Importance of Employer Branding Concepts

Importance of Employer Branding Concepts Terms of references This report highlights the rising awareness for the development of Employer Branding concept and its benefits for the organisations in present competitive labour market. The conflict between effective employer branding and employees rights and satisfaction toward organization has been examined in this report with specific focus on the unethical and controlling effect. Introduction Employer branding is the perception of employees about an organization as a place to work. Its designed for motivating and securing employees alignment with the vision and values of the organizations. From the HR perspective the concept was subsumed the older term INTERNAL BRANDING that was essentially the process of communicating an organizations brand value to its employee. Employer branding The concept of EMPLOYER BRANDING was created in the 1990s by Simon Barrow, who founded People in Business (now part of TMP Worldwide) and was the co-author of The Employer Brand. 1 In the past, Barrow had been a consumer goods brand manager and headed up an advertising agency in London, but later became the chief executive of a recruitment agency. He was immediately struck by the similarities between the challenges faced in promoting consumer goods and in publicising the strengths of an organisations employee proposition. Both, he recognised, required a strong brand, and so the concept of employer branding was conceived. Barrow defined the employer brand as the package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employment and identified with the employing company. Sullivan (2004) defines employer branding as a targeted, long-term strategy to manage the awareness and perceptions of employees, potential employees, and related stakeholders with regards to a particular firm. Ambler and Barrow (1996) define employer brand in terms of the benefits it conveys on employees. In other words, the employer brand represents the array of economic, functional and psychological benefits that an employee might receive because of joining an organization. Just as product brands convey an image to customers, an employer brand conveys an organizational image to potential and current employees. In that regard, the employer brand presents a value proposition about what people might receive as a result of working for a particular employer (Backhaus and Tikoo, 2004). These definitions indicate that emp loyer branding means promoting and building an identity and a clear view of what makes an organization different and desirable as an employer. It has similarities with product and corporate branding but the key difference is its more employment specific. Recruitment and employer branding Developing an employer brand is a combination of adopting vision, values, and behaviours, and delivering a service that shows commitment to best practice and service excellence. It begins with the recruitment process that offers number of tools that can be used to create perceptions of an employing organization, these tools are: 1. Job advertisement and description 2. Interview process 3. Offer letters 4. Information pack for new recruiters 5. Employee handbooks 6. Induction and training. The recruitment process is an important way to build a positive relationship between the organization and employee. Throughout the procedure, the organization can create a strong and positive view about them; even it can be extended to unsuccessful candidates as well. When employees have accepted the sincerity and accuracy of the employer brand, they will carry it forward, actively promoting the brand to colleagues and customers. However, employer branding which is basically untruthful will not work and is likely to be counter-productive. Benefits of Employer Branding Long-term impact: Successful employer brand can have positive impacts on recruiting for at least five years baring any major PR issues surrounding the company. Increased volume of spontaneous candidates: The number of applicants will increase each year. In some cases, applications will increase by 500%. Higher quality candidates: Not only the quantity but the quality of candidates will improve dramatically, individuals who never would have considered in the past will start applying. Higher offer-acceptance rates: As employment image becomes better known and more powerful, firms offer acceptance rates will improve dramatically. Increased employee motivation: Employee motivation will be easier to maintain because of employees increased pride in the firm and the better management practices that are required to maintain an employer-of-choice status. A stronger corporate culture: Because one of the goals of employment branding is to develop a consistent message about what its like to work and what it feel to be a part of the organization, employment branding can help strengthen firms corporate culture. Decreased corporate negatives: Effective branding programs identify and counter negative comments about the organisation. Increased manager satisfaction: The resulting higher quality of candidates and higher offer-acceptance rate means that hiring managers will have to devote less time to interviews, and they will be more satisfied with the recruiting function. A competitive advantage: Because employment branding efforts include extensive metrics and side-by-side comparisons with talent competitors, firms can ensure that their talent-management approaches are differentiated and continually superior. Increased shareholder value: The effective and improved employer image can positively impact a firms stock price. Support for the product brand: An employment brand can support the corporate brand and related product brands because many consumers mentally make the link between attracting quality employees and producing a quality product. The brand essence should summarize what the brand stands for, becoming the nucleus for product development, all communications and even HR initiatives for employees. Its definition should also be consistent with the corporate vision/mission and values. For example, Volvo is a good example of a brand description is Volvo Style, driving pleasure and superior ownership experience while celebrating human values and respecting the environment. Volvos values and associations reflecting this brand identity are what are considered to be typically Scandinavian e.g. nature, security and health, human values, elegant simplicity, creative engineering and the spirit of stylish/innovative functionality. For Volvo, this description not only mirrors the psycho-graphic profile of the ideal customer for their cars, but also summarizes what Volvo as a company means to all its workers its employer brand. These are intrinsic values that Volvo workers can relate to, what they believe in and why they feel comfortable making a commitment to their jobs. One can easily visualize the types of HR programs that would inspire a sense of pride and re-enforce these intangibles e.g. nature, health, security and other meaningful human values. Living the brand LIVING THE BRAND is identifying with an organizations brand value to such an extent that employees behaviours fit exactly to the image that the business is trying to portray to its customers (Alan Price 2007). The alignment between employees behaviour and value of organizations brand image is very important. It is suggested that organisations need to ensure that there is no gap between what the organisation is saying in the outside world and what people believe inside the business. The employees should be perceived as Brand ambassador and brand marketing would only be successful if they LIVE THE BRAND. From this perspective: 1. Organizations have encouraged employees to buy in to the business vision and values. 2. They have to ensure that everyone in the organization clearly understand the purpose of the common set of values. According to Ind (2004), the themes discussed are likely to be of interest to HR and marketing practitioners as well as those involved in internal communications within organisations. Employees themselves are expected to internalise features and aspects of the organisations brand to ensure that they become brand champions, thus helping to represent to organisations brand to the outside customers. Such an approach immediately raises some interesting problems relating to equality and diversity as it expects each employee to share a particular set of values and act in accordance with these values. The employee branding approach being recommended by Ind raises a number of challenges for those interested in an equality and diversity agenda. An organisation that aims to ensure that empl oyees are living the brand will specifically aim to attract and recruit employees who already share the values of the corporate brand. Furthermore, those already employed within the organisation will be encouraged to internalise the values of the organisation. Clearly, there are problems for encouraging diversity here, with one of the principles of diversity management being an acceptance and recognition that people are different and individual differences (especially of values) should be welcomed. Inherently, a living the brand focus is likely to go against such a principle. Ind makes the point that encouraging employee identification and commitment to the organisations brand values might deny an expression of individuality. However, Ind suggests that internal branding combined with allowing employees to be empowered will enable freedom with order. Denial of individuality (dress code policy) When it comes to professional image, many employers are realising that Standards of dress and personal presentation are essential thus having a policy on dress code can be important. Where the employees meet customers, they act as the shop window for the company and the benefits of presentable appearance are obvious. However, even where the employees work is internal, there are less tangible benefits such as: Creating a team atmosphere, Engendering standards of professionalism, and Creating a corporate image. As employers are realising this, they are paying more attention to the appearance of their employees and the image and perception of the business dress, grooming and personal hygiene are all part and parcel of this. However, the issue of work place dress codes can be highly controversial. It is vital that employers are aware of the discrimination issues that dress codes can create. Issues with work place dress codes In organisations with uniforms, the issues can be more wide ranging. For instance, at the Greater Manchester Police Force, bureaucracy and unwillingness to accept change has hampered the introduction of hijabs for Muslim women. At Inchcape Fleet Solutions where all 140 non-senior staffs are provided with polo shirts or blouses branded with the company logo the style of the uniform does not suit all staff and most do not like wearing it. This would affect their moods at work and consequently affect their performance. Complaints of discrimination Furthermore, a complaint was raised informally by the staff forum of child trust fund provider Family Investments and relates to the fact that women can wear trousers that are not full length, while men cannot. Employees have requested that the company allows shorts to be worn, as long as they are below the knee Also, in September 2006, a British Airways worker has been suspended and attended an appeal over wearing a cross at work at Heathrow Airport. She claims the suspension is discriminatory, especially since the airline allows Sikh employees to wear traditional iron bangles and Muslim workers to wear headscarves.BA has said it will review its uniform policy in light of the media storm the story has provoked. Employer branding and discrimination law There are three areas of discrimination relevant to dress code policy: 1. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 2. Religious or Belief Regulations 2003 3. Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Sex discrimination and dress codes There is the obvious potential for sex discrimination in any dress code, which sets different requirements for men and women. Past claims have challenged policies that: women must wear skirts men should not have long hair Men must wear a collar and tie. The case of Matthew Thompson who objected to the dress code imposed by the Department for Work Pensions at his place of work, a job centre in Stockport, can also be a good example. Mr Thompson claimed that the dress code discriminated against male employees as they were forced to wear a collar and tie whereas female employees could wear T-shirts to work. The Employment Tribunal found in favour of Mr Thompson stating that the dress code was discriminatory as the requirement to wear a collar and tie was gender based and there were no items of clothing that were imposed on women in the same office. From the Thompson case, it became clear that employers should be careful in the way that they draft their dress codes. Employers are not prevented from imposing dress codes that require employees to wear specified items of clothing as long as the code is drafted in such a way as to be even-handed between men and women. For example, jobs in the City, the current convention is for both men and women to wear suits. The convention is that a man should wear a tie with a suit but the same does not apply to a woman. A dress code requiring a smart suit could apply to both sexes but be enforced in a non-discriminatory manner appropriate for each sex. Religion/belief discrimination and dress codes A dress code that requires employees to act in a way contrary to their religious beliefs, risks being indirectly discriminatory. Thus, a dress code forbidding headgear will be discriminatory to male Sikhs, who must wear a turban. The best way to avoid these problems is to be as non-specific as possible. A widely worded dress code requiring smart appearance, with non-binding examples of suitable dress, cannot fall foul of specific clothing-related beliefs. To cross-check your dress code against the main religions clothing beliefs, refer to Acas Guide on Religion and Belief which has a useful chart at Appendix 2 (pages 40-50). It may be possible for employers to objectively justify a dress code contrary to any of these beliefs, if it can be done so objectively. For example, employees at a chocolate factory were successfully prohibited from having beards for health and safety reasons. However, employers should be very wary of relying on objective justification as the courts are reluc tant to accept it. There may be a question mark in some cases whether a persons views are beliefs. According to Acas, Rastafarianism (which requires the wearing of a hat) is a belief system. Certain political beliefs or powerful sentiments such as patriotism (the wearing of an American flag badge) may or may not be regarded as beliefs. Employers should respect beliefs that are strongly held whether or not they are religious in nature. Disability discrimination and dress codes Disabled employees may not be able to comply with a dress code, for example, an employee with a neck injury unable to wear a tie. However, by and large, this need not affect the way the code is drafted; instead, employers should be sensitive in the enforcement of the dress code. In summary, employers should be quite a bit flexible when writing a policy on employee dress or appearance. Reasonable flexibility and sensitivity to the employees racial differences should be allowed in the dress code to make employees comfortable and any conflict and law suits, while meeting the Trust standard of Dress code. This view is echoed by organisations such as Broker Network, which believes that employees should be able to make their own judgments on what is best to wear. Many companies are now turning their backs on the concept of dress-down Fridays, opting instead to ditch smart business-wear every day of the week. A survey of 560 organisations has found that four out of five employers believe a more relaxed dress code leads to greater productivity. Nine out of 10 organisations that replied to the poll by the Peninsula employment law consultancy had declared ties an unnecessary part of their dress code. Conclusion The issues discussed above create a challenge for HR professionals involved in employee focused branding projects, especially those where employees are expected to share a specific set of values. That is that such initiatives will undoubtedly create a tension and potentially conflict with principles underlying an equality and diversity agenda. Inds suggestion that inside-out branding allows freedom and order remains unconvincing even when the employees are involved in constructing the brand values. An organisation that dictates a set of values for employees to internalise is still a homogenising force. Organisations that genuinely take diversity programmes seriously will have to tackle this tension. One possible way out of this conundrum is to include equality and diversity awareness as a key value included in the internal brand proposition. Recommendations Any guidelines should be carefully drafted, and employers are advised to treat any requests to dress contrary to the company code for religious or racial reasons with respect. Employers should consult the employee in question and discuss how to accommodate reasonable requests, and try to find a favourable solution. A tribunal will be more likely to be sympathetic to the employer where a policy is required for health and safety purposes, rather than simply to maintain a corporate image. Decide what restrictions on employees appearance are necessary and why. For example, teachers are expected to wear sensible footwear, suitable for the activities their job involves. Restrictions should not be excessive or unreasonable, for instance insisting on suits or ties in the office when employees are not customer-facing. Set out the guidelines clearly, and include the rationale behind any restrictions. Explain why restrictions may be placed on some employees but not others (for example, no body piercing for those operating heavy machinery for health and safety purposes, and those working within a cafà © of a supermarket may have stricter codes enforced on them than those who work in the same store, but dont come into direct contact with food). Give employees notice of when the policy will come into force. Allow employees a grace period before disciplining for non-compliance. Explain what will happen if employees are found to be in persistent breach of the policy (disciplinary action and, potentially, dismissal). Give the name of an individual that employees can talk to if they feel they cannot comply with the policy. Current legislation on issues that could lead to discrimination should be reviewed from time to time, and staff handbook should be read by employment lawyers to ensure compliance. Guidelines should also be updated to accommodate the legislation. Base the policy on business-related reasons. Explain your reasons in the policy so employees understand the rationale behind the restrictions. Common business-related reasons include maintaining the organizations public image, promoting a productive work environment, or complying with health and safety standards. Require employees to have an appropriate, well-gro omed appearance. Even casual dress policies should specify what clothing is inappropriate (such as sweat suits, shorts, and jeans) and any special requirements for employees who deal with the public. Communicate the policy. Use employee handbooks or memos to alert employees to the new policy, any revisions, and the penalties for noncompliance. In addition, explain the policy to job candidates. Apply the dress code policy uniformly to all employees. This can prevent claims that the policy adversely affects women or minorities. However, you may have to make exceptions if required by law. (See next suggestion.) Make reasonable accommodation when the situation requires an exception. Be prepared to accommodate requests for religious practices and disabilities, such as head coverings and facial hair. Apply consistent discipline for dress code violations. When disciplining violators, point out why their attire does not comply with the code and what they can do to comply REFERENCES: Edwards, M. R. (2008) Employees as a Focus of Branding Activities: A Review of Recent Contributions to the Literature and the Implications for Workplace Diversity, Equal opportunities international. Vol 27(5) pp. 447-481 [online] Available from: www.emerald.com [Accessed 1 April 2009] Carrington, L (2007) EMPLOYER BRANDING [Online] Available from: http://globaltalentmetrics.com/articles/EB_2007_Brandempl.pdf [Accessed 26 March 2009] Wolff, C. (2007) EMPLOYERS USE DRESS CODES TO ENHANCE CORPORATE IMAGE, IRS. Issue 878. Available from: http://www.xperthr.co.uk [Accessed 26 March 2009] Downes, J. (2007) POLICY CLINIC: DRESS CODES, [online] Available from: http://0-www.xperthr.co.uk.lispac.lsbu.ac.uk/article/81919/policy-clinicdress-codes.aspx?searchwords=Policy+clinic%3a+Dress+codes [Accessed 26 March 2009] Millar, M (2006) EMPLOYERS RELAXING WORK DRESS CODE CAN HELP IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY, [online] Available from: http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2006/07/26/36558/employers-relaxing-work-dress-code-can-help-improve.html [Accessed 26 March 2009] Dr. Sullivan, J (2008) EMPLOYMENT BRANDING: THE ONLY LONG-TERM RECRUITING STRATEGY, [online] Available from: http://www.drjohnsullivan.com/content/view/183/27/ [Accessed 26 March 2009] Stephen Morrall, S Urquhart, C (2003) SEX DISCRIMINATION ARE DRESS CODES DISCRIMINATORY? [online] Available from: http://www.drjohnsullivan.com/content/view/183/27/ [Accessed 26 March 2009] Gronlund, J K (2008) HOW EMPLOYER BRANDINGCAN FOSTER TRUSTS AND LOYALTY? [Online] Available from: http://www.employerbrand.com/Points_pathf.html [Accessed 26 March 2009]

