Saturday, August 31, 2019

Cheat Sheet for Strategic Management

M&A & Restructuring Strategies. Merger: Two Firms agree to integrate operations on relatively equal basis(usually 1 dominates another in mkt share/size/asset value) Hostile takeover: (delivers higher shareholder value than friendly acquires)(Preannouncement returns of hostile takeover anticipated with increase in bidder & target's share price). Diversification creates value by using excess resource. Restructuring used to correct with ineffective mergers/acquisitions. M used as means of growth to potentially lead to strategic competitiveness. ?ing ext env affect type of M used. M used cuz of uncertainty in competitive l. )Increase market power due to competitive threat 2)Spread risk due to uncertainty 3)Shift core biz to diff mkts 4)Manage industry & regulatory ? s. –> Increases strategic competitiveness & value. Shareholders of acquired firm earn above avg returns while shareholders of acquiring firm earn ~0 returns. Reflects investors' scepticism of projected synergies. Reaso ns for Acquisition 1)Increased mkt power(horizontal,vertical,related, sbjct to regulatory review & financial mkt analysis)able to sell good/service above competitive levels/costs of its primary or support activities lower than competitors.Buy competitor/supplier/distributer to Increase size, resource & capabilities. Horizontal Acq helps to exploit cost-based & revenue synergies. Better Most effective when integrate assets with acqed firm. Vertical Acqsitions controls additional parts of value chain. (CVS/Caremark)Related acquisitions(acqing firm in related industry). Create value thru synergy by integrating resource & capabilities. 2)Overcome entry barriers. Help gain immediate access to international markets. Higher the barrier, higher chance firm will acquire. )Cross-border acquisitions(made btwn companies with HQs in diff ctys) global M declined in financial crisis. Chinese companies seek horizontal cross-border acqtns of natural resource. India seek access to pdt innovation capa bilities & new br/distribution channels. 4)Cost of new product development & increased speed to mkt. Gain access to new pdts & to current pdts new to firm. Pharmaceutical firms. 5)Lower risk than developing new products. Acquisitions may become a substitute for innovation. Acquisitions shld always be strategic than defensive 6)Increased Diversification.Diff for companies to develop pdts that differ from current lines for mkts in which they lack experience. Acquisition strategies used to support unrelated & related diversification stgies. More related firms are, greater prob acq is successful. Horizontal & related acqs contribute more to strategic competitiveness. Cisco. 7)Avoid excessive competition 8)Reshaping firm's competitive scope(Lessen dependence on specific mkts) 9)Learn & developing new capabilities. Broadens their knowledge base & reduce inertia. Acquire good talent through cross-border acqtns.Seek to acquire diff but related & complementary capabilities to build own knowl edge base. Biological Drugs, AstraZeneca. Problems in achieving Acquisition success Greater success accrues to (select right target, avoid high premium by doing due dilligence, integrate operations,retain human capital to underst& target firm's operations) 1)Integration difficulties (cultures,diff financia & control systems, working relationships, resolve problems of status of acqed firm's executives) 2)Inadequate evaluation of target.Due diligence – Potential acquirer evaluates target firm for acquisition. Done by investment bankers,accountatnts,lawyers,mgmt consultants. Without due dilligence, purchase price is made by pricing of other ‘comparable' acquisitions than rigorous assessment of where,when,how mgmt can drive real perf gains. â€Å"bidding war† 3)Large & Extraordinary debt. Firms increase debt to finance acqtns. E. g. Junk Bonds. High debt increases chance of bankruptcy, downgrading credit rating & firm may divest some assets to relieve burden to remai n solvent. )Inability to achieve Synergy. Assets worth more when used tgt than seperately. Created by efficiences from EOS, EOSC & sharing resources. Private synergy(combining & integrating target firm & acquiring firm's assets yield capabilities & core competencies that couldn't be developed by integrating either firm's assets with another firm. Transaction costs to acquire & create synergies (indirect & direct) 5)Overdiversification Related diversification outperforms unrelated.Related diversification req more info processing, thus being overdiversified with smaller no. of biz units than unrelated. Scope created by over diversification causes mangers to rely on financial than strategic controls. Tendencyfor acquisitions to become substitutes for innovation. 6)Managers over focus on acqusitions Managers need to: search for viable c, complete due dilligence, prepare negotiations & manage integration process, can divert attention. 7)Too large –> Bureaucratic controls, stifling innovation.Effective Acquisitions Complementary Assets/resources(meet current needs to build competitiveness, high synergy & competitive advantage), Friendly acquisitions(lower premiums,faster & effective integration), Due dilligence(overpayment avoided), Maintain Financial slack(Acquired firm has slack, financing is easier/cheaper), Low-moderate debt(lower risk/financing cost),Sustained emphasis on R of acqing firm (maintain LT CA in mkts), Acqing firm is flexible (faster/effective integration for synergy) Restructuring (firm ? s its set of biz or financial structure).Deal with failure of acquisition/? s in ext or int env. Downsizing (reduction in no. of employee/operating units but may change the composition of biz in company portfolio) used when paid too high premium, reduce duplicate functional jobs. Downscoping(divesture,spin-off to eliminate biz unrelated to firm's core biz) Refocus on core biz Leverage Buyouts(party buys all of firm's assets with debt to take firm private). Restructure & sell. Management buyouts, Employee buyouts, whole-firm buy outs(purchase whole than part of firm). MBOs lead to downscoping, strategic focus, improved performance.Downsizing-;reduced labour costs(ST) -; loss of human capital/lower performance(LT). Downscoping-; reduced debt costs/emphasis on strategic controls(ST)-;higher performance(LT). LBOs-;emphasis on strategic controls/high debt cost(ST)-;higher performance/risk[creates ST & risk-averse managerial focus](LT) International StrategyRationale for international diversification is to extend product life cycle. 4 benefits of using international strategy: 1)Increase market size (size of international mkt affect firm's willingness to invest in R&D to build CA in that mkt.Firm prefer to invest more in cty with scientific knowledge&talent to produce value creating product & processes 2)increased EOS & learning (Firm able to exploit core competencies through resource&knowledge sharing btwn units & network partners across bo rders. New learning opportunities. BUT, firms need to have strong R&D system to absorb knowledge) 3)develop CA through location(lower basic cost of gds/services. Gain access to critical supplies/customers. Reduce liability of foreignness if low cultural distance) 4)return on investment (Generate above-avg ROI) International BL Strategies(cost leadership, differentiated, focus, integrated).Determinants of National Advantage: 1)Factors of production. Basic Factors. Advanced Factors(digital comm systems & educated workforce). Generalized factors(highway system/ss of debt capital). Specialized Factors(skilled personnel in specific indsty). 2)Dem& conditions(nature/size of buyer's needs in home market for industry's gds/services) Large mkt sgmt produce dem& to create scaleefficient facilities. 3)Related & Supporting Industries (Italy's leather-processing industry provides leather to produce shoes. Supporting indstry & design services contribute to success of shoe industry.Cameras & copie rs are related industries in Japan) 4)Firm strategy, structure & rivalry(Germany technical training system for continuous product & process improvements. Italy designers. Japan cooperative & competitive systems facilitate cross-functional management of complex assembly operations. US compt btwn computer & software producers increase development). The factors are likely to produce CA when firm develops & implements an appropriate strategy that take advantage of distinct cty factors. International CL Strategy (scope of firm's operations thru pdct & geog diversification) Unilever Multi-domestic Strategy.Decentralized decisions to SBUs. ! less knowledge sharing for firm as a whole =(no economies of scale,costly. Global strategy(centralized control at home office. SBUs interdependent to achieve integration across bizs) EOS. =( forgo growth opp in local mkts. CEMEX Transnational Strategy Flexible Coordination is required-Building shared vision & individual commitment thru integrated netwo rk. Starbucks China Environmental Trends :Liability of foreignness relative to domestic competitors. Regionalization(more similar culture, legal social norms)EU & NAFTA promotes regionalization.Internatonal Entry Mode 1)Exporting (exporters must establish some means of marketing & distribution) ! high transportation costs, tariffs, less control of products, pay distributer fee,diff to market competitive product/provide customization to international mkt, Exchange rates volatility. 2)Licensing (purchase right to manufacture/sell firms pdts by paying a royalty)~exp& returns based on prior innovation. low cost, low risk ! little control, low returns. 3)Strategic Alliances(uncertain env) ~shared costs/risks/resources, gain access to new technologies, no tariffs! roblem integrating btwn partners (2 cultures) 4)Acquisitions(quicker) ~quick access to new mkt ! high cost(debt), complex negotiations, prob merging with domestic operations 5)New Wholly Owned Subsidiary(Green Field venture) ~Ma x control, potential above-avg returns ! complex, costly, time consuming, high risk. Export,licensing & strategic alliance good for early market development. Joint venture/greenfield venture -> IP rights not protected, high need for global integration, growing no. of competitors. Strategic competitive outcomes 1)Enhanced returns.Decrease initially, then increase. Diversifying geographically into core biz areas positive effect on stock price. Offshore outsourcing created sig value-creation opp as firms move into flexible labor mkts. 2)Enhanced innovation. Exposure to new pdcts & mkts. Opp to integrate new knowledge into operations. Generation of resources to sustain innovation. Risks in international environment 1)Politcal Risk. Govt instability/regulations/corruption/conflict/war/conflicting & diverse legal authorities/potential nationalization of private assets/? s in govt policy 2)Economic risk.Govt oversigh & control of economic&financial capital/weak IP rights&protections impact FDI/terrorism/investment losses from political risk/security risk of foreign firms acquiring key natural resources or strategic IP. Cooperative Strategy(shared objective) Strategic alliance(firms combine resources&capabilities to create CA) Leverage existing resource/capabilities to develop additional resources/capabilities for new CAs. Collaborative/relational Advantage-CA developed through a cooperative strategy. 3 Types of Strategic Alliances: 1)Joint Venture.Siemens AG & Fujitsu -> Fujitsu Siemens Computers (Own equal % & contribute equally. 2 or more firm create legally independent company to share some resources/capabilities to develop CA). Optimal when firms need to create a CA that is diff from individual advantages & when highly uncertain hypercompetitive markets are targeted. 2)Equity. Baidu & Japanese telecom operator NTT DOCOMO (2or more firms own diff % of company they formed to create CA, e. g. many FDIs such as companies from multiple countries are making in China) 3 )Non-equity. HP (2 or more firms develop contractual relationship to create CA.Firm DOES NOT establish separate independent company thus don't take equity positions)-; less formal, fewer commitments & no intimate relationship. E. g. licensing/distribution agreements & supply contract. Reasons firm develop Strategic Alliances Allow partners to create value they couldn't develop alone & to enter markets faster with greater penetration. Firms lack full resources & capabilities to reach their objectives. Slow cyclemkt: Gain access to restricted mkt. Establish a franchise in a new mkt. Maintain mkt stability(establishing st&ards). Fast-cycle mkt: Speed up development of new goods/services.Speed up new market entry. Maintain market leadership. Form an industry technology st&ard(). Share risky R&D expenses. Overcome uncertainty. St&ard-cycle mkt: Gain mkt power(reduce industry overcapacity). Gain access to complementary resources. Establish better EOS. Overcome trade barriers. Meet competi tive challenges frm other competitors. Pool resources for large projects. Learn new biz techniques. BL Cooperative Strategy 1)Complementary Strategic Alliances (Vertical, horizontal) -firms share r&c in complementary ways to develop CAs. More value-creating than other strategies.Vertical(from diff stages of value chain e. g. Nintendo) Horizontal(same stage(s) of value chain to create CAs. ) 2)Competition response strategy(to competitor's attacks). Becuz they can be diff to reverse & exp t operate, strategic alliances are formed to take strategic than tactical actions to respond to attacks. 