Literary Analysis of the Great Gatsby Essay

F. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates the thematic concern of carelessness in his fictional novel, The Great Gatsby, by using characters such as Jordan, Myrtle, and Daisy. Carelessness is exemplified many times throughout the book; such as on page 26. The narrator says, â€Å"She nodded and moved away from him just as George returned.† This statement describes Myrtle caressing her secret lover, Tom, just before her husband re-enters the room. She is careless as to hide her affection. Another example can be found on page 58, in a conversation between Nick and Jordan in the car. Nick: â€Å"Suppose you met somebody just as careless as yourself.† Jordan: â€Å"I hope I never will.† In this scene, Jordan is driving recklessly, as usual. Nick is confronting her about being careless for the first time. This is not the last time the author shows the thematic concern though: â€Å"Daisy sat back upon the couch. The nurse took a step forward and held out her hand.† During this part of the novel (page 23), Daisy pays no attention to her child. She leaves the nurse to take care of and raise her daughter; hence the term ‘careless’. As proven by the excerpts above, Fitzgerald clearly is attempting to put a subtle emphasis on this trait of life. By creating a chaotic atmosphere in the book, carelessness is obvioiusly going to play a big part in the plot to reach the climax. With quotes like the examples given, Fitzergerald accomplishes his goal of displaying carelessness throughout The Great Gatsby.

Personal Leadership Development Plan Essay

An effective leader must have a plan for success. This includes a personal plan of growth as well as a professional plan for improvement. This paper will attempt to highlight my personal strengths and weaknesses as leader, identify the areas needed for improvement, and identify the leadership skills and practices that I will use to become an effective leader. This paper will also give an outline of the goals that I consider a priority and a timeline for this development. The overall result will be an inclusive leadership plan of development that I will use to grow myself as well as any organization that I work for in the future. The assessments in the text allowed clear insight into areas pertaining to my leadership skills. Each assessment challenged me to look within and theorize how I currently handle or would handle different situations. Each scenario highlights real world applications that exhibit the type of leader that I desire to be. This is mostly done by exposing my areas of strengths and weaknesses in my leadership abilities. Strengths An effective leader should be able to draw on his or her strengths to better lead their subordinates. I am able to identify many areas where my strengths are. For instance, I am highly organized. Organization is a key aspect of being an effective leader. I have always found it easier to manage my day when I have a to-do-list that I follow. This allows me to clearly the see the tasks that need to be completed for the day. Following the list gives order to an otherwise chaotic situation. My subordinates will be able to look to me to provide clear instructions on the day’s tasks that need to be done. This can include giving meeting agendas, personal goals and follow up emails. This type of organization will keep goals and tasks in line. I will apply this same type of structure in the organization that I am leading. Employees will respond better when working with a leader that provides clear instructions. This can range from providing meeting itineraries to giving follow up emails that ties together all the information presented. Having tangible and well organized material can help others to work towards the  same goals. I will work with my subordinates to formulate and achieve their personal goals. Other strengths that I exhibit include being structured, responsible, articulate, task-oriented, determined, confident, effective planner, visionary, and possessing the ability to manage resources effectively. Being structured allows me to set parameters that we can all work within to achieve the overall company goals. Structure builds bonds and a sense of cohesiveness in the workplace. This type of unity will be necessary for the success of the organization. We can all work towards common goals if clear goals are outlined for everyone. The other strengths will all work together as well. Combining these skills will allow me to have followers that are knowledgeable and eager to embark on the journey to achieving the company’s goals. This will involve utilize my resource management skills effectively as well. This simply involves fully using the resources I have in a healthy way. Each one has something different to contribute and I should embrace and encourage these differences so that each one will feel that they are valuable. These positive attributes will enhance the work relationship that I have with my subordinates because they will see that they are following someone who is knowledgeable and capable of leading. It is my hope that these same qualities I posses will be mirrored in those that I lead in order to secure the success of the organization that we represent. Weaknesses Through reading the text and completing the assessments I was able to find my weaknesses as well. Knowing and acknowledging my weaknesses can only serve to make me better in my position. I am able to see the areas where work is needed so that I can lead effectively. Some of the areas where improvement is needed include expanding administrative skills, working on interpersonal skills, and improving self-confidence. Because I tend to lean heavily on tasks and less on relationships I may find it difficult to enlist the trust of my subordinates. I have issues with relating to them on a level beyond a work relationship. It has been difficult in the past to keep those lines clear and maintain that position of authority without sacrificing getting to know them as an individual. This is an area that I will work to improve on. The text highlights a personal style of relationship-oriented. This refers to connecting with people rather than seeking out tasks (Northouse 2012). Lack of self-confidence can be a result of not be as knowledgeable in certain areas. The feelings that others have more training or education that I have leads to feelings of anxiety which translates in displaying a level of lower esteem for myself. This preconceived notion that others are superior and I am sometimes inferior can be the reasoning behind my interpersonal skills as well. Areas for Improvement Any good leader should be able to outline areas where improvement is needed. This will allow me to work to better myself so that I can be effective in leading. I have been able to identify several areas where improvement is needed in order for me to be a successful and effective leader. These areas for improvement include: communication skills, interpersonal skills, confidence, focusing on relationships and not just tasks, and improving technical competence. Communication skills are necessary to get important information across to my subordinates. Often times the main source of office conflict is miscommunication. As a leader I should be able to clearly articulate important information that I need to get across to my subordinates. This can be in the form of writing or verbally. Regardless of the method of communication it should be clear and well thought out in an attempt to keep down confusion and to ensure that all team members are on the same page. Interpersonal skills are people skills (pg89). This simply refers to the way that I interact with others. I must step outside of my comfort zone in order to strengthen these skills. A sincere approach must be made to highlight the person more and the task less. Each member of the team should be made to feel as if they are important. This comes with being in touch with my own feelings so that I am able to relate to the way that others are feeling as well. The text refers to this insight as social perceptiveness. Social perceptiveness is being aware of what is important to others, how they are motivated, the problems they face, and how they react to change (pg 89). Technical competence involves having specialized knowledge about the work we do and ask others to do (pg88). This is vital to being an effective leader. I must know and understand everything about the organization before I envision change and set goals for followers. Being flexible and varied in my knowledge will aide me in improving in this area. Goals for Improvement Now that my strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvements have been outlined I can set goals for myself to expand on my strengths and work on my weaknesses. In the same manner that I will set goals for my followers I must set goals for myself as well. I have elected to focus on five main goals that I can work towards to develop my leadership skills. These goals include: improving communication skills, improving interpersonal skills, improving confidence, improving technical competence, and focusing on relationships more and tasks less. These goals are based on the areas of weakness that were exposed. Improving my communication skills will require me to first analyze how critical communication is to the success of my organization. There are several forms of communication. I will find myself utilizing a combination of communication avenues. One essential one of primary use will be verbal. My goal is to ensure that I am always well armed with knowledge so that I can always provide cl ear, concise, and correct information when questioned. I will work hard to articulate clearly what my expectations are so that goals can be easily met by others. Achieving this goal will involve assessing possible communication barriers. These barriers can include non-verbal communicators and misinformation. I can remedy the uprising of these potential communication pit falls by carefully wording written text such as emails, memos, and letters. Spell checks are essential to this as well. I can have someone listen to my speeches and also proofread my works before I issue them out to the team. A lack of communication skills can greatly hinder any progress that my team may make. I will also work on giving receptive non-verbal ques. I must be aware of my tone when speaking to others to ensure they are receptive my instructions. To improve my interpersonal skills I will establish an open door policy so my followers will feel comfortable talking with me about matters that concern them. I must show that I care about them beyond the physical lab or they provide to the company. This goal coincides with the other area for improvement which is focusing on relationships and less on tasks. I must step outside of my comfort zone and find the necessary balance to ensure my followers feel valued. This can be done by simply engaging in non-work related conversations. I can also make small gestures such as recognizing their  birthdays. These small steps will work towards improving the relationships that I have with followers. Improving confidence will be a challenging one. My goal is to improve in this area is a direct result of my goal to improve in my area of technical competence. My lack of confidence generally stems from not being as knowledgeable as I should be in all areas of my organization. There are feelings of apprehension which influences the manner in which I interact and convey information to others. I will work hard to study all areas of the organization. I will take special care to