Cultural interview

Adriana was going to react to certain topics/questions and this made me apprehensive about conducting the interview. I was nervous that she might feel vulnerable about her hearing impediment since she is a private individual. She was ridiculed in school and did not have many friends. I was unaware if Adriana would avoid questions or become emotional about her childhood. I was also apprehensive about mentioning her nationality and if she felt that she had experienced racism. I remained empathetic and nonjudgmental throughout the entire interview.Adriana is currently a 33-year-old Mexican American left handed female with a hearing disability. She currently has no hearing in her right ear and has only 10% in her left ear. She has two hearing aids and is able to communicate by reading lips, text messaging, and by email. She is not able to communicate utilizing a telephone. She has been bilingual (Spanish and English) since the age of about five. Adriana lost most of hearing at the age of seven because she was afflicted with polio. She mentioned that she was sick for a week and was never hospitalized.She suffered from high fevers and lost the majority of her hearing over the course of a eek. She went from being able to hear the chirping ofa bird to only being able to hear muffled voices! She obtained hearing aids about two weeks after being afflicted with polio. She went through extensive amounts of speech therapy during and outside of the school setting. However, she has always excelled academically in school. She claims that most of the teachers were accommodating and let her sit in the front of the class. However, she did mention that she was ridiculed throughout her grade school years.She claims that her classmates would throw â€Å"spit balls† at her and make fun of her speech impediment. She never lashed out at people and tried to ignore their immature behavior. She mentions that she was lucky to have older brothers that were very protective. Many peopl e felt that she was â€Å"freeloading† because of her Mexican heritage and did not get to know her or even recognize that she was also an American. She mentioned that her parents came to America legally n their green cards) and became Mexican American citizens. Adriana mentioned that she was not popular and only associated with a few friends.She was very emotional during this topic! She would â€Å"tear up† at times because she felt like she was reliving bad memories. She felt like no one could relate to her because no one else had a disability and was a â€Å"minority. † It was also hard for her to realize that her hearing was gradually deteriorating! She currently has a Bachelor's Degree in Media and the Fine Arts and an Associate's Degree in Medical Billing and Coding. She is currently working at a doctor's office part time utilizing her Medical Billing and Coding degree.She does not seem passionate about her Job because she is in a private office (by herself ) doing computer coding. She feels excluded because she cannot fulfill the entire Job description. She is only able to complete the paperwork/ omputer portion of her current position. She is unable to communicate by telephone and feels incompetent because of her speech/hearing impediment. She always dreamt about becoming a nurse and wanted to follow in the footsteps of her older siblings. She knew that she would be unable to fulfill her dream because her hearing loss would affect her Job performance.Despite struggling and having a low self esteem, she found a husband that is able to look past her disability. Her body language and tone of voice seemed to change when we were talking about her husband. She seemed to be very comfortable talking about him and was very open bout answering questions. Her face lit up, there was excitement in her answers, and she appeared less tense. She has been married for five years to her husband named Gabriel and resides in Portage, Indiana. She has no children but has two cats and dogs! She constantly has nephews and nieces that spend the night.They refer to her as the â€Å"favorite† aunt. She stated, â€Å"l love spending time with my nieces and nephews, however when I have had enough then I can send them home. † They call her â€Å"Auntie Nana† and she displays their artwork proudly throughout her house and on the refrigerator. Adriana grew up in a single-family household in Whiting, Indiana. Her father was in her life for about seven years. She claims that he cheated on her mother and she kicked him out of the house. Adriana is a middle child of four brothers and sisters. Her mother worked at a nursing home as a Janitor and did not make much money.Her older brother and sister would often look after the younger children when her mother was at work. She was raised Catholic and presently attends church weekly. She grew up in a bilingual and strict household. She was expected to have chores and homework done by the time her mother was home. She still remains close with her family and sees them on a regular basis. I was shocked to find out that she has not spoken to her father for almost a decade. She also confided in me that she has about 15 half brothers/sisters from her father's â€Å"mistresses. She has emailed four of them and does not know anything about the other siblings. I was also amazed that since she has such a large Mexican family, she only participates in some Mexican traditions. She mentioned that her large, extended family gathers together for birthdays, Cinco de Mayo, and holidays. They typically indulge in Mexican Cuisine, such as: tamales, guacamole, tacos, and flautas. She stated that growing up with a disability and being Mexican was never easy. Adriana mentioned that she experienced racism when she was younger. She experienced racial profiling and was referred to as a â€Å"Spic. They would ask her if sne nad a green card and it sne was an illegal alien. Her mothe r's lower socioeconomic status was reflected in Adriana's wardrobe. She also mentioned she received free and reduced school lunches. Her classmates ridiculed her for all of these things. She did not socialize with many students and often sat by herself in the cafeteria. She felt alone because of her disability and race. She often felt that eople were making fun of her and talking behind her back. In her current work environment she often feels looked down upon because of her hearing disability.Adriana still has an upbeat personality despite all of the adversities in her life. She views herself as being successful and accomplished. She overcame the odds and went to college and obtained two degrees. She is married, has a Job, and owns a home. She credits much of her success to having a supportive and loving family. Her mother always encouraged and inspired her to pursue her dreams and never treated her differently from any of her other siblings (without disabilities). Adriana was rais ed with love and discipline. Her mother was never embarrassed to punish her or her siblings in public.They were taught that nothing is free and that they have to work hard for what they have. There are three nurses in her family and each of her siblings has their own homes and Jobs. She did mention that she grew up in a poverty stricken environment. Her mother was on welfare and food stamps throughout the course of her childhood. Her clothing was either from Goodwill and/ or second hand clothing from her older siblings. She lived in a three-bedroom house and shared a room with four of her sisters. As a counselor, I have learned not to have a pre-conceived notion about a client.I have also learned that you cannot Judge a book by its cover. Adriana has overcome many obstacles/hurdles in her life that most people could never imagine. She is legally â€Å"deaf† and has never once given up on pursuing her goals. She mentioned that she is a candidate for the cochlear implant but do es not want to undergo the procedure. She assured me that she has learned to adjust her life around her hearing deficit. I have learned that she is not defined by her disability but by her ability! I felt empathetic towards the amount of bullying that she had endured.She was never once vengeful but was saddened that certain individuals could physically and emotionally torment someone. As a counselor, I would advocate for this client by helping her obtain information on disability and social security. Due to her socioeconomic status, transportation may need to be provided for appointments to/from the counseling sessions. I would also provide her with a list of vocational rehabilitation offices to help her obtain information related to employment, assistive technology, and transition services.Other resources that can be valuable to Adriana include a sign language translator and a videophone. I can also provide information on support groups for individuals with hearing disabilities. I feel that she would benefit from individual and family counseling despite having a positive outlook on her scenario. This interview made me realize that someone with a minority/disability can overcome obstacles that seem nonexistent to someone without a disability or a minority. She may have had many struggles throughout her life, but was fortunate to have the support of her mother nd siblings.Even though Adriana is a minority with a disability, she has a positive attitude towards life. She takes everything in stride and does not want sympathy. Adriana has always been successful and seems to excel despite her disability. Overcoming many adversities, sne remains optimistic about ner tuture. She is ag advocate and role model for minorities with a disability. She is a role model to her nieces and nephews. She constantly encourages them to pursue their dreams and a higher education. She does not let her disability limit her lifestyle or outlook on life. Cultural interview Adriana was going to react to certain topics/questions and this made me apprehensive about conducting the interview. I was nervous that she might feel vulnerable about her hearing impediment since she is a private individual. She was ridiculed in school and did not have many friends. I was unaware if Adriana would avoid questions or become emotional about her childhood. I was also apprehensive about mentioning her nationality and if she felt that she had experienced racism. I remained empathetic and nonjudgmental throughout the entire interview.Adriana is currently a 33-year-old Mexican American left handed female with a hearing disability. She currently has no hearing in her right ear and has only 10% in her left ear. She has two hearing aids and is able to communicate by reading lips, text messaging, and by email. She is not able to communicate utilizing a telephone. She has been bilingual (Spanish and English) since the age of about five. Adriana lost most of hearing at the age of seven because she was afflicted with polio. She mentioned that she was sick for a week and was never hospitalized.She suffered from high fevers and lost the majority of her hearing over the course of a eek. She went from being able to hear the chirping ofa bird to only being able to hear muffled voices! She obtained hearing aids about two weeks after being afflicted with polio. She went through extensive amounts of speech therapy during and outside of the school setting. However, she has always excelled academically in school. She claims that most of the teachers were accommodating and let her sit in the front of the class. However, she did mention that she was ridiculed throughout her grade school years.She claims that her classmates would throw â€Å"spit balls† at her and make fun of her speech impediment. She never lashed out at people and tried to ignore their immature behavior. She mentions that she was lucky to have older brothers that were very protective. Many peopl e felt that she was â€Å"freeloading† because of her Mexican heritage and did not get to know her or even recognize that she was also an American. She mentioned that her parents came to America legally n their green cards) and became Mexican American citizens. Adriana mentioned that she was not popular and only associated with a few friends.She was very emotional during this topic! She would â€Å"tear up† at times because she felt like she was reliving bad memories. She felt like no one could relate to her because no one else had a disability and was a â€Å"minority. † It was also hard for her to realize that her hearing was gradually deteriorating! She currently has a Bachelor's Degree in Media and the Fine Arts and an Associate's Degree in Medical Billing and Coding. She is currently working at a doctor's office part time utilizing her Medical Billing and Coding degree.She does not seem passionate about her Job because she is in a private office (by herself ) doing computer coding. She feels excluded because she cannot fulfill the entire Job description. She is only able to complete the paperwork/ omputer portion of her current position. She is unable to communicate by telephone and feels incompetent because of her speech/hearing impediment. She always dreamt about becoming a nurse and wanted to follow in the footsteps of her older siblings. She knew that she would be unable to fulfill her dream because her hearing loss would affect her Job performance.Despite struggling and having a low self esteem, she found a husband that is able to look past her disability. Her body language and tone of voice seemed to change when we were talking about her husband. She seemed to be very comfortable talking about him and was very open bout answering questions. Her face lit up, there was excitement in her answers, and she appeared less tense. She has been married for five years to her husband named Gabriel and resides in Portage, Indiana. She has no children but has two cats and dogs! She constantly has nephews and nieces that spend the night.They refer to her as the â€Å"favorite† aunt. She stated, â€Å"l love spending time with my nieces and nephews, however when I have had enough then I can send them home. † They call her â€Å"Auntie Nana† and she displays their artwork proudly throughout her house and on the refrigerator. Adriana grew up in a single-family household in Whiting, Indiana. Her father was in her life for about seven years. She claims that he cheated on her mother and she kicked him out of the house. Adriana is a middle child of four brothers and sisters. Her mother worked at a nursing home as a Janitor and did not make much money.Her older brother and sister would often look after the younger children when her mother was at work. She was raised Catholic and presently attends church weekly. She grew up in a bilingual and strict household. She was expected to have chores and homework done by the time her mother was home. She still remains close with her family and sees them on a regular basis. I was shocked to find out that she has not spoken to her father for almost a decade. She also confided in me that she has about 15 half brothers/sisters from her father's â€Å"mistresses. She has emailed four of them and does not know anything about the other siblings. I was also amazed that since she has such a large Mexican family, she only participates in some Mexican traditions. She mentioned that her large, extended family gathers together for birthdays, Cinco de Mayo, and holidays. They typically indulge in Mexican Cuisine, such as: tamales, guacamole, tacos, and flautas. She stated that growing up with a disability and being Mexican was never easy. Adriana mentioned that she experienced racism when she was younger. She experienced racial profiling and was referred to as a â€Å"Spic. They would ask her if sne nad a green card and it sne was an illegal alien. Her mothe r's lower socioeconomic status was reflected in Adriana's wardrobe. She also mentioned she received free and reduced school lunches. Her classmates ridiculed her for all of these things. She did not socialize with many students and often sat by herself in the cafeteria. She felt alone because of her disability and race. She often felt that eople were making fun of her and talking behind her back. In her current work environment she often feels looked down upon because of her hearing disability.Adriana still has an upbeat personality despite all of the adversities in her life. She views herself as being successful and accomplished. She overcame the odds and went to college and obtained two degrees. She is married, has a Job, and owns a home. She credits much of her success to having a supportive and loving family. Her mother always encouraged and inspired her to pursue her dreams and never treated her differently from any of her other siblings (without disabilities). Adriana was rais ed with love and discipline. Her mother was never embarrassed to punish her or her siblings in public.They were taught that nothing is free and that they have to work hard for what they have. There are three nurses in her family and each of her siblings has their own homes and Jobs. She did mention that she grew up in a poverty stricken environment. Her mother was on welfare and food stamps throughout the course of her childhood. Her clothing was either from Goodwill and/ or second hand clothing from her older siblings. She lived in a three-bedroom house and shared a room with four of her sisters. As a counselor, I have learned not to have a pre-conceived notion about a client.I have also learned that you cannot Judge a book by its cover. Adriana has overcome many obstacles/hurdles in her life that most people could never imagine. She is legally â€Å"deaf† and has never once given up on pursuing her goals. She mentioned that she is a candidate for the cochlear implant but do es not want to undergo the procedure. She assured me that she has learned to adjust her life around her hearing deficit. I have learned that she is not defined by her disability but by her ability! I felt empathetic towards the amount of bullying that she had endured.She was never once vengeful but was saddened that certain individuals could physically and emotionally torment someone. As a counselor, I would advocate for this client by helping her obtain information on disability and social security. Due to her socioeconomic status, transportation may need to be provided for appointments to/from the counseling sessions. I would also provide her with a list of vocational rehabilitation offices to help her obtain information related to employment, assistive technology, and transition services.Other resources that can be valuable to Adriana include a sign language translator and a videophone. I can also provide information on support groups for individuals with hearing disabilities. I feel that she would benefit from individual and family counseling despite having a positive outlook on her scenario. This interview made me realize that someone with a minority/disability can overcome obstacles that seem nonexistent to someone without a disability or a minority. She may have had many struggles throughout her life, but was fortunate to have the support of her mother nd siblings.Even though Adriana is a minority with a disability, she has a positive attitude towards life. She takes everything in stride and does not want sympathy. Adriana has always been successful and seems to excel despite her disability. Overcoming many adversities, sne remains optimistic about ner tuture. She is ag advocate and role model for minorities with a disability. She is a role model to her nieces and nephews. She constantly encourages them to pursue their dreams and a higher education. She does not let her disability limit her lifestyle or outlook on life.

