Wallace Group Strategic analysis Essay -- essays research papers

The Wallace Group is a company that manufactures and develops technical products and systems. It has three primary operational groups consisting of electronics, plastics, and chemicals. By far the largest asset of the Group is the electronics. This asset is approximately the size of both the plastics and chemical groups of the corporation. It also contributes the most to the net income at approximately 70%. The plastics and chemical divisions were acquired for the purpose of diversifying the income of the corporation from the original electronics group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Wallace Group currently faces some problems with it company in relation to improper management. To begin with, the company seems to have difficulty in the hiring process. It seems that the company is focused on cutting cost rather than looking for effective employment solutions. For example, instead of creating a management developing program to train and recruit managers, the company relies on promoting technical staff. The cost cutting approach is also impeding the hiring of qualified engineers. The company focuses on hiring employees at the least possible salary as an alternative to paying the required amount for qualified expertise. Another issue that arises is un-standardized methods of collecting data and presenting information. For example both the vice president of marketing and the director of advanced systems collect and utilize data for marketing purposes. Their problem lies in the fact that both managers are using different data and formats for ess entially the same purpose, and therefore they create redundancy and higher workloads. By far, the most crucial problem facing the group is the lack of vision and direction from the president, Mr. Wallace himself. His diversification program that resulted in the acquisition of the chemical and plastics divisions lacked forward looking vision. He simply required the companies to maintain a profitable operation without any direction to improve.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In terms of priority, I would first recommend that the Wallace Group implement a corporate governance policy familiar to a business of its size. This would require that the company adopt a board of directors. A board of directors has five responsibilities: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Setting corporate strategy, overall direction, mission, or visio... ... management techniques from them. This is particularly solid approach since the methods employed have already been tested and the results can be predicted. The other theory I would use to educate Mr. Wallace is the organizational learning theory. It states that â€Å"†¦organizations adjust defensively to a changing environment and use knowledge offensively to improve the fit between the organization and its environment.† (Wheelen, pg8) To utilize this theory the company must respond to the changes to reduce negative impacts and position itself to take action. This allows for the company to essentially learn from its environment and lead to its own innovations in strategic management. References Wheelen T.L., Hunger J.D., Strategic Management and Business Policy Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ (2004) Bay Area Industrial Education Council, Employee turnover cost table retrieved Jun 10, 2005 http://www.baiec.org/Employee%20Turnover%20Costs.PDF#search='employee%20turnover%20costs' Information Week Issue 1041 Wal-Mart to Suppliers: Clean Up Your Data retrieved Jun 10, 2005 http://search.epnet.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&an=17226667&loginpage=Login.asp

Existence of God :: Ontological arguments

The dilemma of the existence of God has troubled mankind for thousands of years. Many philosophers have put forth their theories in order to prove the existence of God. Most of these arguments can be termed as ontological. These arguments differ from other arguments for the existence of God since they are not based on empirical data such as the existence or nature of the universe, but are rather grounded in pure logic. First we will consider the arguments presented by Anselm. He believed that God is ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’; if one understand this, then God exists in his mind; but it is greater to exist in reality as well as in the mind than to exist only in the mind; therefore, something that exists only in the mind is not ‘that than which nothing greater can be conceived’; therefore, God exists in reality as well. Anselm also puts this another way: we can conceive of a being that cannot be conceived not to exist; such a being is greater than one that can be conceived not to exist; therefore the greatest conceivable being cannot be conceived not to exist; therefore, the greatest conceivable being exists. This argument does seem to conclude that something resembling the traditional theistic God exists – unlike the cosmological and teleological arguments, which seem restricted to a creator and a designer respectively. This argument was immediately criticized by Gaunilo, who argued that parallel reasoning could be applied to prove the existence of a perfect island. This is a reduction of Anselm’s position: it shows it to have absurd consequences. However, it is not clear that there is a coherent concept of the perfect island to start with: how many palm trees is the perfect number? Anselm’s own reply seems to distinguish the perfect island – which is a perfect example of one kind of thing – from the perfect being – which is a perfect example of a thing, with no restriction to kind. It is no virtue, excellence, perfection of an island qua island that it exists, but it is a virtue, excellence, perfection of a being that it exists, so the argument works only for the concept of a perfect being. The bigger criticism is the one Kant levied at Descartes’s version of the argument, but applies equally to Anselm’s. It is that existence is not a great-making quality of a being, because it is not a quality of a being at all; in Kant’s terms ‘existence is not a real predicate’.

