Focus of the Final Paper Essay

Focus of the Final Paper You’ve just been hired onto ABC Company as the corporate controller. ABC Company is a manufacturing firm that specializes in making cedar roofing and siding shingles. The company currently has annual sales of around $1.2 million, a 25% increase from the previous year. The company has an aggressive growth target of reaching $3 million annual sales within the next 3 years. The CEO has been trying to find additional products that can leverage the current ABC employee skillset as well as the manufacturing facilities. As the controller of ABC Company, the CEO has come to you with a new opportunity that he’s been working on. The CEO would like to use the some of the shingle scrap materials to build cedar dollhouses. While this new product line would add additional raw materials and be more time-intensive to manufacture than the cedar shingles, this new product line will be able to leverage ABC’s existing manufacturing facilities as well as the current staff. Although this product line will require added expenses, it will provide additional revenue and gross profit to help reach the growth targets. The CEO is relying on you to help decide how this project can be afforded Provide details about the estimated product costs, what is needed to break even on the project, and what level of return this product is expected to provide. In order to help out the CEO, you need to prepare a six- to eight-page report that will contain the following information (including exhibits, but excluding your references and title page). Refer to the accompanying Excel spreadsheet (available through your online course) for some specific cost and profit information to complete the calculations. Final Paper Spreadsheet I. An overall risk profile of the company based on current economic and industry issues that it may be facing. II. Current company cash flow a. You need to complete a cash flow statement for the company using the direct method. b. Once you’ve completed the cash flow statement, answer the following questions: i. What does this statement of cash flow tell you about the sources and uses of the company funds? ii. Is there anything ABC Company can do to improve the cash flow? iii. Can this project be financed with current cash flow from the company? Why or why not? iv. If the company needs additional financing beyond what ABC Company can provide internally (either now or sometime throughout the life of the project), how would you suggest the company obtain the additional financing, equity or corporate debt, and why? III. Product cost: ABC Company believes that it has an additional 5,000 machine hours available in the current facility before it would need to expand. ABC Company uses machine hours to allocate the fixed factory overhead, and units sold to allocate the fixed sales expenses. Bases on current research, ABC Company expects that it will take twice as long to produce the expansion product as it currently takes to produce its existing product. a. What is the product cost for the expansion product under absorption and variable costing? b. By adding this new expansion product, it helps to absorb the fixed factory and sales expenses. How much cheaper does this expansion make the existing product? c. Assuming ABC Company wants a 40% gross margin for the new product, what selling price should it set for the expansion product? d. Assuming the same sales mix of these two products, what are the contribution margins and break-even points by product? IV. Potential investments to accelerate profit: ABC company has the option to purchase additional equipment that will cost about $42,000, and this new equipment will produce the following savings in factory overhead costs over the next five years: Year 1, $15,000 Year 2, $13,000 Year 3, $10,000 Year 4, $10,000 Year 5, $6,000 ABC Company uses the net-present-value method to analyze investments and desires a minimum rate of return of 12% on the equipment. a. What is the net present value of the proposed investment (ignore income taxes and depreciation)? b. Assuming a 5-year straight-line depreciation, how will this impact the factory’s fixed costs for each of the 5 years (and the implied product costs)? What about cash flow? c. Considering the cash flow impact of the equipment as well as the time-value of money, would you recommend that ABC Company purchases the equipment? Why or why not? V. Conclusion: a. What are the major risk factors that you see in this project? b. As the controller and a management accountant, what is your responsibility to this project? c. What do you recommend the CEO do? Writing the Final Paper 1. Must be six to eight double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. 2. Must include a title page with the following: a. Title of paper b. Student’s name c. Course name and number d. Instructor’s name e. Date submitted