know the inner workings of the company. When I am unsure I will ask for assistance. I can challenge myself to take additional courses that will provide much needed training to assist me in expanding on my knowledge in all areas of the organization. An increase in information can also be generated from manuals or attending seminars and meetings. I can take what I have learned and apply it to my job. When I am approached with a question from my followers I can confidently give an answer and feel assured that it is the correct information. To prepare for meetings where a speech is necessary I can boost my confidence by having notes or PowerPoint slides to display my information. Being prepared in this way can help to alleviate any anxiety I might feel while giving my presentation. This change and growth to be a better manger will be ever-present. According to Marken, â€Å"If you want to build loyalty to you and your organization, your products and your goals, you have to constantly refine your leadership talents† (1999).This shows that this process will continue throughout my entire leadership career. I can take steps and set goals, but I must be willing to put in the work to be a better communicator and leader. This will keep my organization successful and will allow me to promote the skills of my followers. Timeline for Development My time line for this level of development is one year. I currently have the advantage of working under an amazing leader whom I know will nurture my plan for success. I will begin by taking each goal and setting individual time frames for them. Although most of my goals are intertwined I will want to take special care to follow an individualized plan for each. I would like to begin with what I view as the most difficult weakness to overcome. This weakness would be in the area of relationships. I would like to start  formulating deeper relationships within the first few months of my leadership. The communication goal will be followed almost immediately. I view the others as being ongoing. I know that the skills will not make a complete change overnight, but I am willing to put in the required work to improve in each area. These improvements should be met before I am charged with the task of leading. I want to be well versed and properly trained in all areas before taking on that re sponsibility. I know that much will be learned in a hand on environment but I am striving to work through each issue before I am placed in charge of a team. Most Effective Leadership Skills and Practices There are several leadership skills that can be instituted in my day to day life to ensure that I am an effective leader. There were a few that appealed to me the most because I feel that they are very important skills for any leader to have. These skills are as follows: managing people, managing resources, problem-solving skills, and planning. Each skill can be implemented to ensure that I am properly leading my team to achieving its goals for the organization. Managing people requires patience and hard work. Each team member is unique. They each bring unique skills and varied personalities to the organization. By knowing and understanding this I am able to put each member in a position where they can work to their fullest potential. This provides self satisfaction and success for the company. I can work with each member to formulate an attainable goal that proves profitable for all involved in the process. Managing resources is a valuable skill as well. The company looks to me to not be wasteful. I must be mindful of the resources that are available to me and utilize them a way that is productive to meeting the goals that I have envisioned for the group. This will come from properly monitoring supplies and work output. This can come in the form of finding other resources to get tasks completed within a particular time frame. According to the text, resources can include people, money, supplies, equipment, space, or anything else deemed necessary for the organization to function properly (Northouse 2012.) Being wasteful is counterproductive to achieving the organization’s goals. Effective planning is an important skill that can be instrumental in being an effective leader. Having a clear plan can enable me to manage my followers and resources more  effectively. Planning will be a starting point for each task that I tackle. I can begin by knowing what it is that I want to achieve. This is also referred to as visioning. Visioning is a metal model of an ideal future state (pg 109). Creating this vision will allow me to formulate a plan for everyone involved. Each team member can play an active role in planning the goals for the company. Written goals can be made and displayed as a daily reminder to each team member. I will work to ensure that the goals are unified. This can be deep hindrance to the growth of any organization. â€Å" For an organization to be successful, every individual in the organization must think in terms of what each group values and how the impact of the decisions they are about to make, or actions they are about to take will have on various groups and this impacts maximizing organizational value over time† (Morris, 2000). Effective planning and communication can alleviate this disorder. The best leadership practice to implement would be one that combines the leadership styles of authoritarian and democratic. The approach that I take will be dependent upon the readiness level of my followers. Each team member may need different directions if any. I must assess their levels and manage them accordingly. This is the only way to ensure that the goals set for each member can be attained. I will also monitor work performance and provide feedback in areas of strengths and weaknesses. An effective leader will be able to realize that everyone is different and therefore my leadership style must be flexible. This paper has presented a detailed leadership development plan. I have outlined my areas where improvement where needed as well has highlighted my strengths and weaknesses. In doing this I was able to identify goals and a timeline for achievement. It is my hope that by completing this assessment and formulating a plan that I am able to fully institute it and become an effective leader that any organization or company would be happy to employ because the team will be well led. References: G, A. M. (1999). Improving your leadership skills. Public Relations Quarterly, 44(1), 40-41. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222394569?accountid=32521 Morris, J. L. (2000). Values-based leadership skills, values, and concepts. Capella University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 300-300 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304676298?accountid=32521. (304676298). Northouse, P. G. (2012). Introduction to leadership, concepts and practice. (2 ed.). Thouseand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc, ISBN: 9781412989527

Barn Burning

Antonio Webb Professor Debra Germany English 2336 14 November 2012 Barn Burning In â€Å"Barn Burning†, a short story by William Faulkner, a boy finds that he can no longer be governed by his father’s ideas and tries to prevent his father from doing further harm, and leaves his family in the process. Sarty Snopes desire is to break away from the moral deficiency of his family life and live life with some resemblance of normalcy even at the expense of never seeing his family again.A growing body of evidence, suggest that humans have a moral sense from the very start of life and family does not instill this moral compass from the very start of life. His father was a man of little or no education who had developed an attitude in life of catering to no one but himself even at the expense of his family. The story begins with Mr. Snopes on trial for burning a neighbor’s barn after sending a black man over for his hog and actually warning the man that hay and wood burn. Shortly afterwards the neighbor’s barn burned and the story begins in a court of the Justice of the Peace. Sarty, is remembering all this and the details of the court room which was actually a storeroom in a grocery store. The man whose barn was burned asks that the boy testify and the judge is hesitant as this was not proper protocol in that time. The man says the boy does not have to testify and the case is dismissed due to lack of witnesses. The boy says he would have had to tell the truth had he been forced to testify even though he has a very real fear of his father.The father actually hits the boy who had defended the family honor by fighting someone in the crowd calling them barn burners. The father knows the boy would have testified and he tells him that they have to stand together against the world. This is obviously a common occurrence in the young mans life and always ends up the same, they are told to move on and never come back. They all gather in their wagon and leave, the wife, her twin sister, his two sisters, and his older brother. They all are afraid of the father and dare not question him or his authority.The central theme of the story begins with the last move when the family moves onto property owned by a Major De Spain and take up residence in a tenant farm house belonging to the major. The boy and the father ride over to the Majors house which is larger than anything the boy had seen in his life he compared the house to the courthouse. As they approach the door the father steps in a large pile of horse manure. The black man at the door tells the father to wipe his feet before coming in and also announces that Major De Spain is not home.The father forces the door open and enters the home, leaving a path of mud on the rug which turns out to be an expensive rug from France. When the Major returns home and discovers the condition of the carpet he rolls it up and takes it to the Snopes residence where he instructs the father to clean i t and return it as it was. The father makes the boys and the two sisters, clean the rug and then returns it to the Major. The Major tells Mr. Snopes that he will have to pay twenty bushels out of his labor to pay for the rug. Mr. Snopes takes the Major to court to have his payment overturned.Mr. Snopes thinking that washing it would be sufficient finds out that it is not. The judge shows some leniency reducing the payment to ten bushels of corn and five dollars. The father is not happy with this and decides once again to burn the Majors barn as he orders his son to get the kerosene against his wife’s wishes who says at least send a black man again like you did before. The young boy who by now has decided in his heart that this cannot go on and is restrained by his mother even though the father wants to physically tie him to his bed so he cant warn the Major.The father by now has headed towards the Majors house. The boy breaks away from his mother and heads for the Majors hous e on foot, arriving there he warns the household about their barn and then runs out the door not knowing where he is headed. The Major rides by him on his horse and somewhere up ahead the boy hears a shot and then two more. The constellations wheeled on. It would be dawn and them sun-up after a while and he would be hungry, But that would be to-morrow and now he was only cold, and walking would cure that.His breathing was easier asleep because he knew it was almost dawn, the night almost over. He could tell that from the whippoorwills. They were everywhere now among the dark trees below them. He got up. He was a little stiff, but walking would cure that too as it would the cold, and soon there would be the sun. He went on down the