Siddhartha

Many novels and other pieces of literature, contain a main character that has difficulty finding happiness and solutions to their problems. In Siddhartha, the main character Siddhartha, is born into his fathers social class but finds himself not pleased with his religion nor happiness, so he goes on a journey hoping to find comfort within himself. Like Siddhartha the main character in the Razors Edge, Larry Darnell questions his religion, and everyday decisions. Both Larry Darnell and Siddhartha break off from their original society to go on expeditions in hope to find answers to their unanswered concerns, and to find enlightenment. Both characters willingly give up things in order to reach their goal. Siddhartha leaves his father and his father’s power in their community.†¯ Siddhartha’s father, a Brahmin leader, has much power which makes him able to provide for Siddhartha well.†¯ Siddhartha does not like the ways his father is living and is dissatisfied with his father’s religious beliefs because he sees that his father and his followers are not reaching enlightenment so he feels that it would not make sense to follow a method that obviously is not working.†¯ He and his best friend, Govinda, decide to commence on a journey to find a way of life that is satisfying to them. Making the decision to leave his family and home must have been a very hard choice to make for such a young man to make. Later on in the book, Siddhartha leaves even more of his loved ones behind in his exploration for enlightenment.   He departs from his friend Govinda when Govinda feels that he is content with the samanas and their teachings and Siddhartha feels that he must experience life for his own in order to find inner happiness.   Govinda is Siddhartha’s best friend and was with him through the toughest of times. Siddhartha loves Govinda, but knows that it was in the best interest of both of them to part ways. Additionally, Siddhartha feels the need to let his only child, whom he loves dearly, to go off on his own and experience life’s qualities for himself just like how Siddhartha did during his own childhood. Although he knows it is the right thing to do, Siddhartha feels a natural love towards his newly discovered son and is dreadfully heartbroken by his absence.   Likewise, Larry Darrell willingly gives up a lot of things for his hunt towards world knowledge and inner happiness. Larry gives up Isabel, the woman he’s known and loved since he was a child with no parents, because she wanted a life of luxury and wealth.   Larry did not want that because he wanted to live a modest life where he lives off of the rush that comes with learning and living freely and not trapped in a life full of materialism and capital gain.   He believes that money is not necessary and even goes to the extent of declining a lavish job offer from his best friend’s father. He would have been one of Mr. Maturin’s stock brokers and he would have been practically guaranteed huge sums of money and would have been able to support Isabel to the standard of living that she is used to.   Also, Larry gives up his friend Yosti to focus on his goal.   He and Yosti become great friends when they room together at the mines and go looking for farm work together.   Larry feels that it is his time to move on and abandons Yosti at a farm.   Though in the end it paid off, both characters willingly gave up things in order to reach enlightenment. Both characters gain knowledge while on their quest.   Siddhartha learns a lot from his young son. His son taught him about the true meaning of love. Siddhartha started out on his journey with the thought that you do not need to love everything because some things just are not lovable. His son taught him that you must love everything and yourself to respect the world and everything inside of it.   Siddhartha feels a natural love toward his son and was utterly heartbroken when the time came when he had to let his son go. His son is not the only person that affected him, for the river also had quite an impact on Siddhartha.   The river showed him that time does not really exist and that everything always comes back around. Siddhartha is relieved by this idea because the stresses that time brings are now suddenly lifted off from him.   The idea that everything comes back around is paralleled to Siddhartha’s life because he left his father to go and explore life on his own and now his own son does the same. Siddhartha also learns the difference between knowledge and wisdom and the difference between seeking and finding.   He comes to the conclusion at the end of the novel that â€Å"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom† (Hesse 142) and that â€Å"Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal† (Hesse 140).   Correspondingly, Larry is affected by people as well. He meets a yogi and brings him questions about god and evil. The yogi teaches him about the Hindu religion and explains to Larry that â€Å"evil is as a direct a manifestation of the divine as the good† (Maugham 114).   Larry is greatly affected by the yogi and takes the information that the yogi shared with him for the rest of his journey. He is also influenced by reading books. He gains worldly knowledge from reading and uses it to his advantage.   He reads about all kinds of philosophies and ideas that bring him to question religion and God.   Larry also learns from experiences.   He decides to leave his friends in Chicago and live in Paris to simply clear his mind and get his thoughts straight.   He also goes to work in a coal mine, a job of which many people would despise having, just to see what it’s like to have some manual labor under his belt.   Most â€Å"people would think [he is] crazy† (Maugham 46) for doing unnecessary hard labor like Larry does, but that doesn’t seem to bother him.   He later went on a 5 year expedition starting in a monastery in Germany and ending with a Hindu yogi in India where he lived â€Å"with calmness, forbearance, compassion, selflessness, and continence† (Maugham 279). This makes him decide to ditch Christianity and makes him very open to Hindu beliefs.   Larry also learns a lot from his time served in World War I.   He was a pilot and him and his best friend, Patsy, got into a dogfight in the air and Patsy literally took a bullet for Larry and died. This event is truly when Larry begins to question religion and God.   Overall, Larry and Siddhartha are greatly influenced by others while going through his journey and learn a lot along the way. Siddhartha and Larry have great effects on other people on their path to enlightenment.   They never seem to shy away from sharing their knowledge with those who will listen. Siddhartha influences his longtime friend Govinda by explaining to him all that he has learned on his voyage. He tells Govinda the meaning and importance of love, seeking and wisdom. When Siddhartha goes in depth about love he describes how a person must love themselves in order to be grateful for anything else that exists in the world. Siddhartha picks up a rock acknowledging how he loves this rock: â€Å"it is a stone, because today and now it appears to me a stone. I see value and meaning in each of its fine mark ings and cavities in the yellow in the gray in the hardness and the sound of it† (Hesse 145).   This lesson has a huge impact for Govinda, and he â€Å"bow[es] low. Incontrollable tears trickl[e] down his old face† (Hesse 151).   Govinda is truly inspired by the teachings and his knowledge about the world. Govinda is just one of the people that he influenced. Siddhartha has an effect on his friend Kamala. Kamala is a very materialistic person and Siddhartha opens her eyes to the idea that material goods are not the most important things in life. She is inspired by this thought and takes a page from his book to further her learning.   She then becomes pregnant with Siddhartha’s son and raises him under Buddhist beliefs and eventually dies in an attempt to travel to meet Buddha himself.   In general, Siddhartha has a positive effect on people that he has encountered with along his journey. Equally, Larry has positive effects on several people along his journey. Larry affects Isabel when she sabotages her own plan to make Larry think that she was pregnant. She thinks of him as being too innocent and sweet to do anything menacing to him. He also makes her question her marriage with Gray because she still loves Larry.   Furthermore, Larry makes a strong attempt to change Sophie.   After her husband and child’s sudden death, Sophie turns to drugs and alcohol to ease her pain. Larry puts Sophie’s problems on his back and helps rehabilitate her and even asked for her hand in marriage.   She accepts his proposal but then relapses and goes back to her bad habits. Although he ultimately failed, Larry still put in a great effort in helping Sophie.   Larry also affects Suzanne by taking her off of the streets and taking care of her when she needed it the most.   Larry finds her and feels that he is obligated to help her so he briefly gives her and her young daughter a home to live in, money and accompanies them through all of this to ensure that they are all right. Larry gives Suzanne hope and the two of them become very close, close enough that Larry tells her about his scarring experiences in World War I. Towards the end of their relationship they have sex and then the next morning Larry decides that Suzanne is ready to get back on her feet and leaves her with money and good people to surround herself with. He leaves her with a pleasing life which she greatly appreciates. As a whole, Larry and Siddhartha are influential in many people’s lives and truly become teachers. People reach enlightenment in different ways.   Siddhartha reaches enlightenment by experiencing all aspects of life and being very open minded so he is not a seeker and is a finder.   Larry Darrell reaches enlightenment by reading, loafing, helping others, questioning religion, and keeping his personal space.   Both characters learn, teach, and sacrifice during their journey towards happiness and both characters evidently reach their goal in the end.

