Success of a Paint Company: Berger Paints

In 1971 Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited has started its journey in Bangladesh. The shareholders were Jenson & Nicholson (J & N), Duncan Macneil & Co. Limited and Dada Group. Duncan Macneil subsequently sold their shares to the majority shareholder J & N Group. The Dada Group’s share ultimately vested with the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh after the independence of the country in 1971. The name of the company was changed from J & N (Bangladesh) Limited to Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited on January 1, 1980. Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited (BPBL) is stated to be the market leader in Bangladesh and has a wide range of products such as Decorative Paints, Industrial Paints, Marine Paints, Color Bank, Textured Coatings, Heat Resistant Paints, Roofing Compounds, Wood Solutions, and Wood Adhesives. It gives a comprehensive and sustainable painting solution and providing the best customer service through Home Decor. BPBL’s corporate strategy is to build larger market share through providing quality and speedy service. It’s primary focus is to strengthen its current position by providing value added customer service. BPBL is committed to get highest consumer satisfaction. The main objective of this report is to gain overall practical knowledge about the internal communication techniques of Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd. and corporate success evaluation and also recommend on the basis of business communication. Aim and Rational of the project: The objective of this project is to gain overall practical knowledge about the organization and analyze the communication techniques developed by the company. To be more specific, this project contains the following subjects: †¢Historical background of Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd.  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Organizational structure †¢BPBL’s internal communication structure †¢Tools used in the existing communication system †¢Positive aspects of the system being used and recommendations for improvement Significance of the Study: The significance of the study can be explained in many ways. From this project we will learn about the business communication practices followed by Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd, the market leader in paint industry of Bangladesh. It will help us to enhance our knowledge about the relationship between different departments, how they communicate with each other and organizational environment. Methodology: The report will be based on both primary and secondary data. †¢Primary Data: It is obvious that the research will require a lot of primary data. Face-to-face interviews will be conducted with the manager of the BPBL. We have planed to supply them questionnaire to be filled out as well as read them out whenever needed and explain if any clarification is required. †¢Secondary Data: For secondary resources, we will use the web site of BPBL, product profile, and relevant journals by Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd. For the organization part of the report, a lot of secondary resources will also be used. †¢Data Collection Method: We have decided to conduct personal interviews as data collection method. The questionnaire will be structured and includes both open and close-ended questions. †¢Questionnaire: For the survey purpose, we will prepare questionnaire which meet the objective of the project. It will include different issues and important factors regarding internal communication techniques. For the questionnaire we will use simple, direct and familiar words, so that the respondents understand it easily. †¢Data collection: We will conduct Face-to-face interviews with the manager of BPBL to collect the data. We will also collect the necessary data from company website, magazine etc. †¢Report Format: The report will contain mainly two parts. The organizational part shall give the idea about Berger Paint Bangladesh Ltd.’s historical background and Organizational structure. And the project part shall contain BPBL’s internal communication structure, tools used in the existing communication system, positive aspects of the system being used and recommendations for improvement and conclusion. Limitation of the Study: The collection of primary data is always a difficult thing because it is hard to ensure the authenticity of the data. Managers of the company may hide some information for the confidentiality. Time is also a limitation as we have to interview the manager, analyze the data and prepare project at a very short time. Despite of these limitations we will try our best to collect accurate and useful data through the survey so that we can generate quality results from the data analysis and give recommendation where it is necessary.

Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Essay

Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Septtember 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Phenomenon In the Context of Modern Finance Theory Introduction Over the 46 years ending December 2012, Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) has achieved a compound, after-tax, rate of return in excess of 20% p.a. Such consistent, long term, out performance might be viewed as incompatible with modern finance theory. This essay discusses the Berkshire Hathaway phenomenon in the context of modern finance theory. Part 1 Modern Portfolio Theory Berkshire Hathaway’s investing strategies mainly differ with modern portfolio theory on two aspects. The first one is the attitude towards the undesirable thing in investment. And the second one is the perspective of diversification. As Harry Markowitz pointed out in Portfolio Selection, one of the assumptions is (Markowitz, 1952)â€Å"the investor does (or should) consider expected return as a desirable thing and variance of return an undesirable thing†. However, in Warren Buffet’s point of view, (Roberg G, 2005) the only undesirable thing should be the possibility of harm. He emphasizes on conducting fundamental analysis to work out a company’s future profits, so as to determine the intrinsic value instead of monitoring the stock prices. This is because in the long term, the investment outcome is mainly harmed by misjudging the business value, including misjudging of inflation rate and  interest rate etc. As such, risk is defined differently between Mr Buffett and Modern Portfolio Theory; one is defined by possibility of misjudging the  intrinsic value of business, the other being simplified to variance of expected returns. If we consider risk as a probability statement, then maybe Mr B uffett’s definition is closer to the original meaning. Also, the assumption of maximising one-period expected utility is not what Buffet focuses on in his investment strategies. (Roberg G, 2005)In this case, Justin Industries, which was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2000, can serve as a good example. During the five years prior to the acquisition, stock price of Justin Industries dropped by 37 percent, which should result in a huge variance of expected return. But Mr Buffett saw it as a perfect opportunity to purchase a well-managed traditional business with over 100 years of history. He offered a 23 percent premium over stock price at the time, and the stock price shot up by 22% on the day of announcement. It is also stated by Markowitz that, (Markowitz, 1952)â€Å"a rule of behaviour which does not imply the superiority of diversification must be rejected both as a hypothesis and as a maxim†. On the contrary, Mr Buffett has his famous quote, (Roberg G, 2005)â€Å"diversification serves as a protection against ignorance. If you want to make sure that nothing bad happens to you relative to the market, you should own everything. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s a perfectly sound approach for somebody who doesn’t know how to analyse business†. One can always argue that Berkshire Hathaway does not operate in only one industry, and they tend to invest in more industries in recent years. But as the business grows in volume, it is reasonable to be involved in new industries when there are few sound investment opportunities in the industries they already operate in, let alone that the technology industry was rarely in the list of holdings of Berkshire Hathaway, not even when Apple’s stock was soaring. The reason being, (Roberg G, 2005)â€Å"investment success is not about how much you know but how realistically you define what you don’t know†. Chart 1 (Martin & Puthenpurackal, 2007) Distribution of Berkshire Hathaway Investments by Industry The chart above shows distribution of Berkshire Hathaway’s investments by industry and firm size during the time frame 1976-2006. Judging by the size and number of investments, it can be concluded that a large amount of wealth was placed in manufacturing industry during the 30 years in study, although for diversification purpose, more weight could have been placed in the industry of agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction or retail trade. Having compared the differences, it is still worth noting that Markowitz did not rule out fundamental analysis in portfolio selection process, as is said in his foregoing paper,(Markowitz, 1952)â€Å"the process of selecting a portfolio may be divided into two stages. The first stage starts with observation and experience and ends with beliefs about the future performances of available securities. The second stage starts with relevant beliefs about future performances and ends with the choice of portfolio. This paper is concerned with the second stage†. Part 2 Efficient Market Hypothesis The strong form of efficient market hypothesis states that all information, no matter public or private, instantaneously affects current stock price. Semi-strong form is only concerned with public information, while the weak form suggests that current stock price reflects information in the previous prices. In short, they simply imply that in the long run, no one should be able to beat the market in terms of investment return. As is said in Fama’s paper in 1970, (Eugene F, 1970)â€Å"the evidence in support of the efficient markets model is extensive, and (somewhat uniquely in economics) contradictory evidence is sparse†. However, Warren Buffet has always criticised efficient market hypothesis as much as he could. The major  reason is that, as a fundamental analysis advocate, (Roberg G, 2005)he thinks analysing all available information make an analyst at advantage. He once said, (Banchuenvijit, 2006)†investing in a market where people believe in efficiency is like playing bridge with someone who has been told it does not do any good to look at the cards.† Also in his speech at Columbia University in 1984, he mentioned, â€Å"ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace, and those who read their Graham & Dodd will continue to prosper.† (Roberg G, 2005)To illustrate, we can take Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. in 2009 for example. At the time, shares of Burlington Northern had dropped 13 percent in 12 months. Also, the market was soft during GFC, so the possibility of competitive bids was low according to Tony Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner, which holds Berkshire shares. If efficient market hypothesis does stand, the market would rebound quickly when GFC took place, and such opportunity of relatively low-priced acquisition would not exist. Even if it exists, other investor should anticipate quick upward adjustment of price and participate in bidding when they find out about this opportunity. However, this does not prove that fundamental analysis is superior, because intrinsic value is not yet clear defined, and how does Mr Buffet calculate the intrinsic value is still a mystery. Part 3 Capital Asset Pricing Model When examining assumptions of Capital Asset Pricing Model, it is obvious that Mr Buffett is at odds with almost every one of them. Firstly, the model assumes that all investors are Markowitz efficient, but as mentioned earlier, Mr Buffett does not treat variance of expected return as an absolute drawback, so the second rule that Markowitz Efficiency must follow does not stand. Secondly, the model is backed by the assumption that investors have  homogeneous expectations and equal access to opportunities, which suggests that everyone is supposed to have the same view of future profit stream. However, as a recent paper pointed out, (Frazzini, et al., 2013)Mr Buffett’s return is largely due to his selection of stocks. If everyone has the same view with Mr Buffett and the same access to the investment opportunities, then if not everyone, a large number of people should be as rich as Mr Buffett, when the reality is the opposite. So Mr Buffett would not agree with this assumption either. The third assumption is that capital markets are in equilibrium, which is practically what only efficient markets can achieve, which, as discussed above, is not in line with Mr Buffett’s view point. The final one, which is that Capital Asset Pricing Model only works within one period time horizon, is apparently against Mr Buffett’s long-term holding strategy. Apart from model assumptions, one of the strongest contradictions between Mr Buffett’s view point and Capital Asset Pricing Model is that the model is for short-term predicting purpose, which would clearly be categorised into (Roberg G, 2005)â€Å"speculation† instead of â€Å"investment† by Mr Buffett. In addition, â€Å"market portfolio† is not of practical use, compared with Mr Buffett’s way of only analysing businesses he is familiar with, because the market portfolio we use cannot truly represent the entire market. Part 4 Multi-factor Pricing Models Unlike Capital Asset Pricing Model, which has only one factor, in Multi-factor Pricing Models, such as Arbitrage Pricing Theory and Fama-French three-factor model, the rate of return is linked to several factors. As diversification is still suggested by the model, the same divergence on diversification exists with Mr Buffet’s strategies and Multi-factor Pricing Models. Moreover, differences also lie in the fact that multi-factor models usually take in some macroeconomic factors, which investors should not consider according to Mr Buffett, (Roberg G, 2005)the rationale being that if a single stock price cannot be predicted, the overall economic condition would be more difficult to predict. Despite the differences, some micro factors included in the multi-factor model, such as P/E ratio and book-to-market ratio, can also be used to conduct fundamental analysis to determine the intrinsic value and possibility of growth of a business. As such, the ideas of which factors to take into account can coincide within the two different approaches. Chart 2(Martin & Puthenpurackal, 2007) Factor Regressions of Berkshire Hathaway and Mimicking Portfolios In a paper by Gerald S. Martin and John Puthenpurackal, they conduct a regression analysis using Fama-French three-factor and Carhart four-factor models on monthly returns of Berkshire Hathaway and mimicking portfolios. (Martin & Puthenpurackal, 2007)The adjusted excess returns turn out to be significant with p-values < 0.024; the excess market return and high-minus-low book-to-market factors are again significant with p-values < 0.01. However, small-minus-big and prior 2-12 month return momentum factors are not significantly explanatory factors. As such, preliminary conclusion can be reached that book-to-value highminus-low can be a common factor in both multi-factor models and Mr Buffett’s fundamental analysis. In addition, the factors of firm size and momentum are not likely to be considered by Mr Buffett. Also, both Berkshire’s and mimicking portfolio’s returns outperform the multi-factor models in study. (Bowen & Rajgopal, 2009)But as is pointed out in another thesis, the superior performance is attributed to the earlier years and they observe no significant alpha during the recent decade. Part 5 Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model According to Berkshire Hathaway’s letter to shareholders in 2008,(Buffett, 2008)their put contracts reported a mark-to-market loss of $5.1 billion, and this led to Mr Buffett’s â€Å"criticism† towards the Black-Scholes formula as is claimed by the media. However, the loss was in fact caused by inclusion of volatility in the formula when volatility becomes irrelevant as the duration before maturity lengthens. As Mr Buffett said in the letter,(Buffett, 2008)if the formula is applied to extended time periods, it can produce absurd results. In fairness, Black and Scholes almost certainly understood this point well. But their devoted followers may be ignoring whatever caveats the two men attached when they first unveiled the formula. As such, Mr Buffett’s comment on Black-Scholes formula is more of self-criticism than the other way around. This is reflected in his earlier comment on performance in the letter,(Buffett, 2008)†I believe each contract we own was mispriced at inception, sometimes dramatically so. I both initiated these positions and monitor them, a set of responsibilities consistent with my belief that the CEO of any large financial organization must be the Chief Risk Officer as well. If we lose money on our derivatives, it will be my fault.† We can understand why Mr Buffett gave this â€Å"fair† comment about the formulae when referring to the Black-Scholes paper,(Black & Scholes, 1973)†if the expiration date of the option is very far in the future, then the price of the bond that pays the exercise price on the maturity date will be very low, and the value of the option will be approximately equal to the price of the stock. â€Å" Mr Buffett also commented that (Buffett, 2008)†The Black-Scholes formula has approached the status of holy writ in finance, and we use it when valuing our equity put options for financial statements purposes. Key inputs to the calculation include a contract’s maturity and strike price, as well as the analyst’s expectations for volatility, interest rates and dividends† and that â€Å"even so, we will continue to use  Black-Scholes when we are estimating our financial-statement liability for long-term equity puts. The formula represents conventional wisdom and any substitute that I might offer would engender extreme scepticism†. Despite Mr Buffett’s confession, a scholar studied the letter and reached a different conclusion why the loss was made:(Cornell, 2009)He first ruled out risk-free rate, inflation rate and drift and focused on volatility, which is consistent with where Mr Buffett thought he made a mistake. The lognormal diffusion assumption, which implies that volatility increases linearly with respect to the horizon over which it is measured, was discussed at length with controversial evidence. As such, its misuse is not a strong explanation regarding the absurd results. He then found out in the letter that Mr Buffett believed that inflationary policies of governments and central banks will limit future declines in nominal stock prices compared with those predicted by a historically estimated lognormal distribution. If Mr Buffet is right, then the Black-Scholes model will indeed significantly overvalue long-dated put options, to which a possible solution is making the left-hand tail truncated to reduce the value of long-dated put options. Summary Throughout this essay, we have discussed the common views and divergences between Mr Buffett’s investment strategies and Modern Finance Theories. Now we summarize the main points as follows: Common views Divergences Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model Modern Portfolio Theory Efficient Market Hypothesis Capital Asset Pricing Model Multi-factor Models Chart 3 Common Views and Divergences between Modern Finance Theory and Mr Buffett’s Strategies Modern Finance Theories Modern Portfolio Theory Divergences with Warren Buffet 1. Risk Defined as Volatility 2. Short Investment Horizon 3. Diversification Efficient Market Hypothesis Capital Asset Pricing Model Reliability of Fundamental Analysis 1. Markowitz Efficient Investors 2. Homogeneous Expectation and Equal Access to Opportunities 3. Markets in Equilibrium 4. Short Investment Horizon 5. Predicting Function Leads to Speculation 6. Impractical â€Å"Market Portfolio† 7. Diversification Multi-factor Models 1. Macro Factors 2. Diversification Chart 4 Detailed Divergences between Modern Finance Theory and Mr Buffett’s Strategies Bibliography Banchuenvijit, W., 2006. Investment Philosophy of Warren E. Buffet, Bankok: The University of Thai Chamber ofCommerce. Black, F. & Scholes, M., 1973. The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities. The Journal of Political Economy, 81(3), pp. 637-654. Bowen, R. M. & Rajgopal, S., 2009. Do Powerful Investors Influence Accounting, Governance and Investing Decisions?, Washington D.C.: University of Washington. Buffett, W. E., 2008. Letter to Shareholders, Omaha: Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.. Cornell, B., 2009. Warren Buffet, Black-Scholes and the Valuation of Long-dated Options, Pasadena: California Institute of Technology. Davis, J., 1991. Lessons from Omaha: an Analysis of the Investment Methods and Business Philosophy of Warren Buffett, Cambridge: Cambridge University. Eugene F, F., 1970. Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of THeory and Empirical Work. The Journal of Finance, 25(2), pp. 383-417. Eugene F, F. & Kenneth R, F., 1992. The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Return. The Journal of Finance, XLVII(2). Markowitz, H., 1952. Portfolio Selection. The Journal of Finance, VII(1), pp. 77-91. Martin, G. S. & Puthenpurackal, J., 2007. Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, Reno: University of Nevada. Roberg G, H., 2005. The Warren Buffet Way. 2 ed. Hoboken: John Wiley& Sons, Inc.. William F, S., 1964. Capital Asset Prices: A Theory of Market Equilibrium under Conditions of Risk. The Journal of Finance, 19(3), pp. 425-442.