3)Uncertainty reducing strategy (new pdt mkts/emerging economies 4)Competition-reducing strategy (explicit/tacit collusions) Tacit collusion – Firms in industry indirectly coordinate their production & pricing decisions by observing each other actions/responses.Results in output below fully competitive levels & above fully competitive prices. !reduce service quality, on-time performance. Mu tual forbearance- Form of tacit collusion where firms dont take actions against rivals they meet in multiple mkts. Assessment: R integrated MUST be VCRN. vertical strategy have greatest probability of creating sustainable CA. CL Cooperative Strategy. Firm use this strategy to diversify in pdts offered/markets served. Diversify by means other than M. Require fewer resource commitments, greater flexibility. 1)Diversifying S/A !Highly diverse network of alliances can lead to poorer performance by partner firms. 2)Synergistic S/A(create EOScope across multiple functions/bizs btwn partners) 3) Franchising (contractual relationship to describe/control sharing of its R with partners) Advantages: Attractive strategy for fragmented industry(retailing,hotels,motels) where large number of small/med firms compete without one having a dominant share. Assessment: Alliance costs needs monitoring. International Cooperative Strategy 1)Cross-border alliance(firms with HQs in diff nations decide to co mbine some R to create CA & value).Incentives: limited domestic growth opp, foreign govt economic policies. China & India have strong preference to license local companies. Strategic alliance with local partners help firms overcome liability of foreignness. Operational advantages due to local market information. Network cooperative strategy (several firms form multiple partnerships to achieve shared objectives) Particularly effective when formed by geographically clustered firms. Gain heterogeneous info & knowledge from multiple sources. ! lock in partnerships precluding alliance with others.Stable Alliance network (mature industries where dem& is constant & predictable) Built primarily to exploit EOS/EOScope existing btwn partners e. g. airline industry Dynamic Alliance Network (frequent product innovations & short pdct lifecycle) Competitive risks: Inadequate contracts. Misrepresentation of competencies. Partners may act opportunistically. Partners fail to use their complementary resources. Holding alliance partner's specific investments hostage. Risk&Asset Management Approaches:Detailed contracts & monitoring. Develop trusting relationships -> create value.Managing cooperative strategies: Cost minimization(Firm develops formal contracts with partners specifying how strategy is to be monitored & how partner behavior is controlled) Opportunity maximization(Maximize partnership's value-creating opportunities) Corporate Governance – Set of mechanisms used to manage the relationship among stakeholders & to determine & control the strategic direction & performance of organizations.. It is concerned with: Strengthening effectiveness of company's board of directors. Verifying transparency of firm's operations. Enhancing accountability to shareholders.Incentivizing executives. Maximizing value creation for stakeholders & shareholders. Separation of Ownership & Managerial control. Allows each group to focus on what it does best: Shareholders bears risk that fi rm's expenses exceed revenue (shareholders will hold a diversified portfolio to diversify risk). Managers formulate & implement strategy & decision-making. Agency relationships(between firm's owner & top-level managers) Managerial opportunism seeking self-interest with deceit. An attitude & set of behaviors. Prevents maximization of shareholder's wealth.Product Diversification as Agency Problem 1)Diversification increase size/complexity & thus managerial compensation. 2)Reduces manger's employment risk as a firm & its managers are less vulnerable to reduction in dem& associated with a single/limited no. of product lines/bizs. 3)Managers have control of firm's free cash flows which they invest to diversify instead of giving to shareholders. Shareholders like a diversified position between dominant & related-constrained diversification strategies. Shareholders prefer riskier strategies & more focused diversification. Managers prefer higher levels of product diversification.Managers ma y prefer level of diversification that maximises firm size & compensation while reducing employment risk. Agency costs – sum of incentive/monitoring/enforcement costs, individual financial losses incurred by principals because of agents. 3 internal governance mechanism 1)Ownership Concentration (No. of large-block shareholders & total percentage of shares they own) X Diffuse ownership (large number of shareholders with small holdings & few large-block shareholders) Large-block shareholders are active in their dem&s that corporations adopt effective governance mechanisms.Ownership of many modern corporations now concentrated in h&s of institutional investors than individual shareholders. Institutional owners (financial institutions that control large-block shareholder positions) They are powerful governance mechanism. They have both size & incentive to discipline ineffective top-level managers. 2)Board of Directors (group of elected individuals to formally monitor & control ma nagers in order to act in owner's best interests) Insiders – Firm's CEO & other top-level managers. Related outsiders – Individuals not involved with firm's daily operations but have relationship with firm.Outsiders – provide independent counsel to firm & may hold managerial positions in their company. Outsiders have no firm info & thus emphasize use of financial than strategic controls to evaluate firm. Shifts risk to managers who make decision to maximise their interest & reduce employment risk. Enhance effectiveness of BOD 1. Increase diversity 2. Strengthen internal management & accounting control systems 3. Establish consistent use of formal processes to evaluate BOD performance 4. Creation of ‘lead director' 5. Compensation of director, reduce stock options. )Executive Compensation Use LT incentive plans. Effectiveness: don't link pay to financial outcomes. Manager may focus ST effects to enhance pay. Other factors also affect firm's performance whic h are not under manager's control. Market for Corporate Control (external governance mechanism. The market is a set of potential owners seeking to acquire undervalued firms & earn above average ROIs by replacing ineffective top-level management teams) Used only when internal controls fail. â€Å"Golden parachutes† help them leave while â€Å"Golden hellos† help them to get in the door of the next firm.Hostile Takeover Defensive Strategies â€Å"Poison pill† allows shareholders to convert their rights into large no. of common shares if anyone acquires more than set amount of target's stock to dilute percentage f shares acquiring firm must purchase at premium. Litigation – Lawsuits that help target company stall hostile attacks e. g. antitrust,fraud. Greenmail – repurchase of stocks from agressor at premium for agreement to no longer be targeted for takeover. Standstill agreement – Contract btwn parties in which pursuer agrees not to acquire a ny more stock for specified period for a fee.Capital structure change – Dilution of stock, making it costly for bidder to acquire e. g. recapitalization, new debt, share buybacks, stock selling) Corporate charter amendment – Ammendment to stagger elections of members to the BOD of attacked firm so that all are not elected same year, preventing bidder to install new board in same year. Corporate governance in Germany: 2 tiered board structure, place responsibility of monitoring & controlling managerial decisions & actions with separate groups. Banks exercise sig power as source of financing. Power sharing includes representation from community & unions.Corporate Governance in Japan: Cultural concepts of obligation, family & consensus. Close relationship btwn stakeholder & company through cross-shareholding can negatively impact efficiencies. Keiretsus: Strongly interrelated groups of firms tied tgt by cross-shareholdings. Banks are highly influential with firm's manager s. Global Corporate Governance: Relatively uniform governance structures, moving closer to US corporate governance model. Organizational Structure & Control. Organizational Structure – Specifies firm's formal reporting relationships, procedures, controls, authority & decision-making processes.Curcial to match structure with strategy! Controls guide the use of strategy, indicate how to compare actual results with expected results, & suggest corrective actions to take when the difference is unacceptable. Strategic Controls – Largely subjective criteria intended to verify that the firm is using appropriate strategies for theconditions in the external environment & the company’s competitive advantages. Strategic controls are concerned with examining the fit between: What the firm might do (opportunities in its external environment) What the firm can do (competitive advantages).Evaluate the degree to which the firm focuses on the requirements to implement strategy: B L:primary activities. CL(related): sharing of knowledge, markets, technologies across bizs. Financial Controls objective criteria used to measure firm's performance against previously established st&ards. Focus on ST outcomes. ROI, ROA, EVA(economic value addedmarket based measure). ! produces risk-adverse managerial decisions. Essential for unrelated diversification! Simple Structure (owner manager makes all major decisions & monitors activities) Few rules, limited task specialization, basic tech system.Functional Structure(CEO & limited corporate staff make decisions. Functional line managers present. functional specialization from active sharing. ! impedes comm. & cordination among functional areas. Multi-divisional Structure. Operating divisions represent separate biz / profit center. Top corporate officer delegates responsibilities for daily operations & business unit strategies to division managers. ~Ties together all operating divisions. Enables more accurate monitoring of p erformance of each unit. Facilitates comparisons between divisions.Stimulates managers to look for improvements. Matches between BL strategies & Functional Structure 1)For cost leadership strategyWalmart (simple reporting structure, few layers in decision-making & authority, centralized in a staff function. Job specialized.. 2) For differentiation strategy. Complex & flexible reporting relationship, freq use of cross-functional product development teams, strong focus on mkting & R&D. Few formal rules & procedures. Jobs not specialized. Decentralized. 3)For integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy.Diff primary & support activities emphasized. Match between CL Strategy & Multi-divisional Structure(M-form) 1)Cooperative form for related-constrained. Centralized at corporate office; Extensive use of integration mechanism; emphasis on strategic criteria; linked to overall corporate performance. Frequent direct contact btwn division managers. Liason roles in each divisions redu ce time integrating with work occurring in other divisions. Matrix Organization might be formed(dual structure combining both functional specialization & biz product or project specialization.Cooperation among divisions implies loss of managerial autonomy -> managers hesitatnt to cooperate. Use strategic controls to evaluate manager on how well they cooperate. 2)SBUForm for related-linked strategy ! coordination between SBUs is hard. Diff to communicate complex biz model to shareholders. 3)Competitive form for Unrelated Diversification Strategy Decentralized to divisions; no integration mechanism; emphasize on financial criteria; linked to divisional performance. Finance & Auditing & Legal Affairs 2nd tier. Divisions 3 tier. ~internal competition creates flexibility; resources allocated to most potential division.Challenges the status quo & inertia. Motivates efforts due to funding if u are an efficient division. Matches btwn International Strategies & World-wide structure 1)Worldwi de Geog Area for Multidomestic Strategy. Decentralization to business units in each country. No integration mechanisms. Informal coordination ! inability to create global efficiency 2)Worldwide Product Divisional Structure for Global Strategy. Aims to gain EOS & EOSC;Centralized. Integrating mechanism important(e. g. Direct contact btwn managers, liaison roles btwn departments). inability to quikly respond to local needs & preferences; difficulty in coordinating decisions across borders. 3)Combination Structure for Transnational Strategy Global Matrix. ~flexibility in designing products & responding to customer needs. ! employee accountable to 2 boss. Difficult to be simultaneously loyal to both. Can be member of several functional or product group teams. Difficult & time consuming for approval. Hybrid Structure. (some divisions oriented to products while others oriented toward market areas) Matches btwn Cooperative Strategies & Network Structures.Strategic network (group of firms f ormed to create value by participating in multiple cooperative arrangements) can be a form of CA when operations create value that is hard to imitate. Used to implement BL, CL & International Strategies. Strategic center firm(main firm) does: Strategic outsourcing, seek ways to support members effort to develop Core competencies, Manage development & sharing of technology-based ideas(req formal reports of technology-orientated outcomes of their efforts),Emphasizes principal competition are btwn value chains & between networks of value chains.Centralized. Strategic network for BL Cooperative Strategy(horizontal,vertical Chp 9), CL Cooperative Strategies & International Cooperative Strategies(Distributed strategic networks -Several regional strategic centre firms are included in dist network to manage partner firms' multiple cooperative arrangements)

