The Shawshank Redemption Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Shawshank Redemption - Movie Review Example Despite Andy’s declaration of innocence he is retained in the prison guided by circumstantial evidence. The movie uses the character of Andy Dufrense to reflect the resilience of human spirit and how one can retain his humanity against all odds under penitence. Andy Dufresne in his late 40s has no reason to be apprehensive about life unless things changes a little too fast for him. The corpses of his wife and her previous lover are found strewn with bullets after Andy comes to know of his wife’s illicit relationship. The circumstance goes against him when he visits his house with whisky and bullets. Though he admits to these incidents, he declares his innocence but all he receives form the court of justice is to life sentences to serve and undergo the tough penitence of the jail at Shawshank which is known to be the most atrocious one in New England. When Eliss â€Å"Red† Redding befriends Andy, he foretells that the lanky and out of place Andy would not be able to sustain here for long. His prediction seems strong given that Andy is surrounded by hostile inmates and strong tough and aggressive head guard like Hadley and personalities like Warden Norton (enacted by Bob Grunton) who made their dominance clearly felt throughout. Later when Andy narrates his story to Red, he says, â€Å"Bad luck, I guess. It floats around. It's got to land on somebody. It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the tornado. I just didn't expect the storm would last as long as it has†. This is complemented by the harassment of the group of troublemakers and sexual assaulters named â€Å"The Sisters† under the leadership of Bogs. Despite being tormented Andy does not give in. This surrounding is ideal to prove the Prison to live up to its name and reputation of atrocity and violence and abrupt instances of abuse occur frequently. With brutality on one hand, corruption also prevails on the other. For instance, the Warden Norton uses Andy to as sist him in his operation of laundering money under the fake name of Randall Stevens. This opportunity comes when by his luck his discovers Hadley is in a problem related to tax on an inheritance and renders his fruitful advice on the same. He is then asked to look after the library and also renders financial counseling to the other guards. Hadley also beats up the group of ‘Sisters’ who refrains from bothering Andy henceforth. Things were comfortable for Andy since his talents are being exploited by the Warden who uses the inmates for supplying labor force instead of skilled labor for which he receives incentives. Andy knows his corruption but has little way out. He takes a big risk by playing The Marriage of Figago for his inmates to hear despite knowing that he would be confined to solitary cell for this offense of rendering one pleasant moment. He carries on his good work by expanding the library after several attempts and with the help of the warden. He dedicates t he library to Brookes the old librarian who commits suicide after being released on parole since he could not adjust to the outside world. The movie set over a wide space of two decades joins different strands of stories taking place in the prison. This shows how Andy retains

Education - high school Essay Example for Free

Education high school Essay High school, as well as college, is just another part in everyone’s lives. Almost everyone goes through such a transition between two very diverse and different worlds. These diverse worlds can be compared and contrasted; however, not all are aware of the possible similarities and differences between them. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the students in high school and students college in terms of the level of the academics, time schedule, as well as the culture practiced by each student. First of all, high school is the first step to a higher level of learning. High school equips us with the proper knowledge needed in order to survive college and other higher levels of learning. Also, there are many subjects in high school such as: math, science, English, art, piano classes and many other subjects. The students are more relaxed and they will learn more carefully. Compared to the time schedule of college students, high school students’ schedules are much more fixed because the standard call time is at 7:30 a. m. and end at 3:00p. m. Students are much more immature and they need guidance in order to lead themselves to better lives. They study inside a single classroom all day, thus having little freedom; on the other hand, the students in the college have different single rooms for each subject. College, on the other hand, is a different story. The subjects a student will learn and discuss are much more specific since students finally chose the best major and a career path students will take in the future. College students are more experience and their workload is much more complex and heavy. They have more responsibilities to carry out in college. The curriculum is much more specific and complicated because detailed topics are being discussed regarding your chosen career path. College student’s time schedules are very flexible because the students can choose their own desired time schedule. These students are much more outgoing and independent compared to high school students. The culture of college students is much more diverse because there is a huge number of students inside a college; many student come from all over the world. College introduce students to each others culture and nationality. People can really see the distinctive difference between these two phases in life; however, there are also some similarities students will experience during their transition into college live. Friends from your high school will usually be there for you especially when you keep a constant connection between them. Studying habits such as cramming for a test or homework, breaking the rules and disciplinary sanctions are still evident in both high school and college to help each other’s. To sum up, we all know that almost all students goes through high school and college. We can compare that college is much more challenging and complex than high school. This is a higher level of learning, thus, requiring more time, effort as well as devotion to studies. Even though college is very tiring at time, I still believe that college is a much more enjoyable and exciting. To have that kind of freedom in your schedule is very rewarding; however, proper judgment is a must since we are all mature students now.

Dialogue Essay - Ron was Unhappy :: Dialogue Essays

Dialogue Essay - Ron was Unhappy Ron was unhappy with the way his life had turned out. He had always expected to be a celebrity; a wealthy celebrity. He had not realized that this would probably require a lot of hard work and discipline. He had depended on luck. Luck had let him down. As he looked back on his short life, he could see how often he had had the opportunity to take luck by the throat. But those opportunities were past now. His life no longer had the prospect of wealth or celebrity. He had been born to a couple of teenagers. They had never really grown up the whole time he’d known them. He was the mature one of the family, and he resented this. He had no brothers or sisters. His parents, though alive, were no longer together, and he felt as if he was all alone in the world. Holidays divided between different households was difficult for him to come to terms with. It robbed the holidays of the joy he so much wanted them to hold. He had long ago decided to forgo holidays altogether, not because they no longer had any meaning for him, but because they meant so much. He refused to see them turned into tugs-of-war. Ron had joined the service as soon as he got out of high school, not because he wanted to, but because he didn’t really have anything better to do, and no place better to do it. He was not a model soldier. He was in and out of trouble, but somehow managed to get out with an honorable discharge. He still had nothing better to do. He finally found himself a job in a factory. Nothing too demanding, and perhaps a little demeaning to his intelligence. But it kept him fed. He didn’t hate his job, but he had no loyalty to it. He smoked a little too much. He loved his cigarettes. He didn’t think he was addicted, and would quit from time to time, sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months, and twice for a couple of years. But he loved tobacco. He knew it might kill him someday, but this did not cause his affection to waver. He also loved women. They seemed to love him as well. At least those who could get close to him. But there was something about him that they could not penetrate, no matter how much or how often they tried.

Alcoholism is a Disease Essay -- essays research papers

Alcoholism has been a problem throughout the history of humanity, a disease which has caused many people to be overcome with burdens, problems, and debts. Alcoholism is a term that is widely recognized throughout the United States and the World. Alcoholism is a chronic disease, progressive and often fatal; it is a disorder and not due to other diseases or emotional problems. Many scientists have tried to define what Alcoholism is, and what this disease may be rooted from. Some people would argue that alcoholism is simply the over-consumption of alcohol, this statement is only somewhat true. An alcoholic is a person who relies on alcohol as a medium to help him or her deal with physical, emotional, or spiritual needs. To understand alcoholism, it must first be understood what this affliction is dependent on. Alcohol is a substance that is made by the fermentation of fruits, grains, or miscellaneous other organic materials. The chemical, alcohol, is a depressant and acts on every cell in the human body. Due to this, the central nervous system, along with the pleasure centers of the brain, are affected resulting in a feeling of euphoria and a sense of well being. After repeated exposure, the brain becomes dependent on this drug to unburden itself whenever it feels the compulsion. Several factors that contribute to alcoholism are the individual’s psychology, genetics, culture, and the individual’s response to physical pain. In order to understand alcoholism, we must first de...

Admission Essay for Mba Essay

The quest for knowledge is unlimited as are the human wants. Perception is the basic idea behind every accomplishment. The field of business administration in itself is a line with inquisitive and progressive future. The very immediate applicability of the subject and its consequent results on improvisation of society on whole is a rewarding experience to go through. The one thing in present day and in future that will remain constant will be the progress and development of mankind. Thus the focus will inevitably be on developing the business structure. This being one of the main factors that directly reflect any countries growth and index of development has scope for challengeable and innovative future. The very beauty of this field which inclined me towards it is the fact that this field is never confined and ever emerging by bounding and integrating with different fields towards extracting the best we can do! See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay Ever since my childhood I was always fascinated by the way a business works. I always showed interest towards the working of a business and from my schooling I used to accompany my father in his business. I used to help him with maintaining accounts and learnt various business tactics. Today when choosing a specialization it is a great relief that what I want to pursue is not only a fast developing and long lasting field but also a subject of immense interest to me. Combined by my full commitment and wholehearted interest towards the subject and after judging the applicability of my decision towards my career’s progress I can say with full satisfaction that this is the best that I can do from personal and productive point of views. Apart from the academic interest, I expanded my thirst for knowledge by presenting different technical papers at national and state levels. A few of my papers are Export Documentation, Import Documentation, Working of a Retail Outlet, few Finance related papers and Accounting Projects. All these activities during my course and the interest generated from the projects attracted me more towards the field of Business Administration which supported my childhood interest. I was able to increase my intra personal traits by playing a major role in organizing the events of ARTHASHASTRA, a state level commerce students festival organized by Commerce Organization For Emerging Entrepreneurs (COFEE) at our institution which created a perfect platform for exposing myself in both leadership qualities and monitoring skills, which created lot of zeal to counteract the surrounding situations. As the United States education system is the polestar for other nations, I therefore chose to opt for USA for my higher education. Furthermore, I hardly need to mention that Franklin University being among the reputed schools for Business Administration would provide the best in terms of opportunities, infrastructural facilities and academically stimulating environment. My intended areas of specialization in the Graduate program in the Business Administration at Franklin University (Columbus, OH) is Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in order to pursue a carrier in business administration and experience the excitement and satisfaction of being associated with this vast and expanding field. Finally I would like to add that the essence of University education lies in the synergic relationships between the student and his department. I am confident that I will match the high standards set by the University. I thus feel that a Graduate study at Franklin University will be the most logical extension of my academic pursuits and a major step towards achieving my objectives. I would definitely boost my ambitions if I am given the opportunity to pursue my higher studies at Franklin University with suitable financial assistance and I am confident that I will be able to justify your faith in me.