Mobile Phone and Samsung Galaxy Note

The word Samsung means â€Å"three stars† in Korean. Samsung is known globally for its electronic products and it is one of the successful brands in the electronic industry. It is an established company almost all around the world. While the Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It is the flag ship subsidiary of the Samsung Group. With assembly plants and sales networks in 61 countries across the world, Samsung has approximately 160, 000 employees. In1938, the Samsung's founder Byung-Chull Lee set up a trade export company in Korea, selling fish, vegetables, and fruit to China. Within a decade Samsung had flour mills and confectionary machines and became a co-operation in 1951. From 1958 onwards Samsung began to expand in too the industries such as financial, media, chemical’s and ship building. In1969, Samsung Electronics was established producing what Samsung is most famous for, Televisions, Mobile Phones (throughout90's), Radio's, Computer components and other electronics devices. In 1987, Byung-Chull Lee passed away and Kun-Hee Lee took over as chairman. In the 1990, Samsung began to expand globally building factories in the US, Britain, Germany, Thailand, Mexico, Spain and China until1997. On the other hand, Samsung has developed the ‘lightest' mobile phone of its era. Then they developed smart phones and a phone combined mp3 player towards the end of the 20th century. To this date Samsung are dedicated to the 3G industry such as making video, camera phones at a speed to keep up with consumer demand. Introduction of Product Brand Line A product line is a group of products that are related and manufactured by the same company. Product lines are not to be confused with product bundling, which combines various items into one type of product. For example, Samsung home appliances product line might include refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, vacuum cleaner and others. Other example, Samsung's mobile phones are divided into product lines based on the following features; touch screens, slider or folders, QWERTY keyboards and ar phones base on the product price, product quality, who the product is aimed at target group, and product specification. Product lines help to manage their products as product strategy can be designed around product lines. Samsung has offered more than one product line with the product that are all closely related. Different type of product line might toward different type of segmentation based on the customer. Samsung try to expand its business is by adding to its existing product line. This is because people are more likely to purchase products from brands with which they are already familiar and confident. Product Introduction The introduction of Samsung Galaxy Note in the year 2011 popularized the term Phablet, mainly because of its large display screen. Now, the updated version of Galaxy Note is released. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 comes with many high end features and it runs on Android 4. 1 (Jelly Bean) OS. The phone is powered by a 1. 6 GHz quad-core processor. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is wider than the previous version. The display screen measures 5. 5 inches and it offers visuals at a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The phone weighs about 180 grams and it is 9. mm thick. The super AMOLED display screen of the phone is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 2. The phone sports an 8 MP camera for capturing images at a good resolution. Users can also record HD videos using this handset. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 also comes with a 2 MP secondary camera. The powerful 3100 mAh battery in the handset offers ample talk time and standby time. The phone comes with 16/32/64 GB internal memory capability. This is expandable further up to 64 GB through a microSD card. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has multiple platforms for connecting to the internet. High speed internet is possible through 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi connectivity. The phone has Bluetooth and micro USB port for file transfer with other devices. The A-GPS feature can guide you when you are lost in an unknown city. The phone comes with a stylus stick and it offers many high end features for users. Samsung Product (Luxury Product) Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is a luxury good. A luxury good is a product that not necessary but which tend to make life more pleasant for the consumer, often more expensive and primarily purchased by people with more wealth and income. In other words, as people receive more income, they devote an increasingly larger share of income to the purchase of luxury goods. This is because Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has just concentrated on market segment that are high income. People will purchase the Samsung’s product although with a high price as their income increases. Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has a many competing brands in the market such as Nokia, Apple and HTC. These alternative brands also offer the same products but with different features. Complement and substitute Substitution effect is always negative for Samsung, that is because consumers will always switch from spending on higher-priced goods to lower-priced goods ones. For example, if they are not satisfied with the price of Samsung Galaxy note II, definitely they will seek for other products which have same function and cheaper than Samsung’s smartphone such as Sony Ericsson, Iphone5, Nokia N9. Those competitors’s product is strong enough to compete with Samsung because their products are quality and cheaper than Samsung Galaxy note II. In conclusion, those threats will definitely decrease the demand for Samsung Galaxy note II. But, the one reason which differentiates the Samsung Galaxy note II with another product is their complementary products. The complementary products which exist in Samsung Galaxy note II is a removable battery, memory expansion via a micro SD slot and a built-in stylus, The S pen, that help users work well in their handwritten note and simple drawing. Those complementary products helped in increase of the demand of Samsung Galaxy Note II. Market Structure Samsung Company had been categorized as oligopolistic market structure because they have only a few sellers such as Nokia, Apple, Sony Ericsson and HTC. Even with such small amount of firms, they manage to control all the market. Other than that, Samsung products are classified as differentiated product because they set the price on different product with different design. This market structure had high barrier to entry because it is too costly or difficult for potential rivals to enter the market. Besides that, irms that are interdependent such as Samsung and LG are mutual interdependence. A firm operating in a market with just a few competitors must predict the potential reaction of its closest rivals when making its own decisions. For example, if Samsung Company wishes to increase its market share by reducing price, they must also predict the possibility that close rivals such as Nokia and HTC, may do such action too. Furthermore, the firms under oligopoly market structure are price maker; this is because they set the price by themselves, not determine