Under Armour's global expansion in a foreign market Essay

Under Armour's global expansion in a foreign market - Essay Example This paper recommends that Under Armour carry out an in-depth analysis on its internal capabilities and the unique Chinese market as well as learn from the examples of Coca-Cola and Nike. One of the main challenges in entering China is the political system which has long been influenced by communist thought. In this huge economy, political intervention is very much prevalent in the private and industrial sector thus curbing competition among industry players. The Chinese government is a strong adherent of local industry protection which makes it very much in tuned and sensitive to the concerns of domestic business organizations to the detriment of multinationals. It should be noted that the political system often hinders growth of foreign companies through legislations which protects the interest of the local players. The political environment posts a significant barrier to entry together with Chinese people’s cultural attitudes towards Western or foreign companies. Unlike other Asian countries which are imbued with colonial mentality, Chinese are known for their preference of buying from domestic companies. The experience of Coca-cola and Nike in the Chinese market suggests that Under Armour enters China by forming an alliance with the government and establishing a joint venture with a local player. Coca-cola’s phenomenal success in this country is its partnership with the government and local companies in production and distribution of its products. Another notable strategy is localizing the products to suit the preference of this unique market. Coca-cola undertakes this by introducing tea products which takes into account the market’s penchant for tea. Even Nike creates products which carries Chinese elements like dragon inspired patterns, red-silk accents, and Chinese characters. Under Armour should also

Value Creation through Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Thesis - 1

Value Creation through Mergers and Acquisitions in the Banking Industry-A Case Study of Five Mergers & Acquisitions in Banking Industry-- JP Morgan Merger with - Thesis Example The definitions of the aforesaid variables are given in the research methodology. In each case of these mergers the individual companies became integrated to form a mega giant company. Though we mention these as the examples of merger actually those are the examples of acquisition. But the fact is that none of these five is a case of hostile acquisition rather all of these can be termed as friendly acquisition. While merger took place the existing shareholder of the merging companies retain their own position regarding the share they hold and the position to which they belong. Regarding the positions of the shareholders of both of the companies in the pre contract and the post contract situation here the acquisition becomes synonymous to merger. Generally the merger and acquisition takes place for various reasons: some of the reasons are beneficial for the shareholders. In these cases the major objective of the merger of each partnership was to capture the market as much as possible. If the mergers become successful enough to generate profit the shareholders prem ium would raise and hence the price of share and equity would rise consequently. There are two major benefits that a shareholder may enjoy. I. if the amount of dividends rise then the shareholder is benefited as he gets higher return on the same amount of money. If the premium on the share rises then the shareholder is better off. II. If the price of the share rises due to the merger then the shareholder would enjoy a capital gain. That is also a benefit that is brought about by merger. But if we consider an increase in the part of undistributed profit due to merger then we can say that the merger is not beneficial for the shareholders. . For example when a profitable company merges with a loss making company, it use the loss as a tax writes off to offset the

3 insights and questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

3 insights and questions - Essay Example Hammer observes that the process of reengineering signifies the introduction of new processes in the existing business systems to make it more efficient. Business process is observed to be an integration of â€Å"activities, resources, facilities and information† required to accomplish a specific business goal. (Business Processes, Information and Information Systems, 22). Thus a change made in the business process significantly requires proper training of human resources along with proper infrastructural alignments in helping the organization to meet the changing demands. 3. The goal of incorporating information technology in a business process confers specialization to the set of business activities. This happens for different types of business activities has specific information requirements which are met by incorporating information technology in business. (Business Processes, Information and Information Systems, 27). Hammer also observed that the business to earn success must store huge amounts of information ready at hand in large computers for meeting specific business

