personal development reviews. ) For example it is explained that the PDR’s are linked to talent management which looks at developing Enterprise’s current employees linking back to the business strategy.Induction Corporate inductions are delivered by the HR department to all new starters. This is seen as essential to emphasise to all employee’s the vision, goals and strategy of the business as well as making new employee’s welcome and provides key statutory information. 2. 9 The HR function at Enterprise is always on hand to provide support to line mangers and their staff. Here are three ways in which they achieve this: * Updating policies and procedures in accordance with legislative chan ges and with the business needs.Making sure these are easily accessible for line managers and their employee’s to access. * Through knowledge and experience HR professionals within Enterprise provide managers with support on disciplinary issues. Making sure that the correct process is followed to avoid tribunal cases. * HR systems are an integral part of Enterprise as all office based staff use them. The HR team control these systems and provide data from them to support manager’s needs. 3. Conclusion This briefing document is aimed at familiarising a new manager with the services, structure and systems of Enterprise.It has shown that Enterprise is a large maintenance and front line service provider within the public sector and utilities industry employing circa 17,000 staff in the UK. The structure is a mixture of conventional, hierarchical and matrix. The services include all aspect of utilities including repairs of gas, water, power and electricity and public servic es including building maintenance and refuse collecting. HR supports the business by being a point of contact for managers and employees on any issues they have. This works towards Enterprise achieve it overall strategy and goals.

Compare and contrast two theories of child development. Drawing upon Essay

Compare and contrast two theories of child development. Drawing upon your study and research , justify your preference for one - Essay Example But, some organisations use the term infant from birth to age of three. Increased research and interest in the field of child development has resulted in new theories and strategies. But, among all these, theories proposed by Piaget and Vygotsky are most popular. Developmental stages In a new born child, process of connecting the nerve cells are rapid during the first 18 months, and sound, smell, sight, taste, and touch are the ways baby learn about the world. As babies learn to sit up, crawl, stand and then walk, the possibilities quickly expand, and are ready to experiment with toys and other materials. Generally the brain of the toddler is twice as active as adult, and during the period between 18 months to three years, structures of the brain that is sensitive to language and social emotional response develop.   The age between three to six years is the fastest growth period for the frontal lobe networks in a child, and the actions such as memory, processing, and problem solvin g are increasing during this period. During the preschool years, imagination and interaction play starting roles (Child Development Institute, 2010).   In the age of six to nine years, children are in the primary grades, and have gotten the hang of basic dexterity, language, and social skills. During this period they are eager to practice and refine them, and they like to challenge themselves, intellectually, with puzzles and games that test their growing knowledge. The maturation of the frontal lobe continues even in the adolescence period which falls from the age of nine to fourteen years.  During this age emotional regulation becomes greater, spatial working memory improves, speed and efficiency of thought increases, planning and problem solving skills increase, and scientific reasoning and ability to understand one's own thinking develops (Child Development Institute, 2010).   Piaget theory Piaget’s view of how child’s mind work and develop has been enormousl y influential, especially in educational theory. As he says, children cannot take certain tasks until they are psychologically mature enough to do so. According to Piaget, the mental development of a child is purely internal, individualist, and self directed. For understanding something new, child must construct it itself, and have to re-invent it. Whenever we teach something to the child he/she keep from inventing it itself (Ginsbury, H. Opper, S, 1979). Piaget Cognitive Development Stages. Source: Child Development Institute Almost all child progress through four different stages and they are all very distinct stages regard to cognitive development. The first stage is sensor motor, second stage is preoperational, third one is concrete operational and fourth one is formal operational. This is popularly known as Piaget’s stage theory as it deals with four stages of development (ECheat.com, 2005). The first stage in the child’s cognitive development is sensor motor. It occurs from birth to the age of two. During this period the child basically deals with what is presented to it, and learn about physical objects and is concerned with motor skills and the consequences of some of their actions. So, in this stage child would learn the concept of object permanence. The preoperational stage is the second stage of cognitive develop

China Airlines Flight 642 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

China Airlines Flight 642 - Essay Example This essay will examine the Threat and Error Management where it will look into detail on the threat of typhoons as an aviation problem. There are three components of Threat and Error management, and they include threats are defined as anything that by itself or combined with another element causes adverse effects on the outcome of the flight. There are various causes of threats such as like weather, a complex procedure and an aircraft malfunction (Flexman, 2012, P. 32). Threats such as the weather require a lot of attention from the management to ensure that safety is maintained. Errors are said to be pilot’s actions or inactions that cause the deviation of the plane in some kind. Lastly, there are undesired states that are defined as operational states where an unintended situation happens in lessening in limits of safety. It has been established that undesired states that are as a result of ineffective threat or error controlling may lead to bargained situations; hence, reducing the limits of safety in flight operations Threat and Error Management accepts that human error will occur, which is a shift from what was believed previous by the airline safety belief. Therefore, TEM is a predominant safety concept that relates to flight operations and human actions. Although not a revolutionary concept, it has evolved gradually because of the continuous drive to develop the boundaries of safety in flight operations through convenient incorporation of Human facets of knowledge. The framework of the TEM is a theoretical model that helps in the indulgent from an operational viewpoint, the inter-relationship amid safety and human performance in perplexing and dynamic operational contexts. The framework focuses concurrently on the operative context and the individuals discharging operational duties. Therefore, the framework of the TEM is diagnostic and descriptive of both system and human performance. The

CITI business case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

CITI business - Case Study Example Increased competition for capital continues to force banks to innovate (Citibank, 2008). In order to differentiate its e-business products from those of its competitors, Citibank took several measures(Citibank, 2008). First, the bank developed a strategy for its corporate banking division where its target corporate clients included multinational corporations (MNCs), financial institutions, government agencies, local enterprises and SMEs. The bank understood that each of these corporate client categories had unique needs. The bank realized to need to go the extra mile to package its products to meet the unique needs of every customer (Citibank, 2008). Citibank also differentiated itself and its products from those of its competitors through an improved, comprehensive customer service. The customer service includes telephone hotlines, relationship managers who take their time to comprehend the individual customer’s needs and product advisors whose role is to advise customers on the product or products that most suits its needs. Finally, the bank continues to invest heavily in technology in order to promote both the front- and back-end electronic banking systems. Besides, the bank seeks to make itself more accessible to its customers through what is calls its unified platform. The platform uses a teamwork approach that allows the bank to work with every function in the organization of the client (Citibank, 2008). Grow its global reach: As at the time of developing this strategy in 2008, Citibank had operations in 100 countries of the world and employed over 268,000 people. This global presence, the bank believes, puts it in a strong position to meet the global needs of its customers. This being the case, the bank should continue its global expansion drive. Strengthen its brand: The bank believes that it has built a strong brand

The Effects of Patriarchy on the Lives of the Women Essay

The Effects of Patriarchy on the Lives of the Women - Essay Example Maxine Hong’s tale, ‘No Name Woman’, has an even more glaring depiction of the Chinese patriarchal culture’s expectations of women. Hong, at one point, states that her pregnant aunt, whom nobody ever mentioned by name, could not possibly have been the sole woman to choose to give up everything for some sexual intimacy. Hong states that it is more likely that some strange man simply commanded her to do so; and she had no right to refuse him because she was brought up to have no will of her own (Hong, 3). This is a startling revelation that shows how women were socialized to be virtual slaves to the whims of men. China’s patriarchal system did not allow its women to develop any sense of individuality. In Isabel Allende’s ‘An Act of Vengeance’, it is Senator Anselmo Orellano himself, who, through his thoughts, when being attacked, reveal the dark strain of misogyny that can only be supported by a patriarchal society that views women as the property of men. When he first sees the rabblerousers coming, Senator Orellano locks his daughter Dulce Rosa in the furthest room on the patio. This effectively stops her from hiding in secret places where she may have suspected the men would not know to check. When near death, Senator Orellano then begins to imagine that, once they are finished with him, the attackers will proceed to the room where his child is hidden and â€Å"carry out their duties† (Zapata, 18).