Relative Price And Performance Relationship

Relative Price And Performance Relationship 2.1 INTRODUCTION In essence, the job of a strategist is to understand and cope with competition. Often, managers define competition too narrowly, as if it occurred only among todays direct competitors. Lall, (2001, p. 6) stated that competitiveness in industrial activities means developing relative efficiency along with sustainable growth Moreover, agribusiness competitiveness has been defined as The sustained ability to profitably gain and maintain market share(Martin, Westgren, van Duren, 1991, p. 1456) or, in a more consumer-oriented way, as the ability of a firm or industry segment to offer products and services that meet or exceed the customer value currently or potentially offered by the products and services of rivals, substitutes, and possible market entrants (Kennedy, Harrison, Kalaitzandonakes, Peterson, Rindfuss, 1997). Yet, according to Michael E. Porter, the Harvard Business School professor, competition for profit goes beyond established industry rivals to include four other competitive forces as well as customers, suppliers, potential entrants and substitute products. Furthermore, the model of Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors in 1980. It draws upon Industrial Organisation (IO) to develop five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness in the context of business environment refers to the overall industry profitability. An unattractive industry is one in which the combination of these five forces acts to drive down the overall profitability. A very unattractive industry would be one approaching pure competition, in which available profits for all firms are driven down to zero. The character, mix, and subtleties of competitive forces are never the same from one industry to another. A powerful and widely used tool for systematically diagnosing the principal competitive pressures in the hydroponics market and assessing the strength and importance of each is the five-forces model of competition.(see figure) Moreover, three of Porters five forces refer to competition from external sources. The remainders are internal threats. Therefore, it is important to use Porters five forces in conjunction with SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) and PEST Analysis (Political, Economical, Social and Technological). Porters Five Forces 2.2.1 Threat of new entrants One of the defining characteristics of competitive advantage is the industrys barrier to entry. It is very expensive for new firms to enter an industry where there is high barrier of entry. Furthermore, profitable markets that yield high returns will attract new firms. In this situation, these new entrants could change major determinants to the market environment (e.g. market shares, prices, customer loyalty) at any time. In the 1993 reprint of the first edition of Bain (1956, pp. 53-166), three main factors are considered as entry barriers: economies of scale, product differentiation advantages, and absolute cost advantages. Moreover, as more firms enter the market, you will see rivalry increase and profitability will fall to the point where there is no incentive for firms to enter the industry. Likewise, the threat of the new entrants will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry. These are typically: Economies of scale According to Kislev et al, it is generally accepted that agricultural production is characterized by increasing returns to scale. If economies of scale exist, it represents a high barrier of entry. Firms within the industry will have achieved these economies and if we enter this industry we will have to match their scale size of production in order to compete with them. Thus according to Michael Porter, since EOS does not exist in a tangible way, we need to prove their existence first before trying to compete with the existing firms. Capital requirements This refers to how much money should the firms have to tie up to keep the doors open. This is also a barrier to entry as if firms have to tie up large amounts of capital for daily operations; this will deter smaller firms from entering. Dr. Pieter A.Schippers said that hydroponics requires high-cost installations marketing gourmet vegetables at ritzy prices. According to AREU, the capital investment for hydroponics in Mauritius is up to three million rupees. Brand identity According to Erin Ferree ,Brand identity is the combination of consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing materials. A basic brand identity kit consists of a logo, business card, letterhead, and envelope. It can be extended to include a Web site Where there is brand identity there is high barrier to entry and regarding the hydroponics market in Mauritius, there are no such barriers in the field of hydroponics as it is a newly grown market. Access to Distribution The new entrant must, of course, secure distribution of its product or service. A new food item, for example, must displace others from the supermarket shelf via price breaks, promotions, intense selling efforts, or some other means. The more limited the wholesale or retail channels are and the more that existing competitors have tied them up, the tougher entry into an industry will be. Sometimes access to distribution is so high a barrier that new entrants must bypass distribution channels altogether or create their own. Switching cost Switching costs are fixed costs that buyers face when they change suppliers. Such costs may arise because a buyer who switches vendors must, for example, alter product specifications, retrain employees to use a new product, or modify processes or information systems. The larger the switching costs, the harder it will be for an entrant to gain customers. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is an example of a product with very high switching costs. Once a company has installed SAPs ERP system, for example, the costs of moving to a new vendor are astronomical because of embedded data, the fact that internal processes have been adapted to SAP, major retraining needs, and the mission-critical nature of the application. 2.2.2 Bargaining Power of suppliers The term suppliers comprises all sources for inputs that are needed in order to provide goods or services and bargaining power is the ability to influence the setting of prices. Therefore, bargaining power of suppliers will identify the extent to which your suppliers can choose to raise prices, reduce quality or reduce service without consequence. The more concentrated and controlled the supply, the more power it wields against the market. Monopolistic or quasi-monopolistic suppliers will use their power to extract better terms (higher profit margins or) at the expense of the market. Moreover, in a competitive market, no one supplier can set the prices. Likewise, suppliers can group to wield more bargaining power. The conditions making suppliers, as a group, powerful tend to mirror those making the buyers powerful are as follows: Differentiation of inputs A primary goal of the theory of product differentiation is the determination of market structure and conduct of firms that can choose the specifications of their products besides choosing output and price. Traditional models of product differentiation and marketing have focused on products that are defined by one characteristic only. ( See Hotelling (1929), Vickrey (1964), DAspremont, Gabszewicz and Thisse (1979), Salop (1979), Economides (1984), Anderson, de Palma, and Thisse (1992), among others in economics and Hauser and Shugan (1983), Moorthy (1988) and Kumar and Sudarshan (1988) in marketing.) Threat of forward integration The traditional market foreclosure theory, which was accepted in leading court cases in 1950s-70s, viewed vertical merger as harming competition by denying competitors access to either a supplier or a buyer. (Arrow, K., Vertical Integration and Communication, Bell Journal of Economics, 1975, 6, 173-183.) The critics argue that the theory is logically flawed, and a vertically integrated firm cannot benefit from excluding its rivals (e.g., Bork, 1978; and Posner, 1976). The paper by Salop and Sche ¤man (1987) forms the basis for this argument, and Ordover, Saloner, and Salop (1990, hereinafter OSS) is perhaps the best-known paper that pioneered the equilibrium approach to the analysis of vertical mergers. In this paper, I shall argue that the new theories on vertical mergers have ignored an important point, namely that vertical integration not only changes the integrated firms incentive to supply inputs to its downstream rivals, but it may also change the rivals incentives to purchase inputs from alternative suppliers. Once this is realized,an equilibrium theory of vertical mergers can be developed without some of the controversial assumptions made in the literature, and this theory can provide a framework in which the competitive effects of vertical mergers are measured and compared. The basic insight of my analysis is that vertical integration creates multimarket interaction between the integrated firm and its downstream rivals. A rival may recognize that if it purchases inputs from the integrated firm, the integrated firm may have less incentive to cut prices in the downstream market, which will benefit the rival. Therefore, vertical integration can change the incentive of a downst ream rival in selecting its input supplier, making it a strategic instead of a passive buyer in the input market. Supplier concentration relative to industry concentration Trade theory predicts that if trade costs go down or if productivity rises exogenously in a pool of potential suppliers with heterogeneous productivity levels, the number of suppliers will enlarge (Helpman, Melitz and Rubinstein 2008).An exogenous taste for variety, or a desire to limit monopoly positions, would also lead to a larger number of suppliers, although these forces are static. In the presence of heterogenous quality, however, the dynamics of diversification/concentration can be different. Access of labour According to Bertram,G. (1986), he assumes that output is governed by a well-behaved, continuous, constant returns to scale, aggregate production function involving two factor inputs, capital and labour.