The Market for Chocolate Cookies Is Comprised of Two Types

(a) As the question says the market for chocolate cookies is competitive thus, this complies with the market structure of Perfect Competition where there are a large number of buyers and sellers in the market. The basic characteristics of a Perfect Competition Market structure are that there is perfect knowledge on both sides of the market that is buyers and sellers know what the current market price is and thus, it prevents exploitation of the consumers as producers would not be able to charge unfair prices.This is because each firm produces an insignificant fraction of the total market supply and therefore is unable to affect price, it is for this reason that each firm in perfect competition is known as a price taker. There are no barriers to entry or exit in a perfectly competitive industry and thus, producers can enter or exit the market without any restrictions and thus, without any significant losses. The intersection of demand and supply curves of the industry determines the e quilibrium price a typical producer can charge which also become the demand of the firm.Due to this, the producers cannot exploit the consumers by charging a high price and thus, the price is always at the equilibrium. This is because if the producers charge a higher price, the demand for the product becomes zero, because the consumers can always switch to another producer as the good is homogenous. (Anderton, 2000) Since the Firms in Perfect Competition are Price takers so they both take the current market price, ‘Pe’ as shown in the Graph where the Market Demand and Supply intersects and form the Market equilibrium.D0 can be assumed as the Total Demand of Chocolate Cookies in the market and S0 can be assumed as the Total Supply of the Chocolate Cookies in the Market. Not for profit Organisations’ (NPOs) Average Cost (ATCn) is higher than the Average Cost of Profit Making Organisations, that is ATCp, because Not for profit organisations’ (NPOs) employ dis abled people and their cost is also high because Profit Making Organisation are making use of Capital Intensive technologies thus, more of their production is automated and they employ fewer workers than the NPOs.Average Cost of the Profit Making Firms (ATCp) is equal to the market Price (Pe) so they are making a â€Å"Normal Profit† just because of higher productivity due to which their cost is reduced. A firm makes a Normal Profit when its total Economic Cost, which is Average Cost in other words, is equal to the price firm is charging. In other words it can be said that the firm is making zero economic profit. A firm makes a supernormal profit when its Average Cost (economic cost) is lower than the price it is charging. The NPOs initially in the Short run are making a loss since their Average Cost (ATCn) is greater than the price (Pe) charged.A profit making firm may also make a supernormal profit but in the short run only, in the long run it can only make a normal profit or a zero economic profit. NPOs will be following a cost minimizing price, marginal cost price. (b)(i) A lump sum tax is a fixed amount that is charged as tax irrespective of a business’s profit, sales revenue or capital. According to Mankiw (2009), A lump sum tax is the most efficient tax possible because the business’s decisions do not alter the tax owed, the tax does not causes any dead weight losses and does not distort any incentives.Since, there is a fixed amount payable as tax so there is no administrative expense of hiring tax lawyers and accountants. Short run is the time period when at least one inputs in the production process is fixed and the rest are variable. Usually in the short run, the variable input is labour and the fixed input is capital. In the short run, it is assumed that producers can only alter production by changing the variable inputs rather than any fixed inputs. In the short run, existing firms do not exit the market.When the government imp oses a lump sum tax on the profit making corporations in a perfect competition, it disturbs the market structure of Perfect competition. It challenges the basic theory of Perfect Competition which says no barriers to entry and exit to and from the market. There is no government intervention usually in a perfectly competitive industry since it changes the basic characteristics of the Market Structure. However, after the government decides to impose a tax on the profit making firms only then the Market Structure of the Chocolate Cookies Industry does not remains a ure perfect competition, the Industry has close characteristics with Perfect Competition but cannot be categorised under it just because of the tax imposed. In the short run, the lump-sum tax must only affect the Average cost of the Profit Making firms while all other costs and revenue must be constant if all other factors affecting costs/revenue remain constant. Hence, as shown in the Graph above, The Average cost (ATCp0) o f a Profit making firm will increase depending on the amount of tax imposed by the government.In the graph above, the amount of tax has been assumed to be ATCp1-Pe which shows that the firm is making a loss after the ATCp0 shifts to ATCp1. If the market price is less than the Average Variable cost of the profit making firm, that is the firm is operating below its shut down point (Price = Average Variable Cost) then the firm will have to shut down production in the short run until there is a decrease in its average variable cost or an increase in the market price.But if in case, the market price is greater than Average variable cost but lesser than Average total Cost then the firm must continue production in the short run since it is covering its variable costs for now. (Mankiw, 2007) (ii) Long run is a time period when all the factors/inputs involved in the production process are variable. There are no fixed factors in the long run. In the long run firms can exit and enter the marke t freely.The long run is primarily used to analyze production decisions for a firm and is also used to better understand economies of scale, diseconomies of scale, and long-run market supply. In the long run, there must be a lot of changes in the industry and must also affect the firms in many ways. Like most of the Profit making firms which will be operating below the Shut down point (Price < Average Variable Cost) must not have been able to survive and must have exit the market.That must only shrink the market supply of Chocolate cookies, if all other factors affecting supply remain constant. The shrinking of supply will shift the Market Supply Curve (S0) to the left to the new Market Supply curve (S1) which must lead to an increase in the equilibrium market price of the industry to Pe1. The new market price will result in NPOs making a supernormal, normal profit or at least covering more of its loss in the short run but making a normal profit in the long run, depending on the num ber of exits from the market which should influence the change in market price.The graph below shows NPOs making a supernormal profit (Pe1-ATCn). It shows the Profit making firms also making a normal profit (Pe1 = ATCp1). Again, depending on the number of exits from the market and average costs of the firms, the profit of both the firms must vary. Since the NPOs now can make a Supernormal or at least a normal profit in the long run and will also get donations additionally so they must benefit their workers with all that extra profits earned.Their Disabled workers must earn much more than they were earning before in the short run and before the lump sum tax by the government was imposed. The NPOs may also employ additional workers after earning extra profits. The workers of the Profit making corporation might be worse off in the short run and some workers which will be working in the firms which had to shut down due to higher Average Variable cost than the market price will be fired while others in the long run will be better off comparatively.It will be unfair for the Profit making firms in a way that they produce better quality cookies as compare to NPOs but still NPOs are better off than the Profit Making Organisations in the long run. The consumers of the industry will be worse off in the long run, since they will have to pay a higher price just due to the lump sum tax imposed by the Government to make the NPOs better off in the long run.The tax burden of the Profit making organisations will be totally passed on to the consumers in the long run since they will have to pay the whole tax burden on the producers in the form of price. Word Count: 1531 words without referencing References: Heyne, P. , P. J. Boettke and D. L. Prychitko (2009). Economic Way of Thinking (9th Edition). Mankiw, N. G. (2009). Principles of Economics (5th Edition). Parkin, M. (2007). Economics (8th Edition).

