Perfect competition Essay

The focus today’s lecture is the examination of how price and output is determined in a monopoly market. Pure monopoly is a single firm producing a product for which there are no close substitutes. It is important for us to understand pure monopoly since this form of economic activity accounts for a large share of output and it provides us with an insight into the more realistic market structure of monopolistic competition and oligopoly. It is characterised by: †¢ a single seller producing a product with no close substitutes. The firm and the industry are the same. The product is unique – there is no close substitute for it. You either buy the product or go without. †¢ effective barriers to entry into the market (legal, technological, economic). These barriers block new firms from entering the industry, blocking potential competition. †¢ the firm is a price maker; faces a downward sloping demand curve for its product (this demand curve is the market demand curve). The firm has considerable control over price since it controls the quantity supplied and can cause price to change by varying the amount supplied. †¢ effective barriers to entry One special type of monopoly is a natural monopoly, a monopoly that arises because of the existence of economies of scale over the entire relevant range of output and competition is impractical, e. g. , water, electricity. These industries are usually given exclusive rights by the government, with the proviso that government regulates the operations to prevent abuses of monopoly power. A larger firm will always be able to produce output at a lower cost than could a smaller firm. The pressure of competition in such an industry would result in a long-run equilibrium in which only a single firm can survive (since the largest firm can produce at a lower cost and can charge a price that is less than the ATC of smaller firms). Natural monopolies have low MC and it is to their advantage to expand output. Barriers to entry The absence of competition in an industry is due largely to barriers to entry. Barriers to entry may take different forms: 1. economies of scale: costs – efficient, low cost producers are usually large firms operating under conditions of economies of scale, where AC falls over a range of output. 2. Legal barriers: Patents and Licences – government creates legal barriers in giving patents and licences. Patents: this is the exclusive right to control a product for a number of years, protecting the inventor from rival competitors who did not spend any money and time in its development. Licences: the issuing of licences by the government limits entry into an industry. 3. ownership of critical raw materials: a firm that owns a critical raw material can block the creation of rival firms. 4. unfair competition – rivals may be eliminated and the entry blocked by aggressive, cut-throat tactics such as pressure on resource suppliers and banks to withhold materials and credit, aggressive price cutting designed to bankrupt competitors. Unfair competition is illegal or borders on illegality. Under conditions of economies of scale, large firms can produce output at a lower cost than can smaller firms. Assume that the ATC curve of all firms in the industry is ATCo; however, one firm has become larger than the others, thereby producing at a lower ATC. This larger firm can sell its output at a lower price (at P’) at which point smaller firms will experience economic losses. At Po, smaller firms would receive zero economic profit. At P’ the larger firm will receive zero economic profit, but smaller firms would receive economic losses and so leave the industry or merge with others. This situation will continue until only one large firm remains. This gives us a â€Å"natural monopoly†. A large firm can operate as a regulated monopoly in which the government regulated the prices that could be charged for product/services. [pic] A firm may acquire monopoly power by having sole ownership of a raw material. Firms can also raise the sunk costs associated with entry into an industry to help discourage entry by new firms. Sunk costs are costs that cannot be recovered upon exit from an industry – advertising expenditures. If firms know that they’d lose a large amount in the form of sunk costs, they may hesitate to enter an industry. Large sunk costs are also difficult to finance. Patents and licenses provide two types of barriers to entry that are created by the government. While patent protection is necessary to ensure that there are sufficient incentives for firms to engage in research and development expenditures, it also provides the patent holder with some degree of monopoly power. A local monopoly is a monopoly that exists in a specific geographical area. Monopoly Demand, AR, MR, TR, and elasticity The demand curve facing a monopoly firm is the market demand curve (firm is the market). Since the market demand curve is a downward sloping curve, marginal revenue will be less than the price of the good. The monopolist can increase its sales only by lowering its price. This is different from the perfectly competitive firm which faces a perfectly elastic demand curve at the market price. Recall that MR is: †¢ positive when demand is elastic, †¢ equal to zero when demand is unit elastic, and †¢ negative when demand is inelastic. We will examine the implications of a downward sloping demand curve. i) P > MR – the monopolist can only increase sales if price falls, this causes MR < P (AR) for all output except the first. The falling MR means that TR will increase at a decreasing rate. Since it must lower price to sell more, the firm’s MR lies below its demand curve. ii). Price elasticity Recall the TR test for price elasticity of demand. TR tests tells us that when demand is elastic (inelastic), a decline in price will increase (decrease) TR. A monopolist or other imperfectly competitive firm will not chose to lower price into the inelastic segment of its demand curve, this will reduce TR and increase production costs, thereby lowering profits. The relationships between demand, MR and TR curves are shown in the diagram below, TR is maximized at the level of output at which demand is unit elastic (and MR = 0). Since the objective is to maximize its profit, the firm will look at its costs and revenue in determining its output level. As long as TR is increasing, MR is positive. When TR is at its maximum, MR = 0 and when TR is decreasing, MR is negative. [pic] Note that, as in all other market structures, AR = P of the good. (AR = TR/Q = (PxQ)/Q = P. ) This means that the price given by the demand curve is the average revenue that the firm receives at each level of output. iii) Cost Data The price-quantity combination depends not only on the MR and demand data, but also on costs. Profit-maximising firms produce the level of output where MC = MR (as long as P > AVC). For the monopoly firm, MR = MC at an output level of Qo and firm will charge Po. Since Po > ATCo at this level of output, the firm receives economic profit. These monopoly profits, though, differ from those received by a perfectly competitive firm in that these profits will persist in the long run (due to the barriers to entry that characterize a monopoly industry). [pic] A monopoly firm may experience losses (see diagram below) if P < ATC. The economic losses equal to the shaded area. Since price is above AVC, it will continue operations in the short run, but will leave the industry in the long run. [pic] A monopoly firm will shut down in the short run if the price falls below AVC. [pic] It may be a widely held view that a monopolist can charge any price s/he wants, but the firm is constrained by the demand for its product. If a monopoly firm wishes to maximizes its profit, it must select the level of output at which MR = MC. An increase in the price above this level would reduce the profits received by the firm. Some misconceptions about monopoly pricing i) One common misconception is that the monopolist will charge the highest price it can get. This is not true. Monopolist may not seek higher prices since these bring in smaller than maximum profit. Total profit = TR – TC, and these depend on the quantity sold, price and unit cost. ii) The monopolist is more concerned with maximum total profit, not maximum unit profits. He accepts a lower than maximum per unit profit since additional sales will more than make up for the lower unit profits, e. g., willing to sell 5 units at a profit of $30 per unit (total profit = $150) than 4 units at a profit of $70 (total profit = $140). Economic effects of monopoly It will be profitable for the monopolist to sell a smaller quantity and charge a higher price than would a competitive producer. The profit maximizing output will result in an under allocation of resources since the restricted output uses fewer resources. Given the same costs, a monopolist will find it profitable to charge a higher price, produce a smaller output and mis-allocate resources compared with a perfectly competitive industry. X-efficiency: occurs when a firm’s actual costs of producing any output are greaterthan the minimum possible costs. Price discrimination and dumping Firms operating in markets other than those of perfect competition are able to increase their profits by engaging in price discrimination, where higher prices are charged to those customers who have the most inelastic demand for the product. It takes place when a given product is sold at more than one price and these price differences are not justified by cost differences. Necessary conditions for price discrimination include: i) Monopoly power: the firm control output and price (not be a price taker); ii) separation of buyers – the firm must be able to sort customers according the their elasticity of demand or willingness to pay for the product, and iii) no reselling – resale of the product must not be feasible – cannot buy low and sell high.. The diagram below illustrates how price discrimination may be used in the market for airline travel. Vacation travelers are likely to have a more elastic demand than business travelers. The optimal price is higher for business travelers than for vacation travelers. Airlines engage in price discrimination by offering low price â€Å"super saver† fares that require a weekend stay and tickets to be purchased 2-4 weeks in advance. These conditions are much more likely to be satisfied by individuals traveling for vacation purposes. This helps to ensure that the customers with the most elastic demand pay the lowest price for this commodity. [pic] Other examples of price discrimination include daytime and evening telephone rates, child and senior citizen discounts at restaurants and movie theaters, and cents-off coupon in Sunday newspapers. When countries practice price discrimination by charging different prices in different countries, they are often accused of dumping in the low-price countries. Predatory dumping occurs if a country charges a low price initially in an attempt to drive out domestic competitors and then raises the price once the domestic industry is destroyed. Consequences of discrimination The monopolist will be able to increase profits by engaging in discriminatory price practices. Monopolist will produce a larger output than a non-discriminating monopolist. Comparison of perfect competition and monopoly The diagrams below show a perfectly competitive market and the loss in consumer and producer surplus that results when a perfectly competitive industry is replaced by a monopoly. The introduction of a monopoly firm causes the price to rise from P(pc) to P(m), while the quantity of output falls from Q(pc) to Q(m). The higher price and reduced quantity in the monopoly industry causes consumer surplus to fall by the trapezoidal area ACBP(pc). This does not all represent a cost to society, though, since the rectangle P(m)CEP(pc) is transferred to the monopolist as additional producer surplus. The net cost to society is equal to the blue shaded triangle CBF. This net cost of a monopoly is called deadweight loss. It is a measure of the loss of consumer and producer surplus that results from the lower level of production that occurs in a monopoly industry. [pic] Some economists argue that the threat of potential competition may encourage monopoly firms to produce more output at a lower price than the model presented above suggests. This argument suggests that the deadweight loss from a monopoly is smaller when barriers to entry are less effective. Fear of government intervention (in the form of price regulation or antitrust action) may also keep prices lower in a monopoly industry than would otherwise be expected. A related point is that it is unreasonable to compare outcomes in a perfectly competitive market with outcomes in monopoly market that results from economies of scale. While competitive firms may produce more output than a monopoly firm with the same cost curves, a large monopoly firm produces output at a lower cost than could smaller firms when economies of scale are present. This reduces the amount of deadweight loss that might be expected to occur as a result of the existence of a monopoly. On the other hand, deadweight loss may understate the cost of monopoly as a result of either X-inefficiency or rent-seeking behavior on the part of monopolies. X-inefficiency occurs if monopolies have less incentive to produce output in a least-cost manner since they are not threatened with competitive pressures. Rent-seeking behavior occurs when firms expend resources to acquire monopoly power by hiring lawyers, lobbyists, etc. in an attempt to receive governmentally granted monopoly power. These rent-seeking activities do not benefit society as a whole and divert resources away from productive activity. Regulation of natural monopoly A monopoly firm can produce at a lower cost per unit of output than could any smaller firms in a natural monopoly industry. In this case, the government generally regulates the price that a monopoly firm can charge. The diagram below illustrates alternative regulatory strategies in such an industry. If the government leaves the monopolist alone, it will maximize its profits by producing Q(m) units of output and charging a price of P(m). Suppose, instead, though, that the government attempts to emulate a perfectly competitive market by setting the price equal to marginal cost. This would occur at a price of P(mc) and a quantity of output of Q(mc). Since this is a natural monopoly, though, the average cost curve declines over the relevant range of output. If average costs are declining, marginal costs must be less than average costs (this relationship between marginal and average costs was discussed in detail in Chapter 9). Thus, if the price equals marginal costs, the price will be less than average total costs and the monopoly firm will experience economic losses. This pricing strategy could only exist in the long run if the government subsidized the production of this good. [pic] An alternative pricing strategy is to ensure that the owners of the monopoly receive only a â€Å"fair rate of return† on their investment rather than monopoly profits. This would occur if the price were set at P(f). At this price, it would be optimal for the firm to produce Q(f) units of output. As long as the owners receive a fair rate of return, there would be no incentive for this firm to leave the industry. Roughly speaking, this is the pricing strategy that regulators use in establishing prices for utilities, cable services, and the prices of other services produced in regulated monopoly markets.

