The Issue Of The Kalabagh Dam Environmental Sciences Essay

The Issue Of The Kalabagh Dam Environmental Sciences Essay Pakistan has faced energy crisis problems from the start but they were very mild and were being dealt with very well. It was not until the 1990s that the problem of the energy crisis started to get serious due to the rise in the demand for it. Dams can be defined as fence which stops the water or upstream rivers. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dam) The main purpose of any dam is to keep hold of water. Dams can also be used to collect water or can be used in order to store water, in order to equally distribute between different areas. Hydropower is often used in union with dams, in order to generate electricity. Kalabagh is a small town in province Punjab located in Mianwali district. Kalabagh was the location which was proposed for building the Kalabagh dam, as this place is located on the western side of the river Indus. The main idea of Kalabagh dam was going on from decades but once again it was brought up by General Pervez Musharaf, but due to problems and conflicts raised between Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan; this issue has still not been worked upon. Out of all four provinces, Punjab is the only province which is favor of building the Kalabagh dam. And Punjab is the strongest of all four provinces, and has centralized government legislation. The other three provinces are completely against this decision and have passed undivided resolutions rejecting the project of building Kalabagh dam. This is because Baluchistan and Sindh would not benefit much from the Kalabagh project; instead they would suffer from even more water shortages. Baluchistan is not directly affected by the building of Kalabagh dam. However, the Sardarà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s of Baluchistan often says that the construction of Kalabagh dam is a way in which the province Punjab will rule over other small provinces. And because of these conflicts and disputes, the project is still not been finalized. The opposition groups, who are against the construction of Kalabagh dam, often say that this project will have very adverse impacts on the environment. Secondly, the construction site which is currently home for thousands and millions of people will become no more available for them. If we have to highlight the major cause of not building the dam, we can with no doubt blame the lack of trust between the Punjab government and the other three provinces. The other three provinces have this hatred for Punjab and this could be a result of over intervention of the Pakistan army, which comprises majority of Punjabis and Pathan, all over Pakistan, especially Sindh. Another reason for the hatred can be the ethno-nationalists that give rise to the anti-Punjabi sentiment amongst the public. If the Kalabagh dam project is constructed, then it would be able to have a live storage capacity of 6.1 million acre feet (MAF). This amount would make extensive contribution to boost the irrigation supplies. It will not only enhance the food irrigation for the new projects; but it will also increase the additional allotment decided by the provinces under the water apportionment accord (WAA) of 1991. Another major advantage of building kalabagh dam is that it will increase a huge amount of cheap hydropower to the national grid through its 2,400 mw (ultimate 3,600 mw) installed power. Building Kalabagh dam will also replace the storage previously lost by sedimentation in present reservoirs at Mangla, Chashma and Tarbela. The dam will provide further storage which can be helpful in achieving the present water shortages faced during early Kharif, i.e. the sowing period of April-June. It will also provide efficient directive of Indus River in order to meet the additional Kharif allocations of the provinces under Waa, 1991. Once the dam will be constructed, it will regulate and control the high flood rise in Indus; and will enable provision of tube well irrigations to the river rain area in the south. Lastly, talking about the advantages, while the construction process, 30,000 people will be employed during the construction and a large number of people will get jobs after the construction, as maintenance and operators. Thus, boosting Pakistanà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s GDP and moving Pakistan towards economic growth. If the dam is not constructed, than Pakistan will have to face even more severe crisis of high fuel prices. As the yearly energy generated at Kalabagh, if the dam is build would be equal to 20 million barrels of oil. If Pakistan imports this amount of fuel for thermal generation, than it would be additional burden on the economy. The federal government has taken some measures in order to overcome the load-shedding Pakistan is currently facing. And in order to do this, the government has signed agreement with international private sector of installing over 3,000 mw of thermal power over the next 4 years. This might help in overcoming the load-shedding. However, the power cost will increase drastically. As these private electricity companies are very expensive electricity producers. So, Kalabagh hydropower dam would be very cheap in comparison to keep the cost of electricity within affordability of the nation of Pakistan. Literature review The issue of Kalabagh is an immense issue which has resulted in conflicts and arguments between all the provinces of Pakistan. Some of the arguments against the building of the dam include negative environmental and social impacts. The Kalabagh dam has to face extensive examination and checking from the world dam commission. So, it is likely that these checks might slow down the construction of the Kalabagh dam. The oppositions to the dam often blame the low trustworthiness of government and its agencies, which includes both federal and provincial government for creating an information gap between the original debate of the Kalabagh dam and the discussions which are done by other parties on this issue. The parties in favor of the dam often argue that the construction of Kalabagh dam will help in meeting the urgent needs of cheap energy and cheap food supply for the speedily growing population. The government of Punjab is trying to construct a dam on a very large scale. This is done in order to generate 3,600 mw electric power, and store 6.1 MAF water. On the other hand, if this dam is constructed, it will have many adverse effects. The loss caused by constructing this dam will be loss of 182,000 acres of productive land. Other than this many people will be displaced from their homes. There is a whole set of reasons that goes against the building of the Kalabagh dam. The first reason is the absence of good governance. The project of Kalabagh dam has mostly faced a lack of governance. The people who are the decision makers of the whole project have to also deal with the society and their concerns. Due to the side effects that Kalabagh dam would have an alternative plan called the Tarbela action plan has been proposed. This plan is made through the sediment flow simulations made by the computers. The two purposes that these simulations have are, to see if flushing is feasible for estimating storage capacity in the long run and to analyze reservoirs and predict future sedimentation. On the results of the above simulation three components have been proposed which should be done in order to build the dam. These include reservoir operating strategy, underwater dike and flushing bypass. Reservoir operating strategy works in the way that first the reservoir should be reached at a minimum level and then gradually growing it each year by a small amount. This would ensure the tunnel security until the underwater dike is made. A rock file dike underwater should be made to prevent sediment to overwhelm. Then a bypass would have to be made at a low level with a high capacity in order to be able to flush the sediment. If the plan is implemented this way it would make the storage sustainable. The loss that would be occurred would be more or less what the Kalabagh dam would be designed to take. As is the Kalabagh dam have many issues. The crop yield increasing that has been projected is only in the case when water logging and salinity is put out of the consideration. Hydel energy is really expensive which adds to the environmental costs. Many ecosystems that live in the mangrove forests and are relying on the Indus River would be degraded. Many opposition parties often ignore all these valuable blessings of building Kalabagh dam and still oppose to the building of the dam. Some of the reasons for this opposition are that there is no evidence given to the opposing parties about the costs of hydro power as compared to other sources which provide energy. Other than this, there is a deficiency of organized assessment of the cost of Kalabagh water and the costs of substitute ways of increasing deliverance of water used in the irrigation system and at the same time dropping the wastage in the use of irrigation used water.