Harris Seafood Essays

Harris Seafood Essays Harris Seafood Paper Harris Seafood Paper | |Harris Seafoods Inc. | Memorandum To:Mr. Charlie Harris II, CEO From:student 103 CC:Professor Date:11/22/11 Subject:Harris Seafoods Inc. : Processing Plant Project Analysis and Recommendation Your immediate attention is requested. We would like to take this opportunity to discuss our team valuation of accepting Processing Plant Project. We value that Harris Seafoods has evolved into one of the largest producers of frozen shrimp in the United States. We are impressed by company’s remarkable high return on equity of 39% after-tax. Our analysis of the Processing Plant Project will help you make a well informed decision and additionally, it will provide an action-oriented recommendation. We will first identify key issues and risk involved followed by financial support of the project. Our analysis is supported with financial measures of NPV, IRR, CAPM theory and WACC to illustrate if accepting Processing Plant Project would provide acceptable required rate of return for Harris Seafoods. Key Issues and Risk: The processing Plant proposal would allow Harris Seafoods to seize the opportunity to expand into shrimp production and sales while utilizing its resources effectively. The expansion in shrimp processing facility would permit the company to grow in terms of return on investment. However, we would like to highlight various risk exposed to Harris Seafoods Inc by accepting the project. We believe that by accepting the project would affect Harris Seafoods high return on shareholder’s equity. Issues in Shrimp Industry: : The Shrimp Industry appears to be uncertain in terms of shrimp supply. The shrimp beds in the waters off Texas and Mexico were over fished, resulting in it becoming increasingly difficult to find shrimp as stated on page two. It exposes Harris Seafoods to the risk of shortage in shrimp supply. The price of shrimp is determined by the size, the value of the catch and production levels are beyond management’s control. The price risk is vital to consider. The demand for shrimp is affected by the cyclical swings due to changes in the economy which also impact prices. As a result, the changes in supply leads to an increase in shrimp imports into the US since foreign competitors tend to have lower costs than fisherman within the US. Another major issue is the unpredictable shrimp supply. The supply of shrimps is risky due to the danger of being destroyed from oils spills from offshore drilling activity. Harris Seafoods also faces an existing threat with territorial limitations since most countries of the world have established 200-mile boundaries, as a result it limits the number of overseas boats allowed to fish in boundaries areas. One more issue and risk to consider is fluctuating and irrepressible cost of fuel expense for operating of boats and equipments. The Processing Plant Project: The processing plant proposal seem attractive and if Harris Seafoods decides to expand its operations in shrimp processing, the project will cost $7 million and can be completed by the first quarter of 1981. However, we encourage Harris Seafoods to consider if accepting the processing plant would meet Harris Seafoods required rate of return on shareholder’s equity. Using WACC, we determined discount rate of 15% 20%, the discount rate that company is expected to pay for all its bonds and stockholders to finance its assets. Using the long-term government bond as a bench mark, we concluded that risk free rate, an acceptable required rate of return, to be above 13. 521%. The inputs for WACC were 30% debt to a 48% tax rate which concluded to be 15%. Please note that 39% required rate of return from Harris Seafoods is very high and not common. Therefore, we feel that 18% rate of return is acceptable using CAPM. We calculated Required Rate of Return by using Capital Asset Pricing Models with inputs of treasury long-term government bonds (9. 44%), return on equity- all US manufacturing companies (16. 3%), and Harris Seafood’s beta (1. 25). Please be advised that 1. 25 beta for Harris Seafoods equity, but we acknowledge that true beta of the project is uncertain because of finding a market portfolio with similar risk is hard to find. In addition, the Return on Equity at 15%, we took the discount rate and applied it to the Free Cash Flows to get a Net Present Value. The Internal Rate of Return of the project was 15%. To compensate Harris Seafoods for the opportunity cost and risk of not investing in lowest required rate of return plus risk premium for individual’s required rate of return, we will use WACC of Harris Seafoods. Our Recommendation: We recommend based on economical analysis determines that accepting processing plant project is not viable to meet the minimum required rate of return set by the Harris Seafood Inc. for shareholder’s equity. Your concerned about accepting this project would reduce the company’s high rate of return on invested capital is absolutely correct after this analysis. The Free Cash Flow provides a possible scenario of receiving certain principle and interest payments that Harris may receive. Please be advised that our Cash Flow projects and forecast provides great uncertainty, consequently we compensate that uncertainty with the discount rate of 15%, the higher discount rate resulted in lower present value which means our project will be worth less. Please keep in mind that a negative NPV does not ultimately define poor investment, but rather, from an economic perspective a negative NPV signifies the investment will not return the expected required rate of return or neither will it compensate for opportunity cost missed as an investment elsewhere. Our Free Cash Flows concludes that Harris Seafoods would experience negative Free Cash Flow in 1980 of $10,035. 00 and continues to experience negative free cash flow for following years up to 1986, which results in negative present value. However, 1981 Harris Seafoods took a tax credit in the amount of $650,000 that declined present value for the years. We don’t recommend investing in the Shrimp Processing Plant because of the tax incentives offered by Brownsville, Texas. We also suggest Harris Seafoods to consider industry (supply and demand) risk, oil price risk, cycle risk, import and export risk, weather risk, and operating (oil-spill risk and storage cost) risk. Harris Seafoods has been successful, profitable, and maintained a high required rate of return. Although, we recognize by diversifying business risk by investing in processing industry would allow Harris Seafoods expand in business operations. In addition, we highly want Harris Seafoods to contemplate the critical risk factors of supply, demand, and price of Shrimp. We hope this analysis and recommendation is adequate. If you have any question, please free to contact any of our team members.

