Hip-Hop’s Betrayal of Black Women Essay

According to Jennifer Mclune, a writer, activist, and librarian, sexism, and homophobia saturate hip-hop culture and any deviation from these forms of bigotry is made marginal to its most dominant and lucrative expressions. In her article â€Å"Hip hops betrayal of black women† Published on first of July 2006, Mclune is informing and trying to persuade her audience of this generation of teenagers and young adults, also seen as millennials, that hip-hop songs that have these elements of woman-hating, sexism, and homophobia, are basically a normal thing and it should not be because it causes an influence and makes the actions seem like it’s okay to commit rather than seeing it as something offensive. She claims that â€Å"Hip-hop owes its success to the ideology of woman-hating† By this, she means that it creates, perpetuates, and reaps the rewards of objectification. I strongly agree with Mclune she feels that the hip-hop world has degraded women and it became the †norm† so people became blinded so, now it’s time to fight back. To help support my claim, Mclune uses real-life evidence/examples such as song lyrics, another article similar to her topic, and language. First off Mclune starts off addressing Kevin Powell’s ’’ notes of hip-hop heads ’’ and he states how poverty breeds into sexism and that hip-hop is saturated with the past and homophobia. Mclune feels that that’s a way to silence the feminist critiques of the culture. Mclune also states how Powell forgets to mention the fact that women too were raised in the violent and poor environments as men too. Basically, it shouldn’t excuse the fact that men are degrading women through the hip-hop culture. When we as black females need to stand up and gain knowledge on how the hip-hop world participates in women-hating. You have men writing songs about black women pain, but have rappers such as jay-z who has lyrics such as I pimp hard on a trick. In particularly this article written by Sharpley Whiting called †Pimp Up, Ho’s Down† Whiting argues that hip hop’s commercial success is heavily dependent upon young black women. Creating both, this masculine and misogynistic gap in understanding the real complexities of young black women in hip hop’s commercial art. The color prejudice and sexually charged lyrics in a dominated culture, hip-hop. Whiting also states how the millennium generation has grown into the wake of the hip-hop culture, blinded by their unconscious participation, they fail to connect the destruction of feminism in hip-hop, this statement is similar to what Mclune has been saying throughout her article. It is not hip hop itself that has made the uniqueness of its own culture, but it is hip-hop itself that normalizes it. It’s very understandable that the hip-hop world bases their lyrics on real-life situations but the things that are said about such as †gold diggers,† † chicken heads† about women shouldn’t be motioned because it doesn’t do anything but make those situations become the norm. In an article written by Dr. Johnnetta Cole argues in her article that there is a â€Å"war between the sexes†. Also, that hip-hop plays a significant influence on is battle that has been going on since the 60’s. We as black women need to stand our ground for something that we believe in, which is treating us with respect and not degrading us in hip hops music. The sense of impudence toward the woman is being noticed by boys and girls at an early age. Therefore, to them it seems that what is being said and demonstrated in videos is okay. The ruthless and tyrannical gender talk in today’s hip-hop music must be put to rest, but to do that we must chan ge the way we put out our message. Words can be very motivating and inspiring, but you can’t influence someone by humiliating others.

Effects of Music on Human Behavior

As music has changed through out the years, artists have become much more lax with the message that they send to the public. As laws of censorship change, a separation of the public’s freedom of speech and the medias has become very significant. As the government cracks down, many artists fight to keep their freedom. With people blaming their actions on the lyrics of the music they are exposed to, this is going to be a hard feat for the artists to accomplish. Although the fight of the musical artists against the government has been going on for the past 20 years, it has become even more emanate now. Are the actions of people to be blamed on the music? What effect does music have on the social behavior? Should these effects make harder censorship laws, or is music protected by the Bill of Rights? Music has become a large part of everyone’s life. Preservation of music is very important to the preservation of the american culture so these problems cannot be ignored. The most misunderstood music is Rap. Children as well as teenagers have a hard time interpreting emotions in music (Weinberger). This misunderstanding is most relevant in rap music, because it is harder for children to relate to the artist. In cases like these, apparent or older sibling has to explain the message to the child (Weinberger). In particular, â€Å"gangsta rap† is distinguished by lyrics that often involve references to street gangs, gunplay, sex, drug use and violence, and has been accused of extolling violent behavior. Studies have found that exposure to rap music â€Å"tends to lead to a higher degree of acceptance of the use of violence. † In addition, several major rap artists have been charged with violent crimes in real life, and many worry that their actions seemingly condone the violent messages in their music. Their celebrity status also serves to glamorize their violent behavior (Mediascope). Although there is violence, sex, and drug reference in modern rock music, most have a much deeper message about life. It has been resolved that rock music has had more influence on older adolesencents then their parents do (Weinberger). Rock music is much easier for teenagers to relate to with all of their pressures and problems. â€Å"Kids who listen to Heavy Metal and Rap tend not to do as well in school, or it maybe that troubled students are drawn to these types of music† (Weinberger 99) The most rebellious music is Punk. Punk spreads the true ideas of the modern teenager through the media. â€Å"When parents look at Punk music they see everything that is wrong with their children just as their parents did† (Robertson). Parents should pay more attention to the music that their children listen to. They must also censor the music (American Acad†¦). Even with all of the violence, sex, and drug references in music, there are many benefits. Listening to music keeps the brain in shape. Listening involves learning, memory, and emotions (Ezarik). Studies of the Mozart Effect have shown that listening to music can make babies more creative, smarter, healthier, and happier (Ezarik). Some doctors in ancient Greece even believed that music was just as important as medication in treating patients (Gregory). Other studies of music, faster music tends to make people work faster where as music with long, gentle notes tend to relax (Gregory). The effects of music psychology can be seen in stores in our own community. Many play background music in order to get shoppers to stay in the store (Gregory). Music is important in adolescent lives: teenagers spend between four and five hours a day listening to music and watching music videos and name music listening as their preferred non-school activity. It is not surprising that government officials, researchers and parents alike are concerned about the impact of music on teenagers. Disturbed by the amount of violence portrayed in modern music, adults worry that these messages are contributing to the rise in violence among kids. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans say that violence in popular music should be more heavily regulated and 59% would ike to restrict violence in music. (Mediascope) The effects of stimulating and sedating music were determined for heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure of premature infants in an intensive care nursery. The results indicate that the calming and stabilizing effect of sedating music might help to reduce the use of sedative drugs in infants on ventilators and reduce the incidence of respiratory problems (Journal of Mus†¦). The basic rights of freedom of speech are outlined in the Bill of Rights. Do these rights also cover the freedom of speech in music? Music is a form of media and should be censored, just as movies and television (American Acad†¦). Many performers do see themselves as large role models, but they also believe that parents should take action. â€Å"How much damage can I do with a pen? † (Eminem, Rap Artist) When parents are not around, who are children supposed to look up too? (American Acad†¦) There is really no way that parents can regulate all of the music that their children listen to, but it is a start for parents just to find out what kind of music their children are exposed to (American Acad†¦). Even with these changes many bands have not received the message to clean up or get out (Gregory). How far should the government go in their intervention? Keeping records that should not be open to the public off the shelves, taking away publishing rights from some artists that go to far with their music is up to the public to decide. Many parents look at the music that their children listen to and do not even consider it music, but porn. With all the reference to sex not only in the music, but also in the music videos shown on television. Although the government has made a lot of threats to try to intimidate the music industry; many parents believe that these threats should be carried out in order to end the violence (American Acad†¦). â€Å"Music may contribute to the atmosphere of violence that some argue is generated by popular media. Critics claim that music negatively affects teenagers by repeatedly exposing them to themes such as Satanism, substance abuse, murder, suicide and sexual violence, which may be heavily reinforced and normalized by the frequency of their portrayal. Heavy metal and rap music are especially criticized for lyrics that many believe glorify violence. Music lyrics have also become increasingly explicit in the past two decades. Songs commonly make graphic references to sex, drugs and violence, whereas such sensitive topics were cleverly veiled in the past. †(Mediascope) The public, and parents, should be aware of sexually explicit, drug oriented, or violent lyrics on compact discs, tapes, music videos, and the Internet. The music industry should develop and apply a system of specific content-labeling of music regarding violence, sex, drugs, or offensive lyrics. If labeling is not done voluntarily by the music industry, then regulation should be developed to make it mandatory (American Acad†¦). â€Å"Forty-seven percent (47%) of mothers with children in public schools believe that violent messages in rap music contribute â€Å"a great deal† to school violence, and 66% of 13- to 17-year-olds believe violence in music is partly responsible for violent crimes like the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. However, no studies have documented a cause-and-effect relationship between violent or sexually explicit lyrics and adverse behavioral effects. Studies show that the preference for heavy metal music may be a significant indicator for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risks, sex-role stereotyping, or risk-taking behaviors during adolescence, but music is not the cause of these behaviors. It is hypothesized that teenagers already struggling with those issues may be attracted to heavy metal music, because the lyrics express their own troubled feelings. (Mediascope) The music video industry should be encouraged to produce videos and public service messages with positive themes about relationships, racial harmony, drug avoidance, nonviolence and conflict, pregnancy prevention, and avoidance of sexually transmitted diseases (American Acad†¦). â€Å"Music Television (MTV) redefined music for future generations by creating music videos, and the unique fusion between rock music and visual images continues to be a hit. A 1996 study revealed that boys and irls ages 12 to 19 watch MTV for an average of 6. 6 and 6. 2 hours each week, respectively. But despite music videos' popularity among adolescents, many adults criticize the medium as studies show that music videos often contain violence, sexism, suicide and substance abuse. A 1998-1999 study revealed that music videos were more violent than feature films and television, averaging four violent scenes each, and a 1997 study reported that 22. 4% of MTV videos contained overt violence and 25% depicted weapon carrying. (Mediascope) Pediatricians should counsel parents to become media-literate. This means watching television with their children and teenagers, discussing the content with them, and initiating the process of selective viewing at an early age (American Acad†¦). What actions has the government taken to get the ball rolling on these problems many people are wondering? The government has set up a rating system for music. As with movies, it is separated into age groups that are mature enough to listen to the content of the album. The government has also required a label to be placed on albums with explicit content. The label simply states â€Å"Parental Advisory Explicit Content† (VH1, 100 most†¦). Although the government has taken a few steps, there is much more that could be done. As for the laws that are involved none are truly enforced out of fear of a lawsuit, or problems involving the loss of support to pass these laws by the music industry and the artists. As ideas and times change in the world, the message in music will also change. Looking back in the past few years the change in music has been very substantial, with the introduction of new music such as techno. Music may be stepping away form violence by itself. If music does take this step away, all by itself, there may be no reason for the government to intervene with censorship. There is no reason why people should be able to get away with their actions because of listening to music. Music may have a substantial effect on many people, but everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, fact and fiction.

