Chabros International Group: A World of Wood

The Chabros International Group started with fairly low-key beginnings in the late sixties, but has gradually become a respected name in a wealth of different timber markets. In particular, it has become a well-known wood and veneer supplier due to the relentless and often pioneering efforts of its president Antoine Chami, who has carefully built up a reputation for high quality products and exceptional service. The company employs more than 600 staff with an annual turnover of $100 million USD.Chabros is a leading producer and supplier of wood and veneer and a distributor of a wide range of interior and exterior products that have been specified and used in major high-end projects throughout the Middle East for over 40 years. With an aim to cater to the innovative needs of woodworking professionals, architects & interior designers as well as contractors, Chabros has established overseas production units and distribution points throughout the Middle East Region, targeting businesses that are in search for quality products and exceptional service.In addition to its strong presence of Lebanon, Chabros has always been devoted to expand its range of products to provide original and fresh design solutions to its customers. Chabros has also added a line of services to its current product offerings including veneer stitching & pressing, sanding, veneer finger jointing, parquet and exterior decking installation as well as teak yacht decking. Chabros is positioned as one of the market leading suppliers of Wood & Veneer with a large stock of wide range of products, exceptional service and unique expertise.The company’s success is driven by its loyal customers, their team and their unrelenting focus on delivering results by executing with excellence. In Lebanon, Chabros was one of the first to produce veneer products instead of solid wood because of its ecological and economical benefits. The company’s vision has always been to expand the business further in order to meet the industry’s demands and replenish the shortages that exist. However, due to the wars and political unrest in Lebanon, the company’s desire to expand was stifled somewhat until 1998 when it ventured into the GCC and could establish a branch in Dubai.In the midst of a growing global market, Chabros has established overseas production units and distribution points throughout the Middle East Region, targeting businesses that are in search for quality products and exceptional service. The company’s regional distribution centers are headquartered in Dubai covering a vast geographical area of supply. The Chabros International Group case studies how Chabros confronts a drastic drop in its largest subsidiary's sales after 2008's global economic crisis.Chami, the company’s owner and president, was reviewing his company's 2009 end-of-year financial statements and, in particular, a 30 per cent drop in sales in Dubai. In 2007, a year before the globa l economic crisis, Chami had invested more than $11 million to acquire and expand a sawmill in Serbia to meet Chabros's growing lumber sales demand. With a much higher capacity to produce lumber and a much lower probability to sell it, Chami had to decide what to do to overcome this challenge. Shocked, Chami went into crisis mode and consulted all of his top management to address these issues.Questions that were raised: Should he close parts of his Serbian sawmill? Should he try to boost his company's sales to use all of his sawmill's available capacity? If so, should Chabros try to increase sales within the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Egypt or should it expand into a new country such as Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, Tunisia? Would Morocco, among other countries, be the best country to expand into? Was it the right time to embark on such an expansion?The management also had explored different alternatives such as closing parts o f the Serbian sawmill and different strategies that they could follow if they decided to try grow the company’s sales. The future seemed so uncertain and the team did not know what to expect. It was clear that closing the Serbian sawmill was out of the question, mainly because the company had invested over $11 just less than two years ago. Closing that plant would put the company in a difficult financial situation as it invested for the long run.The company’s best alternative would be to continue operations in the Serbian sawmill and try to expand into other markets where such materials were in high demand. Prior to this, expansion, an extensive research would have to be conducted, particularly due to the crisis affecting many parts of the world. If Chabros was able to find an expanding market, they could continue operations in all of their sawmills. Another option would be to sell off either part of the operations or the entire sawmill.Both of these options would put them at a loss, however, it would be a better option than shutting the entire mill. Some of the strengths and competitive advantages, which Chabros International Group consisted of, were being simultaneously a manufacturer and a wholesaler, which gave them strategic flexibility. They understood and adapted to its Western suppliers and the Middle East and North Africa suppliers. Lebanese people are very adaptable due to their culture, which brought the main sawmill to a much greater advantage.Another strength which Chabros had, was providing its customers with more varied and customized wood products than most other competitors, which built distinctive relationships with its key suppliers. With strengths and advantages come disadvantages, which Chabros had as well. Being a lumber manufacturer put Chabros in the reverse situation and sometimes gave it a disadvantage compared to lumber wholesalers. This happened during the financial crisis, where euro reached an all time high of $1.55 and Chabro’s Russian supplier was able to sell at a lower price. A weak point where Chabros stands, is not working on their brand name. Although Chabros was operating in seven MENA countries, their name was not very well known, not to mention in its parent country, Lebanon. Through its affiliates all over the world, the company has established strategic alliances with mills in Africa, North and South America and Europe, which are responsible for sourcing, cooking, cutting, drying, grading and supplying the various wood products.In recent years, it has broadened its product lines to include new products such as mother-of-pearl laminates and Duroxill UF powder glue. The growth of the company means it has also extended its services, which have developed to include the production of lay-ons, veneered boards and parquetry designs through the use of various splicing, cutting and laser machines in its different locations. Chabros International Group: A World of Wood The Chabros International Group started with fairly low-key beginnings in the late sixties, but has gradually become a respected name in a wealth of different timber markets. In particular, it has become a well-known wood and veneer supplier due to the relentless and often pioneering efforts of its president Antoine Chami, who has carefully built up a reputation for high quality products and exceptional service. The company employs more than 600 staff with an annual turnover of $100 million USD.Chabros is a leading producer and supplier of wood and veneer and a distributor of a wide range of interior and exterior products that have been specified and used in major high-end projects throughout the Middle East for over 40 years. With an aim to cater to the innovative needs of woodworking professionals, architects & interior designers as well as contractors, Chabros has established overseas production units and distribution points throughout the Middle East Region, targeting businesses that are in search for quality products and exceptional service.In addition to its strong presence of Lebanon, Chabros has always been devoted to expand its range of products to provide original and fresh design solutions to its customers. Chabros has also added a line of services to its current product offerings including veneer stitching & pressing, sanding, veneer finger jointing, parquet and exterior decking installation as well as teak yacht decking. Chabros is positioned as one of the market leading suppliers of Wood & Veneer with a large stock of wide range of products, exceptional service and unique expertise.The company’s success is driven by its loyal customers, their team and their unrelenting focus on delivering results by executing with excellence. In Lebanon, Chabros was one of the first to produce veneer products instead of solid wood because of its ecological and economical benefits. The company’s vision has always been to expand the business further in order to meet the industry’s demands and replenish the shortages that exist. However, due to the wars and political unrest in Lebanon, the company’s desire to expand was stifled somewhat until 1998 when it ventured into the GCC and could establish a branch in Dubai.In the midst of a growing global market, Chabros has established overseas production units and distribution points throughout the Middle East Region, targeting businesses that are in search for quality products and exceptional service. The company’s regional distribution centers are headquartered in Dubai covering a vast geographical area of supply. The Chabros International Group case studies how Chabros confronts a drastic drop in its largest subsidiary's sales after 2008's global economic crisis.Chami, the company’s owner and president, was reviewing his company's 2009 end-of-year financial statements and, in particular, a 30 per cent drop in sales in Dubai. In 2007, a year before the globa l economic crisis, Chami had invested more than $11 million to acquire and expand a sawmill in Serbia to meet Chabros's growing lumber sales demand. With a much higher capacity to produce lumber and a much lower probability to sell it, Chami had to decide what to do to overcome this challenge. Shocked, Chami went into crisis mode and consulted all of his top management to address these issues.Questions that were raised: Should he close parts of his Serbian sawmill? Should he try to boost his company's sales to use all of his sawmill's available capacity? If so, should Chabros try to increase sales within the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Egypt or should it expand into a new country such as Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, Tunisia? Would Morocco, among other countries, be the best country to expand into? Was it the right time to embark on such an expansion?The management also had explored different alternatives such as closing parts o f the Serbian sawmill and different strategies that they could follow if they decided to try grow the company’s sales. The future seemed so uncertain and the team did not know what to expect. It was clear that closing the Serbian sawmill was out of the question, mainly because the company had invested over $11 just less than two years ago. Closing that plant would put the company in a difficult financial situation as it invested for the long run.The company’s best alternative would be to continue operations in the Serbian sawmill and try to expand into other markets where such materials were in high demand. Prior to this, expansion, an extensive research would have to be conducted, particularly due to the crisis affecting many parts of the world. If Chabros was able to find an expanding market, they could continue operations in all of their sawmills. Another option would be to sell off either part of the operations or the entire sawmill.Both of these options would put them at a loss, however, it would be a better option than shutting the entire mill. Some of the strengths and competitive advantages, which Chabros International Group consisted of, were being simultaneously a manufacturer and a wholesaler, which gave them strategic flexibility. They understood and adapted to its Western suppliers and the Middle East and North Africa suppliers. Lebanese people are very adaptable due to their culture, which brought the main sawmill to a much greater advantage.Another strength which Chabros had, was providing its customers with more varied and customized wood products than most other competitors, which built distinctive relationships with its key suppliers. With strengths and advantages come disadvantages, which Chabros had as well. Being a lumber manufacturer put Chabros in the reverse situation and sometimes gave it a disadvantage compared to lumber wholesalers.This happened during the financial crisis, where euro reached an all time high of $1.55 a nd Chabro’s Russian supplier was able to sell at a lower price. A weak point where Chabros stands, is not working on their brand name. Although Chabros was operating in seven MENA countries, their name was not very well known, not to mention in its parent country, Lebanon. Through its affiliates all over the world, the company has established strategic alliances with mills in Africa, North and South America and Europe, which are responsible for sourcing, cooking, cutting, drying, grading and supplying the various wood products.In recent years, it has broadened its product lines to include new products such as mother-of-pearl laminates and Duroxill UF powder glue. The growth of the company means it has also extended its services, which have developed to include the production of lay-ons, veneered boards and parquetry designs through the use of various splicing, cutting and laser machines in its different locations.