( Kalabagh dam: an ecological disaster by Abrar Kazi) The adverse impacts of the Kalabagh dam which much opposition argue are, that, it is not yet clear that whether the water flowing from the Indus is enough for filling up the dam in next few years. Another argument is that, the water flowing below Kotri, if it is reduced, than it will affect the people who are very much dependant on this water flowing from underneath Kotri and then utilizes this water on agriculture and fisheries in the coastal Sindh. It will ruin the lives of many people living in the coastal Sindh. The situation becomes more alarming when WAPDA avoid this sort of statistics and rejects to undertake comprehensive and credible studies on this matter. The federal government in response says that, every year, 35maf water goes wasted into the sea, downstream of Kotri. However this wasted water can be used to bring a huge amount of new land used for cultivation and can be used to produce more food. In response to the siltation of land, the federal government says that more dams can help in replacing the lost storage of existing dams. As otherwise we are actually losing the existing storage due to siltation of previous reservoirs. The WAPDA figures in 1987 showed that there was a system loss of an average of 10 MAF in the post Mangla period. However, these figures were doubted, as once the Tarbela dam was built, it was seen that the river regime conditions worsened in 1977. The average yearly system losses in post Tarbela era (1976-94) increased to 14.7 maf as in opposition to 6.2 MAF in the post Mangla pre-Tarbela period (1967-76), showing an increase of 8.5 MAF. Another problem is that, in the Indus basin there is high levels of water logging and salinity, and if the irrigation supplied are to be increased it will just add more to the water logging and salinity to an alarming level in the Indus basin which could be very dangerous. Organizations which drain out the water, such as, national drainage program will take a long time period in reducing the water level from the basins to the sea, and even then, there is a huge probability that it will create a lot of problems and will take a lot of time, as there is no other alternative way of draining the runoff into the sea. The other issues are the financial issues related with the building of Kalabagh dam. There is a very tiny possibility of our government in getting financial aid from international organizations. Most probably the dam will only increases are countries debts. However, if private infrastructure funds are attracted to finance the Kalabagh dam at a high return rate, it is uncertain that the project will still stay fiscally and cost-effectively feasible. Meetings of the council of common interests will remain a poor substitute for responsible and responsive governance. There is an urgent need for the multi ethnic general public involvement on these vital issues of both ethical and officially authorized civil rights to once own life and livelihood that enclose claims to water. Simply in identifying this issue we can sincerely initiate effort towards forging a nationwide agreement on whether or not to construct Kalabagh, rather than by holding conferences amongst councils, who decide on these serious issues. The benefits of Kalabagh dam are considerable. Kalabagh dam will replace the loss of storage in the Tarbela and Mangla moreover it will increase the total quantity of stored water facilitating further and well-timed discharge for irrigation use in order to boost the food grain production. (Kalabagh: need for informed debate by Aly Ercelawn Omar Asghar Khan) Discussion Kalabagh dam is protect that would bring about many changes and many of those changes would be very hard, costly and destructive to cope. Kalabagh dam project is based on many assumptions that are either not true or are just one side of the story. I believe that Kalabagh dam does indeed have some significantly important points to support itself in the construction of it such as the electricity generation and increased food supply through growth in irrigation. However at the same time i believe that Kalabagh dam should not be built when looking at the adverse affects that it would have on the economy. Kalabagh dam is thought to be only useful or living for 22-30 years this means that the cost of making it would not be fully recovered and the replacement of the dam by a new project after its useful life would be again a major expense and hassle. Many other affects of the Kalabagh dam could not be left without putting a great deal of thought into it. The project would affect lots of peo ple and land. Through the Kalabagh dam lots of farmland would be lost and hence the food production would also go down. This would ultimately affect the GDP of Pakistan and cause a national decline. Many people who live in those areas where the dam has to be built would have to be re-homed to new places which is very expensive and could mean that the whole project could be useless in regards the cost. Not only would the government have to re home the people who would be left homeless but also many of the roadways such as the Attock-Talang roadway and railway service would have to be planned all over again. The Sui gas line in the north would also be affected and the re-construction of that would be very costly as well. Moving on, however much costly the problems mentioned above are they can still be tackled with nonetheless. Many of the issues are much more serious and would have an impact on our environment and society for much long-lasting or even indefinite time. One such issue w ould be the lost of the forest. The mangrove forests that would be effected would cost Pakistan the loss of massive wildlife and would cause many diseases through disruptions in the in the food chain. For a healthy atmosphere we need forests and the wildlife that its caters, if the forests are affected not only do humans suffer through the loss of food chains and loss of trees which are useful for production in many finished goods but also the changes in percentages of gasses in the atmosphere would be very harmful for the human life. Even if these issues could be catered for and the Kalabagh dam could maintain its costs through its benefits it would be a project that could be given a thought. However, the physical properties and uses of the dam have also failed to produce a truly glorious picture. Kalabagh dam has been projected to produce 43.5 MAF electricity according to WAPDA however, initially WAPDA itself announced a figure of 23.5 MAF on the basis of the past 60 years of reco rds, when they realized that this figure was too small they gave a new higher figure and claimed it to be on the basis of the last 22 years. This clearly shows that the figures provided by the government and WAPDA are not very reliable. In the case of the Tarbela dam governments had also produced wrong figures that proved to be wrong and disastrous for the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan. Sindh and Baluchistan believe that they would have to suffer from water shortages and the Punjab would get the benefit. Kalabagh dam would also cause water logging by putting backpressure on the river Kabul. River Indus would also be polluted and the existing problem of water shortage would just be increased by the Kalabagh project. Studies have also showed that if worked to their full capacities, the existing dams are enough for the production of the electricity need of Pakistan. Kalabagh dam would only cause more frustration and decline in the growth of Pakistanà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s economy and would hamper the production of energy instead of increasing it. The dispute from the three provinces would lead to a national dispute and would mean a conflict at both the level of society as well as the parliament. All the benefits of the Kalabagh dam that the supporters of it have put forward have never been reliable enough and face criticisms and face valid problems. These problems in my opinion must be first overcome through other minor projects, which are safer, and if it is still necessary then the Kalabagh project should be given a thought. Other minor projects include ghazi Barotha and Bhasha dams. Conclusion To conclude i would like to say that Kalabagh dam does have many good points as stated in the literature review such as the eradication of energy crisis and the increase in the irrigation increasing the supply of food. However the costs and the affects of this project are quite massive and could result in increasing the problems instead of solving it. The adverse affects of the Kalabagh dam are very massive and must be given a very careful review before any decision is made. Kalabagh dam has many negative points to it and there are very little reliable solutions to those problems that have been given. In the light of the current situation the decision to not allow the construction of the Kalabagh dam is the correct decision and until any better proposal or solutions to the problems mentioned above are not found permitting the construction of Kalabagh dam would most likely turn out to be a disaster. To overcome the current energy crisis of Pakistan, there should be an attempt to stric tly supervise the production of energy that is present from the existing plants and these should produce at their best capacity. This might reflect that many of the studies that have shown that with the existing plants producing energy at their best in Pakistan the energy crisis could be solved altogether might be true. This strategy might eradicate the whole need for the Kalabagh or a new dam or a plant to produce energy at the first place. If the problem still persists and proves the analogy of existing plants being able to meet the energy demand of Pakistan wrong then other small projects should be tried first which would not have so much of the adverse affects related to them such as the Bhasha dam and the ghazi Barotha dam project. These small projects are thought to be much more effective as they have little impact on the society and still can produce higher energy, however these dams also have environmental and humanly costs related to them and therefore should be avoided as much as possible.

