Strategic Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Strategic Marketing - Essay Example In the above statement, he emphasized on the imagination of people for bringing new product development with innovative technologies. In the gradual development of globalization, the technological advancement is one of the most vital factors. The process of globalization has led to change the thoughts, views and opinions of human beings and they become more capable of imagining which was once considered to impossible (Samli, 2011, p.125). The capability of imagination is the most powerful strength of mankind that has brought significant developments. Basically, the imagination acts as a tool for inspiration and it motivate people to be innovative. In this regard, Morgan has commented correctly that â€Å"imagination motivates people to climb mountains, to paints pictures and to win races† and people are applying their imagination in the field of business management (Morgan, 2001, p.79). The greatest innovation in the world is a successful outcome of imagination. People may pos sess necessary technological knowledge and expertise or necessary monetary requirement. No doubt that these factors are indispensible for product development but the first priory is creativity based on with the technological knowhow is applied for practical implications. Archytus of Taremtum, the great mathematician during 400 B.C. imagined and created a wooden bird which was able to fly. Finally, in 1950s, George C. Devol first invented and patented modern robot which was based on imagination developed by Archytus 400 B.C ago. There are also an ample numbers of such examples that proves that imagination is prime factors behind development of new products (Patel, 2011, p.5). Question 3 â€Å"Evaluation consumes high proposition of... The researcher states that in the process of strategic business management, evaluation is one of the most critical steps for any company. In the process of evaluation, the effectiveness of implemented strategies and performances of each responsible employee are assessed for further betterment of entire situations. The performance evaluation of each employee is helpful in identifying the areas of improvements though proper performance appraisal methods. These performance appraisal methods are also meant to offer promotions, higher remunerations and incentives. The process of evaluation affected time and energy of marketing executive that can be used for more productively. The task of marketing executives generally includes the development of marketing campaigns and promotions of products and services for generating higher amount of sales. Their tasks are very challenging and they have to use their creativity to attract the target audience and target market. Creativity comes from the i magination and for motivating the marketing executive to think creative marketing ideas, it is necessary to provide sufficient time and energy. In the evaluation process consumes the time and energy of each employee including marketing executive. Therefore, the management must consider such drawbacks of evaluation for marketing executives. William R. King have identified that performance appraisal of marketing executives are difficult to interpret as task of marketing like creating ideas cannot be directly quantify.

The project of creating Windows as the driving force for Microsoft Essay

The project of creating Windows as the driving force for Microsoft Corp - Essay Example allowed it to come into the market of software for personal computers and in a great extent to create this market. So project of creating Windows became the driving force for Microsoft Corp. The most efficient structure is when activity of the organization consists of project, and every project consists of operations; in this case some projects may be endless. Project managers define human, technical, financial and other resources they need for their projects; then all these needs are summarized and put to the organizational plan and budget. So needs of the projects determine organizational needs and priorities. Also it often happens that very important goals of organization (i.e. new market penetration, getting a state construction contract, getting a software development tender) depend on projects. Sometimes a successful project can save a company from a bankruptcy or irretrievably crush competitors. Project may not be an organizational driving force when it contradicts the organizational goals or is badly planned and doomed to failure. In this case the project draws human, time, technical, financial and other resources from the organization and gives nothing instead. For example, IBM spent a lot of time and effort on development of operating system OS/2, but the project was not successful. IBM is the greatest hardware vendor, but it failed with operating system development. The human factor is important because... The project manager must be able to exert interpersonal influence in order to lead the project team. By Hendrickson, the project manager often gains the support of his/her team through a combination of the following: Formal authority resulting from an official capacity which is empowered to issue orders. Reward and/or penalty power resulting from his/her capacity to dispense directly or indirectly valued organization rewards or penalties. Expert power when the project manager is perceived as possessing special knowledge or expertise for the job. Attractive power because the project manager has a personality or other characteristics to convince others. (Hendrickson, 1998, chap.2) So I will use these issues in my relations with the team. The members of the project team must work together, whether they are assembled from different divisions of the same organization or even from different organizations. Some problems of interaction may arise initially when the team members are unfamiliar with their own roles in the project team, particularly for a large and complex project. These problems must be resolved quickly in order to develop an effective, functioning team. Also I need to explore two important subjects: why the previous project manager was so popular and why the project is about to fail in spite of the great love of the team to him. Maybe his management style was too soft and democratic and work conditions were too hothouse. If so, I would say to the team, "Guys, it was very good, but now it's finished. Let's work together, and let's work hard, because it's the only way for our company to survive. I don't need your love, I need the work done." Also it may be good decision to rebuild

The Grapes of Wrath and California History Essay Example for Free