UK Budget Hotel Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UK Budget Hotel Sector - Essay Example The importance of conducting this research is seen in the relevance of discussing financial crisis in today's time, which affects almost all businesses, sectors, and industries. In the light of this financial crisis, the study shall look at the direction and future of the UK budget hotel sector. The economic theories will help direct the research in its determination of the future of the sector in order to produce a socially scientific prediction on the direction of its future. The research is also relevant in today's era of globalization, which allows businesses to compete at a wider scope of markets. The financial crisis in which the UK budget hotel is situated is also a relevant point of discussion since it enables for a development of insights on the current global crisis situation. Hence, since globalisation, competitive advantage, and economic productivity are relevant concepts in today's businesses, the pursuit for this research makes it an important endeavour. Likewise, the current global crisis that puts nations, trade, and businesses in a rather bad condition is an important aspect that will be necessarily touched in the research due to the topic itself. All of these considerations will be tackled in the research, making it fit to the body of knowledge which other researchers may utilise for their own. IV. Literature Review The literature review will comprise of three parts: The development of the UK budget hotel sector The globalised industry in which the budget hotel sector is situated How financial crisis affect budget hotels The Development of the UK Budget Hotel Sector Brotherton (2004) explores the critical success factors in the operations of UK budget hotel and utilises the questionnaire survey design in ascertaining the relevance of these factors in academic and trade literature. A report from Hall (2004) suggests that in over a five-year period from 1997, there was an annual growth rate of almost 20 percent in room capacity among the UK budget hotel sector. The report likewise examines key emerging trends in the sector, including the branded budget hotels' city-centre focus. In the development of UK budget hotel, it is important to mention that the management of "commitment cultures," the recruitment and selection procedures, and the training and development practices, which are all in the heart of human resource management (HRM) are important points to ponder (McGunnigle and Jameson, 2000, p. 404). It is suggested that firms that adopt an HRM approach put high regard on employee commitment, sophisticated and objective

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RCP 1 End of Chapter 1 H.W Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

RCP 1 End of Chapter 1 H.W - Assignment Example The company’s network comprises of the basic information security measurements; the C.I.A triangle. This is another assumption because all network security companies rely on this triangle as fundamentals of their business. Confidentiality, integrity and availability are the prime reasons why clients trust backup companies like Data Mart with their confidential information. An example of how Data Mart protects its data from untrusted network is shown in this diagram; The main asset category at Data Mart falls under intellectual assets, be it their staff or the company information they store in their 200 rack mounted servers. The assumptions are that the company has a simple setup of a typical backup protection company that offers additional services of data analysis. Here is a brief list of organization’s assets; Data Mart faces all those threats that can damage its data or somehow compromise its integrity that the customers trust it with. Network connections create the possibility of spilling problems due to an exogenous or endogenous attack that depends on the profile of security investments (Acemoglu, Malekian, & Ozdaglar, 2013).   Here are some specific threats that Data Mart faces; Bypassing the access controls is one of the favorite attacks. Making educated guesses about passwords or trying every possible combination of numbers and letters makes them finally guess the right password. In a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, the assailant sends a number of requests to the target. So, numerous requests are made that the system cannot appendage them. The system can crash or it may just be unable to accomplish different functions. In Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) the attacker(s) launches an integrated number of requests against an entity from numerous locations simultaneously. These threats include Trojan horses, viruses, worms, active web scripts etc. meant to destroy of steal

Mao's China and Beyond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mao's China and Beyond - Essay Example At any point when a nation and its people are faced with times of change, such evolution can be hectic as it moves forward to approach whatever issues, would need to be handled. Each national party and their leader(s), along with the citizenry themselves, would have unique interpretations of what should and shouldn't be there.These changes can and often times do, take many shapes. Such as, resulting issues over social welfare, economic standing, along with the resulting political unrest that transpires alongside everything else. For the citizens of China, they would encounter ramifications of their own, as a result of the advancement of the Communist movement. Over time, the influence of the movement would be determined. According to Maoism, "Deliberate organizing of mass military and economic power was deemed necessary to defend the revolutionary threat, while centralization kept corruption under supervision," ("Communism", p.15). This in itself would appear to be a positive step, b ut only time would tell how much. Any nation, or civilization, possesses cultural structures, for which they would be proud of. The structures that would be set to distinguish themselves from one another and in the process, would act as a unifier for the general masses. From the social standpoint, "As with the New Culture movement, Mao believed that all vestiges of Chinese traditional culture needed to be overturned. These included hsiao, or filial piety, Confucianism, monarchism, ancestor worship, religion, and the authority of elders," (Hooker, p.2). The movement of Mao's ideology, would further be translated politically as well. In viewing the political philosophy set forth, it would appear as if a contradiction in meaning. When most view proposed democracy, they view it in terms similar, if not exact, to the present US structure of government. In essence of this, "Mao himself referred to "New Democracy" as "democratic centralism"," (Hooker, p.3). With every revolution, comes the hope of a new beginning and the progression from old ideas, to new and what may be seen as better ones. The problem would potentially be that, "Democratic centralism essence a dictatorship- "a dictatorship of all revolutionary classes," in Mao's words- power would be concentrated in the hands of a few in order to guarantee that all class interests are represented," (Hooker, p.3). In further study, it would be discovered that part of Mao's policy, would be making both the financial institutions and general industry more on a national scale. Also there would be re-allocation of land coming from the wealthier owners and going to those who would have been at the very bottom of the economic class system. After Mao assumed his power hold in 1949, he re-named the previously mentioned principle of democratic thinking that he saw as being new, to something called the People's Democratic Dictatorship. While the general idea would further go on to make mention of the strength of the people's convictions and what they wanted to be handled by the ruling government, it would still place power within one central force. Question: What was the historical context of the Hundred Flowers

Letter of Introduction Essay Example for Free

Letter of Introduction Essay Dear Chef Blaylock, I want thank you accepting me into this program. Im also very excited to learn new things about cooking. Being in this class will help me a lot later on in my goal of becoming a chef. I cook for my family and friends but I know that there are still a lot of things about cooking that I dont know and would love to learn in this class. see more:want to be a chef I chose to be in this culinary arts program because I know that I want to be a chef when Im older, and I wanted to start my education as soon as I could. I want to be a chef because I would get to cook every day and I can cook so many different things, so I wont be doing the same thing every day. By being in this class I hope to learn how to incorporate different foods together in a good way. I would also like to improve on my knife skills, and overall have a faster pace in cooking things. I like that this class is hands on. Im not very good at taking notes or doing assignments, which makes this program perfect for me because Im cooking almost everyday in here. I dont have a lot of experience in cooking other that me cooking for my family. I watch and helping my mom cook, its interesting because she can get very creative with food, I learn a lot from her. There are many skills I want to gain from being in this class, like the proper way to use knifes and use them fast and effective. I will gain a better perspective on the way things work together in a dish. I will also learn how to cook food properly for someone in a certain amount of time. This class is my favorite part of my day. It makes me excited to wake up in the morning knowing that I can come here and cook food for people to buy and eat. I love that people are eating the food that Im learning on. Knowing that people are eating the food i make puts a smile on my face and keeps me happy throughout the day. My goal is to become an executive chef in a really nice restaurant, so that I can make food for people and share my happiness through the food I make. Sincerly, Robin Komora

