Thursday, October 31, 2019

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Management - Essay Example In order to cope up with this era of efficient and advanced technology NYSE has an advanced computerized system and more than 50% of its trading takes place electronically. (Stock Market Investing Guide) National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) dates back its origin to 1790. It became a public company in 1987. It is the first company that sold and offered its own technology to empower other exchanges of the world. NASDAQ is also the first exchange to offer double listing and it has also consolidated the Global Market to great extents. NASDAQ has improved its technology, trade and business magnificently since last few years. Innovation lies in the roots of the company. They work to collaborate the dreamers with the doers. After a consistent and efficient growth rate since last 10 years NASDAQ now operates in 26 different locations with in 17 countries. To control the functions of such an immense organization scientific technology is a necessity therefor e NASDAQ has a completely computerized system where all the trading takes place electronically. (NASDAQ OMX) Whenever there is a discussion about stock market the two names that strike one’s mind urgently are NASDAQ and NYSE. The two of the biggest plat forms where trading of stocks takes place. Both of these organizations have a major share in worldwide or Global Market. The major similarity between both these organizations is that they deal with the trading that is buying and selling of stocks. These are the platforms where buyers and sellers meet each other and have transactions settled between them. Another common factor between NASDAQ and NYSE is that both of them are public entities where different companies can get enlisted. (The NYSE And Nasdaq: How They Work). Apart from these factors there is a large difference between the working mechanism and operating system of both the organizations. The basic difference between NASDAQ and NYSE is their â€Å"location†. L ocation here does not refers to an address but instead it’s the place or floor where trading takes place. In NYSE trading takes place on physical floors that is the traders (buyers and sellers) gather on New York trading place and buy or sell the stocks physically by themselves. Where as in NASDAQ trading of stocks takes place through an electronic medium (telecommunication). People here do not meet each other at some place to make arrangements and decisions about the value and price of their stock but instead investors and buyers or sellers have direct transactions among them through telecommunication. Another difference is that NASDAQ is a dealers market where buyers and sellers do not transact with each other directly but instead there is a dealer who facilitates trade among them. On the other hand NYSE is an auction market where individuals (buyers and sellers) physically indulge in trading and an auction takes place in which the maximum offered price is matched with the minimum demanded price. In NASDAQ the dealer who is also known as the market maker deals with the problems, flaws and errors that might hinder company’s growth and progress. Whereas, in NYSE there is a person, known as a specialist, who is responsible for taking care of such issues. There is also a difference between the companies which are listed in both the markets. In NASDAQ there is a higher ratio of technology oriented companies that deal in electronics. However, most of the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Origin and Evolution of Christianity Research Paper

Origin and Evolution of Christianity - Research Paper Example Aspects of Christianity such as religious beliefs had been in existence even before the birth of Christ. The Old Testament, which was written before the birth of Christ has several prophecies on coming of Messiah whom Christians believe, is Christ. The history of Christian teachings became clearly spelt from the first century and is recorded in the New Testament. Christianity borrowed heavily from Judaism and other pagan concepts. A feature such as observation of Sunday as the Sabbath day was borrowed from non-Christian Romans while Christmas concepts were borrowed from Babylonians. Temples previously used by pagans were also turned into Christian places of worship referred to as churches. Christianity is currently the largest worldwide religion that is based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is believed to be the son of God. This paper focuses on the origin and history of Christianity and lays emphasis on Catholicism and Protestantism, which are the major Christian groupings. Non-Christians first used the term Christians as a form of mockery to refer to followers of Jesus in Antioch. Descriptions of the early church are recorded in the gospel and epistles within the New Testament. The life and teachings of Jesus are also recorded in the New Testament while the prophecy of His birth is recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible, a book used by Christians for spiritual guidance. Jesus of Nazareth is believed to be the pioneer of Christianity. However, Jesus’ disciples and other followers such as Mark and Paul established concrete Christianity. Paul prayed a vital role in establishing the basis of Christianity and he preached not only to Jews but also to Non-Jews.... Factors leading to the split were related to theological disputes especially on doctrinal issues. The major three groupings include Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The Early Church The early Christian church comprised of Jewish Christians who followed Judaism and the Hellenistic Christians who were liberal and were not strict observers of Judaic laws. Early Christianity can be divided into apostolic period and the post-apostolic period. The early church greatly followed Jewish traditions. Circumcision was considered a prerequisite for gentiles to be accepted into Christianity. However, the early Christians disagreed on aspects such as the nature of Jesus and on whether to follow Mosaic laws (Jackson Web; Esler 22-25). Apostolic Period The apostolic period was the time that followed Jesus’ death. The Christian Church in this period was referred to as the apostolic church and was led by Jesus’ apostles and relatives who were fundamentally Jews. Je sus was also a Jew and had started a ministry of teaching and performing miracles at the age of thirty after his baptism by John the Baptist. After His death, the apostles continued with his work. He travelled throughout Judea preaching in synagogues, which made him to be referred to as a teacher (Ahmad Web). While doing his ministerial work, Jesus chose twelve disciples to assist Him in His teachings. The Disciples followed His teaching strictly, as they believed that He was the Messiah prophesied about in the Old Testament. During His ministry, several people became His followers, which frightened the Jewish political readers. He worked for three years after which the Romans who were

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Critical Analysis Of Francis Bacon Philosophy Essay

Critical Analysis Of Francis Bacon Philosophy Essay Bacon was a really wise man. His Essays is a treasure of world philosophy. They teach us those permanent moral principles which everyone must know obligatory. The essay Of Great Places consists of variety of moral maxims yet in this essay he also teaches worldly success. All rising to great place is by a winding stair; and if there be factions, it is good to side a mans self whilst he is rising and to behave himself when he is placed (Bacon). It is clearly a utilitarian advice and it for sure contains a compromise between morality and worldly success (Archer). Even when Bacon convinces the person not badly to say about its predecessor, not because of high ethics, but because of the fact that the person does not follow council would suffer with unpleasant consequences. Key words: great place, Francis Bacon, essay, happiness. In his essay Of Great place he discusses how a great position influences persons life and points on it. Bacon argues that such people hardly may be happy because they are the first that find their own grieves, though they are the last that find their own faults (Bacon). Indeed, great persons may seem happy but not be happy really. Philosopher is right; they should care about other and not think about themselves. Great post allow not only to make goodness, but also evil. Everything here depends on the person. Only readiness for making goodness is the major CRITICAL ANALYSIS justification for love of power. Merit and good works, is the end of mans motion; and conscience of the same is the accomplishment of mans rest stress Bacon and we cannot disagree with him. We have to learn on others mistakes in order to avoid our:   Reduce things to the first institution, and observe wherein, and how, they have degenerate; but yet ask counsel of both times; of the ancient time, what is best; and of the latter time, what is fittest (Bacon). In his essay Bacon gives us some helpful advises that do not lose its currency till today. Indeed, changes are not so good indicator and philosopher is right: changeable people are suspicious. So, every change should be explained together with the reasons that caused it. The author also teaches: In the discharge of thy place, set before thee the best examples; for imitation is a globe of precepts and it is truly important thought.  To my mind, it is very current as well. A lot of people got used to create idols and these exam ples not always the best ones. Very often it is the worst examples but people imitate them because it is fashionably, in tune with the times and everyone follows it. However, it is a big mistake. Only the best examples from the past are able to teach us how to act nowadays. We should learn according to those experiences. Bacon fairly stress that we should learn negative things from other experiences not in order to glorify ourselves and to reproach them, but to learn from those mistakes. I think it is also very significant point to CRITICAL ANALYSIS think it more honor, to direct in chief, than to be busy in all (Bacon). Very often people of great post try to control everything forgetting about their main task and main goals. Power makes them blind. They aspire to rule everything. It is not that should it be like. If to keep one topic from this wise essay, so perhaps I would like to discuss this one: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ great persons had need to borrow other mens opinions, to think themselves happy; for if they judge by their own feeling, they cannot find it (Bacon). Well, I agree with this Bacons statement. Great people really devote themselves to others. They must care about all and everyone separately (if it is about some President, for instance). At last, it is truly hard. Indeed! However, such devotion to people and their occupation may turn into happiness. Why not? Imagine: you rule the country and feel responsibility for each single person. Yes, it is a great response, but there are a lot of examples from history when such gr eat people were really happy with their posts. If you really love your work and what you do, so this makes you feel like you are at your place. Despite of all difficulties, you will be strong enough to overcome everything if you like your position. And it is understandable. Well, of course, you may be unhappy being at the great place, but only in a case when you are indifferent to other people and events, if you do not feel it is yours. And Bacon is right: on order to feel them happy great people should know others opinions. It is understandable CRITICAL ANALYSIS because they work for others and we may even say live for others. It is responsibility. Only when you feel that you are heard and understood by others, that they appreciate you and follow you, so then you may feel happy. If you will be alone and work for no one being at the great place, so this work will does not have any results, except of negative. You should feel support and comprehension, understanding and gratitude. You must see that all you do is right and not in vain. Have you ever noticed that politics are really successful only when they are appreciated by people? And it is not only about voting, but during it, of course, as well. If people value their power, other ones will appreciate it too. It is simple, by the way: an effect of situation: if you are loved by someone, especially, by many people, very often others pay a lot of attention to you. Why? Because they see that you affect people somehow, they find something in you, like you for somethingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Consequen tly, you are bright, interesting, and sociable and you know how to treat people. And it is very important thing. Love of majority is an indicator. Of course, such leaders will feel themselves happy: they may be sure that approximately all their deeds are right and helpful. Well, perhaps, you may disagree and say that sometimes even bad politics and leaders in general may be happy but indifferent to their people or workers. It is an opinion that has a right to exist, but ask yourself: is it real happiness when you know and feel that others cannot stand you? CRITICAL ANALYSIS Is it happiness to realize that all your actions they consider as needless, empty, senseless, harmful, insincere, wrong, awful and so on and so for? To my mind, in this case you cannot feel yourself happy anyway. Work Citied Archer, Francis Bacon: Wordly Wisdom (2011). 16 Jan 2011. Web. 20 May 2011. Bacon, Francis. Essays: Of Great Place. Web. 20 May 2011. Fuller, Jean Overton,  Sir Francis Bacon (1994). Maidstone, Kent: George Mann Books.

