ABC Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ABC Company - Research Paper Example Completion Income charge payable (10,000) (30,000) Net income from working exercises (164,000) Analysis of ABC Co.’s Cash Flow A company’s working income demonstrates the income produced from working together over a predefined period less the working costs (Howell and Bain, 2008). This is a significant procedure since it enables an organization to decide if the business has a solid budgetary situation between the one given on paper and the one that is relevant by and by. From the aftereffects of ABC’s working income, the organization is encountering a negative income. In spite of the fact that this is typical once in a while, it is as yet a reason to get excited to the organization the executives. The circumstance demonstrates that the organization is going through more cash than it is getting. This is a typical marvel with new organizations, in any case, the circumstance is perilous if constant as time goes on (Lerner, 1995). There are a few explanations behind a negative income yet the fundamental driver incorporate poor obligation assortment, high working expenses, and awful business choices. On account of ABC Company, there are three likely purposes behind the negative income. These are significant expenses of merchandise sold which for the most part comprises of buys. The other explanation is poor obligation assortment, the company’s accounts proclamation demonstrates that the net records receivable were still exceptionally high with a little edge having been gathered contrasted with the past period’s accounts. The third explanation is the idea of the organization, with a 25% development in deals it implies the organization is a quickly developing organization, which results into huge increment in the company’s working capital. To improve the income circumstance at ABC, the organization needs to diminish its spending and increment its business (Laughlin, Bebbington, and Gray, 2001)However, the best choice in... ABC Company Other than confronting rivalry from different organizations that manage cedar in making material and siding shingles, ABC additionally faces rivalry from items made of iron and earth, which are working in a similar market. In any case, cedar items have a higher upper hand over comparative items in the market made of iron or mud. The primary weakness of cedar material and siding items is the connected value, which may prompt potential purchasers settling for less expensive iron items. ABC Company is in this way liable to keep up its development with negligible deviation either downwards or upwards. These deviations might be a direct result of the unforgiving monetary occasions compelling numerous mortgage holders to incline toward less expensive iron items or mud items for their material and siding. Natural preservation developments are additionally influencing the business contrarily (Sparrow Exteriors, 2013). These preservation strategies are thus making the expense of crude materia ls for cedar material tiles to be increasingly costly. Reveling into another undertaking, for example, constructing the dollhouse could be a reasonable answer for the organization to meet its objective of $3 million in the following three years. Being the company’s controller, my goal is to make a severe financial plan and evaluate all the representatives towards the undertaking with the goal that I can guarantee everything goes as indicated by the set spending limits. The CEO ought to attempt the new undertaking. After cautiously thought of its overall revenue and the costs in question, the task is probably going to enable the organization to meet its objective.

Google Company Team Essay

Supervisory crew Larry Page and Sergey Brin established Google in September 1998. From that point forward, the organization has developed to in excess of 30,000 workers around the world, with a supervisory crew that speaks to the absolute most experienced innovation experts in the business. Official Officers Larry Page CEO As Google’s CEO, Larry is liable for Google’s everyday activities, just as driving the company’s item advancement and innovation methodology. He helped to establish Google with Sergey Brin in 1998 while seeking after a Ph.D. at Stanford University, and was the principal CEO until 2001â€growing the organization to in excess of 200 workers and productivity. From 2001 to 2011, Larry was leader of items. Larry holds a bachelor’s certificate in designing from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a master’s qualification in software engineering from Stanford University. He is an individual from the National Advisory Committee (NAC) of the University of Michigan College of Engineering, and along with fellow benefactor Sergey Brin, Larry was respected with the Marconi Prize in 2004. He is a trustee on the leading body of the X PRIZE, and was chosen for the National Academy of Engineering in 2004. Eric E. Schmidt Executive Chairman Since joining Google in 2001, Eric Schmidt has developed the organization from a Silicon Valley startup to a worldwide pioneer in innovation. As official executive, he is liable for the outside issues of Google: building organizations and more extensive business connections, government effort and innovation thought authority, just as exhorting the CEO and senior administration on business and arrangement issues. From 2001-2011, Eric filled in as Google’s CEO, regulating the company’s specialized and business procedure nearby organizers Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Under his administration, Google significantly scaled its foundation and expanded its item contributions while keeping up a solid culture of development. Preceding joining Google, Eric was the director and CEO of Novell and boss innovation official at Sun Microsystems, Inc. Beforehand, he served on the exploration staff at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Bell Laboratories and Zilog. He holds a bachelor’s certificate in electrical designing from Princeton University just as a master’s qualification and Ph.D. in software engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Eric is an individual from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council in the U.K. He was chosen for the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and accepted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as an individual in 2007. He additionally seats the leading group of the New America Foundation, and since 2008 has been a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Sergey Brin Co-Founder Sergey Brin helped to establish Google Inc. in 1998. Today, he coordinates extraordinary activities. From 2001 to 2011, Sergey filled in as leader of innovation, where he shared duty regarding the company’s everyday activities with Larry Page and Eric Schmidt. Sergey got a bachelor’s qualification with distinction in arithmetic and software engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park. He is right now on leave from the Ph.D. program in software engineering at Stanford University, where he got his master’s certificate. Sergey is an individual from the National Academy of Engineering and a beneficiary of a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. He has distributed in excess of twelve scholastic papers, including Extracting Patterns and Relations from the World Wide Web; Dynamic Data Mining: A New Architecture for Data with High Dimensionality, which he distributed with Larry Page; Scalable Techniques for Mining Casual Structures; Dynamic Itemset Counting and Implication Rules for Market Basket Data; and Beyond Market Baskets: Generalizing Association Rules to Correlations. Nikesh Arora Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer Nikesh manages all income and client activities, just as advertising and organizations. Since joining Google in 2004, he has held a few situations with the organization. Most as of late, he drove Google’s worldwide direct deals tasks. He likewise created and dealt with the company’s activities in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets and was answerable for making and extending key associations in those locales to help Google’s developing number of clients and sponsors. Before joining Google, he was head advertising official and an individual from theâ management board at T-Mobile Europe. While there, he initiated all item advancement, terminals, brand and advertising exercises of T-Mobile Europe. In 1999, he began working with Deutsche Telekom and established T-Motion PLC, a portable sight and sound auxiliary of T-Mobile International. Preceding joining Deutsche Telekom, Nikesh held administration positions at Putnam Investments and Fidelity Investments in Boston. Nikesh holds a master’s certificate from Boston College and a MBA from Northeastern University, the two of which were granted with unique excellence. He additionally holds the CFA assignment. In 1989, Nikesh moved on from the Institute of Technology in Varanasi, India with a bachelor’s certificate in electrical building. David C. Drummond Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond joined Google in 2002, at first as VP of corporate turn of events. Today as senior VP and boss lawful official, he drives Google’s worldwide groups for lawful, government relations, corporate turn of events (M&A and venture ventures) and new business advancement (vital associations and authorizing openings). David was first acquainted with Google in 1998 as an accomplice in the corporate exchanges bunch at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, one of the nation’s driving law offices speaking to innovation organizations. He filled in as Google’s first outside advice and worked with Larry Page and Sergey Brin to join the organization and secure its underlying rounds of financing. During his residency at Wilson Sonsini, David worked with a wide assortment of innovation organizations to assist them with overseeing complex exchanges, for example, mergers, acquisitions and introductory open contributions. David earned his bachelor’s qualification in history from Santa Clara University and his JD from Stanford Law School. Patrick Pichette Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette is Google’s CFO. He has about 20 years of involvement with budgetary tasks and the board in the media communications segment, including seven years at Bell Canada, which he participated in 2001 as official VP of arranging and execution the executives. During his time at Bell Canada, he held different official positions, including CFO from 2002 until the finish of 2003, and was instrumental in the administration of theâ most broad interchanges arrange in Canada and its continuous relocation to another national IP-based foundation. Before joining Bell Canada, Patrick was an accomplice at McKinsey and Company, where he was a lead individual from McKinsey’s North American Telecom Practice. He likewise filled in as VP and CFO of Call-Net Enterprises Inc., a Canadian broadcast communications organization. Patrick has been an individual from the directorate of Amyris, Inc., a manufactured science organization, since March 2010, and serves on its Audit Committee and Leadership Development and Compensation Committee. He additionally serves on the leading body of Trudeau Foundation. Patrick earned a bachelor’s certificate in business organization from Universitã © du Quã ©bec à Montrã ©al. He holds a master’s certificate in theory, legislative issues and financial aspects from Oxford University, where he went to as a Rhodes Scholar.