Strathfield Health Centre Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strathfield Health Centre - Case Study Example It will also demonstrate an ability to relate key roles of information systems in improving supply and inventory activities. The point of supply chain managing is to do away with inefficiencies, mainly surplus inventory. Inventory is a barrier to uncertainty. Uncertainty is hard to predict. Partnership between supply chain allies assists to lessen uncertainty since they have a faster ability to react and adjust, but they do not eradicate it. Supply chain visibility is extremely valuable, in that, it eases uncertainty and manages inventories (Silver 7). This would make it easier for SHC to know what inventory is where in the supply chain. This should be from purchase demands to suppliers to where customer demands are collected at supply centers, the better SHC can run their inventory. People, process and skill used to manage all inventory should be examined by the SHC. The following method should be applied by the SHC management team in order to improve its supply of medical products. Plan for an improved supply system In order to manage an office supplies inventory, SHC needs recognize everything that is happening around them. The SHC team needs to look over their office supplies and determine which items are mostly used in the health centre. Secondly, the team needs to create a list of items that if they lacked at any moment it would lead to a halt of the business. SHC should store a reasonable amount of these medical supplies in case a shortage arises. They will bring efficiency around the health care centre. The SHC team should also maintain a list of the required supplies to save them the energy and time of preparing a new list every time they want to order medical supplies. They should look over the list of supplies on a weekly basis to update it and make sure that all medical supplies that the health centre requires are within their reach. Key roles of Information Systems in improving supply and inventory processes An information system (IS) refers to any blend of information technology and an individual’s actions that sustain management, operations and making of decisions. It is also referred to as an application landscape (Rainer 3). In an exceptionally wide logic, the phrase information system is normally used to refer to the communication between processes, people, technology and data. In this view, the expression is used not only to refer to the ICT that an organization employs, but also to the means in which individuals in the organization can work together with this technology in support of business activities (Rainer 45). An organization’s information systems refer to a set of interconnected modules that gather, develop, store up, and distribute information. This is for the reason of supporting an organization’s administrative team in making decisions, controlling, coordinating and analyzing. Improving the computer information system is not a choice in this technology-motivated age. It is an obligation. Organizations that use the latest information system to collect, incorporate, and calculate internal plus external information are achieving competitive benefit over other organizations (Rainer 50). With the development of communication networks and systems, there are almost no obstacles between the organization’s administration, customers, employees and suppliers. Management now caters much faster to a customer’s requirements and moans. Networked computing systems have

Historical Photographic Processes Essay Example for Free

Historical Photographic Processes Essay The Cyanotype, also known as the blue print process, was invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842 and made popular in the field of photography by Anna Atkins, a British botanist and photographer, who did a series of leaf prints and published a series of limited edition books of cyanotype prints (Rosenthal). The earliest examples of cyanotype photographs, therefore, consist of prints of leaf species. Cyanotypes are named for its blue-green (cyan) hue. It uses light sensitive Ammonium iron (III) citrate and potassium ferricyanide to reproduce an image. The Division of Rare and Manuscript Collection of Cornell University explains the process in its website: A piece of paper is first sensitized with a solution of ferric ammonium citrate (an iron salt) and potassium ferricyanide (a crystalline iron salt) and dried. The prepared paper is then contact, or placed in direct contact with the negative, and exposed to sunlight until an image begins to appear on the paper (usually about fifteen minutes). As contact prints, they are always the same size as their negatives. In the final step, the print is washed in water to oxidize the iron salts and draw out the cyanotype’s brilliant blue color (A. D. White Project). Since the 1980s up to the present, the blue print process is still used by some architects and engineers because of its simple process and low cost. The Albumen Print Process The albumen print process was invented by in 1850 by Louis Desire Blanquart-Evrard and became the popular photographic printing process for the next half decade A. D. White Project). It uses the albumen in egg whites to bind photographic chemicals to paper. The process begins by mixing the albumen with iodide of potassium and water. After the mixtures has been allowed to set for some time it is poured over a glass plate (or later on, on paper) which, in turn, is immersed in a bath of nitrate of silver and glacial acetic acid to sensitize it and make it ready for exposure in the camera. The plate is removed from the camera and poured with a saturated solution of gallic acid, followed by a solution of hyposulphite of soda, and then washed over a stream of water. When dry, the picture is ready for printing (Ross). Albumen prints are prone to fading. The general tone is yellowish with cream-colored highlights and deep chocolate brown shadows (A. D. White Project). Cited Works A. D. White Project. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collection, Cornell University. 14 April 2005. http://cidc. library. cornell. edu/adw/cyanotype. htm. Rosenthal, Richard T. â€Å"The Cynotype†. Vernacular Photography. 20 March 2008. http://www. vernacularphotography. com/VPM/V1N1/the_cyanotype. htm. Ross, James. â€Å"The Albumen Process. † Albumen. http://albumen. stanford. edu/library/c19 /ross. html.

