KFC Macro Environment Analysis

Principal of Management POM 17 Student: Thuy LE Minh Student number: 31926529 Lecturer: Mr Dipan K Mehta Program manager:Ms Hazel Ong I. Introduction II. SWOT analysis III. Macro- environment analysis IV. Competitive environment analysis V. Application about planning, organizing, leading and controlling VI. Conclusion VII. Recommendations VIII. References I . Introduction There are many fast food companies around the world. KFC is one of the most famous brands in the global fast food industry. KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken that was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1955 with only $105 (â€Å"Colonel Sanders & Kentucky Fried Chicken†, n. d. ). At the beginning, KFC specialized in Original Recipe fried chicken that known as Colonel’s secret recipe. It blends of 11 herbs and spices and completes by using the basic cooking technique. Similar essay: KFC Training and DevelopmentToday, KFC expands their products variedly to serve customer like â€Å"Kentucky Grilled Chicken†, â€Å"Honey BBQ Wings† and â€Å"freshly made chicken sandwiches† (â€Å"About KFC†, n. d. ). Sales volume is an important factor to generate profit in each company. In 1971, more than 2. 7 billion pieces of chicken were sold by KFC; it marked up the sales of more than $2 billion (â€Å"Colonel Sanders & Kentucky Fried Chicken†, n. d. ). In 2008, KFC took 42 percent of the market share in the U. S. chicken quick service restaurant (â€Å"About KFC†, n. d. ). Every day, KFC restaurants prepare meals for 12 million customers in the world.Therefore, KFC’s products has been satisfied many customers around the world. Additionally, the growing number of KFC’s franchises is one of the evidences shows the development of the KFC Cooperation. In 1971, KFC Corporation contained more than 3500 worldwi de franchises compared with more than 600 KFC’s franchises in the U. S and Canada and opened the first oversea outlet in England in 1964 (â€Å"Colonel Sanders & Kentucky Fried Chicken†, n. d ). In 2002, KFC is acquired by Yum! Brands . Today, KFC owns more than 20,000 restaurants within 109 countries around the world (â€Å"About KFC†, n. . ). Started with only $105, KFC now can evaluate as a multi-billion dollars company. This report will clarify some strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of KFC, as well as the external and internal environment, and give some recommendations to help KFC becomes more successful in market. I. SWOT Analysis i. Strengths: * Good reputation, well- trained staff. According to the article â€Å"Brand values / KFC Gold standard qualities guarantee chicken that is so good! â€Å"( n. d. ), KFC ranks the highest in the Singapore and the U. S. Quick Service Restaurant Industry.Additionally, KFC has many loyal customers due t o the fact, everyday KFC serves more than 12 million people. * Delicious and strong trademarks recipes. Until now, KFC is famous for the Original Recipe fried chicken, and impressive KFC slogan is â€Å"Finger Lickin' Good† * Worldwide- recognized brand and a remarkably consistent brand identity The image of Colonel was attracted both children and their parent (Liu, 2008, p. 69). Furthermore, Liu (2008) states that Colonel’s humorousness attracts children and their parents put their trust in Colonel’s products. Strong capital position Yum! Brands Inc. which earned $ 11 billion in 2008 are controlling KFC, (â€Å"About KFC†, n. d. ) * Following C. H. A. M. P. S system (Liu,2008, p. 65) C- Cleanliness H- Hospitality A- Accuracy M- Maintenance P- Product Quality S- Speed * Good advertising campaign Weekly one KFC commercial can attract nearly 185 million people to see (â€Å"About KFC†, n. d. ). * Convenient locations, it is easy to access to KFC†™s restaurants. ii. Weaknesses: * Products tend to be close substitutes in the market. * In the past, KFC did use the oils contain Trans fats. Fonda, 2006) * Too many stores can lead to poor quality services ( Tice , 2010) * Unhealthy and fattening food (Cain, 2009) * Lack of providing food’s information ( KFC Singapore did not mention sugar or salt level ) (Macmullan, 2009, p. 31) iii. Opportunities: * Trend towards fast-food because it is delicious, quick and cheap ( Schlosser, 2001) * Consumers are curious about Western foods. (Liu,2008) * Chinese market is considered as the world’s fastest growing economy, KFC can choose this potential market to invest more restaurants. â€Å"Hailing China as World’s Fastest Growing Economy, Secretary-General Urges Chinese Government to Put Greater Emphasis on Social Equity, Environmental Sustainability†, 2010) * The increasing in number of young generation is tremendous. iv. Threats * Risk of new entrants due to lo w entry barrier (Luo, 2000) * Liu (2008) points out that avian flu reduced dramatically number of sale in fast food industry which always focus on chicken. * The growing trend of healthy food against fast food increase strongly. Davis (2002) states that eating fast food affects negatively to people’s health so people should say no to fast food.II. Macro- environment analysis i. Laws and Politics Singapore government controls over all companies and businesses. According to the article â€Å"Singapore Rankings†, 2012, intellectual property has the strongest security over Asian countries. Additionally, Singapore is the least dispassionate country in Asia. Corruption in Singapore’s economy is limited to minimum. In order to develop the economy, the government enacts many laws and regulations to â€Å"having the most open economy for international trade and investment â€Å"(â€Å"Singapore Rankings†, 2012).According to the article â€Å"Ease of doing busin ess in Singapore†, (n. d. ), starting a business need 3 days includes online registration with ACRA, company seal making, and work with Work Injury Compensation Insurance. Additionally, business opened in Singapore must follow â€Å"Companies Act†. ii. The Economy Singapore is considered as a top location for investment in the world, according to the article â€Å"Singapore Rankings†,2012. According to â€Å"Overview†, (2006), Singapore rated as â€Å"a solid macro economy in the world†, which is one of the most important factor in order to determine an economy.MAS- Monetary Authority of Singapore tries to keep inflation rates low, in order to keep value for the currency (â€Å"Singapore's exchange rate policy†, 2011, p. 15). CPI stands for The Consumer Price Index. In 2011, Singapore’s CPI was 5. 4% due to higher prices for accommodation, a significant increase in fuel and food (Huang, 2011). GDP is another measure of inflation, which stands for Gross Domestic Product was 5% growth in 2011. The Singapore’s economy can face with many difficulties due to the change in global economy. iii. TechnologyJohnson (1996) mentions that Singapore owns the best quality of the employees in Asian countries. They are literate and good at using computers. Thank for the development of IT in Singapore, KFC can be more easily generate their business here, for example, online marketing or online food ordering. In addition, telecommunications such as phones or mobile phones are developing rapidly in Singapore. Therefore, KFC can contact with their customers by phone or order food by using phone. v. Demographics According to the article â€Å"Population trends 2011† , (2011, p. 1), Singapore had 5. 8 million people at the end of 2011. It was 2. 5 times bigger than 2. 1 million people were at the end of 1970. Total population in Singapore includes both residents and non- residents. Between 2010 and 2011, total number of c itizens increased 0. 8%, and non – residents increased 6. 9 %. Therefore, people who went to Singapore to work or study were a significant factor contributed for Singapore’s population. According to the article â€Å"About KFC† (n. d. ), KFC focus on family and friends of all ages. However, between 2000and 2010 , there was slightly reduced in number of married people ( from 61. % down to 59. 4%) (â€Å"Population trends 2011†,2011,p. 1). It can affect negatively to KFC business. However, according to the article â€Å"Population trends 2011† , (2011, p. 7), the proportion of children who under 15 year sold took 20% up to 24% in 2011, these factor could positively affect to KFC business in Singapore. Due to the reason is that when a family goes out, their children will decide what places or restaurants to eat (Liu, 2008, p. 69). In Singapore, Chinese are the majority amongst other ethnic groups like: Malaysians, Indians and so on (â€Å"Population trends 2011†, 2011,p. 29).Additionally, KFC has a strong position in Chinese’s mind because of KFC considered as more â€Å"Chinese† performance than other brands (Liu, 2008, p. 70). So, KFC will face more advantages when expand their business in Singapore. On the other hand, Singapore has well- trained workforce as well as the best skilled labour in Asia, so it will provide good skilled employees for KFC . iv. Social Issue and the Natural Environment According to the article â€Å"Food and Beverage work group report†,(n. d. , p. 54), societal trend towards eating outside rather cooking and eating at home amongst Singaporeans.So, it creates more chance for Food and Beverage services expand its business. For instance, in 2008 there were 306 new fast food outlets were established compared with more 376 new outlets were opened in Singapore (â€Å"Economic Surveys Series†, 