The Grapes of Wrath and California History Essay I. The Joad Family is the main character in the novel of John Steinbeck entitled The Grapes of Wrath. The said novel was published in the spring of 1939 during the Great Depression. The Joads in the novel portrayed the migrants of California. From Collins and Steinbeck point of view, the migrants of California can be compared to â€Å"Jeffersonian yeomen† who aspire to gain their respective small farms. Jeffersonian Yeomen, historically, however, did not succeed in their goal. It was the farms owned and mange by the businessmen of San Francisco that ruled the rural economy of the state. Its big agricultural output was favored by the â€Å"goldrush† which permitted the growing of â€Å"cash crops† in the urban markets and the mining camps of San Francisco (David Igler Davis, 2002). It was in 1935 and 1939 when the great depression happened in California. The migrants came from Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma; the lower Plain states of the southwest. The number of migrants by that time was about 300,000. They were caked â€Å"Okies†. In the Grapes of Wrath, it was the Joads who migrated to California. The thirteen members of the family rode in one vehicle which includes even the grandparents and their grandchildren. Along the way the grandparents as well as the in-laws and uncles died. It was the fifty-year old Ma Joad who was left to lead the group in their journey. Tom Joad, son of Ma Joad and an ex-convict also played a significant role in the story. They join the thousands other migrants in their quest for better opportunities in California. II. In The Grapes of Wrath, the Joads migrated to California to seek for employment. They left the almost â€Å"perfect† and â€Å"peaceful† Weedpatch Camp because of the misfortunes that happened in their homeland. Dust storms occurred in Oklahoma and they had suffered financial crisis. Based on California history, the migration can be explained by several factors. The farms in Oklahoma and other states affected by the depression became unprofitable due to drought that happened in their land. There was low economic activity and widespread unemployment by that time. Tenant farmers were evicted by the landowners as a consequence of the New Deal Agricultural Adjustment (AAA). These programs had forbidden farmers to plant grain or cotton in exchange of cash. New Deal Programs inevitably had effects that went beyond the farm economy, through the recovery of the agricultural sector was the administration’s primary aim. Some agencies attempted to reorient the rural social structure, making it possible for laborers and tenants to live with dignity and even become landowners. Relief agencies operating in rural America improved public buildings and transportation facilities, hired unemployed people, maintained institutions, and enriched lives. And the New Deal undertook a revolutionary-and successful- effort to electrify the countryside. More federal activities were undertaken in response to the Dust Bowl, an ecological crisis that beset the Great Plains with especial severity. Government agencies promoted conservation, retired highly erodible acres from farming, resettled some victims on more viable lands, and provided sustenance for others (Danbom, 2006). The use of machinery which produces greater efficiency also contributed to the said eviction. Moreover, a big percentage of farmlands was destroyed by the great dust storms that occurred in the mid-1930s. Since then, poverty stroked Oklahoma. The Okies decided to move to California to be able to survive. They were encouraged by the â€Å"word-of-mouth campaign† by their friends and relatives. They were inspired by the information from other people that they could earn high salary in California by simply picking cotton and fruits. Moreover, transportation from Oklahoma to California was not a problem by that time (Orsi, 2001). III. The migrants moved to California because they believe that they will be able to find a brighter future there. Aside from the effect of the Great Depression in the life of the Okies, the mass migration was also brought by false advertising. In October 1929, the stock market of the United States fell and California was affected. This incident had caused California to suffer acutely because California oil shares which are the most active sectors in the 1920s had collapsed and many investors suffered. The depression also hit California but the economy recovered in the year 1934 and 1937 (Eymann 2004). It was then when California needed many laborers in the cotton fields. Indeed California offered high salary during those times when the number of cotton plantation in California was multiplied. A need for thousands of harvesters of crops had commenced especially in San Joaquin Valley. They had a problem of labor shortage not unemployment that is why high salary was offered to those Okies who were employed to pack meat, cement clay, railroad and even ice manufacturers. The salary that California offered was twenty to fifty percent higher than the salary of Okies in their homeland. Due to the nature of their work, the migrants had chosen to settle in one place with their children. IV. In the novel and in historical reality the migrants are hoping to find a better life in the fertile fields of California. They are expecting that when they reached â€Å"the promised land† they will be employed and earn high wages. They had believed that when they reach their destination, life will become easier. They will â€Å"simply† work in the cotton fields and harvest fruits and earn a big amount of money. They will raise their children there and all of them will not starve and will be able to gain bright future in California. They hoped to revitalize their wealth and recover their source of revenue on the land V. When they had reached their destination, they found themselves as victims there. Work was inadequate, salaries were small, and they were disliked, refuse to be accepted and suppressed by the residents. Their endeavors to upgrade their lives were branded as Communism, a system much disliked and feared by many Americans of the time. (John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath By Lee Cusick) Agricultural workers were not covered by Social Security, unemployment insurance, the minimum wage and the National Labor Relations Act. The New Deal was primarily a political response to the Depression, and unlike farm owners, the migrants had little political influence. While California Growers obtained federal price supports for some products, legally enforced marketing orders for others, and massive government expenditures for irrigation projects, migrant laborers received a small, poorly funded camp program that never got beyond the â€Å"demonstration† stage (Harvest of Gypsies). Grower satisfaction with the Okies was short-lived. The flood of migrants in 1937 had created an embarrassing oversupply of labor, and the squalor of their camps refelected on the industry. In 1938 it became apparent that the Okies were politically embarrassing as well. They were democrats, supported Culbert Olson, and displayed firm loyalty to the New Deal. They also disrupted the strong Republican hold on rural communities, a fact that led to the formation of the California Citizen’s association (CCA), which, like the Associated Farmers, fronted for banking, oil, railroad, real estate, and insurance interess allied with the agribusiness community. The CCA, detrmined to attack the New Deal and Olson through the migrants, launched a publicity campaign that, as Walter Stein has pointed out, went a long way toward creating a popular view of the Okie in California as â€Å"degenerate, degraded loser in the American struggle for survival. † Like migrants of the 1920s, nearly half settled in metropolitan areas, primarily Los Angeles, the Okies were quickly absorbed. The rest, however, turned north to the San Joaquin Valley where they sought work in the complex, industrialized agricultural system. Ineligible for relief for a year because they were new to the state, they accepted the low wages that the Mexican work force would not, and in a short time almost completely displaced the Mexicans as California’s harvest laborers. When the Okies became eligible for unemployment relief, the state relief administration under Gov. Meriam cut off relief payments if work was available in an agricultural harvest, forcing them into the old relief, harvest labor, relief cycle that essentially subsidized