What is Truth Essay Example for Free

What is Truth Essay Abstract â€Å"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. † Truth is education, but a person could never find the truth without being enlightened. The truth is the easiest thing to find, but many people do not care to find it. Most are more comfortable with the truth or afraid of what actually might be true. However, if they would just be optimistic and fearless they might actually experience and learn more. Anyone can find, learn, and appreciate almost anything that can be taught. And when a person can truly experience any one thing they become enlightened. Not only can this person share his experience but he can also spread the knowledge of what he had learned. Sometimes it is important to examine all possibilities because the amount you can learn can have huge impact on your life. In Mark Twain’s â€Å"Advice to Youths† and Plato’s â€Å"The Allegory of the Caves,† both authors portray that enlightening and experiencing are the two most important aspects of finding the truth. The Truth is in the Knowledge First of all, as a child, you can find more truths simply just listening to your parents then you could if you just ignore them. The amount of respect and trust you show your parents is directly related to the amount of freedoms and trust they give back to a child. The more a child can show they can listen and learn the more their parents enable them to broaden their experiences. [In Advice to Youth, Twain states, â€Å"Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring them that superstition then you can by acting on your own judgment †] Just because you do what your parents tell you, doesn’t mean you need to believe what they’re saying. Just watch your mouth while listening, and still form your opinion down the road. That way your parents will be happy, and still think they know more. While you can still be enlightened more later on down the road. Only one thing can even compare in importance to the truth, and that is a lie. Everyone sees lying as a bad thing, but it is a very important part of life. Every aspect of lie is important; they all have an impact on the outcome in the end. [In Advice to Youth, Twain says, â€Å"Now as to the matter of lying. You want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you’re nearly sure to get caught. †] Once someone catches you in a lie; your relationship changes for the rest of your life. Some might have the tolerance to forgive but they still will have lost faith in you as person. That is why Mark Twain is saying how important lying is in finding the truth in life. You must experience both sides of lies, and learn from them. You never know what a lie might cost you. A person can have a horrible experience the worst time in their life, but as long as they pick themselves up and learn from it; one achieves the best possible outcome from their situation. When someone is down it is pretty hard to cheer them up. You should help them realize they built character and knowledge from it, and the result is a stronger person. [In The Allegory of the Cave, Plato writes, â€Å"Build your character thoughtfully and painstakingly upon these precepts, and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everyone else’s. †] Sometimes a person cannot help what happens in their life. That is why a lot of people look at you differently as person after you react to controversy. Some would go as far as saying that helps build character and also shows toughness. The more a person is able to experience in life; the more enlightened and knowledgeable they become. First hand experiences are the easiest, and more often than not, the most effective way to educate. There is no better way to start building memory then hands on activities with whichever subject you want to learn about. [Plato also states, â€Å"Last of all he will be able to see the sun and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not another; and he will contemplate him as he is. †] You cannot send someone out to do a job they’ve never done before. You will end up with a mess, which is why experience is just as important as learning anything. It is also why experiencing is just as important to truth as anything else. In closing, both Twain and Plato were saying that you need to learn if you want to find the truth about anything. And when they mean learn they are talking about every single thing around someone. You can simply enjoy life more by broadening skills and learning about things near and far. It is more important to find the truth rather than being scared or avoiding it. The truth can be something bad but you’ll never come out on the positive end of it if you don’t learn from it. Not everything is wrong just because everyone says that it is. A person needs to experience to find the truth and form their own opinion.

Risk management and hedging

Risk management and hedging Risk Management And Hedging In Derivatives Market Risk management can be undertaken in several different manners, which often depends on the structure and initiatives for the specific firm. One commonly used approach is to hedge in the derivatives market, which consists of futures, forwards, swaps, CFDs, warrants, convertibles and options. Derivatives are financial instruments whose value and performance depends on the value of underlying assets, for example equities, stock market indices, exchange rates, commodities etc. The main argument for hedging is for companies to minimize risks that may arise from interest rates, exchange rates, and other market variables and volatilities. By engaging in derivatives companies manage their various risks by hedging a position, to be more certain what the outcome will be. For example, one can hedge a certain amount of currency at a future point in time, in order to know exactly how much that will be received/paid at the specific time thereby avoiding the risk of losing value because of the exchange rate risk. There are however also arguments against hedging in the derivatives market. Establishing hedging programs may be very costly, and if there are alternative and more cost efficient ways to reduce risks, such as operational and financial strategies, that could be preferable. Furthermore, sometimes hedging may lead to losses even though there is a gain on the underlying asset, which is a scenario that is difficult to explain to stakeholders. If losses appear too often, this could cause mistrust from the shareholders, and should then be avoided. One has to consider the overall trade-off between costs and savings when engaging in hedging to manage and reduce risks. It is therefore also necessary for management to undergo thorough risk assessments and to construct firm specific schedules, in order to identify the most significant risks and subsequently to establish risk preventing actions. Hedging is in addition mostly used by institutions that are extensively exposed to the various busines s and market risks, and who most of the time would benefit from undertaking such actions. However, derivatives may also be used by the private sector if necessary. The article Who Manages Risk? An Empirical Examination of Risk Management Practices in the Gold Mining Industry by Peter Tufanoexamines a new database that details