Promoting National Unity in Sri Lanka Through Education

It took three decades of war, ethnic conflict and loss of thousands of lives for Sri Lankans to realize the importance of unity. Sri Lanka now stands in a position where the country is gradually recovering from brutal wounds of war and this is high time for the nation to look into aspects of promoting unity among diverse cultures and ethnic groups to avoid the reoccurrence of such a tragedy. One way of achieving unity among different ethnic groups is through education. Enlightenment of the nation about the importance of unity can only be achieved by educating people.This essay will analyze the ways of achieving unity through education with relation to the Sri Lankan society. Language is a powerful tool which can be used to achieve mutual understanding among cultures. It can also be used to share knowledge. So it is important to break language barriers between people in order to bridge them through communication. As the 20 million population of Sri Lanka consists of people belonging t o diverse ethnic groups where, more than one language is used, it is important to promote a trilingual education system, provided the most widely spoken languages in Sri Lanka being Sinhala, English and Tamil.The learning of all aforementioned languages should be made compulsory at primary level. Education in schools should be offered in all three mediums and the equal importance of these languages should be emphasized. The adaptation of a trilingual policy in education will facilitate the access to cultural texts and knowledge and promote unity through interactions between students where, mutual understanding can be achieved. Equal importance to all the cultures should be given and students should be educated to respect the customs and traditions of other cultures and religions or racial groups.Once steps are taken to break the language barrier, interactions between students from all parts of the country should be promoted. This could be done through extracurricular activities such as organizing cultural festivals and organizing field trips where students from the North can visit schools in the south and vice versa. Also schools could work together on joint ventures or projects where students will get opportunities to make new friends. The system of schools around the country should be linked to acilitate the knowledge sharing g process and this could be done through the implementation of a common platform, for an example as a social network among schools for sharing ideas and knowledge. National coherence will be achieved through interaction of cultures and this will promote national unity. The education system should be reformed to promote divergent thinking and it is important to change the attitudes of students from the contemporary social views of attributing a person to a specific nationality (Sinhalese, Muslim or Tamil) to attributing people to the common nationality of Sri Lankan.This should be taught at the school level so that future generations wil l hopefully have a different but positive attitude towards other cultures besides their culture. Promotion of learning cultural studies and peace and conflict studies as a linked subject at secondary and tertiary levels where students will be given transfer scholarships to different areas of the country to study about culture and traditions of a particular ethnic group and also be given opportunity to study and research about post conflict consequences.Creation of a platform for tertiary level students to present findings from their researches to help the process of national decision making, this can be achieved by creating partnerships with state universities and the assistance of university academics can also be used in national policy making with regards to reconciliation.In my opinion, the above four factors, Adopting a trilingual policy and Promotion of learning cultural studies and peace and conflict studies as a linked subject at secondary and tertiary levels interactions amo ng students, promoting the concept of a common nationality and are the most important to be considered when achieving national unity through education. Concentrating on the significance of two of the above factors in achieving national development, the adaptation of a trilingual policy plays key role in this narrative.As unity is promoted through mutual understanding, individuals can unite and work together towards attaining national development. Since equal significance will be given to all the nationalities and thereby language and cultural disputes will be solved and the reoccurrence of a tragedy such as the ethnic conflict which crippled the Sri Lankan economy will not take place.Peace is the most important factor to achieve national development, for a war torn country, achieving economic stability would be a mere dream. As for the importance of interactions between people for national development, it can be stated that greater interaction between diverse groups of people facili tates the process of sharing knowledge in different cultures. This knowledge can be used to develop modern technologies and sciences.Knowledge and the creation of intellectuals who are nourished with rich cultural knowledge can help develop innovations and policies that will help the country achieve economic growth and stability. In conclusion it is to be understood that when considering the above factors, giving equal significance to all ethnic groups, adopting a trilingual policy and developing people to people contacts is important to achieve national unity and national development. As a saying goes, ‘United, we stand, Divided we fall’.

