Wooden Furniture Industry In Malaysia

Wooden Furniture Industry In Malaysia Being one of the universes top tropical lumber makers, Malaysia has been the decisions of the world interest on wood items. Seals with various sorts of wooden items, the shoppers showcase have been peering toward this nation for its foundation in such field. From office furniture to home furnishings, this segment assumes a crucial job in working up the countrys economy. The estimation of the item delivered and the quantity of business held inside this industry is noteworthy that the legislature of Malaysia has come out with different motivations to help this industry where it is a piece of the little medium ventures (SMIs). Despite the fact that this industry manages low innovation association and high serious work aptitudes, its yet to be perceived as the main crude woods makers which driven by the interest everywhere throughout the world. Exploiting the Malaysia Industrial Master Plan (1986-1995), outside financial specialists putting resources into furniture industry have demonstrated a decent presentation where these speculators prodded the cash stream into the business as the ascent sought after was quickening notwithstanding moving the innovations to neighborhood business visionaries. Malaysia isn't just the fundamental tropical lumber creation particularly for wooden items like furnishings. The nation is in any event, rivaling 5 universes driving exporters like China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Year 1990s was a magnificence for Malaysia as the nation figured out how to provided food requests from Singapore, Japan and USA which at that point added to the complete fare estimation of RM3, 776.8 million continuously 2000. This critical accomplishment was because of the way that Malaysia is rich with the assets and incompetent work which prompted lower cost of creation and creation can be expanded to fulfill the need. Malaysia furniture industry in any case, confronting various inside and outer variables that in the end influence its improvement including such dangers from contenders, advances, quality, marking and that's only the tip of the iceberg. In this manner theres a requirement for a superior improvement in system received by all the furniture makers in spite of to actualize better and improved showcasing technique to catch more customers. The high estimation of their relative bit of leeway likewise is expected to bring Malaysia one stride ahead as the world driving furniture exporter. Foundation of Study As the maxim once another innovation turns over you, if youre not part of the steamroller, youre part of the street by Steward Brand, this show how improvement in innovation is fundamental in perceiving the possibility of being proficient underway. Proficient creation lead to better quality item along these lines can provide food more interest either present or new interest. Along these lines, this paper will demonstrate why considerable innovation improvement is required so as to acquire the furniture business Malaysia to a more significant level and afterward beat different universes driving exporters. Aside from mechanical progression, far reaching promoting system additionally considers as the vital part in deciding the degree of acknowledgment of Malaysias furniture items locally and abroad. This showcasing methodology will cover all perspective from the inward and outer factor based on advertising standards which are value, item, spot and advancement. Additionally, the extensive promoting procedure create ought to likewise be thought about the Malaysia Industrial Master Plan presented by the administration since 1986. The consistent improvement caused the administration to have given the business a tremendous open door for development in the referenced business. In addition, the achievement pace of the Malaysia furniture industry was additionally determined by thorough moves presented by the legislature of Malaysia. The usage of Industry Master Plan began from year 1986 was an all out progress. In the Industry Master Plan has plot a few thoughts on the best way to improve the entire Malaysia enterprises particularly furniture industry. This end-all strategy is additionally being executed up to this point to protect and way for continuation if the furniture business. Aside from the Industrial Master Plan, the new monetary approach or DEB is additionally was made to channel the development stream of the furniture business to a more significant level over the significant contenders like Indonesia. Notwithstanding, the conversation on furniture industry is significantly more extensive in Industry Master Plan Malaysia in this way this paper will talk about how this Industry Master Plan can help the maintainability of the business. 1.3 Problem Statement The furniture business in Malaysia assumes an essential job in balancing out the economy. The development pace of this industry was noteworthy that Malaysia has recorded a high development since the time the business was presented financially in Malaysia. Malaysia even got one of the significant contenders after Indonesia and Thailand and furniture items delivered by Malaysia were sent out the world over. In this way from this circumstance, we might want to broke down the development likelihood including furniture industry in Malaysia for the past edges. This wills incorporate the way toward looking at the innovation associated with the business that caused the speeding up of the business development. In innovation, the progression of capital is essential in deciding the innovation know-how used to build up the furniture business in Malaysia from conventional creation onto advance tech machines. Either than that, this paper will likewise show why Malaysia furniture industry is very much acknowledged far and wide with respect to its quality or for its ease. The piece of the pie will be additionally analyzed as to confirmation the business is in a decent shape. Aside from these perspectives, hardly any appropriate promoting techniques for the business will likewise be sketched out to improve the consciousness of customers around the globe on Malaysia furniture. A decent and thorough promoting procedures are urgent to drive the presentation of the business particularly with regards to catching new piece of the pie or expanding the piece of the overall industry. In the interim, the present procedures are incorporated concerning conversation purposes and to exceed the adequacy of the systems actualized as of now. 1.4 Objective of the Study To contemplate the headway of innovations utilized that determined the business execution in fare and import To explore the present promoting methodologies utilized and new extensive procedures that can be utilized to quicken the presentation to a superior level as at the standard with different contenders. To audit the significance of the Industry Master Plan (IMP) presented by the legislature of Malaysia in assuming an imperative job to approve the present development pace of the furniture business. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW There are four significant areas in Malaysian wood-based industry which are sawn lumber, facade and board items that incorporate compressed wood and other reconstituted board items, for example, fireboard, moldings and developers joinery and carpentry (BJC). The wood-based industry is completely possessed by Malaysian and it is determined that 80 to 90 % of the organizations contain little and medium size foundations. The makers of Malaysian furniture produce a broad scope of furniture for family units just as for office use. Prior to 1995, the exercises of Malaysian industry are were generally in logging, sawmilling and compressed wood producing. During the time of the second Industrial Master Plan (IMP) (1996 2005), the business progressively stressed worth included handling, for example, furniture, MDF, board items and facade. During this period, the wood based industry has accomplished a 5% development rate. The most noteworthy fare esteem is furniture, trailed by pressed wood, sawn lumber, logs and fiberboard. The star entertainer was the thriving furniture sub-segment which acquired a noteworthy twofold digit return of 11% development or in genuine income RM 5.8 billion. The third IMP (2006 2020) has reserved a development pace of 6.4 per annum for the wood-based industry to accomplish RM 53 billion of fare an incentive by 2020. The principle benefactors of this arranged development and fare esteem is to originated from furniture and board items chiefly from MDF and pressed wood. This part comprises of writing audit respect to the wooden furniture trade from Malaysia to existing world market. It covers the different parts of the wood based industry in Malaysia and fare of wood based items including wooden furniture to the world nations. The strategy utilized in this examination to investigate the information was additionally included to give a superior comprehension about the way toward breaking down information. As indicated by (MTIB 1994) Malaysia is probably the biggest exporter of tropical hardwoods tropical sawn lumber, compressed wood and hardwood shaping. The quick improvement just as the foundation of other essential wood preparing industry were bolstered by huge measure of log gracefully originating from forestland. Now and again, the wood based part is overwhelmed by essential handling exercises, for example, sawmilling, facade and compressed wood creation. Notwithstanding, as of late, downstream handling exercises, for example, the assembling of mo ldings, furniture and joinery have expanded altogether (Anon, 1 996). As indicated by Lew (1977), the wood business in Malaysia is a fare situated industry. Malaysias fare of significant wood based items has expanded bit by bit in the course of the most recent decade. Despite the fact that there is an impressive increment in wood based fare, Malaysia is as yet a little maker in the worldwide market for wood based downstream items. This implies there is an extensive space for development in the worth included items classification. To guarantee the proceeded with advancement of the business in future, Malaysia is effectively seeking after a program of advancing the wood based downstream industry. Numerous plans and exercises have been composed to help the businesses in all sort of areas. These exercises including globalization procedure, the information driven system, reinforce group improvement and others. Near preferred position includes the idea of chance expense either in creating or sending out a specific decent (Mohd Arif, 2008).