Ethics and Values in Modern Media

Ethics and Values in Modern Day Media â€Å"The public has an insatiable curiosity to know everything. Except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands. † — Oscar Wilde. Few would doubt that the media is one of the few platforms that affords people the ability to inform, entertain, and influence society. The privilege of having such voice and influence comes with great responsibility. It is crucial that those in a position of such power behave in a responsible and ethical manner. Journalist across all mediums are held to a strong ethical standard in their profession as their work can to completely change the publics view of any given topic or event. It is obvious that technology is having a tremendous impact on all forms of media. While past generations waited for the evening news or the morning paper, people today are reaching for the internet at any time of the day or night to get the latest information. While this instant access has helped curb the public’s insatiable curiosity for information, it has also raised a whole new set of questions regarding the ethics and values in the media industry. One of the most compelling questions to arise out of this new era is whether the media industry has forsaken its core ethics and values for its own gain. Values are very personal choices which are compromised of the individual experiences in life. They are choices that help one prioritize their life. Values can be influenced by a number of factors such as family, upbringing, religion, and society. They help one define and project character attributes such as loyalty, compassion and honesty. Values are instrumental in how we behave and the choices we make. Ethics are professional rules that define how different groups of people should behave. There is a distinct sense of right and wrong with little room for â€Å"grey† or questionable behavior. Ethics guide and dictate what is professional and acceptable to each given profession. To behave ethically is to behave in a manner consistent with what is right and or moral for the profession. Values and ethics are forever at a crossroads because today’s society pushes towards personal wealth. The stakes are constantly raised as far as what it takes to gain that wealth. (,2010). It is not uncommon for people to share private information, set someone up, edit what a person has said or completely alter a picture someone has taken for their gain. It is in situations like this that values are tested and ethics are ignored. Professional values and ethics are commonly derived from government laws and regulations, state licensing boards, and trade associations. A professions code of conduct will â€Å"contain provisions that are designed to advise, guide, and regulate behavior on the job. † (Madsen & Shafritz, 1990, p. 205). There are also federal, state and local laws which regulate and enforce most professional industries. According to The United States Department of Labor (n. d), Government agencies such as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) were created to â€Å"assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women; by authorizing enforcement of the standards developed under the Act; by assisting and encouraging the States in their efforts to assure safe and healthful working conditions†¦Ã¢â‚¬  . Professional associations such as the Society of Professional Journalist also have their own values and ethics which are set forth to guide their members. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. (Society of Professional Journalist, 1996). Each association clearly outlines its expectations in hopes that all members will abide by them and act in a professional manner. One of the biggest sectors of media affected by ethical conflicts is the advertising market. â€Å"For some business ethicists, advertising is one of the most crucial issues in corporate ethics because its pervasiveness and because of its power to mold consumer thinking and behavior. For example, many have argued that advertising is a form of a behavior control, given its subtle psychological persuasion and its repetitiveness. One such argument holds that advertising creates in the mind of the consumer a need – not just want – for that which is advertised. When the consumer in question happens to be a child subjected to a barrage of TV ads about toys, sugared cereals, candy, and so on, then the ethics of advertising taken as a form of behavior control is even more crucial. † (Madsen & Shafritz, 1990). Photographers also face backlash as women’s advocacy groups rail against the use of airbrushed models in print media. â€Å"You have to accept that fashion is fantasy. It's wearable art,† says Andrew Matusik, a New York fashion photographer and the owner of Digital Retouch, which specializes in celebrity and fashion retouching. â€Å"It's all about creating drama. † (Bennett, 2008). It is widespread knowledge that any photographer with any basic graphic design skills can and will alter an image to suit his client’s needs. As technology evolves so do the ethical standards which advertisers and photographers are held to. Another form of media mired in controversy is reality based investigative news shows. One such show, Dateline’s â€Å"To Catch a Predator† purported to take child sex predators off the street as they taped a series of sting operations set up by various law enforcement agencies. The show faced a firestorm of criticism when a Dallas, Texas man committed suicide moments before he was to be arrested on charges of engaging in sexually explicit chat with a minor. The man’s family sued the network and won a substantial award. The presiding judge ruled â€Å"that the network crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement. † (Shea, 2008). Although the show was very successful for the network, it was cancelled shortly after the lawsuit. While it is widely believed that being ethical and sticking to one’s values will lead to an honorable and decent career, the examples illustrated above show that more and more people are willing to push the envelope of professional values and ethics. Personal gain has taken a back seat to deceny and commen sense in many professions. This leaves us with an urgent and pressing question-what are professional ethics and values worth today? References: Values and Ethics. (n. d. ). Strategic Leadership and Decision Making. Retrieved from http://www. au. af. mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt4ch15. html Values, Morals and Ethics. (n. d. ). Changing minds and persuasion — How we change what others think, believe, feel and do. Retrieved from http://changingminds. org/explanations/values/values_morals_ethics. tm United States Department of Labor. (n. d). OSHA. Retrieved from http://www. osha. gov/oshinfo/mission. html Madsen, P. , & Shafritz, J. M. (1990). Essentials of Business Ethics. New York, New York: Penguin Group Society of Professional Journalist. (1996). Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://www. spj. org/ethicscode. asp Bennett, J. (2008, May). Picture Perfect. Newsweek, (), . Shea, D. (2008). The Huffington Post. Retr ieved from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2008/06/25/nbc-settles-to-catch-a-pr_n_109261. html

Genogram Analysis Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Genogram Analysis - Coursework Example ily members and whether the married or divorced, the diseases and health conditions that afflicted them and varied other facts depending on the type of information that is decided to be used in the configuration of a Genogram. That is why a Genogram is of immense relevance for tracing the salient traits and attributes in one’s family. Thereby I must acknowledge the fact that configuring a Genogram of my family turned out to be am immensely informative and insightful experience for me. Well, I must acknowledge the fact that I was quiet conversant with much of the information pertaining to my family and varied family members existing across varied generations that I required to construct a Genogram of my family. However, as it is with a Genogram, one need to have many intricate details about one’s family members so as to be able to compile and configure a truly informative and viable Genogram. Thereby I was required to solicit the help of my father so as to cull out the detailed information as to my family. My father as his other brothers is quiet conversant with the family history and the intricate details concerning the family as to the varied health conditions that afflicted or afflict varied family members, the marital history of the family members and the names of the spouses of the various family members. Belonging to the second generation of the family, and being a person with panache for details, my father readily helped in providing the data pertain ing to my family when I told him that I needed it to compile a Genogram of our family. I also sorted out tits bits from many other family members also. Well if I consult the Genogram of my family I could see that the success rates of the marriages in my family is not that high. My grandparents that are Lawrence V Ray and Julia Ray were divorced. One of my uncles Richard Ray never married, and my father and my uncle Charles Ray did divorce their first wife and remarried. If I take a look at the marital

