Malincho Case Study Essay - 642 Words

Malincho Case Study The Timmons entrepreneurship is a model that considers opportunities teams and resources available to an entrepreneur and holds that success depends on the ability of the entrepreneur to balance these critical factors. When applying the first part of the Timmons model to the Malincho case, Kalin got the idea of importing feta cheese and selling it to fellow Bulgarians on the East coast of America who were hungry for a taste of home. Once he identified this opportunity, he set to work putting together the necessary resources to make his business a reality. He had to find a good supplier to order large quantaties of quality cheese and have it shipped to him. This also meant a lot of research on the U.S. Customs†¦show more content†¦He knew that some of his customers were hesitant to use credit cards because of scamming reasons, so he prided himself in making personal connections with his customers to earn his trust and eventually their business. There a re many concerns a potential investor would bring up to Kalin. The state of how the product arrives is a very important part. The first container he received was busted and in terrible shape. It took Kalin with the help of trusted friends to put the pieces back together again and make the product anew. This would be a serious problem because with all he money invested the product could arrive spoiled, not in the containers at all, or as it did the first time which was a huge mess. Another problem he ran into was not having a proper way of transporting his goods to various vendors. He rented trucks and went to these retailers who in turn street-style haggled with him. For one, he was so busy arguing trying to break even or make more people tried to take advantage of him. He didn’t have a sure fire way of distributing the product and because he was trying to cut down on cost of hiring others, he did it alone. He realized the truck rental alone would eat up 20% margins h e was struggling to uphold. Investors do not want to see you struggling to sell the product they put their moneyShow MoreRelatedMica Case Malincho Essay632 Words   |  3 PagesMICA Case Study: Malincho 1. Timmons Model of Entrepreneurial Process The Timmons model was developed by Jeffery Timmons to help entrepreneurs improve their odds of success. The model centres on that the entrepreneurship is opportunity driven. According to this model, first of all, it is the entrepreneur, who is the driving factor in launching a new company. Within the three components, the process starts with a market opportunity, where the size and type of opportunity will define the teamRead MoreMalincho Case1155 Words   |  5 Pages Malincho Case Study Analysis By: Faraz, Jadee and AmbreenProfessor: Tobar Byron Subject: International Strategic Management (BMI703) Date: 09/ 08/ 2014 Table of contents Executive summary the Problem/Opportunity the Organization’s current mission, goals and strategies the company s internal strengths and weakness (SWOT analysis) recommendation Selected recommendation Action Plan Implementation Conclusion Executive summary: Kalin is a Bulgarian entrepreneur. He tried toRead MoreBa470 Week 1 Assignment791 Words   |  4 PagesMalincho Case Study Kalin searched for an opportunity, and on finding it, shaped the opportunity into a high-potential venture by drawing up a team and gathering the required resources to start a business that capitalized on the opportunity. In the process of starting the business, he risked his career, personal cash flow and net worth. The Timmons model bases itself on the premise that Kalin will earn rewards in commensuration with the risk and effort involved in starting or financing the business

Irony In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson - 1436 Words

The lottery was authored by a renowned and most celebrated literature icon among his peers during his time and beyond; one Shirley Jackson, and the text would be first published in 1948 the 26 of June (Jackson 110). The storyline is told following a literal trajectory of a cultural performance in a remote setting, known as the lottery. The author of this text describes a chain of themes in his work, and they include; tradition and customs, society and class, as well as family setups and hypocrisy in the community. In the guest to creating a formidable platform of detailed arguments in the text, the author applies both iron and symbolism as the critical elements of literary approach, to pass across his message to the target audience. The†¦show more content†¦The new day has already started, everybody is at peace and spirits are high, nevertheless, before the sun sets, somebody is going to be persecuted by stoning. The dramatic irony is confirmed because the characters in the text are well away of what would later transpire, however, the audience does not know about it. While the author brings the lottery in the context of other harmless experiences, nobody is left space to question the outcome eventually, as Jackson`s word apparently seems final and trusted. The ; lottery was prescribed in dignity and hence facilitated by Mr. Summers as was anticipated, including the teen club, the square dances, and the Halloween program. All people are jovial. However, death is inevitable at the moment. Indeed, when Mr. Summers does the roll call to make sure that all persons were present, it appears that he wants the lottery to win on a fairground, when ironically the real truth is that all parties must take the equal risk for death, by stoning. Moreover, it is ironical when the narrator states that, â€Å"though the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones† (Jackson 114). Nevertheless, even thoug h the people do not remember the means of sacrificing one of their own at the ceremony, it is evidenced that they all recall on how to throw stones until one of the individuals succumbed to death. On the other hand, the stoning takes place, and Tessie HutchinsonShow MoreRelatedThe Ironies Of The Lottery By Shirley Jackson Essay1266 Words   |  6 PagesThe Ironies in â€Å"The Lottery† Shirley Jackson made quite a commotion when her short story named â€Å"The Lottery† was first published in the New Yorker in 1948. The twist ending shocked many who first read it, readers criticize her on how she could write about a primitive village that blindly follow an age old tradition, this kind of violent behavior is below them after all. Quite ironic considering that it happens during WWII, one of the bloodiest events in human history. Jackson, herself who recognizesRead MoreSatire/Irony in ‘the Lottery’ by Shirley Jackson2034 Words   |  9 PagesSatire/Irony in ‘The Lottery’: The Lucky Ticket The use of Satire/Irony within literature establishes situations where the unlikelihood of the occurrence of an event will happen. Jackson’s manipulation of his story, The Lottery, provides an unexpected twist to what one may seem to be a normal subject. Northrop Frye’s The Singing School, suggests that all stories are told in either one of four ways: Comedy, Romance, Tragedy or Satire/Irony (Frye 18). The use of Irony and its conventional associationsRead MoreUse Of Situational Irony In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson1156 Words   |  5 Pages Many authors use irony to make their writings more diverse, as well as to intensify the literary elements in the story. Shirley Jackson, writer of â€Å"The Lottery†, does this in her stories in order to leave the reader in suspense and confusion with her use of situational irony. She also uses dramatic irony to give the story a grotesque twist and to cause the reader more confusion about the characters’ morals. Verbal irony is used to intensify characterization as well as give the reader an insightRead More Irony in the Story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson Essay644 Words   |  3 PagesIrony in the Story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Shirley Jackson’s â€Å"The Lottery† irony is an underlying theme used throughout the story. The setting is introduced as a â€Å"clear and sunny† day, but ends with the brutal death of a housewife (715). The two people who essentially run the town, Mr. Graves and Mr. Summers, also have ironic names. In addition, the characters and the narrator make ironic statements throughout the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The plot as a whole in â€Å"The Lottery† is filled withRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Lottery 916 Words   |  4 Pages The Foreshadowing in â€Å"The Lottery† On a warm day in late June, villagers gather in the square to participate in a lottery run by Mr. Summers. The children arrive first and begin collecting stones until their parents call them to order. Mr. Summers calls each head of the household forward to a black wooden box, where each selects a slip of paper. Once the men have chosen, Mr. Summers allows everyone to open the paper and see who wins. Bill Hutchinson wins and his wife immediately starts protestingRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson Analysis784 Words   |  4 Pageswe perceive them to be and we are often very surprised by certain outcomes. Throughout her short stories, â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"The Possibility of Evil†, Shirley Jackson shocks readers with her unthinkable plot twists. During both stories, they begin very peaceful and calm but as you near the end, your view of both readings completely change. Throughout â€Å"The Lottery† if you win the lottery that year you will be sacrifice d, which no one would believe would happen as the title has a positive connotation;Read MoreHuman Corruption Of Human Nature1140 Words   |  5 PagesHuman Corruption in â€Å"The Lottery† â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson is a classic short story in U.S literature. Written in 1948, the short story has been published in multiple languages around the world. It is still a required reading in U.S today. The story was later adapted into both a TV short and a play (â€Å"Shirley Jackson’s Bio†). Jackson uses irony and symbolism in â€Å"The Lottery† to show the corruption of human nature. The story opens up on a clear June day. It continues to describe an ominousRead MoreAnalysis of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson993 Words   |  4 PagesSpanish author, When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow. Shirley Jackson was born in 1919 in San Francisco, California to Leslie and Geraldine Jackson. She is most well known for her short story titled â€Å"The Lottery† which was first published in The New Yorker to overwhelming and mixed reviews. The lottery, as portrayed in the short story, is a religious, annual ceremony in the afternoon of June 27. This event is said to be olderRead MoreThe Lottery By Shirley Jackson931 Words   |  4 PagesIn 1948 Shirley Jackson composed the controversial short story â€Å"The Lottery.† Generally speaking, a title such as â€Å"The Lottery† is usually affiliated with an optimistic outlook. However, Jackson’s approach is quite unorthodox and will surely leave readers contemplating the intent of her content. The story exposes a crude, senseless lottery system in which random villagers are murdered amongst their peers. Essentially, the lottery system counteracts as a form of population control, but negatives easilyRead MoreThe Lottery Literary Analysis1538 Words   |  7 Pagesgreen† (Jackson). In this first sentence of the The Lottery Shirley Jackson establishes a pleasant illusion, creating a sense of serenity. Jackson proceeds to mention that children begin to gather in the village, frolicing and conversing about school. The initial scene and satirically labeled title, The Lottery, provide a somewhat satisfying first impression to the reader. The introductory scene is eminent to intentionally implement misconception of the narrative to encompass climatic irony in the