by the government. The Samsung company also do a lot of advertisments to promote their products so that the comsumers will know about their products through multimedia such as televesion, radio, newspaper and internet. Part 2 Compare the price of Samsung Galaxy Note II with Nokia N9 The price of Samsung Galaxy Note II with 1 year contract is about RM 1899 than will be higher the Nokia N9 for RM 699. The price of Samsung Galaxy Note II without contract is about RM 2299 and for Nokia is RM1199. The price gap between the Samsung Galaxy Note II and Nokia N9 will be RM 1200 with contract and RM 1100 without contract. The reason the price of Samsung Galaxy Note II will higher than Nokia N9 is the technical specifications of the phone. The product differentation would be Samsung Galaxy Note II is counting on a totally different approach across the entire Android ecosystem with diversity but for the Nokia N9 is just using the normal windows software as the processer. This cause the Samsung Note II became the world best smartphone for now and the customers will be proud and happy when using the phone. Besides that, the Samsung Galaxy Note II has a Quad-core 1. GHz Cortex-a-9 chip as the processor and with 2GB of RAM as for the Nokia N9 used 1 GHz Cortex a-8 ship as the processor with 1GB of RAM. Obvious the Samsung Galaxy Note II will react faster than the Nokia N9 because of the internal build-in. The customers now a day would prefer better and faster software even through the price will be higher but they will statifisfy with it. Other than that, will be the advertisement of Samsung Galaxy Note II and Nokia N9. The Samsung Galaxy Note II was released at 30 August 2012 that will be 1 day before Merdeka day. The Samsung Company rabs this opportunity to promote their new product by giving discount to attract more customers in the day of Merdeka. They also promote through television, internet, newspaper and as a banner at roadside. With this huge promotion, they are able to profit their sales. As for the Nokia N9 was released at 21 June 2011. At that time the Nokia company do not promote their new product rapidly and there are just several people know about the Nokia N9 and also don not notice that it was quite a useful smartphone. Because of the lack promotion of Nokia Compan y, they are not able to set the phone at higher price. Furthermore, in this modern world the Samsung Company already achieved a standard brand name compare to Nokia Company because the qualities of the products is better. The Samsung product automatically will have a greater cost of production than Nokia product. The costs of production of Samsung Galaxy Note II also higher than the Nokia N9. Because Samsung Galaxy Note II is more advance in design, body shape, internal software used and better sound system than Nokia N9. So the cost of production also will be higher. The Samsung Company is willing to produce and sell a greater quantity of Galaxy Note II because the product price is high. Samsung Company hopes that the brand new Galaxy Note II will be the greatest smartphone for the year so they put effort on it. Conclusion is that Samsung Galaxy Note II is better, faster and performance well than Nokia N9. Samsung company promote their new product but Nokia company do not and with the reason above will be why the price of Samsung Galaxy Note II will be higher than Nokia N9. Part 3 The market structure of Samsung company is oligopoly which proven by a few characteristic. The first one is a few sellers which control the most of the market. It sells differentianted and high barriers to enter the market for new firms. From the Samsung firm’s viewpoint, there are a few advantages and disadvantages of being an oligopoly. The first advantage for the firm is high barriers of entry for new firms. This is because the exclusive financial requirement to start the business which can prevent the small firm from entering the market. This can avoid the profit being shared to other new firms. The company also needs to spend money on the Research and Development (R&D) to do new products which needs large money. This is to prove that the new entrants no easily if they want to enter the market. Secondly, oligopoly encourages firms to make efforts to innovate and produce more advanced product because all the firms are crazy about winning a more competitive place in the whole market. For Samsung Company, it tries to design the phone that suit for most of the consumers with the latest technology and resources they have. For example, Samsung galaxy note II is a popular phone among the consumers because of the design, the function, and the size of screen which preferred by the consumers. This can increase the profit of the Samsung Company when the sale of phone is increasing. On the other hand, the disavantage from firm’s viewpoint is high cost spent on adverstiment and Research and Development for the product. This can increase the input cost and the firm will set higher price for the product to cover the cost. The company has to spend money to develop a new product. After developed a new product, the company has to promote the product through television, internet, newspaper and radio. This is to inform the consumers that there is a new product launched by Samsung Company. Furthermore, there are strong competitors like Apple Company, Sony Company and somemore which can compete with Samsung Company. Some of the consumers like to buy iphone and some like to buy Sony phone. Samsung have to launch new products which can give the cosumcers high satisfaction to maintain the position in the market. If other company able to produce a new phone which bring higher expactation than the consumers expact, the consumers will buy the new phone. This can reduce the buyers to buy the Samsung Company’s product. In the consumer’s viewpoint, the advantages of buying a product under oligopoly market structure is the consumers can easily make price comparison among the few companies. Consumers can compare the phone price between the phone companies such as Samsung, Nokia, Iphone, Sony and somemore. As comparison done, they will choose the phone with suitable price which equivalent to the quality of the phone. For example, the consumers will think about the features of the phone and look at the price. When the consumers are the office workers, they will prefer Samsung Galaxy Note II because the screen is bigger and there is a pen used to write things on the phone which makes the phone act like a note book. The second advantage for the consumer is the consumers can expenrience new phone with different features. Because of strong competitors between these companies, the companies have to design new phone with the features that can attract consumers to buy it. This can make the consumers have many choices of phones which have different features. However, the disadvantage of consumers buying the product under oligopoly market structure is the firm is a price maker which means the companies can determine the product by themselves. This can harm the consumers because as the company is a price maker, the company can set higher price to earn more profit. But this can make the consumers have to pay higher price. Besides, the disadvantage for consumers is the differentiated products. The consumers have to choose which one phone is better. Sometimes, it will be confusing when chosing the