Monday, September 30, 2019

Turkey’s Retailing Sector Analysis

RETAILING INDUSTRY in terms of Food- Non Food * Sectorial Overview; Retailing is the business activity that involves selling products/services to customers for their non-commercial, individual or family use. Normally, retailing is the final stage of the distribution process. The middle and long term potential of Turkey retail industry continue remaining attractive. Companies in sector support the sectorial expansion with their expansion strategies, negative business administration fund and powerful cash creating capabilities.The defensive structure of sector and low penetration strengthen this situation. With the increase in consumer demand, rapid urbanization, increase in large scale retail investments the number of shopping malls in Turkey increased by more than 20% in the last two years. In the same period, the total surface rent area in Turkey increased by more than 30% and reached As it can be seen on the graph below; the total size of the retail sector (organized and unorganize d) in Turkey is expected to reach $355 billion in 2013 and grow with 10% until 2016. (See Figure 1 in Appendix)Organized retail, a highly promising segment due to increasing per capita consumer spending and relatively weaker presence up to now in comparison with developed markets, is estimated to be 40% of the total retail industry in Turkey. (See Figure 2 and Figure 3 in Appendix) * The share of organized retail continue increasing; The share of organized retail which has the level of %25 in the total retail market in 2000 exceeds the levels of %50 according to the 2013 predictions. Turkey organized retail market achieve an impressive growth in last 10 years.It is anticipated that the share of organized retailers increase from the level %47 to the level %60 in upcoming 5 years. It is anticipated that the share of organized retail increases to the level of %60 till 2015. While the food retail segment constitute more than half of total retail market, traditional structure such as loc al markets and groceries still dominates the market. It is expected that approximate number of 10. 000 organized retail store will be twofold in 5-6 years. Besides, it is predicted that the number of groceries will be regress from 150. 00 to 100. 000 at the same period. Turkey, with its 105 milliard dollars sales figure, is located in 6th line in Europe retail sector. Nevertheless, while the total share of 5 biggest players in Europe is approximately %50, it is %20 in Turkey. Organized Retail Sector is the fastest expanding canal discount merchandising. It is expected that the number of approximately 6. 000 discount stores in Turkey will be twofold in upcoming 4 or 5 years. With the support of increase in the income per capita, %12 growth is anticipated in retail sector between 2009 and 2015.The discount store chain in Turkey (such as A101, SOK, BIM, DIASA) have a very fast growth schedules. BIM is placed in the first row in discount merchandising with its large store quantity. The company is planning to open 300 or 350 new stores every year. The fast increase in store quantities supports scale economy and companies are able to pull down their sale prices thanks to the decline in costs. With the effect of increasing competition in sector, it is expected that the growth accelerate with purchasing in forthcoming years. Despite the high competition, the retail sector is enlarging expeditiously; 6 major organized food retailing brand constitute %37 of total market in spite of divided structure. It is expected that it will be inorganic growth, merchandising and reunions, thus the companies will achieve more competitive charges by increasing their purchasing power in 2013 and later on with the intensity of competition. 2 Major Retailing Companies in the Sector; MIGROS vs BIM BIM and MIGROS which are the prominent players of Turkey food retail sector, are analyzed in this assignment in terms of their financial analysis.In retailing sector, these 2 companies have a gr eat effect and they are known as most powerful competitors with their shares all over the industry. Migros has 6% and BIM has 9% industry shares. (See Figure 4 in the Appendix) 1) BIM BIM (Birlesik Magazalar A. S. ) adopts as a principle the supply of the highest quality basic foodstuff to consumers, at the best possible prices. BIM began its operations in 1995 with 21 stores and in line with this principle. BIM’s product portfolio comprises around 600 products. 44. 12% of BIM shares started to be traded in Istanbul Stock Exchange in 15 July 2005.BIM is the first representative of high level discount model in Turkey and the company got in stock market return for its rapid growth. While BIM finishes its 7th year in stock market, it became the 12th company that has highest market value of Turkey. * Board of Directors Mustafa Latif TopbasChairman of the Executive Committee Ekrem PakdemirliVice Chairman of the Board Mahmud MeraliBoard member and has chaired the Audit Committee Jo s SimonsBoard member and consultant. Omer Hulusi TopbasBoard member. Yalc? n OnerBoard member. Dr. Zeki Ziya SozenBoard member. Turnover doubled to six; The rapid growth of the company had an effect on the rise of BIM , whose capital’s 17,43 per cent belongs to Mustafa Latif Topbas, in stock market. (See Table 1; Structure of BIM’s Shareholders) BIM ‘s sales revenues were 1. 4 billion TL . In the end of 2011, this revenues reached to 8. 2 billion TL. Also, the personnel number of the company increased approximately 3 times in 7 years. In the end of 2010, BIM became the endorsement leader with 6. 5 billion TL in the retailing sector of Turkey and it maintained this position in 2011.As abroad, while the company increases the number of stores in Morocco, aims Egypt for the next year. This year, BIM also started to operate in mobile communication industry with the name of BIMCELL. * Growth Strategy; Aggressive Growth among the competitor companies that strength After 11% increase in number of stores in 2011, with the number of 3. 584 stores in 2012, BIM is the retailer that has the largest store network in Turkey. (See Figure 5; Number of Stores ) BIM plans to open 400 new stores in 2013 and reach 5. 500 stores in 2015.With the store numbers increases there also has been 14% increase in number of employees in the company in 2011. BIM has been expanding their business, operations in every part. (See Figure 6; Number of Employees) These increases in operation side lead to an increase in number of average daily customers with 14% in 2011. (See Figure 7; Average number of Daily Customers) Of course with these changes, company carried out a 25 percent net sales increase over the industry average in 2011 and 2012. (See Figure 8; Sales and Gross Profit Margin) It is estimated that a sales increase over 20 per cent in 2013.Depending on this net sales growth, Company’s net profit has been increased by 22% over the last three years. Due to the inc rease in net sales; margin values regarding net profit, gross profit, EBIT, EBITDA have been decreased over 3 years. (See Figure 9; Net Profit and Net Profit Margin) With the effect of net sales increase, EBIT has been increased to 347,5 in 2011 ( See Figure 10; EBIT and EBIT margin) These was a 19%increase in company’s EBITDA and this means that there is an increase in amortization so we can say that company increased their asset purchases as we can see on the related figure. See Figure 11; EBITDA and EBITDA margin) * 18 times has been increased in 7 years; BIM began to be traded with 672. 9 million TL of market value in July, 2005. The value of the company increased approximately 18 times in 7 years based on TL. The increase in BIM stocks since the first trading day was 1. 861 per cent. As a result of its rapid growth, BIM’s market value is the over of the Erdemir, Arcelik, Ford Otosan, Finansbank and Vak? fbank in addition to Tupras that is the Turkey's largest indu strial enterprise and refinery giant.Also, BIM has paid its shareholders a total dividend of 700 million TL in the period of 7 years in the stock market. (See Figure 12; BIM Dividend Payment over the last 5 years). As the company’s profit increased dividend payments are increased also. There has been a positive relationship between them. This is a very good indicator for the company’s investors who already invested in BIM’s shares and who are planning to invest. Also as a result of the increase in BIM’s stock prices and stock revenues; value of the company also increased. So, this situation put the company's principal shareholder, Mustafa Latif Topbas, to the Forbes list. On the other hand, for each stock BIM has really high returns and it brings some important risks also for the investors. (See Figure 13; IMKB 100 vs. BIM Stocks) When we compare the situation of BIM’s stocks in Imkb 100 with stocks of MIGROS, BIM has a higher return, profit for th e investors and because the returns and prices of BIM higher than IMKB 100 and because there is a really important difference between the line according to Figure, BIM’s stocks are also operated and valued in IMKB 30. Why is it rising? * The rapid growth in the number of stores and endorsement. * The high capacity of dividend payment.. * Increasing profitability of the company every year. * To expand abroad with Morocco. * To bring new revenues with BIMCELL. *3/4 of the shares in stock market is belonged to foreigners. * Growth Targets in Egypt after Morocco: BIM will open stores in Egypt by 2013. The company estimates that the growth in Egypt will be faster compared to the growth in Morocco. Recently, BIM operates in Morocco with 103 stores.And the company plans to open 50 new stores in Egypt every year after 2013. 2)MIGROS Originally established in Turkey in 1954 as a collaboration of the Swiss-based Migros Cooperatives Society and the Istanbul municipality, Migros’s primary mission was to supply economically priced groceries and household supplies to consumers in Istanbul under wholesome conditions. In 1975 the Koc Group acquired a majority stake in the company, following which there was a steady increase in both number of its stores and its brand value for more than a decade.In 1991, Migros became the first publicly traded company in retail. Following a Koc Group strategic decision to pull out of grocery retailing, in February 2008 Koc Holding signed an agreement to sell its 50. 83% stake in Migros to Moonlight Perakendecilik. Transfer of the shares took place on May 30th of the same year. On 30 April 2009, Moonlight Perakendecilik (now known as Migros Ticaret A. S. ) and Migros Turk T. A. S. were merged into a single company which has since been operating under the name â€Å"Migros Ticaret † and whose principal shareholder is MH Perakendecilik ve Ticaret A. S.In 2005 Migros further bolstered its leadership of Turkey’s food ret ailing sector with its acquisition of Tansas, another national chain As of end-2011 Migros was operating through a total of 745 national and international locations. With a national presence in all seven of Turkey’s geographical regions taking the form of 262 â€Å"M†, 190 â€Å"MM†, 59 â€Å"MMM†, and 16 â€Å"5M† Migros-branded stores and of 177 â€Å"Tansas† and 13 â€Å"Macrocenter† stores, its international footprint consisted of 23 Ramstores in Kazakhstan and another 5 in Macedonia. ( See Figure 14,15 ; Breakdown of Net Sales Area by Store Brands of MH Group) Distribution of Dividend According to latest data from the company’s official web-site, at the company’s Annual General Meeting held on May 20, 2010, it was decided to distribute a gross cash dividend of TL 195,833,000 to the shares representing TL 178,030,000 capital and the dividend disbursement is to start on May 28, 2010. On July 30th, 2009, it was decided to distribute the dividend of the free reserves after setting aside the reserves required by law to the share certificates representing the capital of TRY 178,030,000 and to use TRY 2,492,420,000 from this source for the distribution of gross cash dividends. See Table 2; Structure of Migros’s Shareholders) * Growth Strategy: The company increased its total store number to 745 in 2011. (See Table 3) and 2012, they increased the stores to 874 by opening 142 new stores. The company is planning to open 100 new stores in 2013. It is expected that the company will maintain rapid growth and increasing operation profitability in 2013 by focusing on its main operations. In addition to this, in 2013, it is estimated that the company will have 13% sales growth in year basis and 6. 4% EBITDA margin. * The positive effect of selling of â€Å"SOK† on Profitability.After selling SOK Discount Stores, thanks to high margins of supermarket segment and improvements in operational manage ment and supply chain, Migros’s EBITDA margin increased in 2011. It increased from 5. 7% in 2011 to 6. 5% in 2011. While Migros leave the channel of low margin discount retailing that is in intense competition, it will increase its penetration in supermarket segment that it is the leader in. In the medium term, 6. 0%- 6. 