Tuesdays with Morrie Free Essays

Christina An Weiss AIC September 9, 2010 Tuesdays with Morrie Love is a powerful emotion and an essential human need. Without loving the ones around them and their community, people are unable to live their lives to the fullest. In Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, love is a most meaningful and dominant message. We will write a custom essay sample on Tuesdays with Morrie or any similar topic only for you Order Now We feel comfort and connection with love in our lives. As Morrie says, if we devote love into our lives, we are able to fulfill our lives. In reality, many people work up until their last breath to have more and more money. However, when they look back, they realized they never lived their lives with fulfillment. Money may buy them materialistic needs but love and affection are able to bring purpose and meaning. According to Morrie, â€Å"The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning† (43). By devoting himself to love the others around him, Morrie was able to create â€Å"a cocoon of human activities – conversations, interaction, affection – and it filled his life like an overflowing soup bowl† (43). The humans believe only money can compose accomplished lives. However, they do not notice how powerful love can be; love itself is able to aid them into creating their own world, a world they wanted. If they devote their love to their community and the ones around them, they will be surprised how fulfilling their lives can become. Love is not only just pouring affection to others; understanding, guidance, comfort are also needed. These are small step people must take to create their own world. Humans need connection and comfort from the ones around us. Despite the far distance, love is still possible. I lived in 2 different places. I was born in Korea and lived for 8 years. Then I moved to Toronto, Canada, and lived for about 4 years. Now I live in Naperville, Illinois. We are still able to feel love among us because we created our friendship deep enough that where ever we are, we still feel the connection and comfort. If this world did not have love among people, the humans would be nothing but heartless robots. One of my favorite books is The Great Gatsby. This novel talk about how a man, Gatsby, becomes rich just for the girl, Daisy, he fell in love with. Even though he has a lot of money and throws ravishing parties every day, nothing can fill his life except for the love from his girl. Gatsby has a huge, exquisite house. It was big yet empty. His house was always full of people who came to his party. Gatsby does not mind random people coming to his party. He just wanted his life to be filled with people. However, that never happened. He house was filled, but never his life. His life only chased his love for Daisy, and never for the people around him. Gatsby’s materialistic things never satisfied his life. He never tried to make friends and therefore, he was never happy. Gatsby’s ravishing yet empty life shows us, that his outer shows others wealth and power. Nonetheless, his inside was just a hollow body. We can learn that even when people have the money they can spend on anything, money does not create a fulfilled life that everyone dreams of. People can fulfill their lives if they just took the time to look back and created more deep relationships. Love is not just for couples, or marriages. It is also significant in the communities and the ones who are always there. People around the world want so many materialistic things. But when they look back again, they want more friends and more relationships. Everyone will soon realize how much time they might have wasted running toward for materialistic things. If the humans let love come in, they realize that â€Å"love is the only rational act† (52). How to cite Tuesdays with Morrie, Papers Tuesdays with morrie Free Essays string(61) " Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened\." Mitch Album July 12, 2014 â€Å"My old professor, meanwhile, was stunned by the normalcy of the day around him. Shouldn’t the world stop? Don’t they know what has happened to me? † ;Mitch (pig 8) Morris’s death sentence came in the summer of 1994. This meant an end to Morris’s dancing. We will write a custom essay sample on Tuesdays with morrie or any similar topic only for you Order Now Following that came Memoir beginning to walk with a walker, the end to driving, swimming and most of all teaching. Memoir was diagnosed with ALLS, which is a brutal illness of the neurological system. 1 . What does this quote mean or suggest to you? Peoples problems range from bad to not so bad. Many In the world don’t know what others have to go through on a dally basis. I feel people should take that Into consideration when making decisions and/or dealing with their problems. Memoir was diagnosed with ALLS, a terminal sickness, meanwhile there are people who are taking their lives and becoming depressed for silly reasons. Memoir has every right to be upset but he looks at his sickness as a new beginning, to look at life a different way. I believe that’s how everyone should look at life no matter what the situation is. 2. What is the authors attitude toward the ideas, events, or characters he/she is resenting? Explain your reasoning. The author has a positive attitude toward the events in the story. One of Memories students, Mitch, eulogies him. When Mitch found out about his sickness, he contacted him immediately. However, when he arrived he didn’t even want to get out of the car. Visiting Memoir became a ritual, he would fly to see him every Tuesday. As each Tuesday passed, Match’s attitude toward Morris’s situation changed for the better. Each Tuesday he would bring food from the market and even though as time passed Memoir couldn’t eat food unless it was mushy, he still brought it. Memories costive outlook on life and his happiness influenced Mitch and made him realize there is so no reason to be negative and unhappy. July 132014 â€Å"In fact, I lost contact with most of the people I knew in college, including my beer drinking friends and the first woman I ever woke up with I the morning. â€Å"-Mitch (pig Match’s life after hugging his professor last wasn’t that Interesting. His dream was to be a musician, but after several unsuccessful gigs that dream faded. Mitch had his first encounter with death, his uncle that taught him many things, who he looked up to, died from cancer at a young age. HIS uncle asked him one night If he would be year. After his funeral, time suddenly became precious and he didn’t want to Joke around anymore. What does this quote mean or suggest to you? This quote suggests to me that people leave, you move on and things that was once important don’t mean as much anymore. Although you move on, you shouldn’t loose touch because something so deadly can come out of no where and hurt a loved one. For example, Match’s uncle. Mitch looked up to his uncle, he taught him how to drive, throw a football and teased him about girls. He wanted to be him exactly when he grew up and sadly he wasn’t around for long. In conclusion, moving on is fine but don’t move on to the point you loose touch completely with a loved one because you will regret it. 2. What are the implications of this idea, I’m the story and/or beyond it? This quote represents the idea of moving on, how it has it pros and cons. This ideas implied in the story because Mitch moved on and forgot about his dear professor and all of a sudden he found out he was diagnosed with a terminal disease. Mitch reunited with his professor, no and they began to meet every Tuesday to catch up and for Memoir to teach his last lesson about life. Like I said in my revises answer, when moving on don’t detach completely because a loved on May not be with you for long. â€Å"Yeah he refused to be depressed. Instead, Memoir had become a lightning rod of ideas. He Jotted down his thoughts on yellow pads, envelopes, folders, scrap paper†¦ â€Å"Learn to forgive yourself and to forgive others†; â€Å"Don’t assume that it’s too late to get involved. â€Å"†-Mitch/Memoir (pig 18) Morris’s health isn’t getting any better; he has to use a wheelchair full time; his legs were dead. Yet he refused to be depressed. He began to Jot down every idea that came to mind. One of his friends, Maurice Stein, was so taken by his words that he .NET them to a Boston Globe reporter, who came and wrote a story on him. It was called, The Professor’s Final Course: His Own Death. How does the quote connect to other ideas in the story? Memoir is faced with a lot of obstacles throughout the book, however he doesn’t let it stop him. This quote connects to other ideas in the story because Memoir is constantly thinking positive. After a while, he has had over fifty â€Å"aphorisms†. Since Maurice Stein showed the world Memoir, and Copper reached out to him; he has now fame in his life. Fame is constantly showing up in his life, for example, he gets letters, people want to meet him and he has been on Gospel’s show more than once. 2. Why do you think this quote is important, to you personally and/or characters he/ she is presenting? Explain your reasoning. I think this quote is important to the character Mitch is presenting because if Memoir didn’t have positivist during this roller coaster, then it would be a lot harder to are dying, you begin to live your life. Although Memoir can’t live his life actively, he is living his life emotionally talking to people, sharing his story and most of all helping them. July 14, 2014 â€Å"The eighties happened. The nineties happened. Death and sickness and getting fat and going bald happened. You read "Tuesdays with morrie" in category "Papers" I traded lots of dreams for a bigger paycheck, and I never even realized I was doing it. † -Mitch (pig 33) Mitch is thinking to himself about how he would of felt if he didn’t see Memoir before he died. He said he only had one excuse, it was a good excuse, but he became wrapped up in his own life. Memoir kept talking to him as if it has Just been a long vacation but during that vacation Mitch found Jobs and got married. Mitch feels bad, he felt that he became someone he never wanted to become. His days were full, but he spent the day doing things that left him unsatisfied. This quote suggests to that Mitch only cared about money, and luxurious objects. Rather than love, family and friends. He never wanted to end up like this, he never expected to loose contact with Memoir. But time began to fly by; his dreams disappeared and his world became revolved around money and his Job. . Elaborate on how or why the characters remind you of anyone else, in fiction, history, or your own life. Mitch reminds me of a majority of today’s society. Many teens and adults are only worried about money and what they have. Yet, the car they drive or their salary isn’t going to keep their loved ones around. Sometimes you realize when it’s too late. Many peoples dreams become unre alistic when they get caught up in their ego. They could of achieved their goals if they weren’t too busy worrying about money and more about what matters, such as family, friends and school. July 15, 2014 â€Å"The discussions give me an excuse to talk to him, fatherly conversations I cannot have with my own father, who would like me to be a lawyer† -Mitch (pig 47) Memoir and Mitch became very close which was unusual for Mitch because he wasn’t a relative yet, he didn’t mind. Mitch and his father don’t really get along cause he has a different future planned for him. Match’s dad wants him to be a lawyer, Mitch is in luck because Memoir doesn’t like lawyers. Instead he wanted to. Be a musician, and Memoir supported that; which made him feel like a father. Elaborate on how or why the characters remind you of anyone else, in fiction, history, or your own life. Mitch reminds me of my own life because my dad and I don’t really get along either. I have a person that is like a father figure to me and he supports me more than my own dad does. Unlike Match’s dad having different goals for him, my dad college and how much stress comes out from it. . Why do you think this quote is important, to you personally and/or the whole story? Since Mitch doesn’t have a great bond with his father, it influences his relationship with Mitch and Memoir. It makes their relationship stronger. Mitch isn’t afraid to tell Memoir what he is feeling and what he wants in life. If Mitch were to have these kind of talks with his dad, it wouldn’t go over so well. July 16, 2014 â€Å"Because it’s the ultimate sign of dependency. Someone wiping your bottom. But I’m working on it. I’m trying to enjoy the process. Enjoy it? â€Å"Yes. After all, I get to be a baby one more time. â€Å"† -Memoir (pig 49) Mitch and Memoir are Tuesday people, therefore Mitch only visits him on Tuesday. On the first Tuesday they talk about the world. Talking to Memoir was similar to their old college dialogues. Memoir asking questions and listening to Match’s responses. During one of marries interviews with Ted Copper, he told him that his lowest point in life will be when he has to have someone to wipe his ass. He thinks that because it is the ultimate sign of dependency, and Memoir doesn’t like to depend on people. What is reveled about the character(s) through this quote? Q This quote reveals that Memoir has a positive outlook on everything he is going to o through. Although he doesn’t like the idea of depending on someone to wipe his ass, he take s the negativity and turns it into positivist. Memoir thinks that he is getting another chance to be a baby, which is a weird but good way to look at it. If Memoir focused on the fact that he is getting weaker, he would become unhappy. It’s impossible for Memoir to be unhappy about anything. 2. How does this quote connect to other ideas in the story? This quote connects to the other disadvantages Memoir is being handed through the story. Such as, using a walker, dancing, swimming and so on. No Neater how setting stopping what used to be an everyday activity, he keeps his head up. Memoir is always positive when normally he should be upset. Nothing can stop Memoir from smiling. July 17, 2014 â€Å"The next Tuesday, I arrived with the normal bags of food- pasta with corn, potato salad, apple cobbler- and something else: a Sony tape recorder,† -Mitch (pig 62) On the third Tuesday, Mitch and Memoir talk about regrets. Since Memoir is getting sicker and time is going very fast; Mitch decided to bring a tape recorder so he could remember what they were talking about. Memoir has patience, courage, humor and pennies; he is looking at life from a very different place than anyone else. The tapes were like photographs, a desperate attempt to steal something from death’s suitcase. Mitch has a positive attitude when dealing with the tape recorder. He doesn’t want to forget about the countless amount of Tuesdays he spent with his favorite professor. Mitch wants to be able to listen to Morris’s voice after he passes; although he denies that when confronted. Memoir wants to be able to tell him his story before he runs out of time, and Mitch is perfectly fine with that. 2. Why do you think this quote is important to you personally and/or the whole story? I think this quote is important to the whole story because it represents the fact that Memoir is an influential person. He impacts many lives and decisions. The tape recorder proves to Memoir that he will never be forgotten. A part in the story, Memoir talks about if he will be forgotten when he passes. He will not. Too many love and care for him as a person and his personality to forget him. â€Å"We all need teachers in our lives. And mine was sitting in front of me† -Mitch (pig 65) Mitch is worrying about if he should be consumed with sad thoughts and regrets of what he has missed. Memoir says that’s what everyone is worried about, they are all rapped up in their family, career, money, meeting the mortgage and so on. Yet, they don’t stand back and say, â€Å"Is this all? â€Å". People need to probe you in the right direction and that’s what Memoir is doing. What works of art, music, dance or film does it remind you of? How? How does making the connection help you get more out of the question? This quote reminds me of the film, Mantilla. Mantilla was adopted into a very discouraging family, who didn’t care for her. When she met her teacher Ms. Honey, she began to realize what life has to offer. This is the same situation with Memoir and Mitch, Memoir opened up Match’s and made him realize what’s right in front of him. . What does this quote mean or suggest to you? This quote suggests that you should always have an intelligent, influencing person in your life you can always go to to help point you in the right direction. Having that second option makes decision making a lot easier, and I feel everyone should have a person like Memoir. I’ve had several fr iends in my life, that always point me in the right direction and I’m very thankful to have them. July 18, 2014 â€Å"†Everyone knows they’re going to die,† he said again, â€Å"but nobody believes it. If we id, we would do things differently. † -Memoir (pig 81) On the fourth Tuesday, they talked about death. Memoir is now on a machine, helping him breath and Mitch hates it. Yet, once again Memoir looks at it differently. He says that everyone needs to accept that they are going to die one day and that they should’ve prepared at any time. Therefore, you can be more involved in your life ask it if today’s the day and if they are ready. Memoir then turned to his shoulder and asked the bird if today is the day I die. What are the implications of this idea, in the story and/or beyond it? The idea of accepting death is implied throughout the story. Memoir accepts the fact that he will be dying soon, therefore he lives his life differently. He lives his life to the fullest, and doesn’t let negativity and unhappiness prevent him. Although, Memoir has hit his lowest point, dependency, he doesn’t allow that to prevent him from sharing his life story and his optimism with visitors and Mitch. If the quote suggests a conflict, what might have caused the problem? What solution(s) might exist? This quote suggests the conflict of internal vs.. Acceptance of death. The idea of believing you’re invincible causes this problem. The only solution that exists, is to accept that you will die one day. Accepting that idea will result in a better life. You will begin to live life to its fullest, and you will achieve more things. â€Å"You know what the Buddhists say? Don’t cling to things, because everything is impermanent. † -Memoir (pig 103) It is the sixth Tuesday and Memoir and Mitch are talking about Emotions. Memoir is beginning to struggle much more as the days pass, but no matter what he will be happy to see Mitch. Mitch still brings a bag of food every time he visits, but Memoir would never hurt his feelings and tell him he can’t chew it. Memoir begins the Tuesday by telling Mitch that he has to detach himself from experiences. Instead of letting the experience penetrate you, on the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. Why do you think this quote is important to you personally and/or to the whole story? I think this quote is important to me personally because this is something I have trouble with daily. Whenever someone comes into my life, I get attached very easily. Therefore, when it’s time to detach I get hurt. I need to accept the fact that everyone will be temporary, and I can’t let myself get hurt over that. Instead of thinking about the future together, I need to enjoy the experience with that person now and let the experience penetrate me fully. History or in your own life. As I stated in the last question, it’s very difficult for me to detach from someone. I don’t think I am the only one who deals with this problem. Some get extremely attached and when that person leaves they go insane and do something incredibly crazy things themselves or to the person. I read an article where a girl was arrested for stalking her boyfriend, sending an extraordinary amount of texts, emails, calls, voiceless and so on to him. This is the problem, some believe that it won’t happen again; therefore they put all their trust into one person. When that person ends up being what they didn’t expect they go crazy. Facedown on the tile floor, stayed there for hours†¦. What she mostly wanted, he learned was the same thing many people want-someone to notice she was there. † Mitch (pig 109-110) Memories inspirational and positive attitude was shaped by the years he spent working at a mental hospital. Morris’s Job was to observe mental patients and record their treatments. This quote suggests the conflict of internal conflict vs.. Society. This conflict has been caused by a selfish society. The only solution that might exist is if society would cake time to care about the people surround them. This quote represents a simple issue. She would lay on the floor everyday and everyone would walk all over her. All it took for her to get off the floor was for someone to notice her; and that person was Memoir. 2. Elaborate on how or why the characters remind you of anyone else, in fiction, in history or your own life. The character Memoir reminds me of a close friend of mine. Both of them are hardly negative and sad, and they will always put others before them. I admire her greatly. She is always there to help me and give me advice, which is exactly what Memoir does. People like Memoir don’t get enough thanks, and they deserve the recognition. July 19, 2014 Memoir had aging in better perspective. Listen, I know what a misery being young can be, so don’t tell me it’s so great. All these kids who came to me which their struggles, their strife, and their feelings of inadequacy, their sense that life was miserable,so be they wanted to kill themselves†¦ † -Memoir (pig 117) The seventh Tuesday, Memoir and Mitch talk about the fear of aging. Surprisingly Memoir isn’t Aids of aging. Adapt first he felt letting someone wipe his behind would influence his mood for the worse, yet it didn’t. He now enjoys his dependency, he enjoys someone rolling him over to his side and rubbing cream on his behind. Then they talked about the fear of aging. Mitch made the observation that on billboards on young and beautiful people are featured. None of the models could pass over 35. Why do you think this quote is important to you personally and/or the whole story? This quote is important to the whole story because It gives Memoir more of a reason to accept the fact he is growing old. Being young isn’t fun anymore, it’s all about how much money you have, what car you drive, who you are dating, how much you weigh and so on. Also the young are not wise and hardly understand life. The older you get, the wiser you are and the more you understand. People that are 2. If the quote suggests a conflict, what might have caused the problem? What The conflict of internal vs.. Society is represented through this quote. Judgmental people, high standards and high expectations causes this conflict. Teens are desperately trying to escape people’s expectations. Life shouldn’t be about what you have and who you talk to. This causes teens to be ignorant. The only solution to this problem is to live life to your fullest and forget about what others think. He smiled, you know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until you’re sixty-five. † -Memoir (pig 118) The seventh Tuesday, Memoir and Mitch talk about aging. Aging is a very valuable and ignorant people don’t understand that. Memoir states that if all young people are battling getting older, they will always be unhappy. Turning a year older opens a new door for all. Mitch doesn’t understand how Memoir doesn’t new young and healthy people. Memoir does new them being able to go to the health club or swimming but he detached himself. He envoys them, but he doesn’t let it prevent him from living his life. This connection help you get more out of the question? The quote reminds me of the movie 17 Again. Each Effort is unsatisfied with his life, he was getting divorced, he kids wouldn’t speak to him and he wasn’t the hot Jack he used to be. This depression was very obvious, which resulted in a â€Å"Janitor† letting him go back in time to be 17 again. Although he was able to relive his teen life, no did fix certain problems he couldn’t help but think about his wife. Each has to choose teen two choices, going to college and play basketball or go back to his age and win his wife back. He chose his wife. Even though staying young is fun, growing old is better and that can be represented in this movie. I feel that this quote can represent Mitch a little bit. Mitch is a very busy person, he is always doing something; yet he isn’t happy doing it. Mitch obviously wishes he could go back to college, considering all the questions he is asking Memoir. However, Mitch makes Memoir realize how much of an advantage they both have. They may have wrinkles or bald spots but they are both getting more insightful as time passes. July 20, 2014 â€Å"You need food, you want a chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself. You don’t need the latest sports car, you don’t need the biggest house. † -Memoir (pig 126) values in the wrong things which leads to broken lives. Memoir has good and sometimes bad days but no matter what, his love for music strengthens. Memoir then begins to talk about how the country is brainwashing everyone. For example, they say â€Å"Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More imperialism is good† and so on. Mitch and Memoir make their way towards marries study, everything is the same. When Memoir was told about his terminal illness, he lost interest in purchasing new items. This quote suggests to me that the world is revolved around money. It’s always about what you have, not your personality. It shouldn’t matter what car you drive, or the house you live in or what you look like. The materialistic things in life doesn’t matter and people take that for advantage. Mitch was so caught up in his own life, worrying about his Job and how much money he was making instead of contacting his professor. Thankfully, he woke up from his nightmare and Memoir talked some sense into him. Now they spend every Tuesday having instructed conversations. Mitch reminds me of several people in my own life. They are all caught up in the materialistic things rather than the love in his life. The only thing to blame for this is society, and to break through from it you would have to become your own person. Break the standards and expectations the world has set. Focus on what really matters and that’s your family. July 21, 2014 â€Å"So many people with far smaller problems are so self-absorbed, their eyes glaze over if you speak more than thirty seconds. † -Mitch (pig 136) The ninth Tuesday, Mitch and Memoir talked about how love goes on. Mitch kept trying to get in touch with his brother that lives in Spain, yet he kept ignoring his calls. Memoir now isn’t able to go to the bathroom on his own! A catheter was inserted. As each visit passed, his spine began to melt into the chair and take shape. Although he was becoming his weakest, he insisted on being wheeled to his study. This was represented by his new aphorism, â€Å"When you’re in bed, you’re dead. † So many people takes things to granted and don’t understand that life can be worse, Memoir could Just sit in his bed and feel himself dying, yet he doesn’t let death cause him to be selfish. The quote suggests internal conflict vs.. Self. Most are self-absorbed. Acting as if they are listening to what you’re saying, but actually waiting for you to end so they can start talking. They don’t care about other people, and sadly that’s a majority of today’s society. Only worried about their issues, but need to realize there are healthy they do. 2. How does this quote relate to others work of literature? In the novel, Ordinary People, the protagonist Conrad is going through a lot. He feels he was the cause of his brothers death and he doesn’t feel good enough for his parents, therefore he turns to cutting. His mother, Beth Garret is very self-absorbed. She only cares about what others think of her. For example, she flipped when she found out from a friend that her son quit the swim team and not from her own son. This represents selfishness, her son is in pain and she only cares for her reputation. â€Å"Although she had never met Memoir, she took the phone†¦ † -Mitch (pig 143) The tenth Tuesday, Mitch and Memoir talk about marriage. Memoir has always heard about Match’s wife, Jeanine, but never met her. One day Mitch was on the phone with Memoir and Jeanine surprisingly took the phone from him. Instead of rejecting Morris’s request, she decided to come with Mitch next Tuesday to see Memoir. As stated in this chapter, marriage is a very complicated thing and many have problems with it. However, many don’t realize that having a loved one is very important to have. When you’re in a situation like Memoir, going through it without a loved one is very hard. Going through it with friends is fine, but they won’t be there when you’re ill and coughing at night. But your soul mate will be. This quote makes me very happy because it represents kindness and peace towards everyone. Jeanine has never met Memoir, all she knows is stories Mitch has old her and that makes her more eager to meet such a man. All it takes to influence and be ones hero is a positive attitude when going through the worst. Memoir accepts the fact that he is dying, and he isn’t depressed one bit. He may have his moments and days, but it doesn’t let that stop him. This quote suggests that no matter what you are going through, it doesn’t hurt to be positive; also it doesn’t hurt to give people a chance. 2. What is reveled about the character(s) through this quote? I think this quote is important to the whole story because it represents the genuine characters. Not only Match’s wife, but Mitch, Memoir, Morris wife and the handful of people that visit Memoir daily. Jasmine’s actions and feelings forwards Memoir surprised Mitch very much. I feel that her characteristics made Mitch feel extremely happy and proved to Mitch that Morris’s personality influences not Just him but people he didn’t even meet. July 22, 2014 â€Å"Yes. For all the things we didn’t do. All the things we should have done. You can’t get stuck on the regrets of what should have happened. That doesn’t help you when you get to where I am. † -Memoir (pig 166) On the twelfth Tuesday, Mitch and Memoir talk about forgiveness. A friend of How to cite Tuesdays with morrie, Papers