phone with different brand, different quality and different price. At this time, they have to think deeply before purchasing a phone because one phone is very costly. Part 4 In conclusion, the assignment is very useful to us. we find out that Samsung Company is operated under oligopoly market structure. Byung-Chull Lee has set up the Samsung Company with small business and takes over by Kun-Hee Lee after Byung-Chull Lee has passed away. The business start to expand globally at the end of 20th century. This can show that Samsung Company is slowly developed and required a large financial requirement. Under Samsung Company, it sell different types of products such as refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, vacuum cleaner and others. But in this assignment, we only focus on the Samsung mobile phone. In mobile phone market, there are only a few sellers such as Samsung, HTC, Apple, Nokia and Sony who control most of the market. Samsung Company is selling differentiated products which mean the phones have different in term of price, features, design, and quality. This can let consumers have different choices of chosing a phone. Samsung Company is a price maker which means the company can determine the price of the phones by themselves. Under oligopoly market structure, there is high barriers to entry for new entrants because the start-up cost requires large money to set up the company. Samsung Company also do a lot of advertisment when a new phone is launched through television, radio, internet, newspaper and the banners along the road. In my observation Based on the research done on this assignment, we find out that the concept of oligopoly can apply on he realistic life. The characteristic of a firm under oligopoly is shown as above and is applied in real life. Besides, we have come out an assumption about the price changes and the demand. If the price of the product increases, the quantity demanded for the product would decrease. Using the logical thinking of a consumer, people would definitely buy more of a certain product if the prices w ere lower. Besides that, according to the law of diminishing marginal utility, buyers would receive less satisfaction when they buy more units of a product. Hence, consumers would only buy if the prices were lowered. Another reason is because when the price increases, the buying power of consumers would decrease as they are unable to buy as many at higher prices as at lower prices. This is basically known as the income effect of a price change. Besides that, if the price of the product increases, consumers could choose and buy other substitutes available in the market. Hence, the quantity demanded would also fall. This is known as the substitution effect. As for the supply, if the price of the product increases, the greater the quantity supplied. This is because the higher prices are an incentive for the producers to produce more of a good in the form of profits. My empirical findings in this research does not fulfilled my expectations regarding economics. This is becauset the concept of price decrease and demand will increase will not very appliable in real life because there are many factors to influence the decision of consumers to buy a new phone which are brand, quality, the features, the income of the buyers, and the promotion such as free gifts and free vouchers. Better quality of phone even though with higher price, the demand of the phone still increase. Phone with many features will cost higher price. If we intend to establish a company, we will chose to enter oligopoly market. This is because the market is only a few sellers but many buyers. With the characteristic of a few sellers and many buyers, we can control most of the market and earn profit in the long run. Our company also sells differentiated products like phones which can give consumers a lot of choices to choose the phone which suit them. Our company also needs to advertise our products to stimulate the awareness of the consumers through television, radio, internet, newspaper and banners along the road. Even though oligopoly market structure has the characteristic of high barriers to entry for new entrants, we can start from a small company and slowly become a big company like Samsung Company or we can team with other people to set up one big company and divide the profit equally.Reference Oligopoly. (n.d.). In  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved  March  12, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopoly About SAMSUNG – SAMSUNG. (n.d.).  Samsung US | TVs – Tablets – Smartphones – Cameras – Laptops – Refrigerators. Retrieved from http://www.samsung.com/us/aboutsamsung/ Advantages and Disadvantages of Oligopoly. (n.d.).  Buzzle. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-oligopoly.html History Of Samsung. (n.d.).  Samsung Mobile – Home. Retrieved from http://www.samsung-mobiles.net/history-of-samsung.html Home Page. (n.d.).  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved from http://www.unc.edu/depts/econ/byrns_web/Economicae/oligopoly.html Microeconomics : The Change in Market Structure in the Mobile Phone Market. (n.d.).Microeconomics. Retrieved from http://tbs2015microeconomics.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-chang-in-market-structure-in-mobile.html Oligopoly. (n.d.).  Economics Online Home. Retrieved from http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Oligopoly.html Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Review |Gadget Review. (n.d.).  Gadget Review | Your lifestyle gadget siteGadget Review | Your lifestyle gadget site. Retrieved from http://www.gadgetreview.com/2012/12/samsung-galaxy-note-2-review.html Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100 – Full phone specifications. (n.d.).  GSMArena.com – GSM phone reviews, news, opinions, votes, manuals and more†¦ Retrieved from http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_ii_n7100-4854.phpSamsung GALAXY Note2- Samsung Mobile. (n.d.).  Samsung US | TVs – Tablets – Smartphones – Cameras – Laptops – Refrigerators. Retrieved from http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxynote/note2/index.html?type=find Samsung. (n.d.). In  Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved  March  12, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung Appendices -The items inside the box after bought Samsung Galaxy Note II

PEST Analysis of the External Environment Essay