History of Fashion in Western Society

History of Fashion in Western Society History of Fashion. Fashion has always been a reflection of the collective consciousness and unconsciousness of society.   In politically conservative times, fashion reflects the staidness of the majority, but also the subversive elements of the minority.   No less a controversial figure than King Louis XIV of France was rumored to have said that fashion was a mirror.   Music, films, and television, all potent pop culture mirrors in their own right of the anxieties, hopes, and dreams of any society, all collectively form a synergistic relationship with fashion, each informing, influencing, and cross-pollinating the others in various turns.   Fashion is also a pop culture manifestation of the intellectual and cultural trend of postmodernism.   Fashion depends on newness; summer, fall, winter, spring are seasons that occur inexorably each year, and with them, the demand for new fashion lines.   The inexhaustible hunger for new ideas and inspirations in fashion and other pop culture arenas lead s inevitably to cannibalization, plagiarism, re-contextualization, and re-imagination of ideas past and present – the essence of postmodernism.   If we survey the landscape of where pop culture and fashion have been, we can to some degree predict the elements which may define where it will go, though in the postmodern universe of the 21st century, it is next to impossible to predict what incarnations will come to pass. Fashion is the byproduct of a leisure society that has transcended many of the basic human struggles on the lower level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.   Most people in prosperous Western nations are fortunate enough to lead lives in which the acquisition and/or maintenance of food, shelter, and clothing is not a struggle that consumes their existence, as is sadly true in many African nations, for example.   Free to ponder the meaning of their lives and the many ways in which it is possible for humans to express their inner thoughts and feelings, citizens of the leisure society began to use fashion as a mode of self-expression and reflection of any number of zeitgeists of their time.   As far back as the 1700s, French women consulted fashion magazines to learn the latest fashion trends.   Sketch artists were present in royal courts to make note of the fashion choices made by the ruling classes, and communicated these ideas to dressmakers across the nation, who in turn crafted facsimiles for those who were able to afford such fashion mimicry.   The French have historically held a special place in the fashion universe since this time.  Ã‚   As the 1800s and 1900s saw Western societies evolve from agrarian societies to industrial societies, with the concurrent increase in wealth and disposal income, the focus on and indulgence in fashion increased.   With the advent of pop music, most notably rock-and-roll in the 1950s, and television, teenagers all around the world saw the likes of Elvis Presley and his gyrating hips, causing a global fashion sensation.   Boys everywhere began to sport white t-shirts (in whose sleeves the more raucous ones rolled packs of cigarettes), blue jeans, and grease their hair.   Celebrities from the arenas of music, film, and then television became the new royalty, the new elites, for Western cultures, and the fashion trends they embodies became inspirations for millions in each successive generation. The messages of rock-and-roll became more complex, subversive, and powerful in the 1960s, corresponding with the United States’ controversial entry into the Vietnam War and a wholesale rejection on both sides of the Atlantic of many of the traditional values of the Cold War era.   The Beatles’s turn from fresh-scrubbed, feel-good bubblegum pop to psychedelic and metaphysical subject matter influences a new set of fashion trends which shocked the Establishment to the core.   Men and women everywhere began wearing colorful (both literally and figuratively), outrageously expressive, and even outlandish fashions, and allowing their hair to grow long. The exhaustion from the myriad political and socio-cultural revolutions of the 1960s, and the stagnant Western economies of the 1970s gave way to a culture preoccupied with escapism and simply having a good time.   Sit-ins and political protests gave way to champagne-filled boogie nights.   The flower-power psychedelia fashion trends of the late 1960s and early 1970s gave way to the groovy leisure suit styles inspired by the music trend of disco that consumed the world from roughly 1976 to 1980 and cemented by the global box office phenomenology of the film Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta and featuring a soundtrack packed with disco hits written by the Bee Gees.   The tight-fitting and well-cut suits worn by Travolta, and the sexy, stylish dresses and pantsuits of the women in the film inspired millions to change their wardrobes accordingly.   On the tail end of the disco era came a brief but potent preoccupation with cowboy fashion, inspired by the peculiar util itarian clothing from the American Old West – cowboy boots, rugged blue jeans, ten-gallon cowboy hats, etc., again propelled into the collective fashion consciousness of the world by another hugely successful film, 1982’s Urban Cowboy. At the same time the fashion trends inspired by disco and cowboy culture were dying out, the realm of the political again profoundly affected the universe of fashion.   The elections of conservative political figureheads Margaret Thatcher in England and Ronald Reagan in the U.S. sparked a schizophrenic revolution in clothing and music:   as economic recoveries were engineered on the backs of the working poor, the culture that proclaimed â€Å"greed is good† took to reveling in the wearing conservative, yet expensive or even shocking clothing – furs, for example which reflected the mindset of conspicuous consumption.   Simultaneously, those cultural elements who were not benefiting from the economic boom were rebelling against the conservative establishment trends and adopting controversial styles embodied, for example, in the slut-chic clothing popularized by the music and videos of Madonna.   Music videos, a new invention in pop culture and institutionalized b y the power of MTV, became a new showcase for outrageous fashion statements in the 1980s and beyond. The greed and spiritual bankruptcy of the 1980s gave way to the hippie nouveaux culture of the Earth-and-cause-friendly early-to-mid 1990s, and then to the greed nouveaux culture of the late 1990s, spawned by the phenomenal economic growth of the Internet boom.   By this time, pop culture had begun to liberally cannibalize itself for new ideas, having exhausted much of its potential for true originality.   As technology and civilization continue their exponential evolution of consumption, genuinely original ideas become more and more difficult to generate, leading fashion designers to borrow from past ideas, to combine hitherto uncombined or un-combinable ideas, as evidenced by the infamous phrase â€Å"What’s old is new; what’s new is old.† The early 21st Century is a time of profound uncertainty in fashion, with a myriad of recycled influences competing for the crown of the next hot fashion trend.   The inherent self-referentiality and cannibalism of post-modernism, however, makes it virtually impossible to predict which trends will take hold and when.   The next decade will make for a fascinating time in the universe of fashion.