( Bertram, G. (1986), Sustainable development in Pacific micro-economies, World Development, Vol. 14 No. 7, pp. 809-22.) Importance of volume of supplier According to Hahn et al., 1990; Humphreys et al., 2004; Krause, 1997; Krause et al., 1998; Li et al., 2007; Watts and Hahn, 1993, buyer-supplier relationships are becoming increasingly important as buyers realize that their success is often tied to the capabilities and performance of suppliers. Many organizations engage in supplier development to assist suppliers in improving supply chain performance and capabilities. Bargaining power of buyer According to Inderst (2007), buyer power is the ability of buyers to obtain advantageous terms of trade from their suppliers. Monopsonistic or quasi- monopsonistic buyers will use their power to extract better terms at the expense of the market. In a truly competitive market, no one buyer can set the prices. Instead they are set by supply and demand. Prices are set by supply and demand and the market reaches the Pareto-optimal point where the highest possible number of buyers are satisfied at a price that still allow for the supplier to be profitable. Porter states that a buyer group is powerful if it: purchases large volumes relative to seller sales; learns low profits; the products it purchases from the industry represent a significant fraction of the buyers costs or purchases; the products are standard or undifferentiated and face few switching costs; the industrys product is unimportant to the quality of the buyers products or services; buyers pose a credible threat of backward integration; The buyer has full information. Additionally, with the bargaining power, buyers can impose on suppliers and thus can choose their suppliers. According to Ghodsypour and OBrien, (1998); Weber et al., (2000) and Dahel, (2003), this can be done by using the linear programming models. Moreover, the multi-objective programming model developed by Weber and Ellram (1993) can helps buyer to select a pool of suppliers and determine the purchasing units to be allocated among the suppliers. Buyer switching cost Buyer-supplier relationships play a key role in the success of a supply chain (Chen and Paulraj, 2004; Lin et al., 2001; Storey and Emberson, 2006); however, organizations often face the problem of choosing appropriate suppliers (Pagell and Sheu, 2001; Chen and Paulraj, 2004; Wadhwa et al., 2006; Phusavat et al., 2007). The problem of choosing suppliers so that profits can be maximized has become increasingly vital to an enterprises survival due to keen competition in the micro-profit era (Giunipero et al., 2006). Numerous studies have addressed the issue of the buyer-supplier relationship in supply chain management. One stream of research examines related variables, such as cooperation, satisfaction, trust, and commitment, which make the supply chain relationship successful (Byrd and Davidson, 2003; Fynes et al., 2005; Malhotra et al., 2005). Another stream focuses on the criteria for choosing suppliers, such as quality, on-time delivery, and costs (Chen and Paulraj, 2004; Blackhurs t et al., 2005; Gunasekaran and Kobu, 2006; Phusavat and Kanchana, 2008). Among these criteria, costs have received the most attention because they are considered the key factor in choosing suppliers (Noordewier et al., 1990; Kalwani and Narayandas, 1995; Dahlstrom and Nygaard, 1999; Zhao and Yang, 2007). Buyer information Another reason why buyers were in such a strong bargaining position was because they had full information about demand, actual market prices, and even manufacturer costs. The buyers comparative information was often better than what was available to manufacturers, and thus with such full information, retailers were able to ensure that they received the most favourable prices offered to others, and were able to oppose suppliers claims that their viability would be threatened if prices were reduced. Owing to all of the above reasons, one can see that the bargaining power of the Australian food retailers was so great in the early 1980s that they were perhaps in a unique position of strength even in a global sense. The current barriers for purchasing organic products mainly relates to price, availability, and consumer awareness. Moreover, offering customers and obtaining greater value added by creating, developing, and maintaining lasting customer-supplier relationships (Rexha,2000; Van der Haar et al., 2001), such that both parties benefit (Gro ¨nroos, 2000; Kothandaraman and Wilson, 2001; Sharma et al., 2001; Walter et al., 2001; Leek et al., 2003), is considered fundamental for guaranteeing the success and survival of companies in the market. Suppliers adapt to the customers needs in order to satisfy them. This adaptation can encourage the customer to behave opportunistically (Brown et al., 2000; Wathne and Heide, 2000). But if the supplier is able to adapt, and satisfy customer needs better than its competitors, enduring relationships can develop between both agents. Brand identity of buyer According to Aaker, (1991, 1996), brand identity is a message about a brand that a firm seeks to communicate with. This communication is undertaken via the product, the brand name, symbols and logos, historical roots, the brands creator, and advertising (Kapferer, 1998 Some organisations base their competitive advantage on physical assets such as a manufacturing facility, some on their employees, and some on their distribution networks (Kotler, 2000). Many others, however, seek to attain a competitive advantage from intangible assets such as their reputation or the brands that they own (Beverland, 2005; Keller, 1993; Low and Blois, 2002). Yet, research to date on branding in business and industrial marketing has been limited (Beverland et al., 2006; Low and Blois, 2002; Mudambi et al., 1997; Nilson, 1998). Price sensitivity Porter (1985) has defined two primary types of competitive strategy that can provide a source of competitive advantage: differentiation and low cost strategy. The low cost strategy, which may enable a price leader position, can lead to price wars and is therefore risky for all digital products and services, including retail banking. Ultimately only one company can be the price leader, thus all other companies should contemplate alternative strategies. Likewise, marketers and researchers are familiar with the concept of price elasticity, which describes changes in the quantity of demand for a product associated with changes in price of the product. If demand is elastic, changes in price level have a proportionally greater impact on demand. Inelastic demand describes the case where changes in price have little effect on demand. The concept of price elasticity describes the aggregate response of a market segment to price levels. Price sensitivity is an individual difference variable describing how individual consumers react to price levels and changes in price levels. A consumer high in price sensitivity will manifest much less demand as price goes up (or higher demand as price goes down), and consumers low in price sensitivity will not react as strongly to a price change. Standardize products A large majority of respondents believed that many retailers considered most food products to be fairly standard, and thus, as they could most often find alternative suppliers, they played one manufacturing company against another. It was the respondents view that such tactics also extended towards substituting house brands and generics for brand names, and these aspects will be considered later. Thus, unless a manufacturer had very strong end-user demand for its brand (e.g. Vegemite, Milo, Pal), it found that its product was capable of being substituted unless it succumbed to retailer pressure. Threat of substitute products All firms in an industry are competing, in a broad sense, with industries producing substitute products. The impact of substitutes affected certain segments of the food industry more than others, the obvious examples being the yellow fats segment (butter versus margarine), the sweeteners segment (sugar versus sugar substitutes) and the pet foods segment (canned versus dry). The food industry as a whole is, in fact, competing with other substitute expense categories such as entertainment and personal items. While expenditure on food will never fall below an essential base level. Research done by Ogilvy and Mather (1983) seems to suggest that more people cut back on food during the early 1980s, in order to cope with inflation, than on other expense categories. The following factors are being considered when analyzing the threat of substitute products: Buyer propensity to substitute For sellers, it is crucial to win a buyers trust, then nurture it over the course of a relationship. Trust enables the buyer to economize cognitive and emotional energy and rely on a seller before extensive information can be gathered (Luhmann, 1979; Jones and George, 1998; Yamagishi, 2002; Mayer et al., 1995). As trust matures, the buyer identifies with (Lewicki and Bunker, 1995) and feels affection and devotion for the seller (McAllister, 1995). Trust is therefore strongly linked to buyer commitment (Moorman et al., 1992) and loyalty (Morgan and Hunt, 1994). A sellers violation of trust occurs when the buyer perceives evidence that the seller failed to meet the buyers confident expectations (Tomlinson et al., 2004). Relative price/performance relationship of substitutes Shapiro (1992) argues that