Kapshi Model Village Essay

About this document: It is about a remote village named Kapshi in Maharashtra. A group of us from IIT Bombay visited the village to learn about the progress that was achieved there. This document is hosted on my website: http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~gumma I can be reached at gumma@it.iitb.ac.in Backdrop: Until about three years back, the village was experiencing severe drought conditions with no water availability during the dry periods. It was inspirational to witness the way villagers transformed their conditions with self-belief and a camaraderie that is worth emulating. 1 Efforts towards water conservation Kapshi experiences about 250-300 mm of rainfall every year, which occur in bursts of six to ten spells of rains from June to September. The water table of the region had dropped so low that the village reeled under severe drought conditions for three years an had to depend on the tanker water supply for their survival. Egged on by the volunteers of ‘Art of Living’ foundation, the villagers made collective efforts to raise the groundwater level and store the surface water for lean periods. ‘Bandharas’ or small check dams of about three feet high were constructed along a long undulating terrain stretching about 20 km, which was identified as the route of water run-off during monsoon by the Civil Engineers of the Government. Shrubs and trees along its path were cleared. About 20 such dams have been built entirely by weekly ‘Shram-daan’ by the villagers. There are two types of Bandharas :- ‘Kaccha-bandhara’- made up of layers of stones bounded by steel wire meshes to prevent their dislocation when faced with running water. Their primary purpose is to prevent hasty run-off of water thereby allowing it enough time for it to seep into the soil beneath. These measures have been helpful in raising the water table over a period of 2 years. 2)‘Pakka-bandhara’-constructed out of concrete and cement, they are about 3 feet high on the water facing side and 5 feet on the leeward side. The trenches between two such 5 feet walls are cement lined at the bottom to prevent seepage of water to the underground. The primary aim here is to store the rainwater for gradual subsequent use for farm purposes. It was built by government grant. However, by efficient measures employed by the villagers the job was done by spending just 2 out of 3 lacs sanctioned initially. The balance money is to be used for constructing two parallel dams adjacent to the main one to collect the subsequent overflows of water. 1 Wells and methods to augment underground storage The villagers have carefully dug wells of about 35 feet depth that capture water during the rainy season as well as underground seepage. Each well is equipped with a small pump used to water the adjoining fields. Some wells are also used to supply drinking water round the year. The water in these wells is first treated with Potassium Permanganate (lal goli) etc. before being used. Incidentally, this was the first year when Kapshi had to not take recourse to Municipal tanker supply of water. Apart from the wells a unique way of storing water was the ‘Underground Bandhara’. Using the knowledge of the terrain, and with the help of engineers from the Agricultural Department, a region of about 1 sq. km area under the surface was carved out for storing water that seeped underneath during the rainy season. To prevent run-off to lower lying areas and still deeper areas an L-shaped polythene sheet was layered along the storage area. The accumulated water could find its way to the nearby wells thereby providing replenishment to the wells from time to time. Apart from the Government grants some money was also provided by the ‘Art of Living’ foundation for these construction activities.(?) Continuous Contour Trenches (CCT) An example of first level water management, a wasteland of about ? acres was kept aside for contour irrigation. Concentric trenches were dug with intermittent planar land being cultivated with animal fodder. During the rainy season water flows into these contours and gets successively collected into the concentric trenches over a gradually sloping topography. It helps in gradually raising the water table of the area as well as preventing top soil erosion by hasty run-off of water. The planar surface between the two trenches is utilised ti grow fodder for the animals. This elaborate work was brought about under the Food-for-work programme run by the Government during the consecutive droughts the village faced. Each villager who contributed ‘shram-daan’ of 8 hrs. a day per year (6 months + 6 months over two years of dry spells) was given 25 kg of grains per ?. Waste Disposal One of the interesting features of Kapshi was that each house there was equipped with a toilet with an adjoining soak pit. The excreta from the toilets is collected into an underground and fully covered soak pit gradually over a period of 15 years. The soak pit has two chambers, which could be alternatively made use at the time of collection which is supposed to take 15 days. The collected excreta is anaerobically digested by microorganisms over a long period to convert it into a fine powdered manure that sells in adjoining markets of Pune at Rs 200 per kg. This arrangement provokes questions as to whether a similar arrangement could be worked out even in cities, given that Waste Disposal is a much more serious issue here, for eg., the waste generation far exceeds the average centralized treatment facility available in Mumbai and so most of the waste is dumped straight into the sea. This is just postponing the problem, as the waste is rich in organics and nitrates that cause severe water pollution. As Prof. Shankar puts it, a similar effort of treating waste at source in cities requires a change in mind-set that considers using excessive water to just push the waste into the sea as the ‘best’ option. Organic Manure and Biogas Cow dung collected from a few houses is put into a cylindrical steel tank put underground and mixed with water to make slurry. This slurry is kept under air-tight conditions. The anaerobic digestion process, called biomethanation, generates gobar gas over a period of ? days that is collected and used as fuel by the households. Typically, dung from 4 cows is sufficient to support 1 families fuel needs for ? days. Further, the left over byproduct of the above process is dried and put in farms as manure. This practice raises pertinent questions: – Is the left over cow dung byproduct better manure than the raw cow dung itself? Can vegetable and other straw waste be used as feed to these biogas plants or added to byproduct before putting into the field? Consultations with some of the professors in the Chemical Engg Dept seem to point at some answers: – Use of cow dung as feed for biogas plants seems to a necessary evil with the growing cheaper fuel demands of the villages. Actually, its usage in this form is wasteful as then valuable cellulose degrading bacteria, which fix Nitrogen required for plant growth, get killed. Further, the process generates NH3 and H2S in dissolved form which stay as unfixed and accumulate in the soil. Instead, employing cow dung directly to the farms (in solid form or pumping with water) is considered the best as it preserves the ruminant ecology (chains of interdependent microorganisms), so crucial for making nutrients of the soil available to the plants. This is why cow dung is referred to as just not a fertilizer but as a ‘bio-culture’. Mixing of vegetable and corn waste to the biogas by product and using it as a fertilizer is not a good idea because the left over is already rich in organics and addition of straw waste would only add more organics. Instead, powdered basaltic rock (found in plenty in that region) could be added to it, which would provide minerals to be used by the soil. A still better approach seems to use cow dung as such in the soil and add the powdered basaltic rock to it. Minerals that are otherwise in deficit in organic farming methods are provided by the powdered rock. The productivity in this manner seems to increase as per experience of farming in north Bihar and other river basins. Furthermore, straw and other vegetable waste could be used for biogas generation. However, this may require employing use of lignin (difficult to break) degrading enzymes, whose feasibility requires further investigation. 1 Burning of fodder grass and weeds A practice widely used across North India, was also seen here. Operational convenience and high costs of deweeding and degrassing seems to be one of the strong motivations behind this practice. It can, however, be argued that this is a wasteful process as the energy present in the weeds is simply wasted in the form of CO2 and released into the atmosphere. Instead, if these straws and grasses could be used in a biogas plant to generate biogas, it would serve twin benefits of fuel energy as well as obviating the use of cow dung for biogas purposes. Again, the feasibility of this process needs further investigation. There is also the other side to the practice of burning grasses. They generate, among other things, carcinogens like dioxins into the atmosphere. 1 Burning of polythene Plastics are accumulated over a period of time and burnt. This is dangerous as burning causes generation of toxic byproducts which are believed to be carcinogens and are much more difficult to biodegrade than the parent compounds. With the given limitations in technology it would be better to recycle them. For this a regularized dumping and collection system needs to be put in place along with the Municipality. Given the limitations of this option, it would be best to cut their use at source. 2 Organic Farming Being witness to the large sized onions that villagers in kapshi grow and having eaten the delicious food there, it can be said that organic agriculture has been one of their success stories. Use of natural fertilizers and insecticides primarily using cow dung and urine has made them successfully swith over to chemical free agriculture. The villagers, seem to be fully convinced that use of synthetic fertilizers and DDT etc. was a source of slow poisoning. Thier eagerness to get rid of this enabled them to willingly accept marginally low farm yields in the first year of switch over to new farming. Not only is the organic product bigger, it lasts longer and does not need elaborate storage facilities. Organic Farming, is in some way, like going back to the old ways of farming practiced since times immemorial up until 40 to 50 years back. People still recollect their grandmothers speaking about the quality. Taste, etc. of the vegetables and the grains used during their times. If this was so, then why was it that use of chemical fertilizers was resorted to in the first place. As Prof. Venkatesh puts it, Organic Farming is prone to contamination and spoilage by unknown pests or new strains of microorganisms which is why people tend to grow organic foods in protected environments or use insecticides to keep off all organisms. The demands of a rapidly growing population needed food grain production at a much faster pace than what was being achieved in the sixties. Led by the Western experience in this regard, the use of hybrid seeds with extensive fertilizer and pesticide use could achieve a marked rise in production, initially. Agriculture became water intensive that had its effect over the years in the form of receding water table. Further, synthetic fertilizers provide H+ions to the soil to solubilize the minerals present that could then be harvested by the plants. However, their use over a period destroyed the natural ecology that existed in the soil. In this manner useful microorganisms present in the roots of the plant were destroyed preventing natural nitrogen fixation and denitrification. With repeated use, it resulted in an ever-increasing dosage of the fertilizers. The increased usage ultimately resulted in the high acidity levels that are witnessed today in the soil, rendering the latter infertile. Having said this, resorting to farming is a risky proposition initially, but if persisted it seems to be a sure way of moving towards increased productivity over a longer period. In the present case, villagers learnt the techniques of organic farming from Mr. (Ramesh ?) Palekar of Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh. This included the right kind of dosage and timing of the manures to be administered to the land. Interestingly, snakes and farm cats are used as natural pesticides that eat away the rats that attack the standing crops and grains. It was heartening to see that the villagers seem satisfied with both the quality and quantity of their produce after the first year when the production was lower than what was obtained using inorganic fertilizer use. 3 Innovative Coconut scheme With financial aid from the Panchayat, each household planted a coconut tree by itself investing about Rs. 5-10 for the sapling. The balance money is to be gradually paid as taxes to the Panchayats beginning with the second year of plantation, with those owning a pukka house shelling out more tax than those with kuccha house (Progressive Taxation). As the tree grows, it was estimated to that the products of the coconut tree would fetch about Rs. 1000-2000 p.a. to each family. The choice of the coconut tree is interesting. Each part of the tree lends itself of use-stem, fruit, bark, etc, for various purposes. Moreover, coconut tree is relatively fast growing; its roots are small enough not to damage the foundations of the house. The water requirements for its growth can be met by channeling the water used for domestic washing purposes. 4 Desire for alternate energy sources The villagers were very keen on finding substitutes for their power needs. They do get about 6-10 hrs of electricity everyday but find the bills pretty hefty. Most of them were keen to know if they could instead use Solar Energy for street and other lighting purposes. With the discussions that followed thereafter with Prof Date and others, the use of Photo-voltaic cells as source of power seems to very costly and cannot be used. 5 Art of Living and its role Prime initiative: Dr. Paul, based in Phalton but makes weekly trips to the village to administer medical treatment to the villagers. Realised that the villagers needed to be brought together to solve their own problems. Himself. a beneficiary of the Art of Living courses, he convinced the foundation to start short Navchetana shivirs for people in the villages teaching some elementary pranayamas and doing satsang (devotional chanting in congregation). 6 villagers attended the first such camp and thereafter the chain began to grow. In his own words, Dr. Paul found that the villagers were very keen to take up responsibility and were mature enough to make sacrifices for the larger cause. Gradually, some villagers gave up intoxicating liquor and tobacco etc. and other malpractices. As one of the village eleders put it, the one-hr weekly congregational satsang was their way to realise themselves and forget petty issues. Moreover, the concept of ‘expanding your responsibilities’ imparted in these camps seems to have worked wonders in bridging the cast divide. However, in all fairness it must be mentioned that because of the progressive movements by Jyotiba Phule, MG Ranade etc. in parts of West Maharashtra over the past 100-150 years the general populace here is very mature and the caste rigidities are not as strong as in some other parts of the country. Distinctions do exist but they are only at the level of occupation. This aspect seemed to have helped Dr. Paul. The sarpanch of this village seems to be a man among the masses. He leads from the front and does shram-daan himself along with others in all the activities taken by villages. No wonder he was awarded the ‘Best Sarpanch of Maharashtra’ award last year. This tale from the village holds important pointers to people living in cities as well. Most problems could be dealt with at the micro level if conscious efforts are made towards them. Things like pranayama, faith, satsang spur discipline and send messages to place one’s action in a perspective. Such measures are long lasting, as they strike deep into the human psyche. With increased violence, insecurity and intolerance that is witnessed in the society today such measures suggest a way out. No wonder, increasingly people are resorting to them in the cities and in the West as well.

