Case study: Airborne Express Essay

Discussion Questions:1. Using the Value Chain Analysis, identify the primary & support activities of AirborneExpress. First I’m going to tell something about the primary activities of Airborne Express. The primary activities exist of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and as last after-sales service. Inbound logistics: They use road and air. After the pick up, it goes to the major hub in Wilmington. Operations: The operations are the delivery of approximately 900000 packages. Outbound logistics: The delivery of the packages from the hub to the delivery destination. Marketing and sales: Targeting logistics managers of major shippers. After-sales service: The use of their internet site to track their shipment and the call center automation. Second, The support Activities, they include human resources, accounting and finance operations, technology, and procurement. Human resources: â€Å" strait-laced, frugal and conservativeâ€Å"Firm infrastructure: Their fleet has 13 300 vans, 175 aircrafts and their own airport. Technology: Airborne uses its Freight on-line control and Update System (FOCUS) but in general they wait with investments until shows clear benefit for the customer. Procurement: The usage of their aircraft fleet2. What are Airborne Express’ most important capabilities? What is its core competence?Airborne Express targeted the business that focused on the shipping of large volume of urgent items, primarily to other business locations. Their most important  capabilities are that, Airborne Express is the only one who has an airport and therefore didn’t have to pay for landing fees, nor did it face any obstacles to tailoring the facility to its needs. Airborne has build a warehouse space who created the ability to receive orders as late as 2 am and have goods delivered the same day. Airborne has a patent on his cargo containers who fitted through a passenger door of an air craft and therefore did not needed a cargo door. Airborne could fill his aircraft roughly 80% full and not 65%-70% as his competitors. An other advantage of Airborne is that they could use the trucks more often than their competitors for the long-haul portion of a delivery and this was estimated to have costs who were 1/3 of the costs of owning and operating a similar amount of aircraft capacity. Airborne did things to offer a low price and was known for that. Airborne created a code for one of his biggest clients Xerox so that those packages would be delivered first (8 am.)Airborne core competence is to offer a good and fast service at a low price and they can do that because they are able to cut in their costs. 3. How and why has the express mail industry structure evolved in recent years? How have the changes affected small competitors?Evolutions:-Other kind of deliveries and more focus on speed and price. -Higher volumes and decreases of price-A larger public uses this industry-The calculations of the optimal route with information systems for speed and low price-Track shipment-The customers became more difficult and started to ask more from the companies and wanted to have as much information as possible at all time. Small competitors have a rough time because they have to compete with the larger and better organist companies. Big companies have advantages like economies of scale, bargain power,†¦. The big companies don’t use all their full capacity all the time and they come the small companies in. They can buy capacity from the big ones. So the big companies can reduce their costs and the small companies can play in the express mail industry game. 4. How has Airborne survived, and recently prospered, in its industry? What  must Robert Brazier, Airborne’s President and COO, do in order to strengthen the company’s position?Airborne is the third largest player in the express mail industry and even with recent strikes at rival UPS, he isn’t able to gain more market share from FedEx and UPS. To strengthen the company’s position, Airborne has to:-Airborne has an advantage with the usage of his trucks because the most of his volume are in the afternoon or second day deliveries. Airborne has to enlarge and develop his ground transport and the services that he there offers. -Has to find a partner or an other airline to share the facility expenses of the airport. -Airborne has to create strong and long term alliances (Roadway Package was a good start) to compete with FedEx and UPS-Upgrade and invest in his services (customers, transport, delivery on time,†¦) as much as possible-Keep on focusing on the large accounts of corporation (like Xerox)Bibliography: – Strategic Management: Concepts, Second Edition (2008), by Mason A. Carpenter and Wm. Gerard Sanders, Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN-10: 0132341409; ISBN-13: 9780132341400- Harvard online, buy case study Airborn Express

Girls Education Essay

It is one the basic necessities to be educated for human, as world is full of competition, where one needs certain amount of skills to survive and be a threat to others. Education gives an insight to the person to differentiate between good and bad. Both men and women are part of our society so we need education for the females as well as for the males. In India despite of all the plans measures, initiatives and tall claims by the government and various voluntary organizations, a vast majority of the girls are yet illiterate in India. During the last four decades since independence, many schools and colleges are founded for girls. Education of girls is one of the basic features of the government plans. The female education is important for the society as mothers are the first teachers of the children. They are the first teachers of the future citizens of the country. It is being increasingly recognized that educated wives and mothers are an asset to a nation. Educated girls are working in banks, private firms, hospitals and government offices and supporting their families as well as contributing to the development of the country. Educated girls have an honored position in society. They have secured their rights from the reluctant men but all this is confined chiefly to the urban areas. Indians are conservative by nature. So, their blind faith and age old superstition stood against the female education. In rural areas most of the people are still against girls’ education. So much needs to be done yet. Special legislation should be enacted to deal with parents who neglect the education of their daughters. There are many villages where schools for girls do not exist. Every village must have a girl’ schools, or if that is not possible owing to lack of funds, parents should be persuaded to admit their daughters to the schools providing co-education. In recent years situation has improved considerably. People have felt the virtue of female education. Now in India we find women professors, lady doctors, lady scientists, lady politicians and lady ministers. Girls should be educated in the interest of our national progress. India is now optimistic in the field of female education. We had the female philosophers like Gargi, in the Vedic age. We had Mirabai, Ahalyabi and Laxmibai in the days of history. They were all learned. Hence, we had a great tradition during the days of our degeneration. Now, we have revived. So, we will certainly revive the female education in India.

Becoming A Professional Career Goal

Career Goal Rough Draft My overall goal is to become a RN while obtaining my BSN and have a career at in the neonatal or pediatric field. I believe time management, hard work, dedication and the desire to succeed are important keys to success. My 3 goals to reach to accomplish my overall goal are to obtain my associate degree in nursing at TCC, seek and gain employment at a hospital and finally to apply and complete the RN-BSN program at UTA. My first goal, obtain associate degree in nursing at†¦ Becoming a Pharmacist was never a professional career goal of mine, until recently. I graduated High school with the mindset I would become a nurse. Pharmacy sounded boring to me. Being an ignorant high schooler, I believed all they did was count pills. Once I began school for Nurs-ing I had to take a few Pharmacology classes. When I started my Pharmacology classes I fell in love with Pharmacology. The science behind medicine was interesting. I couldn’t believe all the things medicine could help†¦ would have been my highest goal and accomplishment. That was two years ago, my current goals and ambitions are to not only attend UCLA but to graduate Nursing school with at least my masters in nursing. I realized settling for third best or even second best was not good enough anymore, in order to excel in college and perform my best in my undergraduates study I need to be determined, focused, and goal oriented. Getting into UCLA and into the nursing school are not just goals to me that seem so far†¦ Introduction It is crucial that in order for myself to reach my ultimate career goal of becoming a Human Resources Manager in a large firm, that I personally develop myself to be especially rich in intrapersonal, interpersonal and organizational effectiveness. These skills play a critical role in all businesses in today’s society REFERENCE. Firstly, I must understand the prominence these skills have within the workplace and develop myself in order to succeed in the future. This portfolio will assess†¦ In this assignment, I am going to be identifying my professional career aspirations. Based on previous work experience and personal experiences I will be reviewing the skills I already possess and hope to develop whilst at university. In any career, you need to be able to have a set of basic skills ranging from your ability to work in a team to communicate yourself efficiently to other people, but the main being to have enough drive and motivation within yourself to succeed. (University of Kent,†¦ (750): The Career Goals of Phil Green IV: Playing Professional Basketball in the NBA Career goals are an important way to discover the potential of an individual to achieve success in the profession of sports. I have chosen to pursue a professional basketball career in the national Basketball league due to the increasing success that I have had at the collegiate level. At St. John’s University, I have appeared regularly in 32 games during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years. In fact, I was†¦ At an early age I set my mind on a career goal of becoming a Registered Nurse. It will take a lot of work and focus to complete my prerequisites at a junior college (Georgia Military), then I will need to graduate from a nursing program at an accredited University. This will take collectively six to eight years of schooling to obtain my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. I am now fully grasping the amount of work required to obtain my Bachelors of Science in Nursing, but I am more than ready to face†¦ able to buy a home in a good part of town which would prevent my kids from being able to attend the best schools. There are so many things now that rely on me being able to achieve my career goal of becoming a department manager, and one day a partner or owner of a company like the one I am currently working for. My goals of one day owning a house and my kids living in a good neighborhood may depend completely upon this education. This degree will ensure I am not passed up for promotions because I lack†¦ Johnson Mrs. Ornes 07November2011 My Career Goal of Becoming a Dental Hygienist Ever wonder why your dentist doesn’t actually clean your teeth? It’s cause that’s the job of the dental hygienist. They are specialist at keeping your teeth and gums healthy and clean. My goal of becoming a dental hygienist will soon come to pass. All I need is dedication, motivation, ambition, and understanding. This latter element becomes very important when discussing this career field. The most basic elements that†¦ â€Å"Knowledge is power. You can 't begin a career, for that matter even a relationship, unless you know everything there is to know about it.†-Randeep. My personal career goal was decision that I had to critically think about. They are many career options that you can choose from and it can be hard to narrow it down to the one that best suit to your talent. With that being said, I have decided that my career goal is to be a marketing manager which are responsible for managing marketing, advertising†¦

