Why There We Have Winners and Losers in the Automotive Industry Free Essays

One reasons that has exposed some automobile companies to severe vagaries of recession while sparing others is the existence of structural differences between the so called auto â€Å"transplants† or foreign auto mobile manufacturing in the United States and the major automobile companies incorporated and domiciled in the United States i. e. General Motors, Chrysler, Ford and the like. We will write a custom essay sample on Why There We Have Winners and Losers in the Automotive Industry or any similar topic only for you Order Now The so called ‘transplants’ better represented by Toyota, Hyundai and the like are structured in such a way that they can access credit from their mother countries most of which for instance were not severely affected by the recent recession if compared with the United States (Ohno, 1988). Their deep pocket and this ready pool of credit from their mother countries made them less susceptible to the vagaries of financial meltdown. Another factor that has prejudiced some automakers while favoring others is what analysts have called bad practices of the Big Three United States automakers. These ‘bad’ practices are the ones that are responsible for the big cost differentials that have existed for some time now between them and the ‘transplant’. Another tragedy that has benefited the transplants at the expense of the Big Three is the high prices of automobile fuels that have been occasioned by the recession (Ohno, 1988). In this regard the Big Three US automakers known for their SUVs and Pickup Trucks which normally consume more fuel have found themselves uncompetitive due to the avoidance of fuel guzzlers in the United States due to the high oil prices and reduced disposable income due to inflation. Most of those who have avoided these fuel guzzlers have migrated to the cheaper and more fuel efficient car made from the so called transplant i. e. Toyota, Hyundai, et al. The labor costs have also overwhelmed the Big Three US automakers more than others from foreign countries manufacturing in the United States (McCracken, 2006). This is due to the fact that their workers are unionized and therefore able to press for high salaries while their non-unionized counterparts in the so called transplants do not have such powers (McCracken, 2006). Importance of the New Product Development for Corporation In regard to Toyota’s New Product Development Process with the launch of the Prius The development of new product whether in form of new innovations, new applications or even completely new goods is a necessary component in business because it enhances the viability of the company. By developing new product the company is able to make a mark in the industry which is one of the best survival strategy that today’s companies have perfected in their bid to withstand cutthroat competition that characterize today’s business environment. The importance of continuously and consistently developing new product in today’s business world is better captured in the statement â€Å"innovate or die† which has of late become a popular catchphrase adopted by both small and large corporate bodies in reference to increasingly knowledgeable consumer demand for the latest and finest products. One of the companies that have embraced the idea of developing new products in an effort to remain competitive while still providing their customers with the newest and finest goods in the respective market is Toyota Corporation. Toyota which is the second largest automaker globally realizes that in order to maintain its brand visibility as a top automaker worldwide it has keep on innovating and coming up with new and more superior models (McCracken, 2006). All these Toyota models that have been launched in succession by Toyota Corporation are informed by this strategy. This strategy has been employed by Toyota for a long time now. However the most recent product of Toyota’s innovative product development is Toyota Prius. The development of Toyota Prius is in line with Toyota’s management desire to develop newer and more superior cars for this century. The superiority of Prius as a new and different product from the other is better demonstrated by its superior features that include more spacious cabin space, relatively higher seat position, aerodynamic exterior, a 20km/little fuel economy, and a relatively small engine placed horizontally with a variable automatic transmission (McCracken, 2006). References Ohno, Taiichi, (1988). Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. New York: Productivity Press McCracken, Jeffrey, (2006). Detroit’s Symbol of Dysfunction: Paying Employees Not to Work. The wall street journal online. 06 March 2006 How to cite Why There We Have Winners and Losers in the Automotive Industry, Essays