Friday, August 30, 2019

Types of Economic Activity

Types of economic activities 1. Primary industry * First stage in the production process * Major employer in poor countries * Involves the exploitation of natural resources * Includes activities such as agriculture, mining, fishing and forestry * Products are of low economic value * Products are either food for human consumption (e. g. fish) or raw materials for other economic activities (e. g. rubber for the tyre industry) 2. Secondary industry * Second stage in the production process * Also called the manufacturing industry Involves processing raw materials from the primary industry to add value to them* Products are of higher economic value than those of the primary industry * Output is either a final product (e. g. computer) or a part of the final product (e. g. microchip for the computer) 3. Tertiary industry * Involves the provision of services to companies or final consumers * Includes the financial services, health care, education and tourism sectors * Contributes more to the economy as a country becomes more developed * People are the main resource * Output is of high economic value Economic development in the Caribbean The capital city is usually the single prosperous core while the hinterlands are less prosperous * Large and successful industries tend to be located in and around the capital * The rural areas will have fewer and less successful or even declining industries * Governments have set up industrial estates in poorer areas to reduce the income disparity* Disparities in economic wealth between Caribbean countries have made integration difficult * Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is a small group formed within the CARICOM to help with the economic development of member states Measuring economic development . Gross Domestic Product (GDP) * Total market value of goods and services generated within a country over a given period 2. Gross National Product (GNP) * Total market value of goods and services generated by a country’ s citizens, both domestically and overseas, during a given period Primary industry: Forestry * The art, science and practice of studying and managing forests and plantations, and related natural resources* Guyana and Belize have significant forestry industries * Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, St Lucia and St Vincent also have substantial forest resources * Jamaica, Barbados and Haiti have almost epleted their forest resources Tertiary industry: Tourism * Provision of services to people who travel to and stay in places away from their place of residence for leisure purposes or otherwise * Generates income for a country through the sale of domestic goods and services to tourists and the employment of its people in tourism-related businesses * Major contributor to GDP * Accounts for more than 60% of the GDP in countries such as the Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Netherlands Antilles Earns 90% of the foreign exchange for some countries Major tourist destinations in the C aribbean (2005)Destination | Total tourist arrivals | Destination | Total tourist arrivals| Anguilla| 62,084| Grenada| 98,244| Antigua & Barbuda| 245,384| Guyana| 116,596| Aruba| 732,514| Jamaica| 1,478,663| Bahamas| 1,514,532| Martinique| 474,126| Barbados| 547,534| Montserrat| 9,690| Bermuda| 269,576| Puerto Rico| 1,449,785| British Virgin Islands| 337,135| St. Lucia| 317,939| Cayman Islands| 167,801| St. Vincent & Grenadines| 95,505| Cuba| 2,319,334| Suriname| 144,899| Curacao| 222,070| Trinidad & Tobago| 460,195| Dominican Republic| 3,690,692| US Virgin Islands| 697,033| Case study: Tourism industry in Jamaica Jamaica has a strong global presence * The country is noted for its excellent beaches such as Negril and Doctor’s Cave in Montego Bay.* It is also known for the Dunn’s River Falls, YS Falls, river rafting on the Rio Grande, cliff jumping at Rick’s Cafe and many other attractions. * Tourism earns the country up to US$970 million a year in foreign exchan ge * The industry is well developed compared to other Caribbean countries. Activities occur both day and night throughout the year with something to interest everyone. Physical factors influencing the tourism industry in Jamaica 1. Climate Warm and sunny throughout the year * Attracts people from cool temperate regions such as the northern parts of the US * Tourists can enjoy the beaches all year round 2. Natural resources * White sandy beaches * Clear seas rich with marine life * Beautiful scenery (e. g. Blue Mountains) * Lush vegetation * Wide variety of flora and fauna 3. Proximity to markets * Near to Canada, the US and Europe, which are where the bulk of the tourists come from * Travel to Jamaica is relatively cost-effective and time-efficient for these tourists Human factors influencing the tourism industry in Jamaica

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story Essay - 1

Theme and Narrative Elements in the Short Story - Essay Example In examining Hemingway’s short stories one notes their poignant and powerful literary quality. This essay examines Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants, arguing that Hemingway’s utilization of the literary devices of tone and style work together to advance the story’s overarching narrative theme. Throughout Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants there is a tone that is articulated that establishes and advances the narrative theme. While it’s difficult to specifically indicate what the central narrative or plot of the story is, as Hemingway purposely doesn’t reveal this core information, one can to a large extent surmise that the couple is speaking about a potential abortion. In establishing this plot and narrative elements Hemingway explores a number of tonal qualities. One of the most pervasive such element is the use of a slightly existential or nihilistic perspective on life and the couple’s d ilemma. Early in the story Hemingway implements dialogue such as, â€Å"I wanted to try this new drink: That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?† (Hemingway). Hemingway implements this dialogic perspective to establish the story’s general tone of existential ennui. It also highlights the woman’s discontent with the general state of her existence and desire to potentially have the child.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

An Investigation on the Selection of Social Service Provider and Buyer Dissertation