Plantaze

INTERNATIONALIZATION OF SEE-FIRMS Final Group Report Table of content 1 1. 1 1. 2 1. 3 INTRODUCTION †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Background Description †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Research Purpose †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Structure of the Report†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 2 2. 1 2. 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 Data Collection †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 Data Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3 CASE STUDY †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Company Description (www. plantaze. com) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Internationalization Process†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Internationalization Motives †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 4. 1 4. 2 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 Theoretical Background †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 11 Application of the Uppsala Model †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 13 5 5. 1 5. 2 IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 Implications of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 Limitations of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 6 7 8 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 REFERENCES †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 APPENDIX †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19 1 Introduction In this chapter the background of the case study will be presented, as well as the purpose of the study will be stated, before an overview of the structure of this report is given. 1. 1 Background Description Today, many companies take the step to establish themselves abroad. The motives for internationalization are many. Perhaps the home market is saturated, presence in a certain country grants access to strategic resources or there are cluster effects to be explored in a specific region.The decision makers of the companies that are becoming international have different experience, are in different situations and consider different motives before taking the step into the international market. (Masum/Fernandez 2008, 2) For the past few decades researchers have been debating over existing theories and developing new theories of international business to explain why and how companies internationalize. Internationalization theories are explaining different internationalization processes, which are taking place when companies expand across national borders.Ranges of internationalization have been discussed in various investigations with the conclusion that the majority of these frameworks fail to explain internationalization behavior of various companies, however, this doesn’t mean that they are not usefu l at all. (Pett 2008, 1) It is inappropriate to approach the internationalization process without formulating a strategy. Without a proper strategy the firm is about to fail in their internationalization. Formulating a strategy also involves deciding hen, how and which markets to enter. There are several market entry modes a firm can choose from, such as exporting, contractual relationships (licensing, franchising), as well as equity or ownership-based international business activities like FDI or collaborative ventures. (Masum/Fernandez 2008, 2) 1. 2 Research Purpose The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the internationalization process of a SEE company, particularly the usefulness of the main theory: the Uppsala Model. 1 1. 3 Structure of the ReportThe report is divided into six major parts: Introduction, Research Methodology, Case Study, Analysis and Interpretation, Implications and Limitations, and our Findings and Conclusion. The introduction part conta ins the background description of the general topic and the research purpose. Followed by the Research Methodology part, where the research method, data collection and data analysis is described. Then the chosen company is presented in particular and their internationalization process and their motives for internationalization are discussed.In the Analysis and Interpretation chapter the theoretical background and to which extend the company followed the theory is presented, along with a broad discussion of the gathered empirical data. There are also some implications and limitations mentioned in the next chapter. In the conclusion there is a brief presentation of the findings as well as possible further research on the topic. 2 2. 1 Research Methodology Data Collection The data collected and used in this analysis has been mainly collected from websites and online databases. This means that the method applied was Desk Research.As depicted by name Desk Research is the research techniq ue that is mainly acquired by sitting at a desk. It involves collecting data from existing resources and, compared to Field Research, is the cheapest and quickest option. Nevertheless, there is always the problem of the validity, objectivity and credibility of the data found. There are basically two types of desk research: Internal Desk Research and External Desk Research. Whereas the former is being used only in corporations or companies that possess an internal database, the latter can be done by anyone.External Desk Research is the actual method that was used when gathering information about the company, about the market and about other countries. 2. 2 Data Analysis First of all, it has been decided to go with the company Plantaze. Afterwards, a huge amount of data about the company’s history, strategy and current situation has been gath2 ered directly from their official website, plantaze. com. Moreover, detailed information about their products and production process has been found here.Additional financial and statistical information was found on the website of the Montenegro Stock Exchange (MNSE), montenegrobreza. com, where the company is listed and traded. Normally, looking and searching for data in online databases is very expensive. Fortunately, there has been access to the WU network, where many online databases are available for the research. ‘Amadeus’, ‘Factiva’ and others have given supplementary data about the company’s foreign subsidiaries for example that were not that clear in the places looked before.Actually, the main difficulty was finding data about the company’s operations abroad. For that reason it was necessary to get in contact with the Plantaze company in order to get more accurate data on their internationalization process. The people were kind enough and shared some very important facts and dates that completed the information pool that was needed. In order to work on the Excel sheets , economic, political and geographical data on the countries in which the Plantaze company is directly or indirectly doing business were needed.For this, the official websites of the specific countries governments and other websites of some important international organization like the World Bank or the CIA World Factbook were used. Before starting to write about the company’s past, present and future situation in the company description, articles from the press about the company and its operations were read. Also a look at various customer reports and trade association reviews about the company were necessary, so that an objective and closer insight to the true image of the analyzed company could be provided.Psychic Distance Psychic distance is defined as factors such as differences in language, culture, political systems, etc. , which disturb the flow of information between the firm and the market. Psychic distance chain refers to economic, geographical and cultural distanc e. (Johanson/Wiedersheim-Paul 1975, 308). Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions from 1970s as one of the first theories that could be used to explain observed differences between cultures, has become an internationally recognized standard and major resource in cross-cultural studies. The original theory identified four cultural dimensions for distinguishing cultures: †¢ Power distance dimension (PD) focuses on the degree of inequality between people with and without power in society; †¢ Individualism dimension (IDV) refers to strength of interpersonal connections and share of responsibility among people; †¢ Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) measures degree of tolerance towards uncertainty and unknown situations and †¢ Masculinity (MAS) referring to gender differentiations and inequity in society.After some more researches Hofstede added a fifth dimension – long-term orientation (LTO) which relates to how much society values long-term devotion to t raditional values; and in the 2010 a sixth dimension – Indulgence versus restraint defining the attitude of society towards gratification of basic and natural human needs related enjoying life and having fun. (mindtools. com 2012) The following factors were used for this case study: The geographical distance is an important factor to calculate transportation cost from the production facility in Montenegro to the sales markets abroad.The figure was calculated by measuring the air line distance from Podgorica (Montenegrin capital) to the capital of the reference country. It is the most important figure for Plantaze as it is a mainly exporting company. So this factor was overweighed against all the other chosen factors. The cultural distance consists of the above-mentioned dimensions, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity. Regarding to Hofstede the differences of the dimension of country A and the reference country, i. e. Montenegro, are calculate d in a first step.This difference has to be squared and divided by the variance of the whole spectrum of countries. Cultural distance in exporting is important because of the sheer nature of the product. Drinking wine is something that is embed in the national culture, thus making the cultural distance a factor that needs to be taken into consideration. Furthermore for marketing and communication reasons the cultural distance between two countries can make a company change the strategy. 4 It was calculated by using the Kogut and Singh-Formula:When calculating the internationalization process of the company regarding only the subsidiaries and the joint venture the cultural distance variable gains importance. Because entering a market in this way, by greenfield investment, a company has to think and act on a long-term level. The country’s culture can be decisive in whether the own company will be successful or not. The â€Å"wine† distance measures the wine consumption p er capita of a nation compared to Montenegro. This figure is relevant because it would make no sense for a wine producing company to enter a market that scores low.As already mentioned wine consumption is something that is highly linked to the nation’s culture and their drinking habits. That is why this is a relevant figure. To calculate the wine distance, the same formula as above has been used. The economic distance was not taken into account because of the fact, that it is not relevant for this type of industry. To calculate the psychic distance the above mentioned factors have been standardized to numbers between 0 and 1, while 0 stands for Montenegro respectively a country with the same figures than Montenegro and 1 for the country with the highest distance to the reference country.The factors have been weighted according to their importance. In the exporting internationalization process the geographical distance has been weighted with 60%, the cultural and the â€Å"wi ne† distance were weighted with 20% each. In the subsidiary and joint venture internationalization process the geographical distance has also been weighted with 60%, the cultural distance with 40% and the wine distance was not taken into consideration. 5 3 3. 1 Case Study Company Description (www. plantaze. com) ‘13jul-Plantaze’ is a wine-producing company from Montenegro.Its history takes us back more than 100 years, more specifically to 1907 when the Montenegrin wine ‘Vranac’ won its first prize in London. It was but more than 50 years later, when the government of Montenegro decided to invest in the development of agriculture, that the led to the creation of the company Plantaze as we know it today. Between 1964 and 1974, Plantaze expanded the vineyard to 377 ha and the wine cellar capacity to 26. 000 hl. In the 1977-1982 period, the company realized one of its most important projects.Transforming the arid and rocky soil of the ‘Cemovsko†™ field into one of the largest green oasis of the Balkan area is not something to be overlooked. 62 million U. S. dollars cost the creation of the largest vineyard in Europe at that time, covering 2000 ha of orchards and vineyards. The geographical position makes this place so unique. Located at about 30 km from the Adriatic See, on the river Bojana, the ‘Cemovsko’ field has a microclimate of its own, suitable for quality grape production.In 1979 the main processing plant was built near the vineyard. ‘Agrougostitelj’, ‘Agrokom’, ‘Agroekonomski institut’, ‘Uvoz-izvoz’ and ‘Ribnjaci’ merged with Plantaze in 1998. 2005 was the year in which the company established a joint venture with their Italian partners and added the first sparkling wine ‘Val’ to the product range. During the years, they successfully obtained international certificates of quality such as the ISO 9001:2000; HACCAP or the IS O 14000. In 2007, Plantaze invested 2 million euros in the remarkable wine cellar ‘Sipcanik’.Located at 30 meters below the soil, covering about 7000 m2, this completely natural area has the perfect climatic and technological conditions to age over 2 million liters of wine in wooden barrels, oak barriques and bottles. In the last 10 years exports have risen by 530% to 4 million bottles in 2008. The company exports to over 30 countries situated all over the world, from the U. S. A to Canada, to the E. U. countries, Russia, China and Australia. Today, Plantaze still owns and manages Europe’s biggest vineyard at ‘Cemovsko’ field, which stands on 2310 ha and contains three wine cellars with a capacity of 310. 00 hl. They recently announced that the investments made in the period 2003-2009 were over 40 million euros. With an annual production of 22 6 million kilos per year, Plantaze is the biggest producer of wine and table grapes in Montenegro. A quick l ook at their company’s official website will be enough to understand that this company has something special about it. Their mission statement is to produce worldclass quality products with which they can satisfy their loyal customers and gain new ones.It must be added that the company is not just producing and selling wine and grapes. An 85ha peach plantation that averages an annual production of 1. 200 tons is one of their most prized possessions. As of 1957, Plantaze produces and sells about 100 tons of Californian trout. The ‘Mareza’ fish pond covers 6. 000 m2 and is exclusively fed by fresh spring water. The grapevines used are not being bought; they are being grown on a nursery of rootstocks that spreads over 40 ha. Two restaurants complete their portfolio. Mareza’, a restaurant with a capacity of over 400 seats, located 5 km outside of Podgorica and ‘Jezero’, with a capacity of over 300 guests, located along the main road between Podgor ica and Petrovac, on the shore of the beautiful and relaxing Skadar Lake appear in every touristic guide of Montenegro. Coming back to the wine business, we can see that Plantaze offers a great variety of wines. 11 types of red wine and 6 types of white wine are currently in their catalogue. Furthermore, we can find a special rose wine made from red grapes applied in the white wines production. Three types of brandy complete the offer.The Plantaze company is probably one of the most successful brands and businesses in Montenegro. Their incredible attitude towards the environment and their fine attention to detail stands before every product they make. The Plantaze company must be a proud flag-bearer and ambassador of Montenegro because they managed to achieve something that many firms only dream of, and that is to produce traditional goods from your local country and culture at the highest quality possible. For this reason and others, the company Plantaze has been chosen to be analy zed and presented. 3. 