Book Review Slam Dunked The NCAAs Shameful Reac Essays

Book Review: Slam Dunked: The NCAA's Shameful Reaction to Athletic Integration in the Deep South Throughout the years ULL has had many great moments in sports and Louisiana history for this reason t T he book I will be reviewing is a Slam Dunked : the NCAA's S s hameful R r eaction to A a thletic I i ntegration in the Deep South by Ron Gomez , and f F ormer UL Basketball coach Beryl Shipley. The book begins in 1954, shortly before Shipley's time at UL . in 1954. At th at is time the south was still segregated by race, meaning and S s outhern university's universities w h ere were still segregated by race. During that time ULL was also known as Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) d uring that time and was the first all-white s S chool in the south to accept African-American Undergraduate students. Although T hough this transition was not made did not happen over night overnight or without incident, it was do ne nonviolently without any help from law enforcement. In 1957, The University brought in thirty-one 31 - year - old B eryl Shipley as the new h H ead b B asketball coach. It didn't take long for coach Shipley to make a difference in Southwestern Basketball . , W w ithin his first year of coaching , game attendance almost nearly doubled often times bringing a thousand to two thousand people. Which might This may not seem like all that much, but Ek Long gym (the primary venue at the time) only holds a little just over 1100 people. Attendance was not Shipley's only area of achievement . During his time as head coach, the team w on inning many Gulf States Conference Championships . In 1965 the USL Basketball team qualified for the N ational Association Intercollegiate Athletics AIA National Collegiate Championships tournament , although it was against the rules set by the Louisiana State board of education for t he all-white USL team to play integrated teams to play in the all-white tournament. Shipley received approval to play from by both the A a thletic director and President of the University . , However, the president and athletic director eventually revoked their approval that was later taken away after receiving pressure from the state board. After a student protest on the front l awn of the presidents president's house the , president was he was forced to allow the team to play. The play. The next year , the new University President , insert name here} , brought ushered in an era of change by by giving allowing Shipley the okay to recruit black players, making Shipley the first coach in the south to have black P p layers on his team . , b B ut this decision did not go without opposition . , Shipley received tons of backlash and ridicule for signing black players . Later , the state board ruled that scholarships would not be given to the black players. Shipley responded to this by getting local black leaders and others from the community to put their money together to build a scholarship fund for the black players. However, T t he state board fired back retaliated by reporting Shipley's actions to the NCAA and as a result the basketball program was put under a two year suspension and banned from all post season play. Two years after Once their suspension was lifted in 1972 , the USL t e am jumped was promoted to NCAA division 1 , finishing ranked in one of the top 10 teams in the nation and also ma de k ing it to the NCAA national tournament. Making USL was the first team to ever make it to the national tournament during their first year of eligibility . The team repeated this same success in 1973, but this success was short lived because shortly after the T t ournament Coach Shipley Resigned . , and And shortly after his resignation , the NCAA found USL G g uilty of violating over 100 NCAA rules. Doing everything from changing high school transcripts for players, giving players small cash payments, and

Comparative and Superlatives for Beginners

Comparative and Superlatives for Beginners The comparative and superlative forms in English compare and contrast different objects in English.   Basketball is more exciting than golf.That house is bigger than mine. Our friends have the nicest dog in the town.She is the happiest person I know. Comparative Form   Use the comparative form to show the difference between two objects. Examples: New York is more exciting than Seattle.His car is faster than Dougs.Mary is happier than Anna.   1 syllable adjective + -er She is faster than Mary. 2 + syllables more + adjective Jack is more handsome than Jerry. 2 syllables ending in -y drop -y from adjective +-ier That joke was funnier than mine. Comparative Form Comparative Form Explained One Syllable Adjectives Add -er to end of the adjective (Note: double the final consonant if preceded by a vowel) remove the y from the adjective and add ier Examples:  Ã‚  slow - slower / high - higher This book is cheaper than that book.Tom is smarter than Derrick.   Two Syllable Adjectives Ending in -y Drop -y and add -ier to two syllable adjectives ending in -y. Note adjectives ending in -y that are three syllables or more take more rather than -ier.   Example:  happy - happier / funny - funnier I am happier than you.That joke was funnier than his joke. Two, Three or More Syllable Adjectives place more before the adjective Examples:  interesting - more interesting / difficult - more difficult London is more expensive than Madrid.This test is more difficult than the last test. Here is another chart showing how to construct the  comparative form  in English.   