An Investigation on the Selection of Social Service Provider and Buyer Behaviour - Dissertation Example According to (Pires and Stanton, 2002), social services are of key importance to the society as these help in strengthening the quality of life of individuals. Although, social service provision is more popularly linked to governmental organizations, there are in fact, a number of non-governmental social service providers as well. Some of these are professionally managed by trained personnel working full-time and paid adequately while others may be formed by volunteers working in their leisure time (Munday, 2007).The users of social services may vary in terms of the urgency of their needs and degree of their dependency on service providers. There may be a dying day-laborer requiring immediate medical care from the nearest possible provider on one hand, while a child laborer in the need of proper education for a bright future on the other. The need and dependency of the former does not leave him much scope to dwell on choices and selection criterion whereas the latter can improve his chances of continuous support and future employment by making a prudent choice. A consumer of general commercial or other services follows certain steps, knowingly or unknowingly, in order to reach a decision while making a choice of a service provider. One of the models defining such a process is the EKB (Engel, James, David Kollat and Roger Blackwell) model with stages of problem recognition, internal and external search, alternative evaluation, purchase and outcome (Engel, J., Kollat, D. and Blackwell, R. (1968). But a consumer of social services differs from the general consumer on a number of significant parameters including sources of information, aptitude and spending capacity (Pires and Stanton, 2002). This affects the process followed adversely more often than not.The selection process of these consumers may be influenced by familiarity, proximity, endorsement and acceptance of claims prima facie without due diligence (Schiffman et al, 1997). This paper therefore proposes t hat there is a need to understand the decision making process and criteria employed by the buyers of social service, so that more targeted promotion or reach out programs can be developed by the social service providers. Social service providers across the UK are funded by the government and private donations and it is essential that the funding is justified in terms of concerted and targeted help made available to those who are in real need. However, the selection of a service is largely dependent on the individual who needs it, and therefore it is important that the service providers are aware of how this selection process occurs. 2. Research Objectives -To evaluate the factors that influence the selection of service provider It is expected that there will be both external situational factors as well as internal, psychological or personality factors that impact which criteria are adopted by the consumers. -To explore the specific criteria that the consumers of social service emplo y in selecting a service The proposed objective of the research is to understand the criteria that social service buyers adopt in selecting a social service for themselves. -To develop a framework for consumer behaviour for selection of social service provider Another aim of the research is to develop a framework that can be used to predict consumer behaviour for consumers of social services. 6. Literature Review A preliminary review of the available literature has

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Accounting case study analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Accounting analysis - Case Study Example The charity Help Our Homeless Offspring, look forward towards violating the rule of exceeding 25 percent expenditure and funding to survive. They must have an expensive TV for advertisement. The resulting effect is an increased expenditure to funding ratio beyond 25 percent. Such activities are unethical and unacceptable because they contradict accounting principles (Needles, Powers and Crosson, 2011). The accountant of HOH felt that the misallocation of cost at the expense of exploiting the willing donors was an unethical act because it contradicts accounting principle (Vanderbeck, 2013). For example, the following principles were violated namely; full disclosure principle, cost principle and reliability accounting principle. HOH charity should disclose the true state of affairs and avoid misleading the donors, as well as other users of accounting information (Smith, 2011). Further, the information disclose should be reliable to avoid making wrong decision. The senior accountant in this case tends to justify unethical acts applied by the company (Lerner and Cashin, 2009). As an accountant who adheres to the accounting ethics, it will be inappropriate to do nothing because misallocation of cost contravene the principle discussed. I would, therefore, tell my corporation to embrace the accounting principles. Instead of misallocating the cost to mislead the donors, the corporation should focus on minimizing its variable cost. I would not encourage my corporation to work with HOHO because the top management are encouraging unethical practices (Duska, Duska and Ragatz,

Monday, August 26, 2019

The History of Criminology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The History of Criminology - Research Paper Example The Philosophers like John Locke, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham prolonged upon the social contract theory to clarify as to why people entrust crime and how societies can successfully fight crime? The concepts can go on to play a huge role in the legal systems in a lot of nations nowadays, even though the approach in the current world tends to be a little more flexible. â€Å"According to Beccaria, crimes occur when the potential pleasure and rewards from illegal acts outweigh the pains of punishment. Beccaria’s theory was that in order for punishment to be effective, it must be public, prompt, necessary, the least possible in the given circumstances, proportionate and dictated by law† (Classical Vs. Positivist Criminology, 2013, par.2). It is significant to recognize the situation in which the classical criminology was expanded. At the time of the Enlightenment, Europe was altering completely, with a lot of nations rising from the feudal monarchies and completely i mproving their laws. Across Europe, this law was wildly conflicting and it still applied more variable. Board of judges and another legal official’s frequently lacked a wide training, and it arranged punishments completely out of quantity to some crimes as ignoring others. A lot of people understood the need for a more consistent and efficient justice system, and this method was the result. Classical criminology is basically a financial theory of crime that concentrates on the criminal act as per the definition which is given by the law. The significant idea is those individuals who are less or more free to decide any offense as to one by a choice or of behavioral choices. The comparative attractiveness of any option is influenced by the costs that are connected with an illegal action.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Cheating Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cheating - Term Paper Example These companies, while advertising, will use every term or means possible to portray the image that a consumer loves as being of lesser value than their product. It can be argued that most adverts aim at the destruction of the image of all other activities that individuals may be involved in and instead work towards the promotion of only those activities that are related to their product. As a result, it can be argued that cheating the customer for promoting a product is part of advertising and the morality, or lack of it, behind the adverts the basis upon which they are founded. Therefore, most adverts, no matter their nature, rarely hold any truth to what they are saying, since they often aim at making the customers believe that the product will fulfill their desires, when in reality, these product do not have that ability. The advertising of products, especially those from internationally recognized brands, is not only done at a local level, the advertising campaigns are also done at a regional, national, and international level. This is often considered the best way to ensure that the advert reaches a wider audience than it would normally have if the campaign were done at only the local level. It can be argued that the professionalism of the advertising company is often brought into question during such campaigns, because despite there being a code of conduct specifying how companies should conduct business, the adverts often create images for their customers which are not based on reality. It can be further argued that the fact that many of the adverts often convince their customers to select their products and shun others of the same quality is a stark example of how these adverts cheat their potential customers. It can be said that adverts are more often than not aimed at ensuring that a company’s products are able to compete effectively against other companies attempting to market similar products and in fact, these adverts are perhaps what can b e used to provide an edge against rival products. An argument can be made that companies are more interested in making as many sales as possible in their target markets and are not at all interested in the wellbeing of their customers (Baker 1213). This is the reason why they will do anything; even make false promises to their customers concerning their products, when advertising, in order to persuade them to purchase them. The main objective that can be made concerning the advertising of products is that it is aimed at ensuring that the sales of the said products are maximized. All manner of images and senses are used to ensure that this aim becomes a reality, meaning that companies will more often than not create products, not because they have the best interests of the customer at heart, but because they wish to increase their sales. Such tactics are more often than not psychological, because the actual product may not meet the standards which are mentioned I the advert. It can b e argued that companies often weave dreams for their customers and not their reality since they often go to the extent of making promises to the consumer about the product being able to fulfill their dreams and aspirations. Some of the most successful companies rely on advertising and their ability to convince their customers, through their adverts, that their products are the

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Managing Ethichs and Social responsibility Research Paper

Managing Ethichs and Social responsibility - Research Paper Example In relation to the conception of business ethics along with social responsibility, Business Ethic Management (BEM) is viewed to be a process of analysing as well as minimising ethical issues or problems with the application of certain specific programs and effectual practices. There are varied important elements that are applied by different organisations for minimising ethical problems or issues that include formulating effectual mission statements and establishing standard code of ethics. It has been apparently observed that the people involved with an organisation are provided with business ethics related education as well as training in order to effectively operate their respective business activities in accordance with organisational objectives. Moreover, business operations of an organisation are required to be audited as well as reported in an appropriate manner in order to effectively analyze business performances by a significant level (University of Bahrain, n.d.). News Int ernational or NI Group Ltd (NI) is regarded as one of the renowned as well as the biggest publishers of famous British newspapers. The well-known newspapers published by NI are The Sunday Times and The Times. These newspapers which publish by the organisation are considered to be the best in consideration to quality. Furthermore, another well-known newspaper of the organisation named The Sun is regarded to be one of the most read newspapers in the UK that accounts to seven million readers per day (NI Group Limited, 2012). This discussion will emphasize upon analysing ethical as well as social issues that faced by NI. Moreover, the discussion will further focus upon the techniques as well as the standards that adopted by the organisation in minimising all these identified issues that are pertaining within the organisation. Ethical and Social Issues of NI NI is one the famous newspaper publisher in the UK that faced several issues or problems which have been identified to hamper the p erformances as well as the business ethics of the organisation at large. The organisation has faced the problems due to corrupt practices that were performed for investigating certain crime related activities or news reports. The major ethical problem that faced by the organisation is the phone-hacking investigation procedure. Moreover, the staff members of the organisation were also alleged that they were involved in accessing messages of general public along with comprising the celebrities as well as the politicians (Davies, 2009). Furthermore, one of the staff members named Clive Goodman as well as two other members of NI was identified to be involved in tapping the phone calls of Prince William, a member of royal family (Day, 2006). There was another event that hampered the ethical standards of the organisation considering the case of Milly Dowler who was murdered. In regard to this case, the members of NI were alleged that they erased messages from Milly Dowler’s mobile phone with the intention of acquiring future messages (Muller, 2012). Furthermore, the organisation is also charged with the crime of providing bribery to public officials for acquiring important information