History And Background Of Google Inc Business Essay

History And Background Of Google Inc Business Essay Google Inc. began in 1996 as the brainchild of two bright computer science grad students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They met back in 1995 at Stanford University where they were doing their PhDs and they came out with creative ways of finding and organizing large datasets (Hoovers Inc, 2010). After that, they developed a technology called PageRank which enables them to analyze a particular websites relevancy. It occurred to them that a search engine that is based on the PageRank algorithm would be much more effective at obtaining better and accurate results than existing search engines. Thus, that idea became a basis for their soon-to-be famous search engine that was launched on September 15, 1997. Google Inc. was formally incorporated on September 4, 1998 at a friends garage in Menlo Park, California. Google got its name from googol, the mathematical equivalent of the number one followed by a hundred zeros, which was a misspelling of that mathematical term (Google, 2005). This refl ects on the founders original mission to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful (Google.com, 2010). The core competency of their business, the Google search engine has become so successful that it attracted a loyal following among a growing number of Internet users, who liked its simple design and useful results. In 2000, Google began selling text-based advertisements associated with search keywords in order to maintain an uncluttered page design so that speed is maximized when loading a page. Their innovative advertising system, comprised of its AdWords and AdSense products, is so successful that 99% of their revenue is derived from it (Google, 2005). However, the technological industry demands constant innovation and Googles strong focus on continuous improvement is reflected in the companys ever expanding line of innovative services and products which includes webmail (Gmail), blogging (Blogger), and interactive maps (Google Maps). Googles s trong organizational culture that includes values such as creativity, simplicity and innovation plays a huge role in their tremendous success and gives them a huge competitive advantage over their rivals in the search engine market. Content The Google Culture Google is well known for their organizational cultures distinctiveness and uniqueness compared to their immediate competitors. On the Google corporate website, they have listed down 10 core principles that guides the actions of the entire organization. These are the values and assumptions shared within the organization. These values are also termed as espoused values, where it is not necessarily what the organization actually values even though the top executives of the company embraces them. Here are some of a few of their core principles which will provide a look into Googles management philosophy and the type of culture they want to possess: Focus on the user and all else will follow Google strives to put the end users interest ahead of shareholders when making corporate decisions. Google promises to deliver the best user experience possible by providing a clear and simple homepage interface, relevant advertisements and fair placement in search results. Its best to do one thing really, really well Google focuses on its core competency, which is search. Google continues to solve complex issues and provide continuous improvements to search. New Google products such as Gmail and Google Maps are the results of Googles dedication in improving search. Fast is better than slow Google understands that time is valuable to its users and strives to please them by increasing the efficiency of retrieving the users search results. Now the average response time to get a search result just takes a fraction of a second. Google is the only company that aims to have the users leave its website as soon as possible. The need for information crosses all borders Google is founded in California but the existing mission is to enable access to information for the entire world and in all languages. And because more than half of Google search results originate from outside the United States, the organization has offices in dozens of countries and offers the Google search interface in more than 110 languages. As a result, the variety and quality of services Google offer are much more improved. You can be serious without a suit The founders built Google around the idea that work should be challenging, and the challenge should be fun. Google believes that great and creative things are more likely to happen with the right company culture and thus emphasizes on team achievements and pride in individual accomplishments. Google employs energetic, passionate people from diverse backgrounds with creative approaches to work, play and life. Great just isnt good enough Google always strives to make its employees deliver more than what is expected. Google does not accept being the best as an endpoint but rather a starting point. Through innovation and iteration, Google aims to take things that work well and improve upon them in unexpected ways. Google also anticipates users needs and set new standards with new products and services that can make a difference and change the world. [Adapted from www.google.com] In Google, the daily organizational life is distinctive and is one that thrives on informal culture. The rituals that portray the organizations culture as unique and possesses a small-company feel are portrayed daily at lunchtime, where almost all employees eat together at the many various office cafà ©s while at the same time having an open, relaxed conversations with fellow Googlers that come from different teams (Google.com, 2010). Also, because one of the Google cultures main pillars are the pillar of innovation, every Googler are very comfortable at sharing ideas, thoughts, and opinions with one another in a very informal working environment. Every employee is a hands-on contributor and everyone wears several hats (Google.com, 2010). Sergey and Brin also plays a big part of laying the foundation on what the Google culture is and the founders have continued to maintain the Google Way by organizing a weekly all-hands TGIF meetings for employees to pose questions directly at them (Google.com, 2010). In Google, the motivated employees who live the Google brand and are aligned to the company call themselves Googlers. Even former employees of Google have a name which they refer to themselves as Xooglers (Garret, 2005). This shows that in Google, their employees are so involved in the organization that they have their own symbolic name that mirrors the organizations name and image, which is a sure sign of an existing strong cultural values that are present within the company. After tremendous growth in Google, the organization moved from a humble office building in Palo Alto, California back in its early days to its current office complex bought over from Silicon Graphics. The complex is popularly known as the Googleplex, which is a blend of the word Google and complex (Googleplex, 2005). Googleplex is the result of a careful selection that serves to establish Googles unique and individualistic culture in the eyes of the employees and the public. The corporate campus is built to provide a very fun, relaxed and colorful environment both inside and outside. Innovative design decisions provides Google employees 2000 car lots underground so that open spaces above and surrounding the building are filled with unique and interesting architectures that includes an on-site organic garden that supplies produces for Googles various cafes, a bronze casting of a dinosaur fossil, a sand volleyball court, heated endless pools and also electric scooters along with hundre ds of bikes scattered throughout the complex for Googlers to get to meetings across campuses (Google, 2009). Googleplex is a significant departure from typical corporate campuses, challenging conventional thinking about private and public space. This also points out the alignment of values that are present in Googles culture such as innovation, fun, laid-back, creativity and uniqueness that clearly shows that their organizational culture is truly unique and different from that of their competitors and other organizations. Within the Googleplex, a truly attractive, fun and extraordinary workplace environment exists for Google employees. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like lava lamps and giant rubber balls while sofas, Google color coded chairs, and pool tables can be found at lounges and bar counters to express Googles laid-back working atmosphere. The lobby contains a grand piano and a projection of current live Google search queries (Google, 2009). The employees various needs are also taken care of by facilities such as the 19 cafes on campus which serves a variety of food choices for their diverse workforce, a gym, massage parlor, laundromats, and even micro kitchens, which provides snacks for employees who want a quick bite (Google, 2009). This ensures that employees can be more productive and happy without ever leaving the workplace. A manifestation of Googles creative and innovative culture is shown by the unconventional building design with high ceilings to let natural light in, durable floors made of tiny quartz stones, working British phone booths splashed in Google colors, and lounges that also serve as DIY libraries with cleverly placed low-reach book racks adorned with colorful Lego sets and cubes (Google, 2009). All these innovative, creative and colorful designs are symbols of Googles unique organizational culture that emphasizes on continuous innovation. Google engages their employees by applying adaptive culture in the organization. From their core competency in search engine technology, Google has responded to customers change in needs by expanding onto the mobile market. The employees analyze, anticipate and seek out the opportunities to improve the organizations performance by being proactive and quick in coming out with new technologies and solutions for mobile services. It aims to help people all over the world to do more tasks on their phone, not to mention the several different ways to access their Google search engine on a mobile phone (Google, 2008). In addition, Google recently entered the smartphone market by launching the Google Nexus One smartphone in response to customers increasing need for smartphones, which