No preference Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

No preference - Research Paper Example It was used in brewing beer, making soups and stews, and barley bread in various cultures. Ships and vessels transported it across city-states in cases of warfare or trade activities. If someone found my pottery today, I would want the pottery itself to reflect on the revolutionary element of Greek society. The artistic movements of Greek, as a society, should focus on narrating the story of the birth of the first democracy, ancient Athens, through an artistically based kind of life. In the brutal world of the 5th Century BC, there emerged a society of equals in Greek, which was the ultimate reflection of the pottery artistic work if it were to be seen today. The aspects of life in Athens that encouraged cultural contribution of various philosophers, writers and artists include the following factors; firstly, the inbuilt spirits of Greek inhabitants is of an ever formulated trial and era aspect of the society. Secondly, Athens gave rise to various philosophers because of the emergence of educational activities through artistry. For instance, the Greek revolution overly began at the dawn of a simplified democracy in 508 B.C. with the revolution of common people against the aristocratic rule. This shows the complex nature of Greek subjects towards their leaders and the epistemological view of the world. The Greeks defeated the Persian Empire through an extraordinary self-sacrifice. When the Persians confidently arrived in the battlefield to tackle their Greek counterparts, their courier Phidipphides had already sought a 140 mile run to Sparta in two days. This was done in order to solicit help from Sparta’s army. The outnumbered Athenians henceforth fought to uphold their freedom rights, defeat the Persians and send them to Asia. The institution of ostracism was a formally implemented Athenian democracy. This democracy had a function of expelling defiant citizens from the

Case Study (Tyco International LTD) - Easy Work

(Tyco International LTD) - Easy Work - Case Study Example within the multi-step income statement such as extraordinary activities demonstrate lack of transparency in business reporting and this justifies prohibition of IFRS for the presentation of extraordinary activities within the income statement. Tyco is characterized by acquisitions which aim at diversifying globally which has made it to have a highly decentralized structure. The working culture of the organization is motivated by the pursuit for continual growth and development. The company has many divisions which report to the head office. The decentralization within the company has led to the need for each of its divisions reporting their own financial statements separately. The senior management is the corporate office has led to aggressive reporting of financial statements by the company’s divisions through the high targets that they are expected to meet. Capitalization is the conversion of income into the value that the property that raised the income is estimated to be worthy. Capitalization also refers to the estimation of the present value of income for future earnings or payments. The $200 cash collection from the dealers of Tyco’s ADT subsidiary should be recorded as operating income. The operating income of a company must be included in its financial statement to enable accurate determination of the earnings of the company in relation to its expenses (Roxas 56). The $200 that was paid to the dealers as a growth bones would be equated to the same amount of income from the dealers if it is not capitalized and thus lead to an overall balancing of the financial statement. The fraud that Tyco was involved in led to an exaggeration of its operating income. The $1.76 billion should be recorded within its multi-step income statement as sales returns under the sales revenue of the operating section instead of categorizing this amount as gains from discontinued operations. This is because the IPO which generated the amount is a sale of one of the

Financial Modelling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial Modelling - Research Paper Example , Total assets of company (expressed in  £ millions), Extent of team working within the company (expressed as a percentage), Scheme (coded as 1 if company has a profit sharing scheme) and 0 otherwise, Market share of company (expressed as a percentage), the age of the company (since how many years it was established) and lastly, Return on capital employed (also expressed as a percentage). First we show graphical representation of the data to understand any issues or patterns which arise from the data, we then conduct univariate and bivariate analysis to find out if there is a correlation between profit sharing scheme (the dependent variable) with the independent variables (the six aforementioned variables) one by one, later the multiple variable analysis to discover if the overall model is significant or not, which means we explore if the six independent variable all together have an influence on profit sharing scheme or not. Finally a logistic regression analysis was run to find o ut the impact (positive or negative) that the six independent variables have on the profit sharing scheme. The SPSS computer program was used to conduct the statistical analysis while the excel software was used for the graphical visualizations. Graphical visualization helps us to visually explore and understand the pattern of a given data set. In this section we present the graphical visualizations of the variables. We begin by the Profit margin of company (expressed in percentage). The graph clearly shows that that none of the companies has managed to reach a profit margin of 35% and slightly few have a profit margin of below 5%. The highest profit margin recorded is 32.33% and the lowest profit margin is 4.4%. Figure 2 presents a graph of total assets of company; we observe that most companies had assets of between  £ 2000-8000 (millions). The company with the highest assets had  £ 13,686.62(millions) worth of assets while the lowest company had  £ 270.65 (millions) worth of

Shoes leather business industry in South Korea Term Paper

Shoes leather business industry in South Korea - Term Paper Example Subsequently, it has also been learnt that government laws regarding the operations of the leather industry are also quite strict wherein rigid laws are imposed to control the production of leather products in an integrated and ethical manner. These aspects have certainly affected the overall industry operations of the leather producing sector to a large extent (PETA, 2013; UNIDO, n.d.). Focusing on this particular issue, this paper intends to analyze in detail the overall challenges faced by the tanning or leather industry of South Korea. The paper further emphasizes upon the issues that are being related with the leather industry of the world with special regard to South Korea taking the example of HAESUNG AIDA Co. Ltd. A Brief Overview of the Company HAESUNG AIDA Co. Ltd. is one of the largest and the most well known companies of South Korea. The company mainly focuses on manufacturing quality leather products. It has been observed that the company is considered as a world class t annery manufacturer, the quality of which is considered excellent by the branded companies playing in the global market. It is known that the company has acquired the reputation of a leading leather company of Korea. Undoubtedly, this acknowledgement has been gained through immense hard work and honesty in manufacturing its products for the people all over the world. It always intends to produce products that would be able to satisfy the current needs of the customers to the utmost level. It has been observed that through continuous development of technology and innovative production techniques, the company has managed to establish large size production units which are further operated through organized processes in Korea. This enables it to carry out bulk production and obtain a... The leather industry is one of the most rapidly developing industries of the world. It has been observed that the industry plays a major role in economic performance of the countries. It has been observed that effective performance of companies in this industry will be related with the several aspects or rather obstructions such as environmental factors related with the operations of the company, government regulations for this kind of industries and some other vital barriers. It can be further observed that the company has taken various steps in order to alleviate all the associated concerns of the leather industry. In this regard, the company provided training to its employees, arranged programs for customers and suppliers for environmental awareness and incorporated a lot of advanced technologies in the working process in order to enhance its environmental performance. The company also comes up with new strategies in order to operate efficiently in spite of the economic downturn. However, despite these steps the company has experienced certain financial breakdowns owing to the various problems associated with the leather industry. The financial position or performance of the company is effected by the cost it spends in enhancing its environmental performance, expenditure and losses of the company owing to the stern governmental regulations and the maintenance of its employees regardless of its negative performance due to recession.

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 7

Research - Essay Example The adoption of the hourly rounding program is expected to check different aspects of patient care, including pain assessment, patient positioning, assessing the accessibility of different possessions to the patient and also checking toileting needs. There are different healthcare regulatory institutions addressing the problem of patient falls. Following the publication of the 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the National Quality Forum produced a survey report, showing the 27 adverse events that could be prevented through the adoption of more effective care practices. These adverse effects include the disability and the death of patients, due to patient falls – while they are being served at healthcare institutions (NFQ, 2007). In 2008, the CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services) adopted policies objecting the compensation of the payment made –following the treatment of hospital-acquired conditions at different healthcare institutions (Sherrod, Brown, Vroom & Taylor Sullivan, 2012). The serious disability and the deaths arising from patient falls – occurring among the patients under the case of healthcare institutions – are among the hospital-acquired conditions that could not b e compensated. Among the solutions proposed to address the problem of patient falls, through the guideline summary drafted towards its prevention was the adoption of hourly rounding. The hourly rounding program was proposed as the program to facilitate the monitoring of changes in the comfort and the conditions of patients, which could counter the increasing incidences of patient falls (AHRQ, 2008). The program of hourly rounding – which is initiated to improve the safety of patients and to reduce the avoidable healthcare expenses – is not a new concept, despite the fact that it has been reviewed and redeveloped (Oldrich, Kalman & Nigolian, 2012). The program

