The Hunters Moonsong Chapter Fourteen Free Essays

Matt hunched his shoulders miserably. He had come to the pledge meeting because he didn’t want to stay in his room alone, but now he wished he hadn’t. He’d been avoiding Elena, Meredith, and Bonnie – it wasn’t their fault, but so much violence had happened around al four of them in the past year, so much death. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Fourteen or any similar topic only for you Order Now He’d thought it might be better being around other people, people who hadn’t seen how much darkness there was in the world, but it wasn’t. He felt almost like he was swathed in bubble wrap, thick and cloudy. As the other pledges moved and talked, he could watch them and hear them, but he felt separated from them; everything seemed muffled and dim. He felt fragile, too, as if removing the protective layer might make him fal apart. As he stood in the crowd of pledges, Chloe came over and stood next to him, touching his arm reassuringly with her smal , strong hand. A gap appeared in the bubble wrap, and he could real y feel her with him. He put his hand over hers and squeezed it grateful y. The pledge meeting was in the wood-paneled underground room where they’d first met. Ethan assured them this was just one of many secret hideouts – the others were only open to ful y initiated members. Matt had discovered by now that even this pledge room had several entrances: one through an old house just outside campus, which must have been the one they brought them through that first time, one through a shed near the playing fields, and one through the basement of the library. The ground beneath the campus must be honeycombed with tunnels for so many entrances to end up in one place, he thought, and he had an unsettling picture of students walking on the sun-warmed grass while, a few inches below, endless dark tunnels opened underneath them. Ethan was talking, and Matt knew that usual y he would have been hanging on his every word. Today, Ethan’s voice washed over Matt almost unheard, and Matt let his eyes fol ow the black-clad, masked figures of the Vitale members who paced the room behind Ethan. Dul y, he wondered about them, about how the masks disguised them Wellenough that he was never sure if he recognized any of them around campus. Any of them except Ethan, that is. Matt wondered curiously what made the leader immune to such restrictions. Like the tunnels beneath the campus, the anonymity of the Vitales was slightly unsettling. Eventual y, the meeting ended, and the pledges started to trickle out of the room. A few patted Matt on the back or murmured sympathetic words to him, and he warmed as he realized that they cared, that somehow they’d come to feel like friends through al the sil y pledge bonding activities. â€Å"Hold up a minute, Matt?† Ethan was next to him suddenly. At Ethan’s glance, Chloe squeezed Matt’s arm again and let go. â€Å"I’l see you later,† she murmured. Matt watched as she crossed the room and went out the door, her hair bouncing against the back of her neck. When he looked back at Ethan, Ethan’s head was cocked to one side, his golden-brown eyes considering. â€Å"It’s good to see you and Chloe getting so close,† Ethan declared, and Matt shrugged awkwardly. â€Å"Yeah, Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said. â€Å"You’l find that the other Vitales are the ones who can understand you best,† Ethan said. â€Å"They’l be the ones who wil stand by you al through col ege, and for the rest of your life.† He smiled. â€Å"At least, that’s what’s happened to me. I’ve been watching you, Matt,† he went on. Matt tensed. Something about Ethan cut through the bubble-wrap feeling, but not in the comforting way Chloe did. Now Matt felt exposed instead of protected. The sharpness of his gaze, maybe, or the way Ethan always seemed to believe so strongly in whatever he was saying. â€Å"Yeah?† Matt said warily. Ethan grinned. â€Å"Don’t look so paranoid. It’s a good thing. Every Vitale pledge is special, that’s why they’re chosen, but every year there’s one who’s even more special, who’s a leader among leaders. I can see that, in this group, it’s you, Matt.† Matt cleared his throat. â€Å"Real y?† he said, flattered, not knowing quite what to say. No one had ever cal ed him a leader before. â€Å"I’ve got big plans for the Vitale Society this year,† Ethan said, his eyes shining. â€Å"We’re going to go down in history. We’re going to be more powerful than we’ve ever been. Our futures are bright.† Matt gave a half smile and nodded. When Ethan talked, his voice warm and persuasive, those golden eyes steady on Matt’s, Matt could see it, too. The Vitales leading not just the campus but, someday, the world. Matt himself would be transformed from the ordinary guy he knew he had always been into someone confident and clear-eyed, a leader among leaders, like Ethan said. He could picture it al . â€Å"I want you to be my right-hand man here, Matt,† Ethan said. â€Å"You can help me lead these pledges into greatness.† Matt nodded again and, Ethan’s eyes on his, felt a flush of pride, the first good thing he’d felt since Chris’s death. He would lead the Vitales, standing by Ethan’s side. Everything would be better. The path was clear ahead. Indeed, Keynes posited that economic activity was determined by aggregate demand. For the fifteenth time in half an hour, Stefan read the sentence without beginning to comprehend it. It al just seemed so pointless. He’d tried to distract himself by investigating the murder on campus, but it had only made him more anxious that he couldn’t be by Elena’s side, seeing to it himself that she was safe. He closed the book and dropped his head into his hands. Without Elena, what was he doing here? He would have fol owed her anywhere. She was so beautiful it hurt him to look at her sometimes, like it hurt to stare into the sun. She shone like that sun with her golden hair and lapis lazuli eyes, her delicate creamy skin that held just the faintest touch of pink. But there was more to Elena than beauty. Her beauty alone wouldn’t have held Stefan’s attention for long. In fact, her resemblance to Katherine had nearly driven him away. But under her cool y beautiful exterior was a quicksilver mind that was always working, making plans, and a heart that was fiercely protective of everyone she loved. Stefan had spent centuries searching for something to make him feel alive again, and he’d never felt as certain of anything as he did about Elena. She was it, the only one for him. Why couldn’t she be as sure of him? No matter what Elena said about Stefan being the one, the fact remained: the only two girls he’d loved in his long, long life both loved not just Stefan but his brother, too. Stefan closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers, then shoved himself away from the desk. Maybe he was hungry. In a few quick strides, he crossed his white-painted room, through the mix of his own elegant possessions and the cheap school-issued furniture, and was out on the balcony. Outside, the night smel ed of jasmine and car exhaust. Stefan reached tendrils of Power gently into the night, questing, feeling for †¦ something †¦ there. A tiny mind quickened in response to his. His hearing, sharper than a human’s, picked up the faint whine of sonar, and a smal , furry bat landed on the balcony railing, drawn in by his Power. Stefan picked it up, keeping up a gentle thrum of Power between his mind and the bat’s, and it gazed at him tamely, its little fox face alert. Stefan lowered his head and drank, careful not to take too much from the little creature. He grimaced at the taste and then released the bat, which flapped tentatively, a little dazed, then picked up speed and was lost again in the night. He hadn’t been terribly hungry, but the blood cleared his mind. Elena was so young. He had to remember that. She was stil younger than he’d been when he became a vampire, and she needed time to experience life, for her path to lead her back to Stefan. He could wait. He had al the time in the world. But he missed her so much. Gathering his strength, he leaped from the balcony and landed lightly on the ground below. There was a flower bed there, and he reached into it, feeling petals as soft as silk. A daisy, fresh and innocent. He plucked it and went back inside the dorm, using the front entrance this time. Outside Elena’s door, he hesitated. He could hear the slight sounds of her moving around in there, smel her distinctive, intoxicating scent. She was alone, and he was tempted to just knock. Maybe she was longing for him, just as he longed for her. If they were alone, would she melt into his arms despite herself? Stefan shook his head, his mouth tight. He had to respect Elena’s wishes. If she needed time apart, he could give her that. Looking at the white daisy, he slowly balanced it on top of Elena’s doorknob. She would find the flower and know that it was from him. Stefan wanted Elena to know that he could wait for her, if that was what she needed, but that he was thinking of her, always. How to cite The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Fourteen, Essay examples

Arab Tech Constructions

Question: Write a report onon the Arab Tech Constructions L.L.C in the United Arab Emirates. Answer: Introduction The present report focuses on the Arab Tech Constructions L.L.C in the United Arab Emirates. It is one of the major constructions companies, which is very much committed on building ever-lasting impressions on its customers. It aims to expand by using its resource capabilities and its degree of expertise in construction of high-rise residential buildings, industrial constructions projects, airport development, entertain complex and commercial communities (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). The current report emphasis on the residential construction Plot based on the Najmat Abu Dhabi on Reem Island where a residential high rise is being constructed. The report further explains the viability of cost of investing in residential construction project along with the analysis of other financial tools such as Internal Rate of Return, Net Present Value, Profitability Index, Operating Cash Flows, Projected Income and Expenses and the Payback Period of the investment made. Descriptions of Project: Reem Island project is a 24 storey high-rise residential plot with stylish building designs aiming to provide a luxurious living experience to its dwellers. The project spreads across 66,000 square meters (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). The yet to be constructed residential high-rise is beautifully situated adjacent to Marina Bay waterfront. The towers of the project comprises of three-basement floor along with two podium levels in order to accomplish a height of over 100 meters (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). The residential plot will consist of more than 200 spacious apartments with a mix of one, two and three bedroom, kitchen and dining room (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). Financial Analysis of Arab Tech Constructions L.L.C According to the reports obtained after conducting the financial analysis of the projects undertaken the initial amount of investment was $3,000,000. A cash flow analysis is conducted to analysis the viability of the project for the long run. The anticipated amount of sales revenue that will be generated from this project will be approximately $2,000,000. The sales revenue has been forecasted on the parameters of 10 financial years. In the subsequent financial year the sales revenue is projected at $2,200,000 and the trend is on the upward rising parameters. The sum total of the discounted cash flow statement stood at $12,827,217. In the final year of revenue projections it can be noticed that the projected sales revenue is forecasted around $4,715,895. In addition to this, the payback period is estimated on the parameters of 10 years (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). The annual cash flow for the initial year is projected around $1,301,136. The payback period for the current construction proje ct undertaken by the Arab Tech L.L.C is 1.24 which means that the amount of investment made can be recovered in the subsequent year of investment. Profitability index for the current project shows 4.275 which highlights that Arab Tech Construction is approximately yielding 42% of profit on the completion of construction. It is estimated that on the completion of this project the sum of investment made can be recovered within three financial years (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). The project is assumed to yield growth at a rate of 10% annually with the required rate of return being estimated at 10%. The PV factor for the first year is projected to be around 0.91 and in the subsequent year it is projected around 0.83 (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). After conducting the cost benefit analysis the internal rate of return is estimated around 15%. On the other hand, the net present value shows a sum of $1,692,286. Projected Revenues and Expenses: The operational cost in the project implementation phase consists of the salaries and wages of the workforce which includes a sum of $725,000. The cost of plant and equipments employed in this project consists of $625,000. The gross total cost of operations includes $1,926,000 (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). On