5% is the sustainable margin level. It is expected that sale, partnership and the reunion debates of Migros and CarrefourSa in 2013 will close the sale after getting purchased the food by Makro. BC Partners’ expectation of selling the share of Migros, BC Partners (MH Retailing) which is %80,5 shareholder of Migros is a private equity company centered in London. In spite of the fact that it is expected that BC Partners will sell their quantum of Migros in between 2013-2014, there is no explanation about the time period. It is thought that, despite the aggressive growth strategies of Migros continue, the quantum sale in 2013 is highly possible. In the ca se of selling deal, it is possible to be made a call for minor shareholders. * Company’s Stock Returns in IMKB 100When we compare the Migros Stock Returns we can say that, the prices of each stocks are less than BIM’s stocks and their returns are above the IMKB 100 line. This situation makes company’s stocks profitable but at the same time it may mean a high risk for the investors ( See Figure 17; IMKB 100 vs. MIGROS Stocks) Analysis of Financial Ratios of BIM & MIGROS (See Tables 4,5,6) 1) Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio: This ratio is commonly used as an index for current financial position and used for measuring company’s ability to pay short-term debts and determining the company’s net working capital if it is enough or not.Generally it is expected to be 2,00. The ratio of 1 is also acceptable. When we look at both companies both of them may have some difficulties to pay their short-term liabilities. For the firms which has a high level of inven tory turnover ratio and receivable turnover ratio like Bim, they are able to pay their short-term debts easily. Quick Ratio: It is a more sensitive ratios than current ratio. It shows us the ability of firms to pay their short-term liabilities when they have no sales growth, when their sales stops. It is expected to be 1. The ratios of both firms are less than deal number so receivable accounts and cash cover short term liabilities and their abilities to pay are not good but at least both firms’ ratios are higher than industry ratio and this brings these 2 companies in a better position in terms of short-term debts. Cash Ratio: It is most sensitive liquidity ratio. Generally, this ratio is not expected to be under 0. 20. As both firms cash ratios are higher than industry ratio, it won’t difficulties for paying their debts in the condition of lack of sales and getting their receivables. Additionally, company is holding more cash than needed.Net Working Capital: If the v alue of networking capital is minus, this means company’s current liabilities are more than current assets. This is the main reason for the company which finance its current assets with current liabilities. This is the case for BIM. We can say that company might have done current assest investments. We can say that BIM has some problems in terms of liquidity. Migros has positive networking capital and it has no liquidity problem. 2) Leverage Ratios Total Debt Ratio: This ratio is expected to be under 50%. With 0. 64, 0. 63 and 0. 64 ratios according to three years, BIM has higher values than this ideal ratio.When we look at industry ratio, it is 2,00. This ratio tells us, foreign resources are used for financing assets by the rate of 0. 64. It shows that BIM can pay its debts by selling assets when the operation stopped. This is the same for Migros expect the year 2010. It has a very high ratio, even higher than the industry level which is 2,41. Debt to Equity Ratio: This rat io can be equal to 1 or higher than 1. If it is higher than 1, it means difficulties in paying debts and interests or if it is lower than 1, it means company finance their assets by using its equities. The industry ratio is 1. 3. By looking Migros’s DTE ratios, they mostly finance their assets by using their equities instead of using foreign resources and they will have no difficulties while paying their debts, liabilities in the future. But when we compare it with the industry which is almost 1, Migros will have less advantage in any crisis condition. In this case, Bim has a more advantageous position than Migros because its ratios are closer to industry ratio and ideal ratio. Long Term Debt: It is a normal ratio 0. 12 – 0. 16 in Turkey. The industry ratio is 1. 03. Migros’s ratios are 0. 47, 0. 44, 0. 49 orderly.Bim’s ratios are 0. 01, 0. 01, 0. 01 orderly. If this ratio is high, this increases interest burden, decreases dividends and as a result, it ca uses not to cover debt burden. Migros prefers long-term foreign resources rather than using their equities. Long Term Debt to Equity: Ideal ratio is 1. Migros’s ratios are 0. 64, 1. 85, 2. 26. Bim’s ratios are 0. 04, 0. 03, 0. 03 orderly. The industry ratio is 0. 84. For Bim with these ratios that are less than 1, it means that Bim’s equity is more than long term debts. It is valid for these three years. Times Interest Earned: This ratio should be more than 8.Higher value of times interest earned ratio is favorable meaning greater ability of a business to repay its interest and debt. Lower values are unfavorable. That means if a company cannot repay its interest and debt it may become in a difficult situation even it may go bankrupt. In general, times interest earned of 1. 5 or below is unsafe. 3) Efficiency Ratios Receivable Turnover: If a company has a low receivable turnover it means, that company has some important difficulties to collect their receivables a nd the collection policy of that company is not so good and this means that they are unnecessarily relax about sales on credit.When we compare Bim and Migros, Bim is a better position for collecting its receivables in a quicker way. Its ratios are even less than industry ratio. When we compare Bim with Migros, Bim really has a strong ability to get their sales and receivables and their portfolios include low-risk and trustful customers Average Collection Period: It can also be evaluated by comparison with the terms on which the firm sells its goods. For Bim, with the high value of this ratio, it may not have the ability to finance its own debts because of long-term collection.Migros has a shorter average collection period Inventory Turnover: It is the most important ratio in retailing sector and it measures company's efficiency in turning its inventory into sales. Its purpose is to measure the liquidity of the inventory. Migros has ratios 7. 43, 8. 52, 8. 47 orderly and Bim has rati os 16. 98, 19. 56, 20. 23. Industry average is 10. 61. Migros’s ratios are less than Bim’s and industry’s ratios so this is a signal signal of inefficiency, since inventory usually has a rate of return of zero. It also implies either poor sales or excess inventory.For Migros low turnover rate can indicate poor liquidity, possible overstocking, and obsolescence, but it may also reflect a planned inventory build up in the case of material shortages or in anticipation of rapidly rising prices. Bim has highest inventory turnover ratios over Migros and industry. It means that Bim is really strong in terms of sales and at the same time very effective to control its inventories. Its higher inventory turnover ratio also means better liquidity. Also its efficiency in managing their stocks were increased, their stocks are becoming sales revenues in a short time and their stock costs were decreased year by year.With this positive development, it has less financial resource s for their stocks as necessities and their competition force has increased by this activity. Average Days in Inventory: Generally, the lower (shorter) the DSI the better. Bim has lower Average Days in Inventory than Migros and industry. This means, Bim is doing good in the sector and it has a good position in industry competition. This is an indicator of good operating cycle of Bim. In this case, Migros is in a worse situation. Asset Turnover: Bim has higher asset turnover ratio than Migros and industry and it shows us Bim has much more effective sales than Migros.It is more successful than Migros in order to generate sales with fewer assets it has a higher turnover ratio which tells it is a good company because it is using its assets efficiently. Migros is not using its assets optimally. Total asset turnover ratio is a key driver of return on equity 4) Profitability Ratios A company’s stock price, in large part, is driven by the company’s ability to generate earnings . Therefore, it is useful for investors to analyze the profitability of a company before investing in it. One way to do this is by calculating and tracking various profit margins, which reflect how efficiently a company uses its resources.Gross Profit Margin: Due to higher sales volume of Bim, Bim has lower gross profit margin than both Migros and the industry and it means Profit Margin: It tells us about company’s profits and their different kinds of policies, strategies and decisions. When we look at Bim’s profit margins over the 3 years they are higher than Migros’s profit margin values and the industry average. It is the most advantageous one. Bim has a better position than Migros in the industry. It has a competitive advantage over Miigros. ROA: It shows us at what amount companies get returns from their investments.Bim has higher ROA than Migros and industry over 3 years. It has become really effective to use their assets in a profitable way. For Migros, i n 2011 the ratio became a minus value this means Migros lost its asset profitability and started to not to get any profit from their assets. ROE: Stockholders invest to get a return on their money, and this ratio tells how well they are doing in an accounting sense. It measures the performance of companies’ equities. Again for this ratio, Bim has a much better position. It has higher ratio than Migros and industry. But on the other hand, there has been a small ROE reduction for Bim over 3 years.For example in 2011, ROE is 0. 48 and this means that owners of Bim could get 10% income from their equity that they invest for Bim. Operating Profit Margin: With a higher ratio of Bim, it is more successful in generating from operating its business. It is more important than net profit margin because it measures the profit margin which companies gain from goods and services sales in companies’ main activity subjects. This ratio is higher than industry ratios which is really imp ortant especially for Bim’s investors. APPENDIX Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Table 1: Structure of BIM’s ShareholdersTable 2; Structure of Migros’s Shareholders Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Table 3; # of National and International Stores, Net Sales Area Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Table 4: Financial Ratios of Migros | 2009| 2010| 2011| 2010| | Migros| Migros| Migros| Industry| LEVERAGE RATIOS| Debt to equity| 2. 76| 3. 13| 3. 58| 1. 03| Total debt ratio| 0. 73| 2. 41| 0. 78| 2. 00| Long Term debt ratio| 0. 47| 0. 44| 0. 49| 0. 22| Long-term debt to equity ratio| 0. 64| 1. 85| 2. 26| 0. 84| Times Interest Earned| 1. 54| 1. 28| 1. 43| 22. 35|LIQUIDITY RATIOS| Current ratio| 1. 34| 1. 01| 1. 13| 0. 82| Quick ratio| 0. 94| 0. 58| 0. 70| 0. 45| Cash Ratios| 0. 88| 0. 55| 0. 66| 0. 32| Net Working Capital| 497,628| 27,363| 218,876| -31,682,086| EFFICIENCY RATIOS| Total asset turnover| 1. 01| 1. 14| 1. 04| 2. 08| Inventory turnover | 7. 34| 8. 52| 8. 47| 10. 61| Receivable turnover| 150. 11| 127. 5| 85. 64| 66. 25| Average collection period| 2. 43| 2. 86| 4. 26| 8. 80| Average days in Inventory| 49. 72| 42. 84| 43. 09| 38. 61| PROFITABILITY RATIOS| Gross profit margin| 0. 25| 0. 24| 0. 25| 0. 22| Net profit margin| 0. 01| 0. 006| -0. 02| 0. 02| Operating Profit Margin| 0. 01| 0. 03| 0. 04| 0. 01| Return on Asset| 0. 01| 0. 00| -0. 02| 0. 03| Return on Equity| 0. 07| 0. 03| -0. 13| 0. 11| Table 5:Financial Ratios of Bim | 2009| 2010| 2011| 2010| | Bim| Bim| Bim| Industry| LEVERAGE RATIOS| Debt to equity| 1. 83| 1. 74| 1. 81| 1. 03| Total debt ratio| 0. 64| 0. 63| 0. 64| 2. 00| Long-term debt ratio| 0. 01| 0. 01| 0. 01| 0. 22| Long-term debt to equity ratio| 0. 04| 0. 03| 0. 03| 0. 84| Times Interest Earned| 156. 8| 83. 67| 140. 6| 22. 35| LIQUIDITY RATIOS| Current ratio| 0. 88| 0. 95| 0. 98| 0. 82| Quick ratio| 0. 51| 0. 56| 0. 61| 0. 5| Cash Ratios| 0. 24| 0. 33| 0. 36| 0. 32| Net Working Capital| -80,986| -38,285| -18,386| -31,682,086| EFFICIENCY RATIOS| Total asset turnover| 4. 84| 4. 79| 4. 72| 2. 08| Inventory turnover | 16. 98| 19. 56| 20. 23| 10. 61| Receivable turnover| 32. 99| 34. 15| 30. 21| 66. 25| Average collection period| 11. 06| 10. 68| 12. 08| 8. 80| Average days in Inventory| 21. 4| 18. 66| 18. 04| 38. 61| PROFITABILITY RATIOS| Gross profit margin| 0. 17| 0. 16| 0. 16| 0. 22| Net profit margin| 0. 04| 0. 037| 0. 037| 0. 002| Operating Margin| 0. 04| 0. 04| 0. 04| 0. 01| Return on Asset| 0. 19| 0. 17| 0. 17| 0. 3| Return on Equity| 0. 54| 0. 49| 0. 48| 0. 11| Table 6: Financial ratios of Tesco Kipa, Carrefoursa, Migros, Bim, Industry, in 2010 2010| | Bim| Migros| Carrefoursa| Tesco Kipa| Industry| LEVERAGE RATIOS| Total Debt ratio| 0. 63| 2. 41| 0. 41| 0. 70| 1. 03| Debt to equity| 1. 74| 3. 13| 0. 71| 2. 43| 2. 00| Long-term debt ratio| 0. 01| 0. 44| 0. 02| 0. 42| 0. 22| Long-term debt equity ratio| 0. 03| 1. 85| 0. 04| 1. 45| 0. 84| Times interest earned| 84. 6| 1. 28| 1. 54| 2. 00| 22. 35| LIQUIDITY RATIOS| Net working capital| -38,285| 27,363| -126,853,307| 178,586| -31,682,086| Current ratio| 0. 8| 1. 01| 0. 81| 0. 59| 0. 82| Quick ratio| 0. 51| 0. 58| 0. 53| 0. 20| 0. 45| Cash Ratios| 0. 24| 0. 55| 0. 36| 0. 16| 0. 32| EFFICIENCY RATIOS| Total asset turnover| 4. 84| 1. 14| 1. 42| 0. 95| 2. 08| Inventory turnover | 16. 98| 8. 52| 10. 3| 6. 65| 10. 61| Receivable turnover| 32. 99| 127. 5| 21. 5| 83. 04| 66. 25| Average collection period| 11. 06| 2. 86| 16. 9| 4. 39| 8. 80| Average Days in Inventory| 21. 4| 42. 84| 35. 4| 54. 8| 38. 61| PROFITABILITY RATIOS| Gross profit margin| 0. 17| 0. 24| 0. 22| 0. 27| 0. 22| Net profit margin| 0. 04| 0. 006| -. 008| -0. 03| 0. 002| Operating Margin| 0. 4| 0. 03| -0. 005| -0. 002| 0. 01| Return on Asset| 0. 19| 0. 00| -0. 011| -0. 03| 0. 03| Return on Equity| 0. 54| 0. 03| -0. 02| -0. 11| 0. 11| | | REFERENCES * http://www. bim. com. tr/yatirimci-iliskileri. html * http:// www. migroskurumsal. com/Foreks. aspx? IcerikID=35 * http://tesco. kipa. com. tr/default. asp * http://www. carrefour. com. tr/Kurumsal/finansalsonuclar;jsessionid=b3a0da5ff5e79ee039b023b24ca0 * http://www. ampd. org/ * http://www. capital. com. tr/perakende-AltKategoriler/48. aspx * http://www. aaii. com/computerized-investing/article/profit-margin-analysis. pdf