How To Write An Article Review Essay, Detailed Instructions

The most effective method to Write An Article Review Essay, Detailed Instructions What is an article survey An article survey is a procedure of basically assessing writing inside a particular field, itâ entails summing up, arranging and leading examination among various research discoveries. Article survey includes looking for logical articles among databases to recover important research discoveries introduced by various writers. The motivation behind survey is to offer the two understudies and researchers the chance to assess crafted by different specialists in a particular field. Â Using the article audit process, specialists offer basic suppositions about other master examine work. Procedures engaged with Article Review Article survey includes introducing your investigation of a subject dependent on an article finding to individuals who are acquainted with a particular subject matter. It requests proficient composition with exclusive requirements and a top to bottom introduction of our supposition. Significant focuses to consider before beginning to audit an article incorporates understanding that an article survey doesn't require new data, yet requires our reaction dependent on another writers work. Article survey requires a basic assessment and examinations utilizing hypotheses, thoughts and research discoveries that are identified with the current subject. A decent article audit ought to have efficient thoughts that construct thoughts and present its contentions reliably. Perusing and looking into Before beginning the survey procedure, it is imperative to peruse the chose article to have a superior comprehension of the article content. It is fitting to peruse and re-read the article to recognize a portion of the regular topics portrayed in the article. In the wake of perusing the article, it is essential to pinpoint the key focuses introduced by the writer, Â this basic advance will help distinguish the primary article purposes of contention that helps in working up intelligent contentions while studying the article. Setting up an Outline A framework is a key when composing aâ perfect paper, itâ makes the composing simple when introducing articles contentions. Composing a blueprint includes picking the particular articulation that presents the primary motivation behind the survey, known as the postulation. A postulation proclamation expresses the primary thoughts and helps control their stream. Theory proclamations are an impression of our judgment or sentiment which can be created from perusing or individual encounters. Building up a theory articulation involves introducing the expectation communicated by the creator and introducing if the creators aim were figured it out. Thinking of a framework requires the author to peruse the article and note down significant realities and some other commitments made by other applicable research discoveries. A decent diagram needs to distinguish information holes and any inconsistencies. Â An framework ought to likewise involve a portion of the deficiency and qualities of the recognized articles lastly summing up the paper dependent on solid information. Composing a survey Presentation The initial segment is the presentation, the presentation starts with referencing the name of the article. For instance, the article titled New proof on the treatment of ADHD by Lucian, Barnes-Holmes, and Barnes-Holmes examines treatment and the executives of ADHD among kids. The principal section ought to incorporate a theory articulation. The other significant focuses during presentation incorporate composing how the article identifies with other research discoveries on the particular point. When composing an article survey, the point should be plainly expressed, refering to the distinguished article toward the start of the paper, which is additionally significant. Â Presenting the point toward the start of the paper will convey to the peruser about the primary reason for the composition. The theme should be engaging and should feature the most significant purposes of the article to be checked on. The subject should be decisive, reminiscent or examining. Refering to the article will empower the peruser to realize the particular article being referred to, for instance: Luciano, C., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D. (2002)? New proof on the treatment of ADHD. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 23 (6), 406-421. During a presentation, one will clarify the standards the creator utilized while examining and furthermore looking at its discoveries, one will clarify the association for the audit. The body of the audit When composing an audit, the body of the paper should start with a theme sentence that expresses the primary thoughts of the section. Â Starting the passage with a theme sentence presents the peruser with the thought early. The body of the paper ought to incorporate information investigated or citations, or a lot of correlation indicating proof. The body of the article should plot the contentions that help the postulation proclamation followed by a rationale improvement of thoughts noted when building up the blueprint. It is critical to cite a few realities introduced by the writer to delineate the primary article thoughts. While surveying an article, it is essential to sum up the entire thought of the article, including what the writer expressed by noticing significant realities and other article discoveries. The following stage is to evaluate the article by featuring the articles qualities and shortcomings dependent on your supposition. It is additionally basic to recognize the writers commitment in the particular field and furthermore feature the holes and any logical inconsistencies found in the article. Â Criticizing an article involves taking a point of view to either bolster or not bolster the writers discoveries. All these ought to be upheld up by actuality and speculations that apply to the subject. When picking cites from the article to help your contention, its essential to choose and talk about materials from the article to demonstrate your point. Citations help in building up a contention about the creators work utilizing your words. End The finishing up passage needs to sum up the perspectives on the article and furthermore repeat the theory articulation. In this segment, finishing up implies returning to the primary thoughts of the article and featuring our assessment of the article. The end additionally presents the chance to give a route forward for additional examination. A powerful end needs to go past outline and welcome the writers endeavors and the centrality of the article. End causes the perusers to acknowledge how you built up a contention or if the paper responded to the inquiry. Â The end ought to be created from a perusers point of view. Toward the finish of the paper, the peruser needs to increase new understanding from the paper about the subject of conversation. Checking on the draft In the wake of finishing the principal draft of the survey, its imperative to change the composed paper to check for spelling and language structure. Editing needs to erase pointless and redundant expressions or words and furthermore include any missing data before presenting the last work. Â Proofreading needs to check for blunders in citations or in references, rationale improvement and furthermore check if the paper has a strong help for the proposal proclamation. During the survey, significant changes of the substance are permitted before presenting the last work.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Work Hard, Play Hard Sila queries: How good are the social departments at MIT? And, at the risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I have to ask: do people always talk about science at MIT? I mean, obviously it IS the institute of technology, but are people socially aware,m for example? Are there people strongly interested in the arts, politics and literature? Irena similiarly queries: Im a little concerned about MITs degree of toughnessis it possible, once one has established effective study habits, to maintain decent grades with time to do other things besides study? And I got the impression (somehow) that despite the scary workload, you guys find some fun/enjoyment in the work and what youre learning. Is that true? (I dearly hope it is) Let me start off by saying this is probably one of my favorite questions. I get it fairly often, and Id say its pretty valid since MIT students have this reputation of never going outside, never talking to other people, and never showering. This is definitely not the case as a matter of fact, I do shower. Daily. (If thats not enough for you, I also wash my hands.) At this moment Im sitting at my kitchen table feeling every butt muscle I never wanted to know I had, having just got back from two amazing days of skiing in New Hampshire a bunch of the ESG kids took a weekend away to fall down a 3-mile trail. So not only do we get outside, we get out of MIT pretty often! Going to school here is really convenient in that we actually have a campus, since were not directly in the city, but if you walk across one short bridge youre right in Boston. Or you could, yknow, take a three-and-a-half hour car ride to New Hampshire to ski down a 4,000 foot mountain. Your call! A few days before the trip, MIT Heartsafe, MIT ARCTAN (American Red Cross Team And Network) and MIT-EMS teamed up to teach around a hundred MIT students and affiliates CPR in three short hours on a Thursday night. Thursday nights are pretty notorious for having a pretty intense workload there was an 18.03 test, a 7.013 (ESG) test, and a 5.12 problem set all the next day and yet we still had a turnout of about a hundred MIT students coming to learn and teach CPR and AED use. (Mark was our EMT instructor who we spent eight hours every day with over IAP. He was a pretty amazing artist, if youll recall.) CPR is an incredibly important procedure early CPR and defibrillation can increase the chance of survival of someone in cardiac arrest by more than 50% and many who need CPR dont get it. MIT was the first university in the nation to be named a Heartsafe Community for having several public access AEDs available, as well as having a significant percentage of its community CPR certified. We upheld our status by holding our second annual mass CPR class, an almost entirely student-run event: we had student instructors, mostly our EMTs, as well as student volunteers running around teaching people how to save a life. The Fray couldntve done any better. (Wow, Im really pulling out the bad pop song references, arent I?) So I said that I really enjoy this question and I do, to an extent. I enjoy defying stereotypes. But it continues to confuse me as to how people can continue to believe that MIT students are completely one-dimensional, unhappy geeks who have no idea how to interact socially. We do other things than problem sets, actually. We have cheerleaders and fraternity guys as much as we have UA representatives and econ majors; we have people who run the Boston Marathon and play field hockey and ride trains. We have physicist photographers and radio show hosts. We also have awkward Asian girls who design t-shirts for CPR classes. (Did I miss anybody?) The fact of the matter is, MIT students cant be defined by any one steretype, and its a mistake to make one-sided assumptions without experiencing it for yourself. The last documented time I answered this question, I wrote that the best thing you could do would be to come here and see what were like. And thats still true- to understand the balance MIT students have crafted between work and play (and sleep), you shouldnt have to take my word for it. Come and visit us this weekend! Well even have Tim the Beaver here to greet you. Work Hard, Play Hard Personally, I have always considered myself a pretty social person. I have always loved just spending a bunch of time hanging out with friends and just kind of doing nothing but chillin. However, on the other end I have always been very serious about school. In high school, there were very many times that I would spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights studying rather than going to whatever social thing my friends were doing. Often, I didn’t really mind because I really liked school and I would also always put in my best effort to try to make it up to them; however, for a number of reasons I feel like my ability to balance work/school with friends/free time has changed a lot since I got to MIT. One of the biggest changes between high school and college is just the amount of freedom you have. I remember thinking in high school, “I hope the MIT curfew is not too early……… (there is no curfew in college :P),” you can be anywhere at any time just as long as you put in the effort to physically get out of bed (which in all honesty is harder than you might think). For a majority of high school I couldn’t drive, and when I could I spent 80% of the time driving my 4 little siblings around, so spending a lot of time away from home was not really an option. In response, my first semester here I spent a lot of my time going from place to place to place, but we were also on pass no record so it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I just knew I wouldn’t be able to continue this “always being social” life style once the second semester started. In order to compensate for the increase in social life and decrease in hard focuses on studies my first semester at MIT I decided to have a very heavy load over MITs independent activities period in January. This pushed me over from spending too much time being social to me never leaving the library/my room in order to study. Now, I think this isn’t an awful thing because there is always a number of people that have a hard time transitioning from pass no record to having grades again; however, I wouldn’t exactly say I was balanced yet. I was still far too much one side of the pendulum and kind of ignoring the other side. I would say this stayed true for a majority of my second semester at MIT, and I think the problem with this type of life was that I did not know what to do outside of work once the summer came around. The summer after my freshman year I stayed on campus and worked at the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research. The biggest difference between school and working over the summer is that during the school year you can spend literally all of your time doing work. At any given point in time you could be doing some sort of project, or pset, or studying for exam, or watching a lecture on OCW, or doing textbook reading, etc. etc. etc. However, when you work, you work from 9 to 5 (depending on where) and when you get off you are done, and for me that was a problem and honestly still kind of is. When I would get off work I would go home, and just browse facebook or watch GOT until like midnightish then go to bed. From time to time over the weekend my friends and I would go out and do things like go to New York, or go to the beach, things like that. However, for 90% of the time I had outside of work I was doing nothing but just slumping. Now don’t get me wrong, slumping can be my favorite activity at time, and there are many days after a hard week that that is all I want to do. However, it is not the kind of thing that I enjoy for weeks at a time. I had gotten so used to school taking all of my time and energy that when I didn’t have school work to be doing I had no idea what to do with my time. Like I said before, it is still something I am struggling with this summer, but I do feel like I am starting to get a better hold on understanding the balance. I started doing things that I used to do in high school and just didn’t/don’t have time to do during the school year here. I often go to Boston Public Library and take out Chinese comic books to practice, I spend a lot of time getting back into Blender (a 3D animation software that I used a lot in high school), I have spent a lot of time dancing at different studios in boston as well as workshops being held by students on campus, etc. etc. etc. In a way I feel like I had forgotten these things were all an option to me. I had gotten so absorbed in school and my work that I had forgot that life has a lot of fun things to enjoy. So in a few words, if you feel bad just slumping this summer, the answer is not always go and drown yourself in work. There is a precious balance between work and fun, both parts are equally important. It can be easy for the type of people that tend to want to go to schools like MIT to feel like the answer is always more work = more success. However, I have found though the people that work hard do do well, people that give themselves time to get away from work breath then come back often do just as well if not better ^_^

The Connection Between Western Capitalism And Mexican...

