Thursday, October 31, 2019

Film History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film History - Term Paper Example The movie is composed of mostly two hours of the North Vietnamese soldiers charging towards the American troops, mortar rounds that were meant to disseminate the American lines, as well as the American jets mowing down the fields of the Vietnamese soldiers. One of the things that have been effectively portrayed in the movie is to stage all the actions that took place in away that understandable and comprehensible. The larger part of the film adheres to the actual events that took place during the historical battle. In the movie, it can be seen that the battles were taking place in several open fields. Even though the battles historically took place within the rough terrain of the Vietnam, the scenes of the battle were in denser bushes. The terrain in Vietnam is naturally dense. A larger part of the Vietnam is covered with dense hence making the visibility limited and consequently leaving limited bald spots within the Vietnam terrain. The film shows several scenes that were shot in the open fields that had little vegetation and whenever there is appearance of vegetation, it is the wrong type when compared with that in Vietnam. Indeed, the film shows vegetations that resembles those in Tahoe or to some extent some of the deciduous forest and not Vietnam. Nonetheless, a critical look at the movie indicates that the only thing that could have been more accurate regarding its setting was the hilly terrain (Schwarzbaum Web). Overall it should be noted that the movie did not perform well in the portrayal of the terrain with accuracy it deserved. The fighting that is portrayed in the movie is mainly composed of the bombs and firearms. This portraying is pretty much the reality of what took place at the ground that has slightly differed from how it actually took place. This can be partly attributed to the mistake witnessed in the scenery but understandably this could have been difficult to shoot in case

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Gold & Educational psychology Essay Example for Free

Gold Educational psychology Essay The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence  the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence  youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific  stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers. The youth culture is influenced by many things each and every day. The society, parents, care givers; all of these help influence youth. But the most important factor to help give the a visual of what teenagers are today are in fact films. You are left wondering how films help influence the teenage race? The cinema of adolescence brings an image of youth, Juno (2007), The Breakfast Club (1985) all encounter specific stereotypes which encourage teenagers.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Director Network Influence on Stock Price Cash Risks

Director Network Influence on Stock Price Cash Risks Introduction A sprouting issue in corporate governance and the business world is the concept of executive network. Recent accounting and finance literature use social network theory to explain various corporate behaviors and practices steaming from information, resources exchange and relationship building. The correlation between executive network and earnings management (Omer et al, 2016; Chui, et al 2012), director network and tax management (Brown Drake, 2013), and director network and corporate investment decisions (Singh Schonlau, 2009), among other corporate practices have been capaciously researched but stock price crash risk has been overlooked in the area of social networks. Firms have congruent behavior patterns as a result of the information exchange among them. The observed herding behavior of firms can be explained by social network theory which predicts firms to imitate others especially those perceived to possess superior information (Lieberman Asaba, 2006). Corporate executives have incentives to manipulate the financial performance by withholding bad news (with the believe that such bad news can be over turned in the future) and accelerating the disclosure of good news (as this signifies competency). As directors imitate each other, such behavior can easily diffuse among them. The effect of director networks on firms performance disclosures is multifaced. Prior director network literature document that through information exchange, directors learn from their peers on how to better perform their monitoring and advising roles to maximize shareholder value (Chuluun et al., 2014; Larcker et al., 2013). Directors can enhance their monitoring expertis e by linking up with other directors who are more experienced and connected to other experienced directors. Through the positive learning hypothesis, directors become better monitors of managers of their firms. My conjecture here is that directors can improve their individual expertise and efficiency by obtaining more quality information from other directors. As