Aristotle Biography Essay Example for Free (#2)

Aristotle Biography Essay Aristotle Aristotle was a prominent figure in history that created many philosophies during his time. He is ranked among the greatest philosophers to ever live. He moved around to many different interesting places during much of his lifetime and loved to teach. In my opinion, the most well-known philosophy is his concept of logic. Because Aristotle’s philosophies and concepts of logic and reasoning have affected much of the past, his legacy will endure for many years to come. Aristotle was born in 384 B. C in Stagira, the small city in the Macedonian region of northeastern Greece. At the age of 17, he moved to Athens to attend Plato’s Academy where he remained there for almost 40 years. He journeyed around the world then for a little while continuing his philosophical activities. When in Lesbos, he married his first wife, Pythias, with whom they had a child also named Pythias. In 343, Aristotle was appointed to be the tutor of King Philip of Macedon’s son, Alexander. This thirteen year old boy eager to learn later became known as Alexander the Great. After two years of teaching, Aristotle’s works were no longer needed because Alexander was already serving as a military commander for his father. After teaching, Aristotle returned to Athens where he built his own school that taught botany, biology, logic, music, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, cosmology, physics, the history of philosophy, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, theology, rhetoric, political history, government and political theory, rhetoric, and the arts. While teaching at his school, Aristotle’s wife had died and they say he had married another woman, Heroyllis with whom they had children. In the year 323, Aristotle had retired his works in Athens and moved to Chalcis, where he died the following year of natural causes. Philosophy was in fact very important to Aristotle and he studied it for many years. Among the great achievements, the concept of logic was in my opinion the most important and well known. Aristotle’s objective of â€Å"the first logic† was to come up with a process of reasoning that would allow man to learn every conceivable thing about reality. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy clarifies this by using the example of As, Bs and Cs. They explain that first, all As are Bs. Secondly, they claim that all Bs are Cs. Therefore, all As are Cs. They also say that anything else taken from this form will be a deduction in Aristotle’s sense. A deduction is â€Å"an argument in which certain things are laid down something else follows of necessity in virtue of their being so†. But it has been proven that some of his concepts of logic are deductions and some are not. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy used the example of university students and the As, Bs and Cs to explain this. They say that all As are Bs; some Bs are Cs; so, all As are Cs. â€Å"They use the university students example by explaining that all university students are literate; some literate people read poetry; so, all university students read poetry†. This is not true so it clarifies the fact that some of his concepts are deductions while others are not. In his philosophical articles, Aristotle also discussed how man might obtain information about objects through deduction and inference. As you can see, Aristotle’s philosophy provided us with a system of logic that to this day is still used by philosophers. Aristotle’s legacy will live on for years to follow because of everything he had accomplished throughout his lifetime. After his death in 322 B. C, his works and philosophies were forgotten and revived about a century after. His works had influenced over seven centuries of philosophy. As it says on the biography. com website, â€Å"Aristotle’s work influenced ideas from late antiquity all the way through the Renaissance. Aristotle’s influence on Western thought in the humanities and social sciences is largely considered unparalleled, with the exception of his teacher Plato’s contributions, and Plato’s teacher, Socrates before him. The two-millennia-strong academic practice of interpreting and debating Aristotle’s philosophical works continues to endure. † Even today, philosophers still look to Aristotle’s work for guidance and inspiration when creating their own philosophies and simply studying philosophers of the past. As you can see, Aristotle’s legacy is still apart of us and will remain influencing others for many years to come. In conclusion, you can see that Aristotle did affect many lives through his philosophies and teachings. Many have studied his works, and added on from the philosophies and concepts he had developed. His legacy will endure on because of all he did and he will be remembered. I had great time learning about Aristotle and his philosophies for this research project. Works Cited: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle/ Shields, Christopher. â€Å"Aristotle. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 25 Sept. 2008. http://www. biography. com/people/aristotle-9188415? page=1 â€Å"Aristotle Biography. † Bio. com. A&E Networks Television, n. d http://www. ucmp. berkeley. edu/history/aristotle. html Waggoner, Ben M. â€Å"Aristotle (384-322 B. C. E.). † Aristotle. UCMP, 9 June 1996. Aristotle Biography. (2016, Oct 28).

Examine the impact of the recent recession in the British Economy Essay

Examine the impact of the recent recession in the British Economy - Essay Example The contraction over the six quarters of the recession was 6.2%. That peak-to-trough decline was less severe than in Japan, Germany and Italy, but the recession lasted longer than in any other G7 economy†. The recession has impacted every sector of the British economy like production, consumption, employment, energy use, and government spending and tax revenue. The fragile situation of the banking system greatly impacted all sectors of economy and many private companies were forced to close down or end up in loss. Many corporate and small enterprises cut down their employees, who had an overall effect on the earning capacity and spending power of the public.Morover there was also a notable decrease in the demand of energy use as production and consumption of the country declined. Due to recession people look in for alternative renewable sources as they were unable to afford fuel charges as they suffered from lower income and lower unemployment rates. Looking briefly in to the e ffect of recession on different sectors of British economy, the following can be explained: I) Changes in Production and Consumption: Production and consumptions is an endless cycle of any economy or market of a developed, developing nation. Britain being a large economy has major public and private companies operating under its constituition.With the breakout of recession, the production and service sector of the country was doomed and this indeed resulted in a tremendous cut in the employment rate of the country. The finance sector and manufacturing sector being interconnected was worse affected which led to the closure of small private owned organizations and many service outlets. In 2008 the UK GDP fell by 5.1 % and this could be mainly because the UK government supporting more the finance sector rather than the manufacturing sector. Due to recession the worst hit area was the construction sector of British economy. By December 2008 , the construction sector of Britain shrank at fast pace than ever, taking civil engineering and commercial sub sectors along with it.Morover the slump in the housing construction field resulted in a downturn in housing market sector. The manufacturing sector being interconnected affected all the production units of the economy which resulted in lesser profitability. Unemployment was the end result and lower household consumption was the end result. As per (Dolling) â€Å"Household final consumption expenditure accounts for about half of the expenditure measure of GDP and is seen as an important economic indicator.† II) Changes in Employment, Unemployment and Productivity; It is a very obvious fact that, recession can bring around sharp decline in the employment rate of an ecnomy.Since the productivity is low, there can be a very evident decrease in the job cuts and this is directly related to decreased house hold consumption .Many people were removed from employment and also faced with considerable cut in their salary r ate because of slumber economy. â€Å"Troubled house builder Barrett last week announced plans to cut 1,000 of its 6,700-strong workforce while Pen dragon, the country's biggest car dealer, laid off 500 workers†(Blackden).If such is the case with employment cuts, unemployment rates in the country can soar which will make the people with less or no spending power. Since recession of 2008, many students who have

Bullfighting in spain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bullfighting in spain - Essay Example Osborne took the challenge and engineered a twenty three foot, nine thousand pound bull. It became an instant landmark. The bull, like many other advertisements around the Spanish country side, where part of an intricate cultural display that attracted foreigners and kept the country’s identity. It was categorized among other cultural phenomenon such as Escorial, the Acueduct, Giralde, and the flamenco show all of which are major tourist attractions in Spain (Garry, 28). Today there are over 90 Osborne bulls around the country serving as land marks and tourist attraction all over the country. During legislative crack down on the relevance of the Osborne bull since it stopped being associated with the distillery anymore, it was revered as not only an advertisement or a tourist attraction, but also a true representation of the Spaniards’ culture of bull fighting. The culture is so wide spread around the country and so deeply embedded within the society that go as far as embossing on clothing, mugs among other decorative objects. Regional mascots can be found around the country giving the sport the recognition and passion it requires. Nevertheless, bullfighting has not been accepted with open arms because it can be seen as animal cruelty since the bull is â€Å"tortured† before it is killed. Animal activists all over the world have come up with reason after reason have the practice banned in Spain. In Catalonia, for instance, they consider this behaviour uncivilized and are more often than not protesting against it at their Spanish Embassy. They posse an ethical challenge insisting that no human with their limit of morality would go through the process of bull fight and come out unscathed (Bradley, 34). Before the bull is put into the ring or corrida it has to undergo cruel three steps, also known as tercio, to ready it for the oncoming spectacle. In the first step,

Information System Engineering (Case Study about system requirement) Essay

Information System Engineering (Case Study about system requirement) - Essay Example The purpose of this report is to elaborate the system design features for its better implementation. The Children Support Agency (CSA) has emerged as a national charity based organization for the betterment of the UK’s young people. This organization has aimed to facilitate young people of UK for their career and support them for spending their lives effectively. CSA has developed their setup very effectively and they have their central office in London. Recently they have moved their two main offices, a small one in London and a larger one on the South Coast of England in Brighton. In this situation this organization has running lot of projects on diverse domains, for the management of these projects and better information transfer in the overall organization structure is really essential. There is need of some distributed information management system that is able to handle the overall organizational information and have the capability to tenser the data and information to each client. CSA has initiated the development of the central information management system that will help the head office to monitor projects. The system will offer the effective tools to help regional directors, area managers and lead workers to manage their work. At the heart of the system will be the recording and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) for each of the projects managed by CSA. Each department at head office should be able to see information as it relates to their department. Equally, the Regional Directors will need to see the data for their region, Area Managers for their area and Team Leaders for their project. This section will provide the deep insight into the kind of activities for this project to the developer. The developer first analyzes the project requirement. Then he will sort out the workable requirements. After that the developer will draw out the basic system development