hill, toward the dark woods within which the liquid silver voices of the birds called unceasing –the rapid and urgent beating of the urgent and quiring heart of the late spring night. He did not look back. Baym,Nina) He knows that his father is torn between love and righteousness and feels sorrow for his father but knows in his heart he can longer live this way of life. While the story never mentions his age, Barn Burning is a sad story of a young mans life who knew what was right and wrong and does what has to be done in the end as conscious would not allow him to continue with his fathers way of life. However this story illustrates how morality is not developed within the family, but something that is instilled within us all in the first early years of life.By the age of six months babies have already developed a strong moral code, according to psychologist. They may be barely able to sit up, let alone take their steps, crawl or talk, but researchers say they can still tell the difference between good and evil. An astonishing series of experiments is challenging the view that human beings are born as â€Å"blank slates† – and that our morality is shaped by our experiences. Instead, they suggest that concepts of good and bad may be hard-wired into the brain at birth.In one experiment involving puppets, six-month-old babies showed a strong preference for good helpful characters-and rejected unhelpful, â€Å"naughty† puppet, some babies went further- and dished out their own punishment with a smack on its head Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University in Connecticut, whose department has studied morality in babies for years, said: A growing body of evidence suggest that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life. You can see some glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral felling even in the first year of life. Some sense of ood and evil seems to be bred in the bones. In one experiment involving puppets, six-month old babies showed a strong preference for â€Å"good† helpful characters- and rejected unhelpful, â€Å"naughty† ones. In another, when asked to take away treats from a â€Å"naughty† puppet, some babies w ent further—and dished out their own punishment with a smack on its head. (Derbyshire, David) Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University in Connecticut, whose department has studied morality in babies for years, said â€Å"A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life.You can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life. Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bones† Which is not to say that parents are wrong to concern themselves with moral development or that interactions with their children are a waste of time? Socialization is critically important. But this is not because babies are young children lack a sense of right and wrong; it’s because the sense of sense of right and wrong that they naturally possess diverges in important ways from what we adults would want it to be, Dr Nadia Reissland, of Durham University, said b abies start to learn he difference between good and bad from birth. â€Å"Everything hinges on who decides what is normal†, she said. (Derbyshire, David) Infants fall into the preconvention level of moral development according to the theories of Lawrence Kohlberg. This involves two orientations: punishment and pleasure seeking. Infants respond to their environment primarily to seek pleasure and meet their needs. They show joy by smiling, cooing and laughing when they are fed, comfortable and feeling safe. As they grow, they learn to make choices in response to punishment, such as being told no or having an object taken from them.Meeting an infant’s basic needs through consistent care and positive social interactions simultaneously nurtures their moral development and trust in their caregivers. (Smith-Vratny, Lisa) Two noteworthy individuals, Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, studied the moral development of children. Piaget looked at how children develop moral reasoni ng. He found that Two noteworthy individuals, Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, studied the moral development of children. Piaget looked at how children develop moral reasoning. He found that young children have a much more primitive understanding of right and wrong behavior than do older children.Piaget determined that younger children judge bad behavior by the amount of damage caused by a person’s behavior. He would tell children a story with a moral dilemma. He would ask them to tell him â€Å"who is naughtier† a boy who accidentally broke fifteen cups or a boy breaks one cup trying to reach a jam jar when his mother is not around. Younger children attributed the â€Å"naughty† behavior to the boy who broke the most cups regardless of the other child’s intent. A huge amount of growth and physical development occurs during the first years of a baby’s life.These early stages of development are critical in laying the foundation for the babyâ€℠¢s future. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the normal development milestones for a baby, and how to encourage his or her learning and behavior. (Huxley, Ron) In conclusion the Snopes family lack of morality clearly influenced Sarty this is evident in the beginning of the story when the boy is willing to lie to insure that his father is acquitted of any wrong doing but somewhere along the way he could no longer contribute to their way of life.Somewhere along the way Sarty realizes everything the family is doing is wrong and its hurting peoples lives. The research indicates that you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling in the first year of life, what happen to the Snopes family along the way that the son would have more moral judgment than the family. This illustrates that family can only develop morality or withdraw away from it; essentially good and evil is something that seems to be bred in the bones. Works Cited Derbyshire, David http://www . ailymail. co. uk/news/article-1275892/Were-born-moral- Babies-tell-good-evil- months. html Bloom, Paul http://www. nytimes. com/2010/05/09/magazine/09babies- t. html? pagewanted=all&_r=0 Smith-Vratny Lisa   http://www. livestrong. com/article/180598-moral-social-development-in- infants/#ixzz2C9gL5co8 Smith, Peter   http://www. lifesitenews. com/news/archive//ldn/2010/may/10051009 http://www. essentialbaby. com. au/baby/baby-stages-of-development/the-moral-life-of-babies- 20100513-v0u0. html Huxley, Ron http://www. christian-mommies. om/ageless/handle-emotions/moral-development-of-children- knowing-right-from-wrong/ Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider. Life-Span Human Development. California: Wadsworth, 2003. Caroll E. Izard. Measuring Emotions in Infants and Children. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. What to Expect the First Year. Sydney: Harper Collins, 2009. Jean Piaget. The Origins of Intelligence in Children. New York: International U niversity Press, 1952. Gillies, Christine http://suite101. com/article/the-developmental-milestones- f-a-baby-a314799 Baym, Nina, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. C,D, and E (a three- volume set) 8th ed. New York:Norton, 2012 http://www. childrensmoraldevelopment. com/index. html Bersoff, David M. and Joan G. Miller. â€Å"Culture, Context, and the Development of Moral Accountability Judgments. † Developmental Psychology29, no. 4 (July 1993): 664–77. Schulman, Michael, and Eva Mekler. Bringing Up a MoralChild: A New Approach for Teaching Your Child to BeKind, Just, and Responsible. rev. ed. New York: Main Street Books/Doubleday, 1994. Barn Burning In William Faulkner’s Barn Burning, ten year old Colonel Sartoris Snopes, is forced to confront an ethical uncertainty that questions his loyalty to his family against the higher concepts of justice and morality. Satoris decision on whether to do right by family or do the right thing according to law are controlled by a life of violence, conflict, constantly overwhelmed of fear, grief and despair. He knows that peace, joy, and dignity are the alluring promises of a different kind of life one that seems far away from the one his father has headed. Abner Snopes, Sartoris father is a serial arsonist who has convinced himself he has rights to unleash his destructive revenge on anyone whom he believes has wronged him. Barely having charges dropped against him for belief that he burned down a landowners barn whom the family were short term tenants, Abner finds himself in a confrontation with De Spain an affluent landowner whom Abner and his family will work for. Sartoris finds himself in the middle of this all trying to decide if loyalty to his family is more important than loyalty to the law is the moral imperative. Sartoris is marked with pride after taking a punch from a boy that accused Abner of barn burning, wanting to believe that his father will turn from his criminal ways he remains loyal to his family standing up to anyone who bad mouths his father. This pride is short lived once Sartoris realizes his father is planning to burn the barn of De Spain after their confrontation about the rug being soiled and mistakenly burned. Sartoris then begins to understand family loyalty comes at to great a cost and to heavy a burden, he then goes on to warn De Spain of the burning. As a result his father is killed presumably shot to death by De Spain. This is a mark of freedom and a chance at peace and happiness even though they still wind up alone. Barn Burning Antonio Webb Professor Debra Germany English 2336 14 November 2012 Barn Burning In â€Å"Barn Burning†, a short story by William Faulkner, a boy finds that he can no longer be governed by his father’s ideas and tries to prevent his father from doing further harm, and leaves his family in the process. Sarty Snopes desire is to break away from the moral deficiency of his family life and live life with some resemblance of normalcy even at the expense of never seeing his family again.A growing body of evidence, suggest that humans have a moral sense from the very start of life and family does not instill this moral compass from the very start of life. His father was a man of little or no education who had developed an attitude in life of catering to no one but himself even at the expense of his family. The story begins with Mr. Snopes on trial for burning a neighbor’s barn after sending a black man over for his hog and actually warning the man that hay and wood burn. Shortly afterwards the neighbor’s barn burned and the story begins in a court of the Justice of the Peace. Sarty, is remembering all this and the details of the court room which was actually a storeroom in a grocery store. The man whose barn was burned asks that the boy testify and the judge is hesitant as this was not proper protocol in that time. The man says the boy does not have to testify and the case is dismissed due to lack of witnesses. The boy says he would have had to tell the truth had he been forced to testify even though he has a very real fear of his father.The father actually hits the boy who had defended the family honor by fighting someone in the crowd calling them barn burners. The father knows the boy would have testified and he tells him that they have to stand together against the world. This is obviously a common occurrence in the young mans life and always ends up the same, they are told to move on and never come back. They all gather in their wagon and leave, the wife, her twin sister, his two sisters, and his older brother. They all are afraid of the father and dare not question him or his