Friday, October 25, 2019

F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers fc

A big house, nice cars, 2.5 kids, a dog, a beautiful devoted spouse, power and a ridiculous amount of money. That is the classical American Dream, at least for some. One could say, an outsider perhaps, that Americans strive for the insurmountable goal of perfection, live, die and do unimaginable things for it, then call the product their own personal American Dream. Is having the American Dream possible? What is the American Dream? There is one answer for these two questions: The American Dream is tangible perfection. In reality, even in nature, perfection does not exist. Life is a series of imperfections that can make living really great or very unpleasant. Living the American Dream is living in perfection, and that by definition is not possible, thus deflating our precious American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald proves this fact in The Great Gatsby, through his scintillating characters and unique style. Characters in books often mirror the author's feelings towards the world around them. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggested the moral decline of the period in American history through the interpersonal relationships among his characters. The situations in the lives of the characters show the worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America 's moral values had diminished- through the actions of Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and Gatsby's party guests. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby still cannot afford his one true wish, therefore he cannot buy everything which is important to Daisy. "..Their love is founded upon feelings from the past, these give it, notwithstanding Gatsby's insistence on being able to repeat the past , an inviolability. It exists in the world of money and corruption but is not of it." (Lewis 48 ) In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the uses of literary technique of symbolism to reflect what life in the 1920's was like, through Fitzgerald's eyes. The image of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg's eyes is used to signify an ever watchful godlike figure. "Just as Wilson comes half—consciously to identify the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg with God, so the reader gradually becomes aware of them as representing some kind of detached intellect, brooding gloomily over life in the bleak waste land surrounding it, and presiding fatalistically over the little tragedy enacted as if in sacrifice before it." (Miller 36) The eyes not only symbolize a god—like being but also Fitzgerald himself and his negative views of 1920's society. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby :: essays research papers fc A big house, nice cars, 2.5 kids, a dog, a beautiful devoted spouse, power and a ridiculous amount of money. That is the classical American Dream, at least for some. One could say, an outsider perhaps, that Americans strive for the insurmountable goal of perfection, live, die and do unimaginable things for it, then call the product their own personal American Dream. Is having the American Dream possible? What is the American Dream? There is one answer for these two questions: The American Dream is tangible perfection. In reality, even in nature, perfection does not exist. Life is a series of imperfections that can make living really great or very unpleasant. Living the American Dream is living in perfection, and that by definition is not possible, thus deflating our precious American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald proves this fact in The Great Gatsby, through his scintillating characters and unique style. Characters in books often mirror the author's feelings towards the world around them. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald suggested the moral decline of the period in American history through the interpersonal relationships among his characters. The situations in the lives of the characters show the worthlessness of materialism, the futile quest of Myrtle and Gatsby, and how America 's moral values had diminished- through the actions of Daisy, Tom, Jordan, and Gatsby's party guests. Despite his newly acquired fortune, Gatsby still cannot afford his one true wish, therefore he cannot buy everything which is important to Daisy. "..Their love is founded upon feelings from the past, these give it, notwithstanding Gatsby's insistence on being able to repeat the past , an inviolability. It exists in the world of money and corruption but is not of it." (Lewis 48 ) In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses the uses of literary technique of symbolism to reflect what life in the 1920's was like, through Fitzgerald's eyes. The image of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg's eyes is used to signify an ever watchful godlike figure. "Just as Wilson comes half—consciously to identify the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg with God, so the reader gradually becomes aware of them as representing some kind of detached intellect, brooding gloomily over life in the bleak waste land surrounding it, and presiding fatalistically over the little tragedy enacted as if in sacrifice before it." (Miller 36) The eyes not only symbolize a god—like being but also Fitzgerald himself and his negative views of 1920's society.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Import & Export Financing