Sunday, September 29, 2019

A Poem Analysis Essay

Langston Hughes’ â€Å"Let America Be America Again† reveals the dismay of the speaker about the social condition of America at the time and how the country is yet to attain its reputation as the home of the free. Written from the first-person point of view, the speaker vents out frustration at the racial inequalities that cut across American society while expressing hope that â€Å"America will be† the America that the â€Å"dreamers dreamed† at the same time. Generally, the speaker aims his or her criticisms to no particular individual but the entire American society. Taken in the context of the bitterness of the tone of the poem especially in the parts where the speaker narrates whose voices he or she is representing, the speaker directs his or her attention to the reader who may not at all be aware of the social conditions pervading America at the time. Interestingly, the tone of the poem is not bitter or frustrated throughout the entire length of the poem. The poem begins with several stanzas that are imbued with emotionless force, proceeds with what appears to be the very meat of the poem—the disappointment towards the selfishness for power and property that takes away the very freedom that every American yearns for—and concludes with a fervent hope in the belief that America will rise from the din and reclaim its status as the â€Å"homeland of the free†. In summary, the poem shows how the speaker sees America—a country that never was the country the speaker envisions it to be. The speaker presents a rundown of the people in America who are at the center of the problem—the â€Å"poor white,† the â€Å"Negro,† the â€Å"red man† and the â€Å"immigrant clutching the hope I seek†Ã¢â‚¬â€all of whom are experiencing almost the same fate of inequalities. Nearing the end of the poem, the speaker expresses his or her belief that America is â€Å"the land that has never been yet† and â€Å"yet must be†, which signifies the speaker’s hope that someday â€Å"America will be†. With these things in mind, it is easy to understand that the poem’s theme revolves around the concept of â€Å"hope†. By introducing the poem with a series of expectations and following them with a sequence of how such expectations have been unfulfilled, the speaker effectively sets the space for an ending that pins the very motive of the length of the poem. A close reading of the poem shows that the Langston Hughes achieved his purpose of letting hope become known to his readers, the hope that, despite America’s social inequalities at the time, there will come a time that the country will satisfy its label as the â€Å"homeland of the free†. On a personal note, I think still applies today than it once did during the time of Hughes. I think the lines â€Å"the millions who have nothing for our pay† and â€Å"of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak† still closely resemble contemporary America. The current financial crisis sweeping across the country can only indicate how millions of Americans are still struggling to earn at least a decent pay, and how one person will take advantage of another just to survive in these harsh and trying times. Those things being said, there is strong reason to believe that the poem overarches from the past to the present. Hughes may not have been aware of it, but his poem is as timely now as it used to be in the past. Although there are several other significant differences between the time of Hughes and contemporary America, â€Å"Let America Be America Again† is one of the poems that remind the average individual that America remains a country always on the quest for a more perfect union. Work Cited Hughes, Langston. â€Å"Let America Be America Again†. 1994. May 11 2009. .