authority.The central theme of the story begins with the last move when the family moves onto property owned by a Major De Spain and take up residence in a tenant farm house belonging to the major. The boy and the father ride over to the Majors house which is larger than anything the boy had seen in his life he compared the house to the courthouse. As they approach the door the father steps in a large pile of horse manure. The black man at the door tells the father to wipe his feet before coming in and also announces that Major De Spain is not home.The father forces the door open and enters the home, leaving a path of mud on the rug which turns out to be an expensive rug from France. When the Major returns home and discovers the condition of the carpet he rolls it up and takes it to the Snopes residence where he instructs the father to clean i t and return it as it was. The father makes the boys and the two sisters, clean the rug and then returns it to the Major. The Major tells Mr. Snopes that he will have to pay twenty bushels out of his labor to pay for the rug. Mr. Snopes takes the Major to court to have his payment overturned.Mr. Snopes thinking that washing it would be sufficient finds out that it is not. The judge shows some leniency reducing the payment to ten bushels of corn and five dollars. The father is not happy with this and decides once again to burn the Majors barn as he orders his son to get the kerosene against his wife’s wishes who says at least send a black man again like you did before. The young boy who by now has decided in his heart that this cannot go on and is restrained by his mother even though the father wants to physically tie him to his bed so he cant warn the Major.The father by now has headed towards the Majors house. The boy breaks away from his mother and heads for the Majors hous e on foot, arriving there he warns the household about their barn and then runs out the door not knowing where he is headed. The Major rides by him on his horse and somewhere up ahead the boy hears a shot and then two more. The constellations wheeled on. It would be dawn and them sun-up after a while and he would be hungry, But that would be to-morrow and now he was only cold, and walking would cure that.His breathing was easier asleep because he knew it was almost dawn, the night almost over. He could tell that from the whippoorwills. They were everywhere now among the dark trees below them. He got up. He was a little stiff, but walking would cure that too as it would the cold, and soon there would be the sun. He went on down the hill, toward the dark woods within which the liquid silver voices of the birds called unceasing –the rapid and urgent beating of the urgent and quiring heart of the late spring night. He did not look back. Baym,Nina) He knows that his father is torn between love and righteousness and feels sorrow for his father but knows in his heart he can longer live this way of life. While the story never mentions his age, Barn Burning is a sad story of a young mans life who knew what was right and wrong and does what has to be done in the end as conscious would not allow him to continue with his fathers way of life. However this story illustrates how morality is not developed within the family, but something that is instilled within us all in the first early years of life.By the age of six months babies have already developed a strong moral code, according to psychologist. They may be barely able to sit up, let alone take their steps, crawl or talk, but researchers say they can still tell the difference between good and evil. An astonishing series of experiments is challenging the view that human beings are born as â€Å"blank slates† – and that our morality is shaped by our experiences. Instead, they suggest that concepts of good and bad may be hard-wired into the brain at birth.In one experiment involving puppets, six-month-old babies showed a strong preference for good helpful characters-and rejected unhelpful, â€Å"naughty† puppet, some babies went further- and dished out their own punishment with a smack on its head Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University in Connecticut, whose department has studied morality in babies for years, said: A growing body of evidence suggest that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life. You can see some glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral felling even in the first year of life. Some sense of ood and evil seems to be bred in the bones. In one experiment involving puppets, six-month old babies showed a strong preference for â€Å"good† helpful characters- and rejected unhelpful, â€Å"naughty† ones. In another, when asked to take away treats from a â€Å"naughty† puppet, some babies w ent further—and dished out their own punishment with a smack on its head. (Derbyshire, David) Professor Paul Bloom, a psychologist at Yale University in Connecticut, whose department has studied morality in babies for years, said â€Å"A growing body of evidence suggests that humans do have a rudimentary moral sense from the very start of life.You can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling even in the first year of life. Some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bones† Which is not to say that parents are wrong to concern themselves with moral development or that interactions with their children are a waste of time? Socialization is critically important. But this is not because babies are young children lack a sense of right and wrong; it’s because the sense of sense of right and wrong that they naturally possess diverges in important ways from what we adults would want it to be, Dr Nadia Reissland, of Durham University, said b abies start to learn he difference between good and bad from birth. â€Å"Everything hinges on who decides what is normal†, she said. (Derbyshire, David) Infants fall into the preconvention level of moral development according to the theories of Lawrence Kohlberg. This involves two orientations: punishment and pleasure seeking. Infants respond to their environment primarily to seek pleasure and meet their needs. They show joy by smiling, cooing and laughing when they are fed, comfortable and feeling safe. As they grow, they learn to make choices in response to punishment, such as being told no or having an object taken from them.Meeting an infant’s basic needs through consistent care and positive social interactions simultaneously nurtures their moral development and trust in their caregivers. (Smith-Vratny, Lisa) Two noteworthy individuals, Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, studied the moral development of children. Piaget looked at how children develop moral reasoni ng. He found that Two noteworthy individuals, Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, studied the moral development of children. Piaget looked at how children develop moral reasoning. He found that young children have a much more primitive understanding of right and wrong behavior than do older children.Piaget determined that younger children judge bad behavior by the amount of damage caused by a person’s behavior. He would tell children a story with a moral dilemma. He would ask them to tell him â€Å"who is naughtier† a boy who accidentally broke fifteen cups or a boy breaks one cup trying to reach a jam jar when his mother is not around. Younger children attributed the â€Å"naughty† behavior to the boy who broke the most cups regardless of the other child’s intent. A huge amount of growth and physical development occurs during the first years of a baby’s life.These early stages of development are critical in laying the foundation for the babyâ€℠¢s future. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the normal development milestones for a baby, and how to encourage his or her learning and behavior. (Huxley, Ron) In conclusion the Snopes family lack of morality clearly influenced Sarty this is evident in the beginning of the story when the boy is willing to lie to insure that his father is acquitted of any wrong doing but somewhere along the way he could no longer contribute to their way of life.Somewhere along the way Sarty realizes everything the family is doing is wrong and its hurting peoples lives. The research indicates that you can see glimmers of moral thought, moral judgment and moral feeling in the first year of life, what happen to the Snopes family along the way that the son would have more moral judgment than the family. This illustrates that family can only develop morality or withdraw away from it; essentially good and evil is something that seems to be bred in the bones. Works Cited Derbyshire, David http://www . ailymail. co. uk/news/article-1275892/Were-born-moral- Babies-tell-good-evil- months. html Bloom, Paul http://www. nytimes. com/2010/05/09/magazine/09babies- t. html? pagewanted=all&_r=0 Smith-Vratny Lisa   http://www. livestrong. com/article/180598-moral-social-development-in- infants/#ixzz2C9gL5co8 Smith, Peter   http://www. lifesitenews. com/news/archive//ldn/2010/may/10051009 http://www. essentialbaby. com. au/baby/baby-stages-of-development/the-moral-life-of-babies- 20100513-v0u0. html Huxley, Ron http://www. christian-mommies. om/ageless/handle-emotions/moral-development-of-children- knowing-right-from-wrong/ Sigelman and Elizabeth A. Rider. Life-Span Human Development. California: Wadsworth, 2003. Caroll E. Izard. Measuring Emotions in Infants and Children. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. What to Expect the First Year. Sydney: Harper Collins, 2009. Jean Piaget. The Origins of Intelligence in Children. New York: International U niversity Press, 1952. Gillies, Christine http://suite101. com/article/the-developmental-milestones- f-a-baby-a314799 Baym, Nina, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. C,D, and E (a three- volume set) 8th ed. New York:Norton, 2012 http://www. childrensmoraldevelopment. com/index. html Bersoff, David M. and Joan G. Miller. â€Å"Culture, Context, and the Development of Moral Accountability Judgments. † Developmental Psychology29, no. 4 (July 1993): 664–77. Schulman, Michael, and Eva Mekler. Bringing Up a MoralChild: A New Approach for Teaching Your Child to BeKind, Just, and Responsible. rev. ed. New York: Main Street Books/Doubleday, 1994.

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Deviant Behavior and Social Control Essay Example for Free