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

I was finally able to get into the zone, but couldn't do anything once I got there. I keep a steno pad handy for notes character lists, page references, date chronologies and I doodled in there a little bit, but the sheet of paper in the IBM remained blank. There was no thundering heartbeat, no throbbing eyes or difficulty breathing no panic attack, in other words but there was no story, either. Andy Drake, John Shackleford, Ray Garraty, the beautiful Regina Whiting . . . they stood with their backs turned, refusing to speak or move. The manuscript was sitting in its accustomed place on the left side of the typewriter, the pages held down with a pretty chunk of quartz I'd found on the lane, but nothing was happening. Zilch. I recognized an irony here, perhaps even a moral. For years I had fled the problems of the real world, escaping into various Narnias of my imagination. Now the real world had filled up with bewildering thickets, there were things with teeth in some of them, and the wardrobe was locked against me. Kyra, I had printed, putting her name inside a scalloped shape that was supposed to be a cabbage rose. Below it I had drawn a piece of bread with a beret tipped rakishly on the top crust. Noonan's conception of French toast. The letters L.B. surrounded with curlicues. A shirt with a rudimentary duck on it. Beside this I had printed QUACK QUACK. Below QUACK QUACK I had written Ought to fly away ‘Bon Voyage.' At another spot on the sheet I had written Dean, Auster, and Devore. They were the ones who had seemed the most there, the most dangerous. Because they had descendants? But surely all seven of those jacks must, mustn't they? In those days most families were whoppers. And where had I been? I had asked, but Devore hadn't wanted to say. It didn't feel any more like a dream at nine-thirty on a sullenly hot Sunday morning. Which left exactly what? Visions? Time-travel? And if there was a purpose to such travel, what was it? What was the message, and who was trying to send it? I remembered clearly what I'd said just before passing from the dream in which I had sleepwalked out to Jo's studio and brought back my typewriter: I don't believe these lies. Nor would I now. Until I could see at least some of the truth, it might be safer to believe nothing at all. At the top of the sheet upon which I was doodling, in heavily stroked letters, I printed the word DANGER!, then circled it. From the circle I drew an arrow to Kyra's name. From her name I drew an arrow to Ought to fly away ‘Bon Voyage' and added MATTIE. Below the bread wearing the beret I drew a little telephone. Above it I put a cartoon balloon with R-R-RINGG! in it. As I finished this, the cordless phone rang. It was sitting on the deck rail. I circled MATTIE and picked up the phone. ‘Mike?' She sounded excited. Happy. Relieved. ‘Yeah,' I said. ‘How are you?' ‘Great!' she said, and I circled L.B. on my pad. ‘Lindy Briggs called ten minutes ago I just got off the phone with her. Mike, she's giving me my job back! Isn't that wonderful?' Sure. And wonderful how it would keep her in town. I crossed out Ought to fly away ‘Bon Voyage,' knowing that Mattie wouldn't go. Not now. And how could I ask her to? I thought again If only I knew a little more . . . ‘Mike? Are you ‘ ‘It's very wonderful,' I said. In my mind's eye I could see her standing in the kitchen, drawing the kinked telephone cord through her fingers, her legs long and coltish below her denim shorts. I could see the shirt she was wearing, a white tee with a yellow duck paddling across the front. ‘I hope Lindy had the good grace to sound ashamed of herself.' I circled the tee-shirt I'd drawn. ‘She did. And she was frank enough to kind of . . . well, disarm me. She said the Whitmore woman talked to her early last week. Was very frank and to the point, Lindy said. I was to be let go immediately. If that happened, the money, computer equipment, and software Devore funnelled into the library would keep coming. If it didn't, the flow of goods and money would stop immediately. She said she had to balance the good of the community against what she knew was wrong . . . she said it was one of the toughest decisions she ever had to make . . . ‘ ‘Uh-huh.' On the pad my hand moved of its own volition like a planchette gliding over a Ouija board, printing the words PLEASE CAN'T I PLEASE. ‘There's probably some truth in it, but Mattie . . . how much do you suppose Lindy makes?' ‘I don't know.' ‘I bet it's more than any three other small-town librarians in the state of Maine combined.' In the background I heard Ki: ‘Can I talk, Mattie? Can I talk to Mike? Please can't I please?' ‘In a minute, hon.' Then, to me: ‘Maybe. All I know is that I have my job back, and I'm willing to let bygones be bygones.' On the page, I drew a book. Then I drew a series of interlocked circles between it and the duck tee-shirt. ‘Ki wants to talk to you,' Mattie said, laughing. ‘She says the two of you went to the Fryeburg Fair last night.' ‘Whoa, you mean I had a date with a pretty girl and slept through it?' ‘Seems that way. Are you ready for her?' ‘Ready.' ‘Okay, here comes the chatterbox.' There was a rustling as the phone changed hands, then Ki was there. ‘I taggled you at the Fair, Mike! I taggled my own quartermack!' ‘Did you?' I asked ‘That was quite a dream, wasn't it, Ki?' There was a long silence at the other end. I could imagine Mattie wondering what had happened to her telephone chatterbox. At last Ki said in a hesitating voice: ‘You there too.' Tiu. ‘We saw the snake-dance ladies . . . the pole with the bell on top . . . we went in the spookyhouse . . . you fell down in the barrel! It wasn't a dream . . . was it?' I could have convinced her that it was, but all at once that seemed like a bad idea, one that was dangerous in its own way. I said: ‘You had on a pretty hat and a pretty dress.' ‘Yeah!' Ki sounded enormously relieved. ‘And you had on ‘ ‘Kyra, stop. Listen to me.' She stopped at once. ‘It's better if you don't talk about that dream too much, I think. To your mom or to anyone except me.' ‘Except you.' ‘Yes. And the same with the refrigerator people. Okay?' ‘Okay. Mike, there was a lady in Mattie's clothes.' ‘I know,' I said. It was all right for her to talk, I was sure of it, but I asked anyway: ‘Where's Mattie now?' ‘Waterin the flowers. We got lots of flowers, a billion at least. I have to clean up the table. It's a chore. I don't mind, though. I like chores. We had French toast. We always do on Sundays. It's yummy, ‘specially with strawberry syrup.' ‘I know,' I said, drawing an arrow to the piece of bread wearing the beret. ‘French toast is great. Ki, did you tell your mom about the lady in her dress?' ‘No. I thought it might scare her.' She dropped her voice. ‘Here she comes!' ‘That's all right . . . but we've got a secret, right?' ‘Yes.' ‘Now can I talk to Mattie again?' ‘Okay.' Her voice moved off a little. ‘Mommy-bommy, Mike wants to talk to you.' Then she came back. ‘Will you bizzit us today? We could go on another picnic.' ‘I can't today, Ki. I have to work.' ‘Mattie never works on Sunday.' ‘Well, when I'm writing a book, I write every day. I have to, or else I'll forget the story. Maybe we'll have a picnic on Tuesday, though. A barbecue picnic at your house.' ‘Is it long 'til Tuesday?' ‘Not too long. Day after tomorrow.' ‘Is it long to write a book?' ‘Medium-long.' I could hear Mattie telling Ki to give her the phone. ‘I will, just one more second. Mike?' ‘I'm here, Ki.' ‘I love you.' I was both touched and terrified. For a moment I was sure my throat was going to lock up the way my chest used to when I tried to write. Then it cleared and I said, ‘Love you, too, Ki.' ‘Here's Mattie.' Again there was the rustly sound of the telephone changing hands, then Mattie said: ‘Did that refresh your recollection of your date with my daughter, sir?' ‘Well,' I said, ‘it certainly refreshed hers.' There was a link between Mattie and me, but it didn't extend to this I was sure of it. She was laughing. I loved the way she sounded this morning and I didn't want to bring her down . . . but I didn't want her mistaking the white line in the middle of the road for the crossmock, either. ‘Mattie, you still need to be careful, okay? Just because Lindy Briggs offered you your old job back doesn't mean everyone in town is suddenly your friend.' ‘I understand that,' she said. I thought again about asking if she'd consider taking Ki up to Derry for awhile they could live in my house, stay for the duration of the summer if that was what it took for things to return to normal down here. Except she wouldn't do it. When it came to accepting my offer of high-priced New York legal talent, she'd had no choice. About this she did. Or thought she did, and how could I change her mind? I had no logic, no connected facts; all I had was a vague dark shape, like something lying beneath nine inches of snowblind ice. ‘I want you to be careful of two men in particular,' I said. ‘One is Bill Dean. The other is Kenny Auster. He's the one ‘ ‘ with the big dog who wears the neckerchief. He ‘ ‘That's Booberry!' Ki called from the middle distance. ‘Booberry licked my facie!' ‘Go out and play, hon,' Mattie said. ‘I'm clearun the table.' ‘You can finish later. Go on outside now.' There was a pause as she watched Ki go out the door, taking Strickland with her. Although the kid had left the trailer, Mattie still spoke in the lowered tone of someone who doesn't want to be overheard. ‘Are you trying to scare me?' ‘No,' I said, drawing repeated circles around the word DANGER. ‘But I want you to be careful. Bill and Kenny may have been on Devore's team, like Footman and Osgood. Don't ask me why I think that might be, because I have no satisfactory answer. It's only a feeling, but since I got back on the TR, my feelings are different.' ‘What do you mean?' ‘Are you wearing a tee-shirt with a duck on it?' ‘How do you know that? Did Ki tell you?' ‘Did she take the little stuffed dog from her Happy Meal out with her just now?' A long pause. At last she said ‘My God' in a voice so Low I could hardly hear it. Then again: ‘How ‘ ‘I don't know how. I don't know if you're still in a . . . a bad situation, either, or why you might be, but I feel that you are. That you both are.' I could have said more, but I was afraid she'd think I'd gone entirely off the rails. ‘He's dead!' she burst out. ‘That old man is dead! Why can't he leave us alone?' ‘Maybe he has. Maybe I'm wrong about all this. But there's no harm in being careful, is there?' ‘No,' she said. ‘Usually that's true.' ‘Usually?' ‘Why don't you come and see me, Mike? Maybe we could go to the Fair together.' ‘Maybe this fall we will. All three of us.' ‘I'd like that.' ‘In the meantime, I'm thinking about the key.' ‘Thinking is half your problem, Mike,' she said, and laughed again. Ruefully, I thought. And I saw what she meant. What she didn't seem to understand was that feeling was the other half. It's a sling, and in the end I think it rocks most of us to death. I worked for a while,' then carried the IBM back into the house and left the manuscript on top. I was done with it, at least for the time being. No more looking for the way back through the wardrobe; no more Andy Drake and John Shackleford until this was over. And, as I dressed in long pants and a button-up shirt for the first time in what felt like weeks, it occurred to me that perhaps something some force had been trying to sedate me with the story I was telling. With the ability to work again. It made sense; work had always been my drug of choice, even better than booze or the Mellaril I still kept in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Or maybe work was only the delivery system, the hypo with all the dreamy dreams inside it. Maybe the real drug was the zone. Being in the zone. Feeling it, you sometimes hear the basketball players say. I was in the zone and I was really feeling it. I grabbed the keys to the Chevrolet off the counter and looked at the fridge as I did. The magnets were circled again. In the middle was a message I'd seen before, one that was now instantly understandable, thanks to the extra Magnabet letters: help her ‘I'm doing my best,' I said, and went out. Three miles north on Route 68 by then you're on the part of it which used to be known as Castle Rock Road-there's a greenhouse with a shop in front of it. Slips ‘n Greens, it's called, and Jo used to spend a fair amount of time there, buying gardening supplies or just noodling with the two women who ran the place. One of them was Helen Auster, Kenny's wife. I pulled in there at around ten o'clock that Sunday morning (it was open, of course; during tourist season almost every Maine shopkeeper turns heathen) and parked next to a Beamer with New York plates. I paused long enough to hear the weather forecast on the radio continued hot and humid for another forty-eight hours at least and then got out. A woman wearing a bathing suit, a skort, and a giant yellow sunhat emerged from the shop with a bag of peat moss cradled in her arms. She gave me a little smile. I returned it with eighteen per cent interest. She was from New York, and that meant she wasn't a Martian. The shop was even hotter and' damper than the white morning outside. Lila Proulx, the co-owner, was on the phone. There was a little fan beside the cash register and she was standing directly in front of it, flapping the front of her sleeveless blouse. She saw me and twiddled her fingers in a wave. I twiddled mine back, feeling like someone else. Work or no work, I was still zoning. Still feeling it. I walked around the shop, picking up a few things almost at random, watching Lila out of the corner of my eye and waiting for her to get off the phone so I could talk to her . . . and all the time my own private hyperdrive was humming softly away. At last she hung up and I came to the counter. ‘Michael Noonan, what a sight for sore eyes you are!' she said, and began ringing up my purchases. ‘I was awfully sorry to hear about Johanna. Got to get that right up front. Jo was a pet.' ‘Thanks, Lila.' ‘Welcome. Don't need to say any more about it, but with a thing like that it's best to put it right up front. I've always believed it, always will believe it. Right up front. Going to do a little gardening, are you?' Gointer do a little ga'adnin, aaa you? ‘If it ever cools off.' ‘Ayuh! Isn't it wicked?' She flapped the top of her blouse again to show me how wicked it was, then pointed at one of my purchases. ‘Want this one in a special bag? Always safe, never sorry, that's my motto.' I nodded, then looked at the little blackboard tilted against the counter. FRESH BLUBERRYS, the chalked message read. THE CROPS IS IN! ‘I'll have a pint of berries, too,' I said. ‘As long as they're not Friday's. I can do better than Friday.' She nodded vigorously, as if to say she knew damned well I could. ‘These were on the bush yest'y. That fresh enough for you?' ‘Good as gold,' I said. ‘Blueberry's the name of Kenny's dog, isn't it?' ‘Ain't he a funny one? God, I love a big dog, if he's behaved.' She turned, got a pint of berries from her little fridge, and put them in another bag for me. ‘Where's Helen?' I asked. ‘Day off?.' ‘Not her,' Lila said. ‘If she's in town, you can't get her out of this place ‘less you beat her with a stick. She and Kenny and the kids went down Taxachusetts. Them and her brother's family club together and get a seaside cottage two weeks every summer. They all went. Old Blueberry, he'll chase seagulls until he drops.' She laughed it was a loud and hearty one. It made me think of Sara Tidwell. Or maybe it was the way Lila looked at me as she did it. There was no laughter in her eyes. They were small and considering, coldly curious. Would you for Christ's sake quit it? I told myself. They can't all be in on it together, Mike! Couldn't they, though? There is such a thing as town consciousness anyone who doubts it has never been to a New England town meeting. Where there's a consciousness, is there not likely to be a subconscious? And if Kyra and I were doing the old mind-meld thing, could not other people in TR-90 also be doing it, perhaps without even knowing it? We all shared the same air and land; we shared the lake and the aquifer which lay below everything, buried water tasting of rock and minerals. We shared The Street as well, that place where good pups and vile dogs could walk side-by-side. As I started out with my purchases in a cloth carry-handle bag, Lila said: ‘What a shame about Royce Merrill. Did you hear?' ‘No,' I said. ‘Fell down his cellar stairs yest'y evening. What a man his age was doing going down such a steep flight of steps is beyond me, but I suppose once you get to his age, you have your own reasons for doing things.' Is he dead? I started to ask, then rephrased. It wasn't the way the question was expressed on the TR. ‘Did he pass?' ‘Not yet. Motton Rescue took him to Castle County General. He's in a coma.' Comber, she said it. ‘They don't think he'll ever wake up, poor fella. There's a piece of history that'll die with him.' ‘I suppose that's true.' Good riddance, I thought. ‘Does