corporate risk management activity in the North American gold mining industry. The article claims that academics know remarkably little about corporate risk management practice, even though almost three fourths of corporations have adopted at least some financial engineering techniques to control their exposures to intresest rates, foregin exchange rates, and commodity prices. There is little empirical support for the predictive power of theories that view risk management as a means to maximize shareholder value. The article furthermore describes risk management practices and tests their conformance with existing theory by analyzing an industry that seems almost tailor-made for academic investigation: the North American gold mining industry. These firms share a common and clear exposure in that their output is a globally traded, volatile commodity. Firms can manage this exposure using a rich set of instruments, including forward and futures contracts, gold swaps, gold or bullion loans, rolling forward commitments called spot deferred contracts, and options. Perhaps most importantly, firms in the gold mining industry disclose their risk management activities in great detail. The gold industry has embraced risk management: over 85 percent of the firms in the industry used at least some sort of gold price risk management in 1990-1993. Using industry-specific measures for firms exposures, cost structures, and investment programs, Tufano tests whether cross-sectional differences in risk management activity can be explained by academic theory. For example, theory predicts more extensive risk management by firms more likely to face financial distress, which in this industry can be measured by operating costs and leverage. Other theories posit that corporate risk management activities might be linked to risk aversion of corporate managers, and the form in which they hold a stake in the firm. These theories would predict that firms whose managers hold greater equity stakes as a fraction of their private wealth would be more inclined to manage gold price risk, but those whose managers hold options might be less inclined to manage gold price risk. This article tes ts the predictive (as compared with the prescriptive) power of the various theories, i.e., whether they help describe the choices made by firms. He finds that gold mining firms risk management decisions are consistent with some of the extant theory. Managerial risk aversion seems particularly relevant; the data bear out Smith and Stulzs (1985) prediction that firms whose managers own more stock options manage less gold price risk, and those whose managers have more wealth invested in common stock manage more gold price risk. These results seem robust under a variety of econometric specifications, and using a number of alternative proxy variables. In contrast, theories that explain risk management as a means to reduce the costs of financial distress, to break the firms dependence on external financing, or to reduce expected taxes are not supported strongly. He also finds that firm risk management levels appear to be higher for firms with smaller outside block holdings and lower cash balances, and whose senior financial managers have shorter job tenures. â€Å"Managing Foreign Exchange Risk with Derivatives†by Gregory W. Brown is a field study of HDG, a multinational manufacturing company of durable equipment with sales in more than 50 countries that actively encounters 24 different currency exchanges. Although multinational companies like HDG are always exposed to foreign exchange risk, this is one of very few studies that investigate the risk management operations for a non-financial corporation. Since multinational companies tend to be very complex, while using multiple strategies, a field study of this nature provides a deeper understanding of how the risk management process works. Dr. Brown attempts to answer to three main questions. First he wants to understandhowthe Forex risk management program is structured; second,whythe firm focuses on management of exchange risk; finallywhatHDG uses within their hedging derivative portfolio in order to minimize their foreign exchange risk. In order to get a comprehensive understanding Dr. Brown investigated HDG over 14 quarters starting from 1995 and ending in 1998. The structure of HDGs foreign exchange group consisted of 11 employees who were not considered â€Å"traders†, with an average experience of 4 years, whose focus was not only hedging foreign exchange risk. The program cost which included salaries and overhead was approximately $1.5M annually, and the overall transactional costs averaged around $2.3M annually. HDG had an actual foreign exchange risk policy which focused to reduce transactional, translational, and overall economic exposures. In order to meet this policy the group actively engaged in spot and forward contracts, currency put option, and currency call options. Traditional economic theories usually illustrate hedging Forex risk for benefits such as reducing taxable income, protecting against potential costs of financial distress, and reducing overall volatility of wealth. HDG however, focu sed its risk management program on smoothing out earnings impacts, providing the company with competitive pricing, and enabling improved internal control management. In some ways it seemed that HDG was attempting to use Forex risk hedging in a speculative attempt to increase potential income and thereby increase overall firm value. The procedure used in Forex risk hedging was quite simplistic. The department would not use live market feeds but rather sources such as Bloomberg to signify a â€Å"hedge rate† from current market rates and overall cost of derivatives. This information would then be passed onto the tax department and after review would be developed into a hedging strategy to forecast future hedging activity. Browns statistical studies of HDGs hedging activities concluded that the models R-squared value increased as the time horizon decreased. This indicated that the companies hedging activity was dramatically affected by its most recent hedging transactions. This may seem rather obvious but the strongest tests only indicated 55% in accuracy. In all Brown explains there is much more in the way of testing that needs to beconducted in order to better evaluate which additional factors significantly influence the Forex risk management of multinational non-financial companies. This study should be the start of a new investigation in understanding currency risk perspectives. In Risk Measurement and Hedging: With and Without Derivatives, Petersen and Thiagarajan (2000) explore the reasons for two gold mining companies to use opposite approaches in managing their risk, namely American Barrick, which aggressively hedges its gold price risk with derivatives, and Homestake Mining, which uses no derivatives. By studying two firms from the same industry, which hardly has any variation in product quality, the fundamental differences that lead to the different approaches in risk management can be examined. Homestake Mining is focused on developing its own properties and hence, spends more on exploration costs (capital and labour costs), which makes high gold prices profitable if they are not