Social media make your life worse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Social media make your life worse - Essay Example Social media is a platform where people from different backgrounds interact, exchange ideas or information in virtual networks. It depends on mobile and web based technologies to create platforms through which communities use, share and discuss the already existent information or content. Social media changes how communications are effected between organizations, communities and individuals at different levels. Social media has always been associated with positive incomes yet this is not the case, however its benefits are countless (Nigel 60). The negative side of the social media has impacts felt hard and they could destroy one’s view of the social sites, the world and even themselves. The benefits of using social media include; building good reputations, online marketing, career opportunities and income. For the individuals, they are able to improve their social relationships as well as networking as observed from an interview conducted between Crawford and Wang. Crawford ad mits to the advantage of the social media by saying â€Å"social media increase our social interaction and give us more ways to make social connections. It is help to make some new friends, something like that, everyone should like social media.† Social media uses different technologies that include; use of blogs, wall posting and crowd sourcing. Social media could interfere with the way someone views some ideas hence make one’s life worse if it’s not used in the right manner for the desired purpose. As Crawford states, â€Å"Social media wastes our time in chatting but we are totally updated with the present news which were happening around us. So, don't see social networking as threats but just as the opportunities where we can interact with the people globally.† It is evident that as much as social media has attractive features that make one glued to their mobile phones or computers for more time, it leads to time wastage as internet users spend more t ime on the social media site that on any other site. A research in the US shows that the total time spent on social media in mobile phones and personal computers increased by 37% in a year that is 121 billion minutes in 2012 compared to 88 billion minutes in 2012. Some school children even spend more time on social media than on their books; this corrupts their mind and makes them not concentrate on their school work. All this time wasted or spent unwisely in the social media leads to poor grades in school and under performance in the work stations. Social media has always been criticized because of its exclusiveness that is most sites do not allow the transfer of information from one site to another. This therefore leads to disparity in the sharing of information that is available due to untrustworthiness, informational reliability, media content ownerships and the different meanings of information as displayed by these social platforms (Kaplan 72). Information from one site to ano ther cannot be transferred to another hence creates individualism, which allows them to advertise and display their own information (Nigel 42). Some information that is displayed on most social media sites is destructive rather than constructive to one’s mind and view of daily activities. Some information regarding cults, death, use of warfare weapons could make one curious and ready to venture or find out the truth about such information. Pornographic pictures and linkages destroys one’s brain because they tend to be addictive, this leads to an increase in the number of rape cases, violence and other activities that are against our way of culture and belief as people from different backgrounds (Nigel 55). Social media leads

Corporate social responsibility provides greater benefits to the Essay

Corporate social responsibility provides greater benefits to the organisation than it does to society and other stakeholders - Essay Example Banerjee approach on social responsibility can be viewed on how he has approach the concept in trying to give some of the advantages and disadvantages. Historically the social helped in development of corporation and allows devolution of power from the central government to the local citizens and help in improving the economy both politically and economically. In USA social responsibility has helped in revolution of legal structures and effective government policies to deal with social responsibility however critics have stated that social responsibility should be volunteerilism not by ensuring they are incorporated in the law and must act in the interest of the society as well (Banerjee, 2008). Corporate social responsibility is self regulating by ensuring that one complies with the community needs as does is best to better the society he or she is operating his business. A business activity should be for the general good of the employees, owners, consumers and society.CRS creates c ustomer loyalty to a brand of product hence business is able to beat competition in the market; it also leads to employment opportunities in the society. Businesses with volunteerism work records have advantage in acquiring license to operate in different areas without restriction and high taxations. Supply contracts have being awarded to those companies that have clean records of contributing to the wellbeing of the community.CRS strategies should be aimed at building capacity that will help in reduction of poverty levels in a region , promote giving that increases security and human , property rights according to international standards, reduce corruption and bribery and increase accountability and transparency. Friedman’s social responsibility model can be divided into two the business and to the beneficiaries. Where the business has obligation to respect what the shareholders aim to achieve, keep costs low, ensure they comply with the state laws and also follow the ethica l customs in the area of operation, ensure they give room for free and open market competition and not to be involved in unlawful transactions. The community also has a role to play by providing labor force, creating good working condition for the business and also be actively involved in social activities (Cosans, 2011). Arguments for social responsibility According to Buchholtz corporate social responsibility should include; production of goods and services, solving social problems, simple market transactions. Milton Friedman focused on the idea that social responsibility of business is to increase its profit. The use of available resources and should increase profit, in free and fair competition .arguments in support for social responsibility is that managers have to ensure they increase the shareholders wealth should be increased. Policy making should be left to be decided by the state, giving is encouraged and engaging in social responsibility by owners of firms. Firms should a ct in a free and accountable ways to ensure it does not affects the society breaking the law and protect the environment. Act in a way not to affect objectives of the firm and consider interest of others. Arguments against Milton Friedman is that although he argued a firm should make as much as possible he does not limit this to existing laws of production ,exploitation and property right. (Schwartz & Saiia) Strategic

A Financial Analysis Of 3m Finance Essay

