Kennedy Tapes Journalism article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kennedy Tapes Journalism - Article Example 22, 1963 in Dallas (John 8). Before and after becoming the president, Kennedy used a recording machine known as Dictaphone, typically for dictating notes or letters. In the given summer of 1962, he requested Secret Service Agent Robert Buck to hide recording devices in the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, and a library in the Mansion. He placed in the given basement of the given West Wing of the given White House two of these machines. This was a room set aside for storing private president’s files. He placed another in the basement of the Mansion (John 13). The West Wing recorders were connected by a wire to two microphones inside the Oval Office and two in the Cabinet Room. The two in the Cabinet Room were on the exterior wall, placed in two spots and covered by drapes. They got activated using a switch near the President’s sit at the Cabinet table easily being mistaken for a signal press. About microphones in the Oval Office, one placed in the kneehole of the President ’s desk and the other concealed under a coffee table athwart the room. Each of them turned on plus off with a given push on an unobtrusive button (John 7). In the paragraphs below are the most fascinating excerpts in these tapes. ... Washington Bubble Even about 50 years ago the president had worries over the disconnection between Washington D.C., from the rest of the nation. â€Å"We have got so mechanical an operation in Washington that it does not have much distinctiveness where these people get concerned,† he said to his aides. ‘Color Is Damn Good’. Kennedy worried on the minutiae in his political campaign too. Discussing the 1964 convention, he held that he wanted videos to be colored. â€Å"Should they be in color?† he asked (Richard Dean Burns 57).  . â€Å"They would come over the T.V in black and white,† (Richard Dean Burns 65).   I do not know if maybe they would come over the NBC 1in color. Perhaps a million watching it colored and it would have a cause. I do not know how much expensive it is. Be rather an effect on the convention. The color is damn good when done right† (Richard Dean Burns 40).   Frustration over Vietnam During an assembly in September 196 3, President Kennedy vented his frustration with contradictory reports about the Vietnam’s civil war. Gen. Victor Krulak was hopeful while State Department counselor Joseph Mendenhall, on the same fact finding operation, said there was extensive military and social restlessness. â€Å"You both went to the same nation,† Asked Kennedy (Richard Dean Burns 76).  . The officials laughed apprehensively. â€Å"I mean how is that you obtain such different—this is a common thing (Richard Dean Burns 76).  . On the one hand, one finds the military saying that the war is going well, and on the other hand, the political (view) with its deterioration is influencing the military. What is the cause for the

WHAT ARE THE RECENT TRENDS IN EUROBOND MARKET CONCENTRATE ON ISSUES OF Essay

WHAT ARE THE RECENT TRENDS IN EUROBOND MARKET CONCENTRATE ON ISSUES OF SIZE, VOLUME, BORROWERS AND INNOVATIONS - Essay Example Therefore, the market is highly dependent on the reputation of the issuer. The following discussion will see how the Eurobond market has grown since its inception to its current size. The essay will also discuss the current volume of the market and the diversity of the borrowers participating in the market. Finally, the essay will look at the innovations in the Eurobond market with major types of products offered in the market. The bond market is the primary provider of medium or long-term financing for corporations and the market is dominated by the Eurobonds in the international environment. Prior to the appearance of Eurobonds, long-term capital from international source was raised by floating a bond issue in some other country denominated in the currency and meeting the requirements of the country it was issued in. These are called foreign bonds and the total annual volume was an average of $2.6 billion from the period 1964 to 1974 (Smith, 2003). The number of foreign bonds increased substantially after 1974 because of the removal of US capital market controls. However, the number of foreign bonds traded is very small compared to the total international bond market. Smith (2003) points to the various reasons which hampered the growth of foreign bonds. These include the fact that issuers had to meet local requirements which caused delays while issuers prepared the necessary documents or permissions. Expenses were also high because of the underwriting fees and other expenses incurred by the issuer. The 1960s saw the emergence of Eurobonds which rapidly went on to dominate the international bond market. Originally, Eurobonds were unsecured promissory notes denominated in US dollars. They were not registered with US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and therefore could not be sold in US or to US citizens. They were sold to non-US residents, primarily wealthy individuals and foreign institutional investors. Madura (2006) mentions that the emergence of Eurobond market has been highly influenced by the introduction of Interest Equilisation Tax (IET) by the US government in 1963. This IET of 15% on interest received from foreign borrowers was originally designed to restrict foreign debt sold in US market and discourage investors in US from investing in foreign securities. However, the tax actually stimulated the development of Euromarkets and dollar driven financial activity in London. IET was removed in 1974. Eurobonds found further boost in 1984 when the US government repealed the 30% withholding tax on interest income paid to foreign persons or corporations. This allowed US corporations to issue bonds directly to non-US investors. Previously, many foreign investors showed reluctance in purchasing US corporate securities as US issuers were required to withhold part of the required interest payments in order to ensure any tax due would be paid. They were also required to disclose their names and addresses to the issuer. To attract such investors, American companies had to issue bonds in the bearer form through subsidiaries in various tax-haven jurisdictions, such as the Netherlands Antilles (Smith, 2003). Thus removing the withholding tax ensured that foreign investors could