Methods and Tools in User-Centred Designs - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Methods and Tools in User-Centred Designs. Answer: Introduction The report explores the digital disruption, which occurred with the advent of Uber Company, which is based on the sharing economy. It is a global taxi company with headquarters in San Francisco, California. The company designs a mobile application which acts as a medium between passengers and the taxi drivers. Uber is considered as the epitome of shared economy and digital disruption as it has been one of the primary company to disrupt a current industry abruptly (Pwc, 2017). Therefore, the phenomenon of digital disruption is also known as Uberization. The Uber drivers have their own cars and they avail the mobile application to find the customers. It is one of the pioneer company for Uberisation. Introduction to the Case The Uber application software is installed by both drivers and users for sharing cab. It is convenient way of finding a taxi in the nearby area. It follows the upfront pricing method in which the rider is quoted a price after he enters the drop location. Other than that, the fares of the company are based on the dynamic pricing method in which the fares becomes high at the time of high demand. The same route costs different to different users at different time. However, the increased usage of Uber and other ride sharing companies has negatively affected the value of taxi medallions in different cities. Previously, they used to play a cortical role in providing taxi services at the specific time and duration. However, their profits have declined over the time. Uber has also disrupted the taxi services and previous structure of taxi industry. Most of the taxi drivers have installed the application and charge the fare as per the policy of the organization (Pemberton, 2017). Although a large number of drivers are working with the organization, the legal arrangement is that of contractors instead of employees. As a result, taxes, working hours and other benefits are not provided to the drivers. WCA before the digital disruption Customers Products Services High-class people Travel services Major Activities or Processes Traditionally, in the taxi industry, the drivers used to operate independently or with the help of medallion. The drivers used to stand at the major traffic area and the people can avail the services through it. Other than that, the taxi drivers can be called through medallion or through their individual contact numbers. The drivers can charge the riders as per the standard rates. They also had freedom to accept or decline a ride. Participants Information Technologies There are several participants in the taxi industry. The first is government, which set the rules and regulations in the taxi industry. The set the standard rates in the industry. Other stakeholder is the medallion who serves as a link between the consumers and the taxi drivers. The taxi drivers drive their vehicle across the city. The consumers are other stakeholders. The responsibility of safety and security of the consumer is biggest concern. Therefore, he federation of the drivers as well as governments of most of the countries have made it mandatory to conduct a background check of drivers. There is several critical information required in the taxi industry. It includes the background check and information of the drivers (Stanton, Salmon, Walker Jenkins, 2017). The drop location of the riders is also necessary for running the taxi system. Along with it, the drivers must be aware of the latest rates and price in the taxi industry. Telephone and internet services are required to book a cab in the industry (Zaphiris Kurniaswan, 2007). WCA after the digital disruption Customers Products Services General public With low rates, students and working professionals have also started using the service Ride sharing service, sharing with other customers, food delivery services, outstation rentals Major Activities or Processes With the advent of Uber, the dynamics or the major activities of transport industry has been changed. A mobile application is used to control the inflow of the customers and the taxi drivers. Previously, the taxi drivers used to have issue in accessing the users or the cab drivers. The mobile application has increased the comfort of both the cab drivers as well as the riders. The users can book a cab by sitting at the comfort of their home. They can easily book a ride and ask the driver to pick them up from their home. It is similar to a personalized chauffer service. On the other hand, the drivers can get immediate access to all the users in the nearby location. They can select a customer as per the travel time or their direction of route. The driver and the user do not have to further struggle over the charge and it is automatically calculated by the mobile application. The users can also choose to pay from their online payment methods or through the cash. It increases the convenie nce and the comfort of the users. Participants Information Technologies There are several participants in the taxi services. The government plays a crucial role in the price determination of the services. The government set some standard rates, which are needed to be maintained by the taxi drivers. They are called the base rates. The taxi drivers have to comply by it (Galer, Ziegler Galer, 2016). Currently, Uber has been in issues with several governments because of employment and the user privacy laws. The drivers are termed as independent contractors and they are not given employment benefits. In several countries, the company has been under the government radar due to several cases, which breaches the consumer security. The information pertaining to the users is confidential and should not be shared or revealed. The users share their name and mobile number while booking the cab. However, this information should not be used for any malicious purpose. As discussed above, Uber follows a dynamic pricing model. As a result, the company needs to collect information regarding the peak hours at a particular location. It also needs to collect information regarding the personal background of the drivers. This information needs to be verified and authenticated. Uber is a technology-based company and needs mobile application to handle all the operations. Other than that, it needs appropriate infrastructure and population so that the profits can be generated through the application (Khosla, Damiani Grosky, 2012). Problem Identification It can be identified that in the previous structure of the taxi industry, the customers as well as the taxi drivers used to have issues to access each other. The intermediary used to take unnecessary commissions. Moreover, the overall access to the riders was also limited. The taxi drivers have access to limited profitability. The customers also do not have proper access to the taxi drivers. However, there are several issues in the contemporary mobile application too. The foremost issue is that of the customer safety. There should be additional features in the mobile application, which assures the safety of the customers. The company should also take initiative to assure the safety and security of the drivers. Recommendations In order to address these issues, the company should make clear policies in its system. A thorough background check should be made mandatory for the drivers. It will examine the previous criminal record and other information for the drivers. It is an important step to maintain the safety of the customers. Due to a few legal cases, a negative air is created surrounding the company. The company should design appropriate marketing efforts so that this negative air is diminished (Baines Fill Page, 2013). The marketing campaign should be designed as per the local culture and customer choice. Implementation Plan In order to conduct a background check for the drivers, the company should develop a clear policy. All the subsidiaries and local branches should abide by the policy. Other than that, the organization should also offer incentives and other employee motivation techniques to keep the employees motivated. The company should design unique marketing campaign according to the local culture of the country (Baker Hart, 2016). It will increase the attractiveness of the product. The company can also adapt the product as per the local culture of the country. Conclusion It can be concluded that digital disruption is a significant phenomenon, which can change the dynamics of the entire industry. The taxi industry was disrupted with the advent of Uber, a ride sharing service. It develops a mobile application through which the consumers and the drivers can access each other. Several recommendations have been identified in the report. An implementation plan has been proposed to address the situation. References Baines, P., Fill, C. Page, K. (2013). Essentials of Marketing. OUP Oxford. Baker, M.J., Hart, S. (2016). The Marketing Book. Routledge. Galer, M., Ziegler, J., Galer, M. (2016). Methods and Tools in User-Centred Design for Information Technology. Elsevier. Khosla, R., Damiani, E., Grosky, W. (2012). Human-Centered e-Business. Springer Science Business Media. Stanton, N.A., Salmon, P.M., Walker, G.H., Jenkins, D.P. (2017). Cognitive Work Analysis: Applications, Extensions and Future Directions. CRC Press. Zaphiris, P., Kurniaswan, S. (2007). Human-Computer Interaction Research in Web Design and Evaluation. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Pwc. (2017). Uber, digital and disruption: whats happening and why does it work? [Online]. Available at: https://digital.pwc.co.nz/ideas/uber-digital-and-disruption-whats-happening-and-why-does-it-work/ [Accessed on: 4 January 2017]. Pemberton, A. (2017). Uber is everything that is wrong with disruption. The Campaign. [Online]. Available at: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/uber-everything-wrong-disruption/1440077 [Accessed on: 4 January 2017].