low farm wages. Important distinctions between the Okies and traditional harvest labor were not only that the migrants were white Anglo-Saxon Protestants but also that they sought permanence. They settled in Central Valley towns, sent their children to the local schools, and registered to vote. Their poverty could not be ignored. Living in shocking conditions in tent camps along irrigation ditches, they exposed the exploitation of farm labor in California’s peculiar agricultural system and became a highly visible burden in local communities, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley (The Great depression Chapter 21). A year later, the labor surplus of the Depression had been transformed into an extraordinary wartime shortage of workers. Migrants who were not subject to military service found well-paying jobs in California’s booming shipyards, aircraft factories and other defense plants. The Joads and their fellow Okies ultimately found economic salvation, not on the small farms they dreamed of owning, but in urban industry fueled by billion of federal defense dollars (Steinbeck, 1988). VI. The story of the migrants fit California History due to the efforts of Steinbeck and Collins who â€Å"actually lived† at California gathering information to capture â€Å"true scenarios† in California. Steinbeck stayed at Weedpatch Camp for several days, talking to residents, attending camp committee meetings and dances, and watching Collins tactfully promote his concept of limited and guided elf-government. Steinbeck and Collins travelled in the old bakery truck to nearby farms and ditch-side migrant settlements, and the author read the manager’s regular reports to the Resettlement Administration’s regional office in San Francisco. The reports, which included social and cultural observations on migrant life and individual anecdotes sometimes told in Okie dialect, were extraordinary documents. The News had already published excerpts from them, and Steinbeck eventually mined them for the material for The Grapes of Wrath. In 1936 he used them to get beneath the surface of migrant life, to understand the deep despair and hopelessness that poverty and homelessness had created (David Igler Davis, 2002). References: Danbom, D. B. (2006). Born in the Country: A History of Rural America Johns Hopkins University Press. David Igler, C. , Davis. (2002). The Human Tradition in California: Rowman Littlefield. Eymann, M. , , C. W. (2004). Whats Going On? : California and the Vietnam Era: University of California Press. Orsi, R. R. W. B. a. R. (2001). The Elusive Eden McGraw-Hill. Steinbeck, J. (1988). The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath Heyday Books.

The impact of import tariff on Vietnam’s automobile sector

The impact of import tariff on Vietnam’s automobile sector Automobile industry plays a vital role in the development process of any countries in the world. Automobile industry has a significant multiplier impact on the development of a country and a driver of economic growth because of its forward and backward linkages with some crucial sectors of the economy structure (Nag, Banerjee, Chatterjee, 2007). Specially, with Vietnam- a developing country, this industrys development helps Vietnam in achieving the goal Industrialization modernization and encouraging the countrys growth. By openness policies, Vietnamese auto industry is a leading industry to develop other industries such as the chemical industry, metal, and electronics. According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Chuan, the minister of industry (2003) said that: If we develop and try to obtain localization rate of 30%, after 10 years, the automobile industry creates approximately $250 million with 10.000 workers, equally the value of export rice of many million farmers. It can be said that the automobile industry is one of the most vital sectors to upgrade the Vietnam position in the world. However, the Vietnamese automobile industry is still quite young. Before the period 1990s, the Vietnams automobile operated according to the governments plans, most of cars were imported, the domestic manufactures worked basically on simply repairing that imported cars ; The auto industry has existed since 1986, when Vietnam conducted openness policies- the DOI MOI restructuring process began. The Vietnams automobile industry has begun to dramatically growth; it resulted from benefits from the open policy and a range of incentive activities of the government. Beside, calling for foreign investment, the government had preferential policies to attract investment. It made Vietnamese auto market became more heated; many foreign investors came to Vietnam to research and plan investment projects. However, at that time Vietnam, due to the economic sanctions that the US placed on Vietnam, most of automobile manufactures of the US, Japan, and the Europe limited in having investment divisions. As the result, they used to indirectly invest through Asia companies. Although having many difficulties and obstacles, this period was a vital foundation to form Vietnamese auto assembler companies. The year 1991, when the US deployed the embargo against Vietnam, remarked an important step in relationship between Vietnam and the US. It was also a crucial incentive to develop Vietnams auto industry and following that a range of leading join venture manufactures set up such as Ford, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz in Vietnam. So by the end of 1990s, there were up to 11 JVs in Vietnam. The existing of these famous brand names, it reflects clearly that Vietnam is a potential market. Besides, these beginning success are derived from suitable policies of policymakers. Consequently, the Vietnams auto market obtains an admirable growth speed. Since 2003 the Vietnamese automakers have developed dramatically when the government approved the strategy of Vietnamese automobile industry development to the year 2010, vision 2020 in which encouraged all economic sectors participating in the automobile industry and eagerly accelerated state-owned automakers. In 1990s the majority of market share appro ximately 90% belonged to the production of the join venture manufactures, whereas a tiny rate was those of the Vietnamese companies. However, there was a sharply change in terms of the domestic market share between them, the domestic manufactures increased significantly their sales volume and accounted for 43% of the total sales in 2007 (Report on investment in automobile, 2007). To help the domestic automobile industry having a sustainable position in the domestic market, from that to able to penetrate into foreign market, Vietnam conducted some protection measures. In the first period, tariff including non- tariff and tariff imposed on imported cars with high rate, so tariff barriers and non tariff protected effectively the infant auto industry. Actually, it created a huge difference between imported cars and assembled cars in the country in terms of price. However, the strict protectionism made the imported cars price in Vietnam is much higher than other countries. For example, a new car named Ford -Taurus was imported in the Vietnamese market higher approximately 300% than in the US (Baston, 1998). Evenly, a car assembled in Vietnam is more expensive than the same one in the US due to only there is a small number domestic manufactures investing seriously in production to improve their competitive abilities, while the most ones operate at simple assembling level (Nguyen, 2007). It creates an unfair situation for the Vietnamese consumers as they have