Under Armour

AU has been able o increase its North American brand awareness by showing the advantages of its differentiated product which has improved athletes' comfort and performance. In order to compete in the global markets against Nikkei and Ideas LILA should consider the following four alternatives: mergers or acquisitions, establishment of foreign subsidiaries, joint ventures, or a continuation of the North American strategy to be used in the international markets.The decision criteria used in evaluating each option looked primarily at how to increase CIA brand awareness and market share, the financial strain on ALGA sources, protection of CIA patents and intellectual property, and the level of control maintained by CIA It is recommended that AU pursue appropriate mergers or acquisitions that will increase its resources and competencies internationally and enable AU to more quickly build its market presence. Aqua's big competitors have been selling their performance apparel internationally for several years, with the added advantage of already having international brand recognition.Since CIA won't have the first-to-market advantage they had in the US Market they need to carefully find complementary companies that can assist in both brand cognition and in core understanding of the global markets. Significant resources will be required initially, but it is expected that this investment will be paid back within 3 to 4 years. If this alternative proves unsuccessful AU should consider a joint venture or alliance which shifts some of the risk on to those other participants.For the full recommendation and action plan please refer to pages 12 to 13. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Identification 4 Backgrounds Problem Statement (Scope of Report) 4 Current Strategy 4 Analysis and Evaluation 5 External Analysis Macro-Environments Five Forces Analysis 6 Strategic Group Map 7 Key Success Factors Internal Analysis 9 SOTTO If uncial 9 Alternatives 10 1. Merger and Acquisition s 10 2. Foreign Subsidiaries (Greenfield Venture) 10 3. Joint Ventures and Alliances 11 4.Status Quo – Utilize the IIS Strategy Internationally 11 Decision Criteria 12 Recommendation 12 Action Plan 13 Contingency Plan 13 Appendix A 14 Appendix B 15 Bibliography 16 Identification Background Under Armor (AU), formerly known as KIP Sports, was founded in 1 996 by former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank. KIP Sports was the originator Of performance apparel engineered with supreme moisture management to keep athletes cool, dry, and light throughout the course of a game, practice, or workout. The company's operations started out of the basement of Kevin Plank's grandmother's house.Shortly after founding KIP Sports, Kevin recruited one of his acquaintances from Maryland University to join the company as a partner. Kip Bulks, the gentlemen brought on as partner utilized his excellent credit rating to open 17 different credit card accounts to fund the cash flow requi rements of KIP Sports. By 1 998 the company's revenues had Increased efficiently enough for KIP Sports to acquire a $250,000 small business loan. The company was ever growing with a broader product line and consumer segments and from time to time it would take out additional loans needed to fund their working capital requirements.It was not until 1999 that Kevin recruited another acquaintance, a gentleman by the name of Ryan Wood from high school, to join the company as Vice President of Sales. In 2005, KIP Sports changed their name to under Armor and went public. This initial offering generated net proceeds of approximately $114. 9 million, from the 9. Million Class A Common stock issued. Problem Statement (Scope of Report) Although AU has done well in the present US market, carving out a sizeable market share, it is unknown how their current strategy will be able to compete with fierce rivals like Nikkei and Ideas on a global frontier.Their big competitors have been able to start selling their performance apparel internationally for several years, with the added advantage of already having international brand recognition, so CIA will no longer have the first-to-market advantage that they had in the US Market. If AU hopes to be successful in the lobar market, they will need to analyze their current strategy while exploring other possibilities to make an informed decision on how best to proceed.Current Strategy The company's principal business activities in 2012 were the development, marketing and distribution of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youths. 90% of its sales were from North American, though international sales were growing. AU uses a broad differentiation strategy as its corporate strategy. It has developed its own patented fabrics to create a differentiated product that its customers are ailing to pay a premium for.Its growth strategy includes broadening its product lines, targeting additional consumer seg ments, increasing distribution, expanding internationally, and growing brand awareness. Aqua's business strategies include how it will compete in each of its product line offerings of apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youths. Its strategy is to offer a variety of styles and price levels for its customers that will improve comfort, performance, and mobility no matter what weather condition exists. For its apparel it has designed three lines of gear designed o work in various temperatures (Heather, Coolidge, and Legionnaires).Its footwear is designed to be light, breathable, and high performing. Its line of accessories (such as gloves, header and bags) has similar differentiated performance features as Aqua's other products. Aqua's main functional strategies include its marketing brand management and promotion strategies as well as its product design and development strategies. CIA has an extremely large marketing budget (close to 1 68 million in 2011 ) which incl udes athlete endorsements, sponsorship of sporting events and advertising costs.It utilizes an in-house promotion and marketing department whose focus is to increase demand and build brand awareness. Aqua's main retail marketing strategy is to obtain as much CIA exclusive floor space as possible in each Of its major retail stores. Aqua's product design and development strategy is to continually upgrade its products and to use â€Å"visible technology†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (Thompson, p C-51) to market the benefits of Aqua's products. There is a high degree of collaboration between the sales, product development, and sports marketing teams in identifying opportunities and markets.Aqua's key operating strategies include its distribution strategies and its sourcing, manufacturing and quality control strategies. Its distribution strategies included wholesale distribution (70%), direct-to-consumer sales (27%), and product licensing (3%). AU has two distribution facilities in Maryland, though it expects to add another facility overseas in the future. Many of Aqua's technically advanced fabrics were developed by third parties. These fabrics are available from a small number of sources. In 2011 CIA had 23 main manufacturers which operated in 16 countries.All manufacturers ad to follow stringent quality control processes and had to adhere to a code of conduct with respect to quality, working conditions and social concerns. Analysis and Evaluation External Analysis Macro-Environment The macro-environment is positive for the sports apparel industry without many restrictive influences in the political or regulatory realm. The most strategically relevant factors of the PESTLE analysis (political factors, economic conditions, socio-cultural forces, technological factors, environment forces, and legal/regulatory Factors) include the socio-cultural forces and technological factors as noted below:Socio-cultural Forces Recreational and professional sports are both very popular in North America and throughout the world. With an emphasis on active and healthy living in addition to the â€Å"life skills† learned in playing on sports teams schools and athletic associations offer many sports opportunities for all ages. Professional sports are a multi-billion dollar industry with athletes and coaches making very large salaries. Although there may be aging demographics in some areas of the world enthusiasm for sports remains high.Technological Factors Technology has only continued to improve as sports apparel companies onetime to refine and develop the relatively newly available â€Å"technologically advanced fabrics and specialized manufacturing techniques† (Thompson, p C-43) in an effort to create a more comfortable, drier experience for the athlete. Great strides continue to be made with these products. Five Forces Analysis Competition from Rival Sellers (Strong): Competition among rival sellers is intense. There are approximately 25 brand-name competit ors in the market for sports apparel, athletic footwear and related accessories in which (AU competes.Aqua's major competitors in its sports performance apparel and athletic footwear include Nikkei, Inc. ND the Ideas Group, both highly successful brand-name global companies. AU competes with other top name brands, such as Columbia, Spryer, and North Face in its performance Skewer products. Nikkei is the clear market leader with approximately 17% of the footwear market share and 4. 4% of the sports apparel market share. Customer Bargaining Power (Strong): Since approximately 70% of AU sales are from retailers, the retailers do have Strong bargaining power. 5% of all retail sales are to large retail chains who also sell Aqua's competitor products. They have the discretion as to whether to allocate a certain level of floor space exclusively to CIA or not. Although there is some differentiation in products between competitors many of the products are fairly standardized, increasing cust omer bargaining power. The cost of switching to competitor brands is likely fairly low as all competitors will be fighting for key retail space. Supplier Bargaining Power (Moderate): CIA specialty fabrics and other raw materials come from a relatively small number of sources.In 2011 , a little more than half of the fabrics used came from six suppliers in several different countries. With only six suppliers for such a large volume the suppliers do have some leverage in increasing their prices. It seems that it may be difficult for LILA to find alternative suppliers, though these suppliers must also depend on the revenues from CIA As such, they will not want to price themselves out of the market and they will want to see CIA succeed. Competition from Potential New Entrants (Weak): Given the strength and number of large brand name competitors already in the industry the threat of new entrants is relatively weak.The Ideas Group has several well-known brands within its company, such as R ebook, Rocket, ND Ideas. Nikkei and CIA are also well-known brands. All of these companies participate heavily in sponsoring sporting events and invest significantly in athlete endorsements. As a result, there are high degrees of customer loyalty, making it difficult for new entrants. These large companies also have well-established networks of distributors. All of these things as well as the capital investment requirements limit the potential of new entrants to the industry.Competition from Producers of Substitute Products (Weak): Although it is unlikely that there are significant substitute products in existence, CIA and its success shows that it is possible for a creative company to enter the industry with some sort of product which would be more appealing. Additionally, both Nikkei and Ideas spend significant amounts of money on research and development. It is possible that one of these competitors will be able to develop a next generation substitute product. Us Mary Overall, th e industry competitive forces are moderate to strong.The competition among rival sellers is quite intense and the retail buyers have significant power in working with all of these sellers. Brand image and loyalty re important in this industry. Nikkei is a well-established company and the clear market leader, but the Ideas Group is also a global leader. CIA has done very well at establishing a solid market share in its sports apparel and training/fitness clothing. Strong profitability is evident in this industry as can be seen in the net profit margins among Nikkei, the Ideas Group, and Under Armor.Strategic Group Map Key Success Factors Performance and Reliability – To remain competitive in this industry, CIA products must meet or exceed customer expectations for high performance and reliability. CIA was founded on creating clothing that was cooler, drier, and more comfortable for its athletes. AU must continue producing high quality items which can be counted on. This includ es utilizing high quality standards. New Product Development -? In this competitive environment it is important that AU invest sufficient funds into research and development so that it can gain improvements in its fabrics and its products.Additionally, CIA must keep a sufficient number and styles of products available to be able to meet various consumer segments, such as it has done with Heather, Coolidge, and Legionnaires. CIA will need to re-examine its product line and its inventory management systems to ensure it is able to better meet customer needs without high levels of excess inventory. Pricing – Due to the number of brand name competitors in the industry with similar products an appropriate pricing strategy is crucial to Aqua's success. CIA will have to remain vigilant in watching competitor prices and discounts given.Brand and Product Image – Each competitor in this industry will need to continually work on communicating and maintaining its overall brand imag e that is consistent with its mission and vision. Additionally, certain key products should have high visibility in terms of the image they represent. Loyalty from customers will be driven in part by these branding images. Customer Support and Services – In part a company is only as strong as it is perceived to be by its customers. Aqua's retailers and its direct sale customers must be treated fairly and be given adequate support when purchasing AU products.Retailers (representing 70% of sales in 2011) will be driven to work with La's competitors if customer support and service is lacking. If Under Armor is able to successfully manage each of these key success actors which matter to its customers it should have continued competitive success for the long-term. Conclusion The external environment is conducive to successful results and profitability for the current competitors in the sports apparel industry. Although CIA is competing against some large global rivals it has been able to gain substantial market share from 0. 6 percent in 2003 to almost 2. 8 percent in 2011.This is compared with 7. 0% market share for Nikkei and 5. 4% market share for Ideas. AU should be able to remain competitive and earn reasonable profits as long s management remains attentive and pro-active With any changes in the environment. Internal Analysis SOOT under Armor has a variety of strengths which allows them to compete in the highly competitive sports apparel industry. Over the years, the business has focused on building an authentic brand with high quality apparel that has allowed them to gain significant market share from their competitors. Below you will find an analysis of their internal and external environments.Strengths Built an incredibly powerful and authentic brand in a relatively short time Became the official footwear supplier of major league baseball Uses superior scenically advanced fabrics Weaknesses International presence is very low Limited number of distrib utors to ship their products Insufficient tools in place to manage inventory efficiently and accurately Opportunities Ability to broaden Aqua's product offerings for wear in a variety of recreational activities and sports Athletic wear, a category historically dominated by men, is seeing significant growth with females Gender equality continues to grow in other parts of the world The reads Highly competitive market Competitors have a well established footprint in international markets Materials used in AU products are petroleum-based synthesis and therefore subject to crude oil price fluctuation If uncial Under Armor financial shows both positive and negatives (see Appendix A for the full financial details). The profitability ratios are in good standing and are relatively stable over the 5 year period 2006-201 1.The gross profit ratio indicates that CIA has enough revenues to cover operating expenses and leave the company with a profit. The net profit margin shows that their after t ax profits per dollar of sale decreased from 9. 05% in 2006 to 6. 58% in 2011. That is a drop of 2. 47%. The return on total assets and return on shareholder's equity have both decreased from 2006-201 1. A return of 12-15% range is average and Under Armor is at 15. 