Federalism Essays (793 words) - United States, James Madison

Federalism When the revolutionary war was over, the American colonists had found themselves free of British domination. Due to the fact that they were free from British control, they wanted to create their own system of government where tyranny would be practically diminished. Originally, The Articles of Confederation connected the separate states. But this document gave the central government no power of it's own. Because of this, the states had many problems in international politics since they had just found freedom and did not have the respect of other countries. This caused a lot of thinking and it was decided that a document needed to be created to strengthen the central government and at the same time ensuring the safety of the states. So came to be the constitution. The constitution brought about a division between the American people. These two groups were the federalists, who believed that the constitution was good, and the anti-federalists who thought that the constitution would not be able to protect the rights of the people. These two groups had conflicting views but together, they both wanted the same thing. The same thing was that the people should control America by the principles of federalism. Both groups, the federalist and anti-federalists recognized the fact that power was being abused. They witnessed what had happened in the war and that their had been negative effects of power and the result was very clear. British vocation had made them very aware of the threat of corruption. Therefore, they wanted to make a government that would ensure the duration of a just republic. The Federalists exclaimed that the constitution was the only way they could reach this goal of a just society. As James Wilson had said, the constitution would not give all the power to the legislature unless it was legally written down to ensure power was not mistreated. In the constitution, it does allow Congress to make laws that help out the government in the area of execution of foreign powers. The views of the anti-federalists were obviously different. They believed that the power given to the congress was not safe since it put them too much in control. Hence they created the Bill of Rights to "establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity and provide for the common defense..." The anti-federalists feared that the actual people would not be fairly represented by their new government since they would have the power to get rid of the individual rights of the people. The Bill of Rights claims it is for and by the people. Especially since America is so large, it does not ensure everyone's opinion would be heard. Many people did not like the idea of having representatives from each state because one man can not bring forth many different opinions. Anti-federalists believe that liberty only is present when there are few people and they can actually get their voice projected. In a large population, like America, the citizens do not get Individual freedom and are deprived of their rights. Yet, Madison a federalist stated that in a small republic, tyranny could be much more assessable since it would be easier to dominate others. Unlike in a large republic which is made up of many views where as it is less chance that a few can dominate others. Even in individual states it is easy to elect officials since people can be easily controlled when there aren't many people. In other word, the more the people, the less chance of bribery and inducement. Another benefit of a larger republic is that there would be a variety of people representing them and there would be many candidates to pick from. Ensuring the highest quality government. In a small republic, options would be very select making it an unfair election. Besides finding officials to best represent the people, there were many other controversial topics that faced the American people. The topic of taxation brought about many different ideas of what should be. The anti-federalists believed that by forming a new system would be very challenging because that is what they know and use. The first problem they found was that states would not want to have two state taxes. This is unfair to the people. They also argued that a state tax was unfair since each state was different with different needs. This could very well destroy a state economically while other states are fine. The federalists believed that congress had all the right to have direct taxation in ensure the safety of national security. The claimed that the

Black Cherry, An Important North American Tree

Black Cherry, An Important North American Tree The black  cherry or Prunus serotina is a species in the subgenus Padus with beautiful flower  clusters, each separate flower attached by short equal stalks and called  racemes. All cherries in the landscape or forest share this floral design and often used as  specimens in yards and parks. All true cherries are deciduous trees and shed their leaves before winter dormancy. Prunus serotina,  also commonly called wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native to eastern North America from southern Quebec and Ontario south to Texas and central Florida, with disjunct populations in Arizona and New Mexico, and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. This North American native tree usually grows to  60 but can grow as tall as 145 feet on exceptional sites. The bark of young trees are smooth but become fissured and scaly as the trees trunk enlarges with age. The leaves are alternate in rank, simple in shape, and narrowly oval, 4 inches long with finely toothed margins. Leaf texture is glabrous (smooth) and commonly with reddish hairs along the midrib beneath and near the base (see leaf anatomy). The Cherrys Beautiful Flowers and Fruit The flowers inflorescence (meaning  the complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers)  is very attractive. This  flower head is five inches long at the end of leafy twigs of the Spring season, with numerous 1/3 white flowers with five petals. The fruits are berry-like, about 3/4 in diameter, and turn black purple when ripe. The actual seed in the berry is a single, black, ovoid stone. The common name black cherry is derived  from the black color of the ripe fruits.   Dark Side of a Black Cherry The leaves, twigs, bark  and seeds of black cherry produce  a chemical called cyanogenic glycoside.  Hydrogen cyanide is released when the living parts of plant material are chewed and eaten and are toxic to both human and animal. It has a very repulsive taste and that taste is one of the identifying factors of the tree. Most poisoning comes from livestock eating wilted leaves, which contain more of the toxin than fresh leaves but with a diminishing of the bad taste. Interestingly enough, white-tailed deer browse seedlings and saplings without harm. The inner bark has highly concentrated forms of the chemical but was actually used ethnobotanically in much of the Appalachian states as a cough remedy, tonic, and sedative. The glycoside seems to reduce spasms in the smooth muscles lining bronchioles. Still, very large amounts of black cherry pose the theoretical risk of causing cyanide poisoning.   Ã‚   Dormant Identification of Black Cherry The tree has narrow corky and light, horizontal lenticels. Lenticels in black cherry are one of many vertically raised pores in the stem of a woody plant that allows gas exchange between the atmosphere and the internal tissues  on the bark of a young tree. The cherry bark breaks into thin dark plates and raised edges on older wood are described as burnt cornflakes. You can safely taste the twig that has what has been described as a bitter almond taste. The cherry bark is dark grey but can be both smooth and scaly with reddish-brown inner bark. The Most Common North American Hardwood List ash:  Genus  Fraxinus  basswood:  Genus  Tilia  birch:  Genus  Betula  black cherry:  Genus  Prunus  black walnut/butternut:  Genus  Juglans  cottonwood:  Genus  Populus  elm: Genus  Ulmus  hackberry:  Genus  Celtis  hickory:  Genus  Carya  holly:  Genus  IIex  locust: Genus  Robinia  and  Gleditsia  magnolia:  Genus  Magnolia  maple:  Genus  Acer  oak:  Genus  Quercus  poplar:  Genus  Populus  red alder:  Genus  Alnus  royal paulownia:  Genus  Paulownia  sassafras:  Genus  Sassafras  sweetgum:  Genus  Liquidambar  sycamore:  Genus  Platanus  tupelo: Genus  Nyssa  willow:Genus  Salix  yellow-poplar:  Genus  Liriodendron

Effective communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effective communication - Assignment Example The process of conveying information from the source, say an individual or group of people to a destination, which may be a person or group of people, is a complex process that may encounter a myriad of hindrances such as prejudice or noise from hecklers, for instance.   Communication is a complex â€Å"give and take† process (Antos, 2011). Thus, barriers to communication are elemental factors that blocks or obstructs the delivery of information as intended from the source to/by the receiver (Eisenberg, 2010). Listening and communication skills are part of effective communication and may well form the basis of information content distortion. Preconceptions (prejudice), for example, are barriers to listening capabilities that often come with inbuilt preformed opinions that dictate how an individual communicates with another party. In particular, pre-conceived notions are recipes for selective hearing and retention with a hampering effect to screening out statement of facts (Antos, 2011). Noteworthy, effective communication requires open-mind speaking and listening from both parties (information sender(s) and receiver(s)). Such a strategy is not only a show of respect to others’ unique perspectives but a deviational tactic from confrontational side-bars at the

Self-awareness and career management (1) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Self-awareness and career management (1) - Essay Example The willingness of workers to move from one place to another in order to get hold on better work is generally called job mobility (Griffeth & Hom, 2004). The factors that trigger this notion by indulging employees are collectively known as job embeddedness (OECD, 2001). The concept of job embeddedness is hired to ensure the job stability by forecasting a banker’s potential to quit (Allen, 2006). The concept of job embeddedness was presented by Mitchell and his colleagues in 2001 in order to explicate why some employees want to leave their job whilst others do not. For them there are certain factors such as association with the community, cost of quitting the job, etc. that do not let them leave the job. Empirical studies show that embeddedness is all about encouraging higher performance ergo retaining employees by embedding their co-workers (Liao, 2010). Mitchell and his colleagues identified three factors: links, fit, and sacrifice. Links means the connection between people a nd activities whilst fits refer to how well the job and its communities fit with other aspects of peoples’ lives. And the last element is sacrifice which refers to whatever the person loses once he quits his job. (Shultz et al, 2007) One has to recognize the role of job satisfaction in the decision making process for a person. For them if a person is satisfied with the job, he will not think of quitting but the likelihood of quitting becomes higher in the case of dissatisfaction (Shultz, 2007). Job Mobility Many researchers imply the study of job mobility for the analysis of the labourers’ behaviours against different job offers (Rooney & Hepworth, 2009). No worker is said to be able to get a job best suited to his demands and capabilities in the first phase of his job career (EUROPA, 2008). This leads the workers to be always in search of such firms which value their skills more than their present employers (Liao, Martocchio & Joshi, 2010). Thus, there can be three ma in types of job mobility: employment mobility, job-to-job mobility, and occupational mobility; and some of the factors that affect it are: job tenure, rate of bonuses and chances of growth (Winget, 2007). The rate of job mobility varies from one country to another depending upon the respective economic conditions as well as the demands of the workers. The data published by Eurobarometer (2005) on the job mobility rate is displayed underneath. The researchers believe that the tendency of job mobility is greater in the lower-wage jobs than highly paid ones (Delfgaauw, 2006, p.78; OECD, 1999). Farber (1999) has studied the job-changes by employing the data from the Current Population Survey and found out that the job tenure is one of the key determinants to job changes. The greater the job tenure is the lesser will be the chances of job mobility. This study also reveals that the wages offered by the firms also vary with the job experience in the respective firm (Madrian, 1993). The sam e rule applies to the banking sector where big bankers move to the job with high salary or bonuses offerings. The fact is testified by a bulletin of the ‘Evening Standard’ 2004, (a UK newspaper), according to which a group of senior bankers had quit the ‘Fox-Pitt, Kelton’ (an investment bank of UK) in order to join the rival company of Citigroup. In addition to this, fourteen analysts and traders had quit the â€Å"

International Political Economy &Islamic Factor of Central Asia Essay

International Political Economy &Islamic Factor of Central Asia - Essay Example For example, Belarus has been able to advance the trade with Central Asia especially larly Kazakhstan. This was made possible by the high integration level within the economy of Russia. On the other hand, Ukraine has been promoted by the Turkmen and Uzbek governments as a way of escaping from the dominance of Russian and as a Europe opening. The Guam (anti-Russssian institution designed for fostering of the strategic) and the economical alliances between Ukraine Georgia Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan is not efficient to alter the regional balance. Besides, the chapter demonstrates a failing in the Caspian unity which included the south Caucasus and Central Asia. The growth in the connectivity and the cooperation of the Central Asia is discussed at length in the chapter. Aspects like the regional leadership Uzbek-Kazakh Competition are also highlighted. In this chapter, the author discussed the structural Agricultural sector trends. In central Asia Kazakhstan is one special case in terms of the level of agriculture. The whole republic was displayed as a key driver of the Soviet development of Agriculture, especially as a result of the Virgin campaign lands that were launched in the year 1954 by the Khrushchev. The campaign of the virgin lands facilitated the Kazakhstan Agriculture to an extent where it made over 20 percent of the whole land. The Kazakh republic made exports worth ten million tons of wheat in 1980. They also made over 300,000 tons of meat whose revenues were made up of a third of the GDP. The other produce were not of great relevance to the Soviet scale despite being relevant on the local level. The southern section of the republic cultivated cotton and rice. To date, the country is in possession of two hundred and twenty two million hectares farmland, most of which is used for pasture. This is about 85 percent of t he