A Financial Analysis Of 3m Finance Essay Currently, 3M operates in more than 65 countries. The company produces a large variety of products, such as: adhesives, abrasives, laminates, passive fire protection, dental products, electronic materials, electronic circuits and optical films. 3M started operating on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Two Harbors, Minnesota in 1902. Five businessmen (Henry S. Bryan, Hermon W. Cable, John Dwan, William A. McGonagle, Dr. J. Danley Budd) came together to mine a mineral deposit used for manufacturing grinding-wheels. As it turned out, the deposit didnt have much of a value, so they opted to concentrate on sandpaper products. In 1914, 3M launched its first exclusive product: Three-M-ite cloth. Few other innovative products followed: waterproof sandpaper, masking tape, and the very well known Scotch brand tape. In 1929, 3M decided to expand its business internationally and started operating in Europe. The same year, the companys stock was first traded over the counter. In 1946 the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol MMM). The company is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and of the SP 500.  [1]   1.2 Company Profile 3M Company is an American transnational enterprise based in Maplewood, Minnesota, and represents one of the major players in the conglomerate industry. Below are presented some of the highlights that compose the companys profile: 3M Co.  [2]   3-M Center St Paul, MN  55144-1000 Index Membership: Dow Jones Composite Dow Industrials SP 100 SP 500 SP 1500 Super Comp Sector: Conglomerates Industry: Conglomerates Employees (last reported count): 74,835 1.2.1 Organizational Structure 3Ms general offices and research laboratories are located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Locally, 3M has nine sales offices and operates 74 manufacturing facilities. Outside the United State, 3M has 148 sales offices and 93 manufacturing .3M owns all of its physical properties.  [3]   Key Executive: Bellow, there are presented few of the key people that are currently running this enterprise: Mr. George W. Buckley, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Mr. Patrick D. Campbell, Chief Financial Officer and Senior VP Mr. Inge G. Thulin, Executive VP of International Operations Mr. Brad T. Sauer, Executive VP of Health Care Business Mr. Jean Lobey, Executive VP of Safety Security Protection Services Business.  [4]   2. Major lines of business  [5]   3M serves its customers through six business segments: 1. Consumer and Office (15% of total sales). 3M is providing its customers with a large variety of products such as house cleaning materials and office supplies. Some of the most popular ones are: Post-it ®, Scotch ®, Scotch-Brite ®, Filtreteà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, O-Cel-Oà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, Nexcareà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢, and Commandà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ 2. Display and Graphics (13.5%). As a top technological innovator, 3M provides its customers with products such as: display enhancement films; reflective materials, graphics, and projection systems. 3. Electro and Communications (9.8%). Due to its continuous innovative efforts, 3M managed to provide solutions for customers in many fields: electrical, electronics and communications. They contribute to reliable sources of electrical power, high-performance electronic devices, and reliable, high speeds telecommunications network. 4. Health Care (18.6%). 3M is considered a global leader in medical and oral care products, drug delivery and health information systems, providing its customers with innovative and trustful products that help care professionals improve the quality of care services. 5. Industrial and Transportation (30.8%) The company supplies a large variety of innovative products such as tapes, abrasives, adhesives, specialty materials and filtration systems to different markets: from automotive to aerospace to renewable energy to electronics. 6. Safety, Security and Protection Services (13.8%). 3Mproducts-personal protective equipment, safety and security products, substantially contribute to the safety, security and productivity of people, facilities and systems around the world. 1.3 Operating Strategies 1.3.1 Mission Statements and Management Objectives: The main mission statement and management objectives, as presented in the companys annual report are: Demonstrate uncompromised honesty and integrity in all activities and relationships. Promote individual initiative , innovation and leadership, Establish and maintain a culture dominated by fairness and trust, where respect and responsibility, are valued and recognized. Create a safe workplace for 3M employees. Satisfy customers with high quality products and services. Provide investors with an attractive return. Respect the social and physical environment worldwide. 1.3.2 Business model and Strategies 3M business model is based on the ability to not only develop unique products, but also to manufacture them efficiently and consistently around the world (3M).   [6]   3M is a diversified technology enterprise with an international presence in different businesses, such as: industrial and transportation, healthcare, display and graphics, consumer and office, safety, security and protection services, and electro and communications. The industrial and transportation business includes products such as food and beverage, personal care, and automobiles. Industrial products include polyester, foil, and tape. Transportation sector provides the market with different types of insulation components and catalytic converters. The health care segment produces supplies and equipment for medical and dental use. The display and office business supplies stationary products, and home-improvement products. Besides the already mentioned business sections, 3M also manages a safety segment and an electro and communications segment. In order to remain a respected leader in its field, 3M employs a series of strategies. The company is continuously trying to increasing market share and the popularity of their brands. Also they make significant efforts to maintain existing customers and attract new ones. This is a very important issue considering the number of substitute products currently available on the market. Besides the already mentioned strategies that 3M employs in order to run a successful business, they also practice a very interesting hedging strategy .Instead of concentrating on a single industry, 3M operations are spread over a large variety of sectors. So, at any point in time, the effect of a slow growth sector is counteracted by the prosperity of another sector. Due to this hedging strategy, the company stock price manages to maintain relative stability.  [7]   Also, they continue to spend significant amount of funds on RD, which is critical for their image as a leading innovator, pay dividends, buy back stock and raise shareholders equity, the chief aim being the ability to offer a good return to all their investors. This is a solid company, with a very high degree of liquidity in an extremely good financial health. Another strategy that makes 3M well known is there acquisition strategies. On an average, the company performs ten to twenty acquisitions every year. This enables 3M to continuously grow, penetrate new markets and explore new technologies. Other strategies that 3M employs refer to continuous innovation, in order to introduce new products to various markets that company operate in, gaining market share in the existing markets and aiming to become more and more important to the end customers. 