China Dolls Essay

The case started with the dilemma faced by the protagonist, Jeffry Cheong when both of his major clients KiKi and Houida (European fashion houses) was writing to Jeffry to inform him that they may be looking forward to China as the prices are very competitive. Jeffry Cheong was managing director at Haute Couture Fashions Bhd (HCF). Loss of its major two clients (KiKi and Houida) would be catastrophic to HCF as now the financial statement of HCF showed HCF has been experiencing falling margins and profit over the last few years. HCF was established in 1974 by the Tan family with the first fully equipped factory in Penang Island. The founder was Tan Boon Kheong with a skilled master cutter, trained by British master cutter in the 1950 in Penang. He started the HCF with a small but successful business tailoring men’s clothing in Argyll Road, Penang until his retirement in 1980. Peter Tan, the eldest son of Tan Boon Kheong was left to Europe when he was 20 years old and returned t o Malaysia with a wealth of experience of both men and women’s fashion. During that time, there was a trend of European clothes manufacturers looking at Asia for outsourcing. By having that opportunity, Peter started his business venture, especially with the European fashion houses. Due to limited production capacity, the second factory was opened in Butterworth in July 1980. HCF’s sales continued to experience growth throughout the early 1980s to mid 1990s and number of customers had also increased. Thus, in 1990, HCF opened its third factory in Jitra, Kedah. In 1995, due to non-stop increasing demand for its clothes, the fourth factory was opened in Chieng Mai, Thailand. However, in 1998, Peter Tan decided to shut down the Penang Island factory to cut operating costs due to loss suffered by the HCF during that year. After few years, its profitability increased progressively and HCF pulled itself out of the loss making situation. Issues 1. Possibility of losing two major clients Currently, China is moving towards emerging market economic which means its economic is changing dramatically. This country was once socialist states but have been largely transformed into capitalism-based system, partly through a process of privatization. China is the largest emerging market and its economy continues to grow at a remarkable rate as well as its role in  international business. China has population of 1.3 billion, one fifth of the world’s total population. Due to that, China is offering low labour cost. From that offer, operating expenses can be reduced and then the revenue will be increased. Therefore, many companies looking forward to outsource from China as the prices are very competitive. When Jeffrey was informed that their two major clients was going to China to â€Å"contract manufacture†, it could contribute a major loss to the HCF as KiKi and Houida have generated a big percentage of sales to HCF. At the same, HCF has been experiencing falling margins and profits over the last few years. 2. Moving operations to China As suggested by Elaine, the sales and marketing Director, HCF should consider to expand its manufacturing in China. By doing that, HCH could able to retain KiKi and Houida as its customers and supply the clothes at lower prices. However the issue is whether to set up HCF own factory in China or joint venture with a Chinese manufacturer. The details on these two possible ways of expanding into China are as follows:- HCF own factory Joint venture Cost RM 15 million RM 2.4 million Time taken to be able to serve the customers 18 months 6 months Risk Lower Higher Dependency Independence Loose its independence Factory capacity Similar capacity as in Malaysia One and half times as in Malaysia Table 1 As showed in table 1, both ways have its own advantages and disadvantages to the HCF. Thus, it was very critical decision for the management to choose the best way of expanding operations in China. 3. Closed down current factories (resale, pulling down or board up) If HCF decided to move in China, then the factories in Malaysia and Thailand need to be closed down. This is because, if they were choose to maintain the current factories while having the new one in China then a lot of costs need to be incurred. According to Financial Controller, Daniel Tan, the factories in Butterworth and Penang have a reasonable value as its equipment were only recently purchased in 2007. In addition, HCF would be able to sell the land for a significant profit as they were located in a fast developing area. The factories would be able to sell around RM 8.5 million. Unlike, factories in Jitra and Chieng Mai have very low resale value as it were located in rural areas. Since it was difficult to sell these two factories the only option would be to shut down the factories. To do so, the factories have to be pulled down that would cost HCF RM 1.2 Million. If not, the factory would become a haven for d rug addicts. In another way, HCF can choose to board up the factories for a cost of RM 200 000. Moreover, Daniel expects minimum redundancy payments around RM 3.0 million besides the above expenses. If HCF were to completely close down the Malaysian operations, a large number of employees will have to be retrenched and to be sad enough many of them have been with HCF for more than 10 years.