is gaining ground on popularity because everyone is going mobile in the Information Age. This is the result of Google employees common mental model that the organizations success depends on continuous change to s upport the stakeholders and also that they are solely responsible for the organizations performance (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The employees also believe that by entering into other markets beyond their core competency, the change is necessary and inevitable to keep pace with an ever changing and volatile technological market. Googles organizational culture places a huge importance of trust and transparency by having an informal corporate motto namely Dont be evil. This slogan has become a central pillar to their identity and a part of their self-proclaimed core principles. It also forms the ethical codes of the organization where Google establishes a foundation for honest decision-making that disassociates Google from any and all cheating. Its ethical principles means that Google sets guiding principles for their advertising programs and practices, which is where most of their revenues come from. Google doesnt breach the trust of its users so it doesnt accept pop-up advertising, which is a disruptive form of advertisement that hinders with the users ability to see the content that they searched (Stahl, 2004). And because they dont manipulate rankings to put any of their partners higher in their search results or allow anyone to buy their way up the PageRank, the integrity of their search results are not c ompromised. This way, users trust Googles objectivity and their ethical principles is one of the reason why Googles ad business had become so successful. The founders of Google believe strongly that in the long term we will be better served, as shareholders and in all other ways, by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains. Content An Introduction to Organizational Culture Every organization is unique in the sense that each and every one of them has their own distinct way of going about doing their business. This unique style of doing business that is different in every organization is made out of a complete combination of the artefacts, values, attitudes and shared assumptions of that organization whereby it is known as organizational culture. According to McShane and Von Glinow (2008), organizational culture consists of shared values and assumptions that guide the way that employees within that organization think and act and how they react to opportunities and solve problems. The employees of that particular organization are directed and guided by the right way of doing tasks and learn how to prioritize tasks that are important and to differentiate those tasks with other less important tasks. The employees also have certain beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals they should pursue in the organization and their own ideology about the appropriate kinds or standards of behavior they should use to achieve these goals (Hill and Jones, 2001). The Elements of Organizational Culture according to Schein (1985) Organizational culture consists of a few elements. According to Scheins study (as cited in McShane and Von Glinow, 2008), he defines culture as consisting of several levels that are made out of 2 primary categories that drive the organizations action. The categories are made out of the visible elements of culture and also the underlying assumptions underneath, which in other words is the invisible element of culture. Figure 1. (Based on Scheins Levels of Culture. Schein, 2004, Organizational culture and leadership, 27). Visible elements are the artefacts that are found in the culture, which is the physical elements of an organization that is observable (Schein, 2004). The visible element of culture is also said to be a manifestation of the cultures invisible values (Schein, 2004). Artefacts can be stories, legends, rituals and ceremonies, organizational language and also the physical structures of the organization (Schein, 2004). The invisible elements of the culture are made out of espoused values, shared values and shared assumptions. Espoused values are essentially the philosophies, goals and strategies that are stated by the management (Schein, 2004). In addition, shared values which are values that employees in the organization believe in and prioritize at the top of their hierarchy of values and also which they all share in common (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Along with shared values, another deeper element of culture, which some experts say is the real essence of culture, are shared assump tions which consists of unconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions or beliefs and also thoughts and feelings of individuals within organizations (Schein, 2004). Organizational Stories and Legends Stories are a part of the organization that shows the existence of a strong culture. Stories can be tales that talk about courageous things done by an employee of the company, or to ridicule past events that had strayed from the firms core values (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The stories and legends serves as powerful social reminder about the way things should or should not be done. In addition, stories play an important role in communicating the organizations distinct culture in terms of the employees individual standard of performance, the corporate beliefs and also criteria of getting fired (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Stories in the organization can evoke emotion in those that hear these tales which will serve as a permanent reminder to the employees to uphold the organizational culture. Stories is also the greatest way to communicate the culture when it is about real people, real situations and known by employees throughout the firm (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Rituals and Ceremonies Rituals are a dramatized version of an organizations culture by the customary activities of daily organizational life (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). This can include how visitors are welcomed, how often does senior executive s pay a visit to their subordinates, how much time does the employee take lunch and how the employees communicate with each other. Ceremonies on the other hand are more formal than rituals. Ceremonies are activities that are carried out especially for the benefit of an audience (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Among the examples are product launches, press conferences and webcasts. Organizational language Organizational language is defined as the so-called language of the workplace (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). It speaks volumes about the companys culture and can portray distinct, unique and important features of an organizations culture by defining the way employees address their colleagues, greet their stakeholders and describe their customers. It is also a cultural artifact and highlights values that are held by organizational subcultures. How terms are used to describe something and how employees communicate with each other determines the character of an organizations culture. Physical structures and symbols Former British prime minister, Winston Churchill once said that buildings both reflect and influence an organizations culture. Physical structures and symbols such as buildings and the company logo does and can reflect or influence an organizations culture (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The characteristics of the building such as the age, the shape, size, and location can also reveal the values that a company practices such as emphasizing flexibility, teamwork, environmental friendliness or any other values. The company logo characteristics such as the color, symbolic meaning, shape and characters can also portray the organizations culture. Physical artifacts such as desks, chairs, office space, and wall hangings can also denote cultural meanings (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Importance of a Strong Organizational Culture According to McShane and Von Glinow (2008), a strong organizational culture is very important to a company. It is so valuable and precious to a company because it can give a sort of competitive advantage over other competitors. Companies with a strong culture are likely to succeed, but success is not guaranteed for a company with a strong organizational culture and it is subject to a particular set of conditions. One of these conditions is the strength of the organizational culture. It is referring as to how widely and deeply employees are holding the companys dominant values and assumptions. In a strong organizational culture, most employees across all subunits maintains the dominant values (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). The values are also difficult to change because they are institutionalized through artifacts. In addition, strong cultures are often put in place by the company founders values and assumptions. In contrast, weak cultures exist when dominant values are only held by a few people at the top of the organization and are short-lived. Some experts like Kotter Heskett, Tidball, Cremer, Besanko, Dranove, Shanley (as cited in Muafi, 2009) have established that organizational culture has a significant effect on an organizations long-term sustainability, economic performance and outcomes such as profitability, turnover and commitment. They also indicated that congruence of values and beliefs seems to create a unifying force that boosts organizational performance. In Pfiffner and Sherwoods study (as cited in Mahal, 2009), they suggested that there is a positive relationship between the culture and effectiveness of a firm. Wilderom et al., (as cited in Mahal, 2009) described that there is a significant relationship between organizational culture and effectiveness. Culture helps to reduce conflicts in the organization according to Gales study (as cited in Mahal, 2009), and make the organization more participative and zealous. Adaptive Cultures Adaptive culture is defined as an organizational culture that exists when employees places their customers and stakeholders changing needs as a top priority and giving their support to initiatives that keep pace with these changes (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). Embedding Ethical Values According to Hellriegel and Slocum (2009), organizational culture involves a complex