Strategic Initiative

If the strategic plan is properly prepared and understood, then the company will continue to grow and thrive. Wall-Mart is a multimillion dollar empire that provides goods and services to communities all over the world. They are able to do this is because they are constantly looking for new ways to keep their business growing while keeping their customers satisfied and coming back for more. In this paper, Team C has developed a strategic planning initiative that will help Wall-Mart appeal In the local community.The strategic plan will help readers understand how financial planning plays a large part in the success and failure of a business by looking at costs and sales in the community, and finally ascribing the risks that are associated with the strategic planning initiative and financial effects they may have on the company. Strategic Planning Initiative Financial planning is about finding out how the business is going to financially in the future. This means that reports from acco unting and other departments have to be correct or else the forecasting will not be accurate.When a business is working on their financial planning they need to prepare a cash budget. Financial planning helps a business to know how the profits will look in the future which In turn will help them plan on other things. This is where the strategic planning comes Into play. The company can plan how much merchandise to receive for parts of ten year. I nee can also Tugged Tort Dulling expansions, malfeasance, Ana toner necessary things. By knowing how much they can spend on certain projects with the amount they have received from the financial forecasting they can budget properly.They can take the time to plan smart and know what they can do for the company and what they cannot do. Wall-Mart is planning on getting their supplies and merchandise from responsible sources. They want to make sure that the products that they sell to their nonusers are safe to eat and that with our busy lives t hey want the products to stand the wear and tear. With the help of the safer and stronger merchandise, Wall- Mart is planning on increasing sales and make sure that they are making the importance of their values known.With this said from the annual report, Wall-Mart is also working with Michelle Obama to make their food products healthier and their produce cheaper. (womb. Anytime. Com) Mrs.. Obama is helping to reduce obesity in children and trying to make foods healthier. Wall-Mart has been meeting with the first dad and are going to take their brand, Great Value, and make it to where it has less fats, sugars, and unhealthy salts. They are going to come out with healthier soups, salad dressings, rice and snacks.Wall-Mart is also trying to get Kraft to follow their examples and produces healthier products. Initiative Affects on Costs The new initiative will not have a major effect on cost for Wall-Mart. Wall-Mart will continue to use its current manufacturers to be able to provide t heir consumers with the most economical prices. Some things that have caused a change in cost for Wall- Mart would be the improvement of labor productivity and also organizational changes that have been made.There may be several changes that may occur in the upcoming year, but with their past experience Wall-Mart is fully prepared to embrace the changes in the most efficient way possible. They will continue to provide better health benefits to their employees and will be more strategic in their advertising. Also, with the Wall-Mart website they are cutting cost by not having so many items to ship and stock in their stores. It also provides their consumers to have easy access to he products which will expand their clientele.Initiative Affects on Sales Wall-Mart's two initiatives that our team focused on are not only driven by expectations of rising sales, but are thoughtful of improving society in small ways. The initiatives focus on improving the health of consumers, helping them to make smarter choices when doing the food shopping. Very aware of the effects of the economy, Wall-Mart is also finding ways to make these healthy choices affordable and realistic. Quality and values are what they are aiming to reveal, being responsible ND thoughtful so that buying Wall-Mart products is an easy and smart solution for better everyday living.With such a strong platform, these initiatives should easily lure American's into one of their 3,804 stores, targeting the common need to live smart and healthy lives on a budget, in order to accommodate the current state of ten economy. â€Å"We are expanding our assortment, re-allocating selling space Ana enhancing productivity initiatives to reduce costs† (Wall-Mart, 2011). By working with suppliers Wall-Mart is aiming to expand assortment in all categories and make the assortment more relevant. We continue to implement productivity initiatives throughout the stores, supply chain and logistics to improve returns. As we s ee top- line sales increase through our focus on IDLE (everyday low prices) and from operational and merchandising improvements, we can further enhance our ability to drive expense leverage† (Wall-Mart, 2011). With cost reduction and commitment to the focus at the core of the Wall-Mart organization, everyday low prices, sales will continue to rise, and the trust and loyalty consumers already show will grow even trotter.Risks Associated with Initiative and Financial Effects As with any business it is important to assess the risks and the financial affects of a business initiative. For Wall-Mart, three initiatives have been identified. The first is purchasing supplies from a responsible supplier. The second is to produce healthier food products in conjunction with the support of Michelle Obama. The third is to promote cheaper produce which will encourage families to eat healthier. The identified associated risks are the possibility of limited resources from so-called expansible suppliers causing Wall-Mart to limit goods that they sell.In addition, there is the possibility of higher cost associated with responsible supplier which will then be trickled down to consumers. Lastly, there is definite risk of botulism or reduced sales associated with purchasing lower quality produce in order to meet their initiative of cheaper produce. With any risk there are also potential financial affects which are the effect of the associated risks. For Wall-Mart they may find that they have to pay more for goods that are form responsible manufacturers and appliers which in turn which trickle down to the consumers causing them to pay more for goods.In turn, causes Wall-Mart to lose customers due to higher pricing. On the other hand if Wall-Mart is able to budget for the absorption of the additional costs and see no price rise to their consumers then they may actually see a financial benefit. Wall-Mart envisions cheaper produce as a potential benefit to its customers and it ca n be but the key to this success will be purchasing cheaper produce that is still quality produce and offering it at an everyday low price to consumers.On the other hand if Wall-Mart offers cheap produce that is not quality produce they may see a reduction in revenue and a loss of customers in this area. Conclusion Wall-mart has over 3,804 stores worldwide, and is the largest leader in retail sales. Wall-mart is able to do this by expanding their business into other countries and providing great quality items to their customers at low prices. The best way for Wall-mart to grow even bigger than they already are is to create a strategic initiative plan that is firm and reliable.

What is the essence of me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is the essence of me - Essay Example I believe that in life people find success and make progress through trial and error and experiencing hardship. I also think that many times the mistakes people make have to do with other people. I recognize that oftentimes people have made mistakes with me, and I have done the same with them. It follows that I think it is necessary to cultivate a personality of forgiveness. When people are unwilling to forgive it signals that they are giving up on another person, when in reality this is precisely the time that they should be coming closer to the person. When we are willing to forgive people then we allow our relationships with them to grow and develop through trial and error. Another reason that forgiveness is the essence of me is because I believe that holding grudges or seeking revenge is unproductive for a healthy and happy existence. While I am not a psychologist or know much about psychological theory, I have had enough life experience to understand that oftentimes the way we think affects the way we feel. I believe that in holding grudges and refusing to forgive people then we go through life with negative thoughts and emotions. In my own life, people have wronged me. Although it has oftentimes been difficult for me to forgive them I have always managed to do so. After forgiving the person, I have always felt better. In these regards, I have gradually made forgiveness one of the central parts of my personality. In conclusion, this essay has examined what is the essence of me. In these regards, my essence is forgiveness. The reasons for this are because I feel life is about making mistakes and as such it’s necessary to forgive people. I also believe it makes people happier if they are able to forgive others. Ultimately, these reasons have become prominent considerations in my life and as such forgiveness has become my central

Monday Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Monday - Essay Example The description of work he has done, one room is compared to a wedding cake in the story, illustrates his heart-felt belief that life is not just about money. In terms of Fitch's perspective, Helprin shows us this ethic with the comment about seeing soul in a building. For Fitch, in a business where most contractors are simply concerned about getting the highest profit for the least amount of work, he sees the elements of beauty as the expression of the heart. His pride in craftsmanship and attention to detail evidences a character that is a deep, honest, and caring human being. Another significant aspect of Fitch's character is his honor. He is an honorable man above all other things. His treatment of his employees shows integrity; a quality that they mirror when they insist that they will work on Lilly's apartment at no charge. His argument with the architect over his placing supports in a building that were absent from the plans demonstrates that he cares about his reputation. Rather than adding a costly element that he could have omitted and blamed upon the architect, he decides that he is the builder and will do what's right.

Masculinity in sport presented by contemporary media Essay

Masculinity in sport presented by contemporary media - Essay Example ch on "Masculinity in Sport Presented by Contemporary Media" deals with the varied aspects associated with male athleticism and the manner in which it is represented in popular media. The public representation of male athletes in the media is dominated by sport stars; portraying a "macho image" and who are often addressed with male-specific metaphors deliberately framed with the sole objective of monopolizing mens physical force, in the arena of men’s sport. This can be further substantiated by the description of masculinity in sport as depicted by Gerhard Vinnai (1976, Pp. 74): â€Å"The importance of rock-hard muscles, absence of sentimentality in harsh duels, acceptance of frequently painful injuries and ability to consume vast quantities of beer after the game . . . characterises the moral atmosphere among the sportsmen† The concept of masculinity in mediated sport is debated, and challenged, widely during the recent decade, by scholars and academicians alike, and holds great relevance, particularly when viewed against the backdrop of a rapidly emerging heterogeneous audience which comprises of gays and emergence of seemingly â€Å"effeminate† sports, and the rise in the number of viewers having diverse values and attitude and media consumption habits. In order to examine, explore and analyse the influence and role of mass media in representing masculinity in sport, this study uses the secondary research, qualitative research methodology, whereby various research articles, media articles, news published in tabloids, books, television adverts and sport magazines are studied, to gather evidence required to substantiate the research hypothesis and research objectives listed in the previous section of this paper. This study mostly relies on secondary research and all the observations made are through literature review, and existing available material on the subject under study. This study is divided into three distinct chapters wherein the concept of hegemonic

Together We Stand Letter Outline Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Together We Stand Letter Outline - Case Study Example The survey will involve establishing the relationship between exposure to the industrial waste and severity of the new disease. The study will involve finding health details of people living next to the factory’s dumpsites. A direct correlation between severity of the disease and nearness to the dumpsite will indicate that the factory is the main cause of the problem (Tilden, 2010). A negative correlation index will nullify the hypothesis that relates the disease to factory waste. The study assumed that people living next to the dumpsite have had minimal movements. The survey also assumed that the factory dumps its waste constantly throughout the year. In the study, I also assumed that the industry’s waste have minimal cumulative effect on the health of a victim. Finally, the analysis also considered the age of a person to be independent from the effects of the chemicals (Bond, 1993). During my investigation, I established that people associated the new illness with the evil spirits. Others believed that immigrants who were settling in their town from foreign countries propagated the

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Human resource management - Essay Example Hofstede studied the attitudes and working values of more than 116,000 IBM employees working in over 40 countries. Using factor analysis of gathered data, Hofstede shows that there are five dimensions that could not be described with other factors. Based on his results, he argues that national culture has an effect on attitudes and values related to workers or employees. Every country chooses a specific management system; however, it cannot reflect the priorities of a nation. The system may prevail by a powerful subculture due to the ability to locate its staff at the high levels of the organisation. Therefore, a predominant subculture can maintain to create a cultural imperialism. The subject was discussed by cross-cultural researchers only from the perspective of the countrys dominance over the country and not from the perspective of cultures dominance over the other culture (McSweeney, 2002, 56). The issue of choosing appropriate levels of analysis is the most significant challenge facing Hofstede’s theory. McSweeney, (2002, 55) argues that any theory should be based on detailed description levels. Hofstede’s findings describe the features. They clarify some of the cultural and behavioural paradigms in organisation of different countries. Hofstede classified the five cultural dimensions as follows (Hofstede, 2001, 56): Power distance: Based on this dimension, countries are different in terms how they treat inequality. Some countries allow inequality to grow so that there is a difference in power and wealth. In such cultures, there is disagreement between subordinates and authority. Uncertainty avoidance: This is regarded with how society members deal with the future risk possibilities. The dimension describes attempts of society to attain a certain level where they feel they are in a conflicting situation. Cultures with high UAI consist of people who