Globalized Violence: The Connection Between Western Capitalism and Mexican Femicide Globalization: a process of interaction between the social, economic and political systems of different nations, a process powered by international trade and investment. Some assert that globalization encourages the spread of more â€Å"enlightened and egalitarian† Western values and international tolerance, while others believe that this phenomenon harms more than it helps and fosters an uncontrolled and abusive economic environment. There is no shortage of opinions on the matter, though one sure point of fact is that globalization affects all aspects of modern life, including the murky world of gendered violence. Between the signing of NAFTA in 1992 and the middle of 2002, just shy of three hundred blue-collar female factory workers were murdered in the border town of Juarez, Mexico. However, these numbers are simply the tip of the iceberg when compared to the four-hundred-and-fifty additional disappearances duri ng that decade, a grand total that is only increasing with each passing year. In short, these murders eventually sparked international intrigue and distress, forcing the world to take a closer look at some of the uglier consequences of globalization. Essentially, the femicides of Juarez are simply a symptom of a patriarchal society unconcerned with the lives of its workforce, a culture that values products more than the people who produce them: the overlapping timelines of the Juarez

Commonly Confused Words Sensual and Sensuous

The adjectives sensual and sensuous are often used interchangeably, but their meanings arent quite the same. Definitions The word sensual means affecting or gratifying the physical senses, especially in a sexual way. Sensuous means pleasing to the senses, especially those involved in aesthetic pleasure, as of art or music. As explained in the usage notes below, this fine distinction is often overlooked. Examples Although salsa is marketed as a sexy,  sensual dance, dancers view and perform these elements differently.(Aleysia Whitmore, Bodies in Dialogue.  Women and Language, ed. by  M. Ames and S.H. Burcon. McFarland, 2009)Yoga is the most subversive pastime in Britain today. Sweaty, sensual, semi-naked and esoteric, its the closest thing we have to a genuine counter-culture.(Nirpal Dhaliwal, Vicars Are Right to Be Afraid of Sweaty and Sensual Yoga. The Guardian [UK],  September 5, 2007)Martis first book of poems included several sensuous descriptions of flowers.The rough-hewn sounds of clacking spoons, twanging banjos and humming fiddles might seem to be something of an anomaly in a city known more for Edith Piaf’s sensuous lullabies.(Matthew Stone, Appalachia on the Seine: Bluegrass Swings in Paris. The New York Times, August 3, 2016) Usage Notes Heres how you can keep the two words straight. If you mean lovely, pleasurable, or experienced through the senses, use sensuous; if you mean self-gratifying or pertaining to physical desires, use sensual. Sensuous thoughts have a pleasant effect on your senses as well as your mind. Sensual thoughts are erotic, sexually arousing, maybe even lewd.(Charles Harrington Elster, Verbal Advantage: Ten Easy Steps to a Powerful Vocabulary. Random House, 2009) The Origins of Sensuous Sensuous is an interesting word. The OED says it was apparently invented by [John] Milton, because he wanted to avoid the sexual connotations of the word sensual (1641).The OED cannot find any evidence of the use of the word by any other writer for 173 years, not until [Samuel Taylor] Coleridge: Thus, to express in one word what belongs to the senses, or the recipient and more passive faculty of the soul, I have reintroduced the word sensuous , used, among many others of our elder writers, by Milton. (Coleridge, Principles of General Criticism, in Farleys Bristol Journal , August 1814) Coleridge put the word into ordinary circulation—and almost immediately it began to pick up those old sexual connotations that Milton and Coleridge wanted to avoid.(Jim Quinn, American Tongue and Cheek, Pantheon Books, 1980) Overlapping Meanings The consensus of the commentators, from Vizetelly 1906 to the present, is that sensuous emphasizes aesthetic pleasure while sensual emphasizes gratification or indulgence of the physical appetites. The distinction is true enough within one range of meanings, and it is worth remembering. The difficulty is that both words have more than one sense, and they tend often to occur in contexts where the distinction between them is not as clear cut as the commentators would like it to be.(Merriam-Websters Dictionary of English Usage, 1994) Practice (a) The ad promised _____ excitement with the slogan, She wears nothing but a smile. (b) Classical dance is at once the most _____ and the most abstract of the theatrical arts. Answers to Practice Exercises:  Sensual and Sensuous (a) The ad promised  sensual  excitement with the slogan, She wears nothing but a smile. (b) Classical dance is at once the most  sensuous  and the most abstract of the theatrical arts.

Proton Free Essays

* 1. INTRODUCTIONPerusahaan Otomobil Nasional Berhad (PROTON) wasincorporated in May 7, 1983 to manufacture, assembleand sell motor vehicles and related products, includingaccessories, spare parts and other components. PROTON produced Malaysias first car, the ProtonSaga, commercially launched on July 9, 1985 by formerMalaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. We will write a custom essay sample on Proton or any similar topic only for you Order Now MahathirMohamed, who had originally conceived the idea of aMalaysian cars. Toyota Motor Corporation is the market leader inautomotive industry and the worlds largest motorvehicle manufacturing groups. It sell about 7,234,439unit of all type of vehicles in 2009. * 2. BENCHMARKPROTON benchmark is based on Toyota Motor Corporation . ToyotaMotor, the worlds largest automotive manufacturer (overtaking GM in2008), designs and manufactures a diverse product line-up that rangesfrom subcompacts to luxury and sports vehicles toSUVs, trucks, minivans, and buses. Its vehicles are produced either withcombustion or hybrid engines, as with the Prius. Toyotas subsidiaries alsomanufacture vehicles: Daihatsu Motor produces mini-vehicles, while HinoMotors produces trucks and buses. Additionally, Toyota makes automotiveparts for its own use and for sale to others. Popular models include theCamry, Corolla, Land Cruiser, and luxury Lexus line, as well as the Tundratruck. In Asia, they generates almost 40% of sales. * 3. VISION†¢ They strive to become a successful Malaysian Automotive Manufacturer globally by being customer oriented and producing competitively priced and innovative quality products. * 4. MISSIONOur Company history is one of the remarkable achievements ofwhich we are proud(1) of. In our pride lies the vital energy thatdrives us forward and forces us to take on new challenges. Notonly our customers but also our business associates andshareholders need to trust our ability and rely(2) on us todeliver on our promise of quality. We continually strive toexpand our knowledge(3), skills and expertise in order to findbetter solutions and produce better results. As a nationalproject, Proton is also committed to lead in the acquisition ofintellectual capability in design and technology(4), which willpropel the nation to achieve the status of an industrialisednation. With people as our primary focus, we are committed tobuilding a friendly organisation, sensitivity to customers needswith clear communications leading to mutual understandingand care(5). * 5. CHARACTERISTIC OF MISSION 1. Philosophy †¢ Proud 2. Self – 5. Customers concept †¢ Caring †¢ Reliable Mission element 4. Employees 3. Technology †¢ Knowledgeable †¢ New technology * 6. OPPORTUNITIES†¢ Replacement model make an increasing sales about 40. 7%. †¢ Joint venture with other company. †¢ The development of concept car(Nissan)†¢ Rising oversea demand about 20. % * 7. THREATS†¢ Global financial crisis effect the vehicle sales are tipped to fall 12. 4 per cent in 2009. †¢ New product from other companies with better technology. †¢ Gas price up almost 30%. †¢ Local competitor, Perodua or Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua has surpassed Proton in sales. * 8. The External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix WEIGHTED OPPORTUNITIES WEIGH T RATING SCOREReplacement model make anincreasing sales about 40. 7% 0. 08 1 0. 08Joint venture with other company 0. 2 2 0. 4The development of conceptcar(Nissan) 0. 09 3 0. 7Rising oversea demand about 20. 7% 0. 12 4 0. 48 * 9. WEIGHTED THREAT WEIGHT RATING SCORE Local competitor, Perodua orPerusahaan Otomobil Kedua hassurpassed Proton in sales. 0. 23 3 0. 69Gas price up almost 30%. 0. 08 2 0. 08Global financial crisis effect the vehiclesales are tipped to fall 12. 4 per cent in2009. 0. 08 4 0. 32New product from other companieswith better technology. 0. 12 3 0. 36 Total 1. 0 2. 68 * 10. STRENGTH†¢ Strong RD (R3)†¢ Revenue per employee. †¢ Government Linked Company (GLC)†¢ Employee morale is excellence. The market share of 56. 9% in the industry. * 11. WEAKNESSES†¢ Quality of product is still lower compare to competitor product. †¢ Employee is lacked of technical skill. †¢ Had suffered a net loss of RM60. 1mil for its third quarter ended Dec 31 b ecause of restructuring expenses incurred by its sports car division, Lotus Group International Ltd. * 12. SWOT MATRIX Click this * 13. BCG MATRIX FOR PROTON BHD * 14. †¢ From this graph, it shows that the Proton Bhd. market share was about 25% and industry sales growth rate is -5%. From the result, we consider of three types of strategies which is divestiture, product development and market penetration. * 15. DOGS STRATEGY1. Divestiture. 2. Product Development. 3. Market Penetration. * 16. DIVESTITURE†¢ By using this strategy, the company should focus more on their core business only because of it is in DOGS requirement. Divestiture often is used to raise capital for further strategy acquisition or investment. For example proton must reduce the production of Proton Juara and Tiara because the car demand is low and difficult to find spare part and make up the car. The reason is longer proton produce the car the inventory turnover will be higher. * 17. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT†¢ In this strategy, our company needs to gain endeavor to incorporate select technologies and manufacturing expertise such as from Nissan Motor Co. that could lead to potential cost savings in capital expenditure and research and development (RD) for the national carmaker. * 18. MARKET PENETRATION†¢ In this stage, Proton must consider getting a third party to use its plant for a long-term planning for better utilization of plant capacity. Proton can go and get technology from a small company as many big companies in South Korea, Japan and Europe were using them to design their cars. * 19. BALANCE SCORECARD FRAMEWORKStrategies Priorities Goal Target StrategyFinancial Increasing sales of New Focus on developing proton product demographical country. areasCustomer Attract more people to Young and the Made sporty car model buy proton car middle age people that can attract customersManager / Increase Working Potential worker Send them oversea toEmployee performance strengthen skill and expertise How to cite Proton, Papers