a two-edged sword, director networks can also be a vehicle for the diffusion of bad corporate practices. Social interactions can act as dais through which information about undesirable corporate practices are exchanged. According to Davis (1991), the diffusion of poison pills adopted among US firms in the late 1980s were engineered through the network directors built. Also, options expending and backdating were documented to relate to networked firms (Reppenhagen 2010, Bizjak et al., 2009). The propensity to replicate bad act when those engaged in the act go scot-free after a long time (Marvin Shigeru, 2006). By the negative learning hypothesis, directors carry information about such bad corporate practices to their firms. This can mitigate against the monitory role of directors hence adversely affect their performance. I assume that directors take the final responsibility for various corporate practices including financial report transparency and disclosures. This proposed study seeks to employ social network and business imitation theory to examine stock price crash, which usually result from hoarding bad news from the stock market. Prior literature argue that managers hoard bad news either to achieve personal goals such as higher compensation, job security and empire building or presumptuously to maximize long-term shareholders value (Ball, 2009; Kothari et al., 2009; Graham et al, 2005). Whatever the goal, whether to achieve personal agenda or to promote shareholder value, bad news hoarded and accumulated for long result in stock price crash. (Hutton et al.,2009; Jin and Myers, 2006). Several papers, summarized below, have explored the connection between crash risk and various firm level characteristics. However, studies that directly investigate stock price risk through executive personal characteristics have concentrated mostly on managers personal attributes such as CEO over confidence but the social structure within which the phenomenon is practiced has largely been ignored. My proposed study seek to examine the empirical link between the relationships directors build and the distribution of stock returns. My study will contribute to the literature in several ways. First, to my knowledge, this will be the first study to examine the relation between director network and stock crash risk. By focusing on a unique perspective, this study will provide new evidence concerning the economic consequences of social imitations. In particular, the findings will identify significant benefits that social interactions bring to firms and their shareholders. Xing, Zhang, and Zhao (2010) and Yan (2011) suggest that extreme outcomes in the equity market are of extreme concerns to shareholders and will require interpretations. Thus, the empirical evidence will be useful for understanding the role that director network plays in influencing both corporate behavior and investor welfare. Second, this will extend the literature on corporate governance by showing the relation between social connectivity and stock price crash risk relative to the strength of corporate governance mechanisms in place in a firm. Th is will provide more explanation on the conventional governance mechanisms in monitoring the flow of corporate information to the equity market. Third, this study will add to the research on bad news hoarding theory of stock price crash risk. In particular, the implication of social interactions for future crash risk will provide valuable insights into the behavioral-sociological nature of managerial manipulation of information. Recent studies on crash risk suggest that managerial bad news hoarding activities can be explain via religion (Jeffrey L. Callen and Xiaohua Fang, 2015), corporate social responsibility (Yongtae Kim, 2014), CEOs over confidence (Jeong-Bon Kim, 2014), CFOs equity incentives (Jeong-Bon Kim, 2011) accounting conservatism (Kim et al, 2010), tax avoidance (Kim et al, 2010), and corporate financial opacity (Hutton et al, 2009). However, it is not clear what role executive social connections and/or social norms play in influencing the behavior to conceal bad news. My study will help to fill this gap in the literature by providing evidence on the relation between director network and crash risk and the consequential role that social connections play on managerial bad news hoarding activities. Last, but not the least, this study will provide investors with priceless information on how the social business environment affects firm behavior, which may help them to predict and eschew future stock price crash in their portfolio investment decisions. Research objective The objective of this study is to find out how stock price crash is influence by the social set up directors build. Specific research questions are; Can stock price crash risk be explained through director network? Does the level of stock price crash risk increase with the degree of executive connectedness? How much dissidence of stock price crash is attributable to director network? Research design The variables for this study-director connectedness and