America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains Essay Example

America’s Post America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains Essay America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains Essay America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains Name: Course: Date: America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains The American Civil War or the War between the States was fought from 1860 to 1866 between the Northern group of U.S. and numerous slave states in the Southern region that demanded secession from the greater North America with the intent of forming the Confederacy or the Confederate States of America. The original cause of the civil war included the controversial issue of slavery. After four years of deadly battles, the Southerners were overpowered, slavery was done away with and the cumbersome processes of Reconstruction, reinstating unity and certifying the rights to slaves began. Impact of the two major historical turning points on America’s current standing The period between 1865 to1900 that was also known as the Reconstruction era, various economic and social events took place that greatly shaped North America. The American Farm Unrest is one such event that was highly supported by disgruntled farmers who were displeased with the worsening political and economic conditions. To counter these effects, farmers grouped themselves into political parties, interest groups and cooperatives to increase their influence. Examples of these groups include the Patrons of Husbandry that tackled transport and business issues and The Farmers’ Alliance that stressed on marketing and state intervention. The industrial change commonly known as ‘The Incorporation of America’ was another major occurrence that was featured during this period. These changes included building of steel factories, railroad expansion and other related developments such as large-scale corporations. Impact of turning points in America The changes in the industrial sector that were boosted mainly by the surplus capital, numerous resources and infrastructure had various effects on the socio-political environment. The expansion of the railroad system resulted in increased consumption of steel and coal within the areas where the system was being expanded. The railroad contributed towards the inception of the modern stockholder corporations. The Reconstruction also triggered increased focus by entrepreneurs such as Cornelius Vanderbilt into commercial activities and created the phenomenon of ‘robber batons’ that were essentially wealthy individuals engaging in ship and rail transport. The Reconstruction period ushered in an era of increased participation in politics especially among the black Americans residing in the South. President Lincoln and the Reconstruction period Abraham Lincoln was regarded by many as America’s best president. However, during the Reconstruction period, a large section of the population in the South viewed him as their ultimate adversary and tyrant. The main source of this hatred was the idea that President Lincoln was more focused on rebuilding the Union rather than reconstructing the South. Most of his proposals and policies were geared toward coercing the South into treaties with the Union for instance the 1863 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction for states provided they swore allegiance to the Union and the stand against slavery (Feldman, 2004). If President Lincoln had not been assassinated, the Reconstruction process would have been more wholesome and faster. His generous and fair approach toward the South meant that the President was prepared to work with all the citizens of the United States of America to ensure they maximized their Reconstruction efforts. Effect of industrialization and urbanization during the Reconstruction period The Reconstruction period was characterized by accumulation of personal wealth, poverty and development. The United States of America became progressively urban, and cities sprung up with higher population and size. Skyscrapers and expansive transportation systems became the hallmark of every city. There was an increased volume of immigration with people from various countries moving into the ‘Golden Land of America’ from as far as Mexico, China, Middle East and Russia. On the political scene, focus shifted away from the mafia bosses such as George Cox and William Marcy Tweed and more toward institutionalized welfare system that improved the level of education, security and housing. Urbanization provided a ready market and an opportunity for research and development for technological products. Innovators such as Samuel Morse and Thomas Edison found a chance to develop products that improved communication in the world. People living in urban areas also developed a cultur e of increased consuming that saw the rise of supermarkets, convenience and department stores such as Macys, Woolworths and Sears Roebuck (Kaplan Valls, 2007). Discriminatory laws against non-white citizens and immigrants The various policy amendments during the Reconstruction period were known as Jim Crow laws. The laws were discriminatory against the black population within America. They prohibited black Americans from certain schools, public transportation, restaurants and public spaces. This discrimination was openly expressed by White Democrats who misappropriated their influence to isolate public spaces and amenities through the law and reinstate social control over African-Americans in the South (White, 2012). The Jim Crow laws succeeded in imposing a strict racial segregation, relegating black people to substandard schools and other public amenities, forcing taxes and literacy tests with the intention of eliminating black people from either vying or voting, and achieving judicial support for discrimination. The Black Codes were another set of laws that also limited the civil rights and liberties of African-Americans. In areas such as Texas, these laws were embraced strictly and resulted in bl ack people being reinstated the ‘slave’ label. The judicial system therefore played a major role in consenting to the amendment of most laws to include discriminatory articles that subjected the black community to economic and social hardships. References Feldman G. (2004). The Disfranchisement Myth: Poor Whites and Suffrage Restriction in Alabama, Athens: University of Georgia Press Kaplan J. Valls A. (2007). Housing Discrimination as a Basis for Black Reparations. Public Affairs Quarterly. Retrieved from http://people.oregonstate.edu/~kaplanj/Reparations.pdf White R. (2012). The Rise of Industrial America, 1877-1900. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Retrieved from gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/essays/rise-industrial-america-1877-1900

Serial Killers Women and Men Comparison

Serial Killers Women and Men Comparison A serial killer is defined as any person who manages to kill three or more people with enough time intervals between each killing. Most of the time, crimes of men serial killers are heard regularly as they are more horrible than that of women serial killers. As for the men, they do their crimes in a brutal manner and damage the bodies of the victims (Hickey 52). Another reason that make men serial killers to be common than women serial killers is because of the methods they use to kill their victims.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Serial Killers: Women and Men Comparison specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to the profile analysis, 40% of the men’s victims are killed by firearms, 38% are denied some oxygen, and 35% are stubbed the most sensitive body parts, and some small percentages are killed by poisoning or drowning. In addition, most of the men serial killers do not hide or deny their actions, but t hey rather draw some attention with their actions (Hickey 68). The physical counting of the men serial killers victims is very high compare to that of women serial killers. The main difference between women serial killers and men serial killers is that, women try to keep their actions under cover, without drawing any attention. Women serial killers can be referred to as gentle murderers because the methods they use to kill their victims are not brutal. According to the profile analysis, approximately 80% of their victims, women make use of poisoning to kill them. Although they also use some other methods like shooting, suffocating, and drowning, they prefer the silent killing methods. Women serial killers are not known to be violent in most of the time like their counterparts. Men serial killers have been spotted to be violent even to small children, and sexually harassing their victims dead or alive. Men serial killers start by giving their victims some pornographic materials, so a s to make them psychologically prepared before they rape them (Hickey 112). An example of a man serial killer is Jack the Ripper from London. He brutally killed people for three months in 1888 among them five prostitutes. Jack did not hide his actions, as he went to an extent of mutilating and dissecting the bodies of his victims openly. Most of the men serial killers fall under the category of missionary killers who perform their act of killing to some specific groups of people like prostitutes or homosexuals. An example of a women serial killer is Aileen Wuornos who fell under the category of sexual predators. This lady killed seven men in Florida in her duties of prostitution (Hickey 230). She claimed that these men were trying to rape her. Men serial killers are divided into four subdivisions depending on the reasons behind killing such as power seekers, visionaries that involve obeying the source of egos of killing, missionaries whereby, the serial killer claim it’s his responsibility to clean up the society by killing the unwanted personnel according to him.Advertising Looking for essay on criminology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The final type of men serial killers are hedonists, who kills so as to gain power and satisfaction. To some extent both men and women serial killers work as a team either male and male, male and a female, female and a female, or in some cases as family teams. Other examples of men serial killers include John Wayne Gacy who happened to kill 33 people and Ted Bundy who raped several women and killed all of them in Florida. Other female serial killers include Irene Leidolf who murdered 49 patients, in addition to some other three nurses. Mary Ann Cotton murdered more than 20 people by secret. Women serial killers are also divided into five types the most two common types are Black widows and Angels of Death. The black widows women serial killers kill thei r several partners as well as family members, or anybody who has a close relationship with them. On the other hand, angels of death type kill people who are left to take care of them for instance nurses. Other types of women serial killers are revenge killers, sexual predators and contract killers. Both men and women serial killers have causes of their actions. Like discussed above, men mostly become serial killers due to several reasons, but the most important factor is getting rid of a certain group of people from the society (Hickey 302). The psychological effect of hating some group of people may have a great impact to these people. The profile research shows that majority of men serial killers are missionary killers who either concentrate on killing prostitutes, homosexuals or may be a certain tribe of people. That idea of hating a certain group of people may be a great contributor that may require to be addressed. Same to women serial killers, the psychological effects are the most contributors. The issues of finding pleasure and revenging out of killing are unpersuasive. It’s unusual for any normal person to find pleasure in the act of killing, instead humiliations and frustrations are gotten. If any wrong done is revenged by killing that means everyone should be long dead, because everyone in one way or another has done something wrong. Work Cited Hickey, Eric. Serial Murderers and their Victims. New York: Thomson Higher Education, 2006.

Minnie Wright essays

Minnie Wright essays Minnie Wright sat solemnly on her cot with her knees to her chest. She starred intently at the metal bars that surrounded her, in the same way that she had gazed through her kitchen window so many times before. Her mind raced and she could not exactly pin point how she felt. She could not recognize this person that she had become and it made her feel angry and pitiful. She had become a murderer, a cold-blooded murderer. She missed John now, but she didnt. She thought of all the fun times that they had had together, but she knew that was in the past. She remembered when she met him. She was walking to school down the dirt road from her mamas house. A handsome man stopped in a truck and asked her if she needed a ride. Minnie knew from that first interaction that day that she was attracted to the mature John Wright. John saw right through her; he was the answer to all of her problems. He was older. He was going places. Minnie felt like a queen when John asked her to marry him. She was so naive. She thought of the sheriffs wife rummaging through her shabby things, and she felt shameful. Hopefully she would see the polka-dot dresses that Minnie used to wear in high school, when she was in the choir, when she was popular, when older boys like john liked her. Minnie needed her quilt right now; it was like her only friend and comfort. She was used to occupying herself to escape Johns world, but now she needed something to help her escape her own world. It seemed to Minnie that the longer she was married to John, the further away she got from recognizing who she was. Her mother had warned her of this and disliked John. If only her mother knew what John was really like, or at least who he had become. He basically scared Minnie into hibernating in the corner room of the house. She couldnt go many places, and when she did, he had his eye on her. Minnie wished that she had stayed in touch with her fami...

Avis Budget Group Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Avis Budget Group - Term Paper Example The company values aligned employees with visions or mission to achieve the targets of being an industry leader. 7 The aim of the Avis Budget Group is to become the number one company in the vehicle rental industry. This aim is being worked through by commitment. The brands of the company uniquely drive company towards growth. The company follows the ideology of creating value for all the customers. The company maintains integrity while making all the major decisions. The channel of communication in the organization is open and the employee’s exhibit teamwork while performing all the business practices. The Avis Budget Group is situated across the globe so it operates in a diverse environment with a diverse work force. The company analyzes its strengths and weaknesses and takes responsibility of all the challenges which arise and the decision which the company makes. It also works responsibly for the interests of the shareholders. 7 STAKEHOLDERS 8 Stakeholders are all those pa rties that are directly influenced by the operations of the company (Harrison, Bosse, and Phillips, 58 – 74). Managing stakeholders is important for the success of the firm (Bosse, Phillips, and Harrison, 447- 456). The stakeholders of the Avis group include car dealers and other suppliers, operators, tourists and tour operators, businesses requiring Avis’ service for transportation, diverse workforce, shareholders, governments and industry participants of the rental cars in countries where Avis and Budget is providing services. 8 SENSE 8 UNCOVER 11 SOLVE 14 ACHIEVE 20 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Avis budget group is a well known name in the business of the vehicle rental services. It is a leading global service provider with operations spread on more than 10,000 locations. The company has its operations in 175 countries around the globe. The strategy of the company is to spread the business in all areas where the rental transport services are used. This is in places where t ourism and business trips are made very commonly. The company operates in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America region. Most of the offices which are located in North America, Europe and Australia are company owned or either rented to the independent contractors who operate as the entrepreneurs for their outlets and share profits with the company. The current issues that the ABG is facing are with the strategic operations of the company which has been outsourced to the contractors who operate independently. The customers are also not satisfied with the services of the company because the services which they get from various outlets are not the same. The customer representatives of the outlets are also not aligned at providing proper services to the customers. This is because they are not motivated and don’t understand the core values which the company wishes to deliver to the customers. This report is highlighting the issues which the company is facing presently and offers recommendations for the company to overcome those issues and challenges. The company despite of the failing customer services is profitable. Therefore, suggestions are made that section of profits must be allocated to the improvement of the services of the outlets. The Avis Group must develop strengthen relationship with the contractors so that the issues of the operators can be resolved and it can pursue towards excellence with the passage of time. A plan for the improvement