How Long Does It Take to Become a Psychologist

How Long Does It Take to Become a Psychologist Student Resources Careers Print How Long Does It Take to Become a Psychologist? By maliafreyme.com Updated on January 08, 2020 More in Student Resources Careers APA Style and Writing Study Guides and Tips When considering a career in psychology, you will likely wonder how much time it will take to become licensed and what type of degrees youll need to attain. The answer is not always so cut-and-dry. The amount of time it takes to complete your college education depends largely on your specialty area and career interests. In most cases, becoming a licensed psychologist can take as little as eight years or as long as 12 years. If you are considering a career in psychology, it is important to be aware of all of the educational and training requirements it takes to become a licensed psychologist. Take the time to research all of your options and carefully examine your goals before you decide if this is the right career for you. Illustration by Joshua Seong, Verywell Educational Requirements At a minimum, you will want to earn your undergraduate  degree in psychology  or in a related field such as sociology, education, anthropology, or social work.?? Then, you will want to decide if you want to earn a doctorate-level degree. The reason you should make a decision at this point is due to the fact that many programs do not offer a terminal masters degree in psychology. In such cases, you will enroll in a graduate program after earning your bachelors degree and then spend four  to seven years working on your doctorate. To become a clinical psychologist, you will need an undergraduate degree (four to five years of college) plus a doctorate degree (four  to seven years of graduate school). For this specialty area, most people will spend between eight  to 12 years in higher education. Of course, there are other career options in psychology that do not require as many years of college. For example, you could become a  licensed marriage and family therapist  with a masters degree, which would require two  to three years of graduate study. If you decide not to pursue a doctorate at this point, you should start looking at different masters degree programs in psychology or in related fields such as counseling or social work. Bachelor’s Degree You might want to begin by earning your undergraduate degree in psychology, but some people choose to pursue a degree in a related social science field. While it depends upon the requirements of the individual graduate school you attend, some programs also accept students who have undergraduate degrees in a subject unrelated to psychology or social science. If you have a degree in a different field and want to become a psychologist, you may need to complete a number of prerequisites before you would be accepted into a graduate program. Master’s Degree A master’s degree can be a great way to delve deeper into a specific field of interest. However, a master’s degree is not always necessary. If you are interested in what is known as a terminal master’s degree in a field such as counseling, social work, or school psychology, you can often enter the workforce immediately after earning your degree. In other cases, you might use your master’s degree as a stepping stone toward a doctorate, or you might choose to forgo a master’s program and go directly into a Ph.D. or PsyD program immediately after earning your bachelor’s degree. The path you take depends largely on your career goals as well as the graduate offerings at the school you choose to attend. Doctorate Degree The length of your doctoral program depends on many factors including the specialty area you are pursuing as well as whether or not you already earned a master’s degree. In order to become a licensed psychologist, you will need to earn either a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) or a Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology). As with your masters degree, the doctorate degree you pursue really depends on your career goals. If you are interested in a career in research, a Ph.D. might be the best choice. Ph.D. programs place greater emphasis on research, experimental methods, and training graduates to work as scientists. If you are more interested in professional practice, consider a Psy.D. The Psy.D. option tends to be more centered on professional practice and clinical work, preparing graduates to enter careers in mental health. The American Psychological Association recommends that you enroll in an accredited program. Accreditation provides public notification that an institution or program meets certain standards of quality.?? In addition to your doctorate, you will be required to complete a year-long postdoctoral training period before you can be fully licensed to practice in your state. Minimum Degree Requirements Becoming a licensed psychologist working in the field of mental health is certainly not the only career option if you are interested in working in the field of psychology. Licensing requirements for psychologists vary by state.?? Careers in forensic or sports psychology, for example, have differing requirements. Please note that these represent the minimum educational requirements in these fields. Job opportunities and pay are generally greater with advanced training. Learn about different degree options and requirements for various careers in psychology. Social worker: Bachelors degree (four  to five years of undergraduate school)Licensed counselor: Masters degree (two  to three years of graduate school)Sports psychologist: Masters degree (two  to three years of graduate school)Industrial-organizational psychologist: Masters degree (two  to three years of graduate school)School psychologist: Varies by state (generally two  to three years of graduate school)Forensic psychologist: Masters degree (two  to three years of graduate school, ideally with a doctorate degree)Criminal psychologist: Masters degree (two  to three years of graduate school, ideally with a doctoral degree)Clinical psychologist: Doctorate degree (four  to seven years of graduate school)Health psychologist: Doctorate degree (four  to five  years of graduate school)Social psychologist: Doctoral degree (five  to seven years of graduate school)Child psychologist: Doctoral degree (five  to seven years of graduate school) A Word From Verywell Becoming a psychologist  requires a substantial commitment of time, but this can be a rewarding and challenging career. Before you decide if becoming a psychologist is the right choice for you, consider your goals and resources as well as some of the potential alternatives. There are many different types of mental health professionals. You might find that being a psychologist is the perfect choice for you, or you may find that an alternative career path is better suited to your needs. For example, you might also consider becoming a psychiatrist, counselor, physical therapist, or some other career centered on helping people. There are also a number of types of psychologists and each field has its own educational and training requirements of which you should be aware. 9 Highest Paying Psychology Careers

Understanding Division Of Labor

Division of labor refers to the range of tasks within a social system. This can vary from everyone doing the same thing to each person having a specialized role. It is theorized that humans have divided labor since as far back as our time as hunters and gatherers  when tasks were divided based mainly on age and gender.  The division of labor became an important part of society after the Agricultural Revolution when humans had a food surplus for the first time. When humans werent spending all of their time acquiring the food they were allowed to specialize and perform other tasks. During the Industrial Revolution, labor that was once specialized was broken down for the assembly line. However, the assembly line itself can also be seen as a division of labor.   Theories About Division of Labor   Adam Smith, a Scottish social philosopher, and economist theorized that humans practicing division of labor allows humans to be more productive and excel faster. Emile Durkheim, a French scholar in the 1700s, theorized  that specialization was a way for people to compete in larger societies. Criticisms of Gendered Divisions of Labor Historically, labor, whether inside the home or outside of it, was highly gendered. It was thought that tasks were meant for either men or women and that doing the work of the opposite gender went against nature. Women were thought to be more nurturing and therefore jobs that required  caring for others, like nursing or teaching, were held by women. Men were seen as stronger and given more physically  demanding jobs. This kind of labor divide was oppressive to both men and women in different ways. Men were assumed incapable of tasks like raising children and women had little economic freedom. While lower class women generally always had to have jobs the same as their husbands in order to survive, middle-class and upper-class women were not allowed to work outside the home. It wasnt until WWII that American women were encouraged to work outside the home. When the war ended, women didnt want to leave the workforce. Women liked being independent,  many of them also enjoyed their j obs far more than household chores. Unfortunately for those women who liked working more than chores, even now that its normal for men and women in relationships to both work outside the home, the lion share of household  chores is still performed by women. Men are still viewed by many to be a less capable parent. Men who are interested in jobs like preschool teachers are often viewed with suspicion because of how American society still genders labor. Whether its women being expected to hold down a job and clean the house or men being seen as the less important parent, each is an example of how sexism in the  division of labor hurts everyone.

What is a T4, or Statement of Remuneration Paid

Definition: A T4, or a Statement of Remuneration Paid, is an information slip prepared and issued by an employer to tell you and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) how much employment income you were paid during a tax year and the amount of income tax that was deducted. Use T4s in preparing and filing your Canadian income taxes. Other T4 tax information slips include: T4A - Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income T4A(OAS) - Statement of Old Age Security T4A(P) - Statement of Canada Pension Plan Benefits T4E - Statement of Employment Insurance and Other Benefits T4RIF - Statement of Income From a Registered Retirement Income Fund T4RSP - Statement of RRSP Income For more information on T4s, see T4 Tax Slips. For an overview and index of the most common income tax slips, see T4s and Other Canadian Income Tax Slips.