to pay a much higher price. Applying strict barriers is essential way to protect and force the development of this leading industry, but do its impacts really positive and effective? The answer is current situation in Vietnam, many domestic assembled companies and joint venture companies do not many exchanges to improve localization rate and competitive abilities with imported cars. Due to these companies depend too much on these protection tools from the government and take them becoming a comparative advantage. Actually, it is a worry issue with the Vietnams auto industry when integrating into the globalization market, all barriers will be eliminated. I.2-Research focus The price of a imported car in Vietnam is contributed by many restrictions from government rules such as value added tax, special consumption tax and import tax, which causes the amount of money for a car in Vietnam that is much higher than other countries. Imposing high tariff rate not only brings huge revenue for State budget, consumption orientation for social but also affect strongly domestic market. Specially imposing high import tax makes the price of an imported car increase, which is disadvantage for foreign companies in competition with local ones. Clearly, most local manufactures want the high import rate to gain more profit and market share. This is an unfair treatment and it is also eliminated in the short time, because one of the most important regulations in free trade wherein all barriers are removed on trade among members. (Dominick Salvatore, 2007, p340). However, clearly it may be a useful way to protect an infant industry as the Vietnams auto industry to have necessary time to prepare it to be able to overcome difficulties and challenges in the beginning period from the other developed competitors. A major focus of this research will concentrate on impact of import tariff imposing on completed car up until recently; including challenges to the Vietnamese car as tariff come down to 0% in 2018. What motives to change tariff before 2007, which is the period Vietnam was not a member of the World Organization Trade (WTO)? What positive and negative impacts is the auto gained from imposing import tariff? To gain a deeper understanding of these issues prevailing in the industry, two main activities need to be considered: a review of relevant literature to ascertain current research findings to exam the forces that are driving to impose tariff and including potential challenges the industry faced in the short next time; and empirical data collection on changes in the volume and value of imported and domestic completed car and the overall views of some economics on the industry in imposing import tariff, also difficulties as the tariff is coming down to 0% in 2018. I.3-Significance of the study Automobile industry plays a vital role in the development of Vietnamese economy. An opening economy and special integrating The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a great chance for quick penetrating with the world economy for Vietnam. Also, it creates plentiful of opportunities for Vietnams auto industry such as attracting foreign investment and technology to improve comparative abilities not only in Vietnam but also in other markets. However, beside a range of these benefits, by opening the market, it causes increasing imported commodities which are difficulties for domestic economy. Therefore, imposing and applying imported rules that accord to commitments are necessary. A study The impact of import tariff on Vietnams car sector is significant to provide basic information in terms of the relationship between import tariff and its impacts through a specific case. Moreover, it is helpful for making strategy plans for the automatic sector in the future. Specially, being a member of WTO creates not only opportunities but also challenges. Firstly, Vietnam has to implement a range of commitments with the role of a member; that is eliminating restriction barriers. Car sector is not an exception. According to commitments with WTO, CEPT, AFTA and ACFTA, Vietnam has to reduce import tariff with imported cars and the time to apply the rules shorten. For example, in terms of completed import car, from now to 2013, Vietnam has to reduce the rate of tax from 83% to 60% and it is 0% in the year 2018 and at that time the domestic industry will have to compete for market share by itself ability without any support. Currently, it can be that the mainly advantage of bo th car produced and assembled in Vietnam is price which is affected mostly by tax. Therefore, as the tariff is coming down, the price of imported car will really much cheaper than domestic car. It will be a huge challenge for Vietnamese car that does not create comparative advantage in terms of neither quality nor price. This raises the question of whether the Vietnamese car industry can survive. A significant decrease in the short time may be a disadvantage for domestic companies. Therefore, to improve competitive ability, all of local companies need to have specific development plan to win in the home market. I.4-Overall research aim and individual research objectives The overall aim of this study is to have a deeper understanding of the impact of import tariffs on Vietnams auto industry in particular. However, in order to understand the role of import tariffs in the industry, it is necessary to gain an insight into the forces driving the imposition import tariffs. Therefore two main research vehicles that needed to clarify the issues of this research: a in-depth review of relevant literature and the collection and analysis of empirical figure. The details of the research strategy and the data collection techniques to be required to gain the empirical data are presented in the Research Methods section. Specifically, the objectives of this research are to: 1, Identify the meaning, motives for applying import tariff and the forces driving chances to the import tariff. 2, Examine the effects of applying import tariff on completed imported cars and domestic car volume in Vietnams automobile industry. 3, Evaluate the challenges faced as the tariff come down to 0% in 2018. 4, Compare the recommendations and views of some economics. The first objective- on import tariff drivers will attempt to answer the questions: What is import tariff? Why have to impose import tariff? What is the role of import tariff in the development process of each industry? Next, objective 2 the role of import tariff in the Vietnams auto industry- provides opportunity to gain meaning insight the effects of import tariff in specific context. The objective 3 on difficulties may be faced in the future of the Vietnamese auto- will give some indication of how much the industry will be challenged, as the tariff comes down to 0% in 2018 according to the signed commitments. Finally, the objective 4 formulating recommendations in the impact of import tariff in the industry as a result from review of literature and analyzing empirical data. The next chapter the literature review- examines literature pertinent to the objectives of this study, beginning with an investigation of what is meant by the term import tariff. II Literature review II.1 Introduction This Literature Review will examine the main issues the motives for applying import tariff in all commodities in general and in the auto industry in Vietnam in particular. The literature review of this research concentrates on objective 1 (the second and third objectives will be analyzed though the empirical data collection, while the final objective is derived as a result of the outcomes of the other objectives.) 