Case Analysis of “The Best Laid Incentive Plans” Essay

Background Summary The Best Laid Incentive Plan is a case analysis depicting organizational behavior and performance appraisal management. Rainbarrel Products is a loosely ran consumer durables manufacturer. Within the last ten years, Rainbarrel Products has shown difficulties rebounding from a sluggish economy. The CEO, Keith Randall, once described as â€Å"aspiring† and â€Å"innovative†, has allowed the company to fall victim to a downward economy due to the recent lax in leadership. In addition, Rainbarrel is not adjusting to the decrease in consumer spending in comparison to their competitors; however, this is the least of the company’s problems. In efforts to save Rainbarrel from continuous distress, Randall hires Hiram Phillips as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). Hiram generates changes in the company which yields great numerical results. Hiram’s strategy includes cost cutting the budget, reduction in staff as evidenced by cos t reduction in labor, restructured sales incentives, changes in customer service procedures, and changes in the shipping process. Phillips is very proud of his success and is eager for the Corporate Executive Council (CEC) to hear his progress. Sally Hamilton and Frank Ormondy, consultants with Felding & Company are solicited by Phillips to perform baseline metrics to be tracked and  monitored in a year’s timeframe. The consultant’s findings are revealed and everything seems to lean in Hiram’s favor; however, after the meeting, the tide turns. Randall approaches Phillips regarding unsolicited information from other members of the council pertaining to the metrics Hiram has in place. Phillip makes overwhelming changes to the current organization’s systems, procedures, and processes resulting in negative feedback from Rainbarrels employees and customers. Even though the consultant’s reports give Phillips glowing results, Hiram is unaware of the damage he is causing at Rainbarrel. Problem Statement: The main problem identified in the case is the flaws in the performance management systems. Rainbarrel needs to make a dramatic change to its performance management system. The system is one-sided and not aligned with the company’s performance culture and strategic objectives. According to Kastalli, Neely, and Van Looy, (2013), â€Å"increasingly, manufacturing firms are turning to services as a new way of creating and capturing value. Despite its potential benefits, many new product-service providers struggle to deploy service activities effectively, not least because they fail to reflect the presence of service activities in their performance management systems† (p. 100). The CEO has lost sight of other key components of the company which is impacting Rainbarrel from being a successful enterprise. This fact alone questions whether or not the current leadership should be at the helm of Rainbarrel Products. Assumptions: Kerr states (2003) â€Å"the metrics program of Hiram focuses on the intermediary steps and assumes that such enhancements will make a positive impact on the bottom line† (p.31). The assumptions that highlight the main issues include the following: Hiram Phillips knew how to work within Rainbarrel’s budget. The employees are motivated by monetary means. Rainbarrel’s shipping process and customer service department are the only factors which stymies productivity. Email is the preferred vehicle of communication at Rainbarrel. Performance management is not required to align with the performance appraisal and incentive plans at Rainbarrel Hiram assumes the â€Å"fat and happy† company will be†lean and mean† within a year.  Positive results are masked by dissatisfied customers, unhappy employees, and decreased productivity unbeknownst to Hiram. Analysis: This case analysis highlights the importance of assessing, reviewing, implementing, and evaluating processes in regards to performance measurement and management systems. Wouters suggest (2009), â€Å"the importance of performance measurement systems (PMS) has been widely acknowledged. This importance pertains to all functional areas. At the same time, PMS may serve different purposes in an organization: performance measurement systems help to formulate, communicate and implement strategy throughout the organization; they are used to control and influence behavior in the organization and guide the strategic planning process† (p. 68). The aanalysis will start with a glimpse into the issues at Rainbarrel Products. These problems are preventing Rainbarrel from â€Å"picking up the pieces† of its financial and organizational crisis and moving towards a more stable and profitable footing strategically. In addition, the attitude of leadership and inability of the top senior level managers to meet organizational and individual goals resonates throughout the case study. The issues in this case are: Poor system of supervision and control on the shipping and customer service operations No structured budget process Lack of motivation and enthusiasm among employees Inadequate communication between leadership, human resources, and employees Inadequate performance appraisals and incentive plans Among the changes are incentives to answer customers’ calls quickly because the employees would now be monitored, as well as the shipment of products on time. If this does not occur, employees will be held accountable and suffer the consequences. The goal of management is conflicting with the goals of the Rainbarrel employees. Hiram Phillips drafts a rule which indicates the products should not be labeled as shipped until it was out of Rainbarrel’s doors. This is in total contrast to shipping the products from the main warehouse to a location across the street. Rainbarrel likes to emphasize customer service in its values and mission statement, but no reliable metric had been used to track what constituted â€Å"on time† and what constituted â€Å"shipped† (Kerr, 2003, p. 30). Not only are there  problems internally at Rainbarrel but on the outside as well. Longtime and loyal customer, Brenton Brothers, expresses their unhappiness of not receiving shipmen ts on-time or at their request. â€Å"In some cases I’ve been told to take a late date or otherwise forgo the purchase. That becomes the promise date but not the date I asked for,† stated by the buyer Annie, (Kerr, 2003, p. 33). Recorded evidence shows several shipment requests placed by Brenton Brothers indicate the promised shipments had left the Rainbarrel property: however, upon further investigation the shipments were found â€Å"sitting on a railroad siding across from Rainbarrel† (Kerr, 2003, p. 33). In addition, when Brenton Brothers sends e-mails to Rainbarrel’s customer service department they are experiencing late responses to questions and inquires from the call center employees. This problem is one affecting many areas of shipment and customer service. Jaaron & Backhouse (2011), state â€Å"Call centres embraced by a manufacturing organization play a major role in this endeavour as they are the main channel of contact between organizations and their customers† (p. 614). Burgers, Ruyter, Keen, & Streukens (2000) along with Meyer, Allen, and Topolnytsky (1998) indicate, â€Å"in order for organizations to achieve competitive advantage through their employees. â€Å"It is most important to equip them with high levels of affective commitment due to its fundamental links with extra role behaviour in the organization† (p. 48). There is no current protocol in place to monitor the call center for quality assurance purposes. With little or no motivation, there is no way to prove the duties are even performed on a daily basis. At this point, the employees are holding on to the only incentive they have, and that’s the salary wages paid to them now. With â€Å"Fire†em at the elm, nothing is guaranteed whether it means happy customers or not. Liu and Chang (2009) report, â€Å"interviewees were asked about how front-line employees are measured and rewarded. They have commented that the measurement of front-line employees in the call centre is done on the basis of how good they are in matching the company’s principles of serving the customer through employees’ appraisals in the call centre. The number of value-adding calls is counted against the non-value-adding calls to form the basis for measuring and evaluating employees work in general. The front-line employees in the call centre are rewarded by getting feedback and recognition on their work† (p. 619). Frezatti (2009) explains â€Å"the  budget contains the priorities and direction of the organization for a period and provides an opportunity to evaluate the entity’s performance, its internal areas and its managers.† [†¦] It is considered one of the pillars of management and a fundamental tool for accountability that exists in the organization† (p. 135). Hiram’s extreme budget cuts to make Rainbarrel ‘lean and mean†, is his only method of streamlining processes as it relates to performance management. Rainbarrel’s inadequate budget is the common denominator resulting in Hiram’s plan of budget cuts, imposing across the board workforce reduction up to 10 %, implementing the ‘wall of shame’ monitoring tool for underachieving customer care representatives and an unreliable metric regarding on time shipping. Budgets serve as a financial tool for companies, as well as a performance evaluator. Without a solid budgeting process, companies are taking a hopeful attempt to plan for expenses and sales. Hiram Phillips knows the budget is fat and happy now; however, he has not indicated any budgetary goals for the future of Rainbarrel, only short term solutions. Hiram’s metrics look good on paper, but the bottom line is his current budget metrics is displeasing to Rainbarrel’s employees and customers. According to Stern, (2013) â€Å"in theory, budgets tell you where you stand financially, and where you might be heading. In the budget process, the goals can be both individual and team, and behavioral problems may arise if the goal is too high (unattainable), if it is too easy (too vague) or if it generates conflicts between the company and the employees’ goals (goal conflict)† (p. 20) .The non existing budget structure at Rainbarrel influences production; for example, the Innovation ‘X’ project is on hold due to the fact it is not in the budget for the fiscal year, Thus, Rainbarrel is missing out on potential revenue. According to Gostick and Elton (2009), â€Å"A few misguided managers believe that 100 percent of motivation should be internally driven and that recognition is used only to motivate â€Å". Organizational behavior is emphasized on the employees’ behavior and how they perceive themselves in the organization. The impact of employee morale and lack of enthusiasm is vital for the growth of the organization. The current culture at Rainbarrel consists of lack of enthusiasm and motivation partly due to no incentive rewards programs, lack of communication between employees and leadership, and largely to layoffs. Daniel H. Pink’s Drive: the Surprising Truth about  What Motivates Us illustrates what motivates people, especially in a working environment. Pink theorizes motivation arises from reward and punishment of employees. Pink (2009) believes â€Å"human beings aren’t much different from horses – that the way to get us moving in the right direction is by d angling a crunchier carrot or wielding a sharper stick†(p. 10). The metrics, Hiram has in place, which include, reduction in labor cost, the â€Å"wall of shame†, and the change in sales commissions to employees is causing dedicated and loyal employees to become unengaged capital. The paucity of communication at Rainbarrel impacts the company as a whole. The lack of communication between Randall and Phillips causes a trickle down effect between Phillips and the workforce. Phillips does not respond wisely in communicating the changes at Rainbarrel. The case analysis, The Best Laid Incentive Plans, illustrates several examples of poor communication. Hiram does not communicate the performance metrics he plans to implement. For instance, the email policy indicates the time limit on email responses. Employees are penalized if they do not open and respond to email notification from the company. Email should not be the main method of communicating pertinent information to employees of organizations. In order to have effective performance management, there should be communication between leadership and its workforce; therefore, goals and expectations are communicated and understood of both parties. More recently, a 2008 study performed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project revealed that 72% of all full-time employees have an email account that they use for work, and 37% of those workers â€Å"check them constantly† (Madden & Jones, 2008). The CFO is hired to improve Rainbarrel’s organizational and individual performance metrics which are causing the company to fall against main competitors and industry standards. The current change initiatives show a win-win for Hiram and Rainbarrel but failed efforts for the employees. According to Barber and Strack, (2009) â€Å"today’s performance measures and management practices don’t reflect the particular economics of people-driven businesses† (p. 81). Howard does not realize problems occur in his current performance metrics. The reduction in labor cost results in unmotivated staff; streamlining of service calls by two minutes produces frustrated workers and unhappy customers, restructuring the commission sales impacts the productivity of the sales people, and Hiram’s inept ability to  operate the service and shipping department creates a weak performance management system. Smith and Mazin (2013) report , â€Å"the entire organization benefits from a system that aligns performance to company-wide goals, provides a structured format for measuring results and giving feedback, and establishes a record for each employee that can be used for individual development, to inform future supervisors, and to make sound employment decisions† (p. 49). Recommendations: During Hiram’s interview, his main goal is to do what is right in regards to Rainbarrel Products; thus, the performance metrics instituted by Phillips results in cost saving efforts but morally bankrupts the company. Examining the metrics listed in the case analysis, there are recommendations Rainbarrel should implement in order to align Hiram’s strategies and the overall wellbeing of the employees and the company. The first, Hiram should reexamine the current metrics. Without budgetary guidelines, Hiram makes cost reductions based on a sluggish economy. Hiram is not comparing prior fiscal year data to current year data. Hiram is simply basing his metrics on slumping product sales and numbers. Implementing budget structure as a tool will eliminate assumptions Hiram has of the overall performance of Rainbarrel. Packer and Teeters (2012) indicate that â€Å"the budget had grown beyond a financial tool. It is above all managerial tool; in essence, it is the best tool for making sure that key resources, especially financial resource are assigned to priorities and to results. It is a tool that enables the manager to know when to review and revise plans, either because results are different from expectation or due to environmental conditions, economic conditions, market conditions or technologies change, which no longer correspond to the assumptions of the budget† (p. 467). I would also, recommend Hiram conduct monthly budget audits for the first 5 years of implantation. Ijiri (2008) â€Å"The main purpose of budget audits is to make sure that budgeting processes are carried out as specified by budgeting principles and procedures† (p.665). The monthly audits will allow Rainbarrel to adjust the budget on an as needed basis. labor), which are the most significant expenses and the primary variable cost that audit firms incur. According to Ettredge, Bedard, and Johnston (2009) â€Å"Our study finds that asymmetric ratcheting occurs during the budgeting process (p. 15). Audit  firm management successively removes budget surpluses to a greater extent than they provide incremental budgeted hours following budget shortfalls, thus maintaining budgetary control on a continuing basis. Engagement teams also respond asymmetrically, decreasing reported hours following budget surpluses to a lesser extent than they increase reported hours following budget shortfalls† (p. 15). Referencing Bertazzi (2008), â€Å"One of the most common problems is the one in which both transportation and inventory costs are taken into account. The aim is to determine shipping policies that allow the minimization of the sum of these two costs† (p. 750). It is revealed the shipping of products promised is not occurring according to the â€Å"on-time’ ghost policy Hiram has mandated. I propose Rainbarrel implement a shipping policy. The policy should include the shipping date, which includes the shipping turn around time. Also, the policy should indicate refun ds of shipping and handling fees if the delivery is not made as promised. In the Brenton Brothers’ case, the good and services purchased from Rainbarrel are not delivered as promised. The service management is very loose in regards to the customer service representatives at Rainbarrel. There are complaints of long hold times, no return phone calls from employees and the customers are being rushed off the phone. A study conducted done by (Schalk and Van Rijckevorsel, 2007 😉 illustrates â€Å"customer service representatives (CSRs) in a call center in India are given more autonomy in the production market† (p. 77). According to Schalk and Van Rijckevorsel (2007) â€Å"Autonomy refers therefore to the ability of the worker to take over production by integrating personal work skills that could overcome the failures of the production system. The CSRs’ work requires a certain degree of autonomy. In fact, they highlight that the work organization in call centers is articulated around the standardization of the production process and the customer orientation† (p.3). Layoffs due to the economic crisis, the ‘wall of shame’, unfair s ales commissions, and limited incentives are causing low employee moral and motivation. In order to regain the respect and trust of employees, Rainbarrel’s leadership needs to decide on how to motivate its people. I suggest Rainbarrel motivate through leadership. Tebeian, (2012) notes, â€Å"The leadership style has s a direct, positive and statistically significant effect on the subordinates’ motivation† (p.1094). The leadership is definitely an influence of Rainbarrel’s culture and  strategic market sustainability. In their article published in the Havard Business Review, 2008, Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg and Linda Lee-eling researched an employee motivation model and incorporated Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The model includes four drives: leadership style, motivating the team, performance, and job satisfaction. The results of the study shows needs identified by Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg and Linda Lee-eling are â€Å"interconnected at the brain level, and the level of fulfillment of each of them directly influences emotions , therefore behaviour as well† (p. 1094). In order for employees to support the organizations, communication is imperative. (Dolphin, 2005), â€Å"Internal communication is communication between the organization’s leaders and one of its key publics: the employees† (p. 185). I recommend Rainbarrel schedule face to face meetings, such as monthly department meetings or team huddles with front line managers, employees, and stakeholders. In the case analysis, email is the preferred route of communication; however, important information is being misconstrued. Chong (2007), studying Singapore Airlines, found that focusing on face-to-face dialogue between management and staff helped the airline deliver its brand promise to its customers through its employees (p.203). Another recommendation to improve communication at Rainbarrel is initiate written communication via the company’s intranet site. The implementation of a company intranet site will convey important information regarding the company’s strategy, policy changes, and forecasted issues. A secure intranet site is ideal to broadcast convey information to the company employees. Borden adds (2010), â€Å"the company’s intranet must be organic and ever-changing, ready to embrace and depl oy new communication technologies that facilitate information sharing across the company† (p.44). According to Barber and Strack (2005), â€Å"when people are your most important resource, some standard performance measures and management practices become ill suited to their tasks† (p. 81). The current performance metrics and incentives at Rainbarrel have impacted negatively on employees. The performance management and measurement system should meet the needs of employees and Rainbarrel. I propose the CEO implement performance appraisals and fair incentive awards. Bacal (2004) points out â€Å"Performance appraisals enable employers and employees to define, communicate, and review expectations, goals, and progress in achieving strategic objectives. The  purpose is to improve the way employees contribute to an organization’s goals and job performance. Appraisals are also intended to sustain, improve, and help an employee† (p. 21). Dunlap (2010)† Distinguish and reward your top performers in a manner that is fair—not equal, but perceived as fair and justified† (p. 10).