Wind Energy for Environmental Sustainability

Ethonomics is a concept in business that requires businesses to put into consideration ethics in their operations. Economic decisions should be based on moral standards that are acceptable to the larger society.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Wind Energy for Environmental Sustainability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, ethonomics is parallel to economics though emphasis is laid on ethics as opposed to price and quality of products in the market (Manuel, Filipe, Ferreira, 2011, p. 610). It is associated with adhering to fairness in conducting of businesses and participating in corporate social responsibility. In the current world, ethonomics is turning out to be of great significance in dealing with problems associated with pollution, global warming, and human inequalities among many other things. Organisations and business entities have the moral responsibility or should adhere to value syst ems geared at ensuring environmental sustainability in the course of their operations (Roland Jean, 2010, p. 6). Wind energy is one of the industries that should ensure environmental sustainability in their operations. Wind energy is transformed into various forms of energy known as wind power. Wind turbines are often used to convert wind energy into electricity. Mechanical power is then generated through conversion of windmills to energy while sails are used for propelling ships. Production of this energy is important to the survival and enhancement of lives of people in a society.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Furthermore, it is a viable business in terms of economics since huge profits are accrued from the sale of power/electricity generated. However, this energy generation has environmental implications that the companies in charge need to put into considerat ion (Manuel, Filipe, Ferreira, 2011, p. 611). Even though these wind plants have little impacts on environment compared to other forms of energy like fossils, they lead to noise pollution, which results from rotor blades movements. They also cause visual/aesthetic impacts, leading to the death of bats and birds. This affects negatively on the number of birds. Therefore, ethonomics is the only solution to ensure that businesses operate, earn profit, and ensure sustainability of the environment. Corporate social responsibility is a concept that has become popular in many business operations (Watson, 2011, p. 63). It is a term used to refer to initiatives of a corporate or an organisation in issues of social interest apart from the main objective of getting high profits. Therefore, businesses sacrifice their profits by going beyond their legal and contractual obligations voluntarily to uplift their societies. Corporate social responsibility consists of behaviours such as conserving en vironment, creating good working conditions and an employee-friendly atmosphere, upholding to ethical standards in doing business, respecting communities where the firm is located, and ensuring an investor-friendly environment among many others (Roland Jean, 2010, p. 4).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Wind Energy for Environmental Sustainability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There is a close relationship between ethonomics and corporate responsibility in the sense that the business or an entity is obliged to a certain degree to operate under the set value systems putting in mind the impacts of its actions. Therefore, organisations such as wind energy companies can participate in corporate social responsibility by putting in place adequate measures that will ensure that the lives of the people in those areas where such plants are located are not negatively affected. Ethonomics or ethics comes in han dy here since, by doing such or putting in place such measures, the business will be putting in place measures that are in line with the set moral values (Roland Jean, 2010, p. 5). Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are very essential in the operations of any business especially in the wind energy. Sustainability is a term that relates to the conservation of the natural environment. Every action that people do for their survival and well-being needs to promote their natural environment. Therefore, sustainability helps in attaining and creating of conditions that allow harmonious interrelationships that ensure that people are able to meet their social and economic obligations for the present and the future generations (United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2012, Para. 1). Therefore, sustainability ensures that people’s actions contribute positively to the conservation of their environment thus protecting and safeguarding the health of their envi ronment. Therefore, sustainability emerged to ensure or to safeguard pollutions that affect the well-being of people. Corporations such as firms generating wind energy must undertake sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiatives in their programs. Even though they aspire to prosper in their economic experiences, they have a duty to adhere to ethics, as well as ensuring corporate citizenship (Paul, Craig, Jared, 2007, p. 427).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The challenges that businesses face currently require that they continue to revise their actions to remain competitive and innovative. There are various initiatives that wind energy firm can employ to ensure sustainability and corporate social responsibilities in their operations. One of the initiatives is to ensure environmental conservation through the employment of strategies that conserve the environment. For instance, wind energy pollutes the environment through sound/noise that has a negative implication on the health of the community or people living within such localities. It is the duty of the firm to put in place adequate measures such as sound regulation gadgets to minimise the amount of noise that is generated (Paul, Craig, Jared, 2007, p. 427). Such initiative will reduce sound pollution hence helping curb health implications to the people in the locality. Other initiatives may include supporting evacuation of the residents to other safe areas to safeguard the health o f the current and the future generations. Other initiatives include supporting various projects initiated by the communities living in the locality. Examples of projects may include subsidising the cost of supplying electricity in the area, supporting construction of roads, and important infrastructures in the area among many others. These are examples of corporate social responsibilities that the firms can undertake to ensure that they contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of the society. Ethics and corporate citizenship are also major ingredients or factors in the sustainability and corporate social responsibility of the operations of a business entity like wind energy. Ethics is also referred to as a moral philosophy that entails the making of decisions based on what one perceives to be right or wrong (Lin, 2012, p. 220). It stands out as a character that the society or individuals expect or conform to. A character can be wrong or right based on the set standards by the society and or individuals. On the other hand, corporate citizenship is a term that closely relates to corporate social responsibility. It refers to the role of that business or a corporate towards the society. Any firm that operates in a given society has the responsibility of demonstrating corporate citizenship through undertaking or participating in the activities of the local community. The decisions of firm of this kind should be based on the positive side the company can initiate to the society. Therefore, ethics should enable or guide a business in making the correct decisions concerning its actions. The wind energy firm should come up with programs that aim at assisting the society in uplifting its living standards. It has the responsibility of conserving the environment to ensure that the future, as well as the present generation, enjoys its lives. It is becoming mandatory for business entities to incorporate social responsibility and sustainability in their operations. Th e idea of ethonomics, which requires that ethics in business operations be upheld, is also gaining popularity. Business entities have a higher chance of gaining a competitive edge by taking part in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. For instance, a company dealing with wind energy requires a guide or strategies that can ensure sustainability of the environment to ensure that the lives of the people in the surroundings are well attended. Environmental pollutions brought because of the production of energy should be mitigated for the benefits of the society. Appropriate technology can be applied to ensure that the sound produced does not cause negative impacts on the people living in the surroundings. Firms have to make appropriate decisions that are in tandem with the expectations of the society to carry out their duty of corporate citizenship diligently in furthering their objectives. Achieving objectives and becoming innovative nowadays is an issue that has remaine d so dear to corporations. Most of success they achieve is due to their participation in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, which translates to ethonomics. Reference List Lin, H. (2012). Cross-sector Alliances for Corporate Social Responsibility Partner Heterogeneity Moderates Environmental Strategy Outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 219-229. Manuel, C., Filipe, J., Ferreira, M. (2011). Environmental sustainability as a dimension of corporate social responsibility: The case of cgd – caixa geral depà ³sitos / Portugal. International Journal of Academic Research, 3(1), 610-617. Paul, G., Craig, M., Jared, H. (2007). The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: An empirical test of the risk management hypothesis. Strategic Management Journal, 30(1), 425-445. Roland, B., Jean, T. (2010). Individual and corporate social responsibility.  Economica, 77(1), 1-19. United States Environmental Protection Agency (2012). What is Sustainability? Web. Watson, M. (2011). Doing Well by Doing Good: Ray C. Anderson as Evangelist for Corporate Sustainability. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(1), 63-67. This research paper on Wind Energy for Environmental Sustainability was written and submitted by user Dalton A. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Violence in Media Entertainment Essays