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The Theories Of Language Acquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Theories Of Language Acquisition - Essay Example This paper will review theories of language acquisition and their relationship to the academic outcomes of 16 students enrolled in a childcare course. First, popular theories of language acquisition will be presented. Secondly, the process of langue development in a child will be outlined, whilst emphasizing developmental stages that vocab, syntax, and pragmatics occur. Finally, an indication of learning developments at secondary school and at higher education will be discussed, particularly in regard to students undertaking a childcare course. I would like to remind the reader of Clibbens warning of not to be caught up in the various debates which can deviate from the true purpose of helping all children, young people and adults to use language and communicate. It is generally accepted that language acquisition is partly innate and partly environmental (Bickerton, 1990). It is generally conceded that for all people, language development is a gradual process that occurs through general development and interaction with people and the environment.Nurture Skinner Skinner's (1957) behavioral approach to language acquisition was simply a set of habits. He did not consider language to be different to any other behavior. The learner of a language is a tabular rosa - an empty slate. He ignored nativist approaches of innate knowledge, as the inner workings of language were unobservable and so un-measurable. Skinner insisted that interaction with the environment leads to stimulus-response conditioning and that the product of this is knowledge. For example, an unconditional environment brings about an unconditional response, the response is followed by an event that is to the liking of the learning organism, and the response becomes positively reinforced. If this sequence of events occurs a number of times, the organism learns to associate the response to the stimulus to the reinforcement. So that when encountering the stimulus again, the same response will be elicited, and so becomes a conditioned response. Behaviorism considers that all learning, including language, occurs through this process of establishing habits. Hence, a linguistic input is due to linguistic utterances in one's environment as stimulus. However, it has been noted in research since that imitation alone does not allow for language acquisition, and simplistic stimulus-response conditionings do not account for it either (Kiyamazarslan, 2001).Piaget Piaget (1952) was a biologist and a psychologist and yet he felt that language acquisition was due to social interaction (cited in Kiymazarslan, 2001). He saw a child's language ability as being reflected in their ability to manipulate symbols, and that a child learns when they are developmentally ready to.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Is Miltons Satan the hero of Paradise Lost in any way other than being Research Paper

Is Miltons Satan the hero of Paradise Lost in any way other than being the effective protagonist Is it possible to sympathize with him - Research Paper Example The paper will give an account of Milton’s treatment of Satan, while taking into account the critical tradition and debate represented by some of Teskey critics mentioned above. Like other epics, Milton’s poem, Paradise Lost celebrates a culture or a religion he fervently fought for. Satan is one character who has and still provokes emotions such as loathe, despise, and terror. However, these emotions are mainly elicited by the societal reflections on Satan and not from individual experiences. Generally, Satan is a character who is admired by some writers due to his reputation of pursuing evil. Milton is one such writer who demonstrates Satan as a hero though in a negative way (Herman and Sauer 50-54). Milton did not intend to popularize the evilness associated with Satan. On the contrary, he wants to establish Satan’s motive of wanting to be above his peers. While describing the Creation and Fall of Man, Milton focuses more on roles of Satan other than those of God. However, he is able to defend God’s superiority and virtuous intentions and portray Satan as malicious and compelling. Milton’s depicts Satan as one who understands our interests and plans to use this knowledge to deceive us into believing that he cares for us ("Answerable Style": The Genre of Paradise Lost Web). According to C. S. Lewis, â€Å"Every poem can be considered in two ways- as what the poet has to say and as a thing which he makes. From the one point of view it is an expression of opinions and emotions; from the other, it is an organization of words which exists to produce a particular patterned experience in readers† (Milton and Gordon, â€Å"Paradise Lost: Authoritative Text, Sources and Backgrounds, Criticism† 404). Milton’s poem has different variations of epic conventions, which makes it prevalent. In Paradise Lost, Satan is one of the characters whom some critics such as William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley consider the epic hero of the poem. This

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Hollywood Cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Hollywood Cinema - Essay Example are those commercial feature films which, through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters in familiar situations,† he says. â€Å"They also encourage expectations and experiences similar to those of similar films we have already seen...a movie was a ‘western’ or a ‘war movie’ or a ‘musical,’ and such descriptive labels came to signal information to prospective consumers about the story and the kind of pleasure it was likely to offer.† (Barry K. Grant, Film Genre Reader III, Int., p.1-2, University of Texas Press, Austin, 2003.) Analyzing films based on genre allows for a more complete assessment of each film. It does not assume the authorship of the film to be strictly that of the director, as has often been the case in film analysis. â€Å"The auteur theory led to such nonsense,† says Phillip Dunne, the noted screenwriter of, among other films, How Green Was My Valley. â€Å"If John Ford was the supreme creator of How Green Was My Valley, then who was Daryl Zanuck, me, Richard Llewelyn, who wrote the novel, or William Wyler, the director who prepared the script for production with me...To give sole authorship to a non-writer director is just absurd.† (Lee Server, Screenwriter, p.110, The Main Street Press, Pittstown, NJ, 1987.) It is quite common for many of the genres to overlap. Gothic films can often also be categorized as horror films and also as science fiction. The series of Frankenstein films made in the 1930s by Universal Pictures would be examples of this. The gloomy setting in the basement of an old mansion makes them part of the gothic genre. The monster terrifying the local people makes it a horror film, while the creation of a monster by a doctor makes it science fiction. Other films which would fit into all three genres include two others produced by Universal Pictures, (which had great success producing horror films in the early thirties) Dracula from 1931 and The Invisible Man (which shows the close

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Health Care Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Care Economics - Essay Example However, with advances in technology scientists came out with the discovery of solar panels. Solar panels are just a one-time investment and once set up they’ll provide free electricity for their entire life. What simply happens is that the solar panels take up energy from sun rays and convert that energy to provide electrical power. This simple example goes on to show how technology has brought down the cost of various products. Health care has been one of the most important issues of the current time. With the ever increasing health care costs, people from all walks of life have been complaining they cannot afford proper treatment. Workers in America have so hardly been hit by the high health insurance premium payments that they often forego getting a recommended checkup rather than paying huge sums of out of pocket money. So why it is that business technology saves a lot on costs but when it comes to healthcare, new technology drives up costs? There are a lot of reasons to this and we’ll look at each in turn. Firstly, we’ll focus on simple demand and supply factors. The demand for health care has increased over the years as worldwide population increases exponentially. However the supply side hasn’t moved at the same pace as there are a limited number of medical technology producers. The demand supply gap is one of the main reasons why healthcare costs have gone up. Another important reason why health care technology has increased health care costs is that medicinal technology is different than other forms of technological improvements. When a new medicinal technology is launched in the hospital market, a new progress towards diagnosis of a disease or its treatment is made. However in other fields, technological innovation is just a continuation of a previous product to make it better. Such an innovation’s primary objective generally is to achieve an increase in the product’s efficiency and therefore reduce its overa ll cost. However when it comes to medicinal technology, a new purpose is accomplished every time a technological advancement is made and so the investment and the return (payback) process starts from the beginning every time. To recover such investments, patients have to be charged high so at least the hospitals breakup if they don’t make a profit. This is one of the main reason why patients end up paying high medicine bills as the recovery cost of technological improvements is ultimately passed on to the final consumers. Health care technology requires a lot of research. The major chunk of expenditure that’s made by pharmaceutical and health care equipment companies is on research and development of new products and technologies. These figures are often so significant that they take up to seventy percent of a company’s annual budget! It’s pretty obvious now that when such companies will develop their products, they’ll have real high costs attached to them. The latest machines for chemo therapy and drugs to contain cancer have very high costs associated with them. These high costs simply reflect the amount spent on research and development towards the innovation of these drugs and machineries. Whether a particular technology will reduce or increase the amount spent on healthcare will depend upon several critical factors. One of such

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Operations Management Issues at ABC Manufacturers Term Paper

Operations Management Issues at ABC Manufacturers - Term Paper Example The ROI is at 30% after taxes, based on the asking price. It is expected that these numbers could be even higher, based on preliminary marketing projections. However, ABC has several operational issues that need to be addressed prior to the purchase. The following will discuss these operational issues and will outline a plan for rectifying them. Understanding Solar Water Heaters. In order to perform a proper assessment of the market and opportunities that lie in the Solar Hot Water Heater market, it is important to gain an understanding of how they work and the various types that are available on the market. Solar hot water heating systems include storage tanks and solar collectors. Compared to other types of hot water heating systems, they pay for themselves overtime as the customer saves money by not purchasing an alternate fuel source. Solar systems use solar energy from the sun, which is free. The initial cost is paid back over time, after which the cost for the unit is free, oth er than for repairs. The decision to install a solar hot water heater has a high initial cost that represents a longer-term investment in which its payback is sometime in the future. There are three different types of collector systems for solar water heating units. The first type is the flat-plate collector, which consists of a weatherproofed, insulated box. Inside the box is a dark absorber plat that is under one or more glass or plexiglass panels. The absorber plate itself can be either metal or polymer. The integral collector-storage system has one or more black tanks or tubes in and insulated glazed box. In this system, the solar hot water heater acts as a pre-heater, warming the water before it passes through a conventional system. The third type of solar water heater is the evacuated-tube solar collector. This type of system uses parallel rows of glass tubes. These tubes contain a glass outer tube and a metal absorber tube attached to a fin. The fin absorbs solar energy, but prevents radiant heat loss. The evacuated-tube system is used in a commercial setting. Most residential systems are either the flat-plate collector type, or the integral collector-storage system. Circulation systems can be either direct or indirect systems. The direct system pumps water through the collectors and into the house. They are used in climates that do not experience freezing temperatures. The indirect heating system circulates non-freezing heat-transfer fluid through the colle

Monday, September 23, 2019

Communication Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Communication Theory - Essay Example All of them are important so it is not a good idea to pinpoint one communication theory as more superior to the other theories. They have their own context so they are difficult to compare. For the paper, one of the three communication theories must be chosen and as a writer, I must reflect upon it based on his experience. The choice may come from the given three theories which are symbolic interactionism, semiotics, and social penetration. I have chosen symbolic interactionism for the paper and would relate it to my personal experience. Before anything else, it would be proper to know the meaning of symbolic interactionism first before reflecting upon it. The meaning of the theory would serve as the guiding light in understanding and be applying it to real life. It would be difficult to reflect upon the experience and relate it to the theory without a thorough understanding of how the theory works. The theory of symbolic interactionism had been started informally by George Herbert Mead. He had created it based on his interests in philosophy and language. He had not created a book or a formal working theory. The theory became systematic or formulated after his death when his students like Herbert Blumer had encouraged his fellow students under Mead to collect their notes and publish a book about it. When it was published, it came out with the title Mind, Self, and Society. As the writer had viewed it, the three elements in symbolic interactionism are the ones seen in the title of the mentioned book published by the students of Mead. Probably mind is essential in the picture because it is the dynamic form of the thinking of people. One must have a mind to think, analyze and act. He can also reflect upon his actions because he can think. All thanks to the power of the mind. Self is another important concept in symbolic interactionism as the writer had viewed it.  