Human Resources

Q. 1 Write down the difference between Personnel management and Human Resource management. Ans. Distinction between Personnel management & Human Resources management The history of Human Resources management traces its roots to the erstwhile Personnel management that was prevalent in the companies of a few decades ago. Though the two terms ‘Personnel Management’ and ‘Human Resources Management’ are interchangeably used by most of the authors, there are key differentiators that make Personnel Management (PM) different from Human Resources Management (HRM). HRM is clearly based on the foundation of behavioural science knowledge relating to the handling of employees to motivate organizational goals. The focus is more proactive approach and pays attention to employee satisfaction and delight. Business goals and objectives and the strategies that will enable this to happen are the foundation for HRM. The basic philosophy is driven by the Theory Y approach where the belief is that people like to work and do not prefer t be supervised and made to perform. The employee becomes a champion for the organization and its product/service. PM is that management style that deals with the control and reactive problem solving approach to resolve employee issues in a organizations. The philosophy for the PM approach relied on the Theory X approach that believed that people do not naturally like to work and need to be coerced to work and often need to be driven to work. Is more the ‘stick’ approach rather than ‘carrot’ approach. Rigid rules of do’s and dont’s exist and these provide the framework for employee’s behaviour at the workplace. Employee welfare and formal grievance systems play a significant role here and thereby managing industrial relations with high amount of trade union activity are highlighted. Very few organizations today practice this style to people management, as the benefits and the long term gains from a HRM approach, impact business results far more. HRM emphasizes on training, as an important area of people management, which covers the following aspects: 1. Increasing productivity 2. Improving quality 3. Improving organizational climate 4. Ensuring personnel growth etc. Q. Write a note on scope of HR in India. Ans. Scope of HR in India Contrary to these forces, in India the owner manager/government/public sector manager was an industry icon and a national hero of sorts. The Personnel Management practices were dominant of the ‘brick-and-motor’ industry. Though the approach was largely welfare oriented and reactive in nature it served effectively for the large PSU organizations that built the country’s foundation. Its only in the past 10-12 years with the immense growth on account of the IT industry that winds of change began to blow. It was largely the advent of the Information Technology era in India that brought with it the western management practices. MNC’s (multinational companies) started up their operations in India. The FDI (foreign direct investment) went up steeply as the world saw the potential in the country’s human resources. India became a preferred location for MNC’s primarily from the USA, followed by other developed countries. The gave birth to a new generation of management as well as HRM practices. New hiring methods, new ways of paying salaries, new employment terms and most importantly increased focus on individual performance and outcomes. There was emphasis on deliverables and linking individual and team performance to business results and success. Given the highly educated workforce there was a de-emphasis in the role of the trade unions. The era of the trade union dominance gave way to the new order of individual negotiated salaries and terms and clearly performance linked assessment systems. Another transformation that the Indian workplace witnessed was the focus on ethics and ethical practices in doing business. It was only fair to expect that with the weak legal system, it needed the support of the government policies and the corporate policies to beat the corruption that existed. This has significantly contributed to India emerging as a preferred destination for doing business. All of this has yielded to give way to the birth of the ‘professional manager’ Professional managers today are a critical and essential part of the Indian corporate. The professional manager brought about a shift in the culture from a highly authoritarian approach of getting work done, to a more collaborative and participative approach. The entrepreneurs who earlier operated in a secure, sheltered market and hardly face challenges, were challenged by the globalization that swept in with the liberalization policies and measure brought in by the Indian government late 1995 and onwards. Despite the challenges, the Indian employee and his manager evolved. Together they stepped up to face the challenge head-on and to win not only in India but also globally. The levers of (a) low cost, (b) highly skilled, and (c) English as the medium of education and it being the corporate-language: were the key drivers that enabled the flow of global business to India. There was exponential growth in employment both directly (jobs in the international and domestic companies) as well as indirectly (as support industries like transport, catering and ancillary industries). The simultaneous investment of the government in building the necessary infrastructure did its share of providing impetus towards creating more jobs for the people of the country. Hence, human relations movement in India has evolved very differently as compared to what we see in the developed economies of the USA and the UK. What is currently acting as a limitation is the enhanced awareness on the need for research based HRM practices. While there is a lot of work happening in the Indian education system to promote this, it is going to take a while before it can create a distinct body of knowledge that is referenceable. For now the industry relies on emulating westerns HR practices and customizing on a as-needed basis for the Indian corporation. For the rest the industry forums and consortiums like the NASSCOM act as a hub bringing together organizations on a regular basis to discuss challenges and share best practices and identify ways and means o overcome them together. So far this has been successful and working to the advantage of the Indian corporate. Leading MNC research and consulting firms like Mercer and Hewitt too contribute to the industry through carrying out research and sharing reports on a regular basis. The approach however remains analytical and less prescriptive. Q. 3 Explain the critical steps in Human Resource Planning system. Ans. We will attempt to discuss in details the critical steps that are part of the above system. A. Purpose of Human Resource Planning: Human Resource Planning fulfils individual as well as organizational goals. What it essentially amounts to is â€Å"striking a balance† between the future human resources needs and the future enterprise needs. And this is done with the clear objective of maximizing the future return on investment in human resources. And this objective may be laid down for a short-term (i. e. for one year). B. Estimating/Forecasting the future Manpower Requirements: the first step in the process is to arrive at the desired organizational structure at a given point in time. Mapping this structure with the existing structure helps in identifying the gap in resources requirement. The number and type of employees needed have to be determined. In addition to the structure there are a number of external factors that affect this determination. They include business forecasts, competitor strategy, expansion plans, product/skills mix changes, profit/revenue growth projections, in addition to management philosophy and government policies. This step also includes an analysis of the external labour/talent environment, its demographics, demand/supply of the required talent, and cost considerations. C. Auditing Human Resources: Once the future human resource needs are estimated, the next step is to determine the present supply of manpower resources. This is done through what is called â€Å"Skills Inventory†. A skills inventory contains data about each employee’s skills, abilities, work preferences and other items of information which indicate his worth to the company. Skills inventory are also referred to as competency dictionaries. This information is us ually retained as part of the performance management system with the HR department. This step in the HRP system helps identify the existing profile of the manpower and its efficiency. It helps highlight where the organization is vs. where it ought to be. The step concludes with identifying clear gaps in the skills/ manpower mix required to meet the upcoming business objectives. D. Job Analysis: After having decided how many persons would be needed, it is necessary to prepare a job analysis. The recorded details of training, skills, qualification, abilities, experience and responsibilities, etc. as needed for a job are studied. Job analysis includes the preparation of job descriptions and job specifications. E. Developing a Human Resource Plan: This step refers t the development and implementation of the human resource plan, which consists in finding out the sources of labour supply with a view to making an effective use of these sources. Some important considerations at this point are: †¢ Specific roles/disciplines being hired for, of them which roles are pivotal for the business †¢ Competencies and capabilities needed †¢ Manager vs. employee hiring †¢ Hire internally vs. External sourcing †¢ Planning for new skills through training existing staff vs. hiring new teams †¢ In case of surpluses, planning for redeployment/ reduction in orkforce as required †¢ Succession planning for key positions in the company. Q. 4 With reference to the compensation and salary system what are the systems that are helpful to raise the effectiveness of employees Ans. Compensation/ salary systems are designed to ensure that employees are rewarded appropriately depending on what they do and the skills and knowledge (intellect) required for doing a specific job. It must therefore provide for the following key factors in order to be effective: The following factors may be helpful to raise the effectiveness employees Signal to the employee the major objectives of the organizations- therefore it must link to the overall goals and objectives of the company. For example if doing a quality job is critical for the company its compensation system has to ensure that this is adequately rewarded. On the other hand if a company values productivity and units produces, the compensation system would be designed such that productivity is rewarded. †¢ Attract and retain the talent an organization needs – the need to benchmark salaries to the prevalent market standard for that job / skill so that the company is able to attract the right talent. If a enterprises pays a salary lower that what the market does for that job/responsibilities, the probability that suitable candidates would take the job offer and join the company. Even if they do join subsequently when they find that the market pays more for that job they would quickly find a more remunerative job and leave the company. †¢ Motivate employees to perform effectively – as discussed at the outset, money is a key motivator and it often might be the only motivator for most employees, therefore ensuring that compensation is appropriately disbursed need to be taken care of while designing the compensation system. Jobs in the brick and motor, production setups would focus on higher incentive policies that would motivate the employee to produce more while the base-salary would be low. †¢ Create the type of culture the company seeks to engender – compensation systems play a critical role as sponsors for the organizations culture. A performance driven culture would build compensation policies that clearly and significantly reward performance. A company that rewards loyalty would reward employees who stay longer in the company with significantly better incentive programs. Hence we see how compensation systems are reflective of the organizations over all philosophy of what its goals and objectives are and how this can be linked to salary payout. Q. 6 â€Å"Dynamic Learning† is an organization that wants to revise the HR policies. It has conducted a survey and the results of survey indicated that r=there is employee unrest, tardiness, absenteeism, more grievances. This all clearly indicates low morale. Suggest the measures that can be taken to improve employee morale. Ans. Employee Morale Boosters. Morale boosters can take the form of recognition, eompensation, special perks or simply terminating employees. Here are 11 low cost morale boosters: Welcome ideas: Employee morale improves when staff feel they are valued. Share and implement their innovations and ideas. Keep Score: Mount a large score board in the office to recognize top performers and to motivate those on the bottom of the list. Inspect: The old management adage, inspect what you expect is true. Companies with a lack of focus can confuse staff and lead to less morale. Thank You Notes: Send a special thank you letter to you staff’s family or spouse, praising their good work and efforts. Huddle: Have a daily morning huddle to highlights tasks for the day and to cheer yesterday’s wins. Open Up: Provide an open forum or one-on-one time to allow employees to express their concerns and feelings can be an easy means to boost morale. Have Fun: Special events and outside work activities can take the pressure off the day-to-day grind in the office. Show Charity: Get your staff involved in a bigger cause to help them see there is more to life than work. Add Perks: Use low cost perks such as a Foosball table in the lunch room. Fire Staff: Sometimes the root cause of low employee morale can be a staff member whose negativity brings down the group. Even a top performer can bring down staff behind your back. Measure it: Keep tabs on the levels of morale in your business by regularly measuring employee satisfaction. The backbone of business success resides in the