correlated with exploration costs. The greater need of investment capital Homestakes Mining has when gold prices are high makes reductions in the volatility of operating cash flow less valuable to it as a complete hedging would take cash flow away when gold prices are high, i.e. when Homestake Mining is in need of it. The different opportunities companies possess of also explain some reasons for different risk management strategies. Homestake Mining has for example lower costs of adjusting the mining output than American Barrick as the former can (over a short period) alter the quality of the ore that is mined. This mining strategy creates costs that vary positively with the price of gold and thus provides the firm with a natural hedge, which American Barrick does not possess of. As managers will act differently according to the risk they are personally bearing, compensation strategies is of upmost importance when it comes to risk management. Both the American Barrick and Homestake Mining use options to link the managerial wealth to the shareholder wealth, however, American Barrick does so more intensively. Also, its compensation is equity-focused where the bonuses are linked to the stock values, whereas Homestake Miningss bonuses are linked to the profitability, which explains why the latter adjusts its costs as gold prices change. The earnings are quite volatile, however through this can be reduced by different choices of accounting techniques, which is the reason for Homestake Mining to changes them in opposite direction to gold prices, where American Barrick rarely alters its accounting choices at all. From the above findings one may conclude that the choice of managing risks depends on various firms specific characteristics; their firm structure, management contracts and incentives. Specifically, it is a matter of the trade-off between costs and savings/benefits. Establishing and maintaining derivatives program is often quite costly, and therefore the alternative of using other methods to hedge risks may be preferable. In the article Hedging and Coordinated Risk Management: Evidence from Thrift Conversions, the writers argue that the firms risk management can be used to reallocate the firms total risk between different sources, rather than reduce it. So in this case hedging doesnt necessarily equal total risk reduction as often stated, but rather a technique of risk-reallocation or as an essential part of a firms profit-maximizing strategy. This becomes clearer if we separate risk in to two types, based on the activities where the firms have their comparative information advantages, namely: -Core business risk: Firms earn rents or economic profit for taking on activities bearing this risk. -Homogenous risk: Financial risk as interest rate changes, foreign currency exchange rates, or commodity prices. By contrast there is no compensation for bearing this kind of risk. (This doesnt necessarily apply if the firm has a comparative information advantage in the financial risk sector, then financial risk can then become core business risk. If we now consider a risky asset, it may be viewed as a portfolio of multiple claims from the owners. These claims are bundled together which basically means that the firm must take on all the projects if it wants any of them. A subset of these projects may be â€Å"core business projects† which have a positive NPV for the firm, and the remaining subset may be projects bearing homogenous risk with NPV = 0 (the firm hasnt any disadvantage/advantage compared to others in assessing the unsystematic risk). The total variability of a portfolios cash flow of course includes both risk types. An example of this could be a farmer expecting payment for breeding pigs. Then his superior equipment or animal feed preparation would be categorized as activities bearing core business risk, while the price of pork would be homogenous risk. When increase in total risk is costly, risk composition becomes more important as the firm value becomes a concave function of the expected cash flows. Therefore if the risky asset was separable (which it is not), we would only seek to invest in positive NPV projects with core business risk. However this is not the case and therefore we can instead make a trade off by decreasing homogenous risk while gaining additional exposure to core business risk and still maintain the target level of total risk. This substitution is called â€Å"coordinated risk management† and can be attained by the use of derivatives. They test for coordinated risk management in a sample of thrifts that convert from the mutual to stock form of ownership. These conversions have been used to recapitalize the thrift industry since 1982 where legal barriers were cleared. From 83 to 88, 571 conversions issuing stock totaling over $10 billion were completed, compared to only 130 mutual-to-stock conversions between 75 and 82. At the end of 82, stock saving and loans managed only 30% of the industrys assets, but by the end of 88, stock saving and loans controlled 74% of the industrys total assets, going from $686 billion to $1,4 trillion. These converting thrifts provided an interesting sample to test whether the use of hedging can be part of an overall strategy to increase total risk. They argued that converting thrifts will attempt to increase their overall level of firm risk following conversion due to changes that occur at the time of conversion. In other words, these institutions are a unique case relative to empirical studies of risk management that focuses on firms with incentives to decrease total risk. The reasons for converting institutions to increase total firm risk are likely because of these two major reasons: 1. A converting institutions ability to take risk increases at the time of conversion, even though the investment opportunities do not change. This is because conversion provides financial slack and access to capital markets. A conversion typically proceeds at least the book value of equity of the mutual thrift. Assuming that pre-conversion mutual equity meets regulatory capital requirements, doubling the capital ratio creates a larger borrowing capacity that can be used to double the asset size of the thrift. Increasing thrift size does not necessarily imply an increase of thrift risk. However, thrifts usually have incentives to grow by investing in riskier assets because of flat deposit insurance premiums that allow thrifts to shift risk to the government. 