Web portal. Solving environmental issues in the society Essay

Web portal. Solving environmental issues in the society - Essay Example This research proposal is about the web portal. A web portal is a very effective tool to inculcate knowledge about the environmental science. People connect with one another to form a learning community using web portals. The portal serves as platforms where all the information, resources, and expert in the field of environmental science can be accessed. The portal is a full time available source of information that helps in the growth of the learning community as they engage in discussions, exchange views, and conduct activities that promote environmental learning. Online document libraries available in the portal are constantly updated with latest research findings. Simulation of real life environment is also made available through the web portal. Introduction The research proposal is aiming at establishing a web portal that will be accessible to the students and the community. The portal is aimed at solving basic environmental issues that affects the society. The portal will conta in social services for people to interact and provide their views concerning environmental degradation and means of improvement. The portal will also contains graphs, maps, and pictures of the surrounding community to help understand environmental challenges affecting the society. There will be need to locate areas of collecting relevant data and information for the portal. Institute for Sustainable Resources (ISR) has previously engaged in managing a Nitrous Oxide research database that was made available to the community for research purpose on its effects on grains. The project was delivered by use of open source research data and management system that allowed people to post tier comments concerning Nitrous Oxide. To date ISR has managed to deliver comprehensive data management systems to the public that helps in dealing with environmental issues in Australia. Statement of the Problem There have been increased environmental concerns about the sharp decline in environmental care and preservation. People are cutting down trees hence destroying water catchment areas. Human are also responsible for draining toxic substances and chemicals in rivers, lakes, and other lager water bodies hence leading to destruction of aquatic life. There is also the habit of human encroachment on gazetted forests due to increasing human population. There has also been evidence of global warming that have changed weather patterns in the world due to heavy production of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. These are just but few problems that affect the environment. For this purpose, this research proposal aims at solving the following researchable questions. How to design a web portal that will highlight all the environmental problems and provide solutions Where to collect and receive relevant data and information on environment for the web portal How the portal management will be able to deal with diverse large and high speed data How the site will be able to conduct large researc h from diverse and multiple origins and on how much larger spatial and temporal scales Purpose of the study The research is about designing an educational web portal that will give interactive insights on how to tackle environmental issues in the community and the world at large. The web portal will be designed with the help of ISR who have experience in managing data bases for environmental issues. Their design will incorporate ability to provide relevant updates and methods of collecting and conducting research on multiple and larger temporal scale. Objectives The following are the objectives for the research proposal Provide the fastest means of communication to students and the society concerning environmental science Provide history and background on environmental science especially on land degradation Provide accessible data bases with a lot of data that is raw and collected on up to date basis Provide simulations to enable the students to make their own comparisons and come u p with their own conclusions Hypothesis The

Discrimination at workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discrimination at workplace - Essay Example Similarly, statutes that protect employers against unfair dismissal claims by sacked employees are also available. Luckily for employees who feel unfairly dismissed on medical grounds, employment law solicitors for advice and representation abound (Tamara, 2007). Cases in which employees have been fired because of their sexuality are also plentiful. Although it is easier for an employee who has worked for an employer for less than one year to be dismissed, there are still certain laid down rules and procedures that must be followed, the reasons for dismissal notwithstanding. Nonetheless, some reasons such as union activity and pregnancy offer good grounds on which an employee may claim unfair dismissal before an Employment Tribunal. In case an employer does not follow the right procedures and laws when dismissing an employee for reasons considered fair under certain employment statutes, it is advisable that the affected employee seeks legal advice. Having worked for an employer for a year and more, an employee is protected against unfair dismissal and can only be sacked on incompetence grounds or disciplinary reasons (Smith & Baker, 2010). ... Unfair Dismissal on Medical Grounds The reason Rachael should have hope is that according to many countries and their relevant employment statutes, sacking an employee on grounds of recurring illnesses or being medically unfit is considered unfair. A common case study on unfair dismissal on medical grounds occurred in the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in June 2009. ANSTO terminated the services of an employee on the grounds of being medically unfit to return to work. Just like Rachael, this employee had a history of depression and needed lengthy sick off and leave. In fact, during a certain period, she was hospitalized for two consecutive months during which she underwent electroconvulsive therapy. Fortunately, she resumed a graduated return to work in December 2007 and only managed to resume full-time hours two months later. However, her illnesses continued to impact on her, forcing her to continue with drug therapy and ECT. Although the depressions be came less severe, ANSTO still dismissed the employee. Therefore, similar to the other case of The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC versus Morris UKEAT/0436/10/MAA, Rachael may appeal against her dismissal if she feels she has suffered health and disability discrimination unlike her colleagues in similar situations. Although several statutes protect ill employees from unfair dismissals, those ill for prolonged periods could be fairly dismissed if they are unlikely to get well and return to work in a reasonable time. The reasonability of Rachael’s dismissal would thus depend on the nature of her job and the specific difficulties encountered by her manager or organisation while

The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm or When I Whistle Essay

The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm or When I Whistle - Essay Example In Animal Farm, Napoleon is supposedly successful in the management of his farm, but fails to create the utopian society he envisioned because of his own fatal flaw, the desire for material comforts. Through these characters, both Fitzgerald and Wells are able to illustrate how a fatal flaw in the individual can contribute to their own downfall even while they make a more sweeping comment regarding the societies in which they were living. Both Jay Gatsby and Napoleon are seen as tremendous successes at some point in their life after building themselves up from dirt level. Gatsby has re-created himself from the son of a poor country man to a millionaire in New York through a long series of practiced moves designed to win him the girl of his dreams, Daisy. Napoleon has worked himself up literally from the dirt of his pigpen to the leader of a successful farm through a series of practiced moves designed to attain the equality of species he envisions. There is a moment in each story when each character seems to attain everything they have dreamed of. Gatsby hears Daisy tell him she loves him and envisions the two of them beginning a new life together. Napoleon wins the respect and admiration of the surrounding farmers as his farm proves to be more successful than any of the others around. Their use of skillful rhetoric to support their actions and desires is performed so well that it takes a long time before the truth is seen by readers and by other characters and even then, it’s only revealed slowly through the narration between the characters and the actions they undertake. This is illustrated most clearly in Nick’s summary of Gatsby’s last evening, â€Å"He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity

Art history Making study guides for a quiz Essay

Art history Making study guides for a quiz - Essay Example Unique Forms of Continuity is an embodiment of his futuristic ideas. The figure is in a powerful stride indicating the constant progress and advancement. The contours of the muscular body flutter and flow in the surrounding space indicating the figure's great velocity and vitality as it pushes forward. The body has been deformed embodying its urge towards progress. This is a symbol of what is called as the Futurist World where developments are unprecedented. 28.63, Fountain Macel Duchamp is a French Dadaist who became the leading force in propagating Dada to the US. He believed that art should appeal to intellect rather than senses. This principle is embody through his ready mades which are ordinary manufactured objects transformed into artworks. Fountain is a porcelain urinal which is turned 90 degrees with signed with the pseudonym R Mutt ( from manufacturer J. L. Mott). This artwork has stirred debates due to its alleged immorality. However, it still embodies Duchamp's idea of readymade where the ordinary object is being used for another purpose which the artist imagines it to. This influences 20th century artists like Jeff Koons. 28.67, The Persistence of Memory This painting is an example of surrealism contributed by Salvador Dali. This painter is influenced by Miro and the latter also introduced Dali to Surrealists. Surrealism is a style in which fantastic visual imagery from the subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the artwork logically comprehensible. Paranoiac-critical method is his contribution to the surrealist theory where the sane person cultivates the ability of the paranoiac to misread ordinary appearances and become... Unique Forms of Continuity is an embodiment of his futuristic ideas. The figure is in a powerful stride indicating the constant progress and advancement. The contours of the muscular body flutter and flow in the surrounding space indicating the figure's great velocity and vitality as it pushes forward. The body has been deformed embodying its urge towards progress. However, it still embodies Duchamp's idea of readymade where the ordinary object is being used for another purpose which the artist imagines it to. This influences 20th century artists like Jeff Koons. Paranoiac-critical method is his contribution to the surrealist theory where the sane person cultivates the ability of the paranoiac to misread ordinary appearances and become liberated from the shackles of conventional thought. The head, which Dali identified as a self-portrait, first appeared in a 1929 painting entitled The great Masturbator. It may symbolize the artist's lifelong obsession with masturbation which has been the obsession which caused him considerable anxiety. This painting questions Kooning's real feelings toward women. He states though that he likes beautiful women but women also irritate him sometimes. This mixed emotion specifically his irritation toward women might have caused the result of his paintings.

Observations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Observations - Essay Example Not only are these meals delicious, they are also nutritious and made from the finest and freshest ingredients. Likewise, these meals are served in high quality presentation that adds to the savory appeal. Concurrently, the staffs are very courteous, as they all serve customers with a sunny disposition. With a friendly smile, these personnel are noticed to be effectively trained in customer service, as well as in ensuring that the client’s diverse needs are addressed. In addition, the restaurant’s environment is just remarkable. The premises are maintained in pristine condition with cleanliness adhered to the highest levels. Also, management ensured that there are services that could be availed by other loyal clients who would like food to be pre-ordered and taken out. I observed that they have the Carside to Go service which enables customers to order online and drive to the nearest Applebee store to pick-up the food immediately. Overall, dining at Applebee’s is indeed a memorable and happy experience where customers would look forward to the next

Response to Coments on DQ1 Smith and DQ2 Smith,WK2 Essay

Response to Coments on DQ1 Smith and DQ2 Smith,WK2 - Essay Example A way to determine whether the debt balance of a company is bad is by calculating the debt ratio and the current ratio. The debt ratio shows the ability of a company to pay off its long term debt, while the current ratio demonstrates the ability of a firm to pay off its short term debt. DQ2 The use of cash based accounting is more suitable for small operations that are highly dependent on the short term income to stay in business. An example would be a hot dog vendor. The hot dog vender uses the weekly sales to purchase more material to operate the next week. The hot dog vendor collects all his sales in cash. The majority of public corporations use accrued based accounting because they deal with large sums of money and numerous transactions. The existence of credit does not work in accounting unless the firm used an accrued based accounting system. In cash based accounting credit is not existent. Despite the differences between cash based accounting and accrued based accounting the a pplication of both systems will lead to the same accounting results. For example if the net income of a company is $10,000 under cash based accounting the use of accrued based accounting will also give a net profit of $10,000.

