Continental Europe seeks to combine flexibility with security in its Essay

Continental Europe seeks to combine flexibility with security in its relations with the workforce via a range of measures one of - Essay Example But the criticisms of the policy direct towards the fact that the diversities present at the national level leads to the decline of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that flexicurity model proposes (Muffels, 2008, p.386). The Union has taken various measures for the establishment of the same but question still arise regarding its effectiveness with the outburst of the worst financial crisis in 2008 after the Great Depression in 1930 (Flexicurity: Europe's employment solution?, 2008). The paper will be discussing the flexicurity approach adapted by the European Union along with the discussion of its principles and objectives and with special focus on Germany and Denmark. Highlight will be also given on the youth unemployment problem with reference to the Viking, Laval and Ruffert cases discussing the protection measures of the other countries with respect to the benefits in compliance with Art 3 and 49 of the EC treaty which focuses on the right to establish in any state o r that of single market and rights of provision of services across the European Union. Now the subsequent section will be dealing with the concept of flexicurity. 2. Notion of flexicurity In today’s labor market there is a requirement of rigorous levels of flexibility and adaptability both in the interest of the employers as well as the employees for anticipating and responding to the demands of the market (Flexicurity Pathways, 2007, p.3). The crux of flexicurity is an emerging concept in the European Union and has been considered as a significant approach in the labor market and within the employment paradigm (EU Council: Common 'flexicurity' principles adopted, 2008). The policy has been first generated in the Nordic countries for the purpose of solving European Union’s employment paradox. From the studies of Wilthagen and Rogowski in the year 2002 it gets revealed that flexicurity is regarded as the policy that directs towards a synchronized platform that boosts la bor market flexibilities, work organizations as well as labor relations with security provision for the weak group of people inside and outside the labor market. The authors highlight that flexibility and security can be achieved through focus on coordination. They stress that initial jolt will be derived from the macro level actors like government and social partners. Implementation will be established on all levels of the economy with different means of flexibility complementing each other with corresponding varied security forms (Meyer, 2009, p.87). From the early 2000s, the European Union policy of flexicurity included an amalgamation of easy hiring and firing rules benefiting the unemployed and following a pro labor market policy (Flexicurity: Europe's employment solution?, 2008). 3. Underlying principles of flexicurity The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has been established in the year 1975 working on the area of working co nditions, living conditions and industrial relation ( Agencies and other European bodies, n.d.). The EU body while drafting policies limited itself while applying flexicurity policies with some common principles. The common principles which the flexicurity model proposes is

The impact of the financial crisis on the airline industry Essay

The impact of the financial crisis on the airline industry - Essay Example Nonetheless, an economic crisis occurred in between the year 2000 and 2001. Within this period, Turkey faced one of the worst economic turmoil, with the unemployment rate reaching over 11%. In addition, the Turkey government borrowed an additional 23 billion dollars (Reinhart &Â  Rogoff, 2009). This paper will analyze the impact of the financial crisis on the airline industry, focusing on Turkish Airlines. The Aviation sector is expanding by day with progressing technologies and economies. Developments on aviation sector affect airlines operations. The Airline industry or sector is connected with international trade laws or policies. The Turkish Airline sector is growing fast and has a large significance to economic progress. Their international and countrywide financial crisis also had a tremendous impact on Turkish Airlines. At the period of the financial crisis, Turkish Airlines was faced with decreased air travels, massive retrenchment of workers, among others. This also contrib uted to the economy of Turkey becoming delicate, not only domestically, but also internationally (Rigas, 2001). Not only, did the financial crisis affect Turkish Airlines and its workers, it also affected businesses that were depending on the Airline services, for example, tourism and shipment of goods from Turkey to other areas. Turkish Airlines is the Turkish national transporter airline in Turkey. Turkish Airline headquarters is situated in the capital city, Istanbul, at Ataturk Airport. Turkish Airlines offers its air travelling services to over two hundred and four domestic and international destinations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. In addition, Turkish Airline offers its carrier services to an additional ninety one countries (Rigas, 2002). This makes its destination system from one area the largest in the whole world. Turkish Airline’s central station is Ataturk International Airport. Turkish Airlines has been on the rise since 2006. The number of passenge rs using Turkish Airline increased from 17million passengers in 2006 to 29 million passengers in 2010, earning over $15 million dollars over the five years. A report released in 2011 showed the airline had employed 18,188 workers. Turkish Airline has also been a constituent of the Star Alliance network from 2008. Turkish