IMPORT FINANCING Background Like other developing countries, Pakistan’s import bill exceeds exports. Therefore, it faces scarcity of foreign exchange to meet its import requirements. According to daily â€Å"DAWN† dated 18th November 2012, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were USD 13. 84 Billion at the week ended as on 9th November 2012. Gap between the import and export bills is partially covered by regulations, controls and measures exercised by State Bank of Pakistan and partially by the international credit, aid, loan agencies like International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB).State Bank of Pakistan keeps control at a time, over this imbalance by imposing cash margin restrictions on import of general items from time to time. This is done in order to restrict imports and to allow import of only necessary items to fulfill genuine requirements and to discourage import of non-commercial and luxury items. CASE STUDY: On 1st Februa ry 2012, restriction on import of CNG cylinders and kits was imposed by Government of Pakistan in view of government policy to discourage use of CNG as a fuel due to its short supply and ever rising demand.No importer is allowed to import CNG cylinders & kits up till now which is being restricted by SBP & custom authority. Foreign trade involves many risks because of different locations /countries of importer and exporter. Both the parties are doing their businesses in different countries where different laws & regulations apply and it is difficult to settle any dispute regarding goods quality and payment settlement between importer and exporter. For safeguarding interest of both importer and exporter, banks involve in these transactions for smooth settlement between the parties. IMPORTERSAny body who imports the required goods into the country is called an importer. The importer has to pay the exporter for the value of goods in foreign exchange. Importers are classified into three categories: i) Commercial sector importer i-e. a firm, institution, organization, person or group of persons registered as an importer is called commercial importer. ii) Industrial sector importer i-e. any industrial unit which is registered as importer comes under this category. iii) Public sector importers i-e. the organizations owned by the government which import capital / consumer commodities as per their requirement.Usually, these organizations are not registered as regular importer and their requests for opening letter of credit is routed through SBP. Letter of Credit (L/C) Letter of Credit is a written undertaking by a bank given to the seller/exporter (beneficiary) at the request and instructions of the buyer/importer (applicant) to pay at sight or at a determinable future date a stated sum of money against the required documents. The documents include commercial invoice, certificate of origin, transport document relating to the mode of transport used (Airway Bill, Bill of Lading, Railway Receipt, Truck Receipt, etc. and other documents required as per terms of letter of credit. Parties to Letter of Credit In documentary credit operations, maximum number of parties involved are as under: i) Applicant (Opener of L/C): The applicant of a credit is an importer or buyer who requests his bank to issue documentary credit in favor of the seller /exporter. ii) Issuing Bank (Opening Bank): The issuing bank is also called importer’s bank. At the request of the applicant, this bank issues the credit in accordance with the instructions of the applicant in favor of the exporter. The letter of credit is sent to the bank in the exporter/seller’s country. ii) Advising Bank: Advising bank is also known as transmitting or correspondent bank in the seller’s country. Issuing bank forwards the advice of the credit by mail or by any means of tele-transmission (i-e. cable, telex, SWIFT, etc. ) to a correspondent bank where the beneficiary business exist s. Normally, all L/Cs are sent via SWIFT i-e. Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions. iv) Beneficiary (Seller or Exporter): The person or body receiving the letter of credit from the importer and/or in whose favor letter of credit is issued is called beneficiary. v) Confirming Bank:Confirming bank is the bank which at the specific request of the issuing bank adds its confirmation to a letter of credit. Adding confirmation constitutes a definite undertaking of the confirming bank, in addition to that of the issuing bank. vi) Negotiating Bank: Negotiating Bank is the bank which receives the documents against letter of credit as authorized bank. This bank has to give value for drafts and/or documents under L/C conditions. Negotiating Bank may or may not be the Advising Bank. This bank examines the documents against L/C, and if found in order, negotiates the documents and makes payment to the seller.The negotiating bank dispatches the documents to the Issuing Bank cl aiming reimbursement from the bank as mentioned in the L/C and as agreed between the two banks. The Negotiating Bank should ensure before lodgment of reimbursement claim that all terms of letter of credit have been complied with. vii) Reimbursing Bank: Reimbursing bank is the bank which, on behalf of the opening bank, honors the reimbursement claim lodged by the Negotiating Bank. MODES OF PAYMENT OF L/Cs There are four modes of payments of letters of credit as detailed under: (i) L/C available by Negotiation:If L/C provides for negotiation to pay without recourse to drawers and/or bonafide holders in terms of credit. Negotiation means the payment of value for draft(s) and/or documents by the bank authorized to negotiate complying with the terms of L/C. (ii) L/C available by Acceptance: In case the credit calls for a usance draft and is available by acceptance on the issuing bank, and the seller submits all the documents including usance bill of exchange to a nominated or another ban k complying all the terms and conditions of the credit, the seller receives acceptance of the payment at maturity date.However, under a separate arrangement, he may get his usance draft discounted by the bank in order to meet his cash flow requirements. In such case, seller has to bear discount charges. (iii) L/C available by Sight Payment: If the beneficiary of letter of credit is to obtain payment immediately on presentation of stipulated documents, it is the sight letter of credit. In this case the exporter draws a sight or demand draft payable at the counters of the advising bank or the bank specified in the letter of credit.The draft is paid on presentation provided that all the other terms of L/C have been complied with. (iv) L/C available by Deferred Payment: In this case, L/C opening bank has to effect payment after a period specified in the L/C, calculated as to the number of days after the date of presentation of documents or after the date of shipment. Such L/C does not r equire drafts to be drawn or presented alongwith other documents. RETIREMENT OF DOCUMENTS When the documents are received from foreign bank, L/C opening bank affixes â€Å"Dak Received† stamp and enters the same in â€Å"Dak Received Register†.The duplicate set of documents, received by the bank, is kept with original set of documents and duplicate should be separate from the original. The bank verifies that all the documents are received as specified in the forwarding schedule of the negotiating/exporter’s bank. While scrutinizing the documents, it is also ensured that all the documents have been received as per terms of L/C. The retirement of documents can be made by the following means: †¢ Through debit to the customer’s account †¢ Through Trust Receipt Facility (FTR) offered by the bank. †¢ Through Finance against Imported Merchandise (FIM)THROUGH DEBIT TO CUSTOMER’S ACCOUNT In case customer/importer has sufficient funds to settl e the bill, Cost Memo is prepared and amount in foreign currency is converted into Pak Rupees at Selling TT & OD rate of exchange. Any foreign correspondent charges and service charges are added to it. Customer issues cheque / authority letter to debit his account for bill amount plus mark-up and other charges. After receiving the amount, title documents are endorsed by two authorized signatories and the same are delivered to customer against proper acknowledgement.In case, importer has not sufficient funds to settle the bill, he can avail finance from bank to settle the claim. Credit facilities available to the importer are explained hereunder: A. FUND BASED FACILITIES 1. FINANCE AGAINST TRUST RECEIPT (FATR) If customer desires to retire the documents through Trust Receipt facility, a request letter to this effect is obtained from him. In this case, bank releases documents of the goods to importer so that he may clear the goods from custom authorities. Payment is settled by the ban k and reimbursement is made to foreign bank.The bank has lien on receivables in this case and importer repays the bank finance after sale of the goods. Trust Receipt should not be allowed against Usance L/C unless specific approval from the authority is held. Following documents are obtained before releasing the documents on Finance Against Trust Receipt: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Bill of Exchange duly accepted by the party ? Demand Promissory Note ? Trust Receipt ? Collateral (if any) as per limit approval ? Invoice ? Agreement of Mark-up The Trust Receipt facility can only be extended upto 45/60 days or as per terms of sanction. . FINANCE AGAINST IMPORTED MERCHANDISE (FIM) This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the bank and the importer. The sale price consists of value of goods or documents of title to goods and margin of profit. The sale price is payable by the buyer on deferred payment basis either in part or in lump sum. Thi s facility is granted for a period of 60 days or as per sanction advice. Following documents are obtained from the party: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Demand Promissory Note ? Letter of Indemnity for clearance of consignment ?Letter of Pledge ? Agreement of Mark-up This type of facility is against pledge of imported stocks and its process / transaction flow is similar to that of Self-Liquidating Inventory Finance. TRANSACTION FLOW: Goods imported through L/C, when reach the port in importer’s country, there is a process of releasing the goods from custom authorities. For this purpose Clearing Agents on the panel of bank. The clearing agent after clearing the goods, transports the same via Goods Transport Companies to the destination of the importer. At importer’s business premises / factory, etc.Bank Muccadam is available to take over the custody of the goods as soon as these are received at the site. These goods are kept under pledge arrangement and bank takes effective control & possession of the imported goods. B. NON-FUND BASED FACILITIES 3. USANCE LETTER OF CREDIT This type of letter of credit is issued with a condition that payment will be made after some specified period of time i-e. 180 days, 365 days, etc. The bank undertakes to pay the exporter for the value of goods at some later date in order to facilitate the importer to arrange funds for settlement of the transaction.Usance letter of credit is very useful facility in which importer not only avails the opportunity of time available to pay his liabilities but also he saves borrowing costs due to difference of LIBOR and KIBOR. At present KIBOR is upto 10% whereas LIBOR is ranging from 0. 5% to 1% for the last two to three years. In case of Usance L/C, the importer will have to pay the value of goods alongwith some additional profit/surcharge levied by the exporter (which is included in the Invoice Value) for allowing repayment period to importer.Exporter will calc ulate this additional profit on transaction on the basis of LIBOR (0. 70%) instead of KIBOR (10%). In case importer avails the credit lines to settle the import bill from his local bank, he will bear the borrowing/financing cost on the basis of KIBOR which is far above than LIBOR. 4. SHIPPING GUARANTEE The shipping guarantee is issued in favor of the local shipping agents for obtaining delivery order to clear goods from port / customer authorities in the absence of original shipping documents of L/Cs. This guarantee is issued on prescribed from provided by the shipping company.This guarantee is signed by the importer and counter-signed by the bank. Following documents are required from the customer at the time of issuance of shipping guarantee: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Copy of Invoice ? Copy of Bill of Lading / transport document ? Format of the shipping guarantee to be issued ? Counter guarantee in favor of the bank duly signed by the customer ? Letter of undertaking regarding exchange rate fluctuation ? Undertaking to accept the draft in case of usance L/C ? Undertaking to accept all discrepancies in the documentsLiability under the shipping guarantee shall be reversed only after the surrender of the original bill of lading against which guarantee has been issued and the receipt of original guarantee from the shipping company. On receipt of original bill of lading, this is forwarded to the shipping company alongwith request to return the original guarantee. This facility is very short term nature normally 30 days. B. EXPORT FINANCE In order to strengthen its position in the international markets, Pakistan has to strive for improving its balance of trade by increasing its exports.As such exports have been the top priority of the government’s agenda to improve the position of foreign exchange earning of the country. Banks have a very important role to play in trade activities of the country. Banks act as agents for both the imp orters and exporters and play important role in the development of country’s trade. While handling export transactions, Credit Manager and/or Export staff of the bank must always keep into consideration the following: ? Export Policy Order of the government for the financial year ?Guidelines/instructions of Export Promotion Bureau ? State Bank of Pakistan Foreign Exchange Circulars ? Bank’s Foreign Exchange Regulations and FEX circulars ADVISING OF EXPORT LETTERS OF CREDIT Letters of credit received from foreign banks are advised to the beneficiaries in Pakistan through L/Cs advising departments of the bank. All L/Cs received are carefully scrutinized for their authenticity adhering to the terms & conditions and complying with our Foreign Exchange Regulations and International laws & publications (UCP 500). FORM â€Å"E†No person can export any goods from Pakistan unless he is duly registered as an exporter with Export Promotion Bureau under the registration â⠂¬Å"Importer & Exporter Order 1952†. Blank â€Å"E† Forms are issued to exporters, against written request, free of any charges. In order to export, the exporter will provide details on â€Å"E† form in respect of goods, quantity, invoice value of goods, terms of sale, destination and name & address of the importer. This â€Å"E† form is the main document to calculate value of goods exported and is used to control the export of any item from Pakistan.CASE STUDY: During October 2012, Government of Pakistan allowed export of 200,000 tons of sugar from Pakistan with a condition that one sugar mill can export maximum upto 10,000 tons of sugar. This maximum quantity of sugar (10,000 tons) exported by any single sugar mill to be controlled by the â€Å"E† Form submitted by the exporting sugar mill. In case of any effort of sugar mill to exceed export from 10,000 tons, SBP can very easily trace this from the record of â€Å"E† form available in its record. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the types of financing available to exporter. . FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS PURCHASED AGAINST L/Cs This type of financing is referred to as Foreign Bills Purchased (FBP). Only those documents are purchased which are negotiable and which conform to the terms of letters of credit. The documents are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and payment is received through bank’s foreign correspondents maintaining NOSTRO account in various currencies. Following documents are submitted by the exporter for negotiation: ? Original Letter of Credit (L/C) ? Documents of title to goods (Bill of lading, Airway bill, etc. ? Bill of Exchange (B/E) ? Commercial Invoice ? Certificate of Origin ? Packing List ? Insurance Policy ? Any other document as per terms of L/C FBP is practical example of â€Å"Factoring† in which bank purchases the receivable of the client/exporter after making payment and takes the responsibility of collection of the receivable at its own end. The exporter transfers all rights of ownership of the documents to the bank and authorization to claim reimbursement from the L/C opening bank. This transaction is to be handled with extreme care, vigilance and diligence.All the financial and commercial documents are scrutinized as per terms & conditions of L/C. Documents after careful scrutiny are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and claim of reimbursement is made as well. On realization of the bill, FBP is settled /adjusted. 2. FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS FOR COLLECTION Financing against foreign bills is made on export bills which are drawn under Letter of credit and are sent for payment under documentary collection. This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the buyer (bank) and seller (exporter).The documents are sold to the bank and sale proceeds will be credited in the account of seller (exporter). This type of export finance is termed as â€Å"Finance against Foreign Billsâ €  (FAFB). All other procedures of FAFB are similar to FBP except that under FAFB in the event of non-payment of the bill by L/C opening bank or importer, the exporter undertakes to repurchase the same documents at bank’s marked up price. FAFB is the practical example of â€Å"Lien on Receivables†. 3. FINANCE AGAINST PACKING CREDIT (FAPC)Packing Credit is a sort of pre-shipment or pre-export finance, extended to prime & valued customers (exporters) against valid letter of credit / firm contract order. The finance is provided to the exporter for the following: ? Purchase of goods ? Freight charges ? Clearing forwarding charges ? Export duty, etc. ? Packing requirements Finance against packing credit is granted for 180 days or upto the period the shipment of goods is affected whichever is earlier. Lien is marked on the Letter of Credit / Firm Contract in order to prevent negotiation of documents.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Alternative Health