2011, p. 7). III Competitive environment analysis i. Competitors: KFC must compet e with many direct competitors in the global fast food industry. For example, Burger King, BBQ, Mc Donald’s, Wendy’s and so on. All of them are strong rivals based on their ability to gain market share, as well as their ambition to become the leader of the fast food industry.Additionally, fast food industry is saturated. Products are not easily differentiated. Almost of all fast food, restaurants currently lack of product differentiation. Their menu contains small types of foods such as hamburgers, chicken, french-fries. Therefore, some customers may feel difficult to eat these types of foods frequently. In order to compete with other strong rivals in the market, even it is difficult; KFC tried their best to distinguish their products. For example, pop corn chicken, egg tarts and so on.Based on lacking of product differentiation, as well as tremendous increase in competitors, fast food industry is control by Red Ocean Strategy recently. ii. New entrants: The threats of entry are quite high for fast food industry in general. Capital requirements are one of important factors, Jekanowski (1999, p. 15) shows that 2 main huge parts of company’s expense are cost of materials and employee’s salaries. In order to open some fast food outlets, company must consider some other factors such as rental cost, marketing, utilities and so on. iii. Substitutes and Complements:In consumers’ opinion, fast food attracts them because it is convenient, tasty, and cheap. However, nowadays, many research papers show the negative impact of eating fast food on health and encourage people to limit fast food consumption ( Schlosser, 2001) . KFC have to face with significant substitutes due to some companies who focus on healthier food but also low price strategy will adapt strongly to customer’s demand. iv. Customers: KFC aims to final customers. Schlosser (2000) states that nowadays, many women go to work, instead of cooking at home traditionally , fast food helps them to prepare meals for family.Furthermore, half of their food spending is for fast-food restaurants. Once again, the trend of eating outside amongst Singaporeans creates more chance for KFC expand their business especially in Singapore (â€Å"Food and Beverage work group report†, n. d. , p. 54). Additionally, a quarter of Americans select fast food for their meals every day ( Ransohoff, n. d. ). Therefore, KFC has many potential customers in order to satisfy those people and gets interest back. v. Suppliers: Bargaining power of suppliers is quite low due to some reasons. First, fast food industry especially KFC restaurants require common materials for producing.For example, chicken, breads, beef, potatoes and so on. Therefore, these materials are available and low cost of purchase. Secondly, there are many suppliers provide those stuff want to cooperate with KFC which means ability to raise prices can be limited. Table 1: Competitive environment analysis based on Porter’s Five Forces Porter’s Five Forces| Environmental Factor| Unattractive| Attractive| Competitors| x| | Threat of entry| x| | Substitutes| x| | Suppliers| | x|Customers| | x| V. Application about planning, organizing, leading and controlling i. Application about planning: One of KFC’s weaknesses is poor quality of service. Therefore, KFC may set their goals to increase customer satisfaction in 1 month. Then, KFC can achieve that goal by providing staff training workshops. They should know more about consumer behavior, and customer psychology in order to satisfy customer’s needs. These information can support by people who have good knowledge about customers. After these workshops, KFC should collect customer’s feedback whether staff perform better or not. ii.Application about organizing: KFC focus on satisfy customers to generate profits and improve its reputation. Each department includes in KFC have to respond its function to achiev e company’s goals. Departments such as marketing department, production department have their own leader like marketing manager, production manager, respectively. KFC must make sure that all of their department not only finish their tasks but also coordinate with other departments. Therefore, KFC need a good organizational structure to achieve its goals. For example, marketing managers need to plan a promotion campaign to introduce new products.They must cooperate with finance departments to determine the promotion budget. So, integration coordinates labor’s efficiency iii. Application about leading: KFC can choose relationship-motivated leadership style to control company. As a result, managers should build good relationships with employees, narrow the distance between managers and workers. Managers should care more about workers, satisfy their needs, and show company’s respectability toward employees. For example, managers can give more bonuses for workers in order to encourage them to finish their duty perfectly. iv. Application about controlling:KFC should follow clan control to achieve its targets. The managers should discuss with followers to make decision. For example, chiefs, cashiers and waiters who have more chances to communicate with customers can contribute many worthy ideas. Conclusion: This report mentions SWOT analysis, macro-environment analysis focus on Singapore, and competitive-environment analysis of KFC in Singapore then give some recommendations. KFC has good brand image in customers’ mind. However, KFC lacks of product differentiation amongst their strong competitors. The change in demographic can affect positively to fast food industry especially KFC.On the other hand, the trend towards healthy food can against the development of fast food. The macro environment focuses on five mains parts which are Law and politics, economy, technology, social issues and demographic. In Singapore, government open their laws and regulations to attract overseas investment. Moreover, the economy in Singapore is quite stable, with the development of technology help Singapore become a potential market for KFC. Moreover, Singaporeans prefer eating outside rather than cooking at home is one of the advantages for the development of KFC in Singapore.The competitive environment mentions five factors are competitors, threat of entrants, suppliers, customers, and substitutes. KFC has to face with many currently strong competitors, as well as new rivals. However, KFC lacks of its products differentiation. Some actions can help KFC in order to achieve good management through process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. In conclusion, KFC is invited a really potential market especially in Singapore, they should develop their advantages as well as limit the disadvantages as much as possible to satisfy customers. Recommendation:In order to gain more customers satisfaction, KFC can do some renovations. Fir st, KFC should make differentiated products to compete with its rivals. For example, create new menu contains vegetarian food besides normal menu. Additionally, provides food in a variety of food sources like pork, lamb and so on. Secondly, KFC can give customer reward points for purchasing KFC’s products to get customer loyalty. Furthermore, birthday cards or small gift in customer’s birthday can build a better relationship. KFC can increase its sale volume and advertise its brand widely by running corporate discounts with its complements such as Pepsi, and Nestle.Last but not least, KFC need to care more about their customers by gathering customer’s information. Therefore, it is easier to collect their feedback as well as do customer loyalty program. All of these things above need a strong finance to support, however, its benefit definitely outweigh its cost. | ReferencesAbout KFC. (n. d. ). KFCfranchise. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www. kfcfranchise. com/about-KFC-fried-chicken-business. phpBrand values / KFC Gold standard qualities guarantee chicken that is so good! . (n. d. ). KFC. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://kfc. com. g/about-us-goldstandard. phpCain, S. (2009, June 14). The worst restaurant of the year award goes to Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Health Wyze Report. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://healthwyze. org/index. php/component/content/article/134-the-worst-restaurant-of-the-year-award-goes-to-kentucky-fried-chicken-kfc. htmlColonel Sanders ; Kentucky Fried Chicken. (n. d. ). KFC. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from http://www. kfc. com. sg/about-us-milestone. phpDavis, L. (2002). Application of nutrition in the industry. In Hospitality Industry Handbook on Nutrition and Menu Planning. (p. 217).South Africa: Juta;Co. Ease of doing business in Singapore. (n. d. ). Doing business. Retrieved March 13, 2012, from http://www. doingbusiness. org/data/exploreeconomies/singapore/#starting-a-businessEconomic Surveys Serie s. (2011, November 24). Statistics Singapore. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from http://www. singstat. gov. sg/stats/themes/economy/biz/fnb. pdfFonda, D. (2006, June 18). KFC's Big Fat Problem. Time. Retrieved from http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1205379,00. htmlFood and Beverage work group report. (n. d. ). Ministry of Trade and Industry. Retrieved March 12, 2012, from