Airline also co-owned B&H Airlines, AnadoluJet, North Cyprus Airlines, SunExpress, and Cyprus Turkish Airlines. Turkish airline has been affected by financial crises since the olden days. Turkish Airlines suffered financial losses between 1987 and 1988, mainly because of significant expenditure on its numerous new Airbuses. This is according to a report released by Air Transport World. The fleet of airplanes also comprised DC-9s and Boeings. Turkish Airlines finished the period with less than 10,000 airline workers. In addition, after the Persian Gulf War, Turkish Airlines also suffered in the world wide economic crisis (Rigas, 2002). Nonetheless, Turkish Airlines g ot back on its feet in the middle of 1990s. The largest contribution to its financial development came from destination in North America. Turkish Airlines capital continued to increase, attaining the 10 trillion mark, in 1995. During the same year, Turkish Airline had switched some of its Boeing to cargo planes. Turkish Airline attained a $6 million profit within the same year. Nonetheless, Turkish Airline had to compete with the extreme inflation of the country due to

Goals Statement Essay Example for Free

Goals Statement Essay When I first sat down to write my educational goals statement, I thought it would be easy. I am an extremely goal oriented person, with my entire life being spent focusing on â€Å"what’s next†. So, how difficult could it be to simply write down those goals? When I began writing, however, I discovered it was going to be a little more difficult than I anticipated. I realized that it may be possible to have too many goals. My list was long and confusing with some goals very specific, and others vague. I thought to myself, how can I produce a smart goals statement out of this? So I re-evaluated my list and discovered that my goals could actually be divided into three predictable categories: immediate goals, short-term goals, and long-term goals. I decided then to choose one from each category to focus on for this report. My immediate goals were fairly general, but all related to my success as a student, so my main goal as student is to get an A in all of my online subjects, and this is a goal that I will go reaching slowly, day by day over the course of this course and in my following online courses. I feel a little intimidated when taking these online courses because my native language is Spanish and having to study in English is an extra challenge for me but I know that with effort and dedication I will get the A that I’m hoping for.

The Lexical Approach And Collocations

The Lexical Approach And Collocations Collocations are words which if combined together, sound right to native English speakers. Eg: Fast food. Any other combination may sound wrong and unnatural. Eg: quick food. Collocations are not words which we put together. They co-occur naturally. Collocation is the way in which words co-occur in natural text in statistically significant ways. (Lewis, Teaching Collocation 2000:132). For Thornbury, collocation is a continuum that moves from compound words (second-hand), through lexical chunks (bits and pieces), including idioms (out of the blue) and phrasal verbs (do up), to collocations of more or less fixedness (set a new world record) (Thornbury S. 2002, How to teach vocabulary, Longman). Collocations have different strengths: Weak and Strong collocations. Weak collocations involve words which can co-occur with many other words. E.g: Red shirt. They can apply the colour red to many other words eg: red car, red door. Strong collocations have words which almost never occur separately such as the collocation: spick and span and rancid butter. There are also Unique collocations e.g, shrug shoulders. These are unique because the verb (shrug) is not used with any other noun. Medium-strength collocations: Hold a conversation, a minor operation. Hill argued that medium-strength collocations are most important for the ESL classroom. (Lewis, M., 2000: 63) Thornbury widens the definition of collocation, saying that collocation is not a frozen relationship and two collocates may even be separated from each other, eg: lay off: The company is laying more workers off. Lewis and other writers divide collocations into two types: grammatical collocation and lexical collocation. (Lewis2000) Grammatical Collocation: Eg: step into In the example above, a verb collocates with a preposition. Therefore grammatical collocations are lexical words such as an adjective, verb or noun (in our case step), which are combined with a grammatical word (preposition into). Lexical Collocation: Eg: black coffee Lexical collocations are items where two lexical words regularly and naturally occur together. Bahns (ELTJ 47/1 1993) stated that although some lexical collocations are quite direct and obvious in their meaning, others are not. In our example, black coffee clearly indicates that there is no milk in the coffee but Bahns states that collocations which are not direct eg: lay off are the ones which cause the most problems to non-native speakers since their meaning are hidden. The importance of collocations in L2 learning: Many agree that collocations are important in language learning. James Carl (1998) stated that using collocations correctly contributes greatly to ones idiomaticity and nativelikeness. 6 Lewis stated that fluency is based on the acquisition of a large store of fixed or semi-fixed prefabricated items. 7 Sonaiya (1988) went even further, saying that lexical errors are more serious because effective communication depends on the choice of words. 