Degree of Globalisation of Ford Motor Company Free Essays

string(140) " and have had to adapt to the different approaches these firms take to vehicle development and to forming and aintaining supplier linkages\." The Automotive Industry Global vehicle production has more than doubled since 1975, from 33 to nearly 73 million in 2007. The opening of new markets in China and India has helped to drive the pace of growth. While seven countries accounted for about 80% of world production in 1975, 11 countries accounted for the same share in 2005. We will write a custom essay sample on Degree of Globalisation of Ford Motor Company or any similar topic only for you Order Now ( Starkey,K. McKinlay, A 2007: 89) Lead firms in the automotive industry, known as automakers or original equipment manufacturers, carry out most aspects of product design, the production of most engines and transmissions and nearly all vehicle assembly within their own facilities.They are large employers, traders and innovators. They have substantial coordination and buying power in the chain. The automotive industry is distinctive because of its extremely concentrated firm structure: a small number of giant companies exert an extraordinary amount of power over smaller firms. Eleven lead firms from three countries, Japan, Germany and the USA, dominate production in the main markets. The global scope of both lead firms and the largest suppliers was enhanced by a wave of mergers and acquisitions, and equity-based alliances in the 1990s.A second distinctive feature specific to the automotive industry is that final vehicle assembly, and by extension, parts production, has largely been kept close to end markets because of political sensitivities. Market saturation, high levels of motorisation and the tendency for automakers to ‘build where they sell’ have also encouraged the dispersion of final assembly, which now takes place in many more countries, than it did 30 years ago. (Maxcy, G Silberston, A. 1959:15) ? Industrialisation of the auto industry The production of automobiles in volume began in the early 1890s, in Western Europe.The USA started the production of both electric and gas automobiles by 1896. In 1903, Ford stepped in. According to Starkey,K. McKinlay, A the price of cars reduced from USD 850 in 1908 to USD 360 in 1916. The great depression and the World Wars saw a drop in sale; but the 1950s and 1960s were the glorious era for automobiles (driven by Ford, GM and Chrysler). Starkey,K. McKinlay, A (2007:90) argues that production reached 11 million units in 1970. Starkey,K. McKinlay, A further indicates that international business in the automobile industry dates back to the technology transfer of Ford Motor Company’s mass-production model from the U. S. to Western Europe and Japan following both World Wars I and II. This gives rise to two important trends. The first one is that, the advancements in industrialization led to significant increase in the growth and production of the Japanese and German automotive markets. The second important trend was that due to the oil embargo from 1973 to 1974, the export of fuel efficient cars from Japan to the U. S. Earlier due to low fuel prices, US was producing ‘muscle cars’ but after the oil price shocks US had to compete with Europe and Japan who succeeded in producing fuel efficient cars. For the first time, design, marketing, prices, customer satisfaction etc become important in the automobile market. By 1982, Japan became the world leader in US market. The potential growth opportunities led to global overcapacity in automobile industry. 1990s observed the merger and acquisition (M;A) and formation of strategic alliances to tackle this overcapacity problem. Increasing global trade also act as a major factor for rising growth in world commercial distribution systems, which has also increased the global competition amongst the automobile manufacturers.Japanese automakers have instituted innovative production methods by modifying the U. S. manufacturing model. They are also capable of adapting and utilizing technology to enhance production and increase product competition. Starkey,K. ; McKinlay, A(2007:75) argues that the rising competition and increasing global trade are the major factors in improving the global distribution system and has forced many auto-giants such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and Daimler Chrysler, to shift their production bases in different developing countries which help hem operate efficiently in a globally competitive marketplace. ? Globalisation of the automotive industry Firms globalize when they attempt to integrate key day-to-day functions on a global scale, such as component sourcing, vehicle development, new model introduction (the Big Three’s investments in Mexico are a good example). From a geographic point of view, the world automotive industry is in the midst of a profound transition. Since the mid-1980s, it has, like many other industries, been shiftin g from a series of discrete national industries to a more integrated global industry. Global integration embeds firms in larger regional and global-scale systems of production, consumption, innovation, sourcing, command and control. These global ties have been accompanied by strong regional structures at the operational level. (Sturgeon, T. ; Florida, R. 2000:17) Market differences sometimes require automakers to alter the design of their vehicles to fit the characteristics of specific markets (e. g. , right vs. left hand drive, more rugged suspension and larger fuel tanks for developing countries, pick-up trucks for Thailand and Australia, etc. ).While many vehicles are designed with global markets in mind, an increasing number are developed with inputs from affiliated regional design centres, where designers and engineers help to tailor vehicles to national and regional markets. But, since the early 1990s, outsourcing has led to the creation of large global suppliers, which have taken on a more extensive role in the areas of design, production and foreign investment. The largest 20-30 suppliers have shifted the balance of power away from leading automakers, although in a very partial and incomplete way.Globalisation has created two classes of suppliers in the automotive industry, global and local. In the past, lead firms either exported parts to offshore assembly plants or relied on local suppliers in each production location. Today, a new class of supplier has been added, the global supplier (Sturgeon and Lester, 2004). This trend has expanded the field of customers for many large suppliers to the automotive industry. Vickery, G(1996:17) argues that most of the top suppliers now serve US, European and Japanese lead firms and have had to adapt to the different approaches these firms take to vehicle development and to forming and aintaining supplier linkages. You read "Degree of Globalisation of Ford Motor Company" in category "Papers" Lead firm globalisation has also meant globalisation for suppliers, as demands for local production are now often part of winning contracts. ? Global integration of the automotive industry Ball, D. A. et al (2000:10) argues that there are three major global integration trends of world automotive industry global market dynamics, establishment of global alliances, ; industry consolidation: Global Market Dynamics – The world’s leading automobile manufacturers cont inue to invest into production facilities in emerging markets in order to reduce production costs and therefore rise in profits. These emerging markets include Latin America, China, Malaysia and other markets in Southeast Asia. Establishment of Global Alliances – Now-a-days, there is trend of joint venture in global automotive industry. Most of the giant automobile manufacturers are merging with each others. The big three U. S. automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) have merged with, and in some cases established commercial strategic partnerships with other European and Japanese automobile manufacturers.Industry Consolidation – Increasing global competition amongst the global manufacturers and positioning within foreign markets has divided the world’s automakers into three groups, the first group being GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen, and the two remaining group manufacturers attempting to consolidate or merge with other lower group automakers to compete with the first group companies. The automobile industry is typically considered to be at the forefront of globalization.Evidence supporting this view includes: †¢the intricate network of alliances and cross-shareholdings among automobile companies, within nations and regions but also between regions †¢intensified M;A (mergers and acquisitions) activities in the 1990s, involving both end-producers and automotive input suppliers (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2000); †¢the trend towards technologically motivated cooperation agreements, which was caused, inter alia, by end-producers entering into new forms of partnerships for the design of principal components and subsystems (UNCTAD 1998: 25 f. ; †¢and the significant role of intra-firm trade, e. g. of US-based automobile multinationals (UNCTAD 1999: 443). Sturgeon, T. ; Florida, R. (2000:9) further argues that a greater degree of global integration in the automotive industry has developed at the level of design, as global firms have sought to leverage design efforts across products sold in multiple end markets. The work of vehicle design and development continues to be concentrated in, or near, the headquarters of lead firms.In addition, suppliers of parts have taken on a larger role in design and have established their own design centres close to their major customers to facilitate collaboration.? Brief Ford background Few companies are as closely identified with the history and development of industry and society throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company. Ford Motor Company entered the business world on June 16, 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the company’s articles of incorporation.As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company’s beginnings were modest. With $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gav e birth to what was to become one of the world’s largest corporations. With the company’s first sale came hope—a young Ford Motor Company had taken its first steps. The company went public and, on Feb. 24, 1956, had about 350,000 new stockholders. Today, with about 300,000 employees and 108 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo.Its automotive-related services include Ford Motor Credit Company. They are currently headquartered at Dearborn, Michigan (US), and distribute automobiles, including cars and trucks, in 200 markets spanning six continents. Perhaps Ford Motor Company’s single greatest contribution to automotive manufacturing was the moving assembly line. The line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company exceed the production levels of their competitors by a sizeable amount—and making the vehicles more affordable.The company is beginning its second century of existence with a worldwide organization that retains and expands Henry Ford’s heritage by developing products that serve the varying and ever-changing needs of people in the global community. ? Challenges of Ford The United auto workers union continues to be a major challenge for Ford and the automotive industry at large. The challenge for the last century has been employee satisfaction which leads to constant strikes throughout the corporation. Managers have been battling with employees and unions on keeping wages, hours, and retirement plans fair.Ford initially faced UAW resistance and was only able to gain the union’s cooperation after management had put the work in to create a shared understanding of the extent of the transformation required To overcome the organizational challenges, they launched initiatives to help diffuse new process innovations across the company. (Starkey,K. ; McKinlay, A 2007:8) Ford is currently spending a large proportion of their earnings on health care for their retirees as compared with newer automakers.In the past, Ford has offered generous plans to attract workers to its plants, but no one thought about what would happen when these workers got to the age of retirement. Well, that time has arrived and the company is facing a difficult future as these costs of retirement continue to rise Currently Ford is burdened with health care and pension costs of as much as $1,500 per vehicle in competing with foreign-based companies and have sought tax relief from Congress to alleviate this disadvantage.Ford is unfairly burdened in competing with both imports and domestic production from foreign-based automakers by their own rising pension and health care costs. Ford spent $2 billion on retiree health care in 2004, By comparison, Toyota’s employees in Japan are switched from the company health care plan to a national health care syste m within two years of retirement; the company is thus responsible currently for retiree health care coverage of only 3,000 persons in Japan (Treece, B. J 2005:26) Secondly, increasing global competition is changing the environment facing most companies today.As trade barriers fall and transaction costs decline, new global competitors are entering previously more isolated domestic markets. In response to this intensified competitive pressure, local companies are pushed to enhance performance by innovating and adopting process and product improvements. Global competitors have established efficient operations in the US and earn much of their worldwide profit in the US market. The Japan-based OEMs (primarily Toyota, Honda, and Nissan), with their superior â€Å"lean production† process, were able to produce higher quality vehicles at lower cost.This competitive challenge was the most crucial driver of higher productivity as the Big Three were forced to respond by introducing their own versions of lean production. At the same time, the Korea-based OEMs competed on low cost, intensifying price pressure in the small car segment, and the German- (and Japan-) based OEMs provided a strong challenge in the luxury and performance segments. This three-pronged competitive threat took market share from the Big Three and put pressure on their profitability. Grimm, B. rgues that the problem is Ford’s key product — its gas-guzzling sport/utility vehicles — is seeing declining demand that has forced the company to step up the cash-back offers needed to maintain sales. That should not have been a surprise, given rising gasoline prices that are not expected to moderate because of a shortage of refining capacity. But Ford has not responded effectively to sudden market changes. Instead of introducing new vehicles to fit new market conditions, it has tried to keep sales of unpopular vehicles strong through ever-increasing financial incentives.It is very unwise for a high-cost producer to lead a price war. The result was financial loss accompanying market share loss to more cost-effective foreign competitors Thirdly, the automotive industry in the US is also strongly affected by regulation. Concerns about safety, fuel economy, and emissions have resulted in a complex and changing regulatory environment. Vehicles and parts imported into the US market on average face a very low tariff, while foreign direct investment is allowed, and even encouraged More to that, is the challenge of overcapacity.According to the Wall Street Journal, the industry is capable of building nearly 86 million vehicles a year, about 30 million more than will be sold this year. And by 2015 the industry will only get to 85 percent of capacity utilization. Ford is no exception. Its worldwide capacity tops the 8 million level, and sales are about 7 million. So it should close factories it doesn’t need. The automobile industry has been plagued by mass overcapacity and has been in decline for decades. In addition the rivalry among the competitors is very strong is this industry.The major competitors are so closely balanced that it increases the rivalry. In order to gain market share in the automobile must gain market share by taking it from their competitors. One of the other reasons there is such high rivalry is that there is a lack of differentiation opportunities. All the companies make cars, trucks or SUV’s. The competitors are compared to one another constantly. The price, quality, durability, and many other aspects of different manufacturers are greatly taken into consideration when deciding what type of vehicle to purchase. When the different manufacturers advertise they even compare their products to their competitors. For example, the commercials will focus on areas where the company outperforms its competitors. Another challenge to Ford in the context of global competition is rising material costs. Raw materials include rubber, glass, steel, plastic, and aluminium. Over the past few years, the cost of raw materials has increased significantly, mostly due to the price increase of oil and natural rubber. According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor, from June 2007 to June 2008, the prices of steel-mill products increased 30. percent (a sharp spike, but minimal compared to the 105. 6 percent cost increase of crude petroleum). Iron and steel scrap prices increased 96. 9 percent during that time period, while diesel fuel jumped 85 percent. The Bureau of Labor predicts that in light of the growing worldwide demand for products such as steel and petroleum-driven by India, China and other surging economies-it is unlikely prices will decrease much, if at all, anytime soon. Some suppliers want automakers to pay an extra 10% to 20% when renewing contracts because of rising steel prices. Automakers are balking, demanding instead that suppliers find ways to cut costs. If automakers accept the price increases sought by suppliers, the likely impact is $100 to $200 a car. Because of intense sales competition, automakers would be unlikely to pass that increase on to buyers, further draining profits already hurt by customer incentives. Product Differentiation Key to Ford’s Survival in the Competitive Automotive industry Porter, M. E (1980:35) argues that in the context of formulating a competitive strategy, firms can decide between cost leadership, focus, or product differentiation strategy.In my view Ford needs to continually differentiate their products from their competitors. Product differentiation as the prefered option is a business level strategy in which firms attempt to create and exploit differences between their products and those offered by competitors. These differences may lead to competitive advantage if customers perceive the difference and have a preference for the difference. Successful product differentiation will mean that customers have a preference for the Ford’s products and these customers’ preferences will lead them to pay a premium price for the Ford’s products.Porter, M. E (1980:38) further argues that the notion of a base of differentiation is important because it allows the firm to focus its efforts on creating and exploiting a particular difference between its products and competitors’ products. Everything from tangible product characteristics to abstract intangible concepts like national or regional pride could potentially be a base of differentiation. A successful product differentiation strategy for ford will include the appropriate implementation of the strategy with respect to organizational structure, management controls, and compensation policies.Differentiation primarily impacts performance through reducing directness of competition: As the product becomes more different, categorization becomes more difficult and hence draws fewer comparisons with its competition. A successful product differentiation strategy will move Ford’s products from competing based primarily on price to competing on non-price factors (such as product characteristics, distribution strategy, or promotion variables) Ford is justified to use differentiation strategy because its most highly valued attributes will become commodity features over time.To combat that loss of advantage or uniqueness, Ford needs to be continually developing new value and benefits in existing products or services and/or developing new products and services to remain in a market leader position. Another justification for this strategy is cost leadership imposes severe burdens on the firm to keep up its position and Focus will not be an effective strategy because of the stiff competition that is present in the world automotive industry needs the flexibility that product differentiation strategy offers.Conclusions Fordism was instrumental in the mass production revolution ; internationalisatio n of the automotive industry. International business in the automobile industry dates back to the technology transfer of Ford Motor Company’s mass-production model from the U. S. to Western Europe and Japan. The automotive industry is at the forefront of globalization. The world automotive industry is in the midst of a profound globalisation transition.Currently the three major global integration trends of world automotive industry are Global Market Dynamics, Establishment of Global Alliances Industry Consolidation Ford has many challenges it faces in competing globally. These are labour representation by the united auto workers union, very high health care and pension costs, foreign competitors, strong rivalry between competition, overcapacity, too much regulation rising material costs And lastly product differentiation is a key strategy for Ford’s survival in the competitive automotive industry. ?References jhtml†http://www. pwc. com/gx/en/automotive/index. jhtml How to cite Degree of Globalisation of Ford Motor Company, Papers