Violence in Media Entertainment Essays Violence in Media Entertainment Essay Violence in Media Entertainment Essay the ancient Egyptians entertained themselves with plays re-enacting the murder of their god Osiris and the spectacle, history tells us, led to a number of copycat killings. The ancient Romans were given to lethal spectator sports as well, and in 380 B. C. Saint Augustine lamented that his society was addicted to gladiator games and drunk with the fascination of bloodshed. Violence has always played a role in entertainment. But theres a growing consensus that, in recent years, something about media violence has changed. For one thing, theres more of it. Laval University professors Guy Paquette and Jacques de Guise studied six major Canadian television networks over a seven-year period, examining films, situation comedies, dramatic series, and childrens programming (though not cartoons). The study found that between 1993 and 2001, incidents of physical violence increased by 378 per cent. TV shows in 2001 averaged 40 acts of violence per hour. Francophone viewers experienced the greatest increase. Although physical violence on the three anglophone networks in the study increased by 183 per cent, on their francophone counterparts it increased by 540 per cent. One network, TQS, accounted for just under half (49 per cent) of all the physical violence on the networks studied. Paquette and de Guise also identified a disturbing increase in psychological violence, especially in the last two years. The study found that incidents of psychological violence remained relatively stable from 1993 to 1999, but increased 325 per cent from 1999 to 2001. Such incidents now occur more frequently than physical violence on both francophone and anglophone networks. Canadians are also heavily influenced by American programming. Paquette and de Guise found that over 80 per cent of the TV violence aired in Canada originates in the U. S. They speculate that francophone networks and stations may have a higher incidence of violence because they broadcast more movies, and this, in turn may be due to lower production budgets. Canadian-made violence is most likely to appear on private networks, which broadcast three times as many violent acts as public networks do. Overall, 87. 9 per cent of all violent acts appear before 9 p. m. , and 39 per cent air before 8 p. m. at a time when children are likely to be watching. More Graphic, More Sexual, More Sadistic Other research indicates that media violence has not just increased in quantity; it has also become much more graphic, much more sexual, and much more sadistic. Explicit pictures of slow-motion bullets exploding from peoples chests, and dead bodies surrounded by pools of blood, are now commonplace fare. Millions of viewers worldwide, many of them children, watch female World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers try to tear out each others hair and rip off each others clothing. And one of the top-selling video games in the world, Grand Theft Auto, is programmed so players can beat prostitutes to death with baseball bats after having sex with them. The Globalization of Media Concerns about media violence have grown as television and movies have acquired a global audience. When UNESCO surveyed children in 23 countries around the world in 1998, it discovered that 91 per cent of children had a television in their home and not just in the U. S. , Canada and Europe, but also in the Arab states, Latin America, Asia and Africa. More than half (51 per cent) of boys living in war zones and high-crime areas chose action heroes as role models, ahead of any other images; and a remarkable 88 per cent of the children surveyed could identify the Arnold Schwarzenegger character from the filmTerminator. UNESCO reported that the Terminator seems to represent the characteristics that children think are necessary to cope with difficult situations. Violence Without Consequences or Moral Judgment The notion of violence as a means of problem solving is reinforced by entertainment in which both villains and heroes resort to violence on a continual basis. The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA), which has studied violence in television, movies and music videos for a decade, reports that nearly half of all violence is committed by the good guys. Less than 10 per cent of the TV shows, movies and music videos that were analyzed contextualized the violence or explored its human consequences. The violence was simply presented as justifiable, natural and inevitable the most obvious way to solve the problem. PG: Parental Guidance? Busy parents who want to protect their children from media violence have a difficult task before them. The CMPA found that violence appears on all major televis ion networks and cable stations, making it impossible for channel surfers to avoid it. Nightly news coverage has become another concern. In spite of falling crime rates across North America, disturbing images of violent crime continue to dominate news broadcasting. As news shows compete with other media for audiences, many news producers have come to rely on the maxim: If it bleeds, it leads. Violence and death, they say, keep the viewer numbers up. Good news doesnt. As well, movie ratings are becoming less and less trustworthy in terms of giving parents real guidance on shows with unsuitable content. PG-13 movies tend to make more money than R-rated films, and as a result, the industry is experiencing a ratings creep: shows that the Motion Picture Association of America would once have rated R are now being rated as PG-13, in order to increase box-office profits and rental sales. In movie theatres, there is some control over who watches what. But at home, theres little to stop children from watching a restricted movie on one of the many emerging specialty channels. Kids may also have access to adult video games at the local video store. In December 2001, the U. S. Federal Trade Commission reported that retailers allowed 78 per cent of unaccompanied minors, ages 13 to 16, to purchase video games rated mature. To make supervision even more problematic, American children often have their own entertainment equipment. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, 57 per cent of kids aged 8 to 16 have TVs in their bedrooms, and 39 per cent have gaming equipment. A Youth Subculture of Violence While many parents are concerned about the graphic violence and put-down humour in many kids shows, theres a growing subculture of violence that parental radar often misses. Music and Music Videos Music and music videos are pushing into new and increasingly violent territory. When singer Jordan Knight, formerly of the popular New Kids on the Block group, released a solo album in 1999, Canadian activists called for a boycott of the album because it included a song advocating date rape. And when the controversial rap artist Eminem came to Toronto in 2000, politicians and activists unsuccessfully called for the government to bar him from the country, on the grounds that his violent lyrics promoted hatred against women. For instance, his song Kim graphically depicts him murdering his wife; and Kill You describes how he plans to rape and murder his mother. In spite of (or perhaps because of) his promotion of violence, Eminem continues to be a commercial success. His Marshall Mathers release sold 679,567 copies in Canada in 2000, and was the years best-selling album. And The Eminem Show topped Canadian charts for months in 2002, selling, at one point, approximately 18,000 copies a week. Eminems success is not exceptional. Extremely violent lyrics have moved into the mainstream of the music industry. The Universal Music Group, the worlds largest music company, lists Eminem, Dr Dre and Limp Bizkit all of whom have been criticized for their violent and misogynist lyrics among its top-grossing artists. And Madonnas 2002 music video What It Feels Like For a Girlcontained such graphic violence that even MTV refused to air it more than once. Video Games Violence in general, and sexual violence in particular, is also a staple of the video game industry. The current trend is for players to be the bad guys, acting out criminal fantasies and earning points for attacking and killing innocent bystanders. Although these games are rated M, for mature audiences, its common knowledge that they are popular among pre-teens and teenaged boys. For example, players in Grand Theft Auto 3 (the best-selling game ever for PlayStation 2) earn points by carjacking, and stealing drugs from street people and pushers. In Carmageddon, players are rewarded for mowing down pedestrians sounds of cracking bones add to the realistic effect. The first-person shooter in Duke Nukem hones his skills by using pornographic posters of women for target practice, and earns bonus points for shooting naked and bound prostitutes and strippers who beg, Kill me. In the game Postal, players act out the part of the Postal Dude, who earns points by randomly shooting everyone who appears including people walking out of church, and members of a high school band. Postal Dude is programmed to say, Only my gun understands me. The level of violence in the gaming habits of young people is disturbingly high. In MNets 2001 study Young Canadians In A Wired World (which found that 32 per cent of kids 9 to 17 are playing video games every day or almost every day), 60 per cent cited action/combat as their favourite genre. Stephen Kline of Simon Fraser University reported similar findings in his 1998 study of over 600 B. C. teens. Twenty-five per cent of the teens he surveyed played between seven and 30 hours a week and when asked for their one favourite game, their choice was overwhelmingly in the action/adventure genre. Web Sites Virtual violence is also readily available on the World Wide Web. Children and young people can download violent lyrics (including lyrics that have been censored from retail versions of songs), and visit Web sites that feature violent images and video clips. Much of the violence is also sexual in nature. For example, the site Who Would You Kill? allows players to select real-life stars of television shows, and then describe how they would kill them off in the series. The entries frequently include bizarre acts of degradation and sexual violence. Murder is also a staple of the Web site newgrounds. com, which features a number of Flash movies showing celebrities being degraded and killed. When MNet surveyed 5,682 Canadian young people in 2001, the newgrounds site ranked twelfth in popularity among 11- and 12-year-old boys. Other popular sites such as gorezone. com and rotten. com feature real-life pictures of accident scenes, torture and mutilation. In 2000, rotten. com was investigated by the FBI for posting photographs depicting cannibalism. Many kids view these sites as the online equivalent of harmless horror movies. But their pervasive combination of violence and sexual imagery is disturbing. Gorezones front-page disclaimer describes the images on its site as sexually oriented and of an erotic nature and then warns viewers that they also contain scenes of death, mutilation and dismemberment. The disclaimer then normalizes this activity by stating, my interest in scenes of death, horrifying photos and sexual matters, which is both healthy and normal, is generally shared by adults in my community. Anecdotal evidence suggests that gore sites are well known to Canadian schoolchildren, although parents and teachers are often unaware of their existence. In MNets 2001 survey, 70 per cent of high school boys said that they had visited such sites. The presence of violence, degradation and cruelty in a range of media means that children are exposed to a continuum of violence, which ranges from the in-your-face attitude of shows like South Park to extreme depictions of misogyny and sadism. Young people generally take the lead when it comes to accessing new media but the MNet survey found that only 16 per cent of children say their parents know a great deal of what they do online. This is particularly problematic, given the results of a 1999 AOL survey which that found online activities are emerging as a central facet of family life; and that a majority of parents believe that