Business Ethics And Corporate Responsibility Marketing Essay

Business Ethics And Corporate Responsibility Marketing Essay Describe the basic features that distinguish the three traditional forms of business ownership: sole proprietorships, general partnerships and C corporations. ~Sole proprietorship is a business that is owned and managed by one individual. Earnings of the company are treated as income and debts that arise are personal debts. It is the most common type of business organization in United States. ~General partnership: In this type of business all partners have right to participate in management of the firm and share any profits or losses. There is no limit on number of partners but usually its two. ~C corporation is a legal entity, separate and distinct from its owners. Its owned by stockholders. Its mission and objective are established by board of directors and board of directors is selected by stockholders to protect their interests. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of sole proprietorships and general partnerships. ~Both are easy to form, have tax advantages, and unlimited liability. ~General partnership has a stronger financial base than sole proprietorship. ~On the other hand, general partnership can be destroyed much easier than sole ~proprietorship because of disagreements between partners. ~ Another disadvantage in sole proprietorship is that workload and responsibilities are on one person while in partnership its shared. What advantages help explain why virtually all large companies are organized as C corporations? ~Corporations can raise huge amount of financial capital ~Its easy for stockholders to withdraw from ownership or sell shares of stock ~Stockholders have limited liability. They are not personally liable for the debts of the company. What steps are involved in starting a general corporation? ~Requires filing form called the articles of incorporation, with a specific state agency. ~Pay filling fees and establish corporate bylaws-basic the basic rules governing how a corporation is organized and how it manages its business. ~Companies also choose corporation friendly states, because not all states are friendly and charge a lot of money. How is a corporations board of directors chosen? Explain the role the board plays in a corporations management. ~ According to corporate bylaws stockholders elect board of directors that they rely on to manage company and protect their interests. ~Board of directors establishes the corporations mission and sets its broad objectives. ~Board of directors then assigns the chief of executive officer and other corporate officers to manage company. Explain how S corporations, statutory closed corporations, and nonprofit corporations differ from C corporations. ~S corporation: IRS does not tax earning separately, can have no more than 100 stockholders, each stockholder have to be U.S. citizen or permanent resident. ~Statutory close corporation: Doesnt have to elect a board of directors or hold annual stockholders meetings, number of stockholders are limited to 50, stockholders cant sell their shares to public without first offering to existing owners, not all states allow this type of corporation. ~Nonprofit corporation: Has members but not stockholders, cannot contribute funds to a political campaign, must keep accurate records, earnings are exempt from federal and state income, make tax deduction for individuals who contribute money or property. What are the three different types of corporate mergers? What is the rationale for each type? ~Horizontal merger: Combination of firms in the same industry. ~Vertical merger: Combination of companies with buyer-seller relationship. ~Conglomerate merger: Combination of unrelated companies. Compare an S corporation with a limited liability company. Why do you think limited liability companies are currently more popular than S corporations? ~While S corporation has limited numbers of owners, Limited Liability Company can have any number of owners. Unlike S corporation, owners of LLC can be foreign investors and other corporations. What is a business format franchise? What are the roles of the franchisor and franchisee in this arrangement? ~Business format franchise is an agreement in which the franchisee pays for the right to use the name, trademark and has to operate business according to the rules and principles of franchisor. ~Franchisor is owner and has to train and provide support franchisee; responsible for name brand recognition. ~Franchisee- has right to use franchisors name, trademarks, and patents; must follow methods and all the rules of franchisor; attend training meetings What are the main advantages and disadvantages of franchising arrangements for the franchisee? For the franchisor? ~Advantages for franchisee: less risk, training and support from franchisor, easier to borrow money from a bank ~Disadvantages for franchisee: Costs are very high, very little control, have to sell only what company sells, risk-not all companies live to their promises, growth challenges ~Advantages for franchisor: can expand the business to bring extra revenue without using own money. ~Disadvantages for franchisor: irresponsible behavior of franchisee cans cost companies success. Chapter Seven Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Economic Rocket Fuel: Review Questions Review the benefits an entrepreneur might seek in starting a new business. Which benefits are most appealing to you? Why? ~Greater financial success, independence, flexibility, challenge, survival. ~The benefits that appeal to me are independence, flexibility, and financial success. Do you recognize any of the entrepreneurial personality characteristics in yourselves? Which ones? Do you think its possible for a person to develop the characteristics that he or she lacks? Why or why not? ~Yes, I have few of entrepreneurial personality characteristics and they are self-reliance, confidence, energy, and tolerance of failure. ~I think it is hard but possible for a person to develop skills he or she lacks. It all depends on how bad that person wants to learn new skills that she or she doesnt have. What role does failure sometimes play in entrepreneurial success? What can an entrepreneur gain from failure? ~Entrepreneurs see failure as a chance to learn and succeed. Compare the opportunities and threats that small businesses face. Which opportunities are most compelling? Which threats are most intimidating? Why? ~Opportunities: Market niches, personal costumer service, lower overhead costs, technology. ~Threats: High risk of failure, lack of knowledge and experience, too little money, bigger ~Bigger regulatory burden, higher health insurance costs. ~Opportunity that compelling is personal customer service because with it small business owner can build personal relationship with a customer. Another opportunity that is compelling is lower overhead costs because no one wants to spend huge amount of money and wants to spend as less as possible. ~The biggest threat that is intimidating is high risk of failure. When someone starts a business, he or she wants to succeed and not to fail. People are scared of loosing even if they are tolerant to failure. Those that tolerant to failure dont give easily up like others do. Review the definition of niche marketer, and cite three examples of niche marketers. How has technology affected niche marketing? ~Market niche is a small segment of a market with fewer competitors than the market as a whole and tend to be more attractive to small firms. ~Organic cosmetics, Google, E-bay. ~Technology plays very important role today, because internet helped people to open new businesses and at the same time create more customers. It is good for businesses because they spend less money and grow faster. If you were to launch a new business, would you start from scratch, buy an established independent business, or buy a franchise? Why? ~I would launch a new business from a scratch. I know there are a lot of risks but I would want to be my own boss and make my decisions. How could you convince family and friends to support your new business launch? What kind of assurances would they need? What could you do to keep the funding relationships professional? ~First of all I would educate myself, learn from others, gain experience, and the most important create a business plan. Beyond personal resources, what are other funding options for small businesses? Why dont more entrepreneurs tap into these resources? ~Bank loans, angel investors, and venture capital firms. ~The reason that entrepreneurs are trying to avoid other resources besides personal is because they cause more headaches. Personal resources are probably the easiest to deal with. What are the key contributions of small business to the U.S. economy? Rank the benefits in terms of importance, and provide the reasons for your ranking. ~Small businesses play very important role in U.S. economy because they create new jobs, create new innovations at twice the rate of their big business counterparts, and they tend to find opportunities by offering products or services where big companies dont. What factors account for the dramatic differences in entrepreneurship rates around the world? Do you think entrepreneurship will continue to grow worldwide? Why or why not? ~Key factors that plays important role in different entrepreneurship rates around the world are national per capita income, entrepreneurs opportunity costs, and how much cultural and political environment supports entrepreneurs. Chapter Eleven Marketing: Building Profitable Connections with Your Customer Review Questions How does the American Marketing Association define marketing? How can marketers deliver value to their customers over the long term? ~The American Association defines marketing as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. ~In order to deliver value to customers over the long term marketers must to fill customers need and in the way exceed customers expectations. What are the four different kinds of utility that marketers can provide? Give an example (not from the book) of a product that delivers each type of utility. ~Form utility: iPhone ~Time utility: Walgreens 24/7 ~Place utility: Cafeteria on campus ~Ownership utility: Laptop What are the key categories of non-traditional marketing? Do you expect these areas to grow over the next decade? Why or why not? ~People, place, event, and idea marketing. ~I think that these areas will grow over decade because peoples interests change with each generation. Technology also changes and grows. How has marketing evolved over time? How have current events, economics, and culture influenced thinking about marketing? ~Marketing developed through different phases: production era, selling era, marketing era, and relationship era. ~During marketing era concept of marketing was born and now its growing more and more. Now, customer satisfactions became centerpiece of marketing. What are the key characteristics of a high potential target market? Is the biggest target market always the best? Why or why not? ~Size: need to have enough people to support business. ~Profitability: willingness of a customer to pay more than the cost of producing product. ~Accessibility: target needs to be reachable ~Limited competition: look for markets with limited competition ~I think that bigger market is always good because there are more people to support business and bring more profit to the company. Company can also use that money to build bigger target market by creating new products. What are the different ways to segment a consumer market? Does it make sense to use more than one segmentation variable? Why or why not? ~Demographic: dividing market based on peoples age, income, ethnicity, and gender. ~Geographic: dividing market into smaller groups depending where costumers live. ~Psychographic: dividing by groups based on costumer interests, values, attitudes, and lifestyles. ~Behavioral: dividing into groups based on how people react to the products ~It does make sense to use more than one segmentation, for example, demographic and psychographic. Describe the four elements of the marketing mix. What role does each element play in delivering value to customers? ~Product strategy: creating name, product image, package design, customer service, guarantees, new product development, and much more. ~Pricing strategy: price must be fair ~Distribution strategy: delivering a product to the right people, in the right quantities, at the right time and place. ~Promotion strategy: find effective way to promote product. ~All of these four elements play very important role in delivering value to customer. What are the five key dimensions of the marketing environment? How can marketers stay abreast of changes in each area? ~Competitive, economic, social/cultural, technological, political/legal. ~To stay on top of the things marketers must monitor each element of marketing environment and respond quickly and efficiently to change. Outline the steps in the consumer decision-making process. How can the marketer influence each step? ~Recognition: recognize need Information Search: previous experience with brands, family, friends Evaluation of Alternatives: price, quality Purchase decision: buys item because it was on sale and return policy is great Post purchase behavior: satisfied or not ~Marketer can influence each step by learning cultural, social, personal, and psychological life of customers. What are the key differences between primary and secondary data? Compare the benefits and drawbacks of each. ~Secondary data is existing data that marketers gather or purchase for a research project. Primary data is new data that marketers gather for a specific research project. ~Secondary data: Advantages- low cost Disadvantages- may not meet specific need, outdated, available to competitors ~Primary data: Advantages-customized to meet specific need, fresh and new, not available to anyone Disadvantages-more expensive Chapter Twelve Product Strategy: Delivering More Value Review Questions Review the marketing definition of product. Why do you think marketers define product so broadly? How does the definition of product affect quality? ~Product is anything that company offers to satisfy customers needs and wants; including both goods and services. ~I think marketers define product so broadly because it is made for one purpose only- to satisfy customer, whether its a good or service. So, when consumer buys a product he or she buys attributes associated with the product. ~If a product satisfies customer its good quality for that customer and if customer dissatisfied by product than its bad quality for him or her. Think of three different services that you use on a regular basis (e.g. a restaurant, a dental office). How does the service provider suggest in advance that the service will be high quality? ~Restaurant: advertisement, friendly staff ~Hair stylist: nicely designed salon, professional look ~Dental office: friendly and helpful staff Pure Goods Pure ServiceDraw a goods and services spectrum, and determine where to place the following products along the spectrum: a nightclub, a new motorcycle, a designer shoe store, an Internet search engine, a new snowboard, and a photography class. What are the reasons for your choices? new motorcycle designer shoe store internet search engine new snowboard night club photography class ~New motorcycle and snowboard are pure goods. ~Designer shoe store and night club are service with goods. ~Internet search engine and photography class are pure service. What are the marketing benefits of identifying the actual product, the core product, and the augmented product? ~Actual product: the actual product itself and its uniqueness ~Core product: satisfies customers needs ~Augmented product: additional good or service to sharpen competitive edge (warrantees, manuals, etc.) List five examples of products that are commonly purchased as either business products or consumer products. How would the classification impact the marketing strategy? ~Computer, phone, table, truck, cleaning service ~Consumer products purchased for personal use and business products purchased to produce another product or service. ~Consumer classifications are convenience product, shopping products, specialty, products, and unsought products. ~Business product classification are installations; accessory equipment; maintenance, repair, and operating products; raw materials; components and processed materials; and business services. Why are product line and product mix decisions so important? What are the risks of making poor decisions regarding these factors? ~Product line and product mix are very important if company wants to make good profit by making customer happy. ~Poor decision regarding these factors might cause company to loose its profits. Would it ever make sense for a firm to offer a new product line that they know would cannibalize an existing line? Explain your answer. ~I dont think it make any sense, especially if company knows that that new product line will cannibalize existing line why even create it. Company can loose a lot of money. Think of one of your favorite brand names. Does the brand name fit the characteristics of an excellent name? Do you think it matters? Why or why not? ~100% Pure. Yes, I think brand name fits characteristics of an excellent name because its short and easy to remember. ~I do not think its a must for a company to fit characteristics of an excellent name because another company I really like called Dr. Hauschka. The name is hard to pronounce and hard to memorize but I love Dr. Hauschka products. What are the three different levels of product innovation? Which is most common? Can a business survive long term with only continuous innovation? Why or why not? ~Discontinuous Innovation, dynamically continuous innovation, continuous innovation. ~I think that most common are continuous innovation and dynamically continuous innovation. ~I think it is possible to survive long term with only continuous innovation because the goal of it to create product better than competitor. For example, Lifeway kefir company its getting better and better adding more products different flavors and so on. What are the four stages of the product life cycle? How does product life cycle stage impact marketing strategy? ~Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline ~Life cycle help marketers plan effective strategies for existing products and identify profitable categories for new products. Chapter Thirteen Distribution and Pricing: Right Product, Right Person, Right Place, Right Price Review Questions Explain the difference between channel of distribution and physical distribution. ~Channel distribution is the path that a product takes from the producer to the consumer, while physical distribution is the actual movement of products that path. Explain the role of channel intermediaries in the product distribution process. Why is their role important? ~Channel intermediaries are distribution organizations that help to move products from factories to the consumers. How do intermediaries add value to the products they distribute? Find an example of a distributor that adds each of the six types of utility. ~They add value by reducing the number of transactions and the associated costs required for goods to flow from producer to consumer. Distributors also can add form, time, place, ownership, information, and service utilities. ~Wal-Mart What is the key difference between merchant wholesalers and agents/brokers? What are the risks and benefits of each approach for producers? ~Merchant wholesalers take legal title to the goods they distribute and reduce the risk for producer that the products might be damaged or stolen. Disadvantage for producers is that marketing strategies and pricing belong to wholesaler. ~ Agents and brokers dont take legal ownership of the goods they distribute. Since agents and brokers dont have legal ownership of goods, producers at higher risk, but they have more control over the product. Do you think that the shoppertainment approach to retailing will continue to grow? Why or why not? ~Yes, I defiantly think that shopping and entertainment approach to retailing will continue to grow because its more fun for people to go to places where they can have fun or their kids. Even if prices are going to go up, people will still to come to such places. Even I want to go to places like Hershey Chocolate World. Explain the differences among intensive, selective, and exclusive distribution strategies. Name an example of each that isnt listed in the text. ~Intensive distribution involves placing products in as many stores as possible or stores themselves in many locations as possible.(gas stations) ~Selective distribution means placing product only in preferred stores and establishing stores in limited locations.(Home Depot) ~Exclusive distribution means establish one retail outlet in a given area.(Ikea) Who benefits most from collaborative supply chain relationships? Explain your answer. ~Companies that specialize in helping other companies manage the supply chain. Many companies turned to supply chain to build a competitive edge but due to complication many firms choose to outsource challenge to experts. Why is price such a difficult variable for marketers to control? What factors must they consider in setting prices? ~Price is hard for marketers to control because people have limited amount of money, so they cant set high prices. The prices have to be as low as possible so that people would be willing to buy, but at the same time marketers, when determining the final price, must consider their costs, competitors, investors, taxes, and product strategies. ~Building profitability, boosting volume, matching the competition, creating prestige Driving volume is a key pricing objective for many businesses. Find an example of a marketer that uses each of the volume oriented pricing strategies. Do you think this approach is effective? Why or why not? ~I dont know any marketer that uses each of the volume oriented pricing strategies. I do not think that this approach would be effective. How does a breakeven analysis help marketers determine the best price for their products? What other factors should be considered? Why? ~Its a process that helps determine the number of units company must sell to cover all costs. ~At breakeven point company doesnt make any profit so, breakeven analysis helps marketers get a sense where are they standing. So, to make a profit company needs consider factors: raise prices, decrease variable costs, decrease fixed costs. Chapter Fourteen Marketing Promotion: Delivering High-Impact Messages Review Questions How has marketing promotion evolved over the past decade? How has technology contributed to the changes? ~Promotion is marketing communication that influences consumers by informing, persuading, and reminding them about product. The effective promotion builds strong relationship between customers and companies, drawing customers back to the company again and again. ~Technology has empowered consumers to choose how and when they want to interact with media. Why is integrated marketing communication such a challenge for marketers? How can marketers encourage teamwork and coordination? ~Because consumers combine messages from all sources to form unified impression of a product and marketer cant control every massage consumer sees or hears about their product. ~Solid teamwork must begin from the top. Everyone who manages the marketing massage needs to have information about the customer, the product, the competition, the market, and the strategy of the organization. When all parties have access to the same data, they are more likely to be on the same page. Do you think a rational or an emotional premise works better for marketing promotion? Why? Does your answer change across product categories? Use examples to support your perspective. ~I think that both rational and emotional premise works for marketing promotion, its just depends on the product. Its more interesting when both are there and people like humor. Why are the key risks and the potential rewards of product placement in both movies and television? Do think this promotional tool will continue to grow? Why or why not? What ethical issues have emerged as marketers explore new ways of grabbing consumer attention? Use examples to support your points. Do you think that cable television advertising spending will eventually eclipse network television advertising spending? Why or why not? Given that each type of media offers strengths and drawbacks, what factors should you consider in developing a media plan for a specific product? What are the advantages and disadvantages of publicity? Is it ethical for marketers to try to influence the media? Explain your answer. What are the six stages in the selling process? What role does each stage play? Which stage do you believe is most important? Why? How can you determine the right promotional mix for a specific good or service? What key factors should you consider?

