Business Environment and Strategic Management Essay

Business Environment and Strategic Management - Essay Example After 1960, the company focused on production of cars and it hit the market with the Civic which was an eco-friendly and economic vehicle once again winning the hearts of American drivers, it went on to make the accord which became the most popular vehicle in the United States. Honda has since then diversified its products and today it is also involved in the manufacture of solar cells, Aircraft through its subsidiary company Honda Aircraft, power generators among other products. However its main business is the production of vehicles, it is the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in Japan and it ranked 3rd car company in the world after Toyota and ford motors. Today, Hondas leading market is in North America where their revenues were highest compered to its other global markets (Parker, 2001). It is the second most popular Asian car brand in the United States after Toyota and is set to grow even bigger being the only vehicle with a fuel cell engine certified for US where the standar ds are highest in the world (Trade.govermnets.com, 2010). Its main competitors both in America and globally are Toyota and ford which have larger supply and distributor networks. In the last fiscal year, the companies’ profits Quadrupled showing a strong recovery after the earthquakes in Japan; it is predicting an even bigger profit in the next fiscal years with projections of up to 7.7 billion USD. Analysis of the current business environment affecting the industry In the cause of the last few years, recession and the subsequent by economic uncertainty has resulted in a serious decline in the motor vehicle industry, the sales of motor vehicles fell to the lowest point since the 70s. While Japanese firms like Toyota and Honda are still major players in the market, in the last few years they have suffered severe setbacks, which American and Korean firms exploited to increase their competitive advantage in the industry. Toyota for instance lost much of its competitive advantage by yielding too much ground base on its bottom line and lost the confidence of many of its customers. Japan, which is the mother country of Toyota and Honda, was also hit by a double calamity in the Japan earth quake and the tsunami, the two firms suffered major losses and setbacks in production and distribution as a result (Newman, 2013). The shortage that ensued drove American customers away from the Japanese manufactures to other suppliers in America Europe and other parts of Asia such as Korea and India. Toyota’s earnings went down by 2.3 percent and Honda lost 1.6 percent in earnings for the year 2011. Unfortunately for European auto makers, they were not able to benefit much from Japans misfortune since Europe was also embroiled in a crisis of its own albeit it an economic one, European Union countries were in the worst recession ever and the financial crisis almost crippled the manufacturing industry.

How to shop online Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How to shop online - Essay Example This often involves computer systems, mobile phones, among other devices that can connect to the internet. It also involves stores and sellers that operate online. Even though the online shopping process appears to be simple, potential online buyers must be careful to consider their environment while undertaking their shopping over the internet. This involves evaluation of, and high level of sensitivity to the online environment that involves risks. These consequently define appropriate practices to ensure a safe online shopping (Get, n.d.). Online shopping ventures are for instance full of fraudulent activities that aim at getting a customer’s money without the intended delivery. Hackers particularly exist who intercept communication and misguide consumers into making payments to wrong accounts, or establish websites through which the potential customers can unknowingly make payments to wrong destinations. The result is single way transaction in which the fraudster receives payments but the potential customer does not obtain the desired products. There also exist fake websites that do not actually offer products as they claim to. They however disseminate false information on their location, communication links and inventory that may not really exist. A buyer therefore looses advanced payments to such cheats. Another threat to online shopping is in delivery of products that do not match the expected descriptions. While a consumer can have the situation corrected if such deliveries are not intentional, intentional false delivery results into losses because the alleged seller will never make the right delivery after receiving the targeted money (Get, n.d.). Safe shopping is however defined by a number of characteristics. A potential buyer should conduct a thorough search on alleged online sellers before initiating a transaction. Such a search should determine existence and validity the seller’s address and phone contacts for

Compare with crime control theory vs due process Essay

Compare with crime control theory vs due process - Essay Example In contrast to this the crime control model has been designed to make sure that the criminal cases are dealt fast and disposed off as early as possible. Both these models are important to the system of criminal justice and they play a key role in identifying offences and also in the interpretation of the criminal justice system. During 1964, Herbert Packer who is a Law professor wrote an article which provided a good philosophy on criminal justice. â€Å"In particular, the work of Packer provoked civil libertarian concerns over the police deviation from due process protections in pursuit of the objectives embodied in the crime control model† (William, 2002, p.11). In the said article, the author has further proposed the criminal justice model and the due process model. His article is said to have influenced every person who works on the criminal justice system. While crime control deals with the suppression of crime, the due process is concerned with the safeguarding the rights of the innocent. However, both have the same goal of punishing the guilty and protecting the innocent. The major difference lies in the fact that models use different means and approaches. â€Å"The question therefore arises for every society as to where on the continuum between crime control and due process it wishes to anchor its criminal justice values, subject to the observation that the two models in reality represent different means to a broadly common goal –the detection and effective punishment of crime† (Bryett & Osbome, 2000, p. 14). When comparing the crime control and the due process, it can be seen that the proponents of both approaches uphold constitutional values. However, some people view the crime control model in a negative light because of the fact that it assumes the criminal who has been alleged of an offence, guilty even before he is brought