interaction between formal and informal systems that may support ethical or unethical behavior. Formal systems include policies, structure, leadership, orientation, training programs, reward systems and decision-making processes. On the other hand, informal systems include rituals, stories, heroes, myths, sagas, language and norms (Hellriegel and Slocum, 2009). McShane and Von Glinow (2008) also shares a somewhat similar view with Hellriegel and Slocum (2009) on the possibility that organizational culture can affect and influence ethical conduct. This is logical because good behavior are influenced and directed by ethical values that are present in the individual. Therefore, organizations can guide the actions and behaviors of its employees by planting ethical values in its culture (McShane and Von Glinow, 2008). In a similar way, Hellriegel and Slocum (2009) also thinks that the organizational cultu re seems to affect ethical behavior. For example, the culture that upholds and places importance on ethical norms is a culture that encourages ethical behavior. Furthermore, the founders also play an important role in enforcing ethical behavior by exhibiting the right behavior. Pros and cons in applicable theories and models for Google Satisfied employees not only increase productivity and reduce turnover, but also enhance creativity and commitment (Chen, Yang, Shiau, Wang, 2006). Based on the findings, Google is already having a playful variation culture in the organization for the employees. This can enable the employees to have an enjoyment environment and this will be able enhance the relationship between the employees and strengthen their bond to work as a team. An enjoyment environment definitely can let the employees to feel satisfied and subsequently will increase productivity. Apart from that, this will shape a convenient work process for the employees that will smoothen the decision making process for the management team. Google already identified the employees are the organizations internal customers and this is the reason why it has been constantly giving employees a sense of purpose, enhancing their self-esteem and sense of belonging for being a part of the organization. The company was reorganized in to small teams that attacked hundreds of projects all at once. The founders give the employees great latitude, and they take the same latitude for themselves. Eric Schmidt says that Google merely appears to be disorganized. We say we run the company chaotically. We run it at the edge. This can adapt the culture Google and therefore they can individually to generate the ideas on their own. On the other hand, Google hires employees that have good academic results but without practical experience and this will be a threat to Google in terms of their organizations operation. Google is a results-driven organization and if employees with only creative ideas but lacking of skills to realize the ideas they have initially planned, this will absolutely reduce the productivity of the organizations. Google had been public listed on year 2004 and therefore Google had to take the shareholders views into consideration before making any decision. The shareholders had been strongly emphasizing on reducing the employee benefits due to the high cost invested on it. This leads to the organizational culture would be degraded and the employees would feel less satisfied and affect their produced results. Employees are very important asset the Google while the shareholders also the contributor of funds for Google. The management team has to weight the importance of both of the stakeholders f or the Google as this will create a different organizational culture. Recommendation We recommend Google to hire more experienced people instead of the good academic results for the good future of the organization. More experienced employee had already encounter different cultures from other organizations and would be able to inject a better culture for Google. Due to the fact that more experienced employee can also be a mentor for those younger new employees to enhance the productivity throughout the company. Explicit and tacit knowledge are both very important by being acquired by all the employees. Most of the Googles employees they graduate from university with flying colour result, it means they have sufficient explicit knowledge which the knowledge is organized and can be communicated from one person to another. But they are lacking of tacit knowledge which is not documented and it is action oriented, tacit knowledge can only be acquired by taking action or from someone who has experienced before. Apart from that, Google also can implement a cultural assessment for the organization to investigate to ensure that the organizations also maintaining and keeping the core value in this competitive business environment. After assessing the cultural in the organization, the management can come out with a new set or standard of operations so this will create leverage between the shareholders and employees. Hence, the stakeholders of Google would eventually feel each and every of them are fairly treated. All the employees in Google are highly independent, they work independently because they are given very high power in making decision, and this is a good culture of having this organization structure but an invisible competition and conflict among employees are underlying. Furthermore, according to Bakar, Salleh, Ling (2008), a need for a more controlled bureaucratic culture is necessary. A high score on bureaucracy means the organisation is power-oriented, cautious, established, solid, regulated, ordered, structured, procedural and hierarchical. Conflict increase with the level of interdependence, in order to minimize dysfunctional conflict might need to minimize the level of interdependence between the parties. We recommend the organization to use human buffers who serve as intermediaries between interdependent people or work units who do not get along through direct interaction. Conclusion After reviewing information about organizational culture and doing the case study on Google, it is shown that the company does have a unique culture that is begins with the founders of Google. Sergey Brin and Larry Page has established the Google culture that is based on informality, creativity, innovation and fun (Google, 2010). This can be seen throughout the company through the artifacts that are present in the company. The way how employees greet and refer to one another as fellow Googlers, where the headquarters of Google are located in a unique and fun place that looks more like a campus than an office, or the way Google treats its employees by providing perks and benefits for them. The importance of organizational culture has shown through the example of the Google case study. Employees have high motivation at the company because they have a heightened sense of purpose and mission at the company. This is why even some employees who became millionaires are still working at Google (Stahl, 2004). Because the founders of Google set the mission to improve the world and to organize the worlds information, that the employees have similar values and beliefs and therefore find themselves aligned with the company. Nevertheless, not every company can apply the Google culture in their organization. The findings of Bakar, Salleh, Ling (2008) suggests that not all types of corporate culture could invoke an increase in the employees job performance. The study concludes that overall corporate culture does have a significant and positive correlation with job performance. Nevertheless, not all types of corporate culture produce significant correlation with the job performance. Here, only entrepreneurial, bureaucratic and competitive cultures are statistically significant in correlations with the job performance. Thus, an organization that strives to improve their employees job performance should inculcate innovative culture that creates an exciting and dynamic environment in which entrepreneurial and ambitious people thrive in this environment. Therefore, it is clearly shown that Googles culture is a unique organizational culture that cannot necessarily be applied in other organizations successfully, especially for organizations that reside in different industries other than the information technology field.

How is National Income derived? What is the GDP? What information does

How is National Income derived? What is the GDP? What information does it give us about a nation? What is per capita income? If you wanted to know about the economy of a country, which would you consider more important, and why? (25 points) National Income is derived through the overall income earned by a country’s people, including labor and capital investment. Gross domestic product is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It measures output generated through production by labor and property which is physically located within the confines of a country. The following excerpts are definitions of National Income and GNPas listed on this website http://members.shaw.ca/h-chartrand/Macro%20+%202.0.htm â€Å"National income is the sum of all factor earnings from production of current goods and services. Factor earnings are incomes of factors of production: land (rent), labor (salaries & wages), and capital (interest and investment income)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Gr... How is National Income derived? What is the GDP? What information does How is National Income derived? What is the GDP? What information does it give us about a nation? What is per capita income? If you wanted to know about the economy of a country, which would you consider more important, and why? (25 points) National Income is derived through the overall income earned by a country’s people, including labor and capital investment. Gross domestic product is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It measures output generated through production by labor and property which is physically located within the confines of a country. The following excerpts are definitions of National Income and GNPas listed on this website http://members.shaw.ca/h-chartrand/Macro%20+%202.0.htm â€Å"National income is the sum of all factor earnings from production of current goods and services. Factor earnings are incomes of factors of production: land (rent), labor (salaries & wages), and capital (interest and investment income)†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Gr...