the other hand, the revenues generated from this project during the constructions were 405,000 which included the amount generated from revenue receipts along with the federal cost of investment. The final cost of operations derived after the deducting the revenues obtained are $1,521,000 (Arabtecuae.com, 2016). Discussion and recommendations: The report gives a detailed overview of the companys constructions affairs. It is to be noted that all the available data and financial information is presented in a comprehensive and accessible format. The report consists of the estimations of cost of investment in the residential construction along with the annual forecast of the net cash inflows. The report also describes the profitability index in order to facilitate direct competitive benefit between the Arab Tech Holdings and its numerous competitors. Therefore, this report provides a clear and precise understanding of Arab Tech Constructions L.L.C position in the Engineering and construction service industry. The report contains the in depth information of the internal affairs of the business environment of Arab Tech Constructions L.L.C regarding the data of the owners, senior executives, locations, subsidiaries and the constructions details of plot at marina bay. Another part of the report describes the microenvironment facto rs that are used to carry out in order to identify the several business elements, which is favourable and unfavourable in terms of accomplishing its objectives. In addition to this, the report identifies and outlines the main financial and investment aspects pertaining to the cash flow after tax, profitability, margin analysis and companies initial cost of investment. Note discussing about the profitability index of this report is that the construction project at marina bay involves a profit margin of 42%, which represents that the project is profitable in the end and hence, the initial cost of investment will be recovered during the span of 10 years with Net Present Value of $9,827,217. Recommendations: It is evident that the prices of constructions materials and components are higher in the region of Marina Bay. It is advised that Arab Tech L.L.C employ strategic investments in order to make optimum utilisation of the available resources. It is recommended that the new workers mus t be provided with the tools in order to encounter the areas of safety since the construction project involves construction of high rise. Enabling the use of scaffolding and crane can reduce the hazard on work for Arab Tech Constructions L.L.C. Arab Tech L.L.C must employ supervisor and site managers to conduct a detailed review of the constructions site by paying more focus on the possible hazardous sides. It is recommended for Arab Tech L.L.C that it must employ vigorous marketing and sales promotion strategies to combat its current set of competitors. Arab Tech L.L.C is one of the reputed brands in U.A.E under the banner of construction, so it is recommended that it can take into the considerations of building designs for older aged populations. Such recommendations can attract those sets of customers by considerably not jeopardising its current set of young customers. Environmental Analysis: Microenvironment analysis:Construction companies like Arab Tech L.L.C learns a lot from the combinations of internal elements of the organisation with the external elements of the market, which illustrates a stark picture of the organisation to where it belongs during any moment of time (Sevkli et al., 2012). Arab Tech L.L.C found the microenvironment elements especially critical, as the necessity to anticipate the effects of evolving economic conditions and existence of new competitors to sponsor expensive projects. Below listed is the detailed analysis on the microenvironment factors of Arab Tech L.L.C. Reference list: Arabtecuae.com,. (2016). Arabtec Construction L.L.C. Arabtecuae.com. Retrieved 20 July 2016, from https://www.arabtecuae.com/Barry, P. J., Robison, L. J. (2014). Technical note: economic rates of return and investment analysis. The Engineering Economist, 59(3), 231-236.Barth, M. E. (2013). Measurement in financial reporting: The need for concepts. Accounting Horizons, 28(2), 331-352.Bierman Jr, H., Smidt, S. (2012). The capital budgeting decision: economic analysis of investment projects. Routledge.Disney, S. M., Warburton, R. D., Zhong, Q. C. (2013). Net present value analysis of the economic production quantity. IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, 24(4), 423-435.Dumont, G., Schmit, M. (2014). Tier-1 MFIs' Financial Performance: Cash-Flow Statement Analysis Version 2.0.Elsas, R., Flannery, M. J., Garfinkel, J. A. (2014). Financing major investments: information about capital structure decisions. Review of Finance, 18(4), 1341-1386.Farshadfar, S., Monem, R. (2013). Further e vidence on the usefulness of direct method cash flow components for forecasting future cash flows. The international journal of accounting, 48(1), 111-133.Ferwerda, J. (2014). Cost-benefit analysis. Chapters.Guerra, M. L., Magni, C. A., Stefanini, L. (2014). Interval and fuzzy Average Internal Rate of Return for investment appraisal. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 257, 217-241.Hastings, N. A. J. (2015). CostBenefit Analysis. In Physical Asset Management (pp. 239-248). Springer International Publishing.Johnson, C. H. (2013). Measure Tax Expenditures by Internal Rate of Return. Tax Notes, SPECIAL REPORT, April, 15.Kaplan, R. S., Atkinson, A. A. (2015). Advanced management accounting. PHI Learning.Lewellen, J., Lewellen, K. (2014). Investment and cash flow: New evidence. Tuck School of Business Working Paper, (2010-77).Marglin, S. A. (2014). Public Investment Criteria (Routledge Revivals): Benefit-Cost Analysis for Planned Economic Growth. Routledge.Mishan, E. J. (2015). Elements of Cost-B enefit Analysis (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.Penman, S. H., Penman, S. H. (2016). Financial statement analysis and security valuation (p. 476). New York: McGraw-Hill.Percoco, M., Borgonovo, E. (2012). A note on the sensitivity analysis of the internal rate of return. International Journal of Production Economics,135(1), 526-529.Sayadi, A. R., Tavassoli, S. M. M., Monjezi, M., Rezaei, M. (2014). Application of neural networks to predict net present value in construction projects.Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 7(3), 1067-1072.Sevkli, M., Oztekin, A., Uysal, O., Torlak, G., Turkyilmaz, A., Delen, D. (2012). Development of a fuzzy ANP based SWOT analysis for the construction industry Expert Systems with Applications, 39(1), 14-24.Torritia, J., Ikpeb, E. (2014). CostBenefit Analysis.