1, Identify the meaning, motives for applying import tariff and the forces driving changing of import tariff. 2, Examine the effects of applying import tariff on new imported car and domestic car volume in Vietnams automobile industry. 3, Evaluate the challenges faced as the tariff come down to 0% in 2018. 4, Formulate the recommendations and views of some economics. By investigating the above literature, a deeper insight will be stimulated in the study. The strategic forces pushing impose import tax in general and in the Vietnams auto sector in specific. Though this part, a critical comprehension of key issues will be clarified. In the first instance, a worth starting point is to define the terms of import tariff and infant industry, from that to explore main issues of this research. II.2 Defining tariff and infant industry A tariff is a tax or duty levied on the traded commodity as it crosses a national boundary. (Dominick Salvatore, 2007, p.248). Tax is one of the restrictions that are imposed on trade among countries in the world. The rate of tariff may be an obstacle or incentive way for coping with the nations trade. Tax policy plays an important position in car section, clearly it influents both internal and external car firms. For example a change in import tariff affects not only directly on the imported cars but also indirectly on the domestic cars. Due to a crucial role of tax, so Viet Nam also has suitable changes to contribute in the development of this section. Infant industry argument the argument that temporary trade protection is needed to set up an industry and to protect it during its infancy against competition from more established and efficient foreign firms. (Dominick Salvatore, 2007,p) The use of tariff policy as a potential retaliatory weapon against foreign countries has been observed both historically (Perry, 1955) In small open economy, the imposition of an import tariff has little effect on the world price of the commodity. In general, a tariff attracts resources to the protected sector and shifts demand away from foreign goods. The tariff, however, not only drivers up the relative price of the commodity in question, it also raises revenue (Caves and Jonkes, 1985) The persistence of tariff is very important issue mainly for political economy reason (Baldwin, 1985; Dales, 1966) Critics of protection maintain that temporary protection designed as a relief for ailing industries or an incubator for infant industry will quickly become a permanent fixture in the economy. Automobile policy in some countries Mexico As other countries, the automobile industry plays a crucial role in Mexicos industrialization strategy and is one of the key sectors to contribute the development process. To compete with foreign manufactures and have enough time to mature its domestic companies, the Mexican government also has some particular policies to protect this important sector. Initial, the government declared an Automobile Decree that is the formal implementation of these programs to regulate production, sales and imports of vehicles and auto parts. The aims of these activities were to encourage local automobile manufactures operations. The development of Mexicos automobile industry divided into four phases. Firstly, the period of time before 1962 as the Automobile Decree issued, the main activities of Mexicos auto industry was assemble auto parts with less than 20 percent of domestic factors and most vehicles being imported into Mexico. Secondly, the period of time from 1962-1976: import substitution, at that time the Automobile Decree was stipulated. The content of this Decree banned importation of vehicles of completely knocked down kits (CKDs), of engines, and of many major automobile parts. Beside, another important point of this Decree was requirements such as about the ratio of localization on vehicle assembled in Mexico, in specific, it must reach 60 percent local valued added, and a 40 percent limit on foreign ownership of auto parts plants. With a range of strict regulations, they created a tightly protected domestic market. However, it caused international competitive that was not exist in the Mexican market. This leaded to negative results such as poorer quality vehicles and higher production cost than foreign competitors. Thirdly, the period of time from 1977 to 1989: Toward international competitive through trade protection and export promotion. The main aim of this phase was to support export. It require at least 50 percent of the foreign exchange requirement of terminal firms to protect automobile parts manufactures, value- added requirement were tightened and foreign firm remained excluded from majority ownership. Due to strict rules, automobile companies had to modernize their Mexican plants to apply these conditions. They had to have decisions to restructure for up to date technology, new building plants. Moreover, the workers had chances to improve their skills, qualified to control modern plants. With clear objectives, Mexico became one of the big competitive exporters. Lastly, the beginning of trade liberalization period, in December 1989, the Decree for the Modernization and Promotion of the Auto Industry authorized imports of new vehicles for the first time since 1962. The open up the automobile parts markets in many significant ways. However, at that time it can be said that the Mexican automobile industry had certain position not only in the domestic market but also in the outside markets. Thus, the decree opened up the automobile market only brought new opportunities for the Mexican companies to broaden distribution network. Specially, when Mexico integrated into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) including three countries Mexico, Canada and the United State, even though most protected barriers on imports of new cars to Mexico were removed or reduced significantly, the regional trade expanded enormously, a range of giant manufactures such as Honda, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Toyota located in Mexico to supply its plants in the US. From the development of the Mexican automobile industry, one of the most outstanding points in the policies of Mexico is requirement domestic content and value added in each production, also the ratio of localization of all enterprises. Essentially, the value added requirement became a function of domestic sales and imports of finished vehicles (Fernandez, 1994). Thailand With flexibility and suitable internal and external policies in each period of the development progress, the Thai automobile industry overcame many challenges and difficulties in the early time to achieve many successes and become the leading automaker in ASEAN. The Thai automobile industry dated in the early 1960s. At that time, in order to attract foreign investors to set up their operations in Thailand, the government had some incentive policies that remarked many manufacture from the US, Japan and Europe located their factories in the country. However, from incentive rules to establishment plants, the number of entrants and inefficient import depended assembly operation soared which caused trade deficit and difficulties to gain economies of scale (Fujita, 2000). In response, the government accepted a new policy aimed at progressive localization of auto production. In 1971, the automobile Development Committee announced a policy requiring progressive increases in localization ratio to 25 percent for passenger cars and 201 percent for commercial cars by 1975. These regulations had positive