stock price crash risk will be independently estimated using Riskmetrics, CRSP and COMPUSTAT data. The Riskmetrics will be used in computing the measures of directors network. Data on the stock return for the calculating crash risk will be obtained from CRSP while compustat will provide the relevant company financials for my research. My sample size will cover the period of 1990-2014. The result of the first stage estimation will be put into a cross-sectional regression model for further estimation of the relationship between firm networks and stock price crash risk. I will use UCINET/PAJEK to estimate various dimensions of director networks (Omer et al., 2014). Crash risk will be estimated using (Chen et al .2001), Jin and Myers (2006) and Hutton et al (2009) models which provides three measures of crash risk including i) the negative coefficient of skewness of firms specific daily returns, ii) the down-to-up volatility of firm -specific daily returns, and iii) the difference between the number of days with negative extreme firm-specific daily returns and the number of days with positive extreme firm-specific daily returns. The primary model for the regression will be; CrashRiskj =ÃŽÂ ±+ÃŽÂ ²1 DirectorNetworkj + ÃŽÂ ²2Controlvariables + ÃŽÂ µi Where CrashRiskj and DirectorNetworkj refer to the various measurements of crash risks and director networks of firm J respectively. Literature review Former Chairman of the Board of General Motors John G. Smale wrote in 1995: The board is responsible for the successful perpetuation of the corporation. That responsibility cannot be relegated to management. A board of directors is expected to play a key role in corporate governance. The board has responsibility for: CEO selection and succession; providing feedback to management on the organizations strategy; compensating senior executives; monitoring financial health, performance and risk; and ensuring accountability of the organization to its investors and authorities. The board thus play important role in corporate governance hence the need to study the board in broader perspective including their social networks. This is because through network, knowledge, ideas and corporate practices whether good or bad are shared between companies. Director network thus serves vehicle for the spread of behavior between related firms. (Asch 1951; Milgram 1963, Hirshleifer and Teoh (2003, 2009) Director networks Social network theory suggests that individuals behavior is the product of their social interactions and this connection extends to corporate behavior (Jackson, 2008; Newman, 2010). Individuals and their links form a network across which they share ideas and resources, which influences their decision. Under opacity, observe behaviors of others, can provide useful insights (Marvin Shigeru, 2006). Social networks serve as channel for the transmission of information about corporate practices climaxing into herding behavior (Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer, Welch, 1998; Hirshleifer Hong Teoh, 2003). The link can either be direct such as shared directorates, trade partnership or indirect such as friend of friend of friend. Newman (2010) provides evidence on the relevance on the indirect link in the information sharing process. A director with many connections become an information hub making him very powerful in the chain of network. This is described as centrality in the n etwork literature (Jackson, 2008). A direct link to an information hub increases access to more complete information. Also, connection to a direct link to the information hub can acquire some information, though the closer the better. This had led to four measurements of director network namely degree, eigenvector, betweenness and closeness centralities. Degree centrality is the absolute measure of individual social connections and boast of more information. The indirect connection where ideas exchange is from several other links is known as eigenvector centrality. Betweenness centrality relates to information control within the web. In a network, an individual positioned between two others serving as the medium of information exchange between them is viewed as one controlling information flow. The last dimension of network which relates to the proximity to information access to enhance optimization is the closeness centrality. Closeness centrality measures how quick information fr om other members of a network gets to an individual. The closer an individual is to a source of information, the more efficient and easier it is to access information (Jackson, 2008; Newman, 2010). The kind of information received will be parallel to the actions of the individual. I therefore, hypothesize that, firms within the same network will have homogeneous behavior. Director networks and stock price crash risk Financial reports provide information about a firms economic performance. Accounting numbers are crucial for economic decisions of a firms stakeholders but their relevance can only be harness when provided at the right time. Corporate executives naturally