Deviant Behavior and Social Control Essay Durkheim said, â€Å"We must not say that an action shocks the common conscience because it is criminal, but rather that it is criminal because it shocks the common conscience. † The strain theory by Robert K. Merton suggests that American are geared toward deviance because of a lack of legitimate options to attain the monetary goal that Americans emphasize (Tischler, p. 146). Travis Hirschi posed the control theory which focuses on the importance of the people around you to mold you into a regular lifestyle. He said that there are four main points to why someone will become deviant or not: attachment to others, commitment to conformity, involvement in conventional activities, belief in the moral validity of social rules. If someone displays these four points than they will probably be a functioning member of society. Sociologists suggest the techniques of neutralization, which are ways we will justify the deviant act to ourselves so that we are able to complete it. The five techniques are denial of responsibility, denying the injury, denial of the victim, condemnation of the authorities, and appealing to higher principles of authorities. Lastly, there is the labeling theory which states that individuals will commit secondary deviant acts after the fact that they have already been deemed a deviant by society. A flaw in this theory is that it does not give reason for why the original deviant act was committed. Every theory previously posed does have legitimate facts behind why it could be the cause for deviant behavior, but no single one is completely correct. Although the mesomorphic body type may be deemed as a more aggressive person, this would not be the only reason why the person was deviant, so the biological theory cannot stand alone. The psychological theories have a lot of mental disease that makes them more prone to deviant activity, but it is also proven that these traits are overcome by a good social environment and in some cases the proper medication. Just like the psychological theories, the sociological theories are proven that the environment that one is raised or lives in is a highly important factor, but it is possible for someone in a good environment to be deviant and vice versa. 2. What types of crime exist in the Unite States? There are four main categories of crime in the United States and these crimes range from rape to robbery to embezzlement to public drunkenness. The first category of crime is violent crime which consists of acts such as murder and assault. These crimes usually come with the longest prison sentences, and the good news is that these types of crime have been on the decline over the past few years. Next we have property crime which consists of three quarters of the crime in the United States. Car theft and burglary are examples of property crimes. According to the FBI, a white-collar crime is â€Å"characterized by deceit, concealment, or a violation of trust. † Bernie Madoff, the Enron corporation, and ponzi schemes are what we consider to be white-collar crimes. Finally, we have what are called victimless crimes. These are crimes that break what is considered law, but have no direct victim. Prostitution, drug use, and DUI are all what can be considered victimless. They use the term â€Å"victimless† but the argument can be made that the victim is the person committing the crime because their actions usually harm themselves. 3. What parts of the court and prison system are effective, and what parts are ineffective? Only two out of the four major goals of prison are effective. The first of which is to separate criminals from society, is accomplished by the physical act of taking criminals off the street and putting them behind fences that are twenty feet high with barbed wire, towers with armed guards, and impenetrable buildings of brick and mortar. This is honestly the only thing that our courts succeed in doing, but when you separate them from society, you put them with fellow criminals who have new crimes to teach. The second goal that can be considered effective is that prison is a legitimate punishment for criminal behavior. For me, being in prison is a mental and physical hell because it causes you to be broken down while in a small cell with a bar door and no window and no means of escape. For others it may not be like this though, because as mentioned before in the theories of deviance, a criminal may have psychological problems where they are unable to conform and prison makes them conform so they begin to enjoy what they are unable to have on the outside. Also, most criminals peers are other criminals, so while incarcerated they do not feel completely separated from their usual world. The other two primary goals of the prison systems can be considered highly ineffective. Deterring criminal behavior is the third goal of prisons and as the statistics show, this is not commonly achieved. If prison were a good deterrent than we would not have the crime rate that we have today. If the reward of the crime is greater than what the punishment will be, a crime will be committed. The last goal of the prisons is to rehabilitate. The facts are concrete when showing that prison and the programs within have minimal success rates. My personal observations over the past two weeks concur with the facts. I would estimate that close to ninety percent of the inmates who are in here for drug and alcohol related offenses talk about getting high or drunk on the day they are released, and with fellow inmates. The inmates who are guilty of burglary or robbery and other related offenses admit that they don’t know any other way of life, and that they will continue their criminal ways when released. There will never be a perfect society in which there is no deviant behavior. There is, however, ways in which we can continue to develop a better understanding of what causes the deviant behavior and ways in which we can prevent it. The prison system is continually developing new trial programs to help addicts and alcoholics, along with incorporating programs for criminals to get started on a career path instead of a criminal path. 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Next PESTLE Analysis | Next Plc

Next PESTLE Analysis | Next Plc Tags:  PESTLE Analysis, PESTEL Analysis, PEST Analysis Introduction A PESTLE analysis provides and analysis of six of the key macro level factors which affect a business and the decision which it makes (Grant, 2008). This assignment will apply the relevant factors within the PESTLE framework to the international clothing retailer Next and its subsidiaries. Data upon which the assignment is based comes from a variety of sources including the companys annual report (Next, 2012) and released and well as information from the academic and business press. In order to give the assignment a greater level of focus, the report will be limited to an analysis of the external environment in the UK. Political There are a wide range of political factors which affect Next at present but also factors which may have an impact upon the company in the future. One key political decision which affects Next in the UK is the rate of tax levied by the government. This has the ability to affect both the bottom line of the company in the form of corporation tax but also the ability of customers to spend with next, linked to income tax. At present, levels of corporation tax in the UK have been lowered in order to attempt to stimulate economic activity (Telegraph, 2012). However, given the continuing deficit, there is no guarantee that governments in the future will maintain the rate of corporation tax at its current level. Other key political decisions consider interest rates. At present, UK interest rates stand at an all-time low of 0.5% (BoE, 2010). This may be seen as a positive factor for firms such as Next who are effectively able to borrow large amounts of money for the purposes of capital expansion at much lower rates than have been previously seen. Such borrowing may take place in the form of long term borrowings from banks and financial institutions, alternatively the company may choose to issue corporate bonds (Arnold, 2008). Other political issues relate to the governments relatively arms length approach to Europe and remaining outside of the single currency area (FT, 2012). For a UK based business such as Next that has international operations in the Euro Zone, this could be seen as negative with the prospect of foreign exchange rate risks being felt and the introduction of additional transaction costs which would be eliminated if the government decided to join the Euro Zone. From a more general perspective, the UK political system based upon parliamentary democracy may be seen as providing Next with a relatively low risk political environment in which to operate within (CIA, 2013). This may be seen as an advantage in comparison some of Nexts ventures into potentially less stable political nations such as Russia and those of the Middle East. As such, this makes the UK a relatively safe market for Next to make further long term capital investments in where the company may think twice in the case of less stable political environments. Economic A critical factor which may have an impact upon Next in the UK is the current state of the economic environment. As a business which makes use of a premium based differentiated strategy, as opposed to being a cost leader, it may be seen that swings within the economic environment have the ability to impact the fortunes of the company to a greater degree than those operating in the necessity and budget sector of the market (Johnson et al, 2008). From a purely statistical perspective, the years since 2007 have been an economic rollercoaster for the UK. Following the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007, the subsequent year saw GDP growth revert to negative figures with -1% contraction in the economy. This was followed by even worse performance in 2009 with a -4% contraction. Low levels of growth have been seen since in 2010 and 2011 with GDP growth of 1.8% and 0.8% respectively (World Bank, 2013). However, while the statistics show a slight recovery in 2010 and 2011, others within the business press (BBC News, 2012) indicate that the UK economy could continue to flat line or worse result in a double dip recession. These headline figures may seem to paint quite a negative picture for retailers such as Next which are highly reliant on the UK economy as a source of revenue. However, an analysis of more detailed economic data may highlight a different perspective. Tutt (2012) presents data which looks at the level of unemployment and household disposable incomes in the UK. In this case an alarming pattern is seen. On the one hand, levels of unemployment have been increasing in recent years with a rise from 0.86m in 2007 to 1.53m in 2011. However, conversely, the levels of disposable income of individual households during the period has consistently risen from  £14,308 per household in 2007 to  £16,042 per household in 2011 (Tutt, 2012). For Next and other premium end retailers this may have a key impact upon strategy. While there may be few customers able to by the products and services of Next due to rising unemployment, those who have remained in employment have generally become wealthier. As a result it is likely that such economic patterns may help Next to improve its average spend per customer, even if the total number of customers falls. Social-Cultural There are many social and cultural changes taking place in the UK at present which may have a high level of impact upon the performance of fashion retailers such as Next. In many cases, as representatives of an essentially socio-cultural industry, the fashion industry itself may be seen as an industry which is affected by such trends to a greater degree than other industries (Curtis et al, 2007). One of the key issues in the UK market, but also seen across Nexts wider European markets is the general aging of the population (Parliament UK, 2012). This may be seen as both problematic but also an opportunity for Next. One the one hand, an ageing population may see Next having to adapt its product portfolio in an attempt to ensure that the products supplied by company appeal to this aging demographic of the population. In addition, the prospect of an aging population may also see that competition for the increasingly smaller younger demographics of the market becomes more intense for Next as time progresses. Despite these drawbacks, there are also advantages linked to the issue. On consideration is that ageing populations tend to be less mobile than younger demographics, this may be a key advantage for Next given that its home delivery and online business model offer a convenient solution to the problem. Other socio-cultural factors