Medical intervention is a continuous quest for health care management. Whether conventional, complementary or alternative medicine, the aim of   health care provider is to give relief to pain or to cure illness of   their patients temporarily or permanently .Alternative medicine is a practice of medicine that prevents or treats disease or ailments without the use of drugs or undergoing diagnostic procedures. It includes chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga, use of medicinal plants, homeopathy, meditation, massage and anything that requires self awareness and belief   that the body can heal itself.The use of alternative medicine is fast growing despite the result of many clinical studies showing its side effects and adverse reactions especially when combined with other procedure. It is therefore important that health care seekers should inform their health care provider of their present condition and current treatment to prevent unfavorable interaction of different treatment modality .DISCUSSIONThe world of medicine faces a continuous challenge on how to uplift the level   of health care in the country. There are organizations that spend a lot of money to provide the best drug that can cure certain illness. Several funding companies are   searching for the best medication. Clinical trials are continuously conducting studies for the drug development. A variety of medical methods have been accepted by medical practice due to many scientific explanations for their effectiveness and most often than not,   these procedures cost a lot of money.However, absence of side effects and adverse reactions is not an assurance. There are also incidents of unsatisfied medical treatment outcome. Medical lawsuits are becoming rampant nowadays resulting to decline in conventional health visits. In accordance, several health care methods are becoming more accepted as a way of battling ailments. These factors add to the popularity of alternative medicine.Although many people in less developed countries have used alternative medicine, it has not proven to cause 100% therapeutic effect. Many medical literatures have been discussing alternative medicine with complementary medicine. It should be remembered   that alternative medicine is a practice used in place of conventional medicine while complementary medicine is an alternative medicine with concurrent use of conventional medicine.Conventional medicine is medicine practiced by professionals such as Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine and other allied health professionals like physical therapist, psychologist and registered nurse. It is also known as Western medicine, orthodox, biomedicine or regular medicine.In a study conducted by Barnes and colleagues (2002), the use of complementary and alternative medicine among adults in United States has been revealed. They collected data from the noninstitutionalized population using a computer-assisted personal interview among adults age 18 and ab ove.They found out that 60% of the adults were using some form of complementary and alternative medicine. The   most commonly used   therapies were use of prayer for   health , natural products, deep breathing exercises,   meditation, chiropractic care, yoga , massage , and diet-based therapies. Ernst (2000) revealed in his research the 9% to 65% prevalence of use of complementary/alternative medicine. The given form for treatment was chiropractic in the USA but showed considerable discrepancies.The study suggests that complementary/alternative medicine therapies are frequently used and increasing. â€Å"The true prevalence of use of complementary/alternative medicine in the general population remains uncertain†.Alternative medicine has been practiced from eastern to western part of the world from 2,000-6,000 years of history (Dworkin, 2006). The definition and scope of alternative medicine is so broad that falls into one definition; a   practice of medicine which r equires self-awareness, treatment or prevention of disease without the use of expensive drugs and need not undergo through the   high cost   of   diagnostic procedures. It includes all healing approaches that do not use the conventional Western medicine.Alternative medicine includes acupuncture, aromatherapy, Ayurveda medicine, Chinese medicine, chiropractic, herbal medicine, homeopathy, massage, meditation, naturopathy, therapeutic touch and Yoga.   