Literature on Working Capital Management and Profitability

Literature on Working Capital Management and Profitability Regarding the research of working capital management and profitability. This chapter consists of literature review of different researchers and their studies findings in accordance to the region their studies are based on. I will start with the region of United States of American and followed by the European countries. Studies from other countries not included in the aforementioned regions will be described in the following topic. This chapter ends with a table summarizing the findings of different authors from this literature review. Variables Description Average Collection Period on Profitability In an article wrote by Milling (1991, p. 48), he mentioned that: Average collection period measures the time that a firms average sales dollar remains outstanding as an account receivable. Average collection period is formulated by dividing accounts receivable by sales and multiplying by the number of days in a year (365). It is the average number of days which a firm manages to collect its outstanding debts from customers (Garcia-Teruel Martinez-Solano, 2007). According to Lazaridis and Tryfonidis (2006), acerage collection period is one of the components to measure the cash conversion cycle which is manageable to maximize the profitability and improve firms growth. In Raheman and Nasr (2007) research adaptation, the correlation analysis between average collection period and net operating profitability shows a negative coefficient. This means that if the average collection period increases, it will lower the profits in return. However, the Pearsons correlation proved there is a strong positive relationship between average collection period and cash conversion cycle. Most profitable firms are observed to have a shorter period of collection period (Deloof, 2003). These same firms a re also larger in size, have higher sales growth and lower debt fin ancing. Further research done by Garcia-Teruel and Martinez-Solano (2007) had its result consistent with Deloof (2003) finding. They had agreed that elongate the deadlines for customers to repay their payments may project greater payment facilities, but would negatively affect the profitability of a firm. Sales may also be increased due to the leniency of firms collection policy. To increase corporate value, a high quality accounts receivable portfolio could be created, safeguarded and realized through effective credit management. This is due to heavy investments in accounts receivable by larger corporations. Hence, Pike and Cheng (2001) felt it is important to control the credit management policy and practices choices in order to maximize value. The lower the investments placed on accounts receivable, the more reduction in interest costs, hence, a respectable increase in earnings (Milling, 1991). Besides that, there is a close relationship between sales growth and the level of current assets (Kim, Rowland Kim, 1992). The example given was that the increment in credit sales will lead to higher inventories and accounts receivable. It is unavoidable to invest in current assets in that matter. According to Deloof (2003, p.584): An alternative explanation for the negative relation between accounts receivable and profitability could be that customers want more time to assess the quality of products they buy from firms with declining profitability. Schwartz (1974) debated that firms that are able to obtain funds at lower cost would offer trade credit to firms facing higher financing cost through finance-based models. Emery (1984) was able to conclude that investments in trade credit are a much better option for short-term investment than market securities. The advantage of trade credit can be spontaneous and exist without formalities, but the limitation is that it is available for goods and services only (Hossain Akon, 1997). Inventory Turnover on Profitability Zero inventory and Just-in-time manufacturing had been a popular inventory management practices (Reynolds, 1999). In much simpler terminology, inventory turnover means the cycle of using and replenishing goods. According to Reynolds (1999), inventory turnover analysis has major importance because inventory management directly impact operations profitability. This analysis serves as a measure of firms efficiency and profitability. Inventory turnover analysis can assist financial managers in recognizing problems and can help reduce associated costs. Average Payment Period on Profitability Companies of different sizes (small, medium and large) are now taking longer time period to repay their debts (Anonymous, 2005). The same author also mentioned that was affected due to larger companies imposing longer payment terms on their suppliers, who are usually not in a position to choose. Companies in a lower part of the chain would face cash flow problems as companies on the upper chain wait for payment before they pay their suppliers. Cash Conversion Cycle on Profitability The cash conversion cycle is able to capture the impact of an effective working capital management policy, which are due to the effects from turnover of receivables, inventories and payables. The function of cash conversion cycle is defined by Jose, Lancaster and Stevens (1996, p.34): The CCC measures the time between cash outlays for resources and cash receipts from product sales. The CCC is dynamic in the sense it combines both balance sheet and income statement data to create a measure with a time dimension. Richards and Laughlin (1980) consequently operated this concept by measuring the number of days funds are committed to receivables and inventories and less the number of days payments are deferred to suppliers. Shin and Soenan (1998) are able to prove a strong correlation between cash conversion cycle and profitability. Even so, they used a substitute of cash conversion cycle called the net trading cycle. Using this cash conversion cycle, also known as cash-to-cash (C2C), companies could establish a point of reference for inter-firm comparisons. Besides improving profits earned, companies could obtain overall efficiencies and balance supply chain operations (Hutchison, Farris II Anders, 2007). Regional United States of America According to a research done by Kim, Rowland and Kim (1992), it was about the implications of working capital management practices by Japanese manufacturers in the US. This study is to determine the objectives of working capital management by Japanese manufacturers in US and to identify options for funding. As Japans foreign direct investment in the business expansion of US has increased rapidly, therefore, it is important to manage the firms working capital well. International working capital management has significant importance as total assets and liabilities of multinational corporations consist of current assets and short-term liabilities. There are few differences in financial structure between the US companies and Japanese manufacturers: Japanese firms rely more on banks short-term debt. Japanese firms project a lower level of net working capital. Japanese firms operate with about half as much equity as US firms. Japanese firms hold twice as much in long-term investments as US firms. Japanese firms reported lower inventory level; more accounts receivables and twice as much cash as US firms. Questionnaires were sent out to Japanese manufacturing companies operating in US. Executives from these Japanese-owned firms perform this survey to determine the companys working capital policies and practices. The data reverted back to researchers show that Japanese firms rated the most important objective of working capital management is to be providing current assets and liabilities in support of anticipated sales, while minimizing investments in current assets being the least important. Moreover, most of their short-term financing were sources from Japanese banks. In 1996, Jose, Lancaster and Stevens performed a research on the relationship of corporate returns and cash conversion cycle. This study examined the long-run equilibrium relationship between a measure of ongoing liquidity needs (cash conversion cycle) and measures of profitability. Data collected were from the annual Compustat tapes, which covers the twenty-year period starting from year 1974 to 1993. There are altogether 2,718 firms which have complete data required. The variables were tested using nonparametric and multiple regression analysis, with the industry and size variable controlled. Richards and Laughlin (1980) and Emery (1984) had noted the constraints of using traditional financial ratios and believed in the liquidity management measures to reflect the ability of firms meeting their short-term financial obligations. Return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) measures are also included in this study to separate asset management and financing influence. Jose, Lancaster and Stevens concluded that there are key findings for ROA and ROE. These ass et management returns and levered returns revealed an increase in performance and benefits. Shin and Soenan (1998) did a study to test the efficiency of working capital management to create profitability. They used a Compustat sample of 58,985 firms covering the period 1975 1994. The relationship between the length of net trading cycle, corporate profitability and risk-adjusted stock return was examined. Net trading cycle could be computed as below: Net Trading Cycle = (Inventory Turnover + Average Collection Period Average Payment Period) x (365 / Sales) The outcome of the study shows strong negative relation between the length of firms net trade cycle and profitability. They also considered that working capital efficiency increases profitability; there will be a negative relationship between net trading cycle and stock return. The examination of this relationship is done using the correlation and regression analysis, by industry and working capital intensity. In their study, it is mentioned that working capital is a result of the cash conversion cycle. Gentry, Vaidyanathan and Lee (1990) developed the weighted cash conversion cycle, which scales the timing by the amount of funds in each step of the cycle. On the other hand, Deloof (2003) said that this method could not be used due to incompleteness of information available for calculation. Liquidity ratios, such as current ratio and acid-test ratio, could not measure the working capital management efficiently due to reasons that these ratios include calculation of assets which are n ot readily available to be converted into cash and the ratios ignored the timing of cash conversion (Shin Soenan, 1998). In all, maximum working capital efficiency is an essential factor of total corporate strategy to create shareholders value. A research was done on the international working capital of multinational corporations by Dr. Hadley Leavell from Sam Houston State University. His journal was published in 2006. To enhance profitability of multinational corporations, Ricci and Di Vito (2000) suggested reducing the floating costs of time value, losses on outstanding accounts receivables, transaction costs and foreign exchange conversion costs when moving cash between countries. However, the difficulty to overcome regulatory and geographical barriers may lead to a loss of control and payment regulations placed on cross-border cash concentration to maximize profitability. Regional Europe In year 2003, Deloof investigated the relation between working capital management and profitability of a sample 1,009 large Belgian non-financial firms between years 1992 1996. The cash conversion cycle was considered as the comprehensive measure for working capital, whereas gross operating income is the measurement for profits. There is the weighted cash conversion cycle modified by Gentry, Vaidyanathan and Lee in 1990, but was not applied by Deloof because of the limited information availability. Deloof related the correlation and regression analysis to his research to prove that there is a relationship between working capital management and profitability. Another research done in Europe is by Lazaridis and Tryfonidis in year 2006. They investigated the relationship between working capital management and corporate profitability of a sample of 131 companies listed in the Athens Stock Exchange. Data was collected from year 2001 2004. In this research, profitability was measured through gross operating profit and cash conversion cycle. Lazaridis and Tryfonidiss research also established that larger companies are cash-management-focused with more credit sales, which led to cash flow problems. Smaller scale firms are more focused on stock management and credit management. Similar to Deloofs (2003) research, the cash conversion cycle is used to describe the effectiveness of working capital management in this study. Regression analysis used in this research showed a negative relationship between cash conversion cycle and profitability. Garcia-Teruel and Martinez-Solano (2007) were involved in a research to provide evidence about the effects of working capital management towards to profitability of Spanish small and medium-sized (SME) enterprises. Many previous researches are focused on larger form of firms. They collected a sample of over 8, 800 SMEs which covers the year 1996 2002 from the AMADEUS database. The selection was done in accordance to the requirements by Europeans Commissions recommendation on the definition of SMEs. In fact, the current assets and current liabilities of their sample of SMEs proportion is the majority of total assets and liabilities available to the firms. They used the cash conversion cycle to measure the profitability of the firms on their research sample. Their study was supported by Deloof (2003), confirmed that firms can improve profitability by lowering outstanding accounts receivables and payables and inventories. A univariate analysis was conducted to determine differences in variables, followed by a multivariate analysis to determine working capi tal management on corporate profitability. Return on Assets ratio was set as the dependent variable to establish profitability. In the correlation matrix used, they found a negative relationship between their dependent variable (return on assets) with the number of days accounts receivables, days of inventory and days accounts payable. They confirmed that by shortening the cash conversion cycle, firms could improve profitability. Regional Others Hossain and Akon (1997) did a case study on financing working capital of Bangladesh textile mills corporations. This case study covers 40 public sector textile units under the ownership and administration of Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporations. The study covered a period of twelve years from 1982 1993. According to Hossain and Akon, well-known economists believed that current assets should be considered as working capital as the whole of it helps to generate profits. In their study, it shows that a vast amount of short-term finance was used in financing fixed and current assets to the extent of 100 percent. This caused a lower capability to earn profits, but increases the risk of insolvency. The aggressive working capital financing (using short-term funds to finance fixed assets) should be tamed in Bangladesh textile mills corporations to maximize profits, by resorting to long-term funds which are less costly. Methods used to test their hypothesis are through regression analysis and comparing the calculation of financial ratios. Raheman and Nasr (2007) had done a research to prove the relationship between working capital management and profitability of Pakistani firms. A sample of 94 firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange was selected. Firms are listed for a period of 6 years from 1999 2004. It was mentioned that an excess of current assets could lead to a firm realizing its return on investment. However, it was proven otherwise if firms have a shortage of current assets (Horne Wachowicz, 2000). The measurement of profitability used by Raheman and Nasr is the Net Operating Profitability. They used the regression analysis to assess their hypothesis. Their study includes data of regression analysis of cross-sectional and time-series data. The pooled-regression (constant coefficient models) type of panel data analysis was applied. They believe that increase in the cash conversion cycle would lead to lower profit generation (Shin Soenan, 1998; Deloof, 2003; Lazaridis Tryfonidis, 2006; Garcia-Teruel Martinez-Solano, 2007). Summary of Literature Review Author (Year) Market (Region) Evidence of Findings Kim, Rowland and Kim (1992) Japanese Manufacturers in US (USA) Objective of working capital management is to be providing current assets and liabilities in support of anticipated sales. Jose, Lancaster and Stevens (1996) Compustat (USA) Key findings in asset management returns and levered returns. Shin and Soenan (1998) Compustat (USA) Relationship between the length of net trading cycle, corporate profitability and risk-adjusted stock return. Leavell (2006) Multinational corporations (USA) International working capital and multinational corporations. Deloof (2003) Belgian non-financial firms (Europe) Application of cash conversion cycle. Lazaridis and Tryfonidis (2006) Companies listed on Athens Stock Exchange (Europe) Larger companies are cash-management-focused, Smaller firms are more focused on stock management and credit management. Garcia-Teruel and Martinez-Solano (2007) Spanish SMEs (Europe) Effects of SMEs working capital management towards its profitability. Hossain and Akon (1997) Bangladesh (Asia) Financing Bangladesh textile mills corporations. Raheman and Nasr (2007) Karachi Stock Exchange (Asia) Working capital management of Pakistani firms and its profitability. Table 2.1 Summary of Literature Review Conclusion Working capital is about establishing optimum liquidity position by effectively managing resources invested in day-to-day operations of the business. After studying the journals and researches done, it can be concluded that liquidity and profitability of firms was affected by the components and working capital management measures (accounts receivable, inventory and accounts payable).