Web Application development Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Web Application development - Assignment Example The people who share same spirits in sports would find this application as a great place for sharing their experiences, giving and taking advises, organizing events etc. This application will use the latest technology and simple yet elegant user interface. The Application allows it user to search people based on their interest in any sports. Search results could be filtered by location when the area of the operation expands in the future. The application will be developed with HTML5 and JavaScript in the front end and PHP in the server side scripting. Initially MySQL could be used as database client as number of users and frequency of interactions are considered. When future functionalities are introduced and website’s hits will be increasing, a more scalable database client such as Cassandra could be used. In this report we are including a detailed timeline for the development of application, design, structure, implementation details and future development ideas. New users can register to our web application through a signup facility. Users are requested to provide an username and password in order to gain full access to Sports pal .Non registered users can access only the homepage contents. User data is only passed through an encrypted SSL connection (Buttyan n.d.: 1). During the registration process Sports pal will collect details such as Full name, Date of Birth, Email address and physical location of the users. These details are displayed in our profile page. User can also update these details even after signing up to our application. These profiles are publicly viewable by all users of the application. Users are requested to add a sport of their interest during signup process and it could be edited in user profile functionality. Users can update their status message logging in to Sports Pal. This is a common featured shared by all social networking websites today. This facility will allow

The Causes and Effects of Being a Student in a Foreign Country Essay

The Causes and Effects of Being a Student in a Foreign Country - Essay Example It could be that a relative who lives aboard is in need of their assistances. The student therefore will travel to come to the aid of their kin. Not wanting to leave their education aside for the time that they are in that different country, they enroll in school. However, it is not always the case that the family has an issue, sometimes there are positive causes in the family, such as relocation. In the case of relocation the parents of the student might have obtained a job abroad. Then the student would move just to stay with their parents, and end up attending a foreign school as a result. Some of the more depressing reasons that a student might need to study abroad without truly wishing to do so it because of health reasons. The student could become ill and need special medical assistance that they cannot receive in their own country. The student would, therefore have to move where that medical care is provided. Students might also find that they have to study in different countr ies because of financial reasons. ... If fact, it is more common for students to study abroad simply because they choose to than because they had no other choice. For many students, studying in a foreign country is an exciting opportunity. The Effects of Study Abroad Rather the student is studying abroad because of their active decision or because of issues in their life that thy found unavoidable, it is clear that learning in a foreign environment has great benefits for the development of the student’s intellect. As it was reported, â€Å"International educators at either side of the Atlantic have long recognized that college students returning from studying abroad show positive changes† (Hadis, 2003:p.3). Some of the benefits to the student include a greater awareness of global affairs, heightened foreign language acquisition, increased cultural sensitivity, and new experiences. These benefits are becoming more and more important in today’s society, where globalization is being spread at a rapid pa ce. One day, only those who have a better global view will be able to truly be successful. Since students are such because they are seeking to better themselves, it would seem that the opportunity to study abroad is one that no student should pass up on. IT keeps them from having tunnel vision. Overall View of Study Abroad Getting an education is a powerful way to change a person’s life. Getting an education in a country that is not their own is a way of adding even more power to their education. One of the best ways to be a success is to have a diverse set of experiences from which to draw. Studying abroad is a method to gain these experiences. This route of

Analysis of the underlying causes Domestic Violence against Women in Essay

Analysis of the underlying causes Domestic Violence against Women in Pakistan - Essay Example With the upsurge in media channels, newspapers and different information access points coming of age, the world is getting to know the dark side behind the domestic woman of Pakistan, within the four walls of her home or of her master’s. The mechanism which could be discussed here in line with the control and prevention of domestic violence against women in the country comprise of first and foremost an understanding that the women are being treated rather shabbily within the state. It is this realization of the grave problem that could tackle half the problem in a whisker. The police authorities fail to curb the crimes that are committed on these women because they do not accept that the crimes are carried out in the first place. This is because the system of bribery is rampant within the society and police authorities of Pakistan, according to recent surveys carried out globally, is the most corrupt organization followed up by judiciary, which speaks volumes of the law and order situation that is present within Pakistan. Now domestic violence against women becomes an all the more significant aspect since it is seldom being reported to the authorities and in most of those cases the matters are hushed up before they could be moved ahead any further. Whilst drafting a five year plan for the control and prevention regimes of domestic violence within Pakistan, it is pertinent to know what the real factors behind devising such a plan are. If only the factors are ascertained beforehand, it would give a clear idea as to the eventual ramifications in the lead-up to the results and findings of the violence that is taking place within the nation. There is the subject of poverty and lack of education that kicks off the topic of domestic violence. Then men are frustrated with the norms of the society and tend to vent their feelings by taking out violent means on the women within their homes. Also the aspect of having

Internal combustion engine Essay Example for Free

Internal combustion engine Essay Electric cars should be used instead of cars that run with gasoline because electric cars do not harm the environment, are quieter, quicker, does not require gasoline and include a significant reduction to air pollution. Firstly, electric cars have a lot of benefits. One of them is that they are quiet, quick and smooth, making most regular cars look clunky and outdated. What surprises people the most is the torque (axle-twisting power) offered by the electric cars. Step on the accelerator and power is delivered immediately to the wheels, providing a thrilling driving experience. Secondly, after a while with an electric car you will forget that gas stations existed. Imagine never going to a gas station and spending all that money for fuel. All you have to do is pull your vehicle in your drive way or garage and plug it in to the charging inlet. It is very convenient to just wake up the next morning and have a fully charged vehicle that can go up to 100 miles. In addition they are cheaper to operate. Almost everywhere in the world, electricity is very cheap. So when you compare an electric vehicle to a regular car, the cost per mile to fuel an electric vehicle is approximately one-third to one-quarter the cost of gasoline (on a cost per mile basis). Nevertheless, owning a car is associated with the responsibility of maintaining it. Regular cars require frequent maintenance but this is not the case in electric cars. These cars do not suffer same level of stress as traditional engines acquire and do not require frequent oil changes and other regular maintenance. On the other hand, electric cars have a lot of disadvantages too. First of all the limited range of the electric cars is probably the biggest disadvantage. Most affordable electric cars only have about 80 to 100 miles of range. Which is not enough if you are for instance going on a long road trip. People who have electric cars need to properly plan, assuring that they will not go over the limited range. Not to mention, they also have a long refueling time. It is not like going to a gas station and adding a couple of hundred miles of range in five or ten minutes. To recharge a completely empty electric car would take about 10 hours depending on the voltage. With 120 volts (which is the current voltage in every house) it will take ten hours. With 240 volts it takes about four to five hours to fully charge the electric vehicle. Also, you would have to have the right place to charge your electric vehicle. You cannot go more than the car’s limit but you the right place to charge it. For instance people who are living in apartments cannot own electric cars because they do not have a garage to charge their vehicle. Big electric car companies have charging stations where you can get your vehicle fully charged in 1-2 hours but there are not a lot like gas stations. Furthermore the higher cost is probably what keeps people away from electric vehicles. The current electric cars are priced between 30. 000 and 40. 000 dollars. While you can buy, for instance the Honda Fit, Ford Focus etc. for less than 20,000 dollars. Last but not least, electric cars are costly to maintain and repair if there is a big problem with the car. Since electric cars are in a class of their own, owners may wind up paying more on repairs and maintenance because not every mechanic is trained to repair and maintain electric cars. In conclusion, when considering the pros and cons of electric cars, it is clear that there are some major advantages and disadvantages of owning an electric car. At the end, if these cars help people save a tremendous amount of money and help the environment, the pros of owning an electric car will outweigh all of the cons.