institutional investors, who normally trade in large quantities, are concerned with the opportunity costs involved in undertaking these large trades. Many suppliers, in turn, face a growing trend towards commoditization of products (Rangan and Bowman, 1992) and search for new ways of differentiating themselves through improved customer interactions (Vandenbosch and Dawar, 2002). From an academic perspective, there is a rich and growing body of research focusing on buyer-supplier relationships in business markets (Ulaga, 2001). More broadly, researchers have coined the term relationship quality which is typically assessed through some combination of commitment, satisfaction and trust (Crosby et al., 1990; Dorsch et al., 1998; Hewett et al., 2002). According to Wilson (1995, p. 337) trust is a fundamental relationship model building block and as such is included in most relationship models. In addition to trust, Morgan and Hunt (1994) identified commitment as another key-mediating variable of relationship marketing. Furthermore in their commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing, Morgan and Hunt (1994) establish trust as a key-mediating variable that is central to relational exchanges. Moreover, customer satisfaction is widely accepted among researchers as a strong predictor for behavioural variables such as repurchase intentions, word-of-mouth, or loyalty (Ravald and Gro ¨nroos, 1996; Liljander and Strandvik, 1995). Satisfaction research is mainly influenced by the disconfirmation paradigm (Parasuraman et al., 1988). Competitive Rivalry The rivalry amongst existing firms analysis will help you to understand the risk that your competitors may compete for market position and if their competitive tactics are likely to be effective. Furthermore, you will find that your competitors may compete for market position using tactics such as pricing competition, advertising as well as increasing customer service. To analyze industry rivalry in your industry, you will need to consider the following factors: Diversity among competitors The first point of departure is found in Miles et al.(1993)and Miles and Snow (1986) proposition that strategy in diversity and structure is normal in any industry, that it is good for and industry and furthermore that various configurations of strategy and structure may be equally effective in producing high performance. Industry growth rate When hydroponics industry is in a growth phase there will be room for the industry to grow, as a result there will be a low risk of competitor rivalry. Thompson et al., (2008) stated that rivalry becomes stronger if demand growth is slow. Exit barriers Powell (1995) incorporated entry barriers and industry rivalry in his research and found a significant correlation of firm performance with entry barriers (r  ¼ 0:29; p , 0:05) and industry rivalry (r  ¼ 20:32; p , 0:05). These results indicate the higher the entry barriers, the lower the threat of new entrants and the better the opportunities for improved performance; and similarly, the higher the industry rivalry, the tougher the industry competition which would mean the lower the firm performance. A critique of Porters model There are, however, several limitations to Porters framework, such as: It tends to over-stress macro analysis, i.e. at the industry level, as opposed to the analysis of more specific product-market segments at a micro level. It oversimplifies industry value chains: for example, invariably buyers may need to be both segmented and also differentiated between channels, intermediate buyers and end consumers. It fails to link directly to possible management action: for example, where companies have apparently low influence over any of the five forces, how can they set about dealing with them? It tends to encourage the mind-set of an industry as a specific entity with ongoing boundaries. This is perhaps less appropriate now where industry boundaries appear to be far more fluid. It appears to be self-contained, thus not being specifically related, for example, to PEST factors, or the dynamics of growth in a particular market. It is couched in economic terminology, which may be perceived to be too much jargon from a practising managers perspective and indeed, it could be argued that it is over-branded. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis, which is originally introduced in 1969 by Harvard researchers (e.g. Learned et al., 1991), calls for an external assessment of the opportunities and threats that exist in a firms environment and an internal assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation. The SWOT framework became popular during the 1970s because of its inherent assumption that managers can plan the alignment of a firms resources with its environment. Subsequently, during the decade of the 1980s, Porters (1980) introduction of the industrial organization paradigm with his five forces models gave primacy to a firms external environment, overshadowing the popularity of SWOT. More recently, at the start of the twenty-first century, SWOT is alive and well as the recommended framework for case analysis in many of the leading strategic management and marketing texts (Hitt et al., 2000; Anderson and Vince, 2002). However, despite its wide and enduring popularity, SWOT has remained an theoretica l framework, of limited prescriptive power for practice and minor significance for research (Dess, 1999). Generally, firms are asked to develop strategies to guide the organisation to ward opportunities that may be exploited using strengths of the organisation, push the organisation away from threats in the environment, maintain existing strengths and improve organisational weaknesses. Recently, Duncan, Ginter and Swayne (1998) suggested a four step model for assessing internal strengths and weaknesses. Their four steps include surveying, categorising, investigation, and evaluating. The tables below show the Strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of hydroponics in Mauritius. STENGTHS WEAKNESSES Growing demand for vegetables, both consumer and business markets. Environment-friendly practices favoured. Provide employment. Flexible in production. Poorly structured distribution channels. Finance: such project requires huge investments. Insufficient use of technology: growers in Mauritius cannot afford to adopt latest technology such as those used in Australia and USA due to high costs. Equipment and other materials have to be imported. Lack of trained trainers. OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Favoured business environment- laws and legislations have been modified so as to propel small business. Examples are the introduction of the Municipal Fee, replacing the Trade Licence, Special Tax Holiday Scheme, cancellation of customs duty on several products and Empowerment Programme. Incentives offered to registered enterprises by SEHDA, National Computer Board and so on. Examples are awards to the best business plans, business counselling and facilitation. Increasing cost of doing business. High inflation rate causing depreciation of the Mauritian Rupees. Favourable prices of the substitutes. PEST Analysis PEST (or political, economic, social and technological factors) is the most commonly used tool for environmental analysis (Beamish, 1996) and is possibly the second most widely known strategy technique after SWOT analysis. Political/ Legal Environment: in most countries, the government provides much needed support to those who want to invest in hydroponics technology. Examples are tax relieves on equipment, free counselling, training, incentives to set up small businesses, loan facilities and so on. Regarding the Economic Environment, these issues should be considered: Income is a major influencer of consumer purchasing power. For instance, a fall in income caused by an increase in the rate of inflation may result in a fall in purchasing power. Consumers may buy more of the organic vegetables, which are cheaper than the hydroponics vegetables. The reverse is also true. Changing consumer spending patterns influence the demand for hydroponics produce. It has been noted that there is an increasing tendency for consumers to spend more and more on leisure activities, transportation, medical-care and education rather than food. But with the new budget made by the finance minister, we can expect that the spending on education will decrease and ultimately result to and increase in food or other activities also. Social/ cultural Environment: a study by the NZ Vegetable Growers Federation (www.vegetables.co.nz) , found that nearly 40% of people who purchase organic food do so because they believe it is pesticide-free. Technological Environment: growers of hydroponics produce who do not adopt the best practice technology will be disadvantaged and gradually lose access to all but low margin residual markets. However, there is a profound gap between PEST and SWOT analysis, and this is only partly met by Porters five forces. A linking technique is that of Grundys growth drivers (Grundy, 2004). See the diagram below. Grundy gives an example of growth driver analysis, helping us to represent the forces that, directly or indirectly, cause or inhibit market growth over a particular time period. However, an important feature to note here is that it is part of a system. The system captures, in an onion model format, the key domains that need to be thought through, within the overall competitive climate, beginning with: _ PEST factors _ growth drivers _ Porters five competitive forces _ competitive position. These layers of the onion are highly interdependent, which might be a very useful phenomenon for managers to learn about and to apply. For example, where the PEST factors are generally hospitable, growth is encouraged and the full impact of the five competitive forces may not be felt and may thus be latent. However, where the PEST factors become inhospitable, this will clearly dampen the growth drivers, and if the growth drivers within a particular market are themselves tightening, for example due to life-cycle effects, then this will put a disproportionate and adverse pressure on Porters five forces, particularly in the bargaining power of buyers, and also upon rivalry. Furthermore, a high growth environment may encourage entrants and a low one will discourage these. The result can lead to a collapse in confidence and in prices unless there are lots of exits.