Structural Theory of Conflict Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Structural Theory of Conflict - Research Paper Example However, since the 1970s newer approaches have started to come out with new concepts of criminology. All of these approaches evolved into what is now known as left realism. The major difference which can be found between the left idealism and left realism is a moral issue which will be discovered later in this article. Traditional Marxist Theories Marx himself had very little to say about crime. He merely explained it as a product of poverty. However, there are other sociologists who have built the traditional Marxist approach to crime. There are four main areas which are discussed by the traditional Marxist approach: the manipulation of values; the process of law creation; the enforcement of law; and individual motivation. According to the Marxists society is controlled by powerful industrialists- bourgeoisie. Control is maintained in the society by means of socialization and threat. Through the process of socialization the young are taught to obey the power and value of the capital ist system. A wide range of social institutions such as the school, mass media and religion convey the message to the masses. Marxists claim that the meaning of crime depends upon the dominant social values. A very valid example would be that the murder of a person in a brawl will be counted as a severe crime but the death of a factory worker is considered an accident even though the cause of the accident might be the irresponsible attitude of the management. The problem which results from this is that the perception which is created through the sociological institutions that much of the crime is carried out by the youth, or the working class men or the black. This creates an ideology which causes the law enforcement agencies to focus more on these people and as a consequence there are more policemen in such areas. According to concepts of Marx law is created by the ruling class. The ruling class ensures that the laws not only maintain their dominance but they also provide them the freedom to carry out oppression and also preventing the working class for improving their standard of living. Marxists also argue that the law enforcement acts as a major catalyst in widening the gap between the ruling class and the working class. This is quite visible by the way that crime is handled. Street crimes are more likely to be punished more severely than white-collar crimes. This is compounded by the fact that white-collar crimes are very likely to be dealt by the firm itself by firing etc. to avoid the scandals. Apart from this the treatment of these crimes is also a question mark on the law enforcement system where street crimes might result in long jail sentences whereas corporate or white-collar crimes usually only result in heavy crimes. Two areas which are explained and discussed extensively in Marxist studies are mugging and corporate crime. When ‘mugging’ is discussed most important details are provided by Hall et al. (1979) in the book policing the C risis.’ It was in the early 1970s that mugging became the headline news in Britain. Mugging can be defined as robbery in the streets where the person is threatened or harmed. Mugging was an entirely new concept for the masses and simultaneously grabbed the focus of the news agencies who from time to time reported these crimes. This had increased such that the stat came out that it had increased by 129

Friday, August 23, 2019

The Usefulness of Marketing for Media and Entertainment Companies such Essay - 1

The Usefulness of Marketing for Media and Entertainment Companies such as Disney - Essay Example Strong brand imaging is important to engross higher customer equity. If taking the example of Disney, they are customer focused but their prices are not comparatively lower. Currently they are more conscientious about penetrating their existing market e.g., selling more to the prevailing consumers, continual expansion in marketing efforts to promote brands and improving the product quality to gain higher customer satisfaction by attaining expectations of customers. Their current marketing strategy can be analyzed as a â€Å"Brave† stroke of strategic mix. This entailed after observing the tremendous success of the movie â€Å"Brave† which performed terrifically on the box office as 13th top of the list movie consecutively yielding $66.7 Million. The analysts had topped up that Brave will barely be able to earn its cost on box office but its success made them to think about the Disney’s marketing strategies (Hughes, 2014). After examining the strategies of the Walt Disney and Time Warner, it has been concluded that customer affiliation is most important. Walt Disney has pointed on the right stroke by exploiting the exact opportunistic approach for example the strategic partners such as, McDonald. The characters embossment of Time Warner is reported as higher according to Gallup among the young generation yet the success rate of Disney is more than Time Warner (Gilchrist, 2013). The Dream works media entertainment also possesses a sustainable position in the industry but the character embossment and impact is not comparable because of strategic partnership and marketing practices (Hughes, 2014). Another important distinguishable feature of Disney’s marketing practice is the use of CSM (Corporate Social Marketing) (Robbins, 2014). Marketing is however important in this industry because all they have to disseminate and sell is the entertainment. It

Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Stages in the Process of Writing a Good Essay Essay Example for Free

The Stages in the Process of Writing a Good Essay Essay The process should be done step by step alternately. Firstly, you have to think about the topic and idea. Then you must analyze and identify the topic that you have chosen, and you need to get some keywords. The next step is you have to look for the information about the topic. There are many ways to search it, such as book, journal, the internet, newspaper, library, and so on. Then, you analyze the data or arguments from those sources that you have got, and you need to take some notes. If all of information is completed, you must organize it and write a plan about every step that you will write in the essay. Besides that, you need to make an outline for the essay as well. Then you can begin to write the essay. The important thing that you have to remember when you write the essay is you must be constant with the main idea and make your writing get fluent. So, you need to use linking words and must not forget to organize your paragraph. The paragraph consists of three parts, those are introduction, body, and conclusion. You must write it in the correct order. After finishing the essay, you have to read it again and check every paragraph about the fluency. You also need to check your grammar that you use. Finally, if you have checked all of them and you feel satisfied with your essay, you need to submit it.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Environmental Analysis Of Thomas Cook Tourism Essay