Rbs staff grievance procedure

Rbs staff grievance procedure INTRODUCTION Grievance is a complaint held by a member of staff against the RBS as an employer, including a grievance against another member of staff acting on behalf of the RBS. The grievance procedure established by RBS does not apply to collective disputes neither it entertains disputes between members of staff in their private capacities. These procedures mean a ground for complaint against an action taken by another member of staff of the employer acting under the authority of management. RBS Grievance procedures consist of several stages. Throughout all stages of the procedure, every attempt is made to settle the matter by conciliation and negotiations. STAGE 1 INFORMAL DISCUSSION 1. A member of staff when thinking of raising a grievance should try to resolve the matter by a direct approach to the person under the authority usually a Line Manager. www.worthingtonslaw.co.ukf STAGE 2 ONE ON ONE WITH LINE MANAGER 2. If the matter after informal discussion remains unresolved, the aggrieved he or she should request a personal hearing with their line manager. STAGE 3 IN WRITING 3. Then the request shall be made in writing or should be lodged on a Internal Operational Complaint system and shall specify: the grounds for the grievance; Such other background information as may appear relevant and useful. 4. The line manager shall: If appropriate seek the advice of the Human Resources Department or should consult his supervisor or Manager. Should meet the aggrieved staff within five working days. Aggrieved staff and the line manager shall have a copy of the written request or the reference number for the lodged complain. (Marson: Business Law) 5. Another member of the staff as a witness if required can accompany the aggrieved staff at the hearing with line manager. 6. Line manager should then write the report of the meeting or minutes of the meeting or hearing and send it to HR or in case if HR department is not involved or consulted for advice should keep it as a record. Please note: In the case of a grievance against a line manager, this initial hearing shall be with the appropriate Head of Department. STAGE 3 INFORMING AND MEETING THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT 7. If the matter still remains unresolved and is not in hands of line manager, the aggrieved staff then requests a meeting with the Head of Department. The copy of request shall be sent to Head of Department or the lodged complaint print as a request for meeting. 8. The Head of Department then arranges the meeting within ten working days of receiving the request. 9. He shall also then obtain a copy of the written report of the initial meeting or hearing with line manager and if any relevant papers or documentary proofs from the line manager. 10. One of the Human Resources department members should be present at the meeting with Head of Department to keep a written record of the hearing. 11. Even, while meeting the Head of the Department, another member of the staff as a witness (if needs) may accompany the aggrieved staff on his hearing with Department Head. 12. After the hearing, the Head of Department shall: write to the member of staff to record the outcome of the hearing; copy the letter to the line manager, Head of Human Resources and to the Vice Chancellor; Please Note: In the case of a grievance against the Head of Department the hearing shall be with a Pro Vice Chancellor. STAGE 4 APPEAL TO THE VICE CHANCELLOR 13. If the aggrieved staff wishes to raise the grievance against the decision of the Head of Department she or he may appeal to the Vice Chancellor. But, the appeal should be made within five working days of receiving the letter from the Head of Department. 14. A full written statement of the grievance should be submit to the Vice chancellor; which shall be: a comprehensive background and the facts of the grievance and the issue raised and should attach the relevant supporting documents and in case of the member of the staff witnessed, his or her statement and complete detail. 15. The Vice Chancellor then will copy the written statement and any supporting documents and send it to the member of staff against whom the grievance has been raised. 16. The member of staff will be given ten working days within which to submit written answer or justification against the issue rose, which will then be submitted to the aggrieved member of staff. 17. If the justification is not satisfactory enough or the aggrieved staff does not agree with then a meeting is held with ten days with Vice chancellor holds a hearing with both the member of staff, aggrieved and the one against whom the grievance is made. 18. The Vice Chancellor may delegate this stage of the procedure to the appropriate Pro Vice Chancellor. The conduct of the hearing shall be: Both the aggrieved member of staff and the member of staff against whom the grievance is made. if any facts are in dispute, either or both parties may nominate witnesses and they can accompany them in the hearing but they should be the member of the staff only. 19. The decision of the Vice Chancellor will be the final say in the case and will be notified to the member of staff within five working days of the hearing. Please note: If the grievance is against the Vice Chancellor personally the aggrieved member of staff may submit a written statement of grievance to the Chairman of the Board of Governors through the Secretary to the Board. The Chairman if decides after examining the statement can carry out investigation and if not then declines the request. CONCLUSION RBS follows these 4 stages as their grievance procedure and throughout all the stages, the people in authority i.e. Line Managers, Head of Department, HR, Vice Chancellor, Pro Vice Chancellor and Chairman of the Board tries their level best at their stages to resolve the grievance raised by the aggrieved staff. Reference http://www.worthingtonslaw.co.uk/downloads/EmployeeDismissal.pdf Marson: Business Law http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199544455/resources/updates/statutory_dismissal.pdf

Visual Spatual Learner :: essays research papers

Her next clue was something she noticed when she was demonstrating drawing to a class, and trying to give a verbal explanation of the methods she was using. She found that she often would "simply stop talking right in the middle of a sentence. I would hear my voice stop and I would think about getting back to the sentence, but finding the words again would seem like a terrible chore -- and I didn't really want to anyhow. But pulling myself back at last, I would resume talking -- and then find that I had lost contact with the drawing, which suddenly seemed confusing and difficult. Thus I picked up a new bit of information: I could either talk or draw, but I couldn't do both at once." ~*~*~*~ A part of the answer is that, from childhood onward, we have learned to see things in terms of words: we name things, and we know facts about them. The dominant left verbal hemisphere doesn't want too much information about things it perceives -- just enough to recognize and to categorize. The left brain, in this sense, learns to take a quick look and says, "Right, that's a chair ...." Because the brain is overloaded most of the time with incoming information, it seems that one of its functions is to screen out a large proportion of incoming perceptions. This is a necessary process to enable us to focus our thinking and one that works very well for us most of the time. But drawing requires that you look at something for a long time, perceiving lots of details, registering as much information as possible -- ideally, everything.... Symptoms of Dyslexia Dyslexic people are visual, multi-dimensional thinkers. We are intuitive and highly creative, and excel at hands-on learning. It is sometimes hard for us to understand letters, numbers, symbols, and written words because we think in pictures but learning to adapt this hidden talent can lead to success, particularly in creative and inventive fields. Reading: Â · Fluctuating memory problems with letters, words or numbers -- including sequences such as the alphabet. Â · Skipping over or scrambling letters, words and sentences. Â · Reading is a slow, tiring process often accompanied with head tilting or finger pointing. Â · Reversal of similar letters (such as "b" and "d"), words (such as "saw" and "was") and numbers (such as "6" and "9"). Â · Letters and words blur, move, double, scramble or are omitted or added.

World War One and The Middle East Essay -- International Conflict

Introduction Over the course of human history, wars have always created, destroyed or enveloped nations, states or empires. Examples of these include the Final War of the Roman Republic, which culminated with the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, to the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 which created a unified German state. However, World War One is known to have had the greatest impact on human civilization. It dragged in almost every continent into the conflict, halted global trade, led to the demolition of four empires, and gave nationalism everywhere a boost. One interesting factor about the First World War is the extent to which it had a tremendous impact on the Middle East. Many westerners today would only remember it by reading Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front or attending an Armistice Day parade in Central London. Most would not even contemplate the fact that World War One had everything to do with the current events in the Middle East today such as the so-called Arab Spring, the Palestinian conflict, et cetera. With all being said, the argument presented is that even though the First World War was important in shaping the destiny of the modern Middle East, the long term unintended results were definitely more important. In addition, the war was mainly a catalyst for the continuation of defensive developmentalism in the Middle East. Now emphasis must be laid why World War One affected the Middle East. Narrative On the 28th of June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. An interesting question must be asked about why the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne has anything to do with the future of the Middle East. Ansary notes that the war seemed ... ... to wield an iron fist ranging from Mustafa Kemal to Hosni Mubarak to various monarchs that rule the numerous kingdoms around the in and around the Arabian Peninsula in order to exact development. The defensive developmentalists of the nineteenth century were secular leaders just as the various Middle Eastern leaders are today. In acknowledging its significance, there is no doubt that the First World War did have a tremendous impact on the Middle East but it must be said that the string of problems that exists there today started prior to the war and the war itself served as a catalyst for stronger nationalism and defensive developmentalism. Works Cited Ansary, Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Latin American Events Analysis Essays -- Latin America Culture Movies

Latin American Events Analysis During the course of this semester, I attended many events with Latin American content. Although I both heard lectures and viewed movies, the continuity and popularity of certain recurring themes in cinema interested me the most. Among the many themes addressed, money, violence, the role and importance of women, and the evolution of government were prevalent and interconnected. Over the years, Latin America’s image has changed from a valuable source for raw goods, to a rebellious child of colonial powers, to a region struggling to cope with oppressive governments from within. At the same time that these phases have occurred, social norms have also evolved. Despite the fact that women’s roles have changed in some areas, they remain important to the society as a whole, in whatever capacity they fulfill. While nations of the region may lack ethnic, linguistic, or cultural ties, they share similar historical experiences. As such, the common use of these topics was not surp rising, because of their prominence as important topics throughout Latin American history. All of the films I saw—Cidade de Deus, La Sexta Seccià ³n, Plata Quemada, Maria, Full of Grace, and Mujeres Insumisas—feature female characters, each of whom has a different function in the individual contexts. Overall, expectations of women are high, even though the resources available to them are inadequate. Often portrayed as victims, women receive insufficient respect for all that they manage to accomplish, especially given their dismal circumstances. In the Brazilian film Cidade de Deus, Angà ©lica—the main female character—is simultaneously depicted as both powerless and powerful. She accepts gifts from Tiago, Rocket, and Benny, a... ...uments for a philharmonic band, a kitchen for the local kindergarten, a basketball court, and a church for the town. Money and poverty are obviously very prominent issues in Boqueron, as well as numerous other Latin American towns, and the men are again depicted as the breadwinners. The Latin American films that I saw this semester have many thematic ties. Among these are the importance of money, the role of women, the existence of violence, and the prevalence of corruption. The frequency of the occurrence of these topics is not coincidental, but rather a reflection of the issues and difficulties faced by many Latin American nations. Film provides a unique arena in which to address social wrongs and change, national and international dilemmas, and other topics of interest, and these movies provide connections in Latin America when they may not otherwise exist.

Management Accounting Memo Essay

Mr. Blackheath had promoted Lee High to vice president of finance. Lee had practically been running the firm for several years during which time sales and profit had been declining. On November 15, 1977, Mr. Blackheath announced that his son. Trafalgar Blackheath, would take over as owner and president on January 1, 1978. Trafalgar was a graduate of an MBA program and for several years had been working for a large consulting firm as a marketing specialist. In their private discussions Mr. Blackheath told his son that the problems in the family firm were marketing rather than financial, so the situation was ready made for Trafalgar. Mr. Blackheath, it seems, had been completely taken by Lee High. When Trafalgar finally arrived on December 1, 1977, and began to read various internal reports he realised Blackheath Manufacturing Co. did not have a cash budget and there didn’t seem to be much in the way of financial planning. Trafalgar asked Lee High about this. Lee’s response was that Blackheath Manufacturing Co. ran on the basis of several well-developed decision rules and budgets weren’t necessary because if the firm ever ran out of funds, Mr. Blackheath simply deposited  £10,000 or  £20,000 in the bank. Trafalgar’s response was swift and clear: â€Å"My father is a millionaire, but I am not!† Lee indicated he didn’t know much about budgeting but he would get an assistant to work up some â€Å"stuff.† Trafalgar decided to call his old friend Crofton Brockley. Brockley was in charge of several large budgeting projects for a consulting firm and Trafalgar knew Crofton to be a recognized expert on budgeting for small companies. Fortunately for Trafalgar, Brockley wasn’t busy that week and was able to travel down the next day.