replies in the early period for example many join venture companies started to invest in Thailand and Thai firms also became actively improvement their operations. However, the strict localization ratios created competition between locally assemble cars and imported CBU automobiles. Beside the size of the market seem to be small compared to the number of the existence plants in Thailand. Consequence, an import ban on the CBU passenger cars, an increasing import tariff on CKD kit from 50 percent to 80 percent were imposed to reduce these pressures. In terms of the local contents requirement, the government decided for raise from 25 percent in 1978 to 50 percent 1983, but due to the economic recession in 1980s, the government banned setting up new enterprises and reduced the localization ratio to 45 percent in stead of 50 percent according to the requirement in 1978. Continuously, the first oil crisis and political instability caused the automobile industry in Thailand faced difficulties during the period from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. Many foreign manufactures had to withdraw from the Thai market such as Ford, Fiat, and Gene ral Motor. However, the Thai economy significant recovered in the early 1990s with a range of positive changes in the general economy, also with liberalization policies in the auto industry in particular. In order to strengthen the international competitiveness of the industry by increasing competitions between local enterprises and decrease domestic car prices, in 1991, the government removed the ban on import of CBU passenger cars, simultaneously, drastic reducing duties in most imported car categories. This led to the prices gap between imported and domestically assembled and produced cars getting narrow. When the Thai automobile industry had particular comparative abilities, the Thai policymakers started to promote export orientation for the automobile industry in the year 1993. It can be said that this is important strategy remarked a new development phase of Thailands automobile industry, replaced previous policies which always targeted at the domestic market. Thus, the Thai government had an exclusive program called The Automobile Industry Export Promotion Project to achieve the given goals. A range of activities and new were implemented to attract more foreign investors also improve the ability of local enterprises through incentive policies such as exemption from import for auto parts and corporate income tax. Brazil The vehicle sales in Brazil were about US 3.1 million in 2009 and it expects raise to US 3.4 million in 2010 in prediction. With the drastic growing, the emerging market, age of coming forecasted may pass Germany to become the worlds fourth largest market. Brazil is a typical example for a huge development from an infant industry. Among factors contributing to create a high position of Brazils auto industry can not mention to the role of state policies. The modern Brazilian auto sector traced back to 1956 (Sharpiro, 1996). The government establishes a five-year plan to protect local parts companies. Beside, attracting foreign investment, technology and creating connections to complementary sector, the auto industry was identified as a leading sector in a broad import-substituting industrialization push. The approaches applied were restrict imports and force transportation automobile companies to choose between a banding the Brazilian market or producing vehicles with 90-95 percent Brazilian made content within five years. Evenly, the timing will be set by increasing barriers to entry if the entrant wants to delay its investment; in addition to the cost for exit market will be quite high as well. Actually, this was the strictest measures of Brazil to protect the domestic market. The industry, however, gained many positive improvements; transnational corporations had to upgrade their operations from simply assembling to full manufactu re. This led to develop of other supportive productions in Brazil. Not only offering strict regulations but the Brazilian also had financial incentive measure to stimulate all enterprises such as extensive subsidies to reduce the cost capital investment and guaranteed a return even if profit did not materialize. The 1960s marked a period of an instability economy and labor unrest in Brazil. The industry was affected heavily, with original eleven firms reduce to eight in 1968, many weak companies that did not have enough financial capability had to close. However, in the late 1960s also remarked recovery strongly of the Brazilian economy, specially, in the auto sector with the GDP up to 20% compared to 10% of the economy. Evenly, the production capacity could not keep track with rising demand, so many local enterprises started have plans to broaden investment. Once again, because of outside factors influent to development orientation of the industry, particularly changing international conditions. To balance foreign exchange, the auto industry was expected towards export as a solution for this context. Exporting, it means that the Brazilian had both opportunities and challenges from expanding the market. Clearly, there had to face strong foreign competitors such as Japan companies famous with low cost and high quality productions. In order to survive, the Brazilian automakers decided world car strategies, that allowed them can increase the volume and reduce the cost by economies of scale. When overcame these obstacles, global market would become to a benefits due to opening to new doors. Beside, the government also had particular activities to promote exporting progress though the Special Fiscal Benefits in 1972 including tax exemption on imported machinery, equipment and other parts, and waived federal and state value- added taxes on exports. In exchange, firms had to commit to long term export contracts and comply with minimum domestic content requirement (85 percent). Beside, the firms were also allowed to import a certain number of parts and component that had banned before. One of the most outstanding of the policies imposed in Brazils auto sector that was obligation the auto transnational automakers to produce cars and component for export in Brazil. For example, Fiat which until then had no presence in Brazil was allowed to enter the domestic car market only in exchange for exporting 155.000 engines. Actually with strict disciplines, they helped local enterprises including auto parts and supportive ones have more chances to develop not only in the domestic market but also the world market. However, the Brazilian automobile industry was really close for imported manufacture that went back with the trend of global integration. Therefore, in the 1990s, Brazils President decided to open the market to imported cars for the first time since the 1950s. This led to some chances in previous policies to harmonies with current context. For example, the ratio of local content decreased from 90 percent to 70 percent and the time to introduce new model to loosen protection measure also to offer flexible condition for domestic companies to compete with foreign competitors. Beside, the stimulating from the government, the companies themselves had specific activities to improve their comparative abilities such as modernizing plants in terms of technology, management to cut cost. II.3 Conclusion These are three typical examples for success developments. Even though, each the industries have different in terms of time and conditions in each countries. Clearly, all of them had to experience a difficult period in the early time. The