Superlative Form Use the superlative form when speaking about three or more objects to show which object is the most of something. Examples: New York is the most exciting city in the USA.Peter is the luckiest guy in the world.Thats the cleanest bathroom Ive ever seen! 1 syllable the + adjective + add -est That's the tallest building in New York. 2+ syllables the most + adjective Alice is the most interesting woman I've ever met. 2 syllables ending in -y drop -y from adjective +-iest Peter is the funniest guy in my class. Superlative Form Superlative Form Explained One Syllable Adjectives Place the before the adjective and add -est to end of the adjective (Note: double the final consonant if preceded by a vowel) Example: cheap - the cheapest / hot - the hottest / high - the highest Today is the hottest day of the summer.This book is the cheapest I can find. Two, Three or More Syllable Adjectives Place the most before the adjective Example: interesting - the most interesting / difficult - the most difficult London is the most expensive city in England.That is the most beautiful painting here. Two Syllable Adjectives Ending in -y place the before the adjective and remove the y from the adjective and add iest Example: happy - the happiest / funny - the funniest New York is the noisiest city in the USA.He is the most important person I know. Here is a chart showing how to construct the  superlative form  in English: Important Exceptions There are some important exceptions to these rules! Here are two of the most important exceptions: good good - adjectivebetter - comparativethe best - superlative This book is better than that one.This is the best school in the city. bad bad - adjectiveworse - comparativethe worst - superlative His French is worse than mine.This is the worst day of my life. Teachers can use this comparative and superlative lesson plan to teach these forms to learners. Start from the basics.

Poverty in American Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Poverty in American Cities - Essay Example During the late nineteenth century, white Democrats in the urban areas had established legal infrastructures that were not favorable for industrial development and business ventures, especially by the private sector. The banking industry was still at its infancy, while credit facilities and services had not taken foot. Significance of the nineteenth century poverty in American cities The late nineteenth century poverty in the cities was significant, because it would define the long-standing policies that various urban planners were to set up to mitigate the problem or any recurrence in future; these include housing projects, sanitation, sewers, garbage dumps and structured construction of buildings in the urban areas. Meanwhile, Tardanico (2008) indicates the towns concentrated more on agricultural businesses. Additionally, the period witnessed a high population influx in the urban areas, following the industrialization efforts. Law-making bodies were opposed to business and the buil ding of a contemporary society. For instance, Alabama upheld a seven decade refusal to engage in redistrict measures, long after it had experienced major demographic transformations and economic drifts to towns. For a long period of time Birmingham city generated the bulk of the state’s revenue, but received a meager infrastructural development and services, thus leading to poverty (Lassonde, 1996). In the sunset years of nineteenth century, Texas swiftly increased its railroad coverage, building a link of major urban areas through a radial program and extended to the Galveston harbor (Riis, 2011). According to Bolland et al (2007), in an effort to improve the industrial sector was met with apparent job boycotts and labor instability among the town residents, who took home peanuts, despite their heavy toil. In 1885 Texas was among the top ten of the 40 states in which employee unrest took the toll on major industries in the town; within half a decade, it occupied the fifteent h position. More than 70 percent of labor unrest cases, mainly interstate instabilities such as telegraph workers and railway employees, took place in 1886. By 1890 Dallas developed to the biggest township in Texas (Bolland et al, 2007). The 1900 witnessed the town having a population exceeding 42,000; but by 1910, the population had immensely increased to 92,000 (Tardanico, 2008). Dallas transformed into world’s harness-making centre and a region of other manufacturing industries. As an illustration of the town’s ambitions, in late 1800s, Dallas set up the Praetorian Building, a fifteen storey edifice, the tallest on the western side of the Mississippi. Subsequently, others were soon built. Texas was completely changed by a rail transport line network connecting five significant cities, including Houston and Galveston, a nearby harbor; others include Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, and Fort Worth. It is notable that each experienced a remarkable increase in population w ith more than 50,000 within less than two decades (Riis, 2011). In the five decades from 1870, the population of Americans residing in the country’s major towns increased to 54 million, up five times. Into the late nineteenth century, American townships developed in terms of demographics and extended in area by encompassing nearby villages. For instance, New York City consumed Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens, regions that appeared as politically carved