Fallen Souls In the Inferno :: essays research papers fc

Fallen Souls in "The Inferno" Thesis Statement: In each Circle and Canto there are different penalties to pay but it is for sure that each forbidden soul in the Inferno will live forever in eternal suffering. I. Introduction II. Medea and Jason A. Jason's love affair. B. Medea and the three children exiled. C. Medea's slaying of the three children and Glauce. D. Jason's penalties. III. O. J. Simpson A. His Crime. B. His Penalties in the Inferno and in life. IV. Benedict Arnold A. His Crime. B. His Penalties in Hell. V. Conclusion Cantos III, V, and XXXIV are only three of the Cantos of the fallen souls of the Inferno. The Inferno is the place we call Hell. It reeks with bad smells and bugs and fire along with the many other hideous things. The Inferno has many Cantos and Circles, each for a different sin or wrong doing towards another. In each circle and Canto there are different penalties to pay but it is for sure that each forbidden soul in the Inferno will live forever in eternal suffering. Our first soul to discuss is eternally locked in Canto V, Circle Two: The Carnal. This man, Jason, became king of Cornith by committing adultery against his wife, Medea, with the king of Cornith's daughter, Glauce. Jason returns to Medea and tells her that she and their three children are to leave his home immediately so he and Glauce can move in. The following day Medea sends Glauce a poisoned robe which kills her. This causes Jason to come to Medea for revenge, where he finds his three children murdered by their mother's hand. Jason grief stricken falls upon his own sword and dies there with his sons. Jason is reputed to the Carnal a place where souls who give up there own life for passion â€Å"are swept forever in the tempest of Hell, forever denied the light of reason and of God,† (Literature 635). He is forever with the judge of Hell, Minos. The Caina is â€Å"the first ring of the last circle where those who performed acts of treachery against their kin,† (Literature 638). One destined for the Caina is O. J. Simpson. This man committed a sin that would send him to Canto XXXII. Simpson killed his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in a jealous rage. Simpson will surely be judged by Minos to go to Caina were his soul will forever have to live in retribution and think about what he had done against his wife, Nicole. O. J. will also have to live the rest of his life on earth and pay cash sums to the Brown's and Goldman's.

Attacked by a Friend :: essays papers

Attacked by a Friend Long long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Really only four years ago on a Friday night in a small redneck town just west of Atlanta. We had just moved to a new home in the same city. My younger brother had a friend, whose name is Jason, spend the night at our new home. As the Friday evening wore on, I mostly stayed in my room on the internet. I did the best as I could to be as anti-social as I could. However, at last, all of the people I was talking to on CompuServe signed off and I was left all alone. Therefore, as hard as it was for me to go to my brother’s room and play with him and his friend, I did it. I had a blast. The night was actually turning out to be not so horrible. As the night wore on we continued to play, and then it happened. I swung at his face in a joking manner and with out realizing it, Jason had pulled out a knife and it had cut me. Instead of pain, I felt a surge of pressure being released and I knew what had happened was not good. As I felt the knife cut into my arm, I could see blood shoot across the room. Immediately I grabbed the cut on my arm and ran to the bathroom sink! Turning my head to yell at my brother I screamed, â€Å"Nathan, get the first aid kit!† The bleeding was not slow; it kept gushing out, with no control at all! Then Nathan returned. â€Å"Here you go!† He said as he handed the box to me. Turning my head to him I said, â€Å"That’s not going to work you idiot!† As I lifted my thumb from top of the wound more blood shot out and was stopped only by the wall. Now what do I do? Oh no! I am going to have to tell mom and dad! I am in so much trouble right now. So I told my parents and was taken to the emergency room in Douglasville, GA. When I first arrived to the ER we where told by the attendant to hold on, so I took my thumb off the cut for a second and when the woman saw that she let me in immediately.

Essay --

â€Å"Currency devaluation is typically an event resulting from a policy (political) decision and is most often associated with the nations that elect to â€Å"fix† the exchange rate for domestic currency in relation to another nation’s (or region’s) currency or some other fixed standard† (Owen, 2005). In other words, devaluation occurs in a situation when a country is operating under a fixed exchange rate regime and its government decides to lower the value of its currency in relation to the currency it is pegged against. In the case of Venezuela, the bolà ­var fuerte is pegged against the US dollar. A government objective generally associated with devaluation is the improvement of a trade deficit. If a country’s imports are greater than their exports, devaluing their currency can help, as it reduces the â€Å"purchasing power of domestic money in terms of foreign goods and increases the purchasing power of foreign money in terms of domestic goods† (Johnson, 1971). This in effect means domestic goods (exports) become cheaper and imports become more expensive, resulting in an increase in the demand for exports, with a fall in imports, and hence improving the balance of payments. Being South America’s largest oil-producing nation, Venezuela receives most of its export income from this industry. It therefore comes as no surprise that devaluation is so attractive to their policy makers as increased demand for their oil exports would allow them to accumulate more domestic monetary resources. However, an implication of this policy has been the negative effect on th e poor who spend the majority of their income on food and other basic necessities that are mainly imported goods. With inflation averaging between 20-30%, this has meant that fewer goods are... ... cites the theory of Mundel(1960) and says that, " According to this theory, it is impossible to simultaneously have a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement (an absence of capital controls), and an independent monetary policy. In conclusion, a currency devaluation whose primary aim is to improve the balance of payments has both its advantages and disadvantages. In the case of Venezuela, it has done more harm than benefited the economy. Even if the government were to try and borrow, very few investors would be willing to hold Venezuelan government debt as it would be deemed very unattractive and risky. Devaluation has in many cases been known to reduce the credit worthiness of an economy on the global markets. In the end, it could also result in an out flow of investments as investors may feel that the risk is too high for them when they invest in Venezuela. Essay -- â€Å"Currency devaluation is typically an event resulting from a policy (political) decision and is most often associated with the nations that elect to â€Å"fix† the exchange rate for domestic currency in relation to another nation’s (or region’s) currency or some other fixed standard† (Owen, 2005). In other words, devaluation occurs in a situation when a country is operating under a fixed exchange rate regime and its government decides to lower the value of its currency in relation to the currency it is pegged against. In the case of Venezuela, the bolà ­var fuerte is pegged against the US dollar. A government objective generally associated with devaluation is the improvement of a trade deficit. If a country’s imports are greater than their exports, devaluing their currency can help, as it reduces the â€Å"purchasing power of domestic money in terms of foreign goods and increases the purchasing power of foreign money in terms of domestic goods† (Johnson, 1971). This in effect means domestic goods (exports) become cheaper and imports become more expensive, resulting in an increase in the demand for exports, with a fall in imports, and hence improving the balance of payments. Being South America’s largest oil-producing nation, Venezuela receives most of its export income from this industry. It therefore comes as no surprise that devaluation is so attractive to their policy makers as increased demand for their oil exports would allow them to accumulate more domestic monetary resources. However, an implication of this policy has been the negative effect on th e poor who spend the majority of their income on food and other basic necessities that are mainly imported goods. With inflation averaging between 20-30%, this has meant that fewer goods are... ... cites the theory of Mundel(1960) and says that, " According to this theory, it is impossible to simultaneously have a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement (an absence of capital controls), and an independent monetary policy. In conclusion, a currency devaluation whose primary aim is to improve the balance of payments has both its advantages and disadvantages. In the case of Venezuela, it has done more harm than benefited the economy. Even if the government were to try and borrow, very few investors would be willing to hold Venezuelan government debt as it would be deemed very unattractive and risky. Devaluation has in many cases been known to reduce the credit worthiness of an economy on the global markets. In the end, it could also result in an out flow of investments as investors may feel that the risk is too high for them when they invest in Venezuela.