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Example for Free

Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons Essay Almost all economists are in agreement that immigration has positive economic effects. Indeed in the United States it â€Å"provides natives with a net benefit of at least $80,000 per immigrant, or as much as $10 billion annually† (Bolin, 2006). However despite this there are huge numbers of advocacy groups pushing the pros and cons immigration to the populations of the host countries, with natives having negative views towards immigration (McLaren & Johnson, 2007). Through the course of this essay I will examine whether the root cause of these often xenophobic views towards immigration have root causes in economic reasons (immigrants taking jobs from natives, and leading to lower wages) or symbolic reasons, where the natives are fearful that the immigrants will bring their culture to the host country and cause change. Enoch Powell, the Conservative British politician, gave a warning that immigrants were causing such strife that â€Å"like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood† (Powell, 1969). This turned out to be nonsense, and his advice that immigrants should be encouraged to leave, would have left Britain, and many other countries that rely on cheap foreign labour in a horrific state of affairs. Immigrants are now taking far longer to integrate into their host country and this is upsetting many natives. â€Å"In the past a third-generation migrant, for example in America, would have been expected to have shed much of his grandparents’ identity† (The Economist, 2008), not speaking his mother tongue and having little loyalty to the country his family originated from. This is changing â€Å"as migrants feel loyalty to more than one country† (The Economist, 2008). For example, Moroccans in Europe, even fourth generation, are encouraged by the Government to identify with the African country, and are granted Moroccan citizenship under the constitution. As many source countries such as India and China grow intent on gaining remittances from their emigres, â€Å"migrants even several generations on may come under great pressure to retain some of their old identity† (The Economist, 2008). This can all lead to immigrants never becoming fully integrated into the host country, causing social problems such as immigrants bunching together in the same place. Due to globalisation and time-space compression, it has become far easier for migrants to emigrate further away from their own country, this causes problems as they subsequently have little in common with their host country and find it harder to integrate into the community. Traveling long distances to emigrate is no longer a problem and in the future there will be the problem of â€Å"people moving greater distances and settling among different ethnic, religious and cultural groups† (The Economist, 2008), meaning they will have problems integrating. â€Å"Danes in Sweden or Albanians in Greece have little trouble integrating into the relatively familiar societies next door. Even Poles in Ireland prosper, perhaps thanks to the incomers’ good standard of education and skill and the shared Catholic faith. But Iraqis in Sweden, Somalis in Canada or Pakistanis in Norway typically find integration harder† (The Economist, 2008). Samuel Huntington blames this on the â€Å"great divisions among humankind† (Huntington, 1993) that are the differences between civilisations. He believes that immigration will ‘intensify civilization consciousness and awareness of differences between civilizations and commonalities within civilizations’ (Huntington, 1993). This leads to a ‘them versus us’ attitude, with the natives having the xenophobic view that the immigrants are qualitatively different from themselves. As the natives of the host country would have spent time constructing â€Å"discursive practices that attempt to fix meanings which enable the differentiation between the inside and the outside to be made† (Doty, 1996), they will resent immigrants not properly integrating themselves into the community. Research on social identity appears to conclude that identity is highly important to individuals, with individuals protecting these identities even if they have no realistic meaning (Monroe, et al. , 2000). People use these identities to provide a sense of self (Sniderman, et al. 2004), partly in order that they may distinguish between those similar to themselves and those different. The ‘identities tend to have their basis in perceptions of differences’ (McLaren & Johnson, 2007)with those viewed as outsiders thought to have radically different values and approaches to life. â€Å"The threat posed by minorities and immigrants may be symbolic in nature and may stem from concerns about the loss of certain values or ways of life† (McLaren & Johnson, 2007), due to immigrants having a significant presence in the host country. Immigrants also often congregate in areas of the host country, London for example has a huge immigrant and minority presence with only 44. 9% classing themselves as ‘White British’ (Gye, 2012), in the 2011 census. This all means that natives are fearful that immigrants will cause them to adapt or change their ways of life. Migrants who preserve â€Å"a strong religious sense that cuts across any national loyalty may be the hardest of all to assimilate into broadly secular Western societies†. In the post-9/11 world Muslims are often seen as being the greatest cultural threat to Western societies. In a recent survey McLaren and Johnson measured anti-Muslim feeling in the United Kingdom. They found that 62% of people agreed with the statement that British Muslims are more loyal to Muslims around the world, than to other Britons, only 12% disagreed. Only 30% of Britons felt that Muslims living in Britain were committed to Britain, with 47% feeling that they could never be committed to Britain. 52% of people thought that Britain would begin to lose its identity if more Muslims came to live there. Clearly there is considerable anti-Muslim feeling in Britain and concern that British-Muslims pose a threat to the identity and culture of Britain (McLaren & Johnson, 2007). Most economists are in agreement that immigration has very little effect on native’s wages; this should mean that natives won’t oppose immigration based on the misbelief that immigrants lower wages. Although conventional economic wisdom states that an increase in supply of labour will lead to a decrease in price, this doesn’t happen. Friedberg and Hunt conclude that a 10% increase in immigrant levels in the population, decreases wages by 1% (Friedberg & Hunt, 1995). Economist Francisco Revera-Batiz came to the same conclusion, noting that although immigration has increased the supply of low skilled workers into the United States, there has been very little impact on the wages of high school dropouts, the lowest skilled people in America (Rivera-Batiz, 1998). One of the most influential studies is Card’s 1990 study on the Miami Labour market after the sudden influx of 125,000 Cuban immigrants in 1980 due to a sharp downturn in the Cuban economy. Surprisingly the arrival of so many immigrants didn’t affect native wages, although it did lower the overall wage level in Miami; due to the immigrants being employed in low-wage jobs (Card, 1990). This tallies with the outcomes of other natural experiments in recent history such as the homecoming of 600,000 Portuguese after the collapse of their empire in Africa in 1974-76, the return of 900,000 Frenchmen from Algeria in 1962 (The Economist, 2008) or the influx of 610,000 Russian Jews into Israel 1990-94, increasing the labour force by 12%; all had negligible effects on native wages. Immigrants don’t decrease wages because as well as increasing the supply of labour, they become a domestic consumer for goods as well as services, they â€Å"create jobs as consumers and fill jobs as producers† (Bolin, 2006). A higher total population, ceteris parabus, will lead to the production of more goods and services, boosting the host countries gross domestic product (GDP). In some rare cases immigrants can even boost native’s wages. Illegal Mexican immigrants, who are â€Å"predominantly low skilled† (Bolin, 2006), have a positive effect on other workers’ wages (Bean, et al. 1998). This is due to immigration increasing the productivity of native workers by â€Å"taking low-skilled jobs, freeing higher-skilled workers to work in higher-skilled employment where they can be more productive† (Bolin, 2006). Based on the results of a range of economists, using results based on a â€Å"range of methodologies† (Bolin, 2006), it can be seen that immigrants have a small negative impact on native wages, although mainly low-skilled workers. Based on this, natives shouldn’t be concerned over immigration levels based on their own wages falling. The popular theory that immigrants ‘come over here and take our jobs’, has been shown to hold very little truth, as most studies â€Å"find no or negligible effect[s]† (Bolin, 2006) on employment rates. The ‘lump of labour fallacy’ is the mistaken idea that there are a set number of jobs in the economy, and when an immigrant takes one of those jobs, it is a job lost for a native. This is incorrect for three reasons. Firstly, by coming to a country â€Å"immigrants increase the supply of labour and hence reduce wages. In turn, cheaper labour increases the potential return to employers to build new factories or expand their operations. In so doing, they create extra demand for workers† (Grinda, 2006), and more jobs are created. Secondly, immigrants are consumers as well as producers. When there is a large influx of immigrants such as the 610,000 Russian-Jews into Israel in the early 1990’s, they are in need of goods and services. People are employed to provide these goods and services, meaning more jobs added to the economy, and immigrants simply enlarge the economy. Thirdly, immigrants are 10 to 20 percent more likely to become entrepreneurs and start their own business than natives (Briggs & Moore, 1994). In 1999, The Wall Street Journal reported that â€Å"Chinese and Indian immigrants run nearly 25% of the high-companies started in [Silicon] Valley since 1980†¦The 2,775 immigrant-run companies had total sales of $16. 8 billion and more than 58,000 employees† (Thurm, 1999). â€Å"Immigrants not only take jobs, they make jobs. They open new businesses that employ natives as well as other immigrants and themselves. And they do so in important numbers† (Simon, 1999). Similarly, the findings by Friedberg and Hunt discovers â€Å"no evidence of economically significant reductions in native employment†. Card, as well as examining the impact of the Muriel boatlift on wages also examined the impact of it on employment. Even though Miami’s workforce was increased by 7%, virtually overnight, with an influx of relatively unskilled Cuban workers he finds â€Å"no evidence of an increase in unemployment among less skilled blacks or other non-Cuban workers. Rather the data analysis suggests a remarkably rapid absorption of the Muriel immigrants into the Miami labour force† (Card, 1990). Again with immigrant’s impact on wages, the evidence seems to suggest that a lack of evidence that immigration causes native unemployment. This should mean that concerns over immigration should not be linked to worries over employment. Due to immigrants being â€Å"disproportionately low-skill[ed]† (Bolin, 2006) they tend to have lower wages than natives. It is often assumed therefore that they depend more upon the welfare system than natives. The level of benefits are often higher in the host country than the source country, and it is often suggested that it is this difference that brings in migrants. Borjas coined the term â€Å"welfare magnet effect† (Borjas, 1999), making the point that immigrants are drawn to the country with the highest benefits. This however has all been shown to be completely false, and many economists believe that over the long term immigrants more than pay for the public services they use (Simon, 1999). In the United States â€Å"most immigrants, including Mexicans, are usually less likely than comparable natives to receive welfare†, with the per capita cost of social welfare for immigrants being 8% less than the per capita cost for natives (Bean, et al. 1998). It is plain to see that objections to immigration come from those who are worried about the identity and culture of their nation being eroded, rather than for economic reasons. Immigrants are solving many problems for the host countries, such as the problems of aging populations and those participating in the workforce being increasing choosy about the jobs they do. Immigrants have few economic disadvantages, although high immigration may bring about a small decrease in jobs for the natives, the tax revenue that they bring in more than displaces this negative effect. As the immigrants have little impact on jobs, and simply create more jobs in the economy, disproving the lump of labour fallacy, they don’t have a negative impact on wages which is a positive for the economy as a whole. The argument that immigrants have a negative impact on the identity and culture of a nation holds some truth. Due to the fact that a nation’s identity is made up of what its inhabitants believe it to be, immigrants having different views, can water this identity down. Are Concerns over Immigration to Do with Culture of Economic Reasons. (2016, Oct 02).