History: Slavery

Before the Civil War, slaves and indentured servants were considered personal property, and they or their descendants could be sold or inherited like any other personality. Like other property, human chattel was governed largely by laws of individual states. Generally, these laws concerning indentured servants and slaves did not differentiate between the sexes. Some, however, addressed only women. Regardless of their country of origin, many early immigrants were indentured servants, people who sold their labor in exchange for passage to the New World and housing on their arrival.Initially, most laws passed concerned indentured servants, but around the middle of the seventeenth century, colonial laws began to reflect differences between indentured servants and slaves. Now that they actually started thinking twice between slaves and what they stand for. Soon the laws began to differentiate between races: the association of â€Å"servitude for natural life† with people of African descent became common. So now that there was a ground stand between slaves and servants actually a big difference.Indentured Servants were temporarily and slaves were permanent . Servants could pay off their labor and slaves could not, they had no choice but to work their life off. Servants had rights, they Could sue in court, they Could own property, they Could appeal to court for mistreatment. Slaves still had right but not like the indentured servants they could get there education, they could get married, and raise kids as long as the work. If the servants kept breaking the law they could be enslaved and pay off a crime they did.Basically after 1660 the lives of the poor African people changed. Obviously slaves were mess treated and harshly punished more than the servants. There was some punishments for the white servants like if they tried to run away with a black slave the white servants had to serve more double the amount of his labor. There was a case that lead to that law. There was Three servants working for a farmer they tried running away to Maryland. Two were white; one was black.They were captured in Maryland and returned to Jamestown, where the court sentenced all three to thirty lashes — a severe punishment even by the standards of 17th-century Virginia. The two white men were sentenced to an additional four years of servitude and one more year working for the farmer followed by three more for the colony. But, in addition to the whipping, the black man, a man named John Punch, was ordered to â€Å"serve his said master or his assigns for the time of his natural Life here or elsewhere. † John Punch no longer had hope for freedom.The whites and blacks were obviously miss treated harshly. All that chaos happening the Africans needed an answer and why they are the way they are. They retraced it in the bible of the story Noah and ham his son, and the figured why they are the way they are. The moral story this was that Noah was a drink er and he came home one day naked. His 2 sons looked away from him and his other son Ham just stared at him, couldn’t get his eyes off his naked dad. So Noah banishes him away to the land now called Ethiopia and cursed him that his children, children’s well be cursed forever.Looking back to that story they started to relate amongst themselves and they actually believed that god placed them in this world just be slaves and nothing more than that There was obviously no hope in their eyes. Why Africans why not other race? The Virginia men migrated to Africa to slave the people and bring them to their society as new members. As they bring the slaves to Virginia they carry millions of them across the ocean back to Virginia on these ships called Middle Passage. the men in Virginia were being sent to get slaves because they were in need of major labor in there city.The ship held millions of Africans, men, women, pregnant women and children in the ships. They are literally cra mped so tight that they have no room to do anything. Of course some of them die and some of them survive by the long months they get there. But when some of the Africans die the men that are in charge of them, dump them off the ship and sharks would eat them. There would literally be a row of sharks following them all the way back to Jamestown, because they were snaking on the died humans. 2 million slaves arrive safetly out of the 18 million. Why they actually wanted Africans Well one thing is straight if they captured any other race than Africans Americans like the native Americans they would have died out quick because they could adapt to the new world. There was once a time with the Native Americans were enslaved, but they died of European dieses like plague and small pox and wiped them out which they were trying to avoid any dieses brought to the new world time.Also native Americans they would blend in quite so easily with local people( skin color) and they can go home whenever they want to, and Virginia would be the ones that lose. The most reason why they didn’t want to enslave the native Americans was because they would start a conflict like they always do and they want to avoid any kind of conflict. Plus they could learn English very quickly. On the other hand African American were more intimidated by the white people and the country because they wouldn’t know anything about it.They were powerless they didn’t speak the language, they couldn’t escape the land because they had know where to go. The further away you take someone from their own land the less they will be powerful so that was one major reason why they wanted to slave African. They also could adapt maybe faster than other tribes because they would be so intimated that they have to learn before they get punished. and they are less likely to bring dieses to the people. They were distinguishable, easy to spot and see the blacks if they ever try to run away. These al l leads to this question, did slavery lead to racism?Yes I believe it did because first off all slavery came first not racism and when generation passed by slaves already had their ground rule that if you are a slave you are permanent into working for life when generation went by they stood for that and lead to racism. If they stood up to their land owners or whoever they would work for(slaves), I think there wouldn’t be a time called slavery. It wouldn’t exist really in the American history. That’s my say on that. There are many differences between the indentured servants and the slaves, more detailed there was more difference between the blacks slaves than the blacks/whites servants.The slaves basically are like working machines when the machine breaks or dies out they find another machine to replace it. 6. Compare and contrast indentured servitude with slavery. Why do indentured servants and slaves come to the New World? Be sure to discuss the historical real ities of life as an indentured servant as compared to that of a slave. Your essay should include a discussion of why Africans, as opposed to other groups of people, were enslaved. Finally, address the relationship between slavery and racial prejudice.