Environmental Analysis Of Thomas Cook Tourism Essay Summary This report deals with one of the leading travel group in the world which has been in operation since the past. It has been considered as the most trustworthy and reliable travel group which offers travel packages to its customers across the world. The travel group is Thomas Cook and is one of the leading travel and tourism agencies in the world. In this assignment, the organisation of Thomas Cook has been analysed taking into consideration the internal and the external environmental factors. A number of the important models such as McKinsey model along with the Pest analysis, SWOT and other models have been used to analyse the organisation. The main aim was to analysis the external and internal environment affecting the organisation. Leadership style has been discussed, and it can been seen that Thomas Cook has one of the cost effective organisational structure and follows a flexible business model so that it can be altered as and when needed. Finally the paper ends with recommendat ion and conclusion which states that the company should work according to the demand of the customers in order to stay competitive and maintain its number one position. Introduction Aim of the Report The aim of this report is to conduct an effective internal and external environmental analysis of Thomas Cook based on separate models. The analysis would help one understand the key competencies of the firm and also the areas where development is needed. Recommendations are also to be provided in due course to enhance the position. Overview of the Organisation Company Size Thomas Cook is one of the biggest companies in the field of leisure and travel and is observed to operate along a large geographical segment pertaining to 22 countries round the world. The company has emerged out to be a key market leader in the leisure and travel category. Thomas Cook, during the financial year of 2011-12 earned total sales revenue emanating to  £9.8 billion from a total customer base of 23.6 million people around the globe (Thomas Group Plc, 2012). Company Structure Thomas Cook operates based on a decentralised structure where the board of directors are responsible for delegation of tasks and duties to subsequent committees and other sub-boards. The structure operates along a top-down or vertical integration fashion in the company (Thomas Cook, 2010, p.53). Main Activities Thomas Cook Plc works along several segments to render value-added services to the customers. The first or the core product segment contains of packaged tourism services where both flights and hotel services are grouped under one bundle and rendered to the customer. The second segment consists of independent packages that help in rendering consumers a larger flexibility in choosing the travel destinations, duration of tour and other value additions. The third product segment focuses on rendering financial support to the travellers in terms of foreign exchange or money transfers and also in tour assurance services. Fourthly the group also operates via retail houses that help in distributing tour packages and offers to the consumers. Finally the group also operates on the basis of online networks where it focuses to serve consumers in European and pan-European markets effectively (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.13). Objectives of the Report As a market analyst and researcher the report to be presented would highlight the strategic potencies and drawbacks of Thomas Cook operating around the world in the travel and leisure segment. The report presented would eventually help the company management potentially address the drawbacks highlighted to develop its performance potential in the future. Analysis of the Organisation Internal Environmental Analysis Employee Engagement Analysis in Thomas Cook The analysis of employee engagement in organisations reflects the manner in which the people involved relate their activities and conduct to the inherited cultures and values of the concern. Thus an employee engaged is taken to be highly conscious of the organisational values and cultures and thereby coordinates with other colleagues to effectively achieve organisational goals and objectives. The level of employee engagement enhances with the level of relatedness the employer has with the employee groups (Vazirani, 2005, p.3). Herein, the module of employee engagement is used to analyse the level of loyalty and reliability of the employees in Thomas Cook. The management of Thomas Cook endeavours to effectively interrelate with the employees involved in different levels to share with them potential information pertaining to changes in organisational strategy and policies. Effective interrelation and communication is carried out by the management both along the web and physical sphere in terms of online chat and electronic mails and circulation of internal magazines respectively. Moreover the employees are also invited to participate in workshops and training programs that in turn enhance their potential to perform in their specific task areas. Further the management body of Thomas Cook from time to time conducts effective surveys to understand the level of interrelatedness of the employees, both new and old to the organisational values and business directives. Survey carried out would clearly hint on the satisfaction and commitment level of the internal people in Thomas Cook. Satisfaction level of the internal people duly enhanced help s Thomas Cook in addressing the changing needs of the consumers and also in effectively reducing the level of staff turnovers in the organisation. Henceforth, employee engagement activities in the company motivate the people to work more productively and thereby augment the revenue and productivity paradigm of the concern (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2011; Thomas Cook Group plc-a, 2011). Analysis of Thomas Cook based on McKinseys 7S Model The Model In the McKinseys 7S Model firstly, the management works on the basis of set strategies incorporating the views of many to help arrive at a specific action plan to accomplish end goals. Secondly, the management works on a definite structure to integrate the people working in different levels more effectively to meet end objectives. Thirdly, the organisation works based on a set of policies and procedures in achieving targets set. Fourthly, the concern uses internal people as a key resource in meeting the tasks set. Fifthly, different managers reflect different types of styles in meeting the same objectives. Sixthly, the management needs to share the objectives and policies of the concern with the employees to coordinate the actions taken. Seventhly, the skills of the people need to be enhanced in meeting end objectives effectively and successfully (Bhattacharya, 2011, p.333-334). McKinseys 7S Framework is reflected in the following diagram. Figure 1 (Bhattacharya, 2011, p.334) The attributes of the model would be used to analyse the internal environment of Thomas Cook for they help in setting a paradigm through which the organisational manager gains the potential in drawing the attention of the employees in meeting end objectives. Structure The organisational structure of Thomas Cook is found to be vertically integrated with a top-down management structure. Thus decisions are generally taken by the board of directors and higher management body of the concern and percolated downwards to different organisational levels. However in recent times, Thomas Cook is observed to take resort of a global outsourcing strategy to transfer the finance and accounting services in the hands of outsourced teams to help in cost reduction and organisational productivity (Banham, 2005). Systems Thomas Cook works based on an integrated business model incorporating the designing of both individual and packaged tours and also assisting the consumers in terms of financing and insuring their tour activities. Similarly, the company works in gaining an enhanced consumer base through carrying out its operations via retail marts and also through the online base. Thomas Cook trains its staffs to render effective customer services acting on such planes (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.13). Style The management style at Thomas Cook firstly works in encouraging the growth of organisational diversity in terms of employing people pertaining to different ethnic backgrounds, sex and age differences. Secondly, the management style in the concern promotes growth and promotion based on merits and performance parameters and thereby restricts the practice of discrimination in the workplace (Thomas Cook, n.d.). Staff The organisational management works in effectively recruiting a talented and knowledgeable workforce in the concern. Having recruited a talented and multi-skilled workforce the management works in motivating the people and effectively integrating training them to fulfil the needs of the concern (Thomas Cook Group plc-b, 2011). Skills The skills of the internal people are enhanced by Thomas Cook through the incorporation of effective training and performance management programs. Feedback is generated to the employees based on performance appraisal systems to help them address the drawbacks. In 2011, the company invested around à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤9.9 million pertaining to the training segment (Thomas Cook Group plc-c, 2011). Strategy The core business strategy of Thomas Cook is to train its employee base to render value-additions to the service parameters pertaining to the category of independent travel. Further, the management also desires to enhance the financing and business development parameters of the travel related services framework to augment the customer satisfaction experience (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). Shared Values The higher management body of Thomas Cook works on the basis of transmitting potential information pertaining to business and strategic value to the employees pertaining to different levels. Through the above function the company management desires to work as a single unit in helping to achieve end goals effectively (Thomas Cook Group plc-d, 2011). Leadership Style of Thomas Cook Adair (2011) states that leadership style pertaining to an organisation gains effect such that where different individuals and groups are employed to help in achieving a desired task. Herein, the manager is required to divide the entire task among groups and individuals and thereby to monitor and evaluate their performance levels in helping to meet the objectives taken (Adlair, 2011, p.92-93). The same can be represented through the following illustration. Figure 2 (Adair, 2011, p.92) Task Individual Team The leadership style of Thomas Cook reflected that it works on a task based model where decisions taken by higher management are percolated through the management hierarchy along different levels. Task Individual Team Ideal leadership style of Thomas Cook would be where the task is uniformly matched with team and individual pursuits. However, the same is difficult to implement for it means a complete restructuring of the organisational structure. Task Individual Team Thus the ideal style would be to delineate and percolate the entire organisational task along different layers while at the same time encouraging the development of individuals and teams by incorporating them in decision making functions. Organisational Structure of Thomas Cook The organisation structure of Thomas Cook is reflected in Figure A in the Appendix section. Headed by the Board of Directors the company is run by different committee bodies looking after finance, health and safety, auditing and disclosure functions and similar other departments. These committee bodies report to the body of Directors. Similarly the different segments and functions of the company are governed by different boards which are linked therewith other country heads serving different markets (Thomas Group Plc-a, 2012). Human Resource Systems in Thomas Cook Induction The induction program of Thomas Cook helps in introducing the people to the procedures and policies of the company. It also helps in providing guidance to the students regarding aspects of value and culture of the company. Moreover, a buddy is rendered with the apprentices who introduce the aspirant to the task to be performed at different levels along with the values of the company. Effective survey is conducted based on the apprenticeship program where feedback is gained from them to be used for further developments in the induction training rendered. Again, the apprentices are also rendered specific electronic learning modules to enhance the knowledge of the employees in the light of modifications and developments (People 1st, 2011). Appraisal The company conducts effective performance appraisal programs of the people pertaining to different levels in the organisation. Performance reviews of the people in the concern are conducted on an annual basis and feedbacks are generated to the people on that behalf. Development of the people is done through involving them in training programs where the skills sets are honed to meet drawbacks (Thomas Cook Plc, 2010). Communication Internal communication is practiced in Thomas Cook through the holding of meetings by the board of directors of the concern every year on timely schedules. In addition to the scheduled meetings the directors are also responsible for conducting of other additional and supplementary meetings as and when needed by the company. It is observed that on a general note the board of directors holds around 9 scheduled and 10 other additional meetings in the company (Thomas Cook, 2011, p.45). Incentive A host of financial and other incentives and amenities are rendered to the individuals by the organisation so as to effectively retain a productive and highly skilled workforce. The range of benefits rendered range from holiday packages, to shopping discounts and also other insurance and other leave related benefits. Moreover the workplace is made advanced in terms rendering flexible working hours to help the people work more productively. Areas of Development in Thomas Cook Structural Paradigm Pertaining to the structural paradigm the introduction of decentralisation in the organisational ambit has required the company to incorporate information technology infrastructure in the designing of data centres in different regions (Chillingworth, 2010). Leadership Style Paradigm The managers of Thomas Cook are required to adapt to changing situations through training programs rendered based on change leadership models. Similarly, the management skills are honed through incorporation of tenets pertaining to emotional intelligence and qualities to manage stress in the workplace (People 1st, 2008, p.3). Systems Paradigm Pertaining to operation systems and procedures the company is focusing to enhance its relationship with the consumers through augmenting their safety paradigm and suppliers like hotels and air services on an enhanced scale. Moreover the company is also working for promoting a safer and healthier environment through evaluation of carbon footprint (Thomas Group Plc, 2009). Plan of Development in Thomas Cook Kotters Eight Step Model The analysis of the plan of development in Thomas Cook is conducted based on the Eight Step Model presented by John P. Kotter of Harvard. The first three steps focus on analysing external changes, modifying the