Service Quality, Employee Engagement and Customer Loyalty Developing Essay

Service Quality, Employee Engagement and Customer Loyalty Developing the Business Managers Relationship Ladder - Essay Example The organisation's decision-makers choose the sales staff and revenue measurements of activities that the organisation will use to meet the customers' requirements, and the conclusion is the perception of the customer. The organisation's decision makers also choose performance measurement systems to monitor and assess how well the organisation meets customers' requirements and the organisation's broader objectives that led to choosing the target set of customers. Customer-validated performance measures reflect customer requirements and help employees manage the value chain's processes and activities by concentrating their attention on improving what matters to the customer (Frazer-Robinson 1997). For the purposes of this study, quality customer service is a multi-stage measurement. This is defined by the customer's expected service level on dimensions of reliability, timeliness, responsiveness and competence from the company's perspective at the time of encounter, before the staff performed the required service for the customer (Stoneman 2001). In short, this is expediting service for the customer. Furthermore, the employee understanding of customer expectations about the sales person's experience, media skills and creative skills as well as how the sales person acknowledges the service quality (Stoneman 2001). The relationship quality is the perceived service level on the above dimensions of the customer and sales person relationship (Stone man 2001). Therefore, customer satisfaction is a focal point in this research as a cumulative, abstract affective construct that describes the total client's experience with the staff and is measured by the satisfaction with service quality expertise, skills performance and overall satisfaction with agency performance (Frazer-Robinson 1997). This will further assist in developing the ultimate goal to directly influence sales performance of service managers and consequently increase performance, but most importantly because sales are the main focus of the company direction (McCormick 2005). Therefore, it becomes important to describe the constructs between sales staff, service quality and customer service, but also to understand the commitments of the employee's towards customer service (McCormick 2005). This research project aims to improve employee engagement by improving customer satisfaction and retention through the development of a relationship ladder that describes the service manager's environment. Describing the employee's engagement in customer service through qualitative methods described later will do this. Utilising employee engagement theories to examine employee engagement in customer service and increase customer retention is a profitable and promoted method of development (Deloitte 2005). Employees who deal directly with customers are

Study Case of Goldman Sachs and the Real Estate Bubble

Of Goldman Sachs and the Real Estate Bubble - Case Study Example e an evaluation of what really happened, prescribe alternatives that ought to have been taken, give recommendations about how such a situation can be avoided and finally give a conclusion. Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest, and leading financial institutions in the world. Founded in the year 1869, it is an investment bank that is regarded the leading world investment bank. It is also involved in the management of investments and securities and also provides a variety of consultancy and other services across the world. The net revenue that Goldman Sachs raked in from its wide portfolio of services in the year 2011 was over 28 billion dollars (Konecny, 2012). It is also known for employing the top cream of the best universities who help propel it to such great heights, with top officials sitting at the treasury, such as the former secretary to the treasury, Henry Paulson, and other government financial institutions being past employees of Goldman Sachs. So what was the involvement of this giant company in the real estate bubble hit? Its involvement, both direct and indirect, can be simplified into three. Firstly, it sold securities which were mortgage- related and ove rpriced to investors without actually telling them the obvious risks that lay ahead. Secondly, Goldman Sachs, through its mortgage division’s Alternative Mortgage Products, made bets that the values of the securities would dip following a drop in the prices of houses in the United States. The third involvement of the investment bank in the housing bubble issue was its indirect connections with powerful government executives, who were actually former executives at Goldman. This made way for its receipt of bailout money from payments advanced to entities it had acquired such as AIG after the collapse of the bubble (Cohan, 2012). A number of reasons have been put forth in an attempt to explain the causes of the housing bubble. Such explanations include deregulation of financial institutions, misguided

Human Cloning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Human Cloning - Essay Example Besides therapeutic and reproductive cloning another category of cloning called the replacement cloning is also gaining prevalence. Replacement cloning is an amalgamation of therapeutic as well as reproductive cloning. The term gained prominence as it involves comprehensively injured, abortive, or weakening body, and replacement of the whole or partial organ or part of the body. The present article discusses the pros and cons of human cloning while extracting attention to understand the significance of human cloning in the advancement of human civilization. Human cloning is the process of generating a genetically indistinguishable replica of human being. It is a technique of imitating genetic information (Roxanne, 2010). The process is thought to be of therapeutic or reproductive importance. Therapeutic cloning encompasses cloning cells for their exploitation in treating various ailments. On the other hand reproductive cloning generates human clones, this is prohibited in many nation s because of ethical concerns. The moral predicament of human cloning lies on the argument either to promote or to impede cloning (Robert, 2001). Numerous molecular techniques are involved in the process of cloning encompassing molecular cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning (Manninen, 2010). There are numerous controversies associated with the cloning procedures some may favor cloning while others oppose the same. The present thesis discusses various aspects of the cloning as 1. The Cons/ Problems/Dangers and Controversies of Cloning a. Cloning is discouraged by various nations as cloning is against the rule of nature, which is generating humans, nurturing them and paving the way for uncertainties related with the repercussions of science. At present human population has crossed the figure of 7 billion, a huge burden on the planet. Is cloning going to resolve the issue of exponentially increasing human population is a big question imposed by the detractors of human cloning (Gary, 2012). b. Detractors of human cloning have their say about the loss of genetic diversity leading to higher probability and pervasiveness of genetic diseases. Poor adaptability of clones may become detrimental for situations of jeopardy. Inbreeding leads to self-annihilation. c. Cloning is inhumane as it abolish the bond of love and care and is said to be transgressing the nature. The process of cloning highlight that the human or scientists can play the role of Creator or God as cloning is a kind of asexual reproduction, therefore reduces the sense of distinctiveness of a character, lacking uniqueness and freedom. It is also noteworthy to have an insight regarding the amplification in human population and ecological burden on resources and on other surviving species. Growing population is putting pressure on the demands of basic amenities, infrastructures and social set ups; with human cloning, further contribution to disaster cannot be eluded. According to Savulescu (1999), human cloning is accountable to abuse, a person's right to individualism and self-sufficiency and being self is violated, moreover genetic individuality is also lost and human beings are used as a model organism. Cloning also enhances the risk of self safety due to genetic irregularity, cancer and diminished lifespan. 2. Pros/ Advantages of Cloning a. According to

Microregionalism and Economic Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Microregionalism and Economic Theory - Essay Example This according to Gamble & Payne (1996) form of regionalism is as a result of economic forces, finances and production. Globalization has been on the verge due to transnational economic relationships expanding the economy to a global capitalist division of production and labor. This form of regionalism has been due to business enterprises pursuing interests on the spatial scale of the region. The micro-regional firms are able to expand their markets such that they sell their commodities locally and around the region. This, according to Fawcett & Hurrell (1995) is because regionalization links well with globalization. The firms are able to learn from the competitors who are also in the system of regionalism. The governments are able to get economic interaction and collaboration leading to the expansion of their global market. Through this system, governments are able to exploit technology of other states and also exploit their capital. The process also helps the government to indulge in joint development of the resources available. This applies also to the industries according to Breslin & Hook (2002). Through micro regionalism, the government can solve the trans-boundary issues that arise in day to day activities. Consequently micro-regionalism is a tool for firms and the government to benefit from the comparative advantage of the regions which are

Arrested for Murder in Dublin Ireland Research Paper

Arrested for Murder in Dublin Ireland - Research Paper Example Murders in most countries attract different punishments and this is mostly influenced by the circumstance under which the murder was actually committed. Most regions use capital punishments for intentional murders even though current human rights bodies have advocated for the abolition of this punishment. The constitution of the republic of Ireland prohibits the death penalty and this has been in force since 2002 when constitutional amendments were undertaken. The legal processes involved in handling murder suspects in Dublin Ireland and the United States will be compared to highlight some of the legal differences that exist. Suspects have legal liberties and freedoms provided by the constitution of different countries including that of Dublin Ireland. As a murder suspect arrested in Dublin, Ireland, the legal procedure in the country exposes me to various processes which are considered under the due process law of the country. Due process rights are legal protections which are developed by law to protect suspects against unfair treatments and abuses during the arresting, interrogation and sentencing process. The due process rights differ depending on country in question and the process I will face in Ireland differs with that which I may be subjected to in the United States. Despite being accused of murder, the Dublin law demands that I be subjected to a fair process with fair treatment before being presented before a court of law. As an accused, the law does not require me to prove my innocence and may therefore maintain my silence during the initial phases of the trial (King, 2004). As an accused whose crime is still under investigation, the due process law in Dublin Ireland protects from self-incrimination and allows me the right to be represented by an attorney before the court of law. Before being arrested, the law enforcer has to read out the charges to me before I can be taken into police custody. The witnesses

State Of Blacks During Jim Crow Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

State Of Blacks During Jim Crow Era - Essay Example The term â€Å"Jim Crow† in the history of America is often related with the rigid segregation or exclusion of Blacks. The word ‘Jim Crow’ actually referred to black character in an old song. The period 1881 to 1964 marked the era of Jim Crow in the American history. Jim Crow era reflects Jim Crow laws separating black from white races in America. Since its inception, the term Jim Crow witnessed extensive usage as an orientation to practices, laws or institution that ascend from physical separation of black people from white people. The major purpose of Jim Crow laws was to separate black from white races as a measure to promote equal treatment (Tischauser 1-3). Jim Crow laws incorporated numerous practices of segregation. Jim Crow laws were primarily aimed at promoting equal treatment to Black African American people but the laws were criticized on several grounds. As a consequence of Jim Crow laws, Blacks were subjected to segregation in courtrooms and cemeteries, on trains and in sanatoriums among others. They were barred from public and private institutions such as restaurants, parks, libraries, public pools and hotels. Jim Crow segregation affected almost all aspects of Blacks. For instance, many courtrooms during Jim Crow era followed specific Jim Crow bibles for Black people and varied significantly from one used for white people. During Jim Crow era, Blacks were confronted with humiliation and dehumanizing practices.