23% as of 201 1 which is within the range. Liquidity analysis shows that the working capital has improved over the years. As of 2011, the company has $506,056 of internal funds to cover its current liabilities. That is $332,667 more that in 2006 showing a big improvement The leverage ratios show the negative side of Under Armor.The debt to asset ratio has been increasing from 2% in 2006 to 8% in 201 1. This means hat 8% of borrowed funds have been used to finance assets. Also the debt to equity ratio has increased from 3% to 12%. This signifies lower creditworthiness, potential excessive debt and a weaker balance sheet. On the other hand, in order for a business to continue growing and compete with the industry taking on additional loans is a requirement. Even though it appears that CIA has the capability to pay off the debts these ratios should be watched carefully to ensure that covenants are not broken. The activity ratios show that AU inventory management efficiency has decreased over the years. Under Armour AU has been able o increase its North American brand awareness by showing the advantages of its differentiated product which has improved athletes' comfort and performance. In order to compete in the global markets against Nikkei and Ideas LILA should consider the following four alternatives: mergers or acquisitions, establishment of foreign subsidiaries, joint ventures, or a continuation of the North American strategy to be used in the international markets.The decision criteria used in evaluating each option looked primarily at how to increase CIA brand awareness and market share, the financial strain on ALGA sources, protection of CIA patents and intellectual property, and the level of control maintained by CIA It is recommended that AU pursue appropriate mergers or acquisitions that will increase its resources and competencies internationally and enable AU to more quickly build its market presence. Aqua's big competitors have been selling their performance apparel internationally for several years, with the added advantage of already having international brand recognition.Since CIA won't have the first-to-market advantage they had in the US Market they need to carefully find complementary companies that can assist in both brand cognition and in core understanding of the global markets. Significant resources will be required initially, but it is expected that this investment will be paid back within 3 to 4 years. If this alternative proves unsuccessful AU should consider a joint venture or alliance which shifts some of the risk on to those other participants.For the full recommendation and action plan please refer to pages 12 to 13. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Identification 4 Backgrounds Problem Statement (Scope of Report) 4 Current Strategy 4 Analysis and Evaluation 5 External Analysis Macro-Environments Five Forces Analysis 6 Strategic Group Map 7 Key Success Factors Internal Analysis 9 SOTTO If uncial 9 Alternatives 10 1. Merger and Acquisition s 10 2. Foreign Subsidiaries (Greenfield Venture) 10 3. Joint Ventures and Alliances 11 4.Status Quo – Utilize the IIS Strategy Internationally 11 Decision Criteria 12 Recommendation 12 Action Plan 13 Contingency Plan 13 Appendix A 14 Appendix B 15 Bibliography 16 Identification Background Under Armor (AU), formerly known as KIP Sports, was founded in 1 996 by former University of Maryland football player Kevin Plank. KIP Sports was the originator Of performance apparel engineered with supreme moisture management to keep athletes cool, dry, and light throughout the course of a game, practice, or workout. The company's operations started out of the basement of Kevin Plank's grandmother's house.Shortly after founding KIP Sports, Kevin recruited one of his acquaintances from Maryland University to join the company as a partner. Kip Bulks, the gentlemen brought on as partner utilized his excellent credit rating to open 17 different credit card accounts to fund the cash flow requi rements of KIP Sports. By 1 998 the company's revenues had Increased efficiently enough for KIP Sports to acquire a $250,000 small business loan. The company was ever growing with a broader product line and consumer segments and from time to time it would take out additional loans needed to fund their working capital requirements.It was not until 1999 that Kevin recruited another acquaintance, a gentleman by the name of Ryan Wood from high school, to join the company as Vice President of Sales. In 2005, KIP Sports changed their name to under Armor and went public. This initial offering generated net proceeds of approximately $114. 9 million, from the 9. Million Class A Common stock issued. Problem Statement (Scope of Report) Although AU has done well in the present US market, carving out a sizeable market share, it is unknown how their current strategy will be able to compete with fierce rivals like Nikkei and Ideas on a global frontier.Their big competitors have been able to start selling their performance apparel internationally for several years, with the added advantage of already having international brand recognition, so CIA will no longer have the first-to-market advantage that they had in the US Market. If AU hopes to be successful in the lobar market, they will need to analyze their current strategy while exploring other possibilities to make an informed decision on how best to proceed.Current Strategy The company's principal business activities in 2012 were the development, marketing and distribution of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youths. 90% of its sales were from North American, though international sales were growing. AU uses a broad differentiation strategy as its corporate strategy. It has developed its own patented fabrics to create a differentiated product that its customers are ailing to pay a premium for.Its growth strategy includes broadening its product lines, targeting additional consumer seg ments, increasing distribution, expanding internationally, and growing brand awareness. Aqua's business strategies include how it will compete in each of its product line offerings of apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youths. Its strategy is to offer a variety of styles and price levels for its customers that will improve comfort, performance, and mobility no matter what weather condition exists. For its apparel it has designed three lines of gear designed o work in various temperatures (Heather, Coolidge, and Legionnaires).Its footwear is designed to be light, breathable, and high performing. Its line of accessories (such as gloves, header and bags) has similar differentiated performance features as Aqua's other products. Aqua's main functional strategies include its marketing brand management and promotion strategies as well as its product design and development strategies. CIA has an extremely large marketing budget (close to 1 68 million in 2011 ) which incl udes athlete endorsements, sponsorship of sporting events and advertising costs.It utilizes an in-house promotion and marketing department whose focus is to increase demand and build brand awareness. Aqua's main retail marketing strategy is to obtain as much CIA exclusive floor space as possible in each Of its major retail stores. Aqua's product design and development strategy is to continually upgrade its products and to use â€Å"visible technology†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (Thompson, p C-51) to market the benefits of Aqua's products. There is a high degree of collaboration between the sales, product development, and sports marketing teams in identifying opportunities and markets.Aqua's key operating strategies include its distribution strategies and its sourcing, manufacturing and quality control strategies. Its distribution strategies included wholesale distribution (70%), direct-to-consumer sales (27%), and product licensing (3%). AU has two distribution facilities in Maryland, though it expects to add another facility overseas in the future. Many of Aqua's technically advanced fabrics were developed by third parties. These fabrics are available from a small number of sources. In 2011 CIA had 23 main manufacturers which operated in 16 countries.All manufacturers ad to follow stringent quality control processes and had to adhere to a code of conduct with respect to quality, working conditions and social concerns. Analysis and Evaluation External Analysis Macro-Environment The macro-environment is positive for the sports apparel industry without many restrictive influences in the political or regulatory realm. The most strategically relevant factors of the PESTLE analysis (political factors, economic conditions, socio-cultural forces, technological factors, environment forces, and legal/regulatory Factors) include the socio-cultural forces and technological factors as noted below:Socio-cultural Forces Recreational and professional sports are both very popular in North America and throughout the world. With an emphasis on active and healthy living in addition to the â€Å"life skills† learned in playing on sports teams schools and athletic associations offer many sports opportunities for all ages. Professional sports are a multi-billion dollar industry with athletes and coaches making very large salaries. Although there may be aging demographics in some areas of the world enthusiasm for sports remains high.Technological Factors Technology has only continued to improve as sports apparel companies onetime to refine and develop the relatively newly available â€Å"technologically advanced fabrics and specialized manufacturing techniques† (Thompson, p C-43) in an effort to create a more comfortable, drier experience for the athlete. Great strides continue to be made with these products. Five Forces Analysis Competition from Rival Sellers (Strong): Competition among rival sellers is intense. There are approximately 25 brand-name competit ors in the market for sports apparel, athletic footwear and related accessories in which (AU competes.Aqua's major competitors in its sports performance apparel and athletic footwear include Nikkei, Inc. ND the Ideas Group, both highly successful brand-name global companies. AU competes with other top name brands, such as Columbia, Spryer, and North Face in its performance Skewer products. Nikkei is the clear market leader with approximately 17% of the footwear market share and 4. 4% of the sports apparel market share. Customer Bargaining Power (Strong): Since approximately 70% of AU sales are from retailers, the retailers do have Strong bargaining power. 5% of all retail sales are to large retail chains who also sell Aqua's competitor products. They have the discretion as to whether to allocate a certain level of floor space exclusively to CIA or not. Although there is some differentiation in products between competitors many of the products are fairly standardized, increasing cust omer bargaining power. The cost of switching to competitor brands is likely fairly low as all competitors will be fighting for key retail space. Supplier Bargaining Power (Moderate): CIA specialty fabrics and other raw materials come from a relatively small number of sources.In 2011 , a little more than half of the fabrics used came from six suppliers in several different countries. With only six suppliers for such a large volume the suppliers do have some leverage in increasing their prices. It seems that it may be difficult for LILA to find alternative suppliers, though these suppliers must also depend on the revenues from CIA As such, they will not want to price themselves out of the market and they will want to see CIA succeed. Competition from Potential New Entrants (Weak): Given the strength and number of large brand name competitors already in the industry the threat of new entrants is relatively weak.The Ideas Group has several well-known brands within its company, such as R ebook, Rocket, ND Ideas. Nikkei and CIA are also well-known brands. All of these companies participate heavily in sponsoring sporting events and invest significantly in athlete endorsements. As a result, there are high degrees of customer loyalty, making it difficult for new entrants. These large companies also have well-established networks of distributors. All of these things as well as the capital investment requirements limit the potential of new entrants to the industry.Competition from Producers of Substitute Products (Weak): Although it is unlikely that there are significant substitute products in existence, CIA and its success shows that it is possible for a creative company to enter the industry with some sort of product which would be more appealing. Additionally, both Nikkei and Ideas spend significant amounts of money on research and development. It is possible that one of these competitors will be able to develop a next generation substitute product. Us Mary Overall, th e industry competitive forces are moderate to strong.The competition among rival sellers is quite intense and the retail buyers have significant power in working with all of these sellers. Brand image and loyalty re important in this industry. Nikkei is a well-established company and the clear market leader, but the Ideas Group is also a global leader. CIA has done very well at establishing a solid market share in its sports apparel and training/fitness clothing. Strong profitability is evident in this industry as can be seen in the net profit margins among Nikkei, the Ideas Group, and Under Armor.Strategic Group Map Key Success Factors Performance and Reliability – To remain competitive in this industry, CIA products must meet or exceed customer expectations for high performance and reliability. CIA was founded on creating clothing that was cooler, drier, and more comfortable for its athletes. AU must continue producing high quality items which can be counted on. This includ es utilizing high quality standards. New Product Development -? In this competitive environment it is important that AU invest sufficient funds into research and development so that it can gain improvements in its fabrics and its products.Additionally, CIA must keep a sufficient number and styles of products available to be able to meet various consumer segments, such as it has done with Heather, Coolidge, and Legionnaires. CIA will need to re-examine its product line and its inventory management systems to ensure it is able to better meet customer needs without high levels of excess inventory. Pricing – Due to the number of brand name competitors in the industry with similar products an appropriate pricing strategy is crucial to Aqua's success. CIA will have to remain vigilant in watching competitor prices and discounts given.Brand and Product Image – Each competitor in this industry will need to continually work on communicating and maintaining its overall brand imag e that is consistent with its mission and vision. Additionally, certain key products should have high visibility in terms of the image they represent. Loyalty from customers will be driven in part by these branding images. Customer Support and Services – In part a company is only as strong as it is perceived to be by its customers. Aqua's retailers and its direct sale customers must be treated fairly and be given adequate support when purchasing AU products.Retailers (representing 70% of sales in 2011) will be driven to work with La's competitors if customer support and service is lacking. If Under Armor is able to successfully manage each of these key success actors which matter to its customers it should have continued competitive success for the long-term. Conclusion The external environment is conducive to successful results and profitability for the current competitors in the sports apparel industry. Although CIA is competing against some large global rivals it has been able to gain substantial market share from 0. 6 percent in 2003 to almost 2. 8 percent in 2011.This is compared with 7. 0% market share for Nikkei and 5. 4% market share for Ideas. AU should be able to remain competitive and earn reasonable profits as long s management remains attentive and pro-active With any changes in the environment. Internal Analysis SOOT under Armor has a variety of strengths which allows them to compete in the highly competitive sports apparel industry. Over the years, the business has focused on building an authentic brand with high quality apparel that has allowed them to gain significant market share from their competitors. Below you will find an analysis of their internal and external environments.Strengths Built an incredibly powerful and authentic brand in a relatively short time Became the official footwear supplier of major league baseball Uses superior scenically advanced fabrics Weaknesses International presence is very low Limited number of distrib utors to ship their products Insufficient tools in place to manage inventory efficiently and accurately Opportunities Ability to broaden Aqua's product offerings for wear in a variety of recreational activities and sports Athletic wear, a category historically dominated by men, is seeing significant growth with females Gender equality continues to grow in other parts of the world The reads Highly competitive market Competitors have a well established footprint in international markets Materials used in AU products are petroleum-based synthesis and therefore subject to crude oil price fluctuation If uncial Under Armor financial shows both positive and negatives (see Appendix A for the full financial details). The profitability ratios are in good standing and are relatively stable over the 5 year period 2006-201 1.The gross profit ratio indicates that CIA has enough revenues to cover operating expenses and leave the company with a profit. The net profit margin shows that their after t ax profits per dollar of sale decreased from 9. 05% in 2006 to 6. 58% in 2011. That is a drop of 2. 47%. The return on total assets and return on shareholder's equity have both decreased from 2006-201 1. A return of 12-15% range is average and Under Armor is at 15. 23% as of 201 1 which is within the range. Liquidity analysis shows that the working capital has improved over the years. As of 2011, the company has $506,056 of internal funds to cover its current liabilities. That is $332,667 more that in 2006 showing a big improvement The leverage ratios show the negative side of Under Armor.The debt to asset ratio has been increasing from 2% in 2006 to 8% in 201 1. This means hat 8% of borrowed funds have been used to finance assets. Also the debt to equity ratio has increased from 3% to 12%. This signifies lower creditworthiness, potential excessive debt and a weaker balance sheet. On the other hand, in order for a business to continue growing and compete with the industry taking on additional loans is a requirement. Even though it appears that CIA has the capability to pay off the debts these ratios should be watched carefully to ensure that covenants are not broken. The activity ratios show that AU inventory management efficiency has decreased over the years.