Startbucks Blue Ocean Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Startbucks Blue Ocean Strategy - Essay Example To fulfill the customers’ requirement the company must look for the interest and taste of the customers. Blue ocean strategies give more importance to the customers then to the competition with the different companies. Fourthly Starbucks has to offer the customers complementary products and other services. This will make the customers happy and they will stay satisfied and as a result they will become a loyal customer of Starbucks. New and innovative ideas should come forth for such offerings. Fifth is that Starbucks has to be more appealing to the customers. The company has to make plans emotionally which will attract the customers. Lowering the prices will appeal the customers and they will welcome it. And the last step which Starbucks has to follow is to look though time, the company should offer the customers products according to their desires, the company should not be time dependent they should maintain their standard and always fulfill the customers’ requirement s. A canvas strategy: The blue ocean strategy must include the canvas strategy which means that the central action and framework of the company must follow the blue ocean strategy. The range of different factors of an industry depends on, invests and competes in and the offerings level of the company with the customers’ acceptance of the product. A graph should be made between these two important factors. The canvas strategy is important for two important reasons, one is that it helps to capture the present situation of the known market space that helps the members to clearly see the points on which an industry competes or battles on, and the places where the concentration of competition is higher in, and secondly it helps to shift focus from competition to finding... This paper shows and discribes the main staps of Blue Ocean. Starbucks is a blue ocean it has been so ever since it started but slowly and gradually they are moving towards becoming Red Ocean which means to compete with others. Blue ocean strategy means that tomorrows main leading companies will not fight with their competitors instead they will open up in places where the competition is absent and will make a mark for themselves or establish a proper brand for which the competition is irrelevant. We are shown the 6 paths framework strategy. According to the six paths framework strategy of the blue ocean strategy to conceive new market space for the specific company, Starbucks has to follow the six main strategically points. First of all they have to look for alternative industries. The blue ocean strategy must include the canvas strategy which means that the central action and framework of the company must follow the blue ocean strategy. The range of different factors of an industry depends on, invests and competes in and the offerings level of the company with the customers’ acceptance of the product. A graph should be made between these two important factors. The three triers consist of the non-customers of the market. These three types of people are turned into customers by following different strategies and they are described in the paper. The paper makes us understand methods such as above the line marketing will be used for elimination , for raise methods like price versus budget analysis will be done , for reduce methods like prestige and complexity will be considered and to create factors like fun will be added. Sustainable method like regular analysis and monitoring the overall coffee market will be adopted to overcome these factors.

Critically compare and contrast the accounting methods, structure and Essay

Critically compare and contrast the accounting methods, structure and regulation of Greece with the UK. Include a detailed and critical analysis of both current - Essay Example Effective control systems are usually situation specific and tailored to the management of each organisation. The exercise of managerial choice and the interdependence of accounting systems and the environment are acknowledged". (Rayburn and Rayburn (1991, p. 57) U.K. follows common law whereas Greece follows codified law falling under British Commonwealth and continental Europe respectively. "Greek law is based on codified Roman law with the judiciary divided into civil, criminal, and administrative courts. Judicial independence is guaranteed under the constitution" (Greece Profile) Many countries' accounting practices are influenced by their respective income taxation rules ignoring any other broader objectives. (Nobes 1983, Purcel & Scott 1986) In the case of Government bureauracrats setting the accounting standards, they are unequivocal in fixed formats. ".Bureaucracies are more likely to want certainty to make assessment of taxes, adherence to regulatory rules, etc., easier to specify and enforce" (Robinson, Chris, Venieris, george 1996) Greek accounting is guided by its Corporate Law 2190/1920, accounting standards stipulated by the Ministry of National Economy, the interpretations issued by the National Accounting Standards Board (ESYL) and the Greek General Chart of Accounts approved by Presidential Decree 1123/80. In UK, the Companies Act 1985 as amended for EU Directives.lays down the stipulation for accounting methods. As per the Act, there should be disclosures that accounts are as per the standards of the Accounting Standards Board and urgent issues task force. Cash flow reporting in Greece Cash flow reporting as per IAS 7 became mandatory in 2002 for Greek listed companies which should submit the Cash Flow Statement (CFS) to HCMC though not required to be published as in the case of balance sheet and income statement. A recent study found that while non-listed firms do not voluntarily report CFS, the listed firms also do not comply with the mandatory requirement and make the CFS publicly available." The results indicate that Greek companies have cash flow problems but not profitability problems. The publication of a CFS may reveal that many listed companies in Greece are not as robust as the balance sheet and the income statement potentially indicates. Thus, the main conclusion of the paper is that publication of the CFS in Greece should become mandatory. The HCMC has made significant attempts to enforce corporate governance principles for listed companies in Greece. These principles implicitly highlight the desire of the regulatory authorities that investors receive adequate and relevant information. Could it be, however, that investors get relevant information when they do not have the essential inputs required to value a company"(Kousenidis V, Negakis L, Floropoulos) This practice of providing information on sources and application of funds was

History of Halloween Essay Example for Free

History of Halloween Essay Close to $7 billion dollars is what consumers spent on Halloween costumes, candy, and decorations in 2011. When the temperature starts to drop, the leaves turn different colors and the sun sets earlier little by little each day, fall is the perfect season to celebrate Halloween. Millions of children dress up and go to strangers doors begging for candy. Have you ever wondered where this strange and unique tradition originated from? The three most important points of Halloween can be summed up by looking at its origins, how it came to include jack-o-lanterns and bobbing for apples, and how it is celebrated today with trick-or-treating and haunted houses. Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve, has originated from the ancient Celtic festival known as Samahin (sow-in) derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning summers end. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated the end of the harvest season with the festival of Samhain and celebrated the upcoming new Year on November 1. Used by the ancient pagans, Samhain was a time to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. October 31 was the day the ancient Gaels believed the boundaries overlapped between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the departed souls would come back to life and cause mayhem such as damaged crops and sickness. The Gaels built massive bonfires and summoned the help from gods through animal and possibly human sacrifices to ward of the spirits. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which in turn attracted bats. These are additional features of the history of Halloween. Halloween is also thought to be influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints Day, also known as Hallowmas, and All Souls Day falling on November 1 and 2. It was a time for honoring the saints and praying for the deceased who had yet to reach heaven. Traditionally it was believed that the departed souls roamed the earth until All Saints Day, and Hallows Eve delivered one last chance before moving on to the next world, to gain revenge on their enemies. Christians would  disguise themselves in costumes and masks to avoid being recognized by the wandering souls. Trick or treating is the practice of dressing up in costumes and going door to door begging for candy and resembles the late medieval practice of souling when the poor would proceed door to door on Hallowmas receiving food, or soul cakes which were pastries, and in return would pray for their dead relatives souls. It was believed at the time the souls of the departed would wait for passage into heaven until enough people prayed for their souls. Soul cakes would be given in exchange for a song, performance, or another sort of trick in some cultures. Eventually, children embraced this practice and were given money, food, and ale. Jack o lanterns are a Halloween staple today, with at least two historical roots. The first is the pagan Celtic people carved turnips and rutabagas to hold hot coal from the bonfire to light their homes and ward off the evil spirits. Another folklore tale gives jack o lanterns their name. An Irish myth portrays a trickster and a drunk known as Stingy Jack, who asked the devil to have a drink with him. Jack persuaded the devil to change himself into a coin so he could pay for his drink, but instead he put the coin in his wallet next to a silver cross, trapping the devil and preventing him to change himself back. Jack said he would free the devil if he did not bother him for another year. The following year Jack tricks the devil into climbing an apple tree for a piece of fruit. He then carved a cross in the bark of the tree preventing the devil from climbing down. In order to get down from the tree, the devil promised Jack he would not seek his soul anymore. Because of his swindling and drunken ways, when Jack died he was not allowed into heaven. He also was not allowed into Hell because the devil kept his word. Taking pity on Jack, the devil gave him an ember to light his way in the dark, putting it into a hollowed out turnip for Jack to carry on his lonely, everlasting roamings around the Earth. People from Ireland and Scotland  would make Jack o lanterns during this season to scare away Stingy Jack and other evil spirits wandering about. Over the next several centuries, superstitions about witches and black cats were added to the folklore and legends of Halloween. Cats were thought of as evil, especially black cats, and were killed by the thousands in Medieval times, possibly contributing to the Black Plague, due to the shortage of the rats natural enemy, the cat. During this time, the church created the belief that evil witches existed. Apples, which are a seasonal fruit, and the symbol of the Roman goddess Pomona, were thought at the time to retain qualities of knowledge, resurrection, and immorality. Bobbing for apples was thought to predict the future on the night of Samhain. (sow-in) Halloween eventually made its way over the Atlantic in the second half of the nineteenth century when America became flooded with new immigrants. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that ultimately became todays trick-or-treat tradition. The 20th century saw an emergence of Halloween as a genuinely North American holiday and one that was becoming an advantage for shopkeepers and manufactures. Costuming became popular for Halloween parties for children and adults as well. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States. Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic prototypes such as ninjas and princesses. Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally  accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees), who are a non-political youth service organization between the ages of 18 to 40, for fundraising. They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides, and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300-500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers. This maturing and growth within the industry has led to more technically-advanced special effects and costuming, comparable with that of Hollywood films. Halloween is currently the second most important party night in North America, and in terms of its retail potential, it is second to Christmas. Personally, Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year. Even as an adult, to dress up and be someone or something else for the night can be fun and exciting. To escape reality into a fantasy-like world where goblins mingle with princesses is definitely a strange site to see, but is well worth the money and time devoted to one of the spookiest nights of the year. So whether you celebrate Halloween or not, you now have an idea of how Halloween originated, how it came to include bobbing for apples and jack-o-lanterns, and how we celebrate it today with haunted houses and trick-or treating. The sources I cited for this information are from: www.cnbc.com www.halloweenhistory.org www.wikipedia.org www.history.com