Differences when communicating with adults free essay sample

Explain the main differences when communicating with adults, young people and children: Explain the mall differences when communicating with adults, young people and children: The mall differences between communicating with a child, young person or adult is our tone of voice, body language, facial expressions, gestures and the vocabulary we use. We need to adapt these depending on the age, needs or ability of the person we are speaking too.If we are communicating with a small child we may do this by either playing a game, eating a story, using silly voices or playing with toys or puppets. When communicating with a young person this is done differently as we would need to adapt our tone of voice, and the words and phrases we use as a young person has a more varied vocabulary. We need to ensure that we allow a young person to vocalizes Ideas and feelings as they can do this In a greater depth. We will write a custom essay sample on Differences when communicating with adults or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page We can give a young person more complex Instructions and they can also appreciate Jokes and word play. We can read more complex things with a young person such as poetry or factual books. We can discuss past events allowing them to give detailed accounts with varied expression and emotions. With regards to communicating with an adult this would be done slightly differently as we would normally do this by having a conversation face to face or by telephone, going out to a social event together or by testing or maybe email. We also need to consider the differences when communicating with anyone from a different culture or social background.This is because some words or phrases that may be acceptable to one community may not be acceptable to another. We need to always be aware who Is around us to prevent us from causing offence. We need to be aware that the way we communicate may not be acceptable to everyone for example if someone was communicating using offensive language and the other person replied with the same language then this would not cause offence, but If they said this to some one who does not use offensive language then this may upset them.

Research Proposal on Workplace Bullying Essay Example

Research Proposal on Workplace Bullying Essay Workplace bullying is a phenomenon of the negative and even harmful treatment of the certain employees making their work complicated and often unbearable. The bullying is often conducted in the harsh form and the attacker has the aim to abuse the victim and make her feel neglected. It is obvious that the problem of workplace bullying has always existed in the human society, because interpersonal conflicts are quite natural for people. In fact, it is important to reduce the frequency of such actions and reduce their impact on the employee and the quality of his work. It is a big problem for employers if there are conflicts among his employees, because as a result the victim can give up the job and he would have to spend extra time and money to select and train the new employees. The most frequent reason of workplace bullying is the lack of tolerance and poor level of manners. So, workplace bullying is generally caused on the racial grounds. Very often employees can not tolerate the different people and become angry just because the person looks differently. The next reason is age. It happens that the elderly employee is bulled by the younger one, who wants to demonstrate his priority and energy. Next, bullying is possible on the basis of the level of education. Both uneducated and well-educated people can be abused depending on the level of education of the majority. Finally, the gender issues are also important in the case of workplace bullying. Both women and men are the targets of bullying depending on the dominating gender of the staff. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal on Workplace Bullying specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal on Workplace Bullying specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal on Workplace Bullying specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Workplace bullying is a very serious and shameful problem which requires rapid solutions. The student can prepare a good workplace bullying research proposal and try to explain the problem in detail. In the proposal the student should present the current situation of workplace bullying in the world, present he motives and factors of bullying, say whether employers punish the radical employees for their harmful behavior. One is supposed to prove to the professor that the topic of bullying is relevant and requires profound research. In addition, the student should prepare the list of the methods for the research the share the sources with the professor in order to win his approval. In order to complete a worthy research proposal the student will have to work hard and at least look through a good free example research proposal on workplace bullying to get to know about the successful way of paper writing. A good free sample research proposal on workplace bullying is a valuable piece of advice for students who need reliable help of the real experts in their field. At EssayLib.com writing service you can order a custom research proposal on Workplace Bullying topics. Your research paper proposal will be written from scratch. We hire top-rated PhD and Master’s writers only to provide students with professional research proposal help at affordable rates. Each customer will get a non-plagiarized paper with timely delivery. Just visit our website and fill in the order form with all proposal details: Enjoy our professional research proposal writing service!