The History of Port Royal, Jamaica

The History of Port Royal, Jamaica Port Royal is a town on the southern coast of Jamaica. It was initially colonized by the Spanish but was attacked and captured by the English in 1655. Because of its excellent natural harbor and critical position, Port Royal quickly became a significant haven for pirates and buccaneers, who were made welcome because of the need for defenders. Port Royal was never the same after a 1692 earthquake, but there is still a town there today. The 1655 Invasion of Jamaica In 1655, England sent a fleet to the Caribbean under the command of Admirals Penn and Venables to capture Hispaniola and the town of Santo Domingo. The Spanish defenses there proved too formidable, but the invaders did not want to return to England empty-handed, so they attacked and captured the lightly fortified and sparsely populated island of Jamaica instead. The English began construction of a fort on a natural harbor on the southern shores of Jamaica. A town sprang up near the fort: at first known as Point Cagway, it was renamed Port Royal in 1660. Pirates in Defense of Port Royal The administrators of the town were concerned that the Spanish could re-take Jamaica. Fort Charles on the harbor was operational and formidable, and there were four other smaller forts spread around the town, but there was little manpower to defend the city in the event of an attack truly. They began inviting pirates and buccaneers to come and set up shop there, thus assuring that there would be a constant supply of ships and veteran fighting men on hand. They even contacted the infamous Brethren of the Coast, an organization of pirates and Buccaneers. The arrangement was beneficial for both the ​pirates and the town, which no longer feared attacks from the Spanish or other naval powers. A Perfect Place for Pirates It soon became apparent that Port Royal was the perfect place for privates and privateers. It had a large deepwater natural harbor for protecting ships at anchor, and it was close to Spanish shipping lanes and ports. Once it started to gain fame as a pirate haven, the town quickly changed: it filled up brothels, taverns and drinking halls. Merchants who were willing to buy goods from pirates soon set up shop. Before long, Port Royal was the busiest port in the Americas, primarily run and operated by pirates and Buccaneers. Port Royal Thrives The booming business done by pirates and privateers in the Caribbean soon led to other industries. Port Royal soon became a trading center for slaves, sugar and raw materials such as wood. Smuggling boomed, as Spanish ports in the New World were officially closed to foreigners but represented a huge market for African slaves and goods manufactured in Europe. Because it was a rough-and-tumble outpost, Port Royal had a loose attitude towards religions, and soon was home to Anglicans, Jews, Quakers, Puritans, Presbyterians, and Catholics. By 1690, Port Royal was as large and important a town as Boston, and many of the local merchants were quite wealthy. The 1692 Earthquake and Other Disasters It all came crashing down on June 7, 1692. That day, a massive earthquake shook Port Royal, dumping most of it into the harbor. An estimated 5,000 died in the quake or shortly after that of injuries or disease. The city was ruined. Looting was rampant, and for a time all order broke down. Many thought that the city had been singled out for punishment by God for its wickedness. An effort was made to rebuild the city, but it was devastated once again in 1703 by a fire. It was repeatedly hit by hurricanes and even more earthquakes in following years, and by 1774 it was essentially a quiet village. Port Royal Today Today, Port Royal is a small Jamaican coastal fishing village. It retains very little of its former glory. Some old buildings are still intact, and it’s worth a trip for history buffs. It is a valuable archaeological site, however, and digs in the old harbor continue to turn up interesting items. With increased interest in the Age of Piracy, Port Royal is poised to undergo a renaissance of sorts, with theme parks, museums and other attractions being built and planned. Famous Pirates and Port Royal Port Royals glory days as the greatest of the pirate ports were brief but noteworthy. Many famous pirates and privateers of the day passed through Port Royal. Here are some of the more memorable moments of Port Royal as a pirate haven. In 1668, legendary privateer Captain Henry Morgan departed for his famous attack on the city of Portobello from Port Royal.In 1669, Morgan followed up with an attack on Lake Maracaibo, also launched from Port Royal.In 1671, Morgan made his greatest and final raid, the sacking of the city of Panama, launched from Port Royal.On August 25, 1688, Captain Morgan died in Port Royal and was given a send-off worthy of the greatest of the privateers: warships in port fired their guns, he lay in state at the Kings House, and his body was carried through town on a gun carriage to its final resting place.In December of 1718, pirate John Calico Jack Rackham captured the merchant ship Kingston within sight of Port Royal, infuriating local merchants, who sent bounty hunters after him.On November 18, 1720, Rackham and four other pirates who had been captured were hanged at Gallows Point at Port Royal. Two of his crewmates -   Anne Bonny and Mary Read  - were spared because they were both pregna nt.On March 29, 1721, infamous pirate Charles Vane was hanged at Gallows Point in Port Royal. Sources Defoe, Daniel. A General History of the Pyrates. Dover Maritime, Paperback, Dover Publications, January 26, 1999. Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Guilford: the Lyons Press, 2009.

Statistics Problems Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistics Problems - Speech or Presentation Example 32. Dole Pineapple, Inc., is concerned that the 16-ounce can of sliced pineapple is being overfilled. Assume the standard deviation of the process is .03 ounces. The quality control department took a random sample of 50 cans and found that the arithmetic mean weight was 16.05 ounces. At the 5 percent level of significance, can we conclude that the mean weight is greater than 16 ounces? Determine the p-value. 38. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal reported that the 30-year mortgage rate is now less than 6 percent. A sample of eight small banks in the Midwest revealed the following 30-year rates (in percent): As the p – value is greater than 0.01, the null hypothesis can be accepted. Hence it can be concluded that there is no significant difference in the mean number of times men and women take – out dinners in a month. 46. Grand Strand Family Medical Center is specifically set up to treat minor medical emergencies for visitors to the Myrtle Beach area. There are two facilities, one in the Little River Area and the other in Murrells Inlet. The Quality Assurance Department wishes to compare the mean waiting time for patients at the two locations. Samples of the waiting times, reported in minutes, follow: 52. The president of the American Insurance Institute wants to compare the yearly costs of auto insurance offered by two leading companies. He selects a sample of 15 families, some with only a single insured driver, others with several teenage drivers, and pays each family a stipend to contact the two companies and ask for a price quote. To make the data comparable, certain features, such as the deductible amount and limits of liability, are standardized. The sample information is reported below. At the .10 significance level, can we conclude that there is a difference in the amounts quoted? 23. A real estate agent in the coastal area of

The Effect of Poverty on Children Living in West Africa and Britain Essay

The Effect of Poverty on Children Living in West Africa and Britain - Essay Example Increasingly, poverty is understood and measured in relative terms; it is not having access to those resources that one sees is taken for granted in one’s own society by others. Growing up in poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life; diet and health suffer, housing is often sub-standard, accident-proneness is high, and illnesses are long-standing. It is also been shown through research that children born to poor parents are likely to have reduced weight and height at birth, are less likely to excel academically and have poorer attendance records in school. Adults who grew up in poverty are more prone to ill-health, unemployment, homelessness, arrests for criminal offences, drug and alcohol abuse and abusive relationships. It is often the case that children in poverty stay in poverty well into their adult life as well and remain in the same quarter of income distribution as their parents. Some of the main reasons why children fail to break this cycle of poverty are missing periods of school, being in care, being known to police, misuse of drugs, teenage parenthood and being out of education either having to work or otherwise. What is Poverty? The widely accepted definition of poverty is having an income which is less than 60% of the national average (excluding the wealthiest members of society). The ‘poverty line’ is defined in terms of 69 percent of the median household income, adjusted for household composition. Peter Townsend defines poverty emphasising its relative nature: Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary.