Heart Of Darkness :: essays research papers fc

Throughout the story, Heart of Darkness, there is a thin line between what is seen as reality and what is illusion. The main character soon realizes that he has different interpretations of events and physical things than that of the Europeans. Charlie Marlow first realizes how many things, events and even people, in Africa, seemed misnamed by the Europeans, distorting them from what they truly are. Consequently he is wary of labeling something in case he might misname it and as a result devalue it. In the end, Kurtz, who has already reached enlightenment, will be the one to teach Marlow, though not directly, the significance of a name. Charlie Marlow is the only one to be referred to by his name because through his journey to the inner station and consequent enlightenment, he alone, with Kurtz, have realized the importance of a name and therefore deserve to have one attached to them, as they are really the only people of actual importance and meaning. As soon as Marlow reaches the c oast of Africa, he realizes a difference in the perception of certain events by him and his comrades on the boat. As Marlow’s boat pulls up to the Outer Station, he sees a man-of-war shelling the continent, which is quickly clarified, by a pilgrim, to be a front against "a camp of natives - he called them enemies! - hidden out of sight somewhere" (Conrad 78) Marlow felt a "touch of insanity" in the whole concept of shelling the natives, who had done nothing to be considered enemies or criminals and had very likely fled the area a long time ago. Yet the Europeans feel that the natives are truly a threat and must be controlled. Further along, Marlow meets a pilgrim who is called the brick-maker, yet promptly notices that there is "not a scrap of brick anywhere in the station". This is another example of how something, in this case the brick-maker, is misnamed, as he is not actually a brick-maker since he does not make any bricks at all, and therefo re really has no purpose there. A final example of how things are misnamed and distorted is pertaining to Kurtz. Firstly, "kurtz" means short, yet to Marlow, the man appears to be "seven feet long" (Conrad 135). Likewise, when the uncle and the nephew talk about Kurtz, who Marlow has heard to be a great and remarkable man, they only refer to him as "that man" and "scoundrel".

Free Essays on Homers Odyssey: Gaining Power from Others in The Odyssey :: Odyssey essays

Gaining Power from Others in The Odyssey Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus’ power was gained through the power of others resulting in three phases of understanding: self-determination, courage, and having a greater vision in life. In order to understand these three phases, one must be able to conquer predominance from those less useful than others. Although Odysseus was physically strong, he was not who he was mentally, without the help and guidance through the gods. Odysseus was like one who has no friends, but when he meets up with more people, he becomes popular. One who was alone and meets new people, has more friends and finds out more interesting subjects about daily life. They are the ones who have more predominance than others because they know more people and have much more interesting subjects. Odysseus was like this because he didn’t know much without the help and guidance from others. Once Odysseus has served enough time in a place against his will, he would be determined to leave that place. Odysseus’ journey towards home was now going to be able to be finished. For seven years Calypso held him prisoner on the island of Ogygia and he was determined to leave and see to the rest of his journey. Calypso agrees to let him go and she gives Odysseus some advice and guidance saying, "Only I will not aid [you] on [your] way, for I have no ships fitted with oars, nor crews to bear [you] over the broad oceanridges; but I will freely give [you] counsel and not hide how [you] may come unharmed to [your] own native land"(47). Calypso recognizes Odysseus’ greatness. Calypso says she will give some advice, but Odysseus will have to prove his greatness by making his own ship and understand how he will make it home. Even though Odysseus was physically strong, at other times he was weak. When the Phaeacians returned Odysseus home, Odysseus not knowing where he was recounted his jewels and gifts. While doing so the Phaeacians were just turned to stone by Poseidon for helping him return home. Odysseus can practically do whatever any god can do but with the help of them. So speaking, Odysseus says to Athena, "And do you stand beside me, inspiring hardy courage, even so as when we tore the shining crown from Troy"(130). When Odysseus was at war with Troy, Athena gave him guidance.