1.4 SWOT Analysis SWOT is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a business.  [8]   3M SWOT analysis:  [9]   Strengths: The company operates in a large variety of business sectors: industrial and transportation, healthcare, display and graphics, consumer and office, safety, security and protection service, electro and communication. Strong research and development capabilities. (According to 3M 2009 Annual Report, the company spent more than a billion dollars in RD). Multinational presence. The company operates more than 65 countries. Solid financial condition. (A complete Income Statement and Balance Sheet are presented in the annexes). Weaknesses: Low inventory turnover, which impacts inventories and margins. Some key segments are registering inferior performance. Strong and aggressive competitors. Opportunities: Acquisitions in key operating areas. 3M performs an average of 20 acquisitions every year. Continued global expansion. Healthcare spending levels in the US are increasing. Security concerns caused by a weak US economy, combined with some unfortunate events that are threatening the safety of American people, (9/11/2001, N1H1 virus infection) brings new opportunities for 3M security business. Threats: The fluctuation of commodity and energy prices (increasing).In order to mitigate this risk, the company is engaging in a multitude of forward physical contracts and price agreements. Exchange rates fluctuations. The company operates worldwide, so the exchange rates and any fluctuations of it may negatively impact the companys results. Environmental regulations. People are becoming more and more aware of the importance of respecting the environment. Any new rules and regulation may require additional funds to be invested in order to work green. 1.5 Core competencies A core competence represents the companys collective knowledge about how to coordinate diverse production skills and technologies (C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel).  [10]   3M runs an extremely diversified business, spread over numerous sectors: industrial, transportation, display and graphics, security etc. In order to manage and keep all this different types of businesses together, the company holds competencies in substrate, coating and adhesives. Besides possessing these competencies, the company also created a multitude of ways to share and apply them. The result of such combination of technology, skills and knowledge, allows 3M to participate on a multitude of businesses and markets. The literature points out that the core competencies of any company should benefit the end customer of the product and should be very difficult to copy by the competitors. 3M is aware that the stronger the customer perception in recognizing the superiority of their products, the less likely the threats of substitutes. The company makes continuous efforts to differentiate its products among the multitude of similarities offered by the competitors and their efforts are successful due to the fact that they are supplying high quality, innovative and reliable products at competitive prices. Moreover, it is a companys core competencies that keeps the businesses together. This aspect is crucial for 3M, as the company operates in multiple business sectors, worldwide. It seems that 3M fully understood this concept and its enormous advantages, because they are investing consistently in their core competencies and ability to innovate, the chief aim being to provide the market and the end customers with innovative products that really stand out. 2. Industry analysis 2.1 Industry Definition, Structure and Major Competitors. The Industrial Conglomerate industry consists of large organizations engaged in multiple business lines within the industrial sector, where at least two business lines comprise a substantial portion of the companys total operation (The New York Times, Oct 1, 2010).  [11]  The industrial conglomerate industry contains the following sectors: Basic Materials, Consumer Cyclical, Consumer Non-Cyclical Energy, Health care, Industrials and Transportation, Technology, Telecommunication, Utilities. Exhibit1. Direct Competitor Comparison  [12]   MMM AVY DD JNJ Industry Market Cap: 63.58B 4.02B 42.30B 174.16B 9.47B Employees: 74,835 31,300 58,000 115,500 28.26K Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): 17.70% 15.40% 21.80% 0.60% 14.50% Revenue (ttm): 25.39B 6.31B 30.43B 62.59B 10.28B Gross Margin (ttm): 48.78% 28.26% 29.94% 69.98% 33.80% EBITDA (ttm): 7.03B 695.10M 5.42B 19.70B 1.63B Operating Margin (ttm): 23.18% 6.96% 13.08% 26.90% 12.29% Net Income (ttm): 3.94B 250.90M 3.13B 13.53B N/A EPS (ttm): 5.48 2.37 3.43 4.84 1.92 P/E (ttm): 16.28 16.04 13.60 13.06 19.15 PEG (5 yr expected): 1.28 1.44 1.61 2.09 1.28 P/S (ttm): 2.50 0.63 1.38 2.78 1.27 AVY = Avery Dennison Corporation produces pressure-sensitive materials, office products, tickets, tags, labels, and other converted products. DD = EI DuPont de Nemours Co. (DuPont) operates as a science and technology company worldwide. JNJ =Johnson Johnson engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of various products in the health care field worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics. Industry = Conglomerates Exhibit2. Comparison between 3M, the Conglomerate Industry and the direct competitors, benchmarked against DOW and SP 500. Source: http://finance.yahoo.com 2.2 Industry profitability and growth. In order to get an idea about the main characteristics of the players in this industry, I have selected few key statistics. The financial indicators listed bellow shows the fact that this are large companies, highly leveraged (most of them), providing the investors with a small to average return. Market Capitalization: 366B Price / Earnings: 13.5 Price / Book: 4.1 Net Profit Margin: 7.5% Price to Free Cash Flow: 27.4 Return on Equity: 12.5% Total Debt / Equity: 242.3 Dividend Yield: 2.4% Exhibit 3. Comparison between the evolution of 3M common stock and the industry. Source: http://finance.yahoo.com 2.3 PEST Analysis of the External Factors affecting the Industry PEST analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis and describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management.  [13]  Performing such an analysis and applying the findings will give any company a significant competitive advantage. The model identifies four factors that have a major impact on the companys macroeconomic environment:  [14]   Political Economical Social Technological Political Factors: Among the most significant political factors that can affect 3Ms business are: tax policies, employment laws, environmental regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs, and political stability. 3M is making all the necessary investments in order to comply with these laws. In 2009, 3M spent around $15 million for projects regarding the protection of the environment. The mentioned funds have provided among other things, pollution control devices at all its properties. Economical Factors: economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation rate. Due to large geographical presence, and the fact that 63 percent of its revenue is generated from outside the United States, the companys results may be affected by exchange rates and their fluctuation. In order to mitigate this risk, the company engages in a multitude of forward contracts. Also, the Companys business may be negatively affected by other factors, both internal and external that are beyond its control, such as instability and downturns in financial markets or economies in some countries or regions, in which the Company operates. Social Factors: population growth rate, age distribution, health and safety awareness, career attitude. 