Is the military-industrial complex a result of the reliance of the Essay

Is the military-industrial complex a result of the reliance of the capitalist economy on military production as a stabiliser of - Essay Example President Eisenhower used the term to refer to the close ties between the military and industrial sectors. The origin of military industrial complex can be traced during World War II period, when many companies came into contact with the state. Majority of the companies started manufacturing armaments and tanks for the government on a large scale. During the world war, the Department of Defense granted many private companies military contracts in aerospace and the production of military weapons, tanks and vehicles. The US government was not producing weapons like other countries, but contracted private companies to supply the needed military material. As a result of the cold war tensions, many con-agglomerates won valuable defense contracts. This contributed to the rise of stock prices in the year 1960 (Geisst 2006, p.272). The private companies relied on government contracts to get their revenue. The government also appointed high rank officials in the military as executives and con sultants. This gave rise to a close relationship between the military and private corporations, which received a lot of criticism. In the recent years, the military-industrial complex terminology has fallen out of use. However, it is still used in reference to the relationship between governments and armaments producers, who spend enormous amount of budget on the defence sector (Geisst 2006, p. 273). Many governments prefer to buy military equipments and supplies from local private companies at an additional cost. This is what yields the label military-industrial complex, which is an established relationship between the defense establishments and the domestic industries. Military hardware accounts for the largest expenditure on total government equipment expenditure. Contracts awarded by department of defense provide suppliers with competitive advantage in financial, technological and commercial terms. The reliance on supplies and armor produced by a state own factory is thought to reduce the dependence on private supplies and the vulnerability of a nation to arms embargo. The production of arms by government can help reduce overpricing, abuse and long term dependence on foreign arm producers and private corporations in a country directly (Schiavo-Campo and Hazel 2008, p.271). The United States has become the powerful and incontestable power that has emerged from the centuries of the development of capitalistic economies. The US takes a center stage on the international economic structure, which relies on the economies of the underdeveloped counties. The U.S internal economy is tied to the world economic system through its continued dependency on its military expenditures and its extended exploitation of third world countries. The emergency of U.S as a world power dates back in mechanical production and technological innovation in the years before 1914. Before the year 1914, America had made access to its expansive natural resources and exploited them, which s timulated foreign trade outlets. This also led to the establishment of a flexible protective tariff system making U.S to benefit from financial assistance from older nations. This made it possible for U.S to develop a good network of transport and communication. During the World war I, U.S business increased as it move in to take advantage of the markets in the post war era (Cannon and Emile 2011, p.15). During this time, Latin America formed a main target for U.S because it was

Causes Of The French Revolution Essay Example for Free

Causes Of The French Revolution Essay On July 14, 1789 a large mob stormed the Bastille, and killed the commander and some other soldiers. The fall of the Bastille marked the beginning of the French Revolution, and was a symbol to the people of France representing years of abuse by the monarchy. Also, this event served as a wake-up call to King Louis XVI. Unlike any other short protest or riot, this event actually challenge to the regime. As the French Revolution progressed, French society underwent a transformation as feudal, religious, and aristocratic privileges disappeared and the ancien rà ©gime were abruptly overthrown under the fundamental principle of Libertà ©, à ©galità ©, fraternità ©. Although there are many causes to the French Revolution, the three main ones are: the mismanagement of the economy, the pressure of taxes placed primarily onto the third estate, and the spark from Enlightenment ideas and the American Revolution. These events set a fire in France that could no longer be contained. It spread through France like a wildfire. The first cause to the French Revolution was the mismanagement of the economy. Louis XIV had left France deeply in debt with his extravagant spending. France’s Involvement in the Seven Years’ War and American Revolution put it deeper down the hole. Costs had generally risen during the 1700’s and the lavish court soaked up millions. The government borrowed more and more money to bridge the gap between income and expenses. Years of deficit spending, or spending more than the income, was taking its toll on the country’s treasury. By 1789, half of the country’s income from taxes went to paying the interest on this debt. Louis XVI was forced to raise taxes to pay back the debts, leading to further tension and revolt. The first cause to the French Revolution was the pressure that taxes placed onto the Third Estate, or anyone that wasn’t nobility or clergy. This included the wealthier middle class, or bourgeoisie, and the extremely poor working clas s and rural farmers. While the poor suffered from the agonizing taxes, the rich nobility and clergy didn’t suffer these taxes because of tradition which granted the nobles and clergy freedom from paying taxes. The political crisis of 1789 coincided with the worst famine in memory, and as taxes rose, tension rose. When taxing the First and Second Estates was proposed by the king’s advisor, Jacques Necker, the nobles and high clergy resisted the  attempt to end their exemption from taxes and forced the king to dismiss him. As the crisis deepened, the pressure for reform grew. The wealthy class demanded, however, that the king summon the Estates-General, the legislative body consisting of representatives of the three estates, before making any changes. This event later backfired on the wealthy with the creation of the National Assembly which established many reforms. The last reason to the French Revolution was the spark of Enlightenment ideas and the American Revolution. This spark set fire to the French Revolution and roared across the country. Many people believed in the ideas of â€Å"equality† and â€Å"freedom of the individual† as presented Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot and other philosophers and social theorists of the Enlightenment. They especially favored John Locke’s idea that if a government violates the people’s natural rights, the people have the right to replace that government. These ideas of life, liberty, and equality had contributed to the creation of the American Revolution and the newly formed American government served as a live example of the proper structure of government. They helped with the creation of new reforms to make life in France better. On July 14, 1789 a large mob stormed the Bastille and began started the French Revolution. The causes of this event were the mismanagement of the economy by the king, the resulting tax pressure placed onto the poor Third Estate, and the spark of Enlightenment and American Revolution reasoning. The French Revolution had accomplished its desired goal of more equal government and it still has an impact on the world. Till this day, the French celebrate Bastille Day as their national independence day.