Project Timeline and Minutes of Meeting Essay

No ContentRemark Week 2 Planning the project 5 % Preliminary model selection 5 % Week 3Brainstorm and Gathering information20 % Week 4Final model section 10 % Week 5Implementation 35 % Week 6Writing the report 25 % Minutes of meeting 1 Date: Wednesday 12th September 2012 Time 7:00 pm – 7:30 pm Venue: Cafeteria North-wing Campus UCSI University Chaired by: Group leader â€Å" Samir â€Å" Attendance: †¢Samir Mohamoud â€Å"Group leader†. †¢Ahmed Abakar Ahmed Ibrahim †¢Abdul-Salam Bakar †¢Omer Mohammed †¢Khalid Matter discussed: 1-Getting to know each other: Everyone introduced himself ?Providing means of communication (phone number, email and Facebook) 2-Project: ?Rough reading through the project ?Define project objective ?Project time frame ?Estimate project completion â€Å"15th October 2012† 3-Next Meeting: ?Saturday 15th September 12 pm at Ahmed’s apartment. Prepared by Ahmed Minutes of meeting 2: Date: Saturday 15th September 2012 Time12:00 pm – 2:30 pm Venue: Ahmed’s Apartment Chaired by: Group leader â€Å" Samir â€Å" Attendance: †¢Samir Mohamoud â€Å"Group leader†. †¢Ahmed Abakar Ahmed Ibrahim †¢Abdul-Salam Bakar Omer Mohammed †¢Khalid Matter discussed: 1-Project: ?Break down the project into smaller tasks ?Assign each member for specific task ?Discussed each task in detail 2-Model: ?Brainstorm a design for the model ?Hand draw the design ?Identify the model component 3-Next Meeting: ?Saturday 22nd September 1 pm – 2 pm at Sameer’s apartment Prepared by Ahmed Minutes of meeting 3: Postponed to 26th September due to tests Minute of meeting 4: Date: 26th September 2012 Time4:20 pm – 5:55 pm Venue: K207 North-wing Camps UCSI university Chaired by: Group leader â€Å" Samir â€Å" Attendance: †¢Samir Mohamoud â€Å"Group leader†. †¢Ahmed Abakar Ahmed Ibrahim †¢Abdul-Salam Bakar †¢Omer Mohammed †¢Khalid Matter discussed: 1-Project ?Each member discussed and showed progress on assigned task 2-Model ?Members brought new design for the model ?Estimate the components cost ?Set the model implementation date â€Å" Saturday 29th September† 3-Next meeting ?Saturday 29th September 11:00 am at Samir’s apartment Prepared by Ahmed Minute of meeting 5: Date: 29th September 2012 Time11:00 am – 4:00 pm Venue: Samir’s Apartment Chaired by: Group leader â€Å" Samir â€Å" Attendance: †¢Samir Mohamoud â€Å"Group leader†. †¢Ahmed Abakar Ahmed Ibrahim †¢Abdul-Salam Bakar †¢Omer Mohammed †¢Khalid Matter discussed: 1-Model ?Update and adjust the model design â€Å"add & remove some features†. ?Sketch the new model ?Re-estimate the cost of the new model 2-Implementation: ?Purchased the desired components. ?Few components were not available in market â€Å"Wooden Mousetrap†. ?Decision made on the spot and agreed by all members to change the wooden mousetrap with a metal one to keep the project flow. ?Started fixing the component together 90% completion of model 3-Next meeting ?Sunday 7th October11:00 pm at Samir’s apartment Prepared by Ahmed Minute of meeting 6: Date: 7th October 8, 2012 Time2:00 am – 5:00 pm Venue: Samir’s Apartment Chaired by: Group leader â€Å" Samir â€Å" Attendance: †¢Samir Mohamoud â€Å"Group leader†. †¢Ahmed Abakar Ahmed Ibrahim †¢Abdul-Sala m Bakar †¢Omer Mohammed †¢Khalid Matter discussed: 1-Implementation ?Complete the implementation ?Run the model for its first time. ?Rerun the model to make sure is working properly. ?Test the model for the specified purposes ?The model showed success

Basics of Christianity and Hinduism

Christian fundamental Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world. Two billion people worldwide are engaged in one-third of Christianity in the world. Christianity is faith in the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. The idea of ​​how a father, son, and the Holy Spirit will be one seems to be something you might have in a dynamic way or in some way. The fact that this may be impossible for most people is because the Trinity has never been mentioned explicitly in the text. Religion is not so important in today's world compared to hundreds of years ago. In the United States, the main religion is Christianity, no one is worried about other religions like Hinduism. Strangely, Hinduism was always in the world before Christianity, but many people do not know it. As I have seen before, when teaching religious beliefs, There is lack of complexity compared to Christian lessons (Glod). Some people think Christians are perfect to complete other religions, b ut everyone is perfect in their own way. As we all know, Christianity and Hinduism are different. There is a slight similarity between the two beliefs. Religion is a very important aspect of people's lives. Because Christianity only rules over the rules of people's lives, Hinduism is ahead of Christianity. Since Hinduism is a religion with many beliefs and practices, it is more challenging to offer Christianity and Hinduism. It uses Hinduism as an unfair habit, reducing its theology and philosophy to the extent it really provides for comparison with Christianity. But in Hinduism there are some common principles for all Hindus. The first difference between Hinduism and Christianity is that Hinduism considers Christianity as an effective religion, while the Bible does not. Hinduism is a religion that promotes tolerance. It teaches that all religions are different paths to goals and that all religions are different means. Hinduism is not exclusive and admits that all religions are effe ctive. But Christianity teaches that Christ is the only way to God. John 14: 6 replied, Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, the life, nobody can come to the father except me.

Global Security in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Global Security in the United States - Essay Example The industry segment chosen for this work is the software industry. Software industry is a service sector aimed at providing service to all other industries. Some of the major attributes that affect the business in software industry are: this is a support industry to other industries and if they are in a recession then the software industry is also affected. Secondly, the software industry grows swiftly so much so what is today the cutting edge is no more used one year down the line. Thirdly, this is dependent on the employees in the company that would decide on the way the results are produced. Creativity of the people, agility of the industry segment that the products of the company addresses and the speed at which the company could acclimatize itself to the new technologies coming in every day.It is also important to note that any company in the software business face is the customer satisfaction. Unlike other products, where the product is clearly one that the people can see, tes t and accept, in case of software, even after the initial acceptance of the software, it might be found to be under performing in those areas that are critical to the buyer. Similarly, while products fail under use due to external reasons, viz., mishandling, surges in electricity, etc., in case of software, it is always viewed as the one that comes with the failures or most of the problems are manufactured with the product. This leads to customer dissatisfaction even after one to two years of use. The software industry has been growing phenomenally in the last decade and has a number of competitors whom the upcoming company should take care of. The competition comes from all sizes of companies, from small to mega corporations. Therefore, it is essential that the company entering the market works out a niche for itself before jumping on to the growing bandwagon. The market and the economy connected with the software industry have been booming in the last two decades, driven mostly by the revolution called internet. Software is totally market driven and, in contrast to most of the other industries, in case of software industry the company spends comparatively little on research vis--vis the development. There are lots of new ideas that come in every day in the software industry. None of the companies like Microsoft, Borland, Sun or Novell, invented what they successfully made. They adopted the new technological idea in a way that people would accept and sold successfully. It is not who does it first or who does it differently; it is a question of who does it right that makes a software company successful. b. The Company The company that is formed will address specific software needs of verticals that are identified as strengths of the company. Such identified and short listed verticals will be clearly understood and the employees / consultants in the company will have adequate understanding and strengths in the vertical so chosen. This would help the company to identify software products for these verticals, addressing requirements that might not be easy for competitors to emulate. This niche will also ensure that the value the company gets for its products will be substantially higher than what they might get if they should do a run of the mill product. Hence, this would ensure both addressing a niche segment with little or no major competition and would also ensure that the compensation for their product will be better than what the company might get otherwise. The concentration of the company in the product development exercise will be to do it right rather than do something new alone. It has to be new and it has to be right. Right in the sense, it will be the way the customer or the user might expect or want it to be. This would necessitate a close interaction with the customer and possibly work in tandem with the customers in those specific verticals and produce a product that is in line with their needs. c. SWOT Analysis i.

Racial and Socioeconomic Differences in Risk factors for Essay

Racial and Socioeconomic Differences in Risk factors for Cardiovascular Disease among Southern Women - Essay Example 9. The researchers agreed that the CV Risk Index created for this particular research work has not been tested elsewhere, so the scoring that were employed could not be reliably said to be representative of the risk of participants. 10. The Chi-square test was used to test the statistical significance of the research variables. For example, the percentage of African American women that has never smoked was greater than white women (60.7% vs 42.8%). Chi- square test was be used to test if this difference is statistically significant to make it a factor to consider in CVD 12. After breaking down each of the two main variables to be analyzed into four categories each, the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the effect of each of these categories on the main variable 14. The research article did state that the data were collected by questionnaires mailed to participants and that the questions were based on those recommended by the NIH. However, nothing is said with respect to maintaining the confidentiality of the participants or otherwise.