3M, through its business policies is aiming to create a safe workplace, to encourage individual initiative and innovation in an atmosphere of flexibility, cooperation and trust, promoting a culture where promise keeping, fairness, respect and personal accountability are valued, encouraged and recognized.  [15]   Technological Factors: RD activities, automation, technology incentives, rate of technological change. Research and development activities constitute an important part of 3Ms business and have been a significant contributor to the companys sales growth. Research, development expenses accounted for $1.2 billion in 2009, $1.4 billion in 2008 and $1.3 billion in 2007.  [16]   2.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis of the Industry Competition Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979 .The model is based on the idea that competitive advantage came from the ability to earn a return on investment that was better than the average for the industry sector(Thurlby,1998). The model identifies five forces which would impact on an organizations behavior in a competitive market: The rivalry between existing sellers in the market. The threat of new entrants on the market. The threat of substitute products available in the market The bargaining power of the suppliers. The power of the customers in the market. Full comprehensions of each of these five forces and the impact they have on the companys business, provide organizations with the necessary information to enable them to choose the right operating strategy in order to be successful in their market.  [17]   2.4.1. The rivalry between existing sellers in the market The conglomerate industry, although very complex, extending over a multitude of business, seems to be dominated by few key players, and 3M Co is one of them. In order to gain competitive advantage, 3M is aiming to stay ahead of the trend by continuously providing the market with new products and technologies. Given its strong balance sheet, the company is able to react fast to any negative changes in the market (lower the price of its products), in order to maintain existing customers and attract new ones. Moreover, in facing competition the company is offering well differentiated products, well known and trustful brands, the chief aim being extra value added products and services for the end customers. 2.4.2. The Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is dictated by the market entry barriers. The entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically feasible for an outsider to replicate the incumbents position (Porter, 1980b; Sanderson, 1998). Such barriers refer to: Cost of entry: In order to enter this industry and compete against the existing firms, the cost of capital required would be extremely high. 3M is a well known company, with an aggressive mergers and acquisition strategy, holding an impressive market share. Distribution channels: 3M products are sold through numerous distribution channels, including wholesalers, retailers, and dealers in many countries around the world. The company has established a large and very well defined distribution network, developed through long association with skilled marketing and sales representatives. Cost advantages not related to the size of the company, like contacts and expertise play a major role in the companys performance. Government legislations: for example, introduction of new laws might weaken companys competitive position; 3M had to improve their environmental performance via new environmental, health and safety policies in order to comply with new government standard and regulations. Many times this requires additional funds, changes into production processes, products, and that some firms may find it difficult to do so without increasing the prices of their products and services. Differentiation: 3M is a well known brand that already gained customer respect and loyalty and the products that represent this company have a high ratio of value to price. 2.4. 3. The Threat of Substitutes Products available on the market Although the threat of substitutes in this sector is high, due to the fact that there is a large number of a substitute product available in the market, 3M products differentiate themselves through superior quality and innovativeness. The firm invests strongly in RD, in order to insure that they deliver extra -added value products, and the existing customers will not be tempted to choose from the many available substitutes. Other aspects that should be considered when trying to mitigate the risk of losing customers to substitute products refer to: relative price performance of substitute, buyer switching costs, ease of substitution, substandard product, and quality depreciation. 2.4.4. The bargaining power of suppliers In the conglomerate industry, the power of supplier is relatively modest, due to the fact that the companies in this industry are very large corporations. This companies act on an international scale, having access to an increase number of suppliers and the buying is done in bulk, immense quantities. There is still some risk regarding the price fluctuation of commodities, like oil, oil derivatives, energy, due to possible shortage. 3M is trying to mitigate this risk engaging in prices agreements and forward physical contracts. 2.4.5. The bargaining power of buyers. When trying to assess the power of buyers, two aspects need to be considered: size and concentration of the customers correlated with the concentration of the competitors. In the conglomerate industry, the bargaining power of the buyers is relatively high due to the fact that all the players in the market are targeting the same customers via similar products. Also, the end customers are more and more informed, and their expectations are continuously growing. Another aspect that should be considered in this case is that the cost of switching between suppliers is relatively low. A buyer has many options; therefore 3M makes a continuous effort to insure that their products are permanently aligned with customer preferences and needs. 2.5 Summary The nature of competition in an industry is strongly affected by the above mentioned forces. As a rule we can state that, whenever buyers and suppliers have high degrees of power, the result translates into a high competitive industry. The industry of conglomerate is moderate to high competitiveness, due to the fact that new entries are difficult (high capital requirements), but this effect is counteracted by the fact that the players in this sector are extremely large and diversified corporations, with solid resources and very aggressive financial strategies. 