Capacity utilization Essay

?Detailed in the Indalex Ltd. case analysis, current production is stretched to the limit, creating a capacity constraint to meet future forecasted demand; hindering the firms objective of a real growth rate of ten percent annually. The issue of deciding on a capacity expansion plan, given uncertainty about near term economic projections was presented. Indalex concentrates on a competitive priority of service quality, where flexibility and quality are more of a priority than price. This is described in the case study where past and current success of Indalex is attributed to their competitive strategy being strictly based on three words: service, service, service. Indalex set out with the objective of offering a seven-day service, along with offering highly qualified assistance in designing selection for their customers. Valuing service quality, Indalex manages a close working relationship with their customers, such as responding to needs even under short notice, demonstrating how Indalex understands their factories are an integral part of their customers’ factories. I feel that maintaining reputation along with meeting the growing demand of their existing customers is crucial to the service quality strategy of Indalex. In making a decision for the capacity expansion plan, an emphasis on insuring customer satisfaction and retention is of top priority. Given the options of either increasing capacity of their extrusion process, increasing anodizing capacity, building a recycling plant to reprocess scrap aluminum, or increase capacity of both the extrusion and anodizing process; a decision had to be made on which of the options should be done first, in order for the new piece of equipment to be available by the beginning of 1979. In regards to flexibility and quality, the option to either increase capacity of the extrusion, increase capacity of anodizing, or increasing capacity of both operations together; offers machine flexibility. Having excess capacity would allow Indalex to better manage complex orders, ultimately providing an advantage towards their focused service strategy. With the option of building a recycling plant, it would enable more process flexibility and better inventory management. However, this option would generate higher inventory holding costs, creating excess inventory of over a million dollars. Along with requiring new employees with specialized skillsets, the options of adding a recycling plant won’t solve the problem of increasing demand of customer. Anodizing requires the plant to run at full capacity in order to be efficient, along with costly pollution control measures that would have to be taken. When looking into customer satisfaction and retention, customers will only be retained if Indalex increases capacity. When looking into capacity constraints, the extrusion process is the first area that I feel capacity constraints should be removed. With anodizing, the case details that much of the demand is a result from construction related work. If there were a decrease in this area, anodizing operations would be effected. Unlike the extrusion process that allows Indalex to â€Å"buy demand† by offering a low bid for high volume orders if needed, anodizing operations are much more limited in sourcing a demand. Therefore, I would chose the option of increasing capacity of the extrusion plant; which is the best option to align Indalex with their ten percent growth objective, along with offering feasibility of meeting an increase in demand, with flexibility and quality of their service. This expansion will require more employees to be hired, which will also reduce the amount of overtime that is currently required. The risk associated with increasing capacity of the extrusion plant is the idea of the U. K. ’s economy not growing as rapid as predicted, leaving the question of what Indalex would do with the new press if it couldn’t be filled naturally with demand.

Slavery and War

Midterm 1. What fundamental factors drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and colonization of the New World? There were many fundamental factors that drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and colonization of the World such as natural resources, overpopulation and religion. The European explorations have been hearing a lot about all the natural resources that the New World can offer to them. They wanted to travel and find the Far East for the gold, silk, spices, and possible crops that they may be able to bring back to Europe.They believed that the New World would be able to offer all of the natural resources that they may need in order to survive in Europe. They were also very fond of gold and all the other riches they may find. Another reason that drew the Europeans to the New World was due to population. Europe was getting overly populated and the lack of available land caused crowdedness. People were determined to get away from Europe and arrive to the Americ an colonies to establish a new place to live. Due to overcrowding, majority of people in Europe were contracting unknown contagious diseases.Many people also wanted to get out of Europe to avoid being infected. Religion has also become a fundamental factor to the exploration of Europeans. There were many different types of religions that the Europeans wanted to spread to the New World. The Europeans wanted to convert all the Native Americans that they have encountered. The Catholics settled in Maryland, while the Quakers settled in Pennsylvania. The goal of the Puritans was to arrive in the New World and be able to freely worship any religion. They wanted to free themselves from the England’s church and be able to create their own churches.What was the impact on the Indians, Europeans, and Africans when each of their previously separate worlds â€Å"collided† with one another? Indians, Europeans and Africans were all significantly impacted when each of their previously separated worlds â€Å"collided† with another. The Indians were significantly impacted when the Europeans came to the New World. The diseases that the Europeans have contracted from Europe were brought to the New World, and resulted to killing thousands of Indians. The diseases were highly contagious and did not take long for countless amount of Indians to get them.If the diseases did not kill the Indians, the Europeans would mistreat them or force them to get out of their own land and move somewhere else. The Indians did not benefit much from the Europeans and overall caused interactions to negatively affect the Indians. The Africans also did not benefit much from Europeans and the interactions that they had. Europeans did not like the Africans because of the dark color of their skin. In result, Europeans took advantage and turned Africans into slaves in the Americas. Only a few Africans benefitted with the Europeans’ interaction with them; slave traders.Some African s became slave traders and traded their own kind by capturing Africans and selling them to ships to travel to the Americas for profit. The Europeans benefitted the most when their separate worlds â€Å"collided† with the others. Due to their advance weapons and animals; they were able to kill the Indians or remove them form their own native land. After they did this, they were able to explore the land create new colonies, find new animals and plants to use for work and food. The Europeans benefitted from Africans because they enslaved them and did not have to pay for the labor.What caused the shift from indentured servant to African slaves as the dominant labor force in the southern colonies? The institution of slavery began in England because young women and men wanted to find a master who they will serve for (usual terms were from 4 to 5 years) to exchange for food, housing, and a way to get to America. After serving their time, men ended up being farmers, artisans or worse ; unemployed without anything and women ended up getting married. Indentured servants started to decline due do low birth rates and lack of improvement in the economic conditions developed.They often did not want to stay in the southern colonies due to the poor advancement it offered. In result, landowners started to use African slavery as their source of labor. They were free and landowners did not have to worry about paying for the African slaves. 3. What efforts were made to strengthen English control over the colonies in the seventeenth century, and why did they generally fail? After the civil wars that were going on in Europe, England tried to restore their authority on the colonies and make sure that throne was still powerful.After the British throne had been restored by Charles II, he wanted to be able to control his colonies more strictly. However, he was surprised that the orders he have made were not being followed in Massachusetts. The colonies were being taxed a lot by t he English and they also sent out governors of their own to try to take charge of the colonies and made sure that the British laws were being enforced. Charles II wanted to continue the English rule in the New World and tried to overpower the colonies. It generally failed because the English were fighting civil wars themselves, and colonies were left insolated for many years.This can be argued in a good and bad way. The colonies started becoming independent and did not like the idea of being ruled under England anymore. They liked the idea that they were free from England’s rule, which foreshadows terrible events down history. The colonies wanted to be under their own rules and disliked the thought of still being under England’s rule. What were the causes of the Bacon Rebellion and what impact did the rebellion have on Virginia politics and slavery? There were many causes of the Bacon Rebellion.Nathaniel Bacon created an angry group of people (slaves, farmers, servants ) to protest and burn down Indian settlements and Jamestown because they believed that the government was not giving them enough protection. This was caused by a disagreement between the Natives and the newly settled lands to the west. William Berkeley, Virginia’s governor, created a deal