Career Exploration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Career Exploration - Assignment Example Online solutions provide a wide range of tools that can be helpful in the career assessment. These tools have been uniquely tailored to not only disclose individual’s interest but also reveal how such interests translate to related carrier options. In this work I will detail the outcome of the following assessment test: Career Directions Inventory, Campbell Interest and Skill Survey, and the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey. The initial assessment focuses on personal trends throughput the different carriers. The results highlighted here depict my interest level with regard to particular activities when compared to other people. The assessment questions are customized to gauge an individual’s work-style and occupational interests. These Occupational interests are divided into 12 different interest types. The Basic Interest scores are displayed individually as percentiles. For instance, a score of 80% implies you obtained a higher score in this Basic Interest compared to 80% obtained by other people tested. Based on this assessment, the measures of my occupational interests came out as follows: I scored highest in clerical, a factor that simply implies that I enjoy Answering phones and greet clients warmly. Assist in filing duties, Perform basic bookkeeping duties, Compile financial records, organize office activities and other related duties. I got high score in Persuasive, signifying that I take pleasure in work that entails advising, influencing, counseling, motivating, guiding, and directing the tasks of others. Based on Assertive scale it is obvious that I prefer a work situation that allows one to assert his/her authority on others. This may include monitoring and directing their tasks. The second factor considered in the tests is the personality concept. This assessment follows John Hollands RIASEC theory that views the world of work based on six different models (Baker, 2014). Here, the test is stretched to include a seventh model that

Challenge in Maximizing Profit for the Large Firms Essay

Challenge in Maximizing Profit for the Large Firms - Essay Example In the literature, it is noticed that the priorities of firms have changed during the above period under the pressure of the financial and political turbulence worldwide. We could indicatively refer to the study of Becerra (2008) where it is made clear that the firms’ profitability is developed under specific conditions: ‘(a) value uncertainty, (b) resources specificity, and (c) firm-level innovation’ (Becerra, 2008, 1110). It is not made clear in the above study whether the above conditions refer to the development of profitability of all firms or whether there are related only to the performance of firms of a specific size. The studies published on the specific field show that there is a relationship between the aspects of firms on profit and the political/ social and financial conditions of a particular region. In the 21st century, the increase in profit has been a significant priority for managers of large firms and TNCs; however, it seems that in the previous century – the 20th – different views on profit have been developed by the firms of this size; emphasis was put rather on the personal development of employees and the promotion of specific principles, like equality, across firms of all sizes. The fact that most of the large firms and TNCs of the 20th century were under the control of the state could possibly have affected the views of managers of these firms on profit. As noticed above, in the 20th century, firms’ priorities have been differentiated by those of firms operating in the modern market. The role of the state in the development of business activities has been major during the specific period; on the other hand, the 20th century is characterized by the promotion of social theories.

Locate the budget for a local government Assignment

Locate the budget for a local government - Assignment Example This league has been serving officials since 1915 through the Garden State, and it was authorized by state statute (Dressel, 2014). The revenue sources for the league include property taxes that are levied on all classes of properties this levy is assessed locally and collected to aid in the running of the municipality and county government. The state also gives the municipality some funds directly or indirectly through reliefs in for instance property taxes. Other sources of revenue include; service charge, optional local taxes and counties or special district government levies (Dressel, 2014). Another source of revenue is the inter-governmental transfers, which may be for funding of government activities or specific projects. The largest income percentage of the budget comes from taxes, this is so because there are many direct and indirect taxes levied on individuals and corporations within the league. They include property, sales and income taxes (Dressel, 2014). This method is the best since it covers a wider base as they are charged either directly or indirectly. The government should think outside the box in collecting revenues by looking at other avenues instead of relying on the traditional sources. The internet has opened up many possible opportunities that may help to a great extend in harnessing the incomes. The league can also reduce the operational costs thus increase the net revenues, which will be available to

Thomas Payne's 'Common Sense vs. James Chalmer's Plain Truth Essay

Thomas Payne's 'Common Sense vs. James Chalmer's Plain Truth - Essay Example In Europe the concept of democracy was especially held in scorn. Underlying this attitude was the belief that the common man was incapable of ruling himself, being naturally lacking in intelligence, virtue and nobility. Thus monarchs appointed by God did the work of keeping the nations from dissolving into anarchy and barbarism. Great Britain in the 1700s was an example of a constitutional monarchy. It had a king, to be sure, but over the years he had gone from being an absolute dictator to one of many arms of government, with his power checked to a degree by charters, Parliament and the English public. To loyal English subjects this system seemed quite fair. It avoided the excesses of despotic rule while also ensuring that the ignoble peasants were kept in line. Even more, an ambitious commoner might even rise to a position of wealth and moderate prominence – though he would also be less than a nobleman. Examples of British subjects who attained these levels are George Washin gton, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, who would later be the chief architects of the American Revolution. For many in the American colonies, however, good old British rule was a silly anachronism that had to be swept away, so that the rightful rulers of society, the people themselves, could truly self govern. One of the most vocal and articulate of these libertines was Thomas Paine. Paine’s Common Sense was more than a political tract. it was in itself a revolutionary way of seeking political change. As mentioned before, the idea that the common person was qualified to judge matters of state was generally considered ludicrous. The established view was that people of superior breeding, with titles and possessing all the benefits of classical education, were the only ones who were competent to judge matters pertaining to a nation as a whole. Paine spoke directly against this view, calling the British monarchy a corrupt institution that governed poorly, oppressed the pop ulace and lived parasitically off of the fruit of other’s labors while producing little of value. In one section he says this most plainly: In England a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which in plain terms, is to impoverish the nation and set it together by the ears. A pretty business indeed for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain! Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. Paine advocated nothing less than the dissolution of the monarchy, to be replaced with a congress of representatives that would be directly elected by the people and directly accountable to them for their governing decisions. The congress would have a president that it would elect, and any legislation that became law would require a 60% majority of votes. The truly radical thing about Common Sense was not only the ideas it proposed but the wa y it which it did so. Prior to its publication political treatises were written by men of letters, and made copious references to medieval and Renaissance academics, renowned philosophers and scholars known only to the highly educated. Paine took a different approach. He used no Latin and no lengthy ivory tower arguments. Instead he wrote in direct, simple language easily understood by farmers, merchants and skilled trades people. (Smith 69)Even the

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

Employment Law - Essay Example In the first category of immediate termination, there are various conditions under which an employee may be dismissed with the first one being if the employee is found guilty of going against the rules and regulations set for operations in the work environment (Batson and Shirouzo, 2010). The second rule stipulates that if an employee is found guilty of a crime they can be dismissed without notice. The third law states that in an event where the employee does something that causes damage to the employer, they can be dismissed since this infringes on the employer’s interests (EuroChinaJob, 2009). With this in mind, it follows that if an employee has a relationship with another employer, which affects the way the employee accomplishes tasks they can dismissed on grounds of not adhering to the regulations of the employer because they fail to accomplish tasks assigned to them. The fifth law that may cause dismissal of an employee without notice is if the employee acquired the job through fraudulent means, which amounts to cheating in order to be employed. In addition to the above, an employee is subjected to dismissal without notice if they are found not to be competent in regards to the job description to which they were employed on. I contrast to the employment law in China, the one in the in the United Kingdom stipulates that employment could be terminated by either the parties to the contract at will with or without notice. The employee is also subject to dismissal if the contract signed expires and it has not been renewed. The employee can also decide to terminate employment on grounds of constructive dismissal whereby there are circumstances that are reasonable basing this on the employer’s behavior. In addition to this if termination comes about because of the workers performance there are guidelines to be followed in order to ensure that the dismissal is in