Eco Economy Week

Our current economy ND civilization is unstable. The CA emissions, reproduction rates, and food production is alarming. In the lecture it stated that â€Å"estimates are that global demand is now 30% higher than that which is sustainable. † That means we are short food, and it is not looking good for the future. We are unable to produce food quickly, the temperatures are rising, and people are still uneducated about how the things they are doing impact our future. I think in times like these it would only take a small trigger to push people over the edge, which could impact civilization as we know it. ) How feasible Is It to change from â€Å"business as usual† to a more sustainable CEO- economy? How long will this process take? It Is feasible to change the way we do things. How long It takes will be determined by how quickly we can get everybody on board. We can accomplish the four mall things listed In Plan B in regard to securing civilization. To reduce CA emissions, stabilize population growth, reducing poverty and restore the earth's natural systems, it is going to take every individual and every group of people to see it through.A lot of things like changing driving habits, coming p with alternate transportation, recycling, spending money wisely, and being responsible about having children are things we need to do on a personal level, and should be backed up by our governments. In today's world where money rules everything around us, It owns our politicians, and decides what laws are passed, we need to ensure that the decisions that need to be made In our best interest, and not in the best Interest of those who have the most. If we can manage that I think the change will be very feasible. ) What Is meant by the Indirect costs of goods and arrives? What are the consequences of not Including these In the market price? The indirect cost of goods and services is everything that goes into a product or service that does not cost money. This includ es damage to the environment that cannot be restored. The lecture stated that we are using the Earth's resources to meet our demands instead of living off its interest. We are doing a lot of harm to the Earth, and not replenishing it which will end up hurting us in the end. 5) What changes can you make as an individual to help turn things around?I try to implement CEO-friendly ideals, but it is hard to stay at it because it is tiring and too much work. Every day a new study that shows you should not do something you have been doing for years, and it is tiring to keep up with. When the study about how harmful plastic bottles, everything comes In plastic now though. In my workplace we buy high efficiency light bulbs, recycle everything Imaginable, drive CEO-friendly cars, and support local greenhouses. My personal finances are not the same. I try to do most of that, but my and I try to teach my children to do the same.

International Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

International Trade - Essay Example Dinner in the Sky operates in about more than 15 countries (Dinnerinthesky.com, 2010). Dinner in the Sky will use a crane to elevate the furniture, crew, food and 22 to 350 diners as high as 180 ft up. The company will also built a separately-supported "flying stage" to hold a piano and musicians so the guests can enjoy live entertainment while they eat aloft. The structure of the eatery will be portable and will need a space of almost 1500 sq.ft, hence can be held anywhere (sea side, public place, historical sites and fields etc), (Dinnerinthesky.com, 2010). The company's suspended table measures 26 ft x 19 ft (8m x 6m) and weighs approximately 17,600 (7983.25 kg) lbs fully loaded (11,000 lbs (4989.6kg)unloaded). Eight cables, connected at points on all four sides, bind the table to a crane. The company has planned to work with safety agencies before introducing the concept to the public. During inspection, seats will be overloaded with weights of more than 330 lbs (150 kg) each. Di ners will be locked into their chairs by six-point seat belts that operate from the back side of the seat so they cannot disconnect themselves. The company will certify its system for safety by European-based testing agency (Mills et al, 2003). ... smati rice, or an Asian grilled shrimp with spinach, tofu and black bean sauce, a special pasta dish entree every day, plus the 'all American meal' such as barbecue beef ribs and baked beans. The menu will change every 3-4 months, keeping the favorites. All these mouth watering delicacies will be offered at competitive prices. The restaurant will open seven days a week, serving from 6 pm to 2 am. Dinner in the Sky is available for a session of 8 hours. It can be divided or personalized according to the client's wishes. Dinner in the Sky accommodates 27 diners around the table at every session, with a chef, a waiter and an entertainer. Dinner in the Sky’s management team will comprise of personnel holding experience of being associated with restaurant management. The Restaurant Industry of Pakistan is the size of around more than a hundred. The web page of Karachi Snob.com, a famous tourism web site of the city contains comprehensive details of all kinds of restaurants which ar e spread out through the city (karachisnob.com, 2010). The restaurants are categorized with the type of cuisines which they offer. The customers usually dine out on weekends with their families and prefer to visit those places which offer good food at reasonable prices and a comfortable seating arrangement so as not to cause any inconvenience to the family. The size of the Target Market which the company will be specifically catering to would be the 10% of the population of the city who belong to the Social Economic Class A and B. The lower middle class and the middle class would also be welcomed through trade promotions and discounts to leverage the revenues of its business. The restaurant industry is growing at a steady rate as shown in the â€Å"Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Directory of