Waves of Mergers and Acquisitions

Waves of Mergers and Acquisitions Introduction Mergers and Acquisitions (MA) have always assisted in nursing corporate health and growth pattern of developing and developed countries just taking out sickness in industries, the concept of mergers and acquisitions have played a truly crucial and pivotal role in shaping the business and have been part of international business in recent times. Mergers and acquisitions (MA) have always been an interesting area to study. As we know all our daily newspapers are filled with cases of mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, tender offers, other forms of corporate restructuring. It have been stated that mergers and acquisitions account consist of 78% of all foreign direct investment, with 97% of that being acquisitions. Van Marrewijk (2006, pg 294) The year 2007 had undoubtedly been landmark of the year for Indian corporate buisness with respect to recession taking toll of many Indian business. With passage of time ,the Tata announced the acquisition Corus , a US$ 12.2 billion deal . India industries has not looked back since. The continued growth in the Indian economy and investment and operating climate has resulted in improved health and growth appetite for Indian compines. What are Mergers and Acquisitions? Mergers and acquisitions are arguably the most popular and influential form of discretionary business investment (De Witt Meyer, 1998).In simple terms merger is the combination of the assets and liabilities of two companies, mainly of similar size, into one business entity. The term acquisition is used when the assets and liabilities of a smaller company is purchased by a larger one by paying shares, cash or other assets to the target companys shareholders. When there is a merger between two similar sized firms, the shares are exchanged and one firm issues new stock to the other in an agreed ratio. The value of two firms before and after a merger is the same when you exclude the synergies resulting from it, considering that the valuation of the shares and the exchange ratio has been correctly formulated. Target firms shareholders are normally paid a premium, which means that the exchange rate is skewed. Merger Waves in the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries, Martin Lipton, York University September 14, 2006 Overview of MA Waves A merger wave is an intense period of merger activity in a particular sector or industry and last from a short period to a long time partly depending on the performance of the market and the participating companies. In his paper released on September 14, 2006 Merger Waves in the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries, Martin Lipton of York University talk about merger waves Economists and historians refer to five waves of mergers in the U.S. starting in the 1890s. As I said, I believe a sixth wave started three years ago. The starting date and duration of each of these waves are not specific, although the ending dates for those that ended in wars or financial disasters, like the 1929 crash or the bursting of the Millennium Bubble, are more definite. Indeed, it could be argued that mergers are an integral part of market capitalism and we have had a continuous wave of merger activity that has ebbed and flowed since the evolution of the industrial economy in the latter part of the 19th Century, with interruptions when fundamental forces turned exogenous merger factors negative. The merger activity needs to show a pattern in which the peak year had a greater than 100 percent increase from the first year followed by a decline in acquisition activity of greater than 50 percent from the peak year to qualify as a wave. In some industries the waves were as long as six years. Lets us see the five merger waves below: First Period 1893 to 1904 Merger for Monoploy- This was the time of the major horizontal mergers creating the principal steel, telephone, oil, mining, railroad and other giants of the basic manufacturing and transportation industries in the U.S. The Panics of 1904 and 1907, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1904 making the recently enacted antitrust laws applicable to horizontal mergers, and then the First World War are pointed to as the causes of the end of the first wave, which some view as continuing beyond 1904. Second Period 1919 to 1929 Merger for Oligopoly- This period saw further consolidation in the industries that were the subject of the first wave and a very significant increase in vertical integration. The major automobile manufacturers emerged in this period. Ford, for example, was integrated from the finished car back through steel mills, railroads and ore boats to the iron and coal mines. The 1929 Crash and the Great Depression ended this wave. Third Period- 1955 to 1969-73 Conglomerate merger- This was the period in which the conglomerate concept took hold of American management. Major conglomerates like ITT (Harold Geneen), LTV (Jimmy Ling), Teledyne (Henry Singleton) and Litton (Tex Thornton) were created. Messrs. Geneen, Ling, Singleton and Thornton were viewed as visionaries and heroes of the new concept of business organization. Many major established companies accepted the concept and diversified into new industries and areas. The conglomerate stocks crashed in 1969-70 and the diversified companies never achieved the benefits thought to be derived from diversification. Fourth Period 1974-80 to 1989 The Megamerger- Generally referred to as the merger wave, or takeover wave, of the 1980s and frequently said to be the period from 1984 to 1989. However, its antecedents reach back to 1974 when the first major-company hostile bid was made by Morgan Stanley on behalf of Inco (the same Inco that has been involved in the four-way takeover struggle that has now ended with its takeover by Vale) seeking to take over ESB. This successful hostile bid opened the door for the major investment banks to make hostile takeover bids on behalf of raiders. In addition to hostile bids, this period was noted for junk bond financing and steadily increasing volume and size of LBOs. In Europe in the latter half of the 1980s companies sought to prepare for the Common Market through cross-border horizontal mergers. In the U.S. this was the period that saw corporate raiders like Boone Pickens run rampant with two-tier, front-end-loaded, boot-strap, bust-up, junk-bond, hostile t ender offers until the playing field was leveled by the poison pill in the mid-1980s. However, even after the poison pill, merger activity increased through the latter part of the 1980s, pausing for only a few months after the October 1987 stock market crash. It ended in 1989-90 with the $25 billion RJR Nabisco LBO and the collapse of the junk bond market, along with the collapse of the savings and loan banks and the serious loan portfolio and capital problems of the commercial banks. Fifth Period 1993 to 2000 Strategic Restructuring This was the era of the mega-deal. It ended with the bursting of the Millennium Bubble and the great scandals, like Enron, which gave rise to the revolution in corporate governance that is continuing today. During the fifth wave companies of unprecedented size and global sweep were created on the assumption that size matters, a belief bolstered by market leaders premium stock-market valuations. High stock prices simultaneously emboldened companies and pressured them to do deals to maintain heady trading multiples. A global view of competition, in which companies often find that they must be big to compete, and a relatively restrained antitrust environment led to once-unthinkable combinations, such as the mergers of Citibank and Travelers, Chrysler and Daimler Benz, Exxon and Mobil, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, AOL and Time Warner, and Vodafone and Mannesmann. From a modest $342 billion of deals in 1992, the worldwide volume of merg ers marched steadily upward to $3.3 trillion worldwide in 2000. Nine of the ten largest deals in history all took place in the three-year period 1998-2000, with the tenth in 2006. Most of the 1990s deals were strategic negotiated deals and a major part were stock deals. The buzzwords for opening of merger discussions were, would you be interested in discussing a merger of equals. While few if any deals are true mergers of equals, the sobriquet goes a long way to soothe the egos of the management of the acquired company. The year 2000 started with the announcement of the record-setting $165 billion merger of Time Warner and AOL. However, after a five-year burst of telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) mergers, there was a dramatic slowdown in the TMT sector, as well as in all mergers. It started with the collapse of the Internet stocks at the end of the first quarter followed by the earnings and financing problems of the telecoms. While merger activity in 2000 exceeded 1999 by a small amount by the end of the year, the bubble had burst. The NASDAQ was down more than 50% from its high, many TMT stocks were down more than 50% (some as much as 98%), the junk bond market was almost nonexistent, banks tightened their lending standards and merger announcements were not well received in the equity markets. So ended the fifth wave, with merger activity in 2001 half of what it was in 2000. To my surprise (and I think to the surprise of most) the sixth wave started just three years later. The sixth period of merger wave is what Lipton believes started in 2003. Sixth Period: From a low of $1.2 trillion in 2002 the pace of merger activity has increased to what appears will be a total of $3.4 trillion by the end of 2006. Among the principal factors are globalization, encouragement by the governments of some countries (for example, France, Italy and Russia) to create strong national or global champions, the rise in commodity prices, the availability of low-interest financing, hedge fund and other shareholder activism and the tremendous growth of private equity funds with a concomitant increase in management-led buyouts. CROSS BORDER MERGERS ACQUISITIONS GLOBAL SENARIO Globalisation is a key feature of the new competitive landscape within which the mergers and acquisitions frenzy is taking place. . Globalization has spurred an unprecedented surge in cross-border merger and acquisition activity. (Child J.et al, 2001). Cross border MAs have become a fundamental characteristic of the global business landscape. Cross-border MAs are one mode of entry for foreign direct investors to host economies. The ownership advantage,location advantage and internalization advantage, factors such as the search for market power, efficiency gains through synergies, size, diversification, and financial motivations affect the decision of firms to undertake cross-border MAs. Organizations which aspire to expand across geographies are funding their cross-border acquisitions through a mix of local and foreign financing. According to World Bank statistics, new capital raised through corporate securities offerings and loans from international bank syndicates totalled US $400 billion in 2006, a threefold increase from 2003. Multi-national companies based in developing countries made more than 700 cross-border MA purchases in 2006, up from just 11 such deals in 1987. These developments have put some of these companies on par with large companies from developed countries. As many developing-country governments have eased their policies toward capital outflows their companies have expanded their operations abroad. 15000 multinational corporations have their presence in developing countries. Cross border MA activity was one of the primary reasons for increasing FDI outflows from developing countries. The total cross-border MA activity from the developing countries was valued at $80 billion in 2007, up from $75 billion in 2006. The activity was across sectors with service sector contributed about 60% of the total activity. MA ACTIVITY IN INDIA Indian MA activity totaled US$19.8 billion in FY08 as compared to US$33.1 billion in FY07. The decline in MA activity was in line with the global activity. The average size of deals in FY08 was US$23.4 million; far lower than that of US$70.5 million in FY 07. Cross-border MA totaled US$8.2 billion in FY08 after declining of 56.3% from the previous year, where the total cross-border MA was US$18.7 billion. The sector which witnessed highest decline (97.6%) in MA activity was the telecommunication sector due to the base effect of acquisition of Hutchison by Vodafone in FY07. Followed by telecommunications sector was the healthcare sector; declining 72.3% in FY08 again due to the base effect of US$1 billion acquisition of Matrix Laboratories in FY07. Financials sector was the third sector to experience decline in the MA activity. Trends Patterns of Indian acquisitions abroad MA activity has seen phenomenal rise in India in the past few years and some patterns are discernible in this mass of financial transactions.India has passed several milestones and come a long way from overseas investments of about $0.7 billion in 2000-01 to $2.7 billion in 2005-06 and finally to $11 billion in 2006-07. Save a slight lull in cross-border deals in 2000-2002,MA has only been rising in India. The number of overseas acquisitions was 38 in 2003 and rose to 177 in 2006. The first six months of 2007 saw a whopping 123 transactions. The value of outflows has increased from $649 million in 2003 to $32.9 billion in 2007. The value of overseas acquisitions by Indian firms far exceeded the value of foreign firms acquisitions in India for the first time in 2006. The African nations have especially opened up their economies to FDI flows from India hoping that the funds transfer; knowledge transfer and skill development will give their nearly stagnant economies a much needed boost. The Indian services sector was the first entrant to the area of overseas MA and later the primary manufacturing sectors ventured into it. However, eventually the manufacturing sector surpassed the services sector both in terms of number of transactions and value of transactions with overseas acquisitions in the services sector rising 2-3 times as compared to 5-22 times increase in the manufacturing sector in the period 2001-2007 Literature review According to Jankowitz (1991) have given more emphasises on the importance of the literature review by stressing that knowledge does not exist in a vacuum and your work only help in relation to others. He describes the literature review as providing a theoretical framework and condition for the project. An attempt has been made in the present paper to understand the motives and implications of the Merger-wave in the second half of the nineties. The analysis has been conducted in a comparative perspective by classifying the Acquiring firms into two categories in terms of ownership, namely, Indian owned and foreign owned. The paper is divided into seven sections iii) Policy-shift regarding MAs during the 1990s iv) Impact of MAs on the performance of Acquiring firms, v) Source of financing and some plausible issues for corporate governance Section I: Theories on Motives and Implications of MAs According to Cantwell and Santangelo 2002 the theories on MAs have been spreaded over the vast terrains of industrial organisation, financial, economic and international business studies. Thus researcher has been pointed out that the trends of MAs can be theoretically traced back to particular motives for MAs emphasized by industrial organization theories that is market power and defensive reactions, the financial economic literature that is managerial ego and international business research which is access to markets or technologies. We have classify these theories into four categories, namely, i) Mergers as efficiency enhancing measures: Mergers can lead to increased efficiencies. Such