Bach Fugue 16 in G Minor, BWV 861 Analysis Essay

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Fugue 16 in G Minor is an example of a conventional fugue. What is interesting about this piece is that the body of the fugue is comprised of fragments of the subject and countersubject. The material within the episodes are a unique to this fugue. Also, inversions are found in key spots within the piece, and also create a similarity between the answer and countersubject. Within the first 3 measures, you find Bach brilliantly transcripts the first part of the answer and positions it at the end of the countersubject in an inversion. You also find that there is an inversion between the beginning of the countersubject and the end of the answer. Something similar, using this technique, arises at M. 24 in the alto and soprano voice. The ascending D, E-natural, F-sharp, and G sixteenth note figure is found in an inversion, a descending D, C, B-flat, and A figure, leading into an episode. Normally, episodes do not contain any subject matter, but Bach cleverly placed fragments of the subject and countersubject to aid in modulating to the next closely related key. Measures 8-11, episode one, the fragment(s) are heard throughout every count in different voices, modulating to the relative major of B-flat.; this, as well, occurs in episode two. Episode three, occurring in mm. 24-27, is, to some extent, contrastive to the rest of the piece. Here, tonicization back to the home key takes place, while the bass voice begins to mimic a kind of augmentation. The first note of every eighth two sixteenth figure, in order, outlines the subject of the fugue. Together, these two compositional techniques successfully modulated back to the home key of G Minor. In essence, whether it be the episodes modulating to a new key, or tonicizing back to G Minor, the entire fugue comes solely from the subject. Bach achieves this by using fragments of the subject, inversions, tonicization, and augmentation. With these techniques, J.S. Bach had successfully composed his Fugue 16 in G Minor.

Strategic Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Change Management - Essay Example In this essay, the significant and application of strategic change in organizations would be considered. One of the examples of the strategic change in the current economic scenario is that of Marks & Spencer. The example of this organization would also be discussed. WHAT ORGANIZATION STRATEGIC CHANGE MEANS AND HOW IT IS SITUATED AS LITERATURE Strategic change is highly important for all the organization in today’s global situation. This section describes what strategic change is and a basic model for change. Strategic Change in Organizations Strategic change in organizations means bringing a change in the internal environment in accordance with a defined strategy that is implemented through synchronization of the organization’s vision, mission, goals and objectives. A strategy is a framework on which the decisions and operations of an organization depend. A strategic change is changing the way an organization operates by changing its strategy. Strategic change is a ver y wide term it may also include radical transitions undergone by organizations that include changing the strategy, structure, culture and processes of the organization. ... Such indicators are named Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which indicate the difference in the performance of the organization before the implementation of the change and after the implementation of the change. If the difference is in line with the projected results, it can be concluded that the strategic change is being implemented successfully; however if the difference in performance is not as planned, it can be concluded that a modification in the strategy is required. There are a number of factors that can cause pressure for a strategic change in an organization. Such factors can be so significant they can sometimes harm the very survival of an organization. Therefore, in order to survive in the market, an organization needs to bring change in its system as a result of the pressure from such factors. Factors that can create pressure for change may be; change in external environment of an organization that is, change in technology, change in economic scenario, change in social trends or a change in political scenario. There are a number of ways in which a change may happen in an organization. The strategic core of an organization, which normally comprises of the board of directors, may inform the other levels of organizations that the organization is under a crisis and they may suggest a strategy for change. On the other hand, the change may be a gradual process with a number of short term goals. In this manner, the change would happen without raising an alarm throughout the organization. Another manner of bringing a change in the organization may be through a change agent. A change agent may be the leader of an organization or any other person who is inspiring

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Corporate Communication of the British Petroleum Company Research Paper

Corporate Communication of the British Petroleum Company - Research Paper Example Analysis of the FARMA Limited company is a main topic of this research paper. The researcher describes that company has emerged as one of the largest pharmaceutical and has its operations in more than 40 countries and products available worldwide. It was started in early 2000 by a group of medical researchers from Princeton University. It is one of those companies that gained tremendous success in just a few years. The research paper focuses on different corporate communications strategies and their impact on the successful business of FARMA Limited. The company combines the best values of entrepreneurship, business ethics, and strict acquiescence with current Good Manufacturing Practices. Since its creation, FARMA Ltd. has primarily endorsed research based pharmaceutical products. It is one of those few pharmaceutical companies who have developed their brand loyalty through innovative advertising strategies along with its strong marketing base. The ground-breaking strategies have he lped its products to be positioned in their respective curative areas. FARMA Ltd. has achieved this prestigious status through creative marketing strategies, promoting team work, human resource development and high-tech production facilities. The research paper and collaboration with prominent researches presents FARMA’s commitment to successfully manufacture high quality health products as well as prosperously organize company's corporative culture and communication on different levels, from crisis and to strategic to increase future success.

Business Analysis of a Company's Failure Case Study

Business Analysis of a Company's Failure - Case Study Example John Purcell further highlighted the importance of employees in his research which emphasized the huge role played by the company's workforce as "strategic partners." This research strongly supports the highly economist viewpoint of Grant (219) of "aligning employees with organizational goals." Schuler and Jackson gave a more precise description on how management should "align" their workforce to support the company crafted strategy. This paper opts to further highlight the importance of workforce by looking at how Dell, Inc. failed due to human resource problem. Dell, Inc. is widely recognized as one of the market leaders in the global information technology (IT) industry. The company corners the largest market share in the US personal computer (PC) market accounting for 33% in 2003 (Dell, Inc. in 2005 C-130). This success in the global industry is highly attributed to its employment of a unique direct business model and just-in-time inventory system which is backed by excellent customer service. The organization has gained a strong reputation in delivering customer satisfaction by the manner the customer service representative handles calls, enquiries, and problems. However, this reputation has been tainted when it choose to employ Indians to handle both corporate and consumer clients. The growing globalization ushered a new trend... Managers argue that BPO is a "management tool" which "frees companies to build upon their core competencies by leaving the non-core stuff to providers" (Banham 1). Through the use of business process outsourcing, Dell hoped to cut costs without affecting service quality. However, this expectation has not materialized with its utilization of Indian call centers. The customers complain that "technical-support representatives were difficult to communicate with because of thick accents and scripted responses." What becomes apparent is the difficulty in communication due to significant language barrier. This new trend has adversely affected customer satisfaction while also endangering the sales and market share of the business organization. This paper believes that this business failure is primarily due to the employment of Indian human resource. It is stated above that the human resource of companies should be considered strategic partners which are essential in achieving the goals of a company. Dell, in a sense, is seen to be only concerned on the cost efficiency of business process outsourcing but has not fully considered the issue of turning their Indian employees as strategic partners. It can be seen that Dell is not able to fully communicate and stress to prospective Indian call center agents that they are essential in the company's success. Thus, it turned out that these employees fail to realize their worth in the business organization. It can be seen that Dell has also been lax in their recruitment and selection process. As the company is striving to maintain excellent customer service, it should also be very strict in hiring customer representatives and ensure that those selected can fully deliver the quality of

Self-Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 78

Self-Assessment - Essay Example Explicating Countee Cullen’s Incident was a quite interesting, and very enlightening, endeavor. Although the poem was quite simple and straightforward, it takes a lot of imagination to make sense of the narrative. Although it is easy to understand, the sentiments or emotions embedded in it are quite complex and immeasurable, which make the analysis extremely challenging. The part where I have to analyze every line of the poem was the most challenging. Every line is infused with intense emotions. Moreover, the transitioning is quick and drastic. And it was difficult to find the right words to describe the author’s emotions. I tried to balance the intensity of the words with the emotions embedded in each line. It was very challenging to analyze someone else’s story using my own point of view. But even though the task was very challenging, I found it quite entertaining. Because of the simplicity of the language used by the author, I immediately understood what the a uthor was trying to say. It is not like the other poems that are filled with metaphors or complicated imagery. I learned several things from writing this essay. First, short poems are like novels; even though they are short, they can narrate an entire story. Second, poems like Incident are outwardly simple, but a deeper analysis of it will reveal a larger reality, such as racial prejudice and its impact on its victims. And lastly, simplicity is the beauty. A poem does not have to be too elaborate or complicated to be exceptional.