Angkor Wat Timeline

Angkor Wat Timeline At its height, the Khmer Empire that built Angkor Wat and the other marvelous temples near Siem Reap, Cambodia controlled much of Southeast Asia. From what is now Myanmar in the west to all but a thin strip of land along the Vietnamese coast of the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Khmers ruled it all.  Their reign continued for more than six hundred years, from 802 to 1431 CE. The Temples During that time, the Khmers built hundreds of gorgeous, intricately carved temples. Most began as Hindu temples, but many were later converted to Buddhist sites. In some cases, they switched back and forth between the two faiths numerous times, as attested by the different carvings and statues made at different time periods. Angkor Wat is the most wonderful of all these temples.  Its name means City of Temples or Capital City Temple.  When it was first constructed before 1150 CE, it was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. By the end of the 12th century, however, it was gradually being transitioned into a Buddhist temple instead. Angkor Wat remains a center of Buddhist worship to this day. The Khmer Empires reign marks a high point in the cultural, religious, and artistic development of Southeast Asia. Eventually, however, all empires fall.  In the end, the Khmer Empire succumbed to drought and to incursions from neighboring peoples, particularly from Siam (Thailand).  Its ironic that the name Siem Reap, for the city nearest Angkor Wat, means Siam is defeated.  As it turned out, the people of Siam would bring down the Khmer Empire.  The lovely monuments remain today, though, testaments to the artistry, engineering and martial prowess of the Khmers. Timeline of Angkor Wat 802 C.E. - Jayavarman II is crowned, rules until 850, founds kingdom of Angkor. 877 - Indravarman I becomes king, orders construction of Preah Ko and Bakhong temples. 889 - Yashovarman I is crowned, rules until 900, completes Lolei, Indratataka, and Eastern Baray (reservoir), and builds Phnom Bakheng temple. 899 - Yasovarman I becomes king, rules until 917, establishes capital Yasodharapura on Angkor Wat site. 928 - Jayavarman IV takes throne, establishes capital at Lingapura (Koh Ker). 944 - Rajendravarman crowned, builds Eastern Mebon and Pre Rup. 967 - Delicate Banteay Srei temple built. 968-1000 - Reign of Jayavarman V, starts work on Ta Keo temple but never finishes it. 1002 - Khmer civil war between Jayaviravarman and Suryavarman I, construction begins on Western Baray. 1002 - Suryavarman I wins civil war, rules until 1050. 1050 - Udayadityavarman II takes throne, builds Baphuon. 1060 - Western Baray reservoir finished. 1080 - Mahidharapura Dynasty founded by Jayavarman VI, who builds Phimai temple. 1113 - Suryavarman II crowned king, rules until 1150, designs Angkor Wat. 1140 - Construction begins on Angkor Wat. 1177 - Angkor sacked by the Chams people from southern Vietnam, partially burned, Khmer king killed. 1181 - Jayavarman VII, famous for defeating Chams, becomes king, sacks Chams capital in reprisal in 1191. 1186 - Jayavarman VII builds Ta Prohm in honor of his mother. 1191 - Jayavarman VII dedicates Preah Khan to his father. End of 12th century - Angkor Thom (Great City) built as new capital, including state temple at the Bayon. 1220 - Jayavarman VII dies. 1296-97 - Chinese chronicler Zhou Daguan visits Angkor, records daily life in Khmer capital. 1327 - End of classical Khmer era, last stone engravings. 1352-57 - Angkor sacked by Ayutthaya Thais. 1393 - Angkor sacked again. 1431 - Angkor abandoned after invasion by Siam (Thais), although some monks continue to use the site.

Risk Management and Investment (Portfolio E) Essay

Risk Management and Investment (Portfolio E) - Essay Example The recommendations I made are with the aim to cover the long term and short term goals having analyzed the market and economy trends as at present and the likely trends of the future. With the adoption of these recommendations, the firm is expected to reap maximally from the market (Accounting Education Change Commission, 1993). Introduction Investment management field involves decision making by considering the market in terms of whether to sell or invest. The fact that it involves predictions and analysis makes it a risky venture hence the need for professionals specialized in the area to provide good advice on how better to have good investment. However, it may not really imply that the market trends will turn out as they predicted. It entails three major pillars, analysis of economic factors, industrial factors and the company factors before making the decision on whether or not to invest. Investments are made with knowledge of market expectations and fluctuations (Best Invest, 2013). The current portfolio is facing quite a number of challenges which expose it to risks in the market such that despite the higher levels of investment the return in terms of interest is too low. The fact that it has diversified the investments to a number of sectors is an attempt to avoid the risks. It has invested in oil, travel and leisure, telecommunication, commodity, shares, banks and bonds. The main challenge is the fact that some sectors are giving very little income compared to the investment which is in turn affecting the portfolio negatively therefore the need to change on the same (Bhattacharyya, 2011). History of the Portfolio The portfolio at its inception had a value of ?12,712,642 a value that has steadily depreciated to ?11,784,648 a net loss of ?927,995 a 7.3% loss a negative return which is not good for the portfolio. This could be attributed to a number of issues which include lack of growth and poor investment choices. This hence necessitates the need for a nalysis for prevent the accelerated rate of depreciation in the values of the Company (Cadez & Guilding, 2008). The investments we placed at inception have all different levels of funds placed in them but to date the highest growing has been TUI Travel which was at its inception having an investment of value of ?196.960 which bought us 80,000 shares. It has since grown by a margin of 32.25% increasing its value to ?260,480, a one third increase. The positive growth reported in the investment has earned dividends worth ?18,000these dividends have significantly been utilized by being re invested in other more business ventures the Company is endeavoring in (Clinton & Van, 2006). The down fall is that even though this is our most promising investment at cut of date in the portfolio it is weighted unevenly and different investments hold a different weighting depending on how much money was invested in them. The weighting for TUI travel was only 1.55% at inception and has now increased t o 2.00% which shows growth in weighting but shows that it only accounts for a minute section of the portfolio. Showing that the substantial growth of 33.25% is shadowed by the fraction of weighting it holds. The volatility has been an issue to as over period of the investment the share price valuation has dropped to maximum of -9.00% and the highest gain being around 6% but since May 2012 the share price has been steadily rising this

Reflection paper on the documentary Worse than war by Mike DeWitt with Essay

Reflection paper on the documentary Worse than war by Mike DeWitt with Daniel Goldhagen as a main star in it - Essay Example Despite the beautiful landscapes that the documentary dots the chilling events with, Goldhagen offers a concise narration of the events behind these genocides and helps in bringing out the serious atrocities. Besides this narration, the documentary brings out deeper implications of these wars with much deeper effects on victims than just the actual act of war, a view that is in most cases not brought to the international focus. As the title illustrates, most of these genocides were not just usual wars but were strategically planned and orchestrated towards weakening a certain side politically, socially, or economically, to offer the perpetrators a leeway to dominate their victims for many years into the future. For instance, the documentary takes viewers to the harrowing stories of Burundi and Rwanda survivors, revealing the real motive of the genocide. The genocide targeted the Hutu to seriously weaken their power in ensuring the Tutsis have unmatched powers to dominate the countryà ¢â‚¬â„¢s politics. The slaughter was not motivated by anything else other than to lessen the powers of Hutus, in addition to eliminating the political elites who were a threat to the prevailing political dynamics. The Hutu survivors narrated how the Tutsis killed or forced their elite tribesmen into exile. One of the respondents noted that the Tutsis wanted to kill their clan because his clan was more educated and thus perceived as a threat to the power hungry Tutsi cliques. This explains the arrest of most victims in government offices or other powerful offices, killed or incapacitated to weaken the voice of the Hutu. In other words, the documentary brings out the point that when the elite in the society is eliminated, the poor have no powers, leaving the perpetrators with an easy way to pursue their agendas with little or no criticism. In Germany, as the documentary narrates, Hitler alongside with the Nazis killed or incarcerated most of the German elites inclined to the communist s or socialist movements, which offered an excellent opportunity for the Nazis to have a total grasp of the country in 1933. After conquering Poland, similar to the Rwandese case, most of the elites in Poland were massively slaughtered, which reduced the resistance of the people towards the German policies to occupy and execute their power in Poland. Genocide is a perfect tool to consolidate power and silence any possible critiques in a regime, offering them the right environment to propagate their ideologies unopposed. Another powerful tool used in these genocides is to socially destabilize the perceived enemies by annihilating the masses from their homes and ancestral lands, which later offers some political expediency as the victims would not have the time to vote or be involved in the political affairs of the country. This was achieved in Indonesia where the mass followers of a communist party were forced into camps. Despite such annihilation, such genocides as happened in Indon esia have religious implications, which permanently alter the life of the victims long after the war. In Indonesia, as the documentary illustrates, the Muslim majority who perpetrated the genocide forced most of the non-muslins to convert into Muslim religion, which changed the victims’