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

The Fifteenth Amendment - Essay Example Before the Fifteenth Amendment was added to the United States Constitution, inequality ran rampant throughout America. Not only were African Americans treated unfairly and denied the same rights as white people, but the majority of them were also kept as slaves. Though African Americans were being oppressed, there were politicians, civilians, and even some slave owners that were against the unethical treatment of African Americans that came about simply due to the color of their skin. To people who supported slavery, they believed that unless you were white, you were considered less than a human being and, therefore, were not entitled to the rights of American citizens. This helped to prompt the American Civil War in 1861. While there were many factors that incited the American Civil War, such as economic and social differences between the North and the South and states versus federal rights, the war was primarily â€Å"instigated by the continuous debates over the rights and freedo ms of African Americans and slaves† (Richards 58). After the Louisiana Purchase and America began to expand, there was controversy as to whether or not the new states should allow slavery. Many of the southern states that approved of slavery forced their beliefs on these new states, arguing that since the other states allowed slavery, the new states should be made to follow the same laws. Furthermore, the more that the southern states pushed for legalized slavery, the more that the northern states opposed slavery not just in the new states, but in all states. The final straw was when Abraham Lincoln, â€Å"a man who was an outspoken proponent for abolishing slavery† (Fletcher 104), was elected as President of the United States in 1860. Toward the end of the American Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was passed. This amendment, approved of in 1864, completely abolished slavery. This may have seemed like a good start in fully liberating African Americans and those trapped in the yokes of slavery, but it posed new problems in the world of politics. It became the belief that if the African Americans and former slaves were not treated like proper citizens of America than they would rebel against their former owners and those that aided in and encouraged their oppression (Keyssar 118) . To prevent this from occurring, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868, which provided United States citizenship for African Americans and those slaves that had been freed. These aforementioned amendments, also known as the Reconstruction Amendments, were nothing less than peace offerings to the African American population. However, the Republicans realized that they could be even more appealing to the African Americans and former slaves if they offered them to opportunity to vote. As such, the Fifteenth Amendment, which would provide people who were not white the opportunity to vote, was proposed. The road to approving this amend ment was not an easy one, but the men who were in charge, the Radical Republicans who believed fully in the freedom and rights of all men, were not easily swayed by the opposition. Fortunately, they had more in favor for the Fifteenth Amendment than those who were against it. Aside from the Radical Repub

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Reactive and Preventive Healthcare - Essay Example Is it appropriate for an individual to show concern about one's blood pressure, once one suffers a heart attack Is it sensible to care about one's food habits and lifestyle, once a person develops a peptic ulcer Nearly 50 percent of the Americans suffering from chronic ailments could trace their maladies to faulty lifestyles and non-compliance with the lifestyle adjustments prescribed by the healthcare personnel (American Heart Association: Online). There is no denying the fact that in such cases, reactive healthcare is like purchasing an umbrella after the rains are over. This premise does not obliterate the relevance of reactive healthcare. Still, preventive healthcare is certainly superior, as it attacks a disease at its very genesis. There are some facts, which command a general acceptance in the local and global medical community, and do not require any statistics to achieve credibility. It is a known reality that cigarette smoking causes cancer, heart diseases and a plethora of other ailments. According to the American Heart Association, in the period 2000-2004, approximately 443,000 US citizens died of smoking related illnesses every year (Online).

James Burkes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

James Burkes - Essay Example Consequently a lot of materials got lost with no one being aware. By the end of the 14th century there was a boom for everything that could be sold, everyone who had something to sell went to sell and this was the beginning of goods and money being exchanged. Towns and businesses developed giving a meaning to paperwork and a need to keep records. As business grew, demand for documentation also grew and the number of writers increased. In 1439 metal bars with engraved letters for faster printing were invented; they would be arranged in a paper frame, smeared with ink allowing printing of as many similar pages as it could get. Arrangement would be changed to make different page contents. This ensured access to Church Bibles, pamphlets and other documents. Rebellion started through pamphlets when Luther printed fourteen complaints to the Church, one being that forgiveness pamphlets were not supposed to be sold. This gave people a chance to express their disagreements. Books in different fields were printed and fashion spread worldwide, with printed science materials scientists were able to correct mistakes. Book fairs were held all over Europe boosting everyone’s sense of identity. Emergence of libraries triggered indexing and cross indexing that would show relations in content, thus, leading to more knowledge discovery. In 1939 the computer was invented; it has led to numerous growths in the field of science and technology. Before the 16th century, the church controlled everything and anything in the Bible was not questioned. Copernicus, who was a priest, researched on heavenly arrangements contradicting views that the Earth was the center of the universe; he discovered that the sun was at the center of the universe. After his discovery he published manuscripts saying that the Earth moves and the sun was at the center of the universe but no one believed him. More researches were done proving that circular motion becomes

Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 7

Report - Essay Example The company has performed admirably well, but they are yet to unlock the exponential potential lying in the social media marketing. This may be the only thing left for the company to claim its position as the best sneakers distributor. The use of Social media for marketing enables a business to engage their customers in the platform where they naturally spend most of their time. Identification of the social media platforms to use is the first step to high rewards from the sector. Animations and funny videos, when linked to the Facebook or Twitter pages, are the surest way to keep Facebook and Twitter youthful followers engaged and in the process, they gain more interests in the company’s profile. LinkedIn pages are also another social media feature that the company should have. These pages are important to get more branding for a business and an excellent platform to reach the target market on the network. This paper details how the Sneakers Seekers marketing team could employ an effective application of the social media approaches to increase sales by engaging more youths. Introduction Sneakers Seekers is one of the newest sneakers companies in the United States. The company has its headquarters at North Miami Beach, Florida 33179. Stoyan Doynov, who is its current CEO and president, started the company in 2008. Stoyan who says he started the company out of his passion for sneakers describes himself as â€Å"Sneakerhead† (Doynov, n.d.). Getting into a market with heavyweights such as Nike, Addidas, Jordan, Asics, Converse, Ewing, Fila, New Balance, Reebok, Vansvans and other must have been a very bold step for Doynov. The success that Sneaker Seekers has achieved is enough proof that will and desire can achieve milestones even where the ‘terrain is tough.’ The company specializes in sneakers and athletic footwear offering some 'hard-to-?nd' sneakers and shoes and has a permanent promise of a wide variety brand name sneakers as well a s athletic shoes at lowest prices. Since its entry into the market, Sneakers Seekers has shown unprecedented growth. Only two year after the company opened, it moved into online marketing to open SneakerSeekers.com stores. By and by online marketing became the main marketing platform for the company. Doynov says that their beginning was a humble one, selling products on EBay (PRWeb, 2013). This was during the Great Recession. The company now has its own website and is authorized to sell numerous brands, which Doynov says they add to every month. (PRWeb, 2013). To sell more, the company focuses on fashion and offer exquisite products. They offer the most popular brands of sneakers on the market as well as fashion oriented sneakers ranging from Radii Footwear, Blackstone, Gola and Victoria. The most significant development came when the company moved most of its overstock inventory to FBA (PRWeb, 2013). Doynov says that this move enabled the company to operate with fewer employees, ca rry, more inventory, and achieve greater Amazon fulfilled velocity on its items as its listings. Amazon provided Sneaker Seekers an Auto Multi-Channel Fulfillment (AutoMCF) through which it could sell on Sears, Rakuten Shopping and Newegg as well (PRWeb, 2013) thereby reaching more potential customers. They were