Special Qualitites of Japanese Woodblock Prints Essay

Special Qualitites of Japanese Woodblock Prints - Essay Example Not only were the woodblock prints a source of entertainment and enchantment, they were also vital to the propagation of Buddhist philosophy and art. (Priest, 1959) As a consequence, the evolution of Zen Buddhism in Japan is neatly documented in this medium of art. The rest of this essay will analyze two Japanese woodblock prints – taken one each from The Seattle Museum of Asian Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art respectively – and study their similarities and differences in the backdrop of the evolution of the technique. The two woodblock prints chosen for this essay are – Crow and Heron (Young Lovers Walking Under an Umbrella in a Snowstorm, ca. 1769) and Two Ladies Looking Through a Telescope (Hokusai, 19th century) - from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Seattle Museum of Asian Art respectively. The Crow and Heron was created by Suzuki Harunobu and is made of woodcut print on paper. This print carries many typical characteristics of the art and cultural sensibilities of the period. Firstly, chivalry being a cherished virtue in high Japanese society, the man is shown to hold the umbrella for his lover. The demureness and shyness of the lady is complemented by the glitter and passion in the eyes of her beloved. The robes worn by the lovers further accentuate this complementariness. The dark brown shades of the man’s robes align and merge with the soft white robe of the lady. The tresses and folding of their robes form a unified pattern. (Meech, 1982) Japanese woodblock prints reveal much information about the social structures and cultural norms of corresponding eras. They also show the signature styles of various artists. The Crow and Heron print shows the â€Å"rise of the wealthy chonin and their interest in elegant clothes, pleasurable pastimes, and the arts, especially woodblock prints. Harunobu depicted beautiful women being slender and graceful. He did not individualize his figures, but presented them as idealized ima ges without unique features†. (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/JP2453, 2006) It is interesting to note that the flourishing of woodprint art during the Edo period is largely due to the patronage of the aristocratic class. Indeed, the â€Å"pleasure quarters and the sophisticated entertainments they offered exerted an enormous impact on the culture of the Edo period.† (http://www.metmuseum.org, 2003) In this light, it is a paradox that the Buddhist message of austerity and detachment was propagated in equal measure through the art form. For instance, one prominent feature of this Buddhist ethos is that of ukiyo, which stands for the transitory nature of life. Both the works in discussion exhibit this quality in terms of their impressions. Hence, the revelry of Japanese high society went hand in hand with the simplicity of Buddhist philosophy in shaping the rules and aesthetics of woodprint art. This contra-direction is exemplified in the upturning of the meani ng of ukiyo from ‘transitory’ to that of ‘joie de vivre’. This â€Å"hedonistic culture that glorified life in the ‘floating world’ was particularly well expressed in the production of woodblock prints, which made available to anyone with a bit of extra cash captivating images of seductive courtesans, exciting kabuki actors, and famous romantic vistas. For the first time, artists were inspired by and responded

Marketing Plan of Wallmart entering Germany (Product being the store) Term Paper

Marketing Plan of Wallmart entering Germany (Product being the store) - Term Paper Example In the previous fiscal 2010, with sales of $405billion, the company employed 2.1 million associates worldwide. The Fortune Magazine 2010 has ranked Wal-Mart among the top 10 retailers in the world. Wal-Mart goal is to save the money of its customers and help them live better (Wal-Mart, n.d). Wal-mart has its retail stores across the country, thus this paper deals with the expansion strategy of Wal-Mart in Germany. The retail market in Germany has reported to fall unexpectedly by 2.33% in September 2010; but the German retail market has experienced a recovery from the crises in 2010 and generating revenue of 400billion EUR (PRLog, 2011). Thus Wal-Mart can take this opportunity as its competitive advantage lies in low cost pricing and thus expand itself in Germany. Internationalization Wal-Mart draws its competitive advantage from the aspect of its unique supply chain management strategy using advanced technological tools like Enterprise Resource Planning. The supply chain management s trategy of the company such as cross docking and real time information sharing between suppliers is used to forecast demand on the basis of real time data that is further used to manage the inventory carrying costs. Use of real time information sharing enables the company to eliminate instances of overstocking or stock outs that helps in managing inventory carrying costs. The cross docking system initiated by the company also ensures that inventory is not stored and there is no standing time. The cost savings incurred due to inventory management is passed on to the customers in the form of an EDLP (Every Day Low Price) strategy where the company provides services at low prices that helps in attracting and retaining customers (Dess, Lumpkin & Eisner, 2009, p.180). The role of the external environment is also another aspect that determines the success of the international expansion program of a company. In case of Wal-Mart the level of technological expertise in a market is also impor tant as suppliers need to be linked to its supply chain management. Germany being a technologically developed nation would easily help Wal-Mart to supplement its core competence in supply chain management so as to replicate its successful EDLP program in the German market. Wal-Mart would essentially use a push-pull strategy to gain a formidable presence in the German market. A push-pull strategy is essentially used by firms when they have a system of forecasting demand on the basis of real time information sharing. In the German market the technology driven supply chain management would of Wal-Mart and its EDLP program would help in pushing the products to the consumers (push strategy) while the external market demand of the service of the company among the members of the target market audience would act as a pulling factor of bringing in the consumers (pull strategy). Traditionally, retail firms have been relying on push based strategies as a pull strategy involves considerable