Tescos Entry into China

Tescos Entry into China 1.0 Introduction Tesco is the largest UK retailer and it operating their business in the Europe and Asia. In this project it also discussed about Tesco enter to the China market. This project is divided into two parts, which is task 1 and task 2. Task 1 is discussed about the internal and external influences. Internal influences involve training and development, organization structure, leadership and product and services. Moreover, external influence includes PEST analysis and Porters Five Forces. Follow the task 2 is discussed about global political change influences on policies and decision-making and the effectiveness of Tesco. Lastly, is discussed about the improvement of Tesco. 1.1 Background of company Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK and is the third largest retailer in the world. Tesco operation in 14 countries and have 470,000 employees in the worlds. (Tesco corporate responsibility report, 2009) Tesco establish in 1932 by Jack Cohen in the UK. In 1974, Tesco open the first petrol station. In 2000, Tesco.com is established and Tesco sell the product through the internet. (Tesco plc, 2009) Now Tesco has become a successful online retailer. Tesco provide a lot of products and services to the customers such as food product, non-food product, finance services, insurances services, mobile services and so on. According to Gary Bowerman (2007), Tesco enter into China in 2004 by joint venture with a Chinese business partners which is called Ting Hsin. Nowadays, Tesco has 70 stores in China. (Tesco corporate responsibility report, 2009) 2.0 Internal Influences 2.1 Training and development Training and development * Establish Tesco Academy * Provide training to employees and managers * Examples: 1) Introduction training one day long training new employee must participate in this training (Laszlo Gulyas, n.d.) 2) Multi skills training learn different skills in the different position (Laszlo Gulyas, n.d.) 3) Technical training learn about technical capability in the organization (Tesco Plc, 2010) 4) Behavioral training learn about team work, communication and personality development ( Tesco Plc, 2010) 5) Other training Examples: elevator-operator training, hygiene training, barrowman training, inventory training and so on. (Laszlo Gulyas, n.d.) * Also got provide personal development plan * Employees will works across different areas of stores, to learn different skills and get more experiences * Using 360-degree appraisal (The Times 100, 2010) Table 2.1: Training and development 2.1.1Responses on the training and development Tesco provide a good training and development to their employees. Tesco establish a Tesco Academy for their employees to training. It also provides a lot of program for employees to join such as higher education program is to help employees to get the certifications. Through the training, it improves work efficiency of each employee. Besides that, Tesco using 360-degree appraisal, to make sure the training provided to the employees is efficient. The training provide by Tesco is not only for improved the present job it also for employees to prepare for their future job. Tesco can become a largest UK retailer because they have a group of efficient employees. 2.2 Organization Structure Organization Structure * Decentralized structure (Hedgehog, n.d.) * Hierarchical structure- is very easy to understand the structure -simple structure let employee easily to see who is in charge in each department (Hedgehog, n.d.) * Provide six works level to the employees (The Times 100, 2010) Table 2.2: Organization structure 2.2.1 Responses on the organization structure Tesco is a decentralized structure company. The decentralized structure are very effective because is able for store manager to make the decision. An example, the store manager is more understand the environment working; they can make an effective decision rather than top manager. Next, provide an opportunity for store manager to make decision is also a motivation for employee to work. Decentralized structure also can decrease red tape problem in Tesco. The hierarchical structure shows a very clear and the employees are easily to see who is in charge person. Besides that, there are six work levels in the Tesco. Each level requires specific skills from the employees. The purpose of this six work levels is want the employees to understand what kinds of skills they need. Tesco provide a very clear structure for employees to know what they should do in organization. Employees more understand their roles it can help to improve their works efficiency. A good and clear organization structur e can help Tesco growth rapidly. 