exhibit some resistance in disclosing bad performances of their firms and this behavior catalyst to stock price crashes (Hutton et al., 2009; Jin and Myers, 2006). Managers have been reported to have hoard information to opportunistically influence contractual outcomes (Cheng, Man, Yi, 2013, Healy Wahlen, 1999; Verrecchia, 1983). Extant literature documents the motives for information hoarding such as personal gain and career concern. (Kothari et al. 2009). In addition, Ball (2001, 2009) argues that nonfinancial motives, such as empire building and maintaining the esteem of ones peers, also provide powerful incentives for managers to conceal bad performance. Empirically, Kothari et al. (2009) find evidence consistent with the tendency of managers to hoard bad news. The managerial tendency to withhold bad news leads to bad news being stockpiled within the firm. However, there is a certain point at which it becomes too costly or impossible for managers to withhold the bad news (Kothari et al., 2009). When such a tipping point arrives, all the hitherto hidden bad news will come out at once, resulting in a large negative price adjustment, that is, a crash (Hutton et al., 2009; Jin and Myers, 2006). Moreover, Bleck and Liu (2007) argue that the withholding of bad news prevents investors from discerning bad projects from good ones and, therefore, from liquidating bad projects promptly. Thus, bad projects are kept alive and the resulting negative cash flows eventually materialize, triggering asset price crashes. Employing country- and firm-level designs, respectively, Jin and Myers (2006) and Hutton et al. (2009) provide empirical evidence consistent with the above mecha nisms of stock price crashes. Several papers support the linkage of director network to various corporate behaviors such as expending stock option, (Reppenhagen 2010), private equity incentives (Stuart and Yim 2010) stock option backdating (Bizjak et al. 2009) and poison-pill adoption (Davis 1991). Others include director network and mutual fund performance (Cohen, Frazzini, and Malloy, 2008; Kuhnen, 2008), venture capital investments (Hochberg, Ljungqvist, and Lu, 2007), executive compensation (Barnea and Guedj, 2009), and firm governance (Fracassi and Tate, 2008; Hwang and Kim, 2008). They provide empirical evidence on the transfer of behavior between related firms. Building on the literature on social network and the literature on crash risk, I propose that director network can affect firm-level stock price crash risk. Since director network can pass good or bad business practices, it can mitigate or contribute to crash risk, however, the quantum ultimately is an empirical question. The empirical analysis will shed light on this important issue. References Ashbaugh, Hollis, Joachim Gassen, and Ryan Lafond, 2005, Does Stock Price Synchronicity Reflect Information or Noise? The International Evidence, mimeo Barnea, A., Guedj, I., 2009. Director networks. Unpublished working paper. University of Texas, Austin. Brown, J. L., Drake, K. D. (2013). Network ties among low-tax firms. The Accounting Review Chen, J., Hong, H., Stein, J., 2001. Forecasting crashes: Trading volume, past returns, and conditional skewness in stock prices. Journal of Financial Economics Chiu, P.-C., Teoh, S. H., Tian, F. (2012). Board interlocks and earnings management contagion. The Accounting Review Hutton, A.P., Marcus, A.J., Tehranian, H., 2009. Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk. Journal of Financial Economics Kim, J.B., Li, Y., Zhang, L., 2011b. CFO vs. CEO: equity incentives and crashes. Journal of Financial Economics Kim, J.B., Zhang, L., 2013. Accounting conservatism and stock price crash risk: firmlevel evidence. Contemporary Accounting Research, forthcoming Kim, J.B., Li, Y., Zhang, L., 2011a. Corporate tax avoidance and stock price crash risk: firm-level analysis. Journal of Financial Economics Kim J-B, Li Y, Zhang L. 2011b. Corporate tax avoidance and stock price crash risk: Firm-level analysis. Journal of Financial Economics Kothari SP, Shu S, Wysocki PD. 2009. Do Managers Withhold Bad News? Journal of Accounting Research Lieberman, M. B., Asaba, S. (2006). Why Do Firms Imitate Each Other? The Academy of Management Review Malmendier U, Tate G. 2005. CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment. The Journal of Finance Newman, M. (2010). Networks: an introduction: Oxford University Press Omer, T. C., Shelley, M. K., Tice, F. M. (2014). Do director networks matter for financial reporting quality? Evidence from restatements. Singh, P. V., Schonlau, R. J. (2009). Board Networks and Merger Performance.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Executive Summary of Proctor and Gamble :: Bounty Toilet Paper Marketing Essays