Outbreak Of One Of The Conflicts In Africa History Essay

Outbreak Of One Of The Conflicts In Africa History Essay Africa from time immemorial has experienced numerous forms of conflicts ranging from ethnic confrontations to interstate wars. The idea of war still plays a veritable role in the post colonial Africa as well as in the international politics. An understanding of the situation in Africa has proved that most of these wars have been fought on the African soils and have had devastating effects on the continent and the world at large. Examples of these wars include Rwanda, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and just to name a few. These wars have greatly affected the African continent especially the countries involved as it has reduced the economies of these countries to nothing but a shadow on their own. It is obvious that most of these wars are taken place but in the developing countries and therefore leaves one with the question, whether the wars can be seen as a consequence of poverty or is poverty the consequence of war? To my opinion, war is not a solution to confli ct looking at the aftermath of the war, the vulnerabilities of the women and children, the political and economic imbalance of the states. In this light, the international community should seek ways of avoiding the outbreak of such wars especially in the developing countries. In this paper, I will analyzed the outbreak of one of the conflict in Africa which could have escalated to a full scale military conflict between two countries, had it not been settled in a unique showcase of conflict management by the UN. The conflict in question is the Cameroon vs. Nigeria claim of sovereignty over the potentially oil rich Bakassi peninsula, which almost trigger to an interstates war and sends fear and uncertainty across the two nations. B. G. Ramcharan describes the role played by the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan in maintaining peace between the Republic of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Nigeria and in settling the dispute over the Bakassi peninsula, another fascinating story of conflict prevention at work in practice. The signing of the Green Tree Agreement by both countries enabled both countries to adhere to the ruling passed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), officially put to an end to the Nigeria occupation of the peninsula and fin ally led to the peaceful handover of the occupied areas by the Nigeria military to Cameroon. President Obasanjo Olusegun of Nigeria clearly described the way the conflict was handled in the following words: Our agreement today is a great achievement of conflict prevention, which practically reflects its cost-effectiveness when compared to the alternative of conflict resolution its significance, therefore, goes much beyond Nigeria and Cameroon. It should represent a model for the resolution of similar conflicts in Africa, and I dare say, to the world at large. For most conflicts especially in Africa, has been as a result of natural resources and the politics play by the international community for their own interest which more often has fuel the violent conflicts. I will seek to analyze in this paper the historical background of the contested area leading to the outbreak of hostilities. It will be follow suit with the underlying causes of the conflicts in part 4 and part five will shed more lights on how the conflict was resolved at the level of the ICJ and managed at the UN following the implementation of the famous Green-Tree Accord signed by both countries. While part six will emphasize on the conclusion with the way forward of ensuring that both countries respect the terms of the green-Tree Agreement and the unique showcase of conflict management and resolution achieved. 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Bakassi peninsula is an island located along the eastern end of the Gulf of Guinea between latitudes 8 °20 and 9 °08E. The area is greatly made up of a low-lying, mangrove and swampy area with a population of approximately 150,000 to 300,000 inhabitants, as of 2005. The island is highly inhabited with the indigenous people of the Efik tribe, which they claimed to belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The peninsula is a veritable ground for fishing activities and other maritime wildlife activities, for the simple fact that two great ocean currents meet here that is the cold Benguela Current and the warm Guinea Current, has really made it possible for fishing activities to be the livelihood of the inhabitants. The historical background of the peninsula goes back to the colonial period after the arrival of the European colonial master to Nigeria in the middle of the 19th Century, the King of the Old Calabar kingdom entered into a treaty of Protection with the Queen of England on September 10, 1884. The territory covering this region was at this time under the control of the King of the Old Calabar Kingdom. So in signing this treaty, it means he has officially ceded the territory to the British as a protectorate. In this respect, Britain was free to carry out any activity and equally exercised whatever she deems fit in the territory. The claim of sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula is one of the numerous conflicts in Africa concerning border disputes. This however, should be in some extent put on the shoulders of the former colonial masters who partitioned Africa without taking into considerations of the ethnic groupings, geography and demography of the area, history, language and socio-cultural affiliations of the people. This has really hampered the integrity and sovereignty of most countries in Africa, as most often people from the same ethnic grouping happen to found themselves on two different colonial territories and governed by different colonial powers. The historical background of the Bakassi peninsula can be traced back during the era of colonialism. The Germans were the first colonial master to colonized Cameroon not until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, which saw the defeat of the Germans by the French and English in Cameroon. Before the outbreak of the First World War, the European powers having colonial territories were largely interested in securing their interests instead of the colonial people they claimed they were civilizing. A country like Germany were only interested in securing for itself the vast territorial waters in order to keep the huge amount of shrimps and other maritime wildlife found in this water for herself. In order to avoid conflict of interest amongst the colonial powers, Germany enter into an agreement with the British who were at this time the colonial master of Nigeria, limiting Britains expansion to the east, while Britain on the other hand required an undisturbed and free sea passage to Calabar, which was an important commercial seaport in eastern Nigeria. This agreement was later code name the Anglo German Agreement of 1913, which clearly defined the exact demarcation of the borders between Cameroon and Nigeria. The first part of the treaty entitled: The Settlement of the Frontier between Cameroon and Nigeria, from Yola to the Sea, clearly situate the territory of Bakassi under the jurisdiction of the Germans. The second part entitled: The Regulation of Navigation on the Cross River, placed the navigable portion of the offshore border of the Bakassi peninsula to Britain. Article 21 of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, which stipulates the exact position of the border: From the centre of the navigable channel on a line joining Bakassi Point and King Point, the boundary shall follow the centre of the navigable channel of the Akwayafe River as far as the 3-mile limit of territorial jurisdiction. For the purpose of defining this boundary, the navigable channel of the Akwayafe River shall be considered to lie wholly to the east of the navigable channel of the Cross and Calabar Rivers. This however, proves that from 1913, after the signing of the Anglo-German Treaty and onwards, British and German maps clearly show the Bakassi peninsula in Cameroon. Following the dramatic twist of event which saw the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the French and the English decided to extend the war in German colonial territories in Africa, aimed at fighting the Germans in their African colonial territories. At the end of the war, Germany lost all her colonies in Africa including Cameroon to the allied powers. Cameroon was ruled as a mandated territory under the League of Nations and later partitioned in 1919, into two territories among the British and French. The French took 4/5 of the territory called French Cameroons and the British get 1/5 of the territory called British Cameroons. The Franco-British Agreement of July 1919, placed the territory of Bakassi and the rest of British Cameroons under the mandate of Britain. The British introduced the system of indirect rule in their territory of British Cameroons as an integral part of Nigeria with respect to the borders agreements laid down in 1913. In 1931, a further agreement between both powers was signed to further codify the treaty of 1919. The two Cameroons that is French and English Cameroons were ruled as a mandated territory by France and Britain till the outbreak of the Second World War. With the collapse of the League of Nations and the subsequent end of the Second World War, the mandated territories of the British Cameroons and French Cameroons were placed under the United Nations Organization which succeeded the League of Nations as Trust Territories. Worthy of note here is that the agreement creating these Trusteeship territories re-ratified the Anglo-German treaties of 1913 demarcating the borders between Cameroon and Nigeria. Again maps produced during this period placed Bakassi under the sovereignty of Cameroon. It should be noted here, that the British Cameroons was divided into two parts namely British Northern and British Southern Cameroons respectively, with Bakassi falling under the competence of Britain Southern Cameroons. In the advent for the fight for independence in the late 1950s across Africa, tensions have grown in the territory of British Cameroons. In the light of this growing tensions for independence, the United Nations requested Britain to carry out a plebiscite in the territories under her jurisdiction. British Northern Cameroon and British Southern Cameroon were to exercise their rights and willingness as to which country they would like to join and become independent. A plebiscite was held in British Northern Cameroons as Do you wish to attained independence by joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by