Taxation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Taxation - Essay Example Hence the 2009-10 tax year ran from 6 April 2009 to 5 April 2010. The tax year is sometimes also called the Fiscal Year. The Financial Year, used mainly for corporation tax purposes, runs from 1 April to 31 March. Financial Year 2010 runs from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011, as Financial Years are named according to the calendar year in which they start. Income tax liabilities of individuals: For individuals this means the UK income tax liability of one who is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the UK is limited to any tax deducted at source on UK income, together with tax on income from a trade or profession carried on through a permanent establishment in the UK and tax on rental income from UK real estate. Individuals who are both resident and domiciled in the UK are additionally liable to taxation on their worldwide income and gains. Each person has an income tax  personal allowance, and income up to this amount in each tax year is free of tax for everyone. For 2010-11 the tax allowance for under 65s is  £6,475 which was raised to  £7,475 on 22 June 2010. There are three slabs for rate of taxes – basic rate for the slab  £0- £37,400 is 20%, above  £37,400 is 40% and above  £150000 is 50%. The taxpayers income is assessed for tax according to a prescribed order, with income from employment using up the personal allowance and being taxed first, followed by savings income (from interest or otherwise unearned) and then dividends. On Employees: Employees pay National Insurance contributions to build up their entitlement to certain state benefits, including the State Pension. The contributions they pay depend on how much they earn and whether they are employed or self-employed. Employees stop paying National Insurance contributions when they reach State Pension age. They pay National Insurance contributions if they are an employee or self-employed and they are aged

An overview of marketing Essay Example for Free

An overview of marketing Essay 1. Are the corporate objectives clearly stated and do they lead logically to the marketing objectives? According to Boyd Jr and Levy (1966), corporate objective is the practical goal established by an organization. Mostly the organization uses it to target their achievement and success. Furthermore, Ramaganapathy (2010) defines that marketing objectives are the goals and targets in order to complete through the company’s marketing activities. In addition, it can be referred to the company’s mission and vision which can be achieved reasonably. So, marketing objectives can be subsidiary of corporate objective. Hewlett-Packard Company provides hardware, software and services to customer. They set many corporate objectives such as increasing customer loyalty by serving the highest quality and value, achieve profit to create value to shareholders, to be the leader in the market by produce innovative products and services to satisfy the customer, and responsibility to the employees by promote and reward depend on performance and create work environment (www8.hp.com, 2014). So, HP is clearly stated their corporate objectives and most of them also lead logically to marketing objectives to make their products and services satisfy by the customers’ needs and wants. 2. Does the organization follow the marketing concept? The selling concept or production concept? According to Burnett (2008), the marketing concept is the idea that an organization attempts to satisfy the customer in order to achieve sales and profit at the end. Furthermore he explains that the idea of marketing concept is to consider the needs and requirements to the target customers and improve itself to satisfy consumers effectively in order to be over the competitors. Therefore, the marketing concept is all about matching the company’s competency and the needs and wants of consumers. So, HP follows the marketing concept. They focus more on customers. HP tries to create their products related to customers and giving name to each product in order to create brand family (An Ehow Contributor, 2014). Also, its corporate objective shows that HP try to develop and delivery the new products and services with the highest quality and value to satisfy their customers to create custo mer loyalty. HP also differentiates itself by arrange its value proposition and message to customer’s needs and wants. According to Turcotte (2012), HP also does many researches from its most important IT customers to study their wants and needs. So, HP wants to  understand their consumers the most to create value to its customers and satisfy them and persuade them to be loyalty. 3. What is the core marketing strategy for achieving its objectives? Is it a sound strategy? HP now mainly focuses on serving the high quality products and services at the reasonable price to customers. They have the variety of IT products and services including software, hardware, IT infrastructure, and IT services. For each product, they create the variety of models to be the choices for every target customers. With the wide range of products at the different prices can satisfy their customers’ needs. The main focus aims to provide the reasonable price with the quality merchandise. So, their customers may feel that their products are valuable in term of price and quality. Website and commercial advertising are the way that HP uses to communicate their promotions and special offers such as limited time 0% financing to their customers. Also for the distribution channel, customers can find HP products from anywhere they can find other electronics. Customers also can purchase th eir products directly from their friendly website which also can research and compare their products and offer shipping services through various countries. The 4ps show that HP use customer based to create the strategies. References An Ehow Contributor (2014). Hewlett-Packard Marketing Strategies | eHow. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/way_5348861_hewlettpackard-marketing-strategies.html [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Boyd Jr, H. W. Levy, S. J. (1966). What kind of corporate objectives?. The Journal Of Marketing, pp. 5358. Burnett, J. (2008). Core Concepts of Marketing. [e-book] Global Text. Available through: http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Core-Concepts-of-Marketing.pdf [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Ramaganapathy, S. (2010). What’s the marketing objective – Lead Generation or Brand Awareness? | Lead Views a B2B Lead Generation Blog. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.leadformix.com/blog/2010/04/what’s-the-marketing-objective-lead-generation-or-brand-awareness/ [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Turcotte, A. (2012). How Social Media Brought the Humanity into HP Technology Services Marketing | IT Services Marketing Association. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.itsma.com/ezine/social-media-brought-humanity-into-hp-technology-services-marketing/ [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014]. Www8.hp.com. (2014). HP CORPORATE OBJECTIVES AND SHARED VALUES | HP ® Official Site. [online] Retrieved from: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/corporate-objectives.html [Accessed: 27 Mar 2014].

How culture has influenced accounting

How culture has influenced accounting Many studies have demonstrated that culture diversity had influenced accounting practice within national and international borders. Accounting can therefore be said to have been influenced by its environment, which includes the culture of the country in which it is being operated (Nobes Parker, 2008) Mueller et al. (1994), cited in Alexander.et al, also stipulate that each accounting system is a product of its specific culture and environment, and that different patterns of accounting are associated with a range of cultural factors such as societal values, religion, political systems and historical values. It is however no thought that those countries with same or similar cultural values or background are practicing accounting similarly. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the extent to which these cultural values influence the practice of accounting and how the understanding of the role of culture in accounting can help us understand international accounting standards. The work of Hofstedes cultural value differences and Grays accounting values will be the major focal point of this paper. The relationship that exists between cultural values, accounting values and financial reporting will be examined as well. DIFFERENCES IN CULTURAL VALUES Culture is a way of life of a group of people, which includes the behaviours, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. The position that the ideas, meanings, beliefs and values people learn as members of society determine human nature. To support this definition, Hofstede, one of the greatest researchers of culture differences, defined culture as the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes members of one human group from another,( cited in Nobes parker 2008. p 25) For the purpose of comparability, this paper will base its analysis on Hofstedes work on cultural value difference and grays work on accounting values to see their impact on accounting practice and reporting. (Hofstede, 1984 p. 83, 84) defined and summarized four Cultural dimensions as, individualism and Collectivism, Large versus small power distance, Strong versus weak uncertainty avoidance, masculinity versus femininity. He also stipulates that there exist specific relationship in these cultural dimensions. Individualism versus collectivism is how in a society one group will prefer a much closed family system while the other group prefer belonging to an expanded family system. This cultural dimension looks at how society handles interdependence among individuals. The second cultural dimension, large versus small power distance seeks to divide a society between those few powerful groups of people who prefer power to be distributed unequally through institutions and organizations and those who feel that power should be distributed equally. This dimension addressed how a society handles inequalities amongst a people when they occur. The third cultural dimension by Hofstede, is the strong versus weak uncertainty avoidance which is, the extent to which members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity .This feelings leads them to believing in promising certainty and to maintain institutions protecting conformity. He explained that a society with strong uncertainty avoidance maintained rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of deviant people and ideas. The weak uncertainty maintain a more relaxed atmosphere in which practice counts more than principles and deviance is more tolerated. Masculinity and femininity, which is the last but not the least of the four cultural dimensions, describes masculinity as the preference, in a Society for achievements, heroism, assertiveness, and material success. Femininity on the other hand was said to represent a society where preference for relationships, modesty, caring for the weak and the quality of life is high. ACCOUNTING VALUES AND CULTURAL VALUES It is based on these Hofstedes classification of cultural dimensional differences that Gray (1988) also proposed a connection between those cultural dimensions and accounting values by specifically identifying four accounting values which includes; professionalism(implies self-regulation by the accounting profession itself) versus statutory (implies control by the government), uniformity (adherence to consistency and detailed regulations) versus flexibility (implies able to amend or adjust to suite a situation), conservatism (implies the tendency to under state profit and assets) versus optimism and secrecy (implies a preference for confidentiality) versus transparency ( implies disclosure of true state of affairs). The first two relates to authority and enforcement of accounting practice at a country level while the second two relates to the measurement and disclosure of accounting information at a country level as (cited in Nobes and Parker, 2008). Grays accounting values and Hofstedes cultural difference can be group into two categories. This paper will like to refer to these two groups as the collectivism category and the individualism category. The individualism category is made up of Professionalism, flexibility, transparency, optimism, individualism, small power distance, weak uncertainty avoidance and femininity. This category has the characteristic of self-reliance or self-interest and therefore in a society where individualism, small power distance, weak uncertainty and femininity dominate, accounting practice and financial reporting is likely to be professional, flexible, transparent and optimistic. Secondly the individuals quest for information to make decision on investments to satisfy his/her personal needs will prefer detailed report of a financial statement. This paper will like to associate this category to that of a capitalist society where the accounting regulations are not part of the common law but rather are in the hands of professional organisations of the private sector as stipulated in Alexander et al. (2009 p. 28). For instance in the UK, accounting laws and regulations are control by professional bodies such as the ACCA, CA, CIMA, and IASB. It can again be said that countries that practice the common law are also likely to practice accounting the same way. They are considered to be capitalism countries since they raises funds from the capital. They include, United Kingdom, Ireland Canada, Australia and the United States of America The second category of Hofstede cultural value difference and that of grays accounting values The collectivism category is made up of collectivism, large power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance masculinity and grays accounting values of statutory control, uniformity, conservatism and secrecy. This category has the characteristics of being control from a common source or being centrally planned. Countries or societies found to be dominant with these cultural and accounting values are more likely to practice accounting in the same way. The practice of accounting in this society or country is control by statutory institutions with detailed rules and regulations. The practice of accounting and reporting in these societies or countries will be geared towards the dictates of those in powers or in control. No detailed accounting is required and secrecy and conservatism dominates in the financial reporting (Kosmala-Maclullich, 2003). Here again this paper will associate this category of a society or a country to that of a socialist country where accounting laws and regulations are enshrine in the coded laws of the country. Governments in these countries use financial reports for their own purpose. The Democratic Republic of Germany adopted the Soviet Unions socialist ideologies after the Second World War. This adaptation included a methodological guidance in designing accounting information systems (Berry, 1982: 1890). Bailey (1990) also stipulates that the Marxism Theoreticians view the western-style accounting as an instrument for the exploitation of workers by the capitalists, accounting and financial reporting was therefore geared towards the dictates of those in authority. Young and David (1999) argued that Accounting activities at the enterprise level were focused exclusively on the preparation of reports required by the planning bureaucracy, and during this period, accounting was only seen as a primary source of information for the provision of financial statistics for the use in the preparation of budget; it was therefore a list of quantities instead of values. Accounting was more or less reduced to a clerical job; there was no professionalism in the practice. Judgemen t of reports (true and fair) was not entertained; standardisation was non-existence and so was the concept of profit, in short accounting standards and procedures were not in existence. Accounting in China Another country worth looking at is china which has a long history of cultural value which is characterise with collectivism, high in power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance and femininity. The Chinese will not mind sacrificing himself for the good collectivism or country (Yao F. 2007). The practice of accounting and reporting is control by the state under the auspices of the ministry of finance and the aim of this control is to gear the practice towards the general benefit of the planned economy. The user of accounting information is mainly the government, because most enterprises in china are owed by the state. The few individual who try to do some investments do not know much about accounting and finance. (Yao F. 2007). Although the state had accounting standards for Business Enterprises, they were just mere basic rules which were issued in conjunction with basic standards, as argued by Lin et al. (2001). There where however restrictions on some important accounting principles such as making provision for bad debts and obsolete inventories, recognition of impairments of assets, disclosure of financial information and many more. Secrecy and conservatism was dominant in financial reporting. Professionalism, transparency and flexibility were non-existence. Accountin g profession was reduced to a very low status. The dynamics of cultural values brought about a change in financial reporting by these countries with strong cultural values. As a result of the world becoming a small village and the growing of Multinational companies across the world, there is the need for comparability of financial Reports since its purpose is to help investors make informed and sound decisions. Based on the fact that the world is becoming a small place and countries need each other for their survival, most of the socialists countries like the East Germany, Portugal, Poland, Italy, and France have all adopted the capitalism system of financial reporting. The Chinese government, also have realise the need for adopting the international financial reporting standard (IFRS) which is being champion by the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB), but yet it only talked about the convergence of the accounting standard and not a totally acceptance. (Yao F. 2001) Conclusion It is quite obvious that cultural values have influenced the practice and reporting of accounting and countries with similar cultural values practicing accounting similarly. With the world becoming a global village and the fast cultural changes across the world, the need for harmonization and convergence of accounting standards was given a serious consideration by centrally planned countries, but a country like China, although have made efforts to embrace international financial reporting system, is still holding on to some of its cultural accounting practices. This is an indication that so far as cultural values remain different, accounting practice will be affected and the only way out is the harmonization and convergence of accounting standards.