Sophies Heart/By Lori Wick :: essays research papers

Sophie's Heart, by Lori Wick, is the story of Sophie, an educated young woman who moves from her homeland, Czechoslovakia, to America where she becomes a housekeeper for a loneyly young widower and his three children. This book takes place mainly in Wisconsin in the 1990's. Sophie moved from Czechoslovakia to American and became employed as a housekeeper for Alec Riley. She grew to love his three children and gradually her love extended to Alec himself, who returned her love with his own. Near the end of this novel, Sophie and Alec get married. Sophie Velikonja, a twenty-year old young woman, moved to America when her name was called on the request list to leave Czechoslovakia. She had not wanted to leaver her beloved grandmother, but her grandmother insisted upon staying behind. Sophie moved to Chicago where she acquired a job as a waitress in a city restaurannt. A devout Christian, Sophie began attending church as soon as she could and met a friendly woman named Janet Ring. Janet's brother, Alec Riley had recently become a widower when his young wife, Venessa, died in a tragic car accident. She suggested to him that he employ a housekeeper. After having met Sophie, Janet recommended the quiet, hard-working young woman to Alec. Alec, after some hesitation and tought, interviewed Sophie and hired her. Sophie lived in a small apartment over Riley's garage and cooked and cleaned for Alec and his three children, Rita (age 17), Craig (age 13), and Tory ( age10). Sophie and the children ended up becoming very close. At first, the children looked down on her with her accent, but when they eventurally learned that Sophie had mastered five other languages and had worked as a translator in her native land, they changed their opinion. Life was not without hardship for Sophie. She desperately missed her beloved grandmother and she also faced problems with Vanessa's mother, who seemed to resent the fact that someone had come to do the same duties her daughter had done. As she and the Riley children grew closer, Sophie began to notice their handsome father, Alec. At first, she didn't admit to herself that she was interested in him, but when Alec began to show an interest in her, Sophie began to seriously look at him. At first, she was concerned that she would be merely a replacement for Vanessa, but as she and Alec grew closer, he made it very clear to her that he loved her for who she was.

Mind Over Matter Essay -- essays research papers

Mind over Matter Out of the myriad of religions that encompass the earth, one of the least understood is Buddhism. In the pursuit of a higher plane of existence, a Buddhist monk will renounce his worldly secular life, instead embracing a life of meditation and study. While attempting to achieve enlightenment, and therefore nirvana, a Buddhist must first come to eradicate his sense of self, effectively destroying his ego. By doing this, "durkha," (pain and suffering), end and one can be at peace and harmony with the world and all who reside in it. A practice that helps monks achieve this enlightened state is meditation. By clearing the mind of mundane clutter and distractions, a monk can become in tune with his inner being and body, which results in a greater understanding of the barriers that need to collapse before nirvana can be achieved. This practice of meditation was the Buddhist practice that I participated in, with the intent on a greater understanding of what being a Buddhist means. This exercise taught me the inherent difficulty in calming the mind, along with the negative effects outside influences like other people have on the practice. The first place I attempted to meditate was outside my dorm next to a tree. This proved to be a comfortable place, yet full of distractions. I have meditated before in my martial arts classes, yet it was difficult calming my mind. While concentrating on my breathing, I was easily distracted by outside occurrences such as leaves falling and people walking by. The more I attempted to shut out the outside world, the more my mind focused on the little things around me. I gained immediate appreciation of the Buddhist monk's ability to shirk the outside world and focus on his inner self. When I had meditated before in my dojo, it was as a group and in silence. This greatly helped the exercise and I can see why this is the modus operandi at most temples. The second place I attempted to meditate was in the basement of Reid Hall. I hoped that the familiar surroundings would calm the mind easier and allow me to concentrate on clearing my mind. While not an ideal setting, it was better than outside. As I concentrated on my breathing and felt myself unwind, I was able to tune into the sound... ...lp guide and direct the learning of the monks. They offer subtle forms of encouragement, often disguised in hardship, that aid the monks in their struggle toward understanding. This is a boon, allowing enlightenment to occur quicker than in the solitary meditation I experienced. A Buddhist way of life is a lot harder than one may suspect, for while they are released from the worries of everyday life, the mental tasks assigned to them are far greater than worrying about what to cook for dinner tonight or paying one's electricity bill. Furthermore, a Buddhist lifestyle is not very conducive to an American lifestyle. I give a lot of credit to the founders of the Zen Mountain Center in San Francisco, creating a microcosm which can support the solitude necessary for personal growth is a daunting task. From my limited venture into the life of a Buddhist, I learned that controlling one's mind and then harnessing this power to delve out truths and desires from oneself is a feat almost inconceivable by the normal mind. Those who accomplish this task are truly Buddha's, master's of the world and therefore outside the grasp of time, free at last.

Inline Skating

Inline Skating Marketing Plan Pegasus Sports This sample marketing plan was created with Marketing Plan Pro software. Plan Outline †¢ Executive Summary †¢ Situation Analysis o Market Summary ? Market Needs ? Market Trends ? Market Growth o SWOT Analysis ? Strengths ? Weaknesses ? Opportunities ? Threats o Competition o Product Offering o Keys to Success o Critical Issues †¢ Marketing Strategy †¢ Financials †¢ Controls Executive Summary Pegasus Sports International is a start-up aftermarket inline skating accessory manufacturer. In addition to the aftermarket products, Pegasus is developing SkateTours, a service that takes clients out, in conjunction with a local skate shop, and provides them with an afternoon of skating using inline skates and some of Pegasus' other accessories such as SkateSails. The aftermarket skate accessory market has been largely ignored. While there are several major manufacturers of the skates themselves, the accessory market has not been addressed. This provides Pegasus with an extraordinary opportunity for market growth. Skating is a booming sport. Currently most of the skating is recreational. There are however a growing number of competitions, both team orientated such as skate hockey as well as individual competitions such as speed skate racing. Pegasus will work to grow these markets as well as develop the skate transportation market, a more utilitarian use of skating. Several of Pegasus' currently developed products have patents pending and local market research indicates that there is great demand for these products. Pegasus will achieve fast, significant market penetration that will be achieved through a solid business model, long range planning, and a strong management team that will able to execute on this exciting opportunity. The three principals on the management team have over 30 years of combined personal and industry experience. This extensive experience provides Pegasus with the empirical information as well as the passion to provide the skating market with much needed aftermarket products. Pegasus will sell their products initially through their website. This â€Å"Dell† direct to the consumer approach will allow Pegasus to achieve higher margins and maintain a close relationship with the customers which is essential for producing products that have a true market demand. By the end of the year, Pegasus will have developed relationships with different skate shops and will begin to sell some of their products through the use of retailers. [pic] Sales Forecast | | |2003 |2004 |2005 | |Sales | | | | |Recreational |$455,740 |$598,877 |$687,765 | |Competitive |$72,918 |$95,820 |$110,042 | |Total Sales |$528,658 |$694,697 |$797,807 | | | | | | |Direct Cost of Sales |2003 |2004 |2005 | |Recreational |$82,033 |$107,798 |$123,798 | |Competitive |$13,125 |$17,248 |$19,808 | |Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales |$95,159 |$125,046 |$143,605 | Situation Analysis Pegasus is entering their first year of operation. The products have been well received and marketing will be key to deve lop brand and product awareness as well as grow the customer base. Pegasus International offers several different aftermarket skating accessories, serving the growing inline skating industry. Market Summary Pegasus posesses good information about the market and knows a great deal about the common attributes of the most prized customer. This information will be leveraged to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how Pegasus can better communicate with them. [pic] [pic] [pic] Market Analysis | | | |2003 |2004 |2005 |2006 |2007 | | |Potential Customers |Growth | | | | | |CAGR | |Recreational |10% |19,142,500|21,056,750|23,162,425|25,478,668|28,026,535|10. 00% | |Fitness |15% |6,820,000 |7,843,000 |9,019,450 |10,372,368|11,928,223|15. 