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Marketing strategy of Rolex

Marketing strategy of Rolex Introduction Marketing strategy of a company, in practice and theory, is often replete with gaps. Often, marketers have deviated from the theoretical principles to develop their own set of rules that they have dubbed more useful in marketing and selling their product. This paper is a case study analysis of Rolex.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing strategy of Rolex specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main objective of the paper is to ascertain the gap in the marketing strategy and principles adopted by Rolex with that of the theoretical marketing framework presented by McDonald in his ten world class marketing principles (WCM). Further analysis of the marketing practices of the company and a comparative case analysis are presented in the paper. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the company background. Rolex – Company Background Hans Wilsdorf founded the Rolex Company in the early twentieth ce ntury. The company was registered in the name of Rolex in 1908. The watches made by the company were well known for their accuracy, durability, and dearness. The company hails from Switzerland. It has often been credited for making wristwatches a popular fashion. Rolex is also the company that is credited for making the first dustproof, airtight, and waterproof watches. The company is often associated with their luxury branded watches and are sold only through authorized retail stores. The watches are found in gold, silver, and platinum and are often studded with diamond or other precious stones. They also make other kinds of timepieces like clocks, stopwatches, and pocket watches. Today Rolex is the largest luxury watchmaker in the world. The company was formerly known as Montres Rolex S.A and is based in Geneva, Switzerland . With this background of the company, we move further on to the present state of the company. In the next section, we will discuss the financial and marketing strategy of the company in brief before discussing them in detail. The financial data of the company is not publicly available for Rolex as it is a privately owned company. However, the other aspect of the company i.e. marketing aspect can be discussed in details. Marketing of Rolex Rolex is a luxury watchmaker. The products that are made and sold by Rolex are Rolex and Tudor. Rolex markets its watches as luxury brands. The company is well known for its unique targeting, segmenting, and positioning of their product, which many believe has helped them to maintain their position as a leader over such as long period.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, with the change in the generations and ushering of the new generation who is more inclined towards new fast moving technology than a timeless timepiece, Rolex faces a challenge as to how they can attract these new emerging customers. In this section, we will first discuss the marketing strategy of Rolex before moving on to enumerate the differences they have with the world class marketing principles of McDonald . Marketing Mix of Rolex The marketing efforts of the company demonstrate the kid of customers the products are aimed at. The marketing strategy helps companies identify the customer needs and helps firms formulate strategy to satisfy them. The marketing success of a company lies in its success in identifying the customer needs. Usually understanding customer needs and tapping on them usually takes painstaking planning and strategy formulation. Usually companies carry out extensive research and analysis before formulating the four Ps of marketing – price, promotion strategy, place, and product. A careful analysis of the marketing mix of the company enables us to determine the market that the company is trying to pursue. Similarly, we undertake a thorough research of the marketi ng strategy and mix of Rolex. The target of Rolex is both men and women. Rolex makes watches to suit the taste of both men and women and are preferred by both the sexes. The market segment that the company has placed its product in is the luxury market, and the prices are high as they are placed in the luxury market. In order to maintain their status related to the four Ps, the company has positioned its product as a luxury item and for this specific reason, they have strove to maintain a very high quality for their products. The accuracy of the Rolex watches is one area that puts them ahead of any other watchmaker. Before positioning the product, the first analysis the company does is to identify the characters of its products that makes it stand apart. Creating a group of target audience is the key to creating the target audience. Brand positioning, as any practitioner and academician would know, is based on the perception of the customer.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing strategy of Rolex specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More First, the company decides the kind of customers they want to address i.e. identifying their base customers. In case of Rolex, it is clearly a luxury product targeted the affluent economic strata of the society. Consequently, the advertisements and the events, which are sponsored by the product, are those that are usually associated with the rich. The target customers for Rolex are both male and female. Targeting both the demographic section is advantageous and helps the company to spread its market. Rolex’s advertising strategy entails celebrity endorsements. Rolex advertises its products with both male and female endorsements. Rolex positions its products as a symbol of excellence and passion. Therefore, most of the advertisements that are shown by Rolex usually feature sports personalities like Tiger Woods or Roger Federer who are the best in their respec tive sports. In addition, the advertisements with women in them feature sports women or actors like Ana Ivanovic. Further, in order to cater to a certain economic class the company meticulously positions itself targeting the rich and the ones who crave for â€Å"class† rather than â€Å"beauty† this is evident from the taglines used in previous Rolex advertisements such as â€Å"Class is forever†, â€Å"Some people want more than just a pretty face† or â€Å"Live for Greatness†. These taglines demonstrate that the appeal that the company makes for its brands ensures that the products are sold to those who strive not only for beauty of the product, which even a fake Rolex watch can deliver, but rather the pristine class of wearing a watch that is hand crafted. The company strives to make Rolex a symbol of excellence. For instance older advertisement campaigns of the company had tag lines like â€Å"If you were looking for lost empires here tomorrow you’d wear a Rolex†, or â€Å"If you were flying the Concord tomorrow you’d wear a Rolex† or â€Å"If you were sailing alone round Cape Horn tomorrow you’d wear a Rolex† . In another landmark tagline for a Rolex advertisement, the positioning is made further clear, â€Å"A Rolex will never change the world. We leave that to the people who wear them.† Thus, the positioning of Rolex is clearly represented through the advertisements that they promote.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The tag used in their website to describe the products of Rolex is resonant of the positioning approach of the company. It describes Rolex watches as â€Å"Symbols of excellence, performance, prestige, and innovation† . Therefore, the positioning strategy of the company is to project the product as luxury brand that strived for excellence. Products The products that are presently marketed by Rolex can be broadly divided into three collections – Oyster collection, new 2013 collection, and Cellini Collection. The oyster collection boasts of â€Å"elegance and prestige† and has twenty models in the collection. The description of the product states that the products are â€Å"Crafted from the finest raw materials and assembled with scrupulous attention to detail† . This clearly demonstrates the attention to quality that the company has on each product it makes. Then the description moves on to describe the latest technology that is added to the age-old class of Rolex – â€Å"Oyster Perpetual watches benefit from Rolexs cutting-edge technology and extensive expertise. In addition, each individual Rolex watch undergoes stringent examination and testing.† The repeated stress on quality and style enhances the brand value of the product and helps positioning the product as luxury brand. The oyster perpetual watches are made in oyster cases, and the bracelet is made of silver, oyster, and gold. The second collection is the new 2013 collection of Rolex is a new collection of chronometers with cutting age technology instilled in them to attract the new generations and retaining their old classiness. This collection has just six models and each are designed depicting a different style and taste. Mostly these watches are fitted with precious gems and stones and others are crafted in platinum and oyster. The raw material used in designing the models makes them so valuable. The third collection is the Cellini collection. The collectio n named after the Renaissance sculptor and artist Benvenuto Cellini aims at demonstrating â€Å"quintessence of elegance† . Masters of various arts sculpted each timepiece and each come in gold or platinum cases and dials of sapphire or mother of pearl . The products of Rolex truly demonstrate the positioning of the product being successful, as they have loaded their products with beautiful and expensive metals, and stones to carve out the perfect watch. Rolex watches, truly, are a blend of art and technology. Price The watches sold by Rolex are priced high. The pricing strategy goes with their promotion and positioning strategy. Further, as their products are made with very expensive raw material and they happen to be fitted with the best quality technology. The high price is equivalent to the positioning of the product as a luxury item. Promotion Promotion plays an important role in describing the product. It is almost a means by which one can delineate to the customers wha t the product has to offer. What they must understand by the product and they are to expect when they buy the product. Therefore, it helps in setting a mood of expectation and anticipation apart from creating a space in the mind of the customers for the product. Promotions help companies to familiarize their products to the customers. However, what is promotion to a luxury brand like Rolex? Obviously, customers are aware of the brand – Rolex and the rich history of the company’s past. The promotional strategy of Rolex is to sell the idea of the class that Rolex attaches to itself. Rolex is not promoted as just a brand, but as a way of life, as class, as society. For instance, the Oyster models of Rolex was first introduced in 1926 as the first waterproof watches and since then has clad the wrists of many famous personalities but as timeless is the brand the essence of the clean, utilitarian design of Rolex has not lost its edge . Many believe that Rolex need not have p osted any more advertisements to educate its customers for they are already advertisement with the many utilities and preciousness of the watch. This is a very true observation. Hence, Rolex has shifted its promotional strategy from educating to creating an image of luxury, class, and sophistication around its brand. Rolex is no longer just a luxury watch but a product that is timeless. Hence, they have started projecting their products more in line of diamond (as done by DeBeers for diamonds) and not as any other products. Further, Rolex categorically targets the sports or trade they want to target and have the best in the class to endorse their products. For instance, Rolex associates itself with sports like tennis, golf, yachting, mountaineers, diving, etc. In other forms of occupation, Rolex has endorsers who are actors, artists, dramatists, dancers, etc. The promotional strategy of Rolex can be categorized into following classes – Advertisements in televisions Print adv ertisements in magazines and newspapers. Sponsors of gaming events like Wimbledon Embedded advertisements in movies like those of James Bond The television advertisements where the advertisements are placed are usually lifestyle channels or sports channels showing major sporting events like tennis and golf. Usually Rolex advertisements accompany airing of James Bond movies. Hence, the promotions are placed in such a way that they reach the target customers. Further, print advertisements of Rolex can be seen in major business magazines, newspapers, sports magazines, and high-end luxury and lifestyle magazines. This also demonstrates that Rolex sticks to the target customer and promotes their products accordingly. Further, Rolex sponsors gaming events like, golf and tennis, which easily makes it, attract the target customers. The association of the brand with the James Bond franchise has helped the company to create a character for the brand as dashing and adventurous despite being c lassy and sophisticated. The question that arises is why does Rolex follow a niche promotional strategy? The answer to the question is simple – Rolex’s product and positioning does not support and/or demand a mass-marketing strategy. Niche promotional strategy is apt for a brand like Rolex that sells only luxury items and that too, to a niche target market. Clearly, the promotional strategy for Rolex has worked so far, as it has tried to approach to a niche set of customer base and the promotional strategy they have employed has successfully helped them to reach to that group. The constant message that is ever-present in Rolex’s promotional campaigns is that of high-achieving, aspiring, luxury product that is crafted for few who are successful. The watches are projected for those who are achievers and consequently rich and therefore the target and positioning of the product are clearly depicted in the advertisements of Rolex. The understanding of the marketing m ix of Rolex helped us to appreciate that marketing strategy the company has employed so far. In the next section, we will try to delineate how the marketing strategy of Rolex adheres to or does not adhere to the 10-point model of McDonald. WCM This analysis is done using the 10 points of world class marketing developed by Malcolm McDonald. The first point shows the market orientation of the company. The first point entails that it is the work of the company. It is the job of the top management to instill among its employees the ideal of customer orientation. In other words, customer orientation has to be enhanced in order to ensure greater possibility of creating products that would satisfy the customers. In case of Rolex, the company has historically paid a lot of attention to the product that they create. As the company sells luxury product, it makes sure that all the qualities of luxury are presented in the watches crafted by the company. Further, the customers should be made a v ehicle for promotion. This can be attained only by making high quality products. A high quality product that satisfies the customers exceedingly would ensure that he/she promotes it to his/her peers. Rolex has achieved this through its quality and brand name. The name of Rolex is associated with luxury and precision of technology and therefore, the brand no longer requires educating its customers of its worth. It has created itself as a sign of prestige and position to own a Rolex watch. Thus, the first point of McDonald has been satisfied by Rolex’s marketing strategy. The second point as enumerated by McDonald is to understand the sources of competitive advantage for the brand. McDonald has segregated this into three categories – superior position, skills, and resources. Superior position entails niche products with high degree of differentiation and concentration on pricing. Superior skill involves quality of product, specialized knowledge, technical expertise, and flexible organization. superior resources implies advantages pertaining to economies of scale, financial structure, global reach, etc. in case of Rolex, the company follows a superior position strategy. The products are positioned in a niche market as luxury brand with high pricing. They are not considered as products with superior skill as they do not offer a product that is unique to the brand. The competition that Rolex faces in the luxury watch market has become stiff with other companies like Omega, Longines, Cartier, Chanel, Patek Philippe, etc. Therefore, in such a competitive market to have competitive advantage in technical skill is difficult as all these product similar quality of products. In case of Rolex, it has to be done in terms of the positioning. Understanding the environment of the company has a specific implication on the marketing strategy of the company. An analysis of the macro and the microenvironment helps to ascertain the threats and opportunities that are present for the brand in the market. In case of Rolex, the threat is the aging demographics of the target market of the brand. With aging population, the taste and preference of people are changing considerably, which has inculcated a threat to the organization’s product demand . Thus, the aim of Rolex should be to target younger target market However, there remains a ray of opportunity for the product. Luxury brands have swept over to the emerging economies. All marketers of different luxury items from automobiles to wristwatches have started targeting the developing, emerging market of the Asian giants like China and India . According to the predictions of analysts by 2018, Asia Pacific will be biggest market for luxury goods . This presents a unique opportunity for luxury watch brands with a long-standing brand name to make its presence felt in the emerging economies. The fourth point that is enumerated is to understand one’s competition. The company should categori cally understand who the direct and potential competitors are. Further, they should also be aware of the substitutes, backward and forwards integration competitions, and be aware of the competitor’s strength and weaknesses. The major potential of Rolex is that it is in the luxury brand market, which is highly driven by brand loyalty and recognition. The direct competitors of Rolex are other brands like Omega, Longines, Cartier, Chanel, Patek Philippe, etc. the potential competitors are other fashion brands that have started making accessories and watches like Tag Heuer, Breitling, Panerai, Tissot etc. Further, Rolex faces the threat of fake products in the market. This provides a stiff competition in price sensitive Asian markets. The fifth is to understand the market segment. The market segment that the company has placed its product in is the luxury market, and the prices are high as they are placed in the luxury market. In order to maintain their status related to the four Ps, the company has positioned its product as a luxury item and for this specific reason, they have strove to maintain a very high quality for their products. The accuracy of the Rolex watches is one area that puts them ahead of any other watchmaker. Before positioning the product, the first analysis the company does is to identify the characters of its products that makes it stand apart. The market segment that the brand targets are clear; it caters in the luxury market for watches. Hence, the positioning of the product is unambiguous. The company strives to make Rolex a symbol of excellence. For instance older advertisement campaigns of the company had tag lines like â€Å"If you were looking for lost empires here tomorrow you’d wear a Rolex†, or â€Å"If you were flying the Concord tomorrow you’d wear a Rolex† or â€Å"If you were sailing alone round Cape Horn tomorrow you’d wear a Rolex† . The positioning of the products is that of exce llence and symbol of success. The sixth point is ascertaining the strength and weakness of the brand. In this case, Rolex’s strength is its unique style and product positioning. The weakness of the brand is its present appeal to the older target customers, and inability to target newer generations. The seventh point is to understand the dynamic market for the product, i.e. to conduct a life cycle analysis. Life cycle analysis helps in ascertaining the position in the life cycle where the product lies. In case of Rolex it is clear that the product is in its mature stage but without any further impetus to the marketing strategy, the sale of the product my fall down. The eighth point suggested by McDonald is to have a strong portfolio of products. The products that are offered by Rolex are unique and timeless. Their appeal is great as each are made differently with different features and crafted in different styles. The ninth point shows that a company should formulate a strateg ic marketing policy and stick to it. In case of Rolex, the company has adhered to its niche marketing strategy since the beginning and therefore its charm and demand has not faltered. The last point presented appeals to the companies to maintain a professional attitude in promoting and marketing its products. It is important for the company to understand all the above marketing tools and continually evaluate its products using these tools in order to make predictions of any impending changes in future. References Forster, J 2012, The Rolex Problem, forbes.com/sites/jackforster/2012/09/03/the-rolex-problem-a-semi-rational-look-at-the-worlds-most-recognized-watch/. Hodinkee 2013, A Quick Look At The New Rolex Ad Campaign: Highlighting Innovators And Rolex Wearers, hodinkee.com/blog/a-quick-look-at-the-new-rolex-ad-campaign-highlighting-innovators-and-rolex-wearers. Klara, R 2013, How Rolex Runs on Autopilot Educating is no longer necessary, adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-rol ex-runs-autopilot-148233. McDonald, MHB, Chernatony, LD Harris, F 2001, Corporate marketing and service brands Moving beyond the fast-moving consumer goods model, European Journal of Marketing, vol 35, no. 3/4, pp. 335 352. McDonald, M Wilson, H 2011, Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, How to Use Them, John Wiley Sons, London. Onofrei, I 2012, How Rolex could become a prisoner of its own strategy, branditmagazine.co.uk/rolex/. OyesterInfo 2013, Rolex Advertisments, oysterinfo.de/en/werbung/index.php. Rolex 2013, About Rolex, rolex.com/about-rolex/rolex-history/1905-1919.html. Wall Street Week 2013, Emerging Markets Drive Luxury Goods, wallstreetweek.com/emerging-markets-drive-luxury-goods/. Wang, L 2013, Luxury Sales to Exceed $318 Billion, Driven by Emerging Markets and ‘Affordable Luxury’, businessoffashion.com/2013/10/euromonitor-coach-michael-kors-louis-vuitton-versace-fflur-roberts.html.