with the native. This deal was that there would not be any more settlers settling west of the mountains. However, due to the rapid growing of population, the agreement was difficult to maintain.There were people who were still settling west of the newly settled land where they have agreed not to settle in. This made the Natives very furious and started to harass the settlers. Nathan Bacon wanted support from Berkeley for a militia but Berkeley turned him down. This angered Nathan Bacon and ultimately, gathered people to defend him and others against the natives. After he did that, he invaded Jamestown and exiled Berkeley. Also, it was evidence of a struggle that was continuous between the In dians and the colonies in Virginia.The competition among the easterners and westerners revealed the bitterness they had for each other. It demonstrated the fact that the colony may not be capable of proving stability to the large population of free and landless men (most were former indentured servants). Bacon’s rebellion also made a huge impact on Virginia politics and slavery. The rebellion indicated the fact that it was the first class struggle between the rich and the poor whites living in the New World. It also continued to reduce the amount of Indians living there and open new land for white settlers.It reduced the population of white servants and increased the population of African servants. The indentured servants started to decrease because the landowners knew that indentured servants were to be released after their contract was finished. Landowners turned to Africans slaves because slaves did not have any contracts about how long they were to work for. They did not pose a threat for any uprisings, which the landowners highly approved of. 4. Identify the basic beliefs and assumptions of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening.The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening impacted the intellectual and spiritual life of the colonies in different ways. The Enlightenment challenged the divine right and the role of religion, which assisted Colonial America to realize that it was possible to challenge the divine right and the King. It resulted in opening the ideas about literature, science and education. It focused more on scientific advancements and helped produce more of an interest in politics and education. The Great Awakening had an idea behind it: â€Å"a new beginning†. It created a new pathway toward religion being shared.T led to the ability to challenge the clergy and the King. The Great Awakening believed that God was coming soon. This caused the believing of others and they started creating churches and school for education. This mea nt that it gave the people a freedom of religion. How did these two movements affect colonial development? The Great Awakening is the religious response to the Enlightenment to the Enlightenment and the Enlightenment was a change from religious thinking to scientific thinking. The Enlightenment gave the colonies opportunity to another option other than religion.This enabled the colonies to challenge traditional beliefs. How did the American colonies move from loyalty to protest to rebellion in the twelve years following the end of the French and Indian War? The American colonies moved from loyalty to protest to rebellion in the twelve years following the end of the French and Indian War. The fertile soil in the Ohio River Valley sparked the interested of the colonists. The idea of colonists entering the land caused the French and Indians to be concerned for they have already established a great trading relationship together.The British, which also included the colonists, defeated th e forces of the French and Indians combined. Ultimately, this war made a severe financial issue to the British because while they were fighting with the French and Indians; they were also fighting in the Seven Years War in Europe. The British needed to find a way to increase revenues to the treasury while saving money. One way the British were able to save money was by passing the Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763 was to stop settlers from advancing and settling in west of the Appalachian Mountains.They wanted to separate the colonists from the Indians and prevent any conflict between them. By reducing any conflict between other groups, they would not need as many military forces, which will help them save money. Unfortunately, the colonists did not like this idea because they believed that since they participated in the war, helped fight, and win the war; they would be able to settle in the Ohio River Valley. The British were able to increase the revenue is by adopting the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act stated that all printed items; for example, playing cards, newspapers and pamphlets, would all be taxed.This caused mixed emotions and led to a serious of actions on both the British and the colonists. The colonists did not like that idea and so they would protest about the tax. The British would try to rescind it, change it or enforce it. If the British were forced to rescind the act, they would change it to another tax; for example, Currency Act or Sugar Act). The colonists were not to happy about the acts because they did not elected any representatives to the Parliament. The British Constitution did not allow taxing unless there were representatives in the Parliament.This caused the colonists to be taxed without any representation. However, the British fired back and said that the colonists were being represented. The Parliament counted and represented all Englishmen even though they have not voted. After the French and Indian War, there were many e vents that caused the colonists to be angry. The most obvious reason was because of the series of Parliamentary acts. 6. What advantages and disadvantages did the American rebels and the British possess as the war began? There British and the American rebels both had many advantages and disadvantages as the war began.The British had many advantages compared to the Americans as the Revolutionary War began. The British had the confidence that they were going to win the war. The unlimited amount of money to buy any materials/resources they needed, and the significantly huge amount of trained soldiers were big advantages for them. The disadvantage the British had was that the soldiers really did not have any purpose in fighting because most of them were being paid to fight. The British soldiers were doing what they were told to do. They did not find any significance about this war.The British soldiers did not have to fight for their independence, unlike the Americans. The Americans had a couple advantages going into the war: the purpose of fighting, which was for their independence (they did not get paid at all unlike the British) and that made them fight harder than the British. They were truly fighting for themselves and valued the significance of this war. They were also fighting on their own land so they knew important landmarks. This was a great advantage for the Americans because they would be able to identify and predict where the British would be.The disadvantages that the Americans faced were that they were very limited in supplies. They did not have the huge amount of money to buy materials, which meant that they valued every bullet, cannon, and guns. They were not as populated as the British soldiers. They also did not have as much soldiers as the British did. The Americans were not also properly trained to fight. They did not have well-experienced captains leading them. Why was the Battle of Saratoga such a key to American success in the Revolutionary War? The French disliked the British for particular reasons like the war they had about gaining territory in North America.The French wanted to weaken the English as much as possible, which meant that French might be able to take revenge for what the British have done to them. In order to win the Revolutionary war, the Americans knew that they needed help from foreign forces. However, the French did not commit to fully support the Americans until they are certain that the Americans were capable of winning. After the Battle of Saratoga, the French started thinking that the Americans were worthy of their support. The Americans’ victory in this battle resulted in France becoming allies to the Americans.The Battle of Saratoga was significant because it was a major turning point of the Revolutionary War. Battle of Saratoga was the first American victory in the Revolutionary War. The confederacy of the Iroquois was neutral during the war. But three of the Iroquois nation fought al ong side with the British forces in the Battle of Saratoga. The confederacy was then weakened severely and with the Americans winning the Battle of Saratoga, the confederacy weakened even more. The result of the confederacy being weakened, the Iroquois nation were forced into Canada.What role did France play in winning the America’s independence and what were the long term implications for France? The France played an extremely important role with the winning of America’s independence. The French and the Americans were allied, and the Americans had no navy at all. The French were able to supply the Americans with the navy that they needed. The Americans also lacked the weapons and supplies they needed to fight in the Revolutionary War. They were able to give the Americans huge amounts of guns, other weaponries and ammunitions. The Americans were also lacking a huge army.The French also gave the Americans half of the army they had in the war. The French were also allied with the Spanish, which was a bad thing for the British. The French supplied the Americans with money that the Americans did not have. The French did not think about the American’s independence during the war, but mainly to try and get rid of the British. They wanted to crush the British armies because of what happened in the French and Indian War. The French disliked the British and that is why they allied with the Americans. If it wasn’t for the French, the American’s chances to winning were close to nothing.