Air Conditioner Controller :: essays research papers

1. INTRODUCTION Today, thanks to the advancement in the field of electronics, most of the manually controlled systems are getting replaced with sophisticated electronic circuits with intelligent controlls. These circuits are capable of monitoring, analyzing and controlling the systems. In earlier days these electronic circuits were fabricated around discrete hardware components such as transistors, logic ICs etc that made the system bulky and costly. Also since the component count was more the failure rate was also more. But now due to the introduction of single chip microcontrollers, the hardware part was drastically reduced; so also the cost and size of the hardware has come down to a large extent. As a result almost all of the control circuits are designed over single chip microcontrollers. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  SCOPE OF THE PROJECT The primary objective of this project is to make a simple circuitry for Air conditioner controller. This circuitry is based on the state of the art technology of Microcontrollers .The features of the project is has given below 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Facility to set the temperature using a potentiometer. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Display indicates the temperature – both the set value and the actual value. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An indication when the set range is beyond limits. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The system turns ON the Air conditioner when the set temperature. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A mode selector switch is provided to select between SET MODE and RUN MODE. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the SET mode is selected the display indicates the set value. When RUN mode is selected the display indicates the actual room temperature. The whole circuitry works on 230V AC. From this a series regulator is designed to derive +5V regulated supply for the microcontroller part. The circuitry is based on the popular microcontroller Atmel 89S8252 The project consists of necessary software and hardware for implementing the above function. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  BLOCK SCHEMATIC OF THE PROJECT The figure below shows the block schematic of the project. This consists of the following. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Power Supply Unit 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Microcontroller Unit 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Potentiometer For Temperature Set. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Temperature Sensor Circuit 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Display Circuit 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Relay Driver Circuit It also consists of the following indications 1. Temperature Display on seven segment Display (2 digit) 2. A set range out indication. The circuit turns on a relay when the set temperature is less than the room temperature. This relay turns ON the Air Conditioner. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  STUDY OF MICROCONTROLLER This project makes use of a microcontroller-based circuitry for decision making such as password checking and device control. The microcontroller used here is microchip make PIC series IC 16F870. a. Microprocessors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A microprocessor, as the term has come to be known, is a general- purpose digital computer central processing unit (CPU).

Hamlet †Act 3 Scene 2 Essay

In this scene, staged in the Great Hall of Elsinore, Hamlet’s cunning plan to determine his uncle’s guilt comes together. Hiring players to act out a play based on his father’s death (as his father’s ghost described it), he awaits Claudius’ reaction. The whole point of this is Hamlet putting to rest his insecurity over the matter, once he discovers for certain Claudius did murder his father and was the snake in the orchard, only then can Hamlet feel at rest and kill him. This scene is one of the many examples throughout the play which demonstrates one of many weaknesses in Hamlet’s personality, in which he comes across as immensely pensive and unsure about nearly everything. The significance of the scene is evident in that both Hamlet and Claudius plotting each others death begins here. For Hamlet as he is now finally at ease with what his father’s ghost told him earlier in the play, thus he can now kill his uncle without any remorse and for Claudius as he is now alarmed to the fact Hamlet is aware of his crime. Although this scene shows a negative side to Hamlet, we also get a glimpse of Hamlet as an intellectual. He takes role as an authority on acting, advising that the actors should use moderation and not to excess (even though this is a contradiction in sense – as his relentless verbal assault to Ophelia earlier in the play suggests). There is reason to believe that it is in fact Shakespeare himself shining through Hamlet in this scene, commenting on acting flaws such as ‘overacting’, corpsing (dramatic term for inadvertently laughing whilst in character) and the unpredictability of an audience. Also worth mentioning here is the player’s speech. Throughout the play, the actors speak in rhyme depending on the character they take the role as. Giving an indication to the audience of their class, as prose is an indication of lower social status. A character such as a king or queen however, use blank verse in this sense. Hamlet’s antic disposition is evident throughout the play and it is used to full effect in this scene. After briefing the players on their task for the stage, Claudius, Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius and his daughter Ophelia enter the Great Hall. What follows is what I’d interpret as an ‘amusing’ parody where Hamlet throws verbal daggers at everyone in range, the aim of this is to once again remind the group that he is insane, but also reveals some true feelings towards certain individuals. He begins by intentionally misunderstanding Claudius’ greeting and states that his earlier promise of Hamlet succeeding him is ’empty air’ or untrue. Gertrude’s invitation to Hamlet for him to sit with her is also answered with an insult (possibly a misleading hint to Hamlet’s Oedipus complex), this time remarking that his mother’s appearance is appalling or as he put it; â€Å"Here’s metal more attractive.†Polonius is next and branded â€Å"Brutus† and a fool, cleverly Hamlet achieves this using puns of â€Å"brute† and â€Å"calf†. Ophelia, however comes off worst for wear in my opinion. Hamlet’s verbal treatment of his love interest is cruel and filled with crude jokes with the main theme of sex. The references to Ophelia’s ‘nothing’ (her genitalia) and ‘country matters’ (sexual intercourse) is without a shadow of a doubt, arguably the funniest part of the play, although Shakespeare’s obsession with these jokes are evident throughout the whole play. Horatio on the other hand, is trusted by Hamlet, not only has he confided in Horatio about the ghost’s words and his plan to see if Claudius reveals his guilt, but the usually ‘insecure’ Prince has actually included his best friend in the scheme. This shows Hamlet’s respect and trust for his friend is deep, a point I picked up whilst reading the play. This scene with Hamlet’s antic disposition in full view is not only amusing as mentioned, but also dramatic. It’s this unstable and sometimes unpredictable nature of Hamlet which makes him such an interesting character and one that has been looked upon as one of Shakespeare’s greatest achievements, I agree. His antic disposition is clearly visible as he switches tones throughout the conversation with his uncle, mother and the ‘fair Ophelia’. One minute calm and collected towards Polonius showing interest in his acting past, the next at the throat of his uncle’s loyal terrier – branding him a fool. If I was in charge of staging this scene, I wouldn’t change many of the features used in the awesome film version of the play (‘Hamlet’ – Franco Zeffirelli 1991), with Mel Gibson spectacularly playing the part of Hamlet. In this version, Hamlet is portrayed in this scene as ‘on edge’ and manic, Claudius on the other hand plays laid back and immune to Hamlet’s tongue and Glenn Close as Gertrude comes across not only naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, but confused by Hamlet’s behaviour. The significance of positioning the characters in this scene contributes a great deal to how it is interpreted, in my opinion putting Claudius at the forefront would be a good start and positioning Gertrude on the arm of her husband with directly Hamlet in front of them both would also make sense. Polonius and Ophelia would also be positioned together, although I’m unsure of having their arms linked. Hamlet’s ‘friends’ from university, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern could be placed behind these two pairings, still in view but not as much so as the King, Queen, their adviser and his ‘fair’ daughter. This would be relevant as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are not as directly involved in the scene as the others. A problem encountered here could be Rosencrantz’s part in the scene, the line; â€Å"Ay my lord, they stay upon your patience.† This could be approached by having Rosencrantz stepping forward in order to say his line. Although my suggestions have been made, I find Zeffirelli’s handling of the scene to be admirable and possibly flawless in the sense of interpreting the text into drama. In conclusion, this scene is extremely significant to the play as a whole. As mentioned, it begins the plotting of both Claudius and Hamlet to kill one another, but it also gives yet more depth and structure to Hamlet’s character. Emphasizing his antic disposition, feelings towards other characters in the play and exposes both Hamlet’s qualities and flaws in his personality. This scene is a favourite of mine, falling short only to Hamlet’s soliloquy (â€Å"To be or not to be†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) and his somewhat upsetting reunion with his childhood friend and royal jester, Yorick.

The Powerful Nations of Imperialists

Imperialism is the practice by which powerful nations or peoples seek to extend and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples. By the 1800†³s, the Western powers had advantages in this process. They led the world in technological advances, giving them a dominance when conquering other countries. The European Imperialists made attempts to conquer China and Japan. In this process, they succeeded by influencing Japan greatly. However, they were not as successful with China. At the end of the eighteenth century, China†s goods were much desired by Britain. However, the Chinese saw Europeans as savages and did not want to trade with them. During trade, there was an imbalance in China†s favor, because the Europeans were forced to buy Chinese goods using silver. The Western Imperialists began to grow opium poppies from in India, and then smuggle them into China. China soon became addicted to the drug and spent most of it†s money on the purchase of it from the Europeans and Americans. This shifted the balance of power to be in Europe†s favor. In the early 1800†³s, Japan had blocked off all trade from other countries. Foreign whaling ships could not even reload or repair their ships in Japan territory. This offended many other countries. In 1852, Matthew Perry was sent to Japan to negotiate open trade. Japan felt threatened by the United States, and gave in to their demands. Japan was frightened by their stipulations, and immediately began to reform. They developed a new education system that was similar to America and Europe†s. They also developed a Western style judiciary system. Japan and China reacted differently to the reforms of Imperialism. When put under pressure, Japan succumbed to the power of Western Imperialist ideas. Conversely, China, resisted for a long time. As a result, Japan had more technology, while China was unenlightened of the new advances. Japan also gained more respect from other countries, that China did not have. In the long run, Japan gained more by yielding to the Historically, states have been motivated to pursue imperialism for a variety of reasons, which may be classified broadly as economic, political, and ideological. The imperialism of China and Japan in the nineteenth century helped shape the way the countries are today. Japan†s culture, education, government, and other issues are based on the influences of America and Europe from years ago.