Supply Chain Integration in the Food Industry Essay

Supply Chain Integration in the Food Industry - Essay Example My first action as the new CEO would be to implement an efficient consumer response (ECR) system. As one author notes, "ECR is an approach to supply chain management which...is a managerial approach that starts with consumer demand and then gears the whole of the supply chain to responding to that demand. It is a customer-driven, demand-pull product management system..." (Gillooley and Varley 42). This method makes particularly good business sense in the retail grocery environment because it is based on supplying products by allying all of the elements of the supply chain with customer purchasing patterns. Consider, for example, how this type of SCM system would increase efficiency during the holidays. Normal sales of large, frozen turkeys are generally low during the months of January through October, but spike over November and December. A supply chain which was based on the ECR model would be integrating suppliers, distributors, and in-store inventories to minimize costs and maxim ize what can only be considered as a diminishing profit margin, e.g., the closer to Thanksgiving it gets, the cheaper the price for the birds and the more competitive the market becomes. The alternatives to this integrated approach are either to run out of inventory and lose market share, or to over-stock and suffer a negative product age issue; neither of which are profitable nor efficient. Accordingly, the ECR would be my first move as the new CEO. My second strategic focus on using supply chain integration would focus on operation and information systems. Similarly to Mr. Johnston, I know that information systems efficiency and interoperability is an important area for an SCM. Proper use of technology to maximize efficiency is well worth the investment, as demonstrated by Wal-Mart in past case studies. One reason information systems are so vital is the operational support they provide and the speed and accuracy at which they provide it. This systems integration directly addresses issues like overstocking which, in many retail businesses is costly, but in a retail grocery setting can be prohibitively expensive. As Ketzenberg and Metters note, "although all major grocers use scanner technology at cash registers...[in most stores] stock ordering is still done manually by employees visually checking shelf sets" (31). It is for this reason that I think Mr. Johnston's investment in technology is astute; and I would do the exact same thing. As the information systems are integrated and the operational aspect of inventory tracking moves from visual unit counts to a more efficient and accurate SCM system, additional benefits will be gained; the ability to interface with the ECR system noted above will permit supply chain managers to monitor the relationship between quantities ordered and sold so that accurate forecasting can bring higher efficiency, lower costs, and greater customer satisfaction. The blending of a

Jessica Banks Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jessica Banks Case - Essay Example ame, it has to be understood that Haywards has not said that Banks cannot have access to the data she had generated, and she can still try to get a copy with his consent if she approaches this issue in a more mature way. Secondly, it has to be discussed whether Bank has a right to continue with the research which she has been working on in Haywards lab even after she quit that job and joined in another institution (Bebeau 24). In that case, the contribution of the student and the mentor have to be assessed regarding the generation of the data before a decision is made (Bebeau 24). Also, the spirit of research has always been that of a collective effort (Bebeau 24). Thirdly, it has to be decided how she could maintain her independence and at the same time, her collegiality and her personal integrity regarding this issue (Bebeau 25). Both these interests seem to be mutually conflicting in this particular context Bebeau 25). Here, the major thing is that usually the mentors role has the risk of being undervalued by beginner researchers (Bebeau 25). And also, a researcher needs to have the support of the mentor to pursue a successful career on a long term basis (Bebeau 25-26). Finally, in this part of solving the problem, Banks is faced with another conflict in which she has to decide whether she should fulfill her obligation to respect her mentor at the cost of loosing her research data generated so far or whether she should refuse to obey her mentor and fulfill her perceived obligation to warn other students who have a possibility to be in a similar situation (Bebeau 26). As far as this question is concerned, the basic premise has to be that the mentor should clearly communicate to the students, the legal obligations regarding the research work and the student should also try to learn such matters in the beginning of the research itself (Bebeau 26). In Bebeaus four-part approach, the second aspect of the problem lies in determining who the interested

U.S. automobile industry.