Decision Making using Critical Thinking Techniques Part 2 Essay

Decision Making using Critical Thinking Techniques Part 2 - Essay Example Department of Energy, 2001). The decision-making technique that will be used in this proposal will be the plus, minus and interesting technique (PMI). In using the PMI technique, it would be useful to make a three column table with the headings plus, minus and interesting (Mind Tools Ltd., n.d.). Under the plus column, one has to write all the positive aspects of the alternative. On the minus column, all the negative effects will be listed down. In the interesting column, the implications and possible outcomes, areas of uncertainty and areas which one thinks as either good or bad will be included. There are several alternatives that one can choose from with regards to increasing the presence of the company. To address the expectation of government on the company with regards to giving support to the social needs of the people of Kava, one alternative is to design a health program for the coffee farmers and their families. To illustrate the PMI technique, a PMI Table is presented below. Another alternative that one would like to propose and which will be evaluated using the PMI technique is to put up a store where there are plenty of foreigners residing or working because they are known to be coffee drinkers, such as the French and Americans. The PMI Table for this alternative is shown below. After using the PMI technique and applying it in all the alternatives open to the company, one can decide on the best decision to be made, which will result in the achievement of their goal of increasing their presence in Kava. In this case, one does not have to choose only one alternative; it could be a combination of alternatives whose benefits more than outweigh the negative effects of the options available. One can see that the steps utilized in making the PMI tables are very useful indeed in coming up with the strategies that the company can implement to increase their presence in Kava. Identifying the pros,

Dell Computer Corporation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Dell Computer Corporation - Assignment Example It is responsible for designing, developing and manufacturing processes of a wide range of products. It also markets, distributes and sells various products that are tailored to fit individual customer necessities that include desktop computers, mobility products, software, servers and storage, services and networking. The company has four large segments that support its operations. These segments include Large Enterprise segment, Public segment, Business and Consumer and Small and Medium segments (Aruvian's R'search , 2008, p. 14). The Large Enterprise segment is responsible for the innovation of products and services by using cloud computing solutions and data center. The Public segment is responsible for services that include simplification of IT, provision of faster provision of Information Technology applications, the expansion of enterprise and services operations and increase of customer relations. The Small and Medium Business segment is specifically deals with small and medi um enterprises through offering open and capable solutions including innovative products and customizable services and solutions. The last segment deals with customer care. This paper will analyzes the Dell, inc. Company in terms of its history, its activities, key financial activities, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and competitor activities among other details. Investigation methodology In the study and analysis of the Dell, Inc. Company, the information was provided by conducting a research in relevant websites, company profiles, and its financial details that include sales turnover, profit and growth details. Research was also undertaken on books and journal materials that provided information about Dell, Inc. and comparisons made with its competitors. Company outline Dell was established in 1984 in Texas, by Michael Dell who is the owner. The company was named after him. The company was initially known as PCs limited. It employs over 100,000 people around the world in 180 countri es around the world. He founded the company on the basis of a simple concept that through the sale of computer systems to customers, the company could provide for the needs of the customers by ensuring that it provided effective computing solutions to meet the specific needs of customers (Pinegar, March, 13, 2002).1988 was also a significant year for Dell, Inc because it went public giving 3.5 million shares of its company’s stock to the public. Currently, Dell Inc. is the leading retailer of computer systems in the whole world. It controls a global market share of more than 15 percent. Dell deals in several products and services that include for designing, developing and manufacturing processes of a wide range of products. It also markets, distributes and sells various products that are tailored to fit individual customer necessities that include desktop computers, mobility products, software, servers and storage, services and networking (Pinegar, March, 13, 2002). Dell, Inc . has experienced growth in terms of its sales turnover, profit and development. Starting an estimated cost of $1000 dollars, Dell, Inc. has grown with a fiscal of 11 per cent increase from $13.43bn year-over-year. In 2010, through the sale of the cheap PCs, the company increased its percentage of sales. In the quarter that ended in the end of January 2010, Dell had increased its earnings to $334. In 2011, Dell had enterprise

Mandiant Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mandiant Report - Essay Example The concern identified and highlighted by Madiant is critical to the future of the network industry. The activities of the perpetrators as indicated by Madiant are a threat to the security of various governments across the globe (Lambert, 2013). Why the report was written? Madiant report examines a number of issues; first, it identifies the cropping trends that threaten the network security. The network security is important because it helps in preserving useful information about an institution within a given country. Moreover, illegal acquisition of information is unacceptable across globe. Information laws tend to define the extent to which an institution can seek information or engage each other in acquiring certain information. Unfortunately, the APT1 the main perpetrator in this situation seems to be acquiring certain information from various institutions without the knowledge of these institutions. Second, the report explores cyber espionage campaign. The growing cyber espionag e campaign has reached a threatening level. The escalating cyber espionage by a specific perpetrator APT1 over others across the globe is alarming. In response to this observation Madiant wish to bring the attention of the whole world this unscrupulous group. Arguably, by presenting the report to the world, various governments would not only join hands in condemning the act, but would also loud initiatives aimed at creating cyber network environment where such practices do not find space. Lastly, the report is an insight about the escalating trends in the cyber network world. Although the world favors scientific activities, it does not welcome activities that seems to destroy the present gains. Cyber threat should attract condemnation across the globe because of various reasons such as breach of secrecy laws as well as threatening world peace (Lambert, 2013). The intrusion by the perpetrators may lead to leaks in security information, consequently, leading to security lapses. The ma in question that the report tends to answer is the owner of APT1. The question such as the intention of APT1 as well as who support their activity seems to form the premise of this report. Since the institutionalization of Madiant, it has conducted numerous researches about various cyber espionage, however, the trends of APT1 has been suspicious. The fact that the group has continued to attack various cyber network and still security information tends to suggest that the institution has some hidden objectives. Madiant report is condemnation of cyber espionage activities of China or groups believed to be receiving funding from the Chinese government. Madiant views cyber espionage as a threat peaceful coexistence between countries. Cyber networks run by various institutions especially governmental institutions contain information about a country’s affair (Carr, 2013). This seems to suggest that hacking such information contributes to leakage and exposure of such information to unauthorized identities. The suspicions of Madiant stems from the fact that the host country of APT1 does not show any support towards curtailing the activities of this group. If the Chinese government were not an interested party to the cyber espionage, it would take an initiative towards curtailing the missions of this group. Another suspicion of Madiant is the fact that APT1 trends are similar to those attributed to Chinese department of defense (US

University Hospital Consultation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

University Hospital Consultation - Case Study Example The industry is characterized by uncertainties in the regulatory atmosphere, digital transformation, continued scientific transformation and influenced by the global economic changes from depression to a recovering economy. The success of the university hospital is dependent on its structuring, effectivity, and management. The approach focuses on organization, management, and effective control of operations to ensure success. The strategy implies that the set strategies are well managed and measured at the end of every quota to evaluate the level of efficiency in meeting the hospital`s mission, vision, and objectives. The actions of the strategy can be examined as identifying the hospital`s functions in relation to the purpose, long run goals, objectives and allocating the available resources in to meet the health care consumer needs. Other crucial factors in the strategy include a unifying and coherent process in management process decision making, adoption of contemporary technology and application of the science in telemedicine. The hospital`s mission statement, is performance and efficiency based is a critical pillar in emphasize of the companies key fundamentals of ensuring high-quality service delivery to counter the competition faced (Grant 2008). Most players in the industry focus on keeping up with current technological changes in medicine. The key values emphasized in the mission statement focuses on optimizing on technological advancement to ensure efficiency and satisfaction. The objective of the hospital is to ensure an efficient system that caters for all social classes of the society and at the same time ensure optimization of profit. The values are directed towards capitalizing on the university institution`s pool of skilled individuals-students and staff- to enhance research Significance and spearhead a campaign to develop world cure for cancer. The vision and mission statement that is centered on efficiency and

Mandiant Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mandiant Report - Essay Example The concern identified and highlighted by Madiant is critical to the future of the network industry. The activities of the perpetrators as indicated by Madiant are a threat to the security of various governments across the globe (Lambert, 2013). Why the report was written? Madiant report examines a number of issues; first, it identifies the cropping trends that threaten the network security. The network security is important because it helps in preserving useful information about an institution within a given country. Moreover, illegal acquisition of information is unacceptable across globe. Information laws tend to define the extent to which an institution can seek information or engage each other in acquiring certain information. Unfortunately, the APT1 the main perpetrator in this situation seems to be acquiring certain information from various institutions without the knowledge of these institutions. Second, the report explores cyber espionage campaign. The growing cyber espionag e campaign has reached a threatening level. The escalating cyber espionage by a specific perpetrator APT1 over others across the globe is alarming. In response to this observation Madiant wish to bring the attention of the whole world this unscrupulous group. Arguably, by presenting the report to the world, various governments would not only join hands in condemning the act, but would also loud initiatives aimed at creating cyber network environment where such practices do not find space. Lastly, the report is an insight about the escalating trends in the cyber network world. Although the world favors scientific activities, it does not welcome activities that seems to destroy the present gains. Cyber threat should attract condemnation across the globe because of various reasons such as breach of secrecy laws as well as threatening world peace (Lambert, 2013). The intrusion by the perpetrators may lead to leaks in security information, consequently, leading to security lapses. The ma in question that the report tends to answer is the owner of APT1. The question such as the intention of APT1 as well as who support their activity seems to form the premise of this report. Since the institutionalization of Madiant, it has conducted numerous researches about various cyber espionage, however, the trends of APT1 has been suspicious. The fact that the group has continued to attack various cyber network and still security information tends to suggest that the institution has some hidden objectives. Madiant report is condemnation of cyber espionage activities of China or groups believed to be receiving funding from the Chinese government. Madiant views cyber espionage as a threat peaceful coexistence between countries. Cyber networks run by various institutions especially governmental institutions contain information about a country’s affair (Carr, 2013). This seems to suggest that hacking such information contributes to leakage and exposure of such information to unauthorized identities. The suspicions of Madiant stems from the fact that the host country of APT1 does not show any support towards curtailing the activities of this group. If the Chinese government were not an interested party to the cyber espionage, it would take an initiative towards curtailing the missions of this group. Another suspicion of Madiant is the fact that APT1 trends are similar to those attributed to Chinese department of defense (US