The Baptism Debate Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Baptism Debate - Research Paper Example One such area of difference is the meaning and importance of baptism. That is, various denominations approach ideas related to baptism differently. Some individuals, for example, do not recognize any significance of baptism. This paper explores certain debatable issues surrounding baptism. Specifically, the paper addresses merits of baptism, eligibility of an individual for baptism, and correct biblical mode of baptism. Outline of the Paper While exploring the concept of baptism among believers, the paper identifies some debatable aspects of baptism. The areas include significance of baptism, children baptism, and correct biblical mode of baptism. Since the paper is an argumentative paper, both proposing and opposing sides of the areas are discussed in the paper. This paper begins by exploring the meaning and understanding of baptism. This section outlines how baptism is important to believers. The paper further identifies merits of baptism to Baptists, individuals who believe in exi stence and usefulness of baptism. While discussing baptism of children, the paper begins by highlighting reasons used by individuals who oppose infant baptism. Those who are in favor of the issue are later discussed in the paper. ... In addition, it emerged that the Bible does not clearly support children baptism. Moreover, the Bible supports baptism by immersion. Meaning of Baptism Baptism is an outward symbol of an individual’s inner transformation.4 The entire process of baptism is achieved through the power and strength of Jesus. It is important to note that baptism is not about overcoming sin, but is about repenting past sins. In other words, baptism involves making up your mind that you want to overcome sin by allowing God to give strength and victory. Through baptism, Apostle Paul argues that Christians embrace importance of Jesus’ death and resurrection.5 That is, Christians symbolically undergo similar experiences that Jesus went through in His death, burial, and resurrection. Apostle Paul further clarifies that while Jesus physically died and resurrected, Christians die to their sins, self, and old ways. Resurrection to Christians, therefore, implies that an individual, after baptism, rise s again to a holy life through Jesus Christ. As Romans 6:8-12 say, â€Å"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we also live with Him. For we know that since Jesus was raised from the dead, he cannot die again.†¦.In the same way, count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.† Apart from the message to Romans, Apostle Paul also informs Corinthians about importance of baptism to Christians. In II Corinthians 5:17 Paul says, â€Å"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new creation has come.† Therefore, after baptism, an individual is holy and sin no longer reigns over him. The verse implies that sin has to â€Å"die† and be â€Å"passed away† from an individual so that Jesus completely occupy an individual’s life. The verse does not,

Image Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Image - Essay Example It is an effortless medium to convey a message. The picture â€Å"Migrant Mother† taken by Dorothea Lange during the Resettlement Period in Nipomo, California in 1963 is an image that carries more than a thousand words. Looking at the picture alone, many words can pop out of the mind of onlookers such as poverty, hunger, hopelessness, family, help and many more. Indeed, the single shot of the mother with her children creates a mantra of events on the minds of onlookers trying to place themselves on the shoes of the subject. The mother with her two children on her sides is posed naturally creating an atmosphere of heavy drama. It is easy to assume that they are family. It can be seen on the way the children lean on their mother as source of comfort to what they are currently going through. They rest their worries to their mother since they are in a battle where they are weaponless. The features of the mother carry the most intense drama in the picture. Her features are taken quite vividly such that, anyone can cry their hearts out upon her solemn expression. Her eyes are replica of gloom. She is looking at a far distant without really seeing anything. She seems tired and extremely exhausted with her eyes dried up from previous crying and wailing and yet nothing still happens. The way her brows crease almost meeting in the middle shows discontent reverberating with her eyes reflecting hopelessness. Wrinkles are dominant all over her face: on her forehead, on her eyes, on her cheeks as well as on the crease on her lips. She aged so much than her true age of thirty two. The woman looks utterly sullen. The way her lips carve downward signifies that she can’t afford to smile. She slightly leans her head on her hands portraying loneliness, boredom, exhaustion and total lifelessness. She might have been in this state for quite some time. She is idle because she can’t do anything but to wait. She

Research on Zara Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

On Zara - Research Paper Example Not a single reason for the cause, several reasons account for Zara’s popularity and its standard along with world wide recognition. Obviously the very first fact is its vertical integration, with operations including design, textile manufacturing, and dying, permits the company to respond extremely quickly to market conditions and fashion trends. This makes Zara, a flagship chain store of Inditex, a fast fashion for youth. Another remarkable difference is that unlike other international clothing chains, Zara makes more than half of its clothes in-house, rather than relying on a network of slow-moving and disparate suppliers. This type of innovation management renders swiftness and efficacy throughout its operations and consequently Zara can make a new line from start to finish in three weeks, against an industry average of nine months (Zara International Inc). Another key factor for Zara’s success is its strategic management, it does not spend money on advertisements; instead they spend money on anything that would enforce speed and responsiveness of the business chain. They invest heavily in production and distribution facilities to fluctuating demand. Furthermore, instead of more quantities per style, Zara produces more styles roughly 12,000 a year. Thus even if a style sells out very quickly there are new styles already waiting to take up the space. Fresh produce, moving in step with fashion trend and updated frequently the ingredients are just right to create the sweet smell of success. Moreover, the effectiveness in ownership and control of production is the one in list of success causes. Most other competitors like GAP and H&M, completely outsource their production to factories around the world, many of them in low cost Asian countries. In contrast, it is estimated that 80 percent of Zara’s production is carried out in Europe that is, in owned or

Hannin Essay Example for Free

Hannin Essay The government must show accountability for public funds and a business can use its resources as it deems appropriate. 5. Role of the Budget – Commercial it’s used for planning and control purposes, for government budgets carry the authority of law, preventing 1-3. Identify and briefly describe the three organizations that set standards for state and local governments, the federal government, and nongovernmental not-for-profit organizations. 1. GASB set the accounting and financial reporting standards for state and local government in the US. GASB also set accounting and financial reporting standards for governmentally related not for profit organizations. 2. FASB set standards for profit seeking business and for nongovernmental not for profit organizations. 3. FASAB set the accounting and financial for the federal government. 1-4. What is the definition of a government as agreed upon by the FASB and GASB? Public corporations and bodies corporate and politic are governmental organizations. Other organizations are governmental organizations if they have one or more of the following characteristics. . Popular election of officers or appointment (or approval) of a controlling majority of the members of the organization’s governing body by officials of one or more state or local governments. 2. The potential for unilateral dissolution by a government with the net assets reverting to a government. 3. The power to enact and enforce a tax levy. 1-5. Describe the â€Å"hierarchy of GAAP† for state and local governments, the federal government, and nongovernmental not-for-profit organizations. (See Illustration 1-2 come back to t his) 1-8. GASB considers budgetary accounting and reporting to be important. List the principles outlined by GASB related to budgetary accounting and reporting. 1. An annual budget(s) should be adopted by every governmental unit. 2. The accounting system should provide the basis for appropriate budgetary control. 3. Comparisons should be included in the appropriate financial statements and schedules for governmental funds for which an annual budget has been adopted. 2-2. With regard to GASB rules for the financial reporting entity, answer the following: 1. Define the financial reporting entity. It is the primary government together with its component units. 2. Define and give an example of a primary government. Can be a state government, a general-purpose local government such as a city or county, or a special purpose government such as a school district. 3. Define and give an example of a component unit. Are legally separate organizations for which the elected officials of the primary government are financially accountable. 4. Define and describe the two methods of reporting the primary government and component units in the financial reporting entity. a. Primary Government -either appoints a voting majority of the governing body of the other organization or members of the primary governments governing body hold a majority of the seats of the other organizations board. Second, the relationship meets one of the following two criteria: a. The other organization provides either a financial burden or benefit to the primary government. b. The primary government can impose its will on the other organization. b. Component units are legally separate organizations for which the elected officials of the primary government are financially accountable. In addition, a component unit can be an organization for which the nature and significance of its relationship with a primary government are such that exclusion would cause the reporting entitys financial statements to be misleading or incomplete. 2-3. With regard to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR): 1. What are the three major sections? Introductory, Financial, and Statistical. 2. List the government-wide statements. Indicate the measurement focus and basis of accounting used for the government-wide statements. Basic Financial Statements Proprietary Funds Statements: Statement of Cash Flows. Governments use the accrual basis and the modified accrual basis of accounting. 3. List the governmental fund statements. i. General fund. This fund is used to account for general operations and activities not requiring the use of other funds. ii. Special revenue funds are required to account for the use of revenue earmarked by law for a particular purpose. State and federal fuel tax revenues require special revenue funds, because federal and state laws restrict these taxes to transportation uses. iii. Capital projects funds are used to account for the construction or acquisition of fixed assets[9], such as buildings, equipment and roads. Depending on its use, a fixed asset may instead be financed by a special revenue fund or a proprietary fund. iv. Debt service funds are used to account for money that will be used to pay the interest and principal of long-term debts. Bonds used by a government to finance major construction projects, to be paid by tax levies over a period of years, require a debt service fund to account for their repayment. v. Special assessment funds account for public infrastructure improvements financed by special levies against property holders. Sidewalk and alley repairs often rely on special assessments. 4. Indicate the measurement focus and basis of accounting used for the governmental fund statements. It usually rely on a modified accrual basis. 5. List the proprietary fund statements. vi. Internal service funds are used for operations serving other funds or departments within a government on a cost-reimbursement basis. A printing shop, which takes orders for booklets and forms from other offices and is reimbursed for the cost of each order, would be a suitable application for an internal service fund. vii. Enterprise funds are used for services provided to the public on a user charge basis, similar to the operation of a commercial enterprise. Water and sewage utilities are common examples of government enterprises. 5. Indicate the measurement focus and basis of accounting used for the proprietary fund statements. i. Proprietary funds, used for business-like activities, usually operate on an accrual basis. Governmental accountants sometimes refer to the accrual basis as full accrual to distinguish it from modified accrual basis accounting. 6. List the fiduciary fund statements. Statement of Changes in Fiduciary Net Assets and Statement of Changes in Fiduciary Net Assets. 7. Describe the measurement focus and basis of accounting used for the fiduciary fund statements. The accounting basis applied to fiduciary funds depends upon the needs of a specific fund. If the trust involves a business-like operation, accrual basis accounting would be appropriate to show the funds profitability. Accrual basis is also appropriate for trust funds using interest and dividends from invested principle amounts to pay for supported programs, because the profitability of those investments would be important. 8. Outline the reports and schedules to be reported as required supplementary information. Come Back To 2-4. Describe the test for determining whether a governmental fund is a major fund. The General Fund is always considered a major fund. Other governmental funds are considered major when both of the following conditions exist: (a) total assets, liabilities, revenues, or expenditures of that individual governmental fund constitute 10 percent of the total for the governmental funds category, and (b) total assets, liabilities, revenues, or expenditures of that individual governmental or enterprise fund are 5 percent of the total of the governmental and enterprise categories, combined. 2-10. Not sure