00% | |Speed |10% |387,500 |426,250 |468,875 |515,763 |567,339 |10. 00% | |Total |11. 36% |26,350,000|29,326,000|32,650,750|36,366,799|40,522,097|11. 36% | Market Needs Pegasus is providing the skating community with a wide range of acc essories for all variations of skating. Pegasus seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers: †¢ Quality craftsmanship: The customers work hard for the money and do not enjoy spending it on disposable products that only work for a year or two. †¢ Well thought out designs: The skating market has not been addressed by well thought out products that serve skaters needs. Pegasus' industry experience and personal dedication to the sport will provide Pegasus with the needed information to produce insightfully designed products. †¢ Customer Service: Exemplary service is required to build a sustainable business that has a loyal customer base. Market Trends Pegasus will distinguish themselves by marketing products not previously available to skaters. The emphasis in the past has been to sell skates and very few replacement parts. The number of skaters is not restricted to any one single country, continent, or age group, so there is a world market. Pegasus has products for virtually every group of skaters. The fastest growing segment of this sport is the fitness skater. Therefore, the marketing is being directed to service this group. BladeBoots will enable them to enter establishments without having to remove their skates. BladeBoots will be aimed at the recreational skater, the largest segment; however SkateAids are great for everyone. There is one more way the sport of skating will grow, and that is through SkateSailing. This sport is primarily for the medium to advanced skater. The growth potential for this sport is tremendous. The sails Pegasus' has manufactured so far have ended up in Europe. The same thing happened with windsurfing. It started out here in Santa Monica but did not take off until it had already grown big in Europe. More and more groups are getting together on skate excursions in cities all over the world. For example, San Francisco has night group skating that numbers in the hundreds of people. The market trends are showing continued growth in all directions of skating. [pic] [pic] Market Growth With the price of skates going down due to competition by so many skate companies, the market has had steady growth throughout the world, with 22. 5 million in 1999 to over 31 million in 2002. The growth statistics for 2003 are estimated to be over 35 million. More and more people are discovering, and in many cases rediscovering, the health benefits and fun of skating. [pic] [pic] SWOT Analysis The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Pegasus. Strengths †¢ In-depth industry experience and insight. †¢ Creative, functional product designers. †¢ The use of a highly efficient, flexible business model utilizing direct customer sales and distribution. Weaknesses The reliance of outside capital necessary to grow the business. †¢ A lack of retailers who can work directly face to face with the customer to generate brand and product awareness. †¢ The difficulty to develo ping brand awareness as a start-up company. Opportunities †¢ Participation within a growing industry. †¢ Decreased product costs through scales of economy. †¢ The ability to leverage other industry participants marketing efforts to help grow the general market. Threats †¢ Future/ potential competition from an already established market participants. †¢ A slump in the economy that could have a negative effect on people's spending discretionary income on fitness/ recreational products. The release of a study that calls into question the safety of skating or the inability to prevent major skating induced traumas. Competition Pegasus Sports International is forming its own market. While there are a few companies that do make sails and foils that a few skaters are using, Pegasus is the only one that is truly designed for and by skaters. The few competitors' sails are not designed for skating, but for windsurfing or for skateboards. In the case of foils, storage a nd carrying are not practical. There are different indirect competitors who are manufactures of the actual skates. After many years in the market, these companies have yet to become direct competitors by manufacturing accessories for the skates that they manufacture. Product Offering Pegasus Sports International now offers several products: †¢ The first product that has been developed is BladeBoots, a cover for the wheels and frame of in-line skates, which allow skaters to enter places that normally would not allow them in. BladeBoots come with a small pouch and belt which converts to a well-designed skate carrier. †¢ The second product is SkateSails. These sails are specifically designed for use while skating. Feedback that Pegasus has received from skaters indicates this could become a very popular sport. Trade marking this product is currently in progress. †¢ The third product will be referred to as SkateAid and be in production by December. Other ideas for products are under development, but Pegasus must hold back until they can protect themselves through pending patent applications. Keys to Success The keys to success are simply designing and producing products that meet market demand. Additionally, Pegasus must ensure total customer satisfaction. If these keys to success are achieved, Pegasus will become a profitable, sustainable company. Critical Issues Pegasus is still in the speculative stages as a start-up business. The critical issues are: †¢ Establish themselves as the premier skating accessory company. †¢ Pursue controlled growth that dictates that payroll expenses will never exceed the revenue base. This will help protect against recessions. Constantly monitor customer satisfaction, ensuring that the growth strategy will never compromise service and satisfaction levels. Marketing Strategy The key to the marketing strategy is focusing on the speed, health and fitness, and recreational skaters. Pegasus can cover about 80% of the skating market since they produce products geared towards each segment. Pegasus is able to address all of the different segments within the market because although each segment is distinct in terms of its users and equipment, Pegasus' products are useful to all of the different segments. Mission Pegasus Sports International's mission is to provide the customer with the finest skating accessories available. We exist to attract and maintain customers. With a strict adherence to this maxim, success will be ensured. Our services and products will exceed the expectations of the customers. Marketing Objectives †¢ Maintain positive, strong growth each quarter (not withstanding seasonal sales patterns). †¢ Achieve a steady increase in market penetration. †¢ Decrease customer acquisition costs by 1. 5% a quarter. Financial Objectives †¢ Increase the profit margin by 1% per quarter through efficiency and scale of economy gains. †¢ Maintain a significant research and development budget (as a percentage relative to sales) to spur future product developments. †¢ A double to triple digit growth rate for the first three years. Target Markets With a world skating market of over 31 million and steadily growing (statistics released by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association), the niche has been created. Pegasus' aim is to expand this market by promoting SkateSailing, a new sport which is popular at both Santa Monica and Venice Beach in California. The Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association survey indicates that skating now has more participation than football, softball, skiing, and snowboarding combined. The breakdown of participation of skating is as follows: 1+% speed (growing), 8% hockey (declining), 7% extreme/aggressive (declining), 22% fitness (nearly seven million–the fastest growing), and 61% recreational (first-timers). Our products are targeting the fitness and recreational groups, as they are the fastest growing. These groups are gearing themselves towards health and fitness, and combined, they can easily grow to 85% (or 26 million) of the market in the next five years. Positioning Pegasus will position themselves as the premier aftermarket skating accessory company. This positioning will be achieved by leveraging their competitive edge: industry experience and passion. Pegasus is a skating company formed by skaters for skaters. They are able to use their vast experience and personal passion for the sport to develop innovative, useful accessories for a broad range of skaters. Strategies The single objective is to position Pegasus as the premier skating accessory manufacturer, serving both the domestic market as well as international market. The marketing strategy will seek to first create customer awareness concerning the offered products and services and develop the customer base. The message that Pegasus will seek to communicate is that they offer the best-designed, most useful skating accessories. This message will be communicated through a variety of methods. The first will the use of their robust website. As well as a rich source of product information, the site will also be used for purchasing. A lot of time and money will be invested into the site to provide the customer with the perception of total professionalism and utility for Pegasus' products and services. The second method will be advertisements placed in numerous industry magazines. The skating industry is supported by several different glossy magazines designed to promote the industry as a whole. Additionally, there are a couple of smaller periodicals that serve the smaller market segments within the skating industry. The last method