2.3 Leadership Leadership  · Sir Terry Leahy, CEO at Tesco * He is a marketing genius, clear thinker and good listener * Global recession, sales of Tesco still growth * Tesco employee said that, he is a good boss to work for. He give reward to the employee who performance well. * The Tesco employee said that, â€Å" he never loses his temper or raises his voice† * Sir Terry Leahy says: â€Å"I believe a lot in people. I believe a lot in the potential of people. So, I have never lost that belief that people are capable of incredible things if you give them the confidence and opportunity†. ( Paul Vallely, 2009) * He chosen as Britains â€Å"Business Leader of the Year† in 2003 * He selected as most admired business leader by Management Today in 2005 * He selected as the most influential non-elected person in Britain in 2007 (Lancaster University, 2008) Table 2.3: Leadership 2.3.1 Responses on the leadership Sir Terry Leahy is a CEO of Tesco. The main reason Tesco can become the third largest food retailer in the whole world is because Tesco has a good leader. Sir Terry Leahy is a good business leader. Sir Terry Leahy is a good business leader, he was very power on promote potential employee. He believe that every person have their own strength, just waiting an opportunity for them to performance. Furthermore, he is a friendly person. He does not think he is a CEO; he will take lunch with colleague in the Tesco canteen. Next, when he goes to watch the football he does not sit in the director place, he will sit with the football fans. (Paul Vallely, 2009) He is a high EQ person; he does not lose his temper to their employees. According to the Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y, Sir Terry Leahy is a theory Y manager. Theory Y manager believe that employee in the right conditions will be work hard and also will increase the output. (Richard M. Hodgetts, et al., 2006, p.g399) By and larg e, leader is an important role in the company, it can influencing a company activities and employees performance. A good leader can lead a company to achieve a goal. Tesco can become successful is because they have a smart leader. 2.4 Product and services Product and services  · Food product: vegetables, fish, canned goods and etc.  · Non-food product: clothing, electronic product, stationery and so on.  · Electronic product produced by Tesco- Technika * Banking services- Tesco Bank * Insurances services, mobile services, petrol station, online sales and etc. * Tesco Clubcard (Wikepedia, 2010) Table 2.4: Product and services 2.4.1 Responses on the product and services Tesco sells a lot of food product, non-food product and services to the consumers. Tesco Clubcard is one of the services provide by Tesco to retain and attract customers. Tesco Clubcard holders can get the points when they purchase in Tesco. After collect enough points, consumers can use these points to exchange the Tesco voucher. In addition that, Tesco also sell the product through the internet, all the products are available on the internet in 24 hours. Tesco not only just focus on sells food products, it also has many other business such as banking, insurances, mobile services and so on. Although global recession but the sales of Tesco still increase because consumers are satisfied the product and services provide by Tesco. 3.0 External influences 3.1 PEST Analysis PEST analysis are stands for political, economic, social-cultural and technology. PEST analysis is used to look at the environment before start the business. In the following part, I will use PEST analysis to analyze the China market. 3.1.1 Political Political * China is a totalitarian government * In 17 September 2001, China has entered to World Trade Organization (WTO) (World Trade Organization, 2001) * China have a serious problem on human right issues -Death penalty, in 2008, China has the highest number of death penalty which is 1718 (Amnesty International, 2009) -One child policy-according to BBC News (2000), China introduces one-child policy to control population. * China has serious problem on corruption -According to the Global Competitiveness report (2009), the corruption problem rank numbers six in the China. -China gets 3.6 points, which 0 represent the most corrupt country. (Transparency International, 2009) Table 3.1.1: Political 3.1.1.1. Responses on the political China has inefficient government bureaucracy, it create red tape and corruption problem. A country has a serious corruption incident will affect poverty and income inequality by reducing economic growth and investors will lose of interest invest in the country. Red tape also effect all the process cannot run smoothly and every decision need to take a long time to getting approval. In the 21st century, government should respect the human right and must reduce the death penalty without conviction. As conclude, China government should reorganize the bureaucracy then the country will become more developed and prosperous. 3.1.2 Economic Economic * China economic growth rapidly * China every year increasing in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) * In 2007, the GDP of China was 33,535.3 billion yuan and raise 8.7 over the 2008. The GDP, 2005-2009 graphs shows it in appendix. (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2010) * 779.95 million people employed in China, 5.15 million more than 2008. (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2010) * Net income per capital of China urban raised 9.8% than 2008 and income per capital of rural raised 8.5% (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2010) Table: 3.1.2 Economic 3.1.2.1 Responses on the economic China has become a populous country and it is one of the most important countries for economy power. A lot of people said that, a company does not doing business with China is not consider as the developed company. Hence, China has become receiving most foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world. This proves that, China has become a powerful country. The economy of China has growth rapidly, the residents have earned more money and it also improves their standard of living. I believed that after the ten years, China will surpass the United Stated and become the largest and powerful economy in the world. 