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Jonathan Glover Essay Example for Free

Jonathan Glover Essay Jonathan Glover (born 1941) is a British philosopher known for his studies on ethics. He was educated at Tonbridge School, later going on to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was a fellow and tutor in philosophy at New College, Oxford. He currently teaches ethics at Kings College London. Glover is a fellow of the Hastings Center, an independent bioethics research institution in the United States. Glovers book Causing Death and Saving Lives, first published in 1977, addresses practical moral questions about life and death decisions in the areas of abortion, infanticide, suicide, euthanasia, choices between people, capital punishment, and war. His approach is broadly consequentialist, though he gives significant weight to questions of individual autonomy, the Kantian notion that we ought to treat other people as ends in themselves rather than merely as means. He criticises the idea that mere consciousness or life itself are intrinsically valuable: these states matter, he argues, because they are pre-requisites for other things that are valuable and make for a life worth living. There is, then, no absolute sanctity of human life. [1] He criticises the principle of double effect[2] and the acts and omissions doctrine,[3] the notion that there is a huge moral difference between killing someone and intentionally letting them die. In his discussion of real cases of moral decisions about killing he draws on insights from history and literature as well as philosophy. Throughout, the emphasis is on the consequences of moral choices for those affected, rather than on abstract principles applied impersonally. In Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century, published in 1999, Glover considers the psychological factors that predispose us to commit barbaric acts, and suggests how man-made moral traditions and the cultivation of moral imagination can work to restrain us from a ruthlessly selfish treatment of others. Gaining greater understanding of the monsters within us, he argues, is part of the process of caging and containing them. [4] He examines the various types of atrocity that were perpetrated in the 20th century, including Nazi genocide, communist mass killings under Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, and more recent slaughter in Bosnia and Rwanda, and examines what sort of bulwarks there could be against them. He allows that religion has provided bulwarks, which are getting eroded. He identifies three types of bulwark. The two more dependable are sympathy and respect for human dignity. The less dependable third is Moral Identity: I belong to a kind of person who would not do that sort of thing. This third is less dependable because notions of moral identity can themselves be warped, as was done by the Nazis. [5] In The End of Faith, Sam Harris quotes Glover as saying: Our entanglements with people close to us erode simple self-interest. Husbands, wives, lovers, parents, children and friends all blur the boundaries of selfish concern. Francis Bacon rightly said that people with children have given hostages to fortune. Inescapably, other forms of friendship and love hold us hostage too Narrow self-interest is destabilized. [citation needed] In 1989 the European Commission hired Glover to head a panel on embryo research in Europe. [6] He is married to Vivette Glover, a prominent neuroscientist. Jonathan is father to three and grandfather to one (father to Ruth, Daniel and David Glover and grandfather to Samuel Glover).

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The First World War Essay Example for Free

The First World War Essay We dont live alone. We are all members of one body. We are responsible for each other. What is Priestleys main aim in An Inspector Calls? How successfully does he achieve it? John Boynton Priestley was a committed socialist. He was born in 1894 in Bradford and his mother died the same year. Priestley was raised by his father, who was also a passionate socialist. At the age of fourteen he became a junior clerk at a wool firm in his home town, before joining the army in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War. During his time spent fighting in France, Priestley developed a strong sense of the class divisions that were an integral part of the capitalist system; I went into that war free of any class feeling, no doubt I came out with a chip on my shoulder; a big heavy chip, probably some friends thigh bone. Priestley grew to hate the way a few rich and greedy businessmen and industrialists exploited and abused the working classes, for the sake of greater profits. In Priestleys mind, it was simply the nature of this society which had made war in 1914 inevitable. As a socialist, Priestley believed that wealth should be equally distributed amongst the population, and that this could be achieved by the state ownership of the fundamental means of production, therefore abolishing the need for an upper class of capitalists. Priestley hoped that World War One had shown people that their way of life needed to change, but even though military service had caused much upheaval, soon, things had reverted back to the way they had been. When war broke out again in 1939, Priestley could see that the lessons of the first war had not been learnt, and felt that society had to change drastically. With this in mind, at the end of the Second World War after successfully publishing other plays and novels, Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls. He anticipated that the public, with the benefits of hindsight, would now be more receptive to his socialist ideas; This brings us to the second and more truthful way of looking at this warto regard this war as one chapter in a tremendous history, the history of a changing world, the breakdown of one vast system and the building up of another and better one theres nothing that really worked that we can go back to but we cant go forward and build up this new world order unless we begin to think differently, and my own personal view, for what its worth, is that we must stop thinking in terms of property and power and begin thinking in terms of community and creation.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Strengths and Weaknesses of Bureaucracy