productivity and output of your employees. Those companies who remain vigilant to the signs of low morale and who focus on improving morale can thwart off the impact of a low morale workplace. Human Resources 1 â€Å"If you are working in a company that is not enthusiastic energetic, creative, clever, curious, and just plain fun, you’ve got trouble, serious troubles† (Tom Peters. Indeed, the success of any organization depends on several issues amongst them, organizational culture, teamwork, management style and the level of motivation amongst the employees. Leadership The whole organizational momentum is decided by the top management, the style they adopt determines how decisions are going to be made, what kind of decisions the business is likely to make, the nature of policies which the company is going to adopt as well as how the organization will respond to management issues such as competitor activity, industrial attractiveness employee relations, public relations as well as corporate social responsibilities. The strategic fit of the organization is determined by whether the leaders are visionary or non-visionary whether these exercise foresight and how they balance risk taking and the drive for initiative. According to (Stacey, 1992p. 31-39), the momentum of a company is generated from the top management and perfected in bottom level, the success of an organization squarely rests on reach and every single employee irregardless of the role and position held in the organization. Therefore, to achieve a well coordinated and motivated team, the leadership and in essence, every single employee must be able to play their role so as to achieve a synergetic effect. The company which succeeds is that which handles all departments’ issues in regard to solving problems which arise and keep on arising. The challenges can serve as the source of de-motivating an otherwise motivated staff, if issues are not well attended to, while on the other hand, the challenges can afford an organization the opportunity to bond its workforce and reassure unity of purpose in the organization positive organizational behavior leads to organizational success while a negative corporate behavior leads to loss of profits and therefore organizational failure 2. You have been hired as the H. R director of the Schapiro Inn & out Motel. What are some of the key issues you should address the First day of work? Do you want to make your presence known the first day, or would you ease into the job slowly? What . R. management philosophies do you plan to adopt to make sure that you have the best workforce possible? Although take over calls for moderation, definitely there are some things that a new H. R manager would need be familiar with the first day of reporting to work. This is mainly because of the fact that on the fist day of work, one has already signed an agreement letter, and a letter of agreement. Probably they have been oriented and all relevant hand over details completed. This therefore implies that one is responsible for all happenings and is mandated to execute the relevant tasks as though that day was his/her 1000th day. Since not any board of directors would take the excuse that the H. R. M is new and therefore the reason for the numerous mistakes. But for the fact that different organizations have different needs, all HRM functions are similar and the rest calls for understanding of a company dynamics. On assuming office, an HRM manager has an obligation to execute normally all relevant duties such as pay issues, employee complaints, recruitment and staffing issues as well as formulate HR policies in collaboration with the administration. Where applicable, the HRM is supposed to solve any pending issues. The above is undertaken in the understanding that in an organization, smooth running is of utmost importance and a breakdown should never be experienced, for this may affect operations of the whole organization and therefore result into losses and interruptions to normal functioning of the organization. The best workforce can be achieved only by adopting suitable policies notably, pay related policies as well as employee motivation issues. The appraisal method adopted, problem solving and disciplinary issues as well as equality and equity policies at the place are of importance to an organisation. If the above are practiced, motivation results and staff often give their best. 3 â€Å"Call it what you will, incentives are what get people to work harder. † (Nikita Khrushchev) Research findings on the impact of pay and incentives on performance and output have overwhelmingly supported the above contention. Most employees work to satisfy their basic needs as opposed to achieving other goals. Although other factors such as job environment, tools and machinery, job policies as well as terms of contract are relevant to. All of the above play important roles in ensuring that employees and well equipped to perform at their best. Incentives basically refer to salaries and all other benefits which allow employees to function with minimum constraints. Incentives as a motivator should be administered carefully and uniformly. Job grading should be predictable and done in guidelines of a clear and open policy whereby employees are aware of what they need to do in order to move to the next level or to move to a higher job group. In a situation where by the issue of incentives is handled unprofessionally, conflicts arise and output and performance are negatively affected. 4 Discuss the term â€Å"turnover† in the hospitality industry. What does it mean? How can it be controlled? What are some of the causes? What does it mean to you? Turnover can be defined as the situation whereby employees keep on quitting job in unusually high rates. This could either be due to natural attrition, unfavorable working conditions as well as due to service termination. Turnover is a very common occurrence in the hospitality industry mainly due to the nature of the industry. Since many businesses in the hospitality sector peg their staff needs on seasons, low or high seasons call for flexible employment and contract terms in which organisations increase or retrench staff to reflect on market activity, this in turn results into un-usually high staff turnover occasioned by unpredictability of demand forces. â€Å"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction† (Anne Frank) Job satisfaction refers to a state whereby one is able to work hard and in turn receive self assurance from the job upon being contented with the results of the work. Job satisfaction is good for employees in that it lead to high level of concentration and therefore high output. Lack of satisfaction leads to lack of concentration, something which a ffects performance. Laziness is a leading cause of job dissatisfaction in that for one to be truly satisfied with their work hard work and effort is needed. One needs to concentrate and exercise a lot of patience for that leads to satisfaction. Therefore, laziness hinders performance and this prevents job satisfaction. Employees should derive job satisfaction from the tasks allocated to them. This in turn leads to high profitability of the organization and a healthy work force. Human Resources 1 â€Å"If you are working in a company that is not enthusiastic energetic, creative, clever, curious, and just plain fun, you’ve got trouble, serious troubles† (Tom Peters. Indeed, the success of any organization depends on several issues amongst them, organizational culture, teamwork, management style and the level of motivation amongst the employees. Leadership The whole organizational momentum is decided by the top management, the style they adopt determines how decisions are going to be made, what kind of decisions the business is likely to make, the nature of policies which the company is going to adopt as well as how the organization will respond to management issues such as competitor activity, industrial attractiveness employee relations, public relations as well as corporate social responsibilities. The strategic fit of the organization is determined by whether the leaders are visionary or non-visionary whether these exercise foresight and how they balance risk taking and the drive for initiative. According to (Stacey, 1992p. 31-39), the momentum of a company is generated from the top management and perfected in bottom level, the success of an organization squarely rests on reach and every single employee irregardless of the role and position held in the organization. Therefore, to achieve a well coordinated and motivated team, the leadership and in essence, every single employee must be able to play their role so as to achieve a synergetic effect. The company which succeeds is that which handles all departments’ issues in regard to solving problems which arise and keep on arising. The challenges can serve as the source of de-motivating an otherwise motivated staff, if issues are not well attended to, while on the other hand, the challenges can afford an organization the opportunity to bond its workforce and reassure unity of purpose in the organization positive organizational behavior leads to organizational success while a negative corporate behavior leads to loss of profits and therefore organizational failure 2. You have been hired as the H. R director of the Schapiro Inn & out Motel. What are some of the key issues you should address the First day of work? Do you want to make your presence known the first day, or would you ease into the job slowly? What . R. management philosophies do you plan to adopt to make sure that you have the best workforce possible? Although take over calls for moderation, definitely there are some things that a new H. R manager would need be familiar with the first day of reporting to work. This is mainly because of the fact that on the fist day of work, one has already signed an agreement letter, and a letter of agreement. Probably they have been oriented and all relevant hand over details completed. This therefore implies that one is responsible for all happenings and is mandated to execute the relevant tasks as though that day was his/her 1000th day. Since not any board of directors would take the excuse that the H. R. M is new and therefore the reason for the numerous mistakes. But for the fact that different organizations have different needs, all HRM functions are similar and the rest calls for understanding of a company dynamics. On assuming office, an HRM manager has an obligation to execute normally all relevant duties such as pay issues, employee complaints, recruitment and staffing issues as well as formulate HR policies in collaboration with the administration. Where applicable, the HRM is supposed to solve any pending issues. The above is undertaken in the understanding that in an organization, smooth running is of utmost importance and a breakdown should never be experienced, for this may affect operations of the whole organization and therefore result into losses and interruptions to normal functioning of the organization. The best workforce can be achieved only by adopting suitable policies notably, pay related policies as well as employee motivation issues. The appraisal method adopted, problem solving and disciplinary issues as well as equality and equity policies at the place are of importance to an organisation. If the above are practiced, motivation results and staff often give their best. 3 â€Å"Call it what you will, incentives are what get people to work harder. † (Nikita Khrushchev) Research findings on the impact of pay and incentives on performance and output have overwhelmingly supported the above contention. Most employees work to satisfy their basic needs as opposed to achieving other goals. Although other factors such as job environment, tools and machinery, job policies as well as terms of contract are relevant to. All of the above play important roles in ensuring that employees and well equipped to perform at their best. Incentives basically refer to salaries and all other benefits which allow employees to function with minimum constraints. Incentives as a motivator should be administered carefully and uniformly. Job grading should be predictable and done in guidelines of a clear and open policy whereby employees are aware of what they need to do in order to move to the next level or to move to a higher job group. In a situation where by the issue of incentives is handled unprofessionally, conflicts arise and output and performance are negatively affected. 4 Discuss the term â€Å"turnover† in the hospitality industry. What does it mean? How can it be controlled? What are some of the causes? What does it mean to you? Turnover can be defined as the situation whereby employees keep on quitting job in unusually high rates. This could either be due to natural attrition, unfavorable working conditions as well as due to service termination. Turnover is a very common occurrence in the hospitality industry mainly due to the nature of the industry. Since many businesses in the hospitality sector peg their staff needs on seasons, low or high seasons call for flexible employment and contract terms in which organisations increase or retrench staff to reflect on market activity, this in turn results into un-usually high staff turnover occasioned by unpredictability of demand forces. â€Å"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction† (Anne Frank) Job satisfaction refers to a state whereby one is able to work hard and in turn receive self assurance from the job upon being contented with the results of the work. Job satisfaction is good for employees in that it lead to high level of concentration and therefore high output. Lack of satisfaction leads to lack of concentration, something which a ffects performance. Laziness is a leading cause of job dissatisfaction in that for one to be truly satisfied with their work hard work and effort is needed. One needs to concentrate and exercise a lot of patience for that leads to satisfaction. Therefore, laziness hinders performance and this prevents job satisfaction. Employees should derive job satisfaction from the tasks allocated to them. This in turn leads to high profitability of the organization and a healthy work force.