Technical And Vocational Education

Technical And Vocational Education The development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training has clearly been seen as a key to national poverty reduction and socio-economic development in Cambodia, as defined in the Rectangle Strategy of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) and the five-year National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2006-2010. These show a commitment to skills development. The National TVET Development Plan, 2006-2011, also identifies the TVET sector as an important element in alleviating poverty, promoting peace, conserving the environment, improving the quality of life for all, and helping achieve sustainable development in Cambodia. However, Cambodias current TVET system is facing several critical issues such as: lack of access to formal training on a national basis, weak links with industry, lack of entrepreneurial focus, poor quality control, inadequate institutional financing, low rates of information and communication technology (ICT) usage and low capacity of TVET teachers, which h ave limited the quantity and quality of system outputs for years (e.g., Asian Development Bank [ADB], 2009; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2004b; International Project on Technical and Vocational Education [UNEVOC], 1997). With the critical importance of the TVET sector, the TVET curriculum must be well prepared for the success of students at the workplace. It can mean the difference between success and failure for TVET students in terms of theoretical knowledge and technical skills as well as being abreast with new technologies in the workplace (African Union, 2007). Similarly, Ben-Peretz (2009) specified the school curriculum as one of three critical domains of education, which should prepare students for their future success. As reported by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (2011) one of the most vital aspects of education is to produce a workforce which is skillful and able to gain returns on their education and for the overall economy when they are in their careers. Therefore, the education system must be able to understand the needs and necessities of the economy and prepare learners for their economic lives (UNDP, 2011). However, TVET curricula have not focused their relevance to the requirements of the labor market in many countries; and in other nations, for various reasons, employers or managers may prefer to hire unskilled workers or academic graduates and provide on-the-job training programs (Maclean Lai, 2011). There do not seem to be strong gains and work advancement in Cambodia (UNDP, 2011). Additionally, the balance between theory and practice has shifted in recent years. There seems to be a case about the (under)graduates perceptions of the relevance of TVET curriculum to their existing jobs. However, this anecdotal information was only heard second-hand from employers. That is, many employers in Cambodia have complained about the curriculum mismatch that most graduates from universities and technical schools are not well equipped with knowledge and skills needed at workplace, especially soft skills (ADB, 2009; UNDP, 2011). Actually, the importance of survey of (under)graduates perceptions of their study programs helps to improve the quality of TVET curriculum, and could be important for TVET curriculum reform as conducted in many countries (e.g., Lubasha Tripathi, 2012; Singh Singh, 2008). Indeed, the value of surveying the perceptions of students on the relevance of the study program is something that the school committee should consider as being of practical importance to our own educational institution. The lack of feedback from students may probably have been problematic to the school curricular that were intended to offer knowledge and skills for the world of work. Since there is little information about students perceptions on the curricular in Cambodian TVET especially at my workplace, my study on this topic will serve as a helpful source for TVET curriculum development and improvement and brings the school to success in filling gaps between the curriculum mismatch and the needs of the industr ies. The study of student interests will focus on graduates of a TVET institution, which is located in Phnom Penh and offers educational and training services from certificate levels to bachelor degrees in business and engineering studies. The study will be conducted in Phnom Penh, and a group of graduates of civil engineering field between the academic years 2011-12 will be contacted for questionnaires and individual interview. Those graduates work in different job positions and in different companies. The survey research will help to inform the leaders of the institution to look at the importance of student survey on the relevance of TVET curricular and the result will best serve for the school curriculum reform. Statement of Problem The mismatch between education and employment is critically concerning to many related stakeholders. They are also concerned that most universities and TVET institutions have provided knowledge and skills, which are not relevant to industries (ADB, 2009; UNDP, 2011). Therefore, as in many countries, Cambodian graduates find it difficult to deal with the jobs available in labor market when their knowledge and skills are far different from what they have experienced in schools (e.g., Lubasha Tripathi, 2012; Singh Singh, 2008). The perceptions from students are often neglected by many universities and TVET schools in Cambodia; that is why study programs are often found out of date in the current world of work where graduates find it hard to enter. The student voice is often silenced, but it can be regarded as a key mirror to reflect the good match of school curriculum and the industry needs. Moreover, the irrelevance of school curricula is the critical issue faced by many educational institutions in Cambodia (ADB, 2009; UNDP, 2011). Therefore, the knowledge and skills needed by employers cannot be matched when employers hire graduates to perform the jobs. Thus, there are some frustrations for employers to employ graduates who have the knowledge and skills which are irrelevant to their needs. Many employers have complained about the knowledge and skills provided at schools while graduates have expressed their discontentment about what they have learned from schools. Research Question Given this background to the study, the research study will propose the following research question, in order to explore and examine undergraduates perceptions of the relevance of TVET study programs toward their current jobs: What perceptions do graduates in a civil engineering degree (the academic year 2011-12) at one Cambodian Institution hold in terms of the relevance of their studies to their current jobs? Significance of the Research Study The focal findings of this research study will contribute to the quality of school curriculum development, and to the determination of the relevance of the study programs in terms of providing students with skills and knowledge required in the world of work in the field of civil engineering. Specifically, the study will be a helpful reference for the development of TVET quality improvements. Furthermore, the result will provide important information to relevant stakeholders in the TVET sector in order to help create the TVET stream as a main tool for equipping people with high knowledge, skills and competence for their employment and employability in the competitive world. Data in the study will hopefully be utilized for the improvement of curriculum and will also be used to determine areas of weaknesses. The findings can be used as a tool to provide instructors to better master their teaching practices and to aid TVET institutions to create a database on students perceptions of thei r study programs. In order to make effective changes in offering any study programs, it is vital to receive feedback from students who are involved in the specific programs. Hopefully, this survey study will be a valuable asset, and its findings will also serve as a supportive document for researchers from different fields of study to use and build their foundation knowledge of TVET students perceptions of the quality and relevance of study programs to job industries in the TVET system. Chapter Two Literature Review By using the search engine Google Scholar and the James Cook University Library search engine with key terms including: the perceptions of TVET students, the purpose of higher education and further education, the use of student feedback and survey, the quality of higher education and further education, the role of higher education (HE) and TVET, the relevance of study programs to industries, and TVET, I have found and downloaded many useful materials for my literature review of my topic. Although some materials seem to be out of date, they are still useful for the research study, because they can give an overview on the topic, and they can work as a foundation of knowledge to support the literature review. The Role of Higher Education in Preparing Undergraduates for Workforce The international context. An article by Haveman and Smeeding (2006) stated that most Americans expect the nations colleges and universities to promote the aim of social mobilization to make it possible for a student with capability to succeed. According to Mortese (2003), higher education can serve as a model of sustainability by fully integrating all aspects of campus life that students have experienced for their future lives. Furthermore, higher education has become a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy when the world has faced many matters (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], 2010). To improve employment skills calls for quality teaching and holistic approaches within universities (OECD, 2010; Ben-Peretz, 2009). National and transnational discussions like the Bologna Process, regarding state regulations and incentives, as well as competition among private and state-run institutions all urge universities and educational and te chnical providers to put quality teaching on their agenda (OECD, 2010). In addition, national quality assurance agencies push for reflection on the subject, even if their influence is controversial. Since higher education systems are increasingly diversifying, society is increasingly concerned about the quality of study programs offered to their consumers. This is not only the case in the academic stream, but is the case in the TVET stream. As many relevant stakeholders have recognized the importance of the study program in preparing students for jobs, Lauglo (2006) explained that TVET curricular refer to deliberate interventions to bring about learning which would make people more productive (or simply adequately productive) in designated areas of economic activity (e.g., economic sectors, occupations, specific work tasks) (p. 11). This is because TVET has its great potential to enhance human capabilities and enlarge peoples choices (Ayuba and Pascal, n.d.). Therefore, the education system must be able to understand the needs and necessities of the economy and prepare learners for their economic lives (UNDP, 2011). Additionally, Klimek (2010) noticed that a skill refers to an ability to perform a particular mental or physical activity that may be developed through vocational training or practice. Klimek (2010) also noted that vocational education and training provides people with occupational or work-related knowledge and skills. TVET also includes programs which provide the basis for subsequent vocational programs (p. xxviii). Therefore, TVET curricular are designed and developed as an education alternative to prepare students for the world of work (Klimek, 2010; Ayuba Pascal, n.d.). The changing demands of the workforce in the 21st century have created great challenging problems for TVET providers to respond quickly and efficiently to the continually changing skills requirements of the industries (Rafik, Treadwell, Triki, Gupta, Najah, n.d.). This is important if developed countries are to stay competitive and challenging but it is even more important for developing countries to catch up and fill the gap with the industrialized world (Rafik et al., n.d.). These challenges have resulted in growing debates and demanding solutions on developing better and more effective TVET systems that satisfy the national needs (Rafik et al., n.d.). The Cambodian context. The state of the higher education system in Cambodia, consisting of both university education and vocational and technical training, is largely formed by three factors: very disparate organization mechanisms, poor quality output, and low enrolment (UNDP, 2011). These three factors are greatly slowing down the advancement of higher education and more capable human resources in the whole country, and there should be a major concentrated point when undertaking reforms in education. A total number of eleven ministries and agencies which provide higher education service thus have access to the public education budgets of Cambodia (UNDP, 2011). The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) are the two most important ministries regarding higher education in Cambodia, and while the Cambodian Education Law states that MoEYS is responsible for general, higher and vocational education, it does not provide any explanation for the r ole of MoLVT, which has resulted in a high level of challenges, and hardship in developing strong cooperation links between these Ministries in providing educational and training services to learners (UNDP, 2011). Understandably, this makes coordination of the higher education system very difficult for the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to take actions on this issue. There are 38 public TVET institutions spread over 24 provinces of Cambodia under the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training; and many NGOs, large-and-small enterprises, local centers, and other relevant stakeholders also operate TVET practice on a very small and localized scale with few exceptional cases (National TVET Development Plan, 2008). However, NGOs move in and out of skills training, depending on donor funds availability and/or donor interest. At present, there are approximately 12 national NGOs that run institution-based skills training courses (National TVET Development Plan, 2008). The public TVET provision does not fully meet the need for basic and mid-level skills in the formal and informal economies, of NGOs and other local private centers, like Don Bosco schools, TAYAMA Business school, and EDC Training Center help to fill gaps. Lack of access to formal training on a national basis, weak links with industry, lack of entrepreneurial focus, poor quality control, and inadequate institutional financing continue to limit the quantity and quality of system outputs. Pich (2010) indicated a number of students are smaller in the TVET system than that in the academic stream while the employers need technical knowledge and skills for their business practices. This is the mismatch between higher education and the needs of industries, concerned by many stakeholders if the availability of solutions is not at hand (UNDP, 2011). In summary, we can say that the quality in TVET in Cambodia is low. There should be coordination amongst these ministries to link the educational services to match the requirements of the industries while the relevance of curricular seems to be low when graduates tend to work (UNDP, 2011; ADB, 2009). The Use of Student Feedback for Curriculum Development in Higher Education The international context. Authorities in higher and TVET education often use student feedback as a mechanism to improve course