vision and thereby aligning teams to incorporate the change process. The subsequent three steps focus on implementing the change process through effective communication, empowerment of individuals and motivating people through short-term wins. Finally, the seventh and eight steps focus on sustaining the change rendered and enhancing the impacts of the change through modifications (Kotter, 2006, p.4). The same can be shown in the following illustration. Figure 3: Kotters Eight Step Change Process (Kotter, 2006, p.4) Change Process in Thomas Cook Firstly, the company management created the urgency in gaining profits from the market. Secondly, a team was created through replacements and promotions rendered in the executive body to incorporate the change. Thirdly, a new vision was created focusing on reducing costs, redesigning its organisation structure and enhancing its existing brand image (Linder, 2004, p.114). Fourthly, the management endeavoured to share the vision gained with the employees involved at different levels. Fifthly, employees were empowered to take individual decisions while rendering services to the consumers. Sixthly, a reward system was brought out to effectively motivate the employees to enhance the service quality (Srinivasan, 2009, p.280). Seventhly, the company focuses on gaining hold of talented and effective people that would help the concern achieve its set goals. Communication along the lines is enhanced through holding of training and interactions on a two-way level. Finally, new leadership policies and procedures are brought about by the company management to motivate the people to work in a productive fashion (Thomas Cook, 2010, p.40). External Environmental Analysis No organisation tends to exists in vacuum as each of the organisations is affected by the external environment. The external environment refers to the context in which organisation promotes, provides and also distributes its services. In maximum number of cases, the organisation doesn`t have control or has limited control over the environmental factors. According to Rubrigt and MacDonald (1981), if any of the organisation faces weakness it would become the tendency of the organisation to overlook the opportunity or the obstacles in the market place, also the external environment (Winston, 1985, p. 45). Process of Environment Monitoring in Thomas Cook With a wide range and scale of environmental impacts across the business of Thomas Cook, the operating companies tend to coordinate the performance of the environment locally under the banner of Group Environmental Policy. Thomas Cook is committed in reducing the impact of the environment by way of protecting the environment and the resources and the business usually depends on safeguarding the wildlife, biodiversity and also animal welfare. Market research: In order to monitor the upcoming challenges and trends of the consumer Thomas cook can conduct market research based on the needs of the customers. As the disposable income rise, there arise a shift in the mindset and thus it is required to introduce and act accordingly the customers expectation. Thus doing a proper market research would help the travel agency to stay ahead of its competitors. The company can make a page and share it in social networking sites to get feedbacks about the new schemes and can alter accordingly. Demographic: Thomas Cook is a well known and the oldest travel agency and thus the customers are attracted towards it because of the reliability and experience. Thomas cook can expand its stores where most number of customers visit to attract even more customers. Benchmarking: Thomas Cook has benchmarked the employee satisfaction. The company believe that employee who is engaged tends to perform better which leads to satisfied and loyal customers. Thomas Cook has compared each of the business segments through an employee survey and the rate of response was 64% in the year 2009. As per the survey in 2009 the engagement index was 3.74 as compared to the benchmark index of 3.67 (Thomas Cook Group Plc, 2009). Trade publication: Thomas Cook pocket guides covers about 170 destinations and at the same time compact and practical guide for the sun seekers and also for the city breakers. Other guides available for the travellers include driving guides, travellers guide and others. Recently Thomas cook has launched Canadian website which is a conjunction with rebranding of all the retail locations of Thomas Cook across Canada (Travel Trade, 2012). Scenario Planning: Thomas cook has acquired other travel agents in order to stay competitive in the travel agency sectors. PEST Analysis of Thomas Cook PEST Analysis is mainly used to scan the environment. PEST refers to political, economical, social and technological factors (Henry, 2008, p. 41). Thus Pest is used to analyses and scans the general environment surrounding Thomas cook. It is through PEST that the company will be able to detect as well as monitor the weak signals in order to recognise the fractures which shape the environment. Political Factors The UK travel and tourism industry has faced immense pressure from the government as it has introduced tourism tax and has said to affect all the travel and tourism business including Thomas Cook. The travel agents had opposed to the proposal of bed tax which the government had levied  £1 per head per night from the visitors staying in the local hotels. The proposed bed tax is said to increase the domestic price and keep the foreign visitors from holidaying in UK (The Guardian, 2012). The potential tax of about 5% to 10% would make England the proposed bed tax is said to increase the domestic price and keep the foreign visitors from holidaying in UK (The Guardian, 2012). It is one of the highest taxed holiday destinations in whole of Europe (BHA, 2012). Thus with the rise in tax, business like the local shops, the restaurants and the travel agencies are said to be affected. Economic Factors During the past few years the tourism sector have faced hard times due to challenging economic times and have largely impacted the global travel market but however there are signs of recovery within the consumers. The travel and the leisure sector were impacted mainly due to the consumers disposable income, unemployment rate, fluctuation in the rate of currency and the oil price. All these drives have hugely impacted the travel and leisure industry. The GDP declined by 6% in the year 2009, the rate of unemployment has increased to about 2%, the price of oil continued to be highly volatile. In addition to the above factor, there are other factors which have impacted the global travel market. Global terrorism has impacted the confidence of the consumers from travelling along with the swine flu in Mexico which had similarly affected the travel planes along with an increased taxation the economic conditions seems to get worst. Therefore due to these challenging economic conditions, the t ravel market over the past few years has significantly declined in the travel market (Thomas Cook Group Plc, 2009). Social Factors The economy of UK is one of the strongest economy in Europe where the disposable income of the consumers are at a rise and thus the expenditure made on leisure is growing at about 6% and thus has higher level of expectation from the travel and tourism sectors. Most of the people will at least go for one holiday to abroad, thus increasing the demand of the travel and tourism industry. In addition one of the important markets in travel and tourism is the grey market which mainly comprises of older people who are healthy and fit and as such has plenty of time along with funds to spend on travelling (Pearson School and College, n.d, p. 11). Technological Factors Technological factors refer to the use of internet which has allowed the people the opportunity to become much more independent and make plans according to their desire. Thomas Cook aims to be among the top online service provider and it can be done through modified and advanced technologies. Analysis of the Competitive Environment of Thomas Cook The competitive environment is analysed in order to describe the nature of the following attributes. As the environment keeps on changing each of the listed attributes becomes more or less attractive in order to achieve profitable growth rate. Thus the competitive environment of Thomas Cook has been analysed. Figure 4: Attributes in the Competitive Environment (Source: Bigler Norris, 2004, p. 81) Diversity The Thomas Cook Group is committed to provide a workplace which is free from discrimination and that supports diversity. Not only is it beneficial to the employee but also to the company in having a diversified workforce. The organisation provides employee training and monitors the diversity among its employees. Diversity is key strength of Thomas Cook and is an essential part of the business. The company operates in bout 22 countries and thus employs people from different backgrounds and cultures. A diverse workforce tends to create a dynamic as well as innovative culture of the company (Thomas Cook Group Plc-a, 2011). (Refer Appendix A) Rivalry Rivalry is high among the leisure industry as with the rise in the disposable income people are spending more amount of money on travelling which has led to the development of many tourism and travel agencies. As a result Thomas Cook also faces rivalry from other travel agencies such as American Express Company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Holiday break plc (Hoovers, 2012). Buyers The buyers are not given many options to choose from, by the company and thus they need to finalise from the given set of options and thus it can be said that the degree of power of the buyers are low. Hostility The degree of hostility is low to moderate in case of tourism industry. The travel and tourism agencies face from fierce competition but they do not declare an open war with respect to price. The marketing strategy adopted by the Thomas Cook and its competitors are almost the same to attract the customers. The companies compete with each other in all the aspects but do not declare open price wars with the competitors. Cost of Entry The cost of entry into the travel and tourism industry is relatively moderate to high. The capital requirement is usually high and thus creates a high rate of barrier for the new entry in the tourism sectors. Also the market share is occupied by the top leaders in the market and therefore it becomes hard for the new company to form a brand image and acquire a decent market share to compete with the already established firms. Brand recognition also acts as a barrier to the new entrant. Fragmentation The degree of fragmentation is high among the travel and tourism industry. Thomas Cook remains highly fragmented as it had the opportunity to achieve the top three market position. Thomas Cook has targeted gross booking with value of about  £3.5bn (Thomas Cook Group Plc-b, 2010). Turbulence The travel and tourism industry suffers from unpredicted variance and thus the turbulence is also high. With economic downturn and other related factors the tourism industry tends to gets affected to a very large extent and it increases the rate of turbulence. SWOT Analysis of Thomas Cook SWOT analysis is mainly used by organisation as strategic planning and usually refers to the identification of the strength, weakness along with the opportunities and threats of the organisations. SWOT is conducted to know about the internal as well as the external environment of the company and act accordingly. SWOT Analysis of Thomas Cook will enable the travel group to know its strength and overcomes its weakness and through opportunity overcome the threats. Strength Thomas cook has a strong brand name and image and is one of the leading leisure travel agencies in the world. It offers various package tours and other holiday components and other services. The group has recorded revenue of about  £9, 808.9million during the financial year 2011 The company has managed to show an increase of about 10.3% from the previous financial year 2010 (Research and Markets, 2012). The group continues to build upon the strengths which the company has created over the years which include strong financial position, trusted brand portfolio and the ability of the company, with its flexible model, to manage the business so that the group is able to meet the needs of the customers in the future (Thomas Cook Group Plc-c, 2009). Weakness One major weakness lies is that with a economic slowdown the travel agencies have experienced a huge break down in the number of consumers travelling from one place to another. This has impacted Thomas Cook Group. Opportunity With a rise in the disposable income of the consumers a huge opportunity lies with Thomas Cook to expand itself into various other countries and help the consumer experience the pleasure of travelling. Technology being an upper hand for the travel agencies, the online market is said to flourish which makes it easier for the consumers to select from various options made available from the travel agencies. Threat Threat lies from the other competitors which has been doing equally well in the travel and tourism sectors. With many travel and tourism agency, the customers gets a wide variety to choose from the best options and this tends to increase the competition among the travel and tourism industry. Also shift in the consumer behaviour also poses a threat for Thomas Cook. Major Challenges of Thomas Cook Thomas Cook has been facing some tough challenges which include financial consolidation as well as restricting. The CEO of the company, Manny Fontenla-Novoa resigned which took the company as a surprise. Another set of challenges is the growth of the company through acquisition. Growth by way of acquisition was one of the core strategies together with strict cost in order to improve the profit margins. In recent years Cook had sealed its market entry in Russia by a majority of stake in tour business operator. But at the same time, both internal as well as external problems have increased in Thomas Cook and it becomes a huge challenge for the company to undergo its operation when the environment is not healthy. The demand has slowed because of the weak economy of UK and also its strong focus on cost cutting, UK invested little in IT and product which left Thomas Cook positioned poorly in the market (FVW, 2011). The oldest travel agency has also seen a drop in summer holidays by about 10% which is one of the core businesses of Thomas Cook of sending the families off to destinations like Balearics and Canaries. The shares of Thomas Cook have also slumped to about 86% but still many of the problems of the company tend to persists (Moulds, 2012). Conclusions Thomas Cook is one of the most successful travel agency which meets the travel need of the customers. Thomas Cook is the leading travel groups with flexible business model and also focused strategy and has a team of more than 31000 people who are equally committed towards the vision of the company. It can be said that the company has been performing well in the financial year and plans to do well in the near future but with changing market environment along with the demands and needs of the customers Thomas Cook needs to adapt to new technologies and serve or provide its customers with the wants and requirements. Thomas Cook has been facing few challenges as mentioned and it should take the necessary steps to avoid problems which could hamper the