Executive Summary of Proctor and Gamble Proctor & Gamble will introduce the new Bounty Toilet Paper during the first week of December 1999. This brand of toilet paper will take the already established idea used with Bounty Paper Towels, and modify to the toilet paper world. Bounty has always stressed the idea of taking the least amount of the product, but still getting the job done while at same time consisting of a strong durability. Never before has such attributes of durability and effectiveness been used in a toilet paper brand, therefore P&G hopes to establish Bounty Toilet Paper as a leader in the industry. Proctor & Gamble understands the high competition that already exists in the toilet paper industry, but feel that new Bounty Toilet Paper will change how this industry is geared. In recent times, toilet paper producers have stressed comfort and style in the production of their products, but as the times have changed, the American public is now more interested in getting the job done in the shortest amount of time with the smallest amount of the product. P&G have produced Bounty Toilet Paper because of this change in the lifestyle of Americans. With this focus on effectiveness and durability, Bounty will go into the new Millennium leading the toilet paper world. Company Background Proctor and Gamble was founded in Cincinnati, OH, by William Proctor and James Gamble in 1837. Initially the company was started to compete with the 14 other soap and candle makers already established in Cincinnati, but around the end of the century, Proctor and Gamble dropped candle manufacturing altogether to focus on soap production. By 1890, Proctor and Gamble had increased their production to over 30 different types of soap. During 1911, Proctor and Gamble introduced Crisco, the first all-vegetable shortening, beginning what would be the first in a long line of different unrelated products the company would develop in the future. Such products include Tide washing detergent, Crest toothpaste, Charmin toilet paper, Pampers baby diapers, Folgers coffee, Bounce fabric softener, Pert Plus shampoo, and Bounty paper towels, just to name a few. With these products, and the more than thousand others, Proctor and Gamble leads the world in sales in almost all categories of household products. Sales hit the one million mark by 1859, roughly 22 years after the company was formed.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Best Buy Situation Analysis

In general, the company specializes in selling electronics, home office products, entertainment products and footwear, business programs and software, home appliances, and much more technology related products. Best Buy has earned the reputation as one of the top consumer electronics retailers and a leader in the industry. Its total revenues are $42,410,000,000, it employs 140,000 workers, and has a market capitalization of 1 1. 26 billion.The company Is a publicly traded corporation on the New York stock exchange under the signal- BY. It has gained many product and service brands that are recognized worldwide, such as Geek Squad, an in house repair service, which has been one of the company's main competitive advantages throughout its existence. The primary target market customer Is In the 16-35 age range. With 18-24 being the primary target because on average 40% are in college. Primary targets consist of businesses, both genders, middle class families and up.The secondary target i s 36-50 age groups mostly made of parents, new and small businesses, and price concerned consumers. The age group for the core audience Is 25-54 consumers 54% male 42% female and has an average household income of $75,000 (Khan, A). † Mission: The mission of Best Buy is to be the number one retailer of consumer electronics with a focus on roving a wide selection of high quality products at premium low prices while offering personable customer service and the best shopping experience both In store and online.Goals: In the company's 2014 fiscal annual report, Hubert Jolly, President and CEO of Best Buy, outlined the business transformation plan and goals as the 1 OFF shopping experience 2. Attract, grow, engage, and inspire transformational leaders and employees 3. Work with vendors to innovate and drive value 4. Increase return on invested capital 5. Continue leadership role in positively impacting the world Ochs 2 Core Competency: In terms of core competency, the key in terms of success for Best Buy has been its strategic customer-centric values and brand name recognition.Best Buy specializes in providing excellent customer service and the ability to give customers a hands- on shopping experience. Best Buy offers a wide range of products and will continue to work with vendor partners to maintain a strong relationship to guarantee low competitive prices. As far as brand recognition goes, Best Buy is increasing the amount of stores worldwide each year so the company name will continue to stick in customer's minds as well as strategic partnerships such s geek squad.SOOT Analysis Internal Factors Strengths Multiple Channel Sales Strategy Diverse Product Portfolio Reputable Brand Name Excellent Customer Satisfaction Weaknesses Geographical Concentration Limitations Reliance on Minimal Vendors Weakening Financial Position Poor Inventory Management Systems External Factors Opportunities Strategic Partnership Acquisitions Focus