include the consideration that the UK has since World War Two become an increasingly culturally diverse nation with an influx of diverse cultures, races and ethnicities all contributing towards the socio-cultural backdrop of the UK social system (Shepherd, 2010). For Next, this has not only external implications such as those linked to aligning product ranges to specific cultural segments, in attrition, the company musty also ensure that it deals with issues such as managing diversity in the context of its own organisation. In this case, increased cultural diversity can be seen as both a source of a competitive advantage yet also a potential source of conflict (Liff, 1997, Ivancevich et al, 2010). As EU expansion takes place and the new member states become further integrated into the EU, there is a distinct possibility that the trends for increased diversity in the UKs labour and consumer markets will increase rather than decrease. Technological There is little doubt that new technological developments have transformed the UK business environment, especially those operating in the retail sector. Key developments may be seen as those technologies which are internet or communications based in nature, such as the wide spread diffusion of broad band (Jobber, 2007). Key technological developments such as the internet have allowed firms such as Next to develop online business models which complement traditional bricks and mortar retail establishments. Empirical evidence from the ONS (2009) on the subject shows that the growth has been almost exponential with a rapid acceptance on the behalf of customers of online shopping in both retail and other markets. Yet communications technologies have not only been used by the sector to facilitate online sales and shift away from the traditional high street place. Other aspects of new technological development have seen a range of new marketing options opened up to retailers such as Next. Most important amongst these are developments which have allowed retailers to interact with customers using online social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. These are now seen as key ingredients in the development of a successful marketing strategy (Zarrella, 2010), largely the product of technological changes in the sector. Other technologies have simply allowed businesses to develop better relationships with their consumers and communicate in a more effective way. Take for instance the technological developments of smartphones and apps. Such technology has allowed companies to develop apps which allow consumers to find their nearest branch or check the facilities and product availability at a branch before making a visit. This allows an effective bridge to be built between the purely online business model such as those operated by a company like Amazon and those falling into the bricks and clicks category (McGoldrick, 2002) such as Next who must seek to leverage the benefits of both arms of the business. While technology in this section has largely been presented as an opportunity, there is of course a risk factor. Many have expressed concerns over the abandoning of the high street as consumers flock to online business models. The case is illustrated only too recently with the example of Jessops going into administration, a business which may be seen as falling victim to technological developments (Goodley, 2013). Legal Like all businesses, Next must conform to the legal minimum standards which are enforceable in a jurisdiction. The case of Nexts UK operations legal elements may be seen as more complex given that the company must comply with both UK law and EU law. Some of the key legal regulations which affect Next in the UK are considered below: Minimum wage legislation A key piece of legislation in the UK which affects organisations such as Next with a large number of low paid workers is that of various minimum wage regulations. In this case, the legislation requires UK employers to pay their employees a minimum of  £6.19 per hour for those aged over 21 (Gov UK). Given the large number of employees of firms such as Next which are affected by the National Minimum Wage, temporary shifts in legislative policy can have a high impact upon the sector. Other key legislative issues include equal opportunities legislation and various other acts of parliament designed to ensure equality both in the work place and in the recruitment and selection process (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2010). In this case, such legislation has a direct impact upon the processes and practises of an organisation such as Next who are required not only to design corporate polices which facilitate equality but also to record activities related to recruitment and selection should an employee call foul at a later date. The issue here for businesses such as Next is that the legislative environment often places the burden of proof on the defendant rather than the claimant in such cases. As such, the development of detailed HR processes and practises is critical (Bratton and Gold, 2007). Further issues relate to potential moves on the behalf of legislators to become tougher in relation to issues of tax avoidance. While Next has to date not been implicated in any of the tax avoidance scandals, there is a consideration that the actions of other retailers such as Starbucks and Amazon (Syal, 2012) may have provoked the onset of a tougher legislative environment in the future which may have an impact upon innocent parties such as Next. Environmental The physical environment is also a key issue for firms operating in any given national market and consideration should be considered two how firms treat the physical environment and the impact this has on the business, but also the impact the physical environment generally has upon a business. In general terms, the physical environment which Next operates within in the UK may be seen as relatively benign in comparison to other parts of the world which suffer from high intensity natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes and forest fires. Despite such an environment there have been a number of environmental issues recently in the UK which have affected the retail sector. These have included increasing more frequent floods (Retail Bulletin, 2013) and poor sales due to snow storms and the failure of local authorities to prepare for periods of inclement weather (Hall, 2011). Other aspects of the environmental analysis require firms to consider their own impact upon the environment. In general terms, the literature (Parsons and MacLaran, 2009) considers that consumers are becoming increasing aware of the impact of businesses upon their environment. As such, if businesses are to maintain customer loyalty and avoid negative backlashes, then they must seek to minimise their impact upon the environment. In the retail sector, this may include reducing waste, running more efficient transport operations and implementing ethical sourcing policies. While failure to comply with such consumer demands may result in a negative consumer backlash, with the adoption of the right approach, high environmental credentials can be used to add value to a product or service. Such an example is seen in the Marks and Spencer (2013) and Body Shop business models in the retail sector. Conclusion Having reviewed the key factors within the macro level environment as presented in the PESTLE framework, it is possible to come to a number of conclusions in relating the model to Next and its UK operations. On the one hand, it would appear that the external environment is a significantly challenging one for Next with the prospect of further poor economic performance and a requirement to comply with what may be seen as a relatively tough legislative environment. However, the PESTLE factors would also seem to indicate that there are some large opportunities for Next in the UK. Such opportunities include the ability to borrow at low interest rates to fund capital expansion and increased opportunities to link technological developments to changes in the social fabric of society in order to drive more sales through web based platforms. Other factors such as changing technologies and increases in diversity may be seen as neither positive or negative intrinsically but still require some ch ange on the behalf of Next. Having reached these conclusions, the final opinion of the writer is that the external environment is essentially neutral for Next at the moment and that the success of the business will be largely dependent upon whether managers of the business capitalise upon the stated opportunities or allow the challenges to see Next becoming another casualty of the death of the high street. Bibliography Arnold, G. (2008). Corporate financial management. 4th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. BBC News. (2012). UK economy in double dip recession. 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Automobile Sector Analysis: Five Forces and SWOT Automobile Sector Analysis: Five Forces and SWOT 1. Overview of the automobile sector Five forces analysis Competitive Rivalry between Existing Players: High Competition between existing automobile companies is high. Although the automobile market was dominated by the three big auto manufacturers in US, Toyota and Honda in Japan, the situation is changed. With the growing demand in emerging market, the emerging competitors in China and India may drive an intensified price competition. However, the competition could also focus on the safety, warranty and financial services etc. Threat of New Entrants: Medium Although the entrant barrier is high for the automobile industry because the requirement of capital and technology, an increasing number of automobile manufacturers are emerging in China and Asia due to the economic expansion and growing demand. However, these automakers are in the development status and may not catch up the leading technology in Japan and US, so the threat from new entrants is medium. Threats of Substitutes: Low Customers could choose to switch to transportation means other than automobile such as bicycles, buses and subways. However, the automobile is still the favourite despite the relevant high cost than other mentioned transportation means because its flexibility, comfort and convenience. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Low In automobile industry, the component supplier has little bargaining power because the manufacturer could switch to other suppliers easily. On the other hand, the components are generally low value and the suppliers find it difficult to bargain with automakers. Bargaining Power of Customers: High The competition in the automobile industry is intense as mentioned above. So the customers have many choices on the brands and models. Customers care about the quality, price, safety, comfort, appearance of the car. Recently, customers are also more and more concerned about the environmental effect of the automobile and the energy efficiency. So the customers get more and more bargaining power in automobile industry. 