Ethical Egoism Essay Sample

Ethical Egoism Essay Sample Ethical Egoism Essay Ethical egoism is the view that each of us ought to pursue self-interest, and it is our own obligation to promote self-interest. In other words, one shall not act for the good of others, but for the benefit of oneself. It may be, however, for the good of others also, but doing the act is for the best interest of the doer. Basically, in simplest terms, the actions done by a person is for boosting his/her ego, no matter what kind of action it is. Under this view, it is moral to do such. There are, however, conflicting views with regard to ethical egoism. Morality depends on the customs, traditions, and laws where a person is domiciled. One’s action is dictated basically by the society. There are, however, other views that a person, by its nature, is good or bad. Nonetheless, it boils down to the customary of a society – it is always dictated. So for an action to be ethical, it must be within the standards of the customs. Because the person acts within the standards of morality dictated by the society, he/she will feel good about it. However, this actually depends on the action – whether it is an overt or covert act. If it is an overt act, it also depends whether the action is known by the society; that is, by donating blood in a drive or when killing a person and there is a clear evidence that will put the doer into incarceration. The act must be seen by the society, where it will be judged as moral. Then, it will be reciprocated by an ego boost. Otherwise, the act may be immoral yet still boosting one’s ego. There are however other people who choose a covert act, yet still the act is within the moral standards of the society. An example of ethical egoism is running for the highest position in the elections. The benefit depends on the doer. To win the election, one has to act accordingly to the morals of the society. When the candidate wins the election, he has to also fulfill his duties to his people. He only does this because running for election and winning the same actually makes the person feel good about it. It is for his self-interest because the position gives him the boost of his ego and the validation of the people makes him feel good. There is, however, a problem, when the person may seem to act well in front of the people yet is illegally trying to win over the hearts of the people: by cheating and killing people. The candidate still acts for his own benefit, but does he act morally? Maybe yes, maybe not. Another issue with regard to ethical egoism is the conflict of interest of two individuals. If two people share the same interest, how should this be resolved? Some philosophers that the resolution is to â€Å"might is right.† This means that the stronger gets to possess the benefit above the weaker one. There are however those who argue that the benefit must be shared by the two individuals. This raises the question of what are the standards dictated by the society. This view in simplest terms means one person will act only because it feels good. If the action does not feel good, one will not do the act. So, whether or not the action is moral within the dictates of the society does not matter in this case. As long as the action will benefit the person, it is moral. As most philosophers may argue, free will is the end all and be all of the actions of a person.

The effect of demographics and personality on investment choice among Essay

The effect of demographics and personality on investment choice among UK investors - Essay Example Many studies have been undertaken across the world by scholars as well as academicians in the field of behavioral finance to explore what all psychological and demographic factors affect personal investment decisions and choice among alternatives. The study entitled "Risk Taking and Problem Context in the Domain of Losses: An Expected Utility Analysis" by John C. Hershey and Schoemaker in 1980 observes that women investors are more risk averse than men as regards gamble is concerned (Hershey 1980). Another popular study on the gender practices of investing; the researchers remark that both men and women are equally successful in investment decisions and there found no significance difference in investment decisions between male and female groups (Hudgen 1985). In an empirical study among men and women investors in auctions and lotteries undertaken by W. V Harlow and Keith Brown document that men prefer to take more risk than women as regards lottery and auction investments are concer ned (Harlow 1990). In another significant study on investment behaviour among individual investors considering their income level William Riley and K Victor Chow attempt to remark that "relative risk aversion decreases as one rises above the poverty level and decreases significantly for the very wealthy. It also decreases with age-but only up to a point. After age 65 (retirement), risk aversion increases with age" (Riley 1992). However, the authors speculate that "education, income and wealth are all highly correlated, so the relationship may be a function of wealth rather than education" (Riley 1992). In a research paper entitled "Gender Differences in Risk Behavior in Financial-Decision-Making: An Experimental Analysis", it is found that regardless of familiarity and framing, costs or ambiguity, women prefer investments with lower risk than moderate and high risk investments avenues (Powell 1997) . The main contention of the study of N. Jianakoplos and Bernasek in 1998 is that wom en are likely to exhibit more risk aversion characteristics than men when it comes to investment in defined contribution pension assets (Jianakoplos 1998). In the paper "Gender Differences in Risk Taking: A Meta-analysis", the authors conclude that women would like to take less risk than men (Brynes 1999). Schooley Diane K and Debra Drecnik Worden in their study in 2003 document that educated investors, especially those having education higher than secondary level tend to part their hard earned money in risky portfolios (Schooley 2003). The paper also finds that age and proportion of equity holding are positively correlated. In an interesting and popular study entitled "Risk Aversion and Personality Type" by G. Filbeck, Hatfield P. and Horvath P. in 2005, the authors conclude that the relation between personality type and individual ex ante EUT risk tolerance is non-linear in form (Filbeck 2005). Reviewing the aforementioned studies and papers, the present study attempts to explore the effect of demographic and personality traits on individual investment decision