Term paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Term Paper Example A firm would boost that it has succeeded in business if it has met its objectives. When the firm is designing its objectives, it has to consider factors that would influence the market entry approach of the firm, pricing and distribution. Many automotive motive organizations face stiff competition in the market. This would call for a marketing strategy that aim which would aid the firm to meet its set objectives. Information regarding products of the firm in the market is very important since it enables the business to identify areas, which need correction when designing marketing approach. Marketing survey is an important exercise to the firm since it will dictate the approach or entry behavior of the business in a particular segment. Marketing strategy is a tool that the automotive firm would use to make a calculative approach into the market. The strategy would influence issues such as pricing, distribution, and market share among others. Marketing of products require a strategic entry behavior into the market in order to meet the set target of the organization. Most automotive companies manufacture similar products and supply their products into the same markets. Competition among these companies requires a devised mechanism that would woo buyers to purchase specific products of a particular company. Branding of the company products and employing marketing tactics would help to woo buyers into buying the company products. Automotive firm needs to consider a number of factors before rolling its products into the marketing. These factors would influence the amount of sale the firm is able to make, the growth of the automotive firm and market share of the firm. This paper explores strategic marketing strategies for automotive company. Market survey helps in establishing taste and preferences of customers. Conducting a marketing research would help an automotive firm to develop products that would suit the interest of the consumers. The firm may

The Whole Person Paradigm Essay Example for Free

The Whole Person Paradigm Essay The Whole Person Paradigm Knowing oneself is the first step for the improvement of one’s personality. For us do better, we must first accept the things we are better at and the things we are the least, in short, identify your potentials, harness it with your passion and overcome your weaknesses. Personally one of the best traits that I feel I have is the urge for learning new things and adopting what can be really used. I can say that I am good in speaking, planning, organizing which I can use more in the teaching profession. Most of my former teachers who are presently my co-teachers often say that I have most of the talents and skills far better to be an excellent educator but still have to work on my attitude. They say I’m the â€Å"jack of all trades† which means having to know most but haven’t perfected or mastered some. Most people are easy saying things they believed they are good at but failed to accept the things they lacked with, and the worse, afraid to face the weaknesses they had. Second strength that I gained through experience is converting weakness as my strength by means of facing and learning from them. I do now believed that I should revalue attitude sided by skills and not to tend to forget the first. Number one is to add my patience, perseverance and love of work to anything accepted and took an oath to do, my responsibilities and duty. As a teacher, a learner, an educator and as a researcher I can touch lives by setting as an example of my persistence, patience and the willingness to help others. At the moment I’m assessing myself, it took me couple of days where to start on how to describe my life and end up hearing a song which I think best describes my life in that moment. The Climb-Myley Cyrus I can almost see it- To widen your vision in life. That dream I’m dreaming of I had a chance to redefine what are my dreams and goals at time being. There’s a voice inside my head said You’ll never reach it- I had the courage to continue personal progress. Every step I’m taking Every move I’m make me with Lost with no direction- I had set my time table and set target. My faith is shaking- My faith grows more. But I got to keep trying. Got to keep my head hailed high-Confidence together with hard work inside me matures. There’s always gonna be another mountain Never to lose hope and faith in God I’m always gonna wanna make it move†¦ Keep on moving†¦- Never to stop learning and believing.