he have children?' ‘No. There have been Merrills on the TR for two hundred years; one died at Cemetery Ridge. But all the old families are dying out now. You have a nice day, Mike.' She smiled. Her eyes remained flat and considering. I got into my Chevy, put the bag with my purchases in it on the passenger seat, then simply sat for a moment, letting the air conditioner pour cool air on my face and neck. Kenny Auster was in Taxachusetts. That was good. A step in the right direction. But there was still my caretaker. ‘Bill's not here,' Yvette said. She stood in the door, blocking it as well as she could (you can only do so much in that regard when you're five-three and weigh roughly a hundred pounds), studying me with the gimlet gaze of a nightclub bouncer denying re-entry to a drunk who's been tossed out on his ear once already. I was on the porch of the neat-as-ever-you-saw Cape Cod which stands at the top of Peabody Hill and looks all the way across New Hampshire and into Vermont's back yard. Bill's equipment sheds were lined up to the left of the house, all of them painted the same shade of gray, each with its own sign: DEAN CARETAKING, No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. Parked in front of No. 2 was Bill's Dodge Ram. I looked at it, then back at Yvette. Her lips tightened a little more. Another notch and I figured they'd be gone entirely. ‘He went to North Conway with Butch Wiggins,' she said. ‘They went in Butch's truck. To get ‘ ‘No need lying for me, dear heart,' Bill said from behind her. It was still over an hour shy of noon, and on the Lord's Day to boot, but I had never heard a man who sounded more tired. He clumped down the hall, and as he came out of its shadows and into the light the sun was finally burning through the murk I saw that Bill now looked his age. Every year of it, and maybe ten more to grow on. He was wearing his usual khaki shirt and pants Bill Dean would be a Dickies man until the day he died but his shoulders looked slumped, almost sprained, a-s if he'd spent a week lugging buckets that were too heavy for him. The falling-away of his face had finally begun, an indefinable something that makes the eyes look too big, the jaw too prominent, the mouth a bit loose. He looked old. There were no children to carry on the family line of work, either; all the old families were dying out, Lila Proulx had said. And maybe that was a good thing. ‘Bill ‘ she began, but he raised one of his big hands to stop her. The callused fingertips shook a little. ‘Go in the kitchen a dight,' he told her. ‘I need to talk to my compadre here. ‘T'won't take long.' Yvette looked at him, and when she looked back at me, she had indeed reached zero lip-surface. There was just a black line where they had been, like a mark dashed off with a pencil. I saw with woeful clarity that she hated me. ‘Don't you tire him out,' she said to me. ‘He hasn't been sleepin. It's the heat.' She walked back down the hall, all stiff back and high shoulders, disappearing into shadows that were probably cool. It always seems to be cool in the houses of old people, have you noticed? Bill came out onto the porch and put his big hands into the pockets of his pants without offering to shake with me. ‘I ain't got nothin to say to you. You and me's quits.' ‘Why, Bill? Why are we quits?' He looked west, where the hills stepped into the burning summer haze, disappearing in it before they could become mountains, and said nothing. ‘I'm trying to help that young woman.' He gave me a look from the corners of his eyes that I could read well enough. ‘Ahuh. Help y'self right into her pants. I see men come up from New York and New Jersey with their young girls. Summer weekends, ski weekends, it don't matter. Men who go with girls that age always look the same, got their tongues run out even when their mouths are shut. Now you look the same.' I felt both angry and embarrassed, but I resisted the urge to chase him in that direction. That was what he wanted. ‘What happened here?' I asked him. ‘What did your fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers do to Sara Tidwell and her family? You didn't just move them on, did you?' ‘Didn't have to,' Bill said, looking past me at the hills. His eyes were moist almost to the point of tears, but his jaw was set and hard. ‘They moved on themselves. Never was a nigger who didn't have an itchy foot, my dad used to say.' ‘Who set the trap that killed Son Tidwell's boy? Was it your father, Bill? Was it Fred?' His eyes moved; his jaw never did. ‘I dunno what you're talking about.' ‘I hear him crying in my house. Do you know what it's like to hear a dead child crying in your house? Some bastard trapped him like a weasel and I hear him crying in my fucking house!' ‘You're going to need a new caretaker,' Bill said. ‘I can't do for you no more. Don't want to. What I want is for you to get off my porch.' ‘What's happening? Help me, for Christ's sake.' ‘I'll help you with the toe of my shoe if you don't get going on your own.' I looked at him a moment longer, taking in the wet eyes and the set jaw, his divided nature written on his face. ‘I lost my wife, you old bastard,' I said. ‘A woman you claimed to love.' Now his jaw moved at last. He looked at me with surprise and injury. ‘That didn't happen here,' he said. ‘That didn't have anything to do with here. She might've been off the TR because . . . well, she might've had her reasons to be off the TR . . . but she just had a stroke. Would have happened anywhere. Anywhere.' ‘I don't believe that. I don't think you do, either. Something followed her to Derry, maybe because she was pregnant . . . ‘ Bill's eyes widened. I gave him a chance to say something, but he didn't take it. ‘ . . . or maybe just because she knew too much.' ‘She had a stroke.' Bill's voice wasn't quite even. ‘I read the obituary myself. She had a damn stroke.' ‘What did she find out? Talk to me, Bill. Please.' There was a long pause. Until it was over I allowed myself the luxury of thinking I might actually be getting through to him. ‘I've only got one more thing to say to you, Mike stand back. For the sake of your immortal soul, stand back and let things run their course. They will whether you do or don't. This river has almost come to the sea; it won't be dammed by the likes of you. Stand back. For the love of Christ.' Do you care about your soul, Mr. Noonan? God's butterfly caught in a cocoon of flesh that will soon stink like mine? Bill turned and walked to his door, the heels of his workboots clodding on the painted boards. ‘Stay away from Mattie and Ki,' I said. ‘If you so much as go near that trailer ‘ He turned back, and the hazy sunshine glinted on the tracks below his eyes. He took a bandanna from his back pocket and wiped his cheeks. ‘I ain't stirrin from this house. I wish to God I'd never come back from my vacation in the first place, but I did mostly on your account, Mike. Those two down on Wasp Hill have nothing to fear from me. No, not from me.' He went inside and closed the door. I stood there looking at it, feeling unreal surely I could not have had such a deadly conversation with Bill Dean, could I? Bill who had reproached me for not letting folks down here share and perhaps ease my grief for Jo, Bill who had welcomed me back so warmly? Then I heard a clack sound. He might not have locked his door while he was at home in his entire life, but he had locked it now. The clack was very clear in the breathless July air. It told me everything I had to know about my long friendship with Bill Dean. I turned and walked back to my car, my head down. Nor did I turn when I heard a window run up behind me. ‘Don't you ever come back here, you town bastard!' Yvette Dean cried across the sweltering dooryard. ‘You've broken his heart! Don't you ever come back! Don't you ever! Don't you ever!' ‘Please,' Mrs. M. said. ‘Don't ask me any more questions, Mike. I can't afford to get in Bill Dean's bad books, any more'n my ma could afford to get into Normal Auster's or Fred Dean's.' I shifted the phone to my other ear. ‘All I want to know is ‘ ‘In this part of the world caretakers pretty well run the whole show. If they say to a summer fella that he should hire this carpenter or that ‘lectrician, why, that's who the summer fella hires. Or if a caretaker says this one should be fired because he ain't proving reliable, he is fired. Or she. Because what goes once for plumbers and landscapers and ‘lectricians has always gone twice for housekeepers. If you want to be recommended and stay recommended you have to keep on the sunny side of people like Fred and Bill Dean, or Normal and Kenny Auster. Don't you see?' She was almost pleading. ‘When Bill found out I told you about what Normal Auster did to Kerry, oooo he was so mad at me.' ‘Kenny Auster's brother the one Normal drowned under the pump his name was Kerry?' ‘Ahuh. I've known a lot of folks name their kids alike, think it's cute. Why, I went to school with a brother and sister named Roland and Rolanda Therriault, I think Roland's in Manchester now, and Rolanda married that boy from ‘ ‘Brenda, just answer one question. I'll never tell. Please?' I waited, my breath held, for the click that would come when she put her telephone back in its cradle. Instead, she spoke three words in a soft, almost regretful voice. ‘What is it?' ‘Who was Carla Dean?' I waited through another long pause, my hand playing with the ribbon that had come off Ki's turn-of-the-century straw hat. ‘You dassn't tell anyone I told you anything,' she said at last. ‘I won't.' ‘Carla was Bill's twin sister. She died sixty-five years ago, during the time of the fires.' The fires Bill claimed had been set by Ki's grandfather his going-away present to the TR. ‘I don't know just how it happened. Bill never talks about it. If you tell him I told you, I'll never make another bed in the TR. He'll see to it.' Then, in a hopeless voice, she said: ‘He may know anyway.' Based on my own experiences and surmises, I guessed she might be right about that. But even if she was, she'd have a check from me every month for the rest of her working life. I had no intention of telling her that over the telephone, though it would scald her Yankee soul. Instead I thanked her, assured her again of my discretion, and hung up. I sat at the table for a moment, staring blankly at Bunter, then said: ‘Who's here?' No answer. ‘Come on,' I said. ‘Don't be shy. Let's go nineteen or ninety-two down. Barring that, let's talk.' Still no answer. Not so much as a shiver of the bell around the stuffed moose's neck. I spied the scribble of notes I'd made while talking to Jo's brother and drew them toward me. I had put Kia, Kyra, Kito, and Carla in a box. Now I scribbled out the bottom line of that box and added the name Kerry to the list. I've known a lot of folks name their kids alike, Mrs. M. had said. They think it's cute. I didn't think it was cute; I thought it was creepy. It occurred to me that at least two of these soundalikes had drowned Kerry Auster under a pump, Kia Noonan in her mother's dying body when she wasn't much bigger than a sunflower seed. And I had seen the ghost of a third drowned child in the lake. Kito? Was that one Kito? Or was Kito the one who had died of blood-poisoning? They name their kids alike, they think it's cute. How many soundalike kids had there been to start with? How many were left? I thought the answer to the first question didn't matter, and that I knew the answer to the second one already. This river has almost come to the sea, Bill had said. Carla, Kerry, Kito, Kia . . . all gone. Only Kyra Devore was left. I got up so fast and hard that I knocked over my chair. The clatter in the silence made me cry out. I was leaving, and right now. No more telephone calls, no more playing Andy Drake, Private Detective, no more depositions or half-assed wooings of the lady fair. I should have followed my instincts and gotten the fuck out of Dodge that first night. Well, I'd go now, just get in the Chevy and haul ass for Der Bunter's bell jangled furiously. I turned and saw it bouncing around his neck as if batted to and fro by a hand I couldn't see. The sliding door giving on the deck began to fly open and clap shut like something hooked to a pulley. The book of Tough Stuff crossword puzzles on the end-table and the DSS program guide blew open, their pages riffling. There was a series of rattling thuds across the floor, as if something enormous were crawling rapidly toward me, pounding its fists as it came. A draft not cold but warm, like the rush of air produced by a subway train on a summer night buffeted past me. In it I heard a strange voice which seemed to be saying Bye-BY, bye-BY, bye-BY, as if wishing me a good trip home. Then, as it dawned on me that the voice was actually saying Ki-Ki, Ki-Ki, Ki-Ki, something struck me and knocked me violently forward. It felt like a large soft fist. I buckled over the table, clawing at it to stay up, overturning the lazy susan with the salt and pepper shakers on it, the napkin holder, the little vase Mrs. M. had filled with daisies. The vase rolled off the table and shattered. The kitchen TV blared on, some politician talking about how inflation was on the march again. The CD player started up, drowning out the politician; it was the Rolling Stones doing a cover of Sara Tidwell's ‘I Regret You, Baby.' Upstairs, one smoke alarm went off, then another, then a third. They were joined a moment later by the warble-whoop of the Chevy's car a larm. The whole world was cacophony. Something hot and pillowy seized my wrist. My hand shot forward like a piston and slammed down on the steno pad. I watched as it pawed clumsily to a blank page, then seized the pencil which lay nearby. I gripped it like a dagger and then something wrote with it, not guiding my hand but raping it. The hand moved slowly at first, almost blindly, then picked up speed until it was flying, almost tearing through the sheet: I had almost reached the bottom of the page when the cold descended again, that outer cold that was like sleet in January, chilling my skin and crackling the snot in my nose and sending two shuddery puffs of white air from my mouth. My hand clenched and the pencil snapped in two. Behind me, Bunter's bell rang out one final furious convulsion before falling silent. Also from behind me came a peculiar double pop, like the sound of champagne corks being drawn. Then it was over. Whatever it had been or however many they had been, it was finished. I was alone again. I turned off the CD player just as Mick and Keith moved on to a white-boy version of Howling Wolf, then ran upstairs and pushed the reset buttons on the smoke-detectors. I leaned out the window of the big guest bedroom while I was up there, aimed the fob of my keyring down at the Chevrolet, and pushed the button on it. The alarm quit. With the worst of the noise gone I could hear the TV cackling away in the kitchen. I went down, killed it, then froze with my hand still on the OFF button, looking at Jo's annoying waggy-cat clock. Its tail had finally stopped switching, and its big plastic eyes lay on the floor. They had popped right out of its head. I went down to the Village Cafe for supper, snagging the last Sunday Telegram from the rack (COMPUTER MOGUL DEVORE DIES IN WESTERN MAINE TOWN WHERE HE GREW UP, the headline read) before sitting down at the counter. The accompanying photo was a studio shot of Devore that looked about thirty years old. He was smiling. Most people do that quite naturally. On Devore's face it looked like a learned skill. I ordered the beans that were left over from Buddy Jellison's Saturday-night beanhole supper. My father wasn't much for aphorisms in my family dispensing nuggets of wisdom was Mom's job but as Daddy warmed up the Saturday-night yelloweyes in the oven on Sunday afternoon, he would invariably say that beans and beef stew were better the second day. I guess it stuck. The only other piece of fatherly wisdom I can remember receiving was that you should always wash your hands after you took a shit in a bus station. While I was reading the story on Devore, Audrey came over and told me that Royce Merrill had passed without recovering consciousness. The funeral would be Tuesday afternoon at Grace Baptist, she said. Most of the town would be there, many folks just to see Ila Meserve awarded the Boston Post cane. Did I think I'd get over? No, I said, probably not. I thought it prudent not to add that I'd likely be attending a victory party at Mattie Devore's while Royce's funeral was going on down the road. The usual late-Sunday-afternoon flow of customers came and went while I ate, people ordering burgers, people ordering beans, people ordering chicken salad sandwiches, people buying sixpacks. Some were from the TR, some from away. I didn't notice many of them, and no one spoke to me. I have no idea who left the napkin on my newspaper, but when I put down the A section and turned to find the sports, there it was. I picked it up, meaning only to put it aside, and saw what was written on the back in big dark letters: GET OFF THE TR. I never found out who left it there. I guess it could have been any of them.