E-book and real book Essay

If you compare real book and e-book, most of the people like real book than e-book. Some of them think that reading e-book is harming their eyes or use real book for a decoration to show they are wisdom. Although real book has a certain place in people’s heart, e-book can replace real book in a short time in Hong Kong because e-books have some advantages that real book did not in the convenience aspect, economic aspect and function of the book. First is the convenience aspect. Will you bring a book when you hang out? Probably you will not but mostly your smart phone will follow you anywhere which mean you can read the e-book in your smart phone anywhere. It is very convenience when you need to read the e-books. How about when you do not need to read the book? Hong Kong is a scarce place with a huge population, not every people have a place to hold a huge number of real books. But holding e-book will not cause this kind of problem because you can save a thousand of books in your tiny memory card but not an unwieldy bookcase. Also after you finish read that e-book you can delete it and have the space again which will not cause the environment problem which you throw a real book On the economic aspect, publish a real book is more expensive than a e-book normally, because publish a real book need to add up the printing fees, the cost of raw materials etcetera which will cause a high prime cost and the cost will transfer to the customers. But the e-book did not need to add those printing fees, so the cost of the book can be reduce. Lastly is the function of the book. For the real book, the main function is to read which is just same as the e-book but actually some people like real book is only because the other functions of the real book to be a decoration which they will buy the books which they will never read and place it on the book shelf forever. I think this is a dishonor to the book and the writer. For the e-book, it does not have that dishonor function and it can have many difference functions. One main function is to change the word size or the zoom in function, this function is convenience to the elderly or people with eyes disease which those people can easily to read the book. Another one main function is the interaction function. This function can attract children to read book. Also animation and sound can be found in the e-book which is more attractive than the real book which only can include words and pictures. It is not difficult to forecast the future of e-books.