2. Converting institutions are predicted to increase the total firm risk following because of the change in their managers incentives for risk taking. Before the conversion, managers receive a fixed salary. But upon conversion, shareholders are able to include stock and stock options in a managers compensation contract, aligning the managers interest with the shareholders. In this situation, the manager will typically be more willing to take risks in order to maximize firm value. The Test Schrand and Unal has used sample data from conversions completed between January 1, 1984 and December 31, 1988. They have also made some selecting in the sample excluding the supervisory mergers and merger-conversions. Also they further exclude smaller companies by having a minimum limit of $100 million among the sample companys. As of the methodology Schrand and Unal have used a quantitative time-series study, where they have analyzed the changes in total risk, interest-rate risk and credit risk using an ordinary least squares method. The model is a form of a least squares method where they have added the term Time(t+k). The extra term is an indicator variable which is equal to one if quarter t is k quarters from the conversion quarters, and if not the term equals zero. As of the independent variables in the model, they can be seen as tests, indicating the differences between the risks of the average converting institution and the risks of the average institution in the control group. However the model doesnt indicate whether the interest risk and credit risk are coordinated. Therefore Schrand and Unal have used another model to analyze if there is an association between the interest risk and the credit risk. The model which is a pooled time-series cross-sectional regression is computed as follows: Here Schrand and Unal predict a positive slope between the interest risk (XSNET) and the credit risk (XSHIGH). The Empirical Results The study show that the converting institutions capital position increases with roughly 70 percent after the conversion. Also the study shows that the converting institutions significantly decrease their exposure to interest risk. However the Credit risk increases when converting, because of taking more risk in their loan portfolios. Further the study indicates that the investment patterns are related to the actual conversion rather than the time-trend within the industry. Also they conclude that the increased use of derivatives is a strategic decision and not a mechanical phenomenon. References Brown, G. W. (2001), â€Å"Managing foreign exchange risk with derivatives†, Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 60, pp. 401-448. Naik, N. Y., and P. K. Yadav (2003), â€Å"Risk Management with Derivatives by Dealers and Market Quality in Government Bond Market†, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 58 (5), pp. 1873-1904. Schrand, C., and H. Unal (1998), â€Å"Hedging and Coordinated Risk Management: Evidence from Thrift Conversions†, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 53 (3), pp. 979-1013. Tufano, P. (1996), â€Å"Who Manages Risk? An Empirical Examination of Risk Management Practices in Gold Mining Industry†, The Journal of Finance, Vol. 51(4), pp. 1097-1137. Petersen, M. A., and S. R. Thiagarajan, (2000), Risk Management and Hedging: With and Without Derivatives, Financial Management, Vol. 29(4), pp. 5-30.

Vodafones Product Portfolio

Vodafones Product Portfolio Introduction Customer are always right that’s what’s is known as the principle of business regardless of what the business it is might be a retail store a manufacturing unit or even a service company the basic rule is customers are always right. The question is that why? Why are the customers always right and not the suppliers? The answer is clean and neat, the customers are the ones who facilitate the companies with revenue on which the produce the products or pay the salary to their employee and even the only source to pay off different bills. however the customers different from needs and what and since the economic resources are scares the companies have to come across different tradeoff situation where they have to choose the best possible mix of products and services that they will provide to their customers. The product mix that is decided by the suppliers are compressed in a product portfolio. A product portfolio is a method to maximize the literal value of the producible goods and services in accordance with the strategic planning by the shareholders. However a product portfolio is customized on the basis of demands by the customers and their ability to pay, another thing to add up on product portfolio is to segmenting the customers and market on which they want to focus is very important as for once the market is segmented the companies can look for more strategic marketing and operational plans. Segmenting the market can be quite easy if the companies answer one of three basic questions of marketing FOR WHOM TO PRODUCE. By these different tools and methods a company can decide on a perfect product portfolio for their market. Vodafone an international telecommunication company has been trying to plant in their foots in Qatar since year 2009 and is yet not able to capture at least 50% of the market share and the reason is imperfect product portfolio. In the project I will explain the present product portfolio of Vodafone and also give different recommendations for the company to make it better Managing customers by FISH By managing customers like fish doesn’t literally mean that customers are fish instead it is a short for â€Å"First In Still Here† a customer that visits a company once doesn’t always have to go there the next time. However the aim of every company is to keep the customers active in the organization and to supply them for endless time. The fish states that a customer who comes in for the first time should be treated in such a way that he stay in forever (Wang huges, 2014). The customers are known as rational and they may shift to any other organization it sees more value for money hence these customers need to be satisfied by dividing them into different groups such as their age, sex, attitude or even their reliability or monthly income and buying structure. Fish is not about managing customers for short term but to provide customers a comfortable environment which they carve for so that they continue visiting it again and again. In addition to this cooperation’s lack the trust building with the customers and the organizations loose customers due to not coming up to customer expectations even though it’s not the organizations faults as for the customers are so diverse and ever changing it is quite difficult to shift their resources every now and then hence it is very difficult for the companies to decide on one single accurate product portfolio. However in the next segments I would identify different techniques to find out which departmen ts or products should be removed from the organizations portfolio in order to make it effective Strategic account management Strategic account management better known as SAM is a strategic approach which comes from account management. However it is used to ensure positive and appropriate relations with different customers of the organization and it provides a shoulder to step on and freshen up relations with important and major customers.in addition to this SAM believes in providing definite customers with their specific and tailored goods and services that provide the prestige SAM has been increasingly involved in different companies due to diverse relationships required in a business community in the fields of business-business and business-customer .however strategic account management has successfully pushed the companies from no relation to very good relations with their customers and supply chain. In addition to this another advantage is that due to Strategic account management has facilitated organizations to identify different opportunities and increase income massively. Next it is seen that due to increasing number of