Strategic alliances to gain global integration

Strategic alliances to gain global integration Introduction Multinational companies (MNCs) are defined as a firms with strong tangible and intangible assets, thus the capability to expand their business worldwide, with global diffusion as an important resource for competitive advantage (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1998). In the stage of going global, most companies have to deal with the pressures of both global integration and/or local responsiveness, and some choose to form a strategic alliance with a partner to achieve global integration and/or local responsiveness more easily. Global integration and Local responsiveness Global Integration Global integration pressures are the forces that make MNCs exploit worldwide resources and integrate their activities on a global basis to realize economies of scale and achieve cost reduction. Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998) summarize that the motivation of Global Integration is the need of efficiency. More specifically, the developments of advanced technologies allow companies to expand manufacture globally and achieve economies of scale, resulting in the more standardized products. Moreover, the tastes of consumers have become homogeneous worldwide. Besides, MNCs tend to have global chess strategy, using the profit generated in one market to fund operations in another. Local Responsiveness In contrast, local responsiveness requires MNCs to make strategic decisions based on local context (Roth and Morrison, 1990). According to Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998) the drivers for local responsiveness are (i) the differences in consumer tastes in different countries; (ii) the typical characteristics of the product system in host countries; (iii) the administrative costs of coordinating manufacture on a global basis; (iv) the improvements in technologies enable companies to disperse manufacture to smaller local plants with low cost; (v) the trade and legislative barriers set by local Governments. Similarly, Hill (2001) discusses that the main pressures for local responsiveness are the differences in consumer tastes and preferences; differences in infrastructure and traditional practices; in distribution channels; and host government demands. Such pressures for local responsiveness urge multinational firms to adjust their products and services to better meet the demand of indigenous people. The Integration Responsiveness Framework The I-R framework, which is initially rationalized by Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) and later developed by Doz (1980), provides an insight into how MNCs compete internationally (Johnson and Julius, 1995). Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998), Spender and Grevesen (1999) mention the I-R framework to explain different ways MNCs respond to global integration and local responsiveness based on their strategy. As in Figure 1 below, MNCs pursuing a global strategy often emphasize on global integration and coordination. In contrast, multidomestic companies (called as multinational companies in Bartlett and Ghoshal model), with most pressures coming from customizing operation towards local context, focus on local responsiveness. International companies have an emphasis in knowledge transfer, because most of value they create is from transferring valuable resources to foreign markets. For transnational companies, facing equal pressures from both integration and responsiveness, they adopt a multifocal stra tegy aiming to achieve both cost efficiency and responsiveness. However the study of Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998) was restrained at internal organizational issues. Figure 1: How MNCs respond to Global integration, Local responsiveness and Worldwide learning based on their strategy (Bartlett and Goshal, 1998) Strategic Alliances There have been several researches on strategic alliances. Holmberg and Cummings (2009) contend that strategic alliances are becoming more and more important to every company in its strategic effort to maintain competitive advantages in the global marketplace. Strategic alliances are links between two or more companies to mutually carry out a specific project by coordinating necessary resources while still preserving their autonomy (Dussauge and Garette, 1999). Wheelen and Hunger (2000, p. 125) define a strategic alliance as a partnership between two or more companies to achieve strategically important targets that are mutually beneficial. According to Elmuti and Kathawala (2001), there are four main motivations for forming strategic alliances: (i) the growth strategies of parent companies to enter to a new market; (ii) the procurement of new technology or best quality or cheapest cost; (iii) the mitigation of financial risks; and (iv) the maintenance of competitive advantage for enterprises. Nowadays in a dynamic global environment, the role of strategic alliances is even more critical to the performance of a multinational company. Robson and Dunk (1999) have generalized the three main stages to develop an alliance including: Partner selection, Venture design and Venture management. The three key stages defined are similar to those by Hill (2001). Some typical features of strategic alliances are that their operations are subject to multiple decision making, continuous bargaining and conflicts of interests (Dussauge and Garette, 1999). Therefore it is not easy to successfully manage an alliance. Bleeke and Ernst (1993) find that among 49 alliances in their research, about 67% confront troubles within the first two years. Holmberg and Cummings (2009) give examples of failed strategic alliances, mostly due to lack of rigorousness in partner selection process. It is important to know if the way alliances can create value for the firm is appropriate to the parent firms strategy. So the first thing MNCs managers should consider from partner selection stage is to identify and verify that the way strategic alliances help to expand business is in line with the overall international operation strategy of parent firms. In this paper, the ways strategic alliances help multinational companies to achieve global integration and/or local responsiveness will be examined to assess their importance to the partner companies in relation to the partner companies strategy. Evaluating the ways strategic alliances allow multinational companies to achieve Global integration and Local responsiveness. There have been approaches to classify the ways that a strategic alliance cooperates to expand the business of parent companies. For example, Todeva and Knoke (2005) have listed 18 typical ways that strategic alliances can support multinational companies. This paper will approach the classification of Dussauge and Bernard (1999) because the systematized typology helps to provide a more comprehensive understanding on how strategic alliances allow MNCs to achieve integration and responsiveness. Alliances between non-competing companies International expansion joint ventures International expansion joint ventures (JVs) are established with a foreign partner aiming to penetrate into a new geographic market. One partner (the MNC) often seeks for market penetration, while the other (the local partner) has wide knowledge on local market thus can provide more easy market access. For example, in 1998, Yamaha Motor, the premier Japanese motorcycle manufacturer, together with Vietnam Forest Corporation, a state-owned corporation in forestry and Hong Leong Industries from Malaysia established a joint venture named Yamaha Motor Vietnam Ltd., providing motor cycles in Vietnam market (Yamaha Motor). The state-owned corporation has understanding about the market as well as necessary relations to the authority, combined with the expertise in manufacturing of Yamaha Motor, created a viable basis for the JV to thrive in Vietnam. This model is beneficial for both local government and the foreign MNC. For local government, equity sharing in JVs makes the MNCs more responsible and interested in the success of the JV. For the MNC, the local partner may provide the privilege access and political connections supporting effective market penetration. However this type of JV may result in the conflicts of benefits between the MNC and local partner. In many cases the JV is only one part of the total network of the MNC, so the MNC may have detrimental decision to the JVs performance. International expansion JV is rarely the first choice of MNCs managers since they prefer wholly owned subsidiary. However it is still common practice for MNCs when shifting business beyond borders (Dussauge and Bernard, 1999). International expansion JVs are common for MNCs facing great local responsiveness pressure (i.e. multidomestic and transnational companies), because it seeks solutions to overcome the legislative barrier and complexities of local market. In other words, it helps the MNCs to tailor their operation to fit local context. Vertical partnerships Vertical partnerships bring about cooperation opportunities for two companies at different successive stages of the production process. Normally, one partner may become a supplier or customer of the other. For example, Heinz, a global US food company is the supplier of many food products for ASDA in UK. That enables ASDA to fully deploy the resources of Heinz. However there are also shortcomings in this model. Since there is no bidding process, the opportunities to find the most cost-effective supplier are limited. As a result, the buyer tends to become dependent on the supplier. Although this model delivers mutual understanding, there are still potential conflicts of benefits (Dussauge and Bernard, 1999). Vertical partnerships relate to a strategic issue that MNC managers often deal with to increase efficiency: make or buy, or cooperate decision. MNCs choose to outsource when the cost to produce by their own is higher than the cost to outsource to a strategic partner. Consequently vertical partnerships are often exploited by MNCs facing high pressures from cost reduction (global and transnational companies). That model may help the MNC to maximize economies of scale and achieve global integration. Cross-industry agreements Cross-industry agreements are cooperation between two companies in different industries with a view to create a brand new business to diversify their operation, by taking advantage of the partners resources. For example, in 2001, Sony Corporation a Japanese electric equipment producer, and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson a provider of telecommunication equipment and services from Sweden established a 50:50 joint venture, Sony Ericsson. The JV has become a world-class mobile-phone manufacturer (Sony Ericsson). Nonetheless the drawback of cross-industry agreements is that they often post small profit margin, because most of the cases, the level of convergence of the two initial businesses is more moderate than expected. Besides, this model requires a high level of compatibility of the resources contributed by the two parties; and the new business developed must have a clear marketing strategy to become successful. Lastly, successful alliances can impose threats of new competitors if one ally obtains key skills/resources of the other (Dussauge and Bernard, 1999). Based on above characteristics, it can be inferred that cross-industry agreements support MNC to achieve global integration while looking for combining abroad complementary resources to reduce cost of the new business. It is also discussed that cross-industry agreements help to achieve local responsiveness, in case a MNC cooperates with a local company to introduce a brand new products to that specific local market. Alliances between competitors Shared-supply alliances Shared-supply alliances are the form of JV cooperation between competitors sharing similar resources to produce a certain product that is specific to each partner. Shared-supply alliances allow the partners to realize economies of scale, since they will not be able to reach an efficient scale if they produce individually. For example, BMW teamed up with Mercedes to produce a design of a front-wheel-drive-car. The new shared platform allowed BMW to expand the Mini range model more flexibly, while providing Mercedes more conventional and cost-effective measures to launch a substitution for the A- and B-class designs (Autocar, 2007). It is argued that shared-supply alliance is not the only choice for MNC managers, because the target of cost reduction can be solved by traditional method of outsourcing. Firms should only opt for shared-supply alliances once they have other strategic targets other than cost reduction. Moreover, cooperating with competitors to produce similar components may lead undifferentiated products and loosing competitive advantage. Besides, the budget for shared-supply alliances may limit other budgets for necessary activities in the MNCs thus hinder further improvements (Dussauge and Bernard, 1999). Shared-supply alliances can be suitable for MNCs suffering from cost pressure (global and transnational companies). However MNCs should consider carefully before establishing shared-supply alliances because of the potential conflicts. MNCs should consider other strategic benefits other than sole cost efficiency, e.g. exploiting the partners manufacturing experience in local countries. Consequently this model, in case prudently chosen after considering all pros and cons, may be a good choice for transnational companies who have to balance integration and responsiveness. Quasi-concentration alliances This type of alliance allows two competitors to manufacture and market a common product. The partners objective is to realize economies of scale on the product, while their autonomy is still preserved, since the risk of acquisition is avoided. Quasi-concentration alliance is most common in airline industry, e.g. the cooperation between Sud-Aviation in France and British Aircraft Corporation in the UK to form Concorde in 1962 (Heritage Concorde). The advantage of this model is that the partners will not have to compete against each other on that common product. However, Quasi-concentration model may result in the competition between the common product and partner companies products. Additionally, the model may cause the risks of leaking the core technologies to the competitors. Lastly, in case the partners decide to establish a JV to coordinate all the functions of the alliance, there is a risk of losing control over the JV and converting the parent companies in to mere shareholders (Dussauge and Bernard, 1999). Quasi-concentration alliances, with its initial objective of cost reduction, are appropriate for achieving global integration, hence global and/or multinational companies. Complementary alliances In this case the alliance allows partner companies to contribute different assets and resources to executing the cooperative project. For example a firm distributes a rivals product in domestic market. FPT, one of the largest information technology companies in Vietnam went into partnership with Dell to distribute Dells computers and other products in Vietnam market (FPT, 2008). FPT looks for Dells expertise in computer production, while Dell needs FPTs knowledge on local market and distribution network. The advantage of the model is that complementary alliances avoid direct competition between rivals. The alliance also brings about the opportunity to acquire new skills from the partner. However the potential competition between allies