Panera Case Essay

Industry Analysis Dominant Economic Characteristics Panera Bread Company is a chain of restaurants, both company owned and franchised, that provides food and beverages with more of a cafà © experience as oppose to a traditional fast food restaurant. Panera NAICS code is 722310, which is classified as food service contractors. Food service contractors can be can be classified as cafeterias, fast food restaurants, or regular restaurants just to name a few. In 2007 there were approximately 23,250 establishments in this industry, which was up from 20,693 in 2002 and 18,991 in 1997, which shows that people are continuously opening more and more restaurants each year. Since 1997, the food industry under this NAICS code has seen significant increase in sales. The total number of sales in this industry has more then doubled since 1997, which can be attributed to two things. One of those is that they’re a just more establishments out there in 2007 then there were 10 years ago. The second, and probably most important reason why sales have more then doubled, is that people are just simply going out to eat more as oppose to cooking at home. Success in this industry is predicated on the ability to be able to not only appeal to consumer taste and preferences but continually changing product offerings to keep these customers happy and loyal to your restaurant. More often then not, companies in this industry fail and go out of business prematurely because they are not able to appeal to a wide enough customer base. Obviously you must have great food in this industry, but equally as important is the location, customer service, prices, and time of day that you choose to do business. If you don’t have a handle on these items then you will likely not make it past the first year without taking a significant loss. Due to the fact that there are different types of needs among customers, there is no way one establishment can serve the needs of everybody. Each restaurant must figure out the few things they do well and service those customers whose needs fit into what that restaurants do well. Driving Forces One of the key driving forces in this industry may seem obvious and simple but it is the most important thing in this industry. The restaurants must have good food to satisfy the ever-changing needs of customers. Since customers do have different preferences and these preferences could change at anytime, food companies must figure out a way to not only attract, but also maintain customer who love their food. However, to develop a sustainable advantage on taste alone is not likely when there are so many options when people eat away from home. Price is also a driving force as it is with any industry. A company must be able to provide their products cheaper then their competition or be able to convince their customer base that their products are worth the extra buck. In order to justify customers spending more money on your products, you have to somehow differentiate your product. Typically, companies either make their products healthier or find ingredients that make the products taste better then the competition if they are charging a premium price. If they are unable to convince consumers that their products are worth the premium price then they must figure out a way to drive down costs so they can charge as little as possible. With the economy struggling, this is a viable option for many companies in this industry. The last driving force is in this industry is location. A prime location can make or break a company. A company can have the best food in the world and even offer their products at great prices, but without the ability to get the foot traffic, because of a bad location, the company is doomed before it is even started. A restaurant must pick a location that will be able to service as many people that they have identified as potential customers. For instance, a healthy sub shop may be inclined to locate their business next to a health spa where people workout. The restaurants that are able to find an optimal location give themselves a far better chance to succeed for many years. A great location can be a sustainable competitive advantage and allow companies to outperform their rivals. Key Success Factors One of the key success factors is to be able to adapt to customer taste and needs in this rapidly changing market. To put it plain and simple, people get tired of eating the same thing so in order for a company to be successful, Companies must have a wide variety of product offerings. This is why you see many restaurants introducing new products for their customers to try. They have trail stages to see if these new products will be a hit and if they are then they keep them on the menu. If their customers do not accept them then they take them off the menu and try something else. So not only must you have a great core group of food options on your menu, but you must be able to change up your menu so that customers don’t get bored with the same options. Another key success factor in this industry is customer service. When people elect to eat out instead of eating at home, they expect to be treated well by the restaurant personnel. Obviously the level of customer service changes depending on the place that an individual is eating at. The more money someone is spending then it is likely that they will expect better customer service. Part of going out to eat is the experience and bad customer service can cause a company to lose customer even if their products are top of the line. Location is also a key success factor and a big one at that. Many companies that are unable to acquire a prime location are unable to stay in business. People don’t want to have to go out of their way to go to a restaurant in most cases so if a particular restaurant is not in a convenient place then they will not get much foot traffic. Foot traffic is the only way that companies in this industry can keep up with their financial obligations and turn a profit. I can say from personal experience that I have chosen to go to a restaurant based on convenience of the location and I feel that I am not the only one who has made a decision like this when choosing a place to eat. Porters Five Forces Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants in the food service contractor industry is extremely high. The restaurant industry is one of the most entered  industries year in and year out. The barriers to open a restaurant are nowhere near as high as other industries and if a restaurant owner can find a niche group of customers in a good location then they can be profitable. However, this is a feat that is much easier said then done. Although it is very feasible for new entrants to enter into this industry, it is definitely not an industry that is easy to have longevity in. The threat of new entrants for Panera Bread is not as high as some of the other restaurants in the industry. They have many established cafes all across the country that have been successful for years and would be hard for new entrants to compete on their level. In local markets a new entrant may be able to undercut the business of one individual store but it would be much more difficult for a start up to undercut Panera in the national or even the regional scene. Also, the fact that Panera Bread has a very aggressive growth strategy makes it even more problematic for new entrants to be able to compete at the level the Panera is on because they are always playing catch up. Substitute Products Substitute products are very prevalent in this industry and it affects all restaurants that are in the food service contractor industry. If you ride down a main street in any decent size city in this country for five minutes you will pass at least one hundred places to eat. Each one of these places is a substitute for one another, which makes this industry one of the most competitive industries that we have. With the number of restaurants growing, there are going to continue to be a plethora of substitute products. Also, items that people purchase at grocery stores and cook themselves are substitutes for restaurants in this industry. Americans are becoming more cognizant of what they put in their body and the best way to be absolutely sure that what you are putting in your body is exactly what you want is to prepare the food yourself. Just like every other company in this industry, Panera Bread is not immune to substitute products and must always account for other companies that offer substitute products. There are many viable eating options for customers in close proximity with nearly every Panera Bread cafe. With this  being the case, Panera must always look for ways to continue to bring customers into their cafes instead of those customers picking another option. Panera has been able to offer some unique products that are perceived as healthy which allow them to lessen the threat of some substitutes but it would be nearly impossible to get rid of the threat of substitute products because there are so many options. Perhaps the most difficult thing for competitors to be able to duplicate is the experience that is provided at Panera. Although there are other companies who are able to offer a pleasant dinning experience in the fast-casual restaurant industry, there is no substitute for this type of customer servi ce. Either you have quality service for your customers or you don’t. Power of Suppliers The power of suppliers in this industry is relatively low. This is due to the fact that there are often many possible suppliers to supply the needs of the restaurants. When this is the case, suppliers have no negotiating power to charge extremely high prices and must come to terms with the restaurants that are purchasing the various ingredients that go into their products. If suppliers are able to develop an ingredient that is rare or somehow do a value chain activity better then other supplier then they may have more negotiating power. However, even with this fact, the majority of the power in this relationship lies with the restaurants that are making the purchases. Panera Bread has 17 regional facilities that make all of its dough and then it is shipped out to each individual store. These facilities are owned or franchised out by Panera Bread, which gives them a huge competitive advantage. They control every step of the making of their main ingredient and this obviously gives them all of the power when it comes to purchasing dough. As long as the people who work there are satisfied then they will have no problem with having there dough needs met. They do ensure that these facilities make a profit but obviously not at the expense of Panera Bread. However, with other products that they use such as paper goods, coffee, and sweet goods, they use independent distributors to meet these needs. These suppliers have a very low amount if power when negotiating with Panera. These suppliers likely depend heavily on the Panera account to survive so  they must meet virtually all of Panera’s requests if they want to continue to do business with them. Some products that each individual store may have to order on a frequent basis may find that they have a little less negotiating power if a particular supplier is able to delivery these supplies on a timely basis. With this being said, the bulk of the power lies with Panera and not the suppliers. Power of Buyers The power of buyers in this industry is extremely high for various reasons. The main one is that there are low switching costs when an individual chooses to go from fast-casual restaurant to fast-casual restaurant. The only real cost may be one place may be further then the other which brings gas prices into play but typically these types of restaurants are located in similar areas so this is not that big of a factor. Anytime someone is spending money in a saturated market with several options, the consumer has all the power. The only way for restaurants to get some of the power back is to offer products that are perceived to be better then the competition. Panera Bread customers have an extremely high degree of power just like customers that buy food within this strategic group in the market. There are viable options for customers of Panera to choose from which always puts Panera in a position in which they have to convince customers that Panera is the best option to meet their needs. Panera must continue to evolve their menu and keep coming up with new items that keep their customers coming back for more. This is the only way that they can take some of the power back from their customers. Rivalry Among Competitive Sellers Everybody wants a piece of the American Dream in this country and the good thing about this country is that through hard work and dedication, anyone can be successful. With this being the case, there is fierce competition in virtually every industry in our country. The food service contractor industry is no exception to this fact and possibly is more competitive then most other industries. There are major players at every single level of this industry and each individual company is always looking for a slight advantage over their competitors. The fast-casual sector of this industry is rapidly growing and it is likely that we will continue to see more and more  companies vying for market share in this industry. The fact that people are spending significant dollars in fast-casual restaurants gives companies in this industry a golden opportunity for continued growth. Panera Bread has been able to carve out a niche in the fact that their dough process is not easily duplicated and nobody has been able to create products quite like Panera Bread. So, in this respect there is not a competitor that is selling the exact same thing that they are selling. However, I feel that Starbucks is a close competitor and they may have some of the same customers. When you think about a place that you can go and hang out with friends or catch up on some work or read a good book, Starbucks definitely comes to mind. In this relationship, Starbucks is definitely big brother and has far more locations around the world then Panera does so they obviously bring in more revenues yearly. Panera is trying to duplicate the atmosphere of a casual place to hang out but they are still playing catch up at this point in time. I also think Chipotle is a competitive rival but for different reasons then Starbucks. Chipotle is a fast-casual restaurant that has been able to create a product that consumers consider different and really tasty. It is a place that you can order and get your food relatively quickly and sit down and enjoy your meal with friends on the inside of the restaurant or outside. Although Chipotle definitely doesn’t have the atmosphere that Panera Bread has, it is very believable that when people are sick of fast food and are looking for a fast-casual restaurant to eat at, these two places come up. I can speak from experience that this has definitely been the case for myself on numerous occasions. Internal Analysis: SWOT & VRIO Framework SWOT Analysis Strengths A. Strong Brand Name B. Atmosphere of Restaurants C. Own Subsidiary for there main ingredient Weaknesses A. Lack of international/domestic presence in comparison to competitors Opportunities A. Expand Domestically/Internationally B. Continue to expand catering activities Threats A. Recession B. New Restaurants Strengths Panera Bread has been able to continually grow and make significant dollars year in and year out because they have many things that they do well. One of these strengths is the brand name â€Å"Panera Bread.† When people think of Panera they automatically think of a fast-casual restaurant with good food. It is somewhere that people can go and not pay significant dollars and walk away being happy with the food that they ate. This is probably the biggest strength that you can have in this industry because if your restaurant name is not associated with quality food then you have no chance of succeeding in the restaurant business. After all, nobody wants to eat food that is not enjoyable going down. Another strength that Panera has is the atmosphere and dinning experience that they provide for their customers. When people think of Panera they think of someplace that can offer relaxation for themselves as well as friends. Its just a great hang out spot where people can catch up on homework, read a good book, and hang out with friends all while enjoying some of the great products that Panera Bread offers. Panera is also able to produce its own dough, which is strength in two ways. The first is the most obvious. They can cut out significant costs when buying from their subsidiary and don’t have to worry about not being satisfied with the end product because ultimately they are producing it. Also, since dough is their main ingredient and what they are famous for they would not want outside knowledge of this trade secret. By producing the dough themselves minimizes significantly the possibility of other companies being able to capitalize on Panera’s trade secret. Weaknesses The biggest weakness that I saw in doing this case study is the fact that they have a lack of an international presence. If they are trying to compete with Starbucks with there dinning experience then they need to be everyplace that Starbucks does business so that customers can choose. This type of expansion could mean more revenues as well as continuing to increase their strong brand name. Domestically they do have a strong presence in the market but they are not at the level that Starbucks is at. Opportunities Panera has several opportunities to improve their position in the market place. One of those opportunities is to continue to have an aggressive attitude about expanding domestically and also to turn some of that energy into international endeavors. Domestically they have a strong presence but if they are going to overtake Starbucks as â€Å"The† fast-casual restaurant then they need to continue to find new markets to put their stores in. Currently they do not have an international sector at all. This is limiting their growth potential significantly and not really giving them a chance to be at the top of the totem pole in their sector of the restaurant business. International expansion could help Panera take their brand name to new heights. Another opportunity they have is to continue to expand their catering sector of their company. In 2004 they started to make a hard push into catering for other locations outside of the stores. By the end of 2005 they saw about 80 million dollars in sales in new sales from this catering sector. The ability to generate these types of sales in this short period of time gives Panera’s management incentive to continue to explore this opportunity. Threats The recession is a huge threat to all businesses that do not provide something that is a basic need for survival. Although Panera does provide food, which is a necessity, they still have to fight with the recession, as people do not eat out as much during tough economic times. Instead, people penny pinch and try to cut down on as many things as possible. Although they could discount their products and possibly generate more sales during this tough economic time, this strategy could make people start to associate their brand as being generic. This strategy would ultimately hurt them in  the