8 Collocations, are found in most of what we say, hear, read or write. All of these fixed expressions are stored and memorised; ready to be used when needed. If we want to retrieve these ready-to-use phrases, lexical items must be aqcuired first by being exposed to, hearing and reading them for a number of times. In theory, good quality input might lead to good quality retrieval. This in return will help learners to be more fluent because they can recognise multi-word units rather than word by word. A lexical item, which is any item that functions as a single meaning unit, regardless of its different derived forms, or of the number of words that make it, has an important role in learning a language. (Thornbury, An A-Z of ELT (Oxford: Macmillan, 2006), pg120). The importance of collocations in L2 learning was a concept that the Lexical Approach had proposed. The Lexical Approach and collocations: The lexical approach encourages learners to identify and learn collocations as lexical items rather than individual words. For example: catch a cold, is seen as a single unit of meaning (or multi-word unit) and not as three individual words with three individual meanings. According to Schmidt (CUP,2000), having words in lexical phrases rather than individually, reflects the way the mind stores and chunks language to make it easier to process. The lexical approach influenced the way we perceive lexis, the way we teach it and how we encourage learners to learn it . Vocabulary choice in language, is not haphazard but predictable. Lewis gives an example of drinking, telling us that the speaker may use the verb have. The listener can predict several words which collocate with it: tea, coffee,orange juice etc. But on the other hand, the listener does not predict words like shampoo. 9 One of the beliefs behind the Lexical Approach is that language is not made up of only traditional vocabulary and grammar but prefabricated multi-word chunks. In other words, language consists of grammaticalized lexis and not lexicalized grammar. Rather than having a syllabus which is only grammar based, the lexical approach emphasises that lexis should be at the centre of language learning. The lexical approach posits that an essential part of acquiring language is to comprehend and produce lexical chunks. These chunks help learners to make patterns of language traditionally thought of as grammar (Lewis,The Lexical Approach 1993, p. 95). _____________________________________________________________________________________ 6James, Carl. (1998). Errors in language learning and use. London: Longman. 7 Lewis, M. (1997). Implementing the lexical approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications. 8 Sonaiya, C. (1988). The lexicon in second language acquisition: A lexical approach to error analysis. PhD Thesis. Cornell University. 9, 10 Lewis, Michael, Teaching Collocation (Hove: Language Teaching Publications, 2000) pg5 Different types of Collocation: Taken from Howert (1996), Carter(1987) and Mc.Carthy ODell(2005), here are types of collocations: Free Combination The verbs can collocate with many words to form different meanings. Example: make: I will make it clear from the beginning (make something clear) I will make him happy (make happy) In this case, they may consist of modal verbs such as make,do, have, get,take + any type of word. Restricted Combination These collocations are typically nouns, adjectives or verbs which go to together with particular words. Using other words with them make them sound incorrect to the native speaker. (i) Adjective + noun: E.g: Her condition was a major problem. (ii) Adverb + verb: E.g: He cheekily replied: I dont care! (iii) Verb + noun: E.g: Weve decided to move house. (iv) Noun + verb: E.g: The brakes screeched as he tried to stop the car. (v) Noun + noun: Usually these collocations have the pattern a.of E.g: She was holding a #basket of eggs. Delexicalised Verbs: Every language has basic verbs which are frequently used. The English language is no exception and we can find various frequent verbs (Svartvik and Ekedahl 1995) (The Verb in Contemporary English: Theory and Description, CUP 1995): Do Make Have Take Go Get E.g: It is interesting to note that these high frequency verbs in the examples are often used as Delexicalised Verbs. These delexicalised verbs have meaning when combined with other words. In other words de-lexicalised verbs have little meaning alone but if joined together with other words, they can generate a wider variety of new meanings: Eg: do your best make room have lunch take a shower go for a walk get dressed Delexicalised verbs make do What is interesting about these two verbs is that, Mc.Carthy ODell (2005:6) describe these two verbs as everyday verbs and dedicate a whole page on make and do. This clearly shows that they are very high frequency verbs in English and they probably cause a lot of confusion to learners as well! In their books index, both verbs have more than 60 different collocates each. The verbs make and do in fact like many high frequency verbs, enters into numerous collocations and idioms. Language Chunking: Make your bed! is a chunking of two words: Verb+Noun (Make + bed). This delexicalised verb is a language chunk which is a pre-fabricated language item in a formulaic way, which is then stored as a single lexical unit (and not two individual units). By storing as a single lexical unit, it is believed to quicken the mental processing of the speaker when speaking, reading and when acquiring language. The reason why it quickens this mental processing when producing language is because rather than having to connect individual word units together one by one (do and bed), the speaker can retrieve the chunk needed at one go and reduce mental processing time. Language chunking therefore is believed to help language fluency by combining other chunks to create longer ready-to-use phrases. I tend to agree with this core belief of the Lexical Approach because when I give a phrase to learners such as: Make a list of things or Remember to do your homework learners seem to retrieve and use these given ready-to-use phrases