The paper provides an analysis of the Case Study for Westjet Airlines, Canada. The case is taken from the work done by Peter Yannoupoulus (pg 376-380) Problem Statement The following problem statements are proposed: 1. Westjet Airlines total debt is higher relative to its shareholder equity a measure that may call for external financing. The company needs a strategy to ensure its self-sufficiency. 2. Westjet has many competitors and has to come up with strategies to ensure it remains in the market and makes profits. The major questions that management of Westjet have to deal with is whether to maintain its status quo of offering low cost and low fare, whether to venture more in the third party charter segment or whether to be involved in the Trans borders segment. The management has to decide the best strategy it will use to achieve its expansion plan and decision must be made urgently. PEST Analysis of the External Environment Political/ Legal After the 9/11 attack operating in the small markets has become uneconomical due to increased costs. Legal measures by the government translated to higher costs to airlines, which were transferred to consumers. Non-profit airport authorities have also led to the increased prices that act as a disincentive to air transportation. Most customers are price sensitive and care must be taken to maintain its competitiveness. Westjet incurred added costs by providing amenities to its customers like leather seats, snacks leg rooms and television. Economic It offers quality services, empowers its employees and shares profits. This way it maintains its competitiveness. Having good relationships with employees creates good relationships with customers. Employees can make decisions and solve customer problems without the unnecessary delay of contracting the management. Employees are made to feel as if they are part of the company. By offering quality services and on job training it improves its highly motivated employees skills. It employs qualified people who also have a right attitude. Employees are motivated by the profit sharing where they get additional money from what the company makes. Through its employees share purchase plan, it encourages its employees to invest in the company’s stock. Pricing Its fares are 55% lower than air Canada fares. It offers services at a low cost so as to increase the traffic flow. It attracts passengers who would prefer other means of transport as well as those without the traveling idea but attracted by the prices. Westjet intends to expand its scope to serve the central and eastern Canada. By early 2004, it was serving 24 Canadian cities. (P. 376) Environment/ Technological In increasing its efficiency Westjet may be obliged to incur high costs but the benefits are worth it. For instance the installation of winglets that cost $ 635,000 per plane would result to $ 112,500 savings p. a per plane. (p. 379) Social and Cultural Westjet airlines provide passenger, cargo and third party charter services to Canada’s domestic market. It started its operations in 1996 with 3 aircrafts and 220 employees by 2003. It has expanded and now employs 3610 employees and 14 aircrafts. It has entered an agreement with Air transit, the leading Canadian charter airline and it rent its airplanes during off-peak seasons like in winter months. It also did its maintenance and rented some of its simulators. Competition Air Canada, the largest competitor has more resources and a higher command in the market. It accessed over 90% of Canadian airline industry, US trans border and international markets. It makes counter decisions to be at better grounds than Westjet. Other low fare competitors include Cantet, HMY airways, Zoom airlines, Tango, and Jazz and Zip air. Decisions Alternative and Solutions Alternative -1 Tran border expansion Westjet may decide to expand in Tran border operations. Venturing into this area calls for increased cost in increasing aircrafts. Tough competition from subsidiary airlines of stronger airline could threaten its low fare strategy. There is very high competition in the trans-boarder market as it includes both the Canadian as well as the US airlines. Replacing the older aircrafts would also be essential to pave way for efficient aircrafts to travel non-stop across cities in Canada as well as across the borders. Alternative -2 Offer low cost and low fare and increase Canada market Westjet can maintain its status quo. It can strengthen or empower its employees results to increase their satisfaction that is further projected to the customers. Its small size will ensures low cost structure and fewer employees. Operating in the profitable routes makes it more efficient than large airlines. It must also ensure that it offers convenient schedules. It can increase or maintain these profits by increasing its scope. Westjet can advertise its services extensively through it the advertising and new media division in its sales and marketing. Advertisements can be through magazines, outdoors advertising, radio, television, and transit messaging and web advertisement. (P. 378). It can also increase offers to act as incentives like random promotion for instance, the prime ministers day special. Westjet offers tickets less reservation system through Internet bookings that are very convenient and effective to consumers. It also eliminated unnecessary costs that go with printing distribution and tracking of tickets Alternative -3 Venture more in charter segment. Westjet can opt to expand in the third party sector or the charter services. It is appropriate as the unutilized aircrafts can be utilized during winter. It can team up with established charter flight businesses. Most Favored Alternative The strategy that best suffice Westjet expansion is to expand its operation in Canada. Westjet has only exploited 10% of its potential market share and therefore has more potential to expand. (p. 375). It can increase the number of flights made and venture into areas that have not been exploited. Profits and ROI In 2001 Westjet had $ 478 million profits that rose to $ 680 million in 2002. It can continue with this trend if it exploits the unexploited 90% of its potential. (P. 380) References: Peter Yannoupoulus. West Jet Airlines Case 4 pg 376-380

Contemporary Canadian Business Law: Principles and Cases Tenth Edition Cases

Contemporary Canadian Business Law: Principles and Cases Tenth Edition Chapter 15: Case 9 Case 9 deals with a homeowner (the principle) who lists her property for sale and enters into an agreement with an agent to facilitate a sale with a third party. Over the course of the agency agreement a prospective buyer inspected the property but didn’t make an offer before the agency agreement expired. The legal issue that arises comes after the agency agreement expires.The prospective buyer later decided to put in an offer, which was accepted, but once discovering that the agreement between the principle and agent had expired brought legal action against the agent. The nature of the buyer’s actions in my opinion could be considered abnormal. The expiration of the agency agreement between the principle and the agent doesn’t have much bearing on his decision to place an offer on the house.The buyer indicated his interest in the house when he inspected the property and woul d have become aware of the disclosed agency at that time, so the fact that the agency agreement was expired at the time the offer was made is irrelevant. If anyone was to have a problem with the fact that the offer was accepted after the expiration of the agency agreement expired it should be the principle, depending on the situation. While the agreement may have expired the principle may have indicated through her actions that they would like the relationship to continue without signing a new agreement.Without the principle notifying potential third parties that the agent no longer had the authority to bind the parties, the agent was completely within their rights to accept the offer. The property owner would be able to ratify the agreement assuming that at the time the offer was accepted it was an agency of conduct that existed between her and the agent. If agency of conduct wasn’t the case and the principle had made it known to potential third parties that the agent no lon ger had the authority to act on