HN2200 Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

HN2200 Assignment 3 - Essay Example As the newly appointed HR manager, I believe that it is my duty to look after our employee’s needs and benefits. I had the chance to have a glance at the employees individual profiles and I noticed that, the employees are mostly young, responsible, dedicated and decent college graduates who are in their first of second job. They are witty and they have the knack to work well with others. They are courageous, and I can see in them that if they are properly taken cared of, they would become assets to the company. There is also a mix of both Qataris and expatriate employees in the workforce. Some of them are married with young children, but most of them are still single and are very responsible and dedicated to their work during their work time. Dedicated as they are to their respective areas of responsibilities, they also value their free time away from work and lead very active lives outside of work. They are involved in many different recreational and sporting activities. Standard health benefits package which includes varying degree of health coverage, and a few fringe benefits. The health benefit would cover about 80% of the cost of medical insurance for employees and their dependents, depending on the age and marital status of the workforce, or a choice between HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) and a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). The HMO dental coverage is to be included as health benefit and would follow a similar 80-20 pattern. Vision coverage is also to be added. Vision coverage includes free annual eye examination plus a yearly allowance for new glasses or contact lenses. Long-term disability is a standard health benefit to protect income for ongoing family needs in the event of a catastrophe. Since no benefit plan would satisfy all the workers, we should strive for flexibility. For example, the older employees would want to care about the hospital confinement or may opt for greater flexibility in choosing their own doctors,

The role of employee engagement in an organization, using M & S food Essay

The role of employee engagement in an organization, using M & S food store as an organization - Essay Example Only a third of employees have motivation in their work places in the United Kingdom (BergHind, 2005). Some organizations have embraced a strong sense of developing employee willingness to have a positive mental attitude towards work (Accor Services, 2009). Only twenty nine percent in the United States are enthusiastic about their work and employment. The business landscape is more unpredictable and more dynamic than ever before. However, despite challenges, most organizations have continuously supported employees to create a positive mental attitude towards work. Human resource remains a fundamental resource in any business. Companies that pride themselves in continued improvement of the intangible resources of the business entity. The intangible resources encompass the psychological factors that influence the mental preparedness and willingness of workers in an important pillar of progress in any company. The company has established itself as a true benchmark of success in the reta il industry through creating a sense of belonging among employees ( Bradley, 2007). The human resource personnel and other officials in the company engage the workforce in various developmental steps of the company. In the current dynamic and ever evolving business landscape, companies have stepped up efforts to engage employees. In the past, organizations were concentrating on staff retention plans which were ineffective in guaranteeing high performance. This is because companies were keeping millions of unwilling workers who simply turned for duty but were never interested in building the organization (Clarke & MacLeod 2009, p 168). Organizations today are engaging employees through informing employees about the organizations, creating strong communication channels where there is feedback from employees and committing the top management to proper service delivery. At the moment, several organizations have improved the extent employee engagement effort. What are the benefits of eng aged employees and how they are been rewarded in regards to their engagement to the organization. The psychological factors are key to the success of any company. Any employee who is engaged to a company will produce better results than an employee who is not motivated at work (Baldwin & Davis, 2006). This makes rewards and benefits to an employee who is engaged very necessary if any organization has to continue performing well (Clarke & MacLeod, 2009). Employees who are engaged will be handled well by the organization. Employees who have a positive attitude towards their work have less stress and are less likely to fall sick compared to those who are not engaged. Employees who are engaged derive joy and attach meaning to their work. This makes employee engagement the heart of high performance in an organization (Accor Services 2009, p 162). A strong correlation was established between employee engagement and the level of performance. The stores that were in the top quartile of enga gement achieved eight percent higher mystery shop scores than those in the bottom quartile (Marks and Spencer Group Inc, 2012, p. 56). This underscores the importance of employee engagement in the success of the company. The biggest job related concern among workers in the United Kingdom is the amount of salary employees earn. More than forty six percent of the workers consider the salary they earn as their main concern (Merrit J. E., 2012, p. 29). Engaged employees get offers from the company.

Prostitution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prostitution - Research Paper Example This paper analyses the religious and cultural dimensions of prostitution. It is easy for people to judge the goods and evils when they consider topics such as global peace or agitations in Libya. SARA MACKENZIE (1992) has pointed out that people possess vastly different views as to whether it is a â€Å"Good Thing† or a â€Å"Bad Thing† when they consider sex and prostitution. In her opinion, sex and prostitution are morally neutral topics (MACKENZIE, p.1). In other words, SARA MACKENZIE like feminists argue that sex is a profession rather than any divine activity. In her opinion, prostitution is just another profession like nursing, management or teaching. In my opinion, the above argument seems to be meaningless. Sex is a divine act, given to the human by God in order to make his life and reproduction procedure more enjoyable. The intrusion of commercialization is visible in every aspect of human life. Sara’s arguments seem to be the outcomes of such intrusion of commercialization in human life rather than any logical thinking. If sex is performed in a professional manner, then it will become mechanic just like other professions in this world. A person loves his wife mainly because of the emotional attachment strengthened through their sexual life. A person will consider his wife as a special entity mainly because of the psychological pleasure she is providing to him though their sexual intercourse. If a person allowed having sex with females other than his wife, his emotional attachments with his wife will be damaged or decreased. Such decrease in emotional attachment will affect the cohesion and strength of family relations. In other words, the traditional concept of family, husband, wife, children etc will undergo drastic changes, once we accept prostitution as a moral act. A prostitute is not a commodity and neither is sex. Prostitution is a service and a prostitute sells her companionship and sex as a service. Her body is present at the time of transaction as the vehicle for these services as is the body of any other professional at the time of selling a service (MACKENZIE, p.3). The above argument also seems to be illogical. Converting sex into another product and the prostitutes as just service providers are dangerous acts. Sex is not a product, but a process. Generalization of sex as a product will destroy the uniqueness of this process. If sex is a product, then it can be purchased from anywhere, even from the family. In other words, we should justify the sexual relations with a brother and sister, mother and her son etc, if we consider sex as a product. It should be noted that mothers and sisters are also sources of this product and how can we justify purchasing sex from mothers and sisters. In other words, the arguments of MACKENZIE seem to be illogical. If we consider sex as a process, then we can assume certain conditions for this process. A process will take place only in suitable conditions. For exam ple, water will be boiled at 100 degree Celsius when it is heated in normal atmospheric temperature and pressure. In other words, water will never boil at 100 degree Celsius if the normal atmospheric pressure is altered. Same way sex is enjoyable only when it is conducted in a suitable environment between the suitable people. In other words it is better to consider sex as a process rather than a product. â€Å"Prostitution causes venereal diseases, social immorality,

Zara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Zara - Essay Example tay committed to the principles surrounding supply chain management. The make-buy decision In a bid to understand the direct impact of supply chain management on the running and development of organizations, Zara has been chosen to be a focal point in this essay. This essay will critically analyze the supply chain system in place at Zara and how best it is working. It would also discuss the weaknesses of the organization’s supply chain system and how it can be improved. Zara as a fashion retail organization has been chosen by the writer purposely because of the organization is fast developing attention among reviewers who have supply chain management as their focus. Such reviewers as Kasra Ferdows, Michael A. Lewis and Jose A.D. Machuca of Harvard Business Review place premium on the recent successes that Zara is recording with its retail of fashion products. The cause of the success has been linked to the company’s supply chain system. In the view of Ferdows, Lewis and Jose (2005), â€Å"Zara has hit on a formula for supply chain success that works.† One critical area of retailing, of which Zara as a retail organization is inclusive is the concept of make-buy decision. Make-buy decision would be especially useful for discussion as far as Zara is concerned because Zara is into retail of fashion products, of which it has the choice either to manufacture its products or to purchase them. According to the Encyclopedia of Management (2010), make-or-buy decision is the act of making a strategic choice between producing an item internally (in-house) or buy it externally (from an outside supplier).† Applying the principles of make-buy decision to Zara, it can be inferred that for the organization to make a decision whether to buy or make should be backed by carefully scrutinized strategic analysis. This is seen in the definition given by the encyclopedia, making mention of the word ‘strategic’. It should be observed that fashion is a global language, yet varying and versatile (Akuoko, 2009, p.19). This makes the demand of customers for a particular type or style of fashion change over time. Due to the unstable nature of world fashion, Zara must therefore have strategic analysis at management level that ensures that the core needs of varying consumers are met. Zara has consumers from all over Europe and from different cultures. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for the organization to be diversifying. This way, the make-buy decision should permit the organization to select the kinds of fashion line they can produce internally and those they would have to depend on from external sources. In deciding which to produce internally, the organization must factor in their areas of strength and specialization. Though it is common knowledge that â€Å"Zara's designers create approximately 40,000 new designs annually, from which 10,000 are selected for production† (Harvard Business Review, 2005), it c ould equally be true that the organization cannot be ‘master of all trade’. To this effect, the principle of buy-make decision permits the organization to produce only on its specialization and buy the rest. Sourcing Strategies and supply chain configurations The decision on what to buy or make may be a complicated one but once that

Snyder v. Phelps Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Snyder v. Phelps - Research Paper Example __). The picketers also peacefully displayed the following signs â€Å"for about 30 minutes before the funeral began†: ‘Thank God for Dead Soldiers,’ ‘Fags Doom Nations,’ ‘America is Doomed,’ ‘Priests Rape Boys,’ and ‘You’re Going to Hell’ (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). These signs were seen by Matthew Snyder’s father (Snyder), while driving to the funeral (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). However, he was only able to learn what was written on the signs when he watched the night news broadcast (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). For this reason, he filed â€Å"a diversity action against Phelps, along with those who participated in the picketing—and the church (collectively Westboro) alleging, as relevant here, state tort claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion, and civil conspiracy† (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). The jury held Westboro liable for millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages, but the District Court reduced the punitive damages award, leaving the verdict intact (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). The Fourth Circuit however reversed such a ruling, stating that since â€Å"statements were on matters of public concern, were not provably false, and were expressed solely through hyperbolic rhetoric,† Westboro’s statements were then protected by the First Amendment (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). Hence, this petition for Certiorari by Snyder. In its decision, the US Court of Appeals sided with the Fourth Circuit and held that Westboros statements were indeed protected by the First Amendment, shielding it from tort liability. First it explained that the Free Speech Clause under the First Amendment can work â€Å"as a defense in state tort suits, including suits for intentional infliction of emotional distress† (Snyder, 562 U.S. __). The Court then went on to examine the content of Westboro’s signs, to determine whether it is of public or private

Health Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Health Psychology - Essay Example This is because information on healthcare issue is available to anyone from any location. According to Moffat & Eley (2010) increased access to healthcare services in areas that previously had limited access is one of the advantages of using telemedicine in Australia. In essence, rural Australians have been able to gain more access to clinical services, a factor that may eventually lead to a reduction in the discrepancies between urban and rural healthcare quality in Australia. The cost-effectiveness of telemedicine in Australia cannot be underestimated. Georgeff (2007) writes that the use of telemedicine could save the government approximately 1.5 billion U.S dollars that are used per annum to treat people with chronic illnesses. Moffat & Eley (2010) add that apart from reduced costs on the part of the government, patients have also had to pay less for clinical services. In addition, the burden of having to physically go to a health center in order to get clinical services has been reduced. This is especially so, for the aged and for people suffering from chronic illnesses. On the other hand, there are several barriers that limit the uptake of telemedicine in Australia. Funding, as Robertson et.al states (2011), is a major hindrance as most practitioners use outdated resources to conduct consultations due lack of funds to buy and update resources. Consequently, many practitioners prefer to use paper formats that are provided freely by pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, practitioners claim that there are no financial incentives in telemedicine, as most consultations conducted using this method are not reimbursed and extra time is not compensated (Moffat & Eley, 2011). Time- It requires a lot of time for a telemedicine consultation, thus increasing the workload of doctors. According to Robertson et.al (2011) doctors would prefer that clinical information be integrated into their normal clinical software, since logging in and off while