correctly to create their own sentences and meanings. Once learners understand the meaning behind the phrase, they store it in their mental lexicon. If used regularly, there is a high possibility it will help fluencycy and reduce mental processing time when speaking. Problems learners have with delexicalised verbs: Although they come naturally to native speakers, collocations formed with delexicalised verbs can be rather tricky. Some of the main problems that low level learners experience are as follows: (go to 11. Coll pg4) (12.Coll pg4) They have never been exposed to or made aware of collocations in their learning experiences. Learners often have problems with these verbs because they try to find a general meaning. They often struggle to find the right collocation, often translating possible equivalents from their own language. E.g: make a photo. Learners find it difficult to memorize collocations because they are arbitrary. Teachers are partly to blame because as Carter and McCarthy point out, vocabulary study has been neglected by linguists, applied linguists and language teachers'(1988: 1). Therefore teachers need to present collocations such as delexicalised verbs to learners to help them become more and more familiar with the different uses of make and do for example. In fact, McCarthy tells us that in vocabulary teaching there is a high importance of collocation (1990:12). The way collocation teaching is neglected in ESL classroom and the insufficient input of the target language may be a reason why learners lack a knowledge of collocation. One reason why teachers do not give such importance to collocation is because they feel safer when they teach grammar because they feel they know the rules and can explain them. Collocations are arbitrary and this leads us to the second problem: Collocations are arbitrary and are decided by convention instead of rules. Many learners have been exposed to learning languages in a systematic way i.e there is an explanation, rules and reasoning behind each grammar point eg: the first conditional: [ if + present simple], [will + infinitive]. Because they are used to learning languages in a grammatical way, learners find it difficult to accept that some words collocate while others do not and that there is no reason for this other than it is what native speakers say. Many learners ask me Why cant I say make a photo instead of take a photo? I used to feel rather unprofessional having to say because thats the way it is. Now I say: because take goes together with a photo make does not. That is the way language is naturally and natively spoken as I have already commented in section A. In fact, McCarthy said that knowledge of collocational appropriacy is part of native speakers competence. (McCarthy, M.1990Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.1990:13). Therefore, being aware of collocations and accepting them as a window to the natural way of speaking the language is essential in learning a language. One has to admit that some are not so easy to learn. In fact, Benson (1985) clearly stated that collocations are arbitrary and non-predictable, so much so that even native speakers sometimes have to double check before deciding if a word collocates with a particular word or not. When learners are confronted with collocations like to make a mistake, learners resort to translation from L1 to understand why we use make and not do as in many other languages. However this leads to misuse of the collocation or creation of word combinations which are non-existant in English. Eg: My Italian learners sometimes say do a mistake because in their language they only have one verb, fare, which resembles make or do. Literally translated, fare una torta is do a cake from Italian to English. Lexical verbs such as make or do require memorising whole lists of words that can collocate with them. I sympathise with learners, who have to face many complicated and difficult lexicalised verbs, which have meaning differences in various contexts. Furthermore, combinations of delexicalised words are less likely to explain clearly what they mean in translation and thus are more error-prone in learner language (Lewis 1993, Nesselhauf 2005). When my learners tell me: its impossible to learn all of these phrases by heart!, I have to admit that I understand them. Collocation books like McCarthy ODells English Collocations In Use (CUP:2005), present the delexicalised verbs make and do in a way that makes a learner feel that he/she has to learn the phrases by heart. A similiar example of such a list is one below: To make an apology To do your homework To make a cake To do the dishes To make breakfast To do the laundry To make your bed To do your best To make a list To do your nails and hair To make a mistake To do the ironing, washing, cooking, etc. To make plans To do a job Learners need ways to remember the meanings of the lexicalised verbs as the ones above. It is difficult enough trying to think of grammar needed, word syntax, vocabulary and so on when trying to construct a sentence in L2 learning, let alone trying to remember and above all retrieve the right collocation needed. Problems learners have with delexicalised verbs: Making learners aware of delexicalised verbs: By helping learners to notice collocation, they can acquire vocabulary building skills eg: ability to list and categorize lexis. It also encourages them to become autonomous learners. One way of helping learners develop the habit of paying attention to chunks, rather than just individual words, when reading is by helping them make informed guesses about what word goes with do or make. Inside Out Elementary (Macmillan:16) presents a day in the life ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a man and a woman. Having guessed who does what, learners read the text to check if they guessed correctly. The text