U.S. automobile industry. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Car is great invention of human development. After more than two centuries of development and innovation, automotive products remain irreplaceable in the transportation. Automobile industry is always one of the most important industries of each country and the world in general. The U.S. automobile industry was born in the beginning of 19th century, contributes a huge amount in GDP of American as well as one of the domination industries in American particularly and globe generally. This project provides an overall and comprehensive view about the U.S. automobile industry. Through application of appropriate strategic analysis tools, this topic focus on analyze four following parts: Firstly, the overall current macro-environment of this industry is provided, especially the key forces driving change in the U.S. automobile industry. Secondly, using the Michael Porter model to analyze the competitive environment or also called task or industry environment, the strengths and extent of competitive forces, which affect the attractiveness of the U.S. automobile industry. Next, map of the key strategic group in the U.S. automobile industry and analysis of the competitors in a main strategic group. Finally, based on the analysis of both environments, this report offers comments of the key opportunities and threats facing by the firm in the U.S. automobile industry and its attractiveness of the present incumbents and potential new entrants. I. INTRODUCTION The United States, with its total current resident is about 308 million, is the third most populous country in the world. It is the second largest country in Western Hemisphere, and the third or fourth largest in the world by total area. With an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of US $14.4 trillion (a quarter of nominal global GDP and a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity), the U.S. economy continuingly occupies the most important position in global economy. Based on these advantages, the U.S. automobile market is one of the third largest markets, after China and Japan, both of manufacturing and consumption. The U.S. automobile industry has long historic development from the early decades of the 19th. There were over 1800 automobile manufacturers in the United States in the past. Although very few can survive and only a few new ones were started after that period, they are on the top automakers of the world. Moreover, it attracts most of the biggest foreign automakers to locate factories and invest, such as Toyota, Honda, BMW, Mitsubishi, etc. Recently, the automobile industry dramatically down caused the shortage resource and the current economic crisis. The U.S. automobile cannot avoid this trend. However, the general industry and Big Three U.S. automakers General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford recover gradually whereby the timely auto industry bailout and restructuring of the President Barack Obamas government. II. THE CURRENT MACRO-ENVIRONMENT OF THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY There are many external forces that can affect an industrys performance and hence to know well about the environment is the best way for improving the strength as well as reducing the weaknesses of companies in the field. This analysis of Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, Political and legal forces that affect the automobile manufacturing industry will be presented as follows. 1. Socio-cultural forces It cannot be deny that in todays society, people are judged on the type of cars they drive. Anyone who drives a nice and expensive vehicle is thought to be wealthy and success. People will find them-selves more valuable and feel better when they drive a nice and new car and therefore, car manufacturers target their markets by these thoughts. For example, with Mercedes-Benz, the producer launched three types of cars, which represent the brands value: luxury, safety, innovation. They are A-Class, F400-Carving and C-Class which being able to appeal the significant diversity of Mercedes-Benz in conquering the customers. Another thought provoking issue of the socio cultural is the environmental concerns for the need of fuel-efficient vehicles. Many environmentalists are worried about the impact that the gas cars have on the environment. The lower amount of gas emission emits into the air, the better the environment becomes. Therefore this problem also is taken into consideration by specialists of automobile companies. 2. Technological forces The U.S. is the worlds largest producer and consumer of motor vehicles with production of 16 million units every year. To increase its scale, the U.S automotive industry continues to experience technological change by investing on research and develop projects every year. These plan aim at finding out clean and renewable energy resources so that car can be used in the most efficient way. In addition to this, improving the quality of engine, making new more functions, changing technical innovation and styles for cars are also the objects that car-manufacturers want to bring to customers. Getting success as today, automobile industry should consider Internet as an important and useful instrument that make the business easier and more convenient. Thanks to its functions, the business of automobile industry becomes more efficiency and lower cost by e-booking, payment, connecting suppliers and customers online. For example, Ford, GM, and Daimler Chrysler created a global online exchange for suppliers and the original equipment manufacturers. 