Fiction Writers of the New Millennium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fiction Writers of the New Millennium - Essay Example Modern fiction writers, however, have turned away from this simple construct to experiment with variations that often don’t resolve into anything for the characters. If they resolve into anything for the reader, it is up to the reader to find this meaning for themselves. Perhaps in keeping with the breakdowns in society that the authors were seeing at the time they wrote their stories, some of the major fiction writers of the past 50 years have presented stories that lack clear direction, climax or resolution. This structural approach can be found in short stories such as â€Å"Entropy† (1960) by Thomas Pynchon, â€Å"Lost in the Funhouse† (1969) by John Barth and DeLillo’s â€Å"The Angel Esmeralda† (1994). In â€Å"Entropy†, the author focuses on a scientific principle that suggests nature moves from a point of order to one of disorder (Random House, 2010). The story introduces a great number of characters with new characters arriving all the time and two characters completely separated within an isolated system. The breakdown referred to in the title is seen in every aspect of the story and stated explicitly by Callisto when dictating to Aubade that he â€Å"envisioned a heat-death for his culture in which ideas, like heat-energy, would no longer be transferred, since each point in it would ultimately have the same quantity of energy; and intellectual motion would, accordingly, cease† (Pynchon 306). This concept is acted out downstairs as communication and sharing breaks down among the party guests and the band begins rehearsing air music. Duke explains to Meatball, â€Å"if that first quartet of Mulligan’s had no piano, it could only mean one thing †¦ no r oot chords. Nothing to listen to while you blow a horizontal line. What one does is such a case is, one thinks the roots† (Pynchon 311). Taking this thought a step further, the band was rehearsing what it would be like if no sound was released, the audience just had to

China Miville Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

China Miville - Essay Example Interrelations on all these aspects will enable us gain a new notion and perspective on various issues altogether. Human self-deception highly depends on one’s familiarity with something or someone.On the other hand, knowledge orients on aspects like education, experience, skills, descriptions, information and facts. Nonetheless, knowledge can either become explicit or implicit, systematic or less formal, while in other instances it may refer to the practical or theoretical understanding of a subject. To many, knowledge is merely the phenomenon behind belief in amalgamation with facts. Such kinds of interrelations within the idea behind knowledge raise unending controversies on facets orienting around a fact or a belief. The acquisition of knowledge depends on a complex learning process that depends on our memory, attention, learning, reasoning, decision making, problem solving and understanding of language. In learning, one has to admit that they do not know or they lack idea s about particular aspects. Knowing is the main facade behind knowledge but there arises four facets from knowing that include; known knowns, known unknowns, unknown unknowns and unknown knowns. The known knowns fall under the things that we know that we know, there again exits the known unknowns which fall under the things that we know but are unknown; we do not know them but we understand how to find them. The third aspect is the unknown unknowns which fall under the things that we are unaware about. The unknown unknowns remain a mystery to us as they fall under a very vast field beyond our investigation. On the other hand, unknown knowns are ideas that we do not know that we know. This phenomenon leads to the knowledge that does not know itself, it’s more like a dream; the unspeakable desires that we never talk about. These are the obvious things that we do in life that we pay little or no attention to in the perspective of relevance. Relevance determines the solution to p roblems through identifying relevant elements that lead to the development of anelucidation. This is in the same perspective as the notion behind method since they will always lead to results that they are designed to develop or generate. On the other hand, prejudice is the decision making prior to the availability of relevant facts in a case. The phenomenon refers to any negative or positive evaluation on other people based on ideas like nationality, language, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, disability, age, social class and gender among other personal traits.As a result prejudice leads to unreasonable attitudes that remain resistant to rational influence leading to unfavorable or favorable feelings towards a thing or person based on actual experience. Ideologies lead to the raising of prejudices from unknown knowns while challenge leads to overturning all the aspects taken for granted by human beings. Take for instance in schools, it is a major belief that particular subjects are well performed by particular genders. Incorporating the same idea leads to the same result unless one decides to challenge the latter idea. Most of the things around our lives are taken for granted just for our lives to become the way they are as per our invisibilities. These invisibilities are based on common sense as the prudent and sound judgment which relies on simple

The Change of Jem and Scout Essay Example for Free

The Change of Jem and Scout Essay She began to see how cruel the world could be to someone who is a little different or strange. She gained the knowledge of the pure hate that one man can show another. The kid’s relationship with Atticus starts out normal. Though, as the story progresses, they recognized he’s different then other men. This shows when Scout says â€Å"He did not do the things our schoolmates’ fathers did: he never went hunting, did not play poker or fish or drink or smoke. He sat in the livingroom and read† (pg 89). Atticus had the courage to take the case of a black man, Tom Robinson. It was obvious they didn’t stand a chance going against a white man in court but Atticus did it anyways. He did something that no other man would do, not for the glory, but because he can show a great example to his kids and it is the right thing to do. The kids learned not to be prejudice and not be ashamed if they have friends who are a different race then they are, for example Calpurnia. The way the children’s relationship changed about Boo is probably the most interesting part in the book. It went from an obsession to an unconditional love. First the children believed that anything that comes from the Radleys property is poison. Jem yells at Scout once saying about the Radley property: â€Å"Dont you know youre not supposed to even touch the trees over there? Youll get killed if you do! † (pg. 33). The kids didn’t know that Boo admired them, even though he barely knew them. After a while they noticed that Boo was giving them little hidden presents, and they realized that he is the one who folded and sewed together Jem’s pants. He showed an unconditional love that most people his age would not show. When Boo saved the children’s lives, he proved that he loved them. He was so kind that he risked his own life for the children, and that is why Scout grows to loved him, instead of being tremendously scared of him. Jem’s faith in truth and justice is very badly damaged. When the shameful courtroom proceedings are over he retreats into a troubled state of deep disillusionment. Prejudice and racism do not make any sense to Jem, because he never noticed it in his environment. He does not understand why all of this is happening. The kids matured a lot during the course of this book, especially Scout. She went from a six year old child with no knowledge of the real world to an about ten year old who had a lot of life’s most important lessons shown to her at a very young age. They had to learn, very quickly, that life would not always be easy, fun and fare. We cannot let children face the ugliness that they learned. It was too much, to fast, even for Scout who is so smart. We must show love to everyone so that children will show love back.

Compare three pre-20th Century poems about London Essay Example for Free

Compare three pre-20th Century poems about London Essay I am going to compare three very different poems about London. The first poem is London by William Blake, written around 1800. Upon Westminster bridge is the second poem , by William Wordsworth, again written around 1800. The third poem by Mary Ann Evans in the mid-19th century is called In a London drawing room. William Blake was a man of strong opinions, he was a strange person who painted horrific art and walked around naked in his garden. He was a strict Christian and wrote hymns. People disliked him for his strange ideas and strong criticism of what he felt was wrong. William Wordsworth lived in the Lake District, and wrote poems about where he live; the countryside. Whilst visiting London he wrote a poem about what he could see from Westminster bridge. Mary Ann Evans lived in London she was a tomboy by the name of George Elliot. Her father was a vicar. She moved to London to live a more interesting life. Working for a printing company she realised how mistreated women were. The story behind Upon Westminster bridge is:- London looks very beautiful. Youd be sad not to be impressed. Its about what Wordsworth sees from Westminster bridge. His theme is simple; He likes what he sees. London has a very different theme: William Blake lives in London and cant stand it. The story is very simple the poet wanders through Londons streets thinking about what he sees. In a London drawing room also has a simple story; Mary Ann Evans is in a drawing room looking out into the street. Her theme is much more complex She talks about how London through this window is dull, grey and boring. When she says this she actually means thats how she feels inside and expresses it through her poetry. Upon Westminster bridge is a sonnet because it has fourteen lines praising Londons beauty, it has only one verse. It has a regular iambic rhythm all the way through: Giving the poem a joyful sound. There is no regular rhyming pattern but some lines rhyme. London uses quatrains which means it has four equal lines into four verses. London has a regular and joyful rhythm, which is ironic because of its sad message. The rhyming follows an ACBD pattern (A rhymes with line C-B rhymes with line D.) In a London drawing room has no verses, twenty lines which have each ten syllables in them. There is no regular rhythm, because of the regular enjambment. Cutting the sky with one long line of wall Like soled Fog: Far as the eye can stretch. The enjambment causes lines to run into each other. There is no rhyme a tall in the poem. There is a lot of figurative language in Upon Westminster bridge. wear The beauty of the morning; silent bare, This a personification because the city wears the beauty of the morning like a dress. The river glideth at his own sweet will: In line twelve names the river a he. This poem has a lot of imagery, one of them mentions valley, rock and hill, putting the picture of the valleys, hills and rocks on the horizon. In a London drawing room too uses figurative language, The world seems one huge prison-house and court, this is a similar because the world seems to be like a prison-house. A metaphor would be, Cutting the sky with one long line of wall, this is calling the row of houses a wall cutting the sky. The figurative language in London are, The mind-forgd manacles I hear. Means the people in London believe they are in manacles. The metaphor at the end of the third verse is about the old war soldiers begging outside wealthy houses, And the hapless soldiers sigh Runs in blood down palace walls. In Upon Westminster bridge most of the play on words are to keep the rhyme and rhythm in a pattern. London plays on words quiet a lot compared with Upon Westminster bridge. At the end of the first verse there is an element of alliteration, Marks of weakness. Marks of woe, woe is a much more powerful word to use than sad plus it alliterates with weakness. The second verse uses in every. Four times to get the point that this is serious across more strongly. The mind-forgd manacles I hear, is an alliteration of the letter M. On the last line, the last two words are marriage and hearse (car that carries a coffin) this is called juxtaposition; because marriage is associated with beginning and hearse is associated with the end they are opposites. This is an interesting way to end the poem. The only real play on words in in a London drawing room was the last line because the three last words are the only positive words (colour, warmth and joy) in the whole poem but just before it says with lowest rate of. So they might be positive but shes saying there is no colour, warmth or joy. I feel London is the most effective poem. This is because I like the irony in the rhythm and rhyme which sounds happy but its meaning is sad. I also like the Juxtaposition in the last line Marriage hearse. He uses clever words and sentences to put down London. I dont like In a London drawing room because it drags on so as to lose its meaning. Upon Westminster bridge I quite like because its cheerful but I still prefer the way London is written because it uses good words and clever poetry.