Cloud solutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cloud solutions - Essay Example This essay intends to gain the knowledge of cloud solutions that are being adopted by majority of the organizations in the modern scenario with the aim of attaining significant benefits. It has been quite apparent that a majority of IT managers belonging to various organizations are interested in pursuing cloud solutions so that advanced and integrated technologies can prevail by a considerable level. Thus, this essay will discuss about informational environmental influences and impacts once a cloud solution is deployed within a specific organization. It can be apparently observed in this modern day context that a majority of the IT managers are much keen towards following cloud solution systems within their respective organizations. In this similar concern, according to the survey conducted by The Unisys and Center for Digital Government, most of the governmental organizations are either adopting the cloud computing solutions or planning to adopt the same for attaining significant benefits. This can be justified with reference to the fact that cloud solution is adopted due to the reason that it helps the governmental organizations to come into direct interaction with the customers. With the rise of the advanced technology in the modern world, the expectations as well as the preferences of the customers are also raising at large. In such cases, the customers can be benefited through cloud solutions as they can come into direct interaction with the governments and solve all their queries or doubts regarding any sort of subject mat ter. Above all, deployment of cloud solutions aids the governmental organizations in assuring the maintenance of security and safety of both the governmental affairs and information of the customers (Wood, â€Å"Survey: Government Continues to Pursue Cloud Solutions†). The adoption of cloud solutions has become one of the recent common