The Revolutionary Life of Che Guevara

The Revolutionary Life of Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara is universally renowned for his critical involvement in the success of the Cuban revolution. Venerated for his cause, he is considered by many to be a legendary hero whose name is equivalent to rebellion, revolution, and socialism. Others, however, see him as a ruthless murder. Regardless, his life as a revolutionary leader is an appealing subject that has been portrayed in a variety of books and films. This paper explains the story of Che Guevara, including his early life in Argentina, his motorcycle trips, his joining Fidel Castros army, his commitment to the revolutionary cause and the day he met his end in Bolivia. The paper also synthesizes and analyzes his contributions not only to the Cuban revolution but also to the world as a whole. Additionally, an investigation into his sinister part of life is also explored. Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, commonly referred to as El Che, Che Guevara, or just Che, is undoubtedly one of the most well-known and distinguished revolutionaries who ever lived. Famous for his legendary revolutionary life as well as his utter willingness to fight and die for his beliefs, Che Guevara has become the worlds icon of rebellion and struggle against social injustice, slavery, and ethnic discrimination. As a matter of fact, he was selected by Time magazine as among the most influential people of the 20th century, according to the website www.globalresearch.ca (December 19, 2010). Throughout history, few has died yet never ceased to have a profound impact on the living like he did, especially now that his revolutionary ideals, which he once lived by and died fighting for, have made their way to attract the contemporary men and women of the 21st century all over the world with the help of a variety of easily accessible means. It is the aforementioned reasons that formed the basis of numerous studies on Che Guevaras revolutionary legacy. However, rarely has any researcher included in their studies the approach from the opposite point of view. That is, although universally admired, exceptionally by people in Latin America, Che Guevara also receives serious vilification and criticisms from people in high places and in Cuban-exile communities throughout the Americas who still have deep hatred for Cuban socialist government in general and for Guevaras critical part in this system in particular (Harris, 2010, p.xiii). Some do not even hesitate to portray him as a ruthless dictator and opponent of freedom (Vega, 1997). This research paper analyses the legendary revolutionary life of Che Guevara, from the early days when he set out to pursue his adventurous dream on a motorbike till the very end when he was mercilessly yet valorously executed. But more importanly, a quantitative analysis of how his devotion ultimately affects Cuban society and the worlds perpective as a whole is presented. In addition, as aforesaid, a darker and more sinister side of Che Guevaras so-called legacy in which he is hated and reviled will also be discussed. Discussion Biography Ernesto Guevara, or Che Guevara as we all know him, was the Argentinean-born leader of the Cuban revolution. Born on June 14, 1928 in Rosario, Argentina, Che was the eldest of five children of a liberal, middle-class family. However, according to a different source, Julia Constenla, Ches actual date of birth was May 14 which was a month prior to the date stated in his birth certificate (Anderson, 1997, p. 3769). Constenla, who claimed she was told my Ches mother, Celia de la Serna y Llosa, strongly asserted that when Che was conceived, Celia and Ches father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, were not married; therefore, they had to alter the certificate and kept this a secret in order to avoid criticisms not only for themselves but also for their dear son. As an infant, Che Guevara, or Tete as he was called by his family at the time, had suffered from serious asthmaticcondtionssince 1930, which kept haunting him interminably throughout his revolutionary life. His family was then, at his fathers suggestion,relocated to Alta Garcia, a mountain resort town near Cordoba. Full of hope that the new placesdrier climate would help improve Ches health, his father, thought that it would be best if he stayed and spent his youth there, and so he did. Moreover, it was this severe illness that drove him to be homeschooled, in 1934, by his mother who maintained left-wing political views just like his father (Bethel, 2003). Being closely attached to his mother from day till night, Che was gradually subject to her radical left-wing political perspectives. Deeply influenced by his parents views, alongwith an enormous library containing a plethora of controversial and leftist works available at home, Che soon discovered his political beliefs as a naturally developed interest.Of all the leftist literature, he showed particular interests in the works, especially poetry, of Walt Whitman, Federico Garcia Lorca, Antonio Machado, and especially Pablo Neruda (Hart, 2004, p. 98). It was later confirmed by his father that he began to explore Marxist and other socialist literary works at home (Bethel, 2003), during the presidency of Juan Peron, who ultimately was the greatest inspiration of Che. However, his homeschooling finally came to an end i n 1937, when the 9-year-old Che Guevara was able to enrol in a primary school and continued his education at the third grade. Sick as he was, Che Guevara was described tobear a restless characteristic, which his father referred to as the blood of the Irish rebels (Lavretsky, 1976, p. 5). It was this trait that boosted his will to conquer his ailment by occupying himself with tense physical exercises. As a result, he became a superb athlete, distinguished himself at swimming, football, golfing, and shooting, and was widely recognized for his outstanding rugby performance as well as his aggressive style of play for the sports club CUBA, or Club Universitario de Buenos Aires (Cain Growden, 2006, p. 293), in turn giving him the nickname Fuser, which is a contraction for El Fuibundo and de la Serna, which is his mothers first name. After graduating from Colegio Nacional Dean Funes high school in 1946, the Guevara family again relocated to Buenos Aires, where Che Guevara, at the age of 20,got accepted into the University of Buenos Aires a year later.In order to get a better understanding of asthma, the very ailment that plagued him for all his life, as well as cancer, the disease that led his grandmother to death, Che Guevarawas set on studying for a degree in medicine. However, this determination did not last very long. As the study went on, there was an overwhelming desire to take a break and travel the world that eventually caused him to put his education on hold until 1953 when he returned to finished his medical degree. Details of these trips, which play a vital part in forever changing his point of view in the society, along with his revolutionary activities, will be covered later in the following section. Che Guevara had two marriages, the first being with Hilda Gadea Acosta, an exiled Peruvian Marxist. The wedding took place in August 8, 1955, while Hilda was carrying their first and only offspring, Hilda Beatriz. They soon went their seperate ways after 4 years of marriage, which in turn led Che Guevara to have a destined encouter with Aleida March, who later became his second wife onJune 3, 1959. The couple was so in love that they traveled together, fought together, and more importantly, had a close-knit family with four children together. Throughout his revolutionary life from 1955 to 1967, the career of Che Guevara had varied greatly (Bethel, 2003). After joining the Cuban revolutionary army led by Fidel Castro in 1955, Che Guevara quickly got promoted to head of the industrial department of the Instituto Nacional de la Reforma Agraria, or the Cuban National Institute of Agrarian Reform on October 7, 1959, which was not long before he was made president of the Cuban National Bank on November 26. Appointed as head of the Ministry of Industry of Cuba in 1961, Che Guevaras career seemingly advanced non-stop until 1965, when he suddenly forsook all of his duties and decided to stay out of sight. A year later, however, Che continued on his revolutionary quest in Bolivia as a guerilla leader, which was a complete failure leading to his capture and execution on October 8, 1967. Che Guevaras Revolutionary Activities Despite being born and growing up in Argentina, Ernesto Che Guevara associated with Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution in the armed struggle as well as in the construction of Cubas socialism. In 1967, Che Guevara died while leading the guerrilla movement in Bolivia at the age of 39. Then, he has become an immortal legend, a symbol of revolutionary heroism and international spirit, as well as a symbol of national liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples of the world. Thus, there are many legendary stories about his revolutionary activities. On January 1, 1950, Che Guevara began his first journey with a bike mounted motor. The journey, which crossed the Pampas plains in the north, has a length of 4,500 km. In this area, he had lived and assisted those who got infected by leprosy for a period of time, and worked in a group to build national highways in Argentina. According to the Che Mot hanh trinh cuoc doi (2012), in October 1951, Che reunited with a close friend Alberto Granado in Cà ³rdoba, then he suggested they made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹the trip to North America together. Not long after that, on December 29, 1951, they started their journey to other Latin American countries with Albertos motor (Poderosa II 500 cubic centimeters). They went through most of the countries in this region. Two months later, they were in Chile and continued to go through Bolivia and Peru. In Peru, Che Guevara, together with Alberto, visited the people living with leprosy. After that, they went along the Amazon River to go to Colombia and Venezuela on the raft named Mambo Tanga. In Venezuela, they separated. Alberto stayed for caring leprosy patients while Che returned to Argentina to complete his college program. In his travelling diary named Motorcycle Diaries, Che showed his huge changes within himself. The journey formed his compassion for the poor people and the spirit of fierce anti-imperialism. After his college graduation on June 16, 1953, Guevara continued his journey back to Latin America with Carlos Calica Ferre, one of his childhood friends in Cà ³rdoba. The trip started on July 7, 1953. They took the train to go to Bolivia before coming to Lapaz capital on the 24th of the month (Ferrer Smith, 2005). At that moment, the political situation in this country is very tense. A few months later, they traveled around Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and then stayed in Guatemala for about 9 months. There, he met Hilda Gadea, an exiled Peruvian woman, who became his wife later. She introduced Guevara and his friend to a group of Cuban exiles in the revolutionary group M-26-7 (26 of July Movement), in which Nico Lopez was a person who later gave him the nickname Che. After the time working in a hospital, Guevara moved to Mexico. There, in July 1955, he was introduced to Fidel Castro Ruz, and not long after that meeting, he voluntarily participated in the expeditionary group of the C uban. In April 1956, he began the military training along with other Cuban people and was one of the best students. Two months later, on June 24, Che and Fidel and other Cuban exiles were arrested by Mexican authorities and detained in Miguel Schultz. On July 31, they were released from prison and resumed the training. Subsequently, Che, as a member of the guerrillas general staff, together with 82 others, returned to Cuba on the ship named Granma on November 25, 1956. After that, on December 2, they had secretly landed on the island of Cuba. After arriving in Cuba, they won many crucial victories. On July 21, 1957, Che was promoted to Major by Fidel Castro, and was assigned to establish one of the Army rebels. Only a month later, on August 30, he led his troops to the victory of the battle of El Hombrito. In the article Che Ernesto Guevara (Nosotro, 2010), it was mentioned that in August 1958, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuesgos led their troops to launch the invasion from the west of the island. They marched 554 miles in 47 days with the lack of the military. According to an agreement later, to keep the forces, Che had to unify the command of the troops against the Batista regime. They began to attack on Santa Clara, an economic center as well as an important transport hub. On August 31, 1958, the rebels captured Santa Clara. This led Batista regime quickly into doom. Batista had to flee abroad and start an exile life. On January 4, 1959, Che, along with other rebel commanders, entered La Havana as the winners. After his great contributions, Ernesto Che Guevara was awarded the Cuba citizenship. This decision was supported by Cuban people. After the new revolutionary government was established, he was chosen as one of the three leaders (Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Raul Castro) of this country. On October 8th, 1959, he was appointed to the head of the agriculture of the National Institute of Agrarian Reform. In this position, Che decided to confiscate all of the private property land. On November 26, he was selected as a chairman of the National Bank. The first position of Che, before becoming the chairman of the Cuba National Bank, after the national liberation in 1959, was the commander of the Havana Prison. According to the article named Che Guevara: A cold killing machine motivated by hate (Rollings, 2008), during six months, he gave the death penalty for between 180 and thousands of Batista prisoners. In April 1960, he concurrently held the commander of the revolutionary armed forces training. In February 1961, after being the Minister of Industries, Guevara decided to put hundreds of state-owned enterprises under the control of the government. At that time, he also resolved lots of matters affecting Cuba. In March 1963, when serving as a key leader in the Cuba state apparatus, Che decided to resign from all his positions including the Cuban citizenship to continue to devote his life to the fighting for freedom of oppressed people (Guevara, 1965). This decision was given at the right time when his career was at the peak of success, so there was some doubt. There were many ideas that behind Ches leaving was the coercion of Fidel Castro and Raul Castro. However, in the letter sent to President Fidel which was read in the establishment ceremony of Communist Party of Cuba, Che Guevara made à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹it clear that his resignation was completely voluntary, following his heart of freedom, peace and dedication for the revolution of human liberation from oppression and injustice. In early April 1963, Che and some others left Cuba and came to Congo. There, they pulled out after their failed plans (November 1965). In March 1966, he went to Prague (Czechoslovakia), and then secretly returned to Cuba (July 1966) to plan the campaign for Bolivia. In November 1967, Che and his comrades used fake passports to go to La Paz (the capital of Bolivia). In La Paz, they secretly formed a guerrilla group, with the aim of creating a pilot nuclear struggle for liberating Latin America. After 11 months of the campaign, whose details were recorded in his diary which was later popularized as The Bolivian Diary of Ernesto Che Guevara, his organization was gradually exposed, which finally led to failure. With the ambush tactics, Ches organization won some small battles. However, the head quarter and activities of the organization were exposed because of the insiders. Thus, to