Management process

First, Sam must establish standards, or a set of ‘requirements' for his business. Sam is working on the first step, establishing standards to measure performance. Sam wants to make $100,000 more this year that he did last year so he can replace older equipment In the repair shop. Raising the price of repairs can do this. This is a financial goal. It is important not to take customers for granted. A goal to increase customer satisfaction from 84% last year to 90% this year Is set. Customer service satisfaction must Increase by six percent this year. This Is a customer service-related goal.Sam sets a goal to increase the quota, or a goal set for production, for the amount of cars each mechanic must repair each week. This is a production goal. With all of the new goals Sam set for the repair shop over the past week. Employees may not be able to keep up with the workload. To ensure the goals are met, Sam must devise a way to measure the productivity and performance of his employees . This measurement is compared with the goals he set above, or the preset standards. Once he evaluates the information, Sam can provide feedback to each employee.This will help them make Improvements to their work. This is an employee performance appraisal. Sam developed the standards for what he would Like to accomplish in the above step. Now, he needs to develop a way of determining whether the goals are being met. 1 OFF yester and an employee evaluation system. Sam is working on the second step, measuring actual performance. Sam will present the new pricing guide to employees. He explains his plan for raising much-needed revenue to each employee so the employee understands the reason for the price increase. It is important to include employees in setting goals.If Cam's employees understand the reason for the price increase, they will be more likely to buy-in to the goal. Sam also introduces the customer satisfaction survey to his customers. Each customer will fill out a survey wh ere they will rate their experience based on many factors like: Timeliness of pairs Quality of work Price Friendliness of mechanics Ease of payment Sam also has to develop a way to measure how many cars are being repaired by each mechanic on a weekly basis to be sure that the amount of repairs done weekly, monthly and in a year add up to the desired goal of increasing revenue by $100,000 set forth above.He introduces the mechanics to a repair quota system. Each mechanic must fix ten engines, patch five tires and replace 15 windshield wipers each week. That means that each mechanic must bring in about $280. 00 in revenue each week to reach the goal. Once broken down for the mechanics, the goal is legalistic and attainable. The toughest challenge for Sam will be to introduce the employee appraisal system. He uses a system that involves the employee setting goals for themselves and Sam setting goals for the employees.After chatting with each employee, Sam is able to determine the crite ria for acceptable performance. He will include the sales quota system from above, dependability, reliability, motivation and absenteeism in the appraisal. He will sit down with each employee to explain the process. If employees have input in setting goals for themselves, they are much more likely to achieve the goals. Perhaps the salespeople are not making as many client calls as they did last year. Management process If you are a company Like DATA or BARILLA, you will have several businesses under you ND a corporate WHQL which controls these. Each of these businesses may be run by an independent co. , much like DATA motor runs the vehicles and TTS runs the IT. The Corporate WHQL will have grand plans on how much each business should operate. This grand plan is called Corporate Strategy.Business Strategy For Example, Raja can make a grand plan of expanding his business decisions to be the provider of low cost furniture or highly differentiated furniture,house hold furniture only,modular furniture only, a supplier of a II furniture needs etc. ,. TLS Is what a business strategy Is. Functional Strategy. If your in a retail chain business like Big Bazaar, you may have merchandise strategy supply strategy etc. ,. Similarly Raja too can have a strategy to purchase wood in bulk from Malaysia and ship it and call it has procurement strategy.Define the term ‘management'. Explain the Behavioral scienc e theory and Systems theory. According to F. W Taylor,† Management Is an art of knowing what to do,when to do and see that It Is done In the best and cheapest way. ‘ Behavioral Science Theory. The thought was originated by vilified Parent In 1896, and he researched organization & management relationship. Later, Hugo Mustering applied psychology to increase industrial production in 1912 & around the same time. Walter 1911 . But it was Elton Mayo & F.J Rotisseries who made an impact on the behavioral science theory through their Hawthorne experiments in Western Electric Co. , in 1933. These experiments proved that good working relationship with the supervisor and colleagues and the idea of challenges in the Job accounted for higher productivity. Challenge is created through setting high goal which cannot be normally achieved but which can be achieved with a little additional effort. These experiments brought to fore the importance of behavioral science in management. Exten ding the idea sometime in 1946 & 1947, Max Weber propounded the theory of bureaucracy.System Theory: Though the systems theory can be traced to biology, where we have cardiovascular system, nervous system, etc which re fairly independent yet interdependent, it was Chester Bernard who extended this into management area through his writing ‘Functions of the Executive' in 1983. In systems theory, we perceive that organizations have a number of fairly independent systems such as purchase system, operations system, marketing system,financial system. Etc. The working of these are interdependent. But it has to be integrated by the manager.This theory, perhaps, brings the idea of integration as a key component of management. Give the definition and importance of planning in an organization and explain the steps in planning. Definition Planning: Planning can be defined as a basic management function which enables one to select the purpose of the business, and how the resources should b e mustered to achieve that purpose to include using the available resources optimally to do that. Planning implies goal setting for the organization keeping in mind the constraints, opportunities, and threats as much as what the person robustness which is planning ants to do.Thus, a plants a blue print for goal achievement, as blue print that specifies the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks & other actions to achieve the purposes. Steps in Planning: 1. Being aware of opportunities 2. Establishing Objectives 3. Developing Premises 4. Determining alternative courses 5. Evaluating Alternative courses 6. Selecting a course 7. Formulating plans 8. Qualifying plans by Budgeting Explanation of the steps in Planning 1. Being aware of opportunities- Being aware of opportunities in the market w. R. T Establishing Objectives- 3. Management process If you are a company Like DATA or BARILLA, you will have several businesses under you ND a corporate WHQL which controls these. Each of these businesses may be run by an independent co. , much like DATA motor runs the vehicles and TTS runs the IT. The Corporate WHQL will have grand plans on how much each business should operate. This grand plan is called Corporate Strategy.Business Strategy For Example, Raja can make a grand plan of expanding his business decisions to be the provider of low cost furniture or highly differentiated furniture,house hold furniture only,modular furniture only, a supplier of a II furniture needs etc. ,. TLS Is what a business strategy Is. Functional Strategy. If your in a retail chain business like Big Bazaar, you may have merchandise strategy supply strategy etc. ,. Similarly Raja too can have a strategy to purchase wood in bulk from Malaysia and ship it and call it has procurement strategy.Define the term ‘management'. Explain the Behavioral scienc e theory and Systems theory. According to F. W Taylor,† Management Is an art of knowing what to do,when to do and see that It Is done In the best and cheapest way. ‘ Behavioral Science Theory. The thought was originated by vilified Parent In 1896, and he researched organization & management relationship. Later, Hugo Mustering applied psychology to increase industrial production in 1912 & around the same time. Walter 1911 . But it was Elton Mayo & F.J Rotisseries who made an impact on the behavioral science theory through their Hawthorne experiments in Western Electric Co. , in 1933. These experiments proved that good working relationship with the supervisor and colleagues and the idea of challenges in the Job accounted for higher productivity. Challenge is created through setting high goal which cannot be normally achieved but which can be achieved with a little additional effort. These experiments brought to fore the importance of behavioral science in management. Exten ding the idea sometime in 1946 & 1947, Max Weber propounded the theory of bureaucracy.System Theory: Though the systems theory can be traced to biology, where we have cardiovascular system, nervous system, etc which re fairly independent yet interdependent, it was Chester Bernard who extended this into management area through his writing ‘Functions of the Executive' in 1983. In systems theory, we perceive that organizations have a number of fairly independent systems such as purchase system, operations system, marketing system,financial system. Etc. The working of these are interdependent. But it has to be integrated by the manager.This theory, perhaps, brings the idea of integration as a key component of management. Give the definition and importance of planning in an organization and explain the steps in planning. Definition Planning: Planning can be defined as a basic management function which enables one to select the purpose of the business, and how the resources should b e mustered to achieve that purpose to include using the available resources optimally to do that. Planning implies goal setting for the organization keeping in mind the constraints, opportunities, and threats as much as what the person robustness which is planning ants to do.Thus, a plants a blue print for goal achievement, as blue print that specifies the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks & other actions to achieve the purposes. Steps in Planning: 1. Being aware of opportunities 2. Establishing Objectives 3. Developing Premises 4. Determining alternative courses 5. Evaluating Alternative courses 6. Selecting a course 7. Formulating plans 8. Qualifying plans by Budgeting Explanation of the steps in Planning 1. Being aware of opportunities- Being aware of opportunities in the market w. R. T Establishing Objectives- 3.