Knowledge Questions for Unit Hsc Essay Example for Free

Knowledge Questions for Unit Hsc Essay As a candidate, make sure you describe and explain your actions. | | | | | | | |Knowledge Questions for Unit HSC 44 | | | | | | | |5 | | | |Who draws up the Code of Practice for Social Care? | | |The General Social Care Council. | | | | | | | |6e | | | |Outline features of systems used in Lincolnshire in respect of confidential reporting of issues of concern. | | | |The council has its own policy which helps to inform on bad practice, difficulties between staff members and complaints ect. This is| | | |the ‘whistle blowing’ policy and it was designed in order to protect those wishing to make a complaint and to avoid such things as | | | |victimization. Although anonymous, complaints are still dealt with the same seriousness as named complaints although it is preferred| | | |that applicants with complaints should not be anonymous. | | | | | | | | | | |7 | | | |When the Children’s act 2004 was published it contained some major changes for the way in which services were to be delivered. Take | | | |one and explain in your own words the advantages this brings for the wellbeing of children and their families. | | | |The Childrens Act 2004 brought about many changes and most significant was the Every Child Matters campaign that runs along side the| | | |2004 act. For the Act itself the main change that helps in the work that I do is the implementation of the CAF. This works in line | | | |with the need for inter-agency working. I think this is one on the most crucial changes of the Act, and as the Victoria Climbie | | | |inquiry showed many agencies were involved with the case and through lack of communication, information sharing and joint working | | | |Victoria Climbie died at the hands of her aunt. One of the many advantages is local authorities drive for inter-agency working. | | |Through this many agencies are trying to change their way of working and with the help of the CAF more agencies are invited to the | | | |first meeting when a child has been shown to have additional needs. On the whole the process is proving to be more focussed on the | | | |child and family and this reduces any stigma for the families as in the past most cases where always referred to social workers. | | |Families and children are now seen more often and social workers can now focus on the more complex and child protection cases. | | | |Through inter-agency wo rking families and children are given the help that meets their needs and reduces the need for long term | | | |involvement. | | | | | | | | | | |8a | | | |Outline the features of the Dfes initiative â€Å"Building a Culture of Participation† | | | |This initiative is led by the government in their commitment to allow children to have a say in how policies affect them and to | | | |contribute to how a service is delivered. By listening to children and young people it ensures that policies and services are | | | |designed around their needs. This leads to better outcomes for children, young people and families. It also allows for policies to | | | |be effectively evaluated and evolve as necessary. | | | | | | | | | | | |9a | | | |Outline the Common Assessment Framework. Explain why this Government initiative has been introduced and its purpose. | | | |The CAF was implemented in 2006 in order to have a universal assessment form that could be used by all agencies and professionals. | | | |This was in line with some of Lord Laming’s recommendations after the Victoria Climbie enquiry. As a universal document it reduces | | | |the need for repetitive assessments and focuses more on the child and family and multi agency working. The CAF process can start at | | | |any time once it has been identified that a child has an additional need. Once agreed all information is shared between the agencies| | | |involved again reducing the chance of a child ‘falling through the system’. As the CAF is aimed at early intervention some one such | | | |as a school teacher can be the lead professional allowing more serious cases to be dealt with by social workers. As children can | | | |often have what was once deemed as minor issues and not warrant the classification as a child in need, through the CAF they are | | | |classed as having additional needs which allows professionals to work with the child and family. Once a child that has been | | | |highlighted as a CAF they can move in and out of the system as identified issues arise. | | | | | | | | | | |9bc | | | |Summarise the targets of the combined health and education initiative â€Å"Healthy schools†. | | | |The national healthy schools programme promotes a whole school approach to health. The programme is a joint initiative between the | | | |department of health and the department for children, schools and families. It aims to deliver benefits for children on improvement | | | |in health, raise pupil achievement, more social inclusion and a closer working between health promotion providers and education | | | |establishments. | | | |The public health white paper choosing health (2004) set a challenging target for 75% of schools to achieve healthy school status by| | | |2009 and for all schools to work towards this target. Through a planned curriculum schools can promote learning and healthy | | | |lifestyle choices. The four core themes within the programme are: | | | |Healthy eating | | | |Physical activity | | | |PSHE | | | |Emotional health and well-being. | | | | | | | | | | | | | |12 | | | |How does the Joint Annual Review shape the way in which Children’s Services are delivered locally. You may wish to discuss | | | |Lincolnshire’s last JAR and comment on how the recent Service restructuring has been a result of this. | | | |The Children’s Act requires joint area reviews to be conducted in each children’s services authority area. The multi-disciplinary | | | |team of inspectors review all services provided to children and young people aged 0 – 19. There are around 42 key judgements which | | | |relate directly to the five outcomes highlighted in the every child matters framework. Through the Lincolnshire JAR report published| | | |in March 2007 it was proved that there was a need for better facilities for all children aged 0 – 19. There are now plans to develop| | | |a further 23 children’s centres by 2008. Through this service restructuring the aim is to shift the balance of services from | | | |interventionist to a preventative approach. The strengthening families will work with partner agencies to deliver the five outcomes | | | |for the every child matters. This is where children’s services as a targeted service interface as part of a universal service. | | | | | | | | | | |16e | | | |Identify the risks to effective working caused by stresses on the work force and recommend what action can be taken. | | | |When work becomes too stressful for an individual it can cause a knock on effect throughout the staff team and the cases in which | | | |the individual is working on. The individual can start to have more days off sick which could cause other staff members to add to | | | |their workload in taking on those individuals cases. Stress can also cause the individual to lose direction and focus in the cases | | | |they work on and this can result in a reduced quality of service for those particular families. | | | |Stress in the work place can be identified early and then reduced by regular supervision. Supervision gives the individual a chance | | | |to discuss their cases and anything that might be causing them to feel stressed. Supervisors are then able to help supervisee’s in | | | |managing there stress before it gets to the point where it affects all that they do. Staff meetings are another opportunity to get | | | |together on a regular basis with other team members as it’s a chance for everyone to discuss their working role as well as any | | | |difficult cases they may have. This gives a chance for positive reinforcement by the manager on the work that is being done and also| | | |a chance to ‘brainstorm’ ideas that might help with the work. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |17 | | | |Explain in a short paragraph how the Social Model of disability affects children and their families which you work. | | |The social model of disability says that people are disabled not by their impairment, but by society that does not take account of | | | |their needs and prevents them from having full access to society due to physical, communication and social barriers. A large | | | |majority of the families that I work with fall into the category of being disabled by society. Those families that are most | | | |disadvantaged are those living in poverty. Families face multiple stresses which can affect a child’s needs. If a parent struggles | | | |to provide an adequate environment for a child this will impact on the child’s developments and the parent’s capacity to care for | | | |the child. | | |CHILD A | | | |CHILD B | | | | | | | |No dependence on social security benefits | | | |Household receives multiple enefits | | | | | | | |Two parent family | | | |Single adult household | | | | | | | |Three or fewer children | | | |Four or more children | | | | | | | |White | | | |Mixed ethnic origin | | | | | | | |Owner occupied home | | | |Council or privately rented home | | | | | | | |More room than people | | | |One or more persons per room | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |18a/b | | | |See 8a above. | | | | | | | |18d | | | |Using Lincolnshire County Councils Competency framework, explain how you would assist a member of your team to develop skills in | | | |risk management with regards to child protection. You need to be specific to an individual competency. | | |Using competency number 8 –Analysis and Judgement. I would be able to assist the member of staff in the above question. As part | | | |of the competency it requires the individual to look closely at the work they do and how it could be improved. Part of this is | | | |through having a broad range of information about an issue. In this particular instance it would be child protection. This could be | | | |done in-house through regular supervision. This can be through asking the individual to research up to date information and then | | | |having a question answer session on the information they have found. This shows that the indivual has done what is requested and | | | |demonstrates that they have an understanding of the subject that they would then be able to take into their work practice. Another | | | |useful development skill would be to assign the individual to a child protection case that was held by a social worker. The indivual| | | |would gain insight into the process of how child protection is identified and then managed. This hands on approach would give valued| | | |knowledge and development without risk to the family involved. | | | |Finally a child protection training course would be beneficial to the individual to again further develop there knowledge of the | | | |subject. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |19 | | | |What impact does placement disruption potentially have on the wellbeing of Children In Public Care. You should relate your answer | | | |the recent Government paper ‘Care Matters’ | | | |Most children who end up in care experience multiple moves. It is standard that three or more moves constitutes as placement | | | |stability. Child development theories say that repeated movements jeopardize the opportunity for children to develop secure | | | |attachments with carers and trusting relationships with adults. Children with behaviour problems, prior instability and the age of | | | |the child at placement have all been found to be important factors in placement instability. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |24 | | | |List 3 types of evidence that would be valid in court. Explain your rational behind each one. | | | |1) Video Evidence- For children 14years and under. Also for children classed as a vulnerable witness. Video evidence reduces the | | | |need for a child to be in court and to be face to face with the perpetrator. | | | |2) Court reports – These are factual based evidence which follow a mandatory guideline for completing. | | | |3) Records – Records are an essential source of evidence for investigations and inquiry’s, and may also be used in court | | | |proceedings. Therefore it is essential that any records on a child are clear and accurate and ensure that there is a documented | | | |account of an agency’s or professional’s involvement with a child and/or a family. | | | | | | | | | | |25 | | | |Provide three examples of recording information that might be deemed discriminatory and explain why, in at least one of these | | | |examples, the discrimination might pass without comment. | | |1) The child is ‘missing’ from the record – This doesn’t mean that the child hasn’t been mentioned at all, but that their wishes and| | | |feelings, their views and understanding of their situation, are not recorded. The absence of a child from the record suggests to the| | | |reader that no work has been done with the child, or that the child has not been involved in any work. | | | |2) Facts and opinions are not differentiated – Failing to differentiate between fact and opinions can result in the significance of | | | |some information being overlooked, or opinions becoming accepted as facts and which could influence the management of the case. If | | | |opinions and judgements are not substantiated in the record it can be difficult to explain how these were made to family members who| | | |access the records especially if the case holder who wrote them is no longer working within the agency. | | | |3) The record is not written for sharing. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |This account must (except in the case of responses to questions) be authenticated by at least one of the following | |Work products seen | | |List | | |Witnessed by— |Name |Sign |Expert | |Include on witness list | | |Y/N | |I confirm the authenticity of the |Signature of Candidate | |work above |DATE 31. 03. 08 | |I confirm the judgements claimed |Signature of Assessor |TICK IF OBSERVED | |above |DATE | | EV 5