customers, companies and competition to win the market strategic account management has been a competitive tool for different organizations to excel in the today’s world also as for strategic account management facilitates organizations in segmenting the market, teaming up with supply chain, winning the loyal customers and also to increase their profits. However the main role player in the game is the product portfolio and deciding on the products with keeping the customers in mind and the aim of satisfying them. Customer segmentation Customer segmentation is known as the door to success. Once a company is able to segment its market the company is assured to enjoy profits and high loyal customer average. Different scholars talk about customer segmentation as a goldmine available to the organizations the point arises how effectively the organization segments the market. If an organization does not faithfully decide on accurate customer segmentation it is likely to face loss as for the non-demanded products would be available to the market left unsold. Without customer segmentation a marketing mix is like a disabled person as for once the market is segmented the organizations decide on the product, price, place and promotion unless and until an organization knows there the buyers of their location, what their budget is or how much they are willing to pay, what they demand or like and what offers or promotions they are looking for it is useless to supply in general public, for no one would be willing to buy the products. Finally after customer segmentation a company is required to design a product portfolio and differentiate products, prices and designs on the basis of their customer’s affordability and income structure. It is also identified that organizations are better off when they segment the market and on the basis of income structure of the customers as for the organizations re able to identify different product portfolios for customers who are more profitable and low cost effective. Vodafone’s customers Telecom industry is known as one of the ever living industry as for rather than just being immortal the customers of telecommunication industry keeps increasing in the market. The different telecom industries in the world are able to generate new markets through the advancement of technology and derived demand through the mobile phones. In the matter of Qatar only two telecommunication companies’ reside major being the Qtel and Vodafone. Both the companies are quite competitive in order to win more and more market share of Qatar .however both the companies fight on the basis of different customer oriented approaches available to utilize. Until the introduction of Vodafone Qtel had complete control of the market but Vodafone being an international telecom industry they have actively captured enough of the market share. However it is not a huge percentage or accurate to the percentage that was expected through Vodafone and the blame is in correct product portfolio. Qatar being an Arab country requires different services unlike the western population. The chart one shows the different market share captured by the telecom industries in Qatar Chart 1- In the year 2009 it is seen that Vodafone was able to capture 16% of the market share very effectively and the reason can be due to being a fresh company in the industry the customers were likely to enter into contracts with the company in order to try something new. However after the years Vodafone is able to sustain itself but no much growth is shown in the market and finally in the year 2013 Vodafone is able to capture 25% of the market share. However the market share should be increased to a much more better ratio unlike the company from year 2009-2012 Products and services offered by Vodafone: Connectivity- Vodafone product known as gateway is a signal booster for wireless connections Headsets and headphones – Bluetooth enabled headphones Memory cards- micro and mini memory card Chargers- portable mobile and tablet chargers. Prepaid Sim cards – extras, smart packs, calls, sms, internet over mobile, data celluar. Postpaid Sim cards- Red, Classic 100. Youth packages- Falla, anghami+. Fixed telephone lines Vodafone has divided and segmented its customers on the basis of the number of customers they are able to pull of the market. However I have turned the statistic in chart format as it can be seen below in chart 2. Since Vodafone is able to capture only 25% of the 1.8 million population in the Qatar it has a number of customers using their mobile services which touch to approximately 300000 whereas on the other hand a number of customers use fixed fines still with about 100000 and broad band connections end up to 180000. Table 1- Customer portfolio Customer portfolio is made up to identify different groups of services provided by an organization in the matter of the revenue it generates for the company due to this an organization is able to judge and understand that not all segments are the same and on which of the products the company is earning very well and which of the segments they are facing losses The most important part of any organization is to send back satisfied customers and it is only possible with the way of generating an intelligent portfolio .however an intelligent or reliable portfolio is only possible through a very tested and decided upon market segment where the organization has divided its products on the basics on what the customers actually need and what they are willing to pay for and add value to strategic accounts’ services and products in line with the vision the organization has and the mission it wants to reach on. A number of scholars explain that every customer or segment for instance should be treated very differently and apart for other so that they feel the services they are opting to are specially designed for them and they come out feeling prestigious. Hence in the matter of Vodafone it is very important that they decide upon a different package for every customer that pops up in their office and make him feel special in the matter if attractiveness, price and design. Below the table shows a outlook client portfolio for vodafone that displays spans and segments of clients of that the marketing strategy ought to depend on as investing on every single segment according to reports development and the relationship/service requirement. The pursuing segments embody possible attractiveness reports and supplementary reports that the firm has to strategically assess beforehand requesting each investment in their product portfolios. BGG matrix Advantages and implications of BCG Matrix Focuses attention on cash flow and needs It is quantifiable and facile to use Easy to recall words and their meanings after denoting to company units Assume colossal marketplace allocate, economies of scale, and price association BCG has two constituents such as upcoming attractiveness of SBA (growth and profitability prospect) and stable extrapolated competitive locale (if our competitive locale looks precisely as nowadays next extrapolate). Star- (growth strategy)- the product that falls in the category of stars is said to be good nowadays and good in the upcoming so kiss it, affection it but you demand to do diagnosis all the period