3.1.3 Social-cultural Social-cultural  · China has more than 1.3 billion people  · People Daily Online (2007) mention that China has 37 million more males than females because Chinese people traditional minds to prefer a boy.  · China has various regions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christian and so on.  · Most of the people speak Mandarin  · Important business culture: â€Å"guanxi†  · â€Å"guanxi† means good connection and good relationship with business partners. (Richard M. Hodgetts, et al., 2006, p.g.141)  · In a survey of 2000 people, 92% agree that â€Å"guanxi† play an important role in the daily life. (Rosalie L. Tung, 1996, p.g.239)  · Can send the gifts to business partners or government officials on festival such as Chinese New Year. Table 3.1.3: Social-cultural 3.1.3.1 Responses on the social-cultural China has more than 1.3 billion people and it is a very complicated country for the westerners. China has thousands years of history, it has a lot of culture and this is hard to understand by foreigners. For doing business in China, at least one of the investor must know how to speak in mandarin. Another important business culture that investors have to be aware is â€Å"guanxi†. â€Å"Guanxi† means good connection with business partners. (Richard M. Hodgetts, et al., 2006, p.g.141) In western perspective, â€Å"guanxi† means of bribery but this is very important business culture in China. Investors have a good relationship with people, the business can be more successful and it also can minimize the risks when doing business. Although we understand that â€Å"guanxi† is not a good behavior but we still need to follow their business culture because Chinese people got one famous dictum that is â€Å" Ru Jing Sui Su†, means every person go to a new en vironment, must follow their culture. 3.1.4 Technology Technology  · China has become the second largest online population after United States. (Mark Ward, 2005)  · According to Internet World Stats (2010), in 2009, internet user was increase 9.7% over previous years. The table of internet usage and population statistics in China shows it in appendix.  · Chinese people reject to use online for purchasing and payment because of worry about security.  · The China Market Research Group (CMR) has interviewed 500 young people, 80% people said that they have made online purchasing and they will purchase again in the future. (Shaun Rein, 2008)  · In 2009, China government spending US$78.3bn on improve technology to create a good technology environment. (Research and markets, 2010) Table 3.1.4: Technology 3.1.4.1 Responses on the technology Although the report shows that China people satisfied with online purchasing and payment but I believed that still a lot of people worry about the security on payment and purchasing. Making e-business in China seems to be challenge for the investors. China government already spends a lot of money to improve the technology, after few years, China will become a potential country for doing e-business. 3.2 Porters Five Forces According to businessballs.com (2009), Porters five forces model provide â€Å"a simple perspective for assessing and analyzing the competitive strength and position of a corporation or business organization.† Porters five forces include the degree of rivalry, threats of new entrants, threats of substitutes, buyer power and supplier power. In this part, I will use Porters five forces to analyze the China market. 3.2.1 Degree of rivalry Degree of rivalry Local competitors * LianHua supermarket * More than 3870 supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience store * The largest store in China * Strong competitors of Tesco (Yahoo Finance, 2010) Another strong local competitors * Hualian hypermarket * Wumart * Wuhan Zhunghai (Jean Kinsey and Min Xue, 2005) Foreign competitors * Carrefour -in 1995 moving to China -Carrefour as the largest foreign retailer in China -more than 345 stores * Wal-Mart -in 1996 moving to China * Metro -in 1996 moving to China (Jean Kinsey and Min Xue, 2005) Table 3.2.1: Degree of rivalry 3.2.1.1 Responses on the degree of rivalry Tesco has a lot of strong competitors in China such as LianHua supermarket, Hualian hypermarket Carrefour, Wal-Mart and so on. Tesco is hard to compete with them. One of the reasons is LianHua and Hualian is a local supermarket, its have a lot of knowledge about the Chinese consumers needs and the culture in China. Secondly, Carrefour, Wal-Mart and Metro have more than 10 years experience in China market. They are more understood the culture and customer needs rather than Tesco. Thirdly, Carrefour and Wal-Mart have more than 10 years in China; consumers are ready to accept them. Tesco is a new store in China; the consumers may take some time to accept the Tesco. Furthermore, the local competitors are very smart, they are very fast to copy the successful strategies from others companies and using this strategies to run their business. As conclude, Tesco has very tough competitors in China and they still got a long way to pay the effort to understand the China market and improve their marketing strategies. 3.2.2 Threat of new entrants Thereat of new entrants  · China is an attractive market for investors to enter  · Low barriers to enter.  · China government should set the block, control the foreign competitors enter. Table 3.2.2: Threat of new entrants 3.2.2.1 Responses on threat of new entrants After China join the WTO, the China become open market for foreign company. The foreign companies are very easier entering to China market. China government encourage foreign supermarket enter to China because it can provide a lot of job opportunities to the people. More people get the job it can improve the standard living and economic in China. China is look like gold-mine for investors, so it keep more foreign supermarket enter and it create a price war problem. Hence, the China government should set the block to control the foreign competitors enter. 