2 Internationalization ProcessBecause the company has a history of over 40 years, in which it sold goods on an international level, the need for splitting up the process into more than one period was created. Therefore, the internationalization process was divided into four different phases. 7 These phases are not equal. For example, the first period is twenty years long, whereas the second one is fifteen years long. The reason for this is that the first two periods were slower from the internationalization point of view than the last two. So, in the first period that is between 1964 and 1984, they started selling their products on the Yugoslavian market and in Albania.The argumentation for the fact that Yugoslavia has been added to the internationalization process is actually very easy to follow. Because for the company at stake the cultural distance is of great importance, it was clear that Yugoslavia had to appear on the graph. Although from a political and technical point of view, there was only one single country and one single market, taking the cultural differences into consideration, the situation changes dramatically. The seven entities that are now seven different countries have their own traditions, habits and culture.Therefore, selling products all over the ex-Yugoslavian territory makes the process an international one. Furthermore, if the Uppsala Model is the center point of this presentation, gaining knowledge about different cultures and using it into new markets, like Plantaze did, just proves out argumentation. In the second phase, from 1985 and 2000, numerous other markets were penetrated. Of course, after 1991 and the fall of ex-Yugoslavia, the products sold into these new established countries could officially be called exports. The company entered some Central European countries like the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.In the east, Bulgaria was chosen to start exporting to. The first countries from the E uropean Union in 8 which the firm started internationalizing were Italy, France and the U. K. , in which they established a wholly-owned sales subsidiary in London. Russia was the first distant market they choose. In the third period, or between 2001 and 2004, the focus remained on Central and Western Europe. Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden were the next markets they entered. The third period also meant a development of the internationalization process.Some very distant markets such as China and the United States were submitted to the process. The fourth and final phase takes place from 2005 until the present day, in 2012. Norway and Switzerland are the newest addition from the European continent, while Canada and Australia are another two distant markets to which the company started exporting. 3. 3 Internationalization Motives To figure out the motives for the internationalization of Plantaze a quick look at Dunning’s different categories of motives is necessary. Strategic Asset Seeking Resource Seeking Efficiency Seeking Motives for Internationalization Network SeekingMarket Seeking 9 Dunning (2000) explains how market and resource seeking motives have been the two most recognized categories of motives before. These two categories still correspond to most first time internationalization by firms. Overall, efficiency seeking and strategic asset seeking motives increase in significance and are more common as motives for companies already engaged in multinational activity. He also shows that closer relations with customers and durable relations with suppliers were important motives. Furthermore, he suggests that internationalization was more driven by opportunities rather than threats. Hansson/Hedin 2007, 5) Market Seekers: Companies that invest in a particular country or region with the intention to supply goods and services are called market seekers. This category of motives focuses on demand aspects. (Hansson/Hedin 2007, 6) Plant aze’s home market is limited as Montenegro is a small country and so it brings the firm not enough revenues. This fact and also to diversify the customer base of Plantaze to reduce the dependence on the home market are reasons why they decided to go abroad. Resource Seekers: According to Dunning (1993) resource seeking means to invest abroad in order to obtain resources.This could be resources that can be acquired at a lower comparative cost, or simply does not exist at all in the home country. (Hansson/Hedin 2007, 7) Plantaze is not seen as a resource seeking company, as the conditions for producing in Montenegro are unique. Sometimes skills and capabilities are resources that can be used through collaboration with a business partner. Efficiency Seekers: The purpose is to rationalize structures of established investments in order to gain from common governance. Often those benefits come from economies of scale, but also risk diversification.Therefore, efficiency seeking is s een as gaining from the differences of factor 10 endowments, cultures, institutional arrangements, and economic systems etc. (Hansson/Hedin 2007, 7) Economies of scale and scope as well as the increase of sales and profits are issues that an efficiency seeker often focuses on, and so does Plantaze. Another motive for the company to internationalize is that Plantaze might be able to lower the tax burden. Strategic Resource Seekers: Strategic resources are for example patents, knowledge, the skills of employees, and strategic supplies necessary for developing comparative advantages.By focusing on developing strategic resources the company supports its long term strategic objectives. (Hansson/Hedin 2007, 8) Plantaze’s aim is it to create brand awareness in foreign countries and to transmit the positive image of Montenegro by producing a traditional product from the home country and selling it to other countries. Network Seekers: The network orientation reflects to what extent co mpanies participate in alliances, cooperative ventures and other forms of similar social connections. Networks outside the organization can be very important for the companies.Companies intend to nurse, develop and expand their existing networks. (Hansson/Hedin 2007, 9) Developing useful foreign relationships is an important factor for Plantaze. Their partner have knowledge of the local markets and the necessary skills. 4 4. 1 Analysis and Interpretation Theoretical Background The Uppsala Internationalization Model The Uppsala Internationalization model is a model of a firm's choice of market and form of entry when going abroad. It was developed by a number of Swedish researchers, Johanson, Wiedersheim-Paul and Vahlne (1975, 1977). The model was named after the business 11 chool of the Swedish city and based on the process of internationalization of four Swedish manufacturing companies with operations in more than 20 countries. The model assumes that internationalization is a progre ssive process made of several successive stages. The main aspects of internationalization are market knowledge and level of commitment in a particular host country. The major obstacle to international operations is the lack of knowledge about foreign markets and operations, which can be overtaken gradually by actively engaging in such foreign environments (Forsgren, Hogstrom, 2004; Lakomaa, 2009).The Swedish researchers noticed that observed companies had begun to operate abroad in nearby markets and then slowly penetrated markets far away. They entered new markets through export, and after several years of exports the company could establish wholly owned or majority-owned operations. Thus, the process of progressive internationalization is built on four stages that are: sporadic export, export via independent representatives, foreign sales subsidiaries and production and manufacturing units in foreign markets. Source: Forgren and Johanson 1975, 16 12The figure shows that additional market commitment will be made in small steps, both in the market commitment and geographical dimension. The geographical dimension means that firms enter new markets with successively greater psychic distance, defined in terms of factors like language differences, culture and political system, etc. Therefore, companies internationalize by going to those markets they can most easily understand and where the perceived market uncertainty is low. Criticism of the Uppsala Model There were several critics referring to the Uppsala model.Some of them are that the model is too deterministic (Reid, 1983; Turnbull, 1987) or that the model doses not take into account interdependencies between different country markets (Johanson and Mattson, 1986). Studies have shown that the model is not valid for service industries, situations of highly internationalized companies and industries and that the whole internationalization process has speeded up. Firms also tend to enter ‘distant' markets i n terms of psychic distance at an early stage (leap-frogging tendency), because the world has become much more homogenous and that has lead to that psychic distance has decreased. . 2 Application of the Uppsala Model Only by simply looking at the internationalization process that the Plantaze company followed over the years, it is easy to conclude that the firm followed more or less the theory that the Uppsala Model describes. In the beginning, for example, when the firm started selling their products only on the ex-Yugoslavian territory and Albania without having the need of going to distant markets is clearly the kind of behavior that a newly founded enterprise would have in the Uppsala Model.After learning from this experience (because in from the companies point of view, since culture plays an important factor, it learned a great deal from selling on the whole territory of Yugoslavia, where seven different entities and cultures were mashed together under one flag) they could sta rt and wonder off to other countries and cultures. In the second phase of their internationalization process, countries from Eastern Europe were chosen and some small steps to the Western part of Europe were also made. The first important milestone in the company’s history is the opening of their first sales-subsidiary in the United Kingdom.It is called Monteadria and it is located in 13 London. This particular step can be noted as the exception from the rule since the firm ventured off to a distant market directly by establishing a sales-subsidiary and not starting by exporting and then gradually develop. Nevertheless, it is quite difficult for a company that is active on the market to truly and without exceptions follow the Uppsala Model since it does not take into account other important factors such as market attractiveness, market size and others.The globalization and internationalization effect can be seen in every market and in every country. Because of that, because o f the massive inflow of information and data available in a blink of an eye, companies show leapfrogging tendencies and go to more distant markets earlier. The overall psychic distance between countries has decreased. Plantaze took full advantage of the fast moving business world in which they operate. The company grew rapidly and intensified export activities worldwide. As a result, their export figure has increased by more than 550% since 2003. 5. 1 Implications and Limitations Implications of the Study The main implication of the study would surely represent if whether or not managers that handle the company use the Uppsala Model when entering the internationalization process. Just by looking at the export path explained in the Excel sheet above, it is easy to conclude that the firm applied the model. Of course, the fact that the managers specifically used the Uppsala Model or that the pattern used just randomly fits, is something that needs to be analyzed more in detail.In contr ast, when it comes to the path chosen by the company for entering new markets and countries via wholly-owned or partially-owned subsidiaries or joint-venture, the situation changes. The path chosen is not similar to the Uppsala Model. One argument would be that they chose to enter the British market with a subsidiary in London before opening one in Belgrade or Sarajevo. The logical step, according to the Uppsala Model would be to start with establishment of subsidiaries in neighboring countries and afterwards spread out to other, more foreign countries. 14 5. 2 Limitations of the StudyThe main limitation of this study would be that it revolves around the Uppsala Model and thus making its criticism point, the major liability of the study. The model is old and was not updated to the current economic situation. For example, in today’s business world, companies have the tendency to leapfrog some entry modes and to go directly to more physically distant markets. The world today ha s become more homogenous because of the globalization process that has been going on in the last decades and the psychic distance has also decreased. The company described and used in the study, Plantaze, is not the perfect fit to the Uppsala Model.The point that the company posses enough financial resources leads to the fact that consequences of their commitments won’t have a huge impact on their balance sheets. Moreover, the company is not obliged to go abroad to gain new market knowledge and gain experience because today they can call on other sources for additional information and know-how. Universities, government databases and institutions or other companies from the branch can provide this kind of data. Regarding the limitations of the research, the fact that the findings are closely linked to a specific context is underlying.This research has been confined to a few countries in the European Union. This may not be sufficient to generalize our findings in this paper. Ho wever, this paper points out the direction and may act as an indicator how our company internationalized. Thus, we believe that our findings are useful to better understand the driving forces of the internationalization of Plantaze. 6 Conclusion and Future Research The path chosen by the Plantaze company follows to a certain degree the theory of internationalization that the Uppsala Model presents.No one knows for sure if the higher management of the company intentionally acted in this manner or if the match is just a random one. To better understand their internationalization process, in future studies, interviews with the persons responsible and who took the decisions must be conducted. Only then, only with that data, the study can truly show how the company reacted to the internationalization process and how they proceeded. Nevertheless, without having that data available to be 15 used, and only through analyzing ex-post the steps taken in the past, the Uppsala Model provides a p ossible framework for companies to follow.In addition to future research possibilities arising directly from the limitations, it should be recommended that future research may explore longitudinal research design for further contribution to international business in this context. 16 7 References Publications Birn, Robin J. 2001. The Handbook of International Market Research Techniques, London 2001 Hansson, Anders and Hedin, Kim. 2007. Motives for internationalization. Small companies in Swedish incubators and science parks, Uppsala Hofstede, Geert. 2001. Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Johanson, Jan and Wiedersheim-Paul, Finn. 1975. The Internationalization of the Firm – Four Swedish Cases, in: The Journal of Management Studies, 1975, 305-322 Kent, Raymond A. 1993. Marketing Research in Action, New York Kogut, B. and H. Singh. 1988. The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode, in: Journal of International Business Studies, 19(3): 411–432. Masum, Mohibul Islam and Fernandez Alejandra. 2008. Internationalization-Process of SMEs: Strategies and Methods, Vasteras. Pett, Timothy L. 2008.Examining SME Internationalization Motives as an Extension of Competitive Strategy, in: Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, 2008, 1-13. Internet CIA Factbook n. a. : Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. Understanding Workplace Values Around the World http://www. mindtools. com/pages/article/newLDR_66. htm, accessed October 15, 2012. 17 Plantaze www. plantaze. com , accessed October 15, 2012. WHO http://www. who. int/substance_abuse/publications/global_alcohol_report/msbgsruprofiles. pdf, accessed October 15, 2012. Worldbank http://data. worldbank. org/indicator/NY. GDP. PCAP. CD, accessed October 15, 2012. 18 8 Appendix 19