joining the Republic of Cameroon. The outcome of the result of the plebiscite was that British Northern Cameroons voted to achieve independence by joining the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The events of the political parties and their divided opinions made the plebiscite to be postponed in British Southern Cameroons. It was only on February 11th, 1961, that British Southern Cameroons voted to join the already independent Republic of Cameroon (former French Cameroons). It should also be noted here that at the point of independence, Bakassi was a territory under the jurisdiction of Cameroon. This can be seen from the fact that Bakassi itself has 21 polling stations and 73% of the population voted to become independent by joining the Republic of Cameroon. So there is no gainsaying that Bakassi was and remain a territory in Cameroon. The Bakassi peninsula is an area that was of no interest to the two nations, as the territory has been long forgotten and was not an issue looking back at the afore-mentioned paragraphs. It became a centre point of focus after the alleged discovery of oil by some foreign experts. As a result of the suspicion that Bakassi have a huge oil reserve, Nigeria was the first to claim sovereignty of the peninsula and immediately deploy her military in the territory to mark her presence and ownership. This dramatic twist of event gave way for the look back of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, which clearly defines and demarcates the maritime borders of the two countries and which both countries accepted it. In the wake of this post independent period, both countries sought way of regulating the colonial agreements of 1913, signed by the colonial powers. Leaders of both countries exchanges visits as can be seen in April 1971, the Nigeria Head of State, General Gowon accompanied with his collabor ators visited Cameroon and meet with his Cameroonian counterpart Amadou Ahidjo, in the capital city Yaoundà ©, to discuss the issue. The outcome of this meeting was the signing of the Coker-Ngo Line delimiting the navigable portion offshore border of the two countries, thereby reaffirming the 1913 agreement. Both Heads of States were very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting not only after General Gowon of Nigeria, hearing the advices from his advisers, reverse the decision arrived at the meeting. This trigger a second meeting as General Gowon again paid a second visit to the President Ahidjo of Cameroon at Maroua city in July 1975, in order to correct the wrongs of the Coker-Ngo Line referred in the 1913 agreement. Worthy of note here is that at this point in time, the sovereignty of Bakassi was not the issue, as the meetings were out to understand the colonial borders. Gowon was overthrown shortly after his visit to Cameroon in a military coup in July 1975, General Murtala Muhammed was the new Head of State of Nigeria and he was very strategic. In order to have the support of the Nigeria bulk population, he convinced them to believe that General Gowon has given Bakassi to Cameroon as a compensation for the assistance Cameroon played in the Nigeria Civil War. He goes further to reject the authenticity of the 1971 and 1975 agreements between Gowon and Ahidjo that it has not be ratified by the military council. He too was killed in a military coup just a year after and was replaced by General Olusegun Obasanjo. What a coincidence here that President Obasanjo was Nigeria Head of state during this period and he still re-emerges again as president when hostilities break out between the two countries and help to brokered peace by ensuring that Nigeria police and soldiers withdraw from the territory in accordance with the Green-Tree Agreement of 2006. 3. THE EMERGENCE OF HOSTILITIES As earlier discuss above, the obvious reasons for most violent conflict have been natural resources conflict, territorial and ethnicity, and political and economic. The case of the Bakassi conflict was as a result of the colonial legacy left behind by the colonial powers without taking consideration of the indigenous population. As also said above the Bakassi peninsula came into the lime line after the alleged discovery of huge volume of oil reserves by some Chinese experts. Cameroon and Nigeria share a 1600km long border running from Lake Chad in the north down to Bakassi in the south and a maritime boundary meandering into the Gulf of Guinea. It is worth noted here that with all the different borders that Cameroon share with Nigeria, it is only the Bakassi peninsula which has spark tension. This can be seen as a result of the oil discovery in that area and the water which was a veritable ground for fishing. During the 70s, minor tensions have been building up in the claim of ownership of the territory. Clashes took place where some human lives were lost and on May 16, 1981, the first major form of direct violence occur when the Cameroon National Radio announced that three Nigeria patrol boats have violated and entered the Cameroonian territorial waters in Bakassi up to Rio del Rey, and open fire on the Cameroonian army. This act was widely condemned in Cameroon and in retaliation; five Nigerian soldiers were killed by the Cameroonian soldiers. This incident brought a lot of suspicion between the two countries as both countries were accusing the other for causing the incident. While Cameroon on their part accused Nigeria that they were exploiting the matter politically by blaming Cameroon for the incident, Nigeria on their part, insisted that the incident took place along the Akwayafe River. The Nigeria claimed that the incident took place at the Akwayafe River means that they have not a cknowledge the maritime border set down at the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, thus a gross violation. So Cameroon immediately apologizes for the deaths of those five soldiers and promised to pay reparations. This matter was resolved diplomatically and put to rest. But it has triggered the question of sovereignty over the territory. Things take a dramatic turn in the advent of multi party politics in Cameroon in the 1990s. Anglophone Cameroonians started feeling of been marginalized and under-developed. They started asking for their own autonomy and possible Bakassi been a territory under the English speaking part of Cameroon was a big concern to the government of Cameroon. So there was need to consolidate the entire sovereignty of the territory under Cameroon administration. In order to fight this Anglophone antagonism in Cameroon, the government became so hard on the Anglophones especially the Nigerians who have been living in the Anglophone communities for decades doing businesses. Through intimidation and high taxes, many Nigeria traders were forced to leave Cameroon. But the most deliberate incident that fully lead to the occupation of the territory and sends fear of an impending military conflict between the two countries occur in February 1994. At this point in time, Nigeria had deployed 1000 soldiers to Bakassi on the pretext that they were out to protect the Nigerian Traders and fishermen against the continuous Cameroonian Gendarmerie harassment. The deployment of Nigerian troops was not welcome by Cameroon and it eventually break out to an open fire from both sides. It led to many casualties and deaths on civilian population and soldiers from both countries. Cameroon has lost closed to 40 soldiers and many of its soldiers have been taken as pris oners of war by Nigeria. It was this bloody incident that prompted Cameroon to seize the ICJ for adjudication. A complaint was filed on March 29, 1994 to the ICJ. Whether due to a sense of premonition of defeat or due to the fact that many Nigerians were aware of the Bakassi lie, the Nigeria government criticizes the government of Cameroon for taking the matter to the UN. The pointed out that they would have prefer the matter be settled through a bilateral negotiations. They go as far as challenging the competence of the ICJ for lack of jurisdiction in handling the matter. While the matter was pending at the ICJ, fighting was still going on between the two countries. The Nigerian government again deploys another 1000 troops in February 1996. This last deployment of soldiers was the last major incident that shows sign of an impending full scale military war. The Nigerian soldiers invaded and occupied the territory of Bakassi despite the fact that the case was pending at the ICJ. Record holds it that by May 1996, more than 50 Nigerian soldiers had lost their lives and several others taken as prisoners of war according to diplomatic sources. One of the most leading African magazines, The Jeune Afrique has analyzed the situation by saying that the prerequisite for a major military conflict were all present in the case of Bakassi. It went further to analyze the strategic economic importance of the territory to both countries and as a pivotal factor for the cause of the conflict. As tensions continued to grow on the ground with the military presence of both countries in the territory, the government of Cameroon called on the ICJ to institute measures to halt down the fighting. The ICJ immediately asked both countries to stop the fighting while waiting for the final ruling on the matter. But that notwithstanding, both countries still maintain the presence of their military believing that it might work in their favor for the rightful owner of the territory. 4. THE CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT The claim of sovereignty over the peninsula between the Republic of Cameroon and the Federal Republic of Nigeria is one the several violent conflicts that have plagued Africa for a very longtime as I mentioned in the preceding chapters. It was one of an interstate state war that could have escalated to a full blown war if not of the high sense of responsibilities on the parts of the UN on one hand and the countries concern on the other hand. The causes of the conflict are discussed below. 