Political Rhetoric Within The Current Times Politics Essay

Political Rhetoric Within The Current Times Politics Essay Aristotle described three major rhetorical means of persuasion; ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos uses trust to persuade the audience. A politician uses his or her respective reputation and what is perceived and said about them; however there is a close connection between reputation and reality. Credibility depends both on expertise and how this is portrayed. In order to persuade the audience, you must first believe in yourself. Pathos does not directly involve the argument itself; instead pathos relies on the emotions of the audience. An efficient way to move the audience is to appeal to their values. Logos is Greek for logic and is used to persuade the audience by demonstrating the truth and is based on scientific facts. Logos is also used to appeal to the intellect of the audience, and is considered an argument of logic. PRESENT-DAY POLITICAL RHETORIC 4 The use of rhetoric is very apparent in political speeches and the outcome is measured by a vote placed by each member of the audience. Aristotelian rhetoric assumes that you believe the politician, and disbelieve all other politicians that have different views. The persuasiveness or manipulation of a speech not only depends on the nature of the speech, but also on the believability of its origin and beliefs shared by the speaker and the audience. The audience is attracted to the integrity, passion and reasoning of the speaker. The speaker must find the proper balance of the aforementioned qualities in the debate in order to be effective. In the end the audience is persuaded because they sense that the speaker is an expert on the topic based on his or her substantial confidence and the amount of emotion involved. Rhetoric used in the past The foundation of the modern approach to society, including the entirety of the modern political system, is fallout from the medieval rediscovery of Aristotles work; during the Crusades, Europeans re-discovered Latin translations of Aristotle in various libraries throughout the Islamic world. When rhetoric is applied to political speech, therefore, it may be concluded that the politician is attempting to sway the publics opinion in a manner that is unjust and false. Today political parties in the United States play an integral role in political elections, local, state and national. Parties have become a vehicle for exerting the ideas and agenda of large and collective groups of citizens. However, political parties in colonial American and the early Republic were viewed negatively, by both early politicians and philosophers. Even the founding fathers had issues with political parties. Parties were thought to divide Americans. Also, thinkers of the time thought that forming parties would result in spawning a winning side and a losing side in elections, which would further split Americans. People in society today are greatly influenced by what they read. The articles in the newspapers skew peoples beliefs of political affairs and current events in the same way that biased articles in popular magazines seem to shape the way the general public views different types of cultural aspects. Keeping this in mind, it is especially important to note that during the 1800s, the people lacked other forms of media and communication that people in modern times are influenced by. Instead, they relied heavily on literature to entertain themselves, most of which shaped the way they viewed culture, politics, and life itself. Consider how politicians use rhetoric to promote their policies. We focus on a particular type of rhetorical appeal-those based on emotionally charged predictions about policy consequences. For politicians, we emphasize maximizing and strategic behavior, reflecting their full-time employment in politics and large personal stakes in political outcomes. Political leaders want to win policy debates and they employ rhetoric in an effort to move public opinion to their respective sides. The very reason for public political debate between parties is to sway those preferences in one or the other direction. Politicians often try to shape citizens beliefs about current conditions and the likelihood that particular outcomes will occur if a policy is or is not put into law (e.g., Jerit, 2009; Lupia Menning, 2009). Politicians can attempt to form and change such beliefs, fundamentally, because of the role of uncertainty in policy decisions. There is always considerable and sometimes enormous uncertainty about the impact of proposed policies (see, e.g., Riker, 1996).1 Not even experts really know the consequences of a policy in advance. We agree that value-based arguments are an important part of politicians rhetoric. If politics were solely about values, each side would assert its values early, and citizens would line up on one side or the other. Politicians say many things during the course of a policy debate, and so the first task is to identify the forms that political rhetoric and argument can take. From the perspective of politicians seeking to persuade citizens, the three potentially most valuable forms are assertions of core party values and principles, predictions of future states,3 and factual descriptions of current circumstances. All three forms of political rhetoric are motivated by party leaders desires to sway opinion in the preferred direction, although each form has its own purpose. If parties can shape beliefs, and thus preferences, by taking advantage of uncertainty and strategically using rhetoric, then winning elections and winning policy debates through rhetorical persuasion are both possible, if not mutually reinforcing. Political rhetoric will not evolve in precisely the same way across different policy debates. We have offered several propositions about how politicians should behave when they believe they can shape citizens beliefs. They also show that neither politicians nor the media seem to provide citizens with reliable, readily identified cues to help distinguish those that are worth taking seriously from those that are just hot air. Under such circumstances, what can we reasonably expect from citizens who are asked to render political judgments? Speculations on Citizens Responses to Political Rhetoric To address citizens responses to predictive rhetoric, we first comment on two important perspectives in political psychology that appear to suggest grounds for expecting quite competent performance. test is crucial to understanding the uses of predictive rhetoric and its consequences for citizen competence. Unfortunately, we are about to navigate largely uncharted waters. 11 Citizens Assessments of Asserted Links in Predictive Arguments Assuming that citizens care about the outcome, they will consciously or unconsciously consider the claimed link between the focal policy and that outcome. Does an important causal linkage exist? To avoid effort, and lacking expertise in the policy area, citizens will limit their answers to a simple categorical question: Is there a genuine, significant link of the sort claimed, or is the claimed link minimal or nonexistent? Unlike experts, ordinary people generally will not bother with refined distinctions, for example, attempting to distinguish between a very important and a somewhat important link. To avoid being manipulated, unaligned citizens will not take politicians at their word, but rather will try to assess the validity of an alleged link independently. In searching for independent corroboration, they will employ simple heuristics, including the following three in particular. We concluded that rhetorical predictions about the consequences of policies create obstacles for citizens who seek to make reasonable decisions. Conclusion In this very exploratory chapter, we have considered the political logic of policy rhetoric; the prominence of appeals that rely on extreme and mostly negative predictions and seek to elicit an emotional response; the processes that citizens use in determining their response; and the consequences of those processes for the competence of individual and collective decisions about policy. To put our findings simply, the information environment in which citizens make decisions about policies presents a constant stream of dramatic, emotionally salient predictive claims, covering a wide range of outcomes, and presented largely without supporting evidence or other diagnostic information. The highly partisan cope with this constant stream by adopting the party line. The unaligned have no such luxury, and thus must try to make sense of the political rhetoric. Sometimes the dire predictions elicit some form of corroborating information-a pertinent schema, an example from daily life, or the like-in the minds of these citizens, thus ringing a bell with them. There is little reason to suppose that the predictive appeals that ring a bell in this way correspond at all closely to the considerations that would prove decisive in an environment that encouraged deliberate judgment on the basis of realistic claims and the best available diagnostic information. But, then, there is no reason to believe that taking party cues does, either.

Understanding Health Risk Calculations :: Medical Medicine

Understanding Health Risk Calculations Health risks are all around us. They are present all the time, even when we sleep. Understanding our chances of being affected by one risk or another is a little like understanding our chances of winning the lottery. Numbers are often used to describe both our health risks and our chances or probability of winning the lottery, but this is where the similarity ends. When you buy a lottery ticket, your chances of winning depend on the number of possible combinations of numbers, not on whether you pick your favorite lucky numbers. Every time you buy a ticket, day after day, you have the same chance of winning, so your chance may always be, for example, one in a million. Nothing you or anyone else can do, short of cheating, can change that chance. Your chance of getting cancer from exposure to a chemical, however, like your chance of being killed in a vehicle accident, is not as easy to understand. This is because conditions that affect your chance are always changing. In the case of a vehicle accident, the road may be slippery, you or another driver may be drunk, your car or another vehicle may get a blow out at high speed, someone may fall asleep at the wheel, someone may throw a rock from an overpass, or an airplane may fall from the sky. All of these conditions and many more affect the chance of being involved in an accident. Sometimes you can control the conditions effectively, but most of the time you can't. Your chances of getting cancer from exposure to a certain chemical also depends on different circumstances or conditions. How long and the frequency at which you are exposed to a chemical, the amount or concentration, your own personal "make up" or susceptibility, and age are only a few of the variables to be considered when calculating your risk. Some of these conditions you can control, some you cannot. When a scientist calculates risks, she or he uses different types of numbers to represent different types of risks. For the risk of someone getting cancer from exposure to a certain chemical at a certain level over the course of a lifetime, there is no way to calculate an individual's exact chance. The best that a scientist can do is to calculate the chance of cancer occurring among, say, one million people.

A Comparison of A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." This quote summarizes Catherine and Henry's love for each other. Even though Catherine died, Henry had a huge space of emptiness left in his heart. Marriages in today's society are very serious relationships although some people don't seem to take them so seriously. Take for example Dennis Rodman, who married Carmen Electra and they divorced a week later. This shows how men are sometimes over powered by looks. My essay contrasts the relationships in Hemingway's Farewell to Arms to the relationships in Steinbeck's East of Eden. E. Hemingway displays a sense of respect for couples whereas J. Steinbeck portrays that women are venerable can't hold a steady relationship. Abra gradually fell in love with Cal and eventually cheated on Aron with his brother Caleb. Cal slowly tries to ruin Aron. Cal influences Abra's thought of Aron by saying sweet things to her. Adam smiled at her. "You're pink as a rose," he said. (590) T he passage shows that Cal is trying to romance Abra. He knows Abra is venerable because Aron is away in the army and she misses him. By Aron absent, Abra needs a man and she turns to Cal. Henry and Catherine hold a steady, loving and trustworthy relationship even through the tough times of war. Even though there are disputes on whether Henry and Catherine really loved each other, they held a good relationship. They tended to each others needs. Catherine took it slow while Henry wanted to rush into things to quickly. "Hello," I said. "When I saw her I was in love with her. Everything turned over inside of me." (91) Catherine and Henry were inseparable. Throughout the novel, their relationship became more serious and Henry had finally decided that he was in love with Catherine Barkley. "I really love you. I'm crazy about you." (92) This quote displays how Henry just can't get enough of Catherine how he wants to rush into things to quick. Henry doesn't like Catherine for who se really is but is taken over by the power of her looks. Cathy is a back stabbing devil and everyone knows it. Cathy tricks Adam into drinking her opium medicine so it allows here to sleep with Charles. Cathy heard Charles footsteps as he returned home. A Comparison of A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden :: comparison compare contrast essays A Farewell to Arms and East of Eden "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." This quote summarizes Catherine and Henry's love for each other. Even though Catherine died, Henry had a huge space of emptiness left in his heart. Marriages in today's society are very serious relationships although some people don't seem to take them so seriously. Take for example Dennis Rodman, who married Carmen Electra and they divorced a week later. This shows how men are sometimes over powered by looks. My essay contrasts the relationships in Hemingway's Farewell to Arms to the relationships in Steinbeck's East of Eden. E. Hemingway displays a sense of respect for couples whereas J. Steinbeck portrays that women are venerable can't hold a steady relationship. Abra gradually fell in love with Cal and eventually cheated on Aron with his brother Caleb. Cal slowly tries to ruin Aron. Cal influences Abra's thought of Aron by saying sweet things to her. Adam smiled at her. "You're pink as a rose," he said. (590) T he passage shows that Cal is trying to romance Abra. He knows Abra is venerable because Aron is away in the army and she misses him. By Aron absent, Abra needs a man and she turns to Cal. Henry and Catherine hold a steady, loving and trustworthy relationship even through the tough times of war. Even though there are disputes on whether Henry and Catherine really loved each other, they held a good relationship. They tended to each others needs. Catherine took it slow while Henry wanted to rush into things to quickly. "Hello," I said. "When I saw her I was in love with her. Everything turned over inside of me." (91) Catherine and Henry were inseparable. Throughout the novel, their relationship became more serious and Henry had finally decided that he was in love with Catherine Barkley. "I really love you. I'm crazy about you." (92) This quote displays how Henry just can't get enough of Catherine how he wants to rush into things to quick. Henry doesn't like Catherine for who se really is but is taken over by the power of her looks. Cathy is a back stabbing devil and everyone knows it. Cathy tricks Adam into drinking her opium medicine so it allows here to sleep with Charles. Cathy heard Charles footsteps as he returned home.

How to Write a Last-minute Essay -- Expository Process Essays

How to Write a Last-minute Essay In high school I was assigned a number of essays to write. With each essay came a lengthy period of time when I was to brainstorm, develop a thesis, piece together an introduction, craft supporting arguments, and deliver an exemplary conclusion. After several attempts at stretching out this process over the allotted time, I discovered that it was to my advantage if I saved the entire project until the last day or two and raced myself against the deadline clock. What resulted in almost all my efforts were pieces of writing that used my creative talent and focused my incessant desire to write into a clear essay. Now that I am taking a college composition course, I feel that the skill of writing a quality last-minute essay under pressure should be shared with my companions in the world of college writing. To successfully piece together a last-minute essay, a topic must be selected and agreed upon before sitting down to write. This ensures that the writer can stay mentally focused and be able to concentrate solely on writing the essay. Once the to...