Reaction paper on the book Lucky by Alice Sebold Essay

Reaction paper on the book Lucky by Alice Sebold - Essay Example ed the course of her life when she was 18 and a freshman at Syracuse University in 1981, Sebold invites her readers into the lifelong effects of that one event. From the intricate description of police action following her report, through the days and weeks following both in facing other students back at her dorm room and in returning to her parents home for the summer break, to the recognition and trial of the man who raped her, Sebold gives a real life account of the various ways in which rape can hurt a woman, physically, psychologically, socially. By including the stories of several of her friends and acquaintances that she meets along the way, Sebold also sheds light on the ways in which others reacted to similar experience or to herself as a victim. Told with her characteristic forthright style, Sebold paints a picture of the reality of rape as she has experienced it over the course of the approximately 18 years since it happened. I especially liked the way in which Sebold approaches the subject with a frank, tell-it-like-it-is approach that typifies her writing style. As she described the way in which her attacker painfully manipulated her breasts, she narrates the way in which she dissociated herself from the experience. â€Å"’Nice white titties,’ he said. And the words made me give them up, lobbing off each part of my body as he claimed ownership – the mouth, the tongue, my breasts† (Sebold, 1999, p. 16). By painting the picture in such straightforward language, without appeals to sympathy or apology, Sebold immediately drew me in to her story, allowing me to sympathize with the experience in a way that has not often been presented. â€Å"’I was raped’ I said. †¦ I felt I had to say it. But I felt also that saying it was akin to an act of vandalism. As if I had thrown a bucket of blood out across the living room at the blue couch, Myra, the winged chair, my mother. / The three of us sat there and watched it drip† (Sebold, 1999, p. 76).

Explain your academic interests and strengths or your future career Essay

Explain your academic interests and strengths or your future career goals. You may include any majors or areas of study you are currently considering - Essay Example The field of profession and academics that is of great interest to me is the field of accounting. My interest towards the field and the drive to pursue the field of accountancy started developing when I was in my early ages of life. My interest in this field was developed since I realized that my mom was an accountant in a reputable organization. I use to see my mom indulged in her work even at home. I used to sit by her and learn the game of numbers that is very essential to become a highly reputable professional accountant. I believe that I have various resources at my disposal to become a member of the field of accounting. I already have developed various knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) that are required to work in the field. There are certain weaknesses that I need to overcome and I am sure that majoring in the subject of accounting from the Univeristy of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will help be converting my weaknesses into strengths and will further strengthen my strengths (Catalog.illinois.edu 1). After graduating from university, I aim at attaining an entry level position in a well-known accountancy firm or I aim at attaining an entry level position in the accounts department of a reputed organization or I wish to work with a securities organization. In order to attain my career goals I need various KSAs including technical skills, audit and compliance skills, commodity and equity valuation skills and communication skills (Accacareers.com 1). I have already developed some of these skills especially the technical skills and the communication skills. These skills were developed as my mother had worked very hard on me in helping me understand the mathematical equations and problems that are associated with the work of an accountant. Furthermore, the skills of communications and technical skills were further polished as I have already worked as an intern in a power

The environmental impacts of Los Angeles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The environmental impacts of Los Angeles - Essay Example The environmental impacts of Los Angeles Los Angeles is one of the most densely polluted countries of the world. Pollution has literally damaged the entire city in such a way that its impact is very obvious. Tourism is an essential part of Los Angeles economy. Los Angeles is one of those countries that are a major tourist attraction; Los Angeles has the honor of housing the home of all legendary actors that is Hollywood. From amazing shopping malls to Hollywood and an amazing blend of various restaurants, Los Angeles offers everything that a tourist wants during vacations. While travelling the quality and the atmosphere of the environment go hand in hand. The environment is made up of natural as well as manmade things which together build up the tourism in a state. The relation between tourism and environment tends to get very tangling at times. The effects of tourism are very controversial. At times they can be helpful in generating revenue for the state resulting in a fruitful economy and on the contrary it can damage and dent the citys environmental condition resulting in a disaster which can damage countries natural resources. Tourism leads to the development of the place with the construction of roads, parks, malls, resorts, restaurants, hotel, golf courses, and airports etc. which eventually build up the infrastructure of a place. "The notion of a tourism system is extremely important when we start to consider the notion of impacts.

Specific Learning Difficulties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Specific Learning Difficulties - Essay Example Specific learning difficulty means that there are particular learning difficulties, which affect certain cognitive skills such as memory, sequencing or perception, rather than a general learning difficulty that affects most aspects of learning. Specific Learning Difficulties may include Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, and ADHD etc. Current perspectives are geared towards fostering primary school teachers' confidence. It is essential that all primary school teachers are effective in their ability to manage a diverse range of abilities and needs within the primary classroom. Success in this area is particularly prosperous in schools where staff works together in unison, adopting a team approach. It is vital to have a designated person within a school, which teachers are able to approach for support and advice when they encounter diversity in the classroom for which they feel they are not adequately prepared. Although there is a range of in-service training available, which fosters professional development, primary school teachers only usually receive training in the area they have curriculum responsibility for. Therefore the majority of teacher's may be inadequately prepared for the vast range of learning diversity encountered within the primary classroom. To assess the suitability of current perspective... Therefore the majority of teacher's may be inadequately prepared for the vast range of learning diversity encountered within the primary classroom. To assess the suitability of current perspectives, it is important to define the term 'Special Educational Needs'. This is a very difficult area to define. Warnock (1982) states that 'the concept of 'special need' carries a fake objectivity. For one of the main, indeed almost overwhelming, difficulties is to decide whose needs are special, and what 'special' means'. Firstly it is important to note that when Warnock introduced the term 'special educational needs', it was envisaged that this was something that the child may have at certain times, and in some areas more than others. It was never meant to be a way of attaching a label to a child, more a recognition that a child may need additional support in some areas. Nerveless, although it was introduced with good intentions, the tendency can often be to label children rather than needs. Special needs terminology is in debate because of reasons such as this. Solity (1991) has argued that the term 'special educational needs', 'actively encourages discriminatory practices', of which separate seating arrangements, being withdrawn from lessons in the mainstream classroom and being given token work are just some common practices. Recently we have encountered current debates, which argue for and against integration. There is a push towards all children being educated in mainstream schools. However whether this is good or bad depends on a variety of factors, for example, resources available, school ethos and staff training. It is important to also recognise that