because if gaps increases next it moves to question mark so larger do diagnosis every single period and do not stay. However in short it can be said as mobile cellular packages specially prepaid service which mean pay before you call .however mobile data packages and prepaid call rates from Vodafone is acting as start for the company and it may further generate revenues for the company Question mark- (growth strategy)- the products that fall in the category of question marks are said to be poor nowadays and good in the upcoming so you seize milk from cow and locale it in question mark as a matter of fact broadband connections are acting as question marks for the Vodafone company . However we believe that in the near future it is likely to increase sales and come up generating profits for the company. Dog- (retrenchment strategy) the products that fall in the category of Dogs they are said to be poor nowadays and poor in the upcoming so locale the dog beyond the door that is cut back from SBA .however in the situation of Vodafone it is the land-line connection and due to the advancement and common sizing of mobile phones there are a very few chances for the community to accept landlines again. On the other hand it is a hectic situation for a person to shift from one service provider to another in the matter of landlines. Hence Vodafone is not able to capture of much of the market in Qatar Cow- (stability) –the goods that fall in the category of cash cows good nowadays and poor in the upcoming so cash cow that is seize the milk and be it a little whereas else. Retain milking the cow that is SBA acting good nowadays but not in the upcoming so make as far money as probable now. In the matter of Vodafone I can be easily understood that the product they are talking about is specially tailored youth services which mainly include Fallah service and is meant to be cheap and for a minor call rate. However the customers of Fallah program of Vodafone has not only captured the youth but also many women and men in the community Conclusions In conclusion to this project we can understand the importance of product portfolio, how it changes the impact it has in the community and how it is able to capture the market share with regards to Vodafone it is understood how the company should work on its product portfolio and what things Vodafone is lacking in its product portfolio. In addition to this an organization is supposed to understand on what products it should produce and segment the market on the basics of the targeted segment by which the organization is able capture more market share and return back satisfied customers in the matter of Vodafone the company has no yet able to segment the market accurately and they should look towards the customers they are targeting and what they require I can justify this by stating the matter of fact of Vodafone that they are unable to provide different services to women and they are forced to come to youth Fallah packages as for it suits their needs more accurately . However finall y the Vodafone is analyzed on the basic of BGG matrix in the way that the cash cows, stars , dogs and question marks are identified. Recommendations After assessing Vodafone’s client portfolio and dotted the crucial question marks reports it feels that for Vodafone it is important to own the world-class sales forces and report association qualities as grasping business-to-business and business-to-customer connections, be confidentially accountable for clients wanted aftermath, comprehend their company and necessities, being adjacent and inside grasp, resolve customers’ setbacks, and be creative in responding to customers’ needs across an innovative RD workshop Vodafone has to gaze beyond the competitive gains that they own, they have to grasp an competent client connections and report association by looking into customers’ needs and clarify deep vision of their customer’s expectations, and recognize the needs and opportunities beforehand their clients do, they have to deed as a crucial power for their clients and add worth to their services, because clients yet demand their telecom operator to d eed and present in a method that differentiate them from their matches and uphold a competitive locale in the marketplace as corporates and of sequence meets confidential needs as individual customers. Though, Vodafone has to accept additionally a Crucial Client Association (SCM) outlook that can be attained across strategizing of sales procedures and constructions Vodafone outlook SCM necessities the following:

Slavery in Shakespeares The Tempest :: Tempest essays

Slavery in The Tempest  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Slavery occurs on a widespread basis in The Tempest. Occurrence of slavery to many of the characters, all in different ways, helps to provide the atmosphere for the play. The obvious slaves are not the only slaves, as Prospero has basically got everybody entranced when he wants, to do whatever he wants with them. He can also control the way that they think.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first and most obvious slave is ariel. Ariel is an airy spirit who is promised his freedom by Prospero if his job is done well. His job was to entrance the visitors to the island under Prospero's control. "What Ariel! My industrious servant, Ariel!" That is what Prospero said in act 4, scene 1, line 33. He was talking to his slave, Ariel, who entranced the visitors to the island.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another example could be Alonso, the king of Naples. Since he is not in Naples, but on Prospero's island, and under his control, he is a slave in a way. In act 3, scene 3, lines 95-102, Alonso admits complete and utter loss of control. "O, it is monstrous, monstrous! Methought the billows spoke and told me of it; The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder, that deep and dreadful organ pipe, pronounced the name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass. Therefore my son i' th' ooze is bedded; and I'll seek him deeper than e'er plummet sounded and with him there lie mudded." He is telling us that Prospero is in control of him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Prospero, Trinculo, and Stephano are in control of Caliban, the deformed son of Sycorax, and therefore Caliban is their slave. "Monster lay-to your fingers; help to bear this away where my hogstead of wine is, or I'll turn you out of my kingdom. Go to, carry this. In act 4, scene 1, lines 250-253, Stephano told Caliban to carry something for him, or he would be out of his kingdom. He treats Caliban like dirt because he is their slave.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In act 4, scene 1, lines 262-265, Prospero is describing how all of his former friends are now pretty much under his control, even though they don't know it, and enslaved to Prospero. "At this hour lies at my mercy all mine enemies. Shortly shall my labors end, and thou shalt have the air at freedom."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In act 5, scene 1, lines 7-10, it states "Confined together in the same fashion as you gave in charge, just as you left them-all prisoners, sir, in the line grove which weather-fends your cell.