3. Economic forces In the past, the automobile manufacturing industry is regarded as one of the largest and vital industries within the U.S due to its great contributing to this economy in employment and productivity. Reports indicate that motor vehicle production represents over 5 % of the U.S. private sector GDP. However, because of the global crisis and the increase in oil price, 2008 and 2009 are the most difficult periods for automobile companies all over the world. In US, the number of cars sold is significantly reduced to be lower than 30% in 2008 and predicted 50% in 2009, making many automobile companies got into trouble, especially big ones like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. 19.4 billion aid from the U.S. government with 9.5 billion from Canada government can not help General Motors avoid from breaking in 1/6/2009. The car consumption of Ford Corporation also decreased significantly, they had to close four plants in the U.S. and thousands of workers to leave work until now. The head of corporate manufacturing automotive components Continental (Germany) Karl-Thomas Neumann is predicted, the crisis in the automobile industry could take up to the next 5 years. This means that over 50 million people live based on the automobile industry will have to face unemployment in this period. 4. Ecological forces After the crisis, major technology trends that automobile production corporations want to aim at are comfortable, friendly environment with consumption of fuel savings cars. In present, Hybrid vehicles with fuel economy of fuel consumption at 35 km per liter gasoline are taken into consideration and eventually moving to the car model that does not use fuel as crude oil is development direction of the automobile industry in the near future. Besides, Pollution Prevention Project will be carried out regularly with the hope of finding innovative ways to keep our environment healthier and cleaner. 5. Political and legal forces Since the 1960s, the U.S. government has issued regulations that affect the production and consumption of cars in this country. Accordingly, almost all of the provisions are about environmental related problems and the safety of the drivers as well as passengers. The first National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act that forced manufacturers to improve the safety for the passengers, the driver visibility, and the braking of the car were approved in 1966. After that, there was also growing concern for the environment, many Acts were introduced in order to set standards for automobile pollution and decrease in automobile emission such as The Vehicle Air Pollution and Control Act, Clean Air Act. Then, after the oil crisis in the 1970s, The Energy Policy and Conservation Act stated that all automobiles must meet a certain mileage per gallon to ensure that the amount of energy could be saved as much as possible. III. THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT In todays fierce competitive environment, the firms need to achieve competitive advantages for competing, existing and growing. Accordingly, the firms must recognize the environment that powerfully influences the firms. In American automobile industry, the automobile manufacturers have realized the environments influence to automotive industry. At the same time, they must look at the main sources of competitive forces and how high or low competitive force is. As stated by Wheelen and Hunger (2008, p. 83) about the six sources of competition in Porters Five Forces model. This framework is used to identify the opportunities and threats for entering in to a particular industry. It is featured as follow: Rivalry amongst existing firms in the industry The American automobile industry includes three major manufacturers, General Motors, Fords, and Daimler Chrysler. On the other hand, it has also two Japanese biggest competitors, Honda and Toyota. Now we will discuss about how strong each competitive force is and which they affect on the attractiveness of the American automotive industry. 1. The threat of new entrants-Barriers to entry New entrants can threaten the market share of existing competitors. One reason new entrants pose such a threat is that they bring additional production capacity, reducing the attractiveness. (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskinsson, 2008). The threat of new entrants is low in the American automobile industry because of some main reasons. First, the American automobile industry now is mature and it has attained economies of scale. Although Honda and Toyota have invested heavily in America to produce cars, now the crisis in the auto industry and the slow sluggish state of the global economy lead to small demand; therefore, new entrants are not interested to enter this sector. Besides, this heavy industry requires a significant amount of capital for producing automobiles as well as research and development new designs. It also demands modern technologies, management and marketing skills. Besides, establishing the intermediaries for distributing the products is not the simply problem in America. The firms must look for the dealership to sell their automobiles. These entry barriers are substantial that make it difficult for new automakers. Accordingly, it is not easy for any new entrants to enter the American automobile industry. 