Nurses as Entrepreneurs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nurses as Entrepreneurs - Research Paper Example Largely, the practices enable the nurses to intervene for patients as caregivers. Various faculties in nursing prepare nurses for the entrepreneurship projects for example community health, mental health among others. Ideally, the opportunity that the nurses have does not only help them to utilize their potential but also promote assistance to the community. Benefits of Nurse as Entrepreneur The nursing business does not necessarily need to take place in an office or room. Nurses are able to make mobile community visits where there are able to conduct their services. Studies show that nurse entrepreneurs conduct their activities using electronic terminal (Fero, et.al. 2010). In addition, a nurse may have a small office where patients can report to or place their request for services. Instituting a nursing business enables a nurse to increase her or his visibility, direct their creativity in providing services to the society. Ideally, challenges in the business would expose the nurse thereby influencing his or her approach in the profession. The adventures is rewarding because it does not constraint the nurse to achieve a given job target. However, it makes the nurse to work at her own convenience. The nurses who operate their activities as entrepreneurs show credible work because they have to demonstrate high standard of service delivery. Failure to supply the same would lead to low profits. The entrepreneurial skills required in the business are similar to the ones in other business activities (Fero, et.al. 2010). For examples, nurse entrepreneurs must demonstrate the following attributes in order to be successful excellent interpersonal skills, collaboration skills, critical thinking, and credibility. Nurse as an entrepreneur has numerous rewards ranging from financial benefits to professional benefits. Many nurses who opt to practices as entrepreneurs demonstrate satisfaction to the services and the duties they conduct. Barriers Entry into the nursing busine ss may poses challenges to nurses. Some of the barriers identified in nursing entrepreneurship include lack of skills to operate successful as an entrepreneur nurse. Knowledge is critical in defining the model of the business. While nurses attend professional training, business skill is not the central subject they do learn. Thus, the success of the business would depend on the business skills that the nurse has acquired from other forms of training. Critical evaluation and administration of the business skills is vital to the future of the success of any given business. Some nurses are unable to acquire the privileges they receive while practicing in hospitals. Since the duty depends with the work input of the nurse, it means that failure to input enough effort would lead to business failure. Studies shows that requirements such as malpractice insurance cover, statutory requirements and start up cost may hinder the efforts of nurses that wish to start their own business (Fitzpatric k & Ea, 2011). Largely, any business model has requirements, which influence the entry behavior. The government requirement or a restriction is another factor that influences nurse entrepreneur. While financial capability of the individual willing to institute the business would be instrumental in its growth, the outcome or the service trend of the business will also influence the number of client that the business is likely to receive (Fitzpatrick & Ea, 2011). For instance, the government evaluates and offer license for

Quality Control Department Essay Example for Free

Quality Control Department Essay In an attempt to cut costs in the Quality Control Department of XYZ Deli, it is important to first identify the costs to determine which aspects of the company’s quality control process can be eliminated, if any at all. Quality control costs can be divided into three different classifications. These classifications are prevention costs, appraisal costs and failure costs (Stevenson, 2008). Prevention costs are costs generated in the process of impeding product mistakes or flaws in order to supply customers with XYZ Deli brand quality products or to improve current products. Prevention costs are the most indispensable of the quality control costs. It is less expensive and much less difficult to repair a flaw or defect before the product reaches the customer. Prevention costs include not only planning and administrative procedure costs, but also education/training and increased equipment maintenance costs. It is important that all employees are trained accurately throughout the quality control process in order to produce XYZ Deli quality products and to ensure a decline in the possibility of erroneous design and productivity (Stevenson, 2008). Possible tradeoffs for this cost would be if employees are not trained properly, ensuring the job is being done correctly; may result in the production of unsatisfactory product. This could potentially create loss of sales or opportunity costs because the products are being poorly produced. However, increasing the time spent training employees could delay the production process. This would also create opportunity costs because the product would take longer to get  to the customer. While prevention costs are most vital, appraisal costs are necessary to ensure customers are being provided with the high quality products expected from the XYZ Deli brand. This would include costs of inspection of products to determine if product standards and parameters are being met, as well as to detect any product flaws. An example of appraisal costs is inspection costs. Inspection costs are incurred during the quality testing process. This includes the cost of the inspection facility and inspector auditor salaries, as well as any materials, appliances or tools used to test XYZ Deli brand products (Stevenson, 2008). A potential tradeoff to not inspecting product could also allow defective product to reach the customer, creating opportunity costs. Poorly produced products will not be well received. At any rate, the tradeoff for properly inspecting all the product being produced could set back the time it takes for the product to reach the market; also creating opportunity costs. Finally, failure costs are generated when components of the product or the product itself is faulty. Failure costs can be either internal or external. Internal failures are those detected in one of the production phases; before the product reaches the customer. There are numerous issues that contribute to an internal failure; such issues include: faulty materials received, improper handling of material, defective equipment, and improper use of equipment. Examples of internal failure costs are loss of production time, worthless material and the cost of regenerating previous work and/or the rebuilding of the product, as well as the cost of inspecting the reworked product. Other examples of internal failures include possible damage to equipment; possible safety issues causing employee injuries. External failures are failures that are identified after the customer has received the product. Such issues are not discovered during production or inspection process. These costs are much more expensive and much more difficult to correct because the product has already reached the consumer. Examples of a failure costs include managing customer complaints, accountability and possible litigation. Overseeing warranty issues, providing replacements and payments are also examples of failure costs. An  important failure costs to avoid is the loss of customer loyalty (Stevenson, 2008). Not only does XYZ Deli want to recruit new customers, it is important to retain current valued customers. Not finding a way to take care of the consumer may give the company a poor reputation, creating more opportunity costs. While each of these costs is expensive, they are necessary in maintaining the reputation of a growing company, such as XYZ Deli. Prevention appraisal costs are the preferable way to disperse funds because they prevent failure costs. Failure costs are much more expensive for the company, not only in terms of money, but also in terms of the company’s reputation, good will and the ability to retain current valued customers. If XYZ Deli spends the time and money on the appropriate such as ensuring proper training in production and inspection, the company will save money in the future. References Stevenson, W. (2008). Operations management (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill ISBN-13: 978-0-07-337784-1.

Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Chant The Development and Evolution of Gregorian Chant For centuries, Gregorian chant was considered the official music of the Catholic Church. Naturally, this degree of importance placed on the genre gives it considerable significance, both religious and cultural. Its exact beginnings, however, are not absolutely known. Also, chant has changed over time due to it being based on practices of the Church, which have also changed over time due to decrees by various popes, agendas of monastic orders, and the influences of and intermingling of cultures, such as the Franks, Romans, and Byzantines. Although the name of Gregorian chant is derived from Pope Gregory I â€Å"The Great†, it has its roots much earlier in history, predating Christianity. In fact, Christian chant is believed to have been originally derived from Judaism, as there was a considerable amount of common ground between Jewish and early Christian liturgies (Werner 20). This is seen through writings of the early church which show that the early Christian church was heavily influenced by Hebrew worship (Barton). However, there is little information available from chants of early centuries compared to Gregorian chant and other chants of later centuries (Hiley 478). One reason for this is that musical notation for chants of this time did not exist, for at this time chants were an entirely oral rather than written tradition. Also contributing to this lack of information is that early Christians were persecuted, forcing private worship until the Edict of Milan of 313, which gave Christians the right of freed om of worship in Rome (484). Due to this freedom, Christianity could afford to become more formalized and organized, its music included. There is further ambiguity surrounding the specific origins of Gregorian chant in considering Pope Gregory himself. What Gregorys influence was on Gregorian chant is debatable, as there is limited evidence supporting that he either had a great deal of influence on the genre, such as directly composing chants, or virtually none (513). However, two pieces of evidence support a common theory of his involvement in the creation of Gregorian chant that was known throughout the Middle Ages, which are two books written by Pope Gregory. These two books, entitled Antiphonarium and Graduale Romanum, are compilations of already existing chants that Pope Gregory designated for specific parts of Catholic mass which supports the theory that his involvement was limited to such compilations (D‘Silva). An example of Gregorys ordering to use specific music in liturgy is him mandating that the Allelulia be used during mass for an entire year (Apel 41). Despite the lack of specific information concerning the beginnings of chant that would later evolve to become Gregorian chant, the origins of Gregorian chant as it was known throughout the Middle Ages are more clear, as music books, although they still were not musically notated, of the genre were created by the Franks at around the 9th century, making the genre easier to trace through history to that point (Hiley 514). Note that it was not until the 10th century that sources were created containing musical notation, namely being musically annotated Graduals and Antiphonals from the Codex 359 (Apel 52). Also, it was not until the 11th century that music was annotated in a way so that tunes could be read (53). In addition to these musical books, various manuscripts were written that outlined liturgical proceedings, allowing for further clarification of the specifics of Gregorian chant (53). The peoples who ruled the area that is roughly present-day France played a large role in forming Gregorian chant to what it is, from the Franks to the Carolingians (Hiley 512). This started under the rule of the Frank king Pepin, who lead the Franks to control much of Europe through military conquest, spreading the culture of chant to the Franks, and also causing reforms to Gregorian chant by the Franks and their successors (513). In addition to causing chant to be more widespread, the intervention of the Franks also caused Gregorian chant to evolve from further influences (513). Not only did the influence of the Franks allow the beginnings of Gregorian chant to be seen more easily, as was described previously, but their musical texts also show the original motives behind its development, the main motive being to help control how the liturgy was run by assigning specific chants to certain parts of the liturgy, as was done by Pope Gregory (515). In the case of the Franks (namely Pepin and also Charlemagne), the reasoning behind trying to control the specifics of the liturgy was so that it would become standardized since many members of the church were influenced by their own local traditions in structuring the liturgy, which Frank leadership was trying to suppress (Barbon). Of course, due to the amount of time between Pope Gregorys writings and the adoption of chant by the Frankish church (300 years), it can be safely assumed that the liturgical assignments of the Franks were different than those of Pope Gregory. More changes were made as well in Gregorian chant, including the style of singing, such as the combining of both Roman and Frankish singers, although eventually a return to a more Roman styled liturgy and type of singing occurred among the Franks (Hiley 517). Since writing texts for the chants was still not common practice and musical notation for them did not yet exist, it follows that the Franks had to learn Roman liturgy and chants by memory when this shift back to strictly Roman liturgy occurred. This also denotes that the number of chants that were used and popular were not too numerous at this point in time, as they could still be all memorized. Despite the shift back to a Roman style liturgy, over the years and into the 9th century to the start of the rule of the Carolingians, who succeeded the Franks, Gregorian chant continued to evolve as new musical elements were added to the genre by the Franks and more compositions were created (Hiley 517). Some of these changes were brought on by outside influences on Gregorian chant, such as by the Byzantines, who developed the eight mode system (529). The fact that the amount of compositions of Gregorian chant were increasing can be tied in with the development of written musical texts around this time period, causing Gregorian chant to shift away from a strictly oral tradition, for it would no longer be possible to memorize all of the chants necessary as their numbers grew. As the popularity of Gregorian chant grew, it underwent several more reforms and evolutions, mostly during the 12th and 13th centuries (Hiley 608). An example of such a reform was more specific notation being used in writing chant, which included specifying pitch, among other specific musical elements (608). Another reform was the tendency to drift away from previous melodies of the Middle Ages, creating a type of chant called â€Å"Neo-Gallican† chant (609). Many of these changes made to Gregorian chant were initiated by various orders, two major ones being the Cistercians, who believed in performing the liturgy as it was done originally, and the Dominicans, whose reforms, like the efforts of many before it, were aimed at standardizing the liturgy (612). Gregorian chant did not enjoy constant growth and popularity, however. After the 12th century, the popularity and growth of Gregorian chant started to wane, presumably due to a period of reduced popularity of the Catholic Church (DSilva). Also, around the 16th century the Catholic Church was threatened by Protestantism, which also played a part in decreasing the popularity of the church, thus affecting the popularity of traditional monastic liturgies and music (Hiley 615). Another such period of decadence for the church and for Gregorian chant was during the age of Enlightenment, as less emphasis was placed on the church and God and instead more on the individual and reason. As a result of this new ideology, the power and influence of the church began to decline. In addition to the general ideology of the time, another reason for the decline of the Church was the political struggle caused by the French Revolution, which caused a reform in the French church so that it no longer observed previous monastic traditions (Bergeron xii). Due to Gregorian chants close association with the church, its popularity began to decline as well (Barton). This causes yet another obstacle in acquiring information about Gregorian chant and thus makes it more difficult to interpret today as the knowledge of how to interpret various medieval musical notations was lost (Barton). A large factor of why Gregorian chant did not die out completely is the involvement of monks at the French monastery at Solesmes, and other such monasteries, who during the 19th century were commissioned by Pope St. Pius X to modernize Gregorian chant (DSilva). They achieved this by removing the strict association that Gregorian chant had with the church, secularizing it and adding a meditative, â€Å"trancelike appeal† (DSilva). In the end, Gregorian chant was changed to be more akin to classical Roman chant than the Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages. As a result, the chant that is known today as Gregorian chant is more similar to early plainchant rather than what was originally dubbed as â€Å"Gregorian chant† (DSilva). As a result of this change of the style of Gregorian chant, along with the declining power of the Catholic Church and thus the popularity of Gregorian chant, it is difficult to know what Gregorian chant of the Middle Ages exactly sounded like (Barton). Another factor that contributes to this is the lack of musical notation with text in the Middle Ages, and that some of the notation that does exist from the time period cannot be interpreted due to these periods of decrease in popularity. Overall, the fact that chant was originally a purely oral tradition that consisted of few enough chants that could be memorized, along with Gregorian chants affiliation with a religion that was originally persecuted and later declining in popularity, contributes to the murkiness of the origins of Gregorian chant. Also, the fact that Christianity underwent significant changes from the time of its conception to modern times results in equally significant changes occurring in the style of music that was so closely affiliated with its prominent church, even causing Gregorian chant to nearly die out on several occasions in history. However, despite the several bouts of decrease in popularity that Gregorian chant experienced, it is currently one of the oldest forms of music that is actively listened to today (DSilva). Also, the many changes that Gregorian chant underwent throughout history makes it very unique, as it cannot be entirely attributed to any specific event, person, or even nation or empire. Instead, as David Hiley states, â€Å"†¦Gregorian chant is neither of one specific time, nor wholly Roman, nor wholly anything else† (Hiley 513). Works Cited Apel, Willi. Gregorian Chant. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. Print. Barton, Louis W. G.. The Culture of Medieval Music Calligraphy: Historical Background of Neume Notation / The Neume Notation Project.. scribeserver.com. N.p., 8 Dec. 2003. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . Bergeron, Katherine. Decadent Enchantments: The Revival of Gregorian Chant at Solesmes (California Studies in 19th Century Music). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. Print. DSilva, Neil Valentine. The History Of Gregorian Chant. Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . Hiley, David. Western Plainchant: A Handbook. New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 1995. Print. Werner, Eric. The Sacred Bridge: The Interdependence of Liturgy Music in Synagogue and Church During the First Millenium. Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1960. Print.