Trends and Challenges Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Trends and Challenges Paper - Essay Example It is a classic case of finding out where the performance management system competes with the annual performance appraisals because the latter do not give the exact details as far as an employee is concerned whereas the performance management system is more comprehensive than anything else. Since the annual performance appraisals are more aligned towards providing value keeping note of how well the employees have fared over the year, the performance management system is more elaborate since it gives each and every instance of the employee’s domains and tells the management whether or not the performance bonus or the increments are due for a certain employee (Schoch, 2011). This is a better indicator of how well the employee is faring and what his expectations are from the organization in the long run scheme of things. Also the employees know that they are being judged for each and every act of theirs within the organization which is a significant understanding that once reache d, can have long-lasting effects and consequences on their work realms. This is such an essential comprehension that will eventually make the performance management systems more effective and compatible with any business as compared to the annual performance appraisals due to their limited scope and usability issues. Evaluate the effectiveness of various performance appraisal methods and possible problems affecting performance appraisals The effectiveness of various methods of performance appraisals lies more on the shoulders of the human resources management department within an organization. It is this department that eventually finds out where the problems actually exist and how these could be overcome within the related settings. Having said that it is significant to note that the performance appraisals are effective only when they are being followed to the core, which speaks for their legitimacy issue since they are at times being seen only as a barometer for finding out whethe r or not an employee has been punctual at work or has been able to complete certain tasks within the set timelines. This is a very wrong precedent because the performance appraisals can do much more than they are thought out to be. What it will eventually tell one and all is the fact that these performance appraisals would not be able to derive value if they are being judged on these points alone (Buckley, 1998). The possible problems that affect the performance appraisals are concerning the change in personnel and improper documentation of employees over a period of time. If the employees keep on coming in within an organization and leaving it on a constant basis, then there is a problem that needs to be addressed and more so with the understanding reached upon with regards to the performance appraisals. The performance appraisals are therefore being seen as a thing of the past when such issues come to the surface and it is about time that the employees seriously start searching fo r better alternatives which they can give to the management regimes. One such is the performance management system which can help their course and allow them to pace ahead with the guarantee that each and every task of theirs is being

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 16

Assignment - Essay Example a result, the native trout grew slowly and matured late; the elevation, sex, and genetic introgression have something to do with the effects on growth rates. The rates were decreased at higher elevations and males were larger than females. In addition, cutthroat trout in locations introgressed faster than those located in non-introgressed areas (Belk, McGee & Shiozawa, 56-62). In relation with cutthroat trout in Uintah Basin, the WWF (World Wild Fund) organization works toward the conservation and protection of endangered species. The goal of the organization is to utilize the very best conservation available and participate with the people to find solutions to the arising problem on our environment. The WWF has started in the year 1961 and almost a half century now has shown the vital conservation of species and other natural resources. Therefore, the efforts have brought many animals back from the edge of destruction and bring benefits to local people through new livelihood opportunities and sustainable development. In contrast, human activities led to current rate of species extinction which is at least 100-1,000 times higher than the expected natural rate. The destruction causes loss of species of tigers, rhinos and whales. The species and ecosystems are affected because they are all part of providing essential goods and services that make human life possible and have also contributed to health and well-being (Klenzendorf, n.p.). In conclusion, conservation awareness; stimulation and funding really contributes a lot in places whose populations are threatened and endangered because of illegal hunting, logging and fishing (Klenzendorf, n.p.). Belk, Mark., McGee, Michael and Shiozawa Dennis. Effects of Elevation and Genetic Introgression on Growth of Colorado River Cutthroat Trout. Brigham Young University: Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum, 2009, pp.

Human Resource Management Concepts based on Case Study

Human Resource Management Concepts based on - Case Study Example This is generally known as person specification (Preston, 2011). It includes the minimum requirements with respect to skills, qualifications, attributes and personality traits deemed suitable for the job. Any non conformity to this description or any deviation in the actual requirements may lead to mismatch in the aspirations of the applicants and finally leads to increased turnover. The second step of selection and recruitment process is the interview and test (Preston, 2011). These are basically used to determine the qualititative and quantitative aptitude of the applicants and understanding the fitness of the applicant in the organizational culture. This policy is quite important as it tests the fitness of the candidate in the workplace and ultimately leads to reduced turnover when the candidate is a perfect fit. This also gives candidates a chance to understand the job requirements and helps them evaluate the suitability of the job for themselves (Rees and Smith, 2014). Thus such a recruitment policy where both employers and prospective employees understand the each other leads to reduction in turnover rates. Thus staff turnover is highly affected by the type of recruitment and selection methods that a company uses. The recruitment and selection policies of the organizations should be so designed so as to ensure the matching of the aspiration of the employees at the same time must be profitable for the employer too. There are several advantages of recruiting new employees through the job experience day. The first advantage being that this approach helps new applicants understand the job requirements better through hands on experience of the job. In a traditional interview or test type format where the candidates can only imagine the type of job they are applying based solely on the job description provided (Preston, 2011), in the

Fundamentals of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fundamentals of Finance - Essay Example Fundamentals of Finance Retained earnings means the amount of profit held by an organization, and that should be utilized for meeting the several requirements, except the payment of dividend. Break even point is a point at which the total cost and income equals, so at this point there should not be the question of profit or loss arises. So, the exhaustion of retained earnings also strongly related to the fundamental financing decisions and its implications. Break Even Point (BEP Output) in Units= Fixed Expenses/Contribution per unit.(C) Assume, fixed expenses (F) costs  £60000; selling price per unit  £15; variable cost per unit  £10. Therefore, BEP= F/C per unit. Contribution (in unit) = Selling price per unit_ Variable cost per unit. i.e.  £15_ £10=5 BEP=  £60000/5= 12000 Units. The composite of overall cost of capital of a firm is considered as the weighted average cost of several sources of funds. Weights are taken as the proportion of each source of funds in the overall capital structure of an enterprise. WACC is computed through a step by step process, such as Calculating the cost of specific sources of funds, then multiplying the cost of each source by its proportion in capital structure, and adding the weighted component costs. That is, K0= K1 W1 + K2 W2+†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦; here, K1, K2 etc. are component costs and W1, W2 etc. are weights. Assume total number of equity shares is 1000 shares,  £35/share,  £35000 is the equity capital or NP. While Dividend is  £1750, i.e. 5% of  £35000, and the cash dividend is  £3.25/ share, i.e. 1000 shares @ £3.25/ share is amounted to  £3250.

Ethics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics - Case Study Example It would be ethical to disclose what TT is doing under the Kantian ethics that stresses the principles of universal acceptability and respect or the criterion of reciprocity. It is already confirmed that what TT is producing is counterfeited from the produce of FF. Moreover, the alleged drug or diet produced by TT has been made using cheap substances that make him reap maximum profits that are not comparable to the combination that can be derived from the genuine ones produced by FF. The implication of this under the Kantian utilitarianism is that there is need to disclose the productions of TT, as he neither respects the needs of his customers nor does he produce a diet worthy of reciprocation from his clients. The production by TT must be disclosed for violating the principles of reciprocity in that despite the fact that his child is sick and needs expensive treatment, his production does not guarantee his patients a successful treatment therapy. For the Kantian utilitarianism to h ave held any ground for him to warrant a non-disclosure of his activities, TT should have endeavored to compare the needs of his client as compared to the plight of his daughter in the spirit of reciprocity. Fisher and Lovell (2008) argue that at any given time, a person must know when to apply the ethical virtues and how to use them. Under the present scenario, TT has exhibited rashness or recklessness in his behavior by offering substandard diet and Energy band to his customers and therefore under the ethical virtues, his activities should be disclosed to the authorities, as they do not take care of the interests of the clientele. It would be an act of courage and magnificence as well as an act of honor for me as a journalist to disclose the misdemeanors and misrepresentations of TT to the authorities in line with the reasoning of Aristotle of what virtue is. This is coupled with the fact that disclosing his activities will be seen as a virtue of truthfulness and magnanimity to pr otect the clients that TT serves. The need to report TT is further compounded by the fact that he is boastful and malicious in that he only focuses on taking his daughter to an expensive hospital at the expense of others who he may harm through his sub-standard diet and Energy Band (Aristotle, 1955). There would also be need to disclose the lies and misrepresentations peddled by TT through his diets. This could be hinged on Gilligan’s (1982) virtue of care and wisdom, vice of deficiency and the vice of excess or appeasement as used in moral reasoning. Through this reasoning, there would be need to disclose the activities of TT, as they lack any care or wisdom in their undertaking. This is whereby TT is only concerned about the need to generate money to take his daughter to an expensive hospital, as opposed to giving his clients the right therapy or diet to help them live a healthy lifestyle. It would also be important to report him for the wrong that he is committing to his c lients in order to appease them for the excesses that TT may have committed to them. Question 2 As an investigative journalist who has been approached by TT for a relationship in exchange for compliments, it is important to reject the offer and advances. Based on Low and Queensland University of Technology (2012), I am at the fourth stage in

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Subsidies - Research Paper Example This paper aims at examining the relationship between subsidies and economic growth in the context of developing countries. Subsidies are financial assistance provided by the government of a country to some of its domestic firms or a specific industry or sector (Schaffer, Agusti & Earle 374). The governments of different countries allocate subsidies to its industries with a variety of objectives both in direct and indirect forms. However, the central purpose of levying a subsidy is to keep the price below the level normally determined by the market forces in the sector in which the subsidy is provided and accelerate the course of development in the entire nation (Moltke, McKee & Morgan 23). In particular, subsidies are provided to those industries or sectors which are lagging behind the other sectors in the economy in terms of performance or are not being able to perform up the expected level. The subject about impact of subsidies on the developing countries is quite researched upon. Before going into the details of my research work I shall review some of the existing literature on this topic in this section. Peacock elaborates in his paper the role of subsidies is important in the overall welfare of the economy (Peocock 323-335). Although elimination of subsidies on necessary goods, such as agricultural products, medicines and other items related to health sector and the petroleum products, is a key policy prescription for the developing countries by the World Bank, no persuasive theory has been developed supporting this policy. Amegashie states in this context that the governments of the developing countries should exercise caution in following a process of removing subsidies since it might give rise to agitation on part of the citizens (Amegashie 7-15). Thus, the research will try to explore the effects and side effects of such system. The study employs secondary sources. The research will employ Qualitative method and