her behalf, before the agent accepted the offer, then it could not be ratified.Ratification is retroactive, so agency by estoppel prevents the principle from denying representation after the fact. Chapter 22: Case 9 Case 9 deals with two individuals, Smith(plaintiff) an owner of a large farm in eastern Ontario and Crockett (defendant) who occupied a small cabin on a woodlot that was on Mr. Smith’s farm property. Mr. Crockett constructed the log cabin in 1978 with the permission of the property owner and used the cabin as a fishing and hunting camp. For many years the defendant used the cabin on weekends during the summer while he was fishing, and for a weeks during the fall hunting season.Beginning in the summer of 1981, Crockett began to make improvements to the area surrounding the cabin, by adding a small vegetable garden and constructing a fence during his months long summer vacation. The fence was constructed around both the cabin and gard en for the purpose of keeping the animals out. During the hunting season of that year, Crockett cut down a number of small trees and extend the fenced-in-area to a parcel of land 23 metres by 30 metres and included a gate in the fence for access to the roadway.Smith made sure to ask Crockett about the fence, shortly after it was constructed, and was told that it was there to keep the animals away from his flowers and vegetables. The following year Crockett accepted early retirement and spent the period from May 1st to November 30th at the cabin. Crockett continued to take advantage of the fishing, continued to plant a garden and helped Smith with the planting of his crops and his fall harvest. Crockett would leave his belongings in the cabin over the cold winter months and spend his winter in a warmer climate.When Crockett returned to the cabin the next April he was met by a local tax assessor, who asked him if he owned the cabin and answered with an affirmative and sometime alter r eceived a municipal tax bill. Crockett would pay the tax bill, which was issued in his name, for the year of 1983. Over the next several years Crockett would continue to live in the cabin and only spend the coldest winter months away and paid taxes on the cabin each year. In 1994 Crockett expanded the fences further to include an area 30metres by 45metres in order to enclose a larger vegetable garden.Smith didn’t object but warned that the two large hickory trees be left standing. In the summer of 2002, the two large hickory trees were damaged by a lightening strike and subsequently cut down by the defendant, which promoted the plantiff to go into a rage and order Crockett off the property. Crockett refused to leave claiming he was the owner of a parcel of land. The main legal issue to examine regarding this case deals with encroachment, which is simply defined as: A possessory right to the property of another that may be acquired by the passage of time.Crockett has well docu mented existence of the woodlot property dating back over 20 years and was not met with objection on the part of the Smith, who is the true owner. Due to the fact that the plantiff left the defendant undisturbed for over 20 years, he lost his right to dispute to object the encroachment. Smith would have had to make his objections known regarding Crockett’s occupancy in the log cabin, constructed on his wood lot, many years earlier if he wanted to maintain his right to object.It is my belief that the court would view things similarly and decide that Smith lost his right to object to Crockett’s encroachment and allow the defendant to continue to use the property in the ways in which he had previously been. Having occupied the property for parts of 22 years not being asked to vacate the property during any of the first 10-20 years, Crockett was within his right to refuse and the fact that he paid taxes on the property further supports his claim to ownership of the propert y.Chapter 28: Case 8 Case 8 deals with a cheque written by Ascot with the intent to purchase a painting from an art gallery. The plaintiff (Ascot) had prepared a cheque in the amount of the purchase price, which was $1000 and signed it, but was unsure of the exact spelling of the art gallery, so he left that part blank. Ascot would leave the incomplete instrument in his desk drawer with the intention of making a phone call to the gallery later in the day for the information necessary to complete it.After having determined the gallery’s name, while out at lunch, he returned to his office to complete the cheque but discovered it had been stolen. The defendant, Hines, a fellow employee of Ascot, had taken the cheque and filled it out payable â€Å"to bearer† and used it to purchase items at a store where Ascot’s signature was recognized. The storeowner would later present Ascot’s cheque to the bank for payment. Ascot was a few minutes too late calling the ba nk with a stop payment and the bank had already paid the cheque.It is important to determine whether the plaintiff has the proper elements to warrant a real defence. While there are three classes of defences to claims for payment of bills of exchange, the most effective are called real defences. Real defences are defences that go to the root of the instrument, and are good against all holders, including a holder in due course. In the situation explained above, it is clear the plaintiff never delivered the incomplete instrument and therefore is a real defence due to the fact that another party completed the instrument, and negotiated it for payment.It is obvious that the defendant, Hines, completed the incomplete instrument and negotiated it for the payments by way of receiving goods from the storeowner. The legal claim of the cancellation of the instrument alone would not be enough to use in a defence against a claim of payment by a holder. Because Ascot was a few minutes late calli ng the bank to cancel the instrument he would not be able to deny payment as the cancellation was not noted on the instrument and its handling could have been viewed as reckless if the circumstances were not known.Since Ascot had not only signed an incomplete instrument, but also did not deliver it, both elements were present to constitute a real defence. The courts would rule that the plaintiff did indeed have a real defence and as a result would not be responsible for the amount paid out by the bank to the storeowner. The actions of the employee go beyond the scope of this case and are therefore left out of the ruling. Chapter 19: Case 12 Case 12 deals with a two parties who were affected by the strike action taken by the Gear Makers’ Union.Those parties are Gear Warehousing Company and Transmission Manufacturing Company. Gear Warehousing Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gear Manufacturing Company, while Transmission Manufacturing Company is an important customer of Gear Manufacturing Company. The Gear Warehousing Company and the Gear Makers’ Union had been unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement before the expiry of the old agreement but could not reach an agreement.Both parties requested a conciliation services offered by the Ministry of Labour, but the service failed to produce an agreement. Before a strike or lockout can take place, requesting the services of conciliation offered by the Ministry of Labour is mandatory. After the failed conciliation, the employees went