Deng Xiaoping declared his reforms in 1970 socialism with Chinese Essay

Deng Xiaoping declared his reforms in 1970 socialism with Chinese characteristics what was the agenda for the ccp in the deng - Essay Example Also, during that period, agricultural and industrial productions in the country were very low. Meanwhile, the country only received little assistance from its ally, Russia (Clements, 2006). Deng Xiaoping inherited this situation. After Mao, Deng became the leader of China. Although both Mao and Deng have the same political party affiliation, the Communist Party of China (CPC), they have different techniques in governing the country. Under Deng’s leadership, there was a substantial change in China’s economic policies. Deng introduced the main aim of his administration. He described his reform as â€Å"socialism with Chinese Characteristics† (Liu, 2004). Apparently, under this principle, the members of the society are given more importance. He cited â€Å"material base and material production† as the ultimate foundation of socialism. Socialism with Chinese characteristics refers to the combination of basic ideas of scientific socialism and the facts of buil ding socialism in the Chinese community (Anon., 2007). Stated in another sense, socialism is the rule that governs the society as a whole. In scientific socialism, the ways of finding solution to economic and political problems are scientific. A particular social or economic problem is examined scientifically so as to come up with the most appropriate and practicable solution. This is in contrast with Mao’s Utopian socialism. ... In the words of Thayer Watkins (n.d.), in formulating the Four Modernizations, what Deng meant is simply the electrification of rural areas, automation of industries, introduction of a whole new economic outlook and the enhancement of national defense. Significantly, in the agricultural aspect, Deng established a new mechanism that would replace the commune system. This new system pertains to the contract responsibility system. Under this system, the peasants were to make an agreement with the Chinese government with regard to the production and trading of certain amount of commodities at low prices (Koo, 1990). In other words, the peasant must agree to till the land, produce crops and sell them to the government for a low price. However, as to the agreement, a certain quantity was required by the government. After the peasant could fulfill the agreement, they can then sell their products in the market as to any price (Koo, 1990). This mechanism had inspired the farmers to plant and produce more. As such, the agricultural production in China had increased abruptly. The increase went up to eight percent as compared to the previous year (Anon., n.d.). With regard to the second aspect, industry, Deng wanted the members of the Chinese society to spend more financial resource on consumer goods (Anon., n.d.). This began the consumerism attitude of the Chinese people. In such case, the Chinese government shifted its focus to light industry. To note, when Mao was the leader, he focused on heavy industry. In contrast, Deng was able to realize that consumerism is more advantageous than anything else. He could have observed that most people buy the things that they

The War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The War - Essay Example Prior to Pearl Harbor, Americans were sharply divided as to whether the U.S. should ally with Britain against Germany following the defeat of France. The U.S. immediately began fighting on both European and Pacific fronts fully supported by the American public. Though the Pacific Fleet was crippled by the Pearl Harbor attack, its submarines, aircraft carriers and, somewhat incredibly, the fuel storage tanks, were not damaged. America responded by winning the Battle of Midway then ‘island hopping’ toward Japan. The war in the Pacific theater culminated in the dropping of two atomic bombs in 1945 on cities in Japan affecting surrender (Goldstein & Dillon, 1981). In preparation for possible Japanese aggression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had relocated much of the U.S. Fleet to Pearl Harbor in mid 1940. The Japanese had been fighting a war with China since 1937 to gain desperately needed oil and other materials. What became the countries of the Western alliance stopped trade with the Japanese in July 1941which made the Japanese situation more desperate. Japan felt it had little choice but to capture the mineral and oil-rich regions of the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia and the East Indies so as to sustain itself. War was the inevitable outcome of these actions (â€Å"Pearl Harbor Raid†, 2000). Frank Beatty, at that time a U.S. Navy Secretary aid, wrote after the war, â€Å"I can say that prior to December 7, it was evident even to me that we were pushing Japan into a corner. The conditions we imposed upon Japan to get out of China, for example were so severe that we knew that nation could not accept. We did not want her to accept th em.† According to a 1944 account of British Minister of Production Oliver Lyttelton, â€Å"Japan was provoked into attacking America at Pearl Harbor. It is a travesty of history to say that America was forced into war† (Perloff, 1986). The Japanese Navy announced internally its detailed

Analyse article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Analyse article - Essay Example Evidently, the nutrient cycles have been changed, the biomass has reduced considerably and a lot of carbon dioxide is being emitted (Passary 1). In the coming years, Passary writes that the impacts on the environment are expected to worsen, especially if nothing is done to reverse these statistics (1). The plant and animal species have greatly reduced (Passary 1). In line with this thought, it is only fair that humans put much efforts towards reclaiming the lost lives and even the habitats that would have otherwise been home to animals and humans. Among the major improvements that humans can adopt is to adopt safer forms of agricultural practices. It is also recommended that the urban designers adopt a more efficient approaches such as using the landscape corridors (Passary 1). These approaches will help improve and sustain the existing ecosystems. These approaches will also lead to higher biodiversity. Passary, Anu. Dwindling Forest Habitats Threatening Worlds Ecosystems Says Study. Tech Times, 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.

Windows HPC Server 2008 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Windows HPC Server 2008 - Research Paper Example This paper discusses the main aspects of Windows HPC Server. This paper will outline the windows HPC Server’s basic working structure, its advantages and disadvantages, its current uses and new features of this server technology. OVERVIEW OF WINDOWS HPC SERVER Microsoft Windows HPC Server (HPCS) is a modern technology based generation of HPC (extreme performance computing) that offers performance, enterprise-level services and extendibility for an extremely prolific HPC framework. Additionally, the HPCS offers a comprehensive and incorporated cluster arrangement encompassing the task or job scheduler, operating system, cluster management, message passing interface v2 (MPI2) support and scrutinizing elements. Moreover, the latest developed Windows Server ® 2008 64-bit, HPCS ranges to thousands of CPU processing cores and comprises a management console that facilitates practically maintenance and checking system strength and constancy. In this scenario, the job scheduling agil ity and interoperability facilitates incorporation in Windows-based HPC platforms maintains service-oriented architecture (SOA) or group workloads. Furthermore, Windows HPC Server 2008 offers a lot of facilities such as improved efficiency, simplicity of use and scalable performance that is why it is the most effective solution for Windows platforms (Microsoft, 2008) and (Microsoft Corporation., 2008). HOW IT WORKS This section presents an overview of the working and functioning method of Windows HPC Server. This section will discuss that how Windows HPC Server works? Basically, Windows HPC Server is designed on a group of servers that comprises a single head node and one or more compute nodes as stated in the below given Figure 1. In this scenario, the main head node that currently offers switching from fail component to backup component using Windows Server 2008 Enterprise accessibility services, SQL Server powers and clustering is responsible for managing all the rights to access the cluster resources as well as it is the particular position of operation, organization and job development in support of the compute cluster. Moreover, Windows HPC Server offers a lot of tools to manage accessible Active Directory, directory service-based arrangement for security, complete functions and handle account. One major example of these tools is System Center Operations Manager (Microsoft, 2008) and (Hand, 2010). Figure 1- Windows HPC Server Working Arrangement Image Source, (Microsoft, 2008) The installation process of Windows HPC Server encompasses mounting the OS on the main head node, combining it to an Active Directory domain, and afterward applying the HPC Pack 2008. In this scenario, there is a page named as â€Å"To Do List† which outlines the steps needed to finish the setting of our compute cluster. These steps encompass describing the network designing standard management, physical layout and incorporating compute nodes to the cluster. Moreover, Window s HPC Server offers Node model, which is a simple method to describe the preferred arrangement of the compute nodes, as well as a simple interface that helps improve the fundamental Windows Deployment Services of

Mr. Jayanti Purohit Essay Example for Free

Mr. Jayanti Purohit Essay Q 1. When Shanaya Malkan boarded her Air India flight to London in Mumbai, she was seated in the middle of an unkempt person who apparently had not bathed recently on one side and a baby crying on the other. The person in front of her immediately reclined his seat. Shanaya knew she would not be comfortable in making the seven hour long trip under these circumstances. What can Shanaya do to make the trip more comfortable? Q 2. Ms. Anjali Chaturvedi is the head of the sales division in Fedington Technologies. Whenever she asks for feedback during the departmental meetings, she blasts anyone offering criticism which causes her sub-ordinates to agree to everything she says and not voice their true opinion on the way they manage their functioning. You want to talk to her about it , but what should you say ? List some of the points that you would like to make with when you would discuss this issue with her.