3.2.3 Threats of substitute concepts Threats of substitute concepts * E-shopping -convenience, efficient, faster and available in 24 hours * Roadside market -consumer can bargaining the price of product * 7-eleven -convenience and available in 24 hours * Wet market -consumers can bargaining the price -consumers enjoy in the bargaining process especially old people -human contact Table 3.2.3: Threats of substitute concepts 3.2.3.1 Responses on threats of substitute concepts E-shopping, roadside market, 7-eleven and wet market is the substitute of Tesco. Now are more people prefer e-shopping because it save time, convenience and flexible. It just simply click the mouse, the product will delivered to our house. For the old people, they more prefer go to roadside and wet market. They like have a human contact with the owner of the stores. They also can bargain the price of product in the roadside and wet market and they enjoy the bargaining process. Moreover, 7-eleven also can consider as the substitute of Tesco. 7-eleven operate 24 hours, consumers can purchase the product in anytime they like. Even though roadside and wet market is the substitute of Tesco but I believe that in the future Tesco will replace the roadside and wet market. 3.2.4 Buyer power Buyer power  · Improve on standard living, increase in purchasing power and more people prefer go to supermarket.  · China ranks number two in buying power. (Tim Ahmann, 2008)  · More people prefer quality product  · China people prefer to buy a foreign product rather than local product. (K M Rehan Salahuddin, 2009) Table 3.2.4: Buyer power 3.2.4.1 Responses on buyer power China has huge populations that are over 1.3 billion people. Just imagine that, if every family go to Tesco purchase the product, Tesco can earn a lot of profits. Furthermore, the economics of China growth rapidly it has lead to increase the standard of living for the Chinese people and also affect them prefer go to supermarket rather than roadside and wet market. In the present time, Chinese people have more demanding on foreign and quality product. It is because they started aware on the quality of product, the customer services, the warranty and after sales services. Thus, the buyer power in China is very high. 3.2.5 Supplier power Supplier power * Difficult for small farmers to produce a large quantities and high quality crops. * Supplier powers are very low. (Jean Kinsey and Min Xue, 2005) Table 3.2.5: Supplier power 3.2.5.1 Responses on supplier power In China, the small farmers are difficult supply a large quantities crops to the market. Besides that, government prevents farmer over produce and the farmers just can cultivates about one hectare. (Jean Kinsey and Min Xue, 2005) Although the bargaining suppliers are low in China but Tesco has a good supply chain and they still can get the crops they want. Appendix YEAR Users Population % Pen. Usage Source 2000 22,500,000 1,288,307,100 1.7 % ITU 2001 33,700,000 1,288,307,100 2.6 % ITU 2002 59,100,000 1,288,307,100 4.6 % ITU 2003 69,000,000 1,288,307,100 5.4 % CNNIC 2004 94,000,000 1,288,307,100 7.3 % CNNIC 2005 103,000,000 1,289,664,808 7.9 % CNNIC 2006 137,000,000 1,317,431,495 10.4 % CNNIC 2007 162,000,000 1,317,431,495 12.3 % CNNIC 2008 253,000,000 1,330,044,605 19.0 % CNNIC 2009 384,000,000 1,338,612,968 28.7 % CNNIC

The catcher in the rye :: essays research papers

"The Catcher In The Rye" In the novel The Catcher In The Rye we read about a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield. The story starts off telling us about how he gets kicked out of a preppy High School and uses his parents money to move to New York. Throughout the story we see Holden expressing different types of personality: The one he shows the world, which I believe is that he is an intelligent young man that doesn’t try, who he thinks he is, which is a depressed person who is looking for companionship, and who he really is, a sacred kid who who doesn’t know what he wants out of life. Holden went to Pencey Prep., which is a High School in Agerstown Pennsylvania. He was thrown out of the school because he was failing almost all his classes except for English. Holden has the ability to pass his classes and even with good grades but he doesn’t apply himself. This is what Holden shows the world, he is capable of passing and is intelligent but doesn’t try. â€Å"They gave me frequent warning to start applying myself-especially around midterms,...but I didn’t do it.† (Salinger 4) Also as Holden talks throughout the story we can tell that he is very intelligent because of the way he describes everything, even though his grammar isn’t so well. Underneath Holden’s act of being this kid who just doesn’t try I think inside he thinks he is depressed and doesn’t care about anything. He gets kicked out of High School and doesn’t try to go to another one, instead he goes to New York looking for sex and traveling form bar to bar for people to talk to. He winds up talking with people he really doesn’t like because he is just looking for companionship, like the three girls he met in the bar and the taxi cab driver who he talks to about what happens to the fish in the lake when it freezes. He even hires a prostitute to have sex but winds just talking to her about nothing because essentially he wants to a friend. He says to the prostitute â€Å"Don’t you feel like talking for a while† (Salinger 95) In my opinion, Holden is really scared of life. He doesn’t know what he wants out of it and he is afraid that if he tries to get what he wants he will screw it up. For example Holden asks old Sally to run away with him and settle down in Vermont or Mass.