Letter To The Manager Essay Example for Free

Letter To The Manager Essay Greetings! I am so pleased and overwhelmed that I was given this particular opportunity to present you with a proposal that I think is highly beneficial not only to the progress of the students that are to enter the institution but would also impact the reputation and competency of the school in catering to the needs of its students. Every child or student in this case, who is under a development period needs a careful attention with regards their physical growth as well. Besides that, it could also be noted that athletics department intend to offer programs that are likely to have an impact on the development of the children or the students towards a more active physical and mental performance. I am really hoping that somehow, you would spare sometime in considering examining the presentation that I have prepared herein, thus be able to consider the development of and the application of the suggestions presented in the actual institutional operations. Again, thank you so much for sparing some of your time. LIST OF TABLES: Proposed Pattern of funding the department   and Paying for the Service of the personnel †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.2 Personnel Roles and Responsibilities  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Proposal Page 1 ADDING AN ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT IN A NEW EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION Introduction It is undeniable that sports facilities are always treated as primary sections in any educational institutions today. This is primary because of the need of assisting students in developing their physical stamina as a part of their growth towards maturity. Studies even prove that it is not only the physical strength that is being developed through this procedure. Moreover, it could be noted that psychologists have found out that the ability of a child to think is actually empowered when their physical bodies are exercised well as part of stress relief from the mind towards the body that eases their minds to think better. Too much lecture and no exercise can actually make the brain less productive. This is the reason why educational institutions are investing well for the development of athletic departments that are expected to help their students become better academic performers. Also , with having an athletic department as part of their school, it has been made aware that this has increased competency in handling the educational needs of their students. This is the reason why I think that the establishment of an athletic department would best support the needs and the goals of this school in both the mental and the physical abilities of the students that the school is preparing themselves to cater to. Further discussion of the matter and how it particularly applies to the system of education that the institution prefers to offer shall be presented within the paragraphs that follow. Significance of the Proposal As noted earlier, physical development is a vital part of one’s growth. In establishing an athletic department within a school, it is aimed that the students receive the best service that they ought to have from all the programs offered from the educational organization. With the improvement on the process by which the students are able to relax, and learn their lessons well, the school can then gather a good reputation from their parents and staff, which would likely be passed on through word of mouth. The institution would likely have a higher number of parents trusting them for the education of their children. It is very important that the physical health of the students is given high level of attention as well as their academic achievements are given well training through the process. Through the major application of the program that the department of athletics would imply within the annual academic schedule of the institution, it is expected that the treatment of the matter would be balanced by giving more of a benefit to the development of the students of whom the organization caters to.   Proposal Page 2 How the Department is to be Established Like any other departments in educational intuitions, an athletic department needs to have a lead officer that would be in charge of setting annual schedules for the group as well as for the entire academic department. Aside from the head officers, it is important to have assistants, who are likely to assist in the process of pursuing athletic lessons, as well as athletic events that are usually handled annually as recreational break for the students of the school every now and then. But who are actually qualified to take responsibility for the said positions? Proposed Pattern of funding the department and Paying for the Service of the personnel ACTIVITIES PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TIME-LENGTH APPLICATION PAYMENT SYSTEM PAYMENT RATE Lecture and school activities Teacher or instructor for the subject (Preferably bachelors-masters degree of educational attainment) Whole year (scheduled lessons etc) Every 15th of the Month As per decided by the school administration and board of trustees Forming of Athletic Clubs for Aspiring Students Teacher/Officials (same educational attainment as above) Whole School Year [depending on the required training schedules for the selected athletes] Every 15th of the Month As per decided by the school administration and board of trustees Offering Scholarship Program for aspiring student-athletes Administrational Officials (Masters Degree of Education) Whole Year then Renewal of Terms Every 15th of the Month As per decided by the school administration and board of trustees Note: employees are to be compensated every 15th of the month for this department as the said individuals are not required to attend school everyday. There are certain schedules when they are needed thus making their job easier than that of the other employees of the institution. The rate are then decided upon by the administration depending on the hours that they spend within the premises of the school and participate on the operations of the institution. Proposal Page 3 Who are to Work within the Department Undoubtedly, an athletic department is expected to be divided into different measures of separation that would likely focus on the different aims of the department. These different sections are actually expected to handle the separation of the lecture and lesson sections of the department with that of the special events section that are used to access the athletic aims of the department. Particularly, it is understandable that the matter requires professionals who are masters of physical education instruction for the highest positions and other positions such as assistants of the program could actually be taken by other fresh graduates from college who are screened and considered competent enough to handle the responsibilities that are intended for the said job positions. Personnel Roles and Responsibilities POSITION Job Description Impact of the position within the Department and the Institution’s Success Teacher/instructor These personnel are expected to handle lecture and student regular activities offered through the institution’s curriculum. This increases the competency of the organization in handling physical health instructional responsibilities of the administration towards the community it serves. Coach Handles athletic events and motivation to the chosen athletes of the institution for competition purposes This increases the chances of the institution in making a name in the field of scholastic athletics in the community. Scholarship Assessor Examines whether who among the students are worthy to receive scholarship grants from the administration. Makes the institution more of a pillar of education that gives chances to worthy students through honing the talents and skills that they posses with regards sporting events and competitions. Administrational Head Handles the major scheduling issues of the department and gives careful arrangement for the completion of the department’s responsibilities Makes the department much organized and the institution better informed of the activities of the department. Assistantship Positions Supports the other officials of the department Makes the task much easier to complete    Proposal Page 4 Conclusion From the proposal presented, it is highly suggested that the department be carefully planned as to who shall be appointed for its important positions as it would particularly detect the competency of the entire group. Thus through this process, the surety of the department’s success is likely to be expected. Undeniably though, the cooperation of the entire institution’s body of administration is highly needed for the success of the said department. Consequently, with support from everyone in the organization, an Athletic Department could not only bring fine assistance and physical training for the students but also bring the institution a fine reputation of high excellence within the society that they are serving as a primary school. Works Cited: Richard J Dippel. (2002). An investigation of athletic department handbooks Richfield Senior High School Athletic Department. B0006R7USW. Jennifer Foley. (2000). Design and implementation of an athletic department handbook for the Red Lake Falls school district. B0006S5LMS. Wayne Mazzoni. (1998). The Athletic Recruiting Scholarship Guide. Mazz Marketing Inc; 1 edition.

Everyday Use Analysis Essay Example for Free

Everyday Use Analysis Essay â€Å"Everyday Use† is a short story by â€Å"Alice Walker†, it is a disdainful short story. A story about two sisters and a mom, that the two girls are totally different. Also teaching to stand up for what you want. This story is about a mom and a girl called Maggie that they live alone because the older sibling moved out. In the story Maggie and the mother have not seen how much Dee has changed in over six years. Dee in the short story sees that her sister Maggie and her mother have not change throughout these six years not a bit. In the story Dee and Maggie are examples of foil characters. Maggie is the very shy and polite one out of her and Dee. Maggie was the character that lived with mama, during the story it says that Maggie was burned in a house fire. This character is a character that would just blend into the background because of how shy she was, she wouldn’t talk to much; so she would rather just blend in with the surroundings. Maggie was a foil character because her and mama didnt change nothing throughout the six years that passed, while Dee did change a lot; throughout those six years. Maggie is a good hearted kid, she would rather let Dee have the quilts that were promised to her, instead of fighting over them. Dee is sisters with Maggie in this story, she is the character who is very impolite, or that does things her way. Dee is the only educated character; it says in the short story that she left so that she could be educated. Dee is noticed as a character that does whatever she wants, and have it go her way. One example is that, Dee wears a brightly colored, yellow-and-orange, ankle-length dress that is inappropriate for the warm weather. This shows that she would wear anything she wants even if its inappropriate in any way. In the story mama wouldn’t let Dee have the quilts, and she became furious. This another example that she is very stubborn, because in the end she keeps the quilts. In this story i learned that being generous and polite will get you farther in life, but if you’re stubborn, and impolite you won’t get as far in life.