Perceive Social Effects of Handheld Gadgets Essay Example for Free

Perceive Social Effects of Handheld Gadgets Essay The Problem and Its Setting INTRODUCTION Gadgets are small mechanicals or electronic devices with a practical use. Electronic gadgets are very essential and useful to the world today. Gadgets are needed to do business, to have some regeneration and help people get through their daily lives. They have made life a lot simpler for businessmen, corporate executives and entrepreneurs as they can monitor their business and work while they are away, but according to a research conducted previously in America, infants and youngsters should not have any exposure to technology yet. According to Oxford English Dictionary the 11th Edition (2014) perceive is from a variant of Old French â€Å"Percoiver† and from Latin â€Å"Percipere† which is to understand. Effects of an event or something used are often tested through tests. As to this, the group will conduct a survey to test the social effects caused by gadgets to children, especially  to the students of Philippine School Doha. Background of the Study Today, there are many people who seek to find new uses for different things. Luckily, students are tasked by their respective Science teacher to conduct a research to seek new inventions and discoveries that might help the community. One of the main topics of the researchers is the essential use of gadgets and its perceive social effects to children. The students found a research regarding handheld gadgets and its uses and effects to human beings, especially to the young ones. The group decided to conduct a survey regarding the harmful effects of abusive use of handheld gadgets to selected students of their school. This research seeks for a change and answer to why gadgets have harmful effects and what are the effects especially to the young ones and their social life. Statement of the Problem This study aimed to prove the social effects of overuse of handheld gadgets. Specifically, this aimed to answer the following questions: 1) What are the harmful effects of handheld devices to human beings? 2) What are its advantages and disadvantages? 3) What will be the after effect of the research or survey to the students of Philippine School Doha?