International strategic alliances

International strategic alliances ADDED VALUE AND SUCCESS FACTORS IN INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES IN THE FASHION BUSINESS ABSTRACT In the main, this study aims to determine whether there was value added in the merger between Samsung and Georgio Armani. It also intends to identify the key success factors of business partnerships and international strategic alliances of these companies in the fashion world. As such, the following research questions will be answered: 1. What are the key factors that are responsible for their success in the fashion industry? 2. What is the history of international strategic alliances in the fashion industry? and 3. What are the trends for international strategic alliances in the fashion industry? The results of the interview and investigations on the historical data and secondary materials and literature would confirm the following conclusions that international strategic alliances such as Samsung-Armani have the following key factors that made them successful: Mutual trust. Ensure that trust exists between the IJV and its parent organizations; Common understanding. Attain a common understanding of each parent organizations contribution to the IJV agreement; Empowerment. Persuade workers that they are empowered. Mutual long-term commitment. Ensure that both parent organizations are involved in the IJV for the long term. Having both parent organizations committed to the IJV for the long-term decreases the risk of shirking responsibility and increases the likelihood of mutual forbearance between the IJV and its parent firms. It can be concluded that the international strategic alliance between Samsung-Armani has added value to their respective firms through the contributions and synergies of the marketing and distribution expertise of Armani in the fashion industry. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Context of the Problem Firms and industries in the current global business scenario are constantly changing due to globalization. The development of strategic management can no longer be confined to local settings but it is imperative that it should be prevalent in the international business and markets.. Business partnerships among firms and companies were lately made through mergers, acquisitions and consolidations which have been generally utilized by organizations to remain competitive in the global economy. Thus, many companies have been going into joint ventures in order to have joint alliances with them so that operations and marketing will be synergized.. A joint venture would consists of two or more firms which agree to go into shared capital as well as sharing their technology, and human resources in order to develop into a new company. It is a strategy whereby both companies intend to expand its operations and markets and intending to minimize its risk as well maximize the strengths of both firms in approaching the market as well as operations (Hewitt Associates, 2008). The joint venture between Samsung and Georgio Armani have been formed as the strengths and technology of the former merged with the excellence in fashion of the latter. This study seeks to evaluate whether partnerships have added value to both companies and also to analyze whether were successful in harnessing their strengths in approaching the market as well as operations in the global market. Thus this study will explore the case study of these companies going into joint venture and evaluate the success factors that were responsible for the success of the joint ventures in the fashion industry. Statement of the Problem In the main, this study aims to determine whether there was value added in the merger between Samsung and Georgio Armani. It also intends to identify the key success factors of business partnerships and international strategic alliances of these companies in the fashion world. As such, the following research questions will be answered: 4. What are the key factors that are responsible for their success in the fashion industry? 5. What is the history of international strategic alliances in the fashion industry? and 6. What are the trends for international strategic alliances in the fashion industry? Aims and Objectives of the Study The main objective of this study is to verify whether or not the alliances provide significant value to the companies involved as well as identify the key success factors that ensure the success of international joint ventures in the fashion industry. In order to achieve this main objective, the study aims to examine the shared assets, risks, liabilities and management responsibilities among the firms involved the international joint ventures utilizing the case study of Samsung and Georgio Armani. Significance of the Study This study is significant in the sense that the success factors for partnerships and international joint ventures will be evaluated so as to identify these factors that are important for joint ventures in the fashion industry. As such, the rate of success in the industry will be much higher if these factors are identified and investments in joint venture will be encouraged because of the confirmation of these findings in this study. Structure of the Study This study is organized into five chapters. The first chapter discusses the introduction which comprises of the background of the study; statement of the problem; significance of the study; and the structure of the study. Chapter two presents the review of literature which takes into consideration the theoretical basis of the study. Chapter three explains the methodology of the study and Chapter four presents the data and analysis of the study. Finally, Chapter five presents the conclusion and recommendations of the study. Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE In this section, the literature pertaining to this study will be reviewed. The chapter will mainly discuss the key concepts and main authors of the study and the research gap in the review of literature. Why Strategic Alliance? Partnerships that are meaningful are important for success. Many companies go into partnerships in order to improve themselves in mutual undertakings. By sharing their resources, these companies can enjoy benefits and add value to their resources. As Vadim Kotelnikov (2010) writes: â€Å"In the new economy, strategic alliances enable business to gain competitive advantage through access to a partners resources, including markets, technologies, capital and people. Teaming up with other adds complementary resources and capabilities enabling participants to grow and expand more quickly and efficiently. Especially fast growing companies rely heavily on alliances to extend their technical and operational resources. In the process, they save time and boost productivity by not having to develop their own, from scratch. They are thus freed to concentrate on innovation and their core business.† (http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/partnerships_main.html) Thus, strategic alliances and partnerships among firms are important to create synergy and competence between the resources of the firms. This is really the case for fast growing companies which needs to rely on the technical expertise created from partnerships. According to Brad Sugars (2008): â€Å"From powerhouse financiers like Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to retailers like Baskin-Robbins to IT pioneers like Hewlett-Packard, business partnerships have been an important part of entrepreneurship and startup success. The reasons are simple: complementary skill sets, shared equipment or expenses, and the idea that one person with hard money capital can create synergy with the intellectual capital of another person so both can profit from their venture.† (http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/startupbasics/startupbasicscolumnistbradsugars/article196912.html) As such, according to Sugars (2008), it is really important for firms to go into business partnerships as in the case of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts which is big financier and also in the case of Hewlett Packard which is an Information Technology pioneer. As have been discussed earlier, strategic alliances through partnerships are important in the success of many business and many cases of alliances had resulted to more value and profits for their respective firms. According to Baine and Company (2010): â€Å"Strategic Alliances are agreements among firms in which each commits resources to achieve a common set of objectives. Companies may form Strategic Alliances with a wide variety of players: customers, suppliers, competitors, universities or divisions of government. Through Strategic Alliances, companies can improve competitive positioning, gain entry to new markets, supplement critical skills and share the risk or cost of major development projects.† http://www.bain.com/management_tools/tools_alliances.asp?groupCode=2 In a similar study, Vaidya (2006) also highlights the importance of IJVs in order to stay competitive in an increasingly globalized business environment. According to Vaidya (2006), â€Å"organizations in developed countries have realized that they need to pursue opportunities aggressively in other countries in order to remain competitive in this fast-paced global market† (p. 188). Vaidya (2006) cites strategic alliances as the most common forms of partnerships between companies. These alliances can range from licensing agreements to fully blown IJVs. An IJV can be defined as â€Å"a separate legal organizational entity representing the partial holdings of two or more parent firms in which the headquarters of at least one is located outside the country of operation of the joint venture. This entity is subject to the joint control of its parent firms of each of which is economically and legally independent of the other† (Shenkar Zeira, 1987, p. 9). Kinds of Partnerships or Alliances Joint Venture is the creation of an independent company by the two or more parent organizations who are the parties to the business agreement. These Joint Ventures (JVs) may be one of two types: * Equity strategic alliances, This kind of alliance involves two or more partners who have various relative shares of ownership in the new alliance. For example, in a joint venture which is composed of three parent companies, one may have 50% equity, while the remaining two may have 25% equity each. These are also called equity joint ventures. * Non-equity strategic alliances, This kind of alliance involves agreements which are carried out through contract rather than ownership sharing. These are also called contractual joint ventures. Motives of Alliance Formation According to Blanchard (2006) there are four major challenges in the implementation of strategic alliances. In the first place, while alliances present a speedy and less risky means to internationalization, it is also very complex and there are many global linkages and interconnections that must be considered and many alliances resulted to failure because on partner could swallow the other partner. Secondly, the kind of organization structure that the alliance would form is also crucial since this influences their success especially in technologically intensive fields such as in computers, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors (Blanchard, 2006). Thirdly, cross-border allies often encounter difficulty in collaborating effectively, especially in competitively sensitive areas. This breeds mistrust and secrecy, which undermines the very purpose of the alliance. The difficulty that these organizations deal with is the dual nature of strategic alliances the benefits of cooperation versus the dangers of introducing new competition through sharing their knowledge and technological skills about their mutual product or manufacturing process (Blanchard, 2006). According to Vaidya (2006), the motives behind alliance formation can be divided into three categories: * Internal benefits. International Strategic Alliances are usually formed in order to develop internal strengths. These benefits usually include cost and risk sharing and obtaining resources that are scarce. These also includes financing, information, managerial knowledge and expertise (Vaidya, 2006). * Competitive benefits. Strengths that are competitive can be made through vertical integration and these can include the bargaining power in the industry structure, preempting competitors, response to globalization, and creation of more effective competitors (Vaidya, 2006). * Strategic benefits. International Strategic Alliances can also be formed to assist firms in change implementation of their strategic positions which could include the creation and exploitation of synergies, technology transfer, and diversification (Vaidya, 2006). Makino and Beamish (1999) also concluded similarly regarding the motives forming strategic alliances as discussed above and according to them. In their study, Ainuddin et al. (2007) identified four major resource characteristics that can affect the successful performance of 96 IJVs in Malaysia. The study determined the extent to which four resources product reputation, technical expertise, local business network and marketing skills exhibited the following attributes: 1) value; 2) rarity; 3) imperfect imitability; and 4) non-sustainability. The results of their studies showed that value, rarity and non-sustainability were significant drivers of performance for IJV assets, while value, rarity and non-imitability were key attributes for organizational capabilities. According to Beamish and Berdrow (2003), it is not generally true that strategic alliances can be just motivated for the sake of organizational learning but also to provide opportunity for both of the partners to gain and develop new knowledge. The findings of their study proved that international strategic alliances that are production-based were no usually motivated by learning outcomes, and there is no conclusive evidence of a direct relationship between learning performance. The authors assert that only a minority of the firms showed strong indirect learning outcomes, especially with regard to partnering and market knowledge (Beamish Berdrow, 2003). The organizations may be driven by any or all of the motives enumerated by Blanchard (2006), and Vaidya (2006) in their studies, as discussed in this chapter. It is important that a company conducts a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis before entering into an international strategic alliance. The results of the study of Beamish and Inkpen (1995) showed that although International Strategic Alliances are inherently unstable organizational forms, the successful ones survive because the foreign partner firm is prepared with thorough knowledge of the local economic, political, and cultural environments of the partner alliance and the partner organization (Beamish Inkpen, 1995). Economies of Scale The dual nature of strategic alliances (see Table 1) are composed of the cooperative and competitive nature of these alliances. The economies of scale in tangible assets through sharing plants and equipments is a cooperative endeavor in these alliances as well as sharing the overhead cost, production expenses, etc. http://www.slideshare.net/Annie05/global-alliances-and-strategy-implementation-presentation-701036 Technology Exchange and Minimization of Risk Another factor is technology exchange wherein (see Figure 1) the partners would have the opportunity to learn new tangible skills from the partners. Another