Should The Government Censor The Internet Media Essay

Should The Government Censor The Internet Media Essay The growth of information and communication technology has significantly impacted on every facet of the world on most often noted is the internet. The advancement of Information and communication technology ICT, coupled with the rapid uptake of increasingly affordable, key technologies such as the Internet, has also helped foster an environment that promotes globalization of knowledge and information. The Internet has revolutionalized communication making information access across boundaries deemed seemingly impossible in the past a thing of general practice. People around the world are able to communicate with unprecedented ease. In the past, government has enjoyed great successes in censoring traditional communication media and this has affected information flow to the masses. The internet on the other hand with is multi-directional information flow communication nature where anyone can air their opinions on any desired issue at will has posed great challenges to governments. For countries with repressive regimes, the Internet has become a revolutionary force as it allows the free flow of information and which has been perceived as threat by the authorities in some countries. Government in some countries have responded imposing strict censorship on Internet usage by the public through monitoring, filtering and access to some site in the internet in a bid to control access to information. Internet censorship can be defined as the control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. Internet censorship has been a greatly debated topic around the world with people having different opinions. In most countries governments at different level have been the in the fore front in the campaign for a regulated internet. Though there are a few arguments that support the need to have the internet censored, it has been largely rejected by organizations and individuals across the world as censorship of the internet is widely regarded by many as an attempt by government to suppress freedom of speech. This essay examines the arguments against internet censorship by government, its impact, successes and failures of government in some countries that embarked on such projects, and the challenges they have faced. It also assesses the key importance of censorship and concludes with an individual opinion evaluating the stated arguments. The case against the government Campaigners against the governments censorship of the internet have strongly opposed censorship and have stated that it prevents freedom of speech thus undermining confidence and trusts in the medium and this inhibits crucial flows of data. Also, Internet censorship and filtering leads to monitoring which is seen by many as another big brother ploy by government to invade the public privacy. It is more often argued that the government will use internet censorship as a tool to promote political agenda and the public has been quick to conclude that the true voice of the public will not be heard. In Australia, the National-Anarchists reject any parliamentary censorship of material and the reasons given has been summed up simply, any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both Benjamin Franklin.[1] Reports on internet censorship show the level of its pervasiveness recently being experienced in some countries. There are several tools and solutions instituted by the government of these countries for the purpose of internet censorship and also the content censored also vary with most blocked contents being political, pornographic, religious contents and others. [2] The common argument used by most countries in proposing censorship is that of child pornography. Most people however believe that the governments plans on internet censorship do not quite provide the solution to child pornography. It is often seen as, and in fact proven by experts that websites play only a minor role in circulation of child abuse materials and cannot be simply banned by Government [1]. It is often suggested that censoring for children by utilizing a user backed software and filtering systems instead of governmental censorship is a viable solution for keeping children away from indecent internet content. There are several software systems that allow parental control of internet materials. The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) has made a categorization of nations that is classes as internet enemy list. The ONI is joint project between some academic institutions across the world with the goal to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance activities by different nation. The project uses several means to determine the extent and nature of government-run internet filtering programs. It lists China, Iran Saudi Arabia etc in the forefront of internet censorship in the world. A new wave is now being generated by the Australian government as it moves to launch its own internet censorship project, [3] which has sparked up several arguments across the world. According to the ONI reports, censorship varies with countries and some countries have pervasive filtering policies, often routinely blocking access to not just pornographic and prohibited contents, but also human rights organizations, news, blogs, and Web services that challenge the status quo or are deemed threatening or undesirable. The Chinese governments The Great firewall currently uses four mechanisms DNS blocking, reset commands, URL keyword blocking and content scanning to prevent Internet users in the country from reaching blacklisted Web sites or content [16]. This technique though quite effective faces some technology challenges as private VPNs used by banks, manufacturing and other businesses often allow users within these organizations bypass this great firewall. These VPN services are now even open to the public for sign up at a fee that is quite affordable and attempts by the government to clamp down on this may impact on the economy since businesses will be affecte d. The general public thus rides on this loophole [4]. Methods of implementing censorship have also been criticized. Blocking unwanted and prohibited content using a dynamic process that would require analysis of website content in real-time would significantly slow down the internet. This is already being experience on the china network. [4]. Reports from Australia also suggests this will be the case when the Australian project kick off. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) confirmed that under trial conditions internet filtering reduced speeds between 2% and in excess of 75%, but with half the tested products falling between 20-30%. It was concluded that proper implementation of the censorship project could result in a 20% drop in internet speeds [5]. Policies have been another hugely criticize factor. Often times government policies on censorship do not make a clear distinction on materials unfit for internet content, this resulting in legal and harmless contents being blocked. Organizations have challenged and even filed lawsuits to prevent passage of censorship bills in some states citing free speech violation and the decision to embark on censorship as unconstitutional. This is the case of a Utah Internet Censorship law, intended to restrict childrens access to material on the Internet but that may in fact also restrict adults access to a wide range of lawful material [6]. Examples cited COPA internet censorship law of 1998, included whether an education web page showing young women how to perform self examinations for breast cancer be banned and being classed as sexually explicit [7]. Australian government for example intends to use a public complaints mechanism for blacklisting URLs as well as URLs provided by international agencies. Analysts have questioned the accountability and transparency of this and have stated that the same government bureaucrats who put together their initialed flawed blacklist would remain responsible as arbitrators of the system. In support of the publics claim, a recently leaked list of blacklisted website showed that about half of the sites listed were in fact not related to child porn as claimed by the government but rather other contents that were to a certain degree could be classified as legal content for the adult community. This has sparked further debate on the issue [8]. A word for the government The biggest arguments presented so far by the government in support of internet censorship have been issues relating to preventing access to illegal contents and child pornography, racism, fraud terrorism, religion etc. With the attempts so far made by several nations to impose some form of censorship meeting with similar resistance, government should realize that the key challenges faced are three fold, the people, the law and the coping with technology. One could however wonder why the topic on censoring the internet would generate so much argument when the public indeed presently abides by certain degree of censorship. From schools preventing access to certain contents and websites, warnings are displayed on university networks on the impact of downloading of file sharing, companies prevent employees from accessing chat systems, networking website and other sites at work using firewalls to ISPs blocking potential dangerous contents either because of virus or to keep their network safe and uncompromised, Why then is the public so opposed to the government censoring the internet? It could be safe to state that the public is just not ready for the extreme spectrum of Internet control which would result in a globally regulated internet by the government for the fear that the public could lose its freedom of speech and the fear unknown. Conclusion Recommendation Though internet censorship could be considered a necessity in cases where there is need to set a standard for publishing and the kind of information to publish on highly sensitive topics, by and large the foreseeable disadvantages far surpasses the benefits that may be accrued. I do not see Government succeeding in the offing in the fight to regulate content on the internet. Technology favours the public internet users rather than government and as such the government will be playing catch-up and their efforts may yet be foiled. Technology is presently enabling data encryption, user generated videos and pod casts thus complicating the tasks by the monitoring bodies. Also the laws governing internet censorship if passed will meet several barriers as they are more likely to be passed by countries independently. The internet spans boundaries and how these laws would apply to other countries a crucial aspect of consideration. The law will need to keep up with changing technology as such there will be no rest for law makers. Passing laws takes considerable time, and lapse in law would result in loopholes that could be exploited by the public. In addition, the controversies generated by government censoring the internet far outweigh the benefit. The internet is a global communication platform and the government needs to study close before imposing laws. Close attention should however the paid to the fact that the global nature of the net does present problems to censorship. To conclude, though the proposed laws by government to regulate the internet is of good intention, it is unwise for the government to censor the internet because any law infringing on the publics right to free speech or breaching individuals right to privacy and freedom on such a vast communication medium as the internet will be difficult to enforce.