Milgram Obediance Study Essay Example for Free

Milgram Obediance Study Essay In May of 1962 Stanley Milgram, a Social Psychologist at Yale University, conducted a study on â€Å"Obedience and Human Nature† that was influenced by his curiosity of the WWII German Nazi Holocaust and concentration camps. Milgram asked â€Å"How could it be, that ordinary German people could allow the extermination of the Jews† and wanted to know under what circumstances would a person disobey authority? The study took place in the greater New Haven area and consisted of 40 male participants that were recruited after responding to a newspaper ad. Each participant was compensated for their participation, and were given $4.50. It was thought by many professors that only 3 out of 100 participants might deliver the maximum shock. After the recruitment, Milgram conducted a series of controversial experiments with his invention of a shock generator. The switches were labeled and ranged from slight shock, stong shock, very strong shock, moderate shock, intense shock, extream intense shock, to Danger Severe Shock and the last two only stating â€Å"XXX†. The voltage began at 30, increasing by 15 volt increments for each switch, all the way up to 450 volts. The purpose of Milgrams experiment was to try and answer,â€Å"How far would you be willing to go?† Prior to the experiment the professor explained the procedure to each participant. The â€Å"Student† was hooked up to the shock machine with leads that were connected by a paste that was supposed to protect the skin from being damaged or burned. The proctor explained that the shocks would be painful, but would not cause harm to the subject. The role of the â€Å"Teacher† was to ask the â€Å"Student† a series of questions. With each wrong answer the â€Å"Teacher† was to deliver a shock to the â€Å"Student†. However, what Milgram did not reviel was that the study was in fact, rigged. The â€Å"Student† had been given a script, and was instructed to pretend to be shocked. During the experiment, with each stagged wrong answer, the â€Å"Student† complained about the pain. As the intensity increased, the â€Å"Student† began to complain about having heart problems. Begging for the â€Å"Teacher† to stop. Pleading and demanding to be let out of the room over and over again. All the while the â€Å"Teacher† was prompted by the proctor to continue. Throughout the exam, most of the â€Å"Teachers† began to doubt if they should continue. Asking the proctor â€Å"how far should I go†, or â€Å"what will happen if I continue†. Each time, the proctor would encourage the teacher to â€Å"please continue† telling them â€Å"you have no choice but to continue, the experiment depends on you†. With each shock the â€Å"Teacher† became increasingly agitated. Demonstrating mental anguish, and struggled with the their emotions of inflicting pain with the next shock. Eventually after hitting the 300 volt mark the â€Å"Student† got to the point that he stopped responding to the questions. By this point the â€Å"Teachers† were angry and refused to continue. The proctor advised the â€Å"Teacher† to treat the silence as a wrong answer and instructed to proceed with the experiment and to administer another shock. This caused increased severe mental anguish and suffering on the â€Å"Teachersâ€Å" behalf. Some would refuse again to continue, stating that they â€Å"wouldnt go on if I thought I were harming them†. One even shouted, â€Å"Im not going to be responsible, Im not going to kill the man.† The proctor simply responded, â€Å"you have too, you have no other choice but to continue.† Many of the phrases used to prompt the â€Å"Teacher† to continue included, â€Å"The experiments require you to continue†, and â€Å"Its absolutely essential that you continue.† The results of the Milgram experiment tested his theories of why people were willing to go against their conscious and demonstrated just how far people were willing to go to stay in compliance with an authoritative figure. In 1974 Milgram published his book ,â€Å"Obedience to Authority† which raised controversial, ethical, and moral issues of his experimentation on Obedience. Many believed that it was cruel and several professors stated it was â€Å"in humane† and questioned his use of human subjects, due to the cruel nature that caused mental anguish, unnecessary stress, grief, and turmoil on the so called â€Å"Teacher†. After the experiment, Milgram purposed the question, â€Å"Why did so many agree to and perform the shock treatment, if they felt it was wrong?† I believe that there are many factors that influenced the participants to continue to deliver the shock treatment, some of which include the following; 1. Human nature to be pleasing. I believe that Authority is seen to be powerful and insurmountable and having the authoritative figure presence, tromping them to continue even when they wanted to stop had a huge influence on the participants and affected the â€Å"teachers† decision to continue even though they wanted to stop. 2. Fear of non-compliance. I believe the participant felt an obligation to continue because of the agreement they made with the University to participate. I think that some may of thought their might be consequences if they disobeyed the proctor. 3. Curiosity and sadistic behaviors. I think that some participants wanted to see just how tolerant the â€Å"Student† could be. 4. The experiment was held at the highly esteemed Yale University. I believe this peeked the interest of the participants and many wanted to be a part of a highly accredited institutional study group. 5. Many believed it was safe. They were told that it was not dangerous, it was painful but would not harm the participant receiving the shocks and this allowed the participants to continue administering the shocks because they trusted what they were told. 6. Ability to redirect responsibility onto the Authoritative figure, in order to relieve the guilt they may feel- stating â€Å"I was only following orders.† I found the results of the Milgram Obedience study astounding. Of the 40 participants, 26 delivered the maximum shock and 14 participants stopped at various levels throughout the experiment, siting they â€Å"just couldnt go on.† While watching the video, I found myself feeling anxious, and thought about how I would of reacted. The Milgram experiment demonstrates exactly how people actually react when placed in certain circumstances, rather than a hypothetical situation, stating how they feel they would react. I believe this study revels how some humans can detach themselves emotionally in order to remain obedient. So after thinking about the statistics of the experiment I shouldnt have been so surprised that 65% delivered the maximum shock. I would of never believe so many of them would have gone thru with the experiment and felt that the number would have been much lower. There are many examples throughout history of how dangerous it can be to take obedience to the extrema. One example is during WWII. The Germans treatment of the Jews was horrific and unimaginable. It was estimated that during the Holocaust, the Nazis used the concentration camps to murder approximately 11 million people. So you ask, yourself, how could such a horrific event take place?, How could people be so EVIL? These conditions were real and the answer to these questions are highly debated throughout the world by Psychologist, Analysis, Universities and amongst people sitting at dinner tables everywhere. It lies deep within the dark places of evil minds. It unleashes its wrath and destroys. In conclusion, I believe we are taught to be obedient from birth. As parents we teach our children to obey us, so that they learn consequences and grow into respectable, responsible adults. God expects us to obey his commandments. Police officers expect us to obey traffic laws. Employers expect us to obey rules and regulations, and office policies On a daily basis we are told to follow instructions, directions, commands and orders. Obedience involves power and status and is influenced by social pressure and conformity. As a society we are conditioned and expected to be obedient.