Business Evaluation Essays - Allstate, Factoring, Insurance

Business Evaluation Business evaluation The subject that I interviewed was Mike Anderson from Allstate Insurance. Mike is an agent who owns his own office and has his own employees but at the same time is also an employee himself for the Allstate Corporation. The nature of Allstate is the sales of different lines of insurance policies. Mike's office is very service oriented although they are in the sales business. He classifies his office as a retail business with the explanation that he is selling something that is not provided directly by him, rather by the company, and because what he is selling is being bought. Allstate is a company that has many people that work for it. Each of these employees is a separate agent that works as a mediator between the customer buying the product and the company selling the product. Thus, Mike's own business inside another business positions itself, as well as Mike, as an agency. Since Mike is ultimately a salesperson, what he does most frequently during the day is to interact with people and sell them a policy or assist them with one he already provides them with. Even though this is what he does most often, he finds human relations to be the most difficult thing to do. Working with people isn't the easiest thing to do and he informed me that in the insurance business the calming people down and making sure you do your best to try to satisfy the customer can sometimes become quite exhausting. What made this the most difficult for him was frequently having to this for customers who were upset with something that happened and trying to remain calm and pleasant after dealing with someone who refuses to be satisfied. He uses trend exploration to determine his forecast. Since he is the sales person of his business he does his own forecasting. Trend exploration involves extending a pattern observed in past data into the future. He simply looks at the past sales of a few months or a year to try to come up with a projection for the next few months or year. This is a simple way of forecasting because trend exploration assumes that sales will remain the same, however, this may not always be the case. Allstate is probably known best as the good hands people. This is their main advertising campaign. It commonly uses the sales pitch, your in good hands with Allstate. Beyond having a photo and name in the yellow pages, Mike himself doesn't have a particular advertising campaign for his individual office. He does, however, supply his customers with his personalized pens, magnets, calendars, and business cards. Mike doesn't supply any promotional things for his office; the company does it for him. They manufacture and send him any special promotional advertisements that he can place or hang in his office. The company informs him of what areas that the agents need to focus on selling but that doesn't necessarily mean that there is a promotional campaign that will go along with it. Prices for each policy are determined to specifically fit the individual who is buying the policy. Things such as the number of years a person has had his license, how many points are on ones record, and the type of vehicle being driven, along with other certain factors, help to determine the price of an auto policy. Certain features such as smoke detectors and an alarm system, again along with many other factors, contribute to a final cost of a home policy; and a person's age, health, and length of the policy will all affect the price of a life insurance policy. In addition to the individual factors that help the agent find the premium that needs to be paid, the company also figures in how many losses, of money, there were due to claims, the salaries and benefits paid to the employees, and the cost of advertising and promotions. All of those factors contribute to the final cost that the customer has to pay. The way the competition is analyzed is actually quite simple. Mike himself uses comparative rating. He merely notes the premium of his competitors compared to his own so he

Free Essays on Moon

The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth: orbit: 384,400 km from Earth diameter: 3476 km mass: 7.35e22 kg Called Luna by the Romans, Selene and Artemis by the Greeks, and many other names in other mythologies. The Moon, of course, has been known since prehistoric times. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. As the Moon orbits around the Earth once per month, the angle between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes; we see this as the cycle of the Moon's phases. The time between successive new moons is 29.5 days (709 hours), slightly different from the Moon's orbital period (measured against the stars) since the Earth moves a significant distance in its orbit around the Sun in that time. Due to its size and composition, the Moon is sometimes classified as a terrestrial "planet" along with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The Moon was first visited by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 in 1959. It is the only extraterrestrial body to have been visited by h! umans. The first landing was on July 20, 1969 (do you remember where you were?); the last was in December 1972. The Moon is also the only body from which samples have been returned to Earth. In the summer of 1994, the Moon was very extensively mapped by the little spacecraft Clementine and again in 1999 by Lunar Prospector. The gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon cause some interesting effects. The most obvious is the tides. The Moon's gravitational attraction is stronger on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon and weaker on the opposite side. Since the Earth, and particularly the oceans, is not perfectly rigid it is stretched out along the line toward the Moon. From our perspective on the Earth's surface we see two small bulges, one in the direction of the Moon and one directly opposite. The effect is much stronger in the ocean water than in the solid crust so the water bulges are higher. And because the Earth rotates much faster than the M... Free Essays on Moon Free Essays on Moon The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth: orbit: 384,400 km from Earth diameter: 3476 km mass: 7.35e22 kg Called Luna by the Romans, Selene and Artemis by the Greeks, and many other names in other mythologies. The Moon, of course, has been known since prehistoric times. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. As the Moon orbits around the Earth once per month, the angle between the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes; we see this as the cycle of the Moon's phases. The time between successive new moons is 29.5 days (709 hours), slightly different from the Moon's orbital period (measured against the stars) since the Earth moves a significant distance in its orbit around the Sun in that time. Due to its size and composition, the Moon is sometimes classified as a terrestrial "planet" along with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The Moon was first visited by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 in 1959. It is the only extraterrestrial body to have been visited by h! umans. The first landing was on July 20, 1969 (do you remember where you were?); the last was in December 1972. The Moon is also the only body from which samples have been returned to Earth. In the summer of 1994, the Moon was very extensively mapped by the little spacecraft Clementine and again in 1999 by Lunar Prospector. The gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon cause some interesting effects. The most obvious is the tides. The Moon's gravitational attraction is stronger on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon and weaker on the opposite side. Since the Earth, and particularly the oceans, is not perfectly rigid it is stretched out along the line toward the Moon. From our perspective on the Earth's surface we see two small bulges, one in the direction of the Moon and one directly opposite. The effect is much stronger in the ocean water than in the solid crust so the water bulges are higher. And because the Earth rotates much faster than the M...

The Changing Geography of International Business Essay - 1

The Changing Geography of International Business - Essay Example The word ‘Latin America’ is used to explain the collection of 21 countries in the continent of South America. The language that is spoken is Latin. It has been observed that Latin America enjoys components of historical experience, culture and language. Latin America is an ethnically diverse region and is also deemed as a mounting political and economic force. The main languages that are spoken in this continent are Spanish, Portuguese and French. Conventionally, the Hispanic family is a cohesive group and the most vital social unit. They generally believe in extended family. It has been observed that in Latin cultures, the familial group is quite crucial. In a few of the Latin American countries, peasants might leave their workplaces during holidays so that they can meet their relatives in other parts of the country. They also tend to attend the funeral, weddings of their friends, or distant relatives. A manager may be faced with greater difficulties related to non-atte ndance impacting the workplace to a major extent. According to a study conducted by Geert Hofstede for Latin American countries, it was noted that there is high power distance in Latin America. In Latin America, the people in higher level of authority expect to gain respect from others and are familiar to make decisions without taking into consideration the viewpoints of their subordinates. Latin America has low individualism rate. In Latin America gender roles become quite different in comparison to the United States, men hold the greater authority.