2. Toyota Motor Company 2.1 Overview of the company Company profile Toyota Motor Corp. is one of the largest and leading automobiles manufacturers in the globe. It operates in three main business segments; the two biggest are automobile and financial services whereas the third one is comprised by many smaller other divisions. It is spread worldwide as it has 50 manufacturing facilities in 27 countries and regions Toyota designs, manufactures and sales passenger cars of several types and utilities, trucks, tractors and material handling equipment, minivans and other car accessories. Its products can be divided into 2 main categories, conventional and hybrid vehicles. The company sells its products under Toyota, Lexus, Hino and Daihatsu brands The company is also engaged in the financial industry as it provides financing to its customers and dealers. It is also involved in housing, marine, e-commercial, ITS and biotechnological activities. Toyota sells its vehicles in more than 170 countries and regions worldwide. Toyotas primary markets are Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. It is headquartered in Toyota City, Japan and employed around 316,121 people as on March 31, 2008 Strategy Analysis Toyotas strategy can be summarised under three key principles; growth, efficiency and stability. These are the three priorities the companys management will pursue to achieve future sustainable growth and increase the economic value. Growth will be achieved through continuous investment mainly in hybrid vehicle segment to meat the increasing demand. Efficiency is mainly focused on cost management and further reduction in order for the company to be able to provide high quality products in affordable prices and maintain its competitive advantages. Stability will be ensured by maintaining a solid financial base. Within the economic downturn it is important for Toyota to maintain sufficient liquidity in order to continue to finance its investments in research and development of new technologies, which is an integral and essential part of the companys advantages. Peer Group As Toyota operates in the global market its competitors come from all around the world. Its major competitors are BMW AG, DaimlerChrysler AG, Fiat S.p.A., Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Honda Motor Co. Ltd., PSA Peugeot, Renault S.A., Volkswagen AG and many others SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Strong overall financial performance Strong reputation and quality Strong position is Asian market Research and development Production pipeline system and cost management Diversified product portfolio Financial services are still undeveloped Huge expenses on pensions and post-retirement benefits Opportunities Threats Increasing demand for hybrid and environmental-friendly cars Expansion in emerging Asian markets Financial and other non-auto division development New car models Global economic crisis Strong competition in automotive industry Yen and US dollar exchange rates Tight environmental regulations on carbon emissions Problems with specific components of sold cars. (Recent brake problem) 2.1. Key Financials Analysis 31/3/2009 31/3/2008 31/3/2007 31/3/2006 31/3/2005 Sales 207,852.40 264,120.58 202,821.01 178,294.05 173,443.60 Operating Income -4,667.52 22,809.82 18,959.84 15,919.51 15,192.39 Net Income Available to Common -4,423.79 17,259.05 13,923.62 11,629.63 10,950.45 Total Assets 292,725.95 324,979.61 275,051.76 242,604.35 227,515.08 Total Liabilities 185,398.39 199,132.47 169,488.89 148,104.55 138,230.49 Common Equity 101,865.07 119,249.79 100,242.15 89,502.94 84,563.86 Net Cash Flow Operating Activities 14,724.7 26,357.6 27,783.5 22,136.2 22,144.6 * IMPORTANT First year to report losses * Stable increase in sales Decline in 2009 greatly affects income * Severe decrease in cash flow from operating activities, nearly 50% * Very big difference between sales and operating income points out severe cost expenses for the company. As this differences is constantly increasing it is not far from the truth to say that Toyota is gradually loosing its competitive advantages in cost efficiency against its competitors. * General trend in key financial s shows a steady and permanent increase until 2008 and a sharp decline in 2009, due to severe problems of economic recession and its great impact on automobiles industry. This trend applies for almost all financial s, pointing out that the companys performance as a whole followed a movement like this. 2.3. Multiples analysis 31/3/2009 31/3/2008 31/3/2007 31/3/2006 31/3/2005 Price To Earnings -22.43 9.19 14.74 15.25 11.23 Price To Book 0.97 1.32 2.04 1.97 1.44 Price To Cash Flow 7.41 4.83 7.83 7.80 5.87 Price To Sales 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.0 0.7 * Multiples follow companys general trend, namely increase until 2007 and then decreasing sharply * Consistent with overall picture of company, multiple analysis show the economic downturn of the entity from 2007 onwards * Point to mention: negative P/E ratio. Markets expectation about company looks really slim. The economic crisis, alongside with its severe problems generating income and its recently damaged reputation, create really unfortunate future prospects for Toyota. The negative P/E ratio and specifically its magnitude (-22) implies that nobody is neither willing to pay to buy the companys share nor expecting any profit generation. * Very sharp decline as well; 31.62 units is something extremely noticeable. If we focus on decline itself, it shows an extremely quick unfavorable turn of the market towards the company. 2.4. Companys performance 31/3/2009 31/3/2008 31/3/2007 31/3/2006 31/3/2005 Profitability Return on Equity -3.98 14.49 14.68 14.00 13.60 Operating Profit Margin -2.25 8.64 9.35 8.93 8.76 Asset Utilization Total Assets Turnover 0.71 0.81 0.74 0.73 0.76 Net Sales % Working Capital 28.93 180.70 1412.62 29.78 15.30 Gearing EBITDA / Interest Expense 20.94 86.19 77.33 153.70 146.20 Long Term Debt/ Common Equit 62.63 50.40 52.92 53.41 55.44 Valuation Investment Earnings Per Share -1.41 5.43 4.34 3.57 3.32 Dividend Yield Close 3.21 2.82 1.59 1.40 1.63 Liquidity Quick Ratio 0.81 0.77 0.76 0.81 0.87 Current Ratio 1.07 1.01 1.00 1.07 1.15 * Negative profitability in 2009 * Fluctuating sales/working capital as a result of fluctuation if investments (working capital) * Gearing increase in 2009 at the same time with high decrease of interest cover * Stable and quite low liquidity 2.5. Cash Flow analysis 31/3/2009 31/3/2008 31/3/2007 31/3/2006 31/3/2005 Cash Flow Operating Activities 14,724.7 26,357.6 27,783.5 22,136.2 22,144.6 Cash Flow Investing Activities (12,265.3) (34,254.0) (32,727.4) (29,704.4) (28,591.6) Cash Flow Financing Activities 6,967.4 6,242.7 7,565.6 7,716.8 3,917.0 Effect of exchange rates -1,294.04 -749.27 218.18 604.94 232.09 Net Cash Flow 8,132.86 -2,402.99 2,839.91 753.58 -2,297.85 * Severe decrease in cash flow from operating activities, nearly 50% which vividly affects its operating income * Extreme decrease in investing activities around 70%, probably caused by cash shortage and policy change. The company issued a new project with main goal to improve profits and cover operating expenses and as a result we see a large negative impact in new investments. * Financing activities exhibit a stationary trend over the past few years indicating the stable financial policy of the entity. * Adverse effects of exchange rates during the last two years indicating the risk the company runs because of the Yens depreciation to the U.S dollar and the Euro. 2.6. Stock Performance The companys share performance seems to move according to the index, with the trend to over perform it constantly. We can see the decline of the shares price, which started right before the end of 2008, following the global economic recession. At the turning point, which is in the beginning of 2009, we observe a relatively high trading volume, probably indicating the forthcoming upward movement. It is also really significant to point out the extreme high trading volume observed during the first months of 2010, followed by a new decline of the shares price. This reflects the problems that Toyota is facing nowadays. There is a considerable lack of trust from the market towards the company which is mainly caused by its severely damaged reputation and loss of quality. 3. Ford Motor Company 3.1 Overview of the company A . Company profile The group operates in two segments: Automotive and Financial Services. For the automotive segment which consists of Ford, Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo has a main operating activity in manufacturing, sale and service of component for cars and trucks. The Financial services segment is included of financing, insurance and leasing regarding to cars, trucks, industrial equipment, construction equipment and other activities. The company has operation in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia- Pacific. B. Strategy Analysis  · One Ford The Company has initiated the new strategy called â€Å"One Ford† which has detail as follow: o ONE TEAM focuses the significant of team work in order to reach the automotive leadership. The measurement is satisfactory of business partners, employees, investors, and related companies. o ONE PLAN: The four-step plan has been established which composed of: balance between cost structure and revenue; develop new product follow customer preference; develop balance sheet status and finance the plan; and cooperation around the world to leverage companys resources. o ONE GOAL: That is â€Å"to create an exciting and viable company with profitable growth for all†. Ford has started the restructuring business process before the economic crisis which the Company has reduced the excess capacity, closed some unprofitable plants and lower excess workforce. In addition, Ford has improved the product line in term of higher quality, more safety, use less energy and more economic. * Affordable Fuel Economy: Focusing on deliver fuel efficiency engine to the market. For example, the 2010 Ford Fusion is now Americas most fuel efficient midsize sedan for both the hybrid and conventional gasoline models. * Electrification strategy: plan to bring pure batteryelectric vehicles, next-generation hybrids and a plug-in hybrid to market quickly and more affordably over the next four years. * Safety leadership: Ford got totaling 16 models picked from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety which more than other brands. * EcoBoostâ„ ¢ Engine: delivers significant gains in fuel economy along with a great performance drive feel. C. Peer Group Fords peer group is Daimler AG, Fiat Spa ¸ Honda Motor Company Limited, Motors Liquidation Company, Nissan Motor Company Limited, Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG. D. Fords SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses l Wide geographic Operate throughout the world and has a strong market in North America, Europe and Asia. Sales of each region of 2008 are 49%, 39% and 12% respectively. The well diversified market of ford reduces the risk of economic problem in specific area. l Brand royalty Ford has renowned reputation about quality and also owns other renowned brands such as Lincoln, Mercury and Volvo. l Quality car Ford owns totaling 16 models of car that rated as safety car by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety l Product Recall Experienced many recalled products due to the quality of defective cruise control switch which may cause fire. Even though there is no fire cases reported but the Companys reputation is negative affected. l Negative operating result l Low gross margin GSKs long-term debt increased by 115.5% in 2008, which may lead to problems such as heavy interest payment, risk of having too little working capital and even increasing possibilities of bankruptcy. l Too much long-term debt This may lead to problems such as heavy interest payment, risk of having too little working capital and even increasing possibilities of bankruptcy. Opportunities Threats l Expanding market in emerging market Ford has a plan to expand its sale in the emerging market which has great buying power in the future. l Eco-friendly engine Ford has high reputation in the eco-friendly engine such as hybrid engine which has very promising market. l Fuel efficiency Ford found another opportunity in the market for fuel-efficient in small and middle car. l High competition Due to new competitor, lower demand and excess capacity. l Economic crisis Economic crisis and regression in USA where is the main market of Ford caused severe effect to the Company. 