factor is the partners could minimize risks by limiting investment risk when entering new markets or uncertain technological fields via shared resources. http://www.slideshare.net/Annie05/global-alliances-and-strategy-implementation-presentation-701036 Also, another motivation is the acceleration of diffusion of industry standards and new technologies in order increase barriers to entry. The creation of â€Å"critical mass† to learn and develop new technologies to protect domestic, strategic industries is another objective of firms who strived to go into strategic alliances. http://www.slideshare.net/Annie05/global-alliances-and-strategy-implementation-presentation-701036 Convergences and Other Advantages Other advantage in strategic alliances is in the up streaming or down streaming the division of labor among partners. Another is to deny the technological and learning initiative to partner via out-sourcing and long-term supply arrangements. Another advantage and converge is to fill out product line with components or end products provided by supplier. Furthermore, the advantage of converging into strategic alliances is to encircle existing competitors and preempt the rise of new competitors with alliance partners in â€Å"proxy wars† to control market access, distribution, and access to new technologies. The alliance also serve to assist short-term corporate restructuring by lowering exit barriers in mature or declining industries. According to Blanchard (2006) â€Å"alliances serve as experimental platforms to â€Å"demature† and transform existing mature industries via new components, technologies, or skills to enhance the value of future growth options. http://www.slideshare.net/Annie05/global-alliances-and-strategy-implementation-presentation-701036 Table 1. The Dual Nature of Global Strategic Alliances Cooperative Competitive Economies of scale in tangible assets (ex. Plant and equipment). Opportunity to learn new intangible skills from partner, often tacit or organization embedded. Upstream-downstream division of labor among partners. Accelerate diffusion of industry standards and new technologies to erect barriers to entry. Fill out product line with components or end products provided by supplier. Deny technological and learning initiative to partner via out-sourcing and long-term supply arrangements. Limit investment risk when entering new markets or uncertain technological fields via shared resources. Encircle existing competitors and preempt the rise of new competitors with alliance partners in â€Å"proxy wars† to control market access, distribution, and access to new technologies. Create a â€Å"critical mass† to learn and develop new technologies to protect domestic, strategic industries. Form clusters of learning among suppliers and related firms to avoid or reduce foreign dependence for critical inputs and skills. Assist short-term corporate restructuring by lowering exit barriers in mature or declining industries. Alliances serve as experimental platforms to â€Å"demature† and transform existing mature industries via new components, technologies, or skills to enhance the value of future growth options. (Source: Blanchard, 2006, p. 7-15). http://www.slideshare.net/Annie05/global-alliances-and-strategy-implementation-presentation-701036 Disadvantages and Pitfalls of Alliances Blanchard (2006) in his research concluded benefits of international strategic alliances often have also many pitfalls. These advantages of alliances can be in terms of potential loss of technology and knowledge-skill base. Also, other areas of incompatibility can usually occur like conflicting strategic goals and objectives. Conflicts can also arise in terms of cultural differences and in relation to disputes over who will make the decisions in management as well as in control. Blanchard (2006) also provides for four guidelines for successful alliances in his presentation: * Choose an alliance partner who has compatibility with the strategy as well as the objectives of the firm. * Find alliances where their skills are complementary and that their products and markets also complements with the company. * Seek partner alliances with partners and thresh out how you will each deal with proprietary technology or sensitive data and information. * Recognize that many partnerships could last only a few years and could break up once an alliance partner had already absorbed the skills and information it needs to be independent by itself (p. 7-16). Partner Selection Blanchard (2006) recognized the significance of selecting a partner with compatible strategic goals and objectives before fully entering into an international strategic alliance. It is crucial that the alliance sought will be with an organization or organizations with skills, products, and markets with synergies with each other. According to Cullen et al. (1995), the choice of a partner alliance is the most crucial strategic decision that firms make before actually developing a joint venture. According to Vaidya (2006) the reasons why international strategic alliances failed were due the wrong selection of partners because of their incompatibility; partners which did not fulfill their promises; and the difficulty of managers working together for their partnership (Vaidya, 2006). Before selecting a partner for an IJV, the organization must first identify its needs. In his research, Beamish (1994) provided for five different classifications of partners needs and these are: 1) capitalized items that are capitalized such as capital, raw materials, or new technology or equipment; 2) human resource needs such as local labor including local managers; 3) market access needs for a local market for products that can be produced locally or to foreign markets for products produced in the local markets; 4) government needs such as present laws or regulations may require a foreign company to go into a joint venture with a local partner in order to penetrate the local market; 5) knowledge needs such as that the company may require local information and knowledge about the market, production and government regulations, marketing system, domestic culture and traditions, etc. Partners may have different cultures and could have difficulty adjusting to each others ways or customs (Arino et al., 1997). These differences in cultural orientation in the long term can cause conflicts and could affect the performance of the international strategic alliance (Barkema Vermeulen, 1997). It is a really a problem for partners to trust each other if they are in conflict in the various areas of the business operations. Unfortunately, sometimes these differences are too deeply rooted, especially when they are based on each organizations cultural values. The research by Fey and Beamish (2001) evaluated how organizational climate incompatibility between parent organizations and the partner alliance affects performance. Compatible organizational climates will provide more chances of success since inter-party conflicts can be minimized (Fey Beamish, 2000). Managing Strategic Alliances and Success Factors It is important to note that in international joint ventures, trust and commitment is important among the partners and it is crucial in their success (Beamish, 1994; Cullen et al., 1995). It is also proposed by Fey (1996) that attaining a mutual understanding of each parent organizations contribution to their partnership agreement should be clear. Both companies doing the strategic alliance must also ensure that they have long-term commitment. Finally, it is also significant that employees and managers of the strategic alliances must be empowered (Fey, 1996). In his research presentation, Blanchard (2006) outlines the following motivations for global strategic alliances, as executed through strategic alliances such as avoidance of import barriers, licensing requirements, and other legislation that protects local companies. Moreover, another motivation is in the sharing of the costs and risks of the research and development of new products as well as services. Also, another factor is to have access to particular markets as well as in reducing the political risk in penetrating the domestic market of the partner firm. Some firms also went into strategic alliances in order to take advantage of synergies and to earn fast entry into a new industry. Examples of Successful Partnerships The Finest Accessories (TFA) Another example of a company in the fashion business is The Finest Accessories (TFA). This is a firm involved in offering luxury hair accessory products with big clients such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and Macys. Value-basis at TFA Laurie and other designers of the firm developed designs that are unique utilizing Italian, French and other fabric styles and integrated these into the hair accessory clip design. They set these fashion trends and customized their partners in manufacturing. The partnership strategy of the company and to its partners is that they would deliver the products ordered to their partners in manufacturing which are exclusive for them and they would have primary right to refuse potential clients which can become their competitors. They formed partnerships and alliances with eight France based manufacturers with the conditions discussed above. (http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/552/Partnership-Success-Story-a-High-Fashion-Entrepreneur-Goes-Global.html) Joint development and manufacturing with eight Oyannax, France based manufacturing companies. It is considered â€Å"joint development† in addition to manufacturing because TFA These value added effect of TFA to the eight manufacturing partners resulted to their success and both partners benefitted from the advantages of the arrangement. In terms of investment cost, TFA did not have to put up large amount of money for land, machineries and equipments since these are all being provided by the manufacturing partners while the manufacturing partners also enjoyed higher markets sales because of the big orders for the unique market developed by TFA. (http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/552/Partnership-Success-Story-a-High-Fashion-Entrepreneur-Goes-Global.html) Electro The IJV Electro is composed of the following three parent organizations: a large international consumer electronics company based in North American, with 63 percent ownership, and two Russian factories, with 37 percent ownership combined. This is an example of a global strategic allegiance between a foreign organization and a local organization. The IJV is one of four facilities in the world which produces circuit boards for one of the North American parent organizations major consumer electronics devices. One factor that contributes to the success of Electro is that it reports to a special venture-capital type division of its North American parent organization, which has profit and loss responsibility for the IJV. The IJV also hires managers originally from the US who either lived in Russia for a long period of time, or have Russian heritage, or both (Fey, 1996). Electro has also been able to develop a trusting relationship with its parent organizations through mutual forbearance (Fey, 1996) which has contributed greatly to the success of the IJV. Electro and its parent organizations have maintained open communication channels to obtain agreement on the parent organizations roles in the IJV, and constantly spend a significant amount of time in discussing, clarifying, and reclarifying these roles (Fey, 1996). Another key success factor (KSF) for Electro is that its parent organizations have pledged long-term commitment to the IJV. Electros parent organizations have not limited their contributions to providing starting capital to their IJV, but continue to be actively involved. For instance, its Russian parents continue to manufacture an input product specifically designed for the IJV, and devote a significant amount of its specialized resources to this production. Electros dominant parent is also its American parent organization, and by delegating many of the operating decisions to the American parent for which the IJV needs approval gains efficiency since having both the Russian and American parent organizations make a joint decision takes up more time, is more difficult, and increases the risk of conflict. This creates long-term commitment to, and need for, the IJV which has been beneficial for both Electro and its parent organizations (Fey, 1996). Research Gap The success factors and valued added theory of forming strategic alliances were validated by various authors in this review. However, in terms of strategic alliances no formal study yet have been conducted so as to validate the success factors of international joint venture formation in the fashion business as well as its value added proposition. As such, this study is being conducted to fill the research gaps in the literature of strategic alliances. Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY Qualitative Research This research study utilized the qualitative research method, which involves the analysis of data such as words, pictures or objects. This research method was selected because it makes use of the exploratory approach in describing complex phenomena, tracking unique or unexpected events, understanding the experience and interpretation of events by actors or players with different stakes and roles, and is useful for conducting initial explorations to develop theories (Yin, 1989). The qualitative research methodology was particularly useful for purposes of this thesis because it was characterized by an emphasis on describing, understanding, and explaining complex phenomena. The phenomena this study seeks to understand were factors that led to the success of international joint ventures (IJVs) in the fashion business. The qualitative research methodology was also the appropriate research tool to use for studying the relationships, patterns, and configurations among factors, and the context in which activities occur (Creswell Plano-Clark, 2006). This methodology was selected over the quantitative research method, which seeks to draw conclusions by making use of random sampling techniques to draw inferences from sample populations. These samples populations were typically made up of a large number of respondents. With this research methodology, surveys and questionnaires were the most common types of tools used for gathering data and information (Creswell Plano-Clark, 2006). The problem with using the quantitative research methodology was that it often involves controlling a variable to determine how other variables were influenced (Wolcott, 2001). Such an approach was not applicable to this thesis because there was no control variable to begin with, which renders it useless to determine how this control variable will influence other variables. The purpose of this thesis was to identify the whether there was value added in the partnerships and identify the key success factors that lead to the success of international joint ventures in the fashion business. As such, an exploratory approach, through the qualitative research methodology was deemed more appropriate. Case Study The exploratory approach was a component of the case study methodology, which in turn is one of the most common research strategies under the qualitative research methodology. The case study research strategy was used to identify value added and success factors for international joint ventures in the fashion business. The case study approach was selected as the research strategy for this thesis