includes a lot of collocations with make or do. Learners then are asked to form common expressions with make or do from the text: The most homework the beds The shopping dinner The washing up the most noise Learners have a speaking practice with make or do by saying who does or makes what in the house, using the same prompts given in the above exercise. Eg: My mother does the shopping and we make our beds etc Trying to make sense of make and do: Although it is not easy to learn collocations of make and do, McCarthy ODell in English Collocations in Use (CUP2005: 18) present us with some of the most common phrases with these two delexicalised verbs. In fact they call them Everyday verbs. It includes a list of collocations of make and do and an example on the side. Eg: Collocation Example Make an excuse Im too tired to go out tonight. Lets make an excuse and stay home! Do your hair Im not ready! I havent done my hair yet! To practice them, I would cut out the collocations and examples into separate strips. In pairs, learners would then have to try to put the example and collocation together, by trying to make sense of them. Once they have been corrected in class, I would give them a questionnaire from Collocations in Use (pg19). Having been exposed to the collocations needed in the previous activity, they have to fill in the question with either do or make, answer it and then go round and ask the questions to their classmates. Trying to find the right collocation to use: To help learners practice and be a bit more confident in their use of collocations, I like to use an activity which Lewis proposed in Teaching Collocation (Hove:112). Basically learners have to put in the missing verb in the collocations. This will help them to minimize their mistakes as our Italians made: I do a mistake. ..a mistake 2. .your homework a statement your hair an observation what you have to do Alternatively, I can give the activity some context by giving learners the activity found on page 100 in Language to go Intermediate. Here learners have to complete the text using make or do. This will help them to see how the collocation is used in a context. Helping them to remember the collocations: To recall what theyve learnt, learners need remember what theyve learnt. Thornbury 3 states that learning is remembering, which clearly shows how important memory is in learning a language. The same principle applies to collocations. One way of helping learners to remember the collocations is by revising them as much as possible . one particular activity that I like to use to recycle collocations that were met in class is Run n Grab. I divide learners into teams and I read out the end of the collocation eg: an apology. I write down Do and Make on the board. Learners have to run to the board to circle which one they think goes with the ending of my collocation. Whoever gets most points wins. Conclusion: Personally, I feel that the lexical approach has taught me a lot about vocabulary. Rather than seeing vocabulary as individual items, I can now help my learners with vocabulary by using chunks. In this case, collocations which are in themselves chunks, are essential in language learning. By frequently exposing, raising -consciousness and helping them to memorize collocations, I feel that I am appreciating more the importance of lexis in language learning.

Making Iowa State University a Better Place for International Students :: Education Learning Foreign Students Essays

Making Iowa State University a Better Place for International Students English is a second language for most people outside of the United States of America. In Hong Kong for example, the Chinese start to learn English in kindergarten. Chinese children learn the spelling and the grammar of the English language but of course one must live in the culture to be fully educated of the language. There are many slang words and new vocabulary that are not taught in the schools however. Winnie Yue, a freshman at Iowa State University, found this out fairly quickly after going to her first class. She has taken all of her courses at Iowa State University before in Hong Kong, but the language barrier is providing her with many difficulties. She mentions how the professors use these unfamiliar words not realizing that non-Americans may not know what they mean. These days you will see Winnie carrying a dictionary to every one of her classes. Miss Yue feels that if she had other Chinese students that could help her with her understanding of these words she would have an easier time with her courses and her homework. She feels Iowa State University should help her with her problem. I propose that Iowa State University should establish a team of workers who will supply international students with names of other international students of the same culture, a set time to socialize, and a set place to gather. This new program will help them with their homesickness as well as helping them with the language barrier and also the culture change. Iowa State already has an organization established that is a voluntary program, which matches international students with Americans. This program is called the Conversational English Program, but it needs to be improved drastically. In this program, American volunteers are supposed to have conversations about the American culture and life in general. It is supposed to help international students with the culture change and their English speaking skills. The program however is not widely used. The problem may be due to the fact that a student must find this organization on their own. Iowa State's new program would eliminate this situation by having the student already set up with the other international student before their first classes start. The Conversational English Program is, in my opinion, a good start to what should be a widely used establishment.