2. Bargaining power of suppliers According to Hill and Jones (2008), the bargaining power of suppliers is the suppliers ability to raise input prices or the costs of the industry by providing poor quality inputs or poor services. In the automobile industry, the bargaining power of suppliers is low. The auto manufactures need several components from suppliers. Moreover, there are many suppliers in this sector. We can see that suppliers in the U.S automobile industry have little power. Therefore, the auto manufacturers have many options for bargaining prices and deliveries. If suppliers do not meet some main qualifications such as quality and delivery, the auto manufacturers can switch to other suppliers. Besides, the automakers can have many opportunities to force down input price as well as demand higher quality inputs. 3. Bargaining power of buyers Wheelen and Hunger (2008) mentioned that buyers could have an effect on an industry through their ability to force down price, bargain for high quality or more services. Thus, powerful buyers should be viewed as a threat of the industry. The bargaining power of the buyers in the American automobile industry is high. Nowadays, customers easily get information and have many options in choosing brands and models of cars between auto suppliers. Some of qualifications that they based on in choosing cars are quality, price, appearance, efficient, and so on. Because of the variety of lifestyle, customers purchase the cars in different ways. Besides, the switching costs are low in automobile industry. As a result, the buyers can play off the supplying company against each other to force down price. Whats more, a buyer has the potential to integrate backward by producing the product itself as a bargaining tool. Ford and General Motor have used the threat of manufacturing a component themselves instead of buying it from suppliers. 4. The threat of substitute products Hitt, Ireland and Hoskinsson (2008) pointed out that substitute products are goods or services from outside a given industry that perform similar or the same functions as a products that the industry produce. The threat of substitute products in U.S automobile industry is medium. Although people can travel by several public transportation means such as subways, trains, buses, the need of automobiles is inevitable in todays modern life. Traveling by automobiles bring conveniences and dependences for people whenever and wherever they want to go. Moreover, in using subways, trains, buses, the switching costs are high in considering of time, money and convenience. The cost of fuel consumption, the maintenance costs, the annual insurance fee, and so on in using automobiles may be higher than traveling by public transportation means. Thus, we can see that the threat of substitute products is depend on personal preference and it can be seen mild in automobile industry. 5. Rivalry among existing firms in the industry Rivalry refers to the competitive struggle between companies in an industry to gain market share from each other (Hill and Jones, 2008). Rivalry among competitors is extremely intense in the American automobile industry. There are few competitors in this sector and they are roughly equal in size. We can consider that American automobile industry is a consolidated industry because a small number of large automobile companies dominate this industry. They are General Motors, Fords, and Daimler Chrysler. In todays economic recession with slow market growth, each auto company watches each other carefully and fights to take market share from each other. They compete with each other by offering long-term warranties to customers. Besides, the rivalry among existing firms is high in this industry because of not much differentiation opportunities. General Motors, Fords, and Daimler Chrysler produce automobiles and sport utility vehicles. They evaluate about the price, quality, product design, and after-sales services and support of each other in competing to gain market share. Overall, the competition between American automakers can strengthen the attractiveness of automobile market as well as improve the product quality and after-sales services in automobile industry. 