Leadership And Culture In South Africa Management Essay

Leadership And Culture In South Africa Management Essay The requirement level of leadership to contain cultural diversity has raised the continuing progress of globalization. As the facts that many contemporary leaders are confronting with, they are left no choice but to make every effort to combine all cultural components inside his or her team, it is the only way to make organizational behaviors work effectively nowadays. Especially in South Africa, national leadership based on cultural clusters is extremely important for any business growth and effective leadership. Cultural integration has made major impacts on a number of issues including perceived leadership style, satisfaction and trust between leaders and employees. History Africa is the only one continent which has completely witnessed the evolvement of human beings. Archaeologists have successfully found the most original and earliest fossil of completely evolved human being, which indicate the conclusion, as demonstrated in Evolving Theory by Darwin, that Africa is considered to be the original source of human beings birth. It has been shown by a number of archaeological documents that people in each tribe of Africa had created and developed phenomenal ancient civilization for the first time in human beings history. In ancient ages, while western colonists were still locked in by glaciers, the living situation on the continent of Africa had reached peak. At that age, the Nile River was nourishing surrounding areas and the Sahara was still covered by Greenland and forests. Especially the Egyptian civilization needs to be discussed. They were the first people who successfully calculated PI as 3.16. And their achievements in construction, sculpture and paintings were remarkable as well. Pyramid and Sphinx are still the most astounding construction miracles existing in modern world, which could be also taken as a monument for talented Egyptian people. Geographical Settings Geographically, the continent of Africa can be divided into five different areas, respectively as Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa and Middle Africa. Particular climate and special geographical setting has given Africa abundant treasures and resources, which are being traded to every corner of the world. Nowadays, South Africa is famous for the abundance of mineral resource, including oil, gold and some types of rare elements. Social Relationships The language context after colonial administration in South Africa has left behind many evidences in the situation of local governments, police system, and military institutions. Education When it comes to the topic of education in South Africa, a complicated relationship between Arabian and Education had been established. Hence, the major issue of South African education has been in the center of the process of Arabian transformation. Three of this transformation include, to promote the Arabic language by building up standards and modernizing them to meet the new requirement of independent South Africa, to gradually replace French with standardized Arabic in all formal areas of lives, and to conserve authenticity of South African unique culture and value system or belief, as well as to make sure political unity and socio cultural coherence. Language Language plays an important role in modern development of South Africa, both positively and negatively. In order to maintain and strengthen major national cohesion and identity a wide range of countries in Southern Africa, language is functioning as a significant sign of group identity, in relation to a communicative system existing from different population groups. This function always stimulates a natural sense of solidarity among communities to create feeling as belonging to some group, which is much larger than local or regional area. In the complicated language environment in Africa, highly complicated set of linguistic configurations, which are presented by many continents nations, reflects a major need for caring and precautious attention to national integration. According to the 2001 census, isiZulu is the mother tongue of 23.8% of South Africas population, followed by isiXhosa at 17.6%, Afrikaans at 13.3%, Sesotho sa Leboa at 9.4%, and Setswana and English each at 8.2%. Seso tho is the mother tongue of 7.9% of South Africans, while the remaining four official languages are spoken at home by less than 5% of the population each (2001 census). Summary of spoken language in South Africa SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES 2001 Language Number of speakers* % of total Afrikaans 5 983 420 13.35% English 3 673 206 8.2% IsiNdebele 711 825 1.59% IsiXhosa 7 907 149 17.64% IsiZulu 10 677 315 23.82% Sesotho sa Leboa 4 208 974 9.39% Sesotho 3 555 192 7.93% Setswana 3 677 010 8.2% SiSwati 1 194 433 2.66% Tshivenda 1 021 761 2.28% Xitsonga 1 992 201 4.44% Other 217 291 0.48% TOTAL 44 819 777 100% Religion and other belief systems In the complicated language environment in South Africa, highly complicated set of linguistic configurations, which are presented by many continents nationalities, reflects a major need for caring and precautious attention to national integration. This is one single concept which has been recognized and adopted by majority of South African people as particularly special importance. At the latter half of 20th century, when the concept of independence had finally been achieved by across the whole African continent, the inheritance of largely imposed and arbitrary borders resulted in an immediate emergence of quite a few nations with mixed populations, people of which barely share anything in common, both in language and cultural concepts. According to the 2001 census the overwhelming majority of South Africans, or 79.8%, are Christian. The independent African Zion Christian churches predominate, being the faith of 15.3% of the total population, and 19.2% of all Christians.  · RELIGIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA Religion Number % of total Christianity 35 750 641 79.8% Islam 654 064 1.5% Hinduism 551 668 1.2% Judaism 75 549 0.2% Other beliefs 283 815 0.6% No religion 6 767 165 15% Undetermined 610 974 1.4% TOTAL 44 819 774 100% III. Cultural Dimensions: During the last forty years, people around the world have witnessed a continuous seeking for primary explanations for the astounding growth of Sub-Sahara Africa economies, the region which might be called SSA sometimes. As people summarized about the accelerating growth in Asian countries such as Malaysia and South Korea, Sub-Sahara Africa also demonstrated one pretty good picture of their economic blueprints. And the whole process of accelerating growth happened in the quite similar way with the one in Malaysia and the other in South Korea. Even though these two Asian countries have began to taste the fruits of economic miracles (Akyuz and Gore, 2001), the Situation of South Africa is usually described by some other terms such as disaster or tragedy (UNCTAD, 2004). The major reasons which resulted in this consequence include institutional and structural weakness existing in the economic model and business system of Sub-Sahara Africa. Especially there is barely attention given to pri vate enterprises development in this area. Meanwhile, some obvious issues also exist such as poor governance (Nwankwo and Richards, 2001), management ineptitude (Kamoche, 1997) and limited staff motivation. In generally, the explanation which has been universally acknowledged for South Africas poor economic performance is concerning the concept of Leadership Weakness. Some obvious phenomenon has drawn publics attention. The leaders in African society always lack effective decisions and adapt poorly according to the demands of increasingly complicated economic system (Ochola 2007). Thus, leadership development has attracted policy interest during the past three decades, being guided by the point of view that more African management practices will be needed as ones in western countries, in order to improve their leadership skills. This view has provided intellectual legitimacy for the permanently existing stream of donor funded management group training program and organizational development interventions delivered to African organizations by western consultants. As being outlined by most leadership theories in modern academic society, the other major stream of academy indicated the fact that in South Africa, culture provides a frame of reference or logic by which leadership behavior can be easily understood. For these scholars, culture symbolizes the shared values and standards which gather members of one society or organization together as a homogenous unity, which means people living in one specific cultural environment possess their conduct under the strict regulation through a collection of aspirations and universal orientations. Meanwhile, the social structures which develop through the processes of controlled behaviors are taken as to be orderly and permanently existing. Among the scholars who advocate this strong bonding relationship between leadership and cultural environments, Hofstede is the most remarkable one. Hofstedes cultural dimensions argue that an effective leadership style may be appropriate in cultures which are high in p ower distance, collectivism, masculinity and uncertain avoidance. Meanwhile, he also indicated that this autocratic leadership style might also be conducted being characterized by external environmental orientation. It is true that autocratic leadership might be more proper and well-functioned for societies in which members have a higher concept of hierarchy and are unwilling to bypass the chain of command. In the opposite direction, the relationship-centered or democratic leadership styles are much more efficiently practiced in cultures or societies where power distance is quite low, however, the individualism and femininity in these societies are relatively higher in this dimension. On the other hand, it is easy to find out the fact that this leadership style in cultures or societies where internal environmental orientation would be dominant and featured. Hence, theoretical arguments advanced in the two streams of research, cultural theories and leadership theories, have played an important role in affecting available studies on management in South Africa. However, the arguments have not been synthesized into a coherent framework which can be guiding empirical investigations in the field. A review of the current discourses on the connections between South African culture and leadership demonstrates that scholars are divided on the issue of how culture impacts leadership on the continent. There have been a large number of scholars who use culture to justify the uniqueness of South African Leadership styles, in the process of which culture serves as a unique descriptor, while others maintain African culture as an inhibitor of effective leadership practices. IV. Implications for Organizational behavior in the country cluster One key factor which people need to know, normally ignored from studies of leadership in South Africa is a consideration of the potential significance of cultural context in which leadership and management are being practiced. Recent studies have kept showing increasing awareness of this important factor. The discussion in this paper is dedicated in seeking to reinforce the importance of this line of research for aiming to gain better insights into leadership failures on the continent and to generate guidelines for effective leader development interventions. The macro cultures of South African societies as informing the goals, expectations, relationships and resource allocation decisions of African leaders. These factors reversely help them shape decisions and working patterns in the organizations. And their general contributions would be actually affected to some large scale. Employee motivation Employees are not those who deal with loyal commitment to the company and responsibilities. The leaders are performing this role. To a great extent, those employees are normally hired to provide help to the company. They dont offer feedbacks to the company and are not considered to be going through a systematic training in order to cope with other transformations going on inside the corporations. Thus, employers in South Africa need to provide some leverage for their workers, which can be seen as motivations to push employees moving forward to come up with effective results to help the team and the company. Decision-making processes (both individual group) Leadership decision making processes in South Africa are generally established with some routine international theories of decision making, which are also widely accepted concepts and solutions to other western and Asian countries. Consultations would be another major way for these leaders to develop a final decision. Every team member will be invited into the whole procedure of decision making and forced to provide personal opinions. Their opinions would be equally valued by the rest of team as the leaders decisions. No matter what the final decision would become, this procedure does a lot of benefits than the whole development of team since they provided employees with pride, dignity and motivation to devote them into the career more deeply. Group behaviors, including teams (teambuilding processes) Team building has already become an essential part for any group of workers in South Africa to grow more professionally. It is also the first step for them to bond with other people inside the team with some common interests or needs. In order to establish a more comfortable relationship and steady working environment, team leaders are forced by leadership necessities to undertake several times a month teambuilding activities. Whether these leaders can arrange such event and make sure their employees obtained a good bonding with other peers has become another major standard to measure the capability of leaders behaviors. Actually in South Africa, the multinational companies who just have local offices in this country will assign executive officers from their home country to take over the charge of teams, whose employees are selected from South Africa. Communication