Monday, October 21, 2019

The Impact Of Ethical Sourcing Essays

The Impact Of Ethical Sourcing Essays The Impact Of Ethical Sourcing Essay The Impact Of Ethical Sourcing Essay The sourcing companies are preferred to source products at the lowest possible price, while at the same time ensure he suppliers produce the products With social and environmental considerations. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that products and raw materials purchase by or on behalf of a company consistent with the mission to develop and promote ethical responsibility at every stage in a fashion supply chain. In 1 9905, fashion retailers mainly focused on the economical aspect i. E. Sweet cost with reasonable quality, of achieving the products. While ethical issues are increasingly concerned recently in supply chain management. Globalization is likely one of the factors that contribute to the ransom, which many companies move the production lines offshore to those developing counties for the reason of lower production costs. Concerns on the human right of the workers and the environment protection have been raise in these countries. Change in consumer purchasing behavior may be another factor. This change may possibly increase pressure on fashion retailers or producers to sell or use products that are produced environmentally friendly and respecting human rights. Any failure would probably destroy the companies trustworthiness and even threaten corporate survival. International brands Gap and Nikkei are examples that suffered negative publicity as a result of failing to maintain the ethical issues in their production process. This appears to force fashion companies to adopt ethical sourcing and ensure their suppliers in all stages of supply chain act accordingly. 2. Finding and Discussion The impact of ethical souring on the selection of production sources can be divided into two aspects: the selection of suppliers and the selection of production materials. 2. 1 . Selection of suppliers Traditionally, under limited information about the suppliers, fashion buyers end to use price as a standard for selection Of suppliers in which the lower the price a supplier offered, the more likely the supplier will obtain the business in a pool of potential suppliers. In addition to price, quality, delivery time and services provided may also affect their choices. Today, however, fashion companies take into account two additional concerns, i. E. Social responsibility and environmental sustainability, when selecting new suppliers. Price used to be considered as a critical factor in evaluating and determining suppliers as the price of raw materials contribute most in the production sots. Therefore to cut the production costs, fashion companies may choose the suppliers with the lower price. This low price, however, may reflect lower standards in response to the workers treatment and environmental protection. As to keep costs low, suppliers may pay low wages, require the workers to work long hours, provide poor working environment for their workers and employ child labors in order to gain the business and undercut other potential suppliers. These unethical social problems are now widely criticized by public and therefore trigger a change in supply chain management. Cooperate with those unethical suppliers may have a risk of reputation damage , and consequently many companies start to consider ethical issues when they are choosing suppliers. The main barrier for ethical souring On selection Of suppliers may possibly be the Costs. It seems difficult for the suppliers to produce products as cheap as before and at the same time adherence to ethical production, because they may have to increase the wage rate, improve working environment, and use safe and environmental friendly raw materials. This apparently lowers the opportunities for suppliers o gain the business unless they undercut other potential suppliers on cost. Also, the costs of sourcing ethical clothing, inevitably, will increase accordingly. A fashion buyer may face a tradeoff when selecting suppliers between lower costs and concerning ethical issues. When adopting ethical souring, fashion buyers may not be able to access to the interior of the suppliers and evaluate whether the products are produced according to code Of ethics and environmental standards. Evidence from third parties, therefore, may be required to provide advice for the companies. For example, United Nation Global Compact (UNC), requires companies to follow universal teeth kcal principles, is a standard to encourage companies worldwide to adopt sustainable social and environmental policies. Also, several non- government organizations (NAG) were established to encourage fashion companies to sourcing materials or clothing produced by manufacturers with ethical concerns. The Clean Clothes Campaign, the Ethical Trading Initiative (IT) and Fair Labor Association are the examples of NAG to promote ethical standards in clothing production. However, these organizations that help in ethical sourcing may be criticized as not reliable. For example, one of the members in the IT, Gap, had been found inconsistent with the ethical standards by employing child labors. Consumers, therefore, may need self- adjustment on the companies performance and the information on the companies official website may provide a way. Some of the fashion companies, such as Patagonia and People Tree, provide transparency of information about where the raw materials come from and where the production is carried out on their websites. This is because these companies recognize that any inappropriate and unethical corporate actions in supply chains may affect the companies image and reputations in the market. 2. 2. Selection of production materials Selecting appropriate raw materials would be very important as the features of raw materials could have a great influence on the finished products. There is trend for fashion buyers to source clothing made from sustainable cottons and produced by Fair Trade manufacturers. For instance, Marks Spencer had sold clothing made from Fair Trade cotton since 2006; Monsoon sold Fair Trade clothing; New Look sold t-shirts made from organic cotton; Houses sold clothing made from recycled cotton fabric. Sustainable cottons refer to the cottons that are produced in response to social ethics and environmental protection. Examples are organic cotton, better cotton and recycled cotton. Organic cotton takes an important role in ethical souring and there are a growing number Of fast ion companies that start to take step towards using organic cotton. Timberland could be a typical example that does a lot to reduce damage to the environment in which 80% of the shoes are manufactured from organic cotton or recycled materials. HM, another example, is one of the leading users of organic cotton in the world. Cotton is regarded as the most popular fiber used in garment. Standard cotton farming is criticized for produce significant environmental problems as it is accounted for 1 1 % of the worlds pesticide consumption. Organic cotton, which is grown without pesticides and fertilizers, is therefore used to improve farmers health and reduce considerable environmental pollution. This kind of farming may possibly minimize the adverse effect on rivers or water source nearby. Better cotton, which is introduced by Better Cotton Initiative to promote good farming behavior, also growth with less irrigate water, chemical, and with more concern to the soil, natural environment and working condition for farmers. Recycled cotton, which is made from the scraps produced by textile mills or post-consumer cotton waste, is important to minimize unnecessary wastage and environmental impacts. Recycle cotton reduce waste to landfill and the use of virgin cotton, chemicals, water and land. Although it is environmental friendly to use sustainable cottons, there are several imitations regarding the usage of these cottons. There seems to be physical limitation for organic cotton and better cotton of having less output because of the absence of chemical pesticide and fertilizers. Apart from physical limitation, there is also economical limitation in which using sustainable cottons is very expensive. Cost of farmers will be increase as the certified organic seed is expensive. Farmers may possibly transfer these extra cost to manufacturers for producing sustainable cotton fabrics. The cost of fashion companies will increase accordingly as extra expense is resulted from using expensive cotton fabric, getting organic cotton certification and paying a Fair Trade premium to farmers. A huge investment of money, time and effort may be required to develop and train farmers skills for producing sustainable cottons in order to meet the international standard. 3. Conclusion Ethical sourcing may conceivably be the critical souring strategy for every fashion companies worldwide in the nearest future as it brings a great deal of benefit to the society while at the same time minimizes the environmental impact. It mainly affects the supply chain in the selection of suppliers and production materials. Although the change in criteria of selection production source may discourage the economic aspect as higher purchase price, it does promote the companys reputation and good image to be an ethical corporate as consumers concern. This may actually reduce operation costs of a company as more recycled materials are used and less effort may be put on promoting brand image. Reputation is a key to maximum corporate benefit and there is no other choice than employing ethical sourcing to maintain or improve reputation in the long term. With increase in reputation, new marketing opportunities could be found.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Blake Coleridge Swift Essay Research Paper The