pirate childrens story :: essays research papers

Some called him a pirate, some called him a scoundrel, and some said he was the devil himself! His name was Jack and he had been a sailor and an adventurer for a long, long time. His body carried the scars of a hundred sword fights, a map of the marvelous travels he had, a constant reminder of the things he had done. His schooner had sailed the seven seas and was beginning to show signs of old age, just like her master. Her sails were tattered, and she too had scars, from cannonballs and chain shots. Jack’s lone companion was a outspoken parrot named Polly, who was always perched on one of his shoulders. Now the three were setting off on one last voyage, one last chance for fame and fortune. They had sailed so many times before, only to find that their dreams of treasure and booty were only rumors. But this time would be different, this time they would find it. This time they had a map! Jack had seized the map from the ship he last raided. It wasn't much of a map, the parchment was old and yellowed and the compass directions were hard to make out. There were two tall mountains and some forests drawn on the paper, but most importantly, there was an X. The old man had seen maps like this before, and had never found anything near the marked spot. But this map had something about it that made him believe it was the real thing. And so with fair skies and following winds they sailed south, further south than they had ever been before. They sailed for seven days and seven nights, and on the morning of the eighth day, at the break of dawn, they saw land. It wasn't much, a small strip of land, but with two tall mountains and some trees, Jack knew it was the place. As the ship drew nearer, he began to see the island better, and he could see the beach. The sand was smooth, and white. It was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen in all of his years. Jack could see now that there were more than a few trees here. There was a thick tropical forest stretching from one mountain to the other. And the mountains were sending up small wisps of smoke. As the ship drew nearer, it hit him.