Dell Business Analysis: Organisation and Effectiveness

Dell Business Analysis: Organisation and Effectiveness Summary The research is about study of distribution channel management at Dell Computers, UK. My work is more practical in nature, studying the Distribution Channels of Dell, both at a strategic and an operational level. I would be analysing the business function on its efficiency and effectiveness, comparing with the other industry performers. I would mostly be comparing the function against Sony Electronics, the most respected name in multi-channel distribution network; Acer, pioneer of value computing products and proprietary brands like Advent. The research aims to analyse and study the distribution channel of Dell in UK, distribution channel of its competitors, efficiency and effectiveness of Dells Distribution channel as compared to its competitors. And based on the research and analysis propose recommendations to enhance its effectiveness. The literature review section of the dissertation explores the definition of distribution, channel, and distribution channel and distribution channel management. Apart from that the section also examines the activities and the levels of distribution channel. The latter half of the section focuses on the distribution strategy adopted by Dell, Sony and Acer. Research is conducted by means of case study as well as survey. Case study analysis incorporates the study and effectiveness of the distribution strategy of Acer, Sony and Dell. Two set of questionnaires are designed to collect data from the end customer and the channel partners. Apart from that secondary data is used from from books, journals, company reports and documents, government websites whereas primary data is collected by means of survey questionnaire distributed channel partners and the end customers. In all 50 questionnaires are collected duly filled out of 60 questionnaires being sent out to the end customer whereas the questionnaire for the channel partners was send to 50 channel partners out of which only 30 responses were received. Questionnaires were sent out using survey distribution services of a web site. Care was taken to ensure that diverse demographic is covered for the survey. The research has its own drawbacks such as the work limited to the English market. Financial and time constraints of my semester mean that Im not able to conduct a global research that would be more apt in this case. Another limitation is most of my work is conducted through a personal observation method; as such it is prone to my personal bias. Thirdly distribution channel model is a sensitive piece of company information. As far as information on the competitors distribution channel is concerned its bit difficult. CHAPTER 1: Introduction This chapter will introduce the topic, specify the key aim and objectives of the dissertation, discuss the research approach and state the dissertation outline. The key aim of this chapter is to establish the foundation for the research topic by giving out basic information. 1.1 Introduction The research is about study of distribution channel management at Dell Computers, UK. The dissertation is more practical in nature, studying the Distribution Channels of Dell, both at a strategic and an operational level. I would be analysing the business function on its efficiency and effectiveness, comparing with the other industry performers. I would mostly be comparing the function against Sony Electronics, the most respected name in multi-channel distribution network; Acer, pioneer of value computing products and proprietary brands like Advent. Dell Inc. is a multibillion dollar, multinational technology firm that manufactures, develops, sells and supports personal computing and computer related products. Dell has seen a rapid growth to become one of the top three vendors in the PC manufacturing industry, and has seen a substantial increase in share price and market value. While many other companies were unable to handle the demands of the competition, Dell has proved successful in such an environment. The main key to success to Dell has been its two innovative practices that is direct sales and build-to-order business model. This model is simple as a concept but highly complex to execute, especially in the present conditions of rapid growth and change. Dell has continually renewed and extended its business model while striking a balance between control and edibility. Dell made changes in its design, manufacturing, procurement, and logistics processes to reduce the costs, and to speed up the entire distribution system. It has expanded into International markets and it started making notebook and server product lines which has led to extraordinary profits for dell, and has given a great market value for the company. Dell has reached sales of $18.2 billion by the year 1998, with a profit of $1.46 billion, and Dells market share in the PC market grew from 3% in 1995 to 9.2% in the year 1999 with stock price increasing by 40 times. Dells market capitalization has reached $100 billion. 1.2 Research aim and Questions The primary purpose of my research work is to analyse the role distribution channels play in the functioning of a business, both in the long run and in the short run. My study is to present a detailed description of the unique distribution channel adopted by Dell Inc., analyse its efficiency and effectiveness, identify possible loopholes and put forth recommendations for development. My study is being undertaken with an aim to answer the following research questions: * How are the various distribution channels organised within Dell Inc.? * How does it compare with its competitors? * How effective and efficient is this channel management at Dell? * What can be done to make it better? The four research questions are the guiding blocks of my entire research and all of the work would be done, keeping them in view. Distribution Channels within Dell: I would be looking at Dells innovative distribution channel management which has literally revolutionised the importance of Direct Marketing in the consumer electronics space. Direct marketing is still the primary distribution mechanism within Dell. I would be documenting the evolution of this concept within Dell right from its customized sales regime during PCs Limited to the complex and sophisticated systems that it employs currently. I would be presenting a visual of the entire distribution network that it stands at today. Comparison with its competitors: I would be comparing the dynamic distribution systems of its arch rivals. Sony and Acer are the brands that I would be concentrating upon. I would be looking at the strategies adopted in different economies, though my primary concentration would be on the English markets. Efficiency and Effectiveness: I would be conducting an efficiency and effectiveness test of Dells powerful distribution network against its competitors. This would be an empirical study. I would be concentrating on the parameters of Customer Satisfaction and Vendor relationship management. Recommendations: Finally, I would be putting forth recommendations for future developments along with the cost benefit analysis of such implementations. 1.3 Research approach The study is conducted by collecting secondary data and primary data. Secondary data is collected from books, journals, government websites, company documents whereas primary data is collected by means of survey questionnaire distributed among channel partners and the end customers. Participants of research would be intermediaries in the distribution network and the end customer. In order to select the participants the study has made use of stratified random sampling method in order to make sure that major demographic segments are represented while selecting the samples (Rao Skinner, 1996). Questionnaire design consists of two parts. The first part contained the demographic information while the second part dwelled on each of the subjects perception on each variable using five point likert scales from 1 (â€Å"Strongly Agree†) to 5(â€Å"Strongly Disagree†). The study did not require any assistance from a third party or any other institution. In order to collect data the study made use of web portal survey to distribute survey and get responses. The system was designed in such a way that the respondent have to submit all the answers. Out of 60 questionnaires, responses for 50 surveys were obtained. The duration for the survey was kept as two weeks, a reminder mail was being sent to the respondents at the end of week one to remind them. 1.4 Importance of the study Organizations have been undergoing strategic changes over the past decade. More so in the past couple of years. The current recession has proved that risk management and strategic planning are most vital for an organizations long lasting and self-sustaining performance. My work will strive to highlight one such areas of strategic thinking and inform the senior management about the benefits involved. 1.5 Research Scope My work would primarily be concentrated on the UK market. Though Dell is a global corporation with intermediaries present across the globe, all working towards forming an effective value chain to maximize business potential and ensure efficiency in operations; UK being the second biggest market after the US will be a general approximation of the entire organizational behaviour. Furthermore, the cosmopolitan nature of London and demographic diversity ensures that it would be a close estimate of the general population. 1.5 Limitation of Research I intend to undertake my research as comprehensively as possible. As in any research work, inherent are some unavoidable drawbacks in my study. Few of them are: * Financial and Time Constraints: As outlined before, the scope of my work is limited to the English market. Financial and time constraints of my semester mean that Im not able to conduct a global research that would be more apt in this case. * Personal bias. Most of my work is conducted through a personal observation method; as such it is prone to my personal bias. However as the person who is to do the entire research right from formulation of research questions to recommending solutions, I would be most qualified to comment on the topic. * Information Constraints. Distribution channel model is a sensitive piece of company information. Though I have secured access to Dell, wherein I could do all the data mining myself, the extent of information that I would be able to muster about the rivals model is still to be seen. 1.5 Dissertation outline The structure of the dissertation is as follows Chapter 1: Chapter 1 encompass introduction to the topic, followed by brief background into the research topic. This beginning chapter also lays bare aims and objectives of the research followed by structure of the thesis. Apart from that this chapter also gives information on the research approach adopted and the limitations of the research. Chapter 2: The literature review section of the dissertation explores the definition of distribution, channel, and distribution channel and distribution channel management. Apart from that the section also examines the activities and the levels of distribution channel. The latter half of the section focuses on the distribution strategy adopted by Dell, Sony and Acer. The final section compares the distribution strategy by all the three players. Chapter 3: The thesis then moves on to methodology section wherein the research model, research framework and data collection methodology is discussed. Questionnaire method is used to collect the necessary data from the consumer. Chapter 4: This chapter explores data findings Chapter 5: This chapter presents the conclusion. Chapter 6: This includes references using Harvard referencing style Chapter 7: This includes the Appendix 1.6 Summary The chapter introduced the topic of the dissertation, specified the key aims and objectives of the research. Discussed the research approach in form of secondary and primary data collection through the means of questionnaire and clearly stated the limitations of the research in brief. The chapter also outlines the research structure specifying the contents of each chapter. Chapter 2: Literature Review During my research, I would primarily be looking towards the concepts of Distribution Channel and its management. I would be guided by the various contributions in the field, though my work would primarily be influenced by the theories and suggestions of Philip Kotler in the area. A Professor of Business Studies at the Kelloggs Business School, Kotler is often regarded as the ‘Father of Modern Marketing. My work also coincides with various other management thinking like Consumer Behaviour, Relationship Management, Marketing Mix and Optimization, among others. 2.1 Definition 2.1.1 Distribution Kotler (1996) states that distribution is a key element in the marketing mix (place amongst the 4Ps). It is the systems and practices in use which make a product or service available to the consumer of such a product or service. 2.1.2 Channel Channel is defined as â€Å"a set of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for consumption or use† (Gorchels, West, Marien, 2004). It can also encompass physical movement, warehousing, ownership of the product, presale transaction, post-sale activities; order processing, credit and collections; and other different types of support activities (Gorchels, West, Marien, 2004). 2.1.3 Distribution Channel The Distribution Channel is the chain of intermediaries, each of them passing on the product or service to another intermediary until it reaches the consumer. The business dictionary defines it as â€Å"The route by which a product or service is moved from a producer or supplier to customers. A distribution channel usually consists of a chain of intermediaries, including wholesalers, retailers, and distributors, that is designed to transport goods from the point of production to the point of consumption in the most efficient way† (Dictionary, 2010) Another definition of Distribution channel states â€Å"A group of independent and interdependent organizations involved in the sale and movement of goods and services to the end users may be called a distribution channel or network† (Gorchels, West, Marien, 2004). More specifically, a distribution channel is: * The transfer of goods from manufacturer to the end user. * Route of a company for distributing the goods. * The process of moving goods from the manufacturer to the consumer. * A supply chain consisting of all parties in between production to the end user. 2.2 Types of channel members The activities in the distribution channel can be carried out by the marketer himself or it can be carried out by specialist organizations. The specialist organizations and the channel members can be categorized into two types. * Resellers * Specialty Service Firms. Resellers are the companies which usually buy and take the ownership of the products from the manufacturer with the intention of selling to end consumers. An organization can have one or more than one reseller in the chain. The network or chain of resellers is known as reseller network. The resellers can be further classified into: Retailers: A retailer sells the product directly to the end customer. Wholesalers: Wholesalers buy the products from manufacturer or other wholesalers and then they sell the products to the retailers. Industrial Distributors: They are the ones who sell products from one business to other, they are suppliers who buy the goods and sell it to another firm. Specialty service firms are organizations that do not take the ownership of the products. They also provide additional services along with the products. Specialty firms can be: Agents and brokers: They are the firms which bring together the suppliers and buyers and mediate the sale and they charge a fee for this kind of service. Distribution service firms: They provide services which help with the movement of goods in the distribution channels like transportation, processing and storage of goods and products. Others: They are the firms which provide other services to the channels in distribution like insurance, routing assistance etc. The distribution channels consist of many parties among which each of them is trying to meet their objectives. Relationships between channel members should be strong with each others especially on which they are depending for the further distribution of product. 