Bilingual Education Essay -- Education, Languages, communication, fore

Bilingual education is any school program which utilizes two languages. An example of legal rationale in regarding bilingual education is English being the only language approach that is taught to English language learners in the United States in school districts according to No Child Left Behind Act of 2001(NCLB). However, historical rationale concerning bilingual education is the history of events that occurred due to bilingual education not being taught in a school district. An example is Meyer V: Nebraska (1923). This case briefly was in regards to prohibiting anyone from teaching any subject in any other language except for English. Therefore, in this essay three articles will be summarized regarding the legal and historical rationale of bilingual education. Also providing an example of the connection of today’s educational practice in regards to ELL students in today’s classroom environment for each legal and historical event discussed in this essay. In the first article discusses Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (Brown v. Board of Education. 1954). The case took place due to a Black female student who had to walk several miles to get to her school through unfavorable conditions that was dangerous for her safety. However, the White school that was in her neighborhood or in walking distance from her home she was not allowed to attend due to her race. The reason for this historical court case was regarding that state-supported and state mandated laws in the United States favored segregation. Therefore, the Supreme Court decision ruled that all public schools throughout the United States will be desegregated. This means that Black students were able to attend White public schools throughout all of the ... ...n is still occurring regarding bilingual education. Second article explained Lau vs. Nichols court case and what the outcome of this court case confirmed today in bilingual education. Also suggestions were given to teachers teaching in today’s classroom on how to understand ELL students whose first language is not English. Third article discussed Proposition 227 which was created in San Francisco, California in the year of 1998. This Proposition brought about changes that banned bilingual education to ELL students. Also as a result of this change in California’s constitution banning bilingual education; ELL students today lag behind English speaking students. Therefore, these legal and historical rationale in bilingual education discussed in this essay has not resolved the issues of ELL students being successful learners in today’s classroom environment.

joshua Essay -- essays research papers fc

Joshua Moses said to Joshua, â€Å"Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.† Exodus 17:9 This is the first passage of scripture where you find Joshua. There is a law called the law of first mention. The law of first mention is a principle that requires one to take a fraction of Scriptures where a principle, expression, or act is mentioned for the first time, in the Bible, and to study the first occurrence of this in order to get the fundamental inbuilt meaning of that principle, expression, or act. When this law is applied the simple meaning usually goes before the complex. Throughout the history of a term it may have grown in its meaning and undergone certain changes, yet the basic, original, fundamental thought is rarely lost. The fundamental concept more often than not controls the understanding of any idea expressed by a term in its present-day usage. Here Joshua is mentioned as a warrior and also a leader in battle. This view does not change throughout the Scriptures. It may add to this meaning, but it is never done away with. Joshua throughout the Bible remains a leader, and a warrior for the Most High God. How was Joshua such a great leader? He was dependant on, and faithful to God. He also took the commission given to him by Moses and God, and made it a lifestyle. What was this great commission? You can find it in Deuteronomy. Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, â€Å"Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.† Deuteronomy 31:7 This commission given by Moses to Joshua was reaffirmed by the Lord. The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: â€Å"Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.† Deuteronomy 31:23 Now what did that mean to Joshua? Well, take the first part, â€Å"Be strong† (à §Ãƒ ¦Ãƒ ·). The Hebrew word there is châzaq. The definition is: To strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, and be resolute. 1 Now take the second part, â€Å"Courageous.† The Hebrew word here is âmats (à  Ãƒ ®Ãƒ µ). The definition is: To be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout... ...ccomplish through the Holy Spirit. The power did not die in the New Testament, it was transferred. It is not only given to the select anymore. It is given to the ones who have chosen to choose. No more is it given by some miracle from heaven. It is given to those who choose to take the call. To those who are willing. God will give it to those who live lives of trusting faithfulness. God is going to do a work. There is a battle taking place in the heavenlies. Are you ready? Are you willing? I say to now go into the world and be strong and courageous. The Lord is with you. Bibliography Drucker, Reuven. Inheriting the Land. Grand Rapids: Erdmans, 1983. Hawk, L. Daniel. Joshua. Berit Olam. Collegeville, Minnesota Hess, Richard. Joshua. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 19--. Woudstra, Marten H. Joshua. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Erdmans, 1981. Curtis, Adrian H. W. Joshua. Old Testament Guide. Sheffield: Sheffield. 19--. Drucker, Reuven. Yehoshua/ Joshua. Brooklyn Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1982. Stern, David H. Complete Jewish Bible. Jewish New Testament Publications Inc. Clarksville, Maryland, USA. 1998.

Children and education Essay

?Children’s mind is considered as white sheets, so it is easy for us to write on them as we want. In fact, some experts believe that children should begin to learn foreign language at primary school. In my opinion, there are many advantages to learn a target language as a child. First of all, the most advantage is they can learn a great number of vocabularies. Take my brother an example. He began studying English when he was six years old. Therefore, he knows many thematic vocabularies. Having graduated from high school, he finds it easy to communicate with foreigners by a wide knowledge. Next, learning foreign language as child helps children to imitate rightly pronunciation of native languages. For example, my daughter in grade two learns English two days a week. She often listens to songs and stories by native’s voice. As a result, she can imitate their voice and rhythm to pronounce rightly. Last but not least, another advantage is they can remember the pattern sentences longer. They can practice some patterns by repetition method. In reality, ones are repeated so many times that they remember them deeply, and that helps them to reflect quickly in context communicate. In brief, with above-mentioned reasons, it is better for children to begin learn foreign language at primary school than at secondary school. They will achieve a wide, strong knowledge as well as their self- confident to enter a bright future. Learning a foreign language at primary school or secondary school is very necessary for children. However, some people think that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. There are a lot of controversial opinions about this problem. In my opinion, I agree with this statement because of the following reasons. Firstly, learning a foreign language at primary school helps children develop their skills better. Nowadays, children of all primary shcools in the nation have to study the foreign language, mainly English. At primary school, children have focused on learning vocabularies, how to pronounce†¦At this age, the children’s brain is developing so it is very easy for them to learn the foreign language. Moreover, the children of primary school have a lot of time and conditions to learn the foreign language because they have less subjects at school. The chidren should begin learning the foreign language at primary school because it will help them to develope their skills including reading and speaking skill. If the children begin learning the foreign language at secondary school, they will face a lot of difficulties in their study because they do not have the basic knowledge of foreign language. At secondary school, the children have to spent more time on different subjects, therefore they do not have more time to learn the foreign language. Secondly, to begin learning the foreign language at primary school helps the children to pronounce more exactly. The program of teaching and learning the foreign language at primary school and secondary school is different. If the children begin learning the foreign language at secondary school, they will study more skills such as writing, speaking, reading, listening, grammar and new words. Hence, it is not good for children to begin learning the foreign language at secondary school. Unlike the secondary school, the children of primary school only learn the vocabularies, the way of pronunciation and simple sentences. Learning the foreign language at primary school will create many favorable chances for children to prepare firm knowlegde and this hepls them to learn the foreign language at secondary school better. In conclusion, to begin learning the foreign language at primary school is better than secondary school. The children should begin learning the foreign language at primary school because this is an important period that hepls them build basic knowlegde of foreign language.