out on strike and set up picket lines at the entrance of the plant of Gear Manufacturing Company as well as the entrance to Gear Warehousing company in an attempt to prevent the shipment of goods from the warehouse.A few days later the employees decided to set up a picket line at Transmission Manufacturing Company, and prevented the company from shipping a large truckload of transmissions to another manufacturer. The actions taken by the striking employees resulted in the Transmission Manufacturing Company suffering a loss of $5000 through its failure to make its delivery on time. The union members are legally allowed by law to withhold their services from their employer and set up picket lines at the entrances of the employer’s premise if they desire to.Focusing on the rights of the Gear Warehousing Company, as long as the employees are picketing for the purpose of conveying information there is nothing they can do to prevent the picketing from occurring. Where the Gear Warehousing Company gains rights is when it comes to dealing with attempts by picketers to prevent persons from entering or leaving the plant, and therefore may be actionable by law.As well, if property is damaged or a person is injured while attempting to enter or leave the employer’s premise, the employer has the right to apply for a court order limiting the number of pickets to only a few. While the employees were within their righ t to picket at the entrance of the plant of Gear Manufacturing Company, Gear Warehousing Company would be well within its rights to apply for a court order limiting the number of pickets to only a few so that shipment of goods from the warehouse could remain on schedule.Moving on to examine the secondary picket is where the Transmission Manufacturing Company comes into the picture and we look at their rights. A secondary picket is simply when picketing takes place somewhere other than the employer’s place of business. Until 2002 it was considered unlawful except where employer and supplier or customer were so closely related that suppliers or customers might be considered involved in the dispute as part of the employer’s overall operations.Following a 2002 court ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, it was determined that secondary picketing constitutes freedom of expression, and is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Due to the fact that employees wer e not only conveying information regarding the strike but also preventing the Transmission company from making its shipment on time they would be well within its rights to apply for a court order limiting the number of pickets to only a few so that future shipments of goods from the company could remain on schedule.In my opinion the courts would come to the same conclusion as mentioned above and limit the number of employees picketing in one place at a time to ensure the businesses involved were not prevented from making shipments. The striking employees are well within their right to convey information regarding the strike action but cannot prevent the Gear Warehousing Company and the Transmission Manufacturing Company from making shipments to customers.

Chipotle Grill Case Study Essay

What does a SWOT analysis reveal about the attractiveness of Chipotle Mexican Grill’s situation and future prospects? There are a lot of things about Chipotle that have kept them successful in previous years. Opportunities and strengths depict that presently the company has a strong and positive image in its established markets which is mainly in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Strong brand recognition drives the company. Customer loyalty allows a long-term positive impact to Chipotle, which enhances company value. Targeting a group who is health conscious, environment friendly and loves Mexican fast food keeps Chipotle on the forefront of success. Chipotle has an extensive line of nutritionally balanced menu items derived from both organic and naturally raised ingredients. This idea led to the concept of â€Å"Food with Integrity† (Gamble, Thompson, Jr., & Peteraf, 2015, p. 303). Chipotle’s reputation encases ethical and charitable standards along with healthy choice s for the consumer. Chipotle is â€Å"company-owned†, not a franchise so maintaining integrity is easier. Customers may choose to dine-in, take-out, and even order online to pick-up in the restaurant. These options have strengthened the company by offering convenience and availability to the customer. The brand also has a bright future in the untapped regions and with ample scope of introducing new food items in its menu. The creator of Chipotle came up with five core elements in which to base the strategy of the establishment: †¢Serving a focused menu †¢High quality, reasonably priced, convenient menu items †¢Operational efficiency †¢Friendly staff †¢Awareness and respect for the environment Chipotle’s Strategy Chipotle’s strategy is one of differentiation. Specific types of food that can be produced through local, environmentally conscious, farmers at an affordable price point is a primary goal. Offering natural food raised from local, organic vendors that customers respect yet still at an affordable, fast food price, creates a stand apart from the competition. Another way Chipotle differentiates from the competition is through human resource practices. People from all ethnicities are brought together to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps between both employees and customers. Chipotle  has a team dedicated to empowering, educating, and training employees to increase internal promotions, cultural sensitivity, and communication skills. The company prides itself on hiring from within and providing employees with opportunities to grow. The key element of Chipotle’s strategy is â€Å"Food with integrity† (Gamble, Thompson, Jr., & Peteraf, 2015, p. 303). Sourcing supplies from natural, organic, and sustainable, and environmentally friendly growers/producers is an essential strategy is maintaining market standing. Not many restaurant chains, if any, can say they are consistent in this practice, which makes Chipotle rise above the rest. More and more people are making the choice to choose to eat healthier which makes Chipotle an excellent choice and places them in a strategic place in the fast food industry. With more healthy choices than other fast food establishments such as Taco Bell, consumers are more likely to choose Chipotle. Another key element to the strategic plan is operating efficiently in an aesthetically pleasing environment. Even though it is fast food, Chipotle doesn’t offer a fast food setting when dining in. With a modern theme of bamboo or stained concrete flooring, pendulum lighting, and outdoor patios where available, Chipotle has reduced the cost of building and maintaining new establishments but still managed to keep the aesthetically pleasing, not-so-fast food ambiance. How does Chipotle Mexican Grill’s competitive strength compare against that of Taco Bell, Qdoba Mexican Grill, and Moe’s Southwest Grill? Chipotle is not as visibly prominent here in the South as it is in other states compared to Qdoba Mexican Grill, but more so than Moe’s Southwestern Grill. In recent months, Chipotle expanded into the Memphis area in the Poplar/I-240 area in a new shopping center near Target and Best Buy, surrounded by a variety of other