does not totally disappear (Dussauge and Bernard, 1999). Complementary alliances may help the partner to achieve local responsiveness because normally the local partner provides the knowledge on how to market the product in local marketplace. However in highly competitive industries, such alliances enable the MNC to focus in its core profession, rather than setting budget for establishing a local distribution network. From that perspective, complementary alliances are also good for global integration. Implications for MNCs For MNCs pursuing a global strategy, the partners in the alliance tend to be highly integrated to the network and operation of the MNCs. The partners are meant to conduct the chosen global strategy of the MNCs (Vapola et al., 2010). From the analysis above it can be inferred that global companies may deploy vertical partnership and quasi-concentration alliances. Multidomestic companies often prefer to have diversified partners, of which each of them is best suited to a particular function in a specific location. In an effort to customize their products towards local demands, multidomestic companies often differentiate their operations in each footprint countries by selecting the most compatible model and partner to form alliance in that nation. Therefore international expansion JVs and complementary alliances are most suitable models for a multidomestic partner. For transnational companies, the alliances are diversified with differentiated contributions, from sensing and exploiting opportunities from local level, to occupying certain roles in the exploitation of the value chain. Each of these partners may possess different partnership needs. So MNC should utilize different types of alliances simultaneously after considering all advantages and disadvantages (Vapola et al., 2010). In the case of international companies, the key issue is knowledge transfer with partners. The MNCs will success if they can transfer their key competencies and knowledge to foreign markets, especially tacit knowledge which is more difficult to codify and transfer than explicit knowledge. On the other hand, this may lead to a conflict with the need for confidentiality of information. Therefore based on their detailed strategy, international companies can consider any suitable type of alliance, but should be extremely prudent with cross-industry agreements and quasi-concentration alliance, since those types of alliances may lead to serious conflicts in knowledge transfer. Another content common to all types of alliances, is the control problem. Control is a critical issue especially in groups of alliances between competitors, since these groups of partner are more sensitive to conflict. In order to successfully manage an alliance, MNCs should focus on control, combining effectively all level of control from personal centralised control, bureaucratic formalised control, output control, to control by socialisation. Those measures are to assure the alliance operates in line with the MNCs original strategy. The cost of control may be high especially for transnational companies who have to deal with all kinds of alliances to achieve both integration and responsiveness. So transnational companies should be prudent in applying control policy with alliance, to avoid the risk that an increase in cost of control could erode profit. Conclusion There is a trend that MNCs are facing increasing pressures from both global integration and local responsiveness equally. No MNC pursuing pure integration or pure responsiveness strategy can become totally successful in the global arena. As a result, achieving the balance between global efficiency and local responsiveness has become an essential issue with most MNCs (Paik and Sohn, 2004), (Girod et al., 2010). Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998) assert that companies must become more globally competitive and, at the same time, more sensitive and responsive to national conditions. MNCs should flexibly choose the way to cooperate with strategic alliance on a case-by-case basis to achieve their specific target for a specific market. From the analysis above we can see that each way of cooperation in alliance has its own advantages and disadvantages. There is neither best model of strategic alliance nor idealistic coordination that leads to optimal performance for all MNCs. Each MNC, based on its own strategy, needs to consider all pros and cons of possible types of strategic alliance before making alliance decision, in order to achieve global integration and/or local responsiveness hence their business plan and strategy. In other words, companies should be clear about why they are entering the alliance and what they expect to gain from it. They also need to understand how it fits into their business plan. (Elmuti and Kathawala, 2001). BIBLIOGRAPHY Autocar (2007) BMW and Mercedes team up to think small. [online] Available at: [Accessed 25th March 2011] Bartlett, C. A. Ghoshal, S. (1998) Managing across borders the transnational solution. 2nd ed. Boston: Havard Business School Press. Bleeke, J. Ernst, D. (1993) Collaborating to compete using strategic alliances and acquisitions in the global marketplace. New York: John Wiley. Doz, Y. L. (1980) Strategic management in multinational companies. Sloan Management Review (pre-1986),21, (2) pp. 27 46. Dussauge, P. Garrette, B. (1999) Cooperative strategy Competing successfully through strategic alliances. Chichester: John Wiley. Elmuti, D., Kathawala, Y. (2001) An overview of strategic alliances. Management Decision, 39, (3) pp. 205 218. FPT (2008) FPT Distribution Dells authorized reseller in Vietnam [online] Available at: [Accessed 25th March 2011] Girod, S., Bellin, J. B. Ranjan, K. S. (2010) Operating models for a multipolar world: balancing global integration and local responsiveness. Journal of Business Strategy, 31, (6) pp. 22 27. Harzing, A. W. (2000) An empirical analysis and extension of the Bartlett and Ghoshal typology of multinational companies. Journal of International Business Studies, 31, (1) pp. 101 120. Heritage Concorde. 1962 Concorde Treaty. Anglo French Agreement. [online] Available at: [Accessed 25th March 2011] Hill, C. W. L. (2001) International Business Competing in the global marketplace. 3rd ed. New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill. Holmberg, S. R. Cummings, J. L. (2009) Building Successful Strategic Alliances: Strategic Process and Analytical Tool for Selecting Partner Industries and Firms. Long Range Planning, 42, (2) pp. 164 193. Johnson, Jr. Julius, H. (1995) An Empirical Analysis of the Integration-Responsiveness Framework: U.S. Construction Equipment Industry Firms in Global Competition. Journal of International Business Studies, 26, (3) pp. 621 635. Lawrence, P. R. Lorsch, J. W. (1967) Organization and environment: managing differentiation and integration. Boston: Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University. Paik, Y. Sohn, J. H. D. (2004) Striking a balance between global integration and local responsiveness: the case of Toshiba Corporation in redefining regional headquarters role. Organizational Analysis; 12, (4) pp. 347 359. Robson, M. J. Dunk, M. A. J. (1999). Developing a pan-European co-marketing alliance: the case of BP-Mobil. International Marketing Review, 16, (3) pp. 216 230. Roth, K. Morrison, A. J. (1990) An empirical analysis of the integration-responsiveness framework in global industries. Journal of International Business Studies, 21, (4) pp. 541 564. Sony Ericsson. Mission and Profile. [online] Available at: [Accessed 25th March 2011] Spender, J. C. Grevesen, W. (1999) The multinational enterprise as a loosely coupled system: the global integration local responsiveness dilemma. Managerial Finance, 25, (2) pp. 63 84. Todeva, E., Knoke, D. (2005) Strategic alliances and models of collaboration. Management Decision, 43, (1), pp. 123 148. Vapola, T. J., Paukku, M. Gabrielsson, M. (2010) Portfolio management of strategic alliances: An international business perspective. International Business Review, 19, (3) pp. 247 260. Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D. (2000) Strategic management and business policy: entering 21st century global society. 7th ed. London: Prentice Hall. Yamaha Motor Japan. Asia and Oceania group companies [online] Available at: [Accessed 25th March 2011] PART 2: REFLECTION Word count: 1,431 words Description The International Business Strategy module is contained in the MSc Accounting (Financial services) course which I am attending. The module provides an insight into the strategies of multinational companies (MNC) i.e. international strategy, global strategy, multidomestic strategy and transnational strategy. Based on that basic knowledge, implications for organizational structure, control, knowledge transfer, modes of entry, strategic alliances and internationalization of SMEs are introduced. General evaluation The module has provided me knowledge that is both old and new to me. From undergraduate program in my home country I have studied about globalization, key drivers and how globalization affects international trade. However in this module I found more insights into how globalization affects the formation and development of multinational companies. The theories are really necessary and helpful to understand the real business world, and the way multinational companies are actually formed, structured, managed and developed. The knowledge on globalization and MNCs are systematized and in line with current academic and empirical understanding about international business. However, I believe the knowledge would be absorbed more quickly if more methods of studying are combined, for example group presentations or debates. Analysis I chose to write my assignment with topic 1: Evaluate the ways strategic alliances allow multinational company to achieve global integration and local responsiveness, since I realize this is the increasing trend in international cooperation. I have found a lot of academic literature on the field that I chose. There are a lot of useful information about strategies, Integration Responsiveness framework and strategic alliances. Among those academic literatures, I found the book by Hill (2001) International business Competing on the global marketplace very useful for understanding about the strategy typology of multinational companies. Although prior to Hill (2001) there have been several relevant researches on multinational companies strategy typology, the book still provides comprehensive and detailed description about the four type of strategies adopted by multinational companies, the stages to establish a strategic alliance, and the pros and cons of each strategy. I continued to read about Integration Responsiveness Framework and found the work of Roth and Morrison (1990) helpful to understand about the key concepts of I R Framework, the relationships with strategies and limitations of I R framework. The illustrations and explanation of Bartlett and Goshal (1998) are also fundamental to explain the relationships between I -R Framework and strategies. Although I did not use all the information I read for my assignments due to irrelevance, those are what I am going to bear in mind about the I R Framework in the time to come. For strategic alliances, the book by Dussauge and Garrette (1999) is very useful for the typology of strategic alliances and the advantages/disadvantages of each type of alliance. I made much reference to that book in my assignments due to the systematized typology of alliance and the in-depth analysis the book provides. Besides, the journal of Vapola et al. (2010) gives a systematic approach to analyze portfolio management of strategic alliances based on multinational companies strategy, which I find very useful and made citations in my work. Besides, I also study about other significant issues relating to multinational companies i.e. the structure of international business, control, knowledge transfer, modes of entry and the internationalization of SMEs. I did read a number of books and journals and managed to link relevant contents together. I have also made some inference to other fields of multinational companies like control and knowledge transfer, to have a more objective and broad view of the role of strategic alliances. However I think the links to control and knowledge transfer are not salient in this assignment, because of time and length constraint and especially the fear of deviating from the main topic. Conclusion Theories about I R Framework and its relation to the four strategies of multinational companies are very pragmatic and useful to understand the actual pressures faced by most multinational companies in the global marketplace. Those theories also provide a rationale of how multinational companies respond to global integration and local responsiveness, which helps me to perceive the business world in a more practical and systematic way. Theories about strategic alliances allow me to understand the most common ways that strategic alliances support the partners to achieve their strategic targets. There are 6 typical ways namely international expansion joint ventures, vertical partnerships, cross industry agreements, shared supply alliances, quasi concentration alliances and complementary alliances. I also understand the pros and cons of each type of alliances. I am now able to explain why a multinational company choose to cooperate with non-competitors or competitors, based on their strategy and nature of business. Implications for other concepts i.e. control and knowledge transfer are also inferred in the assignment, therefore a more objective view of MNC operation and its strategic alliances is provided. What has been drawn out from the assignment is that each multinational company, before deciding to cooperate in a strategic alliance, should consider all possible proposals, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal to judge if the type of alliance helps them achieve global integration and/or local responsiveness in the most effective way. From my perspective, I realize some kinds of strategic alliances are extremely common between developed and developing countries e.g. international expansion joint ventures or complementary alliances. Such knowledge may be useful when I come back to Vietnam and continue my job at an investment bank facilitating international trade and investments. It will be easier for me to fully understand the nature of transactions of MNC customers. I may work out the best solution to serve financial needs for MNC customers. For example, for some important MNC customers, I may propose to apply a more flexible cut-off time for their transactions, because their transactions are, by nature, often between nations in different time zones. Moreover, I may propose to apply a more competitive pricing for transactions between multinational companies and their alliances and/or subsidiaries. The reason is that when two partners contribute resources to a certain alliance project, the transactions for material purchasing, infrastructure costs, personnel mobilization tend to be frequent and of large amount, at least in the short term, which can deliver relatively high non-interest income for the bank. Besides, the business consultant services for institutional customers could be improved when the bank understand the needs of a MNC customer coming into a new developing market and seeking for a potential partner to set up a strategic alliance. The most important learning technique I studied is how to link together different fields of knowledge, in the case of th