6. Relative power of other stakeholders The US government has low power over the automobile industry. General Motors, Fords have plants outside the United States, where U.S laws are not applicable. Forces driven by market demand are the only forces that significantly affect profit potential of auto industry. Accordingly, the relative power of other stakeholders ability to affect profit potential is low. After analyzing the Porters Five Forces model in the American automobile industry, we can see that the threat of new entrants is low through high entry barriers. The rivalry among existing firms is extremely intense because of few automakers in this sector. The overall impact from buyers bargaining power to the industrys attractiveness is high because customers have many options. Suppliers have limited bargaining power in this industry. The threat of substitute products is moderate and the relative power of other stakeholders is low. IV. MAPPING OF THE KEY STRATEGIC GROUPS AND ANALYSIS OF THE COMPETITORS According to Anthony Henry (2007) and Gregory, Lumpkin Marilyn (2002), the purpose of strategic group mapping is help organization identify their directly competitors, recognize mobility barriers, indicate the direction in which their strategies are moving to determine industry competition and analyze trends in the general and competitive environment. Automotive industry is one of the most complicated industries in which the giant corporations own many brands and focus on many different market sectors. The price of the product in the automotive industry is not only depended the cost but also related to the brand image of the firm. Those are the reason why this report chose the brand image and product ranger as the two variances for the two dimensions. Base on two dimensions as mentioned above, five strategic groups are formed. These groups are mainly formed base on the difference of brand image. However, the criterion of product ranger is very useful when mentioning about the luxury and extreme luxury group. The first group includes firms that have the brand image as low class / low price (Hyundai, Kia, Tata†¦). However, this group is the second highest wide range of product cluster. All most of those firms are defender. The short-term strategy of the companies mostly is cost orientation. The strategy of these organizations is try to clear the image of the low class, low quality brand and endeavor to enter to the second group which is middle class brands. The way that Hyundai try to do is build a new image of a quality brand when they offer an extensive warranty (7 years, 100,000 miles) (Gregory at all, 2002) The second group is the most powerful cluster. They have the most wide range of product which cover all most of segment of the automotive market exclude S-segment (Appendix I car classification). Majority of them are analyzers type. Toyota is a typical example. They have a wide range of current traditional engine product, which can give it a stable fundamental for them to innovate in the other sector. On the other sector, Toyota innovate the new generation hybrid engine (Toyota Prius), which is the solution in the world of traditional energy shortage nowadays. In the future, as the competitors in the same strategic group, Honda and Ford are going to introduce the new generation hybrid cars to compete with Toyota. To reach to the higher class of customers, these firms that stick with the image of middle class car try not to introduce a new high-class line but create a new higher-class brand or purchase an existence higher-class brand. With this purpose, Toyota creates Lexus, Nissan owns Infiniti, Volkswagen has Audi, Bentley and Bugatty etc. The third group is the high-class cluster. The price is higher than the middle-class mainly because the brand image and the performance of engine. In this group, the ranger of product is narrower than the middle class group because of the focus on the higher income group. To reach the higher class of customer, those firms also implicate the same strategy with the second group, which create new brands or purchase new ones. For example, BMW owns Rolls Royce. The fourth and fifth group is the luxury and extremely luxury car. Those two groups differ between each other not only on the price but also on the target customer although they are seemed in the same position when we mention in the ranger of product. The fourth group mainly focuses on the sport car, which has the high speed and hi-end technology. The target customers are young successful businessperson and celebrities. On the other section, the target customers of fifth group are people have the high state in the society, successful executives and of very rich. Because of the difference in the target customer and brand history image, the barrier of motivation is very high between those two groups. The group that this report focus on is the middle class which is the most profitable and innovative group in the automotive industry FORD Henry Ford in June 16, 1903 founded Ford Motors Company, which would go on to become one of the most profitable and largest companies in the world. As known one of the largest family-controlled companies, Ford family has been continuous controlling this company for over 100 years. The company locates the head-quarter in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Ford is currently the fourth-largest automaker in the world and the third in US based on number of vehicle sold annually which records 1,602,011 in the U.S. market and 5,407,000 in the global market. In 2008, Ford employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants and facilities worldwide. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Well-known brand and history Product diversification Offering hybrid and environmental friendly cars Good marketing plan: Bold Moves Sponsoring and financing for big event. Product has a good review: quality, reliability, moderate price. Firestone tire recalls. CEO Jacques Nasser and Chairman Bill Ford Jr. cannot get along. Their overseas allocation and outsourcing creates fewer jobs in America. Their products are getting lower quality due to use cheap ways to make them. HONDA Soichiro Honda found the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu in October 1946, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines. Two years later, Honda Motor Company, Ltd. was born, and in 1959, Honda opened its first storefront in Los Angeles with six industrious employees. Today, Honda employs nearly 27,000 people in all 50 states. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Good brand in producing high quality products from cars to motorcycles to lawn mowers. One of the largest manufacturers of motorcycles in the world Awards for initial quality and customer satisfaction Pioneer in engineering low emissions internal combustion and hybrid technology. Higher price for non-luxury vehicles. Non-attractive in truck product. High technology cost cause over-price for consumer. MITSUBISHI MOTOR Basically, Mitsubishi Motors is one member of Mitsubishi group was found on April 22, 1970, and was based on the successful introduction of the first Galant. Until now, MMC has 33,202 employees and 12,761 non-consolidated employees, as of March 2008. The Mitsubishi brand was introduced to the American market for the first time in 1971. Until now, they employ about 18,500 employees across United States. Nearly two-thirds of the Mitsubishi vehicles are sold in the U.S; particularly this number is 58,963 in the end of 2008. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES 4th largest automaker in Japan Restructuring Recovery plan. Strong brand awareness. Member of Mitsubishi Group. Poor model awareness. Loss of RD engineers. Weak uncertain leadership. Eclipse brand strongly associated with Female buyers. History of product recalls TOYOTA Toyota Motors Corporation was established on 28 August 1937 as independent company, headquarter is being located in Toyota city, Japan. The founder of Toyota was Kiichiro Toyoda. Nowadays, Toyota is basing 26 factories to produce vehicles, and marketing distribution in more than 170 countries in the world. In 2008, Toyota passed General Motors to become the No1 automaker in USA and the worlds largest automaker in global sales for the first time in history. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Well-trained employees. Strong leadership. Global organization, with a strong international position in 170 countries worldwide. High financial strength. Strong brand image based on quality, environmental friendly (greener), customized range. The largest automaker. Well culture-friendly, family†¦ encourages employees. Product diversification, developing the hybrid- motor product ranges. Japanese car manufacturer seen as a foreign importer. Quality issues due to rge-scale re-call made in 2005. Most products targeted to the US and Japan only shifting attention to the Chinese market. VOLKSWAGEN Founded by Ferdinand Porsche on May 28, 1937 as â€Å"Grsellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH† and renamed as â€Å"Volkswagenwerk GmbH† in 1938, from a small car company, nowadays Volkswagen becomes the largest automobile maker in the world by vehicle production (Autocar, 2009) STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Aggressive and talent leadership High financial strength. The largest automaker. High reputation German quality engine Cost-control with the purchasing list Non-stop requirement for the new project Special production testing process (manager attend the test drives) Lower position than Toyota and Honda in the market share Bad public image because of GM sue Not good relationship with their investors V. THE COMMENTATION VI. CONCLUSION Automobile industry is one of the most important industries contributed the U.S. worldwide dominated position. However, this industry now is facing the worst crisis of the car industry in the past decades. The most urgent task is recovering this crisis. Moreover, finding out the new developed trend is the main strategic for whole the industry.

Essays --

Abortion itself is not an easy process to go through. Having a simple fetus removed medically might seem easy, but the woman herself might go through many difficult situations before, during, and after the process of abortion emotionally and physically. Making the right choice of having an abortion might be regretful to some woman and their family. The choices are either having the baby and later finding out they can’t take care of the baby or having an abortion and finding out later that you cannot have a child in the future. There can physical effects on woman that have abortion. Abortion can result in miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and a slight chance of breast cancer. Many miscarriages happen when an abortion is used on the previous pregnancy because it can be dangerous to the future reproductive systems of woman. After an abortion, there can be severe case where bleeding and infection can occur. A woman might have five times the chance of ectopic pregnancy because the woman who had their first pregnancy was terminated. An ectopic pregnancy happens when the embryo is implante...