History of the Soft Drinks Industry Essay

Introduction Soft drinks, more popularly known as sodas, are not exactly referred to as items of necessity. People can live without sodas. In fact, people might be safer if they don’t drink soft drinks so much. And yet, soft drinks somehow make it to the top of the list of items bought by the average consumer. Why is this, exactly? Well, for one thing, sodas are delicious. They stand between liquor and juice. Those who are too young to drink beer but think that fruit juice is too juvenile can order sodas. Those too old and are putting their health at risk by drinking hard drinks can enjoy soft drinks and no one would think any less of them. In short, sodas have a mass appeal. They carry an image with them; an image of a person with a comfortable lifestyle. This report will take a look at the soft drink industry as a whole and particular industry’s leaders, brief history and description of the industry; will show industry characteristics, trends, changes, and competitive factors; will give recommendations for the companies within the industry. My experience of the consumer and the seller of the soft drinks, allowed me to say, that the soft drinks industry deserves attention. It is one of the biggest, fast growing, perspective, and profitable industries in the world. It takes a big place in our life as consumers. Soft drinks, and such big companies as Coca – Cola or PepsiCo, are widely spread everywhere and available in any country in the world. I decided to choose the soft drinks industry, because it illustrates the great production and distribution; and important business innovations, such as product development, franchising, and mass marketing, as well as the evolution of consumer tastes and cultural trends. History of the soft drinks industry. The soft drink industry began in the mid-1880s with the creation of syrup that was mixed with carbonated water and served at drug store lunch counters. During the early years, soft drinks were sold only in stores that could provide fountain service. Increasing distribution was tied to building additional syrup manufacturing plants. With the advent of bottling machinery, soft drinks began to be distributed beyond the town drug store. The first bottled soda water or soft drink in the United States was produced in 1835. These drinks were called soft drinks, only to separate them from hard alcoholic drinks. This drinks do not contain alcohol and broadly specifying this beverages, includes a variety of regular carbonated soft drinks, diet and caffeine free drinks, bottled water juices, juice drinks, sport drink and even ready to drink tea or coffee packs. So we can say that soft drinks mean carbonated drinks. Charles Aderton invented â€Å"Dr Pepper† in Waco, Taxes in 1885. Dr. John S. Pemberton invented â€Å"Coca – Cola† in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886. Caleb Bradham invented â€Å"Pepsi – Cola† in 1892, and so on. Bigger and smaller companies appear on a soft drink market since the greatest profitability (advantage) and cheap manufacturing of this industry was discovered. Today, soft drink is more favorite refreshment drink in the United States then tea, coffee, juice and etc. Soft drinks industry overview in the United States and World Wide. The soft drinks industry is very big, very visible, highly concentrated, and appears to have been very profitable. The leaders of the Soft Drink Industry are the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Cadbury Schweppes/Dr. Pepper Snapple, Cott Corp. , and National Beverage Corp. There is also noticeable Asian and European influence on a world market of the soft drinks. Leading companies have prominent presence in the soft drink industry. This industry is well established already, and it would be difficult for any company to enter or exit successfully. According to the Coca- Cola annual report (2009), it has the most soft drink sales with 24. 4 billion dollars. The Coca-Cola product line has several popular soft drinks including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, Barq’s, and Sprite, selling over 400 drink brands in about 200 countries. PepsiCo is the next top competitor with soft drink sales grossing 21 billion dollars for the two beverage subsidiaries, PepsiCo Beverages North America and PepsiCo International (annual report PepsiCo Inc. , 2009). PepsiCo’s soft drink product line includes Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Slice which make up more than one quarter of its sales. Cadbury Schweppes/Dr. Pepper Snapple had soft drink sales of 6 billion dollars with a product line consisting of soft drinks such as A&W Root Beer, Canada Dry, and Dr. Pepper (annual report Cadbury Schweppes/Dr. Pepper Snapple, 2009). Cott Corporation is one of the world’s biggest soft drinks manufacturers, but has a low profile among consumers because it specializes in producing private label products for retailers. In fact the company is largely credited with revitalizing the supermarket own-label beverage market during the early 1990s, scoring a number of important goals including the introduction of Sam’s American Choice cola by Wal-Mart and Sainsbury’s Classic Cola in the UK. Currently, its small portfolio of consumer brands includes RC Cola, Stars & Stripes and Red Rain. National Beverage Corp. (National Beverage) develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a portfolio of beverage products throughout the United States. The Company develops and sells flavored beverage products, including a selection of flavored soft drinks, juices, waters and energy drinks. Its brands include Shasta and Faygo, each of which has over 50 flavor varieties. The Company also maintains a line of flavored beverage products for the health-conscious consumer, including Everfresh, Home Juice and Mr. Pure 100% juice and juice-based products The Coca-Cola Company accounted for 26. 5% of the world’s soft drinks sales and 43 % of the US market, almost double the amount of rival PepsiCo, which holds a 13. 4 % share of the world market and 32 % of the US market. Both companies appear to be keen to extend their focus by expanding into growing segments for soft drink production. In the last month Coca-Cola has revealed it is extending began researching benefits of Chinese herbal remedies to target growing demand for nutritional benefits and functionality in their products. PepsiCo at the same time has increased its focus in production of non-carbonated beverages with juice in particular becoming important to its operations. Both companies remain significantly ahead of their rivals, reflecting the increasingly competitive nature of the soft drinks market. Cadbury Schweppes/Dr. Pepper Snapple takes 15 % of the US market and 3 % of the world market. Cott Corp takes 5 % of the US market. National Beverage Corp. takes 2% of the US market. (Table 1. â€Å"The top 10 Soft Drinks Companies in 2008 by global market share†, Page 21 and Table 1. a. â€Å"The Top 10 Soft Drinks Manufacturers in the US in 2008 by volume†, Page 21 ). At the core of the beverage industry is the carbonated soft-drink category. The dominant players in this area (Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Cadbury Schweppes/Dr. Pepper Snapple) own virtually all of the North American market’s most widely distributed and best-known brands. (Table 4 â€Å"Top Ten Soft Drinks in the US, 2009. † Page 24) They are dominant in world markets as well. These companies’ products occupy large portions of any supermarket’s shelf space, often covering more territory than real food categories like dairy products, meat, or produce. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo continued to dominate the soft drinks market in 2010 accounting for more than a third of global sales in the sector, according to market analytic. Soft drinks industry description. The market size of this industry has been changing. Soft drink consumption has a market share of 46. 8% within the non-alcoholic drink industry. (Table 2, 2. a. â€Å"Global Soft Drinks Market Segmentation: % Share, by Value, 2008†, Page 21). Total market value of soft drinks reached $367. 2 billion in 2008 with a market value forecast of $377. 1 billion by the end of 2010. In 2013, the global soft drink market is forecast to have a value of $456. 3 billion. The 2008 soft drink volume was 325,367. 2 million liters (Table 3 â€Å"Global Soft Drinks Market Volume: liters million†, Page 22). In 2013, the global soft drink market is forecast to have a volume of 474 million liters, an increase of 22. 3% since 2008. Soft drink industry is lucrative with a potential for high profits, but there are several obstacles to overcome in order to capture the market share. Carbonates sales proved the most lucrative for the global soft drink market, generating 46. 8% of the total value. However, the volume of the U. S. carbonated soft drinks declined -3% in 2009. That compares to – 2. 3% decline in 2008; a – 0. 6 % decline in 2007; and a -0. 2% decline in 2006. Top companies, Coke and Pepsi, generated similar results last year. Coke carbonated soft drinks volume was down -3. 1% and PepsiCo’s was down -4%. Both lost share. Dr. Pepper Snapple’s carbonated soft drink volume was down -1. 3%. (See below, Table 5 â€Å"Carbonated soft drink Companies in the U. S. for 2009†). In the U. S. , with the carbonated soft drinks decline accelerating, other categories are slowly growing. (For example, bottled water and energy drinks market. ) The Coca-Cola Company accounts for 22. 6% of the global soft drink market’s volume. Supermarkets and hypermarkets distribute 48. 4% of the global soft drink market’s volume. Table 5. â€Å"Carbonated soft drink Companies for 2009†. Top -10 CSD Companies in the US for 2009| 2009| 2009| 2008| | 2009| 2008| | Rank Companies| Market Share| Market Share| Share Change| Cases (millions)| Cases (millions)| Volume% Change| 1| Coca-Cola Co| 42. 7| 42. 8| -0. 1| 4107. 6| 4241. 1| -3. 10%| 2| Pepsi Co| 30. 8| 31. 1| -0. 3| 2960. 4| 3082. 8| -4. 00%| 3| Dr Pepper Snapple| 15. 3| 15| 0. 3| 1471. 2| 1491. 3| -1. 30%| 4| Cott Corp| 4. 7| 4. 8| -0. 1| 448| 476. 6| -6. 00%| 5| National Beverage| 2. 6| 2. 5| 0. 1| 247. 5| 243. 9| 1. 50%| 6| Hansen Natural| 0. 8| 0. 8| flat| 79| 76. 5| 3. 30%| 7| Red Bull| 0. 7| 0. 6| 0. 1| 67. 2| 63. 9| 5. 20%|. 8| Big Red| 0. 4| 0. 4| flat| 43. 6| 42. 4| 2. 70%| 9| Rockstar| 0. 4| 0. 4| flat| 40. 2| 41| -2. 00%| 10| Other| 1. 6| 1. 6| flat| 156. 3| 160. 3| -2. 50%| | Total Industry| 100| 100| | 9621| 9919. 8| -3. 00%| Statements of leading companies within soft drink industry of the US| | Coca – Cola Company | PepsiCo| Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. | National Beverage Corp| Cott Corp (2008) | Net operating revenue| millions $ 30. 990| 43. 232| 5. 531| thousands $ 575. 177| millions $ 1. 648| Cost of goods sold| 11. 088| 20. 099| 2. 234| 405. 322| 1. 467| GROSS PROFIT | 19. 902| 23. 133| 3. 297| 169. 855| 181|. Selling Expenses| 11. 358| 15. 026| 2. 135| 131. 918| 179. 8| OPERATING INCOME| 8. 231| 8. 044| 1. 085| 24. 742| loss 113. 0| TOTAL ASSETS| 48. 671| 39. 848| 8. 776| 265. 682| 873. 1| LIABILITIES AND EQUITY| 48. 671| 39. 848| 8. 776| 265. 682| 873. 1| OPERATING ACTIVITIES| 8. 186| 6. 796| 865| 35. 829| 66. 9| INVESTING ACTIVITIES| used in 4. 149| used in 2. 401| used in 251| used in 3. 491 | used in 54. 8| FINANSIAL ACTIVITIES| used in 2. 293| used in 2. 497| used in 554| 305| used in 19. 4 | Five Forces of the Soft Drinks Industry. ( Figure 3. â€Å"Five Forces of the Soft Drinks Industry†. Page 24). Threat of New Entrants. Significant barriers exist to entering the soft drink industry. Bottling operations have a fairly high minimum efficient scale and require fixed assets which are specific not only to the process of bottling but also to a specific type of packaging. Entering bottling, meanwhile, would require substantial capital investment, which would deter entry. Exit costs are thus also high. Bottling operations do exist which in theory could be contracted out, but they are tied up in long-term contracts with the major players and thus can only contract with other producers in a limited way. Perhaps the most significant barrier to entry, however, is the strong brand identity associated with the best-selling soft drinks. Placing another cola on the market is not an attractive value proposition. Bargaining Power of Suppliers. Suppliers to the soft drink industry are, for the most part, providing commodity products and thus have little power over the industry. Sugar, bottles and cans are homogeneous goods which can be obtained from many sources, and the aluminum can industry has been plagued by excess supply. The one necessary ingredient which is unique is the artificial sweetener; aspartame is clearly preferred by consumers of diet beverages and for a time was under patent protection and therefore only available from one supplier. However, the patent expired and another producer entered, reducing the market power of NutraSweet. For example, the inputs for Coke and Pepsi’s products were primarily sugar and packaging. Sugar could be purchased from many sources on the open market, and if sugar became too expensive, the firms could easily switch to corn syrup, as they did in the early 1980s. Bargaining Power of Customers. Buyers can be considered at the consumer or the retail level. The soft drink industry sold to consumers through five principal channels: food stores, convenience and gas, fountain, vending, and mass merchandisers, fast food restaurants. For consumers, taste will be an important part of the preference for a particular soft drink; thus although there is no monetary switching cost, there may be a loss of enjoyment associated with a less-preferred brand. Because of this, consumers have historically been brand-loyal and not based purchase decisions on price. Retail outlets have not been able to exhibit much buyer power over the industry, although they can do so more easily than consumers. Traditionally these outlets have been fragmented and have been reliant on the major soft drink brands to increase store traffic. However, at the time of the case there has already been evidence of some buyer power on the part of grocery stores, as they successfully resisted an attempt to price the varieties with more costly inputs higher. As grocery chains increasingly consolidate and as discount outlets continue to grow, buyer power on the part of retailers is likely to increase. Threat of Substitute Products. While the U. S. soft drink market was growing, substitutes did little to interfere. Soft drinks are sufficiently unique that when a consumer wants a soft drink another product is not likely to satisfy. Other cold drinks such as water, juices and iced tea offer similar refreshing qualities, yet they do not have the same taste or properties. Hot beverages and alcoholic beverages are not desirable or appropriate for many of the occasions when one would want a soft drink. The one category which threatens soft drink producers is the â€Å"new age† product which offers (or implies) more natural ingredients and/or health benefits. The soft drink industry’s initial answers to these beverages, in the form of Tab Clear and Crystal Pepsi, are not going to compete effectively with the new age products. Competitive Rivalry within an Industry. The concentration in the industry (mainly between its leaders: Coke, Pepsi and Cadbury/Schweppes) would suggest that internal rivalry is somewhat less than if there were many players of equal size. Although the competition between Coke and Pepsi has become fiercer over time, they traditionally competed primarily on advertising, promotion and new products rather than price (although the explosion of new brands did eventually lead to some price competition). The products are similar but not homogeneous and buyers are fairly brand loyal. Retail buyers have significant costs for switching from the major brands since those are responsible for bringing people into the store. Flattening and potentially declining U. S.demand may be a factor which increases internal rivalry and encourages more price competition and thus erosion of profits. Revenues are extremely concentrated in this industry, with Coke and Pepsi, together with their associated bottlers, commanding 73% of the case market. In fact, the soft drink market can be characterized as an oligopoly, or even a duopoly between Coke and Pepsi, resulting