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Role Of The Freedmens Bureau

The Role Of The Freedmens Bureau The Freedmens Bureau as it was commonly referred to, was established on the 3rd of March 1865 under the United States War Department as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Its primary function was to take into account and provide practical assistance to the millions o former slaves in the south as they made their transition from bondage to freedom. The bureau was recognized by the influence of the Northerners, who had organized private organizations during the war and had also influenced the Congress after emancipation to relieve the distress of the freed people and assume the responsibility for their welfare as early as 1863.1 To simply put it, the bureau was to aid the freed people to gain land ownership, enfranchise them and help them to establish institutions that were beneficial to them. One of the first tasks of the Freedmens Bureau proved to say the least to be intimidating as it operated in regions ravaged by war and the acute competition of visions that were conflicting in the postwar southern society, one white and one black. As there seemed to be a supposed ready acceptance to the emancipation act in the south, this differed however as Southern whites feared that with this new order it would include full social and political equality for the blacks. In order to eliminate white supremacy over the blacks and protect their interests the bureau set up official offices in each southern state, even though there was a lack of adequate man power or financial resources for such an enormous undertaking. The bureau also had to work to persuade the southern states to recognize racial equality in their own judicial proceedings therefore the bureau had to monitor state and local legal affairs in the face of the Black Codes of 1865 and 1866 as the planters were being inflexib le.2 Another task of the bureau that was the important and main steps that were needed to be taken was the acquisition of land for the freed people. As according to Meier and Rudwick (1966) the freed people had not placed much emphasis on their civil and political rights, as their eyes were more set on acquiring their own land to cultivate. As the freedmens desire Meier and Rudwick states further was for land and it mirrored the American faith in property and land ownership. The freed people before being emancipated were bound to the soil and its cultivation, hence to them freedom meant that in order for them to get ahead in the race they associated freedom in itself the farming of their own land. Economically, to say the least freed people were put into a difficult and subsequently unique position as they were freed and found themselves in often times without work, therefore some southern planters did provide the freed people land with the consequence of working long contracts for extrem ely low wages.3 This influenced the Freedmens Bureau to answer the demands for labour by the planter class for the cultivation of land instituted a judicial system that would be fair to both parties by establishing their own authority with local agents, therefore a contract was constructed between the freed people and their employers in order to protect and allow the freed people to receive fair wages from the planters, also the setting up of temporary three-man courts in order to hear individual disputes between the white employers who were dealing for the first time with black employees.4 The content of the contract stipulated terms to which the planters had to arrange free transportation for the freed people from congested areas and provide the necessity of work in order for the freedmen to provide for their families, security and independence. These contract dealings led the bureau to aid Franklin (1967) states over 30, 000 persons to the abandoned lands in 1870, though some were returned to the ir previous owners under the Amnesty proclamations by Lincoln and Johnson. Because of the atmosphere in which the Bureau worked in the South were one of hostility, and the maintenance of the agency proved to be rather expensive by the Northerners. Franklin noted duly that the Northerners argued that the Bureaus existence was unable to be justified even in times of peace as the Southerners opposed fervently and openly of interference of the federal government with the relations between the worker and his employer. Some historians concluded that the establishing of the Bureau was a direct link to a political program for enfranchising the Blacks and, also establishing a strong Republican party in the South. The Bureau also aided refugees and freedmen by furnishing supplies and medical services, established schools and churches. In Louisiana according to Taylor, for example, the Freedmens Bureau tried hard to reduce the pangs of hunger of the blacks and poor whites. He goes on to explain that the Louisiana official had no appropriation, thus it derived its income from various seized properties and also from a tax of two dollars from the planter and three dollars from the labourer. Foner (1975) also rubs two cents in to say that free blacks who were skilled found themselves restricted from the trade they learnt under enslavement and unlike that of the white craftsmen blacks were taxed to special taxation as and were shown hostility as they were prohibited from the most profitable occupations and enterprises. Between 1865 and 1869, Franklin and Taylor, both noted that the Bureau also played its role of relieving the suffering amongst the freed people, as twenty million rations were issued to which approximately a quarter of the rations went to the poor needy whites and three quarts of the rations went to the blacks. These rations consisted of one bushel of corn and eight pounds of pork per month for adults, half as much for children, there was also the occasional issues of vinegar, sugar, vegetables, and coffee. There were also restrictions for ration collection for about a week as able-bodied persons were only allowed to receive and no more. Another challenge facing the blacks in the South was the abysmal lack of health care services. The Bureau attempted to strengthen existing medical care facilities as well as expand services into rural areas through newly established clinics. In 1867 there were 46 established hospitals by the Bureau and was staffed with physicians, surgeons, and nurses, under the medical department the Bureau spent over two million dollars to improve However the greatest success of the Freedmens Bureau in assisting the freed people was in education. The bureau founded over 4000 schools, from elementary grades to college, charging no fees and at most times furnished free textbooks that came from the north through philanthropic and religious organizations. Nearly a quarter of a million freed people received varying amounts of education while white southerners opposed these activities by the bureau as they believed that blacks were unable to absorb book learning. Among the schools that had inward funding by the Bureau were Howard University, Hampton Institute, St. Augustines College, Atlanta University, Fisk University, Storer College, and Johnson C. Smith University.5 Between 1869 and 1870 there were a total of 9,503 teachers both whites from the north and black freed people, along with approximately 247,333 pupils in the education system. When the bureau stopped its supported in 1870, Franklin (1967) had evidence that showed a mar ked increase in attendance, and advance in scholarship, and a record of punctuality and regularity which compared favourably with the schools of the north. The black churches also aided the Freedmens Bureau in the education aspect of the freed people. Despite its short existence, the bureau played a critical role in defining the meaning of freedom for some four million former slaves. Charged with exercising control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from the rebel states, its activities were countless. It provided issues of provisions, clothing and fuel to refugees, freedmen, and their wives and children; it assisted in reuniting black families; it supervised labour agreements between blacks and their former masters; it monitored state and local officials treatment of the former slaves; it established informal tribunals to settle disputes between whites and blacks and among African Americans themselves; it instituted clinics and hospitals for the former slaves; and it aided efforts to provide freed people education in the Civil Wars immediate aftermath. The most lasting failure of Reconstruction governments was not political but, it was social. They failed to alter the Souths social structure or its distribution of wealth and power. Government policies, rather than being too severe, were not thorough enough to win full and permanent equality for Afro-Americans. Regardless of all these dissolution of the Freedmans Bureau, its legacy still lives on through historically black colleges and universities, from approximately 1866 until its termination in 1872, an estimated 25 institutions of higher learning for black youth were established,[9] many of which remain in operation today. John H. Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A history of Negro Africans. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1967), 306 A. Meier E.M. Rudwick, From Plantation to Ghetto: An Interpretive History of American Negro.( New York: Hill and Wag Publishers, 1966), 139 Foner, Philip. History of Black Americans. (London and Westport: Greenwood Press, 1975), 513 John H. Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom: A history of Negro Africans. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1967), 308 Ibid.,

Monday, August 19, 2019

Free Essays - Searching for Truth in A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

Searching for Truth in A Farewell to Arms If The Sun Also Rises was one of the best books I have ever read, then A Farewell to Arms is Truth. I simply cannot believe that these books existed so long without my knowledge of how grand they are. I consider myself to read constantly, more than almost anyone I know, and here in less than a month I read two books that are undoubtedly among the best I have encountered.    When I finished A Farewell to Arms I was of course stunned by the death of Catherine and the baby and Henry's sudden solitude. "What happens now?" I felt, as I so often do when I finish a book that I want to go on forever. This is infinitely more difficult with a book that has no conclusion, and A Farewell to Arms leaves a reader not only emotionally exhausted but also just as alone as Henry and with nowhere to go. The entire work was aware of where it was going and what was going to happen next, and then to stop the way it did was unfair. Now, I've read enough essays while deciding which would be the topic for my class presentation that I know many people see that the unfairness of life and the insignificance of our free will are apparently the most important themes in the book, but I don't agree. I also don't agree that it is a war story or a love story. Exactly what it is, though, is not clear to me. Can't art exist without being anything? "There isn't always an explanation for ev erything."    War and love are obviously important themes in the book, and the relationship between the two is explored by Hemingway and, somewhat, by Henry. In the first two Books we are in the war and the war is overwhelming. In the last two Books we are in love. And, just as the first two Books are peppered with love in the time of war, the last two Books are tinged with war in the time of love. GIVE SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF THE â€Å"PEPPERING† AND THE â€Å"TINGING.† WHAT EFFECT DOES THE â€Å"PEPPERING† AND â€Å"TINGING† HAVE ON THE NOVEL? THE CHARACTERS?    The third Book is the bridge between the two 'stories' and it is not surprising that it centers on the escape.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Correlations between Biology and Male Homosexuality Essay -- Science S

Correlations Between Biology and Male Homosexuality Homosexuality, one of the many different sexual behaviors exhibited by humankind, has been rejected, persecuted, and denied. Are the studies that attempt to find causation moral? Is this search for the "why" of homosexuality a continuation of the heterosexist assumption that heterosexuality is normal and homosexuality abnormal? Are assumptions being made that homosexuality is a disease and should therefore be treated medically? Is the research currently being done heterosexist? Studies that are being performed currently and those done in the recent past have shown that there are strong connections between male homosexuality and biology. By presenting the scientifically significant studies that I have come across, I intend to reduce the ignorance surrounding homosexuality and the behaviors often found with it, and to show some of the correlations between biology and male homosexuality. Throughout my research of homosexuality, I wavered back and forth, debating the morality of this search for a cause. It seemed that finding a cause for homosexuality was somewhat akin to finding the cause for a disease. Unhappy with the association of homosexuality with abnormality, I wondered why scientists were allowed to place homosexuals at such a level. On one hand, with biology backing up gay men and women, the fight for equality and basic human rights could be won more quickly. Although science and society have progressed significantly since the days of Nazi Germany, when homosexuality was thought to come about through "seduction and mind-traps," critics of the current scientific curiosity with homosexuality consider every study and experiment an effort to strengthen the argument tha... ...ce of linkage to micro satellite markers on the X-Chromosome in a Canadian study," poster presentation at the International Academy of Sex Research, Provincetown, MA, 1995 Slimp, J. C., B.L. Hart, and R.W. Goy, "Heterosexual, autosexual and social behavior among adult male rhesus monkeys with medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamic lesions," Brain Research 142:105-122 (1978). Soulairac, A. and M. L. Soulairac, "Effets de là ©sions hypothalamiques sur le comportement sexuel et le tractus gà ©nital du rat male," Annales d'Endocrinologie (Paris) 17:731-745 (1956). Stein, Edward. The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Whitman, F.L., M. Diamond, and J. Marin, "Homosexual orientation in twins: A report on 61 pairs and three triplet sets," Archives of Sexual Behavior 22:187-206 (1993).