4.1. Economic factors It is evident that economic factors might have stemmed up the conflict over the ownership of the territory. If we go back to the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, we can see that both countries were more or less not interested in the area. Nigeria under British rule have surrender the area to the Germans who were at that time ruling Cameroon. British Nigeria ceded this territory to the German in 1913, and even after independence, Nigeria still did not made any claim to the territory. Cameroon on her part, knew and sees the peninsula as its territory but failed to carry out any development in the area. The government of Cameroon did not put up any administrative structure in the area to indicate that the rule the place. They equally left the place at the mercy of the dominant Nigeria indigenous population to carry out their trading and fishing activities along the peninsula with little or no control except the arbitrary tax collection from the people by the authorities of Cameroon. This point is to bring out the picture of the peninsula at that time, but things take a dramatic turn when during the late 70s and 80s, there was an alleged discovery of huge volume of oil reserves around the Rio del Rey area of the peninsula. A good number of foreign multi-national companies have carried out surveys in the peninsula and came out with the reports that the territory may indeed be a treasure of immeasurable economic value. The discovery of oil reserves was not the only determinant economic factor that almost plunged both countries to a war. The fact that Bakassi peninsula is situated between two great oceans i.e. the cold Benguela current and the warm Guinea current, makes it a veritable ground for fishing. It also harbors a wide variety of fishes and other maritime wildlife creatures. According to the internet encyclopedia, the Wikipedia, the fertility of the Bakassi peninsula as a fishing ground is comparable only to Newfoundland in North America and Scandinavia in Western Europe. It was as a result of these economic benefits i.e. the prospect of potential oil reserves and securing the fishing rights, that the Germans were so desperate on keeping the peninsula to themselves during the 1913 agreement. It would not be a gainsaying that economic factors attracted the attention of both countries to claim sovereignty of the peninsula, judging from the discovery of oil reserves and the sale of fishing rights. 4.2. Political reasons The Cameroon and Nigeria claim of sovereignty over Bakassi also has a political manoveuvres, i.e. political reasons also contributed to the conflict. It is believed that the political leaders of both countries wanted to use Bakassi as a means to divert public opinion from their respective home countries. This is evident of the fact that there was growing unpopularity of the leaders of both countries. They wanted to shift the public attention to Bakassi so that their citizens will forget about their worries at home when engaged in a full scale war. Both governments have failed to address the economic problems, unemployment, bad governance, bribery and corruption, lack of social services and the bad Human Rights records they hold. Cameroon under President Amadou Ahidjos human rights records was not a good one as he was notorious for the violation of human rights during his time as president. Examples of his bad Human Rights violation is the killing of more than 25,000 people during the UPC revolt in the 1960s as reported by Albert Mukong and Mongo Beti. Then came President Paul Biya who succeeded Ahidjo in 1982 and is still on seat. Under Biya, the economy has faced a severe economic crisis in the mid 80s that saw the currency been devalued. The salaries of normal civil servants was reduced to about 70% while those of the army was increase, and that is why the army is so loyal to the president and do not plan to overthrown him in a coup. On the part of Nigeria, the situation was not too different from Cameroon, but the prominent problem that Nigeria was undergoing before the return to civilian rule was the successive military coups that has seen their governments from time to time been toppled. In fact, Nigeria holds worlds record for the highest number of military coups and counter coup attempts. These coups have led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and soldiers. Looking at her human rights records, nearly all the successive governments have had a very bad human rights record. They are noted for killing their political opponents, an example is the assassination of the minority leader Ken Saro Wiwa and nine others in November 1995. The unreasonable imprisonment of acclaimed winner of the presidential election of 1992 Moshood Abiola and the events leading to his death while in prison still remain a fact to be told. Even the brutal murder of Abiolas wife made the government unpopular. It very evident from the above mentioned paragraphs that both Cameroon and Nigeria had nothing to ride home with because the governments of both countries were facing internal and severe ethnic nationalism and economic fallout. They believe that diverting the peoples mind into an external crisis will work in their favors. They made their citizens to believe that Bakassi was worth fighting for i.e. to defend their fatherland. 4.3. National and human securities Security issues have been very vital and play an important role in the peninsula, as such were one of the causes of the claim of sovereignty over Bakassi. This is true to the fact that during 1884, the Chief of Old Calabar signed a Treaty of Protection ceding the territory (Bakassi) to the Britain. Britain thereafter ceded the territory during the 1913 Treaty to German Kamerun in order to secure a safe passage to the port of Calabar and also reassuring the Germans that she will not made any further advancements to the east. Security in the wider sense could so also be seen in the domain of national security and human security. The former been the security of the states sovereignty and the latter been the security of the citizens. So in this light, both countries were fast to advance security reasons for the military occupation of the peninsula. Nigeria lay claims that she invaded Bakassi to protect her citizens who were doing business and carry out fishing activities in the area against the continuous harassment from the Cameroonian forces, while Cameroon on her part, claimed that the obvious reason was to protect the territorial integrity of the state as she claims Nigeria has violated its sovereignty and posed a threat to her national security. 4.4. Natural resources Natural resources have been the cause of several violent conflicts in the developing countries. The question is can natural resources be seen as a curse or a blessing. This is a territory which was out of the discussion tables of both country, but soon became a bone of contention to the countries immediately after the discovery of oil reserves or black gold as is commonly refer to in Africa. Many oppressive regimes will want to be in full control of the natural resources. For the fact that another border region which is the Lake Chad between Cameroon and Nigeria is gradually disappearing because of over used by the neighboring countries such as Cameroon, Nigeria, DR Congo, Tchad and Equatorial Guinea. With the assurance that the Bakassi peninsula is blessed with natural resources such as oil and fishes, both countries divert their attention there claiming sovereignty. 4.5. Territorial integrity The territorial integrity of the peninsula also plays a very important role for both countries as they believed it was the responsibility of the state to protect the sovereignty of its territory against any form of external threat from its neighbors. So we can see here that the Bakassi conflict was an interstates military conflict aim at protecting the sovereignty of the territory as both countries claimed. The government of Cameroon was more than ever ready to defend and protect the sovereignty of the Bakassi people against an impending military occupation from Nigeria. None of the two countries was ready to let go off the territory, as Nigeria on her part, was sending a warning threat that they are very much ready to protect Nigeria citizens leaving in the area from arbitrarily harassment from the Cameroon Gendarmes and as such protecting the sovereignty of the territory. 4.6. Socio-cultural aspects The territory under question was largely inhabited by the Efik indigenous people who see themselves as belonging to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They made up about 90% of the population and would not understand why they should be forced to be governed by Cameroon in case the ruling of the Hague was in favor of Cameroon. This is a territory that has been long forgotten by the government of Cameroon with no social structure put in place to make it look like a Cameroon territory. Nigeria on their part has built some few schools in the area and putting up some structures to give life to her citizens leaving in the area. Nigeria used her large population advantage to claim sovereignty of the territory, though the government of Cameroon accuses the Nigeria government that they took advantage of their large home population and thereby transfer so many Nigerians to live in the Bakassi peninsula, so that it will give them an upper hand in claiming sovereignty of the territory. It can also be justified here that the bulk of the Bakassi population who claimed to be of Nigeria origin, were not willing to lose their territory to Cameroon and so urges the Nigeria government to go to war if it needs arise. Culturally speaking, we can also see that the colonial demarcations of the borders done a great deal to the people, as we can find the Efik people on the side of Nigeria speaking the same language with the Akwaya people in Cameroon. These two tribes have the same cultures, traditional rites and traditional attires during festivities. It cannot be deny here that peoples of the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon have similar cultures with the peoples of Benue, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Taraba states of Nigeria. So it is obvious that Nigeria based her claim of sovereignty over the territory was as a result of their large population in the area. 5. HOW THE CONFLICT WAS RESOLVED AND MANAGED When Nigerian troops violated the Anglo-German Treaty of 1913, by invading the territory of Rio del Rey in May 16, 1961, they claimed five of their soldiers were killed by the Cameroon soldiers. So in respond, the Shehu Shagari the president of Nigeria made it clear that the Nigerian soldiers were not on the Rio del Rey territory but on the Akwayafe territory and as such demanded an apology from Cameroon for the death soldiers. It can be seen here that both countries resorted to diplomatic means to queue down the growing tensions and somehow the conflict was managed. The government of Cameroon made an official apology on July 1981, and promised to pay reparations to Nigeria. This brought the misunderstanding to an end. But worth noting here, is the fact that Nigeria claimed their soldiers were on the Akwayafe river but not on the Rio del Rey river, meaning they indirectly acknowledged and accept the colonial maritime borders delineated by the 1913 Treaty. This sought of management and resolution of