Horney And Jewel :: essays research papers

For my paper I decided to use Karen Horney’s Social Psychological Viewpoint on the â€Å"Search for Social Security† and compared it with the singer Jewel. I found that Jewel and Horney’s viewpoint went together well. Jewel is someone that has social security and I will give examples of how she got it and how she deals with society. I got my information from an article I read about Jewel talking about the new book she just wrote on herself. The book is called Chasing down the dawn; Jewel describes it as, â€Å" the upward spiral in my life.† Horney emphasized the individuals search for a sense of security in the world as the primary motivational force in personality. In attempting to establish a sense of security, each person develops a particular personality style for coping with the world. Jewels personality style for coping with the world is one of the rules she lives by: â€Å"To live a true to yourself life, to be honest and courageous and know that good things will follow out of that.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Horney assumed that the early relationship between parent and child was extremely important in determining personality in adulthood. Jewel had very good relationships with her parents, even when they divorced when she was only eight years old. She lived with her father for a while, who was a folk singer, in Alaska. They would perform together. Then she went and lived with her mother in California, where they moved into vans parked side by side to save money so Jewel could make music a priority. I think it helped her singing career a lot by the way her parents were so supportive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are three strategies for achieving social security. They are: Moving toward, against, and away from people. Moving toward people involves believing that if you go along with people and give them what they want, they will give you love and a sense of affection. Out of the three strategies Jewel moves toward people more. When fans and critics say they want to know the â€Å"real Jewel,† she considers it a good thing, because â€Å"That’s what they’re gonna get! I can’t be about trying to hide what’s not perfect about me.† It takes a lot of courage to remain true and authentic to who and what you are everyday. Jewel knows that, from the outside, celebrity makes life look easy.

American Government Exit-polls

As per exit polls in Texas are concerned, there were some interesting results that are worth noting regarding the trend of voting. The Democrat beat the Republicans by a substantial margin of close to one million votes with McCain garnering 4, 479, 328 or 55% and Obama 3, 528, 633 or 44%. The voting in terms of age Exit polls in Texas for President showed that of the 47% male voters, Obama got 39% while McCain had 59%, and of the 53% female voters Obama had 47% while McCain got 52%. What was interesting in this exit poll result was the trend in voting by age.Texas exit poll revealed that among ages 18-29 comprising 16% of the total votes, Obama earned 54% votes and McCain 45%. Among ages 30-44 (31% of the total votes), Obama had 46% and McCain 52%. Of ages 45-64 (39% of the total votes), Obama got 41% While McCain earned 58%. Finally at 65 and older (14%) Obama had a lowest 32% votes while McCain got a high 66% of the total votes from this age group. The exit polls in Texas reveal im portant things. 1. That most men in general in this state favored and voted for McCain giving him 59% over Obama with only 39%.2. That, women in general in this state only slightly favoring McCain giving him a slight edge over Obama at 52% compared to 47%. 3. Among voters ages 18-29 comprising 16% of the total votes, Obama gets the upper hand with 54% compared to McCain’s 45 % 4. But among ages 30-44 which comprised 54%, McCain was the stronger candidate. 5. The trend in the voting by age shows that McCain was the top choice among the older voters. Ages 45-64 comprising 39% shows McCain widening his lead over Obama at 58% to 41% 6.Exit poll among ages 65 and older shows Obama further down at 32% compared to McCain’s 66%. 7. That this voting trend favored McCain considering the age bracket of the voters getting older. 8. That obviously this voting trend in the age bracket point to the direction of racial prejudice. 9. The younger generation was more open to accept socie tal change through conventional leadership styles. 10. That voting by race reveals that voters in Texas votes based on racial preferences. II. A Letter to the PresidentDear Mr. President: In view of the exit polls in Texas, apparently younger generations voted for you in view of their being open mindedness on the issues affecting our society. However, the same exit poll reveals that Texas voters in general are partisan voters voting merely based on racial preference. I therefore urge that you give particular attention on this observation by showing considerable fairness among the people of Texas despite you loss by a margin of almost a million votes for future reference.I hope for your favorable response on the matter by paying a visit and extend the atmosphere of reconciliation. Sincerely: III. Question on the election trends I believed that the trends in the general election have changed dramatically from previous trends. The change that took place according to CREST (The Centre f or Research into Elections and Social Trends) has to do with voters’ attitude that influenced their preferences for the kind of leaders they wanted for their country.In that report, voters chose the leader/s, who could deal with personal issues such as healthcare, economy, social security, gas prices, war in Iraq, political corruption lobbyist, terrorism, taxes, immigration, and environment (Hardy). The voting attitude was greatly influenced by the current issues that affected their country. The new trend I believe will pass on history and will be seen in future presidential elections especially if Obama proves himself as the right president who could correct the inaccuracies in the society.This period is very crucial in the history of the United States and while the new trend in USA election brings remedy to their crisis, the trend will become the basis in choosing government leaders. Reference Hardy, F. W. (9 Jan 2008). Election Issues Excel in America: National Issues Shin e in New Hampshire Presidential Primaries. Suite101. com. http://us-elections. suite101. com/article. cfm/election_issues_excel_in_america President Texas. ElectionCenter2008. CNN Politics. com. http://edition. cnn. com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#TXP00

Comparative Analysis of Models in the Competitive Market