content and delivery. In the TVET sector internationally, survey questionnaires have been used to explore stakeholder perceptions of the quality of TVET education and of the match between the skills of graduates and the needs of industry. For Munro (2008), it is ideal that feedback results are used to assert the strengths and find out areas of improvements in organization. As the practice of survey research is important, Lubasha and Tripathi (2012) surveyed stakeholders perceptions in VET programs in Tanzania, which are relevant to the quality all stakeholders may think, while Singh and Singh (2008) mainly focused on employability skills in Malaysia. Both studies have aimed at the improvement of study programs offered at educational and training institutions in order to perceive the quality of education and training as the key for graduates to be employable after they graduate from schools (Lubasha Tripathi, 2012; Singh Singh, 2008). In the study, Lubasha and Tripathi (2012) found that the determinants of quality in the VET programs such as the quality of VET programs, the relevance of VET programs to employment trends and entrepreneurship, and the perception of delivering the quality VET programs, which are critical for improving the quality of education provided by VET programs in Tanzania. The survey result of Singh Singh (2008) indicated that si gnificantly employers tend to hire local graduates from public universities to non-public graduates. This is because they believe that public graduates have the knowledge and skills they need for their business. Another survey study of 434 TVET graduates in Ghana which was done by Dasmani (2011) indicated that limited teaching and learning facilities for instructors and learners, large class sizes, and weak linkages with employers can lead to poor training and education of students. Dasmani (2011) added that this lack of preparation for the job entries put more pressure and working place difficulties to those graduates. This means that the survey finding is not only important for universities, but it also helps to inform TVET institutions about the perceptions of employers and students whether the TVET programs are at best quality to fill the gaps. It can also serve as an informant in offering better quality TVET programs. Therefore, many countries (e.g., Australia, England, Wales, and so forth) have created specialized research centers for VET and HE (Chalmers, 2007) and many international conferences are organized each year to disseminate and share the results of research in this area, in order to help the TVET sector to be flexible in the world of work (Rafik et al., n.d.). Rafik et al. (n.d.) also added that the main aims of this survey research are: (a) to investigate the current skills gaps in the Libyan manufacturing sector; (b) to make recommendations to the national TVET providers to enhance the skills they provide; and (c) to make recommendations to establish systems that improves the responsiveness of the TVET providers to the emergent needs of the industry (p. 1). Like the above points by Rafik et al. (n.d.), Chalmers (2007) claimed that experience, satisfaction and engagement of each student can be reached through using survey practice. Additionally, Chalmers (2007) recognized that using national student surveys are intended to demonstrate trustfulness and worthwhileness of study programs, and to explicitly articulate a particular view on what constitutes the quality of teaching and learning through student perceptions. Therefore, how the survey results can be used for the evidence-based curriculum development and improvement (Chalmers, 2007; Rafik et al, n.d.). The Cambodian context. As discussed in the global context, the survey of student feedback or perceptions is a useful tool in order to make school curricular change in according to the needs of industries. However, at this Cambodian TVET institutions, the survey of students perceptions and feedback is not yet conducted although survey research can give the school a great deal of information from labor market and industries. Because no surveys have been done or published on student perceptions in Cambodia, it is difficult to find the literature review to support the research study. As seen recently at the Cambodian TVET institution, the school management team has used the telephone survey on graduates whether those graduates hold job positions. The result of the telephone survey has been kept secretly. Furthermore, student surveys on teacher teaching have been done, but no survey on student perceptions on the relevance of the study program. Although information from student feedback can help the school make reform the school curriculum in order to keep abreast with the needs of industries, this case is absent from the school. The action of keeping old curricular is the weak point that should be urgently considered if the school is in the competitive world of providing technical services to students. Chapter Three Methodology As the topic of this study suggests, the study is a type of a survey research. Survey research is sometimes used by schools or other stakeholders of the related fields in order to get feedback from graduates, and which can be excellent vehicles for measuring opinions and orientations in a large population (Rubin Babbie, 2011). In order to get a deep understanding of perceptions of TVET graduates through survey research, this study will use the qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to get both primary and secondary data. The use of mixed methods is to build the synergy and strength that exists between quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand a phenomenon more fully that is possible using either quantitative or qualitative alone (Gay, Mills Airsian, 2009, p. 462). Creswell (2009) also highlighted that most researchers use a mixed methods design because they want to enlarge understanding by integrating both qualitative and quantitative research, or th ey want to better understand, explain or build the results from this approach. In this research, the following sampling methods, data collection methods, limitations of methods, data analysis, ethical issues, and other cases will be raised and discussed in detail in order to capture the practice of the whole research methodology of the study. Sampling Methods Berg (2009) indicated that the rationale of using of subjects is to make inference about some larger population from a smaller one-the sample (p. 48). That is, it is important in quantitative research that researchers keenly consider the probability sampling method (Berg, 2009). However, for qualitative research, sampling is the process of selecting a small number of individuals for a study in such a way that the individuals chosen will be good key informants (e.g., collaborators, co-researchers) who will contribute to the researchers understanding of a given phenomenon (Gay et al., 2009, p. 135). Since a deep understanding of participants perspectives creates the very core of a qualitative research study, the researcher will use a purposive sampling method (one of nonprobability sampling techniques); that is, the researcher relies on his or her expert judgment to select a typical sample of the population (Gay et al., 2009; Singleton Straits, 2005). This is also because each participant is believed to be thoughtful, informative, articulate, and experienced with the area of research topic (Gay et al., 2009, p. 135). Therefore, the researcher will use homogenous sampling which is selecting participants who are very similar in experience, perspective, or outlook; this produces a narrow, homogeneous sample and makes data collection and analysis simple (Gay et al., 2009, p. 137). As indicated above, the participants are ex-students who graduated with a civil engineering degree in the academic years 2011-2012, and they are currently employees holding various positions at different companies. Thus, the researcher can purposefully access the participants in order to get the deep understanding of their opinions about the quality and relevance of their study program of civil engineering and the needs of knowledge and skills from the employers. As the purpose and importance are clearly explained by the researcher, the participants will be asked to volunteer in the research study. With this regard, they are believed to have a deep understanding of the relevance of their study programs to their current jobs. With the purposive selection of a group of graduates with a civil engineering degree in years 2011-2012, the participants with their current jobs are strongly believed to be best for the research topic. The researcher hopes that the participants will be able to give the truths about their study program relevance to the needs of employers. However, the limitation of this selection method will not be able to make a wide generalization of the whole population of the school because a number of participants will be small and limited to the field of engineering (Gay et al., 2009; Berg, 2009). Data Collection Methods The survey research method is sometimes used by many schools in order to get feedback from graduates, and it can be an excellent tool for measuring opinions and orientations in large populations (Rubin Babbie, 2011). With the purpose of getting the views of undergraduates about the relevance of their study program to the needs of employers, the following research methods will be used in order to gather important data from the field. Questionnaires. A questionnaire method is widely useful to many researchers in both the private and public sectors because questionnaires can conveniently be given or sent to relevant individuals to answer or complete a number of questions, and respondents are asked to return questionnaires (Kothari, 2004; Singleton et al., 2005). They are convenient because questionnaires can easily be offered to the respondents, and the respondents can answer the questions on their own when they have enough time to complete the whole questionnaires. Many researchers have also used the questionnaire method because questionnaires are low-cost, accessible to larger participants, extensively geographic, and free from bias from researchers (Kothari, 2004; Creswell, 2009). Kothari (2004) and Gay et al. (2009) showed that a survey is a vehicle for collecting data describing one or more characteristics of a specific population by asking members a series of questions using questionnaire forms. In spite of the wide use of questionnaires, Kothari (2004) pointed out the main limitations of using questionnaires as follows: (a) low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires and bias due to no-response is often indeterminate; (b) it can be used only when respondents are educated and cooperating; (c) the control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent; (d) there is inbuilt inflexibility because of the difficulty of amending the approach once questionnaires have been dispatched; (e) there is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of replies altogether to certain questions; interpretation of omissions is difficult; (f) it is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative; and (g) this method is likely to be the slowest of all (p. 101). In light of the above reasons, the researcher will carefully prepare the general form, the question sequence, and question formulation and words in the structured questionnaires as the researcher is not experienced with the use the survey questionnaires (Kothari, 2004). In the questionnaires, the researcher will focus on the following points: demographic data, the quality of study programs, the relevance of the study programs to the jobs, and the participants perceptions of their jobs in terms of study programs. These points will help the researcher to answer the research questions about understanding the perceptions of undergraduates about the relevance of their study programs to their current jobs. With help of a lecturer from Civil Engineering Department and a list of graduates of civil engineering degree in years 2011-2012, the researcher will contact graduates through phone calls and emails in order for volunteering for answering and completing the questionnaires. According to Gay et al. (2009), the sample size for survey research is common between 10% and 20% of the whole population because the population of this research is about 250. However, the researcher will ask 120 graduates who have jobs, and they will be given questionnaires to voluntarily answer and complete the questionnaires with their honesty and kindness in case that some of respondents will not return questionnaires. The participants themselves will administer the questionnaires. Nonetheless, an explanation of some questions will help the participants answer with clarity and accuracy. The questionnaires will be written in Khmer language that all the participants can fully understand and answer those questions clearly. Individual interviews. After the researcher uses the questionnaire method, the researcher will employ the interview method that is another alternative to collect data survey. The interview method involves presentation of oral-verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral-verbal responses (Kothari, 2004; Rubin Babbie, 2011). Furthermore, it is a tool that allows the researcher to flexibly move beyond the line of question, and it is helpful if the participants can be observed directly, and allows the participants to give more information (Creswell, 2009). With the analysis of the questionnaire results to find out the main themes of responses, the researcher can identify who the participants are for personal interviews in the second step of the research. Thus eight participants will be carefully selected through the results of questionnaires. They are representatives for civil engineering graduates because they are believed to answer the questionnaire questions accurately and have a deep understanding of the relevance of their study programs to their current jobs. Time for each participant to be interviewed will be during time break in order to avoid work interruptions. The interview method can be structured, unstructured, or semi-structured, as to allow the flexibility of questions and answers in order to fully understand graduates perceptions on the curriculum relevance to their current jobs (Williman, 2011). However, the researcher will choose to conduct the personal interview with a small number of graduates with a structured interview model. This is because the research has less experience in the research field. On the other hand, the researcher will gain a clear understanding of information from respondents when respondents understand the purpose of the interview (Kothari, 2004). Despite the advantages of using the method to go beyond simple responses from the participants, there are the limitations of this method (e.g., indirect information filtered by the views of participants, information is gathered in an arranged site rather than in a natural setting, the presence of the researcher which can bias responses, and not all the participants having equal thoughts, feelings and understanding of the same questions and topics) (Creswell, 2009). Similarly, Okojie, Okojie-Boulder and Boulder (n.d.) also added that a limitation of this method is that it can be time consuming and the truth of participant responses will be limited. Therefore, the role and art of the researcher is vital in using the method when the in-depth interviews are the key to get a full understanding of the research topic (Berg, 2009; Creswell, 2009). Ethical Considerations There will be ethical problems in research when the research deals with humans. As Williman (2001) stated that there are two aspects of ethical issues in