3.2. Key Financial Analysis Source: ThomsonFinancial Scaling Factor : 1,000,000 USD Currency: USD 12/31/08 12/31/07 12/31/06 12/31/05 12/31/04 Net Sales or Revenues 146,277.00 172,455.00 160,123.00 177,089.00 171,652.00 Operating Income 3,518.00 8,031.00 -8,167.00 7,010.00 10,681.00 Earnings Before Interest And Taxes (EBIT) -4,885.00 6,792.00 -6,689.00 9,354.00 11,669.00 Interest Expense On Debt 9,682.00 10,927.00 8,783.00 7,643.00 7,071.00 Net Income Available to Common -14,681.00 -2,764.00 -12,615.00 2,441.00 3,634.00 Total Assets 215,773.00 276,459.00 275,337.00 264,891.00 294,447.00 ST Debt Current Portion of LT Debt 63,972.00 61,052.00 62,456.00 59,904.00 66,433.00 Long Term Debt 90,716.00 107,478.00 109,593.00 94,428.00 106,540.00 Total Liabilities 231,889.00 269,410.00 277,643.00 250,812.00 277,525.00 Common Equity -17,311.00 5,628.00 -3,465.00 12,957.00 16,045.00  · Net sales decreased from 2007 about 15% as the economic crisis in the State which is the main market of Ford. The Company has had substantial losses from operation since 2006.  · Ford has high outstanding of long-term loan which may causes liquidity deficiency or bankruptcy if the Company still has continuously loss in the future.  · As a result of net losses from operation since 2006, Ford has had negative shareholders equity since then. 3.3. Multiples Analysis MONTHLY HISTORICAL MARKET PRICES Y2008 Y2007 Y2006 Y2005 Y2004 January 6.64 8.13 8.58 13.17 14.54 February 6.53 7.91 7.97 12.65 13.75 March 5.72 7.89 7.96 11.33 13.57 April 8.26 8.04 6.95 9.11 15.36 May 6.80 8.34 7.16 9.98 14.85 June 4.81 9.42 6.93 10.24 15.65 July 4.80 8.51 6.67 10.74 14.72 August 4.46 7.81 8.37 9.97 14.11 September 5.20 8.49 8.09 9.86 14.05 October 2.19 8.87 8.28 8.32 13.03 November 2.69 7.51 8.13 8.13 14.18 December 2.29 6.73 7.51 7.72 14.64 . 5 Year 5 Year VALUATION Y2008 Y2007 Y2006 Y2005 Y2004 Y2003 Growth Rate Average P/E Ratio (High) -1.36 -6.93 -1.41 12.94 9.63 34.66 -1.04 2.57 P/E Ratio (Low) -0.16 -4.75 -0.90 6.64 7.01 13.16 -1.01 P/E Ratio (Close) -0.35 -4.81 -1.12 6.77 8.13 32.00 -1.01 1.73 Price/Sales 0.04 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.18 0.18 -0.80 0.10 Price/Book Value -0.32 2.62 -4.14 1.14 1.74 2.62 -3.94 0.21 Price/Cash Flow 0.44 1.24 1.76 0.70 1.11 1.35 -0.67 1.05 Price/Working Capital 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.16 7.78 TARenderChart.png * P/E ratio turned to be negative since net losses from operation since 2006 and also the market price has continuously decreased from 8.58 in the beginning of 2006 to 2.29 at the end of 2008. * P/B ratio had negative value in 2008 from the negative book value of Ford. 3.4. Companys performance Worldscope Currency: USD PROFITABILITY RATIOS 12/31/08 12/31/07 12/31/06 12/31/05 12/31/04 Return On Invested Capital 0.25 1.92 1.95 2.95 3.32 Operating Profit Margin 2.43 2.94 3.12 5.02 6.54 ASSETS UTILIZATION RATIOS Asset Turnover 0.63 0.60 0.59 0.59 0.58 Net Sales Pct Working Capital 10.62 6.21 5.68 11.06 41.64 LEVERAGE RATIOS EBITDA / Interest Expense -0.50 0.62 -0.76 1.22 1.65 LT Debt Pct Common Equity -76.88 233.49 316.38 1,268.12 1,229.66 LIQUIDITY RATIOS Quick Ratio 1.05 1.08 1.12 1.08 1.03 Current Ratio 1.21 1.25 1.30 1.25 1.19  · Profitability ratios do not show the good performance as Ford has had net loss from operation since 2006.  · Leverage ratios also go in the same trends as a result of negative equity and high outstanding balance of long-term loan.  · Liquidity ratios present that Ford still can generate cash to supply its working capital but if consider to the long-term debts Ford may cannot provide enough cash to support its debt payment since these ratios are still in the low range compared with its debt outstanding amount. 3.5. Cash flow analysis Source: ThomsonFinancial Scaling Factor : 1,000,000 USD Currency: USD 12/31/08 12/31/07 12/31/06 12/31/05 12/31/04 Net Cash Flow From Operating Activities -179.00 17,074.00 9,609.00 21,674.00 22,591.00 Net Cash Flow From Investing Activities 3,143.00 6,457.00 24,862.00 -7,462.00 8,567.00 Long Term Borrowings 42,163.00 33,113.00 58,258.00 24,559.00 22,223.00 Inc(Dec) In ST Borrowings -5,120.00 919.00 -5,825.00 -8,591.00 4,937.00 Reduction In Long Term Debt 46,299.00 39,431.00 36,601.00 36,080.00 36,021.00 Net Cash Flow From Financing Activities -9,104.00 -5,242.00 15,273.00 -20,651.00 -14,226.00  · The Company cannot generated sufficient cash from operation and had negative net cash flow from operation. Moreover the Company had to pay interest expenses for loans and had high net cash paid for financing activity. 3.6. Stock market performance  · Ford shares have been traded lower than SP500 since 2001 until 2010. Especially since 2006 that the operating results had continuous substantial losses. 4. Honda Motor Company Limited 4.1. Introduction Honda Motor is one of leading automobile manufacturers in the world. The company develops, manufactures and markets automobiles, motorcycles and power products. The company also provides financing services to the dealer and customer for the sale of products. Honda has global operations in areas including North, South and Central America, Asia, Middle East, and Europe with its headquarter at Tokyo in Japan. Strategy analysis Honda Motor has three strategies. They are â€Å"Staying Close to Customers†, â€Å"glocalization† and â€Å"five region strategy†. Staying close to customers mean the maintenance of the qualities of a small company, Provide value product with flexibility and efficiency as a small company does and maintain global reach and technology advantage as a large company does is the drive to the future growth of Honda. Glocalization means the effort to launch subsidiaries in regions that could best meet the demand of local customers and expand the subsidiaries as the local demand increases. Five region strategy requires the operations focus on five areas the world. They are North America, South America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, Asia/Oceania and Japan. The management decisions are served to suit the situation in different areas. The advanced RD capacity equips the Honda to provide flexible products to adjust the need of these regions. Business activities The company operates through four business segments: the automobile business, motorcycle business, financial services, and power products. The automobiles business division manufactures passenger cars, multi-wagons, minivans, port utility vehicle, sports coupe and mini vehicles. Hondas automobiles use gasoline engines of three, four or six-cylinder, diesel engines and gasoline-electric hybrid systems. Honda also offers alternative fuel-powered vehicles such as natural gas, ethanol, and fuel cell vehicles. In 2008, the company sold 3,925,000 units of automobiles. The motorcycle business produces a range of motorcycles, including scooters, electric-motor-assisted bicycles, sports bikes and large touring cycles. Hondas motorcycles use gasoline engines developed by Honda that are air or water cooled, two or four cycled, and single, two, four or six cylinder. In 2008, the company sold a total of 9,320,000 units of motorcycles. Honda offers a variety of financial services to its customers and dealers through its widespread finance subsidiaries. Hondas power products manufactures a variety of power products including power tillers, portable generators, general purpose engines, grass cutters, outboard engines, water pumps, snow throwers, power carriers, power sprayers, lawn mowers and lawn tractors (riding lawn mowers). Honda also manufactures the major components and parts used in its products, including engines, frames and transmissions. Peer Group The globalization of the Honda motor makes it face the global intense competition. The competitors include Ford Motor, Nissan Motor, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen etc.(in the automobile sector) and Yamaha Motor, Harley-Davidson etc.(in the motor vehicle industry). SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses l Global diversification The company operates a total of 397 subsidiaries, and 104 affiliates all over the world. l Leading market position and good brand image Honda is one of the largest vehicle and motorcycle manufacturers over the world with strong brand strength. l Strong Research and Development capacity The large investment in RD could equip Honda the capability to differentiate itself in the intense competitive market. l Declining Market Share in Sector Evident of decline in unit sales and lost of market shares in the automobile industry. l Low employee productivity Honda has a weak proportion on the number of employees and the revenues. Opportunities Threats l Growing demand in Asian market Honda has taken measures to occupy the huge potential Asian market. l Growing demand in hybrid electric vehicles The companys emphasis on hybrid technology innovation will capture market trends as an opportunity to enhance its market share. l Global competition The competition would result in price pressure and thus reduce the profitability. l Tightening emission regulations The emission standards will cause Honda to occur more costs in product development, testing and manufacturing process design. 4.2. Key Financials Analysis Source: ThomsonFinancial Currency: JPY Scaling Factor : 1000000 JPY 31/3/2009 31/3/2008 31/3/2007 31/3/2006 31/3/2005 Sales 10,011,241.00 12,002,834.00 11,087,140.00 9,907,996.00 8,650,105.00 Operating Income 189,643.00 953,109.00 851,879.00 730,889.00 630,920.00 Net Income Available to Common 137,005.00 600,039.00 592,322.00 597,033.00 486,197.00 Total Assets 11,579,494.00 12,439,610.00 11,964,917.00 10,533,995.00 9,187,808.00 Total Liabilities 7,449,150.00 7,753,539.00 7,359,399.00 6,320,785.00 5,828,513.00 Common Equity 4,007,288.00 4,544,265.00 4,482,611.00 4,125,750.00 3,289,294.00 Net Cash Flow Operating Activities 383641 1126918 904525 576557 746624 l The operating income reduces dramatically, approximately 80% from the previous years result. This result is caused by the severe decline in the sales and the consequently increase in inventory cost. l Before 2009, all the s are in a healthy and steady upward trend. But in the fiscal year ended at 31st march 2009, the volumes all experienced a dramatic decline. They are caused by the sales plunge. l The declines trends are due to the economic recession caused by the financial crisis because the demand in Japan, US and Europe shrank. The automobile industry faces a severe challenge and most companies in the sector reported unsatisfactory results. 4.3. Multiple analysis 31/3/2009 31/3/2008 31/3/2007 31/3/2006 31/3/2005 Price To Earnings 30.7 8.6 10.3 Price To Book 1.0 1.1 1.6 1.5 Price To Cash Flow 4.6 4.2 6.8 Price To Sales 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.7 0.6 l Although the P/E ratio increases significantly, its not a good sign. The increase in P/E ratio is not due to the high expectation of the investors and the fundamentals such as growth opportunities. Instead, the soaring P/E is the result of the plummeting earnings to common shareholders. l The price to book ratio and price to sales declined in 2008 and 2009, indicating the declining