3. Economic Outlook 3.1 Global Outlook There is no doubt that we are on the path of economical recovery, but the speed of things moving in the right direction is slow, considering the severity of the financial crisis. In advanced economies, such as U.S., small improvements in labor markets, housing markets, and corporate bonds market generated some positive developments in the overall economy. In the emerging and developing economies, (such as China, India, and Brazil) the recovery process seems to be much faster. Even among the advanced economies, the recovery process happens at different speeds, depending of the way that the local government has chosen to deal with the crisis. If we compare The United States with Europe or Japan, we see that the American economy is doing much better than the other two. This phenomenon may have something to do with some of the following: fiscal stimulus was larger in US, the nonfinancial corporate sector is less reliant on bank credit, bond markets have improved which stimulated investments, and many financial and nonfinancial organizations went radical restructuration and improved productivity. In Japan, due to the appreciation of the yen, the countrys exports f eel dramatically, which ultimately impacts the recovery process. Similar situation can be observed in Europe. Some of the economies of this region suffered a major contraction, not only because of the financial crisis, but the real estate too. Overall the economical and financial conditions present themselves as fragile and difficult. There are some signs of recovery, especially in the emerging economies, and is expected that this will help along the recovery process of the advanced economies.  [18]   3.2 Regional outlook Asia is leading the global recovery and the regions contribution to global growth will continue to exceed that of other regions in the next two years, (Source: The International Monetary Fund). China registered 8.4 percent growth last year, and the projections for the next year are similar (9%growth in GDP for 2010). In the region, the GDP has increased 6.8 percent in 2009. The recovery process has been driven by exports combined with low internal demand and ultimately low household consumption. The inflow of capital in the region has increased, stimulating investments and speeding up the recovery process. According to IMF, for the next period of time, Asias main policy challenge will remain to achieve a rebalancing of growth from external to domestic sources. On global level, there is a political and economical issue regarding the Chinese government decision not to appreciate their local currency, and the way this decision is affecting the world trade. Europe, especially the emerging nations, was strongly hit by the financial crisis. In this region the GDP decreased by approximately 4.6 percent in 2009. The projections for 2010 GDP show an increase of 2.3 and 2.2 percent in 2011. The growth rates in most economies in the region will remain slow, due to major contraction in exports and weak capital inflow. Besides the already mentioned factors, other variables such as : high unemployment, real estate crisis, bank restructuring operations, tight credit policies, and high interest rates will also restrain the recovery process. Other regions, such as Latin America and the Caribbean seem to be dealing with the crisis a little bit better than other countries .The last year GDP registered a 2.6 percent drop, and the prognosis for 2010 and 2011 are quite optimistic showing a growth of 3.1 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. The recovery process is still relatively slow, due to weaker investment and not enough tourism, both important sources of external finances. The lack of tourism may be explained by high unemployment in United States and other high-income countries. The Middle East and North Africa region experienced, an overall GDP growth slowing to 2.9 percent in 2009. The forecasts for 2010 show an increase in GDP of 3.7 percent in 2010 and 4.4 percent by 2011. These projections regarding the recovery process are based on few assumptions such as: the global demand for oil will increase, and oil prices will stabilize. The financial and economical crisis and their effects were not felt as deep in the region of South Asia. In this area, the GDP registered 5.7 percent growth in 2009. This represented a slowing of growth comparing to the boom period, mainly due to a significant decrease in investments, correlated with low domestic demand. The projections for 2010 and 2011 look optimistic: 6.9 and 7.4 percent respectively. 3.4 Local outlook According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the US economy is still growing, but at a slower pace than the first quarter of 2010(2.4% versus 3.7% in the first quarter of 2010). Some of the reasons that will restrain the recovery process are the following: The financial institution will need to recover from losses due to loan defaults. In order to boost the recovery process, the government offered numerous stimulus packages. The housing market registered slight improvements, but failed to meet the expectation. The main disruption in the housing sector was caused by a dramatic drop in house prices, and hou

Shakespeares Presentation of Love in a Midsummer Nights Dream Essay

Shakespeare's Presentation of Love in a Midsummer Nights Dream A midsummer nights dream was originally supposed to have been performed at a wedding. Therefore the theme of love would have been a suitable theme for the play. In this play, as in many of Shakespeare's plays the main theme is love. Shakespeare presents many different aspects of love in the play. He shows how love can affect your vision of reality and make you behave in irrational ways. He presents many ways in which your behavior is affected by the different types and aspects of love. The main types of love he presents are; true love, fake love, unrequited love, young and irrational love and platonic love. Shakespeare tries to show what kinds of trouble, problems and confusion, love can get you into. The different interpretations of love are aimed at showing what being in love could lead to. When you think that you are in love and not really, how easily emotions can be confused and changed. For example, Demetrius's love for Hermia is fake and easily changed in one night to Helena. Hermia and Helena share a platonic love between them; but Lysander, turning to loving Helena by a drop in his eyes, disrupts it. Helena and Hermia fight and feel betrayed by each other because of Lysander talking about loving Helena. Helena thinks that Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius are playing a practical joke on her. Lysander and Hermia share young, but true love. The both act irrationally. When Hermia's parents refuse to allow her to not marry Demetrius she and Lysander decide to run away together and then get married. Just just a drop in Lysander's eye disrupts their love easily. They are ... ...lay was written for a wedding but was not performed for that purpose. This could be because of the ideas he shows that could have gone wrong and how it could be false even if you think its true. Shakespeare also makes a point of how quickly situations where you think you are in love, or where here you are good friends, can changes around and prove otherwise. It would for the reasons that he shows how complicated and how false love can be, be an inappropriate theme for the play to be performed at a weeding. He could of upset the couple with his imagery and references to what trouble love can lead to. Shakespeare shows how he feels about love. The play demonstrates his perception of love by using imagery and language. He presents love as being irrational, blinding and obsessive. He shows that it can be very misleading.