Human and Technology

March 2013 Technopoly Neil Postman’s 1992 book, entitled Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, is one that explores the fear of the growing realization that we have become a society dominated by technology. Although many people in todays day and age would say that technology and the large array of technological advances of the past decade or so, are both a friend and an enemy, in that they have both benefits and downfalls, Postman’s book arrives at the topic with a pessimistic view of what the dangers of technology is doing to our culture.Postman opens up his book with a story of the fictional character named Thamus. Retelling the story of Thamus is key in that it opens the door to the notion that we should fear large shifts in where we place our trust of language and it’s understanding. The story of Thamus describes the reluctance to evolve out of oral tradition into writing essay writer prank. The point Thamus makes is that writing will ultimately hinder people because it will no longer require them to exercise their memory, thus they’d become very forgetful with the things they learn.Technopoly does a great job of putting the reader in the position to stop thinking about all the â€Å"great† things that technology and its advances will do for us, and encourages us to take a look into what these technologies will undo for us as a nation. Telegraphy is a topic that is discussed in the book. Neil Postman’s believes that the telegraph changed communication forever. Prior to Samuel Morse’s 1843 invention, information could only travel from one place to another as fast as a train could travel. Which around the time of the invention of the telegraph was about 35 mph.This invention thus removed space as an inevitable constraint on the movement of information. Telegraphy also changed the communication from a process of understanding into solving a particular problem. Rather than seeing communication as a learning process needed to develop understanding, this quick and easily accessible â€Å"information† became context-free information, thus in a way making information a commodity. Telegraphy indefinitely drastically changed the history of communication by essentially instigating the next stage of the â€Å"information revolution†. In Postman’s book, Technopoly is this culture that has deified technology.Although telegraphy is believed to have been what started it, Postman looks at today’s culture and what it has become as a result of our infatuation with technology. It has progressed to the point that we have basically developed something that can think better than we can, and are now finding that individuals and society as a whole is indeed seeking out and finding purpose and direction from technology. We, as a nation, used to be controlled by religious and social traditions, but now the sad reality is that human life has been reduced to finding meaning in machines.So in attempting to answer the question of whether or not we are a society dominated by technology, Technopoly makes a pretty convincing argument that we in fact are. Looking at how technology has changed how we operate in areas like science, medicine, language, and education, is where we will be able to see the significant shift that has taken place in the past few decades. In regards to the medical industry, one example of the effects of technology has been the shift in trust from man to machine.Doctors actually trust blindly what machines and tests have to say about the well being of a patient. Granted there are hundreds of pros that come with these medical advances, but the cons are in fact doctors losing their bedside manner, or their weighing of the patients verbal complaints. Another negative effect technology has had on the medical industry is that dehumanization of the patients have become more and more prevalent. Problems are being fixed, rather than patients being cured. In regards to language and science, technology has also had society altering effects.Our language and how we communicate has become digitalized. No long are communities coming together for block parties, but rather they are all â€Å"friend requesting† their neighborhood’s Facebook Page. With science, or the industry side of our nation, humans are being replaced with more efficient machines. They cost less to operate and maintain and can be perhaps 1,000 times as productive in a 24 hour period than a human being could be. One last area, in which Technopoly discusses the negative effects that technology is responsible for, is the area of education in our nation.The book states that, â€Å"knowledge is not a fixed thing but a stage in human development, with a past and future. † (Postman 190) This idea then infers the question of, what should technology’s role be in education? Education how it was intended to be instills not only knowledge but also a sense of meaning and purpose in a child. Postman’s book then argues that computers, a key symbol in Technopoly, undermine this old idea of school. They do so by eliminating a dependency on an educational environment that values group learning, cooperation, and social responsibility.In conclusion, it would be foolish of us to denounce the reality that technology and its advances have brought a world of good into our way of life. Having been aware of this though, we need to also become aware of the fact that as much of a friend as technology has been and always will be to us, it can also be our worst enemy that very well might lead us into a future filled with ignorance. Works Cited Postman, Neil. Technopoly: The Surrender Of Culture To Technology. New York: Vintage, 1993. Print.

Holly Fashion