avoid the enemy raid, the organization decided to relocate the base, so his organization was isolated. Due to the disease and lack of food, they had to kill horses and donkeys, which were previously their means of transport, to eat. Ches comrades eventually died while he was living with asthma and was always in danger because of the lack of medicine. Finally, he was captured on October 7, 1967 when trying to find the way out of the forest in the Quebrada del Yuro. On October 9, he was executed by a joint CIA-Bolivian task force. Subsequently, Barrientos government buried his corpse, and thirty years later, on October 17, 1997, his body and six others were found and exhumed in a mass grave. Then, they were brought to Cuba and buried in Santa Clara, where Che had crucial victories that decided the success of the C uban Revolution (Llosa, 2007). The main causes that led to the failure of the Bolivian campaign were probably that Ches organization was not believed and supported by Bolivian people, and did not actually link the struggles. In addition, the forces were weak, the equipment was rudimentary, and the strategies and tactics were not appropriate, while the enemy was powerful. Furthermore, the time was not ripe for a widespread and successful revolution. In spite of this defeat, the reputation of Ernesto Che Guevara and his influence spread throughout not only Latin America but also the world day by day. He has become a symbol of the struggle, of the kindness against poverty and oppression in order to bring justice to other people. Che Guevaras Contribution to the Society For centuries, the hero Che Guevara is considered as a living legend, a symbol of the revolutionary hero of all peoples in the world, not just in Cuba and other Latin American countries. After being executed by the Bolivian army, he was regarded as a martyr by generations of leftist worldwide, and his image became an icon of leftist radicalism and anti-imperialism. He is always a true revolutionary, a true man of the 20th century and much later, for today and the future generations to follow. Guevaras contribution to the Cuban Revolution. Che Guevara was the leader of the Communist Revolution in Cuba, and also the hero of the most prominent leaders of the country Cuba attached to him. In a review of the book Che Guevara: A revolutionary life (n.d) by Jon Lee Anderson, the author emphasized that Che Guevara played a vital role not only in the seizure of power in 1959 but also in the social revolution which ultimately turned Cuba into a communist nation. It was his tactical mastermind, his experience in guerrilla warfare, his brilliant leadership of the guerrilla force and his socialist ideologies that lead to the success of the Cuban revolution. In 1950, Che Guevara decided to go on his first trip through Latin America to explore different parts of the continent. In this trip, Che witnessed many people who had to live in severe poverty and atrocious medical conditions, without any interference from the government. He also experienced the sight of exploitation, inequality, marginalization and penetration of mainly the United States. From these experiences, Che decided to seek the truth and fight for justice. He believed that the task was to turn these people into people with weapons in their hands to liberate themselves. No weapon cannot do anything This thinking of Che Guevara was confirmed and approved by the Cuban rebel Fidel Castro, a political exile who was preparing a plot to overthrow the Cuba dictatorship of Fulgencio Bastista, in their long-awaited meeting at Mexico city in 1955 (Richards, n.d.). Fidel and Che shared their revolutionary ambitions. They were set against the tide of revolution that swept across the wo rld during the middle of the twentieth century. It was the story of two men who shared a common goal, became brothers in arms, and finally made an epic decision between their friendship and beliefs. After this meeting, Guevara decided to embark upon Fidel Castros quest to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of Batista in Cuba. Guevara began his career as a revolutionary in earnest when he signed up with Fidel to serve as a physician in the invasion army of 82 men (Richards, n.d.). Of these, Guevara was the only person who was not a Cuban native He assumed a position of influence which, together with his revolutionary goals and tactical brilliance, served to greatly support the revolutions cause. Guevara became Castrols chief lieutenant and distinguished himself as a resourceful and fearless tactician who not only was capable of ordering the execution of traitors and spies but also deeply cared for the welfare of his troops (Guevara, 2008). It was also mentioned in the article that with Castros forces pressing in, Bastista had to flee the country on New Years Day. It was the result of defeating a 30,000 strong and professional army by Castros 3,000 guerrillas. The rebel force gradually gained in strength, took the weapons and ammunition from Batistas troops, won the support of the local and got new recruits . At the time, Guevara became Castros right hand, one of the few who got his complete trust. Che Guevara was one of the first of the rebel forces to arrive gloriously in Havana on January 4, 1959, and claimed the capital for the revolutionary forces (Bethel, 2003). After this, Castros victorious troops entered Havana, and established a Marxist government; Guevara officially became a Cuban citizen. As one of the best lieutenants in the Cuban revolution, Guevaras reputation expanded very fast, not only in Cuba but also all over the world. He became a symbol of struggle for freedom and justice. Stories of his courage and leadership spread so rapidly that he was considered to be one of the most important figures in the revolution itself. In the new government established by Castro, Guevara served in a number of important positions. It was mentioned in a research named Ernesto Che Guevaras contribution to socialist political economy, industrial organization and economic development in Cuba 1959-1965 (n.d.) by Helen Yafe that in this period, Che Guevara was central in driving the structural changes which transformed Cuba from semi-colonial underdevelopment to independence and integration into the socialist bloc. Helen Yafe also listed some important positions and contributions of Che Guevara to the Cuban government system: Purging the old army; Agrarian Reform Law; Forging unity between internal revolutionary forces a process leading to the creation of what is today the CCP and UJC. Additionally, he was the first one to lead an overseas mission to expand trade and relation, according to Helen Che went to Yugoslavia and described it as decision-making imperialism with socialist allocation of the earnings and the rivalr y among companies would alter the socialist fortitude. Che Guevara became Head Department of Industrialization during nationalizations; Head of the National Bank all financial institutions were nationalized. He prepared in secret to change the countrys banknotes to prevent the financing of the counter-revolution and control inflation. In February 1961, he became Cubas first Minister of Industries. The objective of Ernesto Che Guevara in the economic reform of Cuba was obvious: to stir the financial system of Cuba away from its reliance on the trade of sugar with the United States particularly and on the export of sugar, generally (Bethel, 2003). This clear objective itself helped Cuba to be independent and started integration into the socialist bloc. To emphasize this remarkable step, in a speech by him, Guevara eloquently stated that the socialist learned and gained knowledge due to the struggle, and they developed into revolutionaries because of revolution, they became aware of the reality all the way through the experience. The socialist also read the situation in Cuba where must be having a popular armed force to stand up fighting against the armed puppets of the imperialist and called people upon to join the force and crush the oppressors. His spirit of fighting encouraged not only Cuba but also all the peoples in the world. Besides, it is clear that Guevaras contributions to the Cuban revolution were very considerable. With just a limited number of guerrilla soldiers, Che Guevara helped Fidel Castro to take over an entire country. After the old government was overthrown, Che continued to help Castro make his mind that communism was the right path for Cuba. He assisted Castro in quickly industrializing the country, setting up social reforms to try, and essentially making Cuba a better place to live for its citizens. He became the icon of the Cuban revolution; the architect of the Cuban Stalinist counter-revolution; the ruthless anti-imperialist fighter who was willing to sacrifice his own life for the sake of another country. The name Che Guevara will always be the pride of Cuba. Guevaras contribution to Latin American and the world. Before Che Guevara joined the Cuban revolution with Fidel Castro in Mexico, he gained a great amount of experience during his trips through Latin America and associated with many leftist movements. Observing the poverty, exploitation, inequality, marginalization here, Che Guevara was urged to find the truth and fight for justice. His disgust at the inequality and strong desire to fight for its eradication was indisputably an honorable and admirable cause. The duty of a revolutionary was to make revolution (Che Guevara about Cuban Revolution, 2003), Che liked to say. Indeed, his passion for balancing inequalities throughout Latin America is honorable and worthy of praise. After glorious victories in Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara still attempted to spread revolution. As the new Cuba is isolated on the world stage, and increasingly comes to rely on Soviet aid, Che looks to spread the Latin American revolution. In 1966, Guevara traveled on to Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia, where he joined and became a leader of a communist guerrilla movement attempting to overthrow the countrys military government (Bethel, Kari, 2003). Sadly, his strategy that was so fortunate in Cuba, failed in both Congo and Bolivia. In 1967, Che Guevara was murdered by state forces as US representatives look on. His last words are reported ro be, I know you have come to kill me. Shoot, coward, you are only going to kill a man (Bethel Kari, 2003). Although the two rebellions which he tried to make in Congo and Bolivia was failures, Ernesto Che Guevara has become the great representation of a enthusiastic revolutionary, willing to give his life to find success for the rebellion. Moreover, Che Guevaras contributions played an essential parts to the socialism and imperialism, as well as his enduring political legacy and his involvement to the speculation and strategy of guerrilla warfare. Che Guevaras ideas is said to be having the crucial relation on the Cuban rebellion and all the revolutionary events following in Latin America and some parts of the word (Saunois, 1997). Ches protection of these ideas as a means of struggle to be taken up all over Latin America placed them right at the centre of a discussion in the revolutionary socialist movement throughout that continent and beyond. The Cuban rebellion, particularly the parts of it contributed by Ernesto Che Guevara, has numerous lessons for the insurrection in opposition to the over utilization, or exploitation in other words, which is happening commonly today, in almost every part of the world. In addition, Che Guevara also happened to be renowned in the West for his disagreement to every type of neocolonialism, and the attacks on United States foreign strategy (Saunois, 1997). Che Guevara created an international proletarian spirit that had motivated the desire for freedom of Latin America and all countries over the world. Until now, more than forty years after Che Guevaras death, his name and image remain popular. To some Che Guevara is idolized as a man of the people, a freedom fighter for the downtrodden, who gave his life in the struggle to free peoples of the world to live in a better civilization. In 1997, Che Guevaras T-shirts which demonstrated his portraits had been worn widely by lots of people in Europe and South America, especially the Latin America, and it turned out to be very well-liked these days all over the world. He is an icon for millions people who want a world free of poverty and oppression, the symbol of struggle and justice, and some even considered him as a modern day Robin Hood. Che Guevara is, as confirmed in the Time magazine, included in the list of the most 100 powerful persons in the world. His legend has continuously rising since his passing away in 1967, and the revolutionary ideals he spent most of his life on at the present appeal to a young generation of the twenty-f irst century. When speaking about that revolutionary legend, Nelson Mandela expressed his admiration and respect to Che, as his life inspired every human being that has the love for freedom. Che Guevaras Negative Sides Che Guevara is widely known as a generous, romantic and compassionate hero and he is also idolized by many people all over the world. According to Jean-Paul Sartre, Che was the most comple and perfect man of this era (Rawalpindi, 2006). However, there are arguments whether he only had the positive effects on humans lives or Che Guevara had his negative side. Although he was widely known to be a doctor from his mother country Argentina the author of several books and articles, Justin Stamm (2009) has given his ideas that Ernesto Che Guevara never actually did graduate from any medical school or university. In reality, he quitted school to take part in the fomenting Marxist rebellion in Cuba funded by Soviet communist Russia. The complex character of Che Guevara has been shaped by the contradictions of his philosophy at different points in his life. So, what do we really know and understand about Ernesto Che Guevara? Is he really that complete and perfect hero of humanity? The answer i s definitely no to the persons who regard him as a brutal killer and a racist. Ernesto Che Guevara a brutal murderer? Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood. With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl! (Guevara, 2004) Ernesto Che Guevara wrote the above statements in his famous The Motorcycle Diaries, and their effects are not quite similar with the former statements. There are many opinions which criticize Che Guevara to be a coldblooded killer. In 2005, Alvaro Vargas Llosa stated in his article that Che Guevara was not ever afraid of his death, and he took other peoples deaths as lightly as his (Llosa, 2005). According to the article Che Shows Only Glorifies Portrait of a Ruthless Killer (Vega, 1997), Ernesto Che Guevara cannot be considered as a hero, because he ordered the death sentence of incalculable human beings while he is in control of the prison in Havana, and moreover, Ernesto Che Guevara denied the freedom to thousands of citizens, whom are considered by Che to be deviants or anti-revolutionaries. Those acts of Che Guevara cannot be accepted under any circumstances, as said by the author of this article. Che always believed that rebellion cannot happen without violence. When Granado, Ches young friend, told Che about his idea to create a pro-Indian political party by fairly winning election, in order to develop the Latin American politics, he responded to his young fellow that to have revolution, it is impossible if there are no gun shots (C. Guevara, 2004). This answer can be regarded as the signal of the upcoming things in the future. Ches belief had been reinforced by his sincerity that because Arbenz had unsuccessful in killing and eliminate his potential enemies, he had lost all his power. When he arrived in Cuba, the president of Cuba was Fulgencio Batista. Fidel Castro was the leader of the rebellious left; he and his comrades were ready to overthrow the Batistas corrupt regime. Followin