Electrolux Acquiring Zanussi Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursewo

Electrolux Acquiring Zanussi Electrolux: The Acquisition and Integration of Zanussi 1) How would you describe the key characteristics of Electrolux and Zanussi in 1983, in terms of strategy, organization, capabilities, and performance? International acquisitions have become an extremely important vehicle for growth for multinational companies. In this case, and because of the particular industry in which Electrolux operated in, the trend of the whole appliance industry was facing a long period of crisis. Although Electrolux was and still is one of the largest manufacturers of white appliances, many other manufacturers were now taking market share away from the Swedish company. For example, Philips and Siemens were now introducing a complete and economic line of brand new appliances. Electrolux's core business was vacuum cleaners and absorption-type refrigerators. Electrolux was and still is the typical Swedish firm, which emphasizes on down to earth management: everyone works and keeps his word and all the information is correct. The firm emphasis on technology and advancement and the middle management is open to advises from the workers. But at the core of Electrolux business strategy was the aggressive plan to expand through acquisitions. First, Electrolux concentrated on acquiring firms in the Scandinavian Area. Then the company continued focusing in purchasing companies that had assets but were not profitable so that they could turn their business around. After making more than 200 acquisitions in 40 countries, Electrolux was certainly one of the most experienced companies on the global scene as far as acquisition. But another important aspect of Electrolux, which helped them, maintaining leadership was the company's great flexibility concerning new products and especially their attitude towards that company which excelled in some business where Electrolux was weaker. The greatest example of this was when the company purchased Husqvarna, a chain saw manufacturer, and how in little time, through this wise take over, Electrolux found itself as the world leader in chain saw manufacturers. Electrolux never went looking for acquisition or bankrupt companies; their policy was to keep their eyes open that things will come by themselves. When Electrolux was ready to acquire a company, the financial statements of that company were very important. ... ...on products, ranging from refrigerators to vacuum cleaners to chain saws, in more than 150 countries. After 1988, Electrolux acquired more companies, not only for product expansion but also for expansion in emerging markets. Electrolux grew steadily and its sales amount to SEK117 billion in 1999 comparing to 67 billion in 1987. Electrolux signed an agreement with sharp to sell its products in the Japanese market. In 1990 they expanded its presence in the US outdoor product market by acquiring Allegretti & Co. In 1991 they also acquire Lehel, a Hungarian white goods company, and they introduce the low energy line of refrigerators. By this date Leif Johansson is appointed president. 1994 was the 75th birthday for Electrolux. In 1996 they expanded in Brasil by acquiring Refripar and the next year the company announced a major restructuring plan with the purpose of improving its profitability. By 1998, Electrolux got out of the business of sewing machines, agricultural implements, interior decorating equipment, kitchen and bathroom cabinets and heavy-duty laundry equipment. Now, Electrol ux core business consists of household appliances, professional appliances and outdoor products. Electrolux Acquiring Zanussi Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursewo Electrolux Acquiring Zanussi Electrolux: The Acquisition and Integration of Zanussi 1) How would you describe the key characteristics of Electrolux and Zanussi in 1983, in terms of strategy, organization, capabilities, and performance? International acquisitions have become an extremely important vehicle for growth for multinational companies. In this case, and because of the particular industry in which Electrolux operated in, the trend of the whole appliance industry was facing a long period of crisis. Although Electrolux was and still is one of the largest manufacturers of white appliances, many other manufacturers were now taking market share away from the Swedish company. For example, Philips and Siemens were now introducing a complete and economic line of brand new appliances. Electrolux's core business was vacuum cleaners and absorption-type refrigerators. Electrolux was and still is the typical Swedish firm, which emphasizes on down to earth management: everyone works and keeps his word and all the information is correct. The firm emphasis on technology and advancement and the middle management is open to advises from the workers. But at the core of Electrolux business strategy was the aggressive plan to expand through acquisitions. First, Electrolux concentrated on acquiring firms in the Scandinavian Area. Then the company continued focusing in purchasing companies that had assets but were not profitable so that they could turn their business around. After making more than 200 acquisitions in 40 countries, Electrolux was certainly one of the most experienced companies on the global scene as far as acquisition. But another important aspect of Electrolux, which helped them, maintaining leadership was the company's great flexibility concerning new products and especially their attitude towards that company which excelled in some business where Electrolux was weaker. The greatest example of this was when the company purchased Husqvarna, a chain saw manufacturer, and how in little time, through this wise take over, Electrolux found itself as the world leader in chain saw manufacturers. Electrolux never went looking for acquisition or bankrupt companies; their policy was to keep their eyes open that things will come by themselves. When Electrolux was ready to acquire a company, the financial statements of that company were very important. ... ...on products, ranging from refrigerators to vacuum cleaners to chain saws, in more than 150 countries. After 1988, Electrolux acquired more companies, not only for product expansion but also for expansion in emerging markets. Electrolux grew steadily and its sales amount to SEK117 billion in 1999 comparing to 67 billion in 1987. Electrolux signed an agreement with sharp to sell its products in the Japanese market. In 1990 they expanded its presence in the US outdoor product market by acquiring Allegretti & Co. In 1991 they also acquire Lehel, a Hungarian white goods company, and they introduce the low energy line of refrigerators. By this date Leif Johansson is appointed president. 1994 was the 75th birthday for Electrolux. In 1996 they expanded in Brasil by acquiring Refripar and the next year the company announced a major restructuring plan with the purpose of improving its profitability. By 1998, Electrolux got out of the business of sewing machines, agricultural implements, interior decorating equipment, kitchen and bathroom cabinets and heavy-duty laundry equipment. Now, Electrol ux core business consists of household appliances, professional appliances and outdoor products.