Helping Families of Children with Disabilities Essay

Helping Families of Children with Disabilities - Essay Example As Sloper (1999) put it, the manner in which family members perceive and interpret the strains experienced in parenting a facing implications regarding the way in which children's services are designed and delivered child is an important factor for the entire family's wellbeing. Recent technology has provided means for medical parents and carers to diagnose disabilities prior even to the birth of a child. The responsibility of medical and mental health parents and carers to provide aid to parents in understanding their support in their child's disability begins at the moment of information and realization of the disability. Most parents of facing implications regarding the way in which children's services are designed and delivered children feel that because of the added attention and care needed by the child, they need to sacrifice more of their personal ambitions and goals. As the child develops it has been observed that some parents feel that they have to compensate for the disability of their child. Overemphasis on the special needs of their facing implications regarding the way in which children's services are designed and delivered child may result in insufficient attention given to his or her siblings. Such practices lead to maladaptive family development. Thus, tantrums and other behavioral disorders tolerated from a facing implications regarding the way in which children's services are designed and delivered child would begin to manifest in the other children as well as they see that their parents endure such behavior. What parents should be aware of is that tolerance of and inability to addre ss the behavioral aspect of a child's disability may lead to abnormal behavior in other children as well. The need for therapists to address the needs not only of facing implications regarding the way in which children's services are designed and delivered children themselves but of their families as well could not be made clearer. With parents and carers taking on the task of catering to the problems encountered by parents, they are affecting the entire process of development the child would be brought up in. Prior to their child's birth parents are likely to have been exposed to professional dominance and consumerism. Because they are ill prepared for the birth of a facing implications regarding the way in which children's services are designed and delivered child, they are likely to rely heavily on the advice of parents and carers. The inability to comprehend the nature of the diagnosis immobilizes parents from responding to their child's situation. When parents and carers determ ine the diagnosis during the prenatal period and they are able to communicate the same to the parents effectively, parents are able to gradually adapt to their situation. Finally, just as positive regard for the child is important from family and friends, such positive regard is more so needed from parents and carers. Family Therapy Models Raising a facing implicat

Civil Society in Malaysia and Thailand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Civil Society in Malaysia and Thailand - Essay Example The salient nature of the civil society is exemplified when the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the Malaysian government was finally going to repeal the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), sometime in 2013, since the civil society in Malaysia had been agitating for this. It is for this reason that the cause of the civil society is seen as indispensable in reference to Malaysia and Thailand, as shall be seen in the ensuing discussion. Thesis statement Although the significance of the civil society spans socioeconomic and political values, yet the presence and success of civil society activism are totally predicated upon the prevailing political environment, as shall be seen in the case of Malaysia and Thailand. Evaluating the effectiveness of civil society in Southeast Asia The case of the civil society in Southeast Asia has been seen to be relatively successful, as far as both Thailand and Malaysia are concerned. This is particularly the case with the democrati zation of politics. In Thailand, the implementation of the new constitution in 1997 paved way for more robust participation in the Thailand politics by the civil society. It is for this reason that since 1997, the country has witnessed a steady rise in the recognition of civil liberties and freedoms such as freedom of speech, press, and association (Liow, 178). In Malaysia, the presence and activity of the civil society have also been vibrant, but as late as 2008. One of the testaments to the success of the civil society in Malaysia is the rising level of public awareness and participation on governance, following the country’s 12th elections which were held on March 2008. This development can be considered a success since one of the roles of the civil society is conscientious the people on the need to participate in political processes. BERSIH 2.0, BERSIH 3.0 and Himpunan Hijau are some of the proofs that underscore the success and vibrant initiatives of the civil society in Malaysia. These incidents are significant since they show that the Malaysians are departing from politically retrogressive ideas such as tidak apa and tidak tahu. Where and when civil society has been most effective, least effective and how the differences can be account for The differences in the degree of effectiveness of the civil society can be said to be occasioned by political developments which have been state-specific. In particular, the fruits attributable to the civil society in Thailand cannot be expected to be as ripe as those of mature democracies since it is only as recent as 1973 when Thailand instituted reforms as a way of inculcating accountability, transparency and good governance. The place of the civil society’s effectiveness rests also on the goodwill that Thailand’s political leaders possess. Specifically, Thailand’s civil society has since 2001 enjoyed the support of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