Blake, Coleridge, Swift Essay, Research PaperThe Symbolism of ChristWilliam Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Jonathan Swift were really different writes but are bound by basic Christian beliefs. In their Hagiographas there are strong mentions to Christ and symbolic images of Him. Blake writes # 8220 ; The Lamb # 8221 ; as a symbolic representative of Christ. Coleridge uses many signifier of spiritual symbolism in his verse form # 8220 ; The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner # 8221 ; , but the thing that stands out the most is how the millstone represents Christ. Swift writes in # 8220 ; Gulliver # 8217 ; s Travels # 8221 ; , of a adult male named Pedro de Mendez who is a savior to Gulliver. These three writers show us how Christian positions and Jesus are a portion of life non merely in the Bible but besides in current society. Blake uses our inquiries about religion to stress the importance of Christ in our lives.Blake emphasizes the connexion of which the kid is of course cogn izant, when he writes, # 8220 ; I, a kid, and thou a lamb, We are called by his name # 8221 ; ( p.1289 ) . The tone, nevertheless, is the echt simpleness of a kid # 8217 ; s address. The first poetry is a series of inquiries addressed to the lamb,which represents Jesus. The 2nd stanza begins with the kid being able to reply those inquiries. Blake writes, # 8220 ; Little Lamb, I # 8217 ; ll state thee # 8221 ; ( p.1289 ) . Meaning that the kid understands Christ being the Jesus. These inquiries are asked strictly for the satisfaction that it gives the kid in replying and to demo the kid # 8217 ; s apprehension of God. Blake shows Christ in a manner that is guiltless like the kid. Blake writes this verse form utilizing the illustration of the lamb found in nature to stand for Christ and uses the kid to stand for adult male seeking to understand God. Blake uses the lamb to stand for Christ in nature in the same manner that Coleridge uses the millstone to stand for Christ in natu re.Coleridge uses spiritual and natural symbolism, which correspond with one another and play the most of import functions in this verse form. Although there are many different readings of this verse form, one thought that has remained common throughout the verse form is that of the spiritual symbolism nowadays. Particularly that of Christ and his ability to salvage, which was present throughout this verse form. The symbolism is that of the millstone. The millstone saves the Mariner for bad conditions and keeps the crewmans ingood wellness merely as Christ healed and kept His people from evil. Coleridge writes that a spirit similar to God, # 8220 ; loved the bird that loved the adult male who shot him with his bow # 8221 ; ( p.1498 ) . Those lines are an analogy with God who loved his boy who loved the m en that killed Him. The Mariner is shown as the people how turned from Christ and killed Him even though Jesus continued to love them. Coleridge besides has the Mariner hang the millstone around his cervix like a rood. The â€Å"crossbow† used to kill the millstone symbolizes the â€Å"cross† on which Jesus was nailed. Coleridge uses the millstone to typify Christ and the Mariner is the illustration of adult male losing religion and fighting to recover his religion in God. Coleridge uses the millstone as an illustration of a Jesus in the same manner that Swift uses Pedro de Mendez as a Jesus to Gulliver. # 8220 ; Gulliver # 8217 ; s Travels # 8221 ; , written by Swift, shows us that adult male is of course inclined toward immorality, yet his ain ground can convey him to a cognition of moral truth. The connexion of the 4th ocean trip to this theory is obvious. The Yahoos typify adult male as the hopeless evildoer. The Houyhnhnms symbolize adult male, directed by ground, into the way of righteousness and God. Gulliver tries to go a Houyhnhnm but they can non ground that he has the ability to be the same. Gulliver doesn # 8217 ; t recognize that ground International Relations and Security Network # 8217 ; t the lone manner to God until he meets Pedro de Mendez. Mendezrepresents Jesus in that he saves Gulliver and takes him in to feed, clothe, and supply a topographic point for Gulliver toremainder. Mendez treats Gulliver as an equal even though Gulliver treats Mendez as a lesser Yokel, as Christ loved all even those who betrayed Him. Swift shows how Gulliver inquiries and attempts to understand Christ merely like Blake shows the kid seeking to understand Christ. In all three narratives there is a individual who inquiries faith and a figure that tries to convey visible radiation to this inquiry of religion.These three authors all portion a common job with a major character and happen an reply to that job in their Christian belief of Christ # 8217 ; s being and love. Blake uses the kid to oppugn his Godhead and the lamb to stand for Christ. The lamb replies by stating the kid that their land is that of God. Coleridge shows how adult male inquiries God # 8217 ; s land and destroys it but how Christ still saves adult male from rolling from the way that leads us to His land.Fleet uses Gulliver to demo how adult male inquiries faith but so uses Mendez to stand for Christ who believes in religion. All three writers write from really Christian positions and demo how Christ is present in all people # 8217 ; s lives. They show us that the image of Christ can be seen in many thingsand that Christ directs us to faith. These authors use the symbolism of Christ in many different parts of nature, to demo that He represents all that Christians believe.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Exercises for Editing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Exercises for Editing - Assignment Example To repair a glass window, you will need these tools and materials. The tools include a glass cutter, a putty knife, a window scraper, a chisel, an electric soldering iron, a razor blade, a pair of pliers, and a paint brush. The materials you will need are putty, paint, hand cleaner, linseed oil, and glazier’s points. (15 pts.) You need tools and materials to repair a glass window. Edit the following sentences so they focus on the real subject, focus on the real verb, use the active voice, express parallel elements in parallel structures, do not have misplaced and dangling modifiers, and do not have verbal filler. Each sentence has only one of these kinds of errors. All of the required tasks were completed by the intern. (2 pts.) The intern completed all of the required tasks. Once they wilt, most garden sprays are unable to save vegetable plants from complete collapse. (2 pts.) Most garden sprays are unable to save vegetable plants from complete collapse once they wilt. There are several factors that have caused structure’s strength to be questioned by the engineers. (2pts.) There are several factors about the structure’s strength that made it questionable to the engineers. It is because the price of a college education has soared that many college graduates have accumulated large amounts of debt. (2 pts.) The price of a college education soared that many college graduates have accumulated large amounts of debt. The team leaders have not yet been designated by the project supervisor. (2 pts.)

Performance-Enhancing Drugs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Performance-Enhancing Drugs - Essay Example Nowadays, sportsmen and women will go to extreme lengths to improve their athletic abilities (Mottram 18). Many sports personalities admit that the competitive desire to be victorious is unusually severe. Apart from the pleasure of benefiting individually, sports individuals share a dream to participate in large sporting events, high class teams, and the young athletes pursue the school scholarships. The common, competitive situation, made by the human culture, has caused the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs such as stimulants, sedatives, lean mass builders and painkillers among individuals taking part in sporting activities (Bahrke and Yesalis 8). The people who use the substances for enhancement may appear to have acquired gains that are physical. There has not been a thorough study on the long-term effects of performance-enhancement drugs, but evidence suggests that the short-term effects are destructive with numerous consequences like loss of scholarships, medals, el igibility, side-effects, and sometimes death. This paper will look at the performance-enhancement drugs that should be accepted in sports, and whether creatine should be illegalized in Major League Baseball Several performance enhancement drugs should be legalized in sports, they include: Lean Mass Builders This are the types of performance-enhancement substances that are used to amplify or facilitate the enlargement of lean body mass and muscles, and from time to time to lessen fats in the body. These drugs may include several human hormones, anabolic steroids, and Chromium Picolinate. Chromium Picolinate, for instance, helps an individual to make use of the body glucose. It helps an individuals’ body to access fats and convert it to energy. This drug is more useful to people who have additional body fat and they would like to lose it (Mottram 23). Stimulants They are used to stimulate an individual’s mind and body to function at the top level by increasing energy, aggression, and focus. The examples are amphetamine and caffeine. Caffeine has been for a long time been used as an aid for muscle endurance by many athletes. Caffeine lengthens the duration of fatigue that occurs in the muscles at the heightened power levels. Nowadays, caffeine is a performance-enhancing drug that is not listed as illegal for use by sports personalities. In addition it is proven that stimulants can promote endurance, enhance accuracy, and improve reaction time. The dose of caffeine and the athlete’s condition and exercise determine if the person’s performance is enhanced or not (Mottram 26). Painkillers Painkillers cover up pain that is experienced by the sportsmen so that they can keep on performing and competing without their normal pain limit. Painkillers used in sports vary from over-the-counter administered drugs to prescriptions that are powerful, such as narcotics and NSAIDs (Mottram 28). Sedatives The drugs in this category are mostly used by people who take part in sports which have the need for being steady, accurate and overcome too much discomfort and nervousness. Examples include valium, alcohol, and marijuana (Jeffrey, Jose, and Douglas 34). Diuretics These are drugs that remove water from the body. Diuretics are most often used in different t ypes of wrestling and contact sports because the sportsmen have to conform to weight restraints (Jeffrey, Jose, a

Emergency Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emergency Management - Essay Example According to the Texas Impact (2008), at the time of the flood, â€Å"the ARC set up food and water stations, provided medical care, and established mass shelters to house the disaster victims.† Leading on from the performance of the American Red Cross in this disaster, it organization was granted a federal charter in 1900 by congress to provide support in time of disaster. A lot more non-governmental agencies and charity organizations were given similar recognition in major disasters such as â€Å"the Galveston Hurricane and Storm Surge in 1900, San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and the droughts of 1930-1931† (Texas Impact). Though the efforts of the non-governmental organizations were commendable, the task seemed just too much to be left to their care alone especially as government least supported them with funds (Sylves, 2008). Concerns were therefore raised in the mid 1900s as the situation was eventually curtailed in 1950 when congress passed what came to be known as the Federal Disaster Relief Program (FDP). The FDP transferred power to the president from congress. With this power, the president was then mandated to be the sole authority that could declare disaster. FEMA (2011) notes that the Stafford Act (1988) â€Å"constitutes the statutory authority for most Federal disaster response activities especially as they pertain to FEMA and FEMA programs.† The Stafford Act is quite limited in the kind of relief or support it can give out in time of a major disaster or an emergency (Meola, 2011). The first of these relief assistances is emergency work, which is carried out upon the instruction of the president. The emergency work includes such activities as clearing and removing debris, restoration of public facilities and freeing wreckage. The support also includes the provision of legal services, giving out unemployment assistance, giving out of food coupons for the onward