cASE 6 HOLLY FASHIONS RAT I O A N A LYSI S Billion-dollal a pparel c ompanies s uch a s C alvin K lein a nd L iz C laiborne a re unusual i n t he g arment i ndustry, w hich c onsists p rimarily o f m uch s malier apparel m akers. O ne s uch f irm i s H olly F ashions ( HF), l ocated i n C herry F lill, New J eriey. H F w as s tarted 1 4 y ears a go b y W illiam H amilton a nd J ohn W hite, who b etween t hem h ad o ver 2 5:yearso f e xperiencew ith a m ajor g arment m anufacturer.A nd t he p artnership i nitially b lended v ery w ell. H amilton, r eserved and i ntrospective, i s e xtremely c reative w ith a r eal f lair f or m erchandising a nd trend s potting. M ainly a s a r esult o f h is g enius, t he H F l abel i s s ynonymous with q uality a nd † tn† f ashions. ‘ h ite, o Utgoing a nd f orceful, h as c ontributed important m erchandising a nd m arketing i deas, b ut h as m ainly a ssumed t he duties o f t he f irm's c hief o perating o fficer.Hamilton h as h a d l ittle i nterest i n t he f inancial a spectso f t he c ompany, m uch preferring t o w ork o n d esigning n ew f ashions a nd t he d evelopment o f m arketing s trategies. A f ew m onths a go, h owever', h e d ecided t hat h e h ad b etter' become m ore i nvolved w ith t hd c ompany's f inancials. His m otivation i s t wofold. F irst, h e i s c onsidering t he s ale o f h is 5 0 p ercent interest i n H F. T hough h e m joys t he c reative s ide o f t he b usiness,h e i s t ired o f the c ash c runches t hat t he f irm h as e xperiencedi n r ecent y ears.P eriodically, t he retailers H F d eals w ith h ave e ncountered f inancial p loblems a nd h ave s tlung out t heir p ayments, w hich o ften c aused a m ad s cramble f or c ash a t H F A nd i f Hamilton d ecides t o s ell, h e k nows t hat h e i s l ikely t o b e i nvolved i n s ome stressful n egotiations s urrounding t he c ompany's v a1ue. T hough h e w ould h ire a c onsultant t o a id h im i n a ny,negotiations,h e d ecides i t i s a g ood i dea t o e ducate h imself a bout H F's f inancials.Another r eason t hat H amilton i s i nterested i n t he f irm's f inancials i s s o h e can b etter j udge t he m anagerial c ompetence o f l Alhite. Ahen I IF w as s mall Hamilton t hought W hite d id a f ine j ob, b ut n ow h e w onders w hether / hite i s capable o f r unning a f irm a s l arge a s H F. A ctually, i f H amilton w ere c onvinced that W hite i s a c ompetent m anager, h e w ould n ot c onsider s elling o ut s ince h e 36 PARTI I F INANCIALA NALYSIS genuinely e ntoys b eing a n o wner o f a n a pparel f irm.B ut h e t hinks t he a pparel industry w ill f ace e ven t ougher t imes i n t he n ext f ew y ears, a nd w onders i f ltrhite i s t alented e nough t o s uccessfullym eet t hese c hallenges. BORROWING CONCEB. NS A4rite's p ersonality i s s uch t hat h e m akes v irtually a ll m ajor o perating a nd financial d ecisions. A n i mportant e xample o f t his w as h is d ecision t hree y ears ago t o r etire a ll l ong-term d ebt/ a m ove t riggered b y W hite's f ear t hat H F's b usiness r isk w as i ncreasing.H e c ited t he d ifficulties o f s eemingly r ock-solid r etailers l ike B loomingdale's a nd C ampeau t o s upport h is c laim. I M-Lite i s a lso concerned t hat f irms t he s ize o f H F h ave h ad d ifficulty m aintaining s table b ank relationships. D ue t o i ncreasingly s trict f ederal r egulations, s ome b anks h ave called i n l oans a t t he s lightest t echnicality, a nd m ost a re s crutinizing n ew b usiness l oans v ery c arefully. C onsequently W hite v iews b ank d ebt f inancing a s â€Å"unreliable† a nd t hinks t hat l oan o fficers a re c apable o f † chewing u p m y t ime. Harnilton isn't sure what to make of these arguments, but he is concerned that this debt avoidance has significantly reduced FIF's financial flexibility because it means that all protects will have to be equity financed. In fact, over the past five years t here h ave b een n o d ividends b ecausea ll e arnings h ave b een r einvested. And two years ago each of the partners had to contribute $15,000of capital in order to m eet t he c ompany's c ashn eeds. A nother i nfusion o f c apital m ay b e n ecessary sincet he f irm's p resentc ashp osition i s l ow b y h istorical s tandards. ( See xhibit 2 . E More j mportantly, h owever, H amilton f eels t hat t he c ompany i s n ot b enefiting f rom t he l everage e ffect o f d ebt f inancing, a nd t hat t his h urts t he p rofitabiiity o f t he f lrm t o t he t wo o whers. WORKING CAPITAL CONCERNS Hamilton s uspectst hat F {F'si nventory i s † excessive† a nd t hat † capital i s u nnecessarily t ied u p i n i nventory. † n/hite's p osition i s t hat a l arge i nventory i s n ecessary t o p rovide s peedy d elivery t o c ustomers. H e a rgues t hat † our c ustomers expect q uick s ervice a nd a l arge i nventory h elps u s t o p rovide i t. Hamilton is skeptical of t his argument and wonders if there isn't a mole efficient w ay o f p roviding q uicker s ewice. H e k nows t hat a c onsultant r ecommended t hat H I † very s eriously† c onsiderb uilding a s tate-of-the-artd istribution center. T he p roposed f acility w ould a liow F {F t o r educe i nventory a ld a lso handle big orders from retailers such as Kmart and Wal-Mart. VVhite rejected the suggestion a rguing t hat t he e sttnated $ S-million t o $ 8-mi11ion ost i s e xcessive. c Hamiiton a lso q uestions / hite's c redit s tandards a nd c ollection p rocedures.Hamilton t hinks t hat / hite h as b een q uite g enerous i n g ranting p ayment extensions t o c ustomers, a nd a t o ne p oint n early 4 0 p ercent o f t he c ompany's receivablesw ere m ore t han 9 0'davs o verdue. F urther. / hite w ould c ontinue t o . C ASE6 H OLLYF ASHIONS 37 accept and ship orders to these qetailers eyen when it was clear that their ability t o p ay w as m arginal. l hite's p osition i s t h at. he d oesn't w ant t o l ose s ales and that the rough times these retailers face are only temporary. Hamilton also wonders about the wisdom of passing up trade discounts. HF is frequently offered terms ol 1. 