Explanation Of Choice Of Competitors

Explanation Of Choice Of Competitors The report is regarding Velour which is a Swedish fashion company in the upper medium price segment. The company has existed for 9 years and has succeeded to sustain and also expand on the Swedish market throughout the years. We as a consulting group have focused on Velours womens wear collection. Under a 6 week period we have been investigating how the fashion company Velour is operating. We have looked into the main competitors to the brand which we defined as Acne and Whyred. These are also Swedish companies which have the same target audience group as Velour; young women. The companies are also using the same kind of style in their design in womens wear and are strongly involved in the artistic sphere. The report describes Velours strategy of purchase, assortment and their different use of sales channels. The competitive brands are presented in the same way to create a coherent impression for the reader. The purpose of this report was to develop different parts within the company to be able to achieve its growth in the Swedish market. The improvements of Velours strategies are presented in the end of this thesis. A budget and time plan is also presented in the report. Table of contents 1.Introduction We have chosen Velour which is a brand based in Gothenburg. We were able to get in contact with Ann-Sophie and Hanna who are working with the brand and are also the persons who provided us with information about the company. We consider the brand to be interesting since it is a rather small clothing brand with clothes that attract us and we saw opportunities to develop brand strategies. The brand is still small but we think that Velour has capabilities to become an even stronger brand than it currently is on the Swedish market for womens clothing. We consider the design to be timeless and stylish which can be interesting for a lot of women in the Swedish market. Assignment We are acting as a consultant group with the purpose of developing new strategies for the brand Velour. This is made to be able to increase the sales volume and to increase the awareness of the brand. Method To be able to develop these strategies for Velour we have been in contact with employees of the company and also with employees of the competitors. We have also been visiting the stores and done researches on the Internet to increase our knowledge of the brands. Delimitations We are only focusing on womens wear on the Swedish market. Therefore other collection lines from the brand will not be mentioned in this report, neither will international markets. 2. Industry definition The industry contains of companies that are in the wholesale segment acting as product developing brand suppliers; that means that they are working with product development, design, marketing, purchasing and producing womens wear with a creative twist within the upper medium priced segment on the Swedish market. 3. Industry description Below description of the industry will be presented. Choice of competitors and an explanation of the five force model can also be found. 3.1 General description The fashion industry within textile is one of the most globalized sectors, this due to the great amount of employment opportunities the industry provides. The industry of fashion constantly changes and as a company in this industry one always has to pay attention and be first to deliver the latest trends. What is the latest today is not the latest tomorrow. There are constantly new competitors to the industry and to survive one really has to have a strong business idea and be clear about the message of the companys brand. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/themes/crisis/textil.pdf The Swedish fashion market contains mostly of small to medium sized companies. The Swedish fashion market is of high importance for Swedish trade and today around 300 000 people work within the Swedish fashion industry and this is approximately 5 percent of the Swedish GDP. Many of the Swedish brands have succeeded on an international level. Velour is one of them and is followed by HOPE, Filippa K, Anna Holtblad, Whyred and many other fashion brands. http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/9622/a/96709 Velour is categorized to be an upper medium price brand on the Swedish market. The industry Velour belongs to, has a target group of young women to middle age women in Sweden. The woman is someone who is aware of her approach and has a rather large interest in fashion. However she is not a fashion slave since she does not follow all current trends, instead she creates her own style by combining different pieces. The woman in Sweden is a person who is down to earth and is conscious about society and environmental issues (M. Solomon and N. Rabolt, 2009). In the industry Velour belongs to, collections consist of quite plain designed clothes with a creative twist that very simply create recognition about the brand. Brands in this industry have a collection that fits in a base wardrobe with tops, dresses and chinos. Statistics kring turnover industry- mailat svensk handel 3.2 Explanation of choice of competitors Through the description of the brand and the description of the customer we can say that the competitors of Velour on the Swedish market for women swear are Acne and Whyred. We choose to select Acne and Whyred as competitors of Velour on the Swedish market for women swear through issues of price, presence in the country, style and interest in arts. To begin with Acne it is a young Swedish fashion brand which was founded in 1996. Acne represents the Swedish style for women from 18 to 45 years old and is the typical brand of style without efforts. We see Acne to have the same target group as Velour and to also have the interest in arts just like Velour but more interested in graphics and design. Acne has a Swedish style of clarity, fluidity and urban design and considering the price Velour and Acne are in the same price range. Our other competitor Whyred which was founded in 1999 also has interest in arts, especially in music. Whyred ´s clothes are classic, with a modern twist which give them this artsy touch that inspires Whyred designers. Considering the price Whyred and Velour is in the same range. Whyred as the other two companies have a Swedish styl e in their design. When looking at the three companies we can see that they all three have the same target group. 3.3 Five force model To understand the industry of Velour within the fashion industry we have been using the model of Porters five forces. The model is used to understand the structure and profitability within an industry. Porter states that the underlying economic structure is a factor that plays a great role of a companys strength to be competitive. The company analyzes Industry competitors, Potential establishers, suppliers, customers, substitutes. The five fundamentals in this model establish the strength for each force (Hollensen, S 2007). 3.3.1 Industry competitors Strong competitors on the Swedish market to Velour are Acne and Whyred. Both this companies are Swedish and have a Swedish background. When looking at Acne and Whyred one can see that they have quite the same target group within the women collection. Both Acne and Whyred have similar design of their collection as Velour and they all three is categorized within the middle price brand. You can find the collections near each other in the same town in Sweden. Other competitors on the Swedish market are brands like Filippa K, Carin Rodebjer, Carin Wester and Hope. 3.3.2 Potential establishers Both existing and potential companies in an industry can affect the profitability of the industry. As we already have mention the fashion industry constantly changes and the level of new players is also in constantly movement. The fashion industry has a high level of new entrants and the competition for Velour we see as quite tough. This due to new designers that more easily enter as an middle price brand than in comparison as an high price or luxury price brand. Some French brands like Sandro, Claudie Pierlot, Comptoir des Cotonniers and Maje are today not on the Swedish market but we see these brands to have the potential to become competitors on the Swedish market. They could compete with Velour if they were entering the Swedish Market. They are powerful French companies focusing on women, targeting the same group of people and really involved in arts. The price range is the same and they could offer a wider group of products, where customers could find anything: from shoes, via c oats, to evening dresses. 3.3.3 Suppliers Within the fashion industry the supply chain is of high importance. Merchandise trade in the fashion industry plays a very central role and the suppliers have to take action very fast. The bargaining power is high for the supplier of fashion companies and this due to the fact that they mostly have the control of the production. Some fashion companies own big parts of the suppliers themselves and this result in more control for the fashion companies. The most comment is that the fashion companies outsource some parts of the value chain to another company. Velour has manufacturers of fabrics, trimmings and garments. Velour design within the company and own their designers. The production and distribution is outsourced to other companies and today the company has dependency on single suppliers. 3.3.4 Customers We have been focusing on the companies bargaining power due to the suppliers within the industry. In the industry of fashion the buyers have a restrained power to effect to their benefits, this because there is a great amount of small buyers and retailers in this industry. Velour is selling to retailers who are selling to the end-consumers. Velour is also acting as an integrated retailer since they have their own stores. 3.3.5 Substitutes Substitutes can affect the attractiveness of the industry and also influence the profitability within the industry. A substitute in an industry depends on buyers willingness to substitutes but also of the cost performance of the substitutes. The risk of substitutes in this industry is very high and this because of the great amount of designer cloths and fashion houses. Another factor that influence is high threats between substitutes is the generic substitutes that mostly very easily enter the fashion industry. This with help from the already existing well know name that help the generic substitutes to be introduced on the market. We see luxury brands to be a substitute for Velour and this because the luxury brands offer high fashion products and also the absolutely latest trends to wear. Secondhand are also within this category and this because like Velour, secondhand products offer uniqueness and inspiration to create a style of your own. The option of tailor made fashion we also s ee as a substitute and this since customers today are more aware than ever to have perfect fitted clothes. It becomes more and more usual to travel abroad and in many countries you can get your tailor made items at a very reasonable price. We think this option is going to increase and the prices should decrease if the demand for tailor made clothes gets higher. We also place made to measure and swopping with colleagues as substitutes for Velour. Suppliers Manufacturers of fabric, trimmings and garment Substitutes Secondhand, luxury brands, tailor made, made to measure, swopping with colleagues Buyers Retailers + Velour is acting as an integrated retailer Potential establishers Maje, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Sandro, Claude Pierlot, Industry Rivalry Velour ACNE, Whyred, Filippa K, Hope, Carin Wester 4. Commissioned company description and analysis 4.1 General description The Velour brand was created by Per Andersson and Johan Lundell. The idea for the brand was created through the store Nostalgi which they operated in Gothenburg. The store was opened in 1997 and the idea was to sell never worn clothes from the 1940s and 1980s. The shop found success and became popular amongst the independent scene in Sweden and design and music people found the store interesting. Per and Johan started to design t-shirts during 2001 and the Velour label was created. A third person joined the team at this time, Andreas Remling who had knowledge in finances and could handle the brands economics. http://www.va.se/nyheter/2007/01/19/bakom-kulisserna-pa-svensk/ Mattias Lind also joined the brand but left the company and started his own brand Julian red in 2003. Today the company has got 14 employees working with the brand. At first only a few basic casual clothes were designed but this soon developed into whole collections of garment. The first real collection of the brand was launched in 2001 and could be found at the Nostalgi store. In the year of 2005 a woman named Titti Andersson was hired for the design of the womens collection. http://www.alltomstockholm.se/shoppingmode/article29059.aos The company has had several different designers working with the brand during their years in the business, one of them is Karl-Wilhelm Bjà ¶rk who previously worked with Vivienne Westwood. http://www.kingmagazine.se/Markeslistning/?designer=17771 The core values of the brand are tailoring, graphic and casual. Perfect fit and focus on beautiful details should create the opportunity for the person who wears the clothes to be able to create its own style by combining pieces from the brand. The overall design concept of Velour springs out of a classic preppy look with traditional garments redesigned in a new stylish, yet effortless, way. We call this Feelgood Preppy. [1] The clothes are for people who are interested in fashion but not follow all trends that are present, Velour is for the people who wants to create their own unique style. The colors used in the different collections are mellow with colorful accents. The brand is present in 100 stores spread through Europe countries such as Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, United Kingdom but its largest market is still in Scandinavia. Velour can also be found overseas in Canada, Australia, the United States and in Japan. The target group of the brand is people between 20-35 years. http://feed.ne.cision.com/wpyfs/00/00/00/00/00/0D/6A/CE/wkr0010.pdf The Velour creator Johan Lundell is no longer working with the brand and neither is Andreas Remling, however, Per Andersson has continued his work at Velour and is the head designer for the mens collection. He is at this point alone running the brand management for Velour. The turnover for Velour in 2009 was 19,807 million SEK. In 2008 the turnover was 13, 302 million SEK which was a small growth from the year before. http://www.foretagsfakta.se/G%C3%B6teborg/Velour_By_Nostalgi_AB/989686 Velour has used creative ideas in their marketing. For example in 2006 Velour held a fashion show in a tunnel in Stockholm. They got permission to block off this area and do this project. http://www.foretagsfakta.se/G%C3%B6teborg/Velour_By_Nostalgi_AB/989686 According to Velour people in the music business are dedicated to the brand and find it interesting. Velour is a brand which is inspired by the music branch and they mean that their design is following that lifestyle. http://feed.ne.cision.com/wpyfs/00/00/00/00/00/0D/6A/CE/wkr0010.pdf http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf According to Velour they have a competitive advantage of being situated in Gothenburg. According to Andreas Remling their main competitors are located in Stockholm and this can result in that the brands from the same city become coherent in their design, they are inspired by each other and the uniqueness can fade. Another positive thing about Gothenburg is the good solutions for logistics and the existence of good suppliers. http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf 4.2 Value chain 4.3 Brand promise Velours nerve springs out of their history, eclectic inspiration and their values. Velour is offering a perfect fit and beautiful details, leaving it up to the wearer to create his or her own individual style, offering key pieces or a whole wardrobe. Beautiful details Create an individual style Perfect fit To claim to be offering a perfect fit is crucial according to us. Everybody is different and do probably not fit perfectly in Velours clothes. Velour means that they are leaving it to the wearer of the clothes to create their own unique style which we think is correct. The customer is as mentioned above in the report aware of her appearance and approach and is combining different pieces to create her own individual style. They depend on the customer to be able to do this on her own which we think is the case. 4.4 Current Strategy In this part we will explain how Velour works with its purchase strategy and explain lead times within the company. The different lead times are regarding the different activities from idea to finished product and the time to perform the different activities. For Velour from the first day the inspiration starts to the day that the products is out in the stores it takes around 12 months. If Velour starts in August on a new collection the sales samples are done in December. The company uses different manufactures and the samples are sent to manufactures abroad and the manufacturers are choosing matching suppliers to Velour. Below the process will be explained more detailed. 