Malaysian Market For Sago Palm

Malaysian Market For Sago Palm In this chapter, we will discuss the background of Malaysia market for sago. The discussion of the market consists of production, consumption, export and price. To understand about sago, we will first briefly discuss on sago palm, sago starch and sago processing. 1.1 Sago Palm Sago palm or Metroxylon sagu is a crop that produces starch for food and non-food processing industries. Sago palm is widely cultivated in Sarawak with more than 60,000 hectare of area recently. Commercial cultivation area for sago palm was increased from 43 hectare in 1988 to 10,700 hectare in 1996 and the remaining was cultivated by smallholders. In year 2000, there are 21 sago processing plants which produced around 60,000 tonne of sago starch. In west Malaysia, sago palm cultivation is too small with only 2 sago processing plant operated in Johor. 1.2 Sago Starch Most of sago starch that been produced in Sarawak is used in west Malaysia (almost 30,000 tonne). Sago also been exported as high quality food grade starch and low quality industry grade starch. Export for food grade starch was increased from 3,600 tonne in 1985 to 11,000 tonne in 1995 while export for industry grade starch was decreased from 8,400 tonne in 1985 to 5,100 tonne in 1995. The major destinations for sago starch export are Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand and Thailand. 1.3 Sago Processing Sago Palm Sago palm took 10 to 15 years to be matured. When sago palm is matured, it will be felt down so that its trunk can be cut. Sago palm has a huge trunk, upright, reaches a height of 10-12 meters, with the contents of the soft and contain high starch content. It is a staple food source for indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak, including ethnic Bisaya, and Melanau. Sago Log Sago trunk is cut into section with each section is 75 cm to 90 cm long. This section is known as sago log. Every sago trunk yield around 10 to 12 sago log. Then, these sago logs will be tied together in the form of rafts and tugged by boats to sago processing plant through river. Sometimes, these sago logs are carried by lorry to sago processing plant. Processing Sago Starch Processing of sago starch is done in the sago processing plant. In the sago extraction process, the sago logs are first debarked, followed by maceration using a rasper. Newer types of raspers have eliminated the need for debarking. The sago chips resulting from the maceration process are then further disintegrated using a hammer mill. The starch slurry is then passed through a series of centrifugal sieves to remove the coarse fibres. Cyclone separators are then used to extract the starch which is then dried using a rotary vacuum drum drier, followed by hot air drying. 1.4 Malaysia Market for Sago Source: Department of Agriculture, Sarawak. Agricultural Statistics of Sarawak From table 1.4, we can see how the development and the status of sago industries in Malaysia were. The number figure shows inconsistency in the export of sago starch every single year. Thus, it is influenced by the current economic climate. We can see that the figure of the total export of sago starch are not really consistence compared to its price which is going high all the way starting from the year of 1993 until it reaches its highest price in the year 1998. The year after, the figure shows that the price is going down. Even though, the total of production was increased in 2002 and 2003. The lowest price ever was in year 1993 where it was only around RM584 per tonne for industry grade starch and RM596 per tonne for food grade starch. The highest price was RM915 per tonne for industry grade starch and RM 897 food grade starch in the year 1998; a year after the economic erosion occurs. From the view of total export quantity and production, Malaysia produced the highest quantity of sago starch back in the year 1995 where it reaches its highest possible production with exported quantity up to 45,130.96 tonne for food grade starch and 4,816.43 tonne for industry grade starch. The lowest total production was in the year 1997 where only 27,285.50 tonne of food grade starch and 5,121.83 tonne of industry grade starch were exported; the same year when the economic erosion occurs. If referred to the net export value, the biggest amount is during the sago price recorded its highest price which is in year 1998. The amount is RM5, 638,142. Meanwhile, the lowest export value was in year 1993 with the net total of export value is RM2, 314,787. CHAPTER 2: CURRENT POLICIES DESCRIPTION 2.0 Introduction This chapter will discuss the agricultural policies relevant to sago; providing an accurate, clear understanding of the policies affecting the market for sago and its product. There are 4 policies that relevant to sago consist of policies by the Malaysia government (federal) and Sarawak government (state). 2.1 Sarawak Policy on Sago Plantation (Before NAP3) The Sarawak government is trying to pioneer the cultivation of sago on a plantation scale, trying to tap 20th century agricultural technology and large-scale organisational structure to grow this supposedly wonder crop. The aim of sago plantations is the application of modern, scientific agricultural technology and a large-scale institutional organisation, to exploit the cultivation of sago that has thus far been cultivated in a very primitive and semi-wild fashion. This is the first attempt at growing sago on a plantation scale anywhere in the world. Since the clone material and plantation technology for sago palm have not been established by private entrepreneurs, Sarawak government had developed the policies to cultivate sago palm on a plantation scale. With proper drainage, maintenance and fertilizer in plantation, sago palm will mature faster. This will increase the productivity of sago palm which supply starch to the local and international market. 2.2 Third National Agricultural Policy (NAP3) on Sago (1998-2010) In NAP3, sago is fallen under the group of new product and future industries. The policy objective for this group is: To develop innovative products and new industries which will provide source for the development of agriculture in the future The strategies for this policy are: To strengthen the economy base To generate and encourage private sector participation To reduce cost and increased productivity, commercial sago cultivation in large scale by private sector has been encouraged. This has been done alone by private sector and in collaboration with government subsidiaries. Infrastructures and basic facilities have been provided by the government to support the production of sago by private sector. Furthermore, cultivation with high quality seeds and better agronomy practices has been done to increase the productivity of sago smallholders. Sago cultivation has been encouraged on peat soil area in Sarawak due to the suitable of this crop with peat soil. This is the best way to use peat soil area in natured way. Production of value-added sago based products have been implemented to wider the market opportunities. The products include modified sago starch, sorbitol, dextrin and ascorbic acid. Research and development on both upstream and downstream activities for sago has been strengthen. The activities include: Breeding high quality crops material Farm management Processing technology New products development Usage of side products including wasted materials and sago scraps Sago smallholders have been encouraged to wider their farm through institution support. Research and market encouragement for sago starch and other sago products have been stressed due to strengthen the existing market and venture the new market. Sago processing plants have been encouraged to practice quality control management. Investment and strategic raw material gain for upstream industry has been encouraged. This is to sustain the supply of sago in the industry. To control the wasted materials and sago scraps, pollution control management has been implemented. 2.3 Sarawak Policy on Sago (Based on NAP3) Sarawak Policy on Sago has been formulated, planned and developed from NAP3 by Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak (MoMA). The policy is for sago starch-based product industry as a potential industry and sago as a crop industry. For sago starch-based product industry as a potential industry, the policy objective is: To explore new frontier industry which might have substantial return to the local producers and the economy The strategies for this policy are: To encourage private sector participation To intensify research and development on sago starch product development For sago as a crop industry, the policy objective is: To develop and expand sago industry and exploit the opportunities of market of sago and sago starch-based products The strategies for this policy are: To assist smallholder in planting sago using mini estate approach To encourage private sector participation in planting and processing of sago 2.4 Ninth Malaysia Plan; Policy on Sago Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, sago is one of the crops that included in land consolidation and rehabilitation. Land consolidation and rehabilitation will be continued on a larger scale to accelerate the modernisation of smallholdings as well as increase productivity of the crops. CHAPTER 3: OBJECTIVE Objective To determine Sago cultivation area in Sarawak To determine policy implication on Sago industry in Sarawak To determine the changes of policy in Sago industry CHAPTER 4: POLICY ANALYSIS 4.0 Introduction In this chapter, we will analyze the effects of policy that have been discussed in the previous chapter. The policy that we will analyze here is the Sarawak Policy on Sago based on NAP3. 4.1 Effects on Sago Cultivation Area According to Chew, Abu Hassan Isa and Mohd. Ghazali Mohayidin (1999), the aim of sago plantations is the application of modern, scientific agricultural technology and a large-scale institutional organisation, to exploit the cultivation of sago that has thus far been cultivated in a very primitive and semi-wild fashion. With commercial planting on large scale have been encouraged through the policies, the sago cultivation area was increased. The estimated area for sago cultivation in 1998 is 45,000 ha and it increased to 60,700 ha in 2000 (Third National Agricultural Policy, 1998) Since year 2000, the estimated area for sago cultivation in Sarawak is over 60,000 ha and slowly increased from year to year. The increment of sago cultivation area in Sarawak from year 2000 to 2004 is shown as below (Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005). Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Hectares (ha) 60,709 61,523 62,141 63,053 62,308 % compared to other crops 7.8 7.6 7.3 7.1 6.7 Table 4.1: Estimated Area for Sago Cultivation Source: Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005 Even though the area for sago cultivation is increased in term of hectares, but in term of percentage compared to other crops, sago cultivation is decreased. The policies might be effective to increase the area of sago cultivation, but the increment is rather too slow compared to other crops especially oil palm. Figure 4.1.1: Sago Cultivation Area in Sarawak Source: Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005 Figure 4.1.2: Percentage of Sago Cultivation Area Compared to Other Crops in Sarawak Source: Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005 4.2 Effects on Sago Starch Export and Starch Import The highest sago starch export was in 1998 with 46,518.43 tonne of sago starch was exported and the value of it was RM41, 855,722 with price per tonne is RM897 for food grade starch and RM915 for industry grade starch (Craun Research Sdn Bhd, 2004). After 1998, the sago starch export decreased making the worst export value was in year 2000 with only 36,382.78 tonne was exported and the value of it was RM29,782,916 with price per tonne is RM830 for food grade starch and RM766 for industry grade starch. This might be derived from the price drop of starch in world market. The effects of the policies were only been seen after year 2000 where the export value of sago starch increased every year starting from year 2001 to 2004. Only in year 2003, the export value was decreased by RM55,000. The export value of sago starch from year 1998 to 2004 is shown as below (Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005). Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Export Value (RM000) 42,182 36,450 29,783 30,680 32,165 32,110 37,020 Table 4.2.1: The Export Value of Sago Starch SOURCE: Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005 While exporting sago starch, Malaysia still has to import other starch due to local consumption. In year 1997, estimated total production of sago starch in Malaysia is 60,000 tonne with almost 30,000 was used for local consumption (Third National Agricultural Policy, 1998). In 1998, the import value of starch was RM552,000 made it was the highest import value for starch. With local demand for starch is good for food and non-food industries, the policies were able to support the supply of starch in local market. It helps to reduce the import value of starch in 1999 to RM55,000. From this year, the import value of starch per year was going up and down where in year 2000 there is no starch was imported. The import value of starch from year 1998 to 2004 is shown as below (Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005). Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Import Value (RM000) 552 55 134 0 45 71 57 Table 4.2.2: The Import Value of Starch Source : Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture Sarawak, 2005 Figure 3.2: Export Value of Sago Starch and Import Value of Starch from 1998 to 2004 4.3 Effect on Sago Research Involvement According to Chew, Abu Hassan Isa and Mohd. Ghazali Mohayidin (1999), there was no private group and only two government centres carrying out research on sago in Malaysia. Researches on sago are important to avoid the extinction of sago industry in Malaysia. When the policies were implemented, Land Custody and Development Authority of Sarawak (PELITA) have formed Craun Research Sdn Bhd to carry out research and development on sago. Craun Research Sdn Bhd was once lead by former Sarawak MARDI Director, Mr. Yusup Bin Sobeng. The policies also encouraged local universities to carry out research on sago. With UPM already carry out researches on sago before the policies; UNIMAS have joined them to do more researches on sago. Recently on 4 August 2006, UNIMAS signed an MOU with New Century Fermentation Research Co. Ltd. (NECFER) of Fukoka to enable both institutions to cooperate and collaborate in the establishment of the fermentation parameters and structural set-up in a joint research and development endeavour on sago starch fermentation for large-scale production of ethanol and lactic acid. 4.4 Effects on Private Sector Involvement in Sago Plantation Presently, sago is grown in Sarawak as a smallholders crop (Chew, Abu Hassan Isa and Mohd. Ghazali Mohayidin, 1999). When Land Custody and Development Authority of Sarawak (PELITA) started the development of two sago plantations; Dalat Sago Plantation and Mukah Sago Plantation, several private companies in Sarawak got the initiative to involve in sago industry. With the policy encouraged private sector participation in planting and processing of sago, the numbers of private companies involve in sago plantation and processing had increase. Now, private companies which involve in sago industry have their own association for the benefits of members in the industry. Sarawak Sago Manufacturers Association is the well known sago companies association in Sarawak. It is joined by: Nee Seng Ngeng Sons Sago Industries Sdn Bhd Nitsei Sago Industries Sdn Bhd Song Ngeng Sago Industries (EM) Sdn Bhd C. L. Nee Sago Industries Sdn Bhd Grand Safeways (S) Sdn Bhd Igan Sago Industries Sdn Bhd 4.5 Effects on Traditional Sago Starch Production Before the policy was introduced, there were 11 modern sago processing plants in Sarawak which had fixed assets and equipment valued around RM2-RM5 million (Chew, Abu Hassan Isa and Mohd. Ghazali Mohayidin, 1999). The policy helps to increase this number to 21 modern sago processing plant in year 2000. The increasing number of modern sago processing plant had slowly replaced the production of traditional sago starch called lemantak with high quality, dry sago flour. 4.6 Effects on Sago Starch Contribution in World Starch Market In the world market, sago starch has to compete with other starch such as maize starch, potato starch, cassava starch and wheat starch. According to ISO Technical Committees (2005), the world starch output was estimated to be 48.5 million tons in year 2000. Below is the total export value (in USD) for starches in world market based on type of starches between years 2000 to 2002 (ISO Technical Committees, 2005). 2000 2001 2002 Wheat Starch 79,299,188 66,494,945 71,158,617 Maize Starch 247,354,215 254,598,496 250,744,561 Potato Starch 186,513,628 192,451,543 189,591,770 Cassava Starch 155,221,419 146,818,270 27,307,528 Other Starch 44,592,792 42,295,983 42,245,903 Table 3.6: Export Value (USD) for Starches in World Market Source: ISO Technical Committees, 2005 Other starch in table 3.6 refers to barley starch, rice starch, sago starch and waxy xaize starch. Though the export value of other starch is decreased from year 2000 to 2002, it was only 5% reduction compared to 82% reduction of cassava starch. However, the percentage or reduction for other starch including sago starch is higher than wheat starch, maize starch and potato starch. The policy to develop and expand sago industry in Malaysia helps to make Malaysia been acknowledged as one of the main exporter for starch in the world market. Malaysia also been acknowledged as the highest sago starch exporter in the world (ISO Technical Committees, 2005). CHAPTER 5: POLICY IMPLICATIONS This chapter will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the policies analyzed in the previous chapter. The discussion demonstrates a close relationship between the analysis in the previous chapter and the implications drawn in this chapter about the positive and negative aspects of the policies analyzed. 5.1 Positive Aspects First positive aspect, the policies implicate the sago cultivation to be increased. With 1.69 million hectares of peat soil in Sarawak, the policies had increased the sago cultivation area. This was due to the encouragement of private sector participation in sago plantation and the assistant of smallholder in planting sago using mini estate approach. Private sectors will not just focusing to oil palm plantation in term of the land usage in Sarawak. Even though sago is less profitable compared to oil palm, the policies which imply government support in sago cultivation helps to involve private sector in sago cultivation. Second positive aspect, the policies implicate the export and import of starch in Malaysia. With current consumption of starch in Malaysia is estimated around 100,000 tonne per year, the policies help to increase the supply of starch for local consumption. More than half of sago starch is been exported because of its high value as food grade starch and industry grade starch. This is more profitable than using it for local consumption. However, the usage of sago starch for local consumption still can support the local demand where the import value of starch in Malaysia is far too small (below RM80,000 from year 2001) compared to the export value of sago starch. Third positive aspect, the policies implicate the sago researches involvement in Malaysia. The policies help to increase the number of government subsidiaries and private group involvement in sago researches and development. The researches mostly focus on increasing its starch yield, reducing the gestation period of sago and reducing the cost of sago production. Fourth positive aspect, the policies implicate the income of sago smallholders. With most of sago palm is cultivated by smallholders, the policies help to increase their income. Most of sago farmers are having income from non-sago agricultural activities or from off-farm employment. This is because sago palm has the gestation period of 10 to 15 years which considered as too long to generate income. The policies are focusing on economic strategies in planting sago at farm level where the farmers can maximize the profit in sago cultivation. Fifth positive aspect, the policies implicate the collaboration between federal government and state government. With agriculture as the third instrument to generate Malaysias economy, the policies play an important role in developing the abundant crop such as sago. The federal government creates policies to develop sago cultivation for the state government. Then the state government will innovatively formulate, plan and develop the policies to be implemented. The policies consist of budget and land for sago cultivation. Finally, the policies ensured sago not to be abundant and will be developed to support the agriculture industry as well as other industries in Malaysia. 5.2 Negative Aspects First negative aspect, the policies implicate the manipulation of private companies in sago industry. Most of private companies that involve in planting and processing sago have their own association to protect their importance in the industry. They might control the price of sago section (sago trunk which is cut to yield its starch) and the fee for transportation to factories. When this happened, the sago smallholders might gain small profit or even worst they gain loss. Second negative aspect, the policies implicate the traditional value of sago processing. With the number of modern sago processing plant is increased, the traditional, small-scale cottage mills which produce a type of inferior wet sago called lementak for the local markets are slowly being wiped out. The Melanau community especially will slowly lose their traditional way in processing sago. Finally, the policies are considered not very effective in developing sago industry. This can be seen in the small increment of sago cultivation area for the past 5 years compare to other crop in Malaysia. CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS Even though, sago is considered by many plant scientists, especially Japanese scientists, as the starch crop of the 21st century (Jong, 1995), the present method of cultivation of sago palm shows that it is currently grown using very primitive agricultural technology. Sago is at present grown essentially as a smallholder crop, producing low yields with minimal maintenance and zero fertilization. Current methods of cultivation in Sarawak is not that much different from what had occurred through the millennium and what is occurring now in the virgin, unexplored jungles of Papua New Guinea. The policy was implemented and sago industry also given impotency in Sarawak region. The cultivation area was showing increment and the yield as well, at the same time Malaysia market and world market for sago also increase. We found every policy try their level best to develop the sago industry from cultivation up to market it. Now they also start focus in research and development (RD), which will improve the sago industry. The sago plant lot of RD, to improve the plant and make it more economically profit. In sago industry there need two important thing need to improve. Make sure the plant produce high starch or high yield and decrease the gestation period that is from 10 to 15 years to 5years. The yield can be improved by good plant materiel and good plant breeding as well. This can only be achieved by a prolonged, sustained research program in plant selection and breeding work. The spectacular improvements in the yield of oil palm and its maturity period in Malaysia were achieved by a similar long-term research program, undertaken by a wide variety of governmental and private groups, beginning in the 1900s (Hartley, 1967). Unfortunately, there are currently no private groups carrying out research on sago in Malaysia. In fact, there are now only two government centers, the Dalat Sago Research Station and CRAUN (Crop Research and Application Unit, Lembaga Pembangunan dan Lindungan Tanah, Sarawak or PELITA), carrying out research on sago cultivation. The amount of research resource devoted to sago is clearly inadequate for the monumental task of converting sago from its present semi-wild status to a modern clone with high yields, short maturity periods and responsiveness to fertilizers. The proper management and good care to sago will improve Sarawak Sago industry and the policy will make the sago as golden crop of Sarawak.