Brand alliance Essay

The desired outcome of a brand alliance is to increase each other brand’s equity. Some of the examples could be as follows: â€Å"Two companies pool their resources to co-brand, with the idea that the new product can enjoy a unique positioning or two manufacturer’s pool resources to develop a promotional campaign featuring both brands. † (Samu, Krishnan ; Smith, 1999, p. 57). In general, brand alliances carry along great benefits but at same time ome inevitable risk. Well-established alliance is a powerful tool that can help to promote, to specify, to enrich, and to increase the brand value. Good example for increasing the brand value is brand alliance of PorscheDesign and Adidas, where PorscheDesign clearly raises the image of Adidas and on other hand PorscheDesign has more presence and can sell its products in many lucrative locations. (Adidas Annual report, 2009). Brand alliances are used at times of prosperity as well as in times when the brand suffers; they may serve as a driver for a brand to regain its market position. Wrong arketing strategies can ruin the attractiveness and image of a brand and successful brand alliance can revitalize them. According to (Samu et al. , 1999, p. 57) â€Å"A new brand might partner with an established brand to build a stronger presence for a specific usage occasion†. If one of the brands has very good image and brand equity, it is likely that customers will perceive the partner brand with similar attitude. This strategy is risky and can harm the stronger company. The risk factor can be lowered by extensive market analysis that can reveal some of the unfavourable issues for the xact brand alliance. A common practice for possible alliance partners is creation of an exit strategy. That allows companies react quickly if some of the planned outcomes goes wrong or in other direction than planned. (Melvin Prince ; Mark Davies, 2002) Very common reason for creation of brand alliance is a launch of a new product. It serves as a great advertising tool because it drags attention. New product is associated with some extraordinary brand, which creates a message for consumers. A successful example of brand alliances to promote new product launch where two trong brands allied and which worked perfectly was Range Rover and Victoria Beckham. The outcome was the new model line of Range Rover, Evoque. Targeted mainly at female customers, sales growth rose significantly after the introduction of Victoria Beckham’s special luxury edition. Even though the actual limited edition was produced only in small volumes, it created great deal of exclusivity for the new product. Associating the new model with Victoria Backham and creating a well- managed advertising campaign led to a successful launch of the new model line crowned by many design awards. About Land Rover, 2012). . Analysis of Successful Factors in Brand Alliance 3. 1 Successful Factors Before going deeply in the analysis, it is important to understand in theory the successful factors behind a brand alliance and their effects on consumer attitudes. while the effects they produce are the independent variables. While engaging in an alliance, it is fundamental for companies to work on the successful factors in order to produce and maintain the positive effects while reducing the negative ones

Management Protocol Essay

A protocol in the simplest words is a set of rules that allows and facilitates a connection to communicate between two computers. Protocols can be implemented through hardware or software. Whatever their scope, they are what govern networks and monitor them for effective communication. An internet protocol is more data oriented rather than connection oriented in the sense that it facilitates the exchange of data. Whatever the type of protocol is used, it is based on a few basic steps or prerequisites. These include detecting if a connection is possible, establishing connection, establishing rules of communication and messaging, editing messages, detect errors and termination of connection. Hence every protocol follows these steps. Protocols are important in the sense that we live in a networked society. Without protocols, this communication between computers would not be possible. There are famous protocols like the ones in the TCP/IP suite which are used on almost every computer. They however are ntot he only ones. Despite of many famous protocols like HTTP, FTP, IPv6, there are many others which have been developed over the years for specific purposes or as an alternate to the more famous protocols. One of these is the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). The main purpose of this protocol is to detect and manage computers on a network. It uses variables to store and retrieve data regarding whether connections are present and if yes then also their status regarding connectivity etc. Another protocol is the SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). It is one that manages computers by communicating through XML based objects instead of packets over a network. References: Mukhi, Vijay. Kotecha, Sonal. SNMP: The Simple Network Management Protocol. 2 December 2007 Box, Don. Ehnebuske, David. Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 1. 1 W3C Note 08 May 2000. 2 December 2007