Sony Corporation Innovation All The Way Business Essay

Sony Corporation Innovation All The Way Business Essay The report is an evaluation of the organization structure implemented by Sir Howard Stringer in October 2005. The transition of Sonys organization structure from Transnational structural to multidivisional structure has been analyzed in detail. Goold and Campbells five tests have been conducted to determine the appropriateness of Sir Howard Stringers structural choice given his desire to make Sony a more innovative and flexible organization. The risks and benefits of the structural choice has also been assessed. The report displays the cultural web of Sony before and after Sir Howards arrival. It was derived that the Reconstruction type of strategic change had been used to bring about the transformation in the organizations culture. Consequently, Sir Howard adopted the Education and Communication and the Collaboration/Participation styles of strategic change implementation. In conclusion, it can be seen that the stock share value has increased during 2005-2007 which means that Howard Stringer was doing a good job at implementing his change. Acknowledgement We thank Heriot-Watt for giving us the opportunity to enhance our learning in Strategic Project Management by means of this group assignment. We would like to give a hearty thanks to our Professors at Heriot Watt, namely Dr. M. A. Salama and Dr. Michael Clarke for their time and guidance for completing this assignment. We would like to thank the university librarian Ramakant for his cooperation in providing us the appropriate books and journals for reference. We would also like to thank our families and friends for their support through out the completion of this assignment. We could not have done this without them. PM Stars Incorporated Introduction As a part of this report let us start by introducing Sony Corporation. SONY Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony was founded on 7th May 1946. The representative corporate executive officers at Sony as of today as Howard Stringer(Chairman, CEO and President), Ryoji Chubachi (Vice Chairman) and Nobuyuki Oneda (Executive Deputy President and CFO). (Sony Global (2009) has provided the above information). Sony Corporation (commonly referred to as Sony) is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the worlds largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding  ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S. (FY2008). Its name is derived from sonus, the Latin word for sound. Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its five operating segments-electronics, games, entertainment (motion pictures and music), financial services and other. Sonys principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, and Sony Financial. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. The companys slogan is make.believe. (Wikipedia (2009) provided information regarding Sony Corporation). Company Strategy Vision (2005): make Sony cool again Vision (2009): make.believe When Howard Stringer joined as the CEO of Sony Global Japan he made new strategies and used those strategies to restructure the organization to be in-line with these strategies. Firstly, he looked at the core competencies of the company and focused mainly on the electronics, games and entertainment sector. He established a growth strategy saying, Our target is for the Sony Group to achieve consolidated sales of over 8 trillion yen and an operating profit margin of 5% (electronics 4%) by the end of fiscal year 2007. NewsBlaze (2005) published the company strategy from the fiscal year 2005 to 2008 as given in Appendix C of this report. The three-year revitalization plan/strategy was as follows (in brief): Restructuring the Electronics Organization Eliminated the corporate silos and bring more focus on competitive growth. Improving Sonys Profit Structure Cost Reductions Sale of Real Estate, Stock and Non-Core Assets Strengthening Sonys Current Electronics Business Focus on areas of the Electronics business by bringing profitability in television by the second half of 2006. Focusing Resources on Growth Strategy Making the HD World and Major Profit Pillar Launching of a range of high-definition products in 2006. Focusing on Intelligent Interoperable Products Developing network-enabled products and applications Strengthening Technology Development Creation of Home and Mobile Platforms Concentrating Investment on Semiconductors and Key Component Devices Next-Generation Display (OLED) Enhancing Software Development Group Convergence Strategy Pursuit of mobile entertainment Establishment of Cell Development Center Group Strategy by Individual Sector focus on: Games Entertainment Motion Pictures Music Mobile Phones Financial Services Network Services, Retail Retail Business Note: Refer to Appendix C for a detailed Company Strategy. Organizational Structure Corporate Structure of Sony Corporation From the analysis on the organizational structure that Howard Stringer was trying to implement in 2005 we can see that it was clearly a multi-divisional structure. This structure has been further worked on since 2005 and there have been slight changes to the same. Multi-Divisional structure (M-form) The multi-divisional structure is also known as the product structure where the divisional structure groups organizational function into a division. Each division works as an independent section within the company and the divisional structure contains all the necessary resources and functions within it. Each Division will have its own sales, engineering and marketing departments. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2009). The organizational structure in 2005 that Howard Stringer was trying to implement is a hybrid structure which is as follows (Please refer to Appendix A for the assignment of each person in the division): Figure 1 Sony Organizational chart (as of Oct 2005) (Source: Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008) Please refer to Appendix B for the new Organization Structure as of 1st July. From the organizational structure above it can be seen that Howard Stringer was attempting to implement the multi-divisional structure. He had assigned Ryoji Chubachi to handle the main Electronics business and Chubachi had implemented the multinational matrix structure. We will not go into details of the matrix structure but will explain it below in brief. In case of the Multinational Structure of the organization we can see that there were a few business units that were put together in order to increase their responsiveness in the market. There were five committees created across all these business units and business groups. This gave a better integration of knowledge, flexibility and the ability to analyze these units across its procurement, technology, product strategy, sales and productive business outcomes. Strategy and Organizational Structure When Howard Stringer took over the Sony Global Corporation in 2005 he gave strategies for each product in the company. The strategies are stated above in the Introduction section of this report. As per the strategies implemented we can see clearly that he had devised different strategies for each core product that Sony was providing and so he also divided the companys organizational structure the same way. Thus, we see that the company is become more flat and each division is reporting to the Headquarters. As in a multidivisional organization such as Sony, the divisions become flexible as in the sense that they are able to merge, add or close divisions. This is apparent in the fact that Sonys Mobile division merged with Ericsson to produce Sony Ericsson range of mobiles. It can also be seen that Sonys Music Entertainment division had a 50-50 joint venture with Bertelsmann Music Group naming Sonys Music division as Sony BMG Music Entertainment and in August 2008 Sony bought Bertelsmanns 50% shares and Sony renamed its Music division as Sony Music Entertainment. Ergo, it is apparent that because of Sonys multidivisional structure each division is able to work as its own company which is flexible enough to have joint-venture projects as in the case of Sony Ericsson and the company is also able to make the decision of buying over another company such as the Bertelsmann Music group. When Howard Stringer took over Sony he also closed down a chain of restaurants and other non-core business companies that Sony owned. With a multidivisional structure in place Sir Howard Stringer was able to control and oversee each division from a distance by monitoring the business performance of each division. If we look at the advantages of a multi-divisional structure we can see that because the structure is divided by product lines it allows each division to grow and specialize on their competences. We can see that each division has actually become its own company like the Sony Electronics Inc., the Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. As we will see in the redundancy test later in this report we can see that each of the companies that are based in each country have their own head offices. This means that there are many parent levels in this organization which means that many of the supporting departments such as HR and IT will be redundant but due to the large organization structure of the company Sony needs these headquarters to be set-up. Although the knowledge sharing and cooperation between the business units become very limited but Howard Stringer has tried overcoming this by placing five strategic committees across the business units which are the product, technology, production, procurement and sales. Thus standardizations and centralization has helped to reduce effort and poor coordination. Also, with Howard traveling around Sonys operations at a rate of 30,000 air miles a month (Nakamoto 2006) is building spirits and reflecting in the eyes of the employees all around Sony. Goold and Campbell Tests We will use the Goold and Campbell last 5 tests to determine the appropriateness of Howard Stringers structural choice given his desire to make Sony cool again (Clayton 2005). The Specialist Cultures Test: The Organization Structure: Specialist Culture test Figure 2 The Specialist Culture test In the Specialist Culture test we placed Sony between Good and Very Good as Sony has an Engineer-driven culture (Edwards, Lowry, Ihlwan, Hall 2005). Sony is an engineering culture (Paczkowski 2008) says Howard Stringer and they really take care of their engineers. Engineers have the freedom to think and come up with new designs. When a certain project was untaken engineers from all the different departments met in one place to finish that task. This shows that there is no organizational contamination of the specialist engineer culture test. The Difficult Links Test The Organization Structure: Difficult Links Test Figure 3 The Difficult Links Test Shared know-how Links Sony holds Knowledge-sharing sessions and several other activities company wide. They host forums to enable interactive discussion about the company news and they engage their employees in company developments and in-the-Know at all times as claimed by them on their website. Sony also provides all documents, policies, lessoned learned and all other types of documents on their intranet sites. Shared Tangible Resources Links Though with a multidivisional organization with so many parent companies the amount of duplication of work increases but after Sir Howard Stringer came into Sony he divided all core businesses by products into separate units that would report to the Corporate office and setup a corporate RD unit to reduce the duplications and also brought in standardized engineered products to help the reduction of cost. Pooled Negotiating Power Links Sonys Mobile division merged with Ericsson to produce Sony Ericsson range of mobiles. Ericsson had the latest mobile technology and Sony had the vast experience in consumer electronics and entertainment like music, pictures and games. Bringing them both together in a 50-50 joint venture gave Sony power in the market. This would help both the companies generate economies of scale. It can also be seen that Sonys Music Entertainment division had a 50-50 joint venture with Bertelsmann Music Group naming Sonys Music division as Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Financial analysts covering the merger anticipated that up to 2,000 jobs would be cut as a result, saving Sony BMG approximately $350 million annually (Wikipedia, 2009) Coordinated Strategies Links After Sir Howard took over he put together the Electronics Unit which consisted of: The Semiconductor Business unit Core component Business Unit BP Business Group Audio Business Group Digital Imaging Business group VAIO Business Group Video Business Group TV Business Group Connect Company He strategically placed all these units and groups together in order to establish Sony as a leading player. They wanted to develop a semiconductor and core components group thus they put these two relevant new business units under the Electronics Unit. With this new engineering structure Sony wanted to increase their internally sourced components, centralize their engineering functions and reduce their cost by consolidating and cutting down their manufacturing sites. Vertical Integration Links By coordinating the flow of its internally sources components and by standardizing designs through out the company Sir Howard has managed to reduce cost and enhance product development. New-Business Creation Links Vertical integration is very obvious in the Sony business as they try to enter the digital world they are buying companies and doing joint ventures to meet the specific needs of their customers and that is to bring the mobile, music, gaming and video entertainment together. Sony is in a good position to do a backward or forward integration in case it decides to do so. The structure is flexible enough to accommodate that. The links are best handled through self-managed networking among units n top management should leave this up to the unit rather than impose to-down coordination process. The Redundant Hierarchy Test: The Organization Structure: The Redundant Hierarchy Test Figure 4 The redundant Hierarchy Test The reason we have placed them between satisfactory and good is because although the company had many parent levels in the organization they were able to reduce the redundancy through standardizing they internal sourced components. Sony also standardized its designs across the different units and in its core business which was the Electronics Business they