Business: Automobile and Proton Essay

This assignment contains about business environment. Business environment refers to different forces or surroundings that affect business operations. Such forces include customers, competitors, suppliers, distributors, industry trends, substitutes, regulations, government activities, the economy, and social and cultural factors. Others are innovations and technological developments. We choose Proton Holdings Berhad because we think this local company is the best company for us to do this business environment assignment because this company use this include Macro, Micro and Internal Environment. PROTON COMPANY BACKGROUND Proton Holdings Berhad (stylized PROTON) is a Malaysian automobile manufacturer. It is headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor and operates an additional manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. The company was founded in 1983 and was the sole vehicle manufacturer in Malaysia until the establishment of Perodua in 1993. Proton is a Malay acronym for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sendirian Berhad. (English: National Automobile Company Private Limited). Proton was largely a manufacturer of badge engineered vehicles from Mitsubishi Motors between 1985 and the early 2000s. The company has since produced several indigenously designed vehicles and operates in at least 26 countries, of which the majority are in Asia. Proton was formerly owned by Khazanah Nasional, the investment holding arm of the government of Malaysia. In January 2012, it was taken over by DRB-HICOM, a Malaysian conglomerate in a transaction amounting RM1. 2 billion. Proton, predominantly reliant on the local industry is currently undergoing major structural and internal changes, as evident in the appointment of a new owner, partner, Chairman and the launch of various new and upcoming models in an effort to gain an international presense and increase profitability. PROTON produced Malaysia’s first car, the Proton SAGA which was commercially launched on July 9, 1985 by Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who conceived the idea of a Malaysian car. One of the reason of this achievement is due to the introduction of new models with higher profit margins, stronger sales volume, savings from group-wide cost-reduction initiatives, income from the sale of rights for use of Intellectual Property Rights relating to a vehicle platform (for the China market) as well as the R&D grant. For the year 2008, PROTON’s focus would be in the core areas of product, quality, cost efficiency and distribution network. PROTON aims to have a strong product portfolio by introducing â€Å"the right car, for the right market, at the right price and at the right time†. This was reflected in the organisation’s newly introduced Exora, Persona and Saga Models, with the latter powered by the new CamPro IAFM engine. PROTON has also continued to update and refresh existing product lines to entice and attract customers. PROTON cars are also known internationally as competitive and innovative automobiles. PROTON now is being exported to 50 countries like United Kingdom and continental European markets, thereby realizing its goal of being an internationally successful Malaysian automobile manufacturer. The first PROTON car was exported in 1986. The number has increased steadily and in 1998, Malaysia exported a total of 18,422 units to countries and areas, including Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Cyprus, Egypt, Fiji, Germany, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritius, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan Province of China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. The models being exported include Wira, Sedan/Aeroback, Satria and Putra. PROTON’s exports are the most successful in the United Kingdom due to its competitive pricing strategy and its buyback arrangement with car rental companies in the country. PROTON also benefited from the Generalised Preferences Scheme that made it easy for them to enter the United Kingdom market. PROTON has introduced a few upgraded models with higher engine capacity and sporty design to establish its presence internationally. PROTON is focusing to be more customer-oriented and by producing competitively priced and innovative products. It is therefore contributing to the Malaysia’s attainment of Vision 2020. Main Body. Macroenvironment a) POLITICAL FACTORS Currently, most of ASEAN region are free trade or 96% of the entire ASEAN trade. Asian Free Trade Area was established in January of 1992 in order to eliminate tariff barriers among the Southeast Asian countries. It planned to reduce tariffs to zero to 5% in 15 years among the six nations through a common effective preferential tariff (Ghani & Zainuddin 2008). If we are going to check on the high selling prices of the national cars of Malaysia because of high production costs and lack of vendor efficiency, there is a big possibility that the local market will be ruled by imported cars. In Malaysia, PROTON prices are kept comparatively lower to foreign manufacturers through protectionism. Protectionist policy has largely been blamed for PROTON ‘s stagnating performance. b) ECONOMIC FACTORS The vehicle sales in the country is expected to fall by year by year due to different economic aspect, primarily the issue of global financial crisis, which affected the local financial status of the country (AseanOneMonitoring 2009). As a result, the government of the country is expecting a slow economic growth for the country, which can affect the buying behavior of the customers. Furthermore, due to the AFTA, it had increased the competition, which will impact the performance of Proton. c) SOCIAL FACTORS The growing population in the country is one of the factors which can affect the automobile industry. Furthermore, the ratio of car ownership in the country is somewhat high or total of 1:5, which signifies that people are considering cars as important things in their lives. Furthermore, people will also set on big-ticket items or consumers are expected to put off buying different motor vehicles because of the employment market uncertainty because of the global and local financial crisis (AseanOneMonitoring 2009). d) TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS Due to the increasing competition, the development in technology is growing and affecting the performance and position of each and every company in the automobile industry. It is also important to consider the maturity of technology, together with the maturity and capacity of manufacturing, which affect the innovation process of any company. Due to the different technologies, primarily the help of computer and the Internet, the potential for innovation and development is increasing. Microenvironment * Suppliers The supplier has a neutral power over the industry. This is because there are few dominant suppliers in the industry who are well known for quality and brand image. Provide the resources to produce goods and services. Treated as partners to provide customers service. Proton Supplier, AV Ventures steering, wiper and washer and window regulator systems. Ichikoh, Head lamp, mirror (also for Toyota, Nissan, and Subaru). * Other stakeholders Proton’s key stakeholders are the Environment, the Malaysian government, the Malaysian public, car owners as well as its vendors and suppliers. The Malaysia Government owns 52% of Proton shares through Khazanah, Petronas and ValueCap. ValueCap is a government investment arm. The government also heavily subsidizes the production of proton cars by giving grants and exemptions/tax credits. But despite that, Proton continues to make loses. The Malaysian public is the indirect shareholder through EPF (Employees Provident Fund), government unit trust funds Amanah Saham Bumiputera, Amanah Saham Malaysia) and Lembaga Tabung Haji. Together these funds hold around 20% of Proton shares. Additionally, it is the public that pays the tax, which then is used to provide grants and tax credits. Proton also involves in sponsorships in the area of education and sports as well as donations to the needy. Customers or car owners can’t find the exact figures of active Protons cars currently being driven all over Malaysia but I would estimate the figure to be around 3 million (assuming no cars have been fully retired). The figure is justified since I can still see many first generation Proton Saga cars on the road. Environment also externality factor to be considered by having almost 3 million proton cars on our road (most of the cars produced are sold locally in Malaysia !! ). Moreover, the earlier generations of Proton are nearing retirement and may need to be sent to scrap yard and contribute to our ever increasing waste disposal problem. Vendors and Suppliers More than 80 per cent of Proton components are currently produced or supplied by automotive component manufacturers and suppliers. Proton’s network of 287 vendors and approximately 3,000 sub-vendors currently supply more than 5,000 individual components and parts for its cars. * Intermediaries We continued to work with our distributors and dealers in a number of ways, most importantly, on programs designed to enhance the sales and service experience for our customers. The strengthening of the domestic sales and service network remain our key focus to improve customer service and maintain our market share. Proton Cars Australia recorded retail sales of 1,388 units, an increase of 55%. This was the second largest increase in percentage terms of any OEM in Australia. The higher sales were attributed to the success of the Jumbuck (Arena) which accounted for 786 units. Proton Cars UK managed to retail