How to End a Relationship

Breaking up with someone is never easy†¦. , I know from personal experience. I recently broke up with my boyfriend of four and half years. We really just couldn’t be happy with one another fighting all the time. I really had to sit down and make the dissension it was really hard having to explaining to him that we could never be together and that it would take a while before we will be able to be friends once again. But, did you know that is a lot harder to break up with a guy than a girl.Although it has always been said that women are the sensitive ones. Some reasons are men have stronger emotions are unpredictable. Some men get angry and others beg pleading you to take them back they always you that phrase â€Å" I can change just give me another chance†. there are three simple steps to ending a relationship, such as thinking thoroughly, consulting a friend, and the break up itself, doing what you need to do to end it for good. Step one, you need to think truly h ard about how you feel about that person.You need to search yourself and ask, am I truly happy with this person, do they make me feel special. Then you need to decide on the key reason(s) why you are even doing this. Its very important to make sure your head is clear before going into anything you yourself is uncertain of. Another thing is you should never breakup with a person out pure spite or being angry, might make a mistake and regret that dissension in the morning. Step two consulting a friend otherwise known as a break up buddy.Its almost necessary to have a break up buddy, because you must be strong not to go back to your ex. If you don’t have a break up buddy or lots of friends ( things to do) then more than likely to go back to your ex for whatever reasons boredom, sex, lonely, but it is crucial to stay strong and to hold your ground. Step three the break up†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦It is so crucial to keep it simple especially for guys its just easier that way for them. You mu st never leave a hint of maybe, this word is dangerous because you are leaving the signal that there might still be a chance between you two.Look at like this you might just end back up with them asking yourself the same thing as you are doing now. In conclusion on how to end a relationship is thinking thoroughly, consulting your breakup buddy, and being a strong person and following through with the break up itself. But some key tips to remember one is breaking up with a person is only as hard as you make it to be, second if you understand that person and how they work then sometimes it can help make the breakup a little less horrible for the both of you.

Martha Stewart Lost Reputation Essay

Martha Stewart places her name on her products. She becomes the face of her company and the voice of her brand. When her personal misconduct occurred, she made her company vulnerable and risky as well. This case study examines how Martha Stewart managed her corporate communication when her public image and reputation were tarnished on trial for alleged insider trading scandal. The trial not only led her to prison but also hurt her brand equity. The study shows that Stewart’s early response to her crisis demonstrated lack of situation awareness. In the beginning of her investigation, she kept her public persona intact, ignoring or downplaying her role in it. As a result, what Stewart called â€Å"a small personal matter† later became a full -blown crisis. If she had managed her communication in a more timely manner, the magnitude of her crisis might have been minimized. This article also provides detailed insights for organizations to learn from her crisis response strat egies. Keywords: Organizational crisis, Crisis communication, Image restoration 1. Introduction The personalities of strong business leaders can help shape and enhance their corporate image. In some cases, the leaders become the virtual icon of the corporate brand, lendi ng their personal prestige to the brand and personifying the company. They can also threaten the company when they are involved in a scandal. In this situation, the consequences for the company can be critical as in the Martha Stewart’s insider trading crisis in the United States. The crisis management scholar, Roux-Dufort (2000) points out that corporate crises as â€Å"a privileged moment during which to understand things differently† (p. 26). As such, there is a growing body of literature on organizational learning in the wake of corporate crisis (Mitroff, 2002; Shrivastava, 1998). The Stewart case, in particular, drew the attention of media for years. The crisis of Martha Stewart’s insider trading raised the issue about the Martha Stewart’s multiplatform franchise; that is, the media world and homemaking business are intricately interwoven with her persona. Stewart’s empire has an impressive business synergy as shown by her TV programs that promote her magazines, her website which sells her products, and her p roducts which are a link to her TV programs. She is the face, voice and personality behind the brand and, thus, the two – Stewart and the brand – are inseparable. After Stewart’s personal misconduct, the interlocking nature of her business proved to be vulnerable and risky. Moreover, Stewart’s crisis had both legal and public relations components (Jerome, Moffitt, & Knudsen, 2007). Allegations of insider trading against Martha Stewart led to her imprisonment. Her strategic plan in response to the insider trading accusations and the media attention su rrounding this crisis left Stewart trying to take action to restore her image. In a sense, it is important to understand how Stewart herself and her company managed their corporate communication when her public image and reputation were tarnished under the investigation of the insider trading scandal. This article explores how the high profile iconic Martha Stewart responded when confronted with an organizational crisis that threatened existence. It also provides detailed insights for organizations to learn from her crisis response strategies. 2. Background of Martha Stewart’s Insider Trading Beginning with the 1982 publication of her book Entertaining, Martha Stewart made a name for herself as a homemaking diva. In September 1997, Stewart became chairperson, president, and CEO of her new company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSO since 1999. As the chief of MSO, Stewart used her name and face to make connections with various businesses including a line of housewares, television shows, radio channels, magazines and a series of books on entertaining. On December 27, 2001, Stewart sold 3,928 shares of her ImClone stock worth US$228,000 the day before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected approval of Erbitux, ImClone’s anti -cancer drug. By selling ahead of the FDA rejection, Stewart received about US$45,000 more than if she had sold the stocks later. Compared to her wealth, it was certainly an insignificant sum and in fact, during her Larry King Live interview, she said it was â€Å"miniscule, really, about 0.006 percent of my net worth† (Four nier, 2004). Stewart had denied any wrongdoing, insisting she did not receive any advance knowledge from Sam Waksal, the founder and CEO of ImClone about the decision on Erbitux (Pollack, 2002). Instead, her sale of ImClone stock was part of a predetermined plan to sell if shares fell below US$60. Later, Stewart was officially indicted on charges of securities fraud and obstructing justice related to her sale of ImClone stock on March 5, 2004. Judge Cedarbaum dismissed the securities fraud charge against S tewart, saying prosecutors had failed to present enough evidence on the issue (Masters & White, 2004). However, obstruction of justice, charges of conspiracy, and making false statements remained. Stewart served a five-month prison sentence between October 8, 2004 and March 4, 2005 for these charges. On August 7, 2006, Martha Stewart reached an agreement with the securities’ regulators over the insider-trading civil charges and agreed to pay US$195,000 to settle a five-year legal battle. 