Strategic Management at Zhujiang Iron and Steel Company

Strategic Management at Zhujiang Iron and Steel Company 1.0 Introduction This material critically analyses the process of strategic management in the areas of nature of competition, the strategy, the strategy process, method of entrepreneurship and resources ofZhujiang Iron Steel Company (ZISCo). The analysis has been done by using some major theories such as gap analysis, balance score card, triple loop learning of ZISCo. Zhujiang Iron and Steel Company (ZISCo) is a Chinese state owned enterprise established in 1997. ZISCo is a steel manufacturer who produces wide range of steel sheets and plates that are used as inputs of various other products. In early 2003, ZISCo faced many problems in the key areas of production, procurement marketing and this has resulted in poor financial performance. In the past ZISCo implemented niche marketing strategy from 2003onwards, ZISCo planned to implement value creation strategy undertook many functional reforms with active participation from all its employees improved its financial performance during 2004 2006. However, in 2007 also ZISCo encountered various challenges, predominantly in the areas of cultural change, knowledge management, and development of organisational competence and learning capability Thus, this material initially analyses the current business strategies of ZISCo to understand the nature of their operations. Subsequently, conducts a PESTEL analysis, Porters five forces and value chain analysis to understand the environment of ZISCo, drivers of profit in the industry at present and the future. In addition, gap and balance score card analysis also has been done to understand the gaps that are existing in the context of ZISCo and to evaluate its performance. Strategic options can be considered to address the gaps that have been identified by the organisation. Therefore, the report will provide an exposure to the strategic options available used by ZISCo and whether they have effectively implemented the strategies. This has been done by analysis of 7S framework triple loop learning alone with an action plan. Finally, the report will suggest the recommendations where its applicable by providing justifications. The analysis of this report was done with the assistance of the case information provided and through industry related information from academic books, journals, websites and other publicly available secondary data sources. 2.0 Process of strategic management followed at ZISCo Businesses vary in the processes they use to formulate and direct their strategic management activities. The model enhances the development of strategy formulation skills by guiding the analyst systematic and comprehensive study of each business situation 2.1 Strategic factors and capabilities 2. 1.0 External environment From the PESTEL analysis Michael Porters five forces analysis it is clear that ZISCo is functioning in a very complex volatile environment which will impact all the strategies adapted by the organisation. Hence, a good understanding of ZISCos external environment will facilitate the organisation to exploit opportunities and avoid threats From the steel industry analysis we can conclude there are many well established key players in the Chinese market the industry has high potential to attract new players in future. Thus, the PESTEL variables in macro environment have major impact on the performance of ZISCo. 2.1.1 Internal environment Analysis of internal environment is a crucial phase to an organisation as it helps to identify the strength and weakness of the organisation. This would mean internal analysis will determine the required skills resources of ZISCo to cope up with competitors capabilities thus measures ZISCos effectiveness to gain competitive advantage According to the value chain analysis the main competitive advantage of ZISCo is technology leadership and implementation of value creation strategy in the steel and iron industry in china. However, through this analysis it is clear focus on quality was very low this is mainly due to the fact that quality department people were ignoring their responsibilities management did not place more care in this department as it does for marketing. 2.1.2Analysis of SWOT From the SWOT analysis key strength of ZISCo is that they have gained competitive advantage over technology leadership as they are the first company to introduce CSP technology in steel iron industry. In addition the other most important strength is their value creation strategy; ZISCo is the first company to implement value creation strategy and one stop shop services to their customers. Thus this will provide a first mover advantage to ZISCo as Chinese market moving toward planned economy to market economy. However, the primary weaknesses of ZISCo are poor quality products are being produced, has liability to pay bank loan interest of US$ 40million annually, and lower bargaining power in purchasing raw materials as a result of signing a contract with a supplier. The quality issues identified would erode companys goodwill among major most important customers; even company may lose its profitable customers for lack of focus in quality issues. Further the non current liability seems to be a huge amount, if proper care is not taken to settle the debt the whole company would go into liquidation. In addition company also faces problems with supplier; ZISCo will directly get affected if supplier does not provide raw materials on time in intended quality. Rapidly changing environment has influenced the performance of the organisation by creating opportunities and threats. The key Opportunities of ZISCo are Chinese economy is transforming towards market economy by creating an advantage for all the organisations in Chinese market and unsatisfied higher demand for container used steel sheets is a big opportunity for ZISCO. The unfavourable key factors that affect ZISCo performance and barrier to growth are slow moving organisational culture (slow change from production orientation to value orientation) , competitors imitating CSP technology and marketing practice very quickly. Further high raw material and electrical cost, the government restriction in steel industry such as limiting the number of employees been recruited and fixed price ranges are also threats for ZISCo 2.2 Strategies adapted by ZISCo Organisation can formulate strategies in three different levels known as corporate level, business level and functional level (Viljoen, J. and Dann, 2003, pg 235). As GISCo is the parent of ZISCo, they have adapted several comprehensive business strategies for their organisation. The business strategy of ZISCo is â€Å"value creation for both customers and company†. In order to follow this business strategy Zhujiang has adapted following strategies. Such as: Changing their niche marketing strategy to mass marketing strategy Pre-emptive strategy Differentiation strategy Cost reduction strategy New product development strategy Informal communication strategy Outsourcing strategy Adapting a new business model strategy 2.3 The performance of ZISCo The rapidly changing external environment has created some significant challenges for management of ZISCo. In order to analyse the overall performance balance score card approach has been used A general conclusion that the overall performance of ZISCO is at satisfactory level can be drawn from the balance score card analysis .However if we take each perspective in to consideration ZISCo has achieved maximum performance in financial and innovation learning perspectives whereas customer perspective and internal business perspectives are at moderate level. Therefore, ZISCo should concern on accelerating order cycling process to make improvements in internal business perspective performance. In addition they should also create possible steps to retain attract more customers by means of customer satisfaction. 2.4 Analysis of External, Internal and Stakeholders inconsistency To be successful, an organisations strategy must be consistent with the requirement of its current and expected future environment (external consistency), its capabilities must be consistent with the business strategy being pursued (internal consistency), and its performance from the existing business strategy must be acceptable to its key stake holders (Hubbard R.B, 2008, pg.167). Hence, an analysis has been done to identify the internal, external and stakeholder consistency of ZISCo According to the analysis of internal consistency of ZISCo it is evident that they have failed to adapt systems those match with their business strategies. This has ultimately created an internal inconsistency within the ZISCo. In addition, ZISCo also has external inconsistency as a result of government regulation on steel industry and changing market in china. 2.5 Gaps in Strategy formulation Gap analysis of ZISCo has been done on the basis of current business strategies of the organisation. Therefore environmental business strategy, organizational performance and business strategy gaps have been identified for ZISCo (Refer appendix diagram8). By analyzing these gaps it can be identified that ZISCo is trying to position its self uniquely in the market. 2.6 Strategic options available to overcome gaps ZISCo was not able to achieve their novelty among competitors due to gaps recognized in formulation of strategy. Thus, there are several strategic options available for ZISCo such as market strategy, generic strategy direction strategy. In order to sustain and gain competitive advantage all 3 options are equally important for ZISCo 2.7 The effect of competitors and stakeholders Stake holders competitors have major role in the performance of ZISCo. The key stakeholders who are exerting more power on ZISCo are government: Government has restricted the number of employees recruited by ZISCo; thus have created a barrier for further business expansions also government is controlling the prices of the steel products thus ZISCo wont be able to use the cost based pricing strategies add their target profit margins. Secondly, the bargaining power of suppliers is also high in the context of ZISCo because ZISCo has entered in to contract with limited number of suppliers. Thus this enables ZISCo to solely depend on them gives high power to the supplier. The other most important stakeholders are employees. They also create an impact on the business strategy adapted by ZISCo by resisting for the required cultural change. As employees have product orientation values it would be very hard to change them towards customer orientations. This would have greater impact in developing overall strategy of ZISCo. ZISCo would have to invest more funds for a long time period in training development since cultural change cannot happen soon as company requires. Finally, like all other stake holder mentioned above Customers also exerts high power in ZISCo because there is an unsatisfied demand for steel products in Chinese industry many market players are there. If a customer is not satisfied with ZISCo, the chances of switching brand are high. Therefore to survive grow in the competitive environment as ZISCo planned it should provide value to its customers. Competitors ZISCo is operating in a very competitive environment in which competitors are adapting to their opponents strategies very quickly. In the case of ZISCo also they have tried to adapt to CSP technology and tried harder to copy ZISCos business model and marketing practices. Thus, there is a possibility competitors can attack ZISCo anytime by imitating their unique innovations soon after the patent rights expire. Thus, this compels ZISCo to continually invest huge amount of funds in research development and in marketing. In addition to the local players ZISCo also faces high international competition in Chinese steel industry due to unfulfilled steel demand in China low costs of labour. These foreign players might have advanced technologies than ZISCo attack ZISCo simply in terms of quality. Thus, it is necessary for ZISCo to carefully understand nature of pressures exerted by both domestic international players and develop the most suitable strategy. 2.8 Implementation of gap Strategic implementation is complex and time consuming but success of an organisation lies on this stage. However good the business or corporate strategy is, it is off little value unless implemented (Hubbard R.C, 2008, pg 349). Therefore, during this phase, strategy makers should consider the question of who implements that strategy, what must be done and how the strategy is implemented (Fletcher, 2001, p.2). Hence, 7S framework has been applied to ZISCo to identify gaps the issues that should be addressed during implementation phase 2.9 Paradigm of operation ZISCo has shifted their paradigm from the conventional wisdom about how things have always been done and must be done to that of emergent strategies From previous paradigm ZISCo achieved efficiency productivity but did not produce products in intended quality that will fit the purpose of customers. Therefore ZISCo has shifted the paradigm from production orientation to marketing orientation by providing more value to their customers. In order to operate in new paradigm ZISCo has changed their market from niche to mass market, changed their organisational structure from functional structure to matrix structure and improved their financial performance through cost reduction 2.10 Recipe issues Recipe can be defined as a set of believes assumptions held commonly throughout the organisation, taken for granted in that organisation, but discernible to the outside observer in the stories of organisation history and explanations of events (Strategic management guide 3, 2004, pg 3). There are several issues have been identified for ZISCo in current paradigm In formulating strategy ZISCo did not define its goals objectives clearly which is critical for any organisation as it guides the employees towards mission vision of the organisation. Therefore, unstated purpose or goal of ZISCo makes the organisation unable to analyse the long term strategic purpose. Even though, ZISCo increased their financial performance by increasing profits through new business strategy still they unable to over come their long term debt. Therefore, this imposes a huge hidden financial risk on ZISCo. Another issue in relation to ZISCo is that cultivating a market oriented culture within the organisation while adding value to the organisation as well. In the past economy of china organisation strategies focused mainly on the production orientation, the value for production orientation already rooted strongly in employees minds is hard to change. Finally, ZISCo is loosing competitive advantage of CSP technologies as a result of competitors are adapting to CSP technology over past 2-4 years. Therefore, loss of competitive advantage (technology leadership) is a critical recipe issue for ZISCo. 2.11 Recommendation justification for ZISCo From the above analysis, I would recommend the following recommendations; ZISCo should implement vision mission in more transparent manner to their employees as it will help the employees to understand the long term strategic direction of the organisation. Thus, ZISCo should develop objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and within the Time limit. ZISCo can transform their organisation as a learning organisation by allowing more innovations, continuous improvement in new product development by investing more in new technology, empowering employees and providing freedom to experiment. ZISCo should adapt to a TQM (total quality management) approach to attend real-time quality issues and invest more in compliance costs (Refer appendix diagram 14) In order to add value for both organisation customers, ZISCo should focus on new management accounting concepts such as extended value chain analysis target costing. These concepts will add value to organisation by reducing costs will add value to customers by providing them the intended benefits or quality(Refer appendix diagram 15 ) The president should also consider changing his leadership style; He should act both as charismatic a transactional leader because the president had performed well in strategy formation but he didnt concentrate much on communicating monitoring the developed strategy. ZISCo can also diversify their product to such as refining metals such as steel alloys. This can be done by merging with a recycling company or starting them self. This might reduce the cost of raw materials and reduce suppliers bargaining power in purchasing raw materials. Further, ZISCo can sell the raw materials to outsiders gain competitive edge. ZISCo can implement Just in time (JIT) system rather than having buffer stocks for raw materials, work in progress finished goods. JIT system would help ZISCo to deliver goods on time will reduce inventory holding costs Further ZISCo should also focus more in managing its supply chain. It should reconsider the contract with suppliers because the present supplier seems to be not reliable enough poor in quality. Thus, management should consider signing contracts with few reliable suppliers (Refer appendix diagram 16 ) ZISCos communication system also should be developed because it seems there is communication gap between top people bottom people ZISCo. Even though, Middle managers are acting as effective communicators between two parties it is insufficient for an organisation that intends to create value. Organisation should extend their one stop shop services in many geographical areas. By doing this they can gain competitive advantage and increase customer satisfaction as it reduce the transportation cost and time of customers. Organisation also should concern on their employees by creating carrier opportunity and carrier development to provide a value to their employees by providing them future sustainability. 2.12 Action plan of ZISCo ACTION Measure Person Responsible TARGET (Period Ending) 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Focus on growth strategies Market share, competitiveness President and Middle Management 6% 7.5% 8.5% 10% 15% Improve the CRM strategies Contribution to total revenue and net profit President and middle Management 10% 18% 28% 42% 55% Improve the quality of the final output Quality control measures Department of product quality 15% 25% 40% 65% 90% Create Learning Culture, Continuous Improvement and a flexible organization Innovation efforts, ability to correct mistakes and progress, quick response President and the middle Management 2% 4.5% 7% 10% 15% New Product Development New products developed R D 1% 2.5% 5% 9% 12% 4.0 Conclusion This case analysis has focused on the strategic management process of Zhujiang in the areas of nature of competition, the strategy, the strategy process, method of entrepreneurship resources of Zhujiang Iron Steel Company (ZISCo). The analysis has investigated apparent effects of the issues of ZISCo determined the causes of these consequences by use of appropriate theories. Based on this analysis, justifiable recommendations have been developed, which would redirect the organisation to its required respective strategic objectives. The recommendations for the organisations have been logically presented within a 5 year timeline which enables to generate the favourable outcomes while keeping the environmental changes in focus. At present ZISCo is operating in a very competitive market the competitive advantage of technology leadership is more short time oriented. Thus, in order to sustain in the market a key core competitive advantage is required for ZISCo as company planned the value creating strategy would be the most suitable. Further, the quality levels of ZISCo are inadequate. This is furthering them from their objective of value creation. ZISCo is putting efforts to move from a paradigm of production efficiency to value orientations. However, it is a great challenge to ZISCo as there are many gaps at ZISCo. The analysis indicates though the strategic objectives are appropriate for the environment, implementation of strategy is ineffective. Thus in conclusion it is clear that only by formulating effective strategies an organisation could not achieve its strategic objectives, unless it has the systems, procedures and most importantly willingness to efficiently implement the formulated strategies. 5.0 References Fletcher J (2003) .Strategic management Study guide and plan Edith Cowan University Perth Australia Hill,C and Jones G (1995) Strategic management an integrated approach (3rd)Houghton Miffin, Boston, Toronto Hubbard, G. Rice, J. Beamish, P. [2008] Strategic management Thinking analysis action 3rd ed Pearson education Australia Miller A, (1998), Strategic Management, McGraw Hill, 3rd Edition. New York.Study Guide: Strategic Management Viljoen, J. Dann, S. 4th edition (2003). Strategic Management, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Pearson Education Pty Ltd.