The major communication valid in South Africa is based on internet emails and phone calls. The first reason to explain this would be the increasingly more advanced technology worldwide and the whole world has been termed as a village where people from various countries with totally different cultural backgrounds can share information, values, and certain thoughts. And this can be relatively the most efficient way to deal with these communication demands. The reason why business trips are not as many as in other more developed countries is that travelling budget for these officers remains low in South Africa. In addition, South Africa is essentially a very tactile, and then cut it across ethnic boundaries. The back slapping, shaking hands is common for a firm, if it is foreign tourists, can be viewed as a sign of aloofness back away from this approach. For the communication style, many white South Africans, such as commitment to a diplomatic approach and speaking simply, you can confuse with subtlety and ambiguity, unreliable, or lack of it. On the other hand, emphasizes many of the black culture of communication diplomacy or other they openly admit to disappointment that the listener cannot know the answer to the question Power and politics Power and politics is left to higher level society in South Africa. Even though these employees would share thoughts and value systems with other people as soon as possible, their leaders have to deal with powerful partners in the country to make sure their political impacts would stay by their sides. Conflict and negotiation Between white group and black group, there is no difference in conflict and negotiation area, The success of negotiations, the two partners to understand when other people arrive at what you want to understand how the negotiations. Negotiations are thus part of the business culture in South Africa, but a businessman, you should avoid harsh tactics and actions.In South Africa, and business conflict will always be solved personally or at court. Any partnership in the business world of South Africa will be formed based on some sort of agreement where friendship exists, or some middle man stays between two partners as leverage. As this situation is quite common in this country, a large number of business sues would be directly solved personally when three parts of this corporation would all appear. The middle man offers a solution or suggestion, and these two involved partners would seriously discuss the solution based on their common interests. When an agreement to eliminate this confli ct is reached, none of hard feelings remain at all. However, there are still majority of cases which cannot be solved in this way. The court will be the other option. Normally when it comes to the court in South Africa, the involve amount of money would be extremely big enough to be left for personal negotiation. Organizational structure and processes Privatization is the most widely accepted way of organizing businesses in the South Africa because it allows contacts with international business. Businesses with foreign companies are organized through partnership and joint ventures. Foreigners are not allowed to own businesses in most South Africa without having a local citizen as a partner. Organizational Culture Organizational Culture, especially in the country of South Africa, involved a common value system generally held by every single member in a certain team. And this system existing uniquely in every business team varies from one to the other. Significantly affected by the cultural clusters among every single team in South Africa, organizational behaviors under this situation should be carefully undertaken. Not only employing those internationally wide accepted concepts of organizational behaviors but also delicately combining every factor which might make changes to the teams future with these common concepts bring about many obstacles or so called leadership challenges for team leaders in South Africa. Actually, this special requirement has become a major standard to measure the leading capability of leaders in this country. Acrroding the book developing people and organizations, Jackson describes South African organizations as highly hierarchical, centralized and rule bound. Management opposes clear rules, strong leadership, controls its employees and gives well-defined lines of authority. Government still has a very strong influence on business and imposes rules as well. Family has influence on the company especially with the rising importance of blacks and their tendency towards collectivism. Organizational Change South African leaders never stopped making every single effort to bring about positive results to their teams and companies. In order to accomplish this point, making changes inside their organization is a necessarily important step. As mentioned above, in several parts of South Africa, the organization structure, which used to be described as a model where overseas executives act as leaders and domestic employees make general contributions as workers, is undergoing a slight change. The reason resulting in this has something to do the intentional transformation of modern international organizational structure. After all, it would be more efficient for domestic leaders to bond with local employees in that there is a common value system and cultural background shared by them as a whole. The left issue to undertake this major change would be the primary qualification of these domestic leaders in South Africa. Thus, majority of multinational companies who have an office in this country w ould take some actions to offer systematic trainings to these selected leaders. During these trainings, these leaders will be given thoroughly of the companys culture and made to figure out a most effective way to put these thoughts and ideas into other employees minds by taking advantage of their cultural bonding with other members of the group. Implications for leading in country cluster What approach (es) or style(s) of leadership are most commonly used, and which are most/least effective? Euro-centric Approach Management of white group reflects the Euro-centric business, and personal characteristics of a dictatorial and hierarchical authority. The organization from top to bottom in the information flow from the organization, Functions of leadership, decision-makers, she or he is a very important decision. Leadership is also provided to employees through the job description to use a certain amount of power and decision-making and goal orientation. Are controlled by management, employees, to perform his duties to pursue a given target incentive and punishment is based on the ability to receive White measured significant higher than black managers on uncertainty avoidance. This means that white managers show a higher intolerance for uncertainty than black managers. It is important to note that, although white measured higher on uncertainty avoidance than black, both groups scored above average on this dimension. (468-469) Afro-centric Approach With more black community entering business this management approach may become increasingly visible in organizations. The individual is a part of everything and has to find its place in society. People need a sense of belonging somewhere, and the administration need to feel affordable. The attitude of the company is quite informal with a free flow of information. The leader is a facilitator and guide for the group. Employees receive motivation in the group, and the group could improve group performance through peoples pressure. The Black South African management group reflects high levels f collectivism and humane orientation, above average leavels of performance orientation, uncertainty avoidance and power distance, below average levels of assertiveness and future orientation and low level of Gender Egalitarianism. This profile is to a large extent opposed to the western or European management systems and comparable to the afrocentric management system, which emphasizes collective solidarity, inclusivity, collaboration, consensus and group significance, concern for people as well as working for the common good, structure through rituals and ceremonies, patricrchy, respect and dignity. (470) Synergistic Inspirational Approach This third approach is in South Africa, and trying to combine African values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹with Western technology and management practices based on the principle of the rainbow nation. Practical approach of humanism is seeking unity in diversity. A leader must create an atmosphere of trust and respect in different values, and to create common values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹and support of learning also is very important.   The company has a strong base of values; you must have a strong vision and proper management. Literally, this approach takes the best of all cultures, saying that attempts to strengthen the bond to meet future growth. It is clear that which leadership is the most effective, but it depends a lot of leaders and managers of organizations, and how quickly the change happened in South Africa. If people recognize the importance of diversity and start seeing the benefits, culture could be adapted. As Madi (1995) argues, Change is taking place in the new South Africa, even corporate culture has started to realize that we are all in Africa, and that the average South African is 15 years old and Black and they, with their sense of values, perceptions, and frames of reference, will be the workforce of tomorrow (470) à ¦Ã…“-à ¨Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ » à ¦Ã‹Å" ¾Ãƒ §Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ºÃƒ ¥Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ºÃ¢â‚¬ Ãƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã¢â‚¬ °Ãƒ ¤Ã‚ ¸Ã‚ Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­-à §Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ §Ã… ¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ ©Ã… ¸Ã‚ ³ à ¥Ã‚ ­-à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¸ à ¦Ã… ¸Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ §Ã…“†¹Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ­-à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¨Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ §Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ®Ã‚ ¹ How are leaders developed in these countries? After so many years of research and debate, a culture-based conceptual model of South African leadership has been established. Based on careful consideration, two perspectives on the connection between South African culture and leadership behavior do not conflict with each other that obviously. Corresponding to the complex theory of leadership, people need to admit the fact that there are some necessary components of South African culture that promotes unique and positive leadership behaviors. However, some other components inside the South African culture would play negative roles which might drag effective leadership and management practices back. Therefore, constricted entrepreneurship and economic growth would be affected unexpectedly. It is quite important to understand this complicated situation, in order to confront with the fact that success of any leadership development initiative on the continent and future research should seek to provide us with that knowledge. And the obs ervation underlining conceptualization of leadership proposed in this essay might be useful as a conceptual model, focusing on the importance of three dimensions of leadership. Provide any other leadership insights about leading in this country cluster Employees stay loyally to a certain employers with reasons. The simplest one would be the fact that employers would be their major sources of money, security and opportunities for career development. Some leaders might be not made of but they were instead born with great leaderships. And there might be some major differences between political leaders and leaders in other fields, because those leaders in political world choose to stay there for life. Expatriate Assignment preparation: What key factors need to be considered when training expatriate managers for assignment in your country cluster? Model the way will be the first step to undertake an effective leadership. It doesnt immediately make any difference for just getting a title or a promotion. Instead, what helps the leaders win respects from their followers and gain honors from the companies they serve. Hence, it is quite important for them to perform as a role for their employees to follow. Only by achieving this can a leadership be successfully realized. Second, they have to lock our common target which is making profits by increasing revenue and controlling cost and it was the next move to make everybody in the team to believe that this is the inspired vision, which could bring them an exciting, highly attractive future for our career. INSPIRING A SHARED VISION is the second trick to make team extraordinary. While luck or being in the right place at the right time may play a role in the specific situations, it is believed that challenging the process is a wiser choice. Since they are developing an innovative solution based on a creative product, coming with a cutting-edge service, leading the team to make revolutionary turnaround of current embarrassment is significantly crucial. Now, they are aware of the locked target, inspired a common vision for their future and they are also ready to challenge the process, it is the right time to enable others to act. The leaders need to foster collaboration and build trust, because they understand that grand dreams do not become significant reality through the actions of a single leader, leadership is a team effort. The employees need motivation all the time to remain aggressive during the pursuit of achievement as a team member. What the leaders inside a team can do is to offer encouragement of the heart to stimulate the followers to move on. Especially in contemporary business world, accomplishing one single task requires a lot of efforts and many other factors to contribute. That has become the responsibility for the leaders to keep encouraging their followers to never fall behind.