Cost Benefit Analysis Economics Essay

Cost Benefit Analysis Economics Essay Introduction Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is a technique which seeks to bring greater objectivity into the decision making. It is a well known evaluation technique that is extensively engaged by both public and private organisations to support the decision making process. It can be useful to almost any kind of decision in any kind of field. It is helpful to identify all the relevant benefits and costs of a particular scheme and to quantify them in monetary terms. The practice arrived in the United Kingdom in 1960s for use in the transportation sector. CBA techniques were extended to cover a wide range of applications, such as water resource management, motorways, nationalized industries, airport locations, forestry, recreational facilities and a wide range of urban investment projects (Paul, 2000). Private sector, direct monetary costs and benefits determines the profitability and increases the output and investment. All costs and benefits in public sector, affected by an investment must be evaluated in some other way. Welfare economics helps to resolve such issues as how to assess costs and benefits of a non-monetary environment how to assess the community benefits when no charge made for public facility and how to fiddle with the market failure. Cost Benefit Analysis CBA rests on the recognition of a potential Pareto development. The basis for this is the proposition that, a decision is justified if those who benefit from it could compensate by those who lose by it. Compensation needs not really occur. What is essential is that the expenses of a policy to those who suffer the costs are exceeded by the value that beneficiaries place on it. This may still remain on an adequate basis for judgment because CBA attempts to ascertain whether the resources are being used efficiently. It will often be the case that the occurrence of costs and benefits, i.e. who bears them, will moreover be very important. CBA may provide a framework designed to identify accurately where the costs and benefits fall, so that a political judgement may be completed as to their satisfactoriness. CBA is a widely used technique which evaluates public spending and aims to avoid inappropriate distribution of public resources. In theory, it helps public decision-makers to invest only in the projects that create more profitability from the viewpoint of the community. To function perfectly, the CBA procedure needs to be engaged prior to the decision is made, so that the potential of the range of project proposals can be compared and evaluated. It aims to evaluate the set of direct and indirect effects of a project, its financial and non- financial effects on the set of economic agents concerned with the investment. These effects are then synthesized, after monetary evaluation, to assure a socio-economic balance which establishes the return on the investment, with this return being estimated on the basis of specific indicators (Auzannet, 1997). According to Boardman et al. (2006) the major steps in CBA are as follows; Specify the set of alternative projects Decide whose benefits and cost count Catalogue the impacts and select measurement indicators Predict the impacts quantitatively over the life of the project Monetize (attach dollar values to) all impacts Discount benefits and costs to obtain present values Perform sensitivity analysis Make a recommendation History and Uses of CBA At present, CBA is being used in both government and international organization. While certain concepts of the technique oriented from Europe in 1840s, the use of CBA in environmental economics is relatively a new incidence which is becoming recognized after regulations were set by the US government. And this made the use of CBA compulsory in the 1930s (E.J. Mishan and Euston, 2007). It was used to generate a solution toward the problems of water provision. After World War II, there was pressure towards the efficiency in government and the search was on for ways to make sure that the public funds were efficiently utilised in major public investments. This resulted in the beginnings of the fusion of the new welfare economics, which was essentially a Cost-Benefit Analysis and practical decision-making. This particular process arrived in the United Kingdom in 1960s in support of the transportation sector. It was applied to the construction of M1 motorway and the Victoria line on the und erground (Economic Labour Market Review, December 2008). In recent years, it is recognised as the major appraisal technique for public investments and public policy. Principles of CBA There are eight basic principles under this CBA ((S.L. Kirama, 2010). These are; There must be a common unit of measurement CBA valuations should represent consumers or producers valuations as revealed by their actual behaviour. Benefits are usually measured by market choices Some measurements of benefits require the valuation of human life The analysis of project should involve a with or without comparison CBA involves particular study area Double counting of benefits or costs must be avoided Decision criteria projects Emergence of CBA CBA allows different projects to be ranked according to highest expected net gains in social wellbeing. This gives important limitations of government spending. The main stages in CBA approaches are (Geoff Riley, 2006), Calculation of social costs and benefits. This includes direct costs, indirect costs and the benefits Sensitivity analysis of event occurring Discounting the future value of benefits Comparing the costs and benefits Comparing the net rate of benefits The Application of CBA In the private sector, financial CBA is used to justify equipment and technology investment, measure life cycle costs, meet regulations cost-effectively and quantify hidden costs and intangible benefits. It is also useful to demonstrate how outsourcing and leasing can result in cost savings and how quality improvements can affect returns. Social CBA is being used to evaluate the social merit of projects or policies. In practice CBA vary between countries and sectors within countries. The main differences include the types of impacts that are being included as costs and benefits within the assessment procedure. This is an extent to which the impacts are expressed in monetary terms and difference in discount rate between countries. The public CBA may also vary from private CBA (S.L. Kirama, 2010). CBA is likely to have its main usage within the public sector where (J. Harve and E. Jowsey, 2004); Price signals are insufficient to guide investment decisions Spill-over benefits and costs are important owing to the magnitude of the schemes The wellbeing of unborn generations has to be allowed Key Concepts in CBA There are some key concepts in CBA. There are; present value, discount rates, opportunity costs, cost and benefits, discounting, net present value, shadow prices, etc. (J. Harve and E. Jowsey, 2004). Government Decision- making Government may take the form of regulation such as building regulation to reduce fire hazards, taxes or subsides or providing goods and services. The main difficulty in many public-sectors is that the goods are provided free of charge or below the market price. So they are forced to focus on short-term special effects of the financial system and the long-standing sustainability of the public finances. Government decisions depend on subjective political considerations. For example, obtaining a social mix council housing may be providing an expensive residential area. However, public investments have serious defects. The one-man, one-vote principle does not weight votes according to the intensity of welfare gain or lost. Therefore, majority of the decision allow two voters marginally in favour of a scheme to outvote one who strongly opposes it in spite of the fact that the sum of their benefits is less than the costs impose on the single opponent. Political decisions are important one-sided. Economic efficiency in resource allocation requires that objective criteria should be used as far as it is feasible. The extension of government involvement in the economy has increased the weight and complexity of decisions which needs to be made at government level. Many argument says that decentralisation of decision-making is desirable. Application to Construction Industry Government is basically responsible for roads, bridges, airports, parks, amenity land, new urban areas and housing. CBA is normally being favoured by many transportation economists. It assesses the entire benefits and costs associated with highway project, including both capital and user costs. In this case, project requires less cost but provides more benefits right through the analysis period which are chosen first. CBA estimates the costs in monetary terms. Traditionally, a benefit-cost ratio, net present value or internal rate of return is being used. Recent research suggests that the net present value (NPV) may provide the best project selection measure if the transportation program is under financial constraints (Reed and Rutherford, 1997). The Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Transportation Sector Transportation policy and scheduling decisions often engage tradeoffs between conflicting objectives. Most highway cost allocation and investment evaluation studies are primarily concerned with direct market costs, such as road construction and maintenance, travel time, vehicle operating costs and crash damages. These vary depending on vehicle type and roadway conditions. They assume that the total amount of vehicle travel does not change, so were unconcerned with vehicle ownership and parking costs. Other types of studies incorporate environmental impacts, primarily air pollution, but sometimes it also includes noise and water pollution, and various other categories of land usage impact. Some studies have only considered external costs avoiding the internal ones. CBA is extensively used within the transportation segment. CBA of transportation investment projects tend to neglect long-term environmental consequences and needs among the community group with a low ability to pay. It has been emerged as one of the most used tools in deciding the viability of proposed infrastructure projects. The predictions regarding the impact of such projects are often problematic uncertain. The transport modelling tools are used in order to estimate positive as well as the negative impacts. Case Study Heathrow Terminal 5 In this case, the British Airport Authority (BAA) planning to build terminal 5 the cost is approximately around  £4 billion. Planning application was submitted in February 1993 (Heathrow T5, October 2005). They were considering the following benefits, such as Economic growth: Demand for air travel in south-east England is forecasted to be doubled in the next 20 years, making the expansion seems to be essential within the Air travel industry. This in turn might create thousands of jobs and businesses depending on the Heathrow airport expansion in order to provide sufficient supply capacity to meet the growing demand. An increase in the capacity of Heathrow will make maximum usage of airports existing infrastructure and land. The economy and trade: if it does not meet demand, UK will lose its airlines and foreign investments within the other European regions. The benefits of a world-beating industry would be reduced. Therefore, many sectors of our aviation industry will have a comparative advantage and might add huge sums to our balance of payments. Jobs: This project will create job opportunities which are estimated to be around 16,500. And it may also create 6,000 construction jobs during the building phase. This will have multiplier effects on the local / regional and national economy. Transport: The terminal will be the centre of a world-class transport exchange, with new Tube and rail links. Car traffic would rise only slightly. The social costs of increased traffic congestion have been exaggerated by the environmentalists. Environment: The site which has been allocated for terminal 5 is currently a disused sludge works. And any displace wildlife and plant life will be carefully relocated. The noise climate around Heathrow Airport has been improving for many years, even despite the fact that the number of aircraft movements has increased considerably partly due to the phasing out of older, nosier aircraft. Noise and night flight: BAA promises no increase in overall noise levels or in night flights. The number of flights will be increased by 8%. (Source: http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-cost-benefit-analysis.html) Objections are being raised against this project but those were not enough to refuse the planning permission. Conclusion CBA provides a rational technique for the evaluation of projects where market information is either non-existent or deficient. But it should not make false claims for objectivity by dealing in precise sums. However it is helpful for decision-making purposes, it is not an alternative for it. Further, CBA is potentially a useful aid towards planning decisions and it does not avoid the need to make value judgements in the evaluation of intangible arising from different projects. The overall conclusions are to be drawn from the assessment of costs and benefits. However, such value judgements are made clear in the evaluation decision making process.