Rmcf Srategic Audit

Strategic Audit of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Table of Contents Current Situation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Current Performance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Strategic Posture†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4,5 Corporate Governance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦. 5 Board of Directors †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦. 5,6,7 Top Management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7,8,9 External Environment: Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Natural Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Societal Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦9,10 Task Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦. 10,11 Summary of External Factors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦. 11 Exhibit 1- EFAS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 Internal Environment: Strengths & Weaknesses (SWOT)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Corporate Structure†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11,12 Corporate Culture†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 12 Corporate Resources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 Marketing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 Finance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12,13 Research & Development†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13,14 Operations & Logistics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 Human Resources Management (HRM)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦14 Information Technology (IT)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦14,15 Summary of Internal Factors†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 15 Exhibit 2- IFAS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 Analysis of Strategic Factors (SWOT)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 Situational Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5,16,17 Review of Mission and Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦17 Exhibit 3 – SFAS Matrix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦23 Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 18 Strategic Alternatives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦.. 18,19 Recommended Strategy/Implementation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19,20 Implementation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 20 Evaluation and Control†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 20,21 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦21 Works Cited†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 24 I.Current Situation A. Current Performance Successful from the start * Currently there are five company-owned and 329 franchised RMCF stores operating in 38 states * Continuous revenue increases from year to year (around $16,678,472 in 2008) * During this time of economic decline that had arose, the sales began to slow up but Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory seems to be in great shape under all financial aspects to survive the recession. B. Strategic Posture Here is the original mission, objectives, and strategies of the company.RMCF is always looking to become more and more successful from what they already have and hope to continue doing well now and in the future. 1. Mission: The Company does its finest to stay fine-tuned and focus on franchising and manufacturing. * They guarantee goo d quality, taste, value, and variety of all their products * Their number one focus and factor is the quality of the product 2. Objectives: RMCF is always wanting to be known and therefore their customers and employees are huge for the company.They are always doing their best to stay in the seat they are in now by staying successful, continuing to gain customers, popularity, and even profits as a whole. * Continue to keep a good relationship with all employees and with the franchises as well * They are always sure to handle and manage their money in all the proper ways even during the time of the 2008 economic slump * Always had an eye open to slow factors down during this rough time (expansion and eliminate debt) 3.Strategies * Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is repurchasing stock here because they felt as if it was undervalued * Different kinds of candy, such as sugar free treats for individuals who choose to be more healthy or who cannot have the candies with all the sugar in th em * The company owns refrigerated trucks to make it simple to move products from the factory to stores * Putting stores in areas of tourist, entertainment, and street front locations to gain more and more attention. Stores are set up for customers to be able to not resist the smell and sights of all the goodies (will keep them coming back) 4. Policies: RMCF consists of many different polices as most places do. The company wants to always continue increasing accountability, revenue, customers, and all the positives that have been such a success for the company while also reducing bottlenecking. All franchisees are expected to hold a high level of excellence * Believe they should control the manufacturing of its own products in order to better maintain its high product quality standards * RMCF sends their trucks from factories to stores with products and then brings back more ingredients for the next product so they can save trips and be more cost effective * Stores must be placed fa r enough apart and in good locations so that the company has the best possibility for success * All stores have the policy of sample in the store so customers can see and try what they are going to purchaseThe current mission, objectives, strategies, and policies reflect the company under many aspects. It continues to be successful, expand the customer culture, and accessibility. RMCF created a leading business model that was truly effective. With all the company has accomplished it continues to keep an eye open and look to consider changes if needed. II. Corporate Governance A. Board of Directors Due to the type of company, it is restricted by law to have no fewer than three and no more than nine directors on the board.The company previously decided on having 6 directors with Crail and Merryman being the only two internal board members. 1. Franklin E. Crail- Founder of the first RMCF, Chief Executive Officer, President, and a director. Bryan J. Merryman- Vice President, Finance & c hief financial officer, chief operating officer, director and a treasurer. Others directors include: Gerald A. Kien – Former chief executive officer of Remote Technology. Lee N. Mortenson – Former managing director at Kensington Partners LLC. Clyde W.Engle – Chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Sunstates Corporation. Fred M. Trainor – Chief executive officer and president of AVCOR Health Care Products Inc. With the exception of Franklin E. Crail who was the co-founder of RMCF and Bryan J. Merryman, the Board of Directors of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is composed of all external-independent board members. The directors do not receive any kind of compensation for serving on the board.However, they do receive compensation for serving other things such as serving certain board committees, leading committees, and when getting involved in meetings. Directors who are not officers or employees of RMCF are entitled to receive s tock option awards. RMCF is publically traded and listed on NASDAQ Global Market. For each share of common stock held, a shareholder is entitled to one vote on all matters. There are different rights as all matters could be voted on except the election of directors. Shareholders on the board had cumulative voting rights in the election of directors.The Board of Directors has frequently paid out quarterly cash dividends usually to common share outstanding. The RMCF board of directors are equipped with a wide variety of skills, interest, knowledge and background. The board members contribute numerous experiences in different positions from multiple companies. It seems that none of the directors were ever in the food industry before. Franklin E. Crail co-founded the first Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in May 1981. Since, Crail has served as its President, Director, Chairman of the Board, and CEO.Before finding the company, he was co-founder and President of CNI Data Processing Inc. Bryan J. Merryman has experience in leverage buyout firms, retail and manufacturing of aftermarket auto parts, consulting, financial advisory, and risk management. He has been with RMCF since 1997. Lee N. Mortenson has been with the company since 1987 and has been involved in consulting and investment activities since 2000. He was the managing director of a private investment firm and has been President and CEO of a company that provided management consulting and investment services.He has also been involved in real estate development and manufacturing. Gerald A. Kien became part of the company in 1995. He had just retired from his position as President and CEO of a company involved in the development of instrumentation for vehicle emissions testing. He also had previously been on the board of Sun Electric which is a company that deals with the oilfield, wind farms, and transmission construction industries. Clyde W. Engle became part of the company and had experience in profes sional property management as well as in a one-bank holding company.RMCF has a total of 41 franchise stores internationally. Based on what some of the directors use to do in the past, it is clear that they have the experience to work with international operations of the company and help benefit RMCF. When it comes to the environment, it can be said that RMCF board members are concerned with its environment. To start with a simple example, Crail had to scope out the perfect environment where to build his company. He moved from California to a smaller town where he started to survey the environment to make sure that it was a good place to open a chocolate shop.Crail had to make sure the environment was going to be a contribution to the success of the organization. RMCF was first located right on the main street for location and was right by the river which was a tourist attraction. The smells caught the noses of the tourists that came to town for the attractions. The company then cont inued to establish RMCF stores in five primary environments such as regional centers, tourist areas, outlet centers, street fronts, and airports and other entertainment oriented areas. The board members have been around for quite some time. Starting from 1982 to 1987, 1995, 1999, 2000, and 2009 basically.Even previously from 1987. The board seems to be deeply involved with strategic management of the company, controlling all from where stores are located to how training is conducted. When it comes to decision making on what to do with the company, the board of directors at RMCF tend to agree upon what to do as a team. They take care of all major aspects of the company. For example, they are in charge of resources and performance in the environment. With the co-founder being part of the board, strategic management works in a way that they all come to an agreement on, the board and no one is voted out.The board is able to run an evaluation on performance and many other aspects. All bo ard members participate and stick to a strategic plan to come to an agreement for the company. B. Top Management When it comes on to top management at RMCF it is up to the internal employees that are all part of the board. Listed below are some individuals that are part of RMCF top management: Frankiln E. Crail- Chief Executive Officer, President, and Director Bryan J. Merryman- Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Treasuer Edward L.Dudley- Senior Vice President- Sales and Marketing Gregory L. Pope- Senior Vice President- Franchise Development and Operations Jay B. Haws- Vice President- Creative Services William K. Jobson- Chief Information Officer Virgina M. Perez- Corporate Security Similar to the board of directors, top management of RMCF comes from a lot of different backgrounds. All of them are experienced in their field, but none of them before had ever had experience in the food industry. Some of the top management individuals consist of Crail , Merryman, Dudley, Pope, haws, and even a few more.Top management at RMCF are responsible for the different franchises and the growth of the company. They use top management as a form of recognition style so they can use it to expand and open more franchise stores. This will allow them to open more stores with no capital investment. Top Management also has international experience similar to the board of directors, because some of the individuals are both on the board of directors and top management. They have had to interact with others internationally and learn how to work with others from all over as well.That is why RMCF continues to stay towards the top and seems to most of the time be doing very well. There have been different ways and ratios looked into that determine if top management is effective and if they have an impact on the corporation’s performance over the past years. The ratios turned out looking rather well for RMCF in that the company is doing well and to p management has been responsible for these corporation performances over the past few years. This means that the management is aware of their resources and are using them to the company’s advantage.About half of the top management have been promoted internally. They started off as a store manager, franchise owner, or working their way up through the company. Some of these managers have been with the company since it first merged in the early 1980’s. Top management has established a systematic approach to strategic management. As mentioned above, the committee consults the board on making the right organizational decisions. By placing intense focus on Environmental Scanning of strategic management, RMCF has been smart and placed store locations in tourist areas, or high levels of foot traffic.Top management of RMCF is deeply involved in the strategic management process of the company. They are in charge of the mainstream controls that their franchise branches do. There fore, top management is truly involved. When it comes to deciding store locations, directing training, and providing ingredients, these are all decided upon in their original Durango, Colorado location. At RMCF top management is heavily involved in the interaction with lower level managers and the board of directors. Top management consults with the lower levels when deciding what to do and what strategies they can come upon that will best suit the company.Even though top management is higher up then the lower levels, they must come to agreements on certain strategies before making changes. Therefore, top management does play a very important role when it comes to interacting and communicating with lower level managers and board of directors at RMCF. By interacting and communicating helps the company rise above and stay ahead of competitors. RMCF is great with their interaction at all levels and that is what allows for it to be one of the leading chocolate factories worldwide. Decis ions at RMCF are made ethically in a socially responsible manner.If there is ever any concerns or anything that could be harmful to the company name, system, or reputation they are strictly prohibited. Along with the ethical manners of RMCF, environmentally sustainable manners come into play. From what RMCF can control, they want to always maintain an environmentally sustainable manner. With most things they are able to do so but with cocoa beans that are the main raw material used to make chocolate and grown in Africa and several other countries, RMCF cannot directly regulate if those countries are leading themselves in an environmentally sustainable manner.There are many different rules, regulations, and concerns that need to be kept under tight control with the company. From the case, one can see that RMCF’s top management is sufficiently skilled to cope with any future challenges. All of the top management team comes from truly experienced backgrounds and are prepared to withstand any recessionary forces that are knocking the U. S. economy. III. External Environment: Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) A. Natural Physical Environment: Sustainability Issues 1. Some natural climate issues that could affect the company would be heat, rain, and snow.Some weather related issues would be hurricanes and earthquakes that would affect traffic, tourism, and crop production (cocoa beans). 