Every rational individual acknowledges that businesses need to be competitive in order to thrive. My comparative analysis will recognize the various models used in the competitive marketplace and compare the end-results of these models. The four models that I will be comparing are: step checklist, transformation model, Mintzberg’s physiognomy, and the economic sector analysis. In line with my analysis I will also be using my experience as a sales marketer for Aramco Oil Company to provide key examples about how these fundamental processes occur on an every day basis. When comprehending comparative models you must first understand that a model is simply a complex or systematic description of the competitive marketplace. These models are used to aid individuals in seeing the structure or design of the marketplace. Initially, we will focus first on the transformation model and its hand in the marketplace. Looking at the general word ‘transform’ you will see how wisely chosen this process is. To transform is to create something from a raw material. In this model, this transformation occurs when inputs are transformed to outputs. This process is a very high level look at the marketplace. It looks simply at what manner of item when in to the system in order to procure a end result item. Almost like a circuit, it is the in-s and out-s which keep the market process in a continuous movement and growth. The more raw material which goes into a system the more outputs you expect to see. In my role, as a sales marketer of Aramco Oil Company I see this process every day. The raw material of oil is processed to produce a high demand product, and thus the transformation process is a never-ending cycle. As a model though, this process does not account for all the idiosyncrasies or complex factors that play a role in the create of this high end product. In fact, the process is so high leveled that I see the Step Checklist as a much more logical look at the process (Armson, Rosalind, John Martin, Susan Carr, Roger Spear, and Tony Walsh.) Of the four models being compared, the Step Checklist is by far the most organized in its structural intact and outlook on the competitive market. This checklist looks at the key influences in the competitive marketplace. It focuses on the social, technological, economic, and political influences by concisely breaking down various aspects of how, why, where, when, and what possible affects they have on an organization. Unlike the transformation model, this checklist supplies the analyzer with various possibilities to be on the lookout for when determining a course of action. Furthermore, this checklist allows for a simplistic and widely applicable usage of these factors. Whereas the transformation model was a very board look at the inputs and outputs, this Step Checklist is a systematic perspective of social factors like demographics and age-groups. By looking at the technological components of the competitive marketplace, a company like my own has the opportunity to ensure that it is staying or making advancements along with the competitive other players. Economic changes can be watched or statistically analyzed to make appropriate changes or adaptations should the competitive marketplace change. My company is a key player in the oil industry and must gauge how its future profitability will be at the best advantage. From a political avenue, this model is essential to make sure that all players in the competitive marketplace are aware of legislative policies or strategies that might affect the industry. Furthermore, politics has a constant role in policies changing or advancements. Should a sales representative like myself not account for this changes our clients will see that we are not staying in line with policies and perhaps be adversely affected by our lack of adhering to those policies. This analysis of competitors is a means towards identifying the company’s competitors, understanding what their strategies are, recognizing their objectives, seeing how their strengths and weaknesses are seen in a checklist manner, and recognizing reaction patterns to those factors which affect the marketplace (Kotler 234-247) Moving on to the Mintzberg’s physiognomy model, many analysts might see this model as highly subjective in origin. In comparison to both the Transformation and Step Checklist models, this model is dependent on looking at the power various players wield in the competitive marketplace or industry. This model stresses that there is a ‘cast of characters’ in an organization which ranges from owners to employees to special interest groups to various other entities. Based upon this model, we see a very visual representation of the marketplace. It is unique to see the differences between the models. Transformation model is seemingly a process flow. The Step Checklist was created based upon influences and logically connects or affects upon the industry. Now here we have Mintzberg’s physiognomy’s model. What stuck out at me first is that physiognomy is clearly the study of a person’s palm to determine that individual’s fate. This destiny is determined based upon a higher source of power which dictates what is to occur in the future for that individual. Here this model looks at the ‘power’ play of what will determine the fate of the company based upon the various sectors which play a role in its maintaining profitability (Armson, Rosalind, John Martin, Susan Carr, Roger Spear, and Tony Walsh.). It focuses primarily on the strategies or activities of these entities. These strategies or activities will overall affect the competitive industry in some manner. For instance, in my company should the owners fail to provide adequate compensation to the employees they can either strike or retain work elsewhere. If the company lacks adequately experienced employees it will fail to retain clients or creditability in the eyes of its public. This can potentially damage or hinder the economic profitability or continued success of Aramco Oil Company. If that occurs, as a sales marketer I will have a difficult time convincing others that the company is maintaining its correct directions and gross profit margins. At this time, I will roll right into the economic sector analysis model. The competitive marketplace is built on the ideology of ‘economics’. This fundamental model looks at sectors, the environment, and markets. Without bumping the company against its competitors we will fail to recognize where growth or change is required. The sectors themselves compete amongst themselves and there are definite signs of where one company might be affecting or causing a chain-reaction within other companies. For instance, an EDI system allows for less manual maintenance. If a company fails to make appropriate changes or does not advance itself like other, then the other companies in that particular sector will swiftly overtake its market shares. In the oil industry there is often a state of rapid growth and it is wise for a company to watch for such changes. Like the Mintzberg’s physiognomy, there is a look at the power players or influences in this model. The power look in this case is the economic sector and other players in that particular sector. All in all, measures must be taken to ensure that the marketplace is watched for its stability, and adversely if unstable occurrences are happening. These models can all be used to determine how the competitive marketplace is doing and how to identify influences that affect it. In general, these models each have their strengths and weaknesses. In general each model can be used to analyze various aspects of the marketplace. This analysis can be broken down into the strategies used to determine how the marketplace needs to react as changes occur in it and around it. Works Cited: Armson, Rosalind, John Martin, Susan Carr, Roger Spear, and Tony Walsh. Understanding Business   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Environments: Identifying Environmental Issues, 2000 Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control. Sixth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988