1. 0, net 30. That is, the company receives a l-percent discount if a bill is paid in ten days and in any event full payment is expected within 30 days. ffiite rarely takes these discounts because he â€Å"wants t o h old o nto o ur c ash a s l ong a s p ossible. † H e a lso n otes t hat † the d iscount isn't especially generous emd 99 percent of the bill must still be paid. † FINAL THOUGHTS Despite ill of Hamilton's concems, however, the retationship between the two partners has been relatively smooth over the years. And Hamilton admits that he may be unduly critical of y'hite's management decisions. After al1,†he concedes, † the m an s eems t o h ave r easonsf or w hat h e d oes, a rd w e h ave b een i n the black every year since we started , which is an impressive record, really, for a f um i n o ur b usiness. † Further, Hamilton has discussed with two condultants the possibility of selling his half of the firm. Since FIF is not publicly traded, the market value of the company's s tock m ust b e e stimated. T hesec onsultants b elieve t hat H F i s w orth between $55 and $55 per share, figures that â€Å"seem quite good† to Hamilton. QUESTIONS 1 Calculate the firm's 1995ratios listed in Exhibit 3. . P art o f H amilton's e valuationw ill c onsisto f c omparingt he f irm's r atios t o . the industry numbers shown in Exhibit 3. (a) Discuss the limitations of such a comparative financial analysis. (b) In view of these limitations, why are such industry comparisons so frequentlym ade? 3, Hamilton thinks thai the profitability of the firm to the owners hasbeenhurt by White's reluctanceto use ftuch inteiest-bearing debt. Is this a reasonable position? E xplain. 4. The case mentions that {hite rarely takes trade discounts, which are typically 1 /10, n et 3 0.D oest his s eeml ike a w ise f inancialm ove? E xplain. 5. C alculatet he c ompany'sm arket-to-book dV/BV) r atio. ( Therea re 5 ,000 O shares f c ommons tock. ) o 6. Hamilton's position is that White has not competently managed the firm. Defend this position using your previous an. swers nd other information in a the c ase. 38 PARTII FINANCIAL ANALYSIS 7. Vy'hite's position is that he has effectively managed the firm. Defend this position using your previous answers and other information in the case. 8. Play the role of an arbitratoi.Is it possible based on an examination of the firm's r atios a nd o ther i nformation i n t he c aset o a ssessW hite's m anagerial competmce? Defend your position. 9. ( a) A re t he r atios y ou c alcul:ited b ased o n m arket o r b ook v alues? E xplain. (b) W ould y ou p refer r atios b ased o n m arket c ir b ook v alues? E xplain. EXHIBIT 1 Holly F ashions'I ncome S tatements:1 993-1996 ( 000s) 1993 Sales Costo f g oods Grossmargin Adrrinistrative Dq)reciation EBIT lnterest EBT Taxes Net income 1994 1995 1996 $985. 0 748. 6 236. 4 169. 4 10. 8 56. 1 7. O 49. 1 19. 7 $1,040. 0 n4. $1,236. 0 $1,305. 0 978. 8 202. 8 1 14 51. 0 4t. 0 18. 0 $27. 0 a7a', 307. 8 236,I 13. 6 58. 1 53. 1 21. 7 _-$3L9 249. 3 '14 4 62. 6 58. 5 23. 5 ___$99! EXHIBIT 2 BalanceS heetso { t he H olly F ashionsC ompany: f 993-1996 ( 000s) 1993 ASSETS Cash $40. 4 Receivables r53. 2 Inventory 117. 0 5. 9 Other cwrent Current assets ‘u. 8 Grossf ixed Accumulaied depreciation (12. 0) 32. 8 Net fixed Totala ssets $349. 3 1994 1995 1996 $s1. 9 158. 9 121. 1 6. 2 338. 0 58. 9 (23. 4) __35t $38. 6 ‘t75. 1 $10. 6 224. 8 19L. 9 7. 8 435. 1 96. 4' (s1. 4) 45. 0 $480. 1 193. 4 7. 4 414. 5 78. 1. _a;l continued) C ASE6 H OLLYF ASHIONS 39 EXHIBIT 2 (Contirwed) t993 LIAB]LITIES & NET WORTH Accounts payable Debt due Accruals Current liabilities Long-term debt Common s tock Retained e arnings Total L &NW $53. 8 10 . 0 | 1 9. 7 , 8 3. 5 60. 0 150_0 1994 1995 r996 $v. f $85. 2 10. 0 24. 7 120. 9 40. 0 180. 0 114. 6 $u. 2 10. 0 26. L 120. 3 30. 0 180. 0 149. 8 $48q. 1 10. 0 26. 0 90. 7 50. 0 150. 0 82. 8 $349. 3 $455t EXHIBIT 3 Financial R atios { ot t hb H olly F ashionsC ompany: 1 993-1996 Ind*r11 (Presen] r993 r994 1995. 3. 7 3. 4 2. 6 ‘L7 1. 8 1. 3 1. 6 .8 r996 1993-19961. Liquidity RatiosCurlent Quick Leverage atios R Deb(%) 41.. 1 37. 7 35. 3 8. 0 8. 5 11. 6 6. 4 6. 4 4. 8 FixedA sset Turnover 30. 0 29. 3 30. 1 TotalA sset Turnovet 2. 8 2. 8 2. 7 Timesinterest eamed Activity Ratios lnventory Tulnover (CGS) 47 57 71 3. 9 1. 3 8. 1 6. 0 40 25 72 3. 5 2. 8 2. 0 (continued) P ARTI I F INANCIALA NALYSIS DGIIBIT 3 (Conrinued) Ifld – r) 1993 1994 1995 AverageCollection Period Days Pulchases Outstanding** (Present) 1996 1993-1996+ 50 68 18 31 25 32 ProfitabilityR atios M Gross argin ( %) 24. 0 25. 5 24. 9 Net Profit Margin (%) 3. 0 2. 6 2. 6 Return on Equity (%) 14. 3 11. 6 0. 8 8. 4 7. 2 7. 0 5. 8 6. 0 6. L Retum on Total ( Assets %) Operating Margin*** (%) 26 3. 1 ‘1. 2 27. 3 19. 5 7. 8 11. 8 8. 7 9. 9 7. 2 3. 1 iThe thrâ‚ ¬e numbers for each ratio arc comPuted in the following wsy. Ratios for all firms in dre indushy are arranged in what is considerâ‚ ¬d a strontest-to-weakest order' The middle number rePlâ‚ ¬senis the median ratioj that is, half the firms in the industry had mtios better than the median ratio and half had ratios that werâ‚ ¬ worse The top nunlber represents the uPPer qua4ile figure; meaning 25 Pelcent of the firms had ratios befter tlran this.The lower number represents the lowest quaftile, that is, 25 Percent of the firms had ratios worse than this. *†This shows the average lentth of time that trade debt is ouhtandint. AIso caled the averate Paymeni Period. Calculated ; is A /P – ( CGS/360). 1**Calculateda s ( EBIT + D ep)/Sales.