Determinants Study Essay

Introduction â€Å"To Be on not to Be, that is the question,† a famous quote from Shakespeare poem Hamlet. My niece is interested in attending medical school and has solicited my professional opinion on whether it would be economical feasible for her to attend medical school and if so, the best location to practice medicine. There are many variables in determining the maximum benefit and/or advantages of medical school. Such variables could include but not limited to, gender, ethnicity, tuition, locations, schools, specialties, etc. This paper will touch on the advantages as well as some barriers which may countersuit some of the advantages to form a concise recommendation to my niece on whether becoming a physician is economically and socially a good profession in which she should pursue. Demand Determinants The demand determinants for this case will feature definition of the market and the availability of close substitutes. These two determinants were chosen because the market for medical school can pose many qu4estions, however, narrowing down the most compatible choice is essential in obtaining the value of becoming a physician. The article â€Å"Is Being a Doctor Worth it Financial? Not as much as you may Think,† will help us break down the demand determinant of availability of close substitutes. This article goes to analyze the author’s question on whether if it is worth becoming a physician. To determine the author’s answer, she compared the salary of a doctor to one of an average college graduate. In real numbers, not to say  that these numbers are of current market value, but for the sake of this paper, the author states that a graduate can earn an income of $40,000.00, minus after-tax deduction; this graduate will take home $30,000.00 a year. A resident af ter medical school and for the next three years can expect to make about $40,000.00 a year. However, after the three years, a doctor can expect to make $150,000.00 a year as a family practitioner, which after taxes (approximately 33%), a take home pay annually for a family practitioner doctor is $100,000.00. To amortize the cost of medical school and the amount of one’s yearly income, it is predicted that to find the financial gain of a physician oppose to someone who received a four-year degree, a person will have to wait 13 years to see the financial advantage of going to medical school after all variables have been computed. In relative to years, a college graduate without medical school will graduate at the age of 22, however, one will not see financial relief until the age of 35 if continued on to a medical degree. To end this assumption of is becoming a doctor is financially feasible, the answer will be yes, however, the return will be much farther in one’s career. But do take into account that a doctor will have to work much harder and longer hours, approximately 60 plus hours a week oppose to someone who generally will work between 35-40 hours a week. The maintenance of a doctor is continuing medical education to stay abreast of the latest and most up-to-date techno logy, inventions, and advancements. If a physician choose a specialty (which in my opinion is highly recommended), one will have to recertify for board exams every 7 -10 years. Lastly, retirement age which is typically 65 years old will not be unit the age of around 75 for a physician. Job security, however, will be in a doctor’s favor because the shortage as of right not for doctors, especially for primary care physicians will keep a doctor employed. This aspect explains the demand determinant of the definition of the market. The market in this text is saying the specialty of a primary care physician is in high demand. The author of the article calculated a $600,000 gain to be a doctor oppose to another profession which only needed a four-year degree. Moreover, the price elasticity for becoming a doctor as this article relates is that to determine the value of a physician’s income/net gain oppose to a four-year degree income is contingent upon one’s specialty. The demand for a physician will increase as the shortage for doctors decrease to help care  for the needs of American’s growing population whom is also living longer. The locations, especially rural areas will demand the need for more physicians. The need for a primary care physician is greater than the need for a family practitioner. To perform the midpoint formula, the following fictional number will exhibit the value of becoming a physician. Midpoint elasticity = (B2-B1)/(B2+B1)/2 à · (A2-A1)/(A2+A1)/2: the number we will use the amount of patients needed for a physician. The average number from the beginning and the ending number of patients needing a physician in a rural area is 75 or (50+100)/2, so if the number of patients increases, the formula will read (100-50)/50 will give us 50/50, or 100%. However, if the patients decrease the formula will read (50-100)/100 which will be -50/100, or -50%. The midpoint value will be (100-50)/75 or 50/75 which will equal to a percent change of 66.67%. Supply Determinants Becoming a doctor while analyzing the supply demands of the profession can be determine by the price the input prices, technology and the expectations. The price can be determined by the cost of medical school. According to the article â€Å"Medical School at $278,000 Means Even Bernanke Son Has Debt,† published by Bloomberg, the average debt of a medical student who finances his or her education through private and government loans is between $207,868 and $278,455. However, the article also states that the supply of doctors will be less than the demand due to a shortage that is forecast to happen by 2025. This makes the supply inelastic because we will face