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Leadership Styles in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership Styles in Organisations - Essay Example A leader influences others by his qualities, viz. confidence, communicative ability, awareness of his impact on others as well as perceptions about the situation and his subordinates. The effect of a leader's background experiences, his communication ability, self-awareness, confidence, his perceptions of subordinates, the situation and the self are shown below (Prasad, 2006, p. 264). Almost every aspect of work is influenced by, if not dependent on, leadership. The leader is the chief communicator to people outside the group as well as within the group. The leader's attitude and behaviour affects the motivation of the group. The leader is responsible for seeing that the group's objectives are clearly understood and are accomplished. The planning and control mechanisms are designed or modified by the leader. How the leader behaves influences employees' satisfaction and affects the quality and quantity of output. All leaders have three limiting factors to contend with. Firstly, they are limited by their own ability, by their knowledge, skills, attitudes, weaknesses and inadequacies. Secondly, they are limited by the level of experience, skills, proficiencies and attitudes of their subordinates. Finally, they are limited by their environment. This includes the resources and conditions, which are available to them in their effort to achieve their objectives. All these factors are constantly changing (Yvonne, 2003, p. 189). Leadership is a vital and dynamic function in organizations. The quality of leadership is a key factor in the accomplishment of the organization's objectives. It is generally recognized that certain types of leaders suit certain situations better than others. For example, some leaders perform better in a prosperous, or growth, period, others in an austere or contracting period. LEADERSHIP STYLES Leadership styles are the patterns of behaviour, which a leader adopts in influencing the behaviour of his followers (subordinates) in the organisational context. These patterns emerge in the leader as he begins to respond in the same fashion under similar conditions; he develops habits of actions that become somewhat predictable to those who work with him. There are many dimensions of leadership styles: power dimension where superior uses varying degree of authority; orientation -employee or task-oriented; motivational-where superior affects the behaviour of his subordinates either by giving a reward or by imposing a penalty. All these styles are leader of oriented. Leadership style is the result of leader's philosophy, personality, experience and value system. It also depends upon the types of followers and the organisational

Unethical trade practices of Tesco on fresh produce from developing Essay

Unethical trade practices of Tesco on fresh produce from developing countries - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the impact of unethical practices of business especially conducted by multinational corporations has long been the center of debates. Multinational companies operating in developing countries in the complex supply chain and the increased international trades, their business activities and decisions can have a profound impact on local communities and people from developing countries, which are producers in the supply chain. According to the ILO, agriculture is the largest sector of employment in most developing countries, which employs one-third of the world’s labor force. Many families and people rely on agricultural and production for export for their livelihoods. Agricultural supply chains are complex and international. However, it is considered a vulnerable sector for its high production cost, price fluctuations, and the unbalanced market power. In the complex supply chain, multinational companies that purchase their products from developing countries can have immense impacts on people living in those countries. In the international market, actions taken by the dominant buyers and retailers may create a situation where it undermines the capacity of suppliers and compromises farmers and worker’s basic rights. According to Wearden, the United Kingdom imports over 90 percent of its fresh fruits and 60% vegetables from other countries each year. These products are imported mainly from European countries and some developing African countries such as Kenya and Morocco and have estimated value of GBP 1.5 billion per annum. In the UK, a small number of retailers dominate the food retail market a factor which is seen to in turn generally contribute to the power imbalance in the trading relationship between purchasers and suppliers. According to the UK Competition Commission, supermarket chains are increasingly exerting pressure on suppliers and farmers from developing countries to conform to ethical stand ards. Tesco PLC is the grocery market leader in the United Kingdom with a market share of around 30 percent in 2013. It is one of the world’s largest merchandise retailers. TESCO was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 as a group of grocery stalls in East End of London. In forming the name TESCO, the first two letter of Jack Cohen’s his surname were combined with the initials of his tea supplier, Thomas Edward Stockwell. The first Tesco store was opened in Middlesex in 1229. Originally Tesco focused its business on grocery retailer until the early 1990s when it diversified its products and services into a wider range inclusive of items such as clothing, furniture, books, DVD rental electronics, financial services, internet services and software in addition to its expanding its business abroad. Since then Tesco has continued to grow and offers new services in addition to opening new stores globally with a principle to sell a wide range of quality products at lower prices for everyone. In the present, Tesco has more than 6,500 stores worldwide and employs over 500,000 staffs around the world. Tesco is considered to be Britain’s biggest and most profitable supermarket chain and is currently seen to be expanding globally at a rapid rate. In 2013, Tesco announced its group trading profit before tax at GBP 3.5 billion with the UK sales accounting for over GBP 2 billion. With its aggressive worldwide expansions, Tesco purchases its products from suppliers in over 70 countries around the world. Given its continual success and the highest market share in the UK retails market, Tesco is in a powerful position, especially in grocery supply chain.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Emergency Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Emergency Management - Essay Example According to the Texas Impact (2008), at the time of the flood, â€Å"the ARC set up food and water stations, provided medical care, and established mass shelters to house the disaster victims.† Leading on from the performance of the American Red Cross in this disaster, it organization was granted a federal charter in 1900 by congress to provide support in time of disaster. A lot more non-governmental agencies and charity organizations were given similar recognition in major disasters such as â€Å"the Galveston Hurricane and Storm Surge in 1900, San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and the droughts of 1930-1931† (Texas Impact). Though the efforts of the non-governmental organizations were commendable, the task seemed just too much to be left to their care alone especially as government least supported them with funds (Sylves, 2008). Concerns were therefore raised in the mid 1900s as the situation was eventually curtailed in 1950 when congress passed what came to be known as the Federal Disaster Relief Program (FDP). The FDP transferred power to the president from congress. With this power, the president was then mandated to be the sole authority that could declare disaster. FEMA (2011) notes that the Stafford Act (1988) â€Å"constitutes the statutory authority for most Federal disaster response activities especially as they pertain to FEMA and FEMA programs.† The Stafford Act is quite limited in the kind of relief or support it can give out in time of a major disaster or an emergency (Meola, 2011). The first of these relief assistances is emergency work, which is carried out upon the instruction of the president. The emergency work includes such activities as clearing and removing debris, restoration of public facilities and freeing wreckage. The support also includes the provision of legal services, giving out unemployment assistance, giving out of food coupons for the onward

Unethical trade practices of Tesco on fresh produce from developing Essay

Unethical trade practices of Tesco on fresh produce from developing countries - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the impact of unethical practices of business especially conducted by multinational corporations has long been the center of debates. Multinational companies operating in developing countries in the complex supply chain and the increased international trades, their business activities and decisions can have a profound impact on local communities and people from developing countries, which are producers in the supply chain. According to the ILO, agriculture is the largest sector of employment in most developing countries, which employs one-third of the world’s labor force. Many families and people rely on agricultural and production for export for their livelihoods. Agricultural supply chains are complex and international. However, it is considered a vulnerable sector for its high production cost, price fluctuations, and the unbalanced market power. In the complex supply chain, multinational companies that purchase their products from developing countries can have immense impacts on people living in those countries. In the international market, actions taken by the dominant buyers and retailers may create a situation where it undermines the capacity of suppliers and compromises farmers and worker’s basic rights. According to Wearden, the United Kingdom imports over 90 percent of its fresh fruits and 60% vegetables from other countries each year. These products are imported mainly from European countries and some developing African countries such as Kenya and Morocco and have estimated value of GBP 1.5 billion per annum. In the UK, a small number of retailers dominate the food retail market a factor which is seen to in turn generally contribute to the power imbalance in the trading relationship between purchasers and suppliers. According to the UK Competition Commission, supermarket chains are increasingly exerting pressure on suppliers and farmers from developing countries to conform to ethical stand ards. Tesco PLC is the grocery market leader in the United Kingdom with a market share of around 30 percent in 2013. It is one of the world’s largest merchandise retailers. TESCO was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919 as a group of grocery stalls in East End of London. In forming the name TESCO, the first two letter of Jack Cohen’s his surname were combined with the initials of his tea supplier, Thomas Edward Stockwell. The first Tesco store was opened in Middlesex in 1229. Originally Tesco focused its business on grocery retailer until the early 1990s when it diversified its products and services into a wider range inclusive of items such as clothing, furniture, books, DVD rental electronics, financial services, internet services and software in addition to its expanding its business abroad. Since then Tesco has continued to grow and offers new services in addition to opening new stores globally with a principle to sell a wide range of quality products at lower prices for everyone. In the present, Tesco has more than 6,500 stores worldwide and employs over 500,000 staffs around the world. Tesco is considered to be Britain’s biggest and most profitable supermarket chain and is currently seen to be expanding globally at a rapid rate. In 2013, Tesco announced its group trading profit before tax at GBP 3.5 billion with the UK sales accounting for over GBP 2 billion. With its aggressive worldwide expansions, Tesco purchases its products from suppliers in over 70 countries around the world. Given its continual success and the highest market share in the UK retails market, Tesco is in a powerful position, especially in grocery supply chain.