Strengths and Weaknesses of Bureaucracy The advent of 21st century, the global economy has dramatically undergone changes. Developed and emerging economies are converging to one gigantic global economy; this has directly impacted the businesses compelling organisations around the world to competitive at the international level. The protection shield enjoyed by the organisations behind a closed economy earlier under the cloak of the government restricting entry for foreign players are getting slimmer each year. Consequently, organisations have to compete in their home country against MNC with vast resources, and search for opportunities elsewhere. However, there are numerous other factors which have influenced organisation world wide to reconsider their strategies in the wake of the changing global business dynamics. Free trade area agreements, creation of trading blocs such as the European Union, South East Asian countries (ASEAN) and other similar existing and ones which are still under consideration have immensely pressurized companies, and exposed them to the competition. The competitive and comparative advantages enjoyed by these organisations earlier are now threatened by the new foreign entrants. As a result to survive and grow in the 21st century most organisations either adapted or withered away to the changing conditions. The ones which survived the strong wave of forced adaption have learned their lessons that change is a constant factor in the global business environment, and being reflexive and adaptive is the only way out. Technological innovation is another aspect that has influenced change in the organisation. Technology is evolving at a rapid pace warranting organisation to absorb the changes at the same speed. Other influential factors : Intensity of international competition; presence of key competitors in all key international markets; internationalization of product standards; stronger push by international bodies such as the world Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) increasing level of international trade between countries ; increase in Intra-firm trade ; Technological intensity. At the organizational level, there is continuous pressure to perform in the new business economy; factors such as availability of scarce resources, Value Added Activities, presences of Propriety Technologies, Management Skills , Marketing Skills, creation of strong brand equities, Production know-how , achieving economies of scale , productive capability and presence of low labour costs centres( India , Chain and etc.) and many others. 1.b Strengths and Weaknesses of bureaucratic organizations: BUREAUCRATIC organizations functions well and are suitable for environments which are stable in nature and involve routine tasks and minimal technological changes. A Bureaucratic organisational structure is often centralized; they have a clear, well defined vertical hierarchy of command, authority and chain of control. Productivity and efficiency are achieved through standardization of processes. Emphasis is given to specialization of processes and is most often formalized. As a result of these factors, the tasks in a bureaucratic organisation often results in rigidly defined jobs, process , applications of technology leaving very less or often no space for creativeness or innovative inputs into the system. Since every tasks, process are predetermined and predictable by strict standard operating procedures, the system resemble a machine (Max weber, 1978, cited in Beetham, 1996). According to Max Weber (1978), Strengths and Weakness of a bureaucratic organisation are as follows: Strengths Strict rules and regulation regarding work , behaviour and employee code of conduct Impersonal orientation specific sphere of competence Continuity in uniformity of operations Less impact of any changes to the organizational structure or management Rational allocation of tasks Division of labor based on various specialized functions Membership constitutes a career Promotions are usually based on experience and technical knowledge and competence qualifications tested limited discretion of officers legally based tenure Educational and technical qualifies are tested periodically Prescribed chain of authority and legal compliances Weaknesses Very less or often no space for creativeness or innovative inputs into the system Highly rigid decision making system. Participation is based on defined authority There is a severe lack of empathy or rationality. The origination is highly regulated by set rules and regulations. Productivity and efficiency are achieved through standardization of processes Rigidly defined jobs, process , applications of technology Slow reaction to unexpected crisis Bureaucratic organizational step up is not suitable for industry or companies which are under great pressure to perform and compete in the market. Neglecting group thinking and initiatives 1. c Alternative forms of organizational development: Organisation development is a planned intervention. The primary intention of OD is to improve the current organisational functions to create a strong foundation for strengthens; work towards reducing weakness ; address threats arising due to various factors influencing the business internally or externally; to mitigate risk or at least reduce the exposure or damage, and all these ultimately results to reflect the changing business environment. There are multitudes of intervening areas within the organisation warranting intervention on regular bases, and also at times of contingencies or unexpected crisis. Organisation intending for a higher level of changes often adopt a full range of interventions. This would also include aspects such as the transformation of employee behaviour and attitudes to towards their roles responsibilities and in general, towards the organisational boarder objectives. On the other hand, partial attempt in change management would result in organisational le vel failures. Subsequently, operating policies, personal policies, management structures and organisational skills sets would fall short of it expectations. Typically, organization development programs will implement multiple interventions simultaneously. There are various methods / types of organization development interventions considered for change management: structural interventions, third party peace-making interventions, Intergroup team building interventions, process consultation interventions, forced field analysis Kurt Lewin, Team interventions, and process consultation interventions. Structural Interventions: It is also known as techno structural interventions and mainly focuses on changes in tasks, organisational structure, technological processes, quality circles, TQM, restructuring and work/job design. Intergroup team building interventions: These interventions advocate in the improvement of intergroup relations between work teams, facilitate effective communication. The steps involved are: OD practitioner meets the group leaders and study their requirements. Groups meet separately and encourage noting down about perceptions, related problems, attitude towards each other. This also involves group anticipating each others expectations. This process helps in improving interaction between individuals and groups; find solution to unresolved problems; and minimize the communication gap. Team Building interventions: These interventions are focused on improving team organizational processes, Task accomplishment, Problem diagnosis and establishing strong team relationships. The process involves analysing the purpose of teams existence, objectives and team preparation for task accomplishment. Human Resources management interventions: involves employee performance and assessment management, employee wellness and reward systems, organisational diversity management and many others. Third party peace-making Interventions: various methods and techniques are used , such as the confrontation technique, Insist on exploring possible solutions, Efforts to overcome negative feeling, solving interpersonal conflict Differentiation phase understand differences of perspectives , Integration phase sharing of positive feelings and thoughts. Other intervention areas are team building, self-designing organizations, facilitating, organizational restructuring, conflict management, training, coaching, and organizational transformation, cultural change and strategic management. Key Stakeholders in My Chosen Organisation My chosen organisation for Change Management Process is a local grocery supermarket located in Bangalore, India. It was founded in the year 2001. Initially the retail store supplied only stationery and foods items; however, over the years, more products were added to their portfolio. Today, the retail store known as Naveen Supermarket has range of products such as house hold goods, food items, electronic items among other products commonly found in general grocery stores. Naveen Supermarket has about 20 to 25 employee working in different shifts around the clock. The employees are divided into three main sections, the first group manages the supermarket floor, the second group is engaged with the stock management, and the third group manages telephone orders and delivery system. The supermarket store is situated in a convenient location, surrounded by huge residential complex, transportation points and also major educational and business institutions. Since its inception as a small retail store in 2001, it has now grown into a busy 24 / 7 store serving over 5000 customers every week. From the last few years, world economy has seen a dramatic change in its location. While Naveen supermarket experienced exponential growth, it also faces increasing competition from new entrants especially, large supermarkets, transforming the market into highly competitive business. The usual old ways of attracting and retaining customers have been found ineffective, and consequently, the supermarket is seriously planning to have a major overhaul in the organisational structure, and also business functions to reflect the changing conditions in the market. Change in demographic profile of the surrounding population has also mandated changes including the product portfolio to accommodate multi-cultural food products, different age group especially increasing student and higher working class population. Apart from this, the management of the supermarket is also envisioning of opening similar stores in other locations in Bangalore. Bangalore is known as the second silicon valley of the world, and emerging as one of the major metropolitan city in India, consequently, today the city has adapted a culture similar to other major cities around world attributed by fast moving busy life style. Opportunity A study done by Davies (2001), point out that food customers in UK are not interested to cook food in their kitchen. The quote of Davies stated: Food manufactures should address the need of this fast moving, time starved generation. This can be done by making branded and own label products that fits the changing lifestyle of new era family. Speed is required while preparing food as there is no time to cook. Healthy and convenient food is in demand. The similar trend is rising in India as well. So Naveen Supermarket has the tremendous opportunities to expand their chain across India. Analysis of the type of Change Company is initiating The organization is going to have recent development of the operational change consists of the operational modifications will change the techniques of on-going operations of the company, like the automation of the various operational processes. The operational changes would help Naveen supermarket in improvement in supply chain management practices, increase in revenue, improvement in quality of service and products by applying Total quality management and Kaizen systems for continuous improvements. The main aim of implementing to have cost-cut in long run and achieve competitive edge in the higher competitive market conditions. The change proposed for the automation of transaction and operational activity will also lead to quick decision making and helps in the analysis of current situation. Now, these four different types of changes as per consultant David A. Nadler and management professor Michael L. Tushman together developed an instructive topology of organization change as shown in the diagram shown below. (Kreitner, 2007) Four types of organization change topology Incremental Strategic Anticipatory Tuning Re-orientation Reactive Adaption Re-Creation Based on this model shown in above table, the company is doing Re-creational change. The change is reactive in the sense the company is growing and wants to optimize the operational activities by taking advantage of automation and changing strategic vision of company. Changes Appropriate for Naveen supermarket. 1. Provide quality in its product and services focusing on improve personalized dispositions; improve the order placing and delivery mechanism including online platform. 2. Aggressively market by introducing various promotional offer to match other competitors especially MNC. 3. Control operating costs thereby saving could be too transferred to the customer as increased services or price reduction, and thus building a strong competitive advantage over the time. 4. Recruit professionals in the field retail management, so as represent a fair mix of talents in the organisation representing wide background. 2. B Analysis of models for stakeholder engagement Stakeholder engagement models and its analysis/application: Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management are the important aspects of Change Management Process to garner support for change in the organization. This technique can be used to identify the key areas of change, and affected persons in the implementation of the change. Stakeholders are an important asset to the organisation, and therefore its imperative to consult the stakeholder prior to the implementation of change to achieve the desired outcome. Disagreement or partial commitment would jeopardize the entire undertaking, eventually, resulting in unwanted conflicts and disagreement. The stakeholder analysis tool would assist Naveen Supermarket to comprehend and gain an early support from the stakeholders especially the influential ones. This requires that the management educate the stakeholder on the transpiring conditions that the business is surrounded with, which lead to the decision of undertaking change management in the organisation. The stakeholders should clearly be exp lained about the consequences of both options considering and not considering change in the short and long run. Winning the support of the influential stakeholders, and eventually others is the key to the successful implementation of change. The key stakeholders of Naveen Supermarket are: Management Staff Customers Suppliers Investors Government Municipal corporation Community (General Public) The following questions can provide an understating about the key stakeholders thoughts: What is expectation in terms of monetary or emotional? Optimistic or destructive? What is the key inspirational aspect of the project to them? What facts are they looking for? What is the most effective way to communicate the message to them? What steps are required in the management of their objections and opposition? Creating a platform for effective communication with the stakeholders would yield their exact thoughts and feelings of the project, and would enable how much of the support it can gather eventually. In case of objections, what step needs to be taken to turn around the objections into constructive support need to consider? This process can start with establishing an effective communication system, tailoring the information or message to suit the end receivers. Organise training programs, consult and include the stakeholders according to the proportion of their interests in the new development. Stakeholder mapping is a powerful tool allows a quickly analysis of the stakeholders impact, and how to improve the support system. (SVQ, 2007). Stakeholders mapping Stakeholder mapping matrix (MayersVermeulen, 2003) A- Key Players Management Employees Suppliers B- Keep Satisfied Government Local councils C- Keep Informed Customers Investor D- Minimal Effort Community High Interest Low H I GH Power L O W High power, highly interested Stakeholders: These key players should be actively engaged in the project and more efforts should be put to satisfy their curiosity and requirements in the project. High power, less interested Stakeholders: Keep them interested however avoid over indulgence. Low power, highly interested Stakeholders: These players should be kept informed regularly about the developments of the project. Though they constitute low in the power play matrix, their collective number or size has immense influence on the project. Low power, less interested Stakeholders: They dont have direct impact; however, they form the part of the entire system and therefore would require their inclusion in a constructive manner. Task 3: 3A Change models appropriate for my chosen organisation. CHANGE MANAGEMENT MODELS There are many models of change management such as Learning organization approach (LOA), Hope and Hope theory of competition in the third wave, the Kaizen approach to improve the quality of service, Business process re-engineering (BPR), de-layering, downsizing etc. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) BPR is one of the important steps prior to the implementation of ERP in an organisation. Basically BPR is the fundamental reconsideration of the organisational processes and involves radical thinking. It helps the organisational to improve various business operations dramatically so as to achieve excellence in customer services, reduce operating costs, and transform itself into a global competitor. BPR according to Hammer and Champy (1993), the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed. The greatest approach to implement change is to understand that change is the only constant in the dynamic business environment and embracing it is the key to survival and future growth. BPR is a methodical training process to enable companies to conduct feasibility evaluation for managing vibrant change. (Erpwire, 2010) John Kotters 8 step change model Kotter (2002) describes a methodical process to change management. Kotter suggests that for change to be successful, at least 3 /4 of the companys management need to embrace the change factor positively. The Kotters 8 step change model illustrated with a diagram in the context the supermarket.Identify short priorities and set achievable objectives Focus on accomplished and future milestones. Strengthen the importance of fruitful change via employment, promotion, and intertwine change into the organisational culture. Construct the regulatory team Repeatedly and robustly with the stakeholders Establish a simple vision and strategy within the team. Inspire people to move Allow positive feedback and tons of backing from leaders reward and recognize improvement and accomplishments. 8. Make change stick 7. Build on the change 6. Create the short-term wins 3. Create visualization for change 2. Construct the regulatory team 1. Increase urgency 4. Communicate the Vision 5. Remove Obstacles Kotters 8 step change model Kotters 8 step Change model, Source: www.Leadershiphub.com 3.b Implementation of change model in my chosen organisation In my opinion, Kotters model would the purpose of implementing the change management to achieve desirable results for Naveen Supermarket. According the model followings steps need to be undertaken: Create the sense of Urgency Step One Sense of urgency should be created among the stakeholders especially ones with most influence on the Naveen supermarkets business. This would include the shareholders primarily, employees, customer and other as deemed fit into the system for the change management. Form a Powerful Coalition Step Two Naveen supermarket must create effective leadership platform to implement and monitor change in the organisation. This requires coalition and support with key employees who can initiate and control and monitor the change process through its life. Create a Vision for Change Step Three To get employee and other stakeholders participating actively, Naveen supermarket should have clear and transparent, comprehendible vision about the change and its implications. Otherwise the enthusiasm would fade slowly from the epicentre of the core activities of the change management as it moves away and as time pass by. This would require that the leader regularly reinstate the vision to the employee to keep them altered of its progress and active involvement. Communicate the Vision Step Four Naveen supermarket should communicate the vision to the participants effectively through various channels such as media, training programs, organisational announcements. The more the emphasis on the key points in the vision the better the influence of it on the stakeholders. The vision should be comprehensive, cover every operations of the business that need change, influence and motivate the employee to be part of the change management. Remove Obstacles Step Five There are likely chances of obstacles crippling into the implementation process very often. However, the organisation should remained focused on the key action plans, closely monitor, get regular feedback and undertake any necessary actions required to adjust to the changing factors of the environment. Obstacles can come from internal source or external. Naveen supermarket should take speedy actions to restore the plan on its due course of execution. Obstacles that can be removed should be eliminated, others which tend to remain and deeply rooted must be accommodated without actually diluting the vision or jeopardizing the actions plans. Create Short-term Wins Step Six The Naveen Supermarket store must identify tasks, which can be accomplished easily. The results achieved would encourage further involvement and motivate others to join the effort whole- heartedly. Proper compensation and reward system should be built in the change management process. Employee who contributed considerably should be recognized and rewarded accordingly, thereby, setting an example of the personal benefits from its involvement. Short term achievement should be communicated effectively to the stakeholders to keep them interested. Build on the Change Step Seven This is one of the important steps. Naveen supermarket should build on the change, evaluate every winning factor and leverage on it. Failures should be identified and corrective steps need to be taken, so as to avoid similar failures in the future. Success got at this stage should not be assumed as the final victory rather, it must enable deep thinking, and serve as input to the next stage of change management after all change management is a continuous process. Anchor the Changes in Corporate Culture Step Eight In a long and continuous effort of change management, the process should eventually be observed into the main stream culture of the organisation. For changes to be a part and parcel of the organisational culture, the leaders should regularly alert and create awareness about the existence of the change management that is deeply rooted in every organisational activity. The perception of change management should become an inseparable part of the organisational culture in a long run; this in turn would create a platform and facilitate any major undertaking in the future. Desirable Outcomes of Change Program The change management would eventually yield desirable outcome if it is undertaken constructively and effectively throughout its various implementation phase by the Naveen supermarket management. The three key areas of noticeable changes are: Operational changes The operational changes would help Naveen supermarket to improve various business operations. The changes should result in considerable improvement in the near future in the online orders and delivery mechanism which it is planning to launch very soon, floor management, supply chain management practices, improvement in quality of service and products , employee performance, reduction in operating cost resulting in increased revenue generation. Strategic changes Changes in the areas will give clear vision and direction to all the stakeholders of Naveen Supermarket. In a long run it will create value and ethos that is conducive for achieving growth and increase performance. Cultural changes Key values and ethics in business operations created along during the process of the changes would be imbibed into the organisational culture. It would serve as motivation and sense of purpose for the employees and other stakeholders to achieve and contribute to the organisational goals. The success achieved would drive home a message that, organisation to survive and grown in the highly competitive business environment mandates change, and the stakeholder, especially, the employee are the agents and catalyst to the change management process. In a long run the process would reflect that organisational culture is based on change management philosophy for success. Conclusion The change in organization generally also brings several issues. To make the change process a success it requires a lot of effort from the change leader. The change management model chosen by company needs to be thoroughly monitored and implemented. It is also measure and controls the success of the change process. Changes often result in individuals taking on greater responsibilities, retraining, performing new tasks and developing new skills and new ways of working. Individuals are taken out of the comfort zone they have operated in for some time. The anxiety and stress that can be caused if the process is not well managed will manifest itself in resistance to change. Greater degree of consultation and worker participation, both in the development of the strategic vision and the implementation of change, should increase ownership, thus reducing anxiety and stress that often drives resistance to change. Failure in most change processes can be traced back to poor communications and f ailure to appreciate the amount of retraining that is required. To conclude, I found that the scope of change is too wide and I would suggest that company should bring changes in different phases such as first of all bring the change of automation of some operational activity and later on when this change is successful implement other change.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