Trapped :: essays research papers

Crash, Swish, Roar. The lonely empty silence is overpowered by a wall of foam rushing towards me. Wheels of sand are churning beneath my feet. My golden locks are flattened and hunched over my head to form a thick curtain over my eyes. Light ripples are printed against my olive stomach as the sun beams through the oceans unsteadiness. I look below me and can’t see where the sand bank ends; I look above and realize it’s a long way to the top. Don’t panic Kate, you’ll get through this. I try to paddle to the top but am halted by something severely weighing me down- My board. That’s what got me in this mess in the first place. I can see the floral pattern peeping through the sand that is rapidly crawling over it. I quickly rip apart the Velcro of my foot strap and watch my board float to the surface effortlessly as I attempt climbing through the water to reach the surface. The fin of my board becomes more visible to me as I ascend. Finally, an alleviating sensation blasts through my mouth. Air. Crash, Swish, Roar. Just as I get a breath, the powerful monster swallows me once more. It finally hits me that I’m going to be under a long time. These are 20 ft waves, I think to myself. There is no way I am getting out of here the easy way. I feel the blood surge to my head as the paranoia sets in. When I was 5 years old, Dad woke me up one morning and informed me that he was finally going to teach me how to surf. I was ecstatic. I used to watch my brothers in envy as I crouched on the damp sand with my head between my hands resting on my knees, sulking at the fact that I wasn’t allowed to surf until I was 5. Well, that time arrived when Dad was taking me, and nothing was going to hold me back. I watched Dad approach me as he returned from a blue and white hire tent with a long (well what seemed long at the time), bright yellow foam board. It had a small white fin sticking out its rear. We stayed shallow and like any impatient 5 year old I began to suffer from frustration as I continuously nose dived into the sand at my efforts to stand up.

Baldwin and The Little Rock Nine Essay -- James Baldwin

The Little Rock Nine: Weaving the Tapestry of American History Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined â€Å"American history† is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay â€Å"Take Me to the Water.† Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin... ... to Enter Topeka School.† New York Times 29 Aug. 1958: 11. Calloway-Thomas, Carolyn, and Thurmon Garner. â€Å"Daisy Bates and the Little Rock School Crisis: Forging the Way.† Journal of Black Studies 26, 5 Special Issue: The Voices of African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. May, 1996: 616-628. JSTOR. 10 April 2004 Figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Videocassette. Princeton, 1999. Fine, Benjamin. â€Å"Little Rock Faces Showdown Today Over Integration.† New York Times 7 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Little Rock Told To Integrate Despite Militia.† New York Times 4 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Students Unhurt.† New York Times 24 Sept. 1957: 1. United States. â€Å"Commission on Civil Rights. School Desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas June 1977.† Washington, D.C. June 1977. Baldwin and The Little Rock Nine Essay -- James Baldwin The Little Rock Nine: Weaving the Tapestry of American History Throughout his literature, James Baldwin discusses the issues of racial inequality within America and discusses reasons for the conflicts between races, proposing his solutions to the problems. One of the most important and recurring motifs between his works is the idea of history; the history of whites in western society and its origin in European thinking and the history of the American Negro, whose history is just as American as his white counterpart’s. The importance of these histories as being one combined â€Å"American history† is integral to the healing process between the two races. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision is a landmark event for blacks and whites alike, and the events following three years later in Little Rock, Arkansas mark the beginning of a long journey to fulfill the promise of equal education made by the Supreme Court. The 1957 events in Little Rock quickly became the nationally covered story of the Little Rock Nine, a legacy that still lives on today despite a James Baldwin prediction made in his essay â€Å"Take Me to the Water.† Specifically, nine African-American students were given permission by the Little Rock school board to attend Central High School, one of the nation’s top 40 high schools, integrating a formally all-white campus. During the initial weeks, these students were prevented from entering the school by US military summoned by the Arkansas governor. The Little Rock case drew immediate media attention and became a nationwide symbol of the civil rights movement. The story of the Little Rock Nine embodies James Baldwin’s arguments and observations regarding necessity of education as a crucial step to achievin... ... to Enter Topeka School.† New York Times 29 Aug. 1958: 11. Calloway-Thomas, Carolyn, and Thurmon Garner. â€Å"Daisy Bates and the Little Rock School Crisis: Forging the Way.† Journal of Black Studies 26, 5 Special Issue: The Voices of African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement. May, 1996: 616-628. JSTOR. 10 April 2004 Figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Videocassette. Princeton, 1999. Fine, Benjamin. â€Å"Little Rock Faces Showdown Today Over Integration.† New York Times 7 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Little Rock Told To Integrate Despite Militia.† New York Times 4 Sept. 1957: 1. ---. â€Å"Students Unhurt.† New York Times 24 Sept. 1957: 1. United States. â€Å"Commission on Civil Rights. School Desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas June 1977.† Washington, D.C. June 1977.

How to increase the number of tourist in Malaysia? Essay

I think more variety we can do how to increase the number the number of tourist in Malaysia.. Malaysia in Asia has always been a topic of interest a among traveler and tourist who love and like to visit in Asia. The response a foreign tourist a good and going to better than the support given by the local people. I think our country should doing something to increase the number of tourist. One step, our country have do promotion lower package. Promotion lower package can attract foreign tourist come visit to Malaysia. Promotion lower package such as lower price for accommodation for tourists, transport system for visit to tourism places and other. Besides promotion lower package to increase the number of tourist visit to Malaysia, our country can to prepare good quality to tourist.Good quality a mean our country to prepare more facilities, accommodation, safely and other. With more facilities, accommodation and safely we can attract more tourist come to visit Malaysia. Altogether can to increase the number of tourist in Malaysia but i think more alternative to increase the number of tourist in Malaysia such as our country to improvements in facilities and infrastructure for attract tourist come to visit in Malaysia. The transport system already to better but we have to improvements for a good. To increase the number of tourist in Malaysia, i think campaign can to increase the number and to attract tourist come to visit Malaysia. I think that all i can suggest to increase the number of tourist in Malaysia. I know my friends Salsabil and Husna have many idea different my idea..I hope, Salsabil and Husna can compare they idea with me.. Malaysia is a very unique country. Because of its characteristic, many tourist came here to know more about Malaysia. Mostly tourist came to visit many beautiful area like beach, jungle, island, mountain and so on.Not only that, tourist also want to came here because they want to know all about Malaysia like its culture, food, celebration and so on. Many of them agree that Malaysia is a beautiful and very unique country. Because of the unique factors, we have to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia because our country can get many benefit from that because in can make Malaysia popular. The first thing to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia is by make a tourism promotion inside and outside of country. As we know tourism promotion like Cuti-cuti Malaysia have been doing by government. But the promotion just obtain inside of country and not in large scale. In my opinion if government make a big promotion inside and outside of county, many people know about Malaysia and they will come to visit this beautiful country. The promotion must tell about the beautiful place in Malaysia and all the unique thins in our country. So, this will make Malaysia popular and can increase the number of tourism in Malaysia. The second thing to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia is by upgrade the public utilities. We must make our airport in first class situation. Airport is the first thing looked by tourist outside of country because it can make their travel easier to came in Malaysia. our country already have Kuala Lumpur International Airport. This airport is very big and full of facilities. because of this airport, many tourist came to Malaysia. Beside that, our government also have to increase the standard of highway. If our highway is more similar with them, this can make they like to came here and visit Malaysia. What i know, if our facilities is up to date, tourist will like our country so much because they will find all the thing in their country in Malaysia. Futhemore Malaysian people also have to become very friendly to tourist is the third thing to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia. They must show all our culture that is very unique and so kindly to tourist. This can build a positive image about Malaysia and its people in tourist eye. So, if Malaysia have a positive image, the number of tourist will increase and Malaysia get many benefit from that. Beside that, our Kastam immigration must to care about the tourist when they they  checked they visa. our immigration have to answer all their question and take care of them. This will make tourist like to came and Malaysia and they will tell about the unique of Malaysia to their family and friend. so this will make they like to came here to feel them self about the unique of Malaysia. so this will help to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia. Many factors that we have to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia. We must to do all the good thing to our country to increase the number of tourism in Malaysia. If the total of tourist increase year by year, our country will become popular in tourist eye around the world. This is the good thing to our country because many benefit that we get from tourism activities. As we Malaysia is one of the famous country that has own attractive such as culture, language and religion. So, its no wonder Malaysia is known as ‘Truly Asia’ for having a lot of interesting places to be visited by tourists from outside. There are variety of measure to increase tourist arrivals to Malaysia. Firstly, people of Malaysia have very important role to promote tourism in the country. They must be friendly and ever ready to welcome tourism with open arm to the country. Malaysia must be helpful and polite because it give a good impression to tourist when they set their foot for a holiday here. Malaysia community must provide good service and hospitality such as transport, accommodation and other to the visitors travelling to this country. This is because, they are an important asset contributing to our country. As well all know about the campaign to promote  Malaysia for all tourist around the world. Malaysia also have many race and culture. This campaign is t o attract international and domestic tourists. Malaysia have many type of tourism . with this campaign also make the tourist to learn more about Malaysia religion and culture. For example, the campaign â€Å"Cuti-cuti Malaysia† can be introduced our country toward the world. This campaign it is a good platform to our country to introduce our country as a country that having offered the great moment to the tourist through the arts of our diverse and unique culture. Therefore, the minister responsible for tourism in particular must play important role in this campaign to increase the tourist arrivals to our country. Next, the government must add the services to the tourist who come to travel to this country. This services is provided by tourist such as accommodation , transport,travel guide and so on. The facilities must follow the tastes of tourists and the prices are reasonable so as not to burden them too much in terms of money. Additionally, the government must carry out a major campaign to attract tourists from outside to come to this country. So, let us no adopt double standards in serving tourists who come to travel in Malaysia. The another way to increase the number of tourists in Malaysia is about the cleanliness. The government must to be the cleanliness of the area frequented by tourists. In my opinion, cleanliness is surely looking and many place are full of rubbish. By and large Malaysia have many bad habits that must come to an end to improve cleanliness in the country. Many toilet are smelling, dirty and without running water. So, the authorities must improves cleanliness at all cost, before it is too late. If the country is clean, tourists would come in drove to enjoy their holiday here. With all the information that i write, I conclude that as a Malaysian we should help to promote our country because it can increase the number of tourist in Malaysia ,income of our country and help to build economy of our country.