Parisian Department Store :: essays research papers

The Parisian Department store in Birmingham, Alabama clearly needs to rethink their sales strategies to maximize profits. The management specifically needs to take a look at whether the new pay program achieves its intended effect of cutting costs while driving sales and how this would affect the company as a whole. The company should look at whether this program would be enough fix the problem, or does Jones need to implement more drastic measures? The first major issue was taking a look at HR issues and other related business issues that Parisian faced before they implemented the pay adjustments. As the case studies mentions, Parisian sold high merchandise, highly personalized service, high commitment to caring for its employees and communities of businesses. Jones?f goal is to raise the performance of the store and restore it to its former reputation as an upscale retailer. ISSUES: 1. Parisians payroll expenses in 2003 were 8.6% which was higher than those at comparable sister business within SDSG. 2. Hourly pay at Parisians was 12.18 and Carson paid an average of 9.54 an hour. 3. Selling costs buildup did not work because it only temporarily fixed the issue at hand. A huge issue with Parisian is that their pay system is extremely complicated when it does not have to be. Currently there are three forms of pay: base pay only, base plus commission, and commission only. The cosmetics selling cost is also an issue because cosmetics only bring in 15% of sales, but they spend 22% on payroll sales because of the expertise needed as well as the need to have a body in the bay at all times when you sign the agreement with the vendor. Taking a look at Chart B should this very theory, Parisian shows a net sales of cosmetics of 100 M which is compared to Carson?fs 250M and there people at Parisian get paid more an hour (14 versus 12). It does not make sense for a store that brings in a lot less to pay their people more. The case further explains that the high volume salespeople are paid at high commission rates and sometimes that rate can exceed selling cost benchmark. The stores with the ?gsacred cows?h were costing them a fortune have- specifically 14% sell ing cost. Table C shows that there were certain stores that were not able to have as many employees cover the floor because they had large payroll expenses.