Majority Rule Guarantee of Democracy Essay Example For Students

Majority Rule Guarantee of Democracy Essay Swiss Bank Controversy: Whos Money Is It?It is hard to imagine having everything you ever owned taken away in a split second. Many Jews experienced this after the years of oppression by the Nazi regime. The Jews had everything stripped away: their families, their possessions, their futures, and their dignity. I would give that money away for anybody. I should have had some relatives survive. I mean most of my friends, they had sisters, or cousins, or aunts or somebody to belong to. I had nobody, said Gizella Weisshaus (Jones 1996). It has been about fifty years now since the end of the Holocaust. Up until recent times, the survivors of the Holocaust have decided that they deserve their money that they put into the neutral Swiss bank accounts before the war. They did this to protect their assets from the Nazis. This then provides the controversy, fifty years later, do the Holocaust survivors and their families deserve the money back from the Swiss banks, or are the Swiss banks even re sponsible for paying back the money?The controversy first arose with Gizella Weisshaus, when she could not receive her fathers money after the war ended because she did not know her fathers bank account number. When she was a young girl, her father had been taken away to the concentration camps. As he was being taken away, he mentioned to her that he had put money away in a Swiss Bank account and that she should go and claim it when the war ended. Years after the war she went back to claim the money, and the teller told her that with out an account number she could not do this. They then told her it would take five years to research the dormant account; therefore she would have to wait. Her response was, It made me angry that even now they claim they need five years to find these dormant accounts, as if fifty years wasnt enough (Jones, 1996). Weisshaus was the first one to raise the red flag of the Swiss Bank controversy. Which has three main sides to the issue, the Swiss side, the United States side, and the side of the Holocaust victims. The Swiss believe that they do not owe the survivors and their families any money because of the laws that protect them. They said that they are a neutral country and that the money put into the accounts was not claimed in time. The United States took the position that if the money belonged to the victims of the Holocaust, the money then should be returned back to them, regardless if the claim is made one or fifty years later. The money belongs to the victims just as it did before the war.The Holocaust victims position is that they are owed this money back because it was theirs in the first place before the war, no questions asked. Switzerland was a neutral country at the time of the war, and is still a neutral country at this period of time. The Swiss position on this controversy is that they do not believe that they owe the unclaimed money to the Jewish survivors and their families, if there is not proper documentation to back up the claims. The Swiss are examining the situation and are unable to conclude what happened to the money in the accounts and where the money went. The Swiss are very defensive with the allegations from the Jewish survivors. They do not like being accused of destroying bank accounts and being called an ?ally? to the Nazis during the war (Border 2, 1998). That, therefore, is the reason why the banks are so hesitant to giving the money back to the survivors. They have a valid excuse why the documents may be gone after fifty years, but the banks as a whole, do not like being seen as the bad guys. The Swiss even have laws protecting them and their reasons for not returning the money back t o the survivors. ?Switzerland does not provide for the government to receive the unclaimed property of those who have died with out leaving a will or heirs. Therefore, the banks themselves are permitted to retain such money?(Levin, 1998). After the war, the documents that showed proof of accounts were destroyed and/or came up missing. The Swiss do not like the reputation they are receiving for this mistake in the past. They are examining all of the allegations and are determined to get to the bottom of the problem (Defrago, 1997). They are working with the Jewish, British, German, and United States officials in recovering information and documents that would exonerate or prove corruption of the Swiss accounts. Either way, the Swiss are cooperating and are willing to give the money back to the survivors, if the documents hold true to the accusations (Border 1, 1998). ?The Swiss have pledged that at the end of this process , not one penny will remain in Switzerland that may have belon ged to a victim of the Holocaust,? said Jeffery Taufield, a spokesman for the Swiss bankers Association (Jones, 1996). It was only until a great outcry from the Holocaust victims that the Swiss agreed to form a committee to investigate the missing bank accounts. If the documents do not appear, they propose giving the survivors one lump sum to be divided up equally amongst themselves. Next is the position of the United States. The Unites States of America was an ally during the war. They have a biased position towards the Germans and the Swiss because of their stance on the war. The US does not listen to the facts presented and is quick to point fingers of who is at fault. They are sticking with their guns in that they say the Swiss took the money, they were not neutral during the war, and they owe the Jewish survivors the money back (Jones, 1996). The United States claims that the Swiss took the money, and that the case is cut and dry. The controversy should be resolved soon. The US then appointed officials to look into the findings of the documents. Working along side the US officials are officials from other countries including England and Germany. They are working hard to find out the facts of the situation. The US also formed a Senate Banking Committee, which is headed by Senator Alphonse DAmato. The committee has been holding hearings with survivors and their families. They said that they found evidence that supports the claims that the Swiss withheld many deposits (Jones, 1996). The United States also granted American citizenship to a Swiss guard who was caught burning account documents. The guard was granted citizenship after he told on the Swiss for what they have been doing to the documents. Yet, even more proof for the Holocaust victims. The final position is that of the Holocaust victims and their family members. They believe that the money they put into the accounts in a ?neutral country? should be given back to them, after all it was theirs in the first place. They say that they deserve the money back no questions asked. They believe that what the Swiss did was wrong in destroying the records, and playing dumb to the whole incident is inexcusable, but the Jews are willing to let bygones be bygones if the Swiss return the money. They realize that everyone makes mistakes and is a shamed of things they have done in the past, they just want them to forget about the past and do the right thing. The Jews themselves find the whole process of recovering the money back very painful. They recall the horrible moments from the war and some find it is not even worth going through the painful memories all over again just to recover the money. Another position of the Jews is that they reject firmly to the Swiss proposal of giving only the survivors one lump sum divided up in equal parts, if proper documentation is presented. They dislike this idea because the family of the victims would not be able to claim money from their family and beca use not everyone had the same amount of money, everyone deserves the money that they put in, not more or less the amount of the original account (Levin, 1998). In conclusion, the controversy of the lost Swiss bank accounts has many different positions and opinions from countries and nationalities involved. There is the Swiss view of that they acknowledge the disappearance of Holocaust victims bank accounts and they are trying to get to the bottom of the problem. The view of the United States, who is standing up for the victims and are trying to help them recover their money. Finally, there is the view of the Holocaust victims, who are furious at the Swiss for the disappearance of their bank accounts after the war. They are also disappointed in the Swiss because they are giving the Holocaust victims a hassle when they try to recover their money. They feel that the money is clearly theirs and they want it back. Over all, there are many viewpoints and opinions over these issues neither of which are either right or wrong. BibliographyNewspapers