Recruitment And Selection Processes

Recruitment And Selection Processes In todays world, recruitment and selection policy plays an important role in the workplace around the globe where it is the key success factors in any business. Recruitment is the process of seeking and attracting a pool of qualified applicants from which candidates for job vacancies can be selected. However, selection is the process that choosing from a group of applicants the best qualified candidates. (Stone 2005, pp.187) Both the recruitment and selection are different management functions, but they can lead the employers to identify the right person for the right job. Thus, it also can help in increase effectiveness of organization. The relationship between employers and employees can seek a big different if compared to past decades. Existing of industrial relations and labor laws has created a protectionism and healthy environment for both parties in the workplace. However, there are still some issues existing in the society nowadays, especially unfair discrimination issue occur in some industries. In fact, those unlawful, unfair treatments or discrimination to the employees may increase the costs and turnover rate in the organization and thus lower the workforces morale. Without recruitment and selection policy, organization may simply hire workers to fit the vacancy spaces even candidates are lack of knowledge, ability, experience, or skill. Besides, numbers of foreign labors is increased from year to year whereby help company to save costs by employed labors in low salary. But, this caused unemployment rate increased and thus uncertainty is possible at the same time by increased in such activities like crime, strike, fighting, and so on. With no expertise workers, there is no doubt that organization will carry out low performance and unsatisfied services or products to the users. The inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the organization might affect its overall performance and reputation indirectly. In order to change the situation and increase the profit, organization may need to make some improvement like give the employees some jobs training and this will increase the costs indirectly. Therefore, it is needed for every organization to ensure that the jobs are suited to offer to workers with abilities by applying recruitment and selection policy to avoid unnecessary expenses. This research study can help everyone to understand the important of recruitment and selection policy toward the organizations in all industries. The information might able to achieve future goals by clearly define the influential of the policy within the organization. Besides that, organizations can also find this information as for their human resource management improvement. Furthermore, the general objective of doing this research study is to identify the recruitment and selection policy can help good relations by ensuring that workers are engaged for jobs suited to their abilities and workers can get satisfaction in their jobs. Secondly, this research study can lead to understand how the policy help organization performs in more effective ways in order to make a right choice. Employer need to choose the most suitable employee to help increase performance of organization. Thirdly, it is important to understand how policy creates a healthy workplace by providing fair treatment to everyone for gaining win-win situation in both employers and employees. That mean organization performance can get improvement and employees can get fully satisfaction in their jobs. Lastly, it is needed to study whether the recruitment and selection policy can make changes in human lifestyle such as better or worse, high educated, skillful, knowledgeable, and so on. 2.0 Literature Review Recruitment and selection are the two important processes under Human Resource department in an organization. Good recruitment and selection policies will ensure a good industrial relation between employees and employers in an organization and also ensured workers are engaged for jobs suited to their abilities. A study made by Hsu Y.R, et al., 2000, found that it is important to have Human Resource managers on the board participating in the development of corporate strategy and that it is important to integrate Human Resource Management policy fully with corporate strategy. However, there are issues pertaining to recruitment and selection policies in industrial relation between employers and employees. In Anastasi, 1988, p-144; Bible, 1990, Cascio, 1987, p. 132; Hutfcut, 1990; Seymour, 1988; Thornton, in press) studies as cited in Smither J.W., et al (n.d) studies, it says that applicant perceived selection procedures as lacking in validity, or otherwise regarded as offensive or intrusive, are more likely to be viewed as unfair, unethical, or immoral issues resulting in more complaints and court challenges. By perceiving unlawful and unfair treatments by employers, workers motivation level to perform well will be lowered down and in turn will increase the costs and turnover rate in the organization. Besides that, Smither J.W. et al, (n.d), also mention that those workers who does not like an organizations policies, practices, or style is likely to go job shopping somewhere else. Changes in workforce demographics may also increase the difficulty to attract and recruit enough qualified workers. The types of benefits can be influence by the demographic factors as well. For example, medical coverage, life insurance, and retirement benefits will be more likely for older workforce. On the other hand, workers under 30 tend to be more interested in flexibility, technology, and training. Therefore, the policies provide for employees should not a one size fits all approach; organizations can provide employees options for customizing a benefits package to match their individual needs (John C.R., 2009).The research made by Hsu Y.R., et al., (2000) on recruitment and selection policies in Taiwan found that the internal recruitment method are commonly used by the responding firm in Taiwan and may not only motivate workers to perform better and increase their commitment towards the organization, but may also improve their job security through upward or lateral career oppor tunities. In Sparrow, P. et al., (1994) study (as cited in Hsu Y.R., et al., (2000) mentioned that by using internal personnel sources effectively, it may also allow management to observe and assess the abilities of employees accurately given the accrued knowledge gathered over the employment relationship. This may avoid management from recruiting and selecting workers that are lack of knowledge, ability and experience to fit into the vacancy spaces besides helping the management to maintain good industrial relations with workers. There is still having some organization discrimination about the union. In the organizational for Economic Co-operation and Development there is declining in union density (Visser,2006; Peetz, 1998). Some of the companies have specific selection criteria to make sure they get staff that are culturally fit with what the companies culture and wish to avoid employees that have strongly unionized, preferring those from non-union (Rae Cooper, et al.,2009). This show that, in the early stage which is selection, organization already tend to choose those not union and those who are unions no chance to get the job. In addition, some companies recruitment policy have stated that they not to employ union members. At the recruitment meeting, human resource consultants and customer service managers have come out a question that whether the workers worked at company that was heavily unionized company can make a good team fit (Rae Cooper, et al., 2009). Joining the non-union organization, workers a re not protected under union and it will relate to more issues like unsatisfied on their working condition, payment, bonus, and others. Furthermore, this will lead to the unfair/unhappiness or workers. So, it cant maintain a good industrial relation between management and workers. There are suggestion that the varied and multilayered de-unionization tactics were not mutually exclusive, as the soft and informal human resources policies only hidden away the more clear and proper plan by employers to break collective representation at the workplace level ( Rae Cooper, et al., 2009). Multinational enterprise (MNE) has facing the problem that in different countries the Human resource procedures are different. Multinational enterprise facing difficulty to transmit their employee relations practices between contrary units operating in different countries. MNEs are important agents in transmitting industrial relations and other employment relations practices across national and cultural borders argued by Sparrow et al, 1994. The improvement in working conditions introduced by the collective agreement since 1989, lower the labor turnover. Organization should not be underestimated the importance of recruiting suitable individuals into an organization (Tony Royle, 1999). Recruit suitable employees into an organization can help increase the performance of organizations and lower down the turnover in the organizations. However, an organization is able to take benefit of employees who share common traits, kicking out those who may question managerial right, have notions of worker solidarity and an interest in trade union representation (Royle, 1998). 3.0 Content analysis Recruitment and selections policy plays vital important role in ensuring that the organization recruiting the qualified workers for job which are commensurate with their abilities. Recruitment and selection is usually central workforce development issues and challenges for the growing and smaller organization nowadays. The employers or human resources should always define the qualifications and experience that needed for the vacant job clearly by ensuring that the applicants skills or abilities that employed are fit with the job. There are always two primary issues that should be concerned by the recruiter or employer which are discrimination that due to the use of informal methods of recruitment and possibility that selection process being skewed by the initial recruitment phrase. Sometimes, discrimination is happen indirectly and unconsciously throughout the procedure. When discrimination occurs, the employer may miss the opportunity of getting the appropriate applicants that suite d with the job. Thus, fair and equity recruitment and selection procedures need to be emphasized to ensure that all applicants have equal employment opportunity so that the company can employ the most suitable applicants for the job that match with their ability. In additional, there are three steps should be taken by the organization which are develop an up to date job description, develop effective recruitment strategy that concern the recruitment sources and recruiter and evaluate the recruitment strategy. Recruitment process and methods also need to check regularly and evaluate now and then. In order to ensure that the candidate engage to the job that suited with their abilities, the employer may explain term and conditions of employment to applicant before they are engaged for the job. By explaining the employment condition to the applicants, they will know more about the job scope and determine whether they are engage for the right job. At the same time, it helps to decrease the tendency of industry relation problems occur at anytime. Besides, selection techniques also plays crucial role in getting right person for the job. The employers must always make sure that the selection is based on suitability for the job and ensure that the recruitment processes are carried out by the competent recruiters that are experience and knowledgeable in human resources field. Once the applicants are proceeding to selection phrase, the individual or panel interview, test, role play activity or reference check will be carried out. Job knowledge test helps to measure the understanding of applicants regard to the job (Compton, 1996). The organizations are encouraged to follow competencies model in recruiting and selecting the applicants as it seeks to identify abilities needed to perform job well rather than focusing on applicant personal characteristics. Moreover, the employers of organization are most likely applying internal recruitment method which is filling the vacancy by transfer or promotions before recruit from outside. These can be supported by the example of recruitment and selection in Australia. In Australia, recruitment from within method is commonly practice by the organization (Nankervis et al., 2002).Filling the job vacancy through transfer or promotions will helps the organization to save up some additional recruiting, selecting and training cost as current employee knows the organization well. Advertising and recruitment agencies are also widely used by organization in Australian as these recruitment methods help to reach large audience of applicants (Gill, 2000). Furthermore, existences of rec ruitment agencies help the organization to match the applicants abilities with the job vacancy. During the selection phrase, the organization in Australia will emphasize on interview, tests and reference check. Interview is important step in selection (Compton, 1996) and common selection tools for many companies ( Huffcult Arthur, 1994). In China, recruitment methods such as advertisement, job fairs, and corporate co-ordination are being practice by organization while for the selection techniques, Interview, tests and behavioral events are exercised by the organization. For example, increasing use of interactive role play during selection phrase helps to ensure that the applicants are engaged for the job that matched with their abilities. Selection phrase is important as it is process of choosing from group of applicants that individual best suited for particular position (Mondy Noe, 1993). Thus, the effectiveness of recruitment will definitely has impact on the efficiency of selection process. Jakob Bjurgert and Johan Karlsson from University of Gothenburg conducted a case study to get insight of hotel industry in Gothenburg, and examine whether internal recruitment could be a key success factor and if it solely could motivate employees. They investigate whether internal recruitment strategy sufficiency to be an incentive compensation system, and find out any difference of view on incentive system in the hotel industry, between the employees and the managements. They found that there are two different types of employees existing, where the first category employees were young and eager climbing the carrier ladder. For them, internal recruitment solely works as an incentive compensation plus motivation to stay in the company. Regarding to the second group, they were those mainly care about a stabile income and job security. Those employees simply less concern about promotion, but would rather appreciate a higher salary. Results from their evaluation also shown discrepancy between the managements and the employees view of the incentive system. An incentive compensation system existed in hotel did not works as motivational factors which from employees viewpoint, it was rather as a guideline to behave well service-minded manner. Merchant and Van d.S. (2007) described an incentive compensation system in terms of monetary and non-monetary rewards. Non-monetary rewards often consist of promotion, personal independence, rising in rank or position, autonomy, and recognition. Incentive compensation system aims to tie rewards to performance valuations. The system informs and reminds workers about what results are important, and motivates them to achieve these results. Incentive compensation systems are important for a firm in order to drive employees put more effort into their job. It is also personnel-related in terms of attracting the right person for the working place. Internal recruitment is one of the most popular incentive systems and become an old tradition in the hotel industry, as one of the non-monetary rewards. It is important for hotel industry in the service sector to have served minded employees. The industry is strongly dependent on their staff because they who are the frontline serve the customers and were important marketing tools. Motivation is needed as a force to push up performance. Through incentive compensation systems the hotel managers can design individual programs to motivate, retain and help attracting employees. (Karthik N.,Li M.,Zhaob X.,2006). However, increase the rewards can be devastating because the employees will then concerning more about the bonuses than to serve best quality to the customer.(Bjurgert J. Karlsson J.,2010) The work in a hotel is characterized by low status or low salaries, having intensive tasks and few chances to get promoted. Thus, motivation is one important tool to affect the behavior of the employees. To achieve motivated employees in the hotel industry, factors such as good salary a safe workplace, possibilities to get promoted and a good working atmosphere need to be fulfilled.(Simon T.Enz C.,1995). Zeithaml, V.A and Bitner, M.J. (2003) stated that before company recruiting a new employee, it is vital to analyze to see whether the potential employee is motivated to work in a service minded way. The hotel industry has a high labor turnover, due to long business hour, and minimum wages offered. New recruitments and learning processes cost time plus money, and company also loose competence and productivity. Nevertheless high turnover help s companies to lower down cost by offering employee the minimum salary when they first enter the company. Thus it is interesting to examine whether it is possible to stimulate and motivate employees solely through internal recruitment. Employees have to be motivated for the right thing, which is connected to the companys goals and visions. Increase workers salary and increase their responsibility and recognition when worker being internally recruited. The management needs to know how to motivate their employees with rewards. It is also important that the employees know how they are judged and how they should effort to reach these rewards. HRdictionary.com defined internal recruitment as the process of filling vacancies by recruiting staff from inside the company . According to Dessler G. (2010), the advantage of internal recruitment is getting more commitment from current to the company. Morale may also rise if employees see promotions as rewards for loyalty and competence. Moreover, inside candidates require less orientation and training than outsiders. At Gothenburg, internal recruitment in the hotel industry is frequently practiced by large hotel chains, where the supply of workers is large, and most positions are standardized.(Bjurgert J. Karlsson J.,2010). Most of the job advertisements go through via internal and external portal, where both internal and external applicants have a chance to getting the job. Even though they also advertise externally, most positions are filled with internal candidates. This could be explained by the size of the company, and high supply of candidates. 4.0 Conclusion In this study we can conclude that a good recruitment and selection policies will ensure a good industrial relation between employees and employers in an organization and can also help to identify that job can suit with the skills and abilities of employee. A good recruitment and selection process can give employer and employee achieve win-win situation. Recruitment and selection processes are main factor can help organization get successful in their business. In order placing a right people in right job is very important. This is because when worker enjoy satisfaction with their job, while can improve performance of worker. Thus, it also will help to improve overall performance of organization. In the recruitment and selection process, employer needs to pay more attention and aware on the skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience of candidates. Employer should be aware those requirement of candidates, so that can fully apply in the organization and integrate in the organization culture. Besides, those skills can effectively help in improve performance and profitability of organization. In additional, employee can also get fully satisfaction in their job because their skills can fully apply in job. In my opinion in the view point of employer, before start recruitment and selection process, employer must have clear idea about what kind of employee they want to seek and what kind of experience a potential employee to have had. It can help employer to raise success rate in the selection process by decreasing number of visibly under qualified or overqualified job applicants. Thus, employer also need to make sure what organization can offer will fix what job applicants desire such as salary, work hours, working conditions, working environment and so on. It can help in reduce the probability employee which recruited and will leave in the short period. Employer can provide recruitment agency or recruitment consultant to carry out company recruitment and selection process. Employer just needs to simple describe out what kind of employee they desire to get. After that, recruitment agency will help employer to make interview with all job applicants and then help them to find out the most suitable person. Next, in the view point of employee, before interview candidates should be ready to provide feedback of any kind of questions and prepare to answer different kind of questions during that interview. Before the interview, candidates need very clearly know about what kind of job they interested in. Furthermore, candidates can try to identify what kind of question may ask by employer and they need to how answer question to show their skills and abilities to get the job.