The Elimination of Poverty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Elimination of Poverty - Research Paper Example Counterfactuals allow us to enter a universe of possibility: one where we cannot be in the normal state of affairs but only in a kind of imaginary state of examination. Having said this, it should be clear that counterfactual analysis has little to do with reality or practical application. The conclusions reached here about what if can say nothing to inform public policy that deals with the here and now. In fact, precisely because the antecedent in this case cannot be true (as was said previously), it might be the case that these considerations cannot have any practical use beyond the useful practice of logical conjecture. What if poverty were eliminated? Such a question presupposes that we know what poverty is, beyond the concepts that we use in day-to-day life. However, what we find with these common concepts is that they are often faulty and not representative of the actual state of affairs. For instance, while we might think of justice as fairness, this might mean that justice is the property of abiding by rules. The rules themselves could in fact be unjust themselves. The concept of poverty, like justice, bears hidden connotations that must be sheared off before continuing. There are actually two components of the concept of poverty, one of which has to do with economics and the other which has to do with personal properties. These two facets of poverty readily interact with one another and often reinforce one another. The elimination of one kind of poverty, contrary to popular belief, will not lead automatically or ensure the elimination of the other, which perpetuates the problem and has the po tential to move us into committing evil acts. The first facet of poverty is that of virtue. While the word â€Å"virtue† might sound overly philosophical, it is merely a matter of personal excellence. A virtue is a personality trait that serves as a means to a greater end. For instance, the virtue of a

A Pestel Analysis Of China Market Economics Essay

A Pestel Analysis Of China Market Economics Essay Since 1979, China adopted an export-manufacturing strategy successfully following with Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. The Golden Bridge Co., Ltd is one of the beneficiaries. It was founded in 2007 with flooring as its main products. The product is of high quality by utilizing advanced technology and equipments imported from Germany and Italy. The glue and lacquer materials for production are also imported. In current stage, Golden Bridge has a total capital of 800 million RMB and exported to 35 foreign markets including the U.S., Canada, Japan and Germany. In order to help it to expand the business, our consultancy company attempt to analyze the China business environment and seek a foreign market to relocate the manufacturing of this company with proper entering and competing strategies. This essay first illustrates the business environment of flooring industry in China and German with PESTEL analysis. Then it evaluates the threats in Germany market by following Porters five-force mode l. Later a recommendation would be given on how to properly enter into the targeted country. PESTEL analysis of china market: The PESTEL analysis is used to assess the macro environment and identify the challenges Golden Bridge faced with in china market in order to make an appropriate suggestion. Political: The Chinese political system characterized as one-party communist dictatorship makes a great contribution to national stability, enabling the economy keep dynamic and sustainable. Nevertheless, when the economic system was deregulated from the command economy to market economy since 1978, the power of economic management was increasingly decentralized, raising the issue of uncoordinated development of regional economy. Currently, though the central government has made effort to alleviate the gap among different areas in terms of developing standards, provinces tend to give a priority to local profits rather than considering the integrated advancement of the whole country. Local protectionism exerts detrimental influences upon market expansion of Golden Bridge Company in nationwide and deters the establishment of a comprehensive distribution channel. Economical: China is valued as one of the most vibrant countries in terms of economic development among the world. The reform opening up in 1978 accelerated Chinas GDP growth from 362.4 billion RMB to 30 trillion RMB within a 30-year period. Moreover, in 2010, China has been the second largest economy instead of Japan whilst the value of export accounted for 10% of world. Based on these statistics, judgment can be made that manufactures in China including flooring industry may keep an optimistic attitude to their future prospects in some extent. Nonetheless, Chinese economy may suffer unpredictable circumstance in the future. Labor resource is one double-edge sword. Once being an advantage of China, abundant labor resource and economical labor price make a great contribution to progress of those labor-intensive manufacturing industries. This is also the primary reason that China flooring industry is quite profitable though China is a net importer of timber. However, as cited by AME info (2005) there is a growth in the minimum wage standard, labor may not be regard as a perpetual advantage of China if this trend continues. In Addition, appreciation of CNY since 2005 against USD may imperil the export of Golden Bridge Company (Goldstein, M. and Lardy, N., 2006). Social: It is claimed by Su and Littlefied (2001) that China is an extremely high-context country where people prefer to receive implied messages. For establishing a business in China, strong private-relationships with different stakeholders is the key to success. However, this is extremely time-consuming while the maintenance is also expensive. Potential conflicts in interest may easily erode it. Besides the relationship, corruption is another issue in China. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, China was positioned 72nd among all 179 countries in 2008. However, damages caused by corruption may be far more hazardous than anticipated, particularly to the economic development. Corruption has been treated as a vital barrier for operating in Chinese market due to enormous back-stage expenditures as well as resulted injustice. For Golden Bridge to gain more import quotas and pay less tariff, costs may be made up of not only normal ingredients such as transporting, but also implied expense for smoothing the network. Technological: China wood flooring industry is experiencing a relatively laggard technological standard in its initial stage of development. According to Cheng and Song (2006), the level of timber utilization was 61% in 2004 with a considerable disparity with developed countries (nearly 90%). Additionally, imbalanced technological support aggravates the long-term conflicts between wood supply and demand in Chinese domestic market. In 2004, though the total domestic timber supply is 273.6 million cubic meters and exceeded the total consumption of 241.5 million cubic meters, scarcity of raw material still existed in some parts of timber manufacturing industry. Environment Legal: Chinese government proposed the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) nationwide in 1998 to limit exploitation of natural forest resources. The legislation made the supply of domestic natural timber restricted. Between 1997 and 2003, natural timbers supply decreased from 32.05 million cubic meters to 12.145 million cubic meters (Cheng and Song, 2005), which was extremely insufficient to satisfy