Queen Elizabeth I free essay sample

A collation and review of articles and books written on the topic of Queen Elizabeth I. This paper presents a detailed analysis of articles and books written about Elizabeth I. The writer traces Elizabeth Is life and explores various writers commentaries on her life and the bias of their writings. It concludes with an attempt to arrive at a consensus of the Queens character, from the writings studied. The above passage from the article underscores the authors obvious admiration of the queen and her confidence. The article displays several examples of the queens ability to shut down anyone who attempts to chastise her publicly or rebuke her nations efforts. The queen was well known for the ability to react with a sharp tongue and be able to lash someone to shreds verbally if she felt cornered or insulted, however, the author of each article about her decides how much of this trait to display within the writings. We will write a custom essay sample on Queen Elizabeth I or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Technology Essays - Database, Database Theory, Pointer, Free Essays

Technology Essays - Database, Database Theory, Pointer, Free Essays Technology Background The Technology Needs Survey (TNS) software program developed at HSC/XRE was originally intended to provide a convenient vehicle by which the office?s engineers and scientists could enter and edit environmental, safety and occupational health (ESOH) needs data into a database. The program provided an interface that allowed the user to answer, or revise answers, to questions regarding the nature of the ESOH technology needs of the customer. The database was originally installed on a local area network (LAN) shared by the technical members of the HSC/XRE office. The data in the database was used, in part, to rank the severity, impact and importance of technology needs throughout the Air Force. HSC/XRE performed substantial analysis on the data prior to its presentation to the ESOH TPIPT, Air Staff and others. Consequently, the database itself became a dumping ground for temporary tables, queries and reports that were generated "on the fly" over time. The structure of the underlying database is simple, as shown in Figure 1. The numerous queries, reports and tables that are antidotal artifacts in the database are distractions to the underlying structure, and should be removed. Creation of the Tri-Service TNS Database for FY97 The source data for the FY97 Tri-Service TNS database came from four sources: ? US Navy, by way of four MS WORD documents (segmented by pillar) ? US Army, by way of a TNS database that had been exported from a version of the software modified by the US Army and/or their contractors ? USAF FY96 TNS database ? last year?s USAF database, with needs updated as required ? USAF FY97 TNS database ? current year?s new USAF technology, policy and training needs The tasking from the HSC/XRE office was to consolidate the four data sources into a single database and provide it to representatives of the Joint Engineering Management Panel (JEMP) on or before 31 Dec, 1996. Such a database would be known as the Tri-Service TNS Database for FY97. Technical Issues The USAF FY97 database was considered the target into which the other three data sets were to be consolidated. At this point in time (Dec, 1996), the FY97 database still contained "T-numbers", rather than Tag integers. It appeared that there were printing difficulties with T-numbers in the Tag field, so they were removed, and added as a prefix to the need Title. In their place, sequential integers, beginning with 3000, were placed in the Tag field. Next, the Navy needs, which consisted of 807 needs in four word documents, were manually added to the FY97 database using the TNS software. This was a two man-day effort by a program support individual. All attempts to successfully print all US Army needs failed. Most needs contained a data value that exceeded TNS?s a single print page. A bug in TNS causes the first page to be printed OK; then, subsequent lines are printed, one per page. It was decided that the US Army database would be provided to the government as-is, with a suggestion that the government obtain the US Army?s TNS version to see if the bug had been fixed by the Army. The final step was to export the USAF FY96 TNS database, and import it into the FY97 database. This presented something called the "Match Table Problem." The Match table in TNS contains three columns ? the need number, a category, and a pointer. Depending upon the category, the category would represent a unique primary POC, technical POC, potential user, regulation or contaminant. These pointers are not uniquely generated; therefore, a primary POC with a pointer of 4254 might point to Smith in the FY96 database, while a primary POC with a pointer of 4254 might point to Jones in the FY97 database. The same corruption was possible for regulations and contaminants, as well. To resolve this problem, it was determined that the set of pointers in the FY97 database did not exceed 5000 for POC, regulations and contaminants. Consequently, the pointers in the Match table of the FY96 database were incremented by 5000, as were their corresponding targets in the POC, Regulation and Contamination tables. This assured that there would be no overlap between the two databases. The FY96 database was imported successfully into the FY97 database.