countries had different measures at that time to protect infant industry. One of the useful tool is import duties beside other regulations. III- The effects of applying import tariff on completed imported cars in Vietnams automobile industry. According to Vietnam autos Report Q4-2010 New Market Report Published by Press Office stated that: Fluctuating tariffs are still a factor in Vietnams 12th position out of 14 markets in BMIs Business Environment Ratings for the autos sector in Asia Pacific. The highest score is for market risk, which stands at 85.0. Its country risk score has also risen from 49.8 to 51.5, taking its total score for risks to realization of returns up to 68.2. Vietnam is still a country we would expect to see climb the ratings in the future, particularly if its vehicle tariff policy becomes more consistent. Currently, a new imported car to Vietnam has to subject to three taxes that are import duty, excise tax, and value added tax. For example a new 5 seats car imported to Vietnam, the price itself has to added to three taxes import duty, excise duty and value added tax with the rate are 83 %, 50% and 10% respectively. Clearly, these taxes are important factors decided to how high in terms of price of a car is sold in Vietnam. Among three kinds of duties on cars, import tariffs have the highest rate. Moreover, it is an exclusive difference between domestic assembled or produced cars and imported cars. Thus, in order to find out reasons influent on imported cars that have indirectly impact on local cars, it is crucial to investigate the trend of import duties in Vietnam. III.1-The current condition of the Vietnams automobile industry The Vietnams automobile industry had more than two decades of prevailing and developing, it is so far in the early stage of an infant industry and just limits at simple automobile assembling (Nguyen, 2007). Source: VAMA Figure 1: The sales of local enterprises and the volume imported new car Advantage Vietnam is a new emerging and potential market and production base on for automobile products due to its dramatic economic growth and bid population of more than 84 million with low car ownership rate and possibility to grow as manufacture with good and bid labor forces. (Nguyen.2007) Joining in and taking advantages from liberalization brings about benefits of market expansion, technology transfer, labor division. Disadvantage -The size of market: The automobile industry needs to have very big initial investment capital for Equipment, factories, technology, RD and so on. Thus, it is difficult for them to reduce production cost, make profit and reinvest in productions if sales volume exceeds 300.000 units a year (Takayasu, 1998, p22) According to Vietnams Business environment Survey belonging activities of the Consulate General in December 2010, one of the problems is Vietnamese infrastructure including soft and hard. soft infrastructure: labor and legal basis_ Director of international financial corporation( IFC) Simon Andrew state that 50% enterprises do not want broaden their operations and one of the reasons is that the level of labor. Accor him, Vietnam can not win in global game if only based on cheap labor resources hard infrastructure : physical infrastructure- lack and slowness accor to America Chamber III.2 Vietnamese government policy toward the automobile industry Taxation policy is the main tool of policy makers in management of the automobile industry. It has direct effect on decision of business and production of the automobile makers. III.3- The effects of import tariff on Vietnamese automobile industry Source: The general department tax Figure 2: Timeline for Vietnamese new imported car duty Taxation policy is the main tool of policy makers in management of the aut

Use of Graphic Novels in Teaching Coming of Age :: coming of age theme

Teaching a unit based around the theme of coming of age is important in an adolescent classroom. It has been taught in high school language arts time and time again. Coming of age works makes up a large part of the literary canon including works like The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, etc. Additionally, this theme is important because the teenage students in the classroom are essentially going through their own coming of age. They are currently making the difficult transition out of childhood into adulthood. Students will be able to relate to literature that focuses on a coming of age story more easily than to other works of literature. This will encourage students to be more active participants in classroom discussions and responding to the texts. It also allows students to apply the things that they learn from literature to their own lives and struggles growing up. I would argue that this is one of the most important things that teachers of literature can hope for. In this unit on coming of age, the two primary texts will be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has become one of the most widely taught books in the high school classroom. In some classrooms, teachers make use of only a partial interpretation of the novel that focuses on racial injustice. While this is a significant theme in the novel and is absolutely one that should be taught, it is not the main theme of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of this racial injustice through the perspective of a child. It is the story of the coming of age of the narrator, Scout. According to Theodore Hipple in â€Å"Will the Real Mockingbird Please Stand Up?† (1969), the novel also tells the story of the growth of Jem as he loses his childhood innocence while he moves toward adulthood. By looking at the novel as a coming of age of two children, students will be better able to relate to the work than they would if they read it as a piece on racial injustice. However, students will still be able to learn about the historical social injustice that is portrayed in the novel. This is a good way for students to learn about how the society they live in was shaped. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story that holds a place in the literary canon and is a significant historical account of Use of Graphic Novels in Teaching Coming of Age :: coming of age theme Teaching a unit based around the theme of coming of age is important in an adolescent classroom. It has been taught in high school language arts time and time again. Coming of age works makes up a large part of the literary canon including works like The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Peace, etc. Additionally, this theme is important because the teenage students in the classroom are essentially going through their own coming of age. They are currently making the difficult transition out of childhood into adulthood. Students will be able to relate to literature that focuses on a coming of age story more easily than to other works of literature. This will encourage students to be more active participants in classroom discussions and responding to the texts. It also allows students to apply the things that they learn from literature to their own lives and struggles growing up. I would argue that this is one of the most important things that teachers of literature can hope for. In this unit on coming of age, the two primary texts will be To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and the graphic novel Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has become one of the most widely taught books in the high school classroom. In some classrooms, teachers make use of only a partial interpretation of the novel that focuses on racial injustice. While this is a significant theme in the novel and is absolutely one that should be taught, it is not the main theme of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of this racial injustice through the perspective of a child. It is the story of the coming of age of the narrator, Scout. According to Theodore Hipple in â€Å"Will the Real Mockingbird Please Stand Up?† (1969), the novel also tells the story of the growth of Jem as he loses his childhood innocence while he moves toward adulthood. By looking at the novel as a coming of age of two children, students will be better able to relate to the work than they would if they read it as a piece on racial injustice. However, students will still be able to learn about the historical social injustice that is portrayed in the novel. This is a good way for students to learn about how the society they live in was shaped. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story that holds a place in the literary canon and is a significant historical account of