Towards Marketing Strategies Onlin e Sales Growth Consumption of Electronics Increasing Expansion of Retail Stores National and International – Foreign Market Penetration Threats Rise of Competitors, Loss of Market Share and RevenuesIncrease of Counterfeit/limitation Goods (China) Organized Retail Crime Increasing, Cyber Crime Threat to Security Market Shifting to Online Sales Medium to high Supplier Power Industry Analysis and Trends: The Consumer Electronics Market is continuously changing and is an ongoing process of evolution. Since technology is growing at a market. Already existing technologies are being re-invented to give the consumer a feeling that the old model(s) is irrelevant. An example is curved TV's and the phone ss.Ochs 3 These two technologies already exist however with a very slight modification, customers react and feel the need to purchase the newer version. This acts to re- invigorate what may seem to be a stagnant market. Online Sales are becoming more crucial to companies to survive in t he electronics consumer market. Amazon. Com being the leader in the industry of online sales has proved its dominance and Best Buy is increasing online retail operations to keep up. Since the recession, the market faced a decline in sales performance the last few years since 2008.However the market is making a slow, gradual come back and the situation in the industry is looking good. The fluctuating economy greatly effects consumer buying habits, and with the recovering economy conditions, consumers will have more money to spend on luxuries like electronics. According to the U. S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts â€Å"Revenues for the consumer electronics industry are projected to grow 2. 4% in 2014, reaching a new record high of $208 billion Joseph,J. ACE). Best Buy has struggled to maintain its market share with the increase of competition over the last few years but the company is growing in terms of revenue and number of stores increasing worldwide. Best Buy brand and presence is becoming well known globally and more growth opportunities are available for the company internationally. â€Å"Best Buy sees opportunities for innovation and growth in new markets and new geographies as well as in our core U. S. Business our growing global presence requires seasoned and as'. N. Y leaders to carefully manage our expanding family of international brands.Our international leadership team is focused on driving growth for our enterprise around the world (Willet, Robert, BY CEO International). † Competitor Analysis: Best Buys competitors are store-based retailers, internet-based tillers, multiple channel retailers, and vendors who offer products directly to the consumer. â€Å"They are competing amongst many others in the market for position as the top retail brand for electronic goods. U. S. Shoppers spend more than 126 billion dollars a year on electronic goods and more than 26% of it is totaled at Best Buy.For electronic purchases Best Buy remains as the top choice amongst consumers (Khan, A. ). † The major players are mass merchandisers like Walter Corporation, Amazon. Com and Apple Inc. (also a supplier). Unlike Best Buy, Walter offers much ore than Just electronics but they are growing in the electronics industry. In order to keep their prices low, Walter uses a low profit margin, high volume sales technique by squeezing their suppliers to name their price. To combat this, Best Buy must maintain their image as the ‘best shopping experience' retailer with a young, tech as'. N. , knowledgeable sales staff to assist customers and provide customer service unmatchable by Walter. In Ochs 4 addition best buy must maintain a strong, relationship on good terms with its suppliers because they are limited and also offer a price matching policy to match a rice offered by a certain store or retailer. To compete with Amazon. Com Best Buy must promote their brick and mortar, instant gratification business model. Unlike Best B uy, Amazon cannot boast physical, face to face customer service experience improvement to their website and online sales strategy since many consumers are moving towards online purchasing.One of the major risks Best Buy faces currently is the act of show-rooming. This is where customer go to the big box store to gain valuable information from the staff about a product and comparison shop, then go and purchase it elsewhere for a better price (Amazon. Mom). According to CEO Hubert Jolly: â€Å"Best Buy estimates that 1 5 percent of its customers come into the store with the intention of shortcoming, that number is only likely to increase (Macrame, M). † Since Apple is one of Best Buys vendors they must be careful with methods used to compete for customers.One of the main advantages Best Buy has in this situation is that they are actually able to offer their Apple products for a lower price than the Apple Store, while still maintaining strong customer service, warranties, and su pport as one would receive in the Apple store. New Opportunities: Best Buy faces ever rowing fierce competition as the consumer