efficiencies and cost savings can flow from economies of scale and scope possible in the larger post-Merger operations, greater control over key inputs, product rationalisation, combining marketing, advertisement and distribution, or from cutting down overlapping Research and Development (Ansoff and Weston 1962. International MAs may be regarded as a new cross-border strategy that aims at increasing corporate global competitiveness by pursuing related diversification and by integrating affiliates into a global network (Cantwell Santangelo 2002). Schemalensee (1987) argued that the cost-reducing effect of a particular proposed Merger might probably outweigh its collusion-enhancing effects. Sanjaya Lall rightly questions whether the positive economic effects that cross-border Acquisitions can have outweigh the concerns they arouse (Lall, 2002). ii)Mergers as enhancing concentration and monopoly: The immediate effect of a Merger is to increase the degree of concentration as it reduces the number of firms. Another effect of Mergers on 8competition is on the generation of barriers to entry. Artificial barriers can be raised or strengthened, if the Merger results in a strengthening of product differentiation through legal rights in designs, patents and knowhow. Williamson (1968) argued that a small efficiency gain would generally be offset by a large increase in market power, which creates a situation that sets prices above the competitive levels. Further, the motives behind transnational or cross-border Acquisitions differ from those, which drive purely domestic Acquisitions. An Acquiring firm might decide to go in for international Merger in order to take advantage of cheap raw materials and labour, to capture profits from exchange rates, or to invest its surplus cash (Weston et al. 1996). The entry and subsequ ent activities of Multinational firms affect the structure of markets for goods and services in host countries in several different ways. Numerous studies for individual developing countries as well as developed economies indicate a positive association between TNC activities and the concentration of producers in host country industries (UNCTAD 1997: 137). Some qualifications and exceptions have also been pointed out about this trend. Greenfield investment in new production facilities adds to the number of firms engaged in the production of a good or service and it might reduce or at least, leave unchanged the concentration of producers in an industry. In contrast, FDI-entry through a Merger or Acquisition would increase the concentration of producers if a Merger or Take-over results in increased sales for the newly created foreign affiliates; or leave it unchanged, if its size is the same as that of the incumbent firm acquired(UNCTAD 1997: 141). The actual impact of an Acquisition on competition depends upon the marketing strategies of TNCs, as well as on industry and country-specific circumstances (Dunning 1993). The risk that CB MAs may reduce competition tends to be greater in those industries in which shrinking demand and 9 excess capacity are important motivations for MAs and in countries in which competition policy does not exist or where its implementation is weak (Zhan Ozawa 2001: 61). In sum, MAs as concentration enhancing and building oligopolistic market power is a rather familiar view in studies on Mergers internationally. iii) Mergers as driven by macro-economic changes: MAs areundertaken to compensate for instabilities such as wide fluctuations in demand and product mix, excess capacities related to slow sales growth and declining profit margins and technological shocks (Post 1994; Weston et al. 1996). Firms may pursue MAs for the sole reason of growing in size as size more than profitability or relative effic iency is considered to be the effective barrier against Takeovers (Singh 1975; 1992). It is also argued that the development of an active market for corporate control may encourage managers to empire build, not only to increase their monopoly power but also to progressively shield themselves from Takeover by becoming larger (Singh 2003). What is referred to herein is the defensive tactics of firms in a developing country like India. While there are firm-specific motives for undertaking CB MAs, there are also economic forces that have acted to encourage the CB MAs, such as the economic integration of the European Union (EU) and NAFTA represented by the creation of a common market (Caves1991;UNCTAD 1997). Macro-economic changes become the context or provide opportunities for MAs. Mergers may also be resorted to as defensive measures in response to major policy-shifts. iv) Mergers as driven by financial motives: Firms adopt MAs as a route to growth whenever alternative investment oppor tunities for financing corporate expansion in specific environments are less attractive. Availability of capital to finance Acquisitions and innovations in financial markets such as junk-bonds can also be among the reasons 10 for cross-border Mergers (Sudersanam 1995). The valuation differences of the share prices or economic disturbances lead to Acquisitions of firms that are low-valued from the viewpoint of outsiders (Gort 1969). Lower interest rates also lead to more Acquisitions, as Acquiring firms rely heavily on borrowed funds (Melicher et al 1983). It is also argued that the under-valuation of the dollar vis-a-vis pound and yen in the early eighties had resulted in some very substantial Acquisitions of assets in the United States by British and Japanese firms (Dunning 1993). The currency devaluations in the risis-affected countries as well as falling property prices reduced the foreign-currency costs of acquiring fixed assets in those countries and it has provided a golden opportunity for TNCs to enter their local markets (Zhan Ozawa, 2001). Our own earlier study (Beena 2001) clearly pointed out how financial motives had a crucial role in MAs during the first half of the decade of liberalisation. The study argued that among the motives for Mergers, in many cases, could have been the desire to improve the financial position of the firm through a viable capital structure and the desire of firms to exploit the opportunity provided by the initial post-liberalization buoyancy in the Indian stock market. It should not be surprising if in latest phase of contemporary finance capitalism, financial motives are also the major determinants of MAs in our country. Paul Sweezy (1994[1999]: 249) had spoken of the enormous growth of a financial superstructure atop the real productive base of the world economy [over the last three decades]. However, the linkages between a huge financial superstructure of the global capitalist economy and the financial motives of MAs in India is not so apparent and would need further exploration. Our classification of the four categories of theorisations on MAs throw light on one or the other aspect of the phenomenon. Each of them is true in its own right. However, it is context-specific studies that could substantiate the validity of each of these arguments. Motivation of cross-border acquisition There are four main reasons for Indian firms to have engaged in crossborder acquisitions, (see Acceenture, 2006). These include the need to enter new markets to maintain the current level of growth, to get closer to global customers to easily achieve market share and customer base via mergers compared to starting up new firms in foreign countries. Further, crossborder acquisitions help Indian firms to gain easier access to targets resources. Since 1995 over 60 percent of Indian MAs took place in Europe and North America; in the 2000-2006 period US firms followed by UK firms were the major target of 9 Indian acquirers. These developed markets were attractive due to their large customer base,advanced legal system, knowledge foundation, and sophisticated technologies. More importantly, acquisitions often prove to be the only way for Indian companies to be able to begin competing in these markets, due to the high level of existing competition in developed countries. However, to a lesser degree, Indian firms have also acquired firms in less developed countries. These deals are profitable because of high demand for foreign investment in some of these economies. These deals have also provided the Indian firms with access to resources Many Indian firms participate in crossborder MAs to expand their overall technical capabilities and to update their existing knowledge base. In most cases, the knowledge and technical expertise earned abroad can help the acquirers in improving their productivity in the domestic Indian market as well. Furthermore, crossboarder MAs can create excess value for Indian acquirers, relative to their competitors, by allowing them to save on labour and production costs. Some Indian firms, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, strive to increase their market share by enhancing the size of their product range or in general, to diversify the portfolio of products or services. This is possible through two avenues: buying the technology, or acquiring firms who already own that technology. Indian firms seem to have used both methods Trends of MAs: Indian Experience MA activity has seen phenomenal rise in India in the past few years and some patterns are discernible in this mass of financial transactions There are four sectors in India which have experienced the most detectable MA trend after deregulation, starting in 1991 (see Srinivasan, 2001). Consumer goods sector in which firms want to quickly achieve market share and banking and financial industry where size is an important factor due to higher capital requirements set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) experienced many mergers. Sectors that are overloaded with many small players underwent consolidation. There were two sectors within which the need for high technology increased dramatically, such as telecommunication and pharmaceutical also underwent major merger activity The motivations underlying domestic takeovers in India are similar to the ones that promoted crossborder MAs in recent years. Liberalizations and deregulations have been the main driver of domestic as well as crossborder takeovers. Political, financial, and cultural reforms have fueled both crossborder and domestic MAs in India. Why India leads China in cross-border MA? Although FDI flows to China are relatively higher than those to India, Indian firms have performed much better than their Chinese counterparts in terms of overseas MA. A McKinsey analysis shows that Indian companies generate twice as much revenue from foreign sales as Chinese companies do! Other aspects like foreign asset-ownership and number of workers employed abroad also indicate a similar trend. In the year 2007, India registered a 126% jump in amount spent on international MA deals as opposed to a mere 82% of China. Now let us see some of the specific characteristics of Indian crossborder of MAs There are a host of reasons why Indian firms have outperformed their Chinese rivals in corporate deal-making abroad. Indian MAs have several distinct characteristics compared to those done by firms in the west or from China 1) Language skills and know-how English is the official business language in India and is built into the Indian education system. Chinese, on the other hand,have always been rigid and insisted on the use of their own language. Aversion to English language led to the isolation of the Chinese industry from the international corporate world. Now China, having realised this, is making concerted efforts to switch to English as the official language of communication. Chinese undervalue the role of soft skills in managing employees, business partners, stakeholders etc. Delegation of work,transparency, objective outlook, employee growth etc are aspects that are not yet developed in the Chinese work environment. This deters foreign employees from working in Chinese firms. Western employees are used to working with a high amount of latitude and things like close supervision, no clarity regarding management policies/expectations, corporate governance issues, favouritism and high level of political interference in the routine functioning of an organisation are deeply resented by western professionals. This impedes post-merger integration of a Chinese and western firm. China lacks the kind of leaders with international cultural understanding and flexibility to adapt to different markets and work environments. Leaders that can lead all employees without giving a sense of alienation to any specific group and successfully steer cross-border organisations are visibly lacking in China. Even though the economics of the deal make perfect sense, the inability to integrate the operations and most importantly employees of the two companies, spells doom for the new entity. Inhibitions about western cultures and practices have a profound effect in that Chinese leaders are now increasingly wary of undertaking overseas assignments. They find it difficult to blend and work with completely different thought processes and working culture. The loss of face resulting from the failure to integrate prompts Chinese employees to shun overseas assignments. To overcome this, these days Chinese companies do organise mandatory international training and orientation programmes to prepare its workforce for cross-border experiences. Since Chinese companies are still vastly state-controlled, finance skills of Chinese managers are at a nascent stage yet. Indian firms however and especially the private ones have very well developed finance skills competing with some of the best in the world. Handling diversity and differences in race, religion, ideas, personalities etc is much easier for Indians as compared to Chinese due to the relatively homogeneous Chinese society. Although both nations are huge (China being much bigger), India is considered as one of the societies with the highest intra-country diversity and hence Indians are much more used to handling differences/conflicts. 2) Corporate structure Many Indian firms have corporate structures similar to those prevalent in North America. These are companies with central leadership provided by owners but managed by professional managers. In contrast, most of the large Chinese companies are still state-owned and hence riddled with bureaucracy, political objectives. Senior management of these firms is always composed of members or people close to members of the Communist Party and strategy of the firm always is in line with the policy of the Chinese government. The lower management is ineffective, weak and resentful. Hence Indian firms responses to changes in the global industry are much quicker and strategic than those of Chinese firms. Chinas IT industry tried hard to give tough competition to the booming Indian IT industry but the fragmented nature of Chinas IT sector, along with poor product management and weak process controls failed Chinas attempt. Consolidation is the key to exploring better opportunities for the Chinese IT industry since its top 10 IT-service companies command only 20% of the market share as opposed to 45% market share of Indias top 10. 3) Focus on exports Majority of Chinese companies still focus on only exports for achieving short-term growth. MA is thought of as a strategy that is best suited for long-term growth. In the period 1995-2007, only 17 out of the top 100 Chinese companies signed cross-border deals as opposed to 31 out of the top 100 Indian companies with 18 of them successfully closing more than 3 deals each. 4) Political opposition Chinese companies frequently face fierce political backlash in western countries due to a general muted feeling of distrust regarding Chinas global plans and its eagerness to take possession of international natural resource reserves. CNOOCs (Chinese state-contro