demands of the highly prosperous timber industry in China. Timer manufacturing companies in China have to depend on importing. Statistics shows that in 1997 the quantity of imported timber only occupied 23.56% of total wood consumption, while the number soared to 53.78% in 2004. The expenditure of imported timber was $33.96 higher per cubic meter compared with the price in 2007, which increased the material coast of Golden Bridge Company. PESTEL analysis of German market: Since this essay has analyzed the macro environment of the china flooring market, further looking at the political, economic, social and technological factors of the German can help advance and strength the logic of the whole assessment. Political factors: Germany is a home of secure, legal and rewarding investment. The World Economic Forum has rewarded its legal system as the most efficient and this fact has also gained international recognition. Flooring coverings are categorized according to German and EU laws and building products should be subject to the EU construction products directive and the German construction products law. The directive and law are mainly focused on environmental, health-related, material and usability sectors and most people agree that by considering the environmental restrictions, the EU can be the strictest market. Moreover, with the transnational economic environment, it is predicted by experts that the approval criteria for flooring is likely to decrease and there seems to be a limited permission of eco-labels for flooring products. Further, comprehensive incentives  are provided to both home and oversea investors by German government, individual federal states and the EU. Economic factors Germany is the largest economy in Europe and in general German is export-oriented. Since 2003, German has been the largest exporter machinery, vehicles, chemicals and household equipment, with an annual export increase of 8%. However, factors that may prevent Golden Bridge from entering into and developing itself in Germany also exist. They can be excessive dependence on euro currency, tight credit markets and an increasing rate of unemployment. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKELs second term will increase Germanys record budget deficit, which is expected to exceed 5% of GDP in 2010. The EU required Germany to get its consolidated budget deficit below 3% of GDP until 2013. A new constitutional amendment likewise limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016. Technology factors: Germany is claimed to be the leading nation in high-tech development and receives high turnover accordingly. In 2007, the high-tech products exported by Germany accounted to a value of RUR 114 billion, ranked first in Europe and third worldwide. More than 27% turnover of German manufacturing factory is generated from high-tech products, compared to a European average of 19%. Social factors: Social factors also need consideration. Hofstedes analysis of Germany shows the emphasis on individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Power distance and long-term orientation are both ranked considerably lower than the others. Germany believes in equality and equal opportunity, as well as its ability to change and adapt rapidly. Another arising issue is the social awareness of pollution, which leads Germany to use more environmental-friendly materials. Abstract for the use of five-force model: After analyzing the macro-environment of both countries, it is reasonable and necessary to apply Michel Porters five-force model in order to provide a thoroughly understanding of the German flooring market before the Golden Bridge company entering into it. According to this model, the competitiveness of an industry is influenced by such five forces and their collective strength and thus determines the ultimate profit potential of this targeting industry. These five forces covered in the analysis are competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, the threat of substitution and the threat of potential new entry. However, the five-forces framework is not a set of principals per se, instead is a tool for systematically use these principals to assess the current status and likely evolution of an industry. Competitive Rivalry: The internal competitive rivalry in German flooring market seems high. There are three main reasons. First, the switching cost is low because flooring products are homogenous with little product differentiation. Another reason is that the German flooring market is saturated with a relatively low growth rate. The flooring production in 2008 suffered a 15.1% decline while the total consumption slumped for about 12.19% (FEP, 2008). Also the number of competitive companies in German flooring market and the intensity of rivalry also determine the high threats of rivalry. There are a large number of companies competing in the German flooring market and these companies are divided into three categories, they are Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Domestic Leading Manufacturers (DLMs) and Niche Market Brands (NMBs). First of all, SMEs has the largest number in the German flooring market (Roadmap, 2010). These SMEs are often manufacturers provide low-grade flooring with low price. Their marketing strategy is just reverse to Golden Bridges. Thus Golden Bridge is suggested to treat them in an abstemious way. However, there are also a few numbers of large flooring manufacturers who operating on European and/or global base. It is suggested by German Timber (2007) that few DLMs account for the majority of the total market share. These companies usually possess strong competencies, highly recognized reputation and well-established brand image. One main rivalry is the Krono Group, who is one of the world leading producers of high-quality flooring. Founded in 1897, it has accumulated years of experience and extensive knowledge know-how. It delivers products to 80 countries worldwide while has its own production-base in 18 countries. In 2004, its production capability of flooring reached 310 million à £Ã … ½Ã‚ ¡, took up about 1/3 of the world market share with total sales revenue of 24 billion RMB. It also has an annual RD investment of 15billion RMB with over 200 scientists doing research in Krono International Laboratory. In addition, there are Niche Market Brands (NMBs) with several well-known brands like Espirt and Kaindl, holding part of the flooring market (FEP, 2007). These companies merely provide certain kinds of flooring to meet the special needs of a group of customers. Furthermore, in order to gaining competitive strength, the NMBs together with some foreign brands such as Balterio from Belgian and Vito from Austria have formed a conglomerate named Beamy International, a commercial platform allowing them to compete on both domestic and global markets (FEP, 2008). As the competition is fierce in German flooring market, Golden Bridge is suggested to adopt a niche strategy and doing effective promotion after entering the market. To explain, the original German wood flooring manufacturers already gains economy of scales and undeniably enjoy a cost advantage. Advanced distribution channel comparing with those new entrants also allows them first mover advantages. Cost disadvantage and lacking reliable cooperators are main barriers for Golden Bridge to survive in German market. Insufficient in capital determines that an aggressive expansion strategy is also irrational. However, one advantage Golden Bridge occupies is that it has been doing export business within German importers for couple of years and its products did have certain reputation in this highly competitive market. By offering additional value, Golden Bridge can efficiently differentiate itself among the rivals with a brand image of reliability, valuable, and symbol of statuses. This may help obtain sustainable brand loyalty among German customers. Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitution refers to the extent to which different products used in place of a companys products or offered by other industrials. Flooring is not restricted on only wood but other materials such as textile and stone/ceramics are also widely used. For instance, in German market in 2008, textile took the largest raw material market share (i.e. about 37.4%) for making flooring. This is followed by stone/ceramics of 28.6%. Comparably, the laminate only had a market share of 13.9%, ranked in the third place. In terms of switching cost, the result can be distinct regarding to different objects of study. To individual consumers, there is almost no switching cost exists because choose one kind of material instead of another is just a matter of personal taste. However, this can be criticized in depth for the reasons that wood-made flooring has its own characteristics and functions that other materials may not have. To some extent and to specific customer groups, for instance, those who have fixed-decoration style, the switching cost can be relatively high. However, to large wholesalers (e.g. Beamy International) who previously dedicated in wood-made flooring, the switching cost would be extremely high, as they may lose the stable distribution channels with their current wholesalers or retailers, and also the price advantage provided by the long-term cooperative producers. This means the substitution threat is less considerable because their past investment in developing stable distribution channels with retailers and producers offers them an advantage in current market and this may make them unwilling to undertake risks of operating and competing in a new and highly competitive market. Summing up the above, it is the end-user customers that Golden Bridge should pay close attention to. First of all, it is advised that a regular customer survey to be conducted to make a comprehension of customers preferences and what they really appreciate. The company should also emphasize the exclusiveness and unique utilities of their products, making it cost more for the customers to switching to other substitutes. In the meantime, though as mentioned the future trend seems favor wood flooring industry, Golden Bridge should cause enough value that the technology development is always indeterminate. Thus in order to avoid sudden shock of new technologies that brings in comparable substitutes, Golden Bridge should invest continuously in Research and Development to keep pace with the times. Threat of New Entrants: Threat of new entrants is moderate. As put by European Commission (2001), the main barriers to enter German market include certification approval and the quality standards and label, while the incentive to enter German market depends mainly on its impeccable infrastructure system. The extensive unified intensification, which has been mentioned before in PEST Analysis of German, increase the starting investment of new entry, accordingly has negative effect on new entrants to the market. There are totally fourteen member countries of European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP). Under the Single European Market policy, twelve of them have reached an agreement on moving goods, service and capital freely internally, giving companies in these markets strong mobility. To put it simpler, a flooring company located in Germany for example, can either choose to develop domestically or entre into either of the other 11 member countries of EFP, in support of the unified system. Once entering into the consolidated FEP, the new members deserve this privilege with little hindrance, however, the legal entry requirement, especially for flooring companies compliance with environmental protection, is said to be quite strict in European Market, which is especially true in Ge rmany. Thus it can be expected that in order to harmonize to European standards, a large quality of funds will be needed to invest in order to fulfilling the standards ranging from environmental protection to individual healthcare. What is more, the sophisticated infrastructures that Germany possesses nationwide make the market considerably attractive to those adventurous entrepreneurs. As known to all, Germany lays in the center of the Western Europe, with large-scale transportation centers such as International airport in Frankfurt and seaport in Hamburg (ELA, 2010). Centering in a fast and efficient logistic network covering almost all the main markets in Europe, flooring companies in Germany can procure raw materials namely timber on a global scale, and reach the external markets with relatively lower transportation costs. Therefore the threats of new entrants would be moderate in German flooring market. For Golden Bridge, the corporate should create a marketing and brand image and keep customers loyalty, tie up to both suppliers and distributors. More important, it should sign a patent to protect the intellectual property of their high-tech products. Buyer Power: Buyer power, which is determined by the individual customers ability in negotiating purchase prices with suppliers, is at an intermediate level in German market basing on four crucial reasons. Firstly, according to the previous analysis, competition in the wood flooring manufacturing is largely intensified by a large amount of incumbents. Hence, purchasers are more unrestricted in choosing their suppliers with considering competitive advantages of products, and price may be a decisive factor for some customers. However, it is important to note that Wholesalers have more bargaining power than individuals. Being the large-volume buyers, they are not only main customers where companies earn profits from, but also controllers of dominant distribution channels. By stark contrast, individual customers with smaller purchase volume may be positioned less vitally in suppliers minds. Secondly, the buyer power is attenuated by the availability of substitutes of wood flooring in German market. E xcept for this category of flooring, more choices are supplied on the market. Despite competition reinforces customers bargaining power, the phenomena of demand surplus in German wood flooring alleviates this circumstance. According to the research of European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP), the consumption of German wood flooring is about 17.88 million square meters, while the production of German wood flooring is only about 11.04 million square meters (Slides Stats 2008). In additionally, German culture also plays a significant role in lessening customers bargaining power. The spirit of the nation, such prudence and fixation lead to a fairly strict standardization in both work and life. Germans are used to calculating a precise price based on all dimensions. Hence, they dislike dealing with situations out of their planning, enabling bargaining become very difficult. Ten percentage cut in price is the biggest range they will agree in they dealing with foreign buyers. (LeMont Schmidt, 2001). Supplier Power: Supplier Power refers the power of suppliers to drive up the prices of raw materials, supplies, equipment or inputs. Your company purchases the glue, paint and equipment, and employs labors from Germany and imports the wood from Russia. There are some crucial factors performing low supplier power of your company. Firstly, German is not used to bargaining, which is mentioned in Buyer power. Hence, it is meaningless for German suppliers to drive up the price of material and