4.4.1 Purchase strategy Velour gets a lot of inspiration from the city Gothenburg where the brand also was founded. The studio of Velour is located in the long streets in the Linnà © district in Gothenburg and this street represents a classic mixed- use variety. They all share the same precious urban oxygen and here you can find galleries, recording labs, artist studios, coffee shops and sex shop all in the same street. This gives a feeling of uniqueness to the design and the brand of Velour. The preppy classic look is the overall design concept for the company. The designers make new collection in an effortless, new stylish way with traditional garments. The Swedish west coast also influences the designers mind when it comes to creating the right style of Velour ´s collection. When the inspiration and the design are finished, Velour picks sober colors to use in the collections and this with colorful touch. The choices of the colors are often grey, black or marine blue. The prints and patterns that are u sed together with the colors are gently created where every image, square and pigment has its place. (www.velour.se ) The inspiration together with product development and the ready sales sample takes for Velour 4 month. (Interview with Velour) The company does not have any production of its own; instead the production is handled by manufacturers abroad in countries like India, China, Portugal and Tunisia. The lead time at the manufacturers is around 3 months. Velour ´s manufactures are always working with different suppliers and this to be able to find suppliers that can produce Velour ´s needs to the price the company is able to pay. The amount of different supplier varies from season to season, usually 20-25 different suppliers are used each season. (Interview with Velour) Velour is using the full price purchase which means that the product development manufacturer place a purchase order to the producers of finished products. Then it is up to the producer to (according to the description of the purchase order) to do the purchase of the different garments and trimmings. Then the producer send Velour a full price suggestion which consists of a total price to produce the products ( Interview with Velour).This way of work can also be called purchase of ready-made garment (RMG) (Hedà ©n, McAndrew, 2005) The transportation is at all times made through shipping by boat and Velour always has the FOB (Free on board) agreement. When a company has the FOB agreement, the company takes the risk of the goods when the goods have been shipped and are placed on the pier. The transportation from the factories to Sweden takes around 3 months. From April to July Velour have sell-in to their different retailers and for Velour this has a show room in Stockholm were they show all new collections to the retailer. Under this period the product also is placed in stock and Velour has their warehouse in Borà ¥s. When the time is ready for the collection to be out in stores all products are sent from the warehouse in Borà ¥s to all the retailers within the Swedish market and to the single store in Gothenburg. The company has no written code of conduct and does not follow any initiative but examines their businesses as well as they can. Velour tries to be as ethical and critical as possible regarding the process of making the clothes. In environmental aspects the clothes that are made in cotton are all made by ecological cotton. 4.4.2 Assortment strategy Velour uses different types of fabrics; the company describes them as traditional. Fabrics they use repeatedly are wool, nylon, lining, acetate, cotton, elastane, lambswool, polyester, polycrepe, acrylic, mohair and ramie. The cotton that is used in the garment making is ecological. The sizes of the womens collections are divided into 4 steps; XS, S, M and L. Two collections are launched each year and these are called spring and autumn. The product groups that Velour offers are visible below. This is based on the womens autumn collection 2010. The assortment in each product group are not the same in every collection, that is why for example no shoes are present in the womens autumn collection 2010. The product groups stay the same, but the number of products in each category varies from the different collections. 4.4.3 Sales channel strategy Velour has only got one store of its own. This store is situated in Gothenburg at Magasinsgatan 19. The brand Velour was founded in 2001 and at this point the brand was sold through the store Nostalgi which was operated by the founders of the brand. However, this store does no longer exist and has been replaced by the one on Magasinsgatan. Velour is mainly sold through retail stores and department stores where the brand is presented amongst other clothing brands. Velour is also sold through their own online store which can be found at the companies website. The reason for using this kind of sales channel strategy is because of the fact that it is requires a high financially capacity to own its own stores. Through shop-in-shops which are currently used, the brand is represented in a lot of location but at a smaller amount of costs. 4.5 Future goals In 2006 the goal was, within a ten year period, to be one of the top fashion brands within Scandinavia. http://www.businessregion.se/download/18.8afae6210a70372e0c8000236/Business1-06_klar_pdf.pdf 5. Brief competitor description and analysis for 2 competitors Below the first chosen competitor, Acne will be described. 5.1 General description of Acne Acne was founded in 1996 and the first collection of Acne clothes was launched in 1998. The company was founded by Jonny Johansson who did not have any background in design before starting the brand. The brand has been a success in Sweden and currently a well known brand among young people which are interested in fashion. Acne studios have an advertising agency, art gallery, furniture collection, magazine. (Acne Official Website) Today the Acne studio represents 5 brands (Acne Paper, Acne Advertising, Acne Art Department, Acne JR and Acne Fashion and Denim) with 200 employees and has approximately an annual turnover of 38 millions Euros. (Georgina Safe, 2010) . The company also enjoy the involvement of a Capital-Risk firm: ÃÆ'-resund, which opens Acne to a wide range of possibilities in term of development and investments. When it comes to self expression Acne sees fashion to be the best way of have that (Acne Official Website). The style is typical Scandinavian, with simple lines, without abundance of colours: The style is simplistic but in the same time Acne clothes can be identified to be cool and personal. They are creating an image, not only a clothing brand. They are building a Lifestyle brand through desirable products. They also created an identity through their jeans with the famous red stitching. This identity is the result of Jonny Johanssons will of a garment that makes you feel stronger and more self confident. The brand is known of the denim jeans but the company dont want to be a denim brand, instead they wanted to offer ready to wear where the denim is included as a product. According Jonny Johansson they did not wanted to categorize themselves (Nina Jones, 2009). When Acne opens a new shop they dont think in the way of where they need to be located, instead they use the strategy of where they want to set up new stores. They are based the store locations on friendship and people who really want to have the brand located in that particular area. Acne doesnt believe in the strategy to put stores everywhere just to cover the map. In terms of strategy they also have an attitude of branding by doing,not advertising(JC Marcus, 2010, [1]). Acne adopted a code of conduct; they joined the Fair Trade Foundation. Acne is in accordance with their value and this new value of the fashion industry: labour practices and conditions have to be taken in account to preserve social matters of the value chain. There are also two types of production, one for their own stores and the other for all the other retailers and franchises. This difference of production shortens or lengthens the lead-time. 5.2 Value chain Acne buys material and produces in factories in Italy, Portugal, Hong Kong and Turkey. All of the production is outsourced. They act in the textile value chain in the wholesale segment as product developing brand suppliers which means that they concentrate on design, purchase, marketing and distribution. Concentrating on distribution, Acne is present in the retail segment in several levels: as a retail branch company (they own 4 stores in Sweden), as integrated wholesalers through Corner in department stores for example, in the Internet through their website on which one can shop online and through outlets with two outlets in Sweden, one in Gothenburg and one in Stockholm and also the web outlet. 5.3 Brand promise; Create novel expression Current strategy We have to precise first that Acne does not have a proper strategy that leads the brand. The team does what is necessary to both realising Acnes envies and to satisfying customers. If once they have to change their own strategy, theyd do it. In fact, the brand is lead by its Brand Promise, its Values and Vision. 5.4 Purchase strategy Acne buys material from Italy, Portugal, HK and Turkey. These counties they also have al the production placed (S.Jà ¶nnson L.Lagerdahl, 2005).In the factories Acne has divided two groups: production for their own stores, and production for the other retailers. They have through this organisation different lead-times between inspiration and arrivals of the clothes on the shelves. Inspiration to garments in the stores takes approximately 10 months year since we first do a sell collection to our WH clients, then we need to wait for their sales figures before we place the production orders. If we do garments only for our stores it takes 4-6 months(Therese Munthe, Acne Chief of Production ) 5.5 Assortment Strategy The assortment strategy comes from a great group work. Jonny Johansson said that in Sweden he was used to work in groups and for him it is the only way to succeed. The brand produces two collections a year: Autumn/Winter, Spring/Summer. The collections do not have so many articles and are made on an arithmetic scale, 15 pieces for each product group (11). 5.6 Sales Channel Strategy In Sweden Acne develops itself through its 4 own stores situated in Gothenburg and Stockholm, they also own a corner in Ã…lhà ©ns and an Outlet Store in Stockholm. They also sell through department stores and via the Internet. Acne choose to work through this way to be able to control the image they have of their brand, they can choose the department stores they want to work with and with their own shops and the Internet they have a total image control of the brand. Moreover, they spotted a trend with the Outlets thanks to which they can sell what was left from the previous collections. 5.7 Future goals New collaborations. Bags/ Underwear 6. Brief competitor description and analysis for 2 competitors Below the second chosen competitor, Whyred will be described. 6.1 General description of Whyred Whyred is a Swedish fashion brand which is founded by three ex-employees of H&M; Roland Hjort, Lena Patriksson Keller and Jonas Clason, in 1999. The story began with a Mens collection in 1999 and one year later the first Womens collection was in the shelves. The brand is positioned in the middle high price segment, with a turnover of 45 million SEK in (2006/2007) and 75 million SEK in (2007/2008) the brand is really growing, touching new customers. The first own shop is opened in 2001 in Stockholm, they have in 2010, 4 stores in the main Swedish cities. In 2005 they launched the shoe production line and also they set up the online outlet stores in 2007. The interesting part is that Whyred has labeled the products with Stockholm instead of Sweden, because Stockholm shows the country of origin (Sweden) and it is known as a beautiful city (Knudsen Lind 2007). The name of the brand comes from a radio interview with Roland Hjorts grandfather who was a famous Swedish artist. In that interview he was asked, What is your favorite colour? He replied: Red and the interviewer asked immediately Why red, he quipped Well, blue then. (A.K Sari, 2010) The strong inspiration of Whyred has been from the iconic style of the 1960s to give to the consumer the possibility of a Clean Living under Difficult Circumstances, inspired from THE WHOs manager Pete Meaden(Whyred Official Website). Whyred is strongly involved into the arts (especially in Cinema and Music) since the primary steps, they have project through collaborations. For instance, for their fourth art project, the short movie La Vitesse Et La Pierre is directed by Igor Zimmermann and the music is composed by Yourhighness which unveiling will happen on November 2010 in Sweden (Whyred Official Website). Moreover, they are pursuing the pull strategy by publishing the pictures of well-known people who dressed Whyred garments in the magazines or the newspapers (Knudsen Lind 2007). The brand is following simplicity by considering postmodern aesthetics, giving aesthetic awareness and making new expressions for their customers. They have ambition to make a brand as a leading European premium fashion brand (A.K Sari, 2010). 6.2 Value chain 6.3 Brand promise 6.4 Current strategy 6.4.1 Purchase strategy 6.4.2 Assortment strategy Whyred has set up its production to tow collection per year f