restaurants and businesses. Chipotle, Qdoba, and Moe’s all strive for market presence by positioning themselves in areas convenient to shopping centers, in strip malls, and near business centers. They are equal in the â€Å"Employment Practices† category as all strive to promote from within and offer strict training and development programs focusing on expanded knowledge through certification processes. The differences that stand out, allowing Chipotle to excel strategically are in Customer Service, Menu Selection, and Quality. Chipotle prides itself on  having a genuine concern for the patron by hiring individuals from all walks of life and et hnicities. Whatever language a customer speaks, or ethnic background they are from, there is probably a Chipotle team member who can connect with them to walk them through the dining experience. Qdoba Mexican Grill and Moe’s Southwestern Grill have attempted to connect through customer service and experience but are not making as strong of a head wave as is Chipotle. There is truly a unique dining experience to talk about at Chipotle that draws patrons back for more. The menu selection at Chipotle consists of the highest quality natural and organic selections from local growers and farmers. Fresh sweet corn, organically grown cilantro, organic chili and pablano peppers, grass-fed beef, and free-range chicken are just a sampling of the examples of quality raw ingredients used by Chipotle Mexican Grill. Through high measurements of sustainability in sourcing of these raw ingredients to construction of each restaurant, Chipotle has easily earned a 10 in this category regardless of the price point associated with the final product. The quality of the food served at Chipotle is always above par. The cooking methods allow flavorful, robust, creations to be made in a short amount of time without damaging the integrity of the raw materials. Through consistent accuracy and quality measures, aesthetically pleasing plating is also displayed with each order, down to the containers in which to-go orders are placed. What does an analysis of the data in case Exhibit 1 reveal about Chipotle’s financial and operating performance? Financial201220112010 Asset Turnover1.6371.5921.637 Inventory Turnover179.4188.6189.7 Liquidity Quick Ratio1.8162.6021.873 Current Ratio2.9253.1833.301 Investments/Shareholders Earnings Per Share8.846.885.76 Profitability Gross Profit Margin27.1%26.0%26.7% Operating Profit Margin16.7%15.4%15.7% Net Profit Margin10.2%9.5%9.7% Return on Capital22.3%20.6%22.1% The inventory turnover ratio shows that they are able to turn over their inventory very quickly. The asset turnover ratio shows that they are able to convert their assets into sales. Their liquidity ratios are good because above 1 is good and above 2 is even better. Their Earnings Per Share show that the company is trending to increase profitability and their shareholders should see an increase in value. The profitability margins have been able to grow over the past years. The financial well being of Chipotle is stable and improving. Unless something drastic occurs, anticipating the rise in revenue and value years from now, a positive future will be in store for Chipotle. Key Strategic Issues Chipotle has many strengths that make it an attractive company but they also have some weaknesses. In recent years, competitors have started offering healthier menu options at lower price points. Taco Bell’s cantina menu is much like the Chipotle brand in which it offers more of a lighter southwestern flare than traditional Mexican dishes. The menu pricing at Chipotle is higher but is due much in part by the use of organic and natural selections, some of which are difficult to obtain in winter months. With difficult growing seasons across the United States, Chipotle may have to choose to change their menu in winter months. With limited menu items and ingredients that have price volatility it may not be a smooth establishment in new states and countries. Competitors are the largest threat to Chipotle. As previously stated, other fast food restaurants are adding lighter fare to their menu at a lower price that Chipotle. With the continued high costs of natural and organic menu o ptions, menu prices may have to change to keep margins stable. Another impact to the bottom line could be rising healthcare costs that may require a shift in employment for many restaurants. Chipotle has multiple opportunities to expand into other states as well as internationally. With locations in the District of Columbia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, Chipotle managers should be well versed in the workings of International business management. With expansion into other countries and the continued use of locally grown and raised staples, Chipotle would stand to make substantial profits in countries like  China and India. Adding ingredients indigenous to each local area would promote the brand customers have grown to admire. As restaurants like Taco Bell and On the Border sell their products in grocery stores, Chipotle could follow suite and add profit to their bottom line. Restaurants like Swanky’s Taco Shop have alcohol and beer on the menu, now so does Chipotle in some states. Continuing this growth in other states would be a plus for growth as well.

Social Work Agency Policy Change Research Paper

Social Work Agency Policy Change - Research Paper Example has 21 other branches of campuses which enable the community around to benefit from about $257 million emanating from the improvements aimed at the Anaheim High School District. In spite of the institution being the government property, it is really profiting and benefiting the community and government as a whole since it provides employment to the people and the pay is also good among other lucrative benefits and advantages the employees enjoy. The school has got several awards for academic excellence. Some campuses have been recognized by the department of education in California among the best performing campuses. Others earned gold and silver medals in the awards during the World Reports for top performing high schools in the world. The mission of the institution is that the institution is a partnership with the staff, students, parents and the whole community who corporate to provide the high quality and well-rounded educational program in an environment that is safe and that nurtures learning in order to promote high expectations among all the students and employers. In addition, learning the most current skills which would help them in the critical thinking and solving problems in a more rational manner also adds up as a key objective. Anaheim High School District started in 1898 in the city of Anaheim situated in California in the United States. It is a public school and thus owned by the government. It is rated as the third oldest high school in the orange county and it is also the oldest among the most comprehensive schools. The institution begun with James Guinn as the head of the school who only offered diploma subjects and the first student graduated in 1880 with a diploma from a high school. The final examination was administered orally since it was the requirement as all the members of the public were invited for entertainment. It was in 1878 when the central school was constructed following the winning of government bond of construction of a