Real Choices at Starbucks

Real Choices at Starbucks Starbucks started as small coffee shop in a tourist area called Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The three unknown pioneer of Starbucks wanted to share their passion for brewed coffee and tea. During their first year in the business, they experimented with all sorts of coffee blend until they came up with their own flavor. Their business became an instant success using the word of mouth selling brewed coffee cup by cup. This is what inspired them to open a second store to target the wider market. By the early 1980’s, Starbucks expanded to four new stores in Seattle area.Since then, they became the largest retail company in the world. This coffee company grew from four Starbucks store to having currently 16,635 stores globally including 11,068 in the United States, 1000 stores in Canada, and more than 800 in Japan (Salomon 271). This amazing expansion can be attributed to Howard Shultz’s dedication to brewing coffee who bought the coffee’s trademark twenty five years ago. The main reason Starbucks has done so well for four decades can be attributed to their commitment to high quality products and passion for educating customers to appreciate the qualities of fine coffees.Strength Starbucks has become a popular company for selling the best tasting coffee products around the world. As a result, everyone saw Starbucks as the biggest and best in the business (Higbee 6). They acquired a solid brand reputation and have a world renowned company logo. There are no other national coffee bar competitors in the same scale as Starbucks. They are the only competitor in the coffee business that has a recognized brand image. They also own trademarks, copyrights, domain names, patents. The current SEC filing of Starbucks shows that the company is in a positive financial condition.The company’s total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 had increased sixteen percent and the net income was up more than ten percent (Smith , http://wallstcheatsheet. com/). This result was primarily driven by increase revenues from company-operated stores, licensed stores, and CPG foodservice contributing to approximately $3. 44 billion (http://investing. businessweek. com/). The overall areas of Starbucks business, from domestic and international retail operations to the company’s specialty businesses delivered strong financial performance, and innovation was the reason for the success of the company’s operations.The statement below shows the current financial status of the company as of January 1, 2012. Financial Statements Results of Operations (in millions) Revenues Quarter Ended ___________________________ Jan 1, Jan 2 % 2012 2011 Change _________ ________ ________ Company-operated stores $ 2,731. 8 $ 2,451. 3 11. 4% Licensed stores 306. 6 254. 3 20. 6 CPG, foodservice and other 397. 245. 3 62. 0 Total net revenues $ 3,435. 9 $ 2,950. 8 16. 4% Weakness Even though Starbucks has strength to stay in the business, it also has a few weaknesses. Starbucks must deal with these weaknesses in order to remain as a competitor in the retail market. One of the company’s most prevalent obstacles is the price they charge for a cup of coffee.While most people consider Starbucks coffee as a luxury and would pay whatever price is set, there is an increasing opinion that Starbucks charges too much (Higbee 7). Sometimes it is difficult for a company to penetrate the mass market with the prices above market averages. While this weakness may not come to reality in the short term, it is possible that this company is somewhat maturing since they have grown so rapidly penetrating the U. S. market. Opportunities Opportunities present themselves when it comes to Starbucks business strategy which provided the options to strengthen its retail market.Starbucks would not be able to effectively compete with its competitors if it not with these opportunities. They continued their quest by expanding i ts retail operations and sales. They pursued other opportunities by introducing new products and develop new channels to stay on top. Starbucks is in great position to expand its global business more that they already have. Since they expanded to Europe, Canada, and Japan, they enjoyed much success in these countries and their future plan is to open more Starbucks in Asia, Latin America, and the Far East.Starbucks also created numerous partnerships that will ensure its longevity for a long time. Formed a partnership with Pepsi Company and created a coffee type bottled drink called Frappucino. These Frappucino bottles were currently being sold in shops, grocery stores, and convenient stores. This drink has grown in popularity in the past that it was labeled by the consumers as â€Å"the coffee on the go† (Higbee 6). In addition, Starbucks also partnered with Target that pave the way to opening a coffee shop inside the shopping center. ThreatsOne of the major threats to Starbuc ks is their competition with other coffee chain, such as Coffee Bean and Peet’s Coffee. Other companies, such as McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and Burger King already have the infrastructure in place and are instead adding quality coffee to their menu to compete with Starbucks (Higbee 8). But for one thing, many people enjoy buying coffee even though it is pricey because of the environment and experience that allow people to enjoy, relax, and mingle while sipping a cup of coffee. Other threats to Starbucks are the gas station and restaurants industry.Many people are in the habit of buying breakfast and coffee at the local gas stations such as 7 Eleven. This practice is done mostly out of habit, but also for convenience especially for morning paper paired with a cup of coffee before going to work. Many consumers are also attracted by the convenience and the economics of the big mug cup of coffee they can obtain. Other consumer concerns are the trend towards more healthy ways. More and more people are becoming aware of the risk in consumption of caffeine. Too much caffeine can produce restlessness, nausea, headache, tense muscles, sleep disturbances, and irregular heartbeats.Caffeine can also increase the production of stomach acid that causes acid reflux. And finally, the price of coffee is so volatile that it remained as the biggest complaint by its customers. Recommendation Starbucks has created such a strong corporate culture and strong work values that it allows a company to successfully engage in product diversification. However, amongst the first thing that Starbucks needs to have is to define their brand image by lowering the coffee prices. It needs to be conveyed to the market in a precise manner, so that there would be no confusion amid Starbucks customer complaints.This is vital if Starbucks wanted to maintain its domestic market share competing with the likes of McDonald, Dunkin Donut, and Burger King. They must resolve all the consumer concerns s o that they can embark on another project with smooth transition. Conclusion Overall, as long as Starbucks maintains and promotes a strong quality product without deterring from its corporate-level strategy, it will always have number of opportunities ahead. There is a very strong base for this company which will allow it to pursue desired avenues with aggressiveness and confidence. Works CitedSalomon M, Marshall G, Stuart E, Marketing: Real People Real Choice 7th Ed. P. cm. Higbee J, Liaw Z, Ting C, Tjho K, Ton M, The Future of Starbucks, http://www. mcafee. cc/Classes/BEM106/Papers/2008/Starbucks. pdf Smith G, Cost of Coffee Could Squeeze Starbucks, http://wallstcheatsheet. com/stocks/cost-of-coffee-could-squeeze-starbucks. html/ United States Securities and Exchange Commission, FORM 10-Q, http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/financials/drawFiling. asp? docKey=137-000119312512032427-56VATRT3JVABGO7FIGIBD5RTCJ&docFormat=HTM&formType=10-Q#D270627D10Q_HTM_TX270627_3