5 Basic Rules for Having Roommate Guests

5 Basic Rules for Having Roommate Guests Its a rare college roommate situation where neither person brings over a guest at any time during the entire academic year. More likely, one or both roommates have someone over - for the night, for the weekend, for a day or two. Having a few basic rules in place in advance, however, can help everyone avoid awkward situations, hurt feelings, and overall frustration. What to Know Before You Have Guests Rule 1: Notify as far in advance as possible. If your parents are coming to visit for Family Weekend, let your roommate(s) know as soon as you can. That way, the room can be clean, things can be picked up, and embarrassing items can be put away if necessary. If your guest shows up as a surprise - e.g., your boyfriend drives up to surprise you for the weekend - let your roommate know before they come home. A simple phone call or text message can at least give them a heads up that youll be having company for a little while. Rule 2: Know whats okay to share - and not. Most roommates dont mind if you borrow something from time to time. A squeeze of toothpaste here or some hand soap there wont bother most folks. A used towel, eaten breakfast food, and laptop surfing can easily send the calmest roommate into orbit, however. Know what your roommate is willing to share and let your guest know as soon as possible. Even if youre in class while your guest eats the last of your roommates cereal, its your responsibility to fix the problem. Rule 3: Have a limit on how long people can stay. Its reasonable to expect a roommate to accommodate the unique factors of your personal life. Your mom might call too often, for example, or you might have an annoying habit of hitting the snooze button one too many times in the morning. Having a guest stay for too long, however, is not something you can reasonably expect your roommate to adapt to. Its their place too, after all, and they need their regular time and space to focus on school. Respect your shared environment and make sure your guests leave before they overstay their welcome. Rule 4: Make sure your guest leaves things exactly how he or she found them. If your guest wants to be a good house guest, they should be respectful of everything in your shared living environment. That means cleaning up after themselves, whether in the bathroom or the kitchen. The last thing you need is for your guest to be disrespectful and leave a mess behind. Ask your guest to make sure to clean up after him- or herself, and if they dont, make sure you do as soon as possible. Rule 5: Be clear on how frequently guests can visit. Okay, so all of your guests are dreamy. They dont stay too long, they tell you theyre coming in advance, they clean up after themselves, and they respect your roommates stuff and space. That can all be true, and yet ... you can simply have guests over too often. If people are over every weekend, for example, that could easily become wearisome for your roommate(s), who might simply start craving the ability to wake up on a Saturday morning and not have to deal with the company. Talk to your roommate not only about guest specifics but also about patterns. How much is too much? How many are too many? Being clear from the beginning and checking in throughout the year can make sure that you and your roommate continue to have a good roommate relationship - guests and all.

Where people look online - Emphasis

Where people look online Where people look online Recent eyetracker research reveals that users of news websites look at the headlines first, rather than the images. The study, called Eyetrack III, from The Poynter Institute in the US, looks at how peoples eyes move, focus and skip while reading news websites. It found that people zoomed in on headlines first, although they tended to read only the first few words of the headline. Similarly, they scanned down the left-hand menu of headlines until something prompted them to read on. This and other findings from the research have important implications for those involved in creating online content. That people are attracted by headlines first online (as opposed to in print, where photos are generally viewed first, according to a 1990 study from the same institute) highlights the importance of gripping online readers in the first few words. The research also found that people devote less than an average of one second to scanning a headline, so your words need to captivate visitors almost instantly. Short and snappy headlines are clearly the order of the day when it comes to attracting and more importantly keeping website visitors. There are implications for email writing too. Subject lines should be fairly short and as self-explanatory as possible, with the key words first. Text: bigger is not always better Surprisingly the study found that smaller fonts encouraged people to focus and read content, rather than just scan it. This finding seems a little counter-intuitive, but suggests that if you want people to read closely, making the text size smaller may be a good idea. Obviously, this could be taken too far: try not to induce squinting, but choosing a small(ish) font may encourage your visitors to read more closely. People tended to just scan those news websites using large fonts. Paragraphs, too, should err on the side of short. The research found that people focused on shorter paragraphs twice as often as they did on long ones. Images: faces and click-throughs Although they werent the first thing the study participants looked at, pictures did tend eventually to draw the eye. And the bigger the image, the more attention it got. Seventy per cent viewed an average size photo, compared with a postage stamp sized picture, which caught the eye of only ten per cent. Pictures of clean, clear faces were the biggest draw (though not on stamps, presumably). Many of the test subjects tried to click on photos even though it got them nowhere. Picture links that lead somewhere useful could be a good way to cash in on this apparent reflex. And its an area that is often underutilised or overlooked when creating online content. Be careful with visual breaks Those participating in the study often didnt read blurbs beneath an underlined headline, and researchers found a similar phenomenon with adverts. Adverts were read less frequently if they were separated from editorial content and preceded by white space or a rule. So use lines, rules and other visual breaks with care. Eyetracking and the future The process of eyetracking, which youve guessed it tracks and records a persons eye movements while they are reading, has advanced greatly in the last 20 years. Where subjects once had to wear cumbersome (and, frankly, unflattering) camera headgear while under observation, now the technology consists of a small video camera, which is placed under the computer monitor being viewed. From there it locks onto and records the subjects gaze, making for a more natural experience and therefore providing more realistic results. The researchers themselves point out that research in this area is far from exhaustive (test subject groups tend to be quite small and variables are not always tightly controlled), but theyd like to see it continue. We hope that Eyetrack III is not seen as an end in itself, but rather as a beginning of a wave of eyetracking research that will benefit the news industry, say Steve Outing and Laura Ruel, the studys project managers. And with over 1.73 billion people currently logging on worldwide and the paperless office potentially just around the corner, it looks like this area of research is definitely something we should all keep an eye on. Emphasis runs a one-day course, called Writing web content with clout, which explores the specific skills required to write compelling web copy. Call us on +44 (0)1273 732 888 or email us to find out more.