Dispute Resolution Processes Essay -- Legal Process

Introduction This paper will examine when it is appropriate to attempt alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes for disputes and conversely when it is fitting for matters to be decided in a courtroom with black-robed judges and well dressed lawyers. Complementing the correct ‘intervention [courtroom, facilitative ADR or another form of ADR] at the right time, price and place with the right disputants’ is not necessarily an easy task (Wade 2010, p. 13) and the line separating alternative dispute resolution processes and judicial intervention can be blurred especially as judicial officers conduct, refer or mandate parties to participate in ADR (Sourdin, 2009, p. 190). Proof that fine panelled courtrooms may not be the answer to dispute settlement is the move towards the ‘mandatory’ use of alternative methods prior to hearings (Ardagh and Cumes, 2007, p. 206). Do most people with problems want pain relief quickly and inexpensively? Yes most people in pain want relief quickly and inexpensively but they often want other things too. They want to be heard, they want to heal the hurt and they want a ‘satisfactory [and]†¦ enduring’ outcome (Moore, 2004, p. 2). They also want to change from having ‘a destructive interaction to a constructive one’ (Ardagh, 1999, as cited by Spencer and Hardy, 2009, p. 165). There are differing views about the suitability of facilitative ADR approaches for various types of conflict. Some believe that this type of ADR is more appropriate for addressing ‘interest disputes than rights disputes’ (Boulle & Nesic, 2001 as cited by Van Gramberg, 2006, p. 121). Van Gramberg states that ‘personal grievances’ may be adequately resolved by facilitative processes but where a law or legal right has been b... ...negotiation or mediation; this case needs a judge: When is litigation the right solution? Mediation Quarterly, Vol. 18, Iss. 3, pp. 259-280. Retrieved 12 December 2010 http://works.bepress.com/john_wade/8/ Wade, J. (2009). Negotiating with Difficult People. Professor John Wade, Faculty of Law, Bond University, August. Retrieved 12 December 2010 from http://epublications.bond.edu.au/drcn/35/ Wade, J. (2010). Matching disputes and responses: How to diagnose causes of conflict, and to respond with appropriate interventions and/or referrals. Law papers. Paper 319. Retrieved 12 December 2010 from http://epublications.bond.edu.au/law_pubs/319 Wilkins, F. (2002, January 18). Disputed territory – mediation and other ADR processes. Lawyers Weekly, pp. 14, 15. Zehr, H. (1985). Retributive justice, restorative justice, (15 pages). US Office of Criminal Justice.