in positive economic profits. As analysis using Porter’s five forces shows that the soft drink industry is very profitable. Suppliers and buyers have not had more power over the industry than it has had over them. Internal rivalry, while seeming intense, has not eroded the profitability of the industry because of its concentration and the fact that the two major players have primarily competed on the basis of advertising and promotion and not price. Entry is difficult both for reasons of scale and the strong brand identity of the current major players. Substitutes have not been close enough to take away significant market share, although the emergence of new substitutes may pose the largest threat to the industry’s profitability. Soft drink industry has an oligopolistic character. SWOT analysis of the main producers in the soft drink industry. Coca – Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s leading manufacturer, distributor and marketer of Non- alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, in the world. Coca – Cola has a strong brand name and brand portfolio. Business – Week and Interbred, branding consultancy, recognize Coca – cola as one of the leading brands in their top 100 global brands ranking in 2009. The Business Week – Interbred valued Cocoa – Cola at 67,000 million dollars in 2008. Coca – Cola ranks well ahead of its close competitor PepsiCo which has a ranking of 22 having a brand value of 12,690 million dollars. The Company’s strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Coca – Cola to penetrate market. However, the company is threatened by intense competition which could have an adverse impact on the company’s market share. Strengths| Weaknesses| World’s leading brand| Negative publicity| large scale of operations| Sluggish performance in North America| Robust revenue growth in three segment| Decline in cash from operating activities| Opportunities| Threats| Acquisitions Intense competition| Intense competition| Growing bottles water market| Dependence on bottling partners| Growing Hispanic population in US| Sluggish growth of carbonated beverages| Strengths. World’s leading brand: The Company owns four of the top five soft drink in the world: Coca – Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta. Strong brands allow the company to introduce brand extensions such as Vanilla Coke, Cherry Coke and Coke with Lemon. Over the years, the company has made large investments in brands promotions. Consequently, Coca – Cola is one of the best recognized global brands. The company’s strong brand value facilitates customer recall and allows Coca – Cola to penetrate new markets and consolidate existing ones. Large scale of operations: With revenues is excess of 24 billion dollars Coca – Cola has a large scale of operation. Of the approximately 52 billon beverage servings of all types consumed worldwide every day, beverages bearing trademarks owned by or licensed to Coca – Cola account for more than 1. 4 billion. The company’s operations are supported by a strong infrastructure across the world. Coca – Cola owns and operates 32 principal beverage concentrates and/or syrups manufacturing plants located throughout the world. In addition, it owns or has interest in 37 operations with 95 principal beverage bottling and canning plants in the US. The company also owns bottled water production and still beverage facilities as well as a facility that manufactures juice concentrates. The company’s large scale of operation allows it to feed upcoming markets with relative ease and enhances its revenue generation capacity. Robust revenue growth in three segments: Coca – Cola revenues recorded a double digit growth, in tree operating segments. These tree segments are Latin America, East/South Asia, and Pacific Rim and Bottling investments. Revenues from Latin America grew by 20,4% during 2007, over 2006. During the same period, revenues from East/South Asia and Pacific Rim grew by 10. 6 % while revenues from the bottling investments segment by 19. 9%. Together, the three segments of Latin America, East/South Asia and Pacific Rim and Bottling investments, accounted for 34. 8% of total revenues during 2007. Robust revenues growth rates in these segments contributed to top-line growth for Coca – Cola during 2007. Weaknesses. Negative publicity: The company received negative publicity in India during September 2006. The company was accused by the Center of Science and Environment (CSE) of selling products containing pesticide residue. These pesticides included chemicals witch could cause cancer, damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and reduce bone menial density. Such negative publicity could adversely impact the company’s brand image and the demand for Coca- Cola products. Sluggish performance in North America: Coca – Cola’s performance in North America was far from robust. North America is Coca – Cola’s core market generating about 30 % of total revenues during 2007. Therefore, a strong performance in North America is important for the company. Sluggish performance in North America could impact the company’s future growth prospects and prevent Coca – Cola from recording a more robust top-line growth. Decline in cash from operating activities: Cash flows from operating activities decreased 7% in 2008 compared to 2007. Decline in cash from operating activities reduces availability of funds for the company’s investing and financing activities, which, in turn, increases the company’s exposure to debt markets and fluctuating interest rates. Opportunities. Acquisitions: Strong international operations increase the company’s capacity to penetrate international markets and also gives it an opportunity to diversity its revenue stream. Coca – Cola made acquisitions in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and China for the last 3 years. These acquisitions strengthened Coca – Cola international operations. It gives Coca – Cola an opportunity for growth, through new product launch or greater penetration of existing markets. Growing bottled water market: Bottled water is one of the fastest – growing segments in the world’s food and beverage market owing to increasing health concerns. The market for bottled water in the US is forecast to reach revenues of about 19. 3 billion dollars by the end of 2010. The company’s Dasani brand water is the 3rd best-selling bottled water in US. Coca – Cola could leverage its strong position in the bottled water segment to take advantage of growing demand for flavored water. Growing Hispanic population in US: Hispanics are growing rapidly in number and economic power. As a result, they have become more important to markets than ever before. The company can benefit from an expanding Hispanic population in the US, which would translate into higher consumption of Coca – Cola products and higher revenues for the company. Threats. Intense competition: Intense competition Coca – Cola competes in the nonalcoholic beverages of the commercial industry. The company faces intense competition in various markets from regional as well as global players. Also, the company faces competition from various juice drinks and nectars. In many of the countries in which Coca – Cola operates, including the US, PepsiCo in one of the company’s primary competitor. (Other significant competitors include Nestle, Cadbury/Schweppes, Group DANONE and Kraft Foods. ) Competitive factors impacting the company’s business include pricing, advertising, sales promotion programs, product innovation. And brand and trademark development and protection. Intense competition could impact Coca – Cola market share and revenue growth rates. Dependence on bottling partners: Coca – Cola generates most of its revenues by selling concentrates and syrups to bottlers in whom it doesn’t have any ownership interest or in which it has no controlling ownership. Loss one or more of customers by any one of its major bottling partners could indirectly affect Coca – Cola business results. Such dependence on third parties is a weak link in Coca – Cola’s operations and increases the company’s business risks. Sluggish growth of carbonated beverages: US consumers have started to look for greater variety in their drinks and are becoming increasingly health conscious. This led to a decrease in the consumption of carbonated and other sweetened beverages in the US. The performance of the market is forecast to decelerate, with an anticipation compound annual rate of change of -0. 3% for the five-year period 2005-2010 expected to drive the market to a value of 62. 9 billion dollars by the end of 2010. Coca – Colas revenue could be adversely affected by a slowdown in the US carbonated beverage market. PepsiCo. In 2009 PepsiCo estimated that its annual retail sales had reached $92 billion, offering over 100 brands around the globe. The main cash cow of PepsiCo of course being the Pepsi carbonated drink that owned 10% of the US beverage market in 2008. PepsiCo offers the world’s largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. PepsiCo mains businesses – Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade – also make hundreds of other nourishing, foods and drinks. Strengths| Weaknesses| Strong core brand | Concentrated in North America . Strong market position | Health Craze will hurt soft drink | Solid brand portfolio | Negative publicity| | Strong revenue growth | | Economies of scale | | Opportunities| Threats| Food division expansion| Sluggish growth of carbonated drinks | Hispanic growth in the US | Competition with Coca-Cola & others| Bottled water growth | Declining economy/recession | Growing consumer health consciousness | | Cadbury Schweppes/Dr. Pepper Snapple. Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (formerly Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages) is an American soft beverages drink company, which was spun off from Britain’s Cadbury Schweppes. Company manufactures, markets and distributes more than 50 brands of carbonated soft drinks, juices, ready-to-drink teas, mixers and other premium beverages across the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Our diverse portfolio includes Dr Pepper, Snapple, 7UP, Mott’s, A&W, Sunkist Soda, Canada Dry, Hawaiian Punch, Schweppes, Penafiel, Squirt, Clamato, Mr & Mrs T Mixers, Rose’s, Yoo-hoo and other consumer favorites. Most of the brands in this segment are CSD brands. In 2009, our Beverage Concentrates segment had net sales of approximately $1. 1 billion. Strengths| Weaknesses| Strong portfolio, consumer-preferred brands| Weak performance in Asian Market| Integrated business model| A substantial amount of outstanding debt| Strong customer relationships| | Strong operating margins and stable cash flows| | Opportunities| Threats| New distribution channels in a market| Changing consumer tastes| Growing consumer health consciousness | Operating in highly competitive markets| Focus on opportunities in high growth and high margin categories| Depend on the 3rd party bottling and distribution companies | Cott Corporation. Cott Corp is one of the leading non-alcoholic beverage companies and retailer brand soft drink providers. The company primarily operates in the US, Canada, the UK and Mexico. It is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and employs 2,803 people. The company recorded revenues of $1,648. 1 million during the financial year ended December 2009, a decrease of 7. 2% compared to 2008. The operating loss of the company was $113 million during 2009, compared to the operating loss of $54. 5 million in 2008. The net loss was $122. 8 million in 2009, compared to the net loss of $71. 4 million in 2008. Strengths| Weaknesses| Leading Producer of Retailer Brand Beverages with Diverse Product Portfolio | Unable to compete successfully in the highly competitive beverage category. | Extensive, Flexible Manufacturing Capabilities | May not be able to respond successfully to consumer trends | | significant amount of outstanding debt| Opportunities| Threats| New distribution channels in a market| Changing consumer tastes| Growing consumer health consciousness | Intense competition| Focus on opportunities in high growth and high margin categories| | National Beverage Corp. National Beverage develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a portfolio of beverage products throughout the US. The company develops and sells a selection of flavored soft drinks, juices, sparkling waters and energy drinks. It is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and employed about 1,300 people. The company recorded revenues of $566 million during fiscal year ending April 2008, an increase of 5% over 2007. The increase in revenue was due to 9% growth in case volume of energy drinks, juices, and waters. The operating profit of the company was $172. 6 million during 2008, a decrease of 0. 4% compared with 2007. The net profit was $22. 5 million in 2008, decrease of 8. 9% compared with 2007. Strengths| Weaknesses| Extensive Brand Portfolio| Geographic concentration| | Declining Profits| Opportunities| Threats| Focus on Asia Pacific Market| Limitations on Commercialization of Alcoholic Products| Rise in Demand for bottled Water in the US| Riding Input Costs| Change in Consumer Preferences| Intense Competitive Pressures| Company’s key success factors within the soft drink industry. Key factors for competitive success within the soft drink industry branch from the trends of the microenvironment. Primarily, constant product innovation is imperative. A company must be able to recognize consumer wants and needs, while maintaining the ability to adjust with the changing market. They must keep up with the changing trends. Another key factor is the size of the organization, especially in terms of market share. Large distributors have the ability to negotiate with stadiums, universities and school systems, making them the exclusive supplier for a specified period of time. Additionally, they have the ability to commit to mass purchases that significantly lower their costs. They must implement effective distribution channels to remain competitive. Taste of the product is also a key factor for success. Moreover, established brand loyalty is a large aspect of the soft drink industry. Many consumers of carbonated beverages are extremely dedicated to a particular product, and rarely purchase other varieties. This stresses the importance of developing and maintaining a superior brand image. Price, however, is also a key factor because consumers without a strong brand preference will select the product with the most competitive price. Finally, global expansion is a vital factor in the success of a company within the soft drink industry. The United States has reached relative market saturation, requiring movement into the global industry to maintain growth. Soft drink industry main characteristics, trends and changes. Soft drinks are an integral part of American life and culture and soft drinks have been produced or consumed in nearly every corner of the world. The industry is lucrative with a potential for high profits, but there are several obstacles to overcome in order to capture the market share. Growing consumption trends can be attributed to rising disposable incomes, falling trade barriers, universal product acceptance, and a rising demand for American consumer goods. It would be very difficult for a new company to enter this industry because they would not be able to compete with the established brand names, distribution channels, and high capital investment. Likewise, leaving this industry would be difficult with the significant loss of money from the fixed costs, binding contracts with distribution channels, and advertisements used to create the strong brand images. This industry is well established already, and it would be difficult for any company to enter or exit successfully. The carbonated beverage industry is a highly competitive global industry, and has some characteristics of an oligopoly in the US. Three leading companies have prominent presence in the soft drink industry. The leaders include the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes. Leader companies have to hold the highest percentage of the global market share; therefore, companies need to be able to compete globally in order to be successful. Profitability in the soft drink industry will remain rather solid, but market saturation especially.