All About the Philippines :: essays research papers

The first inhabitants of the Philippines arrived from the land bridge from Asia over 150,000 years ago. Throughout the years, migrants from Indonesia, Malaysia, and other parts of Asia made their way to the islands of this country. In the fourteenth century, the Arabs arrived and soon began a long tradition of Islam. Many Muslims are still living in the Philippines today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1521, Magellan claimed the land for Spain, but was killed by local chiefs who did not want Spain’s inhabitance. However, the Spanish returned in 1543 and named the land Filipinas after King Philip II. Spain soon after began their control. At the time of the Spanish American War the colonial government in the Philippines was administered by a Governor-General selected in Spain. The Philippine islands were used to reward the king’s favorites who could return home enormous fortunes from natives and foreign immigrants via a system of taxation that savored of blackmail and confiscation. The Governor-General had a cabinet composed of the Archbishop of Manila, the Captain-General of the army and the Admiral of the navy stationed in the colonies. The administrative power lay with the Governor-General and the Archbishop, and the religious orders of the Spanish Catholic Church were the practical controllers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The climate of the Philippines, which is tropical, subjected to violent monsoons, seasons of drenching rains, and an almost intolerable heat lasting from March to July, has made it necessary to change continually the Spanish administrators. By 1571, the country had control over the islands, except for any Islamic areas.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Filipinos lived in settlements called barangays before the colonization of the Philippines by the Spaniards. As the unit of government, a barangay consisted from 30 to 100 families. It was headed by a datu and was independent from the other groups. Usually, several barangays settled near each other to help one another in case of war or any emergency. The position of datu was passed on by the holder of the position to the eldest son or, if none, the eldest daughter. However, later, any member of the barangay could be chieftain, based on his talent and ability. He had the usual responsibilities of leading and protecting the members of his barangay. In turn, they had to pay tribute to the datu, help him till the land, and help him fight for the barangay in case of war. There were four classes of society.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Comparing Red Badge of Courage and Great Expectations :: comparison compare contrast essays

Red Badge of Courage and Great Expectations The hero of The Red Badge of Courage, which was written by Stephen Crane in the late 1800s, was a young private named Henry Fleming, who was fighting for the North in the American Civil War. Like Pip, in Great Expectations, Henry was a commoner. He was new to the Army and few people knew his name. The main difference between Henry and the earlier heroes is that Henry was not born with leadership qualities or traits like bravery. In fact, in the first battle he fought, he proved himself to be a coward by running from it. Henry's flaws were very similar to those of Pip and the Greek heroes. Arrogance was a flaw that many Greek mortal heroes, especially Odysseus and Oedipus, had. When Henry realized that none of his fellow soldiers were aware that he had run from the first battle, he regained his self-pride and self-confidence. Before long, he had convinced himself that he was "chosen of the gods and doomed to greatness." At first, Pip believed that status and wealth determined the "goodness" of a person. Henry had similar illusions. He believed that a war hero was a person who could manage to escape every tight situation he got into, and also a godly figure people looked up to and were fascinated by. His other illusions were that the only the best could survive against the hideous "dragons" of war, and that the enemy was a machine that never tired or lost will to fight. An important difference between Henry and the Greek heroes was that Henry's flaws were recognized by the people of Crane's day, whereas the Greeks did not see any flaws in their heroes, like Odysseus (they thought traits like arrogance were cool). Another difference between Henry and the Greek heroes can be seen in their heroic acts. Greek war heroes were praised for their outward bravery and military genius (how many enemy soldiers they killed, or how they were able to trick the enemy). Near the end, Henry was a war hero in the eyes of his fellow soldiers and commanding officers (he fought fearlessly and led charges), but what was truly heroic about Henry was the way he changed and developed.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Examine The Weakness Of Different Types Of Documents Used In A Sociological Research

Documents are secondary data developed by individuals, groups, and organisations, in which sociologist may find particularly advantageous in their research. Taking that into account, there are two types of documents both personal and public. Public documents are items such as letters, diaries, autobiographies, notes and photo collections. Personal documents may be noted as unrepresentative, because some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as diaries and letters, because they have got limited leisure. Therefore, their views may not be represented, whilst those with the time and literacy skills may be overrepresented.When it comes to examining the personal documents, it somehow lacks the authenticity. There may be possibly missing pages, or someone must have reproduced another copy, making it seem fake. For example, there was claim that Hitler diaries were fakes. Personal documents may also potentially lack the credibility. Documents may be difficult to believe, when considering the author's sincerity. For example, politicians may write diaries that inflate the own importance. The availability of personal documents may be difficult for researchers to gain access to. For example, private†¦Social classes are groups of people who share a similar economic position; which is based on a person's occupation, income and ownership of wealth. People in the same social class can be identified by having similar levels of education, status (prestige), lifestyle (for example living standard or consumer goods e. g. plasma TV 52†² inch) and power. Traditionally the UK's class structure is associated with three-levels: the upper class, the middle class and the working class. However sociologists have noticed a change in this type of class structure and have suggested that the UK is moving away from this class formation.In this essay I am going to outline the traditional class structure (briefly) and talk about the various changes that have occurred to each social class; then I will seek to critically examine a number of sociological explanations for the changes to the class structure. The tri-level traditional class structure is comprised of: the upper class, which is the smallest of the social classes and consists of the crà ¨me de la crà ¨me of society e. g. Aristocracy or also named the â€Å"blue bloods†. These members are usually the wealthiest. Examine the weakness of different types of documents used in a sociological research Documents are secondary data developed by individuals, groups, and organisations, in which sociologist may find particularly advantageous in their research. Taking that into account, there are two types of documents both personal and public. Public documents are items such as letters, diaries, autobiographies, notes and photo collections. Personal documents may be noted as unrepresentative, because some groups are unlikely to produce personal documents such as diaries and letters, because they have got limited leisure. Therefore, their views may not be represented, whilst those with the time and literacy skills may be overrepresented.When it comes to examining the personal documents, it somehow lacks the authenticity. There may be possibly missing pages, or someone must have reproduced another copy, making it seem fake. For example, there was claim that Hitler diaries were fakes. Personal documents may also potentially lack the credibility. Documents may be difficult to believe, when considering the author's sincerity. For example, politicians may write diaries that inflate the own importance. The availability of personal documents may be difficult for researchers to gain access to. For example, private†¦Social classes are groups of people who share a similar economic position; which is based on a person's occupation, income and ownership of wealth. People in the same social class can be identified by having similar levels of education, status (prestige), lifestyle (for example living standard or consumer goods e. g. plasma TV 52†² inch) and power. Traditionally the UK's class structure is associated with three-levels: the upper class, the middle class and the working class. However sociologists have noticed a change in this type of class structure and have suggested that the UK is moving away from this class formation.In this essay I am going to outline the traditional class structure (briefly) and talk about the various changes that have occurred to each social class; then I will seek to critically examine a number of sociological explanations for the changes to the class structure. The tri-level traditional class structure is comprised of: the upper class, which is the smallest of the social classes and consists of the creme de la creme of society e. g. Aristocracy or also named the â€Å"blue bloods†. These members are usually the wealthiest.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Centralised organisation Essay