3. Literature Review Crisis events can and do strike organizations of all types. Every kind of organization, from larger organizations to small family owned businesses, have the potential of being a victim of crisis (Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulmer, 2003). In many circumstances, crisis immediately raises questions from an organization’s many different publics (Marra, 1998). In this view, for an organization to manage the effects of a crisis it must communicate to both internal and external stakeholders. Ulmer, Sellnow, and Seeger (2007) suggest all crises involve the general communication strategies of reducing uncertainty, responding to the crisis, resolving it, and learning from it. The ability to communicate quickly and effectively is clearly an important component of successfu l crisis management. Effective crisis communication can not only defuse or eliminate crisis, but it can sometimes bring an organization a more positive reputation than before the crisis occurred (Kauffman, 2005). On the other hand, Marra (1998) argues if an organization fails to respond to a crisis in the correct manner, a bad situation can be made worse. Hence, crisis communication strategies can substantially diminish the harm caused by a crisis or magnify the harm if mismanaged. In this study, the stream of crisis response models from communication scholars and public relations professionals (Benoit, 1995; Coombs, 1999, 2007) are utilized as the theoretical framework to interpret the crisis response strategies that Martha Stewart employed in her insider trading crisis. According to Benoit (1995), firms or individuals may take preventative and restorative approaches to image problems. Five strategies (i.e., denial, evasion of responsibility, reduction of the offensiveness of the act , corrective action, and mortification) make up the rhetoric or image repair discourse. Each of these strategies has a set of tactics within them. Denial is the strategy employed when the rhetor simply chooses to deny the actions he is being accused of or shift the blame from the organization to outside individuals or agencies. The second strategy is evasion of responsibility is the strategy that the rhetor can blame circumstances beyond his control. It consists of four possible tactics: provocation, defeasibility, accident and good intentions. Benoit’s third major image restoration strategy, occurs when the rhetor attempts to reduce the degree of offensiveness experienced by the accuser. To this end, Benoit includes six tactics: bolstering, minimization, differentiation, transcendence, attacking the accuser, and compensation. The fourth category of the typology is corrective action, which attempts to correct the situation rather than counterbalance it. The final image restoration strategy, mortification, requires the rhetor to take responsibility for the action and to issue an apology. Benoit and colleagues have applied the model to a variety of different crisis situations. For instance, Benoit and Brinson (1994) analyzed AT&T’s defense following an interruption of its long-distance service in New York in September of 1991. Initially, AT&T tried to shift blame to low-level workers. As the complete story emerged, however, AT&T apologized for the interruption (mortification) and began to bolster its image by stressing its commitment to excellence, the billions of dollars invested in service, and the quality of its employees. Finally, AT&T promised corrective action and introduced a comprehensive review of its operations to anticipate and prevent further problems. It also stressed its commitment to providing excellent service and its willingness to spend billions of dollars to do so. Given these corrective action strategies, AT&T’s finally restored its image. Benoit (1995) also examined Union Carbide’s response to the Bhopal, India, gas leak that killed thousands and injured hundreds of thousands. Union Carbide’s primary strategies, bolstering and corrective action, were focused on four specific actions: a relief fund, an orphanage, medical supplies, and medical personnel. Although these strategies were appropriate and timely, Benoit claimed that Union Carbide failed to address the most important question: What were they doing to prevent another tragedy? Coombs (1999, 2007) develops situational crisis communication theory, creating 10 categories of basic organizational crisis communication strategies. These strategies are further grouped into four posture: 1) â€Å"denial posture† including attack the accuser (confronting person claiming a crisis occurred), denial ( asserting no crisis), and scapegoat (shifting the blame to others outside the organization), with an attempt to eliminate the crisis by denying its existence or the organization’s responsibility for the crisis; 2) â€Å"diminishment posture† which takes the forms of excuse (denying intend to do harm or claiming inability to control) and justification (minimizing severity of damage) with the purpose of weakening the link between the crisis and the organization by claiming the crisis is not the organization’s fault; 3) â€Å"rebuilding posture† of compensation (providing money or other gifts to the victims) and apology (taking full responsibility), which strives to restore legitimacy by seeking public approval and forgiveness; and 4) â€Å"bolstering posture† which includes reminder (telling stakeholders about its past good works), ingratiation (praising stakeholders and/or reminds them of past good works) and victimage (reminding stakeholders that the organization is a victim of the crisis, too). Using Coombs’s typology of crisis response strategies, Wilcox and Cameron (2006) examined the case of Intel. In 1993, Intel initially denied there was a problem with its Pentium 586 chip. As the crisis was covered in the mainstream press, Intel used the justification strategy by assuring that the problem was not serious enough to warrant replacing the chips. It minimized the concerns of consumers. In fact, Intel mismanaged the handling of its crisis communication. First, it did not disclose to the public the information about the Pentium flaw when they initially realized there was a problem. Then when the problem finally did come out into the open, they downplayed it instead of helping the users who had purchased the flawed chips. After considerable damage had been done to Intel’s reputation and IBM had suspended orders for the