The Marketing Mix And The Success Of Innocent Marketing Essay

The Marketing Mix And The Success Of Innocent Marketing Essay The marketing mix has been the core of marketing theory and practice since the 1960s (Lehtinen, 2011). The marketing mix represents the controllable elements of marketing which collectively form the ground of an organization in the perception of customers(Judd, 2003). In the 1960s, McCarthy diminished Bordens twelve controllable marketing elements to a four-element framework: product, price, place and promotion(Constantnides, 2006). Since the marketing mix and 4Ps entered the marketing textbooks, they have been treated as the unchallenged basic model of marketing and been universally accepted(Lehtinen, 2011). With the development of marketing management and the business environment, great changes have taken place in mainstream marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). Are the marketing mix and its 4Ps still in power? Does the marketing mix contribute to the success of an organization and how does it perform in the long-term development of the organization? The purpose of this essay is to analyze how the marketing mix contributes to the organization by taking innocent as an example, and to identify the limitations of the marketing mix as a marketing management tool in the long-term development of a company. The debate over the marketing mix as a marketing management tool has been primarily argued theoretically rather than on an empirical level (Constantnides, 2006). While the marketing mix still has its stage, for long-term success, relationship management is the key to stable development in the dynamic business environment(Wahab and Ali, 2010). When involved with modern business trends, customer-oriented economics needs a relationship-oriented approach to marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). The marketing mix and the success of innocent Innocent was set up by three young Cambridge students in 1998 as the UKs only range of natural smoothies(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.3). In just four years, the turnover rose from  £0 to  £10.6 million(Anonymous, 2004, p.6). Sales boosted to  £80 million in 2006 and roared over  £100 million in 2007(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.3). The rapid increase in profit made innocent a huge success within the first five years (1999-2003). In the next five years (2004-2008), the expansion was a huge success in the middle of Europe(Innocentdrinks, 2012). How does the marketing mix contribute to the development of the organization in the following four aspects: product, price, place and promotion? Products Keeping introducing new products successfully or services into the market is important to the long-term growth of a company (Tzokas et al., 2004). The first pallet of smoothies (250ml), labeled innocent, was introduced to the public in 1999, when the market for pre-packaged smoothies was still new(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.5). In the first stage, little effort was made in introducing new products, but the company has constantly launched new flavors and formats to enhance brand awareness(Anonymous, 2004). In the year 2003, the company launched four new recipes for the existing ranges, a range of two super smoothies and three more flavors of a brand new range called Juicy Waters(Anonymous, 2004, p.7). New categories of products were introduced to the market in the second stage, especially the veg pots in 2008 and fruit tubs in 2009(Innocentdrinks, 2012). From 1999 to 2003, innocent focused on extending its existing smoothie product range rather than develop completely new categories s uch as cream or yogurt. Innocents sales benefited from new product development(Baxter, 2010). To some extent, profits can be increased by filling the existed product line(Kotler et al., 2005). Price The 250ml bottle of smoothies was priced  £1.89 when first introduced to the market(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.4). Their main competitor PJs, UKs biggest smoothies company then, was doing well in the high priced product section and growing very rapidly (Brown and Grayson, 2008). Innocent focusd on being an ethical company, producing green products(Salisbury, 2011), which contributes to its financial performance because potential consumers are willing to pay more for an ethical product, especially manufactured by a company with strong sense of sustainability and social conscience(Anonymous, 2004). On one hand, a company can charge its customers for the value-added factor in the prices (Lancioni, 2005). On the other hand, consumers may consider high price as a guarantee of quality (Huang and Sarigà ¶llà ¼, 2012). Sharma and Lyer(2012) demonstrated that there exists of a segment of consumers who would pay a premium for an ethical product. Place Distribution network plays an important role between the marketing and supply chain interface(Chan et al., 2012). The industry pays more attention to coordination between retailers and suppliers, and a demand chain is preferred to a supply chain(Burt and Sparks, 2003). Research into distribution costs led to the decision that the sales effort should focus on London-based independents channels for the introduction stage, with a movement to multiples later(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.4). The comparatively higher price of innocent tallied with the high living expense in London, and the place in marketing interacted with the brand image(Dhamija et al., 2011). The distribution infrustration, including the selling network and transportation system, has a close connection with the economic performance(Wilkie and Moore, 1999). Innocents London center set a good starting point for further economic development, as well as for its global expansion. Besides, due to the short shelf life feature, i nnocent innovated new ways of distribution to overcome this challenge: let the retailers dominant the order amount(Anonymous, 2004). Changing power relationships in the channels, from the organizations to the retailers, is a growing trend in the distribution perspective(Burt and Davies, 2010). By transferring the power to retailers, innocent reduced the wastage of products, which solved the thorny problem in fruit drinks and smoothies. Promotion Promotional activity is an essential tool for tempting British consumers to purchase fruit juice, juice drinks and smoothies(Price, 2012). Like many small businesses in their early stage, many of Innocents most successful promotional activities started as one-off, opportunistic events (Brown and Grayson, 2008). These included putting woolen hats on the bottle in winter, the famous campaign called The Big Knit. 2012 takes the tenth year turn for Innocent to run this promotion(Innocentdrinks, 2012). Unlike many brands, relying on traditional advertisements, such as TV commercials, posters, POP, innocent mainly focused on low-cost activities and event promotion to increase the brand awareness, the Fruitstock, its famous annual summer jazz festival held in London, replaced in 2007 with the Innocent Village Fete, is an example(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.7). These promotion activities link to innocents brand equity: sustainable. The brand equity helped to define the brand value in the beginning stage, and then shaped the sustainability strategy the company adopted (Brown and Grayson, 2008). Besides, the consistency and coherence in brand image, product descriptions and promotion availability played a vital role in the whole process(Edelman, 2010). The limitations of the marketing mix in the long-term development of an organization From a marketing management point of view, the 4Ps may have been helpful at one time, at least for the packaged goods(Grà ¶nroos, 1994). However, the marketing mix and its 4Ps cannot satisfy a market-oriented or customer-oriented definition of marketing(Grà ¶nroos, 1989). Kotler (1992, cited in Lehtinen, 2011) stated that companies must move from a short-term transaction-oriented goal to a long-term relationship-building goal. For innocent, the marketing mix did have its advantage in the introductory marketing, but people-power and the relationship marketing approach also play an active role in its marketing strategy, especially for the development in the secondary stage and long-term success.(Gordon, 2012). People-power It is widely accepted that people is an essential element of the mix ingredients(Baker, 2008). People as the fifth p formalizes the idea that the power of customer-oriented employees does make a difference in the market (Judd, 1987). Staff can help the organization differentiate itself in significant ways in order to gain a competitive advantage and deliver value to customers(Judd, 2003). Innocent created the innocent view of marketing along with the learning and personal development for its employees, compensation packages and incentives were set up to encourage employees to become personally involved in sustainability(Brown and Grayson, 2008). The reflection of these behaviors became a way of advertisement and promotion, and the influence was closely linked to its brand equity. As Judd(2003, pp.8-9) stated, the ability of an organization to meet its external customers needs is a function of how clearly all the people are focused as they perform their respective jobs. Grà ¶nroos(1994) proposed that marketing is to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other stakeholders at a profit, in order to achieve the common goal of the parties involved. Almost all the stakeholders are involved in people-power. Apart from the internal staff, media, retailers and distributors are all external people-power. Innocent was once ranked as the UKs best smoothie by BBC(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.7). The companys blog and the monthly column in the Guardian served as advertisements. Innocents high rate of sale with a premium price also reflected its strong relationship with the distribution outlets. Since its creation, Innocent has invited its retailers to a birthday party every year to keep a close partnership(Anonymous, 2004). Such relationship building contributed to the boost in the quantity of distribution outlets by 265% in 2003, and secured major distribution partnerships with flagship retail brands such as Sainsburys, Starbucks and Boots(Anonymous, 2004, p.9). NGOs and charity organizations welcome the cooperation with Innocent; media advertise this brand even for free(Brown and Grayson, 2008, p.8). Cross-stakeholder integration incorporates the interests of all the stakeholders in the organizations way of communication(Mulhern, 2009). Good people-power management thus guarantees their success not only for the first two stages, but also for long-term operation due to the consistency. The integration of relationship marketing and the marketing mix While there are voices for a shift from the marketing mix to the relationship marketing(Gummesson,1995; Gronroos,1994), the co-exist of different marketing approaches are still acceptable(Lehtinen, 2011). The significance of the marketing mix would not fade out but might be reinforced through an interactive approach(Berry, 1983, cited in Lehtinen, 2011). Researchers have found that three basic types of relationship marketing (database, interaction and network) can co-exist with transaction marketing(Gould, 1998). For innocent, starting building relationship with customers and other stakeholders at beginning contributes to their continuous increase in sales and market expansion. Marketers pay heed to relationship marketing mainly because of customer retention, which values in the competitive environment(Doaei et al., 2011). For the long run, relationship marketing focuses on customer involvement and brand loyalty by setting up a long-lasting bond with the customers(Copulsky and Wolf, 1990). The combination of the marketing mix and relationship marketing should be efficient and effective in the current business environment (Lehtinen, 2011). According to Copulsky and Wolf(1990), relationship marketing integrates elements of advertising, sales promotion, public relationships, and direct marketing to create more effective and efficient ways of reaching consumers. The most basic definition for relationship marketing is to attract and keep customers in the long-term(Leahy, 2011). Organizations intended to encourage continuous repeat purchase through this long-term relationship(Fournier, 1998). Relationship marketing increases repeat purchase and enhance customer loyalty(Wahab and Ali, 2010). Innocent performs well in its corporate business achievement, which is the key benefit from the implementation of relationship marketing. Conclusion It is demonstrated in innocents case that the marketing mix still has its advantage in the early developing period of an organization. For a long-term sustainable success, the combination of the marketing mix and the relationship marketing result in better performance. Innocents consistence and persistence in maintaining relatively good relationship with customers and other stakeholders implies the shift from one-way delivery to interaction. The application of marketing strategies differs from one organization to another. Parallel combination of the best options or systematic utilization of these approaches according to the organizations developing stage, the characteristic of the products or service and the brand equity will make contribution to the long-term success of the organization. Further researches can be done in more specific areas. For example: how to choose the most suitable marketing approach for each company and discovery of new key elements in marketing activities and related measurement. Besides, innocent insists in ethical operation. With the increasing awareness of sustainability, more attention can be paid to the interplay of the ethical issues and the marketing strategies. Word Count: 1996