A Discussion of The Wound-Dresser and Leaves of Grass Essay -- Wound-

A Discussion of The Wound-Dresser  and  Ã‚  Leaves of Grass During the late romantic period, two of history’s most profound poets, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, emerged providing a foundation for, and a transition into Modern poetry.   In its original form, their poems lacked the characteristics commonly attributed to most romantic poets of the mid to late nineteenth century who tended to utilize â€Å"highly stylized verses, having formal structures, figurative language and adorned with symbols† (worksheet).   Unique and â€Å"eccentric use of punctuation† as well as â€Å"irregular use of meter and rhyme† were the steppingstones for this new and innovative style of writing (worksheet).   Even though these two writers rejected the traditional approach, both remained firmly dedicated to their romantic idealism of the glass of water being â€Å"half full† opposed to â€Å"half empty.† Noted for his frequent practice of catalogs and parallelism, Whitman stirred up much controversy with his fir st edition of â€Å"leaves of Grass† in 1855.   Many critics responded negatively to the ...

View of the World From Different Ages :: English Literature Essays

View of the World From Different Ages In the story of the Bear the young boy was not allowed to join the hunt until he was ten years old. He was taught all the stories and heard all the legends of the great bear with the crooked print his entire childhood and he knew all about the great bear everyone always was talking about. As people grow older they are maturing in ways to prepare them for life and all of the hardest tasks that will be put in front of them. This boy was told many stories of the bear, some of them had extreme exaggeration, and others didn’t. All the stories he heard were to help him when his time came to face the bear. When the boy had his first chance to go out on a hunting trip with the men the first thing Sam told him was â€Å"Be scared, you cant help that, but don’t be afraid. Ain’t nothing in the woods going to hurt you unless you corner it, or it smells that you are afraid. A bear or a deer, too, has got to be scared of a coward the same as a brave man has got to be.†(793) At the age of ten he was ready to shoot the bear, and yet he never had the chance to see it, because the bear knew the boy was a coward at the time and the bear knew he would shoot him because the boy did not yet respect him as the more experienced hunters did. The boy felt the bear and this taught him even more than he already knew about it from the stories he had been told. â€Å"He realized for he first time that the bear which had run in his listening and loomed in his dreams since before he could remember to the contrary and which, therefore, must have existed in the listening and dreams of his f ather and Major de Spain and even old General Compson, too, before they began to remember in their turn, was a mortal animal, and that if they had departed for the camp each November without any actual hope of bringing its trophy back, it was not because it could not be slain, but because so far they had no actual hope too.†(791) These kinds of things are what he was constantly being told and not that he felt the presence of the bear he realized that they were all true.

Impact of Electric Vehicles Essays -- Environment, Energy, Global Clim

Today, energy security and global climate change are two major problems affecting people and the environment worldwide (IEA, 2010). These problems are highly integrated with each other and mitigating global climate change without affecting the energy security is becoming a significant challenge for many governments and policy makers in the twenty-first century (Brown & Sovacool, 2011). In recent years, energy security has become a major concern in many jurisdictions with increasing energy demand, rising energy costs, and energy production and supply issues (IEA, 2010). According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Energy security can be described as, â€Å"the uninterrupted physical availability at a price which is affordable, while respecting environment concerns† (IEA, 2011). The global demand for energy is rapidly growing with increasing human population, urbanization and modernization across the world (Asif & Muneer, 2008). In the past two decades, the global primary energy consumption had increased by 45 %, and it is expected to continue to grow by 39 % over the next two decades (BP, 2011). Today, fossil fuels – notably oil, gas and coal, are the major sources of primary energy to meet the world energy requirements. In 2008, nearly 81% of the global primary energy needs were met by fossil fuels, representing oil - 33.2 %; coal - 27%, and natural gas - 21.1% [ref]. The fossil fuels accounted for the greatest share of global primary energy supply and the rest is met by hydro, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, wind and solar. According to the World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2011 Golden Age of Gas (GAS) scenario, fossil fuel supplies will continue to be the dominant energy sources and account for more than half of the increase of ... ...ain consistency of the analysis. †¢ Equal allocation: In this approach, it is assumed that the generated wind electricity is equally allocated to all the EVs regardless of individual requirements. †¢ Demand allocation: In this approach, it is assumed that the generated wind electricity is allocated to each EV based on its respective demand, such that charging the EVs with higher demand is preferred to charging the EVs with lower demand. This research also considers the effect of introducing electric vehicles for weekday commuting purposes in passenger transportation and discusses the overall carbon impact of commuting; the results are extrapolated for various commuting distances. This research work used Prince Edward Island, specifically the city of Summerside, as a case study, but the general approach can be applied to other cities, provinces or regions.