â€Å"Outline the main ways in which a large centralised organisation might achieve a more flexible organised structure. Using examples, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing greater organisational flexibility† â€Å"The structures that organisations adopt are usually aligned to one of five generic organisational structures. These are the simple structure, the functional structure, the divisional structure, the holding company structure and the matrix structure. (Capon, C. (2009) the business environment. Chapter 4: Inside organisations. This essay will explain the various ways of how a large centralised organisation achieves a more flexible structure through de-centralisation. This essay will analyse the benefits and drawbacks of the matrix structure and the functional structure. A flexible structure allows staff to take part in decision making thus making them feel more valued and motivated, this favours the organisation because efficiency and communication is improved. Centralised structures are often referred to as bureaucracies and have a long chain of command and a narrow span of control. They are tall structures designed so that directors, owners and management can achieve maximum control. Decision making is isolated within the top part of the hierarchy with a very autocratic style of management (none/very little shared decision making with employees further down the hierarchy). Centralised structures allow benchmarks and certain procedures to monitor quality closely. A clear path can be seen by employees in terms of promotion which often aids in motivation, in turn improving the productivity of staff. However there are some downsides to a centralised or bureaucratic structure, such as the fact that it’s time-consuming for decisions to be made because the decision has to come from the top of the organisation (CEO’s/Directors) all the way to the bottom through many levels before the employees actually get told what they need to do; because of this it is difficult for companies with a tall structure to quickly react to changes in the market that they operate in. In tall organisations there is a tendency for ‘red tape’ or excessive regulation which also slows down many processes within a business. Another problem with tall organisations is that there is a divide between the top managers and regular employees, which means that the workers lower down in the hierarchy feel excluded and less valued. This In turn leads to workers becoming less motivated. Because of all these difficulties big organisations are constantly attempting to increase flexibility by changing their structure. Decentralisation provides higher subordinate satisfaction and a quicker response to problems and may give workers a sense of ownership and greater levels of motivation in their work† (Ray French, Charlotte Rayner, Gary Rees and Sally Rumbles – (2008) Organizational behaviour ). De-centralised structures are desirable because they allow flexibility within a business, it is essentially a democratic management style of running an organisation, and this means that there is more feedback and input from staff regarding decision making. With a shorter chain of command, due to the flat hierarchical structure, and increased motivation of staff production can increase. The functional structure is relatively restrictive of flexibility, it is fairly rigid and centralised. The managers of the departments are given the responsibility to manage day-to-day problems and take part in decision making only in the short term. Decision making and power in the long term rests very much within the board of directors, thus slowing down communication within the organisation. The functional structure is mainly used by small businesses; large organisations tend to move away from this structure in the search for more flexibility. The reason for this is because of product or service diversification and larger target markets. The functional structure tends to have poor career prospects, high pressure on senior managers , quality monitoring is very difficult and there are skills shortages in the sense that job roles are set so skills cannot be shared within the departments. The matrix structure integrates two structures together, often geographical and multi product structures. For example, a company may have a department for a product A in Europe and for Product A in Asia. One of the advantages of the Matrix structure is the convenience of experts simplifying the sharing of knowledge between the goods. Another advantage of the matrix structure is intra-team communication, this allows ease of communication between the different functional product groups within the same organisation, and similarly there is less pressure on managers, quality monitoring is easier and skills are interchanged within departments of the same function thus improving efficiency. In the early 90’s the majority of IBM and the business press were convinced decentralisation would aid the company in terms of â€Å"flexibility, speed and entrepreneurial motivation†. They believed splitting up IBM into smaller companies would speed up processes and promote and enhance efficiency, which can be true of decentralisation. Lou Gerstner was appointed CEO of IBM in 1993. He was convinced IBM should remain centralised and to â€Å"use its unique size and capabilities to help customers integrate the diverse components of their information technology (IT) systems†. In the end IBM was loosened up but not completely decentralised. This worked tremendously well with IBM’s stock price rising by almost a factor of ten. (Thomas W. Malone – Harvard Business School Archives (29/3/2004): Making the decision to decentralise. )From this we can conclude that de-centralisation improves organisational flexibility by speeding up the process of decision making, improving efficiency and communication and increasing job satisfaction for employees. Pursuing greater organisational flexibility could be complex in the sense that the organisation may become less efficient due to the change in structure and managerial span of control. Nonetheless changing from a tall centralised structure to a flat decentralised structure favours the organisation because there are fewer levels of hierarchy and a shorter chain of command which enables better communication. â€Å"Decentralisation, in theory, provides greater potential for motivating employees and, because decisions are taken nearer the place of work, the organisation can react faster and smarter†. Ian Brookes (2009): Organisational behaviour – individuals, groups and organisation 4th edition). However not all flat structures are decentralised; take for example the functional structure, despite being flat it is a rigid and centralised structure. The Matrix structure would enable a large organisation to achieve greater organisational flexibility because one of its main strengths is allowing ease of communication.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Why would you carry a dead body on your back?

Would you like it if someone killed you just so they could wear your skin? Would you like to be somebody else's jacket or shoe or handbag? No. So why not say no to cruelty that targets animals just because they cannot say â€Å"no†? Animals shouldn't have to die just because people want their fur. Have you ever seen a pup that's skinned alive? Probably not, but I've seen it. Since then I can't sleep well. Nowadays, when I look at my two year old son, I think the same thing: How would I feel if any creature that was vastly superior to human being was doing the same thing to him. This is my nightmare. Is it possible to understand how a human being kills an animal that can look into the eyes of its killer in full of pain? Read this â€Å"The Secrets of Haiti’s Living Dead† I believe many of you may wish to wear fur because it looks posh and elegant. Especially, when you are young you may not be paying attention to the things happening around you. Therefore; I would like you to imagine that someone has just killed you so they could wear your skin to look nice and feel warm. Now can you try to explain how the feeling was: What is pleasant to get killed because someone wants to wear your skin? Of course, there is no such a word describes this horror. I am sure you all who read this article think that â€Å"This horrible slaughter has to stop.† Having made this clear, let's consider and analyze the following scenario: A conceited young woman who is following the latest fashion wants to buy a new jacket made from animal skin, and human skin is in fashion for this year. A process has to be made, before the jacket reaches her wardrobe. A mighty corporation who specializes on human skin takes you into captivity. They place you in a twenty squared meters cell along with a hundred others. You don't get too much treatment. In fact you don't get any. You are being fed up just enough to survive and you are learning how to swim in a lake full of yours and others wastes. Hardly surviving, comes the day where some of the workers drag you out of the cell in order to skin you alive. Despite your loud cries, you are left skinless and thrown away to suffer a slow painful death. Consider for a moment all your feelings that would be resulted from the above scenario. Now pay attention because every single year 56 million animals killed for their fur worldwide. Let us look now at the other facts; * China is one of the world's largest suppliers. * Europe by itself is responsible for 70% of the fur breed. * In a year, more than 2 million cats and hundreds of thousands of dogs and seals are killed for their fur in the world. * The British government has banned fur farming in England and Wales in November 2000. * However, animals continue to be killed in many parts of the world. * The main reason of this is trade. * It takes as many as 40 animals just to make 1 fur coat, including coyotes, bobcats, lynxes, opossums, nutria, beavers, muskrats, otters, foxes, minks, bunnies, seals and raccoons. * Animals are often gassed, anally or genitally electrocuted, or poisoned, or their necks are broken. These methods are not always effective: some animals wake up while the skin is being torn off their bodies. * On fur farms, inquisitive and normally free-roaming animals such as foxes, minks and chinchillas spend their entire lives confined to tiny, filthy wire cages. There is a connection between who and what you are and what you make of yourself as a creature and the way in which you treat other living creatures, saying no to cruelty to animals and fur trade is to get closer to humanization again. Furthermore, many celebrities are against fur, such as; Michelle Obama, Charlize Theron, Twiggy Lawson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Pamela Anderson, Pink †¦ and so on. Some of them had very nice messages in their interview, for instance, Pink said â€Å"I've always felt that animals are the purest spirits in the world. They don't fake or hide their feelings and they are the most loyal creatures on the Earth. And somehow we humans think we are smarter- what a joke.† Animals are not ours to wear, walk on or carry our possessions in. Before animal skins reach store shelves, animals live a life of misery, pain, boredom and fear, and many are skinned alive. They suffer so much pain just so people can ‘try' to look all pretty and classy. I don't think its classy wearing fur and skin when you know what these poor animals have to go through for you to wear skin or fur! What are your feelings on this and why do you believe the way you do? Skinning animals can be characterized only as cruel and brutal. Well, we are not living in pre-historic age -when we needed- to have to kill animals to get dressed. Hence, people will not suffer from cold, as we have so many materials to wear for any kind of temperature. There is no reason to wear fur, except one which is â€Å"vanity†. These people who have a false sense of what fashion is want to be different from other people. However, it is only their ignorance that makes them stand out from others. We humans may be smarter than any other creatures in the world; however, I also think that we could be the most dangerous human beings on the earth who can kill animals for people to look stylish. How can someone do this to poor and helpless creatures? It is unbelievable. If you cannot stand seeing the violence with your own eyes, do not wear fur as clothes. There is an organization which is called â€Å"PETA† and their aim is to stop animal cruelty. They need your support. Please, right now rush your online donation generously and push everyone to do the same thing genuinely. Together, let's save more animals from slaughtered. It's time that fur in fashion went the way of the crop-top and the hair scrunchie: extinct. Do not forget, wearing fur means that you are the mutual of that savageness. We would like to see showcases get bloodless, what about you?