What are the principal powers available to the courts in connection Essay

What are the principal powers available to the courts in connection with the interpretation and application of statutory legislation - Essay Example The Courts have the power to declare a law void if it goes against the spirit of the Constitution of the supreme law of the land prevailing in the country. It has the power to nullify the effect of the law if it goes beyond the boundaries and parameters set forth to enact laws. The Courts have to keep an eye with the way the legislation is passing laws since it keeps checks and balances on the laws which are enacted in the Parliament, and the authority to decide on that is solely with the Juduciary. The Courts have to decide on the applicability of any law. This is the greatest power which it possesses being a wing of the State. The Court has been granted the duty and the responsibility to guard the spirit of the law in its right perspective. Let us now analyse the two main duties of the courts: 1. Power to make the law 2. Power to apply the law The above are the two basic powers which the courts possess. The Judiciary is assigned the duty to apply the law as it stands out to be in cases which it gets for referral from the people. It has the power to decide a case based on the basis of the law which has been passed by the legislation. The courts go through each and every aspect of the law and try to come up with the correct interpretation which lies in the process of making the law as well. Interpretation is the first part of making law, and we shall now discuss the different schools of interpretation which exists in Judiciary today. Literal Rule: â€Å"The literal rule of sta tutory interpretation should be the first rule applied by judges. Under the literal rule, the words of the statute are given their natural or ordinary meaning and applied without the judge seeking to put a gloss on the words or seek to make sense of the statute.†( http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Literal-rule.php) Literal rule is the way of interpretation where the Courts try to analyse the law with respect to its strict wording. According to this rule, the law is understood by the judges from the literal meaning of the word. The judges do not apply their own opinion or thoughts and read the law as it is given in the code form. One of the major advantages of this form of interpretation is that law is made by the court on the basis of the meaning of the word, so there is no chance of cheating since the meaning of the word cannot be changed from it is in the dictionary. It promotes transparency as well as upholds the Legislature as the supreme authority in making the laws, even thoug h the courts have a stake in the way the law is applied. However, the disadvantage of this form of interpretation is that sometimes the word can have inherently two meanings, or it may have been put to avoid a mischief, which the courts will not take into account when they interpret the law with accordance to the literal rule of interpretation. Golden Rule: â€Å"The golden rule is that the words of a statute must prima facie be given their ordinary meaning. It is yet another rule of construction that when the words of the statute are clear, plain and unambiguous, then the courts are bound to give effect to that meaning, irrespective of the consequences. It is said that the words themselves best declare the intention of the law-giver."( http://cssonline.forummotion.com/t1735-golden-rule-of-interpretation) In the case of Maumsell v. Olins, (1975) AC 373, Lord Simon formulated the exception to the "golden rule" required by technical words, or words of art, as follows : "(The 'golden rule') is sometimes put. (sic) that in statutes dealing with ordinary people, in their everyday lives, the language is presumed to be used in its primary ordinary sense unless this stultified the purpose of the statute or otherwise

Organisational Change management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organisational Change management - Essay Example changing into the new Strategic Direction are based on the fact that the Suffolk County Council requires radical changes that will reduce their costs. Currently, it has become too slow, complex, overelaborate, risk adverse, serves the regulator more than the customer, and too expensive considering the impeding financial crisis. This program will reshape the Council’ way of thinking and provide radical solutions to the financial problems affecting the council. It will also make the council leaner, smaller, cheaper, more creative, and more innovative by developing more commercial skills which will enable the council to understand its costs better so as to reduce them. The budget gap of the council is expected to rise to  £153 million by 2013. Attempts to reduce the staffing costs the budget gap by laying off promises no solution to the budget gap as it will save only  £55m out of the  £153m from the lost 400 jobs. Furthermore, the council has no capacity of running a big r edundancy programme for its staff. The program is focused on challenging spending and reducing costs so that the  £153m budget gap will not be realized. The program addresses the  £153m budget gap by reducing the demand for their services. This will entail addressing the root cause of social problems and solving them and also building social capital to strengthen communities to be able to solve their own problems. This proposal will include the description of the current situation; this section will address the current issues facing the Suffolk County Council and why changes should be implemented. Next will be the goals of the proposal; based on the assessment of the problems facing the Suffolk County Council, this section will provide the New Strategic Direction and the solution it offers to the council. This section will be followed by proposed Methodology; this section will address a step by step process of implementing the New Strategic Direction until its goals are realized. Time and cost