equipment. Negotiating power is weak in Russia as well. Although the nation is one of the largest wood producers, there are a large number of wood suppliers ¼Ã…’which provide a strongly competitive circumstance in Russia. Admittedly wood is a kind of nature product so that customers are sensitive to the price of wood. Because of high standard of transparency, the switching cost is low in Russia. On the other hand, many substitutes with lower expenditures are becoming increasingly prevalent such as marble, carpet, plastic flooring. High standard of substitutes threat can restrict the suppliers to drive up the price and reduce the power of suppliers. However, high labor cost strengthens the supplier power. The German labor cost is one of the highest in world. According to Common Protocol of Salary, Labor wage need be determined by the negotiation between wood flooring industry and backwards industry (Fact about Germany, 1996). Therefore, the security of labor force is quite completed. Unions are powerful to argue with unfair wage or welfare. For example, Michael Sommer, the head of the trade union federation(DGB) , claimed that is necessary to increase labors wage with the upturn of economy in 2010( Guardian ¼Ã…’2010). Supplier power and buyer power, which exert a moderate threat on Golden Bridges development in German, can be alleviated through several ways. From one aspect, to limit bargaining power of large-volume wholesalers, the company should give priority to building up a distribution network itself by developing new franchisers rather than depending on the primary channels of wholesalers. In terms of individual customers as well as challenges from substitutes, enhancing the products benefits would be the most efficient way to reduce their bargaining desire as most of affluent people value quality more important than price. From the other aspects, labor relationship, the most considerable barrier in lessening German supplier power, should be harmonized through affording sufficient welfare to employees, as well as building a relative democratic organizational culture by the company. Moreover, it is supposed that importing a few skilled workers from China would benefit the company not only by more economical labor cost, but also reducing the significant dependence on the German labor market. Limitation of the 5-forces: Porters five-force model is not perfect but based on the assumption that from the view of any one firm, all the other firms no matter whether they are supplier, competitor or buyer are threats to the profitability. However, according to Brandenberger and Nalebuffs value net theory, interactions among firms can sometimes enhance profits. Thus critics raised and attentions on cooperation are much more paid. The cooperation between the Golden Bridge Company and other foreign flooring companies will be analyzed and evaluated in the later recommendation part. Recommendation By illustrating the German macroeconomic environment and its circumstance of flooring industry, it is thought that the most recommended strategy for Golden Bridge is to build a joint venture with one or several German covering floor manufacturing enterprises, whilst maintaining the manufacturing section and primary market system in China. Joint venture can be explained as a collaborative formation among companies that each party invests parts capabilities to constitute a new enterprise, thereafter determining the distribution of ownership according to corresponding contributions. Nevertheless, two preconditions should be taken into consideration before making an alliance with German incumbents. Firstly, as a dominant barrier in Chinese market, capital insufficiency would also limit the investment ability of Golden Bridge in German to a large extent. Consequently, small-to-medium incumbents are more desirable as cooperators rather than large-scale companies in terms of ensuring a rela tively high proportion of ownership of Golden Bridge in the new joint venture. Moreover, it is imperative to illustrate compatibility of potential partners based on a number of philosophic criteria, including similar experience, common principles and agreed future target as well (Kanter, 1994). Where extremely intensive competition takes place, German market would tend to pose more threats than opportunities on the Golden Bridge if the company attempts to entirely entry the market alone. In comparison, cooperating and aligning with local companies would be a much safer and efficient measure from two aspects. First, by giving joint ventures preferential treatment, the Golden Bridge gains a good opportunity to penetrate the German market in a relatively short period with minimum risks as the company is unnecessary to expose abundant long-term investments to gain market shares in German wood flooring industry. Instead, it can utilize those important strategic assets of local cooperators such as complete distribution channels, customer relationships and brand loyalty. Moreover, Golden Bridge is still deficient at technology and management comparing with the local German companies. Through setting up a joint venture, advanced technology and managerial know-how can be more easily accessible by Golden Bridge, which is beneficial to its development in China market as well. Nevertheless, possible issues relating to joint venture cannot be neglected by the Golden Bridge. First, operational dissimilarities caused by political and economic divergence between China and German may be a vital problem for Golden Bridge. For instance, blind spots in law or financial systems will damage the corporate profits at initial stage. Additionally, cultural and managerial difference may be difficult to consolidate as different authority, reporting and decision-making patterns (Kanter, 1994), therefore leading to possible mistrust and misunderstanding between Golden Bridge and its partners. It has been widely recognized that German managers are prudent and rigid in dealing with regulations and rarely consider the influences of the network relationship, which is fairly distinct from Chinese managers conceptions. Conclusion: In conclusion, according to the PESTEL analysis, there are a number of challenges in China. These challenges can be the unbalanced market condition in china because of local protectionism and insufficient infrastructures, under-developed technology and managerial skill led to the low efficiency of timber industry in China, Natural Forest Protection Program limits the domestic nature timbers supply as well as the increasing labor cost in flooring industry due to Chinas economy prosperous. The complexity of interrelationship of different parties involved in the business environment also cannot be neglected. The PESTEL analysis of German market was further conducted to make the assessment more comprehensive. Later the consultants use five-force model to assess threat of entering the German flooring market. For instance, the competitive rivalry and threat of entry in German flooring market is extremely high. In terms of threat of substitution, it is much more complex. The supplier power and buyer power are both at an intermediate level. However, Porters model is criticized for lacking of corporation with other market players. Thus, a recommendation is made by our consultancy company for Golden Bridge to organize a joint venture and thus with other reliable and competitive companies for instance, the Beamy International. Facts about Germany. (1996). Frankfurt am Main: Società ¤ts Verlag. LeMont Schmidt, P. (2001). Die amerikanische und die deutsche Wirtschaftskultur im Vergleich: Ein Praxisbuch fà ¼r Manager. Gà ¶ttingen: Hainholz Verlag. 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