long run. Another threat would be new restaurants coming into territory that they do business in and undercutting some of their sales. People have ever-changing taste and are always looking for the new â€Å"hot† thing. Since this is the case, new restaurants that are able to get the attention of consumers in the areas that Panera has restaurants in could pose a huge threat. VRIO Framework Sustainable competitive advantage is the key to any company’s long-term success. Are any of Panera’s strengths sustainable? Strong Brand Name  Valuable: Yes, a strong brand name in the business world is very valuable. It is especially valuable in the restaurant business because when people associate your brand name with having good food then people are automatically going to come in your place of business to get food. Also, this strong brand name gets people talking about your products and word of mouth advertising is amongst the top if not the top form of advertising. Rare: No, a strong brand name is not rare in the restaurant business. Many other restaurants in the fast-casual sector have a brand name that is associated with good food. This is the reason why there are so many of these types of restaurants out there that are able to perform well year in and year out. Although there are many restaurants that are able to build a strong brand name, there are many more t hat are not able to establish this strong brand name. Most restaurants fail within the first year because of this fact. Imitated Easily (Immutable): No developing a strong brand name is not easy. It takes years of creating quality products that people grow to love. Another way is to come up with something so innovative that people have no choice but to recognize that food product with your brand name. Both of these scenarios are extremely hard to pull off successfully. Organization: Yes, the Panera organization is very committed to continuing to build their brand name. This is especially evident in how they franchise their company out to other people. Their franchise owners have to adhere to certain rules and regulations in order to open up a Panera Bread restaurant. Atmosphere of Restaurants Valuable: Yes this is a very valuable aspect of their restaurants. The fast  casual style gives Panera bread an edge over other restaurants and makes it more then just a place that you can get great food. The amenities that are offered at Panera bread makes it a friendly place to eat as well as do various other activities such as hang out with friends or catch up on work. They opened their doors with the idea that the overall atmosphere is what was going to set them apart from others and give them a competitive advantage and that is precisely what they have been able to do. Rare: Yes and No. This overall atmosphere is available in most coffee shops around the world so from that perspective it’s not that rare. However, it is rare in the fact that they have been able to expand into one of the top brands in this sector and are really only second to Starbucks as far as atmosphere goes. They compete on a level that most coffee shops can’t. Imitated Easily (Immutable): Yes and No. Anybody can set up wireless internet and make a space conducive to hanging out and reading books. So in regard to this it is easily imitated. The part that is not easily imitated that Panera has been able to accomplish is that they are recognized by a large number of consumers as a place to go and do the activities mentioned above. Organization: Yes, the Panera Organization is committed to making their restaurant a place where people can go be in a friendly atmosphere. That was the whole basis of what they thought would create their competitive advantage when they opened their doors. Own a Subsidiary for Their Main Ingredient Valuable: Yes, the fact that they own subsidiaries that make their main ingredient is a huge advantage that they have. They are able to cut down on cost as well as always knowing that their dough’s will be exactly what they are expecting. They don’t have to ever worry about negotiating with outside vendors about prices or any other terms for this key ingredient. Also, they can protect their trade secret that is the ingredients and process of creating their dough. Rare: No, they are most definitely not the first company to own a subsidiary that is apart of the value chain. Many companies vertically integrate to gain some of the benefits that I mentioned above. Imitated easily (Immutable): Yes, this is very easy to imitate. The company must have the capital investment to make this happen but gathering the money is not something that can’t be imitated. Typically what keeps companies from  doing this is that they can simply buy the materials needed at a cheaper cos t versus creating these materials themselves. Organization: Yes, Panera is obviously committed to making this subsidiary successful. They could have hired out someone else to make their dough’s but then they would risk exposure of their trade secrets and may have to pay more for the dough. The subsidiary not only cuts down on certain costs but also protects their process of making their dough’s. Strategic Cost Analysis: Value Chain Analysis Primary Activities Supply Chain Management Panera Bread uses a subsidiary to supports its supply chain management as well as other independent suppliers. They get their dough, which is their key ingredient, from their subsidiary. This dough is used to make their assortments of breads, which is obviously what they are known for. They deliver the dough to each individual restaurant and then the restaurant bakes the bread so that the bread is fresh when it reaches the consumer. However, they do receive some of its ingredients for its doughs from other suppliers. Also, sweet goods, paper goods, small ware, and coffee are bought from outside suppliers. Panera feels like it is cheaper to buy these products from various suppliers instead of producing them internally or through a subsidiary. Operations Panera prides itself on being different from the pack in the world of fast casual restaurants. They do this by providing a friendly atmosphere in their restaurants in which their customers can come and get more then just food. This operation technique gives them an advantage over your average fast food restaurant but it is still someplace that you could go to get a meal quickly. Another key aspect of their operation is the fact that they are always changing the menu to appeal to the current customers as well as attract new ones. This is something that is necessary for any restaurant and has proven to be something that Panera does well. Distribution In most major cities in the United States you can find a Panera Bread restaurant to eat at. This is the primary activity for Panera to get their  products to the customer. In this regard, they compete just like every other restaurant in country. However, they are really starting to pick up their catering sector of their company and this could lead to new customers and more revenue. Not only does catering give them another way to sale their products, but it may also expose individuals to Panera for the first time if they are at the catered event. Support Activities Word of Mouth Word of mouth is a huge support activity for pretty much every successful restaurant in the country. This is especially true for Panera Bread since they really don’t do too much to market their restaurant. They rely heavily on current customer’s positive experiences at their restaurant to spark them to tell somebody else. Through this positive word of mouth they are able to gain loyal customers, which is why they are able to sustain their company. Franchises Panera’s Franchise operations are a huge supplement for their company owned stores and they are able to generate significant revenue from their franchises. There is a significant investment required from a potential franchise owner. The franchises give Panera an opportunity to capitalize on their strong brand name. However, they must keep a close eye on each franchise so that they can maintain the Panera reputation. If they let the franchise operate under the Panera name without any rules then they are exposed to the risk of tainting their brand. Strategic Cost Analysis: Competitive Strength Assessment Panera Bread Chipotle Starbucks Key Success Factors Importance Weights Strength Score Strength Score Strength Score Brand Image 0.25 9 2.25 10 2.5 10 2.5 Restaurant Atmosphere 0.2 8 1.6 5 1 9 1.8 Word of Mouth Advertising 0.25 8 2 9 2.25 8 2 Adjusting Menu To Adapt to Consumers 0.1 9 0.9 5 0.5 6 0.6 Price 0.2 8 1.6 8 1.6 6 1.2 Total 1 42 8.35 35 7.85 39 8.1 When performing the competitive strength assessment for restaurants that are in the same strategic group as Panera Bread there were several key success factors that were important. Panera, Chipotle, and Starbucks all performed well in this assessment but with the success factors that I felt were important, Panera did just barely edge out Starbucks. Brand Image was extremely high on the pedestal in the key success factors because in the restaurant business, how the public perceives you will either make or break your restaurant. All three companies performed well in this category but I felt that Starbucks International presence gave them a slight edge over Panera and Chipotle. I rated the restaurant atmosphere as a .2 because I felt like it was a very important factor by not quite as important as brand image. Chipotle struggles with their restaurant atmosphere in comparison to the other two places however; they are still able to succeed in this industry. They have not put as much importance on their dining experience; where as Panera and Starbucks whole method for differentiating themselves from other fast-casual  establishments are creating that warm dinning experience. However, Starbucks also wins this category by a small margin. Word of mouth advertising is a .25 because this is how you grow as a company. When you are able to get your loyal customers to get prospective customers to try out their products then restaurants give themselves a great opportunity to retain new customers. I thought that all of these places do a good job with generating this type of advertising but based on my experiences, Chipotle gets a little more of this type of advertising then the other two, especially from college students. The only one of these three that really makes a true effort to change up their menu is Panera Bread. They are constantly introducing new things to appeal to their customers. However, I didn’t feel as if this was nearly as important as some of the other key success factors. Chipotle and Starbucks have been able to create a menu that their customers like and are not likely to grow bored of eating which is why they are still successful. Since they don’t put an emphasis on changing their menu much, Panera takes this category relatively easy. Price is important within the restaurant business especially during these rough economic times. People are much more cognizant of where their money is spent. Chipotle and Panera offer quality products at decent prices even in these tough times. On the contrary, Starbucks would be on the pricier side especially when it comes to their food selection. They don’t offer big portions and individuals would likely still be hungry shortly after leaving the restaurant. Panera and Chipotle tied in this category as both of them offer good prices for valuable menu items. Financial Analysis The following are some basic income statements for Panera Bread and Chipotle as well as some financial Ratios. I chose these 2 because they are similar in size and are both considered fast-casual restaurants although they do serve different menu items. I do feel that Starbucks is a competitor of Panera Bread as well but they are a much larger company and there statements would make for a very good comparison. Panera Bread Statement of Operations (% of revenue) 2007 2006 Revenue 100% 100% Total Cost and Expenses 92% 89% Operating Profit 8% 11% Income before taxes 8% 11% Net Income 5% 7% Panera Bread Statement of Operations ($ in thousands) 2007 2006 Revenue 1,066,691 828,971 Total Cost and Expenses 977,801 736,295 Operating Profit 88,890 92,676 Income before taxes 88,890 92,676 Net Income 57,456 58,849 Chipotle Statement of Operations (% of revenue) 2007 2006 Revenue 100% 100% Total Costs and Expenses 89.5% 92% Operating Profit 10.5% 8% Income before taxes 10.5% 8% Net Income 6% 5% Chipotle Statement of Operations ($ in thousands) 2007 2006 Revenue 1,085,782 822,930 Total Cost and Expenses 971,780 754,675 Operating Profit 114,002 68,255 Income before taxes 114,002 68,255 Net Income 70,563 41,423 Ratio Gross Profit Margin Net Profit Margin Operating Profit Margin Panera 2007 .74 .05 .08 Panera 2006 .76 .07 .11 Chipotle 2007 .68 .06 .10 Chipotle 2006 .69 .05 .075 Return on Assets Current Ratio Return on S/E Equity Panera 2007 .08 1.17 .13 Panera 2006 .11 1.19 .15 Chipotle 2007 .105 2.75 .126 Chipotle 2006 .08 2.92 .087 As you can see both of these companies are doing well and have been able to turn a nice size profit for these past 2 years. However, Chipotle has been able to grow from 2006 to 2007 as their net profit margin went up by 1% whereas Panera Breads has dropped 2%. I think the newness of Chipotle has given them an advantage in these early years but I don’t think it will be sustainable once people get use to the menu. The recession has hurt Panera more then Chipotle but due to the low liabilities that Panera has, they are still able to make a profit in 2007 that is not much lower then the profit from 2006. I believe that the overall dinning experience and the variety of the Panera menu will prove to be a sustainable competitive advantage going forward over many of its rivals and will provide them financial well-being. Business Strategy Analysis: Porter’s Generic Strategy Panera Bread’s goal is to create the greatest amount of value for the customers when they walk into one of their restaurants. The generic strategy that most closely resembles what they are trying to accomplish is Best-Cost Provider Strategy. This is providing quality products at a cheaper price then what you can get elsewhere. Full meals at Panera can be bought for very reasonable prices and there various bread selections give them an advantage over other fast-casual establishments. So on the basis of taste their products can be considered a bang for your buck. Also, they provide an atmosphere known as â€Å"Panera Warmth† which is something that is not provided  at many other places. Between the reasonable prices for the quality products and the customer friendly environment, they are able to provide more value for their customers then most other fast-casual restaurants. Corporate Strategies: Diversification Diversification in Panera Bread has been an important aspect since they have been open for business. Starting as a company called Au Bon Pain in the 80s, they would eventually change to the Panera name once it took off. This was a move that allowed them to really expand their brand in the 90s and into the 2000s. Another thing that they did to diversify their company was purchasing majority of Paradise Bakery and Cafà © in 2007. Paradise had 70 locations, which gave Panera more restaurants as well as some other knowledge that came along with the purchase. Panera has a very aggressive growth strategy and plan to have 2000 stores open by the en of 2010 in the United States. This type of growth strategy has the potential allow Panera to continue to climb the ladder to being one of the top fast-casual restaurants. Issue 1 A big issue that I see with Panera bread at this point in time is their untapped markets not only domestically but also internationally. They have several major cities that do not have Panera Bread in the city at all which is not allowing them to maximize their earning potential. Also, they have no international presence at all. These cafà © style restaurants would likely catch on well internationally considering the success that Starbucks has had with their international establishments. Recommendation Panera Bread should continue with their aggressive growth strategy. They must make sure that they tap into some of the major city markets that they have yet to such as New York City, Washington D.C., and New Orleans. Panera needs to have several locations in these cities and should make it a goal to have at least 20 in these cities by 2012. Also, they should continue to add restaurants in places like Miami and Seattle where they only have 2 and 5 establishments respectively. In competitive markets in the United States, Starbucks has more then 8 times as many locations as Panera. This is a huge problem is if they ever want to be on the same level as Starbucks.  Internationally, they should pick a few countries where cafes are popular and try to tap into those markets. However, internationally I think that they should take their time instead of implementing the fast growth strategy that they have in the United States. I think they should try to have 100 restaurants internationally by 2012. They have to tap into the international market if they ever want to truly compete with Starbucks and they are in a good position financially now to expand slowly in the international market. Issue 2 Another big issue that is lingering with not only Panera Bread but also every single restaurant is the recession. This recession has hit many Americans hard financially and they have not been eating out as much. This decreases the amount of possible business that fast-casual restaurants can get and this includes Panera Bread. They must figure out a way to continue to grow despite the tough economic times. Recommendation 2 There are a number of things that Panera Bread can do to offset this rough economic stretch that we are in. One of those things is to offer discounts on certain menu items but only make this discount good for a certain period of time. This makes people feel like they are getting a deal on Panera’s products and be more likely to pull in during lunch as oppose to packing their lunch. The limited time on the discounts ensures that your products don’t become generic which is also important for when the recession is over. Another thing that they can do if offer free food to customers after they have purchased so many products from the menu. This gives customers incentive to eat out at Panera even in the midst of a recession. Works Cited Panera Bread. â€Å"Www.panerabread.com.† Panera Bread †º Company Overview †º Our History. 2012. Panera Bread. 06 May 2013 . Securities and Exchange Commissions, U.S. (2008). â€Å"Filed by Bowne Pure Compliance.† Filed by Bowne Pure Compliance. 2008. Annual Report Chipotle. 06 May 2013 . Securities and Exchange Commissions, U.S. (2008). â€Å"Form 10-K.† Form 10-K. 2008. Annual Report Panera Bread. 06 May 2013 . Thompson, Arthur A., A. J. Strickland, and John Gamble. Crafting and executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage : Concepts and cases. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2008. United States Census Bureau. â€Å"Industry Statistics Sampler.† : NAICS 722310- Food service contractors. 2007. United States Census Beaura. 06 May 2013 . United States Census Bureau. â€Å"Industry Statistics Sampler.† : NAICS 722310- Food service contractors. 2007. United States Census Bureau. 06 May 2013 .