a total of 507 units of Jumbuck (Arena), which represented 80% of the sub one ton single cab petrol pick-up market. Total sales however, recorded a decline of 14% with the gradual phasing out of the old products. Proton has continued to achieve excellent results in the 2004 UK J. D. Power Customer Satisfaction Survey. Proton tied for 10th position in the Overall Top Brand Category out of 33 brands and was placed second in Dealer Service Satisfaction, just behind Lexus. Further inroad into the neighbouring Asean markets is expected in 2005 with the establishment of Proton Edar Indonesia and Proton Singapore. * Competitor The big competitor in Malaysia in term of automobile companies and affordable car is PERODUA. The competitive environment as we can see roughly in Malaysia is affordable car where all citizens in Malaysia can buy it and the car maintenances also cheap. Here, the porter four are been applied for more clearly because the competitive environment not only about the competitor. It can be about the economic recession, natural disaster and etc. i) Competitive Rivalry In Malaysia, there is not too much competitor around affordable car. The low cost car as I mentioned above (cheap maintenance) is not have a lot of competitor in generally. The affordable car in Malaysia also, gets more potential to sell compared to luxury car. The luxury car is only certain people used. As we see the environment in Malaysia, 1 family will have more than 1 car. For sure, the first car they will choose the cheaper car and affordable car. ii) Threat of New Entrant (high) The economic recession will be a big threat for PROTON. As we know, all big company will facing over budget or does not achieve the sale for that year. The government will lose a lot of money cause of policy and shareholders. By the way, economic down turn actually comes suddenly without notice. iii) Threat of Substitutes (high) Substitutes also will be a big threat for PROTON. Malaysia has to national car. The First automobile is PROTON and secondly PERODUA. The substitutes will high in term of car model (some of car model looks similar), and car spare part. iv) Buyer Power Buyer will choose the low cost car for the first car and buyer also actually are fragmented. So, it will not has much influence. * Customer Customers are the source of our income. We deliver on our promises to our customers’ satisfaction. The process in identifying the consumer target for new Proton Exora 2 is important due to the fact that consumers tend to have different brand knowledge structures and thus they will perceive differently for the products or services. Proton has successfully identified their target market, according to the segmentation bases namely behavioral, demographic and psychographic factors. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT Marketing The company used to segment its market on variables such as behavioral, demographic, and geographical differences. Behavioral Segmentation: Behavioral segmentation is based on the customer’s needs and subsequent reaction to those needs or toward the purchase of intended products and/or services. Demographic Segmentation: Demographic segmentation refers to a wide study of the potential customers. Since the company is targeting its market to more economy class customers, demographic segmentation is employed by the company. Geographical Segmentation: Geographical segmentation is done by dividing people (markets) into different geographical locations. The company targets markets of different countries other than Malaysia. Production PROTON’s model products include WAJA, SATRIA, GTi, WIRA, ISWARA, ARENA, PERDANA V6, JUARA, PERSONA and EXORA. The range of 1. 3, 1. 5, 1. 6, 1. 8 and 2. 0 litre engines satisfies a wide spectrum of customers both locally and abroad. PROTON’s model products include WAJA, SATRIA, GTi, WIRA, ISWARA, ARENA, PERDANA V6, JUARA, PERSONA and EXORA. The range of 1. 3, 1. 5, 1. 6, 1. 8 and 2. 0 litre engines satisfies a wide spectrum of customers both locally and abroad. Based on technology and parts from Mitsubishi Motors, production of the first model, the Proton Saga began in September 1985 at its first manufacturing plant in Shah Alam, Selangor. The 100,000th Proton Saga was produced in January 1989 and latest model is Suprima S. Finance Proton maintained huge financial profit thought the 1980s till 2000 due to their high market share in Malaysia. But with the launch of an arch rival Perodua in 1993, Proton was about to have a big run for its money and this came to reality in the 2000s. Proton’s market share dropped in 2006 to 30. 4% for the Malaysian market. Their generated revenue of 7,796 ( Million in Malaysian Ringgit) in 2006 was the second lowest in the last seven years as the company have always hit the billion Ringgit mark in the previous 7 years. This fall allowed Perodua to overtake Proton as the country’s largest passenger carmaker for the first time in history, with a 41. 6% market share while Proton fell from 40% in 2005 to 32% in 2006. Their market share continued to reduce down to 23. 1% in 2010 mainly due to new government policies. For example, under AFTA, Malaysia has reduced import tariffs, admittedly after having secured a two-year deferral from ASEAN. Import tariffs on completely built-up (CBU) unites were reduced from a band of 70 – 90 percent to 20 percent at the start of 2005. However, it is important to understanding that Proton losing its market share to Perodua, another Malaysian automobile that was formed a decade after full operation of Proton could hint some gaps in their management system. In other to justify these claims, it is necessary to have a look at their in-depth financial performance since the 2000s and how they have coped with loses in relation to their internationalization project. Personnel The overall thrust of our Human Resource strategy is to recruit, reward and retain the best employees. During the year, a number of recruitment road shows were conducted in Malaysia as well as the UK among leading engineering and business universities to meet our growing requirement. The response was overwhelming and more such road shows are being planned for the coming year. An internship program for graduate trainees was implemented during the year to meet the growing needs of the business. The Human Resource Management Group has continued to be the key forum for the communication of policies and issues affecting the employees. The Group comprising representatives from the Senior Management and the Proton Workers Union meet on a monthly basis to discuss strategic human resource issues affecting employees. It is a unique program that allows regular communication and prompt resolution of issues as well as participation by the Union in the development of policies affecting the employees. Research & Development The Group continues to research new technologies with the ultimate aim to put these innovations into production through partnerships with Tier One Suppliers or OEM customers. Two such advancements likely to see production are engine technology AVT (Active Valve Train) and chassis technology VVA (Versatile Vehicle Architecture). The Group has also invested significantly on the development of new innovative products to meet the challenges of the market place. During the financial year, the Group invested RM542. 9 million (2003: RM413 million) in research and development. For 2004, total development expenditure increased significantly with work focused on the development of new models on a number of platforms including the leading edge Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA). The VVA reduces the time it takes to bring a new product to market and helps meet changing demand more quickly. Globally, we are moving towards shared technologies so that vehicles can be differentiated while using common components. The reduction in development time will create greater efficiency and the standardisation will also lead to greater economies of scale in purchasing components. Development has also begun on an aluminium-bodied vehicle built on the VVA platform. Increased fuel efficiency and power through weight reduction and material recyclability are key factors that have conspired together to promote the use of aluminium in vehicle body structures for high volume production. CONCLUSION Proton is aiming to become one of the strong competitors of the automobile companies in market. So, as other existed competitors challenge the other proton company, they were inspired by them to develop a quality business for the customers. Competitive advantage is what they are targeting for company and there are business motivational is about the capabilities in automobile companies . Even they are realizing that there are some existed competitors have their own abilities in the automobile, they are also have the buyer Power. The buyer will choose the cheap car for the first car and buyer also actually are fragmented. Therefore, it will not have much affecting. Besides that, they are always finds a way to make the market being effective with their strong distribution network. However, the companies of proton is the most famous company in Malaysia as we know and they will try the best to ensure that damage will occur. Moreover, proton also is one of the companies which give a inspiration on all people and race in Malaysia irrespective early age or that old. Everyone knows, that Proton has various product automobile with the design distinctive. Some, from revenue scooped the great of benefits had rival that high with others automobile company. Even though, it still will ensure that Proton companies will always stable with economy and in terms of from product aspect is that best and high quality.