Paramountcy Principle Analysis

Paramountcy Principle Analysis Introduction Section 1(1) of the Children Act 1989 (CA) contains what is commonly referred to as the ‘paramountcy’ or ‘best interests principle’. The section provides: When a court determines any question with respect to— (a) the upbringing of a child; or (b) the administration of a child’s property or the application of any income arising from it,   the child’s welfare shall be the court’s paramount consideration. The paramountcy principle has been a feature of English law for a very long time (Alston Gilmour-Walsh 1996, p3) and from time to time, has been subjected to critical scrutiny (Reece 1996, p 267; Fineman 1988, p727). This essay investigates the extent to which the operation of parental responsibility and the application of the paramountcy principle conflict in private law disputes concerning children. Firstly, I briefly analyse the implications of the paramountcy principle and then I examine the cause of conflict between the application of the paramountcy principle and parental responsibility. In the penultimate section, I proffer an analysis for mitigating the conflict. I make my final observations in the conclusion. Implications of the welfare principle The welfare principle as set out in section 1(1) of the CA requires that the interests of the child are treated as paramount and so the interests of parents or other parties must be subordinated to those of the child. As Lord McDermott explained, the welfare principle, ‘connote[s] a process whereby when all the relevant facts, relationships, claims and wishes of parents, risks, choices and other circumstances are taken into account and weighed, the course to be followed will be that which is most in the interests of the child’s welfare’(Re KD (A Minor) (Wardship: Termination Of Access) [1970] AC 668 at pp710-711). Similarly, the Court of Appeal stated in Re P (Contact: Supervision) ([1996] 2 FLR 314 at p328) that the court is concerned with the interests of the mother and the father only in so far as they bear on the welfare of the child’. This view has been upheld in many other cases (Lowe 1997) like Re O (Contact: Imposition of Conditions) where it was held: It [is]worth statingsome very familiar but none the less fundamental principlesoverriding all elsethe welfare of the child is the paramount consideration it cannot be emphasised too strongly that the court is concerned with the interests of the mother and the father only in so far as they bear on the welfare of the child. Thus, the law’s rendering of the paramountcy principle is individualistic. Hence, the welfare of the child is viewed without consideration for the welfare or interests of the rest of his or her family, friends and community. Parental responsibility and the paramountcy principle Re K D (Minor) (Ward: Termination of Access) ([1988] 2 WLR 398) ) provides a good example of how the individualistic conception of the welfare principle works in actual practice. In that case, Lord Oliver specifically considered the mother’s appeal that the right to access was a parental right protected by article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (ECHR) and that to terminate access with her child would result in a breach of her article 8 rights. In deciding the matter, Lord Oliver held: Parenthood [confers]on parents the exclusive privilege of orderingthe upbringing of children of tender age That is a privilege which is circumscribed by many limitations When the jurisdiction of the court is invoked for the protection of the child the parental privileges do not terminate. They do, however, become immediately subservient to the paramount consideration the welfare of the child. The idea of parental responsibility is concomitant with parental rights. Consequently, it has been suggested that the paramountcy principle does not sit well with the idea of parental rights/responsibility because the former is structured along welfarist principles whilst the latter is rights-based. In particular, it has been suggested that the principle goes against article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which provides a qualified right to respect for private and family life, the home and correspondence. By encapsulating the rights of both parents and children to private and family life, article 8 appears on its face to come into clear conflict with the CA, which renders the child’s interests paramount. This criticism has become particularly compelling since the implementation of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) which domesticated Convention rights in the UK (Herring 1999b). However, it is possible (and indeed necessary) to expound an analytical framework which allows the recognition of both principles as being important for the survival and development of the child. Reconciling parental responsibility with the paramountcy principle-a rights-based analysis There is a strong consensus among family law practitioners that section 1(1) of the CA, as it is currently interpreted, reflects a predominantly utilitarian or welfarist approach. Stephen Parker in his seminal piece on family law and legal theory has analysed the movement of family law from a rights-based to a welfare-based approach (Parker 1992, p 311). In this regard, it is emphasised that before the HRA was enacted the rights-based model of family law had, been rejected due to the increasing dominance of the child-centred approach advocated by the paramountcy principle in section 1(1) of the CA. However, the CA, since it identifies the welfare of the child as the sole and decisive consideration, does not correspond to classic utilitarianism: it does not seek to arrive at an outcome which, overall, achieves the best result for the family members