Emirates Airlines Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Emirates Airlines - Research Paper Example In terms of innovation, it is the first airline which has introduced â€Å"Audio Video on Demand† for their passengers in all the classes. It remains first in terms of introducing the in-flight calling and the concept of the onboard spa. Emirates Airlines is also known as the first airline which has initiated the internet and Wi-Fi facility inside the flight. The product offering of Emirates Airlines includes ‘ICE’ package.Information: Allows the customers to remain updated with the current news from BBC website. It also enables them to take a vision from the external cameras of aircraft. Communication: Enables the passengers to contact anyone via mail, SMS and phone call.Entertainment: The passengers can watch their favorite shows and also can play games. Due to introducing innovation in its operation and providing various facilities, Emirates Airlines is regarded as the prestigious company in the developed as well as emerging market. It is regarded as a fierce c ompetitor especially in the premium sector because it is leading the airline segment (â€Å"Emirates Group Careers†). The company has coped up with the economic downturn by improving its efficiencies as well as by introducing innovations in its operations (â€Å"Emirates†).Opportunities: Emirates Airlines is incessantly innovative and due to the advancement of its technology, it is making excessive profit. Its association with Qantas enables them to draw more Australian passengers.

The role of the neuromuscular system on work and exercise Essay

The role of the neuromuscular system on work and exercise - Essay Example A nerve impulse from the brain travels through the nerve and cause the release of acetylcholine at the nerve junction. This chemical is picked by chemical receptors in the muscle that effect the movement. Hypertensive individuals are treated with calcium blockers and catecholamine blockers. These drugs protect the hart from heart attacks by neither blocking the action of nor adrenaline which initiates the flight or fight response. They block the reception of stress hormones such as epinephrine weakening their effects. This reduces hypertension. Nevertheless, this also has some adverse effect on the individual because it blocks the absorption of calcium to the ones. As a result, the individual taking the treatment has a high risk of developing ostereoporosis. The motor skills of the patients are also adversely affected because of reduced calcium in the bones. As a result, this type of medicine is not good for physically active individuals or athletes as it affects their performance. This is because they block the uptake of oxygen and make exercise to be more strenuous. Some patients may even stop taking the drugs. Calcium channel blockers also have adverse effects on skeletal movements. They inhibit the movement of calcium inwards by slowed channels into the heart, blood vessels allowing the heart to pump blood more easily and increasing the width of the blood vessels. As such, the heart doe not strain in pumping blood lowering the blood pressure. Increase in intercellular concentration of calcium results in eccentric contraction that causes damage in the skeletal muscles by damaging the muscle protein structure (Blottner & Salanova 2010). The damage arises from increased resting calcium, profound loss of involuntary ad voluntary muscles and increase in intracellular calcium concentration. Caffeine is a mild stimulant. It effects as a stimulant and affects brain activity. Caffeine is quickly absorbed by the body the moment

Measuring student attitudes ....ect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Measuring student attitudes ....ect - Essay Example However, it is more efficient for instructors to have a clear idea about students’ backgrounds, conceptions, misconceptions and attitudes toward Statistics. Another issue is that some students come from different colleges and they do not have enough knowledge about statistics. Measuring student attitudes towards introductory statistics course for non- specialist gives us a good idea about how we can develop their statistical conception and achievement. A lot of studies exploring and investigating the relationship between attitudes toward statistics and achievements have been carried out and some of them involve Wise (1985), Katz &Tomazic (1988), Toto (1992). However, there has not been enough research to address the issue of conception and misconceptions in statistics (Garfield &Alhgren, 1988; Mevarech, 1988; Lasser, 1994; Barkley, 1995). For instance, Barkley (1995) points that understanding and correcting students’ misconceptions in statistics, would help statistics’ instructors to decide the best corrective activity to eliminate misconceptions. Apart from the studies that have been carried related to the research area, there has not been enough research to address the issue of conception and misconceptions in statistics (Garfield &Alhgren, 1988; Mevarech, 1988; Lasser, 1994; Barkley, 1995). Also, there is lack of research about measuring student attitudes, conceptions and achievements towards statistic course for non statistician students in Saudi Arabia. The researcher will use the questionnaire as the first method to collect data from non-specialist students who have studied the introductory undergraduate statistics course in different colleges of the universities. The second method interview, will be used to gather data from the teachers who teach introductory undergraduate statistics course in these colleges. This study will be carried in the northern