Character Analysis a Christmas Carol Fezziwig Essay

Dickens uses Fezziwig to represent views and values, which were once a common way of life for people, to give to the poor and help others, yet these values, and ideals were slowly fading in the 19th Century economic change Shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Past, was old happy and energetic Fezziwig, who he was once apprenticed to when he was young, who taught Scrooge to be sharp witted, cunning moneylender like himself. The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge back to his young adulthood, to relearn the valuable lessons, which Fezziwig taught about life, that wealth and greed, should never come before generosity and those close around you. Fezziwig, the avid businessman, had plenty of money, yet lent it generously, while not holding back in throwing large parties every Christmas for every single one of his workers and some of their close friends. Fezziwig views his workers as members of his family, contrasting with Scrooge who wants nothing to do with his own nephew, only son of his sister, let alone one of his workers like Bob Crachit. Fezziwig and his wife were excellent hosts, involving themselves in every dance despite their age, showing that they were a â€Å"top couple†¦ a good stiff piece of work cut out for them.† Fezziwig was described as being quite old, yet lively, wearing a large Welsh wig, while having the dexterity to still be fit as an old man, in comparison to Scrooge who’s described as sickly and stiff, showing how by associating yourself with others, it keeps your spirit alive and active, when you seclude yourself, you tend to stop caring about yourself and everyone and everything around you. Not only did Fezziwig invite everyone who worked for him to enjoy and to have a merry Christmas, at the end of the night, he even went to the effort to, â€Å"shaking hands with every person individually† showing how he cared and thought well of every single worker of his, while you hear young Scrooge and Dick â€Å"pouring out their hearts in praise of Fezziwig.† The ghost of Christmas past helps to trip Scrooge’s guilt, by quoting â€Å"a small matter†¦ to make these silly folks so full of gratitude†, showing how insubstantial the amount of money and how effortlessly it would cost Scrooge to give to his workers, like Fezziwig gave to him, and how big the reward of seeing gratitude in the eyes of his workers would have and its impact. â€Å"Fezziwig had the power to render us happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. Say that his power lay in words and looks; in things so slight and insignificant that it is impossible to add and count them up: what then? The happiness he gave was quite as great as if it cost a fortune.† Fezziwig is a vital, key character in Scrooges transformation, used by Dickens as a FOIL against the character of Scrooge, shown to him by the Ghost of Christmas Past, contrasting the two types of rich, the one who shows kindness and generosity, reaping the rewards, by seeing the gratitude and fulfilment of happiness that brings, by giving to others. The other was on the opposite side like Scrooge, being lonely and bitter, with all the wealth in the world, yet a smile never breaking out onto their cold faces. The memory of Fezziwig’s generosity and holiday cheer helped to jolt and move Scrooge’s stony heart.