chip, Intel took corrective action to replace the chips. Subsequently, Andy Grove, Intel’s president, issued a full apology. Based on Benoit’s image repair theory and Coombs’s typology of crisis response st rategies, the following research questions are posited: RQ 1. What strategies did Martha Stewart use to manage her insider trading crisis? RQ 2. Were these strategies effective or ineffective? RQ 3. What can we learn from Martha Stewart case? 4. Methodology The case study is employed in this study, as it is effective in illustrating public relations management in real situations (Hendrix, 2004). According to Yin (1994), the six sources of evidence that are typically associated with the case study include documents, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant -observation, and physical artifacts. In this study, texts documenting Stewart’s discourse in response to incidents that threatened her image were collected from multiple sources. Specifically, this study used predominantly two types of data: documents and archival records. It began with gathering data and finding facts related to cases and defining the specific tasks. The actions and communication strategies used by Martha Stewart wer e reviewed with information from her corporate websites, press releases and media coverage. MSO is a publicly traded company. A look at the organizational archival records (e.g., stock prices, sales and annual reports) and official government records (e.g. , court records and commission reports) contributed to understand the impact of corporate scandals have had on the companies’ financial performance and their stakeholders. The media coverage on the Martha Stewart case was found through Lexis Nexis Academi c keyword search of â€Å"Martha Stewart & insider trading† in The New York Times and The Washington Post. These newspapers were selected because of their large circulation, prominence and influence on public opinion. For the purpose of the valance of news narration in this study, the period of analysis covered two time frames (during the crisis and post crisis). The first time frame started from the trading day to the verdict, beginning in December, 2001 and running through March, 2004. The second time frame started from the day of sentencing to her release from prison, beginning on July 16, 2004 and running t hrough March 2005. Since the research questions of this study were related to crisis communication strategies, the unit of analysis of this case study was Martha Stewart’s response to stakeholders during and post crisis. Thus, the strategies were apparent through the types of evid ence. 14 By examining corporate communication employed by Martha Stewart during the crisis and post -crisis period, the procedures for analysis involved three steps. First, after the data were collected from multiple sources, a detailed timeline of relevant events leading up to the crisis itself, and the post-crisis process was created. For example, the chronological order of the Martha Stewart case was constructed in the following manner: 1) the investigation (January, 2002 – June, 2003); 2) indictment (June – December, 2003); 3) verdict (January – May, 2004); 4) sentencing (June – July, 2004); 5) in prison (October, 2004); and 6) release from prison (March, 2005). Second, after the chronological order of actual events was refined, a narrative description and process analysis of each event was thus constructed. A worksheet served as an organizing tool for evaluating each event. All data collected were analyzed using the typology of crisis response strategy. Finally, a thick descript ion and analysis of the findings of each research question was conducted. 5. Analysis of Martha Stewart’s Crisis Response Strategies 5. 1 Investigation The story about Martha Stewart’s ImClone stock sale was broken to the public in the Wall Street Journal on June 7, 2002 (Adams & Anand, 2002). In the article, her lawyer, John Savarese, indicated that Stewart had set the price at US$60 for selling the stock but in fact, as of June 7, 2002, the stock price of ImClone sank to a low US$8.45 a share. Using the strategy of differentiation, Savarese further was trying to put distance between Stewart and Sam Waksal. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that she spoke to Sam, or had any information from anybody from ImClone during that week †¦ I am absolutely sure that there was no communication of any kind between her and Sam, no passing of any information from him to her. (Adams & Anand, 2002, p. B2) On June 12, 2002, Waksal was arrested for insider trading and soon after, the stock price of MSO plunged 12 percent, closing at US$15. From June 6, 2002, when congressional investigators started looking into Stewart’s sale of ImClone shares, the stock price of MSO had dropped 22 percent. Stewart immediately denied any insider trading or wrongdoing and, in a public statement, she said she knew nothing about the pending FDA announcement. She claimed that when the share price dropped below US$60 – the level at which she had agreed with her broker – she returned a call from her broker and sold the s hares on December 27, 2001. She acknowledged that after the trade, she immediately called Waksal but could not reach him, and he did not call her back. The message she left read: â€Å"Martha Stewart called. Something is going on with ImClone and she wants to know what† (Hays, 2002a, p. C1). She proclaimed her innocence in her statement: â€Å"In placing my trade, I had no improper information. My transaction was entirely lawful† (White, 2002, p. E1). However, the congressional investigator questioned Stewart’s sale, noting that ImClone dropped below $60 at least once before while Stewart owned it (White, 2002). On June 18, 2002, Stewart tried to resolve concerns about her sale of ImClone shares and hired a new lawyer, James F. Fitzpatrick, who submitted several documents to congressional investigators. This was the first time Stewart used a strategy of corrective action as a response to the inquiries. On June 19, 2002, MSO stock rebounded sharply, climbing from US$2.05, to US$14.4 and then to US$16.45, suggesting that her corrective action was working. However, Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the documents would help answer some questions but â€Å"we still don’t have an answer to the most nagging one: was Ms. Stewart’s pre-existing agreement to sell reached in late November, as she says, or in mid-December as some reports have indicated?† (Hays, 2002b, p. C7). On June 25, 2002, she appeared on CBS’s The Early Show, and when asked by the host, Jane Clayson, about the ImClone shares during a cooking segment, she replied while slicing a cabbage with a big knife. I’m involved in an investigation that has very serious implications. I have nothing to say on the matter. I’m really not at liberty to say. And as I said, I think this will be resolved in the very near future and I will be exonerated of any ridiculousness. And I just want to focus on my salad because that is why we’re here. (Clayson, 2002) Apparently, Stewart had no idea how to handle the situation and was unwilling to respond to the questions. She continued to dodge public inquiries and ignored the increasing outcry for answers about her role in the insider trading scandal.