electronics industry continues to grow and new technologies are rapidly being innovated. There is much room for growth and new opportunities Best Buy can take advantage of to remain at the top of the market.One of the most significant threats Best Buy faces is the increasing amount of virtual retail sales in the consumer electronics industry, but this is also an opportunity. The first recommendation for Best Buy is to continuously innovate and improve the website to encourage online sales. Perhaps IT should undergo website redesign to offer easier web navigation/ characteristics similar to that of Amazon. Com. The second recommendation is the need to promote the advantages and benefits of shopping in store rather than at other online retailers like Amazon. Com.Such benefits include direct communication between representative and customer, fewer technologica l issues of ordering, easy returning methods, and the assurance the product will be received in perfect condition and on time rather than damaged or lost in transportation. The third recommendation is to move beyond the current business to consumer model and expand into business to business operations. This would positively increase clientele base and open up a CSS 5 huge new market segment uninhabited by many CE competitors. Next Best Buy needs to reconsider its management structure.Part of the reason for its plummets in sales was poor management style who were reluctant to change company strategy and adapt; they were not ready for competition. Best Buy has made efforts to update management which had a positive outcome. We see in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2013 â€Å"the company reported net earnings of $293 million, compared to a loss of $379 million in the previous period, driven by its reduced costs and improved operational efficiency. The effort of the retailer to i mprove profitability, which includes reorganization of its field and store management structure (Wolf, A). Lastly, Best Buys strengths lie in customer service so the ability to attain strong customer relationships will go far. Some ideas to accomplish this is to provide better employee training to specialize employees to understand the customers wants and needs better. This will help make the employees more knowledgeable to offer more expertise help on particular products and features that other competitors simply cannot offer, which ultimately results in happy customers. When satisfied, the company back to the top as the number one electronics retailer.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Root Word Solve and Its Offshoots

The Root Word Solve and Its Offshoots The Root Word Solve and Its Offshoots The Root Word Solve and Its Offshoots By Mark Nichol A small family of words with the root word solve refer in some way to changing the physical or figurative state of something- naturally, since the Latin root of solve, solvere, means â€Å"dissolve, loosen, or solve.† Solve itself means â€Å"find an answer, explanation, or solution for.† One who solves is a solver (rarely used in isolation but part of the common phrase â€Å"problem solver†); something solved is a solution, and solution is also defined as a liquid in which something has been dissolved. To dissolve, in turn, is to cause something to pass into a solution (the liquid type), though it also means â€Å"destroy, disintegrate, or terminate† or â€Å"make legally void.† The noun for such an action is dissolution (not to be confused with disillusion, a synonym for disenchant as a verb and the noun disenchantment). Dissolve has also acquired a sense as a noun, used in cinematography to describe a transition achieved by gradual imposition of one image onto another, and it serves as a verb in that context as well. A solvent, meanwhile, is a liquid used to dissolve another substance, or anything that solves a problem or eliminates or diminishes an obstacle. Solvent can also be an adjective meaning â€Å"able to dissolve† or â€Å"able to pay debts.† The adjective soluble, by contrast, has the former sense but not the latter, though it also means â€Å"able to be explained or solved.† (The antonyms are insolvent and insoluble.) Absolve means â€Å"forgive† or â€Å"free from blame or responsibility†; an act taken to absolve someone is an absolution. (One is said to give or grant absolution.) Interestingly, the adjective absolute, meaning â€Å"complete† or â€Å"unlimited,† is related; it derives from the Latin term absolutus, meaning â€Å"absolve† or â€Å"set free.† Resolve, too, is related: To resolve is to find an answer or solution, or to make a serious decision or take a formal vote to do something. The noun form is resolution, though one can also use resolve as a noun, employing it as a synonym for determination, and the adjectival form is resolute. (The antonyms for the adjectives resolved and resolute are unresolved and irresolute, and a lack of resolution is irresolution.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:30 Synonyms for â€Å"Meeting†15 Great Word GamesHow to Send Tactful Emails from a Technical Support Desk