E-Commerce Strategy Truly Scrumptious Assignment

E-Commerce Strategy Truly Scrumptious - Assignment Example Our company objective is to import a variety of traditional and non-traditional sweets, package them and distribute them to retailers across UK. While we have a good network of retailers who carry our goods, we have no way to reach directly to our consumers or to market directly to them. In this regard there is an opportunity for Truly Scrumptious for increased market penetration and to sell to individuals who would like to purchase our sweets at the whole sale prices or in greater quantity. While the costs in opening our own distribution outlet can run extremely high, including rental, shop interior and exterior, recruiting and training counter salespeople, a change in distribution routes and marketing - a much more efficient and technology enabled option is to invest in a company website. Objectives and design of Website: The main object of the website is to communicate with our consumers, to tell them about the quality and variety of our products and to persuade them to purchase t he sweets on at least a trial basis. Our long term plan will be to retain a loyal consumer base of individuals who become regular visitors to our website and purchase consistently. The e-commerce strategy will be a StoreFront model- providing all the traditional options of a physical store in a digital medium for the customer. The secondary objectives will be to provide a forum for customer feedback and product information for interested retailers who wish to start a business relationship with us. In order to fulfill these objectives the website will need to have certain features: 1. An attention grabbing, yet focused and uncluttered design 2. Product categories will be neatly laid out and easy to access 3. Pricing, ingredients and nutrition information will be available with each product description 4. The product description should be catchy and attractive 5. Shopping cart and online payment options, with easy save and change 6. Comments sections 7. Customer service communication options 8. Discounts, bundle pricing and other promotions 9. A separate page for interested vendors and retailers with contact and product information These features will be catered specifically towards a customer base of the middle and upper-middle class who are comfortable with online shopping and treat sweets like an indulgent pleasure. The whole website experience should be easy to navigate with eye catching visuals and elegant descriptions which will grab the reader’s attention and convenient use of shopping cart and payment options will allow impulse buying. The E-retailing atmosphere is steadily getting crowded. New merchants are appearing every day and through continuous reviewing of operations and strategy websites are competing for the top spots of the industry. For our website to break through clutter, attract traffic and increase sales we need to have a clear, focused objective from the start. Technical and Practical steps The website building will involve three m ain steps namely 1) Content and designing 2) Hosting the website (external storage, capacity and bandwidth etc) 3) Marketing and promotion. Afterwards our main priority will be maintenance, updating content and reviewing impact on sales. The actual sales, distribution and customer service will still be controlled by the respective departments with support from the IT department in integrating the physical aspects

Organisational Culture and Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organisational Culture and Leadership - Essay Example It is characterized by a range of factors such as novelty, risk taking, attention to specific issues, result, people and team orientation, hostility and steadiness. One may also find different strata of culture within the same institute. The leading culture is expressed in the centre principles that are shared by a bulk of the organization’s affiliates. Core values are the primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organization. However, there may be various subcultures or small cultures in a business unit, characterised by sector-based title and physical parting. The culture is passed on from one generation to other through stories, rites, substance codes and expression of the organisation. Culture describes the frontier between one association and another by assigning a sense of individuality to its members. It augments the steadiness of the social system by making possible the creation of commitment to anything bigger than self-interest. Besides it serves a s a sense-making and control mechanism for fitting employees in the organization. 2. Leadership 2.1. Meaning Leadership is defined as the skill to persuade a group towards the attainment of goals. The trends in leadership studies reveal a plethora of the different aspects of leadership and yet there is no universally accepted definition or model of a leader. The first dominant framework on leadership was the Trait Theory or the â€Å"Great Men† Theory which was proposed in the early twentieth century. The theory considers â€Å"personality, social, physical or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-leaders† (Shoup, 2005, p.2). This theory ascribes conventional qualities like ambition and energy, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence and knowledge to leaders and holds that leaders are born, not made. Mid-twentieth century saw the rise of the Behaviourist school of leadership which emphasized on the actions and dominant behaviour of the lead ers and highlighted the leaders’ behaviour on the job, use of authority and task-relationship orientation. Later, scholars such as Fred Fiedler realised that a leader must match his/her situation and leadership style should vary depending on the situation and context. This gave way to a third phase of leadership studies, known as the Contingency school, which focussed on job constitution, leader-member association and power position. (Shoup, 2005, pp. 2-4) Later James McGregor Burns brought about a marked transition through his classification of the transactional and transformational leader. He defined transactional leader are one who superficially deals with a situation by hovering around the edges of the problem and transformational leader as one who sees a problem as an opportunity to change the world through his visionary ideas and experiments. (Polelle, 2008, p. xii) 2.2. Importance Leaders act as connections between the association and external regions. During difficult times, they serve as troubleshooters by engaging in negotiation and conflict management. Besides, they provide essential advice, coaching and mentoring to their subordinates to improve upon their individual, team and overall organizational performance. 3. Relationship between Organisational Culture and Leadership Leadership and organizational culture are two inter-related and inter-dependent concepts. Culture is socially learned and transmitted by members within organizations.  The leaders of an organization