2.3 Levels The arrangement of the distribution channels can be classified into two types: * Independent channel arrangements. * Dependent channel arrangements. Independent channel arrangements: In this type of arrangement the channel members negotiate deals with others which do not result in the binding of the relationships. Channel members are free to make arrangements which they feel is in their own and best interest. An individual member decides what is best for them and not the entire channel. This is also called conventional distribution arrangement and often significant conflict as each member decides what is best for him and not in concern with the entire channel As shown in the figure 2 there are four levels of distribution channels. Channel 1 is called the direct marketing channel which is the distribution of products or services from the manufacturer to the customer. The best example for this channel is Dell which does not makes use of any intermediaries to distribute its products to end customers; there are no retailers, agents or wholesalers. The channel does not have any intermediaries. This type of channel helps to eradicate the excess cost and also helps to have good control over the quality and marketing. The other three channels fall in the category of â€Å"indirect marketing channels†. As shown in the figure 1, the second channel has one intermediary, if the market is a consumer market the one intermediary is basically a retailer. Electronic consumer goods market of UK is an example of second type of channel arrangement. In this type of distribution arrangement the companies sell good to large retail chains, example would be Sony, Canon, and HP selling their electronic goods to large retail chains such as Dixons. These retailers in return sell the goods to the end customer. As shown in the figure Channel 3 consists of two levels which are the wholesaler and the retailer. The role of the wholesale in this channel is to buy the products at bulk from the manufacturer and then sell the same to retailer in smaller quantities. This model works best for retailers on small scale and not for big chains such as Dixons. This type of distribution channel is best when there are large number of small retailers and not big companies. Example in this case would be the medical drugs distribution market in the UK. The fourth channel has added level to it in the form of agents who work as intermediary between manufacturer and wholesaler. The agent acts as representative for both the sides. This works in textile market. Figure 2 gives information on the four types of distribution channel. Dell follows the manufacturer to direct customer channel thus discarding the intermediaries in between. Source: http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/courses/IIT-MADRAS/Management_Science_II/Pdf/1_4.pdf A direct distribution channel is where a company sells their products direct to consumers. While direct channels were not popular many years ago, the Internet has greatly increased the use of direct channels. Additionally, companies needing to cut costs may use direct channels to avoid middlemen mark-ups on their products. Distributors, wholesalers and retailers are the primary indirect channels a company may use when selling their products in the marketplace. Companies choose the indirect channel best suited for their product to obtain the best market share; it also allows them to focus on producing their goods. Though, in practicality, a number of other players exist, they can be generalised to the above. The specific channel of distribution adopted by a company depends, to a major extent, on its business model, the industry type and the scale of its operations. As an Instance, Sony has its own set of company operated exclusive showrooms. The strong brand equity of Sony, the scale of its business and clearly identifiable product differentiations that it enjoys with the consumers, allow it to leverage on its economies of scale and scope by operating its own outlets. Directly, this result in better margins for the company and indirectly it helps building on its already demanding brand leadership. Dell, on the other hand, relies more on online sales. This is because of the organization of its service delivery utility. Dells business model is based upon its centralised manufacturing facilities, rather than the nuclear organization at Sony. Online sales suits such a strategy by negating the high costs of transportation and inventory planning issues involved. A manufacturer selling a physical product might require three channels: Sales Channel, Delivery Channel, and Service Channel. In Our case, Dell uses telephone and internet as sales channels, express mail services as the delivery channel and local repair people as its service channel. 2.4 Distribution Channel Activities Distribution includes different range of activities (Richard Gay, 2007) * Linking many suppliers to provide wide range of consumer choice * Assist the exchange process identify the needs of the buyer in the context of product categories, quantities, range etc. and devise manufacturing, inventory and packaging schedules to fit. * Marketing information: This encompass collection, distribution and analysing marketing research information such as the past sales data about the players within the organizations marketing environment. * Promotional activities- This involves setting of promotional objectives and activating the various elements of the marketing communications mix and measuring their effectiveness, this will encompass identify and communicate with prospects. * Pricing: Deciding on the sales terms and conditions at each stage of the value chain * Risk management This includes analysis and resource sourcing required for involvement in the channel , the degree of control and influence and the potential benefits such as revenue and profit generation. * Physical Distribution Management It includes the transportation all aspects of warehousing management and information flows. Other Activities that may be part of the distribution channels are as follows: * Order Generation. * Handling of Goods. * Shipping of Goods. * Storage of Goods. * Display of Goods. * Promotion of Goods. * Sale. * Feedback. 2.5 Distribution Channel Management Distribution Channel Management is all about getting the product or service to the right people at the right time under the constraints of profits, efficiency and effectiveness. Successful marketing does not end when a business has developed a product or service and has found its appropriate target audience with a view to selling it at the right price. The next issue that needs to be faced is how they are going to distribute and sell this product/service to these people- the consumers. When a product/service is purchased by a consumer, it may have been bought directly from the business, or it may have been through a number of intermediaries (wholesaler, retailer, etc.): these are known as distribution channels. Small businesses need to acknowledge the different types of distribution channels to utilize sales potential. Distribution channel management involves a lot of channel decisions, strategic alternatives and numerous linking concepts, all of which would be explored in my research paper. Distribution channel management involves a lot of channel decisions, strategic alternatives and numerous linking concepts. The PC industry is driven by rapid technological improvements in components, particularly microprocessors, other semiconductors, and storage devices. The improved performance of hardware has been matched historically by increased complexity of software, creating demand for the latest hardware. Figure 2 PC Supply Chain This means that time is a critical competitive factor in the industry in two ways: * Firstly, excess inventory loses value (at an estimated 10% per month 😉 and costs money; * Secondly, products incorporating the most advanced technologies are in high demand and carry a price premium. As a result, companies that minimize inventory and bring new products to market faster can reduce costs, increase market share, and maintain higher margins. Two factors come into play in determining the ability of PC companies to manage inventory and introduce new products. First is the standardized, modular nature of the PC. PCs are built from standard components, using common architectural interfaces determined largely by Intel, Microsoft, and, earlier, IBM. PC makers also can outsource much of their production and purchase components from a well-established production network of contract manufacturers and components suppliers. This makes it quite easy for PC companies to introduce new PCs with the most advanced technologies. By the 1990s, PC makers could no longer gain much of an edge by virtue of design and manufacturing, as everyone had access to the same technical information and supply base. The difference among PC companies was determined increasingly by the second factorâ₠¬â€the structure of distribution. The traditional distribution system of the PC industry is an indirect model often referred to as â€Å"the channel†. The PC maker sells its products to distributors, who buy products from many manufacturers and then sell them to a variety of retailers, resellers, system integrators, and others, who sell products and services to the final customer. This distribution system was an effective means for distributing high volumes of PCs with a variety of configurations to reach a broad customer base. However, it had inherent weaknesses that left it vulnerable in a time-based competitive environment. First was its reliance on market forecasting to drive production. Even the most successful PC makers, such as IBM, Apple, and Compaq, were chronically bedevilled by their inability to accurately forecast demand in a market driven by ever shorter product cycles. They were either caught with short supplies of hot products, causing them to lose sales to competitors, or stuck with excess inventories of slow sellers, which clogged the distribution channels and often had to be sold at a loss to move them out. Even with the best forecasting, the indirect model was plagued by the need to hold inventory at each step. In the early 1990s, it was common for PC makers to have up to 90 days of inventory on hand and in the channel. The high inventory costs and lack of responsiveness of the indirect channel meant that there was an opportunity for someone who could a way to circumvent the channel. The company that seized this opportunity was Dell, which pioneered a new business model based on selling PCs directly to the final customer, and building the PC only when an order was received Selling directly removes two links in the supply chain where inventory could build up and also enables Dell to know its final customers, provide better service to them, and promote repeat or expanded sales to them. Build-to-order production allows Dell to introduce new technologies as soon as customers want them and makes it possible to adjust production to demand very quickly. It also means that Dell does not purchase components and assemble PCs until it has received payment from the customer, giving the company a negative cash conversion cycle in which it receives payment from customers before it must pay suppliers. The current environment for the computer hardware industry is shaped by several macro forces. Primarily, Dell and its competitors are influenced by economic, demographic, technological and national forces. Government, social, physical and national forces peripherally affect the computer hardware industry to varying degrees. The commoditization of the personal computer—a vital tool for business and consumer. Customers- are a key driver for the economics of this industry. Corporate spending accounts for 80% of all technology spending, and economic conditions decreasing business capital expenditures has a negative and direct impact on the computer hardware industry. While this industry is mature in the U.S., leading to decreased growth expectations, computer spending by other countries around the world will likely fill this void. Pricing in the computer manufacturing industry is extremely competitive. IT reflects the rapid pace of technological change and decreasing PC costs. Since 2000, the prices of chips and disk drives declined and the standardization of primary components of PCs led to a decline in PC prices. Direct sellers, including Dell, have traditionally been able to under-price indirect sellers in the industry including Compaq and HP. However, most PC vendors now offer a desktop model for less than $500 and a laptop for $700. Key success factors for companies in this industry continue to evolve as the industry matures. Specifically, they include: * Competitive prices * Superior relationships with suppliers * Product customization for business and consumer customers * Quality customer service * Excellent cost structure 2.5.1 Channel Issues Some of the channels issues that the companies face are as follows Product related issues Promotions related issue Pricing related issues Target market related issue Product related issues: The nature and type of the product decides the distribution option that should be chosen for the product. A few products require special handling. Ex. Flowers, Fragile goods etc. Promotion related issues: The type of promotions that are required to sell the products to the customers also decides the distribution options; there are products which require an extensive contact of the sales person with the customer like automobiles etc. and there are products which require no sales assistance from the sales person like milk etc. Pricing issues: The price at which the marketer desires to sell their product also decides the distribution option for the channel if a product is prices really less it cannot have many members in the distribution channel as each one of them looks at making their own profit in the channel. Target market issues: The distribution channel is successful only if the product can reach the right customer. Choosing a distribution channel is the path to reach the target customer. A key decision in setting of a channel arrangement is for the marketer to choose the approach to reach his target customer in the best possible manner. 2.6 Dell 2.6.1 Company Background Dell Inc. is a multibillion dollar, multinational technology firm that manufactures, develops, sells and supports personal computing and computer related products. Based out of Texas, it employ