Mahindra & Mahindra †Sm Essay

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – INDIAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY Starting its journey from the day when the first car rolled on the streets of Mumbai in 1898, the Indian automobile industry has demonstrated a phenomenal growth to this day. Today, the Indian automobile industry presents a galaxy of varieties and models meeting all possible expectations and globally established industry standards. Some of the leading names echoing in the Indian automobile industry include Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hyundai Motors, Hero Honda and Hindustan Motors in addition to a number of others. During the early stages of its development, Indian automobile industry heavily depended on foreign technologies. However, over the years, the manufacturers in India have started using their own technology evolved in the native soil. The thriving market place in the country has attracted a number of automobile manufacturers including some of the reputed global leaders to set their foot in the soil looking forward to enhance their profile and prospects to new heights. Following a temporary setback on account of the global economic recession, the Indian automobile market has once again picked up a remarkable momentum witnessing a buoyant  sale for the -first time in its history in the month of September 2009. At present, about 75 percent of India’s automobile industry is made up by small cars, with the figure ranking the nation on top of any other country on the globe. Over the next two or three years, the country is expecting the arrival of more than a dozen new brands making compact car models. Like many other nations India’s highly developed transportation system has played a very important role in the development of the country’s economy over the past to this day. One can say that the automobile industry in the country has occupied a solid space in the platform of Indian economy. Empowered by its present growth, today the automobile industry in the country can produce a diverse range of vehicles under three broad categories namely cars, two-wheelers and heavy vehicles. 1.1. Exports of Automobile Industry Today, India is among the world’s largest producers of small cars. The New York Times has rated India as a very strong engineering base with an incomparable expertise in the arena of manufacturing a number of low-cost, fuel-efficient cars has encouraged the expansion plans of the manufacturing facilities of a number of automobile leaders like Mahindra, Hyundai Motors, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and Suzuki. While the automobile industry in India is the ninth largest in the world, the country emerged as the fourth largest automobiles exporter on the globe following Japan, South Korea and Thailand, in the year 2009. The automobile sector of India is the seventh largest in the world. In a year, the country manufactures about 2.6 million cars making up an identifiable chunk in the world’s annual production of about 73 million cars in a year. The country is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles and the fifth largest producer of commercial vehicles. Industry experts have visualized an unbelievably huge increase in these figures over the immediate future. The figures published by the Asia Economic Institute indicate that the Indian automobile sector is set to emerge as the global leader by 2012. In the year 2009, India rose to be the fourth largest exporter of automobiles following Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Experts state that in the year 2050, India will top the car volumes of all the nations of the world with about 611 million cars running on its roads. 1.2. Various Segments of the Indian Automobile Industry Motor cycles manufacture makes up the major share in the two-wheeler segment of the  Indian automobile industry. About 50% of the motorcycles are manufactured by Hero Honda. While Honda manufactures about 46% of the scooters, TVS produces 82% of the mopeds running on the Indian roads. About 40% of the three-wheelers manufactured in India are used for transporting goods with Piaggio manufacturing 40% of the vehicles sold in the Indian market. On the other hand, Bajaj has emerged as the leader in manufacturing three-wheelers used for passenger transport. The firm produces about 68% percent of the three wheelers used for passenger transport in India. The Indian passenger vehicle segment is dominated by cars which make up about 80% of it. Maruti Suzuki manufactures about 52% of passenger cars while the firm enjoys a complete monopoly in the manufacture of multi-purpose vehicles. In the utility vehicles segment Mahindra makes up a 42% share. Tata Motors is the leader in the Indian commercial vehicles market while it holds more than 60% share. Tata Motors also enjoys the credit of being the world’s fifth largest manufacturer of medium and heavy commercial vehicles. 1.3. Potential of Indian Automobile Industry There is a very stiff competition in the automobile industry segment in India. This has helped many to realize their dreams of driving the most luxurious cars. During the recent past, a number of overseas companies have started grabbing a big chunk of the market share in both domestic and export sales. Every new day dawns in India with some new launches by active players in the Indian automobile arena. By introducing some low cost cars, the industry had made it possible for common men to buy cars for their personal use. With some innovative strategies and by adopting some alternative remedial measures, the Indian automobile industry has successfully come unaffected out of the global financial crisis. During the current fiscal year, the Indian automobile industry rode high on the resurgence of consumer demand in the country as a result of the Government’s fiscal stimulus and attractively low interest rates. As a result the total turnover of the domestic automobile industry increased by about 27 per cent. Predictions made by Ernst and Young have estimated that the Indian passenger car market will have a growth rate of about 12 percent per annum over the next five years to reach the production of 3.75 million units by the year 2014. The analysts have further stated that the industry’s turnover will touch $155  billion by 2016. This achievement will succeed in consolidating India’s position as the seventh largest automobiles manufacturer on the globe, eventually surging forth to become the third largest by the year 2030 behind China and the US. The Automotive Mission Plan launched by the Indian government has envisaged that the country will emerge as the seventh largest car maker on the globe thereby contributing more than 10 percent to the nation’s $1.2-trillion economy. Further, industry experts believe that the nation will soon establish its stand as an automobile hub exporting about 2.75 million units and selling about a million units to be operated on the domestic roads 1. MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA – OVERVIEW Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is not just India’s largest utility vehicle manufacturer anymore. It is the third-largest player in the passenger vehicle segment and in a neck-and-neck race with Tata Motors. It has set its sight on challenging the domination of Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors. Pawan Goenka, as president for automotive and farm equipment sectors, is the main architect of this feat Mahindra and an independent India began their rise together. In 1945, two enterprising brothers named J.C. Mahindra and K.C. Mahindra joined forces with Ghulam Mohammed and started Mahindra & Mohammed as a steel company in Mumbai. Two years later, India won its independence, Ghulam Mohammed left the company to become Pakistan’s first finance minister, and the Mahindra brothers ignited the company’s enduring growth with their decision to manufacture Willys jeeps in Mumbai. The Mahindra brothers believed that new modes of transportation could be a key to India’s prosperity, so one of their first goals was to build rugged, simple vehicles capable of tackling the Indian terrain. Early pioneers of globalization, the brothers collaborated with a wide range of international companies and before long, Mahindra’s reach extended to steel, tractors, telecom, and more. Now, after 65 years, Mahindra has grown from a humble local outfit to a US $15.4 billion corporation employing more than 144,000 people around the world. It’s been quite an adventure so far, and they’re proud of our global leadership in utility vehicles, tractors, and information technology, as  well as our significant presence in financial services, leisure and hospitality, engineering, trade, and logistics. As they accelerate into the 21st century, they’ll continue to pursue innovative ideas that enable people to rise. They’ve come a long way, but the journey has just begun. Over the past few years, M&M has expanded into new industries and geographies. They entered into the two-wheeler segment by taking over Kinetic Motors in India. M&M also has controlling stake in REVA Electric Car Company and acquired South Korea’s SsangYong Motor Company in 2011. Mahindra & Mahindra is a major automobile manufacturer of utility vehicles, passenger cars, pickups, commercial vehicles, and two wheelers. Its tractors are sold on six continents. It has acquired plants in China and the United Kingdom, and has three assembly plants in the USA. M&M has partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA. M&M has a global presence and its products are exported to several countries. Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy, Mahindra USA Inc., Mahindra South Africa and Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd. M&M made its entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan in April 2007 under the Mahindra Renault joint venture. M&M will make its maiden entry into the heavy trucks segment with Mahindra Navistar, the joint venture with International Truck, USA. M&M’s automotive division makes a wide range of vehicles including MUVs, LCVs and three wheelers. It offers over 20 models including new generation multi-utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero. It formerly had a joint venture with Ford called Ford India Private Limited to build passenger cars. Mahindra & Mahindra has a controlling stake in Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles. In 2011, it also gained a controlling stake in South Korea’s SsangYong Motor Company. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), has launched its much awaited SUV, XUV 500, code named as W201 in September  2011. The last ‘500’ in the name is pronounced as ‘5 double-O’ (alphabet). The new SUV by Mahindra has been designed in-house and it is developed on the first global SUV platform that could be used for developing more SUVs. 2. MISSION AND OBJECTIVES Vision: * To create a fully collaborative environment in which suppliers can deliver exactly what the company needs, when it needs it, and at a competitive cost. * â€Å"We don’t have a group-wide mission statement. Our core purpose is what makes all of us want to get up and come to work in the morning† -Anand Mahindra Mission: * To create India’s largest automobile and automobile-related products distribution network by providing dealers and customers with the largest choice of unique world-class products and services. Since 1945, the Mahindra group has built the company around the core idea that people will succeed if they are just given the opportunity. Employees across the Group constantly challenge conventional thinking to create solutions that make a significant difference in the lives of their customers. That’s why everything they build—be it a tractor, financial service, solar-powered lamp, or software—is designed to empower you to reach your potential. Internally, they follow three basic tenets—accepting no limits, thinking alternatively, and driving positive change in everything they do. These brand pillars guide all their actions and business decisions from deciding whether or not to enter a new field or planning a portfolio of services. * We accept no limits, and ask the same of everyone else. In return, they work relentlessly to provide the tools, information, and inspiration to push past limitations and comfort zones. This challenger spirit galvanized us to meet the oil crisis in the 1970s by re-engineering our fuel efficient tractor engines for utility vehicles. It led us to take on the challenge of designing the Scorpio utility vehicle at a cost that many industry experts  thought was impossibly low. They’ve created completely new business models to enter areas others had written off or ignored, like our leading hospitality business and our rural financial services. And they just registered our highest ever profits despite the worst global recession since the Great Depression. This determination influences every aspect of our culture and our employees. As a result, each Mahindra business constantly pushes the envelope and raises the bar as they strive to deliver better value to our customers. * Alternative thinking means solving problems in ways no one has thought of before, by using fewer resources and entering markets thought to be unreachable. Take the Scorpio for example—they developed our best-in-class utility vehicle from the ground up using a process that put drivers’ needs first. Our Energy Solutions help businesses keep going when everyone else’s lights go out. They build two wheelers that provide affordable mobility solutions to more people. And our extensive arrays of innovative IT services are increasing productivity at some of the world’s leading companies. Thinking alternatively isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it. * Driving Positive Change: Mahindra is a business with a conscience. Every product they make and each market they explore must make sound economic sense, but it just so happens that smart business decisions are often good for people and communities as well. They strive to spread positive impact through our products and services by greening our manufacturing process and by being a good employer. They want to be counted among the global companies that make incredible products and services, but they also wish to be recognized for creating a better world. From building green homes with the most eco-friendly materials to providing loans to rural entrepreneurs, from designing goods carriers that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) to offering educational programs and supporting Indian theatre, they strive to make a positive impact on all the lives they touch They created a tractor designed for small farming that is enabling farmers to mechanize for the first time. Our motivation to give our best every day comes from our core purpose: we will challenge conventional thinking and innovatively use all our resources to drive positive change in the lives of our stakeholders and communities across the world, to enable them to Rise. Our products and services support our customers’ ambitions to improve their living standards; our responsible business practices positively engage the communities they join through employment, education, and outreach; and our commitment to sustainable business is bringing green technology and awareness into the mainstream through our products, services, and light-footprint manufacturing processes. This commitment to sustainability—social, economic, and environmental—rests upon a set of core values. They are an amalgamation of what they have been, what they are, and what they want to be. These values are the compass that guides our actions, both personal and corporate. They are: * Good corporate citizenship: They will continue to seek long term success in alignment with the needs of the communities they serve. They will do this without compromising on ethical business standards. * Professionalism: They have always sought the best people for the job and given them the freedom and the opportunity to grow. They will continue to do so. They will support innovation and well reasoned risk taking, but will demand performance. * Customer first: They exist and prosper only because of the customer. They will respond to the changing needs and expectations of our customers speedily, courteously and effectively. * Quality focus: Quality is the key to delivering value for money to our customers. They will make quality a driving value in our work, in our products and in our interactions with others. They will do it ‘First Time Right.’ * Dignity of the individual: They will value individual dignity, uphold the right to express disagreement and respect the time and efforts of others. Through our actions, they will nurture fairness, trust, and transparency. 3. SWOT Analysis 4.1 Strengths * Mahindra has been one of the strongest brands in the Indian automobile mark. * Mahindra group give employment to over 110,000 employees. * Excellent branding and advertising, and low after sales service cost. * Sturdy SUV’s good for Indian roads and off-road terrain. * Over the years the company has emerged as one of the top players in the world in terms of number of tractors sold. This gives a clear indication that the company’s market shares one of its biggest strengths. * The company’s ability to introduce new products in the market and to generate sales from those new products is a major strength. * The reason being that this is very essential for any company, for its survival in the long run. The company has established its brand name in other countries of the world as well. * This is evident from the 40% market share that it holds in the 30-40 HP tractors market in the US. 4.2 Weakness * Mahindra’s partnership with Renault did not live up to international quality standards through their brand Logan. * The company is highly dependent on the rural sector, and the rural sector in turn is highly dependent on the monsoons. As a result, if there happen to be bad monsoons (less of rains) for two consecutive years it could have an adverse impact on the demand of tractors for the company. 4.3 Opportunity * Developing hybrid cars and fuel efficient cars for the future. * Tapping emerging markets across the world and building a global brand. * Fast growing automobile market. * Growing in the market through electric car Reva (controlling stake) and entry into two-wheeler segments. * The government has been trying to strengthen the exports of agricultural products. As a result, the quality of agricultural products necessarily has to be very high. For this, they need better rural and agricultural infrastructure. This might result in an  increase in demand for tractors. * In India, the penetration of tractors is 10 tractors per 1000 hectares of cropped area, which is much below the world average of 19 tractors for the same. Thus there is scope for the demand to increase. 4.4 Threats * Government policies for the automobile sector across the world. * Ever increasing fuel prices. * Intense competition from global automobile brands. * Substitute modes of public transport like buses, metro trains etc. * The company has a history of having invested in unrelated diversifications such as telecom, holiday and resort inns, financial services, etc. which it has hived off as subsidiaries from time to time when these turned unmanageable. * This is a cause for concern as such diversifications could divert the company’s attention from its core business. It is a dangerous tendency as it leads to destruction of shareholders value. * The entry of foreign players in the tractors segment could pose a threat to the company as these foreign players are technically more competitive than Mahindra & Mahindra. 4. ACQUISITIONS 5.1 Ssangyong Motor Company India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. completes acquisition of a majority stake in SsangYong Motor Company On March 15, 2011, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), India’s leading manufacturer of utility vehicles, today announced that it has completed all formalities related to the acquisition of a majority stake in SsangYong Motor Company (SYMC) and that the company is no longer in Court Receivership. Mahindra had emerged as the preferred bidder for SsangYong in August 2010. This marks the beginning of a new journey for SYMC and will also pave the way for both Mahindra and SYMC to emerge as a strong force allied together in the global passenger vehicle industry, through their strategic partnership. Present on the occasion were Mr. Bharat Doshi, Executive Director & Group CFO, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. and Dr. Pawan Goenka who is President of Mahindra’s Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors. Key officials from the Mahindra Group and SYMC were also present. For Mahindra, the biggest benefit from this partnership  will be the opportunity to harness synergies between the two companies, while protecting their respective brand identities and ensuring quality. Towards this end, a Synergy Council comprising of senior management from both companies will be established to ensure focus and delivery of synergies between the two companies. The Council will focus on various aspects such as global procurement, new car development and business strategy to penetrate international markets. Strategic plans such as the India project which involves launching the Rexton and Korando-C in India have already been kicked off. Also under discussion are opportunities for joint product and technology development and synergy in global operations and purchase. Mahindra has a strong IT system that is being reviewed for suitability for SsangYong. The company is also considering the possibility of Mahindra Finance setting up operations in Korea to enhance the sales of SsangYong vehicles. Mahindra has also proposed the following five point agenda for SsangYong: * Strengthening the product pipeline. * Harnessing synergies between the two companies. * Investing in the SYMC brand. * Building human resources. * Focusing on financial stability. SsangYong has also proposed the following investments: * In 2011, the business plan calls for a 70% investment increase in product development, as compared to last year, at over KRW 200 billion. * Over 40 billion KRW for brand building in Korea – a 60% increase over 2010 – and an increase in overseas brand investment by over four times, in 2011. Dr. Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., mentioned that Mahindra was extremely conscious of SYMC’s Korean heritage and would only want to enhance it. SsangYong will be an independently run Korean company – with largely Korean Management – and will remain a ‘Made in Korea’ Brand. He also announced that the new CEO of SYMC will be Mr. Yoo-il Lee, while Mr. Dilip Sundaram from Mahindra will be the new CFO. He also announced the names of the new Board of Directors of SsangYong Motor Company. â€Å"This is a landmark day for all of us at Mahindra  as it marks the beginning of what I am sure will be an enduring partnership with SsangYong Motor Company. I would like to thank all the employees of SsangYong as well as the company’s creditors for the help and cooperation extended to us during this long process. As one of the country’s premier automotive companies, SsangYong brings with it a rich legacy of R&D and innovation. This legacy, coupled with the synergies between the two companies in the areas of R&D, product development and platform sharing, will make the combined entity of Mahindra and SsangYong a force to reckon with in the global utility vehicle space. They are committed to nurturing the SsangYong brand in both the Korean and global markets and returning it to its days of glory,† said Dr. Pawan Goenka. â€Å"Mahindra brings with it a great deal of passion, domain expertise and knowledge of the global UV market, as India’s leading utility vehicle (UV) manufacturer. All of us at SsangYong look forward to working closely with the Mahindra team to help develop a new product portfolio and gain momentum in overseas markets,† said Mr. Yoo-il Lee, CEO, SsangYong Motor Company. 5.2 REVA Electric Car Co Ltd. Mahindra enters high growth electric car segment acquires majority stake in REVA REVA was established in Bangalore in 1994 as a joint venture between the Maini Group of Bangalore, India and AEV LLC of California, US. Its REVA electric vehicle was first commercially available in Bangalore in 2001 and in London in 2004, under the G-Wiz brand. REVA is a technology innovator with the largest deployed fleet of electric cars in the global market today, available in 24 countries across Europe, Asia and Central and South America with more than 3,500 of its vehicles on the road and the accumulated data from more than 100 million km of user experience. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Today strengthened its position in the Electric Vehicles domain with the acquisition of a majority stake in REVA Electric Car Co Ltd., Bangalore. REVA Electric Car Co Ltd. will be renamed Mahindra REVA Electric Vehicle Co Ltd. Under the new agreement which was signed today by both the companies, M&M will own 55.2% equity in Mahindra REVA by a combination of equity purchase from the promoters and a fresh equity infusion of over Rs 45 crores (approx US $10 million) into the company. The buyout makes the Mahindra group a strong global player in the electric vehicle space. Post  the buyout, the Board of Mahindra REVA has been re-constituted under the chairmanship of Dr Pawan Goenka, President Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra. The new board includes five nominees from Mahindra & Mahindra, two from the Maini family, and one from AEV LLC, California (co-founders of REVA). An independent director will be added to the board subsequently. Mr. Chetan Maini will continue to play a leading role in Mahindra REVA as Chief of Technology & Strategy and will continue to be on the board. Under its core Sustainable Mobility initiative, Mahindra has been working for the last 10 years on developing green technologies and has demonstrated diesel hybrid technology on the Scorpio and hydrogen Alfa three wheelers. Mahindra has a pilot fleet operating with 100% bio-diesel and was the first to launch micro-hybrid technology in India with around 50,000 such micro-hybrids on the road today. In EVs, over and above the electric three-wheeler Bijlee developed in 1999, it is also currently working on an electric version of its mini-truck, Maxximo. Mahindra REVA’s EV technology will be adapted for these and other M&M vehicles. Access to strong EV technology will strengthen Mahindra’s other current sustainability initiatives. REVA is currently marketing its products in 24 countries across the world with an overall vehicle population of over 3500, arguably the largest EV fleet globally. REVA recently premiered its next generation electric car models, the NXR and NXG which received an enthusiastic response. Mahindra REVA will now have access to Mahindra’s vehicle development technology and distribution network, significantly enhancing its ability to launch a state-of-the-art electric vehicle for global markets. Speaking on the acquisition, Mr Anand Mahindra, VC&MD, Mahindra & Mahindra said, â€Å"With issues such as climate change and carbon footprint taki ng centre stage globally, eco-friendly transportation becomes the need of the hour. Mahindra already has an established sustainable mobility solutions programme and our association with REVA will only help us further expand our green footprint both in India and overseas†. Dr Pawan Goenka, President (Automotive & Farm Equipment Sectors), Mahindra & Mahindra and the newly elected Chairman of Mahindra REVA said, â€Å"This is a key strategic acquisition for Mahindra in its march towards sustainable mobility. Mahindra and REVA bring together complementary strengths. With  Mahindra’s vehicle engineering expertise, global distribution network, sourcing clout and financing support, REVA’s vehicles have the potential to significantly gain in market penetration. Mahindra will also benefit from REVA’s EV technology for its own products.† Mr Chetan Maini, Chief of Technology & Strategy, of the newly formed Mahindra REVA mentioned, â€Å"The EV market is poised to grow significantly and they concluded that in order to seize the opportunity they needed the resources and experience of a major automotive manufacturer. In Mahindra they have found a company that not only shares our vision of principled and sustainable growth but one that also has a reputation for good corporate governance. As a result of Mahindra’s investment, Mahindra REVA will be able to scale, innovate and accelerate and so to deliver better products to more customers in more places†. 5. GROWTH STRATEGY Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) is the flagship brand of the $12.5 billion Mahindra Group, which operates with a portfolio comprising a wide spectrum of vehicles from two wheelers to heavy trucks, SUVs to school buses. M&M over the years has strengthened its position as one of the country’s premier utility vehicle (UV) and farm Equipment manufacturer with market share of over 50% in UV and 40% in tractors, respectively. It has recently entered 3-wheelers and CV segment. M&M is targeting sale of about 550,000 tractors in FY12E. 6.1 Investor’s Rationale During Q2FY12 net sales of M&M surged by 37.6% to `73,068 million from the `53,113 million in the year-ago quarter, driven by 35.9% and 35.5% growth in its automotive and farm equipment segment, respectively. Though operating margins for the current fiscal are likely to stay under pressure under tight liquidity and rising input cost scenario, they expect the revenues of M&M to reach `300-320 billion in the coming two year. At a time, when consecutive rate hikes, high inflationary data, strikes and  costlier fuel prices have crippled the Indian auto sales manufacturers, M&M has emerged as the only automotive player to have beaten the slowdown comprehensively with a growth of 21% in 2011. Considering M&M’s aggressive growth strategies to expand its global footprint with a range of new variants in the four-wheeler segment, they expect M&M to mark 11-14% rise in its FY12E sales realization. M&M complement the tag of no. 1 tractor manufacturer in the world in terms of volumes, occupying more than 40% of the domestic tractor market. With tractor demand fairly stable despite ongoing economical slowdown, the company is targeting sale of about 550,000 tractors next year. Beside, with the industry providing sufficient headroom for growth, they expect sales from the farm equipment segment of M&M to grow 17-18% by the end of FY12. M&M acquisition of SYMC Motors (SYMC) gives the UV product line of the company an extension into the premium SUV segment with an established foothold in the markets of South America, Russia etc. The management expects 50% volume growth at 113,000-114,000 units for SYMC in CY11 and aims to sell 160,000 units by 2013 and 300,000 units by 2015-16 from the unit. 6.2 High volume in tractor segment drives Q2FY12 revenue During Q2FY12, M&M net sales surged by 37.6% to `73,068 million from the `53,113 million in the year-ago quarter, driven by 35.9% and 35.5% growth in its automotive and farm equipment segment revenue, respectively. Besides, the operating expenditure of the company increased by 43% to `64,866 million mainly due to the increase in raw material cost and employee expenses by 33% and 20% respectively. The strong volume growth across the vehicle and tractors segment despite of a difficult market situation and a tight control on expenses has helped lift the EBITDA by 6.3% to `8,202 million from `7,719 million in the corresponding quarter last year. Further, owing to the sharp rise in the interest and depreciation charges, the net profit margin (NPM) dropped by 375bps to 9.7%. M&M’s standalone net profit at `7,374 million declined 2.8% from `7,585 million in the corresponding period preceding year, due to a foreign exchange loss. The company has suffered a foreign exchange net loss of `320 million, as the rupee fell 8.8% against the dollar  in the July-September quarter. Going further, they expect the revenues of M&M to reach 321 billion in the coming two year, making a contribution of 950-980 basis points to its present EBITDA margins. 6.3 Robust November sales volume, higher realizations to drive performance in FY12E M&M’s November total sales volume in the automotive segment reported a robust growth of 53% (y-o-y) at 40,722 units, with a significant contribution of 38,159 units from the domestic terrain. A high volume growth of 46% in the passenger Utility Vehicles (UVs) segment led the domestic four-wheeler sales while sales volume in the three wheeler segment grew 32% during the month. M&M’s UV and three wheeler export during the month also grew 71% at 2,563 units against 1,500 units a year ago. Meanwhile, M&M’s Farm Equipment Sector division reported a 3% fall in tractor sales to 17,527 units in November with domestic sales falling 5% to 16,175 units backed by issues related to the credit flow to the domestic farm sector. The company’s tractor export increased 33% to 1,352 units during the month against 1018 units sold to overseas market in the same period prior year. At a time, when consecutive rate hikes, high inflationary data, strikes and costlier fuel prices have badly hampered the Indian auto sales numbers; M&M has emerged as the only automotive company to have beaten the slowdown comprehensively with a growth of 21% in 2011. Backed by significant demand for M&M’s premium sports utility vehicle, XUV500, the company is aggressively working to double its production to clear its order backlog of 9,500 units by January 2012. Considering, M&M’s ability to outperform the industry numbers despite strong economic headwinds and its proposed variants in both two-wheeler and four wheeler segment, they expect M&M to mark 11-14% rise in its FY12E sales realization. 6.4 Increased focus in the tractor segment to drive M&M growth in FY13 M&M complement the tag of no. 1 tractor manufacturer in the world in terms of volumes supported by 1,300 dealers with over 2,200 service points, 7 tractor plants and 1 foundry. The tractor segment has been fairly stable during the ongoing economical slowdown and has registered a growth of 20% in the current fiscal. M&M with more than 40% share in the tractor industry of the country has gone a long way in keeping pace with the industry growth. The company is targeting sale of about 550,000 tractors next year. Market share movements have been slower with a 0.5% to 1% change in a year. However, it was successful in penetrating newer villages that accounted 10,000 units in such markets. Growing focus in the tractor division will also provide further assistance to M&M as slowdown in rural consumption has not been experienced yet. Besides, the strong replacement demand will be a key support in the near term as it accounts for 40% of sales. India’s tractor industry is well poised to register 10-12% growth in FY13 and with labor shortage driving the farm mechanization; the industry is likely to register a 20% growth in the coming three years. With the industry providing sufficient headroom for growth, they expect sales from the farm equipment segment of M&M to grow 17-18% by the end of FY12. 6.5 Macro factors- to drive the expected demand for farm equipment The quantum of tractors bought using cash payments has increased to 20-25% of sales in India, compared with 10% earlier, which reflects buoyancy in rural incomes. About 40% of the current tractor demand is from the replacement market. Though there is some concern about rural economy and consumption is slowing down, M&M has not seen any slowdown in rural consumption. Shortage in farm labour has also acted as a key catalyst for tractor demand. Tractors are no longer a luxury for the rich farmers, but a tool for better cost management. 6.6 New launches, foray into new segments to augment future growth In FY11, M&M registered domestic volumes growth of 24% led by new product launches and strong performance from existing product ranges. It launched  Gio, Xylo, Thar, Maximmo, Yuvraj, Genio and Arjun MAT, during the year which is likely to power the company’s growth in future. Besides, M&M has also lined-up new launches, which would help bring additional volumes. It is ready to enter the market with a new SUV, 4-seater electric car, re-launch of Stallio motorcycle, two new versions of Verito, one SUV with SsangYong in India, aerospace components and mine protected vehicle (MPV-I). M&M’s recently launched XUV500 SUV received remarkable response from the domestic consumers. Priced at `10.8 lakhs, the company has rightly positioned XUV500 in the market for people who desires something above `7 lakhs and below `15-20 lakhs. As a result, M&M’s the XUV500 has gone a long way to set a booking record of 8,000 units in just 10 days of being launched in 5 cities of the country. 6.7 SYMC to add value in premium UVs Acquisition of SYMC Motors (SYMC) gives the UV product line of the company an extension into the premium SUV segment. SYMC has a distribution network of over 130 dealers in Korea and 1,200 dealers in more than 90 countries. The acquisition gives M&M access to SYMC’s popular product portfolio with an established foothold in the markets of South America, Russia, Eastern and Western Europe, and Africa which bodes well for M&M‘s plans to launch a global SUV this year. The management has guided 50% volume growth at 113,000-114,000 units for SYMC in CY11, with the recent launch of Korando-C. Thus, the acquisition of Korean company SYMC augurs well for M&M in the long term, placing it on a new growth trajectory. As debt woes continue to plague one of its largest markets Europe SYMC is eyeing to enter emerging markets including India, China and Russia playing a bigger role in a bid to boost volumes in 2012 with a year-on-year volume growth of 40%. The company aims to sell 160,000 units by 2013 and 300,000 units by 2015-16. M&M-SYMC have finalised a combined future product portfolio strategy, which will see 3 new platforms and 4 new products coming in from both partners. The new sourcing strategy for M&M-SYMC is being put into  place, which will see both companies sourcing an enormous $20 billion of components over the next 5 years. This huge sourcing is expected to bring in economies of scale and reduce the cost for the duo. 6.8 Strategic growth plan for Mahindra Navistar to drive M&M future growth Mahindra Navistar Automotives Limited (MNAL), which is a 51:49 joint venture between M&M and Navistar Inc., is planning to launch at least two new models—a 49-tonne tractor trailer and a 25-tonne tipper for the mining sector in H2FY12E. Intending to establish a pan India presence, the company further intends to increase its current 48 dealership across various cities to around 100 by adding 50 new dealers by the end of FY13E. With a targeted growth of 9% in the second half of FY12E, the company is planning to see cash break-even in the next 12 months. Further, the company is planning to invest around `2.50 billion to add few more variants in the heavy-duty goods commercial vehicles segment, which in turn will help the company ramp up volumes and use its factory capacity fully in the next three years. 6.9 M&M eyes to enter larger South Asian market The largest utility vehicle maker of the country is planning to set up an assembly plant in Southeast Asia in the next few years as a part of its strategy to expand its global presence through its entry to markets in Thailand and Indonesia. Currently, M&M exports vehicles to Malaysia and is aiming to expand to other markets in ASEAN region. Over the next four to five years, M&M sees at least 15-20% of its total export volumes coming from this region. In FY11, M&M exported 17,000 units of utility vehicles and pick-ups and around 11,000 tractors. The company is aiming to double overseas revenues to more than $1 billion by 2013 and is aiming two-fold increase in volumes to 100,000 units. 6.10 M&M to launch its first compact Car in 2012 M&M is eyeing to launch its first compact car after it acquired Reva  Electric Car Company in 2001. The SUV-maker is aggressively working to launch its first compact car in the country Reva NXR by 2012. With a mileage of about 9.6 km for every `3 spent, the Reva NXR, ensures nine times the mileage generated by the country’s most fuel-efficient petrol-powered car. At a time, when petrol prices are breaking new highs M&M expects its Reva NXR to seek significant attention from the consumers who spend `7,000-8,000 every month on petrol. Beside, M&M is also establishing one of world’s biggest manufacturing bases for electric cars of 30,000 units per annum near Bangalore, which is likely to commence production in FY13. With increased demand for electric cars, M&M apart from its marketing strategy to sell its Reva NXR through an expanded network of 100 outlets in India, the company is also mulling over rolling its new electric car model in countries like Norway, which houses the highest consumer market for electric cars in the world. After M&M lead development in the electric car market of India, many other car makers are also developing concept vehicles to cater to the emerging demand for Electric vehicles in India in the years to come. Polaris India, a major multi terrain vehicle manufacturing company is planning to introduce electric cars to Indian market. Considering the rising fuel prices, the impact on power and utilities companies of the electric vehicle market is likely to attain consumer attention in medium to long term. 6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The part of Indian automotive industry in Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd comprises of a number of Indian-origin and multinational players with varying degree of presence in different segments. Today, nine of the top ten global automotive manufacturers have a presence in India which clearly points to its importance as a strategic market. Similarly, the domestic tractor market also has a mix of Indian-origin and international manufacturers and is segmented by horsepower. While the automotive segment is doing well and has already clocked an average volume growth of 28% in April and May 2012, it may face problems in the form of policy decisions. The proposal to impose a higher excise duty on diesel cars/SUVs, which is yet to be implemented, is like a Damocles sword hanging over the company. The differential in diesel pricing, which means charging less for transport trucks and more for diesel cars/SUVs, is another proposal that can make life difficult for Mahindra & Mahindra. Though the company cannot do anything about the monsoon, the management is taking several steps to revive growth in the farm segment and maintain a high growth rate in the automotive segment. With this in mind, Mahindra & Mahindra is set to launch six new products, which will cover both the segments, during 2012-13. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, the only manufacturer of electric cars in India, plans to introduce at least five such vehicles in the next three years to take advantage of a government plan to spend Rs. 14,000 crore to boost the popularity of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country. Therefore Mahindra is considered at the top in the automobile sector as of date. The growth strategy adopted by the company will have a colourful future for the company.