of communication is the use of printed sales literature. The two previously mentioned marketing methods will create demand for the sales literature that will be sent out to customers. The cost of the sales literature will be fairly minimal as it will use the already compiled sales information from the website. Marketing Mix Pegasus' marketing mix is comprised of the following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service. †¢ Pricing: This will be based on a per product retail price. †¢ Distribution: Initially Pegasus will use a direct to the consume distribution model. Over time Pegasus will use retailers as well. †¢ Advertising and Promotion: Several different methods will be used for the advertising effort. †¢ Customer Service: Pegasus will strive to achieve benchmarked levels of customer care. Marketing Research Pegasus is blessed with good fortune of being located in the center of the skating world, Venice, CA. Pegasus will be able to leverage this opportune location by working with many of the different skaters that live in the area. Pegasus was able to test out all of their products, not only with the principals who are accomplished skaters, but also the many other dedicated and â€Å"newbie† users located in Venice. The extensive product testing by a wide variety of users provided Pegasus with valuable product feedback and has led to several design improvements. Financials This section will offer the financial overview of Pegasus as it related to the marketing activities. Pegasus will address Break-even Analysis, sales forecasts, expense forecast, and indicate how these activities link to the marketing strategy. Break-even Analysis The break-even analysis indicates that $7,760 will be required in monthly sales revenue to reach the break-even point. [pic] [pic] [pic] Break-even Analysis | | | | |Monthly Revenue Break-even |$6,372 | | | | |Assumptions: | | |Average Percent Variable Cost |18% | |Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost |$6,363 | Sales Forecast Pegasus feels that the sales forecasting is conservative. Pegasus will steadily increase sales as the advertising budget allows. Please refer to the Sales Forecast Chart. Please note that while in the market segmentation section all of the potential customers have been broken down into separate groups, for the sales forecasts, the grouping has been changed Recreational and Competitive. By reducing the number of categories it allows the reader to quickly discern information, making the chart more functional. [pic] [pic] Expense Forecast The expense forecast will be used as a tool to keep the department in target and provide indicators when corrections / modifications are needed for the proper implementation of the marketing plan. [pic] [pic] [pic] Marketing Expense Budget | | |2003 |2004 |2005 | |Website |$25,000 |$8,000 |$10,000 | |Advertisements |$8,050 |$15,000 |$20,000 | |Other |$1,725 |$2,000 |$3,000 | | |———— |———— |———— | |Total Sales and Marketing Exp enses |$34,775 |$25,000 |$33,000 | |Percent of Sales |6. 58% |3. 60% |4. 14% | Controls The purpose of Pegasus' marketing plan is to serve as a guide for the organization. The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance: †¢ Revenue: monthly and annual. †¢ Expenses: monthly and annual. †¢ Customer satisfaction. †¢ New product development. Implementation The following milestones identify the key marketing programs. It is important to accomplish each one on time and on budget. [pic] Milestones | | | | | | | | |Advertising |Start Date |End Date |Budget |Manager |Department | |Marketing plan completion |1/1/2003 |2/1/2003 |$0 |Stan |Marketing | |Webiste completion |1/1/2003 |3/15/2003 |$20,400 |outside firm |Marketing | |Advertising campaign #1 |1/1/2003 |6/30/2003 |$3,500 |Stan |Marketing | |Advertising campaign #2 |3/1/1999 |12/30/2003 |$4,550 |Stan |Marketing | |Development of the retail channel|1/1/2003 |11/30/2003 |$0 |Stan |Marketing | |Name me |1/1/2 003 |1/15/2003 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2003 |1/15/2003 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2003 |1/15/2003 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2003 |1/15/2003 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Other |1/1/2003 |1/15/2003 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Total Advertising Budget | | |$28,450 | | | |PR |Start Date |End Date |Budget |Manager |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Other |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Total PR Budget | | |$0 | | | |Direct Marketing |Start Date |End Date |Budget |Manager |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Other |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | Total Direct Marketing Budget | | |$0 | | | |Web Development |Start Date |End Date |Budget |Manager |Department | |Name me |1 /1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Other |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Total Web Development Budget | | |$0 | | | |Other |Start Date |End Date |Budget |Manager |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Name me |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Other |1/1/2006 |1/15/2006 |$0 |ABC |Department | |Total Other Budget | | |$0 | | | |Totals | | |$28,450 | | | Contingency Planning Difficulties and Risks †¢ Problems generating visibility, a function of being a internet-based start-up organization. †¢ An entry into the market by an already established market competitor. Worst Case Risks Include †¢ Determining that the business cannot support itself on an ongoing basis. †¢ Having to liquidate equipment or intellectual capital to cover liabilities.

Mother Earth Essay

Nowadays, people struggle a lot to return back what I lost. They do fun runs to raise fund for tree planting, make placards to disseminate campaigns and fine hard headed people for loitering around. I can now hardly breathe. Greenhouses gasses inside my body gradually increases as they are being trapped due to human activities that added more and more of these gases into my atmosphere. For example, levels of carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas, have risen by 35 percent since 1750, largely from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. With more greenhouse gases in the mix, my atmosphere acts like a thickening blanket and traps more heat. My insides are becoming thinner, well of course due to human doings. Erosion is supposed to be a natural phenomenon but being accelerated by human activities, like urbanizations and poor agricultural practices. Without human activities, losses of soil through erosion would in most areas probably be balanced by the formation of new soil. In my virgin land a mantle of vegetation protects the soil. When rain falls on a surface of grass or on the leaves of my trees, some of the moisture evaporates before it can reach the ground. Trees and grass serve as windbreaks, and a network of roots helps to hold the soil in place against the action of both rain and wind. Agriculture and lumbering, as well as housing, industrial development, and highway construction, however, partially or wholly destroy the protective canopy of my vegetation and greatly speed up erosion of certain kinds of soils. Erosion is less severe with crops such as wheat, which cover the ground evenly, than with crops such as corn and tobacco, grown in rows. I manifest my emotions to people through rain. It is enough to wash out humanity. Its extreme fall causes flood that destroys infrastructures built by human kind. Floods not only damage property and endanger the lives of humans and animals, but have other effects as well. Rapid runoff causes soil erosion as well as sediment deposition problems downstream. Spawning grounds  for fish and other wildlife habitat are often destroyed. High-velocity currents increase flood damage; prolonged high floods delay traffic and interfere with drainage and economic use of lands. Bridge abutments, bank lines, sewer outfalls, and other structures within floodways are damaged, and navigation and hydroelectric power are often impaired. Financial losses due to floods are commonly millions of pesos each year. There is still hope for me. All they need to do is to restore what they have taken from me. Reverse all the things that cause my trouble. From deforestation to reforestation. Forests are an important part of the global carbon cycle because trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. By removing this greenhouse gas from the air, forests function as terrestrial carbon sinks, meaning they store large amounts of carbon. At any time, forests account for as much as double the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Even as more anthropogenic carbon is produced, my forests remove around three billion tons of anthropogenic carbon every year. This amounts to about 30% of all carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Therefore, an increase in the overall forest cover around the world would tend to mitigate global warming. As students, they can do small things that can contribute to help me in my current state. You can avoid throwing candy wrappers, plastics of junk foods and anything that can cause flood when accumulated. You can join tree planting activities done by your schools. One tree equals one life when it grows. That’s a big thing for the future. People please stop what you are doing that destroys my environment especially mountains that when I cry out heavy rain it can cause floods that can destruct your shelters, works, and can also kill some of your loved ones. I would like you to care for me and help me to become stronger for you, your children and the next generations from your family. I will take care of them as long as you care for me.