The Importance of Researching High School Dropout Trends Essay

The Importance of Researching High School Dropout Trends - Essay Example However, the number of high school drop-outs is still high: The U.S. High school dropout rate is higher than Germany and Japan (Wooldridge, 1993). Drop-outs represent an economic cost to the country as a whole. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, only about two-thirds of children entering high school will eventually graduate. In 2004, more than 2.1 million kids in the United States dropped out of high school in 2004, at a cost of "more than $325 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes," (Holt 2006). That cost is just for the dropouts of 2004; it doesn't include the ongoing cost of dropouts from prior years, and doesn't begin to calculate the cost to the competitive advantage of the U.S. A closer look at the numbers reveals other trends. The U.S. Census shows that overall, Hispanic adults over 25 hold the fewest degrees, with just 58.4 percent reporting a high school diploma or higher degree. That trails the nearest minority group by far: 80.6% of African Americans over 25 have at least a high school diplomas, compared with 86.8% of Asians and 80% of Non-Hispanic whites (Education Attainment in the United States, 2005).

Dynamics of Secondary class Teaching Essay Example for Free

Dynamics of Secondary class Teaching Essay Imagine in your first year of teaching, your Department Chair imparts the following piece of advice, Good control depends on finding the right gimmick. How do you feel about that statement? Some scholars have defined teaching to be more of a calling than just a profession. Teaching therefore being a way of life requires teaches to have a mix of techniques for the transfer of knowledge to the student to be successful. According to Khan, (2007) apart from being resourceful, learning continuously and being adaptable, a teacher is required to know how to balance between competing needs and be good-humored since fun is a recipe for effective learning, Murray, (2009). Classroom control is of paramount importance for learning objectives to be achieved, notwithstanding the show of mischievous behavior by students. The statement that Good control depends on finding the right gimmick. is however limited in scope since it presumes that all student misbehavior is a planned, without putting due regard that at times, student misbehavior is spontaneous. Controlling student behavior is a product of several factors, as argued by Ronning and Glover (1987), such as the degree of motivation, how the student/teacher relationship is, how well the teacher has been consistent on their behavior and how the teachers expectations are understood by the students, this factors take time to be internalized and be exhibited by the students, and instant perception is hard to be achieved – even by use of instant right gimmick, it is therefore void to argue that good control is a product of a single constraint- finding the right gimmick. To achieve good control, a teacher should do thorough analysis to understand the root causes of the unintended behavior and the disparity between the existing behavior and the teachers expectations. The teacher should therefore respond and use appropriate means depending on the cause on the identified misbehavior, dealing with control is therefore a process not an instantaneous activity, which can be solved be some simple gimmicks. This is in agreement with Fritz, (1972) who argued that managing discipline is more protracted than retreating castigatory tricks, this was also highlighted by Kindsvatter and Levine, (1980). However, for good behavior to be instilled on the students, teachers are expected to take quick remedial actions when indiscipline occurs. To maintain good standards however, hence achieving control in classrooms, preventive measures are very important and this is a process which requires the participation of the teacher and the student, therefore the departmental chairs advice is constrained as it attempts to suggests that control in instantaneous and can be achieved by gimmicks. References Fritz, Redl. (1972). When We Deal with Children . Michigan :Free Press. Khan,Badrul. (2007). Flexible learning in an information society. Houston: Idea Group Inc. Kindsvatter, Richard and Levine, Mary. (1980). The Myths of Discipline. Delta: Phi Delta Kappa International. Murray, W. (2009). Learning Is Fun. New York: Ladybird Books. Ronning, Royce, and Glover, John. (1987). Historical foundations of educational psychology, Perspectives on individual differences. London: Springer Books.