History of Tuberculosis Essay example -- Medical Biology Disease TB

History of Tuberculosis Abstract This paper discusses the historical aspect of the fatal and contagious disease now known as tuberculosis. It discusses the history of Tuberculosis beginning with Ancient Egyptian mummies to the most current discovery of TB. Greek philosopher such as Hippocrates and Plato observed the first cases of tuberculosis. They are two out of the many people that gradually discovered the TB out of the many. It talks about the different remedies that different philosophers and physicians came about that have been revised. Tuberculosis, also known as â€Å"the white plague,† (The history of tuberculosis 2) is a silent and unknown prehistoric air borne disease that quickly spreads and kills nearly two million people worldwide (Tuberculosis-Revolution). Today, tuberculosis is the most deadly disease known to man, more deadly than HIV/AIDS. Despite advances in treatment, TB is a global pandemic, fueled by the spread of HIV/AIDS, poverty, a lack of health services and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the bacterium (Tuberulosis-revolution Health). However, TB has an unknown past, and in order to understand tuberculosis, one must know its history. Evidence of Mycobacterial infection has been found in the mummified remains of Ancient Egyptians 1000 B.C. The â€Å"Father of Medicine,† Hippocrates (460-377 B.C), made the first breakthrough in TB research. He named the disease â€Å"phthisis,† which means the â€Å"shrinking of the body,† because the majority of the cases he found occurred in the spinal area. However, the majority of the population of that time commonly called the illness, â€Å"Pott’s disease.† Which is tuberculosis of the spine. The Greeks thought that phthisis was a heredity issue, while others though... ...http://www.revolutionhealth.com/conditions/lung/tuberculosis/tubercul osis?section=section_00>. "Defintion: Sputum from Online Medical Dictionary." 1997-2007. Center of Cancer Education. 29 Jul 2007 . "Healthline-Dictionary Search." Healthline-Scofula. 2005-2007. Center of Cancer Education. 23 Jul 2007 . The History of tuberculosis. 2005-2007. Center of Cancer Education. 23 Jul 2007 . â€Å"Tuberculosis." EncyclopÊdia Britannica. 2007. EncyclopÊdia Britannica Online. 29† July†  2007http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-253299. Brief History of tuberculosis." Brief History of TB. 23 Jul 2007 .

Legal Prostitution :: essays research papers

Prostitution has long been considered as illegal. But is it necessary to do so? It is said that prostitution causes inconvenience and troubles to general public. However, the act that considers prostitution as illegal causes inconvenience and troubles to prostitutes either. Does general public has the right to live without prostitution nearby, which will prevent prostitutes from making money with their 'resources', or do prostitutes have the right to make money with their 'resources', which will prevent general public from living in 'an more enjoyable' environment? This is obviously a conflict of interest. The right should be granted to the side with more social benefits. For example, if legal prostitution brings the social, says, $100 and at the same time causes $50 harms to general public, the right should be granted to prostitutes. One may argue that it is very difficult to determine which side brings larger social benefits. But under some situations, we can easily determine it. If prostitutions are located in some low-population-density areas, the harms or inconvenience caused by prostitutions will be smaller. But some may argue that although the inconvenience is smaller, people still suffer. If satisfactory compensations for people who suffer are availble, people are willing to suffer. The right to prostitute, or the right to stop prostitution should be granted to general public (or people who are affected by prostitutions) or prostitutes by the time the compensation system operates. However, it is very difficult to delimitate such right. What should be considered as prostitutions? If a female who provides a male with sex service for returns is said to be a prostitute, then is a wife who provide sex service for her husband for his love said to be a prostitute? Is having sex before marriage called as a prostutition? We can see that it is very 'costly' to delimitate such right.

Will Rogers Essay -- essays research papers

Will Rogers Not many people remember Will Rogers, but in the 1930's he was the most well known man in America -- more popular than Shirley Temple. He was a simple cowpoke who entertained people with his rope tricks and sly political observations. He also wrote a widely-read newspaper column and appeared on the raido every week. I supose he is alot like Bill Cosby is today: beloved for his down-to-earth style of humor. But that "aww, shucks" attitude hid a brilliant mind. Furthermore, Will Rogers was more than just a comedian; he was a man of character. Throughout his life, he exhibited the qualities of humility, fairness, generosity, and loyalty witch make him a real American hero. Will was born in Oklahoma and proud of it. The son of a rancher, he was a one quarter Cherokee and never missed an opportunity to brag about his Native American heritage. "My ancestors didn't come on the Mayflower," he used to joke, "but they met the boat." Will stayed true to his Cherokee roots; he went to an Indian school and had many Indian friends. Later he became active in Native-American issues and was a major spokesman for Native-American rights in the U.S. Above all,though, Will was a "regular guy." His shy grin, easy manner, and total absence of sham endeared to Americans of all backgrounds. He had no pretensions, and his pleasures were simple: he liked to ride horses, rope cattle, and read the papers. In fact he often said, "I only know wha...

Aspects of the Tragiccomedy As I Lay Dying Essay

William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying is both comic and tragic in many ways throughout this book. This is a story of a family who carts their dead mother, Addie, to be buried in her hometown in Jefferson. There are fifteen monologues from this book including one from Addie. The family goes through horrendous obstacles in order to complete their trip. Addie is the heart and soul of this family yet she never wanted this life. Addie’s father would tell her, â€Å"The reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time. 169. So she took Anse for a husband and gave him Cash and Darl. After she had Darl she made Anse promise to bury her in Jefferson when she died. But Anse wanted more kids. Addie had an affair with Mr. Whitfield and had Jewel. She gave Anse Dewey Dell for the negative of Jewel and last Vardaman. Addie is bitter about her life and doesn’t show the love and affection towards her kids except to Jewel her favorite. As long as she is around this family the more suffering she will bring to them. All her children except Jewel want her love and kindness but she rebukes them. In the beginning of their journey Jewel takes horse with him, but Anse is against this because he feels it is disrespectful towards Addie. Jewel should be riding in the wagon with everybody else. They come to a bridge which has just collapsed because of the weather and the river is moving very fast. It will take the trip longer if they go around so the Bundren family makes up a plan and goes through it. Cash and Darl make their way across the broken bridge when the wagon tips. Darl was supposed to hold on the coffin but instead lets it go hoping that God will take care of her and that would end their trip. However, Jewel went into the river to rescue his dead mother from the river and foiled Darl’s plans. Cash has a broken leg but he’s lucky because it was the same leg he had broken before so he is not begrudging it. Cash holds off on medical treatment until they bury Addie. When they come to rest at Mr. Gillippsie’s barn Darl has had enough of this trip all he wants to do is end it and send Addie on her way, peaceful like in her sleep. So Darl sets the barn on fire, livestock and all. However, Jewel comes to the rescue again and saves the coffin from being burnt. Vardaman knows Darl set the barn on fire but lke a good brother he keeps it to himself and doesn’t tell anybody. The rest of the family suspects it is Darl and are going to deal with him after they bury Addie. Darl introspectively has an insight to his family’s secrets. He has discovered that Dewey Dell is pregnant and is going into town to get a treatment for an abortion; Jewel is not Anse’s son, and by that thought he taunts Jewel to no end. He knows Anse is going to Jefferson for a new set of teeth even if he has to beg, steal or borrow. Anse takes money from Cash and Dewey Dell, and then he sells Jewel’s horse to pay for a new mule team to get them to Jefferson. When they do reach Jefferson Addie is passed due and ready for the ground. Anse borrows a couple spades in order to dig the grave and they lay her to rest. Betrayed by Dewey Dell and assaulted by Jewel, Darl is taken away to the asylum. Only Cash understands him; only Cash and Vardaman pity him. Referring to himself in the third person, a sign of extreme self-estrangement, Darl says: â€Å"Darl is our brother, our brother Darl. Our brother Darl is in a cage in Jackson where, his grimed hands lying light in the quiet interstices, looking out he foams. ‘Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes’. † To the end it is a search for kinship that obsesses Darl, and his cryptic row of affirmatives may signify a last, pathetic effort to proclaim his brotherhood. Howe The characters in As I Lay Dying do not clearly communicate to one another. Each goes and does whatever they need to do for themselves with little regard for the other. Addie Bundren was a very private woman and would not have it any other way; I believe she passed that quality to her kids. Because, if they did talk to each other maybe there would be a better bond with all of them instead of guessing and tip toeing around the matter. In this tragic comedy book the irony is seeing what you hate inside multiply itself by 5. This is what Addie Bundren created. Dewey Dell is in the same place her mom was only a little worse off because she is not married. Darl is goes mad and heads to an insane asylum. Vardaman is trying to piece everything together and still believes his mom is a fish. Jewel is kinder to his mother in death then he was when she was alive and I believe he regrets that. Cash has one good leg and still has his carpenter tools, he’ll make it through somehow. Anse cannot live without a wife so when gets his teeth in Jefferson he introduces the children to their new mother.