Women in Euripides Alcestis, Medea, Andromache, and Bacchae Essays

Euripides portrayal of women in his plays has been somewhat bizarre. His female characters kill out of revenge, kill out of jealousy and kill because a god possessed them too. In Alcestis and Andromache Euripides does produce classic heroic female characters. The women in Medea and The Bacchae are not your typical heroines but serve to show the same theme of female liberation as the women in Alcestis and Andromache. While Alcestis is straight forward with its message, the other three plays mask their true intentions from the people they are created to oppose. Euripides might have been misinterpreted by his society because it was dominated by the very people he wrote his plays against. Euripides disguises some of his radical ideas to those who might oppose him and in Alcestis, Andromache, Medea, and The Bacchae shows his female characters being liberated from oppression. In Alcestis we have the heroic female character Alcestis. She dies as a sacrifice to Death so that her husband, Admetus, can escape his own fate when his time comes. A sign that women are oppressed is that Admetus picked his wife to die for him without giving it much thought. It was only after he realized how loving and caring this woman can be, did he regret his decision. Not only did he regret the decision made with the god Apollo, but Apollo himself goes and has a talk with Death. This switch in the opinion of Admetus in a way expresses the fact that women are not viewed as they should be. Women should not be treated as if they have no useful value, as was the case when Admetus first allowed his wife to be his sacrifice, a decision that he would not have made if he had known the woman for more time. Women therefore should be valued more than they are now,... ... have committed were done against men as of the results of mans oppression against women. Euripides could have been telling the truth about his time, the tales of murderous women who seek revenge on their husbands, and the men of the his time might have tolerated this view. The point that might have escaped the men of Euripides' time was that he was pointing the finger at them. This accusation of men was hidden in his plays. Euripides masked such accusations as rants by crazed females. In a culture where disrespecting woman was in the norm, Euripides highlighted what could go wrong with such disrespect. The only reason that the people of Euripides' time might have not understood his point was that they saw no wrong being done in disrespecting women. How can people be afraid of the results of a mistake if they do not realize they made the mistake in the first place?

Father and Child: Personal Analysis Essay

The first person narrative poem ‘Father and child’ by Gwen Harwood, is structured in two sections each with seven stanzas and six lines. It focuses on an individuals revolt against authority and the consequences of such an action, as well as an insinuation of the imminent death of a parent. Harwood uses persuasive and implicit means to â€Å"mirror† the loss of innocence and its effect on the sense of appreciation or acceptance of the complexities existing in the wider world. Overall, ‘Father and Child’, demonstrates the individuals pursuit of power over the authoritative figure through defiance in the form of rebellion and destruction of authority. Through this Harwood challenges widely recognised stereotypes of purity and innocence associated with young girls and has also enriched my own perception on the connection between childhood memories and their effect on shaping an individuals identity. Harwood depicts the memories of the persona in the first section, ‘Barn Owl’, where the loss of innocence due to childhood naivety is illustrated to be the foundation of the persona’s development of identity. This is shown when the persona shoots the â€Å"Owl† with the gun of the â€Å"father†, a representation of his power and authority. Here, the owl epitomizes both wisdom and authority, which the child seeks to resist. Thus in their mind, the child is destroying authority. The diction of ‘Barn Owl’, unlike its counterpart, is much simpler and holds an essence of child-like awareness, for example, the short and monosyllabic language of â€Å"Let him dream of a child Obedient,† shows the persona trying to exhibit an image of cunning and rebellion, however it is obvious to the responder that the persona is prying into complexities the she does not completely understand. As the responder I can understand the persona’s refusal of authority and therefore forgive the childish ignorance which can be relatable to anyone. The following lines where the father regains the power and instructs the persona to â€Å"End what you have begun† is a dismaying moment after which the child is shown to have lost her innocence and naivety. Corresponding use of intertextuality in the second section, â€Å"Nightfall† in which the persona seems to have grown up, creates a more profound reading of the text. This can be seen in the references to ‘King Lear’ through the designation of â€Å"Old King†, to the father as well as the direct quoting of Lear’s words, â€Å"be your tears wet? † The lateral connections between these texts allows Harwood to disregard time and context differences, and rather focus on the similar ideas being presented. In my opinion, further exploration of ‘King Lear’ reshaped my previous understanding of ‘Father and Child’, also influencing my point of view. In ‘Nightfall’ the focus of childhood memories is incorporated into the idea of the importance of relationships and the inevitability of death. The child from the previous section has matured and is shown to have grown a greater appreciation for the complexities of life and the subtleties of the relationship with her father. As it goes on, we see a reversal of roles in which the father has gained the innocence lost in the former section and the child has â€Å"grown to learn what sorrows, in the end, no words, no tears can mend’ revealing her growing wisdom. The symbolic and profound nature of this text has greatly shaped and reshaped my outlook on the importance of relationships, the inevitability of death, and the power of childhood memories. Further research, such as readings and other resources, as well as deeper exploration of this text allows many of the implicit details to be truly appreciated and understood. The relevant themes and inherent referencing of other texts allows ‘Father and Child’ to be very meaningful and enjoyable for audiences from many contexts.