Frank Sinatra Essay -- essays research papers

Many people in show business are viewed as role models in our society. Many of these people are just regular men and women that are placed high on a pedestal simply because they can sing or act, hence, becoming all the more famous. Although he was famous and popular in the entertainment world for almost four decades, Frank Sinatra was a singer and actor that had a side to him that not everyone knew. He hid behind the facade of an entirely happy, successful performer, when, in reality, he had many problems that the public was not even aware of. Some of these problems are the same that the average person faces day to day, but many went far deeper than trivial troubles. Some of these specific quandaries had to do with hidden aspects of his personal relationships, hidden connections with criminal elements, and other unknown aspects of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before even attempting to understand any of this, however, some background information on Sinatra and his family would be helpful. Sinatra came from a family of orthodox Italian heritage. His mother and father were the first of his family to move from Sicily to America and settle down in the “land of the free';. After arriving in the United States, they ended up making their home in Hoboken, New Jersey, a very poor area where people resided with those of their own ethnic background. Their history was very important to the Sinatra family, and good moral values, as well as the importance of a good education, were instilled in all their children. Frank’s parents could barely read or write; that’s why good schooling was a priority to them. Sinatra’s parents looked down on the entertainment business, and with little success, did everything to lure Frank away from his attraction to the glitz and glamour of show business (Sinatra 15).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sinatra’s early years were spent in Hoboken, dreaming of a “better life';. Francis A. Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Being members of the Catholic faith, he was not baptized until April 2, 1916. He faced adversity as soon as he was born, nearly dying of birth complications that left him scarred for three months after he was conceived. As, a result of this, he was often bantered by members of his class and children of his neighborhood, who called ... ...e of tribulations throughout life, dealing with his personal relationships, his involvement with criminals, and other aspects of his personal life. Whether he had moral values and good ethics is still debated, but where he is now is not for us to say. He may have had a rough life, one that was not completely honorable to God, but people are not the ones that should be judging Sinatra; that is His job. All sin is the same in the eyes of God, and everyone has the chance to repent and be baptized and forgiven of those sins. Whether or not Sinatra was a Christian, no one really knows, except for God. Sinatra did represent a strong role model to those that thought that they were too poor to become successful in show business. Much to everyone’s belief, he beat the odds and came out on top. He was in the entertainment industry for over forty years, and survived the changes that came and went with the times. He was called “The Voice';, “Chairman of the Board';, and  220;Ol’ Blue Eyes';. People of America dubbed him a legend, and that’s the way he will remain in the hearts and minds of those who appreciated his extraordinary talents. Frank Sinatra Essay -- essays research papers Many people in show business are viewed as role models in our society. Many of these people are just regular men and women that are placed high on a pedestal simply because they can sing or act, hence, becoming all the more famous. Although he was famous and popular in the entertainment world for almost four decades, Frank Sinatra was a singer and actor that had a side to him that not everyone knew. He hid behind the facade of an entirely happy, successful performer, when, in reality, he had many problems that the public was not even aware of. Some of these problems are the same that the average person faces day to day, but many went far deeper than trivial troubles. Some of these specific quandaries had to do with hidden aspects of his personal relationships, hidden connections with criminal elements, and other unknown aspects of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Before even attempting to understand any of this, however, some background information on Sinatra and his family would be helpful. Sinatra came from a family of orthodox Italian heritage. His mother and father were the first of his family to move from Sicily to America and settle down in the “land of the free';. After arriving in the United States, they ended up making their home in Hoboken, New Jersey, a very poor area where people resided with those of their own ethnic background. Their history was very important to the Sinatra family, and good moral values, as well as the importance of a good education, were instilled in all their children. Frank’s parents could barely read or write; that’s why good schooling was a priority to them. Sinatra’s parents looked down on the entertainment business, and with little success, did everything to lure Frank away from his attraction to the glitz and glamour of show business (Sinatra 15).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sinatra’s early years were spent in Hoboken, dreaming of a “better life';. Francis A. Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Being members of the Catholic faith, he was not baptized until April 2, 1916. He faced adversity as soon as he was born, nearly dying of birth complications that left him scarred for three months after he was conceived. As, a result of this, he was often bantered by members of his class and children of his neighborhood, who called ... ...e of tribulations throughout life, dealing with his personal relationships, his involvement with criminals, and other aspects of his personal life. Whether he had moral values and good ethics is still debated, but where he is now is not for us to say. He may have had a rough life, one that was not completely honorable to God, but people are not the ones that should be judging Sinatra; that is His job. All sin is the same in the eyes of God, and everyone has the chance to repent and be baptized and forgiven of those sins. Whether or not Sinatra was a Christian, no one really knows, except for God. Sinatra did represent a strong role model to those that thought that they were too poor to become successful in show business. Much to everyone’s belief, he beat the odds and came out on top. He was in the entertainment industry for over forty years, and survived the changes that came and went with the times. He was called “The Voice';, “Chairman of the Board';, and  220;Ol’ Blue Eyes';. People of America dubbed him a legend, and that’s the way he will remain in the hearts and minds of those who appreciated his extraordinary talents.