Hawaiian Airlines Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hawaiian Airlines - Research Paper Example Southwest Airlines is a low cost airline that has been in operation since 1971. Introduction Southwest Airlines is simply referred to as Southwest and it operates on short haul basis with point-to-point flights. It is primarily a low cost airline with no frills and it developed this strategy from its inception about 40 years ago. It is based in Dallas, TX and it started operations with only three aircrafts but now boasts of more than 540 Boeing 737, more than 3100 flights daily to over 70 cities, 35,000 employees, net income of almost $100 million and passenger capacity of well over 85 million (Southwest , 2011). The company also boasts of maintaining the best position in respect to customer service. Its management practices have tried to align the company towards low operational costs which in turn have enabled it to consistently charge simple and low fares. The company’s mission states; â€Å"†¦ is dedicated to the highest quality of Customer Service delivery with a se nse of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit (Southwest, 2011).† Looking carefully into the mission statement is it clear that huge emphasis is given to customer service and company spirit (meaning the relations that the management maintains within the workforce and with other stakeholders). The company’s current Chief Executive is Gary Kelly who is also the Board Chairman and Company President. This paper aims at looking into this airline’s SWOT analysis, Porter’s 5 forces and PEST analysis together with the strategies it has applied in order to gain its current market leadership position. Southwest Airlines Core Competences The airline has taken the US market in its entirety gaining huge customer base and revenue. It has accomplished this through perfection and continuous appraisal of its core competences mostly towards product strategy, forecasting, facility location and process strategies. In respect to product strategy the airline offers the lowest fares and endeavors to operate at low costs per plane (Barnhart, Belobaba, and Odoni, 2009). This is possible due to the fact that it offers no frills thereby reducing expenses. Due to the low cost of operations, the passengers can pay low fares and easily breakeven. Forecasting is critical in the airline business which is affected by even the slightest economic or political turbulence (Stevenson, 2008). The airlines’ strategies are aligned in such a way that it is possible to maneuver even in the hardest of circumstances. An example is the profitability trend that it maintained between 2007 and 2009 despite the global meltdown crisis that heavily hit its target market. The company’s culture that revolves around customer service and cost cutting measures acts as another core competence that revolves around its process strategies. The airline is able to ensure that its planes remain in the air most of the time than in the airports by cutting heavily o n turn-around time. This ensures passengers are not delayed while cutting costs on airport charges. These comprise its location and process strategies that have worked to the airline’s advantage. These are the main core competences that the airline has

Individual and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Individual and society - Essay Example This is concerned with where the idea o love originated, as well as its relationship to moral and morality systems (Carroll, 2009:557). The second of these aspects is individuals’ determination to achieve love. This is regardless of the personal and social costs. Mary Evans starts her arguments in the book by pointing out that unconditional love offers support and selfless care. In addition to this, she states that unconditional love may sometimes portray aspects of violent and abusive patterns. She in particular mentions that love can be separated from moral and morality expectations. This means that for the generations that have been given sexual freedom, there is every reason to suppose that love is fulfilled and immediate. For those people, living in the contemporary west, falling in love has however, never been easy. The author also looks at the current society in that it is richer as far as availability of goods is concerned than the previous societies. The rich live by reading newspapers and watching the television. Those individuals who have married and divorced many times still remarry. This world acknowledges that love can go and can still keep coming back. People do not acknowledge that sometimes life is better if lived with a ser ies of people instead of one lifelong partner. At the start of the twenty first century, people do not have to link marriage with love, or sex with marriage, or love with sex. The once close relationships of these ideas have been sabotaged by moral and social change. With the intention of improving the relationships between men and women, campaigners and reformers have fought for more broadminded agendas on contraception, divorce, and sexuality. It is however arguable that marriage should be build by sexual fulfillment, with no sexual inhibition. However, an argument that marriage should be happy commits people to expectations and assumptions that people