2. These forces would affect different regions of the world depending on the season and location. There might be different weather-related events, but different types would affect each region. B. Societal Environment Economic Economic is a current threat because the economy is dealing with a current recession. Spending is down and chocolate isn’t a necessity, which means there will be less chocolate being consumed. TechnologicalTechnology is an opportunity for RMCF. One example is that with online shopping increasing, consumers can buy as much of the product as they want right from their phones or computers. Also, technology can speed up the production process. Machines can do a lot more work as well, which will limit the amount of work that workers have to do by hand. This will increase the overall quality and consistency of the product. Political-Legal Political-Legal can be a threat to this corporation. Working in a factory can be somewhat unsafe. There are always health and safety issues in any workplace.There are also fair-trade regulations, import and export regulations, licensing agreements and child labor laws that have to be enforced. Sociocultural Sociocultural is an opportunity for this corporation. Based on research, dark chocolate has many health benefits. Some of these benefits include limiting the risk of diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. Dark chocolate can also lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and increase sugar metabolism. This will increase consumer spending on dark chocolate if consumers believe that it is healthy for the m. These forces would be different in other countries.This is because every nation is not at the same developmental stage, in terms of Economic, Technological, Political-legal, & Sociocultural. Some countries are ahead of the U. S & others are behind. C. Task Environment 1. Forces that drive industry competition are prices, geographic locations, large corporations entering the market, and prime retail locations. a. Threats of new entrants: High: Nestle and mars are two of the top food manufacturers in the world. With low entry barriers and having to compete with these established corporations there is a high threat. b.Bargaining power of buyers: Medium: Consumers have other options to choose from besides RMCF. They can buy chocolate from whomever, but with their prices, consumers are still choosing RMCF. c. Threat of substitute products/services: High: There are many substitutes to gourmet chocolate and with the economy; consumers might fall for the lower prices and easy access to d ifferent products. d. Bargaining power of suppliers: Low: RMCF has an advantage over other suppliers because of their fixed pricing and alternative supplier options. e. Rivalry: High: There has been an increase of entrants into the industry.Chocolate can be an easier industry to buy into with the health benefits and low entry barriers. f. Relative power of union, governments, and special interest groups: Medium: Consumer demands, union demands, and government regulations present challenges for RMCF. 2. Key factors in the immediate environment are: * Consumers demand for quality and healthy products. * Big name competitors like Nestle and Mars entering the market. * Suppliers providing ingredients at a fixed cost. * Labor unions and employers working together to produce raw materials at a low cost D. Summary of External FactorsSee Exhibit 1: Find at end of paper Consumer demands and competition are the most important factors to the corporations and industries in which it competes at the present time. Without consumers buying the product, the company cannot survive. Even though there are other factors that weigh into consumer happiness, it all boils down to if they like the product, if they can afford it, and if they choose it over other competitors. In the future it will still be the same, there will still be other competitors that will be coming out with new and improved products. Consumers can change company preference at any time.RMCF has to keep fixed prices as good or better with the products that are similar to that of their competition in order to keep their consumers around. IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses (SWOT) A. Corporate Structure Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory prides itself on its history. It was built around location and lifestyle, which has helped shape its corporate structure that is used to this day. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory uses a divisional corporate structure that focuses in three areas; product, market, and geo graphic. Product is the first and foremost important element for the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.As said by one of the Co-founders Franklin Crail â€Å"The number one factor is the quality of the product, without that customers aren’t going to stay around long† (book p26-3). Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is known for its specialty chocolate treats such as; nut clusters, caramels, butter creams, mints, and truffles. RMCF also tries to stay innovative with its products, having recently introduced sugar free and no sugar added candies. Chocolate isn’t the only sweet treat that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory offers, however, they also offer an array of fudges and caramel apples.Market structure is the next piece that fits into Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s divisional corporate structure. Market structure comes into play with the different groupings of employees that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has as a whole. They can be divided up into ma nufacturing its own trucking operations, store employees, factory employees, and corporate management. Splitting up the employee force and grouping everyone with the same or similar groups together is the main purpose of the market structure as part of the divisional structure as a whole.The last piece of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s divisional corporate strategy is geographical structure. This groups employees come together on a basis of where they are located. This is important for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory because it an international company with stores all over the United States, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates. The placement of the shops is also a key element to the success of the store. The main environments are; regional centers, tourist areas, outlet centers, street fronts, and airports. B. Corporate Culture â€Å"The Peak of Perfection in handmade Chocolates†Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a very unique corporate culture. It truly tries to live up to its tagline of being â€Å"The Peak of Perfection in Handmade Chocolates†. As a company they accomplish this by making all the shops a blend of traditional and contemporary styles. They also sought to make each store a fun and inviting place to be for both its workers and the customers that stop in. In each store it is possible to see the chocolates being made by the workers, thus showing that the chocolates really are handmade, as promised by the tagline of the company.Another important aspect of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory corporate culture is its franchising philosophy. It is always looking to improve its franchise support systems and has a high level of service and commitment to its franchises. The company realizes the importance of supporting and monitoring all of its franchises, because they are a direct reflection of the company. C. Corporate Resources 1. Marketing Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory runs on low-cost, high-return publicity opportuni ties. This is through taking advantage of local and regional events, sponsorships, and charitable causes.A large national marketing plan was never something that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory was interested in. Instead the company preferred to use things like coupons, flyers, and mail-order catalogs generated in house using its Creative Services Department. This department also works directly with each franchise. 2. Finance RMCF is consistently making a profit, allowing operating expenses to increase, and it also has multiple income sources. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s financial situation can best be seen through the use of a graph. This graph breaks down the company’s financial situation for the past five years. | YEARS ENDED FEBRUARY 28 or 29,| | Selected Statement of Operations Data| | 2012| | | 2011| | | 2010| | | 2009| | | 2008| | Total revenues| | $| 34,627| | | $| 31,128| | | $| 28,437| | | $| 28,539| | | $| 31,878| | Operating income| | | 5,853| | | | 5,950| | | | 5,671| | | | 5,819| | | | 7,914| | Net income| | $| 3,876| | | $| 3,911| | | $| 3,580| | | $| 3,719| | | $| 4,961| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Basic Earnings per Common Share| | $| . 63| | | $| . 65| | | $| . 60| | | $| . 62| | | $| . 78| | Diluted Earnings per Common Share| | $| . 62| | | $| . 62| | | $| . 58| | | $| . 60| | | $| . 6| | Weighted average common shares outstanding| | | 6,111| | | | 6,051| | | | 6,013| | | | 5,985| | | | 6,341| | Weighted average common shares outstanding, assuming dilution| | | 6,295| | | | 6,290| | | | 6,210| | | | 6,157| | | | 6,501| | Selected Balance Sheet Data| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Working capital| | $| 10,573| | | $| 9,831| | | $| 8,930| | | $| 7,371| | | $| 5,152| | Total assets| | | 24,163| | | | 21,439| | | | 18,920| | | | 16,841| | | | 16,147| | Stockholders’ equity| | | 18,736| | | | 16,654| | | | 14,731| | | | 13,242| | | | 11,655| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cash Div idend Declared per Common Share| | $| . 400| | | $| . 400| | | $| . 400| | | $| . 400| | | $| . 390| | 3. Research and Development (R&D) Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory knows the importance of keeping up with consumers wants, needs, and most importantly tastes. With the recent health raze, doing research and development was necessary to find out what in fact the consumers actually wanted from their chocolate companies. Due to this health craze the demand for dark chocolate has seen a significant increase. Also due to the health conscious, there has been research on chocolates that have been enhanced with minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and probiotics. Another trend that has become apparent in the chocolate industry is the want for ethical and fair trade chocolate. Consumers were showing concern about supporting cocoa farms that used child labor. Due to this consumers were choosing to support companies that could prove they were using only â€Å"ethical† cocoa products. 4. Operations and LogisticsRocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s operation and distribution objectives are all about maintaining the quality and freshness of its products. As a company Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory encourages its franchise stores to only order what they can realistically sell in a two to four week time frame, this ensures freshness. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s manufacturing process primarily involved cooking or preparing the candy. This is done in a temperature controlled room with strict quality controls in place to ensure that only best candies make the cut. While most of the candy is still handmade, there has been some change to automated processes if it makes sense to do so from a financial aspect.A large part of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s operations deal with its distribution or truck shipments. When it appeared that there couldn’t be a suitable shipper found, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory created its own fleet of semi s. By doing this it enabled the company to deliver its products to the stores quickly and at an extremely cost efficient and effective price. Having its own fleet to haul and return products and supplies has become not only a convenience for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, but an extremely business savvy move. 5. Human Resources Management (HRM) Most of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s employees are employed and paid on an hourly basis. At times, the employment of temp or seasonal help was used.Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory prides itself on staying competitive in its industry with regard to pay, benefits, and working conditions. The company is big time on the emphasis of respect, commitment, and professionalism. As far as human resources and employee relations go, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory rates itself as very good! 6. Information Technology (IT) Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory uses social media as a main source of its information systems. Its main social media resource is Facebook. It allows for customers to â€Å"like† their page to receive special information and deals regarding the company. It also has a link to Facebook on its homepage on the corporate website. They also use Twitter and Instagram.Besides these information systems the company uses, the stores operate independently from main corporate structure and some other aspects of its operations the company uses information technology for shipping, sales performance, inventory control, and accounting. D. Summary of Internal Factors See Exhibit 2: Find at end of paper V. Analysis of Strategic Factors (SWOT) A. Situational Analysis See Exhibit 3: Find at end of paper Here we just laid out some of the important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that were important when it comes to RMCF. By looking at the SFAS Matrix: exhibit 3 at the end of the paper one can see of the external(EFAS) and internal(IFAS) factors and which of each are the most important that have a strong impact on the company’s present and future performance. Strengths * Strong Franchise Program Rated an outstanding franchise in 2008 by the Entrepreneur magazine * March 31st there were 329 franchised stores * Visibility of its stores and the high foot traffic generated strong name recognition High Quality Product (won the 3 heart rating in a blind taste test) Strong mix of different kind of ingredients * During holiday seasons, company made as many as 100 additional items * Developed a new line of sugar-free and no-sugar added candies * According to the company, â€Å"results have been ‘spectacular’, filling a need for those with a special dietary requirements† * Careful selection of store sites * Highly cohesive corporate culture * Trademarks * Big, chunky chocolate concoctions * The Bear Paw-sized concoction of chewy caramel, roasted nuts and heavy coating of chocolate * Caramel apples followed by the Bear was the best selling Weaknesses * Glob al presence * Sale of chocolate and confectionary products was affected by changes in consumer tastes and eating habits * Negative impacts * Equity market levels * Consumer confidence * Job growth * Consumer disposable income and spending levels * Unemployment rates * Recessionary and inflationary trends * Energy prices Opportunities * New environments for success * Automation increase the speed and efficiency of the manufacturing process * Significant opportunities existed to expand into tourist area * Airport locations Accelerate the opening of stores in high volume airport locations * Sport Arenas * Kiosks * Enhanced franchise opportunities by providing flexibility in support of existing franchisees’ * Incorporated the company’s trademark cooking areas * Low cost marketing * Focused primarily on local in-store marketing * Fixed price contracts Company owned trucks * In 2008, owned eight refrigerated trucks and shipped substantial portion of its products from its fac tory * Cost effective, and quick delivery * Human Resources * Provided working conditions, wages, and benefits that compared favorably with its competitors * High performance expectations, mutual respect and professionalism existed throughout the company Threats Weather * Crop farming * Tourist areas * Competitors * Mars Inc. * Fanny May * Godiva Chocolatier * Large annual sales, and was one of the leading chocolate businesses * Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt * Ethel M Chocolates * See’s Candies * Hershey * These companies not only manufactured chocolate but also had their own retail outlets * Numerous businesses that offered confectionery products, from large to small privately owned local businesses * Influence of sales affected by * Traffic patterns * Economic conditions * Demographic conditions B. REVIEW OF MISSION AND OBJECTIVES Mission Built around a location and a lifestyle. The number one factor is the quality of the product, without that customers aren’t going to stay around long. † (Page26-2) The Company believed that its store atmosphere and ambiance, as well as its brand name recognition and its careful selection of sites for new store and kiosks, merchandising and marketing of chocolate and other candy products, expertise in the manufacture, and commitment to customer service are key to the accomplishment of its objective to build on its position as a leading international franchiser and manufacturer of high quality chocolate and other confectionary products. †¢ Quality, taste, value and variety of products †¢ Quality of the product is the number one factor Objectives Manage money carefully during economic downturn †¢ Slowed expansion and elimination of debt †¢ Maintain a good relationship with employees as well as franchisees Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has continued to maintain its mission and objectives appropriately during times of expansion as well as recession. VI. Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Strategy A. Strategic Alternatives The current and revised objectives are met rather well in this case and in any situation there can be implementation and improvement of the company’s strategies to make it even better. The alternative strategies are the Growth strategy, stability strategy and the retrenchment strategy.Cost leadership and differentiation play a part under strategic alternatives as well. 1. Stability Strategy: Stability strategy is when corporate strategies need to make no changes to the company’s current direction of activities. Therefore, RMCF fits pretty well under this because from the case one can see that they were doing rather well and never seemed to dip down by much at all. RMCF does not need to change any major things they just need to be sure and remain on the same page all the time and fix any small things that may occur. PROS: Stability strategy is rather cheap and will take the least amount of time. It also allows for appropria te training of any new franchisees.CONS: With a stability strategy it may only be short term solve or could end up resulting in loss of market share. 2. Growth Strategy: The concentration can be either vertical growth or horizontal growth. Vertical growth consists of taking over another company and this strategy would somewhat be beneficial for RMCF at this time because they tend to be doing well and if they were to take another place over and run it as they run their own company things would continue to be well off. Horizontal growth is spreading into other geographical locations. Horizontal growth is also something that RMCF is looking to do at this point because expanding into different geographical areas will benefit them and let them continue to become known all over.The diversification strategies involve concentric and RMCF seems to have a pretty strong competitive position in the industry world. Conglomerate diversification comes into play here too and RMCF seems to be pretty well and in a good spot with their cash making company. With these two characteristics, diversification strategy should work. The horizontal growth is huge through franchising at RMCF. PROS- RMCF could continue reaching and expanding to different new markets as profits continue to move forward. CONS- The growth strategy may not allow enough time for all the planning that is needed. 3. Retrenchment Strategy: Retrenchment strategy is corporate strategies to minimize the company’s level of activities and to return it to profitability.This strategy can be considered a quick fix of financial problems and this has helped for RMCF to stay on their feet and never fall to low under most aspects. There were a few times they slipped but then managed to get back on their feet and fix problems. With retrenchment strategy, it is there if RMCF would need it but the company is doing fairly well and has never been in that much of a slump to be bought out by another company or to even claim b ankruptcy. PROS- Retrenchment strategy is here and handy if RMCF were to need it. CONS- If RMCF did ever get into such a terrible spot, this might not help. 4. Cost Leadership: Cost Leadership can be described as a low-cost competitive strategy that aims at the broad mass market.RMCF can tie in with cost leadership because it has been truly successful and has set prices that the company believes works as a competitive strategy because their consumers agree on them and continue to come back for more in that they are satisfied. PROS- Keep consumers around and gain more from the broad mass market with a low-cost competitive strategy. CONS- Other companies will begin to do the same and try to be even better while trying to gain RMCF’s consumers. 5. Differentiation: Differentiation is huge for RMCF because this is a competitive strategy that is targeted at the broad mass market and which involves the design of a product or service that is viewed throughout its industry as exceptio nal.RMCF fits perfectly under differentiation because from the start Crail wanted the industry to be different than any other and successful with the unique products it produced. PROS- Practical for above average earnings because of the exceptional products that consumers want more of and tend to not care about the price. CONS- There could be more losses during tough times because of the differentiation products being as a luxury. B. Recommended Strategy Here, growth is the recommended strategy for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. With doing very well most the time and being able to fix what the company needs to, their business and functional strategies that the company use seem to be working well. The U. S. candy market was doing extremely well around 2009, with chocolate generating billions of dollars in sales.As of March 31, 2008, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory consisted of five company-owned and 329 franchised stores operating in 38 states, Canada, and the United Arab Emirate s. All the Franchising, licensing, and exporting will help its ability to resolve both long and short-term goals of the company. There are not too many policies that should be developed or revised with RMCF to guide them with effective implementation. They seem to do rather well. If something does go wrong they find the best way to go about bettering it for present and future reference. The company has to always remain on its toes though because anything could change at any time. By following and sticking to good policies will benefit the company in many ways.The impact of knowing what is going on and being ready for anything to happen at any time will have positive impact on the company’s core and distinctive competencies. VII. Implementation In order for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to continue being a front runner in the gourmet chocolate industry they need to continue going on the path that they are on. They have a loyal consumer base and are keeping up with the wants and needs of their consumer base. By continuing to offer their homemade quality chocolates online, in stores, and in kiosk’s around the world they are providing their product to consumers in many ways. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a solid structure set up as far as top management and board members are concerned. For assurance that RMCF ontinues to be one of the top leaders in the gourmet, homemade, chocolate industry it is important that they keep listening to their customers wants and needs. VIII. Evaluation and Control Is the current information system capable of providing sufficient feedback on implementation activities and performance? Can it measure strategic factors? The current information system is capable of providing sufficient feedback on implementation activities and performance because the external and internal elements determine the future of the corporation. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats help the company sort out the monitoring, evaluating, and disseminating of information.Using the SWOT analysis helps defining the corporate mission, specifying achievable objectives, developing strategies, and setting policy guidelines. The fact that this company is built around a location and lifestyle, and that the quality of the taste, value and variety of products are important to them as a whole is why they succeed. They realize that in order to keep profit coming, they need to manage money carefully during economic downturn as well with a slowed expansion to help eliminate debt. Customer satisfaction is important as well because if the customer is not satisfied with either the product or the service they are receiving they will not be returning.Rocky Mountain Chocolate employees pride themselves in making a good name for the company, which is why they are so successful with expansion. â€Å"The number one factor is the quality of the product, without that customers aren’t going to stay around long† (Page 26-2). Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has had a very strong franchise with the fact that they were rated an outstanding franchise in 2008 by the Entrepreneur magazine. Are adequate control measures in place to ensure conformance with the recommended strategic plan? Appropriate standards and measures are being used to enhance conformance with the recommended strategic plan because they are being rated on the quality f the products they are producing. They were able to overcome the hard times of the economy in the U. S over the recent years by managing their money effectively. The company has their own special features and products that make them stand out over their competitors. With special holidays, they make over 100 different products to help ensure business with different options. Conclusion In closing, we believe the Stability strategies of â€Å"make no changes† to the company’s current activities is the best recommendation we can give for Rocky Mountain Chocol ate Factory at this time. Exhibit 2- IFAS Table for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |Internal Factors|   |   | Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| Comments| Strengths|   |   |   |   |   |   | High quality products|   | 0. 2| 5. 0| 1. 00| Can have high prices with loyal customers| Uniformity throughout every store| 0. 1| 4. 0| 0. 40| Keeps customers happy and satisfied| Efficient cost structure| 0. 1| 2. 5| 0. 25| Promotes growth & increases profits| All stores are efficient and organized|   |   | 0. 1| 4. 0| 0. 40| Also promotes growth & increases profits| |   |   | | | | | |   |   |   | |   |   |   | Weaknesses|   |   |   | |   |   |   | A lot of competitors that are also strong|   |   |   | 0. 2| 2| 0. 40| Have to do best to always protect market share| Special items|   |   |   | 0. 1| 2| 0. 0|   With difficult economic times sales can change| Proper operation of franchises is key|   |   | 0. 1| 1. 5| 0. 15| Keep head up in case of store mismanagement| Growth of company can be risky|   |   | 0. 1| 2| 0. 20| Must always stay on top with growth & managing it| |   |   | | | | | |   |   |   | |   |   |   | Total Scores|   |   | 1. 00|   | 3. 00|   | Exhibit 1- EFAS Table for Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | External Factors|   |   | Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| Comments| Opportunities|   |   |   |   |   |   | Natural- recession recovery|   | 0. 05| 2. 5| 0. 13| Economy going towards recovery stage| Economic- low cost marketing strategy| 0. 05| 4. 6| 0. 3| Higher profits because of low cost facilities| Technological- multiple manuf. & automated processes| 0. 21| 4. 9| 1. 03| No value added, reduces inventory| Consumers happy & will pay more for product|   |   | 0. 07| 3. 5| 0. 25| profit will increase if demand for product does| Trucks owned by the comp any|   |   | 0. 12| 4. 5| 0. 54| Low transportation & efficient delivery|   |   |   |   | |   |   |   | Threats|   |   |   | |   |   |   | Natural- other companies move into market|   |   |   | 0. 23| 3. 8| 0. 87| Competition increases and causes lower prices| Economic- trade regulations|   |   |   | 0. 08| 1. 4| 0. 11|   Upset consumers, increase in labor costs| Labor force strikes|   |   | 0. 04| 1. 4| 0. 6| There would be no production of ingredients  | Regulations with the trucks|   |   | 0. 07| 2. 5| 0. 18| Increase in operating cost if slow delivery| Picking where to purchase a franchise location|   |   | 0. 08| 2| 0. 16| There would be no service if not in a good area|   |   |   |   | |   |   |   | Total Scores|   |   | 1. 00|   | 3. 56|   | Exhibit 3 – SFAS Matrix for RMCF| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Strategic Factors| Weight| Rating| Weighted Score| Duration Comments| | | D uration| Comments| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | S1 High Quality Products (S)| 0. 13| 5. 0| 0. 5 | Long High prices, loyal customers| | | Long| Very important income stream| | | | S4 Stores efficient & Organized (S)| 0. 13| 4. 0| 0. 52| Long Promotes growth & increases profits| | | Long| Well known brand| | | | W1 A lot of strong Competitors (W)| 0. 11| 2. 0| 0. 22| Intermediate Do best to protect Market share| | | Long| Developing tech. may hurt advertising income| | | | W2 Special Items (W)| 0. 11| 2. 0| 0. 22| Intermediate Sales can change during hard times| | | Long| If internet packages change, income from partnerships may change| | | | W3 Proper operations of franchises (W)| 0. 13| 1. 5| 0. 95| Long Keep head up for store mismanagement| | | Intermediate| Focusing on too many market segments| | | | W4 Growth of Company (W)| 0. 11| 2. 0| 0. 22| Long Stay on top with managing growth| | | Intermediate| You don't Yahoo! it, you google it! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | O2 Economic (O)| 0. 07| 4. 6| 0. 322| Intermediate Higher profits: low cost facilities| | | Intermediate| Computers, cell phones, ipads, etc. | | | | O3 Technological (O)| 0. 07| 4. 9| 0. 343| Long No value added, reduces inventory| | | Long| Alliances with other countries. New laws, regulations, etc. enforced. | | | T1 Natural (T)| 0. 07| 3. 8| 0. 266| Intermediate Competition increase causes low prices| | | Intermediate| One media type having easier access than another| | | | T4 Regulations with trucks (T)| 0. 07| 2. 5| 0. 175| Short Increase in operation cost if slow delivery| | | Long| New laws and regulations internationally could put limits on Yahoo! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total Scores| 1. 00| | 3. 13| | | | | | | | Work Cited Doheny, K. (2012, April 24). Choose dark chocolate for health benefits. Retrieved from http://www. ebmd. com/diet/news/20120424/pick-dark-chocolate-health-benefits Franchise Store News Room. (2011). Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www. rmcf. com/CA/Sa cramento50028/news. asp? Hunger, J. D. ; Wheelen, T. L. (2012). Strategic management and business policy (13th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. (2013). Retrieved March 5, 2013, from http://www. reuters. com/finance/stocks/companyOfficers? symbol=RMCF. O Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. – Form 10-K (2010). Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://www. faqs. org/sec-filings/100518/ROCKY-MOUNTAIN-CHOCOLATE-FACTORY-INC_10-K/