Women & Crime

Women have been commonly stereotyped as loving, nurturing and compassionate people. Female offenses, over the past century, have been on the rise (Wormer, 2010). The battle for gender equality might play an important role in this phenomenon. Female offenders started to increase in numbers during the 1980s, as reported by the Uniformed Crime Report (UCR). However, the majority of offenses committed by females are not violent offenses (Wormer, 2010). As shown in the UCR, the percentage of females imprisoned for violent offenses have been declining over the past two decades (United States Department of Justice, 2010). When looking at crimes committed by women, compared to those committed by men, they are obviously smaller in numbers. The questions being asked is why are these numbers increasing at alarming rates? What is causing females to commit to a life of crime? In this paper I will attempt to find the cause or causes as to why a larger percentage of females are committing crime. It is important to note that there is a major increase in the number of females arrested, most notably for non-violent crimes. According to the UCR, during 1980, about 13,000 women were imprisoned in the nation. This number drastically increased to 80,000 by 1997. This clearly shows that the rate of female incarceration is rising faster than that of men. Over the past three decades, female incarceration has more than doubled. Statistics show that the rate of female imprisonment is significantly high being that 54 out of every 100,000 women, compared to 6 out of every 100,000 in 1930, when the first report came out (Simon, & Ahn-Redding, 2009). Amongst criminologists and social scientists, there are generally two perceptions as to why women commit crime. The first and most obviously known cause is that females generally maintain lower incarceration rates than males do. In every category, except embezzlement, prostitution and runaways, men tend to commit crimes at higher rates (Simon, & Ahn-Redding, 2009). The second observation is that the low rate of female crime has not been properly & thoroughly studied. Regarding the nation’s history, criminal research has basically ignored and overlooked the crimes that women commit and put a bigger emphasis on the male offender (Chesney-Lind, 1997). However, because of this rise in female crime, criminologists have begun to study the female offender with a greater emphasis. For the most part, men and female offenders tend to commit more property crimes and substance abuse crimes (Blanchette, & Brown 2006). There are more minor crimes committed versus violent crimes like aggravated assault or murder (United States Department of Justice, 2010). In 2009, the most common crime committed by males was drug abuse violations, whereas females committed other types of offenses except traffic. This category can include public disorder or any other state or law violation that is not specified in Part I or Part II offenses seen in the UCR (United States department of justice, 2010). The most noticeable difference between male and females in the reported arrests is the greater percentage of female offenders arrested for prostitution. In 2009, 56,640 people were arrested for prostitution and commercialized vice; 70% of those people were women (United States department of justice, 2010). The increase in female crimes began to rise after the end of World War II but surprisingly, the increase has not been in â€Å"customary† female crimes such as child abuse or prostitution. Crimes like robbery, larceny-theft and driving under the influence are the crimes that have staggering percentage increases. In 2000, 6,663 women were arrested for robbery, whereas in 2009 9,384 were arrested; that’s a 46% increase in a matter of only 10 years (Simon, & Ahn-Redding, 2009). According to the UCR’s data over the years, I have gained better knowledge about increasing female crimes. However, problems still arise as to why there are still such significantly higher numbers of imprisoned males than females. Social scientists have proposed many hypotheses regarding the disparity between female and male crimes. Traditionally, men are seen as being physically stronger than women. This, in turn, implies that they are more capable of committing violent crimes. In order to explain the gender gap that exists in the field of criminology, one must also take into consideration the emotional development and strength of a person. It seems as if gender and society’s norms have an impact on the low crime rates of women. Femininity is, for the most part, consists of the way a woman behaves but also the way she sees herself and her relationships with others. A woman’s femininity is influenced not only by her body but also her mind and her interactions with society. A â€Å"normal† woman can be perceived as caring, nurturing, and being selfless when it comes to others. Women, who take on responsibilities of a family or the ability to not only establish, but also maintain relationships, are thought of in the highest regards. â€Å"Derivative identity constrains deviance on the part of a women involved with onventional males, but it also encourages the criminal involvements of those who become accomplices of husbands or boyfriends† (Blanchette, & Brown, 2006). Tendencies and qualities that are seen in criminals, basically contradict those tendencies and qualities that females possess. Crime is much more disgraced for women than it is for men. Women hold certain expectations regarding the way they look to the way the conduct themselves. For example, a woman would stay away from locations where she would fall victim to the hands of a perpetuator such as nightclubs and crime-ridden streets. They’re lives are also altered when they find themselves victims of physical violence, such as spousal abuse and rape. Women tend to be victimized in ways that men cannot, so their behavior tends to change because they have that fear of being a victim (Chesney-Lind, 1997). Over the years, criminologists have come up with many theories as to why people commit crime. Hirschi’s Social Control Theory and Agnew’s General Strain Theory have helped in this cause. Social Control Theory focuses primarily on internal controls. The theory implies that an individual may commit crime as a result of having little or no bonds with society. This bond, as it is being referred to, is a structure that consists of four elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief (Chesney-Lind, 1997). This theory maintains a belief that individual that have strong attachments to conventional people, are committed to school or work, are involved in conventional pursuits and do not rationalize or justify crime, are less likely to engage themselves in a life of crime. Hirschi’s theory does not specify itself within gender. When his initial theory testing was taking place, his sample consisted of both male and female adolescents. However, Hirschi only took into consideration the criminal information collected that pertained to males (Alder, & Worrall, 2004). During the 1990s, criminologists Sampson and Laub developed a social control theory to help explain and understand childhood antisocial conduct, adolescent delinquency and criminal conduct during an individual’s early adulthood. The theory implies that early childhood experiences and individual traits explain stability in criminal behavior during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Experiences like these are called â€Å"turning points†. These turning points can change the trajectories for better or worse. Turning points refer to how attached an individual becomes to another conventional person. The hypothesis within this theory is that these turning points are the primary cause for the alteration of the criminal trajectory (Alder, & Worrall, 2004). For example, an individual that possesses strong marital attachments and employment stability are more likely to refrain from any criminal activity than those who do not possess such qualities. Agnew’s General Strain theory derived from prior works from Robert Merton. Strain theory states that individuals, primarily in the lower class of society, will refrain to crime when they are unable to rank higher in the social ladder or achieve any type of monetary success through legitimate means (Blanchette, & Brown, 2006). The failure to achieve status or wealth causes an individual to become strained and pressured. This strain and pressure then causes an individual to resort to gaining such status and wealth through illegitimate means or non-conformist behavior. General Strain Theory (GST) is based on the psychological aspect that deals with aggression, stress, and coping mechanisms. GST implies that stressful events produce negative emotions for an individual which in turn results in criminal behavior (Alder, & Worrall, 2004). Agnew presumes that there are three sources of strain: inability to achieve positive fueled goals, the removal of a positive stimuli and the presentation of a negative one. It can be argued that GST can sufficiently explain the gender gap in crime. Both males and females experience different types of strain. However, statistics show that male strain tends to lead towards serious property and violent crime more than females. Males and females have different emotional systems. They respond differently to strain; women tend to turn towards depression whereas men tend to become very angry and hostile (Blanchette, & Brown, 2006). Males have very different coping mechanisms than those of females. This theory, according to Agnew, can also be used to describe why women commit crime. He argues that strain can be conceptualized as oppression, in feminist views. These oppressed-ridden individuals will then turn to crime in order to relieve themselves of such stress. Authors Alder and Worrall note how divorce rates and spousal abuse crate financial and emotional stress on a female. They also note that when society devalues a female’s capabilities, whether it is at home or in the workplace, it creates a new cause of strain we call injustice. Other forms of strain can include sexual harassment, death of a loved one, and discrimination (Blanchette, & Brown, 2006). Females, in general, commit fewer crimes than males because females they become greatly stigmatized by society. Society norms as well as the attachment to conventional people help them steer away from a life of crime. A woman will find ways to reach a higher position in social class based upon her personal experiences and her ability to attain a husband, who holds a high position in society. Obviously, women are able to use their feminism to achieve their goals without resorting to illegitimate ways, such as prostitution and robbery. Strain theory can be used to explain the difference as to why women commit less crime than males do; females and males have different ways of coping with stress. The result for both individual differs. The role of the female in today’s society has become less compliant than before. Women are now being dominated less by the male population and are able to take on a role as individuals. However, there is still an enormous amount of gender inequality surround society. Until this inequality diminishes, society and gender norms that remain will continue to take over the percentage of crimes committed by women. However, the substantial achievement on the female crime study and explanation must be acclaimed, as gender has been viewed in the way that it should be: as a crucial variable associated in the criminal study.