or others, but only for the child. In other words, it only requires that the child’s welfare should be paramount, rather than by direct reference to the principle of utility whereby actions that maximise the greatest welfare of the greatest number are preferentially singled out (Herring 1999b pp223-35). The paramountcy principle is not strictly welfarist principle as has been argued by many. At the same time it may be pointed out that the ECHR’s approach cannot be said to be fully rights-based. Although the Convention is clearly a classically or rights-based document since it assumes that certain rights and interests are intrinsically valuable and should prima facie be protected, its adherence to a strictly rights approach may be viewed as undermined in respect of the materially qualified articles such as articles 8-11. These articles proffer a qualified rights-based approach, since the qualifications of their second paragraphs allow the rights to be compromised by sufficiently weighty consideration (Mullender 2000, pp 493-516). Thus, although the Convention’s theoretical underpinnings differ significantly from those of the CA, the differences in their approaches and values may be less irreconcilable than some theorists have cared to acknowledge. However, demonstrating that the approaches between the paramountcy principle and the ECHR are not all that much at odds does not resolve the issue. This is because as it is currently conceived and applied, the paramountcy principle is incompatible with the demands of article 8 of the Convention. There is, therefore, a need for a reinterpretation of the principle under section 3(1) of the HRA in accordance with the interpretative obligation under that section, and of the need for taking account of the relevant Strasbourg jurisprudence under section 2. The term ‘paramount’ in section 1(1) of the CA needs to be redefined, but such redefinition need not be radical because the word ‘paramount’ also suggests the notion of ‘pre-eminency’, rather than the meaning the courts have so far given it under the CA, whereby it has in reality meant ‘sole’. However, given the scope for ambiguity that the courts might discover in the term ‘pre-eminent’, the term ‘primacy’ might be more in line with the ECHR’s provisions as well as the jurisprudence of the Strasbourg institutions. The adoption of that term could be viewed as a possible interpretation of the term ‘paramount’ and would obviate the need for a declaration of incompatibility under section 4 of the HRA. This rendering of the paramountcy principle is also in line with article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which requires that in all actions concerning children, their best interests must be a primary consideration. The use of the article ‘a’ in the Convention suggests that the welfare or best interests of the child are to be considered, but that a number of other factors can also be considered (Alston 1994b). Clearly, these factors include the recognition of parental responsibility. Concluding remarks It is clear from the foregoing that despite its utilitarian foundations, the paramountcy principle can exist side by side with the rights-based approaches required by the application of parental responsibility. A persuasive case may indeed be made for the removal of the primacy principle. However, given the entrenchment of the principle in English law, it is not only desirable but possible to re-interpret the principle in a manner that comport well with the rights-based framework. The extent of dissonance between the two frameworks depends on the extent to which judges and practitioners are willing to accommodate a rights-based approach in dealing with matters that involve the two principles. Bibliography International Conventions Convention on the Rights of the Child European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 Statutes Children Act 1989 Human Rights Act 1998 Cases Re KD (A Minor) (Wardship: Termination of Access) [1970] AC 668 Re P (Contact: Supervision) [1996] 2 FLR 314 Re O (Contact: Imposition of Conditions) Books and articles Alston, P (ed), The best interests of the child: Reconciling culture and human rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994a. Alston, P ‘The best interests principle: Towards a reconciliation of culture and human rights’ in Alston, P (ed), The best interests of the child: Reconciling culture and human rights, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994b. Alston, P Gilmour-Walsh, B The best interests of the child: Towards a synthesis rights and cultural values, Florence: Innocenti Studies, 1996. Choudhry, S Fenwick, H ‘Taking the rights of parents and children seriously: Confronting the welfare principle under the Human Rights Act’ 2005 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 453. Eekelaar, J ‘Beyond the welfare principle’ 2002 Child and Family Law Quarterly 237. Fineman, M ‘Dominant discourse, professional language and legal change in child custody decision-making’ (1988) 101 Harvard LR 727. Fortin, J ‘The HRAs impact on litigation involving children and their families’ (1999) CFLQ 237. Herring, J ‘The Human Rights Act and the welfare principle in family law Conflicting or complementary?’ (1999a) CFLQ 223. Herring, J ‘The welfare principle and parents’ rights’, in A. Bainham, et al (eds) What is a parent? A socio-legal analysis London: Hart Publishing, 1999b. Mullender, R ‘Theorising the third way: Qualified consequentialism, the proportionality principle and the new social democracy’ (2000) 27(4) J. Law and Society 493. Parker, S ‘Rights and utility in Anglo-Australian family law’ (1992) 55 MLR 311. Van Bueren, G The international law on the rights of the child Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1995.