more patients in need of a physician than we have physicians. The shortage is reportedly more than 130,000 physicians to the more than 32 million American that will be receiving healthcare (Bloomberg, 2014). This type of debt can price out minorities and women who have interests in pursuing the idea of attending medical sc hool. Such and enormous debt can discourage someone to think elsewhere as far as becoming a doctor. African Americans typically leave medical school owing loans on the average of $184,125. However, the price of medical school or even a lucrative salary cannot be the sole determinant of why one chooses the profession of a doctor. A study, coming from the article â€Å"African American Female Physicians in South Caroline: Role Models and Career Satisfaction,† outlined results from 132 African  American female physicians with 62 responding answering why they choose to practice medicine. The majority of the respondent stated they went to medical school for altruistic reasons, in addition to having a high interest in the positive challenges and opportunities practicing medicine presence. Another reason the respondents gave in the survey stated that there were other external reasons that influenced their decisions and that was the impact their family, teachers and childhood upbringings. Moreover, the study also revealed that most African American women shared the same desires as white female physicians. Lastly the study stated that the dissatisfying component of the respondents dislikes of being a doctor was managed care, time demands and paper work. (McFarland, F., Smith, J., West, A., & Rhoades, R., 2000). In essence, one’s gender and/or ethnicity one will have to analyze the explicit cost of what it takes to obtain a medical degree. One must incorporate the tuition, room & board, books, practical exams, etc., whereas the implicit cost will be calculating the interest rates of government and private loans. However, becoming a physician even with student loan debt, one can apply the theory of profit maximization because the return over time will far exceed the debt that was incurred. This theory also allows a medical student to actualize that there will be a normal profit as well as an economic profit because one would have covered the implicit and explicit cost to obtain the accounting profit, but will reach far above monetary return to achieve the economic profit once the loans have been repaid. As stated earlier, over a period of time, a physician will make approximately $600,000 over the course of his or her career than a four-year graduate. The below graph is illustrating the supply of physicians to the number of patients that need care. Recommendation In conclusion, my advice to my niece would be to follow her heart and desire as obtaining a medical degree will far exceed the satisfaction of serving people than the income and time spent. However, to quantify the return on the education of a medical degree, will yield a positive return, but not immediately, over time. Through the law of demand she will see that becoming a doctor is in high demand because the American population is living longer and physicians are needed to care for the generations to come  and the ones that are still here who need geriatric care. Another positive component in obtaining a medical degree is because she is a woman; she can be a pioneer of new cures and advancements as it related to terminal illnesses. The concerning questions is what are the best places to practice medicine? According to PR Newswire, â€Å"The Best Places to Practice Medicine are Idaho, Alabama, Texas, Nevada, and South Carolina. The metrics that were used in determining which plac e is best were: low density of practicing physicians per capita, medical malpractice insurance, low rate disciplinary actions, cost of living and tax burden. However, the article also stated that physicians must determine what is most important to them and their family in deciding where to practice medicine. To be or not to be is the question; yes becoming a physician is economically sound and wise because through the theory of supply and demand, physicians will be needed through eternity as long as there is human presence on this planet earth. References Lorin, J. (2013). Bloomberg. Medical School at $278,000 Means Even Bernanke Son Has Debt. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-11/medical-school-at-278-000-means-even-bernanke-son-carries-debt.html Chen, M., & Chevalier, J. A. (2012). Are Women Over investing in Education? Evidence from the Medical Profession. Journal Of Human Capital, 6(2), 124-149. Miqueo, C. (1999). Women and doctors in medicine. Lancet, 354SIV65. Dacre, J., & Shepherd, S. (2010). Women and medicine. Clinical Medicine, 10(6), 544-547. Illinois State University. Department of Economics. Profit Maximinzation. Retrieved from http://www.economics.illinoisstate.edu McFarland, F., Smith, J., West, A., & Rhoades, R. (2000). African American female physicians in South Carolina: role models and career satisfaction. Southern Medical Journal, 93(10), 982-985. Medical School Success (N.D.) Is Being a Doctor Worth It Financially? Not as Much as You May Think http://www.medicalschoolsuccess.com/is-being-a-doctor -worth-it-financially/ PR, N. (2012, October 12). The Best Places to Practice Medicine are Idaho, Alabama, Texas, Nevada, and South Carolina. PR Newswire US. R. Glenn Hubbard, Anthony Patrick O’Brien, Hubbard, O’Brien. Economics. 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012. Pg. 20. VitalBook file. Bookshelf. Reyes, J. (2008). Gender Preference and Equilibrium in the Imperfectly Competitive Market for Physician Services. Eastern Economic Journal, 34(3), 325-346. doi:10.1057/palgrave.eej.9050033