had five committees across each group which were the product, technology, production, procurement and sales. This centralization has helped to reduce effort and poor coordination. Also, with Howard traveling around Sonys operations at a rate of 30,000 air miles a month (Nakamoto 2006) he tends to increase the communication gap between the different groups and companies at Sony. The Accountability Test The Organization Structure: The Accountability Test Figure 5 The Accountability Test The reason we have placed them between good and very good is because in the multidivisional structure the overall structure of the company is flat. Thus, most of the units are directly reporting to the corporate office. This increases the responsibility and accountability of each unit heads. The Flexibility Test The Organization Structure: The Flexibility Test Figure 6 The Flexibility Test The reason we have placed them between good in the case of its flexibility is because Sonys structure after Sir Howard Stringer had made it flexible for the company like the Sony Mobile business unit to merge with Ericsson Sonys Music Entertainment division had a 50-50 joint venture with Bertelsmann Music Group. Sony also sold many of its non-core assets like the restaurant chains etc after its restructuring since it made it easy by moving these non-core business units out of the way to concentrate on the core business. The Risk and Benefits of the Multidivisional Structure As we found out through our analysis that Sony Corporation has a multidivisional structure and Goold and Campbells five tests of good general design principles helps us to see what risks and benefits that Sony Corporation faced when Howard Stringer took over. The Benefits   In Electronics group Sony placed centralized decision-making power over key areas under the Electronics CEO. This change assures coordination and focus across newly defined business groups. Exact horizontal coordination in main areas- product planning, technology, procurement, manufacturing, and sales and marketing-will allow fast and streamlined decision making across product lines. Concentration on particular business area (Games, Entertainment, Electronics, Mobile phones) Flexible (Sony Corporation can focus its resources on different business groups, which depends on market situation, add, close or merge divisions ) Specialization of competence (We can see that each division has actually become its own company like the Sony Electronics Inc., the Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.) Ability to give clear direction and make a working environment that draws out the unique talents of employees and helps them to reach their full potential Encourages general management development Ownership of strategy (As per the strategies implemented we can see clearly that he had devised different strategies for each core product that Sony was providing and so he also divided the companys organizational structure the same way) Investment in core businesses Sony divisions enable to work in tandem for their mutual advantage (to develop new-age products). The Risks Conflicts between divisions Additional cost of the center Difficulty of co-operation between business groups (due to the large organization structure of the company the knowledge sharing and cooperation between the business units become very limited but Howard Stringer has tried overcoming this by placing five strategic committees across the business units) Divisions might grow too large (as we said before each division has actually become its own company like the Sony Electronics Inc. or the Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and there is a risk of them grow too large) Power is centralized As CEO Sir Howard Stringer recalled in a 2005 New Yorker article, the engineers started to suffer from a damaging not invented here syndrome, even as rivals were introducing next-generation products such as the iPod and Xbox. As a result of their belief that outside ideas were not as good as inside ones, they missed opportunities in such areas as MP3 players and flat-screen TVs and developed unwanted products-cameras that werent compatible with the most popular forms of memory, for instance. Looking at the above risks and benefits we can see that though there were a lot of risks in the structure Sir Howard needed to make a decision and he made this decision with the help of allies in the company and he also took help from persons who were made in-charge of changing the IBM structure many years back. They were successful in doing so and since Sir Howard was declared President of Sony Global we can say that he is still in there and is still fighting and restructuring to put Sony back on to globe again. Sony is today coming up with new customer focused products rather than products that are innovative but it is not what the customer wants. The Cultural Web Before Howard Stringer Organizational culture sometimes influences the organizations strategy if taken for granted. Culture has played a role in Sonys current financial difficulties. They had power blocks which hindered the flow of communication and corporation between the management, designers, production and marketing. The Cultural Web, developed by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes in 1992, provides one such approach for looking at and changing your organizations culture. Using it, you can expose cultural assumptions and practices, and set to work aligning organizational elements with one another, and with your strategy. The Cultural Web identifies six interrelated elements that help to make up what Johnson and Scholes call the paradigm the pattern or model of the work environment. By analyzing the factors in each, you can begin to see the bigger picture of your culture: what is working, what isnt working, and what needs to be changed. The six elements are: Power Structures: Sony had a culture, were long serving executives have very strong influence on the organization. At their annual general meetings all these executives take up the front seats whiles the lower ranks are relegated to the back. Many of the working seniors did not even discuss their share values and did not have the involvement in the business. Control Systems: Sony emphasized on budget plans and emergency fixes as their main control systems. Quality was not really emphasized, they believed in getting the work done with the least amount of cost. Lower level staffs were not awarded for their achievements or bonuses given at the end of the year. All these were aimed at controlling cost. Organizational Structure: They had the functional/Transnational type of organization where the CEO sits at the top and all functional heads report to him. They believe in top management taking all the decisions without the involvement of the junior level engineers. These caused lack of communication and co-operation between the various units and more of delegation to get the problem solved. Stories: Sony had gone through continuous restructuring for the past 9 years to improve their financial positions. Sony was not customer focused. They did not invest in non-core businesses and lacked new-age products even though they had very good and talented engineers. Although Sony believed in harmony of the people and the company but with all this restructuring the morale of the employees was down and this was evident when there was a comment that there is sparkle in the eyes of the employees after Howard Stringer took over. Rituals Routines: As per the Japanese culture of respect Sony had a ritual that it never fired its high rank executives even after retiring. The senior managers were made Advisor (Gunther, 2006) and each of them had their own secretary, a car and driver and they also had the authority to second-question people who were actually working at Sony. At Sony the ritual was that if an engineer came to know about a fault in the product they would let the seniors know they would just fix the problem and just do it. Thus seniors were not involved in the business Symbols: There was a symbol of seniority when the company never really retired its senior managers and also in the fact that during annual meetings the seniors would be given the preferred and best seats in the hall while the others were given uncomfortable seats to symbolize the importance that Sony gave to its senior managers. To create the harmony they want and give employees a range of different health and wellness programs. Some of those (as taken from the Sony Site) are as below: They provided On-site fitness centers On-site flu shots On-site cafeterias Wellness fairs 100% medical and dental plans Health risk assessments Gym discounts Stop Smoking programs Nutrition information Ritual Routines Respect for senior managers Work in Harmony giving employees the best working environment. Seniors never got fired. Engineers got the freedom to do what they wanted to. Engineers did not inform senior managers of faults they just fixed it. Stories Continuous restructuring Morale was down Believed in the harmony of the environment and the peoples freedom of working in that environment Symbols Senior management given big pays No one really gets retired Health related programs and discounts available. Complete Medical covered. The Paradigm Respect for Seniors Emphasis on Harmony through-out the company Health and wellness programs, discounts and medical coverage Engineer-driven Culture New innovative products Power Structure A lot of power was given to seniors in the company who were not involved in the day to day work. Less responsibility on the shoulder of the seniors managers as responsibility was not taken Control Systems Budgets Emergency Fixes Organizational Structures Transnational Branches/devolved Delegative leadership style Engineer-driven culture Figure 7- Cultural Web before Howard Stringer became CEO of Sony Global Sony Corporation mainly focused on giving the best environment to its employees especially its engineers who were the minds behind the innovations. A high level of respect was kept between the senior and junior employees in the company. Various Health and wellness programs and benefits were available for employees. Sony was an engineer-driven culture which put what the engineers thought and innovated before what the customers wanted or what the market demanded. The Cultural Web After Howard Stringer Power Structures: Howard was made the new CEO thus giving power of the company to him. He was able to make changes but very smartly Howard made Chubachi his right hand man since he was aware that he was the first non-Japanese CEO of the company. His power can be seen in the fact that Howard is now President of Sony in 2009. Control Systems: There was a more cost control in the company through reduction of employees in many of the sites. Manufacturing companies were consolidated and shut down in many areas. Rewards and bonuses based on group performance (not seniority) after Howard Stringer had taken over. Organizational Structure: With the structural changes that Howard had made to the company Sony had a flatter structure. Management was made to be more involved in each of the business units of the company. There was more responsibility given to senior and middle management. Stories: As per Chubachi, it was said that since Sir Howard had taken over there was a sparkle in the eyes of the employees. The over all morale of the company was better. After Howard came people were still not sure if they knew where they were leading to but they understood the company strategy which was to make the company cool again. People were more excited. Rituals Routines: After Howard came he dissolved the advisory board that consisted of 45 senior mangers who had a say in the company even after they had retired. Main customer who had used Sony products for a long time where now giving their inputs on the Sony products. Engineers were given more appreciations. Success was being celebrated through Award ceremonies, Christmas parties, training programs and knowledge sharing sessions. Symbols: After Howard came he dissolved the advisory board that consisted of 45 senior managers who had a say in the company even after they had retired. Each of them had a secretary, a car and driver and probably many other benefits. The gap between the senior management and the juniors was being reduced. Ritual Routines Good communications Customer involvement Appreciations Giving praise Celebration of success Stories Reduced Gap between the senior managers and juniors. People were more aware of the company strategy. Symbols Senior management who had retired where not taken care of by the company. Promotions based on group performance The Paradigm Respect for Seniors Emphasis on Harmony through-out the company Health and wellness programs, discounts and medical coverage New innovative products Power Structure Engineers given limited power Management given more responsibility along with current power. Restructuring of power in the company Control Systems Budgets Partnership agreements Financial controls Organizational Structures Multi-divisional Units based on market priority and business needs. democratic leadership style Figure 8- Cultural Web after Howard Stringer became CEO of Sony Global From the above cultural web we can see that Sony did not undergo major paradigm changes but did move from a transnational structure to a multi-divisional (Electronic department was a matrix) structure. Sir Howard Stringers Change Management Change management is also known as Change control. It is usually referred to the process by which the change of a system/process/organization is implemented in a controlled manner. If we look at the above Cultural Webs before and after Sir Howard Stringer took over Sony we can see that in order to bring the changes as per the paradigms shown above he had to adopt a Change Management program. Organizational change management processes include techniques for creating a change management strategy which is getting everybody involved in the change process. Engaging senior managers as change leaders, they become the sponsors of the change program. You also need to build awareness of the need for change (communications) getting everybody to understand why the need for change. Developing skills and knowledge to support the change (education and training), helping employees move through the period of change (coaching by managers and supervisors), and methods to sustain the change (measurement systems, rewards and reinforcement). Howard Stringer had instituted all these processes for his change management, but due to the dominance culture