Tesco Organisational Change

Introduction: This assignment is based on the concept of Organization change and it will discuss around various concept of change within an organization. It is based on the selection of an organization that has undergone through a change and in which people has adopted or resist the strategies of change. Aims and Objectives: This assignment will be comprise of the below mentioned objectives that will actually analyze all the changes that an organization has actually faced. * To identify the processes and model of change and what are the strategies that might help in encourages people to positively respond to that change. To identify the main drivers that has actually triggered the need for change in the organization. * To analyze the organizational change with the help of EFQM model. * To evaluate how people will react to that change and will survive within that change. * To identify the ways that can help in dealing with the resistance towards that change. * To evaluate the strategi c change initiatives and what recommendation can be made in order to gather good data and avoid biasness. What is change? According to Potter, Mark (2011) change is an activity that takes out the organization or a person out of their comfortable zone. It is sometimes positive and sometimes negative and takes time for the adjustments. According to Chhabra et al (2007) states that Organizational change is the change that comes in the overall working environment of an organization and sometimes cause discomfort to the people initially. Organizational change: According to Potter, Mark (2011) Organizational change is a state that an organization undergoes from one state to another. This change can be in the policy, strategy, technology and culture of an organization. This change can be sudden or preplanned and requires wise strategies towards the management of people working in an organization. Change management: According to searchcio-mid market. tech target. com Change management is a methodical term which deals with change both at the individual and organizational level. It deals with three different aspects. 1. Controlling change. 2. Effecting change. Tesco: According to the Tesco website it is the Britain’s foremost retail company which is dealing with 37,000 stores all over the world and have employed over 440,000 people. Tesco is dealing with 30 countries outside the United Kingdom. Tesco is actually working on the concept of change and all the employees are striving hard to respond to those changes. The name Tesco has first appeared on a shop in Edgware in 1929 and since that time this company has developed and grown up with so many new innovations and opportunities for the business and for the people as well. By the early 1990s Tesco has faced so many strong competitors and for staying at the competitive edge they need to have new strategies according to the new situations so here concept of change occurs. Sir Terry Leah was very wise in making decisions. He was the Chief executive in 1997 so he decided to find out where they are actually lacking so that they can easily work on those areas. So he found the root cause on which they need to work. He came up with the statement that we are good in buying and selling but we have actually forgotten the needs of our customers so he decided to pay much more attention to their customers. So he started this activity with the simple question asked by the customers what are we doing wrong? After this question they actually started investing in those areas that matters to customers e. g. the loyalty scheme such as club cards, Tesco. com, our internet home shopping service. He further illustrates his concept with giving ease to the customers and giving them a reason to come back to Tesco again and again. Tesco Mission Statement: â€Å"Creating values for customers, to earn their life time loyalty†. Values behind Tesco business: * No one tries harder for customers. * Treat people how we like to be treated. Objectives of the company: The main objective of the company is to better understand their customers than any organization. Tesco not only considers their customers much more important but they are also very much conscious in terms of the innovation of their products and services. Their concept behind best customer service and introducing best products are to attract their shareholders and gain the growth in sales, profits and returns. Tesco actually work around these three objectives. * To gain growth in sales, profits and returns. * To satisfy the needs of the customers by proving them best services and products. To satisfy its shareholders. Organizational change in Tesco: There is a marketing statement mentioned in ivy thesis . type pad. com that success breeds failure so it shows that nothing else is constant in business and in order to stay at the competitive edge business should respond to the changing demands of the world. Tesco has focused on these demands so that they can stay competitive and can resp ond to their competitors. The following difference can show their attention towards the demands of the world. Tesco in Past: According to Finch, Julia (2010). Tesco in the past was just like a typical traditional food retailer company that only focused on the substantial assets of the business like products, place and money. They had not paid any attention towards the intangible assets of business like customers satisfaction, services providing ease to the customers. This has actually given hard times to Tesco in the past and very soon this thing was realized by Tesco that the older methods will not work for the business as the concept of Globalization was spreading very fast so Tesco started responding to the changes required. Tesco in Present: Tesco in present has moved its attention towards more innovative and intangible things. This was the first step of Tesco towards innovation and working beyond its limits as in 1995 they introduced club cards which are now offering air miles and club card points in 5000 different venues in the UK. Rowley (2005) states that the club cards has given good opportunities for customer interactions and engaging large number of corporate partners in delivering and earning rewards. These club cards are actually building up a strong relationship among customers and Tesco. Another innovative step of Tesco is the use of internet for their customer’s i. e. Tesco. com. It has actually strengthened the communication between consumers and Tesco as people can inquire through Tesco website regarding grocery, music books and so on. According to Tesco. com (2005) customers can enter their complaints on the same website where the problem list are already present and customer’s needs to fill in the right area. These complain can be related to quality of food, out of date products and so on. For making the life easier for the customers Tesco has given more in store facilities, long opening hours, shorter queues trained staff. Topic 1 Drivers for Change: In order to find out the competitive position of an organization firstly I company need to check what factors are actually triggering for change. So what that reason lots of information is required which can tell the position of the company where it is standing at the present and where it will be in the future so making these predictions more clearer Porters 5 forces model can be used that will tell each and every aspect of that organization. Porters 5 Forces: Porter 5 forces helps in analyzing the external environment of an organization and provide beforehand preparations so that company can gets ready for any kind of pitfalls that may arise in business. It covers the following steps. * Rivalry. * Substitutes. * Buyers. * Suppliers. * Barriers to entry. Rivalry: Rivalry is the central force that involves other forces as well. Tesco has many rivals in the market so for making its position stronger and giving tough competition to its rivals Tesco always keep its position up-to-date and respond to the changing demands of the world. So the launch of club cards and other internet websites are the steps taken to stay at the competitive edge and be a strong contender for its rivals. Substitutes: Rivalry actually makes the profits zero as it is a threat. As the market has many supermarkets so they can be the substitutes for Tesco so in order to avoid missing their customers they need to provide them with extraordinary customer service. So Tesco has made that possible by giving Club cards and showing that the customers are at the heart of Tesco has actually won the loyalty of their customers. Tesco has substitute like Sainsbury which has got the similar products and has decreased the prices of products in both companies. Buyers: Power of buyer is another cause of decrease in the prices as if the cost of floor is more in Tesco buyer can easily switch over to Sainsbury. But Tesco is fortunate in this case as there are not lot big markets that makes the markets more discipline and stops them of pricing war. Supplier: Tesco has an advantage over the suppliers as they quote the price to the suppliers and suppliers have to admit that as Tesco has a strong position and they can quote on their own. If suppliers do not fulfill the demand they will have no one to sell their goods so Tesco takes a good advantage over their suppliers. Barriers to entry: Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury are the barriers to entry for the new supermarkets. As they have an advantage over the suppliers in the economy of scale as they can buy large volume of goods on less prices whereas the new entrants needs to buy small quantities very expensive. Process for change: Source: www. google. com (Kurt Lewin,1951) Unfreeze: Tesco has used the concept of unfreezing by telling their employees and realizing them the needs of their customers. They gave them the image that Tesco needs to stay at the competitive edge and for that they need the loyalty of their customers. For getting that loyalty they need to pay full attention towards the satisfaction of their customers. So they have to done some sort of technological, social and cultural changes that will increase their publicity among their customers. So they ensure the readiness of their employees towards the change in their working schedules. Change: Tesco has started the club cards in 1995 by giving full training to their employees that they always need to ask the customers â€Å"have you got a club card† this was the way of giving promotion to the club cards. Employees were also provided with the information that this strategy of launching club cards will give competitive edge to Tesco and the company can stay more in touch with the loyal customers so they just need to scan and offer the club cards to their customers who will definitely give rise to the profits. For making the employees ready for the extra work load Tesco has given them the information that they will also get 10% discount with their staff privilege card on their purchasing from the store which makes the employees happy that at least they are also getting benefits out of it. Employees were also informed of the Tesco. com and that the customers will do shopping online so they need to be more efficient and with the same thing they were given proper training that how to deal with online shopping and it will give rise to the business and the business will give them promotions and bonuses for their hard work. Refreeze: The launch of Club cards and Tesco. com has actually given rise to the Tesco sale as it makes easier for the customers that even while sitting at home they can shop whatever they want to have. It has actually increased the customers for Tesco as the slogan of Tesco says â€Å"Every little helps† so they are actually working on that as they have kept an eye on even the little needs of their customers. According to Harvey, Oliver (2007). , The UK has stated that Tesco is the most developed online grocery market in the world with more than 1. million people shopping online. ( Daily Record, 2004) Organizational change for context: According to Pagano, Margareta (1987) cultural web analysis was given by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes in 1992. It can help in make observing and then making some changes in an organizations culture. It helps in exposing cultural hypothesis and practices and aligns the work with organizations elements and the strategies used within an organiz ation. As mentioned above different changes in Tesco which has given a positive rise to the business. Here in this cultural web analysis the change of introducing club cards has increased the work loads of people so what initiatives should be made in order to support the already occurred change. There are six elements which can help in making those changes stronger. Stories: Whenever a change occurs in any organization it comes with lots of previous stories like it will increase workloads without any benefits. It will give different type of job specifications so in order to avoid all these stories the employees will have in advance trainings and incentives so that they can welcome the change positively and should be ready for new challenges. Rituals and routines: The daily routine will show the change in behavior so the reward system and the bonuses should beforehand introduced so that people can work more energetically without showing any kind of negative attitude towards the increase in work. Symbols: Before implementing a new change there should have a lot of publicity as in Tesco they advertise the club cards and even the employees have got the uniform with Tesco club cards. Organizational structure: As in the case of Tesco the employees were well defined of their goals and the consequences that they will have after achieving those goals and objectives so the objectives will be clearly defined in order to support the implemented change. Control system: It is usually measure by the top management team and before implementing any sort of change all the strategies and policies are prepared beforehand. It is regarding the financial system and reward system so Tesco has also given the opportunity to its employees as 10% discount on their cards which can urther enhance their performance and strengthen the implemented change. Power structure: As the name indicates Power structure which is hold by the executives and other seniors so the steps taken like discounts for employees, Trainings regarding club cards and internet has strengthen the change so far. Topic 2 Creativity and Improvement Creativity: Creativity is the thinking up of new ideas. It is actually the dreaming up of new ideas. Whereas according to   Lorna Martin (2006). , Innovation is doing new things so it is the practical term for creativity. Source: www. google. co. uk According to Walker, Gaelle (2006). EFQM is the most widely used model with over 30,000 businesses to increase performance and increase their bottom line. It takes a holistic view of an organization and gives a diagnostic tool for the specific area of an organization which will provide strength and enhance that area with innovation and creativity. This model is divided into two parts the first one is enabler and second one are the results that can be earned through the employees efforts, the policies and strategies implemented, and the stakeholders or shareholders involved and the resources within that organization. So in the case of Tesco their strength is their team, their products. While talking about their employees they can engage their employees in more trainings and give them chances to think out of the box as the Human capital is the main asset of any company so Tesco needs to invest more on their employees and give them chances to learn more and work accordingly. So as they have got an Intranet within their organization that is the actual chance for their employee’s promotions and gives them more chances to enhance their performance by learning more and then implement their knowledge in their organization. Well Tesco has already taken a step towards innovation and creativity as they have implemented Tesco. com so in this way thousands of minds are included in Tesco and Tesco can take suggestions from the people around. By their club cards they are not only providing good saving to the customers but they are also doing surveys by checking in which area which product is selling more so in this way they are increasing the productivity of that product. So Tesco. Com is a step towards innovation. Surviving change: Surviving change is actually the concept regarding those changes that an organization has implemented. It checks whether those changes are well accepted by the organization and employees. Do those changes have given a positive rise to the business. According to Buckley, Neil (1995). , there are some steps that manage and deal with change appropriately which are as follows. 1. Acceptance for the change should be there by training and awareness. 2. Readiness for change to be happens at workplace. 3. Should have enough strategies to tackle that change. 4. Adapt to that change. 5. Feel free to go with the change. 6. Enjoy the change. 7. Always try to be ready for the change. So change is actually surviving in Tesco as they have also used the before hang readiness for the change to occur and now getting desired results as a part of business profits. Transition curve: According to   Savill, Richard (2001). Transition curve is a three stages of transition that involve ending, neutral zone and beginning which helps in assessing people that what difficulties they might face during the implementation of change. Ending: This seems to be the ending of the confidence of the employees when they deny the acceptance to change. They might think that their workplace or their work will be different so this is the ending of their hard works and acceptance to work loads. Neutral zone: This state will be the confusion state as the staff will be in between the current and the desired state. They will be uncertain about the present and the future. This can have the negative impact on the activities. Beginning: The beginning state is that state in which the employees are ready for the change and work accordingly with a positive set of mind. As in Tesco case employees are ready for the work. Conclusion and Recommendations: Change is a positive activity and it always brings about something healthy to an individual or an organization. So in the case of Tesco change was the ultimate desire of the modern time and has actually give Tesco a strong position. Club cards and Tesco. com Com are the positive changes for Tesco and has increased its sales. Staff is also very efficient in implementing and working on the change so it has given positive rise to the business. Recommendations * Although the change has been successfully implemented in company but there is still need to eradicate the perception and attitude of being one or monopolist views. The development opportunities should be offered to the front line staff for further improving the customer service. * Variety of methods should be used to training the staff and through providing them different platforms the company can fetch the creative ideas from their staff * There must be online and offline (virtual; over the web) feedback or comment section where the customers can record their feedbacks regarding the products services and their performance or further improvements. Teamwork culture, support from the management and empowerment are the necessary mediums to motivate the workforce and maintain their motivation for better productivity. * An efficient performance appraisal system is required to be implemented for judging the performance of both contract based and permanent employees and similarly compensation should be based on this fair appraisal of employees. * Further communication should be improved through extensively advertising the products to the target market and internal communication should have to be improved through making the flow of information on right time. References: * Potter, Mark (16 February 2011). â€Å"Tesco to outpace growth at global rivals – study†. Reuters. Retrieved 25 February 2011. * Finch, Julia (2 February 2010). â€Å"Tesco opens its first zero carbon store†. The Guardian  (UK). Retrieved 1 September 2010. * O'Grady, Sean (16 December 2001). â€Å"Shirley Porter: Rich, flashy and corrupt with it. She's nothing like a Dame†. The Independent  (London). Retrieved 13 December 2009. *   Harvey, Oliver (9 May 2007). â€Å"TESCO kills of Well St Market†. The Sun(London). Retrieved 13 December 2009. * Pagano, Margareta (16 May 1987). Shocked Hillards attacks greed of Prudential: Hartley disgusted with institutions after Tesco wins takeover battle†. The Guardian  (the sun). * â€Å"Tesco accused of ‘near monopoly'†. BBC. 17 January 2006. * â€Å"Inverness: Tescotown†. Retrieved 13 March 2006. *   Lorna Martin (1 January 2006). â€Å"The supermarket that ate a town†. The Observer  (UK). *   Walker, Gaelle (11 November 2006). â€Å"Online failing todeliver†. The Grocer(William Reed Publications): p. 6. *   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Business as usual for Sir Terry after 10 years in charge†. Birmingham Post(Midland Independent Newspapers): p. 24. 22 February 2007. *   Buckley, Neil (22 November 1995). People: Leahy rings Tesco's tills†. Financial Times: p. 40. *   Cunningham, Sarah (22 March 1997). â€Å"Tesco pays ? 630m for ABF's Irish business†. The Times  (Times Newspapers). â€Å"Tesco's Irish move approved†. Financial Times. 7 May 1997. *   Savill, Richard (12 June 2001). â€Å"Tesco bomb blackmailer is jailed for 16 years†. The Daily Telegraph  (UK). Retrieved 12 April 2011. *   Helft, Miguel (2001). â€Å"Tesco buys stake in GroceryWorks†. The Industry Standard. * O'Halloran, Marie (25 July 2009). â€Å"Unicef accuses Tesco of misusing charity slogan†. The Irish Times. *   McBride, Louise (26 July 2009). â€Å"Tesco in clash with Unicef†. The Irish Independent.   Malkin, Bonnie (14 November 2007). â€Å"Spice Girls go shopping at Tesco†. London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 September 2010. â€Å"AEW Architects†. AEW Architects. Retrieved 2011-08-16. *   Leroux, Marcus (22 March 2010). â€Å"Tesco’s secret chain charges customers more – Times Online†. The Times  (UK). Retrieved 11 November 2010. *   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Tesco announces non-food store trials†. Retrieved 13 March 2006. *   Jordan, Dearbail (8 June 2007). â€Å"Tesco swoops on Dobbies Garden Centres†. The Times  (London: Times Newspapers). Retrieved 8 June 2007. *   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Offer Declared Unconditional in all Respects†. Dobbies  (Dobbies): p. 1. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2007.