Human Resource Management Assignment :: essays research papers

The organization I am most familiar with is that of which I am currently employed, Farmhouse Studios is a small company consisting of seven people: The Director/Owner, two managers of equal rank, two designers, a sound engineer, a technician and a secretary. My position is that of one of the managers, my job is to generate new business and oversee day to day production. Farmhouse studios is in the compact disk duplication market, we provide a turnkey service in which company profiles may be set up on CD-Rom for promotional purposes, we also provide audio CD’s along with use of our fully equipped state of the art music studio. The two areas I felt would be applied best to this organization are training and development, and motivation. Before discussing either of the two one must first really understand what training and development really consist of. This assignment entails of me to compare what I have learnt in this module with my practice at work, however by doing so certain aspects must be simplified due to the size of the company. Large organizations would constantly analyze performance and would probably have a training department. In our company’s case training usually follows an introduction of new hardware or software. Technology is one of the most important factors at Farmhouse Studios, being an I.T based company, new technology is always being introduced. Just before the beginning of 2005 new printers were brought in and our technician was sent overseas to attend a course. Our designers attend courses regularly so as to keep informed regarding the constantly progressing world of I.T and gr aphic design. Training results in better utilization of high tech equipment, the efficiency of staff increases dramatically. Once a workforce is professionally educated regarding the field they deal with everyday the response is very positive, one may see a change in performance almost immediately. When discussing training and development we must keep in mind that this process is vital yet it is usually very costly in many different ways. Firstly there is the actual cost of training an individual; there is the time it takes for an individual to be trained. Assessing whether training is needed requires analysis. Companies must look at training as an investment, investments are carried out with ample thought and so should training a workforce. Productivity, quality control, cost and customer satisfaction are all areas in which problems arise within a company, this is when it is crucial to identify the problem to see if it was a result of insufficient training.